All posts by HPSH Plaid Line

Science/Nature

NASA hit an asteroid with a rocket. Why? 

Leave a comment

By: Brogan Frey

On Monday, September 26th, 2022, at 6:14 pm Central Standard Time, a rocket launched by NASA on November 24th, 2021, made impact with an asteroid named Dimorphos. NASA has been planning this mission for years. 

The first thing NASA wants everyone to know is that this asteroid was no threat to earth, and it has not become one after this mission. This was a test to see if we can, in fact, redirect an asteroid by crashing into it, in preparation for a possible doomsday situation, like ones seen in movies like ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Don’t Look Up.’ There is no threat to earth from any asteroid at the moment. 

This mission was conducted by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), a NASA department. The mission was nicknamed “DART,” which stands for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, and was one of the first for the PDCO. 

When the rocket was just 19 minutes away from impact, scientists could finally see the moonlet Dimorphos for the first time. A moonlet is an object that has enough gravity to affect the dust and ice around them, but isn’t large enough to be classified as a moon. 

It will take a few weeks for NASA to tell if this mission actually had an impact on the direction of the asteroid, because this asteroid is over 7 million miles away, and it has a large orbit, so it will take a bit of time to notice any differences in the orbit. 

Before the crash, Dimorphos took about 11 hours and 55 minutes to complete one orbit, and this is expected to go down just a little bit. Even though we don’t know yet how much this affected the asteroid’s orbit, scientists are expecting the crash to shorten the asteroid’s orbital period by about 10 minutes. 

The asteroid weighs about 1.1 billion pounds, compared to the rocket’s 1200. It may seem too small to have any impact, and it sure does seem that way. Says NASA’s Elena Adams, “It’s basically like throwing a tennis ball at a 747 (airplane). If it goes fast enough, you’re gonna move it.” And this rocket certainly moved fast. It was going about 14,000 mph before crashing into the asteroid.

Overall, I think NASA is smart for testing this because there may be a day where we need to crash a rocket into an asteroid to stop what could be a catastrophic disaster. Because, although asteroids don’t crash into the earth every day, it has happened before, and being prepared is always ideal. 

For more information, please visit:

Soccer

Teams battle for promotion as Group Stage wraps up in UEFA Nations League

Leave a comment

By: Aeden Evenson-McDermott

In the international break, Europe’s best came together to represent their national teams. It would be the final meeting of the teams in preparation before the World Cup starts in early November. Nations League includes Europe’s senior men’s teams which compete in a biennial international competition.

On the final wrap up of the group stages, the highly anticipated action kicked off starting in Group A1 for the top spot with Croatia battling Austria and Denmark against France.

Croatia had previously beat Denmark a few days before, thus earning the top spot and tiebreaker over Denmark by 1 point. Croatia would have to beat Austria in order to get in and the result with Denmark wouldn’t matter if Croatia was able to hold on.

France went down and lost to Denmark 2-0 and Croatia held on to beat Austria 3-1. Croatia won the group with a total of 13 points, 2nd Denmark with 12, 3rd France with 5, and Austria getting relegated with 4 points.

Spain and Portugal met in their final match to decide the winner for A2. Switzerland and Czech Republic had been eliminated as they did not finish with enough points. Czech Republic saw themselves relegated on the final match day too. Spain got the last minute winner over Portugal to advance to the finals.

In Group A3, Italy and Hungary faced off in their decisive match. Italy held off an on point form of Hungary to win the group. Surprisingly, England and Germany both fell through and England was relegated.

In the final group, A4, it would be either Netherlands and Belgium to finalize the 4th team for the finals. Netherlands and Belgium would each have to win in order to eliminate the other one. A strong header by Virgil Van Dijk sent Netherlands to the final in last quarter of an hour in the game. Poland and Wales would be eliminated and Wales would be relegated.

In the 4 tiers of Group B, Scotland would win promotion in the group over Ukraine, and Ireland with Armenia being relegated. Israel would win promotion over Iceland, Albania, and Russia would be relegated and suspended in the competition. Bosnia and Herzegovina would escape Finland to earn the top spot and receive promotion with Montenegro and Romania being eliminated. Serbia would beat both Norway and Slovenia to earn promotion with Sweden seeing relegation.

In the 4 tiers of Group C, Turkey would win promotion with Luxembourg, Faroe Islands, and Lithuania being eliminated. Greece would gain promotion, which would eliminate Kosovo, Northern Ireland, and Cyprus. Kazakhstan would gain promotion leaving Azerbaijan, Slovakia, and Belarus eliminated. Georgia would win promotion with Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Gibraltar getting eliminated.

In the 2 tiers of Group D, Latvia and Estonia would see promotion while Moldova, Andorra, and Malta would be eliminated and Liechtenstein and San Marino would be relegated.

Overall, it was a very exciting group stage of UEFA Nations league. Teams had surprises and made big steps in improvement. Promotion to the group above was the goal for most, but some unfortunate saw relegation to a bottom tier below them.

Croatia, Netherlands, Italy, and Spain will be going to the finals which will take place in the summer of 2023 on June 14-15th. The upcoming draw for how the other tiers will be drawn will take place at another point in time in the near future!

Editorials/Student Voice, Football

NFL concussion protocol

Leave a comment

By: Abby Altman

A concussion can vary from extremely mild to extremely severe. According to the Mayo Clinic, long term effects after a severe concussion can include: memory problems, trouble concentrating, personality and mood changes, and even depression. These symptoms are just some of the reasons why concussions are so dangerous, especially in a game where head on collisions are so common. The NFL concussion protocol was created in 2011, to try and limit severe head trauma for players in the future. 

In week 3 against the Bills, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa went down with a hard hit to the head. Tua struggled to stand after the hit, and appeared to have a clear head injury. Tua was adamant, however, that he sustained a back injury. 

The NFL Players Union stated that they would be meeting to discuss the NFL concussion protocol after Tagovailoa returned in the second half to finish the game. 

On Thursday., against the Bengals in week 4, Tagovailoa went down once again after a hard hit to the head. The Dolphins quarterback was carted off the field with signs of what appeared to be severe head trauma. 

“It was a scary moment,” Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel said. “He was evaluated for a concussion and he’s in the concussion protocol. He was at the hospital. I believe he’s about to get discharged.” 

Fans and fellow players all over the league are upset that Tagovailoa was able to return to the game on Sunday, let alone suit up to play on Thursday. 

So, what is the NFL concussion protocol? And is it working? 

The NFL states that a sports related concussion is a “traumatic brain injury induced by biomechanical forces.” 

A hit anywhere that can transmit force to the head can be cause for a player to enter concussion protocol. eg. head, neck, and back. 

There are many employees on the field, such as unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants (UNCs) and athletic trainers. These professionals are stationed along the sidelines, and can advise the team physician to call for a concussion evaluation at any sign of head trauma. 

If called into the concussion protocol, a player will first be examined on the sidelines, and if signs of a concussion are observed, the player will be moved into the locker room for further evaluation. If brought into the locker room, a player cannot return to the game. 

Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins said that his instability last Sunday was caused by a back injury. Tagovailoa passed his concussion test that day and continued to pass further tests in the following days, which is why he was allowed to play on Thursday night.

However, a protocol cannot give all the answers. Watching the injury take place, and the moments that followed, there is some room for common sense to be applied. He had clearly hit his head hard. Tagovailoa had to be held up by his teammates when he could not stand on his own. He even shook his head to attempt to clear it. These are not common signs of a back injury. 

Several NFL players tweeted towards the NFL regarding how the situation with Tagovailoa was handled. 

Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III said “The bottom line regarding Tua is LIFE is bigger than football. Teams should always put the person before the player. Health before competitive advantage. Putting Tua out there isn’t just a player safety issue. It’s a quality of life issue.”

NFL hall of famer Shannon Sharpe says he believes that the Dolphins organization is lying about Tua injuring his back, rather than his head. Sharpe also said that he believes Tua should have never been able to take the field on Thursday. 

The NFL has built one of the largest fan bases in sports, and part of the fan base is built around celebrating hard tackles and big hits. 

This has raised concern that the NFL is more concerned with money and keeping its viewership, rather than the safety of its players. 

While the Dolphins staff assured everyone that proper concussion protocol was followed regarding Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday, there are still lots of angry viewers who want an explanation on why Tua was able to play after sustaining such an injury. 

After a brain trauma, even the slightest hit to the head can cause even more severe issues if it has not yet healed. By allowing Tagovailoa to suit up on Thursday, the Dolphins organization put their QB into a very dangerous position. 

Tagovailoa flew home with the Dolphins following his discharge from the hospital on Thursday and appears to be doing just fine. He will not play in Week 5, but there is no current timeline for his return. 

On Saturday, October 1st, 2 days after Tagovailoa exited the game, the Dolphins UNC was fired after making “several mistakes” regarding Tua’s condition. 

Since Tagovailoa’s injury, the NFL has released a joint statement with the players union regarding upcoming changes to its protocol. 

The NFL and players union discussed the loophole that allows players to stumble and demonstrate gross motor instability to return to the game if a doctor deems the cause to be something other than a head injury. This loophole will be closed from now on, and if a player demonstrates symptoms like these, they will be out for the remainder of the game. 

The new NFL protocol has not been finalized, but there are many new pieces to be discussed within the NFL, the players, the coaches, and doctors around the league. 

In a league such as the NFL, a player is most likely going to push for playing time, regardless of their personal health. Many coaches will also push for their athletes to play, against doctor’s beliefs. This is why it is so important to have a protocol that has the wellbeing and safety of players in mind, rather than viewership and money for the league. 

There are potential issues that can accompany a new protocol. If a player stumbles when getting up after a hard hit, this will likely be deemed as gross motor instability, and cause him to be removed from the game. If a player is, however, unstable due to another injury, the removal from the game could cause issues within organizations. 

It is difficult to find the line between necessary safety precautions in the NFL, and places where it’s just not possible to control how safe a game with full on tackling can be. 

No matter how airtight the concussion protocol is, judgment calls will still need to be made regarding the safety of each and every NFL player. 

Football, Scoreboard/Schedule, Soccer, Volleyball

Sports schedule for: Oct 10-15

Leave a comment
ATHLETIC EVENTS SCHEDULE: OCTOBER 10 – OCTOBER 15
MONDAYOCTOBER 10 
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
5:30pm / 5:30pm 7:00pm Volleyball vs. WashingtonHOME
TUESDAYOCTOBER 11
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
5:30pm / 5:30pm 7:00pm4:15pm / 8:15pmVolleyball vs. North St. PaulNorth St. Paul High School
WEDNESDAYOCTOBER 12
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
TBD Boys Soccer SectionsTBD
TBD Girls Soccer SectionsTBD
THURSDAYOCTOBER 13
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
5:30pm / 5:30pm 7:00pm4:45pm / 8:15pmVolleyball vs. CentralCentral High School
FRIDAYOCTOBER 14
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
4:15pm2:45pm / 6:15pmGirls Swimming and Diving vs. CentralHumboldt High School
SATURDAYOCTOBER 15
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
8:00am7:00am / 2:30pmJV / C-Squad Volleyball TournamentHarding High School
9:00am7:00am / 3:00pmVolleyball TournamentBenilde St. Margaret’s
1:00pm Football vs. North St. PaulHOME
Fashion/Make-Up

All about ‘Heaven’ by Marc Jacobs 

Leave a comment

By: Emilia Moberg

Marc Jacobs is a luxury fashion brand founded in 1984 by designer Marc Jacobs. It was highly successful in the 90s and early 2000s and is credited with creating the grunge aesthetic. Despite its accomplishments in fashion, the brand slowly started to lose revenue in the 2010s.

 Throughout history, fashion brands, large and small, have found the need to reinvent themselves to stay on-trend. One way brands combat irrelevancy is often by catering to a new, younger audience to help revitalize the image of the brand as a whole. In a quote from Marc Gobé, founder of an international design and branding company, Gobé states, “The mature brands lose the younger generation. The younger generation gravitates towards brands that are culturally relevant to them”. Marc Jacobs did just that with the launch of its new project, ‘Heaven’ by Marc Jacobs. 

Heaven by Marc Jacobs is an off-shoot brand of mainline Marc Jacobs. The idea for the brand was originated by Jacobs and Ava Nirui, the special projects directors for Marc Jacobs. Started in the fall of 2020, the brand’s designs focus on a combination of the 90’s grunge look and modern youth culture to engage its Gen Z and Millennial audience.

Heaven features items such as printed baby doll dresses, platform heels and boots, baby tees in muted colors, silver statement jewelry and hand and shoulder bags. Movie posters, zines, and CD’s are also sold at the brand’s online store and Los Angeles location. Heaven has featured design collaborations with Doc Martens, Thai brand Nong Rak, and musical artist Bladee, as well as celebrity campaigns with Nicki Minaj, Beabadobee, Steve Lacy, and Bella Hadid. 

According to fashion financial executive, Jean Jacques Guiony, Marc Jacobs as a brand began to increase in profits after the release of Heaven for the first time in 5 years. The brand represents the success that can be had when a young creative and an established, yet open-minded designer collaborate. 

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Breaking Bad’ review

Leave a comment

By: Manny Ochoa-Reeve

A broke high school teacher with cancer has a daughter on the way and needs to cook meth to provide for his family. The hit 2008 AMC show ‘Breaking Bad’ is popular again! If you go on social media you will most likely hear about this show. I watched it and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.

This TV show follows a high school teacher in New Mexico who has been diagnosed with cancer. He’s running out of money with the hospital bills, a baby on the way, and a disabled son. There’s no way he can make enough money from being an underpaid chemistry teacher. In order to make money, he starts using his chemistry knowledge and teams up with a former student to cook meth so he can start making money. At first, it’s going well and nobody is suspicious, but just like any TV show, this has many twists and turns.

A fan favorite, and my favorite part of the show, is the character development, because the characters change so much after the experiences they’ve had. Each character has their own personality without anything being confusing and stupid. If you had told me this was a documentary about a drug dealer, I would believe it because the characters and acting are so good.

Something really interesting about this show is that the characters come up with an idea, but you don’t know what that idea is, so then you can follow along and try to find out what will happen next. This aspect of the show adds so much mystery and tension to the show and when the writers reveal the outcome of the plan, it gives you a good or bad emotion, depending on the outcome of the plan.

The only thing that I can think of to make this show better is the pacing. The show has lots of big events that happen and whenever there’s nothing going on it can get boring. Whenever something really big happens in the story, and then tension just dies down, you get bored because of nothing happening.

I think that this show was a nine out of ten because of all the detail. The plot and characters made the show what it is today. Seeing the characters evolve and interact with each other really made the show for me. For all these reasons you can really see why this show is all over the internet.

Getting To Know/History

The Lonnie Zamora UFO sighting of 1964

2 Comments

By: Daniel Kendle

Image taken from, and used with permission: www.cufon.org/contributors/chrisl/socorro.htm

On April 24, 1964, officer Lonnie Zamora of Socorro, New Mexico encountered something strange during a police chase.

Being that 1964 was 58 years ago, along with the fact that supernatural phenomena are known to be somewhat difficult to dig up police evidence about, details and fine descriptions are somewhat muddled. But there is a clear story to see, believe it or not.

During said chase, Zamora had seen a sort of fiery object descending from the sky, accompanied by a loud “roar”. The roar is important to this case, as the officer had sworn that what he heard wasn’t a blast or eruption, but a roar.

Driving to where he thought the object landed, he was shocked to see not a wrecked vehicle, but instead a large, cylindrical water tank-like craft in the shrublands, an unrecognizable red marking on its side. Even more interesting was the account of two humanoids standing near an opened hatch. The two characters were the size of either kids or adults, though being either large or small of the two classes respectively.

Zamora says that the two beings stopped, staring at him. He watched them for a second, before turning back around to get a better view of them. But, just as he looked back again, they had seemingly climbed back into their vessel, because a few moments later the craft produced a purple flame from under it and slowly lifted itself into the air. Several hundred feet off the ground, it suddenly flew away at record speeds.

After the officer reported his findings, he and Sergeant Chavez, a fellow police officer, went back to the site with other officials. According to online files of the incident, found were several burnt shrubs and, strangely enough, footprints around the spot Lonnie Zamora had seen the vessel.

While the case was deemed into a group of sightings known as ‘The Unknowns,’ a list of UFO encounters unexplainable by the American Government, higher-ups at the US Air Force and a past president of the university New Mexico Tech, Stirling Colgate, gave a number of theories to the incident, such as it being a university student prank or weather balloon. Friends of Lonnie have stated that he was a very trustworthy and honest man, so lying for publicity would seem unordinary for him.

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Lonnie Zamora on April 25, 1964, from KSRC Radio. The interviewer is Walter Shrode. This interview was archived from a collection of recordings of UFO sightings from Wendy Connor.

SHRODE: “…about the size of a car, I think someone said…”

ZAMORA: “Yes sir, it looked like a car that had turned over, therefore I would say about the size of a car.”

SHRODE: “And was there any kind of markings on it of any kind that you noticed?

ZAMORA: “Yes I did. Not from that far I didn’t see the markings. When I went up closer to it, I did see the markings.”

SHRODE: “And someone said that the markings that you saw was an upside-down “V” with three lines running through it.”

ZAMORA: “No sir, I couldn’t tell you that, because they don’t want me to say nothing about the markings.”

SHRODE: “They don’t want you to say anything about the markings. Okay, we won’t question you on that. And if we run into an area that they don’t want to talk about, you just say so. And this happened about 5:35 in the afternoon?”

ZAMORA: “It happened about 5:50, about ten minutes to six.”

SHRODE: “About ten minutes to six. And did you place a call to Sgt. Chavez of the State Police to come on out and help you with the investigation?”

ZAMORA: “From the time I saw this object, which I didn’t know what it was, I placed the call to Sgt. Chavez of the State Police, called him to come out here and help me on this. And he said, ‘Yes, I’ll be right there, in about two minutes.’”

After all was said and done, Lonnie Zamora decided on retiring as an officer and instead worked at a local gas station. Press and UFOlogists kept hounding him for details, and he didn’t want this incident following him around throughout his life. He died in 2009 due to a heart attack.

Due to the case’s credibility, there’s been a solid amount of traction around it. A mural depicting Zamora’s encounter with the UFO was painted in Socorro, and along with it is a developed area of where the vessel landed, turning it into a miniature attraction of sorts. Do take in mind that the monument was located about a quarter-mile from the actual site; it was believed that the original spot had been contaminated with radioactive material at some point.

When tackling a UFO sighting, the two main questions one asks are…

  1. Is this story believable-enough to be real?
  2. If so, what caused the sighting?

Zamora’s sighting is one of the few that have passed the first bar. A lot of times encounters with supernatural things can be boiled down to either a hoaxing prank or a misconception. I, and many others, would argue that Lonnie Zamora is telling the truth; there’s just no good explanation for the case’s details. How could college students create a military-grade spacecraft, capable of carrying multiple individuals and flying at the same time, and at sonic speeds too! How could one officer create such believable evidence of UFO-human contact (creating footprints and burning some shrubs too, as the scene of the encounter had some there as well) and not fudge a part of his hoax up?

The answer: He couldn’t. Probably.

I’d like to end this by saying that this article was NOT meant to make you believe in aliens and what not. I wanted to bring an analytical eye to this case, not some tinfoil hat nonsense. And in that sense, I hope you enjoyed it.

If you want to learn more about my sources and further reading, check out the links below.

Books/Art, School Life

The Manga section at Highland High School

Leave a comment

By: Maya Breininger

Suppose you’re a student at Highland High School, a school building under the Saint Paul Public School system, and your main interests and hobbies consist of reading manga, graphic novels, and picture books. 

There are many available systems that make the libraries enjoyable and accessible to the students. Systems such as the book return policy, different librarians working to make sure that students enjoy their experience, and so on. 

The librarian working at Highland, a wonderful librarian working to keep our school library system working continually for students.

She works very well with the school, trying her hardest to give the students satisfactory and organized books to their liking. Even though she often pulls through with very satisfactory layouts, the materials and resources given to her are very limited. 

The library receives very little funding from the school district, and has a very limited amount of Title 1 funding. The money it does receive is from a combination of district library services, and Parent Student Teacher grants, or PTSA grants. Even though these resources are available, the librarian expressed how it is not enough to get the school to the recommended amount of books for students across the district.

Some of the main problems the librarian encounters are books often being taken without being checked out, some books never being returned, and some being returned in worse quality than initially rented out. She’s a team of one – basically, drastically understaffed – and often finds it hard to balance her home life with school, considering the limited amount of staff.

Although she faces these many challenges, she acknowledges that the Manga section is the most popular section in the library and tries her hardest to make the best decisions on which manga’s to bring for the students.

As we take a closer look and indulge ourselves in the manga section of the library, you find a wide variety of selections that would satisfy any anime watcher or manga fanatic.

As you can see in the picture below, it’s a very popular and wide section of books that are rented out quite frequently. From a personal perspective, it’s very admirable how organized and clean the Manga section is, despite being handled by many teenage students every day.

Now one may wonder, how can this section be expanded? Does it have enough options? Will the books be accurately displayed within their genres, as well as book titles and descriptions?

The answer is; Yes. The books are all carefully placed and fruitfully organized, and with the money from the school, they have bought and put together a wonderful collection for many students to enjoy. 

A few things to note: Always be mindful of returning your books punctually and in respectable quality, so as to keep the Manga section enjoyable for all who visit. It’s a cool, calm and collected little corner of the library that is kept in wonderful quality by our Librarian Ms. Rahman. It’s a small space that can be used to read your newly purchased books, or that you can recover from your stressful day. 

With all hands in unison, working on growing and improving our library, we can accurately and truthfully say that the Manga section, as well as the whole of our library, is aptly and kindly taken care of. 

For more information, please visit:

Advice/How To

Fountain pens: Pros and cons

Leave a comment

By: Jocelyn Knorr

Fountain pens—here defined as pens holding a reservoir that can apply ink to paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action—are thought to have been invented for the caliph Al-Mu’izz li-Din Allah of Arab Egypt. Reportedly, he requested a pen that would not leak or stain, and was presented with a rudimentary fountain pen made of pure gold.

They continued to be used, but only on a small scale, by modernists or the technologically inclined. Until the 1850s, that is, when popularity skyrocketed. Technological advancements enabled the fountain pen to gain dominance, and it continued to be dominant until the sixties.

Today, they’re seen mostly as status symbols, or fancy collectible antiques, made to look at but not touch. But, they’re still being manufactured today, and sales are actually rising!

So, let’s have a look at the pros and cons of fountain pens.

Pro: Ergonomics

Because fountain pens are designed to collaborate with gravity, inkflow is autonomous, while with gel pens pressure must be applied. This can lead to hand cramps and, in extreme cases, arthritis later in life.

Con: Cost

Unfortunately, fountain pens can be a bit of an investment with a good pen sometimes costing upwards of $30. Ink of higher quality, like Sailor or Noodler’s, can sometimes reach up to $24 for 50ml.

Pro: Smooth writing

Fountain pens are widely purported to offer one of the smoothest writing experiences, especially with a higher-quality gold nib. I, for one, find this to be the case, even drafting this article with a comparatively cheap, steel-nibbed, fountain pen.

Con: Ease of use

Fountain pens can be difficult to get used to, especially for beginners. While converters—especially squeeze converters, notoriously finicky for even experienced users—open up your choices of ink, they can definitely take some getting used to. Cartridges, meanwhile, are incredibly convenient, but limit your options for ink; especially if they’re proprietary.

Pro: Environmental benefits

Fountain pens do not come in a disposable variety, but can rather be filled and refilled for decades on end. This greatly reduces the amount of waste one produces. Disposable pens are one of the biggest contributors to ocean plastic, with just the United States throwing away 1.6 billion pens annually.

Con: Availability

The average store is simply not stocking its shelves with LAMY Safaris or bottles of Iroshizuku ink. I had to go to a specialty store to pick up what is now my go-to bottle, but as an upside, that bottle is liable to last me for the rest of the school year.

I’m not expecting everyone who reads this to go out and buy a shiny new $100 pen, (my journalistic powers aren’t that strong—yet) but here are my recommendations for anyone who’d like to dip their toes in the water.

  1. Buy a Pilot Metropolitan. Retailing for $18.99 on Amazon, these pens are incredibly good quality, especially for the price, and come in plenty of fun colors.
  2. Get a good black ink. My recommendation is Noodler’s X-Feather, ($15 for 100 ml on Amazon, designed to behave well on notebook paper) but you’re free to experiment. Goulet Pens (www.gouletpens.com) even offers little sets of mystery ink colors.

At the end of the day, fountain pens can be pricey, but with that investment comes quality. Hopefully, I’ve helped a few of you shift your opinion—and enabled one or two of you to take the plunge.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Reservation Dogs’ TV show

Leave a comment

By: Leticia Bugg-Sam

*Warning, spoilers and talk about suicide*

The TV show ‘Reservation Dogs’ took place in Oklahoma and is about four indigenous kids talking about how they want to go to California for better lives, but things take a wrong turn.

The four kids, Willie Jack, Bear, Cheese, and Alora, were on the reservation for a long time; there were five in the group before they called themselves the “Reservation Bandits”.

Let’s talk about the characters in the show and their lives.

They’re a family as the four grew up and called themselves family. Alora didn’t really have that much regular family. She only had an Auntie and an Uncle and her Grandma. We don’t know what happened to her father, but her mom, well, she passed away when Alora was little.

Her Grandma, in season two, passed away, and her Auntie wasn’t around much. Her Uncle also wasn’t around much.

Willie Jack, she had her mom and her dad but her brother passed away.

Bear had his mom, but his dad left to be a native rap artist and so he just had his mom.

Cheese, it doesn’t say if he had any family in season 1, but later on in the season, he meets a old woman in the hospital and so now he calls her Grandma.

Why they called themselves that.

They called themselves the Reservation Bandits because they steal things, but they do it for a good reason. On the reservation, they’re poor; they don’t have money. There are not that many jobs around there so the four decided to steal things and go to a person who gives them money to see if that stuff is viable.

One thing that was viable was copper; copper and street lights. Another thing that they stole was a chip truck and plenty of other things.

You may think to yourself “Why don’t they just get a job?” Well, where they live which is Oklahoma, on the reservation, they didn’t have plenty of jobs, or jobs that pay good money, and some of those jobs you have to have experience to get the position, and none of them had that experience. So that’s why they decided to start stealing things, and that’s the way they got money.

Now, let’s talk about how there were five in the group.

Well, before the TV show started, they started off as five, but as you get into the show there is an episode called “Hunting” where they start to talk about Daniel, which is Willie Jack’s brother. The reason they didn’t start off with Daniel in the show, was because Daniel, well, he had a rough life and his parents were fighting. He was going through a lot of things, like bipolar depression, and his parents fighting, that all affected him until one day he decided to give up life and attempt suicide. It was very sad, that’s why now, during season 1 and 2 there is only four.

They all decided they wanted to leave Oklahoma and go to California. Well, first it was Daniel’s idea to go but when the word got out, they all decided to go to California. But when Daniel died, they still decided to all still go for Daniel, and for better lives.

But that all took a wrong turn in the last episode of season 1.

Overall, I would rate this show a 10/10. You can watch it on Hulu.