Name SMOKE SIGNALS
Class For use with the article on p. 10 of the magazine
NATIONAL
young people?
Smoke
Signals
2. What action did the federal government recently take in response to the sharp
And health experts worry that e-cigs can
be a gateway, leading young people down
the path to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
“These products are obviously geared
toward targeting the underage market,”
says Cliff Douglas of the American Cancer
Society. “We’re unsure of the long-term
health risks, so the users of these products are, in fact, guinea pigs at this point.”
While tobacco use among teens and
young adults has steadily declined
in the last 10 years, e-cigarette use
has significantly increased, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (see graph). The sharp
increase prompted the federal government to take action last spring, when the
Food and Drug Administration released
guidelines that govern the sale of
Download more data on e-cigarette usage at upfrontmagazine.com
say it’s better not to use them?
10
Cigarette users
E-Cigarette users
15%
10%
5%
0%
2006 ’07
’08
’09
heated and the chemical compounds
begin to change. Critics say that heating
the liquid creates potentially harmful byproducts that are inhaled by the user.
Recent research by scientists at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
in California found that heating e-cig
liquid to a high temperature produces a
vapor containing several cancer-causing
chemicals, including formaldehyde.
E-cigarette makers and some health
experts disagree with the findings and
e-cigarettes and related products. But
some critics say the new regulations may
do more harm than good and could push
young people toward using tobacco.
Invented in China
E-cigarettes—handheld, batterypowered devices that vaporize liquid—
were invented in 2003 in China as a way
to deliver nicotine without the cancercausing tar and chemicals in tobacco
cigarettes. A typical device consists of
a battery, a heating coil, and a tank
that can be filled with different types
of liquid. When the coil gets hot, the
liquid—which is often flavored and
usually contains nicotine—vaporizes
into an aerosol and is inhaled, leading
many to refer to e-cig use as “vaping.”
One of the big questions about e-cigs
is what happens when the liquid is
INNOVATEDCAPTURES/123RF
3. Why do experts who think e-cigarettes are probably less harmful than tobacco still
DAVID BRO/ZUMA WIRE
BY CARL STOFFERS
randon Smith was never interested in tobacco cigarettes.
But the 20-year-old from
Norristown, Pennsylvania,
has been using e-cigarettes
since he was 17.
“Regular cigarettes smell,” says
Smith, “but mostly, they taste bad. I
got into vaping mainly because of the
flavor and the lack of odor.”
Smith’s story is not uncommon. Since
they appeared in the U.S. in early 2007,
e-cigarettes have grown in popularity,
especially among young people, who
are often attracted to flavors like Yummi
Gummi Bear, Cotton Candy, and Banana
Split. But a lack of research on the longterm health effects of e-cigs means there
are serious questions about their safety.
25%
20%
SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Why health experts are worried
about electronic cigarettes–
and their growing use among teens
B
increase in e-cigarette use among young people?
PERCENTAGE OF U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
USING E-CIGARETTES AND TOBACCO CIGARETTES
Smoking has declined among U.S. teens; e-cigarette use is way up
E-cigarette liquids often contain
nicotine. Critics say they’re flavored
to appeal to young people.
Even experts who see e-cigarettes as
a possibly less harmful alternative to
tobacco insist that they’re not completely
safe and that it’s healthier not to use them.
“We don’t know enough about the
long-term effects of e-cigarettes,” says
Andrea Villanti, director of the Schroeder
Institute for Tobacco Research, a public health organization that studies
tobacco use. “The ideal situation is to
be tobacco- and nicotine-free.”
New Regulations
The presence of nicotine in many
e-cig liquids– combined with the
increase in vaping by young people–led
to the FDA’s recent decision to regulate
’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15
them as tobacco products, despite the
YEAR
fact that they don’t contain tobacco.
say more tests are needed.
‘The users of The new rules prohibit
the sale of e-cigarettes
But everyone agrees
that nicotine, an ingredient these products to minors and ban sales
on the internet and from
in tobacco and many e-cig
are, in fact,
liquids, is highly addic- guinea pigs at vending machines. They
also establish an expentive and can lead to brain,
this
point.’
sive application process
heart, and vision issues.
“It’s clear that there are health risks to introduce new products.
“We are very pleased that the FDA
associated with e-cigarettes,” says
Douglas. “Whether you are talking about finally released this rule,” says Katie
the carcinogens in the vapor or not, nico- McMahon, a policy expert at the American
tine in high-enough doses has acute toxic- Cancer Society. “We’ve been waiting years
ity, and exposure during adoles- for this kind of regulation to happen.”
Some, however, think that the strict
cence may have consequences
new regulations could cripple the e-cigfor brain development.”
Critics say e-cigarette mak- arette market and lead to unanticipated
ers are targeting young people consequences for users.
“The approach the FDA is taking is
with marketing campaigns
designed to make vaping seem going to hurt public health more than
fashionable. Big tobacco com- help it,” says Michael Siegel of Boston
panies have long been accused University’s School of Public Health.
of marketing their products “It will decimate the market, and
to young people. The most when 99 percent of products available
famous example was the Joe now are gone, people are going to
Camel mascot in Camel ciga- go back to tobacco. So it actually
rette ads in the 1980s and 90s. promotes smoking.”
Smith, the 20-year-old e-cig user, is
A spokesman for Blu, one
of the most popular e-cigarette concerned about the FDA’s action. Still,
brands, declined to comment he insists that he will continue using
on the product’s potential side e-cigs as long as they’re available.
“I just hope e-cigarettes don’t diseffects and the industry’s marketing methods. Several other appear now,” says Smith, “I can’t see
manufacturers didn’t respond myself smoking tobacco cigarettes, but
if I can’t vape, you never know.” •
to requests for comment.
UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM
N OV E M B E R 2 1 , 20 1 6
11
4. What does Michael Siegel think will be the consequences of the federal government’s
decision to regulate e-cigarettes?
BRAVE NEW WORLD For use with the article on p. 12 of the magazine
Brave New World
INTERNATIONAL
1. Why do you think Germany has recently seen a backlash against migrants?
2. What do you think the author means when she calls Ahmad Dandoush “one of
Young Muslim refugees
from the war-torn
Middle East are
desperately trying
to escape and build
new lives in Europe.
Will they succeed?
BY MELISSA EDDY
the lucky ones”?
3. What are some of the challenges young Muslims face as they try to adapt to life
in Europe?
Migrants traveling from Turkey
on an overcrowded fishing boat reach the
island of Lesbos, Greece, last year.
12 U P F R O N T • U P F R O N T M AGA Z I N E .CO M
N OV E M B E R 2 1 , 20 1 6 13
4. Why are cellphones so important to migrants?
THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
For use with the article on p. 18 of the magazine
TIMES PAST
RUSSIA
Harbin
KAZAKHSTAN
NORTH
KOREA
MONGOLIA
Beijing
CHINA
SOUTH
KOREA
JAPAN
Zaozhuang YELLOW
SEA
EAST
CHINA
SEA
Shanghai
TIBET
N
E
W
Shantou
NEPAL
NEPAL
BHUTAN
Hong
Kong
INDIA
MYANMAR
(BURMA)
BANGLADESH
LAOS
THAILAND
TAIWAN
S
PHILIPPINES
SOUTH
CHINA
VIETNAM SEA
CAMBODIA
0
200 MI
0
400 KM
Fifty years ago, Communist China’s leader Mao Zedong began inciting
young people to turn on “class enemies”—even their own parents.
Are there echoes of Mao’s rule in China today? BY VERONICA MAJEROL
W
hen Chen Shuxiang arrived at his home in Beijing
that night, everything was in shambles. His siblings
were crying, the dumplings his mother had been
making for dinner were squashed on the walls and
floor, and his parents were missing.
A gang of high school students in green uniforms and
red armbands had stormed in and taken them away, beating them with military-style leather belts and iron rods. His
mother survived, but his father wasn’t so lucky.
In the five decades since that night in 1966, Chen, who was
22 at the time, has hoped for answers and maybe an apology from those involved. But no one has ever come forward.
“Just before he died, my father wasn’t even allowed a mouthful of water,” says Chen, a 72-year-old retired teacher who still
lives in Beijing. “It’s something I don’t like to think about even
now, but also I want to hear from those who did this.”
Chen’s parents were among the tens of millions of victims
of China’s Cultural Revolution, which began 50 years ago.
Heeding the call of Communist China’s leader Mao Zedong to
purge the country of “class enemies,” radical youths known
as Red Guards brutally attacked elite politicians, teachers,
and even their own parents—in short, anyone who seemed
to betray Mao’s vision of Communism. Chen’s father, a barely educated boiler operator, was targeted simply because his
family had once owned 3 acres of land, enough to label him a
landlord, which ran contrary to Communist teachings that land
should be collectively owned.
The decade-long Cultural Revolution—in which more than
a million people died and tens of millions more were beaten,
humiliated, and jailed—ended with Mao’s death in 1976, but it
has had lasting effects that are still evident today.
“It was one of the most savage revolutions in world history,” says Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China
Relations at the Asia Society in New York. “Once you have
such a deep revolution, it stays in your bloodstream,” he
adds, “and in China’s President Xi Jinping today, we see
many aspects of a Maoist form of leadership.”
The ‘Great Leap Forward’
Why did the Cultural Revolution happen?
Mao and the Communists had taken control of China in
1949. For the previous century, China had been dominated by
Download a primary source from a Red Guard’s memoir at upfrontmagazine.com
4. Based on the article, do you think something like the Cultural Revolution can happen
Timeline
CHINA’S
TUMULTUOUS
CENTURY
18
1912
1925
China becomes a republic after the
last emperor of the Qing Dynasty is
overthrown. Sun Yat-sen, head of the
Nationalist Party, is named president,
but years of instability follow.
Chiang Kai-shek (right), the
Nationalists’ military leader,
takes power. Clashes with
the Communist Party
soon begin.
Emperor’s End
UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM
Chiang Kai-shek
1937
Japanese Occupation
Japan invades and occupies
much of China, committing
many atrocities against the
Chinese, including a massacre
known as the Rape of Nanking.
HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES (BEIJING); LI ZHENSHENG/CONTACT PRESS IMAGES (HARBIN); AFP/GETTY IMAGES (MAO & NIXON)
about the Cultural Revolution?
1966
The
Cultural
Revolution
JIM MCMAHON (MAP); CENTRAL PRESS/GETTY IMAGES (CHIANG KAI-SHEK)
1. Why did Mao start the Cultural Revolution?
2. What was the Great Leap Forward, and why was it disastrous?
3. What do you think the Chinese government hopes to accomplish by stifling discussion
ASIA
foreign powers and badly
Before and
Area of weakened.
detail
during World War II (1939-45), Japan had occupied
much of China and slaughtered tens of thousands of
Chinese and maybe more in a massacre that became
known as the Rape of Nanking (see Timeline).
Under Mao, the Communist Red Army helped
defeat Japan and then won a civil war by forcing
the army of China’s Nationalist Party to flee the
mainland for the island of Taiwan. Mao became
a military and revolutionary hero who pledged to
transform China into a utopian Communist state
that would dominate the capitalist West.
His victory blindsided the U.S., fueling a Red Scare
during the 1950s that included Communist witch
hunts known as McCarthyism, as America faced off
with the Soviet Union and China in the Cold War.
But Mao’s effort to turn his Communist vision
into reality ultimately proved disastrous. Eager to
impose his ideas on China’s economy, Mao ordered
an end to family farming and private land ownership. Farmers were organized into communes where
people lived and worked together. The Great Leap
Forward, as his program was known, was a tragic
failure of bad planning and miscalculation. Farm
production plunged and the famines that resulted led
to as many as 45 million deaths. By the early 1960s,
Little Red Books: Chinese children reading Mao’s writings in front of a giant billboard
of Mao in Beijing, circa 1968
Public shaming: Red Guards force party officials in Harbin, China, to hold up placards
describing their alleged crimes, April 1967.
Mao had largely turned over control of the economy
to deputies like Deng Xiaoping (dung shyao-ping).
At the same time, Mao had grown disenchanted
with the Soviet Union, which he thought was abandoning the tenets of Communism. And he worried
that China’s own revolutionary spirit was being
diluted. He also became increasingly paranoid that
he would be sidelined and forgotten.
His answer was the Cultural Revolution. On May
16, 1966, the Chinese Communist Party issued a
memo outlining Mao’s ideas for this new revolution, which targeted “bourgeoisie capitalists” and
authority figures in general. His wife and a handful of other radicals, together known as the “Gang
of Four,” became the movement’s henchmen.
Mao held massive rallies that called upon students
to destroy the Four Olds: old culture, old customs,
1945
1949
1972
Japan withdraws after its
defeat in World War II, and
China soon plunges into civil
war between the Nationalists
and Mao Zedong’s Communists.
Mao establishes China’s first
Communist government. The
Nationalists flee to Taiwan.
Civil War
The People’s
Republic
1966
Cultural
Revolution
Nixon in China
A year after the U.N. admits
China and expels Taiwan,
President Richard Nixon (right,
with Mao) visits Beijing in an
effort to improve relations.
Timeline continued on following page 
N OV E M B E R 2 1 , 20 1 6
19
again in China? Explain.
N OV E M B E R 2 1 , 20 1 6 • U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M
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TEENS & CIGARETTES
1. Why are some health experts concerned about the rise of e-cigarette use among