By: Mila Hart

Lin-Manuel Miranda was born on January 16, 1980 in New York City. His parents immigrated from Puerto Rico. He grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood in northern Manhattan called Washington Heights.

Lin-Manuel went to a public high school around Washington Heights, and it was in high school where he found his love for theater arts. All throughout high school Lin-Manuel was a part of his school’s plays and musicals. In high school he started to write the play ‘In the Heights’ at the age of 17. Later he went on to go to a very prestigious college for theater arts called Wesleyan College.

In 2002 Lin-Manuel worked with other directors and playwrights to put on ‘In the Heights’. After premiering in Connecticut, in 2005, and opening at the 37 Arts Theater off-Broadway, in 2007, ‘In the Heights’ went to Broadway in March of 2008.

After performing ‘In the Heights’ on Broadway, the musical went on a North American tour from 2009-2011, and later went on to be performed all around the world. In 2018 Warner Bros acquired the film rights for ‘In the Heights’ and set a release date for June 26th, 2020. For the next year, actors were casted and filming began in June of 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the film was not able to be released until June 10, 2021.

Aside from ‘In the Heights’, Lin-Manuel Miranda has worked on a number of award winning projects and movies. Lin wrote, composed, and starred in the ever so popular broadway musical ‘Hamilton’. It’s the story of Alexander Hamilton and his contributions to history, told through the music styles of rap and hip hop. It has won numerous awards including a Tony, Grammy, and the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Lin wrote the music for the latest Disney hit ‘Encanto’. The song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has broken records including becoming the first Disney track to top the U.S. chart since ‘Aladdin’s’ “A Whole New World” back in 1992.

By: Ella Sutherland & Lauren Kottke

WWII was a brutal war that lasted 6 years, between the years 1939-1945. It was the largest and deadliest war. It was a global war with over 60 million people killed, and this includes many civilians.

Adolf Hitler was the man who started World War II. He was elected as Chancellor of Germany. It started when Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France then ended up declaring war on Germany. Germany didn’t like that, so Germany attacked Denmark and Norway, and soon after attacked Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. Germany won pretty fast.

The countries that were fighting alongside Hitler, were Japan and Italy, and on the other side of that was Great Britain and France as well as many others.

On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered, ending the war in Europe, and on August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, and World War II ended.

Obviously, many people were involved in the war. Have you ever wondered what spies did in World War II? We did, and we learned that spies influenced World War II in so many different ways. Some went undercover, some worked for both sides, and some even helped protect secret documents. These are three spies from World War ll that helped influence the war.

Spy #1 Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was born and raised in St Louis. She left America when she was 19 in search of a greater life. In America she suffered the effects of the Jim Crow laws, which is a big reason why she left. At the time, Paris was a city full of people with big dreams, and Josephine was one of them.

After she landed a few small acting jobs in Paris, her career took off. People immediately fell in love with her charms and she was a hit.

What brought her into the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) was her fame. They recruited her because her fame was the perfect cover to be a spy. She could go to parties with important people and not be questioned. She specifically attended Italian and Japanese diplomatic parties in order to gather information on others joining the war.

Something she was known for was when she smuggled documents to general Charles de Gaulle and the French government with information about German troop movements. Over the years she made many impacts and helped the cause of the war.

Spy #2 Noon Inayat Khan

Noor Inayat Khan was born into royalty in India, but when the first war hit, she left Moscow for London and later on landed in Britain. From a young age she was passionate about doing courageous acts for other people’s good.

She joined the women’s auxiliary Air Force and immediately had a talent for operating the radios. She was later recruited by SOE (Special Operations Executive) and did training. After her training she went on to help maintain communications between London and France.

Spy #3 Virginia Hall

Virginia Hall was born into a wealthy family in Baltimore. But although she was rich, her life wasn’t easy. When she was younger she got into a hunting accident which resulted in her leg being amputated.

\As she grew up and the war became more apparent, Virginia’s ambitions to be a spy grew. She tried numerous times to become a spy, but was denied, until she had an encounter with an SOE agent. He ended up recruiting her and she was put as an undercover reporter.

She quickly began making connections and helped recruit more women spies into the field. Hall’s work is remembered as she helped bring liberation to parts of France.

As you can see, spies had a big impact on the war and had important roles. Many people overlooked women in the war before they learned that women made very good spies. We only named a few of the amazing spies that changed the course of the war. If you take anything away from this article, take away that spies saved so many lives and had such an important role in the war.

For more information, please visit:

• https://www.history.com/news/6-people-you-didnt-know-were-wwii-spies

Hope you had a great Black History Month. In February, we as a nation, celebrate African Americans for their contribution to society and their accomplishments. In 1964 author James Baldwin wrote about his time in school. He wrote: “I began to be bugged by the teaching of American history because it seemed that that history had been taught without cognizance of my presence.” His thoughts about the lack of the teaching of Black history spread. 

Nearly half a century earlier, the celebration of Black History Month began in the year 1926 as a week-long celebration created by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Woodson is referred to as the “Father of Black History” by many. 

While Woodson was earning his master’s degree he witnessed how underrepresented African Americans were in history books and how it was taught to students. 

In 1926, Woodson launched “Negro History Week.” He choose the second week in February to celebrate so he could include Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass’s birthdays. He wanted African Americans to be proud of where they came from and their heritage. 

After the launch of Negro History Week, schools worldwide organized local celebrations, established history clubs, and hosted performances and lectures. Decades after its creation, mayors in the country recognized Negro History Week.

During the Civil Rights movement, it evolved from Negro History Week to Black History Month. President Ford issued the first message on the observance of Black History Month. Presidents Carter and Reagan continued the tradition of celebrating African American contributions in their messages to the American people. In the month leading up to Black History Month, each president endorses a specific theme. This year’s theme was: “Black Health and Wellness,” which explored the legacy of Black scholars and medical practitioners.

According to BLS Educational Technology’s website, today we celebrate Black History Month by: supporting Black-owned businesses; learning about noteworthy Black figures and their contributions; donating to charities that support anti-racism, equity and equality; purchasing, reading, and sharing books by Black authors; supporting and learning about Black women; participating in online events, and attending Black History Month celebrations.

For more information, please visit:

• https://abcnews.go.com/US/history-black-history-month/story?id=60922761
• https://time.com/4197928/history-black-history-month/

By: Julia Swee

As the 50’s came to an end and the 60’s rolled around, a new subculture had begun to emerge known as the ‘hippies’. According to Britannica: Hippies were usually consistently white, middle class, 20 something year olds, who were considered the ‘baby boom’ generation.

There were multiple factors that contributed to the formation of the hippie culture. One of the main factors was the Vietnam war. The war had begun in 1955, and had immediately sparked frustration among the common youth. As the fighting continued, more and more opposition from the youth became apparent, and out of these feelings towards the war came a culture. 

The youth had felt alienated by the upper class society, and considered them to be dominated by materialism and repression. As the culture grew more and more, so called hippies began to formulate their own lifestyle. They experimented with communal living arrangements, often living with multiple other youths with the same beliefs. This formed communities of hippies who all shared the same ideologies. These communities often adapted vegetarian lifestyles based on unprocessed foods, choosing what they consumed very wisely. 

Within the culture, there was a practice of holistic medicine. This meant that when observing someone to determine their diagnosis, the whole body was taken into account. To the hippies, the whole body consisted of not just the body itself, but the mind, the emotions, and the environment, rather than just one isolated organ. The practice was meant to incorporate a wide range of health practices, focusing especially on the responsibility of self healing and self care. The community had begun to not only form their own way of life, but advanced ways of healing. 

Thinking back on the culture, when hearing the word ‘hippie’ most people’s minds travel to the unique style of the group. They were known for favoring bright, psychedelic colors and long hair. The style could be deemed as ‘unconventional’ by some, as much of the clothing incorporated very different styles than were commonly seen throughout the 60’s. As the hippie culture formulated their own style, many others began to feel inspired, allowing the culture to grow rapidly. 

Today, hippies are a motif of the 60’s. They remind us of the impact that everyday people can have on everyday life when they come together. Hippies have shown us that community is a wonderful thing that can benefit us in many different ways. 

By: Parker Rowen

The Fourth Amendment is probably one of the most important of all the amendments to understand, and be aware of, as it covers “search and seizure”. A search and seizure is being stopped by, and having the police take a look at your personal belongings. This is known as “inventory”, meaning any assets you may have (such as things on your person, your car, or your house) can be searched. There are quite a few cases within the law which set specific precedent against what does and doesn’t count as a reasonable search and seizure.

The first of these cases is ‘Terry v. Ohio’ (1968). Terry was seen with another man walking up and down the same street multiple times, each looking in the window of a jewelry store. Every time one walked down the block and looked into the store, they would return to the end of the block and talk with the person who was seemingly sizing up the place along with him. Eventually, another man joins the two, and goes down the block once himself; when they all regroup, they begin walking down another street. The officer who spotted this decided to follow these individuals. The officer assumed the men were planning an armed robbery, so they may have a gun. He followed these two and stopped Terry, then proceeded to pat him down.

They decided in this case, the cop had reasonable suspicion to pat Terry down. The actions of Terry couldn’t be defined as reasonable and normal (non-criminal) actions. Therefore, the cop was justified in his search.

This was very important for the concept of a search and seizure, this helped define what could be used as “reasonable suspicion” and lowered the standard for searches. The important piece to take away from this case, is that any and all search and seizures must be “justified at their inception”, meaning the officer must have “articulable facts” to back up the reason for the stop. An officer’s judgments based on speculation are not enough to justify a search, but instead, the facts presented to the officer at the time (in this case, Terry consistently walking up to the same store and peaking inside, along with conferring with another man after every time passing by).

The next case I would like to discuss is ‘St. Paul v. Uber’ (1999). This case was paramount in setting the standard for profiling. “Uber” was a white male, driving a truck registered to Mounds View, Minnesota, in the Summit-University Ave. area of St. Paul, a place at the time known for prostitution, around the hour of 2 a.m., with Uber fitting the profile for a man seeking prostitutes. Uber was seen driving around the same city block by a police officer twice within a 30 minute period; the officer found this behavior to be suspicious and indicative of some sort of criminal behavior, and ran Uber’s plates to discover his suspended license. The officer proceeded to pull him over. When this happened, it was found that Uber was intoxicated and was promptly arrested. The courts found that the facts of Uber’s appearance, or as to why he was in that neighborhood were not relevant, though the suspended license was enough to justify the stop.

An important note from this case is the relevance of why you were in a certain area at a certain time, and simply put: it isn’t. The court ruled that, so long as you are not disturbing the peace, or committing any unlawful acts on public property, you have no obligation to state a reason as to why you are there. You are not allowed to be pulled over for the reason of being in a neighborhood, whether a high-crime neighborhood or not.

The other important takeaway from this, is the “totality of circumstances”, which means that, alongside the articulable facts, less relevant pieces may be used as further justification for a search, such as the cop’s experience on the force, or the suspended license in this case.

 The final case I will be reviewing is ‘Alabama v. White’ (1990). This case was one defining the use of “anonymous tips”. White was found guilty for possession of cocaine, after an anonymous tip came in alerting the police to his behavior. The caller reported White to be leaving his apartment at a specific time, while carrying cocaine in a brown case, in his Plymouth station wagon, with a broken right taillight, and that he would be stopping at a motel at a certain time. Police decided to watch around the apartment, and when they saw a Plymouth station wagon leave and begin to take the most direct route to the motel, police stopped him around a block or two before the motel. When asked to look inside the vehicle, White consented. When they located a locked case matching the description of the one in which the cocaine was supposedly stored, the police requested White to unlock it, and once again, White consented. The police found and seized both marijuana, and cocaine within the case and White was quickly arrested.

The courts found this tip to be enough to justify the stop, as the facts were so specific they decided “Only someone with intimate detail of White’s personal life could know,” these types of facts.

The most important lesson to learn from this, is one about consent. The officers did not have enough information to justify looking within that case, but with White unlocking it at their request, anything found within the case was perfectly admissible as evidence in court via the “plain sight” rule (meaning if something is able to be seen, it is considered being presented to whoever may pass by, and therefore is considered public information).

Your rights against search and seizure are very important ones to understand. Oftentimes, the police will find an excuse to arrest you, and allowing them to search your person is just one tool you’ve given them to do so. There are very specific circumstances surrounding what justifies a stop. Knowing these are important for any defense you may have to make later in your life, and to protect you against tyranny, and abuse of the people, perpetrated by the government.

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:

• https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_pdf_file/kyr_protests.pdf?source=post_page
• https://dictionary.law.com/default.aspx?selected=1969

By: Sumaya Noor and Fatima Mohamud

Islam has two main celebrations: Eid-al-Adha, Eid-al-Fitr; these are celebrated by all Muslims (or almost all). There is also the celebration of Ramadan, and the celebration of Ashura, the latter of which is mostly celebrated by Shia Muslims.

Islamic Celebrations and Customs

Ramadan is a period of fasting and prayer that lasts for 30 days. It’s to recognize the less unfortunate and bring ourselves closer to Allah.

Muslims wake up before dawn to eat and drink, refrain from eating or drinking throughout the day, and then have a meal to break their fast after sunset. Some Muslims may eat dates to break their fast before having the evening meal. If you forget and accidentally eat something or drink water, your fast is not broken and it is not a sin. However, if you eat or drink on purpose and tell it off as an accident it is a heavy sin and is extremely prohibited.

Some exceptions can be made during fasting, such as pregnancy, being old, being too young, or being ill. You can make up for missing days of fasting by adding it onto the end of Ramadan, meaning if you missed two days of fasting, you would add two days after Ramadan to make up for skipped days.

Reading verses of the Quran daily is extremely common in this month of importance. The Quran is a holy book that is well known because of its importance to practicing the rules and stories of Islam. Non-Muslims can read the Quran if they are curious about the religion and want to seek out more, but first they must wash their face, ears, hair, legs, arms, and mouth. This process is called the Wudu. Muslims cleanse themselves in this process before touching the Quran, and praying, and it is broken if you make contact with any haram (prohibited) animals such as pigs and dogs.

Muslims pray five times a day. The times change during the year because of the different seasons but some stay the same. Fajr, the first prayer is before sunrise. Duhur, the second prayer is around midday. Asr, is also midday but closer to sunset. Magharib, is at sunset, and Isha, is at night near common sleeping times (8-10 pm).

Many Muslims visit the Kaaba, located in Saudi Arabia, for prayers throughout the day. Millions of Muslims practice this tradition of Islam for every year of their life until they are old and too weak or to go without eating.

What is Eid-Al-Fitr?

Eid-Al-Fitr is one of the two Islamic holidays that is always celebrated the day after the month of Ramadan. It’s very popular for people to go to their local mosque or spend the day with family and friends. It means the “Celebration of Breaking Fast”. On this day it is a sin to fast because people are supposed to enjoy themselves and not starve if it is an option.

Many people visit family, go out and have parties to celebrate their strength shown during the past month.

What is Eid-Al-Adha?

Eid-Al-Adha is another Islamic holiday. This celebration is to honor the prophet Ibrahim for willing to sacrifice Ismael in the name of Allah. The holiday includes sacrificing a sheep, cow, or goat and prayers.

“Eid-Al-Adha” literally means “Festival of Breaking Fast”. Some Muslims may go to sacrifice an animal to honor their prophet and Allah. This is done in good manners and the slaughter is quick.

What is Ashura?

Ashura is an islamic holiday that is greatly celebrated among Shia muslims.

It marks the day Moses was saved by God and when Noah left the ark, which is on the 10th of Muharram. Shia Muslims mourn this day because of the martyrdom of Hussein. Many will participate in activities, during their mourning, that many may consider extreme, such as sacrificing their blood.

By: Bijou Kruszka

Happy pride month!

You’ve probably heard of the LGBTQ+ community, but have you ever heard of the LGBTQQIP2SAA (I promise I’m not keyboard smashing) community?

Most likely, no.

Because it’s June, I’d like to walk you through this lengthy acronym and shine some light on some queer identities.

L stands for lesbian, which means a woman who finds
other women attractive. There has been a lot of discourse over
the word “lesbian” due to its negative use. Some dislike it, but others are fine with the term.

There have been many variations of the lesbian flag over the years but the most widely accepted one has five stripes, the top two being shades of orange, the bottom two being shades of pink, and a white stripe in the middle.

G stands for gay, which originally meant a man who finds other men attractive, but is now an umbrella term for any same-sex attraction. The word “gay” is often used as an insult, and that needs to be stopped.

The gay flag is the most recognizable of all the queer flags, with its six rainbow stripes.

B stands for bisexual, which means any person who finds both men and women attractive. Some people call being bisexual “spicy straight” which is an offensive term, as it is its own valid identity.

The bisexual flag has three stripes: the top being pink, the bottom being blue, and the middle stripe, which is slightly smaller, is purple.

T stands for transgender, which means any person who identifies with a gender identity outside of their sex assigned at birth. The T used to stand for transsexual, but this is an outdated term.

The transgender flag has five stripes: the top and bottom being a light blue, the two stripes nearest to the middle are light pink, and the middle stripe is white.

The first Q stands for queer, which is an umbrella term for all those who identify as not heterosexual (attracted to the opposite gender) or not cisgender (identifying as the gender you were born with).

While there is no official queer flag, a flag commonly used is a rainbow flag with a brown, black, light pink, light blue, and white triangle on the left side of the flag.

The second Q stands for questioning, which is a term describing all those who aren’t sure of their sexuality or gender identity yet.

There is no official questioning flag.

I stands for intersex, which means any person whose anatomy at birth isn’t exactly female or male.

The intersex flag is yellow, with a purple ring in the center.

P stands for pansexual, and despite what many people joke, it is not the attraction to pans. The word means people who are attracted to everyone, regardless of their gender identity.

The pansexual flag has three stripes, with pink at the top, yellow in the center, and blue at the bottom.

2S stands for two-spirit, which is a term used for indigenous people who don’t fit into the gender binary. The term two-spirit comes from the idea that these people possess both a masculine and feminine spirit.

There is no official two-spirit flag.

The first A stands for asexual, which means any person who doesn’t experience sexual attraction. Another form of this is aromantic, which means they don’t experience romantic attraction. These two are somewhat similar but aren’t correlated.

The asexual flag has four stripes, that are black, gray, white, and purple.

The aromantic flag has five stripes: two shades of green on top, then white, grey, and black.

The second A, and last letter in the acronym, stands for allies, which means anyone who isn’t a part of the queer community but supports those who are. This is controversial and less widely accepted, as people who aren’t LGBTQ+ are considered part of the community, but aren’t minorities like the rest.

The ally flag is black and white stripes (technically the heterosexual flag), with a rainbow triangle.

In the end, even this lengthy acronym doesn’t scratch the surface of all queer identities. However, it’s a good place to start, and these are the most common.

Have a happy pride month!

By: Grace Helmke

Dreams can be a place of great comfort, but they can also be an incredible source of anxiety. Nightmares are a phenomenon that have wreaked havoc in the night for centuries. They have been the perpetrator of sleepless nights, anxious living, and declined mental health amongst individuals of all ages around the world. 

Sleep happens in cycles. Most dreams occur during a cycle known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. During this phase, your brain releases glycine which causes the body to become paralyzed. This is likely a natural way to ensure that we don’t act out our dreams in real life. Oftentimes, this causes even more anxiety within a nightmare. It sometimes causes restricted motion within dreams, and can lead to sleep paralysis upon waking up, or exiting the state of REM. 

According to the Harvard Medical school, a nightmare was defined as a “Disease when a man in his sleep supposes he has a great weight laying upon him,” in the late 1700s. Although this definition doesn’t necessarily come up today, nightmares are still considered dreams which result in “Feelings of terror, fear, distress, or anxiety”.

Some researchers say that people are working through difficult moments in a day, or traumatic experiences in life. It can get to the point of dysfunction. If the individual has frequent nightmares, they may be suffering from “nightmare disorder”, formerly “dream anxiety disorder”. 

Dreams are defined as recent autobiographical episodes that are woven with past memories. Nightmares are simply dreams that produce a negative response. They are often confused with night terrors, which are fearful reactions that occur during transitions between phases of sleep. Usually, they occur when non-REM (non rapid eye movement) sleep transitions to REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.

Nightmares are generally caused by anxiety, stress, mental health disorders, irregular sleep, and medication. But possibly the most common cause is trauma and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). NIghtmares are so common in those suffering from PTSD that it has become part of the criteria for determining diagnosis. A study by Sleep Medicine Clinics found that 80% of people suffering from PTSD have frequent nightmares. A study that looked at over 200 episodes of nightmares found that they frequently contained physical aggression, emotionally intense situations, and failures or unfortunate endings.

Nightmares caused by trauma often involve elements similar to the trauma itself. In a study by the US Department of Veterans affairs, around half the individuals who have nightmares due to PTSD replay their trauma in their dreams. In PTSD nightmares, the regions of the brain involved in these behaviors work to identify potential threats, and could be overactive or overly sensitive. These nightmares caused by trauma are most likely not too different from flashbacks in the daytime, and the general anxiety that these people experience everyday. 

There are several ways that nightmares and PTSD are treated. The first step is to identify the stressor. From there, effective ways to manage it can be found through medication, psychological therapy, exercise, and so much more.  

Psychological therapy for nightmares involves image reversal therapy, sometimes called IRT. This involves the recollection and writing down of nightmares. The patient is then asked to rewrite the nightmare and give it a positive ending. The patient is instructed to rehearse the new version before going to bed with the aim of eradicating the unwanted content. This is a pretty effective method of treatment. It has been found to reduce nightmare distress by significant numbers. 

Nightmares are a response to trauma, anxiety, and stress experienced in life. They are a manifestation of what has harmed you. It is a record of your traumatic experiences and reminder of days you wish to forget. But there are ways in which people can heal and eradicate these pervasive dreams. There is always hope. 

For more information, please visit: 

• https://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publications-archive/brain/nightmares-brain
• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/297625#recurring-dreams
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/nightmares