Globetech

G l o b e T e c hAll Things Technology and Global Issues

Letter from the Editors Dear Readers, In the beginning we were obviously not a compatible group, consider-ing two of the group members wanted to focus more on controversial global issues, such as AIDS and the civil war in Darfur. The other two members were more into “geeky” things like technology and video games. The issue of what to do next quickly arose with neither side willing to give up their idea. Instead of simply stubbornly moving on and creating a greatly polarized magazine between the two ideas, we decided to compromise. This compromise led to the our theme and the magazine you see today. Everything in our magazine revolves around the theme of how technol-ogy affects our society. We thought this would be the best way to compromise.Other groups have a similar idea as we do, but our group is different because we don’t just talk about how the technology works, we explain how we work with the technology. Our inspiration magazines included Austin Monthly and Paper maga-zine. Austin Monthly has a cool, clean cut look and color scheme that we really enjoyed. Paper has a more edgy feel that really drew us in and made us want to look at the magazine. We took Austin Monthly’s clean look and color scheme and combined it with Paper’s edgy feel to create the inspiration for the majority of our layouts and color scheme. With all this in mind, we hope our magazine will appeal to the young and the old. We hope you enjoy our magazine. We worked super hard and we would really appreciate it if you enjoyed it. Sincerely, The LASA Globetech Team- Arlen W. Caitlin S. Gabe C. Logan S.

Tab

le o

f C

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Letter from the Editors / Table of Contents 1 2

The iTunes War 3 4

iPod Evolution 5 6

An Alarming Sterotype 7 8

Playing Video Games 11 12

The Use of Force 9 10

I’ll Facebook You 13 14

Scars To Lions 17 18

Technology Changes 19 20

Normal Green 23 26

How Involved are You? 21 22

Addiction 15 16

The World at Risk 28 29

Editor Biographies 30

Letter from the Editors

My first encounter with the iTunes music store was at Christmas of 2006, when I received my first iPod. As I began to download music onto the iPod, I discovered the iTunes online store, embedded right into the conventional iTunes library. A simple click away from the iTunes library was a vast database of millions of songs, all accessible to me right at my home computer. It was, simply put, like a kid in a candy shop, which I technically was, although in this case I was traips-ing through an online world looking for what was previously only found in a CD store several miles away. Still, iTunes and its convenience is sapping up so much of the overall revenue (25%!) generated by the music retail business that local record stores can’t compete. And in cities like Austin, where a large part of the economic and communal activity is fueled by the music industry, iTunes is destroying local communities. In order to preserve the character of Austin and other cities, consumers should be more active about buying from their local music stores. My infatuation with iTunes has continued throughout the years, and with plausible reason: it’s much easier to purchase songs right in my house than it is to beg my parents to drive me to a Waterloo Records close to 15 minutes away. But when people like me buy from iTunes, do they think about whom they’re helping and who they’re hurting? When buying music from iTunes, every cent of revenue goes to Apple, Inc., which then is required to pay several fees to various organizations. According to GoogleFinance.com, Apple’s yearly profit is $11.15 billion, putting it 71st in the Fortune 500 and 8th in the Fortune 20 Most Profitable Tech Companies. According to iPhoneFootprint.com, as of June 2008, 5 billion songs had been downloaded from iTunes. As of 2007, Apple sold 5 million songs per day, or 58 songs per second. At a 99 cents-per-song rate, the annual revenue from iTunes alone is around $2 billion, which is roughly 16% of Apple’s $32 billion annual

revenue (according to

AppleWatch.com). According to InternetNews.com, iTunes also captures 25% of all music retail sales in the country. There are many other online music stores that also suck up a substantial percentage of the country’s music sales. The 75% not captured by iTunes includes all the other online music stores and the local records stores in the country. Any one of these local stores, however large the chain, couldn’t hope to stand up to this monster music store iTunes. Many local record stores around the country have already closed down. According to an article in Long Island Business News, in Long Island, New York, Hampton Music Store closed several of their stores all over the island. Hampton opened in 1972, and has long been a center of music retail on Long Island. After the iPod and iTunes were introduced in 2003, Hampton sales began to decline, until, in 2006, the Hampton flagship store in East Hampton was forced to close. In March 2009, the Jobs Lane store in Southampton was also forced to close. The closing of this location was especially upsetting, as this was the place where Hampton Music first started. Gary Madison, the owner of Hampton Music, is battling the online music industry, and he’s trying to stay afloat in the sea of digital downloading.

The iTunes WarOnline Music Revolution Causing Local Mu-sic Stores To Take Hits

by Gabe C.

Music

3 GlobeTech/Fall 2009

According to an article in New Orleans City Business, in New Orleans, Louisiana, several record stores have also closed. All 6 Wherehouse Music loca-tions closed down in 2003, and the Mushroom, which opened in New Orleans in 1969, has suffered a 50% drop in sales from 1999, when online music download-ing was introduced. Mushroom’s sales have continued to decline since 2004. Tower Records, a nationwide chain with 93 stores—with stores in both New Orleans and Austin—was up for sale in 2004 after bankruptcy and was liquidated in 2006. Several other nationwide companies are either contributing to or feeling the effects of the online music revolution. According to the Maclean’s magazine, WalMart, which started selling singles online for 88 cents apiece in 2003, sells more CDs than any other store in the country. MTV’s Urge music store and RealNet-works’ Rhapsody music store are combining to become Rhapsody America, where, for a monthly fee, subscribers

can listen to unlimited music. According to the article in New Orleans City Business, Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record label company, cut its prices by 25% in order to spur on CD sales. According to an article in The Daily Telegraph, EMI (Elec-tronic and Music Industries Ltd.) introduced its own online music store in 2003. The EMI store sells singles at $2-2.50 and albums at $20-25, significantly lower than the in-store prices of the local record stores they sponsor. The future looks bleak for local record stores. According to Nielsen SoundScan, music sales in record stores have dropped 26% since 2001, and according to the Almighty Institute of Music Retail, about 3100 record store have closed since 2003; nearly half of them were local, inde-pendent stores. At the present moment, the only solution to this dilemma will have to come from the public. Consumers must realize that if they continue to buy all of their music online, an enormous part of culture of cities all around the country will be lost. I make it a point to buy any albums I want from local music stores, and only buy singles online. As long as consumers are blind to this predicament, they will continually go for the easy

way out, no matter what the consequences for local record stores. Apple and other online music companies will continue to sell music online, at least as long as they can make a profit off of it. Change will have to come from the consumer.

“Power con-cedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

-Frederick Douglass

Record Stores in Austin

Antone’s Recordshttp://antonesrecordshop.

com/

Cheapo Discshttp://www.cheapotexas.

com/

Encore Movies and Musichttp://www.revolutionnum-

ber9.com/

Half Price Bookshttp://halfpricebooks.com/

Out of the Pasthttp://home.earthlink.

net/~outofthepast/

Waterloo Recordshttp://www.waterloore-

cords.com/home.html

Closed Stores in Austin

ABCD’s closed 2003

Jupiter Records closed

2003

Sound Exchange closed Jan. 2003 after 23

years of busiuness

Technophilia closed

circa 2004

Thirty-Three Degrees closed May 2004

information provided by Michael Bluejay’s Austin Music Guide

Alex Dolan

waterloorecords.com

Waterloo Records Music Store

4 GlobeTech/Fall 2009

5GlobeTech/Fall 2009

Music

iPod Evolution

Shuffle

Model: Classic, 1st gen-erationRelease Date: October 23, 2001Battery Life: 10 hours (only audio)Landmark Spec: First iPod

Model: Classic, 3rd generationRelease Date: April 28, 2003Battery Life: 8 hours (only audio)Landmark Spec: First complete redesign with all-touch in-terface

by Gabe C.

Model: Mini, 1st generationRelease Date: January 6, 2004Battery Life: 8 hours (only audio)Landmark Specs: New, smaller model, available in 5 colors

Model: Nano, 1st Gen-erationRelease Date: Septem-ber 7, 2005Battery Life: 8 hours (only audio)Landmark Specs: Re-placed Mini, color screen

Model: Shuffle, 1st generationRelease Date: January 11, 2005Battery Life: 12 hours (only audio)Landmark Specs: First iPod shuffle, uses flash memory, no screen

Model: Shuffle, 2nd genera-tionRelease Date: September 12, 2006Battery Life: 12 hours (only audio)Landmark Specs: Smaller clip design, 4 colors

Classic

Mini/Nano


How such a commonplace item today came to be what it is.

Touch

Model: Classic, 4th gen-eration (Photo/Color)Release Date: October 26, 2004/June 28, 2005Battery Life: Audio - 15, Slideshow - 5Landmark Spec: First iPod to feature a color screen and picture view-ing

Model: Classic, 6th gen-erationRelease Date: September 5, 2007Battery Life: varies with capacity, audio - 30-40, video - 5-7Landmark Specs: current iPod classic model, all-new interface, intro-duced the “Classic” suf-fix

Model: Nano, 3rd genera-tionRelease Date: September 5, 2007Battery Life: Audio - 24, Video - 5Landmark Specs: Smaller case and screen, new inter-

Model: Nano, 4th and 5th generationRelease Date: September 5, 2008/2009Battery Life: Audio - 24, Video - 4, 5Landmark Specs: Current iPod Nano model, revert to tall form, video camera, speaker,

Model: Shuffle, 3rd generationRelease Date: March 11, 2009Battery Life: 10 hours (only audio)Landmark Specs: Current iPod Shuffle model, smaller design with controls relocated to right earbud cable

Model: Touch, 1st and 2nd GenerationsRelease Date: Septem-ber 5, 2007-9 September, 2009Battery Life: Varies with gen, audio - 22-36, video - 5-6Landmark Specs: First iPod with Wi-fi and multi-touch interface, Internet

Photos thanks to Wikipedia.org, except iPod Touch, which is thanks to Flickr Commons

I pulled open the battered purple door of the Liberal Arts and Science Acadmey High School to reveal a brightly lit, freshly waxed hallway. Students were singing and dancing their down, as done in High School

Musical. One might be shocked to find that this is what an average high school really looks like, because high schools have been stereotyped to show the opposite of this, through films such as Mean Girls, so they think that at a typical high school people talk and walk, and the jocks and math geeks stick to their own cliques. The hallways were really scuffed and muddied, and the walls and bathroom are littered with graffiti from Sharpie, pencils, and fliers for different clubs. This however, is a serious misconception about a typical high school. Rather, at LASA high school here is proof that this is all wrong. There are brightly lit, freshly waxed hallways in which people sing and dance their way down, as in High School Musical. This is the perfectly normal high school. To defy this stereotype of a typical high school in which singing and dancing is found only in theater, everyone sticks to their own cliques, and that high schools are littered and dirty, we must call on Hollywood to produce more films, such as Disney’s High School Musical (released in 2006), to more accu-rately depict high schools. On my first day of high school, I sat in at least five classes in which we broke out in song and people got up and sang and danced about their summer vacations, social and personal issues, or anything class or school related, as was done in High School Musical. In math we learned a song to help us remember the Quadratic formula to the tune of “Pop-Goes-the-Weasel.” Granted our singing and dancing was not nearly as good as the seniors, we being only freshman have not had as much time to practice our vocal and choreography skills. I also found that, not only do the

teachers go along with random outbursts of singing and dance in class, but other students join in the song and dance as we parade down the hall, miraculously performing complex dance moves and flips in the small confined space. Because high school has been stereotyped as the opposite of this singing and dancing routine in films like Mean Girls, the only way to combat this stereotype is to have Hollywood produce more films, such as Disney’s High School Musical (released in 2006), to more accurately depict high schools. A math geek walks down a hall alone. Toilet paper clings to the heel of his left shoe, his pocket protector is askew, and he is clutching his graphing calculator for dear life. graphing calculator for dear life. All around him, people laugh, jeer, and some bump into him, causing him bang into the lockers. At lunch he sits at the end of table and eats alone, because he currently ranks at the bottom of what people believe to be high school’s social hierarchy. This is what people believe to be a common high school scene where others are excluded and ignored if they do not belong to a popular clique, because it is commonly depicted in films like Mean Girls (released in 2004 by Paramount Pictures). In Mean Girls, a typical high school is portrayed as place where those at the top of the high school’s social hiegharcy rule the school, and the rest of the students are left to be ignored, stuffed into lockers or trashcans, or bullied. However, this image portrayed by Mean Girls and the scene above, is very untrue, and never happens. As in High School Musical and here at an average high school like LASA people from different cliques did not just ignore each other, but reach out to each other and exchanged motivational mes-sages. Also contrary to popular belief, no social hierarchy exists between students at LASA, also as in High School Musical.

An Alarming StereotypeHow Hollywood has caused America to have a serious misconception of high school

By: Caitlin S.LASAHIGH SCHOOL

2013

Movies



School Musical premiered on television and was viewed by over 7.7 million people. In May, when Disney released High School Musical: Encore Edition, it sold 1.2 million copies in the first six days, in the United States alone. At an average high school like LASA, it is not uncommon to walk into school and see people sing-ing and dancing down the halls. Also at LASA all the cliques’ band together for school spirit, meaning there is no social hierarchy. The halls and bathrooms are sparkling clean. All of this is similar to what high school is shown to be in High School Musical. If we can produce more films such as High School Musical, then we will be able to steer America away from the high school stereotype. If we can produce more films such as High School Musical, then we will be able to steer America away from the high school stereotype. help America understand what high school is really like. Accord-ing to Disney, in 2006 the first High School Musical premiered on television and was viewed by over 7.7 million people. In May, when Disney released High School Musical: Encore Edition, it sold 1.2 million copies in the first six days, in the United States alone. At an average high school like LASA, it is not uncommon to walk into school and see people singing and dancing down the halls. Also at LASA all the cliques’ band together for school spirit, meaning there is no social hierarchy. The halls and bathrooms are sparkling clean. All of this is similar to what high school is shown to be in High School Musical. If we can produce more films such as High School Musical, then we will be able to steer America away from the high school stereotype. If we can produce more films such as High School Musical, then we will be able to steer America away from the high school stereotype.

All the “jocks” don’t only go out with cheerleaders, and they don’t push the math geeks and nerds around in hallways and stuff them in lockers and trashcans. I was especially worried that I would be quickly and unjustly placed in this hierarchy, so I was relieved to know that this was not the case. Here at LASA, different cliques join together and accept each other no matter what they wear, do, or act like, just as in to High School Musical. I especially noticed this when our school com-peted with others in academic or athletic competitions and everyone voluntarily and enthusiastically went to the pep-rallies and games. The only to stop the high school stereotype of people from different cliques ignoring each other, and those at the bottom of the social hierarchy are bullied by those at the top of the hierarchy, is to have Hollywood produce more films that more accurately depict a typical high school like LASA or High School Musical, therefore stopping the stereotype and easing the hearts of math geeks across the nation.

If you took a picture of a prison, took out the guard towers and barbed wire fence, added a marquee sign, and then showed to someone between the age of 10 and 14 they would say it was a high school. This is because high school buildings have been portrayed as dirty buildings that look like a prison or asylum, especially in films such as Mean Girls. In this film, the walls are dirty green, the bathroom looks like it has been painted will a mixture of mold and gray paint, and the hallways are covered with a thin layer of dirt and mud. But the more typical high school is shown in High School Musical, and similarly here at LASA.At LASA and in High School Musical the halls are clean and free of scuff marks or dirt. They often look as though they have just been waxed, and are often so clean you can see your reflection through the tile. The lockers are shiny clean, smooth and flat, therefore free of dents, and look as though a fresh coat of paint has just been applied. As for the bathrooms, they are squeaky clean, and look as though they are cleaned three times a day. All of this is most likely because janitors were hired, for every hallway, classroom, office, and bathroom, for High School Musical. At LASA this is a similar case. According to Internet Movie Database, Paramount Pictures plans to release a sequel to Mean Girls in the United States and United Kingdom, in 2009. I believe this will only promote the seriously flawed misconception of what an American high school is or should be. I can only hope that in 2010 when Disney Channel is set to release High School Musical 4: East Meets West, it will help America understand what high school is really like. According to Disney, in 2006 the first High

If you took a picture of a prison, took out the guard towers and added a marquee sign, and then showed it to someone between the ages of 10 and 14 they would say it was a high school“”

All photos by Caitlin S.

I

The Use of ForceBy: Arlen W.

On April 11, 1986, an FBI squad engaged in a firefight with 2 armed criminals in Miami. During the shooting, one man was killed quickly, however, the other, though having taken multi-ple bullet wounds, was able to kill 2 FBI officers and wound others. Even after taking the shot that killed him, which stopped directly in front of the heart, the second criminal was able to continue shooting. However, most people would find this an unbelievable, as the general public assumes that bullets kill people instantly. The widespread misunderstanding of force is inherently dangerous, to both civilians and the policemen under fire. The misunderstanding is caus-ing all sorts of problems. For instance, in 2006, Senator David Paterson of Albany, New York, tried to push a bill through the senate that would allow officers who kill members of the oppos-ing party to be convicted of 2nd degree manslaughter. This is just another example of the widespread misunder-standing of force in police engagements. The reality is, most of the things people “know” about force are false, and they should learn the truth, should they judge the outcomes of a police engagement. In most cases, the force needed is actually greater than the force used. And yet, for some reason, these civilians who don’t understand the force think that a solution should be achieved with almost no force. Quite simply put, more force is much easier to use, and much easier to use effectively. In most situations, a solution can be

achieved relatively quickly if greater force is used, and can prevent civilian casualties. I know of

no civilians who would rather have greater civilian casualties than greater criminal casualties (except the families of the criminals, but they don’t deserve a vote). One of the major misunderstandings of force is culmi-nated in the controversy between tazers and handguns. But, what most people don’t know, is that bullets do different things depend-ing of their size and type. For instance, some bullets are called ex-panding bullets, and these are known to be much more painful and have greater stopping power than normal bullets. So, the question

arises, what should police shoot? First off, tazers are an OK solution, not a great one. When shooting someone, the person being shot is incapacitated, and often with out any lasting damage. However, there are concerns related to tazers, as with any weapon system. First off, tazers are slow. They time between exposure and impact is longer than for a normal gun, and the shooter must be exposed even after hitting the target. This becomes seriously prob-lematic in a firefight against well-armed op-ponents, as they generally can take advan-

tage of any lack of cover in their opponents. Also, tazers have been know to stop peoples’ hearts, which can kill someone just as easily as a bullet through the head. Finally, tazers have almost no range, meaning that the police must be at extremely close quarters to the target to hit them. Tazers often also have very little accuracy, thus they aren’t very good against opponents in serious cover, as tazers simply don’t have the volume of fire that pistols have (an semi-auto pistol can fire off between 11 and 17 bullets in close to 5 seconds, while a tazer can only fire once before reloading). Thus, a tazer is

Civil Disorder


Bleeding out takes a long time, and in many cases, even a "critical" shot can take time to come into effect, un-less it is to the head.

I

much less of an effective weapon than most people assume it is. However, pistols firing normal bullets aren’t great either. In most situations, getting shot doesn’t equal getting killed. When a bullet hits someone, the greatest damage is actually physiological, it that most people will think they are seriously hurt and stop. However, targets who are high or drunk will not be affected by the physiological effect of bullets, and thus, to stop them, the bullets must do actual physical damage. The damage is categorized as either nervous damage or blood damage. The nervous damage refers to damage that directly affects the nervous system, and often kills the victim. Obvious examples are getting shot in the head or in the spine. both of these generally kill the victim. The other damage is “standard” damage, in which the victim is stopped through blood loss. This contains most cases, in which the victim is shot multiple times and simply bleeds out. However, bleeding out takes a long time, and in many cases, even a “critical” shot can take time to come into effect, unless it is to the head. For instance, lab testing and battlefield statistic show that even someone shot through the heart has about 5 seconds of active time, where they can return fire. This means that, even if you shoot someone through the heart, the target can still be a threat. Thus demonstrated the lack of “stopping power” that police handguns possess. However, stopping power can be increased very easily, just by firing expanding bullets. These expanding bullets are known to have up to 400% of the stopping power of normal bullets. However, these bullets are known to be a lot more painful than normal bullets, so much that they are illegal in international warfare. However, though these bullets are more painful, the lesser need of bullets, increased effects on drunk or high victims (because the bullets cause more bleeding, not just physiological effects), and general lack of needed change (police handguns can fire either bullet type), make these expanding bullets better for general firefights. But, what happens during the engagement itself? What

happens when deadly force is needed in a situation? In most cases, there must be a split-second choice between the use of lethal and non-lethal force. However, the more time this takes, the greater advantage the opposing party has. In most cases, the criminals are already prepared for violence, when the police or law-enforcement element must prepare quickly. Thus, the faster deadly force is allowed, the greater chance the police have at prevent civilian or law-enforcement casualties. However, some people will say that making the use of force more common will cause greater injuries among criminals, possibly unnecessarily. What these people appar-ently don’t get is equivalency. In the case of greater force, studies have show that the civilian casualties averted inn similar scenarios more than make up for the greater criminal injuries, especially if you consider, like me, that a law-breaking individual has forfeited his or her rights through breaking the law, the advantages are even greater. Finally, What happens when police use more force than necessary? In some cases police have been victims of vicious law-suits by the criminal’s family or friends. In 2006, New York senator David Patterson tried to pass a bill which would allow police to be convicted with 2nd degree manslaughter should they kill a victim. This is quite simply taking the welfare of everyone to an unneces-sary level. I am personally of the opinion that criminals shouldn’t have any rights, thus police would never be subject to stupid lawsuits in which bleeding-heart juries listen to lawyers talking about criminal rights! The idea that saving civilians using whatever is necessary seems ridiculous, and I cannot understand why there are so many controversies over this. In conclusion, I stand by my decision to support the greater use of force and a lack of criminal lawsuits. This would likely save more civilians, put fear in more criminals, and lower the inefficiencies of the justice department. Thus, the solution, is not less force, it is more.

The Use of Force


Photo courtesy of Scott Olson

I Video Games


I

When John Loucks gets home, he might have a snack, or turn on the TV to watch some sports.

Or, he might do one of the things he likes most of all: play Xbox 360. “I like to play 360 a lot,” says Loucks. “It’s really fun.”

Playing Video GamesBY ARLEN W.


I think little kids don’t need to play M games, but I feel like it's ok to expose kids to this sort of game when they’re ready “ ”

Many children share his sentiments. As video games become more and more prevalent, more kids are paying games, and at a younger age. The video game industry has also increased in size. TO get an idea, look at these statistics. This year, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince came out in theaters. In the first week, it generated about 77 million dollars. Compare this to Halo 3, which generated almost 190 million in the first week of sales. As such, the video game industry seems to be getting bigger and bigger, possibly becoming the largest part of the entertainment industry. Of course, there are many reasons for this. One such reason is the time factor. In a movie, 3 hours

is about the maximum amount of time the movie can take. Compare this to a normal video game campaign, which, in a story-heavy game, can last between 9 and 16 hours on the first time. In addition to that, video games provide interactivity un-available in movies, and video games can have modes designed for endless replay, like multiplayer. With all of that, its no sur-prise that video games are growing in relation to all other forms of entertainment. One of the most popular genres of games is the FPS, or first-person shooter. “I usually play FPS games,” Loucks says. “I like some other genres, like sports, but I like FPS the most. The gameplay is fast-paced and intense.” In a simple description, and FPS is any game where you play as a soldier (or terrorist, or militiaman, etc.) and use some gun or guns to shoot at and kill the enemy, who shoots back at you. There are many versions of this, from games like Battlefield: Heroes, which has no blood, silly animations, and a cartoon graphic style, to games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where the game is built of, brutal, bloody, intense sequences of combat with lots of gunfire and death. However, the FPS is fundamentally different from other game genres because the game is centered around firearm combat as a single character, as opposed to a strategy game, where you will likely order multiple

units, character through a story, or an RPG (role-play game) where you focus on developing a where you focus on develop-ing a character through a story. “I think my favorite game is Call of Duty 4,” Loucks said during our interview. When I asked him about playing M games, he had this to say: “I enjoy games like [Call of Duty], and most of my friends can play them. I think that little kids don’t need to play M games, but I feel like its ok to expose kids to this sort of game when they’re ready.” For those who don’t know about video game rating, let me clarify. There are 6 ratings, with EC (early childhood) as the earliest. These games are supposed to be for 3 years old and older, so contain no questionable content. After this, there is E (everyone), designed for kids 6 and older, with minimal violence and/or language. Next, E10 (everyone 10 and up) is forgames which contain slightly more violence or language. After that is T (teen), which is about equal with the content of a PG-13 movie. Some blood and violence, but nothing really very bad. Next is M (mature), which can contain serious vio-lence, profanity, other things little kids don’t need to be exposed to. And worst of all, AO (adults only), which contains all sorts of bad things. Most games are either E, T, or M. Most people I know play either T or M games, which lead to questions about the rating system. However, ratings aside, there are certain things many video games have in common. “Most games I play and know of are pretty fast-paced, and a lot are built around action,” Loucks said. He also mentioned, “Most of my friends play video games, and almost all of them play sports. It might have to do with the need to get physical and mental energy out, or maybe it isn’t very common for people to play video games and sports. I’m not really sure.” At this point, I asked about any gender differences between players. “Well, most of the people I know who play games are boys. I don’t know many girls who play video games. Maybe something about them appeals more to boys than girls.” In the end, though, he had this to say: “I really enjoy video games, and almost all of my friends do to. I think games are likely to stay, and probably become a bigger part of our lives as kids. I know my mom already thinks I play too much, but I met kids are gonna play more and more video games.” This seems to be the general consensus about video games. They’re fun, and not likely to go away. We can only hope that the changes this technology causes will be for the better.

I’ll Facebook You

Some may say I’m addicted to Facebook I however would like to disagree; I prefer to say that I’m addicted to friendship. Facebook, in my personal opinion, is

the best social networking site of my generation. Facebook started in 2004 by a college student, Mark Zuckerberg, and a couple of his roommates. Zuckerberg intended Facebook to be a place to connect with friends, and I’m glad to say that that’s exactly what it is.

by: Logan S.

Communication


From my experience Facebook has allowed me to connect with friends that live half way across the country and even half way across the world. There other social networking sites worth mentioning, Myspace and Twitter. Both of these sites are somewhat popular but not nearly as popular as Facebook. According to techcrunch.com, a credible tech website, Facebook has just over 250 million users where Myspace has about 100 million less than that. And Twitter has about 1+ million users as of March 2008. Facebook is simple and makes it easier to connect with people. Facebook doesn’t have fancy profiles like Myspace so it runs quicker, and unlike Twitter you can chat and play games and upload photos.

As I mentioned before some people argue that Facebook is addictive and stupid. But most of those people don’t have one so how would they know. I too used to be anti-anything social networking. I used to believe cites like Myspace and Facebook were dumb and pointlessly addicting; until I got a Facebook. I realized what I was missing out on. I really began to find it cool when a friend of mine living in Lebanon added me. And then when my mom went to Scotland for 2 weeks my dad and I talked to her through Facebook because Facebook is easily accessible and completely free.

Although I have a Facebook, I remain extremely anti-Myspace. Myspace, according to one user, runs slow and it is hard to talk to friends because it used to be in order to get applications like IM you have to download all sorts of other things onto your computer. Myspace has now realized that Facebook is better and simpler, Myspace decided to make IM standard like Facebook because that’s part of the reason Facebook has so many users, it’s simple.

I am also anti-Twitter. I have been since the first day it came out. The main reason I choose not to create a Twitter account is you don’t use your first and last name just seems creepy to me. It reminds me of the odd e-mail addresses like “hottlipps97” and “cutebutt05” that are typically associated with predators who take advantage of the opportunity to not use their real name. The other thing about Twitter is the lack of IM. When I am on Facebook I take full advantage of the IM. Twitter doesn’t have a feature where you can “instantly message” friends, you can only have a conversation while commenting back and forth on “tweets”. This is a problem because when you are commenting back and forth on a status or a “tweet” it doesn’t feel as direct, with instant messaging it almost feels like you are talking with someone face to face, but in this case it’s keyboard to keyboard. Finally Twitter doesn’t have the fun apps that Facebook does. Facebook has entertaining apps like Flair, Farmville, and FML.

So I’ll continue to argue my point that Facebook is a place to connect with friends and to do it efficiently rather than a place to just tell people what’s going on in your life or to create a flashy profile and then not have it run right. When Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, he knew what he was doing.

Facebook Pros and Cons:Pro: Facebook is free.Con: It’s a time suck.Pro: Facebook allows you to quickly connect with friends.Con: You can’t “fancy” up your profile.Pro: It’s an easy way to share pictures and other information you wish to share.Pro: You can do more than just update your status.

Twitter Pros and Cons:Pro: You can quickly and efficiantly tell your “follow-ers” whats up in your life.Con: You don’t use your real name, you use a name that is more like a username or a gamer ID.

MySpace Pros and Cons:Pro: Myspace allows you to share and discover new music.Con: Myspace is slow and sometimes you have to download various programs to get one application for your profile.Pro: Myspace allows you to chat with your friends.Con: Myspace tends to have a somewhat bad repu-taiton.


BlackoutPoem

By: Caitlin S.

Alternative Story Form


For my alternative story form, I choose to create a black-out poem. To do this, I took I’ll Facebook You [by Logan S.], and blacked out the majority of the text, except for a few words or phrases to cre-ate the poem. This poem serves as an opposite view to the article it follows, meaning that it serves to suggest although sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter serve to stay in-touch with friends, the addictive quality of the features of the sites, such as the apps or status updates, create an overall addictive quality. This than pushes the site to a point were it can become overall addictive and have some pointless features.

Some may say I’m addicted to Facebook. I however would like to disagree; I prefer to say that I’m addicted to friendship. Facebook, in my personal opinion, is the best social networking site of my generation. Facebook started in 2004 by a college student, Mark Zuckerberg, and a couple of his roommates. Zuckerberg intended Facebook to be a place to connect with friends, and I’m glad to say that that’s exactly what it is. From my experience Facebook has allowed me to connect with friends that live half way across the country and even half way across the world. There other social networking sites worth mentioning, Myspace and Twitter. Both of these sites are somewhat popular but not nearly as popular as Facebook. According to techcrunch.com, a credible tech website, Facebook has just over 250 million users where Myspace has about 100 million less than that. And Twitter has about 1+ million users as of March 2008. Facebook is simple and makes it easier to connect with people. Facebook doesn’t have fancy pro-files like Myspace so it runs quicker, and unlike Twitter you can chat and play games and upload photos. As I mentioned before some people argue that Facebook is addictive and stupid. But most of those people don’t have one so how would they know. I too used to be anti-anything social networking. I used to believe cites like Myspace and Facebook were dumb and pointlessly addicting; until I got a Facebook. I realized what I was missing out on. I really began to find it cool when a friend of mine living in Lebanon added me. And then when my mom went to Scotland for 2 weeks my dad and I talked to her through Facebook because Facebook is easily accessible and completely free. Although I have a Facebook, I remain extremely anti-Myspace. Myspace, according to one user, runs slow and it is hard to talk to friends because it used to be in order to get applications like IM you have to download all sorts of other things onto your computer. Myspace has now realized that Facebook is better and simpler, Myspace decided to make IM standard like Facebook because that’s part of the reason Facebook has so many users, it’s simple. I am also anti-Twitter. I have been since the first day it came out. The main reason I choose not to create a Twit-ter account is you don’t use your first and last name just seems creepy to me. It reminds me of the odd e-mail addresses like “hottlipps97” and “cutebutt05” that are typically associated with predators who take advantage of the opportunity to not use their real name. The other thing about Twitter is the lack of IM. When I am on Facebook I take full advan-tage of the IM. Twitter doesn’t have a feature where you can “instantly message” friends, you can only have a conver-sation while commenting back and forth on “tweets”. This is a problem because when you are commenting back and forth on a status or a “tweet” it doesn’t feel as direct, with instant messaging it almost feels like you are talking with someone face to face, but in this case it’s keyboard to keyboard. Finally Twitter doesn’t have the fun apps that Face-book does. Facebook has entertaining apps like Flair, Farmville, and FML. So I’ll continue to argue my point that Facebook is a place to connect with friends and to do it efficiently rather than a place to just tell people what’s going on in your life or to create a flashy profile and then not have it run right. When Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, he knew what he was doing.

addicted

social networking site

Myspace

Facebook

addictive

pointless

instantly message

“tweets”

status

apps

Facebook

Twitter

By: Caitlin S.


Medical Technology


LEFT: a typical endoscope. TOP: a endo-scope and mircobebrider. BOTTOM: a T and setup for surgery. All photos by Patrick Connolly

Scars to Lions How otolaryngology was changed by advancments in technology since the1980sBy: Caitlin S.

At the age of three, Matthew S. walked into Seton Children’s hospital with his lip trembling, clutching his mother’s hand. Matthew was scheduled to have surgery on his ear-drums that day. When they finally arrived at Dr.

Patrick Connolly’s office, where the surgery was to be performed, Matthew burst into tears, despite his best efforts to hold them back. He was afraid of the than ter-rifying machines and complex array of equipment Connolly had ready for use. In order to soothe Matthew, his mother bought him a plush lion from a passing cart and he immediately clutched tightly.

Continued on p. 18

with the development of new technology this has greatly chang “There have been several new techniques that have come in terms of different ways to do remove tonsils.” Connolly said. “One of the biggest changes is what’s called the coblation, which is something that creates a plasma driven ionic field from a saline solution, which then can break the bonds [in the tissue], making the tissue much easier to remove. The coblation technology is now also designed to cause the blood to thicken and coagulate, sealing the blood vessel. This means that the patient has a much shorter recovery time, allowing them to get back to eating chips and other crunchy foods to their heart’s content, instead of ice cream for the next three days. Although, Connolly says soft foods are still recommended for the first two to three days after surgery. Perhaps the biggest change in pediatric technology is one that is not used for surgery like ear-tubes, sinuses, or tonsils. This technology is for the increasing number of infants born prematurely because of social or genetic factors, or a combination of the two. It used to be that if they [the premature infants] were born at 32 weeks that was considered really early. Now I routinely take care of kids born at 24 weeks,” Connolly said. When an infant is born prematurely, their blood development is very poor. This means that their body cannot get enough oxygen in order to survive and develop. In order to better increase the chances of survival for prematurely born infants, several new technologies were developed. One such example is the high frequency oscillation ventilator. “The high frequency oscillation ventilator breathes them far more efficient-ly than the standard technique. The old techniques you would breathe 20 to 30 times a minute and with this you can breathe from 100 to 120 times a minute and so it allows sicker kids to survive.” The new technology now available for the care of prematurely born infants has created a whole new age group that never would have survived before. This new technology may also become the future for the treatment of sick children as well. With the recent advancements in technology for pediatric care and surgery, only one question remains unanswered: What’s next? What new technology will change pediatric care and surgery as greatly as smaller endoscopes, coblation technology, the high frequency oscillation ventilator, and the many other techniques and devices that have changed the field? Robotic technology would seem to be the most likely choice due to great advances in that technology, and the popularity of the idea. However, this may not be the case. “People talk about robotic surgery, but for ear, nose, and throat surgery I don’t think it will be applicable,” Connolly says. “I think that there are going to be equipment and drugs that are developed that accom-plish surgery we do now, so they make it so we remove less tissue.”


MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Endoscope - a slender instrument used to view an inner part of the body, for biopsy or surgeryCoblation - a type of technology used to remove tonsils through radio frequency technology

that causes less pain for the patient, less damage to the healthy tissue, and removes the tissue in a more controlled way.Microdebrider - a cutting tool used to shave tissue or bone, hooked up to a suction that removes excess blood or tissue

Twenty years ago, sinus surgery would mean an incision in your face, an ugly scar as a souvenir, and months of recovery. Since the 1980’s the technology used for care and surgery in pediatrics has greatly changed with advancements of smaller endoscopes, coblation technology, and the high frequency oscillation ventilator. This allows surgeons, like Connolly, to perform easier and quicker surgeries in shorter amounts of time, with a less aggressive procedure and a plush lion as a souvenir instead of an ugly scar. Connolly is an otolaryngologist, a medical and surgical manage-ment for ear, nose and throat problems for children. Connolly decided to enter pediatric surgery in medical school because of several incidents that he had while training in medical school. “In medical school you spend time in different fields and I real-ized that I liked the pediatric end of things yet I wanted to do something more hands-on that was surgical. Connolly said. “Ear, nose, and throat surgery was surgery that I liked and there were some good applications and surgical procedures.” Connolly now spends 30 to 40 percent of his time in the operat-ing room, performing 10 to 15 surgeries a week. In 1981, Connolly started medical school. At this time, pediatric sinus surgery was greatly changed with the invention of new technolo-gies and techniques, one of the biggest being the invention of smaller endoscopes. These new endoscopes make it easier to see inside the nose because of their reduced size.

“In the late 80’s and early 90’s, smaller endoscopes were developed so we could do pediatric sinus surgery in ways we couldn’t do before,” Connolly says. “We use them a lot, and now some of the endoscopes have a chip in the lens so that instead of having an analog image you have a digital image that you can then manipulate in different ways. The surgery hasn’t changed since then but the way we do it has.” These new endoscopes make the surgery quicker, less evasive, and safer for the patient. This also results in a much smaller or non-existent scar compared to the larger scars that were common before the smaller endoscope was developed. This is just one example of how pediat-ric surgery was changed by technology. Another example of this change can be found in one of the most common surgeries, tonsillectomy. Previously, having your tonsils removed meant a lot of pain and left you eating ice cream for days. Now

The surgery hasn’t changed since then but the way we do it has“ ”

Technology Changes

“You took care of the patient first. You relied on science and your education and ex-periences.”

art by: Forrest James

Medical Technology

Jeff Steinbarge has an important job. Twenty years ago he began his career helping sick people breathe with ease. Then he would rely on the relatively low-tech machines, his knowledge, and intuition. But times have changed. These days, there is a lot of technology that helps doctors and nurses perform their job more efficiently. In Stein-barge’s opinion the most helpful piece of technology used are micro proces-sers, “I can make small incremental changes [with micro processers]” he says, “Since no two patients are the same it allows me to tailor to their needs.” Tailoring a medical procedure to a patient’s needs is extremely crucial. Two decades ago, a physician wouldn’t have been able to set a computer to take of the patient with out medical supervi-sion. A patient with a serious ailment would to have been monitored by a nurse or a doctor 24/7. But nowadays computer can help with that. For ex-ample, a patient in critical care who may have trouble breathing on their own and they might have a heart murmur would be hooked up to a number of dif-ferent machines: one to make sure they took just the right amount of breaths per minute and one to make sure their

heart didn’t stop or skip a beat. Twenty years ago, knowledge used to come the conclusion of what was wrong with the patient would have had to have come from data gathered from multiple tests rather than a more accurate computer test or two. Along with helpful tools comes really cool ones. Nurse Laurie Rudig says her personal favorite is “[the]special beds that protect the patient’s skin, there are special mattresses filled with air that can protect a burn victim’s skin for example.” There are also ways to take care people who go into surgery but for whatever reason the surgeon couldn’t finish so they are left open. The room the patient is put in is a special temperature and the patient remains se-

dated so there are ways the doctors and nurses monitor the patient’s stability without being in the room at all times. The health care industry also has ways to keep up with the technology. Laurie and other nurses like her go to confer-ences to learn how to use the new pro-grams that developers release to make taking care of a patient more precise. “Health care is lifelong learning, if you didn’t learn you wouldn’t have a job. ” she says. In addition the conferences hospitals typically have people who research technology and apply it to sce-narios in the hospital. For example one nurse, doctor or respiratory therapist may have to work harder because the technology will only get them so far; the next week one of the people who does research for the week a person comes in showing specific symptoms and the

medical staff hospital comes across a device that would have been perfect for that particular patient. Steinbarge says “Because technology is changing so quickly, we have continuous in-services,we have people from the manu-facturers [and] we also have people who keep up with the latest literature [who have] read the latest journals and the latest studies.” Laurie and Jeff both need technology to do their jobs efficiently and they put a lot of work into keeping up with the changes that occur all of the time.

>As a respiratorytherapist

Healthcare is lifelong learning. If you didn’t learn you wouldn’t have a job.

“”

By:Logan S.


I

By: Logan S.

You see an article about global warming; you decide you should read it. Why:

You care about your planet, educating yourself on the prob-lem would only make it easier to help.

You don’t really about the subject matter; you just need a story to use as a current event in your history class.

Your friend suggest that y’all go caroling in the children’s hospital to raise the “young-ster’s” spirits; You say:

Your school is asking you to lead a charity to help poor children; You:

Say no more you’ll be there, you might even bake cookies; children like cookies.

You are really involved!You care about your community. You like the feeling of helping out. You don’t need any pay or sort of “pat on the back” when you do good things; you just like to know that you did something to help out others. You take every opportunity to make someones day. Keep up the good deeds Care Bear!

You are kind of invovledBeing kind of invovled means that you have those things you’re really passionate about but some issues that could use your help get pushed to the side. You may join a club at school that is cleans up a park or helps the homeless, but that doesn’t mean you really want to be there.

Make up a lie and say you have plans so you can get out of going.

Say no, you have no desire to take time to help.

Happily accept. The children are the future in your eyes.

Go buy some chips and a soda and promptly bring it to the homeless man along with 20 bucks.

You throw your wrapper on the ground and then feel bad about it and throw it in a trash can later.

You are at a park and you see a sign that clearly says “NO litter-ing. Kills wildlife”Do you pay attention?

You obviously abide by the rules. Your city park is full of different types of animals and you wouldn’t want to mess with their ecosystem

How involved are you?

I

Take this quiz and see just how involved you tend to be:

Your friend suggest that y’all go caroling in the children’s hospital to raise the “young-ster’s” spirits; You say:

You are kind of invovledBeing kind of invovled means that you have those things you’re really passionate about but some issues that could use your help get pushed to the side. You may join a club at school that is cleans up a park or helps the homeless, but that doesn’t mean you really want to be there.

You aren’t involvedYou don’t care about your com-munity or world. Anything that doesn’t have to do with you, you don’t do it. You could care less if the polar bears lost their home or not. You don’t really pay attention to a civil war in another county. You’re not in it...so what.

Make up a lie and say you have plans so you can get out of going.

Pretend you are a senior at your school. You see a little freshman in a hallway struggling with their pre-calculus homework. You are of course very advanced and you would be able to help. You:

You read about the civil war in Darfur and how it’s affect-ing lives. You:

Think about helping but don’t. You don’t remember pre-cal anyway.

Read it and move on. It’s not directly affecting you so what do you care?

Don’t help…nobody likes the freshman.

You feel bad for a while, consider sending some-thing, but don’t.

If and why do you get in-volved?

It looks really good on my resume.

It is a good way to pick up chicks/dudes.

You look at him and seriously consider helping, but don’t

You see a homeless man on the street, you:

Go buy some chips and a soda and promptly bring it to the homeless man along with 20 bucks.

You throw your wrapper on the ground and then feel bad about it and throw it in a trash can later.

Alternative Story Form

Normal GreenAn Austin house that’s modern, normal, and eco-friendly

By Gabe C.

photo credit of Ann Phipps

When Ann Phipps and Michael Cannatti purchased the lot that they currently live

on, the house was about as normal as a house could be. The Cannatis lived in it for seven years, but they wanted more. They wanted to improve their housing situation by building a new house from scratch. The existing house, the one the Cannattis had lived in, was removed and restored in Hyde Park, and the family started anew. While the construction was going on, the Cannattis lived in the house next door, which they had purchased while living on their current lot.

Today, several years later, the lot looks like a normal Austin lot with a normal Austin house on it. If you were to drive by the house, you wouldn’t suspect anything unusual. The green paint, beautiful landscaping, and aluminum roof are all features of a contemporary Austin home. But there’s something special about this home. Spe-cial enough to get it published in Better Homes and Gardens in June 2008. The Cannatti home is a green home.

When people think of a green home, they generally think of a very retro, minimalist house, with solar panels all over the roof and a wind farm in the backyard. But, as the Cannattis’ house proves, a green home can be modern, efficient, and normal all at the same time.

Because the existing house on the lot was completely unusable, the Cannattis decided to remove it. Building a new house was one of the reasons the Cannattis decided to go green.

“We felt that if we built a new house, it

should be environmentally low-impact. It’s also cheaper to maintain in the long-run,” Phipps says.

After deciding to go green, or “high-sustain-able,” as architect Peter Pfeiffer calls the houses he designs (of which the Cannatti home is one), the Cannattis got to work on their home. Many fea-tures of their home are low-maintenance, which means that the house doesn’t need constant cleaning, replacing, or work.

“I will never have to paint for ten years into my house’s life, and I’ll never have to replace the tin roof,” Phipps says.

One such low-maintenance feature is the placement on the lot. There aren’t many windows on the south and west sides of the house, so it doesn’t get hot in the summer. Most of the windows are on the north and east sides, which

pro-vides

a lot of natural light. In addition, the house is cooler more often—naturally.With the house becoming cooler more naturally, another feature—the programmable thermo-stat—comes in handy as well. A programmable thermostat can be programmed to only come on in certain areas of the house at certain times of the day.

“This is really a design thing, but we have the sleeping areas upstairs and the living areas downstairs, so almost nobody’s upstairs during the day,” Phipps explains. The Cannattis can program their thermostat to come on downstairs during the day and upstairs at night.

As Louis “Luigi” Cannatti, Ann and Michael’s son, explains, Michael doesn’t allow the air condi-tioning and heating on unless the temperature is below or above a certain temperature.

“In addition to having a house that doesn’t use much energy, I have a dad who has a vendetta against using the air conditioner or the heater unless the temperature goes above 84 or below 62,” Luigi says.

Another feature that keeps the house cool is the aluminum roof. It’s super sturdy, long-lasting, and the light color reflects the sunlight. The roof is also supported by small 1-by-8 boards, which provides insulation for the house.

“This is called passive insulation,” Phipps explains. “You don’t actually do anything, you just provide the space for air, but air is an insulator if you just trap it.”

Passive insulation isn’t the only type of insulation in the house. The house also has super insulation, which is not the normal fi-berglass insulation, but is made out of foam. As with the windows, the insulation isn’t all throughout the house, but it’s concentrated in the south and west sides of the house.

“It’s more expensive than the normal fiberglass stuff, but it’s a lot more effective,” Phipps says.

In addition to the extensive insulation that the house includes, the carport isn’t necessarily green or high-sustainable, but provides safety from toxic substances. The carport is a separate structure and therefore is away from the main house.

“Most people don’t know this, but an attached garage has the potential to release harmful fumes into your house, whether it’s from your car or things you store in your garage,” Phipps says.

A carport is also a lot more open and moderately less expensive than an attached garage.

Even though the Cannattis are living in

Green Living


Day-by-day I don’t think about

it that much, but when I pay my energy bills I do, because they’re

really low.-Ann Phipps

“”


The Cannattis' kitchen

a high-sustainable home, they don't notice it very often.“Day-by-day I don’t think about it that much, but when I pay my energy bills I do, because they’re really

low,” Phipps says.Luigi has noticed the lower energy bills as well.“My lifestyle does not really change, though. its just a house that is less taxing on the environment,

and subsequently less taxing on the wallet come bill paying time,” he says.In Spring of 2005, the Cannatti home earned a 5-star out of 5-stars rating from Austin Energy’s Green

Building Program. The certificate they received notes that the house is healthier for your family, better for the environment, energy and water efficient, comfortable and durable, and low maintenance. “At the time we were rated, there were only a few dozen five-star homes in Austin,” says Phipps, “Austin Energy’s program for rating the “green-ness” of homes is one of, if not the longest running such programs in the U.S. and is a model for other cities.”

Although their house is green and high-sustainable, the Cannattis don’t feel much of a difference.“The house isn’t really all that different in terms of living from any other big house,” Luigi says.Casual passers-by most likely wouldn’t notice a difference either, Phipps says.“A lot of people think that a green house has to look all retro, like adobe or hay bales, but it just looks

like a regular Austin house.”And that’s exactly what it should be.



Green Features of the Cannatti Home1. Lot PlacementWindows on the north and east sides and not on the south and west sides keep the house cool.

2. ProgrammableThermostat Allows upstairsand downstairs thermostatsto be on at different times.

3. Metal RoofSturdy, long-lasting, and on small boards. This pro-vides passive insulation--using air as an insulator.

4. Carport Because it is detached, toxic sub-stances cannot get into the house. Also less ex-pensive than a garage.

The house isn’t really all that

different in terms of living from any other

big house.-Luigi Cannatti“

”

The Cannattis' carport (see sidebar # 4)

I Alternative Story Forms


The World at

Riskby Arlen W.

I


My name is Logan S. I contributed to this magazine by writing the piece I’ll Facebook You, the piece about technology in healthcare that starts off with the story of a man named Jeff Steinbarge, and How Involved Are You?. I dance more than I do anything else. My favorite type of dance is tap. My favorite tap dancers include Nick Young, Donald O’Connor and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. I am an Aquarian, and I have a lavender aura. And my spidey senses tell me that the force is strong with you grasshopper.

Logan S.

Gabe C. My name is Gabe C. I contributed to this magazine by writing the pieces The iTunes War, Normal Green, and iPod Evolution. I’m on the LBJ Drumline. Therefore I’m cool and have no life. My hobbies include long walks on the beach and promoting world peace. I also enjoy training German Shepards to do acrobatic tricks in sunlit meadows. My life goal is to move to the North Pole and help Santa with Christmas.

Caitlin S. My name is Caitlin S. I contributed to this magazine by writ-ing the pieces An Alarming Stereotype (which it would be folly to say is a satire), Scars to Lions, and the blackout poem, Addiction. When I’m not doing my nightly mountain of home-work, I play basketball and soccer. People ask me all the time which one I like more, and I simply just don’t know (so stop asking). My life’s goal is to train the native Green-Lavender monkey-unicorns to tap dance in the rain forest.

Arlen W. My name is Arlen W. I wrote The Use of Force, Playing Video Games, and I made the World at Risk map. I like to play video games and read books about cool stuff. When I grow up, I’m going to be Emperor of the World. All of you people who have ever annoyed me, or who I just hate for no reason, expect a quick visit with the guillotine. That is all.

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