The Education Fund Surplus

The fight over the current education fund budget

Mack Rudder, Staff Writer

During the last fiscal year, which ended in September, Alabama Legislation passed a 7.7 billion dollar budget, but Alabama got an unexpected 10.4 billion dollars from different taxes that back the education fund in Alabama. This means Alabama has unexpectedly gained an extra 2.7 billion dollars to spend.

Since this discovery, lawmakers have been discussing what could possibly be done with that extra cash. State Superintendent Eric Mackey is proposing a though, one that might not be completly legal. When the Eductaion Trust Fund was made in 1927 it specified the fund was only supposed to be used for education purposes. Kay Ivey plans to use this money for several different projects. First on her list of projects being funded is the World Games, which would get 5 million dollars in Ivey’s proposed budget. This is because The World Games, hosted in Birmingham, brought in 165 million dollars less than projected; they are now 14 million dol-

Too Cool for School

place where it could take the hit. If the tax on groceries is actually appealed, it would not be all at once. It would start slowly focusing on taking tax off of foods considered essential by the WIC program. It is not certain if this tax will actually be repealed or if they will use this surplus money to repeal it. Either way, the state education fund overall may take a hit as the current grocery tax helps fund it.

It is currently uncertain where the extra 2.7 billion dollars in the education fund is currently going, but it most likely is not fully going towards education.

Budget friendly places to cool off this summer break

Mack Rudder, Staff Writer

With the summer heat approaching, here are some affordable pools, lakes, and waterfalls to cool off in this summer.

1.) Welcome Falls is a waterfall located in Morgan County that features a 30-foot drop. While it is a short hike to the actual waterfall, it is a steep and tricky climb down to the area where people usually swim.

2.) Smith Lake Park Pool is located next to Smith Lake Park on 416 Co Rd 385. Admission is 5 dollars and features a gated pool with two diving boards and a concession stand.

3.) Rickwood Caverns State Park Pool is on 370 Rickwood Park Road in Warrior, Alabama. Admission is 7 dollars per person, and operating hours are 10:00 AM to 5:45 PM.

4.) Hanceville Community Pool is open from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM all week. They offer three different admission prices ranging from three to five dollars and they also have military and first responder discounts.

5.) Arab City Swimming Pool and Splash Pad are open Monday-Saturday 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM; admission is 3 dollars per day. It is located at 844 Shoal Creek Trail in Arab.

6.1 billion dollar budget for next year for public k-12 schools. This would be 799 million dollars more than what the current budget is. Mackey says the reasoning behind such a huge increase in the budget is inflation and the current teacher shortage.His goal with this extra money is to hire 3,000 more teachers statewide, focus on lowering class numbers, put more money into special needs education programs, and hire more school counselors and nurses statewide. Inflation has hit everything hard in the last few years post-covid, including schools. Many schools that were previously under construction in Alabama are now having to pause as the price has raised more than expected, which is why Mackey would also like to put 500 million dollars of the surplus into construction projects related to schools. If all of Mackey’s requests get approved this would leave 2 billion dollars still in the surplus funds, which some Alabama lawmakers believe should go into more educational projects.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has a different idea for this money overflow, lars in debt. Next, she wants to send 25 million dollars to Montgomery to help with the ongoing construction of a waterpark, WhiteWater Rafting, which has already cost taxpayers 50 million dollars and gone over their initial projected budget. Lawmakers have stated they are using the education fund for this project because it will provide real-life and hands-on opportunities for engineering students. Ivey also wants to send 100 million dollars to a new Alabama prison, stating that the money will be used to fund education programs inside the prisons. There is only one problem with that: the prisons have not even been built yet.

One final way to spend the overflow money has been proposed. The proposal is to use the surplus to phase out the state’s 4% tax on groceries. Alabama is one of only three states with a full tax rate on groceries and one of thirteen states that tax groceries at all. While this tax cut has been proposed for years in Alabama, many lawmakers are saying now would be the perfect time to actually act on it as we have this surplus of funds, and the state is in a

6.) Mardis Mills Falls in Blount County, Alabama is a gorgeous local treasure. It spans 35 feet wide and has a 15-foot drop. It is hidden from the main road and has a very secluded feeling, but it is a very easy hike down and has become a popular spot for swimming.

7.) Hurricane Creek Park is located at 22550 2nd Ave NW, Fairview, Alabama, and is a 70-acre park with an excellent watering pool near the bottom, as well as several hiking trails.

8.) Smith Lake is a community classic for the people of Cullman. Located at 403 Co Rd 386, Cullman, AL 35057 with no admission fee. The campgrounds and pool located there do have a price, though.

From President to Defendent

The indictment of former President Trump

John Mark Johnson, Staff Writer

On March 30, 2023, former president Donald Trump was faced with 34 counts of falsifying business records. These records are in connection with alleged payments used as hush money over alleged affairs with former adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal made before the 2016 presidential election. According to the indictment document, each count in-

May 2011: Daniels begins to tell her story

October 26, 2016: cluded the date of the falsification and brief information about where each of the entries were made, such as those relating to invoices made by Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen and various checks dating back to 2017.

Cohen, being a former ally of Trump, is mentioned several times in the indictment,previously serving time in prison for a one hundred thirty thousand dollar payment to Daniels. Once

January known as Trump’s Fixer, Cohen said he made the payment at the direction of the former president. Each of the 34 counts mentioned in the indictment is a Class E felony, meaning Trump could face more than 100 years in prison if he recieves the maximum sentence for each charge.

August

February

March

May 6, 2019:

July 9, 2020: Trump forced to release tax records

The Dangers of Hazing When Greek life ends a life

Mack Rudder and Jonah Jarrett, Staff Writers

Almost every university in the United States has some sort of Greek life on its campus, with over 1,500 sororities and fraternities across North America in total. While for some of these universities, joining one is a great way for students to find a local community and life-long friends, for others, it only brings tragedy and death.

Hazing is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the imposition of strenuous, often humiliating, tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and initiation” and it has been plaguing North America’s Greek life for a while now. Most cases of hazing in colleges in the U.S. have contained some sort of alcohol abuse or sexual misconduct. Hazing is anything but new, though, as it has been around since the early 1700s with the first reported death occurring in June of 1738. Since then, at least one documented and reported case of hazing death has surfaced at a university every year from 1969 to 2023, with the only exception being 2022. These are only the cases that have been reported though. Although deaths from hazing are often reported, cases without fatalities often go unseen. A 2008 study found that 95% of students who were hazed did not report it at all and 9 out of 10 students that were hazed did not even realize themselves that they were being hazed. Not only have universities started to ban hazing, but they have also started to suspend Greek life as a whole and have begin banning certain fraternities altogether. Researchers do not believe that univer-

April sities will permanently implement bans against Greek life, though. Membership of fraternities has increased over 50% in the last decade and for some people is a huge part of choosing a college.

Now 44 out of 50 states in the U.S have laws in place against hazing, but this still has not stopped members from finding a way around these bans and restrictions, despite the risk of persecution from the law and punishment from their university. The first anti-hazing law was passed in New York in 1894 after an incident at Cornell University where chlorine gas was released into the annual freshman banquet. This incident killed one staff member and injured countless others. After New York’s law was passed, other states