Reflection: Cooking: Love Made Visible by Siena Rainey

My first memory of cooking is squishing creamy dough into baking tins shiny with grease, painting on a glittery coat of sweet cinnamon with a basting brush fit only for masterpieces. My father and I made these delicate sticky buns often, from a favorite cookbook, at a time that I was so small my nose could barely poke over our countertops, peeking my wide eyes up at my father. I easily recall his blue pinstriped apron speckled with flour and the funny white hat he always pulled on over his messy brown hair.

Over a decade later, he still wears that cap, though the locks beneath match the flour on his apron more closely than the cinnamon I sprinkle. Our recipes are now slightly more refined than the beloved sticky buns: sizzling pineapple stir fry, colorful margherita pizza, bright yellow polenta blanketed with fresh mozzarella and vibrant vegetables. It's difficult for our vegetarian family to stray from pasta, yet every bowl springs a fountain of noodle youth, different ingredients in each dish. Our ancient recipe box overflowing with rows of chicken-scratch notecards and magazine clippings must be infinite. However, my mother is never hesitant to pass a recipe on; “It’s sharing, not hoarding, that ensures survival [of recipes].”

Often sous-chef to my father, ingredient prep is not always fun and games. The mezzaluna is a familiar tool; I’m used to the monotonous rocking of the knife back and forth until thick thyme stems transform into specks of forestlike green. The lackluster tasks are enjoyable with my father’s words of wisdom. One often declared within the kitchen, “There’s just two things I need: good food, and good conversation.” I know from household experience that days with both are the best type.

Growing up with the privilege of my kitchen being smoggy with swirling aromas (or perhaps it is simply the smoke that occasionally sets off our alarm), I reflect on the fact that not all families experience this. Visitors rave about the dinners served in my home, not accustomed to the meals brought together so lovingly. Food is one of the many labors of love that knots my family together; what better motivation than a good meal for the half-dozen of us to attend family dinner? Something printed in each line of a recipe book is an ingredient many don’t read: somewhere between the miles of kale waiting to be washed, and the accidental burns and spills, a bond is formed, laughs are shared, and love is melted into every pot and pan. Pick up a recipe, and begin to love cooking.

Opinion: Is Gaming a Sport? by Liam Neary

A sport is defined as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Let’s admit, there’s a ton of activities that can fall under this definition, so what is and what isn’t a sport? Gaming for a long time has been considered just an activity, but with the rapid growth of eSports in recent years, the question is more prevalent than ever: Is gaming a sport? With that being said, let’s dive into the definition one section at a time.

The first part of the definition is “an activity involving physical exertion”. I don’t think anyone will dispute that gaming is an activity, but the second part is what most critics point out to disqualify gaming as a sport. Before I begin, I am not trying to say that gaming requires more physical exertion than all recognized sports. I am simply describing the various ways in which gamers need to physically move parts of their person. With that said, most critics will say something like, “All they [gamers] do is move their thumbs.”  That is partially true. Gamers use their thumbs like most other people do, but they also use the rest of their hands and their mouths (Yes talking is included in physical exertion).

Moving on to the next part of the definition, “skill”. I decided to dedicate a whole section to this. This is where I argue that gaming takes more skill than any sport on the planet. Skill is muscle memory. Skill is knowledge of the game.Skill is communication. Skill is awareness of surroundings. Skill is having godlike reactions.

Muscle memory is important in all sports, but due to the size of the monitor and the movement of the mouse, this has extremely less room for error. A millimeter off in any direction can result in failure, whether it is blocking off a path for enemies to go through or hitting the enemy with the last shot. No sport can say it requires that much accuracy.

Knowledge of the game and opponents is vital. In many eSports, there is a variety of different characters, all with a unique skill set and abilities. Knowing the weaknesses of the opponent's character can give a player or team the upper hand. The players also need to know the map or arena of play. This will aid in creating a strategy and in finding spots like nade spots -- areas where grenades can be thrown to either get a pick (kill) or to block a vital sight line or areas of the map.Knowing vital parts of the map can also assist in the next topic, communication.

Communication will make or break a match, whether it is saying whether an enemy or game objective is dropped or spotting enemies. In most maps, areas of given names to allow for easier call-outs (for example top red, arches, banana, taco, cafe, dd, ruins, mini).

The next part of the definition “in which an individual or team competes against another or others” is pretty self explanatory and generally not disputed. Teams generally consist of anywhere from one to five players depending on the game.

And finally, the last part of the definition is “for entertainment”. This is what many people do not understand. How could someone enjoy watching another person play video games? It is actually almost exactly like every other sport. People have their favorite player. People have their favorite team. They watch over these players and teams as they compete in fast-paced matches with a lot at stake (sometimes millions of dollars on the line). They feel the excitement when a player on their team goes off and eliminates the entire enemy team, the joy when their favorite players win a match, the anger when their team loses. But no matter the odds, they watch and cheer on whether from the stadium filled with others like them or from home like millions of others. Yes, I said millions. Millions of people watch some of these events. The League of Legends world championship in 2015 reached a total of 334 million unique users, most watching for well over an hour. The most viewers on at one time was during the finals, with over 36 million viewers. Just as a comparison, that was more than that year’s major league world series and NBA finals combined (34.6 million). Yeah, who enjoys watching other people play video games? And this is just one eSport. There are dozens of titles gaining maybe not 36 million viewers at once, but still millions.

Gaming fits the definition in its entirety, and many organizations are starting to recognize it. The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) has recently took actions to bring eSports onto its lineup of shows, with gaming events and highlights appearing on ESPN 2 and ESPN 3 and Turner Broadcast System (Tbs) also presents eLeague events. Many social media accounts have also been created by companies such as ESPN and Yahoo!. And private businesses aren’t the only ones starting to recognize eSports as sports. The United States government has recently started issuing athlete visas for professional gamers, which makes it much easier for these athletes to go to events. As each day, each month, each year passes, eSports are becoming more popular whether you like it or not. It is getting harder to deny that eSports are actual sports and it’s hard to determine just how quickly these sports will grow in the future.

Opinion: Don't Get Old by Sharon Houlihan

Because of the aging population and the increase of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, there is a growing need for proper care for the elderly.  Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to stay home and have a family member care for them. The cost of around the clock care at home is prohibitive for all but the extremely wealthy. If a facility is the only option, say goodbye to all your savings (short of a few dollars) and any additional income you may receive. If outstanding care is received, then perhaps the money would be well spent.  However, from personal experience, whether it be a hospital stay, respite care, or a nursing home facility, they are all short staffed.

There were one or two nurses in the Alzheimer’s Unit at the hospital that treated the patients with dignity. There were others, who found humor in the patient’s behavior. They thought it hysterical that a patient ate a tube of someone’s Polident. If it were their family member, I wonder if they would have found it as amusing? The patients were lined up in chairs in the hall. How did the patient manage to go into someone’s room and eat their denture paste?   Who was watching them?

Experience with respite care was far worse. For slightly less than $5,000 for the month, the patient was sent by ambulance back to the hospital on the first night. The days back in the hospital counted against the thirty-day deposit, to guarantee the room back. Upon return (nearly two weeks later), the patient never saw a room. The room-mate wanted to be alone. The family was assured that they were aware of the situation and it would be resolved. There was an entire week that patient spent 24 hours a day in the common area, sleeping in a chair (not even a recliner) at night.  It wasn’t until the family staged a sit-in that another room was made available.  Talk about understaffed, the one aide said she had to assist with forty showers one night. That would be virtually impossible. Then there was a good week and a half before the call came.  They found the patient on the floor and they were once again sent by ambulance back to the hospital.  After x-rays, which showed no injury, the patient was taken home never to return.

At the same time, another family member was staying in a nursing home recuperating from an operation and receiving therapy. Meals from home had to be brought in, the staff thought it necessary to puree their food. At every meal, a big plate of mush was placed in front of the patient. Our request for perhaps a cream soup went unanswered. Did you ever see pureed salad? One Sunday, the patient was placed in a wheelchair and left in the community area. She was visited at 11:00 a.m. with her home-made meal and upon return to the facility at 6:00 p.m., the patient had not been moved from her original location. Another time, the patient slipped out of the wheel chair and sat on the foot rests for we don’t know how long. The worst scare, however, came when she was given her pill in a reclined position. Upon return from the vending machine for a bottle of water, a family member found her surrounded by four or five staff members as she gasped for air choking on the pill.

What happens to the people without anyone visiting or checking on them? There is a definite need for quality care. When unexpected circumstances occur and decisions must be made quickly, people are at the mercy of the facility that is available.  Perhaps if there were a larger staff, some of these incidents could have been avoided.  For a cost of more than $150.00 per day, patients should be given more individual attention.  Where does the money go?