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10 OPINIONS
Echo Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Echo
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 Assistant photo editor: Breanna Thompson News editor: Yonit Krebs & Sumaya Mohamed 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: Tjessa Arradondo, Maximillian Bechtold, Beck Bergland, Malaika Bigirindavyi, Chloe Blodgett, Daebreona Byrd, Natalia Caraballo, Culver Carden, Jenna Cook, Eli Curran-Moore, Nietzsche Deuel, Maia Doherty, Brooklyn Donelson, Racquel Fhima, Esther Gendler, Tenzin Gyaldatsang, Katie Hardie, Calvin Hatcher, Marta Hill, Abigail Intveld, Avia Kaner-Roth, Isabel Kjaer, Samantha Klepfer, Eleanor Kline-Olson, Alexis Machoka, Kimon Malone, Kahiro Lara Martinez, Stuart Monicatti, Evelyn Nelson, Sophie Olmen, William Phelan, Carissa Prestholt, KJ Preston Pepperell, Hadeal Rizeq, D’aviyan Robinson, Mariana Sanchez Zapata, Ruby Stillman, Amber Tran, Isaac Wahl, Hayley Westwood & Emma Yarger
Business manager: Yonah Davis
Our Perspective
I think (the new referendum) is a ridiculous waste of money, if I am being honest. Ayanna Nathan, junior
Government referendum is a start for change
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n Nov. 7, St. Louis Park citizens have the choice to vote for the $100.9 million bond referendum requested by the School Board. The referendum proposes multiple changes, most notably, more classroom space, a new theater for the middle school and a centralized kitchen for the district. The School Board is also seeking to renew the district’s operating levy of $2,079.99 per student annually. This operating levy covers the current costs for the district’s teachers, classrooms and programs. The referendum will require a tax increase for households in Park. If both the referendum and operating levy are approved, a median household of $250,000 will see a $12 increase in its monthly taxes. The editorial board believes the tax increase is a small price to pay for the improvements the referendum offers to the district facilities. Park schools do not have enough space for its students. The referendum will support the increasing enrollment into the
Photo used with permission from St. Louis Park High School
New spaces: Artist rendering of the proposed theater at the middle school. The new theater is part of the $100.9 million referendum that citizens will vote for Nov. 7. district by creating more classroom space at both the middle school and high school. Because the middle school does not have a theater, the school has to bus middle school students to the high school during productions. The referendum would eliminate the expense of paying for buses and would make coordinating middle school performances easier. The new theater will allow more available performance space, therefore allowing more opportunities for both middle school and high school students to experience theater. The centralized kitchen will be located at the high school. The kitchen allows fresh and healthy lunches to be prepared at the high school and middle school that will then be transported to the other
schools in the district. Because a large amount of Park students depend on school lunch for their meals, the district has a responsibility to ensure students are provided with nutritional meals at school. The referendum will help the district accommodate the increasing enrollment and update the aging facilities. These changes will be beneficial to students in the years to come. The editorial board urges students who are 18 years old to register to vote and consider voting “yes” for the referendum and operating levy. For students under the age of 18, the editorial board encourages them to talk to their parents and other adults in the community about voting yes.
Principal: Scott Meyers Printer: ECM Inc. Adviser: Lori Keekley *Denotes editorial board member
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 to ask the writer to edit for length and clarity. Anonymous letters wherein the Echo does not know the identity of the writer will not be printed. Advertisements will be sought from local businesses and school clubs and sports. We maintain 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, 2017 NSPA Print Pacemaker Finalist; 2013, 2014, 2015 National Print Pacemaker Award Recipient; 2014, 2015, 2016 Online Pacemaker Finalist; CSPA Gold Medalist; 2013 CSPA Gold Crown; 2015 CSPA Hybrid Gold Crown; 2012, 2014, 2016 CSPA Silver Crown; JEM All-State.
Proposed pipeline unearths controversy New oil line creates frustration and concern Hanna Schechter hannaschechter@slpecho.com
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nbridge, a transporter of fossil fuels, has proposed plans for a new pipeline to the Minnesota Department of Commerce that will carry crude oil and tar sands from Canada through Minnesota and into Wisconsin. The manager of the Energy Regulation and Planning department Kate O’Connell said, “Minnesota would be better off if Enbridge proposed to cease operations of the existing Line 3, without any new pipeline being built.” Enbridge’s proposed replacement pipeline would be constructed south of the original line crossing the Mississippi River and intruding onto Native American lands. The proposed line would disrupt Ojibwe wild rice lands, one of the largest in the nation, and the Red Lake sovereign nation located southeast of Leonard, MN. According to a spokesman from the Indigenous En-
Minnesota would be better off if Enbridge propsed to cease operations of the existing Line 3, without any new pipeline being built.
vironmental Network, Enbridge does not have permission to build the line on their lands. It is not just or right to destroy Native lands that may be holy or important to the tribes living there simply for the sake of Enbridge’s new pipeline. Native leaders and groups, such as Honor the Earth, have threatened to mass protest if the new line were to be approved by the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Tribal members said the new line will “have a disproportionate and adverse affect on tribal resources and tribal members.” Not only will the new pipe destroy native land. But Enbridge plans to construct without permission from the reservations or native leaders living on the land. Native Americans should have a right to dictate what happens on their reservations and lands. The United States Federal Government has recognized tribal nations as a “domestic dependent nation.” Furthermore, Enbridge has not demonstrated enough evidence as to why they must deviate from Line 3’s old route. The proposed line will run through Minnesota’s lake country crossing the Mississippi river and if oil were to spill it could be detrimental. Environmentalists and businessmen have attended State-led meetings concerning the new line. The Minnesota Department of Commerce will decide Dec. 11 if the proposed line meets all of the legal requirements. Then April 30 decide whether the department will approve or dismiss the new route.
To horror movies: I thought my grades were scary enough. Art Devin Raynor
To Target: does this mean Alex from Target gets a raise?
What do you think about the new pipeline?
“It doesn’t bother me so I guess I don’t know. It’s not personally affecting my life so I don’t have a reason to pay attention to it.”
Antoine Raine, freshman “It needs more time to be thought over. More people need to start listening to intellectuals who understand what’s going to happen.” Finnegan Reddan, junior “I don’t agree with it. I think we have done bad enough things to the Native Americans and we shouldn’t take more land.” Anna Moore, senior
To cultural appropriation: Guess I have to be a sexy nurse...
E.N., M.F., E.Y.
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I think (Target raising its minimum wage) is really awesome because people will be happier to work there.
OPINIONS
Echo Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Samyukta Yenamandra, senior
11
POINT COUNTERPOINT
Target corporation begins to raise minimum wage Salaries increased in October 2017 and will further increase by 2020. This decision is sparking debate between different factions in the workforce.
Raising minimum wage supportive for workers Target allows new opportunities for workers Hadeal Rizeq hadealrizeq@slpecho.com
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arget plans to increase its minimum wage to $15 by the end of 2020, according to Target Corporations. According to an MSNBC report, by the end of October, the company’s goal is to pay employees $11 an hour. This is especially great for states paying minimum wage workers at or below the federal average of $7.25. According to Pew Research Center, the current federal minimum wage is not enough to provide for families who want to make ends meet. Students who need to support their families are able to rely on a corporation like this to help with income and provisions necessary to live. According to the University of Amherst, Massachusettes, higher
minimum wages would reduce poverty by 6 million people for young adults. According to The Economic Policy Institute, if the minimum wage increased to $10.10, there would be an increase in 85,000 jobs in a time span of three years. Especially since Target’s goal is to reach $15 per hour by 2020, with more low-wage workers earning more money, it would help create more jobs in the long run. With Target taking these kinds of steps toward higher minimum wage, there will be an increase of production in the workforce which will contribute to better sales as well as higher profits. According to Melody Hobbs of Ariel Investments, one of Target’s problems is in sales, and mentions how the new minimum wage proposal provides a better likelihood in less millenial employees leaving. For students who want better career experiences, that is where Target is taking a step in the right direction.
New hourly wage
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In Oct. 2017, Target raised its minimum wage to $11 an hour.
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Target plans to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020.
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Target employees hired for the holiday season will be paid the new hourly wage. Infographic Sophie Yarosh Source Target
Minimum wage hike detrimental to workforce Target fails to consider impact of raising hourly pay William Phelan williamphelan@slpecho.com
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lthough this increase seems beneficial to the economy because it moves entry level workers close to a liveable wage, the impacts are not all positive. According to Target, currently 323,000 workers on its payroll qualify as low-wage hourly employees. Additionally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Target’s annual operating cost will increase by more than $1 billion each year the new minimum wage is in effect. One of the ways Target may make up the cost of raising the minimum wage is by raising prices on their products, which will decrease the buying power of the dollar and thus accelerate inflation.
Another drawback of increasing the minimum wage is with rising labor costs, companies make cutbacks on labor to minimize unnecessary labor expenditures. According to a study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage results in a four percent decrease in the number of low-wage jobs available. In 2016, the minimum hourly wage in Seattle experienced a hike from $11 to $13. Economists from the University of Washington studying the increase reported a 3 percent increase in overall wages by low-wage workers, but a 9 percent decrease in the number of hours worked by such workers. This resulted in a net loss of $125 a month per lowwage worker on average. Not only is increasing the minimum wage ineffective in boosting workers above the poverty line, it actually takes money out of the pockets of low-wage earners who need it most.
DeVos rolls back collegiate sexual assault policy Education secretary endangers students
Emma Yarger emmayarger@slpecho.com
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Infographic Emma Yarger Source RAINN
PARK TRAIL
ecretary of Education Betsy DeVos risks the safety of American college students by repealing Obama’s “Dear Colleague” letter in Title IX. Title IX disallows federally funded education institutions from discriminating against students based on their sex and gender identity. In 2011 President Obama added to Title IX with a “Dear Colleague” letter. This letter aided victims of sexual assault by guaranteeing their right to a safe campus that is free of sexual violence. By repealing this vital addition, DeVos shows college
students she does not care about their safety. According to DeVos, campus sexual assault legislation put in place by the Obama administration does not give suspects of assault proper due process. The decision to repeal this letter is problematic and a step backward for women’s rights because it gives criminals increased freedom and punishes victims. However, on Sept. 11, 2017 Secretary DeVos decided to repeal Obama’s legislation and stand up for the already privileged group of perpetrators. Victims once again need to have more evidence of an assault to prosecute their offenders. This decision is unsettling because one in every five women enrolled in college has been a
victim of sexual assault, according to the National Institute’s campus sexual assault study. DeVos’s stance proves how patriarchal the government and the education systems are because lawmakers choose to protect criminals instead of writing legislation to help the 20 percent of female identifying students who have been assaulted. DeVos said, on Sept. 7, “the truth is that the system established by the prior administration has failed too many students. Survivors (and) victims of a lack of due process.” DeVos refers to offenders as “victims of a lack of due process.” However, perpetrators are not victims and this statement only supports the entitlement and privilege men already have. DeVos
prioritizes protecting due process opposed to ensuring safety and comfort of victims. Repealing protective legislation that affects students and all women is detrimental, especially in a country that places priority on men’s rights. In reaction to this new policy women have been speaking out on social media using #metoo, which is a movement started by women’s rights activist, Tarana Burke. This movement allows victims of assault to share their stories online as well as support other victims. The outpouring of honesty from #metoo users shows how many people have been affected by sexual violence. It is essential that legislation like Title IX begin to reduce the amount of victims of sexual assault.
Nietzsche Deuel nietzchedeuel@slpecho.com
Twist on Tina’s Death by Freddy Krueger
Who’s there?
Tina!
See, all I wanted was a hug.