Fight Against Internet Censorship!
Phillip Nguyen
Warning! The Internet as you know it may be at risk due to the United States Government’s interference of the Internet! Even if you don’t regularly use the Internet, this change may affect you in ways you couldn’t imagine! US Congress is threatening to pass a bill infamously known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) that could permanently damage the future of our lives. The US government has no right to affect our freedom of speech or take away our free knowledge, creativity, and our entertainment.
Protect IP will not stop illegal downloads. You can enter a blocked site by entering it’s IP address instead of it’s name. Therefore, the bill could just turn everyone into creepy hackers. In China they use Tor (The Onion Router) to bypass “The Great Firewall of China”. It’s actually very simple: in onion routing, data is repeatedly encrypted and sent to other onion routers. Each router removes a layer of encryption to uncover routing directions to be sent to another router for the process to be repeated. These processes make your web activity completely anonymous and impossible to intercept. That shows that censorship in other countries cannot hold a tight grip on the Internet, so why should America? If downloaders cannot be fully stopped by the government, why ruin the Internet?
What if other countries follow in our path and make their own laws? Everyone in the world will have different Internets. Protect IP will probably mess with the inner workings of the Internet, making it less secure and less reliable. Experts believe that if we mess with the registry of domain names, the result would be less security and less stability. “It contains provisions that will chill innovation. It contains provisions that will tinker with the fundamental fabric of the internet. It gives private corporations the power to censor. And best of all, it bypasses due legal process to do much of it,” says James Allworth from Harvard Business School. In short, Protect IP won’t stop piracy but will hinder the Internet and our creative ideas.
Online piracy is bad, but SOPA and PIPA are not needed. The government wants to stop piracy by killing the Internet, but honestly it’s just several steps too far. Online sites such as YouTube already have the power to take down pirated content and gain the same power to users to report illegitimate content. Private corporations already have the power to sue software companies out of existence. Under current DCMA laws, users that post copyrighted content are responsible, so in this case the user and content are mainly focused on. As opposed to SOPA and PIPA, they focus on links to violating sites. Sites such as YouTube that contain lots of movie clips, copyrighted music, and stolen content also include lots of protests, art, creative content, and free expression are at risk of being shut down. Some may argue current laws aren’t good enough, but what about what’s too much?
SOPA and PIPA also affect the lives of Americans. The Internet is a vibrant medium that many people use to express themselves, post ideas, art, protests, as well as run businesses. According to US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton: “When ideas are blocked, information deleted, conversations stifled and people constrained in their choices, the Internet is diminished for all of us.. There isn’t an economic Internet and a social Internet and a political Internet. There’s just the Internet.” I believe that this is a violation of freedom of speech. What’s even more is that The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that PIPA alone would cost $47 Million in tax money over five years! I believe that money can go to much better causes. There has been history of corporations stretching and abusing their power. They tried to take a video of a baby off YouTube just for the music playing in the background. This “solution” to commercial piracy will target families and children. Ordinary people can be sued and/or sent to jail for up to five years for posting copyrighted work, even singing to a pop song. So how far could the government really take this?
The government is trying to pass an ineffective bill that would ruin the Internet for US citizens.* Protect IP will not stop illegal downloaders and it would only make it slightly harder for them to access their content. The world may follow our example and we will all have very different Internets. SOPA and PIPA will affect the lives of US citizens. We can stop this, we can fight this! The government will only go as far as we’ll let them.
* Currently, the bill has been withdrawn in response to popular demand.
How to Survive School: A Harbor House Production
Becca DeCamp
The time has come again for the second of the five house plays that will make their debut on the Williston Central School stage this school year. The casts of the Harbor 7th and 8th graders are preparing their lines and learning their cues las they do in any house play.
In a nutshell, the play is about the stereotypical cliques that we see in school every day. Some of them are nice, and some of them… not so much. Another big component of the play is what happens when a football jock falls head-over-heels in “like” with one of the matheletes. This may seem like any typical play that you might see in the Williston Central theater, however this play is a bit different.
The play that Harbor is putting on is a student-written and a student-directed play, which has become a new tradition for the house. The writer and head director is Shea Savage, a local Harbor 8th grader who, in addition to directing this year, had a lead role in the last Harbor play, which was also a student-written play by Seamus Nolan, now a 9th grader at CVU. She also had other roles in 5th and 6th grade in the Meeting House plays, before the house was disbanded.
As a lead director, Shea holds a main leadership position in this play, along with fellow 8th graders Emily Pierson, Aliza Anderson and Michael Chirgwin, the other co-directors. These are the kids who have the responsibilities of making sure actors learn their lines and reminding them that the whole cast has only about 14 practices to prepare for performance day.
The actors are not the only hard workers. This year, Harbor has a great stage crew that has been busy at work painting sets and building props for about as long as the actors have been rehearsing. The three stage managers, Zack Davis, Jeremy Fuller and I, have been leading the crew in the building and painting of sets, working on cues with lights and sound and even helping the directors block and reminding the cast about important things such as bringing in costumes and props.
As part of the article, I conducted an interview with the young writer Shea Savage.
Q: The main theme of the play this year is stereotypical middle/high school cliques. Why did you decide to write a play that depicts this side of school that sooner or later, we all see?
Shea: “For one thing, I couldn’t think of anything better (chuckles). And for another thing, I thought that making fun of the stereotypes in this play might be funny, since we don’t really see these things in our school. I don’t actually know any of the people like the people in my play.”
Q: You’re in charge of a lot of kids in this play, who, as I have observed, have been a little unruly. What is it like to work with the young actors/actresses that you cast?
Shea: “Well, it gives you a great perspective on how teachers feel every day, but it’s also good to see them grow and learn as actors and actresses. So I guess that makes it worth it.”
Q: Another part of the job is praising the good actors. Are there any potential actors that we might see in the upcoming school production Honk?
Shea: “Kaity McSalis, definitely. She’s got a great love for acting, and she’s been in lots of school plays in the past. Plus she’s good. (chuckles) Lots of other people I know have definitely expressed interest in doing the school play as well. So I guess this is good practice for them.”
Q: I noticed in the play that you have a Lady Gaga fan club, led in their passion of theatricality by their president, Stephanie. What made you decide to write the role for these “Mother Monster” lovers? Was it perhaps your love of the singer?
Shea: “Well, in truth, Lady Gaga kind of scares me. But we wanted to have an opportunity for kids who like singing more than acting so they can shine. So what better person to have a fan club for than someone who’s creative and colorful and weird like Lady Gaga?”
Q: A big process of the play is blocking. How did that go for you, considering it was your first time attempting to do something like that?
Shea: “Well I can say that I was lucky to have Emily as my co-director for that experience. I would have had no idea about how to go about doing that. I mean, I’ve been in plays in the past, but I’ve never actually had to come up with the blocking myself.”
Q: Another big part of the play production process is the stage crew. What do you think about the stage crew this year? Were they helpful?
Shea: “Oh, well, stage crew is a really difficult job because they have to create a set out of my imagination. I worked with them quite a bit this year, and I think they’re really good. “
Q: My final question for you today is about the other directors. Did you find that they were able to re-create your vision for this play as accurately as possible?
Shea: “I was lucky enough to have directors that were friends with me, so they kind of share my sense of humor, especially Michael (Chirgwin). So I think they all did a really great job bringing it to life. (I say ‘so’ a lot, don’t I?)”
When you’re a middle school kid, seeing a house play is kind of a second-nature thing to you. In Williston, we see about five of these a year. But what really makes ours special is that the kids just didn’t take part in performing and setting up for it. They also played a big role in running, directing and even writing it. With our opening night being tomorrow, everyone is working especially hard to make this happen, but no one is working harder than the directors, who are in charge of making writer Shea Savage’s vision come to the stage.
The Snowy Day Stories by Mrs. Spagnuolo’s Class
Kindergarten students wrote about activities for a snowy day after reading the story by Ezra Jack Keats. Enjoy hearing their ideas. Please comment below.
Kaleidoscope’s Immigration Open House
By Jami, Kayleigh, Kimberely, Max, Connor , Amelia and Jackson
Max found out that he had an ancestor from Germany! Do you know where your ancestors are from?
In Kaleidoscope House, third and fourth graders studied immigration. We learned from books, videos, speakers, google earth, grandparents and researching. In Mr. Willis’s class, Kayleigh studied Ireland. She learned that between 1820 and 1860, the Irish were never less than one third of all immigrants to America. Kimberely learned that in 1608, Polish people came to Virginia twelve years before the pilgrims. In Mr. Kellogg’s class we learned about our ancestors and the country they came from. We wrote a story about life before they left, the journey to America, arriving in America and what life was like. We researched to find the information.
In Ms. Marybeth’s class we also learned where our ancestors were from. Everone made flags of the country. Connor’s ancestors were from Germany. He found out by asking his Dad. He learned that it was the second largest group to go through Ellis Island.
In Ms. Haas’s class, Jackson chose to write about an immigrant from China because his Mom goes there and he knew a little bit about the country. Jami’s story was also about an immigrant from China because it is his favorite country. They learned that Chinese immigrants coming to America on the west coast, went through Angel Island. The class also learned about the symbols of America including, the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, the American flag, the bald eagle, the Great Seal and Uncle Sam. They also wrote a family tree with grandparents on both sides of the family, with where they were from. You added your own name and birthplace, too.
There was an Open House to show the parents all of the work that we did. Many of the students dressed up as the immigrant in their story. They displayed portraits, paintings, stories, flags, spreadsheets, Statue of Liberty pictures, trioramas with a clothespin doll as the ancestor and a few students made food from the country.
Parents and other relatives came to the Open House. It felt exciting to tell about your journey to America.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Magic of the Big Top Awaits…
Sophia Gigliotti
This past week was the Voyager production, “Clowns and Crooks”. The play was written and directed by Voyager teacher, Mr. Messer and Madeleine Barrett, a Voyager student. Students received their scripts before Winter break, and the students rehearsed from Winter break until the performance day. The performance was held on January 19th to an enthusiastic audience of parents and friends. It took a lot of effort, and every Voyager student had a part in the production. Big or small, every job was very important.
In the play, a family, the Carr’s, are mugged on their return from a showing of “Breaking Dawn” by a seemingly common criminal. They soon discover that the criminal is much more dangerous than expected. The witness protection program moves the family to the circus, and the main character, Olive Carr, does not have an easy transition to her new life. She runs away, and finds out her family is in danger. Realizing the importance of family, she heads back to the circus to save the day.
Before Winter Break started, Voyager held auditions for everyone interested in being onstage. Students could sign up for an acting role, stage crew, props, publicity, costumes, lights, sound, or an acting extra, which is a non-speaking role. For auditions, there was a reading for each character. Our directors, Mr. Messer and Madeleine Barrett, were in charge of casting for every Voyager student.
When I asked Voyager students if they had learned or gained anything from being in the play, Marlee Gunn, a stage manager of the play, said “I learned about being backstage and working together to get things done on time.” Being in a play can be very beneficial to students, because they learn important skills to work together, make friends, and gain confidence onstage. Maddie Collins, who played the youngest Carr, Sydney, answered “I think I have definitely gained confidence in myself because I needed to perform in front of a big audience, and in order to do that you need to be confident, especially when you’re dressed like a three year old!”
A few stage crew members and Ms. Hill (a teacher in Voyager) painted our sets, which turned out fabulously! As Marlee mentioned, Voyager was pretty rushed on time since Winter break fell within our production time. We really had to work together and make sure everyone was helping, and we made it! The props, costumes, sets, and the actors all had to hurry to make the deadline, and everything came out great! Good job to the Voyager cast and crew for the wonderful production, “Clowns and Crooks!”
Swift House Enrichment Science Class Protects the Allen Brook through Service Learning
Some background from Williston Central School Enrichment Teacher Cris Milks:
Eleven students were selected to participate in an exciting Enrichment/Swift House collaborative project that was embedded in the Swift House Earth Systems Unit. Within the unit, students had the opportunity to learn about a variety of earth science topics including the rock cycle and water cycle. This project has been an authentic opportunity to learn how both the water cycle and rock cycle come into play in our community. Completing independent research, meeting with Town Planner Jessica Andreoletti, and participating in a service project were integral parts of the class.
By Chiara Antonioli and Hannah Bohmann
On Thursday December eighth, eleven students from Williston Central School’s Swift House took a field trip to the Allen Brook to help with the “Brook Project”. We left at eleven in the morning in our enrichment teacher and parent volunteer’s cars. When we got there we hiked down to the water to help tarp and wrap trees. Lauren Chicote, an AmeriCorp Environmental Educator from Winooski Valley Park District, was there to help us and show us what to do.
We did this because the Allen Brook might overflow onto the ground and wash away the earth. Nothing could be left after the next big storm! As storm water flows into the Allen Brook the trees will stop erosion and suck up toxic chemicals and bacteria like E. Coli. With the trees there, it will stop the overflow and poison; the Allen Brook will be saved!
First we got into groups and started to put plastic tubes around the growing trees to prevent the deer from eating them. We worked in pairs to dig small trenches, slide the tubes on, and hold them in place with bamboo poles. Once that was done, we had to put plastic mats around the base of the tree so critters (mice and other small creatures) wouldn’t eat the roots. These are held in place with metal stakes.
The trees will absorb toxins in the water so that our water is cleaner. This means that it will be less expensive to purify for drinking and household water. It costs less to purify nearly clean water then it does to purify toxic water. The trees will also hold the soil in place so when the river overflows, it won’t wash away all the soil.
We have taken the time to interview some of the people from our group. We asked two students on the trip questions about their experience and about other ways we can keep our watershed healthy.
We asked Bennet Cheer, “How can we stop runoff from happening besides planting trees?” He responded, “You can insert a rain barrel and wash your car on the lawn, not on the pavement.” Inserting a rain barrel can help catch water running off your roof. If you wash your car on pavement then all the toxins go straight into the storm drain without being cleaned by the grass and earth.
We asked Morgan Roberts: “What do you think would be a result of further erosion and poison in the Allen Brook?” She responded, “The fish and their habitats would die out. It would turn into a dump! You wouldn’t be able to wade in it. Not pleasant…” This means that all of the erosion will make the brook walls larger and wider. All of the water will get shallower and shallower and eventually it will almost be completely gone. Another thing that could happen would be all of the plants and grass would grow in it because of fertilizer washing into the brook. Fertilizer is washed off of farm land and yards during storms. It could turn into a swamp from all the toxins and bacteria pouring in from the storm drains.
We asked our Swift House teacher and service project helper, Amy Skapof, “Have you ever seen erosion in your day to day life?” Skapof replied, “Yes! Killington, on the side of the road. Also on trails after Hurricane Irene.”
We asked Karen Cutler, a parent volunteer on our trip, “How did you feel about this field trip as a great learning experience?” Cutler responded: “As a mom, I get into the habit of thinking that kids need instruction, supervision, and prodding to get real work done. What I love about projects like this is seeing how you young people can self-organize into teams and work efficiently and responsibly, pretty much on your own. Of course you need some instruction at first, to know what to do, and adult supervision is important to keep everyone safe, but you guys kicked butt out there and got everything done on time. I think you had fun doing it, too. I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see you all working so cooperatively; I’ve known some of you since first grade, and you have learned so much since then. I think I had a glimpse of the future… and it looks good.”
Our community service trip was very fun and we learned so much. Wrapping and tubing trees is a great way to learn and experience science. This would be a great hands-on project to do with other small groups for school.
Rock Cycle
Morgan Roberts and Johnny Colt
During our Swift House Enrichment course we have been learning about Earth systems. In this unit we have been learning about the rock cycle and the water cycle. What we have learned about these earth systems has helped us to understand how and why storm water runoff is such a big issue in Williston.
The rock cycle is a cycle that rocks take on their life. Rocks cycle through the three different types of rock over very long periods of time. The rock types are sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous. Sedimentary rock is formed when sand, pebbles, and shells and other sediments are compressing together over many years. Metamorphic rock occurs when existing rocks change because of increased heat and pressure. Igneous rock is when magma cools and hardens, for example when lava cools.
A metamorphic rock is formed when the rock is under ground, and it starts heating and is under a lot of pressure. It starts to melt and stretch which means that it sort of looks like the rock it started out as but stretched out and melted. An example of this is gneiss.
An igneous rock is formed when the rock is far underground where it is very hot. As it reaches the surface (as a volcano) or close to the surface it starts to harden and crystallize. If it cools quickly it can be all shiny and smooth like obsidian. When igneous rocks come up to the surface and weatherize and then erosion happens and then it gets laid back down as sediment to makes sedimentary rock.
The way this works is when sedimentary rock deforms and turns into metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rock melts and crystallizes and turns into Igneous rock. Then Igneous rock weathers to the surface then erosion happens and depositions and compacts to make sedimentary rock. That’s how the rock cycle works.
The rock cycle is what makes us have rocks of different types, so if we didn’t have this system, there probably would only be sand. All and all the rock cycle is really important, that’s our way of finding diamonds, gold and other special rocks. If we didn’t have this systems all of our rocks would always stay the same and nothing would ever happen to them. Just think if we didn’t have this system?
Water Cycle
Ananth Malladi, Baxter Bishop and Prince Yodishembo
The same water cycles again and again.
Step 1 Water starts as runoff from precipitation and drains to a lake or an ocean or another large water body.
Step 2 The water starts in a lake or a stream and evaporates to form water vapor. Water vapor also comes from plants during transpiration.
Step 3 Water condenses in the cloud. When enough water molecules build up in a cloud, it gets heavy enough to rain down. This is called precipitation. Precipitation could also be snow, hail or ice.
Step 4 When the water reaches the ground it goes into the ground. This is called infiltration. The water travels underground. When it feeds back into waterways or the ocean is called the subsurface outflow. It can also come out on the ground in springs or be stored underground in aquifers.
The water lands on pavement and goes into the sewer. The water travels throughout the sewer until it is dumped out into a lake or an ocean. With the Allen Brook, water travels from that to the Winooski river, which travels to lake Champlain, which leads to the Atlantic ocean.
The rain goes straight into a body of water like a spring, river, lake or an ocean.
The cycle starts all over again.
Watershed Health
Bennett Cheer and Jeff Goldman
According to the Town of Williston Comprehensive Plan for Watershed Health, the development of Williston has increased over the past several years. This has affecting the volume, velocity, and quality of surface runoff in the town. These changes are affecting the stability of the stream’s channel and the heath of the aquatic, wetland, and riparian communities along the stream. Impacts created by land use in these areas, along with state and federal laws, have moved Williston to make watershed management a major priority. The Allen Brook has been placed on the state list of impaired waters.
An example of how erosion and runoff brings sediment and nutrients into the water is that there has been a very large amount of dangerous blue green algae blooms in Lake Iroquois in the past two years. An example of development near waterways can be seen as Vermont technical College is facing growth and wants to build an extra parking lot to accommodate for its new students. As reported in the Williston Observer, “The school population is growing each year around 5 percent, and to accommodate that growth in the next year, we need more parking,” said Michael Burke, a senior project engineer with Kerbs & Lansing. The idea was stopped by the Williston Development Review Board (DRB) which cited associated environmental concerns.
There are several things Williston is doing to control erosion and water pollution. The first thing the town is doing is putting in rain gardens. Rain gardens treat and slow down polluted water that comes from tar surfaces and other impervious surfaces. Williston is also asking for people to put in downspouts with gutter extensions. These prevent erosion because rather than creating runoff they make it so the water goes into the ground. The third thing Williston is doing is having outreach workshops to teach people how to make and use rain barrels. These prevent erosion because the water will not turn into runoff which badly erodes the ground. They have more information about what homeowners can do to keep the watershed healthy at http://www.smartwaterways.org/.
As you my or not know, the Allen Brook is slowly eroding and being polluted. The town approved up to $114,119 in funds to help this problem. Over 43.59 acres of land is being preserved so that trees can be planted there to suck in toxins and prevent erosion of the Allen Brook. This year, 17 acres of trees were planted and over 23 acres of conservation easements were created.
On Friday, December 16th we went to the Town Planning and Zoning Office to have an interview with Planner Jessica Andreoletti. We asked her for some examples of what Williston is doing to manage stormwater. She replied that Williston is:
- Street sweeping to keep dirt out of the watershed by keeping storm drains clear.
- The town also sponsors outreach and education workshops are being held for homeowners.
- Scientists are studying the banks of the Allen Brook and other waterways to look for erosion. They are also monitoring waterways for water quality.
- Williston is putting in retention ponds in new development to keep the water from turning into runoff too quickly and causing erosion.
- Homeowners within150 feet of named waterways and 50 feet of unnamed waterways have to say that they will not build anything on their land. Homeowners may be able to build if they do mitigation to increase the waterway health in another way.
The town is also doing active restoration which is construction like cutting banks and putting in fish lunkers (habitat for fish). Some of the passive stream restoration things that are going on around the Allen Brook are that trees are being planted on the banks to hold the soil in place and take out harmful nutrients and toxins. They are also getting conservation easements so no one builds anything else around the stream. So far there has not been any evidence of the water quality getting better on the Allen Brook. Although it’s hard to predict, Andreoletti hopes that water quality will begin to improve in the next ten years.
The town of Williston keeps our watershed healthy by keeping people from building without carefully planning. If erosion is not controlled over time, rivers would erode until they ate away houses and buildings, pollution would kill all bugs and fish, and there would be algae blooms that would eliminate dissolved oxygen in the water and kill fish and bugs.
For this project, we used these sources:
1. Stormwater Projects in Williston – Stormwater – Town of Williston, Vermont (website)
2. Williston Observer Board approves Brook project By Adam White October 6, 2011 Observer staff
3.Vermont Tech wants to add a lot, DRB cites environmental issues Dec. 1 2011 By Luke Baynes Observer staff
4.Town Of Williston 2011 DRAFT Comprehensive Plan CHAPTER 11 WATERSHED HEALTH
5. December 16th Interview with Town Planner Jessica Andreoletti
