Maine Central Institute Supports Ukraine

By Charlotte Maria Losticka March 23, 2022

Editor's Note: This is the speech given by the author during Morning Meeting.

On the 24th of February, the Russian army crossed Ukraine's borders based on Vladimir Putin's false claims. Those who have social media have most probably already seen many videos from the country.

“There is a great danger in refusing to believe things you do not like" said Winston Churchill.

If you think that the war in Ukraine does not concern you, think again. In 1938, the West gave up Czechoslovakia to keep peace with a German dictator. A year later, the Second World War began.

Russia has in our recent history invaded countless countries, including my own. Maybe that's why I find it so hurtful. We can't pretend that this doesn't concern us. Whether American or of any other nationality, this affects us all.

While the Russian propaganda claims to only be hitting military targets, they are doing the opposite. Their missiles and bombs are attacking civilian buildings, schools, and hospitals, which result in massive human suffering. Fathers say their last goodbye's at the train stations. 3 million people have fled since the invasion.

A besieged city of Mariupol lacks access to food, water, electricity, signal, and ways to bury their dead. Humanitarian corridors are full of mines. Every ten minutes bombs fall. Civilians are forcibly deported to camps in Russia.

Places occupied by the Russians are suffering from war crimes. The Ukrainians are bravely facing this cowardly and inexcusable aggression.

The Russians daring to speak out against the dictatorship are facing 15 years of prison. The word “war” is illegal to use. Over 13,000 have been arrested in Russia, including children and the elderly. Vladimir Putin's regime is vile and inhumane towards its citizens. The Iron Curtain is slowly descending upon Russia once again.

The time of doing nothing is over, and now we have the power to help.

The Western Allies have shown an incredible wave of solidarity toward Ukraine, in the form of sanctions, protests, funds, humanitarian and military aid. Anonymous, an international hacktivist group had joined forces with the Ukrainian army, helping them dismantle the Russian propaganda in state-controlled media channels. They show the Russian people the uncensored truth.

So, what can we, students of Maine Central Institute do? Pittsfield is some 4,661 miles away from Ukraine.

We have more options than you know.

First, we raise awareness here. Wear blue and yellow, and sunflowers in your hair. It is a symbol of Ukraine and its resistance. Show them that we stand with them.

Second, taking an example from the Allied Nations, we may offer funds. We aim to donate to humanitarian aid organizations like the Red Cross. Their teams provided basic food and necessities to over 8,000 people sheltering in the subway stations during shelling.

I'd like to express my deepest respect for the Ukrainians fighting for democracy and freedom. They are fighting for us too.

Every minute in war counts. Every penny helps.

For organizing fundraising events that are happening this week I would love to thank the Key club. Without you, raising funds efficiently would not have been possible.

My biggest thanks goes out to all of you. Students committed to helping the cause, who are not ignorant to what is going on. Thank you.

And as the world calls now: Slava Ukraini! Herojam slava!

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Winter Olympics Receives Limited Review

By Gabriel Penteado Manente & Caius Knapp February 18, 2022

The Winter Olympics is a global event that started way back in February of 1924. This event happens every four years and lasts two to three weeks. It unites nearly thirty countries to participate in the sports of the winter season.

The sports that are practiced in this event are figure skating, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, ice hockey, ski jumping, cross country skiing, curling and others. The most popular of all are skiing and snowboarding. Another sport that was mentioned as “the boring game” was curling. Which is a sport based on throwing weighted balls on ice and trying to lead them to get into a certain position, that position is inside of the circles that represent the points that you get every round.

The Winter Olympics have certainly had a lot of impact on the world, but what about our campus? To answer this question we got around campus and asked some boarding students what their opinion was about the Winter Olympics, among other questions.

In terms of countries of choice almost everyone chooses their own country, but almost every single person thought that Norway was going to win without even seeing the scores, and in fact Norway is winning. The total number of countries that have participated in all of the Winter Olympics is 91. Yet this year only 21 countries are participating.

After several interviews we have come to the conclusion that the most known sport is skiing. As sophomore Sebastian Moleon said, “I believe that the sport that I like best is skiing and it's the one I practice too, so I think it is the best one.” Senior Mattia Meucci has a similar opinion, “I practice skiing in Italy and I did it here too, I like that sport better than every other sport in the Olympics and it’s the one sport I would watch if I had the chance.”

With those words in mind, it comes down to another topic. 90% of the people we interviewed said that they didn’t follow the Winter Olympics, not only for lack of interest, but because of opportunities. Sebastian said that the only reason he doesn’t watch the Olympics now is because you need to pay subscriptions and spend a lot of money on something that’s not really worth it. Senior Amelia Alejos Garcia, another person we interviewed, said, “I don’t really like the Winter Olympics because there is no snow in my country, so it does not participate in any of the events, but I also have some interest in watching it, but I have to pay money to watch the games in the US.” Therefore, the Winter Olympics itself is not boring and not interesting, it just doesn’t reach a big audience because it excludes all the countries that don’t have snow and when a country is not in it.

Also, the number of COVID-19 cases that this event is generating and may generate has an impact too on the world, so we asked people for their opinion. The average number of cases every day in Beijing was around 100 people more than the number before the Olympics. So it's quite obvious that it is contributing to the spreading of COVID-19. Senior Stefano Mannino shared a strong opinion about the COVID cases in China, he said, “I don’t really care about the virus anymore, since it has been going around a long time, and I think that even if it impacts the games, it shouldn’t be stopped anyway.” Mattia has raised his voice on this topic too, he said, “I believe that is going to have some problems, that the people might get sick, but since it's being controlled I don’t think it should be stopped and it’s not going to impact that much.”

Therefore, the impact of the Winter Olympics it’s quite minimal on campus because of other conflicts stated before, but everyone knew about it, liked some specific sports and even practiced. Also, there’s some known facts that every person interviewed showed in common, they all thought Norway was going to be the best, and indeed was, they all thought curling was extremely tedious and that skiing was the most interesting sport to watch. In conclusion, the Winter Olympics have an impact on campus and it is shown that even people that aren’t even at the Olympics have some basic understanding of the event and some details.

The Russian Crisis and Us

By Charlotte Maria Losticka February 16, 2022 Updated Feb. 19, 2022

We joked about what we would do if war broke out. Multiple news headlines had already informed us of what is going on on the border between Ukraine and Russia. They talk of war in Europe.

We see an array of content shared about the conflict. On one hand, we have jokes, people pleading with Putin not to attack Ukraine, and then, there are videos of Russian tanks and heavy artillery being moved towards the frontier. Being witness to that is incidentally reminiscent of the dystopian novels we are reading in school. The situation has us asking questions. “Do you think there’s going to be a war?” “What would you do?”

So I went looking for answers. My first instinct was to ask retired U.S. Marine Colonel Michael D. Wyly, who deems it improbable. His reasoning was that “the Ukrainian people would never succumb to Russia’s rule.” Nevertheless, the strongest argument remains: Russia has done it before, the 2014 Annexation of Crimea as an example. Adding to that, there is currently no sign of de-escalation, despite it being announced, and the amount of troops has increased on the frontiers, along with field hospitals, and complementing infrastructure. Ukraine now stands surrounded by an army of 150,000 troops. People from the dormitories expressed their concern: “Yeah, we share borders with Ukraine. More than that we share a similar history.”

In a dormitory full of young Europeans it is a question on everyone’s mind, yet one, which nobody knows the answer to. The atmosphere is heavy, some would rather not think of it, some are longing for discussion. Some say they would run, some say they would stay and some would fight. What we have in common is fear. The acquiescence we are forced to sit in is maddening.

The thing is, some of us, come from countries that have been occupied by the Russian army for years, decades even. We know from history that it is never a pleasant experience. So, we take the threat incredibly seriously. Joking about what we would do is only wishful thinking, something that lightens the mood.

Young people are exceptionally sensitive to what is going on. That is why we are discussing this particular crisis so much. We should care about it because we realize this key thing: freedom is not the default. And there is a discernible lack of freedom under an occupant’s army. So what can we do?

Rely on our friends. The best relief in the situation is a friendly distraction and communication. It is vital to acknowledge that past caring about what is going on... our hands are mostly tied. Our experience tells us that humor is the best doctor.