Have you ever noticed how much professional athletes get paid compared to the average American doing manual labor? The highest paid American athlete in 2015 earned around $300 million dollars in 2015, meanwhile the minimum wage is $7.25. Minimum wage jobs like fast food cooks, cashiers and dishwashers are daily, hard working, manual labor jobs and the benefits usually aren’t great. Professional athletes like boxers, basketball players and football players do their job occasionally and get paid millions of dollars and the benefits are endless. 

I believe that this is quite a big problem. Workers who do hours of labor get paid very little and have to support themselves, and maybe even a family while earning just over $15,000 dollars annually. This seems quite unfair compared to athletes who have weekly games where they do their job and get paid millions for very little labor.

Now, I do understand that you have to be in excellent shape to be a professional athlete, and there are some risks while playing these sports, but it doesn’t seem fair that they are being paid millions of dollars when many manual labor jobs also include those risks. For example in order to be a quick and efficient waiter/waitress you do have to be in shape as well.

These jobs do require different skills and different types of hard work but the difference in the amount they get paid is far too large. Now, of course I do not think minimum wage jobs should earn millions of dollars but neither should professional athletes.

2016 has marked the second year in a row where the major nominees for the Oscars have been all white. Even President Obama has put his two cents into the conversation, “Are we making sure everyone gets a fair shot?”

But it isn’t just the lack of representation for African Americans. According to the LA times, it has been 54 years (since 1957) since a Latina person has won an Academy Award. However, white actors are being applauded when playing Latino and Asian characters.

But this isn’t a new issue. Ever since the film industry has started, it has been white dominated. Maybe people have been giving more attention to diversity in media recently because of the popularity Black Lives Matter has been given, and the resurgence of topics being brought to popular media because of social media. Obviously the hashtag #oscarssowhite has brought together many people with similar ideas to solidify what they want to see in the media. According to a study done on 18 top Hollywood companies done by NPR, 94% of the CEOS were white, and 100% were male. The overwhelming white dominance in the film industry both cuts away important stories that can be told through a minority’s perspective, but also takes away opportunities from talented people of color and LGBT people.

African Americans have been going against Hollywood by making their own films and TV networks. Although African Americans have made strides in diversity, African Americans have repeatedly been given stereotypical roles. Like being a maid or a slave.

Other minorities like Asians and Latinos have been given stereotypical roles as well. Asians are usually given roles that are related to being smart and not speaking English. Latinos are also treated like African Americans and Asians in that they often are portrayed as servants or people who can’t speak English.

LGBT members are rarely given diverse roles in popular film, they don’t go far from the flamboyant feminine gay men. Like roles in Modern Family and WIll and Grace. However more diverse LGBT roles are now being seen in popular series such as Orange is the New Black. 

Indigenous people are possibly the most stereotyped for example they are often portrayed as being “blood thirsty savages” and of being red face. Their plight has been gaining more attention due to the push by the Native community to change the logo of the Washington Redskins.

It’s important to have roles for minorities that aren’t just stereotypes. Dejra Bishop, a 15 year old sophomore at Highland Park Senior High, talks about diversity, “It feels good because I’m not just stereotyped as something bad. Black people can be good characters as well.”

Did it feel warmer than usual to you last year? Well you’re not the only one. 2015 has officially gone down as the warmest year on record since 1880 when they first started keeping track of global temperatures. Not only was 2015 the hottest year on record, it was also a part of a 39 year streak of above average temperatures. What’s the cause of these crazy numbers? According to the third U.S National Climate assessment “The global warming of the past 50 years is primarily due to human activities, predominantly the burning of fossil fuels.” The burning of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide and natural processes cannot fully absorb those gasses so the rest of it ends up going into the atmosphere. All of this has many harmful effects on ecosystems, biodiversity, and of course us humans.

In December, the 2015 United Nations Climate Change conference was held in Paris and the 195 participating countries agreed to a global pact named the Paris Agreement. These countries agreed to reduce emissions to try and reduce the greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere. This agreement is to be adopted through these countries’ legal systems and by doing so, they are then required to try to reduce their emissions. Many people have said that this is a big step to help the rising temperatures.

This may seem like a daunting task to many, but I believe that we already know the solution to these problems. Renewable energy resources like solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal energy are the greatest alternatives to burning fossil fuels. The earth does not have infinite amounts of fossil fuels, and burning them is just damaging our planet. Thankfully there are is an infinite amount of renewable energy resources and these will not damage the planet.

Another problem with fossil fuels is that  those sources are spread out and some countries don’t have any. Renewable sources can be found anywhere, and most countries have at least one.

Therefore, I believe that if the world would start to switch over to these renewable energy sources, and continue to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, global warming might slowly become something of the past.

In the United States there have been many cases of violence, specifically gun violence, including mass shootings. Statistics from articles on The Brady Campaign website state that in the United States, just in a year, an average of 108,000 people in America are shot in murders, assaults, suicides/suicide attempts, unintentional shootings, or by police intervention. According to the website Heeding God’s Call, the U.S. has more gun homicides annually, 10,000, than any other country.

The debate over gun control in the U.S. has been stirred up over the recent mass killings. What is gun control? Gun control is the government regulation of the manufacture, sale, and possession of fire arms.

Even with all the shootings in the U.S., many people are against gun control. According to Smartgunlaws.org people claim “that they need guns for protection or for their safety.”

Opponents of gun control laws argue that Americans have the right to bear arms. They say that gun control laws would prevent individuals from defending themselves and their property lawfully. They also support the rights of hunters, sport shooters, and recreational gunmen. One of the most common laws that these groups cite is the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This 27-word passage has the famous phrase “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The argument that gun control opponents make is that the right to own and use weapons is an undeniable personal freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.

Proponents of gun control believe that stronger gun laws can prevent the needless loss of life. Even individuals who support gun rights acknowledge that certain people should not be permitted to own guns. Current gun control laws prevent criminals, mentally ill individuals, and children from owning guns.

Unfortunately, there have been instances where young people and deranged gunmen have obtained weapons and used them to commit mass murders. Also, others argue that there are too many criminals that can still purchase a gun legally and then go and commit crimes.

Even though thee controversy of gun control has become a big issue recently, there will always be a debate regarding the issue of having guns, until they make laws that most people will agree on. This is something that will be very difficult to do however, since everyone will always have an opinion on whether they believe people should or shouldn’t be able to have guns.

I think gun control should be more heavily enforced, as more guns fall into the hands of the wrong people. I feel as though there is no need to carry an armed weapon, and there is just too much violence with guns. I also feel as though people don’t really use guns for protection purposes, instead they simply have them so that they can feel more powerful, and this is not a good reason as to why people should have guns. These are some of the reasons why I think gun control laws should be enforced more.

Are Muslims what the media say they are?

Not all Muslims are terrorist.

There are people that claim to be Muslims but don’t act like one, like ISIS groups who kill anyone in their way.

There are Muslims that just want peace but are getting blamed for other people’s actions.

In Islam we are taught not kill a little spider. We are taught to let be it free. We are forbidden to shed blood.  A verse from the Qur’an says, “…take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.” Life is sacred in Islam.

Certain people just don’t understand that terrorist don’t just attack non- Muslim areas. How many attacks have happened, and are still happening, in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other Islamic regions?

Not all extremists are Muslims like the media makes them out to be. The media can be better about how they refer to terrorist groups because other Muslims don’t need to be blamed for what a group of people in their religion does. These groups claim to be Muslims but they give themselves specific names, so why not call them by what they want to be called, i.e. ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc?

A religion shouldn’t be blamed for what some people who practice it do. Innocent Muslims don’t want to feel targeted for something they have nothing to do with.

The Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has proposed that Muslims should be banned from entering the United States. Donald Trump has had many interviews and does not seem to be having any second thoughts about his proposal. Donald Trump might want this proposal to secure our country, but he is also punishing innocent people. He is taking away the opportunities and dreams of those that didn’t do anything wrong aside from believing in a specific religion.

So are Muslims what the media say they are?

No, because the negative actions of Muslims, through groups like ISIS, do not reflect the average Muslim.

A committee consisting of parents and staff members in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district voted to keep the book Just One Day on the shelves of school libraries. The book is centered around a young female character named Allyson and her plans to travel Europe following her graduation. She then meets a young man during her trip, which leads to “ a day of risk and romance, and 24 hours that will transform Allyson’s life.”

The content of the book was brought into question after an 11-year-old girl checked the book out from the Rosemount Middle School library. The girl’s parents did not agree with the substance of the book, as it contains some areas with crude language and adult sexual content.

This decision raises questions about what kinds of books should be put into school libraries, and determining whether or not these books are “appropriate” for young people to read. Does there need to be some kind of rating system for literature like there is for movies? Or should we leave it up to the parents to determine what their children should be reading?

From my own experiences in high school, it was inevitable that I would run into a piece of literature that contained adult themes, especially in the IB program. So, shielding young readers from these types of  books can potentially hurt their preparation for further reading as well as limit their knowledge and understanding of the things that go on in the world around them. Who’s to say that these kids won’t be more compelled to get their hands on a book once it gets banned? Ultimately, parents should have confidence and trust in their children to determine what reading material is appropriate for them.