Galagos are nocturnal animals that look like a cross between a chinchilla and a mouse; a long, furry, slightly bent tail, relatively large, powerful legs, and a short face with big ears and eyes complete its description.  Despite their bizarre appearance, galagos are members of the order of primates, the same order that contains humans and apes (Primate Info Net).  Although the most common name for the small critter is a galago, they are also frequently referred to as bushbabies and nagapies (little night monkeys in Afrikaans).

Galagos feast on fruit, tree gums, insects, and other small animals.  They have an amazing ability to jump up to 2 meters, or 6.6 feet, vertically, which allows the galago to reach higher limbs and access various food sources(Wikipedia).  Galagos live for about a decade in the wild, and are born with half closed eyes and the inability to move independently.

Galagos communicate by emitting loud cries that are said to be the origin of the name bushbaby.  They mark their territory through urination, and when the night recedes and dawn approaches, galagos utter a gathering cry that summons the members of the colony to the the sleeping area of either leaves, branches, or a hole in a tree.  Jackals, snakes, mongooses, and even other primates prey on bush babies.

The galago hears the loud gathering call.  He takes one last look at the forest around him and scurries back into the dense, dark vegetation, with a rising sun saluting his departure.  The galago will reappear the next evening, but sighting him will be immensely difficult.  The one quick view was a lucky insight into the life of the evasive, furry primate, the galago.

To be clear, Driver is not the surreal dream world one might imagine of someone in suspended animation.  Instead, it is pretty much a perfect picture of present-day San Francisco, which the player can drive around in using a variety of cars.  That is the game in a nutshell, but one feature serves to put Driver in a class of its own.

That feature is the ability to “shift.” No, not to change gears, but to change entire cars on the fly.  Since the game’s protagonist is off in la-la land, the rules are different than in a typical racing game.  Sure cars handle realistically, although they tend to spin out very easily, but since the hero is not driving in the “real life” of the game (or is he?) his disembodied spirit can float above the proceedings and possess any car on the road.

The possibilities are endless.  One type of game mission is, of course, a straight-up point-to-point race, which the player begins in a car of his or her choosing.  However, with the race underway the player can choose to magically float away from their car, which will continue to drive as if on autopilot, and take control of another vehicle driving down the opposite lane.  A quick twist of this new steering wheel, and suddenly the opposition finds a semi blocking half the road.  Victory.

Driver’s unique shifting mechanic begs the question: can one gimmick make a game fun?  Yes it can.  With solid, if touchy, driving mechanics coupled with the unique circumstances of the game’s plot that are taken advantage of in gameplay, the game shows that one simple innovation can go a long way in setting a game off from its contemporaries.  Driver: San Francisco is worth a look.

SOPA and PIPA proposed to make criminal enforcement of those who pirate copyrighted materials online more stringent. They allowed for court orders to shut down sites that were believed to be pirating these materials, whether the accusations were true or not. Some aspects of shutting down the sites included restricting search engines from displaying the site among search results, restricting online payment systems like PayPal and online ad agencies from working with the suspicious sites, and even asking Internet providers to block access to the sites. These laws would also mean that the penalty for those individuals convicted of online piracy would be increased to five years in prison.

While these laws were well meant, they sparked a great deal of controversy. Large music and movie studios supported the bills as a means of protecting intellectual property rights, and thus protecting industry, jobs, and valuable economic growth. Opponents of the bills, including Google, Wikipedia, and PayPal, claimed that the bills were nothing short of looming censorship. While the bills would not be hard to enforce, this was one of the many complaints; Google and others claimed that if passed, SOPA and PIPA could be used to shut down sites on the Internet regardless of whether or not they actually contained pirated materials. As a form of protest, Google, Wikipedia, and several other opponents of the bill blacked out their sites on Wednesday, January 18th (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/20/sopa-and-pipa-postponed-indefinitely-after-protests/?iref=allsearch).

In response to the controversy, Republican presidential candidates and President Obama weighed in on the issue. Candidate Mitt Romney said that he did not support the bills, stating that they limited a growing US industry- the Internet. Gingrich said something similar; stating that he thought SOPA and PIPA gave the government too much power and influence. President Obama and the White House were surprisingly silent on the whole affair, only recently stating that if passed, SOPA and PIPA would not find friends in the current administration. While his silence was odd, it was not unexpected because Obama and the Democrats find a great deal of support through Hollywood studios and other proponent of SOPA (http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2012/01/17/obama-comes-out-against-current-sopa-and-pipa-legislation-but-stops-short-of-killing-it/).

Initially, the twin bills had a great deal of bipartisan support, but in light of the controversy, many in Congress withdrew their support of the bills, often announcing this over the same social networks who are some of the bills’ biggest opponents. The various tweets and Facebook posts claimed that while Congress wants to stop online piracy, SOPA and PIPA are essentially flawed laws (http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/tech/sopa-blackouts/index.html?iref=allsearch). Both Houses of Congress have shelved their respective bills; SOPA in the House of Representatives and PIPA in the Senate. Senate majority leader Harry Reid recently said of his decision on PIPA that he hopes for a compromise in the future, but will for now shelve the controversial censorship bill.

“It was a great match and the better team won: USC!!!” the coach proudly said following that match.

Later in the season, the team placed third at WPIALs by a loss of one stoke.  Henderson stated, “I had very high expectations for the year.  I felt we could have come in second at WPIAL Team Finals. Shady Side is a tough team to beat. I felt my expectations were validated when we only missed second place by one stroke,”

At individuals, Danielle VonWaldow and Melissa Kearney both qualified and advanced to WPIAL Individual Championships. Danielle finished in 11th place and advanced to the Western Regional Qualifiers for the State and Melissa came in 14th place. Overall, the players as well as the coach were pretty satisfied with the season.

The team captains were seniors Danielle VonWaldow and Alyssa Beynon. They felt lucky to have a group that was so supportive.

“The team was a solid group of friends I’ll always have,” Danielle said proudly. Danielle remembered her favorite round of golf, which was at tryouts her junior year. Vonwaldow’s score, a solid 33, impressed her, since it was her best yet.

Alyssa was proud of her performance at tryouts senior year when she shot her lowest, 83, breaking 90 for the first official time. They have been playing golf since their youth; they knew they would join the golf team from a young age.

“Being a golfer in general has helped me grow a lot, because I got a chance to do something that was a little more out of my comfort zone and something that challenged me in a way that I wasn’t used to. Golf is such a mental game you have to be an all around strong person and player to be successful in this game. I enjoyed my years on the golf team so much and would consider it one of the most significant experiences I’ve had so far!” exclaimed Alyssa.

The team has always been a friendly group. This year, they accepted eleven players, with three seniors, two juniors, five sophomores, and one freshman. Everybody loved pasta dinners and team bonding. Not everyone got to play at the away matches, but everyone was out playing on the Terris at home matches, most would say the Terris was their favorite course to play. To their luck, it was their home course. Coach Henderson liked to motivate the team before it went out onto any course.

“I reminded the girls to play their own game, and to not be intimidated by the opponent. The point of golf is to always have fun and enjoy it, and I try to tell the girls that before every round. ‘Have fun, please!’ The captains offered great support to the team and reminded them to play well and to be confident,” Henderson said, satisfied.

The coach said, “I truly enjoy being a part of the team. I feel fortunate to coach at our beautiful home course of St. Clair Country Club, and the girls on the team make all the difference. They are all great teammates, awesome students, and even better young adults. I am proud to call them ‘my girls’.”

The Golden Globes’ winners are chosen by the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or HFPA. The HFPA is, as its name suggests, a group of foreign journalists who cover Hollywood films. This unique designation for the Golden Globes makes it slightly different from many of the other big awards shows due to its identity as the only awards show whose winners are chosen by a group outside of the US. The Golden Globes are also unique as an awards show in the night’s rambunctiousness; unlike the Oscars, at the Globes, the guests are seated around tables and served food and champagne. This generally makes for very interesting, albeit slightly inebriated, television entertainment and awards speeches. This year, though, the awards were subdued, with very little excitement.

As a bit of a contrast to the calm tone of the rest of the evening, Gervais’ commentary was, as always, biting and very interesting to watch. He introduced himself as, “Britain’s biggest comedian, hosting the world’s second biggest awards show, on America’s third biggest network.” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9016987/2012-Golden-Globes-Awards-Ricky-Gervais-gives-a-sober-performance.html). He was not expected to be invited back after last year’s awards show, in which he insulted the HFPA’s president. The Golden Globes, however, loved the often cheeky humor which Gervais brought to it, and so gave him another year. However, despite more witty attacks on the HFPA and many of the celebrities in attendance, the most exciting moment of the evening was Meryl Streep’s seventh Golden Globes acceptance speech, which was slightly awkward due to her forgetting her reading glasses at her table, resulting in her stumbling through her remarks.

Meryl Streep, the winner of best dramatic film actress, received her award for her performance in “The Iron Lady” portraying Margaret Thatcher. Octavia Spencer won the best supporting actress title for her role in “The Help.” She quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in her acceptance speech for the role, which was that of a maid in a civil rights era southern home (http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/16/showbiz/golden-globes/index.html?c=showbiz&page=1). Other winners included George Clooney as best actor in a drama film for his role in “The Descendants,” Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin” for best animated picture, and “The Descendants,” again, for best drama film.

The Golden Globes can occasionally predict what happens at the Oscars, but because the Globes separate dramatic and comedic performances, the Oscar winners are often somewhat different. As an example, while both Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams won best actress awards at the Globes, Streep’s was for a dramatic film, while Williams’ was for a comedic role. The Oscars may take on the difficult role of deciding which Globes winners deserve two accolades, or they may go in an entirely different direction and choose someone else (http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/01/15/golden-globes-fun-facts-frequently-asked-questions/).

Now, I understand and agree completely that the beginning of each new year is a time of hope and optimism. Setting goals and tasks for oneself is a long-held tradition, dating all the way back to the ancient Babylonians, to welcome the new year and all that it brings. At the same time, I do not enjoy setting myself up for failure. At the beginning of 2011, I told myself that I would keep my resolutions simple and so I only promised myself to do one thing: get more sleep. I failed miserably. Not only did I not get more sleep, I found myself pulling all-nighters much more often, thanks to certain ridiculously difficult classes of junior year. I spend half of my days in a sleep-deprived daze.

I am certainly not the only one who feels this way towards New Year’s resolutions. The Wall Street Journal reports that only 12% of resolutions-setters actually achieve their goals by the end of the year — a measly twelve percent! Psychologists not only agree that resolutions are a near pointless exercise, but also remark that this tradition is “doomed to failure.” (www.guardian.co.uk). As anyone can see, these statistics are extremely depressing and do not bode well for the future of New Year’s Resolutions.

Nonetheless, it is clear that this annual ritual will not die out; New Year’s Resolutions have survived for almost 4000 years and show no signs of stopping. Personally, I am boycotting the tradition of New Year’s resolutions for 2012. At the end of this year, I want to look back on 2012 with no nagging memory of a failed resolution. However, I wish the best of luck to any and all resolution-setters. May 2012 be an unforgettable year!

The polls began at 7 PM in 809 locations in Iowa on January 3rd, 2012. All of the Republican candidates have been competing for the lead in Iowa for months; winning the Iowa caucus can propel a candidacy through the tough contests in the rest of January and send a good deal of money, media recognition, and support to a winning candidate. The only candidate who has not focused primarily on Iowa is Jon Huntsman, the former US ambassador to China, who has been focusing on the upcoming New Hampshire primary.

During the aftermath of the caucuses, Michele Bachmann decided to withdraw her candidacy. She claimed that she would, however, “continue to fight to defeat the president’s agenda of socialism.” (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/bachmann_expected_to_suspend_presidential_9VBt1mAFMtdPnn9DQOBkLI). Representative Bachmann, Texas Governor Rick Perry, and Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had all been running as potential, more conservative, alternatives to Romney. Bachmann, the founder of the Tea Party Caucus in Congress, received merely 5% of the vote in her birthplace, Iowa. After initially declaring that she would continue her campaign, she withdrew her candidacy. Rick Perry claimed that he would reevaluate his campaign, which decreased the field of serious Republican candidates in 2012 to the top four finishers in Iowa: Santorum, Paul, Romney, and Gingrich.

President Obama, who is not expected to be seriously challenged for the 2012 Democratic nomination, responded to the Republican Iowa caucuses in a teleconference with the Democratic Iowa caucus sites in which he talked about his successes as president. He noted  the end of the War in Iraq, lowering the price of going to college, and health care reform as some of his achievements as president. He claimed that he wants to remind the American people of how far the US has come under his presidency, but unemployment rates and a still somewhat stagnant economy may give his opposition some grounds for criticism.

The Republican field is not clear yet, however; all of the candidates are criticizing each other in attempts to gain support. Rick Perry, although he placed fifth in the Iowa caucuses, criticized Santorum’s second place finish as not representative of his nationwide campaign. Newt Gingrich has recently criticized Romney as a liar and as the perpetrator of several anti-Gingrich ads produced by a political action committee. Before the ads, several impressive debate performances gave Gingrich a place at the top of the field. Ron Paul’s campaign has also funded attack ads against a frontrunner; his anti-Romney ads attack the former Massachusetts governor as a closet liberal and supporter of big government (http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-03/politics/politics_iowa-caucus_1_iowa-caucus-results-romney-and-santorum-entrance-polls?_s=PM:POLITICS). The Republican primary in South Carolina soon is expected to weed out many of the candidates.

People have to incorporate competition into their daily lives.  Without it, life would be a dreary, monotonous existence.  Picture a life where Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (and sometimes Monday night) were devoid of football; or worse, football was a game of hugging the opponent to death, and the throwing of an interception was more common than a completion in an effort to be kind to the other team.

Even the most fundamental principles of our country would be destroyed without competition.  America would no longer be the greatest country in the world; in fact, it might not even exist.  The bitter rivalry between the Western European countries in the early colonial age, which resulted in vast expansion into the New World and the Americas, would not have occurred had there not been competition for dominance in the world.  However, the lack of the fierce struggle for land and resources would have avoided some of the worst deeds of human kind’s history.  Raging wars of the colonial period ravaged Europe, and the “white man” obliterated and enslaved virtually all the Native American tribes that they displaced through imperialism.

The center of the average high school student’s life is based on competition: sports.  There are dozens of sports at USC High School, and all are very competitive.  The one question that must be asked is how far does the extent of competition drive high school sports.  Students at USC are quite lucky, having fantastic coaches and good athletic abilities.  The pressure on students here to excel at sports is not as substantial as other school districts, but it is still formidable.  In other areas (and sometimes here),  pressure has overwhelmed students into illegal activity to improve their abilities.  The steady increase in the use of steroids has been an awful result of the increase in competition for high school students and has nasty effects down the road.  In addition, injuries due to the unrestrained desire of coaches to win have become more frequent.

On the whole competition is a negative influence on people.  While it can bring out the best in people, it more often destroys bright days and afflicts the people involved.  Competition really becomes destructive when the noble cause of winning is disregarded, and the disastrous win-at-all costs attitude is assumed.  If only everyone focused on enjoying the simple things and not turning life into conflict, the world would be a better place.