by Sarah Rudasill
Just recently, America’s hearts were captured and their eyes glued to the television screen when citizens all over the country watched in horror. Officials contemplated a way to save a little boy thought to be floating in a weather balloon (at left) thousands of feet in the air. When the balloon finally landed, officials were relieved yet surprised the little boy was not inside. It was later discovered he had been hiding in the attic. The tearful family hugged their son and expressed sincere thanks to the hundreds of volunteers helping with the search and potential rescue from the balloon. This should have been a happy ending to the story, right?
During an interview on Larry King Live, the son was asked why he had not come out from hiding when they called his name numerous times. “You guys said we did this for the show,” he responded.
The entire country was fearful for this little boy, and the family had enough indifference to operate this complex deception in order to be on reality television? Not only were the countless policemen and volunteers’ time wasted, a reported $10,000 was spent in recovery efforts such as helicopters. Charges are expected to be filed in the near future.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time reality television has lured people to do some crazy things in order to be more attractive to producers looking for drama.
No Longer So Great, Jon and Kate (Plus Eight)
The prime example of reality television’s dark side is with the reality television show Jon & Kate Plus Eight. Jon and Kate, a couple with sextuplets and twins, had transformed their lives into a show documenting their day-to-day struggles, problems and triumphs.
In happier times, The "cast" of Jon and Kate + 8, photo courtesy wordpress.com
In April 2009, it was rumored Jon was having an affair after hanging around with various women and leaving an establishment with one of them. Jon and his mistress have denied the accusations, but the woman’s brother insisted they were romantically involved. Kate was also accused of having an affair with her bodyguard, which she has denied.
The couple was unable to balance a reality television show, eight children and affairs, and therefore announced their divorce in June 2009 during the premiere of the fifth season. Since then, TLC has changed the name of the show to Kate Plus Eight, which will begin in November and focus on her life as a single mother raising multiple children. Jon will continue to appear on the show, but TLC says it will be much less often.
Recently, TLC filed a lawsuit against Jon, and Kate refuses to speak out about it. Instead, she is letting the world know of the problems now facing her famous eight children. She granted an interview to Vanity Fair and explained how the kids are having a difficult time in dealing with the absence of a father figure.
“I’m trying to give them the grace to see, if they’re acting out of line, I’m trying to look deeper into why that is…cause it’s all inter-related,” Kate stated during the interview. “I mean, they don’t see it, but it’s all interconnected.”
She said the children truly miss Jon, and they are unaware of the articles in magazines and on blogs bashing their father for his immature actions. The two are due in court sometime in the future in order to discuss a custody agreement.
Kate is still unsure of what her future may hold. Although TLC wants the new show Kate Plus Eight, she could also appear on “Mom Logic,” which is a planned talk show with Food Network chef Paula Deen. Whatever her future may hold, Kate assures her primary concern is her lovable children.
Change of Heart
To make matters worse, he broke news of his change of heart in front of television cameras. He sat on the couch with watery eyes, insisting he hated himself for his decision, but noted his feelings had changed and he no longer loved Melissa. A broken-hearted Melissa simply handed back her engagement ring and left.
Molly quickly forgave Jason for casting her off on the show’s finale, and the two became a new couple just after he dumped his former fiancé. America watched in astonishment, but Jason stated he was “following my heart.”
“If some people don’t like it, I get that. It’s not the classiest or coolest thing in the world,” he said.
Melissa Rycroft moved on from The Bachelor, eventually competing on Dancing with the Stars. She’s now engaged to Tye Strickland, after they’ve been dating for two years.
The Bachelor is another example of a television reality show gone badly. Many Americans feel it has made falling in love into a contest of competition, cheating and heartbreak.
Losing the Weight and Keeping it Off
Another good example of reality television changing a person’s life is The Biggest Loser. Normally this would be considered an inspiring show; obese contestants compete to lose weight and win money. Yet we rarely see follow-ups after the season’s finale. Many contestants, through interviews on Oprah and other stations, have revealed their struggles with keeping the weight off.
Chopin went even further, granting an interview to the Oprah Winfrey Show. Explaining his battle with “yo-yo dieting,” he addressed the fact that he is trying again to lose the weight. “This time I am not going to get involved with a number. I want to be healthy and fit,” he said.
Chopin hasn’t been the only ‘Biggest Loser’ to struggle after losing so much weight very quickly. Season One winner Ryan Benson has regained nearly all of the weight he lost. “I lost the focus I had gained on the show,” he said. “And when I started gaining the weight back, I felt guilty. I feel like I have to explain everything. Like the show is great, but it’s my own fault.”
For the first few months, he happily stayed active, but reality set in when he accepted a demanding job and his wife gave birth to twin girls. He admits a lot of his motivation to go on the show was the cash sum to the winner: a life-changing $250,000.
He agrees The Biggest Loser is an inspiration to all, but it is difficult to lose so much weight in a short amount of time and transition back to home, a family and a job while keeping it off.
Jail Time
Not only is the opportunity of having a reality show too much for some Americans, those who participate change their lives forever. Take Survivor Season One winner, Richard Hatch, for example. Hatch was overconfident and had a large ego, but ended up winning after frankly telling the jury he played the game the best.
In early 2005, Hatch (pictured right, photo courtesy of Fox News) was cited for failing to report $1,010,000 in winnings from Survivor, in addition to $321,000 he received for radio appearances. Instead of accepting leniency, Hatch stated he was under the belief CBS paid the taxes before awarding him the money. Just a year later, he was found guilty of tax evasion and was sentenced to 51 months in prison, along with an additional three years of supervised release.
One has to wonder whether Hatch would have been better off not competing on Survivor. He definitely received his fame and glory while on the show, but after the hype faded away, he was left out of the spotlight and ultimately created more problems for himself.
The Lifelong Real World Effects
Reality television has obviously gripped the nation, and Americans watch weekly shows to escape their own lives for an hour. The effects of the shows on the contestants, however, go rather unnoticed.
"Your life is an open book to people and that makes you feel very vulnerable," Nadine Kaslow, the chief psychologist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told ABCNews.com. "When people feel very publicly shamed and humiliated that's a risk factor for suicide. Part of what you don't know is how sensitive people are going to be to the shame and humiliation they might experience."
According to TheWrap.com, which recently completed an investigation of reality contestant suicides, eleven previous reality show contestants committed suicide as a result of exposing their lives to the world.
“They have no control or they lose control,” Kaslow went on to state. “They lose the boundaries we all hold. The media and the public aren’t always so nice about them either. You can also go from being a star and really famous to being either a nobody or a villain.”
In addition, she also contributed suicidal tendencies of reality contestants to the depressing weeks following their loss. “You have to be sensitive to them after they are out or lose. Now, the losers are on morning television the next day. Most of us, when we’ve had a public failure, do not want to be on morning TV.”
Even with all of the consequences of competing on reality television, many Americans are more than willing to pay a high price for their fifteen minutes of fame. The lengths to which families sometimes go to participate on a show; for example, making the entire country believe your son was going to die in a weather balloon, are just some of the crazy ideas contestants have to achieve the fame and wealth promised by reality television shows.
Ryan Chrismer, Self Portrait
Paths Taken to Living Strong: An Interview with Ryan Coutts
by Sarah Coutts
Many students minds may wander as they move through our halls: where do I go from here? What’s my next step? From person to person, the answers to these questions may vary. For underclassmen, there is time; however, for most seniors their future may appear as a daily question. What is that life waiting outside the routine now? A time when there there isn’t a security blanket over our heads? A time when we must take charge for our own lives. Ryan Coutts had the same feelings and thoughts going through his mind when he was a student here at New Oxford High School. The only difference was the path he took.
Silhouette: What year did you graduate from New Oxford?
Ryan: 2008.
Silhouette: Did you like attending high school here? Do you miss it?
Ryan: It was high school; high school is high school, you know, but I enjoyed my overall experience. I miss the simplicity, the complete and total lack of responsibility.
Silhouette: What made you want to join the Army? Did you always feel like you would join?
Ryan: Moral obligation. I felt I had to do it. For a while, I had that feeling since September 11.
Silhouette: What training did you have to go through to get where you are now and where did it take place? What did you feel when you first arrived at your training?
Ryan: I went to Fort Benning Georgia. Basic Training was a joke and Airborne School was fun. Jumping out of planes is a rush and getting paid to do so is awesome. Selection process was hard; restriction rate is over 50%. When I first arrived, it was frightening, the longer I was there, the more I realized I could do it.
Silhouette: What was the hardest thing you faced while you were in your training?
Ryan: The selection process…We didn’t sleep for the entire week, and it was very physically straining. There wasn’t much food involved; for a combination, it was rough.
Silhouette: Do the people that you meet along the way start to feel like a family?
Ryan: Definitely…you make serious bonds with people around you. There is the suck factor we’re all going through the same stressful thing of the selection process.
Silhouette: What is your rank in the Army?
Ryan: Private First Class.
Silhouette: What are your thoughts about going into the war?
Ryan: Can’t wait…excited, I’ve been training for over a year.
Silhouette: Where do you expect to go from here?
Ryan: After deployment, going to Ranger School and becoming a sniper.
Silhouette: While you are overseas, do you plan on keeping a journal or something, to document your time spent there?
Ryan: Given the nature of my unit I really can’t.
Silhouette: What do you plan on doing after your four years of serving?
Ryan: Honestly, I plan on hitch hiking around the U.S for about six months. After that, I kind of want to be a firefighter.
Silhouette: So far has the army been what you expected it to be?
Ryan: You join the army, you have no idea until you get there…and it sucks at first, but then, something happens, and you learn to love it.
by Shaiann Daniels
They are invading the privacy of our celebrities, and resort to such tactics that they are endangering the lives of not only the stars they're stalking, but innocent bysanders as well. They are the paparazzi, and as of now, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t too pleased with them.
Governor Schwarzenegger has just recently signed an anti-paparazzi law which makes it easier for celebrities to sue photographers who invade their personal lives. This decade-old law allows fines against paparazzi that take illegal or offensive photos.
Why do these photographers want these stupid photos anyway? Not surprisingly, it all boils down to money. Some internet sites and magazines pay millions of dollars for these pictures--the more private or humilating
the moment, the more lucrative the pay-off for the paparazzi. However, Governor Schwarzenegger decided to crack down on these guys. Four years removed from his own Hollywood career, the former megabucks box office draw knows what it’s like to be invaded by the paparazzi. He cited the time when he was an actor and was followed by the paparazzi on his way to pick up his child from school in a 1998 incident. He was willing to testify against his offender and he has not forgotten his outrage at such a personal violation and reckless endangerment of his family.
The paparazzi better start finding new jobs or their next attempt at invasion of privacy…terminated.
December 21, 2012 : The Mayan Calendar's End of Days?
by Shintelle Mitchem
Prophets and soothsayers have predicted it and even robots seem to be breaking a sweat. The numerology of the ancient Mayans seems to have time-stamped the same expiration date on creation, December 21st 2012.
The Mayan civilization was in existence for over 2,500 years prior to their decline around 750 AD. Their measurement of time was so precise that it has become a talisman of sorts for the prediction of cosmological events. In particular, the calendar known as "the long count" has successfully calculates the dates of solar eclipses thousands of years before their occurence.
So how did its last surviving creators from 750 A.D. come up with the mathematical hocus pocus to foresee cosmological events? The calendar was devised out of sophisticated mathematics far advanced for the Mayan's era; in fact, they were among the first civilizations to conceive of the idea of the number 0 . Their advanced culture and mathematics has led many today to trust such predictions while continuing to speculate on whether the end of the calendar means the end of time itself or the beginning of a new age.
The Mayans have some famous company in their visonary focus on 2012. Nostradamus, a name that some many associate with a dusty past, is Western civilization's most notable of clairvoyants. Nostradamus was a French physician from the 16th century, who became a seer of the future and compiled a total of 946 centuries of predictions. With a track record that is believed by many to be undeniably accurate, foreseeing World War 2, the fire of London in 1666, The French Revolution, and the reigns of both Napoleon and Adolf Hitler. He was even said to have predicted his own death a day before it happened. Now what do you ask has this celebrated prophet prophesized about 2012? His exact words are complex and hard for the average person to decipher, but according to scholars, Nostradamus has predicted the rise of a third antichrist, a time of great famine felt around the world. He also saw great floods and endless drought. This prophecy some say is very near on the horizon linking the flooding and drought to global warming, and the new antichrist with tyrant dictators and a third world war.
Nostradamus, however, was not the only one foreseeing such events in the year 2012. Scientists and computer programmers teamed up in the early 90s in the hopes of creating computer software that could track financial trends on Wall Street. They called the program the web bot and it was found to be obscenely accurate. After a time the innovation was put to the test by researchers who wondered if it can predict the future of the finance world why not everything else? They re-visited the program and set it to the test having it answer new more pressing questions. Then in 2001 the web bot project shocked its creators when it predicted a life altering event would occur in 60-90 days it also claimed that this event would be felt world wide. Sadly the program was proved right when the twin towers fell in 9/11/2001. The web bot projects, as is to be guessed predicted a world wide calamity would occur in 2012 and with so many other predictors standing behind it, its claims are by many a confirmation of our impending suffering, and if we travel east the predictions continue.
In the year 2800 BC the “I Ching” or “Book of Changes” was written in China and is revered to this day for its ability to answer questions using 3 three coins that are flipped. They give you answers depending on how they land. Two heads, one tails, two tails one head etc. The outcomes of these coin tosses are then matched to answers that have been pre written in the “I Ching” Oddly enough the answers are usually extremely relevant. Little fuss is made involving China’s Book of Changes though until writer philosopher and ethno-botanist, Terence McKenna took a deeper look into the book’s king wen sequence. He then mathematically tracked the book, and created a computer program that output fractal graphs on the rhythm of life or the earth’s “novelty” as Terence calls it. He then looked at the end of the last fractal graph the software would compute and was astounded to see it ended on the year 2012. After this discovery, Terence made a prediction deciding that time as we know it would end on December 22, 2012 only a day after the end of the Mayan calendar !
Is this all a coincidence, a bizarre mathematical conundrum? Or is it all in the imagination of the public’s subconscious, scared to death of a random date with no substantial meaning?
2012 and the Boogie Man: A Student Editorial
by Shaiann Daniels
The prophecies regarding 2012 are devastating-- to anyone who is juvenile enough to believe them. But some scientists and certainly Hollywood movie producers are trying to scare even the brightest of people, forcing them to believe these ancient predictions of catastrophe.
Sure, this could be believable if you didn’t think things through. It sounds plausible enough right? Well, just because it’s getting a gazillion Internet hits all over the whole world doesn’t make it objectively true.
Nothing regarding 2012 is or can be proven--which should ease one's mind as a fact itself. Remember, to make a big megabuck blockbuster film like 2012 requires planning....add in some snazzy digital effects and you can be sure that production on this film began some time ago. To make any film in Hollywood these days takes approximately three or more years. And if you think back to when we started hearing about the Mayan calendar and December 21st, 2012… you would probably say around three, or fewer, years ago.
Now when you put that all together, don't you begin to realize something? It does not take three years to smell a rat. It’s possible that the specific date could be the end of days, but nobody can ever prove that…not in this time period. So it’s possible also that the money-driven people have perpetrated a hoax. Manipulating the Mayan calendar by saying just because it ends on that specific date, they predicted it’s the end of the world. Claiming we should fear the year 2012 when it’s feasible that they made the movie when the world started hearing about this. And why? Very simple answer --so the movie could make billions of dollars.
It makes sense considering a lot of people want to know their “fate” when the year finally arrives. The Boogie Man has just hit the jackpot.
Across the Pond to Colonial Country, USA
by Bianca Garcia
It can be difficult to adjust to a new country, but when one becomes a foreign exchange student, this can become a little less complicated. In a country where there are welcoming faces like in the United States, the foreign student forgets that he or she is indeed foreign. Many times the student comes from a city background and could experience culture shock when they arrive in the largely rural area of New Oxford, Pennsylvania. As I have had the chance to interview numerous students this year, I've wondered, how do people abroad get to know who we are? If the tables were turned, many of us would have to admit that we perceive unknown cultures through television or the movies or the newspapers. It is therefore likely that students abroad learn about America through similar filters.
I am grateful that these interviews and certainly the entire foreign exchange experience give us the opportunity to meet one another face to face as fellow human beings -- with no filters to come between us.
So please read along and meet Moritz Bauer, or perhaps you already have.
Silhouette: What part of Germany are you from?
Moritz: Palatinate, which is in the western part of Germany.
Silhouette: Why did you choose to become a foreign exchange student?
Moritz: I wanted to meet Americans and to improve my English. And overall I wanted to visit America.
Silhouette: What are the biggest differences between this school system and yours?
Moritz: The subjects are different. The school schedule is also different because in Germany we go to school from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. We don’t have the same classes’ everyday.
Silhouette: What is your home town like in comparison to New Oxford?
Moritz: Everything is bigger here, the roads, houses, everything. In Palatinate, the houses look different and they are very close together. Many of the houses don’t have gardens because of the limited space.
Silhouette: What are your hobbies or special interests?
Moritz: I like soccer and volleyball. And I like to hangout with my friends.
Silhouette: What goals do you have for your future?
Moritz: I want to be a hotel manager and travel a lot.
Silhouette: What do you like the most about New Oxford High School?
Moritz: I like how people come up to me and introduce themselves. They aren’t hesitant about it. The teachers are nicer and everything here is a lot more relaxed. I like how we’re allowed to chew gum.
Silhouette: What do you dislike the most about our high school?
Moritz: I don’t like having the same classes everyday and I really don’t like the pass cards.
Silhouette: What do you miss the most about Germany?
Moritz: The food definitely. I miss my family and friends and my soccer team.
Silhouette: How do you or how have you spent your American weekends?
Moritz: I go to the movies and hangout with my friends.
Silhouette: What do you do in Germany on your weekends?
Moritz: I have soccer games, and I go to the pool and clubs.
Silhouette: What do you expect to get out of this experience?
Moritz: I want my English grades in Germany to get better, and I want this to be a good reference for future job opportunities.
Silhouette: Are there any major differences between New Oxford/American students and German students?
Moritz: Yes, American students are very direct. They are less serious in school; they have fun.
Silhouette: What do you want American students to learn about your culture/country?
Moritz: That we don’t eat sausages everyday... and Germany isn’t just about big beer fests.
Uganda's Invisible Children
by Shaiann Daniels
They have to live in “the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today”. These invisible children have been overlooked for the past 23 years.
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) have been fighting a war that has left millions of people homeless and some dead. Several Ugandan children are being forced to become child soldiers even when they’re still very young. Some even watch their parents die before their eyes and they have to live with that agony everyday.
It is estimated by the FIC that during the war, between 60,000 and 85,000 Ugandan children were seized and held as child soldiers. They then use them for more than just fighting, including murder, rape, and even cannibalism.
However, some people do care about these children and they take the time to think about how the war is affecting them.
Andrew Briggs, a former schoolteacher, became a promoter for the tormented children of Uganda. He established an organization called “Freedom in Creation” which helps the children cope with the violence in their everyday lives.
About 65 Ugandan children are a part of this foundation. Therapy is a challenge for these small children of Uganda. It’s harder to get a response out of them so Briggs uses art and music as their means of therapy and healing. Some of these children are very receptive when performing the different things.
Briggs realizes that these former child soldiers will need more than counseling to rebuild their lives--they need a real livelihood and a sustainable future. Therefore, he has begun an initiative in education to build basic literacy and communication while also providing "municipal-based programs" that will provide safe drinking water to the refugee camps.
Briggs and his accomplice Alex Mejias have an exhibit called “The Story of Freedom” which is what they use to raise awareness and funds in the USA. It is a video which includes some of the actual artwork of the Ugandan children.
As of now, the war is still enduring, but this program helps the Ugandan children get through everything a lot easier than it was for them in the past.
