Changes Are a'CominGaby Medina-Hernandez
In the debate when Trump, Clinton, and Bernie were debating, they were talking about climate change and how it was going to affect us. Climate change is a change in global or regional patterns, in particular, a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. I will be talking about risk, impact, and cause and effects about climate change. A lot of people worry about climate change so this is why I wanted to talk about and share the details of climate change, I think this is a very interesting subject to talk about. In this next paragraph, I am going to talk about the studies of climate change. The risk of climate change and how it would impact in our lives. The risk of a warmer climate is expected to increase the risk of illness and death from extreme heat and poor air quality. Climate change will likely increase frequency and strength of extreme events, here are some examples of extreme events, floods, droughts, and storms. The changing climate impact society and ecosystems in a broad variety of ways. For example, climate change can alter rainfall, influenced crop fields, affect human health, cause changes to a forest and other ecosystems, and even impact our energy supply. If climate change happened it would affect everything on earth, like us humans, region's, plants, and animals. Climate change is a serious cause that people take really serious and it's not a joke to them. People think one-day climate change would happen but a lot of people disagree.That threatens human health and safety. That is the risk of climate change and how it would affect us. Climate change, cause, and effect. Most scientists agree the main cause of climate change is the human expansion of the “greenhouse effect.” The warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth towards space. Certain gasses in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. The effect is called the “greenhouse effect” and it is a natural necessary to support life on Earth. The greenhouse gasses build up, the climate changes and result in dangerous effects. |
The World of CyberbullyingGemma Tkel
When you think of the world’s major problems you would probably think of things like global warming, world hunger, poverty, or maybe even Donald Trump being elected as America’s 45th president. These issues are always in the lime light and out shine, if that’s even possible, all the other major problems in the world. Now, I’m not saying that these problems are any less important, I’m only stating that people don’t pay as much attention to these kinds of things as much as things like Donald Trump. Other issues that I believe should be broadcasted more would include bullying, pollution, and - the issue we will be discussing in this article - cyberbullying. These issues are never really talked about as much and I feel like they should be. Sure people make videos, write stories, and talk about these issues, but the people who they try to get through to usually just brush it off, probably like what you’re going to do when you finish reading this article. In this article we will be going over the effects of cyberbullying and ways that we can help to end this horrid problem. Everyone has been bullied at least once in their life. Even you, person reading this article, have been bullied in some type of way. Somebody, somewhere in the world, could be getting bullied right at this very moment. Bullying happens all around us, whether it be your next-door neighbor, the kid you see walking to school early in the morning, or maybe even your best friend. Maybe you’ve even bullied someone without knowing it, or maybe you did know but you did it anyways. The fact of the matter is that bullying hurts people, and cyberbullying is probably one of the most effective ways of bullying there is. Cyberbullying hurts people mentally, physically, and emotionally. People can be hurt mentally through their thoughts. Cases of people who have experienced cyberbullying has also included the victim experiencing degrading thoughts about themselves (thinking they’re not good enough, thinking that they’re just a bother to everyone around them, thinking that they’re just a waste of “precious” space, and the list goes on and on), thoughts of hurting others - either physically or online like they had done to them - and, if it’s really bad, suicidal thoughts. People have been hurt physically by people taking things from online to in person. Say, for instance, someone was getting bullied online for being gay. The people doing the bullying may possibly move from the computer screen to the school, where they would beat the victim for being “different” from everyone else. Often the physical harm doesn’t always come from just the bully, but from the person themself. There have been cases of the bullied cutting themselves with sharp objects on purpose; most commonly, the cuts can be found on the wrists, thighs, and stomach. When the person cuts themself they usually believe that it would take away the pain and make them feel better, when really it just shows the wounds of their weakest moments. When it begins to get too bad, the victim may even take it to the furthest measures, suicide. Many cyberbully victims have gone to the point of no return and committed suicide to get away from all the pain and sorrow. People who have or are now experiencing cyberbullying have also been hurt emotionally. Feeling sad and depressed over life, hating the fact that they have to wake up in the morning to face another day of the life that they hate, dreading the moment that they have to leave the house to face the world full of hate and pain, and waiting for the moment when they can leave this world forever. Cyberbullying can result in fears of crowds, public speaking, and new places. One very famous case of cyberbullying would be the “Amanda Todd case”. Amanda Todd was a teenager who was also a victim of cyberbullying. She was convinced, by a person on Facebook, to flash her bare upper body. A year later the photo of her went viral, resulting in a lot of teasing and her being made fun of. She had to transfer schools multiple times, but the bullying never seemed to cease. It was like a plague that followed her everywhere she went. She made a video, about her struggling, self harm, bullying, and attempted suicide, that also went viral. Amanda had committed suicide a month after the video was released, and has received much attention. After hearing Amanda’s story, people were devastated and in fury. Devastated, because of the fact that she had killed herself, and in fury, because they couldn’t believe people would do this to a person so young and innocent. Things like this have happened so many times to so many people, and Amanda’s story from start to the very end, has helped a lot in shedding some light on the situation. I feel that parents should pay more attention to their children and how their attitudes and actions change, and actually try to help these situations instead of blaming them on puberty and hormones. I feel that if parents got more involved in the child’s life, that things like cyberbullying may really become less of a problem, and maybe even end. Thank you for reading this article, I hope you have learned a very important lesson and will contribute in helping ending cyberbullying. Goodbye, and have a nice day. |
Eco Cars for the WinMarelynn DeJesus-Martinez
Now in days, there's a lot of pollution so eight kids came up with a wonderful idea! It all started with eight Indonesian kid who came from small villages. They were also engineering students. Their dream was to help Indonesia reduce its pollution and save energy so people help the world. So they came up with the idea of a car. However not just an ordinary car a car that will not release pollution.They won an international competition to design an eco-car. The eight students worked hard to get the car done, they were nice kids who worked as a team to do it possible. Their car went up to 55km/h after building to it had to race with other cars the only thing they had to do was win. They actually won the competition. The car was the fastest and most energy efficient battery powered car. winning meant a lot to them because they worked hard and it was their fourth attempt. The students were happy to win, the car won 2016 shell eco-marathon Drivers’ World champion. However, that wasn't all they won they got to spend a week with Ferrari in Italy at the famous Fiorano F1 test circuit and most of the team won scholarships to go to a University although not many people can afford it. The dreams were halfway accomplished they won, they wanted to reduce Indonesian or even the world’s pollution and save energy. In their Trip, they met a man named Mare Gene who was the Ferrari F1 test driver. He tried the car out too. Mare was amazed at the team's work because he felt that they really united by working as a team he talked about everyone being equal in a team. I think the team made a great choice in not giving up and continuing participating in the races.I hope they make a big change to the world by helping the environment around them and that people follow their footsteps and make a big change to the world. Finally, no matter how small the change is it's eventually going to be a big one. |
Steve Bartman: The Most Infamous Man in Cubs HistoryTedrose Teshager
Steve Bartman will forever be remembered as the man who ruined the cubs chance to go to the world series and break their 98 year drought of a championship. Arguably the most hated man in Chicago and it was all because he interfered with a foul ball that could have put the Chicago Cubs in the world series. As we know, the Chicago Cubs continued their losing ways until they won it all last year, ending there 108 year drought. It could have been 98, but as told before, Steve Bartman was a major factor in why that didn’t happen. You may be asking what was the incident here? What happened? Well, this story is known as the Steve Bartman incident. The Chicago Cubs were ahead 3–0 in the game, and currently held a three games to two lead in the best of seven series. If Steve Bartman would have not interfered, Alou would have caught the ball, then it would have been the second out in the inning and the Cubs would have been just four outs away from winning their first National League pennant since 1945. Instead, the Cubs ended up losing the game 8–3. They were eliminated in the seventh game the next day. What ensued after for Bartman equaled many things for example until this day he remains one of the most hated people in Chicago. But what has been the most impressive thing about Bratman is the fact that he has remained in isolation from the public. He has been offered to be in many commercials TV shows and And a movie but has turned down every offer. Though Bartman has been in isolation that doesn't mean he hasn't gotten his fair share of death treats Bartman and his family's lives have been threatened. Now a days Bartman works at an insurance company and is married with children. There are always two sides to the story so I will be talking about both sides. People that defend Bartman often say that just because Bartman did what he did doesn't mean it was all his fault. Which is true if you think about it the Cubs had so many chances after and before that to end to series and there drought. So to say that it was Bartman's fault is unfair to Bartman. But also when you look at the other side when Bartman interfered it was a momentum switch and if you know sports well you know it's hard to stop momentum. Former cubs players have even came out and said that it wasn't Bartman's fault. Even moises alou said he couldn't have caught it anyways but later denied those words saying “I was just joking around”. Many people say that batman would not have received as much as hate if not for mosies alou’s reaction people say if he would have taken it like an adult barman would have been as hated. After the batman game till 2016 only made the playoffs 2 maybe another reason why cubs fans hate him so much. As you may know the cubs just won the world series and after the world series cubs front office say they'd be great full to have barman back in the Cubs family and say the love it if he threw the first pitch at a game. Bratman has since declined the offer most likely due to safety reasons. In conclusion even if you hate Bartman you've got to respect the,fact that he has handled all of the hate he's gotten over the years most people couldn't handle that for a day but Bartman has handled it for 14 years. Steve Bartman's name will forever live in infamy in cubs history. |
March Madness at Holy CrossEmamaria Diaz De Leon
March madness is a sports competition that happens in March, obviously. It starts on March 14th and ends on April 3rd. The sport in which the competition is based on is college men's basketball. Sixty-four colleges start and are ranked/seeded. The schools that participated last year were Kansas, North Carolina, Virginia, Oregon, Michigan St., Oklahoma, Villanova, Xavier, West Virginia, Miami, Florida, Utah, Texas A&M, Duke, California, Kentucky, Iowa State, Indiana, Purdue, Maryland, Baylor, Texas,Notre Dame, Arizona, Seton Hall, Wisconsin, Dayton, Iowa, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Colorado, Southern California, Saint Joseph’s, Providence, Butler, Cincinnati, UConn, Pittsburgh, Temple, Syracuse, VCU, Michigan, Wichita St. Gonzaga, Chattanooga, Little Rock, Yale, South Dakota St., UNCW, Hawaii, Stony Brook, Iona, Green Bay, Fresno St., Stephen F. Austin, Middle Tenn, CSU Bakersfield, UNC Asheville, Weber St., Austin Peay, Hampton,Buffalo, Northern Iowa, Florida Gulf Coast, and USC. The teams are divided into four quadrants based on which side of the country the college is located on. There is south, west, midwest, and east. In each quadrant, there are about 16 teams, which means eight games in the first round. The second round contains four games with eight teams. The third round (sweet 16) has four teams who compete in two games, which is the final four teams of the quadrant. Finally the fourth round (elite eight) has the two winning teams go against each other and the winner of that game is sent into the final four, which is the fifth round. This applies to the other quadrants as well. The four final teams are left to go against each other. By that, I mean the winner of the south quadrant goes against the winner of the west quadrant. The winner of the east quadrant goes against the midwest winner. Then, whoever wins between those two games are in the finals. Whichever team wins the match wins the whole tournament. I am going to bring it back to last year. The final four teams were Kansas (South), Duke (West), UNC (East), and MSU (Midwest). Kansas ended up defeating Duke and MSU beat UNC. Kansas played MSU and lost. MSU took home the trophy. Some facts about March madness are: 15 out of 24 teams in the number one seed have won the whole tournament. In March madness, there have been teams known as “Cinderella” teams, which means that the team has made people think they wouldn’t win the tournament, but did. March madness generates more money from commercials, sponsorships, and advertisements than the Super Bowl. The lowest seed to ever win the championship was Villanova with the No 8 seed. A No. 16 seed has never beat a No. 1 seed. The first NCAA men’s basketball tournament was in 1939 and only consisted of eight teams. The tournament allowed all 64 teams by 1990. The first official eight teams were called the “Elite Eight”. Thirty-five different teams have won the tournament, but UCLA is in the lead with 11 titles. UTEP was the first team to win a NCAA national championship with an all-black starting lineup. Also, they defeated Kentucky ( an all white team until 1969) on March 19, 1966, which was a huge upset. Speaking of upsets, some of the biggest ones over the last decade where (14)Georgia St. v.s. (3)Baylor in 2015, (14)UAB v.s. (3)Iowa St. in 2015, (14)Mercer vs. (3)Duke in 2014, (15)Florida Gulf Coast vs. (2)Georgetown in 2013, (15)Lehigh vs. (2)Duke in 2012, (15)Norfolk vs. (2)Missouri in 2012, (11)VCU vs. (1)Kansas in 2011, (14)Ohio vs. (3)Georgetown in 2010, (11)George Mason vs. (1)Connecticut in 2006, and last but not least (14)Northwestern St. vs. (3)Iowa in 2006. This proves that even if you are a low seed you can still beat a top seed. I think that the NCAA Tournament was made for upsets because if you had the top seed winning all the time it wouldn’t be interesting to watch. Holy Cross has a March madness competition for fifth through eighth grade. The competition is if a student wants, he/she can fill out a bracket with which team they think will beat the other team and turn it into Mr. Davis to keep. Mr. Davis keeps track of which team has lost and whoever had on their bracket that team winning gets eliminated from the contest. Whoever had the most team winnings by the end of the tournament gets a king size candy bar of their choice from Mr. Davis. |
Portland Trailblazers UpdateNick Nakashima
If you want to know more about the Portland Blazers then read this article. The Portland Blazers currently played 55 games and have 23 wins and 32 losses. Right now, Damian Lillard the point guard has an average 26 ppg (points per game) which are the best in the team. Here is the recap of the last six games was against the Mavericks and Blazers lost 108-104, they played against the Thunder and Blazers lost 105-99, then played against the Mavericks and Blazers won 113-114, then the Celtics and Blazers lost 112-111, then Hawks and blazers lose 109-104, and then the Jazz and Blazers lose 88-111. The Blazers traded Mason Plumlee a beloved blazer player for Jusuf Nurkic from the Nuggets Mason has been on the Blazers for two years. Neil Olshey the general manager for the Blazers said “We need to get younger at the center position, we wanted more of a low post player, someone that can defend size, strength, we found that with Jusuf” some of the players on the Blazers like Damian Lillard said he was just like a brother. Jusuf played his first game against the Jazz and he got 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals. One of the best plays was against the Hawks and Pat Connaughton with a three with 1sec on the clock. Then in the Maverick game, C.J. Mccollum makes a floater for the game-winning shot. Then in the Celtics game, C.J. Mccollum makes a layup with a spin. Then the Mavericks game Ed Davis made an awesome dunk. Next, they will play the Magic on Thursday 4:00 pm at Amway stadium Orlando, FL then they will play the Raptors on Sunday 3:00 pm at Air Canada centre Toronto, ON. You can buy tickets at Stubhub where I personally like to go ( https://www.stubhub.com/ ), you can also go to ESPN ( http://www.espn.com/ ), there is the Blazer website ( http://www.nba.com/blazers/ ), or if you decide at the last minute some people sell their tickets outside of the stadium. |
Who Will Win the MVP Race?M'munga Songolo
As many of you already know, there is a National Basketball Association that gives the honor of the most valuable player every single basketball season. Stephen Curry is currently the two-time defending MVP of the NBA, after winning it in 2014 and 2015. The origination of the NBA MVP was in the 1955-56 basketball season, which the winner Bob Pettit. Now, it's just a tradition that continues to honor the best athlete in the NBA today. There are many athletes that have exceptional play in the National Basketball Association, yet, there’s only a handful that are making a big case for the the highest individual honor that the NBA awards every basketball season. To name a few, there would be Mr. Triple Double, more formally known as Russell Westbrook, or, Mr. Fourth Quarter, which is Isaiah Thomas. Others would be Lebron James, James Harden, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Gordon Hayward, and John Wall. All of these players listed have shown outstanding play on the court, and show a big case to be the National Basketball Association’s most valuable player. But, let's be honest here, only one of those athletes can win that most prestigious award, and I’m here to tell you who should. I’m not going to make a very, and I repeat very, bold prediction and say that Gordon Hayward is going to shock everybody and win the award, no, I’m going to base this on facts. Not extreme predictions. These are the four people that I believe make strongest case, as of now, to become the National Basketball Association’s most valuable player. First off, we have the man of the hour, the fourth quarter is his time to shine, Isaiah Thomas! At 5’9, his tenacity and aggressive play is something to be awed. This season he has now averaged a total of 34.5 minutes, with 2.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 29.8 points! He is what Celtics fans call the face of their franchise, and if the Celtics are going to get anywhere in the postseason, it's going to be because of him. Isaiah Thomas’ last 9 games have been 25+ points, such as against the Bucks (Jan. 28th), 37 points and 8 assists; against the Pistons (Jan. 30th), 41 pts and 8 assists; against the Raptors (Feb. 1st), 44 pts and 7 assists; against the Lakers (Feb. 3rd), 38 points; against the Clippers (Feb. 5th), 28 points and 8 assists; against the Kings (Feb 8th), 26 points and 7 assists; against the Blazers (Feb. 9th), 34 points; against the Jazz (Feb.10th), 29 points and 9 assists; and lastly, against the Mavericks (Feb. 13th), 29 points and 8 assists. These are exceptional numbers and just the reason why he’s someone to watch for to be the NBA MVP. Last season, Westbrook nearly averaged a triple-double with 23.5 points, 10.4 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game, and oddsmakers safely assumed that his usage rate and output would increase dramatically without Durant in the fold. That explained why Westbrook opened with the second-best odds of winning the MVP Award. As of now, Westbrook has averaged a triple double for the first half of the basketball season. He is now on track to become the only person who has averaged a triple double since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 basketball season! Robertson did it with 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assist. I believe, undoubtedly, that Russell Westbrook has made the biggest and best case to become the National Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player, and if he accomplishes the feat of averaging a triple double for the entire season, that will just be the icing on the cake. Next we have Kevin Durant, after making the biggest move of the offseason last year to sign with the Golden State Warriors, a deal worth 54 million dollars for 2 years, he has been making every dollar count! While the Warriors aren't going to accomplish the 72-9 feat they did last year, they are well on their way to going back to the NBA Finals as Kevin Durant as their leading scorer. He's averaging 4.9 assists per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, and 25.8 points per game! With the best record in the league, lots of credit goes to Kevin Durant as he's been very effective on an All-Star studded team. They'll surely love the All-Star break after working so hard this first half of the season. Lastly is James Harden, a guy who many thought was robbed of the NBA MVP last year, is a guy who I think makes the second biggest case to be MVP behind Westbrook. A deft driver and deadly shooter, James Harden is one heck of a player. As the Rockets have the third-best record in the western conference - most is due to James Harden. Since switching positions from shooting guard to point guard, he has really taken on a very big role for his team, and you can really see as the boost in assists from this year to last year. Last year he averaged 7.5 assists, this year its year 11.3 assists, and also with 29.2 points per game, and 8.3 rebounds per game. All of these players deserve a chance to be considered NBA MVP, yet only one is going to win, and I believe that it should be Russell Westbrook. Thank you for taking your time to read my article, and I hope you were more informed by this! |
Super Bowl LIBryan Velazquez-Hernandez
Super Bowl is a very important football game that happens every year. The Super Bowl is an NFL (National Football League) game that is played between the NFC (National Football Conference) champion and the AFC (American Football Conference) champion. Football is the most popular sport in the United States of America and that’s mainly why the Super Bowl attracts so many fans each year. The 2016-2017 NFL season was a very exciting one. There were many ups and downs throughout the whole season. But whether that matters or not, teams still get a lot of support from their fans. Their fans support them by constantly cheering them on no matter if they win or lose. They do this because they know that the best way for their favorite team to achieve good things is if all of them are in it together. The NFL playoffs are the games that are played after the regular season. In a way, the regular season determines who can have a chance to win the Super Bowl. Thus, not every single team can participate in the playoffs and be on the road that leads to the Super Bowl. As previously mentioned before, the NFL is made up of the AFC and the NFC. In each conference, there are two teams that get a bye, don’t have to play the first week, and get to rest. These 4 teams in total are the #1 and #2 seed in each conference with the best overall records. This year, the four teams that got a bye were the New England Patriots (AFC), Kansas City Chiefs (AFC), Dallas Cowboys (NFC), and Atlanta Falcons (NFC). The playoffs are made up of 12 teams. Since I’ve already listed the first four, you might be asking who the other eight teams are. The four other teams in each conference are chosen by being the leaders in their division and are sometimes referred to as the wild cards. This year, the Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC), Houstons Texans (AFC), Miami Dolphins (AFC), Oakland Raiders (AFC), Green Bay Packers (NFC), New York Giants (NFC), and Seattle Seahawks (AFC) were the teams that also got a chance to compete for the Super Bowl. An important thing I would like to point out is that the Raiders were without their starting quarterback Derek Carr. Unlike other sports, once you lose a game in the playoffs you are officially eliminated and won’t be able to compete any longer. Because Super Bowl 51, was expected to attract a lot of people, it also attracted a lot of security personnel. There was approximately 4,000 people that helped insure the safety of all fans by tightly securing a 3 mile perimeter around the stadium. Houston Police paired up with federal agencies to secure on land and by air using helicopters. The NFL Playoffs this year looked like the following: Wild Card Weekend Texans beat the Raiders 27-14 Seahawks beat the Lions 26-6 Steelers beat the Dolphins 30-12 Packers beat the Giants 38-13 The four teams that won will now play the divisional leaders. Divisional Round The Falcons beat the Seahawks 36-20 The Packers beat the Cowboys 34-31 The Patriots beat the Texans 34-16 The Steelers beat the Chiefs 18-16 The four teams that won will now play for the conference championship Conference Championship The Falcons beat the Packers 44-21 The Patriots beat the Steelers 36-17 The two teams that won will now play each other in Super Bowl LI After both the Patriots and Falcons practiced and felt ready for the big game, it was time for them to appear at Super Bowl LI. Super Bowl LI will played at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The NRG Stadium has a maximum capacity of 72,220. According to stadiumsoffootball.com, “in October of 2000, Reliant Energy purchased the naming rights, thus the facility was named Reliant Stadium. It was renamed NRG Stadium in March 2014 after NRG Energy purchased Reliant Energy. Fans of both teams started arriving even days before game day in Houston. As soon as the day arrived, February 5, 2017, everyone started piling into the stadium. Security was very tight and a lot of objects were prohibited that could be used as weapons from entering. But now, it is time for both teams to run onto the field. Tom Brady comes into the game with 4 Super Bowl rings. He is tied with one of the most famous quarterback: Joe Montana who played for the San Francisco 49ers. And now there’s Matt Ryan and the Falcons, who have not won a Super Bowl in over half a century. Yet, here they are, the Falcons who have not won a Super Bowl versus Tom Brady and the Patriots who have won 4 Super Bowls. Who will win? Let’s find out. The game started with Luke Bryan singing the national anthem. He sang it in two minutes, four seconds. The Atlanta Falcons kicked off at the beginning of the game and we’re on, the game has started. Tom Brady was sacked in the 1st quarter after his own man was shoved into him. After many good and bad plays in the 1st quarter, it came to an end and we are tied 0-0. Also, the last 3 Super Bowls that the Patriots have been in and have been tied at 0-0, the Patriots have won them all. In the 2nd quarter, Deion Jones (Falcons), forced a fumble from Legarrette Blount and the Falcons got the ball back. At 12:15 remaining in the 2nd quarter, Devonta Freeman (Falcons), rushed for 5 yards with a nice juke for the game’s score. Now, 8:55 in the 2nd quarter, Austin Hooper (Falcons) caught a pass from Matt Ryan to extend their lead over the Patriots to 14-0. Then, 2:21 remaining, Robert Alford intercepts the ball thrown by Tom Brady and returned it 82 yards for a touchdown further extend their lead to 21-0 versus the Patriots. The Patriot’s kicker, Stephen Gostkowski, made a 41-yard field goal to fo finally put the Patriots on the board 21-3 with 2 seconds remaining. And that’s how the 1st half went. Lady Gaga performed during the halftime. The 3rd quarter started and the Patriots were looking for opportunities to still win the game. With 11:36 on the clock, Taylor Gabriel caught a 35-yard pass from Matt Ryan thanks to his spectacular move on Malcolm Butler who tripped by himself. The Falcons scored again with 8:31 on clock to make it 28-3. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter, the Patriots scored their first touchdown but missed the extra point and the quarter ended with a score of 28-9. In the 4th quarter, about 6 minutes into it, the Patriots scored a field goal to make it a two score game 28:12. A bit later, the Patriots defense forced Matt Ryan to fumble the football and they recovered it. 5:56 left in the 4th quarter, the Patriots scored a touchdown followed by a 2-point conversion to make it a one score game: 28-20. When 57 seconds were left in the game, the Patriots scored another touchdown and scored a 2-point conversion to tie the game at 28-28. And then, the game ended and it went into overtime. The Patriots got the ball first and almost immediately, James White scored a rushing touchdown for them to seal their victory. Thus, the New England Patriots won Super Bowl LI! A lot of people left the game arly and missed the best part at the end. No team has ever won the Super Bowl when trailing by 25 points. Whether you think the Patriots deserved it or not, Tom Brady came in with 4 rings and left with 5. Super Bowl LI will be one of the most remembered Super Bowl ever. |
Netflix ReviewSavannah Bashaw
This month I have decided to do a review of some of my favorite shows on Netflix for you all. I have decided that I am going to write about Helix and Parks and Recreation. These are some of my favorite shows. First I will review Parks and Recreation. Parks and Recreation (Parks and Rec) is an American political comedy sitcom about a woman and her life as a city employee for the parks and recreation team of Pawnee, Indiana. The team of Parks and Rec fight for an abandoned lot to turn into a park. The comedy and story continue from there. They complete the park and move onto other issues, and continue to keep up the jokes. I’m currently only on season 3, but I highly recommend that you give it a try. The pilot for Parks and Recreation was first aired on April 9th, 2009, and the final episode was first aired February 24th, 2015. IMDb gave Parks and Rec. an overall 8.6/10 rating for all seven seasons. TV.com however, decided that Parks and Rec. was only worth a 7.4/10. Parks and Rec. received a 90% from Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty good! I have found a few fun facts about Parks and Rec. and think that you should know them, too. I think that by far the most important of these facts is that, Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) can actually play the saxophone. Turns out Duke Silver (Ron’s undercover name for himself when he indulges in playing jazz) isn’t that far from being the real Nick Offerman. On the show, Nick’s character Ron owns a woodworking shop. Turns out, Nick Offerman in real life, runs a woodworking business. I think that Nick Offerman was an excellent choice for the role of Ron Swanson, as he closely resembles the character in skill. Since there is not a real town by the name of Pawnee, Parks and Rec. was based off of the town of Muncie, Indiana. Interestingly enough all of the maps of Pawnee that are seen on the show are actually real maps. The maps aren't of Muncie as you’d expect, however, the maps are of a city in New Zealand known as Christ Church. Parks and Rc. Was designed as a spinoff of the office. Also, instead of being called Parks and Recreation, the show was originally going to be called Public Service. I don’t know about you, but I think that Parks and Recreation is a much better name. While researching the show I found some pretty interesting facts about the actors for Parks and Recreation. First I learned that Aubrey Plaza (April Ludgate) and nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) share a birthday. On June 26th of 1970, Nick Offerman was brought into this world. 14 years later Aubrey Plaza was born on the exact same date. I also found that While filming the second season, Amy Poehler who plays Leslie Knope, became pregnant during the second half of the season. The writers and directors decide not to write her pregnancy into the show, instead, finish filming the second half of the second season, and take a break until she had delivered her child. Overall, I really enjoy watching Parks and Recreation. I highly recommend the show to anyone who is interested in watching it. It’s worth the time to spend watching it, and you’ll get lots of laughs from it. If I had to rate Parks and Rec. I’d rate it about a 10/10! The next show I decided to write a review on is Helix. Helix is a show about a team of CDC doctors that are dropped in a base in Antarctica. In the base, doctors are experimenting with a virus known as Narvik. The virus gets out of control, infects one of the main doctors, and soon infects almost everyone on the base. The remaining few uninflected persons band together to try to cure and end the outbreak. Unfortunately, Helix was cancelled after just two seasons. Which wasn’t much of a surprise because it had very low ratings and not very many viewers. IMDb rated Helix a 6.9/10. Surprisingly TV.com (one of the harshest raters) rated it a 7.3/10. Helix received an 82% Rotten Tomatoes score. The first episode was aired in January 2014, and the final episode was aired on April 10th 2015. I really enjoyed Helix even though had a bad rap. Parks and Recreation and Helix are definitely 2 of my favorite shows out there. I highly recommend them. If you have any interest in watching them you should definitely give them a try. |
Top Books of 2016Josie Washburn
I picked these books out because they seem to me to be ones worth reading. By the way, no romance! The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick An excellent book. A young orphan, Hugo Cabret, lives in a clock tower after his father dies. He is trying to fix a mechanical man that was one of his father’s most prized possessions. But this leads to a message from his father. And that’s only the beginning. Holes by Louis Sachar A young man named Stanley Yelnats is always getting in trouble. But when he is sent to Camp Green Lake, he ends up in more hot water than he could imagine. The warden and the sheriff are both looking for something. Stanley’s family always seems to have bad luck. What’s behind it all? The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle (number 2 in the hero's guide to…) by Christopher Healy When a extremely powerful magic item goes missing the League of Princes is called into action. Magic gemstones and bladejaw eels are only some of the things in this fairy tale world, populated by princes that want to step out of the shadow of their princesses and live life to the extreme. Prince Duncan, Prince Frederick, Prince Liam, Prince Gustav, they are going to track down this object and return it to its rightful place-even if it kills them. Among the challenges they will face is a Grey Phantom and two warlords bent on world domination. A funny and silly romp. The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw (number 3) by Christofer Healy You think you know those guys pretty well, right? Well, posters saying that Prince Liam's extremely unpleasant fiance, Briar Rose, has been murdered, have spread throughout the kingdom. And the League of Princes are the prime suspects. Now on the run, the League discovers a sinister plot to wreak havoc throughout the kingdoms. This leads to a showdown involving a eerily-familiar enemy at an eerily-familiar location… Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson Hillery Westfield has always dreamed of being a pirate, but fate is cruel. The League of Pirates does not allow girls in its ranks. Girls are supposed to stay home and learn to faint. But Hillary will become a pirate and nothing can stop her. So she runs away. What follows is an incredible adventure. |
Should Portland Salt the Roads?Vincent Benedetti
Since the beginning of winter, Portland OR has seen a lot of snow, the most snow that we have seen in a long time. Though winter is coming to a close, it still begs the question: Should we be salting our roads? This question brings up a lot of controversy and many good arguments. This is my take on the situation: First we need to know what road salt is, and what are its alternatives? Road salt is called Halite, which is essentially table salt. The only difference being, that the salt we use on our roads is unrefined, explaining it’s brownish-gray color, as opposed to it’s more edible counterpart. The salt, depending on where the city buys it from, may contain uses different chemicals to make the salt adhere to the roads, which causes less salt being applied to the roads. The salt is applied by pretty much just pouring it onto our roads. The salt works by lowering the freezing temperature of H2O, making it more challenging for snow and Ice to stick. The drawbacks are that when the winter season is over, the salt turns to runoff and can be dangerous to nearby bodies of water, and the surrounding flora and soil. Some alternatives consist of: Potassium chloride, which is half as corrosive than salt but twice as expensive, Organic waste, which is still in experimentation, and hard to store but is not corrosive or toxic at all, and beet juice which is cheap, non-corrosive but pretty ineffective. |
The salt may also be dangerous to pets and wildlife, much of the wildlife is attracted to the salt, as consuming it gives some much needed sodium for their diet, however the animals in turn become more likely to become roadkill, the same goes for our pets, and too much salt may become very unhealthy for dogs and can lead to fatal health issues.
So should we use road salt as a deicer in Portland? My answer is no. Portland already uses a liquid alternative of road salt that is, in essence,warm water with some salt in it, we use this because it’s less damaging to our roads and our pets, but the water still runs off into our water sources, so not so good, but still better than road salt. Plus Portland rarely gets snow, and it’s even more rare for the snow to cause as many problems as it did this year. I’m not promoting unpreparedness but, it is very expensive to store massive amounts of salt over the year despite the cheapness of the product. There is a reason other states use road salt, however. It is proven to save a lot of lives, and buying the salt is very cheap. Road Salt is also very easy to apply. Its understandable that snowy states, like Alaska, would apply salt to their roads, it's the only option that is affordable. On the other hand, Although Alaska has a lot of wildlife it’s okay because the amount of wilderness vastly outnumbers the amount of urban areas. If we travel 3,000 miles southwest, to New York (the state) we find that New York also salts their roads. New York is home to the second largest city in the world, but New York is also fairly rural in the western areas, so when the roads are salted it can be hugely damaging towards the rural areas of the state. Oregon is known as one of the greenest cities in the country and we should work hard to keep that reputation. Portland has already begun to decline when it comes to water quality, The current state of The Willamette is terrible, granted it is getting better, slowly, but our beloved Willamette already suffers from a plethora of issues, from agricultural runoff to untreated sewage, salt would only cause more issues for the river. In conclusion: should we salt our roads? My answer is still no, we rarely get so much snow that it becomes necessary, and we need to preserve our environment. I say it’s okay fine if it’s in a place where no, or very little harm will come to the environment. For Oregon I think the risk is too high to salt our roads. What are your opinions? Do you think that we should salt our roads? |