6
opinion Panther Prowler • Oct. 18 2019 Emily Nagamoto/Prowler
Emma Schoors News Editor are less chemicals and less pain. They squint to lessen the burning. They are constantly being pet and exposed to the hot sun, and their skin can develop rashes and bruises that need to be treated with various creams and ointments. In the wild, dolphins live on fresh fish that they catch themselves, but in captivity, they have to be trained to feed on dead, frozen fish. Beyond their unideal eating situation, they’re kept hungry before their performances (a tactic called ‘food deprivation training’) t o ensure t h e
“Just because it feels good, it doesn’t make it right,” wrote environmental philanthropist Shari Sant Plummer after playing with bottlenose dolphins at the National Aquarium--dolphins that had been born in captivity and do frequent shows for onlookers like her to marvel at. The famously smiley animals hop along the glistening waters of their tanks and do endless tricks. They squint in joy when being pet by audiences, like they are superstars on the red carpet with the spotlight shining brightly down on them. However, there are more than a couple things wrong with romanticising the captivity of dolphins and other animals this way. The high chlorine levels in the water can damage a dolphin’s eyesight, urging them to float near the surface where there
best results for their audiences, which means that doing tricks is often the only way these animals will be fed. According to science.org the average dolphin lifespan is anywhere from 4050 years, but for a captive dolphin this number can be cut in half. No tank can properly replicate the kinds of predators and threats they deal with in the wild, so dolphins born in captivity are highly unlikely to survive if they are ever released into their natural habitat. Visiting dolphins in their natural habitats can be an educating and fun experience, and you can actually take a peek into how these animals make their way in their world naturally. Grabbing a bag of popcorn and watching a dolphin show might seem like a harmless feat, but the unnatural stress and extensive physical damage it does to these animals is just not worth the trip.
Emily Augustine/Prowler
Emma Schoors News Editor As long as a zest for long baths in ice cold Atlantic water is not a boarding requirement, Titanic II is a genius idea that should be given a chance by possible investors and passengers alike. There are a couple of things that come to mind when the average person thinks of Titanic. Young Leonardo DiCaprio, a piece of wood that could have fit him if he dared to try and the real sinking of the RMS Titanic that killed 1,500 people on a freezing April night in 1912. Now it is sitting two miles down at the bottom of the ocean with bacteria eating and disintegrating it rapidly, and billionaire Clive Palmer is dishing out a hefty $500 million to do it again, this time with the help of navigation, radars, plenty of lifeboats, and a brand new diesel engine. The bridge of the ship will be one Claris
sa Sh
in/Pr
of the only rooms that will be completely different than the original. The replica will include many of the original’s selling points; the lavish staircase, luxurious restaurants, a heated pool and even a gym with state of the art workout equipment- by 1912 standards anyway. Each of the dining and living rooms will be replicated, and guests will reportedly be treated to era clothing pieces to further the early 1900’s experience. Best case scenario, the complementary iceberg collision and eventual sinking of the ship will not be an inclusion. With luxury comes expense, and Titanic II is no exception. Complete with the option of
owle
r
first, second, and third-class guest rooms, passengers are looking at a pretty penny for the do-over. In today’s standards, a thirdclass ticket on the original Titanic could cost anywhere from $350 to $900, and if you were a wealthy or influential figure, a first-class ticket could do the damage of $1,700 to $50,000. One can only imagine what the tickets for the improved trip will cost. Titanic II is set to sail as early as 2022, with her maiden voyage venturing from Southampton to New York; a trip on which her predecessor sunk after a collision with an iceberg over a century ago. The original ship had intense pressure to be built quickly and break records at the time. With the lack of rush and much better materials available to complete the voyage safely, anyone with the means and interest to should consider sailing on this iconic, upgraded ship when the time comes.
Athiests have feelings too Carter Castillo Opinion Editor Atheists have no sense of morality and their main goal in life is to indoctrinate good religious children, or at least that’s what some people in this community want me to believe. There has been a lot of anger from the religious right about California’s new sexual education policies, which has caused many of them to use religion as a motive for their opposition. In the heated conversations between community members, there is at least one thing they all seem to agree upon, that nobody wants to discriminate against anybody based on their religion. Even though community members and politicians claim they do not want to discriminate based on religion, when you look at their rhetoric it is clear that discriminating is exactly what people like her are doing. When a member of a public school board gets in front of large groups of people and warns them about a secular humanist curriculum she is only feeding into the hurtful stigma that atheists deal with. Humanity has always had some form of religious identity, and trust me, I have heard that “everybody needs to believe in something,” but maybe I just don’t, and I don’t think that makes me any less of a person than my peers. There seems to be this idea that because atheists don’t believe in god, that inherently makes them incapable of interpreting morality. I say this not out of a place of anger, but out of hurt. I’m tired of having my religious beliefs (or lack thereof ) as being used as a false conspiracy for far-right religious leaders to oppose more inclusive curriculums in school. Most atheists don’t fit the stereotype of a smug late night TV host who constantly has an aura of superiority, they are humans like the rest of us. Just like all humans, atheists want to fit in, make friends, and get along with people. My opportunity to decide who I am and what my religious or spiritual beliefs are should not be infringed upon by people who may have contrary ideas. I am so tired of the feeling of not being included, because when people say we accept “all religions” it always feels like the caveat is that they only seem to want to accept those with a religion. I’m not naive, I know a lot of people will be angry or resort to gross personal attacks, and I certainly know that no matter what I say some people will shut themselves off and resort to their intolerance, but I hope that my message resonates with those who have open minds. I want to respect people’s views that are so different than mine, but I struggle to listen when they are preaching intolerance of me.
