The Heritage Talon: Best of 2015-2016 Edition

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

4 Teachers tackle modern slang terms | 8 The deďŹ nitive college essay guide | 12 The top stories of 2015-2016

2015 STAFF ADVISER Jessica Vest EDITORS William Clift Harry Cole WRITERS Sam Dean Haven Kirkpatrick Allie Morris Indigo Kroll Pricilla Perez Kallina Sims Meet the staff on page 23

CONTACT US

Rogers Heritage High School 1114 S. Fifth St. Rogers, AR 72756 479-631-3579

heritagetalon.org/contact-us/

2 Local News

by PRICILLA PEREZ October 21, 2015

S

ilent Witness is an awareness program involving NWA’s Benton County Women’s Shelter.

The Heritage High School PTO worked with NWA Benton County Women’s shelter to place silent witnesses (red cardboard figures) throughout the school, they can be found in the office and the cafeteria.

One figure tells the statistics of deaths due to domestic violence in Arkansas in 2014.

There were ten women and one child. The silhouette represents a male who was killed because of domestic violence the previous year.

The second figure talks about a victim, age 79 who, on August 3, 2014, was found

dead with gunshot wounds to the head inflicted by her husband. A result of domestic violence.

What is domestic violence? Domestic violence is, “any type of behavior that is abusive. Emotional, physical, financial, controlling, sexual, verbal or isolation.” Domestic violence is usually male/ female relationships, although it can happen to anyone in any type of relationship and any age. If you or anyone you know is being affected by domestic abuse, please call either of these 24 hour hotlines: 479-246-9999 and 800-775-9011.

The NWA Benton County Women’s shelter has been around since 1986.

The shelter was created around that time because no one talked about abuse or gave shelter to those who needed a place to stay. The shelter does not discriminate, any person of any color, sex, or background can confide in them. They offer services such as support groups to residents at their shelter, and to people who are not a resident. The Benton County Women’ Shelter also has a thrift store that yo can go and volunteer for or buy materials from.

If you want to volunteer or shop the address is: 1622 S. 8th St Rogers, AR. The store hours from Monday through Saturday are 10am to 6pm.

Donations are also accepted!

This also goes towards the shelter itself.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

4

Teachers deďŹ ne modern slang terms

6 Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer?

Are you ready for

GRADUATION? FRIDAY, MAY 20 at 5:00PM at the

Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville

8

Harry Cole helps you take on college essays

(1270 Leroy Pond Dr.)

NATALIE CIFUENTES won the speech contest and will speak at the ceremony.

SEE MORE at HERITAGETALON.ORG

GRADUATING SENIORS: SCHOLARSHIP CEREMONY Monday, May 16 @ 6:00PM in the commons

GRADUATION REHEARSAL Thursday, May 19 @ 1:30PM in the gym

16 Star Wars gets a long-needed international cast

GRADUATION REMINDERS Arrive no later than 4:00PM Follow provided dress code Boys: light shirt, dark tie Girls: dark dress/slacks No jeans, no tennis shoes

Contents 3

(Get) Turnt: to party. Lets get turnt this weekend.

Mr. Yates: “Turnt: something that tastes between sweet and tart.”

Miss Kitty: “Being broken up with.”

Yeet: term that is used to express excitement. Yeet!

Mr. Caldwell: “A combination of words like ‘Did you eat yet?’ is ‘didja eat yet?’. ‘Jeet yet? Yeet yet?’”

Mrs. Steen: “Okay, I have no idea.”

No chill: to not be chill/relaxed/cool; to be crazy.

Indigo has no chill when it comes to goats.

Mr. Sullivan: “Can’t relax. Not cool.”

Mr. Moss: “To overreact.”

Bae: your boyfriend/girlfriend.

I like when bae brings me pizza.

Miss Kitty: “It’s your best friend!”

Ms. Parker: “Obviously the person you like the most.”

Doe: shortened form of the word “though”. Where you at doe?

Mr. Moss: “D-O-H means money. D-O-E is like a comment given to a cute girl.”

Mrs. Steen: “A female.”

(On) Fleek: on point; perfect. Never leave your house before your eyebrows are on fleek.

Mr. Yates: “To dance nude.”

Ms. Parker: “Really, really good; in style, kind of; the right thing at the right time.”

Shade: to casually dis someone (to throw shade).

I throw shade to people who walk on the wrong side of the hallway.

Mr. Sullivan: “It means to say something mean about someone.”

Miss Kitty: “Dissing.”

Lit: a word to describe that something is fun, exciting, good, lively, or entertaining. That dance was lit.

Mr. Yates:“Does it mean loaded on booze? No? Then it’s hyped, excited, ready to go.”

Miss Kitty: “Drunk.”

Hecka: extremely; to have many of something; very. That was hecka fun.

Miss Kitty: “It’s used like ‘What the hecka?’.”

Mrs. Steen: “Yes.”

Roast: synonymous with the older slang term “to Meme: a piece of media that spreads popularly burn”; to actually call someone out. If you roast around the internet and is usually funny. This me, then I will feel inclined to fight you. pepe meme is the only way to describe how I felt Mr. Moss: “To embarrass someone.”

Mrs. Steen: “To give praise/adoration.” when I failed the test I actually studied for.

Mr. Sullivan: “A picture making fun of something.”

Mrs. Steen: “Captions or (what the character is Fam: Family (most likely not an actual member; a close friend). Thanks, fam. saying) for a picture or video.”

Mrs. Steen:“Family.”

Catfi shing: to use social media to pretend to be someone else with the intent to deceive others. Ship: to want a relationship to work between Miss Kitty: “Family.”

She catfished her boyfriend to see if he would cheat. two others. I know a girl who ships Drarry (Draco What’s good?: term used to get the attention Mr. Caldwell: “I’ve seen that movie. Is it like P-H Malfoy and Harry Potter). of someone you’re going to call out; originated fishing?”

Mr. Caldwell: “To put something in its place.”

Ms. Parker: “That’s when you pretend you’re Ms. Parker: “Um, yeah my fandom, The X-Files, from the VMA’s Nicki vs. Miley feud. Miley, what’s somebody else to flirt. Like with the whole Manti invented that. We invented that word. It’s to really good?

Te’o situation, right?” want two people to be together in a romantic way.” Mr. Moss:“To take an interest in someone’s personal life.”

Miss Kitty: “It’s asking the opposite: ‘What’s bad?’.”

Thirsty: to eagerly fi nd someone attractive; to be desperate. The dude who commented on your Instagram post is thirsty.

Mr. Moss: “To have a desire for knowledge.”

Ms. Parker: “Oh, that’s a little risqué; I don’t know if I can say that. It means you want something. We’ll go with that.”

4 Editorial

Macking: fl irting.

I think he was macking on us.

Hannah Robbins: “Kissing.”

Stephanie Fowler: “Eating.”

Bogarting: to steal.

Stop bogarting my twinkies!

Eimy Escobar: “I don’t know.”

Danny Ward: “Hoarding – keeping a bunch of trash.”

Let’s dip: let’s leave.

Let’s dip before the cops show up.

Thomas Castelo: “It’s a very sacred moment when someone unites chips with dip.”

Anthony Machuca: “Let’s bounce, let’s go.”

Cheddar: money.

That costs mad cheddar.

Nicole Fowler: “‘That’s the cheddar!’ I don’t know.”

Anthony Machuca: “Money.”

Blood: a really close friend.

I am blood with my best friend.

Hannah Robbins: “A liquid in your body.”

Bunk: crazy, messed up.

That movie was bunk.

Thomas Castelo: “‘Let’s get bunk with it.’ The same thing as ‘crunk’ but less mainstream.”

Danny Ward: “Your cot/bed to sleep on in the military.”

Scrub: someone who thinks they’re more than they are.

I don’t want no scrubs.

Nicole Fowler: “Um, a hobo.”

Andrew Stevens: “That’s what the doctors wear.”

Crunk: something that is cool or hip.

That hat is crunk.

Eimy Escobar: “It’s a funny word. It remind me of, like, *makes a flapping motion with elbow* that.”

Angel Lopez: “Crunk? Party Mode.”

Grindage: food.

Do you want to go get some grindage?

Hannah Robbins: “Well, that’s not the same thing we do at the Colors Day dance.”

Andrew Stevens: “What they do in dances.”

Baldwin: a very attractive male.

He’s a baldwin.

Eimy Escobar: “A win that’s bald.”

Andrew Stevens: “He’s a dead scientist.”

Phishing: tricking people into telling their personal information on the internet.

Phishing is the easiest form of hacking.

Thomas Castelo: “That’s on Google. Like stalling/fishing for time, but not actual fishing.”

Angel Lopez: “Fishing with your hands.”

Phat: something that is awesome.

Indigo thinks goats are phat.

“That’s a big butt!” -Nicole Fowler “A wanna-be rapper.” -Andrew Stevens

Editorial 5

by SAM DEAN March 4, 2016

I

f you are an active member of the Internet, then you have probably seen the “Ted Cruz is the zodiac killer” meme.

Why is this such a big deal? Why do people think he is the zodiac killer? And the most important question… Is he, in fact, the zodiac killer?

While evidence against this claim is compelling and nearly irrefutable, I am here to prove that Ted Cruz is actually the zodiac killer.

For those of you

6 Satire

who have never heard of ‘The Zodiac Killer’ before, he is a serial killer responsible for at least 5 deaths but possibly a whopping 37, according to the letters that he sent to the San Francisco Chronicle.

These murders took place in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s and the killer has remained unidentified ever since.

Until now, that is.

The claims that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer started via twitter in 2013 when @ RedPillAmerica tweeted “#CPAC Alert: Ted Cruz is speaking!! His speech is titled: ‘This Is

The Zodiac Speaking’” Obviously it’s a joke, right? Wrong. If enough people say it, then it has to be true. That’s the law.

So right about now you might be thinking “Well Sam, Ted Cruz was only born in 1970. There is no way he could be the Zodiac Killer!” Well, reader, you are wrong. Ted Cruz was allegedly born in Canada in 1970. But if President Obama’s birth certificate isn’t real, then who’s to say Ted Cruz’s is? Also, if he was smart enough to murder that many people without getting caught, then he was smart enough to fake a birth certificate

and take excellent care of himself, considering the fact that, if he is the zodiac killer, he would be at least 65-70 years old. But, dear reader, stranger things have happened.

While looking into this internet conspiracy, have you considered that maybe it overlaps another conspiracy regarding lizard people? There is another conspiracy that has become popular among Internet users that there are lizard people, or aliens, disguising themselves as humans by taking over human bodies and using those bodies to take over our world. They are

our favorite celebrities and politicians as well as our most notorious terrorists and serial killers. So what if Ted Cruz, the Zodiac Killer, is also a lizard person in disguise?

Watch out folks!

I am getting into some deeeeeeeep stuff here.

This is going to change our lives as we know it.

The FBI is going to wipe me out because I know!

I know that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer, and so do 38% of voters in Florida. So… Goodbye Floridians, goodbye me, and hello Zodiac for President 2016.

by WILLIAM CLIFT January 15, 2016

T

hink of everything you dragged in from your last trip to the supermarket. Picture the countless boxes, cans, and bags cluttering your pantry.

Chances are, you’ve bought a thing or two from Nestlé — and it doesn’t end at the half-eaten tube of cookie dough in your fridge or the water bottle in your backpack. Nestlé makes everything — Hot Pockets, DiGiorno pizza, Purina, Gerber, Lean Cuisine, Häagen-Dazs, Fancy Feast, frozen foods, candy. If you grew up in an average, working-class family, chances are Nestlé is a big part of your life.

It’s easy to associate Nestlé with ice cream and KitKats. Its history, however, does not lend itself well to the company’s family-friendly image. Nestlé, unfortunately, is evil.

In the 1970’s, Nestlé aggressively marketed its baby formula in developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The company encouraged mothers — particularly the poor and uneducated — to feed their babies formula rather than breastfeed. As Nestlé’s product required water, and the only

accessible water in many areas was polluted, infants in these countries were made even more prone to disease. A report by UNICEF found that babies fed Nestlé’s formula in these regions were at least six times as likely to die of intestinal complications than breastfed children. Even those who didn’t perish at the hands of polluted formula faced potential problems, as formula does not provide babies with the nutrients and antibodies that is present in breastmilk.

Nestlé’s marketing tactics artificially created a dependence on its products where there was none and practically poisoned infants in developing countries — and the company profited. This spawned boycotts in the United States and laws from world health organizations, but it is widely assumed that Nestlé’s shady dealings continue to this day. Another campaign against its baby formula was launched in southeast Asia in 2011.

But the baby formula scandal is only the tip of the Nestlé iceberg. Controversy surrounds many of the company’s other products.

Child slavery on cocoa plantations: The 2010

documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate, directed by Danish journalist Miki Mistrati, exposes child slavery at Nestlé’s cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast (a country in western Africa).

Mistrati found that these child slaves — who were trafficked from neighboring Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo — worked in hazardous conditions and were often beaten. This came nearly ten years after the chocolate industry pledged to end slavery in its supply line in the

during the state’s frequent and increasingly severe droughts.

The company reportedly draws some 80 million gallons of water per year from the city of Sacramento’s aquifers — paying the city just over a dollar per thousand gallons — and sells it at an enormous profit. It has also illegally drawn water from San Bernardino National Forest. Nestlé’s CEO stated (in a now-deleted YouTube video) that water is not a human right and should be privatized. In

$91.6 billion Nestle’s revenue in 2014 (about the GDP of Croatia)

Harkin-Engel Protocol. Nestlé executives declined to watch the film when Mistrati brought it to the company’s headquarters in Switzerland. The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected Nestlé’s request to throw out a child slavery lawsuit.

Stolen water: Nestlé’s water permit in California expired in 28 years ago, but the company has continued to pump and sell Californian water even

2000, the company lobbied the World Water Forum to list water access as a “need” rather than a “human right”.

Lead in noodles: India filed a $100 million lawsuit against Nestlé in 2015 after food safety regulators found lead — nearly 17 times what is considered to be safe — in its popular Maggi brand noodles.

India’s top consumer court ordered tests be performed on

each batch of noodles but did not levy the fine against Nestlé.

Melamine in milk: In 2008, Chinese milk products — many produced by Nestlé — were found to contain melamine, a substance that causes kidney failure in humans. The incident was tied to six infant deaths, 54,000 infant hospitalizations, and an estimated 300,000 total cases.

Nestlé is the world’s largest food company — its revenues exceed $90 billion.

Its practices, however, grow more malicious and destructive by the year. Nestlé’s water controversies, in particular, create a very real threat to Americans in the drought-stricken Southwest. A host of its other products have led to disease and death among the world’s poor and perpetuate abject poverty in developing countries.

An end to Nestlé’s wrongdoing begins with awareness. Spread word of Nestlé’s actions, and refuse to buy its products wherever you can.

Editorial 7

DO NOT FEAR COLLEGE ESSAY THE

A GUIDE FOR SENIORS BY HARRY COLE

F

October 15, 2015

or many seniors, the end is nigh.

They’ve taken and retaken the ACT. They’ve suffered through thousands of hours of school work over the past 12 years. High school is ending, and many have already found the college or trade school of their choice.

Now, for these post-secondary education bound seniors, the only thing left to do is write the college (or scholarship) essay.

They must write the next Great American Novel in 450 words or fewer. Every word must be perfect and their heart and passions and inner desires must bleed onto the essay.

They should write their essay about how they will change the world curing cancer, winning a Nobel Peace Prize, and becoming the first Guamanian President of the United States.

Or so I thought when I began the college essay process. This fall, I spent countless hours staring at an empty Word document, trying to write the perfect

8 Student Life

college application essay.

Unsurprisingly, I found myself not writing an essay at all.

Many people (myself included), approached the college essay process by trying to write something of massive scale. For example, every year, thousands of high school seniors write the famed mission trip essay.

In this essay, the student describes one experience in a third world country helping children and restoring buildings, and how this stuck an epiphany and made the student think about poverty and want to change the world.

Don’t get me wrong, mission trips are great opportunities to help others, and some people certainly have written great mission trip essays. Most people, however, fail with these essays because they try to make a grand, universal statement by way of epiphany. In these essays, students try to solve grand world problems such as hunger instead of focusing on something very unique to them.

So the best advice I can give is to write about

We’ve all been there. (photo courtesy of Nickelodeon) a something unique to you for your college essay. In AP Literature, my teacher, Ms. Daut, told the class that the best college essays don’t have to be about a mind blowing epiphany or a world-changing accomplishment. “The best essays,” she said, “can be about something small that shows a student’s unique passions.”

Ms. Daut’s advice inspired me. Instead of writing about how I would change the world, I wrote

my college essay about reading a poem in front of the school for the Veteran’s Day assembly. No, my poem didn’t change the world, but it showed my interest in writing and respect toward’s those who served our country.

Your college essay does not have to change the world. After all, if you have already cured cancer or won the Nobel peace prize, you might not need to go to college at all.

Do not fear the

college essay.

Unlike grades and test scores, essays give students the opportunity to show admissions officers and scholarship coordinators something they truly care about, whether it be football or chess.

So find a comfortable place, block out all surroundings, and write what you know, not what you want others to think of you.

Continuted on page 9

GREAT COLLEGE ESSAY EXAMPLES

E

ven if you do have a great idea for a college essay, putting ideas to paper is a lot harder than it sounds. When going through writer’s block, it may be best to read examples of others’ work to help the inspiration strike.

In the following article, I have - with permission - attached anonymous excerpts from a few local college essays with an analysis of why these essays work (inspired by John Hopkins’s ‘Essays That Worked’). ***

I don’t remember much about the events leading up to the accident; I think I must have been checking a text message or reading some fluff article on Cracked. I seem to remember my brother or my father yelling something and then my brother pounding on the horn. What came next, I remember vividly.

I looked to my brother in the driver’s side, and he looked back to me –a moment before the semi-truck slammed into his side of my Honda Civic and the glass from the driver’s window showered his face. I remember what happened afterwards too.

The car was totaled, but everyone (me, my brother and father) were all completely unharmed.

I remember looking through the car and finding under a coating of glass a half eaten bag of pork rinds, completely undisturbed by the wreck. I remember finding that very funny. Most of all though, I remember feeling numb. I really didn’t feel anything at all, like my body had become overwhelmed by the flow of emotions it was being asked to process so it erected a dam to hold them all back. It was an hour later, while I was sitting in the stall of a gas station bathroom in Oklahoma a couple hundred miles from home that the damn finally broke. I

drowned. I remember crying in a way that I haven’t since I was a child. I remember feeling very annoyed that the people outside my stall in the more traditional style would be so rude as to interrupt my meltdown with their bodily functions. I sat there crying for what felt like an hour, not necessarily because the idea of death scared me, but because I was very scared of who I had become. If I had died that day, then I would have never been anything but the sum of my actions up to that point. I would have been a person that had never lived for anyone but himself. I would have been a man that had never really worked for anything in his life. I would have been nothing but wasted potential. I remember feeling very ashamed. ***

This essay shows you don’t have to steer clear from vulnerability and weakness.

The writer of this essay turns a near death experience into an opportunity for self-reflection.

While showing personal flaws in this excerpt of the essay, the writer continues the essay by detailing how the car crash challenged him/her to live life differently and care more about helping others in the community.

Sitting atop the hot, sticky inflatable obstacle course as I had for the past three hours, I was exhausted.

“Climb the rope please.”

“I need help!” a young child whined, having rejected my assistance a few attempts earlier, his ego slowly eroded by the realism of his ineptitude.

By this point, fatigue had worn my patience thin. The kids kept coming, their pudgy, sugar-coated faces giddy with excitement as they swarmed the

play area adjacent to the wall I was perched on. The more children I pulled or pushed over the wall, the more they seemed to resemble neutron stars – unimaginably dense despite their seemingly unimpressive statures.

In a flash of skin, a shirtless young boy slipped through the dividing wall between two sections of the inflatable, ascending the rope ladder with surprising agility. I instantly recognized his face – it was Jacob, the seven-year-old brother of one of my wrestling teammates. He paused for a moment acrest the slide, delaying his glorious descent in order to speak to me.

“Why can’t you go down?” he asked, squinting at nothing in particular, as was his custom.

“Because I’m working,” I replied, too exasperated to care that I began a simple sentence with a conjunction.

“So? That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun!” he stated nonchalantly as he dove for the exit, bouncing carelessly on a cushion of vinyl and air.

As the evening dragged on, the neutron star-children took less and less of my focus as I stared at the flashing yellow traffic light across from my perch contemplating the young sage’s words. The standard existential questions floating through my mind, I finally made a connection, as though the cloud of thoughts in electron form finally condensed into a single bolt of lightning, unifying them with intense energy. Service is not mutually exclusive from enjoyment. ***

This essay shines with great tone and creativity. The author cleverly incorporates an interest in science while

holding the reader’s attention.

The neutron star comparison is especially creative. ***

One summer day, I unintentionally tested whether gravity still worked. Shockingly, it was fully functional as I fell butt-first from a bridge in China.

The bridge was narrow with only enough room for two averagesized pigs to pass through, and there were no safety railings on either side of it. My bike tires got tangled with the wires, and I plunged unharmed into the murky creek below.

For the next few days I had a mild case of gephyrophobia (I researched the scientific name for my fear of bridges). I refused

(basic circuits, 8085 assembly code and C programming) from an electrical engineer. I am also teaching myself Javascript and Python. Although plummeting off a bridge isn’t ideal, I turned a bad experience into an interest. When I return to my grandparents’ farm, I will have a degree under my belt, a hammer in my hand, and a new bridge design in my mind. ***

This essay does an exceptional job of turning a bad experience into motivation. The author demonstrates intellectual vitality and genuine curiosity about the world. This essay also does a great job of showing instead of telling. The author

“Don’t wait for inspiration. Make writing these essays like a job or a sport.”

- Will Johnson to cross the menacing bridge or even venture near it. I remember spending hours researching bridges. This kindled my interest in engineering. The fall made me contemplate about how engineers help keep people unharmed, and it motivated me to learn all I could to become one. What started as a Google search for “how to not fall off bridges” eventually blossomed into an intense interest in math, science, and engineering, which involved watching a myriad of Khan Academy videos on math and physics. I’m currently pursuing these interests by learning more about engineering

turned this essay into a narrative rather than simply talking about his/her interest in engineering.

At the beginning of the year, I asked my friend Will Johnson, a recent alumni of Heritage, advice about writing college essays. To my surprise, he told me, “Don’t wait for inspiration. Make writing these essays like a job or a sport.” The advice helped me tremendously.

Essays may be a ton of work, but they also have the potential to be rewarding, sentimental, and fun.

Student Life 9

THE COST OF

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

M

by HAVEN KIRKPATRICK November 20, 2015

y racquet swings through the air, making contact with the fluorescent green ball, and it glides back over the net, onto my opponent’s side. I’m in a match against Rogers High School, our rival, and I need to win. She hits it back over to my side, barely making it over the net. I sprint to it and as I attempt to make contact again, I accidentally scrape my racquet against the ground, breaking it. In the moment, it isn’t a big deal; I have a “spare” racquet that I can use to finish my match.

The real problem arises when I’m in a local sports store the following day, deciding which racquet I want to give up $100 or more to.

I don’t need to spend that much, but the odds of a $30 racquet breaking or its strings snapping are a lot higher than a nice, expensive one. When you ask an athlete, they can tell you how much of a difference the kind of equipment you use makes. Still standing in the store staring at brands and types of everything, I wonder about if

10 Student Life

my family lived on a very lowincome budget. How would I pay for recreational sporting equipment, that will possibly break? I’m fortunate to have a family that supports me and will pay for things like this. If I didn’t, would I treat my things differently?

I asked Heritage students from various sports about the costs of being in that sport and their thoughts about it.

Allie Ibarra, who is on varsity competition dance and varsity sideline dance, has to pay upwards of $1,000 every year.

Her costs (not all listed): Pom poms: $20 Jazz shoes: $40 Costume rentals: $100 Camps: $200 per camp (She has to pay for two camps since she’s on two teams) Fundraisers make the cost easier to manage, but do not cover them entirely. She earned $300 through fundraisers, but, one month into dance, she was out $300. “I love dance, but I wish it didn’t cost so much,” Ibarra said.

Baleigh Birdcreek, who plays on the Girls’ Softball team, spends the most money buying just her bat.

Her expenses: Bat: $300+ Cleats: $75+ Socks: $10 Softball pants: $30 Sophomore quarterback Trey Kitterman said that a lot of his equipment was optional, but he felt like owning the materials would help him be a better player.

Football girdle: $60 Evo shield rib pad: $60 Workout clothes: $35 Cleats: $120 Optional equipment: $188 Gas to practices: $100 Kitterman also had an additional expense this year: surgery on his knee that cost around $20,000.

Basketball player Amonta Jones says that shoes are his greatest expense.

They can cost him anywhere between $100 to $250.

Other expenses include: Socks: $20 Undershirt: $20

These four Heritage students are fortunate that they can afford to pay these prices; however, many students struggle to cover the costs of their favorite activity, so they either quit or fall into debt before they graduate.

The SAT:

THE TEST FOR YOU?

College-bound students should consider the unheralded ACT alternative

I

by ALLIE MORRIS December 1, 2015

f you’re anything like me, the ACT is not only an abbreviation for a national standardized test but a combination of letters that stir up feelings of insecurity, ineptitude, and most often anger. You’ve exhausted every study book, practice test, and prep class in existence. You’re tired. Tired of that dreaded question.

And, you’ve certainly had enough of that incessant phrase: “Well...you can take it again...”.

Whether or not your teachers, parents or friends acknowledge it, the ACT is not the only test out there.

The SAT, although often cast aside, is a considerable alternative. And, if you identify with any of the above statements, it might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Contrary to popular belief, your test-taking abilities play a larger role in determining your test scores than the information you study in school. Multiple studies have shown that test-optional college students that provided test scores upon application exhibited nearly identical academic success when compared to those who did not submit their test scores. However, there are only about 700 colleges in the United States who are test-optional, so refusing to take at least one of these tests will affect your collegiate options considerably.

The SAT is not for everyone, but the ways in which it differs from the ACT have provided many students with significantly higher test scores. And, if you have to take a test, you might as well take the one that makes it easier for you to succeed.

For starters, the structure of the SAT is much different than that of the ACT. It’s broken down into ten relatively small sections that jump back and forth from subject to subject. Although, initially, that may seem daunting, I personally found it extremely helpful. Instead of being faced with a giant section of 60 math questions, I was able to focus on the 18-20 questions in front of me, without being intimidated. It also alleviated some stress in that I felt like I had more time to complete each question -- a huge plus for someone who has struggled with math their entire life.

The SAT also has different testing content, while still assessing the same learning abilities and aptitudes assessed in the ACT. The SAT includes multiple sections of Math, Critical Reading, and English. What’s that? No science section?! Yes, science-phobes, the SAT does not have any science testing content -- excluding SAT subject tests. Your prayers have been answered. Although the ACT does not require students to have an intense science

background, test-takers tend to struggle in that section of the test, more often than not. And if you’re anything like me, that single fact could be a determining factor in which test you take.

As if the lack of a science section wasn’t convincing enough, the SAT math section exhibits much less advanced math concepts than those on the ACT. If you’re a mathematical wizard, this may mean nothing to you, but for the rest of humanity, this is testtaking salvation. Now, don’t get me wrong. You’re still expected to understand basic algebra and arithmetic, but after taking the SAT, I felt considerably more confident in my mathematical abilities -- a feeling I’m not too familiar with.

However, the SAT isn’t just an easier version of the ACT. There are some catches. The SAT puts a large emphasis on vocabulary, and their questions are posed in an attempt to confuse the reader. Often times, test-takers are not sure what’s being asked of them and therefore, tend to miss easy questions. So if you have relatively low ACT Reading and English scores, the SAT is most likely not the test for you. On the other hand, if you find that your Reading and English scores are tied down by lower scores in Science and Math, the SAT is definitely worth taking.

A large portion of the opposition towards taking the SAT is due to misconceptions. Much of the time, students think that the SAT takes twice as long as the ACT to complete. Wrong. A general Critical Reading + Math exam lasts at most only an hour longer than the ACT, including three breaks. Another common misconception is that colleges will only accept ACT scores. Again, wrong.

According to The Princeton Review, almost all United States colleges accept SAT scores, and the majority of those who do not accept them are test-optional colleges.

As a four-time ACT veteran, I was initially opposed to taking yet another test when my scholarship coordinator suggested the SAT. But after an unexpected but quite liberating Saturday morning, I felt incredibly grateful for her advice. And honestly, how often does someone get excited about standardized testing? When I left Fayetteville High School that afternoon, I was filled with a weird mix of regret and evangelical zeal. If I had known about the SAT prior to these four attempts, I could have saved substantial amounts of money, time, and sanity in my testing quest -- and yes, I am a little bitter.

But, as a test-taker with a new awareness, it’s only fitting to prevent students from experiencing this same regret.

The SAT... ...is accepted by virtually all universities.

Most that don’t are test-optional schools.

...is divided into many small, 20-question sections.

This may make time management easier than in the ACT’s four large sections.

...has no science section.

Only math, reading, and English.

...typically doesn’t take much longer than the ACT. About an hour longer, including three breaks.

...has no penalty for guessing.

The test was revamped in March and no longer docks a quarter-point for incorrect answers.

Student Life 11

A CHANGIN’

January: President Obama issues a state of emergency in Flint,

THE FLINT WATER CRISIS

November: Terrorists Terrorists attack a developmental disabilites facility in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 and injuring 22. A security debate emerges after Apple refuses the FBI’s request to unlock the phone of one of the shooting’s perpetrators.

DEVASTATION IN SAN BERNARDINO

November: Terrorist Terrorist attacks in central Paris, France kill over 130 people and injure hundreds more, leaving families devastated and sparking a worldwide debate on refugees from the middle east. Read more on page 19

PARIS MOURNS

More than 50 years after President Eisenhower severed relations with Cuba, the U.S. reopens its embassy in Havana and “fully restores diplomatic relations” in July. In March, President Obama visits the island, becoming the first president to do so in 80 years.

AN EMBASSY IN HAVANA

The syrian REFUGEE CRISIS

Refugees from war-torn Syria pour into Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Germany, and countries around the globe. Japan and Israel refuse to accept Syrian migrants; state governors and presidential candidates continue to debate the issue in the United States.

October: Hurricane Patricia, the largest hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere, makes landfall in western Mexico, reaching 215-mph winds and leaving over 250,000 Mexicans wwithout electricity.

HURRICANE STRIKES MEXICO

July: NASA space probe New Horizons, launched in 2006, approaches Pluto and sends back the most detailed images ever taken of the famed dwarf planet.

Pluto’s most prominent feature? A heart.

FROM PLUTO, WITH LOVE

THE TOP NEWS STORIES OF 2015-2016

THE TIMES they are

April: Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announces that famed abolitionist and American icon Harriet Tubman will replace President Andrew Jackson on the face of the 20-dollar bill, and women and civil rights leaders will appear on the five and tendollar notes -- a long-awaited victory for women.

TUBMAN ON THE TWENTY

April: The Panama Papers, a set of over 11 million financial documents detailing the offshore accounts of some of the world’s most rich and powerful people, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, are leaked.

THE PANAMA PAPERS

March: American astronaut Scott Kelly returns to Earth after a record 340 days in space. He comes home two inches taller than before due to the effects of microgravity on the spine.

KELLY COMES HOME

Left to right: baseball player Yogi Berra, director Wes Craven, singer Natalie Cole, author Harper Lee, former First Lady Nancy Regan, musicians David Bowie and Prince, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, musician Maurice White, and actor Alan Rickman

THOSE WE LOST

January: The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika Virus in Central America, and countries across the region issue guidelines for pregnant women and travel.

ZIKA VIRUS OUTBREAK

Brash businessman Donald Trump emerges as the Republican frontrunner over radical Ted Cruz and early favorite Marco Rubio, dividing the party. Senator Bernie Sanders arises to challenge heavily-favored Democrat Hillary Clinton.

TRUMP, SANDERS INVADE ELECTION

Michigan, as residents are exposed to lead contamination in the city’s drinking water. Americans call for the resignation of Governor Rick Snyder, whose negligence in the crisis led to the contamination.

14 News

F

by SAM DEAN September 9, 2015

or some of us, cultural appropriation is a common topic. Whether it be on Tumblr, Youtube or Twitter, there has been a lot of talk about it, and a lot of accusations are thrown around. So – what’s the big deal with cultural appropriation? Fear not, my fellow classmates, because I’ve got you covered.

Culture itself is defined as the practices, beliefs, ideas, values, traditions, rituals, language, speech, modes of communication, material objects, and performances that are central to the social life of any given group of people. Culture is important because it influences every part of our lives from our perceptions and behavior to even our personalities.

When a dominant culture, such as westerners, moves into an area occupied by an oppressed or marginalized culture, like Native Americans, and takes over, forcing the marginalized culture to either adjust to their traditions and their culture or die, it is referred to as cultural assimilation. An example of this is Native American children who were forced into boarding schools by Christian Missionaries where they had to give up their traditional values and language in order to assimilate into a dominant white society.

Cultural appropriation is when someone takes something from a culture they don’t belong to and and uses it outside of that cultural context, usually without understanding its cultural significance and often changing its original meaning.

A great example of this is the swastika. We are all familiar with the swastika because of its use by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The swastika originally came from Hinduism and Buddhism where it was used as a sacred symbol that represented prosperity, good luck and liberation. However, in the 1920’s, the symbol was adopted and appropriated by the Nazi party and came to stand for the opposite of what it had originally stood for. So the swastika, which originally held religious and cultural significance in Hinduism and Buddhism, was taken by an outside group, The Nazi Party, and it lost its original meaning and became inaccessible to the culture from whence it came.

A modern-day example of cultural appropriation would be Katy Perry performing in a slightly modified kimono and geisha makeup or a bindi, which is taken out of the cultural context of the Asian countries that they originated in and misrepresented completely to the public eye.

The most important thing to remember when discussing cultural appropriation is its context. Cultural appropriation isn’t about the appropriator. It’s not about saying that you, by yourself, are a bad person for appropriating another culture. It is about the culture’s misrepresentation in the media and it is a matter of eliminating, rather than perpetrating, oppression that dates back centuries.

Another modern day example of cultural

appropriation is the NFL team the Washington ‘Redskins’. There has been a lot of talk about changing the name due to its history. Earlier in America’s history, when colonial and state governments or even companies paid white people to kill Native Americans, the term ‘Redskin’ was used in reference to the scalps and genitalia that were removed from the bodies of Native Americans and used as proof of their “Indian kill”. Up to 90% of the Native American population was killed by European colonists; this is now referred to as a genocide.

Cultural appropriation is a problem across all cultures. Whether it be Native American, African American, Asian, Latino, Indian or any other culture you can possibly think of, it’s safe to say it has fallen victim to cultural appropriation. In the United States, the appropriation of Native Americans is common in sports due to the Native American-influenced mascots like the ‘Redskins’, ‘Chiefs’, ‘Braves’, and ‘Indians’. And it’s not just the mascot that appropriates indigenous culture. At Braves games – and even here at Heritage – support is shown for the team by doing “the tomahawk chop”, which is intended to imitate a Native American weapon.

This is considered an act of appropriation because it sensationalizes an entire group of people down to one stereotype or characteristic.

The bottom line is that a culture is not a costume.

Dressing up as a stereotypical portrayal of any race/ group of people can be considered offensive. Native American headdresses, bindis, kimonos, stereotypically African American hairstyles, or even a poncho-andsombrero combination can be considered appropriation even if the intention was just good fun. These styles of dress are unique to the cultures that they come from and most have a very deep religious, spiritual, and cultural meaning behind them that is completely being ignored when they are used simply as a costume.

A recent example of appropriation of African American culture is reality television personality Kylie Jenner’s ‘edgy’ and ‘epic’ dreads and cornrows. Most may think that this is not a big deal because it is just a hairstyle. But dreads, cornrows, and afros are some of the most natural and healthy ways for black men and women to style their hair. Due to negative stereotypes and whitewashing in the media and workplace, black people have been forced to wear their hair in a more ‘white’ way, and some have even faced unemployment due to negative associations with dreadlocks or cornrows. But when Kylie Jenner or Miley Cyrus wears them, it’s trendy.

An example of the appropriation of a Latino culture would be the sale of “authentic” latino dolls by retail stores. In these stores the dolls sell for twenty dollars or more, while in Guatemala a handmade one can be bought for two dollars. When retail stores sell these dolls that were made in factories by machines and assembly lines for high prices, the only people who benefit are the store owners. The cultures that inspired theses dolls aren’t getting a dime in return and are instead living in

poverty while retail stores thrive off Latino culture.

And just like retail stores thriving off Latino culture, white musicians thrive off of rap, hip-hop and R&B while the creators of those music styles are overlooked. Artists like Iggy Azalea, Miley Cyrus, and Eminem top the charts while the artists that inspired them are overlooked. An artist can take inspiration from a type of music and even recreate it and it not be appropriation, but when the media only notices the white Rapper or R&B singer and not the person of color it becomes a problem of appropriation.

Cultural appropriation spreads lies about marginalized cultures and perpetuates racist stereotypes.

The appropriation of Native American culture lead to a very incorrect portrayal of Pocahontas with the Disney film and then proceeded to support the stereotype that all Native Americans were savages, which isn’t true.

The original story of Pocahontas is much less elegant and child friendly than the Disney film. The actual Pocahontas was a girl named Motoaka who was only a teenager when she was abducted by colonizers and forced to marry an Englishman and support racist propaganda till she died at age 21.

Keeping all this in mind, it is important to remember that a culture can be appreciated without being appropriated. We have the right to take influence from other cultures and appreciate them. But we also have a moral obligation to honor them and not disrespect or continue to oppress them, especially because of all the work that they they have put into becoming equal in society. We can be part of cultural exchange, which is where cultures willingly exchange pieces of their culture with each other. An example of this is a biracial wedding where the bride or groom invites the other to participate in a traditional ceremony from their culture.

How can we avoid cultural appropriation when we are trying to appreciate another culture?

When appreciating an aspect of another culture, cite your influences. We shouldn’t wear clothing specific to a culture if we don’t know its significance. If someone doesn’t know anything about the significance of headdresses in Native American culture, or bindis in Indian culture, then they should probably leave them at home.

An authentic cultural exchange shouldn’t feel like thievery or plagiarism – it should be affirming. Both parties should be comfortable, one side shouldn’t feel like anything has been stolen from them or disrespected.

In America we have freedom of speech, but we should be using this freedom to make sure that we are all viewed equally and that no group of people is being treated unfairly because of their cultural background, or being forced to adopt another culture in order to be treated with respect.

Editorial 15

above (left to right): Guatemalan Oscar Isaac, Mexican-Kenyan Lupita Nyong’o, and Britons John Boyega and Daisy Ridley

by ALLIE MORRIS January 15, 2016

A

s a result of its record-breaking ticket sales and dethroning of 2012’s Avatar for the title of Highest Grossing U.S. Film in its first month, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has become a national phenomenon.

With household names like Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Anthony Daniels (C3P0) and even Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), fans of the 1977 film A New Hope couldn’t be more ecstatic about the series’ latest resurgence — 30 years in the making. Taking note of his responsibility to an ‘up and coming’ fanbase, director J.J. Abrams delivered with unparalleled devotion through visual effects, a captivating script and heartwarming nods to the original films.

Besides shattering practically every box office record ever set, The Force Awakens reached new cinematic territory in more ways than one.

While the Star Wars franchise as a whole is extremely unique, the cast of the films have always been undeniably male/whitewashed. The casting of the latest installment not only defies this stereotype within the series, but has served as the first significant answer to the cries for minority representation in the media. image

None of the film’s three leading actors were born in the United States. Both Boyega and Ridley were born in the United Kingdom, and Isaac was born in Guatemala — all novelties for this largely American franchise. Not only are they the main focus of the film, but their roles completely refute the

16 Entertainment

perpetuating stereotypes that often come with their race/gender/heritage.

Daisy spoke to People Magazine about playing the star of the film, Rey, and her place in the Star Wars universe:

“The story of Rey is woven so richly,” says Ridley, “She’s brave and she’s vulnerable and she’s so nuanced… she doesn’t have to be one thing to embody a woman in film… she’s just important.”

Besides empowering the female fans of Star Wars, both John Boyega and Oscar Isaac have brought the long-awaited topic of ethnicity to the conversation. Boyega has especially fired back against rumors of a movie boycott upon seeing a black stormtrooper in the first Force Awakens teaser:

“I wasn’t raised to fear people with a difference in opinion. They are merely victims of a disease in their mind,” Boyega told the New York Times, “There are aliens with tentacles and five eyes in this universe, and what [they] want to do is fixate on another human being’s skin color.”

Unlike his co-stars, Oscar Isaac is wellacquainted with the film industry. With critically acclaimed movies such as Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis and A Most Violent Year under his belt, Isaac understands the weight of bold casting moves — not to mention his Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series he received this Sunday night. And, being the oldest of the new bunch, his role as Poe Dameron meant a great deal to him as a Guatemalan-born actor.

“One of Guatemala’s biggest claims to fame is that [we] are featured in the end of ‘A New Hope’… the medal ceremony was filmed in Tikal, Guatemala,” says Isaac to Tech Insider,”So I said,

‘How cool would it be if that’s where Poe was from?!’ …that’s an incredible idea.”

Daisy, John and Oscar aren’t the only newcomers to the series that have spurred media excitement in both women and minority groups.

Abrams also welcomed Lupita Nyong’o to the team. image

Lupita Nyong’o undergoing facial animation for her character [Maz Kanata].

Known mostly for her Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in 2014 for 12 Years A Slave, Nyong’o was more than happy to play Maz Kanata in Star Wars: Episode VII. Although Lupita plays a critical role in the film, the only recognizable trait between her and her character is her voice. Nonetheless, Nyong’o still recognizes the strides she’s made for herself in this industry — as does director J.J. Abrams:

“Her performance wasn’t satisfactory. It was spectacular,” Abrams told Daily Mail, “She has brought the character of Maz Kanata to life in the most wonderful, wise, touching, deep and funny way.”

Unlike all of its preceding films, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has brought longanticipated minority representation to arguably one of the most notable franchises in the history of cinema. Not only does this impact fans who fell in love in 1977 but those who have only just begun to discover the series. Although no one can accurately describe the snowball effect that Star Wars has in the media, one thing is for sure: in the words of Supreme Leader Snoke, there’s been an awakening… have you felt it?

by INDIGO KROLL

September 4, 2015 e describes it as “the UK’s most disappointing new visitor attraction”, but that hasn’t deterred the 4000+ crowds of visitors from lining up outside of his biggest – and probably most terrifying – art project – Dismaland.

Banksy’s new “theme park” was revealed and opened to the public earlier in August in Weston-super-Mare. Ticket sales rocketed, almost as soon as the website launched. People eager to see his pop-up exhibition are willing to wait for more than four hours just to get to the ticket booth. The huge volume of demand even caused the official Dismaland website to crash, twice. It’s safe to say that the “Bemusement Park” is doing pretty well.

Work on the exhibit began in secrecy.

The area that the park sits on was an unused lido, so seeing construction start on the previously untouched and run-down land raised suspicion quickly. Signs posted locally said that there was filming for a movie happening on the property; the huge sculptures and rundown castle popping up weren’t as discreet, though. It was Mike Ross’ sculpture of two tanks stacked on top of each other, Big Rig Jig, that sent speculations on another Banksy project

H

into motion.

The park’s advertisement says:

Are you looking for an alternative to the soulless sugar-coated banality of the average family day out? Or just somewhere cheaper.

Then this is the place for you—a chaotic new world where you can escape from mindless escapism. Instead of a burger stall, we have a museum. In place of a gift shop we have a library, well, we have a gift shop as well.

Bring the whole family to come and enjoy the latest addition to our chronic leisure surplus—a bemusement park. A theme park whose big theme is: theme parks should have bigger themes…

This event contains adult themes, distressing imagery, extended use of strobe lighting, smoke effects and swearing. The following items are strictly prohibited: knives, spraycans, illegal drugs, and lawyers from the Walt Disney corporation.

In addition to the artwork made by 58 artists from around the world, Dismaland offers a purposefully miserable experience right from the beginning. Entry to the park begins with an uncomfortable mock pat-down by security,

and staff in bright pink vests with DISMAL on the back wander around the park with bored expressions, offering very little help. From there, visitors are free to go where they please.

Dismaland has something for the whole family, including a disturbing but functional carousel, an on-site artist creating caricatures of the back of people’s heads, a working Ferris wheel, and interactive miniature boats full of sculpted migrants. A run-down castle hosts a twisted scene of Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage in a crash, made by Banksy himself. Staff walk around holding balloons saying ‘I am an imbecile’. One of the more popular sculptures at the park depicts an orca whale leaping out of a toilet and through a hula hoop. An abandoned police van sitting in a pond has had a playground slide attached to it, a Star Wars stormtrooper walks around the show, and there’s even a play ground for the kids.

After a fun day filled with dry humor and artwork at the Bemusement Park, guests leave through the gift shop, hopefully satisfied with their day at the world’s most unsettling amusement park.

Entertainment 17

W

hen I think of Elon Musk, I think real life Iron Man. To those unfamiliar with Musk, he is a billionaire businessman who helped found many companies such as the electric car company Tesla, Space X for rockets and space technology advancement, Solar City for solar energy, and Paypal for online business transactions.

That is, of course, only Elon Musk on paper.

Why should high school students, even those who aren’t interested in pursuing science, technology, or business careers, look to Elon Musk for life advice? How can the life and ambitions of one of the most privileged men in the world compare to our own at Heritage High School? Lo and behold a list of life lessons from Elon Musk brought to you by your very own Heritage Talon.

LOVE WHAT YOU DO (WORK YOUR BUTT OFF)

“Constantly think about how you could be doing things better and keep questioning yourself.”

Before Elon Musk was a billionaire, he was a young man who dropped out of graduate school to start an Internet company in the 90s, a time when people weren’t sure whether Internet companies could even create large revenue. Elon Musk worked all day and night to start the company Zip2, taking showers at a local YMCA to save money and programming well into the night to work toward his goals.

18 Editorial

DO WHAT YOU DO FOR OTHERS

After Elon Musk started PayPal, the popular company for internet business transactions, he faced the prospects of retiring at an early age with millions of dollars of wealth or risking losing all his money to pursue other business ventures. Not only did Musk choose the latter, he delved in to sectors considered idealistic likely to fail such as solar energy and environmentally friendly, electric powered cars. For Musk, the ultimate goal is not accumulating wealth, but helping to make the world a better place.

EMBRACE FAILURE

“If things are not failing, you’re not innovating enough.”

In 2002, Elon Musk launched Space X, hoping to lead the efforts of the private sector in space travel. Many people believed, and even invested in the company’s failure, and for six years, they were right. During the mid-2000s, Elon Musk saw both his companies and personal life (marriage) fall apart. In 2008, though, after three failed space missions, millions of dollars in debt, and 70-80+ hour work weeks, Space X completed its first successful launch. After the launch, Musk went from being a public, epic failure to a successful, profitable businessman.

DON’T LET THE ODDS GET IN THE WAY

“If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.”

For each of Musk’s companies, the entrepreneur knew the chances of success were slim to nothing. No successful car startup had occurred in the U.S. in the past fifty years and the Tesla brand supported a plan for an electric vehicle future only feasible through battery technology not yet invented.

Even Mitt Romney, during a presidential debate in 2012 publicly denounced Telsa and electric cars as “a failure.” Elon Musk’s message, which I believe translates to high school and life in general, may sound idealistic, but true change doesn’t happen through conformism. Elon Musk genuinely believes Space X will send people to Mars by 2025, and he has a history of proving the skeptics wrong. We all have a lot to learn from this kind of idealism.

L

by INDIGO KROLL November 18, 2015

ate in the night of November 15, the city of Paris fell victim to a set of vicious terrorist attacks in six sites across one of its most densely populated districts.

Targeted sites included the Stade de France, Bataclan Concert Hall, and many restaurants and bars. At least 128 people were killed and over 350 more were injured.

This attack follows recent tragedies in Baghdad and Beirut, and it is said to be the deadliest violence France has seen since World War II, as well as the deadliest attacks

in Europe since 2004.

The suicide bombing and hostage situation at the Bataclan was the deadliest of the attacks Friday night. 80 people were killed after gunmen stormed the 1500-seat concert hall where a Californian band was playing. Police officials described it as “carnage” and a “massacre”.

Pierre Janaszak, a radio presenter who was in the concert hall at the time of the attack, recalled that the attackers “didn’t stop firing. There was blood everywhere, corpses everywhere.”

Isobel Bowdery, also a survivor of the night’s tragedies, said, “It wasn’t just a terrorist attack, it was a massacre. Futures demolished, families heartbroken. In an instant.”

The next day, ISIS claimed responsibility for the actions of the eight terrorists, seven of whom died by suicide bombing. They claimed responsibility for the deaths of over 100, the injuries of over 300, and the suffering of many around the world. ISIS warned that “that the smell of death will never leave their noses.”

French President Francois Hollande

responded quickly to the attacks. French borders were closed, and the country declared a state of emergency.

Popular tourist destinations across the city were closed indefinitely.

President Hollande called the attacks “an act of war” and condemned ISIS for going “against the values that we defend everywhere in the world”. He promised that France would be “merciless” in its revenge, and, shortly after, French jets dropped 20 bombs on the capital of ISIS in Raqqa, Syria.

While France has received a huge

outpouring of support through social media and the news, there were two other attacks that happened the day before and the same day as the Paris tragedy. Baghdad and Beirut have received very little coverage compared to recent happenings in Europe.

Check back soon for an article by Sam Dean on the controversy caused by the lack of attention given to these recent tragedies.

News 19

by ALLIE MORRIS

E

April 20, 2016

arly this month, 26 year old Political Science major at the University of California Berkeley, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, was sitting on a plane about to take off for Oakland, California.

He was coming home after an event and dinner with U.N. Secretary General Ban Kimoon. Excited to update his family about his trip, he chatted over the phone with his uncle who lives in Baghdad. Little did he know that a harmless phrase spoken in Arabic would prompt his abrupt removal from the flight.

“I just called him and talked to him about it and everything, and he told me [to] call him when I get to Oakland, and I said, ‘insha’Allah insha’Allah (God willing), I will call you when I arrive.’ And during the conversation a lady was staring at me,” Makhzoomi told CNN. Makhzoomi thought that the woman

20 News

might be bothered by the volume of the conversation -- never once the words out of his mouth crossing his mind. After his phone call ended, she leaped out of her seat and charged down the aisle for the door. When she returned, police officers followed shortly and told Khairuldeen to get off the plane.

Southwest Airlines attributed “potentially threatening comments” to Makhzoomi’s removal from the airplane.

He was taken out of the cabin and down the jet bridge for further investigation.

“He was not very nice. He tried to speak to me in Arabic, but I couldn’t understand his Arabic, so I asked him to speak to me in English,” Makhzoomi said about the man that escorted him off the plane, “I felt oppressed. I was afraid.”

From there, Makhzoomi was searched, had his bags sniffed by dogs and was confiscated of his wallet. Afterwards, he was escorted away by FBI agents for further questioning. As the agents interrogated him, he said he was surprised when one of them told him to “be honest about what you

said about the martyrs” and to “tell them everything you know about them”.

“The moment that she said that, I told her I never said that word. They stopped questioning after that, and told me leave.

Southwest wasn’t going to fly me back,” says Khairuldeen.

Southwest ended up giving him a refund and he booked a flight back via Delta Airlines that same day. Nonetheless, he was still frightened and quite shaken by what had happened.

Although Makhzoomi does not plan on pursuing the incident through legal action, he would like to receive an apology from Southwest and the employees that removed him regarding the way he was treated.

“My family and I have been through a lot and this is just another one of the experiences I have had,” Makhzoomi told NY Times, “Human dignity is the most valuable thing in the world... If they apologized, maybe it would teach them to treat people equally.”

by CALLIE BARNETT December 15, 2015

S

enior Sadie Reidy decided to stop shaving. She went a full 4 months without using the razor on her pits and keeps shaving her legs to a minimum.

“I wanted to experience how it felt to have hairy armpits. Once I got going, I was too lazy to shave them. You get really used to having it.”

Many would look upon shaving as a necessity for all women. I personally remember the first time my mom said, “You are old enough; You need to start shaving.” and she sent me off to the shower with cream and a sharp new razor. Why society allows for men to have armpits look like a gorilla’s and expect women’s pits to be as smooth as silk I just don’t know. Some of us women love the feeling of the fresh shave, but others like Sadie may find it as an unnecessary hassle.

“I realize it’s gross, but it’s gross for men too! Hair is hair. It doesn’t matter if

you’re a girl or boy.”

If I were to even consider not shaving, I would be worried about judgement from others. I know it would be noticed — how would others view me?

I asked Sadie if she ever worries about how others would think of it, but, to my surprise, she said, “Absolutely not!”

So many people told her to shave (me included). Even with her mom, sisters, and boyfriend requesting she take the razor to the shower, she refused.

“None of them could get me to shave. I was 100% comfortable with them (her armpits). I showed them off!”

While gaining a great deal of armpit hair, Sadie also claims to have gained self confidence. Even after taking a break and shaving, she participated in No Shave November and has currently extended the period to No Shave December, or Don’t Do It December.

“Everyone was telling me what to do, but I had the choice to do it or not. I didn’t care what people thought about the hair. I did it for myself.”

I immediately thought: Feminism! I asked Sadie if she believed herself to be a feminist.

“Not really in a political way. I believe women and men are equal in that sense, but was mostly for me. I didn’t do it to prove for others. It was about seeing how long I could go and not care at all what people say.”

We can all take this with a little inspiration. Not the kind of inspiration where all of human existence throws away the razors, but we could all learn to do things for ourselves. So many of us try to impress others, even when they are not pleasing themselves. Sadie’s body is hers.

My body is mine. Your body is yours. I know that not shaving your armpits is a funny example of this, but it really is the little things that make a difference. Make that difference in your life and do you, for you!

Student Life 21

by ALLIE MORRIS

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October 2, 2015

risons and correctional institutions across the country are experiencing the largest population spike they’ve had in decades.

The reason for such a boom in crime?

Treason. Disloyalty towards our flawless Queen B.

Betrayal to Beyoncé has increased rapidly since the VMAs of February 2015. Ever since Beck stole the award for Album of the Year, faithfulness has been questioned. Police departments throughout the nation have had to enlist nearly double the amount of officers in the last year just to deal with Queen Bey related arrests.

One officer spoke to us about the demands of the crime spike.

“As a police officer in the United States of America, it is my job to protect and serve the citizens of this country. But, honestly, I’ve never

22 Satire

worked this hard in my life. Everyday is different.

Some gal doesn’t dance to Single Ladies… another gets a tattoo of Rihanna on her thigh… someone follows Beck on Twitter… it’s endless.”

After conducting multiple interviews, it was apparent that this issue was not only physically demanding, but emotionally rigorous, as well.

We spoke to a particular officer in Houston, Texas. Being stationed in the birthplace of our Queen, this was a topic close to home in his heart.

“When I joined the force, I thought I was prepared for what I would see. But, nothing could have prepared me for something like this.

It’s heartbreaking. Sometimes, I can barely get through the day. I feel bad for the newbies… it’s taken a toll on them.”

While law enforcement is experiencing treacherous demands, underground Beyoncé skeptics are growing more and more daring.

One woman reported hearing Beck on the radio — an atrocity that could only be caused by an anti-Beyoncé infiltrator. The following week, the radio station headquarters were burnt down and

its staff sentenced to questioning. Just yesterday, a man was caught smuggling thousands of copies of Taylor Swift’s 1989 into the U.S. He was arrested upon capture.

Meanwhile, the federal government is trying to attack this national crisis at its source.

President Obama is planning to hold a press conference in order to evaluate the actions needed to eradicate the problem. Topics of discussion include Beyoncé related curriculum in schools, altering the Pledge of Allegiance to include Queen B and Beyoncé-only radio broadcasts.

In efforts to keep the nation optimistic, Beyoncé Knowles herself released a statement to encourage her supporters.

“To say the nation is in a state of desperation would be an understatement. Only the collective efforts of my loyal ‘Bey Hive’ will pull this country from its current pitfall. But if I believe in anyone, I believe in the beautiful people of the United States of America. Together, we can make this country flawless.”

Meet Staff THE

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William Clift

’m William Clift, jaded high school senior and editor/designer of the Talon. When I’m not penning literary fiascos the likes of “Fifty Shades of Green”, I’m enjoying any one of my numerous interests - astronomy, film, music, fashion, art - or doing nothing. I plan to study graphic design at the University of Arkansas next fall.

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Sam Dean

am Sam Dean, a senior at Heritage High School. I am a dedicated art student and a punk rock music enthusiast. I am an actual blue highlighter. I plan on going to art school and becoming a freelance artist. I love fight club more than I love life.

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Allie Morris

i, I am Allie Morris. I’m a senior at Heritage High School and a writer for The Talon. I love Christopher Nolan films, the Colorado Rockies and my dog, Belle. I can be found referencing The Office or attempting to kick a soccer ball around with friends...sometimes both.

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Kallina Sims

’m a sophomore this year. Listening to music and watching American Horror Story are two of my favorite things.

I like to eat pasta. I love traveling and going on adventures.

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Harry Cole

eritage senior, editor for The Talon, aspiring beat poet. When I’m not contemplating the perils of mere existence, I enjoy hiking with friends, reading, and watching Parks and Recreation. Not smiling makes me smile.

Haven Kirkpatrick

H

ey what’s up hello I’m Haven. When I’m not geocaching, I’m writing for the Talon or playing tennis. I have a strong passion for makeup, cats, and Salvador Dali.

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Indigo Kroll

’m a sophomore. and my favorite color is NOT indigo. I’m in Upward Bound at the UofA. I like reading, eating, and sleeping, and I am most proud of my ability to come up with cat names. I’m just a simple dumpling trying to understand how the world works.

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Pricilla Perez

’m just a little bean trying to be a successful big bean. I’m a sophomore and a basketball player. Avid reader and a passionate sleeper.

HERITAGETALON.ORG/STAFF

Editorial 23

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his morning we ran our entire show in the rain. It wasn’t supposed to rain. It was completely dry when we set the field up. We were debating up until about 8:15. But at 8:25, when we decided to go ahead, it just started pouring. We were all completely soaked, and our stuff was pretty wet. But we had to keep going because we had to get one outside run in, before tonight.”

hile I was in Hawaii, I was swimming in the ocean, and I decided to climb up on this big rock. Before this, my parents had told me to wear shoes when I was in the water because there were sharps rocks everywhere. Naturally, I was like ‘You know what? I don’t need to wear shoes.’ So I went up on the rock, and right as I jumped off, I cut my foot open. When I swam back, I tried to play it off and hide it. I couldn’t let my parents be right.”

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just think it’s crazy that when we were freshman we never thought that we’d get to where we are now. So now that we’re seniors, we just have to take everything so slow because this time is really bittersweet. I think I’m learning to enjoy everything that happens — whether it’s good or bad — because I know that it will never happen like this again.”

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rowing up, my brothers would always say, ‘We asked for a girl, but we got a Tael’r.’ Most people would take that as an insult. But I took it as a compliment... I think that’s helped me grow into the person that I am.

I’ve been blessed with all these great opportunities and people that I’ve met.

And being B.O.S.S. leader has only driven me more because now I’m in a position of leadership... I think that’s helped me grow into being the right kind of Tael’r. Not just any kind of Tael’r — the leadership kind of Tael’r. And I think that’s the Tael’r people want to see and want to remember.”