Changing the landscape of social media

Imagine  a phone application that allows you to send disappearing message to your friends and family. Simple Right? You're probably thinking to yourself, “oh aren't you talking about snapchat?” Yes of course it's snapchat. Now imagine that this app could soon be worth up to twenty-five billion dollars! According to a story done by the Atlantic, they are reporting that Snap Inc, Snapchat’s parent company, “ Is considering a 2017 initial public offering that would value the brand at $25 billion.” My initial reaction to this story was disbelief. I understood that companies like facebook are extremely popular and expensive companies,  but snapchat? I mean, sending picture to your friends that will be lost forever after ten seconds? Not to mention that's all it was. Meaning there was no other aspect of snapchat that can offer the same sort of interacting hat facebook and twitter offer. Now, this was my initial reaction. But after pondering the question I have had a change of heart. I actually was quite intrigued by this story and dug up some further research. In fact, snapchat has recently integrated a instant messaging system where you can actually chat with friends.  This addition is actually really popular. According to a study done by Bloomberg, Snapchat is in the top five in instant messaging applications. In addition to these features, snapchat is extremely popular. That little ghost icon seems to be everywhere. Even on a huge billboard in times square that I had visited recently. It would make sense that Snapchat's main source of income comes from their ad revenue. In the study done by bloomberg, snapchat's revenue “ is expected to rise fourfold by 2018,” Fourfold! If it wasn't already popular enough I mean seriously that number seems outrageous to me. But it gets even crazier. In the Atlantic article it is stated, “That at the app, which has over 150 million users, will pull in $1 billion of ad revenue by the close of 2017.” These are not projections by any means, these are cold hard facts. I believe that Snapchat has now entered that elite tier of Social media. Or as I like to call, “The big three,” which includes facebook, twitter, and now snapchat. There may be some conjecture about this thesis because some people may be wondering about snapchat's archival instagram. Its no secret that Instagram is amongst the most popular of social media. Ill even admit i use instagram ay more than I do snapchat. But in my opinion there's no question snapchat will eventually become a more legitimate social media player. In recent months, Instagram has expanded on snapchat's,”story” idea with coming up with instagram stories. I really am not sure how that came to be because It is almost an identical rip-off of snapchat. Its obvious that these two companies are in a fight against one another, but I think in the years to come snapchat will easily become the next top player in social media.

Why you won't learn anything from English class

Aside from trying to salvage your midterm grades, the biggest issue faced in education is how to define it. Traditional concepts of “school”--a place of raised hands, exams, and lectures--are already becoming outdated, replaced by the curiosity-driven learning described by John Taylor in “The Examined Life” and Mr. Arcand in his English 300 class. These attempts at experimental learning represent the clash of progressive teaching in a system of grades and teacher evaluations--or, in other words, why you may not learn anything from Mr Arcand’s class.

Although Taylor advocates for Socratic learning in “The Examined Life,” he doesn’t address integration: how to create internally-motivated learning in the face of the college process. Taylor describes the purpose of progressive learning as “[to] teach students… how to think” through a classroom based on passion, not textbook knowledge. Taylor’s ideal classroom, a question-based environment in which students draw on collective knowledge to further their understanding, initially seems like any student’s paradise: it encourages “spaces where students can think about the meaning of what they learn” as they explore topics they genuinely care about. However, this idea doesn’t account for societal barriers which obstruct its authenticity. Taylor’s self-driven learning lies alongside a college and career process founded upon outside evaluation. As Taylor himself states,”Education [today is] reduced to a dry, soulless process of ‘delivery’ dictated by the demands of standardised tests.” And his proposed teaching method--students creating authentic questions through self-motivation--can't maintain authenticity in the face of this process. Acting as though standardized evaluations don’t exist won’t make those evaluations any less there--making an environment not of learning, but of negotiating for the highest grade. When passion-based education is driven by teacher evaluation, it contradicts the very creation of that passion. And for all of Taylor’s progressive gusto, the reality of high school--a place where college exists as the ever-present anvil over students’ heads--makes purely student-motivated classes much less doable.

The difficulties of integrating progressive education are also seen in Mr. Arcand’s English 300 class, where Socratic ideals of questioning and collaboration lay underneath a school system that prizes correctness. Unlike Taylor’s theoretical classroom, Mr. Arcand has put these ideas into action: creating a class where, as he states, “The teacher is no longer the holder of information… [Education is] autonomous learning by doing.” And although this may seem like a replica of Taylor’s ideal Socratic classroom, it’s not. In an environment built upon “understanding of the world in which [students] live and [their] ability to have [their] voice heard,” the real world is, ironically, the biggest inhibitor. What’s in that “world”--college, parents, term reports--is outside pressure that forces students to work for the wrong reasons. No one asks questions about Romanticism because they’re interested in Romanticism: it’s to make the “right” questions, on the “right” topic, leading to the “right” grade, enabling admission to the “right” college, achieving the “right” career, for the “right” life, ending in the “right” death. Students aren’t working because they care--or, if they are, it isn’t because they care about English. Choate’s ingrained emphasis on the “right,” a domino effect of decisions spiralling to the eventual college acceptance, means that the environment of self-generated curiosity Mr. Arcand tries to create is inherently incompatible with the environment that it’s in. Authenticity at Choate is something that must be made out of nothing: and even though ol’ Arc is a fan of suddenly appearing in the classroom, he’s no magician.

Despite the idealized classroom described by Taylor in “The Examined Life,” putting progressive techniques into education is much less simple. In a theoretical world, with theoretical schools, where theoretical students could learn without the pressure of outside forces, Taylor and Mr. Arcand have created groundbreaking programs--ones that will impact students for years to come. But in the current system of blue books and SAT tests, questioning and authenticity only matter when they add to 1600.

Extinction of a Sacred Place

Extinction of a Sacred Place

       Bookstores have always been sacred places. There is something so distinctive about the smell and atmosphere of them that people seem to forget in today's age of iBooks and Kindle. As bookstores continue to lose business in this world of rampant technology, their value to today's youth becomes even more apparent.
       E-reading devices have steadily increased their presence in quotidian life, much at the expense of physical bookstores. It is no secret that for years, while companies like Amazon and Apple have amassed a devoted following, bookstores and their relevance have been dwindling away. As Open Education Database reported, there was a 12.2% drop in the number of bookstores in the US between 1997 and 2002, and “the number of independent bookstores dropped from 2,400 to 1,900 between 2002 and 2011” (OEDb 2012). Meanwhile, e-book sales spiked: they “rose by 210% and comprised 30% of all sales of adult fiction” between 2010 and 2011. Amazon alone purportedly sold 22.6% of books in 2011 (OEDb 2012). Statistics like these prove e-stores and e-books are slowly but surely taking over the hardcopy book industry. Many consumers would rather carry a slim device than unwieldy books and find e-books in mere seconds than ‘waste’ hours in a store. This shift from paper to screen reflects society’s constant acceleration that necessitates portability and practicality, leaving little to no time to pause and ruminate. If this current trend continues, Americans may soon lose one of the most enriching and precious centers of our society.
       Bookstores offer what phones, tablets, computers, and cyberspace cannot. This makes them invaluable in a world where teens spend nine hours a day on social media (CNN 2015), which the Child Mind Institute describes as “promoting anxiety and lowering self esteem” (Ehmke 2016). Shop owner Wendy Welch noticed bookstores have the complete opposite effect: visitor’s “expressions soften, steps slow, eyes stop darting” (Welch 2012). They provide a quiet, enriching labyrinth in which people can disappear and be at peace, far removed from their worries. They represent appreciating the present and paying attention to the tactile world, a need not fulfilled by the Internet or any portable device. They foster tranquility and curiosity, and are a more intimate way of “falling down a rabbit hole” of learning and discovery than any online site. Like the Internet, they encapsulate the entire social, political, cultural history of the world, but in a much safer space. They are not simply things of beauty as Buzzfeed’s “19 Beautiful Bookstores You Need to Visit in America” implies by highlighting their appearances with well-lit images - they are escapes, safe havens, deeply personal experiences. Teenagers and young adults will never benefit from the true value of bookstores if their only recognized worth lies in how aesthetically pleasing they are on someone’s Instagram.
       In the new generation, technology is an extension of the hand. However, phones are nowhere to be found in a bookstore, where visitors’ eyes are wide and wandering. With the sale of e-books reaching an all-time high, today’s youth no longer remembers what it feels like to lose oneself in a sea of palpable stories and information; instead, they’re lost in a sea of bright and stressful screens. If Americans can once again realize the significance of bookstores, they may find that space of peaceful growth before it is too late.

The Fight Against Global Poverty

Poverty is typically thought of as a curse reserved for Africa, the Caribbean and South America, and some parts of Asia. However, many people living in “first world” countries fail to realize that poverty happens there as well. Some people believe that it simply does not exist, while others view poverty as attributional, as opposed to situational, of the people it affects. Because of this, the poor in the United States oftentimes goes unnoticed, resulting in a lack of adequate aid for those who need it the most. Recently, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates launched Coop Dreams, a charity that donates livestock to west African families. The goal of this initiative is to give these people more financial independence and improve the quality of lives in their communities, countries, and eventually the world. Despite Gates’s initiative being a wonderful program for those in need, Coop Dreams is unrealistic and Gates needs to focus more of his resources into fighting poverty in the United States first.

Coop Dreams is unrealistic because the war against world poverty has been long fought yet continues to be lost, as evidenced by charities such as World Vision which has been doing much of the same work as Gates’s foundation yet have been around for longer. Furthermore, charities oftentimes target the poorest in countries. While this is great, it leaves out the rest of the country, including the government. Bottom- up change is oftentimes difficult to implement, so not much change would occur if done this way. Also, livestock is not enough to end poverty, and oftentimes those that receive animals end up selling them. While a good start, medicine and education is far more important, as this would allow for more opportunities for more people and families.

Worldwide poverty cannot be ended if the fight isn’t worldwide, either. Many Americans live in adverse poverty around the country, yet aid oftentimes doesn’t go beyond sub par government subsidies. However, programs such as these could go much further in a country such as the United States because residents have much more of a voice in government; therefore, a bottom- up change would see more fruition. Also, a lot of poverty in the United States is based in large cities. Aid would have to arrive in a different form than livestock, but it would be easier to use what is already there-- infrastructure, government programs, and schools, amongst others-- to change the lives of those in need.

There is not one solution to global poverty. While programs such as Coop Dreams are a good start, much more must and can be done to end poverty. Poverty must first be ended in western countries before it is other places because it is easier to mobilize people in the United States to help others, since America is one of the richest countries in the world; however, this cannot be done until all American residents are taken care of first. Furthermore, the fight against poverty must also involve attitudinal changes amongst people. Many people refuse to believe that poverty exists in the United States or blames it on the individual. If people continue to think this way, aid to countries that need it the most may never arrive. Fighting global poverty is a lot bigger than donating chickens. It requires everyone being in a strong financial position and attitudinal changes in those with privilege to help others.

Benefits of the Schiapparelli probe

Europe recently made Schiapparelli, a probe sent to mars to collect data. Landing the craft on mars, however, is not an easy feat. Mars has an extremely unpredictable and harsh climate, and successfully landing even a small, unmanned craft on its surface requires a complicated, precise arrival process. Decades of scientific innovation and funding have gone into this mission, and though there is a substantial risk in sending such an expensive piece of technology to Mars, the net gain of data gathered and technological innovation outweighs any downsides.

As time goes by and technology improves, the risk factor of sending a probe like Schiaparelli to Mars decreases while the potential for new information increases. Ten out of thirteen mars missions sent by NASA or the ESA have been successful over history, and the success rate has only grown in time (NASA, 2016). Each attempt, whether it succeeds or not, provides valuable information about Mars and increases chances of a future mission’s success. Even if Schiapparelli does fail, ESA will only learn more about how to develop better, more refined Mars probes for the future. There are more benefits, however, of a mission to Mars than just to improve prospects of a future mission.

Each successful trip to Mars reveals new information about the planet, which is extremely useful for the procession of space travel. Each individual probe that either orbits or has landed on Mars has provided scientists on Earth with groundbreaking discoveries about the planet. Mars is an exciting new frontier, and we learn new things about it with each mission. The end goal of collecting data and going to Mars is to eventually have the technology to send astronauts there to do research. This would be very beneficial to humanity as a whole, as the planet contains a plethora of minerals and resources not found on earth which could revolutionize science for the future. Schiapparelli is another key step in the process of getting men on Mars, or at least learning more about the red planet as a whole.

The Schiapparelli probe is not just about the risk and expense today; it opens up countless possibilities for the future. Government funding for space programs have always been and will always be a gamble, but the long-term rewards are incredible; a manned mission to mars may not be too far in the future. Sure, there is trouble now just learning how to land a small probe on the planet’s surface, but each attempt, successful or not, yields new information about how to be more successful in the next mission. The future of the world’s space programs does not lie in staying close to earth; it requires risk and innovation. Whether Schiapparelli lands safely or not, the mission and future missions will all pay off in the end.

The Burden of Competition

In the video, “I JUST SUED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM,” Prince Ea argues that the modern school system should stop teaching students as if they all have the same gifts, interests and aspirations. Ea is not wrong when he says this as school systems have not changed since the expected job after completing school was a factory worker; schools still promote the monotonous actions required for working in a factory. However, the school system is not the only one to blame for this lack of passion and creativity. Today, we as students are surrounded by an immense amount of competition, which can influence our actions and decisions. Although the modern school system suppresses creativity and passion, ultimately the overwhelming competition we face can discourage us from our passion and, instead, forces us to do what we think looks best to colleges.

In the video, Ea displays images from 150 years ago of a car, telephone, and a school. Then he goes on to show the jury what a car, telephone, and school look like today. Ironically, the image of a school stayed the same. The desks are aligned in rows, and students raise their hands to speak - the same conditions factory workers deal with. Ea states that schools were, “originally created to train people to work in factories” (Ea 1:40). That explains, “why [schools] put students in straight rows, tell them to sit still, raise their hand, if they want to speak, give them a short break to eat, and for eight hours a day, tell them what to think.” (Ea 1:45). Now, however, we are told that we can be whatever we want to be. The school system needs to adapt to modern times and prepare students for the future, not the past. Instead of acting like robots, we need to be able to think critically, creatively, and innovatively. When in fact, teachers’ ideas of thinking critically is being able to write 900 words in 45 minutes. Schools need to change their ways and provide us with skills that are actually helpful - not speed typing.

The competition that plagues us also contributes to the lack of passion. In school, we can be so obsessed with outperforming our classmates that we forget about our passions. And, instead of taking classes we are interested in, we take classes that will beef up their resumes and look best to colleges. But, we face competition outside of school as well. The ACT, SAT, AP Exams, SAT II’s, and PSAT are standardized tests that colleges expect us to take and outperform others. Soon, we get caught in an exhausting cycle of competition and lose sight of what we are truly passionate about. However, Prince Ea is still hopeful as he states that, “if we can customize Facebook pages, then it is our duty to do the same for education” (Ea 4:09). While customizable education promotes a our passion, there is a chance that we will not be well-rounded students. In order to alleviate competition in pre-collegiate schools, colleges need to reassess what values matter in a candidate. Standardized testing does not accurately reflect our knowledge; on the other hand, what we achieve with their passion is a better measurement of our capabilities. For colleges to attract the brightest students, passion needs to have a larger role in the admissions process.

Although the modern school system suppresses creativity and passion, ultimately the overwhelming competition students face discourages them from their passion and, instead, forces them to do what looks best to colleges. As college becomes more readily available to people, the amount of competition is bound to grow, and school will become more of a quiz bowl than a developmental process. In order to create a less competitive school system, the pre-collegiate and collegiate schools need to communicate and discuss how to better integrate passion into their curriculum.

Battle Hymn Against the Tiger Mother

People like to call me “Veronica” even though my name is “Victoria.” I guess that doesn’t matter because we all look alike anyway. Asians, I mean. We all have small small eyes. We sound like the clanging of pots and pans when we talk. We are math and music prodigies and we have no life.

As an Asian, these are just some of the stereotypes society imposes on me. But this is 2016. You’d think that, at least in a first-world country like America, we would have fixed this problem by now. We are trying, but Tiger Mom is reaping what we have sowed.  

In case you don’t know who the infamous Tiger Mom is, here’s the spiel: Amy Chua, whose personality is the very antonym to the meaning of her first name, wrote a book titled Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Basically, Chua had compiled the most hackneyed Asian stereotypes and slapped a label on them. She intended her book to be a memoir. It turned out to be the bane of my existence.

“B!? B is so BITCH!” At least, that’s what the epitome tiger mom would say when you hand her your less-than-satisfactory test. Chua takes this a step further. According to her memoir, Chua prohibited her daughters from attending a sleepover, having a playdate, watching TV, playing computer games, or getting any grade below an A. She goes on to say that her daughters must perform at the top of the class and win gold medals. Only gold medals. Normal people would wince at Chua’s stringent measures. Chua, however, implies that this is common practice among Asian mothers, which is stereotyping. Generalizing Asian family traditions may not have carried so much weight on a blog post, but Chua wrote a memoir topping the New York Times bestsellers list for weeks. Chua had reached a wide audience. Her words, therefore, inevitably impact the Asian image. Because Chua presents Asians as workaholics, perfectionists, and party-poopers, the public feels justified to view Asians in this light. Asians, on the other hand, feel more pressured than ever to conform to the book’s artificial standards. By setting forth her deluded vision of Asian parenting, Chua has brought disgrace to the Asian community.

And now a word from our beloved Mushu:

“Your garbage,” Chua’s father said to his daughter. “Your garbage,” Chua said to her own daughters. Apparently, garbage just runs in the family. Reminiscing about these harsh times may be a shared joke for the Chua family, but, in another time and place, Elizabeth Shin certainly felt like garbage when she immolated herself in her own dormitory room. On April 10th, 2000, MIT authorities broke down the door to Shin’s room only to witness flames consuming her body. There is no doubt that Shin’s macabre suicide resulted from an insecurity born from dissatisfactory grades. After all, she too had tiger parents. In fact, at Shin’s high school graduation, her parents were disappointed (I repeat, disappointed) that the school did not honor their daughter as valedictorian. Despite her outstanding academic achievements (she did become salutatorian), Shin’s parents still fell short of congratulating their daughter. Her parents’ unattainable expectations burdened Shin until her death, yet Chua praises this extreme form of parenting. Unfortunately, Shin’s suicide is a symptom of a larger disease. Because of “tiger parenting,” many Asian youths suffer from insecurity. Clearly, Chua supports a dangerous parenting model that not only ignores sensitive issues within the Asian community but also deals physical damage-- and that’s no laughing matter.

        Rather than helping eradicate Asian stereotypes, Chua’s Tiger Mother only exacerbates them. What Chua did was simple. What she did cost Asians their dignity. It’s disheartening to see that the efforts working to eliminate Asian stereotypes are offsetted by a single book. Asians should not feel pressured to conform to Chua’s one-sided vision, but the publication of Tiger Mother only suppresses the Asians yearning to express their individuality-- that they are more than a package of stereotypes.

Indigenous Peoples Day

Indigenous people's day is a movement started by those who consciously object the glorification of Columbus. It occurs on the second Monday of October, on what is historically Columbus day, as a criticism of his horrific crimes against humanity and subsequent celebration of his actions. The idea of Indigenous People's Day has gained traction in recent years and the movement is steadily increasing as more people become educated about his role in the disenfranchisement of the natives in the western hemisphere. Columbus day should be abolished because it glorifies a rapist and mass murderer and invalidates the struggles of the native people.

In addition to absolutely eliminating the Taíno people, Columbus was also known to commit and enable child rape and trafficking. He was also clearly not averse to cruel and unusual punishment; if each Taíno could not produce one ounce of gold dust every three months, their hands would be cut off and tied around their neck as a warning to other Taínos. One cannot even use the argument that this sort of behavior was especially common or accepted in his time. Francisco de Bobadilla, a governor of Spain, attempted to hold Columbus accountable for his actions by arresting him and bringing him back to Spain. However, the king and queen, swayed by their newfound wealth, decided not to punish him. Bartolomeu de las Casas, a colleague of Columbus's, left his ward and became a Catholic priest because of the atrocities he witnessed. He went on to become one of the first native activists. Columbus intentionally profited off of the enslavement and rape of natives and felt no remorse for what he’d done.

To celebrate Columbus Day is to condone his actions against the west Indians. It is a slap in the face to surrounding indigenous tribes and the memory of the Taínos to celebrate the man that committed such evil transgressions against them. An article written by journalist J. Jae for Complex magazine goes on to say that the celebration of Columbus in honor of the founding of the United States implies that the genocide of the native people was a "necessary evil of progress." To celebrate his actions on the grounds that they lead to greater things is to view native lives as lesser than the lives of the people who settled on their land. We can not grow as a nation until we recognize that parts of american and caribbean history are incredibly gory.

Indigenous People's Day challenges the idea that key founders of the United States deserve to be glorified. Columbus day not only embraces but accepts the slaughter of the indigenous people. His actions can and will not be excused because of the success of the settlements he built on stolen and raped land. America's foundation resides on an Indian burial ground and its structure is built on the backs of slaves. No matter how great of a country one can argue it to be now, the genesis of the US is illustrated in the blood of marginalized people.

The "Model Minority" Struggle

In the United States today, the conversation surrounding the topic of racism is often geared toward Blacks or African Americans. It is not as common for other minority groups such as Asians or Latin Americans to be discussed; as a result, the problems these minority groups face due to their race are often overlooked. However, recently, Michael Luo, the New York Times’ Metro editor, published an open letter to a woman who told him and his family to “go back to China,” breaking the silence on the topic of racism toward Asian Americans. Posting the letter with the hashtag #thisis2016, Luo rallied Asian Americans and encouraged them to share their similar experiences on Twitter. Since then, the hashtag has received a multitude of responses, and Luo has produced a video named #thisis2016: Asian-Americans Respond that highlights some of the responders’ stories. In the video, Asian Americans read aloud tweets about the microaggressions they face, the ignorant racism of the otherwise friendly people around them, and Caucasians’ flawed generalizations of people of Asian descent. Luo’s video accurately depicts both the direct and indirect racism Asian Americans face every day--it reveals that Asian Americans are not seen as “true” Americans and are often faced with inaccurate assumptions about their heritages and cultures.

Many Caucasians do not see Asian Americans as “true” Americans because they are of Asian descent and do not physically resemble Caucasians. In response to Luo’s #thisis2016 movement, Twitter user @earlgregtea writes, “[Asian] always foreign, never American. American=white/black. Token minorities [are] black/Hispanic.” His idea that Asians are “always foreign” is seen almost everywhere--many participants in the video expressed their frustration with their American identity not being validated. Many Caucasians consider having Asian facial features a justification for labeling Asians as “not American.”  Another Twitter user, @clystartsaj, writes, “My parents living in SoCal...still have neighbors who bemoan ‘all the Asians who have taken over the neighborhood.’” These neighbors are not alone in their beliefs; all over the country, Asians are often regarded as “outsiders” simply due to their physical appearance. Many Caucasians in California--the state with the largest Asian American population--are unhappy with the growing number of Asian Americans in their neighborhoods and in their children’s schools. Caucasians argue that these “foreigners” are taking away their opportunities; by doing so, they are failing to realize that many Asian Americans have grown up in the United States and are just as “American” as they are.

In addition to being questioned about their American identities, many Asian Americans living in America are bombarded with unsupported assumptions about Asian culture and attitudes. Twitter user @realannavu responds to #thisis2016, saying, “After rejecting a guy downtown, ‘I hope your visa expires and you go back to cooking dog in China.’” Her response highlights two offensive assumptions about Asian Americans--the prevailing beliefs that Asians are not American citizens, and that people in China eat dogs. In reality, a majority of Asians living in the Unites States are, in fact, American citizens, and dogs are only rarely eaten in the poorest countryside areas of China. @lilytheflower12, another twitter user, notes her white acquaintances’ comments: “‘you're not like a *normal* Asian.’ ‘You're adopted so it makes sense…’” Her tweet showcases the reality that many Caucasians categorize all Asians into one stereotypical group. The Caucasian concept of a “normal” Asian is often along the lines of a nerdy workaholic who are unathletic and do not know how to make friends. Caucasians often apply these stereotypes to all Asians, assuming they are all the same. This unfair generalization does not embody the Asian American population.

By showcasing many shockingly insulting comments made to Asian Americans, Michael Luo’s video revealed Caucasians’ attitudes toward Asians’ American identities and incorrect assumptions about Asian cultures, sparking an important and necessary conversation about the racism Asian Americans face on an everyday basis. Commenting on the impact of his hashtag and video, Luo says, “It's resonating because Asian Americans have this feeling that racism against them is not taken as seriously as other groups” (CNN). Luo produced #thisis2016: Asian-Americans Respond in hopes of rallying Asian Americans and creating a platform for them to speak out against their experiences of discrimination; he has not only succeeded in uniting Asians Americans, but also in showing them that their frustrations are justified and deserving of attention.

Bring em back

Bring Back the Stars

Two hundred years ago, the night sky looked like a midnight colored quilt with thousands of tiny christmas lights scattered throughout the patches. This quilt covered every inch of world. However, due to misguided synthetic light, most people can barely see the north star. Light pollution brightens the night sky, disrupts natural light cycles, and obstructs observations of stars and planets. Twenty-two day ago, the City Council of Reykjavik, turned off the street lights from 10pm-12pm to provide the citizens the “best possible view” of the northern lights. These spectacular views need to spread worldwide. Simply reducing and shielding outdoor lighting will prevent manufactured light from spilling into the sky and decrease the influence man-made light has on wild-life.

Light pollution has destroyed the beauty of outer space, and has harmful environmental consequences for humans.There are various forms of light pollution: glare, skyglow, light trespass, light clutter. These types of pollution dilute the night sky by glossing a layer of haze over stars. Skyglow, the illumination of the night sky in populated areas, affects approximately 80% of the world. Skyglow is easily reduced by shielding exterior lights, facing the lights towards the ground, or tinting them yellow or red. This prevents light from overflowing into the night sky. Additionally, light pollution disrupts the day-night pattern, and alters the balance of the environment. Light pollution not only affects humans, but also affects the lifecycles of wildlife.

Synthetic light disrupts many animal species that rely on natural light. Sunlight and moonlight help animals determine daytime, nighttime, sleeping time, breeding time, migration time, and hunting patterns. The man-made light misleads animals and disrupts their natural clocks. Drawing blinds at night and installing motion sensors for outdoor lighting will minimize the effect that light pollution has on wildlife and the ecosystem.

Light pollution harms animals and obstructs spectacular views. These problem can be solved! Humans need to to decrease light pollution. People worldwide should have the opportunity to see the tranquil vistas that the world has to offer. The action by City Council of Reykjavik to turn off the streetlights to allow the townsmen to see the true beauty of the night sky will hopefully influence other towns and cities to follow. And maybe humans will learn that reducing light pollution will benefit themselves, nature, and wildlife.

Illusions Around the Choate Bubble

Compared to the illusions of the outside world, Choate is an alternate universe. In “Losing Our Illusions,” Parker J Palmer writes about the world’s tendency to dilute the issues in society by denying them. In reality, the idea of acceptance has been corrupt from the beginning of 1776 when “America proclaimed the ‘self evident’ truth that all people are created equal—then proceeded to disenfranchise women, commit genocide against Native Americans, and build an economy on the backs of enslaved human beings (Palmer 2).” Americans hide behind illusions to limit confrontation with the facts of life, while Choate uses illusions to separate internal conflict from public conflict. The Choate community is not afraid of controversy among students, but is aware that such strong opinions can be unattractive to the general public. In light of that, students are not taught to pretend the issues are not there, but to portray an image of flawlessness from all angles in an attempt to uphold the reputation of the institution.  It is nearly impossible to become disillusioned in a privileged environment in which being extremely cautious is seen as progressive and articulating an opinion is often overstepping a boundary; therefore, Choate has carefully manufactured its illusions and uses them as a disguise rather than as blindfold.

        Choate’s academic system is extremely unique considering the people that make up the student body, and the illusion is found in the ego of the student body that will never admit to struggling. The “real world” of education described in “Losing Our Illusions” is a difficult sentiment for Choate students to grasp. Unlike many other schools in America, malnourishment, lack of education, and neglect are not prevalent issues on campus as students are provided with rigorous courses, food and shelter, and supportive faculty. Similarly, dropping out of school is a foreign concept because failure is not in the repertoire of many Choate students prior to their arrival. The community does not need to use illusions to feel educated because the community is already educated, which is actually the root of the issue. High academic performance is nothing knew for the average Choate student, and many of them have never been in need of outside help to complete a task. The level of independency that has been present in the majority of Choate students for the entirety of their educational careers increases when put to the test in an even intellectual playing field. The competitive atmosphere reinforces the deception that the opportunity to be at such an establishment and compromising a small part of one’s mental health go hand in hand.

        There are very few settings in which being considerate of unfamiliar cultures is stressed as regularly as it is at Choate. A large part of the Choate community is made up of international students with cultural backgrounds and religious beliefs that differ from those of Americans, and it is necessary that all are accepting of each other’s differences to be unified. Yet, there is an inclination to become hypersensitive in a highly integrated group. A seemingly popular belief on campus is that a high concentration of culture will increase knowledge, while Americans on the outside believe overlooking certain ideals of culture will eventually blend everyone together. The paradox of “We the People” being only a select group of white people is a classic example of America shying away from combining those who intend to live the American Dream and those who the American Dream is intended for. Conversely, the Choate cultural illusion is not that the community is blinded from reality, but the community looks at life through such a thick lens that the crux of cultural unity, understanding, is diminished by the fear of offending one another or unintentional appropriation, which all stems from the lack of knowledge on the matter. Even still, the truth that “Culture change is neither quick nor easy (Palmer 6),” is disregarded for the same reason no student will admit to struggling: a mix between the fabrication that many intelligent people put together makes an all-knowing entity and a stubborn individual that does not see failure as an option.  Separating the coveted image of brilliance from actuality is difficult for competitive students, just as acknowledging inequality is difficult for those who are not affected by it, which has created a barricade in front of cultural assimilation.  

    The overarching illusion of Choate is that there are no illusions.  It is deemed a very liberal and tolerant school, and, in many ways, it is. However, in an attempt to build a superior, transparent image on a flimsy foundation of opinionated, ambitious, and borderline egotistical people, the progression has come to a halt. There is a notion that the stress students feel every day is equivalent to the soreness of muscles after a workout: it means something is working and a larger gap is being established between those who take action and those who do not. A similar relationship can be drawn between Choate and America as one is trying to use issues to catalyze progress while the other is trying to step over issues altogether and still reach the set goal. The gap between Choate ideals and American ideals is overestimated because of the superficial image Choate builds around internal struggle. Despite the average IQ, Choate as a whole still has much to learn, and expelling arrogance and truly understanding the details of culture is the first step to tearing down the façade and becoming a truly impactful unit with the potential to aid the rest of America in removing the blindfold and initiating a transformation.

Singing Winkle

Music and written works, when integrated, have the power to evoke profound feelings and to intensify a message or idea. The lyrics of "I Could Be Dreaming" by Belle & Sebastian capture the dolour and mystique of the tale "Rip Van Winkle." These two works display how a story can be told through all human senses and can touch the heart in a familiar way no matter the medium.

The song lyric “a family's like a loaded gun” reflects Dame van Winkle’s scathing yammer by which Rip is burdened and unhinged. Rip Van Winkle runs from this loaded gun, as anyone would, because it’s harmful to his well-being as a care-free man. There is a great sense of dissension felt through this lyric, which gleans from Dame and Rip’s intolerable relationship.

Throughout the song, questions are asked, just as one finds themselves asking questions throughout Irving’s story, and such questioning displays the perplexing quality and obscurity of the tale. “I'm feeling awkward I'm feeling tongue tied” seems to derive from Rip van Winkle’s line, “that flagon last night..has addled my poor head sadly.” The soft singing, resonating guitar strums, cymbal swishes, and buzzing of the synthesizer play up the vertiginous descriptions of the rolling Catskill mountains, and Rip’s desire to escape from his wife’s rath.

Together song and story intertwine to address the hardships and wonders of Rip van Winkle’s life and the change in spirit of a quiet colonial village in the pieces "I Could Be Dreaming" and "Rip Van Winkle." Although composed during extremely different time periods, the essence of both are very much alike and speak to human emotions.

Hello! We Asians are right here!

http://nyti.ms/2e0F76M

This world is not as monotonous as it is made out to be; in addition to black and white, the color ‘yellow’ shines bright and adds diversity. Nevertheless, many today seem to take this and many others for granted when talking about race, failing to give any credit to or show appreciation for their presence. Racial discourse focuses solely on black versus white, overlooking the millions of other colors that should be placed into the conversation. These days, no matter how much or how often the society has been disputing about ‘racism’ to achieve equality for all men and women, it has failed to highlight the entire spectrum of the issue. People are in fact too engrossed in the matter of ‘black racism’ that they have been blinded to the injustices that are still being inflicted upon Asians, including an indifference to the emotional distress experienced by Asians due to a lack of education on this subject.

In this twenty-first century, where racial issues are at the forefront of global discourse, the topic of ‘asian racism’ is seldom to be found, making it difficult for Asians to speak out when faced with injustice. While media coverage with racism has increased with the aggravated severity of extreme violence, there is a continuous void in the discussion of prejudice against Asians. News outlets such as the New York Times embellish their front pages and websites with tragic photos, shining a spotlight on the conflict between African Americans and white police officers whenever such incidents occur. In addition, songs, articles, and poems about these tragic deaths get released with the goal of arousing deep sympathy, sorrow, and grief from the general public. On the other hand, the study from the charity, The Monitoring Group, claims that "British Chinese Asians experience perhaps even higher levels of racial violence or harassment than those experienced by any other minority group" (Thomas). Nonetheless, the victimisations are often overlooked because the victims are unwilling to report the case. This resistance to report the incidents is in part due to pressures from the society. The fact that discussions about racism is dominated by prejudice against African Americans leaves Asians susceptible to be diffident to stand up for themselves. Asians often face the fear of not being taken seriously when they report cases of discrimination, since the general public is not used to exposed to such cases personally or in the media. The reality of this situation has clearly implanted the message to Asians that their voice will be completely neglected in the adversity that they experience.

Due to society’s indifference toward racism against Asians, the degree of emotional distress that Asians encounter are completely ignored. In fact, rather than viewing it as racism, people find amusement in the emotional distress of Asians. In addition to being mocked because of physical features such as eye shape and hair texture, Asians even endure comments like “Hey you have an eggroll coming  your way.” And as if the physical insults are not bad enough, Asians even suffer from the erroneous stereotype that they are innately intelligent or “good at math” subjecting them to extreme pressures that are unfair. Even if the academic excellence is attained, the arduous effort is not acknowledged and rather taken as the norm, while if one fails to reach the standard, he or she gets blamed for being the ‘dumb’ one. The injustices and distress that Asians are forced to encounter because of the actions of ignorant people who behave without fully being fully aware of the harm they cause is the issue that must be addressed and publicized.

The source of this sorrow can be traced to the lack of a comprehensive education on racism, which should go beyond the issues of just black and white. In order to establish a more peaceful world for the following generations, the community, political leaders, the media, educators, and the like must be wise enough to recognize the potential pitfalls of excluding ‘asian racism’ in the education for equality and tolerance. In reality, the historical absence of this education has negatively influenced the youngsters and adolescents for generations; the elders who are authoritative and should be positive influences for those who look them for guidance are still, to this day, setting immoral examples. For one instance, a boss at a company called his Asian employee “chinker-bell”, and the Asian employee’s lifelong best friends proceeded to laugh and call him the same. “Chinker-bell” may as well as offensive to Asians as the N word is to African-Americans; however, nearly everyone would deem the N word much worse, simply because it is presumed a bigger deal in society. Recently, the New York Times bravely took the first step in disseminating the topic of Asian racism by producing a video collage that includes the interviews of Asian-Americans living in America frankly revealing their realities and recounting their experiences while living in America.  This is just the first step, and others must follow suit in this quest for global equality.

Asians make up 60% of the global population, and it would be a massive loss for the rest of the 40% non-asians to continue down this path of discrimination towards them. Asian have so much to offer in the advancement of the international community, yet the indifference to the prejudices they face must come to an end. Therefore, further consideration of asians, including their suffrage from racism, should be no longer be callous and postponed, but immediately put into action. This society must bear the responsibility of discussing a wider range of racism, and a plan of action to expand the focus of education on the full color spectrum must be no longer postponed.