Editor’s Note: The assignment for this essay–Write a 2-4 page analytical essay that discusses themes from the chosen content (Selina chose this film). Present themes and analysis using support from the chosen content and end by opening up a new question, which Selina does by asking: “As global citizens, how can we understand ongoing conflicts of race and religion.”

Le film 《Indigènes》raconte une histoire des soldats algériens pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Malgré le fait que les soldats viennent d’Algérie, ils vont à la guerre pour la
France à cause de la colonisation française. Le film montre la séparation des femmes et des hommes, les conflits entre les religions différentes, et l’inégalité des races.

Un des thèmes les plus importants est les rôles différents des hommes et des femmes pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Dans le film, les hommes et les femmes n’ont pas beaucoup d’interactions. Quand les hommes sont partis pour les combats, les femmes sont “devenues « chefs de famille » par la force des choses, pour pallier l’absence de l’homme” (Kristjánsdóttir 16). Dans le film, les soldats sont demandés de protéger un village français. Il y a seulement des femmes et des enfants dans le village parce que les hommes sont tous dans la guerre. Les rôles des femmes ont beaucoup changé après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. La distinction entre les occupations des hommes et des femmes est clairement présentée dans le film. (more…)

(In)Visible: The TV Pitch Project Winner

February 7, 2017 1:00 pm

By Katie Hartigan, Nick Hadlock, and Anderson Fan, VI Form

(In)Visible: The TV Pitch Project Winner

Logline:

Unified in isolation, six strangers’ morality is put to the test when taking a pill makes them invisible to everyone but each other, but what they don’t know is that they are part of a social experiment and are constantly being watched.

Elevator Pitch:

(In)Visible is a two-season television show falling under the category of sci/fi, drama, and thriller. It is about six main characters that participate in a seemingly risk-free drug trial by Osiris Pharmaceutical that leaves them invisible to everyone except each other. They must cooperate in order to overcome the challenges presented to them and the mystery of what happened to them. Little do they know, they are being watched by six “monitors” behind the operation who are observing the behavior of people who think nobody is watching. Themes of cooperation, isolation, and leadership emerge as the characters find modes of survival and uncover the mystery. Season One ends with the six participants transitioning into monitors, and thus inheriting the responsibilities of monitors. New participants are introduced as the six monitors give them different moral tasks as part of the social study. Season Two ends with the new participants discovering how to escape the cycle: do the right thing.

(more…)

Math Modeling: Using Math for Flight Path Safety

February 7, 2017 12:59 pm

By Kate Sotir, Cooper Sarafin, Anderson Fan, Shep Green, VI Form and Mo Liu, V Form

Math Modeling: Using Math for Flight Path Safety

Part 1:

The problem at hand is to create a model, a rating system, that would inform potential flyers of the safety of a particular flight. Our solution includes a mathematical equation that gives us a number between 1 and 100, depending on the inputs. Although the values themselves indicate the safety level of flights, we do not want to our audience to read into the numbers: a flight with a safety index of 63 should not be considered a more dangerous flight than a flight with a safety index of 67. Therefore, to make our model directly presentable to our audience, we classified the possible outcomes into ratings. A safety index ranges from 1 to 20 would have a rating of ★, from 20 to 40 would have ★★, 40 to 60 would be ★★★, 60 to 80 ★★★★, and finally, 80 to 100 would have the highest rating of ★★★★★, and flights that fall under this rating would be the safest choice based on our model. (more…)

Optimism About the Power of the Book

February 7, 2017 12:59 pm

By John Warren, Head of School

Optimism About the Power of the Book

Immediately after learning of our impending grandparenthood, our conversations with daughter-in-law and son, Caitlin and Ethan, turned to books—their recollections of favorite childhood books that had been read to them and that they had read to themselves, and our recollections of favorite books that we had read to Ethan and to our daughter, Amanda. From Ethan and Amanda’s infancy right up through much of elementary school, my wife and I had a nightly ritual of reading to them, and memories of those times are among our happiest. We have been pleased to learn that these memories are among Ethan and Amanda’s happiest, too. (more…)

Making a Change, Pint by Pint with a Blood Drive

February 7, 2017 12:59 pm

By Jack Thalmann, V Form

Making a Change, Pint by Pint with a Blood Drive

Approximately every two seconds in the United States, someone needs a blood transfusion, meaning that more than 36,000 donated pints of red blood cells are needed every day. This statistic surprised me last year when I was working on an assignment for Do The Right Thing, the sophomore core Saturday program. We had been assigned to create a mock advertisement about an organization that we believed was important. I chose to research blood drives, incorporating facts that I researched into an advertisement that I hoped would catch a viewer’s attention. The mere daily amount of blood needed was enough to shock me, because a person is only allowed to donate blood every two months. Therefore, to reach the amount needed daily amount, 13,140,000 donated pints are required every year. This comes out to be the equivalent of 2,190,000 citizens of the United States donating blood every time they are eligible: 6 times a year. (more…)