Monthly Archives: March 2017

Editorials/Student Voice, News, World

Jeff Sessions causes more problems for the Trump administration

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By Henry Kelly and Elliot Wall

There is more trouble for the Trump administration as yet another member of his cabinet, this time his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is caught up in the controversy that swirls around the new administration. This new controversy comes soon after General Michael Flynn resigned from the cabinet over allegations of contacting Russia, and the accusations currently being thrown at Sessions are arguably worse.

Specifically, the controversy revolves around Sessions’ meeting with with the Russian ambassador, that occurred while he was campaigning for Trump. The controversy arises from the Logan Act, a 18th century law that prevents unauthorized U.S. citizens from contacting foreign governments on their government’s behalf. In addition, some have linked it to claims that Russia tried to influence the U.S. elections, with some going as far to say Sessions had a hand in this alleged rigging.

Sessions’ defense against these claims is that these meetings were simply part of his duties as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader in the House, and former member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, claims that Session didn’t have a reason to meet with the Russian ambassador, as neither did she when she served on the equivalent committee in the House. Her claims are somewhat deflated by the fact that she did indeed meet with the Russian ambassador during her tenure as Speaker of the House.

The controversy deepened however, after Sessions was accused of lying under oath about his Russian contacts (during his Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General, he had stated that he had never had contact with Russia). Despite contesting that he hadn’t lied, due to the way the question was worded, Sessions eventually recused himself from all investigations regarding the relations between Russia and the Trump administration, agreeing that an unbiased observer was needed.

Combined with Michael Flynn’s resignation, this only furthered the widespread distrust in the Trump administration. While it’s difficult to say how the administration’s popularity was effected, Trump’s favorability rating didn’t drop significantly. Some suggest this is because only extremely dedicated Trump supporters are still supporting him. Others claim that this is because it really didn’t have an effect – it simply didn’t resonate enough. Either way, scandals particularly about Russian contact, will probably plague the Trump administration for the foreseeable future.

Entertainment

The 89th Oscar’s

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The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, is a group of twenty-four artistic honors given each year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), to award excellence in cinematic achievements chosen by votes (as stated on oscars.org). The awards started in 1930, during which it was broadcasted on the radio until 1953 when it first was shown on TV. The Oscars are shown in over 200 countries, and it has served as a model for many other television awards such as: the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording.

This year is the Oscars 89th awards ceremony, and every year they give out awards to Best Picture, Actor/Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress, Animated Feature, Cinematography, Costume Design, Direction, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Film Editing, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, and total score. This year, winners of the Oscars included many movies such as La La Land, Moonlight, Suicide Squad, and Zootopia.  

There was one thing a little different this year about the Oscars. If you were watching when this event occurred, you might have had a little déjà vu or shock. An award was announced for the wrong person, similar to what happened to Steve Harvey, back in 2015, when he announced the wrong winner for Miss America. Harvey announced Miss Colombia as the winner, when in actuality it was Miss Philippines. He took this opportunity to get a little redemption for all the hate he got that followed his mistake.

What exactly happened at the Oscars? No one is truly sure what happened, but all we know is that the announcers, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, didn’t catch a mistake that was written on the envelope twice, saying “Award for best leading actress” before reading the winner’s name. They announced the name for the wrong Best Picture winner.

Many celebs said that it was a hard way to  find out that you lost, and to find out that you won. No one could fully celebrate as much as they wanted to. People were very happy for the Moonlight cast, but felt sad for the La La Land cast as they were first called up to accept the award they didn’t win.

Even though Faye Dunaway announced the wrong winners, Warren Beatty, her co-host, gave her the wrong envelope. Many people call this a half-Steve Harvey, then a full-Steve Harvey, because they were given the wrong envelope, and did not just read it wrong.

The show later went on to Jimmy Kimmel, who foreshadowed his next stunt at the Grammy’s. Kimmel brought in a bus full of tourists, and walked them through the entire awards ceremony. The tourists, dressed in sweatshirts and other casual clothes, were as surprised as the rest of us. He warned the crowd before the tourists entered, and joked with each one as they passed him. Every tourist got to shake famous peoples’ hands, and one even asked Denzel Washington marry them.

As many would say, this year’s Oscars were filled with many ups and downs, and many laughs. The final winners for each category were:

Best Picture: Moonlight

Actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea 

Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land

Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight  

Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences

Animated Feature: Zootopia 

Cinematography: La La Land

Costume Design: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Direction: Damien Chazelle, La la Land

Documentary Feature: O.J: Made in America  

Documentary Short: The White Helmets

Film Editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Foreign Language Film: The Salesman 

Makeup and Hairstyling: Suicide Squad

Score: La la Land

School Life

A motivational Personal Project

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This year, for Karla Alarcon’s personal project, she wanted to do something that could impact the entire school. She decided that she wanted to help people with their confidence, and make sure that they knew that they were not alone, so she started to post up small note cards all around the school that had motivational/positive words that could make anyone’s day a bit brighter.

“I wanted to influence people, to have people notice and make them feel good about themselves,” Karla said. During the time that the note cards were posted, she began to see many people start to follow in her lead; she began to see new note cards with even more motivational words on them. Her favorite part of the whole thing was to walk around and see people look at the notes and smile and get happy after reading them. People around her would talk about them and about how great they thought they were; she even saw them on social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, ect.

Not only did this project help those around her, but it also helped her. Karla said that, “It helped me understand that there are people out there who sometimes do need some support, and it helped me realize that I should go out of just the school and try and help the rest of my community.”

She will continue to try and do everything she can to make sure that the people around her are shown love and support.

Karla loved the outcome of her project and she would love for it to continue; for people to support one another and make sure that everyone knew that they were loved and not alone.

Local, News, World

Transgender students and bathrooms

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On Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017, the Trump administration withdrew protection rights, for transgender students, that were put into place during the recent Obama-era. The protection allowed transgender students to use the bathrooms according to what gender they identified with.

Many believe that the federal government should not have become involved with the issue, but that it should have always been up to the states to decide their bathroom laws.

The Trump administration sent out a two page letter to public schools explaining that the Obama-era guidance did not provide “extensive legal analysis” and therefore, it should be decided on a state-level.

The White House stated, “The joint decision made today by the Department of Justice and the Department of Education returning power to the states paves the way for an open and inclusive process to take place at the local level with input from parents, students, teachers and administrators.” However, according to CNN, a source reported to them that Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, was against the Trump administration’s draft for withdrawing the guidance.

It’s been reported that DeVos was publically on board, but did privately express her hesitance and disagreements with the guidance. According to CNN, DeVos was summoned to the White House to meet with the President where “she was told to agree to the plans.”

A statement, issued by the White House, regarding the new guidance, states that the guidance “does not leave students without protections from discrimination, bullying, or harassment.”

In agreement with the White House’s statement, addressing student protections, Civil Rights groups have pointed out that this new guidance does not undo state-level protections or Title IX for transgender students. Title IX is an education amendment that was made in 1972. The amendment states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Even with the protection of Title IX and state level laws, CEO of Lambda Legal, Rachel B. Tiven, said in a statement, “The law bars discrimination – the new administration invites it.”

Basketball, Sports

NCAA March Madness preview and predictions

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It’s that time of the year again, when 68 college teams try to conquer the March Madness tournament. The first round consists of 8 different teams qualifying to enter. Once that’s over, all 64 teams are placed in a division ranked one through sixteen. The divisions/sections are called: Midwest, West, South and East. The 16 teams in each section battle it out to get to the final four. The best team in the South plays the best team in the East, and the same goes for the Midwest and West.

The selection day for the 68 teams is Sunday, March 12th. The first four (8 qualifying teams) games play on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 14th and 15th. The official 64 team bracket starts Thursday, March 16th, and goes to the second round on Saturday, the 18th. The first and second rounds both last 2 days. The 2 day format also applies to the Sweet Sixteen (3rd round) and the Elite Eight (4th round). The Final Four round is Saturday, April 1st, and the championship game is Monday, April 3rd.  

This year’s top teams include: Kansas, UCLA, Gonzaga, and last year’s winner Villanova. Kansas is currently ranked number 1 in the top 25. They have beaten 5 teams in the top 10. Kansas is carried by senior point guard Frank Mason the Third, and freshman superstar Josh Jackson. They for sure will get a number one seed in the bracket. UCLA will be a major threat with freshman point guard Lonzo Ball. He’s one of the most athletic guards in the NCAA this year. He’s also accompanied by TJ Leaf and senior Bryce Alford. These 3 players combined average 47.7 points a game. Their team altogether averages an NCAA best 91.3 points per game. They are more than likely to receive a number one seed.

Gonzaga looked to be a real threat after starting 29-0, but they lost to BYU by 8 points, and that loss sent them from ranked number one to four. Their biggest problem is that they don’t play in a good enough conference, which might prove why they had such a good record until they played BYU. They finished 32-1 and won the West Coast Conference Championship. Their team is led by junior guard Nigel William-Goss, who averages 16.9 points per game and 5.7 assists per game. They are more than likely to lose early in the tournament. They would be lucky to receive a number one seed, as the number two seed fits them better.

One last team that’s being talked about, coming into the tournament, is the reigning champs, Villanova. They defeated North Carolina in the championship last year after Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer beater three for the win. He’s now in his senior year and playing well, but the star player for Villanova is senior guard Josh Hart who leads the team in points per game with 18.7 and with 6.5 rebounds per game. Villanova has a great chance of winning the tournament in back-to-back years. They will have a number one seed.  

My one sleeper team is SMU. They are ranked 12th with a 27-4 record. They haven’t played many ranked teams, and their free throw shooting is only at 69%, but they have won 13 straight games. They have also won 23 of their last 24 games, only losing by 2 points to 22-ranked Cincinnati. Senior Ben Moore has been a lot of help for SMU; he has 11.8 points per game and standing at 6 feet 8 inches, he grabs 8.2 rebounds per game. SMU could go deeper than people may expect as they’re likely to be a 4 or 5 seed in the South section of the tournament.

Entertainment

Upcoming concerts

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It seems like we’re being constantly bombarded by increasingly alarming or unsettling news, but here’s a happier note to balance it out: Spring and Summer of 2017 are definitely going to be good times for live music in Minnesota.

First, in less than a week, on March 12th, Panic! at the Disco, a popular alternative band, is going to be at the Xcel Energy Center on their Death of a Bachelor Tour. Just a few days later, on March 14th, pop princess Ariana Grande will be performing at the same venue for her Dangerous Woman tour,  and the day after that will see Miranda Lambert, a country singer-songwriter, there on her Highway Vagabond tour.

A lot of bands from the seventies, eighties, and nineties will be stopping by to play the Xcel as well: Eighties rock band Bon Jovi will be performing on the 27th, and on April Fool’s Day, Green Day, a punk band first formed in the nineties, will be there for their Revolution Radio tour. Iconic rock band Def Leppard will perform on April 21st, and May 11th will see the music of eightie’s bands Hall and Oates and Tears for Fears, who are currently touring together. On July 14th, Queen (with the addition of Adam Lambert) will be playing, and Roger Waters, from Pink Floyd, will be performing on July 27th.

The Xcel can’t have all the great performances though: at the end of July, on the 30th, Guns and Roses will be playing US Bank Stadium on their Not in This Lifetime tour, the first tour since 1993 to have the three classic members of the band (Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan) perform together. Shortly after that, on August 12th, Coldplay will play the same venue.

In conclusion, go get tickets before they’re gone!

Local, News

College student crudely arrested for swastika vandalism

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A University of Minnesota student was arrested Thursday, February 16th, and is accused of vandalizing a desk in the common area of his residence hall with a swastika. University police said they arrested the student,  identified as Matthew Gruber, on suspicions of vandalizing part of the 17th Avenue Residence Hall. The University student has not been charge with a crime yet, but they are holding him for suspicion.

The swastika was noticed by a University student, who reported that they found a swastika in their Pioneer Hall dorm room.

According to http://www.jta.org, the campus police told the local ABC affiliate, KSTP, “UMPD takes incidents and reports of bias related crime very seriously. These cases are comprehensively and completely investigated.”

Since December, there have been seven reports of swastikas, neo-Nazi propaganda and other anti-Semitic graffiti at the University, according to the University’s Bias Response and Referral Network.

Editorials/Student Voice

Snow tubing

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Being a senior is very fun. It has been a very relaxing year. I don’t have to worry about math or science anymore. I’ve never had to do anything in Study Hall. I thought my senior year was going to be my most stressful year, but it was the exact opposite.

Being a senior comes with many responsibilities, such as becoming an active citizen, but it also comes with many benefits. We have a lot more freedom than other grades, like being able to have late starts and early releases. Also, to reward us for making it this far, we have senior field trips.

The senior field trips are organized by the student council. Since the student council changes every year, this means the senior field trips change every year too. So far this year, there have been two trips, with another planned for spring.

The first field trip was in November. I had not paid much attention to the trip, ignoring the announcements, until about two days before the permission slip was due. I realized, “Hey, I get out of school, and there might be good snacks!” The first field trip was to a roller skating rink. I never liked roller skating; it just wasn’t my thing. So, basically, I just sat around eating junk food and looking at memes. It was fun, but none of my friends were there.

After the trip, I questioned my friends on why they weren’t there. I told them about the nice food, like giant soft pretzels and cheese curds. We agreed to do the next field trip. In fact, one of my friends constantly berated me, asking if I had turned in the permission slip and if I had the money.

Then, due to global warming and climate change, the trip was canceled due to lack of snow, as the second trip was snow tubing. We were disappointed, as that meant we had to go to school. But it was rescheduled, and we went.

Much like the first trip, I didn’t actually do the activity; I instead just hung out with my friends in the bar. We had soda, split a pizza, and joked around. I liked it. I got out of class, had some pizza, and played a few games, all in the company of my friends.

School Life

Winter Pep Fest 2017

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On Thursday, February 24th, we had our Winter Pep Fest. Everyone piled on to the bleachers wearing their class colors while the HP Jazz Band played. When everyone was seated, the upperclassmen began chanting “Go home freshmen,” which has turned into a pep fest tradition.

The Pep Fest began with Highland’s clubs and sports teams making announcements. The Nordic Ski team told everyone about their success at their recent meets. Both the boys and girls teams have had really great seasons. Also, Spanish Speaking Debate announced that they are beginning their season, and if you speak Spanish, you are welcome to join. The Basketball teams, boys and girls, also had really good seasons.

After the announcements, the gymnastics team put on a performance. When the music started, the gymnasts began flipping, jumping and running across the gym. Their routine combined with their music was very upbeat and exciting.

Then the basketball teams had a shoot off. It was girls against boys, and even though they were very close, the boys took the win. The teams exited the court and some of the boys on the basketball team had a dunking contest. Everyone cheered really loud after almost every try. All of them were really good and it was very entertaining to watch.

The dance team also gave a performance at the Pep Fest. This time, their music was strictly instrumental, and aside one of the girls repeatedly hitting other girls on accident, it was a good performance.

The Pep Fest ended with a performance by the cheerleaders. They did their traditional dance with their pompoms and everyone was cheering. Like the Fall Pep Fest, the cheerleaders made a routine in collaboration with some of the basketball players, which in my opinion was also very good. The performance as a whole was a good way too end the Pep Fest.

The Winter Pep Fest was our last school-wide assembly until the Senior Send off in the beginning of June.

 

News, World

Puzder resigns: Acosta to take place

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On February 15th, the Democrats finally scored a small victory against the Trump administration. This was the withdrawal of Andrew Puzder for his bid as secretary of labor; a bid that had garnered much controversy since the announcement. Ostensibly, the withdrawal was so he could “spend more time with his family,” but it was almost certainly because he and others in the administration felt he wouldn’t be confirmed by the Senate*.

Puzder, owner of the fast-food restaurants Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., was one of the most controversial nominees, along with Betsy DeVos and Rex Tillerson. For example, his opposition of the current, or indeed any, minimum wage practically incited riots on the left, and alienated many on the right. His opposition of rules that forced certain employees to be paid more for overtime also caused controversy, especially after it became widely known that his companies had been forced to pay 20 million dollars in lawsuits for violating these rules.

Despite the controversy surrounding his positions, he might have made it through – after all, Betsy DeVos and Rex Tillerson did, despite huge controversy surrounding them. However, the nail in his political coffin came when it came to light that he employed undocumented immigrants as maids in his house. Not only is this illegal, but it stands in contrast to much of the Republican platform, and because of this, it became impossible to get the votes needed for a confirmation. In addition, old accusations of spousal abuse hurt his image further, effectively sealing his fate.

Shortly after the withdrawal (during the same press conference where Trump thrice asserted he was not “ranting and raving”) the administration announced their new pick – Alexander Acosta, sitting Dean of Florida International University College of Law, and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil rights. So far, Acosta’s nomination has drawn far less criticism, and it looks like he should be confirmed with support from both sides.

*Puzder did later acknowledge that both accusations of spousal abuse and his employment of undocumented immigrants played a role in his withdrawal.