INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Leaving Footprints 1

EDITORIAL

Letter from the Editor 1

JACOBS LIFE

Sports Desk 2

WIL You Join Us? 03

Art On! Results 04

OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE

It Which Must Not Be Named 05

Whats Happening? 06

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Jacobs Show 07

Nobody is born a Terrorist 08

Upcoming Cultural trips 10

A Guide to Barcelona 11

Middle Earth - Shadow of Mordor 12

WORLDJacobs University Student Newspaper Since 2004

thePULSEOF THE

Issue 39 Monday March 23rd, 2015

WIL Conference Preview

PAGE 03

Contraceptive Innovation

PAGE 05

Letter from the Editor

DEAR POTW READERS,Finally you are holding it in your

hands: the first Spring 2015 issue of the Pulse of the World. We would like to voice heartfelt apologies for the long days of desperate waiting for the release of this issue. Having surmoun-ted technical difficulties and logistical obstacles, the Pulse of the World team is presenting to you the latest news from on and off campus.

In the Jacobs Life section, you will find an article on the first student-initiated Womens International Leadership Con-ference, which will take place on cam-pus in mid-April.

The Outside the Bubble section con-tains information on three recent deve-lopments in the field of contraceptives.

In Food for Thought, an opinion piece on #Juniverse and a reflection on the wide proclamations of Je suis Charlie incepting after the attacks on the staff of French magazine Charlie Hebdo are published. Furthermore, globetrotters will find a guide to accompany them through Barcelona, and culture lovers will find advice for small adventures in the surroundings. Last but not least, you will find a game review of Middle Earth-Shadow of Mordor.

As the sun has finally decided to re-veal itself in all its glory, the Pulse of the World team wishes everyone an effec-tive refueling of energy for upcoming deadlines and examinations.

BEST REGARDS, LISA-MARLEN GRONEMEIER

Find Us on Facebook or Catch Up at

www.pulseoftheworld.com

We need a structure, we need goals, and we need an outlook that shows us where were heading.

For this reason, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) is trans-forming itself.

Siegfried Wegmann, the President of the USG, and Aaron Ames, the new Vice-President, have elaborated a 7

point plan that clearly delineates what aspects need revision, and how this can be brought about. First of all, the USG will introduce regular office hours, du-ring which all parliamentarians and the presidents will be approachable for the students, who can make inquiries, raise

concerns, and contribute their ideas to the work. Se-cond, an attendance policy for USG meetings will be implemented. This will en-sure the dedication of USG members and the efficien-cy of the body. Third, the tracking of committee pro-jects will constitute a crucial part of USG workings. The Vice-President will assist the committees in setting and meeting deadlines, which

will make the direct support of the dif-ferent committees possible and result in better and faster accomplishments. Fourth, parliamentarians will present weekly committee reports to all parli-amentarians and students present in USG meetings to render their successes visible and to provide the opportunity

Leaving Footprints While

Moving Uphill The Outlook of a Fresh USG

by Lisa-Marlen Gronemeier

Integrated Cultural Studies 2015,Germany

Suis-je Charlie?PAGE 08

02

to check their work and make necessary improvements. The fifth point is the es-calation levels. The hierarchy within the USG is traditionally very low. Now, the se-cretaries will assume a decisive role and closely cooperate with the committee members, to ensure that they receive the attention and recognition they deserve. Introducing parliament feedback is the sixth point on the strategy plan. Com-mittee members will have the oppor-tunity to attend the regular meetings, present their work, and receive instant feedback. Moreover, this will provide a stage for the oftentimes invisible contri-butors, whose input will be recognized. Finally, USG press releases will be publis-hed on a frequent basis to keep students informed about all steps the USG takes and allow for their engagement and contribution. President Siegfried Weg-mann explains: Imagine the USG as an island surrounded by tons of dirty water. Trying to shovel bit by bit will not save us. We need a huge crane that will ins-tantaneously shovel the water from all si-des. Instead of trying to find solutions to single problems and hoping that the rest will evolve, Ames and Wegmann want to fundamentally transform the USG.

Next to the 7 point plan, the presidents deciphered ten key problems that need to be addressed. For instance, clubs are not subject to regulations. Sometimes, they are provided with money whose use never becomes apparent. Attendance is very low in some clubs, as students seem to value academic achievements more than extracurricular engagement.

Jacobs Life

The Sports Desk

Catch Up on the Latest News and Results

Mens Football

Last Game Results: Home15.3

4:1

Womens Football

Last Game Results: Away 15.3

1:6

MensBasketball

Last Game Results: Home15.3

58:60Jacobs vs. Bierden Bassen Achim

Jacobs vs. OSV Bremen-haven II

Jacobs vs. SV Werder Bremen V

WomensBasketball

Last Game Results: Home15.3

39:59Jacobs vs. MTV Tostedt

Next Game: 22.3 15:00 away at TSV Hasenbauren II

Next Game: 22.3 11:00 Home vs. FC Huchting

Next Game: 22.3 19:00 away at LesumVegesack III

Next Game: 21.3 18:00 away at VFL Stade

MEET THE STAFF

Editor-In-ChiefLisa-Marlen Gronemeier

Section EditorsChristopher CasebeerSatyaveer GopychandBeenish Waris

Copy EditorsSafiya MannVictoria Lynn Nolte

Creative DesignerCiara MulvaneyChristopher Casebeer

For these reasons, the USG is aiming at introducing a club system, which will lend support and consultation to clubs and provide advertisement opportuni-ties. Another example is the new 5th se-mester of semi-mandatory internships and study abroad which will not exempt students from paying their tuition, as introduced by the leadership. Since this has caused great upheaval, the USG now wants to push the leadership to better assist students in finding and applying to internships and programs in turn. The development of these solutions, howe-ver, is in the hand of dedicated and pas-sionate committee members. The ideas will be discussed and decided upon by the parliament.

The transformed USG will be accom-panied by a benefit package for invol-ved students. Parliamentarians of the week and USG members of the week will be honored. Furthermore, lounging times during USG socials will reinforce the internal spirit of the USG, which will be passed on to students during USG of-fice hours in the College Offices. These will also provide the opportunity to in-vite the leadership, instead of meeting in RLH offices. An incentive structure is implicated in this newly elaborated outlook. Consequently, the USG will be harder to get into and stay in, but also more desirable as official recognition for great accomplishments and dedication is at the core.

The USG president resumes: The USG is the only way to make a lasting change at our university. You can make a contri-bution that will remain for generations to come. We have to be aware of the fact that the USG exists since 2001 and has been shaped by students achieving great things. And we can achieve great things, too. This is one of the great op-portunities Jacobs provides. We are so close to leadership and admin that it is possible to make a change, by conti-nuously giving our input. We just have to show that we will not back down. Eve-rything you do matters. Now, it is on eve-ry single one of us to decide if we want to be remembered at this university and make valuable experience. And most importantly, improve students lives. Be-cause thats what the USG is here for.

03Jacobs Life

In April 2015 Jacobs University is go-ing to inspire you: Our campus will host the first student-initiated Womens International Leadership Conference (WIL) in the interest of advancing womens roles in the professional sphere and contributing to more gender equa-lity in leadership positions.

Hot topics like work-life balance, lea-dership skills or career planning will be addressed by successful professionals from politics, business and STEM disci-plines.

The numbers speak for themselves: Women only hold 24 percent of all se-nior roles in companies and only 12 percent of businesses worldwide have a female CEO (source: International business report 2014). As of January 2015 only 1 in 5 parliamentarians is female and less than 10% of all sovereign states in the world are being gover-ned by female lea-ders (source: UN Women: Facts and Figures, 2015)

These issues are so-mething both men and women should be concer-ned about. Therefore, the aim of the conference is to create a platform for dialogue and advocacy, where you can connect with innovative and entrepre-neurially minded professional women as well as men who have taken on the lead in the advancement of womens leadership from around the globe.

This inclusive approach will result not only in visions, but in concrete proposals how to overcome the barriers which wo-men encounter on their way to the top. You will be able to share experiences, learn about current developments in

WIL You Join Us?

by Maya Gutewort

Biochemistry and Cell Biology 2016,Germany

the workplace and the future of women leadership or even discuss concrete ideas regarding individual career paths.

Throughout the conference, networ-king events will take place that ensure that speakers, companies, and universi-ty students can make long-lasting con-tacts. This includes also a networking brunch allowing for interaction in a re-laxed setting. In order to encourage students from all majors to at-tend invited speakers come from natural sci-ences as well as social science leadership po-sitions.

One of the speakers will be Uta Pasz-kowski who heads a research group at the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She is the mo-ther of three children and is the author of a Springer publication on advice for

women who aim to have both a ca-reer and a family.

Another interesting guest is the German politician Helga Trpel. She was the minister for Culture and the integration of immigrants in the City State of Bremen from 1991 to 1995 and has

been a member of the European parliament since

2004.

Also Anja Stahmann, the official guar-dian of the WIL conference, was involved in Bremen politics. She was a member of parliament at the city parliament of Bre-men between 1999 and 2011 where she acted as the parliamentary party leader as well as party spokeswoman on edu-cation and media policy for the Greens. After her re-election to the city parlia-ment of Bremen in June 2011, she was elected Bremens Senator for Social Af-fairs, Children, Youth and Women. In the years of 2008 to 2011, Stahmann was a board member of the German public-

service television broadcaster ZDF, for which she has served as vice chairwo-man since 2010. Apart from her career Stahmann is married and the mother of two daughters.

Next to this unique networking oppor-tunity interactive workshops are offered which will offer professional skills such

as work-life balance, leading and mana-ging teams, or con-fident public appea-rance. For all students and aspiring scientists who are interested in finding out about exis-

ting career opportunities in the German science community the workshop "Crea-ting Futures in Science: Scenario-based Career Planning is on the schedule. It will be led by Angelika Trbswetter who is a Research Associate at the Fraunhofer Institute. It starts out by providing the-oretical and conceptual input and then turns to an interactive format, allowing participants to explore and determine their options within the German science and research environment.

It is highly unlikely that gender equa-lity in leadership positions will be ac-complished within the next decade ,not even in an economically highly develo-ped country like Germany, but by sti-mulating the dialogue and motivating more people to get engaged we are contributing to the progress.

So, WIL you?

WIL is not only about, but in itself a step towards more womens leadership.

Aila Hauru

1st

04 Jacobs Life

2nd 3rd

Results!

Art On! 2015

05Outside the Bubble

S ex, contracept ion, vagi-na, condoms, penis . Words that most people are hesi tant to use in publ ic . Whi le i t might be embarrass ing, i t i s nonethel-ess real ly impor tant . Therefore this ar t ic le discretely updates you about three recent develop -ments in the f ie ld of contracept i -ves for h im and her.

1) Sexy contraception

I n 2010 a new contracept ive was in a l l newspapers, Nestroro -ne, a hormonal gel . I t works l ike the contracept ive pi l l , can be appl ied to the sk in and does not have s ide ef fec ts, such as weight gain and acne. As opposed to the pi l l breastfeeding women can use i t which is great because there probably is not a worse t ime to get a baby than when you just had one.

Combined with an ant iv i ra l gel that was developed the same year the idea of sex y contracept i -on came up. Why not make a lub -r icant that combines this contra-cept ive gel and HIV prevent ion. Near ly as good a condom and something the gir l can put on. The media went craz y about i t ,

coverage in the Guardian, BBC and the Telegraph. Then s i -lence. Nothing for 4 years.

Final ly, at the end of last year some news! Phase one and t wo tr ia ls were successful and a pha-se three t r ia l wi l l be conduc ted with 2300 women from Europe and the US. Unfor tunately An-tares, the company behind this new drug, does not give us any information on when this last t r ia l might be f in ished, but let s hope i t i s soon.

2) Lovability Condoms

Proudly prepared! That is the s logan of Pam and Ti f fany G ai-nes condom company. They redesigned condom pack aging to resemble cosmetic produc ts and sel l them in discrete and women or iented sett ings such as l inger ie, jewelr y and cos-metic stores. You can a lso buy them onl ine and get your favo -r i te quote or your boyfr iends face pr inted on the pack aging.

Pam and Ti f fany are a mo -ther and daughter socia l ent-repreneur team who hope that women wi l l feel comfor table purchasing condoms in the fu-ture. They obser ved that barely any women carr y condoms with them and instead expec t the man to br ing them along. This i s

It Which Must Not Be Named

by Hannah Behrens

Biochemistry and Cell Biology 2015,Germany

although 25% of a l l women wi l l contrac t sexual ly t ransmitted di -seases at some point in their l i fe. With lovabi l i t y condoms this wi l l hopeful ly change.

And the best thing: The con-doms are produced in Malay-s ia di rec t ly at the plantat ion, when the rubber is s t i l l f resh. The quick process ing results in a reduc t ion of the nast y rubber smel l , which has turned you of f so many t imes.

3) Bill and Melinda Gates

No, this i s not about the int i -macies of B i l l and Mel inda, but about a condom of the future-competit ion by the Bi l l and Me -l inda G ates foundat ion. The miss ion of the competit ion was to invent a condom that s igni f i -cant ly preser ve or enhance ple -asure.

At the end of 2013 11 projec ts out of 812 appl icat ions were cho -sen and received $100,000 each. Seven of these use new mater ia ls to increase sensat ion, e i ther by us ing mater ia ls that feel natural , such as mucous polymers, mate -r ia l f rom cow tendons and more e last ic rubber or by us ing mate -r ia ls that conduc t heat , are se l f -t ightening or shape memoriz ing. The seventh projec t that propo -ses a new mater ia l i s look ing into super- elast ic mater ia ls , hoping they wi l l make condoms thinner, sof ter and cheaper.

Projec t number e ight wi l l crea-te a break res istant condom by coat ing i t in nanopar t ic les. Num-ber nine wi l l develop a condom that is wrapped around the pe -nis instead of squeezed on. Guys do you real ly feel squeezed whi le putt ing on a condom? Any way.

The last t wo projec ts are not

06 Outside the Bubble

work ing on condoms but on con-dom appl icators. They wi l l make i t poss ible to put the condom on the r ight way in a s ingle move -ment and not tough i t with your hands. Why should you not touch i t with your hands? Wel l on your hands you might have germs that are not dangerous for your hands but for other par ts of the body.

There are so many contracept i -ves, why more?

You are r ight , there are a l ready so many contracept ives out the -re, male and female condom, pi l l , d iaphragm and spermicide, ste -r i l izat ion, loops and many more. Al l of these have pros and cons.

The most used contracept ive among women is the estrogen-progest in pi l l , which cannot be used dur ing breast feeding, can cause t rouble l ike acne and weight gain and is general ly in-convenient for women who do not l ive a regular, control led l i fe. Unfor tunately the latter are tho -se that a l ready have a high r isk for unwanted pregnancies. The most used contracept ive among men is the male condom, s imply because there is no ( revers ible) a l ternat ive.

Therefore new methods for men and a lso women are needed. Fur-thermore sexual ly t ransmitted diseases (STDs) are st i l l a huge deal : 25% of a l l women get them! Therefore dual contracept ives which prevent pregnancies and STDs are especia l ly impor tant .

The condom for the f i rst t ime enabled women to control when to have k ids in the middle of the 19th centur y. The bir th control p i l l enabled the sexual revolu-t ion in the 1960s. M aybe a new contracept ive could fur ther em-power women, increase sexual safet y and reduce annoying s ide ef fec ts today.

Whats Happening? When?

BRIMUMMarch 28th-30th, 2015

Jan Rathke / BTZ Bremer Touristik Zentralehttp://www.bremen-tourism.de/osterwiese

Bremer OsterwieseMarch 27th to April 12th, 2015

Image: Manish Kumar

07Food for Thought

The Jacobs Show

by Sasha Boychenko

Global Humanities 2016,Ukraine

Reality television is not usu-ally associated with spark-ing intellectual discussions, nor does it hold much artistic value. Thats okay. We still watch it sometimes, when we need to re-lax or distract ourselves from all those thoughts roaming around in our heads. However, when an educational institution, which claims its pillars to be excel-lence and transdisciplinarity, diversity and community, lead-ership and values, along with mentioning high selectivity, high academic standard and the creation of knowledge, and, finally, challenging curricula, attempts to turn into a reality T V show, that is not okay.

A few months ago, a very noticeable box was constructed and placed right in front of the IRC, accompa-nied by an excessive amount of arrows distributed around campus and point-ing towards the box, as well as print ad-vertisements, which had an awful resem-blance to most cast-ing campaigns and encouraged students to enter now. En-tering now referred to literally entering the box, which turned out to be a casting station, where one could record a video of themselves and consequently become a potential actor in the JUniverse the first docutain-ment about Jacobs University. Docutainment. The newly in-

vented word itself already poses a lot of questions, most impor-tantly : In which way is it relat-able to a highly selective educa-tional institution?

Why do we need to create a parody of a T V show and give out cameras to students to por-tray their personal everyday lives? Why would the univer-sity spend money trying to look cool, especially in the times of financial difficulties? What kind of people would such an adver-tising strategy attract? Do we want those people to be a part of the supposedly highly intel-lectual Jacobs community?

It is obvious that the university is trying to solve the problems it ran into, and I would like to acknowledge the fact that some measures, which are being tak-

en, seem to be working very well. One should also not underesti-mate the time it takes to actu-ally change something in such a complex situation. Furthermore, the advertising campaign is ful-ly justifiable due to the fact the university undoubtedly needs to attract more students as one

of the ways to ensure its con-tinuous success. However, it is important to consider the exact strategies used for the advertis-ing campaign. Perhaps, it would be more beneficial, considering Jacobs University s pillars and values, to focus on the educa-tional aspects of the university by informing the prospective students about the unique ap-proach to classes and actually working on preserving and im-proving their quality, rather than trying to sell the Jacobs experience as docutainment. Or, alternatively, the university could try to draw more atten-tion to the accomplishments of current and former Jacobs stu-dents, which are both numerous and impressive. There is plenty of opportunities to promote

Jacobs by highlight-ing what it truly is about which, I am convinced, is so much more than the great social life (which we certainly do have) and entertainment. The future generations of Jacobs University stu-dents should be able to appreciate the aca-demic excellence and the learning oppor-tunities as much as we do or more. The means of achieving a goal are equally as important as the goal itself even more so,

when the goal is to maintain a unique student community, whose interests stretch far be-yond having fun.

08 Food for Thought

J e suis Char l ie i snt just about standing in sol idar i t y with the dead, i t s se l f - ident i f icat ion. Two men enter shoot ing into Char l ie Hebdos of f ices, shou-t ing Al lahu Ak bar , k i l l ing e le -ven. Suddenly mi l l ions ident i f ied themselves with a far lef t-wing magazine about to declare ban-k ruptc y. I t was a lmost inst inc-t ively : the f i rst person saying I am Char l ie was a French journa-l is t that declared who came up with the phrase on Twitter be -cause he had no words.

One of the most successful s lo -gans in I nternet h istor y wasnt the result of a bra instorming ses-s ion, or the wel l - thought idea of a market ing manager ; i t was an automatic response, a ref lex . The pic ture of b lack background and white letters was shared more than f ive mi l l ion t imes in Twit-ter, used in demonstrat ions and on the cover of Char l ie Hebdos nex t i ssue. Ever yone jo ined in that lack of words, ever yone was so shocked that they couldnt ex-press more than the s imple iden-t i f icat ion with Char l ie.

Pol i t ics consists on giv ing me -aning to what is beyond langua-ge. When I say I am Char l ie, when I give words to a horrendous event , I m tak ing par t of a pol i -t ica l ac t . Even more when these words are sa id at the same t ime by four mi l l ion people and for t y wor ld leaders, as i t happened in the Republ ican marches of Ja-nuar y 11th. Ever yone was on Char l ies s ide, whose only cr ime had been to exerc ise f reedom of speech.

Je suis Charl ie, and you?

But the pol i t ica l ac t of saying I am X necessar i ly impl ies the exis-

tence of a Y in the pol i t ica l arena. There must be somebody who is not I, other wise i t doesnt make sense to say that phrase on the f i rst p lace. When I ident i fy mys-el f, I m ack nowledging the pre -sence of an O ther. And this othe -r izat ion is centra l to pol i t ics : i f pol i t ics consist on giv ing a lan-guage to the Real , other izat ion is i ts f i rst s tep: drawing a l ine bet-ween us and them.

The presence of the O ther ra-dical ly ef -fec ts my e x i s t e n c e . The O ther e m b o d i e s what I can-not t ran-scend and t h e r e f o r e i t f rustra-tes me; as i t reveals my hu-man con-dit ion. I f there was no O ther, I could pro -jec t mys-el f to inf in i t y. And that s why, according to Hegel , each con-sc iousness seeks the death of the O ther . I n the case of the col lec t i -ve consciousness of pol i t ica l sub -jec ts, theres a constant power struggle bet ween Us and Them, e i ther because they oppress us (we are the s laves) or because they threaten our posit ion of po -wer (we are the masters) . I f the -re was no power dispar i t y, there would be no pol i t ics .

Whos the O ther, then, when four mi l l ion souls say I am Char-l ie? Who isnt Char l ie? The Kou-achi brothers are not Char l ie, nor i s i t Amedy Coul ibaly (who ente -red a Jewish supermarket , k i l l ing f ive) . Al - Qaeda and the Is lamic State are not Char l ie, they are not Us. But who else is not Us? Anyone but me can be an O ther, anyone can be par t of Them. The O ther is a lways inf in i te, I can ne -

ver ent i re ly k i l l i t of f. There wi l l a lways be someone who is not Me even with t wo people lef t on ear th .

Is an O ther the comedian Di-eudonn, who was arrested for wr i t ing on Facebook I feel I am Char l ie Coul ibaly ? Are among them the Musl im students that refused to respec t the minute of s i lence to Char l ie Hebdo in French schools? And are those who ass isted to demonstrat ions

against Muhammad car toons in Afghanistan, Senegal , Alger ia , Palest ine, etc, among them, too? Is ever yone who says Al lahu Ak-bar when praying an O ther? The problem with Je suis Char l ie i s not what is being sa id, but rather what is not sa id. Ideology is what you say, but a lso what remains la-tent , impl ic i t .

The infinite threat

I s lamic fundamental ism takes the place that was once occupied by Communism in Western publ ic d iscourse. I t s the big O ther that legit imizes power struc tures : when the Ber l in wal l fe l l , Western e l i tes found themselves without an enemy that could prevent peo -ple f rom quest ioning their autho -r i t y. I t was by that t ime that Sa-muel Hunt ington wrote his thes is about a Clash of Civ i l izat ions, according to which cultures are

Nobody is Born a Terrorist

by Francisco Diaz

Integrated Social Sciences 2016, Uruguay

Photo: http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Je-

09Section

incompatible with each other. When four mi l l ion people go to a so - cal led Republ ican March and s ing La M ar-sei l la ise, they are st ick ing to this idea of the West versus the Rest . We hold to the values of Freedom and Democrac y, they are st i l l in the M iddle Age. The West needs of i ts own language to val idate i ts posi -t ion of power, i t needs to convince i tse l f that the pover t y of the rest of the wor ld has nothing to do with i ts own wealth .

I t s roughly the same just i f icat ion process that l ies behind the idea of M er i tocrac y : I r ightful ly earned my money and the poor are poor be -cause they dont want to work . This way, the oppress ion of the master over the s lave is covered by a vei l of Words that a l lows the master to s leep in the night and keeps the s la-ve compl iant . On the other s ide so -mething s imi lar happens: Al - Qaeda leaders, in posit ion of power them-selves, a lso need their own legit imi-z ing language, that of the j ihad. The idea of a Clash of Civ i l izat ions suits the power ful on both s ides, those who never die.

Danger is power s best f r iend. I n a state of emergenc y, when our l ives are at r isk , i s when we least quest i -on power. S ix teen French die, and Hol landes popular i t y goes up 21 points, having done nothing but go to a demonstrat ion with Angela Mer-kel .

And the key of the War on Terror i s that we are a lways under threat . No prevent ive measure is enough, we can a lways be attacked where we least expec t i t . Even the least re -levant c i t y, l ike Bremen, can be the v ic t im of a terror ist attack . We are in a permanent state of emergenc y, in which our l i fe i s decided behind Top Secret f i les , and in which rulers arent accountable to the populat i -on. Democrac y does not apply to se -cur i t y cr ises.

Fol lowing this reasoning, Euro -pe tr ies to c lose i ts borders to im-migrants and refugees, l ike a gated communit y with fences, wal ls and sur vei l lance cameras, behind which

i ts res idents can peaceful ly enjoy their wealth . But these ef for ts are in vain when the most a l ienated are young Europeans, descendants of immigrants that were greeted with open arms in the post-war era , when Europe needed cheap labor force to rebui ld i tse l f.

The O ther as a psychopath

Uruguayan thinker Sandino Nez cal ls i t a global immune system: there is no pol i t ica l or ideological enemy, only arbitrar y anomal ies. There is not somebody who oppo -ses to my pol i t ica l concept , but so -mething that attacks my body and my l i fe. The terror ist i s l ike a cancer, something without a language, that wants to k i l l me just because i t s in i ts nature, something that only spe -c ia l ists k now how to get r id of. Un-l ike a pol i t ica l problem in which I can do something, in these k inds of

problems I can do nothing.

The terror ist , more than a pol i t ica l enemy, seems l ike a ser ia l k i l ler : mo -ved by some k ind of mental i ssue, incapable of reasoning, he is just a bloodthirst y monster and you ne -ver k now where he wi l l s t r ike nex t . Theres been a somewhat general

consensus that a l l fundamental ism is bad and that you cannot nego -t iate with ex tremists. Because you cant negot iate with a cancer : the O ther is seen as a phi losophical zombie, an ent i t y that looks human but has no consciousness. The O ther is i l logical , you cant d iscuss with the O ther. The O ther doesnt th ink . And i f the O ther doesnt th ink , i t i s much eas ier to dehumanize i t and not hes i tate in k i l l ing i t .

I n real i t y, the fundamental ist i s as human and rat ional as I am. H is wor ld is as logical as mine; i t s just a ver y di f ferent one. But to accept that an Is lamist i s just another Hu-man being impl ies recogniz ing the immoral i t y of me tr y ing to k i l l h im. I t doesnt matter how much the O ther harmed me , to ack nowledge his humanness and deny i t ,makes me a murderer too.

I t s the economy

I t i s eas ier to see the Is lamist as a craz y man than tr y ing to un-derstand him. I n t r y ing to see the contex t of h is ac t ions, I m ack now-ledging his Humanness. But a lso, to take a c loser look to the global power struc tures that surround the problem might mean to real ize that perhaps we are a iming at the wrong O ther.

Terror ism is not the problem, but the consequence of an ear l ier problem. Global izat ion. Terror ism is an outcome in the pol i t ica l and cultural arena of a g lobal iz ing pro -cess that was, in the beginning, purely economic. When such a ra-dical change happens in the eco -nomy, you must wait for conse -

quences in pol i t ics .

Global izat ion is not l ike an ad for United Colors of Benetton, s imply showing chi ldren of a l l races play-ing together. Global izat ion is the destruc t ion of the many local eco -nomies and their subst i tut ion with a s ingle, g lobal economy, for the benef i t of, most ly Western, corpo -rat ions. And the contradic t ions that could happen in a local capita l ist

Food For Thought

Image: http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-

10 Section

economy are now mult ipl ied to the global scale.

Dur ing the post-war, Europe nee -ded cheap workforce to ensure high levels of growth. The Char l ie Hebdo shoot ing is a consequence of this : the Kouachi brothers were the chi ld-ren of workers that France needed, and that were being k icked out of their home countr y by a pover t y caused to a great ex tent by years of European colonia l ism. On the same l ine, without the West s need for I raqi o i l there would have never been fer t i le ground for such a radi -cal organizat ion l ike the Is lamic Sta-te. The economy needs f lex ibi l i t y of capita l and workforce to grow, but this of ten br ings socia l consequen-ces.

An antecedent of g lobal izat ion could be found in the discover y of Amer ica in 1492. Af ter this event , Europe saw how i ts economy could now expand i tse l f to an ent i re new cont inent . Europe arr ived to the New World for economic reasons, and, needless to say, th is had terr i -ble socia l consequences. M any Euro -peans died in bloody s lave revolts in the Car ibbean. Revolts led by peop -le that had never been to Afr ica : de -scendants of s laves brought to Ame -r ica due to the need for labor. Today, Arabs that have never set foot in the M iddle East , chi ldren of the work-force that Europe needed, are t ra-vel l ing to I raq and Syr ia to jo in an Is lamic State that i s at war with the West .

Af ter the astonishment

S o what s lef t of Je suis Char l ie t wo months af ter? The in i t ia l lack of words is over and we need to give a meaning to the event . Bur i t s useless to praise Republ ican values whi le ask ing ourselves when wi l l the Is lamist threat str ike again . As long as Arabs feel oppressed by the West (both in the M iddle East and within Western societ ies) the Is lamist th-reat wi l l a lways be there. To feel constant ly unsafe and in fear only helps re inforc ing the current power struc tures.

We should not other ize the op -pressed. We should not other ize t wo orphans completely a lone in one of the poorest Par is ian distr ic ts . R adical I s lamist d iscourse, one c l ick

away, channels the v iolence that re -sponds to a preceding oppress ion. The mi l l ions that ident i f ied them-selves with Char l ie give away their pr ivac y in exchange for a secur i t y that wi l l never be achieved. Whi le a l l the potent ia l Kouachi brothers feel themselves even more excluded. Me -anwhi le, Al - Qaeda and the Is lamic State f ind in the Republ ican marches a reason to cont inue their f ight , and the v ic ious c i rc le goes on.

I t s not bad to say I am the v ic t im. On the contrar y, the dead of Char l ie Hebdo need to be honored. Nobody should die for what they say, and f reedom of speech is about lett ing even the most stupid opinions be sa id. But we need to ask ourselves who the v ic t imizer ac tual ly i s . I t s not about creat ing a fa lse dichoto -my bet ween the Europe of Freedom, Equal i t y and Fraternit y and a re l i -gious, barbar ic and intolerant M idd-le East , but about understanding that i t was I mper ia l ist Europe who created the beast . And i t cannot be tamed.

1 . S omething I only recent ly found out about is the youth ato -nement of the Thal ia Theater Ham-burg. For only 39 you (yoursel f and f r iends) can v is i t up to s ix plays. They a lso give you the best t ickets they st i l l so i t s good to buy them as fast as poss ible i f you want to s i t in the f ront row for only 6. Whi le many plays are in German, the house is a lso giv ing i ts stage to internat io -nal theater companies, so you might even f ind a play in your nat ive lan-guage. Also Die Schutzbefohlenen by E . Je l inek has Engl ish subt i t les.

2 . I hope I m not repeat ing mysel f too much when I suggest the Bernard exhibit ion at Kunsthal le Bremen. The new temporar y exhibi -t ion was shown ( in a di f ferent format though) in Par is before and is d is-

playing the oeuvre of an ar t ist that i s of ten forgotten a l though he was f r iends with many of the modern avant- garde ar t ists such as G auguin and van Gogh.

3 . The Br i t ish ar t ist Hannah Col l ins was honored with the SPEC-TRUM internat ional pr ize for pho -tography of St i f tung N iedersachsen. The award ceremony on March 6th at 7pm at Sprengel Museum Hanno -ver was open to the publ ic and the photographer introduced her work . The exhibit ion lasts f rom 07.03 unt i l 07 .06, and the Sprengel Museum is a great place to go to anyhow. The museum does not adver t ise anything so you have to k now about i t , how-ever I would c la im the col lec t ion of modern and contemporar y ar t i s the best in Nor thern Germany. I t inc lu-des countless master works by ar t ists f rom the f i rst row.

4 . Something that i snt real ly date speci f ic i s a v is i t of the Unsere L ieben Frauen K irche. I real ized that this beaut i fu l church of ten remains unnoticed, a l though i t has probab -ly the inter ior that impresses me the most . And i t s located r ight nex t to c i t y hal l , the main square with Ro -land. Enter on a sunny day and you wi l l f ind the inter ior i l luminated by countless bold colors coming through the sta in glass windows. The information card is avai lable in numerous languages and there is a f ree explanator y ta lk ever y f i rst Sun-day of the month, 10am.

PS : I was real ly happy to see so many of you at the HFBK open house event . Hope some of you wi l l cont i -nue explor ing.

Food For Thought

by Julia Psilitelis

Integrated Cultural Studies 2015, Germany

Cultural Trips in March/April

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I spent last semester abroad in Spain , so i t s natural that I want to present my favor i te c i t y in my most recent host countr y. Plus, the -re are R yan Air f l ights f rom Bremen (a l though I h ighly recommend not to f ly only to this one place, and cer-ta inly not just for a few days) . Just note that Girona is about an hour away.

There is one place you pass more or less dai ly, and in Barcelona this i s Catalunya. I t s at La R ambla , the main street a lways crammed with both locals and tour ists a l ike. Along i t one can f ind countless n ice places, such as the market hal l Boquer ia . Fol low i t a l l the way south to get to Por t Vel l . I love spending t ime by the water and so walked through Barce -loneta to reach the beach.

Placa de la Seu with i ts o ld ca-thedral i s ano -ther centra l point and a gateway to the Barr io Gt i -co, the bui ldings that house many atel ier shops. Plaza Real i s a wonder ful p lace to spend some t ime and just en-joy the general atmosphere of being in a M editerra-nean metropol is . The popular neigh-borhood El R aval i s fu l l of markets,

baker ies, v intage stores, and specia-l ized shops, for example for (v inyl ) records. There are plent y great and cheap places for food, of ten with specia l t ies f rom other countr ies.

Ar t nouveau architec ture is the most po -pular ar t st y-le. G audi i s the most famous example with his des igns for ent i re l iv ing spaces, chur-ches, and parks. M y f i rst encoun-ter with G audi was his Casa Bat l lo. Vis i t ing his bui ld ings, however, i s qui -te expensive. A few blocks nor th is G audi s Casa M i la/Casa Pedrera . M y f i rst evening ended with G audi s most famous yet st i l l unf in ished cathedral La Sagra-da Famil ia . Another huge space de -

s igned by G au-di i s Parc Gel l . L lu s Domnech i Montaner s mas-terpiece is the Palau de la Musi -ca Catalana. I t s wor th watching a show just to exper ience the or iginal atmos-phere at n ight . Also, there are numerous nice

bars around (my personal favor i te is Ant ic theatre) .

The modern ar t ists Picasso and M iro both have indiv idual museums in Barcelona that are quite di f ferent . Yet my favor i te is the Museo Nat io -

nal de Ar te C a t a l u a on Mont-ju ic . The m o u n t a i n a lso of fers b e a u t i -fu l green s p a c e s , v iews of the c i t y ( e s p e c i a l l y f rom the M i r a m a r M i r a d o r , which has a funicular c o n n e c -t ion to the h a r b o r ) and cultu-

ra l inst i tut ions. Most of the Olympic fac i l i t ies are a lso in this area .

For more information or other c i -t ies in Spain [Europe] , v is i t http ://w w w . w a v e s a n d s k y s c r a p e r s . c o m /barcelona/

A Guide to Barcelona

by Julia Psilitelis

Integrated Cultural Studies 2015,Germany

Food For Thought

12 SectionFood For Thought

Middle Earth - Shadow of Mordor

by Saad Ashar Jalees

Integrated Social Sciences 2017,Pakistan

In a game based in the rich lore and world of John Ron-ald Reuel (J. R. R) Tolkien - with a few retcons here and there - you are Talion, a ranger who has been ordered to guard the Black Gate and make sure that no evil force ever cross its borders and enter the lands of Gondor. Bored yet? The game makers thought so, because two minutes in, you are attacked by a band of orcs. After taking part in an excellent-ly integrated fight tutorial, one thing leads to a family tragedy of Shakespearean proportions and suddenly, Talion is being sacrificed to resurrect an Elven spirit.

The sacrifice is botched, and now Talion lives between life and death, playing host to an El-ven wraith who is filled with life lessons and very much willing to lend Talion some of his strength - all the better to slaughter orcs and weaken Saurons Army.This is where the game shines, the combat so fluid it s criminal. What you have is a very violent and swift killing machine who is able to take 50-odd orcs head-on. Numerous ways of dispens-ing deaths include beheadings, flaming arrows, flaming swords, throwing knives, teleportation beheading and so much more. The game also has a dash of par-kour, as Talion can climb any-thing and everything that even vaguely resembles a wall. This makes the game so much more fun, opening up a lot more op-tions for the player when it comes to approaching the ene-my. This gives way for players to

adopt the stealthy approach. Playing as a stealthy char-acter can be re-warding as you can stop strategically annoying enemies from bothering you whilst you fight the more powerful ones.

This brings us to the system that has everyone in a tizzy - the Nemesis System. Every orc starting from the position of cap-tain and up has a unique personality, with their own set of strengths and weaknesses (which can be found out through the clever use of threaten-ing orcs). Should they be able to defeat you, whether by ac-cident or intent, they will be promoted and their weaknesses will eventually change over to strengths. The more you keep on failing to kill that particular orc, the higher the chance youll end facing him as someone who is invulnerable to everything. This isnt exclusive to the Ccap-tains either. Should a name-less orc (one of the countless sword fodder) kill you, next time theyll have a name with a new title, an endearing personality and strengths & weaknesses to match. The best part is that they will acknowledge you. Thell re-fer to the time you either failed to kill them or how they killed you before they engaged in combat. It s a nice touch which makes the fights have more of a personal stake in them. This is

not a random dude youre fight-ing - this is an orc who has risen up the ranks and become a fear-some opponent because you have continuously failed to kill him! This is one of the finest in-stances of organic storytelling I have ever born witness to.

Story-wise, Shadow of Mordor is nothing to write home about, but in terms of gameplay and mechanics, it is a gem. I heartily recommend this, a beautifully violent game, one that ll make you want to come back for more. Right now, Shadow of Mordor can be bought on Steam for 49,99 EUR, though I personally recommend waiting for the in-evitable Game of the Year Edi-tion . .

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Tuscany, Italy, Spring 2012