October 2022

CURRENT AFFAIRS IN A WAY YOU'LL LOVE

CUBA LEGALIZES GAY MARRIAGE

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DESIGN?

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SMILES

SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER

HURRICANES

Sahithi Lingampalli

vice executive public relations co-director

Taruni Manam

Aathmika Radhachandran

Juee Deshmukh

Mia Grace

vice executive lifestyle co-director

public relations co-director

Kavya Gurunath

vice executive science co-director

Evelyn Chen

art co-director

Rachel Adam

science co-director

politics & world events co-director

politics & world events co-director

Harini Akurathi

Thejo Tattala

Uday Lingampalli

layout co-director

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Ashmita Annamalai

founder art co-director

tech director

editing director

meet the directors @theaffairmag theaffairmag@gmail.com Published monthly by The Affair.

All Rights Reserved.

ART BY EVELYN CHEN COVER DESIGN BY SAHITHI LINGAMPALLI

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meet the staff

WRITERS: Rachel Adam Brooke Huppert Thejo Tattala Kavya Gurunath Dharshini Muthukumaran Juee Deshmukh Isabel White ARTISTS: Evelyn Chen Thejo Tattala

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EDITORS: Shoffana Sundaramoorthy Jashan Mehta Mia Grace Taruni Manam Isabel White Gunkriti Kaur Thejo Tattala Siya Gupta Kavya Gurunath Uday Lingampalli Kashika Mishra

LAYOUT DESIGNERS:

Mikaela Cadiz Harini Akurathi Sahithi Lingampalli

contents

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world politics

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Cuba Legalizes Gay Marriage

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Coffeehouses: Birthplaces of Revolution

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tech

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What is Sustainable Design

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Careers in Design

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Science

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The DIfferent Types of Smiles

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Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment

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Hurricanes

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lifestyle

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Seasonal Affective Disorder

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WORLD PO cuba legalizes

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OLITICS Coffeehouses: Birthplaces of Revolution

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by Rachel Adam + edited by Mia Grace & Shofanna Sundaramoorthy + layout by Mikaela Cadiz

cuba legalizes gay marriage On September 25, 2022, in a historic election, a supermajority of Cubans voted in support of gay marriage. Take a journey through queer Cuban history, and find out how we got to this point.

Queer History of Cuba (1930s-2020s) Prior to the Cuban Revolution, LGBTQ+ Cubans, ostracized by society at large, found solace in the few gay bars scattered across the most tolerant cities on the island. In 1930, the government passed the Public Ostentation Law, which incited citizens to harass LGBTQ+ people and punished openly queer people with fines and imprisonment (Haneef & Cliché-Rivard, n.d.).

After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, however, many hoped that Castro’s communist government would treat LGBTQ+ people as equals. Sadly, this was not the case. Castro and other communist leaders across the globe believed that homosexuality was a “devious product of capitalism” to be entirely “rooted out from society” (Halatyn, 2012). As such, he continued to enforce the Public Ostentation Law and committed human rights violations in his attempts to rid Cuba of queer people.

During the 1960s and 70s, government officials were routinely

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due to their sexuality and gay artists were censored. In a horrifying turn of events, from 1965-1968, Castro sent openly gay men to forced military labor camps, where they were forced to deal with antiquated facilities, physical and verbal abuse, dirt floors, and malnourishment (Halatyn, 2012).

Approximately a decade later, during the 1980 Mariel Boat Lift, Castro deported thousands of gay men from the island as he considered them to be “undesirable.”

Fortunately, in the mid-80s, social attitudes on the island began to shift. In a breakthrough moment, laws banning homosexual activities were nullified in the Cuban Penal Code. Also, officials were allowed to release those who had been imprisoned due to these homophobic laws. In the 90s, the government produced films condemning homophobia and stopped incarcerating HIV patients.

Within the past two decades, Mariela Castro, the daughter of Raúl Castro (the president of Cuba until 2021), has helped Cuba reinvent itself to be a more progressive nation. In May 2007, when Cuba first participated in the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, Ms. Castro took to the streets with a “small army of drag queens,” armed with rainbow pride flags in celebration (NYT Editorial Board, 2014). Thanks to her, in 2010,

Cuba began to vote in favor of resolutions supporting gay rights at the United Nations. In 2013, workplace and housing discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender identity were banned. To this day, she runs the National Center for Sexual Education, which aims to reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS and promote the acceptance of all sexualities. A year after the march, Ms. Castro convinced the government to allow doctors to perform gender reassignment surgeries and hormone treatment to transgender people, fully funded by the state. However, she is not immune from criticism - some say she is inconsistent on gay rights (f, LGBTQ+ activists continue to randomly “disappear,” gay bars have been raided, and many still face violence on the streets) and citizens argue that she doesn’t do enough to support the community. In 2018, legislation that would’ve legalized same-sex marriage was abandoned due to protests from conservative Catholic citizens (60% of the country is Catholic) (Lang, 2022).

Furthermore, when the country’s stateorganized annual march against homophobia was canceled a year later, amidst protests and an independently organized “unauthorized” march, activists clashed with, and were arrested by, Cuban police.

Despite these setbacks, in May 2022, Cuba became the first country in Latin America to celebrate LGBTQ+ history month, holding “lectures, workshops, and panel discussions” to “promote inclusion” and “reflect on current issues” in the country (Lang, 2022).

2022 Family Code On September 25, 2022, a vote was held to approve a new Family Code in the Constitution. According to the

Council, “74.1% of those eligible to vote” had “cast their ballot” (Oppmann, 2022).

The new code was passed with 67% of people in support of it, despite protests from the evangelical, conservative, and Catholic population.

The Cuban government ran ads in support of passing the code on state-run media weeks prior to the vote, likely increasing the amount of support it received.

Here’s a quick rundown of what the new Family Code (dubbed the most “inclusive, progressive and revolutionary code in the world”) enshrines into Cuban law: Right to marry, regardless of sexual orientation.

Right to adopt children, regardless of sexual orientation.

All have the right to a family life free from violence expanded punishment for domestic and gender-based violence.

Labor rights are extended to those who care full-time for children, the elderly, and those with disabilities.

Child marriage and corporal punishment are illegal.

Parents must respect the dignity of children and ensure their physical and mental health. Children should have a degree of self-autonomy.

Grandparents are recognized for their role in passing on tradition, culture, and values.

Domestic responsibilities should be distributed equally amongst women and men.

In the words of Estaban Lazo, the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, “love, affection, peace, inclusion, and social justice triumphed.”

While this code won’t immediately end or solve the problem of discrimination, it’s a good start towards ensuring equality and justice for all Cuban citizens under the law.

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COFFEEH BIRTHPLACES BIRTHPLACES

OF REVOLUTION REVOLUTION OF To understand coffeehouses, also referred to as cafes, it may help to understand the origins of coffee.

According to one narrative, the coffee plant was first used in the 9th century in Ethiopia-where it is a native plant-by none other than goats. A shepherd noticed his goats became excited when they consumed the plant’s berries. He tried a berry himself, and the rest is history.

But how do we get from a goat herder to the powerful cafes of today?

The answer lies in the ancient Islamic world. By the 15th century, coffee was immensely popular in the Middle East because the area was almost entirely

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Muslim. Since Muslims don’t consume alcohol due to religious beliefs, coffee acted as a good substitute. In his book, This is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan expands the history of coffee and coffeehouses. Pollan argues that the lack of alcohol and the popularity of coffee might have hadsomething to do with the Islamic world’s technological and scientific advancements. In this aspect, coffee’s effect was less politically revolutionary, but revolutionary nonetheless.

Coffee would go on to reach Europe several centuries later, with the first coffeehouse in London established in 1652. What made English coffeehouses unique was how explicit the political and informational aspect of it was.

Tables were covered in newspapers and pamphlets-not to mention the conversation, which was often political.

England’s coffeehouses are also notable because they were democratic, and fairly equal. You could sit next

OUSES to anyone, regardless of status or class, and buy an affordable cup of coffee.

However, it should be noted that English coffeehouses were twinkling lights of progress, but they weren’t necessarily shining, as women weren’t allowed in (with French coffeehouses being the exception).

A common theme throughout history is the suppression of ideas, and coffeehouses were no exception. With all their talk of politics and spreading of ideas, coffeehouses posed a threat to those in power. A prime example of this was King Charles the Second’s ban on coffeehouses. He accused them of spreading lies and forced them to close.

Remarkably, (or perhaps not, coffeehouses were immensely popular) the ban only lasted 11 days. It speaks to the importance of coffeehouses that a monarch himself couldn't stop his subjects from their beloved drink and debate.

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Perhaps the most obvious example of coffeehouses as birthplaces of revolution can be seen in the Parisian cafes. In a piece explaining the importance of coffeehouses during the French Revolution, Gilpin writes, “Located here were two cafés that were instrumental in the French Revolution: Café de Procope and Café de Foy. It was for this reason that one revolutionary leader referred to the Palais Royal as the patriot’s camp. It was here that the seed of the Revolution was planted.”

Gilpin describes just how vital coffeehouses were to the revolution. Parisian coffeehouses were vast in numbers, meaning that information spread between them like wildfire, aiding the revolutionaries with their goals.

To conclude, coffeehouses weren’t just meeting places for political revolutionaries. They were spaces for free thought, information, equality, and debate. Coffeehouses were pivotal in the shaping of culture and history itself.

It's about time we start recognizing them as such.

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TECH

What Sustai Design

An article that exp sustainability in de

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Careers in Design When we think of design, we think of an abstract concept of manipulating shapes and figures to create functional works of art. But what roles do designers play in the real world?

What careers are in this broad field?

is inable n?

plores the importance of sign

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WHAT IS

SUSTAINABL In a world where the effects of climate change can be seen in the sky, in the water, and on the news, sustainability in design is more critical for the survival of our planet than ever before. But how, exactly, can we define sustainable design? And how can we identify the brands and companies which are truly sustainable?

The dictionary definition of sustainable design is “the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability.”

In other words, the main purpose of sustainable design is to reduce a company’s effect on the environment, especially in the areas of design. This includes the subjects of architecture, fashion, interior design, graphic design, and many more. However, the barriers around the definition of sustainability are a long- debated affair.

Many view the term “sustainability” as more of a philosophical concept rather than a set of concrete instructions that

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companies must follow-thus, CEOs and consumers alike have different ideas as to what constitutes it. The United Nations defines sustainability as it relates to design and production as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (un.org). Furthermore, many climate experts agree that attempts to make a company more green cannot simply be through the production of the same thing, but slightly better-for example, “fuel efficient” vehicles that still pump greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

With such an ambiguous definition of the word “sustainable,” the positive effects of an eco-friendly company vary from absolutely nothing to properly combating climate change. This remains the main goal and benefit of sustainable design, as the emission of fossil fuels harms more than just weather in the short-term; we are building a future for our children and our grandchildren.

LE DESIGN ?

Additional positive impacts of sustainability in design include, but are not limited to: lower rates of pollution, assistance in water & energy management, cost-effectiveness, durability, and fewer health risks.

However, the ability to differentiate truly sustainable companies from a green -and sometimes federally unregulated- sticker is vital in furthering this impact.

Several points of research, published on the Green Building Solutions website, include discovering whether a company contributes to the waste stream, saves energy, or has a product with a longer lifespan than the original. While these may not be the best ways to determine whether a company is 100% sustainable, they can be useful for larger companies which have depended on fossil fuels for centuries.

Sustainable clothing in particular has been quite the buzz online and in stores.

The key way to determine whether a piece of clothing is truly sustainable is

to check the fabric. 60% of clothing is made of polyester, which requires a large amount of petroleum heavy production before being stocked on the shelves. Better options include linen, hemp, and organic cotton.

Additionally, other ways of checking a company’s environmental impact is to look for third-party verified certifications. Several of these are pictured below, but researching a particular one before purchasing their certified products is always recommended.

Essentially, if you’re worried a company you support may not be considered sustainable, do your research. Perhaps sustainable design can become a trend if done properly, and could reduce several major company’s fossil fuel emissions while making Earth green again.

written by isabel white + layout by mikaela cadiz + edited by thejo tattala + mia grace + gunkriti kaur

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graphic design

ui/ux design

Motion design is similar to graphic design, but involves a completely new dimension: animation. Moving text, animated images, and website animation all require motion design.

This field is not limited to designing apps, and in fact plays a role in websites, films, television shows, and even 3-D technology.

UI/UX designers design the experience that customers undergo when using a particular product. This ranges from how icons are laid out on the screen to the order in which screens appear.

UI/UX designers also manage typography, color palettes, animation, images, and buttons on the screen. This type of design focuses heavily on solving problems so that it is easy for customers to use an application.

industrial design & product design Industrial design and product design are closely related to each other, but are not exactly the same. Industrial design is more involved with manufacturing. Designers must design the aesthetics of the product. They have to make sure the product looks appealing, functional, and detailed.

Industrial designers must have attention to detail and a knowledge of manufacturing technology.

The difference between industrial design and product design is that industrial design is more involved with the process of manufacturing, from product aesthetics to manufacturers to the production process.

Product designers focus more on the details of the product and what problems it solves. Both designers makes sketches, build mock prototypes, and draw concepts.

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layout by mikaela cadiz edited by evelyn chen

content design Content designers are less involved with aesthetics and more involved with the content of a particular product.

Content designers must make websites, apps, and products easy to understand using word choice. They conduct research to accurately convey information, chisel the wording into perfection, and edit existing content to make it sound both professional and appealing.

motion design Motion design is similar to graphic design, but involves a completely new dimension: animation. Moving text, animated images, and website animation all require motion design.

This field is not limited to designing apps, and in fact plays a role in websites, films, television shows, and even 3-D technology.

fashion cont.

Skills required for this profession include sketching, attention to detail, precision, ability to adapt, sewing and other means of fashion construction, marketing, managing fashion shows, and selecting the right materials.

Fashion designers must be careful in their choice of colors, fabrics, and embellishments.

game design written by thejo tattala edited by gunkriti kaur

Games designers design several aspects of a video game. The story, backgrounds, layouts, characters, and elements are all designed by game designers. Game design, however, is not completely aesthetic. This field requires an extensive knowledge of coding.

architecture fashion design IFashion designers primarily design apparel. This ranges from dresses to daily wear, from cosmetics to accessories.

Fashion designers may either design clothing that will be mass-produced for a particular brand, or they may create designer-wear that is unique.

Architects design buildings, whether commercial or residential. They work both digitally and on paper blueprints, drafting plans and modeling 3-D renderings of building concepts.

Architects must know about design and construction. They must have attention to detail, craftsmanship, and efficient analytical skills.

Regardless of the career, design is an exciting and rewarding field. Designers have the ability to think creatively, attention to detail, patience, adaptability, and most importantly, passion.

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scie n c e 17

different types of s m il e s A smile can convey so much more than just happiness. Read on to learn more about every possible emotion a smile can convey ;).

Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment

Hurricanes This article will delve into the specifics of hurricanes, how they are created, and the impact of climate change on them.

wise

Have you ever sat in a chemistry class, learning that atoms are 99.99% empty and have a positively charged nucleus?

Well, let’s take a look at who actually discovered it and how!

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“Smile, an Everlasting Smile” Smiles are the typical human way of expressing happiness.

They are represented everywhere, from endless emojis of different smiles to song lyrics about smiles. However, not every smile is used to convey happiness. A smile can mean different things, convey different emotions. You can grin, beam, twinkle, smirk, or leer. Each of those words evokes a different image of smiling. Evidently, smiling is a lot more complicated than we usually think.

There is both a cultural and evolutionary basis for smiling. Smiling is a similar gesture to one that primates make to convey submission. In addition, congenitally blind people smile quite similarly to those who are sighted, proving that there is an evolutionary basis. However, smiles also mean different things in different cultures.

Certain cultures judge some as “less intelligent” when smiling than those not smiling (Fba, n.d.). Another study reveals that in countries where there is high individualism and low population density, people smile more (Fba, n.d.).

by Kavya Gurunath Edited by Shoffana Sundaramoorthy & Juee Deshmukh Layout by Sahithi Lingampalli

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“You’ve got a smile that could light up this whole town” The first type of smile is a sign of genuine happiness. The Duchenne smile is named after neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne. Duchenne studied how facial expressions were formed by strategically electrocuting severed heads of the French Revolution to study how facial expressions were made. The smile involves the zygomaticus major in your cheeks that pulls the corners of your mouth up and the orbicularis oculi, which pulls your cheeks up. It conveys giddiness and joy.

Just Keep Smiling The next type of smile is a fearful smile.

This one is based on evolutionary precedent by our primate ancestors.

Chimpanzees often make a bared-teeth expression when they are frightened or nervous. The expressions could have stemmed from different uses. Raising of the eyebrows could be used to increase your field of view. Chimpanzees “grin”

different types of s m il e s

to indicate that they won’t bite. These traits could cause us to smile when we are afraid.

The miserable smile is an expression that occurs when you are merely grinning and bearing it. It is an asymmetric expression with “deep sadness pasted over the top” (Gorvett, 2017). It can be seen in people while they are watching gory films and in people with depression.

“But when you smile at the ground, it ain’t hard to tell” The dampened smile occurs when one suppresses a smile, but because some muscles of the face are easier to suppress than others, you get a characteristic small smile. This stems from the 17th Century when you weren’t supposed to openly show your emotions if you were rich and privileged. In some countries, smiling too much reveals to people that you are either stupid, drunk, or American, according to a Norway poster. Other countries, such as Japan, prefer smiling with your eyes. This shows how cultural norms also dictate smiles. There is also another similar smile called the embarrassed smile, which can differ slightly due to flushed cheeks and a slight tilt of the head downward.

Mwahahaha There are a few smiles that occur rather contemptuously. The qualifier smile occurs when someone is trying to make bad news seem better than it is. It used to reduce the blow of a tough statement. The contempt smile is a smile of disgust, which is very similar to the regular Duchenne smile, but the corners of the lips are tightened more.

The anger-enjoyment smile occurs when people find joy in others’ misfortune. It tends to be a regular Duchenne smile when no one can judge you for it, but when people are around, anger is plastered over the top of the smile, resulting in the famous expression found in movie villains.

Mona Lisa There are many other types of smile, such as the flirtatious smile that is captured perfectly in the Mona Lisa.

The fake smile that can occur when posing for a photo or to garner favor with a jury. There are also many other subtypes of smile that fall within these major categories.

A smile is so much more than just an expression you flash when you are happy. Smiles are just as nuanced, complicated, and diverse as humans are. They can communicate so much more than just :).

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As scientific concepts started making everybody wonder what everything is made up of, the concept of something called “atoms'' popped up.

Greek philosophers, such as Democritus and Aristotle, fought with each other to define the fundamental composition of matter. Scientists, such as John Dalton and J.J. Thompson contributed many ideas as to how atoms really behave and what their compositions are.

After many individuals trying to figure out what is inside of the atoms, Ernest Rutherford, a British Physicist, performed the infamous gold foil experiment to finally discover something amusing about atoms.

In 1911, Rutherford and his coworkers, Hans Geiger and Enrest Marsden, started performing experiments that completely changed Thompson's vision of the atoms’ pudding model. Rutherford first set up a thin sheet of gold that was surrounded by a detecting sheet with a small opening. Then, the gold foil was bombarded with alpha particles-a type of radioactive particles that are positively charged and relatively weaker than gamma particles-through the opening. According to the current model of the atoms, which is the plumpudding model, the alpha particles should have passed right through with some slight deflection because the

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R E H T U R positive charge is more spread, meaning less r epelling from the atoms' side. However, that was not the case.

Despite Rutherford’s anticipation that his experiment would satisfy Thompson’s accepted model, the results turned out to be very opposing and suggested a different perspective on the true composition of the atom. The alpha particles seemed to pass through the gold foil, but some of the particles reflected at a very large angle. This suggested that the atoms are mostly empty but have a very dense, positively

GOL D F OIL E

RFORD'S charged “something” inside that seems to repel the particles drastically. Hence, he concluded that all of the positive charge was concentrated in the middle of the atoms, to which he dubbed the “nucleus.” The nucleus came to be known as the “tiny, dense region”

Rutherford’s discovery changed the very structure of the atom and gave birth to nuclear physics, allowing many unimaginable advancements because of the discovery of the nucleus. He made way for other scientists to make more contributions to this new concept and elevated the science to a whole new level. However, even though what Rutherford did was an amazing accomplishment that shaped the very perception of atoms, it was a contribution that was born out of the many ideas made by many brilliant thinkers since the Ancient Greek period.

T N E M E X PIRE

composed of protons and neutrons at the center of the atoms. Rutherford’s new discovery and his proposed model became known as the nuclear model.

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what are hurricanes?

damage to small residences, utility buildings, and trees. Flooding will cause major debris near coastal areas.

Category 4 has wind speeds from 131 mph-155 mph. Beach areas experience erosion, while small residences are destroyed, and inland terrain is flooded. The latest hurricane, Hurricane Ian, is a category 4 hurricane. It’s the strongest one to hit Florida since Hurricane Michael in 2018.

Category 5 has wind speeds higher than 156 mph. Residences and buildings experience roof failure.

Flooding will cause damage to lower floors of structures that are near the coast. People might have to mass evacuate their residences. The last category five hurricane in the United States was Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Hurricanes are massive storms that produce rapid, damaging winds. They initially form over ocean water, but then strike the land. In the United States, people on the East Coast usually experience more hurricanes. The East Coast is near the Gulf Stream, which is a source of warm waters. Weather forecasters predict the outlook for the next few days once a hurricane forms, helping residents prepare (NASA, 2014).

The 5 Categories of Hurricanes: The scale for determining a hurricane’s intensity is called the Saffir-Simpson scale. It has five categories, based on wind speed.

Category 1 has wind speeds from 74 mph-95 mph. Areas hit experience no major damage, other than damage to poorly constructed signs or mobile homes.

Category 2 has wind speeds from 96 mph-110 mph. The winds might blow trees down and damage roofs, doors, and windows.

Category 3 has wind speeds from 111 mph-130 mph. There will be some

Inf Hu

how are hurricanes created?

Hurricanes start as a tropical wave, or a low pressure area that moves through the tropics that are filled with moisture.

Warm ocean air rises into the system, forming an area of low pressure (NOAA,

by juee deshmukh edited by uday lingampalli 23

2021). The occurs. Ev heavy pre condensati winds, whi be classifie

Hurricane storm over 23. It was three days hit southw

hurric

en, the typical water cycle aporation, condensation, and cipitation in the storm. The ion releases heat that powers ich need to be fast enough to ed as a hurricane.

nformation on Hurricane Ian

Ian started out as a tropical r the Caribbean on September s nurtured into a hurricane s later. Rapidly intensifying, it estern Florida on September

canes

28. Ian brought destructive winds, rainfall, and intense storm surges. The hurricane shrank to a tropical storm as it made its way through Florida, and then intensified again in South Carolina.

Florida reported getting 17 inches of rainfall (NOAA, 2022). Overall, it wiped out many residents’ power, and caused 87 deaths (NOAA, 2022).

The Impact of Climate Change on Hurricanes: Hurricanes are fueled by warm ocean water. The warm ocean water in the Atlantic ocean is why the East Coast is affected by hurricanes. As climate change becomes a more prevalent problem, individuals need to be aware of its more extreme repercussions, such as stronger hurricanes. As average temperatures increase, the intensity of hurricanes also increase, causing more damage to civilian homes.

This could be detrimental to the environmental and socioeconomic wellbeing of places. Smaller acts of sustainability could prevent deadly disasters. Pay attention to if your actions are sustainable; they could go a long way in preventing deadly events.

edited by kavya gurunath layout by sahithi lingampalli 24

LIFES

SEASO AFFEC DISOR

With autumn officially underway, many of t known as seasonal depression) are beginnin days slowly becoming shorter. But what, exac coping mechanisms can be put in p

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STYLE

ONAL CTIVE RDER

those with seasonal affective disorder (also ng to feel the heaviness that comes with the ctly, is seasonal affective disorder? And what place for those who experience it?

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SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER Mayo Clinic defines Seasonal Affective Disorder, the more clinical term for seasonal depression, as a mood disorder characterized by depression that occurs at the same time every year. Generally, this occurs in the autumn and winter months for those who live in the Northern Hemisphere.

With autumn officially underway, many of those affected are beginning to feel the heaviness that comes with the days slowly becoming shorter.

Thus, learning to identify the symptoms of SAD in the early stages is crucial to stop this problem before it escalates.

Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder include excess fatigue, hopelessness, changes in appetite, mood swings, irritability, social isolation, difficulty concentrating, or anxiety spurred by a change in seasons.

In children, these can manifest as negative thinking, a lack of expressed happiness, changes in sleep or eating, and/or increased amount of temper tantrums. In most cases, these symptoms will diminish once spring and summer come around, but in more

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extreme instances they may linger.

Displaying these symptoms for longer than 2 weeks or a noticeable decrease in your quality of life may indicate a need to seek professional help.

If you or someone you love possesses less severe symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder, you may be able to lessen the effects without the help of a therapist or doctor.

Coping mechanisms can range from sitting in the sunlight when it is available, exercise (as it releases hormones into your body called endorphins that make you happy), playing music, making sure to spend time with friends and family, going to bed at the same time every night, and exploring creative outlets.

However, reaching out to a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or therapist may be the ideal option for those exhibiting more serious symptoms. One medical treatment option is phototherapy (light therapy), which is the use of sunlight or artificial lamps to lighten one’s depressed mood. Other treatments can include talk therapy and

medication, depending on what your medical professional determines is best.

If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: do not let people pressure you into thinking your symptoms are “normal” or will just “go away” if you ignore them for a while.

Receiving preventative measures before your symptoms get worse is always a good option, and help will always be there if you need it, in the form of a school counselor, teacher, parent, or trusted adult.

RESOURCES Suicide Hotline: 988 Suicide Texting Line: 741-741 Find a therapist

by Isabel White Edited by Kashika Mishra & Shoffana Sundaramoorthy Art by Thejo Tattala Layout by Sahithi Lingampalli

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references

References for TECH What is Sustainable Design?

Nizzoli, G. (2021, August 18). How to Check if a Brand is Sustainable: 7 Effective Tricks | Sustainable Fashion Blog. Project Cece. Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://www.projectcece.com/blog/366/how-tocheck-if-a-brand-is-sustainable/ Quito, A. (2020, November 12). What is sustainable design and how can consumers identify it? Quartz.

Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://qz.com/1916470/what-is-sustainable-design-and-how-canconsumers-identify-it Sibirtseva, M. (n.d.). Here’s Why Sustainable Design Is Important. Depositphotos Blog. Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://blog.depositphotos.com/sustainable-design.html Sustainable Design Is About Building the Future, Not Just a Structure. (n.d.). Green Building Solutions.

Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://www.greenbuildingsolutions.org/sustainable-design/ United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainability. United Nations. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/sustainability Careers in Design Architect. Architect | Explore careers | National Careers Service. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/architect

References for WORLD POLITICS Cuba Legalizes Gay Marriage Halatyn, J. (2012, October 24). From Persecution to Acceptance? The History of LGBT Rights in Cuba.

COHA. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.coha.org/from-persecution-to-acceptance-history-oflgbt-in-cuba/ Haneef, C., & Cliché-Rivard, G. (n.d.). Cuba LGBTI Resources. AMERA International. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.amerainternational.org/cuba-lgbti-resources/ Lang, N. (2022, May 16). Cuba marks Latin America's first LGBTQ+ history month. Reuters. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/article/cuba-lgbt-history/cuba-marks-latin-americas-firstlgbtq-history-month-idUSL5N2WV5FH NYT Editorial Board. (2014, December 20). Cuba’s Gay Rights Evolution. The New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/opinion/sunday/cubas-gay-rightsevolution.html Oppmann, P. (2022, September 26). Cuba legalizes same-sex marriage in historic referendum. CNN. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/26/americas/cuba-legalizes-same-sexmarriage-intl-latam Peoples Dispatch. (2022, September 26). Cubans just ratified the world’s most progressive Family Code.

Peoples Dispatch. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/09/26/cubans-justratified-the-worlds-most-progressive-family-code/ Coffeehouses: Birthplaces of Revolution Pollan, M. 2022. This is Your Mind on Plants. Penguin Books.

Rotondi, J. 2020. How Coffee Fueled Revolution - and Revolutionary Ideas. History. Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/news/coffee-houses-revolutions Gilpin, E. 2020. Café Liberté: The Role of the Coffeehouse in the French Revolution. The Alexandrian.

Retrieved from: https://journals.troy.edu/index.php/test/article/view/444/360#:~:text=Numbering%20more%20than%20ei ght%20hundred,the%20drink%20that%20is%2C%20historically

References for Science The Different Types of Smiles Cohut, M., PhD. (2018, September 10). Why do we really smile? Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323025 Fba, T. M. (n.d.). When did humans start to smile? The British Academy. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/when-did-humans-start-smile/ Gorvett, Z. (2017, April 10). There are 19 types of smile but only six are for happiness. BBC Future. Retrieved October 7, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170407-why-all-smiles-are-not-the-same Rutherford’s Gold Foil Experiment 4.14 Gold Foil Experiment. (2019, May 14). cK-12. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-chemistry-flexbook-2.0/section/4.14/primary/lesson/rutherfordsatomic-model-chem/ Ernest Rutherford | Accomplishments, Atomic Theory, & Facts. (2022, August 26). Encyclopedia Britannica.

Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Rutherford Nobel Prizes 2022. (n.d.). NobelPrize.org. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1908/rutherford/biographical/ Hurricanes How can climate change affect natural disasters? | U.S. Geological Survey. (2020, June 2). Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-can-climate-change-affect-natural-disasters NOAA’s National Ocean Service: Newsroom. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ Types of Hurricanes Hurricane Types Category 1 2 3 4 5 Categories. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.hurricanemarketing.com/hurricanes/hurricanes_types.htm What Are Hurricanes? (n.d.). NASA. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-are-hurricanes-k4.html

References for lifestyle Seasonal Affective Disorder https://book.zocdoc.com/get-started/therapist-counselors? utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc_generic&utm_campaign=16499976463&utm_term=therapist&utm_ content=139800505168&gclid=Cj0KCQjwfmZBhDtARIsAH6H8qhVRBe0yZoYqSkApgbUd1r4KDqFO8INHtYXoYM7_tYdJOK65UIR6s8aAoDtEALw_wcB

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