El Diablo January 2018

Online at ELDIABLONEWS.COM

El Diablo Voice of the Students Durango High School

2390 Main Ave.

Durango CO 81301

Issue Three

Volume Sixty-one January 2018

“He pushed me down and broke my glasses over my face” Mixed response from La Plata County over domestic violence reports

Nationally available statistics compiled by Paxton Scott.

GRACE SWANSON Reporter CHLOE RAGSDALE Reporter Every nine seconds in the US, a woman is assaulted or beaten, according to Do Something, a volunteer program for social change. With 15 local cases of abuse a week, domestic violence has become a very prominent issue in Durango. These victims have not only suffered through physical and emotional abuse, they have also been shut down and unheard in our community.

“Your wife is not your property—you can’t hit them or beat them,” said La Plata County Judge Sarah Law, the magistrate for all domestic violence cases in Durango. Domestic violence victims and advocates argue that they have a right to speak up and shouldn’t be shamed or experience victim blaming.

An anonymous source who reached out to El Diablo reporters stated that her husband was physically, emotionally, and psychologically abusive.

“When I was pregnant with my second child he pushed me down and broke my glasses over my face,” said the anonymous source. This abusive behavior continued for twelve years, which included stalking, breaking, and entering. She had been journaling everything though this period of abuse.

“It’s up to the person who is being abused to call the police; it’s a hard thing to do. These people have beat you down, bullied you, scared you, and they threaten you, and you’re scared to call,” the anonymous source stated. Many women struggle with the fear of reporting their partners due to the terrifying actions of their aggressors, which is part of the reason domestic abuse goes unnoticed.

“What can you give to the abusers as a consequence that is going to make them change?” - Anonymous According to Maura Demko from SASO, an abused person’s brain normally goes into freeze mode.

“The logical part of our brain shuts down so we go into survival mode. We may not access memories or information as easily as we would have normally,” Demko said. During domestic abuse, an overload of chemicals are being dumped into the victims bodies so that things don’t get processed through their prefrontal cortex, the place in the brain that holds our memories and details.

“Someone’s ability to recall times or length of time, or detail in that moment can sometimes not be there… It is important for them to understand the psychology behind it,” said Demko.

Some people have a hard time believing these victims of abuse, whether it’s because of simple disbelief or lack of evidence. However, Due to physical and psychological trauma, victims do not always remember every component.

Durango Police Department Officers say that when they come to a scene of domestic violence, they approach the victim like talking to a friend.

There are two main types of processes for domestic abuse; the civil court process and the criminal court process.

In a civil court process, the victim can testify alone without the aggressor, whereas in a criminal court process, the victim and aggressor must come together.

“The court system is like speaking a different language—some people don’t always understand what is going on,” said Judge Sarah Law. The anonymous victim got both a civil court process and a criminal court process, which means she won her court case and got a protection order for the rest of her aggressor’s life. These restraining orders prevent him from coming within a few feet of her, and if he gets pulled over by the police, his abusive records show up.

continued on page 3

Opinion: Call of Duty trivializes violence Page 6

Professional sports look to remove Marijuana ban Page 9

Arts: Review Trashes Swift’s Reputation Page 13

Preparing for the Worst: DHS emphasizes security protocols TIERNEY BRENNAN News Editor

Out of the 1,516 shootings that have occurred in the United States, five of those mass shootings took place in Colorado. The locations of these shootings vary: a movie theater, a Chuck E Cheese, an RV park, a youth center/church, and a high school; all taking place over nineteen years. With these attacks on the rise, it’s clear that public establishments should have a plan of action at all times.

“If we can lockdown, our kids can go home safely at the end of the day,” said Richard Fitzpatrick, the superintendent of Rancho Tehama Elementary in Northern California.

The school was targeted by a local man with intent to kill. Fortunately, due to the training of the staff and the quick execution of their plan, a lockdown was successfully initiated; only one student was shot, and recovered in the hospital.

Speed and efficiency were seen to be most important in instances where an active shooter is a threat.

“We have seen instances of delays in the implementation of lockdowns ranging from a minute to several minutes in actual incidents, and we have often seen fail rates of 60% to 81% during simulations that require individual staff members to make and communicate the lockdown decision,” stated Campus Safety in an article about effective lockdown tips.

They teach that schools should have multiple lockdown plans - administrators can sometimes misdiagnose the situation, and the threat could escalate in the time that they take to hesitate to call a full blown lockdown. Different levels of lockdowns should be available to best fit the situation when the time comes.

Another common mistake that could potentially be fatal is lockdown codes.

A Campus Safety study showed that administrators in 22% of the schools assessed messed up the codes and called for the wrong procedure.

Campus Safety emphasizes the importance of administration training, all staff should be issued keys, and all doors should be locked during class. It is vital that all staff members know what to do in these emergencies, simple slip ups or delays can cost lives.

Many districts are moving away from this defensive, lockdown approach, and toward a more offensive, active strategy.

ALICE, which stands for Alert Lock-

Cassandra Blau DHS security guards Benjamin Danquah an Steve Kerchee work on campus during the school day to minimize risk by patrolling entrances and watching for suspicious behavior.

down Inform Counter Evacuate, is a training institute which specializes in active shooter protocol. The step “counter” in their program addresses this active approach.

“Create Noise, Movement, Distance and Distraction with the intent of reducing the shooter’s ability to shoot accurately,” states ALICE on their website under their 5 step program.

Understandably, the counter initiative is a natural response to people who are unhappy with feeling out of control in such circumstances; many look at lockdown protocol as being a sitting duck for an active shooter.

According to NPR, there have been more than 160 school shootings in the US since 2012.

When executed properly, countering is a smart move and can be used quite effectively to stall the shooter, or find a way to reach safety. This does not mean that it is advised to launch a counter attack on the attacker.

Durango High school, too, has its own specific procedures for an active

shooter threat.

“Anybody can make that call [for a lockdown] on the PA system when they know there’s an imminent threat within the building itself,” said Jon Hoerl, principal at DHS. For DHS, a lockdown entails teachers and staff sweeping the area around them, getting inside, locking doors, and shutting blinds.

The administration of DHS collaborates with a regional director who has their finger on the pulse of the newest, best protocol for school safety. This ensures maximum for security for both staff and students.

Principal Hoerl placing emphasis on the importance of taking drills seriously, because the more familiar the faculty and student body are with the ins and outs of the procedure, the safer they will be in case of the occurrence of a real situation.

Steve Kerchee, an on campus security guard of many years, also believes that the current protocol is sufficient for handling a live threat such as an active shooter. He did, however, account for the fact that one can only prepare so much.

January 2018

“We practice it and practice it, we do what we can, but you just never know how a situation is going to unfold,” said Kerchee. “No matter how much you drill, sometimes your instincts overtake and you may go against what you drilled for. That’s just human nature.”

He also had advice for individual precautions students could take to make the school as safe as possible.

“Be aware of your surroundings, who is in the building,” said Kerchee.

Benjamin Danquah, the other on campus member of security staff, points to the fact that it’s a team effort. DHS students and faculty must look out for the school as a whole. Communication is crucial to the success of an active shooter procedure.

“We don’t use codes,” said Danquah.

“Very plain language is recommended so that everyone can understand what’s being communicated.”

From communication, awareness, discipline, speed, and lots of practice, DHS aligns itself well with up to date nationally recognized protocol.

News

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A Black Tie Affair: MIA BOUDREAU Reporter

For many, January marks the start of a new year, but for the community of Durango, it marks the start of Snowdown, our community’s biggest annual celebration. January 31st is the official first day of the 2018 Snowdown, with the festivities lasting until February 4th.

The winter celebration invites locals to participate in events such as the follies (a community talent show), the parade, and dressing up in a costume that correlates with the yearly theme.

Snowdown is a tradition that started in Durango in 1979, by local John Murrah. He created Snowdown as a remedy the darkness of winter and seasonal depression that accompanies this time of year.

“It’s just a change in the winter drudgery, it gives you that something to look forward to after Christmas that’s not about buying things, rather, it’s about doing things,” said a DHS teacher.

The community of Durango has been embracing this tradition for four decades now. This year, there will be new events tailored specially for the 40th anniversary.

“In honor of Snowdown celebrating 40 years, the Animas Museum will have a historical display of all years past,” said Snowdown co-coordinator Linda Brockman.

At Snowdown, there is something for everyone to enjoy. From the parade to the Kid’s Follies, there are plenty of age-appropriate events to get involved with.

“Lots of people look forward to it and

Durango prepares for 40th Snowdown

Special to El Diablo from the Snowdown Committee “A Black Tie Affair” has turned some heads, but Durango is ready to hop on board. The 40th annual Snowdown celebration will take place this winter.

love getting into costume and stuff. It is a goofy fun winter event that has been here for a long time,” said So. Shelby Flory.

This year’s Snowdown has 154 events

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

and activities in store, with over 20 new events this year, according to Brockman.

One of the most prominent events at Snowdown is the parade. Local businesses and organizations create floats

and participate in the celebration.

“It’s amazing to see how many people put in the time to make floats and do routines for something that will last about 30 minutes,” said Snowdown organizer Mike Biery.

A feature unique to Durango’s Snowdown is the annual theme. The theme builds the foundation for the celebration; costumes, events, and parade floats are all made with the theme in mind.

“Originally the theme was to be “Still Sporty at 40,” the idea was to celebrate winter sports with the Olympics in S. Korea coming up but selling the idea to the community was difficult,” said Brockman.

The theme was then changed to “A Black Tie Affair.” This theme gives locals a chance to dress up in more elegant, or fancier clothes.

“We are the outdoorsy type, so ties and gowns, tiaras and cufflinks, it’s a rare opportunity indeed...Also, we may see some Sorrels with those gowns, but it’s Snowdown, so there’s always a welcome twist on things,” said Brockman.

Since themes are selected a year in advance, the theme for the 2019 Snowdown is already chosen, although, there is a theme contest for 2020. Entries can be submitted during Snowdown at Magpies Newsstand Cafe.

“It’s hard to put a finger on what makes the magic of Snowdown. Maybe it’s knowing so many contribute their time, maybe it’s seeing your neighbors get their goof on, or seeing the increased patronage at the business’. I just know that Snowdown brings smiles and unveils the Peter Pan in all of us!” said Brockman.

“All that is left are the people who were too poor to move out” As media coverage fades, Flint still struggles BRYN VALDEZ Reporter Many Durango citizens expect uncontaminated water to come out of their faucet, but not all are this lucky. As the water crisis in Flint, Michigan fades from the public eye, people reflect on the unresolved details of what happened.

Residents are still being advised to avoid their home’s water over three years since the crisis was initially recognized.

“In Flint, what we’re seeing is a lot of migration of people, so all that is left there are the people who were too poor to move out. Their source of taxes began to dry up and they were looking for a way to cut costs, so they started treating their own water from the Flint River,” said Edward Tolen, General Manager at the La Plata Archuleta Water District.

Originally, Flint’s water was supplied from the Detroit water system, where it was treated at the same standards as the majority of the surrounding area.

“The state could have done a better job of monitoring when they switched from the Detroit water, and apparently they didn’t,” said Tolen.

At the water treatment plant, water is meant to be slightly alkaline, at a

typical pH of 8.5 for drinking water.

This ensures it will not strip the pipes and allows lead to seep into the water directed to home, which is where the water supply switch went wrong.

“As blood-lead levels increase, many different things can happen, one being behavioral changes and lowered IQ scores, especially in children,” said Ron Falco, Safe Drinking Water Program Manager at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Many children in Flint have been affected by the lead they have ingested, which can have lasting effects on brain development and the nervous system.

“Some people will say that it was the state’s fault, but there are so many levels that no one person is really to blame,” said Falco.

Because many of the details are still unclear to the public, nearly everyone will provide a different answer to who is at fault in this situation .

“It’s not acceptable for officials to prolong the mending of contaminated pipes,” said Jr. Risa Whitehead, who has a passion for human rights. “It’s the city official’s job to take care of their citizens and make the best decisions for the city.”

If the water contamination had

occurred in Durango, a predominantly gian, a social studies teacher at Durango white, high-income town, critics claim it High School. would have been handled in a swift and Although the issue has technically timely manner, been resolved as opposed to with the the impoverswitch back to ished AfriDetroit water, can-American residents are community of still advised Flint. not to ingest The connectap water. This tion between is among the the Animas most major mine spill of barriers to 2015 can also Flint’s recovbe drawn for ery. some, especial“Not learnly people who ing from why it Special to El Diablo were directly happened and The polluted area around Flint is clearly shown in affected by what we can the map. The affected land is dangerously close to the poor river do to prevent it multiple lakes and population centers. water quality. going forward “In Duranwould definitego, there was a lot of pressure to fix the ly be a missed opportunity,” said Falco. situation at hand, and we also had some From here on out, the only thing funding in order to pay for the mistake, that can be done is to learn from the but Flint has no funds,” said Whitehead. mistakes made in water treatment “I think that Durango is an affluent and handling of the contamination, so community with a culture of political communities are better prepared in the activism, where we feel comfortable apevent that a such widespread health proaching our government officials and threat occurs again. demanding change,” said Leigh Gozi-

New Restaraunts Add Flavor to Local Palate

Cassandra Blau Pop Sushi - a sushi restaurant - is one of several brand-new restaurants to pop up in downtown Durango.

CARTER REITER Managing Editor New restaurants are popping up all over Durango and students at Durango High school are chomping at the bit to get a bite to eat at one of these new places.

Pop Sushi, located at 42 County Road 250, Unit 400, near Bread Bakery, is a “place where traditional dishes could be blended with different techniques and flavors to create a new, one of a kind, Japanese cuisine,” said the Pop Sushi

website.

They serve dishes such as sashimi, maki, and sushi bowls. So far, Yelp has given this restaurant 3/4 stars and locals are mostly enthusiastic.

“I haven’t been to Pop Sushi yet, but I have definitely heard alot about it. I very much want to go, even though I have heard mixed things about the restaurant. I love sushi, so if there’s sushi, it’s good,” said a Fr. Ruth Holcomb.

Another new hot spot in Durango is the 11th Street Station, located on 1101 Main Ave. Seven food trucks that boast

to be able to satisfy every craving serve food that ranges from tacos to Indonesian cuisine. The concept is unique and interesting, and the variety of food is very popular.

“The variety of food is good and the price is fitting. You can get something worth $5 and something worth $10,” said Jr. Ian Mattox.

A recent Fort Lewis College Graduate, Charlie Shew, opened Rendezvous Doughnuts at 139 E. 5th Street. They offer a homey environment that advertises “doughnuts as a destination”.

The doughnuts are made from scratch and although there are no gluten free or vegan doughnuts on the menu thus far, Rendezvous doughnuts is perfecting recipes for both, so keep your eyes peeled and your taste-buds ready. “[Rendezvous Doughnuts] was pretty good. The atmosphere and decor of the place is really cool, it is very retro but still has a modern feel. I tried a cinnamon sugar doughnut that had apples in it that I would probably get again, but I’d also like to try their glazed doughnut,” said Sr. Sadie McAliney.

Los Amigos Del Sur, a relatively new Mexican restaurant located in the Main Mall downtown, has fast service and serves Southern Mexican food.

They serve a variety of dishes and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

El Diablo

“I liked Amigos Del Sur. The service was very fast and I got the definitely chicken fajitas. It’s a mix between a fast service restaurant and a sit down and the pricing is reasonable: you can go to Amigos Del Sur and enjoy yourself without thinking about the prices. The location is super convenient in the Main Mall,” said Sr. Executive Secretary Treasurer Robert Reiter.

The new restaurants have the town, and more importantly, the high school buzzing. Be sure to support new, local businesses, and try a few of these restaurants out!

News

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Where’s the snow?

Lack of white causes Purgatory blues GRACE SWANSON Reporter

Durango’s snow level now is at 22% of the standard average level. The minimal snowfall and severe lack of ski and snowboard activity that Purgatory Resort is experiencing hints at the impact of climate change on the Purgatory and the typical Durango resident’s lifestyle.

The global scientific consensus that humans have caused climate change, which is resulting in major consequences on the Western Slope and across the world, but people are starting to make changes.

Glaciers are melting at an increasingly high rate, and in some places winter temperatures have increased by 40 degrees. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), while there are variations all year such as the El Nino patterns, over the last five decades climate change has had a large impact on our decrease in snow.

“Climate change doesn’t come at a uniform rate, it’s kind of hard if you’re a denyer, to accept it. You can’t just go off of what you see... It’s going to affect us more and more,” said Randy Smith, a local skier.

A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the athletes’ group Protect Our Winters discovered that the 23 million people who are involved in winter sports add an estimated $12.2 billion each year to the

teau we rely on our snow to provide us with water all year round. A decrease in snow will also affect jobs during all four seasons; Colorado resorts expect 70% of their annual revenue while the ski resorts are open.

“If the skiing gets worse, the restaurants will not be as full. I myself have snow shoveled roofs at Purg, will there be enough to snowshed; no, it could be rain. Also all the jobs revolving around the Animas river in the summer. It shows everywhere,” claimed Smith. In ski towns, the tourist market keeps businesses moving.

“If ski resorts can’t stay open for a certain number of days per year, then there’s a chance the skiing sport won’t be around in 20 years,” said Jon Lillis, a world champion in aerials skier.

Snowfall has had a major downfall in many parts of the US, with 57% of areas showing a decrease in the total amount this year. Ski areas are coming together to create what they call the “mountain pack”, where they are coming up with alternative ways to run their resorts.

“The ski areas are coming together; they’re using alternative fuel to make their snow and using biodiesel gasoline for their snow plows, coming up with alternative ways to address ski lifts, snow plows and making snow. It’s going to generate the momentum,” said Lahman.

The hints of climate change are becoming more prominent than ever, with our warm Novembers and lack of precipitation. The NRDC claims that a warm

Harrison Kairalla Many Durango resident’s enjoy skiing at Purgatory, even when there is no snow. Purgatory hasn’t received enough snow to open all lifts. As of 1/16/17, only 66% of lifts are open.

US economy; restaurants and bars add about 31,600 jobs and $942 million in economic value. All those numbers have declined by about $1.07 billion between 1999 and 2010 due to climate change.

This season, Purgatory is having to produce more fake snow than usual to open on a reasonable day. The NRDC found that in Colorado, the “low-snow” winters have had an 8% decline in tourist skier visits, causing a $154 million decrease in revenue.

“There is a lot less snow; by this time last year my dad and I had had a couple of powder days already. It just makes me sad to see climate change affecting us so soon and so fast,” said DHS Fr. Jaden Fitzpatrick.

Due to the lack of snow this year, the six-pack was not only bringing skiers up to the top of the mountain, but was used to get skiers back to the base area.

“You never even thought about there not being snow before Thanksgiving, it came like Santa Claus. Nobody spoke of climate change. You were always guaranteed a white Christmas,” said Durango native Renee Lahman, reflecting back on her childhood.

In Durango, and the Colorado Pla-

spell across the US left the lowest record of snowfall since 2003. Only 3.5% of the 48 states had snow cover on Nov. 26.

Snow is a huge part of our community and a key element that makes Durango, well, Durango. People move to Colorado because of the snow.

“For Durango, I would expect that we will have some winters with lots of snow and early and unseasonable temperatures. 5 years ago Wolf Creek opened in the third week of October, this year snow didn’t fall until almost Christmas.”

Stated Brett Wilson, a teacher at DHS. Climate change is unpredictable and doesn’t always mean warmer temperatures. The definition is a change in global or local weather patterns; snow in the deep south this year is also a large hint of climate change.

Smith claimed, “The hints are obvious, recycling even as little as it may be; always try and improve even if it’s making small steps.We know we’re polluting so why not do something?”

El Diablo reached out to Purgatory Resort for an interview, but did not receive a response.

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Net Neutrality repeal spells uncertain future for internet

Tatum Behn After being voted 3-2 in favor of retracting net neutrality, US citizens are wondering how this will change their everyday life.

LILAH SLAUGHTER Features Co-Head In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of Obama’s net neutrality rules and pledged to uphold them. This year, Ajit Pai, who replaced Tom Wheeler as the chairman of the FCC, pushed to repeal net neutrality and the FCC voted in favor of doing so.

Many Americans heard the buzz words and knew of the final decision, but didn’t know exactly what it meant for them. Luckily, some of Durango High’s own are not among them.

“You pay the same amount for water that you drink as you do for water that you give to your dogs to drink. Net neutrality guarantees the internet is treated the same way; you pay for volume of data or base rate, but not for how it’s applied,” said Sr. Joe Lawton.

This applies to everyone who uses the internet because individual service providers are able to charge consumers for what they do online in accordance to their own beliefs.

“In Albuquerque, there are 27 internet service providers, so we have a bit more of a selection [than Durango]. But you can only choose one, and that one will control what I’m exposed to on the internet,” said So. Jordan Rich.

If net neutrality is completely repealed, the most control people will have over their internet freedom is choosing their provider. In Durango, there are only 17 options, including national and local providers, less than two thirds of the variety in Albuquerque.

For Americans, internet is a primary source of information and entertainment; many use the resource for school and work, including North Dakota Jr. Callen Rothbauer, who takes online school.

“If net neutrality is repealed, then I can no longer do my online schooling without paying outrageous fees,” said Rothbauer.

There are limited options for online high school, and many, including Rothbauer’s, that are religiously affiliated.

Because religion can be controversial, there’s the possibility that ISPs will charge exorbitantly or block religious content altogether.

The same is true with any controversial topic, especially including news sources that give access to information regarding controversial topics. Unfortunately, news is a source for research for students in mainstream high school as well.

“School would be reduced to right and wrong answers in even non-STEM classes. In any class where the discussion is important, there would always be a right and wrong answer because the internet service provider could restrict the news sources that the school could access,” said Lawton.

Beyond school and work, the internet is also the basis for many forms of communication.

“Since I moved to North Dakota, I usually Snapchat my friends from home.

Without net neutrality, I won’t be able to stay in touch,” said Rothbauer.

The internet has become a tool for global interconnectedness and a tool for revolution, simply because the ease with which anyone can communicate with anyone else. Without the freedom to do so, it will be as if the internet has disappeared as a global communication tool.

Support for the repeal of net neutrality lies almost solely with the FCC and internet service providers, the public’s interests are not being considered in a decision that will impact everyone.

Domestic abuse

continued from page 1 “He’s tried to bribe me and say ‘if you drop the protection order I’ll pay for everything, braces, skiing’. He thinks he’s still above me and that he doesn’t have to adhere to rules or regulations… these people don’t want their image out,” she said.

The first time the anonymous source called the police, a mandatory arrest was issued, a procedure when a domestic violence call is made.

“Sometimes the perpetrator is manipulative and skilled and they will intimidate the victim into behavior so that they are the ones who get arrested,” Demko said, elaborating on the mandatory arrest and how police deal with it.

In domestic violence disputes, police never interview the victim and aggressor together, or where they can see each other. Often, it comes down to the policeman’s investigation and interview skills to determine who the primary aggressor is.

Domestic violence aggressors are sometimes deceitful and clever, which makes it that much easier for them to find loopholes in restraining orders and the law.

Some restraining orders state that guns, alcohol, and drugs are relinquished from the aggressor.

“If there is a gun available, it is six times more likely that the woman will be killed,” Judge Law said.

Domestic violence is not only a prominent factor in our world, it happens right here in Durango with the people we know. “I know so many people that have husbands here in the domestic vio-

January 2018

lence class,” said the anonymous source.

“It’s really a crapshoot—we have a large amount of domestic violence in Durango,” said Officer Marie. Experts and average citizens can agree that domestic violence, wherever you are in the world, is underreported and many are uneducated on it.

Domestic violence has become a recurring issue today, whether it’s because of our generation’s bravery in speaking out, or the frustrating gender gap between males and females, where males are often influenced by their fathers, pop culture, and the media to objectify women.

“Because it is in a intimate relationship, there is another layer of secrecy.

Yes, it is underreported just like any other violence against women. Under reported by men because they are not supposed to be hurt,” said Judge Law. Women experience domestic abuse at a higher rate, but men also can experience domestic abuse, although in many cases it goes unreported.

Judge Law also talked about the “honeymoon phase”, where the victim feels that their relationship with the aggressor will get better after the period of abuse. But the relationship typically doesn’t get better, so the victims need to report it or else change will not be an option.

Women, and all victims of abuse, are not objects; they are powerful people with influential stories that need to be shared with the world so that we can raise awareness about the everyday existence of domestic abuse in our communities.

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News

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Tears for Bears Ears: Monument Reduction fuels controversy LAYLA APODACA Reporter In the scenic state of Utah, Bears Ears National Monument has become a symbol in the battle over America’s protected public lands. Created December 28th of 2016 by previous President Obama, it is now being reduced by 85%. That’s more than one million acres divided into two smaller, discontiguous monuments - Indian Creek National Monument, and Shash Jaa National Monument.

As part of his campaign pledge to reduce federal protections for lands with potential for fossil fuel extraction, President Donald Trump traveled to Utah in early December, 2017, and signed proclamations to adjust the boundaries and management of the monument. The proclamation allows for traditional use for activities like cattle grazing, motor-

Todd Jolley Bears Ears National Monument showcases more than 100,000 archeological sites.

ized recreation, and tribal collection of wood and herbs will be allowed, as well as leasing for oil and gas extraction.

“America has spoken and public land belongs to the people,” said Secretary Zinke. “[I] found that we agree on wanting to protect our heritage while still allowing public access to public land.

My recommendations to the President reflect that, in some circumstances, proclamations should be amended, boundaries revised, and management plans updated.”

Part of the proclamation says that they are going to maintain an ongoing review to ensure ​public ​access​to encourage more hunting and fishing in monuments. Public land use will be monitored by the appropriate federal land management agency, such as the BLM, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the National Park Service (NPS).

“The people of Utah overwhelmingly voiced to us that public land should be protected not for the special interests, but for the citizens of our great country who use them, and this is what President Trump is doing today,” said Zinke.

Conservation groups universally condemned the President’s decision.

Friends of Cedar Mesa, a conservation group that contains many Durango citizens, explained that they provided strong information about the wide variety of archaeology to the President and the Secretary but the two failed to take it into consideration. A proclamation was signed by President Obama to project more than 100,000 sites of scientific and historic value throughout Bears Ears, and Trump’s actions resemble great disrespect to many.

“We and the Bluff community are strong local supporters of the Monument and have first-hand experience in the backcountry throughout the Bears Ears, now, the President has taken an action that is both illegal and immoral,” said Friends of Cedar Mesa in a press release.

So. Rebecca Bowers explains her experiences at the monument and says she thinks the most important thing for people to do is educate themselves. They can’t build an opinion off of only what they’ve heard.

“I’ve been backpacking and hiking in that area many times, and it’s definitely one of the most incredible places I’ve ever been to.” Bowers said. “There are just miles and miles of open land where you can walk and not see another person

Todd Jolley Utah’s many national monuments ensure that society preserves our environment and history.

or any sign of human interaction with the environment,” said Bowers.

Native American tribes are also frustrated, and claim Bears Ears their sacred land; the region was once home to the Ancestral Pueblo civilization from 600 AD to 1300 AD. “The President’s proclamation is contrary to law, ignores overwhelming public support for the original monument designation, and dishonors Native American heritage and culture,” said a group representing five tribes who consider the land sacred, Native American tribe, Utah Dine Bikeyah.

Bears Ears sets a precedent in many respects - the President also plans to reduce more monuments (including Grand Staircase-Escalante). Additionally, the Trump Administration opened up the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling, and supports efforts to transfer federal land to private ownership.

This proclamation is the first time any president has attempted to abolish a monument established by a previous president, and is also the largest elimination of protected lands in U.S. history.

“Despite his claim that his decision represents the will of the people, the decision only advances the interests of a few, at the expense of many,” said Utah Dine Bikeyah in their most recent press release. “The Administration received over 3 million public comments this summer, and over 98% of those comments favored keeping the Bears Ears National Monument intact.”

Durango 9-R grapples with population increase ELLA REYNOLDS Reporter You may have noticed that your favorite hiking spot has been more busy with people running, biking, or hiking on the trail, the path crowded with people and their dogs. Durango’s population has spiked, and is expected to increase by 66% in La Plata County, with other parts of Colorado increasing by 79% by the year 2050.

Durango School District 9-R superintendent Dan Snowberger moved to Durango in 2011, when the district was climbing out of recession.

“We increase by 50-70 students annually. I see Colorado as a forward growing and progressive state. Growth will have a good impact towards the districts and Durango itself. A lot of people like Durango being small, but the growth is

inevitable,” said Snowberger.

The expected population increase will occur mainly in the front range. It is estimated Colorado will gain about 3 million people over the next 38 years.

Tom Kyser has been teaching choir at Durango High School since 1986, and has been living in Colorado since 1981.

He is used to new people in the community.

“I think the legalization of marijuana could be what is bringing some new people. Even before that, people were moving here because of the natural beauty, healthy lifestyle, and skiing,” said Kyser.

A large portion of the incoming population increase will be around the western slope like areas such as Pueblo, Ouray, Montrose, and La Plata and El Paso counties.

Many who move to Durango share the

Jenna Beckley While the brown “Colorful Colorado” sign does pose an oxymoron, it also reminds us of our home and welcomes everyone to Colorado.

same main concern: the cost of living.

Durango has a high price point for homes and business venues, and many companies don’t pay their employees higher wages to help compensate.

“Naturally in a free market prices will increase due to supply and demand... right now La PLata County is seeing a strong demand for affordable homes.

Plus, with increased building and labor costs any new homes will be at a high price,” said Keller Williams realtor Jeanette Wages.

Although prices will rise, we can prevent using more space by utilizing certain methods such as vertical building, as opposed to horizontal building.

Durango Chamber of Commerce member Jack Llewellyn supports reforming building codes to accommodate population growth.

“We need to plan for higher density, the city and county needs to plan to go higher than four stories. If we don’t do that we will be on the path of Aspen and Telluride, having vacation and seasonal homes that become more expensive,” said Llewellyn.

Another issue is congestion. Roads and buildings are currently being constructed around the town, preparing for the growth.

“We will mainly be dealing with ingestion. We need to increase our taxes to build roads and expand offices if needed, that includes the expansion of the airport. If people can’t fly in and out, it will cut back to people who commute to work,” said Wages.

Additional concerns, such as the environmental impact, have also been considered. The population in Colorado is increasing, this could create either a positive or negative impact depending on how it is handled as a state, and as a community.

“We need to recognize that we need to maintain the land in the way we see it.

Some people don’t have the same level of respect for the land as people who have lived here,” said Snowberger.

The significant and sudden population increase will have a huge impact on not only the community, but on students and future generations to come.

January 2018

New wind at city hall: City counselors share hopes for Durango

KATIE RYDZ Reporter

Pletyof behind-the-scenes work goes into the small town of Durango, and the City Council directs the majority of it. Melissa Youssef and Mayor Pro Tem Sweetie Marbury are two of the City cCouncil members. Youssef is a new councilor, elected in April.. She first got elected to city council in 2011, and became mayor in 2014, running for re-election in 2015, and will become mayor again in 2018.

“The former city manager wanted to sell Brookside Park to Wendy’s. I thought this was a bad idea for the children of the neighborhood and our community. I worked hard with many other folks who played at Brookside as children to convince the city council not to sell the park. I attended so many meetings that I recognized I was a city council junkie,” said Marbury.

Marbury has been in Durango for 43 years, but before she fully invested herself in City Council she was a school teacher and participated in many projects. In 2010 she started knocking on doors in her neighborhood to raise campaign money for ads, radio, and yard signs. A candidate gets elected

by Durango citizens and serves a four year term, but must first get 25 resident signatures to be on the ballot.

“It was 20 below in February of 2011 and I was out at night knocking on doors after school and on the weekends,” said Marbury.

The council members plan to fix many issues to the best of their ability once they see what the public wants.

Dick White is the current mayor of Durango and will be succeeded by Marbury.

“I hope that the Council, because we work together well, can have good planning, more affordable homes, more infill, and more jobs for our residents,” said Marbury.

Marbury and Youssef believe that we need to make housing more affordable in Durango. Their main initiative in 2018 is to create a vision to identify the communities needs, then build off of them to improve the town. This is especially important because the city council can’t do anything without community approval.

“Durango faces a decline in the sales tax from folks shopping on Amazon and at other sites. Going to Farmington and shopping does not pay for the library, hiring more police, paving streets, and running the city like a business. The Transportation funding from the state will be gone in 5 years. The staff has promoted many meetings and surveys with the public to find out what is important to you and if you want to pay for it with declining revenue,” said Marbury.

According to Youssef, a survey was conducted in 2015 that showed that 17,818 local and regional people used transportation in Durango. 73% of them use it on a daily basis, and 67% make less than 25,000 a year, so all they can afford is the Trolley. Transportation such as the trolley is a necessity for many residents of Durango.

“I think we need to work hard in everything we do to protect the quality, life, and character of our town,” said Youssef.

As Durango’s population steadily increases, it is becoming increasingly clear that issues like funding difficulties, the homeless population, affordable housing, and a multitude of other ailments plague the small town.

El Diablo reached out to all five City Council members for an interview.

Opinion

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

5

FREE MELANIA from feminist double standard

Caroline Knight Almost a year ago this January, the Women’s March on Washington drew crowds of over three million people to protest the election of President Donald Trump, and to advocate for a slew of issues believed to be threatened by him.

Marchers of every age, race, gender, and religion showed up in “pussy hats” and homemade signs all across the country.

One predominantly popular sign: FREE

MELANIA. FREE MELANIA signs, despite marchers’ best intentions, are sexist.

They suggest that the women of the White House, including Melania, are trapped in their jobs, lives and marriages because of their crippling complacency. They fail to acknowledge the countless times the First Lady has spoken in defense of her husband, including after his infamous comments about grabbing women by the p*ssy.

And yet, misplaced pity by liberal media outlets for the women of the First Family -and conservative women in general-has been a common trend ever since.

In the fall of 2017, having been almost a year since Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election, former First Lady Michelle Obama didn’t hold back on her view of female Trump supporters, stating that Clinton’s loss of female voters was not a reflection of Clinton so much as a reflection of the failure of American women.

“Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton, voted against their own voice. What does it mean for us as women that we look at these two candidates as women, and many of us said, ‘That guy, he’s better for me, his voice is more true to me.’ Well, to me, that just says you don’t like your voice, you like the thing you’re told to like,” said Obama in a conference, according to CNN. What Obama got wrong, and what Clinton got wrong for the entirety of her failed campaign, is the assumption that women as a whole have only one voice.

In reality, women vote for their favored political party over their gender identity; there will never be any one voice that speaks for all women. It’s sexist to paint women women as a single, monolithic group.

Often feminist activists who pride themselves in being a champion for women fail to acknowledge the 41% of American women who consider themselves pro-life (Marist Poll), or the 42% of American women who voted for

Trump (CNN), or otherwise disagree with the mainstream media’s political agenda in any fashion.

According to Pew Research Center, 38% of women are registered Republicans. They aren’t the majority, but dismissing them as Obama did will only lead to more trouble for the Democratic Party and the feminist movement.

To write conservative women off as submissive - in the same tone in which Hillary Clinton referred to Trump supporters as “deplorable”- is to discredit conservative women who read the news and researched the candidates just as everyone else did, and simply came to different conclusions about what they value.

Conservative women are not to be ignored, the results of the 2016 election only prove what a significant impact they can have on our country’s future. If women really want to see a change for the better, it’s time to stop dismissing our political differences and instead acknowledge them and use them as assets.

primarily the Republican party, which is considered the only political party in the world to deny this problem.

“So we’re going to be paying billions and billions and billions of dollars and we’re already way ahead of anybody else,” President Trump said.

The US has paid $3 billion dollars towards the Green Climate Fund, but has contributed to 27% of all carbon dioxide emissions on the planet in the past 161 years, according to the World Resources Institute, and this enormous amount comes with some responsibility of paying to fix it.

Climate change is bigger than just one person, one political party, or one’s ego; it will affect everyone and everything no matter how advanced they are, which makes it that much more important to discuss and administer helpful and accessible ways for average citizens to decrease it.

Trump also claims that the Paris Agreement would result in major job losses. However, according to Business Insider, by switching from coal to solar power, there would be twice as many job opportunities in this new green economy, which is good for American citizens, the US economy, and the planet.

According to President Trump, the increase in climate temperatures is just a “tiny, tiny amount”, when really the predicted temperature in 80 years is

just below the point of human extermination, according to NASA. At the rate climate is increasing, the Earth will no longer be able to support its immense population in the future if we don’t start making changes.

There is a lack of scientific knowledge about climate change educated to not only students, but citizens around the world. We need to stop avoiding the facts and discuss the dangers of climate change if we want to improve the environment.

Marcie Bidwell, executive director at MSI, Mountain Studies Institute, a program focused on providing scientific research and activities to citizens in the Durango area, talked about the effects of climate change and why we’re defying the facts.

“I think we need to actually stop talking about climate change as the big CC, and talk about what we’re seeing around us,” said Bidwell about the necessity of including climate change in our conversations, no matter what its origin may be. If disregarding climate change’s source leads to action, then it’s something we have to do because it will continue to worsen over time, no matter how or why it started.

Like gun control and abortion, climate change is one of the most politicized issues in our country, and because of this, it is avoided in government

conversation, and therefore harder for citizens to take a stand against.

However, citizens can easily help to decrease climate change by simply using renewable energy and energy-efficient appliances, not charging their phones as much, eating less meat, buying local products, and walking/biking more, everyone can help the Earth’s condition.

The simple and effective ways to support the planet’s atmospheric quality should be enforced in every classroom by every teacher so that our future generations, the people living on the planet long after we die, can be informed about what it will take to lessen the effects of climate change.

“It’s much more powerful to have a conversation than to not,” said Marcie Bidwell on the monumental power a discussion of climate change would have on the world, by not only incorporating the facts into our daily lives, but uniting us together, despite our ethnicities, race, political views, social status, or religion, to terminate this issue. Climate change is happening and affecting our lives now, and will not be easier to reverse the more we wait; the seas are rising, dangerous weather is looming ahead, and our futures are in grave danger. It is time to take a stand against climate change so that we can make a positive transformation for our one and only planet.

It’s getting hot in here (and it’s our fault)

Chloe Ragsdale Climate change is a heavily debated issue in the United States, yet is considered and accepted universally. This massive issue is real and will continue to destroy our ecosystems, our lives, and our Earth if we don’t start implementing ways to solve it and stop disregarding it.

In defiance of the evidence, people still choose to ignore and neglect climate change.

The Paris Agreement has banded together a group of countries to help decrease greenhouse gas emissions around the world, although the new Trump administration decided to leave it on August 4, 2017. The disbelief of climate change lies heavily in the US and

Protected public land is what makes America great

Paxton Scott Two years ago, over spring break, I had the chance to backpack through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah with my dad.

The first mile of our hike was drab; we hiked along a muddy creek. The trail head lay near the outskirts of the Escalante, a small town in Garfield County.

It’s a town sustained by dueling industries: ranching and tourism. As a result, we were walking next to cows.

After the first mile, a change occurred; we stepped over a collapsed barbed wire fence and turned east away from the cow eroded stream bed and towards the pristine rolling red rock of the Escalante monument.

When President Donald Trump split Grand Staircase-Escalante into three separate monuments he effectively decreased the protected area by 46 percent. In addition, the president reduced Bear Ears monument by 85 percent.

Our president justified the reduction, claiming that the cut land was not of “significant scientific or historical significance.”

Like any good businessman, President Trump sees undeveloped land as potential business opportunity—in the particular case of Bear’s Ears an opportunity to make money though uranium

mining and cattle grazing.

However, it is a mistake to view protected public land as a unexploited natural resource. Escalante Grand Staircase has intrinsic and long term economic value that President Trump ignored when he halved the size of the western monument.

The unsullied country that my dad and I hiked across two years ago provided us with an experience that I will remember for a long time. Our backpacking trip cannot be quantified and compared to ranching in a cost benefit analysis. Instead, it’s worth is defined by the memories created and the shared companionship walking all day without seeing another human—intangible, but still very real.

Beyond the intrinsic values, Grand Staircase-Escalante brings tourism to the region.

According to research by Headwaters Economics, a think tank based out of Montana, between 2001 and 2015 the in communities surrounding Grand Staircase-Escalante saw a 13 percent population increase, 32 percent increase in personal income and a 24 percent increase in jobs.

The short term economic gains of mining uranium or cattle grazing in Utah will be smaller than the long term value of tourism in the region. Mining represents a finite resource, while tourism, as a result of the monument, will continue as long as Grand Staircase-Escalante remains an enclave of untouched sandstone canyons and vistas.

By land area, the United States has the most public land of any country in the world at 640 million acres and the most protected land at 1.3 million acres.

Although the effects may be slow, reducing protected public land will result in more barbed wire fencing, more eroded stream beds and the slow annihilation of the beauty that makes this nation truly great.

President Trump claims that the land he cut from the monument was of no “historical significance,” yet its mere existence is historically significant. Grand

Staircase-Escalante is one of the places that has been relatively untouched by humans since its creation.

The reduction of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante are not isolated events, but rather the beginning of a movement. In a December fifth memo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended eight other monuments be resized because of their restrictions, according to President Trump, on “hunt-

January 2018

ing, ranching and responsible economic development.”

In my opinion the only responsible economic development in National Monuments is none at all. Let us protect the intrinsic and long-term economic value of these land areas so that our descendants may experience the same untouched wilderness that our forefathers walked across while developing this nation.

6 Opinion

Roy Moore:

Short term fix and long term problems for Republican party

Austin Swan Any person with credible allegations of child molestation against them should not be a relevant public figure, much less a competitive senate candidate. Alabama GOP Senate Candidate Roy Moore deserved to lose the Senate race, and the Republican party should not have supported Moore after the allegations were released.

Roy Moore has had several women come out against him with seemingly credible allegations that while he was in his 30’s he made attempts to date/have relations with them while they were teenagers.

Debbie Gibson, one of many accusers, claims that she dated Moore when she was 17, he was 34. Moore denies ever knowing who Gibson was, yet Moore’s signature is in Gibson’s yearbook.

The allegations of Leigh Corfman are the most troubling. Corfman told the Washington Post that she was 14 when a 32 year old Moore made sexual advances on her.

There are a multitude of reasons people considered voting for Roy Moore.

There are people like the President, and the base of former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who deny the claims outright.

They choose to believe that the allegations are not credible, and that Moore is completely innocent. Many of

them also believe that the timing of the allegations, a month or two before the date of the election, de-legitimize the accounts, and can be used as evidence that the allegations were a politically motivated attempt to help elect Doug Jones become a senator.

There are also people who considered voting for Moore because they saw Moore as the lesser of two evils.

However, this is not a choice that had to be made by the people in Alabama.

If Moore had dropped out right after the allegations came out, Alabama Republicans could have started a write in campaign for another Republican representative and likely won the seat.

There is also a group of people who say that regardless of whether or not the allegations are credible, they will still vote for Moore because he is Republican and will vote for what they want him to.

Denying evidence, not caring about evidence, and viewing evidence as irrelevant are all morally egregious things to do. Because of how red Alabama is, I do not believe that there was a single moral and intelligent reason to vote for Moore.

The Republicans in Alabama vastly outnumber the Democrats of the state and could have very likely won the seat through a write in campaign.

Immoral politicians have existed for a long time and they will continue to exist for a long time if the only standard people hold for their politicians is that they are not a part of the political party you oppose. Many Americans have stopped viewing politicians as elected representatives, and instead view them as votes. The morality of our politicians has decreased over time and will continue to decrease unless people start to value the character of their politicians again, as was shown in Alabama.

Alabama hasn’t voted in a Democrat to the senate in over 25 years, this election should serve as a wakeup call to both Democrats and Republicans that the people still care about the kind of person that they are electing.

The character of politicians not mattering is how seemingly credibly accused child molesters get into positions of power such as the senate. A bad person who votes for things you want is still a bad person, this is an important thing to remember on Election days.

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Trump’s link to Russia backed by evidence

Logan Van Lindt Despite the opposition of Trump supporters, the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election by Robert Mueller is in full swing. It appears to many that the current administration is crumbling, while others see the investigation as nothing but a waste of time and money.

No matter what people think, here’s what we know so far: During the election and before president Trump’s inauguration, the Obama administration made public that there was substantial evidence that Russia influenced the 2016 presidential election.

The special counsel was appointed soon after President Trump fired thenFBI director and lifelong Republican James Comey. According to Comey, the president met with him and told him to stop his investigation of Russian interference. When Comey did not choose the President over his country, Trump then terminated him from his position.

National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, also a lifelong Republican, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, hoping that if he helped their investigation he could avoid more serious charges. Soon after, Trump tweeted saying that he was aware that Flynn had lied to the FBI. He later said that his lawyer tweeted that, and it was untrue, leaving many to wonder why his own lawyer would tweet incriminating information from his account.

On December 8th, 2017, it was revealed that Trump and his associates were sent an email containing a decryption key for the wikileaks documents.

Why hasn’t Donald Trump suffered any consequences? Why would Americans support someone with connections in Russia, who has been an enemy of the U.S. for decades? Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said the US

was considering pulling out of the 2018 Winter Olympics, soon after Russia was banned for state-sponsored doping. Why is the U.S. suddenly standing by Russia and not the rest of the world?

It boils down to ignorance and selective retention. On a few personal encounters with Trump Supporters, when I criticize President Trump, I have found they tend to respond with something along the lines of “Well Hillary Clinton did [this]”. This can be seen on the news as well.

Conservative news outlets such as Fox continue to ignore the facts that have been presented to them, resorting to calling the investigation a “witch hunt” and a waste of time and money. Many people are also mad that the investigation is costing taxpayers money. I would agree but the results they have produced so far are enough to warrant the cost.

Paul Manafort indicted. Michael Flynn arrested. Leaked emails between Jared Kushner and Russian Intelligence.

Trump supporters want to ignore that there is substantial evidence that one of America’s biggest enemies assisted in getting President Trump elected.

Long time Republicans such as Robert Mueller, James Comey, and Mitt Romney believe that this a complete disgrace to our nation. Ronald Reagan, one of the most conservative figures in recent times, would not be pleased, as he was president during the Cold War against Russia.

Why are Republicans putting aside all previous foreign policy standpoints and defending Russia? As Mitt Romney has said “Put your country, not party, first”.

On December 12th, 2017, Trump called for a second special counsel to investigate the special counsel investigating him. My question is: if the president hasn’t done anything wrong, why would he be so opposed to the investigation?

It would be much easier to believe he is innocent if he was letting the special counsel do their job, and if he didn’t admit to knowledge of Flynn’s lies. James Comey’s investigation into Trump was just the second part of his investigation into Hillary. Although many Democrats were not pleased with investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, no one tried to shut it down and make it seem like”fake news” or a “witch hunt”.

Clearly Russia had some kind of influence on the election, and it contradicts core Conservative morals to stand with a communist country. With numerous reasons to believe that Russia influenced the 2016 presidential election, I ask one question. Which is more important: your country or your party?

WW2 Video Games trivialize violence

Bryn Valdez Upon the release of the new Call of Duty: WWⅡ game, questions have arisen surrounding the game’s subject matter, and the ethicality of video games regarding events surrounding the Holocaust. While many games centered around the war have been released in the past, the high profile Call of Duty brand has been popular among DHS students.

At first glance, the game seems harmless, but when further examined, the contents becomes problematic in that romanticizes a tragedy. Children and teenagers shouldn’t be learning history from a video game, let alone one that widens the divide between nationalities, amplifies the existing epidemic of toxic masculinity, and promotes gun violence, all due to the subject it deals with.

A prime example of how this translates into real-life is the case of Adam Lanza, the shooter who killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012.

An anonymous interview conducted by the FBI states, “He rarely leaves his home and considers him to be a shut in and an avid gamer who plays Call of Duty, amongst other games”.

It is commonly thought that the rush of playing shooter games was a contributing factor in the Lanza’s plan to execute a massacre. Still, the games are often defended through the lense that

it is addressing events that need to be discussed.

“I don’t think we should hide history, we should really embrace it, as long as it’s not portraying it inaccurately,” said Fr. Sean Meyers, an avid gamer.

In fact, the game is supported with a lot of research on the behalf of the developers, such as accurate tank and uniform design, but that still does not excuse how serious the subject matter is.

While it is hard to argue that kids shouldn’t be exposed to the reality of the world we live in, the game contains slurs and overly-violent images, even for a video game, such as innocent people hanging from trees.

It is also important to consider how the release of this game would be perceived from the perspective of someone who was directly impacted by the war.

Imagine feeling as if your hardships and loss were simply reduced to a form of entertainment for people who have not, and probably never will experience anything like World War II. On top of that, it is not difficult to see how video games such as these may shape the way children will view history.

For many, video games will be an earlier and more lasting influence than the material taught in schools.

With that said, some would also argue that the game provides educational value, or support for history lessons learned in schools.

“For me at least, a game is the best way I can learn about history and be engaged in it,” said Baken.

Students should be learning from credible sources, such as school. It is nearly impossible for a videogame, designed around entertainment value, to replicate the emotions and in-depth details that are essential for students to understand.

With that said, many students still enjoy the game, and don’t see the ethics as big enough an issue to stop producing video games modeled after real hardships. Although lacking concrete numbers, Activision says “[WW2] set a record as the best-selling digital full game by units sold on its first day of availability”.

We live within a society that is so

comfortable with violence, one could even go so far as to say it is a contributing factor to the ongoing gun epidemic that this country faces. In the last year 58,506 gun-related acts of violence have been committed, 331 of those being mass shootings, according to gunviolencearchive.org.

The only way to save the accurate picture of history is for a change of entire culture: one that no longer commends acts of violence, and teaches children to idolize hyper-masculinity. This starts with preserving the divide between real life issues and games created for the purpose of entertainment.

El Diablo Voice of the students and official newspaper of Durango High School.

Contact us: Mailing address: 2390 Main Avenue Durango, Colorado 81301 Phone: 970-259-1630, ext. 2221 Fax: 970-375-3987 Email: eldiablodhs@gmail.com tjolley@durangoschools.org Editors: Head editors: Paxton Scott and Caroline Knight Managing editor: Carter Reiter News Heads: Haley Szcezch and Tierney Brennan Feature head: Lilah Slaughter Feature editor: Saylor Stottlemeyer Sports head: Bekah Moenning Sports editor: Mo Murray Arts head: Afton Mann Arts editor: Emma Jaber Specials head: Brianna Brown Specials editor: Irie Sentner Head photographers: Jenna Beckley and Maddie Dearien Photographers: Tatum Behn, Maggie Maloney, Stella Walsh, Cassandra Blau, Joey Mynatt, Autumn Stevens, Lydia Schertz, Alyssa Robertson, Hailey Voss Advertising editors: Ramon Perez, Gavin Syme Online heads: Gwen Stoddard, Gillian Holmgren Online editors: Tommy Rodgers, Sophie Hughes, Liana Bygel Reporters: Austin Swan, Emma Vogel, Jack Whistler, Sophia Adamski, Maddy Gleason, Ramon Perez.

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ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Feature

7

From classroom to real world

Experience in the work force allows for student growth WILLIAM TYLER Reporter Few teenagers have decided what they want to do with the rest of their lives. This might be due to the lack of real world experiences, and DHS is looking to help. Internships are being offered at DHS for students to experience a variety of jobs, gradually finding what’s perfect for them.

Academic Counselor Rachel Colsman helps students prepare for internships, and commented on the advantages and disadvantages of the program.

“Internships give kids an opportunity to work within the community and do hands on exploration… It gives you a much better idea of what you want to do when you get into college,” said Colsman. She also commented on the disadvantages of internships being available at DHS. “The downside is [that] it takes a lot of work behind-the- scenes,” said Colsman.

Fitting the schedule in with the required time to prepare for an internship is difficult, whether it’s going at the end of school, or during school.

“It’s always the end of the day, because you aren’t going to go out for 50 minutes.

Some students won’t start till 4:00 P.M. Since they get out at 2:25 P.M, they have time to go home, get changed, shower and go to their internship and work till 9:00 P.M,” said David Dillman, a marketing teacher in the department of Career and Technical Educa-

tion (CTE).

Big Picture High School, who implements internships on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week, has a working schedule for their school. Compared to Durango High School though, there’s a big difference.

“Their schedule works really well in their school environment. They have less than 100 students, we have over 1,100. For us to be able to pull Tuesdays and Thursdays, the way our bell and schedule is set up, it doesn’t work for us. Some businesses look for that, but right now we don’t have the structures to support that,” said Vice Principal Brandon Thurston.

Determining whether or not a student enjoys internships or doesn’t enjoy them is also very important because unpleasant internships have little benefit. Luckily, in Colsman’s experience, most students do enjoy and benefit from their internships.

“Every student that I’ve ever worked with that has been able to do an internship has really enjoyed it if it is meaningful and purposeful. Being able to create two different experiences for them so they can get a clear pathway to their long term goals is the way to go. I’ve had students who haven’t had a great experience with them, but that’s because they realized that wasn’t exactly the career path for them,” said Colsman.

The 60 hour work graduation requirement is something difficult to reach without a job or internship if you’re only doing community service. However, because

Restorative Justice:

suspension alternative slowly building momentum LILAH SLAUGHTER Features Head Colorado has worked to instate restorative practices statewide since 2011, but under DHS’s new principal, Jon Hoerl, the movement has recently become a hotly debated topic.

Select teachers and admin have been working against ingrained school operations and logistic challenges to restorative justice.

The main difference between restorative justice and restorative practices, though used interchangeably, is the former’s emphasis on repairing relationships between perpetrator and victim. While restorative practices apply when there’s no clear victim, both focus on actions that resolve the punishable offense.

“I think the benefits are students being able to reflect upon the impact their behaviors and actions have had on themselves, their community, their families. It really is a reflective practice, and a strong one,” said Hoerl.

However, despite the overwhelming evidence supporting the efficacy of eliminating suspensions and expulsions for nonviolent offenses, students are still being suspended and restorative practices have a long way to go at DHS. “This is the first year for DHS, and we’re still trying to get restorative justice in lieu of suspension. A lot of kids are still getting suspended but also getting the restorative justice element to right the wrongs they’ve done. The hope is that by the end of the year we will move towards more restorative justice,” said DHS restorative justice coordinator Sahara Thurston.

Mounting research on the school-to-prison pipeline has been a primary force behind the push towards restorative practices nationwide. Studies have shown that suspended students are likely to be repeat-offenders; suspensions and expulsions themselves often drain students motivation to return to school and attend classes regularly.

“Zero-tolerance policies... frequently lead to dropping out, thereby significantly contributing to the school to prison pipeline.

Our future is our children and we need to do everything in our power to keep them in school and out of the criminal justice system,” said Pete Lee, Democratic Colorado Representative and proponent of restorative practices.

Hoerl, while supportive of breaking the school to prison pipeline, doesn’t believe the research entirely applies to DHS: “Often times, it targets our minority populations and our poverty populations, where we have a poverty or prison cycle that needs to be broken. In a traditional setting, oftentimes it does manifest itself in that school to prison pipeline, but I don’t think it

has the same magnitude here at DHS as in other settings,” Hoerl said.

Where Durango lacks in minorities, it doesn’t necessarily have a low population of lower-income families, who feel an impact as profound.

Calling the US the “Incarceration Nation,” Pete Lee said “We are incarcerating people at increasing rates, and then releasing them un-rehabilitated, unrepentant and unprepared to rejoin our communities...

It is time to move our justice system from punishment and retribution to collaboration, restoration and community building,” on his website.

There may not be an incarceration issue in Durango itself, but students rarely stay in town after graduating or dropping out of high school; Durango High contributes to the higher incarceration rates statewide as much as other schools.

On the other hand, students aren’t suffering out-of-school suspensions due to contrasting opinions alone. “[In-school suspensions] require a tremendous amount of structure, and it requires students being willing and able to manage that extended amount of time in one location... Another component is that it also takes a unique adult to effectively manage and operate a room that has benefits to it,” said Hoerl.

For the school, suspensions are currently easier to assign than providing a controlled environment for in-school suspensions or counselors and advisors for restorative justice.

Opposing that argument, restorative justice initiators believe that punitive punishment should never be the response to actions that could provide a teaching moment for a student; it’s not the punishment that matters, but the skills gained afterwards.

“Punitive punishments… deny conversation between involved parties about underlying issues and unmet needs. [They don’t] offer alternative strategies for handling behavior issues effectively or navigating conflict tactfully; nonviolently,” according to Colorado Restorative Justice.

Essentially, suspensions and expulsions are useless at addressing behavioral issues because they deny offenders the skills to contribute positively rather than negatively to their communities.

Restorative practices won’t provide an overnight solution, but they’re sure to solidify long-term success.

“There is evidence, through Implementation Science that a minimum of three to five years is needed to shift a punitive school climate to a restorative one,” said the Colorado Restorative Justice website.

There’s no better time to start implementing restorative practices than now.

Courtesy of Home Builder’s Association of the Southwest Students building the frame of a tiny home as part of an internship with Home Builder’s Association of the Southwest.

internships count towards work hours, the graduation requirement could be affected by it, possibly by increasing the hours required.

“I think this is a great step for us to start moving towards work based opportunities. It’s a great thing for us to recognize that our students are leaving with some great content, but maybe aren’t as prepared in the work field,” said Thurston.

Internships are mainly used to help students with their employment skills, which also benefits their future careers. Maintaining these skills through internships can

affect students in the long term.

The long term effect could be different from the short term effect, but in a more positive way.

“Long term, I think it’s going to give our students a leg up on everybody coming out of the graduation pool. Once you start applying the soft skills that you’ve learned on a job and combine those with the strong academics that we already have, then our graduates are going to come out in a really good place and have some great opportunities down the road,” said Thurston.

Students face the morning monster KATIE RYDZ Reporter

Waking up at 6:00 am is certainly no joy and all schools in the Durango 9-R school district start earlier in the morning than they should. A study done in 2014 by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 93 percent of high schools and 83 percent of middle schools in America started before 8:30 am. The CDC believes that schools shouldn’t start before 8:30, mostly because it affects the health of teens.

“I wake up around 6:00, get dressed, do my hair and makeup, eat breakfast, and go out the door,” said Fr. Madison Marshall.

Fr. Sylvia Reyes has a similar morning routine. Both students believe that the current school start time for DHS is fine, but when asked if they would prefer it later, they said they wouldn’t mind if it were.

“As a generation we are sleep deprived but it wouldn’t really matter much to shift the school start time by only 15-30 minutes,” said Reyes.

To change school start times in Durango to significantly impact teen health, middle and high schools would have to start later than half an hour after the original start time. Some students claim that school starting at 9:00 sounds like a more appealing option.

“If school started later, though, it would have to end later. It’s required by the state that we have students go to school for a certain amount of minutes,” said Superintendent Dan Snowberger.

Snowberger isn’t opposed to schools starting later, but he said no one has previously expressed concern about it.

Although if enough students wanted to advocate, they could stand up to change the issue.

In addition, a time shift would affect after-school athletics and activities.

Coaches and students would have to alter their schedules, which could conflict with other events in student lives.

“There’s also the fact that the kids driven to school by parents need to get to work at a certain time and need to leave their child somewhere where they can be under proper care, that place being school,” said Snowberger.

If schools start after work, parents don’t have a lot of options. They could have their kids ride the bus, but there’s also the issue that the school district already spends $1.3 million on transportation a year, traveling nearly half a million miles annually. All the kids who used to be driven to school by parents

would need to ride buses, so there would need to be more buses.

“It’s difficult to hire bus drivers, even though we are currently fully staffed,” said Snowberger.

Changing school start times would require adding transportation, which would cost a lot more money than what the district already spends, and it would disrupt a lot of people’s schedules.

“School start times haven’t changed in the six years that I’ve been superintendent, but, if the community expressed concern, and wanted to change school start times, we would probably make it happen. Myself and the cabinet officers would recommend the idea to the school board,” said Snowberger.

School districts in Colorado such as Greeley-Evans and Cherry Creek have recently made their high schools begin later, while also making certain adjustments to make it possible. For example, Greeley fixed the financial problem by taking bus transportation away from high schoolers and giving them free transportation on city buses. Although, Durango may not be able to make this same adjustment.

The Seattle public school district is one of the largest in the country to make a shift in school start times, and made a shift last year to start schools at 8:45 am with plans to push it to 9:00 am this year. So clearly it’s possible, but all these school districts share a common problem that Durango would also have to get around: funding for bus transportation.

Can our beloved small town school district find a way around these problems? Is all this chaos really worth the extra sleep or should we just be content with how early we go to school?

School districts in Colorado such as Greeley-Evans and Cherry Creek have recently made their high schools begin later, while also making certain adjustments to make it possible. For example, Greeley fixed the financial problem by taking bus transportation away from high schoolers and giving them free transportation on city buses. Although, Durango may not be able to make this same adjustment.

The Seattle public school district is one of the largest in the country to make a shift in school start times, and made a shift last year to start schools at 8:45 am with plans to push it to 9:00 am this year. So clearly it’s possible, but all these school districts share a common problem that Durango would also have to get around: funding for bus transportation.

Maggie Maloney DHS classes start at 8:15 am, forcing kids that live out of town to wake up exorbitantly early.

January 2018

8

Feature

Stay woke: MADDY GLEASON Reporter

Massacres, torture, terror, sexual abuse, systematic military occupations, removals of Indigenous peoples from their ancestral territories, forced removal of Native American children to military-like boarding schools, allotment and a policy of termination.

These are all the historical atrocities against the Native Americans. Countless tribes full of rich history and culture used to live in these lands, before European invaders took over.

In fact, many of these controversia historical events are focused on in the proposed ethnic studies course. Many of the events in the past are horrible, but the way we choose to look at them can empower minority students and build empathy and relationships between majority student groups.

“I think that by the time students get into high school, especially, they should understand history as complex and understand that it’s not always fair for all human beings,” said Ed Cash, head of the social studies department.

“I think the necessity of understanding the diversity of our world is absolutely vital, and if we could structure a course and bill a curriculum that’s really relevant we could learn to make the world more fair, more equal,” said Cash.

Unfortunately, Durango 9R d clined to offer classes that describe the histories of marginalized peoples, but not for the reason that you’d think.

“It’s not something that has been highly promoted by community members, but if they did want to, we could find a way to make that happen,” said Robert Logan, senior member of the

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Ethnic studies add color to the classroom

social studies department.

If an ethnic studies course was included, it would be necessary to find students who want to take the course and to combat the responses from all points of view: reluctant, opposed and outwardly supportive. Other school systems have tried out these ethnic studies classes, and it can work, but it depends on the history of the area as well.

“Arizona has an ethnic studies course, and it’s somewhat controversial.

We don’t struggle with the same dynamics here, at least to the same extent, so that’s a good question to think about,” said Logan.

Despite the possible controversy, we have to think about what we need to teach our youth.

So. Kaitlyn Ashburn takes AP World History, one of the more difficult classes offered at DHS. “We should not hide our history.

We need to learn what we’ve done in the past. In reference to bad things that are apart of our history, we should look at these things and realize that they were bad and learn from them to prevent repeating them,” said Ashburn Although it may seem that schools in the United States ignore some parts of history, it’s very mild compared to other countries, such as North Korea, who changed historical articles for the image of the country.

“By looking at the the causes we wish to discontinue, we can identify patterns that we can watch out for in our current societies. We need to learn about our mistakes in order to learn from our mistakes,” said Carson Matz, a former DHS student and expatriate student who is currently in Spain.

Although students and teachers find promise in a possible ethnic studies course, many individuals believe it may take a toll on the school’s image.

Compiled by Maddy Gleason Studies have shown various benefits in adding ethnic studies to course catalogues.

According to Stanford News, “While ethnic studies proponents contend the courses can help address academic disparities by aligning individual student experiences with curriculum, opponents have argued they are anti-American, teach divisiveness and may displace opportunities for students to take electives of their choice.

Students work very hard in AP classes all year, and the AP Legacy Grant provides the promise of a $100 check for any student that passes a math, science, or english AP exam with a three, four or five. Every department besides the social studies department is included in the Legacy Grant.

“It’s simple: we are not part of the grant program... English, Math, and Science are the three areas that seem to be the highest value areas, yet social

studies wasn’t included,” said Logan.

Students find the discrepancy unfair.

“We should receive the money, because it provides an incentive for students to really prepare for their exams and try hard. It’s also nice to be rewarded for the work that you put in,” said Ashburn.

Stanford News performed a study on the questionable effect of ethnic studies course, and they found that students made improvements in attendance and grades, but they also increased the number of credits they earned to graduate.

“It’s a novel approach that suggests that making school relevant and engaging to struggling students can really pay off,” said Stanford News.

SAT STRESS CDOT paves the way

students under pressure from standardized testing

Maggie Maloney The SAT takes 3-4 hours, and has proven incredibly stressful for studying students as well as ones taking the exam.

EMMA JABER Arts Editor For all Durango High School juniors, the the SAT and ACT are imminent. The stress around these tests stem from the importance they hold on college applications and the pressure put on the necessity of a good score.

The SAT scores out of 1600 while the ACT is out of 36. With so much information online about what schools accept, and what the lowest (and highest) score accepted is, students are constantly comparing themselves to different standards from different colleges. Good grades and a consistent GPA, extracurriculars, and community service are all important to colleges but for some reason, the test score reported can seemingly make or break an acceptance.

Different aspects of the test stress students out, especially when taking both. “ I’m taking both the SAT and the ACT. The PSAT was stressful and it seemed like a waste of time. I’m just stressed about it because ultimately, if you don’t do well you don’t get into college” said Jr. Taylor Colsman.

A range of scores are accepted at almost all schools, and there’s always a college out there that will accept a certain score, even it’s considered low by another institution.

But this isn’t typically what students are concerning themselves with. The idea that their

perfect college won’t accept them because of a test score can be earth shattering, but also supply a much needed reality check.

At DHS, SAT prep is offered to all juniors and is highly recommended. The single semester course also includes a 900 page test prep book supplied by the school board to every student in the class. This class has the potential to save students from paying extensive tutoring costs and from purchasing supplemental test prep materials. “ I’m not in SAT prep so I won’t be taking the course until right before I have to take the SAT, which is stressful. I think people put too much stress on the test. A test score doesn’t determine a person’s worth or ability” said Colsman.

For those students in the class, the stress seems more immediate. Some students took the SAT December 2nd, and for others, the ACT was on December 9th.

“It’s pretty stressful to take the SAT, I didn’t really know what to expect plus I had to go all the way to Pagosa which wasn’t ideal” said DHS Jr. Logan Fullington Many people think that colleges put too much weight on score reporting, making students believe that their scores are the most important part of their application.

“I think it’s a common testing ground for students, especially if you don’t have a good GPA. If you don’t have good test taking skills though, that doesn’t help. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles” said Fullington.

for transportation MORGAN MALLONEE

Reporter

The Colorado Department of Transportation is a government operation that provides Colorado with safe public highways for transportation.

CDOT’s relations to Durango High School are very relevant for students who use public highways.

CDOT has an important connection to DHS because the students who drive and use public highways and bridges rely on CDOT’s ability to keep the roads safe.

“We all travel from point A to point B to point C, and CDOT has an impact on that travel,” said Lisa Schwantes, region 5 Communications Manager.

Students at DHS may not realize how much effort and thought of safety goes into their basic commute to school.

CDOT cares about the community and wants to make sure everyone gets to where they need to be without risk or danger.

Recently, CDOT has done some very impactful projects around Durango.

“This past summer, we performed a very large multi-million dollar surface treatment project through the town of Durango. This enhancement went right in front of DHS,” said Schwantes.

CDOT goes through extreme processes to minimize impacts in scheduling work. They don’t like their work to interfere with anyone’s commute and everyday route.

“When we work on projects we like to keep momentum” said Jessica Ebel, a project engineer with CDOT.

Again, CDOT shows us the amount of thought that goes into preparation for a project. They try to make it the least amount of worry for the people of durango on their commute.

Many DHS students recognize the CDOT trucks around town.

“I would like DHS students to know that we are not law enforcement and we are here to help,” said Ebel.

Although Durango may not be experiencing much snowfall this year, CDOT helps immensely during snow season.

They try to keep snow off the roads by plowing, but then they try to prevent snow falling onto the road after its been plowed by using the howitzer gun.

Getting rid of snow on roads during the winter is one of the many ways CDOT helps our community.

The Howitzer Gun is a machine used by CDOT to trigger avalanches before they start, a unique way of preventing wild avalanches that are dangerous on passes.

“Snow storms are certainly a way of life for us living here along the San Juan Mountain Range. CDOT encourages the public to use our online services to keep informed about road conditions,” said Schwantes.

Road conditions in the winter become very problematic for residents trying to drive themselves one place to another. CDOT is the reason residents are safe and have the privilege of driving with all precautions necessary.

“We’re just trying to get the snow down, and make roads safe for the public,” said Ebel.

Joey Mynatt The bright orange CDOT trucks are easy to spot perusing the streets of Durango year-round.

El Diablo

No Brainer:

Exercise helps body, mind

Life of a Sports Fan BEKAH MOENNING Head Sports Editor In my personal experience with sports and working out I have come to love, crave, and endure exercise. Throughout the years of mostly constant exertion, I have learned it has benefited me as a person, both mentally and physically. Exercise is vital to the human race because of all of the positive outcomes associated with it and the effect it has on people.

Everybody knows that exercise is important because of the health factors.

Daily exercise helps keep a healthy weight, and it lowers the risk of certain diseases such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. However, I am not going to bore you with what you already know.

When a person exercises, chemicals in the body called endorphins are released into the brain, changing one’s perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling within the body, making the person exercising feeling good and happy.

Everybody deserves to feel good and be happy, and getting exercise plays a role in that. Activities that cause one’s body to push itself leaves the person feeling accomplished and feeling great about themselves. The boost in self-confidence leads to a healthier lifestyle and a positive outlook on the world.

It is no secret that exercise sometimes hurts; I know for a fact that it does.

Running cross-country for six years and track for four, I have learned that persevering through the work outs is always difficult but always worth it. Even if the work out is mile repeats on a hard dirt road, and I can’t breathe, my legs and lungs are burning, and my mouth is dry, I know that after, I will drink some water, and the soreness in my muscles will reflect me working hard and not giving up.

With exercise, there is almost always a goal. Whether that goal be doing 10 push ups without rest, or completing 20 minutes of core exercises, there is a goal.

When a person reaches a goal there is always a certain amount of ecstasy and a feeling of pride. Within these goals you are getting stronger, you can handle more pain, and your brain is becoming more active and responsive.

Another thing I have experienced from exercising and participating in a sport is you meet some of the best people. When you have a work-out buddy, or a work-out crew you learn from each other, grow together, and you experience the same pain and bliss produced while exercising creating a bond more special than others.

This past 2017 cross-country season I was lucky enough to compete with, train with, and be with some of the greatest girls. They pushed me through my limits, lifted me up, and helped me through my goals of the season. We all cared for one another and it made exercising something to look forward, not dread.

A countless number of people have asked me why I run, and why I workout, because to them it is not something that sounds appealing. My answer is simple - I do it because I’m the happiest after I exercise in some way and I know I am going to continue doing it for a very long time.

Exercise is important, and it creates a feeling that should be desired. Once you get into the habit of it, it becomes a routine that you never feel quite complete without. So, my advice to those who see exercise as a waste of time, or something built to cause people misery, is to give it a try before you decide against it. You won’t regret it.

Sports

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

9

Eye on the bowl

Professional sports discuss removing marijuana ban SAM JOHNSON Reporter Since the beginning of modern sports, marijuana has been viewed as a performance enhancing drug and was never allowed for the use of professional athletes. Although this law could soon change for the NBA and the NFL. Over the course of 2017, several athletes and a former commissioner of the NBA have spoken out in favor of medical marijuana. Many believe that it could open new doors for pain relief for professional athletes. Several new studies have been released that expose the damaging effects of regular painkillers such as Aleve and Advil.

Various retired players have talked about how painkillers are handed out in abundance in the locker room.

“They were giving them (painkillers) out like candy you know? If you were hurting, then you could get them. It was nothing,” said Calvin Johnson - who played in the NFL for nine seasons and recently retired due to body and injury concerns..

New studies have also pointed to negative effects on health when taken daily or in high amounts. Temporary pain relievers, such as Advil and Aleve are required to include updated information about possibly dangerous side effects. This included increase of heart attack, stroke, and liver damage.

TMZ

asked ten NBA players if they were in favor of the NBA changing their policy, and reported that all ten said yes.

“How can you tell a guy with a prescription not to use it? They should be allowed to have their medicine,” said an anonymous player.

The NBA was run by commissioner David Stern for 30 years, from 1984 to 2014. A few months ago, he publicly announced his opinion on the NBA policy.

“I’m now at the point where, personally, I think [marijuana] probably should be removed from the ban list. I think there is universal agreement that marijuana for medical purposes should be completely legal,” said Stern.

Karl Anthony-Towns, who won rookie of the year in 2015-2016 and is often looked at as the best upcoming big man in the NBA, sides with Stern.

“I agree with David Stern with marijuana.

You don’t have to actually make it ‘Mary

J’ or ‘Half Baked’. You don’t have to do it like that, but you could use the chemical properties in it to make a lot of people better,” said Anthony-Towns.

With marijuana becoming legal for medication and recreation, Stern and Towns make an interesting and controversial case. If a player plays where marijuana is legal, gets a medicated prescription, should he still face a multiple game suspension and a 20 thousand dollar fine?

“I’m calling for the NFL to remove marijuana from the banned substances list; fund medical marijuana research, especially as it relates to CTE; and stop overprescribing addictive and harmful opioids,” Said Eugene Monroe played in the NFL for nine season and throughout his football career, faced surgery in his shoulder and knee, and multiple concussions.

As more high ranking athletes push to change these policies, athletes in Durango could also see major change in the future. Fort Lewis Athletes, even with a prescription, are not allowed to use marijuana and will face suspensions if caught. However if the two most popular professional sports in America both changed their policy on medical marijuana, it is possible that colleges across the nation may start to follow suit.

Varsity Basketball: A Family ELLA REYNOLDS Reporter

positive “I mean it really just comes down to the goals for certain players. Incoming freshman should be able to play JV, and for returning players to increase their skill level. You recognize talent, their effort towards the game, and their demeanor. You can tell if a player is ready to play JV or Varsity. But this also has a lot to do with the attributes, skill level, size, and talent of a player,” said Batiste.

It isn’t only what the coaches think, but what the players put into their game that matters during the season.

The amount of effort and perseverance determines a large portion of what type

keep your head up, and the shooters gotta shoot,” said Warman.

Each player is at a different level Durango High School’s basketball and has different goals. Meeting certain teams have proved themselves to be requirements and setting goals are necsuccessful, having won several champiessary for the players. onships and putting in best effort. Many “The running and some of the are curious about what goes into these workouts are hard but you have to push hard working teams. through that wall but those small things Coaches Alan Batiste and Tim Fitzare going to get you to become a better patrick explain how they evaluate team player or a better athlete. One of my players, and players give more insight weaknesses is having my feet move, but on what really goes into playing.

I’m working on that,” said So. Martin “Eight years ago, I came back to DHS Cuntz. to coach the varsity basketball team.

The Varsity team is sometimes This is where I started my career, and viewed as more important, or at a higher this is where I rank on the hiwant to end it,” erarchy of bassaid Batiste, Boys ketball teams, Varsity basketball but both players coach. and coaches “I’ve always agree that this admired and is inaccurate. studied the game, Each team is and I feel like equally valued I give back to on the court, certain players, and off. and to the game “We practice in general,” said together everyBatiste. day. We all have Like all to start someschools, DHS has where, they are varsity, junior just as hardvarsity, and C working and team basketball. determined.

But how the They are the coaches really future for our determine who program. We makes the team learn to know doesn’t rely on each other the skill of the very well,” said player alone.

Hilda Garcia “It depends. It who plays for varies from year the girls Varsity to year on what team. roles need to be The selection Alyssa Robertson of athletes for fulfilled. Players Durango varisty girls basketball in their first home game tean huddle. who are skillful, a team do not and who can only depend dribble, pass, and shoot are the type we of player they are. The athletes know on the attributes of the player, but also look for. But being a good teammate is what’s important during the game. what they’re providing for the team also important,” said Tim Fitzpatrick , Max Warman, a sophomore at DHS itself. The team’s reputation is entirely the girls basketball coach. plays for the JV basketball team, shows dependent on the type of sportsmanship Some may think that the choices for passion for the sport. and teamwork the athletes in the provarsity and JV depend on how skillful “I just love every aspect of the game, begram display. But for all teams, espea player is, which is true, however it is ing a good team player, being coachable cially the ones at DHS, it’s important to also about what the teams need, includand having great court vision is importremember that they’re all part of one big ing players who have integrity and are ant. It’s not all about you, you have to family.

January 2018

10 Sports

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Cornwall brings thunder from down under

Boys basketball team gains coach who played on Australian national team SAM JOHNSON Reporter The Boys basketball team went through a very interesting offseason, and one change was the addition of a 6’6 Australian Coach. Gregg Cornwall has been an English Teacher at Durango High school for several years, but recently was added to the DHS coaching staff. Due to his height, you can probably pick him out of a crowd, but you may not know that he is now the Boys Basketball Junior Varsity Head Coach.

Last year’s JV head coach left after some commotion, so the JV team was lacking a coach for portions of last year.

Two college students will be joining Cornwall on the court so they can finish their degree by being an intern coach for a year.

Basketball has always been a part of Cornwall’s life. “I started playing when I was eight. I represented my country for [my] last two years in Junior Basketball,” said Cornwall.

Representing his country meant that he played basketball for Australia and played against other countries, almost like the junior olympics. Besides playing, Cornwall has some experience with coaching as well.

“I coached at a state level in Australia, which would be the equivalent to an All-Colorado team, and I was the head coach of that for 1 year,” said Cornwall.

Cornwall left that job to focus on academics and attend college, but he later coached the boys and girls varsity at a high school in Sydney for three years.

Bekah Moenning Basketball Coach Gregg Cornwall helps his athletes one on one with their form as they prepare at practice for upcoming tournaments,

He then made his way to DHS, but has yet to experience any competitive basketball in America.

This offseason, the Boys Varsity head Coach, Alan Batiste, retired from coaching. Though several applied, there were complications, and Batiste ended up returning as head coach for this season.

It’s not all fun and games for the new coach, as he explained the difficulties of being a full time English teacher and now a basketball coach.

“It’s a grading thing like reading essays and a lot of extended writing responses, as well as dedicating six days a week to basketball. I mean, if you’re a core subject teacher, that’s already a huge time commitment,” said Cornwall.

A lot of players had very positive things to say about their new coach.

Max Warman, a So. player had a lot of positive comments about Cornwall.

“I really like Coach Cornwall. He’s got the right amount of seriousness and

tor of the Athletic Training process at Fort Lewis College, and that is purely academic, so working at DHS becomes his clinical outlet.

“I have always had a keen interest on healthcare and athletics, so this is a nice tandem between the two because I like both aspects. Both professions are different, so I can’t say whether I like one job more than the other,” said Davis.

The AT program has received a sufficient amount of praise from students and staff around the school, and the trainers seem to manage their clientele base incredibly well.

So. Claudia Luthy competed in Cross-Country this past season, and claims that they have incredibly listening skills as well as ideas on how to improve pain.

“They helped me find some stretches for my hip pain during the season, and they recommended exercises that would help...they also told me some great places I could go for further help,” said Luthy.

As well as showing attention to each athlete, they also build healthy relationships with each student to show their support.

Cade Engle likes every single part of the department, and thinks that the trainers have really influenced the healing process by understanding students and their needs before training again.

“I really like the trainers. We joke around alot and they are pretty cool.

I go into shock my back [therapy that stimulates the central nervous system by shooting millions of electric pulses through the spine to suppress pain

signals] which helps a lot with recovery,” said Engle.

So. Leland Heinicke plays soccer through a back injury that occurred from plate growth and lack of flexibility. The athletic trainers worked with Heinicke before, during, and after his season to reduce pain.

“They helped me out every day when I had my back injury and they gave me a lot of exercises. They were super thoughtful to stay late and talk with my parents about my injury as well,” said Heinicke.

Overall, the department has been a huge success, and it has allowed student athletes to recover more efficiently and thoroughly. However, as with every program, there are some faults that should be addressed in future dates. “[The only issue was that] sometimes they were unavailable and it was hard to contact them,” said Luthy.

Since there are only two trainers, they are needed all throughout the school very frequently, and they cannot always guarantee to be in their room due to emergencies as well as their necessary presence at all DHS activities.

Similarly, Adam Bright doesn’t see any pressing problems with the department, but he would like to see some changes in future years.

“A larger room with the ability to serve more students at one time would be the only “issue” I see. While not a problem currently, as we grow our programs, hopefully we can grow our facility and the various modalities we can offer to our student athletes,” said Bright.

kindness to be a good coach and a role model,” said Warman.

Lawrence Reed, another So. player, is playing JV for his second year.

“We’ve really started to come together as a team after our first two games were losses. I credit Cornwall with that a lot,” said Reed.

Out of the 4 JV players that were interviewed, they all had compliments for the latest addition. According to them, they are hoping he will continue to coach.

According to Cornwall, there is no end to his coaching in the near future.

“At this point, I’m committed to Durango High School. I’m here to learn all of the CHSAA system and how all that operates because all of my basketball and coaching experience is from Australia, and the systems are completely different,” said Cornwall.

Despite the challenges, he would be ready to increase his role.

“Having said that, I have no immediate intentions and if I had the opportunity to coach full time, I would definitely love to take that,” said Cornwall.

He believes that right now he is developing himself as a coach because he is still adjusting to American Basketball.

He would love to be the Head of a Basketball program, but thinks he still has a lot to learn before he can take one over.

With all of the excitement and change happening around the Boys Basketball Program, it seems like Coach Cornwall was a solid addition to the coaching staff.

Athletic trainers tackle toughest injuries

SAYLOR STOTTELMYER Feature Editor

Bandaging wounds, taping injuries, deciphering mysteries, and helping students are all aspects of being an athletic trainer at DHS. Currently, the two athletic trainers at Durango High School, Kyle Montgomery and Jeb Davis, work daily to promote a safe and healthy athletic community.

“I think our AT program has been a great success. We made a significant change this year in bringing trainers on staff as full-time teachers and trainers…. [the AT program] is vital to our athletic department,” said athletic director Adam Bright.

Kyle Montgomery, the head Athletic Trainer at DHS, received his education at both Washburn University and Ohio University. He was always drawn to the Healthcare profession, and had experience with other athletic trainers.

“I love that the job is constantly changing through injuries, seasons, patients, people...I’ve worked with D1 athletes, D2 athletes, Junior High athletes, professional athletes, and High School, so the job always has options and variety,” said Montgomery.

Jeb Davis, the other Athletic Trainer, received his undergraduate at New Mexico State University and his masters at California University of Pennsylvania.

“I love that the job is pretty unique.

We have incredible access to patient populations and we get to understand students in a really robust way,” said Davis.

Davis currently works as the Direc-

El Diablo

Heinicke also has some advice to the trainers on how to connect with him and other athletes they they are in contact with.

“I would give Jeb [Davis] a catch phrase, and get him a joke book so he can learn some new jokes,” said Heinicke.

Maddie Dearien Athletic trainer Kyle Montgomery works with a student athlete to help them recover for their season.

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Sports 11

Demons reflect on bitter end to football season ISAIAH DOWNING Reporter

Durango High School’s football team had a rather successful season this year.

They made it to the second round of the state playoffs, but unfortunately suffered a heartbreaking loss to Erie High School.

The team went 8-3 over their 11 games and despite the loss of some star seniors, they have even higher expectations for next year.

DHS football believes in hard work and dedication both on and off the field. Each player commits to the team through several ways, and specifically the weight room. Breyton Jackson is a sophomore on varsity who plays wide receiver and safety for the Demons.

“We need to bust our a** in the weight room in order to be successful next

year, that’s all it takes,” said So. Breyton Jackson.

It is always helpful for the team to have a leading figure and someone who they can look up to. This past season, Gavin Mestas and Max Hyson stepped up to fill the demanding role. The two boys are both seniors and will therefore not be returning in the fall, leaving the important leadership role open to be filled.

One of those spots could be filled by Dawson Marcum, who plays running back and takes pride in his performance this past season. He hopes to step up as a team leader next year, and with his hard working mindset his path is likely heading that direction. “I need to hold everyone to the standard that I hold myself to,” said Jr. Dawson Marcum.

He wants everyone to be responsi-

ble for not just themselves, but for the teammates as well. “Our team needs to receive discipline this next season, take ownership for our actions and overall just work,” said Marcum.

Despite the loss of many talented seniors, the team believes they will make it even further in the playoffs next year.

Fr. Jordan Woolverton is a name you will likely be hearing for the next three years. The new high school student is the first Freshman in Durango High School history to start as Varsity quarterback. He believes that the team is going to come back next season stronger than ever.

“We are losing a couple key positions, but other than that we are built strong.

I think if we all work together as a team and train we’ll have a great season next year” said Woolverton.

The Demon’s defense this year was built around their linebackers, with the talented Manasseh Brockus leading the way.

“It will be tough next year due to the fact that we are losing our linebackers, but I think offensively we are set,” said Jackson.

The Durango High School football team has many goals, and one of the biggest is to win a state championship.

Receiving that ring would mean the world not only to the players, but also the entire school. All of the players know that they can only win as a team, and they all need to be working hard this offseason to come back better than before. With hard work, dedication, and passion, the future of the demon football team is bright.

Soccer players swap Durango for Albuequerque

Gwen Stoddard Durango High School football players gather together at a game in Farmington.

DHS Swimmers are winners MORGAN MALLONEE Reporter

On December 9th, DHS girls swim and dive team had a home meet at Durango’s very own Fort Lewis College.

The visiting team was Cortez’s girls swim team. All the coaches and swimmers were pleased with how the meet went.

Swim coach Tom Joyner isn’t stressed for meets that start off the season. “It is the first meet of the season so I’m never really worried about it because I know we’re all trying to get back into the swing of things” said Joyner.

DHS won the first meet at Cortez and their home meet at Fort Lewis. The team has a little over 20 swimmers and were competing against Cortez with only 6 swimmers.

This season many girls who are new to the sport have been doing well and shown excitement and enthusiasm for meets and traveling.

Sr. Mira Joyner, team captain was very proud of the whole team.

“My favorite part about the meet was seeing how proud everyone was of themselves especially the new girls, The whole mood of the meet was different with new swimmers, everyone was extremely supportive and cheering each other on,” said Joyner.

Team captain Sr. Joci Earl is satisfied with how the meet played out.

“I think the meet went great, it was definitely a good starter for us,” said Earl.

In Cortez and at the Fort, DHS swim and dive produced 7 state qualifying times and 2 dive cards. Joyner, Earl, and So. Saylor Stottlemyer achieved those 7 qualifying times. Sr. Ruby Epstein and Jr. Kylie Behn both achieved the 2 dive cards that qualify them for state.

“Qualifying for state is always an amazing feeling, it makes you feel good about yourself because you finally see all of your hard work paid off,” said Joyner.

Joyner qualified in 50 freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke,100m freestyle, 200 IM, 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay.

“I think qualifying for state always feels good, but it was a lot different qualifying for 4a state than 3a, because 3a is slower,” said Earl.

2a-6a is the rank in which they place swimmers for state competition. They place the competitors with close times in relevant heats.

Earl qualified in the 200 free, and 500 free and is excited to showcase her talents at state competition.

Meets and practice are different for Mira Joyner, Joci Earl, Ruby Epstein, and Sadie Mcaliney, because of the responsibility that weighs on them as team captains. At meets team captains are responsible for their swimmers and check in when someone has an event coming up. They always have to be prepared to fill the demands of this important role.

“The most important part about being a captain is being supportive and encouraging of everyone on the team, we always make them them feel welcomed and important,” said Mira Joyner.

These captains demonstrated leadership at the swim meet, and went above and beyond to help and support their team mates.

“We’re all super proud of how everybody did, everyone swam had a great meet, overall it was just wonderful,” said coach Joyner Durango High School girls swim and dive team showed exceptional attitudes and great support for their team at the first home meet this new season.

Cassandra Blau A Durango High School swimmer swims the 500 freestyle at their meet at FLC on December 2nd. DHS beat cortez 526 to 206 for their first win of the seasons so far.

Sophomore Jael Larson shows her true side while on the soccer field.

KATE MCKINNIS Reporter When you are as talented and passionate as some of the athletes of Durango High School, it is important to expand your horizons in order to reach the highest possible level of competition and skill possible. Some of these students include So. Jael Larson, So. Emily Badgley and Fr. Kyla Tucker.

These girls travel down to Albuquerque every Friday to practice and play for other competitive club teams. They also played for DYSA (Durango Youth Soccer Association) in Durango.

“There are so many pros and cons of traveling; the New Mexico league is a lot more competitive than DYSA is. When you go down to play for Albuquerque, the intensity is always there and it never stops running,” said Tucker.

Traveling has improved many of these players skills and presented unique opportunities to these dedicated athletes.

They gain more touches on the ball and will find more places to play in college.

These girls’ footwork has improved and will continue improving with the added playing time.

“Traveling has helped me a lot because I am playing at a higher level.

Also, playing teams from around the country has helped me find opportunities. Playing for Albuquerque and DYSA has helped keep me in shape for the High School season,” said Larson.

Many soccer players start at a young age and begin developing their skills.

Emily Badgley began playing soccer when she was only four years old.

“I started with Parks and Recreation when I was four and began my goalkeeper career when I was eight. I chose to try goalkeeper because I thought it would be fun. I just fell in love with the position” said Badgley.

By choosing to play down in Albuquerque, these girls have had many experiences to raise their skill level to a higher point. DYSA can only do so much for them because Durango is such a small town.

Many athletes play for DYSA, however, most of what goes on in the background isn’t noticed. Amanda Raso, the director of goalkeeping for DYSA, has also helped to direct the U-13 to U-19 age group.

“Our area limits us, so traveling to bigger cities allows for more opportunities and more coaches to help develop our skills. I wouldn’t recommend it to players who don’t want to play college, but if they want to, go for it. Most colleges are looking for all around players, good students, understanding of the

January 2018

Jenna Beckley

field, etc,” said Raso.

However, the players don’t all enjoy DYSA and feel as though the environment isn’t competitive enough or worth the time commitment. Many players stop playing after they reach the middle school age. The desire to play can fade as many more important things come up in an athlete’s life.

“DYSA is kind of a joke after U-12 and caused my desire to play to lessen. Albuquerque was refreshing and challenging and it’s a major reason I enjoy playing soccer to this day,” said Badgley.

Many coaches that help coach for DYSA are parents or volunteers. Most of them only have their basic license and have had 2-3 years of soccer experience.

Although, this is only for the younger teams, these coaches are the ones that set up the foundation for these athletes’ futures.

“DYSA is great, but sometimes the coaches aren’t the best. Sure, they provide us with skills, but once we go to tournaments we look like fools.

However, most the time it’s because the teams mess around during practice, but it’s also because some coaches are confused,” said a player who asked to remain anonymous.

Teams appreciate the coaches of DYSA, but some players also feel like they’re not getting their money’s worth.

“There isn’t any sort of toughness with some coaches. I have to say that one of my favorite coaches was Darren McKinnis because he yelled at us, but he made our team stronger and tougher.

“I’m going to make you run until you puke!’ This has stuck with me and I will always remember those days,” said another anonymous player.

DYSA is a great place to build community and make new friends. Memories of a certain team often stick with the athletes and create an impact on their future.

7th grader Abigail McKinnis said, “Every team is different, but I remember the one team I was on: the Dynamite.

We worked hard and pushed ourselves every step of the way. I may just be a 12 year old, but I wish that we had more coaches like Brian Baca and Darren McKinnis. We were undefeated for 3 years in a row.”

Those that travel to play agree that Albuquerque coaches are tough and strict, but when their teams go to tournaments, it pays off.

“My Albuquerque coach is a bit of a screamer; while that sounds awful it has helped me handle any kind of coaching style headed my way,” said Badgley.

Arts

12

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

T-Swizzle goes down in flames:

Original Swift fans forming new opinions after release of “Reputation”

JACK WHISTLER Reporter There’s no doubt that country turned pop singer Taylor Swift is one of the most relevant people of the 21st century. Her sixth studio album “reputation” which was released on November 10th of last year, has peaked at number one in over thirteen countries. After the success of the singles released before the album, “Look What You Made Me Do” and “...

Ready For It?” the release was highly anticipated, seeming as Swift had not released an album since 2014’s “1989”.

At the time of the release and the weeks that followed, “reputation” was not available on major streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

This meant that to review this new album I had to shovel out $13.99 on iTunes for the fifteen song album, which is a little annoying seeing as major streaming services are extremely popular. The album is a definite full-blown pop album. Having not listened to any of Swift’s music since grade school, it was almost as if I were listening to completely different artist than the country star who sang “You Belong With Me”.

The first half of the album sounds the same. Sorry to Swift fans, but I did not enjoy the repetitive bass and similar sounding beats found in “End Game”, “I Did Something Bad”, and “Look What You Made Me Do”. It seems that in the desperate attempt to clap back at her haters and the media, Swift has removed everything from her music that made it good in the first place. Gone are the meaningful lyrics and good-girl country

Photo courtesy of Big Machine Records Reputation is Taylor Swift’s sixth studio album and sold over one million copies it’s first week.

image, and instead we get badass-wannabe Swift and music that is feels mainstream and not original. The bridge in “This Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” is extremely frustrating and annoying, in

Love of Star Wars lasts generations

Photo courtesy of Lucas Brothers There are 10 movies in the Star Wars Saga with more supposedly in the making.

ISAIAH DOWNING Reporter Not many movie series can be continued throughout multiple generations and entertain billions of people for forty years. However, the eight captivating and inspiring Star Wars films have made over four billion dollars and have never declined in views or popularity.

An abundance of students at Durango High School love the saga, and newer fans are entertained by the new movies.

Most students, in fact, have parents that are fans of the movies. “I first watched Star Wars with my dad, and sometimes I still do; We both are big fans,” said so.

Logan White.

“I think it’s very cool that my dad watched these movies when he was young too; and hopefully my kids can be introduced to them,” said so. Axel Bourey.

The budget for Star Wars: The last Jedi was 200 million dollars and has already made over 900 million dollars in box office sales.

So far, it seems like the saga will continue, with no end in sight. Not only do the movies entertain most of America, but they make huge sums of money off them. Star Wars The Force Awakens, the 7th movie in the saga, made 248 Million on opening night.

“I first saw the movie when I was about four or five. I think it was the New Hope, the fourth in the saga,” said White. “I personally think that the first three movies are the best.”

Most people saw the first three mov-

ies first, which are the first three produced but the fourth, fifth and sixth in chronological order. These were A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, and Empire strikes back.

Most parents and original Star War fans mainly focus on the first three movies, considering them original and the best of the saga. “The first three movies never get old, and are the most entertaining by far,” said Thomas Downing, my father and the first person I watched the movies with.

Personally, Star Wars has been a defining memory from childhood, yet still entertains me today. I love to watch the older movies in the saga with my dad, and when the new films come out seeing them with my friends makes for great memories.

“I usually watch Star Wars with my friends, especially when the new ones come out,” said Bourey “sometimes I still watch them with my family though, it’s always fun too.”

The main wonder to Star Wars fans is how long the films will continue to be made. With no end in sight, LucasFilms has plenty of mysteries and stories in the Starwars universe to make movies of.

When not continuing the saga, LucasFilms have started to make side stories to fill in missing information throughout the Star Wars universe.

“I hope they keep making more, it seems that everyone gets more appealing and interesting,” said White.

With the ninth movie in the saga releasing December 14th, The Last Jedi is expected to be one of the best yet, with tickets sold out a month before the release. The Star Wars saga continues to entertain, and has ingrained itself in America’s culture.

the sense the song is all about her feuds.

In the bridge we hear a crazy laugh, almost Niki Minaj-like which is frustrating because she could have taken the high road, but as usual in Taylor-Swift

like fashion, she can’t “shake it off” and turns into a big scandal only to get attention and song writing material.

Luckily Swift is semi-saved by the second half of her album. Thanks to some research, the songs found in the second half are written by Swift and songwriter Jack Antonoff. Antonoff worked with Swift on her earlier music which is why “Getaway Car”, “King of My Heart”, “Dress” and “New Year’s Day” sound surprisingly refreshing after the pop mess that is her first couple songs. My personal favorite of the album which is seems reminiscent of Swift’s golden age is “New Year’s Day”. Gone is Swift’s new bad girl image and electro sound, and back is the basics that made her good in the first place. The song is simple and sweet with meaningful lyrics that are actually worth listening to. Another one of my favorites from the album is “Dress” which is successful in executing what I think Swift’s goal should be in her new music, finding a new sound but still keeping her true personality instead of trying to change her image for publicity and her reputation.

“Reputation” is certainly not going to be ignored. With record breaking sales of over 2,000,000 albums sold in her first week, Swift is getting the attention she craves. Until the album goes on Spotify, and other major streaming services, I would not recommend shoveling out $13.99 for a desperate attempt to create a bad girl image and to gain attention.

We’re sorry that the old Taylor can’t come to the recording studio right now, but we want her back.

NAHS project making international memories IRIE SENTNER Specials Editor

bers of NAHS to view how art can affect people on a global scale and observe that their artistic practices are truly meaningful. “The program is very thoughtful and is a great way to connect the needs of disadvantaged children with other children who have the means to make a change in a small but significant way,” said Burnite. “It also allows the student that make the art to reinforce how powerful their skills can be as an artist. It’s a huge eye opener and reminder for all of us involved that there are many hardships throughout this world and to make one piece of art for one child in need of a reminder that he or she is a special individual.”

Many say that the function of art is to connect people, that its impact transcends language, privilege, and geographic borders. The National Art Honor Society is a group of students that are talented in the visual arts. While their duties typically involve community service in Durango and DHS, this year NAHS is partaking in a program of larger scale - an international nonprofit called The Memory Project. “[The] Memory Project is a nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and their students to create portraits for youth around the world who have faced “We want the portraits to help substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, and extreme povthe children feel valued and erty,” said NAHS teacher sponsor John important, to know that many Burnite. “The portraits help the children people care about their well feel valued and important, to know that being, and to act as meaningful many people care about their well being, and to act as meaningful pieces of perpieces of personal history in the sonal history in the future. For the art future.” - The Memory Project students, we want this to be an opportunity to creatively practice kindness and global awareness.”

Organizations like these may help Students are sent images of the increase recognition of student art and children to replicate in any artistic medi- serve to broaden the perspectives of um. The portraits must be small and students in Durango. “NAHS does this light to ensure easy transportation in project because not only does it help the developing areas where the children make these children feel valued, it raises live. NAHS students then send their art awareness in the community,” said renditions back to The Memory Project, Fiala. including a personalized note.

If anything, the portraits of Memory This program offers an extremely children help us remember what we meaningful experience for all parties inshould be grateful for and add focus volved. “As a stuto hardships dent, I think the that children Memory Project may face right is a way to serve at home. “As a other parts of the parent, it breaks world through my heart to see art. It’s amazing the photos of the to have this kind children we get,” of a connection to said Burnite. “It another child in a makes me hold foreign country. on to my daughThese children ter tighter and let have faced tough her know I love challenges that her so much and I can’t even we are both lucky imagine, so when to live in a world I watched a video not as affected of the children reby some of the ceiving last year’s challenges that portraits and these children of how it made their the world have. faces bright up, I This is a good feel like a hero,” talking point too said NAHS officer Photo courtesy of the Memory Project because even Jessica Fiala.

Destine Maxon, age 6, is a part of the project. close to home So. Lorien we have families Hoshall agrees. and children that “I personally like the memory project are suffering right in our own country, because it allows us to connect to kids states, cities and neighborhoods. It from other countries in ways that we brings a reminder that we should also wouldn’t be able to otherwise,” said help those around us too and love thy Hoshall. neighbor.”

The Memory Project allows mem-

El Diablo

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Arts 13 Compiled by Afton Mann and Austin Swan

Positive

Misc.

Negative

Our Advice

Rating

On a scale of 1-5

food

The environment is very well put together. Not to mention, the food is incredible.

Pop Sushi

MOVIES Lady Bird

TV Show The Crown

Hot GOssip Kardashian Pregnancy Scandal

WOmen’s Fashion Turtleneck Sweaters ar back!

Men’s Fashion NMDs Adidas

sports Barre Class

Music Is Timberlake Drying Up?

Winter fun NO SNOW KIDS

This coming of age story is so relatable that both moms and daughters will appreciate it.

The costumes and plot of the movie look like a real life castle scene.

The location isn’t the The best roll, voted by best. It’s inconvenient to place a nice restau- students, rant so far from town. is the spider roll.

There’s a chance Lady Bird won best First, see it with your your mascara picture at the Golden mom. You’ll like it so will be run- Globes and is nominatmuch you’ll want to go ning at the ed for 2 Oscars. Happy see it with your bff. end of this one.

Awards season!

Queen Elizabeth became the most searched name on google because of this show.

Almost too dramatic and can give you a depressing vibe.

It is not easy to Is Kylie hiding her hide a pregnanpregancy? Many beleive that Khloe is hid- cy when you’re ing Kylie’s pregnancy a celebrity. Kylie by faking her own. is not the brightest.

Keeps you nice and warm and hides those hickies that most high schoolers have.

Fly kicks, even better than gucci slides, and slippers. Now that’s hard to beat!

Gives you some wash-board abs, a huge booty, and some fire calves.

If you aren’t an experienced sushi eater, don’t go here.

Looks like you don’t have a neck and can be itchy. However, a lot of people pull them off.

Not the funnest way to spend your day unless you’re a workout addict.

On a level of hottness, Timberhe is like a six or a lake is seven, we think. He’s releasing a like the fire without the flames. (Justin Embernew album. lake) It’s dryer than the You’re less likely to Sahara Desert. It’s get into an icy car gonna be a hot sumaccident. mer folks.

If Kylie is prego (which she is) her due date would be in Februrary.

DO NOT FAKE PREGNANCIES. IT SOUNDS STUPID AND IT IS STUPID.

Austin Swan, a student in journalism, has a turtle neck and “he

If you have hickies, please invest in a turtle neck. No one wants to see them.

These shoes are available for girls and guys. Check out Gwen’s fresh pair of kicks.

(It’s ok Gus)

If you wanna get hitched, wear these kicks!

loves it” lollllll

Nothing because they’re amazing.

End of story.

Watch this with an expert of the British royal family.

Wanna be a football player?

Get SWOLE in ballet.

Yeahh HE WAS BRITNEY We were SPEAR’S FIRST always holdKISS AND WE ing a torch for ARE SHOOK. you Justin, pull it together.

Send out some This is the dryest good vibes and do winter ever. I ain’t no some snow dances, weather reporter, but I can tell ya what’s brewin Mother Nature can use up in those clouds. all the help she can get.

Pro football players often partake in some sort of ballet or barre class to improve footwork.

Popular film Wonder inspires audience with message of kindness MADDY GLEASON Reporter Everyday men, women and children walking down the street or browsing your local grocery store aisle are shamed, ignored, and feared just based on the way they look. Captured in the enriching film “Wonder” directed by Stephen Chbosky, people learn to accept everyone for who they are on the inside; no matter how they look on the outside.

“I loved this movie. I don’t usually enjoy sentimental movies, but this one was really cool. I liked how the message showed that disabilities don’t prove anything. If I were in that movie, I would probably be Augie’s friend. He’s a really nice person, and the movie showed that disabilities don’t have any boundaries.” said So. Luke Tichi.

This film is deep and sincere, and succeeds in telling an enthralling story about kindness. It focuses on Auggie Pullman, a little boy with a facial distortment, but a rich and adorable spirit. It emphasizes the importance of acceptance and Augie’s journey, but there is also a hidden message within the movie.

Maybe it’s not about Augie at all, maybe it’s all about what members of society choose to see in the world. Some people choose to look at appearances and judge by first impressions, but this movie emphasizes what everyone should try to see in the world; what’s on the inside.

“I thought it was an awesome movie.

I was in tears multiple times when I

watched it. I like how it really challenges the viewers to actually get to know a person before you make a judgement on them, because we can so often judge book by their cover,” said Josh Maes, life skills teacher at DHS. Spreading messages that couldn’t be emphasized more, like friendship, kindness, or open-mindedness, this movie does an amazing job sharing the views society often has on individuals with physical or intellectual disabilities.

“I think it sends a really good message. A lot of kids with intellectual disabilities do look different or do act differently, so often times they’re ostracized by their peers, they get called the “R” word a lot” said Maes.

The movie also emphasizes an important idea for everyone to follow; that should all stick together, find compassion and prioritize acceptance. His journey towards an accepted individual is all about solidifying relationships with his parents and the few close friends he has, in order to build on those relationships and be a part of even more people’s lives.

“It also reminded me of the responsibility I have in relationship to my peers. A Lot of times in this movie, people had to do the right thing even if it went against their friends. It’s a really inspiring movie, especially through the perspective of Augie, who is a really interesting and strong kid,” said Tichi.

Similar to many children with intellectual and physical disabilities, Auggie is very isolated in public places without the

comfort of his close friends and family that know him on the inside.

“It’s an awesome group of people that, too often, get marginalized. They’re just like anybody else, they want to feel loved, they want to feel valued, as any other student would, as any human being would,” says Maes.

It’s difficult to blend in when you were meant to stand out, which is what Auggie realizes as he unites groups of people and teaches the lesson of acceptance, compassion, and selflessness. It’s totally unimportant what a person looks

like on the outside; every human being is valuable, and every human being is beautiful, extraordinary, and unique on the inside.

Wonder does an amazing job of conveying these messages, and is overall a great movie to see with family and friends. Be prepared to cry, laugh, and leave the theater with a lot on mind.

This emotional movie leaves you with a lot to think about, but generally will feel aware of your surroundings, more accepting, and overall very happy.

Photo courtesy of Cassandra Blau Wonder received fvery avorable reviews from Rotten and Tomatoes and other critics.

January 2018

Specials

14

Humans of Durango: a glimpse into the lives of local Durangotangs

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

Durango took no “Ls” on Noel Night

CHLOE RAGSDALE Reporter

Everyone in Durango has a story and each one is interesting and unique in their own way. These stories are what make us human beings, the things that create our personalities and our lives. “What was the happiest moment of your life?”, I questioned random people around Durango. Every answer was inspirational and showed the importance of remembering our more treasured moments.

“You really want to know that? I got born again. Do you know what that means? There’s a scripture in the bible that says if you want to go to heaven you must be born again. And at seventeen years old I found God. So that was the definite best part of my life, because everything’s gone up from that. I was going downhill until that happened.

My religion absolutely helped me in the army. Everyday, it helps me everyday.

As a matter of fact, I was looking around to see who I can buy lunch for.” - Morgan

“The happiest moment of my life?

Oh my god this is cheesy, even for me, but I think it was my wedding. I think it was my wedding day. Oh, it was the best party I’d ever thrown. It was like a really good excuse to throw a super expensive party with all of my favorite people and my best friend, who I got to marry. And we’re still married, so that’s good. And we still like each other. That’s what we were going for. It was in LA. We actually had our ten year wedding anniversary this year.”

Photo courtesy of Jonas Grushkin The local festivity, Noel Night, is an annual tradition to citizens of Durango. Individuals from all parts of the surrounding community support local spending by taking advantage of the discounted goods sold by companies based in Durango.

GWEN STODDARD Head Online Editor “You know, everyday. My life is awesome right now. My life is awesome. I can’t pick a moment right now. I’ve had three wonderful children, so if I picked one of them that would be awful. So yeah. My life is good. I can’t pick a day. I love every day.”

“When I retired. Because then I could just start pursuing things I wanted to do and not things I had to do and I could just relax. I was an elementary teacher and that was intense. I taught at Florida Mesa. It was just like oh! I could just relax, and drink coffee in the morning and read the news. And be able to knit.”

“Probably, when - Ruby whats the happiest moment of my life? Meeting Ruby, eleven years ago. So I was two. I don’t remember it, but it was the happiest moment of my life because I made a lifelong friend.” - Natasha Potemkin

“The day I married my wife. We’ve been married 34 years. We flew to Mancino, California, our families flew in for the wedding. We stayed there for about a week and everybody had a wonderful time.”

All photos taken by Chloe Ragsdale

“I’ve had so many, I can’t pick one.

I got three kids, so the three days they were born. Ones thirty seven, thirty four, and thirty two.”

“The adoption of my dog! Yeah, I suppose. I mean, nothing else big is like happy in my life. Yeah, the adoption of my dog, Decker. He’s a golden retriever mix, he’s a rescue. He’s six now.”

Every year around Christmas time local businesses in downtown Durango kick off the holiday season with Noel Night, an evening full of discounts and goodies. Shops are packed full of people shopping, but also full of people just enjoying the cheery spirit that Christmas brings out in everyone, from lives bands in the shops to theater performances on the street. What does Christmas mean to the people of Durango? Materialism or spending time with the people they love?

Or maybe a mix of both?

Jr. Autumn Ford is one of the many locals who embraced Noel night, but not in the way of materialism.

“I spent the night with my friend just walking around the bustling streets of Durango, we watched people stream in and out of local businesses, with hot chocolate being sold on nearly every corner, making the environment very friendly and cheery,” Ford says.

While Christmas has become a great time for showing love and appreciation for people through gift giving, it has also come to the degree where spending has put people into debt. Studies from the American Research group say that people are now dipping into their 401k in order to get that new Xbox or flat screen TV. Fr. Kaden Sellers has parents that own a store in downtown Durango called Kid’s Rock, they participated in this Noel Night as well and spent the night watching and making sure no one who values materialism enough would steal from his families’ store.

“We get so busy that I have to walk around and make sure nobody is steal-

ing anything, but we usually have a toy get stolen at least 2-3 times that night (Noel Night),” explained Sellers.

According to Forbes Magazine author Bryan Pearson, American spending on holiday shopping exceeds “1 trillion dollars during the course of the year”.

Gifting and decorating is included in this price, but there is also the expenses of all the delicious holiday food, whether it’s on Christmas day or the whole month before. Jessica Bright, the Food and Nutrition teacher at the DHS, spends a lot of time in the kitchen cooking fabulous food with and for her family during the holiday season.

“I love cooking with my mom, and I have memories of cooking with my grandparents, I still make recipes that I made as a child just to remember them, my grandpa loved peanut brittle and I love making the recipe from his childhood during the holidays!” exclaimed Bright.

Although, So. Jaimie Hitti and her family have thoughts on doing Christmas a little differently.

“We were thinking about taking a family trip together instead of getting a whole bunch of presents and being at home for the holidays,” said Hitti.

While most families in America participate to the full length of the gift-giving and buying, some families like Hitti’s, that take a more untraditional but just as exciting route to Christmas.

Studies show that instead of gifts, traveling has increasingly become a big part of the holiday budget, whether it’s a trip to see family, or a vacation with the family. The most popular destinations include; Cancun, Mexico, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Orlando, FL, and Denver, CO.

Demons Advocate: helpful advice fom your favorite demon CAROLINE KNIGHT Head Editor

It seems like I can’t catch any guys’ attention in high school, what am I doing wrong, what should I do?- Lonely Hearts Club

Probably everyone has felt like this at some point, and if you haven’t: a fat gold star for you. One thing I’ve learned about high schoolers is we are all super perceptive about people being fake. It’s like a sixth sense and there’s literally no hiding who you are from us so it’s in everyone’s best interest to just be themselves. I think confidence in who you are is key, and if you don’t have any of that: fake it ‘til ya make it. The only other advice I have is to be really hot, it’s working for me.

P.S. I think it’s worth noting that if you’ve been trying to catch a guy’s attention and he’s still not digging it, you might be trying to get attention from the wrong people. Good relationships of any kind should never be one sided.

I’m a straight A student who always works hard in all their classes, but this year I think I’m going to end up with a B in a class that’s been really hard for me. I’m pretending to be okay with it but I’m really not, it’s stressing me out a lot, what should I do?-basically Caroline Knight, her freshman year

Hi! I know what this is like! It’s really hard to be a perfect student all your life and then suddenly struggle at something that has always come naturally to you. If you’ve voiced your concerns to your friends, odds are good they rolled their eyes and called you a huge nerd. So am I, so here’s the speech Deb Medenwaldt (DHS counselor, local hero) gives me when I’m stressing out about school: Everyone wants straight As, most people don’t get them, and everyone turns out okay. I’m here to tell you you can still without a doubt get into college, and not just any college, but one you want to go to. Something you might find interesting is that admissions staff at colleges are sometimes hesitant to accept straight A students-they are the most likely to dropout of college because good grades have always been a given for them, so as soon as they figure out college is hard, they quit. See your B as a sign you have dealt with adversity in your classes but you persevered! Additional fact: the DHS counselors have gotten someone into Stanford (acceptance rate: 4.8%) with a C on their transcript. Breathe

Disclaimer: While this column does contain awesome and solid advice, it does not reflect the views of the entire El Diablo Staff nor of the DHS student body, just those of a teenager.

El Diablo

All questions answered are real submissions from DHS students. If you have a question for the Demon’s Advocate to answer, or would like to comment on the column above, please email ELDIABLODHS@GMAIL.COM.

Specials 15

ELDIABLONEWS.COM January 2018

2018 Horoscope

Demon of the Day:

Benjamin Danquah

Taurus

Aries

April 20 - May 20

May 21 - June 20

Aries, you are going to have a crazy year. You will find that people will enter your life again, and it’s for the better. Something wild in your social life is about to happen and it’s going to change everything for you. Remember to go with the flow and try not to stress out too much; 2018 is your year.

You may not be prepared for everything that is going to happen this year, but don’t worry, you can handle anything that’s thrown your way. Whether you want to be more private with your life or start to be an open book, it’s up to you, but just know you have people that will always be there for you.

Someone you love will surprise you in a good way this year. Things might not have gone your way in 2017, but don’t worry because it’s a new year now. Things are looking up and you should be proud of yourself because you’re doing amazing. Keep doing you because it will pay off in the long run.

Leo

Cancer

Maggie Maloney Durango High School security officer Benjamin Danquah

Gemini

March 21 - April 19

Virgo

June 21 - July 22

July 23 - August 22

August 23 - September 22

Your creativity will be the key to your success this coming year. Use it for problem solving and put your fun-loving personality to good use by encouraging others to be creative. You will be a great addition to every social interaction.

Take a break from your usual intensity and try to keep things from flowing over. Overthinking is the key to stress, so try to be social as much as you can.

You will soon see that you will be more balanced and well rounded in the end.

Try something new this year; experiencing new things will help you grow as a person and make 2018 the best year yet. New opportunities are awaiting for you, so don’t hold back your strengths or your courage. You are working on not dwelling in the past and it’s working out for you, keep going.

GEORGIA MYNATT Reporter Sometimes the most fascinating people with the most compelling stories may not be perceived as very interesting. The outward appearance of one may help tell their story, but there is always more under the surface. Benjamin Danquah, a security guard at DHS, usually referred to by students as Benjie, has a life full of stories waiting to be heard.

Benjie spent his childhood living in Ghana, West Africa. “My life was really peaceful compared to most African countries torn up by numerous and continuous wars and unrests,” Danquah says. He did not attend college; after high school he moved to Switzerland where he dedicated his time towards social justice work.

He traveled to many different countries and would take different post high school college students to practice humanitarian work. “I spent most of my adult life doing social justice work and thought it was really fun. It was sort of a substitute for college and I learned so much from it,” Danquah says.

In 2005 Danquah moved to the United States to get married and has been here ever since. He first lived in Durango for four years, and then moved to Los Angeles for four years. He then moved back to Durango and stayed for two years but left again. As of March, Benjie has moved back for the third and- DHS students hope- final time.

Danquah says that one of his favorite jobs was working at a coffee shop called Peet’s Coffee in San Francisco. “I absolutely loved it, it was awesome. People would come through everyday so I really enjoyed that,” Danquah says. He learned how to have a positive mindset and how meaningful being friendly is during his time spent there.

After living in Switzerland for two and a half years, Danquah decided it was time for a change. “When I read the job opening for a security guard here at DHS I thought, oh my gosh that’s totally me even though I had not the slightest bit of knowledge about security,” says Danquah. For him, he felt the job was more of being present and engaging with students, which he loves.

Taking the position as a security officer at the school was a risk for Danquah, but now he loves it. “Being friendly, welcoming and helping people feel comfortable are some things that I really enjoy,” the security officer says.

Benjie says some of his favorite things about being a security officer are showing up in the morning and greeting everyone and making students feel safe, comfortable, and not afraid to talk to him. “I love lifting people up and making them feel like they’re valuable and worth it. Because everyone is and needs to know that,” he states.

It was hard for Benjie to find something he didn’t like about his job but he finally did. “It would have to be when students are in trouble, I hate busting them,” he admits. It’s hard for Benjie because it’s essential to his job but he never likes seeing kids in trouble.

Benjie believes he has a great connection with the students at Durango High School. “I hope I have a positive impact on their lives, because they definitely have one on mine. They make me feel so welcomed and always make my day brighter. They’ve really shown and taught me so much,” Danquah says.

Being a security officer has opened Benjie’s eyes to many issues that students deal with. “I think everyone should really try to listen more and get to know the people around them better,” he says. He believes that sometimes people really need a person to reach out to. Students should be more aware of other people and what they are going through.

By outward appearance, Benjamin Danquah is just a high school security guard. But below the surface, he has many life lessons and experiences to share.

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

September 23 - October 22

October 23 - November 21

November 22 - December 21

Your grace and charm will help you succeed in the new year. New challenges will bring you closer to your friends and family. It may seem impossible now, but don’t shut people out and instead let them be apart of your struggles and successes.

Change is coming into your life and it will be a good thing. Be open minded to new ideas and challenges that you may be faced with. Take a breath and go on a hike in a beautiful mountain town. The views and exercise will free you from stressful times and bring you back to nature.

2018 is the time to rethink previous decisions that you may not be happy with.

Think of people who have wronged you in a way and let them go, you will be grateful and happier. New relationships will help you find who you are and guide you through this year. It may seem tough to get through, but you will come out in the end stronger than before.

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

December 22 - January 19

January 20 - February 18

February 19 - March 20

Your boldness and excitement will be a great asset to you this year. You’re ready to try new things and get rid of anything that makes you upset. You have a strong feeling this year is going to be the best yet!

You know how to make rules in your life, follow them and use them this coming year in order to work on things that are deeply private to you. The best rule is “live life to the fullest” and you just might find that your attitude about life will change in the future.

This year is going to be terrific for you.

Sit back and enjoy everything 2018 has to offer, because it’s going to be a fun one. Your ambition and effort towards things you love will be recognized and rewarded. It will be good for you to try new activities outside and take a nice walk or bike ride to clear your head. There’s no better place to fill your mind with tranquility and peace than in Durango.

Procrastination nation SAYLOR STOTTLEMYER Features Editor

While procrastination is often seen as a problem specific to highschool students, it is actually a universal issue. El Diablo editor Saylor Stottlemyer asked DHS students and teachers about their own experiences with procrastination.

So. Caleb McGrath: “For me, even though procrastinating creates extra stress, I feel that if I didn’t procrastinate I would constantly be doing school related activities and not have any freedom to be a kid and enjoy myself.”

Lilly Tichi.

All photos by Lydia Shertz

Fr. Lilly Tichi: “The last time I procrastinated was last night. I tried to solve a stupid puzzle (those stupid triangle super hard little games) instead of doing my AP Human Geography homework. I was trying to solve one of those and I was distracted for an hour or more.”

Emma Jaber

Caleb McGrath

Jr. Emma Jaber: “I tend to over organize and plan, but when it comes to actually doing the work, I tend to put it off. Instead of putting off little things, I will get too stressed out to even do anything, even if it’s not school.”

Ty Flom: “I am asked to write a lot of letters of recommendation in the fall and I procrastinate a lot when it comes to them because sometimes I don’t know exactly what I want to say or how to say it. I have to think about them for a long time before I can write them. I usually watch TV so I don’t have to do my work.”

Abigail Scott

Lori Johnson

Sr. Abigail Scott: “I procrastinate by putting off areas of my life that stress me out, like I left my college and scholarship supplemental writing pieces until right when they were due. It’s not that I wasn’t capable, it’s that I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Ty Flom

Lori Johnson: “The last time I procrastinated was during Thanksgiving break. I had 3 classes of tests to grade and I put [it off] because I wanted to get started with my holiday travel. I waited [to grade] until the Sunday before school restarted.”

Brett Wilson: “Sleeping is my best form of procrastination. When there is something I really don’t want to do or feel overwhelmed with, I take a nap, wake up feeling much better, and focus on getting it done.”

Robert Aspen Gregg Cornwall

Gregg Cornwall: “The last time I did it was yesterday when I should have been writing sub directions for my classes today during my plan period. Instead I went to Starbucks to get coffee.”

Brett Wilson

January 2018

Robert Aspen: “I often avoid tackling the tasks I need to complete by taking on other projects that keep me busy: washing the dishes, home improvement projects, cleaning up around the house, cooking meals, etc. By the time all the chores are done, I don’t have time to tackle the big jobs that need to be done to reach my goals.”

New Year, New Me

Photos courtesy of (from top left corner): Mira Joyner, Joey Mynatt, Luke Jernigan, Edde Lyons, Cassandra Blau, Gavin Syme, Teagan Garand, Lainey Voss, Stella Walsh, Ian Osby, Jenna Beckley.