by Elin Johnson When my parents separated my mom got a house full of  whatnot and my dad got our chubby little black lab. At eight, the loss of my four-legged best friend was more heart-wrenching than the family rupture. The presence of my father was limited strictly to weekends which left a dog-sized hole in my chest for the rest of the week. Mother compensated for this by dragging me out to the Butte in response to an ad found buried in the classifieds. We found ourselves on the ranch of an austere horse veterinarian who wouldn’t allow us to pass the driveway without first confirming we would purchase…

by Elbert Joseph While growing up on this mystical island there was never a shortage of things to do and places to go. From one adventure to the next, I spent my childhood exploring the beautifully untamable rainforest of the Nature Isle of the Caribbean. Swimming in many of its 365 rivers and finding secret beaches made growing up on this island  the experience of a lifetime. So, if you want to go on a vacation that is full of adventure and exploration, then you should visit Dominica. The island isn’t like one of those cookie cutter touristy islands with massive hotels and crowded beaches. In quite a contrast from…

by Annie Thorndike When I was growing up, I would go to the beach every summer on the coast of Tillamook County, Oregon. No matter where you went in Tillamook County, there was bound to be an ice cream shop, and homemade waffle cones that smelled like angels’ dreams combined with vanilla scented Yankee candles. This scent flowed through every street for 2 blocks around its source. It felt like home. It touched my sinuses like hands on puppy fur, warm and downy. ***** In New York City, between every blink, breath and step is a sensory cacophony. Mish-mashed and tangled together are the sounds of people’s steps, subways, cabs,…

by Annie Thorndike Almost all of us know someone who has or currently cuts themselves. It’s become so common these days that some people even joke about it; there’s a popular satirical diagram circling the internet reminding kids to “cut down the river, not across the street.” However, it wasn’t always this way. Cutting and self-mutilation, also known as NSSI (non-suicidal self-injury) was not a popular coping method until very recent years. A few decades ago, medical professionals would have likely reacted the same way as Leonard Sax, M.D, who described it as “weird” when he witnessed a case of self-harm in 1985 as a Psychiatry resident. In the early…

by Elin Johnson I sat in the back seat of the The Bug strapped into a booster seat contraption that rivaled the set up of a fighter pilot. I watched the rain drops slide down the windows, racing each other. Mom pointed at the green beast growing up out of the side of the road. “Mt. Juneau. See that?” I nodded my head stoically. “And you see those, where the snow over hangs?” Again, I nodded. “That’s a cornice.” I decided to break my silence with a solemn interrogation into its importance, since it clearly wasn’t a vegetable frequently paired with peas. “Well, you see, they’re dangerous.” Still unclear of…

by Crystal Dalison I recently received a clipping from the Sydney Morning Herald in the mail. It reported on a study of the Australian brushtail possum population. A rare genetic disease that had previously been found only in Tasmanian possums had suddenly begun to appear within the populations of 5 of Australia’s 6 mainland states. Scientists were attempting to discern whether the gene which carried the disease had mutated independently in all of these regions, which is highly unlikely, or if a number of Tasmanian possums had successfully stowed away on ships bound for various ports. Much to my chagrin, I may be able to provide an explanation for this.…

by Crystal Dalison They found his body hanging in a storage shed behind the general store. He had been there for six months. One day, in mid-August, he had told us that he was going to leave his seasonal job early and go home, and then, two weeks later, he was gone. He worked at the shop, and had been helping to get everything stored away for winter, so he knew which sheds wouldn’t be opened until spring. It got cold early that year, which slowed his decomposition and kept the smell from giving away his hiding spot. For six months, no one looked for him, no one filed a…

by Ryan Terry Talking to Rob is always an experience. Whether he be telling one of his crazy life stories, or explaining one of his conspiracy-esque theories, you will be sure to walk away with some new enlightenment. Seeing my father with all of his siblings was mind boggling. Rob, Ellen, Tim, Steve, Mark, Matt, then the babies: Genne, and Kevin. They had not all been in the same place together for over 25 years, but they had gathered for my Granny’s 84th birthday. The six brothers looked exactly the same. Their faces, noses, ears. All the same. Rob loved to dance. He would always take Linda, his ex-girlfriend of…

by Ryan Terry With the rise of new technology, fresh rules and ethical dilemmas are also appearing. One of the biggest moral problems that has come out of these new technologies is about how to program an autonomous car. Self-driving vehicles are in production at many car companies, such as Mercedes Benz, Tesla, and of course, Google. These cars are already on the road in prototype stages, and although they have all contained safety drivers, they are fully capable on the roads. Google has even programmed their cars to behave differently and more carefully when they are around children. These driverless cars are coming, and we can’t stop it even…

by Noah Zimmer Throughout the years one of the most beloved animals has been living symbiotically with its human counterpart. Dogs receive food and housing while humans gain love and affection. This bond between man and dog may have originated thousands of years ago, but why? Recent scientific studies propose that man’s best friend abuses the very hardwiring of our brain to survive. The human brain is a fascinating organ. Chemicals it produces do many things, like making us run from a lion or compelling us to nurture a newborn child. These innate actions have helped us survive, but other species have learned to tap into our emotionally frail minds…