The Eagle Manifesto - Issue 3

ISSUE 3

2 4 Au g . 2 0 1 8

The EAGLE Manifesto Engaging the Nido masses one paper at a time.

School Life Interviewing the Top Act Senior Privilege

News Michelle Barchelet Takes Over the UNHRC Political Polarization in Institutions

Reviews Joao Reviews the Spirit Week Movies Joao Reviews Skyscraper

INDEX Index / page 2 School Life Interviewing: Ms. Amber / page 3 Interviewing: Speech Day Top Act / page 4 Spirit Week Fashion Show / page 5

Nido Teachers’ Spirit Week / page 6 MS Perceptions of HS Students / page 7 Senior Privilege / page 8 Beyond Trashing School? / page 9 JV SAAC: Is it Good or Bad? / page 10 The Meaning of Being a Senior / page 12 IB Theater Performance / page 13 Changes to SSE / page 14 Reviews Joao Reviews Spirit Week Grade Movies / page 15 Joao Reviews Skyscraper / page 16 News Chile’s Michelle Barchelet Takes Over the UNHRC / page 17 Political Polarization in Institutions / page 18 Become a Member! / page 19

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Analia Ferreyra

Interviewing: Ms. Amber Where are you from and where are you coming from most recently?

I grew up in Sonoma County, California which is about an hour north of San Francisco. Most recently I lived in Bremen Germany.

Why did you get involved in learning support?

My background is in social work and during an internship at an alternative high school I was able to see the high need for students who need a different approach to being successful in the classroom. Not everyone learns in the same way or at the same pace and it’s important to acknowledge that and help students find their best way to work with the content in each class. Learning support is also a field that is always adjusting based off the needs of students which makes each day an exciting challenge.

What about working with high school students most excites you?

High school students are so full of life. They often feel as though they carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, but at the same time they can still enjoy themselves and have fun. I enjoy their want to find and face challenges and always wanting to know what’s next, it keeps me on my toes!

I think people are pretty impressed with your running abilities, how did you get into that?

In 6th grade the girl I walked home with after school joined the cross country team. My mom didn’t want me to walk home alone so she made me join the team too. From then to my sophomore year of high school I only ran because I wasn’t bad at it and my friends were on the track and cross country teams.

I finally started to like running my last two years of high school and then got really into it when I went on to compete at the D1 level in college. Now I can’t imagine my life without it and hope I can share my passion with others.

If you had 24 hours to do whatever you wanted

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(traveling time not included), what would you do, where would you do it, and with who would you do it?

I would love to go to Vietnam with my sister. We would both be happy to eat our way through Ho Chi Minh City and just people watch.

In this next year, what is something you want to explore? It could be a place, the language, culture, anything really.

I really want to visit Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. From what I’ve read and heard it’s a spectacular park filled with amazing trails and places to explore. I really want to get down there and go trail running, but hiking would also suffice.

If there was one thing you think High Schoolers should know about you, what would it be?

I believe that people are more than who they are in school or at their job, I want to get to know students and who they are in school but also who they are outside of the classroom. Come tell me about your sports practices and achievements and about your music or dance performances. I’m more than happy to listen and would love to support you in the audience!

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Sergio Avila

Interviewing: Speech Day Top Act when I’m presenting. Spoken poetry is a lot to memorize so there’s risk involved when doing it. But when I get off the stage I realize how much I love it. The only annoying thing is that it’s in your head for the next three weeks and you drive your parents insane.

Do you think you made an impact on the underclassmen?

What was your speech about?

I did an interpretive reading of a poem by Mike Taylor from Brave New Voices and it was basically about thinking and liking someone… a crush.

Where did you draw your inspiration for this speech?

I love spoken poetry and poems in general. It’s just kinda my thing, you know? I was actually introduced to poetry in seventh grade by Ms. Haugh and it just went on from there.

How did you feel performing the speech in front of the high school?

The thing is I like poetry. It’s my thing. Other people will be better at math and science and for me it’s mainly theater. It’s what I love doing.

Speech Day is one of those few times that gives you the opportunity to show the kinda things you like to do. Show that you’re more than just your grades.

How does it feel to be a top act three years in a row?

It’s honestly great. Every year I get so nervous

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Honestly, I don’t think I did, I was talking about love and stuff like that. But actually, a lot of underclassmen came up to me and told me that they were “inspired”. I am not sure how or why, but they said it. I remember being a freshie and hearing the tops acts and wanting to be up there.

Is there any alumni that inspired your speech?

This is gonna sound really cheesy but, my sister, Sophie. The thing is she never really performed any speeches but we talked about all these poems at home. She helped me memorize my poem and I won an award for it.

What is one piece of advice you would give underclassmen, as a Senior, for future speech days?

If you love poems and want to perform come talk to me. But honestly don’t stress about Speech Day, it’s probably the best day of spirit week. If you’re ever nervous just take a deep breath and think that everyone is going through the same.

Anything you would like to add?

I can’t believe that this is my last Speech Day. It is honestly such an amazing experience.

In college, you’ll never have people listening to you like they do here. So enjoy it while you can!

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Franco Del Bono

Spirit Week Fashion Show 2018

The 2018 Nido Spirit Week Fashion Show has certainly lived up to its hype. With a surprisingly un-disappointing underclassman performance, quite good upperclassmen ingenuity, and a marvelous show put on by the teachers, this edition will certainly be one to remember.

Beginning with the upbeat sound of a military march and an over-the-top performance, Mr. Welborn played his yearly role of student impersonation by cosplaying as the very author of this article, to the joy of the attending public. He was followed in short order by the Freshmen and a clever representation of Mr. Dent and his affection for Diet Coke, arguably one of the best student entries for this category. This was followed by the traditional “partners-in-crime” showcase, undoubtedly won by the Juniors and their very well made Casa de Papel costumes, which, if perhaps lost to the part of the audience unable to speak Spanish, was deserving of applause for its verisimilitude to the source material.

Perhaps more close was the race for the “meme/Vine” category, in which all contestants proved quite adept, but with the Sophomores receiving the most applause.

The Juniors once again took the lead in the subsequent category, however, as Cooper Cox played the most realistic Shrek this school has ever seen as part of his entry to the movie character category.

Within the same category, both the Seniors and Sophomores chose to honor the different movies of the Incredibles franchise, to quite some riotous applause. The “polar opposite” category was perhaps more controversial, as the Sophomores were prejudiced by a tech issue, and both Freshmen and Seniors tried their hand at using a “tall vs short” duo. Ultimately, however, it is the judges who will decide who won.

Having no more to assess then, it is perhaps wise to redirect this article towards why the Fashion Show is important. Unlike Speech Day, which praises and promotes oratory skills, the Fashion Show does not carry with it any inherent societal benefit. Yet, it acts as an interesting way to link the popular culture of all the different generations. The example of the two different Incredibles movies referenced by the Freshmen and Seniors is quite indicative of this. The Seniors grew up with the original Incredibles, and so make callbacks to that movie, the Freshmen, as they do most years, defer to contemporary popular movies. One can hence see the maturity of the generations into self contained groups with their own inside jokes, and preferences.

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Nicolas Jeong

Nido Teachers’ Spirit Week

When most students hear about Spirit Week, they think of an entertaining and highly-motivated competition among the High School grade levels. However, almost nobody ever mentions their excitement for the teacher’s involvement in Spirit Week.

The tradition of teachers participating in Spirit Week has been going on for about 8 to 9 years. During the early stages, teachers would just prepare for the lip sync and not much else. Eventually, they started to make the movies which led to more and more teachers getting involved with the festivities. Now, they are participating in almost every single activity - Endurance Day, Fashion Show, Movie, and Lip Sync. Overall, it is a fair amount of work to make it all happen. But, as it became a tradition, more and more teachers join in to maintain this new pillar of Spirit Week.

In talking to math teacher Mr. Galbraith, who is the one that organizes the teacher’s involvement in Spirit Week, he expressed his opinion regarding the teacher’s involvement in the events of this week. He states: “It’s terrific that teachers are involved in Spirit Week; I think there has been a lot more teachers getting involved in Spirit Week. Teachers aren’t just standing there policing the students, but are actually participating. In fact, from a student’s perspective, you can see what is it like to see a lot of your teachers getting up and being silly on stage. That also goes along our way towards the building of a community at the school.”

I have always wondered if, when the teachers were organizing Spirit Week, they would all be coordinated without any conflict among them. Not surprisingly, Mr. Galbraith said that there is very little arguing among the teachers when preparing for Spirit Week. Typically, what they do is have a meeting during lunch, where teachers first show their big picture idea and come to a consensus. Then, each volunteers to work on separate sections, follow along, and execute it. In fact, he admitted that it might look different if the teachers were actually competing. However, since they aren’t really competing, there is no conflict. He added, “In Spirit Week, there is actually no prize for winning asides from pride. For whatever reason, students tend to get very emotional. Maybe if there weren’t any emotions, then there wouldn’t be any debate among members. However, Spirit Week is indeed about getting emotional. At the end of the day, it’s all about showing your school’s spirit.”

When asked about his biggest challenge, he immediately answered that, “what’s being difficult this year in planning Spirit Week is time. It is only the 4th week of school and it’s a lot of work to get a school year going.

Especially for Seniors, who feel the same way. To do all of the things that are required to get a school year rolling and at the same time, being involved in activities is a lot of work. But, otherwise, there hasn’t been any other problem.”

Overall, for Mr. Galbraith, Spirit Week really is a lot of fun; it’s a way for him and everyone else to just be silly and show our school spirit.” Despite all of the work, at the end of Spirit Week, we all leave really impressed.

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Analia Ferreya

MS Perceptions of HS Students

This week at the Eagle Manifesto, we chose to ask some middle school students about their feelings towards high schoolers. Responses were brief, and mostly as expect 1. How do you feel about high school students being in the cafeteria during flex?

It’s a waste of our time. They make the lines longer to buy food, and it’s especially annoying when they heat up food in the microwaves.

2. Do you think that high school students receive a lot of homework?

Probably, I mean it’s surprising how much they play fortnite though.

3. Are high schoolers nice?

I personally don’t have very many interactions, so I don’t really know. They don’t just walk up to middle schoolers and ask us how our day is going.

4. What is something you wish high schoolers would stop doing?

Stop making out around campus, they should do that at their house or whatever.

5. Do you want to go into high school?

No, it seems too stressful.

6. Are high schoolers big?

They seem pretty tall, so yes, I’m not that tall either though. But mentally, they act like preschoolers, kind of entitled.

7. Are high school teachers nice?

The ones that I know are very nice, nicer than the students.

8. Any last comments?

Some high schoolers are really bad at basketball, I played with the JV team once, and man…

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Abigail Woodward

Senior Privilege?

Senior privilege is a topic that arises every Spirit Week, receiving special emphasis in the Freshmen’s movies that states “Freshies Never Win” and the Sophomore’s lip sync where the Senior bias is also referred to. So does Senior Privilege exist? Arguments for and against its existence are equally valid and worthy of investigation.

Arguments that support its existence usually revolve around the subjective judging of big point events, where points are awarded on the the judges sense of “entertainment from the storyline” in the lip sync whether the costumes are “absolutely outstanding” in the fashion show. It is in instances such as these where the senior class is able to gain points from teachers by having the empathetic appeal of this being their last Spirit Week. Moreover, events that are not as subjective, such as those from Field and Endurance day individually do not garner as many points as the more creative events. Even in Speech Day, where points are given for participation, choosing the Top Acts and providing award for each category also relies on the opinions of the judges, further disadvantaging underclassmen. Finally the “Spirit Award” that is worth an impressive fifty point, is given to the grade that has had the most Spirit throughout the week, an interpretation of the real purpose of these award is that it acts as a safety net, that can provide Seniors with the points they need if by the end of the week they are behind. Although there are some impartial contests, the overall subjectivity of how points are awarded in Spirit Week favours the Senior class who gain points based on of teachers’ empathy, making Spirit Week “rigged” against the other grades.

The counterargument is that experience of organizing three past Spirit Weeks allows the quality of work produced by Seniors to be better. This, along with the stronger and more developed physiques many Seniors have allows them to dominate both the creative and the athletic aspects of Spirit Week. This is supported by many of the criteria in the rubrics as they not only judge on their personal enjoyment of the performance but on evidence of its organization, such as the lighting and choreography. In Field Day, the general large amount of experience that Seniors have in sports allows their chances of winning the games to be higher, making it easier to win points. Despite the subjectivity of judging, the experience that Seniors have in creating Spirit Week performances that adhere to the criteria is greater, leading to genuinely better events.

Overall, Senior Privilege can never be confirmed nor denied. Explicitly, the rubrics do not offer any additional points based on the ages of the participants and there aren’t any events exclusive to upperclassmen. Conversely implicit Senior biases may definitely exist, but their weight in the teachers’ judging cannot be weighed or avoided. In the end, the important thing to remember about Spirit Week is to not stress about the competition and have fun.

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Isabel Alvarez

Beyond Trashing School? The “Blacklist”.

The Spirit Week we know at Nido is such a High School classic. We know Endurance Day, the Fashion Show, Speech Day and the Movies, the Lip Sync, and Field Day. We know every Friday we show up and Seniors have “decorated” the school, as black paint runs through the windows, hallways, and walls, with furniture thrown all over the place. Yet, “Spirit Week” does have a darker, more mischievous tone in other schools around Chile. For starters, Spirit Week is not a thing, they’re called “Alianzas or Listas”, usually like the “Houses” system we have in Middle School, where students from all grades are put together from the same letter grade (1A with 2A etc), or they can be grade based too. And also, the activities done, are much, much more sinister than those offered here at Nido.

Here, is an exclusive of what different spirit week traditions look like for other schools:

Fuga

You know how Seniors at Nido are infamous for their epic entrances? Well, in some schools, each generation of Seniors is judged by the notoriety of their EXIT. The fuga or escape, is one of the most known events. In this, Seniors show up to school, but at a designated time and place, they pick which part of the school they must exit from (not the main entrance) and run in a pack towards a certain place.

Bonus honor points if they jump a high wall, have an organized set up, and manage to leave no one behind; skip day, but better,

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if you will.

“La Yincana”

Teachers are often not aware of this tradition, but it is a dare system going on in place of “Spirit Week” in some schools.

It is a list of dares, passed on generation to generation, each adding a couple to the list that similarly resembles a rite of passing for each grade. Such of the tamest dares include but are not limited to:

Seniors are the Judges

In some schools, Seniors rule their own Spirit Week by doing absolutely nothing, as they are the judges instead of the teachers. As these Spirit Weeks are less fun and more humiliating, these are the tasks done by the underclassmen for the Seniors to have a good laugh and a few favors going on for them. Such activities/ favors the Senior judges demand to obtain points include:

- Getting on the Horse statue at Plaza Italia - Delivering food to the Seniors - Stealing McDonald’s trays

- Underclassmen boys and girls “dancing” for the Seniors

- Take a picture in every single Metro station in Santiago (yes, - Doing their homework every single one)

These activities range “Lista Negra” from sounding fun to sounding terrifying. Spirit Week is pure

This is one of the darkest thematic fun for all of the HS. traditions that only a few schools The dress ups, the day events are known to have. A piece of and the insane school spirit paper is posted outside the make Spirit Week legendary; principal or headmaster’s office, the time of year where all of of and it is titled “La Lista Negra”. the corresponding grades come In this blank sheet, anyone can together for the sake of (often) sign anyone up, but names harmless, entertaining competicannot be crossed. Anyone can tion. sign up someone they have a grudge or problem with, but the consequences are brutal for that person. When Friday afternoon comes of that same week, those in the List are “kidnapped” in old classrooms and the Seniors have a free pass (no detention, no suspension) to do whatever they want with those students (throw flour, fish, eggs, paint, honey, all disgusting things). It closely resembles the Purge but HS style.

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Nicolas Jeong & Ben Crosbie

JV SAAC: Is it Good or Bad?

It has been officially announced that the Junior Varsity teams can now participate in their own JV SAAC tournaments. This year, Nido will take part in the JV SAAC Volleyball tournament - which will be hosted in Argentina - and also in the JV SAAC Soccer tournament - which will be hosted by Nido. As an increasing number of Nido teams start participating in this SAAC offshoot, more and more aspiring athletes get an opportunity to hone their skills and grow both athletically and as people, making it a purely beneficial experience for Nido’s student-athletes...right? Well, turns out there may be a little more to it than just the dandy image that was just painted.

Nicolas Jeong:

JV SAAC is going to be a valuable experience to those athletes who did not have the opportunity to participate in a major tournament. Why is it that only the Varsity team were allowed to compete in SAAC? Why ignore the JV? In previous years, we would see students feeling upset and disappointed in themselves for not being able to make it into the Varsity team despite their hard work and commitment to the team. Almost every student who is involved in a sports team would dream to play in a SAAC tournament. Now, this dream can turn into a reality, and you don’t even need to take part in a Varsity team.

Apart from enabling athletes from the development team to experience a SAAC tournament for their first time, it is also a good opportunity for those students to show their potential. Before, the only times we could see the JV perform were at trainings or at a Copa La Dehesa match. But that is nothing compared to SAAC. At SAAC, there is a different atmosphere and you compete against teams of distinct levels. Every single game will be played at high intensity; a good chance for the JV team to demonstrate their hard work. Even if the JV team wins or not, the experience will be totally worth it; this is all about improving their skills.

Finally, it is said that a JV SAAC might actually render the distinction between the JV team and the Varsity team meaningless. However, that is simply not true. It’s all fake news. In reality, there will always be a distinction between the JV and Varsity team. Just because there is a SAAC for the development team does not mean that athletes will stop working hard, and a tournament like SAAC will provide another way for the JV team to improve their skills. In the end, both teams have the same ambition, goal and winning mentality. Whether you are in JV or Varsity, the Nido community will always support and show love to all teams. - Nicolas Jeong

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Ben Crosbie:

Though on the surface JV SAAC appears a valuable experience for athletic journeymen, it could actually more accurately be described as an expensive endeavor for a cheap experience, with a side dish of academic inundation, all for one big spit in the eye of Nido athletics. The parents of student-athletes spend thousands of dollars of their hard-earned money to send their sons and daughters abroad so they can go play against other SAAC schools, and sometimes, a handful of local schools in Lima or Buenos Aires. The names of these schools will survive in the memories of the athletes for exactly the length of the game, and then be forgotten along with everything else about the irrelevant, uninteresting, and overall forgettable tournament.

It also doesn’t help memory stick when athletes are greeted immediately upon their return with an academic beatdown comparable to getting floored by an eighteen-wheeler. When students miss even just a few days of school, it can spell total disaster come time to make up work and catch up with the classes they missed. With the astronomical academic demands and expectations of Nido, it’s hard enough to stay on track when you’re not missing days on end. For an actual SAAC it’s more worth it, it’s hard to justify that immense sacrifice for a lesser tournament.

Speaking of actual SAAC, what is it worth now that worse players can essentially do the same thing (travel abroad to play foreign schools) without earning a spot on the actual SAAC team? Where does it leave SAAC if you no longer need to stand out and earn a spot to have a similar experience?

I’ll tell you where it leaves it. It leaves a once prestigious event tarnished and unremarkable, taking away all the spellbinding magic and mystique from a previously unique experience. When SAAC is no longer a unique experience only available to those who earn it, the experience is cheapened to the point of virtual worthlessness. This takes away from the dedicated athletes who work tirelessly, devoting countless hours to a sport they care deeply about, to earn a spot on the highest level of their field at Nido. By rendering the distinction between varsity and JV (a distinction that should be of paramount emphasis) blurry and meaningless, it weakens the Nido sports program as a whole. It is in no way worth the financial and academic trouble to insouciantly sully the Nido athletics program for what is a lackluster experience anyway.

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Sabrina Morales

The Meaning of Being a Senior

Now, everything makes sense. Listening to the irritating alarm over the years to wake up on time, following the same routine day after day. Up until now, I never took into account the time when these daily routines would come to an end. When I stepped into senior year, I never expected that the last first day would be sentimental, or that we suddenly carry an immense responsibility of being positive “leaders” around school, and needed to own up to “senior privileges”. From freshman year, we all did our own thing at our own pace, following rules to prevent getting into trouble. Now, in our last year, we live wanting to enjoy the little high school that is left, while we make decisions about college that will impact the rest of our lives.

As spirit week approaches, there has been a growing sense of unity. For four years now, we have performed these activities, beating and losing to generations above and below us. Now, we aim to show the underclassmen the absolute best our generation can produce. We have the right to an entire afternoon (or even night) to delicately vandalize the school and turn it black, leaving the first traces of our “legacy”. Field day is more than just a competition between all generations. It is one of the few moments that we share with everyone who has been present for these past four years, from the guards at the entrance of the school to our best friend, teachers, and janitors. Nido may have changed thousands of details around school, but there has always been familiar that has always remained, and will soon, inevitably, be gone within a matter of months.

When completing our last Week Without Walls form, thoughts were consumed by the fact that this is one of our last chances to share an experience with our friends. The reflection journals all of a sudden become more valuable, turning into personal diaries for the duration of the trip. Later, in the second semester, we have senior skip day. Although it is considered to be an illegal activity, it is a tradition from generation to generation to have a bonding moment that lasts from morning to night.

Another senior tradition includes the Senior Sunset and Hike. Ultimately, these symbolic events help us close the high school stage with those we have shared it with since we were younger. Moments and anecdotes are cherished, with gratitude to our classmates that have shaped us into the people we are now.

Many will likely idealize their friendships, thinking they will last over time. The names that we have in our yearbook, hoodie, and memory, are the most definite sign of that. Once graduation day arrives, the separation of our generation will become accepted as one more stage to life.

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Sabrina Morales

IB Theater Performance

Darkness, plastic, deem light and troubled breathing. On August 16, the upperclassmen had access to one of the most compelling performances of the IB theater class constituted by: Claudia Anabitarte, Lucia Londero, Natalia Corio, Claudia Mulkey and Natalie O’shannessy. The presentation was concentrated in the main stage of the theater, completely closing its doors so the audience had a unusual closeness with the performance itself. It lasted around fifteen minutes, in which the essence of intimacy was easily captured by the restricted number of spectators allowed who had to watch through a plastic wrap plastered around the cage.

Notably, the play was focused around the Stockholm Syndrome, illustrating how an effective bond can be developed as a method of survival, where captives have been stimulated in the exclusive company of captors. It usually occurs when an individual has been withheld from liberty and held against their will, enduring in conditions of isolation: “It is a psychological state where the victim detained against his own will developing a complicity relationship with the person who has abducted her. Most of the victims who have suffered kidnappings speak with contempt, hatred or indifference from their captors.” (https://itspsychology.com)

Despite the lack of dialogue, it was easy to apprehend the intensity of the syndrome, particularly through the use of breaths and desperate screams. The song of “Every Breath you Take” was continuously repeated but in different versions, highlighting the phrase “I’ll be watching you”, which provided the feeling that the kidnapper and the captive had a symbiotic and obsessive relationship.

The underclassmen were limited to being spectators of this work because the subject that was being portrayed needed a certain maturity and emotional stability; the images that were being exhibited could cause disturbing feelings in the younger minds.

The members of the performance had been working on this project since March. They chose Stockholm Syndrome because it shows the development of relationships when at the end, the kidnapper and the captive are connected in this vicious cycle and become the same person but with different pasts.

Uniquely, the group felt the importance to utilize a cage because it was the first object that would convey captivity and the rectangular shape of it would allow the audience to sit around it and observe the play with different perspectives. The cage itself was enclosed in plastic with the significance that it is a material that it’s easy to break even when you don’t want to, which is a direct connection with the obsession surrounding Stockholm Syndrome.

Correspondingly, theater performances like this one are a fundamental privilege in our school because it allows us to express ourselves and socialize. It helps us acquire a deeper knowledge of ourselves, our expectations, thoughts and actions. Thus, theater can also become a great educational tool in our own personal development.

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Changes to Sound and Stage

Franco Del Bono

The vast majority of this high school may not be aware that Sound and Stage Engineering is not an extracurricular activity, it’s a class with increasingly advanced levels like Sound and Stage II and III. Juan Eduardo “Juane” Vidal, a long time leader of the theater stage crew, teaches the subject and has had to content himself with fairly small classes for the past few years. In fact, Juane is not remunerated for his work as a Sound & Stage (SSE) teacher, which he does because “it is what [he] loves to do.” The class mostly centers around teaching students the basics of how to operate sound/light consoles and construct stages, as well as providing manpower for such tasks in most assemblies and events.

In the past, however, the class has been hampered by contradictions between schedules and other complications. But this year, at least for SSE II, Juane has other plans. He begun this year’s class by announcing that SSE was leaving its homeland in the back of Mr. Aguayo’s room and moving to permanently occupy the Black Box. Upon arrival there, he informed the class - myself included - that the room was not at present suitable to house SSE. For this reason, he suggested we overhauled the room and its three recording studios, two of which were turned into sound rooms. So began the long process still in effect to fill up the room with sound absorbing panels, wiring, reorganizing the stage and generally making it more suitable for performances, even a new wall was built.

As Vidal explained, the switchover was a result of his desire for there to be more “project based learning” that would also leave the school with “something valuable” in the form a functioning black box. He mentioned that the renovation would also take students out of their comfort zone by making them work in the setup of the new room. As I can attest, working to put up sound absorbing panels across a room for several classes in a row is indeed quite a useful yet previously unused skill that it was quite entertaining to adapt to.

As a perk resultant from the low population of the class - composed of 8 students - the three former recording studios and one storage room have been subdivided so that they are under the personal jurisdiction of particular students. The new stage/sound room has been left under Franco Del Bono Lonardi, the recording room under Agustin Volante, an its adjacent control room under Pascual Goldin & Miguel Corredor, while the three sophomores (Stephen Yo, Tomas Anriquez, and Thomas Wayne Mulky) share control of the storage room and stage. Students even have taken the trouble of decorating their respective rooms with lights, flags and frivolities.

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/Reviews

Joao Pereira

Joao Reviews Spirit Week Grade Movies Freshmen

This movie was a parody of Avengers: Infinity war. The Freshies seek all of the “Infinity Stones”, which are scattered throughout different classes, so that they can stop the Seniors from winning. The movie ends with the valuable lesson that Freshies never win. This film was creative, having some humorous scenes involving ex-Seniors as well as a few teachers. At times, it was a little difficult to follow and could often seem unorganized, especially with opening scenes not making a lot of sense. It should be noted that no Freshman class has ever made a good spirit week movie due to their lack of experience and this one was no exception. However, its humorous scenes still make it an impressive accomplishment considering Freshman standards.

Sophomores

Speaking of unorganized, next came the Sophomore movie. This film followed a handful of Sophomores whose PowerSchool got blocked as they attempt to find out who stole some important papers, all while stuck in detention. Oh, and then someone dies in the end I think. Suffice it to say, this film was confusing. It relied heavily on dialogue between two characters and it did not help that the conversations were often inaudible. I am sure this would have been a better movie if the audio quality were even slightly better and if the audience understood what the characters were saying. The small crew working on it showed a lot of effort but unfortunately produced something with a story too convoluted to work.

Juniors

With a little more Spirit Week experience than before, the Juniors produce something of slightly higher quality. It followed the adventure of a group of students who find a briefcase which was hidden in the school at its founding. It is the first movie of the afternoon in which the audio is comprehensible at all times. It is also the first movie of the afternoon where the plot makes sense. The movie was however, a plateau of aimlessness as the student’s actions seemed to amount to nothing. It is clear that this was made last minute, generating a high-quality nothingness.

Seniors

Lastly, the Senior movie. This movie was about the class of 2019 but set in the year 2030, where the now-Alumni find out their diplomas were faked and must have a reunion to find out what is going on. The movie has a few small flaws, such as the occasional excessive dialogue and the film seems to go in trivial circles briefly prior to the scene where the whole grade is brought together. Beyond this, the movie was great. Once the premise is established, the movie is hilarious with the portrayal of students’ future selves as well as comical interactions with Mr. Franco. The mystery is finally solved when the film refers back to the grade’s Sophomore movie. This successful flashback to another year was a phenomenal device to use and truly represents the apex in Spirit Week movie making. The movie had a few small flaws while constructing its premise, however, it blew the competition out of the water.

15 | Reviews

/Reviews

Joao Pereira

Joao Reviews Skyscraper

On July 1st, Legendary Pictures released the disaster thriller “Skyscraper”.

This movie is packed with exciting action scenes. Said scenes do not make sense, were not properly introduced, and are an attempt to appeal to anyone.

The introduction to the main characters and their dynamics is easily replaceable. Everything that needs to be set up for the story to make sense is done so in about 90 seconds, in the most rushed and pointless manner.

There is an offhand attempt at bringing the story full circle in the final act with a scene which parallels the introduction, yet the opportunity to show that the character has grown or even slightly changed in the many

16 | Reviews

years between the two events is disregarded completely. The protagonist remains static for the entire 102 minutes of the movie.

The main character’s wife and children serve no purpose other than needing to be saved. They could easily have been replaced with anything of value to the protagonist and the movie would have received the same amount of sympathy from viewers without having to place three pointless characters in the story. The same effect would have been generated if the protagonist was running into a burning building to save a single person, or perhaps a dog, his favourite mug, or the first draft to his extended essay.

The most painful part of this film are the villains. Their actions are ridiculously random, and their motives are explained in a 15 second dialogue scene from a minor character. They are the perfect example of one of this movie’s main flaw, all small details and scenes are made to allow the plot to occur, no matter how ridiculous those details are. The villains simply show up in the building, and the amount of bad guys seems to vary from scene to scene depending on how many would look the coolest fighting Dwayne Johnson.

This movie is bad. It is yet another bland action movie starring the Rock.

/News

Isabel Alvarez

Chile’s Michelle Barchelet Takes Over the UN HRC

Former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010; 2014-2018), has been appointed by Secretary General Antonio Guterres as the next United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights. She is succeeding Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein of Jordan and will begin her term in September 1 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Bachelet was the first woman in Chile to become President, the country’s highest rank of office in 2006. The pediatrician turned politician began her career as advisor of the health ministry, later becoming herself Health Minister in 2000, and taking over the defense minister in 2002. She is usually acknowledged as a contemporary pioneer in the role of women in Chilean politics.

After losing for a second term to President

this is usually the source of her inspiration and motivation of her work with the United Nations.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The year has been packed with bombshells: the US has exited the Human Rights Council; Venezuela and Cuba are being denounced for violations; the UN is being denounced for incompetency in addressing human rights crisis in North Korea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Myanmar, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the world. While the UN should be at its height of experience and authority, it is the complete opposite as many countries are not seeing diplomacy as the effective method to resolve conflict and ignoring the organization. It is an understatement that Bachelet will have an arduous task to restore the jurisdiction,

Sebastian Piñera in 2010, she pursued a parallel career in the United Nations as the executive director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women; also known as UNWomen. Nonetheless, she ran again for a second term in the 2014 Chilean Presidential elections and was victorious over Piñera.

Bachelet was honored with this prestigious charge that has special meaning to her. She often alludes to the claims she has made about her father (the head of Food Distribution in Salvador Allende’s government) being detained and tortured for treason during General Augusto Pinochet’s regime. She was also a witness to several abuses of human rights made during the dictatorship in Chile. Consequently,

influence and honor of the UN.

Human Rights is one of the most sensitive matters and subjects in the world, let alone in the world of diplomacy. Its extent of universality or relativity is still a matter of debate even decades after the establishment of the Council and organization.

Although the “correct” answers to questions of human ethics and judgement will never be found, some common ground is needed to enforce international law. Hopefully this new charge of leadership will bring upon some radical changes the UN is in need of and not create a new list of failures to study from.

17 | News

/School Life

Abigail Woodward

Political Polarization in Institutions

In 2006 a national study by sociologist Solon Simmons found that only 14% of university professors categorized themselves as politically conservative, and among the professors that selected moderate, many still identified themselves as left-leaning on many social issues. So what is the effect of the majority of teachers being “more liberal” on college campuses? In many subjects, such as STEM majors, the politics of the professor do not have a great influence on their teaching.

However, in many humanities-based subjects, the opinion of the teacher may permeate into the education of the students, however unintentionally it may be. The effect of this is that the students’ political beliefs will then begin to mirror their professors’. In fact, the number of college students who identify as liberal or far left has reached a record high in the past several years. In 2016, over 137,000 college freshmen responded to the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute’s annual freshman survey, and the results indicated that students are more politically polarized (and liberal) today than they have been in the past fifty one years.

A sample of the data, showing freshmen students’ political identifications for the past six years] Having a strong majority of liberal staff members on campus also influences college culture and the perceived ambivalence of freedom of speech. In 2016, a Harvard study found that 21% of Republican students, in contrast to the 8% of democrats, found themselves uncomfortable sharing their political opinions. Ideally these values would both be zero, but if the political attitudes of university students toward Republican beliefs were equal to the Democrat’s, the ratio of Republicans concerned with their ability to express their opinions on campus would be equal to the Democrats’.

But why the large amount of liberal professors? According to Neil Gross, a sociologist and professor at New York University, the liberal nature of the profession goes back at least a century. In the early 1900s academia obtained its reputation for its welcome to progressive values, leading left-wing students to see post-secondary education as a welcoming gateway for future careers. This liberal appeal lead to conservative students being deterred from academia, reinforcing the number of Democratic scholars that would come from college institutions. Therefore, even at this present day, the number of conservative professors is not a preference of their employers, but purely based on their abundant availability.

How can this apply to Nido? As many of us are aware, the majority of teachers at Nido fall toward the left-leaning end of the spectrum, which can create pros and cons for the developing political views of the students. In areas such as the humanities, where political views are related to the course material, students can benefit from having liberal teachers as they can provide a perspective that many leftward politicians have when making decisions. However, having an unequal distribution of perspective also leads students to not fully understand other interpretations or perspectives that have equal weight in politics.

Overall, the important lesson to learn is that implicit biases on both sides, both within and outside of the US, have positive and negative impacts on learning. Therefore, it’s important in this global era and multicultural setting of Nido, to remember the importance of understanding these biases when creating your own opinions.

18 | News

become a member!

The Eagle Manifesto is a great group of student writers. However, most members are seniors who will be leaving in a few months time. In order to maintain a strong group, the club is opening up for anyone, especially underclassmen, to join. If you would like to become a part of the club, please do the following:

1. Check your calendar to make sure you are free Wednesday at lunch

2. Send an email to Diego Plaza (diego.plazahomiston@student.nido.cl) and AnalĂ­a Ferreyra (analia.ferreyra@stu-

dent.nido.cl)

a. The email should include:

i. Your name and grade

ii. Availability Wednesday lunch

iii. Your favorite topic to write about

iv. Why you want to join the club

If you decide to join the Eagle Manifesto, you will be committing to a meeting every Wednesday lunch, writing approximately every other week, and editing others’ work. This club is a great opportunity to meet new people, show your interest and talent in writing, and discuss pressing issues at Nido and around the world. We appreciate you interest in the Eagle Manifesto, and hope to hear from you soon.

19 | ONE OF US

CONTRIBUTORS: Editors-in-Chief: Diego Plaza Analia Ferreyra

Writing Staff: Nelia Perry Benjamin Crosbie Isabel Alvarez Joao Pereira Diego Plaza

Lead Layout and Design: Do Young Ryu

20 | Contributors