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JANUARY 2006Volume 25, No. 06, January 18, 2006 FEATURES
In one of the most extensive interviews in its 25-year history, THE DAYTIME’s B. M. taps America’s most brilliant journalistic mind about the state of the print media One of America ’s most prominent journalists, Anthony Lewis, speaks about the state of our country’s print mediaby B. M. THE DAYTIME was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak with renowned journalist and commentator Anthony Lewis of Columbia University and THE NEW YORK TIMES. Lewis (born March 27, 1927 in New York City) is a prominent intellectual, writing for the NEW YORK TIMES op-ed page and the NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS among other publications. He was previously a columnist for The Times (1969-2001). Before that he was London bureau chief (1965-1972), Washington, D.C. bureau writer (1955-64), and desk man (1948-1952), all for The Times. From 1952-55 he worked for the Democratic National Committee and The Washington Daily News. His first Pulitzer Prize was in 1955 for reporting on the U. S. Government's loyalty program, and specifically on the dismissal of a Navy employee who was not informed of the nature of the accusations against him, nor of his accusers. Lewis's articles led to the employee's reinstatement. He won a second Pulitzer Prize in 1963 for his coverage of the Supreme Court. He has frequently written on the Court and matters of Constitutional law. One of the more famous events he covered for the New York Times in the mid 1950’s were the McCarthy hearings, including Joe Welch’s famous speech, “Have you no decency, sir?” Lewis has taught at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism since the mid-'70's, and has held the school's James Madison chair in First Amendment Issues since 1982. He lectured at Harvard from 1974 to 1989 and has been a visiting lecturer at several other colleges and universities, including the Universities of Arizona, California, Illinois, and Oregon. He is married to Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, who was formerly the General Counsel and Vice-President at Harvard University. She wrote the majority opinion of Goodridge vs. Department of Public Health that legalized gay marriage in the state of Massachusetts. DAYTIME : What do you think are the major problems facing journalism today, with current events that are going on? Anthony Lewis : Why don’t we restrict it to the United States, I don’t know that I’m an expert on world journalism (chuckles). DAYTIME : Well, then, in the United States. AL : Well, there are two very distinct problems. I’ve been a writer for print all of my life, so when I talk about the press, journalism, I mean newspapers and magazines, rather than broadcast. As you know, it’s hard times for print journalism. Newspapers are losing circulation and advertising, and are under economic pressure. So that’s problem one. Problem two is not one for economics but for journalism. The press has lost its way, I think, in performing it’s most important function, which is holding the government accountable. It’s been insufficiently tough on the government, and insufficiently probing the wrongs that the government does. DAYTIME : Do you think that that is a result of the fact that the government has more control over what is published, or do you think that it is more the fault of the news executives, publishers, editors who don’t wish to say something controversial? AL : Well it’s both. The government that’s in power in this country right now is determined to fend off the press, to discourage the press from any challenge. It’s very good at it; it’s very ruthless at it and very remorseless at it. It has more secrets than any other government in American history. It classifies documents at an extraordinary rate. So, yes, it’s partly the fault of the government, which is doing its best to remain unaccountable. But it’s also partly the fault of the press, which has been pretty well bulldozed into submission, at least lately; within the last few months the press has become more willing to challenge the Bush administration. I think that it’s partly a function of shame on the part of the press because too many people were pointing out that it doesn’t do its job. Indeed, THE WASHINGTON POST and THE NEW YORK TIMES both apologized for their poor performance in the run-up to the Iraq war. But that is in part because recent events have left the Bush administration so defenseless and easy to challenge. The Iraq war has gone so badly that the public is tired of it and the public has lost faith in President Bush, and that makes him easier for the press to challenge. DAYTIME : Do you see a problem bringing young journalists into print media rather than into broadcast media because I know that television might seem much more seductive, in a way, to a young journalist because that is where the money is. AL : Yes, TV pays much better. DAYTIME : But do you see a problem in recruiting young journalists into print media? AL : No. I teach at the Columbia Journalism School, I have for 22 years, just one course a year. I see no flagging in the desire of the best students to work for good newspapers. No, despite the economic pressures that you mentioned that are so familiar, people like to work for newspapers, it’s a wonderful job, so I don’t see a problem there. DAYTIME : That’s good. Journalism, in this country, is now being so much degraded for being biased, for example, “Oh, the NEW YORK TIMES, it’s the most liberal paper in the world,” or “Damn that WASHINGTON POST, it’s just a right-wing patsy,” Do you think that a newspaper or even a television station can retain its credibility and quality of news and reporting in the midst of that screaming argument? AL : It certainly is a problem. We live in a much more partisan time than has been true for the rest of my life in which everything, not just newspapers, but everything, is perceived as just being for one side or the other. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about courts, or just about any aspect of life is seen from this very embittered, partisan, divided viewpoint. I don’t like it; I think that it is very sad for the country that everything has to be seen that way. Sure, it makes life more difficult for newspapers. If you are actually in a newspaper you know how absurd these charges are, because most newspapers, at least the ones that try to be serious, such as the NEW YORK TIMES or the BOSTON GLOBE, they try to be serious, they try to be straight. Some newspapers have no interest in being serious or straight, sure, but the ones that are trying to be serious and straight, what these critics imagine is completely fantasy. Nobody says to you, ‘Write your story in a biased way,’ nobody says things like that, and most of the things that happen that aren’t so good are accidental. There’s a lot of accident in journalism, as in much of life, so I reject the view of either side that a newspaper is tied to either side because generally that’s not true. DAYTIME : With things the way they are in the Middle East (excluding Israel), there are basically no reputable sources in the Middle East for good news. There is Al Jazeera, but that is questionable in several ways, so do you think that there is a possibility, especially with wars raging the way that they are, and the types of despotism that rule many of those countries, do you think that there is a possibility for accurate journalism to spread to those areas? AL : Well, the strange thing is this. The ideals of journalism, American ideals of dispassionate, challenging, hard-hitting, fair journalism, are very attractive to journalists in the Arab world, including Al Jazeera. I heard an Al Jazeera executive here last year, he was at some meeting or other, and he talked the same ideals that I have. Of course it’s much harder there. They’re struggling against, in many cases, totalitarian regimes, regimes that won’t really allow our idea of journalism, but the ideal is there, the journalistic ideal is there, and many of us would like it to be that way, so there is hope. At the moment, the implication of your question is correct: it’s very hard in Morocco, or Egypt, Syria, certainly, it is hard for the citizen to get a hard view through the press because the press is so controlled, but there are some things that get through. Al Jazeera is very helpful in that regard. Al Jazeera is a broadcast service that is not controlled by a government. It does a lot of things we don’t like, like playing tapes by Osama bin Laden or tapes by terrorists in Iraq, and so on, but on the whole it is an uncontrolled media outlet, and it does do some good journalism. It’s based out of one of the little Gulf countries, it’s in the city of Dubai, and the ruler there has decided to let them run a real television station, much to the annoyance of Saudi Arabia and some of the nearby countries. They wish he’d shut down Al Jazeera, because Al Jazeera doesn’t just repeat government claims. DAYTIME : Do you think that print journalism will ever die out completely? AL : (chuckles) I don’t know, I’m not willing to count it out either way. I agree with you, it’s hard to imagine a world without print journalism, but I’m not an economic expert or a financial expert on journalism, so it’s probably not wise for me to forecast this. The alternative we haven’t discussed, which is computers, the Web. I personally could not imagine, and couldn’t stand having to get my news from a computer, because it’s very hard to read off of a screen, some people can do it, I don’t like it. Whenever I have to read something of length, I print it out and read it on pieces of paper. DAYTIME : In America right now, there is a progression with more and more broadcast stations and newspapers owned by the same companies, ViaCom and the News Corporation come to mind. What do you think that the affect of that is on the quality of journalism. AL : Negative, on the whole, it’s true. If you think about newspapers, the really outstanding, brave newspapers tend to be owned by families. Individual families rather than chains or big interstate companies. DAYTIME : But isn’t the NEW YORK TIMES owned by The New York Times Company, which owns a lot of other papers? AL : New York Times Company is family-owned. The best newspapers are and have been traditionally family-owned. They’re independent. The WASHINGTON POST and NEW YORK TIMES are family-controlled. Both the TIMES and the POST are on the stock market, but they have various devices to keep the family in control of the papers, even though the shares can be bought, you or I could buy shares, we wouldn’t be buying control with the shares. There’s a real question whether other newspapers, when they’re bought by chains, can keep up the quality. That’s being tested right now at the Los Angeles Times, which was bought by the Chicago Tribune a couple of years ago. The Tribune is a very large enterprise, with lots of newspapers...it owns the Baltimore Sun, it owns quite a few newspapers, and it’s a bottom-line enterprise. They sacrifice everything to the bottom line, so I’m not sure that the L. A. Times will be able to survive as a first-class paper in those conditions. It’s already had to make some cuts, to meet the economic goals of the new owners. The larger aspect of the question you put has to do with broadcasting. You know, General Electric, Disney, own the networks. It has definitely had a deleterious effect on the journalism. The other day, I saw the Ed Murrow movie, “Good Night and Good Luck”, and that wouldn’t have happened today. CBS news would not do what Murrow did because it’s part of ViaCom now and news is not important to them. Bill Paley, the “bad guy” in the movie who is always telling Murrow that his reporting is bad for CBS, but in the end he let it happen. His equivalent today would not let it happen. He would say, “You know, we’re not going to put our business at risk for your crusade against Joe McCarthy,” That’s what would happen today. I had lived a lot of that movie, I covered the Army vs. McCarthy hearings, where Joe Welch stood up and says to McCarthy, “Have you no decency? At long last, sir.” DAYTIME : So do you see the shift from the journalistic ideals to the bottom line as a world-wide or nation-wide shift, or do you restrict that shift to the chain newspapers? AL : It’s happened in broadcast, it absolutely has happened in broadcast. There’s not much news on the news programs anymore, mostly they’re entertainment, in a very large part entertainment. The commercial news programs are not very good. But the half-hour news programs at night, maybe you get five minutes of hard news and the rest is advertising and entertainment. Not a lot of news. NPR is pretty good, it’s quite good, but if you compare it to the BBC World Service it has much more news. NPR is good, but it’s not as good as the BBC by any means. DAYTIME : So, speaking of NPR, what do you think about the recent events at the Corporation of Public Broadcasting? AL : (chuckles) Well, that’s the Bush administration. The Bush administration has tried to put right-wing figures in at every place it can. Not just in broadcasting, but in the Justice Department, the people who decide what medicines you can have. Why have they not allowed the OTC sale of birth-control pills? It’s all ideology. They put some ideological person in at every place they can. That’s what they do, and Mr. Tomlinson was an example of that. He wanted to move NPR and PBS as far to the right as he could. Of course I think it’s a scandal. DAYTIME : Now more towards current affairs. Do you think that the idea of democracy in Iraq is a realistic ideal, or do you think that it is not as attainable? AL : I don’t think that you can impose democracy on Iraq at the point of a gun, that’s just not going to work, because it has these deep-seated religious and tribal divisions, which matter more to people there, that’s how they’re identified. Most people will identify themselves not as Iraqis, but as Shi’ites or Sunnis or Kurds or Turkmen or Assyrians or something else, and that’s their personal identification, they’re deep loyalty. In those conditions it is very hard to produce a unitary democracy. Steps need to be taken, but what? (chuckles). We’ve been killing people there for several years. Is that a step? I don’t think that the tribal divisions will last forever. I hope that Iraq will come to a democracy someday, but maybe the country will be divided by then. Maybe it can’t stay together. It was created artificially by Great Britain. They just lumped these people together and said, “You’re Iraq now.” Maybe some day it will work as a unitary unified democracy, but I don’t know. I’m not a sufficient expert to say that. I don’t think that there are many such experts in the United States. Especially not in the United States government. DAYTIME : Now to the Supreme Court, which I know you covered for many years. What do you think will be the major challenge for the Supreme Court during the next fifty years? AL : Well, there are going to be many pushes, over the next few decades, to increase Presidential powers. There have been from Bush, there will be soon. It will take a brave Court to withstand those challenges. DAYTIME : So to wrap things up, sort of a recap of the first question. What do you think will be the major challenges to journalists, editors, and people who rely on journalism to find out about the world in the next few years, based on current events? AL : The biggest challenge is to keep the press and journalists independent: independent of the government, free of government pressure, able to challenge the government, and able to hold it accountable. That’s what is going to be the test. Are we reading news that’s really independent or has it been influenced by the government in either crude or subtle ways? The pressure from the government is always going to be there. It’s very bad right now, but the press is fighting back today more than it has. I hope that will continue. I should say one thing. The submissiveness of the press on the run-up to the Iraq war was in part a by-product of 9/11. The trauma of that terrorist attack was so great that the press seemed to feel, ‘We don’t want to rock the boat. The country is too traumatized and we don’t want to look as if we’re siding with the terrorists. Bush is the war President, we don’t want to look like we’re attacking him.’ That’s wearing off. But let me put a horrible thought to you. Suppose there is another terrorist attack like 9/11. I think that the country will be frightened, and I think that a lot of the bad submissiveness of the press may well return. DAYTIME : And now to completely wrap up current affairs, and go to your book, GIDEON’S TRUMPET, which I just read. What led you to write that book? AL : Well, it’s not a very romantic story. I had a friend in the publishing world who was the president of Random House publishers, and he said, ‘You should write a book about the Supreme Court.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s not an idea, you can’t just write a book about the Supreme Court, You have to have a particular idea.’ And he said, ‘Well, write a children’s book about the Supreme Court. Children’s books stay in print for years and they will pay you lots of money and it will just be wonderful for you.’ I said, ‘Well, okay, I’ll write the book.’ And then I didn’t do anything about it. And the Gideon case came along. I was there in the Supreme Court the day the court decided to hear the case. I went down into the file room and got out the file on Gideon’s case. There was his handwritten letter, which I print in the book. I read this and said, ‘Gosh, this would make a good beginning for my children’s book.’ So I began looking into the case and as I did it became a book instead of a children’s book. DAYTIME ” What particular things about the case drew you to write the book? AL : Well, the issue was of interest to me, the right to counsel [In a court of law, if you do not have a lawyer, you can get one from the government free of charge. That is the right to counsel]. The personalities on the court; Justice Black was the strongest personality on the court, and he had dissented in Betts vs. Brady [a Supreme Court decision against the right to counsel, overturned by the Gideon case] 20 years earlier. He was a very determined man, he was bound and determined to overrule Betts vs. Brady if he could and he said it lots of times. So that was interesting. And then, the character of Gideon was interesting. He was a very different figure as the subject of a case. It’s a romantic story of course. The little guy, alone and friendless in a prison, bringing his case to the Supreme Court, and winning. It’s pretty romantic. DAYTIME : Thank you very much. AL : No problem at all.
Winter Fashionsby A. C. and A. N. Clothes in many stores are getting more expensive by the day. A pair of vintage jeans can now cost around seventy dollars. Jen Houliha, manager of Abercrombie, believes their prices are fair for the quality of their clothes. “We don’t price them....the clothes come priced,” Houliha states. E. M. thinks prices are just okay. E. M. will be wearing hats, a winter jacket and gloves to stay warm this winter. E. M. would rather be warm over stylish. “Being comfortable is more important than looking good” says E. M. A. D. will wear sweatshirts, sweaters and a winter coat this winter. She agrees with E. M. that being warm is more important than being fashionable. “Because you don’t want to get sick:” says A. D. A. M. believes her kids dress age appropriate. She does believe though, that the older kids get, the more revealing clothes get to be. A. M. makes sure her kids look respectable all the time. A. M. also thinks some places prices are fair but in others they are a bit over priced. K. G. realizes that kids wear cute outfits. K. G. agrees with mostly everyone. Kids are quickly getting ready for winter and are excited for new fashions. (Assisting in the preparation of this article is G. R.). Learning From ExperienceRose Wolk "...lived in a happier time"by S. S. Rose Wolk was born in New York in 1913, and lived there until she got married. She was the only girl in a family with 6 children, and recalls that it was her job to clean the floors. Wolk was a good student, and described herself as "...one of the smart kids." She took classes, including Latin (and this class's teacher was her favorite), math, English, and history. The latter had many tests, and cramming for them is one of Wolk's fond memories. Her brothers were bright as well; she recalled a teacher saying of one of them, "...if he didn't go to law school, he would not be a smart fellow," as well as telling her mother that if she had to scrub floors to give him an education, then she should do it. Obviously, this job ended up in Wolk's hands. Fortunately, said Wolk, her brothers were very successful, and died as millionaires. When she was 19, she met her husband. They dated for five years, she recalled, and then married in 1932. He went to law school, and by night took care of his sick mother. Unfortunately, he developed throat cancer, and got very sick, said Wolk. After 38 years of marriage, he passed away. They had two children, a son who also passed away and a daughter who carried the family trait of intelligence; one of her sons now attends Brown University. "I lived in a happier time," she told THE DAYTIME, "…we didn't have so much dissent." She now lives in Newtonville.
The Red Hat LadiesYou can take the girl away from her teenage years, but you can’t take the teen out of the girl!by E. E. “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.” These are only a few of the words of Jenny Joseph’s poem, “Warning,” which planted the seeds for a novel idea among a generation of women. The Red Hat Society (R.H.S.) began with a birthday gift, and the creative mind of Sue Ellen Cooper. According to their web site (www.redhatsociety.com), when Cooper gave her friend Linda Murphy a red hat and a copy of “Warning” for her birthday, “Linda got so much enjoyment out of the hat and the poem that Sue Ellen gave the same gift to another friend, then another, then another.” Soon enough, a tradition began. The word was spread and groups formed. Today there are over 500,000 chapters worldwide. So what are the rules? Who can join? Women of 50, or over, are eligible as Red Hatters, and those under 50 are considered Pink Hatters. Members must attend functions in full regalia, which include a red hat and purple outfit for those 50 and over, or a pink hat and lavender outfit for those under 50. 50 is THE BIRTHDAY. The color rules add some fun to aging which R.H.S. views as something anticipated with excitement, not something to hide and dread. And what do these 50 something women do? The song, “Girls just want to have fun” comes to mind. That’s the mission. These ladies want to get together and simply enjoy their lives without worrying if their actions are age appropriate. Members view the group as a place and time to set aside home and community responsibilities for a while and simply enjoy. The refrain of their theme song by Mike Harline says, "All my life, I've done for you. Now it's my turn to do for me." Shirley Barer is the Queen Bee of her group in East Harwich. The Queens are not voted in or chosen in any particular way. They are simply the person who started their small part in the larger society. Barer, better known as Lady Luscious in the “Awesome Luscious Ladies,” learned about the society from an article in The Boston Globe. Incidentally, she was wearing a purple sweatshirt while reading it. Her chapter is just one of over 100 on the Cape alone. Stuffy they are not. They go on trips to fun places and make new friends with each new adventure. Barer tells a DAYTIME reporter about her trips all over North America, “We’ve gone on bus trips into Boston, and last year we went in to see the Rockettes. We go to see whatever hits our fancy.” There is a national convention every year. Last year it was held in Las Vegas. Barer continues, “I had a luncheon at my house where we made lamp shade hats. It’s so wonderful to see women of this age be able to just let their hair down and do something just for fun.” When asked about men, Shirley responded, “The Red Hat Society is not for men, absolutely not. Some husbands of Red Hatters became jealous, so decided to start their own club where they wear hard hats.” Don’t be surprised at an overabundance of red and purple in April. April the 25th is national Red Hat Day.
Origamiby A. R. and G. T. Since paper was introduced to Japan, paper-folding has enticed the wealthy and the poor to enter the endless possibilities of origami. One of the most well-known origami pieces ever is the crane. Legend says that anyone who folds 1,000 cranes will instantly be cured of all sickness. One girl struck with leukemia spends the remaining days of her life trying to fold 1,000 cranes, but dies first. Her statue holding a golden crane is put up in Japan and every year thousands of cranes are put at her feet. In Japan, Korea, and China the crane is the symbol of peace and long life. It is also said that 1,000 cranes will make a wish come true. White paper cranes are also known to symbolize peace. Origami in Japanese simply means paper folding, which is exactly what happens. This originally started with someone folding a square piece of paper several times. Later people started taking rectangular sheets of paper and folding them. And soon enough, the art of kirigami began. This is where scissors are used to cut the paper and make new designs. Kirigami is the Japanese art of cutting. Many people in elementary school make snowflakes out of kirigami. One would fold a square sheet of paper 2 times and then use scissors and make simple designs. Then the paper would be unfolded and their would be a “snowflake”. Kirigami is often combined with origami to just make the finishing touches, such as ears on a bat. Kirigami, most of the time, is all about symmetry...left to right, or up to down, or all 4, or more. To do origami one takes a sheet of paper, usually a square and folds it to make designs. For some designs, such as the paper cup one only has to do 5 folds, while some have hundreds.Some, such as the paper cup mentioned above, barely take a minute, while some take hours, and that is folding fast! A praying mantis, in which the design was made up by Robert Lang, takes anywhere between 2 and 4 hours! Another really time-consuming design is a turtle where someone can see each of the turtle’s shell parts, a design that takes over 10 hours for even one of the most excellent origami makers! There are many people who say that origami is educational. This comes from all folds making a geometric figure. For instance, in the paper cup, one uses a square sheet of paper, folds it into a triangle, then a polygon, then a pentagon, and finally another polygon. Origami is also helpful in learning geometry. When unfolded the piece would hold many triangles, polygons and many other common shapes. One could also view many angles. As well as it being educational, some experts say origami is a huge stress reliever. “Origami, the art of paper folding, is one of the best and most fun stress reduction tools. It combines slowing down with creating,” comments www.humantuneup.com/origami. Robert J. Lang has made up many origami designs, such as a snake which takes 1000 folds! He agrees that origami is an educational tool. “As an educational tool, it exercises one's ability to visualize things in 3-D. There are also starting to be some books which teach one to make origami. For example, UNFOLDING GEOMETRY THROUGH UNIT ORIGAMI, by Key Curriculum Press, as one example”, states Lang. Lang goes on to say that origami is a great stress reliever, “As a stress reliever, it's a nice distraction (an alternative focus) from stressful things. Of course, it can also bring its own form of stress!” As well as the traditional 1 sheet origami there is origami where someone uses several sheets of paper. This allows more complex designs, such as the “Balls with spiked triangles”.
Monthly dream roomJ. S.’s ideal room features lots of roomby M. A. This month THE DAYTIME is featuring Copper Teamer J. S.’s dream room. Her fantasy room is really big, and has a queen-sized bed. Beanbags are her choice for chairs. J. S. said, “I [would need to have] really pretty curtains.” Her room’s walls would be painted pink. To enjoy the view, next to her bed there would be a wide window. Also there would be a flowery canopy bed. The blanket on her bed would ideally be adorned with hearts. Her rug would have a dog on it and say “Puppy Love”. On her desk would be a lava lamp and a phone. J. S.’s room reflects her in multiple ways. The room would be well organized and neat, reflecting J. S.’s trait of neatness. The room would be peaceful and quiet, because J. S. enjoys silence. From J. S.’s perspective, her room is unique because it is fancy. “It has a good personality,” comments J. S. Currently, J. S. resides in a small room. It has a twin-sized bed, which is all too different from her ideal bedroom. But one similarity lingers, her real room sports pink walls. This would remain the same if her dream room wish was granted. J. S.'s content with her room, but isn’t raving about it. She thinks it is okay but there is room for improvement. J. S. doesn’t see it in her future life to take on interior design as a profession. Despite this she is interested in design in general. “I design clothes for myself,” said J. S.
Latin Scholars Know the Answers ColumnLatin TodayBy C. A.-L. Lingua Latina saepe dicitur mortua esse (It is often said that Latin is a dead language). This is, of course, a bunch of hooey. Latin is as relevant today as it was in the time of Roma. But even I was not aware of exactly how relevant it was, until recently, when doing research for this column I discovered a great abundance of Latin poetry. This is happening all over the world: in Germany people are writing in Latin, in Moscow people are writing in Latin, in America, in Spain, in Norway, in Japan, etc. (et cetera is also from Latin). These educated individuals are all devoting their lives to poetry in this so called dead language, and it can be both exquisite and hilarious. A funny little poem I found on the internet is “In Anitam” by Christiano Paulo: Tecum colloquienti caput mihi saepe movendum est. Non cum me excites. Anima foetet et os. Or, in English: I must move my head a lot when I talk to you. But not because you are exciting. Your breath stinks, also your mouth. Ouch. Even in this poem we can see the similarities between Latin and English, such as movendum and move, or excites and exciting. Latin is, of course, a language on which English is heavily based, and one can see it clearly looking at anything written in the language. Another poem similar to “In Anitam” in mood is “Ignaro,” or, in English, “To the Ignorant,” also by Christiano Paulo. You can see the connection between Latin and English in the title (Ignaro and Ignorant) and in “hours” and “horas.” Gravem ex te rem volo quaerere nullam. Horas praetereunt, dum capias minimam. In English it reads: I want to ask you no important question. Hours pass, till you understand my small one. Henry Beard, a well known comedy writer, has taken Latin writing one step further and recently came out with 2 Latin books: “X-Treme Latin” and “Latin For All Occasions.” Both are a necessity for all who want to say things with style. You can escape the wrath of a teacher if you forget to do your homework by saying such Latinized witticisms as “Suo tractu operto suberbio extensor, canis latrans domicilium meum ingressus praescriptum domesticum mihi devoravit,” (A coyote whose habitat was destroyed by urban sprawl ate my homework) and “Orbe terrarium nimium calefacto combustione hydrogonanthracum, pensum meum domesticum sua sponte flammam concepit,” (Due to global warming, my homework spontaneously combusted). You can make such brilliant bumper stickers as “Perge cornu canere-sclopetum repleo,” (Keep honking, I’m reloading) and “Si hoc potes legere, traheam meam amisi,” (If you can read this, I lost my trailer). The books are a testament to Latin’s continued existence in modern society. In fact, Latin is everywhere, from the sign reading “Caveat Emptor” outside a store to the Harry Potter books. Latin is still alive and well, and all you have to do to notice it is to look around you. Sit hic dies tibi iucundus.
Building a high schoolThe idea of a new Newton North has been kicked around...since 1838by P. N. and H. S. The Newton Free Library recently hosted a lecture on the Newton North High School. Susan Abele the curator of documents and images at the Newton History Museum at the Jackson Homestead, was the speaker. The Jackson Homestead and Newton Free Library have been hosting lectures for 4 years. While doing these lectures they plan to encourage public interest in Newton history. This lecture was entitled, “Building a High School”. The first discussion of a Newton High School was in 1838. However William Jackson, one of the builders, talked against the recommendation due to the distance between villages. The idea of a high school finally passed at the annual Town Meeting on March 7, 1859. When it came time for the towns people vote, 183 favored the idea, and 168 disagreed. The measure passed by only 15 votes. An appropriate location for the school was an issue because the villages were, too far away from where the people who were doing the construction wanted to work. The planning committee finally decided to locate it near Claflins’ estate, and it was agreed with Mr. Claflin himself. The selectmen voted to buy the land from Mr. Claflin for $2,000. The first Newton High School was built in 1859, taught 75 students and only lasted till 1875 without renovation. By 1891, it had an auditorium separated into sections that provided more teaching space. Along with that, the town built a “drill shed”, or a small gymnasium to double as an assembly hall. However, even after additions in 1897, the old building was torn down and a new one put in its place. This new building was known as “Building 1”. After William Claflin died in 1905, a handful of townspeople, called the Claflin Homestead Committee, bought 6 acres of Claflin’s land. This land was used for sports fields. The Claflin Homestead also brought another portion of estate; this was used to build the technical division of the high school, or Building 2. There was a third building, Building 3, the land for which was also donated by the Claflin Homestead. In 1927 Buildings 1, 2 and 3 were connected together by underground tunnels, so that students wouldn’t have to go outside in bad weather. The city started talking about the Newton North High School that we know now, in the 1960’s. Some talked of renovating the other buildings; however, the cost would have exceeded that of starting over. So the idea of a brand new high school prevailed and the new high school was finished, after which the old buildings were knocked down, and the playing fields redesigned.
CHINESE NEW YEAR
Chinese New Year: introductionby A. W. and F. Z. For many generations, people from all different cultures have been bringing their traditions and celebrations to the United States. Many of these celebrations and traditions have lived on but with changes. The [Chinese] spring festival [more commonly know as Chinese New Year] is a large celebration for Chinese and Chinese-Americans living in both China, the United States, and other countries. In the United States, this celebration has adapted to many changes, but the traditions that go with this holiday have remained mainly the same. In simple terms, each year is dedicated to a certain animal on the horoscope chart. The 12 animals are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar and the date is different each year. Most of the time it is in late January or early February. This year is dedicated to the dog and the New Year begins on January 29th. It will be the year 4703 on the Chinese calendar. Smaller celebrations and preparations start about a week before the real holiday. The most important day of the 15-day [16-night] holiday is the night of Chinese New Year’s Eve. Most of the major celebrations are done on this night. Starting at midnight of Chinese New Year’s Eve, the lion and dragon dancers start dancing and firecrackers begin exploding. Of the many traditions, lion dancing is probably the most famous. Lion dancing is when a dancer puts on a fake lion head made of bright cloth and sequins and dances in it while another person dances for the tail and other body parts. Posters with words such as “happiness” are hung up on the doors of just about every home. Some Chinese families still follow the older tradition of celebrating birthdays and turning new ages on Chinese New Year. Many foods are prepared especially for this event. Not many but some serious food restrictions apply. One of these rules is that there can be no food that is the color white, with the exception of rice and dumplings. In the Chinese culture, white symbolizes death and misfortune. Not all families follow all of the rules, but some families are serious when it comes to what can and cannot be done on Chinese New Year. The last day of Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival. During the Lantern Festival kids of all ages go out carrying lanterns. Originally the festival was a time for people to seek out love and share their passion for others. Chinese New Year is the most important cultural celebration for Chinese people. It is a time for families to gather and honor the passing year and wish for a happy and prosperous new year.
Chinese New Year personality chart...where do you fit in?by M. W. (based on information gleaned from the National Geographic’s web site) Rat1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 You are an avid learner, and enjoy taking on challenges. You are comical and brainy and your generosity protects your group of friends. Ox1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 Timid but faithful, you never lose track of your ambition. You begin assignments step by step, and want to be correct on your first try. Tiger1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 You are an individual, but also an indigenous leader. You enjoy being in command. You battle for what is conventional, although you may end up failing to win. Rabbit1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 Idolized and popular, you have many friends and family. You are very protective of them, and you won't stay out of trouble. Dragon1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 You are amicable; friends will ask you for your opinions Snake1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 You are quiet, keep to yourself and rely on your own instincts Horse1950, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 Energetic and love to travel; you are a leader and can manage a mob of people Sheep1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003 Artistic and imaginative, and slightly vain, you are best when your followers are there to back you up. Monkey1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004 Always on the go between groups of friends, you enjoy amusing your friends with your tactful sense of humor. Rooster1933, 1945, 1957, 1969. 1981, 1993, 2005 Sensible and enterprising, you can succeed without risking anything important. Dog1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 An excellent listener and loyal to your friends; you have a sharp knowing of right and wrong. Pig1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 You are intelligent and devoted to benefit people. You have excellent judgment, and enjoy participating in the pleasant activities in life.
Chinese New Year Traditionsby P. C. and A. W. Though old traditions differ from traditions altered by the times, some traditions hold. Similar to the tooth fairy, one of the traditions is to put some money into a red envelope...under a pillow. Red is the lucky color in the Chinese culture, and for a very fitting reason [see story below, How Red Became the Lucky Color]. Phrases such as “Blessings” and “Prosperity” are printed in gold. The envelopes are given to children, unmarried family and close family friends that are also unmarried. The amount of money, no matter how much or how little, must be an even number. If not, misfortune will come upon the family. Also, people dress in lion costumes and do lion dances. A colorful piece of fabric with many sequins and other decorations, is draped onto the bodies of two people. The person in the front holds an enormous head, complete with a bright pink opening mouth and large blinking eyes with batting eyelashes that can be controlled. The two people jump, run and dance, of course together, or else the costume would fall off. Dragon dancing is also a favorite. Many people hold long sticks to hold up the red silk dragon. The person who holds up the dragon head leads, and the long dragon is much like the child’s game of follow the leader. All the people have to turn at the same point on the winding path led by the leader to make it seem realistic. Sometimes, a person dressed in silk and braids in their hair holds a baton with a bright ball and taunts the dragon and leads the dragon on. Firecrackers explode along the zigzagging trail and gongs and hefty wooden drums with “goat skin” and a red ribbon clash and pound. Oh, the ruckus. Oh, the excitement! Former Day student, S. C., celebrates Chinese New Year by eating together with her mother, father and brother, Copper Teamer J. C. She and her brother both get red envelopes which are opened with excitement the next morning. The two siblings also participate in celebration at their Chinese school where they do lion dances and many other activities Having everything clean is a must for many Chinese families. Everyone must wear new and clean clothes on the first day of Chinese New Year to make sure that the evil spirits will not recognize them. The entire home must be cleaned before the first day of Chinese New Year. No one can clean on the first day for fear that you might sweep away good fortune. Most sharp objects should not be used on New Year’s day because they might cut off good luck. Exactly at midnight of Chinese New Year Eve doors and windows are opened to let the old year leave freely. In most cases it is believed that anything one does on the first day of the new year will affect what happens throughout the whole year. Platinum Teamers J. L. and K. H. celebrate Chinese New Year with almost the same traditions. “We basically just eat food at one our relatives’ homes and get red envelopes,” said J. L. when asked how her family celebrates Chinese New Year. K. H.’s family does almost the same things, but instead of going to someone else’s home, her relatives go to her home. Her family used to watch lion dancing, but don’t anymore. “It’s really just a time for family to get together and hope for a wonderful new year,” said K. S. when asked about what she thinks the most important part of Chinese New Year is. Usually, special foods are eaten to bring good luck. Fish pieces said in Chinese [yu kuai] also sounds like happiness, though with slightly different accents. Also, apple [ping guo] is like peace [ping an]. Nian gao [sticky cake] a sticky rice cake, symbolize a better ‘higher’ year because it sounds like ‘year high’. Dumplings are also eaten because they look similar to the ancient Chinese money. A candy tray is put together with candies and nuts such us peanuts which represent longevity, and coconut indicating togetherness. Chinese New Year is a widely celebrated and extravagant tradition held by many Chinese people. It is constantly adapting to the changing world and each year people learn more about their heritage by celebrating this holiday.
Chinese New Year: the story of the 12by P. C. “Once upon a time...” is the way most legends start, and this one is no different. Well.... once upon a time, there were 12 animals living in China. The rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Each of the animals wanted the New Year named after them. They raised such a ruckus that the emperor heard. The emperor had a clever daughter that solved this problem. The emperor’s daughter declared that all the animals should race across the river, and whoever won would be the animal after which the year would be named. The ox had a big lead early on, but didn’t notice that the crafty rat had climbed on to his back. Before the ox could reach the other side of the bank, the rat jumped off his back and crossed the finishing line. Then the rat was declared the winner, and the New Year was named after it. The emperor’s daughter felt sorry for the 11 other animals, and named the 11 other years after them. The rat came in first, the ox second, tiger third, rabbit fourth, then the dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig respectively. After all the twelve animals became the name of a new year, the cycle starts all over again. Of course, the legend ends with.... “and they lived happily ever after”.
Chinese New Year legendsby M. W. All Chinese New Year customs have a legend from which they originated, or some events that may have occurred in the past. There are a few myths that correspond with why red is lucky, and the meaning of gongs, drums, and firecrackers at Chinese New Year celebrations. Here are the two main stories that created a couple of Chinese customs. Long ago, a monster by the name of Nian, was born ugly and ferocious. Every first and fifteenth of each lunar month, he would descend from where he dwelled in the mountains, and feed on people. The people of the village were very afraid of this monster, and whenever he was due to visit their village, they would flee to other towns before sunset. One day a stranger arrived at the village and a kind old lady took the grateful man in. She fed him food; for he was very hungry and cold; then gave him a thick red cloak. She explained the story of Nian, then said she must leave the village before Nian was to climb down from his home. The time-worn woman quickly bade the stranger good-bye, and was on her way. After a filling dinner of rice and dumplings, the man laid down with his new red cloak, and dozed off. That night, as predicted, the monster came into the town, looking for people to satisfy his hunger. The man slumbered on, undisturbed, until the monster left and took the treacherous trip back to his home in the hills. At dawn the next day, the residents of the village returned, and were astounded to see the man alive and unharmed, still snoozing with the red cloak. From then on, people hung up and wore red whenever the monster was to come and visit, to prevent him from devouring them. If one survived the monster, it would be a new year, or xin nian, in Chinese. Now, to follow the legend of red being a lucky color, people hang up and dress in red, every Chinese New Year. This is also another popular version of the legend, though there is a different tradition that is followed. Similar to the previous version of the legend, the monster Nian inhabits the mountains and people were terrified of him. It came to eat the peasants of the village every first and fifteenth day of each lunar month. In the village, lived a wise old man. His theory as to why the monster was murdering the people, was that the monster fed on the people’s fear of him. This means that if the people kept on being afraid of him, he would continue to eat them. The next day night that Nian was due to come, the old man organized the townspeople, and they set off firecrackers, played drums, and banged gongs to scare the monster away. They continued their rituals, until the monster was driven away back up the mountains. The monster was never seen again, and people still set off fireworks, and play drums and gongs at the festivities during Chinese New Year. These two myths may or may not be true, but people still believe that red is good luck, and that it will scare away evil spirits and Nian when drums and gongs are played.
Chinese New Year decorationsby P. C. and A. W. A home where Chinese New Year is celebrated is extremely decorative. Upside down “fu” characters, meaning good luck and happiness, are placed throughout the house and on the door on a diamond-shaped sheet of red paper. Upside down in Chinese is “dao” and so is “come”. So if one said “We want upside down good luck and happiness in our house,” it would sound the same about the same as “We want good luck and happiness to come to our house.” Flowers are put in rooms all over the house to exemplify rebirth and growth. Chinese people firmly believe that without flowers there would basically be no food, and especially no fruit. For some people, visiting relatives during Chinese New Year means that they must bring either oranges or tangerines to the family they are visiting to symbolize the fruit that forms after flowers. The last day of Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival. On this day people gather at spots such as temples and public squares to participate in contests to see who can make different and interestingly-shaped lanterns and other lantern related things. In the past, the lanterns used to be just a plain red ball with a candle inside, but now people make the lanterns look like all sorts of things, especially the shape of the animal that represented that New Year. Though there are not many major decorations, they still play an important part in the celebration of Chinese New Year.
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Thank you for understanding.
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Last updated: September 16, 2006