Geoffrey Wu's Blog

The starting point for my research project (linked here) was This Is How It Always Is, and it was there that I was first exposed to, and learned about, what it’s like to be transgender. I think just learning about what kind of violence people committed when they found out someone was trans was hugely influential in my thought process. (Yes, I had heard about it on the news before, but I never thought about it too much.) Another thing I learned that I never really considered is that not all trans people undergo some kind of surgery; there are a lot of other options, including hormone blockers, estrogen/testosterone pills, and simply accepting their own body and dressing how they want. 

I don’t necessarily hope that everyone learns the same things I learned while doing my research (although that would be nice). I just hope that they can walk away from my project having learned one new thing about being transgender that helps them be more accepting or caring. If someone already is a strong supporter, then I hope this project can provide another positive perspective; if someone is on the fence or is against trans people, then I hope this project can push them one step in the right direction.

On a broader scale, projects like these are what allowed me to learn about the importance of diversity in the community. Although I like people that are like me, have similar thought processes, it’s important to be exposed to diverse perspectives—otherwise, how can you be so sure you’re right, or you have the best solution, or understand other people? 

On an individual level, I learned what I was good at and what I liked to do. I entered high school thinking I would do math when I grew up; I now know that I like much more than just math, including physics and programming. I learned that I’ll eat just about anything and like it, that I can’t run on my own, but I have no problem running on the basketball court, and the list goes on. 

Future seniors, if you’re reading this, the first thing I would say is start your college apps early! (Preferably in the beginning of the summer.) If you finish early, then that’s better than not finishing in time. Plus, they take a long time to get right, no matter how many schools you apply to, and that’s where you’re going for the next 4 years—unless you’re not. That’s something else people don’t realize, which is that there are a lot of other options besides college. I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t go to college, but you should look into other options like vocational schools and the armed forces (I know people who had their college paid for by the ROTC). Finally, make your senior year memorable, and in a good way—make it count. After all, you’ll only ever have one high school senior year.

 

“Back in my day…”

You seem to hear the phrase all the time. Older folks telling the younglings how back in their day, things were different—how a nickel could buy you a candy bar, or how life was a simpler time, or how they had to walk 5 miles uphill both ways to school. And I bet I can predict what we’re going to tell our kids in the future, 30 years down the road: Back in my day, we had to go to school during a pandemic. 

Most of the time, when I hear this, I figuratively roll my eyes, but I think there is one area where this is valid: playgrounds.

According to this New York Times article, “engaging in risk is actually very important in preventing injuries”. The best playgrounds are the ones that look the most dangerous, but are completely safe. How could this make sense? Well, the playgrounds of today are very structured, and all of the “risk” is removed: you can go down the slide, or play on the swings, but that’s it. There are very specific activities that you can do. And what ends up happening is that children get bored and seek out dangerous activities like doing handstands on the monkey bars, leading to injury.

On the contrary, these “risk-playgrounds” have controlled risk—that is, there is “risk” involved, but nothing that would cause a child to seriously get hurt. Instead, there may be nails and the like everywhere, but children learn how to assess and avoid danger, while also having more fun by being wild and creative. It’s easy to see the practical value of this—in the real world, not everything is perfectly laid out and made out of nice shiny plastic. There are fast moving chunks of metal—cars—and lots of people, and sometimes random debris on the ground. Being able to quickly adapt to unfamiliar situations and navigate them is a skill that is bound to be useful, no matter where life takes them.

There was a time where children played in the streets, or outside, in natural “playgrounds”. However, as years and decades passed, the modern playground, with all of its plastic contraptions, appeared, and children slowly began to lose their interaction with risk that is so vital to their development. 

But why stop at playgrounds? We can apply this to other situations as well.

Have you ever stopped to consider how our high school system works? The expectation is to get what, an A, or a B, 80% or higher. If you get a C? That’s okay, but not as bad as the fact that you fail the class if you get less than a 70%. There is no room for error or experimentation.

Now, I don’t propose having teachers give lower grades (at least, not within the current system). Rather, I say keep the letter grades but make the percentages lower, or just get rid of the percentages. The school system should encourage risk taking and experimentation, since that is how our society progresses. If scientists never tried anything new, and writers never tried new literary techniques and styles, and artists never tried new art forms, then we wouldn’t have the technology, literature, and art canon we have today. This would also mean that curriculums would have to be restructured, since right now they are focused too much on perfection and the expectation is that everyone can get a 100% if they work hard enough.

(Yes, I know that a lot of college classes are structured like this, and I think that introducing it at a high school level would be beneficial.)

So, what do you think? What do you think about our children’s playgrounds? Should our classrooms be restructured?

Every math student has used a calculator before, but how much have you thought about your calculators? Here’s a review of some familiar and maybe not-so-familiar calculators that I’ve used before, ordered by increasing complexity.

1. 4-function calculator

The four-function calculator is the simplest calculator (in the modern sense of the word) there is. It’s the calculator that’s on your phone, probably your computer, and, well, everywhere. It supports the four main arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and there’s not much more you could ask for.

2. TI-34 Multiview

Next up on the list is what I think is a criminally underrated calculator: the TI-34 Multiview. I’ve yet to encounter someone who uses this calculator, but it is one of the most solid scientific calculators you can ask for. It supports the four main functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as before, but it also comes with just about every feature you could think of: trigonometry, fraction simplification, factorial, and even 2-variable statistical analysis! Plus, it comes with built-in solar panels, so you’ll never have to worry about replacing a dead battery. Finally, it’s cheap, and you can get these for less than $20. 

3. Google Chrome new tab bar

Some of you may be wondering—how is this a calculator? Well, if you’ve never used the google chrome new tab as a calculator, then you’re in for a real treat. Type in a math expression into a new tab in Google Chrome (some other browsers have this too, like safari) and the answer will pop up: 

Plus, this calculator too supports a wide variety of operations, including factorial, logarithms, trig, and even unit conversions. 

But the most important quality is that it’s convenient. If you’re doing work on your computer and need to evaluate some math expression, then it’s much faster and easier to pull up a new tab than to go find your calculator or wait for the app to load on your computer. Plus, I generally find it easier to type on a computer than on a calculator.

4. TI-83/TI-84 

This calculator needs no introduction. From its release in 1996, the TI83 and its successors have become ubiquitous in algebra classrooms everywhere. And it’s easy to see why: it has all the functionality of a standard scientific calculator, plus advanced statistics, and most importantly, graphing. You can even write your own programs in TI-BASIC, something none of the aforementioned calculators can do.

5. TI-Nspire CX CAS

Is the TI-83 not enough firepower for your math class? Do you want a legitimate way to get a boost on the SAT? Then look no further than the TI-Nspire CX CAS, one of Texas Instruments’ most powerful calculators. 

What makes it so powerful? Well, the CAS in the name stands for Computer Algebra System, which means that the calculator can handle algebra. As a matter of fact, it can solve any system of equations that you throw at it. For example, say you have the following system of equations:

2x + 5y = 16
x² + 3y = 15

Instead of spending your time solving this by hand, you can just type it into your TI-Nspire, and it will tell you the exact answer. Pretty cool, huh? I’m not entirely sure why, but you’re allowed to use this on the SAT (check here) and many other standardized tests. 

Oh, and did I mention that the calculator is also programmable and has a bunch of advanced functions, such as being able to factor numbers and polynomials? 

6. Wolfram Alpha

Finally, we have reached the pinnacle of humanity’s computing power. Built on the back of the Wolfram Language, Wolfram Alpha is perhaps the most sophisticated calculator there is. It’s really just overkill. You can type whole word problems into it, and it will find the answer. With a premium account (warning: this does cost money), it will even give you a step-by-step solution, so you can learn how to solve the problem yourself! 

Search up the most obscure math functions, and it will evaluate them. Need to know the first two hundred digits of pi? What about the one-millionth digit of pi? It has you covered. Just type it into Wolfram Alpha.

Honorable mentions: TI-89, Desmos, and even Python (yes, a programming language)

What if I told you that in March 2020, people were visiting stores online, meeting and interacting with each other through a program, and making online transactions never seen before?

 

Sounds like the pandemic…right? Not quite; rather, I’m talking about Animal Crossing: New Horizons. And while I’ve never played it, I’ve watched enough streamers and youtube videos to get a sense of what it’s about: you build and manage your own virtual “world” in the game, complete with social interactions with other users. You can even own pets, furniture for your home, and visit friends.

So why do I mention this game? Well, my answer to the question at the start was a little bit misleading. Animal Crossing was my intended answer, yes, but it also represents my greater experience in quarantine. It represents how everything I knew shifted online and to my home.

First, let’s start with school, arguably the largest part of my life (it certainly takes up the largest portion of my day in terms of time!). At first, school went all online, and there were no zoom meetings. I was a bit bummed out to not be able to see my (then) senior friends, a grade above me, every day, especially given how it was their last year at North. I was bummed to not be able to see my other friends and classmates and teachers in person either; you don’t realize how much you need something until you miss it. Of course, I still kept in touch with as many people as I could, but it just wasn’t the same.

What ended up happening was I simply lost touch with these people. It’s simply much harder to engage with people online, when a classroom or lunch setting provides a much more natural situation to do so. For example, during peer tutoring, I would sit with a friend and we would talk about AP psych (which I haven’t taken) and he’d teach me interesting tidbits he’s learned from the class. I wasn’t able to do that once we went online.

And then, after a summer break spent at home, we returned to school—zoom academy, to be precise. I thought things would get better once that happened, but it didn’t. Instead of watching lectures from my teachers on my own time, I’d listen to lectures with black boxes; the social interaction with my peers that had been lacking months prior was, once again, not present.

But the thing is, with a whole summer behind me, I got better at running my own Animal Farm world, talking with people online. I got used to it, spending weeks and months inside, not seeing other people, not going to restaurants to eat, etc. And I had no basis to complain, because I knew that people were dying and suffering worse plights. (And here’s my reminder: even though vaccines are rolling out, and numbers are settling, we all continue to wear masks and not gather in huge droves because the next month is possibly the most dangerous—people already are starting to get lulled into a false sense of security).Still, it wasn’t perfect, and it was the main reason why I opted to go hybrid when the option rolled around. Was it easier to check out, walk around, get food, and not pay attention at home? Yes, but that was one reason why I wanted to go in person—it’s so much more engaging there; more precisely, online learning is so disengaging.

And I think COVID-19’s unique challenge for my age group is precisely that—it deprived us of a year of academic engagement and social interaction, two aspects that I know personally affected me.

“The Emperor of Ice-Cream” by Wallace Stevens

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month’s newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

At first, I was perplexed by reading the poem. For one, there were a bunch of words that I didn’t know (because people don’t use these words anymore!), like ‘concupiscent’, ‘wenches’, and ‘dawdle’. I also understood what each sentence was saying literally, but I didn’t know what the sentences meant. For example, who is the “emperor of ice-cream”? I had no idea, but I thought that this was the central idea of the poem, and I figured if I could understand who this was, then I would have a much easier time parsing the rest of the poem. 

I also noticed a few interesting places where Stevens uses alliteration/repetition, like ‘In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.’ Just reading this phrase out loud is pretty hard, so I think Stevens wants the reader to slow down at this point and contemplate what the ‘roller of big cigars’ and cups are.

Another use of repetition that I found was the phrase ‘Let be be finale of seem.’ I interpreted the first ‘be’ and the state of being and the second ‘be’ as a linking verb. I figured that ‘Let be be finale of seem’ means that being (something) comes after ‘seem’ing (what you see or perceive on the outside). 

The second pass, I figured out what ‘concupiscent’ means (lustful/sexual) and ‘wenches dawdle’ (girl waste time). The first stanza now seemed to mention a girl wasting time and boys bringing in flowers, marking an important occasion. Furthermore, ‘and bid him whip’ suggests saying goodbye, so perhaps the first stanza is talking about death. This would also tie in with then ‘let be be finale of seem’, and I’m starting to get an idea of what or who the emperor of ice cream may be—perhaps ice cream is death, and the emperor is the triumph over it.
Now, looking over the second stanza, the lines are starting to make more sense now. I originally interpreted ‘Take from the dresser of deal, / Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet’ as perhaps putting ice cream in some glasses for different people to eat, but I think I now understand the deeper reference: the speaker is grabbing a sheet from the dresser (lacking the three glass knobs referencing a specific drawer/closet) and covering it over one’s dead body. ‘And spread it so as to cover her face. / If her horny feet protrude, they come / To show how cold she is, and dumb.’ This part also suggests a dead body; I’m not sure why Stevens would use the word ‘dumb’ here, though. Did this deceased person do something dumb in their lifetime? Is Stevens commenting on how the state of being dead is dumb?

Looking through the poem a few more times, I think I mostly understand the meaning of the poem and how it revolves around death. There are still a few lines that baffle me. I noticed the line ‘Let the lamp affix its beam.’ and finally realized that the beam (of light) was being affixed onto something, not that the lamp was being affixed onto a (metal) beam. Perhaps this is another reference to death, but I’m not sure what this means here. Affix its beam on what? Finally, I still am not quite sure what the deeper meaning of ‘the emperor of ice-cream’ is, the central idea of the poem.

As we enter our last semester of senior year, I know many of us are checked out and have hit an all-time low in terms of motivation. In order to counter that spirit and help make this semester go as smoothly as possible, as well as providing some tips for college, here is a list of my top 5 favorite productivity tools.

5. Screen time monitors

Yes, you may be thinking—how is this a productivity tool? The short answer is: it helps you figure out how to be more productive. The long answer: my phone and my computer both tell me how much time I spend on each application, so I know where my time is going. For example, I’m averaging about 2 hours a day on discord on my phone, which is a sign that I should cut down on that to be more productive.

Some other applications also have usage time statistics—instagram and youtube being two notable examples that come to mind. They’ll tell you exactly how much time you spend on the app each day, and it’s usually synced across devices so it’s a bit more accurate than the per-device stuff. 

4. Google Drive

You’re probably already familiar with Google Drive, since our district and the teachers at Naperville North love to use it (for good reason). Google Drive is a great way to store your files in the cloud and have easy access at any time on any device, like your chromebook, phone, or laptop. 

But I don’t need to tell you what Google Drive is; instead, I’ll share a few tips of my own that I’ve found particularly useful over the years. 

First, folders. It annoys me to no end when people don’t organize their google drive into folders. Folders make it so easy to find things (when done properly), and you never have to worry about “what did I name this file” (or even worse, “what did my group members name this presentation that’s due in 2 hours and no one’s responding to your messages). I personally like to have one folder for each of my classes, plus a few other miscellaneous folders, and I’ve given them nice colors, but organization is really up to you. After all, the best way to organize folders is the way that works.

Another feature I use over and over again is starred documents. If there’s any doc I know I need to use frequently, I’ll star it, especially if it’s buried within 4 folders. That way, I can simply click on the starred tab on the left of google drive to access it quickly.

3. Anki

You might have heard of Anki if you have any siblings in med school, because in my opinion it’s by far the best flashcard program there is (and yes, I know quizlet exists). It’s great for when you have a lot of information you need to remember. Plus, Anki uses something called spaced repetition, which pretty much means that they’ll show you the flashcards you made over a period of time, with successive time intervals growing longer and longer. 

Why is this so powerful? Because it helps you remember things for a long time and relatively easily. Anki is set up so that once you have seen a certain card a bunch of times, it’ll only show it to you once every few months or so to make sure you still remember it. That way, it doesn’t take much work at all to keep it in your working long-term memory.

I think Anki is the most useful for remembering vocab words for foreign languages, as well as in med school or for studying for classes in general. (I personally use it to study for scholastic bowl.)

2. Google Keep

Google Keep is a simple way to take quick notes, and I’ve found it really useful to keep track of what assignments I have to do—I write down each assignment and its due date. However, Google Keep has a bunch of other pretty useful features. I have the app on my phone and you can use it on your computer as well (by going to keep.google.com), so Google Keep is a quick way for me to sync links between my computer and phone. All I have to do is make a note on one of my devices, and it’ll show up on the other. 

Plus, Google Keep has a really cool (but not very well-known) feature that lets you “grab image text”; no more trying to copy a URL or trying to transcribe a huge block of text from an image. Simply paste the image into a note on Google Keep, click the three dots, and then the option will pop right up. 

1. Calendar

A calendar is no doubt the most useful application I use on a daily basis. If you don’t use a calendar already, I highly recommend it. It can be anything from a physical calendar to the calendar app on your phone to Google Calendar (which I use because it syncs across my phone and computer and has a nice interface). 

In my experience, calendars are useful for major events and long-term planning. (I’ve found that updating my calendar every time I have a new assignment due is a bit tedious, which is why I use google keep for that.) For example, let’s say you’re scheduling a dentist appointment 6 months from now. It’ll be really hard to remember that you have a dentist appointment so far in advance, so it’s really helpful to be able to write that down somewhere—and that’s what a calendar is for. 

Plus, calendars help you plan out your days. You can easily see which days you’re busy and which days you’re free, which isn’t easy to do in your head. Plus, if there are any conflicts (e.g. you have a competition the same day as finals or you’re going on vacation during an AP test), a calendar helps you catch those early. It is much easier to reschedule things weeks or months in advance compared to, say, 2 days before the actual competition.

9 pages rarely have such a deep, strong impact as The Paper Menagerie. This Ken Liu short story centers on the story of Jack, a little boy who was raised by his Chinese mother and American father. We learn that Jack’s mother was picked out of a catalogue and brought to the US, but his dad took good care of his mom; and we don’t learn anything else about his mom until the very end of the story. When he was younger, Mom would always make him origami paper toys; one of the toys she made him was Laohu (老虎), which means tiger in Chinese. When Jack was little, he would play with his paper tiger, pretending that it is real and having it jump and roar and do all the other things that real tigers do. 

However, one day, Jack was playing with Mark, the “popular kid” at school, who brought his star-wars action figures. Jack wasn’t impressed and thought that Mark’s toy didn’t look like the real Obi-Wan at all, so Mark asked him to show him his own toys. Jack brought out his paper menagerie, but to Mark, it looked like haphazardly sewn together bits of paper—trash. 

After that incident, Jack decided that he wanted to be American: he wanted to stop eating Chinese food, get some “real toys”, and have his mom only speak English, and Jack slowly stops talking to his mom entirely because of this. The rest of the story focuses on Jack learning about his mother’s past. 

The story was deeply relatable to me in particular for a couple of reasons, but the main reason, I think, is because of the subject matter. Both of my parents immigrated from China in their 20s, and both of them brought the culture and traditions of their families with them. I eat all of my meals with chopsticks (unless there’s soup, where I grab a spoon as well), and we eat Chinese food pretty much every day. The parallels to the story are self-evident.

I could see myself in Jack’s shoes; in many ways, I felt like I was already becoming Jack. I never learned to speak Chinese well or even read or write it at a competent level. I feel increasingly disconnected from my heritage and my culture—I haven’t been to China since I was 2 years old. The Paper Menagerie made me realize how precious my family was, but more importantly, how precious my culture was. It made me realize how easily I could lose all of it, and that once I lost it, I would want to return—but it would be too late. It felt like it was directly attacking me, and making me feel like I was abandoning a part of my identity, and that is what made it so powerful. 

I am not alone in this feeling. Amal El-Mohtar, from NPR, writes, “Ken Liu’s The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is a book from which I staggered away, dazed, unable to speak.” Although she doesn’t have the same chinese background that both me and the author have, El-Mohtar still recognizes the impact of the story, because it speaks to common themes of immigrants, family, and identity. And El-Mohtar recognizes all of this—she agrees that the Paper Menagerie cuts through barriers and deep into the soul and makes us introspect and think about who we are. “Liu’s stories went deep into my marrow, laying bare painful truths, meticulously slicing through the layers of pearl to find the grain of sand at its heart.” 

The Paper Menagerie was the first work of fiction to win the Nebula, the Hugo and the World Fantasy Award, and for good reason. It’s a must-read for anyone because of its brevity and emotional punch. Regardless of who you are or what your background is, I cannot recommend The Paper Menagerie enough.

Amal El-Mohtar’s thoughts on The Paper Menagerie:
https://www.npr.org/2016/03/13/468942030/no-paper-tiger-this-menagerie-is-full-of-fierce-feeling

 

What is the best food to eat while doing homework? There are an endless number of options, but I will look over a few of the most common food choices and examine them based on the following criteria, rating each attribute on a 10 point scale: 1) taste; 2) accessibility; 3) convenience.

First, what are these criteria? First, taste. The most straightforward one. This criterion measures how good, enjoyable, and overall delicious the snack is. Raw broccoli? 1. Michelin star appetizer? That’s a 10. Second, accessibility. This describes how accessible the snack is, in terms of price, availability (is the food only available in the deep south? northeast?), and how many people can actually eat it (dietary restrictions—for example, vegetarians can’t eat meat-based snacks). Finally, ease of eating. This describes how convenient the snack is to eat while doing homework, such as whether it makes your fingers sticky or if the packaging is hard to unwrap. In general, the more work you have to do to eat a snack and the less time you have to do homework, the lower the rating. Without further ado, we have:

Beef jerky—average: 7.3/10
Taste: 7/10
Accessibility: 6/10
Convenience: 9/10

Beef jerky is one of the inferior snack options, as it is lacking in all three categories. In terms of taste, beef jerky is hit or miss, as some people may not like the flavor or taste or texture of beef jerky. In terms of accessibility, much of the world is vegetarian, which means they can’t even eat the snack, and beef jerky isn’t always easily found. Beef jerky is also relatively more expensive per unit than many of the other options on this list, justifying its lower convenience ranking. Finally, beef jerky comes in individual packages, which makes it slightly more inconvenient to eat (each snack has to be unwrapped), but this also helps with keeping a clean workspace. Beef jerky is an okay option for anyone who really enjoys the snack, but otherwise I would steer clear. 

Chips—average: 8.7/10
Taste: 9/10
Accessibility: 10/10
Convenience: 7/10

Chips, a classic snack food. Chips are one of the best options because of their versatility. They come in many different flavors, and everyone has their own favorite: Lays, Doritos, Pringles, just to give a few. Chips are ubiquitous throughout the nation, available in almost every grocery and convenience store. Chips are also easy to eat while eating homework, because you only have to open the bag once, and you can grab chips one at a time. However, chips do have one major downside: they make your fingers oily, sticky, and simply not good for homework, especially if you’re typing. Overall, chips are a solid and versatile option, perfect for almost anyone. 

Popcorn—average: 9.0/10
Taste: 7/10
Accessibility: 10/10
Convenience: 10/10

Popcorn was almost designed to be eaten while doing homework. Popcorn itself doesn’t have a particularly strong taste; at least, not the types of popcorn sold in most stores, but it can still taste good. (However, bland popcorn might actually be a benefit, preventing long stretches of binge eating.) In every other category, popcorn is virtually unmatched. Accessibility: popcorn is extremely cheap for the amount you get, and popcorn is available in almost all supermarkets in many forms (premade and microwavable) Furthermore, there are virtually no dietary restrictions in terms of popcorn—it’s just made of corn and a little bit of flavoring. Finally, popcorn is extremely convenient; relative to most other snacks, popcorn won’t leave any powder on your fingers and is easy to clean up any large pieces that may fall on the ground. Overall, popcorn is a great choice—and if your homework is a clown fiesta, at least you can pull out the popcorn and watch.

We need to get rid of daylight savings time.

Okay, I admit, this might not be the most relevant time to discuss this. After all, daylight savings was exactly 6 days ago, and most Americans have forgotten about it. Plus, you have probably heard this point a million times before. There are plenty of familiar arguments: for example, the health implications of shifting our sleep schedules by one hour are not good, especially when we lose one hour of sleep. 

According to a study by Zhang, et al., the rates of car accidents, sucide rates, and even heart attacks significantly increase—as much as 10 percent—when we lose an hour of sleep [1]. And many Americans and lawmakers alike find daylight savings to be unnecessary. In November of 2019, Illinois senators passed a bill that would have kept Illinois on “daylight savings”; that is, the time that we are on during the summer. (Unfortunately, this bill stalled, and any such bill would need to get federal approval first, as per the Uniform Time Act of 1966.)

The fact is, daylight savings time is confusing and unnecessary. Just look at this map of Arizona, one of two states that does not observe daylight savings (the other being Hawaii) [2]:

The cause of the confusion? Arizona and the Hopi Reservation do not observe daylight savings, but the Navajo nation, which surrounds the Hopi Reservation, does. If we got rid of daylight savings, then this wouldn’t be a problem. 

This issue isn’t unique to Arizona. Consider this map of the countries that observe daylight savings (countries that do are in blue and orange):

As you can see, most of America and Europe observe it, but not most other countries. About half of Australia observes it, which seems incredibly confusing to Australians. Asia, home to half of the world’s population, does not observe daylight savings in any capacity. As a matter of fact, you can see all of the countries in light gray, which means they used to have daylight savings but abandoned it, often for good reason. China experimented with it from 1986-92 but ultimately decided to not use it. Furthermore, countries can’t even agree on when to observe daylight savings! The UK turns their clocks one hour ahead on the last Sunday of March, while the US does so on the second Sunday. 

Another issue with daylight savings time (warning: this has almost no practical significance, but I find it incredibly annoying) is that people often refer to the wrong time zone. For example, during the summer, when we are in daylight savings, it is proper to say “CDT”, or “central daylight time”, rather than “CST”, or “central standard time”. Although most people will understand what you mean, the two times are NOT the same! CDT is one hour ahead of CST. 

Let’s use a concrete example to illustrate my point. Say you scheduled a meeting for today at 7 pm CDT. That is the same as EST (eastern standard time)—you’re now (technically) off by a full hour. Now, if we simply got rid of daylight savings time, then we wouldn’t have this problem: I have never seen anyone use CDT when they meant CST, for example, so everyone using CST would work out well. 

So why do we have daylight savings to begin with? Well, according to National Geographic [3], the roots are historical, as are most flawed systems. In 1895, an entomologist (someone who studies insects) proposed the idea of shifting our clocks to have more daylight during the day. Similarly, the Germans implemented daylight savings during World War I as a way to cut down on lighting costs. However, these arguments are not nearly as relevant now. Nowadays, lighting is ubiquitous, and America has some of the cheapest electricity in the world. 

In short, getting rid of daylight savings would be good for our health, save us quite the headache, and the historical reasons for keeping it are no longer valid. 

[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7302868/#:~:text=We%20found%20four%20prominent%2C%20elevated,the%20United%20States%20and%20Sweden.

[2]https://cronkitenewsonline.com/2012/03/what-time-is-it-in-arizona-it-depends-on-where-youre-standing/index.html

[3]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/daylight-savings-time-arizona-florida-spring-forward-science/#:~:text=In%201895%2C%20George%20Hudson%2C%20an,bug%20hunting%20in%20the%20summer.

 

Since Halloween is coming up, it is time to trick-or-treat, which means that homeowners across the country face the dilemma of which candy to buy. However, when most homeowners go to buy candy, most of them don’t think of which types of candy to buy—they buy the cheapest option of whatever is available.

Homeowners should, however, buy candy with the goal of maximizing the satisfaction of the trick-or-treaters. The two main criteria I will use is: 1) general public preference for the different candies; and 2) how well the candies work in halloween. Here are my top five picks for which type of candy homeowners should buy:

#5: Hershey Bars

Hershey bars: an American classic. Unfortunately, one of the redeeming qualities of Hershey bars—their soft, silky taste and smooth texture—is also a major weakness. Under the weight of a lot of other candy, Hershey bars are susceptible to being crushed and deformed. This is particularly concerning for Halloween, given that the candy often sits around for days and has to go through a lot of turbulent transportation between homes. Also, chocolate easily melts, which is bad for halloween—candy often passes through many hands before it ends up in the final consumer. However, not everything is bad for the Hershey bar. Currently, it sits as America’s 4th most popular candy; 6% of respondents said that it was their favorite candy in a recent Monmmoth poll. Hershey bars can come in small packages, which allow for easy sharing. It also ensures that a supply of candy will not run out too fast or be too pricey.

#4: Starbursts

Starbursts are another great option, made by the candy giant Mars. (This is not the first time we will see the company on this list…) The candy itself is almost designed to be shared amongst friends and spooky strangers alike: each bite-sized piece comes in its own individual wrapping, and candy-eaters can choose between strawberry, cherry, orange, and lemon. What people (especially kids) love best about the candy, however, is its high sugar content: over 50% of the product by weight (22 out of 40 grams) is sugar!

All this sugar also contributes to the chewiness of the candy, which elongates the period of time over which you can enjoy the candy. Eating starbursts becomes an experience. As we will see, Starbursts isn’t unique in this ability.

However, one of its strongest selling points is also a detriment. Sugar is known to be linked to a host of issues, including increased risk of obesity and tooth decay, so perhaps it is best to avoid consuming Starbursts in large quantities. Furthermore, Starbursts aren’t nearly as popular as many other candies, clocking in as the 7th most popular candy—only 4% of respondents said it was their favorite candy. However, its fit in Halloween and its strong features more than compensate for the lack of popularity for Starbursts.

#3: M&Ms

M&Ms are another great choice. The candy itself has its origins in war, where people figured out that the hard candy layer of the M&M protected the soft chocolate-y inside of the candy. There is a lot more to M&Ms than just that, however. M&Ms are great for eating with someone else—each small piece lends itself naturally to sharing. Furthermore, M&Ms are incredibly sturdy and resistant to melting.

Furthermore, M&Ms are the 3rd most popular candy in the US, holding the honor of being the favorite candy of 11% of Americans, which perfectly justifies its spot as #3. 

#2: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

I have a confession to make: peanut butter cups are my favorite candy. I’m not alone: they are the favorite candy of 36% of Americans, by far and away the #1 most popular candy in the US. Alas, I unfortunately cannot place them at #1 on this list.

First, around 1.1% of the US population cannot eat peanuts. That is approximately 3 million people that are unable to enjoy Reese’s peanut butter cups due to allergies, according to a study in the National Library of Medicine. 

Second, Resse’s peanut butter cups are structurally unsound. Even small amounts of pressure in the middle of the cup will cause the center to collapse, since the peanut butter beneath it is not well-suited to support any weight.

Third, Reese’s peanut butter cups do not have any chewiness that would elongate the eating experience, providing more enjoyment for the trick-or-treater. 

However, at the end of the day, it is America’s most popular candy for good reason: it is jammed-packed with the perfect combination of sugar and peanut butter, allowing the Resse’s peanut butter cup to solidly sit at #2. 

#1: Snickers

Snickers are another great Mars option. According to their own website, the candy is “crammed with peanuts, caramel and nougat [and] coated with milk chocolate”. The complexity Snickers offers is a stark contrast to the previous two options—Starbursts and Hersheys—especially given how cheap and ubiquitous Snickers is. 

Snickers also suffer the same problem as Reese’s peanut butter cups, but they have a few selling points that put them over the top. 

The inclusion of nougat is particularly enticing. Nougat is “a type of candy made from honey, sugar, nuts and often egg whites”, but the main reason why it is used is to provide that chewiness to the candy that would otherwise be missing. This chewiness makes the candy more enjoyable to eat, since you get to enjoy the flavor over a period of time, instead of the instant one-and-done nature of, say, a Hershey bar. 

Furthermore, Snickers are quite strong, and even when deformed (which requires a substantial amount of pressure), they still taste great. Snickers aslo rank as the #2 most popular candy in the US, as 18% of respondents said it was their favorite candy. The combination of robustness, complexity, and popularity puts Snickers as a must-have candy to buy for Halloween. 

Survey: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/11/reeses-peanut-butter-cups-most-popular-halloween-candy/3941545002/