Five best restaurants in the Highland area

March 17, 2016 feveng514 Leave a comment

If you’re a student looking for places to eat in the Highland area, don’t look any further, here are the five best restaurants around (in no particular order).

The Cleveland Wok is a high quality Chinese buffet featuring staple items like egg rolls and sweet and sour chicken. They have great service and the food is fairly priced. However, parking is hard in the street; you most likely will have to park in the back of the bank next to it. The Cleveland Wok deserves to be on this list because they have excellent value and service.

The Neighborhood Cafe is much more than a cafe. It provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with happy hour specials. It is on Selby and Snelling, but if you take the 84X after school, which is right next to the school buses, you can get there fast. The Neighborhood Cafe deserves to be on this list because of the big portions they serve for a good price. It also has a cozy environment and the staff is friendly.

Smashburger is a chain restaurant that serves not only burgers, but also chicken sandwiches, salads, and shakes. The burgers come in a large variety of options, along with the create your own option. One of the unique burgers they offer is the Buffalo & Blue Cheese burger, that has buffalo sauce and an egg bun. The atmosphere is very hipster-like and relaxed. It deserves to be on this list because of the wide variety Smashburger provides.

The Highland Grill is a little more pricey than the other options, but the food is definitely worth it. The Highland Grill provides a large array of American breakfasts and entrees. The atmosphere of the Highland Grill is very social; on warm nights you can usually find people relaxing just outside the restaurant socializing while enjoying their meal. It deserves to be on the list because of its beautiful decoration and chic style.

Which Wich, a restaurant that specializes in subs and sandwiches, is located on Ford Parkway right next to the Walgreens. For a sandwich shop, they have a lot of variety. From vegan options to seafood. The food is reasonably priced and uses high quality ingredients. The wait is usually not that long and you can either eat in or take out. It deserves to be on this list because of it’s creativity in sandwiches.

Local, News

Black Live Matter gets Como teacher fired?

March 17, 2016 mariaaroldann Leave a comment

Recently there was an incident involving a St. Paul Public school, and the organization Black Lives Matter. What follows is the events connected to that incident.

Black Lives Matter is preparing to shut down Como Park Senior High School unless a teacher is fired for Facebook comments. Organizer Rashad Turner said the group met Friday, March 5, to plan its protest of Theo Olson, a special-education teacher at Como. In one post, Olson suggested Como is “enabling student misconduct” in a misguided attempt to keep students in school and out of the criminal justice system.

The screenshots/evidence on: http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/04/black-lives-matter-wants-to-shut-down-st-paul-school-over-teachers-facebook-posts/

show that Olson (the teacher) said, “Anyone care to explain to me the school-to-prison pipeline my colleagues and I have somehow created, or perpetuated, or not done enough to interrupt?” he wrote. “Because if you can’t prove it, and campaigns you’ve waged to deconstruct adult authority in my building by enabling student misconduct, you seriously owe us real teachers an apology. Actually, an apology won’t cut it.”

In Olson’s second post he talked about iPad and phone devices used for social media and gaming.“There have always been rules for ‘devices,’ and defined levels of misconduct. Since we now have no backup, no functional location to send kids who won’t quit gaming, setting up fights, selling drugs, whoring trains, or cyber bullying, we’re screwed, just designing our own classroom rules,” it continued.

Turner took Olson’s remarks as “sweeping generalizations about black students.” Turner said the teachers comments presented a perfect opportunity for the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter to turn its activism toward St. Paul Public Schools, which has far higher rates of suspensions for black and American Indian students than for their peers.

Olson went on to say that rather than putting students on a path to prison, he sees himself as “a link of the school to opportunity and freedom pipeline.” Olson offered to speak to Turner and explain his views but Turner had no desire to speak to Olson. Turner and his activists will meet with the school district leaders on the following Monday, March 7.

After meeting with the district leaders on Monday, Black Lives Matter St. Paul has called off plans to “shut down” Como Park Senior High, according to Superintendent Valeria Silva. Silva stated that their conversation was “productive and positive.” She also went on to say, “It is clear we share a common vision of high expectations and achievement for all students and ongoing commitment to racial equity,” finally to conclude she said “I am thankful that Mr. Turner has chosen to discontinue any immediate protests planned at Como Park Senior High School.” Turner choose to not comment on Monday, Olson who still will continue to teach at Como has also chosen to not comment on anything.

As of Thursday, March 17, Olson is on a paid administrative leave.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Should St. Paul schools be uniform wearing schools?

March 17, 2016 karla598 Leave a comment

Should St. Paul schools be uniform wearing schools? If so why or why not?

Today I went and interviewed some of my fellow classmates during school about this topic, asking them different questions.

The first person I interviewed was Junior Bonfil.

My first question was, “Should students in St. Paul wear uniforms?”
He answered with “No, they shouldn’t.”

My second question I asked him was, “Why shouldn’t they have to wear uniforms?”
Junior said, “Because people don’t have to wear them and it’s like you’re not free when you wear them, it’s like you’re stuck following people.”

One of my other questions was, “How do you personally feel about this topic?”
He answered with, “Not good to have them, they don’t represent us the students.”

My last and final question was, “How do you think school uniforms affect other students?”
He answered with this particular answer, “Uncomfortable because it doesn’t bring the sparkle in us.”

The second person I interviewed was Zuani Marilyn Venture.

I asked her if students in St. Paul should wear uniforms and she said no.

My next question was, “Why shouldn’t they?”
She answered, “People should wear whatever they want.”

My third question was, “How do they feel about this topic personally?”
Zuani answered with one word “Disturbing.”

My last question was, “How would it affect students?”
She said, “They wouldn’t feel that they can express who they are. They would just look like everyone else.”

My opinion personally is that students should not have to wear uniforms because dressing how you want is apart of being unique and one of a kind. People need to be heard and seen how they want, and wearing uniforms would make them alike and as they say “an original is better than a copy.”