GlobaL Journal (Winter Supplement)

Gl obal Jou r n al Taft School - Spring Supplement

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Let t er f rom t he Edit ors: Global Journal is a student-led publication with the goal of shedding light on the wide range of perspectives present in the Taft community. To this end, GJ seeks to raise awareness of global issues through pieces on current events and travel, and to share the Non ut sibi spirit through students? service experiences. In this issue, we asked students to lend their opinions on global affairs, share stories from their lives, as participate in an interview responding to events of racism and homophobia at Taft.

Taft experienced a wake-up call this past winter, as multiple students were targeted based on their races and sexual identities. As a part of the effort to continue the discussion regarding and become a place where we are not defined by how we look or how we identify but by who we are, we ask you to contribute to Global Journal and discuss issues of oppression and violence in whichever way you are comfortable. Global Journal should be a place where we all feel safe discussing issues that many are uncomfortable talking about in their day-to-day lives.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who submitted an article to Global Journal? we appreciate the time and effort you put into writing these articles! We encourage new people to keep writing, and if you ever have an idea for a topic that is outside of what we suggest, we welcome your input and creativity. You are the people who help keep Global Journal alive, and we are grateful that you all want to be a part of it!!

- GJ Editors: Aditya Balsekar, Maddie Savage, Ali Sinan Kaya, Eliza King Freedman, Magda Kisielinska, and Benjamin Laufer (not pictured)

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Neu r oscien ce in New Yor k By: Micah Umeh '19 (Photo credit: Micah Umeh '19) Thanks to the Meg Page '74 grant, this past summer I had the pleasure of attending a three week immersion program at Columbia University in New York City where I had the opportunity to further expand my knowledge in a specific field of medicine. There were eight science courses they offered, ranging from topics of astronomy to investigations in theoretical and experimental physic. However, I instead chose Introduction to Neuroscience: Understanding the Brain because it appeared to explain one of the professions I saw myself pursuing in the future.

Upon arriving to the massive Columbia campus, I first made my way, with difficulty, to Furnald Hall, where I would live for the next three weeks of my summer. I was introduced to my residential advisor (RA), Michael, whose job was to help me settle in, show me to the buildings in which I had class, and help make the three week period a stress free one. Michael was very welcoming and assured my mother that despite living a 40 minute subway ride away, she didn?t need to come check on me every day. After we broke the ice, he showed my mother and I to my room, where I ended meeting the roommate I didn?t know I would have have. His name was Scott, from Orange County in California, and, as it turns out, he was one of my best friends during the program.

Each morning, we?d wake up at 8:30, catch breakfast, and then we would make our ways to our respective classes. Intro to Neuroscience was broken up into two parts of the day: a lecture from 9:10 to 11:00 am and a lab from 1:10 to 3:00 pm. The lecture was very complicated to understand, seeing that I had not taken AP Biology, as every other person in my class had. As a result, I found it difficult to

comprehend the simple concept of axons and dendrites because even the words themselves were unfamiliar and strange. Later on that day, we began to discuss the different parts of the brain, one of my favorite parts of the course because we were all confused with together. The task for the lab in the afternoon was to take a sheep brain, slice it in half, and proceed to identify the different parts. By no means was it easy to point out the occipital lobe, hypothalamus, or temporal lobe, but it was satisfying to finally get a taste of what it feels like to be a real doctor conducting a complex surgery on a live, human brain.

I am truly thankful to the Page family, Ms. Frew, and the Columbia University Program for High School Students for making my goals for last summer a reality because it pushed me towards believing even more that I want to become a doctor. Without the grant and academic support, I wouldn?t have been able to take part in what I believe to be a turning point in my pursuit of a medical profession. I would recommend this program to anyone because it gives its students a chance to learn about fields that seem so complicated until one allows his self to be fully immersed in them and the knowledge that goes with them.

By: Yaya Lu '19

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Th e Cri si s i n Pu ert o Ri co By: Elizab et h Barat t a Image source: Alessandro Pietri / Shutterstock.com

Six months ago, a deadly and ruthless category 4 hurricane slammed into Puerto Rico. After cutting power lines and flooding homes, Hurricane Maria made sure to leave her mark.

Now, nearly half a million inhabitants of the island are living without power. In addition to this lack of energy, basic human needs are not being met due to a lack of water and subsequent health issues. These extreme natural disasters have sadly become the new norm as hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes have recently affected millions around the globe. However, there are still efforts being made to restore power to the entire island and bring it back to its original state.

A video circulated on line depicting children jumping for joy in a school in San Juan, Puerto Rico?s capital. After waiting 112 days, the power in their school was finally activated again. While the video was heartwarming and displayed an undeniable sense of joy from students and teachers alike, many residents still remain without power. According to a New York Times article published in late December, barely half of

the people living in Puerto Rico, 55% to be exact, had their power restored. Even now, according to ABC News, 25% of the population remains without power. This lack of electricity has had tremendous repercussions on not only the citizens, but also the economy. Many have been unable to return to work therefore putting a damper on an already weak market.

The hurricane has not only brought with it devastation to the Puerto Rican economy, but also new levels of public health crises. Mental illness has been on the rise in Puerto Rico as a result of the 10 year recession that left thousands unemployed and stranded in poverty. Now that Hurricane Maria has hit, large numbers of people are struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Ravaging rain and vicious winds blasted the small island for 72 hours straight, leaving too many without homes, food, water, and even family members. Many struggling with mental health problems before the disaster have been unable to receive their medication and therapy, only exacerbating the problem at hand. 32 suicides have

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been recorded since the storm hit and more than 2,000 calls have come in to an emergency hotline for psychiatric crises even though almost half the island still remains without power. Returning to a daily routine is critical in overcoming trauma, but how are those who are struggling able to overcome their problems when the reminders are all around them?

Additionally, a water crisis is most likely descending upon Puerto Rico. Right after the hurricane hit, many no longer had access to running water, so instead they looked to nearby streams and rivers for a water supply. Due to the lack of electricity, many were not able to boil their water, even though it is an easy way to rid drinking water of bacteria and other organisms. Because of this crisis, Puerto Rico has recorded at least 76 cases of Leptospirosis, a very rare and harmful bacteria that is transmitted through exposure to the urine of an infected animal usually through food, water, or soil.

For those who did have access to running water, it

Image source: Alessandro Pietri / Shutterstock.com

was not necessarily clean and safe to ingest. For an already fragile system, Hurricane Maria was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Although coverage of the island in the media has recently lowered, controversy over the official death toll continues to make its way to headlines.

Officially, the number of deaths as a result of the storm lies at 64, but many suspect this number to be much higher. Some say the number lies somewhere around 1,050 others say 500. We may never know the exact number, but what we do know is that there are important measures being taken, and Puerto Rico is slowly but surely returning to its original state. Although there have been improvements, Puerto Rico, and its surrounding islands, still have a long way to go.

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You Kn ow Hi s Nam e, Bu t You Do Not Kn ow Hi s St ory An int erview of Ernest Bawa '20

by El iza King Freedman '19 (Photos provided by Ernest Bawa '20) Ernest Bawa is a sophomore at Taft who is here from Ghana through Right to Dream Academy. Right to Dream is a non-profit organization in Ghana that combines soccer with education and character development. It?s goals are to ?open opportunities to world class professional pathways? for kids in Ghana and to allow them to ?change their reality.? As I click on the link to the Right to Dream website, I am redirected to a page with a quotation that reads, ?no matter where you are, or what you do, you deserve the opportunity to fight for something you believe in.? Bawa is at Taft with a purpose; he is here not only to educate himself and receive a ?boarding school experience? but to ?fight for something.? He is fighting for his family. He goes by his last name because it reminds him of them, and he chooses not to go home because it would only make things harder on him and all of the people he has had to leave behind. Going home would mean ?starting over? and trying to explain what he is doing in America to his mother, and he can?t do that until he has something to bring back with him.

Bawa is from Ashaiman, Accra, Ghana, a city of houses and slums, and he used to run away from his aunt and uncle to play on dirt soccer fields throughout the city. His father died

when he was four, so his uncle inherited not only his brother?s land but his youngest son, Bawa. In fact, Bawa didn?t know who his aunt and uncle were until he was eight, when he met his mother, brother, and sister.

His mother and brother live in a village outside of Ashaiman, but his sister moved to the city to find work after becoming pregnant, dropping out of school in the process. Bawa?s uncle paid for him to go to private school in the city, a good school, but he hated it. Bawa was told to focus on his school work and that ?soccer would get him nowhere?, but the young dreamer believed otherwise. So, Bawa took beatings in exchange for the chance to play barefoot with his friends because he saw in his future what no one else would.

When he was twelve, he risked it all, running away from home to the Right to Dream tryouts in the next town over. His day-long excursion extended itself to a week, and he called his uncle to tell him that he had

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been taken to another tryout location, as he had made it through the first wave of tryouts. Bawa laughed here, as he told me about how he ended up at the Right to Dream Academy a month later without having returned home since he left for the first wave of tryouts. After the first month of his three-month tryout at the Academy, his uncle came and spoke with the headmaster about the opportunities that come with a Right to Dream education.

His uncle learned that Right to Dream would not only allow him to turn professional after his education, but it would send him to the United States for the type of education that he could not receive without the academy?s help. Thus, Bawa proved his uncle wrong and showed him that soccer could in fact take him somewhere. And so it began.

In 2016, Bawa was rejected from another boarding school after going against the wishes of his coaches and deciding to come to America. That same year, he met Mr. Parente and was accepted to Taft. Since then, Bawa has not only affected his soccer teammates and those in his classes, but he has come to serve as proof of where hard work can take you to everyone else at Taft. So, to everyone here who may or may not have known Bawa?s story, there are a few things Bawa needs you to know about himself: A lot of kids in Ghana have to give up on their dreams of becoming a professional soccer player, but Bawa was fortunate enough to get to Right to Dream, and he is not about to let anybody ?hold him back from doing what so many other kids

dreamed of but failed to do.? So, the only person that can keep Bawa from achieving what he wants to achieve is himself. Furthermore, it is not the idea of getting good grades or even playing soccer that gets Bawa up in the morning. He told me, ?That?s what wakes me up -- the thought of seeing my mom smiling, my family out of poverty, giving kids back home a hope that if Bawa made it, then I can too.? Bawa is indebted to his mother, his aunt, his uncle, and the Right to Dream Academy. Bawa is at Taft because not only does he have all of these people to support and garner support from, but he has ?a lot of people to prove wrong,? too.

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Th e Ci vi l War i n Yem en By: Maddie Savage '18

Image source: ymphotos / Shutterstock.com

Both at Taft and in the United States, it is easy to get caught up in our own current events and avoid expending much of our day to day energy keeping ourselves up-to-date on global current events. The never-ending stream of domestic and national news can sometimes overshadow important headlines and conflicts of the world. Though I like to think I do a relatively thorough job staying informed, taking AP Human Geography this year has made it clear to me that there is a lot that about which I am still extremely uninformed. The most substantial case study that I knew almost nothing about before completing a homework assignment on is the civil war in Yemen.

One of the Arabian Peninsula?s poorest countries, Yemen has been racked by civil war between internationally-recognized government and rebel forces.

The government of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi is fighting forces who are allied with a group called Houthi rebels, members of an Islamic religious-political armed movement. Though countries such as Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates regard them as a terrorist group, they have never been linked to any

discrete acts of terrorism. Many see the conflict as a physical manifestation of the regional power struggle between Iran (primarily Shia) and Saudi Arabia (primarily Sunni).

The conflict, which started in March of 2015, has resulted in the deaths of over 8,600 people and injuries of 49,000 people, mostly resulting from air strikes by supporters of the government side. In attempts to quell the rebels, a Saudi-led coalition imposed a blockade of resources to Yemen, which was detrimental due to the large percentage of its nation?s food that is imported rather than locally grown. On top of this, Yemen?s location is strategically significant because of its site on the Bab al-Mandab strait, a narrow waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Yemen?s situation is important because the Bab al-Mandab strait is important for much of the world?s oil shipments to pass through. As a result, 20 million people have been left in need of humanitarian assistance, and according to BBC news, the conflict has ?created the world?s largest food security emergency?.

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On top of this, in April of last year, Yemen began to experience what the UN is calling the ?world?s worst cholera outbreak,?. Over 1,000 people have fallen victim to the disease over the past nine months. Cholera is a very contagious bacterial infection that is caused by contaminated drinking water or food and can cause death in less than forty-eight hours when left untreated. In developed countries and even in peaceful developing countries, treating cholera is not difficult; however, war-ridden Yemen is near impossible to treat. As a result of the war, much of the country?s main infrastructure has been damaged. This has created problems both with contamination of drinking water due to pollution from the debris, as well as by destroying any means of water treatment or sanitary food storage. To make matters worse, hospitals lack the proper medical equipment, staff, room, medicine, and safety to house such a massive influx of patients.

looming threat of air strikes from the civil war, and the ruthless outbreaks of cholera, Yemen is in trouble.

Unfortunately, there is no predicted ceasefire in the near future. Until one of the two sides is willing to compromise, Yemen will remain unable to bring itself out of this crisis, and will likely not return to its previous of productivity and GDP for many years following the end of the conflict.

Outlet for Donations: -UNICEF -savethechildren.org -UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees)

Between lack of food and clean drinking water, the

Image source: Oleg Znamenskiy / Shutterstock.com

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Th e Wi n t er Ol ym p i cs By: Elizab et h Barat t a ' 18 Every two years, billions of people around the globe tune in to watch their respective countries compete in the prestigious Olympic Games, alternating between winter and summer events.

Commencing on February 9, the 2018 Winter Olympics were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Viewers had the chance to watch the best athletes compete in areas such as alpine skiing, figure skating, and curling. This year, another successful Olympic Games has passed, and the anticipation leading up to the event to begin and the excitement throughout could not have been higher.

events. Today, 204 nations send over 10, 000 competitors to the Summer Olympics and, this past month, 92 nations competed in 102 events in the Winter Olympics. But there has not always been both Winter and Summer Games. The Winter Games were first held 28 years after the first games, in 1924 in Chamonix, France. At that time, it had been decided that the Summer and Winter Games would occur in the same year, and it wasn?t until 1994 that the Winter Olympics began to be held every other four years, two years after the Summer Olympics.

While many watch Olympic Games, few are aware of the origin of the games and the significant events that have occurred at them since. The Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece and were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games. These ancient games were held in Olympia, Greece and took place from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Held every four years, city-states sent their best athletes to compete in chariot racing, wrestling, and many other events. There have been several effort to recreate the Olympics, such as the L?Olympiade de la RĂŠpublique, which attempted to recreate the Olympic Games in Revolutionary France between 1796 and 1798. Liverpool also hosted their own Grand Olympic Festival between 1862 and 1867, and the first Olympics held in Athens was heavily based off of the Liverpool Olympics. While many different variations have existed over the years, they all created a unique environment that attracted the world?s best competitors.

In addition to the inclusion of the Winter Games, the creation of the Paralympic Games in 1948 was a significant step for the Olympic Committee. The Paralympics were created with the hopes of promoting the rehabilitation of soldiers that had been wounded and injured during World War II. Using sports as an avenue to healing was a new thought, but has proved effective since. Now, the Paralympics take place in every Olympic year and are always in the same host city for Olympics.

Since the Olympics were founded in 1896, there have been numerous advances and improvements to the games. In 1896, 241 athletes competed in 43

This year there was a significant increase in media coverage of the Winter Olympic Games due to the rising tensions between North and South Korea and the Russian Doping Scandal. The first ever combined Korean Olympic team, comprised of North and South Korea, made its debut during the Women?s Ice Hockey event. The two countries also marched together, marking the tenth time the two nations have done so. While the two countries have competed in joint teams together for international tournaments, this was the first Olympic team. The two nations marched behind a flag that showed an undivided Korean Peninsula, and it was supported by spectators from both countries, as North Korea

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also sent 230 supporters to the Games. While this was a milestone for both countries, it is hard to tell what will come next for the two nations.

The Russian Doping Scandal has caught the eyes of many this year, after its state-backed doping program and cheating scheme were exposed. As a result of the scandal, Russia was nominally barred from the 2018 Winter Olympics. In addition, Russian Government officials were forbidden from attending the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, and the national anthem was not be played nor was the nation?s flag displayed. However, a small number of Russian athletes still competed this year, though not technically representing The Russian Federation as

Image source: Ververidis Vasilis / Shutterstock.com

they used the Olympic Flag and went by the name "Olympic Athletes from Russia".

Despite the controversies, the 2018 Winter Olympic Games have been a great demonstration of paramount athleticism from all over the world. Be sure to keep in mind the history and importance of the games as this winter comes to an end!

Cover t aken riny Turkey b y Quin cynMorgan Th e Taf t Sch ool -Phot 110 o: Woodbu Road - Wat er t ow , CT - t af 't19 sch ool.or g