Watership Down a Rare Treasure

by Alicia Pollard, staff reporter

Watership Down is one of those rare treasures that hide behind a humble appearance seemingly dull premise: a book about rabbits sounds dry at best, but is a poor description of Richard Adams’ incredible story. Watership Down is a window into a captivating world where men are one of a thousand enemies, survival is paramount but precarious, and the veil between natural and supernatural unravels. The language, characters and storyline are so vivid as to make them as real as the reader’s armchair: the tension of escaping an unknown doom, one rabbit’s tenuous, frightened possession of the second sight, and the peril of escaping an evil, prison-like warren. Adams masterfully blends the portrayal of a rabbit’s life with the humor, courage and friendship of humans.

            Adams’ rich language is vibrant in its description yet clear in its expression. Without dragging down the story with boring digressions, he lets portraits of wildlife’s beauty steal into the action so that both the peace of quiet moments and the tension of dangerous ones come alive. Though avoiding elaborate, clumsy wording, phrases such as “sunset…red in clouds” (12) and “far land of wild mountains”(356) catch the reader’s imagination yet disappear into the intertwinement of setting and atmosphere.  He describes but the characters’ feelings with a gentle, meditative tone and descriptions such as “delightful sense of security” (89) that keeps the omniscience of a narrator and the temperament of the character.

            The characters in Watership Down are charming and realistic, with the instincts and aims of rabbits but the flaws and strengths of humans. Hazel’s wise yet humble leadership, Bigwig’s proud but frank toughness, and Blackberry’s quiet ingenuity are endearing and entertaining. Adams has also made his villains as real as his heroes: heartless and ignorant as Cowslip and Strawberry, or cruel and calculating as General Woundwort and his Council – all as terrifying as complex, realistic villains should be. The characters are engaging from the first page and continue to captivate the reader as they grow and develop.

            One of the most fascinating elements of Watership Down is how Adams has woven culture into the rabbit’s lives. From explanations about the world’s beginning to why some litters miscarriage, the rabbit folktales sprinkled throughout the story are entertaining and enhance the main plot. The glimpses into the mystery of the folktale’s truthfulness also bind them to the central storyline: Fiver’s truthful prophecies, the storm which helped Bigwig and his fugitives escape from General Woundwort, and Vilthuril’s retelling of one of Hazel’s adventures as a folktale all speak of a society shaped by love of trickery and desire to survive. This colorful description of an animal culture so akin to human culture enriches each character.

            Watership Down is simple enough for young and older readers to enjoy, yet rich with imagery, language and characters that become three-dimensional from the first page. Adam’s work lets readers experience the thrill of an adventure and the deeper meaning of a quest.

2012 Olympic Logo Sparks Controversy

By Meghan Agostinelli, staff reporter 

            Every four years, the world unites to celebrate the Summer Olympics, and summer 2012 will be no exception. However, this year’s Summer Olympics will not arrive without controversy regarding its logo.

            When the logo for both the London Summer Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games was first unveiled in June 2007, there was immediate controversy. According to a BBC poll given shortly after the logo’s release, approximately eighty percent of voters strongly disliked the design. Some expressed dislike because they believed that it looked similar to the Nazi swastika. Others argued that the logo, which was designed by well-known brand consultancy Wolff Olins, was too universal and should contain a symbol that represents London such as the Tower of London or Big Ben.

            The largest recent controversy, however, was in early 2011 when Iran threatened to withdraw from the Summer 2012 Olympics because they claimed that the logo is racist. The Iranian government has contended that the logo spells Zion, a biblical reference to Jerusalem, and thus suggests pro-Israeli sentiments. As of yet though, Iran has not chosen to boycott the 2012 Olympic Games.

            I agree with the logo’s protestors that it is not aesthetically appealing in its blue, green, orange, and pink design. London 2012 Olympic Chairman Lord Sebastian Coe has stated that the color palette was chosen in hopes of appealing to younger generations, but, as a member of one of these generations, the colors do not pique my interest. I believe that a much more attractive design could have been created for the same price of 400,000 euros. Still, despite dislike for the physical appearance of the logo, I realize its significance, and I hope that others who dislike the appearance can also appreciate its importance.

            The purpose of the Olympic logo is to be a symbol which unites the world. Do we really need to make such a big deal out of what we see the logo as? So what if the London 2012 design does not show a London-unique feature? Isn’t the logo supposed to be universal? So what if you interpret the logo as this or that? Can you please just accept the fact that a logo is a logo and nothing more? The creators of the design wanted the figure to represent 2012, and citizens of various countries around the world need not interpret it in different ways.

            After all, the Summer Olympic Games only come every four years. We cannot let our discontent over the logo overshadow the importance of its purpose. 

Travel Blog: New York City for Model United Nations

by Meghan Agostinelli, staff reporter

Meredith Sullivan, sophomore, at the United Nations on March 10. Photo taken by Meghan Agostinelli.

MUN 2012 was an experience I will definitely never forget and has made wish that March 2013 wasn't such a long time from now! After a day-along bus ride from the Cape to New York City, I arrived in New York City excited to partake in the conference and to meet a lot of new people. 


That night, the Disarmament & National Security Committee for  Israel (Meredith Sullivan, Devin Low & myself) along with the DISEC delegates representing more than 200 other countries entered the room ready to simulate the actions of United Nations delegates. DISEC's first  task was to choose a topic to debate: either the security implications of nuclear weapons in the DPRK or state-sponsored terrorism. Israel hoped to debate state-sponsored terrorism, and fortunately, since many other countries such as Costa Rica also hoped to debate this issue, state-sponsored terrorism became the topic of discussion for the following days. 


The next day, countries joined together to draft 'working papers' which are basically documents which outline these countries' plans to combat the issue of state-sponsored terrorism. We decided to sponsor Working Paper 1.1 since we felt that the paper sufficiently addressed methods to help Israel in her struggle against state-sponsored terrorist groups such as those in Iran. Other countries chose to support Working Paper 1.2, 1.3, and/or 1.4 as they felt these papers better addressed their countries' needs. After writing these papers, supporters of Working Papers 1.1 and 1.2 realized the papers were very similar and thus chose to merge together. Supporters of Working Papers 1.3 and 1.4 also merged. With the merge of Working Papers 1.1 and 1.2, this paper became known as Resolution 1.1, and the merger of Working Papers 1.3 and 1.4 became known as Resolution 1.2. Since resolutions had already been created, countries drafted amendments for their papers in hopes that these amendments would help their resolutions to pass. 


On the third day of the conference, DISEC voted on both resolutions and each amendment. Both resolutions passed, and the majority of the amendments passed also. The final day, when we went to the United Nations, each country voted each of the five GA (General Assembly)'s Resolutions, and for DISEC, Resolution 1.1 passed but Resolution 1.2 did not. I was excited that the resolution Israel supported passed, and I loved the experience as a whole.

There was also a significant social aspect to the conference. Meredith & I became friends with a girl named Lindsey from outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who was a co-representative for Colombia. Through our conversations, I learned that she loves languages like I do and that she taught herself Arabic. 


I also met a girl who represented Hungary at the conference but was from Venezuela, whose culture is obviously very different from ours: I learned that her family owns a bulletproof car as shootings are common there and that people will just come up to you somewhere like the supermarket and force you to give him something (her mom was forced to give a man her watch), or he will kill you. She also mentioned that several of her friends have been kidnapped through the "Kidnap Express", a process in which someone stalks you (finding out what time you leave your house in the morning, what time you arrive home in the afternoon, etc.) and then kidnaps you for an hour before letting you go. This made me appreciate the American way of life so much more.


I also met an Italian named Carlo, and I learned about Italian culture and his personal experiences (such as traveling to India!). From him, I learned about how Italian teens often take advantage of their cross proximity to other countries in Western Europe and travel to nearby countries such as Holland. Another interesting fact I learn was that Italian schooling is different from American schooling; Italians go to high school for five years while we only attend for four years. 


Through MUN I learned so much more about Venezuelan culture, Italian culture, and how someone lives in another part of America. What a great experience & I cannot wait until next year!