I s s u e 1 | L X X M A G A Z I N E | J u l y 2 0 1 2

Photo by Ekin Arslan (TR)

Photo by Michal Korzonek (PL)

Content

3 Editorial

5 Refresh button frenzy

7 The GB elections

8 An alternative Europe

9 EuroWhat?

11 The Olympics & Politics

13 Photoshoot: Organising Team

15 Less could be more

17 The 21st century is the century of expression

19 The pillar of our future

21 Why YOU should care about partlcle physics

23 Noblesse Oblige

25 The longer voyage: one bus, sixteen cities and fourty hours

Editorial Having roughly 300 young people with genuinely strong needs for a much more profound understanding of the world they live in, maturity and ability to cope with the overwhelming and often times contradict-ing standpoints of those they encounter together at one place, one may say that the conditions for extraordinary things to happen are met. If on top of that there are experience and the intricate vision of those who carefully plotted for a fairly long peri-

od of time to create a special environment for satisfying the compelling needs of the participants, a relevant outcome is almost granted.

Media content at this session is just anoth-er layer of the complex social and intellec-tual experience that forms the 70th Inter-national Session in Tallinn. For the Media Team itself it is equally important to have a record of the most memorable moments

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to cherish, as well as present platforms to influence and make a change; all session participants are granted the opportunity to actively engage in the content (be it Magazine or other) and therefore able to convey their viewpoint and message to a larger audience. Further to this, the con-tent being viral has an inevitable impact on how this session and its participants are perceived in the outside world.

The Issue 1 of the LXX Magazine is pro-duced by the Media Team with the inten-tion of helping you grasp the concepts concerning the session, entertaining you, but also catalysing self-development and overcoming current frames. For other in-sightful and much entertaining content you may wish to follow us on our blog, twitter account, Facebook page and You-Tube channel.

Much luck in your Committee Work as you are the ones who have the privilege of tuning the level of extraordinary at this session!

Yours,The Editorial Team

Photo by Liva Kreislere (LV)

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Photo by Ekin Arslan (TR)

... although I expected something more spectacular such as gang of owls with a letter

or

a giant letting me know, I

felt privileged nevertheless. ‘‘

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“I actually registered so fast that I might have been registered as a female, or might have clicked on Norway instead of the Netherlands, but anyway: I’m registered”. Yes, we all have been there to get here. Perhaps you thought getting se-lected for an international session is a challenge? Try applying for the summer one. For one day, refresh buttons in every web browser are abused internationally. Why? Ah, yes. First-come-first-serve basis.

Although the way is surprisingly short, and, what it seems, not that demanding (no need to advertise yourself in a proper manner), it tru-ly is a) incredibly stressful, b) full of hidden, little obstacles that every delegate eventually needs to face. Let’s refresh (sic) our memories of how the session began.

12 CETCET? What is CET? Where did GMT go? Figuring what it is was not par-ticularly difficult (thank you Wiki-pedia), but figuring when it was a little bit more confusing. One hour earlier? Later? No time change? Did I take summer time into ac-count? What did they teach me about turning the clocks in class and why did I receive an A? Oh, and by the way, I have to skip geogra-phy classes (again), because the possible opening of registration rangesfrom 11 to 13. Just in case.

At this point, I would like to have a minute of silence for those who messed up with time zones. Thank you. We miss you guys.

REFRESH, REFRESH, REFRESH!Apparently it was not only me being unsure about the correct time, because sometime around 11 o’clock, KAA-BOOM! One re-fresh too many. The page went blank and refused to load. My sup-pressed paranoia unleashed itself: the opening must have happened, servers are overloaded, all hope is lost and probably dead. Well, not that lost as it turned out: two clicks later the page was back. This time I waited patiently – up until ten minutes before the zero hour, ca-sually refreshing alumni. I know it was not only me. The servers had a bad time for a reason. Click. Click click. Come on, click, only 70 places left, click, those Zagreb folks, click, they had twice as many… Click cl-cl-click. Just in case. Click. And sud-denly…

IT WAS OPEN3 minutes before 12 CET. And para-noia was back. What should I do first? Panic?Shake, type, choose the country, call my friend, ma-ketypos in my own three-letters-long surname? Didn’t I try every possible keyboard trick out ear-lier? Note to self: multitasking is not effective with registration. But

eventually, I was registered, suc-cessfully registered, as were all the lovely people raving about it on facebook. And, to quote the same classic author as on the beginning, registering earlier is not cheating. It’s called dedication.

AND NOW, WE WAIT.And complain about the waiting, worry about it, refresh the mail-box, refresh it once again and then wait some more. Checking your mailbox at 3 am on Saturday (just in case) was also included. How-ever, everything was compensated by a certain e-mail (that also asked for money, but everything has its price). Let’s not speak about how I was manically checking the wrong mail account for four days while everyone got accepted one by one. However in the end, although I expected something more spec-tacular, like a gang of owls with a letter, or a giant telling me what I am, I was informed I was lucky. So were all of the delegates that have gathered here today. And this un-deniably makes Tallinn the luckiest city around, without any exaggera-tion. •

Refresh button frenzy... or our beloved first-come-first-serve application process

By Zuzanna Gil (LIBE III delegate, PL)

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In order to register for this ses-sion, all of the participants had to use the Alumni Network. Hope-fully you did not make the same mistake as a UK delegate some time ago, erroneously signing up as a GB (Governing Body) Mem-ber, thinking that GB stands for Great Britain.

This illustrates a severe problem within the EYP – while so many

people feel passionate about EYP as an experience, they mostly do not bother about the technicalities of our organisation. Interestingly, while fighting for active citizenship in Europe, the members of the or-ganisations are rather indifferent when it comes to electing mem-bers of the GB.

The problem is like a coin with two sides – on the one hand, as the GB elections held this July show, most of the 1560 eligible EYPers did not use their chance to vote. It is a pity, especially taking into consideration how influential the GB is. Moreover, GB elections have become increasingly transparent, democratic and interactive over the years. For instance, this year it was possible to consult some of the candidates regarding their manifestos – public declarations of motivation and intentions – on Facebook.

On the other hand, it seems unfair to put the blame solely on Alumni. When several delegates of this ses-sion were asked if they took part in the elections, a lack of information was named as the main reason for not participating. As common-place as it is to read about informa-tion campaigns in resolution book-lets, there is a real need for one amongst the EYP community re-

garding its governance. Therefore, National Committees (NCs) should inform their members about the existence and functions of the GB, especially once they become Inter-national Alumni and thus become eligible to vote. Furthermore, they should know about recent policy changes and ways how every member of the organisation influ-ence the work of the GB.

To end on a positive note, your next chance to change the course of GB elections is very soon – as Martin Getz is stepping down, so extraordinary elections will be held from 20th to 24th of August. Read the manifestos that will be published on 5th August, contact your NC, which will be casting a vote this time, and express opin-ion about the candidates running. Replace passive with active, be a responsible EYPer! •

The GB elections Why EYP needs an information campaign

By Randolf Carr (DE) & Arnolds Eizenšmits (LV)

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Just imagine that you had the power to change an important milestone of European history. Imagine that you could choose Robert Schumann to never pres-ent or even think of his plan for deeper cooperation between Eu-ropeans. The European Coal and Steel Community would never have been founded and Europe would have developed in a very different way.

Back in the 1950s, the post World War II environment in Europe

was quite hostile. The Cold War between the Western and the Eastern world kept on putting pressure on every country. In ad-dition, even those of the Western block did not trust each other since some of them, such as Italy and Germany were the ones that led Europe to WWII. The dictatorships in Greece, Portugal and Spain took advantage of the non-cooperative environment in Europe and lived “a longer life”. The Berlin Wall was standing and symbolising that our world is split and every single country still tried to make its own way to economic growth. This is the point when the EU showed it is powerful. The question remains, however, what would have hap-pened if there had not been any power? The picture of this different Europe and the one we know now would definitely differ.

The everyday habits of Europe-ans across the continent would be influenced by the cultural and political factors, which would be different for each country. Those living in the Eastern Block would not have the luxury of trying Coca Cola or anxiously waiting for the new episode of Glee. On the oth-er hand, Christmas would miss a bit of its spirit with the gas issue shaking Europe. A sudden trip to a friend studying in Estonia

would be impossible because of the complexity of the visa proce-dures. University studies would be restricted to one country and the educational programmes would differ quite a lot between different states. Exchange programmes and international organisations would not have government support and would be struggling to find re-sources.

Now, come back to the real world. Look around you and observe the multicultural surrounding you are living in. It is a mixture of all the different elements that make this continent special. The European Union played a major role in the creation of this unique environ-ment.

Looking through our history from this perspective we realise that the EU paved the path we have been walking on for the last sixty years. Europe as we know it is a result of the cooperation between European people. It is not that the union is a panacea to all our prob-lems and we should treat it as our safety zone. It should always be criticised in order for it to progress, go bigger and better and stand the test of time. Nevertheless, the fact remains, the European Union has improved the quality of life in Eu-rope and should thus not be taken for granted. •

An alternative Europe

By Nives Kaprocki (RS) & Ilias-Marios Oikonomou (GR)

This is the point when the EU showed it is

powerful. The question

remains, however, what would have happened if there had not been any

power?

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This fairly critical definition made by an American comedian is

only one of many. The opportunity of getting to hear the reactions of others right after the final concert is a treat on its own. Just like the votes some countries award, these comments are the same every year. When the new winner is announced, the discussion always turns back to how bad the previous winners are, so it is more than logical to think that next year’s show will no longer be followed by the European audi-ence. Yet, Eurovision remains the most popular and largest non-sport TV show on the planet.

Eurovision is most attacked because

of its supposed political affiliations and possible vested interests. It is fairly obvious, really: the former So-viet Union vote for each other, the southern European countries do the same and the points of the coun-tries in northern Europe are often determined by the immigrant com-munities residing there.

The introduction of the jury has not brought about any change or been able to stop, for instance, Cyprus sending their 12 Points to Greece every final. This trend has led to objections, especially in the UK. This year, the BBC was put under pressure and was asked to with-draw from the competition, as UK

citizens consider their devastatingly low votes (this year only 12 points from only four countries were col-lected) to be a humiliation for their country. Germany, Norway and Fin-land also pretended to dislike the competition for the same reasons until they won the Eurovision Song Contest.

The performances also make for a very good target for the critics. The quality of the songs is considered to be very low in the studio versions, on stage they often seem to be even worse. The content is at times ridiculous and it looks like countries themselves make fun of the whole event.

“It’s the show of bad pop songs, bad choreography and glitter.”

EuroWhat?By Aida Grishaj (AL) & Ilias-Marios Oikonomou (GR)

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The Russian grannies this year, for instance, no matter how sweet and representative of their roots, had serious harmonising issues.

Let us not even mention original-ity, which has always been a sore thumb. This year’s performance of Norway was widely compared with last year’s Swedish hottie Eric Saa-de. The ones opposing the claim said that Tooji did not even break any glasses on stage this year. Greece has been lifting their sing-ers in the air (Helena Paparizou, Sakis Rouvas, Kalomira, Elefthe-ria Eleftheriou) from 2005 on and since Alexander Rybak’s violin en-

chanted the viewers in 2010, the number of violins on the stage has tripled.

The overall costs have also caused heated protests. This was one of the most difficult years Europe has had since the Second World War. However, the organisers did not show any kind of solidarity to-wards many Europeans whose liv-ing standards are shrinking day by day. At the time, when the Spanish singer was asking not to be voted for, so that there would not be a chance of Spain winning the com-petition and therefore organising it next year.

Yet, Europeans seem to watch the show, even though they often tend to deny it. And they enjoy it, since every year introduces new audience records. This is mainly because of the format. No matter how bad the song of your country is, people will show some kind of support, since it is their national pride on the line.

To conclude, here are some bets for next year’s show in Malmö: Be-larus will give 12 Points to Russia, Azerbaijan douze points Turkey and Jedward will sing for Ireland again. •

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Big sport has implied big politics ever since Ancient Greece, and the modern Olympics have always been a battle ground for many political contests. With the 2012 Olympics going on in London, the question of whether or not sport and politics should mix becomes a very topical issue. In this article, we shall see that sport cannot ex-ist in a vacuum and that it will al-ways reflect the state of world af-fairs. The question follows – is this a good or a bad thing?

Sport is by its nature an activity that does not depend on a par-

ticular regime or political ideology. To paraphrase St. Paul, ‘’there is no socialist, no libertarian – all are one under the Olympic rings’’. Many have complained that sport has become too commercialised, and there is no need to spoil it by politi-cisation.

We have seen many examples when the Games gave been used to promote a political cause. The 1936 Olympics in Berlin is a promi-nent example. It was but a well re-hearsed propaganda performance which was to portray Nazi Ger-many as a peaceful and human-ist country, and on a more subtle level to show the supremacy of the Aryan race. On an even more extreme level, we should note the 1972 Games in Munich, where a group of Palestinian extremists took the entire Israeli delegation as hostages, and eventually killed all of them. Whenever the Olympics mixed with politics, the outcome was not very positive.

Nonetheless, it would be very na-ive to assume that one can sepa

The Olympics & Politics A lethal cocktail or a cure?

By Jan Nedvídek (CZ)

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rate such a huge international event from what is happening in the world. Indeed, at some occa-sions, the political message of the Olympics has made an extremely positive contribution to debates on human rights, non-violence and democratisation. The 1980 Games in Mexico City witnessed Tommie Smith, an African-American, win-ning the men’s 200 metres race. This in itself would not have been very significant had the American civil right movement not been at the height of its political mission and had Mr Smith not received the gold medal with a Black Power sa-lute.

Indeed, many individuals have used Olympic highlights to raise the public awareness of the evil happening in the world. When Věra Čáslavská lost to Natalia Kuchins-kaya in Mexico 1968 by a very con-troversial judging decision, she de-cided to make a political statement about the same year’s Soviet occu-pation of Czechoslovakia. Clearly disheartened and angered by the politics that favoured the USSR, she protested during both medal ceremonies by quietly turning her

head down and away during the playing of the Soviet national an-them. The protests against vio-lation of human rights in China and Tibet before the 2008 Beijing Olympics or the voices against Syr-ian participation in London are but a few examples.

Even if we agree that sometimes the Olympics has indeed been used to promote human welfare, the question still remains as to whether or not we are justified in using sport as a means to an end. The times when the Eastern and the Western blocks boycotted each other’s Olympics (Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984) are prob-ably long gone, but the example of Beijing shows that the world’s largest sport celebration might in fact be a mere political tool. Does it mean that the Olympic Games should be abolished?Hopefully not. Having an ideal of all nations competing with each other in a stadium rather than on a battleground, as was the un-derlying idea for ancient Greeks, might actually help us achieve it. It is not easy to find an answer to the question raised earlier, but we

ought to understand that such an answer must not be a prima facie, an oversimplified personal opin-ion. We cannot generalise, and we probably should judge on a case-to-case basis. I suggest we do one thing – let us see what London brings about! •

L’important dans la vie ce n’est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l’essentiel ce n’est pas d’avoir vaincu mais de s’être bien battu.‘‘

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Photo by Jan Nedvidek (CZ)

organising team

organising teamPhoto by Michal Korzonek (PL)

p h o t o s h o o t

Photo by Liva Kreislere (LV)

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The main economic actors nowa-days are large countries like Chi-na, Brazil, Russia, India or Ger-many in Europe. The human and geographical potential are con-sidered to be among the main con-tributing factors in the on-going rise of these countries. Yet, other smaller countries are showing the world that being successful is not unequivocally related to the size of a country.

The Baltic states can serve as one of the best example at the

moment. These countries with a very small population are the ones prospering the most in Europe. During the economic recession,the gross domestic product (GDP)in Latviadeclined by nearly 19%, in Estonia 18% and in Lithuania 15%. Nevertheless, the economies were able to recover in 2010 and these countries experienced some of the highest growth rates in the EU.In 2011 Lithuania enjoyedan impres-sive 5,9% increase of the GDP.In Estonia the economy grew by 7,6% and nowadays, Estonia is one of the only countries in the Eurozone with a budget surplus. The budget deficit is only 6%, when in Germa-ny it is 81% or 165% in Greece.

However, the dramatic improve-ment economies of the Baltic countries might also be affected by the fact that they have become Member States of the EU quite re-cently. On the other hand, Czech Republic, which joined the EU in 2004, has had a sustainable eco-nomic growth ever since. It has been driven largely by net exports and the replenishing of invento-ries, and achieved an economic growth of 1,8% in 2011. The other country in Central Europe that has significantly developed in the last decade is Slovakia. It posted one of the strongest rebounds in Eu-rope in 2010, with GDP growing by 4%. For a matter of years, with ef-fective measures and export, both countries managed to come quite close to the European countries such as Germany or Austria.

There are many reasons lying be-hind the success of the aforemen-tioned countries. The three Baltic countries undertook very tough austerity measures when the crisis hit. The second largest consolida-tion among developing countries was in Lithuania. Latvia was first.

Unlike in many other countries, where spending cuts were fol-lowed by social unrest, the popu-lations accepted these measures and instead of anger, they showed understanding. The lack of resis-tance could have its roots in the communist past. They show more willingness when it comes to sac-rifice compared to countries of the Western and Southern Europe and in times of crisis they tend to show unity. With smaller territory and less cultural diversity the countries are much easier to manage.Second, all of those countries are trying to put an emphasis on sci-entific education, information technologies, innovation and the creation of big enterprises. Sky-pe, Edicy and Erply are only a few names. The car-working industry in Czech Republic has also attracted a number of foreign investors eager to use cheap and highly-educated workforce. Business-friendly mea-sures, for example lower taxes, are being introduced. Export is bloom-ing, and even in the time of crisis, is one of the things that bring most profit to a country.

There should be no comparison between those small Baltic and central European states with Ger-many or other big economies, as the impact these countries have on the world economy is really modest. However, there is a num-ber of countries with much more means who still did not manage to recover from the 2009 reces-sion and whose economic situa-tion is constantly worsening. The willingness the abovementioned small states have shown towards creating a strong and sustainable economy should be an example for the ones who are still in the begin-ning of this path. While the EU may provide a lot of opportunities for progress, in the end it is up to the country to choose the way to use them. •

Less could be moreBy Nives Kaprocki (RS) & Aida Grishaj (AL)

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Photo by Ekin Arslan (TR)

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Consequently, all of a sudden everyone seems to have an opinion worth expressing on everything. Countless platforms exist where everyone can address virtually unlimited numbers of people with whatever they are thinking. And the best thing is that no matter what they write, they can always count on there being someone on Blogspot, Wordpress, Tumblr or Twitter to read it. The total number of such blogs on the Internet in 2012 is estimated at 181 million and their contents cover anything from anime fan-wisdom to gastronomic critiques; from pop science to inane GIF collections.

The thing that distinguishes these innumerable entries is, frankly,

that some are more genuinely in-teresting, original, and relevant, while some are less. Unfortunately, the latter seem to make up 98% of what is out there on the Internet. Proper opinion posts, no matter their subject, have to be written with real care and attention to detail. They combine logical argu-ments, real insight and the audac-ity to present them. Good bloggers write facts first and only then their opinions. The majority of self-pro-claimed bloggers however do not follow this wisdom. Actually, the “Blogosphere” and “Tumblverse” are dominated by authors – in the widest sense of the term – who in-exorably argue the obvious, jump to conclusions from their own lim-ited experience, make ridiculously hyperbolic statements under the guise of irony, and make cheap personal attacks against anyone who opposes their point of view. The tone of discussions through different comments on these blogs is correspondingly nasty. Mass media became a wide uni-verse where losing the compass

can be way too easy. So what ac-tually is the first thing that pops up in our minds when we talk about them? Is that interesting website gathering all the useful news from all over the world or is it that blog where you read about the latest gossip from Hollywood? We are aware that the variety of mass media is remarkable and we definitely feel lucky to have so many ways to find all the answers we are looking for. Not all the glit-ter is gold, though. We cannot completely rely on what we are proposed resulting in a certain fa-cility in getting terribly confused. Trying to get indispensable infor-mation can be, in fact, more dif-ficult than expected. It does not matter how recent the subject is, there will still be a large amount of sources that cannot be trusted.Anytime we type a word in a search engine, the most common source appearing as the very first site we should visit is Wikipedia. Although this may seem a useful tool, we should keep in mind that every In-ternet user is able to edit each and every page, providing false and in-correct information.

It is our nature to find the answer to all the events that surround us, but how should we interact with this stream of facts and data that revolves around us? While surfing on the Internet it is necessary to operate as a filter. This means not only stop trusting everything that we are told or we read, but also learn how to com-pare all the different inputs we re-ceive. The only big mistake we can ever make is considering Internet the only reliable source of infor-mation. That said, integrating the use of all the mass media becomes fundamental for getting a personal and proper understanding of the world we live in. Comparing, discussing and never adsorbing notions taking them for granted become the keys opening the door to the world of knowl-edge.•

The 21st century is the century of expression… for just about anyone who has an opinion on anything

By Elisa Martinelli (IT) & Randolf Carr (DE)

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Photo by Ekin Arslan (TR)

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There are three ways of being successful in any business: be first, be smarter or cheat. Most of us want to achieve a certain level of success in life and to be recognised for our accomplishments. This requires hard work and often a big dose of smarts. With this in mind, how can we approach realising our dreams and what role does a formal education play in our futures?

What do the physicist Nikola Tesla, the mechanic and busi-

nessman Henry Ford and punk vo-calist Patti Smith have in common? They all rose from relative poverty and irrelevance to universal recog-nition for fundamentally changing their respective fields. Tesla’s work with alternate currents (AC), Ford’s improvements to the assembly line and Smith’s musical experiments were game changers that helped inspire further innovation. Even more impressive is that neither of them has earned a university de-gree. But how is this related to the topic of education? The point that we are trying to make is that it is possible to achieve great success without higher education through innovating and ‘being first’. How-ever, for every Tesla, Ford or Smith millions of people without a de-gree fail to achieve their dreams.

Are we really able to understand or at least perceive the importance of education?We live in an epoch where almost everyone is able to attend univer-sity and have a proper academic

preparation on any kind of matter. This brings the value of the whole education system down. We are not aware how lucky we are. The more you have the less you care. This is working in the same way for each and every thing in our life and affects our knowledge, as well.

Almost no one would have ever been able to achieve great suc-cesses without a bit of well-trained wit and even though school is com-monly perceive as a constriction, we should also remember that it is not the only way to expand our personal culture. All those Nobel Prizes, such as Einstein received, have followed the human instinct that makes everyone crave for more answers.

However we should remember that our brain, our knowledge is the only thing that keeps us safe in life. Education is a tool; we should not put it aside. It opens different paths; it leads you to a have a more complete vision of your life. This does not mean cast all your pas-sions and hobbies away, it means integrating them. We never have

to give up on our own personal cul-ture; it is the one thing that noth-ing and no one can take away from us.

Education changes everything. It changes the way we build our life, how we face the challenges, the ones we are willing to take, the ones we put aside – it defines us. There is something deep in knowl-edge, something that starts run-ning through your veins, pumping ideas into our brain. Education should not be taken for granted, intelligence should be developed, trained and we should always keep in mind that learning is our mind’s daily bread.•

The pillar of our future

By Elisa Martinelli (IT) & Felix Makarowski (SE)

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On July 4th 2012, the scientific rev-olution of a generation occurred.

The Geneva-based European Or-ganisation for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, announced most improbably detected the elu-sive Higgs boson, a particle that has been sought by physicists for over forty years. Yet even on such a his-toric occasion, the press conference following the official seminar was a painful stumble through the igno-rance of the general media.

Particle physics is by no means a simple topic to understand. In fact, some of its theories can scarcely be imagined by even the most informed, and only understood through complex mathematics. However, lack of understanding gives rise to sensationalism in the media and apathy among the pub-lic. Neither is particularly good for the future of physics.

Among the many newsflashes that immediately followed the an-nouncement of CERN’s discovery was the question: Is this the end of physics? The Higgs boson has been a dream and a goal for so long that it is commonly perceived to be the answer to the most important ques-tion in physics. This viewpoint has only been supported by the media-given nickname for the boson that physicists so decry: the God parti-cle. The criticisms of that name and other similar sensationalist cover-age of the Higgs boson is firstly that particle physics is secular, and sec-ondly, more importantly, the Higgs boson is not significant by itself, but as the foundation of a more signifi-

cant greater whole.

This is only the end of physics as we know it. So far, the data is evidence only for a Higgs-like particle, but as the Director-General of CERN em-phasised at his press conference, it is unclear which Higgs-like particle it is. It may indeed be the Higgs bo-son described by and required to confirm the Standard Model, the currently most widely accepted the-ory of fundamental forces and ele-mentary particles, but it could just as easily be a different kind of Higgs boson that will require revisions of existing theories for years to come. The discovery of a Higgs boson indi-cates that our scientific progress so far has been on the right track, but stopping here would be like refus-ing to use a telescope because we believe that the stars we can see with the naked eye are all the stars in the universe.

Yet we are experiencing a recession and the world’s media is convinced that there is very little left to do in the field of physics; the issue of fi-nancing CERN and its Large Had-ron Collider (LHC), the largest par-ticle accelerator in the world, is a prominent one. Research funded by military or corporate sources must produce tangible applications in order to continue. CERN’s projects, and research into particle physics in general, are unusual because they do not produce immediately appli-cable results. After all, exactly how applicable can it be to know what elementary particles were pro-duced in fractions of milliseconds after the Big Bang?

However where science is consid-ered it is highly ineffective to force discovery through the search for applications. The modern world has been shaped by discoveries that preceded their applications by many years and by scientists who sought knowledge for the sake of knowledge. In the case of CERN, its successes in the field of particle physics have been punctuated by incidences of technology emerging from their research that have had widespread application. The World Wide Web, for example, emerged from the work of Tim Berners-Lee at CERN. Today, the innovations CERN have made in grid comput-ing can be applied for other data-intensive scientific research, such as genome mapping, which will pre-sumably have innumerable medical applications.

In addition, the private firms con-tracted to develop the technol-ogy used benefit not only finan-cially, through returns on their investments, but also from the op-portunity to work on the cutting edge of technology. For example, the magnets used in the LHC are so specialised that new production techniques have to be developed simply to create the components.

Science is the engine of develop-ment; not everyone has realised yet how crucial it is. You do not have to know how an engine works to travel by car. All we have to do is get in for the ride. •

Why YOU Should Care About Particle Physics

By Saki Shinoda (CH)

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Photos by Saki Shinoda (CH)

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Unlikely as it seems, “Kony 2012” was not the first viral video

to spark up debate about the le-gitimacy of charity for developing countries: already in 2010, Matt Lacey’s “Gap Yah” garnered 50 mil-lion views. Invisible Children tried to launch a serious campaign, while “Gap Yah” is a lighthearted spoof, but they both indirectly raised awareness about hypocrisy within charity. Sensational as “Kony 2012” may have been, it is not the first time that such an organisation has been accused of false advertising. “Gap Yah”, on the other hand, drew attention to a new and empty form of philanthropy.

In the parody sketch, Lacey takes on the persona of Orlando – haughty, well off and hopelessly ignorant –

who describes a series of alcohol-induced mishaps in “Tanzanah”, “Perah” and “Burmah” to his friend by phone. Although there is only a suggestive hint of volunteering (“I saw this woman with Malaria, and she looked at me... as if to say, you know... we’re kindred spirits”), it is no secret that gap years are often spent collecting textbook experi-ences that look good on a resumé. Daunting as it may seem, there are myriad organisations which prom-ise to do all the hard work for you, from a structured program (Project Trust) to a tailor-made approach (Individual U) to umbrella social net-working sites (gapyear.com). There is something for everyone; nobody is left out - gapyear.com expresses this somewhat distastefully by list-ing “Travelling with a Disability” un-

der “What’s Hot Right Now”.

Some may see this as a win-win-win situation: the student experiences a new culture, a developing area receives aid and small businesses bloom. But getting to know Burma while having one’s hand held by a British for profit hardly sounds real-istic. Needless to say, it depends on the organisation, destination and the volunteer themself; but if we are so dismissive of hop-on-hop-off bus tours of London and complain about tourists at the Notre Dame, why do we accept this style of travel with regard to volunteering? This phenomenon has been nicknamed “voluntourism”: faraway destina-tions and young people’s lack of ex-perience are the perfect conditions in which to charge £1,299 for two

Noblesse Oblige

By Cecilia Mihaljek (CH)

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weeks of raising lions in Johannes-burg (flights excluded).

The industry has standardised and maximised itself to perfection, but altruism pales next to competitive university applications. In fact, the chief executive of the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) for the UK said that “it should be used in a focused way to support an application to the course or university you are targeting.” The Common Application form, a similar system for undergraduates in the USA, gives high schoolers space for ten different extracurricu-lar activities. Whether young volun-teers are socially engaged because of a feeling of moral obligation, or merely to make themselves more attractive to universities is not a

matter of concern. A quick Google search confirms that any number of websites give advice on how to best model extracurricular activities to educators’ preferences; there is even a site explaining how to con-vince admissions officers that such involvement is “real”.

It is tempting to argue that de-spite the superficiality and un-necessarily high costs, those who need the aid most are still benefit-ting. However, this new charity culture could hurt those who hon-estly invest themselves in helping others, as Ilias (GR), who volun-teers at a seniors’ center, told me. He said that he is happy that peo-ple to contribute in any way they can regardless of motive, but is also concerned that it might turn

into a business, taking away “the magic”.

The notion that those who are privi-leged should act with generosity and nobility towards those who are less fortunate is nothing new: Bal-zac called “nobless oblige” an “old word” way back in 1835. It would be naïve to think that this term has always been acted upon genuinely and altruistically, but the scale on which it happens today is massive - 160,000 per year just from Britain. Somewhere between demanding universities, celebrity hype and glo-balisation, it seems that everybody is nobility these days - who knew that “Tanzanah” attracts such ex-clusive clientele? •

Photo by Ekin Arslan (TR)In the photo: Aleksandra Sosnowska (PL) & Isidora Ćirić (RS)

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I arrive at Paris Gare du Nord, as-cend from the metro and search

for Rue de Maubeuge. I find a urine-covered and rubbish-filled street, lined with a dozen or so people, their baggage on hand, waiting to board a black and yellow six-wheeled bus. On the bus we are met with an unholy smell of stale sweat and dust, a scent unique to only the most ancient of bus-ses. I locate place 59 and sit down in my cramped seat, breathing in the fumes. I begin to think that this idea that came to me late one night, taking a 40 hour bus from Paris to Riga, may not have been the best idea after all.

The first twelve hours pass with a noticeable lack of supermarket or restaurant. My grumbling stomach starts to mock my choice of trans-port. We have yet another five min-ute break at a station without the opportunity to replenish our food supplies. Two rough-looking men get out of the bus first. I watch them for a while; they speak Rus-sian and appear to exchange war stories. One twists his arm around to show off his tattoos and explains something as a young teenage boy joins them. The boy, wearing a tank top, folds his arms to expose his biceps. Standing wide legged, looking tough, he mimics his two

superiors and nods in approval to the exhibition. They strike up an unevenly matched conversation as the other man lifts up his shirt, revealing a large scar on his chest. His peers concede defeat with wide, impressed eyes.

The stewardess puts on a few epi-sodes of a Russian TV drama and a romantic comedy of some sort. I am not a big fan of such films, but I am delighted by its setting: my home country of Ireland. A climactic wedding scene in rural Irish countryside with a backtrack of songs like “I’ll Tell Me Ma” and “Whiskey in a Jar” make me miss home for perhaps the first time in years. This bus driving somewhere in the middle of Lithuania suddenly feels very far away from anything and anyone.

I am happy, genuinely happy. I cannot stop smiling. Nothing has changed; I’m still sitting in seat 59 staring out at the beautiful Lithu-anian countryside. I feel free and unburdened. The stomach that should be grumbling in protest isn’t and the boredom that I should be feeling never comes. My move-ments are slow and my mind is hazy. The vast countryside–blue lakes, green grass and homely cows–only gets more awe-inspir-

ing as I ponder upon the reason for my unrelenting smile. Perhaps it is because I have nothing to do, nowhere to go, no-one to see, no responsibilities, no tasks, no wor-ries and after almost 35 hours of doing nothing my brain seems to have relaxed completely and taken immense joy and comfort from the simple task of surviving.

This was my experience of taking the longer road. Within those forty hours I witnessed the lives of lo-cal people, experienced a simpler and older mode of transport, saw beautiful and awe-inspiring scen-ery, discovered things about my-self and pushed my boundaries of hunger and boredom beyond what I thought was possible.

Has the desire to get to our desti-nations as quickly and painlessly as possible deprived us of important and perspective changing expe-riences that are exclusive to the road? Our transport network has evolved to become quicker and more cost effective. Logic would tell us to drop our old buses and trains in favour of newer modes. Is getting to your end destination as fast as possible really worth miss-ing the tradeoff in unique life expe-riences? •

The Longer Voyage: One Bus, Sixteen Cities and Forty Hours

By Sandra Harney (IE)

Why it might be worth taking a 40-hour bus journey instead of catching a flight:

Photo by Sandra Harney (IE)

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The Issue 1 is brought to you by:

Sandra Stojanović, editorMichal Korzonek, editor

Konrad Staeger, editorial assistantKarin-Liis Lahtmäe, editorial assistant

Liva Kreislere, editorial assistant

Ekin Arslan, journalist Randolf Carr, journalist

Arnolds Eizenšmits, journalist Jonathan Engel, journalist

Aida Grishaj, journalist Sandra Harney, journalist Nives Kaprocki, journalist

Felix Makarowski, journalist Elisa Martinelli, journalist Cecilia Mihaljek, journalist

Jan Nedvidek, journalist Ilias-Marios Oikonomou, journalist

Erdem Osman Topçu, journalistSaki Shinoda, journalist

and Zuzanna Gil, delegate

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