The Herald - February 2017

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VOL 53 Issue III Arapahoe High School FEBRUARY 2017

EDITORS & STAFF

CONTENTS

MAGAZINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PAIGE PAULSEN WEBSITE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/ MAGAZINE MANAGING EDITOR MACKENZIE CALLAHAN

PEOPLE 4-5 Let’s Talk Politics: Louis Golmert, Kelly Ward and Mike Lee 6 Bulldog Bound: Haley Archuleta 7 Ethan Anzia: Creator of Relatable AHS on Instagram 8 Diamonds in the Rough: Electa Sutton

CULTURE

COPY EDITORS BECCA SCHWISOW HAYDEN PEIRCE XAVIER MAIER

9 Fight for Feminism 10-11 Women’s March

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 12 Things to Look Forward to in 2017

PHOTO EDITOR ABIGAIL GUADNOLA

13 Confessions of a Reality TV Addict

DISTRIBUTION & ADS MANAGER

INDEPTH 15 Hallmark Holiday: Valentine’s Day

MADDIE EGERTON

16-17 The Matchmaker 18 High School Relationships

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER SYBRAND BRAAKMAN

19 Love Around the World 20 Gestures of Love

REPORTERS

21 Love Through the Ages

GRACE ADAMSON

22 Abusive Relationships

BRIANA BEEBE

23 Love: Real or Not?

COURTNEY BROWN

OPINIONS

ABBY CASTER

24-25 Womens March

KAELYN COLIZZO

26 Graffitti Art 27 Dystopian Obsession

LAUREN DAVID

28 Love Isn’t Convenient

DJ DEBONIS

29 Editorial: School Start Times

VIVI DENITTIS DELIA GUILBERT

HEALTH 30 Perscription Drugs

AVI HATHORNE

31 Love in the Brain

MURIELLE HECOMOVICH

32 Decisions About Intimacy

ALLIE HIGHSMITH HENRY KLINE

33 New Diets

INFO

34 Washington D.C. Experience 35 Benefits of Recycling

EMILY KOKE COLLETTE LEMANSKE ANNA MCCOLLISTER

36 Light Rail Transportation

MEGAN NGUYEN

TECH

RORY O’DONNELL

37 Self Driving Cars

ASHTON PHELPS

38 Trump’s Space Policy 39 Social Media and Relationships

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KENDRA SULLIVAN WALTER WACASER LEA WOLFF

From the Editor I’ll love you until I don’t...

My mother has a box of love letters she keeps tucked away in the back of her closet behind stacks of heels and old coats. The letters are in no particular order and many of them have turned yellow with age. Looking at the neat cursive script of each handwritten message, there is no mistaking that they were a labor of love, whether or not the words on the page said the same.

The language is surprisingly casual, even conversational.

Much of the writing speaks of mundane day to day activities ranging from final exams to waiting at the bus station in the rain. “I love you” is rarely said, but it can be implied by the way the conversation reveals how comfortable two people can be with each other.

The men my mother corresponded with were close friends before they were lovers and with each note it became clear that I was reading about the evolution of a relationship. From the letters my mother received, I could see that her generation was more open to experimenting with ways to profess love, even if it went unreciprocated at times.

The letters were self-conscious, just as the people writing them were. There was doubt and longing. I think I may have found a break up letter still folded in its white envelope. There were even moments when the letters asked what it means to say “I love you.”

From my understanding, those three words can be a tether and an anchor. In my mother’s case, the love letters made the distance between two people seem smaller.

I have never loved as deeply as she has. I find that too often, love is a process of falling in and out of love, then back in again. There is an end, one way or another. For now I just let love come and go, because I know it will begin again.

All my best,

Paige Paulsen

FEBRUARY 2017

PEOPLE

Inauguration Day Q & A Interview with Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) Rory O’Donnell and Louie Gohmert during O’Donnell’s interview.

Full transcripts video can be found on arapahoextra.com

Photos by Rory O’Donnell

by Rory O’Donnell R.O. You have just been re-elected to serve a 7th term in the U.S. Congress representing the 1st district in the Great State of Texas. Compared to your first term that started in 2005, what new challenges do you see for Congress in 2017?

L.G. I have been saying, as Donald Trump has, that Obamacare has done great damage to people’s health. They call it the Affordable Care Act, but from what 95% of the people we’ve heard from say, it’s unaffordable. Their premiums they’ve had to pay every month for health insurance went up dramatically, sometimes two, three, four times what they were 10 years ago. Also, they started having bigger and bigger deductibles, so that they had to show that they had already paid six or seven thousand dollars before their insurance would reimburse them anything at all.

Some have said they were getting a subsidy from the government to help me make my payments, but they were still having to pay some and they weren’t getting anything back. Others have said, “Hey look, I’m 60 years old. I’m a single man. I don’t need to have coverage for having a baby, but the law required it under Obamacare”. You had to have maternity coverage, so we’re wanting to pass a repeal of that law. to me the most important thing is that in the next six months, we repeal Obamacare and give people the chance to get cheaper insurance that is specific for the person. Also, we’ve got to rein in the EPA…they’re out of control… they want to shut down our power

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plants, and if they have their way, we’re going to be having trouble getting electricity.

We do need to do tax reform. I would love to throw out the Internal Revenue Code. Get rid of it completely, and then just have a flat tax, where if you make more money, you pay more. If you make less, you pay less. I also think we ought to get rid of the tax that President Clinton pushed through in 1993.

It’s made senior citizens pay tax on their Social Security. President Obama, before he was elected, said he’s going to make that a priority to wind that up and finish that off and win. The trouble is, we’re worse off now than we were eight years ago in Afghanistan.

We’re worse off now than we were eight years ago in Iraq, but in Afghanistan, for example, there are four times as many American military that have been killed under President Obama’s command then were killed under President Bush’s command. Most people don’t realize that, and it’s because the rules of engagement for the last eight years would not allow our military to return fire when they were fired upon if there were any civilians anywhere in the area that might get hit. If they saw somebody get ready to shoot at them, they couldn’t shoot them before they got shot, because the rules of engagement required they get shot at before they could defend themselves. That got a lot of our guys killed.

So, one of the things we need to do in a hurry is give our military the right to defend themselves.

R.O. President-Elect Trump built his campaign on building a wall along the southern border to control illegal migration.

The Texas-Mexico border makes up the lion’s share of the border at 1,254 miles. How effective, if completed, do you believe the wall will be in stopping illegal immigration into your state?

L.G. Well, if it’s built appropriately, it will be very effective. There are some areas where we already have a wall, and then on either side of the wall we have roads, so that our Border Patrol, our DEA and others can patrol the roads. Others say well, they are good at building tunnels. Look, the Israelis have a fence. 75 percent of their wall has a fence. then they have a fence out from there and they have the roads on either side so it can be patrolled. They have microphones that are so sensitive. They have monitoring equipment where they know if someone’s trying to dig a tunnel. We have equipment now, we’ve come so far. If we will spend the money on monitoring equipment, we’ll be able to tell if somebody’s digging a tunnel underneath and be able to stop them, but Congress, appropriated four billion dollars, to build part of our wall, and then Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security said, “We don’t need that”, and so I’ve asked, “Where’s the four billion dollars you didn’t spend on the wall? I think a lot of that money is still available. We need to find it and we can start immediately, even without a new appropriation.

Photos by Rory O’Donnell Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) being interviewed (top left) and Kelli Ward (R-AZ), (top right) upcoming candidate for US Senate in 2018. Full transcripts and videos can be found on arapahoextra.com R.O. Last month you met with President-Elect Trump and some of the things you discussed with him were the Supreme Court, repealing and replacing Obamacare, and The REINS Act. For the benefit of our readers, can you give a synopsis of what the REINS act is and what the chances are of it being passed once reintroduced, especially now that there is a Republican House, Senate, and President?

M.L. I’d be happy to talk about that.

The REINS act is an acronym, which is R E I N S, which stands for Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny.

There is a problem in Washington, in that we’ve got two parts of our constitution that often get overlooked. There are two structural protections that are very, very important…very important at protecting all the other rights in the constitution.

They limit power because our founding fathers understood there was a risk in allowing any one group of people, or any one person to get too powerful. There’s a veritable protection called “federalism”, which says that most of the power is supposed to remain with the people.

There’s a horizontal protection called the “separation of power”. It says within the Federal government we are going to have three branches…the legislative branch that makes the laws, the executive branch, headed by the President, who enforces the laws, and the judicial branch that is headed by the Supreme Court, which interprets the laws.

We’ve drifted from both of these protections, in that things that used to be reserved to the people to be exercised at the state and local level, have been moved to Washington…moved to the Federal government. Too many of them, in fact, to the point to where the Federal government has gotten really, really big…far bigger and more powerful than it was supposed to be, and it makes people less powerful at a local level, and that’s a problem. But then within the federal government we’ve compounded the problem by giving up too much of the law making power, the policy setting power, the power to decide what the laws should be over to the Executive branch, to what we call executive branch agencies, which are bureaucrats. Instead of making a law, for example, that decides how we’re going to clean up the air, congress sometimes passes a law that says we shall have clean air, and we give them the power to decide what that means, and to make law, making our air cleaner, over to the Environmental Protection Agency, so all of a sudden the EPA becomes a law maker and a law enforcer. The REINS ACT, in a nutshell, what helps to reverse some of these trends and helps to restore a balance of power between the three branches of government by saying anytime a new law or a new regulation comes out by an executive branch agency, one that would affect people in a significant economic way, it would have to be passed into law by Congress first, and an executive

branch agency just can’t make that outcome.

R.O. Sen. Cruz and Rep. DeSantis plan on introducing a bill in the coming days instituting three term limits for the House and two term limits for the Senate. Since you are beginning your second term, this bill would make this term your last if passed. Knowing this, will you support this bill, and if so, why?

M.L. I do support the bill. I do support constitutional term limits because I think it’s important to protect the American people against the accumulation of power in the hands of a few. You don’t want member of Congress, members of the House and Senate, going to Washington and coming back and say during an election, they’d say yeah…you can vote for whoever you want, but don’t you dare for vote for anyone else other than me, because if you do, you’re going to lose money and power and influence, things you will only gain if you re-elect me.

“

There is a problem in Washington, in that we’ve got two parts of our Constitution that often get overlooked'

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PEOPLE

Bulldog Bound

Arapahoe junior Haley Archuleta commits to Gonzaga University

by Henry Kline

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t is 7:45 on a Friday, it is mid-October, most people by now are tucked away at home or out with their friends. However, not everyone; somewhere, on some field, under some set of floodlights, is junior Haley Archuleta. Alone, just her and a ball. Just her and a net. When Haley turned 11 and joined Real Colorado’s highest competitive team, Real National, she opened her eyes to the opportunities that lay in front of her.

Six years later and Haley has committed to play Division I soccer at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washingon.

Growing up, Haley always wanted to play at college; she set her sights on the University of North Carolina where her childhood idol Mia Hamm attended. “When I was younger playing [for Real] what inspired me was to have the chance to play DI college soccer,” said Haley. Haley ended up falling in love with Gonzaga, not UNC, and verbally committed to the University via Twitter on October 24, 2016, excited and nervous at the opportunity of her next four years.

Haley’s commitment was almost by chance. At a tournament in San Diego one of Gonzaga’s coaches saw Haley play and contacted Haley’s coach. When Haley first heard that Gonzaga was interested and talked with the coach, she did not expect the process to end up where it did. “At first I was like, what is Gonzaga? I got to thinking, it is always good to have another option,” says Haley. She soon visited Gonzaga and fell in love with the school. While the opportunity was nearly passed on, it was meant to be, and Haley will be a Gonzaga Bulldog come fall 2018.

Excited for the future, Haley looks back at her journey thus far. She can recall the big games that made her better, the way when she was younger she would always have the brightest neon cleats around, and how she superstitiously eats oatmeal for breakfast when travelling for soccer. Haley’s success has not come without sacrifice; often times, Haley is forced to plan much of her time around the sport and more than often things like social life are cut from her busy schedule. “It’s usually soccer and then school,” she says. When asked if Haley is getting her recommended eight hour of sleep at night she smiled, laughed and siad “gosh no.”

With Real, Haley practices six days of the week perfecting her sport. Her versatility and athletic talent on the field not only impressed Gonzaga, but has earned the respect of her teammates on Real National. “Some of Haley’s best qualities on the field are her athleticism and positive attitude because

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Photos courtesy of Haley Archuleta

we can always count on her to be ready to play and she always has a smile on her face lifting people up when mistake are made,” says longtime teammate and friend Shae Holmes. On days when Haley doesn’t perform however, coach Lauren Donaldson makes sure to let her know. Haley laughs at these encounters, “He always tells me ‘Oh yeah, we’ll hug it out and have a cup of water together afterwards,’” she says.

At a time when most of her fellow juniors are avoiding the college search, hoping that if they avoid it for long enough it will just go away, Haley explains that despite already being commited to Gonzaga, life isn’t so simple for her either. Putting high school on the backburner at this point would be a major mistake. “You can’t, you still have to get good test scores and maintain a GPA. That is required to get in the school. I will still have to apply to get into the school, and if you can’t get into the school, you’re kind of screwed.”

Working long hours at soccer gives Haley life. As a player who never quits until she is the best player on the field, it likely this is just the beginning of a long journey for Haley. Fridays are Haley’s days off, yet there she is, under those floodlights, on some field, somewhere, with some pair of cleats and some Nike soccer balls. A girl and her sport, Bulldog-bound. “I think the best is yet to come,” Haley says.

PEOPLE AC: What is Relatable AHS? EA: It’s a comedy account on Instagram for Arapahoe High School that has developed into something that a lot of people love.

AC:What inspired you to create this account and when did you create it?

EA: It was the end of the first semester of my freshman year, so about a year ago. I was sitting in Yogurt Land one day and my friend had said to me, “Wouldn’t it be cool if you created a comedy account?” and I was like, “Yeah I could totally do that.”

So I did later that day.

AC: When you created this account, were you ever worried you would get in trouble with the school?

EA: Of course. I was honestly terrified because I thought my posts would offend the teachers. But I made it so none of the posts will offend the faculty or anything.

That’s why for a while I kept myself anonymous. Now I am not as scared and I am more confident in my posts.

Relatable AHS’

ethan anzia

The sophomore whose Instagram account, @relatable.ahs, has the

by Abby Caster whole school talking

AC: Going off of that, why did you choose to leave yourself anonymous at first and what made you make the decision to reveal yourself?

EA: At first, I kept it anonymous for many reasons. First of all, I didn’t want my parents to find out and for me to get in trouble. I also was afraid I was going to get in trouble with the school. And on making the decision to reveal myself, some people already knew and some people were like, “Oh bet it’s him.” So I figured I might as well just tell everyone. So I finally did and I am still really happy with it and I didn’t get in any trouble. I was at King Soopers when I posted it, and when I came back, and I had about 20 people stop me and say things like, “Oh my gosh it’s you!” I think they were all in shock.

AC: Where do you get your ideas for your posts?

EA: Usually it’s from my throughout the regular school day. If something causes an emotion in me that the rest of the school can relate to or laugh at, I will usually post it.

AC: Do you ever run out of ideas?

EA: Yes! At the beginning, all the time. Since I kept it a secret for so long, it was just me making all of the posts and I had to think up everything on my own. So I would sit at King Soopers or Starbucks after school for an hour just thinking of ideas.

AC: When you created this account, did you think it would get so popular?

EA: Not one bit. I thought I was going to be done with it after a week.

I thought it would be like, “Hey I made this funny account and it was such a joke!” Or later on I would be with my friends and I would go, “Remember that one time I made that account in school?” But instead it has become this and I am very happy with it.

AC: Are there things you have to refrain from posting due to your large following?

EA: Yes, I started, since the beginning, not posting things with bad words or bad material. I continue to practice that because I still don’t want to get in trouble with the school or my parents.

AC: On the other hand, do you ever use your large following to address issues?

EA: All the time. When something school-wide happens, I will address it if it means a lot to me. And many things have in the past, I have posted many things regarding issues around the school.

AC: What is in the future for Relatable AHS? Are you planning on continuing the account for the rest of your high school career?

EA: I think my goal would be to, either next year or my senior year, pass it along to an underclassmen.

Someone I can trust with the account and take care of it. Because I would love to see it keep going and to become a tradition.

AC: And lastly, why should everyone be following @relatable.ahs on Instagram?

EA: It’s a great account. It shows that other people have the same ideas as you, experience the same things that you do, and it shows that we all can relate to the same things. We are all going through high school together and it’s a great account to follow if you need a laugh.

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PEOPLE

Diamonds in The Rough:

Electa Sutton

From All State Choir to Arapahoe Singers, a voice unlike any other

by Abigail Guadnola

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rapahoe is filled to the brim with unique students. Our student body is comprised of musicians, writers, actors, athletes, scientists and the list goes on. One student that stands out, particularly in the area of music, is senior Electa Sutton. Sutton has been involved in the performing arts since middle school and has performed in multiple shows, sung in numerous choirs and is in a worship band at her church.

As a freshman Sutton was a member of Women’s Choir and worked to advance to a higher level choir. Since her sophomore year she has been a part of Choralettes and as a senior is a part of the a cappella choir Arapahoe Singers.

“Music is something that’s really personal to me. But what I love about it is that it’s personal to everyone, everyone has something in music that makes it personal to them” Sutton said.

“Music brings people together, like in choir we have anywhere from 16 to 70 people singing one song but it has different meanings to everyone singing

and I think that’s so unique and special.”

Perhaps Sutton’s most notable accomplishment is her acceptance into Colorado All State Choir. Of Arapahoe’s five students to audition, Sutton was the only one to be accepted into the group. Across the state roughly 1200 students auditioned making Sutton’s placement all the more notable. “Getting into All State Choir was so exciting, I was literally jumping around - which Ms. Parmenter can attest to,” Sutton said.

“It’s definitely a challenge because the music is hard and I have to learn it on my own, which is totally different from choirs I’ve been in but it’s a challenge I think I’m ready for.”

In addition to her choral involvement, Sutton has taken on the role of Assistant to the Director - though has no involvement in casting decisions in the spring musical “Parmageddon: The Musical” as well as balancing a role in the production.

“I’m super excited for

‘Parmageddon,” Sutton said. “This year in addition to performing on stage, I’m the Assistant to the Director so I get to experience a different side of the process of putting a show together.”

Sutton is one of the most talented students to walk the halls of Arapahoe.

From her volunteer work to her spectacular voice and dedication, she is one of the many people who makes our school the unique environment it is.

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of hearing her voice is sure to agree, Sutton deserves her spot in Colorado All State Choir as well as Arapahoe Singers and Choralettes.

Want to learn more about Arapahoe’s unique students? Follow “Diamonds in the Rough” at ArapahoeXtra.com

Photos by Abigail Guadnola

CULTURE

The Fight for Feminism Differentiating between radical and progressive feminism

by Delia Guilbert by

O

n Jan. 21, 2016, the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, feminists across the world attended the “Women’s March,” a movement aimed to bring the new President’s attention to issues faced by women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community.

However, these marches garnered mixed reactions, ranging anywhere from pride at the ‘power of the people’ to dismay that so shortly after a new election there would be what some considered little more than protest riots.

This dissent illuminated a longstanding issue between feminists, women’s rights activists and the outside world — when it comes to activism, where should one draw the line?

An issue forms when feminism becomes, to use the colloquial, ‘feminazism.’ Even the term is loaded; comparing generally peaceful advocacy for equal rights to a brutal totalitarianism-centric campaign is unsurprisingly controversial. The more politically correct terms are generally thought to be either “psuedofeminist” or “radfem” (radical feminist). Yet there is a need to distinguish between the two; feminism is an exclusive focus on equal rights for disenfranchised groups, whereas radical feminism is comparable to misandry. Their defining qualities are as follows: Feminism: - Focus on gender equality - Seeks to empower women by increasing opportunities - Heavy focus on wage gap and gender stereotypes - More generally considered an equal rights platform for all minority groups

Radical Feminism - Focus on female superiority - Seeks to empower women by attacking and invalidating men - Heavy focus on exaggerating and ridiculing men in positions of power - Tends to center solely on white, cisgender, wealthy females FEBRUARY 2017 a r a p a h o e x t r a . c o m

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he Women’s March on Denver took place at Civic Center Park and ended at Capitol

Hill, Jan 21, 2017. It was a rally not only for women’s rights, but equal and basic human rights as well. Simply, women organized it, therefore it is called the Women’s March. In Denver alone, there were over 200,000 people who participated. Globally, however, there were approximately 5.6 million marchers in total.

It stands for all people, regardless of gender, gender identification, racial heritage, ethnicity, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation and/or socioeconomic status, being treated equally and equitably, with dignity,

Women’s March Women’s March on Denver 2017 on Denver 2017

by Maddie Egerton and Kaelyn Colizzo

respect and justice for all.

One of the most impactful things about the March is that there were so many different people participating. Individuals of all shapes and sizes took a stand to make a change. That is what was so noticeable and impactful; so many people connected and came together.

From the Women’s March website, about what the future brings, “Our vision for the future of our movement is blurry... but we do have a vision. We will be focusing on connecting people with the organizations and opportunities that allow them to be a force for change in areas that are important to them while mobilizing everyday folks to take part in the legislative process in ways that further our cause of social justice and human rights.”

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Pictures by Maddie Egerton and Kaelyn Colizzo

The upside down flag symbolizes a deep distress to life or property of an American citizen. The flag has been flown upside down during protests all the way back to the Vietnam War and is a recognized icon.

Photo by Maddie Egerton

A&E

Television networks have recently been in cut-throat competition with each other. This has caused amazing shows that people spend hours binge-watching. In 2017, this trend will continue with new original series to look forward to.

Happy binge-watching!

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Kanye West “Turbo Grafx 16” Release date to be determined

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The Shins “Heartworms” March 10, 2017 Ed Sheeran “÷” March 3, 2017

edsheeran.com

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Movies:

Lorde Title to be determined Spring 2017

Many say that original ideas in films are dead but they are wrong. These ideas may be sculpted from old movies but they bring a new influence into films.

This year, we will be able to witness this ¨movie fusion¨ in films such as ¨The Last Jedi.¨ Here’s to 2017 movies with new creative adaptations of old ideas.

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“Dear White People” Netflix Release date to be determined

imbd.com

Television Shows:

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“American Gods” Starz April 2017

”Big Little Lies” HBO Feb. 19 2017

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“Bill Nye Saves the World” Netflix Spring 2017

Albums: 2017 is the year that artists will return from hiding. Great musicians such as Lorde and The Shins are bringing back their influence with new original albums for the first time since 2013. High expectations are to be met with these albums. For now we must look at the clock and hope time will pass quickly.

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“Justice League” Nov. 17, 2017 “Coco” Nov. 22, 2017

“Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi” Dec. 17, 2017 “A Cure for Wellness” Feb. 17, 2017

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“Boss Baby” March 31, 2017

Ribastank/pixabay.com

by Lea Wolff

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hbo.com

17 Things to Look Forward to in 2017

“Marvel’s Iron Fist” Netflix March 17, 2017 “The Handmaid’s Tale” Hulu April 26, 2017 “Room 104” HBO Release date to be determined

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“Wonder Woman” June 2, 2017

A&E

Confessions of a Reality Show Addict

I

by Becca Schwisow

am addicted to reality TV. I have spent countless hours keeping up with the Kardashian family and rooting for my favorite player on “Big Brother.” When I went through my baking show phase, I had my mom visit the “D.C. Cupcakes” store while she was in Washington D.C.. I know all of the Duggar kids’ names by heart, and can retell them in less than ten seconds (a talent which I am unsure whether to be proud of, or embarrassed).

However extreme my addiction may be, I know I am not alone.

Reality television has become a guilty pleasure for people all across America. Networks are finding the most obscure families or companies to highlight and viewers are drawn to them. While surfing through channels, it is easy to find some type of reality show playing on a network at any given time.

Everyone has their favorite Kardashian sister or contestant on “The Bachelor,” and can debate the reasoning behind it.

What is it about the people on these shows that draws viewers in?

For me, reality shows are a distraction from

the hours of homework I could be doing. The life of people on air can be a good conversation topic at lunch with friends who also watch the show.

Watching these shows helps to find an escape from the drama in your life, only to enter into the glamorized drama of others’ lives.

Reality television has invaded this country.

Show after show is created, hoping to keep the attention of the ever changing and demanding demographic of viewers. Our new president has even created his own show, “The Apprentice.”

With the rise of YouTube, and other social media websites, anyone can create their own “reality show” with hundreds of thousands of viewers.

In an age with so many people in the spotlight, how much of it is authentic?

Producers choose when to film, and highlights that would make a good episode.

Tension is edited in and portrayed to the viewer as more family drama.

Knowing what goes on behind the scenes, Americans still waste their time watching these shows. As a reality show addict myself, I think it is time to create “Reality Show Addicts Anonymous.” Who wants to join?

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In Depth and In Love What’s Inside:

Hallmark Holidays Matchmaker Advantages/Disadvantages of High School Relationships Relationships Around the World

Love Language Timeline of Dating Abusive Relationships KENZIE’S ARTICLE

Graphics by Courtney Brown and Becca Schwisow

INDEPTH

Can’t Buy Me Love

by Emily Koke

Roses are red, Money is green, This “Hallmark” holiday Is totally obscene

A

once loving holiday, acclaimed for its romantic values, has now become riddled with novelties. A person can’t even walk through the grocery store without being bombarded with love and their crippling loneliness. The love has been sucked out and replaced with chalky candy hearts and stuffed bears that “wuv hugs.” The real value is lost in translation when people waste time measuring their love in cash.

A “Hallmark” holiday is a holiday considered corrupted by commercialism. Money is thrown left and right while the purpose of the holiday is thrown out the window. This is arguably happening to Valentine’s Day. Instead of spontaneous acts of affection, people settle with quick buys and meaningless greeting cards.Though the holiday seems to defy morals and the popular heart shape seems to defy biology, the success of this holiday is undeniable. Which begs the question, why has the value of love been equated to a cheap toy collecting dust? It has turned more into an obligation than an endearing holiday and the demand for a quick solution has only increased. Our daily trifles leaves less time for holiday plans and companies have taken advantage of our desensitization to love. Over the years, the population has only added fuel to the fire by increasing the profits made. More and more people are throwing together purchases and rushing through the day. Aisles are littered with toys and pink hearts cloud what really matters. Love isn’t about how much money you are willing to spend on someone.

The origin of Valentine’s Day is unfortunately unclear. Though written Valentines did not become popular until the 1400s, its historical importance is deeply rooted. February has typically been associated with romance and Saint Valentine. There are a few popular legends that are connected to Valentine’s Day. One describes Saint Valentine performing secret marriages against the leaders wishes which subsequently lead to Valentine’s death.

Another depicts Valentine being imprisoned and later falling in love with his guard’s daughter.

These two stories emphasize important qualities, one being romance and another being the heroicness of protecting love.

Valentine’s Day is meant for the hopeless romantics. Though many of us might be more hopeless than romantic, there is no reason for us to make this holiday have less to do with love and more to do with money. Valentine’s Day was intended to be a reminder for valuing the people you care about. Though love will never lose its meaning, society is losing the motivation to celebrate the meaning. Love is what happens when you are busy making other plans and life is what is lost when you neglect to appreciate things you love.

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Matchmaker

by Sybrand Braakman & Xavier Maier

q

Now that February has rolled around again, we decided to break out our famous matchmaking survey and the airtight love formula that we’ve crafted to make beautiful romances a reality.

Everyone who was surveyed answered questions about personality, music tastes, interests and activities, and The Herald determined who could be couples based on the results.

Freshmen: Jack Sevall & Julia Margason Both extroverted Both enjoy indie/ alternative rock, pop, and country music Both involved in clubs, sports, Student Council Both value honesty in relationships

Sophomores: Seth Wilson & Ashlyn Fetterly Both very involved in sports Both value communication in relationships Both enjoy Ed Sheeran Both unemployed

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q Matchmaker Juniors: Jake Miles & Ivey Peacock Both very confident Both cross country runners Both enjoy electronic music Both are extroverted

Seniors: Jack Hoye & Lauren Schofield Both enjoy rap music Both value humor in relationships Both are moderately confident

Photo illustrations by Sybrand Braakman FEBRUARY 2017 a r a p a h o e x t r a . c o m

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Advantages and Disadvantages of High School Relationships

What it is really like to date in high school

by Allie Highsmith

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igh school relationships can be helpful or hurtful. Experiences in a high school relationship sets the stage for romantic preferences throughout the rest of life. Because of that, these relationships, if they are not the right kind, can either severely damage romantic mentalities for the future, or be very beneficial for both parties involved.

Advantages

Disadvantages

You will always have a study buddy!

You are broke every weekend.

There is usually someone to come to with your problems and a shoulder to cry on!

You are also significantly busier than you would be without.

Knowing that, if you got in a gang fight, you would have someone to back you!

When Grandma asks you, “So do you have a… special someone yet?” and winks at you, you can wink back.

You get more presents on your birthday!

You will have more friends if you choose to hang out with your significant other’s friends!

You will read more books, and watch more movies and shows with them!

There is another brain with which to discuss ideas and open your mind up to new things.

You will be able to attend more events in order to cheer on your significant other.

If it goes on for long enough, you may even have to introduce your significant other to- gasp- your family!

If you are used to telling this one person everything all the time and then you get in a fight, it can be harmful for a bit until the conflict is resolved.

If you become too invested in the other person’s life, it can draw you away from your friends and family.

If it is a harmful relationship, the two parties will likely both suffer from emotional abuse, in which case not only does the relationship affect each day for the people involved, but it also lays the groundwork for any future relationship.

While you date one person, you are missing out on dating someone else. but if you make the right decision, hopefully you will end up in the happiest situation.

If it is an abusive relationship, the person may begin to try to control the other person’s life.

There is always someone to support you and your pursuits!

Overall, there is just another person to grow and learn about the world with. (Assuming it is a healthy and nurturing relationship.)

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On the whole, high school relationships can be very worthwhile if both members are respectful and kind to one another. It is important that both parties consistently assess the value of their relationship in their lives. If they are constantly hurt by the relationship, it needs to come to an end. Try not to stress about any relationship with which you may be involved. With any luck, you will end up happy and healthy with a significant other that fills you with selfconfidence and makes each day one to look forward to.

INDEPTH

Dating From Around the World

by Vivianna DeNittis

very year on February 14, all people are reminded of their loved ones, or lack thereof. The holiday leaves people wishing for significant others and thinking about scenarios where they are E with their biggest crush. Teens may imagine these situations with the customs from America, but teens in other countries probably imagine different scenes. There are many different customs from around the world about love, dating, and marriage. Here are some stories from different countries across the world.

In Iceland “There’s not really a culture for dating. You rarely see people going on dates or guys asking girls out. The people who are in relationships wait to get married until they have kids. A lot of times they want their kids to be in the wedding.”

-Melkorka Sverrisdottir, 11.

In Egypt “Most relationships don’t really go on dates until it’s official. When people make it official, that’s basically when their engaged.

Getting to know each other happens when you’re hanging out with other people or over text. There’s no kissing when you’re not married.”

-Sarah Karoussa, 11.

Graphics by Vivianna DeNittis

“In Iran it is illegal to date because it is an Islamic republic and premarital relations go against Islam.

Everyone just does it in private.

People always refer to boyfriends or girlfriends as just friends until they get married. Also PDA is a definite ‘no-no’ unless you’re married.” -Kimia Rejai, 11.

In India “The parents set up their kids in an arranged marriage.

The first time they meet is at the wedding. The girl is normally between 14 to 16, while the man they marry is between 30 to 35. They have kids as soon as they get married.”

-Ashton Phelps, 12.

In China “Once you’re a woman over the age of 27 and you’re not married or dating anyone then you’re a “leftover woman,’ At that point you’re less desirable.” -May Tang, 11.

“For PDA in China, instead of kissing, they would find matching outfits and take a cute photo.

And people actually a lot of times don’t live together before they are married.” -Linzi Fuller, 10.

“Most people on Guam are Catholic, so they choose to get married in a church. Other than that, dating and such are similar to here.”

-Rita DeSautels, 12.

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Flowers or Nah?

by Ashton Phelps

ey, slacker boys! It’s February 13, so go buy some flowers for your girlfriend! Be careful, because if you give the wrong flowers you might send the wrong message...

Pink and Red Roses: The pink and red color combination shows respect and passionate love for your significant other.

White tulips: A simple white tulip represents innocence and forgiveness. Give this flower with an apology after a fight.

Hydrangeas and Iris: Known as a wedding bouquet, this combination symbolizes the spark of love and passion. Give this bouquet to a new lover.

Yellow rose: This simple flower can let someone know how thankful you are for the friendship you share.

Red and yellow Carnations: This bouquet acts as a cheerful, flashy way to show your love for someone without saying the nerve racking words, “I love you.”

Lilies and Daisies: This pair of flowers represents chastity, purity and innocence. Give this to your loved one in remembrance of staying pure.

*If you don’t want to be basic and get your girl a classic bouquet of flowers and chocolate, maybe get something different such as a succulent plant! These baby plants are fun to watch grow and have cool patterns!*

1950s

How you doin’?

Across university campuses, couples publicized their decision to “go steady” when the man gave the woman an article of his clothing.

1960s

A sexual revolution began when the word “hookup” was created and used in place of dating.

2000s

Terms like “girlfriend,” “boyfriend” and “partner” were used frequently when describing a person’s significant other.

2010s

“Talking,” as in “we are talking,” became the word teens used before a girl and a boy were defined as a couple. In addition to that, they used the word “thing”describes the relationship as liking each other but not being exclusive yet.

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Graphics by Courtney Brown and Ashton Phelps

Dating 19th Century

Through the Century

Wasn’t called dating until 1896 (originally called courtship) All about marriage, but never really about love Pre-arranged by parents Proper first dates would be a gentleman caller to the home of woman Chaperoned during these visits Parents let serious couples be alone at times These meetings will continue until interest is reached Proposal will be offered Spouse must be beneficial (status, money, etc.)

1920s-1930s No parental supervision Chose activities for dates, based on what they preferred Popular choices included: Going to a dance Going to an amusement park Driving in a fast car Attending a movie Dating multiple people became common

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

by Lauren David

Fun Fact: At this point in time, the ‘Biological Clock’ panic appeared. This means that there were now expectations on when to marry and when to have children. This added a lot of stress when dating.

1960s-1970s Pre-dating etiquette was less restrictive Affairs were common 1962 book published: ‘Sex and the Single Girl’ by Helen Gurley Brown Inspired girls to be more adventurous First dates to amusement parks a thing of the past

Fun Fact: People who wore makeup (Known as ‘painted faces’) were typically actresses and prostitutes.

Most women did not wear any makeup, since a natural look represented clean living.

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1970

1980

1990

Today

1980s-1990s 1940s-1950s Early 1900s Started meeting in public (men bought women food, gifts, etc.)

Going out was the best way to get privacy Consumer goods became a big part of dating Buying food and such became a way to determine if partner is compatible (share common interests) Fashion is also now a big part of dating for women Fun Fact: Men and women going out on dates in public was a new concept at this time, so police were not sure what to think of it. They believed something sinister was occurring, so many women were arrested because of this.

During World War II, many men were drafted into the army, so finding a man to date became tricky If drafted, the two would promise of a relationship upon their return Term ‘going steady’ was created, solidified by a class ring or letterman jacket First dates typically happened after a guy called a girl on the phone Guy tries to charm the girl A lot of getting to know each other Any money spent was spent by the guy (custom) If first date did not go well, there was always another opportunity with someone else

Term ‘hooking up’ was created More about getting together and seeing what happens Girls seeked more attention from men Confusion on whether to date at all

Today Mix of ‘hooking up’ and formal dates Texting a major role in dating, learned more about the person through texting than face-to-face More casual All up to what the person wants, whether it be for status or for love Fun Fact: Couples typically wait six-eight dates before announcing that they are in a exclusive relationship. However, the most common time for a couple to break up is three-five months into a relationship.

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Staying in Control Identifying Abusive Relationships

by Avi Hathorne

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buse is a topic which many people tend to avoid. As these people would argue, between school, work and the countless unexpected obstacles that might arise, there is enough to worry about without having to wonder whether or not their personal relationships are healthy. Because of this, high school students may fail to notice key signs that a significant other is too overbearing.

Most often, the word “abuse” brings to mind physical mistreatment, as in cases of domestic violence and sexual assault; however psychological abuse is a very real threat to people in relationships, both in school and in the outside world. A mental health professional, who has requested to remain anonymous, remarked that while psychological abuse is not rampant, it is still a problem. According to this professional, many abusers attempt to control aspects of their significant other’s lives: “Who are you talking to? Where are you going? I don’t like you hanging out with them.” Abusers may make an effort to restrict environments, friendships, jobs and behaviors that they do not like. These demands seem superficial, but they build up over time.

Several factors may determine how prone an individual is to being trapped in or creating an abusive relationship. An imbalance in the household can impress upon a child that unequal power is typical.

Not all victims or abusers come from unbalanced families however. Most often, unhealthy relationships between teenagers arise due to lack of experience. Middle and high school are often when people start developing “serious” connections. Younger teenagers who are attempting a relationship for the first time lack a real comparison to their situation and might fail to learn what is and is not beneficial. In the words of the anonymous professional, “It can seem like a natural thing to be a part of, and it’s not.”

For further information and help, both for oneself and others, websites such as “Teens Experiencing Abusive Relationships” and “Love is Respect” offer warning signs and numerous hotlines. Reaching out can be incredibly difficult for victims of abusive relationships, often due to fear of ridicule or worsened conflict, but if one can overcome this obstacle, professionals can help with the rest.

This chart shows data from the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Each number represents the percentage of survey takers who reported experiencing each type of abuse.

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Contemplating Whether Love is Real As of right now, I do not honestly know where I stand with the concept of love

by Mackenzie Callahan

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or a very long time, my idea of love was shaped around watching my parents go about their normal schedule. I spectated all of their good, bad, beautiful and ugly moments and understood that love was not always easy or pretty. I knew they were not always happy, but at the end of the day, they would go back to each other.

At eighteen years old, my perspective on love changed as I watched my parents 22 year marriage fall apart.

My roots were torn apart, my home (both physical and intangible) was taken away, and my stability became unsteady.

As a child, I believed in the fairy tale concept of a happy ending. Finding the love of your life and actually living happily ever after. Though it was not always happy, I thought that my parent’s love would live until the day they died.

Once again, I was wrong.

Here I sit, contemplating whether or not love was ever real. I think back to all of the people in my life and who I have said that I have loved, and wondered if I ever truly meant it, or if it was just three words I tossed around to get across my appreciation for them in my life.

I have realized, in an incredibly bitter way, that I have not loved every single person who has walked into my life.

I think I have been in love.

But I keep going back and forth between believing in the intangible concept and thinking it may just be something to pass the time. I hoped it was not the latter. Because I think I was just in love with the idea of them. I was in love with their words and not their actions. To this day, they still will have a piece of my heart that will only ever feel right with them.

I think I may be in love.

I hope that this is as real as my brain has made it to be. My days seem brighter with him in it. The struggles that I have been facing seem a little softer with him in my life. But I pray that this is not just something to pass the time.

Everything in life is temporary, but I believed my parents were going to be permanent. I thought I never needed to figure out which house I had to go to first when the holidays came around. I never thought I would have a mom’s house and a dad’s house. This is my reality. I wish it was not, but it is not something that I can remedy.

As of right now, I do not honestly know where I stand with the concept of love. I love the people in my life, I love my parents, I love the way the mountains look when the sun is rising and setting and I love the idea that one day, there will be a person who will walk into my life and love all of me and who I am. I just wish the concept of being in love with someone was not fractured when I look upon it now because how could it ever be real?

I would like to continue to be hopeful and optimistic about the future. I want to have a family and children and live with the constant knowledge that the person I decided to spend the rest of my life with will not eventually lose interest in me.

But how could I believe in permanence if the two people in my life who I thought would last forever could not even achieve that?

I will remain optimistic about my future, but I pray I do not make the same mistakes the people who raised me did.

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The

Era

Student input on Donald Trump’s agenda

by David J DeBonis

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ACTIVIST OPINIONS he country is well into its first month of Donald Trump’s Arapahoe senior David Carroll attended the Inauguration protest presidency of the United States. Despite the large amount of on the evening of Jan. 20, because he is upset with the current state distaste and distrust for Trump, he managed to win the electoral vote of the system. “Donald Trump’s election into office is only a symbol and push his way into presidency. The country is no longer divided for the deterioration and decay that is already present everywhere between team Clinton and team Trump. It seems that the newest in the system,” said Carroll. Despite his participation in the protest, political focus of the country is The Donald— and whether you love or Carroll said that “protesting can help unite a group of people with hate him. similar views and values, but it doesn’t create change because the Donald Trump’s agenda has frightened and angered a large government ignores the thoughts and ideas of the people.” Carroll chunk of the population. Minorities and women are only a few marched in the streets and distributed socialist literature at the examples of the millions who are expected to be on the receiving end protest, because he believes that “education and organization are the of Trump’s reign. On the other hand, a large number of people have first steps to actual change.” fallen in love with his Policies, and believe that he will “Make America Another protester, senior Brent Cary, also attended the protest Great Again.” Trump’s inauguration has sparked conflict throughout on Inauguration day because he wanted to “raise awareness to the the nation. The people are fighting over his intentions, his experience, discontent in the country due to the election.” Cary is angry with and his overall existence. The results of the election have torn the Donald Trump because of his “racist and sexist remarks, seeing country apart, which is the opposite of what we need at a time like as he is in the most powerful office in the world.” He is also upset this. with Trump’s Cabinet On the weekend of appointments, feeling that Donald’s inauguration they make a mockery of there was an eruption the institution of civics, of protest throughout as well as a collection the country. The people of other things, such —angry protesters of all as Trump’s decision to race, age, and gender— cut education spending. gathered in cities and “Protesting doesn’t exercised their first achieve much change amendment right to in way of actual effect,” peaceably assemble. said Cary, “but there is In Denver, there was a nothing more provoking collection of inauguration than an effective and protests, including the peaceful demonstration ‘Women’s March’ that of the first amendment. occurred on Jan. 21, which The main goal of produced a turnout of Protesters begin to burn an American flag while marching down Speer Boulevard in protesting is to achieve over 200,000 people.

Denver on Inaguration Day (Jan 20). Photo by Clayton Cain social awareness, but Throughout the weekend that’s all it really does.” people gathered at the Clayton Cain, another Arapahoe Senior, also attended the Colorado State Capitol wielding anti-Trump and pro-rights signs.

Inauguration protest on Jan 20. “Protesting is not the way to create The protests acted as a place for people with similar beliefs to change,” said Cain. “It shows a large support for an issue and gather and express their perspective on the current standing of the exercises the First Amendment, but it takes more to change the government. People expressed opinions about not only Trump, but the overall downfalls of our political system as a whole. It was exciting system.” Cain has also developed a strong distaste for Trump, his to see people not simply complaining about current issues, but also Cabinet picks, and his denial of Global Warming. spreading ideas of change.

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CULTURE OPINIONS ”No regime change will fix a broken system. Trump is just a mascot, because he represents a plutonomy system that only works for the rich,” said Cain.

LOOKING FORWARD As we fall into the years of Trump’s reign as president it is vital that the people who will be oppressed and offended by Trump’s policies, decisions, and influence, unite and stand strong in opposition to the Trump agenda. Although protesting may gather like-minded people and agitate the masses, it is merely angry-complaining in groups, and will not create the change the people wish to see in the country.

We must unite the nation in order to see a major change from the current state of corruption. Trump is a symbol of the racial injustice, wealth inequality, environmental destruction, and gender dominance in our society. It is important to not only protest Trump, but to protest these major corruptions and dangers in our governmental and economic systems.

The people must become educated about not only the issues in our systems, but the possible alterations that would be best for the people as a whole. As Thomas Jefferson said, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people.” It is the first step towards political change, because change lies in the hands of the people.

Finally, the people must organize and move this country to a state of complete equality and justice. We must exercise our First Amendment rights in order to educate and organize the masses. We are the people, and we have the power to make this country what we need it to be.

“

The results of the election have torn the country apart, which is the opposite of what we need at a time like this...”

Protesters gather to march through the streets from Civiv Center Park. Many were wearing dark clothes and masks [for a ‘blackout’ effect], and also carrying signs.

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OPINIONS

Murals and Graffiti: Where is the Line?

by Kendra Sullivan

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raffiti comes in many forms. Some are murals that are full of color and life, while others are just small tags that serve a very

forms of it should be considered art.

The line between illegal graffiti and commissioned murals is very

different purpose. This type of street art as a whole is illegal and most

thin. Walking around downtown, there were many beautiful works

people don’t consider it art. Legal or not, I consider graffiti one of the

of art and most of the time it was hard to tell whether or not they

most expressive forms of art. It’s raw and real; a lot of graffiti displays

were legal. While taking pictures, I ran into a graffiti artist. He was

real-world problems in different styles.

in the middle of working on a mural on the side of a building and

Graffiti is about putting a message out there, using vivid colors

the mural was commissioned by the building owner. He mentioned

or large letters to get something across. Banksy is one of the most

that the divide between mural art and graffiti is small and based on

famous graffiti artists and his pieces can be very controversial, and

permission. He defended the fact that graffiti is art, it just may not be

not just because they are against the law. He uses black and white

allowed. He told me that he had been doing commissioned murals on

primarily and his focus is people most of the time. He shows people

buildings for the past seven years but he’s been working with graffiti

challenging the government or society’s standards.

since the 90s. He works well with portraits and stylistic writing. He

I think graffiti brings art out in the open, as it’s not in museums

didn’t give me his name and he wasn’t comfortable with me taking

where people have to pay to look at it. Rather, it’s right in people’s

his picture, but he does have an Instagram account. Check out the

faces when they drive home from work or go on a morning run.

hashtag #zehbicr to see some of his art.

Bringing art out into the real world is amazing; it gives towns life and cities culture.

Even if graffiti can be beautiful, it’s still vandalism. Some

Graffiti can range from simple gang tags to dramatic writing, and from bold colorful portraits to black and white silhouettes. Graffiti, like all art, involves creativity, passion and work. Any way it’s presented,

businesses don’t want large murals on the side of their buildings,

all graffiti tells a story. It could be a story of the artist or even the

regardless of how cool or interesting they may seem. I think most

town, but a story nonetheless, and every story is worth telling.

Photos by Kendra Sullivan

OPINIONS

Dystopian is Overdone

by Grace Adams

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Equality

Why is it that in the future, humans are shown as fools who don’t even realize what is happening right in front of them? Is it because we are a version of that now? For me, these stories have no hope and places the thought that

Individuality

verywhere you look there is something in our world that is dystopian.

Whether it be a movie, a book, or even our own curriculum it is always around us. I am not saying that dystopian is bad, but I am saying that it is way overdone, partly because we are always wanting to know about our future and what will soon happen to us. Personally, I am getting tired of always seeing a movie that has the same plot as the last one that I saw. Reading almost the exact same book again. And analyzing the same story plot again and again in class.

With a few exceptions, most dystopian stories have some sort of government that controls everything that the citizens do and all people are oblivious to it. In the end one person in the city rebels and realizes the wrongs of the government.

our future is doomed and that we will someday have no freedom of thought or action. This, then, places the question of how this affects our youth perceiving this message. If a main source of media is telling its viewers that there is not much hope in our future this must make them question our world and government today. I want to leave with the question of why we are so caught up in dystopian fantasy? Is it because we only want what is next? Or simply because we are not happy with what we have now?

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OPINIONS

Love Is Inconvenient H

ow often do you hear or say the word love each day? Love is a word that, once upon a time, carried deep meaning. Now that same word is flippantly thrown around when talking about snacks or movies or songs or literally anything in existence. I’ll admit, I too am guilty of overusing “love.” I say how much I love a particular bagel, my morning coffee or “How I Met Your Mother.”Nevertheless, it puzzles me how a word with such intense meaning has lost almost all of it’s value. “Love” used to be a word people would get weak- kneed thinking about let alone saying, love was a heavy word. It was so big and important that the Greeks had four different words for “love” and each had a different connotation. I think the Greek language is brilliant in that sense and the English language should follow suit because my love for coffee and bagels is not the same as the love my parents have for each other.

Because our language doesn’t have a way to differentiate between bagel love and relational love, I say there is lowercase “l” “love” and uppercase “L” “Love.” I think as teenagers we sometimes have this idea that Love is easy and that the hard part is finding it. Sure, we know there’ll be some fights here and there but it’s Love, and Love conquers all right? Well I’m only

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seventeen and I’ve got exceedingly minimal relationship experience however I do know that true real and pure Love is difficult and it isn’t a Disney movie.

I think one of the biggest surprises for teenagers, and people in general, is how inconvenient Love is. We boast about how competent we are in the Love department, swear we are willing to put in the extra effort… that is until we realize just how much effort that is.

Love isn’t convenient. I repeat: Love.

Isn’t. Convenient. Love isn’t some fluffy feeling with stars, hearts and rainbows, it’s not a victory march. It isn’t a Nicolas Sparks movie or an old Taylor swift song (ex “Love Story” or “You Belong with Me”). Love is hard. Love is giving up your needs and wants for those of others. Love is driving for miles to help a friend. Love is staying up until the sun rises just talking about life. Love is getting food for someone who hasn’t eaten in days instead of buying gas. Love is cleaning your room because it will excite your parents even though that makes no sense to you. Love is listening, even if the topic seems utterly insignificant. Love is no questions asked, no judgements passed. Love is making choices that hurt, but are for the best. Love is sacrifice. And that can be brutal.

Because we perpetually believe

Abigail Guadnola

that Love is going to, ultimately, be easy, it comes as a surprise when it isn’t and that causes people to develop a fear of Love. I can’t resist bringing up a “Star Wars” quote from Master Yoda: “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

“Star Wars” is fiction and this quote isn’t referring to love, but the point remains. Fear of Love and letting people in leads to anger for previous circumstances which forms into hate.

Hatred of Love, hatred of certain people, sometimes, even hatred for oneself. All in all that leads to suffering.

Valentine’s day can be hard, and every year the same anthem that Love is dead or evil or cruel is proclaimed from the rooftops. However, I think that idea is just perpetuated by hurt because everyone buys into the idea that Love is like a Disney movie: it’s easy, birds sing and everything ends with a ribbon and “happily ever after.”

That’s a cute fairy tale, but real Love, while more painful and inconvenient, is so much more fulfilling than anything else.

Love is inconevinent, and in a time that emphasizes, even craves, convenience, the thought of Love seems exceedingly daunting. However at the end of the day, Love is worth any hurt or heartache.

EDITORIAL

Alexandra München/pixabay.com

Setting Our Clocks Back

LPS Board Considering New Start Times This editorial represents the views of the majority of the Herald staff

I

n a move that has received widespread support throughout the community, the Littleton Public Schools (LPS) Board of Education have begun to consider four separate plans for pushing back school start times. Of those four, two are considered to be viable. The first viable proposal suggests pushing high school start times back a half-hour, to 7:51, and end times back to 2:58. The other suggests pushing start times back almost a full hour, to 8:20, and end times to 3:27.

According to LPS Director of Communication Diane Leiker, the Board is not currently leaning one way or the other as far as the two proposals. The decision is expected to take place after another Board workshop on March 9, although Leiker said she “couldn’t speculate as far as what the timing of the decision will be.”

In considering these different scenarios, the LPS board consulted with Shannon Bingham, an expert on school scheduling. They also strongly considered student impacts, especially regarding transportation and after school activities and athletics, per Leiker. The decision will also be influenced by the results of a parent and community survey, which is still open and available on the LPS website.

Of the two viable scenarios, the one most beneficial to students would be delaying the start times a half-hour. Any delay is a good delay; however, considering the wide ranging impacts that the delay will have, it would be much more convenient to both students and parents to have a lesser delay. During the fall and spring, outdoor sports are already practicing until almost dusk under the current schedules.

Delaying the end times to 3:27 would require starting after school activities at around 3:45.

Interested in giving your feedback to LPS? Take the community survey at: littletonpublicschools.net/district/improving-plcs-emerging-idea

All sports practices would be significantly impacted by this, especially outdoor practices. Under the current schedule, there are already sports practices which last until dusk. As such, pushing practice start times back over an hour from the current start time of 2:30 would require that now all sports practices would end at dusk or later, an especially significant problem for outdoor practices due to the lack of light. While it does not seem like much of a time difference, pushing the times back a half-hour as opposed to a full hour would make logistics easier for clubs and practices alike.

The other important factor to consider with practice and club meetings is the amount of time students would have to do homework at night. Since the purpose of the schedule change would be to allow students to get more sleep, they would likely be going to bed at the same time and waking up later; at a bare minimum they should be getting the same amount of sleep. The one-hour extension would cut into homework time significantly, especially if the additional time in the morning is used for sleep - as it was designed for - rather than homework. On the other hand, the half hour extension would be much easier to adjust a homework schedule around.

The half-hour delay would be extremely beneficial to all students, as even a little bit of extra time in the morning is invaluable. The one hour delay, while it would afford extra time in the morning, would ultimately be a downgrade simply because of the time in the afternoon that we would have to give up. The trade off, extra time in the morning for less time in the afternoon, takes away from several important aspects of a high schooler’s life and would not be a helpful change.

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HEALTH

Prescription

by Collette LeManske

A

couple of years ago Colorado legalized the use of recreational marijuana. Ever since then, all of our drug concerns have been focused solely on marijuana. However, there is another drug in the background that has been overlooked: prescription drugs. These easily-accessible drugs become popular as teens self-medicate themselves or use them to get high.

According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, the most popular prescription drugs that are abused are pain relievers (to get high), depressants (to relieve anxiety), and stimulants (to help with ADHD).

While prescription drugs are not bad themselves, the improper use of them proves a danger to those who use them irresponsibly.

Prescription drugs have always been an underlying issue not many pay attention to because they believe it is “safe.” People believe if a doctor gave it to them it should be safe, but many prescriptions drugs, mainly painkillers, have addictive substances in them.

These cause the person to rely on the drugs, which leads to long term effects. Although marijuana is more popular, prescription drug abuse has resulted in more deathsup to 17,000 a year according to Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence. Another reason painkillers are not widely known as a threat is because they are harder to detect than other drugs. “You may actually be prescribed and it has your name on it...it’s harder to prove those aren’t your pills,” says School Resource Officer and

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Deputy Sheriff Englert while explaning how difficult it isto find teenagers that are abusing prescription drugs.

Although you may think prescription drugs are safe because they were given to you by a doctor, they are only safe for how long the doctor prescribed them to you. “Teenagers’ brain chemicals are changing all the time; if you put something else in there, like a prescription drug, you don’t know what that does to you long term,” says Englert. This claim is backed up by the Addiction Center which states that drug abuse will deter brain development and even hinder cognitive abilities later in life.

Englert also says using percription long term has an effect on your body; eventually those drugs will kill you. As you abuse prescription drugs more and more, it will affect

“

Eventually those

Drugs your social life as well. Because you become addicted to a drug, your time will be focused towards them instead of healthy relationships and focusing on school. Overall, abusing prescription drugs will have a negative effect on your, mental, physical, and social health.

As long a perscription drugs are prescribed to you by a doctor, and you follow the amount you need to take, there is a lower chance of being addicted, and of you getting in trouble. Teachers, advisors and officers always keep their eye out for prescription drug abuse and unfortunately if you are caught with them you can be charged for prescription fraud, which will impact you for the rest of your life.

Englert stresses that if you see or know of a student struggling with a prescription drug addiction to get them help; “You’re not being a snitch or getting somebody in trouble, it’s what’s best for those people.”

drugs will kill you.”

Photo: katicaj/Pixabay.com

HEALTH

Love In the

Do you feel the chemistry?

Many people, teenagers included, are convinced that being romantically involved means being a happier person. Most of the time this is true because love has been described as an exhilarating thrill that can subject a person to an equally intense mental

everyone is aware that this nerve-wracking feeling is simply the adrenaline coursing through their body as their energy levels shoot up. While adrenaline may be associated with other human activities, it triggers sense of stress when it comes to romance. This causes anxiety for those who are in in the presence of their potential mate.

Further

into the course of love,

pain. “Falling in

scientists detect high

love” is technically

levels of dopamine in

when one forms

the brain. Dopamine is

attachments to

commonly known as the

a potential mate.

brain’s “pleasure drug.”

But what actually

It sparks extreme delight

happens in the brain

and ecstasy, found in new

that explains being

couples due to the excitement

in love?

of a relationship. Interestingly,

It is often said

the release of dopamine is the

by M

eg

an

Ng

uy en

that the soul is behind the

same response to addictive drugs. The

feelings that humans exhibit,

same addiction applies to couples who

but it is actually all in the brain.

always wants to be in each other’s company.

Love works in the mind through three stages: lust, attraction and attachment.

People often think that a “significant other” may satisfy them more in life. This desire for romance

is the first stage of love, lust. During this stage, the brain will romantically take notice in another person and increase levels of testosterone and estrogen. While testosterone is a hormone produced in both males and females, estrogen is only found in females. Both hormones enhance the desire for a partner.

The final chemical in the brain associated with the attraction phase is serotonin which maintains sleep, appetite, and memory. Serotonin explains why one-half of a relationship is always on the other’s mind.

During attachment, the final stage of falling in love, two chemicals are heavily involved. They are called oxytocin and vasopressin, both of which prepare couples for long-term relationships. While dopamine is the “pleasure drug,” oxytocin is considered the “love drug” itself. Released through physical touch, oxytocin is the chemical that makes couples feel

The next stage of love is attraction,

close. It deepens the intensity of a romantic

during which scientists have proven that the

attachment or bond. The other chemical is called

brain produces adrenaline, dopamine and

vasopressin, and like oxytocin, it strengthens the

serotonin. Everybody has felt the quickening

bond between mates. More closely, it singles

heartbeat and gut-wrenching butterflies in

out the individual that specifically appeals

their stomach in the presence of a potential

to someone. In other words, it is partner recognition for “the one.”

mate. However, not

Though electrifying to one’s emotions, love is not fully a mystery, and the feelings associated

Graphics by Megan Nguyen Sources: http://www.youramazingbrain.org/

can actually be explained. After all, the chemistry

lovesex/sciencelove.htm

between two people is just chemicals in the brain.

http://www.brainhq.com/brain-resources/ brain-facts-myths/brain-in-love

However, not

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HEALTH

How Teens Can Know If They are Ready for Sex

by Vivianna DeNittis et’s talk about sex. Teens in relationships must consider the differences between abstinence and intimacy before making an educated decision. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, many couples may take advantage of the romantic atmosphere to become sexually intimate with one another. Couples must have mutual trust, respect and emotional maturity before considering sex. Teens may decide to be abstinent. They may also choose to be intimate, but not before knowing if they are prepared mentally, emotionally and physically. Educated decisions make for better choices.

L

There are many reasons for people to choose to be abstinent, varying from religious motivations to simply not being ready for sex. Abstinence is the only foolproof way of preventing pregnancy and contraction of sexually transmitted infections. Health teacher, Mike Richmond said, “It’s a safe choice. That’s the bottom line.”

Some teens may feel pressured to have sex as a rite of passage in high school. “Sometimes people are persuaded, without realizing they’ve been persuaded,” Richmond said. Teens may choose to be abstinent for different reasons.

“There are obvious consequences from sexually transmitted infections, potential pregnancies, as well as guilt for their choices,” Richmond said.

Ultimately, abstinence is the safest and most responsible choice.

When it comes to choosing to become sexually active, there are many things to take into consideration. Teens need to consider why they want to have sex. “It’s somewhat of a risk. A lot of the time decisions are made for faulty reasons,” Richmond said. Teens should not be having sex to ensure commitment with their partner.

They need to ensure that their relationship benefits both people involved. “A balanced relationship is where two people give and receive acts of kindness between each other,” Richmond said.

Resources Planned Parenthood is a good resource for learning about your options, safe sex and sexual health.

131 W County Line Rd, Littleton, CO 80129 (303) 798-0963 www.plannedparenthood.org

The Tri-County Health Department is also a good resource for learning about sexual health.

6162 S Willow Dr #100, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 (303) 220-9200 www.tchd.org Center for Relationship Education is a facility that advocates for abstinence, and the staff is willing to answer any and all questions about what abstinence looks like.

Marina Square Shopping Center, 8101 E Belleview Ave, Denver, CO 80237 (720) 488-8888 www.myrelationshipcenter.org If you believe you are in an unhealthy relationship, there are people who are ready and willing to help at loveisrespect.org. You can chat with someone from the website, text LOVEIS to 22522 or call 1(866) 331-8453.

32 HERALD THE

“Communication is the foundation of all relationships,” Richmond said. Couples that are healthy should have commitment and mutual respect for one another. Couples must have solid communication about sex. “Far too often, first time experiences are not planned out,” Richmond said.

When it comes to making responsible choices about sex, teens should know how they feel about it. “We obviously can’t prevent certain behaviors based on preaching. You just have to know your position [personal stance] and stick to it,” Richmond said. Teens should make choices about sex based on their personal values and should not let others influence their decisions.

The most important things to remember when it comes to sex is that you should never feel pressured to have sex with your partner. It is an important personal choice that you should have the liberty to choose for yourself. If you feel like you are being pressured into a situation, find help and get out of the relationship. Always make sure your partner consents to sexual activity. Only yes means yes; anything else is not consent.

Always remember that choosing to wait for sex is a responsible choice. Remaining abstinent allows for teens to avoid the risk of consequences following sex. Abstinence still allows teens to have romantic and healthy relationships with their partners.

Are You Ready?

(A Checklist)

I have established a system of communication with my partner.

I am in a committed relationship.

I am aware of the risks of sex, including sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy.

I know my personal stance on sex, and I am going to stick to it.

I am not breaking my personal morals and values in order to have sex.

My partner and I are both prepared to use effective birth control methods.

It is not awkward; it will come naturally.

Both people in the relationship are consenting.

Graphics by Vivianna DeNittis

HEALTH

New Year, New Diet Plan

by Murielle Hecomovich

As new year’s resolutions become less important and things you will do “next year”, eating healthy and dieting are one of the first things to get cut off the list. So to help give you some inspiration to make 2017 a healthy and rewarding year, here are four of the top diets and healthy eating habits that can check off one of those boxes on your resolution list.

Vegan Diet

The vegan diet is one of the hardest diets to stay on, because it involves taking out all animal products (including eggs and cheese). The foods you can eat include plants, fruits, vegetables and legumes (dried beans and peas), grains, seeds and nuts.

This diet often results in better overall body and mental health. If done properly you can expect results, but you might want to ease into it and cut out small groups of foods at a time to help your body get used to the changes.

Vegetarian Diet

Becoming vegetarian means taking out all meat in your daily diet. Much like the vegan diet, going vegetarian is difficult but very rewarding if you stick to it. This diet involves many of the same foods like plants, fruits, vegetables and legumes, which need to be in your daily meals so you make sure you are getting enough nutrients and protein to support your body and everything you do throughout the day. But even though this diet dosent include meat you can eat animal producs, which are milk, yougart and eggs.

Paleo Diet

The paleo diet is on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by cavemen or early humans. Consisting of meat, fish, vegetables and fruit, this diet seems like the “meat lovers” method of staying healthy. However, because the diet eliminates dairy or grain products and processed food, many have a hard time sticking to it.

Juice Cleanse Diet

If you are looking for a quick fix and do not have the time to commit to a diet, juice cleansing is just the thing for you. You have probably seen pictures of celebrities and models doing this extreme cleanse, and that is because of the awesome benefits they receive in a short time period. Going on a juice cleanse means that all you consume is juice and water. Many juice bars including Nektar, provide sets with directions and juices for the cleanse, but if you would like you can always make your own juice with recipes online.

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INFO

Washington DC Experience

Mike Coffman talks upcoming change for Colorado

by Rory O’Donnell

O

no ship can be in in two places at n Jan. 18, 2017 I left school to take a flight down to Baltimore one time.¨ Congressman Coffman and then took the Metro down to Washington DC where I would described this as a weakness which attend the Inauguration and conduct 4 interviews. I interviewed is being taken advantage of. He also Congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado, Congressman Louie stated that ¨We need to focus not on Photos by Rory O’Donnell Gohmert of Texas, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, and Kelli Ward from the numbers or how many people are the state of Arizona. I also attended President Donald Trump’s in the United States Army, Marine Inauguration.

Corps, Air Force or Navy, but we need to focus on what is the combat Two days before the Inauguration I took a flight down to capability.” Going more into that he also described that it depends on Baltimore. After that we drove down to Silver Springs, MD, and what we have that can be deployed in the air, sea, and on the ground. spent the night relaxing. Next morning I got dressed up in my “It’s about projection of wars, not just the number of individuals.”

Scout Uniform, took the Metro down to Washington DC, and then Congressman Coffman said the Defense Department has become far proceeded to conduct my interviews. I started my day interviewing to “bureaucratic.”

Senator Lee, then Congressman Gohmert, and With respect to Colorado, Coffman said his then ended my day with Congressman Coffman.

I think we are constituents could expect a few changes - the first On Friday I took the Metro back to DC. being the repeal and the replacement of Obamacare.

When I was at the Inauguration, I was right next down to around Regarding replacement he said, “We will not repeal a to the North Standing Area, which was very close 280 operational section without having having a replacement for that to the Capitol. Witnessing the Inauguration was almost indescribable.There were hundreds of vessels, and in the section concurrently.” Another issue mentioned was “tax reform.” Congressman Coffman also says “taxes thousands of people there. After being a part of history I just know this is going to be in my Reagan buildup we are too high, too complicated. We have to move forward to pro-growth. Tax reform will get us to that.¨ mind and my heart for a very long time. The next were up to 600.”

Coffman said there were three phases to dealing day me and my father headed down to DC to go with Obamacare. He told me the first phase was visit the Holocaust Museum. We knew there were called “Life Reconciliation,” Congressman Coffman explained that Life going to be riots, but we only expected about 200,000 protesters. So Reconciliation “enables us to deal with the tax and spending part when we get there, our expectations were obliterated. There were of Obamacare.¨ He talks about how President Obama’s Medicaid probably one million to two million people there. The entire mall was expansion helps the poor and the disabled, but is contributing to our filled and the streets were filled with angry people yelling cheers and debt negatively. So Congressman Coffman is trying to find another rants. As I looked at the signs I realized “This is no womans march, this an anti-Trump march.” On Sunday I interviewed Kelli Ward, visited way to help the poor but not affect our national debt in a negative way. As for the second phase he said “In the Affordable Care Act, it is the Pentagon, and then took a flight to come home. full of provisions in there that essentially says [sic] that the Secretary In regards to my interviews, the Interview I had with of Health and Human Services which is going to be Dr. Tom Price, Congressman Coffman went well and he had a lot to say about who is a member of Congress I work with, shall do this, and this, Trump, as well as his plans for Colorado. Regarding his relationship and this, and this. What Obamacare did is it gave a lot of discretion with the President, Congressman Coffman said ¨not very impressed to people in the administration to implement the law and to write

by President Trumps temperament,” but he is willing to work with significant parts of the law. He won’t have the ability to work on it, him on many things including ¨regulatory reform,” and a ¨tax reform.” without even Congress, without that authority or the authority of the Congressman Coffman also told me he would want to work with law, to make changes to the Affordable Care Act as we go forward.”

Trump on creating a more aggressive economy.

Congressman Coffman says the third phase is what we can’t do with Another major legislative priority under Trump is building up the budget reconciliation. The Congressman’s plan is to try and rewrite military. According to Congressman Coffman, this effort starts with some of rules regarding budget reconciliation, and these are what he the Navy. ¨I think we are down to around 280 operational vessels, calls the three phases in repealing and replacing Obamacare. and in the Reagan buildup we were up to 600 ships. Obviously our ships now are much more capable than their predecessors, but

“

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INFO

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

by Walter Wacaser

As we should all know, schools produce a lot of paper waste. On average, if a student uses 5-6 sheets of paper everyday, we waste around 11,250 sheets of paper everyday. This is around 450 pounds. So in an entire year, our school uses approximately 40 tons of paper, which is enough to save 680 trees (which could absorb 580 pounds of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere), 280,000 gallons of water, and 80 barrels of oil. If recycling can do so much to affect our environment positively, then why doesn’t Arapahoe put more emphasis on recycling? Our system consists of a small cardboard box shoved into the corner of a room that most students ignore. What can we do to make our recycling system better?

The school with the best recycling program is Pepperdine University, with only 28% of waste is sent to a landfill

For every 10 classrooms For every 10 classat Arapahoe, there are rooms in arapahoe, around recycling there 4are about 4Xbins

If US recycle rates reached 70%, it would be the equivilent of removing 55 milion cars off the road

every year

recycling bins

Right now, Arapahoe does not recycle a lot. We do not recycle aluminum cans, syrofoam, or anything but paper. Even that is limited. If Arapahoe introduced one or two $25 recycling bins in our cafeteria for plastic bottles and soda cans, we could save an estimated 50 bottles and cans a day. That would save around 144 kilowatt hours. This may not seem like a lot, but after the entire school year ended we would have saved a lot of energy.It doesn’t cost a lot to start either. In addition to a couple recycling bins, recycling pickup is only around 20$ for a weekly pickup. It adds up to less than a hundred dollars to upgrade our recycle program . If we just put more effort in and made recycling a priorority, we could save a lot of energy and a lot of plastic.

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arapahoextra.com

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INFO

Light Rail: The Underused Form of Transportation

by Anna McCollister

Fun Facts

Safety Does the word unsafe come to mind when thinking about public transportation? According to Gregory Kats, a Call Center Special Agent at RTD, public transportation is fairly safe. Kats said that often times on the light rail undercover police are placed to help ensure the safety of the passengers.

He also said that there are police that come on the train occasionally to check customers tickets and to briefly glance at the passengers.

Kats said that the light rail might be generally safer than the RTD buses because the light rail does not stop for as long as the buses (most of the time).

He said however that there have been deaths associated with the light rail. In 2012 an intoxicated woman slipped to her death and in 2014 a boy died after walking into a tunnel near Colorado Boulevard and Evans. The big idea: do not mess around with 90,000 pound vehicles.

Arapahoe students also commented about their observations while on the light rail. One student said, “The journeys are typically pretty uneventful.”

Another student said, “Some guy was wearing full body armour and talking to himself.” Another said, “One large fight occurred and the light rail was stalled in order for the police to interrogate some of the aggressive participants.”

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Places to Go What can you do with the light rail? The closest lines to Arapahoe High School are unfortunately not that close.

Dry Creek Station is 4.6 miles away Littleton Station is 4.3 miles away Arapahoe at Village Center 5.1 miles University of Denver 7.6 miles The University of Denver station can be reached by taking bus 24, which is right across the street from Arapahoe High School, near Burger King. This bus will get you all the way to the University of Denver Station, where you can proceed to take the light rail and travel to 16th Street Mall, Union Station, the Pepsi Center, Elitch Gardens, Sports Authority Field, and the Convention Center without having to switch rail lines. You can also make a pit stop at the 10th and Osage station where you can visit the Buckhorn exchange (Denver’s oldest resturant) that is right across the street or walk a little over half a mile to visit the Art District on Santa Fe. With the new R line (opening February 24th, which you can find at the Dry Creek and at the Arapahoe at Village Station) you will now be able to visit the Anschuts Medical Campus, Aurora Medical Center, the Denver Tech Center, and the A line to DIA.

The Statistics

366 students responded to the survey from Jan. 30 to Jan. 31 Of students have ridden the light rail.

72% 36

1.

The Original Denver Union Station was built in 1881 2.

Top speed for the light rail is 55 mph 3.

The A line (to Denver International Airport) is fully electric 4.

Last May, lightning struck the A line, causing the train to lose power and stranding 81 passengers 50 feet above the ground on a bridge.

5.

Denver is the first city in the country to begin using the new technology known as Positive Train Control

Of students only ride the light rail a couple times a year.

50% 43%

Of students rank the light rail safety as a 4/5 (with 5 being safe).

Of students ride the light rail so they don’t have to park downtown.

TECH

What’s the Deal With Self-Driving Cars?

by Briana Beebe

D

riving is something most teenagers wait for eagerly. Hours are spent stuck behind the wheel, hair is nearly yanked out in frustration, but in the end, that shiny little permit (and soon-to-be license) makes it all worth it.

But; what’s the deal with self-driving cars? Will teenagers ever be able to play videogames while the car drives smoothly in auto-pilot? Wouldn’t it be nice to a watch a Harry Potter movie, work on some homework, or type away on a computer without driving into a pole?

Self-driving vehicles are closer than America thinks. In fact, Tesla has already

developed a car that has the autopilot feature. Driver’s aren’t yet able to take a nap while the car does all of the work.

It can’t recognize stop lights or stop signs, so the driver still has to stay alert and ready to support the system.

Tesla estimates that this car will be ready for sale at the end of 2017 and the fully autonomous Tesla car should be available in the next three years!

America has been experimenting on automating cars since the 1920’s, it’s about time for a self-driving car to be edging closer to greedy hands (and full wallets). And, Tesla isn’t the only company to be working on self-driving

cars. BMW, Google, Ford and many others are racing to get this sciencefiction-like idea on the market.

Maybe one day America as a whole will be able to safely and comfortably travel from destination to destination without a second glance at the road.

Maybe teenagers could get a couple extra minutes of shut-eye in the last place most expected to find it: the car.

Or maybe this fad is one that will fade away just as quickly as the last.

Funny, And (Sometimes) Useful Inventions You Probably Didn’t Know Existed!

After the holidays and the presents, at the end of the day, all you ever wanted seemed to be bubble wrap. Don’t fret, because now you can attach a portable electronic bubble wrap keychain to your lanyard!

This information was taken from the following: buisnessinsider.com tesla.com wikipedia.org huffingtonpost.com theverge.com orzzzz.com

Clocky- Ahh, the joys of getting up at the crack of dawn. Can’t seem to wake up? Think about a forty dollar investment that will get you out of bed and energized every morning.

Clocky is designed to roll around your room, and in order to turn it off, you must chase after it.

Free Hug Sofa- This one is especially for those of us who have no one to cuddle on Valentine’s Day. The Free Hug Sofa is a couch on which arm-like attachments are added onto the sides.

Need a hug? All you have to do is lay down and wrap these pillows around you like a blanket. Easy enough to get a hug, right?

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TECH

What is Trump’s Plan for NASA and Deep Space Exploration?

by Courtney Brown

A

s of Jan. 20, 2017 America has a new president and NASA has a new commanding officer. President Donald Trump has mentioned that he would like to play a central role in determining NASA’s path for the next four years.

In his inauguration, Trump briefly mentioned “Unlocking the mysteries of space”, following the tradition of inaugural speeches that look not only forward, but also up to the stars.

Brilliant minds have put men on the Moon, created super telescopes and made rockets lifting off Earth and shoot into the beyond.

These monumental leaps inspired and continue to inspire the future generationsww of astronauts, aerospace engineers, avionics technicians and more.

Arguably the most exciting current missions at NASA are the seemingly science fiction deep space adventures. Many current missions at NASA have to do with the exploration and possible colonization of Mars.

“hasSpace exploration given so much to

America, including tremendous pride in our scientific and engineering prowess.”

Trump wrote.

Mud cracks on Mars have inspired a new realm of possibilities all surrounding the possibility of Mars’s sustainability of life as we know it. Current missions at NASA include Mars Odyssey, MAVEN, Mars 2020 Rover and the Mars Science Laboratory.

Mars has been When the Mariner 4 Mission was headed for Mars, President Lyndon Johnson mentioned it in his inaugural address, “It reminds us that the world will not be the same for our children, even for ourselves, in in a short span of years.” Johnson said.

While former President Barack Obama was in office, he cut NASA’s budget, removing the necessary funding for Constellation- NASA’s plans to send people to the moon for the second time. As a result, the mission to send astronauts to Mars could not proceed, so Orion was delayed as well.

Most scientists at NASA see Constellation as a necessary step to achieve Orion, but Trump has been increasingly focused on deep space exploration and expressed his willingness to bypass low-earth missions.

Another hurdle in a possible Mars colonization is money. NASA is requesting a budget of $19 billion, $1 billion more than the approved budget from 2015.

NASA has created an entire archive of advertisements for the necessary jobs of Mars that can be found at Mars.NASA.gov

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While Trump has shown interest in the Mars missions, this does not necessarily mean that he will increase NASA’s budget, it is more likely that Trump will require NASA to increase their reliance on private space companies like SpaceX. Private space enterprises are exploring space with increasing success, and the future of space travel will likely be one where government resources and private resources are shared.

The future seems bright for aspiring Astronauts and space enthusiasts, as America patiently waits for Trumps direction in the bold world of space exploration.

TECH

Social Media Has Tainted Today’s Relationships

by Mackenzie Callahan

11:37 Mom Don’t forget to do the dishes before you go to bed.

Unsaved Number Hey, I just wanted to ask if you are taken...? You’re really cute.

BABEEEEEE I know we’ve only been dating for a month, but I’m in love with you

SLIDE TO UNLOCK

“

Her number is not even saved in his phone.”

“There is no heart next to his name on her phone.”

But they are in a relationship because it says so on Facebook.

They are in a relationship because he calls her “babe” when he addresses her, but they do not even greet each other when they pass in the hallways.

The actual act of relationships in the recent years have altered into labels with none of the intent behind them.

Fifteen year olds are changing their relationship statuses on Facebook to “it’s complicated” because the person they are interested in have no intent on creating something with them.

This generation has taken the idea of love and changed it into the definition of lust. There is no substance behind some of the relationships when one person jumps from one person to another, only searching for a name to put in their Instagram bio.

Kids hide behind their phone screens to express their feelings, through text or on social media. A small rant posted to their timeline will show up in their significant other’s feed in order to get their attention. People seek attention from the rest of their social media world in order to get some kind of justification.

Why have things changed?

Why do people have to let their entire social media world know exactly what they are doing and who they are dating?

Why does anyone care in the first place?

There should not be this stigma behind relationships in this generation, especially when the general relationships do not last long. Someone should not search for a relationship just for the label.

Find substance in relationships.

But one cannot love someone before they love themselves.

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SAY

WHAT?!

Ridiculous, out-of-context comments overheard throughout the school.

“You may be failing Spanish, but at least you’re not attracted to a fence.”

-North Hallway “We did a blood test. It confirmed that you are not a caribou.”

-Cafeteria “It’s like an art exhibit of my sadness.”

-Courtyard

“Like foot binding but more fashionable.”

-Clarity Commons “I animated seven slides of people passing hot potatoes.”

-Cafeteria “Sometimes you just need to pee by yourself.”

-Cafeteria

“Dolphins are jerks, but nobody is willing to admit it.”

-C1455 “Oxygen was a mistake.”

-S1426 “If you are going to give me paper to eat, at least give me good paper.”

-North Hallway