Just Stop Oil: Activism or Vandalism?

By Vivian Pham, Staff Writer

On October 14 at the Nation Gallery in London, two environmental activists were reported to throw canned soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. After the scandalous act, both young activists took off their jackets, revealed to be members of the Just Stop Oil organization. They then glued themselves to the wall beneath the painting, and proceeded to give out a speech about environmental awareness.

“What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?” said one of the activists, Phoebe Plummer, from London. Accompanied with her was Anna Holland, from Newcastle.

The two activists were arrested shortly after. Fortunately, according to the gallery, the painting was confirmed to remain unharmed, although minor damage was detected on the external frame.

What exactly is Just Stop Oil? And what is its purpose? On their official website, Just Stop Oil claimed to be “a coalition of groups working together to ensure that the government commits to ending all new licenses and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.” This group of environmental activists aimed to put a stop to global warming and prevent the UK government from fossil fuel production. Even though the message they tried to deliver is reasonable and aligns with most environmental activist groups, their way of delivering is usually controversial, which receives negative responses from the public and mass media. Prior to the scandalous soup throwing, the group staged a sit-down protest around London, infuriating drivers and commuters for disrupting traffic during rush hours. Subsequently, the scandalous act at the National Gallery proved to escalate its tactics.

One of the spokespersons of Just Stop Oil, Alex de Koning, spoke with several reporters outside of the National Gallery shortly after the soup throwing incident, “…this is not The X Factor. We are not trying to make friends here, we are trying to make change, and unfortunately this is the way that change happens.”

Additionally, Just Stop Oil publicly claimed to receive funding from Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) – a U.S. network set up in 2019 to fund climate activism. Ironically, CEF turned out to be part-funded by Aileen Getty, a U.S. philanthropist whose grandfather was the founder of Getty Oil petroleum company, J. Paul Getty. Needless to say, it is not always the case that the heirs of these petroleum multimillion dollar fortunes have no intention to overcome the damage caused by their predecessors. CEF is said to financially contribute for numerous environmental activist organizations. Nevertheless, critics fear that the elites might utilize these activist groups for tax evasion or tax-related purposes. 

A Lesson of Prioritizing

By: Vivian Pham, Staff Writer

It was a week prior to my dorm move-in. I was sitting on the floor, surrounded by moving boxes and my possessions scattered across the room. The process of sorting the things to bring for college and the things to donate was probably one of the most painful processes I’ve been through. Everything mattered, at least in my defense. I had no intention in giving away anything, even the decor I’ve been trying to hold onto since middle school. To me, each object linked to a memory or experience that I didn’t have the heart to throw away. So with that in mind, I threw everything that I wouldn’t bring with me to college into several boxes and stacked them up in my closet, ignoring my mom’s complaint and threats that she’d get rid of them sooner or later.

Last summer, I visited home for the first time since moving into my college dorm. As I opened the closet, a few boxes fell off the stack, instantly bringing me back to the previous fall. I quickly unpacked the boxes and thought to myself, “What on earth am I trying to hold onto?” All the little decors, the exam papers from high school, the notebooks, the friendship bracelet from someone I hadn’t seen for ages, etc. All the things that I once claimed as my prized possessions, suddenly turned into a junk of useless garbage. Maybe it was because I no longer feel connected to these objects, maybe because I’ve been constantly moving from place to place that I now only possess fewer and more useful things that I actually use daily, or maybe because of both reasons. I’m not sure.

If there’s only one thing that I learn from all of this, it would surely be the lesson of priority. When I moved into the dorm, my whole life was packed up in two 50lb-checked-bags, a carry-on suitcase, and a backpack. No more, no less. Life is just like these moving processes. There are so many things, so many events happen in the course of 24 hours, but there are only a few that will go with you for the rest of your life. I slowly learned, through these moving processes, what I need to do in a day that’s worth my effort and attention, who I should be caring for, and most importantly, which stuff I should keep or throw away.

Culture Shocked by my Own Culture

By: Vivian Pham, Staff Writer

The chaotic sounds of traffic on a Monday morning, the impatient scooter honks of office workers who was running late, the warm offering voice of the street vendors, etc. all blending in perfectly like a harmonic symphony, vividly engraved in my mind just like how I imagined what a morning in Hanoi would be like. There’s just something incredible about Hanoi and its constant modernization while simultaneously retaining the antiqueness of a long-historical capital of Vietnam. 

It was my first-time visiting Hanoi. I arrived in Hanoi on a humid summer afternoon, almost fainted from the heat and the packed crowd of people in the airport. I quickly made my way out of the airport and got on a cab, heading towards Hanoi’s downtown, where my hotel was located. It was a quick but interesting ride from the airport to the hotel. The closer I got to downtown, the more people I saw, even though it was a Monday. I saw street vendors full of people circling around, patiently waiting for their orders. An insane amount of little plastic stools scattered across what seemed to be the pavement (I barely recognized the pavement since it was extremely narrow). 

Even though I’ve lived in Vietnam for most of my life and knew what things would be like, I couldn’t help but think how astonishingly different things have been in the span of three years (I couldn’t get back to Vietnam for 3 years because of COVID). For instance, while I was hanging out with my friends, we suddenly decided to go to the lakeshore and have a picnic there. Since it was a spontaneous decision, I wondered how we could get any picnic stuff like a picnic mat or snacks/food. To my surprise, my friends took me to a nearby rental store where you can get any gear you need. It was so convenient, and everything was even automatic and self-served, so there wasn’t any staff in the store except for a security guy. Right next to the rental shop was a convenience store, which sold a wide variety of snacks and food. The store even had a section just for instant noodles. After stopping by literally two stores within 15 minutes, we’d had everything we needed for the picnic. 

It also amazed me how the culture in the South differs from the North. I was born and raised in the South, so it was quite an experience for me to visit Hanoi and nearby Northern cities. One time when I was ordering food from a street vendor, it took me a solid minute to explain what a spoon was because apparently there’s a difference for “spoon” in the North. Or when I had Phở, I asked for a small bowl, and they gave me a big bowl because they were confused with me using a different word for “bowl”. Another Northern culture I thought was interesting and also quite controversial was the hierarchical order of a party. Apparently, in a party, the elders (usually the men) would sit in the big table, also known as the upper table, while children and others (usually the women) would sit in a smaller table, also known as the lower table. Obviously, the upper table would get better and more food than the lower table, and they also get served while the lower table had to serve themself. I did a little research into this, and I found out that it resulted from a long history of hierarchy and favoring male over female. This mindset dates back to the monarchical period and still exists in the majority of Northern extended families.

I found it quite fun and fascinating to be shocked by my own culture, something that I thought I would know best since I grew up within it. This trip has taught me a great deal of knowledge and definitely changed my mind set on how important one’s culture and roots are. With that being said, I encourage you to learn more about your own roots and background, and you’re sure to be amazed at how incredible it is.

Procrastination – What’s The Excuse?

By: Vivian Pham, Staff Writer

The deadline is 11:59 PM, and here you are staring at the computer and typing as fast as you could at 11:57 PM? Welcome to the procrastinators club! 

Sometimes, we choose to procrastinate because we have certain strategies to deal with it. Sadly, sometimes we are simply in a psychological trap, causing the situation above. So what is the psychological trap that makes us procrastinate?

Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands located at the top of each kidney. Everytime our body is in a stressful condition, adrenaline will be produced. When you are extremely stressed, you will have an adrenaline rush. Adrenaline breaks down glycogen into glucose. Enough glucose will provide energy for the brain to think, learn, and memorize quicker. That’s why whenever the deadlines are coming, you are more focused and able to think better, thanks to the adrenaline rush. However, if you experience a constant adrenaline rush, it will have a negative long-term effect on your body. In “The End of Stress as We Know It”, Dr. Bruce McEwen – a neuroendocrinologist at Rockefeller University – stated that if our body experiences constant long-term stress, then the brain, the immune system, and the circulatory system will be weakened. Significant symptoms include insomnia, feeble resistance, or even anxiety disorder. Additionally, too much adrenaline will cause hyperglycemia, also known as high blood sugar, a major cause for diabetes. 

A reason for being procrastinated might come from the fact that you are afraid of changes and the desire to remain in the comfort zone. That was the conclusion drawn from a study of two psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908, called the Yerkes-Dodson law. Basically, humans prefer being in the comfort zone, such as doing tasks that are familiar, don’t require too much effort, and aren’t challenging. Because of that, we don’t get a lot of pressure and face any assessment of our qualifications. Deadline, on the other hand, is considered out of the comfort zone with many risks and challenges. So when it comes to deadlines, we tend to procrastinate as a way to protect ourselves from the risks and challanges, for when we confront failure, we are likely to blame our failure on other things and not our own self.

When you are given more time to finish a task, we tend to spend all that extra time on that task, even though it’s not necessary and less efficient than finishing the task by the original deadline. This is called the Parkinson’s law, a study of Cyril Northcote Parkinson – a British naval historian. He gave an example of a task in which one has to write a letter and send it to someone else. He claimed that a normal person would take several hours to finish, while a busy businessman only takes three minutes to accomplish the task. 

When you are given a task, the first thing you wonder is usually: “how much time do I have to finish this task?” instead of “how much time do we need to finish this task?”. This kind of thinking will cause you to unconsciously schedule and complete the task by the deadlines, which leads to delays in other tasks that would have been completed earlier. Moreover, the longer the deadlines, the harder you would think of it. 

The Effect of COVID-19 on Climate Change

By: Vivian Pham, Staff Writer

COVID-19 pandemic caused the shut down of the majority of businesses as well as the dramatic decrease of fossil fuels exploitation. Waste-emission was practically ended because hundreds of thousands of factories stopped working, millions of vehicles stopped operating, which helped improve air quality in many places across the planet. Even the carbon emission was dramatically dropped globally. In short, all the measures in an effort to prevent the COVID-19  pandemic have had a positive impact on the climate and the environment within such a short time. But will this pandemic have a positive or negative impact in the long terms? 

Short-term positivity, long-term negativity

COVID-19 was, and is, an obvious catastrophe: overflown hospitals, increasing unemployment rate due to economic recession, etc. This pandemic crisis is also a turning point for another upcoming global crisis, which happens slowly but affects deeply. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterrres stated: “Whilst the disease is expected to be temporary, climate change has been a phenomenon for many years, and will remain with us for decades and require constant action.” 

Our reaction toward this pandemic will be the precursor for the climate change crisis in the upcoming decades. Efforts in recovering the economy – including economic boost policy, aiding funds, and programs for unemployment – will contribute in the shaping of the future economy and stabilize people’s lives. However, the carbon emission amount will undoubtedly remain on this planet for the next thousands of years to come. 

Changes in individual consumerism are not enough

It has been suggested that COVID-19 will be the main catalyst for the shift from consumerism to other concerns regarding climate change. However, quarantine and social distancing even contribute to an increase in consumerism since everyone rushes to grocery stores and stock up necessities. This is an iconic behavior of consumerism – the reason behind climate change.

Changes in individual consumption habits make people think that this is actually a positive sign for the environment. Some thought that after stocking up all the necessities, people might stop buying things uncontrollably. Changes in personal habits, especially in countries that have low consumption per capita, can lead to a lower waste emission. Nevertheless, this could only be a temporary consequence of peer pressures.

To make a better impact on decreasing global waste emission, changes in consumerism should not be limited at a personal scale, it needs to expand to a systemic scale. In China, a 25% decrease of waste emission was not because a person decided not to buy more toilet paper than needed, but because of the shutdown of industrial factories. 

COVID-19 is still a catastrophe to climate

1.     A declination in temporary waste emission.

According to Trafigura, a Singapore-based multinational commodity trading company, COVID-19 could cause the lowest oil demand in history, approximately 10 million b/d. This would have been good news for global pollution, however, it could signal a catastrophe because no one could guarantee whether the waste emission from oil consumption can still be maintained at such a low rate in the future. After such a long period of lockdown and social distancing, the economy will continue to operate, manufacturers will be recovered, and thus the pollution rate will increase again.

2.     A delay in shifting from traditional energy sources to renewable energy. 

The Economic recession due to COVID-19 has delayed the shift from traditional energy sources to renewable sources. Lockdown caused the markets and companies to close, which made some companies unable to maintain their budget for renewable energy projects such as solar panels and wind turbine installation. 

Suggestions for new projects have also been pushed back due to the discontinuation of the global supply chain (the majority of solar panels and wind turbines are produced in China). Bloomberg NEF, a strategic research provider covering global commodity markets and disruptive technologies driving the transition to a low-carbon economy, has lowered their expectations for the year 2020 in regards to the solar energy and electric vehicles market, indicating a deferral in the process of renewable energy shifting from traditional energy sources.

The Meaningless of A Repeated Word

By: Vivian Pham, Staff Writer

You were focusing on a good book when all of a sudden, you got distracted and lost track of the book. You had to re-read the paragraph again, but a weird thing happened. You stared at the words for a minute and suddenly, the word became unfamiliar. After a few minutes staring at it, you believe that it wasn’t misspelled, but it still looked like there was something wrong with it, even after you checked the dictionary. Are there any reasons behind this strange phenomenon?

In “Verbal Conditioning and Behaviour”, Dr. Jagannath Prasad Das defined “semantic satiation” as a loss of meaning of a word following its massed evocation as the word is repeated over and over again. When this study is expanded, it is suggested that this psychological phenomenon is applied for readers as well. In Dr. Leon Jakobovits’s 1962 doctoral dissertation at McGill University, he pointed out that when we stare at a word for a long time, this psychological phenomenon will be activated which makes the word look strange and unfamiliar, even with the simplest word.

“Unconscious inference” was first proposed in 19th century by a physicist Hermann Helmholtz, where inference refers to the idea that the brain conjectures what might be out there, and the unconscious reminds us that we have no awareness of the process. This process constantly occurs since we were born. An example for unconscious inference is the brain tends to think the Sun moves around the Earth – sunrise and sunset. However, in fact, the truth is the Earth orbits around the Sun, it’s just the brain thinks that what we see is the Sun orbits the Earth. Likewise, when we read and perceive language, our brains are in an unconscious inference state. So, when we stare at a word longer than we should, this state of mind is interrupted, causing the brain to “question” the meaning of that word.

The study “Communication in the Real Word” from Minnesota University dug deep into the essence of language and claimed that the language system is primarily made up of symbols which combine to deliver messages. When we perceive language, we perceive the combination of factors that make a language meaningful, not perceive it separately. Therefore, when we read a word, we don’t just read letter by letter, we read the whole word structurally in order to avoid looking at the words by its letter and break its meaningful structure.