The Monograph

Calvin & Amar

The Monograph -Sample- B

What do you want to be when you grow up?

By Amar El-Khatib 1T3

What do you want to be when you grow
up? As children, we’ve all been asked that
question tons of times, and chances are, if
you’re anything like me, you had just as
many answers. Before writing this piece, I
sat down and tried to think of some of the
different careers that I considered, and the
reasoning behind each career considera-
tion. For your entertainment, here are four
careers that I considered as a child before
choosing pharmacy:
Baby – I was 6 years old when I decided
that I wanted to make career out of being a
baby, yes a baby! This might be perplexing
to some, as this isn’t even career but a
developmental stage. I have no way to ex-
plain it. All I can say is and what other people thought of me did
that I was one weird not matter. Even though my career choice
kid. may have been ridiculous at the time,
looking back, I think that it signifies a
Scientist –There was point of maturation in my life where I was
some progress, as my able to back up my decisions with sound
next career choice in- philosophical arguments (or not so sound
volved an actual career, arguments)
a “Scientist”. Now I
know what you’re think- Astronomer – This is a career considera-
ing, a Scientist is highly tion based on a romanticized notion of
non-specific, it can be Astronomy. I had another one of those
practically anything. generic children’s encyclopedias titled
That might be true, but “Space”. The book gave a general de-
as a 7 year old, I loved scription of all 9 planets (now 8), the sun,
reading children’s encyclopedias, one’s and space phenomena like supernovas.
with titles like “Birds” or “Insects” or There were plenty of artist renditions to
“Volcanoes”. I also knew that I liked find- go along with the text, and those pictures
ing out how stuff worked, and the best are what captured my imagination. I used
way for me to express that was to say to read the text then stare at the picture
that I wanted to be a scientist. for minutes, wandering what it would be
like to watch a supernova in real life.
Garbage Collector – According to my
parents, this is the point where I took After looking back at some of the quirky
two steps backwards. A garbage man careers that I had considered, I realized
may have seemed like a lowly job to that they are more than childhood fanta-
them, but I had a great philosophical sies. These career choices were born out
argument behind this choice. I liked to of a passion for science, reading and
argue that happiness is the most impor- general curiosity about how the world
tant thing in life, and the best way for me worked. I urge everyone to do the same,
to defend that argument, was to tell peo- think about your childhood career
ple that I want to be a garbage man be- choices and how they relate to your cur-
cause collecting trash made me happy, rent profession.

Rants, Raves and Confessions

Last night, I was walking on one
end of the sidewalk when this
lady from the other end of the
same sidewalk ran towards me
while yelling "This is what you
get for getting in my way", need-
less to say, I ran like a little girl.
Calvin, 1T3
Why is the washroom on the
second floor hidden in room
201 next to the computers,
just a thought.
Calvin, 1T3
Before I go to bed every night,
I convince myself that I have
to wake up early and make it
to class on time because it is
too important to miss. The next
morning, I wake up wearily and
convince myself that today’s
class isn’t really important. I
then go back to bed.
Amar, 1T3
I once took a 20 minute de-
tour to avoid running into my
5th grade teacher in my
neighborhood.
Calvin, 1T3
if you have any rants, raves or
confessions you’d like to share,
please send them to sam-
ple@gmail.com
GEMS FROM THE FOSSIL RECORD
By Amar El-Khatib 1T3
Elephants are fantastic animals with a
host of defining features that are the prod-
uct of millions of years of evolution. All
three extant species of elephants are
known for their gigantic size, floppy ears
and gentle nature, but what sets them apart
from almost all other species is their long,
prehensile trunk. Formed by the amalgama-
tion of the upper lip and nose through mil-
lions of years of selection, the trunk is now
used by its bearer for a multitude of tasks
ranging from the mundane to the extraordi-
nary. For example, elephants use their
trunk to pick leaves from tree branches, as
well as detect and track scents left behind
by other animals; both tasks induce a selec-
tive pressure that favors longer trunks, yet,
there are subtle differences between the
trunks of the three extant species of ele-
phants.
The evolutionary history of the trunk can be
traced back to the elephant’s early ances-
tors from the order known as proboscidea.
Fossil evidence of early proboscideans
shows that there was a gradual increase in
body size that began around fifty millions
years, a trend predicted by Cope’s Law.
Selection favored those that can reach
higher leaves, which meant that larger indi-
viduals had higher fitness. However, larger
individuals also had larger heads that were
heavier and further off the ground, this
meant that their heads were constantly
drooping and they had to invest more en-
ergy in lifting their heads to reach higher
leaves. In other words, there was a trade-off
between body size and head weight, where
an increase in body size increased fitness,
but an increase in head weight decreased
fitness. In addition, there is a strong posi-
tive correlation between head size and
head weight.
Natural selection provided a novel solution
to this problem: elephants with smaller jaws
yet equally large heads that had longer The geographic separation of the Asian
lips and snout to compensate for their and African elephants eventually resulted
smaller size mandibles were favored. in allopatric speciation. African and Asian
The elongated lips and snout were highly elephants have diverged long enough
maneuverable, and were increasingly that they can be discerned by the tips of
used as probes that reached high tree their trunk. An Asian elephant has one
branches. Moreover, there was a selec- projection on the tip of its trunk that can
tive pressure that acted in utero, favor- be curled around objects to improved
ing the fusion of the upper lip with the grappling. An African elephant, on the
snout. Fossil records show that the trunk other hand, has two projections that are
size of proboscidean ancestors that lived used to grip objects by pinching them.
seven million years ago is comparable in Even though the trunks of African and
size to modern day elephants. Asian elephants are homologous, each
There are several other selective pres- elephant has adapted to its own environ-
sures that favor longer trunks. Elephants ment and their trunks perform similar
use their trunk to detect hormones left functions using slightly different tech-
by potential mates and those with a bet- niques.
ter chance of detecting these hormones Through the examination of
have higher mating success. However, early proboscidean fossil records, scien-
these chemical signals are not conven- tists were able to make simple predic-
iently placed for elephants to detect; tions on how the elephant’s trunk
instead, chemical messages are usually evolved and continues to evolve by
airborne, requiring an elephant to probe means of natural selection.
the air around it to detect a signal.
Hence, elephants with longer trunks can
probe larger
areas with
more ease
and have a
b e t t e r
chance of
mating.
T h e
order of pro-
boscidea
contains a
single family
that splits
into three
species, two
African ele-
phants and
an Asian
elephant.