I Want Candy

So, I know I'm a little late, but I'm hooked to Candy Crush. I love the pure and simple joy of completing a level in Candy Crush. The shiny candies and chocolate bon bons entrance me every time I play. I have often found that once I begin to play, it is often a challenge for me to put it down.

After seeing myself and many other friends get hooked to Candy Crush, I wondered what is the cause of the obsession. Since the app's release in November of 2012, it has gained popularity "Worldwide... Candy Crush Saga is estimated to make £610,000 ($1,000,000) per day from its users, according to Appdata" (BBC). One of the reasons for the game's tremendous financial success is because of the way the app lures the user into paying for extra lives, add-ons which allow you to progress to higher levels, and access to higher levels. Some have questioned King's (the British-based company which developed Candy Crush) push to encourage gamers to buy add-ons because they believe it is unfair that money can be used win a game. On the other hand, the majority of the people playing Candy Crush do not pay money for the extra help (only about 25% of players have spent money on Candy Crush). Personally, I think that it is within King's right to have users pay for extras because all they are trying to do is make a profit. Though Candy Crush is not the first app to give gamers the option to buy extras within the app, Candy Crush has by far been the most successful in getting users to buy game advantages.

Another statistic that BBC pointed out which I thought was very interesting is that "The advent of smartphones and tablets has changed gaming - so much so that the typical Candy Crush Saga player is a woman aged 25-45." 

Why is it ethical/unethical for Candy Crush and other gaming apps to sell advantages? Why do you think the average gamer is a middle-aged woman?

More Money=Better ACT Score?

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the dreaded ACT. For me and some of my friends, the doomed date of the next test is this upcoming Saturday!

As many of my American Studies classmates have noted, there is a great divide between low-income and higher-income opportunities when it comes to standardized testing like the ACT/SAT. More people in higher-income areas are able to pay for expensive private tutoring or have access to a test prep class, which can give an advantage to higher-income students and well-funded school. For me, and most New Trier students, it would be ridiculous to go into an ACT unprepared because of the opportunities we are given. 

So, if money can buy extra test prep, can it also buy extra time on the test to create yet another advantage for higher-income students?

The fact that many more students in well-off areas like the New Trier Township are receiving extra test time may seem odd. One might initially think that there are no more students with learning disabilities in  the New Trier district than any other district, so there would be an equal number of students with extra time on the ACT: "The natural proportion of learning disabilities should be somewhere around 2 percent, the College Board said, but at some elite schools, up to 46 percent of students receive special accommodations to take the tests, including extra time" (Tapper, ABC News). 

I would not say that people at higher-income schools who have extra time accommodations are not deserving it. There are many people that do need extra time on tests because of learning disabilities. But, why would the numbers be so disproportionate with many fewer people from lower-income areas receiving extra test time? I believe the answer lies in a flaw in the system: "Whatever the exam, applicants need to demonstrate that their disability substantially limits their daily functioning and their ability to take the test. So legal experts say the best investment is a comprehensive private evaluation, which can cost $1,000 to $5,000" (NY Times, Moore). In order to receive extra time accommodations, a parent or guardian usually must take their child to various physicians for a proper diagnosis of their learning disability. As you might imagine, this cost might not be available to families with low-income and therefore they cannot have the extra time they need. Besides money, the parents/guardian of the low-income students probably has a manual labor job(s) and they are tired and busy much of the time. Therefore, they are more unlikely to advocate for their child and spend a lot of time submitting forms and doctor recommendations for extra time.

In what other ways do you think the standardized testing system favors wealthier people? Why do you think this is a problem? 

Also, please feel free to comment on the photo--I chose that one for a reason.

I'm A Unitedstatesian

In Spanish class last year, my teacher would often go off on the same tangent about the fact that people who live in the United States are narcissistic to call themselves "Americans." She argued that the term, American is a selfish because it forgets that there are all the other countries in Central and South America too. My teacher would often say that the English language should adopt the word Unitedstatesian like the Spanish word, estadounidense, which describes someone from the United States because that would be more accurate than, "American."

In a way, I agree with my teacher. I wondered why the Spanish language would have a word to describe people from the United States and not the English language. I think that the connotation of the word, American, is that we could care less about the other nations that are in the Americas. Of course, it is not fair to say that everyone who lives in the U.S. thinks that they are better than people from other nations when they call themselves American. But, the word might have a totally different meaning to someone who lives in Panama, for example. A Panamanian might feel like people from the United States are narcissistic because they think they are the only Americans.

Americans' narcism may also be a proximate cause for the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). The PIC often discriminates against people of color and immigrants. I think it is a major problem because it is increasing the class boundaries because people who have money are investing in prisons and are taking advantage of felons who are mostly non-whites. For example, because of laws preventing ex-felons from voting, many people of color are unable to vote. As a result, people of color are often stuck in the 'revolving door' of the Prison Industrial Complex: "This model understands incarceration, directly profitable or not, as part of a larger circuitry of social control in which the poor are blamed for their own plight..." (Coulter 3). It is a common trend, the wealthy and powerful ignore the people who are below them. Some people who live in the U.S. might think themselves above all other nations.

How do you feel about the word American being used to describe a person who lives in the United States?

Do you know Spanglish?

Last night, I went with my grandparents to see my younger brother's band concert. As my grandparents and I were walking into my former middle school, many things looked exactly the same as I remembered them. However, there was one major difference that struck me. Everything was labeled in English and Spanish. For example, the principle's office was, "the office and la oficina."


The fact that more and more signs are being written in Spanish as well as English seems to connote that Americans are becoming more accepting of immigrants. For many years, immigrants were discriminated against in the United States. At about the same time that the Civil Rights Movement was taking place so were immigration reforms which prohibited "discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and voting...the [1965] law established new, racially neutral criteria for immigration..." (Foner 926). Today, immigrants have many more opportunities because of the laws that prevent discrimination which were formed during the Civil RIghts Movement. America has always been known for having a mix of many cultures and ethnic backgrounds and I think that is a positive thing.

Many people still feel like Hispanics are taking over the U.S. because "Hispanics or Latinos constitute 16.7% of the total United States population, or 52 million people." Because there are so many Latinos who live in the United States, I think some may feel like they are taking jobs away from Americans. Though it is true that there are an increasing number of Hispanics in this country, I do not think there is any problem with that. I think that most of the jobs that Hispanics are taking are jobs that require manual labor that most Americans would not want to do anyway.

Why do you think many signs are being written in both English and Spanish (or other languages)? How do you feel about signs that are in other languages besides English?

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

As some of you may have heard, Thanksgiving and the first night of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, will be on the same day: Thanksgivukkah.

Though I had never heard of Thanksgivukkah, I figured that it was not that big of a deal. I would guess that ever few years or so, it would be bound to happen that both holidays would land on the same day. In fact, I was very wrong, the last (and first) time both holidays were on the same day was in 1888 and the next time will not be until the year 79,811. Because the Jewish calendar is based of the moon, it is very different from the Gregorian calendar which is based off of the sun.

The two holidays, Thanksgiving and Hannukkah, are very important in my family because we can enjoy a time that is dedicated to being together and being grateful for what we have. Though there is still plenty of unfairness and hatred in the world, things are pretty great right now in 2013. I know that that things would have been quite different during the first Thanksgivukkah in 1888.

As the Reconstruction period after the Civil War ended in 1877, the 1880s brought about a mass of hatred and white supremacy in the United States. Groups like the KKK were in, and democracy and peace were out. I am guessing that most of the Jews who lived in the U.S. at the time were not celebrating Thanksgivukkah because there was a great deal of tension at that time between whites and minority groups. Minorities like the Jews would not have had much reason to celebrate a country that seems to want to get rid of them. It is so amazing what a transformation has occurred that there is now such a greater acceptance of minorities in America. More and more examples of a changing America are emerging: gay marriage laws being passed and now Thanksgivukkah!

Separate But Equal Today

Gay rights activism has been around for at least the past 40 years or so, however, until recently, most states in the U.S. have not allow gays to marry. As of Tuesday, Illinois lawmakers approved gay marriage. Governor Pat Quinn pledged to sign the bill allowing gays the right to marry in Illinois and the bill is due to take effect on June 1st.

I am very proud to see that lawmakers are finally able to pass a bill that I feel should have been passed long ago. The idea that two people who love each other are not able to marry simply because it does not agree with some peoples' religious views seems like a phenomenon that would not occur today. Yet, the issue of gay marriage is all over the news and there is still a large amount of discrimination against gays. 

The fight for civil rights is not over. Gay people seem to me to be one of the last groups of people that are earning their equal liberties in the United States. I wonder why many people have such a hard time accepting people that are gay. 

One possible reason I think people are "afraid" of gay marriage is because they feel that their religious views are being jeopardized by an "untraditional" marriage. Some other people who may not be religious also feel that gays are not meant to take part in "the sacred act of marriage," which should only be between a man and a woman. Though many people are slowly letting go of these old-fashioned views, there is still unfortunately a large group of people who oppose gay rights today. 

Why do you think gays have been one of the last groups to gain the rights they deserve?

Tick Tock on the Clock

I wake up-it's 7:00
I arrive at school-it's 8:07
I walk into advisory-it's 8:11
I finish Spanish homework in advisory-it's 8:34
I hear the bell ring-it's 8:40
...

As a student, my life seems to be governed by time and a series of bells. Every day I probably look at a clock at least 100 times. Clocks are everywhere--on computers, phones, every classroom wall, on wrists... The human invention of time has been around for thousands of years, however, I think the more we have access to technology, the more people have become obsessed with time.

I wouldn't say that it is necessarily a bad thing to keep track of the time. But, the fact that nearly everything these days is about living around a clock bothers me. I know I'm not the only teenager out there who feels the same dislike of alarms as me. Another time I feel that I am being governed by a clock is taking standardized tests, especially the dreaded ACT. Last Saturday, I took the ACT for the first time. Though I had taken several practice tests before, I messed up my pacing on several sections and when the proctor said, "Five minutes left," I would have 20 questions left to answer. It's not necessarily that I didn't know how to do most of the problems, but because of a clock, I couldn't show my best possible abilities. Why do I need an additional pressure of a clock??

Do you think standardized tests are a measure of test-taking ability or actual intelligence?

A Call to Prayer?

After finishing the eye-opening, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I was very moved by the intense passion and bravery of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was truly like none other: he was able to teach himself how to read and write although it was illegal and his incredible oratory and writing skills enabled Douglass to become "...the most powerful and influential black American of his time..." (iii). Douglass knew that the main audience of his autobiography were northerners (mainly Christians) who were unsure if slavery should be continued. Many times throughout his narrative, Douglass makes reference to religion. Often using the epithet, "hell of slavery," it is likely that Douglass wanted his readers to come to the conclusion that those who allowed the evil of slavery to continue would have to endure the wrath of G-d. I believe Mr. Douglass tried to showcase the hypocrisy of the "religious" slave owners in the hope of giving readers a deeper feeling of hatred towards slaveholders: "[Mr. Covey] sometimes deceived himself into the solemn belief, that he was a sincere worshipper...when he may be said to have been guilty compelling his woman slave to commit the sin of adultery" (37).

Based on Douglass' narrative, many people during that time had strong religious beliefs and feelings. Today, it is becoming more and more common for people to reject religion. There may be many reasons why people in the United States are generally less religious nowadays than they were in Douglass' time. I feel that the main reason is that people have less to worry in terms of health issues because improved medical care over the years. When I went to Hebrew school, I could see a clear lack of faith among many of my peers. After 7th grade, almost 1/2 of my religious school peers no longer attended. The graph below represents data that was collected in a study done by the University of California, Berkeley. The results of the graph seem to accurately depict my own experience in Hebrew school.

Why do you think people are less religious these days?

The New Trier Uniform

This past Wednesday, I got an iPhone. Finally! 

Before I had an iPhone, I felt like I was the only one in a sea of 3,000 kids that didn't have an iPhone (no joke). I had a flip phone which didn't have all the bling and the blang of an iPhone, but I could still use it to call or text. Living in a generally well-off area, I have been exposed to an extremely spoiled bunch of kids (including me). To be honest, I was very reluctant and excited at the same time to follow the bandwagon of the iPhone users. I knew having an iPhone would make communicating through text and social media substantially easier, but I did not want to fall into the "New Trier uniform."  

My friends and I joke now that I am a "real" New Trier student now. Another pretty iconic example of the "New Trier uniform" is a North Face fleece. I will admit that I have been a proud owner of several black North Face fleeces over the past 8 years or so. Growing up and living almost all my life in the New Trier district, I remember from when I was quite little that I always wanted a North Face fleece like my friends. In very much the same way an iPhone attracts customers, North Face makes their brand seem highly prized because it is more expensive, however, it is no better than the Target brand fleece or one that you could get at an outlet store. There's no doubt that I enjoy the warmth and comfort of my North Face and my iPhone when I want to check Facebook or a text message. But, in the end I always feel that in some way I lost the battle. I am fitting into my mold, slowly forming like a mound of clay. The outcome is inevitable. 

Do you feel that you wear a "uniform" of some form?

7 Pix

After a class discussion about New Trier's "Hall of Fame," I wondered what other aspects of New Trier may be sending subliminal messages to students and members of the New Trier community. One example that I have seen about a million times is the photo slideshow on the New Trier website. When I actually stopped to think about it, I was sort of upset at the photos that were chosen for the front page of the website: a student studying, a student playing violin, a student making art, a student playing lacrosse, a student on an iPad, students at the "commencement" ceremony, a student working on a robot project (or at least I think that's what it is). It is so monotonous and so wrong.

I can see someone on the board of education saying something like, "Let's put up a photo of someone playing an instrument, someone in an art class, and someone on an iPad...That's what the parents want to see."

There is much more to New Trier than that. I feel that those particular photos were not chosen for any other reason besides to show off to people like parents and non-New Trier students. I think those photos create a very cropped image of New Trier, forgetting about so much more that New Trier has to offer.

I think the average user of the New Trier website is probably a student from New Trier who is not in the least bit interested in seeing another student studying. So, why bother with putting up those propaganda-esque photos in the first place? I mean, we get it already. New Trier is a pretty awesome high school. It is not fair to sum up an entire student body in 7 measly photos.

William Gets a New Hairdo

Shakespeare is changing with the times

I can remember many nights spent at the desk in my room staring blankly at text from the Odyssey. Apparently, I hoped that eventually I would find some sort of hidden clue as to what the heck was going on. By the time I was finished with the novel, excuse me, epic poem, I felt like I could pretty much read Greek. But, to be honest, at first I felt like I really didn't get too much from that ancient poem besides a migraine headache. I certainly was not the only one though, my peers constantly complained about reading books that were far too old to be interesting. So, why is it that schools across the country have been having high schoolers read the Odyssey, the Catcher in the Rye, and Romeo and Juliet for at least the past half century?

I would not say that I dislike the above mentioned books, not at all. But, I find it interesting that it is so consistent across the country for people to read the same thing. I would argue that our country has changed immensely over the past fifty years or so, yet we continue to read the same books in school as students did in the Stone Age (no exaggeration).

My feeling is that though the language we use nowadays is way different from the time of Romeo and Juliet. We can still understand the feeling of what it would be like to be in love, but never be able to be together because of family rivalries. Or in the case of the Catcher in the Rye, to be a teenager who feels lost and alone with no one to console him, but his younger sister Pheobe.

I occasionally even look back and reread passages from my freshman and sophomore English classes that I find moving: "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move . . . Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you" (Salinger). I think that high school students can often relate to Holden in his moments of despair or even Odysseus feeling like you have to steer away from the entrancing call of the Sirens. I really do not think it is so crazy that we keep reading the same books in school because they are really NOT the same and they never will be.

Looks Yummy

As I was scrolling through the Yahoo News feed, I was more than surprised by what I read. It's not too often that a news headline really catch my eye like, "Grandmother's petition seeks changes to laundry pods." First off, what in the heck does that title mean? I was even more confused as I read on. Apparently, a petition was started to make laundry pods more child-proof. The statistic that shocked me most was that "So far in 2013, poison control centers around the country have received more than 6,000 reports of exposure to the concentrated laundry cleaners from children ages 5 and younger." That means that thousands of irresponsible parents are leaving around toxic chemicals for their 2-year-olds to teethe on. To me, that is a bit depressing. How could people be so dumb?  

Here's the photo that was included in the article. The claim was that "the brightly colored packets can be dangerously appealing to children." 

I feel like the fact that the box of the laundry pods is bright-colored is irrelevant. The companies that make laundry pods post warnings on their products which are quite blatant. This is simply a matter of bad parenting in my opinion. This whole situation could be remedied if parents and guardians keep chemicals away from little kids. Simple as that.

It's a Man's Job, Honey

As many of my American Studies classmates such as Callie, Ben, and Sara also decided to blog about gender roles, it is obvious to me that the issue of racial and gender injustice is one that is pressing even in today's "more liberal" society. I find it so interesting that though many consider our nation to have progressed in terms of equality for women and minorities, however, as shown in The Soiling of Old Glory, the U.S. is still far from perfect. It is so amazing to me that a photo taken in 1976 of a white man attempting to hit a black man with the shaft of an American flag can so closely resemble a painting depicting the Boston Massacre which was painted in 1856, over 100 years earlier. Not much seems to have changed: "'Now, as evidenced by this attack, the black people of Boston have very little reason to celebrate the Bicentennial, for they are still not free to safely walk the streets of this city"' (Masur 69). Now, Boston has improved the situation for its minority population in more recent years and the city is no longer as segregated. The state of Massachusetts even passed a law in 2004 allowing people of the same sex to get married. I wouldn't say that the rest of the nation has exactly followed suit with Boston.

 No, I wouldn't say that it is very realistic to think that changing the nation's outlook on gender and minorities will happen overnight. But, change must and can be done. In AS class a few weeks ago, Mr. Bolos and Mr. O'Connor asked the whole class to close their eyes and think of the image that pops into your head when you think of "an American." Though not everyone in the class shared their mental image, I think it is fair to say that nearly everyone thought of a middle or upper-class white man. Why is it that "an American" is not a Hispanic female? I interpret the fact that people automatically think of a man to represent the average American to mean that many people subconsciously believe that modern American society is dominated by white men. Just as Louis Masur compares the photograph of The Soiling of Old Glory with a painting of the Boston Massacre, we can say that the U.S. is still dominated by rich white men like the framers of the constitution. So, has our society's viewpoint really become more progressive since the time of the Founding Fathers?

Anyone up for a comedy?

Last week while having dinner with my grandparents, I got into a conversation with my grandma about her childhood in Egypt. My grandma told me about the good old days when movies were "nice," as she put it, meaning that they did not have any swearing, drugs, or sex. She said loved to go with her friends to see movies all day long, but her favorites were the American films because they always had a happy ending. Although I have seen so many movies, I never really picked up on the the fact that American stories often seem to follow a general form. In a discussion in American Studies class the other day, we talked about how movies like the Lion King and Cinderella have become family favorites because of their nearly perfect "redemptive arcs" as described in Kurt Vonnegut's essay, "Here Is a Lesson in Creative Writing." Vonnegut explains that in order for a story to do well in the American marketplace, it will follow a somewhat similar pattern: life is going pretty well, then something bad happens, but as fate would have it, life gets to be even better than it ever was. Why is it that most Americans only want to see a movie with a happy ending?

Redemptive Arc

   

I think most people who go to the movies want to have a pleasant experience and want to come out feeling satisfied that the conflicts have all been resolved. A good point that someone brought up during our discussion about the "ideal" American movie is that when people walk out of a movie happy, they will spread a good word about the film. Therefore, more people will go to see the movie, making more money for its producers.

Why do you think it is that American films and stories commonly have happy ending? Is it just to sell tickets?

Gas is Lighting a Hole in Your Pocket

This past Sunday I started my first job as an aide at my synagogue's religious school. I was so excited to  be given a role of responsibility where I help the younger kids in the school with Hebrew or with prayers. I really enjoyed my work and I left very content that I did a good job and that I earned some money of my own.

On my way driving home from the synagogue, I noticed that the gas tank on the car was only about a quarter of the way full, so I decided I would stop at a gas station to fill up. All that I had on me was about $25, which I earned from my job. I went up to the cash register in the mini-mart and asked to buy $25 worth of gas. As a newly-licensed driver, this was the first time I had gone alone to fill up the car. I knew gasoline is expensive, but I was shocked as the dollar amount on the pump's display increased so rapidly. Suddenly, I heard a clunk, indicating that my money was all used up. I felt quite let down when I entered the car and noticed that the tank was only a measly half-way full.

I kept wondering why prices of gas have gotten incredibly high. I thought back to what someone said the other day in American Studies class that gas prices do not have to be so high because prices often fluctuate based on what area you live in. For example, most gas stations in Cook County, Illinois charge much more than the national average. At first after taking the car to the gas station, I wished that gasoline prices were cheaper, so I would not have to constantly worry about how much gas I am using by driving to places. But, that led to my epiphany that the fact that people now think twice before they decide to use up 10 gallons of gas to drive to a shoe store is a good thing. Now, less and less petroleum is left in reserves because of an increased demand for petro products and because it is a nonrenewable resource.

Might investing in alternative fuels solve the U.S.'s as well as many other nation's everlasting need for petroleum?