Issue 5 of The Emery

2727 Fuller Road Ann Arbor, MI 48105

The Emery

Volume 3 Issue 5 March 2018

The Student Publication of Huron High School

Ensuring safety in AAPS postParkland shooting

State

Students fight back Not victims, but survivors Former gymnast shares her experiences of sexual harassment with the Larry Nassar case, and helps to make a change. See more | Page 2

Julie Heng | Staff Editor

In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, students, parents, staff, and administrators alike have been concerned about safety in schools.

Liz Margolis, Ann Arbor Public Schools Executive Director of Student and School Safety, says she feels very confident in the Ann Arbor district’s safety precautions.

“We are always assessing our emergency response protocol,” Margolis says. “We are right now going through assessments about perimeter doors on all our schools.”

Margolis notes that many crisis safety measures have been implemented since Columbine. In terms of law enforcement, for example, the first officers on the scene now automatically follow the threat rather than wait outside for SWAT teams.

In the early 2000s, Ann Arbor received a grant from the federal government to examine the operation of safer schools, which led to a focus on buzzer systems and locked doors. ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training was introduced to AAPS in 2013 with support from the Ann Arbor Police and Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department. Students and teachers have been actively training since 2014.

The ALICE program is different from the traditional “hide under your desks” lockdown system. It promotes individualized, educated decisions in response to the threat of an active shooter. These may include barricading doors, countering attackers, or evacuating the premises.

Margolis credits the staff for their vigilance when it comes to these stressful training simulations. She explains that teachers have long been actively seeking out places for students to hide and escape in an See more | Page 2

National Students hold posters and listen to student speakers as they protest against gun violence. They stand out on the football field on March 14, despite the below freezing temperatures to show that they want change, and they are ready to make a difference. Students stood on the field for 17 minutes, starting at 10 am, while listening to a few of their classmates speak and taking a 2 minute moment of silence.

Photo by Sami Ruud.

Huron students join in the fight for gun control and their rights after recent Parkland school shooting

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What we need is a change.

And that is exactly what we are going to get.

Shamim Wambere Senior

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We are the next generation, we are the future, we are the change.

Anna Scott Junior

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A protest is a step in the right direction, but only a small step.

There are many more miles to go.

Charles Chisen Sophomore

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If there’s no stricter gun control laws, then the students shot at parkland… could have just as easily been ours.

Olivia Li Sophomore

Sami Ruud | Staff Editor

As the clock hit 12 p.m., seas of students piled out of their classrooms and into the hallways, down the stairs, and out the doors. At first glance, it appeared that students were leaving at the end of a school day. But instead, they were doing the opposite. They left the building and peacefully protested under the arch for only 17 minutes, each minute representing one life that was lost in the school shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.

Around the country, there have been many ways students have already started to stand up to politicians and for students to make a change.

There was a national school walkout on Feb. 14, along with other marches and press conferences, mostly led and organized by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. There was also a recent march on March 14, led by the Women’s March.

Students had many reasons for walking out of school on Feb. 14, and voiced those opinions to many. Some students even got up on the ledge and

started a chant, saying ‘We are students, we are victims, we are change.’

Many students protested their right to feel safe in their school.

“I should not have to fear for my life when I got to school where I feel like my school is going to get shot up,” senior Trevor Dial said. “Coming to school, we have a right to feel safe.”

“I have to be a student, an athlete, and now I have to be a warrior. I have to fend for my life. I have to feel unsafe at my school,” junior Theresa McKelvey said.

Principal Dr. Schwamb ensured that students have the first amendment right to protest, and although administration cannot voice their opinion, students can not be punished for a peaceful protest.

Most also protested for gun control, including not allowing guns in schools.

“AR-15’s are made to kill other people,” McKelvey said. “They should not be accessible.”

Another reason for this protest was to support the families of the victims and the See more | Page 2

Deer cull: Is it humane?

Timeline of major events that occurred during Donald Trump’s first year of presidency. See more | Page 4

Entertainment

The Touhou Project An introduction to the game series ‘Touhou Project’ and why you should play the game.

See more | Page 10

Entertainment

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2 Love, Simon: Movie Review

Ritvik Jillala | Staff Writer

There were a total of 159 deer killed in the Ann Arbor deer culls of 2015 and 2016. 63 deer were killed in January of 2015 and 96 deer were killed in January of 2016. In 2015, the Ann Arbor City Council passed a policy that created a 4-year program to control the population of deer through sterilization and shootings. The city is now in the third phase of the plan.

This year, a total of 115 deer were shot from Jan. 7 to Jan. 31 , although the target number was 250. The week before, 18 female deer were sterilized to control breeding. White Buffalo, the contractor that is carrying out the deer cull, acquired an experimental sterilization permit from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Ann Arbor is currently the only city in the state that is using sterilization to help control the deer population.

In a count conducted by the city on March 6, 2015, a total of 168 deer were spotted. By Feb. 18, 2016, 202 deer were counted. See more | Page 3

Trump’s first year in office

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1. Student speakers speak out to the hundreds of students who walked out of school on March 14 to support the victims of the Parkland shooting. “We may be young, but we have to force the government to listen to us,” Shamim Wambere said. 2. Sophomores ......., Aisha Said, and Macie Angeli smile for the picture. Right before, they were cuddling for warmth in the freezing temperatures. 3. Hundreds of students gathered on the football field during the March 14 walkout.

Many carried posters with them. 4. Sophomore Maureen Kengara, junior Alena ....., and sophomore Kasim Henderson hold posters to show they don’t want any more lives to be lost in schools. 5. Sophomore Cameron Donell asked to speak and said “No more violence!” 6. (From left) Shamim Wambere, Sophia Gibson, Anna Scott, and Karley Misek were the four student speakers at the walkout. Gibson and Scott were the two organizers of the walkout. “We are the next generation, we are the future, we are the change that this country so desperately needs,” Sxott said. “Without action and advocacy against this epidemic of gun violence in the US, nothing’s going to happen, but with your help, we can make a fundamental change to the essence of our country’s warlike nature.” 7. Akshay Sivakumar ‘wants change’.

Box office sales have already hit $39 million for the new LGBT+ rom-com. See what makes this movie so popular.

See more | Page 10

Stay connected

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News

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Sexual Assault on a National Scale

Instead my back never healed because the ‘treatment’ was illegitimate. I will live with these problems the rest of my life.”

Lorencen reached a breaking point when she was told that her injuries would heal faster if she quit gymnastics.

“Less pain, no more getting screamed at, no more five hour practices five days a week,” she said.

“I was able to be a normal 15 year old.

That is not to say that I wasn’t lost at first. Gymnastics was my identity for 12 years.”

Currently, Lorencen is in a recovery process. Her advice to others who have gone through the same thing is to take it one step at a time and not dwell so much on what one could have gone differently.

The Controversy of the Personal Projects JACK HARRISON | Staff Editor

This year marked the first time that sophomore students were required to take Personal Project as a class. This course is now required at Huron, unlike at other AAPS high schools, due to the implementation of the IB Programme. Before considering what students and staff have to say about Personal Project, it is important to have a sufficient understanding of what it is.

For a semester, a student carries out a project centered on a topic of interest to them through the process of an in-depth research project. It consists of three parts: a process journal, the actual project, and a report following the project. Students will be taught and guided by four criterions: the investigation, planning, taking action and reflecting.

J a s mine Xu, a sophomore who took the class this year, views her experience positively.

“I actually really liked personal project,” Xu said.

“But the class isn’t as structured as I would’ve liked. I think there were too many kids in a class, so teachers couldn’t focus on individuals enough...

But all in all, choose to make something, and choose a topic you enjoy.

The class is a lot more fun that way.”

Upon hearing that this course was mandatory, other students were not thrilled. Besides, some already knew they were not going to enroll in the Diploma Programme. Sophomore Benjamin Zhang fit into this category.

“I was very annoyed when I found out I had to take the course because it prevented me from pursuing electives,” he said.

Zhang set out to make a change. He created a proposal that would exclude future non-full-diploma students from taking the course if they so desired. In fact, he got around 160 students to support his proposal, mostly other sophomores.

Kevin Karr, the AAPS IB District Coordinator explained that Zheng’s proposal could not be passed because the MYP curriculum requires that student take Personal Project. For students that either did not want to enroll in MYP or take Personal Project, Karr explained that the school understands that students have “different needs and different schedules.” Therefore, with seven hours and the Independent Study option, students still have flexibility while taking “high quality courses.”

Overall, Karr feels that Personal Project allows students to demonstrate and develop skills that will be

useful in college, help them transition to 11th grade, provide them a “thoughtful education through planning, thinking and doing” and ultimately help them be successful in life.

“When students saw the exhibition, they were impressed by what they produced and how they communicated their product,” Karr said.

“Personal Project will do so much for the future of Huron while providing students a whole school experience.”

Zhang decided to revise the proposal to pass or fail, but after completing the course, he explained he has no reason to continue this proposal.

Student A* decided to enroll in an “independent study” Personal Project, which met twice a week. It quickly became “barely manageable” and also interfered with his lunch. He said that if he had access to transportation to another high school, he would have highly considered transferring because of the project requirement. “ I thought the school had students’ best interests in mind, but they do not,” student A said.

“I felt betrayed by the school.” Student A was not aware that he would have to fill the requirement upon coming to Huron. However, he felt that the teaching was sufficient and proper guidance was given the entire time.

Student B* is another sophomore who completed the project this year.

“The entire first quarter was filled with handouts about what our project was going to be,” student B* said. “All these papers said the exact same thing, and I had to spend my time doing the handouts instead of the project.”

Although some students may not have had the best experience, one sophomore enjoyed the class.

“My project was very straightforward and fun so I didn’t find many challenges,” the student said. “Also, I was given so much encouraging feedback and was able to talk to some people who were actually interested in my topic.”

This was also the first year teachers taught the course, with the exception of Melissa Saeed, who taught the introductory course last year.

“I love teaching this class because I learn so much from students,” Saeed said. “Students get to study what they are passionate about and use it as a vehicle to learn a lot of life skills along the way.”

She did further mention that she hopes independent study classes are run differently to allow students to share their projects with those taking the class.

Teacher Tony Whiren taught Personal Project for the first time. He

explained that staff in both the P.E. and Music Departments were primarily chosen, in order to give these departments more full time teachers. Whiren also said that he felt very supported

by Todd Newell and other administrators. His main job is to help facilitate ideas, and that next year, he is going to attack teaching differently to make sure that students complete components as they go along. He’s excited for next year and remains very open-minded while digging deeper into IB. Last year, some sophomores had the option to take a prototype version of the course. Kevin Zheng was one of about 25 who decided to take the class.

“I thought the idea of personal project was interesting, but the actual work seemed unnecessary at some points,” Zheng said. “Overall, I did feel that I learned from the experience.”

Junior Samantha Cho also explained that an excessive amount of time spent was spent on worksheets that helped students explore their passions. However, she did find the class helpful.

“I thought the personal project class was a good opportunity for me to get a better sense of how I’d have to manage my time with the upcoming IB internal assessments,” Cho said.

Shreya Banda, another junior who took the class with Cho and Zheng, felt the experience was worth w h i l e .

“Although it was challenging and frustrating at times, I got to research topics I was interested in and create a product I was genuinely proud of,” Banda said.

Although student A is still discontent about the requirement, he enjoyed doing the actual project component, but he felt the 10-page essay was unnecessary and a “complete waste of time.” He also mentioned that Personal Project is a great way for students to pursue an idea. He feels that Huron should not require those who are not DP candidates to be in the MYP track.

As for Zhang, “The class ate up a lot of time, and I felt I learned little,” he said.

Freshman Peter Hagen is looking forward to the class next year.

“I’ve heard that a lot more time is given than is really necessary to complete the basic stuff, so it’ll probably be nice to get my personal project out of the way,” Hagen said. “Hopefully, a decent topic will make it enjoyable to some degree.” *Indicates that the sophomore student requested to remain anonymous due to concerns about their name being published

“I can feel fine and then one day wake up and have it hit me like a ton of bricks,” she said. “Those days I let myself feel, and I think that is okay as long as I remember tomorrow is a new day.”

Lorencen says her biggest issue right now in the recovery process is learning to trust people again, especially doctors. Her mental and emotional state has been filled with constant anxiety, but she hopes that one day she can live a happy and safe life.

“I hope that I can eventually go out with friends and not feel like all the older men in the place are staring at me with certain intentions,” Lorencen said. “I know that’s the anxiety talking, I hope to learn how to be aware but not too aware.”

Everyone has a different

experience, so it is important to make a recovery plan that suits one’s situation and goals for regaining control.

“I have seen over 100 girls go through this. Everyone handles things differently,” Lorencen said. “There is no by-the-book way to handle things like this, only learning to listen to yourself and finding what is right for you individually.”

Not being afraid to speak up is an important life lesson that Lorencen has learned from her experience.

Everyone needs to listen to each other’s stories and experiences to eliminate the core of sexual assault in society. At Huron, we can start a sexual awareness club which would help make the school overall more aware of the issue and how to prevent people from ever going through it.

Ensuring safety Students fight in AAPS back Continued from Page 1

emergency.

“Our district understands the partial threat [of active shooters] and they have worked to eliminate those as many as possible,” Margolis says, observing the different tactics that must be used to keep students of all ages safe.

Currently, the district is placing greater emphasis on ALICE refresher sessions for new or returning teachers.

Kord Kozma, Ann Arbor-based ALICE trainer, emphasizes the importance of drilling various physical and mental techniques against an aggressive intruder effectively.

“One of the primary principles behind ALICE is that the people who are in harm’s way get to make the decisions that will help them survive,” Kozma says. “The whole thing is about enhancing survivability, [and] you do that by equipping students faculty and staff with the basic principles so that they can make the right decisions at the right time.”

Ann Arbor has not experienced a shooter event. At West Liberty-Salem High School in Ohio, however, ALICE intervention was deployed successfully during a shooting incident.

Only one targeted student was injured.

In similar cases, optimal training and drilling are equally as important, according to Kozma, in order to put the most distance between those in danger and the attacker.

Since the Parkland shooting, there has also been nationwide debate on other potential security options, such as having more law enforcement presence or arming teachers. “[T]he Ann Arbor Public Schools, through board of education policy, supports a gun-free learning environment that we will be defending at the State Supreme Court this April,” Margolis says. “Board policy [5420, adopted April 15, 2015] clearly states that AAPS operates as gun-free zones and this includes staff.” This is the same sentiment prescribed by the ALICE Training Institute.

“I’m not going to be naive and tell [concerned parents] that we’re 100 percent safe - I’m sorry but that’s just not the reality we live in,” Margolis says.

“But I am going to tell them that we have precautions in place. I would tell them that I feel very confident in the safety of our classes.”

Continued from Page 1

Sophomore Sean Underwood holds up a sign saying ‘Thoughts and prayers don’t save lives’ at the walkout on March 14, 2018.

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I’m out here to support the families that lost loved ones in the recent school shooting, Lewis Willis, senior

and their friends in the Florida school shooting.

The walkouts and marches not only support the people who were lost in the shooting, but also get the attention of congressmen and Donald Trump to make gun reforms. Many people are fighting for a more thorough background check to prevent people with mental illness from purchasing a gun. Also, many people want restrictions on the types of guns that can be purchased.

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At this point, Congress isn’t doing anything, so it’s up to us to take a stand and call them and encourage them to take action.

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“Don’t let anyone make you feel like you shouldn’t ask questions or make you feel “stupid” for asking questions,” Lorencen said. “A predator will make you feel this way.”

There is fake trust that often prevents victims from speaking up about the situation.

“If they try to convince you otherwise, by being your friend and gaining your trust with gifts and relatability, just remember that you have the right to question what is happening and stick up for yourself.”

Her coach, John Geddert, and her home gym, Twistars, made it very clear that Nassar was the one and only doctor she could see for her injuries.

Geddert seemed well aware of Nassar’s “treatments” and never said anything about it.

“My coach was not one I could confront that easily,” Lorencen said. “He was friends with Larry. I also figured he knew, so that was also why I thought I was safe. Having learned that he was told about it and did nothing, I know I wouldn’t have been saved by him anyway.”

Lorencen’s injuries progressively became more painful. Due to the severity of her spinal injuries and lack of treatment, she is now no longer able to run or remain physically active without experiencing immense pain.

“What if I would had had a different doctor, who would have actually treated me?” Lorencen wondered.

“What if I had a doctor who, instead of wasting a year abusing me, would have spent that time taking the proper action to actually heal my injury?

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Caitlyn Kaleta | Staff Writer

Larry Nassar, former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State sports clinic doctor was sentenced to 175 years in prison for child pornography and sexual assault on Jan. 16, 2018. His case has spurred awareness of sexual assault.

However, not everyone truly understands the position of the victims.

Nassar’s title was his cover for taking advantage of these elite athletes. Nassar was able to keep his victims silent for a long time and people shouldn’t be afraid to speak up and talk to a counselor. A sexual awareness club should be started to bring awareness to this big issue.

Former Grand Ledge High School student and gymnast Bailey Lorencen is one of many who have shown courage and strength despite their interactions with Nassar. She was assaulted by her gymnastics doctor while she was in 8th and 9th grade.

“I always thought it was weird that he never asked my parents for consent,” Lorencen said. “I also thought it was weird that he never wore gloves, but I trusted his world-renowned Olympic doctor title.”

There were girls younger than Lorencen who were also being assaulted

by Nassar. He was able to manipulate girls no matter their age.

“Whether you think so or not, while you are in high school, you are still young,” Lorencen said. “I thought I would have been old enough to realize what was happening, but I was naive and easily taken advantage of.”

Nassar always made Lorencen feel as she couldn’t ask questions.

Christy Martinez, junior

News CONTINUED FROM “DEER CULL” BY RITVIK JILLALA | Page 1 The current estimate of the deer population in Ward 1 and Ward 4 (which encompass about half of Ann Arbor) is 450.

White Buffalo Inc. has a current budget of $370,000, compared to the $260,000 allotted last year. The amount of money budgeted to this program and the nature of the program led to a large conflict between nature groups in the city.

Washtenaw Citizens for Ecological Balance (WC4EB) is an organization that advocates for the deer cull and provides the city with the deer statistics and information. They diverged from Wild Ones, an organization concerned with the native plants in the ecosystem, about a dozen years ago.

WC4EB coordinates with the University of Michigan and local surveyors to help create and provide data about the ecosystem for the city. They also provide a variety of points in support of the deer management program. Their mission is to promote awareness and discussion of the importance of biodiversity in our community and the threats that overabundant species pose to ecological balance. They believe that the most urgent threat, right now, to the Washtenaw County ecosystem is white-tailed deer. They believe that the deer are the natural prey species. Before the presence of humans, the deer had natural predators including coyotes and wolves.

However, the natural predators have left due to the arrival of humans. The deer population is 10 times larger than what it was when Columbus arrived.

There is no balance in the ecosystem.

Maurita Holland, a professor emeritus from the University of Michigan, is one of the founding members of WC4EB. “It really comes down to basic biology,” Holland said. “Now what’s the substitute for these natural predators? The automobile.”

Automobiles have been helping control the population, but the collisions have resulted in the

loss of quite a bit of money. The average cost for damages to a car due to a deer collision is around $4,200.

“Sure [deer] are beautiful,” Holland said. “Walt Disney did us no favors with Bambi. But we just don’t have the ability to sustain them in our land.”

Aside from the ecological reasons to control the deer population, humans have caught Lyme disease, and various other types of illnesses, due to the deer. This is a disease that is believed to spread through ticks, which latch onto deer. As deer keep spreading, so does Lyme disease, as do five other tick-based diseases.

“Many people believe that deer do not help spread the disease and have no relation to the ticks,” Holland said. “But the truth is that they are a core part of the cycle. They are the one critical place for the tick.”

“The nature parks that the city spends a lot of money on around Ann Arbor are being destroyed by the deer,” Holland said.

Each deer, which eats 6-10 pounds of vegetation per day, eats everything up to the level that it can reach. They eat a lot of the shrubbery, and also a lot of the seedlings and new plants. Gardeners find that they cannot grow spring flowers or wildflowers as the deer crumple them and browse through them.

“The trees end up looking like popsicles,” Holland said.

“The symbol of the city is an oak.

We cannot grow an oak here.”

Not everyone is for the deer cull, however. The Friends of Ann Arbor Wildlife and Nature (FAAWN) is an organization in Washtenaw County that fiercely opposes the deer cull. It was created 3 ½ years ago in response to the decision to start deer culls. A group of 150 people who were protesting at a City Council meeting came together and formed it. Every so often, they organize an All Groups Connect, where all the various groups from around Ann Arbor that oppose the deer cull meet and discuss methods of speaking out against the cull. Lisa

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Two deer pass through the woods near a residential area. The Ann Arbor deer culls have been championed by the Washtenaw Citizens for Ecological Balance, but prompts questions over ethics and safety. Photo by Julie Heng.

Abrams and Grant Schafer are two of the founding members of FAAWN. They believe that the killing of deer is inhumane.

“Most of us are concerned for animal rights,” said Schaper.

“It degrades us as human beings,” said Abrams.

One of the main points that WC4EB states to advocate for the deer cull is the role of deer in the spread of Lyme Disease. However, FAAWN states that there has been no substantial and statistically significant evidence that deer help spread Lyme disease. Scientific studies were conducted, but they did not get any statistically significant results. The advocates for the deer management program also believe that there will be an increased number of deer with the Chronic Wasting Disease. Even so, there is no known threat to the human race as there is

no evidence that the Chronic Wasting Disease can be transmitted to humans.

Along with the claims that are not backed up by scientific studies, there is a study that advocates against the deer cull. A study at Cornell University conducted by Professor Bernd Blossey found that, during the period of the deer cull, the number of people with Lyme disease actually increased, the number of deer collisions increased, and that the deer cull did not help with the issue of habitat destruction.

During the previous deer culls, a policy was in place that stated sharpshooters were not allowed to shoot within 450 feet from an occupied building.

However, this year, White Buffalo Inc. refused to work with that policy and the boundary ended up being thrown away.

“There is no more safety bubble around us now,” said Schaper.

FAAWN protested against

the deer culls in many different ways.

Their main time of protest is at the city council meetings. Their people show up at the meetings with signs and t-shirts, and protest. They value awareness of the public over everything.

“We need to educate the public.

Educate, educate, educate,” said Abrams.

With the spread of awareness about the deer management program and everything that is wrong with it, they believe the rest of the Ann Arbor community will rise up and protest against the deer culls with them.

Deer management has been a critical issue in Ann Arbor for the past few years, and it continues to be an issue that is becoming more prevalent by the day. The amount of support for each side continues to grow as well, with new members continuing to join various organizations.

Voters, not Politicians redraw the boundaries Niyati Kellenberg-Callewaert | Staff Writer

Do you know what gerrymandering is?

78% yes 22% no *of 105 Huron students polled

Gerrymandering is when the boundaries of voting districts are manipulated to favor one electoral party. This creates an uneven playing field where one vote won’t weigh the same as another.

To the right, a 25-person district is divided into five groups of five in three ways.

Notice how the different line divisions result in different majority outcomes. Graphic by Julie Heng.

The November elections are eight months away and it is approaching faster than you think and the organization Voters not Politicians is already thinking ahead. The organization Voters not Politicians defied the odds when it was able to collect 425,000 valid signatures to put the idea of citizen lead commission on the ballot for the upcoming November 2018 elections.

VnP is a non-partisan organization that consists of over 3,000 volunteers who represent all 83 Michigan counties.

The group started on Face-

Book by Katie Fahey, who is now the president and treasurer of the organization. VnP has a mission to end gerrymandering through a citizen led ballot initiative. For VnP to get their message on the November election ballot, the Michigan Secretary of State required 315,654 valid signatures within a 180 day period. This was deemed near impossible to do, but VnP was able to pull it off collecting 425,000 valid signatures.

Now going into their second phase, VnP wants to educate all voters.

The ballot is asking voters whether they

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approve the creation of a citizen commission against gerrymandering. The commission will be composed of four democrats, four republicans, and five non-politician independents who will have representation from across the state. These people will be responsible for drawing the district lines in the future so they are fair to all parties and are not manipulated to favor one over another.

“I feel knowing about gerrymandering is very important because it strongly impacts who gets elected and who represents us,” Junior Cameron Garay said. “If we have an unfair system

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1 2 red/3 blue - BLUE WINS

then the scales are tipped and you are never able to trust who is in charge.”

Volunteers who are interested in ending gerrymandering and creating a fair voting ground are welcome to join at http://www.votersnotpoliticians.com/volunteer. Gerrymandering is a pressing issue all over Michigan, and there are lots of kids at Huron who will be voting in the 2018 election who need to be educated about the options they have and what will or won’t benefit them.

2 2 red/3 blue - BLUE WINS

3 3 red/2 blue - RED WINS

Animal abuse in circuses continues TaKayla Pugh-Henderson | Staff Writer

Between 1996 and 2016, 65 circus elephants died premature deaths. Usually circuses are fun for all people—perhaps lions, tigers, elephants, or clowns come to mind. Behind all the laughter, loud music, and games, however, there is something more horrific happening: animal abuse.

Animal abuse happens all over the world. People may not speak the same language, but the actions which connect them are criminal and unlawful. In circuses, they disguise their abuse of animals with entertainment.

According to PETA, circus trainers abuse animals with whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks (heavy batons with a sharp a steel hook on one end), and other painful tools of the circus trade.

In the circus animals have no true interaction with their wild instincts.

Circuses strip animals from their natural instincts and make them into cartoonish creatures. The mental and physical abuse behind it all is quite disturbing. There have been a few instances where elephants broke free and ran into oncoming traffic, crashing into

buildings and injuring people in communities and members in the circus.

In Oklahoma, the Carsons and Barnes Circus elephants were seen being transported between carts on the 69 freeway. It was said by witnesses that the elephants had whip markings on their bodies. Multiple elephants were cramped in a small moveable trailer.

There is a decreasing number of lions, tigers, and elephants alive in the wild and an even smaller number alive in captivity. Most lions in captivity are born into lion parks and are bred to be killed by poachers and trophy hunters. In circuses, they are treated similarly; in “big cat farms” instead of being sold they are forced to perform acts.

There are a few reasons why big cats don’t belong in circuses: they are crammed in tiny carts for hours upon hours waiting to perform; they are deprived, socializing, and roaming around; they are forced to urinate in the same area as other big cats; and their maternal bonds are broken. In the wild lion and tiger cubs are raised by their mothers until they reach the age of maturity. In the circus, they are taken away from their mother at birth. Their social

and psychological needs are denied.

Tigers are semi-nocturnal, meaning they roam through the night to hunt for food. In the circus they are forced to perform during the daytime.

They are also solitary animals, which means in the wild only one tiger would be seen. In the circus, they are usually grouped together, resulting in tension and fights. They are punished and de-

nied food if they do not follow through with their training. Tigers along with other animals, are forced to wear heavy chains around their necks. One of the acts that is well known in a circus is the ring of fire; fire is a tiger’s natural enemy.

The number of big cats that have been in captivity that have died is 126. The number of humans that have been attacked is 23, according to born

free usa.org. This is a huge problem and over years it doesn’t seem like anything is changing with animal cruelty.

Awareness needs to be raised so that people can see the damage that is being done to wild animals in the circus.

If you are a person that wants to prevent more animal lose and animal abuse in circuses you can visit animalsarelikepeople.weebly to get more information.

Call for a free 30 minute lesson!

Feature

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Donald Trump’s First Year

2017 January 20

Katherine Gurgenian | Staff Writer

January 21 Women across the globe march for women’s rights.

Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States of America.

January 22 The president’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway, uses the phrase “Alternative Facts” during a Press meeting.

January 20

Trump signs two executive orders to advance the construcJanuary 27 tion of the Dakota Access Pipeline, rolling back ObamaTrump issues an order where citizens era environmental policies. from 7 Middle-Eastern countries March 7 cannot enter the U.S., which will be blocked multiple times throughout the year.

How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!

Unsure-2

April 6 Trump fires 59 cruise missiles at Syria, killing Syrian civilians along with Syrian soldiers, in response to a chemical attack Syria executed on the U.S. a couple of days prior.

Huron Poll

May 6

Has Trump Been a Good POTUS his Trump fires FBI director James Comey, shocking the naFirst Year? tion.

No-1

No - 28

June 1 Trump withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords, an agreement between nations to battle climate change.

Huron Poll Did a foreign country meddle in the 2016 presidential election?

Unsure-6

Yes-23

June 26 The Supreme Court allows a limited version of Trump’s travel ban to go into effect on June 29, 2017.

July 26

July 7 Trump and Russia president, Putin, meet in person for allegedly the first time.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow... .... Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming..... ....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.

Thank you

July 28 John McCain votes no on the Republican health care bill.

Huron Poll Are current congressmen and congresswomen Addressing the public’s demands?

August 12 Trump condemns hate “on many sides” in the Charlottesville attack.

December 20 The new tax plan, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, is passed by Congress and Trump.

Impeachment-15 Start of World War III-7

August 18 Trump fires Steve Bannon as White House chief strategist.

December 1 Trump donates his third-quarter presidential paycheck to fight the opioid crisis.

2018

Nothing-1 Taken over by Mike Pence-1 I don’t know-3 Policies will be improved-3

No-30

Huron Poll

January 22

What’ll Most Likely Happen During U.S. vice president Mike Pence announces new U.S. embasTrump’s 2nd Year as POTUS? sy to be built in Jerusalem.

Opinion The Emery The Student Publication of Huron High School

Adviser Sara-Beth Badalamente

Editor-in-Chief Kara Kozma

Staff Editors Jack Harrison Julie Heng Ritvik Jillala Samantha Ruud

Staff Writers Adela Buranova Amber Clark Sydney Crispin-Pischea Anna Domagala Micah Etchison Aaron Garrett Destiny Gibson Sylvia Giger Yennifer Guerra-Pantaleon Katherine Gurgenian Gena Harris Alexander Hassan Parker Hermanson Wei-Chi Hsiu Michael Huang Caitlin Kaleta Niyati KellenbergCallewaert Daniel Middaugh De’Andrew Powell Takayla Pugh-Henderson Jorge Rodriguez Mercy Rubio-Sanchez Alyssa Salamin Eilyn Sanabria Austin Shepherd Cierra Slater Shannon Stocking Marshelle Walker Patrick Wang Anna Weigel George White Ian Wilson

The Emery Staff Policy The Emery is a newspaper produced by and for the students of Huron High School. The Emery exists to inform and entertain the student body by producing quality content on a variety of school, community, national, and international issues. We at The Emery aim to improve ourselves as writers, thinkers, and communicators serving communities to which we belong, and we strive to maintain the highest degree of journalistic integrity.

All opinions pieces published by The Emery reflect only the views of their authors, not those of the adviser, editor-in-chief, editorial board, or other staff members.

The Emery achieved a Gold Ranking in the Spartan Critique for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The Emery is a member of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, the National Scholastic Press Association, and the Journalism Education Association.

5

Conservative censorship on social media Conservative Corner Jack Harrison | Staff Editor Social media: the medium of today’s generation. The medium through which anyone and everyone can spread information through brief messages, photos, and videos. When people first started using social media, its main purpose was to allow individuals to express themselves and share their lives through photos. Social media allowed people to reach dozens of their friends in just seconds. Prior to its creation, there was no way to do this. Needless to say, social media revolutionized communication and socialization. But it also impacted how people obtained their news.

Any person can share a false piece of news over social media that can be perceived as true to others. Specifically, there are both left and right-wing media pages that circulate incorrect or significantly skewed information in the form of a meme or illustration. Although it social media provides benefits, the bottom line is that it is affecting news.

But, are certain opinions and views be censored on social media? Well, it’s happening. It’s called conservative censorship. This might be new to you and there’s a reason why: the mainstream media is not reporting on it.

Many individual conservatives have been censored for reasons they believe were due to their political beliefs. In recent years, they could not prove it, and perhaps it was not happening to very many. But over the last few years, proof has been compiled from some of the world’s largest news mediums: Twitter and Facebook.

Project Veritas exposes Twitter: Recently, people went undercover and filmed Twitter employees saying they do show bias against conservatives when regulating content.

Specifically, the operative showed that Twitter shadow bans those with conservative beliefs. This means that a person can post something on twitter, but they do not know their followers and others on the site cannot view their post. Straight up blocking informs the user that their post was taken down, which is already unfair, but this is even more punitive.

This is not that surprising because executives and employees of social media companies have donated thousands to the Democratic Party. A fraction of the long list includes Sean Parker, the first chairman of Facebook, who gave over 30,000 to Obama; Google’s Sergey Brin, who gave the same amount as Parker; Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and many of his colleagues donated over 1.5 million to anti-Trump groups; Google’s board of directors donated six times more to democrats than republicans; Facebook employees, who donated over 100,000 to Hillary Clinton, the most to any 2016 candidate; and the list goes on.

It makes total sense to restrict vulgar and inappropriate posts, but a post about Trump’s economic success or Hillary Clinton lying to families of those killed in the Benghazi Attack is not inappropriate. I understand that there will be posts from the right, as on the left, that are false or withold facts. But Twitter and other media companies aren’t just removing posts that are false and possibly believable. They are focused on conservative posts regardless of their validity. Recently, conservative commentator Sean Hannity’s twitter was unavailable for the public to view for several hours.

The same thing happened at Facebook in 2016: In 2016, an undercover journalist found that workers often suppressed news that would appeal to conservative readers from the company’s influential “trending”

news section. Specifically, stories related to CPA and to conservative politicians like Mitt Romney were censored. These stories were trending among users, but not among company employees.

“Several former Facebook “news curators,” as they were known internally, also told Gizmodo that they were instructed to artificially “inject” selected stories into the trending news module, even if they weren’t popular enough to warrant inclusion—or in some cases weren’t trending at all,” according to Gizmodo. These curators, who are contractors further said they were told to include news about Facebook itself.

On another note, Facebook could be flat out eliminating conservative accounts. Matthew and Jennifer Burke are conservative activists who launched a website with Facebook called “The Politistick.”

The website was a hit, but right before the 2016 election, the engagement the website generated from Facebook mysterious fell. It certainly makes you wonder what happened?

Google: James Damore was fired from Google for claiming that men are more attracted to the tech industry than women.

But he’s right, there are more men in engineering and technological positions and Damore did not make any judgment against women. He and another former Google employee sued Google and in their complaint, they mention that Google embodied an “environment of hate” against anyone with conservative viewpoints. In fact, they noted threats are made against conservative at Google, according to the Washington Times.

In addition, Google waged war on fake news and included fact checking in the search results. Or in their language, censoring conservative media. “For example, The Washington Times is noted as having a

political alignment, while The Washington Post carries no such alignment. Neither does The New York Times even though it is also famously liberal.

Youtube, which is owned by Google contains vulgar and sexually inappropriate videos. But what do employees sensor instead? Completely appropriate conservative commentaries.

A further problem: Twitter, Facebook, and other social media companies are becoming a news organizations like politically-biased network news stations. Posts and trending news reflect the companies opinions, and each post is like an editorial. To begin with, I do not even think social media should be a news medium. Now, they’re politically skewed ones. With network news organizations, there’s one for almost every view. But social media, that’s not the case- they’re all liberal, which is a danger.

My Solution: Be yourself and do not hesitate to express your beliefs and conservatism. They are censoring us because with their billions of dollars, they are eying to control the “new public square.” This could then give them control in the political process. This is especially true with the mainstream media, and social media now the younger brother.

I call on Congress or the Justice Department to hold these companies accountable,whether it be through fines or an investigation. But then the mainstream media will probably pass the narrative, “Republicans are censoring media they disagree with.” (Which would be super ironic.)

This must change because it is a threat to democracy and media liberty. If these tech companies refuse to change their narratives, then perhaps we must consider breaking them up.

Time for Huron to impose food restrictions on campus?

Austin Shepherd | Staff Writer There have been 3 allergy-related incidents that required calls to Emergency Medical Services to campus premises thus far this school year as confirmed by Huron’s nurse, Kate Odette. She also confirmed count of a total of 94 severe food allergies as well as 12 insect allergies among the student population at this point in this academic year. The question may arise of how we can prevent a similar event from taking place in the future.

Like anything else, choosing to impose limits on what food items can be brought to campus has its fair share of pros and cons. Here are some points to consider.

The Pros: Limiting certain food products can decrease the overall likelihood of an incident: Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) estimates that 1.3 percent of the American population is allergic to peanuts. 1.2 percent of Americans report being allergic to shellfish, such as crab, lobster, and clam. Other common allergens include soy, dairy, egg, and other fish products. When the top two allergens are combined, they account for 2.5 percent of the American population. Other common allergens that make up lesser percentages include milk, eggs, and tree nuts, like almonds and cashews. Given the inherent risk of allergy to these products that exist among cohorts of the student and staff population, food-based limitations could decrease the overall risk of a serious incident by a significant margin, thereby ensuring the health and safety of a larger group of students and staff.

Food allergies can be triggered in a number of different ways: MedicinePlus lists the primary cause of food allergies as ingestion of the particular food product in question.

People with peanut allergies can also get a reaction simply by breathing in the peanut particles or touching the peanut product. In a communal environment such as our school, particularly during lunch periods and during periods where multiple students are gathered in one specific area (such as under the arch, in classrooms, or in the hallways), the occurrence of a potentially life-threatening incident is inevitable and may occur at any moment in any place. People with severe food allergies face the stark reality that they must take a risk every time they come to school, and there is no easy way to predict when an incident may take place.

The Cons: It would be a difficult policy to enforce: In an era where the Ann Arbor Public Schools and other districts around the country are trying to cut back on student disciplinary action, including in-school and out-of- school suspension, punishing a seemingly innocent mistake doesn’t seem viable, especially given the fact that in the vast majority of cases, students and staff don’t bring potentially dangerous food products to school with the intent to do harm to other students and staff. Such a policy would be at best a “gray area” policy as a result, and our school’s resources are not unlimited in terms of their ability to closely inspect and monitor what students are bringing to school. In other words, there would be no efficient way for staff members to search every single student’s belongings for banned food products. If Huron’s Administration wanted to get serious about restricting food products, they would need to do one of two things, use an unbiased system to target specific groups of students for restricted food products, or allocate more resources, preferably in the form of Community Assistants and other cafeteria staff to the duty of student possession search.

Students are simply allergic to too many things: Though eight different foods account for 90 percent of all food allergies according to FARE, many of these products are common food items consumed by a significant number of American students. Such items include milk, eggs, wheat, and peanut products. It is nearly impossible to predict the food allergies of any given student without viewing their medical documentation or inquiring about their dietary restrictions, and the incidence of food allergies among all staff and students cannot be effectively assessed without taking inquiry of all of the students who have food allergies, and any student in a particular graduating class may be allergic to any given food product. This information is generally not available to the general student and staff population, so any information most students or most staff members would know would need to come from the students themselves.

Some Possible Solutions: There are things our school can do to help protect affected students and staff from allergy-related problems without imposing food-specific restrictions. Here are some possible policy changes our administrators may want to consider.

Restrict food in classrooms: Some Huron teachers have already imposed restrictions or outright bans on eating in their classrooms, but an incentive should be given to allow more teachers to follow suit in the form of a school-wide policy. In addition to the potential risks food in classrooms poses, food can also distract from the learning process in other ways. For instance, it might be harder to concentrate on an important history project if one’s neighbor has brought with them a pungent plate of spicy orange chicken. Under such a policy, students should not be referred to an administrator unless they repeatedly refuse put their food away. Teachers may also confiscate the food items until the student’s lunch period at their own risk.

Designate sections of the cafeteria as nut-free zones: It can be expected that our cafeteria may house close to half of the student population for any given lunch period, so naturally there is a substantial risk for a student to experience a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction, and many of our school’s vulnerable students will be in attendance at any given time. Because there is no effective or efficient way to ban the food products students bring to campus, providing nut-free zones in our cafeteria may give our most vulnerable students a safe space to enjoy their lunch without the fear of experiencing a reaction. Should this policy go into effect, large signs shall be placed next to tables where nut products are prohibited. Available cafeteria supervisors shall be stationed next to nut-free tables if possible to further remind students of the nut-free policies. Any student caught consuming nut products at these designated tables will have them confiscated and thrown out. Repeat offenders will be referred to administration for discipline.

Final thoughts: Though it is understandable that many of our students possess severe food allergies in our school and that incidents are very likely to occur as long as any food products enter our school. However, common sense may prove to be the best tool in crafting policies that protect but do not restrict. Our administration is encouraged to take the above factors and solutions into account should they decide to make any changes to the policy so that students are free to consume whichever food they wish while in the cafeteria while setting standards that put barriers in between vulnerable students and a serious allergic reaction.

The real facts about gun control: a conservative perspective Nathan Penoyar | Guest Writer Here is what we know about the Parkland shooting last month: cowardly School Resource Officer Scot Peterson, who was stationed at the school ran away when shots were first fired, rather than confronting the killer. Before the shooting, it was confirmed that law enforcement was called to the shooters’ house at least 39 times and that he failed his psychological examination.

He also spoke of how he would become the next school shooter. His neighbors were constantly calling the cops worrying what the (at the time future) killer would do. If this had been on his record, then he would not have passed his background check, and thus would not have been able to buy his gun.

If we can’t trust our law enforcement to simply place all of this on his record, then why should we have to hope that the cops will respond to our calls in time? On average, police response times are 10 minutes. In some areas it can be one hour, and the cops might not come at all if you live in high crime areas. So wouldn’t it be better if we had the ability to defend ourselves? According to the CDC, between 500 thousand and 3 million people use a gun to defend themselves per year. What should we tell these people? “Well, it sucks for you, but you can’t own a gun because of public safety”?

According to FBI statistics, 98.7 percent of mass shootings that have occurred since 1950 have been in gun-free zones. So why would we want to continue more of those policies if we are trying to stop crime? That doesn’t make sense. In the

case of Parkland, the armed school resource officer ran away while coach Aaron Feis used his body to shield students. Feis ended up getting killed in the process. If Feis had a gun, then he would have most likely been able to stop the killer instead of having to sacrifice his body and die.

The solution to this epidemic of mass shootings isn’t banning certain types of guns or moving the gun buying age up to 21. What we do need is psychological background checks that would prevent the mentally ill from getting guns as well as more adequate treatment for the mentally ill. As for banning bump stocks?

Both sides appear to have gotten behind a ban on bump stocks, and they aren’t too common in the first place. Do you know why there are almost never mass shootings at inner-city schools? That is because they have metal detectors installed there as well as armed security that isn’t afraid of a confrontation. We should do the same here at our schools. That way, nobody will be able to sneak a gun into school. It is great that the STOP School Violence Act has passed Congress and has been signed into law by Congress. It was a bill that was sponsored by both parties. It funds training for people to identify warning signs of someone who is a risk to those around them. It will also provide funding that will implement school threat assessment procedures. It will create a violence reporting system that is much more coordinated than it has ever been before.

In the days after Parkland, I saw several op-eds in the opinion sections of the mainstream press (such as the former

Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens in the New York Times) advocating for completely scrapping the Second Amendment. They argue that it is outdated and antiquated. They are wrong. Our founding fathers came up with the Second Amendment specifically for the purpose of allowing us common citizens to defend themselves. Thomas Jefferson said that an armed population would keep a government in check.

Some will try to point to Europe’s lower crime rates to prove their points.

They will also try to say that those countries don’t have nearly as many mass-shootings.

While this is true, it is because those countries have a smaller population than the US (we have the third largest population in the world). Therefore, there are fewer potential mass-shooters because of the lack of people.

Also, these countries had lower crime rates in the first place. Also, in countries that have banned guns, crime rates have gone up after the bans was put in place. In those countries, criminals still manage to get firearms without having to follow any laws and they also use other means of attack, such as using knives and acid. Just recently, London eclipsed New York City (a city with a very similar population size) in murders.

In February 2018, London had 15 murders verses 14 in New York. In March, 22 murders took place in London, compared to 21 in New York. London is now considering putting “knife control” in place. This shows that banning most guns from society does not stop a murder from taking place.

A good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. In Sutherland Springs,

Texas, while 26 people were killed, a lot more would have been killed if Stephen Willeford had not confronted the shooter.

Willeford heard the shots from his house and grabbed his gun and quickly ran over to the church to confront the shooter.

He managed to wound the shooter, who decided to run away. The shooter eventually decided to kill himself because he knew that Willeford would catch up with him in his pursuit. Willeford is a member of the NRA and not a member of the law enforcement.

He is just a common citizen who happened to have an AR-15 on hand at the time of the shooting. The AR-15 was able to penetrate the body armor that the shooter was wearing due to the bullets having a higher caliber. If Willeford had not had a gun, a lot more people would have died.

I have heard the argument that when the police get to the scene of the shooting, if the teacher has engaged the shooter, the cops won’t be able to tell the difference between the shooter and the teacher. This is a flawed argument due to the fact that the teacher with the gun will have most likely subdued the shooter by the time that the cops show up. If the teacher has proper training with a gun and wants to carry, then let them carry. Nothing makes a shooter stop in their tracks more than someone who is able to counter them.

Interested in publishing your writing? Consider guest writing for The Emery.

Submit your piece to the editorial board for consideration by emailing 2019kozmakarag@aaps.k12.mi.us.

Feature

6

What’s it like to be a student entrepreneur?

Just ask junior Surya Raghavendran

The power of adoption

Jack Harrison | Staff Editor

Sydney Crispin-Pischea | Staff Writer

In October of 2016, Surya Raghavendran decided to go for a run. Shortly into his run, his iPhone 5 fell out of his pocket, shattering his screen into pieces. Like anyone would, he sought help from the apple store to get his screen repaired. Not only did the repair cost a whopping $150, but his screen also still did not function properly. However, this is where Raghavendran’s story is a little bit different. Most would return to the apple store, but Raghavendran did not. Instead, he decided to make the repair himself. Little did he know he would soon make a business of it.

Raghavendran discovered that he could make the same repair for more than one hundred dollars cheaper than Apple. He was able to find a sponsor, allowing him to purchase screens in bulk for cheap prices, and, with the power of YouTube, SKR SCREEN REPAIR was born.

“I took advantage of the very high prices of apple and increased my profit margins. I’m now doing repairs at a flat rate of 65 to 75 dollars,” Raghavendran said.

In order to grow his company, he created

Email: skrscreenrepair@gmail.com Website: www.skrscreenrepair.weebly.com Other repairs: - Charger ports on devices - Headphone jack repairs - Button replacements on devices

Raghavendran makes all his repairs in an office in his basement. Here, he is featured making a screen repair. Photo courtesy of Raghavendran’s website.

social media accounts, t-shirts, and business cards. However, at this time, he still had not exactly informed his parents yet.

“After my third or fourth repair, my parents found out,” Raghavendran said. “They told their colleagues, and I got some business from them. They were kind of supportive, but then it took an adverse relationship with the grades.”

It became quite apparent that balancing business and school was going to be difficult. Raghavendran explained that due to the time he invested in repairing screens, his grades suffered. “I spent lots of time marketing and growing my business my sophomore year, “ he said. “Now, I am paying for it.”

That being said, he realized the importance of time management, and that school is the first priority. Now, Raghavendran invests more time in school and limits his work to just weekends, only doing a couple repairs every month. Raghavendran emphasized that he does not want other entrepreneurs to make this same mistake.

“If you are thinking of starting ideas, it is critical to develop and plan

your schedule in the summer,” he said.

Now, having several years under his belt, he has some important takeaways.

Since there are many types of phones, there are different types of compatible screens, and on top of that, inventory can be tough to come by. “Remember, don’t ever pay more for what you don’t need. This is the first thing all entrepreneurs must keep in mind,” he said.

Raghavendran realized that entrepreneurs must emphasize customer service because it can be especially difficult to overcome a negative reputation, especially at an early stage.

“At this stage, the short term goal is to finish what I’ve started- to have started something and gone through with it,” Raghavendran said. “This is one of my main mottos I try to live by in life.”

He explained that although he enjoys what he is doing, he does not plan to make fixing screens a professional job because it would be a “waste of an education.” However, he has achieved his original goal of a “successful two-year run” and is quite proud of his success.

Raghavendran clearly has a passion

for entrepreneurship. In fact, he even started an entrepreneurship club at the start of this year where students could share and gain knowledge about entrepreneurship. Raghavendran quickly realized that membership would be tough to come by, since he is one of the few student entrepreneurs at Huron.

Instead of abandoning the club, he changed the purpose of the club. “My idea shifted to something we can do as a club,” he said.

The members decided to create a business together, thus allowing them to experience entrepreneurship first-hand.

The members brainstormed ideas, thinking about what students ultimately want. That led them to the idea of engraving phone cases with symbols and words relevant to Huron. They are currently in the prototyping stage, but expect to release their phone cases to the student body later this year.

Raghavendran is confident that his products will sell because of their appeal and because of the pricing model that was developed. The next task for the club is to solidify their final products and get them stocked in both the Green House and Spirit Shop.

I grew up with two very loving moms who adopted me and my brother Lance. We were born Antigua, Guatemala in an orphanage. When our parents adopted us, we were very young, so we grew up in the U.S. Being adopted, I have not learned any Spanish, nor do I know to much about my culture. However, back in 2016, my parents took us to Guatemala to see and learn more about where we were from, and now it’s like a home. Getting to visit made me feel more intact with myself and my culture.

Growing up, I didn’t know how people would react if they knew I had two moms, and once they found out they thought it was the coolest thing ever. I get asked a lot about where I am from because I don’t look like my parents. I also get asked if I speak any Spanish. One thing some adopted parents do is have what’s called a “gotch you day,’’ which is the celebration of when I first came home. We usually sit down and watch tapes my mom made of us when she went to visit us in Guatemala. Then we ate cake, and they give us cute little presents.

When we were growing up, we had a lot of friends that were adopted from Guatemala, and we used to always meet up at a tree and then go play around in the neighborhood. Once I got to middle school, I met my best friend, Hallie. She was adopted from China. Both she and I had the same baby dolls to help us fall asleep, plus a backup one in case the other baby got lost. We are still friends to this day, and we consider her as family because she has been there through so much.

Being from a adopted family is pretty cool, and I love it. If I hadn’t gotten adopted, I wouldn’t be where I am now, so for that I’m grateful. I have a ton of cousins that I grew up with and we’re all so close. Sometimes we get looked at because our family is different, but it doesn’t really bother me because I love my family and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

Possible is everything.

Lawrence Technological University isn’t for just anyone.

We want the future designers, engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs who will create the innovations of tomorrow.

What do students think of LTU? Watch our video! ltu.edu/studentstories

5th

11:1

88%

in nation for boosting graduates’ earning potential

student/faculty ratio

students employed or registered for graduate school at commencement

admissions@ltu.edu

Architecture and Design | Arts and Sciences | Engineering | Management

Join Huron Men’s Golf Contact coach Patrick Kelly at patrick.kelly.t@gmail.com

Feature

7

Racial Equity in Our Community

Ypsilanti, MI 48197 United States

Ann Arbor, MI 48104 481 United Uni States

Our Communities’ Thoughts

“You see a lot of educational inequities [in Ypsilanti]. The education there is not given as much support as in Ann Arbor. They’re not given what we’re given to better themselves.”

--Senior Jacob Heningburg

“There’s so many resources available for everyone at Huron. It’s all about taking advantage of those resources.”

--Senior Brendan O’Bryant

Together We Can. Alyssa Salamin and Ian Wilson | Staff Writers Washtenaw County officials have been working together to create an initiative that focuses on advancing racial equity in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. On Jan. 25, 2018, in a press release, the City of Ann Arbor Administrator, Howard Lazarus, and The Washtenaw County administrator, Gregory Dill, launched the new “One Community Equiative Initiative” in Washtenaw County, Michigan. This initiative is not only aimed at advancing racial equity but also at bettering communities here in Washtenaw County.

This initiative is a joint initiative between the city of Ann Arbor officials, the Washtenaw County officials, and GARE (Government Alliance on Race and Equity).

Andrea Plevek, the Director of The Office of Community and Economic Development, has been working alongside Teresa Gillotti, the Housing and Infrastructure Manager of the Office of Community and Economic Development, for years to take action in trying to change the racial disparity in Washtenaw County.

“I’ve been working here at the county in this department for about ten years now,” Plevek said. “Our work is centered on really lifting up communities and identifying where we can better support our community members and neighbors.”

The first step in publicly speaking about racial equity within our county was taken back in 2015 at an equity summit. At this summit there were speakers from the county’s sheriff’s, state organizations, and even national organizations.

“A big part of this work and what we’re learning is how to do community engagement thoughtfully and specifically as it relates to racial equity efforts,” Plevek said.

GARE is working with staff and elected officials to do a lot of learning and analysis of how they do business over the next 11 months. By doing this they will also learn more about racial disparity and how to engage with community regarding racial disparity.

This is a major step in the One Community Equity Initiative.

Washtenaw County Equity Statistics “When you have parents that value education and they stress the importance of it I think it helps a student to become be more engaged . Regardless of where [students] come from in the county there has to be a value of education that is reinforced at home.”

--Teacher Scott Hunter

“There’s quite a bit of separatism related to income, even though Ann Arbor is portrayed as a community with expensive homes and high-end jobs, I definitely still see the gap. As much as we talk about closing the gap, we still have a very large gap.”

--Teacher Kimberley Wright

• Washtenaw County is the 8th most economically segregated metropolitan region in the country.

• There is a 10 year difference in life expectancy between African American and white residents in Washtenaw County, and a 16 year difference in life expectancy between Latino/a/x and white residents.

“Subsequent to this training session, when we move into more action efforts, there will absolutely be a greater engagement with community,” Plevek said.

Plevek expects that in the future, as this initiative progresses, there will indeed be a meeting of some sort to really get the community involved. It’s important to get the community involved because often people don’t realize that these types of problems are present in their communities.

“People didn’t realize that [racial disparity] was here,” Gillotti said. “In our tiny little county there are big differences, specifically based on race regarding income, education levels, and unemployment.”

As our community officials continue to work together to advance racial equity and better the communities in Washtenaw County, as a community we should show our support for and stay engaged with the initiative. Our community can engage with how the local government is working to create an equitable community for all at www.

OneCmty.org.

• 60% of African-Americans in Washtenaw County live in low-opportunity areas with limited job growth.

• Washtenaw County ranks 80 out of 83 counties in Michigan for income inequality.

• A 35-point gap on 3rd grade reading tests between African- American and white students in Washtenaw County exists.

Washtenaw County Opportunity Index Very Low Low Moderate High Very high Low Number of households Web-based opportunity map of Washtenaw County, Michigan, For more information, visit www.opportunitywashtenaw.org Earthstar Geographics | Esri, HERE, Garmin

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Entertainment

10

Doom and Destiny: a four star game

focus on one party member with strong attacks to seem just as strong as the other enemies around.

As for the story it is...not really much to talk about. There isn’t even a plot in the final post game area, the desert. The only plot is finding some dwarves to get into the desert, and then the plot just stops existing. It’s quite odd.

As a note, there is a lot of grinding necessary for 100 percent in quest completion.

I don’t mind grinding (in this game); it’s a good chance to listen to my music and Negatives kill some time, but I know that some people won’t like it.

There are a lot to cover with On bosses, there are a lot. I’m this one, but the positives outweigh the not listing them, but most of them aren’t negatives. The biggest issue in my eyes is too hard if you’re prepared, except one: some of the difficulty. Getting a game the clones of the party and Dr. Insano. over in two moves is infuriating when That boss is so poorly designed, considit happens, and it WILL happen to you. ering that they have your own moves, What I mean by this is there are dragon and they use them against you. That is enemies that have breath moves. These hard enough, but what I wished is that moves do half of the party’s health, evyou fought the clones, and when you eryone in the party. Bad Random Numbeat them, you would be fully healed, ber Generator (RNG) can very easily and then you would fight a powered give you the dreaded game up Dr. Insano for over. The difficulty is a bit a nice end to at unbalanced in terms of the their rivalry! In foes you will encounter, as fact, to talk about there may be a lot of weak Getting a Game Over in my relationship enemies that aren’t that to the game, I am two moves is infuriating on that boss fight hard to defeat. Or, there may be two super danger- when it happens, and it as of writing this, ous enemies that kill you in and I still have yet no time at all. Luckily, the WILL happen to you! to come anywhere latter only happens in the near close to post-game. The most notabeating this boss! ble enemies that can do this They are that bad! are the Lightning Dragon However, I can now and the Bronze Drakes and say that I’ve beaten the Arena Lord and the the clones, and they enemies that are with him. still suck.

The Magma Dragon, Cinder Dragon, and So I don’t get too angry, let us the Diamond Dragon, due to their really talk about something during the main strong breath attacks and the Gold Drag- game that sucks. The fifth chapter can on for the same reason. The Spaghetti suck if you don’t know about the special Dragon with some Spaghetti Pirates way it can be done. I never knew this unmeans you are unable to keep the party’s til I looked up a guide online! Yeah, I’m Healer alive. In terms of the “weak” ennot joking. The other way that is new to emies, they’re not really gone. They just me is actually really cool, so I’ll go over Here’s a game that I’m sure that no one else has heard of: Doom and Destiny! It is an iOS and Android game that is incredibly nerdy and full of swear words and adult jokes. However, the last two I mentioned I won’t be covering.

So, prep your party, your italian jokes, and your faith in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, because it is time for Doom and Destiny!

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it in the positives. It took awhile, but we can move on to the positives!

Positives

There are a lot of positives in my eyes, so let’s start with an unexpected area! The options! Yeah, the amount of options, for text color the top and bottom menu color is crazy. There’s a lot of colors to choose from and there should be a color combo for everyone, even if you want to have the menu colors of the Virtual Boy. Next, my favorite part, the humor! The humor is kind of dark and full of references to multiple things. The thing that I remember is the achievement for reaching chapter four,”Lady Of The Rings.” It’s called Judas Iscariot Super Star, which is a reference to the biblical Judas, and the superstar part is most likely a reference to the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, and Marilyn Manson, the Antichrist Superstar. In fact, I think all of the chapters have a reference to something in their names. Chapter one is called “Cellars and Lizards,” a very obvious reference to Dungeons and Dragons. Chapter two is called “Initial Fantasy,” a even more obvious reverence to Final Fantasy. Chapter three is called the “Legendary Legend of Legends,” and you encounter a green elf boy at the start. The boy looks like Link from the Legend of Zelda series, so this is what the chapter name is referencing. Chapter four, as mentioned above, is called “Lady of the Rings”, a very obvious reference to Lord of the Rings. Chapter five is called “World Five” and it’s Mario themed.

Chapter six is called “Big Trouble in Neo Sushi,” and the name is a reference to Big Trouble in Little China. This is kind of ironic given that the area in game is based off Japan. Chapter seven is called “Chapter Seven.” There is no reference here, just stating the fact that you have reached the final chapter of the game.

And, there is no new chapter for the post game, so chapter seven is the last chapter,

and is therefore the longest chapter. group idiot, Mike, who is based on MiA unrelated point is that this chele. Mike’s highest stat is Grit, which game has secrets - 39 in total. Although controls Crit. Chance, and Resistance. it may be because that the game has 39 (I say cleric, but he acts like a Bard, Arsidequests as well, which is what I talked cher, whatever the typical stat boosting about earlier that was needed some character is, and a cleric/white mage for grinding to complete. I will say that all those who go by Final Fantasy names.) that grinding is very worth it, as you can Then, there is the party warrior and meat get some fantastic items out of it. For ex- shield, Johnny, whose real name is Enrico. ample, you get the Johnny’s main stat is Might, Shinigami Emblem which controls HP and from completing Strength. Johnny’s job is to the dead or alive harbor enemy hate, and to sidequest. It boosts There are a lot of things dish out and receive PAIN! Spirit and Resis- to do, but I’ll leave those And last, but far from least, tance so well that I there is the ninja, Francis, had it on the party for you to discover if you whose real name is Franmage, Nigel, UN- decide to play the game, cesco! Francis’s main stat is TIL THE END OF which controls which I can reccomend. Dexterity, THE GAME. Spirit Speed and Evasion. He boosts the power of can dodge a lot of enemy magic attacks, and attacks once you get to the considering that’s late and post game, which Nigel’s whole thing, is nice. He will also go first it makes sense. in almost every battle, so Resistance makes he will most likely attract it harder to get status inflictions like enemy hate first. He can also use some poison, and considering that Nigel isn’t moves that stun enemies and keep them very durable because he’s a magus, this from attacking, so him going first is very also helps. What actually acts like poison useful. Then there is the non-party memin this game is the bleeding effect. Not ber, Benjamin, whose real name is Franmuch to say other than put the utilities cesco. That, however, might be a typo as on the party that you want to have on Benjamin is mostly likely based off of the them-there’s a lot of customization possi- game creator, Benjamin Ficus. There isn’t ble. Also, speaking of the party, on to the that much to say about him, other than next topic! he’s pretty plot relevant. There are some post game things to do, and you can stay The Party for as long as you want. There are a lot of things to do, but I’ll leave those for To start, let’s go over my peryou do discover if you decide to play the sonal favorite party member, Nigel the game, which I can highly recommend.

Magus. His main stat is Charisma, which That’s everything I wanted to talk about, controls MP and Spirit. By the informait is time for me to give my score. tion in the game, Nigel was supposed to be the party leader. The person based Overall on Nigel, Marco, kept bragging to his friends until they got sick of hearing it, This game’s score is easy for me so a party leader function was added to to give; it’s a 4 out of 5. While it does the game so now everybody is happy! have some rough patches, it’s still very The Magus is the Final Fantasy version good. of the black mage. Next is the Cleric and

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Daniel Middaugh Name | Staff Writer

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Love, Simon: a triumph Injuries in professional sports: how for LGBT+ cinema big a problem do we now face?

George White | Staff Writer

In addition, the representation of how some characters react to the people that Patrick Wang | Staff Writer Love, Simon is the first rom-com have already come out perfectly evokes Injuries to athletes in professional with a gay relationship as the primary the real life harassment that many in the sports are a big issue in our society. Athfocus from a major studio, and it manLGBT+ community can receive. lete after athlete is getting injured on the ages to excel in its portrayal of an LGBT In terms of representation, racial diversiplaying field, and is, as a result, having to student’s struggle to come out. Within ty is displayed well on screen. It is set in be placed on IR (Injury Reserve). There are the online LGBT+ community the movie the suburbs of Atlanta, and the primary many consequences when athletes get hurt. had reveiveda lot of attention prior to population of Creekwood High is white In particular, American football its release and has been expected to be and black. Although the movie is cenis a sport with a very high risk of injury. phenomenal. Watching it the day after tered around Simon, there are only two Many athletes, especially those who play the release, I believe the ratings, praise other gay characters. One is intentionally football, can suffer various injuries, such as and expectations are well portrayed in a stereotypical torn ACLs or broken collarbones. Injuries deserved. manner to show the abuse on the field leads to teammates giving pity Love, Simon follows Simon that many can get while to the fallen player. The game also has to be Spear, a closeted gay teen, in high school for being paused. Football injuries often last for days through his navigation of flamboyant, and the other, or months. Injured players aren’t able to get the struggles of coming out. who is hidden throughout their salaries anymore. So, is it worth the Most students at Creethe whole movie, Blue. money to be playing a sport with a high risk kwood High, the school Love, Simon had for injury?

Simon attends, visit a stumediocre success opening Matthew Stafford, for example, dent blog in which drama weekend bringing in $11.5 is the Detroit Lions quarterback; he is also Football is one of the most notoriously dangerous professional sports. and rumors are spread. million, below it’s budget the highest-paid player in the NFL with an Close to the beginning of of $17 million(Forbes.com) annual salary of $27 million. However, he suffers lots of injuries which affect his performance. He hasn’t had to step off the field the year, an anonymous . Due to its high ratings much, but this situation is bad enough. In college football, the same thing can happen, though the pass rush on average takes student under the pseudand successful portrayal of longer. A better scenario, injury-wise, is the Pro Bowl. This anual game consists of the best players in the NFL playing against onym “Blue” posts that LGBT+ teen life, the vieweach other. Because the NFL is concerned people will be hurt, no tackling or blitzes are allowed. they are gay and afraid to Love, Simon is a lighthearted and ership and earnings should Another possible consequence is that the video game industry is likely to be affected. When a fan’s favorite athlete gets come out, but encourages meaningful movie that was released increase. injured, they will probably not buy any games related to the sport. The athlete is still likely playing in the game, but the overall anyone to email them. Si- in 2018.

I would recommend impression of the game itself will go down. Therefore, profits of stores selling the sporting games may decline. If this continues mon is compelled to answer, and, for the this movie to anyone who enjoys a feelin the long run, these video games may be banned forever. majority of the movie, he talks with Blue, good story, especially if you desire to see Overall, it is necessary to reduce and further prevent the mass injuries to athletes not only in professional and college while trying to navigate the school and greater LGBT+ representation in media. sports, but also in high school sports. Professional leagues should create new rules in the rulebook and delete other egregious find out who he has fallen for.

Love, Simon easily keeps your attention ones. This way, athletes won’t have to suffer the pain of getting hurt, which includes concussions, bruises, and swelling, and The movie is shot beautifully and perfect- and portrays LGBT+ people’s struggles fans will be happier because they can enjoy the sports, without the cost of the pain of players. In college sports, the same action ly demonstrates how many teens in the with accuracy. People of all ages can enjoy should be taken to reduce injuries. In short, the culture of ignoring injuries in the sport world, from high school to professional LGBT+ community can feel in their moit, and although it is geared towards sports, should be changed. The rules in rugby are a good example for football to improve the egregious rules. ments of realization. The representation teens, it easily attracts an older audience. of Simon pleased many viewers, including Much of my family, even those over the me, as he is not portrayed as a gay stereo- age of 50, enjoyed it. type but rather someone who is ‘normal.’