That night you told me to be careful in a way you could not be careful yourself.  The next morning you walked down the stairs with confident ease and slid into the backseat of his car like it was as simple as falling. You waved through the window with fluttering fingers and then glanced backwards over your shoulder as you drove away.

It’s a beautiful terrible thing to be in love with you.

As the Ferris wheel circled, your face came into view once again. This time, you smiled at me and I looked down, embarrassed, and fidgeted with my necklace. When the ride stopped, you left your ticket booth only to witness my clumsiness. Janet and Rose hopped out of the cart gracefully while I stumbled into an awkward fall. And what was then so mortifying for me became the moment that I am most grateful for.  You extended your hand to help me up and as you held my fingers in yours, you asked me if I would wait until your shift was over. Much to the surprise of my two friends, I did wait. Even throughout the hard years, it was a decision I have never regretted.

You know that expression two’s company, three’s a crowd? You’ve never understood it. That’s because you’ve never been the crowd. You have never been the one that nobody likes, the one that gets “the look”. You know which one. The one that makes you hunch over and feel small, that makes your stomach drop and your heart race.

After you’ve done your first self-indulgent act, you need to do another. And another. And one more after that. You will feel full. You will feel in control. I know you’re a badass deep down, and soon the world will too. You can stop dressing in your silly little bowties and slacks and you can swear and speed and smoke. Once you do that, give me a call. Who knows, you might even need some company in your castle.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep is essential for a person’s health and well being. Without it, we  experience irritability, moodiness, and impaired memory. This could mean that you end up forgetting everything you studied last night for that big test tomorrow.

Here are a few lessons I’ve learned over the course of my high school career on how to make sure you keep up on sleep:

1. 1.      Take naps. If you need to make up for a few lost hours, a daytime nap is a great way to pay off your sleep debt without disturbing your natural sleep pattern.
2. 2.      Don’t drink coffee. Being an artificial boost, coffee will interfere with your sleep pattern and should be avoided whenever possible.
3. 3.      Commit to a sleep schedule. Carrying a sleep debt throughout the week with the hopes of paying it off on the weekend is a bad strategy. Instead, compress your work during the afternoon hours so you can set a specific bed time, in order to get the 6-8 hours you need each night.

Thanks for reading, and good night!

A Seattle man was sitting in his car on a January night, when suddenly a thug ran up and started trying to pry the car door open. The man started to dial 911, but before he could, a man in a tight body suit ran up and chased the criminal away.

The man in disguise was Phoenix Jones. His real name is Ben Fodor and he patrols the streets of Seattle with the Rain City Superhero Movement, a group of eight costumed crime-fighters. Jones wears a black and gold body suit complete with bullet and stab-proof armor. Nearly every night, Jones enters a secret compartment in a comic book store, and comes out in uniform ready to try and keep the city safe.

The act of dressing up in a costume and trying to put an end to crime seems like something out of a children’s movie, but surprisingly, it is happening right now, all over the world.

There are caped-crusaders in England called Nightbow and Shadow, and in China, a hero called Rosebud Woman helps her city’s homeless and needy. In Canada, Vancouver’s “Thanatos” does the same by handing out food and blankets to people on the street while dressed in a trench coat and wearing a skeleton mask. Yet another  hero named Polarman has been guarding the city of Iqaluit Nunavut for almost a decade, looking out for vandals and shovelling walkways for the elderly. Closer to home, in Windsor Ontario, the Crimson Canuck plans to make the city’s downtown safe and even here in Toronto, a superhero called Ark who wears combat gear regularly breaks up fights and helps the needy.

This “Real-Life Superhero” movement is gaining attention. The website www.reallifesuperheroes.org is where many of these heroes’ exploits are posted and where current superheroes can give tips on how people can become do-gooders like them. The website boasts of over 660 members, and although over 300 of those members are Americans, real-life superheroes can be found worldwide.

Unlike superheroes in comic books, most real-life superheroes act within the law and not as vigilantes. Although some of them wear bullet-proof vests or stab-plates and carry self-defence items such as pepper-spray and Tasers, very few get into fights unless they feel it is necessary and they prefer to contact the police should problems arise.

However, in 2011, Seattle superhero Phoenix Jones was arrested for pepper-spraying people who were fighting. Jones was arrested on assault charges and later appeared in court wearing a button up shirt over his costume. After his court appearance, he unmasked himself and vowed to keep fighting crime, saying that the only difference between him and anybody else is the fact that he has decided to make a difference and stop crime in his neighbourhood.

Jones has taken a lot of criticism from people who believe that he acts recklessly and dangerously. Police have urged him to stop taking matters into his own hands and to call 911 instead when people’s safety is endangered.

The RCMP had the same message to give to a group of teenagers in Chilliwack B.C who were luring sex-offenders to public places then dressing up as comic-book heroes and confronting them. Law enforcement urges real-life superheroes to be wary of the situations they put themselves and others in. After all, they don’t have real superpowers to get out of a tight fix.

Still, these incidents of recklessness do not reflect the attitude of the real-life superhero community as a whole. The Real-Life Superheroes organization will not allow people to register with them if they believe that the hero in question acts dangerously and endangers the public rather than defends it.

Real-Life Superheroes’ website has a blurb that states: “We are Real Life Superheroes. We follow and uphold the law. We fight for what is right. We help those in need. We are role models. We will be positive and inspirational. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. Through our actions we will create a better brighter tomorrow.”

Most of us won’t be running around in masks or costumes any time soon, but real life superheroes undoubtedly set an example for positive action and behavior.

For a few months now, Banksy, one of the most notable street artists worldwide came to Toronto to display his work.  He has made front page news using Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s distaste for graffiti the theme of his artwork. There was one particularly striking piece depicting Rob Ford giving the finger, another one with Ford eating a streetcar, and lastly, the Ford brothers portrayed as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Not surprisingly, these art works came with controversy. While many found them amusing political commentary, many others were offended. Regardless of political opinion however, it is clear that Banksy was using street art as a powerful platform to reach the public.

That being said, it has been argued that artists like Banksy lack the courage of their conviction since many street artists choose to hide their true identity Since it is against the law to paint graffiti, street artists risk being charged for vandalizing property. Due to property owners being unwilling to let others decorate their property, it is unlikely that graffiti (and therefore street art)  will become legalized in the near future.

The question of whether or not street art should be painted over and discouraged has been discussed time and time again. I believe that street art is an integral part of Toronto beautification. It enhances our urban landscape and transforms concrete to art. As with any art form, everyone has different preferences, but it is undeniable that street art expands typically views of art as being gallery-only. So should street art disappear? I don’t think so.  Some of the art is undeniably beautiful. By having art viewable while walking down the street, taking the subway or going for a drive, we are given the chance to view art in our everyday life.

If street art was more formally recognized as a legitimate and socially-acceptable art form, it could be embraced. Artists will probably never be free to paint wherever they please, but if the talent of street artists is recognized, property owners can and will choose to invite artists to paint their buildings and expose their art to the public, creating a compromise that is beneficial to everyone.

In the last decade there have been a slew of apocalyptic movies. From the chillingly realistic to the dreadfully cheesy, here’s a countdown of the past decade’s top three end-of-the-world films.

War of the Worlds (2005): It’s a concept we’ve all seen before – aliens verses humanity – yet Steven Spielberg executes it with such finesse. Based on the H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name, the story centers on the Earth’s efforts to protect itself from an alien invasion. Tom Cruise delivers a solid performance as protagonist Ray Ferrier, and Dakota Fanning is phenomenal as his daughter. However, it is the imagery that makes this movie note-worthy. Spielberg captures the terror and panic of war spectacularly. British film magazine Total Film compared the first alien attacks to the memorable war scenes from Saving Private Ryan. War of the Worlds‘ gripping visuals make up for the anticlimactic end scenes, making this film a worthwhile Saturday night flick!

The Day After Tomorrow (2004):  A slightly more realistic take on the concept of  apocalypse! In The Day After Tomorrow, global warming has altered the planet’s temperature  leading to a premature ice age. The movie follows mankind’s struggle to survive against the forces of nature. Special effects play the starring role here, with a predictable storyline. Patrick J. Michaels, research professor of environmental science at the University of Virginia, described the movie as “lies dressed up as ‘science’…to influence political discourse”. Paleoclimatologist William Hyde of Duke University said that the movie was “to climate science as Frankenstein is to heart transplant surgery”. That’s a valid point, but Frankenstein made an excellent movie didn’t it?

2012 (2009): As the title suggests, this film, directed by Roland Emmerich depicts the end of the world in 2012. A sudden increase in the Earth’s core temperature is the catalyst for a string  of global natural disasters. Earthquakes, floods and tsunamis, oh my! A tsunami collides with the white house, the entirety of Los Angeles slides into the Pacific Ocean, and that’s just the beginning. Needless to say, the story  is derivative. The characters serve as little more than background noise to the visuals and by the end of the film, you find yourself not knowing anything about their personalities at all. Of course, that may be because more than half of them have been killed off. Still, the special effects are spectacular – as they should be, given the film’s $200 million budget. USA Today described it as “the mother of all disaster movies”, thanks to its remarkable special effects and visual drama.

Whether the world ends in ten years or a ten-million years, here’s hoping we go out in style. And if our end is to come in 2012, at least we’ll have been well entertained!

Research indicates that the human species is not capable of executing and processing multiple tasks at once.  A study conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London in 2005 concluded that, “Workers distracted by e-mail and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than that found in marijuana smokers.”  Multitasking causes decreased efficiency and focus, resulting in increased time to complete work.  As students, multitasking contributes to an increased number of errors and a lack of quality  in our work. Moreover, multitasking decreases our attention span and ability to concentrate over long time periods, which may contribute to difficulty when writing tests and exams.

Jordan Grafman, chief of Cognitive Neuroscience at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke found youth’s learning routine to be instrumental in brain development and future learning strategies.  He concluded that multitasking will negatively affect our generation and decrease our success in the long run.

Russel Poldrack, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a study that determined, “multitasking causes learning to be more specialized and less flexible contributing to increased difficulty when retrieving information by memory.” This occurs because different parts of the brain are required to store and learn information when we are unfocused.  When partaking in a single activity the hippocampus region of the brain is used to store information, while those that multitask have activity in the striatum region, which is associated with new learning.

If there are no advantages to multitasking, then why does our society participate in it so frequently?  This is because our brains crave the continual switching between tasks.  It is like a drug, and the more we engage in this behaviour the more we hunger for it.

By making a conscious effort to only engage in one task at a time, students can expect to see improvement in their academics and other work. Some ways to ensure staying on task include making a To Do list, not putting things off until the last minute, and avoiding working in an environment with distractions such as a computer. Trust me, your brain will thank you for it later.

For Toronto Rehab, Canada’s largest academic provider of adult rehabilitation, it’s iDAPT. iDAPT – Intelligent Design for Adaptation Participation and Technology – is one of the most technologically advanced rehabilitation research centres in the world. But before we delve in to this state-of-the-art, 36 million dollar research initiative, first we must look at what rehabilitation means.

Perhaps the first image you get from hearing the word “rehab” will be of glossy-eyed teenagers being trudged into a dim jail-like facility. However, according to Toronto Rehab, rehabilitation is a science; the “science of helping individuals overcome the physical and cognitive challenges caused by injury or illness”. This covers a wide range of patients, from those affected by stroke, trauma, to those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Research has provided rehabilitation specialists with tools to help people affected by disability, it has helped patients with paralyzed arms lift objects using electric stimulation treatment, and developed artificial intelligence in homes which can detect falls and help those with memory problems live independently. With iDAPT, this type of research is taken to a whole new level.

Located in the heart of Canada’s “Discovery District”, iDAPT is host to multiple researchers, and comprises of over 65 000 sq. feet of research space. It is host to over 13 different labs designed to specifically cater to all the different ranges of challenges. These labs will not only help those affected by disability, but strive to come up with new technologies to avoid them. “Our view of rehab is to try and prevent people from having accidents so they don’t have to come to the hospital in the first place, “says Dr. Geoff Fernie, the vice-president of research at Toronto Rehab.

When entering into the 12th floor of Toronto Rehab’s University Centre, viewers will step foot into the HomeLab, a carefully constructed, single story living space with functional plumbing and wiring, designed to test out new inventions. Researchers are currently utilizing this research space to test technologies such as the Falls Detection System. This unique system has the ability to detect when a person has fallen, engage the person in conversation to find their needs, and place calls to 911 or a family member. Located adjacent to the HomeLab is the CareLab, a research space of a fully functional, typical hospital patient room. CareLab has been testing a system that lifts patients from their bed using air pressure straps, reducing the number of back injury for nurses.

The centerpiece of iDAPT is CEAL, the Challenging Environment Assessment Lab. This three-story subterranean space houses three giant pods, each about the size of a living room. So far, StairLab, WinterLab, and StreetLab are now functional, and a fourth hub, DriverLab, is in the process of development. “Until now, our ability to study how people with disabilities and older people function in the real world has been limited,” says Dr. Alex Mihaildis, a Toronto Rehab researcher, “iDAPT allows us to do research in a way that we were never able to do before. “ Take WinterLab. With a real ice floor (developed in collaboration with those who designed the NHL rinks), sub-zero temperatures, and the capability to produce winds up to 15km/hr., this recreation of an actual Canadian winter is suitable to test slips, falls, and new winter wear.

Feel like taking a stroll? Head over to StreetLab. This advanced simulator projects realistic images of the actual neighbourhood around Toronto Rehab, complete with moving cars, pedestrians, and changing traffic lights. A treadmill or a wheelchair is interchangeable to simulate movement. And be sure to watch out! Your startled reaction from that speeding taxi will be captured on motion capture systems, eye trackers and force plates.

In addition, this intricate motion sensor system (installed in all three hubs) will also record your fall reactions. Any of these three hubs can be placed on a motion simulator base; a modified version of flight simulator equipment used to train pilots. Developed by Netherlands-based International Development of Technology, this motion base can make even the smallest of movements – enough to jolt a person out of balance and simulate a fall.  All the hubs are equipped with an intricate harness system to ensure safety. Any of the three (and soon four) hubs can be placed on the base, which can also simulate different physical environments, such as slopes, moving surfaces.

iDAPT is one of the leading research facilities in the world. It has placed Canada in the lead of rehabilitation research. With this new era of innovation, breakthroughs using this advanced technology would help bring back the quality of life to people with disabilities. “We can help people live healthier, more active and more independent lives,” says Dr. Fernie, “This research will push the boundaries of rehabilitation science in Canada and beyond.”

For more information check out www.torontorehab.ca.

As I sat comfortably in my red velvet lined chair in the Music Box Theatre in New York watching, Jerusalem, I began to realize the importance of theatre. The man onstage just had his legs broken, his face singed by screaming hot metal and he was about to be ousted from his home by a battalion of police officers, but his only reaction was to take out his drum. In front of me, the actor began to chant to the giants, beckoning them to save him from his life-threatening predicament. He started to bang the drum ferociously yet rhythmically, as if he were preforming a divine ritual. The actor kept beating and beating the drum, the sound of his fist slamming against its taught skin, growing louder and more powerful with each beat. And then, something unexpected happened.

It was at this point that the world around me vanished. The velvet cushions beneath my arms melted away, the floor beneath me disappeared, and all of the surrounding audience members evaporated. For the moment, I wasn’t even aware of my own body. The beat of the drum became so powerful that it forced my heartbeat to change its tempo, to a point where both instruments were beating as one. My heart racing, I felt as if I had become part of the genius that was taking place onstage. Then, just as I thought the performance had reached its crescendo, magic happened right before my eyes. The protagonist, Rooster, shouted, “Come you giants,” as he hit his last beat on the drum. The sound cascaded off the walls and thundered into my ears, all the trees onstage began to shake. Curtains.

Although I view myself as a skeptical, reasonable, scientific man, the second the curtains dropped, the first thought that ran through my mind was, “Alright, so where are the giants?” I even found myself looking behind my back and up at the gold plated ceiling as if the giants were about to tear through the roof and save this distraught character. Rooster’s belief was so powerful that for a moment he completely altered my perception of reality. It took several minutes after the performance for my heart rate to slow down and for my rational mind to sink back into my body. But for those brief moments, I was somewhere else.

I was in a euphoric state because, I knew for certain that what just occurred onstage was magic; nothing more, nothing less. Just pure, imaginative, brilliance.  It was then, that all doubt was pushed out of my mind; all hesitation, reluctance, or cautiousness died inside me and I knew, then and there, that theatre is magic. That was when I truly fell in love with theatre.

Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary is currently one of the most controversial politicians in the European Parliament. A year ago, Orban and his party, Fidesz, passed a bill that limits the independence of the central bank. This means,that the president of the bank does not have the right to appoint his deputies but rather, they are directly appointed by the Prime Minister. Shortly after passing this law, Viktor Orban replaced all of the executives at the bank with people he deemed “more acceptable.”

Another controversial law passed was the “Media Law.” According to this bill, all articles intended to be published must pass a judging panel first; if this committee of appointed judges finds the content of the article to be insulting or offensive to a particular group the panel will be able to impose fines up to €700,000 (approximately USD$900,000). This law acts as a censor in Hungarian media and is “incompatible with Hungary’s human rights obligations”, according to the Human Rights Watch.

So why are Hungarians still supportive of Orban’s party?

Many Hungarian’s are protective of their sovereignty and feel threatened by the E.U.’s further austerity measures. “We won’t become a colony,” read several banners at the demonstration.

However, Orban offered to change some of his controversial laws, after the E.U. threatened a lawsuit against Hungary. Hopefully, with the collaboration of Orban’s party and the European Parliament, this small nation can regain its pride and rise from its falling status.

When the Burmese military handed over power to a new civilian government, most analysts dismissed the move as largely ceremonial, noting that most of the posts including that of President, Thein Sein, were filled by former army staff. However, since the handover, the government has taken previously unthinkable steps to transform the Burmese political system.

The first signs of change came after the government stopped work on the divisive Chinese-financed Myitsone dam, citing the widespread popular opposition to the project, as well as the massive environmental damage that the project would cause. Since the Burmese government is known to resent China’s influence, the freeze on the project was dismissed as routine pushback against Chinese hegemony.

Regardless, the government carried on, releasing the perennial opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Aung Sung Su Kyi from house arrest, and allowing her to compete in recent elections. In the past Su Kyi had been released, only to be quickly re-imprisoned as she inevitably began to campaign for democracy and freedom for the Burmese people. This time the government attempted to prove its sincerity by not only allowing her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to re-register as an official political party, but also to take part in parliamentary by-elections held on April 1st. While the by-elections were only for a small portion of parliament, the NLD’s ability to sweep the field, capturing 43 of the 45 seats, was seen as a massive display of popular support. Most impressive was the parties ability to win a seat even in the capital Naypyidaw, a city populated almost entirely by government employees, people who have supposedly benefitted the most from the ruling party’s reign over Burma.

Furthermore, the government has also released thousands of political prisoners, including a former Prime Minister, NLD members and many of the Buddhist Monks and other civilians jailed in the previous crack down that ended the ‘Saffron Revolution’ of 2008.

As one of the least developed nations in the world, the Burmese hope that the normalization of relations and the possible end to heavy economic sanctions put in place by the United States and Europe will invigorate the economy. The Burmese government is keen to attract foreign capital, using legal reforms to present a streamlined business environment, as well as an astonishing offer to waive all taxes for the next eight years to any new investment from outside the country.

In January, the Burmese led their first official delegation to the Davos Forum in Switzerland, eagerly advertising their warming relations with the West, and the opportunities that investing in Burma could offer. The delegation was optimistic that further domestic reforms would lead to the lifting of Western embargoes, and to more trade.

“We have a lot of things to reform and lots of things have to change: laws, regulations and institutions, not only in the political sector but also in the economic sectors,” stated U Soe Thane, the Burmese Minister for trade, “but sanctions are up to them.”

While many groups, including human rights NGO Amnesty International, are dubious about the regime’s motives, Western governments have been rapidly normalizing relations with the Burmese government. The United States has led the crowd, first sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on an historic visit to the country after the release of Aung Sun Su Kyi, and later fully restoring diplomatic ties with the Burmese government after the unprecedented release of political prisoners. Other governments have followed suit, with Norway and Australia removing visa restrictions and economic sanctions on Burmese citizens, and Canada sending its foreign minister John Baird to assess the progress of the reforms.  A State Department official described the current thaw in relations as “a concrete response to a concrete sign of reform on the Burmese side,” but warned that better relations between Burma and the west hinge on continuing improvements in political freedom.

Even with the continued reforms, many of the government’s worst habits remain untouched. Though often overlooked by Western media, the Burmese military has been at war with several ethnic minorities for over fifty years, leading to many massacres and unverified (though likely accurate) reports of war crimes by army units. The recent rollout of political freedoms has only recently spread to the conflict filled border zones, where most of the guerillas fight the army for their own ethnic homelands. The Karen National Union is only one of a number of ethnic rebel groups fighting the government for freedom and recognition. The government is said to be in talks with other groups on possible peace deals, and has even granted high ranking guerilla members audience with both President Sein and Ms. Su Kyi.

However, the civilian government’s ceasefire drive has been tarnished by a renewed army offensive against one of the groups supposedly in peace talks, the Kachin people. This fighting has already displaced over 50,000 people, many of whom are the same ones to whom the government claimed they had been listening to when they froze the Myitsone Dam project. Though President Sein has ordered the military to cease its operations against the rebels, it is unclear how much authority the civilian government has over the army. It is also not evident whether the current actions of the army represent a holdover from the government’s previous methods, or whether it represents the military’s continued influence over Burmese life.

As so much of the military old guard remains in control of the country, many question the candor of the government’s latest embrace of democracy and tolerance. The Burmese government has been known to shortly follow periods of increased freedoms with fierce crackdowns: in 1990, the military junta allowed free elections to take place, only to ignore the results when it lost and kill thousands in its bid to restore control. However, many believe there is enough evidence that the new government is sincere in its reforms. “It appears Burma has made more progress towards democracy in the past six months, than it has in decades,” said U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell.  As the reforms continue, people in Burma and around the world will be watching the fate of this forgotten nation. Revolution may have become bogged down in the Middle East, but farther on the changes continues, and perhaps soon Burma’s own people will taste that same spring wind.

However, the most interesting aspect of Beirut is its illustrious history, which  dates back over five thousand years. A team of Lebanese archaeologists are now attempting to discover the city’s past before modern day condominiums and skyscrapers are built over the historical sites.

An extensive archaeological project led by Fadi Beayno began in February 2011. To date, only remains from the later Ottoman period (approximately three centuries ago) have been discovered. Smaller remains, such as those from prehistoric times, are likely to go unnoticed. In the past Beayno had worked with foreign teams, who left in the late 1990s. He remembers that “from 1998 until 2005, there was a gap, there was no work.” However; he states that in the present day, “[archaeologists] are finally starting to understand the phases of occupation in Beirut.”

Assad Seif, the acting head of Lebanon’s State Department of Archeology, says that “There has been a void, but now we are taking responsibility for our own heritage.”

Despite being five thousand years old, Beirut only began to develop as a metropolis when King Herod Agrippa of Judea ordered the construction of roads, temples and water systems around the time of Christ. Gregory Thaumaturgus, a writer, even called Beirut “the center for the teaching of Roman Law”. However, ancient Beirut was destroyed by an earthquake in the year 551. The city regressed into a small town after the crisis, until it was rebuilt by the Turkish Ottomans. Under the Ottomans, universities sprang up, and industry improved. The city was destroyed again in a period of civil war from 1975 to 1991. The Lebanese struggled to rebuild their city, and generally neglected its heritage until 2005, when a team of archaeologists led by Seif asserted their desire to usher in laws protecting the historic sites of Beirut.

As more buildings are built in the city, more historical sites are being destroyed. Yet, it is without doubt that Beirut’s past is becoming clearer to its modern day inhabitants. Archaeologists are in a race against time, trying to uncover the past before it is permanently destroyed by the ceaseless development of the 21^st century. In today’s Beirut, it is a clash of eras rather than a clash of civilizations that threatens the cultural heritage of the Lebanese people.

Michael Christopher Coke was born in 1969, the youngest son of drug lord Lester Lloyd Coke. Although Coke grew up in a prosperous family and attended exclusive private schools, his family was shattered when his elder brother, Mark, was shot. Three weeks later, on the day of his son’s funeral, Lester Lloyd Coke perished in an unexplained fire while in police custody. Despite being the youngest child, Michael Christopher, known to his followers and allies as “Dudus”, took control of his father’s drug empire.

Coke headed a gang known as the Shower Posse. “They get their name from showering their enemies with bullets and their supporters with gifts,” says Toronto Police Service gang expert Detective Doug Backus. Backus also stated that, “the Shower Posse is responsible for over 1400 murders internationally.”

Coke’s prolific criminal activities have garnered attention from the American government. In 2009, they put him on the Consolidated Priority Organizations Targets list. Then, unfortunately for the citizens of Kingston, Christopher Coke got nervous.

Coke’s operational headquarters and main stronghold was the low-income neighbourhood of Tivoli Gardens, in the Jamaican capital city of Kingston. In a not entirely uncommon arrangement, Coke was the area’s unofficial leader. He provided services like education, health care and law enforcement—all  outside of the jurisdiction of the Jamaican government. In exchange for handing out free electricity, food and protection, the people of Tivoli Gardens rewarded Coke with almost unwavering loyalty.

In early 2010, the American government began pressuring Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding, a long-time Coke ally, to allow Christopher Coke to be extradited to the United States to face criminal charges. Unwilling to betray his friend and benefactor, Golding delayed and lobbied until May, when American threats prevailed and he agreed to the extradition. As soon as the news was announced, thousands of women from Tivoli Gardens filled the streets of downtown Kingston, carrying signs emblazoned with slogans comparing Coke to Jesus.

By the weekend, all entrances to Tivoli Gardens were blocked by massive barricades made out of discarded shipping crates and other detritus. Shower Posse members set fire to a police station and rained gunfire on an army tank, and the Jamaican police forces began preparing for all-out war.

On May 24^th, gunfire erupted in the streets of Kingston. Forces from the Jamaican Army and Constabulary poured over the makeshift barricades and began rounding up young men in Tivoli Gardens. Hundreds were arrested, loaded in buses and detained with or without charge for hours.

The real prize managed to elude the security forces.

“Shower Posse members did not believe that Christopher Coke would be taken alive when security forces moved in to arrest him,” says Det. Backus.  “They were wrong about that but were right when they spoke about the amount of deaths that would occur as a result of his arrest and the amount of people that would fight for him.”

In fact, seventy-three civilians and one solider were killed in the invasion of Tivoli Gardens. Coke escaped that day, but was later caught at a police checkpoint. On August 30^th of last year, he plead guilty to charges including racketeering and conspiracy to commit assault. He is now in American custody, awaiting a sentence of up to 23 years in prison.

The question now faced by American officials and Jamaican law enforcement officers is whether the arrest of Christopher Coke will have any effect on crime rates and the drug trade. Since the arrest, the crime rate has indeed fallen, with a 32% reduction in the Jamaican homicide rate, something officials attribute directly to the removal of the Shower Posse’s leadership.

In fact, the arrest of Christopher Coke, along with the crackdown on gangs in Kingston has had far-reaching effects, lowering murder rates to an all-time low for Toronto. In the same month as Jamaican police raided Tivoli Gardens, Toronto Police swept into gang-infested neighbourhoods in the downtown area.

These parallel raids have helped to reduce the amount of cocaine imported into Canada. “The Shower Posse’s members had control over many of the street gangs within Toronto, including the Five Point Generals and many factions of the Crips and Bloods. A portion of their cocaine sales would go to them and in turn to Jamaica,” says Det. Backus. Now that these street gangs have lost their figurehead and main source of leadership, they are losing their ability to evade law enforcement and continue their illegal activities.

The story of Christopher Coke seems to have drawn to a close. However, work still remains to disband the extensive criminal empire that he leaves as his legacy. One can only hope that this effort will be successful, since the world doesn’t need a sequel to the cinematic life of Christoph

The good news for Egyptians is that Mubarak and his aides have since been arrested, his political party outlawed, and Egypt has conducted its first free elections since army officers overthrew the monarchy in 1952. However, many major issues remain unresolved.

One of the main causes of the Egyptian revolution was the country’s poor economic situation. According to the United Nations, during Mubarak’s presidency 40% of the population lived on less than $2 a day, the inflation rate was at 10%, and only 15 other countries were in a worse economic situation.

Since Mubarak’s exit, revenue from tourism—one of Egypt’s major industries—has fallen by about a third and about one in four people under the age of 25 are still jobless. Small scale companies in Egypt have been forced to shut down, and those that still operate have increased workers’ salaries by 30%. However, even that isn’t enough to deal with rising inflation, which now stands at 11.6%.  Egypt’s foreign currency reserves have been reduced to $18 billion, down from $36 billion in January 2011, resulting in a downgrade of its credit rating. This has further increased borrowing costs for the country.

But none of this is really surprising—one can hardly expect a country to have a strong economy after experiencing a full scale revolution. The good news for Egypt is that foreign contributions that were delayed are expected to start pouring in, which could help the Egyptian government provide basic necessities to citizens.

Another  instigator of the revolution was the harsh military and police rule in Egypt. Prior to the revolution, Egypt had been in a state of emergency law, under which police powers were extended, constitutional rights suspended, censorship legalised, and indefinite and unexplained detention permitted.

Since the revolution, Egypt’s military head of state partially repealed this emergency law. Nevertheless, it remains applicable to crimes committed by what the state defines as “thugs”—a  vague definition which can include protesters as well.

During the revolution, many protesters were killed or wounded, however, police forces have largely gone unpunished with only one policeman having been charged so far. Egypt’s feared security services are still free to attack protesters with impunity. They did so most notably in November, when they clashed with protesters on the streets of downtown Cairo, resulting in 41 deaths. However, an election has recently taken place, meaning that a civilian will replace the military head of state in June and this new government will probably curb the violent excesses of the military service.

Yet another cause for the revolution was the restriction of free press and free speech. Under the ambit of the emergency laws, the Mubarak government frequently sanctioned home raids, torture, arrests, and fining of bloggers and reporters who criticized the government in any way.

Despite this censorship, social media played a huge role in the revolution. A Facebook page made by Google executive Wael Ghonim (who was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2011) helped sparked the revolution. Egypt’s level of press freedom has recently decreased because of periods of government crackdown on protesters. In the near future, however, Egypt will undoubtedly fare well in the area of media freedom. Today more than 15 million Egyptians are connected to the Internet and half of Egypt’s population is under the age of 25, meaning there will be no shortage of tech-savvy people willing to express themselves online.

Wael Ghonim said, “Revolution is a process; its failure and success cannot be measured after only a few months, or even years. We must continue to believe”.  A new government will be instituted in June, and we must believe in their ability to reform Egypt, and remember that countering the injustices of the Mubarak regime will be a long process.

Whether this change will actually happen is yet to be seen. In any case, talk at the convention was centred on commitments to reform the party’s processes and policies, including marijuana legalization. Despite all the noise generated by the party, the convention only exposed how the Liberal party has lost touch with ordinary Canadians and no longer is the “natural governing party.”

Sheila Copps and Mike Crawley were the front runners for the title of party president. Copps represented the old guard and perhaps it was this that made Crawley the favourite at this time of change. Crawley declared, “We have to realize that every vote we earn in the next election will come from the work we do from this day forward.” Unfortunately, his message comes about 5 years too late.

Other actions included the move to support marijuana legalization, though how the policy might benefit the party is unknown. The initiative is a popular one among the public, but advocating for legalization could open the Liberals to Conservative criticism. Now not only will the Liberals be portrayed as being “weak” or “just visiting”, but they will be unfortunately caricatured as the “Pot Party”.

The party also voted to allow “supporters”, not just Liberal Party members, to vote on leadership and policy. This is certainly an inclusive and democratic idea, but it could possibly have adverse effects  by blurring the party’s sense of direction.

All these reforms seem to work in favour for opponents of the Liberal party. As previous elections have shown, too often have Liberal policies and leaders been successfully attacked by the Conservatives. And too often have the Liberals responded late and ineffectively. The Liberal Party’s attitude is one of entitlement and complacency, and they can no longer expect people to vote for them just because they are seen as the default party.

This last election has shown that the party needs to diversify and reach out to a larger base. The convention delegates, for example, included many young people and many women, most glaringly were Caucasian. This seems contradictory to the party’s policies, having been the first party to adopt a policy of multiculturalism. They must act now, before they become a political relic of the past. As Peter C. Newman states, “the one-time power barons” are now “barren of power”. The journey back from the brink is not off to a good start.

The GSA aims to give LGBTQQ student members a safe environment for meeting and discussion.  Straight students are encouraged to join the GSA to add their voice to the discussion as well. Staff and students in the group strive to promote awareness of the stigma surrounding homosexuality.

The original GSA Network that inspired Haig’s Alliance is located in California, spans over 800 schools, and has spread to other states as well. Three years after it was started, Earl Haig brought the initiative further north by creating its own GSA with the same mission. Since then, support and awareness groups for LGBTQQ youth have emerged all over North America. These groups have even managed to broaden their reach with the benefit of online social networking.

Unfortunately, more often than not, gay support organizations are inspired by tragic events. In response to the number of teen suicides caused by homophobic bullying, Dan Savage and his husband, Terry Miller, began a campaign called the “It Gets Better” Project in September 2010. Endorsed by figures such as Barack Obama, Stephen Colbert, and Rick Mercer, the campaign has found huge success in reaching out to youth. The project’s website and videos have received  millions of hits since its launch.

Even outside of the LGBTQQ youth community, progress is being made. With Washington soon to be the seventh state in America to legalize same-sex marriage, it seems as though awareness is spreading more quickly than ever. Haig’s GSA has caught this wave, and provides an excellent opportunity for all students here to do the same. It is easier than ever to reach out, inform yourself, and take a meaningful stance against homophobia.

Earl Haig has become a testing ground for new films in the REEL CANADA program. This year we screened two films – a feature called Breakaway: a fun, energetic film about young Sikh Canadians who form an ice hockey team and with the help of their coach (Rob Lowe), break into a men’s pick-up hockey league. Canadian comedian Russell Peters helped produce this feature and appears in the film. But the breakout star of Breakaway is  young Vinay Virmani who also co-wrote the screenplay. Vinay came to Earl Haig for Q&As from the students after the screening and displayed his charm off-screen as well as on-screen.

Our second new film this year, was screened in O’Grady Hall for Ms. Sakhavarz’s and Mr. Low’s painting classes. They watched the gorgeously filmed documentary, West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson which explores the art and mysterious death of one of Canada’s most renowned painters. Director Peter Raymont, one of Canada’s foremost documentary film makers, was present along with producer Nancy Lang to dialogue with students after the film.

In the afternoon in Cringan Hall, students viewed a REEL CANADA favorite – How She Move – a hip-hop dance film. Two of the young stars were present for Q&As: Kevin Duhaney and Daniel Morrison. They seemed to have had as much fun as the Earl Haig students during the dialogue.

More than two dozen guests to the school also participated in this year’s festival including representatives from the Ministry of Education, our school Superintendent, Sue Pfeffer, and school Trustee, Mari Rutka. Thanks to all the students who participated and whose enthusiasm and behavior were exemplary.  And hearty congratulations to David Reid in the English Department for once again bringing this world class event to Haig!

In the mid-1970s, Margaret Atwood wrote a thematic treatment of Canadian Literature, Survival. While our context has changed considerably – e.g. the make-up of our population and the growing importance of film as text and story-telling – Atwood’s basic thesis remains relevant for us:

 

Literature is not only a mirror; it is also a map, a geography

of the mind. Our literature is one such map, if we can learn

to read it as our literature, as the product of who and where we

have been. We need such a map desperately, we need to know about

here, because here is where we live. For the members of a country

or culture, shared knowledge of their place, their here, is not a

luxury but a necessity.

REEL CANADA helps us rediscover the importance of our Canadian stories.

It makes sense then that these corporations are willing to take drastic measures to prevent online piracy, such as the recent push for bills like SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act).

Despite this lobbying, online piracy is nowhere near as serious  an issue as corporations in the entertainment industry make it out to be. In fact, it has recently been shown that the figures used to justify SOPA and PIPA have been blown out of proportion. Because they are based on faulty premises and research, these bills should not be passed, and the open sharing of files should continue on the Internet.     A 2009 report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry claimed that 95% of music downloaded at that time was illegal, and an analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation states that $12.5 billion is lost to music piracy each year.

Also, a study in 2005 by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) found that college students illegally downloading movies were responsible for 44% of the industry’s domestic losses. With numbers like that, it is easy to see why private corporations would want to end online piracy. After all, if the studies were to be believed, billions are lost to piracy every year.

The validity of these studies, however, is questionable at best. Almost all studies conducted on piracy share something in common: they were sponsored by corporations in the entertainment industry. In a report by the Social Science Research Council, director Joe Karaganis commented on this very issue, and claimed that “despite its ubiquity, piracy has been fallow terrain for independent research.” And he’s right, for such a hot topic of discussion, there exists very little statistical information outside of the data provided by the entertainment industry.

In reality, the entertainment industry only stands to gain by putting out inflated numbers. Interestingly, the aforementioned study by the MPAA was later corrected, bringing the percentage of industry loss down from 44% to 15%. The MPAA apologized and blamed the mistake on an “isolated error.”

There is also evidence that contradicts the idea that every illegal download results in a lost sale. Four years ago, the Journal of Political Economy released a study on the relationship between illegal music downloads and the sale of music. They found that illegal music downloads had indeed affected sales… by a whopping 0.7%.

While this single study may not be a reflection of online piracy as a whole, it does show a disconnect between illegal downloads and lost sales.

In fact, there are some who believe that piracy actually helps sales. The Japanese Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry conducted their own study on the effect of online piracy in early 2011. Their study found that online piracy had no effect on DVD sales, though it did affect DVD rentals. Surprisingly, the study also found that uploaded YouTube clips of particular shows actually helped their DVD sales, despite being pirated content.

Furthermore, the German media website Telepolis uncovered a study by GfK Group that was suspiciously buried. According to an anonymous source in GfK Group, one of the largest market research companies in the world, an unpublished study found that those who actively engage in online piracy purchased more DVDs and made more visits to the theatre than the average consumer.

The discrepancies in the data beg the question of why different research groups produce different statistics.  In answer to this question, we should look at the patterns between the conflicting reports. Studies sponsored by corporations in the entertainment industry show that piracy has a devastating effect on sales, while independent studies show that piracy has little to no effect, and may actually help sales.

Private corporations have the most to gain by putting out inaccurate information. What they do is use piracy as an excuse to create and pass laws that give them more control over content on the Internet.  We have seen this in the past with laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and are seeing this again with bills like SOPA, Bill C-11, and ACTA.

When you get down to the brass tacks, piracy is still a form of theft because, after all, content that would otherwise have to be paid for is accessed for free. But all of these studies considered, piracy is nowhere near as bad as private corporations make it out to be, and in fact, may help the very people who view it as a threat.

Kardashian currently has over seventeen endorsement deals. Some companies even pay her up to $10,000 to write a 140-word tweet, persuading fans to trust and love the sponsor’s brand name. From the clothes that she wears to the hair removal cream that she uses, she is paid to live and to present herself in a specific way. She is simply a creation of different enterprises.

Though celebrities have always given out endorsements, Kim Kardashian seems to be a celebrity of a different breed. She is not an artist, a singer, a writer, or an actor. She is simply famous for the sake of being famous, and for the sake of corporations, giving them a way to plug their products extremely effectively. If the machine that is Kim Kardashian is obviously hollow and created to serve her sponsors, why does she have masses of followers?

The reason for Kardashian’s fame is fascinating. With the advent of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, celebrities are no longer distant and unreachable figures. Instead, fans are now closer than they’ve ever been to their idols. An average fan can read tweets that come straight from Kardashian’s smartphone, and find out that Kim “didn’t think it was possible—but using [her] new Dyson ball vacuum brings even more joy to cleaning #happyvacuuming.” This immediate interaction makes for much more effective celebrity endorsements, and a seemingly more tangible fan-star relationship.

Corporations are entirely aware of this new dynamic, and know that it makes the celebrity lifestyle seem even more accessible. Now, more than ever, they know that the fan will jump at the chance to use whatever the celebrity themself uses. That’s why it’s in their interest to keep celebrities like Kardashian afloat. As long as she keeps on being her Kardashian self, people will listen, and as long as people listen, they will buy her products.

It’s also worth noting that Kardashian rose to fame just before the American economic collapse. Perhaps the recession created an even greater need for escapism, with fans seeking celebrities that epitomized the good life. Maybe it doesn’t matter that Kardashian really doesn’t have a legitimate claim to fame, because all that her followers really want is a hyper-consuming mega-star.  If that’s what they’re looking for, it’s clear that they’ve found the ultimate dream celebrity in Kim Kardashian.

Unfortunately, our confident reliance on past library practices was shaken this past summer. In a bid to cut city costs by eliminating libraries, councilor Doug Ford recently stated, “We have more libraries per person than any other city in the world. I’ve got more libraries in my area than I have Tim Hortons.” First of all this is false, according to the website ourpubliclibrary.to. An online rebuttal to the councilor declares that “In Etobicoke (Mr. Ford’s area), there are 13 library branches there, and 39 Tim Horton’s shops, not to mention all the other donut shops.” And secondly, one has to wonder why a politician representing the citizens of Canada’s largest and most diverse city thinks it would be better served by deep-fried dough than access to the world’s great literature.

It is certainly true that Toronto has one of the largest public library systems in North America but it is also one of the most widely used. For example, Northern Elms library, one of the branches Doug Ford considers superfluous, unnecessary currently has circulation of 96,328 materials annually as well as close to three thousand active users.

In response to Counselor Ford, Margaret Atwood, one of Canada’s greatest living writers, tweeted, “Twin Ford mayor seems to think those who eat Timbits (like me) don’t read, can’t count, & are stupid eh?” Atwood also took issue with Ford’s statement that he would not hesitate to close a library “in a heartbeat”; she retaliated, “I do think that those elected to represent us should give more than a heartbeat’s worth of thought to their decisions,”

This comment was not taken well by Mr. Ford who blustered, “Well good luck to Margaret Atwood. I don’t even know her. If she walked by me, I wouldn’t have a clue who she is,” said Ford.”She’s not down here, she’s not dealing with the problem. Tell her to go run in the next election and get democratically elected. And we’d be more than happy to sit down and listen to Margaret Atwood.”

More disturbing than his ignorance about Canadian writers was Ford’s apparent conviction that only those who are democratically elected are entitled to have opinions about public institutions like libraries. Atwood immediately voiced her alarm, posting: “The most staggering thing about (Ford’s) statement is that it implies that only councilors (not voters, not taxpayers, not citizens) are allowed to voice any opinions.”

Soon after these heated remarks were made, social networks exploded. Both “Ford” and “Atwood” were trending worldwide on twitter just hours after the exchange. There was even a facetious online campaign to elect Margaret Atwood mayor of Toronto. It is perhaps because of this huge uproar that Mayor Rob Ford, Doug Ford’s brother, decided to allow the citizens of Toronto to address the topic of which public services should be cut and which spared. Initially The Mayor promised that anyone registered to speak would be allotted five minutes and that the proceedings could go on for up to three days, but after hundreds of citizens signed up, eager to be heard, he cut the time down to three minutes per person over a continuous 24-hour period.

Many of those who had hoped to speak were forced to drop out because they couldn’t stay overnight, needing to go home to their families. But those who persisted represented a very broad cross-section of this city. It’s worth noting at this point that the Mayor’s campaign slogan was, “Respect for Taxpayers,” but this idea of who deserves respect excludes anyone under eighteen, or anyone too old, sick or disabled to work. Our city has always been proud of the services it offers to all its members – not just to those well-off enough to pay taxes. The fallacy implicit in Mayor Ford’s idea of who deserves respect was made clear by one of the most passionate speakers, 14-year-old Anika Tabovaradan. She gave an eloquent speech in which she defended the libraries, emphasizing how important they are not only for current taxpayers, but also as a means of ensuring that we have future taxpayers.

Anika opened her speech with a shaky voice, stating, “Good morning all, I am not a director, I’m no president I’m just a fourteen year old from Scarborough.” Near tears, she exclaimed that although she hates public speaking, “This branch is so important to me”. She continued, “I’m no taxpayer, but when I get to use the computers in the libraries, and get to do my homework, I will be able to get a good job, to get a good education, and when the day comes to pay taxes, I will be glad that years before people paid to keep the system going.”

This wise statement was met with applause, and Anika, still in tears, concluded “I’d just like to say that people really depend on these things, and they’re already so busy sometimes I have to sit on the floor because there’s so many people in the library.”

A society with lots of Tim Hortons will produce doughnut-eaters. A society with libraries will produce informed citizens. We need to start asking ourselves what kind of society we want to live in and be prepared to meet the cost.

For more information, and to help save our libraries, go to www.thepetitionsite.com/save-torontos-public-libraries

He’s a bizarre fellow,
this one,
but He brought the clarity of reality into my life.
Like cold water raging against the senses,
He shattered me into the stony reality that I’ve been avoiding.
Like a slap to the face, He numbed my mind.
Like a million hurtful words,
He pierced my heart
and managed to slowly tear it apart.

Then I realized that time,
as well as life,
is short in this world,
and I have to step up and take action,
or else this silence,
this pain,
this void,
may consume me
whole.

Rui Su

I know it’s a waste, so my friends say,
And I know that they are right.
But I say right back, “it doesn’t pay,
To win an environment fight.”

I think that maybe I’ll spend my time,
With a calendar finding the date.
Because, c’mon, honestly, helping the world?
It seems a little too late.

In conclusion, I’d like to express,
I really would help some more.
However, I’m busy, and so I digress,
I’ll leave it to Al Gore.

Julie Foster

Julie Foster

This year, several changes have been made within the student body and administration. One of the most obvious changes from last year is our huge increase in clubs and councils. At our last count, Haig has 111 clubs—that’s one club for every twenty students! From brand new clubs, such as CARD, to old clubs growing bigger, we have it all. For example, The Student Activity Council (more commonly known as SAC) has expanded to welcome two new positions—Outreach Coordinator and FACES Rep. Carpanatomy is changing up their layout too, and reaching out to include creative writing in every issue. Feel free to send your work to carpanatomy@gmail.com!

When it comes to Haig culture though, it’s important not to forget the grade nines. This lively group is responsible for much of the enthusiasm among the student body. However, reflecting on my own grade nine year, I remember having some trying experiences. Ever heard of the expression, “Sometimes you need to learn things the hard way”? Well, it’s not always true. In many cases, it would have helped if someone had told me, “I suggest you don’t try putting your toonie in the vending machine with the out of order sign, no matter how much you want those Nerds” or, “If you really want to get this over with as soon as possible, don’t leave your phone on during your literacy test.”
As you can see, we seniors didn’t have the benefit of some much-needed guidance in our first years at Haig. You, on the other hand, don’t have to suffer the same fate. I have compiled a list of things that I wish I had known when I started here at Haig. Whether you’re a new kid on campus or would just like to get a little blast from the past, this list can help you along the way. Think of it as a survival guide of sorts, or maybe as a personal credo. I like to think of it as a Marauder’s Map of Earl Haig.

You’re thinking about it? Then do it!

Though it may seem vague, this bit of advice applies to many situations. Making that leap of faith is easier said than done and will sometimes lead to disappointment, but as a wise man in a movie once said, “You gotta risk it to get the biscuit.” So try out for that team, talk to that good-looking person, or go claim that spacious, empty visual arts locker. It could potentially be one of the best decisions you ever make.

Go exploring.

Heard the rumour about the swimming pool in the basement? Or the one about the secret passageway? Well, what’s stopping you? Go find them! Haig is your oyster, boys and girls, and I promise you that when you find that new staircase—the one that takes you from class to lunch in 27 seconds—you’re going to feel on top of the world.

Never say never/ Be a “Yes Man”

I find it wildly frustrating that Justin Beiber seems to own the expression now, but the message applies nonetheless: having an open mind in everything you encounter is going to make for a smoother and more enriching time at Haig. Be a sponge and take it all in—you’ll never get these four years back again.
The difference between year one and year two is massive.
By the end of grade 9, you will most likely be comfortable with the people around you. However, when you start grade 10, it’s going to be a whole new ball game once again. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since change brings on new and even better opportunities.

What doesn’t kill you…

…Might make you wish it did. It’s going to be like that sometimes. Even when you’ve left every assignment to the last minute, even when you’re pulling an all-nighter and have a test the next day followed by an audition after school, just take a step back and breathe. When it’s all done, you will get to enjoy the fruits of your labour and eventually, you’ll see that the it was all a learning experience.
Having said all of that, I don’t claim to have all the answers to your questions. Who am I to try to give you advice when I’m still figuring it all out for myself? After reading this article, I hope that you’ll indulge in a tasty metaphor and take a risk by reaching for the proverbial biscuit.

This October marked the anticipated visit of the well-known writer, director and animator, Cameron Hood. Hood, a former student of both Claude Watson School for the Arts and Earl Haig, made the trip all the way from Los Angeles, California to speak at an assembly. At the assembly, he screened a few of his exceptional works, the first of which was entitled First Flight. The film showcased Hood’s gift as an animator and as an artist, pairing a flawless soundtrack with captivating visuals. Undoubtedly, seeing professional work that was deconstructed and explained by its creator was an experience that could not have been attained inside a classroom. Hood also spent time talking about the path he took to becoming an artist, which was invaluable information for students looking to pursue careers in the arts.

Fortunately for Earl Haig students, Hood was not the first guest speaker to have left such an impact on the school. In 2010, students met singer Saidah Baba Talibah, also a former graduate of the Claude Watson Arts Program. Not surprisingly, they were entranced by her sultry voice and soulful musical style. Despite Talibah’s fun teenage spirit, her knowledge and experience gave the impression that she was a seasoned and worldly artist. Aspiring musicians in the audience hung on her every word about the music industry and what it means to be a performing artist.

Furthermore, in 2009, three Ojibwe elders came to speak to Earl Haig students about the environment and their relationship to the Earth. They shared with us their personal experiences and philosophies on the state of our planet. Students had an enjoyable time learning about the Ojibwe’s way of life, and had the opportunity to personally work on Native crafts with the speakers. Though students have the opportunity to learn about First Nations culture in school, the personal element of the elders’ teachings made the experience far more valuable than any standard history lesson.

The insight, inspiration, and knowledge that these guest speakers share with Earl Haig students is invaluable and enriches their high school experience. Whatever discipline an Earl Haig student plans to pursue, chances are that they will have the opportunity to meet a professional in their field. There is no doubt that the student benefits immensely from this experience, and so it is clear that Earl Haig should continue its tradition of inviting successful artists and academics to share their wealth of knowledge.

Truth is you know exactly where and somewhere deep inside you, you don’t want to forget. You also know that sometimes when it’s only you and your thoughts, reminding yourself of where you’re from and where you started, gives you strength, the way it used to before.
Once in a while, once in a very long while, when the moon is nothing but a shattered mirror hanging over you and you have only your un-pulled triggers, stained blades and abandoned thoughts to keep you company, it all comes back to you. For just a few minutes between your blur of thoughts and your dust-like handful of memories, you’re back there, at the starting point. You feel again that fiery rhythm that beats through you only on rare occasions, when you’re dancing or when you’re lost in a blissful moment. You’re in that magical place no one knows of, that distant land, an echo of jungle, music and laughter.

That place where you took your first breath of clean hot air. That place where your small brown nose smelled for the first time and it smelled the sweet flowers and sweaty bodies that surrounded you. That place where your ears heard for the first time and they heard your mother’s honey like voice, the chirping insects and the night owl’s songs. That place where you first opened your eyes and they saw the southern sky hidden behind long wet trees, that pulsing sky, spattered with never-ending stars.

You remember your mother, that warm blooded, thick and vibrant miniature of a woman, to whom you were born a bit too early in life. It only means you met a little ahead of plan, she would say to you. She would also say her life didn’t end once you arrived, as many around her had said, it had only started. But of course, those are some of the thoughts you now try to hide away, to remember them makes you cringe with shame.

Cringe with shame and lower your eyes with embarrassment, yes that’s what you do. But embarrassed of what? You can’t even answer that to yourself. What is that that makes you feel so humiliated? Is it shame of who you have become? You know it is, you just can’t say it out loud, not even let the thought hang inside your head. The thought that you’ve turned your back on all that you know, all that you are made of and given it all up for nothing, nothing at all? You know it’s true. When you’re hiding in your bed sheets and under your pillows, guarded well away from the world and its thunderous noise, in a faint voice you say to yourself that forgiveness is the first step. But how can you forgive yourself for something you don’t even have the courage to admit?

You then take the easy way out, just like you were taught never to do, and try to pretend it’s all okay, yes its fine, but there are your filthy lies again. You cover your mistakes with a smile that stopped being true a long time ago. You pretend there’s nothing to forgive, nothing you want to forget, nothing you have done that fills you with regret. But your dreams betray you and you wake up in pain every day. They remind you of that you try to hide away, or mistake as you do on purpose, for something…something else.

You remember how you began, with the proud head held high and that strong singsong voice that always spoke its mind. Newly arrived and with an effervescent happiness brightly visible on your cinnamon skin. You carried everyone’s best wishes with you and you were protected by the love all the young and old had given to you. You felt warm at the thought of home because it reminded you of what you were here to achieve, the dreams you could fulfill, your goals.
Now it’s all wasted away, you turned your head on them all because of all those nights that you made excuses for and that you thought wouldn’t hurt, it didn’t matter at the time, they were only once right? That’s what you would say before every single one.

You deceived even yourself, let yourself down and all just too feel you could lie next to that new-found someone and belong to him. Even when you knew he didn’t care the way you did. But you were blinded and wanted to feel complete, when there really was nothing about you that was not.

All those things you did, might as well try to fit in you thought, no one back home will know, its okay. But it doesn’t matter that they didn’t and don’t know, not anymore, because you do, and now that weighs a thousand times more.

You now look at an old picture of yourself, back from the times you still held those old saints and your mother’s voice close to you. Back from the times you were proud of what ran through your veins, happy you had come this far, sure of the fact you had so much to give. Back when you thanked that unknown something every night, thanked that you were still holding on strong.

In the picture your long black hair is flying lose, you were caught unready but what makes the picture beautiful is that you were unaware it was being taken. Your eyes in it say everything there had to be said, they show your naked joy. You utterly and completely didn’t care and yet you did, but only about the things you knew you were right to. What a lifetime away, you think to yourself.

Now, as you walk alone with your head bowed, staring at the cold ground and no longer savoring the taste of the sunrise when it wakes you, you understand why you’re ashamed and why you want to forget. You know it’s because you’ve gone astray, you know it’s because being who you are now, if you were to go back, you couldn’t have the strength to look them in the face.

Well, it was about time, recognizing it is all you needed. Now all you want is a chance to begin again and do it right this time. But you will, those saints and your sweet mother have heard you and they will give you your new start again, but just the way they do everything, they will do it in an unexpected way.

You will be forced to forgive yourself. You will realize you haven’t changed, you’ve only forgotten who you are, and only because tomorrow you will come close to losing it all. After gasping for air and after clinging to that life you still don’t know you love so much, your eyes will be opened wide and tomorrow will be again, the first day of your life.

Claudia Hennessey

Ever being, ever knowing, ever seeing the truth,
Searching souls, through these eyes,
Will these eyes, be searched too?
To hear a pleading voice of courage,
Scream refuge, scream truth!
Will somebody ever get it, or are they just as blue?

These eyes are a window,
A looking glass to the soul,
Shares company with a friend,
Despite feeling so cold.

Can you see it? Really see it?
The light shining there,
Ignore the little draft,
The coldness, you’ll bear.

A facade, but a lie,
Often sweet, often warm.
Coffee stained,
These eyes.
These eyes are mine.

Keisha Morrison

Xizi Luo

Another success story this fall was Haig’s golf team. All five boys and two girls of the team had strong results, but it was Valerie and Vanessa Chu who excelled at the regional finals. Valerie placed first in the entire North Region and Vanessa placed second, both of them going on to compete at the city championships at St. Andrew’s Valley golf club. Again, congratulations for representing Haig State!

The field hockey team kept up the inpressive results by reaching the city finals this fall. The girls were undefeated until their final game against Malvern, where they ended up walking away with a silver medal. Finishing second in the entire city of Toronto was a huge success, and the field hockey team has continued its tradition of being one of Haig’s most consistent and successful performers.

You may have seen the cross-country team working hard around the track in the morning. These countless practices paid off, as the team sent competitors to the regional championships and the metro championships this fall. After racing through cold, wet and muddy conditions, over 15 runners qualified for the metro championships. The team shows much promise for years to come, as some of the strongest runners were grade elevens. We can certainly look forward to a magnificent follow-up performance next year!

Sharing in Haig State’s success was the junior girls’ basketball team, who finished this season with a 6-2 record. The girls worked their way up to the regional finals, and finished in second place after losing to a tough Downsview team. The silver-medal finish has created a new standard for future junior girls.

Keeping up with the juniors was this year’s senior girl’s basketball team, who finished their season with a 4-4 record. Unfortunately, they did not progress past the first round of the playoffs. Grade 12 basketball team veteran Darya Abdollahi stated, “We gradually got better as the season progressed. We had a couple of new players…overall we played great basketball.”

Down in the gym, the boy’s volleyball team had a season that was “filled with learning the sport for most of the team, and just having a good time on and off the court,”according to grade 12 player Justin Tapang. Though the team’s record, (1-6), has been better in previous years, the boys made the second round of the playoffs. Sadly, they lost their elimination game to a talented squad from Emery. Keeping their spirits high, the boys will be looking to this year’s grade elevens to fill the spots of the graduating grade twelves so that they can raise their game for next season.

This year, Haig saw one of its most individually talented teams start their season off with a bang. The boys soccer team beat two other teams who would eventually make it to the finals, but unfortunately couldn’t maintain their performance throughout the season. The team finished with a 2-1-4 record. Nevertheless, coach Mr. Ahumada claimed that the boys had “The most individual talent I have ever seen on a Haig soccer team.” Recognition goes to the team’s top scorer, grade eleven player Adi Cuza.

The junior soccer team also had a season that saw success and kept up with Haig’s high standards, as the boys made the regional playoffs for the seventh year in a row. Outstanding play from team captain Siyavash Kianpour helped the team follow up respectably on their regional performance last year. Over half the players on the team are grade nines, so the boys look forward to improving their skills and getting even better results next year.

The boys’ tennis team for doubles was pitted against some very tough competition. In their one-day tournament, the team swept the “D” division, and had strong results in all other divisions. The boys narrowly missed finishing in the top two, and so their season ended with good results and high spirits. Make sure to look out for the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles season coming up this spring.

The boys’ 7’s rugby team had a solid showing, finishing third in their pool of six teams. Special congratulations to their top scorer, grade eleven Mitchell Charles. Long-time rugby player, Andy Pham, who has been on the team since grade nine, had this to say: “Haig rugby has come a long way… we’ve grown in skill and numbers. This season we did our best and will continue training throughout the winter for our 15’s season.”

Haig’s other rugby team, the girl’s division, had an astounding showing at the 7’s tournament. The team went undefeated for four games and reached the semi finals. Unfortunately, it was here that they lost to a speedy Newtonbrook team. All things considered, it was still a fabulous performance, and as grade twelve player Zakiya Najim put it, “The results of practice really paid off and showed in our tournament, so I can say that we were very successful. This just made me that much more excited for the upcoming spring season… I hope more people will join, as rugby isn’t just a single person’s sport. It takes a whole team to score, to play, and to have fun.” The junior team also had a successful tournament, where they were led by lead scorer Christine Chao to the semi-finals. Look out for fitness training coming up after the holiday break, followed by the 15’s season.

All things considered, Earl Haig has had yet another successful fall sports season. Our reputation as a consistent performer in the North Region has been upheld, meaning that Haig State will continue to vie for every title in the city, and beyond. Look out for winter sports teams such as ice hockey, alpine skiing and snowboarding, boys’ basketball, girls’ volleyball, swimming and dragon boat. Keep an eye on the Athletic Council (EHAC) board in the main hall across from the cafeteria for event updates, tryout dates, and team lists.

Haig State on two! One, two,Haig State!

The Oath, written by Victoria Dawe and Sue Drummond, is a challenging musical, especially for a first time director. The music is new and creative, there are four fight scenes, and the choreography is complex and intricate. Between the colourful characters and beautiful set, directing The Oath was no small undertaking. In retrospect, I had no idea what a whirlwind of activity I was getting myself into.

My experience with directing was limited to small scenes in drama class and independent projects. I knew what a “beautiful moment” was, and I knew about different methods of acting, but what I wasn’t prepared for was casting twenty-seven singers, dancers and actors. I wasn’t prepared for being at school by 8AM several times a week, or staying after school until nine. I wasn’t prepared to run around screaming or rather, directing my friends and peers. But, as the days stretched to weeks, and the weeks to months, the rhythm that had originally seemed so overwhelming was replaced by my unconditional love for the show.

I’d never been so consumed by a project before. My emotions fluctuated with the challenges and rewards during the rehearsal process ofThe Oath, and my grades, social life and leisure time took a back seat to the show. Every conversation I had seemed to relate back to the production, and there was seldom a moment when it wasn’t on my mind. If it wasn’t for the incredible cast and crew of The Oath, I think I may have lost my sanity along with my free time. These remarkable individuals, both staff and students have come together to create a show that I can say with confidence, is a success.

From the first day of casting, to the full-cast run-throughs, each and every moment has been filled with valuable learning and a sense of pride. I hope that in the future, another fortunate student gets the opportunity to feel the magic of directing. Thank you so much to everyone involved in The Oath. You take my breath away every time the stage lights dim.

-Michelle Soicher

Greece has a sovereign debt pile of €340 billion ($481.5 billion), or more than €30,000 per capita. The €110 billion bailout it accepted last year from the European Union and International Monetary Fund has proved insufficient in stabilizing the Greek economy. A second package worth €109 billion is now under discussion. Because Greece’s debt is equivalent to 150 percent of its GDP, it holds two unwanted world records: it has the lowest credit rating for a sovereign state, and the most expensive debt to insure. Greece’s people have run out of patience with an ever-deepening austerity drive that has slashed public sector wages by a fifth and pensions by a tenth.

So, how did Greece get to this point?

Greece has been living beyond its economic means in recent years. The Greek government borrowed heavily and went on something similar to a spending spree after it adopted the euro. Public spending soared and public sector wages practically doubled over the past decade. Furthermore, as money flowed out of the government’s coffers, tax income was hit because of widespread tax evasion. More than 6 000 businesses were identified as owing $41 billion in taxes and penalties, and as added embarrassment the top debtor was the state owned railroad, owing an impressive $1.3 billion.

Why does Greece need another bailout?

In 2010, Greece was given €110 billion in bailout loans to help it deal with the repercussions of the 2008 global economic crisis. It is now due to receive another €109 billion. Greece required the bailout because, due to its poor credit rating, borrowing money from the private sector had become too expensive. Since it could not afford to borrow money from financial markets to pay its debts, Greece turned to the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Their objective was to give Greece time to sort out its economic situation so that the cost of borrowing commercially would come down. Despite these efforts, the situation has not improved. In fact, the ratings agency Standard and Poors recently decided that Greece was the least credit-worthy country that it monitors. As a result, Greece cannot afford to borrow money from the private sector to pay off its massive debt, nor does it have enough money left over from the first bailout.

Why does this impact other countries?

The longer the crisis drags on, the greater the risk that this situation will spread to other troubled euro zone economies like Ireland and Portugal, which have also been bailed out before. The situation could also affect Spain, an economy much bigger and far more expensive to rescue.

A default by Greece would also hammer the banks that hold its debt, including the European Central Bank and big French and German lenders. Europe’s banks are big holders of Greek debt, with perhaps $50-60 billion outstanding. It could also prompt credit markets to freeze up, which happened in American markets after the collapse of financial services firm Lehman Brothers. After the collapse, banks virtually stopped lending to each other. If Greece cannot make its payments on time, an orderly default will ensue, meaning the payment of its debts will be pushed back by decades. A disorderly default could mean that much of this debt would not be repaid—ever. Either way, it will be extremely painful for banks and bondholders.

What’s more, Greek banks are subject to the sovereign debts of their own country, which means that new capital is hard to attain because of its high cost and associated credit risk ratings. A loss of confidence could also spark a run on the banks where people withdraw all their money, making the problem worse. That situation could also spread to overseas banks, which could stop lending until the full extent of a default is known. Greece owes $53 billion to banks in France and Germany alone, which means that these banks would also struggle to operate if the country is unable to pay off its loans.

What do companies have to do?

The best strategy for a European company is to have as little exposure to Europe as possible. Investors and banks are busy drawing up lists of the companies that have the highest proportion of sales to countries outside Europe. Companies with lower quantities of sales in Europe are in luck, but those with a vast majority of sales in Europe will suffer. The first priority for many firms is to reduce their exposure to the most troubled peripheral euro-zone countries.

The next goal for many European firms is to move even quicker into fast-growing emerging economies. For example, Klöckner & Company, which trades metals globally, bought a Brazilian trading company in May, and is preparing to open a China office. Big firms outside of Greece tend to favour further investment in indebted euro-zone countries. However, medium-sized, owner-managed companies bitterly oppose it because family business owners are personally liable for debts. They would rather endure a Greek default than burden their own country with more debt.
What is the current situation?

Greece’s membership in the single-currency euro club means it cannot use the solution of stimulating growth by devaluing its currency. It cannot cut interest rates either because these rates are decided by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Instead, the public sector cuts are almost certain to deepen the Greek recession, reducing tax revenues and making it even harder to pay off the debts in future. Protests are taking place in Greece and the population has lost faith in the government.

If the crisis continues, Greece will be driven to the brink of political and economic collapse and the rest of Europe will suffer.

In Toronto, there will seldom be a day that you don’t walk by a busker or street performer. Most of them specialize in shouting Bob Dylan lyrics to an out-of-tune guitar, but late-night busker, Adam*, brings a new and creative twist to street performance with his musical saw.

I met Adam while walking to the subway just past ten. From a few blocks away, I could hear the strange high-pitched melody, and it wasn’t until I turned the corner that I realized that the beautiful sound was coming from a store doorway. I couldn’t resist asking him about his music, about his instrument, and about his life. The look on his face when I requested an interview was one of vague disbelief as he responded, “I guess so…pull up a seat.”

The joke breaks the ice, and I sit down on a piece of sidewalk next to his set-up. His musical saw, an instrument I had never seen before, becomes the topic of conversation.

“It’s actually quite simple. Probably easier to learn then the guitar. I mean, I’m not a musician-I just like music, so it was a good instrument to learn. I saw one online a couple years ago, and ended up ordering it just as a joke. Glad I did, though, because I ended up with a after-hours job”.

He fools around with the violin bow in his hands, and plays something that sounds a little bit like Musetta’s Waltz. As he plays, I ask him about his “after-hours job”.

“I don’t do this for money. I have a job, during the day, I mean. There’s no way I could live off of the change I make from playing a musical saw, you know? Some people drop change, but most of them just walk by or chill and listen. Whatever though. It’s something to do at night. It’s almost just an excuse just to stay out late.”

From 9-5, Adam works a regular job as a salesperson in a midtown bookstore. After graduating from Guelph with a plan to be an architect, he ended up taking time off to work, which quickly extended into several years of retail and busking.

“Eventually I’ll go back to school. Or get a job that isn’t selling people paperback books. But right now, I’m young. I live with a group of guys, the rent is low…for Toronto, and we have a good time. And I love playing my weird music for the midnight people.”

Through his street performance evening hobby, Adam has been connected to a whole underground world of unsigned, self-taught musicians who play for pedestrians.

“Man, there’s a whole other world. People forget that music starts outside the studio. There’s this one old guy who plays sax here sometimes, and he’ll come over to me and just start jamming. It’s great. I have no idea what he does with his life, but he’s got a great sound. Trust me-it’s hard to just jam to a musical saw, but he does it.”

As we’ve been talking, a lone listener has stood by. Before walking away, he takes his camera out and snaps a photo of the two of us and drops a dollar into Adam’s hat. Adam explains to me, “People are fascinated by this thing. It’s just so weird looking. I guess everyone expects a street musician to play something conventional.”

As our conversation draws to a close, I ask Adam if I can take a photo of him. He agreed, but requested that I neither use the photo, nor his real name in my article. When asked why, he said with a joking smile, “I don’t want fans to swarm me.”

*Name has been changed.

On November 25, North American consumers took part in the annual tradition of going crazy over product discounts. Black Friday is the yearly day of discounts just after American Thanksgiving that is propagated by retail stores. This year, 226 million Black Friday shoppers reached new financial heights by spending a record-breaking $52.4 billion.

In addition to breaking spending records this year, Black Friday shoppers drew media attention with several violent incidents. At one Wal-Mart location in Los Angeles, a woman pepper-sprayed 20 other shoppers in order to hold on to an Xbox gaming console. At another Wal-Mart in San Francisco, a man was shot during an attempted robbery. And yet another medical emergency hit Target, where a man collapsed of a heart attack, and was not helped by other customers, who reportedly stepped over him to continue their shopping. In addition to these extreme incidents, videos of frantic mobs pushing their way into stores and fighting over products have gone viral and received millions of views online.

It is no stretch to say that Black Friday brings out the worst in North American consumers. On no other day of the year is it socially acceptable for thousands upon thousands of shopping-hungry people to camp outside department stores waiting for the chance to spend money. However, perhaps an even more disturbing aspect of Black Friday is the obligation felt by many American’s to take part in the spending frenzy.

This notion of obligation is the dark side of the North American consumer’s mindset. Black Friday’s genius lies in its ability to convince the general population that spending as much possible at a particular given time is a necessary activity. Critical thought is thrown out the window, and people willingly push and jostle to reach the front of mobs surrounding products. In the mind of the consumer, not only is there a distinct need to capitalize on opportunities to spend money, but also a deep-seated fear of what life might be like without excessive material goods.

When put into context, Black Friday really does showcase the absurdity of the Western world. The majority of people who scramble to buy electronics and kitchen gadgets do not face any of the life-threatening problems that affect billions of other people on Earth. For a staggering number of people, survival is a daily struggle, and life is centred on finding ways to barely scrape by. For them, the newest electronic at a bargain price is completely irrelevant to their lives. That said, in the worst of situations, people may turn to aggressive methods to secure things necessary for survival.

However, in North America, where we essentially do not face any of these challenges, we adopt inhuman tendencies when presented with a blowout sale. As a population who seldom has cause to worry about civil war, water contamination, or famine, we push and shove to reach the front of a cue. We become ruthless to show dedication to big box stores. Ironically, we get so caught up in the red-blooded consumer frenzy that we shatter our built-up image as the developed civilization of the world. Instead, we become everything that we seek to distance ourselves from.

Black Friday’s madness should serve as a severe jolt to our North American mentality. The consumer hype surrounding the day is a misguided fallacy that degrades our identity. To regain our humanity, North Americans must distance themselves from the insanity that is Black Friday.

This change of heart can be attributed to the reputation garnered by McGuinty during his past eight years in office. Although some of his policies in health care and in education are viewed positively, he has also become to be known as the “tax man.” The Conservative campaign launched a not-so-subtle attack on McGuinty, criticizing the Liberal leader’s tax hikes such as the health tax and the eco-tax.

It’s arguable that the one of the contributing factors to the party’s loss of the majority is its advocacy of renewable energy. The Liberals’ push for the Green Energy Act is contentious—it is supported by some, but strongly rejected by others.

Under the Green Energy Act, which was first established in Ontario in 2009, McGuinty plans to build industrial wind turbines in rural areas. This idea is popular with city-dwellers, who recognize the eco-friendly potential of the project, but for rural citizens the province’s green initiative is not as appreciated. Windmills are notorious for being noisy and are hazardous to birds, making them undesirable for nearby residents. Moreover, they are neither as efficient or reliable as natural gas power plants. Interestingly, prior to the election, McGuinty cancelled the construction of two gas-fired plants, although he also plans to build two nuclear reactors.

Besides a shift in the sources of energy used in Ontario, students can expect changes that are more pertinent to their academic life. The Liberals plan to implement new education policies that will be advantageous to university and college students. Tuition rates are supposed to drop by 30% for lower-class and middle-class undergraduate students. For students in elementary school, a “healthy snack program” is to be implemented.

Other changes include a new tax credit policy that will help support new immigrants to Ontario. The plan, which is expected to cost $12 million, will encourage employers to hire immigrants who have resided in the country for five years or less. For commuters, the GO service will be expanded from a limited rush-hour service to an all-day service.

Despite worries that a minority government will be unstable, Ontario may benefit from the election outcome. The Liberals’ unfamiliarity with rural community needs and their huge dedication to the promotion of green energy can be balanced by the other two parties. Although developing more environmentally friendly sources of energy will be beneficial in the long run, the government should also be obligated to compromise so that changes are more equitable to Ontarians. Hopefully, Ontario can look forward to environmentally, socially and economically friendly ideas in the future.

The Waste Reduction campaign has been ongoing since the mid-1980s, when many recycling councils and environmental organizations began holding eco-friendly weeks and events. These events were so successful that in 2001, Waste Reduction Week became a national event in Canada.

Earl Haig’s Eco Council has been trying to tap into this nation-wide enthusiasm. Mark Kachuk, co-president of the council explained, “Haig’s goal is to achieve “platinum status” in a way that educates the student body. We won’t do it without getting all 2200 students on board. It’s a lot, but it has to be done.”

Currently, Haig is ranked as a gold school within the TDSB’s eco-school certification program. Although platinum is just one rank higher, acquiring this status is easier said than done: “Getting platinum involves doing everything our very best. We need to improve our recycling habits, turn off lights, eliminate plastics, get into the habit of being eco-friendly. We need everyone in the school. Fortunately, our caretakers are amazing, as well as administration, but we as students need to be even more amazing,” Kachuck says.

One way that he hopes to encourage students to think about their eco choices is by hosting “Beat the Peak,” an activity where an Eco School waste expert will come to Earl Haig and audit the school’s waste by examining the contents of the garbage and recycling bins. Kachuck says that in past years, their findings have been rather shocking. “Whole food items such as apples in the recycling!”

Mark, and the rest of Eco Council, certainly aren’t afraid of hard work. In April, Eco Council will be rallying once again, as they run Haig’s annual Earth Week. Additionally, a new initiative called the “Pledge Campaign,” will be going on throughout the year, and students will have the opportunity to make known to the council their eco-friendly goals and promises. Hopefully, the 2200 pledges Kachuk hopes to get will raise the student body’s awareness about their ecological footprints, and what they can do to reduce them.

Although changing students’ living habits may be an onerous task, Eco Council will continue to strive for lifestyle-changing results. Starting with small projects like Waste Reduction Week, which aim to “[make] reducing waste second nature,” they are hoping to undertake even bigger projects in the future. Want to help Eco Council out? Turn out those lights, get a reusable water bottle and don’t forget to recycle this newspaper when you’re done!

The country consists of 1,192 islands 400 kilometres south-west of India. The name “Maldives” is thought to derive from the Sanskrit for “a garland of islands” or the Sinhalese for “Necklace Islands.” Both phrases suggest how beautiful the place is, and why it draws honeymooners and vacationers from around the world. The appeal in visiting the country comes not only from its white sand beaches, lush vegetation and coral reefs teeming with exotic aquatic species but also because the Maldives may not be standing for many more years to come.

The Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with a natural ground level of only 7.7 feet above sea level. With sea levels soaring due to global warming, the ocean that has been the source of the island nation’s prosperity for two thousand years now threatens its very existence.

Last month, President Nasheed appealed to fellow developing nations to be more environmentally responsible. With his own country on the verge of being wiped off the map, reducing carbon emissions and eliminating greenhouse gases is not just a personal mission, but also a dire need. He stated, “We want to ask you to consider carbon neutrality yourself. In my mind, a block of carbon neutrals in developing nations could change our outcome. At the moment, every country arrives at the negotiations seeking to keep their own emissions as high as possible, and never to make commitments unless someone else does first. This is the logic of a madhouse, a recipe for collective suicide.”

In an interview with Perspective, Nasheed clarified that, “There is no point in pointing fingers (now). The deed is done, it’s going to happen — so let’s move on and see how we may be able to not only mitigate, but also adapt to the changing situation …Those who can assist others should be assisting others, in mitigation, adaptation, financially, technical assistance or any other form of other assistance … if we can all get together and see how we may be able to overcome these issues, that’s where the solutions lie.”

Fifteen-year-old Maldives climate ambassador, Mohaned Axam Maumoon, reiterated the president’s words in an interview with Democracy Now, as well as explaining why his people are in such a state of panic, and need help from the outside world. “We are living at the very edge, as everyone is now talking about. Our country is so fragile, in the sense that we are only protected by natural barriers such as coral reefs and sand. We haven’t got the necessary finance to build artificial barriers around the islands. We are completely subjected to climate change and global warming as well as sea level rise.”

He went on to say that the Maldives’ environmental problems are a result of global insensitivity towards the environment. “We are under threat right now because our barriers are being destroyed by our own mistakes. Because of CO2 emissions from everywhere and everyone. These corals are being destroyed and eroded and our Islands don’t have any barriers.”

On a more personal note, Maumoon revealed, “I saw with my eyes what’s happening. You can imagine standing on the beach one day, and the next day you can swim there because it became a lagoon. The erosion happens so fast and so furious. I want future children to be able to see my country as I have seen it.”

We have all heard the story of the lost city, Atlantis. With carbon emissions and global warming not slowing down fast enough to reverse the effects of years of damage to the environment, it is very possible that the Maldives will be the next island nation to sink beneath the waves. The reality of the situation is daunting for both residents of the Maldives and environmental activists worldwide. It represents not only the rapidly changing climate, but also the lack of commitment from many countries to reduce their eco-footprint.

President Mohamed Nasheed hopes to appeal to wealthier nations as well as developing ones. We all need to listen to his message when he pleads, “Please listen to us. We might be very small. We might be very small in number but please listen to us. We are all Maldivians, what happened to us today can happen to you tomorrow, it will happen to you tomorrow.”

In the math section of the test, Chinese teenagers scored an average of 600 points—a startling 113 points higher than the average American student, and 73 points higher than the average Canadian student. In fact, the top 5 high-performing nations in mathematics were all located in Asia. By comparison, major Western countries performed poorly, such as the United Kingdom, where students scored a low average of 492 points and Italy scored even lower at 483 points.

Prospects were just as dim in the science section of the assessment, with Shanghai trouncing the United States with an average of 575 points. Canada fared better in science, placing a respectable eighth. However, Finland was the only non-Asian nation to place in the top six high-performers.

These high scores for China, and the rest of eastern Asia, are the result of a culture that promotes hard work, devotion to academics and an unwavering focus on achievement. An Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report stated that Chinese students “work…long hours every day, and the work weeks extend into the weekends.” As well, the test results have refuted the stereotype that Asian schools only teach by rote. 50% of the students from Shanghai scored a Level 6 in mathematics, demonstrating their deep and comprehensive knowledge, as well as an ability to apply their knowledge creatively.

Fortunately, Canadian students can rest easy, safe in the knowledge that their peers consistently score above the OECD average on this type of assessment. However, the constant domination of Asian countries in important subjects like math and science points to challenges in the future for all Western students. In the age of technology, career opportunities in science and math are increasing in number, while some believe that jobs in the liberal arts are becoming archaic and obsolete. Evidently, the demand for science and technology workers will continue to skyrocket. Having students unprepared in math and science will make it difficult for them to find jobs, especially in these trying economic times.

Should North America and Europe try to create a cultural shift towards a more dedicated work ethic? Should schools assign more homework, put a greater emphasis on math and science or institute a curriculum based on standardized testing? Clearly, the teaching style used by Asian countries, specifically China, leads to success on standardized testing. It remains unseen whether this will also lead to success in life and in the job market.

On the first day of protests, 1000 demonstrators marched through the streets of New York and about 100-200 stayed overnight in cardboard boxes. About 87 protesters were arrested in a week, primarily for blocking traffic. At the start of October, a new protest on the Brooklyn Bridge resulted in the arrest of 700 individuals. The police used ten buses to carry the protesters off the bridge, the majority of whom were released the next day.

On October 5th, as the number of protesters swelled to about 15 000, two hundred of them had tried to storm the barricades blocking the protesters from entering Wall Street and the Stock Exchange. The increasing violence was a marked change from the earlier stages of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and this radical form of protest was deemed unnecessary by many observers. As the movement continues into November, violence has erupted in many cities. In a particularly spirited protest in Oakland, California an Iraq war veteran suffered serious head injuries after being hit by projectiles fired by police at demonstrators.

The spark leading to these major protests was the economic crisis of 2008. Because of the American government’s failure to regulate the financial sector, many were disappointed when the newly elected Obama did not impose stricter measures in response to the financial meltdown. One of the key themes of the movement is also to highlight the growing gap between the rich and the poor. The middle class is being decimated by unemployment and financial crises, while wealth becomes more and more concentrated in the hands of the economic elite.

Interestingly enough, the original impetus for Occupy Wall Street came from Canada. The Adbusters Media Foundation, which publishes Adbusters magazine, proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street, demanding an end to corporate influence on democratic systems. Adbusters suggested a peaceful protest to force government action regulating investment bankers and traders who had wrought havoc on the economy. From its modest Canadian beginning, the social movement has spread worldwide.

As Occupy Wall Street and other similar “occupations” continue in major cities around the world, critics are beginning to ask whether the movement is too lacking in leadership and focus to have a meaningful impact. Others argue that the movement lacks leadership precisely because it is a grass roots movement and an example of direct democracy. They say that it is the job of the elected representatives to recognize growing discontent and to pass laws to bring effective regulation to the financial and corporate sectors. Nevertheless, the Occupy Wall Street protests are having a considerable impact on the world stage. Protesters in 25 countries have orchestrated similar events using social networking sites such as Facebook and Meetup.

Underlying the protest movement is a very real concern that more and more people are falling behind in the capitalist economy. As young people are increasingly unable to find meaningful employment around the world, the resistance against capitalism will grow. Regardless of the power that the economic elite maintains, it seems as though the economic face of the developed world is certain to undergo change.

Following the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in 1991, the country became an ungovernable mess of warring clans, Islamic extremism and lawlessness. The level of anarchy in the south and eastern territories has been especially brutal, with the UN citing lack of government as a major factor in the worsening famine. Though the official government of Somalia, called the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), is widely recognized by foreign governments, it has only recently regained control of its own capital.

The TFG has been unable to govern any territory outside of Mogadishu, and has proven incapable of providing basic services or rule of law. A suicide bombing two weeks ago at the TFG education ministry attests to the lack of governmental control over the region. The bombing killed more than a hundred people, many of whom were students applying for scholarships in Turkey. As well, government troops themselves have become a threat to ordinary Somalis, as they recently looted an aid convoy that was attempting to distribute food at the Badbaado refugee camp. “Soldiers opened fire at [the civilians].Then soldiers took the food and people fled from the camp.” said David Orr, a spokesman for the World Food Program. Attacks such as these are becoming disturbingly common, highlighting the inability of the current Somali government to keep its people safe from both militants, and even its own armed forces.

While the official government struggles to stop the famine in the south of Somalia, unrecognized Somaliland has sent its own relief mission to help alleviate the suffering. Though the territory is poor, and could only offer $700 000 worth of aid, Somaliland’s ability to help its southern countrymen hints at the significant progress it has made since declaring independence. With a growing economy and flourishing livestock trade with Saudi Arabia and Yemen valued at $250 million, “the country’s economic centre of gravity has shifted to the Arab-facing north” (The Economist). Somaliland’s relative economic health is drawing the attention of neighbouring Ethiopia, and surrounding Arab countries such as the UAE, which last month sent a special envoy to assess trade between the two nations.

Despite its prosperity, Somaliland has been repeatedly frustrated in its pursuit to be recognized as a sovereign country separate from Somalia. The most influential powers in the region, the United States and African Union, are currently tied the TFG as both fear that supporting the secessionist Somaliland could further weaken the current Mogadishu government. As well, many of the African governments that make up the AU are worried about the message that recognizing Somaliland would send to other prospective independence movements across the continent.

It has become clear that the Transitional Federal Government is not ready, and may never be ready to govern Somalia. Meanwhile, Somaliland struggles on unrecognized and ignored, even though it embodies many of the western values the TFG is supposed to embrace. “Failure to recognize Somaliland is a failure to recognize democracy itself,” states Edna Adan, a retired senior UN official. If the international community were to recognize Somaliland as a sovereign nation, not only would it aid Somalis, but also the greater fight against terrorism and piracy. Until then Somaliland will continue alone, as the one patch of hope in the otherwise lawless Horn of Africa.

This is the first time either of the girls have been producers of a major event. Although they are both new to putting on such a large-scale production, Erica and Shayna have succeeded in creating a professional and appealing image for Fashion Show. Already underway, there’s not a day that goes by without rehearsals and hard work.

“Shayna and I applied because it’s always been something we’ve wanted to do,” responded Erica when asked why the duo wanted to produce the show. Both girls have been involved in modelling and choreographing for years, and have waited for grade twelve to run the show they love.

Erica was quick to say that the show will be sure to showcase both the clothes and models, “The focus is definitely the designers because all the collections and scenes are their vision.” Shayna added, “The point of this is to showcase the designers’ homemade fashions.”

Earl Haig’s Fashion Design Awards are known around the GTA for not only amazing designs and choreography, but also high calibre judges. With fashion magazine editors and professional designers coming as guest judges, it’s undeniable that Haig’s fashion show is a step above many high school events. As Shayna puts it, “The judges that we do bring in are big names in the fashion industry. It gives the designers a chance to get professional opinions on their work.”

The designers, who range from expert seamstresses to amateur visionaries, custom make all the clothes to suit the bodies of their models. In fact, many designers will design specific outfits with models in mind, taking the personalization of their clothes to a whole new level. Not only does this result in an aesthetically appealing show, but it also helps to create a relationship between the fashion and dance.

Since Fashion Show is known for being interdisciplinary, the models and designers work hard to compliment each other’s work. Perhaps it is this inclusive attitude that makes the show sell-out nearly every year. Both Erica and Shayna are hoping that this year is no different, and that Cringan Hall will be filled on the evening of January 31st.

Ever After : Earl Haig’s Fashion Design Awards is a school event that nobody should miss. Unfortunately, ticket sales will be limited for this one-night-only production, so keep your eyes peeled and ears open for information about the show. Get ready Haig, because fabulous fashion, creative choreography and celebrity judges are about to hit the runway and take high school fashion to a whole new level.

“Cavalcade of Lights” has a rich history in our city. In 1967 the event was created to showcase Toronto’s newly constructed city hall and Nathan Phillips Square. For more than 40 years, Toronto has kicked off the holiday season by launching a month-long series of free events-one of the biggest being the illumination of the Square by more than 300,000 energy-efficient LED lights that will shine bright all the way until the New Year!

Over the years, “Cavalcade of Lights” has brought people together to listen to live musical performances ranging from rock to jazz and gospel sung by big-name Canadian artists, such as Shawn Desman and Divine Brown and to witness the magnificent lights adorning the framework of Nathan Phillips Square-perhaps while skating at the outdoor ice rink! All of these activities culminate in the highlight of the evening, which is the lighting of Toronto’s “official” Christmas tree and the firework display to follow.

Since 2004, the event has expanded to a month long, city-wide celebration by where over 20 downtown neighborhoods get lit up and offer activities. Participating neighborhoods include Korea Town, Little Italy, Greektown and Bloor Yorkville, to name just a few. Throughout the weekend, the Cavalcade of Lights bus can be seen travelling between these hotspots, letting keen people on and off. This event could prove to be a great opportunity to explore Toronto and get to know what these some of the Downtown neighborhoods have to offer.

This month-long event helps to make the holidays in Toronto overflow with festive spirit.
“I loved going last year,” remarks 16-year-old Serena Choi, “I had such a fun time visiting all the different neighborhoods and seeing these beautiful lightning displays just made my day. Plus, I couldn’t help noticing that there was so much energy in the air!”

“Cavalcade of Lights” is guaranteed to get you into the magic of the holiday season. So what are you waiting for? Grab your friends and family, pile on those layers, hop on a bus and get excited for what awaits you. See you all at Nathan Phillips Square!

To reign in the new year, we hosted the annual ESL Welcome Party. With over 80 students joining us, the night was a huge success. At the end of November, the ESL Speech Contest took place, where ESL students from all levels compete within their classes. As last year’s winner, Melody Zhai says, “It is a great way for ESL students to build their confidence.”

However, if you didn’t make it to the welcome party or speech contest, not to worry! There are plenty more events to come. In early spring, we will be hosting our most spirited event of the year – the Multicultural Week! With different events every day from Monday to Friday, it is a great opportunity for Haigers to learn about the 40+ cultures that Earl Haig represents.

Our council is not just limited to working with ESL students, but also their parents. Through information sessions such as the ESL Parent’s Night, we help to get ESL parents familiar with Haig’s system and adjust to a new enviroment.

With the biggest ESL population in the TDSB, Haig’s ESL council is here to make each and every student feels like a part of our school’s community.

Degemer mat, 歡迎, velkommen , أهلاً و سهلاً and welcome to a great and diverse year at Earl Haig!

-Sophie Yu

After all, what distinguishes the theoretical from the artificial; the artificial from the real? If Alex wants to see a friend, all she needs to do is think of the visit and the machine reads her thoughts. Suddenly, she’s transported to a coffee shop with her long-lost pal from High School. The machine can have a virtual conversation with her or it can position her arms to form the shape of a hug. It can give her the taste of coffee and the crunch of almonds. Without leaving her room, Alex gets to see the whole world! Wherever she wants to go, the machine can take her. Whoever she wants to be, the machine can make her.

And yet, something’s not right. What is it? Perhaps it’s that if Alex were to detach herself from the machine (an impossible feat) she could look around to see the room she had once loved destroyed by neglect. Her curtains are torn. Her drawers have been ransacked. Her cat lies on the floor, dead of starvation. Which makes no sense because in Alex’s world, everything is perfect.

Rach Klein

History

● Any cynical Russian monarch knows how to effectively employ TSARchasm.
● When the Czech Protestant nobles threw the two emissaries out the window in the defenestration of Prague, they called out, “You’d better CZECH youself before you wreck yourself!”
● When a philosopher is being cryptic, he’s pulling a SocraTEASE.
● The love of wisdom comes with a price, you know. It’s the philosoFEE.
● Any sensible ancient Roman in need of a good laugh goes down to the LOLosseum.

Animalia

● The effective use of an aquatic creature’s energy is entirely reflective of its efFISHiency.

Pop Culture/ Current Events

● A laughable dark lord: LOLdemort.
● Okay, sorry about that one. J.K will be ROWLING in her grave because of it.
● To throw pastries in protest of the monstrously affluent: OccuPIE Wall Street.
● We are the 3.1415%!

In 2005, MySpace blossomed as amateur vocalists and bands took up video sharing as a way to showcase their work. YouTube launched in 2005, allowing members to post videos that anyone, anywhere could view at anytime. In 2006, Facebook opened itself up to the world, and propelled us into a new age of online sharing. Music is no longer limited to what is heard on TV and on the radio. With just a click of a button you can tell all of your 1000+ Facebook friends about a new artist you just stumbled upon.

Prior to this, lesser-known musicians could not achieve the commercialized success of mainstream record-signed bands. Most underground composers are either unsigned or signed to small independent labels that lack the resources necessary to match the aggressive advertising of major music producers. However, social media is starting to facilitate the spread of news with features such as trending topics on Twitter and blog, and in turn are helping to expose fresh new artists to the music world. You used to have to search for underground music but now the “completely amazing” new song your friend “discovered” is one click away.

Death Cab for Cutie, the international indie sensation, is the perfect model of a band that transitioned from basement jam sessions to stardom. What started out as a gang of amateur musicians gathered in a garage, mixing and mashing cymbals and guitars, morphed into Grammy nominations and CDs certified platinum.

Mark Foster, founder of indie pop band Foster the People, says, “A lot of the songs are kind of exploding; they’re kind of dark truths.” Foster the People’s new single “Pumped Up Kicks” has ascended steadily into the #3 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100, an astronomical success for a band signed to an independent label. The staggering popularity of Foster the People sets the stage for a new generation of alternative and indie groups.

The allure of underground music has grown and attracted larger and larger crowds because many people want their taste in music to appear progressive and unique. More people are listening to indie rock and heavy metal because of the appeal of those bands not being well known. Ironically, that rise in popularity makes formerly alternative music mainstream.

That’s a disappointment for those who want to listen to something unusual. But if these fervent supporters prize the music for its sincerity, emotional dedication, and determination to pave a path of its own, they’ll continue to savour it-mainstream or not.

Not only is YouTube a place for silly animal videos and sketch comedy, but also a great place for artists to post videos of themselves performing. Friends and family can see their performances, as well as anyone with an internet connection and interest in music. It’s no secret that talent scouts scour YouTube looking for new talent. Musicians such as Justin Bieber, Andy McKee and Greyson Chance thanks to their popular YouTube channels.

In 2001, guitarist Andy McKee was ranked highly in the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championships. He signed with Candyrat, an acoustic guitar label, and in 2006, they put a video of McKee playing his original song called Drifting on YouTube. The video has attracted over 37 million views, making it one of the “trending” music videos for days. Since then, Mckee has multiple songs on YouTube and has released 2 albums and been on tour.

Singer Arnel Pineda also made it big, thanks to YouTube. In 2007 videos of him performing were posted on the site and managed to attract the attention of the well-known rock band Journey. That same year he was named their lead singer.

With YouTubes new feature coming out, wannabe musicians may have a better chance to gain the same fame as Pineda and McKee. Additionally, record labels will be able to benefit from the program, encouraging them to continue looking for the next YouTube star.

YouTube says that the world’s four largest music labels: Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music and Group EMI Group, have all come to profit from the site. They state that by having content such as promotional videos on the site, the music industry as a whole is making hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Recently, YouTube announced a licensing deal with Merlin, the fifth largest record label and a chain of independent music labels that represents 14 000 artists. This deal allows musicians that Merlin represents to receive royalties every time a YouTube user publishes a video using all or parts of a song by that musician. YouTube also plans to make similar deals with Merge Records, which represents Arcade Fire, and Beggars Group who represents Adele.

YouTube is working hard to turn itself into the ideal music destination. The site is making a large profit, while still benefitting the music industry. Here at Earl Haig, our SOPSS Assemblies and other performances are posted on YouTube. Some of the videos from our fall assembly already have more than 200 views. Perhaps, an Earl Haig student will be discovered by a YouTube talent scout and become the next big sensation-you never know.

This recent piece titled, “The Birth of Baby X,” featured not only the birth process, but also the weeks of preparation prior. The Microscope Gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn was converted into a nursery and the gallery’s exhibit space was equipped with all of Contemporary Western birth essentials, preparing a delivery room for the artist. Kotak spent the weeks leading up to her due date mentally preparing herself for the live birth.

For Kotak, her mental state was as important to the art as the act itself. As stated on her website, “I believe that our most intriguing performances occur when we are not aware that we are performing.” The mental preparations seemed to have helped to result in a successful art piece, as Kotak said, “Even with the audience’s presence in mind, I felt no more nervous than I would be in any conventional birth setting.”

Kotak’s upcoming performance art piece will be a follow-up to “The Birth of Baby X,” entitled, “Raising of Baby X.” Her second child-oriented piece will present Kotak as she experiences the daily joys and struggles of motherhood. These nuances of motherhood will all be displayed as a controversial and avant-garde art piece and according to the projects online description, are intended to continue as the child grows up, “attending college and developing an independent life.”

Despite criticism regarding the voyeuristic nature of this particular piece, Kotak maintains that “The Birth of Baby X” is art. “I hope that people will see that human life itself is the most profound work of art, and that therefore giving birth, the greatest expression of life, is the highest form of art.”

While “The Birth of Baby X” is certainly one of her more controversial pieces, it is not her first performance art piece to stir discussion. Her 2010 piece presented in Miami, “Sunny Blue Plymouth,” a re-enactment of the night she lost her virginity in such a car was subject to dispute. Perhaps that’s why the Plymouth was destroyed in a sequel piece later that evening, entitled “Destroying the Sunny Blue Plymouth.”

Although cutting-edge and controversial works do make up some of Kotak’s most famous pieces, they are not all she does. In 2008, and again in 2009, she performed a piece titled “Dinners for You”, in which she explored the daily activity of cooking, while preparing meals for her audience members. In 2008, when the piece was performed in her Bushwick home, audience members made reservations and were able to make special requests for meals.

It is debatable whether the shock value of her pieces hinders her viewer’s ability to immerse themselves. That being said. Kotak undoubtedly succeeds in bringing a new level of intimacy to the art world. Afterall, how many babies have you seen born?

For more information on Marni Kotak and her performance art projects, visit her website: marnikotak.com

It is wonderful to see so many fresh and familiar faces as we start off the 2011/2012 school year at Earl Haig! Welcome to a new chapter in your life.

At Earl Haig there are so many opportunities waiting to be seized. Trust me when I say that the more you put into this school, the more you will take away from it. At Earl Haig, there’s no reason not to put yourself out there. As student council President, some of the best advice I can give you is to have the courage to approach new people, join clubs and make new friends. A handshake goes a long way.

You want sports? Oh, we’ve got sports. How about the arts? This school is stacked with talent. And clubs? My friend, we have more than one hundred clubs and councils, ready for new members. With so much going on, take this year to get involved and take part in Earl Haig’s hustle bustle. Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box and try some green eggs and ham. You might like it, Sam I am.

And to help make sure this year reaches its full potential, the wonderful Student Activity Council of 11/12 is here for you. Drop by the SAC office anytime for assistance, suggestions or friendship, and we will do everything we can to make it happen.

So fasten your seatbelts because we’re going full throttle into this school year. It’s show time. In the words of The Whole Earth Catalog: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Carpe Diem!

Best Wishes,
Andrew Rintoul
Student Activity Council President