The Cult News Online

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Animal Cruelty: the Ugly SIde of our “Green” Country

The Cult News| October 2014
By W.S

A toucan left unconscious without the upper part of its beak, an axed anteater, a bound crocodile in a bar, abused dogs with a low chance of being rehabilitated, a tiny baby ocelot found dehydrated in a house… What is going on in Costa Rica, the “green” country? Since the news of the beakless toucan back in January, some say there has been an enormous increase in cases of animal abuse and, incredibly, a massive indignation from the citizens. According to La Nación, the National Service of Animal Health (Senasa) informed about 1,200 reports of animal abuse last year. In comparison to the 1,200 reports of animal abuse from last year, it seems as if this 2015 will be even worse for animals across this country. The toucan incident is not only outrageous, but also a vicious crime. To make this all worse, a reinforcement of the animal protection law is still missing.

It is incredible that Costa Rica, the green country, has not approved a more efficient law for the protection of animals. Animals abuse should be punished by prison time. Even with all the indignation of citizens, all the petitions and the protests –like the one on February 8^th, the government is still not willing to pay full attention to this matter. Evidently, President Luis Guillermo Solís has distinct priorities in spite the fact that during his presidential campaign he promised to prioritize this bill concerning the animal law and pledged to be a supporter of animals’ rights.

Let’s also not forget that a bill has to be supported and accepted by the legislators. However, since last year, many opposite arguments that favor the livestock sector have unfolded. During the protest Protesta de la Muerte on February 2015, a legislator indicated that they have been ignoring the requests for the approval of this new bill.

With the obvious indifference and the obstacles this law is confronting, the government has showed a complete double moral. They state that they are trying to promote and approve this new bill but still they set obstacles in front of it. They print out an ecological image of this country to the rest of the world, yet we are not.

Meet the Staff: Ekaterina Zamyshliaeva Talks about her Learning Experience for Teaching

The Cult News| March 2015
By G.Cocozza.

Native of Moscow, Russia, Ekaterina has a particular passion for teaching languages. Ekaterina started teaching in Letras in 2011. She has dedicated her life to deliver a special learning experience to each one of her students. Her classes aim to offer a compelling and friendly atmosphere for students to gain more interest in the language and culture.

She developed part of her teaching style back when she was 7-years old. When her mother was about to enroll her into school, it was very popular for children to learn French. Entering the post- Soviet Union era, French was the language most politicians around Europe would speak to discuss international matters, therefore, it was expected that she first started learning French as her first foreign language . “To my luck, my mom changed her mind after meeting with the director of this school, who seemed to perform a military-like ruling. She told me that she did not like the atmosphere,” Ekaterina remembers. She ended up attending a school number 43, located in Suschchióvskaya Ulitsa. Besides Russian lessons, students were encouraged to take German. This institution remains a public school today, focused on the teaching of German, English and French. For her, this experience was the most nurturing one. The stigma that existed about Germans as people who were severe and stiff was mistaken; instead teachers would be filled with life and inspired to teach. They were very virtuous and were able to motivate their students to love learning. In spite of the fact that it was a very hard-working environment, the spark of learning for fun would never disappear.

The relationship between instructors and pupils was effective, personal and engaging. “I remember our school director, greeting all his students by their names at the front gate of the school every single morning, ” she says. Certainly, these devoted teachers in her early life had influenced her role as a professor. She makes her classes an “experience to remember,” both for the students and herself. At the end of every class, and upon her request, students provide her with feedback. After 32 years in the field, she does not take students for granted. Teaching never becomes a routine for this professor who knows best that each student represents a different challenge.

To Art or not to Art: Video Games as an Artistic Medium

The Cult News| March 2015
By B.A. Umaña

With the 2012 ruling by the United States Supreme Court that categorized video games as an art form, scholars, professionals, and even common Joes alike have put the video games as entertainment or art question to debate. People of all types look to this medium and take sides in the argument; some rejecting the possibility of seeing that video games are art, while others propagate video games as art by analyzing these as one would critique a painting or a movie.

While some may believe that video games are treading into untouched territory by sitting between the line being, and not being an art form, we should know that this has been the case for many other “modern” art forms. In fact, the question of whether a form of human expression is art or not is in no way exclusive to video games. Almost every new medium is put under the heat of philosophical questioning, and while it may take time, eventually, these forms of expressions are generally accepted as art by the majority.

Such was the case for both Photography and Film. Jesse Prinz, speaker at the 2007 Pacific APA convention in Pasadena, mentioned that in the early days of cinema, the act of filming was not considered an art form. Analyst Brett Martin shares a similar point about photography in his article "Should Video Games be Viewed as Art?" by stating that the form of expression was discredited in the mid-nineteenth because "photography required no talent."

The early history and the etymology of the term “video games” itself give antagonists to the video games as art position a place stand on. Etymologically speaking, the word "Games" in the term refers to the competition and strategy which come hand in hand with the medium, and this, to many, might be enough to compare video games to other competition based games -such as board games and sports, and not art. In the case of the first video games ever produced such as Cathode Ray Amusement and Pong, competition was their main objective, and therefore, the term fit perfectly. However, Far Flung News correspondent Michael Mirasol points out that this no longer applies because, starting from the second generation of video games (such as games in the first Atari and Sega consoles) and on, the medium conveys more information and emotions than a board game or sport can. One can invest more deep emotions on Mario, Sonic, and Master Chief than one can on a brook or knight in a game of chess.

Aside their value as an artistic medium, video games require artistic thinking to be developed. Video games, like we now know of Photography and Film, need talented, artistic individuals to be developed, and can certainly not be made by “just about anyone.” Most modern games have complicated and even multi-branched storylines with well-developed characters. Acclaimed video games such as Skyrim, Mass Effect, and Bioshock Infinite hold true to this, being supported by a storyline as good as any you might find in a blockbuster film, or an all-time reading classic.

And even if we're not talking about the games’ storylines, artistic knowhow is needed to design the many levels and challenges the protagonists of these stories face. To add to this, both story developers and gameplay designers have to consider one unique aspect of video games that make them different to other mediums: While book readers and movie seers take a passive role in the events of the story, gamers are active agents of the world they're immersed in. That means two things: One, the story should be relatable to most of those playing, and two, as mentioned by Michael Mirasol, the character or characters we embody must be designed in such a way that players can imagine being them. When considering whether this medium is an art or not, its uniqueness must be taken into account in the same fashion we consider the differences between books, movies, and paintings. The criteria for the evaluation of this medium must be different.

Video games face yet another challenge in to road to being considered an art when we consider the basic requirements that one must fulfil before the medium can be appreciated. To be able to see the art in a video game, one must play it, which means that one not only needs the technology to play the game, but also the skills. If one lacks one of the other the designer’s creation cannot be enjoyed. Mirasol says, “One cannot make a judgment about […] games […] simply by watching recorded gameplay, any more than you could judge a book by its cover, or a movie by its trailer.” That means a part of the general population is excluded from having the right to enjoy and critique the work, which causes its antagonism. While one cannot refute the experience case, the argument concerning the technological limitation is one that was also held for film, as at one point in history, the vast majority did not have a projector sitting handy to view movies. Time may change this, though.

Now, I am not one to believe that video games are the next step in art, and that these are a clear sign that our race has evolved artistically. That idea is completely preposterous. Video games are, in my opinion, an artistic medium that should be respected as such. By this, I do not mean that we should cease to challenge the worth of a video game because all games are a perfect representation of art, but rather that we should be as critical towards them as we are towards books and movies, scraping out the gunk and uplifting the worthy. Video games should be seen as an art, to have the dignity of an art. With the medium getting more and more popular, the more we push for video games being art, the more art we deliver to everyone.

8 Fascinating Facts about Saint Valentine

-Valentine’s Day is a worldwide celebration. However, this day is not a holiday in many countries. The name Valentine is derived from valens (worthy, strong, powerful), and it was a popular festivity in Late Antiquity.

--St. Valentine is not only the patron saint of affianced couples, engaged couples, happy marriages and lovers. He also is the patron saint of travelers, beekeepers and epilepsy.

--You can celebrate this day several times a year. Because of the abundance of St. Valentines on the Roman Catholic roster, you can choose to celebrate the saint multiple times each year. Besides February 14, you might decide to celebrate St. Valentine of Viterbo on November 3. Or maybe you want to get a jump on the traditional Valentine celebration by feting St. Valentine of Raetia on January 7. Women might choose to honor the only female St. Valentine (Valentina), a virgin martyred in Palestine on July 25, A.D. 308.

--On Valentine ’s Day, about 3% of pet owners will give gifts to their pets. There are also people who decide to send gifts to themselves. About 15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.

---About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. This makes it the second largest seasonal card sending time of the year. The first printed Valentine's Day cards were produced towards the end of the 1700s.

-- More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine's Day, and about 220,000 is the average number of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day each year.

--The eternal lovers also celebrate their day. In the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, about 1,000 letters are received addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.

--Cupid is the Roman god of desire, erotic love and affection. In Latin (ancient language), Cupid means Amor.

The Empyrean

The Cult News| March 2015
By J. Porras

Released in 2009, John Frusciante’s tenth studio effort is one album in which the sum of its parts, rather than the separate pieces, allows an emotional and spiritual journey for the listener to enjoy. Nevertheless, it should be listened several times in order to be able to digest the collection of songs as a whole.

Regarding the album’s concept and its lyrics, the Empyrean employs spiritual and religious imagery to narrate the story of a person’s journey of self-discovery and rebirth. In fact, the songwriter has taken his record’s name, Empyrean, from the highest place in Heaven, which is where God dwells, and has been represented in literature by authors such as Dante Aligheri in the Divine Comedy and John Milton in Paradise Lost. Similar to previous releases, John Frusciante explores his life experiences as a tool to have a more intimate interaction with the listeners; nevertheless, these elements appear in a less straightforward manner. Disguised as a metaphysical journey, the protagonist’s odyssey mirrors the guitarist’s former struggle with drugs, how his addiction led him to near-death experiences and how rehabilitation and reintegration to society has allowed him to come to terms with himself and his source of creativity. Moreover, the lyricist expands on his personal philosophy (which has been the concept of many of his songs in previous releases) by exploring the relationship between humanity and existence (Central, Unreachable, After the ending), karma (Enough of me, One more of me), and time (Ah yom).

In terms of composition, the Empyrean includes an opener of nine-minutes guitar solo, reminiscent of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, as stated by music critics such as Sean Westergaard, from All Music, and Chris Campion, from The Observer. Furthermore, the record displays an extensive use of instruments, from electric pianos (Unreachable), to strings (Central), drum machines (Dark/Light) and even voice effects (After the Ending), which vary from being used in an almost subtle manner to become massive sound waves that give the songs almost an orchestral quality, without deviating from a consistent sound. This varied instrumentation complements the album’s metaphysical concepts by giving an ethereal sound to the lyrics. In addition, the guitarist has experimented with lyrical repetitions in the song Central, repeating the same four verses for almost four minutes without sounding monotone or becoming tiresome to the listener. However, the musical exploration in this production is evidenced in the songs Enough of me and One more of me, which both feature screeching and off-the place guitar solos. In a similar vein to Tool’s Wings for Marie, part I-II and Viginti Tres, from 10000 days, Enough of me and One More of me can be combined by being played at the same time, creating a new song in the process.

While some listeners may be put off due to some of the songs’ length or the experimental qualities of the album, The Empyrean is a musical experience that cannot be missed, and as its creator has said, this is the kind of album that is “suited to dark living rooms late at night.”

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Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Issue 2: Cover and Backcover

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