Committee makes decision on 2020-2021 school year start times
Corporal Donny Daughenbaugh speaks at Veteran’s Day Assembly
Astroworld returns to Houston for second year in a row
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#TeamTrees aims to plant 20 million trees by 2020 Photo courtesy of Unsplash
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
By Alex Martinez News Editor
is Tobi Lutke, a billionaire and CEO of the YouTube Susan Wojcicki donated $200,000 multinational e-commerce company Shopify, in support of Teamtrees, also uploading a donated one million and one dollars for video of her expressing great appreciation for the initiative. The second highest donor is the movement and her physically planting a Amid the passionate debates on climate Elon Musk, a technology entrepreneur and tree. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO change, YouTuber James Donaldson, known billionaire, donated one million dollars, of Twitter, made two separate donations, one online as Mr. Beast, suggested celebrating gaining 20 million subscribers on YouTube by planting 20 million trees. Donaldson proposed this idea casually, but soon partnered up with former NASA engineer Mark Rober, a YouTuber with more than eight million subscribers and created the Teamtrees initiative. The premise is anyone can donate to help and one dollar equals one tree planted. The goal of the movement is to plant 20 million trees worldwide by January first, 2020. The movement does not have one leader, but instead relies on support from YouTubers, celebrities, or anyone that wants to donate to support the movement. All of the proceeds will go towards the Arbor Day Foundation, which will do the physical planting of the trees. Donaldson and Rober know that planting trees will not necessarily solve climate change, saying “The purpose of this whole thing was to have a constructive and positive way to send a message to the policy makers that this issue matters.” As of December 2, the #Teamtrees initiative has raised over $17 million, after interacting with $200,000 donation and Photo courtesy of Unsplash equating to that same number but of trees Donaldson on Twitter a $150,000 donation. planted across the world. Donating is quick, and expressing his Mark Benioff, the easy and the cheap price of one dollar per approval of #Teamtrees. Musk changed his co-CEO of Salesforce and billionaire tree incentivizes donations. Anyone can see display name on twitter to “Treelon Musk” philanthropist, donated $900,000. Benioff the highest and most donations by going to soon after donating. ELF Development A/S, a left a message with his public donation, Teamtrees.org. Anyone who donates can leave Danish real estate company, ranks third on the saying “Inspired by Treelon,” referring to a message under it, giving supporters freedom donor list with $250,000, attaching a message Musk’s nickname in support of Teamtrees. to say whatever they like. The highest donor saying, “Because we care!” The CEO of Climate change is a hot button issue
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
right now, especially among younger generations. This was directly influenced by Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist that orchestrated and influenced millions of student protests for the climate across the world. Recently, President Trump formally began the process of withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, an agreement that unites 187 countries and works towards lessening carbon emissions. This was met with resistance from young people across the world actively concerned about climate change and how it will affect their future. The #Teamtrees initiative was created to convey to the world that climate change is a very real problem and that action must be taken towards ameliorating climate change. Activism helps raise awareness for a problem, marshal support for the cause, and create meaningful change in the world. Where would America be without the Civil Rights movement, or the Women’s Suffrage movement, both people coming together to raise awareness for a cause, educating the world on why their opinion matters, and working hard to make the world a better place. Present day movements are no different, people uniting for one common cause: to make the world a better place. In this day and age, the case of climate change unites people together, like YouTuber Mr. Beast, billionaire rocket scientist Elon Musk, 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and millions of people worldwide to agree that radical change is necessary to ensure a safer, better future for the planet.
House moves forward with impeachment inquiry By Andrew Stell Features Editor
For the past six months, diplomats have manifested their energy asking the question: “did President Donald Trump commit a crime punishable with impeachment?” The primary accusation led by democrats is that Trump refused to transfer money to Ukraine without the further investigation on the involvement of Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, leading democratic candidate and former vice president in a quid pro quo exchange. As the impeachment inquiry continues, many have grown tiresome of the ongoing dispute between the two political parties. The two groups have both called upon their star witnesses, with nothing to show towards either argument. After countless futile attempts to evoke impeachment on current President Trump, the House of Representatives has begun an intensive and full investigation, currently referred to as the impeachment inquiry. Actions taken towards impeachment most recently include a subpoena of the documents in relation to President Trump’s phone call on July 25, with Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine. Witnesses of this phone call have testified anonymously, working with the House of Representatives to verify the claims of impeachment. These witnesses have redacted all forms of identification, as these witnesses have been repeatedly attacked,
being called “whistleblower,” “crooked,” and “fraudulent,” with many of these claims coming from the president. “Last Friday, a member of my staff told me of events that occurred on July 26… In the presence of my staff, at a restaurant, Ambassador Gordon Sondland called President Trump and told him of his meetings in Kyiv. The member of my staff could hear President Trump on the phone asking Ambassador Sondland about the investigations. Ambassador Sondland told President Trump the Ukrainians were ready to move forward,” Taylor Jr., Ambassador of Ukraine and first hearing testifier, said. Democrats and Republicans alike have questioned the credibility of this whistleblower, as they have chosen to remain anonymous. “‘I want to know who’s the person, who’s the person who gave the whistle-blower the information? Because that’s close to a spy,’ he continued. ‘You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? The spies and treason, we used to handle it a little differently than we do now,’” Trump said. After receiving the news of the subpoenaed documents, President Trump and his administrative lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, stated that they would not comply with these subpoenas. There have been multiple closed-door depositions and subpoenas in relation to the impeachment of President Trump, including a subpoena for documents
from Giuliani; Sam Kislan, associate of Giuliani; Gordan Sondland, Ambassador of the European Union; Fiona Hill, National Security Council-Russia advisor; Vice President Mike Pence and Igor Fruman, another associate of Giuliani. Of these participants, most have declined cooperation with these subpoenas, an action met with serious repercussions. After receiving news at his subpoena, Trump stated that he has received unfair treatment compared to any other president. “We’ve been treated very unfairly, very different from anybody else,” President Trump said. Though President Trump and his advisors are seeking sympathy from the public, this attempt has been no more than futile, receiving responses that Trump is unlike other presidents, firing back at the complaints he has accumulated. As of now, operations are at a standstill, playing a “waiting game” of who will turn in the documents requested by the subpoena. Though many have been pushing for the impeachment of President Trump since his election, this inquiry has certainly pushed further than all other rumors. The current inquiry began in September, when an anonymous whistleblower filed a complaint, claiming foul play between President Trump and President Zelensky. “The White House officials who told me this information were deeply disturbed
by what had transpired in the phone call. In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple US Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 US election. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals. The President’s personal lawyer, Mr. Rudy Giuliani, is a central figure in this effort. Attorney General Barr appears to be involved as well,” Whistleblower complaint, said. This immediately sparked a riot between the two parties, as Americans bleed two distinct colors, red and blue. Trump has stayed in business as usual, seeming unconcerned as his advisors panic on account of impeachment. “…the Whistleblower, and also the person who gave all of the false information to him. This is simply about a phone conversation that could not have been nicer, warmer, or better. No pressure at all (as confirmed by Ukrainian Pres.). It is just another Democrat Hoax,” President Trump, via Twitter @realDonaldTrump, said. Contributing to this issue, is the difficulty in comprehending, as it is forever changing, unable to be understood for the rapid pace the news moves at. This is a dangerous game, as without clarity to the public, a society such as the US cannot function according to the constitution.