the bird on fire

A Christmas Day Without A Christmas Tree

March 30, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

–by Zhenzhou Hu

Back when senior Hugh was applying to colleges, he wrote this essay about a community-service project served with his host family, the Wessmans. Hugh used this essay as part of his college application. It worked. Hugh will be attending the University of San Diego next fall. He shares now his essay with The Bird on Fire.

“I guess I’m not going to see a beautiful Christmas tree tonight,” I whined on Christmas Eve as I wandered across the highway 20 miles north of the Mexican border. I had been looking forward to my first Christmas ever since I arrived in America. With child-like wonder, I envisioned a tinsel-topped tree, a traditional turkey dinner, and maybe even a visit from Santa Claus. It was not to be! My host family announced they were going to give away Christmas this year. They wanted to make Christmas about what they could do instead of what they could receive. To me, it didn’t sound like giving it away; it sounded like giving it up.

The plan was to build a house in a week for a needy Mexican family. And now, before we even arrived, we had car trouble. The tension pulley on the fan belt froze. Stranded! Hardly a car passed, and not a store was open. After all, everyone else was already at home enjoying their own beautiful Christmas tree.

Eventually, we made contact with another “Family Helping Families” group traveling toward us. We had never met before, but these people brought us hope and cheer. They backtracked several hours to find the needed parts. They brought water, shared granola bars, and helped find an open Pizza Hut. It wasn’t turkey, but pizza never tasted so good.

Next day, I awoke to a stocking stuffed with work gloves, measuring tape, and a hammer. These weren’t exactly the items on my wish list to Santa. After preparing some food, we drove to the train tracks. As soon as we dropped the tailgate, hungry villagers appeared out of nowhere. We sliced turkey, dished potatoes, and handed out oranges. At first it was awkward; I had never done anything like this before. I couldn’t understand them; they couldn’t understand me. One by one the Mexican children smiled; I smiled back. Later, I surprised myself by playing football in the desert.

The next morning we arrived at a foundation waiting for walls. I made electrical boxes and screeded sand. Trowel in hand, I laid block with mortar. Interior walls appeared with the help of hammers and saws. Roof rafters were hoisted, lined up and set in place. An inexperienced army nailed plywood sheeting. Luckily, the roof held the army’s weight. Finally, we presented the home to a tearfully grateful family.
The building was simple in looks but not simple in meaning. The walls rose up not only block by block, but also with the sweat of our caring character. The building showed I learned several new skills in just five days and also represented an achievement of which I am proud. Recalling the image of the crude building, I see the scenes of my transitional experience in Mexico: the scratchy feeling of sand blowing into my eyes; the callouses earned while troweling a block wall; my host brother and his newfound Mexican friends communicating with their invented sign language; me, enjoying my first delicious street taco; and finally exchanging the overwhelming heat, dust, and poverty for the quiet and contemplative comfort of my own room that was still missing a Christmas tree. The person who left that room on Christmas Eve, however, was a boy. The person who returned was an adult.

The Difference between an American and a Chinese Education

March 30, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

–Zhenzhou Hu, former and forever “The Bird on Fire” blogger, ponders the differences between an American and Chinese education. He’s been educated under both systems. Here’s what he had to say.

When I first arrived at boarding school in China far away from home as a six-year-old, I did not cry like many other pupils. Instead of being fearful, I was curious about the new environment and eager to find something enticing. School would be an interesting place, and teachers would be angels who would impart knowledge and encourage exploration. However, I was mistaken. We were required to sit upright with hands still on the desk. “Why can’t we sit leisurely?” When I doubted why 1507.m00.i104.n047.p.c25.classroom-education-thin-line-concept-f 1+1 = 2, my math teacher confirmed, with an indisputable tone, “That’s truth. Just remember it.” I was once scolded by my teacher because my score held back the overall GPA of my class. As we entered upper grades, the academic workload became increasingly heavier and most of our spare time was occupied by being tutored. School was no longer the paradise I had expected, and teachers were not the angels I had hoped. Gradually, I felt like I was becoming a puppet–doing what the teachers expected me to do and believing all that the teachers said without questioning or experimenting. I even put away my interest in drawing to save time for the heavy academic burden. 1+1 must = 2! No room for argument.

In 2014, I came to the USA. The first classroom I walked into at Palm Valley School was so refreshing I will always remember it: small class, beautifully decorated classroom, seemingly random but actually well-organized seats, a group of vibrant students, a nice teacher, and a comfortable environment. My classmates were encouraged to express their various ideas, and the teacher gave us tremendous inspiration. The most impressive teacher to me was Ms. Mckee, my math teacher. When I asked puerile questions (like what was the difference between relative maximum and absolute maximum), she always answered, “Excellent question!” and then proceeded to explain it. If I had asked a question like that in China, the teacher would have given me a disparaging glance instead of encouragement. Ms. Mckee gave me the courage to ask questions instead of hiding behind them.
Although I was shy and dared not speak in the first place, I fell in love with this kind of education. Mr. Sarkis, my drama teacher, showed great patience in correcting my pronunciation, which greatly enhanced my performances. I bravely performed Shakespeare as Julius Caesar’s servant at the Fullerton College High School Drama Festival in front of native English speakers. I may not have won an award at this festival, but I won the feelings of success in a job well-done, confidence, and friendship. These prizes will last longer than any trophy.
Compared with my previous school in China, things are quite different at Palm Valley. I am no longer the timid boy who just arrived. I am once again the boy who was passionate, curious and energetic. As a result of my educational experiences in the United States, I want to return to China and teach math to middle school students. I am determined to find young boys and girls who want to know why 1+1=2. And, I will answer like Ms. Mckee, “Excellent question!”

The World According to Henry: Donald “Julius?” Trump

March 18, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

–Henry Huang

I don’t want to bring politics too much into this blog since there are better things in my life than politics–like art, classical music, soccer, and Ferraris. Still, I have to talk about current affairs. More specifically, I want to talk about Donald Trump.

I am not talking about the capability of Trump being the head of the Executive Branch. My point is, Mr. Trump may be our Julius Caesar. What happened after the death of Caesar? The death of Roman Democracy! Trump may kill the most important asset of this nation: Democracy.

Now, some people may compare Trump to Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister. They are both rich; both use the anger of the people to gain power. However, they are also different. Berlusconi is a playboy who held sexual parties in his house; I don’t think Trump will do that. Meanwhile, Berlusconi did not make any outrageous statement towards any group or religion. Trump, oh well, do I need to tell you what he said?

Now, the real issue, Why may Trump kill our democracy? First of all, he has a potential desire to ignore the Constitution. An obvious example of this is when Trump, last August, made the statement that he will deport all the Mexican illegal immigrants and their natural-born children. He indeed intended to violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The amendment grants citizenship to the natural born. When Trump claims to send them back, it is an obvious potential violation of the Constitution. Now, people may say that there are Supreme Court justices and members of Congress that can stop Trump. Nope, I am sorry, nope. As Martin Wolf of Financial Times writes, “It is rash to assume constitutional constraints would survive the presidency of someone elected because he neither understands nor believes in [those constitutional restraints].” If Trump has an ability to violate the 14th Amendment, he will also have the ability to violate the entire constitution!

People who voted for Donald Trump support his ideas. For example, polls suggest there are voters who support deporting Muslims: “In New Hampshire, 66 percent approved of it. Seventy-eight percent of Republican primary voters in Alabama and Arkansas gave it a thumbs-up” (Foreign Policy). When Trump gets elected, what he will control is not only regular government agencies; he will have the most powerful military in human history in his hand and the most effective law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the world. Yes, I am talking about the CIA, the FBI, and the IRS. Trump will have the capability to enforce his doctrine. The point is, there are 11 million people who are illegal immigrants in the United States. Deporting all of them is a dangerous move. Martin Wolf of Financial Times continues, “Rounding up and deporting 11 million people is an immense coercive enterprise. Would a president elected to achieve this be prevented and, if so, by whom? What are we to make of Mr Trump’s enthusiasm for the barbarities of torture? Would he find people willing to carry out his desires or not?” Trump has other behaviors that should raise public concern. According to an article from Variety, “Criticizing The New York Times for its coverage, Trump said, ‘We are going [to open] up libel laws, folks, and we are going to have people sue you like you have never been sued before.’” Trump will limit the freedom of speech.

unnamed I want to end this article with another quote from Financial Times: Chief Commentator Martin Wolf concludes, “Mr. Trump may still fail to win the Republican nomination. But, should he do so the Republican elite will have to ask themselves hard questions — not only how this happened, but how they should properly respond. Beyond that, the American people will have to decide what sort of human being they want to put in the White House. The implications for them and for the world of this choice will be profound. Above all, Mr. Trump may not prove unique. An American ‘Caesarism’ has now become flesh. It seems a worryingly real danger today.” The potential danger, the seeming ignorance, the outrageous narcism of this new Caesar may be the nails in the coffin for American democracy.

Oh, the Places We Do Go!

March 16, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

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Mr. Griffin explains the construction and design of Disney Concert Hall’s architecture.

Zach Jenkins (l-r), Bryan Johnson, Henry Huang, Mac Spears, Mr. Griffin, and Asher Mai polished off their French Dipped Sandwiches, replete with hot mustard and pickled eggs.

On our half day, Friday, March 4, Mr. Griffin led a team of PVS cultural enthusiasts to Los Angeles. After a brief side excursion to a Chinese bakery (led by a hungry Bryan Johnson), we started with an early dinner at L.A.’s iconic Philippe’s, where the French Dipped Sandwich originated back in 1918. Then, Mr. Griffin scheduled us into The Broad, L.A.’s New Contemporary Art Museum–the big white building downtown sporting the innovative honeycomb “veil-and-vault” architecture. The night finished breathtakingly at Disney Concert Hall with Gustavo Dudamel conducting Mahler’s Third Symphony. Time could have stopped for us right there, right then. Los Angeles Times critic Mark Swed said Dudamel “excelled in revealing the power of Mahler,” leading the L.A. Phil to play “with gut-wrenching strength.” Word is, Mr. Griffin and Ms. Zachik are creating a Culture Club next year adding more expeditions for the culturally adventurous.

PVS students scrambled over the Disney Concert Hall winding architecture, taking in the L.A. skyline.

David Kocen beside the oversized Table and Chairs installment at The Broad.

Jeff Koons Balloon Dog at The Broad

A Modest Proposal for Gun Control

March 10, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org 3 Comments

–by Gaven “Jonathan Swift” Li, world-class blogger and student of rhetoric in Ms. Clark’s AP English Language and Composition class. Be forewarned: this article contains heavy doses of Satire.

On December 2nd, 2015, a married couple walked into a banquet room in San Bernardino with guns and turned a holiday party into a massacre. Fourteen innocent people were killed in this terrorist attack. We have seen mass shootings like this happen again and again in America: Newtown, Connecticut; Roseburg, Oregon; and, now, San Bernardino, California. This must-solve problem has always been my concern. After years of watching the fascinating Democratic and Republican debates about gun control as well as doing research, I have come up with a perfect plan to deal with this controversial situation and to save the future of the United States of America.
Here’s my suggestion: In order to keep all safe, everyone in the United States must have at least one gun and there should be no gun restriction at all. Age limitation and license requirements should also be eliminated. No matter who you are, a two-year-old baby, or a ninety-year-old lady, you must own a gun. According to one of my friends, who is a huge gangster movie fan and dropped out of school in fourth grade, this is a dangerous world, or a dangerous country–you might get shot anytime, anywhere; therefore, we must have guns to prevent us from getting killed. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This Second Amendment of the Constitution is my friend’s favorite quote. When the great Founding Fathers of America wrote the Constitution back in 1789, they must have predicted that weapons would be so powerful and destructive after two hundred and seven years. I’m sure they took into consideration automatic weapons. We live in a much more hostile society now. Although we don’t have any wild animals trying to attack us or any war with Indian tribes, we still need to be aware of, for example, crazy dogs running around on the street biting people or some scary cops carrying weapons on their belts. We need to be armed.
Furthermore, since it is so important to be armed, gun-shooting classes should be added to the United States education system. Children are the future of the country, and they need to learn everything about guns. Pistol assembling should be required for lower school kids to graduate, while 100-yard shooting is significantly necessary for high-school students to get into colleges. We have faith in our teenagers that they are all good citizens and won’t do anything to harm their neighbors or shoot anyone they don’t like.
Now, it’s time to return to my subject. I believe that my proposal will definitely bring a lot of benefits to this country.
Firstly, it would make America an extremely powerful country. Foreigners soon will realize that they can not mess with Americans any more, and foreigners will be scared to death to even step on this land. We no longer need to worry about too many immigrants coming here, which solves the other problem we are facing–immigration.
Secondly, guns protect the safety of Americans. Imagine walking on the street at night and there’s a creepy guy walking behind you; you can just pull out your gun and send him to Jesus. If you are not fast enough to kill him before he shoots you, it’s okay, at least you can die like a hero.
Thirdly, being armed makes everything much easier. There’s no need for police since everyone has weapons to solve his or her problems. Having a religious argument? Pull out your gun! Getting bullied at school? Pull out your gun! Somebody being racist? Pull out your gun! That’s also why gun-handling instruction in education is so important.
Fourthly, arming Americans will create more job opportunities. More bodyguards will be needed when rich CEOs or controversial politicians, Donald Trump for example, show up in public. They’ll need bodyguards to build a solid wall so they won’t get shot easily.
Fifthly, the crime rate is going to decrease after applying this new law. Criminals know that a small pistol can not scare anyone anymore, and they will just give up because it may be too hard for them to get more powerful weapons. American citizenship is so great that I believe they will not do anything with guns just for their own desire. Arm the good people of America with guns.
Sixthly, the sale of guns is good for the American economy. More factories will be built in order to make more guns, and more gun shops will be opened, too. Within a few years, the United States will be selling more guns than Russia!
This is my modest proposal about guns, and hopefully it works. If it doesn’t, well, I can still escape back to my motherland China before it’s too late.

Iago: A Genius of Manipulation

March 9, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

The AP Literature class of Palm Valley has recently finished reading a classic Shakespearean play–Othello. As the instructor of the class, Mr. Griffin shares with us this incisive essay written by our outstanding senior, Amber Zheng, in which she talks about the play’s main villain–Iago–as being a genius of manipulation.

–Edited by Ashley Zhou

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the villain who plots the entire evil plan that ultimately causes the death of Emilia, Othello, Desdemona and Roderigo. Iago is a person who only cares about himself, is extremely confident about himself, and is good at using other people’s weaknesses.

Iago is a perfect example of a self-centered person. He does everything in order to gain himself advantages. This characteristic is shown in the beginning of the play when he says to Roderigo, “In following him [Othello], I follow but myself” (1.1.64). Iago follows Othello because he wants higher positions and more power, rather than to be a loyal officer of Othello. When he admits, “I am not what I am” (1.1.70), not only does he mean that he is not this seemingly good honest person that Othello believes him to be, but also that he is not the person who seems to care about others; he implies that what he truly cares about is only himself.

Iago’s self-centered trait is revealed more frequently as the play goes on. After Roderigo says that he wants to drown himself because Desdemona and Othello are married, Iago says, “I never found man that knew how to love himself” (1.3.355-356). From this sentence, we can see that Iago thinks every man around him doesn’t know how to treat himself properly, because they all care for others. In Iago’s view, Othello loves Desdemona to the point that he is willing to “renounce his baptism” (2.3.363) for her; Roderigo is ready to kill himself because of his ”loss” of Desdemona; and Cassio lets Desdemona’s beauty appear in his mind every day. From Iago’s perspective, all these behaviors are absurd, as men should only care about themselves, as he does.

That’s also why Iago says to Roderigo, “Ere . . . I would drown myself for the love of a guinea hen (he means Desdemona!), I would change my humanity with a baboon” (1.3.356-358). While Iago says this to manipulate Roderigo into following his bidding, his words actually express his true feelings: men who are willing to sacrifice themselves for others are stupid, and these people are indeed no better than baboons, certainly not supposedly smart human beings. As Iago tries to persuade Roderigo to abandon the suicide idea, he also tries to get himself as many benefits as possible by telling Roderigo to sell lands and get cash. When he succeeds, he reveals his motivation: “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse” (1.3.383). Again, Iago never does anything without the intention of getting himself advantages.

Being a self-centered person, Iago is also confident and good at using others’ weaknesses. Iago knows the difference between appearance and reality very well and establishes a plan based on his knowledge. He is confident about the success of his plan because “The Moor is of a free and open nature/ That thinks men honest that but seem to be so” (1.3.443-444). And, Desdemona is just as gullible, “framed as fruitful/ As the free elements” (2.3.361-362). Because he knows all the other characters so well, he is able to conduct his evil plan by exploiting their weaknesses. Also, because his perceptions are in fact correct, his confidence never disappoints him: everything always goes as he plans. When he says that he is a Satan – “When devils will the blackest sins put on,/ They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,/ As I do now” (2.3.371-373) – he shows his talent – indeed, his genius – for manipulating others.

Are the Robots Taking Our Jobs?!

March 3, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org 8 Comments

–by Jordan King, a new voice in the blogosphere–here’s his take on “the real world”

In the near future, we will surely see more technology and even more automation. Functional self-driving cars are already here; they’ve been around since 2008. There are robots that perform factory work; there are robots that replicate white-collar work; and there are even robots that write music! What’s going to happen to jobs? Will robots take them all?

For now, we don’t really need to worry; current robots can only do basic factory work and repetitive computer work. Currently, there is a robot called Baxter; he’s a multipurpose robot that can pour drinks, fold clothes, cook food and perform many other simple tasks. Baxter learns by humans physically moving his arms and showing him what to do. He can be programmed to perform multiple and varied tasks.

Here is a video of Baxter Brewing coffee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcxKd-oe-L0&feature=youtu.be

As you may have noticed, Baxter is extremely slow; a human is about 10 times faster. Baxter can work all day without human supervision as long as he’s doing repetitive tasks. For now, Baxter is probably not a threat to people’s jobs. Although in the next few decades Baxters and other multipurpose robots will definitely be much faster and able to do more complicated tasks.

In the near future, the first people to lose jobs likely will lose them to self-driving cars. We’ve already had functioning self-driving cars for eight years. Uber is already planning on having self-driving cars enter the workforce in a decade from now. In 20 years from now, most if not all of Uber’s workers will no longer be working for them. There’s also self-driving trucks, which some believe will enter the workforce in less than 10 years! According to alltrucking.com, there are currently 3.5 million truck drivers employed in the US. Transportation is one of the most likely sectors of jobs to be replaced by automation.
The United States Department of Transportation says 16 percent of all US jobs are in the Transportation sector.
Here is a list of 12 jobs most likely to be replaced by robots according to Oxford University data.

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Another study states that 47% of jobs are at a high risk of being replaced by robots. So how can we deal with this? What will potentially half the population do if they don’t have a job? According to Forbes, robots will be the biggest job creators in history. Is this true, though? I say, it probably is. Just look at historical unemployment rates.

unnamed (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Unemployment rates have relatively stayed the same despite recession, economic growth, and economic turmoil, so robots won’t make a difference. Even though there have been jobs outsourced 0806-Took-Jerbs to China, India, Latin America and most factory work is replaced by machines, the unemployment rate, historically, stays relatively the same.

With the onslaught of robots, unemployment rates will rise initially as they have during other periods of economic turmoil. But, after all the steam blows over, unemployment rates will return back to normal like they have throughout US history.

So… robots probably won’t take our jobs.

Is Einstein a Buddha?

February 26, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

–by Ashley Zhou, blogger interested in religion and science

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Recently, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)–a joint collaboration between scientists at MIT, CalTech, and many other colleges and universities–detected the existence of gravitational waves caused by the collision of two black holes. The collision produces a tremendous amount of energy and sends the ripples through the space-time fabric of the universe. Gravitational waves are those ripples. This discovery proved Albert Einstein’s prediction found in his general relativity theory of 1916.

So what does this have to do with Buddhism????

Well, there is some background information that’s good to know.
Max Planck, a German scientist who won the Noble Prize ( he and Albert Einstein were contemporaries), suggested an interesting idea in his later years that all matter exists in a form of energy waves. Particles that move relatively slowly form solid substances which human eyes can see. Those that move a little bit faster become fluids–such as our thoughts and feelings. The ones that move really fast become dark mass–which makes up more than 90% of our universe. Human eyes can only detect the 4% of ordinary mass. So, we basically live in a world that is dominated by dark things we don’t know. Buddhism accepts the main theory of Taoism–which is that the essence of universe is a flow of energy. Tao is the flow of energy. (Sometimes when we watch kung-fu movies, the main character will just punch and hurt people from a distance across the air. It is also a kind of energy.) There’s an interesting theory that some of the great scientists are buddhas who went beyond the scientific field of their research. Einstein landed on his Theory of Relativity maybe because he was not only a great scientist but a great buddha.
The collision of two black holes is, according to Taoism, a collision of the Yin and Yang. They collide and generate power which we see as gravitational waves.

Of course, this is just an interesting theory (the application of Buddhist principles) based on the information that I have learned regarding Taoism. The discovery of gravitational waves opens up a new way of exploring the universe for us, and we hope that someday we will find out the truth of this mysterious space–scientifically and philosophically.

Liberty and Justice for All

February 25, 2016 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Congratulations to senior Henry Huang and sophomore Peter Kadel. Both competed in the local Palm Springs Lions Club Speech Competition. Peter walked away with $25; Henry walked away with $100! Henry won! Henry moves on to the Zone Level competition on March 8, hosted here at Palm Valley. The assigned topic was “Liberty and Justice for All–What Does It Mean to You?” Henry said it’s like having a heavy loaf of bread. Liberty is nutritious and provides sustenance. He opens his speech with the idea that the Founding Fathers built a lightning rod called “Liberty and Justice for all” that protects this nation from the lightning strikes of chaos. Henry could continue to advance through three additional levels: Region, District, and Area–earning potentially over $10,000.