WHS’ push for social change – as seen through the eyes of Vidhya Alakeson

1st July 2022

Of course, it’s to be expected that the school has changed since 1880, but what if I tell you that these were changes that occurred in the last twenty-five years? Talking with a WHS alumna and the current Director of Keir Starmer’s external relations Vidhya Alakeson at the MUN conference on Saturday, she remarked “how familiar WHS felt, yet still immensely different”. She said she could never even have imagined fitting in more facilities in the school, let alone the huge renovation project we’re undergoing now. Admiring the pride flags in the senior hall, Vidhya commented on how “Pride was barely even mentioned” during her time twenty-eight years ago.

WHS’ push for social change – as seen through the eyes of Vidhya Alakeson

Why We Haven’t Found a Cure for Cancer Yet

24th June 2022

We have found ways to edit genetic material, cloned sheep, and mapped the entirety of the human genome. But there is one single anomaly completely unphased by the billions of dollars invested in decades of research and still upholds its position as one of the leading causes of death around the globe. What is it about this fascinating phenomenon that makes it so hard to eradicate cancer?

Why We Haven’t Found a Cure for Cancer Yet

‘Wade’ in or ‘Roe’ back? : A summary of the debate over abortion in the USA

16th June 2022

Oklahoma passed an abortion ban punishing people with up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to $100,000. Rapists in Oklahoma face up to five years in prison. In Tennessee, a bill was introduced allowing a rapist’s family or friends to sue a victim of rape if they get an abortion. In Texas, abortions are now illegal once a foetal heartbeat can be detected. Most women are not aware that they are pregnant at this point. Carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term means families are 4x more likely to fall under the federal poverty line and 6x more likely to rely on public assistance.

These are some of the alarming facts that are behind the often more abstract debate about the rights and wrongs of abortion, which has been ignited in the USA by the draft decision of the Supreme Court to overturn the landmark case Wade vs Roe. This article attempts to outline some of the underlying elements of this highly emotive debate.

‘Wade’ in or ‘Roe’ back? : A summary of the debate over abortion in the USA

To what extent would time travel be ethical?

9th June 2022

Imagine it’s 100 years in the future, and the invention of time travel has just been perfected. Not just sending a clock into orbit, or the irritating ‘well actually, if we all went to sleep for a really long time, we would technically be time travelling’, but proper Doctor Who style time travel: the ability to arrive at whatever time we wish, whenever we wish. What would we do with it? There are numerous possibilities, yet without the actual existence of time travel, it’s impossible to know how well thought-out they are, how useful they’d be to us or even how ethical any of them truly are. But we can still try to explore a few.

To what extent would time travel be ethical?

Is Happiness the Key to the Success of Countries?

9th June 2022

Today, the majority of countries around the world rate their success in terms of their economic status, measured by GDP (or GDP per capita). However, surely this is not the only way to define whether a country is successful. This is the thinking behind the forming of Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index (GNH), invented by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, of Bhutan, in the 1970s. It is a philosophy that comes from the country’s roots in Buddhism and guides the governing and policy making of Bhutan. It is an index to gauge the collective happiness and wellbeing of a population. In 1972 Bhutan declared it as being more important than GDP, and in a 2011 UN general assembly, members were urged to follow the example of Bhutan, saying happiness was a ‘fundamental human goal’.

Is Happiness the Key to the Success of Countries?