Author: SandeeL

As technology steadily increases, it is also interfering with nature or nature observation. Technology is something that people are depending on more and more but nature is something that we shouldn’t get in the way of. How are we supposed to balance these two?

A month ago, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 60 satellites to further complete their Starlink project. They want to create a constellation of satellites around Earth to provide easy internet access to people around the world. However, the Sun reflecting on the satellites makes them very bright. These new batch of satellites have visors and other devices to minimize the reflections but scientists/astronomers have said that they will still block their observations of the universe.

I believe that this new technology is acceptable except that they should invent more techniques so that the satellites won’t disturb the night sky as much. For example, Starlink satellites are supposed to give internet access to people who don’t have it. The satellites could just be positioned above the areas that don’t have internet, not the whole world. SpaceX could also work with astronomers to figure out which places the satellites could be placed at so that they give minimum blockage of the important places astronomers are observing. If technology is being used to make people’s lives easier, it should also be used to protect nature.

There is so much negative news out there that it becomes normal to some people. If you are part of Gen Z, the internet is a pretty normal thing that you probably use almost everyday. With access to the internet, there is also a lot of bad news. Eventually, people will be numb to it and not be as aware or alert of it.

Being numb or not caring as much about the bad things that is happening in the world can have a negative impact. For example, COVID-19 has been going on for around half a year now and people tend to not care as much about it until it affects them personally. Doctors have also said that they aren’t as aware of the alarms that happen daily. Being less aware of important things can also lead to less actions being done to fix the event.

A solution for people to be more aware could be to take a break from the news every occasionally, to not be troubled by the same thing over and over again. When you do acknowledge a piece of news that may be negative, look more into it, and understand how to help, don’t just ignore it because it doesn’t affect you.

What does it feel like, being connected to 2 nations and unsure of which one to be more involved with? As a second-generation Taiwanese immigrant, I grew up in America so I understand it more but I also know Taiwanese ways from my parents. Which aspects from each country should I implement into my daily routines more?

“Rules of The Game“, by Amy Tan, is about a girl named Waverly who grew up in a San Francisco Chinatown. She’s a second-generation Chinese immigrant so she learned many Chinese things from her mother while in America. Even when she was in her chess tournaments, her mother kept on reminding her of Chinese idioms. Knowing your home country is important but how much do you need to know since you’re living in another country?

I believe that doing day to day actions in the way of your home country is normal as your daily habits are mirroring the ones of your parents. However, when doing things at school or other extracurricular activities, you should learn more in the way of the country you’re living in. Academics are different from each other depending on the place and it might be harmful if you learn in the way of another country. Overall, learning 75% of your current country and 25% of your home country would probably be the best as knowing more of your present situation is more important but remembering the traditions and the ways of your family’s home country is also good for you.

Don’t think that you are higher than everyone else around you because all of us are equal and even though you have done more accomplishments, you should still be humble. A good man is hard to find shows a lady who thinks she is much more important than she actually is.

In the beginning of the story, a family is deciding to go on a road trip to Florida while the grandmother wanted to go to Tennessee instead. To support her point, she says a criminal named The Misfit is also in Florida. Normally, if someone says that, it would mean he/she is worried about his/her family. However, other events in the story support more of the fact that the grandmother is only saying that so they go to Tennessee. Another thing in the story is the grandmother’s definition of good. The owner of a restaurant they ate at told her a story and she called him a good man because she approved of his actions. Overall, the grandmother is very self-centered and her her definition of good is whatever she thinks is right from her perspective.

A good man is hard to find shows how one shouldn’t think that he/she is higher than others and only change when something bad happens, such as when the grandmother was about to die. For example, in a small community such as at work or school, if everyone respects others, it will be a warm and welcoming community. However, if some think that they’re better, it can become a negative community for people.

As COVID-19 deaths keep on increasing, knowing the exact number is important. However, some problems prevent the number from being accurate. One of them is that the definition of a coronavirus death may differ between states. Some count people who died having both the virus and other health problems while others don’t. This can cause inaccuracy as we don’t have an official definition of a COVID-19 death. Some states also aren’t willing to disclose death count information as they are scared that it will be used for other purposes that may be damaging to them.

A possible solution to this is for all of the states in America to make a compromise. Something that can be done is for a health agency such as CDC to help figure out an easier way to confirm a COVID-19 death and also decide what exactly is the definition of a coronavirus death. A possible definition for a coronavirus death is people who died while experiencing serious symptoms caused by COVID-19. Even if a victim had other health conditions, if he/she had severe COVID-19 symptoms, then it will be counted as a coronavirus death. To further confirm it, autopsies could also be done. Autopsies are rarely performed and can be expensive so a change that could be done is for autopsies to be free and done on every single uncertain death. This also means more people trained in doing autopsies as there aren’t as many workers. Another thing that can be done is for people to not be scared of going to the hospital if sick so doctors can make sure what deaths were caused by.

COVID-19 isn’t something that will just go by very fast and to solve it, we all need to work together smoothly as a country to get all the necessary information and enforce laws to protect people.

Red herring is the concept of finding fake clues that mislead you. The opposite of that is Checkhov’s Gun. This is a concept in literature that states that “every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.”

Checkhov’s Gun is essentially just foreshadowing but it also drives the story. For example, in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, it’s about a tradition that is is having a lottery to see who gets stoned to death. The children had “stuffed [their] pockets full of stones [and] eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square.”(Jackson) This is foreshadowing what will happen towards to end of the book. However, if a reader was reading this story for the first time, he/she probably won’t care much about the stones and continue reading. The stones could also not even be important to the story. However, with Checkhov’s Gun, these stones need to have a purpose in the story, not just be a random object.

Another story that follows the Checkhov’s Gun concept is The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. This story is about a girl who’s mother died but is trying to find what her mom is showing her when she turned into a “red-crowned crane, but with a long, feathery tail … [and] every feather was a different shade of red, sharp and gleaming.”(Pan) The appearance of her mother as a bird could just be random and unimportant, but this story follows the Checkhov’s Gun concept and the scarlet bird is constantly a big part of the book.

With Checkhov’s Gun, everything in a piece of literature is there for a reason, all seemingly important things will be explored further.

“Don’t forget what happened. Don’t let the next generation forget, either, because another outbreak will surely arrive when it is least expected.” This is what Bruce Bower said in his Science News article on COVID-19. There are always many things happening in the world but after one ends or at least dampens a little, people tend to just forget about it. Whether it’s pandemics, racism, global warming, or other events, we should always be aware of them.

Global warming has been in the world for centuries but many people don’t even care about it. However, it’s still going and getting worse. New technology has led to scientists being able to measure the amount of ice melted in areas such as Greenland and Antarctica. Greenland has 200 gigatons of ice lost each year while Antarctica has 118. Each gigaton is the size of 400,000 Olympic swimming pools. This is so large it’s hard for us to comprehend it.

Another big issue is racism, specifically the one against black people. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech about how racism is still going on even though America made a no slavery rule in 1863. It’s been 100 years and it still hasn’t been fixed. Now, it’s 2020 so 157 years has passed and it hasn’t been resolved. Currently, there are many attempts going on to end racism against black people, some of which is successful. However, if these protests stop, will it just disappear from people’s minds?

To solve all of these problems, we not only need people to take action, but also people to not forget it. Keep on fighting for the end of global warming and racism!

The US condemns other countries for torturing their prisoners, such as North Korea, Iran, etc. However, America doesn’t exactly not torture prisoners. In a maximum-security prison called ADX, all of the prisoners are punished with solitary confinement. There are stuck inside a tiny room for 23 hours. This torture may not be the one you think of, such as ones with pain, but being alone for an extended amount of time can be very damaging. Do you think that preventing prisoners from seeing other people violates their rights?

Socializing with other people is an essential thing that humans need. Laura Rovner says that humans find out their identities by interacting with other people. Some prisoners literally go insane from solitary confinement, banging their heads against the walls, doing unnatural things, and other actions we wouldn’t even think of doing. Other prisoners cut themselves to be reminded that they are still part of this world, attempt suicide, and also try to interact with other people by yelling into the shower vent but it results in them losing their voice.

I believe that isolating prisoners shouldn’t be allowed. If it’s necessary, then only for a few days like how the UK has a 15-day limit. Some people think that torture can be allowed for people who are extremely bad, such as mass murderers. However, if America says that torture is unacceptable, then we shouldn’t have it at all. No matter the extent of someone’s actions, that person is still a person. Confining them is basically treating them like an animal and it would probably only lead to worse behavior.

What is your insight on solitary confinement? Should it be allowed for a short period of time, or just have it banned completely? And if these people who have done terrible things don’t get this kind of punishment, what other things can suit them?

No one thinks about something the exact same way. For example, you might think that your teacher is really nice while another student may think that the teacher is strict. In Miss Awful by Arthur Cavanaugh, a 3rd-grade class had a substitute teacher. At the beginning of the story, we see from the perspective of the students, thinking that the teacher, Ms. Orville(Awful), is really mean to them while we see more from her point of view towards the end of the story. The main theme of this story is to not judge a book by its cover, or that you should understand other’s perspectives before making assumptions.

When the main character, Roger, first saw the teacher, she was described as “tall and straight as a ruler … [her] rimless spectacles glinted on her bony nose. Her hair was gray, like a witch’s, skewered in a bun, and there was no question that she had witch’s eyes.” (Cavanaugh) Even before they properly met her, the students thought of her very negatively. This is an example of where you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. However, she began to be extremely strict to the students unlike their normal teacher, and even insulted them on their homework. By just reading the first part, we assume that Ms. Orville really is a bad person and mean to the students.

However, we find out from one of the parents that Ms. Orville was kicked out of the place she lived in and was basically forced to be homeless. From this, it shows that her real personality isn’t that awful. It also shows that she is being strict with the students because she wants to improve their behavior and stop them from being as violent.

Understanding what others are thinking before taking action is something that can prevent conflicts from happening. Your perspective doesn’t always include all the details. If the students knew Ms. Orville’s background, they would acknowledge that she isn’t actually a mean person and this would’ve stopped them wanting to take revenge, in this case, killing her plant that she cared about.

Miss Awful shows its reader not judge a book by its cover, and that understanding the other side’s perspective is very important. Next time you are about to interfere with a situation, be sure to recognize what others feel first.

Imagine going to the past in a time machine but then coming back just to find out that everything has changed. You’ve all watched or read about time traveling in sci-fi books or movies. However, there are many dangers that come with traveling through time.

In A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury, there is a Time Safari where you can go back in time to hunt animals that are extinct in the present day. They do things in a certain way to prevent a different timeline such as having a floating path to walk on and only shooting animals that will be dead in the near future. However, on one of these trips to hunt a T-rex, one of them gets scared and runs off the path. When they get back to their time, they realize that some things have changed because the person that got scared stepped on a butterfly when he ran off the path.

The TV show called The Flash also shows the dangers of time traveling. The main character has superpowers that allow him to go so fast he can travel through time. His mother had died when he was young so he went back in time to save her. However, this made him lose many things he had in the original timeline. He went back in time again to stop the previous him from saving his mom in an attempt to fix the timeline. However, even though many things went back to normal, the original timeline wasn’t restored completely.

An analogy that was made in The Flash was a glass cup breaking. You can try to put the piece back to fix it but it’s impossible to make it into what it was before. This is what happens when you try to fix the new timeline into the original one. The hunter who wanted to fix what he had done in A Sound of Thunder didn’t even get the chance to try as they knew he couldn’t make things to what they were before.

All of the time traveling works should caution all of us about the dangers of messing up your timeline. With advancing technology, it should be possible to travel through time in the far future. If you ever get to travel to the past, be aware of the catastrophic effects you may cause.