Gaian Record International - October 2006

[SkyeGear]

Forget Poaching
Zoo Theft is the New Trend

Endangered animals are facing an entirely new threat: being kidnapped. As more and more animals are being labeled "endangered" more and more zoos are finding themselves victim to the most recent crime wave. Zoos all over the world are having there exotic animals stolen!

In 2000, sixteen lion cubs were stolen from a zoo in Jakarta, India. The corrupt zoo manager claimed that the cubs had been eaten by there mother. Last November, a lion cub was nabbed from a zoo in the Gaza Strip. In 2000 in San Francisco, teenagers burgled a pair of koalas. On August 23, one man was arrested at a London zoo for trying to steal a squirrel monkey.

Many zoos take measures to prevent incidents like these. Security systems, cameras, and even microchip identification is being put into use, but despite all this, the crime continues.

It is probably worst in Europe. John Hayward, former police officer in charge of London's National Theft Register, reports that Britain's zoos have suffered an average of a major theft each week for the past several years. This has resulted in the loss of rare, endangered animals worth thousands of dollars.

Says Hayward, "We live in a designer world and people are not satisfied any more with a budgie or a canary — they want something more exotic." So, how long will it be until this crime trend comes to a finish? As long as there is a market for it, this plague will continue.

Stephen Robert Irwin
Born: 22 February 1962; Essendon, Victoria, Australia
Died: 4 September 2006; Queensland, Australia
Steve Irwin began handling crocodiles at age nine, and grew to handle more reptiles as time progressed. He began to capture reptiles that were a danger to populated areas and placed them in the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park where he grew up.
After taking ownership of the park and renaming it the Australia Zoo in 1992, Steve Irwin met his wife, Terri Raines, and went crocodile catching during their honeymoon. It was videotaped, and soon became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter, the show for which Irwin would become famous. He was also known for the movie Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, winning an award for Best Family Feature Film at the Young Artist Awards.
Iwrin died due to a stingray attack that punctured his heart while snorkeling near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. He is survived by his wife Terry, his daughter Bindi Sue, and his son Robert Clarence.

 

[Flypipe Rogancryd]

SAT scores hit a whole new low
Extended SAT test drops scores, College Board in defensive stance

According to Yahoo! News, the national Scholastic Aptitude Test score average has made the largest drop in 31 years. Although the score drop was more significant in males than females, both sexes saw significant decreases in the math and reading portions of the infamous exam.
For the high school class of 2006, the year meant a new SAT, reported to be longer, with changed question types and more completion time. The math questions are reported as being more advanced, and the reading section's analogies section (X is to Y as Y is to X) has been replaced with more reading comprehension questions.
The College board, the company that makes and owns the SAT, takes a defensive stance on the dropping grades, saying that the lengthening or changing of the test is not to blame for the sharp drop in scores. They cite that the students no longer take the test twice but only one; the usual increase in score during the second examination tends to rise significantly, about thirty points on average.
Other sources state that the decreased number of students taking the SAT instead is also impacting the average. Most colleges will accept either SAT or ACT scores, allowing students a choice in the type of test they take, and there has been a documented increase in ACT tests taken. Also, the decrease in SAT takers may be also blamed upon the increased testing fee, having risen from $28.50 to $41.50 per examination.
The Collegeboard's downplay of the score decrease has led to some critical review of the test owners.

Yahoo! News

"It does show how meaningless the test is as a measure of educational quality, that technical changes in the test can significantly alter the (scores)," said Bob Schaeffer, an SAT critic and public education director of the group FairTest. "It's the test, not the education, that's being measured."

Christine Parker, executive director of high school program development at test-prep company Princeton Review, said the College Board has always called even small increases important, so it's surprising to see it downplaying the decline.

"This is just the latest in a long line of bad news," she said. "They're in a very defensive posture."

Although upset by the decline in test scores, the academic community is not surprised. These declines in scores had been previously predicted and were expected.

Deli worker wins million dollar lottery twice
A woman who won $1 million from a state lottery game four years ago has improbably hit the jackpot again.

STLToday.com - News

(9/09/06 - NEW YORK) -
In 2002, her winning ticket in the Cool Million scratch-off game, which has since been discontinued, was a shot of 1 in 5.2 million, according to the New York State Lottery. Last month, she beat odds of 1 in 705,600 when she got the $1 million prize in the New York lottery's Jubilee scratch-off game.

Overall, her chances of winning both games were a slim 1 in 3,669,120,000,000.

A lottery spokeswoman verified Wilson was a Cool Million winner in 2002, but declined to confirm her latest win until a planned news conference. There have been only two previous repeat million-dollar-plus winners in the lottery's history, according to the state.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

More from this article...

Who says lightning - or should I say, Lady Luck - doesn't strike the same place twice?

While she is not the first, and probably won't be the last, such slim odds are nothing short of amazing.

According to ABC13.com, Wilson resumes her job at Emma's Deli and Catering; she has expressed plans to continue working until at least December.
The prize will be paid out in $50,000 installments over 20 years. The first $1M went to buying houses for her three children.

Valerie Wilson

"This one is going to be for me...I'm going to live a little bit."

 

[Jasmine Perishing]

[align=center][size=24]Teh Ebil Kitteh O' Doom Ish Having a Gaian Wedding![/size] [size=24]'Tis what it sounds like...[/size] I'd like to get my husband more active in Gaia with me. So we are going to have a Gaian wedding hopefully on the same day as our real one. October 20th. So we need our wedding clothes. REVAMPED AVATAR IDEAS! Mine [url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=16091487&toggle=10875~][img]http://public2.tektek.org/img/av/0807/d06/0230/cbfc18.png[/img][/url] Total Left: 415,664 Gold [url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=16091487&toggle=10875~][Item Information][/url] Item List: [url=http://tektek.org/?price=3007]Mythrill Halo[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=10573]Phalaenopsis Bouquet[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=4965]Celestial Gold Slinky Split Dress[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=11255]Biancamella 2nd Gen[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=3006]Cloud[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=10189]Pixie[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=10484]Summoning Tome[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=10402]Western Zodiac[/url] I have anything not listed above. For my husband, Soulis Priest, [url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=16091449&toggle=2939~][img]http://public2.tektek.org/img/av/0807/d06/0227/81e083.png[/img][/url] Total Left: 264,408 Gold [url=http://www.tektek.org/dream/avatar.php?a=16091449&toggle=2939~][Item Information][/url] Item List: [url=http://tektek.org/?price=10574]Dashing Gentleman Gold And Black Cane[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=3813]Gold Kiseru[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=2938]Elegant Snowy Leggings[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=2930]Elegant Snowy Cravat[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=11745]Oculus Mythica[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=10983]Masterpieces[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=2997]Demonic Anklets[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=2931]Elegant Black Satin Vest[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=2936]Elegant Black Knee-Length Trousers[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=2925]Elegant Black Satin Coat[/url] [url=http://tektek.org/?price=10491]Summoning Tome[/url] He owns anything not listed above. So all together it's going to cost. [url=http://www.tektek.org/questbar][img]http://quest.tektek.org/spec.php?goal=763,000&gold=0000[/img][/url] Thanks to all the people who have donated! We still have to figure out if the Scythe will layer properly with the dragon on the husband's, but other than that these avatars are just tweeked a bit. I want to finish before October 20th of this year. [/align]  

[T.A.C.]

Entertainment section editor: T.A.C.

Movie Review
The Covenant

Seen: 9/14/06
Starred: Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, Laura Ramsey, Taylor Kitsch, and Toby Hemingway.
Review: Hot!!!!! I'm talking about the guys in the movie. Loved, loved, loved this movie!!! Well it was about these five families with these powers that had to form a covenant of silence, seeing they lived during the time period of when witches and such were burnt at the stake and all that because others thought they practiced witchcraft. Well, during the whole of the movie we were under the impression that there were only four families because the fifth never had anyone to descend their power to. The four boys had these awesome powers. The only restriction towards their powers, were the fact that they weren't fully in power, they had to wait until their 18th birthday until that happened, and their bodies would eventually wear out on them after using so much of it. Well, for the most part, the boys were using their powers for little stuff, helping to get away from the cops, helping to win a bet, to look up girl’s skirts, boy stuff. Well, turned out there was another descendant of the Ipswich Colony of Massachusetts. He had had to grow up away from the other boys, while all the other boys were able to grow up together and understand their powers, to learn how to use them. Well the fifth boy showed up, but he wasn't really there to "join the group". He was there more to gain more powers. Known to him, one of the boys was going to come into full power soon so all through the movie, we're able to see how he uses his power in the events to gain the other guy's power. Don't want to give any more away, but the movie was great! If you're into stuff like that, people with power, with at least one that knows the right way to use them, then you'll defiantly like this movie. If you like hot boys, you'll defiantly like this movie.
Rating: Two Thumbs up, 3 stars.

The opinions expressed in the above article do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Gaian Record International staff or Gaia Online.

Video Game Review
The End of Time

With all the new high-tech graphics of video games that boast impressive explosions, state of the art 3-D rendering, and fantastic new storylines, the gamers of this generation have lost sight of where these games come from. I am referring specifically to Role-Playing Games, or RPGs, which require copious amounts of time, effort, and interest to play. Even more specifically, I am referring to, as the title suggests, to an RPG known as Chrono Trigger.
When gamers of the new generation are asked whether or not they like Chrono Trigger, their response was more often than not: "Chrono what?" The development of better graphics and new systems overshadow the 16-bit predecessor. Many gamers dismiss the prospect of playing these older games because they have the notion that "Better graphics = better game". The old school gamers like myself will tell you it's anything but true.
Here's a little background on Chrono Trigger.
Gameplay: Like most RPGs, CT offers a the traditional Active Battle System. You wait until your time bar fills up, you take your action, rinse and repeat. Unlike most RPGs, CT utilizes that system and combines it with Secret of Mana's field battle system. In other words, instead of having a battle screen and random battles, 90% of all monsters are visible on the main map, and when a battle begins, it takes place on that map. In addition to that, each character learns a series of special attacks or "Techs" that later involve magic. These Techs can later be combined with those that other characters have learned, opening access to "Double-Techs" and even "Triple-Techs", which involve all three active characters. Their techniques combine into a single, powerful, and often fantastic attack.
Storyline: The main premise of the game is Time Travel. The story begins in the year 1000AD, where the country of Guardia has featured the Millenial Fair. There, our main character Chrono meets up with a beautiful, and strangely familiar young girl whom you later find out to be Nadia, princess of Guardia. While participating in a teleportation experiment created by Chrono's best friend, Lucca, the princess is transported back in time to the year 600AD. During this time frame, history states that the Queen was kidnapped and supposedly returned safely by a brave knight whom you will know as Frog. Because the princess looked so much like her ancestor, they called off the search for the real Queen, which would eventually lead to her death, and the non-existence of your princess friend. You set off on a quest to find her, and when you safely return her home, you are arrested by the guards for kidnapping her, put on trial, and sent to jail for execution. Every good RPG includes a prison break; CT is no different. While escaping the authorities, you enter another time gate which takes you to a bleak and distant future where the world has been completely destroyed. You find out later that the perpetrator was an enormous being known as "Lavos". That is where your true adventure begins. Throughout your journey, you will learn powerful magic, pick up useful items, find new friends, and travel back and forth through time in an attempt to save the world from a world-wide catastrophic fate. The game also offers a New Game+ option that will allow you to access CT's 12 differeent endings. Can you unlock them all?
Music: Two of the finest composers in the RPG business wrote the score for this game: Yasunori Mitsuda, the composer of the music for Xenogears, and Nobuo Uematsu, composer for the Final Fantasy series. CT offers wonderful and unforgettable themes that will have you whistling them for days on end.

Gameplay: *****
Storyline: *****
Music: *****
Replayability: *****
Overall: ***** A perfect score.

Movie Review
Gridiron Gang

Seen: 9/16/06
Starred: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Xzibit , Kevin Dunn, Leon Rippy, Jade Yorker.
Review: This movie reminded me of Remember the Titans. Real life brought forth, but anything with the Rock in it is worth seeing at least once to me. It was a sad movie, with a few comical areas, but it made you think, and realize how good some people in life have it, while others aren't so lucky. The movie centered on boys in a detention camp and a man, probation officer, who was tired of seeing the same kinds of boys, over and over, watching them do nothing with their lives and head off to jail. Finding himself willing to do something about it, he formed a football team. At first, many other schools were reluctant to allow their students to play against such, "harden" criminals, but one Christian school gave them a chance. Watching the boys progress some street hoodlums, to men with understanding of teamwork and respect. All in all, this movie wasn't too bad, not something I'd go out and buy, but again, since the Rock was in it, I, of course, will be buying the movie. If you're into football and/or you're in to people that are able to make a difference for others, then you'll like this movie.
Rating: Two thumbs up, 2 stars.

The opinions expressed in the above article do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Gaian Record International staff or Gaia Online.

Movie Review
Disney Channel's High School Musical

Spoiler Alert: The following article contains plot items in the aforementioned movie. Read at your own risk.

It took me several months, but I finally managed to get myself to give Disney Channel's High School Musical a shot. Somewhat of a modernized musical, the movie stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody's Ashley Tisdale. The movie premise is set around a chance encounter between Zac and Vanessa which led to an impulsive attempt to take the lead in the school play from Ashley.
I have to say, the music wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. Granted, it's not something I'd download to my MP3 player, but at least it was tolerable. However, I am disappointed that this movie was no exception to the seemingly unwritten rule that musicals must contain people bursting into song for no reason. While sometimes the songs were led up to properly, there were other times in which it was not only unannounced, but also completely ignored the plot of the movie. For example, the school's basketball team, having loudly spoken disapproval of Zac's decision to try out for the musical, starts to sing about the horrors of trying new things.
The movie had a problem of its characters having major mood swing issues. For example, the entire basketball team and the academic decathalon members very quickly changed their tune about Zac and Vanessa's participation of the school play. And Ashley certainly became a sweet, loving team player as a result of everything going wrong for her, singing along in the movie's closing number, We're all in this together.
However, one must keep in mind that this movie is a musical, and a children's one at that. Plus, if you compare it to some of Disney Channel's less than savory movies (The Cheetah Girls and their horrible cheesy catchphrases and terrible music being a prime example), it tends to shine the movie in a newer light. So, keeping that in mind, I give High School Musical...

3 Stars  

[Flypipe Rogancryd]

Administration Takes a Break




Conversation Gone Strange

 

[T.A.C.]

Fortune cookie value declining
The quality of the fortune cookie isn't what it once was

Fortune cookies. Everyone loves them, right? I mean, the cookie's pretty good, and you get a little paper fortune inside that will tell you your future. Whether you believe in it or not, it can be pretty fun to read...At least, that's how it's supposed to work. But let's look at the modern fortune cookie, shall we? While the cookie remains unchanged, still hard, crunchy, and sweet, the fortune isn't what it should be. Having ordered chinese food a few times this week, I feel compared to share some of these so-called fortunes to prove my point.

For starters, a fortune is synonymous with the words destiny and fate, both meaning "what is to come."

Fortune Cookie

Reasonable people endure; passionate people live.

That's nice to know. But what's the fortune there? That's just an interesting fact I didn't know. Whoopee. If I want that, I'll read a medical textbook.

Fortune Cookie

You are broad-minded and socially active.

Seriously, what were those fortune cookie writers thinking? (And how much do those people get paid? I mean, that sounds like a pretty easy job, despite how bad they are at it.) Thanks for the compliment, but what does that tell me about tomorrow? And what's worse, it's totally wrong! I'm not only highly-opinionated, I also freeze up in social situations! This wasn't a fortune cookie, it was a complementary cookie, and a bad one at that. (Yes, the pun was intended.)

Fortune Cookie

You have a charming way with words. Write a letter this week.

That's another complement, plus an order! This cookie is ordering me to write a letter! If I wanted to be told to do something, I would have spoken with my sergeant so he could tell me to scrub a floor somewhere! No, this too is a terrible example of a "fortune."

Fortune Cookie

Do not allow the winds of change to blow you from your goal.

Great advice. So, now what am I supposed to do?

As you can see, the modern fortune cookie gives no fortune whatsoever. Their little scraps of paper are totally off topic, and even tell you what to do at times, being a total insult to the basic concept of a fortune cookie.

The above article was purely satirical in nature, and the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gaian Record International staff, its affilliates, or the Gaia Online staff.

Where do the votes come from?

Ah, a nice relaxing Saturday. Done with chores, school hasn’t started yet so homework’s not an issue, and I have just enough free time to spend a half hour or so in Gaia’s art arena, enjoying and critiquing the artistic creations of people who’s skill, most of the time, is far better than mine could ever hope to be.
I click on the link and the familiar page pops up, with a fabulous oekaki picture of a girl with long, flowing red hair, and clear, crystal blue eyes on the verge of tears. The drawing is amazing. The lighting, shading, proportions, expressions. Everything is fabulous. Naturally, I live a comment. Something along the lines of the all-inclusive but functioning, “WOW! That’s amazing! Cool!” Then I rate it a 10 and the Gaia art arena in all its magical wonders whisks me off to another piece of fine art. The page loads, but before I look at the next drawing, I take a moment to check how other people rated the last piece.
As I suspected, everyone loved it and it got…. A 5.0043/10?!?!?!?! WHAT KIND OF ART-DEPRAVED MORON WOULD RATE IT LIKE THAT???? Okay, yeah, I understand the “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but even with the subjectivity of all art, there’s no denying that talent created that.
It’s frustrating to see artwork on Gaia rated so lowly. Was it some flamer, jealous of the other person’s skill, or just some kid out to get their kicks by rating everything a zero? Either way, this rating is unfair to the artist. Sure, there are some sub-par works out in the art arena, but for the most part, the art in there is fantastic. The creator deserves to know how fabulous their drawing really was. I can only hope that the comment I left will show them what the people who actually looked at it thought. And I really, really hope that when I start posting my art, it won’t end up with a 2.3046/10, but who really knows? I guess I’ll just cross my fingers and hope that the flamers get hearts.

The opinions expressed in the above article do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Gaian Record International staff or Gaia Online.  

[SkyeGear]

We are looking for more unfilled positions! If you wish to join as a member of our staff, Request to Join the Guild and explain why you want to join, what position you wish to hold, and a sample of the type of work you would be doing. You can join the guild without being a member of staff as well, making it easy for you to check later editions as well as the Headline News thread. See the Help Wanted thread for more details.

Thank you for reading this month's Gaian Record International. Special thanks to Flypipe, Managing Editor, and T.A.C., Vice Captain, for putting this paper together in my absence. I returned just in time, it seems, to put together the closing comments, and I found they did an excellent job, far above my expectations.

If you have questions or comments about this month's issue, please leave them in the thread designated for such topics. If you wish to advertise, or to enter the "Thread of the Month" or "Art Shop of the Month" contests, PM Gear-Richie for more details. Once again, thanks for visiting the Gaian Record International Guild.