Echo issue 10 pages 10 11

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Echo Friday, April 28, 2017

Echo St. Louis Park Senior High School 6425 West 33rd Street

St. Louis Park, MN 55426 Editors-in-chief: Mimi Fhima & Annabella Strathman Managing editors: Anna duSaire, Alec Pittman, Dani Orloff & Atticus Raasch Copy editors: Alex Balfour, Elise Riley, Nicole Sanford & Sophie Yarosh Design editors: Devin Raynor & Sam St. Clair Photo editors: Caroline Green, Grace Farley, Emma Kempf & Hannah Wolk Assistant photo editors: Breanna Thompson News editor: Yonit Krebs & Sumaya Mohammed Features editor: Amaia Barajas & Maddie Lund In-Depth editors: Isabel Leviton & Hanna Schechter Sports editor: Sam Birnberg & Jacob Stillman Opinions editor: Hannah Leff & Lukas Levin Entertainment editor: Isaac Wert Diversity editor: Makagbe Kuyateh Web design editor: Josh Halper & Adam Johnson Profiles: Ndunzi Kunsunga Staff: Jane Anderson, Tjessa Arradondo, Maggie Bahnson, Maximillian Bechtold, Isabelle Becker, Beck Bergland, Malaika Bigirindavyi, Chole Blodgett, Ethan Brown, Genesis Buckhalton, Daebreona Byrd, Natalia Caraballo, Culver Carden, Jenna Cook, Eli Curran Moore, Kailey Delozier, Nietzche Deuel, Emma Dietz, Maia Doherty, Brooklyn Donelson, DaShaun Emerson, Ben Dodge, Racquel Fhima, Esther Gendler, Raphy Gendler, Kirby Goodman, Tenzin Gyaldatsang, Katie Hardie, Calvin Hatcher, Marta Hill, Will Huyck, Abigail Intveld, Avia Kaner-Roth, Isabel Kjaer, Samantha Klepfer, Eleanor Kline-Olson, Adah Koivula, Alyssa LeMay, Alexis Machoka, Kimon Malone, Kahiro Lara Martinez, Alissa Meredith, Stuart Monicatti, Evelyn Nelson, Sophie Olmen, Sam Orloff, William Phelan, Carissa Prestholt, KJ Preston Pepperell, Leila Raymond, Hadael Rizeq, D’aviyan Robinson, Mariana Sanchez Zapata, Jayne Stevenson, Ruby Stillman, Nathaniel Sturzl, Mira Swartz, Jaye Townsend, Amber Tran, Lauren VonEschen, Isaac Wahl, Haley Westwood, Emma Yarger & Samyu Yenamandra Business manager: Yonah Davis Principal: Scott Meyers Printer: Quad Graphics Adviser: Lori Keekley MEDIA POLICIES

The Echo is the official student-produced newspaper of St. Louis Park Senior High School. It is published triweekly for the school’s students, staff and community.

The Echo is a designated forum for student expression in which students make all decisions of content without prior review from school officials.

The adviser will not act as a censor, but will advise students. Students have the final decision on all content.

The Echo will work to avoid bias and/or favoritism. We will strive to make our coverage and content meaningful and interesting to all our readers.

We will make every effort to avoid printing libel, obscenities, innuendo and material that threatens to disrupt the learning process or is an invasion of privacy.

We will avoid electronic manipulation that alters the truth of a photograph unless clearly labeled as a photo illustration.

Staff editorials represent the opinion of the editorial board arrived at by discussion and will not be bylined. Bylined articles are the opinion of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Echo staff or administration as a whole.

The Echo welcomes reader input. Letters to the editor and suggestions must be signed and should be no longer than 250 words and may be emailed to slpecho@gmail.com or submitted in room C275.

Emailed letters must be verified prior to publication. We will not necessarily publish all letters received and reserve the right ask the writer to edit for length and clarity.

Anonymous letters wherein the Echo does not

Our Perspective

Stay engaged in community, meetings

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n a School Board meeting April 24, Superintendant Rob Metz discussed a $1.2 million budget restructure, causing discussion on the discontinuation of the ParkSci program.

The threat of cutting elementary science programs raises the editorial staff’s concerns that the community needs to see an increase in civic engagement.

The ParkSci program is designed to provide science education to elementary as well as middle school programs. Elementary teachers, who are often not well educated in the sciences, rely on the program to teach their students the basics of scientific knowledge and thought.

During the course of seven years, ParkSci received funding from Cargill, GM and the district. With a limited budget and Park looking to make cuts, the program would have to go.

If the ParkSci program is ultimately cut, elementary and middle school students will lose the opportunity to sample high level sciences, having to return to a basic level of learning.

This cut leaves younger students unprepared for the rigors of the advanced courses offered in high school.

At the high school level, Family Science Night, an opportunity for high school students to expose younger students to higher levels of science, will be cut as well.

While no high school students spoke out

Photo illustration Alyssa Lemay

Shattered remains: Budget cuts led to discontinuation of the ParkSci, a program for elementary and middle school science programs. about concerns regarding ParkSci, several other community members and teachers did.

The editorial staff believes students and citizens need to be aware of the changes happening in the community in order to get the public voice heard. This can be done by attending or viewing School Board meetings, and simply paying attention to what your city is doing.

We believe students should follow the example of the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) this year.

GSA put together a petition that received more than 600 signatures in an effort to pass their Gender Inclusion Policy.

The editorial staff feels very strongly that students need to continue to act on what they’re passionate about, following in the recent footsteps of GSA. A few GSA members

attended the School Board meeting April 24 as well as a full room of other concerned and interested Park citizens.

Staying informed on matters within the school and the district creates the stepping stones to making change.

Just tuning in to St. Louis Park’s public access channel, ParkTV, which provides a live feed to the meeting, or viewing the footage on ParkTV’s YouTube channel, which often is uploaded soon after the meeting occurs.

While the editorial staff recognizes the cuts are about a lack of money and supplies and not a disappreciation for science and education.

However with the small amount of noise heard at just a board meeting, it is essential to stay informed and up to date with important events within the community.

Modern feminist movement excludes Zionism Criticism of Israel becomes affiliated with feminism Hannah Wolk hannahwolk@slpecho.com

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eminism to me is a range of movements that seek to advance rights and create equal opportunities for women. I have identified as a feminist since I learned what the movement was.

As women we need to lift each other up and support one another. I have never had a problem with the direction of the feminist movement until now.

I’m also very passionate about is my love for Zionism and Israel.

Zionism has countless definitions depending on who you ask, but ultimately it is the belief that Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish nation. I have never felt there would be a problem with being both a zionist and a feminist, but the feminist movement is becoming increasingly political and with that it is becoming more exclusive.

The International Women’s

Strike (IWS) that took place on March 8 was ‘the beginning of a new international feminist movement,’ according to their platform. However, it also calls for the decolonization of Palestine and to ‘dismantle all walls, from prison walls, to border walls, from Mexico to Palestine.’

In a movement that is supposed to unite women ‘in the spirit of solidarity and internationalism,’ my question is why is the denunciation of Israel one of their main principles? Feminism cannot bring feminists together when the platform of the IWS clearly singles out those who support Israel.

Although Israel is in no way perfect, it should not be held to different standards than other countries. Why is there no mention of Yemen, where according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), women cannot marry without the permission of their male guardian and do not have equal rights to divorce, inheritance, or child custody?

According to the HRW, the lack of coordination in the

Fact or Myth?

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63% of women ages 1834 in the United States identify as strong feminists or feminists Feminism only helps women at the expense of men People who are not Jewish cannot be zionists The World Zionist

Lebanese government’s response to sex trafficking continues to put women and girls at risk, yet there is no mention of Lebanon in the IWS platform either.

Unfortunately, the IWS is not the first time Israel has been targeted in seemingly feminist causes. The National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) aims to promote and support the production and dissemination of knowledge about women through teaching, learning, research and service.

However, in 2015 NWSA voted to support the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS)

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Organization was founded

by Theodor Herzl All Jews consider themselves zionists Answers 1. Fact 2. Myth 3. Myth 4.

Fact 5. Myth

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OPINIONS

I think budget cuts in the science department is kind of wrong. There are a lot of people who like science.

Byan Okere, freshman

Infographic Hannah Wolk Source Villanova University, Jewish Virtual Library, Washington Post

movement against Israel. Although only 35 percent of NWSA members voted, 88.4 percent of those members voted in favor of the recommendation. It is interesting that an academic association whose primary objective is to spread knowledge would support a movement that academically boycotts Israeli universities and educations they provide.

Restricting women from feminism for their beliefs of separate issues is detrimental to the movement. It hinders women from working together and furthering the cause. By ostracizing those who do not adhere to certain

know the identity of the writer will not be printed.

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To Prom: I’m ready to be asked now...

the right to reject any ads we believe to be false, misleading, inappropriate or harmful. The Echo does not necessarily endorse the products or services offered in these advertisements.

NSPA All-American and Hall of Fame member; 2011, 2016 NSPA Print Pacemaker Finalist; 2013, 2014, 2015 National Print Pacemaker Award Recipient; 2014, 2016 Online Pacemaker Finalist; CSPA Gold Medalist; 2016 NSPA Hybrid Silver Crown; 2013 CSPA Gold Crown; 2015 CSPA Hybrid Gold Crown; 2012, 2014 CSPA Silver Crown; JEM All-State.

Art Alyssa LeMay

To theater accents: You guys were already annoying enough.

To ParkSci: What funding goes up must go down. #gravity

J.A., L.L., S.O.

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I think (Real ID) is prohibitive and makes traveling a lot harder, especially for people who may not have access to a passport.

Elliot Schochet, junior

OPINIONS

Echo Friday, April 28, 2017

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POINT COUNTERPOINT

Minnesota state legislature to pass Real ID Act

The 2005 Real ID Act sets regulations for state’s driver’s licenses and ID cards and prohibits federal agencies from accepting forms of identifications that do not comply with the act.

Real ID is necessary for America’s security

New identification system prevents acts of terrorism Ben Dodge slpecho.com

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eal ID is necessary for the security of the United States, and it’s one of the few developed countries that doesn’t have some sort of national standardized ID. According to the Global Terrorism Index, there was a 650 percent increase in terrorism in the world’s largest economies in 2016. It is indisputable that had the Real ID act been in place before 9/11, the chance of the hijackers carrying out a successful attack would have dropped drastically. Of the six IDs used by the 9/11 hijackers, three of the IDs were fraudulent.

While opponents of the Real ID act raise concerns over cost, that would only be true if passports was the only option. For an additional $15, drivers can get an enhanced license.

The part of the Real ID Act that is unnecessary is the implementation of a national database of information concerning Real ID. However, even this would have its pros.

According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), standardization of IDs across the United States would enable the location of terrorists before a strike occurs.

A national database would make facial recognition more effective, as well as expediting the process by which a terrorist can be located and stopped. This also ties into domestic terrorism, through the easier process by which someone can be tracked and stopped before they commit terrible acts, such as school shootings.

It is clear that if law-abiding Minnesotans want to live safe, productive and healthy lives, it is critical to stop the threat of all terrorism, foreign and domestic, by passing the Real ID Act.

Real ID Act changes

Real ID creates more problems than intended Identification act is restrictive on United States visa holders Emma Yarger slpecho.com

To obtain a license would require: • Birth certificate • Proof of residence • Social Security number • Lawful citizenship status Real ID does not affect: • Voting or registering to vote • Applying for or receiving Federal benefits • Drivers licenses • Health or life preserving services and law enforcement Infographic Hannah Leff Source Homeland Security

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eal ID’s purpose is to protect the United States against terrorism. In reality, it alienates immigrants and invades privacy.

Minnesota and only three other states, Montana, Missouri and Maine, are noncompliant with the Real ID Act. A lot of controversy surrounds creating all new driver’s licenses with the only difference of a new federal stamp.

However, Minnesota’s dispute is for good reason.

Changing driver’s licenses statewide will cost a substantial amount of money. If passed, the Senate bill will transfer $17 million to implement Real IDs in Minnesota, according to MinnPost.

Real ID is an overreach of the federal government. It undermines states’ rights, which are protected

under the 10th Amendment. Senators voted against the act in Minnesota because they still believe it threatens Minnesota’s privacy as well as citizens’ privacy.

Unfortunately, the federal government is using domestic flights to put pressure on Minnesota. By 2018, Minnesota driver’s licenses will not be an adequate identification for domestic flights because of Real ID. Passports or enhanced Minnesota driver’s licenses will be required to board domestic flights. Under the 10th Amendment Minnesota should be able to resist Real ID, but this pressure is causing Minnesota state senators to try to pass the act before 2018.

Another issue is the restriction the ID act places on immigrants.

America is a land of immigrants and this bill to preventing opportunities for immigrants.

Real ID should not be passed in Minnesota. Enacting it would eliminate any opportunity for visa holders to receive licenses and infringes on citizens’ privacy.

District must prioritize advancement of LGBTQA+ rights Gender Inclusion Policy creates safe school environment Jayne Stevenson jaynestevenson@slpecho.com

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n order to promote an equitable community for all students, Park’s School Board must pass the district-wide Gender Inclusion Policy.

Through various requests of the School Board, the policy intends to advance transgender and gender nonconforming students’ rights to help create a more inclusive and welcoming environment. All students have the right to feel valued and safe at school and in society, regardless of gender identity or expression.

The policy includes measures such as “honoring the right of students to be identified and addressed by their preferred name and pronoun” and “providing all students with access to facilities that align with students’ gender identity.” Instituting the Gender Inclusion Policy into Park public schools is imperative in order to address the systemic barriers transgender and gender nonconforming people face in society.

Park must continue to advocate for all students and fur-

PARK TRAIL neitzchedeuel@slpecho.com Ben & Jerry’s

ther the development of safe spaces for students to thrive both academically and socially. The passage of the Gender Inclusion Policy would help establish a precedent for other school districts and signify the unity among Park schools and students, despite society’s political atmosphere. Hateful actions in the country cannot define how Park students treat one another.

Students and community members should show their support for transgender students and Park’s inclusiveness by signing the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) petition.

It is important for all students at Park to remain loving and accepting of their fellow peers and to stand up for the rights of others.

Although the policy’s presence in district rules is crucial, students’, teachers’ and parents’ voices speak louder than words. Rules shouldn’t be the reason we strive to create a safe environment for students of all gender identities.

Every person must be thoughtful of their actions because it’s every person’s right to feel equal. However, the School Board still must increase its urgency in adopting a policy to protect all students.

Senior GSA president Elise Bargman said she spoke on behalf of the policy at a School Board meeting April 24.

Bargman said other school districts are further along in

Gender Inclusion Policy goals Respect all students’ gender identity In academic activities, do not separate students based on gender Allow students to participate in extracurricular activities that align with their gender identity Provide all students with access to facilities that align with students’ gender identity Infographic Lauren VonEschen Source change.org

establishing gender equality — this must become a priority in Park. It is important to support the policy for as long as it takes to be passed.

Despite the procedure involved in school district policies, gender inclusion is extremely important to students.

Neitzche Deuel

Izzy’s

Sebastian Joe’s Picking my favorite ice cream shop hurts my head!