The Waltonian

Following the almost suicide-like plane crash of the Germanwings flight, new regulations will soon be set in place to have two people in the cockpit at all times.

With 150 individuals onboard and killed, Norwegian Air stated how they will be changing their policies to match the policies instated by the US and Canada. When one pilot leaves the cockpit, a crew member from the plane must replace them during the time they are gone. The new regulation will go into effect as soon as the airline receives approval from the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority.

After listening to recordings from the flight, many questioned if the co-pilot, the one who crashed the plane, intentionally did what he did after locking the captain out of the cockpit. Since it is difficult to determine his intentions, a press conference later addressed questions on mental health and overall health of qualified pilots.

Andreas Lubitz, the pilot who was in control when the aircraft began to descend, logged 630 flight hours by the age of 28 and had gone through “psychological tests with flying colors” stated Lufthansa’s chief executive, during the press conference addressing the crash. There were reports that he may have suffered from depression in the past but it could not be confirmed because of privacy in medical records. Physicals are required every year, but psychological checks are not. Only eight out of the 2,758 fatal aviation accidents from 2003 to 2012 were suicide related, therefore relating plane crashes to the pilot’s mental health comprises a small percentage.

Little could be revealed, but after searching Lubitz’s home, a significant discovery to the plane crash was found, yet it was not a suicide note. Authorities have stated that there is no indication that the crash was an act of terrorism and have also stopped short of declaring it to be a suicide. They are likely to treat the crash as a mass murder investigation since it was a voluntary choice for Lubitz to destroy the plane, lock out the pilot and not respond to incoming air traffic control calls.

Whether this crash was a suicide, terrorist attack or mass murder, Germanwings and its parent company, Lufthansa, has one of the best safety records in the world, ranking 12 out of 60 internationally, which is why they are changing cockpit regulations as soon as they receive approval.

Sources: NBC News, Fox News, Time

Reports have been released that Boston Logan Airport has hit new records topping the highest amount of snowfall for the area.

The last snowfall record Boston had was in 1995-1996 with 107.6 inches. As of March 15, the record was broken with 108.6 inches of snow, and the area has accumulated more snow since the recent record was released. The average seasonal snowfall at Logan Airport is 43.5 inches and this season reached over nine feet.

To see this in perspective with other areas in the country, total snowfall reports have been available for the 2014 to 2015 season up until March 6. Philadelphia came in at 23 inches, Central Park in New York City with 42.5 inches, Salt Lake City at 9.6 inches, Buffalo at 108.8 inches, and even the Dallas-Fort Worth Area had 5.8 inches this season. As of the report on March 6, the highest city was Copenhagen in New York with 256.2 inches and at this time Boston was reported to have 105.7 inches.

Even though the snow in Boston is not the highest in the country and is only a record high for the area, it is proving to be hazardous for the community. By the time spring legitimately comes, Boston will have spent $50 million just attempting to relocate the massive piles around and out of the city. On top of this, subway and commuter rail systems were damaged, melting snow has leaked into apartment buildings because they could not support the weight of snow and trash has been piling up.

While this record has made news all across America, many Boston residents were not pleased with the amount of snow the past few months. Teri Davidson, a resident of the Boston area, made a statement for the Associated Press commenting how he “wasn’t excited to break the record… It’s just been miserable. All the delays getting into work and all the days off work.”

Unfortunately, snow patterns like what Boston just witnessed this past season are not a fluke according to climate scientists. As the climate starts to change due to man-made greenhouse gases, more extreme snow storms like this past winter are likely to occur.

With a snowy first day of Spring here and gone for much of the Northeast, hopefully relief is in sight and warmer weather is near.

Sources: Weather Channel, NOAA Regional Climate Centers, Associated Press

Without getting into the nitty gritty technical terms of photography and all about using a camera, these few tips are intended to better your every day shooting, whether on a digital camera or even on an iPhone.

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1. Is a picture really worth a thousand words? Think of every photograph you take as a story. What does this picture have to say? What is the meaning to this image? Even though you are creating a still portrait, the better storyteller you can be through the picture, the better photographer you will be. Think about emotions. How can I capture this subject’s emotion in the right way to tell a story about it to another person? Take this picture of the group of teenage girls playing a game. Through the emotions, you can tell this was a happy time with a lot of fun, laughter, excitement and competition happening.

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3. If you have ever taken an art class or played around with photography, you probably have heard of the Rule of Thirds. Truthfully, this is what will make photographs go from drab to fab with one small concept. This rule states that images are can be divided into 9 equal segments by 2 vertical lines and two horizontal lines, much like a tic-tac-toe board. The most important element of your photo should be placed along these lines or where the points intersect. This will create a much more interesting image instead of the subject right in the middle.

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2. Your background is as important as the subject. Much like writing a paper, the more depth and detail to the photograph, the better the picture will turn out. The background can either bring attention to the subject or the background can detract from the subject. If you are having a conversation with a friend, you would not want someone else’s voice distracting you from your own so why let your subject be distracted by the background? It is easy to tell the subject of this picture is on the boy closest to front, but what enhances the young boy more is all the other hands raised around him in the background.

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4. Take a different perspective on the subject. Are you always shooting the same picture of your dog face-on while your furry friend is on the ground and you are standing, but you are not sure why it just looks mediocre? Try getting on the same level as your dog, moving your camera in a different angle or completely moving yourself to a different angle. Another idea is focus on one part of your dog such as the paw or the nose instead of the whole dog for a more unique photograph. How often do you see concert pictures being shot from the front of the stage? Pretty often. That’s probably why this picture of the guitar is so pleasing to the eyes: because it was taken from a different perspective that usually is not used.

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What do Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon and Melissa McCarthy all have in common? They are the newest ghost hunters in the new “Ghostbusters” remake.

The first “Ghostbusters” was released in 1984 when audiences fell in love with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, the team of New York City ghost hunters who brought children’s fears and fantasies to life. Hudson, Ramis and Aykroyd agreed to return, but Murray remained uninterested. With new director, Paul Feig on board, he rounded up the new- all female cast for the 2016 release.

None of the new actresses are shy from earning their spotlight in previous ‘comedic gold’ roles. Both Wiig and McCarthy appeared together in the 2011 “Bridesmaids,” which was also directed by Feig. As far as McKinnon and Jones, they have been making fans laugh during their current roles on Saturday Night Live. Although Feig plans for the third “Ghostbusters” film to be scarier than the others, there is bound to be humor attached to each of the characters rolls.

In a statement for Entertainment Weekly about Feig’s new cast decision, he said “[his] favorite thing to do is work with funny women.” He mentioned how the concept of the film will stay the same, but since this is the 21st century, a lot will be different. “I wanted to come into our world where there’s talk of ghosts but they’re not really credible, and so what would happen in our world if this happened today?”

Part of the reason for a fresh start to “Ghostbusters” is Feig wants the film to look like something that could happen in the world today making audiences question what is happening. Along with making the film scarier, Feig plans on using current but ‘cooler’ technology for the ghost hunters.

Aykroyd told The Hollywood Reporter how he is delighted with the new cast of the most magnificent women in comedy. His great grandfather was the original Ghostbuster and empowered women during his time. Despite the negative comments from fans on the all- female cast, Aykroyd sees this as a “beautiful development in the legacy of [his] family business.”

Sony currently has Ghostbusters scheduled for a July 22nd, 2016 release.

It is amazing that, in 2015, sexual abuse can still be marketed as romantic after all of the campaigns against assault, but yet, the film “Fifty Shades of Grey” brought in over $90 million in just four days.

In “Fifty Shades of Grey,” college literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview the beautiful, brilliant and intimidating Christian Grey. Naïve Steele begins to realize she wants him and is desperate to become close to him. Likewise, Grey is unable to resist Steele’s young beauty, but wants her on his own terms. Grey makes the statement to Steele, “I exercise control over all things,” which is exactly where the problem lies.

“Fifty Shades” was first a fiction novel written by E.L. James. After the large success of the book, it was then made into a film. Although avid book readers have the tendency to ‘fall in love’ with their favorite characters in the story, back in their minds they know what they are reading will not and cannot really happen. But, when a book becomes a movie and a person can visualize the story, the characters and plot has just become that much more real to the person. They have seen a fictional book come to life where the characters now have faces they can remember from the book they have fallen in love with.

Turning “Fifty Shades of Grey” into a worldwide, multimillion dollar phenomenon has become a problem in many areas. First and foremost, the film is glamorizing sexual abuse. Grey uses manipulation, intimidation and violence to control Steele. Many fans overlook this because of his handsome looks and powerful position, but this is not love; this is abuse.

Even if Grey is suffering the consequences of his own past abuse, and Steele is able to forgive him time after time, violence is violence.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” is not only a fanaticized lie telling women to be obedient to controlling men, it is telling men that unrestrained domination is what women want and they are okay with it. “Fifty Shades” presents itself with an unrealistic fairy-tale ending, convincing women that an abusive relationship is normal and they should just give in.

This is not entertainment or the fairy tale that Hollywood is claiming “Fifty Shades of Grey” to be. This film is a glamorization of sexual violence and abuse. This generation is so consumed with what the media is saying and portraying, films like “Fifty Shades” come at a steep price when sexual violence is on the rise in today’s society.

A study was done in 2013 with a group of women’s health professionals who read “Fifty Shades of Grey” and analyzed the material to define intimate partner violence. The study found that almost every interaction between Grey and Steele was abusive because of intimidation, stalking and isolation.

Grey claims he cannot go without Steele but the love that Grey shows is through whips, blindfolds and restraining devices; this is not the love God calls us to show. The Apostle Paul writes about love in the book of Corinthians. He says, “Love is patient, love is kind… It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

The genuine love that God calls us to show does not dishonor others like Grey displays to Steele. Love is kind and always protects. Grey’s love is not true love because love means to serve others and he is only serving his own desires.

The media has a way of receiving a large array of attention and getting people to listening to what the media wants them to hear but glamorizing sexual abuse is not an appropriate topic for entertainment, especially the film industry that can be so closely transitioned into reality.