The Static Age

Mothers, The base of our nation. They are what keeps most of families together. They have the strength to keep everyone going. But, have you ever stopped and thought about all the work they do? The real heroes are not the one in comic book movies. They are the ones taking you to the movies. For Riley this was a revelation, and a responsibility.

When Riley was 5 years old she was the one with the most chores to do. Keeping her room clean, taking out the trash, do dishes. For a young age she handled these tasks very well. But she never expected the biggest task of all. Around her sophomore year of high school her parents divorced. And she became the woman of the house. She had to make sure her brother went to school, look up for the dog, getting her dad out of the house, and all of this on top of being a kid. Going to school and dealing with enough by herself. She became the glue of the family.

All the work her mom did, was now her work. This is how she realized “no one really appreciates what they do, no one asks how are you doing… well I was tired”. Riley had to put on her mom’s shoes and struggle with being a kid in school by day and the glue of the family by night.

Now she says “I feel like a 35 year old instead of a 20 year old” now that she is in college her obligations and tasks go even further but she is confident that she can handle them. She just hopes to start socializing and having more fun.

Article

The article center around a hack on Uber where information about consumer and drivers license where stolen by a group of hackers. what the article says is the problem os that Uber didn’t proceed to report the breach to the authorities or to the consumers but payed $100,000 to the hackers and covered it as bug bounty.

After the information was leaked Uber proceeded to fire their chief of security and claimed that trying to cover the hack was a mistake.

What really takes my attention from this is that i completely understand all sides of the story. first why Uber would want to cover it up with Lyft having a lot of competition against them and the recent claims about the platform the couldn’t afford more things like that and supposedly the hackers would return the information. paying only $100,000 that i’m sure for a company of that size it wouldn’t be hard considering the stakes.

But I also understand the consumer, think my information was leaked and you didn’t even bother to warn me. this could have escalated to a bigger point . Uber was lucky it wasn’t Credit card information.

And the i understand  the government side. where basically Uber is covering up the payment for the hackers and making others seem like they can do that. when they should be applying the old and reliable we don’t negotiate with terrorists.

It’s a mess and a huge conflict of interests. But at the end i doubt this is going to make Uber go away

My journey began with the quest for a weird question. Several hundred questions appeared in my head just like: what’s heavier; 2 pounds of cotton or two pounds of steel? If time is money, then I’m wasting your time right now? What’s your worth in fried chicken? And so on. But then a bigger question appeared: how can I tell a story if the question is just weird? so the answer appeared right in from to me. I wanted to create a question that played with the mind of the person answering it. so my question was the following:

“What is your stand on the theory of relativity where it basically explains that we’re all connected by unexpected actions that drive the universe’s impulses to tell us when to do things. So… are you hungry?”

The interesting part behind the question is not what is written; because it’s not the most coherent question. But, the way I delivered it to different people. Thanks to theater I have the ability to keep a straight face even in the funniest times (well most of the times at least). The first part of the question has to be delivered in the most professional and serious way. Then the last part has to be a total change; just like a zinger would be.

The interesting part is that every single one of the 10 people I asked acted the same way. As soon as they started hearing “familiar terms” like the relativity; they put a straight face and try their best to look smart. This involves putting their hands in their chin and making one of their eyebrows go slightly higher than the other one. Continued by a constant nod of the head (almost like a beat). This ends with the confusion when I asked them if they where hungry. The confused face involved the rising of both eyebrows and a slight opening of the mouth; usually ending with a soft “wha?” After they realize what was going  it’s was too late and an awkward laugh finished the touch.

This really says a lot of our modern times. In a way this small gesture shows how most people try to create a shell around them that inevitably will fall and leave and the host open for criticism.

CNN article

For today’s news comment I’m taking a look to a game that will be released tomorrow (Friday the 17th of November).

The game is Battlefield 2 is a basically a Star Wars based game where you take military like battles into a Star Wars context. so instead of solider we have storm troopers, the rebellion, Jedi, Sith and different characters from the movies. What makes this games news is not the content of the game but how you get the content. Basically the standard mode of game is that the player is in an online battle. As thousand of games, this game needs in game credits to unlock new weapons and characters. In this case you need in game credits or micro-transactions (real money) to actually get the denominated ”heroes” (this would be playing with Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Han Solo, etc.)  In the original version of the game released for those player who bought the pre release package that allows them to play a week before the game is released they found something interesting. To unlock one of this characters it would take 60,000 in game credits or 40 hours of continuing gameplay just to buy one character. Others estimated that even with playing for two hours a day it would take 2 years to get all the characters in the game without paying for extra in game coins that would be with actual money.

This cause and incredible concern among the gamer community and the media backlash made EA (Electronic Arts) back down and make reduce by 75 % the amount of credits that it would take to get these heroes.

I believe this is an interesting case of one of those games that gamer call “pay to win” where because of the regulation of the game there is no way you can improve in the game without paying extra money; and considering the game is already worth $60 it’s not a great thing. I get it, the game industry is made to get money but when it gets to these extremes where basically players are forced to pay it’s just absurd. it has been a couple of years since games start to come in pieces. it’s like going to McDonald’s and getting a burger for the regular price but only receiving the bread and some lettuce. and when you complain the manager says the meat and the rest would be an extra 5 dollars. I don’t know if anyone would be happy with that. luckily the company proceeded to reduce the prices which are still considerably high! but it shows that people can actually make a difference on these days. and this is the point that I really wanted to prove. If people get together for one greater good these days, it feels like a machine that can’t stop.

Welcome, my name is Engels Perez and this is the 5 o-clock newscast for fusion 9-3 KMSC the student radio voice of Morningside college

On our stories today we have:

The knew challenges for Morningside theater department.

Keep an eye for the unexpected allegations towards Kevin spacey

And the struggles for students looking to improve their physical form on campus.

Starting with stories form our own campus

The Morningside Theater Department is facing one the hardest times in their history.

After the major was cut the department started working on improving campus shows and student productions. As Theater professor Taylor Clemens Explained – Play recording of Taylor— with the collaboration of APO the theater honor society; the department will start building over the student produced shows.

Brock Bourek President of APO explained – play recording — His goal is to extend the involvement even further than just the shows. Hoping that this will bring the interest of students to become more than just the audience.

The first show following this structure was Love, Sex and the I.R.S. with a cast, crew and production team completely formed by students. The only faculty involved was Taylor Clemens as a theatrical consulter.

Continuing with campus coverage

If you’re not an athlete student on Morningside College we might have some bad news for you.

Currently on campus Morningside only counts with one full weight room available for all students. Located in the HPER (Hi-Per). This weight room is currently not in the best shape. With multiple broken machines and others that just need maintenance or even a complete change. Multiple complaints have been filed by students and they seem to get nowhere.

As non-athlete student Luis Seijas explained – Play Recording Luis –

Students looking for physical improvement will find problems like: rusty equipment, lack of space, high risk of injuries.

Jesus Sanz a tennis player also explained how this affects athletes – play recording Jesus—

And now going to national coverage

Kevin Spacey has been accused of harassment. The backlash is making critics call for the end of a career.

Kevin Spacey was accused of making sexual advances on a 14-year-old over thirty years ago. Right after the accusations, the actor claimed to not remember the event. And proceeded to reveal he is deciding to live as a gay man.

After the events Spacey received criticism from member of the L-G-B-T community claiming he is just trying to deceive and manipulate when deciding to reveal his sexuality.

Madison Schueet student of psychology explained what she believes happened with  Spacey’s reaction –play recording—looking to delegitimize the harm caused by the possible sexual advances.

Netflix quickly announced to be cancelling house of cards. Also spacey will be replaced through reshooting by Christopher Plummer in his upcoming film All the Money in the World.

This was fusion 93 KMSC’s five o clock newscast. I’m Engels Perez, Good evening.

Article 

After all the allegations and what happened with Kevin Spacey, I’m a bit surprised this time the movie industry is making a stand to show how much those allegations mean. so Scott Ridley is going the cut Spacey’s character form his upcoming movie “all the money in the world” only six weeks before the movie is released what means reshooting with a new actor and a ton of post production to digitally take spacey out of multiple shots.

I’m a bit conflicted on how to feel about this my naive feeling is that this is Hollywood making a stand against old traditions and looking for equality. but at the same time this is also the movie looking to not completely flop on the box office. After all the backlash in social media i’m sure that for at least a couple of years no one is going to want to see spacey in anything, so anything that has him will be probably destined to fail horribly.

So this is where we hesitate is society doing good because is the right call and they are looking for equality or are they just trying to cover their own profit.

Emma Watson’s speech on the 2016 Ottawa Summit for One Young world; gave the audience a view of her last two years as an activist. In those years she found herself surrounded by standing ovations but also critiques.  For her it was just like “a baptism by fire” that made even more shocking when she started reading the applications for The One Young World Scholarship.

One Young World is a not-for-profit organization based in the UK that unites young leaders around the world. Their goal is to look for solutions for current global issues. They stage annual summits in different parts of the world where delegates of charities, NGOs and universities join world leaders to work as One Young World counselors.

She explained how amazed she was when realizing the overlap with her thinking and the thinking of others. The notes, themes, struggles.  She explained “the truth is, it had never been about being an activist; it was about the choice to make myself visible and the choices that you made to do that too.”

Her speech continued with a remark on how in two years many significant advances have been made towards a world with gender equality. One where both feminine and masculine forces work together, and forget about individualities. Building together an “unstoppable current, for which we need ripples of hope from every age, race, ability, walk of life, every human experience.”

After this she made seven statements:

I am willing to be seen.

I am willing to speak up.

I am willing to keep going.

I am willing to listen to what others have to say.

I am willing to go forward even when I feel alone.

I am willing to go to bed each night, at peace with myself.

I am willing to be my biggest, best-est, most powerful self.

These as she explained “scare the absolute shit out of me. But I know that they are at the crux of it all.” These are her foundation to live her life.

Emma Watson is a British actress, model and activist. Mostly known for her work in the Harry Potter franchise, The perks of being a Wall Flower, and The Beauty and the Beast. Between 2011 and 2014 she put a pause on her career to continue her education earning a bachelor’s degree in Brown university for English literature. In 2014 she was appointed as an UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and participated in the launch for the campaign HeForShe, calling men to advocate for gender equality.

The Morningside Theater department is currently working on improving the campus shows and student productions. After the cut of the major the students and faculty are keen on reinforcing the student involvement.

Theater professor Taylor Clemens explained “We don’t have the major anymore but there’s still  dedication to strengthen the theatre, getting students, and community involved”. Now the department will start building around the student produced shows. These shows will be held in collaboration with APO (Alpha Psi Omega) the national theater honor society on campus.

Brock Bourek APO president wants to keep theatre present in the everyday life of Morningside students. As he explained “a movie night once a month, doing improvisation or theatre spotlight nights, and even an open mic night.” His goal is to extend the involvement even further than just the shows. Hoping that this will bring the interest of students; encouraging them to participate and become more than just the audience.

To help this transition APO is creating a new position: a student liaison for productions. Amy Carothers is the one in charge to help students prepare their proposal for the play and guide them in every aspect.

The first show following this structure was Love, Sex and the I.R.S. The cast, crew and production team was completely students. The only faculty involved was Taylor Clemens as a theatrical consulter.

Luis Seijas who is not a theater major but has participated in the past said “I am happily surprised because I’ve watched many other shows in Morningside before; and I though this was the best production that I’ve seen so far” He also explained that the dedication of the students was highly visible with the set lights, props, acting. Overall an impressive achievement for a student produced show.

The students who want to be involved with the theater will still be able to take diverse theater classes and maybe major until the class of 2021 is graduated; the Department will continue to provide the major until the class of 2021 is graduated.

Prof. Clemens also explained the whole process of eliminating the major. A year ago, Morningside started a taskforce to look into future problems and how to solve them. All of the majors were put into consideration. Depending on their score the majors would end in the top or bottom 50 percent. The ones in the bottom the President of the college John Reynders would have to decide on whether eliminate or keeping them.

After the decision was made, a reasonable concern was shown by faculty and students. But as Prof. Clemens explained the truth is that the department had been struggling for the last decade. From administration issues to a very small group of students enrolled in the major; the major was not on the best place.

Articles from the New York Times:

Kevin Spacey Criticized for Using Apology to Anthony Rapp to Come Out

This articles deal with the recent story about Kevin Spacey in summary Spacey was accused last Sunday by Anthony Rapp  to have made sexual advances on him when he was 14 years old. after all this a huge debate started mostly because spacey’s sexuality had been of public interest for many years but it had never been cleared out. after this accusation was made Spacey made a public statement saying that he does not remember the incident but if he did it he feels terrible and extends an apology to Rapp.  after saying that he expressed his sexuality saying that the recent events mad him think and now he wants the world to know he is gay.

after this there was huge media backlash on Spacey for his timing to come out. with many artists saying he was only coming out to take away the fact that he tried to have sex with a child.  as Dan Savage said on twitter “Nope to Kevin Spacey’s statement. Nope. There’s no amount of drunk or closeted that excuses or explains away assaulting a 14-year-old child.” and Billy Eichner “Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.”

My opinion:

Yes this a sensible subject, we are in a moment when a lot of old issues are coming out of the shadows. and it’s a good thing 30 years ago there was not twitter or internet at least not in the way we know it today. so many horrible thing happened and no one knew or people just made the blind eye. So this exposing that is happening right now is in many way a good thing.

I wasn’t sure if Kevin Spacey did it or not but thanks to his declaration I’m almost certain he did it. this is a clear example of a diversion that went horribly wrong. For me this is just him trying to calm things down by throwing a more juicier thing to the press. Honestly I’m glad that didn’t work. And I say this with a broken heart because Kevin Spacey has always been a big role model for me in theater and acting (I have broken heart because he tried to make a diversion instead of assuming the blame not because he’s gay) Now I’m happy that the media din’t fell into the trap and actually covered the whole spacey advancing on a 14 year old.

Good way to remind people that in these days nothing is secret. This is definitely a double edge sword.