March 2015
VOLUME 11 • ISSUE 3
OIL:
US and Abroad Environmental and economic effects
Keystone Debate
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AS WELL AS: California Drought Crisis, 7 Cuba Embargo, 10 Free Community College, 13
THE CHARIOT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kathleen Xue
DEAR READERS,
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The Chariot would like to thank the following sponsors and patrons:
any of the issues in the past three months, such as the worsening of the crises in the Middle East including Boko Haram, the Turkish regime and the radicalization of the terrorist group ISIS, have been due to the indoctrination of radical beliefs to the masses. All three of these problems relate to the hatred of Western culture and media—Boko Haram directly translating to “Western education is forbidden”, the Turkish government regressing from a Western democratic framework in favor of a dictatorship, and ISIS openly persecuting and killing supporters of Western culture within its region. Observing all of this turmoil occurring in the Middle Eastern region right now, we often ask ourselves why this is so. What exactly ensued that caused the area to be the melting pot of sectarian violence and political instability that we see today? There is no simple answer to this question. We may trace ourselves back to the beginnings of Western imperialism in the region and try to pin the blame on one single party, but in doing so we will only find ourselves either running in circles or realizing that the root of the problem was caused by the Westerners themselves. Even today’s greatest leaders cannot solve the matters at hand—too many years have gone by, and all involved parties are so soiled with blood that it is impossible to name any side the protagonist. What we can do, however, is learn from our past mistakes. There are many things that the US has done on the international platform that have caused death and hatred (ie. US dealings with Malaki which indirectly began his persecution of the Sunnis); from these crimes we must analyze thoroughly the causes and effects so that we do not repeat such abominable acts again. Finally, I would like to challenge you as readers to take from this issue whatever interests you, and look further into it. Expose yourselves to the surface knowledge of a certain topic discussed, and research it in depth. Take current affairs of international dispute and try to reason their causes as well as find possible solutions with critical thinking. You will discover that there is a myriad levels and facets to each story, and that more often than not the truth is not what it originally seems.
FOUNDATION/GROUP SPONSORS
Kathleen Xue
SENIOR EDITOR Gabriel Alon COPY EDITOR Maggie Wang FUNDRAISING DIRECTOR Katina Yong CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ellaine Chou Nicholas Chung Alex Dersh Isha Gupta Andrew Huang Karunya Sethuraman Katie Russell Shannon Yang
Adobe Systems • Daughters of the American Revolution • Palo Alto Lions Club
PATRONS ($100+) Lauren Michals and Vinod Bharadwaj • Patricia Bruegger • Steven Guggenheim • Yajun Liu and Shirley Zeng
The Chariot would also like to thank Advisor Ethan Halter for his support.
Sincerely,
Front cover artwork is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution.
Editor-In-Chief
ABOUT US The Chariot is intended to create and promote political discussion at Gunn and make people aware of issues that matter. We ask that you respect all opinions which are reflected in our publication, and write letters to the editors if you wish to voice your opinion. The views expressed do not reflect that of The Chariot, but rather those of the individual writers. The Chariot was originally founded in 2001 as The Partisan Review by Gunn alumni Ilan Wurman (‘06), Channing Hancock (‘06), and Sarah McDermott (‘05). Visit our website, www.issuu.com/thechariot if you wish to view any issues from previous years or for more information about us. Any questions, comments, suggestions, or requests to join can be sent to gunnchariot@gmail.com. If you’d like to make a donation or subscribe, please send checks to: Ethan Halter Re: The Gunn Chariot 780 Arastradero Road Palo Alto, CA 94306 Checks can be made out to Gunn High School with “The Chariot” on the memo.
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NEW CULTURE MOVIES
MUSIC
The Second Best Exotic MarigoldImage Hotel taken from IMDB
– Mia Farrow @MiaFarrow March 7
Piece by Piece
Following the success of the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Beautiful and Elderly, Sonny returns with the promise of a marriage with the love of his life, Sunaina. With only one vacancy left, this causes a rooming predicament between three parties.
Written by Kelly Clarkson
Released February 27, 2015
Kelly Clarkson follows her “Wrapped in Red” Christmas album with a popheavy production that doubles as its own soundtrack. Notable in the album are songs “Heartbeat Song” and “Invincible”, both of which follow a recurring theme of resilience heard throughout the album.
Image taken from Cash Money Records
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late Written by Drake Released Feb. 13, 2015
The classic fairy tale returns with a modern twist, bringing the classic 1950s Disney animation to film in live acton.
Long may we remember their journey. Long may they remain an example. #Selma50 –Speaker John Boehner @SpeakerBoehner March 6
My drone filibuster was about the rights of Americans against an out of control executive branch. Stand with me. –Senator Rand Paul @SenRandPaul March 6
Cinderella Image taken from Movie Insider
Released Mar. 13, 2015 Directed by Kenneth Branagh Run time: 112 minutes Rating: PG
THROUGH TWEETS Sickening that ISIS has bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud founded in the 13th century BC.
Image taken from RCA Records
Released Mar. 6, 2015 Directed by John Madden Run time: 122 minutes Rating: PG
WWW.GUNNCHARIOT.COM
The fourth album by Drake, “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” was released without previous announcement, though neither Drake nor his publicists explained why. It debuted at number one in the US, selling 495,000 copies within the first three days. March 2015
INTERVIEWER: What do you think of asylum in Country X? SNOWDEN: That’d be nice. Country X is great. INTERVIEWER: SNOWDEN BEGS FOR ASYLUM IN X!! –Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald March 6
“She should just be silent”: the real roots of Indian rape culture –Ezra Klein @ezraklein March 5
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UPDATES AROUN SpaceX Maggie Wang Copy Editor On Jan. 10, 2015, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) attempted to land Falcon 9, a reusable rocket, vertically on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean but failed to land the first stage. After another attempt on Feb. 11 was delayed, SpaceX scheduled for their next launch in April. The launch is part of a plan to advance rocket technologies by transform-
ing current expendable launch systems into reusable launch systems that can be used repeatedly. Reusable rockets will significantly reduce the money, energy, time, and resources traditionally needed to launch rockets. As Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, said, “If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamen-
tal breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space.� Creating reusable rockets would bring the company a giant step closer to their ultimate goal of harboring human life on other planets. Not only does SpaceX aim to create a reusable rocket, it also plans for the rocket to start and return vertically on a launch pad. When this plan succeeds, astronomy and space exploration will forever be revolutionized by the vision and advancements of Elon Musk and more than 3,000 dedicated employees of SpaceX.
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ND THE WORLD Greatest tech flops of the year
SOURCE: Digital Trends
AMAZON FIRE COMPARED TO SAMSUNG AND APPLE Creative Commons License
Andrew Huang Contributing Writer iPhone 6, smart watches, Oculus Rift. While 2014 was full of exciting new innovations, we also saw many technological failures. Below are a few of this year’s biggest flops.
AMAZON FIRE
Bitcoin
It was all the hype in 2013, and 2014 was supposed to be the year that bitcoin would go big. But in reality bitcoin fell flat. Bitcoin’s value has dropped over 62% since last January, the amount of money it’s been used to transfer hasn’t grown, and it’s largest trading platform, Mt. Gox, fell victim to cyber attacks that resulted in the loss of over $400 million worth of bitcoins. Although the idea of a bitcoin is commendable—a currency with no fees, no re- Creative Comm ons Li strictions, and cense no central controller—in practice it has become the currency of cybercriminals and, more recently, drug dealers.
SIZE: 5.5x2.6x0.35 in WEIGHT: 5.6 oz RESOLUTION: 1280x720p SCREEN: 4.7 in BONUS: Firefly available, complementary Amazon Prime membership
GALAXY S5
IPHONE 6
SIZE: 5.59x2.85x0.31 in WEIGHT: 5.11 oz RESOLUTION: 1920x1080p SCREEN: 4.1 in BONUS: fingerprint sensor, heart rate sensor
SIZE: 5.44x2.64x0.27 in WEIGHT: 4.55 oz RESOLUTION: 1334x750p SCREEN: 4.7 in BONUS: fingerprint sensor, water resistant, compatible with Apple Watch
Amazon Fire Phone
Google Glass
Although Amazon has worked 2014 was the year Google Glass died. wonders in many markets, from In July, Glass’s creator, Babak Parviz, ebooks to cloud computing left Google to work at Amazon. By Noto television, its venture into vember the majority of app developers the smartphone business stopped working on apps for Glass. And hasn’t met much luck. The at the end of the year even Sergey Brin, Fire is Google coas exfounder and pensive Glass vision“It’s patently obvious that Google reas an ary, stopped leased this product before it should iPhone wearing the have. People spent a lot of money to or an Angadget in get ahold of the ‘beta’ version, but droid, but public. As of when they actually did, there wasn’t has far fewer this January much they could do with it.” applications, sigGoogle has —University of Central Lancashire nificantly lower battery pulled Glass senior lecturer Nicky Danino life, and an unintuitive from the maruser interface. And if ket, and it will that weren’t enough, it likely be tincarries a disappointing 2.5 star rating on kering with the device over the next few Amazon. years in secret. March 2015
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A look back on Barbara Boxer’s career Alex Dersh Contributing Writer
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alifornia received news of the retirement a Senate giant only one week into the new year. Longtime Democratic senator Barbara Boxer made her widely expected retirement official and decided not to seek re-election in 2016. Her retirement ends a two decade long career as the Golden State’s junior senator, serving alongside Senator Diane Feinstein. Boxer was first and foremost a product of an era of liberal democrats which came from the sixties. Boxer and the people of her Northern California district took for granted sexual rights, women’s equality, respect of environmental concerns and distrust of large banking and corporate institutions. Her reputation as a champion of liberal and progressive causes carried into her Senate years, beginning when she was elected in 1992 alongside Feinstein in what was dubbed the ‘Year of the Woman’ due to the unprecedented number of female freshmen elected to the United States
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and she maintains strong support in favor of a minimum wage increase to $10.00 an hour. Boxer authored bipartisan legislation to combat AIDS/HIV and tuberculosis globally. She pushed the Bush administration to address the causes of an increase in autism diagnoses in California. Boxer voted for the Affordable Care Act and supports embryonic stem-cell research. Along with her Democratic colleagues, she worked to pass a federal semi-automatic firearm ban, and in a show of her support of LGBT rights she voted for the Matthew Shepard Act which extended hate crimes to gender identity and sexual orientation. Without a doubt, Senator Boxer leaves behind the legacy as a defender of liberal ideas and principles. While she may not have always towed the party line, she always stood by her convictions. It remains to be seen whether her successor will carry the torch for another generation of California Democrats in an as proud and confident manner she did in the United States Senate. Creative Commons License
March 2015
CONCERNS California drought crisis is ongoing despite recent rainfall
prospects of winter rain, the California drought is predicted to continue into future years. “Complete drought recovery in California this winter was highly unlikely. While we’ve had at least a 2 in 3 chance that winter precipitation would be near or above normal throughout the state, with such widespread, extreme deficits, recovery will be slow,” said Mike Halpert, acting director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. NOAA’s meek predictions suggest that Maggie Wang California must make changes to cope with its Copy Editor uncertain future with the drought. More moninter rains have not eased Cali- ey will be used to enact measures to help ease fornia’s drought, according the drought. According to a June analysis from the Pato a climate report from the cific Institute and the National Oceanic Natural Resources and Atmospheric Defence Council Administration (NRDC), California “With such widespread, extreme (NOAA). California could be saving up to is in its third year of deficits, [drought] recovery will 14 million acre-feet below average rainfall be slow.” of untapped water and is going through by implementing an its worst drought in aggressive statewide more than fifty years. effort to use water-saving practices, reuse waCreeks have dried up, major reservoirs are at half full or less, wildfire danger are at extreme ter and capture lost stormwater. This water can highs and California’s cities and farms are suf- account for more than the amount of water fering from extreme water shortage. Despite used in all of California’s cities in one year. The
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analysis also found that agriculture uses about 80 percent of California’s developed water supply. The extended use of drip irrigation and precise irrigation scheduling by farmers can reduce agricultural water use by 17 to 22 percent, or 5.5 to 6.6 million acre-feet of water annually. On the other hand, urban areas use about 20 percent of the state’s developed water supply. With improved efficiency, stormwater capture and greater water reuse, a total of 5.2 to 7.1 million acre-feet of water per year can be saved. Many measures have already been made to ease the the drought. In January, Governor Brown declared California’s drought a State of Emergency. In his declaration, Brown directed state agencies to use less water, hire more firefighters, create public awareness and act upon various measures to help ease the drought. “While there’s no silver bullet to solving this water crisis, efficiency, reuse, and stormwater provide a tremendous water-saving blueprint we can realize if we take collaborative action now, backed by government and community leadership,” said Kate Poole, NRDC senior attorney. “This is a critical moment for all water users to step up and implement robust solutions that will make a lasting difference.”
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DEBATE: SHOULD KEYS PRO
of oil. Ninety-five percent of the water, usually coming from rivers and underground aquifers, is so polluted that Ellaine Chou the water must be stored in large, manContributing Writer made, and usually unregulated pools toxic sludge. One pool, full of harmful eystone should be vetoed be- substances like cyanide and ammonia, cause its environmental harms has been leaking a combined three miloutweigh its potential eco- lion toxic sludge in the once-pristine nomic benefits. The proposed Keystone Athabasca River in Alberta. XL Pipeline would carry 830,000 barEven more questionable is the rerels tar sand oils from Alberta, Canada liability of tar sand pipelines such as to Nebraska, USA, daily. As one of the Keystone. Tar sands pipelines are more dirtiest oil, tar sand oil would demand an prone to leakage because of the oil’s enormous amount of energy to mine and more corrosive nature and the chemicals refine it. These processes would produce necessary to assist the oil in running a far greater carbon pollution: the equiva- through the pipes. The probability of lent of Americans driving 60 billion extra spills from this pipeline is high and more miles every year. According to both the threatening than conventional spills, beU.S. State Decause tar sands oil partment and sinks rather than the Environfloats, making clean“If Canada proceeds and we do mental Protecups more difficult nothing, it will be game over for tion Agency, and costly. The protar sand greenposed pipeline would the climate.” house emissions traverse six U.S. states —NASA scientist James Hansen is 81 percent and cross major rivers, greater than including the Missouri those of conRiver, Yellowstone, ventional oil. These emissions cause smog and Red Rivers, as well as key sources of and acid rain and contribute to respira- drinking and agricultural water, such as tory diseases like asthma. Communities the Ogallala Aquifer which supplies water near the refineries where the Keystone to more than one fourth of America’s irXL pipeline terminates, many of them rigated land and provides drinking water low-income and communities of color, for two million Americans. A small spill already live with dangerously high levels would devastate all those crucial water of air pollution. The Keystone XL pipe- sources. Keystone XL would represent a line would further exacerbate the heavy long-term commitment to the expansion burden of pollution and environmental of dangerous tar sands oil when we need injustices these communities confront. to be investing in safe, renewable sources NASA scientist James Hansen estimates of energy instead. that the tar sand reserves contain twice One of the most obvious benefits that the amount of carbon pollution emitted would come from the Keystone is the creby the entire global oil industry. “If Cana- ation of at least 42,000 jobs. But, those da proceeds and we do nothing,” Hansen jobs will be temporary and the State Dewrote in a New York Times editorial, “it partment environmental review predicted will be game over for the climate.” that only 38 jobs created will be permaOn top of that, it takes around three nent. In addition, building an oil pipeline barrels of water to extract a single barrel isn’t the only way of creating jobs. There
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KEYSTONE XL: THE DILEMMA TransCanada Corp introduced a proposal on November 30, 2011 for a pipeline that would run from the Canadian border to connect to a pipeline in Steele City, Nebraska, was introduced to the Obama administration along with a 60-day deadline for the administration to make a decision. In January 2012, Obama rejected the application, stating that the deadline for the decision had “prevented a full assessment of the pipeline’s impact.” With the Obama administration dilatory in its decision but leaning toward a veto—Obama is insistent that Keystone XL decision should be made only after the State Department has completed its review—the House had recently made its tenth attempt in passing a measure that would force approve the Keystone XL Pipeline.
are other job-creating projects that are more sustainable and eco-friendly. One such example is a study by Synapse Energy Economics. The study describe a Transition Scenario for the electric power industry based on reducing energy consumption, phasing out high-emission power plants, and building new, loweremission energy facilities. It is estimated that within a decade, 44,400 construction workers will be working full time and 3.1 million indirect jobs for designing, manufacturing, and so forth, will be created. Another seemingly obvious benefit of Keystone is its estimated $3.4 contribution to the US economy. However, it is also strongly suggested that the environmental damage of the pipeline—through the burning of the tar sand oil which would raise the Earth’s temperature by 2 degrees Celsius—will cut the US GDP by 2.5 %. Keystone XL Pipeline is a step backward in our mission to a greener world. In deference to the wellbeing of the planet, Obama is right to veto the proposal for the pipeline.
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STONE XL BE VETOED? CON
trade with them is a mistake with which the pipeline crosses aquifers, which envithe impending repercussions worsen by ronmentalists warn will be polluted with the day. Keystone’s construction, both the DeKathleen Xue The construcpartment of State Editor-in-Chief tion of Keystone and external geXL, on the other ologists have stated “Whether Keystone XL is built erhaps the one bill that Obama hand, promises the that there would be or not, oil will be mined from has used his executive authority US an increase in an extremely miniCanadian soil—it is only about to veto the most has been the employment and mal risk of conwhether or not the US will be proposal for Keystone XL. Seven years complete indepentamination. The after TransCanada initially applied to dence with regards able to take part in the profits of final judgment of construct the multibillion-dollar pipeline to oil. While it will the extraction.” the State Departto carry a maximum of 830,000 barrels only employ 35 ment states that of oil per day from Canada to the Gulf to 50 permanent whether Keystone Coast, the issue is still under heated debate workers, just the erection of the pipe- XL is built or not, oil will be mined from in Washington. The main concern imped- line itself will call for tens of thousands Canadian soil; the difference in greening the construction of Keystone XL is of builders. Furthermore, the fact that it house gas emission is thus miniscule—it that it will prove incredibly detrimental will only require a handful of permanent is only about whether or not the US will to the environment. However, despite all employees reestablishes the point that be able to take part in the profits of the of the valid arguments expressing con- Keystone XL is extremely efficient, thus extraction. sideration for our intimating that given By continually shutting down the pronatural resources its net product of cession of Keystone XL, Obama is not and exploitation 830,000 barrels of only not preserving the environment, but “To be still involved in oil trade of fossil fuels, oil per day will re- he is also failing to learn from previous with [the Middle East] is a the US must also quire limited labor mistakes and give US an opportunity to take into considto produce, resulting become economically independent in oil. mistake with which the impenderation the longin a price drop on oil It may seem like the US is doing the earth ing repercussions worsen by the term effects of for American con- a large favor by not endorsing TransCanday.” depending on the sumers completely ada’s proposal, but ultimately it will hapMiddle East for independent of pen—it is only a matter of if and how the oil and the ecoOPEC regulations. US can benefit from the utilizing of this nomic opportunities Keystone XL proEnvironmentalists and liberals have natural resource. vides the US. fought hard to prevent the As of now, the US is still relying on the passage of Keystone XL under Middle East and Africa for a large portion the argument that it would be ADVANTAGES OF KEYSTONE XL of its oil imports. Though forty percent critically detrimental to the enof US oil is self-produced, much of our vironment and directly cause international oil comes from countries climate change. This is untrue • It would provide 42,000 temporary jobs over with unstable governments and economic as the US Department of State 2-year construction period policies. As much as 25% of our oil origi- has conducted four exhaustive nates from nondemocratic countries, a reviews since its proposal on large source of this from Saudi Arabia possible environmental dam• It would contribute $3.4 billion to the American which operates under a monarchy. Given ages of the Keystone XL. At economy the US’s illustrious history of entangling first inconclusive, the Departitself within the political instabilities of ment of State later came to countries in the Middle East and Africa the conclusion that Keystone • It would provide a method of transportation for which has caused only mass persecution XL poses minimal risk to soil, oil from US ally Canada and cement our trade of certain religious groups and the rise of wetlands, water resources, fish, relationship extremist groups, to be still involved in oil wildlife and vegetation. Where
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Obama taking steps to lift 50-year-old Cuba trade embargo Kathleen Xue Editor-in-Chief On Thursday Jan. 15 the US introduced measures to end a 50-year-old embargo with Cuba. This trade opening will make available to the US expanded travel, commerce and financial opportunities. Obama had announced his plans to loosen restrictions on Cuba in mid-December as a way to end long-standing hostilities dating back to Cuba’s Fidel Castro era. The new regulations, which took effect on January 16, gave Americans more freedom to travel to Cuba as long as there was a specific reason regarding anything related to family, education or religion. In addition to lightened travel restrictions, Cuba in re-
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turn promised to free 53 political prisoners TIMELINE OF CUBA EMBARGO from captivity. The sanctions on Oct. 19, 1960: President Eisenhower begins embargo on exports from Cuba Cuba began in the 1960s after Cuban Feb. 7, 1962: President Kennedy launches complete economic embargo on Cuba leader Fidel Castro conducted economic 1966: Law passed allowing Cuba asylum seekers citizenship in US warfare against the US by nationalizing private US property Apr. 20, 1980: Castro regime initiates mass immigration to US via Mariel Boatlift in Cuba. Later, the embargo on Cuba Mar. 12, 1996: Helms-Burton Act passed, formalizing Cuban embargo was modified by the Cuban Democracy Aug. 19, 1997: Temporary lift of travel ban and embargo to let Pope Jon Paul II visit Act after Cuban communism transcended the fall of the Soviet Mar. 20, 1998: President Clinton allows humanitarian shipments to Cuba Union, wherein the US refused to lift its Oct. 10, 2003: President Bush tightens sanctions in response to human rights violation embargo unless Cuba reformed its governMay 2009: President Obama lifts restrictions on Cuban-American travel to Cuba ment to become democratic. With political poweconomy and failures of the communist er now in the hands regime, it seems more helpful now than it of Fidel’s brother Raúl and Cuban citizens has ever been for it to have US as a powsuffering from poverty due to the poor erful trading partner. However, despite Obama’s attempts to ease into a more amiable economic relationship with Cuba, the question over lifting the Cuban embargo has split Congress over party lines and interests. Whereas some believe that opening up relations with Cuba will prove beneficial to the US economy with one more trading partner; others believe that given Cuba’s inability to observe US’s requirements of transitioning into a democratic government, Cuba does not deserve for its embargo to be lifted. Given the controversial nature of this decision, it is likely that the embargo will take many years to finally be completely absolved. Though Obama is taking measures to ease it, only Congress has the final jurisdiction over lifting the half-century-old sanction. March 2015
CONCERNS OP-ED: Institu-
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tionalized racism within the NYPD Karunya Sethuraman Contributing Writer In recent weeks, the blame game has run rampant through the congested streets of New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s comments about raising his biracial son and teaching him how to deal with the unfortunate stereotyping that goes on in this country has brought controversy, as even though he intended to ficers whom the mayor advised his son expose his son to the harsh truth that against are also the ones who protect racism exists, the mayor has also repeathim every single day, providing him secuedly praised the police force for its sucrity now that his father is the mayor. But cess and its valor. This has incensed the those who make that claim do not underNYPD as even though de Blasio has constand what de Blasio was really describtinually been in favor of the police force’s ing—he used his son as an example, but actions, this one statement made by the he was talkmayor to his son ing about the insinuates distrust general racial of an organization “Statistics about discriminaprofiling that that has worked tion never discuss those police occurs in prohard to bring seofficers who put themselves in grams such curity to New as the nowdanger to keep the public safe at York. Though the ceased “stopnight.” NYPD has a right and-frisk”. to be offended by However, de Blasio’s assernothing can tion, it is also clear that there is good excuse the reprehensible behavior of the reason people may have doubts about its police officers at the funerals of the murintegrity. dered officers. The police officers were Police officers are completely justified in their right to protest, but a funeral is in feeling upset by the recent surge of annot a place to protest. To protest at a futi-police sentiment. The truth is that staneral, as the officers did by turning away tistics about discrimination never discuss from the mayor, is insulting, and shows a those police officers who put themselves lack of courtesy. It is not compassionate in danger to keep the public safe at night. or fair to drag a family already in so much Those officers are the protagonists, and pain due to the loss of a loved one into they dislike that people are categorizing the middle of a fracas between the mayor all police under one stereotype. The poand the police officers. lice further point out that the same ofMarch 2015
More concerning are the many past actions of the NYPD that question its ethics. Though it has done much to ensure the safety of New York, incidents of unjustified deaths by the NYPD as a result of “institutionalized racism”, acknowledged even by its co-founder Noel Leader, including the death of the African American Eric Garner, have angered a majority of the public. Though ten years ago 50 black and Hispanic officers filed a class action lawsuit claiming racial bias in the NYPD’s discipline system and were compensated with more than $25 million in settlement, very little within the organization was reformed, and many of its procedures have stayed constant. In the end, it seems that the police officers are unjustly accusing Mayor Bill de Blasio of being anti-police. He made one comment that could possibly be misconstrued and made out to be against the police. But time and time again, he has praised the NYPD for their excellent work—murder rates are much lower, and they have been cracking down on cigarette smuggling and have doing an excellent job keeping the cab-filled streets of New York City safe.
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Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address Maggie Wang Copy Editor
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n Jan. 20, 2015, President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union Address in the chamber of The United States House of Representatives. In his speech, Obama outlined an ambitious list of domestic and international goals, including changes in the economy, free community college programs, and steps to combat climate change. Obama stated that middle-class economics, or “helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change”, is the leading foundation of today’s growing economy. Among his new economic proposals were free community colleges, up to seven days of paid
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sick leave, equal pay for men and women, raising minimum wage, and higher taxes on the wealthy. In order to insure that Americans have the skills to thrive in the workplace, Obama plans to implement a free two-year community college granted that the individual maintains good grades and graduates on time. To provide jobs for these workers, Obama plans help pass a “bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than thirty times as many jobs per year”. He also launched a new Precision Medicine Initiative to help cure diseases such as cancer and diabetes. To pay for these proposals, Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and “close loopholes so we stop rewarding companies that keep profits abroad, and reward those that invest in America”. In addition, Obama endorsed free and open internet and promoted new discoveries and the space program. Internationally, Obama plans to “continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks”. He mentioned America’s effort to push back on ISIL’s advance in Iraq and Syria by training the March 2015
security forces of Afghanistan to destroy ISIL, and asked for Congress to pass “a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL”. In addition, Obama said that lifting the Cuban embargo ends “a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people”. In addition, he urged Congress to pass the legislation to “better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information”. Obama voiced his support for free speech, women’s rights, religious minorities, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In addition, he promised to publish a report on how intelligence agencies are strengthening privacy while keeping the country safe. Throughout his speech, Obama urged parties to put the needs of the people above politics to take action. Whether or not his plans turn into reality depends on politicians to set aside their differences to further the growth of America.
CONCERNS Free community college proposal Katie Russell Contributing Writer
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n January 8, President Obama declared his intention to expand access to community college through a system through which the federal government would pay the majority of students’ tuition for two years. According to Obama’s proposal, the White House would spend up to $60 billion over the next decade to provide tuition to all those who are “willing to work for it”, as Obama put it. The students eligible for these breaks in
OP-ED: Obama’s
policies will leave a lasting impact Karunya Sethuraman Contributing Writer
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or a time, it looked like President Obama’s legacy would be a malfunctioning Congress and a health care act that the House tried to repeal far too many times than possibly reasonable. To give Obama his due, however, he is making a comeback, and the man who ran on the slogan of “Change We Can” is finally making it happen. Since the midterm elections, after it became clear that the Republicans would control both the House and the Senate, Obama has gone back to focusing on liberal social issues such as immigration reform, community college, and ways to bolster the middle class economically. Though some complain about his actions being too peremptory, many of the initiatives
tuition must have a 2.5 grade point average (GPA) throughout high school. For this plan to take action, it must first be formally approved by Congress and then by the states themselves, as community colleges are run on the state level. If all states approve it, as many as nine million students annually would reap the benefits of the program, saving each student an average of $3,800 per year. The federal government would pay 75% of students’ tuition, with the remaining 25% provided by the state. Jerry Brown, the governor of California, openly supports Obama’s plan, and has proposed to increase state funding by $8.1 billion for the California community college system, to be used mainly for updating infrastructure and modernizing facilities. This proposal was modeled on an exist-
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ing system in Tennessee, called the Tennessee Promise, which supports students by offering them free tuition. The federal plan is very similar, with a few modifications; while the Tennessee Promise does not provide for any additional costs other than tuition, the federal proposal does not limit its aid to only tuition but rather allocates money for use on transportation and supply costs. Obama expanded upon his proposal in the State of Union held in January, emphasizing its connection to the existing Tennessee program in order to demonstrate its bipartisan appeal. He also explained that this increased access to community college is not merely a political or economic ploy but rather a catalyst for a true cultural shift in affordability for higher education.
Obama is introducing are essential to improv- nancial aid. The plan does not reward people— ing our country by ensuring the nationalization anyone who applies for provisional status has of our wealth and the encouragement of high- to pay a penalty, taxes, is ineligible for social er education for all. programs, and has to prove to the government Regarding his immigration reform, Obama through years of labor that they can be trusted has instituted changes that are based the coun- with permanent residence. try’s founding principles—immigrants coming Obama has also proposed a plan to help here with drive and ideas and becoming suc- make higher education more feasible. In recesses, thereby enriching this country through cent years, tuition costs have skyrocketed, leavtheir strive for the American dream. He has ing graduates in piles of debt, deterring others four core pillars: Strengthening border security, from even attending college. Obama’s plan will streamlining legal immigration, earned citizen- make two years of community college free, ship, and penalties for employers of undocu- provided that the students work for it. The promented immigrants. posal would create a partnership with states so Most of these are widely accepted, but that responsible students could get two years of earned citizenship seems to be the most con- tuition waived. tentious, as many feel that illegal immigrants, Obama certainly has a legacy that will afwho come to take adfect more than the next vantage of American generation—his presidency wealth, would be reis already making measures “The man who ran on the warded for breaking the to ensure that immigrants, slogan of ‘Change We Can’ is law. In reality, Obama who have always made this finally making it happen.” is not proposing amcountry what it is, can sucnesty, but rather that the ceed; and it is also making earned citizenship would sure that anyone who will depend on criteria such as the length of stay work for it can obtain a college degree, even if in the US. It will benefit those brought here as he is not well-off financially. With less than a children, who have grown up as Americans, but year left in office, Obama has made his mark in find that they cannot go to college because they the White House and will most likely continue are not legal and are incapable of obtaining fi- to do so until the next president succeeds him. March 2015
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THE CHARIOT
INTERNATIO
Oil overproduction’s effect on consumers Katina Yong Fundraising Director
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PEC’s decision to continue its overproduction of petroleum despite the United States’ increasing production of shale oil extracted through fracking has resulted in lower oil prices at the pump for consumers. The average price of oil nationwide has fallen to $2.14 per gallon. Due to decreasing price of oil, households have cut their transportation expenses
Anti-austerity party Syriza wins Greek elections Nicholas Chung Contributing Writer
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ecently, fears have risen once again that Greece will drop out of the euro, an event that could possibly lead to financial chaos and an onset of another recession. The unease has been precipitated by the rise of the far-left, anti-austerity political party Syriza. On Jan. 25, Syriza won 149 out of 300 seats in the Greek Parliament, securing a dominating position, but short of an outright majority. Greece’s adoption of the euro and its induction into the European Union has been troubling from the start. In Nov. 2004, Greece publicly admitted that it had lied to the EU about its debt levels in order to pass
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by a third resulting in increasing drivers on the road and spending in other areas. OPEC’s decision continue its aggressive oil output is part of efforts to help squash the United State’s shale industry by making it unprofitable. The output of shale has increased from 0.5% of the global total in 2008 to 3.7% today. Lower oil prices will cause shale firms’ finances reverse fortune and ultimately keep OPEC in control of the overall oil market. Part of the problem stems in the fact that oil prices need to remain around the $65-70 per barrel mark for the American shale industry to remain profitable; with the price per gallon hovering the $40s this is a blow to American industry. In addition, a drop in oil prices typically results in a drop in investments, slowing the growth of the American shale industry. The only global player that stands to benefit from the drop in prices is Saudi Arabia.
membership requirements. It was revealed that Greece’s debt load was 100 percent of its GDP. Although Greece then implemented austerity measures to rein in the public debt levels, the 2008 financial crisis hit Greece hard. By 2009, its national debt reached an unprecedented 262 billion euros, or 130% of GDP. In order to avoid a worst-case scenario where Greece would default and subsequently exit from the euro, Greece took out multiple loans from the EU and the IMF and today relies on foreign creditors’ good will to sustain its fragile economic recovery. Six years later, Greece has failed to significantly improve its debt levels and its economy is sputtering. In fact, in 2013, Greece’s debt level reached 175 percent of its GDP. The austerity measures insisted upon by Germany and other euro members are increasingly resented by disillusioned Greek voters, who view the austerity measures as hindering the economy. Now, the specter of a Greek exit from the euro has been raised again. On Dec. 29, 2014, the Greek parliament failed to elect a March 2015
As it stands, OPEC’s control of 30% of the oil market is not a large enough share for it to effectively bargain. Many of the companies comprising OPEC are cash-strapped, such as debt ridden Venezuela. Saudi Arabia is the largest producer within OPEC and has $900 billion in savings. Another factor contributing to its ability to survive the drop in oil prices are its production costs, among the world’s lowest at $5-6 per gallon. The drop in investment in American shale or Canadian tar sands ultimately leads to greater demand for Saudi oil. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the average consumer will spend more due to the savings in oil money. According to the United States Energy Association, the average US household will spend $550 less on gasoline in 2015 compared to 2014. Much of these savings are expected to go towards spending in other areas.
new President, which triggered snap elections held on Jan. 25th. The anti-austerity party Syriza won 36.3 percent of the vote, ahead of the runner up New Democracy which managed to capture 27.8 percent of the vote. Tsipras has pledged to restructure Greece’s debt and has demanded creditors to write down half of Greece’s 319 billion euro public debt, statements that have caused great anxiety throughout European markets. The Greek stock market has fallen 25 percent since Dec. 5 2014 and Germany has threatened to kick Greece out of the euro if it does not comply with the conditions set in the 2010 bailout package. While a Greek exit may not at first glance seem to affect the US economy, Greece’s departure could lead to a chain reaction throughout other unstable European economies such as Portugal and Spain. Any ill effects felt in Europe will be transmitted to the US, potentially causing a worldwide recession. At the very least, the US economy will react negatively to a Greek exit, with increased uncertainty and volatility in the market.
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Possible causes of MH370’s disappearance Isha Gupta Contributing Writer
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t this point, news of missing aircraft sounds like the twentieth rerun of a terrible joke. Indeed, within the past nine months there have been more than five major air accidents all across the globe. However, there has been focus on the disasters of Malaysian-owned commercial aircraft: in particular, the flights carried out by Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines. In March 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared off the Ca Mau peninsula in the south of Vietnam en route from Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A few months later in July, a second Malaysia airlines flight struck tragedy after being hit by a missile originating from pro-Russian separatists. The most recent Asian air disaster was Air Asia flight QZ8501, travelling from Surabaya to Singapore, which crashed into the Java Sea off Borneo. While there is much evidence explaining the MH17 and Air Asia crashes, there has been little breakthrough in figuring out the cause of MH370’s disappearance. The first two crashes may provide clues to the latest incident. The plot of MH17’s accident seems akin to the plot of a murder mystery novel or Men In Black movie—a law-abiding, civilian Boeing 777-200ER plane is shot down by Russianworshipping Ukrainian rebels in disputed territory. Indeed a Dutch investigative team found that MH17 was hit while in flight by “numerous objects” (missiles) that “pierced the plane at high velocity”. The “black box”, consisting of voice and data recordings of all events that took place in the place from the cockpit, was found in near mint condition and revealed that there were no technical issues with the plane before the attack. Air traffic control reports revealed that the flight was travelling at an altitude of 33,000 feet, higher than the imposed no-fly zone of 32,000 feet.
As the most dramatic accident of the trio, have been the cause for a plane’s demise. MH17 was caused mostly by the events of MH370’s black box is missing, which means the Ukrainian crisis and not due to the fault that authorities cannot sufficiently determine of the plane, the pilots, or the weather. how MH370 exactly went missing. This has Air Asia Flight QZ8501 was surrounded led to the development of some plausible by less extreme circumstances at the time of (and some preposterous) conspiracy theories its crash. The plane was in an area notorious about the fate of the Malaysia airlines flight. for thunderstorms and trade winds originat- A common theory held is the possibility of ing from both the northern and southern a fire having erupted in the plane, killing all hemispheres, which investigators think is the those on board before damaging the exterior cause for the air accident. However, unlike of the plane and plummeting it to the ocean. MH17, Air Asia skirted official rules in the Other theories include the possibility of a hiflight of this aircraft; the airline did not have jacking of the plane (by terrorists, the CIA, permission nor the license to fly the route the Afghani Taliban, the pilots, etc.), pilot suifrom Surabaya to Singapore on the date it cide, cracks in the aircraft, and even a kidnapboarded. It was also the lowest flying in the ping of the aircraft by Chinese authorities to plane in the region at an altitude of 32,000 find important intelligence. ft, being 2,000 ft lower than the surrounding Regardless of the cause of MH307’s tragic planes in the region. Like MH17, the black end, there is pressure for Malaysian airliners box of the plane was recovered and gave of- to find a solution to end both their suffering ficials the tip that abysmal weather conditions reputations and losses of life. With the pendwere the main contributor for flight QZ8501’s ing investigation in the South China Sea for descent into the ocean. Both sets of pilots for the remains of MH370, the situation of Mathe MH17 and Air Asia flight were consid- laysian airliners and the rise of air accidents ered be very experienced, having clocked a will continue to be under international monisignificant amount of flight hours previous- toring and scrutiny. ly. While there is not much similarity beWHAT IS A BLACK BOX? tween the three downed Ma• A voice recorder and a flight data recorder located in the plane’s laysian flights, cockpit there is one link • Essential in the contingency that the plane crashes—helps piece between MH17 together causes of the crash and QZ8501 • Equipped with an Underwater Locator Beacon (ULB) to help lothat can alcate it after a crash lude to clues • Can operate between -55 ° and +70 °C, tested many times before about the cirusage on a plane SOURCE: National Geographic cumstances of MH370. The mysteries of flights MH17 and QZ8501 have been unraveled for one reason: the discoveries of their black boxes. Without the black box, it is hard to determine what exactly could
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March 2015
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INTERNATIONAL
THE CHARIOT
43 students abducted in Mexico Katie Russell Contributing Writer
The kidnapping and massacre of fortythree young students in Mexico beginning late September has been called reprehensible and unacceptable by the United Nations and has been declared the worst disaster in Mexico since the 1960s. At the same time, very few Americans are even aware of the events taking place in our neighbor to the south. On September 26, around 100 students from the College of Ayotzinapa in the southern state of Guerrero arrived in Iguala, a major city in the same state, to take part in a protest for education reform. These students were all studying to become teachers. Teachers in Mexico have traditionally been discriminated against, suffering very low wages, bad hours, and few chances for upward mobility of any kind. Mexico’s public education system is fairly new; in 1960, only 5% of children completed education past elementary school, according to the Mexican census. This number is now much higher, but traditional sentiments about education remain, especially in states such as Guerrero (the site of these events) which have high indigenous populations which tend to have higher respect for traditions. Shortly after beginning to protest, the mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Abarca, ordered the police to stop the students. The police quickly ambushed the students, killing two
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of them as well as three bystanders. By the next morning, forty-three of the original 100 students were missing. Soon after, the mayor, Abarca, denying all involvement in the case, quietly asked for a thirtyday leave in order to take care of unspecified business. The leave was granted, and by the next day Abarca and his wife, who had recently been campaigning for political office herself, had disappeared. Search parties began to look for the fortythree missing students and in doing so came
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across numerous mass graves. The remains from these graves would later be examined and found to contain none of the missMarch 2015
ing forty-three students, only adding to the anger of the Mexican people; even more people had been murdered and hidden away, presumably by drug cartels. On October 8, less than two weeks after the disappearance of the students, largescale protests began to erupt, and have not ceased since. These demonstrations, all of which have been anti-government, have caused large amounts of damage; one protest set the state capitol of Guerrero, in Chilpancingo, on fire, while another burned down the 150-year-old door of the presidential palace in Mexico City, and yet another began to burn down buildings with the promise that the protestors would burn down fortythree to symbolize the missing students. As these events transpired, documents and evidence were revealed linking the mayor Abarca to the Guerreros Unidos (United Warriors) drug cartel. On October 14, a leader of this cartel committed suicide in order to avoid arrest. A few days later, another leader was arrested. Abarca and his wife, missing since the first of October, were located and arrested a little over a month later, in a poor neighborhood of Mexico City. In the eyes of many, the couple is clearly, undoubtedly guilty of the murders of the forty-three students from Ayotzinapa. As of now, the remains of only one of the forty-three students have been identified. It is possible that the corpses of the rest have been buried in unmarked mass graves, completely incinerated, or even disposed of through some other method. The Mexican public is angry, marching with cries of “Los queremos vivos” (We want them alive) and “Todos somos Ayotzinapa” (We are all Ayotzinapa).