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March 2013
Nr. 12
The Adriatic Times
C r e at i v e e ats i v ei fo u s in on fC ru
Editorial How creative are you? The 12th Edition of the Adriatic Times has a theme of “Creative Fusion” which is reflected in creative writing from Aistė and Eloá. Sibel has written about imagination and Jacob about his future. In addition there are articles by Frida, Tara and Rafael, as well as a comic strip by Wanda.
Jornalists: Sibel Spahija, Camila Ruiz Segovia, Jacob Borg, Brais Lamela Gómez, Eloá França Verona, Wanda Thormeyer Proof reader: Malcolm Price wordpress.com s. e Designer: Valev Laube m ti ic at ri d .a w w
er from w times@uwcad.it c. ti a ri Read the newpap d a to g lin ngs by emai Publish your writi
Cover photo: Valev Laube
How creative could we be? Well, being creative is one of the heights of human achievement and many of us do not reach our full potential. At the College we could probably be more creative if we had more time and resources. But in the interim, let’s celebrate the achievements of those in our community who have the talent and make the time.
contributors
How creative are we? Well, there was dancing, singing and playing at Teatro Verdi and in the Asian and Middle Eastern Week. The Art Exhibitions are being prepared and the Theatre Productions are in rehearsal. There are strong art, photography, music and creative writing activities. So, yes we are pretty creative.
Th e A d r i a t i c T i m e s T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i me s The Adriatic Ti T i m e s Th e Ad riatic T i m e s T h e A dr i a t i c T i m e s T h e Ad ri ati c Ti mes The Ad ri ati c Ti m es The Ad ri ati c Ti mes The A d r ia t ic T imes T h e T h e A d ri at i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia ti c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic Tim e s The Adriati A dr i a t i c T i m e s T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i me s The Adriatic Ti Tim e s T h e A d ri a t i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia t ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at ic Tim e s The Adria
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CARDIAC MURMUR I pricked myself with a thorn of a rose Which was waiting for me on the table. It was not from my lover, but from grandma. It must be admitted that The hazardous thing had no tag saying, Please pay attention. My grandma, she knew: if you don’t risk anything, you risk more. If you risk everything, you risk nothing. Elongated, enlarged, abnormally enamoured My heart attacks me. Heartquakes keep pecking my chest till heartilase breaks them down. With rainy eyelashes, Hush goes the thunder As for the heartbreak, Choose from the two: Left side from right side, Or Ventricles from the atria. Heart chambers hum while staring agape. My little beehive, It often sores honey My grandma knew: a heart is A nightmare that’s foaling love, and Love is A smile of a dog With cheeks rosy. The bird of whose feathers Angelic wings were first made Must have been you. Arrest of the sentence: Our cardiovascular difference – plus minus four gee em tee Aistė Kiltinavičiūtė
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Books; our loyal friends By Sibel Spahija
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons
In the past few years the use of television and the internet has greatly increased; this situation has caused many people to change the way that they enjoy their free time. Because of television and the internet, many people spend less time reading. As a result of this, nowadays we lack most of the things we used to gain from books. Reading, despite being something of a necessity (as a source of information) is a pleasurable and productive way of spending your time. It is productive because it leads to: improving your knowledge, expanding your cultural background, having more fun, making your imagination fly, finding new ways to express your ideas, and finally expanding your vocabulary. There are a lot of good books in which you can find romance, tragedies, comedies and a variety of other themes. You can see that people who read more often frequently have a bigger knowledge of life and also a clearer perspective of their environment. I think that the fact that they read gives them an advantage over others who do not read as frequently. Secondly, while reading
you can have fun and even travel in your imagination. Children have not yet lost the ability of getting into their dreams and, because of this, in their first years their parents read a lot of tales to them in which they use their imagination. Adults should try to keep this ability, so we do not forget the importance of the use of imagination; it represents a tool that can help you develop your career and your life in a creative way. Furthermore, it does not matter how old you are, you can always expand your vocabulary and the ways to express your ideas in a simple and correct manner. As you grow older the kind of books that you read will change; there are a lot of categories, so you will never stop learning from the pleasure of reading. People who know how to choose a book generally have the ability to select a good quality book in which they can find formal grammatical structures and obviously a formal vocabulary. These things allow them to gain greater fluency in their communication. In conclusion, I think that everyone should read more often. There are ex-
cellent reasons for doing it; you just have to want to expand your knowledge and your culture, to improve your imagination and also your vocabulary. It’s a fact that we should evolve with technology; that is, it is good to know how to navigate around the internet,
but we must not forget our books. Choose a book which you would enjoy reading, a topic which you are interested in and it can be your best friend, standing next to you while you climb the stairs of success in your life.
Th e A d r i a t i c T i m es T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m es The Adriatic Ti T i m e s Th e Ad riatic T i m e s T h e A dr i a t i c T i m e s T h e Ad ri ati c Ti m es The Ad ri ati c Ti mes The Ad ri ati c Ti m es The Ad r ia t ic T imes T h e T h e A d ri a t i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia ti c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic Tim e s The Adriati A dr i a t i c T i m es T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i me s The Adriatic Ti Time s T h e A d ri at i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r iat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c Tim e s The Adria
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A silent reflection By Rafael Elizondo Lozano
The mind works in very strange ways, and by challenging it, one can discover some of them. I have been submerged in a vow of silence for almost two weeks. In a couple of days my personal challenge will be accomplished, and I will have discovered amazing things about myself, the role of the voice in communication, the response of those surrounding me, and so many other personal effects. For this I have been carrying around a small notebook to communicate, and apart from that, I made a diary, in which I took note of everything I experienced, thought and felt for the past two weeks, and I would like to share with you some of those reflections. The last words I said before starting, were to try to explain to Cindy why I was doing this, while coming back from our project week in Budapest, and it was a translated Spanish ‘saying’ that goes “Soy dueño de mi silencio, y rehén de mis palabras.” meaning: I am the owner of my silence, and the hostage of my words.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
concentrated on other things, for example; In a moment of silence, while the University presentation was going on, Georgia told me “This makes me sad” and I, stopped concentrating on the presentation, and unconsciously answered “This makes my eyes hurt”. Immediately after we looked at each other with surprise and I covered my mouth with both hands. But I detected that it was not while talking or listening to other people when I slipped the most, but while talking/ listening to me. <I slipped 4 Times today: 1st when I answered Georgia (…) 2nd when the presentation ended, I thought out loud, coming deeply from my heart, a stressful “shit…”. 3rd while singing in my mind, suddenly I started singing some words out loud. 4th A relaxing “yes…” I always said when I went to bed.>
After that, and after a couple of slips, I have not said a word in almost two weeks, neither have I laughed out loud. Since the beginning, and surprisingly, I detected the moments my voice was pleasant, useful or even negative in different ways; <To clear my throat, to yawn, to sneeze loudly, to suspire, to complain silently>Day 1
<Today I slipped 3 times; 1st when the ads in Spotify broke in, I shouted (some (in-formal) Italian word) 2nd In the moment I don’t understand someone, a natural “Huh?” or “What?” comes in. 3rd while thinking in music, some words came out.>Day 2
My slips were made in moments where my mind was
I challenged my brain, so my brain challenged back.
But this was just the beginning.
“Silence is a source of great strength.” - Lao Tzu <There are moments of frustration, in which I challenge my reasons, and I ask myself if it’s something I really want to do.>Day 1<There are so many things I would like to say but I don’t, whether because written doesn’t have the same meaning or because it takes too long to write it, or because of timing, writing takes time and conversations evolve.>Day 5 It was getting challenging in some phases; during school my participation dropped, during the weekend socializing was getting tough, in between, daily interaction was difficult, and with the simple fact of not responding back “buongiorno” or “thank you” I felt uncomfortable, or impolite. <I’m used to thanking and smiling, and I thought that if I just smile it will work, but it doesn’t. People get confused>Day 1<I didn`t tell the mensa ladies and I feel a bit disrespectful by just pointing and smiling at everything (…) I realize I can’t support or argue for something I wrote in my notebook, I can’t defend what I say with arguments, and that leaves me in a vulnerable position in a discussion. But it teaches me to listen in a dif-
ferent way, to other opinions. I listen to them 100% instead of thinking of what I am going to answer while they talk.>Day 3 External opinions “We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” - Martin Luther King Jr. <People want to know the reasons. I know the reasons but I can’t explain them, it is really difficult.>Day 1 The reaction of the people surrounding me varied. Some have supported me since the beginning and some never thought I would achieve it. There were people who thought it was stupid, and others who thought it was something big, great, and that I was brave by doing so. <Some people think I’m not going to make it.>Day 1 <Some people think it’s stupid that I carry a small notebook with me. Some others ask if I’m doing the vow for fun. Yeah… I mean, I can play football or play on my computer, but no, I decided to stop talking to have fun. I don’t want to be rude, I guess it’s just that I haven’t explained why I’m doing it, or that it is very difficult to answer. >Day 2<It’s getting harder, it’s excluding me, people avoid me, they think I’m boring in a way, few people stay
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close, and it’s getting difficult for them too.>Day 5< Some people leave me notes, telling me that they are inspired by my silence, that I’m brave, or they tell me that what I’m doing is great.>Day 6<Some of the closest people, fill in my blanks with their words, some other just stay with me. I really appreciate both of them.>Day 8 But people´s reactions were not only in opinions, but in actions: <Some people that I tell I can’t speak start speaking slowly to me, some others feel more comfortable writing with me than answering me, and some even stop talking at all.>Day 1< I noticed that people close to me, changed the way they laugh when talking to me. I don’t know if it has something to do with the fact I’m silent laughing>Day 2< People think talking to me gives them the power over the conversation, given that they decide the direction of it... People barely talk about me, while talking to
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me, they talk about themselves and jump from one theme to another, they start remembering stuff>Day 3<Yll stopped talking for a weekend, and when I knew I felt really grateful and proud, and when I saw him, I wrote to him: “I am really happy and proud, thanks for joining”(....). People give me strength, and they reflect on me, telling me that they wouldn’t be able to do it.>Day 6 <My smile has become my ally and the base of my silent communication>Day 11 “Silence is the true friend that never betrays” -Confucius Now, it seems that everything is challenging and, to some extent suffering. But some joys and really good lessons come with it. <Incredibly I have listened to my own breath throughout the day, that brings me to a sort of meditative mood through all the day.>Day 1<My mind
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is slowly accepting the change. Slowly I have stopped thinking in long answers, but in small concise words, that I can write or express by pantomime.>Day 3<The silence is now comfortable, I realized that I haven’t brought my notebook anywhere else but to classes.>Day 8 <While being quiet, I know that whatever I want to express I have 100% of the people´s attention, given that they need to read what I’m telling, or that they need to interpret my acting.>Day 9 <A friend asked me if I don’t believe that my vow sometimes was comfortable. I guess she was right, sometimes having a reason not to answer uncomfortable comments, or questions makes it comfortable.>Day 10. I have started thinking how I’m going to use my voice after this experience. The only thing I know for sure is that I’m going to enjoy it. Day 12 “Silence is refreshment of the soul.” -Wynonna Judd
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This has been an intense experience, full of feelings, knowledge, meditation and self-awareness. Carlo de Benedetti told us that he understood the true meaning of peace when he lost it. I can tell that something that I truly understood is that talking is a pleasure. A pleasure expressed when reading out loud, when singing out of tune with friends, when solving the world’s problems, early in the morning at Mickeys or ‘Al Castel’ with a friend. Even by just answering back a “Buongiorno” in the street, or telling “grazie” to Marina. I don’t know yet which word is going to be the first coming out, I just know that it doesn’t matter, that I will share it with the community that supported me, and that starting from that day I will talk differently (as I told you before), enjoying consciously it’s pleasures.
Any Future Plans ?? By Jacob John Borg
At the moment, I am simply lost. No idea at all. I am in a period where my life stands on the tip of a mountain, ready to roll down any slope, in any direction. Like other students, of course, I would like to attend university and get a degree. Maybe I would be lucky enough to work and do something which I like and enjoy doing. But it’s simply not that easy. I want to have a different life than what a lot of other people live, being more original, open to new ideas and not so much of a traditional approach. After a good amount of travelling, which I plan on doing, I might then think of settling
down and starting a family. I do not know how I will think at that time, because at the moment it is more of partying and having fun than anything else. Knowing how crazy I am, I would love to revive the continent challenge once more and this would be possible if I were to host a huge party. Yeah right, hope you did not forget that I am the PARTY ANIMAL. Ha-ha. Moving on to something more serious, after having paid all the loans and taxes, I plan on giving a nice donation to the college. This would surely be the least thing that I can do in order to show my appreciation for
the time I spent here with such a cool group of people, coming from every corner of the world. Being part of my national committee is something which I have planned to do before the end of my first year and this is an ambition that I am sure I will fulfil. Continuing what I like doing most is something which I will never stop. I am referring to dance. I do not intend on stopping. I need time on my own and dance provides me with such an opportunity. If I do not decide to continue studying dance at university then I guess that it has to become a hobby, which I will do during my free time and
hopefully plentifully. The friends I have made here will surely still have a huge influence on me and it will be hard when it comes the time to say goodbye. I will do my best to earn as much money as possible so that when it comes to my wedding, I would be able to pay the flight ticket to people who matter most to me. No matter if we have talked recently or not in ten years, these people I know will forever remain friends. People who I would never forget and are dearest to my heart.
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The A d r i a t i c T i m e s T he A dr ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m es The Adriatic Ti T i m e s T h e A d riatic T i m e s T h e A dr i a t i c T i m e s T h e Ad ri ati c Ti m es The Ad ri ati c Ti mes The Ad ri ati c Ti m es The Ad r ia t ic T imes T h e T h e A d ri at i c T i m es T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic Tim e s The Adriati A d r i a t i c T i m e s T he A d r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m es The Adriatic Ti Time s T h e Ad ri a t i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia ti c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic Tim e s The Adria
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Maltese Political Results By Jacob John Borg
After a very long electoral campaign, the day of the elections finally arrived. It was a very long campaign, the longest in the history of Maltese politics, where the two main parties had the chance to try and convince the Maltese to vote for them and thus be able to win the election after gaining a majority of the votes. The two main parties in Malta, as stated in the previous issue of the Adriatic Times, are the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party.
previous general election and improved voting arrangements for hospital patients as well as for the elderly living in nursing homes.
The system of voting used was, as in previous elections, proportional representation through modified single transferable votes with five MPs to be returned from each of thirteen districts, meaning 65 constituency seats in total. There were some minor changes to the boundaries of electoral districts from the
It turned out to be the most decisive victory since Malta became a Republic. With a margin of over 11% the Malta Labour Party became the new government after more than 15 years of Nationalist Party power. The leader of the Malta Labour Party is Joseph Muscat, previously Leader of the Opposition
Everything went smoothly, and there were no problems or conflicts during the tiring campaign. As a first time voter, I was impressed by how much one gets in the election mood and going home after the long weekend gave me the chance to live some of the excitement as well as uncertainty.
and a Member of the European Parliament. Muscat received his secondary education at St Aloysius College, Malta and his tertiary education at the University of Malta and the University of Bristol, UK. He graduated Bachelor of Commerce in Management and Public Policy (University of Malta, 1995), Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Public Policy (University of Malta, 1996), Master of Arts in European Studies (University of Malta, 1997) and PhD in Management Research (University of Bristol, 2007) with a thesis on Fordism, multinationals and SMEs in Malta. Despite being staunchly against Malta's entry into the European Union, Muscat was elected to the European Parliament in the 2004 European Parliament election being
the Labour Party (formerly the Malta Labour Party) candidate who received the most first-preference votes. Sitting as a Member of the European Parliament, with the Party of European Socialists, he held the post of Vice-President of the Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and substitute member of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was a member of a number of delegations for relations with Belarus and with the countries of south-east Europe. He was also a member of the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees. The next Maltese Election will take place not later than October 2018.
What does it take? By Eloรก Franรงa Verona
When the newspapers released the first articles that reported prominent NASA scientists saying that they believed to have found signs that an alien invasion was about to happen, everybody laughed. The newspapers themselves made fun of it. There were tons of videos on YouTube making fun of those scientists; TV programs and political leaders from all over the world dismissed their warnings as a terrible black humor joke. Those scientists lost their jobs and reputations in less than a week.
This atmosphere of laughter and good humor did not last long, though. On 2307-2014 the world leaders met at the UN headquarters and had their first urgent meeting to discuss the possible invasion. By then, those jobless scientists had been back at work for two weeks. The number of people that denied the invasion dropped daily at an exponential rate; with all the signs that were left in our skies it was hard not to be-
lieve. However, many conspiracy theories were going around, and in that first UN conference the Iranian and Russian Governments were the first ones to accuse the US of plotting to create worldwide panic as a way to increase its influence over the planet. The US readily attacked back saying that they were crazy and paranoid. As the leaders were discussing these accusations, panic was starting to grow among the human population. In Sri Lanka and in Brazil; in Ja-
pan and Ecuador; in Finland and South Africa; everywhere, everybody was discussing the invasion. Fear was general. The first attack came, but luckily there were no victims. Ten different points of the earth were attacked at the same time, all desert areas. War analysts said it was not a coincidence that only non-populated areas were attacked, this was a way for the aliens to demonstrate their power and knowledge of human organization.
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Fear grew and panic spread. People were leaving their homes and jobs, even though those who stayed did not understand where those who left were going, there was nowhere to hide. Many countries were left in chaos, with lack of water and electricity, hospitals filled with people, lacking doctors and medicines. Looting was happening everywhere but Japan. Religious leaders from all over the world called their faithful to gather and pray to their god(s). New religions popped up every day, and they were not few those who called the aliens messengers of the gods.
At this point the world leaders decided to put their differences aside and gather all their military power to strike the aliens before they struck Earth. That little dot in the sky that could be seen from anywhere in the southern part of the world was the target. The best war strategists of world gathered together to make a plan and between the huge pressure and the long discussions they had one of them had enough time to think with wonder how only a few months before he was drawing up a plan of attack against the guy that was now his colleague. To everybody's surprise the
strike worked. The explosion lit the sky that night covering the beauty of the moon and stars with a smoke curtain that lasted for days. During those days there were no sign from the aliens. The world held its breath in tension, waiting for a sign of their defeat or of a strike back, that would mean that the war was only starting. The sign that everyone was waiting for eventually came, but it was one that no one could understand. One morning, in every country in every language, people found on the streets leaflets. It had only the symbol of the aliens and a
phrase: “Is this what it takes to make us see that we are not many but one?” It appeared to be that those who claimed that the alien invasion was a fake were right. They were only wrong about the reason. This is what it took: blood and death, terror and a child’s cry. A common enemy was what it took for us to cooperate, to see that we are all on the same side in spite of all our differences. Whoever plotted this attack was merciless.
UWC Congress By John Reid
Take Intro-Week, mash it up with a few INAs, lots of college meetings, a cultural visit and a piece of Project Week. Add in large quantities of national committees, alumni, headmasters, students and board members. Put the mixture in a Cardiff cricket stadium for 4 days and transfer it every night to an old Welsh castle. Sprinkle in phrases like ‘impact’ ‘diversity’ and ‘experiential learning’, and let ideas, discussions and friendships simmer. Gradually boil the mixture reducing it into a set of useful resolutions, and serve each delegate with a fantastic set of memories. This is the recipe for the UWC Congress, which took place from February 21st – 23rd in Cardiff, Wales with about 300 delegates dis-
cussing the theme “More ways to make more impact on more people”. Camila and I were two student delegates from UWC Adriatic, along with Mike, Valentina and Rimma. After a quick Ryanair flight to London, a few bus rides to Cardiff, and some interesting after-dark navigational challenges in a car, we arrived at Atlantic College after midnight on Wednesday. We entered completely dark rooms, meeting our roommates for the first time as we woke up at 7am the next morning. Shower: lukewarm and awful. Breakfast: amazing! Free coffee machines: good idea. Castle: beautiful and intimidating. The 40-minute bus ride to the Cardiff cricket stadium was through beautiful
countryside, enlivened by bilingual signs with inscriptions such as “Bus station/ Orsaf fysiau”. We student delegates (two from every college making 24 in total) were initially a little awkward around each other but, in typical UWC fashion, three days soon felt like three months of knowing each other. The first day kicked off with a succession of speakers, including the new head of the UWC International Board, Sir John Daniel. He set the scene for the conference, starting with highlighting successes since the last congress seven and a half years ago. These include the three new colleges– Costa Rica, Maastricht and Mostar, the growing network of over 7,000 students, 55,000 alum-
ni and 140 national committees, as well as the progress that had been made in fundraising, defining an educational model for UWC and increasing co-operation between the different colleges. In the afternoon we listened to two different panel discussions addressing the topics of peace and sustainability. Highlights included a comparison made between UWC and the Taliban in terms of using education to advance a set of values and grow a movement, and the “circular economy” concept in which all products are made to be continually reused rather than following a linear path from factory to landfill. On the second day, the delegates were split into four-
The A dr i a t i c T i m es T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m es The Adriatic Ti T i m e s T h e A d riatic T i m e s T h e A dr i a t i c T i m e s T h e Ad ri ati c Ti mes The Ad ri ati c Ti m es The Ad ri ati c Ti mes The Adr ia t ic T imes T h e T h e A d ri at i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c Tim e s The Adriati A d r i a t i c T i m e s T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s The Adriatic Ti Time s T h e A d ri a t i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia t ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c Tim e s The Adria
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teen workshops on various UWC - related topics with controversial questions being asked, such as “Diversity – Is UWC attracting only Western liberal elites who already share our values?” The three workshops voted on as priorities were fund-
ing/alumni relations, profile (UWC's image), and technology. That's not to say that everyone agreed on these. The delegates were a very diverse (to borrow a cliché) group in age, profession and nationality, which made the discussions lots of fun.
The organizers explained that the objective of the Congress was not necessarily to come up with solutions but rather to explore the topics in many different directions. And this was the beauty and frustration of the whole event – it was about
the larger questions of what the UWC movement is and where it is going, but it did not focus on the details. A lot of empty words? Or a necessary reflection on complex issues? I suppose it depends on your perspective.
DOWN WITH THE PATRIARCHY! By Frida Østerby Berg
In UWC I have found myself walking peacefully around in a daze, thinking that this was a place of universal awareness and our idealized vision of the future. Therefore, I was quite shocked when a bucket of ice water was poured over me to dissolve the fragments of idyll and wake me from my trance. This terrifying event took place on Friday the 15th of March, on the night of our grand anniversary show in the Teatro Verdi. I was sit-
ting peacefully in my booth, slightly nervous for the upcoming performance of a dance I was not yet entirely sure of, expectantly glaring at the stage to see what kind of fantastic introduction was awaiting us. The first man stepped on stage; it must have been our headmaster. The time passed as he diplomatically shared his words of appraisal of UWC values, such as the importance of understanding through diversity, as yet another middle aged white
man stepped on stage. The discussion went on when another white man was invited up. And yet another. All white men in their best age and properly ironed suits. When the last man, a happy alumnus finally breaking the colour code joined them, it finally dawned on me. The anxiety and confusion grew as I was realizing the contradictions between the apparently utopian world I had been dwelling in and that presented on stage.
I have one simple question: Why was there no woman up on that stage? As I was sitting there in my booth in my old gumboots I felt misrepresented, misplaced and forgotten. Because when we have together combated complicated racial, social and cultural problems, why are we then left with such a trivial issue? I did not think this was supposed to happen in a UWC. Down with the patriarchy!
As a woman... By Tara Pollak
As a woman and feminist, I am still struggling when standing in front of all those fashion magazines, because I can never decide what to be: a materialist, amazed by the creations and compositions of various designers, or my critical me, knowing exactly what image of women is being created. And there is another problem: we cannot Photoshop ourselves to get more similar to all those
models (that are already Photoshopped). We are just who we are and I think that the fashion world, as well as any other business sector, should recognize that. Women are not to be objectified. I feel so angry when I see advertisements of naked women with a beer next to them - so yes, “Sex sells”. And what is the message? If I were a man, would I be
able to understand it? And what about a homosexual, transgender or transsexual person? Why do we have to simplify the easiest things and make them obscene to be able to sell a product not related to sex at all? And yet another question: What is the eroticism behind a naked woman and beer? Of course this is a matter of taste, but I truly
believe that the art of advertising should have a renewal, give our eyes a rest and my uterus a moment to collect its voice again. We‘ve been screaming for so long: therefore we should share a moment of enlightenment, a blitz of change, a wing beat of awareness - to imagine a world without trivial, unreasonable advertisements.
The Adr i a t i c T i m e s T he A d ria tic Times The Ad r ia tic Times T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s The Adriatic Ti T im e s T he A d riatic T im e s The A dr i a t i c T i m e s T h e A dr i a t i c Ti mes The Ad ri ati c Ti m es The Ad ri ati c Ti mes The Ad ri ati c T imes T h e The Adr i a t i c T i m es T he A d ri a tic Times The Ad r ia tic Times T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s The Adriati Adriat i c T i mes T he A d ri a t i c Times The Ad r ia tic Times The A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e Adriatic Ti Tim es T h e A d ri at i c T i m es T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s The Adria
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The A d r i a t i c T i m es T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m es The Adriatic Ti T i m e s Th e Ad riatic T i m e s T h e A dr i a t i c T i m e s T h e A d ri ati c Ti m es The A d ri ati c Ti mes The A d ri ati c Ti m es The A d r ia t ic T imes T h e T h e Ad ri a t i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia ti c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic Tim e s The Adriati A dr i a t i c T i m es T he Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r ia tic Tim e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m es The Adriatic Ti Time s T h e A d ri at i c T i m es The Ad r ia tic Times The Ad r iat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c T im e s T h e A d riat ic T i m e s T h e A d ri at i c Tim e s The Adria
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