APs: They Make You or They Break You

As course planning begins to wind down, the familiar echo of Juniors frantically asking friends and classmates how many APs they're taking begins to quiet down as well. Still, the forms are being finalized as they make their way through the final stages to be turned in.  There is little doubt in anyone's mind that there is a major discrepancy between the faculty and the students when it comes to Advance Placement courses for senior year.  While many teachers advice students to lessen their course load for senior year and think more practically, it's hard to accept this information when college decisions are lurking around the corner. 

It is commonly said by siblings, parents, and counselors that taking AP courses helps the start of your college life immensely. There is no denying this. It is also commonly said by teachers and advisors not to overdo it, it will kill your senior year. There is also no denying this. Hearing both these sides so frequently leaves students in the middle as good as we were before hearing anything at all although, it does cause us to think a bit more then just checking the boxes and filling in the numbers.  

While I was sitting in the car on the way to school the other morning, I noticed that the familiar murmurs of my mother's morning dose of WBEZ had actually sparked my interest.  The topic this morning had been AP courses and the AP tests in particular, how... fortuitous. I had been having at least one talk daily about the AP choices in the past few weeks, why not listen into this one as well? What caught my attention in particular was that Illinois had received the highest AP test scores in the country.  

It is one thing to take into account a school such as New Trier's averages alone but it is a another thing to take into account a whole state. It is obvious that the students at New Trier are very hardworking and are up for the AP challenge but it is also obvious that taking APs is highly encouraged and nearly expected be parents. As just one school in the state, what sort of effect could New Trier have made on the average scores of Illinois? 

Where are these test scores coming from? We are constantly being encouraged not to overload our schedules but is it really doing anything in the decisions we end up making? Was the fact that we were being advised to lessen our AP course load somehow affecting the way students enter these courses? 

The Olympic Wars

The Olympic Games started thursday with a bang; an intriguing, cultural opening ceremony, eye catching figure skating, and skiing off such high jumps and around such sharp turns it made me sit on the edge of my couch. 

Every 4 years the games are thrilling and entertaining to watch but what I didn't know was what sort of security goes into it all. From several different articles I have read, there have been several different threats targeted towards the Sochi winter Olympic Games. One of the precautions to these threats that particularly caught my attention was the "toothpaste bomb threat". The united states airlines banned any toiletries being taken on flights to Russia. Rather than the under 3.4 ounce in a plastic bag rule, flyers cannot take any toiletries. 

In addition to this toothpaste bomb threat, there has also been a Turkish Hijacking. The plane ended up landing in Istanbul rather than Sochi because of this and is now being searched for explosives. From the hijacking to the toothpaste bomb threat and all the other threats in between I couldn't figure out why people are going to such extremes to attack the games. Whether the threat is towards Russia or towards all the countries being represented there. The games are the only time that all the countries can really come together and agree but yet, that cannot be true of there are people trying to attack the games. 

Not only are there the threats to the games going on but just on the edge of the Olympic games is a real war zone. It is "a simmering, murky battle between increasingly radicalized militants who operate in the shadows of society and a security force that can be brutal, even when lethally effective." It is one of the longest running conflicts in the world and yet, the games are still being held right on the edge of it all. It is the first time in history that the games are being held in such proximity to a war zone, and while Russia has spent much of their money into enforcing security, should the games be taking place here? Is it safe?

President Obama has been in "constant communication" with the russians about keeping everyone safe and from a USA Today article, it is clear the he and Putin are on the same page about the security of the olympics. It is also clear that they are confident in the security of the games. According to DW article, Russia has gone to the extent of "deploying over 100,000 police officers, soldiers and secret agents" to protect the Sochi games. In addition the Russian authorities have nearly set up the defense of a war zone. The defense to a fortress with surveillance everywhere and rocket launchers prepared all over. 

It is clear that proper safety precautions have been taken to protect the games from any terrorist actions but even so, should the games be taking place on the edge of a war zone under so many threats?

Graffiti: First Time Appearance in the Northshore

The sometimes colorful, artistic and edgy art that litters the walls, trash cans, and streets of many lower class neighborhoods has made an appearance in the village of Winnetka this past month. This graffiti in particular does not fall into the 25% of graffiti that is gang related but the rest which is simple tagging; absolutely random. Although, this "art" is not the sort that people could look at and think of as artistic. It is the provocative sort; immature drawings and frowned-upon words.

When I first saw the graffiti, it was actually my mom who brought up the idea. She was shocked to see it; in her 18 years of living here it has never shown up. This got me thinking to what has changed in Winnetka that would conclude to this happening. After a bit of research I found that there were 20,000 more calls about graffiti in 2013 than 2012 in the city of Chicago. 2013 received 100,000 calls asking for the removal of the "art". I finally decided that maybe nothing has changed in Winnetka, it was just random.

If those 100,000 calls don't surprise you, maybe the $6.5 million dollars on graffiti removal in Chicago will. If we are spending $6.5 million dollars annually, why do some neighborhoods continue to have it around every corner, and on nearly every building? When I go to the city, or drive through other neighborhoods like evanston, graffiti is nearly everywhere. So much that the addition of a few more drawings would hardly be noticeable among the rest. You might see why the appearance of a bit of graffiti in the prestine streets of Winnetka came as a shock. 

First there is the amount that a specific neighborhood is willing to spend on the removal. Where would they rather put $6.5 million dollars annually, towards better schools and teachers or towards the appearance of the area? This is otherwise known as opportunity costs. In addition to the problem of opportunity costs, there is also the factor of what the people value. Typically, I would say that upperclass people care more about appearance, therefor they don't want to look out their windows and see the sometimes-but rarely, artistic "art".

The last factor is the amount of time that people have on their hands. The northshore has many stay at home parents who have time to call up the village and complain about the graffiti. In lowerclass neighborhoods, people might just be too busy to call. It may not even cross their minds. While this is a bit of a generalization, because of course there are many families in the northshore with two working parents, it does come in to play.

What sort of neighborhood stands for graffiti to be left up and more importantly, for how long? I didn't even get the chance to take a photo of the graffiti before it was taken down. It was up for three weeks maximum before it disappeared and the streets (actually street, there was only one small appearance) of Winnetka were back to their prestine state. 

 

Golden Globes: Fashion Show or Award Ceremony?

As seven o'clock rolled around last night, it was that time of the year again. Time to judge the dresses that the celebrities chose to wear and how they decided to wear it. Every since I can remember watching the Golden Globes was hardly about the shows and movies given the awards. The focus in my house has always been the fashion choices. Personally, I spent more time nominating the star's dresses than nominating the screenplay and best actor. Of course the introductions from Amy Poehler and Tina Fey were incredibly entertaining and seeing what I thought the be the best nominated was enough to keep me watching, the reason I actually watched many parts (rather then keeping it as background), was to see the thousand dollar exorbitant dresses and accessories. I began to wonder if it was just my house that was so invested in the star's dress. The answer to this I found in what surrounds the award ceremony.

6:00-7:00 is when the TV goes on, general background for whatever else people may be doing. This is the pre-Golden Globes show; when we get the first glimpse of all the stars walking down the red carpet. This year, E!'s coverage had 2.2 million viewers. Compared to the 20.9 million that viewed the Golden Globes; 2.2 million is hardly anything. While the viewers for the red carpet coverage was not as high as I had expected; I could not drop the idea.

Though the awards will always be the main part of the Golden Globes, the best and worst dressed will be soon to follow. When you search Golden Globes in google the third result is the red carpet fashion show, pictures of the stars will cover magazine covers and pages for the next month, and E! will have its usual show judging the dresses. While America may not have been as fashion obsessed as I had thought, the pressure on the celebrities to be the best dressed and the judgement of the way they dress is evident.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Es-Golden-Globe-Red-Carpet-Coverage-Draws-22-Million-Total-Viewers-20140113