Bethune SPRING 2019 ISSUE
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THE FACTS WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR Bethune Journal “Anyone Can Wear The Mask” -> Spiderman! Pg. 7 You, Your Mind, and Healthy Living -> Are you healthy? Pg. 8 Discover More Inside... SPRING 2019 ISSUE 1 THE FACTS WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR NEWS Pg. 2 NEWS Beyond Bethune ENTERTAINMENT What Was It All About? Pg. 4 CLASS SIZES 176 elementary school teach- Math was employed in the ers have received layoff no- classroom found that in the EDITORIALS In an attempt to reduce the tices. The TDSB is expected 2017 results of the test, only Pg. 8 amount spent on the prov- to face similar changes pro- 62% of Grade 3 students and ince’s education system, the portional to the district’s a disappointing half of the ART CORNER biggest change is not to the size, with 800 secondary Grade 6 population met the curriculum itself, but to the school and 216 elementary provincial standard. In Grade Pg. 19 environment in which the school teachers facing layoffs. 9, 83% of Academic kids and learning is done, with an in- Ford states that the changes a mere 44% of Applied stu- WEATHER crease in class sizes. In On- in class size will result in a dents meet the standard. Pg. 12 tario, the average class sizes reduction of 3,475 teaching While these statistics are dis- in secondary schools are re- positions, a statement contra- appointing on their own, a six ported to be at 22 students, dictory to the original an- -year study conducted be- THE BETHUNE while elementary schools nouncement, though this tween 2010 and 2016 found JOURNAL TEAM contain about 23 per class, change is projected to that with 27 000 students putting Ontario at the top, save $851 million over four between students in Ontario boasting Canada’s lowest years. and. Quebec, Ontario stu- student-to-teacher ratio. dents’ Math marks remained KAUTHAR MO- With Ford’s changes, the MATH CURRICULUM relatively stagnant while HAMMAD average secondary school Quebec’s saw a significant class size will increase to 28, Prior to his election as On- climb. While Ford’s changes Brandishing signs and while class in Grades 4-8 will tario’s premier, Ford’s cam- to our math curriculum are in equipped with a megaphone rise to 24. With this new paign attracted a lot of atten- light of these statistics, not and the power of collective minimum number of students tion with his views on the much information has been student voices, numerous per class, many high school previous Liberal govern- given as to how exactly these Bethune students walked out courses in the arts and hu- ment’s math curriculum. changes will be implement- of school on Thursday, April manities may not be run, due Discovery Math, a method ed , besides a promise to re- 4th to protest the govern- to a lack of general interest currently employed, allows vert to the fundamentals of ment’s recent changes to edu- and an inability by local students to reach their own math. cation policy. schools to run smaller classes. conclusions. Mary Reid, as- sistant professor of math edu- These changes primarily tar- Revealed in mid-March by The motive for these changes, cation at the University of get students and teachers, and Doug Ford’s Progressive however, is a bit muddled, as Toronto’s Ontario Institute both parties have chosen to Conservative government, when this change was official- for Studies in Education, ex- make their voices heard. The the drastic changes have been ly announced, Education plains that it’s “about having degree to which this protest met with distaste by students Minister Lisa Thompson stat- students engage in problem- has affected Ford’s decisions and teachers alike. Changes ed that no teacher would lose solving, open-ended, authen- is unclear at the moment, involving high school class their job as a result of the tic, rich problems”. While though with his insistence in sizes, math curriculum across increased class size, thus dis- this unconventional method the belief that teachers were grades and even the imple- missing the government’s of teaching may appear inno- behind the walkouts gives us mentation of an education perceived motive: to vative and beneficial, math some insight as to where edu- system reliant on emerging cut costs by laying off teach- scores on standardized tests cation in Ontario is headed. technology have caused many ers. Since then, it has been across the province have been More info can be found at to question the implication of reported that from Peel re- dismal for several years. Ex- @bci_saysno on Instagram. these sudden changes. gion alone, nearly 193 sec- amining the results of the ondary school teachers and EQAO tests since Discovery 2 SPRING ISSUE 2019 Taking Baby Steps in Genome Editing - What JESSICA YE experiment on human be- ings that is not morally or When Chinese scientist He ethically defensible”. An Jiankui was revealed to have investigation launched by made the world’s first ge- the Chinese government nome-edited babies in No- found He Jiankui guilty of vember 2018, the an- “seriously violating” state nouncement was met with laws for “personal fame and shock and outrage by scien- fortune.” The university tists around the world. where Jiankui conducted research has fired him from A researcher studying ge- its campus and issued a nome-editing in Southern statement saying that he University of Science and performed his experiment Technology of China, He "outside of the campus and Jiankui experimented on was not reported to the human embryos using University nor the Depart- He Jiankui at the Human Genome Editing Conference CRISPR-cas9, a genome ment". Jiankui now report- in Hong Kong on November 28, 2018. He revealed editing tool, and tried to edly faces the death penalty that he had made the world’s first genome-edited ba- give them resistance against for corruption and bribery, HIV by impairing the genet- but denies this, stating that ic pathway that allows HIV he is safe. However, wheth- lead to future health prob- scientist to have genetically to spread in the body. He er or not he will face capital lems. A report published by edited a baby, but he cer- impregnated a woman with punishment is still up to the Associated Press claims tainly will not be the last. the embryos, and in a new speculation. that people who do not car- There are a few countries YouTube video, claims that ry a normal CCR5 gene where genome-editing hu- the twin girls are healthy Due to privacy laws, the have a higher risk of catch- mans is “technically legal” and with their parents. identity of the parents and ing the West Nile virus and with loose rules, but it is their twin girls remain pro- dying of the flu. heavily frowned upon. One In an interview with the tected, but Jiankkui firmly thing’s for sure -- there Associated Press, He ex- believes that his actions Genetically modifying hu- needs to be more caution plained, “I feel a strong re- were justified. The father of man embryos is an extreme- and control in the field of sponsibility that it's not just the twins is HIV-positive ly controversial topic, with biomedicine to ensure that to make a first, but also and did not want his chil- one side believing that it is no ethics are violated. make it an example. Society dren to suffer the same way crucial to research and de- will decide what to do he has. Additionally, the velop the potential to create next". However, his actions HIV genetic pathway, also a perfect and healthy socie- are heavily condemned by known as CCR5, has al- ty, while others deem it to scientists and the Chinese ready been thoroughly stud- be too risky and evil to con- government. Dr. Kiran ied, providing him the “real- demn a human life to muta- Musunuru, a University of world medical value” to dis- tions, since the results of Pennsylvania gene editing able it. Although it may genome editing are near expert, describes the editing sound like a good plan, ge- impossible to predict. He as "unconscionable [...] an netic modification can easily Jiankui is the first confirmed 3 THE FACTS WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR ENTERTAINMENT The Remarkable Kid Gorgeous KATHY YANG “You have the moral back- bone of a chocolate éclair,” the iconic comedian said as he earned a big laugh and applause. Although still fun- ny without context, this line is funnier with it, and you can find the context in his 2015 Netflix special The Comeback Kid. This and his other Netflix specials New in Town and Kid Gorgeous at Ra- dio City are all beloved and critically acclaimed, with Kid time on March 2, 2019, and Spider-Ham in his universe. “It’s like there’s a horse Gorgeous winning a Prime- it’s strangely fitting as he He’s perfectly cast as he loose in a hospital!” is how time Emmy Award for Out- was a writer on the show takes the character that did- he explains the current pres- standing Writing for a Vari- from 2008-2013 albeit hav- n’t necessarily have much ident of the United States. ety Special. He’s a pig in a ing little screen time. He screen time and still gave However staying true to Spider-Man movie, an awk- showed off his amazing per- him a unique and hilarious himself, the humour is still ward teenager on Big Mouth, formance and delivery and personality. connected directly to its an old man from Oh, Hello - it’s truly a testament to inoffensiveness; no names he is stand-up comedian what he’s achieved.