Xmess

“-Hey Baptiste, would you hand me a frying pan ?”

“-Wait, I’ve got to wash it first, there’s still meat and other unknown stuff in it.”

“-Ok, and grab the salt at the same time.”

“- I don’t think there has been any salt left for days, man.”

Deja-vu? That’s the usual scene you get to see in our section bars. Just think back a few weeks: the sun was shining, the army period was over, the X-men were happy getting together on their marvellous campus. The bars seemed clean and the first equipment had already been bought to cook like in a three star restaurant. But the X-men are no better than other students when it comes to manners. After only a few days of sharing the kitchen, the place has turned into a gigantic dustbin. Papers and empty boxes are lying on the ground and the sink is full of dirty dishes. Moreover, half of the kitchenware is missing which makes the cooking of a decent meal “Mission Imposible”! The whole lot looks like an epic battleground in which ketch-up stands for blood, mustard for brainfluids, onion rings for...well, we’ll let use your imagination. Juicy steaks lie in corners like corpses and empty boxes wait like ready-made coffins...

Well no need to insist any further to make you understand that it is a real plague. Let’s focus on the reasons for this disaster. Our studies have revealed that a non-negligible rate of entities among the students think the school owes them a personal maid because of the great respectability of their ego. A privilege they’ve already obtained for the cleaning of their so called rooms.

During the six months of our internship, most of us were forced to do our own housework. That’s why it’s freaky to see the mess some of us leave behind them. What was it like in their rooms? Were mice living in them? Were there worms crawling in their spoons?

The answer is no. Why? Because nobody was there to to the job in their place. They had to clean their own mess in order not to live like cavemen. But everything is new now, the bars are not their rooms, they’re more like common rooms, and they think there will always be someone who’s tired of all the mess, or just a hungry man in need of some dishes to eat properly.

Well, you can understand better now how the vicious circle keeps going round. When you come to eat, you have to clean the others’mess, then when you’re through, you certainly don’t want to clean a second time!

By Frédéric, Victor and Baptiste

ABOUT SKYDIVING

Most people have no idea what skydiving is about. I had the opportunity to test it last summer, and since that moment, I think that more people would give it a try if they knew how it feels when you fall from a plane 4000 meters from the soil.

I don’t think there’s anyone in this world who’s not afraid of jumping out of a well-functioning plane. That was the first thing we were told before we made our first jump. And that’s true. One would say we were just stupidly attracted by extremely dangerous situations, and I have to admit that that was quite true: we needed adrenaline, at least at the beginning.

You could think the feeling you have during the fall is like jumping into a swimming pool from 5 meters, or like big attractions in theme parks. But skydiving is actually not like that.

Apart from the fact that you are completely terrorized the moment you are told to leave the reassuring ground of the plane, you feel for a moment as if your stomach had decided to move from its initial place. But after a few seconds (you are then falling at a speed of 200 km/h), it’s just as if you were just floating on the air. That is the strangest situation I’ve ever been in: I didn’t even notice I was falling. I was so high that the soil didn’t seem to be approaching. I had no reference point I could fix my attention on, in order to recognize the world I’ve been living in for 20 years. Luckily I could focus on the women falling just in front of me, trying to make me feel at ease. But I can tell you I didn’t feel at ease at all: no ground, 200 km/h of wind in the face, so much wind that it is even difficult to breathe, an incredible noise …

But after a few jumps, I got accustomed to this. We all succeeded in understanding how to move in the air (that’s quite difficult actually). And then I started looking around me, watching the landscape, the mountains far away. Some days there were even small clouds. It is such an impressive experience to cross those clouds (which look unreachable from the ground) at such a high speed.

The next step for us will be to jump with other people: that must be fantastic to experience skydiving all together.

WHY IS THE WEATHER IN PALAISEAU SO BAD ?

I always told myself that I would study and work in a sunny place after my "prepa" class, like in the south of France for example.
But the difficult choice appeared when I knew that I was accepted at Polytechnique . Actually, I had chosen schools to have sun and heat most of the time. In spite of this and on my parents' advice I finally chose to come to Polytechnique.
The first year began in April and the first months were a surprise. We could stay outdoors, going out in Paris whenever we liked.
But after the summer, a new era began. Since I've been back at school, I realize that I am in the north... If you like to wake up with the light on your face when opening your curtains, forget it ! If you are lucky, it isn't raining, only a very cloudy sky but don't be so optimistic....!

ANTIWAR MUSIC

Artists all over the world have many ways to manifest their protest against war. There are antiwar films such as “Born on the 4th July”, or antiwar pictures like “Guernica”. Music also plays an essential role in the antiwar movement, and it was represented most profoundly in the United States during the last century. The great influence of antiwar music could be explained by the fact that in the 20^th century, we experienced the expansion of all kinds of music, the appearance of so many talents and the fact that there were more wars in this century than ever.

From the beginning of the century when the First World War occurred until the mid-century when the Second finished, all the musicians only performed in their own country. Magnanimous songs were composed, but because of the poor technology, they did not have much chance to remain until our time. Moreover, the antiwar movement was not yet born either.

The Vietnamese War marked the birth of one of the most respectful music movements, and maybe the period experienced the most glorious works of all time. There was Jimi Hendrix, Bod Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton … who were always at the front of the movement. Their songs had a certain affect on changing the course of the war. In addition, British bands also played their part, with the lead of the Beatles, especially John Lennon, and the Rolling Stones.

In the 80s, not many wars concerned the United States, therefore there was a dramatic decrease in the appearance and frequency of such music in the media. However, Michel Jackson, Lionel Richie and U2 etc. gave us many masterpieces which are still famous today.

Since 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the movement has returned with impressive vitality. It is difficult to decide who the leaders are, but we can count amongst them U2 (with Bono, this band will never be old!) Black Eyed Peas and Greenday. Though their contribution cannot yet compare to the previous generations, they have created their mark as a new antiwar movement.

In conclusion, whenever wars exist, artists all over the world will do their best to affirm their opposition. Music in the United States in general will always play the leading role in this movement as it has done for many years.