Daily Archives: December 16, 2015

Entertainment, Movies/TV/Theaters

Best music apps

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In an effort to find out how to best listen to music on a phone, I researched the top two best music apps for the iPhone and Android phones.

The 1st app I found for Android is Google Play Music. The pros of the app are:

  • Being able to upload your music
  • You can save your online music for offline play

And the cons are:

  • It focuses more on its online content than your offline content, so if you’re looking for something that’s solely for offline content you’ll want to look elsewhere

The 2nd app I looked at is Soundcloud for both the iPhone and Android. The pros of the app are:

  • You have the option of either uploading an already recorded audio, or recording it on the spot
  • There are NO LIMITS to file sizes
  • There are tons of music and artists available

And the cons are:

  • That you can’t play the songs offline
  • That some of the songs that you look for won’t sound like the original

The best app I found for the iPhone and Android is Spotify. The pros are:

  • That it’s free
  • You can listen to popular artists

The cons are:

  • That you have to put up with ads on your screen and audio commercials between songs
  • The cost to get Premium varies from $1-10
Entertainment

10 fun things to do during the winter in Minnesota

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Winter in Minnesota can make you feel trapped in the house at times, these activities are alternate options when you don’t feel like lounging at home. From art to exercise, there are many interactive events and activities available to you.

Hit the slopes at Afton Alps

Afton alps are great if you love skiing, snowboarding and tubing. These are winter sports that are good sources of exercise to stay fit in the winter. You can come here with a group of friends, family or by yourself.

Go to Red Bull Crashed Ice

Red Bull Crashed Ice is a ice skating obstacle tournament downtown St Paul. This event is great for coming with a group of people. There’s food and drinks available and the event is free.

Build a snowman in your front yard

Building a snowman has been a tradition for a very long time, especially in places with legitimate winters. You can even make your snowman more stylish by adding a cute scarf or hat!

Go sledding at a local park

Sledding is a fun activity for all ages. However, younger kids specifically enjoy it and can be made into a family event on days when you are looking for something to do that doesn’t cost money. It’s easy, just invest in some cheap sleds or grab a good old piece of cardboard and you’re ready to go.

Admire the decorated mansions on Summit Ave

Go driving down Summit Ave. and look at all the big mansions decorated with stunning christmas lights.

Go to a sports game

Go support your state teams! This is a fun activity, great for bonding with friends and family you can bring along. Also, there are some great bundles to get better seats for cheaper prices.

Wander through the Rice Park Winter Wonderland

Rice Park Winter Wonderland is free and open to the public, located in downtown St. Paul. The best time to go is at night so you can see all the trees lit up with christmas lights.

Shop and find those after-christmas sales at MOA

Go to MOA to get super great deals, maybe even better than black friday. Perfect for getting nice quality presents for a reasonable price for friends and family.

Go ice skating at the Wells Fargo Winterskate

Every year Wells Fargo offers a free, outdoor skating rink in downtown St.Paul. This event would be great to go with friends and have fun! It is a nice way to stay connected in your community.

Go to the winter carnival downtown St. Paul

Come to the winter carnival with family or friends, especially little kids. This event is located in Rice Park, downtown St.Paul and is free!

Getting To Know/History, School Life

Strength and fitness

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IMG_2192Strength and fitness is a class where endurance and strength is a MUST in order to pass the class. The teacher who teaches strength and fitness is Mr. Brandon Ferraro, also known as Mr. Ferraro. He is a gym teacher that teaches gym and strength and fitness. There are 38 kids in his strength and fitness class, and when combined with his regular gym class, there’s about 80+ in the class. The classes he teaches are vaguely similar, but they’re different due to the curriculum that he has set up. For example, the subject in gym that they are focusing on now is volleyball.

We asked four people that are enrolled in both strength and fitness and gym what they thought about the more specialized class and here are some of the things they said:

Francois (who referred to strength and fitness as “weight training”): “I like it. I took weight training sophmore year. It’s a good class and a good workout, only if you’re constantly working. If you’re not willing to participate and try hard then you should leave.”

Yeab: (who referred to strength and fitness as “weight lifting”): “Horrible, because you have to work hard and be strong and all that. It’s very tiring every day.”

Leul: “It’s fun. I like it because it’s not like class and I can gets away from the stress and the homework.”

Raina: “I’m a freshman. I like it because it’s exhilarating, and hard sometimes, but they’re easy ways to do the workouts when the teacher explains.”

After, we asked the students about the gym class and how they felt about it, we asked Mr. Ferraro what strength and fitness really means. His response: “My class is to build confidence and self esteem. Most important, understanding importance of what hard working does.”

We recommend taking this class if you want to improve skills, gain muscle, and build confidence.

Editorials/Student Voice, News

Are Muslims what the media says they are? No.

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Are Muslims what the media say they are?

Not all Muslims are terrorist.

There are people that claim to be Muslims but don’t act like one, like ISIS groups who kill anyone in their way.

There are Muslims that just want peace but are getting blamed for other people’s actions.

In Islam we are taught not kill a little spider. We are taught to let be it free. We are forbidden to shed blood.  A verse from the Qur’an says, “…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.” Life is sacred in Islam.

Certain people just don’t understand that terrorist don’t just attack non- Muslim areas. How many attacks have happened, and are still happening, in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other Islamic regions?

Not all extremists are Muslims like the media makes them out to be. The media can be better about how they refer to terrorist groups because other Muslims don’t need to be blamed for what a group of people in their religion does. These groups claim to be Muslims but they give themselves specific names, so why not call them by what they want to be called, i.e. ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc?

A religion shouldn’t be blamed for what some people who practice it do. Innocent Muslims don’t want to feel targeted for something they have nothing to do with.

The Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has proposed that Muslims should be banned from entering the United States. Donald Trump has had many interviews and does not seem to be having any second thoughts about his proposal. Donald Trump might want this proposal to secure our country, but he is also punishing innocent people. He is taking away the opportunities and dreams of those that didn’t do anything wrong aside from believing in a specific religion.

So are Muslims what the media say they are?

No, because the negative actions of Muslims, through groups like ISIS, do not reflect the average Muslim.