ISSUE 2 / MARCH 2019

The

Elwood College Newspaper

The Elwood College Newspaper

PAGE ONE

Letter from the Editor Share the Dignity

Read more on page two

Seeya March!This month, disregarding the fact that International Women’s Day was meant to be just a day, the Culture Captains put together a week-long celebration of women past and present. The exhibition showcased student artwork and included a smattering of performances and a chance for a discussion concerning feminism. Apart from many indignant questions of ‘but when is International Men’s Day?’ (which can be argued is everyday, thankyou very much), the celebrations proved to be a success.

March also saw the Senior School Formal, Year 7 camp and, towards the end of the month, a barrage of grumbling due to construction works blocking easy access to the ST building. Although having to walk around the entire school to get to certain classes, students are now provided with a handy excuse for being late. Everything has its silver lining.

Additionally, Harmony Day, organised by the SRC, saw the student body dress up in orange and donate gold coins to State Schools Relief. For some, a very half-hearted effort regarding wearing orange. Yellow shorts just don’t cut it.Hope you all have a lovely April!Peggy

Read more on the success of the Dignity Drive on page six

The Chilling Threat of Gene Editing‘This is not about whether it is safe or not safe.

This is about a forthcoming catastrophic dystopian fiction recreated in real life’

PAGE TWO

Designed Babies Are Not Designed For UsBy Jason Wang, Year 10

(STAT-Harvard poll: Americans say no to ‘designer babies, 2019)

The world’s newest biotechnology, gene editing, is becoming the elephant in the room and we should not legalise gene-edited babies. The CRISPR technique has enabled scientists to alter a newborn’s genes (such a baby is called a designer baby), which changes the genetic material inside a cell of a designated organism. It functions like an autocorrect in a word document where any misspelled words and mistaken sentences - in this case, diseases or disorders - are fixed by a correction system - CRISPR.Furthermore, Scientists are allowed to target a specific area of a gene and modify it with correct combinations of other genetic materials. Not only could gene editing cure untreatable natural born diseases, it could also apply superhuman talents to the babies. These extra modifications are sending chills down my spine.

A poll was published recently by STAT and Harvard H.T on gene engineering. It was discovered that 83% of US adults are feared by the idea of legalising scientists to modify the genes of unborn babies to improve their abilities. The general public is afraid of the concept of genome editing and we should be agitated as well. If we are building an infant with more remarkable capabilities than our own, should we even call it a human baby?

Some people think that genetically altered babies can easily make amendments to our world because it could cure genetic diseases to improve people’s health. However, we, as humans, should not disassemble embryos at great hazards. Operating using CRISPR is not easy. One wrong cut, the infant could come out faceless. One wrong replacement, the baby will sink amid a forlorn abyss. One faulty gene, the future of the child will cease to exist. CRISPR could ”cause serious problems” stated by Robert Truog, the director of Harvard H.T. (Perspectives on gene editing, 2019.) If we can’t secure a single newborn’s health, how could we guarantee that gene editing won’t cause us more hostile troubles toward all of us?

Moreover, designer babies must not be legalised because it could cause heinous predicaments. Gene editing could produce or exacerbate social division, marginalisation or heighten the disadvantage of groups within society. Gene editing would also have a similar effect as the Artificial Intelligence dilemma, where the robot one day may hunt down its creators - the humans. You should feel fretful as we, as unedited humans, would be the ones who get discriminated against .

Above all else, what’s assuring is that some countries are taking action in forbidding gene engineering on embryos. It is proclaimed that 29 countries have straightforwardly banned genetic editing. Splendid. Therefore, it is our responsibility to make sure that genetically designer babies do not endanger our safety by refusing them.

Without a doubt, genetically engineered babies ought to be banned because they are inhumane, immoral and unethical. The majority has voted that gene altering should be viewed with hesitation and reluctance. Plus, they would cause serious social division like two opposing tribes. After all, gene-edited babies are truly ominous and will only lead to disaster.

Make a change on our planet by raising awareness of the serious biotech situation we are having now. As a society, we must reject designer babies for our own sake.

ISSUE 2 / MARCH 2019

PAGE THREE

Casual dress days may seem like a day for you to have fun and express yourself, but there is deeper meaning behind them. Have you ever won-dered why you should have to donate a gold coin?

This gold coin will, the majority of the time, go to a charity. A charity is an organisation set up to provide help and care for those in need. Say the

Fletcher Clarke, Year 7

The Need for Casual Dress Dayscharity in question was made for homeless people. Then, imagine there were one thou-sand people participating in a casual dress day. If everybody brought two dollars, there would be two thousand dollars to be donated.

This would go towards food, clothing, etc. You may take those things for granted but the homeless would not. Now,

the difference between just donating two dollars or having a casual dress day is it is easier to organise and easier to get people involved.

It is truly a win-win situation. We get to wear whatever we want and the homeless receive benefits. I may sound as if I just want to get casual dress, but I want to help Elwood College make changes in the community.

Book Review: Killer T

It’s the future and everybody’s dead, killed by the synthetic black plague: Killer-T.

Let’s analyse this.

So, Robert Muchamore has gone and made what could be said is the worst book, which makes it really gold.

We start in what I think is 2018, after an explosion leaves an NFL footballer badly injured. After the events, Harry Smirnov, a young photojournalist, meets Charlie Croker, a girl who has no friends and cares for her brother, whose skull got crushed by the delivery forceps when he was born, giving him brain damage.

Over the span of 12 years (told by jumping forward in time), Charlie and Harry go on crazy adventures and take risks to answer the true questions behind what Killer-T really is.

To me, half the time the book made me wanna tear it apart (but it was a birthday present). Like, how the characters act. They are really annoying in many parts and the themes are really unbalanced.

In all honesty, if you don’t like my opinions, go to the Goodreads Killer-T page, and it will be person after person saying how bad it was.

Many said they were ‘tempted to DNF’ and how Charlie, a 13 year old girl, was over-sexualised.

Rating: 1 and a half starsPlease note the book has language and parts more directed at mature audiences.

Christien Blandshard-McIntosh, Year 8

Hypatia, born in Egypt, 370 CE, was an incredible woman; who, despite the male-dominating society, refused to conform to traditional customs and stood for what she believed in, no matter the cost. She was a highly intelligent, beautiful woman; widely respected for her dignity and virtue and highly regarded for her intellect. Hypatia was the first recorded woman to have attainments in literature, science, mathematics and philosophy respectively and she had the privilege to teach it and be loved for it too. However, certain Christian societies were not ready for it. Emerging as one of the great talents of the 4th century, this is the tragic story of Hypatia of Alexandria.

Hypatia was fortunate to be brought up by her father, a mathematician and professor by the name of Theon. Upon not having a son, he resolved to bring his daughter up like any son he may have had, teaching her astronomy, philosophy, science and mathematics.

Ever so wonderfully, Hypatia went on to construct astrolabes functioning to make astronomical measurements such as the altitudes of celestial bodies and latitude for navigation. She also constructed hydrometers (used to measure the density of liquids), planispheres (used to recognise stars and constellations) and may have even invented these objects, or at least contributed to their invention.

PAGE FOUR

She wrote commentaries on Apollonius of Perga’s Conics (geometry) and on Diophantus of Alexandria’s Arithmetic and also wrote several treatises (formally written works).

But that was not all. With a head full of knowledge and a kindly nature, she soon rose to become the head of a Platonist school in 400 CE; for a woman in the 4th Century, that’s amazing! Damascius (a philosopher), described how Hypatia, as the head of the school, “used to put on her philosopher’s cloak and walk through the middle of town” to give public lectures. Her lectures at this school were world renowned and people from across the globe would come to listen to her speak. Here, she lectured on mathematics and science, and in particular, Neo-Platonism; an amalgamation of many different philosophies;

meaning she may have even taught her own beliefs. She was an excellent teacher too, and that is attested by the amount of respect she received from her pupils, with many marvelling at her and her lectures. Synesius of Cyrene for one example, called her “the most holy and revered philosopher,” with a vast range of other compliments paid to her.

Hypatia, The Tragic Story of the Greatest Woman of the 4th Century

Hypatia, Ancient Alexandria’s Great Female Scholar, Smithsonian

Hypatia

ISSUE 2 / MARCH 2019

PAGE FIVE

But while she had respect for her intelligence, she also encountered strong sexual advances. One of her students became so enamoured by her that Hypatia took desperate measures to protect her own personal value - of remaining a virgin and without romantic interests. When the relentless suitor yet again professed his love for her, Hypatia stood for what she wanted for she wasn’t going to let anybody manipulate her. Declaring “Your love is just lust!”, she lifted her skirt and threw her menstrual-sodden rags on him. “You have no idea of the reality of women, so here it is! Now you ought to be cured of your obsession with me!” It worked. So well; I’m surprised everyday disagreements aren’t resolved in this fashion to this day.

But this highly respected, incredible woman had a nasty fate in store. Christianity was at its infancy and rather than shrinking from her beliefs out of fear of persecution, as so many others were doing around her, she continued to lecture. She continued to be a philosopher, mathematician, scientist and writer and above all, she continued to be a woman who held a position of power. Being such a person caused her to be labelled as a pagan and a witch and once some Christians got the better of Egypt they had an action plan. Cyril, Alexandria’s leading bishop, had not been able to turn over the government, so instead, I am so proud but also sorrowfully regret to say; they targeted Alexandria’s ‘greatest asset’ and that was Hypatia.

Kidnapping her, a mob dragged her through the streets as they stripped her naked, stripped the flesh from her bones with sharpened oyster shells, beat her with tiles, tore her limbs from her body and burnt the remaining parts of her body at the library of Caesareum. Then, to remove all trace of ‘Satan’ from the city they burnt down the library of Alexandria, including all of Hypatia’s life work, which is why all her formally written works, her commentaries, her philosophy and anything she may have invented is all lost. The mob claimed their actions were justified as Hypatia had “beguiled the people of the city through her enchantments.”

Hypatia was a marvellous woman, but the era was not ready for her. She died young and was strong, beautiful and intelligent; or one might say ‘badass.’ All her work is gone, and if she had

just lived a bit longer, she may have been able to reach her true potential, and that is such a shame. But with being such a person

of wonder, that mob’s reasoning behind murdering her, I’m afraid, had a fatal mistake. They thought they were silencing her and eliminating her memory forever - but in fact, they did quite

the opposite. She will never be forgotten.

Hypatia, The Tragic Story of the Greatest Woman of the 4th Century By Zeta Hamilton-Durkin, Year 10

Hypatia, A Story of Wisdom and Witchcraft, Kidskintha

Hypatia

PAGE SIX

I’m sorry,That this world is brokenAnd you were born into conflictInto homes that don’t understand youBorn to parents that call you by the wrong nameForce you into a body that is not yoursOr make you scaredTo kiss who you really wantOr make you think you are brokenFor not wanting to kiss anyone at all

I am sorry,That some people will hate youFor your heritageFor your kindnessFor your bodyFor your genderThat you ever feel anything less than perfectThat you will ever feel anything except love

I am sorryThat I cannot do moreI am trapped just as much as youTrapped in this world, with hate and crueltyWith a history drenched in the blood of innocentsCloudy with crimes towards so many people, just for livingFor being different

I am sorryThat we are so brokenThat some feel like death is the only escapeFrom a dying world, poisoned with other’s greedThat our ancestors have made this world hurt usThat people still blame usBlame childrenThe innocent they have ruined

I am sorry,But maybe one dayWe can change this worldAnd I can stop being sorryFor crimes we did not commit

UntitledA poem by Asha Dwyer, Year 9

We ran a two-week drive, and the results were fantastic. We’d like to thank all who donated to our cause- you deserve a pat on the back!

Every item donated will go to a woman in need which is brilliant. We’ve had so much support from the school, and we hope that Share the Dignity was equally grateful when we handed in the donations on International Women’s Day!

By Sayler Delves, Year 9

Dignity Drive Success

This semester’s Middle School class, Representations of Women, has been studying a charity called Share the Dignity, where the community can donate handbags of sanitary items to the cause, which then go to homeless women.

Sanitary items donated by Elwood College community

Sanitary items donated by Elwood College community

ISSUE 2 / MARCH 2019

PAGE SEVEN

Abby Stein is an American Jewish transgender woman with an incredible story. Born male into Brooklyn’s cloistered hassidic Jewish community, Stein struggled to make sense of her identity. She was ordained as a rabbi by 18, married at 19, and had her first child at 20 - normalities in the community she hails from.

Stein came out as woman and, after leaving her community, began her transition in 2015.

The hasidic community she comes from, whom she refers to as a “cult”, also completely ignores the LGBT community, refusing to accept and acknowledge its existence.

“If they started hating us, that’d mean recognizing we exist,” Stein said, joking that her goal is to get the hassidim to hate LGBT individuals.

In a Studio 10 interview in early March this year, Stein spoke of thinking she was “crazy” when questioning her identity, as she had no access to any outside news, books, magazines, TV, films or even the Internet.

“Think about The Beatles, [...] there might be some religious communities that don’t let their people listen to it. We didn’t know that that existed.”

During a lecture she gave, Stein reviewed the array of Rabbinic literature discussing gender.

Gender in Judaism and Abby Stein: a Transgender Icon

The Mishnah (a collection of explanations of Jewish law) defines six sex identities, as does the Shulhan Aruch, which permits cross-dressing on Purim (a Jewish holiday, where it is tradition to dress in costumes) because it is for the purpose of simcha (gaiety), she noted.

This brings us to an interesting note. Gender in religion, more specifically, gender in classical Judaism. It is very easy to assume that Judaism, like many other religions is an exclusively gender-binary religion. We see this in assumed gender roles, in liturgy (rituals), in prescribed family responsibilities, and in both secular and religious laws.

However, if we look deeper into textual evidence, we see that

a simple male/female binary is not only cumbersome, it’s highly inaccurate. Rabbi Elliot Kukla rejects the assumed binary of Judaism and provides an insightful analysis of Jewish texts, and has come up with the following interpretations of the six genders in classical Judaism.

(Note: the following has been edited for relevance and appropriateness.)

● Male

● Female

● Androgynous/both male and female sexual characteristics

● Intermediate/obscured sexual characteristics

● Female at birth but develops male characteristics at puberty and is infertile

● Male at birth but develops female characteristics at puberty and does not have male genitalia

This provides an interesting perspective, because one would imagine that an age-old religion and culture would have highly conservative messages.

I hope you learnt something!

By Raffy Blay, Year 12

Ex Chassid Speaks About Being Transgender, Leaving The Fold, CJNews

Gender Began Punching Me in the Face, Haaretz.com

The

Elwood College Newspaper

The

Elwood College Newspaper

PAGE EIGHT

Layout: Indesign

Publisher:Peggy Lucas

Editor:Peggy Lucas

Logo design: Henry Lucas

Team:Amy Ashcroft Spike Angwin

Kyra Ballantyne Ruth Baxter

Christien Blandshard-Mcintosh

Raphael Blay Fletcher Clarke

Lenie Chin Sayler Delves Asha Dwyer

Marlena Eales-Grziwotz Elli Friday

Drew Gibson Zeta Hamilton-Durkin

Nicole Huynh Allira Jane

Eva Maticka Zoe Morris

Ana Ramljak Spencer Rodrick Timna Shushan

Ali Thomas Jason Wang Cassie Ward

Max Whitfield Zisis Zikos