By 2050, there will be approximately 3.6 million people in the United States missing a limb. According to www.pewsocialtrends.org, the American population will be approximately 438 million. After doing a bit of quick math, I calculated that about 0.8% of our population will be missing either an arm or a leg.

But what is it like to be missing a limb, specifically an arm? I wanted to find out. I’ve had a passing interest in the idea of having one arm, thanks to anime and TV, believe it or not. In Volume 3 for RWBY, Yang, one of the main characters, gets her arm cut off during a fight. In Season 2 of Attack on Titan, Erwin Smith loses his arm to a titan in one of the best scenes in that show. As for TV, in The Walking Dead, Merle, Hershel, and Aaron all either lose a hand or a leg.

So, with the inspiration of some of my favorite shows on my back, I decided to go armless for a day. To do this, I simply put my left arm in my shirt and pulled in my sleeve so I wouldn’t feel tempted to take it out. If any safety issues ever came up that required me to use two hands, I could simply just take off my hoodie.

The second I left the door on my way to school, I put my arm inside my shirt and was already noticing a problem. Having only one arm means the weight of my backpack wasn’t disturbed evenly, so my one arm got tired quickly. I found myself pushing the bottom of my backpack upwards so it could stay on longer, because I feared it might fall off.

During first period, I noticed the major problems most amputees face: everything is slower. Typing takes much more time, because I only had one arm to type with. This may go without saying, but I think it’s an often overlooked part of having one arm.

Here’s a fun challenge: try to find the commonality with the following sentences. 

• I had to ask people to zip up my backpack for me when class ended.
• Eating my lunch was much slower.
• I couldn’t play video games at all.

In case you forgot what you were reading, the commonality is that all of these sentences can be ended with, “because I only had one arm”. Anything from basic tasks like zipping my backpack to complex stuff like playing video games becomes nearly impossible.

For an example, let’s take a look at how lunch went for me. I had to open the front pocket of my backpack to grab my lunchbox. The coat I stuffed in there earlier was also there, so I had to remove that before I could grab my lunchbox. When I got my lunchbox out, I tried to put the jacket back in the backpack, but it kept falling over. I ended up using my feet to prop it up so I could fit in the jacket. Even so, I couldn’t zip my backpack, so I just had to wait for a friend to do it at lunch.

I’ve practiced eating with one hand before, so besides the fact that I couldn’t hold my cup of lemon pudding down while I ate, I was basically OK. However, that’s not the main challenge I faced.

My friend brought his Nintendo Switch to school that day so we could play Super Smash Bros: Ultimate during lunch. I forgot to inform him that I would only have one arm that day. Anyways, I ended up playing a round, and needless to say, I didn’t do very well. I figured the best way to play was to hold it like you do when the Joy Cons are split, so you hold it vertically. This means that you would have to switch which way the control stick moves the character in settings, so it’s conceivable that this would be a valid way for a one armed person to play the game, although still at a disadvantage. I didn’t have the opportunity to switch the way the stick moved, so I ended up losing the match badly.

Because video games make up an embarrassing amount of my free time, this made me think about what opportunities are taken away from people missing limbs. One armed people are limited to the most basic of mobile games that only require tapping or swiping, meaning one of my favorite pastimes would be gone if I ever lost an arm. 

You know how I talked about how even basic stuff takes a lot of time with only one arm? Well, I really noticed that during 5th period, which for me was Beginning Drawing. We were working on our perspective summative, which involves drawing lines from a ruler to a specific point. Normally, you use one arm to hold the ruler steady and another to draw the line, and you can already see my dilemma. I ended up having to adjust the ruler where I wanted it, setting it down, putting my iPad on it to act as a weight while hoping it didn’t mess up the ruler, and then drawing a line. The entire process took at least 5 times longer at least.

One thing I wasn’t able to emulate that many amputees face is discrimination of any sort. Whether it be weird looks or being told outright that I wasn’t normal, I never experienced any of it. Even if you’ve never met me before, it’s obvious that I have two arms, even if one of them is in my hoodie. Whenever a friend or a teacher asked why I was only using one arm, I explained that it was for journalism class and they didn’t really ask beyond that. At worst, they silently judged me for my weird life choices.

Before I end this article, I quickly want to address how Amputees are viewed in popular culture. Earlier, I mentioned how in the show RWBY, a character by the name of Yang Xiao Long loses her arm in a fight. It’s a common fact that people tend to relate to people like them, so having a character with one arm can resonate with fans who maybe went through the experience of losing a limb, or people who were born without a certain limb to begin with.

However, I feel like this character moment falls flat on its face just a few episodes later. While losing her arm does play into her character development, making her more cautious instead of headstrong, the fact that she loses an arm at all is stupid, considering she gets a highly advanced robot arm just a few episodes later. 

Now, I know prosthetic arms are a real thing, and they are quickly becoming more and more usable, but not to the extent shown by Yang’s robot arm in RWBY. It’s hard to relate to a character that has a cybernetically enhanced arm. RWBY is a show that revolves around a lot of hand to hand combat, so maybe the writers felt too restrained with her just having one arm, or maybe they just thought a robot arm would be cool. Either way, I find it kind of lazy, because even if robot arms are a technology in the RWBY universe, that doesn’t mean you have to use it. Besides, there are plenty of ways the fights in the show could become more creative with one of the characters only having one arm. 

So, in conclusion, it sucks having one arm. Of course, my experience of having one arm is limited, and I’m sure people get used to it over time, but still, spare a thought for the people who don’t have an arm or leg. Thanksgiving is coming up soon, that would be a perfect time to give thanks for what you take for granted.

I’m sure every student has, or will at one point, encounter a teacher that will only give out a limited number of bathroom passes for the quarter or semester. They may give out so few bathroom passes that even with your best attempts to not use the bathroom during that class you would be unable to avoid running out.

But why do teachers choose to enact such regulations?

I spoke with two teachers on why they choose to give out limited bathroom passes and their answers were rather similar. They want students to remain in class and focus on the material.

One of the teachers, when she had not had this rule, had too many students missing too much class time and felt it was likely they were goofing off in the bathroom.

Both teachers believe the number of passes they give out is sufficient so if it actually is an emergency they’ll be able to go, and that passing time, or the amount of time they will give them at the beginning of class (one teacher gives their students an extra 5 minutes at the beginning of class to use the bathroom), is enough.

One of the teachers also made the point as due to the new cellphone policy it is more likely that students will go to the bathroom just to use their phone.

They say these regulations have been working to accomplish their goals. Students are spending much more time in class and without having to manage what kids are in the bathroom or who is going next, class seems to run much smoother.

They say that each teacher runs their class a certain way and knows what is best for it, but if they are having problems with students using the bathroom, this is a solution for them.

However, the students I interviewed seemed to have some different ideas than the teachers. 8 out of 9 of them said that they did not support teachers giving out a limited number of bathroom passes. A majority of them did say there might be ways for the policy to be changed enough for them to support it though. 

Most of them also said that while it depends on the class, passing time is not enough to use the bathroom, unlike what the teachers believe.

7 out of 9 of them said that it did not help students pay attention in class, as if they need to use the restroom, but are unable to, they would not be able to pay attention.

So, while teachers who implement this rule think it is good and helps students pay attention, students seem to be of the opposite opinion.

By: Vivian S.

Listen, many people have cats, as they are one of the most common pets; however, in this article, I will prove to you that my cat is better than yours.

First of all, I have three cats, so I will be combining them all into one, to talk about all their best qualities. And yes, I know that seems slightly unfair, but when you have multiple cats, they all feel just like one embodiment of the meaning of cat. And if you do not have more than one cat to spend all your time on, what are you doing with your life?

To begin, my cat has the softest, best fur to pet. It’s short and slightly fluffy, and so, so soft. You could stand around petting any one of my cats for an hour and not even notice the time passing.

My cat also has the best purr, and we all know that cat purrs are essential to life. As you pet her, you can feel the vibration of the purr. In that moment, you truly understand peace, serenity, and paradise.

My cat has the fluffiest tail. I don’t know why I’m including the tail as a positive trait, considering the cat constantly knocks things over with her tail and seems to have no control over it, but it is also very fluffy. You wish your cat had as fluffy a tail as my cat.

My cat also curls up on my bed under my blankets. She will curl up into a ball, sometimes with a paw covering her head, and sleep. You have never known true fear until you have begun getting into bed and realize that you almost sat on the cat hidden beneath the blankets. And you have never known the heights of adorableness until you realize how cute they look peeking out from the covers.

My cat also sits on my lap when I watch television, which is the best time to have a cat with you. We will stare at the TV together in silence and dream together of taking over the world.

There is also one big advantage to having multiple cats, and that is seeing them curled up together. While it is rare to see the cats near one another, occasionally you will find two of them curled up side by side on a bed, and it is a sight that can’t be explained in words.

In conclusion, my cat is the best cat, and you wish that you had her. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go clean up cat poop.

When you think America, one of the first images that pops into your head is a majestic bald eagle, as it is heavily advertised as the “all American bird,” and is seen on countless articles of patriotic merchandise. But, what if it changed? It would probably never happen, but here’s why it should.

First off, how many countries already have an eagle as their national animal? Well, a lot more than you’d think. According to animalsake.com, here’s a list of every single other country that uses some kind of eagle as one of their national animals:

I dunno, me personally, I think America could use something more unique, more unlike the rest, something that really encompasses what America is, and what it’s all about.

Well, Benjamin Franklin had a pretty good idea, according to history.com, Benjamin Franklin proposed that: as the turkey is a greater “bird of courage” and more “truly American” it should replace the current national animal. And frankly, I agree.

The bald eagle, also isn’t exactly native to America, as it can be seen soaring over many parts of Canada, and bits of Mexico, while the turkey almost exclusively resides within the U.S. of A.

And we don’t even celebrate the bald eagle! Now, if only there was a holiday where we celebrated the greatness of our national animal, or even had a tradition where the president pardons that said animal. Maybe we could call it “Thanksgiving!”

I mean, the pins are all already in a row here. It’s almost meant to be at this point. And I know what you might be thinking, what kind of country eats their national animal? Well, Australia eats kangaroo steaks, so it’s not that out of the ordinary.

So, anyway, that’s why I think we should ditch the eagle, and get with the turkey for our great national animal of the United States.