All posts by HPSH Plaid Line

Football

Vikings 49ers

Leave a comment

By: Abby Altman

The Vikings and the 49ers faced off in a game with the playoffs on the line

The Vikings and 49ers both started week 12 with matching 5-5 records, both looking to sneak their way into a wildcard spot. 

The 49ers, with the win, have now won 3 in a row, putting their early season struggles behind them, for now. The Vikings, coming off a win from the 9-3 Packers, came up short in a highly entertaining game. 

49ers defensive end Nick Bosa said, “We’re all excited to be back in the mix and have the season in our control.” 

This matchup was fast moving, with 4 touchdowns in the 1st half, and 6 scores in the 3rd quarter alone, propelled by Kene Nwangwu’s 99 yard kickoff return. This is Nwangwu’s 2nd kickoff return for a touchdown this season. 

With 18 seconds left in the first half, the 49ers ended an 87 yard drive with a touchdown pass, tying the game. The Vikings are the team with the most points allowed, in the final 2 minutes, of the first half, since 2000. The Vikings have given up 66 points in the last 2 minutes, of the first half, this season. 

Late in the 3rd quarter, the 49ers were gifted a turnover in Vikings’ territory when Dalvin Cook fumbled the ball after going down with a shoulder injury. Cook left the game and had an MRI on Monday. Coach Zimmer is not stating what exactly the MRI showed. Cook has already been playing with a torn labrum, and he is now day to day, with his next week status unknown. Anthony Barr also left the game in the 3rd quarter with a hamstring injury. 

The 49ers did just enough to come away with a win over Minnesota, with a game saving 4th down stop on the goal line in the 4th quarter. 

The Vikings played short of what we’ve seen them do earlier this season. The defense allowed 208 yards rushing on 39 carries, allowing the 49ers run game to dominate the field. “They came with it,” said Vikings linebacker Erick Kendricks. “We knew that their run game was really good. Very complex, very confusing. They have a lot of people to block and open up for it. It was about eliminating that and we didn’t do it.”

The Vikings offense had only 67 rushing yards, and 262 receiving yards, with Cousins completing 20/32 with 238 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, ending his streak of 212 straight passes without an interception. Thielen had 2 receiving touchdowns, and Mattison rushed for 1. 

The Vikings schedule is easing up for the next 3 weeks with matchups against Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. Hopefully, 3 wins straight will help the Vikings find their way into a wildcard spot, potentially alongside San Francisco. 

Note: Since the writing of this article, the Vikings lost to the winless Lions. It is this writer’s opinion that the Vikings tend to play down to their competition, and it showed against Detroit.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Eternals’ movie review

Leave a comment

By: Eva Olson

Warning: this review may contain some spoilers

This movie follows the story of ten Eternals (immortal beings with superpowers), who were sent to earth around seven thousand years ago by the Celestial Arishem to protect the earth from deviants. They have to reunite because the deviants have returned to earth. They are told by Arishem that they cannot interfere with any human conflict except for the deviants which causes some fights between the eternals.

I really enjoyed the characters and a lot of them were pretty funny. I also liked the family-like dynamic between the Eternals. I liked the cast too and saw a few people I recognized including Harry Styles but he didn’t have much screen time, and didn’t appear until the post credit scene.

The costumes were really well made, and I thought it was cool how each of the Eternals’ outfits was different from each other’s. The special effects were really cool and looked really realistic. The different settings were also really interesting to see.

There were a lot of plot twists throughout the film and a lot of betrayal between the Eternals which made the movie even more interesting. A few characters that I liked a lot died throughout the movie which was pretty sad.

I found it refreshing that for this movie you didn’t need any prior knowledge of the Avengers or Marvel to understand it.

One tip I have is to make sure you stay all the way through the movie credits because there were two different post credit scenes that answered a few of my questions after the cliffhanger ending.

I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to Marvel fans or fans of adventure/action movies. Overall, I would give it a 8.5/10 rating.

At this time, the only place you can see ‘Eternals’ is in theaters.

Getting To Know/History

Your rights

Leave a comment

By: Parker Rowen

As an American citizen, you’re entitled to certain protections, and rights. Though being given these rights, America does a poor job of explaining those rights to you. Your rights are supposed to be guaranteed, and supposed to provide protection from public, and government persecution.

The First Amendment covers a lot of ground, but two of the most important rights granted by this amendment are the right to protest, and the right to speak freely. 

The right to protest, means no one gets to stop you, beside law enforcement, should things get serious or violent. Despite this being your right, you still must jump through certain hoops to achieve these rights. For your right to protest, you are typically supposed to have a permit; this mostly is for things such as marches, or rally’s which disrupt the general public. In order to acquire a permit, you are usually required to apply weeks in advance for the rally, or protest which you are organizing, though this may not be used as an excuse to block public rallies which are “rapid responses to unforeseeable and recent events.” 

There are certain limitations when it comes to protesting without a permit. The most prominent and common question is, “Where can you protest”? The answer is a fairly simple one, anywhere you need to as long as you’re following things such as traffic laws, and leave enough space for others to pass by.

The second right granted by this amendment is freedom of speech. Despite the name, there are limitations as to what you’re allowed to say. Most of these limitations, at least to me, seem reasonable.

The first of these limitations is something known as slander (in writing this is known as libel). Slander is defined as “…defamation, in which someone tells one or more persons an untruth about another, which untruth will harm the reputation of the person defamed.” 

The next limitation posed is one of safety. Direct threats, which pertain to one’s safety, are essentially illegal. If you make a threatening statement towards someone, you can be fined and arrested for such. A threat is defined as: “A declaration of one’s purpose or intention to work injury to the person, property, or rights of another.” Some examples of this may include threatening to kill or injure someone, threatening to burn someone’s house down, or threatening to silence them for speaking against them.

This amendment exists to keep the American definition of freedom alive; they exist to protect you from having your privacy invaded, create a definition of freedom, and to avoid conviction for exercising those freedoms.

There are plenty of amendments to cover, this is just one of several. Understanding these are key to knowing your rights as an American, so to learn about this is essential.

For more information, please visit:

Science/Nature

Poaching of rhinos

Leave a comment

By: Mila Hart

Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting of wild animals. This has been an issue all over the world for hundreds of years. It was in the late middle ages that poaching officially became illegal and a punishable offense.

More than half of the world’s poaching occurs in Africa. This is because Africa is home to a large variety of rare animals. The countries with the most poaching are Zimbabwe and Kenya.

The main animals that are affected by poaching in Sub-Saharan Africa are white and black rhinoceros, African elephants, and lions but the list goes on and on.

Rhinos are poached for their horns. In recent years the poaching for rhino horns has increased because the demand for them has skyrocketed in Vietnam. The Rhino horns are extremely valuable and can be sold on the black market for upwards of half a million US dollars. Rhino horns can be used in medicine but they are mainly purchased as a symbol of wealth.

In 2004, 12 rhinos were poached in South Africa but because of the increase in demand nearly 1,000 rhinos in South Africa were poached in 2013. The population of black rhinos was estimated to be about 100,000 in 1960. Since then there has been a significant decrease and now the population is around 5,000. One of the main causes of this decline is poaching.

Over the years, conservationists have developed methods on how they can help protect rhinos from poachers. When it comes down to it, when the horn is left on the rhino the chances of it being killed are much greater than if the horn is removed. This has led conservationists to safely remove the horns themselves.

Rhino horns are made up of keratin, the same thing your nails and hair are made up of. When poachers cut off the horns they try to get as much of it as possible; to do so they cut off part of the rhino’s face as well. Because of this rhinos are left with dismembered faces and could very easily die if not rescued in time.

The process of safely removing a rhino horn begins by tranquilizing a rhino from a helicopter and tracking it until it is sedated. Once on the ground, the conservationists will cut the rhino’s horn off safely above the growth plate. This leaves a stump that will grow back in two to three years. Because rhinos live with no natural predators, living without the horn would not make them more vulnerable in the wild. Conservationists at Vetpaw say that if they weren’t taking action now then both elephants and rhinos would be extinct in the next ten years.

Editorials/Student Voice

Pros and cons of school uniforms

Leave a comment

By: Isaac Lund

Throughout my many years of education, I’ve gone to schools with uniforms and to ones without them. Like me, many schools struggle to decide which option is best, with some schools completely switching policies over recent years. The Cleveland and Akron school districts in Ohio dropped uniforms for the 2021-22 school year, while schools in Hawthorne, California have recently implemented uniforms.

The majority of parents and teachers support uniforms, based on a poll taken by uniform manufacturer Land’s End. School uniforms help students stay focused on education rather than clothing, and increase timeliness in the mornings, with only one outfit to choose from. A study conducted in Texas shows that they can also increase school pride and community spirit. Furthermore, school uniforms often reduce bullying by leveling the playing field surrounding clothing, especially in schools with multiple socio-economic groups. Uniform policies also don’t completely eliminate individuality, as many policies still allow for unique accessories such as shoes, nail polish, and jewelry.

On the other hand, students tend to push for the elimination of uniforms. A study conducted at the University of Nevada at Reno found that between 80% and 90% of seventh and eighth grade public school students oppose uniforms. Uniforms restrict students’ freedom of expression, and encourage conformity instead of individuality. Uniforms can also hurt students’ self-image. Without the option of picking outfits fitted to one’s body type, many students may feel extra embarrassment at school. Of course, uniforms also create an extra expenditure for parents, which is especially noticeable in districts where school is otherwise free. Finally, many schools with uniforms tend to focus energy on enforcing uniform policies, instead of looking for more pressing problems.

So, uniforms of no? Both options have their fair share of upsides and downsides, and neither is truly superior. What it really comes down to is that different schools have different needs, and a uniform policy helps some schools meet these needs better than others.

Books/Art

Rhythm 0: Risking your life for performance art

Leave a comment

By: Annika: Getz

*Note, this article may have material that could trigger individuals (violence against women), therefore, we present a trigger warning here.

Performance art is a style of art which was created and developed throughout the 20th century. The idea is that rather than a painting or a sculpture or something of that nature, the art is a live performance done by the artist.

Marina Abramović is a performance artist who did most of her work in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Most of her work puts her in very dangerous situations, and ends with her being cut, burned, starved, or some other form of harm being inflicted on her physical being.

Her career began with the ‘Rhythm’ pieces, ‘Rhythm 10’ (1973) involved her playing a Russian knife game, and cutting her fingers repeatedly. A year later ‘Rhythm 5’ followed, where she layed in the middle of a burning star, until she eventually lost consciousness, and had to be taken out of the performance. She remarked later about being angry with the results of the performance, saying “I was very angry because I understood there is a physical limit. When you lose consciousness you can’t be present, you can’t perform.” In the same year she performed ‘Rhythm 4’ and ‘Rhythm 2’ where she invoked her own unconsciousness in a way which would not interrupt the performance.

Still in 1974, Abramović performed her final piece in the ‘Rhythm’ series. ‘Rhythm 0’. In this performance, Abramović placed 72 objects on a table, and invited the audience to do whatever they’d like to with her and the objects. She left written instructions which read “There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired. I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.” For six hours Abramović remained completely passive, not moving, or speaking.

Some of the objects were ordinary, everyday objects. A hat, soap, cake, a rose. Some of the objects however, were less tame. A knife, scissors, a gun, a bullet. Abramović took the ultimate risk, knowing that if the audience wanted to kill her, they could. She said later that she was fully ready to die in the performance, and counted herself lucky for coming out alive.

For a little while, at first, the public remained calm, they put a rose in her hand, fed her the cake, kissed her cheek, etc. However, as the night went on, the audience became more aggressive.

They at one point used the scissors to cut off her clothing. They placed her on the table and stabbed the knife between her thighs. The artist recounts someone even cutting her near her neck and drinking her blood, then covering the wound with plaster from the table. She also remembers that at one point, the gun was put in her hand, and later even pointed at her head.

Abramović recounts the night as being almost six hours of pure horror. At the end of the six hours, when the performance was over, she began walking towards the audience, covered in blood and tears, and the people ran away from her. It was as though the public realized that it had been a real, living person who they’d been torturing for hours, and they couldn’t face her.

This remains to me, one of Abramović’s most important works. Showcasing the sadistic nature of people when given the chance to hurt others without repercussion. There were probably people there who went without the intention of hurting the artist, but once put in the environment, found themselves doing just that. I think the psychological aspects of the performance similarly mirror those of the Stanford Prison Experiment, an experiment done by the psychology students at Stanford in the 70s. Through a hyper-realistic prison simulation, with college students playing the parts of guards and prisoners, they found that perfectly normal people became cruel when put in positions of power where they were given the chance to do so.

I think it speaks to our human nature, that these people became so sadistic in such a short time. The issue was that they didn’t see Abramović as a human being during this time, and so they felt they could treat her however they wanted to. The moral of the story is really just to treat everyone with the basic human decency that we all deserve.

For more information please visit:

Movies/TV/Theaters

What happened at Astroworld?

Leave a comment

By: Sarah VonBerge

“I realized people were dying”, said one concert goer after the Astroworld festival while being interviewed by CNN. What was supposed to be a weekend full of music and fun, quickly turned and became the deadliest concert since 1979, on the night of November 5, 2021.

Astroworld is a music festival founded by Travis Scott and was first held in November of 2018. It consists of 2 main stages where many different artists from all different music genres preform.

On November 5th, 2021, around 9 pm, Travis Scott began his main set. There were an estimated 50,000 people attending. Around 9:30 pm, Scott brought Drake on stage, which caused the crowd to surge forward. Everyone became crushed and those who lost their balance were trampled. Scott looked at his audience confused as he watched an ambulance with its lights on drive through the crowd and then continued to perform.

The crowd was so packed that some people began suffocating and others got heat stroke. Since everyone was so crowded, the paramedics were not able to get to those who needed help, so unconscious bodies were crowd surfed in an attempt to get them to the paramedics. Attendees who were in pain themselves had to help others since no one could get in or out of the crowd.

Scott continued performing as he stared at the fans in distress below. It got to the point where fans started chanting “Stop the show,” but he still continued to perform. One fan even climbed onto the stage to tell the cameraman that people were hurt and that he needed to find a way to get the show to stop and he told them to get off.

Hundreds of people were treated on scene, 8 were pronounced dead on scene, and 25 others were taken to the hospital, 5 of which were under 18. Those pronounced dead on scene were: Danish Baig, 27; Rudy Peña, 23; Madison Dubiski, 23; Franco Patiño, 21; Jacob Jurinke, 20; John Hilgert, 14; Axel Acosta Avila, 21.

Brianna Rodriguez, 16; Bharti Shahani, 22; and Ezra Blount, 9, were pronounced dead after they died in the hospital while in medically induced comas.

Laws and policies are put in place where organizers, promoters, and performers need to stop a show if they see even 1 person in danger. Thousands were in danger, crushed together, telling Scott to stop the performance, passing out and begging to be let out of the crowd by security, but the show continued. In the past, Scott has been known to put on extremely intense and dangerous concerts.

As of November 20, 2021, $2.75 billion worth of lawsuits from 177 victims have been filed against Travis Scott.

For more information, please visit:

Editorials/Student Voice

Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

Leave a comment

By: Marcus Lund

Why can’t I vote? This question has plagued many of my politically interested peers recently, especially as our political climate has begun affecting us more. Because policies affect us just as much as someone 2 years older, why shouldn’t we be able to vote on them?

Firstly, one study found that 16-year-olds are just as civically knowledgeable as older voters, especially 18-year-olds. The study found that on “measures of civic knowledge, political skills, political efficacy, and tolerance”, 16-year-olds scored much the same. Other social scientists also claim that 16-year-olds have well established “cold-cognition” skills, which are used to make hard decisions like those needed in voting.

Another pro to lowering of the voting age is the inevitable higher voter turnout. Not only would it add a higher population to the available voters, but it would also propagate lifelong voting habits. With more young voters, a “trickle up” effect could also occur, with those voters’ parents and guardians also going out to vote.

Lowering the voter age also comes with a set of undeniable cons. The first is general maturity. With two less years of knowledge and experience, many experts argue that 16-year-olds will be unequipped to make the correct decisions when voting. Younger voters’ lack of maturity also comes with a higher capacity to be influenced by others, which makes them less likely to make decisions not influenced by outside voices.

Adding to the arguments against the lowering of the voting age includes the fact that voters aged 18-19 have extremely low voter turnout. Only 15% of those eligible in that age group voted in the 2014 election. This suggests that young voters are not ready to vote until later in life.

Lowering the voting age, while an interesting proposal, has both positive and negative aspects. As young people continue to push for it, I wonder what the government will decide on the matter.

For more information, please visit:

  • “American Sixteen- and Seventeen-Year-Olds Are Ready to Vote” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
  • “Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16” Nytimes.com
  • “Trickle Up Political Socialization: The Impact of Kids Voting USA on Voter Turnout in Kansas” State Politics and Policy Quarterly
  • “Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2014: Reported Voting and Registration, by Sex and Single Years of Age: November 2014” Census.gov
Volleyball

Highland Park vs. Monticello Volleyball

Leave a comment

By: Mary Koch

The final game for the 2021 volleyball season at Highland was on Friday 11/12 at the Xcel Energy Center.

The team played for 5th place against Monticello High School in the AAA consolation semifinal. The game was close, but Monticello won in the fifth set.

Outside, Kiyomi Callahan, one of the team captains, had the most kills at 19, and the team had 41 kills, 189 attempts, and 39 errors. Monticello had 47 kills, 181 attempts, and 31 errors.

Highland had 4 service aces and 4 errors, and Monticello had 11 aces and 9 errors. Bella Kottke had 3 solo blocks, and Kiyomi had 1. Highland had 3 block errors and 4 assist blocks. Monticello had 6 solo blocks and 2 errors.

The game went better than their game on Wednesday 11/10, against Marshall where they lost 3-0. The team’s defense was struggling which made it hard to get a good kill.

The coach said that the team played better and with more energy, and it was a close game.

Highland won the first set 25-18, but they lost 25-22 in the second. Monticello won again 25-15 in the third game, and Highland won 25-20 in the fourth set. Monticello broke the tie in the fifth set winning 15-8.

On Monticello, Peyton Konz had the most kills at 12, and Natalie Emmerich had 11. Highland had 99 total digs, and Monticello had 92.

One student said, “Highland did a good job moving on from the last game and playing well.”

A player on the team said, “We fought hard and played some of our best volleyball, but in the end fell short. It was an amazing, history making season since we haven’t been to state since 1977 and I wouldn’t want to do it on a team with anyone else.”

The team ended up 8th in state for their first time at state since 1977. The season overall went really well. Both captains, Kiyomi Callahan and Azeria Stagg, graduate this year along with Joleene Acon, Delaney Sis, and Alysa Monteagudo.

Football

Vikings vs Packers recap

Leave a comment

By: Musab Mohamud

In another nail biting affair the Minnesota Vikings have squeezed out another close victory. In true Vikings’ fashion it took a game ending rally to finally finish off the Aaron Rodgers led Packers.

Rodgers had another game where he continued to fuel his MVP candidacy, but his attempts proved futile and he was outshone by the budding superstar Justin Jefferson who hauled in 8 catches for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns. The young receiver was a scourge to the opposing secondary and continued to torch anyone who lined up across from him.

Jaire Alexander’s absence was sorely felt with Kirk Cousins seeming to complete passes at will. 

A long-standing rivalry between these 2 teams has resulted in some truly incredible games, and this one was no different. With both teams combining for 65 points and 911 yards, and another surprisingly good performance by a coaching staff who have been lackluster at times throughout the season.

During some games this season, the play calling has been downright pathetic, with many fans calling for Zimmer to be fired. His continued insistence on running the ball, even though he has such a star-studded receiver corps, has turned much of the fanbase on him. Continued last gasp wins are unsustainable, shown by the Vikings losing many close games throughout the season.

However, there are glimpses of hope within, with the emergence of many young stars and a multitude of draft picks in the coming draft, the Vikings are set up for success.

Continued success from last week’s impressive performance against the Los Angeles Chargers has some Vikings fans hoping for a deep playoff run. One hopeful Vikings fan says, “It’s very doable, Captain Kirk can take us to the promised land.”

Many others are hoping the inevitable close game losses are a thing of the past. With a hot and cold 49ers team on the horizon, the Vikings can hope to finally break the .500 mark. The 49ers hold the same record as the Vikings and are coming off a victory over the Super Bowl contending Rams, and the bottom of the barrel Jaguars. With a potent offense on both sides the game is shaping up to be another thriller. With a make or break attitude and a very volatile game plan, this game is supremely important to the Vikings.