94.17 by The Clocktower

94.17

Union College

3/04/20

TheCLOCKTOWER

PC: spokesman.com

Whats Inside ir anian issues the global citizen

Page 03 World Pageant Page 05 Sonic Movie

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ike the US, Iran has recently been in the midst of a political change with recent parliamentary elections. Parliament is similar to the US Congress–the legislative branch of government that helps make the laws for the country. While the democratic process has been working as it should, Iranian officials were a little worried with the turnout of this year’s voting. “The turnout across the country was 42.57 percent,” Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told a televised news conference on Sunday. “In [the capital] Tehran, it was around 25 percent. Across Iran, over 24 million people voted.” In years past, the turnout was higher for the overall population. In 2016, the turnout was 62 percent of the registered population voting. Four years prior to that in 2012, it was 66 percent. While voter participation fluctuates normally, the issue is that this is the first time that it has fallen below the 50 percent mark. Many of the people who were monitoring the votes say that this low turnout was to be expected. Continued on page 2.

2| Clocktower Staff Editor-in-Chief Some say it was because of the controversy surrounding this new election. The Guardian Council is an appointed and Jovan Cross constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields Assistant Editor considerable power and influence in Iran. They basically have Juliet Bromme the final word for many things related to Iranian life whether it Layout Editor is Islamic or constitutional. Currently, the Council is in charge of Chrisheline Kalawo vetting candidates for this election and this time thousands were Social Media Editor disqualified. Perhaps the most controversial fact was that 81 of the current sitting Members of Parliament were also disqualified. Nicole Mckenzie Another issue leading to the low voter participation Website Manager would also be due to the recent spread of coronavirus in Celinda Mansilla Iran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who Section Editors on Friday said voting was “a religious duty”, blamed the Max Bromme low turnout on the “negative propaganda” about the new Katie Buxton coronavirus. Currently, Iran has a death toll of eight people due to the coronavirus, the highest count outside of China. Claudia Bauemeister The Iranian media has been reporting on the virus and Photographers people have been worried with the newest case of the virus Levi Ventura- Head being reported only two days before the polls were open. Enoc Teron While the voter participation has hit an all time low since Joseph Lee the 1979 Revolution, most officials aren’t too worried. Adreana Ward Fazli said the election took place under less-than-ideal circumstances, but nevertheless, “we believe that the Life Writers number of votes and the turnout is absolutely acceptable.” Alexander Nesmith Hannah Armstrong Hannah Drewieck Wesley Rodriguez-Diep is a senior studying international relations. Religion Jade Covel Entertainment TJ Pittinger Political Gabriel Zita Jacob Sanchez Sports Joel Shetler News Drew Hickman World News Wesley Rodriguez-Diep HOUC Fransico Campos Social Media Instagram -@clocktowerasb Twitter - @ClocktowerASB PC: algazeera.com Facebook -The Clocktower

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UNION NEWS

world pageant P

art of what makes this big planet we’re all stuck on incredible is the massive amount of cultures and their variants that have developed over time. Each culture has its own traditions, foods, dances, clothes, and music. In the modern-day, with people originating from different cultures often living in the same areas, everything blends together, and it can be hard to remember what makes each individual set of customs so special. It’s incredibly important to take time to acknowledge and appreciate all the different ways and approaches to life. It seems that the International Club feels the same way. On February 22, they held their annual World Pageant in the Thunderdome, in part sponsored by ASB. Since Union has a very long and diverse list of students belonging to different cultures, it should almost go without saying that this is one of their more popular events … and with good reason, too. It’s one of the most fun nights I’ve had all year.

PC: Joseph Lee

One of my favorite things about the event was the different types of food. Food is always my favorite thing to experience. There were dishes from different parts of the world, including, but not limited to Japan, Mexico, India and even the Mediterranean. And obviously, the cultures were represented up on the stage as well by their respective students, who went all out in showing off what makes their heritage so special. I could tell it was really important to them, and that made me feel warm and fuzzy. One of ASB’s newest members, Hadley Haffner, who serves as secretary, also shared an incredibly positive sentiment about the event. “It was such an exciting event where I got to see a variety of incredible performances. I’m definitely glad I went,” she said. I’m grateful this is a yearly tradition, and I absolutely can’t wait to see it again next year. Drew Hickman is a sophomore studying communication.

RELIGION

deception of the snake

ost of us know that the serpent lied to Eve and tricked her into eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is how sin entered our world. But did the snake really lie? Let’s look at Genesis 3 to find out. In Genesis 2, God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. God told them “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16-17). Then in Genesis 3, the snake asks Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). This is in essence what God said. Then in verses 4 and 5, the serpent says “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” All of this is true. Adam and Eve didn’t die after they ate the fruit, and they knew the difference between good and evil. So where was the deception? In verse 6. Eve “saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6).

It was what the snake did that deceived Eve, not a lie that he told. Eve saw the snake eating the fruit, saw that it looked good and saw that it apparently gave the snake the ability to talk. This caused her to doubt what God had said, and thus not heed God’s instruction. Satan uses this same subtle method of deception today. He will hide little deceptions within a bigger truth. Only God can give us the wisdom to discern between what is true and what is deception. As we follow Him day by day we no longer have to worry about the Devil’s tricks.

PC: unsplash.com | Jen Theodore

Jade Covel is a junior studying religion.

Andrea Fernandez houc

eet Andrea, a senior Nursing student from Wisconsin. She also recently celebrated her 25th birthday, meaning she’s a little older than most grads. She went to a state college in Wisconsin after graduating high school, and she hated her first year. After that she took some time off of school so she could work. Then her brother visited Union his senior year, and they both decided to attend the following year. She says that taking Gen Eds as a 22 year old with 17-18 year olds was hard.

There was a bit of a disconnect for her, but once she got into the program, where most people were around her age or older, Andrea felt much more connected with her class. One thing she notes about the difference between a state university and Union is that connectedness. In a giant university you don’t really get to know your professors as opposed to Union where they are a lot more involved. While she is graduating later than most, she’s glad to be where she is now.

Francisco Campos is a senior studying Computing & Photo Video Imaging.

ENTERTAINMENT

Sonic the hedgehog movie review

onic the Hedgehog is a movie that was supposed to fail. It seemed that the movie was going to be terrible. The first look that we got of Sonic himself was not great either. He looked like a CGI mess. However the movie is much better than I expected. Sonic is a video game character that has been around for many years. He is almost as iconic as Mario. The announcement that Sonic was getting his own movie was a big deal. Sonic is a character who, like Pikachu, can be a good movie character because he is funny and has a good backstory. The Sonic movie is one of the few video game films that is actually decent.

PC: imdb.com

Fans of Sonic and his games will enjoy this movie. It has humor and action. It is a movie geared towards kids and because it is dominated by childish humor, there are jokes that only kids or hardcore Sonic fans will find funny. It feels like the movie’s target demographic is children. It has competent writing created with children in mind. Sonic feels like it was made by a studio. This was seen in the way the design of Sonic’s character was first handled. It seemed like it was made by people trying to make a quick buck. However, the studio listened to the fans and the audience and made proper improvement to the character’s look. If you enjoy the Sonic games, want to turn your brain off or want to enjoy a family movie then Sonic is probably for you. It is enjoyable now that the proper changes were made to it. If you are a long time fan of the games then there will be plenty of jokes in the movie just for you.

PC: usgamer.com

TJ Pittinger is a freshman studying theology. PC: Andrea Fernandez

DEMOCRATIC

to slow a bern

PC: thenation.com

et’s rewind to late January of this year. The city of Lincoln had three inches of ice on the road, Britain and Russia had just announced the first cases of coronavirus within their borders and Joe Biden was killing it in the polls. Biden gathered national support as Democrats supposedly prioritized nominating a candidate that could beat Donald Trump; ahead of the Iowa primary, a poll from Monmouth University projected that 30% of Democrats supported Biden (7% higher than the next candidate), while USC found his support to be at approximately 34% (16% higher than the second-leading candidate). The possibility of securing the party’s nomination was looking likely for the Biden camp. Fast forward a month, and the landscape for the nomination looks, to say the least, different. No longer is Biden the leader of the pack: instead, bolstered by winning Nevada and New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders is now unequivocally the frontrunner for the nomination, polling at 29% (11% higher than Biden, the second-leading candidate). He has surprisingly faced little competition from the other progressives in the race: Elizabeth Warren has continuously underperformed in the primaries so far, and Andrew Yang dropped out of the race after the New Hampshire primary. In his wins,

Sanders has mobilized the support of young people, Hispanics, Arabs and workingclass whites in droves. His future also looks promising: Sanders is leading in states with large populations that would tremendously boost his campaigns, such as Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. It also helped Sanders (and hurt Biden) that much of the moderate vote was split in the first few primaries. However, in a span of 24 hours, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Kobluchar have both dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden. These moderates are joining together in hopes of slowing down Sanders, a candidate that scares the Democratic establishment with his radical agenda. Even with Buttigieg and Klobuchar now endorsing him, Biden still has to contend with the human leech known as Mike Bloomberg, who has somehow garnered significant support from liberals looking for a Democratic version of Donald Trump. Bloomberg hasn’t been on the ballot in the first few states, but he will be looking to siphon votes away from Biden. Sander’s nomination is by no means written in stone - the Biden coalition may unify Democratic voters enough to overtake this race. However, the momentum still belongs to Sanders, and it is clear that we could see the Vermont socialist go up against President Trump in November. Gabriel Zita is a junior studying psychology.

REPUBLICAN

it’s about time

PC: wfae.org

fter a useless and unnecessary witch hunt, it appears that House Democrats have now finally dropped their investigative efforts into the Trump administration’s Ukraine situation. The back down, in which Democrats declined to make new witness requests or file sufficient subpoenas, could be a tacit that will not likely play in the Democrats’ favor as the 2020 presidential elections start to narrow down. Amid impeachment proceedings, a Gallup poll found that support for both President Trump and the Republican Party had risen to historic highs. Even through the unfair investigation, Democrats have insisted that their previous statements held truth and they were merely acceding to legal and political realities. Now the result of the investigation shows the Democrats do not have any way to continue the removal process. They have exhausted all of their resources and have come up empty-handed as they continue to pass that blame onto the Republicans. “There is nothing that Donald Trump can do that would cause [Senate Republicans] to convict him of high crimes and misdemeanors,’’ Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told Politico. “So that has

caused everybody in the House to take a deep breath and figure out what our next steps are.” There are not any next steps. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke shortly after the decision that she would request a so-called “en banc” review of the decision by the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. This strategy of pursuing appeals could be fraught with risk, as the possibility of the Supreme Court strengthening the executive privilege in order to prevent future scrutiny of U.S presidents is also something to consider. It’s still unclear whether Democrats will pursue such an appeal. It is unlikely this will happen due to the risk factor. But Pelosi herself has signaled that Democrats may be backing off their aggressive approach. As it is already March, it is about time Democrats start focusing on real things rather than waste time, energy and resources to this ridiculous witch hunt. May God bless each one of you and God bless America. Jacob Sanchez is a freshman studying general studies.

ADVICE

HEY hannah Hey Hannah, How do I budget my money for the month? -Spendthrift Sarah Separate your needs from your wants. Make a list of monthly expenses that are strictly needed, and then make a list of your wants. This helps keep spending in check. Subtract your needs expenses from your monthly salary and then decide what to do with the leftover. The smart choice would be to put a portion of the surplus money into a savings account. Planning ahead financially for your future is important as you transition from the role of college student to college graduate. There are also many tracking tools you can use to keep your budget in order. Apps like LearnVest, Mint, Slice or even an excel spreadsheet. Use whatever keeps you accountable. With this in mind, spending money on your wants isn’t always a bad thing. Find a balance that works best for you and your wallet.

The ACA program is a wonderful opportunity to learn about new cultures, meet new people and experience life in a way you’ve never experienced before. My year abroad was the best year of my life. I often hear concerns about not graduating in four years, not knowing the language and not being sure if it’s affordable. There are many people on this campus you can ask these questions. Talk to your advisor about your 4-year plan. I spent a full-year abroad and I’m still graduating in four years. It took summer classes and hard work when I came back, but it’s completely possible. The Humanities division will have answers about costs, start and finish dates, dorm structure and program excursions or activities. My biggest piece of advice for you would be don’t let the fear of the unknown scare you into staying in the States. Chances like this are rare, so seize the opportunity.

Hey Hannah, I’m having an issue with how a professor is grading my work. What should I do? -Anxious Alex Set up an appointment with the professor and communicate how you’re feeling. There might be a reason for the grade, and if you don’t ask, there’s nothing that can be done. Express your frustrations and let them know you care about the grade. If they disregard your concerns, there are other people that can help. Ask your advisor what to do or talk to other professors in your department. Hey Hannah, I was thinking about doing the ACA program, but I don’t know if it’s something I should do. -Roaming Romeo

PC: time.com

Hannah Armstrong is a senior studying health and human performance.

LIFE STYLE

Secret Menu Drinks at Starbucks – Are they any good?

go to Starbucks more often than I care to admit, and you might be in the same boat. A while ago, I heard about people ordering “secret menu” drinks. These drinks are different concoctions that people have come up with and graciously shared with the world. I decided to give several recipes a try and share my thoughts with you. Mint Chocolate Frappuccino (java chip frappe, 2 pumps peppermint syrup): This tastes like Andes mints, guys! You need to try this drink! Baby Yoda Frappuccino (green tea frappe, caramel drizzle in the cup and on top, caramel ribbon crunch pieces): This one is a winner, friends. Not only is this a fun drink, but it tastes great too. If you like green tea Frappuccinos, you’ll love the caramel addition. Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino (vanilla bean crème frappe, 2 pumps white chocolate syrup, two pumps cinnamon dolce syrup): Wow, this tastes incredible. It’s definitely a sweet drink, but it’s not overpowering. It’s a new favorite for me. Order this!

PC: Hannah Dreweick

Cotton Candy Frappuccino (vanilla bean frappe, 2 pumps raspberry syrup): The fake fruity taste overpowered, and anything that could have potentially been good about this drink was completely washed away. I couldn’t even finish this one – I don’t recommend. Nutella Frappuccino (coffee frappe, 2 pumps mocha syrup, 1 pump hazelnut syrup): I was surprised by how much this actually tasted like Nutella. I recommend this for Nutella lovers, but it might be too rich for others. Raspberry Caramel Macchiato (caramel macchiato, substitute raspberry syrup instead of vanilla): This one was a disappointment. The raspberry and caramel did not pair well together, and the drink was just too milky. Chocolate Covered Strawberry Frappuccino (strawberries and crème frappe, java chips, mocha drizzle): I’ve never had a regular strawberries and crème frappe, but I don’t think I’ll ever order it without the java chips and mocha now. This actually tastes like chocolate-covered strawberries. I recommend it!

PC: delish.com

Hannah Dreweick is a sophomore studying business administration.

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COMIC CORNER

comics

MISC. CORNER

march 1

Glow Bowl 7:00pm

uGather

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uGather

ASB Banquet

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Spring Break 22

ASB Talent Show

Dorm Swap

SUDOKU

DID YOU KNOW: The original name for the search engine Google was Backrub.

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THE PUNDERBOWL

What do you call the security outside of a Samsung store? Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Clocktower encourages reader feedback and strives to maintain accuracy. If you have comments, ltower@gmaiil.com l.com. please email us at cltower@gma

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http://www.sudokuessentials.com/easy_sudoku.html

The Clocktower, established in 1927 and sponsored by the Associated Student Body of Union College, is published semi-weekly during the fall and spring semesters. The opinions expressed are the opinions of the writers and are not to be construed as the opinion of the editors, Associated Student Body, Union College, or the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

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Parkway Lanes

March 7, 7-9pm

Vans Leave from Ortner at ď&#x153;ś:45pm