UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

Halloween Haunts Campus

!ISABEL SKYE!(USA - WI ‘16)!

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Over the course of the previous weekend campus was ablaze with activity. From 5 o’clock on Friday all the way till Saturday night there was a constant barrage of celebration and activity. Whether it was Dia Del Los Muertos, Halloween, or fundraising for charity it seemed as if life didn’t stop for that short period of time.

One very literal example of t h i s u n s t o p p i n g w e e k e n d phenomena was the 24 hour run. The 24 Hour run was a charity

even held in order to raise money for the local animal shelter. It started at 5 o’clock on Friday, October 31st. with students and faculty alike taking to a track created on the sports field. The objective of the fundraiser was to have people constantly doing laps around the track in shifts for the whole of the 24 hours. The money portion of the fundraiser was gathered by a number of third parties sponsoring participants. Throughout the duration of the event there was food provided and a bonfire kept alive during the night to warm up students and faculty. On Saturday November 1st at 5 o’clock the run ended with majority of school community running at the same time to do one unifying final lap. It was a great way to raise money for a good local cause and bond as a school and community.

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CAMPUS NEWS

This week brings tales from Halloween on campus, a yearly bonding time for the students as well as the weekly campus culture instalment on wellness. !!!!WORLD NEWS

In this issue we look at the recent retelling of Snowden’s famous and controversial story as well as the alarming rise in ISIS recruitment. !!!!OPINION

Our journalists provide our weekly piece of humour with the prefect blend of advice and satire.

Photo Credit: Credit: http://shareonfacebook.net/scary-and-spooky-pumpkin-carving-idea-for-house-halloween-decoration/http:%7C%7Cwww%5Eskroutzondeck%5Ecom%7Cwp-content%7Cuploads%7C2014%7C02%7Cdecorations-scary-and-spooky-pumpkin-carving-idea-for-house-halloween-decoration-10-creative-pumpkin-carving-ideas-for-halloween-event-carved-pumpkin-faces-pictures-

pumpkin-carving-designs-patterns-p%5Ejpg/)!]

UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

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A message from the Editors

!Hello readers, !The moment you have all been waiting for is here, the long weekend has finally arrived. We hope you have fun relaxing, working (and procrastinating), and reading the Literati. !Best, !!! The Editors !!!!!!

LITERATI STAFF

THE EDITORS

Blake Anderson USA-KS

Ojaswee Rajbhandary Nepal ‘15

Charlie Thompson Canada ‘16

Sunniva Olsrud Punsvik (Norway/ Denmark ‘16)!

Izabella Pastrana USA-MO ’15

Sage de Brum Marshall Islands ’15

FACULTY SPONSOR

Parris Bushong

WRITERSRuby McCafferty USA-VT ‘15

Isabel Skye!

USA - WI ‘16

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UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

(continued from page 1)

The 24 Hour Run, while a rather large and engaging activity that included majority of the school, was not the only one going on during the night of October 31st. This was also the night of the holiday All Hallows Eve or Halloween. To commemorate the occasion there was a number of activities, the first being Trick-or-Treating. Students were allowed to go around to the surrounding faculty houses and collect treats that ranged from chocolate and candy apples to hotdogs. It was a very pleasant way to still participate in all of the pleasant traditions of Halloween on the United World College campus.

The second engagement of the night was the Halloween Dance on the patio of the auditorium. Music was provided by Vanina Morrison and Julian Liebart and when you enter the party many were provided with glow sticks to help with the aura of the festivity. The party started at 10 and lasted until midnight. It allowed students to de-stress in a constructive and healthy manner while celebrating a cherished holiday.

Lastly, the festivities were ended with the celebration of Dia Del Los Muertos Celebration held on November 1st in the atrium. Students around the school contributed artworks and alters that decorated the room. Some students even did face paint in honour of this grand occasion. The holiday was celebrated with food, activities, music, etc. throughout the party.

It was an amazing end to a weekend that, while hectic, was full of happiness and community, allowing us to bond together better as a whole.

Campus Culture: Wellness !

RUBY MCCAFFERTY !(USA - VT ’15)!

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“Hi, how are you?”

“I’m good, and you?”

“I’m doing well.”

Thus begins and ends a typical conversation between UWCers in passing. Students, teachers, staff, everyone seems to partake in this vague exchange of information on a daily basis. While it is not necessarily detrimental to campus culture, it also isn’t exactly helpful either.

Life here can be really difficult sometimes and we all know it, so why are we shrugging it off in favour of creating a more genial campus atmosphere? Sure, there is something to be said in terms of generic responses helping to maintain a moderate level of sanity, but at the same time, all we have here is each other. Perhaps, we should be reaching out a little more to one another.

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Photo Credit: Ruby McCafferty!

Photo Credit: Alva Christo! 3

UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

It is true that we all have gear in our packs, but we also all have the capacity to carry varying amounts of weight. I think that here, we have a bit of a tendency to rely on only ourselves to deal with all of the things that come our way, even when our best friends or buddies or roommates might have a little more room to carry a few extra things. Just like in Wilderness, having someone carry some of your gear does not make you any weaker of a person. It only means that you know your limits, and are brave enough to ask for help. Most of us here are used to being rocks, to being the best, to being the one to lean on. One would think that this background would create a campus of everyone leaning on one another for different reasons, like a seemingly obvious yet magical illusion. However, most of us have removed ourselves from the illusion instead to attempt standing alone, something far less magical and far more detrimental to the group.

Regardless, I have seen a drast ic improvement in both wellness and openness on this

campus since last year. By wellness, I mean that for the most part people seem at least a little more balanced this year. By openness, I mean that more than a few people have responded to my questions about their lives with, “I’m having a rough week” or “I’m not doing so well” rather than the usual facetiousness. Maybe it is because of the newly-instated Wellness Days, or maybe it is because it is November and it miraculously has not snowed yet, or maybe it is because a new group of people always brings a new dynamic to this place. Regardless, we have progress.

However, there are still people not sleeping or not eating or falling behind in their classes or refusing to have any semblance of fun for fear that it ruin some aspect of their distant future. To them, I say take a deep breath. Go to sleep at curfew and wake up early to take a shower. Go for a hike. Pass a little weight onto someone who can carry it until you have grown strong enough to carry it yourself. It is never too late to begin.

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Photo Credit: Tomas Sandoval!

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New Film Recounts the Snowden Saga

!CHARLIE THOMPSON!

(CANADA ‘16)!—————————-!

! Prior to the revelations of late 2012, Edward Snowden’s name held no meaning to most people. While America at large went about daily life, blissfully unaware of the reach of the National Security Administration (NSA), Edward Snowden was preparing to change the world and hoping to survive the process. Today, he lives in Russia, and spends most of his time barricaded in hotel rooms. He is one of the world’s most wanted men, but during the day he is often just another face lost in the crowds of the cold Moscow streets.

In the new film Citizenfour, director Laura Poitras aims to introduce us to the human behind the name the world knows so well. The documentary is a result of a series of intimate interviews with Snowden, and was only possible due to Poitras’ status as one of the few people he trusts and with whom he communicates. It provides a contiguous timeline of the events that have shocked the world and releases previously unspoken information about the presence of a second NSA whistleblower.

The mysterious title comes from the signature on the original email that Snowden sent, which is read in the official trailer for the film over ominous footage of satellite dishes, metropolitan settings and computer code. The email reads:

“Laura, at this stage, I can offer nothing more than my word. I am a senior government employee in the intelligence community. I hope you understand that contacting you is extremely high risk. From now, know that every border you cross, every purchase you make, every call you dial, every cell phone tower you pass, friend you keep, site you visit, subject line you type, is in the hands of a system whose reach is unlimited but whose safeguards are not. In the end, if you publish the source material, I will likely be immediately implicated. I ask only that you ensure this information makes it home to the American public. Thank you and be careful.” - Citizen Four.”

Is he a hero or a traitor? Snowden himself says, “I'm neither traitor nor hero. I'm an American."   He comes off as intelligent, well-spoken and considerate, and it is clear that he does not want to be the center of the story. He was deliberate in his planning, and knew that his course of action would likely affect the rest of his life. When he is asked about his motives, he speaks about patriotism and the meaning of that word. Despite the amount of time that has elapsed since the original leaks, Snowden and the story of the NSA remains extremely relevant.

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UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

Those who call him a traitor claim that he should not have fled the country and that revealing classified American documents will make it easier for terrorists to avoid detection. This line of thought begs the question - what constitutes a terrorist, when every American is tracked like one? In particular, some consider the fact that Snowden ended up in Russia dubious. In truth, it was the revocation of his American passport that got him stuck there, and he was originally planning to fly onward to Cuba and eventually Latin America.

On the subject of patriotism, Snowden says, "you're not patriotic just because you back whoever is in power today. You're patriotic when you work to improve the lives of the people in your country, in your community, in your family, those around you." By his definition, Snowden is certainly more of a patriot than any of the government agents who condemn him and who would almost certainly refuse him a fair trial were he to return home.

Citizenfour is having a staggered release, but will most likely be widely available by mid-november.

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New Propaganda and Recruitment

Strategies from ISIS !

SUNNIVA OLSRUD PUNSVIK!(NORWAY/ DENMARK ‘16)!

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! In recent months, the world has seen a significant rise in westerners going to Iraq and Syria to fight with the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria, or otherwise known as ISIS. ISIS has been strategies and new propaganda to convince people from all parts of the world to join them, and now have more than 31,500 fighters with the group. Their new way of recruiting is on adapted to the modern world, through social media.

ISIS recruiting strategies are alarmingly efficient. Having already recruited over 6,000 new members after the air strikes last month. The new members are approximately 15-20 years old from all over the world, and nearly 20 new members join every day. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi (the leader of ISIS) has publicly said that he is seeking members of specific professions: doctors, engineers, judges, Muslim scholars and people with military administrative and service expertise. ISIS has approached potential new recruitment on Twitter and ask.fm. This way, people can make contact; ask questions, make travel plans and voice concerns. Some experts say that they keep in touch with one another over other social media sites and apps such as Skype, Kik and e-mail.

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Sources:: http://www.11alive.com/story/news/2014/05/27/snowden-interview-nbc/9650925/!

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/edward-snowden/#ch-1

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UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

The situation has spawned many different ideas on how to counter the situation. Humera Khan acts as the executive director of Muflehun, a group created by the Muslim American community to try to understand the nature of the threat of violent extremism. The organization creates workshops for teenagers to help them understand the difference between discussing Islamic law on online debate and online recruitment. They also make online safety workshops for parents to protect their children. Khan clearly explains that these approaches from ISIS and the young people, who join them, use the same strategies that get youth involved in gangs, drugs and alcohol. She has estimated that approximately 140 young kids from the US have left the states to go to either Iraq or Syria. There are no concrete figures, but intelligence agencies agree with Khan’s number. They suspect that there are at least a dozen youth from the US who left to join ISIS so it is no surprise that the US government is also trying to prevent radicalization and recruitment. The state department released a video at the end of August that shows ISIS taking part in different actions such as destroying mosques and carrying out executions.. Khan does not think the video is very efficient, but said that

anything that contributes to the prevention of more recruitment of the youth is welcome.

As the level of recruitment increases, so does the number of people who are trying to stop it. Governments and organizations from all over the world are increasing their awareness of this issue, especially western governments. The French government has made a toll-free hotline for parents or others to use if they think someone is considering joining ISIS. The British and Australian governments take away passports from suspected jihadist fighters. The American authorities have not specified any steps to prevent citizens who want to join, but many organizations are creating workshops, videos, and other methods to awarness. Despite the alarming rise in recruitment, people are stepping in to stop the situation from escalating as much as possible.

Sources:http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2024874186_apxsamesexmarriage.htmlhttp://www.pollingreport.com/civil.htmhttp://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-gay-marriage-be-legal-nationwidehttp://www.gallup.com/poll/117328/marriage.aspx!

Sources:  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/22/how-three-colorado-teen-girls-headed-for-isis-and-were-caught.html!7

UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

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Source: http://sutura.io/weekly/!

UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

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Ask Sir E Brum !SAGE DE BRUM!

(MARSHALL ISLANDS ’15)!—————————-!!

1. What types of animals are there on campus?

-­‐   There are many types of animals on campus, my dear questioner

A. The Socialite – This animal is the type that goes from room to room on campus, exploring the depths of where they can go and not leaving your room until you give your feigned excuse that you have to skype your parents. They are very conversational though, so people tend to enjoy conversing and forget to do that one Social A reading that they’ve always meant to be doing.

B. The Clubber and Partyer – Needing its own name in our generation, this is the animal most referred to as an animal when the music is playing and the lights are off. As long as you say there’s a party, they’ll be there to keep it going.

C. The tv show/movie addict – You may see these people near a screen, watching who it is that dies in the next episode of Game of Thrones. Don’t let their obscure movie references deter you, these people can really tell a story when it comes down to it. Just don’t give any spoilers if you’d like a calm life.

D. The Great Debater – This is an animal that resides in all of us, be it through active verbal challenges or continuing conversations mentally to prove your point, we have this. Of course, it is more prominent in some than others, but the

challenge of an idea just seems too perfect to pass up. Or, on the other end, it may seem too dangerous and it may be less tiring to just not say anything in the first place. UWC fosters people to productively challenge ideas all the time, it’s just hard figuring out what “productively” means. Whether you feel that this is the reason the dayroom meetings take a while or why we become more knowledgeable and better speakers is up to you.

2. What would happen if Pinocchio said, “My nose will now grow”?

-­‐   Honestly, I have no idea. I have heard one response from someone during my first year who merely said, “His head would explode”.

3. What equals -1?

-­‐   (knuckle cracking)

A. i^2

B. 0-1=2-3=-2+1=-1

C. The infinite sequence of (1,2,4,8,16,…)

(Info Source: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com% 2 F w a t c h % 3 F v%3Dkiq5czlg8rg&h=HAQH_8HNZ )

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UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

4, What movies should I watch for a date?

-­‐   Well, here are some you should watch, and some you shouldn’t watch:

A. Watch scary movies. I have a friend that started a relationship (and is still in said relationship) with a girl over a scary movie. He was the scared one, he held her hand, she felt that he was holding her hand for her, both win, relationship. QED.

B. Please, for the love of heck, don’t watch

i. No strings attached

ii. Just Friends

iii. Sex and the City

iv. Avatar: The Last Airbender movie

v. Please don’t watch Avatar: The Last Airbender movie. You might as well just watch Birdemic at this point.

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UWC- USA NOVEMBER 2014

Every once in a while, the United States of America likes to observe several of their authorized and federally recognized national holidays. One way that the good ol’ US of A celebrates these public holidays is by giving non-essential government offices the day off. This extends to the public education system. Labor Day? No school. President’s Day? No school. Independence Day? No school! Although, okay, to be fair, the Fourth of July typically happens during summer break… but hey, no school!

Okay, wait, where was I? I’m sorry. I lost my place momentarily. I would say I would try to make this less awkward than Eric was during the Ohana Café, but I don’t think people can get any more awkward than that.

So, right, sorry, okay, back on track—schools in America often get the day off for special holidays. This holds true for the most part, but one glaringly obvious and most unfortunate exception to this rule is the United World College of the American West. That’s right. UWC-USA. Labor Day? We had school. President’s Day? We’ll have school. Independence Day? Okay, we don’t have school then, but that was just a bad example.

We won’t be here anymore, but think of the children!

In the meantime, however, while someone tries to think of a way to win American national holidays off, we can at least enjoy the long weekends granted to us once every blue moon. How was everyone’s free day this fine, fine 7th of November? I sincerely hope it was as unproductive as possible. Free days are meant to be enjoyed, okay, not suffered through.

Maybe you soaked in the hot springs. Maybe you went biking into town. Maybe you moved a friend’s mattress to an undisclosed, truly inconvenient location.

Alternatively, you might have been able to somehow bribe Rohan, Tomas, Alejandro, Justin (Séguret), and Conor (Fox) to reenact their Magic Mike—er, Backstreet Boys—inspired act from last weekend. Or maybe you might have been able to plan a not-so-secret secret dinner to get back at your Indian and Nepali friends for not inviting you to their own super secret Diwali dinner. Ahem. Subha.

Really, though, the possibilities are endless.

If one thing is for sure, these long weekends are rare and precious commodities that beg to be taken advantage of, guys. Don’t waste them.

Have fun. Live your lives. Tickle Max (the one from Michigan).

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the FLIPside

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The Flipside