Category Archives: News

Events

Eid

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By: Ajmal Abdirahman

Muslims have two major holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The two holidays are determined by the Islamic calendar, which is a lunar calendar, meaning it depends on the cycles of the moon phases. There are 12 months in the calendar. A new month begins when a new moon is sighted.

Muslims are currently observing Ramadan, and Eid al-Fitr will be celebrated at the end. Eid al-Fitr commemorates the end of Ramadan. It’s a time for Muslims to gather with friends and family. Also, to show gratitude toward God following the previous month of reflection. It is a time when Muslims are reminded to be grateful for what they have, and to share what they have with others who are less fortunate. 

The day will start off with families attending an Eid prayer, early in the morning. Families will dress in beautiful cultural attire.

After prayers, families will go visit their friends and family. A lot of Muslims also exchange gifts. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated either for 1 or 3 days!

Eid al-Adha marks the end of hajj. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca. Very similar to Eid al-Fitr there will be a prayer, with many people, visiting loved ones and gift exchanges!

Different from Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha can take place anytime of year, so not right after Ramadan. It comes typically around two months after Eid al-Fitr. During Eid al-Adha those that can afford to sacrifice an animal do so, they either sacrifice a sheep, goat, camel, or cow, and divide it among friends, family, and the poor. It’s less common here in America for many Muslims to sacrifice animals.

My experience with celebrating Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha has always been amazing. It’s the time I look forward to most every year. It’s a time of fun and happiness for me. I love seeing family and friends I haven’t seen in a long time. Me and my family will typically go out to eat after the Eid prayer and then spend the rest of the day going to different Eid parties or doing fun activities at home! I love Eid!

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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.

Science/Nature

A planet that shouldn’t exist

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By: Jasmine Williams

There is a glowing crimson, red, and small planet called TOI-5205b. The planet is 285 light years away. The planet is named after TOI-5205 because it’s right next to it. These red planets are only half as hot as the sun. According to ‘CNET’, this is a dwarf planet located in the Milky Way. These dwarf planets are ordinary stars, and have a very long life span. The heat of TOI-5205 is measured to be around 3,227 degrees Celsius, and the sun, 5,526 degrees Celsius.

It is strange that TOI-5205b hosts gas giant planets because normally dwarf planets do not do that. In general, people had thought that sunlike stars host tinier planets that are not their size. “The host star, TOI-5205, is just about four times the size of Jupiter, yet it has somehow managed to form a Jupiter-sized planet, which is quite surprising!” Kanodia, an astronomer, had stated.

In order to create a gas giant planet, the original core had to have enough rocky material. Also, the disk cannot evaporate before a massive center is made, according to Kanodia. Afterwards, a rocky planetary core is made, and gas from the disk has a large amount of gas. Around the core a large amount of gas from the disk is collected, and it soon creates a luminous planet. For gas giants such as Jupiter and TOI-5205b, a known model of planet formation says that in order to create a rocky planetary core, it requires about 10 disk’s of material that Earth masses have. TOI-5205’s original disk had the ingredients to form a Jupiter-like planet, but it’s odd that TOI-5205’s disk had enough ingredients that gas giants used to make a big planet.

TOI-5205b had bypassed all the guardrails. To conclude, Kanodia had stated, “TOI-5205b — while definitely an outlier — isn’t the only one. If so, how frequently do these forbidden planets form?”

For more information, please visit:

● https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-bizarre-forbidden-planet-that-should-not-e xist/

News, Travel/Food

The healthy cereal lawsuit

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By: Joseph Nelson

We all remember the sugar coated cereal we would eat before school started, or while watching our morning Saturday TV. But we all know that the “best way to start your morning” slogan that would appeal to kids and parents was completely fabricated right? Well, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feel’s as though the marketing for these cereal should not have any saying of how it’s “healthy” or “good for you”. Now, I’ve loved cereal when I was a kid (when my mom would let me have them of course) but I feel like I knew this wasn’t healthy at all, so would this change much? The answer to that is yes!

With this new rule, the FDA will mandate that foods labeled as “healthy” must contain food groups like fruits, whole grain, dairy, and other added ingredients that must now fit a certain criteria in order to be approved as a “healthy” cereal. Now, what are the actual stats of this rule? Well, the rule will limit all cereal to no more than 2.5 grams of sugar per serving. This would restrict multiple food brands from being on the store shelf with what now would be false advertising.

To put it into perspective, Fruit Loops are 12 grams of sugar per serving, Lucky Charms are 10 grams, and Cocoa Puffs are also 10 grams. This means that these “healthy” foods are now 4x-5x over the maximum amount of sugar, per serving, that is allowed within these cereals.

Now, large cereal companies like General Mills and Kellogg’s, decried the proposed nutritional criteria and threatened legal action against what they say is a “violation of their first amendment rights”. The companies are going on to say that the healthy labeling requirements are an unconstitutional reach from the government power over the food industry. But the FDA says otherwise.

The FDA goes on to counter the claim of “lack of free speech” with a brief but thorough statement “cannot explain why consumers cannot make their own healthy decisions based on [nutrition labeling] data”. Rather, it seeks to limit the food companies’ ‘speech'” effectively saying that with this new proposal, the product’s ingredients will be completely transparent to the consumer and will give them a completely unbiased choice of whether or not they put that candy bar in their cart.

Now, how will this change for the consumer? Well, we know that the average day Fruit Loop consumer will probably still be filling the pockets of the big corporations. But the new single mom walking down the aisle, looking for a healthy cereal for her kid, will now see all these cereals around her and will be able to accurately choose the best healthy option for her and her kid.

That isn’t stopping me though, Cocoa Puffs will forever be my childhood favorite.

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World

Tensions rise in Georgia, Putin looks to China, and ICC puts arrest warrant on Putin

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By: Aeden Evenson-McDermott

The country of Georgia is finding itself caught up with its former Soviet Republic and the present state of the world. With an overwhelming majority of Georgians wanting to get EU membership, and become a more reformed democratic institution, there has been pushback by some on the far-right. There most recently has been a push by the right-wing and conservatives to change the constitution to allow the government to become more authoritarian in certain measures. Many are fed up with the measures being proposed by various officials and individuals that they see as wanting to lower the country. Corruption is still a prevalent issue, and with Russia’s influence growing in the former Soviet Republic this is allowing for the restrictive measures to gain traction in Georgia.

Russia has used its influence as it has turned its attention to disrupting Georgia’s politics as a distraction from their invasion of Ukraine. It remains to be seen what comes of this, as thousands march for their rights to a hopeful future of EU membership and to stand against Russia.

As Eastern Europe finds itself in a world intertwined with the two most powerful autocrats (Putin and Xi JinPing), the West is grappling with defending democracy while not going too far to provoke our adversaries.

With the current standstill in the war on Ukraine, Russia is playing their cards towards a war of attrition. Ukrainian resilience is allowing for the further pushback of Russian forces which is leading to significant casualties, especially on the Russian side. Russia’s loss of manpower constantly has their efforts diminished and has Putin angered. He has persistently requested support from his few remaining allies and has especially sent requests for various military hardware to be delivered to his country. He has received kamikaze drones from Iran and has secretly, while somewhat silently, asked president Xi of China for military support and assistance.

The two autocrats would reconvene for their most recent summit for 2 and a half days with president Xi holding private meetings with Russian president Putin. The free world has been keeping a close watch on the moves that these two men would be making through their discussions from the 20th-22nd of March.

It really wasn’t a surprise that President Xi would travel to Moscow, especially with the tighter bond between the two countries’ alliances. Since Xi’s election in 2012 the two men have built a strong relationship and have held 40 one on one meetings.

When the somewhat crippling sanctions came in full force to Russia, back in February of 2022, China was a mainstay ally who refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine and took a pretty neutral stance on the whole issue.

Through the buying of natural gas and oil, to the economic stability, and modern tech being provided to Russia, China is allowing for the state of Russia to be refurbished. The two leaders agree on the common consensus of being against the United States while treading water to remain intact with the world in terms of trading.

The ongoing war in Ukraine that continues to be further pushing Russia away has made Putin turn to hosting Xi for a variety of reasons. The main reason was that Putin strongly considered asking for lethal aid which China has remained silent on but has never given a definite no to.

The 12 point peace plan proposed by Xi has been deemed as a non starter by Ukraine, the U.S. and Western Allies. It mainly is because it would be keeping Crimea as Russian controlled territory even though it is Ukrainian land, calling for a cease fire between Russia and Ukraine (which would most likely allow for Russia to regroup and buildup manpower for a new offensive), and a plan that favors Russia in ending the war but doesn’t give all Ukrainian land back to the Ukrainians.

Most notably, in recent weeks, the ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued an arrest warrant for President Putin of Russia and for the Commissioner of Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. This comes at a time when Russia is continuing to lose and manpower is short. The arrest warrant is mainly for the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russian controlled territory as well as many Ukrainians who were forced to be taken to Russia. Lvova-Belova, who is the Commissioner of Children’s Rights in Russia, has been in control of the handling of displaced children since the war started. She herself has “adopted” at least one kid from Ukraine and has been an advocate of having Russian families take in Ukrainian children.

Putin and Lvova-Belova have both been pro Russian and have the mindset of making the Ukrainian children lose their identity and therefore become Russian citizens. With the forced deportation and the illegal adoptions which have taken place, the ICC has issued arrest warrants for both of them under the Rome Statute. Although, in the near future, most likely nothing will happen for them to be arrested, it further isolates Russia and its leaders from traveling to much of the world, and especially to the West.

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.

For more information, please visit:

Events

Ramadan

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By: Yumna Abajebel

I’m sure we’re all wondering what the holiday Ramadan really is about. In the religion of Islam Muslim, Ramadan marks the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

When the crescent moon is sighted in Saudi Arabia, it starts the long awaited month of fasting. Ramadan isn’t only about fasting, it’s a month about giving zakat (charity), making prayers, and forgiveness for the sake of Allah (God).

The real reason why we fast is to be grateful for what we have, and see what it’s like for people who are less fortunate. Usually, we don’t have food or drinks from sunrise to sunset. Before the sun rises we have to have a filling meal. Then towards sunset, you have to start preparing for dinner, which is called Iftar, and is at an exact time. You can eat anything you want, but have to stop right before sunrise.

Fasting is mandatory in Islam once you hit the age of puberty, exceptions being extend for people who are either ill, diabetic, traveling, pregnant, or women in their menstrual period.

Towards the end of the month, Laylat al-Qadr starts; it’s one of five odd-numbered nights which fall during the last 10 days. Those last days are the most spirited days of the month which is spent praying all you can and asking for forgiveness of all your past sins.

Then, on the 30th night, the new crescent moon has to be sighted for the completion of the thirty days of fasting. After the moon is sighted, it marks the beginning of Shawwal, the next lunar month.

Then sparks up the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. Eid is the celebration after Ramadan that lasts for 3 days. It’s spent wearing the best clothes you have, being with family, and eating all the food you can. Muslim people all around the world are the happiest during this time. They spend all year preparing and waiting for this holy month. We don’t have that many holidays in our religion, but Ramadan and Eid will forever make up for that.

Science/Nature

Venus and Jupiter conjuction in the sky

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By: Trump Vang

On March 1st and 2nd, the Venus and Jupiter conjunction happened. Within the clear night sky, onlookers could see both planets with only a pinky finger distance between them each. It was the closest that any of these two planets reached during their conjunction.

For those who don’t know, an astronomical conjunction is when two objects, either a moon, planet or star appear close together within the night sky. They don’t have any influence or scientific value, rather just being nice to look at and admire. These astronomical events happen rarely, but often more than once a year.

In this conjunction, both planets are relatively bright, in fact being the brightest in Earth’s night sky out of all the solar system’s planets. Although between Venus and Jupiter, Venus shines brighter. This allows for their conjunction to be easily viewed, even with some city skyline trying to outshine their brightness.

If you missed their conjunction this year, don’t worry! The conjunction event between the two planets often happens every year, being roughly 13 months. The next conjunction between the two planets shouldn’t be until May 23rd, 2024. Don’t miss out on seeing the two planets in the sky together next year!

Along with this, it’s not just Venus and Jupiter who are coming together in the night sky.

On March 28, onlookers will be able to see the smallest planet, Mercury and largest planet, Jupiter in the sky together.

Following that, Venus and Uranus will be seen together in the night sky on March 30th.

Many conjunctions follow this one between Venus and Jupiter.

Take some time to admire the night sky, and its many shining lights. Although snow is still throughout the landscapes outside, it’s nice to view the upcoming conjunctions, and enjoy what you see.

COVID-19

How COVID-19 still has an affect on us three years later

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By: Calla Fragrassi & Mackenzie Malek

After three years of constant change in our school system, we wanted to ask Highland Park students how they were affected personally, then and now, by COVID-19.

We asked the same questions to students in grades 9-12 on their experiences.

Academics- How did the pandemic affect you academically in school? Was the transition between virtual to in-person learning challenging for you? If so, explain.

Freshman: “I thought the transition was really hard because on top of having to adjust to a whole new lifestyle where I couldn’t see people and couldn’t do so many things, my workload was still similar and so it was harder to do than before because I had so much more going on.”

Sophomore: “I felt like I fell behind in my classes and that school felt optional. Yes, I would say it was challenging because everything was constantly changing and it felt like there was no routine.”

Junior: “I believed everything would be easier coming out but my ideas changed. Also, I mentally struggled after the pandemic which took a toll on school. The actual transition wasn’t the hard part.”

Senior: “It made things easier and I got all As. The transition wasn’t that hard but it was fun to see other people again.”

Activities- Did COVID stop you from participating in any sports or activities you were involved in at the time? If so, how did that affect you personally?

Freshman: “COVID restrained me from all my sports and from seeing people I loved and it was really challenging because I relied on those practices to be good at my sports, so I felt set back and also felt set back from social activities since I wasn’t allowed to see people.”

Sophomore: “I stopped playing volleyball during COVID and when I went back for the season it was harder getting back into it because of the long break off, so I ended up quitting because I didn’t enjoy it as much anymore.”

Junior: “It took away club gymnastics, which was hard for me since it was the last year, and made the sports I eventually joined challenging in the fact everyone knew it wasn’t normal.”

Senior: “It prevented our football season in 2021 from going its full length because we had a shorter season due to COVID.”

Socially- Do you think the way you interacted with others changed after COVID? If so, explain.

Freshman: “ I think it did because so many people relied on social media to interact during quarantine and social media was the base of a lot of people’s senses of humor and things like that, so it kind of became something that defined your personality which I hadn’t really noticed before quarantine.”

Sophomore: “It was weird seeing my teachers and classmates in person after so long, and it felt weird being able to interact with other people besides just my family.”

Junior: “Yes, how I interacted changed in the way I grew, how I wanted to be as a person when I was in lock down. So, I figured out who and how I’d interact.”

Senior: “No, because I still interacted with people during COVID.”

All in all, these responses show that no matter the age, all these students had somewhat similar experiences throughout the pandemic. As you can see, for academics and activities, everyone had similar answers such as falling behind in classes and having to take a break from sports.

For the social questions, the responses varied a bit because this depended on how everyone interacted with others before COVID-19 prevented them from socializing. Some students were still able to talk to their friends and classmates, but others not so much.

What happened during the pandemic still has an affect on everyone today in some way and will in the future.