Month: January 2015

by Shradha Singh, Staff writer

As so many Americans remain increasingly afraid of the Ebola virus in West Africa, a closer and comparatively much more troubling virus is currently pervading the United States. Enterovirus, a severe respiratory disease, has been affecting children and infants across the country, resulting in death for some of its victims.

The outbreak was first detected in late August of this year, with clusters of cases appearing in Missouri and Illinois. Since that time, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has reported a total of at least 1,116 cases of enterovirus in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Of those afflicted, at least seven have died, the most recent being a five-month-old infant in New Jersey. This unfortunate result contrasts to the only two cases of Ebola that have been contracted within the United States, neither of which proved deadly. Though enterovirus is not new to the U.S., having been identified in California in 1962, this particular strain, enterovirus D-68, has proven to be much more active and difficult to treat than ever before, raising concern within the CDC.

The virus has so far exclusively impacted children and teenagers, especially those who suffer from asthma or some other previous respiratory condition. Adults are typically immune, having been previously exposed to other forms of the virus. Those who contract the virus are usually asymptomatic (showing few, if any, symptoms). People who do display symptoms usually contract a mild fever, have a runny nose, body and muscle aches, and start wheezing or have difficulty breathing. More serious cases can result in hospitalization and patients may be placed on ventilatory support if their respiratory function is severely affected. The five cases detected in California have also been characterized by polio-like symptoms, which is not surprising considering that in severe cases enterovirus D-68 has been known to cause paralysis.

Though the symptoms of the virus are known, the cause of the current outbreak is still a mystery. Enterovirus is usually transmitted through close or indirect contact with infected people or objects. Yet, the extreme spread of cases across the country has made it difficult to pinpoint the exact source. Though some news agencies have speculated a possible link between the outbreak of the virus and the recent influx of illegal immigrant children across the border, the news is unconfirmed, and, at best, is only an untested hypothesis.  Despite the relative familiarity of enterovirus to health officials, it is still not quite known enough to be sure of any environmental or climatic origins. What is known is that the virus is evolving, mutating into something more transmissible and pathogenic than previous strains.

The CDC researchers have been investigating several antiviral drugs for treatment of the infection; none of which have been effective so far. Supportive care remains the only treatment for the virus. So far, a minor consolation has been that enterovirus is typically a seasonal illness, arising in late summer and early fall. Health officials are hopeful that this outbreak will wind down as winter swiftly approaches.

By Shradha Singh, Staff writer

History was made this month as one of the greatest space accomplishments since Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon was achieved. On Wednesday, November 12, the space lander Philae touched down on Comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko. This makes it the first time ever that a space mission has made a soft landing on a comet. However, this important event did not come without its own difficulties, the most recent of which may end the mission entirely.

The robot, about the size of a washing machine, was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) ten years ago, in 2004, with the purpose of pursuing the elusive comet. After traveling more than 6.4 billion miles, the probe first came close to its target back in August. On Wednesday, the Philae lander finally separated from its larger space probe, Rosetta, touching down on the comet…and then bouncing back off. Luckily, the lander found its way back onto the surface again more than an hour later…only to be launched a kilometer back into space. After making a small trip back in zero gravity, the lander made a third trip onto the comet, this time to stay.

The reason for all this drama has been attributed to the failure of the lander’s ice harpoons to deploy. The result has been a precarious hold on a surface that is mostly ice and dust.

Another complication has been the matter of battery power, or rather the lack of it. The lander’s final resting place has been in the shadow of a cliff, which allows for Philae’s solar panels to garner a mere 1.5 hours of sunlight in Comet 67P’s 12-hour day. This is nowhere near the 7 hours of sunlight promised in the original landing site, nearly a kilometer away. As a result, after 60 hours of operation, Philae’s batteries ran out on Friday, November 15, making the lander incommunicable to Earth for the foreseeable future. Still, scientists hope that as the comet comes closer and closer to the sun, Philae will once again operate and send back data.

Although Philae is no longer in communication, scientists are still excited as to what was accomplished before the lander stopped responding. According to the European Space Agency, right after it landed, Philae’s Cometary Sampling and Composition (COSAC) system, one of the two gas analyzers present on the lander, was able to detect the presence of organic molecules in the comet’s atmosphere. The lander was also able to dig up some surface samples, although it is still unclear whether or not this was analyzed before its batteries died as well.

With this data, scientists are hoping to test a circulating theory that these meteors are what brought water to Earth, thousands having bombarded Earth early in its life. If this is proven true, then it would be able to explain the origins of oceans on Earth’s surface, something which has long puzzled some researchers.

By Shradha Singh, Staff writer

“Breaking Bad” was a television show that aired from 2008 to 2014, and received a great deal of critical acclaim and audience praise for its riveting storyline and heightened suspense. But when it comes to its new line of action figures, the show has received more mixed results.

A Florida mom, Susan Schrivjer, was outraged when she saw dolls of Walter White, the show’s main character, a former high school chemistry teacher who becomes a crystal meth dealer during the course of the show, and his student sidekick, Jesse Pinkman, on sale at Toys R Us. The dolls come equipped with accessories that include a fake bag of meth and detachable sack of cash.  Schrivjer considered these children’s toys, “a dangerous deviation from [the company’s] family friendly values,” according to the petition she started on Change.org to remove the toys. Over 9,000 other people agreed with the Fort Myers mom resulting in an “indefinite sabbatical” for the dolls at Toys R Us.

But the show has not taken the blow lying down. Bryan Cranston, the actor who portrays the character of Walter White, has made numerous tweets, including, “Toys R Us puts Breaking Bad toys on ‘indefinite sabbatical.’ Word on the street is that they were sent to Belize. Nicely played Florida Mom.” Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse Pinkman, has been a bit more vocal, tweeting, “Wait, so @ToysRUs pulled all of the Breaking Bad action figures from their shelves but still sells Barbie? Hmmmm…I wonder what is more damaging?” Paul has also shown support for a petition to return the dolls to store shelves, which has gained about 60,000 signatures so far.

This entire fiasco raises the question: what was Toys R Us thinking? Although admittedly the company has said the action figures were meant for adult collectors ages 15 and up, the fact remains that it is a toy store, one that is primarily known for its market geared towards younger children and the family demographic in general. The dolls may be placed in a separate aisle, but they are still only a stone’s throw away from other playthings such as G.I. Joe, Super Mario Brothers, and Ninja Turtles figures that, and this should go without saying, are definitely of interest to children. If you want to sell drug dealing dolls, then at least do it in a setting more appropriate for such merchandise. A comic book or novelty store for adults perhaps?

As for Aaron Paul’s comment regarding the toy store and its connection to another controversial product, Barbie, he does have a point. Toys R Us does not always promote entirely positive merchandise, even for its younger customers, and toys like Barbie do perpetuate eating disorders and other body image issues. However, does that really mean that we need to add to negative images with dolls dedicated to the drug trade, that even have props related to crime? We already are selling video games with excessive violence and breastfeeding dolls for little girls. TV has been less than perfect, displaying more violence and sex lately than family friendly programs. Psychologists estimate that children as young as 8 or 9 are already being exposed to sexually explicit material through media outlets. How far do we have to go until we start legislating what children are exposed to? Barbie and its related counterparts may be, unfortunately, legal. The drug trade, on the other hand, is mercifully not.

Toys R Us has just gone too far in trying to boost profit. Though it may be true that sales of “typical” children’s toys have gone down (with the exception of LEGO, which seems determined to take over the world), that is no excuse to potentially expose kids, especially little kids, to something most decidedly NOT child friendly. It is just too much to ask from a store which has already been a less than perfect influence, and which seems to get worse with every new, “fun” toy it decides to add to its shelves.

Grow a conscience, Toys R Us. Understand that you have a huge part in shaping a child’s psyche and determining their ideas of right and wrong, normal and not, depending on the toys you sell and they play with. As for collectors, try and find somewhere else to buy your merchandise. I hear Walmart has a pink “Breaking Bad” teddy bear on sale.

By Kathryn Riley, Staff writer

There’s a new kind of sexual revolution occurring on college campuses- one against campus sexual assault. The manifestation of this revolution is Emma Sulkowicz, although many know her as “mattress girl.”

As a sophomore at Columbia University, Emma was raped in her dorm room. She didn’t report anything at first, until she heard from two other girls that they had been abused by the same man. Sulkowicz then went to the Columbia administration, but they offered no help. In an interview with the New York Times, she claimed they acted “idiotically during the interview process, making several errors.” After six months, the Columbia dean ruled in favor of the alleged rapist, and according to the school’s laws, his ruling was final. Then came the mattress.

As a performance art piece called “Carry That Weight,” Emma Sulkowicz began hauling her dorm mattress (the mattress where the incident occurred) wherever she went, acting as the symbolic weight she will carry for the rest of her life as a rape victim. She refuses to use anything but her hands to carry it, but she does allow help from other students (if they offer), especially those who have also been abused, calling the group efforts “collective carries.”

For her senior thesis, Sulkowicz continues to carry her mattress, now as a protest, until the Columbia administration appeals the ruling. Aside from just capturing the attention of her school, “Mattress Girl” has the eyes of the nation on her. Even Hillary Clinton has commented on it, calling the student’s movement “indelible” and stating, “that image should haunt all of us.”

The Columbia administration has responded in some respects. The president of the school, Lee Bollinger created a new sexual assault policy. Students of the college now must have “unambiguous communication and mutual agreement” or verbal consent before sexual acts. The new policy is a progressive step for Columbia but it has done little to overcome the power of a girl and her mattress.

Outside Columbia, the conversation about sexual assault on American college campuses has been elevated to the national level. There is a new White House-sponsored campaign called “It’s On Us” which aims to “recognize, identify, and intervene” sexual assault, according to the campaign’s website, itsonus.org. The government has also taken a direct attempt to try and reduce college rape by threatening to cut the funding of public universities that do not reform.  As a result multiple states, including California, have passed laws that will hopefully put an end to assault on campus. Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill that requires colleges and a universities to redefine consent for sexual activities. The progressive new law is the first of its kind in the country. Under the California, every state-funded college and university must educate his students about a new standard of consent known as affirmative consent, which it will begin enforcing immediate. Affirmative consent means “an explicit and voluntary ‘yes’ whether verbal or nonverbal, is required to agree to any sort of sexual activity with a partner,” as defined in the National Journal.

By Lilia Quevedo, Staff writer

When I was a kid, trick-or-treating was the highlight of October. I loved to wear all sorts of costumes, like cat outfits and witch dresses. Back in elementary school, all everyone cared about was how scary you looked. When I got to middle school, everything changed.

There are a ton of scary, Halloween-related movies out there, many of which feature a party where all of the high school kids go to so they can drink and pass out. Then some scary monster or murderer comes, killing the mood (pun intended). In these parties, what everyone wears—more specifically the girls—is pretty much the same: a tight piece of cloth that covers as little of the body as possible. If you want to be a sailor, here is a miniskirt and a tube top for you to wear. If you want to be a nurse, here is a dress that shows your butt if you bend one inch. But wait—if you’re a guy and want to be a sailor, you can buy long pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt! What? Yes, you’ll actually be a realistic sailor.

What the media portrays clearly reflects what the stores sell, too.  If you’re a teenager/young adult, good luck trying to find a costume not labeled as “sexy.” The days of looking scary for you are over. Remember, though, this is only applies to you if you’re a girl. Even little kids costumes might raise a few eyebrows among parents. Of course, you can always find Bucky the Winter Soldier costume replica online that actually looks like the real thing–if you’re willing to pay $300, that is.

Why is it that women continue to wear these costumes? There are tons of articles and rants online that talk about how these sexy outfits should not be sold any more because they degrade women and objectify them. While that’s true, no matter how many petitions there are, no matter how many protests and anti-sexy Halloween campaigns there are, the Halloween companies will never stop selling those sexy nurse costumes. Society has conditioned women to be “sexy and beautiful” so much that some women don’t even question the costumes. They wear it because everyone else is wearing it. If everyone stopped wearing the costumes, then maybe the companies and the world would realize how degrading they are. There’s nothing wrong with showing off your body, though. If those are the kinds of costumes you want to wear, go for it. What’s not right, however, is the belief that those are the only things women should wear. Don’t just give women one option, give them many. Sell an Assassin’s Creed Costume that isn’t only made for men! Sell a real-looking nurse outfit, not just those skin tight mini dresses that look nothing like what the workers wear.

Don’t stuff all women into one category—give them a choice.