November 2015

What is Nepean Wearing for Halloween?

By: Talia Meade

It’s that time of year again: the time of taking artsy photos of the changing leaves, packing away shorts and bringing out the bulky sweaters, and of course, pumpkin spice lattes! With fall comes holidays such as Thanksgiving -- time where one can eat and not be judged by how much turkey they manage to consume. But we can’t forget about Halloween! October 31st is magical day where all the hard work and planning finally gets to be shown off with a costume. Some prefer not to dress up at all, some are required to, and others get candy for it. Either way, it can be a fun way to celebrate the single night in the year when, according to old Celtic beliefs, spirits and the dead can cross over into the world of the living (which is where the “scary” factor comes from.) Halloween costumes can come in all different shapes and sizes, and you can be whoever or whatever you so desire. This year, I found out what the students of Nepean are wearing for Halloween with a survey. Options for the survey included: something funny, something creative, a "sexy" something, an animal, something clever, something scary, a something mainstream, a character from something, no costume, and other.

The results are in! This year Nepean is going as...

A “sexy” something - 33%

A character from something - 16%

Something clever - 12%

No costume - 12%

Something creative - 9%

Something funny - 7%

Something mainstream - 5%

Other - 2%

An animal - 2%

Something scary - 2%

This year, Nepean High School students are leaning towards wearing something a little more risqué. As we get older, our purpose for wearing costumes on Halloween begins to change. It went from managing to get the most candy within the mere few hours you have to scavenge the neighbourhood, to something completely different that could be anything. As children, we didn’t know there was much more to Halloween than trading Smarties for KitKats. But as you grow older, you begin to realize there becomes a whole new purpose for wearing your costume. Hoping all of Nepean had a spooktacular Halloween!

Seth Forward

Lionel Messi: Superstar or Criminal?

Lionel Messi is arguably the best soccer player of all time. His dazzling runs, exquisite passing and precise shooting amazes all footy fans across the globe, and is unquestionably the most skillful player to step on a soccer field, even with his slight frame of 5'6.

Earlier today, Messi was voted best player in La Liga ahead of arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo. However, Messi and his father, Jorge, have been accused of tax evasion by Spanish authorities, although both deny the charges. The judge appointed to this case has accused the pair of failing to pay 4 million euros (5 million dollars) to the Spanish government between 2007 and 2009. The money that is suspected to be laundered was through image rights of Lionel's many sponsors, including Adidas, Danone and Pepsi. Earlier, the judge denied the duo's claim that it was not Lionel was not involved and that Jorge was the only member involved. The laundered money was reportedly kept by companies in Belize and Uruguay.

Messi is not the only player currently involved with these allegations. Fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano, and Brazilian wonderkid Neymar Jr., and all teammates at Barcelona FC have also had to appear in court over tax fraud. Mascherano has been accused of hiding image rights earnings, just like Messi. Unlike Messi, Mascherano has paid the 1.5 million euros back to Spanish authorities in an attempt to see a less severe punishment.

The Brazilian supreme court claims Neymar and his father laundered approximately 16 million dollars, a much larger sum than Mascherano and Messi combined. However, Messi's case has been carried on for over two years, while Mascherano and Neymar's accusations were made less than two months ago.

It will be interesting to see these cases unravel, with potential jail time a possibility for all three.

Routine

By: Eleanor Willner-Fraser

There is a kind of comfort in not thinking about what you are doing, in simply knowing. Daniel Harrington doesn’t have to think. He wakes up every morning at 7 am without an alarm, because his body has gotten so used to waking up at this time. He eats a hearty breakfast of either oatmeal with berries or toast with peanut butter. He swallows his numerous vitamins with a glass of milk, and then prepares for his daily walk by brushing his hair and teeth. Daniel’s mornings have been like this for so long that he can hardly remember a time when he didn’t follow this exact routine.

This morning is no different from other mornings. Daniel wakes up at 7 am, eats breakfast, swallows his vitamins and prepares for his daily walk. He has not gotten very far at all, perhaps only six steps from his house, when he unexpectedly runs into his neighbour, Alice, walking her greyhound. She asks Daniel how he is doing. He says he is doing as fine as could be expected.

This gets him thinking. He continues on his walk, past the bookstore and the bakery and the elementary school. They could have been replaced by the Eiffel Tower and he wouldn’t have noticed.

He is doing as fine as could be expected. Daniel has never been particularly cheerful, but this is a new low. He’s 52, and before long he’ll be a grumpy old man, just like his father. Daniel knows that he has a good life, and that he has nothing to complain about. Only now, however, does he realize that he isn’t happy - not at all. He has fallen into a rut. Every day for the rest of his life, he will wake up at 7 am, eat breakfast, swallow his vitamins and prepare for his daily walk. Unless something changes.

A new papery has opened where the barber used to be. Daniel wouldn’t have noticed, except that the sign is large and orange. Suddenly Daniel smiles, the first time he has smiled in a while. He has an idea.

When he gets home from his walk, Daniel grabs a stack of paper and some scissors. He cuts the paper into long strips and shapes of all different sizes. He finds a pen, and starts writing. By the time he finishes, he has missed his 12 pm lunch, but for once he doesn’t care.

He puts the little pieces of paper all over his house. He attaches them to the refrigerator, the couch, the bathroom mirror. He tapes some to the walls of his bedroom and to door handles. He smiles as he sticks others to the windows. He has made so many pieces that he will not be able to escape them. Everywhere he turns, he is surrounded by little pieces of paper, which is the point of his doings.

On the pieces of paper, Daniel has written a variety of things. He has written inspirational quotations. He has drawn pictures. He has written suggestions for activities to change up his routine.

Every day, Daniel will pick a piece of paper to read. He hasn’t bothered to count how many pieces he cut. Every day for the rest of his life, maybe, his day will be dictated by these scraps of paper dreamt up on this seemingly ordinary day. Somehow that doesn’t seem as bad as waking up every morning at 7 am, eating breakfast, swallowing his vitamins and preparing for his daily walk, for the rest of his life.

The first piece of paper is shaped like a star. On it is written, “If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.”

There is a kind of comfort in not thinking about what you are doing, in simply knowing, but there is also a joy in waking up every morning and not knowing what is coming.

What’s Going on in Syria?

By Charlotte Curphey

Image from Google.

The Syrian refugee crisis has been an ongoing issue for almost five years and is worsening. Since the civil war began in 2011, over nine million refugees have fled the country in order to escape violence and find safety.

The majority of these refugees – 6.5 million to be precise – have been unable to leave Syria and have only been able to displace themselves throughout the country. Neighbouring countries have been able to show support for a small portion of the evacuees and have created living places where some of them have been able to settle.

The newly elected prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has pledged to continue to support countries that are housing refugees and to resettle 25,000 Syrians by January 1st. Canadian humanitarian organizations have also assisted in the promotion of sponsoring Syrian families, a donation that many Canadians are and should be able to make.

Canada is known to be a relatively happy and wealthy country. It is able to support many different humanitarian crises around the world. However, many Canadians are unaware of the severity of the Syrian crisis and do not know how to help.

This issue needs to be brought to the attention of the public. There are hundreds of thousands of families who are in need of assistance and the Canadian population should support them. Canadian families can help families in refuge by donating to the cause or by sponsoring a family. The Canadian government can and will help Syria, but now it is time for Canadian citizens ask themselves this: What can I do to help?

By: Griffin Stever

The Value of Assertiveness

Ancient glaciers are melting. Sea levels are rising. We have reached the highest C02 levels in over 700,000 years. Greenhouse gas emissions are skyrocketing, and a “consumeristic” lifestyle is trending. The largest environmental threat of our time is unfolding while we sit back and do nothing. Humans are wiping out species a thousand times faster than nature can create them. Ironically, the earth is no more ours than the other species, who have lived here far longer than you and me.

Climate change means more severe cyclones, floods, and tempest. Ocean acidification is increasing, and the death of our oceans is imminent at the rate we’re going. Climate change is the most serious threat of our time. Science backs up climate change, yet there seems to be a difference with what we say and what we do. Action is necessary for there to be a change.

Many energy companies today are profit driven and only care about short-term gains. They emit greenhouse gases at a rate not seen before on earth in millions of years. They’ve created a destabilized climate, yet our society seems to be in denial. There’s a disconnect between what we know and what we do. Being able to adapt our behavior to a challenge and solve a problem is a good definition of intelligence.

As a society, we need to care more about the long-term gain. Acting selfishly to only benefit ourselves and screwing over the generations to come is not something we should ignore. More money, time, and research need to be put in to reduce emissions. We need to make our greenhouse gas emissions zero to avoid serious repercussions and to protect the environment.

Images from Google.

One Knight, One Victory

By Meagan David

At the turn of a new season, a plea for change seems fitting.

On October 19th, the federal election took place and after ten years of being the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper came in second to the Liberal’s new leader, Justin Trudeau. CBC’s Peter Mansbridge noted that this was the first time he had seen such a strong lead from one party.

Just a few days earlier, Nepean had its very own mock election. The ballots had the names of all the candidates who were running in Ottawa Centre. There were poll keys and polling stations, just like what you would find at a real polling station. In general, the student election had similar results to the real election.

In first place, the Liberal Party won with 140 votes. Unlike the real election, the Liberals did not win with a majority but still had 32% of the vote. In second place, Paul Dewar won for the NDP with 108 votes, which is equivalent to 25% of the votes. In third place, the Marijuana Party had 49 votes, displacing the Conservatives to fourth place with 39 votes.

The results were somewhat reflective of the real election, seeing that the Liberals won. However, the Nepean Knights elected the NDP as the official opposition, and as a result the Conservatives suffered even more losses than in the real election.

After 10 years of the same government, Canadians both young and old clearly see the confidence in the red wave.

The Liberal’s primary focuses are on environmental issues, the legalization of marijuana, increased grants for low-income families, and a change in post-secondary tuition.

Trudeau plans to remove taxes and interest of post-secondary tuitions. He intends for students to not have to payback their loans until they have a stable income of at least $25,000 per year. This differs from the system we have now, where students are charged interest if they don’t have their loans paid off after just 6 months. Will these solutions carry through? Only time will tell.

Regardless of the winner, which party you support, or your opinions on the issues, politics are important. It’s your right to not vote just as much as it is to vote, but we need to consider how much politics affect our lives.

Have you ever complained about tuition? How hard is it to get a job as a student? Well, it all comes down to politics and if you've ever had similar thoughts to these, you just proved why your voice matters.

A big thanks to Mr. Wilson for organizing and running the mock election. The students appreciate the time he invested into letting the students’ voices be heard.

December 2015

Paris Bombings and the Blowback

By Griffin Stever

Image from Google

ISIS militants planned and executed five different horrible attacks throughout the city of Paris, France; killing 136 innocent people and hospitalizing 415. As a result, the country of France declared a state of emergency and has responded with a retaliation bombing.

In response to these heinous attacks, there is more than one victim at large here. ISIS has cast a dark shadow over the innocent people who are average practicing Muslims.

The few irrational people who are considered Muslim extremists have done horrible things to create huge paranoia and scapegoating amongst the Muslim religion in the Western world. Of all the Muslims in the world, less than 0.01 percent are Muslim extremists, yet there seems to be a disconnect that has created an immense amount of discrimination against a group of innocent people.

Every time Islamic extremists carry out an attack, the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are expected to apologize; it has become a hard cliché at this point. Yet, the UN has stated in various reports that over 9000 innocent Muslim civilians have been deliberately killed in the Middle East by ISIS militants.

The underlying message is that discrimination and racism have no positive outcome here; we must be diplomatic rather than violent. The first casualty of any war is humankind. As a society, we must remember those lost in body, perspective, and innocence.

While we must never forget what those have lost, we must also seek the truth and confirm guilt rather than discriminating against a billion innocent Muslims totally unrelated to these attacks and unaffiliated to ISIS.

My condolences go out to the victims, families of those fallen and the country of France as a whole.

Federal Government to Slow Down Stream of Syrian Refugees

By Ian McHaffie

After a bold election pledge that promised to accept 25,000 government-sponsored Syrian refugees by New Year’s Eve, the Liberal government has announced that this will have to slow down.

While the arrival dates have been delayed, the program has not been scrapped altogether. Instead, the government will accept 10,000 privately-sponsored refugees by New Year’s Eve and another 15,000 will be government-sponsored by February.

“I’ve heard Canadians across this country saying, ‘yes you have to do it right and if it takes a little bit longer to do it right, then take the extra time,’ ” said Immigration Minister John McCallum.

The plan has been controversial at times as many of those who are opposed to accepting refugees say that it will not be good for financial and security reasons. At an estimated cost of $1.2 billion, opponents argue that the money could be better spent in other areas, such as alleviating poverty and homelessness in Canada.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted that security concerns following the Paris terrorist attacks played a role in the delays and that he wanted to ensure every refugee had more time to be properly screened. At the same time, he reaffirmed his commitment to diversity in Canada and said, “We must also recommit to building a world where diversity and difference are promoted and celebrated.”

Refugees will arrive in Montreal or Toronto, before being dispersed into 36 different communities across the country.

Men's Issues on Campus

By Ian Chandler

Image from Google

Men’s issues groups on campus are a controversial topic. While women’s issues and feminist groups have been a staple on campus for many years - as they should be - men’s issues groups are absent on almost every campus in Canada.

Many attempts have been made to bring these groups and their opinions to campuses; however, almost all have been unsuccessful. Most recently, the Ryerson Students’ Union denied the Men’s Issues Awareness Society from existing on campus. This should be a troubling sign for anyone going into university because it shows that these institutions are not entirely interested in protecting free speech.

So why do men's issues groups have a difficult time getting representation?

Some may argue that men do not need a group to represent them because they are already privileged. But how are men privileged if they do not even have a group where they can voice their opinion in a free and open manner?

Some also may argue that men’s issues groups will attempt to make men’s rights superior to women’s. But how can we know this if we do not even give these people a chance to voice their opinions through an organization?

People should not fear men’s issues groups as misogynist machines that make campuses unsafe and unfriendly to women. They should view them as a way for men to express their gender specific issues in a safe and accepting manner and place.

Men have many issues that require the support of a group of other men. Men face a higher than average suicide rate. They also face a higher than average rate of violence, murder, and incarceration. All of these issues are things that men’s issues groups on campus can, and should, help men deal with.

Men’s rights should count as equally as women’s. There should be no more and no less.

The consistent judgement against men’s issues organizations suggests that there is something wrong and that opinions are not being equally represented. This should worry us all because the suppression of a group’s right to speak because of what they believe should not be tolerated in our society.

Mourinho Must Go

Jose Mourinho has endured a tough 3 months. Starting with a loss to New York Red Bull in the FIFA Club World Cup, (Yes, the New York Red Bull who's best player is a 34 year old Shaun Wright-Phillips) the former champions have been dreadful. They have now lost seven out twelve matches, sitting in 16th in the table.

This is Mourinho's worst stretch ever as a manager, and it seems he has no more excuses left. Publicly criticizing players and medical staff, benching important players, refusing to speak to media, losing his temper on and off the pitch, mainly at referees. Many of his claims for poor officiating have in fact been false upon the use of replay, including penalty calls, offsides and a disallowed goal. Most recently, hes was not allowed to be in the stadium for Chelsea's loss to Stoke City, a game where Chelsea looked impressive, yet lacked the finishing and tenacity to pull off a coveted win in such a dismal season. His stadium ban was due to unprecedented behaviour at half-time during Chelsea's loss to West Ham. Mourinho stormed into the referee's changing room, calling match referee Jonathan Moss "F***ing weak".

Previously, Mourinho's antics were backed by his performances, but now, as his side are three points off the relegation zone, there is no resemblance to the team that won the title last season. His team look dreadful, with star players such as Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa performing far below standard. Hazard was named PFA player of the year for his brilliant campaign last season. However, the Belgian has been a mere shadow to the player that ripped apart defences last term.

The only consistent Chelsea player so far has been Willian, who has excelled with incredible dribbling skills and jaw-dropping free kicks. At the moment, Chelsea's top source for scoring has been other teams own goals, proof of such a dreary season. Mourinho has to leave or else Chelsea will be lingering around the relegation zone for a long time. For now, we can all have our laughs at Chelsea supporters.