Tug-of-War

Letter from the Editors

Welcome readers!

Our team has worked tirelessly for four months to bring you our exclusive magazine Tug of War, which reports on 5 unique political topics. We have spent our months interviewing experts on our respective topics, writing and editing our pieces, and carefully constructing infographics and photographs to enhance our articles. Our interviewees have been everything from ambassadors to activists from many political alignments, to ensure that our final articles are free of bias.

Our topics include activism in Austin, political division, local economy, climate change, and school safety. Our activism article focuses on two different activist groups based in Texas, and how they try to make an impact on all the levels of politics. Our political division article interviews a local Austin representative, the former mayor of San Francisco, and the former ambassador to Mexico, to get a rounded picture of how political division has changed throughout recent times. Our local economy article focuses on how Austin’s economy has changed over the past years, and interviews local business owners to see how they have adapted over the years. The article on climate change talks about the impacts and ways to reduce climate change, and our feature on school safety focuses on how to make sure schools are safe, in a time when that issue is prevalent in our society.

We are very proud to be bringing you our magazine. We have maintained the highest standards in our journalistic integrity and reporting, so that we can create a truthful and impartial magazine we can all be proud of. We are super excited for you to dive in and explore!

-The Editors of Tug of War

Meet the Editors

Lauren Bai

Lauren is a freshman at LASA and wants to report on climate change and how to prevent it. She wants people to understand the different political perspectives driving climate change politics. In her free time, Lauren enjoys swimming and band, as well as reading. After she graduates high school, she wants to go to college and join the medical field.

Neev Sabhani

Neev is a dedicated student that wants to study computer science when he goes to college He is currently taking AP computer science and something he likes about LASA are the classes and the challenges they bring with them. Neev is from India and likes playing tennis and hanging out with friends. For his article, he is writing about the activists in Austin and the different types of activism.

Avril Mauricio Davila

Avril is a high schooler at LASA and is writing about teachers and their stances on gun control. She wants people to learn about the different perspectives teachers have and how they are affected by the new gun laws. In her free time, Avril enjoys playing soccer and writing. She says that writing is a great stress reliever for her because she can just brain-dump in a journal. After she graduates, she wants to become a movie director.

Marco Vidal

Marco Vidal is a freshman attending LASA High School and he wants to write about how this political division is unhealthy for America and bring attention to the problem. Marco is from Spain and enjoys playing soccer and reading. He’s played soccer for many years and he’s hoping to join the LASA soccer team as a goalie. He has set his eyes on going to a good college and getting a degree in engineering or economics.

Hagen Hobbs

Hagen Hobbs is an eccentric young man that wants to report about the local economy of Austin. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games, because they relax him, and working out to find the best version of himself. When Hagen graduates high school, he would like to start a business of his own to be a part of the Austin economy he will report on.

Activism in Austin

Tug of War

Equality Texas members gathered infront of the Austin Capitol building fighting for transgender kids

Courtesy of Equality Texas

Youngandoldspeakoutandtakeaction toimprovethequalityofournation

by Neev Sabhani

Throughout the history of the US, activism has helped shape the political climate. Activism groups have changed overtime as well as their communities. Nowadays, you can find activism almost everywhere, including Austin! Activism groups such as PODER Austin and Clean Water Action have helped the Austin communities become a safer place.

PODER Austin is an environmental social justice organization run by passionate members who strive to give our communities better living standards. It was founded in 1991 when SEMATECH, a large corporation, was manufacturing smart bombs. They would leave their toxic print

behind in the and cause damage to the surrounding area and communities. A group of 8 decided that enough was enough and founded PODER, People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources, but also means power or empowerment in spanish. PODER now is known as a woman led, grassroots social justice organization which seeks to ad-

founding members in 1991.

“Growing up I saw a lot of injustice,” Almanza said. “I lived most of my life in poverty but I also lived with Spanish speaking parents so I saw how people were treated who spoke a second language.”

dress concerns on environmental and social issues. PODER is now led by Executive Director Susana Almanza, who is also one of the

Growing up in a time of segregation helped her get on the path of justice. After living through those hardships people come to understand it’s not right, and they want to do something about it. Now, with the community they’ve built, they are able to address many issues.

have several projects and campaigns going on, we have the Fair Fares campaign going on, we

“We

Activism has been going on for a long time, and I think it’s going to keep going.

- Becky Smith, Texas Director of Clean Water Action

have the Solar Equity campaign going on right now. We have a Young Scholars for Justice program,” Almanza said. “So there’s a lot of issues we work on.”

Young Scholars for Justice is a youth group of 14 to 18 year olds. They got involved with issues in low income communities and helped them during the times of COVID. They also attend rallies and go to city council meetings to give testimonies, and are educated on many issues.

“We do a lot of organization, but we also do a lot of education because we once took on corporations that were putting field tanks into these communities so a lot of the time we assist other communities with our experience, how to organize, how to attend certain public hearings and meetings,” Almanza said.

They help communities become educated on topics so they can later on become independent and fight

for themselves. With communities being involved, PODER has been able to ward off serious threats.

“We took on the recycling facility, which was the second largest waste management, and we relocated them out of the neighborhood,” Almanze said. “We then took on the highly popular power plant there within the community.”

They have been successful in rezoning over 600 properties and have been able to protect the health and environment of communities by rezoning hazardous facilities. Their far spread reach and impact has been able to save many from dangerous environments.

“Well it’s a huge impact because if we are able to stop a big zoning cave that is going to displace communities, that could possibly impact an entire community with 3 or 4 thousand people. So sometimes it’s a 100 or 1000 depending on the issue,” Al-

manza said.

Sometimes, issues taken to court may be able to affect thousands and thousands of people. A lot of the success is due to average citizens helping and providing towards the causes.

“They can help circulate petitions, get signatures on petitions. There’s support where people can show up in person. There’s people who can help register people to vote. There’s so many things that people can do to get involved in,” Almanza said.

The possibilities for citizens to help are endless. Without support from the thousands behind them, it is hard to achieve a change in society. A lot of help is provided by other similar organizations.

“We need a lot of people working on these issues because these

are real giant, big issues. And some of them are very complicated. We join Coalition’s because we know it’s important to work with other groups and we join networks,” said Almanza.

They have joined international coalitions, they are a part of the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum and Environmental Justice Health Alliance. Another organization that does work similar to PODER’s is Clean Water Action.

Clean Water Action is an organization that was founded in 1972 which was formed to help pass the Clean Water act which was the first federal law that affected all of the US, addressing water quality problems. David Zwick, 50 years ago, founded Clean Water Action and helped write pieces of the Clean Water Act

PODER Austin members standing infront Austin Energy protesting for affordable energy Courtesy of PODER Austin

legislation. Fast forward 50 years, Clean Water Action has become one of the most successful organizations out there with offices all over the US. Texas’s Clean Water Action is now being led by Director Becky Smith.

“And so the whole strategy of clean water action to this day, 50 years later, is strength in numbers. So you might have a canvasser knock on your door,” Smith said.

The more people supporting Clean Water Action, the more impact it’s going to have. The problem is that they don’t have a direct vote on environmental issues.

“The solution is, you know, we’re going to work together and hold our politicians and regulators accountable for protecting us, and the strategy is always strength in numbers,” said Smith.

No matter who they are working

sue, they have to address a wider scope of issues.

“So even when it’s something like coal burning, the smokestacks have toxic heavy metals. Even when we passed good legislation about, you know, putting scrubbers at the top of a stack that smoke is coming out from the coal burning. They would just end up putting them into bodies of

with, whether it is Congress or a city council, their strategy will always be strength in numbers. Now, Texas has over 13,000 members who support Clean Water Action. Clean Water Action also does address a variety of other issues.

“It’s not always 100% strictly water. It’s clean energy, clean air, clean water, because these things also all the time end up in the water anyway. And a lot of pollution gets moved around or transmitted through water,” Smith said.

All of these different issues affect water in one way or another. They can’t only address water quality issues. If they want to truly fix the is-

water so that then that stuff went back in the water anyway,” Smith said.

They were able to solve one of the problems, but it created another one as well. So then they have to start back from the beginning. A lot of issues are generated from coal burning power plants.

“One product that I was particularly proud of was a written report. It was probably like 15 pages and it had a lot of infographics, but it was a report about a specific coal burning plant that was really like an old dinosaur and was putting out lots of pollution and just needed to go,” said Smith.

With the help of experts, they

were able to compose a report on an analysis on the health care costs and the variety of pollution that the power plant produced. They were able to successfully close down the plant and now it is being used as a launching pad for an off-shore wind industry.

Organizations like PODER and Clean Water Action will always continue to grow and help change our community for the better. With the help from people all over the nation, activists will help shape our nation to become a better place for all.

“Activism has been going on for a long time, and I think it’s going to keep going and we’ll just see,” said Smith.

Two Equality Texas members taking part in a protest to protect transgender kids rights Courtesy of Equality Texas

Who Makes Up the

75.8% of the US population are white

6.1% of the US population are Asian

White - 57.8%

RACE ETHINICITY

13.6% of the US population are Black or African American

2.9% of the US population are Two or more races

1.3% of the US population are American Indian or Alaskan Native

0.3% of the US population are Native Hawaiian and Other Islander Pacific

Asian - 6% Other - 5.1%

Black - 12.4%

Hispanic - 18.7%

Graphics by Neev Sabhani

America’s politics and populace are more divided than any time in recent history. What can politicians and experts tell us on these issues?

by Marco Vidal

In America, our political system has become extremely divided. Both parties have become increasingly hostile to one another, and compromise has become all but impossible. With both parties unable to see eye to eye with each other. We interviewed a set of politicians to get their views on how divided our country is.

Representative Hinojosa is a Democrat from the city of Austin, and is the Representative for the 49th district of Texas. Ms. Hinojosa became

a politician because she was unhappy with the AISD school board, and decided to run herself. In her time at the school board, she saw “deterioration because of national conflicts that don’t apply locally”. She became a representative in 2016, being sworn in on January 1st, 2017. She believes that a Republican house and Attorney general “means there is less accountability. We are so gerrymandered, [and] Republicans can do more redistricting”. She is quite firm in her liberal beliefs and was one of the Democratic representatives to flee to Washington DC attempting to block a proposed

republican legislation that they deemed would make it harder to vote. When asked about harmful policies Republicans support, she pointed out gun control, saying “Republicans decided to make it easier to carry a gun in school”. When asked about negative policies that Democrats support, she said “I can’t think of anything”.

Representative Hinojosa is a strong supporter of making the divide between the parties less extreme, and believes that “Making [herself] available so that they know me as a human being” is the best way she can help make herself more appealing to Republicans.

We then interviewed Antonio Garza, the former head of the Texas Railroad commission. He was then selected as ambassador to Mexico under President George W. Bush in 2000. A more moderate Republican, he stopped being a politician after being succeeded as ambassador in 2009. When asked if politics today were divided, he said “Yeah, you bet. They’ve always been. We’ve got a two party system, it’s a very competitive process, and we feel very strongly about a lot of issues. Unfortunately, I think we are talking less to each other than we should, and we’re yelling at each other more than is effective, but a competitive political system is really a bad thing.”

party, with 21% alone saying that they strongly believe in a third party. This number does vary across party lines, with 46% of republicans saying that a third party does not align with their political interests, as compared to 26% of Democrats, and 20% of independents.

but pendulums have a way of swinging back and forth, and not too many years ago we were talking about how democratic America is, and how open to capital, and now we’re seeing movements back in the other direction.”

We are seeing different realities.

Many Americans agree with this statement. In a study from Pew research, only 28% of Americans are against a third

- Gina Hinajosa, Texas State Representative

“America would benefit from much larger independent movements that would make decisions based on individual candidates they choose, as opposed to simply making it based on a strong party preference.”

Following up on the last question, Mr. Garza also elaborated about the state of world politics, and if they had become more divided. He said “I don’t know if it’s more divisive,

Last we consulted Mark Farrell, former Mayor of San Francisco. He became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2011, and was forced into the office of Mayor for eight months at the end of his second term, not seeking reelection for either Mayor or Board member. He became a politician because he was “fed up with what was happening, both in city hall and as a resident of San Francisco”

Mr. Farrell has since retired from politics, but is still politically astute and aware. When

asked about political division with the US, he said

“They are worse than I’ve ever seen them in my lifetime. In San Francisco I think that around 90% of the people are Democrats, so it’s really not a party system city where that dominates a lot of the dialogue, but on a national level it’s the worse I have seen since I have been really politically conscious, I think it is, quite frankly, very destructive to our country.”

Nationally, Mr. Farrell’s observations are true. 62% of Republicans view the Democratic party very unfavorably, while 54% of Democrats view

the Republican party unfavorably. This has grown significantly since 1994, when the numbers were only 21% and 17%, respectively. The amount of people holding negative views against both parties has also increased, to 27%, from just 6% in 1994.

When asked about the biggest catalyst for this division, he said that “there are a huge number of contributing factors, I think ultimately what you’re seeing is that the electorate on both sides of the aisle are gravitating towards candidates that are more on

the extreme and less in the middle.”

A survey conducted by Pew research backs Mr. Farrell’s observations. When asked about the opposing party’s presidential candidate, 89% of Republicans said that they would cause everlasting harm if they were elected, compared to 90% of Democrats. The issues that voters care about have also diverged, with Republicans and democrats having major differences in the amount of voters that think that the economy, health care, and the coronavirus outbreak, have something to do with their vote.

Mr. Farrell further iterated his point, expressing that “It is really scary for the future of our country.”

Courtesy of Mark Farrell

Courtesy of Gina Hinajosa

Courtesy of Antonio Garza

wars

The divide between our political parties is the most extreme it’s ever been, and both parties have different fundamental beliefs. Each party also represent different demographics, which heavily affects their stance. Hardworking

College Graduate Non-College Graduate

White White

Each party has different views on many issues that affect men and women

differently, leading to a clear difference between the two genders

% of registered voters

Men WoMen

TotalGraphics by Marco Vidal

Path of Destruction

What happened to the American economy?

by Hagen Hobbs

The New York stock exchange. The value of businesses and basic products such as eggs are a good way to tell how healthy the economy is.

Tpast few years have been a very turbulent time for the US economy. With the US entering a recession in February 2020 and leaving one in April, the post-COVID economy isn’t looking great. With the recent spike in gas prices combined with the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t looking any closer than it was nearly three years ago. For now, all that most people can do is support small & local businesses to keep the economy of their city healthy.

Here in Austin we have our own selection of local businesses. From family owned businesses to real estate, Austin has plenty of thriving businesses. This doesn’t mean we were immune to the effects of COVID. People shut down, others thought it wouldn’t last as long as it did, and some people just couldn’t adapt to the constantly changing environment.

“It was the hardest work I’ve ever done, we had to work 110-120 hour weeks with my brother who helped me find it. A lot of times we just slept at the shop.” Said Brian Batch, founder of Bird Bird Biscuit, a restaurant here in Austin. “Since we’ve started we haven’t stopped growing”.

Mr. Batch’s Business is an example

of a business that adapted to the changing scene and thrived because of it.

“You had businesses that pivoted and tried to stay open and you had ones that shut down because they thought they would only be closed for a few weeks.” Said Mr. Batch when asked about how he stayed afloat through COVID. “We pivoted and changed it from a walk-in restaurant to basically a stand where you come up to a window and order there and eat outside. But when we made that switch it made us realize we weren’t

- Marc R. Benioff, American internet entrepreneur

using our space well enough, like our actual kitchen. so we expanded the size of it and it allowed us to double our revenue, it was wild.”

These experiences that Mr Batch had while running his business show just how turbulent it is to run a small business during a time like COVID.

“I set up my first business 17

years ago, but I have 2 active ones now. My main business is real estate investments. I wanted to provide a way for people to confidently invest in real estate when I made Buchanan Capital.” said Keith Buchanan, Founder of Buchanan Capital. A real estate business that buys property below market value, upgrades the property, and sells it for a profit once he’s done. “The first formal business I set up was when I was 16. My thought was that working for yourself has to be more rewarding than working for someone else. I’ve always wanted to do my own thing rather than someone else’s.”

Keith’s philosophy about getting employment is simple. He pays the right people a handsome wage. So

Every country needs a minister of the future.

far he has not run into any employment issues but people he knew were. Mainly in the retail & service industry.

“I know a lot of people that are struggling to find employment. But not me. I’m looking at paying people a very handsome salary just for the right people. But that’s mainly in the retail industry and service.” Said Mr. Buchanan in an interview. “When I say I do real estate investments. I buy a property, do something to it, and sell it for profit. Like a run down office building. I upgrade it, and sell it to pay it back, the investors, and to have some left over for my team.” Said Mr Buchanan when he asked how he operated his real estate company.

Buchanan and Batch’s experiences with business show how COVID and local politics impact business in very different ways depending on what your product is, and how you run it.

“You have all your eggs in one basket. I’ve always wanted to do my own thing even if it’s not a business. I think in the last 6 months in the US the world has changed for business, not for me though. I’ve been doing my own business for over 30 years at this point so nothing is really shocking me. You make choices based on what’s thrown at you. If it’s raining you put on a raincoat.” Stated Mr Buchanan when asked about his experience running Buchanan Capital. “I have a lot of

Abandoned apartment building in Williamson, West Virginia. The kind of Building Mr Buchanan would buy, renovate, and sell at a higher price.

Courtesy of Magnolia677

House for sale. Another example of something Mr Buchanan would renovate

different investments in real estate that keeps me afloat. Like let’s say you work at the ice cream shop and it fails, you’re out of a job. But if one of my investments fails, I still have multiple other investments making me money. I still have 1 company but multiple different deals.”

His experience running a real estate company is very different from something like a food joint that Mr Batch is running solely from the product they both “sell”.

“One of the things that I think

and sell.

Courtesy of 4House LTD

might be deceiving is that you’re gonna have to have a trajectory. But the issue with that is that everything that determines what you are then depends on what you do now but a lot of people don’t realize that the best way to have a good future for you is to invest in what you are now so that it’s actually yours” said Brian Batch.

The Turbulent world of business in Austin is ever changing. It’s about who can adapt, and who can’t.

Inflation economy costing

Graphics by Hagen Hobbs

Catastrophic Climate Crisis

The Politics Behind Protecting the Earth

by Lauren Bai

Courtesy of Kate Nicole

Once just an abstract speculation, climate change in the U.S. has now become a fierce political battle. When one side refuses to acknowledge the existence of environmental changes, and the other insists the apocalypse is near, it seems as though finding an agreedupon solution isn’t possible.

Dylan Baddour, an environmental justice reporter for Inside Climate News, has heard a lot of different opinions on climate change. As a former political reporter, Baddour has a unique perspective on the situation.

“Many of the people who are low-income and living close to the industry are often conservative Republicans,” Baddour said, “and they think that climate change is a narrative constructed by the intellectual elite in Washington in order to stop business and to stop oil, which many communities see as their livelihood.”

On the other end of the political spectrum, Democrats have been advocates for climate change, with completely opposing views to that of the Republican party.

“Climate change has long been a Democratic interest,” Baddour said. “Even before it was climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency came about in the 1970s as a democratic project.”

Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State

Climatologist and a Professor at Texas A&M University, studies the effect climate change has on extreme weather.

“On a global scale, the biggest factors [of climate change] by far are greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which have a warming effect,” Nielsen-Gammon said.

According to NASA, changes in the global climate before the Industrial Revolution occurred naturally without human activity. Those natural causes still affect the climate today but aren’t strong enough to explain the recent rapid increase in global temperatures.

“The more recent fluctuations in climate over the past few million years have been between climates that were similar to ours and climates that were much cooler,” NielsenGammon said. “The rate of change of climate is much larger now than it has been over the past few million years.”

Contrary to popular belief, climate change does not increase the frequency of extreme weather. Baddour points out that droughts and hurricanes are not a recent phenomenon.

“Weather disasters are not new to humankind,” Baddour said. “This is something that people deal with, and we can’t jump every time there is a hurricane or a flood or a drought and say ‘this is climate change.’ It might be, but we have to just be aware that Earth is full of these natural phenomena.”

Climate change may not have a tremendous effect on extreme weather, but according to the World Health Organization, it does affect people’s access to clean air and safe drinking water. While low-

Courtesy of Cameron Strandberg

income countries and communities contribute the least to climate change, they are often disproportionately affected and suffer the harshest consequences.

“Adaptation costs money, so the less money available, the more you sort of have to live with the changes and take a hit from them,” NielsenGammon said. “Increasing risks require increasing expenses to deal with them, and the more resources available, the easier it is to deal with them.”

One organization advocating for climate justice is Fridays For Future, a youth-led environmental movement. Hazel Johnston is the coordinator for the St. Louis chapter, one of many throughout the U.S.

“Right now, the main goal of

- Dylan Baddour, environmental justice reporter

Fridays For Future is ‘people, not profit’,” Johnston said. “We are trying to spread awareness and make sure that everyone, especially low-income neighborhoods, has the resources they need.”

Climate change has been a controversial issue ever since the science surrounding it came out. Many solutions have been suggested, with one of the most well-known being using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.

“Switching to wind and solar energy would do a lot to prevent climate change,” Johnston said.

This seems to be the general consensus amongst activists and scientists alike. According to NielsenGammon, making the switch to renewable energy would not only be beneficial for slowing global warming but would also set the U.S. up as a global leader in climate change prevention.

“We’re going to need energy one way or another, so it would be valuable to position the United States as a technological leader in renewable energy, just like it is to some extent, in fossil fuel energy,” Nielsen-Gammon said.

However, switching to renewable energy can’t just happen overnight. According to the Energy Information Administration, fossil fuels accounted for nearly 80% of the U.S.’s energy supply. They are also a substantial part of the U.S. economy.

• Tug of War

People don’t understand how much of our lifestyle is tied to fossil fuels and to oil.

Courtesy of Hazel Johnston

St. Louis chapter of Fridays For Future strikes for climate justice. On September 23, 2022, strikes were held at over 450 locations around the world.

“There needs to be an alternate economy developed,” Baddour said. “As long as refineries and the oil sector are the best-paying jobs around in many small towns, mid-sized cities, and rural communities, then this industry will continue to flourish.”

The fossil fuel industry not only provides wellpaying jobs, but it has also become almost essential in everyone’s day-to-day lives.

“All of us are contributing to climate change when we drive, when we buy plastic, and when we buy chemicals, and it will take big transformational changes to get off that,” Baddour said. “Fossil fuels often present the easiest, cheapest option and we have grown up very used to the luxury and abundance that they provide.”

Stepping away from fossil fuels might seem like a near-impossible challenge. However, everyone can take small steps to do their part in preventing climate change.

“One thing you can do is decrease

your carbon footprint,” Johnston said. “Even if you can’t get an electric car or become vegetarian, there are still many ways you can do your part. Meatless Mondays, for example, or even just spreading the word.”

These small changes in our way of living add up and can really make a difference. However, just making a difference might not be enough to save the planet.

“Everyone’s lifestyle needs to change, and I can’t tell you that I have changed my lifestyle as dramatically as needs to be done,” Baddour said. “People don’t understand how much of our lifestyle is tied to fossil fuels and to oil. If they did, then maybe that could help them figure out how to take a few steps back from it.”

World leaders attend the 26th Conference of Parties in Glasgow, United Kingdom from October 31, 2021, to November, 2021 to discuss climate change.

Dylan Baddour photographing local street vendors in Columbia.

Courtesy of Dylan Baddour

Courtesy of Kiara Worth

Electors meet in their states to vote for the President and Vice President.

Whichever canditate wins the popular vote in your state wins all of the state’s electoral votes

A faithless elector is an elector who doesn’t vote for the candidate that won in their state

Courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Courtesy of Gage Skidmore

School Safety

by Avril Mauricio

Courtesy of Natalie Beltran

There can be much talk about how schools should be careful about taking care who they keep in and who is in charge within the school, although the truth is that students can make a big difference as well. Students have the power to turn things around with small conversations.

School safety has been an ongoing issue. A way of seeing is through the lenses of students and parents but also how the teams see the issue.The AISD Emergency Management Team has a big saying on how students can help maintain the school safe. How situational awareness can make a difference. Situational awareness can be defined as knowing where you are and being alert of what’s going on around you. Also helping out by what you see.

In 1984, Dr. Stephens was named the Executive director of the National School Safety Center, he has helped as a consultant and frequent speaker. Dr. Ronald Stephens, said, “It’s important for students to know they can get help from adults.”

It’s also important for teachers to be aware of what their students are doing. Dr. Stephens said,“A school shoot-

ing that took place down in Mississippi, in that case once again the shooter wrote an essay about what he was gonna do.” He also said, “a shooting up in Bethel Alaska where someone was gonna bring a gun to school and the other students knew about it … the shooter in Bethel Alaska had arranged for a photographer to document, have someone videoing what was going on,”

He also said, “here you have these cases where either students, friends or others who had indications of a potential problem but did nothing.”

Both of these cases there were people who knew what was happening, but choosing to not take action led to something worse that could’ve been prevented.

to be aware before than get aware when it’s too late.

A common thing that the AISD Emergency management said was situational awareness, which means being aware of your surroundings and what’s happening around you.

“See something, say something…

Students should talk to a trusted adult even if they think it may just be a small thing that they saw, but it can turn into a bigger issue and it’s better

crease safety in schools.

He said, “That’s what we’re saying, change the culture to situational awareness.”

That you’re constantly observing the environment around you” Thomas Paige said about what was something students can do to help in-

Figure out ways that you can devise as a group to keep school safer. One top of the list item is the act of shooters that are coming in right now.

- Andrea Acosta, AISD Emergency Management Specialist

Situational awareness can change things, even if it’s as small as telling somebody else that they saw something weird in a place.

“You don’t want that on your hands later on, something goes wrong and you didn’t say anything,” Paige said. “It can be small things but those small details may lead to something bigger.”

With this, Thomas Paige comes back that situational awareness is an important factor. Knowing what’s happening around you and again see something say something.

“You’re constantly observing the environment that is going on around you,” Thomas Paige said.

Small things like that can make a difference in situations. Maybe it was just a small thing and the thing is that I really am just pretending to write something so the teacher doesn’t tell me anything.

The most important thing is for schools to develop a comprehensive safe school plan, talk with the students let them know why its in their self interest to report suspicious activities. It’s important for students to know that the can get help from the adults.

Courtesy of National School Safety Center

- Dr. Ronald Stephens, Executive Director of the National School Safety Center

Dr. Ronald Stephens

We have a culture safety that is a lot different from where it needs to be.

The AISD Emergency Managment Team helps schools prepare for any situation.

Courtesy of Andrea Acosta

- Thomas Paige, AISD Emergency Management Coordinator

The gap was closing, but the pandemic impacted it and now there is a gap of

Graphics by Avril Mauricio

Source: Vox

Most men don’t have to take care of house chores which make it an obstacle to women

The Parent gap

Advisor

Kevin Garcia Interviewees

Andrea Acosta Susana Almanza