Category Archives: Editorials/Student Voice

Editor’s Note: The Plaid Line publishes editorials that contain opinions that are those of the student authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the the Plaid Line, HPSH, or its staff.

Editorials/Student Voice, Science/Nature

The Willow Project

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By: Lauren Kottke & Ella Sutherland

Climate change seems to be the problem in the world that is growing bigger every year. Every couple of months and years a new problem emerges surrounding the topic of climate change. Water levels are rising, species of different animals are going extinct, the ozone layer is heating up, and the trash in the ocean is growing by the second. And it doesn’t seem like the problem is going to be fixed anytime soon. The new environment talk is about The Willow Project.

The Willow Project is an oil drilling venture which was just passed by the Biden administration. Oil drilling is a very wealthy business in the United States and across the world. Oil is necessary for everyday life like heating buildings and creating electricity, but the downside of oil drilling is that it severely damages our planet. It releases toxic gasses into the atmosphere and oftentimes chemicals are disposed of into water. Oil spills aren’t uncommon for oil drilling sites, and are very damaging. They hurt the environment and animals in that area.

The project had been an issue in the White House for months with much debate. The Biden administration did not necessarily want to pass the project, but had no choice. Conoco, the company leading The Willow Project, already had existing leases on the land. Also, the project was already approved by the Trump administration back in 2020 which made it harder for them to deny Conoco.

This whole project will take up to 30 years, with a total cost of $8 billion dollars. Originally, Conoco wanted to build five oil drilling sites, but the Biden administration negotiated for three sites. Even still, with two less sites, Conoco will be able to retrieve 90% of the oil.

Although the project was approved, it might not mean that they can start construction right away. There are many groups trying to stop the project from proceeding. One in particular is EarthJustice, who have filed a complaint against the company. The goal for them is to get an injunction which then will put the project on hold. This is very important because if they can stop the project for now, they can stop it for a year. The timing of building the oil sites is crucial because of the seasons in Alaska. Winter is expected to be done by mid April. And that is the perfect time for Conoco to start construction.

Another reason why the Willow Project is not a very positive thing is the environmental side effects. It can speed up global warming as well as severely alter many animal’s habitats and migration patterns. Just a few of the species that would be greatly affected by this project are the Teshekpuk caribou herd, polar bears, and migratory birds.

With all this being said there are a couple positives to this project. First off, this project would need many people working on it and would provide almost 2,500 jobs for people in construction, as well as around 300 long-term jobs.

Secondly, it would help Alaska’s economy and tax revenues. Willow could provide up to 10 billion dollars when all is finished.

Overall, the cons weigh out the pros by quite a bit and the Willow Project will do more harm than good. This project has many side effects and in our opinion this should never have been approved.

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Editorials/Student Voice, National

Tennessee passes bill that limits marriage equality

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B:y Mya Olson – Williams

In early March, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a new bill that allows a person to refuse to conduct a marriage based on their religious and personal beliefs. This bill was presented by Representative Monty Fritts (R – Kingston).

Many believe that this law will make things easier for officiants to discriminate against same-sex, interracial, LGBTQ+, and interfaith (people of different religions) couples.

According to theamm.org, these are the exact words written in House Bill 878:

“(m) A person shall not be required to solemnize a marriage if the person has an objection to solemnizing the marriage based on the person’s conscience or religious beliefs.”

There was already a law in place seeming pretty similar, but this one lets people refuse on any grounds.

Tennessee is not stopping here. They are moving to block online ordained ministers from conducting weddings. If that becomes the case, it would make it almost impossible for any interracial, same-sex, LGBTQ+, or interfaith couples to get married in the state of Tennessee.

Monty Fritts denied the fact that this bill would only allow refusal of solemnizing same-sex marriages. He believes that there’s a drive to attack “civil liberties and rights”.

There are other states going through very similar things as well. Currently there are laws in place in the states of Kansas, North Carolina, Mississippi, and there could be more coming in the near future.

Unfortunately, the Respect for Marriage Act, put in place in December of 2022, does not protect anyone in those few states. Same-sex couples (married or not) can still live in these places, but they can no longer get married there.

It’s commonly said that we are going backwards in time. There’s so much wrong with these laws, and many are convinced that this inequality will not stop here, but only get worse.

Editorials/Student Voice

Religion isn’t an excuse

By: Julia Yang

Before I continue with this article, I would like to say that this article is written for my opinion on this matter, nothing is factual and you don’t have to agree. This article is not meant to offend anyone, I respect all religions and believe everyone has their own rights to believe in what they want to. But everyone has different opinions on this, and this article is mine.

This article is on how I don’t believe that religion should be an excuse for bad or rude behavior.

Let’s talk sexual orientation. There are a ton of religious people that heavily dislike people who aren’t straight. They believe that it’s wrong and isn’t humanly right. I think that’s dumb. Why should your religion be a good reason for you being homophobic? Things like sending children to institutions to try and convert them into being straight, is that religion too? You can’t convert someone’s sexual orientation. They love who they love, and no one can change that.

People that practice religions with God(s) might say they can hear the God(s) talking to them, I personally don’t mind that. You can believe what you want to believe, but you cross my line when you say God(s) told you to do something horrible. I’ve seen people kill their own children just because their God(s) told them to. That’s murder and there’s no excuse for that.

I have also seen that peoples’ excuse for racism is religion as well. Honestly, I can’t believe we live in a world where racism, homophobia, abilism, and murder is excused for religion. So basically, in someone’s world, that’s all okay. When is any of that ever or okay in any circumstance?

There are loads of religious people who aren’t like this, in fact, the majority aren’t like this. But the few people who are like this are giving religious people a bad rap.

Editorials/Student Voice, Events

Women’s History Month

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By: Lauren Kottke & Ella Sutherland

Women’s history month is the month of March that is dedicated to women. It’s to honor the women that have been mistreated, pushed down, and suffered throughout history. It’s well known about the struggles that women have faced for hundreds of years. Up until the women’s suffrage movement, they couldn’t even vote. And before that, it wasn’t normalized for women to have a job or to be unmarried. Though much has changed, the world is still unsafe for women.

Women’s history month started in 1978. At first it was only a week-long celebration and was called “Women’s History Week’. It started in Santa Rosa California by the Education Task Force of Sonoma County Commission and the Status of Women. Women’s History Week was led by a teacher named Molly Murphy McGregor. During that week, Santa Rosa had presentations on women’s contributions to history, society and culture. After the Santa Rosa Women’s Week, it spread across the country. More and more states started to follow and celebrate Women’s Week.

Someone who helped start celebrating women was Gerda Lerner. She organized and chaired a 15-day conference on women’s history. Her conference had many different sponsors for the event. Women’s Action Alliance and the Smithsonian Institution were two of the many sponsors. This conference made more people push towards Women’s Month.

“Women’s history is a women’s right—an essential, indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long-range vision.”— Gerda Lerner

It wasn’t until 1980 that Women’s Week became a national celebration. In February of 1980, president Jimmy Carter declared March 2-8 as National Women’s History Week. After it was declared by the president, more issues started to be passed by the president. On August 4, 1981, president Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation that Women’s History Week would be celebrated with ceremonies and activities. People wanted there to be speakers, presentations, and parades.

Then, in 1987, congress passed a petition which made Women’s Week, Women’s Month. The petition was made by the National Women’s History Project. And after 1987 it became an annual celebration.

Now Women’s History Month is celebrated by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Other countries celebrate but at different times. For example, Canada celebrates Women’s Month during October. There is also International Women’s Day on March 8th.

Since Women’s History Month started, there have been things that have improved and some things that haven’t.

One of the things that have improved for women is the amount of women working in the government. This may not seem like a huge deal but it is. Women now have a say in laws that get passed, and are more likely to recognize women’s struggles.

Another way that things have improved for women is now many more countries are instigating laws to support the fight for gender equality. In the last 10 years, 131 countries have passed over 274 legal reforms in order to create more equality between genders. This is important for the futures of young girls and women.

One more way that things have improved for women is the percentage of young women and girls, that are attending school, has gone up hugely. As of today there are over 79 million more girls that are in school learning than there were in 1998.

There are still many issues that women face today like pay gaps, job security, gender based violence, and reproductive rights being taken away. We still have a long way to go before women can feel fully comfortable in the world we live in today, but from what we can tell we are making slow progress.

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Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

What is Securly?

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By: Tasha Cudinsky

What is Securly? Securly is the tool that the Saint Paul Public School System uses to restrict internet access. For years this system has just been used to restrict what things students can search and what websites we can visit. This year SPPS has changed how they use Securly.

Starting in fall of 2022, all parents and guardians of SPPS students started receiving weekly updates that showed them what their students had searched that week. Additionally, if parents download the Securly app they can view their students search history at any time that they want.

All parents or guardians of SPPS students were automatically signed up for the weekly Securly emails. According to the SPPS tech department, this system was implemented because of the requests of some parents, though it is not clear how many parents requested this.

When this system was implemented, all parents were sent an email explaining what Securly is, and encouraging parents to download their app to be able to view the search history at any time.

Students were not informed about the implementation of this system despite the fact that it is their search history that was being given to parents or guardians.

While parents and guardians having the ability to see their students search history may seem harmless, some groups have raised concerns about this new system. The concerns about this system are that not all students come from a safe and accepting home and may end up being harmed by this new system.

Abuse is not an easy topic to talk about, but it is something that happens, and we need to remember to watch out for those who are going through it. The concern with Securly is that an abusive parent or guardian might catch their student searching something along the lines of, “How do I escape an abusive situation?” Or looking into an abuse victim shelter. If a student ended up in this position, they could end up being put in danger because of a system that was put in place by their school, which was supposed to help them.

Despite the fact that concerns have been raised about how this new system may actually harm the students more than help them, little to nothing has been done to either inform the students, or protect those who are at risk. So far, there has been one announcement about Securly during advisory, and only in Highland Park Senior High, not the other SPPS schools. Other than this, there have been no notable changes with the Securly issue.

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Editorials/Student Voice, Getting To Know/History

HBCU Colleges

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By: Maya Breininger

As a junior, it is time to invest in possible colleges that will allow me to carry out my career.

As a black student, one thing hindering my educational experience has been the constant surrounding of students who don’t look like me. By the deduction that being immersed in similar cultures to my own would improve my academics, the colleges that I now apply to are mainly HBCU colleges.

First, in order to understand what HBCUs are, you must understand their history. People of color constantly deal with oppression and acts of judgment. Their communities, which are supposed to be uplifting and accepting, are cruel and derogatory. Their work environments, which are supposed to be creative and inclusive, barely meet the bare minimum of kindness, and the stigma still exists. HBCUs, or Historically Black Colleges and Universities, are safe harbors and communities where its members uplift and support each other.

HBCU colleges are forgiving with their grade acceptance, and turn those with low GPA scores into succeeding students of the world; ready to take hold of their education. They have many different categories of HBCUs, and they are spread all throughout the United States. The schools all offer different programs, they have multi-meaningful backgrounds, and they are built on the belief that everyone deserves a fair shot at genuine education.

After the deaths of both George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the application of African American students in HBCUs spiked. As the world seemed a divided place full of harm towards African Americans, they found peace of mind in HBCU colleges. There are many successful graduates from HBCUs, such as Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey, Wendy Robinson and many more.

HBCUs offer a kind space with a loving community of high-paced, go-getter students who know how to support each other. For this reason, I have chosen that the college I apply to will be a Historically Black College or University. And hopefully, this will inspire many other teens to do the same.

For more information, please visit these websites:

● https://www.essence.com/celebrity/celebs-who-graduated-hbcus-2/
● https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/a-guide-to-hbcus

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Day in the life of a high school student

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By: Caden Kipfmueller & Toby Martin-Kohls

Webster’s dictionary defines senoritis as: an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades. Senioritis is very real and affects at least one student at Highland Park Senior High annually. We chose to follow one such student around for a day and dive deep into the psyche of a slacker.

In order to minimize the time spent in school, this particular student has opted in for a late start. This option, as well as early release, are only available as an option for seniors.

Not only has he obtained a late start, he has managed to fit his class schedule into working for a double late start. This is a remarkable feat of laziness, and it should be appreciated largely because this is a decision that the counselors usually try to steer you away from taking. Somehow, the student we followed managed to convince the counselors to allow him to take this unique opportunity, although we have no clue how (potentially bribery?).

As the writers of this article are also seniors, we also want to note that the current Late Start/Early Release form only includes Period A1, B1, A4, and B4. So, this particular student took the time and energy to talk to the counselors about a course selection alteration to make his schedule easier for his last semester of high school.

After sleeping in well after 10am, this student arrives for his first class, which is Honors Band. This student plays the trumpet. They had a special guest give them a lesson. When interviewing this particular student about his thoughts and feelings about band class, he replied “Uh yeah… we suck.”

After his first class of the day, the student has first lunch. He opts to pack and bring lunch from home. His meal includes a singular slice of ham on two pieces of white bread. No cheese. Just ham. He also packed a brown, sad looking, once-green pear. Personally, I would have not touched that pear with a 10-foot stick. He then moves onto the next part of his meal. He has packed two protein bars. He ended up dropping one on the bacteria filled high school cafeteria table and still proceeded to eat it. What a way to support the elimination of food waste. Kudos to such an environmentally sustainable move!

When interviewed, this student said, “I enjoy lunch because I get to refuel my body for my last class of the day.” Such great words to hear if you are his Chinese teacher!

His last class of the day is IB Chinese. But wait! First, he needs to head to the CCRC (College and Career Readiness Center) to print out his almost late IB Physics IA. This is quite an important assignment, for those who don’t know, IA stands for Internal Assessment. We take a nice walking trip around the first floor, and as we get to the CCRC, he notices the red sign on the door noting that they are closed for advisory. He exclaims “!@#%! Hopefully the library is open?” I don’t say anything and let him ponder about his struggles. As a senior, it is surprising he doesn’t know how the school operates.

We make it to the library and log in on the slow computers. He struggles with getting to Google Docs, so I have to step in and help him navigate. After around 15 minutes in the library, he has his 4 page Physics IA. He quickly runs up to the third floor, only to find that Mrs. Hedwall’s door is closed. He knocks, and interrupts a class of juniors. The class is dead silent as he walks in and awkwardly hands his fresh off the printer IA. But, he’s managed to do the hardest thing of the day, getting his Physics IA in.

Our student walks in late, but the teacher does not seem to care. When prompted by the reporter about his tardiness, the student replied “I don’t care.” His class is preparing for the IB Chinese exams. His class was rowdy and energetic, but ultimately focused. Our student talks in Chinese sentences about the family in a picture, showing off his multilingual abilities.

Our subject is not perfect, however. The teacher asks him a question and he struggles to answer for a second before replying in Chinese. This response is met with laughter, though this humble reporter is not fluent in the language and thus does not understand the joke he made. At the end of the class, our student asks for clarification on the homework. His teacher makes a joke about how he wants to do two assignments instead of one.

The day ends, and our student is ready to go home after a long, tiring day at school. One of our reporters asked him about the latest history assignment on WWII, and our student revealed himself to be pro nuclear bombs. What an awesome day at school!

It should be noted that this article is 2 weeks late, showing that senoritis truly affects everyone.

Editorials/Student Voice, National

Amazons underperformance on its drone program

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By: Joseph Nelson

It’s been almost ten years since Jeff Bezos announced Amazon’s drone delivery program, but we still haven’t seen any sign of commercial delivery to homes. In fact, Amazon has only made 10 successful deliveries between the two states of Texas and California. Now, why is that number so low and where are our drones?

Now, Amazon isn’t trying to at all hide their underperformance as Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti doesn’t deny any of the numbers brought to her in an email from The Verge. But those numbers aren’t completely Amazon’s fault as there is a bigger factor in play than just Amazon, it’s also the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) stating to Amazon that the pilots cannot fly over roads without a pilot or a third party present. That means that the unmanned drones need to be supervised if the drone were to go over any type of road which brings a bigger challenge to the future of drone delivery.

But, this all seems odd right? I mean, we are again almost ten years from the first announcement of the program and now we are still trying to cross the street? The very future of air delivery is being held up by the laws of the roads.

It feels as though the battle between the FAA and Amazon is going at a snail’s pace. In fact, Amazon just last November, got the green light to fly its drones outside of sparsely populated areas. The drones couldn’t fly within one-hundred feet of buildings, and the requirement of drone pilots being required to have a piloting license to fly a plane, just so they can fly a drone, has completely hindered Amazon’s pilot count. Which hurts a lot when you need more than six pilots to fly just one drone.

But these training wheels the FAA put on Amazon might not be completely a bad thing, as of February 1st, there have been five drone crashes on Amazon testing sites. One of these crashes caused a twenty-five acre forest fire on the site.

But Amazon isn’t backing down from the fight whatsoever, they are pushing the FAA every day to get their drones up in the sky and deliver packages to your doorstep. As of the start of February, the FAA had approved more flight areas in Texas and California.

So, as to answer the question on where are our drones? Well, they are being held up by air laws but I still believe that we should see them in the coming years.

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Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

AI-Generated art: What it is and why it’s harmful

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By: Bijou Kruszka

Artificial intelligence: a concept that was previously confined to the realm of science fiction. Now, with the rise of programs like ChatGPT, it’s more of a reality than ever before. But what does it have to do with art, and the future of artists everywhere? A lot more than you’d think.

AI art generators are websites that, as their
name would suggest, generate art from simple prompts.
It has the user input a word or short phrase. Then, using
specific algorithms, it analyzes thousands of images and takes elements from each, creating a new “original” image. This process typically lasts about 5 minutes. From broad concepts to ultra-specific characters, AI art can tackle it all. While typically better at abstract landscapes than portraits, some of these outputs are shockingly good. Now, this technology is becoming more readily available.

While AI art generators have technically been in existence for years, they have really risen in popularity recently. With social media trends using AI art generator websites like Wombo Dream and Craiyon, AI-generated art is something that is now much more in the public consciousness. According to Google Trends, interest in the phrase “ai art” significantly spiked in December. Before, it was relatively obscure. Now, it seems everyone has tried these websites themselves. However, its newfound popularity has also created a lot of controversies.

While there is something to be celebrated in this progression of technology, there is also something to be worried about. When artificial intelligence can create art in a range of styles in a very short amount of time, where does that leave humans?

Why pay a human a large sum of money for something that takes hours of hard work when you could just type what you want into a generator online and have it produced 5 minutes later? The human artists were also the ones to create the art that is being analyzed by these robots, but they are given no credit in the final product, nor are they compensated for their art being used. They are stealing from artists, jumbling their pieces together, and trying to claim that it is original.

While the technology has its flaws, often not being able to produce a normal-looking hand or face, it still is dangerous for human artists, especially when these programs improve further. These generators are stealing content and endangering the jobs of all human artists, and will continue to do as it improves its algorithmic skills.

To combat the rising popularity of AI art generators, many artists online have risen. The #NoToAI tag is full of human artists discussing these issues and boycotting the generators, asking others to do the same. By protesting these websites, there is a possibility for change.

So, if you need art and are considering using artificial intelligence, reconsider and commission a human instead.

Editorials/Student Voice, World

Italy’s second rise to fascism

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By: Charlie Boone

In the spring of 1919, a group of Italian nationalists, including Benito Mussolini, burnt down the offices of a local socialist newspaper called ‘L’Avanti!’, killing four people, and halting production of the paper for several days. This was the first of many attacks on left-wing institutions from the fascist movement. This violence, often helped by colluding nationalist law enforcement, would grow the influence of paramilitary fascist groups, eventually culminating in Mussolini gaining power in 1922.

Almost exactly 100 years after the first violent rise of fascism in Italy, it’s happening again. This time, draped in the aesthetics of modern neoliberal politics, while the actual message being sent is one of nationalism and white supremacy. The current figurehead of this movement is Giorgia Meloni, and she was elected prime minister of Italy on October 22, 2022.

The party she belongs to is called Fratelli d’Italia or “The Brothers of Italy”. They are a far-right neofascist political party and by far the most extreme to govern the country since Mussolini’s dictatorship. The fact that this is Italy’s first woman prime minister is also no coincidence. Far-right movements have had a lengthy history of picking select white women as figureheads to forward patriarchal and regressive ideas through the thin veil of progress.

Aesthetics have always been intertwined with fascism and other far-right movements. Historically, as an intense focus on uniform and conveying power, strength, and purity; so much so that the wolf in sheep’s clothing approach that Meloni is using is working better than it ever should have.

In September of 2022, before Meloni was elected, Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying, “The election of the first woman prime minister in a country always represents a break with the past, and that is certainly a good thing,”. I don’t think that this means Clinton actually supports the hateful, racist, anti-immigrant politics that Meloni and her party are pushing for, but it’s this sort of attitude that dismisses the genuine harm that these ideas cause, opening the door wide open for another rise to fascism.

With Meloni’s administration already targeting journalists critical of her ideas, it seems clear that anything short of genuine condemnation simply isn’t enough.

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