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FRIDAY - FeBRuARY 20 - 2009 NEwSPaPEr.rhhSwEB.Com FEBruary ISSuE

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OutgOing Oligarchy OfficiallyOustedby Obama

USAOn January20th, Barack HusseinObama was inaugurated asthe 44th President o theUnited States o America,amously becoming therst president not to beentirely white.

Guests onote at the ceremony

included ormer presi-dents Jimmy Carter,George Bush, Bill

Clinton, and George WBush, as well as Obamas

ormer rival or the demo-cratic nomination Hillary

Clinton, and ormer vice-presidents Walter Mondale,Dan Quayle, Al Gore andDick Cheney.

Te arrival o the out-going president and

vice-president was greeted byboos rom thecrowd, which were edittedout by manymajor news

networks. DickCheney arrivedin a wheel-chair, invitingcomparisons to

ctional character DoctorStrangelove.

Te invocationwas given by Reverend RickWarren, and musical guestsincluded John Williams,Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma,Gabriela Montero, andAnthony McGill, as well asthe Queen o Soul hersel,

Aretha Franklin.Obama was swornin on the same copy othe Bible used to swear inPresident Abraham Lincoln.Te oath was adminis-tered by Chie Justice JohnRoberts, who made severalblunders in the wording othe oath.

Fox News wast-ed no time declaring thatthese blunders invalidatedObamas presidency. Teoath was administered asecond time in the eveningto assuage any doubts.

Obamas inauguraladdress, highly anticipateddue to the comparisons

drawn between his speakingabilities and those o ormerpresident John F Kennedy,discussed the many prob-lems acing America and

the ideological directionObama plans to go in todeal with them.

One controversialmoment in the speech came when Obama includednon-believers among his listo the dierent aiths pres-ent in America.

Another con-

troversial moment camewhen Obama declared thatAmericans neednt put asidetheir values in order to havetheir saety. Several conser-vative pundits vocally dis-agreed with this.

Te ollowing day,Obamas rst acts as presi-dent included overturningthe secrecy orders on theBush Administration docu-ments and beginning theprocess o closing down theinamous Guantanamo Bayprison.

Obama, whosemother was Caucasian and whose ather was Kenyan,is hal-black, becoming the

rst nonwhite person tohold the oce. His plansor the White House in-clude building a basketballcourt.

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he word an hastraditionally car-ried around a lot oemotional baggage. Elicit-ing thoughts o deranged,oaming-a t -the-mouthstalkers, our modern per-ception o the archetypicalan is anything but positive. And this has merit: in ourincreasingly tech-centricworld today, there has been ashit rom old media, suchas the tried-and-true pencil

and paper ormat, to thesensory pleasures availablein television, music, and theinternet. By allowing or aninstantaneous depth andbreadth o knowledge, thesenew means or displayingcontent have empoweredour obsessive imaginingsbeyond what was possiblea mere decade ago. How-ever, regardless o your spe-cic brand o xation, be itbotoxed seductresses, orsparkly ctional vampires,there is a certain constancy

On Tursday Janu-ary 29th, whilemany o us roamedthe school halls anxious tond out our exam marks,students gathered in thecaeteria with looks o ex-citement and anticipationo their own. Tese stu-dents, hailing rom eederschools Moraine Hills,Crosby Heights and H.GBernard, were the uturestudents o Richmond HillHigh School attending theElementary School ScienceOlympics. Hosted annuallyby our very own ScienceCommittee, with the helpo Mr. Doucette, sta andRHHS Preects, the Sci-ence Olympics has gaineda reputation or being aun-lled experience or allthose involved.

Te day began with a fourish, starting with an address rom resi-

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Stories are best toldrom the beginning,and this story begins with the Jews. Since thelate 19th century, reactingto anti-Semitism and perse-cution in Europe, the ever-moving people had been

migrating in waves to Otto-man and later British Pales-tine in a modern exodus totheir national and spiritualhome. As Jewish settlementand immigration grew, sotoo did international po-litical and nancial supportor the creation o a Jewishstate. Te problem, thenand today, was that Pales-tine was never an emptyland just waiting or some-one to live in it it was thehome o the Palestiniansand the place where layerso ethnicities, interests and

religions always overlappeddangerously. From the be-ginning, the response o the Arab world and the Pales-tinian ethnic majority toproposed Jewish statehoodwas outrage.

Te Israeli dream(and the Palestinian night-mare) nonetheless becamea reality in 1948 when theIsraeli Independence estab-lished the Jewish state oIsrael within UN-approvedborders, claiming much oPalestine and dividing therest. ensions immediatelyexploded into a ull scaleinvasion o the new countryby several Arab nations, awar which redrew the origi-nal UN borders in Israelsavour and caused 80%o the Palestinian popula-tion to fee their homes asreugees. Tis is how todays

Gaza and the West Bank were created: they are theremaining Palestinian re-gions whose status, and thecondition o the people in-habiting them, has been thesubject o 60 years worth oconfict and controversy

Te tradition con-tinues. By 2005, the Pales-tinian Authority (the gov-ernment o autonomousPalestine) was controllingthe Gaza Strip and the partso the West Bank that werenot occupied by Israel andthe illegal Jewish settle-ments its been buildingthere or decades. Ten theollowing year, the Author-ity was eectively split be-tween its two actions: theruling Fatah party contin-ued to run the West Bank,while the Hamas movementtook over Gaza. Hamas was

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THE SPYGLASS

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Canadian Politicsf

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As the New Year approached, the world was gracedwith quite an interesting month o politics. Tereis a new ace and a new skin tone in the WhiteHouse, violence in the Gaza Strip hit an unprecedentedlevel at the end o last year, and the global economy con-tinues to crumble. However tempting it is to ocus ourattention on these pressing issues, we cant orget some othe exciting things happening within our own borders.

On the 27th o November, Stephen Harper an-nounced in his budget update a bill that would strip politi-cal parties o the $1.95-per-vote that the government orig-inally provided them. Although the ories had just comeo one o their best undraising quarter-years, the Gritswere on the verge o bankruptcy, and the Dippers (NDP)and the Bloc werent doing too much better. Some con-tend that this was simply a poorly-timed political moveon the part o Harper; others call it a necessary step in the

right direction, a step that would have given the Harpergovernment $24 million to spend (which is about 0.002%

BY VITHuSHAn JeYAKumARAn

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o Canadas GDP).Regardless o what it was, the opposition parties

reacted in a most predictable manner. As soon as PrimeMinister Harper proposed to cut the parties unding, theyrevolted. Tey correctly highlighted Harpers lack o ac-tion demonstrated in the budget update. Although manyories deended their leader by acknowledging that thepurpose o the update is to provide the people with a mereupdate, it only makes sense that Harper wouldnt haveneeded to mention any party-unding measures. Nonethe-less, he did so, and the opposition parties were right to

demand more signicant action.Heres where it gets crazy. Dion, in an eort toturn the economic crisis into a political game himsel, de-cided to create a coalition with Laytons NDP and Du-ceppes Bloc. Tey threatened a vote o non-condence (inessence, another election) within days o the budget i theConservatives didnt cede to their demands. Unortunatelyor them, a week isnt enough or the Conservative Party oCanada to bring orth well-planned and thought out scalmeasures, and nobody wanted the government o Canadato spend $300 million on another election.

So the Conservatives did the only thing theycould do: stop Parliament or a month. Tis process, or-mally known as the pgt o Parliament, gave theLiberal party time to choose an interim leader and gavethe ories the time it needed to devise the budget it woulddeliver as soon as Parliament went back in session.

Well, January just came and went, and while we were rejoicing the ending o our exam week, Ste-phen Harpers Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced

in his budget a $64 billion decit over the next 2 years.Tis sounds somewhat strange coming rom the politicalparty that promised several times never to run a decitin hopes o being elected. Regardless, the only thing wecan do to help get our country out o this recession is tospend money, and throw more capital into the mix. Tisway, companies can invest more, and can pay more wagesand salaries, and the cycle o spending is accelerated. Butthats a dierent article, or a dierent time. And MichaelIgnatie, the new leader o the Liberal Party, is making theright decision in letting the Conservative party continuewithout any unnecessary interruptions, but is keeping aclose eye on the measures put orth by the Harper govern-ment.

Te only way or us to get through these timesis to orget about politics. o orget about elections andvotes o non-condence. o orget about the ories andthe Grits, the Dippers and the separatists. Rather, we mustlook at ourselves as Canadians. Tink as Canadians. Act asCanadians. Ten, and only then, will we be able to get outo this great mess that is the global economic crisis.

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as radical as it was popular, and its denial o Israels rightto exist and its continuing use o terrorist attacks on Israelicivilians made the situation unacceptable or Israel. It re-acted with a blockade o Gaza, which has turned the Stripinto a humanitarian disaster. Te blockade continuedthrough a ve month ceasere with Hamas, which endedin December. Te rest is recent headlines. Hamas startedlaunching rockets (kindly donated by Iran) at southern Is-rael, and Israel reacted with a three week oensive calledOperation Molten Lead. Air strikes and ground orces hit

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CONSUMERISM CAN BEculturally cOstly

At Richmond Hill High School, there is a very uni-orm economic distribution: the majority o thestudents here are o the upper middle class, com-

ing rom amilies that have a sizeable disposable income.As a result, most students are able to dress in reasonablynew clothing and carry on their person at all times bothan mp3 player and a cell phone. O course, since it is thenorm at our school, most readers will not see how this isin any way something worth remarking. Te truth is, it is

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increasingly less remarkable: all over the western world,this upper middle class liestyle is taking over. Wonderul,you say? Cell phones or everyone, you exclaim? Not so.

Tis abundance o wealth causes a way o lieknown as consumerism. Essentially, it is a liestyle builtaround buying products, which really means a liestyle

built around buying products one does not need. Yes, thereader might say, but we want these things and they makeour lives better. Perhaps this is true, but there are a ewissues that need to be examined beore we can really un-derstand what consumerism means or us.

Te rst is a purely moral issue, and it is an oldclassic that has lost most o its power due to overuse, butit still bears mentioning. I you have more than you need,and others have less than they need, should you not giveto them? Tat is to say, i you can aord to always buy thelatest iPod, when that money could easily save the lives o adozen people in the third world, is it morally justiable tobuy the iPod? I am not attempting to imply that it is not;I am only raising the issue or contemplation.

Te second issue is one that requires a bit o asummary o our history as human beings. It used to bethe case that most people were trapped in lives whichconsisted o doing work they did not want to do solelybecause it was necessary to aord their survival. Tis isno longer the case in the modern western world, thanksto such developments as technology and socialism: now,someone can survive many years without making mucho an income. However, consumerism works against thismodern comort. Tough necessities such as ood andshelter are now relatively easy to aord, an individual in aconsumerist culture needs much more than these things:they need a television with digital cable or at least satellite,

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a computer with internet access and Windows Vista or atleast XP, they need a cellphone with a plan that will allowthem to send text messages as well a s phone calls, and theyneed several sets o reasonably ashionable clothes withsuch rills as actory made tears to imply a sel-evident a-cade o poverty. An elegantly uniorm suburban house anda car or SUV, or, i one wants a amily, both these thingsare also necessary, though not until ones thirties. Becausethese things have become so culturally expected, and be-cause altogether they cost more money than most peoplecan make doing something they enjoy (because o courseone gets paid more or doing something one hates), mostpeople are trapped in a lie o white collar slave-labor: most

people have no viable option other than to spend hal otheir waking hours doing something they despise. It is aorm o culturally created and indentured servitude thatrobs many people o their opportunity to nd authentichappiness through sel-actualization.

Another crucial issue with consumerism is thedistribution o power that it creates. Because most peoplework or corporations in order to be able to spend moneybuying rom other corporations, as described above, thisgives said corporations a tremendous amount o wealthand power, not to mention the power they are able to de-rive by means o using their wealth to infuence politicians.Te problem with giving corporations so much power is aairly straightorward one: they are organizations devotedentirely to sel-interest at the expense o the general public.Tis means that consumerism really is not in the interesto democracy, as it strips the people o most o the littlepower our electoral system provides them.

O course, in the coming depression, a consum-erist liestyle will be harder to sustain. Tis article is nottrying to attack your liestyle, dear readers, but only toprovide you with ood or thought, so that you might havean easier time relinquishing your voluptuous decadence,your seductive luxuries, beore they are taken rom you bythe orce o economic collapse; because, ater all, i thesehabits o yours are torn down by orce, there is no reasonthat they will not take you with them.

Hamas targets across Gaza and destroyed tunnels underthe Egyptian border that were used to smuggle weapons(and necessities). Fighting reached Gaza City, and by thetime both sides declared separate ceaseres on January18th, 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

Te strip is in ruins, and the atermath is predict-able. Hamas is ar rom destroyed, rocket re has resumed,and tunnels are being reopened by ordinary Gazans whouse them to smuggle supplies. Controversy about Israelsactions is increasing as new reports add to what was knownbeore. Facing an enemy that hides in mosques and uses

urban areas with civilians as shields, Israel had no choicebut to ght the way it did. However, the destruction oUN acilities (including a school) and the use o shellswith white phosphorous that burns through houses andpeople (illegal in civilian areas) are being called into ques-tion by the UN and human rights groups.

Gazans will rebuild, and the story will continue.Its a story in which good and evil switch depending on theday o the week and the paper youre reading, and wheretheres only one certainty: the people o Palestine are los-ing.

ONCE UpON A TIME IN ThE MIddlE EAST

As a steadily increasing number o people are be-

coming iPod junkies, it is nearly always guaranteed thatyou can spot someone with the signature white ear budsno matter where you look. From in class to in the halls,many people sport these headphones no matter the timeor place, but are these headphones sae enough to be wornor a long duration? Many people question the saety andpotential hearing loss due to these headphones.

Te problem with the ear buds is that they areplaced directly into your ear. By inserting these ear buds,the sound level o the music is usually increased to aboutsix to nine decibels, which is comparable to the noise levelsomewhere between a vacuum cleaner and a motorcycle.Te louder the volume o your music, the harder it isto hear quieter sounds. Because you cannot hear quietsounds as well as usual, it makes it harder to dierentiatethe background noise rom a speaker. Hearing loss willnot be as big o an issue in a quiet environment, like athome, but where the background noise is prevalent, suchas in a caeteria, it will make understanding others wordsharder.

Depending on the length o time that youare listening with the ear buds, you can cause seri-ous damage, not to your eardrums but the part oyour ear which is much deeper; the nerve bringing thesound to your brain. Tis nerve is made up o tinyhair cells and i these hairs are stimulated or too long(by listening to your music or an extended period otime), they will begin to lose their unction. I exposedtoo many times, they will eventually die o. Tese cellsare not replaceable.

I listening to iPods or mp3s is your thing, youmay want to think about purchasing a background-noisecanceling set o earphones which go around the ear ratherthan directly in. As well, try to reduce the time that youlisten to your music. Te possibility o hearing loss willdecrease signicantly i you listen less. Finally, dont lis-ten to your music too loud, 50-60% at the maximum. Iyou eel the need to turn up your music to tune out othernoises, that is an indicator that you probably shouldnt in-

crease the sound at all. Why age prematurely?

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In December o 2008, three emale employ-ees at a KFC ranchise in Anderson, Caliornia werecaught taking a bath in the dishwashing machine.Even better: they took pictures o themselves, andposted them on MySpace with the caption good timesat KFC. I youre wondering what kind o womenbathe in KFC dishwashing tubs...well, the picturebelow says it all.

Osama bin Laden has run out o money!Good news or America; the terrorist in chie ismaking requests or fnancial aid, which is a suresign that hes almost out o unds (hes never askedanyone or anything beore), and his latest pressrelease was a terrible-sounding audio fle in lieu othe high-quality videos he usually produces.

Amazing, as a word, is generally used in apositive way. However, a certain Chicago man is also

amazing; in court or his latest charge o drivingwithout a licence (his 13th, mind you), his judge sen-tenced him to serve 13 days in jail (coincidence?),and this man was not to drive until he completedthose 13 days. Immediately ater leaving the court-room, the same man spent a ew minutes cleaningand dusting o his car, ater which he climbed in anddrove away. Amazing. He was stopped and broughtback to the courtroom 22 minutes later, in ront othe same judge, who sentenced him to jail startingimmediately. Throughout the entire proceedings, thisman was wearing a ull-length purple aux-ur coatand a uzzy purple edora-and his car was purple.Amazing.

A 23-year-old man was apprehended byAustralian customs ater the latter discovered twolive pigeons in the ormers pants. The pigeonswere wrapped in paper and padding, and stuedin his tights. Suspicion arose ater two eggs,several seeds, and an eggplant were discovered inthe mans luggage ater disembarking a 10 houright rom Dubai to Melbourne. The man in ques-tion could be fned $71,000 US and sentencedto, at most, 10 years o prison or smuggling. Thepigeons were not injured in the process, at leastnot physically. In the last three months, a porta-potty pyrohas set more than 20 portable toilets ablaze. Thearsonist, or possibly group o arsonists, has causedapproximately $50,000 US worth o property damage.Although the frst ew incidents took place at night,recently they have been happening in the aternoon.Police are still looking or those behind the trail oburning plastic and waste. The lack o witnesses hasmade the investigation much more difcult. Luckily,nobody was injured.

In recent years, piracy has been on the rise. And thisisnt about a tanned Johnny Depp or storeowners withboxes lled with ake DVDs though. Tese are Somalipirates o the coasts o Arica, armed to the teeth withAK-47s and rocket launchers; what once were groups odisgruntled shermen, by taking advantage o the chaos inan unstable country, have now become organized feets omarauding bandits.

Over the last couple o years, these pirates haveevolved and developed various ship-capturing tactics. Lar-ger ships, usually hijacked vessels called mother ships,are being used as mobile bases, rom which smaller boatsare released, enabling them to reach greater distances romthe coasts o Somalia. Small boats or skis, disguised ascoast guard or ocials, then board ships. Unsurprisingly,the crews are more than happy to surrender to the pir-ates, due to the latters weaponry, which includes semi-automatic pistols, assault rifes, explosives, and yes, eventhe occasional axe.

Within the last year alone, there have been 293reported incidents, 49 hijacked ships and nearly a thou-sand hostages taken. With over $150 million US collectedby these pirates last year, no wonder anti-piracy has be-come such an important issue, taught at many maritimeacademies in North America.

Without the massive black powder cannons o theearly modern era, ships have been let deenceless againstautomatic weapons and explosives. Since arming the shipsis illegal in most countries and leaves crew members earulo mutiny, ships have turned to non-lethal deence. Tepirates move ast on small boats, boarding massive shipswith grappling hooks and rope ladders. Once on board,they either raid it or goods or hold it or ransom. One othe most eective ways to stop these modern high sea pir-ates is to keep them rom boarding in the rst place.

At the Maine Maritime Academy, students arebeing taught non-lethal ways to deend ships and preventpirates rom boarding. Tese techniques include the use ohigh-power water hoses, lights, observation methods andevasive manoeuvres. Although these techniques are notnew, there is now a new sense o urgency to teach them.

TDSB aDminiSTerS a more DiverSe curricu-lum in SchoolS

It has been over a year since the rst suggestion o anAricentric alternative school, and in the midst o thecontroversy, the oronto District School Board has takenits rst step to combat the 40% dropout rate among blackstudents.

DSB, the largest school board in Canada, hasprepared a new Social Studies curriculum or elementary

school students, which includes units that go beyond a Eu-rocentric ocus to meet the needs o a diverse population.Late in January, about 120 teachers and principals

across the GA, o many who were o Arican descent, at-tended an all-day training session or the new curriculum.

Despite the act that the curriculum is still in itsprimary stages o development, the educators have t in thesmallest details such as using the term enslaved Aricansrather than slaves to avoid more negative connotations andstereotypes.

Te curriculum, which is already in eect in someschools, covers units or all levels o elementary school.In kindergarten, where children rst learn to communicateeectively by listening and speaking, a new Aricentric cur-riculum could mean learning about the storytelling tradi-tions in West Arica. Te teacher will have the opportunityto share Arican legends or olklore, and later expand on thetopic to cover other subject areas such as geography and sci-ence by locating Arica on a world map, or teaching about aparticular animal introduced in the story.

Students in Grade 2 may learn about Arican nam-

ing traditions and how people o Arican descent who hadlost their names due to enslavement have tried to reclaimtheir names.

Built into the Grade 3 curriculum o studyingearly settlements in Canada, students will also learn aboutArican-American communities which were ounded bythose who escaped slavery rom the United States.Early Arican civilizations will also become a part o thecurriculum, and students in Grade 5 will have a chance tocompare and contrast them with early European and SouthAmerican civilizations.

In Grade 8, students will study rom a new historycurriculum which has integrated Aricentric aspects, such asthe Anti-Slavery Act passed in 1793 and the development oArican-American settlements such as Drummondville.

Te new curriculum will be used whether or notan Aricentric alternative school is built, and it is the schoolboards goal to reduce the dropout rate to 15% among blackstudents by 2014.

T r o U b l E o n T h E

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unorThoDoX BaTTerY uSeS PeePee

In an age where excessive garbage and the usage o un-natural chemicals is rowned upon, companies are mak-ing an eort to introduce new technology aiding us inthe upkeep o a healthier liestyle. Recently introduced in

Japan by the Aqua Power System is a rechargeable battery,capable o running o o various liquids- including water,soda pop, juice, saliva and surprisingly, even urine.

Tis environmentally-riendly battery has beennamed the NoPoPo (Non-Pollution Power) aqua battery,appropriately named considering that using these natu-ral substances reduces the harmul chemicals producedcompared to a standard battery. Available in AA and AAAsizes, these batteries can be recharged using a small pipette,essentially causing small amounts o carbon and magne-sium to react with the liquid to produce a charge, in turnproducing power. Especial ly interesting is that unlike con-ventional batteries, these batteries can keep their charge upto ten years, although having a nite amount o times thatthey can be recharged.

Unless you plan on travelling to Japan anytimesoon, youre out o luck getting your hands on one o theseecient on-the-go batteries. A European release is in theworks, but the date has not yet been ocially released.

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noPoPo baTTErY

BY DAnIelle RoSensei stff wite

Finally, a scientic explanation on why we are attractedto certain peopleWith February being the month with ValentinesDay, one cant help but sense the love in the air. Youre walk-ing down the hall, your eyes turn to a couple, and the guy is abit gross. Not exactly the guy you would want holding yourhand. But you ollow the held hands and catch a glimpse othe beautiul girl and think that they were brought togetherby a matchmaker whose eyesight isnt too keen. How can thisbe possible?

Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher may haveound the answer, and the surprise is, it can be proven scien-tically. Fisher says that there are certain brain chemicals thatrelate to certain aspects o our personalities. A study doneon Chemistry.com with 40,000 people helped identiy whattype o temperament a person was and who would they beattracted to.

Using academic literature, it was realized that cer-tain brain chemicals could be associated with dierent per-sonalities. Dierent expressions o the chemicals dopamine,norepinephrine, serotonin, estrogen, oxytocin, and testoster-one in their respective systems can be associated with ourdierent temperament traits.

Explorers, people who express dopamine, tend tobe curious, creative, impulsive, optimistic and energetic andare risk takers. People who express serotonin, Builders, arecalm, traditional, community-oriented, persistent and loyal.Tey are also cautious, but not earul. Directors, people whoexpress testosterone, are usually very analytical, decisive, andtough minded. Tey like to debate and can be aggressive.Te last group is the Negotiator. Tey express activity in the

estrogen system and are broadminded imaginative, compas-sionate, intuitive, verbal, nurturing, altruistic and idealistic.According to Fisher, these our types o temper-

ament can determine who you will be attracted to, somewhatlike an astrological sign but this method actually has scienceto back it up. Explorers are attracted to Explorers, Buildersto Builders, and Negotiators and Directors to their respectivetype. But actually testing or these chemicals has been prov-en dicult because many participants are rom the collegepopulation. Participants may be taking drugs like Ritalin,Prozac, birth control pills, cocaine, all o which alter theirbrain chemistry.

Understanding your own temperament type may beuseul in nding your perect partner. Dierent types havedierent views o intimacy and dierent things that they arelooking or in a partner. People belonging to each type mayeven use dierent words to describe certain things. Certainpeople can be attracted to words, i the words that they arehearing match their temperament type. Especially on dates,by understanding someones temperament, one can create abetter level o intimacy and be able to reach people more e-

ectively. By gathering more and more inormation aboutthese brain chemicals and temperament types, scientists maybe more and more closer in understanding the place o biol-ogy in love. Maybe now each o us will have better luck innding our signicant other by inspecting their chemicals in-side their brains. Who ever said the science geek couldnt getthe girl?Anew study has recently revealed new inormation onour environmental issues, suggesting that, even iour CO2 emissions were to drop substantially rom

their current levels, there will nonetheless be long termrepercussions that last or at least a thousand years.

Te reasoning behind this actually relates to howcarbon cycles through an ecosystem, particularly where itgets trapped in specic sinks. Te most important exam-ple o a CO2 sink would be the oceans themselves, whichstore the gas as Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3). In act, ap-proximately hal o the carbon dioxide released in the past200 years has been simply absorbed by the oceans, whichis the equivalent o about 240 billion metric tons o car-bon itsel.

Tis leads to some interesting results. With its

incredible capacity or storing CO2, the oceans actuallyact as a sort o buer against changes in atmospheric car-bon dioxide. Currently, as we are releasing more and moregreenhouse gases as a result o manmade actors such as in-dustrial activity, the oceans are actively working to capturemuch o the excess gas. However, i we were to attempt anambitious reduction in our emissions, the oceans would work against us, slowly releasing stored carbon dioxideback into the atmosphere.

Tis is a rather sobering idea, particularly orresults-oriented people. orn between a concerted eorttowards what eectively amounts to nothing, and a po-tential worsening o the situation, there really is no roomor recovery anytime soon. In act, i one were to look atthe rapid increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, a 40%change rom pre industrial revolution levels to approxi-mately 385 ppm (parts per million) today, it is immedi-ately apparent that even this static result is a bit ambitious.

In act, optimistic orecasts predict that, even ia rather aggressive 450 ppm may be our stabilizing point

in the uture, weather changes, temperature change, andwater level rises are here or the long term.Nonetheless, this isnt the time to bust out the

canned goods, and prepare to spend the next thousandyears hidden under a rock. Tere are currently strongtrends towards more sustainable environmental practices.Hot o the heels o a strong economic recession, eciencyhas grown to be a mandatory actor in most corporate andresidential decisions. Dramatically reduced industrial out-put, as a direct consequence o our reeling economic con-ditions, doesnt hurt CO2 levels either.

Over the long run however, new legislature andincentives such as carbon credits, which are currently na-scent developments, will take wing and possibly limit ouroutput sooner. However, these remain a wild card in theequation, a uncertainty in the ace o guaranteed environ-mental change or the oreseeable uture.

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Q:Wow a girl rocking the taekwondo world!Tere must be a story behind this. How didaekwondo rst become your interest?

A: Hah. How it rst became my interest? Not so much.I hated taekwondo or hmmve o the eight yearsIve taken it. I came home crying almost every day in kin-dergarten, so my dad made me start taekwondo in gradeI believe it was grade two. He said I needed to learn todeend mysel since I didnt have an older brother thatcould protect me.

Q: First at provincials sounds quite amazing. Anachievement like this sounds like just a momento glory, but just one moment o honour may take asmuch as a lietime o eort and hard work. How muchdid you have to put into taekwondo to get such an

award?

A: Haha quite a bit? I train three hours every Saturdayrom ten in the morning till one in the aternoonand an hour and a hal on Fridaysthose are the spar-ring classes. Lets just say every Friday and Saturday I getnew bruises rom sparring, which is basically ghting withchest guards and whatnot, they heal over the week just intime or a resh batch o bruises the ollowing weekend.On Tursdays I usually go or an hour or two, dependingon how much homework I have. Tose are the classes Ialmost never miss. Ten, I go once or twice or an houror more on uesdays and Wednesdays i I have time. Sothats training anywhere rom our to ve times a week. Itused to be more when I lived in Scarborough but its kindo ar when you live in the north end o Richmond Hillyou know? Oh but the unny thing is, I didnt train tocompete. It was more like I did that trainingand com-peting just sort o happened. But either way, Im makingit sound really tough, but its notquite that bad Youknow, once you get over the whole doing homework andeating in the car thing.

Q: Is there someone that truly infuenced you orsomeone that was your motivation or your dili-gence?

A: Oh, Master Kang! Hes one o the instructors at mytaekwondo school, hes my master. Hes amazing!!! Imsaying hes my master because hes one o the ew instruc-tors that have really earned my respect. Sure, Ive been letpretty dead ater more than a ew classes rom crazy andtiring speed or stamina drills, but he puts so much eortinto teaching us, coaching us, and just pushing usin agood way o course. Ive learned so much and improvedso much in the three years that Ive been training withhim. Hes one o the reasons or why I nally started liking

taekwondo. Plus, hes CRAZY at taekwondo!!! He used tobe number one in his division in Koreaand to win a tae-kwondo tournament in Korea? It is crazy impossible. Youhave to ght something like ten matches to place, and Imean just placing, not winning gold. Oh, I cant orget myparents whove driven me around all these eight yearsespecially in the last one and a hal yearsall those drivesall the way to Scarborough, you have to train hard i theyspend that much time driving you, waiting or you anddriving you back.

Q: As or the recent uture, do you have any plans in

your taekwondo career?

A: Haha, I wouldnt say I have acareerbut in therecent uture? Well, I have my third provincial tourna-ment coming up on Feb. 28th, and then Im o to nation-als on May 16th-17th, so wish me luck!

Q: Looking urther, what are some goals that youhave in the eld o taekwondo? Any plans?A: Uhwell, this is actually my rst season compet-ing at the provincial level and I havent been to many

tournamentsless than ten maybe in my whole lie so ar.I barely have any experience compared to a lot o the girlsthat compete with me, but well see how junior nationalsgo this year and next year. Ten who knows? I I train re-ally hard, maybe Ill place in the nationals and get to someinternational competitions Ive thought a little aboutgoing to the Olympicsbut hardly. Its just a thought inthe corner o my mind. I mean, its a big thing. aekwon-dos a part o my lie, but its just a hobby. Well see hownationals go in May this year, and then well see how theygo next year and go rom there.

Q: Tanks or being patient there and theres justone last question. Personally I have had the luckto see youa kicking away and doing awesome moves,but many o the people who are in awe reading this atthe moment are probably wondering i theres any waythat they could have that experience watching you aswell. What do you think?

A: HAHAHA! I think Ill take that as a compliment Im actually thinking about starting a club next year, somaybe then? Or i not, Ill let you know about any demosor tournaments that youd want to see You could al-ways come to Scarborough and watch me trainbut thatwouldnt be much un.

BY KATIe KImstaff writer

BY AlICe Youstaff writer

gria Ch a 15

BY AlICe Youstaff writer

I aazi at: Visa Arts

edward Waa 15

Anyone who knows Edward Wang will tell you thatart is his lie. Currently in grade 10, Edward hasgained a school-wide reputation or his artistic tal-ents. Te drawing on the let is an example o his work. Ihad the opportunity to interview to Edward recently.

Q: When did you rst start drawing?

A: Ive been drawing orever. Back in kindergarten, Idrew a picture o a black and white killer whale usingpencil crayons. Others thought it was pretty good.Q: Whos your avourite artist?

A: I have a lot. I like Monet and his use o colours. Hesan impressionist I learned more about two years agowhile doing an art project. I was supposed to draw some-thing based on a amous artist. So, I chose Monets paint-ing called Lady with a Parasol. I also like Damien Hirstwho is an abstract artists. I read about him in the news-paper and then researched him. Hirst apparently made abutterfy collage using real butterfy wings.

Q: Which artist style do you most resemble?A: I have my own unique style which was infuenced byall the artists work Ive seen and also by my art teacher.

I like drawing 2D cartoons, but Im pretty fexible in whatI can create.

Q: What inspired this picture? A: Its called House. My riends Jennica and Nathanielwere talking about their dream houses, which I thoughtwas really cool. Teir ideas were original and creative, andI thought it would be perect to draw or the paper. Imdedicating it to them. Its black and white ink sketch.

Q: What are your uture goals?A: Im to be a doctor, but I plan to keep drawing orever.

Q: Vincent Van Gogh said, Te only time I eel aliveis when Im painting. Do you agree that this ap-plies to you and your art?

A: I agree. When Im drawing, I get really into it. Itspretty intense. Im very ocused on the art at that point.

Q: Do you want to be amous?A: O course!!!

Q: What do you want the students at RHHS to knowabout you?A: I want them to know that I believe you can do any-thing i you really try. Tis applies especially to art be-

cause there are no hard and ast rules. Its about you creat-ing your own world and expressing yoursel.

Tank you so much or agreeing to this interview. I wishall the best in your artistic pursuits.

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Some may know her name, others may not. Regard-less, Esther Phua is one o the most colourul andvibrant characters under the roo o RHHS. An ac-tive member o the school community, she also has a deepappreciation or art and music.

Among the many talented individuals who tookto the stage that night, Esther Phua won her category orsolo perormance in the annual 2008 Star Search with acalm and mellow rendition o Priscilla Ahns Dream, sing-ing along to the strumming o her acoustic guitar.

Having asked her a ew questions regarding herperormance, Esther showed that her perormance was notinspired rom the willing and wanting o stardom, or toshow o to the world her wonderul skills, but rather, adelicate show o sel-expression. As she said,

o th is th s is, lon waksin the dark throuh woods rown behind the park, Iasked god who Im supposed to be. As pai as thatrhy is, it spaks trth it y i. I ski adsarchi; I tryi t discr s srt dirctii y i.

And although its a common misconception thatgreatness comes rom pure talent alone, Esthers accom-plishment stands tribute to the importance o hard workand eort. Ater all, that and the necessary passion are

what make a talented musician its about love more thanit is about skill.

Ater a heart-warming perormance, all her hardwork and practice paid o, as her name was called out indramatic ashion. Te crowd cheered and cameras fashedas she made her way up the stage to claim her prize. Whenasked how she elt about winning, she said:

I was srprisd. I wi vr b ab t shrd ik JShi, r bt ik Sth grfd, s it sd a ittair i s ways.

Although she makes a good point, at the end othe day, everyone deserved to win. Te talent in RHHSis just so diverse, with so many awesomely talented peo-ple hidden amidst the crowd o seemingly commonplaceRaiders. Yet without a doubt, Esther deserved no less thanwhat she got the trophy that will orever set her name inthe history books as the winner o the 2008 RHHS StarSearch.

When asked about next year, Esther said or sure butsomething wildly dierent. I anyone can play the glock-enspiel, harmonica or ukulele, contact me!

Tus we can all look orward or what Esther may have instore or next years talent show. Until then, Esthers musiccan be ound at myspace.com/estherphua.

THe gReAT AmeRICAn nAPKIn - THe SummeR SKInnY

BY ZImu ZHustaff writer

esthr Phaa 16

Hopes Dreams

long waks in the dark through woods grown behind the park,

I askd gd wh I sppsd t b.

BY DonAlD mAKstaff writer

25eams. 4 Pools. 1 Identical goal. o be the YorkRegion Athletic Association (YRAA) Champi-ons, you must be the best senior girls tier onevolleyball team in all o York Region. Richmond HillHigh School is only one o the six teams in the centralpool, ghting or a chance to make the playos.

Coached by Ms. Pugh, and led by team captainNailah Francis, the team practices 2 to 3 times a week andplays an average o around 1 or 2 matches per week. Teseyoung and athletic girls work hard, together, to overcomeseveral obstacles and challenges.

Were a pretty strong team, but there are alsomany other strong teams in our pool, Maggie Clark, ateam member, comments. Another team member, Rox-anne Guo, reveals, I think we are a good team individu-ally, but just need to work together when we are down in agame. She describes how it is sometimes hard or a teamto ght their way back up to level the score.

Currently third in the central rankings, Rich-

mond Hill High School has a match record o 4 4, anda total o 13 points. Teir biggest worry is Tornlea Sec-ondary School, which has a record o 6 wins and 0 losses.Although mediocre this season, the girls have done prettywell in exhibition tournaments that do not aect their sea-son. Out o the 3 tournaments they played, they haveclaimed the championship title at the Vaughan tourna-ment. Tis will give a much needed momentum boost totheir so-so season.

When asked what your avourite memory wasthus ar, Maggie Clark immediately responded, Winningthe Vaughan tournament, denitely. Now all these girlshave to do is transer their success onto their season games,and they can really advance ar.

I they can stay in position to get into the roundone playos, they will play on Tursday, February 19 at3:30pm, possibly on home tur. Hoping to advance be-

yond that round, the next step is the YRAA ournament,where the top 8 teams o the school board battle it out.Another incentive to do well may be that they get a dayo school to play at Alexander Mackenzie High School orthis tournament on uesday, February 24 at 8:30am. Pro-vided that they can progress urther than the semi-nals,the much anticipated YRAA nals will be played in theevening at 8:00pm on Friday, February 27.

It would be a dream come true i they can beYRAA champions and even go as ar as the Ontario Fed-

Mid-Season

eration o School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) level.Te biggest key to winning matches and moving

orwards is condence. As long as this team truly believesthat theyve got what it takes, theres virtually nothingstopping them rom reaching their goals.

With a belie that this team can do better, OlgaKhuskivadze adds, We have greater potential than whatweve shown so ar.

&Pht By mles Tn,

http://www.ickr.c/phts/ys_ta/

Sch Fbrary | P. 5

dent Student rustee Vithushan Jeyakumaran, as well as rom special guests Bill Ho-garth (the Director o Education) and School rustee Peter Luchowski. News coverageo this event spanned beyond our newspaper to include Rogers V, who interviewedvarious students and sta involved in the days activities. Ater a brie introduction to thedays itinerary, students were set o to immerse themselves in a day lled with scienticlearning and exploration. Students participated in competitions located throughout theschool building designed to test their knowledge o basic Chemistry, Physics and Biology.

Events included a Biology Game Show, Hurricane Engineering, Polymer HighJump, Mission to Mars and many other, aptly-named skill-testing competitions. Tesecompetitions allowed grade 8 students to get a taste o high school science while alsonding creative solutions to science-related problems and working as a team. Te airo Richmond Hill High School was lled with the laughs o budding-scientists or theduration o the day.

Andy Chen, President o the RHHS Engineering Club and one o the key exec-utives involved in organizing this event, remarked on the impact he hoped to make onthe grade 8 students; Te main purpose o the science Olympics was to get the publicinterested in science again, the kids visit their school in an event which prompts themto collaborate. Tis introduces them to the learning and competitive, however riendly,environment o high school. Tis was the shared mindset o the Science Committee,which worked dedicatedly towards making this event a success. With over 80 volunteers,10 supervising teachers and 8 events each with a team o science students rom variousgrades, organizing the Science Olympics was a grand undertakingall or the love oscience.

As the day came to a close we bid arewell to the grade eights, leaving them atera warm closing address rom our Principal Mr. Glezakos. Leaving our school were not thesame grade eights who had entered just a ew hours ago, but uture Raiders, and perhapseven the next Einstein, Newton or Galileo.

A GoLd METAL EvEnT AcHiEvEMEnT AT RHHS

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o th ay vts that stdts participatd i. Bth th stdts ad hprs ar vry bsy drithis vry iprtat day.

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UNDERWORLD

QuestioningAways QstiPerhaps you dont remember Always Question. InSeptember o 2008 the organization renewed theireorts to spread reading material around RHHSincluding pamphlets that showed the current and ormeradministration in a negative light. Te most scathing parts were regarding the GSA (gay-straight alliance) and the

visit o F.W. De Klerk (ormer president o South Arica).Following several attempts at distributing this readingmaterial it seemed as though Always Question had simplydisappeared, but had it actually accomplished anything?

Ater some phone calls, our reporters were able toget an interview with a representative o Always Question,one that admitted to both ailures and successes, and gaveus some insight as to where they stand today. Te inter-view went as ollows:

Q: What was the intent o Always Questions campaignat RHHS?A: We were trying to spark political consciousness, as wellas expose the dirty history o the school

Q: What did you think o the response by the school?A: We expected a response - but not to that extent, wewere not prepared or the extent o the actions taken bythe school especially in terms o violation o our reedomo speech

Q:Do you think you accomplished anything? A: No not really, basically the action committee and ev-erything regarding that particular incident ell apart buthopeully we planted the seeds or uture political action

Q: Have you learned anything new rom this experi-ence?A: Tis opened our eyes to the amount o resistance andtaught us little tactical things (eg. Hand stu out like reeood to get peoples attention)

Q: Is Always Question going strong? A: Te organization is currently going through manychanges; we are aiming a lot o our current work at inter-city schools instead o suburbs. We realized that the major-ity o students didnt have the sort o interest in the issuesthat we had hoped or.

Looking at both the administration and AlwaysQuestions view o the confict at RHHS, it seems that allparties can agree it was an exercise in utility. Neither sidehad anything to gain as Always Question ailed to createits desired impact while the school administrations harshresponse may have damaged its reputation and encour-aged urther actions by similar groups. In act, even sourc-es rom within the RHHS sta admit that the administra-tion has made serious mistakes, though it is evident thatthose made by Always Question overshadowed them.

Always Question? What about Always Solu-tion?, asked one source. Perhaps Always Question has torealize that not all questions have answers, and the answersthat do exist cant be ound by placing the blame on theshoulders o the administration. Ultimately, ater AlwaysQuestions collapse, where does everyone stand? It is un-clear whether the administration will act dierently in theace o the next challengers to authority, and certainly noschool policies have changed as a direct result accordingto an inside source. As or Always Question, the uture isuncertain, but they have conceded that the high schoolenvironment as at it stands in Richmond Hill is not con-ducive to their cause. Perhaps this is an indicator o ourintelligence, or maybe, just maybe, this is a statement oour ignorance.

Miley Cyrus nds hersel yet in another photoscandal ater a picture o her slanting her eyeswhich is being called racist. Te term slant eyeshas long been a derogatory term or Asians.

Te Organisation o Chinese Americans, anAsian-American advocacy group, issued a statement say-ing, Te photograph o Miley Cyrus and other individu-als slanting their eyes currently circulating the Internet isoensive to the Asian Pacic American community andsets a terrible example or her many young ans. Tis im-age alls within a long and unortunate history o peoplemocking and denigrating individuals o Asian descent.

Not only has Miley Cyrus and the other indi-viduals in the photograph encouraged and legitimized thetaunting and mocking o people o Asian descent, she hasalso insulted her many Asian Pacic American ans, saidGeorge Wu, executive director o OCA. Te inclusion oan Asian Pacic American individual in the photo doesnot make it acceptable. Te group demanded an apologyrom Cyrus.

Ive also been told there are some people up-set about some pictures taken o me with riends makinggooy aces! Well, Im sorry i those people looked at thosepics and took them wrong and out o context! Cyrusblogged on Wednesday.

In NO way was I making un o any ethnicity!I was simply making a gooy ace. When did that become

newsworthy? It seems someone is trying to make some-thing out o nothing to me. I that would o been anyoneelse, it would o been overlooked! I denitely eel like thepress is trying to make me out as the new BAD GIRL!

I eel like now that Britney is back on top oher game again, they need someone to pick on! Lucky me!haha Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know what ison my heart. You guys know me and have been by my sideevery step o the way! You guys know my heart and knowthe most important things to me are my riends, amily,ans, and GOD! In NO WAY do I want to disappoint anyo you! But, when I have made mistakes in the past, I eellike Ive owned up to them and apologized.

Famous or her role in the hit Disney Series Han-nah Montana, where she plays the title character, MileyCyrus has achieved international stardom in the short timeo two years. Tis recent photo scandal comes ater nu-merous other photo related incidents rom her Vanity Fairphoto shoot in which she posed topless, and provocativepersonal photos that have suraced on the internet.

People are determined to ollow Miley Cyrusevery move, as she is becoming one o the worlds mosttalked about celebrities. It seems that she is breaking awayrom being Disneys little star and attempting to ree her-sel rom the Hannah Montana persona. With Te Han-nah Movie possibly being the ranchises end, Miley Cyrusis nally ree to move on to bigger things ollowing in theootsteps o other ex-Disney stars like Shia LaBeou, Hil-ary Du, and Lindsay Lohan. But none o them achievedstardom like Cyrus did at age sixteen. Will she crash andburn or will she be able to recreate hersel to an actress orartist that can be taken seriously?

Wiped o its modern warare, advanced tech-nology, contemporary ashion sense and thelongevity o the historic rivalry between ly-cans and death dealers, Underworld: Rise o

the Lycans is a story o beginnings. With Rhona Mitra asa resh new heroine, and ormer supporting actors MichaelSheen and Bill Nighy as current main actors, this prequelurther explains the hateul eud amidst werewolves andvampires.

Setting the dark atmosphere right away, the storyunolds as Lucian (Sheen) is born as the rst werewol ableto take human orm, a lycan. Viktor (Nighy), the vampirelord then takes advantage o the situation and starts breed-ing lycans to be used as slaves and daylight guardians. Tesocial pyramid is broken when Lucian has an aair withViktors beloved daughter Sonja (Mitra). Tis Romeo and Juliets star-crossed lovers situation does not go withouttrouble. Soon discovered, Viktor sentences Lucian todeath, but ultimately catalyzes the war between these twoimmortal bloodlines.

Te movie then jumps into action, the pace accel-erates, and it does not slow down until the very end. Very

graphic ght scenes with medieval weapons lead to lotso blood and gore appropriate to its 18A rating. Camerashots were quick and similar to those o the Bourne mov-ies, and Quantum o Solace. Detailed computer generatedwerewolves were so explicit that it eels as i they actuallydo exist. In addition, the black tones and blue tints setthe dark and mysterious mood, while also providing animpressive visual imagery.

Underworld: Rise o the Lycans has a plotlinethat is solid, not too complicated, but not too simple ei-ther. However, there were moments where the story wasunocused and sometimes had loopholes. As the tale pro-gresses, the movie soon nds its course and grandly sailsthrough. Tough some may nd this story lacking twists,it is deliberately predictable. Tose who have watched therst lm, already knows how it is going to end, but thismovie is about the journey, not the destination. Wherethis prequel ends, it opens the road back to the rst Un-derworld movie starring Kate Beckinsale.

As long as you know lycans are werewolves, anddeath dealers are vampires, the rst two lms do not haveto be watched to understand this movie. However, watch-

Tit: udrwrd: Rise of the lycans

Starri: micha Sh, Bi nihty, Rhamitra

F Fact:Writr ad actr Kvi grvis pays Raz (rcy kw as th bi Arica Arica wrw with thray dp vic) ad was rprtdy ispird t writ this strybcas itrracia dati tsis. Wh wdv ssd?

ing the rst lm would denitely allow you to enjoy thisone more. I you have absolutely no gratication in thisgenre, then this movie is not or you. I you have not seenthe previous lms, but are interested in this epic war oimmortal creatures, then you should probably go watchthe rst movie and then watch this on the big screen. Iyou have seen Underworld, and are only slightly curiousabout the beginning, wait or a DVD rental. Tis thirdinstallment in the ranchise may not surpass the original,but does redeem itsel rom the disoriented sequel. Un-derworld: Rise o the Lycans ultimately provides a pleasantthrill, which will please the majority o action lovers andUnderworld ans.

r i s e o f t h e l y c a n sBY DonAlD mAK

staff writer

review

Sweet li Miey

At It Again...

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behind this behaviour. In act, recent research has revealedstrong basic trends in our choices, such that every an-persons obsessive roots stems rom a set o undamentalprinciples, splashed with a heavy dose o Darwin and asprinkling o Freud.

o clariy some o these basic ideas, it helps toreer to modern scientic speculation regarding specicexamples, such as the timeless question as to why speci-ic traits such as blonde hair, tanned skin, and wide hips

have historically tended to appeal to testosterone-ladenmale adolescents. Studies done as recently as Septembero 2008 have demonstrably shown that these character-istics increase levels o attraction, which has led scientiststo believe that we instinctively select or potential matesthat can maximize our tness, which, in biological terms,reers to the number o viable ospring one has, not onesphysical strength. Blonde hair tends to ade quickly as oneages, so it is hypothesized that bright yellow locks act as asort o indicator as to a womans healthiness, an idea whichis mirrored by the sun exposure implied by bronzed skin.Similarly, wide hips imply a better ability to bear children,which refects this motivation as well. In this sense, theridiculous an appeal o the typical emme atale has less todo with higher order thinking, and more to do with oursubconscious desire to keep a bit o ourselves clinging toour collective gene pool.

Now, you may be thinking that this is a bit o a

lie. Ater all, what about those wonderul intangibles, likethat dreamy voice, or that Nobel Prize in Physics? Well,recent proposals suggest that dopamine, a neurotransmit-ter that allows dierent neurons to interact in our brains,is primarily responsible or our romantic love response, aswell as the risk-reward duality that drives procrastination(both o which probably ruin school averages). Te typi-cal example o this was a study published in 2002, whereanthropologist Helen Fisher showed a group o 40 peopletwo photos, one their crush, and one o an acquaintance,and analyzed their neurological response. It turns out thatthe photo o their inatuation opens dopamine pathwaysin an area called the prerontal cortex, as well as triggering

dopamine production in the brain, which suggests that itis the chemical that drives these romantic thoughts. Inter-estingly, looking at the picture also simultaneously inhib-ited the amygdala, the section o the brain associated withear. More importantly, dopamine acts as a neurotransmit-ter in the cortex, where higher-order thinking occurs, andits here that a wonderul personality or abulous richnesscan actor in as a potential plus when searching or theperect person to stalk.

Interestingly, this means that love, lust, and ocourse, crazed an obsession, is induced by a duality be-tween sel preservation and more controlled motivations.Compounding this, by inhibiting the amygdala, anmentalities also reduce ear, which explains some o thebone-headed moves that people have made in the past.One needs not search hard to nd stories o the ridiculouscollective power o headstrong ans: Complaints were re-cently made by Soho residents that spectators at a JonasBrothers perormance at the local Apple Store disturbedthe peace by screeching non-stop, injuring residents, and

slowing down trac. And this behaviour is global too! OnJanuary the 16th, 2009, one particularly adoring angirlsent her passport and home address to aiwanese BoyBand member Wu Zun, asking him to elope with her,while he was on tour promoting a new album. Evidentlyobsession not only draws on our imagination and unda-mental instincts, but it also limits that tiny earul voice inyour head that prevents you rom making those particu-larly unwise decisions.

So, let this be a lesson learned: Te next timeyoure staring incredulously at a particularly anaticalriend, just keep in mind that they eel no ear, and havethat irritating little desire to keep their genes alive or thenext generation. In that sense, our modern day xationwith photoshopped, cosmetic-surgery-enhanced beauty isjust another example o our earless pursuit o sel preser-vation.

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Pht By Cleb Scnscit.http://ickr.c/phts/sraphic/108577092/

Unortunately, the television produced or our gen-eration is, on average, unspeakably idiotic. TeHills? Te OC? Come on, thats not television,olks. Let me suggest something a little dierent, or thesake o your own intelligence. Flight o the Conchords iscomposed o two twentysomethings rom New Zealand,Bret and Jemaine, and the show revolves around their bi-zarre lives in New York City. Te plot o each episode is

crated so they can insert these unbelievable songs that themembers o the duo write themselves. Te humor is dryand subtle, like it should be. None o the cheap laughsound on most other comedy shows.. and I know its hardto sit or hal an hour without seeing a at guy getting beatup, or an old lady arting, or a little black kid making dirtyjokes. I know. So trust me, this is like nothing else youveseenits good. Easily 4.5 out o 5.

BY mARTIn FoXsenior staff writer

Ad th Acady AwardShouldnot go To...

The ReaderSLUMDOG

MILLIONAIRE

and...

THE REST

BY mARTIn FoXsenior staff writer

Fiht th Ccrds Review

Kate Winslets perormance in Te Reader is probablythe best out o her Oscar group. Jolie comes close orChangeling, but Winslets role was denitely more chal-lenging, and to be honest, probably her career high. Sheshould also be given credit or another interesting and Ithought good perormance in Revolutionary Road. Shehas been nominated six times in her lie, and, similar tolast years Scorsese win, she has to win an Oscar even i she

would not ordinarily or her single perormance in TeReader this year simply because o her number o nomi-nations and her undeniable and strangely unconrmedtalent. Te lm, however, should not win Best Picturebecause it simply isnt as good as it wants to be. Much othe dialogue sounds sel-important - stating truisms in aGerman accent does not indicate any real depth o mes-sage. Te trailer employs, stupidly, two perect examples,the rst being Societies think they operate by morality,but they dont and We are trying to understand!. Teresult o both these lines when uttered in the movie, alongwith others like them, is a shaking o my head and a wors-ening o my opinion. I also dislike the very Hollywood-esque manner in which these two characters slip into arelationship with each other. Te character o the boy isa bit shallow and cinematically hackneyed, , and thus notreally eligible or any proound connections, but HannaSchmitz is a ascinating creation and she should have beenexplored just a little bit more during the start o her rela-tionship and during the trial. Overall, a great lm, but not

Oscar-worthy because its simply not moving enough, notintelligent enough, and not provoking enough as it meansto be, and as it needs to be to win the Oscar.

*Th 81st Acady Awards wi b hd Fbrary 22, ad wi b hstd by th dspraty drvad HhJacka. As sa, cptiti is vry cs, ad dbati th rits ach f is y vry avritthis t d. Hr is y ccis tak this yars ctdrs:he more I think about Slumdog Millionaire, the lessI like it. Its charming, yes, and it denitely knowshow to hold the viewers attention. However, its a clear-cut case o mainstream cinema selling sizzle and not steak.Te relationships are tenuous and unrealistic, and whenseen with an objective eye, the entire premise is ridiculous-Ill explain in a second. One o my more specic bones topick is how awul Dev Patels perormance is. You overact-

ing clown, your next job will likely be in Old Navy com-mercials ater such a ludicrous and wholly incompetentperormance. Tere was no call! Please. About hal yourlines were mediocre, and the other hal, laughable. Teonly excuse I can think o is that his character is in actaverage, and so his perormance necessitated a certain mo-notony to be real-but I dont buy it at all. He conveyed nota single emotion with any realism, and I could not believehow fat his acting was in comparison to the eye-catchingcinematography with which the director clearly made noeort to make as realistic as Patels perormance. Testorys central relationship, as is the acting which createsit, is blatantly orced; only in Hollywood could a personbecome so devoted to a girl he knew or a ew days at a ewyears age. Tere is not an ounce o realism or truth to thismagical bond, which purports itsel to be touching andromantic but, to me, only rings alse and makes me rollmy ever-critical eyes. I understand that its very easy to allin love with this movie, but I hope the Academy is not sojuvenile as to praise this sugary and clich-ridden movie

or anything more than what it really is; two enjoyablehours o saturated colour, music, and movement, but notmuch else.

Unortunately, I have not seen Milk, and Im out ospace to comment on the others. I just want to say, inas ew words as possible, that Changeling should DEFI-NIELY have knocked Slumdog Millionaire o the top 5list. Tis year, there have been several movies that haventbeen nominated, like Te Wrestler and Gran orino, butyou cant nominate everybody. Changeling, however, is asdramatic as Frost/Nixon, as engaging as Benjamin Button,

as good a story as Slumdog Millionaire, and is acted as wellas Te Reader. I cant see why its been superseded by avastly inerior lm (you know which one Im reerring to).Te plot is about a corrupt police orce, a desperate wom-an, a missing child, and a psychopath; Im not going to tellmuch more because its nothing short o breathtaking. As amovie, it foored me, and the story develops naturally, theacting, very good. Teres no such thing as a perect movie,but this one comes close. Clint Eastwood directed it (verywell), but I really didnt like his other lm, Gran orino,because it was tarred by some o the years absolute worstperormances. I realize its dicult or a 70-year old whitedirector to make Asian gang violence look realistic, but itsunacceptable how bad the acting was throughout the lmby anybody who wasnt Eastwood himsel. Te ending wasvery, very good, and surprisingly, I didnt predict it-a goodsign.

I cant wait or the Oscars, because or the rsttime in several years I actually have no clue who will winin most o the categories, though Ive always guessed and

more oten than not been correct in previous years. Eachlm nominated has its merits, but theyre all very dierentand I didnt particularly like any o them much more thananother. However, you cant have ve lms all lose...

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8/14/2019 The Spyglass: February 2009 issue

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