Category: general news

Stuff having to do with the news in general.

Good Evening OVS Bloggers!

sennymcfly5 Comments

Gosh it’s good to be back in the blog world and the non-alcoholic Thanksgiving after party that is Mr. Alvarez’s Journalism class. Do tell! How is it going so far? I’m sure you are all enjoying it. If I remember correctly Journalism was always like a big birthday party with desks and a big white board. Unfortunately, there was no cake.

What! No cake?

But, who needs cake when you have a teacher like Mr. A? Yeah okay, so he doesn’t have sprinkles and fire cracker candles on his head and he doesn’t walk into the classroom covered in vanilla frosting…he doesn’t right? Anyway, if he were to be covered in frosting it would be chocolate flavored, not vanilla, because everybody knows that a brown guy can’t hide beneath his frosty vanilla coating.

What's Up Vanilla Face?

Okay, okay. I’m done ragging on the teacher. (Evan Cooper, you’re next!) But take what I’m about to say to heart; I don’t know any of the new teachers at OVS, but what I do know is that Mr. A, regardless of how great they are, will always be number one in my eyes. He is absolutely one of the greatest teachers and one of the greatest people (persons?) I have ever had the pleasure to learn from. I’m not even really sure if that was proper grammar. But, thankfully he wasn’t my English teacher so you’re off the hook for any mistakes I make Mr. Alvarez. You all should know that I’m proud to have been his student and so should you. Hope you guys have an amazing year. Enjoy it and take advantage of what they teach you. And absolutely absolutely absolutely ABSOLUTELY do not take it for granted because it’s going to be the best high school experience of your lives. Be well. Have fun. Don’t be late to class.

– Maddie

The Palistinian Debate

therightliberal2 Comments

One of my best friend is Jewish, and in his opinion, Palestine should never be a country.

This sentiment is a common one, especially in the Jewish community. But the real question from my point of view is whether creating a separate nation will solve the problems between Israel and the Palestinian nations and whether the US needs to get involved.

“The Obama policy of moral equivalency, which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a dangerous insult. There is no middle ground between our allies and those who seek their destruction,” said Rick Perry.

This is the utter ignorance that is being said at the moment. Perry seems to almost suggest that Palestinians are lesser people than Israelis.

I think that creating a new Palestinian state may in fact be a solution to the ongoing problem, or at least a short-term solution.

I highly doubt that as long as Israelis border Arabic nations, peace can be attained. There was not the foresight required when Israel was created.

According to the Obama administration, the best thing that can be done would be to continue negotiations to achieve peace. I doubt that any long-term peace can be achieved at this point but the worry is that if the US leans to far one way or the other, they will face the wrath of one of the sides.

We don’t need another war or another “conflict”. What we need is to focus on world peace and world hunger and our own economy. This may sound like an answer from a Miss Universe contestant but at this point, I feel that we do not need to be involved.

We can encourage negotiations and discourage violence, but now is the time where we step back and let them work. They have politicians and negotiators just like us, they also do posses common sense.

Hopefully both sides can overcome their historical debates and realize that, for humanity’s sake, the violence and arguments need to end.

2:46PM March 11th, 2011

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

In Japan, earthquakes happen at least once a week. There’s a system that predicts earthquakes five seconds beforehand to help you prepare.

On March 11, I was working out in a gym. Suddenly, the power went out and the ground started to shake. I thought to myself, “Well okay, again. No big deal.” But the shake didn’t end, and I soon realized that this earthquake was huge. Personal trainers told me to evacuate. I couldn’t walk. I felt as if my legs lost control. Fortunately, the buildings in Japan were built strong for earthquakes so we were safe, but phones had no service and I couldn’t communicate with my family. It was chaos.

When I got back home after walking for an hour, I turned on the TV. I was shocked out of my wits. Tohoku was destroyed by a tsunami. I saw people on the top of a hospital waving and asking for help. It was absolutely unbelievable. Cars, houses were all gulped by the tsunami.

Why? Why did this happen? Why Japan?

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A week later, the death toll went up to 6,900 people. I was just shocked. What if I lived there? What if my families and friends were there…?

But in the midst of this heartbreak, there was a one thing that made my happy. I discovered the beauty of Japanese culture.

There was a very little looting. People waited patiently for food despite the length of the line. This summer was all about saving electricity for Tohoku. It was over 90 degrees everyday, but the air conditioners on trains and some parts of shopping malls were off. But nobody ever complained. We had only one thing on our minds: to help rebuild Tohoku, and still today, we are striving for that.

Before the earthquake, nobody was truly patriotic. I was a little bit disappointed how people didn’t appreciate the country. After the quake,  I was very moved and proud of being Japanese. I’ve never seen people working as one for people who are suffering from this disaster.

Please, pray for us.

For more information/photos, click here.

The Buffett Tax

therightliberalLeave a comment

As some people worry about the money they spend on gas or groceries, a group of Americans sit back and watch their money flow in.

I do not mean to insinuate that millionaires and billionaires do not work hard because most of them do. However, I see no argument that their lives are anywhere near as hard as those who are living paycheck to paycheck.

Warren Buffett has over the years called for higher taxes for America’s uber-rich, and now it seems he might get it.

Obama is looking to propose the “Buffett Tax,” a new tax on wealthy Americans that would work to keep some of the wealthy from avoiding taxes and increase the rates that they pay.

Although it would only affect about 450,000 Americans, the tax could very much benefit the economy, which as we all know, needs all the help it can get.

I look back at the arguments I have heard on why the rich should not have higher taxes; they don’t deserve it, it wouldn’t really help, it’s not fair. But none of those arguments make sense to me.

Taxes are not a punishment, they are just a fact of life in a society like ours. If you enjoy the country you have then you better accept the idea of taxes.

Taxing the top 0.3% of Americans (which this would do) a higher amount could really help. And on top of it, the bill wouldn’t actually raise taxes, it would just eliminate some of the Bush tax cuts, which I think we can see did not work judging on where are economy is now.

I hope that this bill can get through Congress during their Dec. meeting on deficit reduction. I think that this could be a helpful bill, but on top of that, it just makes sense.

Tribal Issues (Chairman’s Program)

theycallmedame5 Comments

I want to change lives.
I really, really do.
And now, finally, I’m given an opportunity to do it.

I’ve been doing volunteer work with an organization called Rustic Pathways for two summers in a row. In 2010, I went to Costa Rica to help sustain sea turtle life by building a hatchery for eggs and moving the eggs from dangerous areas to a safe place where they will survive. This year, in 2011, I went to China to volunteer at a Giant Panda conservation center, where I helped care for and feed the endangered pandas.

That was all fun, and helpful, and all that jazz, but I wanted something more.

A week ago, my friend Max (who I’ve done both of the Rustic programs with) called me and told me about this amazing program hosted by Rustic.

“There’s limited spaces available,” he said, “And you don’t get to just sign up, you actually have to send in an application and have an interview to see if you get accepted or not.”

Right away my curiosity was piqued, I needed to be accepted to go? I kept asking Max, one of my best friends since kindergarten, question after question about it until he finally directed me to the site where the trip was explained.

I read through it and my breath got caught in my throat. It sounded so important, so influential, so life-changing.

I sent in my application right away and emailed the director to ask for an interview.

The next day, I received an email from Rustic:

Hello Aria,

Congratulations on being accepted into our programs in Southeast Asia.

I literally squealed, my hands flying to my mouth, and my eyes started to tear up. This is the experience I have been waiting for!

In the summer of 2012, from July 3 to July 20, I will travel with my friend Max and roughly six other students into Thailand, Burma, and Laos. But it will not just be for seeing the other countries and what their culture is, no. I will travel to an estimated fourteen tribes and speak with young men and women there about their life, their hardships, their experiences, and anything else.

I will help sponsor various children to go to school and supply villages with water, food, bicycles, soap, and a friend. I will work with Rustic and the other students on the trip to think of ways to better the lives of all the people in those tribes, and try to set our plans into action.

I want to experience life, and I can’t do that by just talking about making a difference. I have to actually go out there and do it.

And I will go out there.
And I will do it.
And nothing is going to stop me.

Our Drugs on That?

bedghostLeave a comment

Drug smuggling has played a big part in our everyday world. Even people who are not directly involved may be affected in some way indirectly. But have you ever wondered how drugs get into the country? With all the border patrol the government provides? Well apparently some crafty groups have developed the most unusual methods of contraband. To say the least…

Well it turns out drug cartels, like the Gulf Cartel, have researched for various ways to avoid all the new methods, gadgets, and security that impose a potential threat to their narcotics not being able reach the market. They have gathered the brightest minds they could find, and came up with some of the most astonishing and silly methods to avoid getting caught and make that big buck.

Here are some examples:

Human Carriers

This method involves a person literally becoming the “suitcase” that carries the drugs. They do this by warping narcotics with plastic, the size of pills, and then literally swallowing various of these plastic capsules. Since external drugs are exposed and internal drugs are not. This is method is very effective, but has many consequences and can be deadly.

Parasite Crates

It is as it sounds. Drug Cartels designed crates that could be attached at the bottom of ships. Without creating drag, so many, ships may not even be aware they are caring narcotics across the country. When they reach their destination a team of 4 or more can detach the crate without port harbor authorities ever knowing.

There are many other ways ,but why waste your time reading when you can watch it here.

The Subtle Difference Between Living and Experiencing.

theycallmedameLeave a comment

Everything always seems to flow so quickly before me.
I feel like it was just yesterday I was a stumbling, mumbling, and awkward freshman.
It was just yesterday that I was lost
confused
scared
and lonely in a new place with new people and new feelings I had never witnessed before.
There is no distinct line
no significant bright flash
no abrupt change in events that separates all the past years from this one.
How did I get here?
Where did the time go?
Why did I not grip to those moments while they lasted?
And now I’m back.
Freshman and sophomore years are over.
Surreal summers have come and gone, flying past in an unreasonably quick wind.
It barely rustled my hair before it was gone, leaving still and stale air in its wake.
Now that there is no wind
no more cool breeze
the air is hot and suffocating.
It weighs down on me with a significant pressure
I am Atlas.
I am willed by others to be mature
respectable
in control of absolutely everything and anything I can be.
I am willed by myself to succeed
to be in control of what I can
to be happy instead of content.
I do not want to be responsible for everything else
if only to just live life.
I want to be responsible for myself
and experience life, not just mundanely live it.
I reach for the excitement that others only yearn for.
I want to explore the world
change lives
become a better person than anyone ever anticipated.
I want not to live up to others expectations
but to live up to and surpass my own.
I want to be free from others and myself.
I want to be happy,
I want to experience life,
I want to change lives.
I need to be me.

What will go on my first page?

vabenissimoLeave a comment

This will be my last post on OVS Journalism Blog.

But, as Alexander Graham Bell said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us,” I will be heading off to college. FUN. And, I will definitely need some mental preparation and set plans for the next few years of my life even if my future may be highly unpredictable and spontaneous. I had pondered over my strengths and weaknesses and how they would influence me in the future along with the importance of life, college experiences, relationships, and the whole universe, and then guess what happened to my brain.

It went KABOOM.

I have FINALLY figured that too much thinking evokes my allergy to the universe. But, too little of it causes some troubles along the way. So, I wrote exactly two things on my first page of life that will become my legend, history, and everything.

First, actions over words.
Second, I am OUT, of high school.

And, the rest will be written as my life unfoils in the midst of surprises. I also want to thank this OVS Journalism Blog for entertaining me and stimulating my curiosity for my surroundings throughout the school year. The experiences that I gained from this blog will surely be unforgettable.

To that end,
VIVA LA VITA.

It’s Over.

theycallmedameLeave a comment

“Like, ohmygodddd, it’s the last day of our sophomore yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”

No, it isn’t. Shut up.

1) It is not the last day. It is the last day of our classes. Our last day of sophomore year will be the day the seniors graduate and not a moment sooner.

2) Stop whining. It’s almost summer! You should be celebrating being able to do absolutely nothing for three whole months. You should be forgetting everything you were taught and letting it melt away into mush at the back of your brain. Goodbye grammar! Goodbye math! Sayonara!

3) Yes, I will admit it is sad, all of our senior friends are graduating and leaving us for bigger and better things. But that does not mean we’re never going to see or talk to them again. It isn’t like they are dropping off the face of the earth. It’ll be okay.

So goodbye sophomore year! It’s neither been extraordinary nor mediocre.

I’ll see you in four years.

Why OVS?

vabenissimoLeave a comment

This is a question that hundreds asked me througout my life.

When I was 11, I joined OVS Lower Campus community as a fifth grader. Such early start of boarding life may sound incomprehensible to many people. But, I knew that my education at Lower is guaranteed to provide me with numerous benefits. And, it did. After I completed my elementary and middle school curriculums at Lower, I moved onto another school in Kent, Connecticut. Attendance to this school was not an option. It provided the education that my parents and I desired and a sense of dignity. Having had recently graduated from a small community and moved to a school near NYC where freedom is “freely” given with responsibilities, I thought it was the real world. Then, I wanted to get out of the states. I remember this one day finding my surroundings hackneyed. And, I could not imagine such life for the next three years. So, I shot an email to the admissions of schools in Paris and Lille, both in France since I had an intention of pursuing my French study. The response from the one in Lille was positive and seems to happen until I had learned about Kent’s affiliation to St.Sephen’s in Roma, Italy. However, since American Overseas School of Rome had the curriculum that suits better with my interests than that of St. Stephen School, I spent my sophomore year at American Overseas School of Rome.

At the end of my stay in Rome, however, I was seriously ill and learned that I had cyst near my ovary. To have an operation to remove the cyst, I had to be hospitalized for a while. Since my family was in Korea and my friends were at school I had been given no time to wait for them, I had to go through it by myself. After the surgery, teachers from Ojai Valley School, where I had spent my first four years before moving to Kent high school, contacted me. And, I recalled the lunch with Kara Waycasy, the school secretary/assistant to headmaster at OVS, and her sister in Kent, Connecticut. I immediately knew I missed Ojai and SoCal, my “second home”, very much and thus, decided to transfer back to Ojai Valley School. (Also, I believed the warm weather in CA would definitely help me to recuperate faster!)

Over the summer transitioning from my sophomore year to junior year, my mind was set on Upper and no where else. And, Tracy Wilson, the Director of Admissions and Marketing at OVS, had confirmed my decision. When I returned and joined the community under Mr.Cooper’s “super”-provision, I had an experience that I would never have at any other school. Such proviso was so unique at OVS that I had both moments of dislike and thankfulness. Throughout my two years at Upper, I seized the advantages of this distinctive environment and tried to maximize my potential. It was OVS that allowed me to become who I am now. And, that’s why I choose OVS.