Editors’ Message

Happy April Fools! We hope you didn’t take it too seriously when we said we weren’t going to publish due to “content issues” – because we were totally kidding! (For those of you who have no idea what we’re talking about, just nevermind.) =] Anyway, April is an exciting month with lots of fun stuff happening, including our — *drumroll* — EASTER WORD HUNT! All you have to do is find ALL the words that have been typed slightly larger, capitalized, and bolded inside this issue of The Word, piece them together, and spell the correct phrase! (Hint: What came first, the chicken or the egg?) Then, email us at whs_word@yahoo.ca anytime during the Easter long weekend (April 10-13th) and be eligible to win a prize! Your name will then be entered into a draw and randomly selected. The winner will be announced over the P.A. and contacted through email the following week. What will you win? Play and find out! Word. NOTE: This is not available online. Sorry!

- Jenn Lin and Chitha Manoranjan

To Whom it May Concern

Come one! Come all! The Windermere Theatre Company’s spring production is coming soon to an auditorium near you. On May 7th and 8th, we will be performing the classic fairy tale, “The Princess Bride” – an amazing story filled to the brim with fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, miracles, and of course, true love. See Jason D’Souza as the dashing Wesley and Jero Ann Brutus as the beautiful Buttercup; Tony Kim plays the sassy Spaniard, Inigo Montoya; Sunny Parmar is perfect as the wicked Prince Humperdink. All of these actors and many more are playing in what can be called the theatrical experience of the year!

Sincerely,
Windermere Theatre Company

P.S. Congratulations to Emily Chan for winning The Windermere Word front cover design contest. You’ve won 2 tickets to see our play! Claim your prize in room 208 afterschool on April 1st, 2009.

Warrior of the Month

By Jenn Lin

This month, The Word would like two honour two grade 12 students for their work in organizing Pink Shirt Day at Windermere: Nora Tong and Kathy Nguyen.

Here is my interview with Nora and Kathy:

1) Congratulations, how do you feel about winning?

Editorial: The Disease of Our Society

By Peggy Lam, Grade 12

It’s such a tragedy. Since we were little girls and boys, we were taught the wrong values in life. We’re told that materialistic items and flashy clothing will bring us happiness. We’re taught that being arrogant, hurtful, and powerful is what will get us through in life. We think that being mean will get us what we really want. We’re taught to be selfish. We’re told that we must be the cream of the crop and that we should do whatever it takes to get to the top. We’re tricked into selling our bodies, our personalities, and our souls. We’re being stripped off of individuality and compassion. We’re told that we must grow up; that we must dress like a grown-up and party like a grown up. And all for what? Just to keep up with this fast-paced society?

Chicken: Man’s New Best Friend?

By Jenny Ho, Grade 9

Ever thought about keeping a few chickens in your backyard for fresh eggs? Recently, Vancouver City Council introduced a new policy, which allows residents to keep backyard chickens. There are many cities in the United States and Canada with a similar bylaw, including Seattle, Washington D.C., New York City, and Victoria. Of course, within the bylaws, there are many points to consider. If this proposed bylaw passes, residents are able to raise chickens as early as June. The proposed by-law raises much debate from Vancourites. Some are in favour of this new policy, but some residents and animal welfare groups are against the idea.

Mango Pudding Recipe

by Apple Gong

Ingredients (careful, it’s all in grams!):
Fresh Mango 500g
Milk 10g
Gelatin 10g
Water 3 tbsp (to dissolve gelatin with)
Sugar 60g
Light cream 100g

Believe in Blue

By Gurjita Gadey, Grade 12

With playoffs just around the corner, can you feel the buzz around the city?! The Canucks have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL since the beginning of February and it has definitely made a difference in the standings! Currently, with a record of 41-25-9 and 91 points, the Canucks sit at a tie for fourth place.

Many people were skeptical back in January when the Canucks lost 9 straight games at home, but who would have thought that they would bounce back and win 11 straight home games? A franchise record in the making! While winning all these games and Calgary going through a tough stretch, the Canucks have pulled themselves within a few points behind the Flames for the North West Division Title. It’s mind boggling; at one point they were trailing ten points behind the Flames and now just only one.

International Women’s Day

By Emily Chan, Grade 10

Quick! Take 10 seconds, and think of all of the achievements of women, whether they be economic, political, or social. Now, take a breath.

In 1910, the first official International Women’s Day (IWD) occurred. It was inspired by the 1908 protest of equal rights, better wages, and less work hours; it was a message shouted by 15, 000 women in the streets of New York City. Then, in 1911, Clara Zetkin made the impossible come true. Within just one year, she was able to round up more than one million men and women to help fight for women’s rights. Through all of the abuse, both emotionally and physically, women around the world have continued to stand up and scream for their rights.

One Click of a Wheel

By Mitchell Agostinho

Remember when music was on CDs? Or how about records? Remember when music was cavemen banging two rocks together? Well all that is soon to be forgotten entirely. The planet has been consumed by a fad of epic proportion. Millions of people around the world have them and you probably have one in your pocket. The item I refer to of course is the iPod. On October 21st, 2001 the world was hit by storm when Apple released the very first iPod. Since then, everyone and their dog has had the convenient music player plugged into their ears at one time or another and have been hooked ever since. They’re known for being very handy for helping people pump iron or do homework and other time consuming activities. In the first four years alone, Apple sold twenty million of the little gizmos, making it the most purchased portable hard disk player and the numbers just keep on growing.

Eulogy: My number one fan

by Amanda Chan, Alumni

My mother was always my number one fan.

When I first joined a dragonboat team 6 years ago, she was deeply concerned about my ability to swim. I can’t. After I assured her that the boats don’t tip over, she decided to see for herself to make sure I was safe. My mom and dad were the first people to ever watch me race. Our races started at 8am, so I didn’t know if anybody would show up. Sure enough, after my first race was over, I looked up toward Science World and there she was, smiling down at me, waving frantically to catch my attention. As any teenager would, I glanced up at her and pretended I didn’t see her. She found me afterward and told me we went really fast. “We came in last place”, I solemnly told her. “I know, but you still went really fast!” was her response. This was the beginning of her undying support.

Bio-degradable or not?!

By Cassandra Ly, Grade 10

As you walk to the cashier of the supermarket with your hands full of groceries, place it down onto the conveyor belt, and pay for the total, it is rare for the cashier to ask paper or plastic. Instead, they would ask, “Would you like any bags?” The majority of supermarkets give out plastic bags that customers usually use only once or twice. Where do they end up after that? Most of the bags end up in the landfills with other garbage that cannot decompose for thousands of years. If they don’t go into landfills, they’re literally floating around in huge masses in the sea. The plastic that ends up there cannot be easily scooped out, as it means extracting all the smaller organisms as well. Burning plastic bags is one solution, but pollutes the environment and increases the greenhouse gas emissions in the process. On top of that, plastic bags are mistaken as food by animals, such as turtles. They clog their airways or intestines, causing animals to suffer painful deaths.

Stylewatch

By Cheryl Loh, Grade 12

Message from the Editors: This is Cheryl’s last article in this column and she will be graduating at the end of the year. We would like to thank you, Cheryl, for all the work that you’ve done for The Word, including past horoscope designs and of course, this hilarious Stylewatch column.

If you would like to take over this column, please email us at whs_word@yahoo.ca.

Target: Ms. Kwon

What are you wearing today and where did you get each piece from?

Euro 2009

Several students went on a trip to Europe during their Spring Break, including two teachers, Maggie and Mr. Tam.

With the cost at roughly $3000, many students were unwilling to pay such a hefty price. But for those students that went – they had a blast.

Don’t know if you’ll ever do such a thing yourself? Well, Megan Luk and Eric Che have allowed The Word to upload some of their pictures for you to see! Check them out by clicking “photos” above! See pictures of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Sacre-Coeur basilica, and much much more!

(In photo: Jason D’Souza and Megan Luk, Grade 12)

Horoscopes

Extreme Salad Bar Express

By Chanel Ly

Looking for something organic and healthy to eat for lunch? Not feeling like a set entree or a salad wrap? Presenting, Windermere’s very own salad bar! As spring and summer arrive and as Windermere’s organic garden expands, we are able to provide our own fresh, healthy, organic greens for us to choose from. With the hard work of many, we now offer the first and best organic salad bar you’ll see. Expect many different kinds of vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, lettuce, beans, peas, radishes, tomatoes, and maybe even melons. This is great because it gives us so much more choice. The costs and details are not clarified yet, but look and listen to further updates about the bar.

Open Tuesday to Fridays @ Lunch and Break.

The Shock Doctrine Review

By Kevin Chan, Alumni

If you are familiar with Naomi Klein’s bestselling non-fiction No Logo, you probably already have a good idea about the style, and calibre of writing that you might expect to be reading in her latest novel, The Shock Doctrine. Published in 2007, it is a literal behemoth consisting of over 560 pages of meticulous research and mind-numbing fact after mind-numbing figure.

Be forewarned, Klein herself has stated that No Logo is equivalent to a “childhood bedtime story” when compared to The Shock Doctrine.

Cooking Mama: Teacher Edition Fundraiser

By Student Council

Want to see your favorite teacher indulge themselves in ‘delectable’ mixed concotions? Well here’s your chance! Student Council presents the Cooking Mama: Teacher Edition fundraiser. Every lunch in the foyer and hallways, council will collect donations to help students around the district and possibly one here at Windermere to volunteer in orphanages in third world countries. In the end, the top 3 teachers will be taking part in drinking/eating randomly selected food items which include: anchovies, whipping cream, wasabi, etc. ALSO, if we reach at least $300 then a SECRET vice-principal will also take part in the showcase! Finally, stay tuned for an annoucement on the Cooking Mama Showcase where you will see our participants chow down their food!!

Top 10 Pranks and Things You Didn’t Know About April Fools Day

By Soraya Parwani, Grade 8

10) Happy New Year!

In 1582, Pope Gregory VIII created the Gregorian calendar, (the one we use today) in which January 1st was the date of the New Year. This contradicted the Julian calendar, in which New Year’s was celebrated on April 1st. The people who did not convert to the Gregorian calendar were made fun of and called “April Fools.” However, this is just one explanation. There are many other ones!

Wuthering Heights Review

By Jessica Luu, Grade 12

“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it.” – Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights)

Many of you have probably heard of Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë, from author Stephenie Meyer of Twilight. Although Stephenie’s third novel, Eclipse, and Wuthering Heights share a similar theme, needless to say, Wuthering Heights is much more of an extraordinary classic, far more complex and emotional.

Zeitgeist/Zeitgeist: Addendum Recommendation

By Jusjit Lalli, Grade 12

Zeitgeist and Zeitgeist: Addendum are documentaries created by the intellectual Peter Joseph, and they are credited as being some of the most thought provoking films of our time.

Zeitgeist is presented in three parts; part one is named “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” and criticizes Christianity and religion altogether. As a warning, this section may offend people of faith; however, the arguments presented are logical and from personal research, I’ve found that some of the main points are quite true. Therefore, viewers with strong belief may want to skip this section.

The Watchmen Review

 By Dar Breckenridge, Grade 10

Before I even begin my review of this movie, or my comparison of it to the acclaimed graphic novel, I must first mention that this is not a superhero movie. While movie posters may leave the impression that it is one, in reality, it is actually more of a mystery film filled with two hours worth of perspective on “human nature” (or in this case the nature of six masked vigilantes with numerous personality disorders). That being said, it was not a bad film.

HUGE Spoiler alert: stop reading if you don’t want to find out what happens in the movie.

Ankoku

24 hour wake

 

Sun Run 2009

For the sixth year in a row, Windermere has entered a huge team in the Vancouver Sun Run. On April 19, over 450 Windermere students and staff will run or walk the scenic 10 km route around Vancouver in one of the largest fun runs on the planet. A great crew of recruiters, led by Renee Lin, helped to encourage Windermere students to participate in this annual Windermere event. Good luck to all our runners!

B. White