Uni High Gargoyle Staff Blog

Today I inadvertently stumbled upon the only lucid definition of abstract art that I have ever been witness to. Dictionary.com told me that abstract art is “artistic content dependent on internal form rather than pictorial representation.” This actually makes a lot of sense to me because it explains why I can’t understand abstract art: I have no idea what the “internal form” of anything looks like.

I’m sure that many are able to find this aforementioned artistic content somewhere between the squiggles and the blue blob of paint on the canvas. I, however, am incapable of doing so.

I either lack the creativity or the gullibility to allow myself to be seduced by the notion that such work can also be known as art and is actually understandable and worth my time.

I prefer instead to mull over the idea that I know 4-year-olds, who can barely grip a pencil without making it look as if they’re handling a club, who can make more coherent and aesthetic artwork.

There are some days, though, when I truly wish I had this third-eye ability to see beyond that fact that the painting looks like the artist tripped and smacked their palette onto the canvas. I would really like to be able to appreciate the artistic thought that went into making sure that the red glob of paint landed right next to the blue blob of paint which kind of looks like a dog.

Despite all my sarcasm, though, I really do want to understand what is going on in abstract pieces of art. I would much appreciate a tutorial given to me by those who do understand this art so that I too may be at that level of comprehension.

Unless of course there is nothing to understand and those who do understand are simply pretending to understand. In which case, I firmly believe that the “internal form” of anything is not artistic subject matter and does not deserve to be sold as art.

— Shivani Khanna

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What are the three adjectives that best describe your friend? This question was recently posited in the ever-annoying peer recommendations that are due tomorrow and which, of course, I have yet to finish.

These peer recommendations are essays, completed by friends and classmates, which discuss your positive traits and characteristics. They, hypothetically, provide the Student Services Office with more information about you, and many colleges also ask for peer recommendations.

But aside from the 20 minutes these blue sheets of paper take away from my day, there are other problems with them. How could I possibly sum up my friends and classmates in a paragraph or two? Isn’t my friendship with someone much more than three of his or her positive traits?

College admissions essays are, in general, useless. What was your most emotionally significant moment and why? That hardly gives me room to explain who I am. But, I’m at least given leeway to use anecdotes, throw in my own voice, and attempt to display the true Sarah.

However, peer recommendations are even worse. I don’t get to explain how my friend and I met. I don’t have the opportunity to show why we are still friends. The little sheet of paper doesn’t ask what the greatest thing about my friend is. Instead, I am given less than half a page to describe this person’s most unique quality.

Let me use a scenario to showcase the flaw with this system. Say that I label my friend’s most unique quality as her determination. She is an athlete, and she works hard to give her best performance at every game and practice. She never gives up, even when the score is lopsided and there isn’t a victory in sight.

Now, say that I have another friend, and not being very creative, I label that friend’s most unique quality as her determination. She really likes math, and is currently taking calculus. She works really hard to do well in the class and never gives up on a problem.

But how have I differentiated between these two girls? They are both determined, in numerous ways. They may be similar in numerous ways as well. But from this peer recommendation, it just sounds like they never give up on the task at hand, whether that is math or sports.

Plus, there are the cop-out adjectives. My friend is nice, happy, and sincere. Why, thank you for killing a tree just to write that watery mix of terminology. Half the people who are asked to write recommendations don’t really want to write them. So what is stopping someone from throwing some frilly words on a piece of paper and handing it in?

It seems that these peer recommendations aren’t really worth it. The few key characteristics that you might glean from thousands of recommendations aren’t important enough. You could learn that about a person from sitting down and talking to them. Why don’t we refrain from piling more work into a junior’s day and attempt to find other ways to learn that a student is nice?

— Sarah Pfander

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

It sneaks up on me every year, coming sooner than I expected. The event where the superstars of Hollywood all come together and give themselves a pat on the back. The Oscars always create much fanfare and never fail to showcase some of the most strange and bizarre fashion statements (I’m looking at you, swan dress).

Despite the ridiculous fanfare, the Oscars are always fun to watch. For some reason seeing what movies win the awards is enjoyable, even if I haven’t seen most of them. It is also always interesting to see pretty much all of Hollywood crammed together in one room (as the opening monologue often points out).

If the show only consisted of giving out awards it would probably last an hour tops and have no need to cut off long acceptance speeches. However, there are always montages and performances of the always-terrible nominees for the best original song, which make the show last half the night.

However, the last few years I’ve had a problem with the Oscars: I don’t have time to watch them! Without fail, since I’ve come to Uni, I always find myself working on some paper the night of the Oscars. Each year I tell myself that I’ll hurry and finish my work so I can finish my work early and watch, but I always fail and end up working during the Oscars.

Last year I was able to watch the very beginning with Jon Stewart’s opening and the first couple awards before I went to work. But this year I didn’t even do that. I was busy writing a paper, but every half hour or so I would go to the IMDB front page to see what awards had been announced (most of them seemed fairly predictable to me).

By Monday I had heard of the highlights of the show — Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola giving Martin Scorsese his first Oscar, silhouette dancers making the “Snakes on a Plane” logo, and Al Gore making an appearance — and proceeded to watch them on YouTube when I got home.

But despite the conveniences of the Internet that allow me to know what happened without watching it, I’m totally going to watch it in real time next year …

… if I don’t have any homework.

— Deren Kudeki

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today was only our second day back to school, and somehow I already feel as exhausted and stressed as I was two weeks ago (before the snow days).

I suppose that those luxurious days off were taken for granted, because teachers have wasted no time getting back into the flow of things. Those tests, papers, and presentations that I had put off during Agora have caught up to me, and now I am stuck stressing out over all the information that I need to cram into my brain before the end of the week. Spring break is still a couple of weeks away, and knowing that, I still don’t have much to look forward to as the word “break” is synonymous with “test” in many teachers’ minds.

I feel extremely tempted to come home after track practice and sit on the couch and watch TV or log onto AIM or something along those lines — something that I had plenty of time to do during my days off. It takes extra effort for me to pull myself away from my music to buckle down on my flowchart memorization. It feels as though the days off really took a toll on me.

Some classes have been helpful by letting us watch movies, have in-class discussions, etc. And although I’m aware that I can’t just slack my way through these coming weeks, it feels nice to have a class or two that doesn’t require full-on super-genius-kid brainpower.

— Lizzy Warner

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just hours ago, my fellow staff member Alan Liang posted an entry titled “Lost,” which had nothing to do with the television program of the same name. And now, using an idea that I formulated days prior to this, I am writing about the very same program.

That is a coincidence. A mundane, only slightly unusual coincidence, but a coincidence nonetheless. ABC’s “Lost,” now in its third season, uses the coincidence as one of its key instruments in creating a complicated web of general, inexplicable mysteriousness. One of the questions that arises from the show is whether or not these bizarre incidents can truly be coincidental, or if they are the product of some supernatural force.

The show follows the lives (both past, present, and more recently, even future) of a group of plane-crash survivors on a remote tropical island. Every episode generally takes a look at the earlier life of one of the main characters. Early on, the group is attacked by a mysterious group of people who were not on the plane, but in fact were already on the island when the plane made its noisy, undignified entrance. Dubbed “the Others,” these enigmatic characters gradually become more visible to the viewer.

In the beginning, this show was fascinating, enthralling, and impossible to stop watching. Every episode both added and subtracted to the mysteries by revealing some and introducing quite a few more. As of late, however, there has been a notable decrease in, in layman’s terms, “things that happen.”

Last Wednesday, ABC introduced the show with the promise that three major mysteries of the show would be explained. I’d be crazy to miss that, right? Well, after an hour filled with things not happening, the show’s logo appeared, rather embarrassedly, to mark the end of one of the most unsatisfying installments yet.

At the time, I could not possibly imagine what three major revelations had occurred and have since resolved not to try and find out. It would be simply too sad. As far as I can gather, though, one of them was “Where did Jack get the tattoos on his shoulders?” Man, I almost went into a coma from shock when I found out that he got them … in Thailand. And they mean “He walks among us, but he is not one of us.” Deep.

The episode before this one was rather enjoyable because it returned to “Lost“‘s roots. The flashbacks were actually interesting, painting a compelling picture of one man’s tragic life, and featuring a heavy dose of delightful weirdness. By no small coincidence, the time the camera spent on the island was near an all-time low.

As much as I hate to admit, I’m going to keep watching. If there’s one aspect of “Lost” that has remained throughout, it’s the addictive quality. If I didn’t watch it tomorrow, you can bet that on Thursday morning I’d be on Wikipedia, reading a poorly-written episode summary.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to watch last night’s “24.” There’s a show that not only has a nonstop season but guarantees fulfillment and closure — the end of each season is the end of a season. However, there are still unexplained and/or unresolved issues that make the wait for next season even more enjoyable, given that we know they will be explained and/or resolved in episodes to come. As an added plus, “things happen” on a regular basis.

— Andrew Lovdahl

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Sometimes you’re lost. You’re done. You’re finished. Sometimes there really is no hope and when that time comes you just have to accept defeat. But when is that exactly? When can you throw in the towel? When can you just give up?

I’ve been struggling through school this year. The main the reason is because I’ve lost all motivation to continue working. I’ve always tried to impress people, but at Uni everyone is just as good as I am and now I realized that even if I impress people, nothing really comes from it. Sure, some people will give you a pat on the back, but most people will forget you as quickly as they hear of you.

Maybe it’s just me or maybe it’s just the middle of third quarter when nothing seems worthwhile. I can feel my grades dropping and I get stressed out from doing nothing. What’s wrong with me? Why is this happening? I don’t know where I’m going at the moment and I can’t find the right path.

So when is it right to quit? Not now. In the end, school is for getting an education for a job. The job will provide money and hopefully the money will provide happiness. In the end, things will work out — at least, that’s what I tell myself. At the moment I just have to keep pushing because education is necessary; education isn’t an option. For a better life, I need to be smart. My parents didn’t come all the way to America so I could just slack off.

Although I mention my parents, it’s not about them. They are the coaches — they’ll be there when I need them, they’ll tell me what I need to do and what I’m doing wrong, but in the end, it’s for me. That’s the most important thing, to realize that it is all for me.

When you are losing in a chess game, you could just give up. You could end it all in two seconds. But if there is any hope at all, even if you’ve made tons of mistakes, you should keep going. If you still have a chance, take it. After all, when you’re down, the only way to go is back up.

— Alan Liang

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I heard this morning on the radio that the price of stamps might be going up. Well that sucks, I thought. And then laughed. Because I never use stamps, anyway.

I don’t know when the last time I sent a letter was. E-mail is a lot easier, and if not that, then a MySpace or Facebook message would work just as well. And in these cases, the message would be sent instantly, without having to wait a day or two for a physical letter to arrive.

If you don’t want to take the time to type out an e-mail/message, you could just pick up a phone. So how many people still send out real letters?

I’m not talking about the icky stuff, the bills, magazine subscriptions, grades, etc. How many people actually send out personal letters? I don’t. I usually don’t think about letters at all, actually. But at the mention of stamps, I started to. Wouldn’t it be dreadfully cool to get a personal letter in the mail? Especially since no one these days ever expects them anymore.

I’m rambling. But I think that I’m going to write a letter sometime. And send it to … well, someone.

But I’ll do that after I finish the school day, go to rehearsal, finish my homework, and get some motivation.

And after I figure out where the stamp goes.

— Michelle Gao

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All those amazing stories that I heard about Clarksdale, Miss., were confirmed last week as I and 17 other Uni students and three teachers spent Agora Days there on the annual Habitat for Humanity trip. It truly was an enlightening experience like none other I have had.

Among other things, the people we worked with were amazing. They came to help us hang drywall and mud, visited us bright and early to give devotions, and invited us to numerous potlucks. It was an unsurpassed generosity. The neighborhood kids were also extremely courteous and spent much time with us playing kickball, four square, and chalking the sidewalk.

The work itself was generally not overly tedious. We did things such as hang drywall, mud the walls, finish siding, help out at a local soup kitchen and elementary school, and fix problems in older Habitat houses. Six or seven hours of the day were for work, which seemed to pass quickly.

It was a learning experience as well. For most days, history teacher Bill Sutton would discuss with us the history of Habitat for Humanity in the area and the Mississippi Delta, as well as our personal reactions and thoughts. I learned a lot of other things as well, such as the game “Mafia,” which occupied a greater deal of our free time by the end of the trip. I also found out I’m pretty good at poker, especially when people go all in when I have two straights in a row.

Of course, it was also a bonding experience. I got to know my classmates a lot better. At this time I should probably thank JJ a bunch for coming up with the nickname and interviews. We will get the third one someday. We ended the last night there by painting the wheel of respectability on the ceiling (you’ll understand “the wheel” when you take Mr. Sutton’s U.S. history class), signing shirts, and for some of us, staying up the whole night talking and sitting around in awe of the past week.

If you’ve been wondering about the song that we played today in the lounge during lunch, it’s “Round Here” by the Counting Crows, one of the theme songs of our trip. It might not sound too interesting the first few times you hear it, but after a week of exposure, it starts to stick and forces you to sing it every time it’s played.

There were literally hundreds of pictures of the Habitat trip taken, some of which can be found on Facebook. Be sure to take a look at some if you get the chance.

By the time we arrived in dreary Champaign-Urbana, everyone had started missing Clarksdale, its people, and warm weather. As Bethany told us on our last day, we are all currently dealing with reverse culture shock, which is pretty much culture shock, but when you are returning to your home.

One of the most defining moments of “Round Here” is near the end, which I will finish my entry with.

Round here we’re never sent to bed early
And nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late

— Benjamin Fu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week during Agora Days, I took a class taught by science teacher David Stone called Companion Animal Miscellany. Mr. Stone brought in these soft, cuddly puppies from the Champaign-Urbana Humane Society. The puppies, with their sad-looking eyes and frisky character, were absolutely irresistible. That day, I went home thinking: I want a pet.

My parents now dread the idea of me getting a pet. In the past, I’ve had everything from exotic animals like salamanders, parrots, and chickens to common pets such as guinea pigs, parakeets, dogs, and cats.

Each time I get a new pet, I would always exhibit the exact same pattern of behavior. Initially, I’d be obsessed with my new “toy,” playing with it constantly and not allowing it to rest. However, after a week or two, I’d lose interest in it and my parents would always end up taking care of it for me.

Growing up, I was an irresponsible child. When I was about 8 years old, I got a salamander. A few days later, I decided that it was grotesque looking. I soon forgot about its existence, and I found it shriveled up and dead a month later. Then I got a parrot, but it pooped a lot and refused to talk, so I didn’t care for that anymore, either.

Yes, I sound like an awful, cruel person. But as a little kid, I just didn’t understand the responsibility that came with having pets. I thought that they were like toys, which I could just toss aside when I didn’t want them anymore.

In third grade, I convinced my parents to get me a kitten. This time, I vowed that I would never get bored with it and would always take care of it. The kitten was incredibly adorable. I sincerely cared for it and I treated it like a princess. I even taught it to perform tricks and took it for walks outside on a leash.

However, pets, no matter how wonderful they are, can be so annoying at times. My cat would frequently howl at night. Since it was my job to keep it from disturbing my parents, I would often be up the entire night, trying to comfort it. Over the course of a year, I gradually lost interest in it and, again, my mom became its main caretaker.

Recalling these memories, I realized that I should hold that thought about wanting a puppy. With my busy schedule and my tendency of getting bored easily, I think that it’s probably best that I don’t get a pet.

All prospective pet owners should ask themselves: Do I have the time, patience, money, and energy to take care of an animal? Just like me back when I was little, many people don’t realize the commitment that comes with having a pet. It’s sad that so many cats and dogs end up at the Humane Society or on the streets because their owners abandoned them.

— Elaine Gu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last week was the Habitat for Humanity trip to Clarksdale, Miss. Habitat was a week of peace, love, and service in the Clarksdale community. We crammed 23 people into a tiny house for a week without fighting. We were welcomed into the community with love, and everyone had the feeling of doing something for the greater good. Yes, it was intense, and at times depressing, but that feeling of doing something right was incredibly uplifting.

Unfortunately, the trip had an end. After bonding for a week with a very special group of people who had shared the same experiences and had been touched in the same ways, we had to return to our old lives that now seem so trivial and stupid.

I think everyone who went on the Habitat trip is experiencing reverse culture shock, trying to fit back in to the old community after experiencing something life-changing. Every one of us is trying to find some way of bringing Clarksdale back with us, be it volunteering at a soup kitchen or finding ways to bridge poverty gaps. Every one of us has changed.

— Bethany Hutchens

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Year after year, a large number of Uni students take the American Mathematics Contests. Some even prepare for it, and everyone is eager to check their answers after the test to see if they’ve qualified for the next round, the American Invitational Mathematics Exam. A good 10 or so always advance.

But then, it seems that everyone gives up. In the last two years, I haven’t seen anyone make a serious effort to do well on the AIME, even though it is one of the most mathematically rewarding contests in existence. I suspect that the typical mindset walking into the testing room goes something like this:

I’ve already qualified for the AIME. There’s no chance I can qualify for the USA Mathematical Olympiad, so I’m just going to grind out a few answers by brute force and enjoy my half day off from school.

To be sure, the AIME is a hard test. It usually takes eight or nine out of 15 questions to qualify for the USAMO. The national average score is consistently less than three. However, the fact that several Uni students can get a score of four or more tells me the USAMO might not be as far off as people think.

Another reason the AIME gets overlooked is that the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics contests happen at around the same time. Practicing for the ICTM is more appealing because it could translate into a recognizable award rather than simply a numerical score.

Unfortunately, students who brush off the AIME are missing an important opportunity. The AIME is discouraging because, unlike other contests, it often takes 20 minutes or longer to solve a single problem. But this is precisely why it is also extremely valuable.

Most people are accustomed to giving up or seeking help within 10 minutes of getting stuck on a problem. They don’t realize that learning is not a passive activity. The teacher gives you the theorems and techniques — you have to figure out the motivations and fundamental ideas that lie beneath them.

The AIME is an excellent way to build up the necessary skills to understand math at a deeper level, because its difficulty lies just beyond the comfort zone. In the course of tackling truly challenging problems, you accumulate your own insights and think about things in ways that make more sense to you. You empower yourself to learn new material without getting bogged down by countless formulas, because you see that most of them are simple extensions of a few core theorems.

Thus, beyond qualifying for the USAMO, Uni students have a lot to benefit from setting some higher goals for the AIME. Many people are taught what they know. I encourage them to switch to the active voice and to learn.

— Alex Zhai

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, Agora Days is winding down and it is time to get back to the real classes. I don’t know about you, but I have a lot to catch up on.

For one thing, I have forgotten most of the sine and cosine graph stuff. That is really unfortunate because I have a test Wednesday. Also, I have an English paper that is due the day we get back. That is nothing compared to what the advanced calculus people have to deal with even though it is Agora Days.

Part of my mind still lingers on my upcoming assignments, I can’t fully enjoy this week of relaxation. I am worried about bombing my math test because it has been so long since I have done anything math-related.

What would be optimal is for every class to finish the unit right before Agora Days so that we can start a new unit right after we come back. This way, no one has to worry about their classes and can engage themselves fully in Agora Days.

That is what we did in U.S. history this year, and it really helped a lot. There was a test and a project due right before Agora Days. Everyone got those done, so when we get back, we will be fresh and ready to get started on a new unit.

Another solution would be to have one or two days after we come back for everyone to get on the same page.

I realize that this doesn’t apply to everybody, but it would definitely help me get back in the flow of things after Agora Days.

— Ranny Ma

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Over the past years I have come to dread registration day. It’s not because we have to start thinking about our futures, which I like to avoid as much as possible, but because then I have to think about both my parents wishes and my own when choosing next year’s courses.

Usually my problem is whether I should take chorus or not. Although I enjoy it immensely it isn’t a subject my parents care much about. They want me to do well in life and singing won’t help me with my career unless I decide to become a singer.

This year was a different story. The classes I chose would allow me to have a free period every other day, but my parents didn’t want that. To them having free periods only takes away from valuable time which could be spent in a classroom.

Even though I know my parents never had free periods when they went to school, I don’t think they realize what a free period does for Uni students. It’s a time in the middle of the day for us to unwind and get some work done in the process. I rarely spend my entire free period taking to friends. There might have been one or two this year during which I went out to eat with a group of people but that was because I didn’t have anything to do.

Free periods also allow me to do better in the classes I am taking. I can study for tests if I need to or do homework which didn’t get done last night because of a soccer game. I don’t even think they know that I usually work ahead on my homework. And sometimes it’s nice to just take a break. Even Uni students need down time, after all.

— Avanti Chajed

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 7:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wednesday was the last night all of those diehard Illini fans could watch their beloved Chief Illiniwek do his half-time shimmy.

Ever since I became aware of the chief controversy, I thought anyone who was pro-chief was an ignorant racist, to put things bluntly. I couldn’t understand how they 1) thought that a mock-Native American tribal dance could be respectful and 2) were so attached to a school mascot. Seeing the “Chief Forever” bumper stickers, billboards, and T-shirts made me cringe.

But last night at swim practice I learned something new about the people who are attached to the chief. At swim practice, a teammate of mine told us about the crowd’s plan to wear orange T-shirts the first half of the game and strip to black T-shirts for the second half. This sparked a discussion.

“Did you know that the tribe who wants the chief’s clothing back is the tribe who killed the Illini Indians in the first place?”

“We are so respectful of the chief. The guy who plays him actually goes to the reservation to learn the dance.”

“This is so sad. Why do they have to take away the chief? I know something bad’s going to happen.”

At this point I was more than a little bit irked. Did they not learn in history class that the Native Americans were brutally opressed by the various groups of colonials and conquistadors that came to take over the American continent? Did they not learn that the American government went on a brutal genocidal campaign against the Native Americans after the Civil War? Did they not see that there is a reason why Native Americans are pushed onto tiny reservations, and in many cases do not have access to the things that we all take for advantage, like a decent education?

And what about the name Native American? What does that imply about the land that “Americans” occupy?

As you can tell, I’m pretty heated about the comments my teammates made, and I’m not even super opinionated about this controversy. At first I was very angry at my teammates. How could they say such ignorant things?

But then I realized something. Though this is not a blanket statement about all pro-chief people, a great number of them are not racists. My teammates are very respectful and intelligent people. They wouldn’t just say things unless they actually meant it. When pro-chief people say that they respect the chief and the Illini Indians, they really, truly mean it.

How this respect is evident, I’m not so sure.

But maybe that’s the whole problem. The way pro-chief people show their respect is by going nuts during the half-time show when Chief Illiniwek comes out to dance. They really love the chief.

Though this is a true form of showing respect, the fact still remains that it is not respectful. Ask any Native American or knowledgeable person, and they’ll tell you why.

But a confusion about what is respectful and what is not doesn’t make a person racist, especially if their respect is genuine. Right?

— Andrea Park

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Blog. Blogblogblog. Does anyone else think that the word “blog” is a really, really weird word?

But that’s not my point. I was reading over my earliest blog entries from the beginning of freshman year earlier, and I went, “Wow. This is ridiculous. I was a really odd little girl back then.”

It was my first blog, on Xanga.com. My entries were full of “EEEEEEEEEE!!!!”s and “OMG!”s. I obsessed about the littlest things, dedicating pages and pages to how a homework assignment had taken “soooo” much more time than I’d thought it would (meaning it had taken 45 minutes, instead of only half an hour). They are spastic entries, with nothing of real substance. I laughed and laughed and laughed as I read them, amused by the way my 13-year-old mind had seen the world.

I am insanely glad that I kept that blog. I wrote about my first dance, being angry about having to get braces, and about problems with people at school. I look back on it and remember how I felt when I was writing it, the emotions that went through me.

That being said, though, sometimes it’s difficult for me to keep up with my current blog on Livejournal.com. Sometimes I just don’t have the time to write a commentary on my life at the moment; sometimes when I do have time, I simply don’t have the motivation.

It’s sad, though, because I really should have the motivation. It’s the same reason why lots of people still keep journals and diaries; I want to be able to look back on this and remember how I felt about things. I want to be able to remember the small things that were going on, as well as the big things: The last blog entry I wrote in my personal blog was about Agora Days, and what classes I have this year.

My point is: Personal blogs are awesome. They’re on the Web. They’re going to be there forever, as long as their owners don’t delete them. And you can look back at what you wrote and laugh like a crazy person.

— Michelle Gao

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am all about instant gratification. If we are talking in terms of the wheel of respectability and restrained passions, I am probaby at the bottom of the ladder (that won’t have made sense unless you have taken Mr. Sutton’s history class). When I have chocolate, I eat it; none of this saving it for later.

But, this means that I can’t see far enough ahead to determine consequences. When I want chocolate again, I don’t have anymore. Nevertheless, it’s hard for me to regret the immediate satisfaction that came upon initial chocolate consumption. So, if something is really good, great, cool, awesome, insert other positive adjective, then why hold back? Why look ahead when you can enjoy yourself completely right now?

That means, when I want Starbucks coffee, I want to enjoy the yummy goodness, not worry about the fact that what I’m drinking isn’t free trade. That means, when I am in the mood for a burrito, I am going to go to Chipotle and love that burrito, even if the tomatoes were picked by mistreated workers.

I have other reasons for not boycotting businesses besides my own lack of personal restraint. First of all, not giving Chipotle six of my dollars won’t stop them from mistreating their workers. It’s not as if every burrito I don’t buy saves another laborer.

Second of all, even if that was true, for every minute that I don’t buy things from Chipotle, their customer base is growing exponentially. Have I really made any progress by depriving them of my money?

Finally, when you avoid Chipotle and decide to go to Qdoba instead, I don’t think you have made much headway. Qdoba may be the lesser of two evils, but would they be able to compete with Chipotle and still be open if there wasn’t some wrongdoing in between the food production and your mouth?

This is a cynical way to look at this whole idea. It is a very narrow view of the world. I understand that. It is very selfish and I understand that as well. People may think I am heartless, but I do care about the mistreated workers. And, I wholeheartedly support those who choose to avoid morally questionable businesses.

But at the same time, I want to be supported in my choice to not boycott. If, in my opinion, personal enjoyment outweighs a somewhat noble yet completely unhelpful gesture, I don’t want to hear self-righteous flak about it. If I want Starbucks coffee, I don’t want to hear how bad it is to buy from them. I especially don’t want to hear how bad it is as you sip my coffee.

— Sarah Pfander

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I came across “Valentine ‘29,” a flash collaboration, which can be viewed through Newgrounds and Brainwash Studios among other places. I had never heard of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre before watching this video. Either no one else knows about it or I’m just really uninformed.

From curiousity I searched Google and came across a full-coverage story of Al Capone — the suspected leader of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. This story can be found in the Crime Library (specifically, the Valentine story can be found here).

Basic Summary:
Gang leaders Capone and Jack McGurn are believed to have planned an assassination attempt of another gang leader, Bugs Moran. Capone and McGurn’s team dressed as cops and baited Moran’s gang with fine whiskey at a cheap price staged in a garage at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 14, 1929. After Moran’s gang were in the garage, the fake cops arrived and ordered the seven members of Moran’s gang to line up against the wall. The men obeyed, following what they believed were police orders, and then were shot with their own guns.

With the cop disguises, Capone and McGurn’s team were able to leave the scene of the crime without suspicion. Capone and McGurn were nowhere near the crime scene. They executed a brilliant and horrifying plan, but they didn’t kill Bugs Moran as he never showed up (for more detailed information, you should probably read the full story [above link]).

It’s frightening that these things actually happen; you expect them from horror movies, but not in real life. I find it surprising that I had never heard of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre prior to the “Valentine ‘29” video. What do I not know? Do I even want to know?

It’s probably better to be informed about these things, about horrible events. It makes you wonder whether you really know what’s going on around you.

— Alan Liang

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I don’t usually write blog entries because I’m rather busy with the technical side of things, but it’s been in the back of my mind lately to try and write one. I have a few statistics and some news to share that I thought people might be interested in. Here’s a picture from the Online Gargoyle’s backend:

Wow. 847 comments (and a good 150 of those from our recent controversial editorial). We got our first comment over a year ago, couresty of Linda Song (Class of 2008), on a poem of Jackie Hedeman’s. I remember being ecstatic. Of course, back then, we didn’t get the hundreds of spam comments per day that we do now, but that’s OK. We have almost 400 MB of images by now, seven audio slideshows (one soon to be published), and six audio podcasts! We’re really growing.

Anyway, I was prompted to bring all this up by an e-mail I received from Mr. Porreca, the OG’s adviser, at 2:41 this morning (I wasn’t awake at the time). The e-mail was essentially a link to a studentpress.org URL (although the subject was a bit telling: “YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”). If you look at the URL, you’ll see “opm07,” which stands for Online Pacemaker 07.

The Pacemaker is a coveted high school journalism press award; the online version was introduced in 2001. The only reason I’d be getting such an e-mail is if we became finalists for this Online Pacemaker … and so we are. Expect a brief article to appear in the OG shortly, but basically, we’re one of nine schools to receive this honor, and hopefully, we have a chance of being one of the winners (2006 winners). We won’t find out until April, though. Maybe by then we’ll have 1,000 comments. Keep at it, guys!

— Ben Hyman

Posted by bhyman at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It’s the second day of Agora Week and it’s been great to take spend an hour every day belly dancing and baking desserts. Agora Days are definitely my favorite Uni tradition and I wholeheartedly take advantage of lack of homework and excess of free time that comes with this week.

The cherry on the top it all though is the result of the National Scholastic Press Association’s (NSPA) contest for online journalism publications. Called the NSPA Online Pacemaker contest, this competition is meant to pick out those publications which are “setting the pace” for online journalism.

Fortunately for the Gargoyle we were one of the online publications privileged enough to be chosen as finalists. There are nine finalists and from these a circle of winners will be chosen.

After only being online for a year, I find it really amazing to see how far we have come from where we started. From only publishing a handful of stories a week I get to read several handfuls of stories per day. My reading experience is now optimized with the multimedia features which are part of stories. The increase in the number of comments per story has let me see how our readership has expanded and the breadth and depth of each article has let me see how my fellow staff members have improved as journalists in their ability to take on more complex and daring projects.

It’s mind-boggling for me to try and imagine the potential of this publication, and I am truly honored and proud to be a part of something so great. We’ve come a long way, and I’m excited about going even further as a member of next year’s staff.

— Shivani Khanna

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Agora Days. The long anticipated week that every student awaits for. It’s a time in the middle of the cold, dull, weather to take a break from all the stress and the work. And I’m not going to disagree with anybody that this is a time to enjoy yourself, because spending my time in funny and laid-back classes is always fun. On the other hand, it never fails that I only end up piling-up my work load.

Although this may not apply to everybody, I know that I have two tests and two papers due the week after Agora Days, but have I started on any of those? No. Instead I’ve been enjoying my time coming home after track practice to sit down, watch movies, hang out with friends, etc.

If anything, though, I should be using this time to prepare for all the work that I have next week. In fact, we should all be taking advantage of this time, but it’s something that’s very hard to do when you’re actually getting a decent amount of sleep and you’re not forced to do hours worth of homework each day.

During a typical school week I tend to get five to six hours of sleep per night, so the other night when I got about eight hours I was shocked. I told myself that I deserved this time off and thought, ‘Hey, kids from other schools get these luxuries every night, why can’t I have it for just one week?’ — which I still strongly support.

But as I was sitting on my couch watching “Hitch,” the entire time I was telling myself, ‘Oh, Lizzy, you should probably get your math homework out and work on it during the movie.’ And did I? Of course not.

I told myself that I would finish the movie and start on my homework when the movie was over, so that I could focus better. But did I work on it after the movie? No, I went upstairs and read my book instead. (Now don’t you worry, Mr. Russell, it’ll be on your desk on Monday!)

The point is, we are all sitting here and enjoying this time off, when we know we should get working. It’s a hard thing to get motivated after Tuesday and Wednesday were snow days last week (so technically there was no specific homework on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday night), Friday was a half day with no classes (so we had no homework to do on Thursday night either), and now Agora Week.

We should all probably take this time to get working and get started for the long week to come. But despite this entry I am guessing the majority of students will still only start their homework Sunday night.

— Lizzy Warner

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After two years of sitting back and just letting Agora Week wash over me, I opted to co-teach a few classes this year. My main reason for doing this was to solidify my schedule. Instead of just hoping that there would be interesting classes, and further, that I would be able to get into them, I could guarantee that my day included a few solid hours of stuff that I would truly enjoy. I co-taught three classes this year, and factoring in two free hours and my required hour of journalism, there were only two slots that had to be filled by optional classes.

After coming in early to turn in my junior class requests, I had a wide-open first hour to waste. After a very halfhearted attempt to work on my history paper, I plopped down on a couch with my laptop and watched “Futurama.”

Next hour, I taught a Monty Python movie class with Noel Knox. My duties entailed: bringing a DVD; convincing Noel that we should watch the DVD instead of listening to sketches on the stereo; and flipping the disc over halfway through the hour. Not rigorous tasks by any measure, but it was neat to have that feeling of authority, however small.

After dodgeball class (where I used my dependable strategy of hovering around as far from the opposing team as possible and throwing whatever rolled my way to my imprisoned teammates across the gym), messing around with Squeak! in the PC lab, and devouring a lunch from Zorba’s (in retrospect, taking fourth free for lunch would’ve been better; the line at Za’s was ridiculous), I helped Carl Pearson, Deren Kudeki, Jacob Druker, and Paul Miller with basic instruction in 3D modeling. I took the same class last year, when only Jacob and Deren were teachers, and in the year since I have developed a significant interest in it.

Finally, before coming down to the Mac lab to write this up, I helped teach a second movie class, “Red vs. Blue.” The turnout was modest, but everyone there seemed to genuinely enjoy the show. This hour was probably the highlight of my day, since not only was I watching my favorite online show for an hour on a giant projector screen, but it was during school hours. The thought of watching cartoons and playing sports instead of simply sitting in class waiting for the day to end is, for me, exactly what makes Agora Days so appealing.

Given the fact that “Red vs. Blue” contains much more footage than we could fit into a single Agora week, and that we can expect the same people to turn out next year, I’m sure that “RvB” class will recur in Agora Days 2008. 3D modeling might also return, so my schedule for next year is already taking shape.

Overall, being a teacher is a fun experience, and I would encourage anyone to try it. All you have to do is assume the humble duties of taking attendance, changing DVDs, and nagging people about getting permission slips turned in.

— Andrew Lovdahl

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally it is here! One of the most anticipated times of the year for Uni students: Agora Days!

It’s a week that is probably better than spring break and probably as anticipated as summer. Not only do you not have to stress out about your normal classes, but you get to relax, hang out with your friends, and take fun classes.

Unlike a normal break, you never hear complaints of people being bored. There is always something new and exciting to see or do (or even learn!) in your classes. Even if you are stuck with some boring classes, fret not, for it lasts only a week. If you have classes that you really love, savor them now, for it lasts but a week.

Best of all is probably teaching classes, because you can share something you love with other students and bring something you enjoy into school. You can watch your favorite movie, play a favorite game or anything else you can think of.

This is a great opportunity for Uni students who are usually overworked and stressed out to have a chance to just kick back, relax, and have fun with their friends at school.

And then, if you are like me, go home to work on papers due after Agora Days …

— Deren Kudeki

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you ever wondered about why you dream of certain things?

Dreams are kind of like flavors of Baskin Robbins Ice Cream: They consist of so many varieties. There are sweet dreams that you wish would last forever, nightmares that you can’t wait to wake up from, and dreams that just leave you wondering: What was that all about?

There are dreams that you can’t remember the instant you wake up, and there are dreams that are so realistic that you can recall every detail. Oftentimes you dream of familiar people, and oftentimes you dream of complete strangers.

Some people say that you dream about your thoughts and experience throughout the day. If you’ve had a wonderful day, you’ll have good dreams. If you’ve watched a scary movie, you’ll get nightmares. Personally, I have never found that to be the case. My dreams are quite random. However, I’ve realized that every time I’m sick, I get nightmares.

I absolutely hate having nightmares. In my nightmares, I can never run or yell for help; my screams sound like whispers and my legs always feel like they’re glued onto the ground. Just when I’m about to die in my dream, I wake up. I don’t think you can possibly die in your dream. If you die, whose life would you be dreaming about?

On the other hand, sweet dreams are the best. They allow me to live a fantasy life that I cannot have in the real world; maybe it consists of winning the lottery, or vacationing in the Bahamas, or even something like scoring a perfect on the SAT. Unfortunately, I eventually wake up to the obnoxious ring of my alarm clock. I’m always kind of disappointed after waking up from a good dream because poof, all the wonderful things in my dream world had just disappeared.

But then there are the completely random, out-of-nowhere dreams. I think they’re the most interesting because they’re just so odd. They’re the ones that you tell your close friends, who either end up laughing at you or giving you weird looks.

Dreams work through mysterious ways. Sometimes I wonder: How do I know that I’m not dreaming right now? And why do some people dream in color, while others dream in black and white?

Maybe some day we will be able to figure out why we dream about certain things. Maybe we’ll even learn to control our dreams. But until now, I’ll just pray that I won’t have any nightmares.

— Elaine Gu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The current controversy in the sports world started when former NBA player John Amaechi admitted that he is gay in his new book called “Man in the Middle.” It is about the experience of being gay as a professional athlete.

Just yesterday as a response to the topic, retired NBA player Tim Hardaway called into a radio station and ranted on how he hates gay people and how he is a homophobe. Unfortunately, Hardaway probably represents a large number of athletes in professional sports.

The intolerance epitomized by Hardaway is probably why no more gay athletes have come out. Some have after they are finished with their pro careers, but I can imagine that coming out while playing can harbor harsh consequences. For instance, what are you going to do in the locker room, where everyone will give you a “Don’t try anything funny” look? How about when you don’t get playing time because the coach has something against gays?

In a perfect world, nothing would matter except how much of a baller you are. In reality, gays are going to have to overcome narrow-mindedness. David Stern, the NBA commissioner, has banished Hardaway from NBA all-star activities this weekend and said that the only thing the league cares about is whether you have game or not.

I think Amaechi paved a rocky path by coming out and that eventually more gay athletes will come out. I also hope that one day the only thing that matters, no matter what you do, is your ability and not your sexuality, faith, or skin color or anything else.

Also, shoutouts to the boys bball team. Close overtime win over Judah Christian. Clutch.

— Ranny Ma

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Shortly after schoolwide Spirit Week began, fellow Gargoyle staff member Sarah Pfander had a few things to say about our school spirit here at Uni. Namely, that we don’t have much. Maybe she was right. Maybe for Pink Day more people showed up in black. Maybe for Hippie Day more people showed up dressed up in “2007 Day” garb. But maybe Uni school spirit is just like anything else in this school, a step to the left (or right) of the mainstream but just as vivacious.

As I type out this blog entry, my voice is hoarse and my ears are ringing from the deafening cheering I took part in at the Uni High boys basketball game against Judah Christian. The students in the bleachers could not refrain from fidgeting in their seats and ultimately wound up jumping up and down so close to the actual court that they technically should have taken a few steps back.

This game was most certainly not the team’s best of the season; in fact, the last time the team played Judah Christian, they had a dominant lead throughout most of the game. But even that did not seem to quell the incredibly enthused cheering. As players wound up to take free throws, silence would overtake the fans and they would crouch down too.

But it’s not just the basketball team that experiences the Uni wave of pride. After the boys soccer team’s devastating loss at sectionals, Ms. Kovacs left a box of donuts in the lounge with a note expressing her pride at their fight.

Even my mother knows where one student spent his summer for a prestigious math competition.

Students always seem to be recognized for their achievements, even if outside of school, and appreciated as being unique members of the student body.

Perhaps its graduation nostalgia setting in, since we talked about processional and recessional music today, or perhaps it is the sound of all of those voices still pulsating in my ears, but the school spirit is most definitely alive.

It’s the kind of school spirit where, sure, the fans would have been disappointed had their team lost, but they would have been just as enthralled with the fight.

Besides, who else has both a “Benito Mussolini” and a “Sine, sine, cosine, sine” cheer?

— Dana Al-Qadi

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I figure that in a capitalist economy, most sellers are pretty good at adjusting prices and selections to the demands of their consumers. However, time and time again, the Uni vending machines have proved to be exceptions to this theory.

First of all, the prices. Not only are they too high (as can only be expected of vending machines), but sometimes they don’t make sense.

At some point, the prices for most of the snacks changed from 75 cents to 85 cents. Why 85 cents? That gives you a dime and a nickel for change, which is useless unless you take joy in collecting coins. Or if you plan on doing this five times, so that the 75 cents you accumulated would finally get you something from the vending machine. Oh wait, it’s 85 cents now.

And one of the drink machines also became more expensive this year; it now costs a dollar to purchase a tiny 10-ounce bottle of juice. No one buys that when another vending machine offers a 20-ounce bottle of Coke at the same price. For some reason, though, you can also buy two 12-ounce cans for that price.

But there are some foods that probably shouldn’t be sold in the vending machine, regardless of the price. For example, salted peanuts. I have never seen any Uni student purchase this item before.

Another example of a poor snack item is trail mix. Especially since it costs $1 for only a modest-sized packet, I can’t help but wonder if some of those bags of trail mix have been at Uni longer than I have. At least they could take them out to make room for something more profitable. If they’re out of good snacks, mechanical pencils would probably sell better too.

Even with the high (and sometimes absurd) prices, however, the convenience of the vending machines is still enough to attract lots of Uni buyers. If the people who own the vending machines are going to take advantage of this bountiful market, though, they should at least be good at it.

— Alex Zhai

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In light of the near-record low temperatures and heavy blizzards lately, many people are wondering, “What happened to global warming?” Aren’t we supposed to be having milder winters instead of blizzards and negative temperatures in mid-February? After all, excessive greenhouse gases emitted by cars and other man-made products prevent the sun’s heat from escaping the lower atmosphere, resulting in an increase in global temperature. It all makes sense, right?

Not necessarily. In fact, some suggest that global warming may just lead us into the next “Ice Age.” Yes, it sounds contradictory: warming, Ice Age. But for those of you who have seen the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” (as mentioned by Carl), you would know that global warming causes a shutdown of the Great Ocean Conveyor, unleashing furies of nature that completely bury New York under snow in just a few days. But just how much of a science fiction movie can become reality?

First of all, global warming can in fact slow down or put a stop to what is known as the Great Ocean Conveyor. This ocean current circulation is what accounts for the warm weathers of Western Europe and parts of North America.

Warm waters from the tropics are carried north by the Gulf Stream, cooling as it goes. By the time it reaches areas near Iceland and Labrador, it has turned cold and increased in salinity (due to evaporation). Since colder saltwater is denser than warmer freshwater, the water sinks to the bottom of the North Atlantic. More warm water from the equator replaces the sunken water and this circulation pattern, known as the Great Ocean Conveyor, is what brings warmth from the tropics to heat North America and Europe.

However, according to a report by NASA, the melting ice caps in the North Atlantic region are dumping excessive freshwater into the North Atlantic Ocean, interfering with this cycle. Since denser saltwater needs to sink to the bottom of the ocean in order to continue this circulation, the addition of freshwater may slow down or even stop the Great Ocean Conveyor.

The Ocean and Climate Change Institute reported that a disruption of the Great Ocean Conveyor is predicted to cool oceanic and atmospheric temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (37 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit). Although this is only about a third of the temperature decrease experienced during major ice ages, it is comparable to the climate change the occurred during the “Little Ice Age” in Europe from the 16th to 18th century, which significantly impacted the European economy.

Fortunately, abrupt climate changes that happen over the course of a few days — like the one in “The Day After Tomorrow” — are not likely to occur. According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, climate changes caused by a disruption in ocean circulation will probably happen over decades at the very fastest. Also, a shutdown of the Great Ocean Conveyor will not lead to a global “Ice Age” but rather regional cooling in areas of Eastern America, North Atlantic, and Western Europe.

Still, many scientists completely reject the theory that global warming will lead to cooling temperatures. Instead, they project that even if the Great Ocean Conveyor were to completely shut down, the temperatures of the affected regions would still increase, just at a slower rate than other areas.

Since the climate is dependent upon many factors, it is hard to predict what will be the exact effect of global warming. However, one thing that scientists do agree on is that global warming is definitely having an impact. So even though we might not all be completely buried under snow “the day after tomorrow,” we should still recognize that global warming is changing the Earth’s natural environment, and it’s a change for the worse — whether it’s going to get hotter or colder.

— Elaine Gu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I was little I thought it would be fascinating to be able to read people’s minds. I felt it would be interesting to know how the people around me really felt about the things that can only bother little kids. I wondered if other people thought about the same things I did or if their thoughts were as unfocused as mine, which often go from one thing to another before I’ve really finished with the first. And I wouldn’t have hesitated to know what other people were thinking.

But now that I’ve grown a little older, and hopefully a little wiser, I don’t think that reading minds would be that great of an idea. Granted, sometimes I still want to know if other people really mean what they say, but then when I think about it more, I realize that knowing what other people think might not be the best idea. Often we refrain from saying things that pop up in our heads and aren’t very nice. After all, society has rules which must be followed and there might be a lot more fighting if we were all blunt and said the first thing that comes to mind. If we all can say hurtful things than who knows what we are capable of thinking?

So I think I’ll be keeping the penny and you can keep your thoughts, thank you very much.

— Avanti Chajed

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I looked out the window on Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t help but get a feeling that something was horribly, fundamentally wrong.

It didn’t have to do with the fact that I was horribly and pathetically single on Valentine’s Day.

It didn’t have to do with the fact that my dad had just said the same horrible pun three times in a row.

What it was should have struck us all as obvious. There was an unbelievable amount of snow on the ground ON VALENTINE’S DAY. Aren’t we usually shoveling massive amounts of snow from our driveways in late December, as opposed to mid-February? I almost said “Merry Christmas” to my parents instead of “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

I was so dumbfounded by how late the snow was that I spent the rest of the day thinking about it, even when I was doing something else. After a few hours, I remembered that end-of-the-world movie “The Day After Tomorrow.”

Although I thought it was a cheesy piece of crap when I first saw it, the film began to grow on me as I sat there looking at the late snowfall. Maybe global warming is beginning to catch us once and for all. But then I made myself a sandwich and put it out of my mind.

As I was listening to music at around 10 p.m., I remembered it again. I also remembered the comment my neighbor had said to me earlier that day as I was shoveling snow: “Thank God we solved global warming.”

Although I’m still not sure whether or not he was saying that seriously or in jest, I’m bothered by it all the same. Maybe we should spend some more time thinking about why our snow days are coming in February than we do thinking of which hill to sled on.

— Carl Zielinski

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Valentine’s Day for those special and lucky lovebirds is a great holiday. Why shouldn’t it be? No one minds receiving tasty chocolates, fuzzy teddy bears, red roses, and florid love notes from their sweetheart.

But if you’re like me, very single, yesterday’s romantic holiday was hardly a treat. Ever since the fourth grade, watching everyone else give and receive delectable confectionaries has really put a damper on this day. It’s gotten to the point where seeing the telltale signs of red, pink, and white hearts, roses, and fat, naked cupids has, in some cases, made me sick to my stomach.

And it’s not just jealousy and loneliness (on the romantic front) that makes me greatly dislike this holiday. The overkill of mushy, gushy, googley-eyed romantic emotion just seems completely unnecessary!

However, I propose to all singletons out there to celebrate next year’s Valentine’s Day differently. In fact, I propose that instead of calling it “Valentine’s Day” we should call it “El Día del Amor y la Amistad.”

El Día del Amor y la Amistad , celebrated in Mexico, falls on the 14th of February as well. I am no scholar in Mexican culture, so I do not know exactly how it is celebrated.

However, the name, which in English translates as “The Day of Love and Friendship,” suggests to me that Feb. 14 is not just a day to celebrate the love for your significant other, but also a day to celebrate the love you have for your friends.

If you ask me, I think a day celebrating the love between friends is just as important as celebrating romantic love. Besides, I don’t think anyone takes enough time to appreciate how good their friends are. An official holiday would be a perfect time to reflect on and rejoice in how awesome your BFFs (best friends forever) are.

The best part about celebrating El Día del Amor y la Amistad is that everyone will be included! Husbands can still give their wives a bouquet of roses and you’ll still get a red teddy bear from your crush. But you can also plan on giving your friend a box of chocolates just to show how much you love them.

— Andrea Park

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Meeting old friends can be difficult. You never know what they’ve been through, even if it has been only a few weeks. Seeing them again, you feel kind of awkward and sometimes you don’t know what to say. You want to tell them that you’ve missed them, but you don’t want to sound like a parent. You want ask them what they did, but you don’t want to be rude.

Eventually you’ll relax and put your guard down. These are your friends — they might have changed a bit but they are still whoever they are. You go reminisce of your histories and then go party out and have some fun. You try and make up everything that you couldn’t do while they were gone. Everything seems all right again.

Then, right after you get to know them, they have to leave. They need to return to wherever they went to in the first place. So you let them. You go on with your life and they go on with their lives. Will you see them again? Maybe. Will you be friends next time? Probably.

If they ever come back, you have to start the whole process over again. You need to get to know them, you have some fun, and then they leave, but I think it’s definitely worth it. Friends make you laugh, make you happy, and sometimes make you crazy. Even if they aren’t with you all the time, when they are with you you’ll be that much more happy. So when old friends come back, instead of wasting time being awkward, maybe I’ll just begin with a “Hey” and see what happens.

— Alan Liang

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dear Students,
The storm wins. We will not have our exam until after Agora Days ….
Elizabeth Jockusch

This e-mail was sent on Tuesday to the juniors and seniors who are taking calculus and were spending their unexpected two-day break preparing for an exam on Thursday. When I first received this e-mail I stopped stressing and began rejoicing loudly and obnoxiously.

I have realized and accepted that my life invariably revolves around calculus, devoting hours to making sure that my calc homework is done, and spending obscene amounts of time studying for calc tests no longer fazes me. This e-mail, though, gave me the opportunity to push aside my calc homework and exchange my pencil and my calculator for gloves and a sled.

I was finally able to relax and let my body became one with the sofa as I sat in front of the TV and as my throat graciously thanked me for the mint hot chocolate. I was at peace with the world, and it was all due to the fact that I unexpectedly have an extra week to prepare for a calc test.

It was only then that I realized that the week after Agora Days would be one of the worst weeks of the year. Teachers will be desperately trying to catch up on the material they weren’t able to teach during the two snow days. Students will be desperately trying to remember the material covered before Agora Days so they can take tests and quizzes that couldn’t be taken because of the snow days. Taking my calc test in a week now seems like an impossible task.

We’re a generation that believes in procrastination for instant gratification, and occasionally this does come around to bite us in the butt. I’ve got no problem putting off work that I need to do just so that I can watch a rerun of a favorite TV show. It feels great to forget about things that need to be done a week from now if I can relax and take a long nap today.

I now doubt the statement “The storm wins.” Or at least I now read it as “The storm wins (this battle).” I’m sure that it’s inevitable that Uni teachers will win the war and the avalanche of homework will soon be upon us.

— Shivani Khanna

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you didn’t shovel your driveway at all last night, this is what it might look like right now:

On the other hand, if you did shovel:

More pictures of the aftermath of yesterday’s blizzard.

—Jason He

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night I watched the movie “Boys Don’t Cry,” about a 19-year-old girl facing a sexual identity crisis. This girl, Teena Brandon, played by Hilary Swank, who won an Oscar for her role, cuts off all of her hair and tries to pass herself off as a boy. Eventually run out of her hometown, she finds sanctuary in the small town of Falls City, Neb. There she lives as Brandon Teena.

Brandon does pretty well for himself. He becomes friendly with some locals and starts dating a girl named Lana, played by Chloë Sevigny. After that, the movie, which is based on a true story, is quite predictable. Everyone finds out who Brandon really is and a series of events result in his murder. (I am not giving anything away. It says on the back of the DVD case that Brandon is murdered.)

I liked this movie a great deal, especially the love story between Lana and Brandon. Despite many graphic and violent scenes that make the movie hard to stomach, I found it to be powerful and well done.

More interesting to me though was this Web site It looks at the real Brandon Teena and Lana Tisdel and discusses what people involved in the story thought of the movie. Not surprisingly, many people objected to the film’s depiction of the town and the characters.

Lana Tisdel and JoAnn Brandon (Teena Brandon’s mother) both disliked the film. Lana objected to the portrayal of her as an alcoholic. However, much more resounding than her drinking habits was the fact that after she figured out who Brandon actually was, she still loved him. It seems to me that this caring, devoted, and accepting image was a positive one. Plus, Chloë Sevigny is a lot prettier than the real Lana Tisdel.

JoAnn Brandon objected to the fact that people were profiting from her daughter’s death. While that pain is vaild and I have to respect that, it seemed that, overall, the movie was in honor of Brandon Teena / Teena Brandon. It was clear that those involved with the movie cared about the people in the story, not just the money.

The story was tragic. There is no way to tell the whole thing and make everyone look really good. But I thought that the human and compelling way “Boys Don’t Cry” depicted the story was honorable.

— Sarah Pfander

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you actually want to read any of that text, you’ll probably want to enlarge the picture by clicking it.

I can easily imagine all the smiles on students’ faces as they listened to a recorded message telling them that the school will be closed again tomorrow.

I happened to be logged on to AIM while I was listening to that message. About a few milliseconds after I heard “second snow day,” someone IM’ed me about just that.

A couple seconds after that, I saw someone’s away message change from something “ordinary” to this: 2 snow days!!!! totally kickass!!!!

Pretty soon, I started getting more and more IMs. “Holy s***,” someone told me. “Uni High is closed [again].”

“YAY! I’M SO EXCITED!” exclaimed someone else who rarely uses all caps in his IM conversations.

People even started creating new threads on the Uni High forums. “We’re having a second snow day tomorrow,” sophomore Karen Han posted. “Opinions?”

I replied with the full-size version of that above screenshot and nothing else. About 10 minutes later, sophomore Andrew Lovdahl cheerfully responded, “Now I won’t have to do the homework that I wasn’t going to do today!”

“I thought it was about as likely for Uni to have two snow days in a row as for George Bush to turn into a giant domo,” sophomore Joy Shapley wrote.

In the subfreshman forum, though, people didn’t seem to be as happy. “I kinda wish school was back,” someone posted. “I’m that lonely ….”

All right, enough with the quotes: I’ll post some of the pictures I took today (none were particularly interesting, unfortunately). Here’s a few taken at around 3 this afternoon.

And here are some from around 5 to 6 p.m., when I went to County Market with my dad for some quick shopping. Most roads were reasonably clear, but some were completely impassable. Our car got stuck for a little while once because of that.

We found an alternate route that wasn’t too bad but still required caution in some areas. Most of the streets we drove through looked sorta like this Kirby Avenue-Staley Road intersection (just outside Countryside School).

Overall, my area didn’t get nearly as much snow as Andrew’s backyard, and I’ve definitely seen worse days. But the amount of snow on the ground today is a little surprising considering how unwintry this past December and January felt in general.

I’ve got more pictures of today’s snow in my Flickr photostream (again, there’s nothing too exciting in there).

— Jason He

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This morning, my stereo hummed into life to end prematurely my sleepy reverie and mark the beginning of another fun-filled school day. However, as I was stumbling across my room to turn off the alarm, a couple of things caught my eye.

One was the fact that outside, where I usually see a brick-paved street divided down the middle by a wide strip of grass, there was a featureless, empty, white expanse. Additionally, a thick cloud of snow was pummeling my windows.

The second thing I noticed was that the stereo clock read “9:55” instead of something in the neighborhood of 7:00. Even in my sleepy, molasses-like brain, I was a bit alarmed that I had managed to sleep through PE and math and into history.

After some thoughtful consideration of the matters at hand, I recalled some prominent capitalized red text on the Uni web site: SCHOOL FOR TUESDAY HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO EXPECTED BAD WEATHER.

This thought rolled around in my brain a bit longer. No school on Tuesday. Today is … Tuesday. So … no school … today. Hmm.

Wait, what!?

The euphoria assosciated with a snow day is in a league by itself. I’m sure part of this is due to the sheer rarity of such days. I had one or two at Dr. Howard, and except for subbie year’s unexpected squirrel-related electrical failure, none since. Also, good things are so much better when they’re unexpected.

After doing a whole lot of nothing for a couple hours (to quote “Office Space,” “I did nothing, and it was everything I thought it would be”), I sat down and wrote up a list of my homework responsibilities. The first thing on the list was “review polynomials.” I looked down at my math book, then I looked lovingly at my new XBox 360.

Polynomials.

Video games.

End behavior, leading coefficients, and rational zeroes.

“Halo 2,” killing aliens, fighting my way through ancient gas mines to quell an insurgency.

Tough choice, huh? I shoved my list of homework into the math book, shoved the book into the darkest recesses of my backpack, and fired up the console. My backpack seemed to be staring at me reproachfully, so I relocated it to my closet with a few indulgent kicks.

At about 4 p.m., Uni called with an automated message: No school on Wednesday. So the lesson here, kids, is that playing video games instead of doing homework will never have any negative consequences. Remember that always.

— Andrew Lovdahl

P.S. The whole time I’ve been writing this, a Jimmy John’s delivery car has been stuck in knee-high snow across the street. It’s been quite a study in futility: First, a few guys with shovels were clearing out the snow by the wheels, then a big black truck drove up with a rope to pull it free. In the second “Office Space” connection of the day, the front bumper was yanked off. There’s no one standing over there anymore, so I guess the delivery guy just took off on foot to deliver some sandwiches to the smart-aleck who thought today would be a good day to order food delivered by car.

P.P.S. If you’re confused by the title of my entry, just think a little bit harder. I know you can get it.

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

As if one snow day wasn’t surprising, we now have two!

Who would have guessed?

This is a wonderful and unexpected break that we all definitely needed. And here I was expecting this last week before Agora Days to be extremely slow and downright painful. Instead, it is probably going to be the easiest week this year (with the exception of Agora Days). Aside from shoveling snow and a little bit of homework that we still have to do, this is a free and easy break.

So kick back and watch a movie. Or read a book. Or waste time online. Or have fun in the snow. Instead of having to deal with teachers try to force as much information into your brain as possible before Agora Days, you now have time to do what you want to do.

Enjoy it. I doubt this will happen again for a long time ….

— Deren Kudeki

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think we’ve all definitely earned ourselves a good day off; during this time of year every day seems to drag on and on. Basically what happens is you get up early in the morning when it’s still dark and freezing cold, so that you don’t want to move a muscle. You drag yourself to school to sit in a classroom where the heat is sky-high, so that you feel like a boiling egg. After school you are forced to stand outside in the cold waiting for your parents to pick you up (and it never fails that the colder the weather is, the later they are). I must say that I agree with Elaine: The cold gets old.

Now that we finally have a snow day though, I plan to finally make the best of this icky weather. This morning Naho Maeda and I woke up at 10:30 taking our good sweet time to get out of bed. For some reason there are about two or three roads around my house that never get plowed, so looking out the window we could see the piles and piles of snow on the street. Naho told me that getting this much snow, in her city in Japan, would be unbelievable (though admittedly this is pretty shocking to me too).

Anyway, so now that we’re all stuck in this snow situation (including U of I students!) I’d suggest everyone try to make the best of it! So what is there to do?

— You can build a snowman or a fort. Yes, I guess it’s a bit childish, but it’s so snowy and cold out, so there’s not much of a chance of anyone seeing you anyway. And, especially in the case of making a snowman, it always requires a strong enough man to lift the gigantic middle snowball up (so guys, don’t worry, it’s a very manly thing to do!).

— Snowball fight! True, getting hit in the face with a snowball is unbearable, but if you abide by all unwritten snowball fight rules, it always turns out to be a blast. Some of the unwritten rules including packing the snowball so hard that it’s practically an ice ball, stuffing snow down someone’s back, etc.

— Snow sundae! It’s just as sanitary as sticking your tongue out to drink rainwater (though I would suggest using the top layer of snow— not the stuff touching the dirt — and to make sure that it looks really white). Get about a spoonful of snow, add a drop of syrup and half a cherry, and voila! They’re not any better than regular ice cream sundaes but it’s the idea that counts!

— Go to a park! Swings might not be the best idea, since you’re bound to get hurt, but instead try the monkeybars or the slides. Since the slides are covered in snow, it makes them extra slippery so that you go down really fast! I wouldn’t suggest going down a slide with tons of bumps at the risk of flying off, but maybe try the swirly ones instead. There’s also the monkeybars, which are really slippery (especially with gloves on!); so get some friends and see who can get the farthest in the fastest amount of time. It’s extremely difficult to make it all the way across, but possible nonetheless.

— For those of you who would prefer to stay inside, stick all your blankets in the dryer, and after only a minute or two you can take them out and wrap yourself in all the warmth!

— Make s’mores! It’s easy to get a fire going in the fireplace (your parents would be very happy to have extra warmth in the house), and then you just roast the marshmellows! But the whole typical chocolate, marshmellows, and graham crackers is so boring! Try adding shredded coconut or frost the graham crackers! We’re Uni students … be unique!

Either way, I’m sure everyone can find something that they enjoy! If nothing else, you can always go sledding! I’d suggest staying at home and staying safe (we need you back at school on time for Valentine’s Day)! Besides, you don’t want to end up like Jamar Smith and Brian Carlwell (I hope they get well).

— Lizzy Warner

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On Sunday, a group of Uni students, including me, will be going on the yearly school-sponsored Habitat for Humanity trip. I applied last year but didn’t get it, which makes my acceptance this year even sweeter.

So instead of spending four days next week taking a couple of Agora Days classes at Uni as I have done in the past four years, I’ll be spending a week in Clarksdale, Miss., building houses and bonding with my fellow classmates in a way that even with Uni’s unique environment would be considered special.

Last year, the group spent a large amount of time digging ditches and making birdhouses, perhaps not among the most enticing things to do. Nonetheless, I heard from most people that the trip was an exciting and life-changing experience.

It’s not every day that you can visit, let alone volunteer at, one of the poorest cities in America.

One of the poorest cities in the country, Clarksdale has 30 percent of its population in poverty, while the median household income is at a low $22,188, roughly half the median household income in America.

Home to famous musicians and singers such as Sam Cooke and Lil Jon, Clarksdale and the general area known as the Mississippi Delta has had a strong influence in several genres of music, particularly blues and jazz. Many music-related icons are held in the Delta Blues Museum, a popular destination in Clarksdale.

Of course, the trip won’t be all work and no play. According to the daily schedule, there is about two hours every night of “Agora Days educational activities,” aka “lectures” by history teacher Bill Sutton, one of the faculty members organizing and participating in the event. And if you’ve ever sat in even one of his classes, you would know how entertaining that would be.

If that’s still not enough for you, half a day is devoted to either time to explore more of the area or time in Memphis.

This is something I’ve looked forward to for quite some time. Even before going there, I can tell this trip is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience that’s going to have a huge impact on me.

— Benjamin Fu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tomorrow’s a snow day!

Yes, believe it or not, Uni is finally having a snow day. In fact, it’s the first one since 1999. I first heard the news from a friend while walking towards Kenney after school. Initially, I couldn’t believe it. The weather seemed perfectly fine, maybe even a little warmer than usual. Why would we have a snow day? However, after Doug jogged by and verified the fact, I was ecstatic. I don’t have to do any homework tonight!

According to weather.com, we’re supposed to get four to six inches of snow overnight. Personally, I am really tired of the snow. Just this morning, I was thinking about how wonderful life would be if it was summer. No heavy coats, no soggy snow on the ground, no need to walk carefully in order not to slip on ice and embarrass myself. It’s been so cold that my hair freezes on the way from Kenney to DCL after a morning shower. Sure, the first snowstorm of the season was nice, but the remnants of dirty, squishy snow on the ground and everlasting frigid temperatures are starting to be a pain.

However, the cancellation of school allowed me to see everything in a new light. Maybe the predicted snowstorm won’t be so bad after all. Not that I completely dislike going to school, but I think that as overworked Uni students, we could all use an extra day off.

This snow day will also make the rest of the week go so much faster. We’ve only got Wednesday and Thursday left after this. Friday is a half-day and next week is Agora week! Surely we’ve all been looking forward to that.

Enjoy the snow day tomorrow, guys. Sleep in, go sledding, make a snowman, drink hot chocolate. It’s the first snow day in eight years, and it may well be the last that any of us will experience during our time at Uni.

— Elaine Gu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Guys, I’m into college. As of Feb. 5, 2007, I officially have no more worries. This is both good and bad.

On the good side I can skip school whenever I want. (Mrs. Kovacs, if you ever read this know that I’m kidding … kind of.) I can also slack off on my homework, which brings my TV watching time to unprecedented highs. I can goof off in class (not that I would ever commit such a heinous crime), make a bunch of money babysitting, and go out for a treat on weekday evenings. In other words: I’m free.

The downside is I now have no energy to do anything. Now that I don’t have to do anything for school, I don’t want to do anything at all. My will is gone, my mettle is gone, and my self-respect is gone. Apparently I caught senioritis.

But who really needs self-respect when you can lie around all afternoon staring at the television with your mouth hanging open? Not me. I’m into college.

— Bethany Hutchens

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Excuse the poor Photoshoppery.

Every couple of months or so, I come across these videos — clips from the game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” featuring contestants who apparently never graduated from elementary school.

And these people almost won a million dollars.

Here’s one example from the French version of the show. Understanding the language would be helpful, but all you really need to know is that the question in the video is, “What revolves around the earth?”

The answer choices are A) the moon, B) the Sun, C) Mars, and D) Venus.

Tsk tsk. Did you notice the audience in the background? At certain points, you could clearly see them covering their mouths with their hands.

Hm, I wonder if Mr. Garvey will show that video to his students someday.

This next one is even better, in my opinion. And whadya know, it’s in English!

He probably should have slept, hm?

I’ll post just one more in here so that in case you’re supposed to be doing homework instead of reading this, you won’t get more distracted than you already are. This one was uploaded to YouTube just a little over a week ago, so I assume it’s pretty recent.

Notice she even said “B, period” — at least that’s what I heard.

All right, now it’s time to be fair to these contestants. Perhaps with the exception of the French one — who appeared seriously stumped — they can’t really not know the answer to such simple questions, could they? They were in a hot seat in the center of a stage surrounded by probably hundreds of spectators, pressured to answer as many questions correctly as they could before hitting the million-dollar question. They were probably too nervous. With that in mind, if I was on “Millionaire,” I’d probably get those sort of questions wrong, too. And then someone would post the video on YouTube.

Nevertheless, you have to agree that these videos are pretty hilarious.

— Jason He

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Illinois is a great place to live. There is the great city of Chicago, the beloved Cubs, and the miles of cornfields. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by the vast plains of corn?

However, one thing that I can’t stand is the weather. It is February already and it is still BELOW FREEZING. If I remember correctly, the cold started around October and it doesn’t end until March. That is almost half a year of wearing big jumbo coats and earmuffs.

There is wet and mushy snow outside that gets your jeans wet. The nasty wind chill makes your ears fall off. There is nothing good about cold weather. It is the greatest annoyance I have encountered so far in my life that won’t go away.

I am looking at the temperature in Miami right now and it is 76 degrees. While we are freezing our butts off in Champaign-Urbana, people in Miami get to wear shorts and T-shirts.

Most of the people in Miami probably don’t have colds, due to the fact that they don’t get anywhere near freezing temperature. You feel happy and lively throughout the year. You don’t have to worry about getting sick or getting a frostbite. You can exercise outside all year long, which you can’t do here because you will probably break your neck or die of frostbite.

So when you pick a place to live when you grow up, I suggest that you choose somewhere that has comparable weather to Miami. The bottom line is that a place with good weather can drastically change your life either way.

— Ranny Ma

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In case you haven’t noticed already, the recently posted editorial, “Tolerance at Uni”, has obviously struck a chord in more than a few students’, faculties’, and parents’ hearts.

The more heated this discussion, or maybe better described as “this argument,” gets, the harder people stick to their beliefs, and the more opposed they become to the flip side. This debate is going to be a never-ending boxing match because neither opponent will submit to a K.O.

At one corner of the ring are students, including the Gargoyle’s senior editors, who feel that Uni provides a very tolerant atmosphere for everyone. Thus, a group like the minority student advocacy program, created to help acclimate underrepresented minority students to the Uni community, is exclusive, abrasive, and ultimately unnecessary.

At the other are students, parents, and even some faculty members who feel as if the majority of the Uni community, being the bubble of prestige and privilege that it is, does not understand what it means, and feels like, to be a minority in a predominantly advantaged, white population. Therefore, the majority of the community lacks any inkling of the compassion needed to combat this false sense of equality.

So who’s in the right? The “smug and self-satisfied” students, or the supporters of the minority student advocacy program that is “facilitating more hatred and tension”?

Sigh. I doubt we’ll ever have an answer because both sides, if I may be so bold to assert, are neither entirely in the right nor entirely in the wrong.

But I’m not writing this to give you an answer, or enlighten you in one way or another about this controversy. Rather, I’m giving a piece of advice. With the hostility and anger that is slowly building up (or maybe being let out?), it’s probably best to not sympathize with either party.

Blasphemy, right? If a human being is not going to have an opinion, they might as well be a robot. So maybe I’m not saying, “Don’t have an opinion,” but rather, “Keep your opinion to yourself.”

Why, you ask? I’m always pro-free speech, scream your opinion, get as pissed off as you want and don’t be afraid to do it. But not so much now. Upon voicing an opinion, one is bound to immediately get labeled as either an “unsympathetic, privileged, self-centered, racist” person or a “way-too sensitive, whiney, over-the-top PC” person, when in fact these labels do not accurately describe anyone involved.

Also, posting just one comment puts you in the realm where anger and hostility are ruling over reason. I’ve talked to more than a few peers who wanted to post a comment, but decided against it because they were afraid to face the angry mob. The sad truth is if they had posted, they probably would have been eaten alive. The long page of comments reminds me of a deep, dark pit filled with hungry velociraptors waiting to rip you apart. Someone is bound to focus on one little part of your argument, go on and on about how truly wrong and stupid you are, and as a result take away from the point you were really trying to make.

The way I see it, everyone is so pissed off for one reason or the other, no one is actually absorbing or considering what anyone else has to say. Reading the 90 or so comments reminds me of the type of arguments my mom and I have where we incessantly yell at each other, not listening to one another, until our voices become so hoarse that we are forced to stop. It’s not until a while after our little skirmishes do we realize that talking things through work better than testing out the endurance of our vocal chords.

Currently, no one is level-headed enough to talk things through in a civilized, constructive manner. Emotion is clouding reason. So until that day when things have sufficiently cooled off, I advise all of the rest of you to keep your mouths shut.

— Andrea Park

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

While listening to the radio while driving home after track practice one day (I had forgotten to bring my Motörhead CD), I happened to settle on the classic rock station WGKC.

After hearing some typical, expected music like Bad Company and Van Halen, the DJ said: “And here’s Metallica!”

At this point, I was anticipating some serious head banging and breaking the speed limit to soon occur as I rocked out to some awesome ’80s metal. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t come to pass.

Instead of hearing a song like the awe-inspiring “Master of Puppets” (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, then just take my word for it), I got what those in the know call a “power ballad.” Specifically, it was “Nothing Else Matters,” as close to a love song as Metallica ever got, which features almost exclusively acoustic guitar, as well as a backing orchestra.

At first, I was only bummed out because one of my favorite bands was having one of their lamest songs on the radio. As I continued driving, however, I started thinking. Do songs as late as the ’90s now count as “classic”? Will we soon hear Nirvana and Pearl Jam on Golden Oldies stations?

For me, this is pretty interesting. Metallica never got much airplay (their songs were too long) when they were most popular (somewhere around ‘86), but now for some reason they are suitable radio fodder. Unfortunately, that only signals how much time has passed since those great songs were made.

Will all of the songs from our teenage years eventually turn into soft, repetitive oldies? It would seem so, since we aren’t getting any younger. And while I won’t be able to stand the day I hear “Here it Goes Again” or, even more interestingly, “Gold Digger” on an oldies station, I have come to the realization that the time is ever approaching.

So while when that time comes I’m going to be pretty depressed, there’s really nothing I can do about it. Isn’t life grand? I can just imagine the day that I’m wearing my pants up to my armpits and yelling at kids to get off of my lawn.

Oh, if only I could be 16 and immature forever …

— Carl Zielinski

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This week was my dad’s turn to do his civil duty and become a juror. From the first day he seemed excited and a little nervous about the unexpected that was before him. Now that he has successfully completed a case and decided a man’s fate, that’s all I hear about. There is obvious pride in his voice whenever he says anything about the jury process or the case he was a part of.

Why is it that we can’t have any enthusiasm for what we do? I know there are a lot of Uni students who do everything with a passion, but there are others who can’t seem to think anything is worth their time or trouble.

An example which comes to mind is the Allerton trip the freshmen went on last year. Even before we had gone to Allerton people began complaining about how they could find little pleasure in the whole idea and they would much rather not go. Did it occur to them how much work was put into organizing the trip?

I agree there will always be people who won’t find one thing or another entertaining, but shouldn’t we at least try to enjoy it as much as possible? Complaining may feel good but it doesn’t help anyone. In fact, in some cases it can divide people who have different opinions.

People should just learn to accept the inevitable. And who knows? Maybe they could end up enjoying themselves if they try.

— Avanti Chajed

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I remember sitting in the Mac lab during journalism class when the Gargoyle first went online and students were publishing their stories on the World Wide Web. The most exciting part of a journalism student’s day during this time was probably when they received their first comment on an article they wrote; if they were having a really good day they might have gotten two comments and a conversation could be started.

The once virginal piece of writing that sat on a pedestal with the writer was being taken down to a level where it could be analyzed and remarked upon with such speed and ease that I was filled with a mix of both fear and excitement.

The comments posted were usually witty remarks or interesting pieces of trivia that truly enhanced the reading experience of the article. It was great to see students and teachers and other members of the community reading your work and taking you seriously with the thoughtfulness they put behind their comments. Positive or negative criticism, ideas posted that agreed or disagreed with your own opinion, and interesting tidbits or trivial information were all equally appreciated by the writer.

These days, though, the series of comments that adorn the ends of articles and columns has saddened me in numerous ways. A crucial function of the public is to correct the media when they are wrong. Incorrect information, rumors, and unconfirmed facts have proven to be the downfall of many a great leader and the start of many a terrible rumor.

As high school journalists it is essential for us to be aware of the fact that professional journalists risk their publication being sued for slander and libel if they allow erroneous and damaging information to be published. The types of comments geared toward ensuring that this does not happen keep journalists on their toes and constantly remind them of the need to be accurate, fair, and balanced when they are reporting.

However, when does a comment that mentions an incorrectly spelled word, or a badly used idiom, or the inaccurate use of an acute accent, or the fact that the writer cannot evoke the use of the word majority if only 50.999 percent of the population is being described (the list could go on), overstep that crucial and delicate line between enhancing the reading experience for the public and being a smart-a** remark?

I feel that it’s when the entire point of a well-written and carefully thought-out article or opinion column is lost on a reader who is too busy hunting through the column searching for a typo or an inaccuracy to point out to the public.

I applaud those of you with 20/20 vision and eyes like hawks. I’m sure that both of these things will serve you well in the future, either at your next eye exam or when you’re next busily scanning the ground for your future meal. In the meantime, I urge you all to look beyond the trivial mistakes, accept that even journalists are human, and actually take the time to read through someone’s opinion with an open mind and with the idea that their opinion is worth more than just a Spell Check glance over. And then I urge you all to post a comment.

— Shivani Khanna

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Bored? Sitting next to a computer? Looking for a challenge? Take a look at klueLESS, a puzzle game created by Amit Sharma, Prasad Ajinkya, Sanchit Shinghal and Udatta Durah. The goal of the game is to complete each level and to make it to the end of the game (whenever and wherever that is). KlueLESS doesn’t involve having any skills or fast reflexes, but you’ll definitely need either a sharp mind or a lot of patience to solve these puzzles. If you’ve mastered the basics of Web browsing and have some time to spare, chances are you’ll enjoy this game.

The goal: to solve all the levels and to get to the end. Simple, right? No, not really. Each level consists of a puzzle that can only be beaten by following specific clues and instructions. Some clues are simply misleading while others are incredibly hard to decipher. The levels become more and more difficult as you proceed and eventually they become seemingly impossible.

These puzzles aren’t your ordinary math problems — you can’t use logic and a calculator for everything. You’d be surprised where some clues are hidden. KlueLESS forces you to look at everything and to become more observant. Don’t be bound by the text on a specific Web page.

Some hints: The creators of the game provide some hints here. There are a couple of things you can do when you get stuck. First, look at everything — the openly given clues, the title of the Web page, the URL, the source of the page, etc. Second, worship Google like a god — it will probably become your best friend for looking up bizarre things such as quotes from famous people, creators of portraits, and silent languages. (However, do not use Google to look up answers/cracks because that defeats the purpose of the game.) Still stuck? You can ask a friend for help and maybe he/she will see something that you missed.

What do you gain from klueLESS? A sense of accomplishment and a feeling of superiority … and possibly a very large headache. If you’ve enjoyed your experience with klueLESS, you should check out klueLESS2 and this game, which has no apparent title except for notpron (and it’s not pron). Enjoy!

— Alan Liang

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Make a bubble bath, of course. I think I really must recommend this particular remedy for anyone who is either sick, stressed, or just really hates cold weather.

I have been sick since last week; I’ve had little to no voice since Sunday, depending on what time of day it is and how angry I am. I got home from school today and thought, All right. That’s absolutely it. All of my homework can just sit there tonight. And I’m not going to worry about the ACT that I’m taking on Saturday. And I’m not going to worry about WYSE, even though it’s tomorrow. And ….

And then I had to forcibly stop that train of thought.

The bubble bath was actually my mom’s idea. When I first heard her suggestion, I shook my head without really thinking about it. “No, I …”

But then my brain actually processed it. “Actually, yeah!!”

The water was started, bubbles were added, and well … it turns out that we put a little bit too much of the bubble bath stuff in the water, and there was at least four inches of foamy white above the surface of the water, but I just lay there and soaked.

After about an hour, my fingers resembled raisins and I was about to fall asleep. But I felt a hundred times better afterward, and only barely remembered not to scream with excitement when I discovered my voice was coming back.

— Michelle Gao

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In Asian American Literature, we recently read a short story titled “Bad Luck Woman.” The story was about a young woman Lila who went on a pilgrimage with her aunt in India. Accompanying them on this trip was an older lady named Mrs. Ghosh who had encountered many misfortunes throughout her life and thus been branded as unlucky. Other women didn’t want to talk to or associate with Mrs. Ghosh for fear that misfortune would befall them as well. Lila, as a result, struggles with these superstitions and the desire to befriend Mrs. Ghosh.

The story got me thinking about social stigmas, and all the similar ways we have of isolating and branding people.

Let’s start with name-calling. Girls call each other sluts and whores all the time in order to turn friends against others. Guys compare penis size and poke fun at the boy with the smallest genitalia.

Then Uni has its own specialized stigmas. With grades and intelligence stressed, many students get branded as stupid or slow because of their poor academic performance. Then, students who work too hard to get their grades also get labeled as stupid. All these students, in the end, suffer jokes at their own expense.

Uni also has such a liberal atmosphere that republican, right-wing, conservative students get written off as ignorant and uninformed.

I can keep going too. Our society has stigmas surrounding the upper class, and many people are embarrassed by their income and will refuse to label themselves as anything but middle class. At the same time, we degrade poor people and call them lazy.

Then, within minority communities, people often get labeled as “assimilationist.” An African American who excels academically, or perhaps listens to alternative rock, will often be made fun of and called white.

Of course, it is hard to cure problems like these. They are so ingrained within a society or community. No one can just tell a person, “Stop making fun of her because she likes alternative rock.”

Nevertheless, it’s stupid to place labels on people and alienate them because of their grades or their hobbies. We should be able to respect other people’s lifestyles. And in the case of the Bad Luck Woman, we should be able to recognize that people don’t always have a choice.

— Sarah Pfander

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

One thing I enjoy about going to the movies is before the movie itself — the previews.

Movies, while sometimes fun, can be hours wasted if they are bad. Even good movies can have long boring parts. Previews however, are advertisements for movies, so the creators try to include the most exciting or interesting bits while giving you an idea of the story. In short, they should be some of the best parts of the movie used to show you the basic plot. Because of this, they are often fun to watch. Although I often see previews of movies I know I’ll never watch, I still enjoy seeing them.

However, sometimes a preview will come up that is really boring and seems to go on forever. This makes the movie look truly terrible. The makers can’t find two minutes of clips that can hold my interest? That is a bad sign for the movie itself.

Even worse than a bad preview is one that incorrectly shows the genre of a movie. Once in a while you will see a preview that clearly shows the movie to be a comedy, but in reality it turns out to be an extremely slow drama. I’ve heard that this was true of the movie “Click,” but I didn’t see that. The case that I am thinking of here was “Bicentennial Man” starring Robin Williams. It was shown as a comedy in the previews, but was one of the slowest, most drawn-out dramas I have ever seen. A terrible case of false advertising there.

Despite some of the problems that previews have, I still find it very fun to watch them, and the last few years I have become very spoiled by spending time on the Apple Web site, which features almost all the previews of upcoming movies.

— Deren Kudeki

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mondays, according to general consensus, suck. From the time that I drag myself out of bed about half an hour after my alarm goes off, to the time that I climb back into bed about half an hour later than I probably should, it’s just not a happy time. Luckily, on Monday nights, the fine people at the FOX network see fit to take a quick break from broadcasting pure, refined garbage with two hours of solid action dramas: “Prison Break” and “24.”

The former follows the adventures of a pair of brothers who break out of prison and set out trying to prove that Lincoln, the older brother, is not guilty of murder, and furthermore, that he was framed by a powerful group of conspirators. The show also follows the other inmates who escaped with the duo, as well as the people who are trying to capture and silence them.

The second show, “24,” is a bit heavier. The stakes are higher, the violence is bloodier, and it emits a continuous stream of endlessly debatable topics. In every season there are 24 hour-long episodes, each one detailing one hour of a hellish day for America in “real time.”

Each season follows a predictable trend: A powerful enemy presents a legitimate threat to America and its people; Jack Bauer, the gang at Counter Terrorist Unit, and the president do some admirable work and wear them down; interrogation reveals that the apparent perpetrators are actually working for a larger enemy (like the difference between a level boss and a game boss); from here (about the halfway point) the “game boss” begins a renewed campaign of violence, and after a few shocking truths are learned, the game boss (fasten your seat belts, kids, spoilers incoming): is exposed as a traitor, is killed by an off-camera character while the boss is seconds from pulling the trigger on a good guy, is killed in an act of revenge by a civilian, or plummets a few stories to the ground. However, there’s still a pending crisis that is dealt with in the final minutes. In the final seconds, though, there’s yet another major problem which remains unresolved (for the time being, at least).

I completely agree that the show is formulaic (in fact, every other season to date has featured radical Middle Eastern terrorists packing nuclear bombs), but it’s still enjoyable to watch. The acting, writing, and editing are of good quality, and the scenarios presented, although a bit of a stretch of the imagination, are thought-provoking.

Due to the frequent use of militant Muslims as key antagonists, the show has drawn criticism from a number of organizations. The show presents both sides of the issue, and whether it’s pressing one side or the other is up for debate.

For example, Season 6 features an Islamic teen whose law-abiding father is arrested and taken to a detention center. The son remains and is quickly attacked by a stereotypical redneck (who lives in the California suburbs, oddly enough), and the son is defended by a mild-mannered family across the street. However, the teen actually is a terrorist, and he proceeds to kill Stan the redneck, hold the mild-mannered family hostage, and force the loving husband/father to do his nefarious bidding.

I don’t dwell too much on stuff like this. Rather, I just turn on the TV, make a halfhearted attempt to do some math homework during the commercials, and watch a couple entertaining hours of standoffs, escapes, gunfights, desperate planning, a few more gunfights, and the occasional “that blew up real good” moment.

— Andrew Lovdahl

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Uni has been known to participate in some of the oddest trends, including everything from intense-chess competitions to the ever-amazing Pokemon.

More recently, though, I’ve found myself completely addicted to Sudoku. I don’t think you could quite consider it to be one of Uni’s fads yet — I haven’t heard anybody bragging, “Man, yesterday I completed 10 whole sheets … front and back!!”. But unlike before, I am now able to do my Sudoku in school due to the thoughtfulness of some students who’ve begun bringing their Sudoku books to Uni.

For those of you who have yet to experience Sudoku (yes, in fact, it is more fun than trading your Magic cards), it consists of nine rows of nine boxes, and nine groups of nine boxes, as such:

The goal: to get all the numbers from one to nine in each row, each column, and in each box. The catch: You can’t repeat any numbers. For example, in this particular Sudoku, you need a four in the third column, but you can’t put it in the first two spaces in that column, since there is a four already in that 3x3 box.

There are different levels of difficulty; sometimes the grid gets bigger so that there are more spaces that you have to fill out, or sometimes they provide you with fewer numbers so as to make it harder to eliminate. A proper Sudoku only has one solution.

Sudoku is a great way to stay awake during class. Now, I’m not necessarily promoting not paying attention to your teachers or anything (c’mon, they have very useful stuff to say), but there’s always those times when you finish a test early and have nothing to do (well, and your iPod is out of batteries). It’s also a great alternative to talking to your classmates (which only ends up getting you in trouble). To note as well, Sudoku doesn’t really require any math ability (except being able to count); although all the numbers may be decieving, they could just as easily be letters or shapes.

Either way, it’s something new and entertaining to try. (And maybe Carl will enjoy Sudoku more than he enjoys crosswords.)

— Lizzy Warner

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When we look at some of the more unique technologies coming out today, we often wonder why anyone would spend time working on something so seemingly useless. And I’m not talking about solar-powered flashlights or black highlighter pens. I’m talking about inventions such as caffeinated lip balm or the “Pat on the Back Apparatus.” We are given a little too much leeway in terms of things we can patent.

I could go on and on, but the results are endless. People are churning out patent after patent on a daily basis, even their own DNA. Aren’t we getting a little too greedy? As a society, we are constantly demanding change. “Change is inevitable. Change is constant,” to use a quote from Benjamin Disraeli.

In all the tumult, we should realize though, that there are actually useful things being invented. An excellent example is Abul Hussam’s invention of a simple and relatively cheap water-purifying system. The George Mason University professor has recently been awarded $1 million for the arsenic-removing device and is planning to use almost three-fourths of the prize to distribute the filters to the needy.

If we could have a little more people working on things like that instead of filling out applications for these little things that no one really cares about, we could get a lot more done. A lot.

— Benjamin Fu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In my opinion, running is underrated. Many people are willing to pay thousands of dollars to attend a game of basketball, but who would pay that kind of money to watch a race? I understand that running may not exactly be the most exciting sport, but it deserves more respect.

If you think about it, running is probably the hardest sport there is. During a race, your toughest opponent always comes out to be none other than: yourself. It’s all about ignoring the pain and pushing beyond the limits. When you think you can’t handle it anymore, you have to keep going. It takes determination and self-discipline.

As Roger Bannister, the first human to break the four-minute mile barrier, once said, “The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.”

On the Uni High track team, we have the longest season out of any sports, lasting from January to May. Three times a week, we get up before 6 a.m. to arrive at the Armory, ready for whatever the agonizing workout will be. We give it our all every single day. After all, when the worst comes, there are always puke buckets. Yes, the Armory has these bright, red trashcans around the track with the sign “Spit or vomit here.” (Intimidating, but so hardcore. )

During the winter, the distance team also trains in the freezing cold. No matter how bad the weather is — whether it’s rain, snow, or chilling winds, we’re always up for it. It’s not as fun as running in shorts and a T-shirt in the summer, but we suck it up. Now how’s that compared to an indoor sport that doesn’t challenge the athletes against forces of nature?

Running is the most brutal sport out there. Every runner is competing against himself. A good runner doesn’t enter a race thinking, “I hope my opponents will be slow.” He goes into a race thinking, “I’m going to run my best time possible.”

Running is like a metaphor for life: You get out of it what you put into it. When you run, you always have the opportunity to crumble under the pain and quit, but the determination to keep going is what gets you through. It’s the ultimate test of willpower.

“Your biggest challenge isn’t someone else. It’s the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs and the voice inside you that yells, ‘Can’t.’ But you don’t listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper, ‘Can.’ And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are.” —Anonymous

— Elaine Gu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It is COLD. Bitter, nose-biting, breath-stealing cold. Unfortunately I have to brave this icy tundra we call Illinois every morning when I drive myself and my brother to school. The day starts as follows: I dress in as many layers as I can without prohibiting my movement. I then go outside, start the car, and begin the painful process of scraping all of the ice off of my windshield.

I return to my house to unthaw before getting in the car. Unfortunately, my heater doesn’t work when the defroster is on, so, although the interior of the car is warmer than outside, it’s more like comparing Antarctica to Alaska.

When we reach the parking lot by WILL radio station, the dressing process begins again (hat on head, scarf over face, double layer of gloves), and I brave, once again, the cold. The two blocks to school seem like two hours of torture. I begin to realize why travelers in the North Pole coated their faces with mucus.

When we finally reach the school I run to the lounge to be unfrozen by a special team of warmer-uppers: namely Devika, Maddy, and sometimes Jono. Finally I’m out of the cold, at least until PE rolls around.

— Bethany Hutchens

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In his latest blog entry, my fellow staff member Ranny Ma wrote about his confusion about why anyone would turn to religion for comfort about the afterlife. In his entry, he brought up a few points that I would like to personally address.

Religion isn’t something that you just are. At the risk of sounding preachy and self-righteous, I’ll say that religion is a struggle. My mom started taking my sister Maria and I to a Chinese church when we were still pretty young. It was OK. I mean, all we really did was sing songs and listen to stories. Fun.

But the thing is, I didn’t really understand what it was about. “Christianity” for me when I was young was having fun with other little Chinese girls on Sunday mornings. So when Ranny says that his 7-year-old brother “eagerly waits to say grace before every meal,” I find it hard to believe that he fully understands all the aspects of Christianity.

In addition, Ranny makes it sound like you either are religious, or you aren’t. I don’t believe that’s true at all! There are shades of gray. Yes, there are devout-devout Christians out there, but most of the people I know don’t completely agree with all the aspects of their respective religions.

I, for example, definitely don’t pray every day. I go to church only sporadically. The Bible isn’t my favorite book. I’m not constantly trying to convert my friends to my religion, so that they can be “saved.” I’m not so sure about the whole “If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’re going straight to hell!” thing. I mean, if God loves His children so much, he wouldn’t make them suffer just for being a little suspicious, would he? Ghandi wasn’t Christian; I have a hard time imagining him down there.

In fact, sometimes I’m pretty cynical about the whole religion thing. But in the end, I still think that it’s good to have something to believe in. And if you don’t, fine. Everyone has a personal decision to make, and no one should think less of anyone else for his or her choice.

As for the whole not being able to “handle the fact” that there isn’t an afterlife, I think that’s a pretty harsh way to put it. If death turns out to be just like falling asleep, I’m pretty sure I can handle that emotionally, and I am Christian deep down. Way deep down. I don’t deny that many people do turn to religion for comfort; my question is, “What’s wrong with that?”

What’s wrong with believing that there’s going to be life again after death? Even if Heaven turns out to be a big lie, isn’t a Christian lifestyle a good way to live? After all, Christianity is supposed to promote love, forgiveness, and helping others. What’s wrong with trying to lead that kind of life?

And when it all comes down to it, the bottom line of most religions I can think of comes back to love and forgiveness for others. Which, you know, isn’t a bad way to live.

— Michelle Gao

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I would like to follow up what CZ and Alan wrote about regarding death and tell you what I think about death and, in particular, religion.

My entire family is pretty religious. They go to church on Sunday when I am still sleeping and they do the whole praying ordeal. They go to a Chinese bible study every Friday night along with their fellow Christians. My brother always eagerly waits to say grace before every meal.

I am not religious at all, even though I went to church a couple of times when I was younger. I guess I never caught on with the whole buddy Jesus Christ and Heaven trend like my brother did.

Why do you believe in Heaven? I believe that you can’t handle the fact that when you die, you don’t have an afterlife. Yeah, I understand how comforting it is to know that you will be rewarded for your good deeds when you die. I think most people can’t handle believing that when you die, well, you die, and nothing special happens.

Look at all the major religions; I bet that most of them have some form of afterlife.

Heaven, or some sort of afterlife is debatable depending on what you believe obviously, but why don’t people just live for the sake of living for what you believe in and not think of it as a road to some place even better or worse?

For all the atheists and the nonbelievers out there, according to Christianity, you will go to Hell. Hmmmmmm.

Isn’t it good to say, “Wow, I lived a good life and I did everything I wanted to do. I am happy.”

Anyways, this is only one of many reasons that people are religious, and I just don’t see it.

— Ranny Ma

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Alan Liang’s Jan. 30 entry raised a number of interesting points about death. Most fear is based on the want to remain living.

Upon seeing his entry, I thought that it might be good for me to sit down and come up with exactly what I think about the subject.

What did I come up with, you ask? In a nutshell, I just don’t really worry about it. As I believe in God of some sort (give me another 10 years to figure that out), I feel that after I die, it’s gonna be his/her/its job to deal with what goes on.

Why bother worrying about what’s impossible to know? That’s sort of like walking around asking, “Why is there air?” (to crib a joke from Bill Cosby). There isn’t any definite answer. Instead, I figure it would be better to just worry about what’s going on down here on earth rather than figuring out possibly spiritual problems. If you just worry about being as good a person as possible for as much time as possible, then the whole afterlife thing should sort itself out nicely.

Why should I bother worrying about something that (probably) is any number of decades in my future, and is completely inevitable? I have so many more pressing corporeal matters to deal with right now.

For example, I have the problem as to how much of my time I should give to playing guitar, and how much I should use for studying. That has to be dealt with much sooner, and in the end is much more useful for my life.

I think that I’ll deal with the afterlife when I’m there, personally.

— Carl Zielinski

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Being sick is not fun.

Friday morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 5:15 a.m. for track practice. My throat felt kind of sore but I assumed it was just from dehydration. After a grueling, long workout at the Armory, I was feeling a lot worse than I did when I first got up.

As the day progressed, I began feeling really sick. My throat started hurting and I developed a splitting headache. With the early dismissal, I should’ve taken the opportunity and went home for some rest. Unfortunately, I had my academic duties to take care of.

I ended up staying until 6:15 p.m. working with my Exploravision team. Finally, I couldn’t handle it anymore; my headache was absolutely killing me. I abandoned my group and went home for some well-needed rest.

Lying in bed later that night, I was inflicted with pain. My face felt like it was burning and I could feel my heartbeat in my temples. My mom came in and took my temperature. 103°F. Great, I had a fever.

I spent the rest of my weekend drowned in self-pity. I made up a list of things to blame for my misery (some may be a bit unreasonable):

1. Too much homework.
   
2. Not enough sleep.
   
3. Running in the cold.
   
4. Kenney Gym showers.
   
5. People who cough.
   
6. Everyone else who’s sick.
   
7. Snow.
   

During that time, I also worried a lot; how am I going to have time to study for all those tests next week? How can I finish my Gargoyle article on time? Am I going to miss my violin rehearsal? Will I be able to go to track practice on Monday?

Finally, I told myself to stop stressing out about it. After all, I can’t do any of that since I can’t even get out of bed. My parents moved a TV into my room and I spent my days in bed sleeping or watching hours upon hours of “The OC.”

Next week, I’ll be frantically trying to catch up on all my missing work. That won’t be good for me considering I’ve just recovered from my illness. But what can I do? Teachers don’t exempt you from homework if you missed class that day.

Word of advice: Being sick is bad. I know it’s often unavoidable, but being sick is no fun. You end up in a post-sickness-catching-up-week-of-hell, which might just make you so tired that you get sick again. Sure, being able to stay home, sleep in, and watch TV is nice (I know I enjoyed my “OC” marathon), but considering that stressful week of catching up, it’s not worth it.

I’m just looking forward to spring break.

— Elaine Gu

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I tend to take things for granted, and it’s only when they’re gone that I realize how much I have come to rely on them. So it should come as no surprise that when my mother decided to go to Atlanta for an entire week, I didn’t think much about it. That is, until she was actually gone.

I was happy enough for the first day. Food wasn’t a problem since she had been kind enough to cook food that would last us two meals. We had to go to school, and so it kept us busy.

But when the weekend came around I realized how much we need my mother’s housewife skills. None of us had time to clean the house during the weekdays and so the rooms were in dire need of vacuuming, and the only reason the laundry was done was out of need. Same with the dishes. Plus the house was extremely dull since all my dad and my brother cared about was a new computer we got sometime after my mother left.

After that week I have never taken my mother for granted. And I also have come to realize that men, at least the ones in my family, can’t live without the guiding hand of a woman.

So I think it’s about time I told my mother how much she really means to our family. And pitched in to help her with all of the mundane tasks a stay-at-home mom must have.

— Avanti Chajed

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For a belated Christmas gift, my dear Uncle John sent me a beautiful, big coffee mug that had interesting facts about his home city, Boston, written on it. I was very pleased with the gift because finally I would have a hearty-sized coffee mug to use during first- hour history, instead of one of the grimy, moldy ones that sit on the dingy windowsill for public use. Also, as mentioned before, this coffee mug is rather good-looking, one that makes all the other coffee mugs look and feel inferior.

But after examining my fine coffee mug, I turned it over and looked at the bottom. My proud smile immediately vanished. The same feeling that came over Angel Clare when Tess Durbeyfield told him of her previous “follies” came over me. Painted on the bottom of my precious mug was “Starbucks,” in the traditional forest green text.

So what’s my “beef” with Starbucks? Well, here comes another story. About a month earlier, my dad, mom, and I were driving along on our way to a swim meet out of town. My mom was craving caffeine and suggested we stop by Starbucks. I, of course, was completely amenable to her decision because Starbucks makes high quality beverages.

However, my dad countered my mother’s decision. “Oh, Starbucks. I think I read in a newspaper that they don’t let their workers form unions … or maybe they don’t purchase fair-trade coffee. Anyways, we probably shouldn’t go there.”

My little bubble of excitement burst. Starbucks is one of those corporations? Starbucks. The place where one is served the best-tasting, highest-quality coffee … noooo!

Just like I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy food from Chipotle because they unjustly treat Immokalee tomato pickers, and I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy anything from Wal-Mart, I had to promise myself that I wouldn’t ever buy another cup of joyful Starbucks coffee.

So back to the main story. Although my Uncle John’s gift was sweet, it was a gift that supports a company that uses dangerous milk from cows that are pumped with growth hormones, don’t allow their workers to form unions, and buys only a tiny percent of fair-trade coffee beans.

Although I have made a a promise to boycott Starbucks, Chipotle, and Wal-Mart, I often ask myself, “What is the point?”

I look down at the shoes, jeans, shirt, and coat I am wearing and I know that some small child in Thailand had to slave away in a sweatshop to make them. Or what about the adorable diamond studs I got fot my Sweet 16? Are they blood diamonds that have funded some brutal civil war in Africa? Or what about the car I drive to and from swim practice every day? Are we not fighting a war, at least in part, over oil?

I can’t help feeling like, and actually being, a complete hypocrite.

Maybe boycotting Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and Chipotle is noble. But what about all of the other things (and I know there must be a lot of things) I buy and use every single day from corporations that violate human rights? So is boycotting three out of the hundreds of corporations really making a difference?

And the biggest question is, “Is it possible to live a modern life without supporting one of “those” companies?”

— Andrea Park

Posted by Gargoyle Staff at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)