On August 29th, 2005 four-fifths of New Orleans had been submerged by Hurricane Katrina. The population was stranded at the Superdome, a congregation of the desperate and poor or trying to signal for help on their rooftops. Katrina became symbolic of American dysfunction and government neglect. 10 years later and nobody can truly say that city has been returned to its original state.
Katrina took the lives of over 1800 citizens of New Orleans, and while the Hurricane itself caused countless amounts of damage, the government’s response was considered inadequate by many thus adding to the damage. The federal government had been preparing for a disaster in New Orleans since 2002 when the possibility of a Hurricane was announced, and several days before Katrina hit the FEMA encouraged evacuation of the city, an announcement that became mandatory the day before Katrina hit. Although, many were unable to leave so the FEMA opened the Superdome where citizens were allowed to stay during the storm. Although, within a few days the dome became packed with over 20,000 people and had to be evacuated. The FEMA halted all firefighters and ambulances from responding without the permission of state authorities first ultimately slowing the response. Also, the FEMA refused to accept help from non-government organizations such as the American Red Cross. Ultimately, the federal government was unaware of the extent of the overall damage in Katrina despite the fact that they had several government officials in the area thus adding severe damage to New Orleans in a high risk situation.
New Orleans has greatly improved of the past decade, but the effects of Katrina can still be seen. The past decade have been dedicated to re-engineering and rearrangement much of the city. Although, many houses and shops had been abandoned following the storm. This is because not only were lives lost, but many migrated out of the area. New Orleans has lost over 100,000 African Americans and 11,000 of the white population as of 2013. This is because many African American families cannot afford to be living in New Orleans due to the low wages and increasing price of rent. Yet, many whites still can because, in recent studies, the average income of whites in New Orleans is 54 percent higher than those of African Americans. And, the poverty and crime rates are still major issues the numbers have been decreasing in the past few years.
The past decade has been a crucial one for the citizens of New Orleans, but the city has continuously used various solutions to improve housing, education and social mobility. While they still have much more to go, New Orleans has greatly improved since Katrina.
Initially, the month of September is something most high school students dread…the time where their stress-free summers end and a new, stressful school year begins. However, in the midst of this melancholy, there’s still one event the majority of us look forward to: homecoming. This year, the dance is scheduled for Saturday, September 26th, from 7 – 10 PM. The function will take place in the gym, where you can certainly expect many tasty treats!
To lead up to this day, East has various, entertaining events throughout the school week that really channel students’ inner spirit. From –ER day to twin day, each is unique, and certainly quite amusing. On –ER day, you dress up like something that ends in –ER. For example, you can wear a straw hat and overalls and dress up like a farmer, wear professional clothing and pretend to be a teacher, or even a gamer – get creative with it! On twin day, find a friend and wear the same clothing to show your spirit for East. On top of these two events, there’s also a day where each graduating class wears their own color-coated shirt that pertains to the theme East voted for. This year, we’ve selected the theme of Pixar. The freshmen will have blue shirts that sport Finding Nemo, sophomores will have green shirts with Monsters Inc., juniors will have yellow with Toy Story, and seniors will be decked out in red with the theme of The Incredibles. While wearing these shirts, everyone will be directed to go to the homecoming assembly, where potential senior homecoming king and queen candidates are revealed. Each will write a speech and recite it, and a king and queen is voted for. During the pep rally, minigames will be set up, where representatives from each grade try to win for their class. While it gets very competitive, especially for the seniors, the assembly is a really fun time for people to show their spirit for East.
On Thursday, September 24th, the Powder Puff game, Taste of East, and bonfire all take place. At 5 PM, juniors and seniors are eligible to take part in the Powder Puff game, which is a game of football – but with gender roles reversed! This time, the girls will be playing the football, while the guys dress up in cheerleading outfits and cheer for their female counterparts. The junior class faces the senior class, and anyone is welcome to watch. Following the Powder Puff, the Taste of East is at 6 PM. Here, various clubs set up booths and sell delicious foods ranging from dinner meals to tasty desserts. There will be mac and cheese, beverages, brownies as well as other desserts, and other delicious treats and fun activities, so be sure to attend. This social event will continue until 7:00, when we switch things up a bit with a gigantic bonfire – seriously, it’s huge. Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of these enjoyable events, because they only happen once a year! Bring a couple of friends and come out and participate in what East has to offer. Trust me, you’ll appreciate that you went.
On Saturday, the 26th, at 12:30 PM, the Homecoming Parade will take place. Here, each class presents the floats that they’ve built and marches down Paradise road. A winning grade is chosen based on whose was the most creative and fits the theme of Pixar. Shortly after, at 1:30 PM, there will be a picnic where you can get pizza and water. Following the picnic is the football game, which will begin at 2:00 PM.
Homecoming itself will be 7:00 – 10:00 PM later that day. Tickets are only available before the actual event, and if you’re bringing a guest from another school, special forms are required. During the event, there’ll be desserts, snacks, and beverages (plenty of water) available.
No matter what grade you’re in, homecoming week is a great time to express yourselves and have a blast with all of your friends. A warning to all you East newcomers, however, don’t get too close to the middle during the dance…on top of it being extremely hot, you might not be able to find your way out. Again, tickets for the dance will be on sale a week before. Show your school spirit and participate! Go Flames!
For this installment, I asked School Social Worker Mrs. Taberski to give some advice about a frequent question she gets.
Q: What can a student do if they feel overwhelmed by school and trying to balance other activities?
A: You have to find time to relax. They have so much going on that they do not take time to take care of themselves. They also should not procrastinate. Address what needs to be taken care of.
Q: Students are worried about not knowing what they want to do in the future. If they see their peers making plans, they tend to get more overwhelmed. What can students do?
A: You don’t have to have all the answers today. Put yourself out there and see what you like. Do volunteer work or a job shadow for a day, see what you like. Look into an internship opportunity. Think about your talents, strengths, and what you enjoy.
On Wednesday, May 20th the East music wing put on the locally famed Legends of Jazz show, one of East’s most popular productions, second only to Winterfest. Like every year, the auditorium was packed—and not just with proud parents.
Here at East, every May the music department contracts a nationally acclaimed jazz celebrity (or even two) to come play with our students. In past years, John Pizzarelli, Jane Monheit, Cyrus Chestnut and Kevin Mahogany have all been featured; this year, Karrin Allyson, vocalist, and Houston Person, tenor saxophonist, were our stars.
Allyson, a four time Grammy award nominee, has released 12 albums with Concord Records and tours extensively both within the United States and internationally. Person has released over 75 albums with Prestige Records and is known for his “distinctive sassy sound” and work in soul jazz.
The students in the Jazz program—the WEHS Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Jazz Improvisation classes—got to work with Allyson and Person in rehearsals on Tuesday and Wednesday before the concert. Despite the fact that they only had three weeks to prepare the jazz charts (and two of them AP weeks) the hard work they put in paid off. Both stars were highly impressed with the East music program, with Allyson going as far as to say that “the jazz orchestra here is better than a lot of college orchestras.”
The first half of the concert featured soloists and jazz combos from the Jazz Improvisation classes; the second half showcased the Jazz Orchestra and three student singers—Anna Kresse, Adam Kluge, and Anjor Khadilkar. Afterwards, the two stars autographed CDs.
According to Melissa Li, “It was an amazing performance. Houston and Karrin had great chemistry together as they played. It was such a unique experience. Houston has a very bright personality.” He wasn’t the only one either. According to Claire Kim, “Karrin really had a great voice and an amazing stage presence.”
The Legends of Jazz concert is a unique Williamsville East experience. No other school in the Erie County area offers such an amazing opportunity for the community or their students to interact with renowned jazz professionals
The Williamsville Central School District has always been a strong supporter of the creativity and artistic endeavors of its students. Unlike other districts that cut or reduce music and arts classes from its curriculum to stay within budgetary constraints, Williamsville goes out of its way to hold an annual festival celebrating the visual, musical, dance and poetic compositions of its students.
Although there are numerous other concerts and programs throughout the year, the biggest exhibition of poetic and artistic creativity in the district is the April Poetry & Arts Festival, which took place on a beautiful Sunday last month (April 25th). The format of this festival is unique because each year, district wide, student-written poetry from every grade level is submitted and evaluated by a panel of teachers, who undertake the difficult task to choose which works will be read at the festival.
Added to this, students compose works of music, dance and visual art to compliment, accentuate and/or accompany the poetry. A guest poet of national or international renown is also invited to interweave his or her works with the poetry of the Williamsville students.
Some notable guest poets of the past few years have been Carol Ann Duffy, Jane Hirshfield, and Naomi Shihab Nye.
This year, the guest poet was Dan Gerber, who inherited vast sums of money from the famed Gerber Baby Food Company then used the freedom that money provided him to truly look at the everyday, the commonplace and the prosaic, to see, contemplate and write about the wonder and magic of it all.
This year’s festival was without a doubt a veritable smorgasbord of genuinely reflective, thought provoking and inspiring work.
Clarence’s Eastern Hills Mall has been taking some hard hits lately. Just recently, one of the most popular chain upscale men’s stores, Brooks Brothers, closed their 346 store as a part of their plan to close all 12 of their 346 stores, the world-famous men’s store’s line of stores featuring slightly cheaper line of apparel then their regular Brooks Brothers stores.
Also, Dave & Buster’s is leaving Eastern Hills to open a larger, two-level location at the more popular Walden Galleria. Deb, a chain women’s clothing store, is closing all of their 287 stores across the country, including the Eastern Hills Mall location. Also, the mall’s general manager, Russ Fulton, turned down a new Sonic Drive-In which wanted to be located in the mall. The question is: Will Eastern Hills Mall stay alive for generations to come or will it become a dead mall in the near future?
The mall, when it first opened in 1971, was apparently the “Walden Galleria” of its time. It was larger than the Boulevard Mall and had more high-end stores than any other shopping center in Western New York at that time. Since then, stores and restaurants have been downsizing and closing, with other lesser-known establishments moving in, several of them being locally-owned establishments, like the Made-In-America Store and Duff’s Wings.
In a survey of 32 East students, it was asked “Do you believe that the Eastern Hills Mall is dying?” and 24 students said “yes”, 7 students said “no”, and 1 student was undecided. In addition, the question “Do you believe that the Eastern Hills Mall can do anything to secure its future?” found 17 students who replied “yes”, 7 students replied “no”, and 8 students reported as undecided.
According to East, Eastern Hills Mall is dying. That leads to another question: should Eastern Hills Mall make a comeback, to be bigger and better than ever before, or should the mall keep its status quo? If they do close someday, there will be large amount of vacant space to be filled along Transit Road.
The NBA finals will start on June 4th even if all the conference finals games are done early. What this will leave us with is an extended period of time where the nation will be discussing the finals to be. This is Lebron’s fifth consecutive year in the finals. That is the most by any player since the 1960s. Similar to last season, Lebron, despite being the best player in the league, will be a big underdog. The Cavs don’t have much going for them besides Lebron. Kyrie might still not be 100% by the time the finals start but his extended rest will help. To beat the Warrior Kyrie would need not only to be healthy, but to play at his best.
The Warriors are one of the best teams in the history of the NBA. Their 67-15 regular season was only 3 wins short of the record. They also aren’t that far off from the 2001 Lakers’ record 16-1 postseason. Their point differential is one of the best of all time. Steph Curry won the league MVP this year despite not playing in 17 4th quarters because they were blow outs. The Warriors still aren’t getting the proper respect as one of the greatest teams of all time simply because they haven’t won a championship and because they don’t have players considered to be top all time guys.
Steph Curry is great. He may very well be considered the best shooter of all time and of course he is the league MVP. The problem is that he isn’t very good at defense and he had only had two great seasons in his entire career. While it seems like Kobe and Lebron have made every all star game since they were 12 years old Steph has only made 2. He has only entered the playoffs as a legit championship contender once, and he has only been 1st team all NBA once.
The problem is people are losing sight of what the actual conversation is. This years’ Warriors team is the best single season team of all time. The fact that in their recent history they have never seriously contended for a title doesn’t matter. The thing that makes this Warriors team special is the fact they have an insane group of five players, and they have no holes on their bench. No other team in history has had the MVP, the best player in the league at guarding 1-5, a center who is one of the best rim protectors in the league, a superstar scorer at shooting guard who by the way isn’t bad at defense, and a great perimeter defender who can run the offense off the bench.
When it comes to esports, one of the major problems for viewers at home is the constant metagame. For of those of you unacquainted with the term, it is the prevailing trends in the game, such as common strategies. One example would be conversions in football. Even though there is the option of the 2 point conversion, it is rarely used due to its great risk. Similarly in one online card game called Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, the Collectible Card Game has a fairly consistent meta. However, one competition is trying to change that.
Its called ChallengeStone, and the idea is simple: make seemingly arbitrary rules regarding the match, and let the players create decks around it. For example, in the first challenge, Odds and Evens, minions (the creatures created) must have a certain stat (Attack) be odd, while spells must have an even cost. This leads to a very weird deck that requires not only originality, creativity, and skill in game, but also in creating the decklist. This favors ingenuity more so than creating decks beforehand. Hopefully trends like these will continue to permeate throughout the esports medium.
Fundamentalists from any culture pose problems to society. Christian fundamentalists, Hebrew fundamentalists, and Islamic fundamentalists alike cause problems with the natural order of today’s society. Proposing radical concepts, like uniting the church and the state, or refusing minor social beliefs like acceptance of gay rights, the fundamentalist groups historically stir up trouble. However, that does not mean that every follower of these religions agree with these beliefs. With the recent rise of the ISIS group in the Middle East, an unnerving amount of Americans are persecuting non-ISIS Muslims.
Fear and paranoia has developed in America in response to the rise of ISIS. It has become so common that a word was coined for the fear of Muslims: Islamophobia. Islamophobia, while it has been in existence for a while, has recently dramatically increased in it usage. The frequency of the word Islamophobia has drastically increased since the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York. Understandably, this event is one of the only historical events with significant precedent to the paranoia of today. After the terrorist attacks in 2001, the nation stopped. Holding its breath, the great nation of America, stopped. Everywhere, people can relate the events that happened in their life that day. Everywhere, people can recant where they were when the towers were struck. Since that September day, security in the nation has changed. Everywhere, airport security now takes much longer. While the security hasn’t stopped every terrorist attack since 9/11, people feel more comfortable. Obviously, this security hasn’t entirely been for safety, but it also acted as the country’s moral backbone. Providing some support, security has limited the paranoia generated; nevertheless, the rise of Islamophobia traces its strongest roots to 9/11.
Anybody can describe the instability of the Middle East, but very few take the time to understand the irrational fear of Islam generated from the region. While Islamic states like Iraq and Afghanistan have produced some of the world’s worst terrorists, not everybody is a terrorist. Similarly, not every American will start a school shooting. Yet, many Americans are terrified by their Muslim neighbors. Comedian Bill Maher has recently been expressing his views on the subject. Arguing that “Islam ‘is not like other religions.’ It is ‘like the mafia that will fucking kill you’ if you cross it.” Surveys have shown that Maher is not alone in this belief. 45% of Americans suffer an ‘unfavorable view’ on Muslims . Incidentally, the statement goes in two ways. Half of the Muslim students in California schools reported that they have been subjects of bullying as the result of racial and religious discrimination . These statistics demonstrate the abnormally high tension between innocent Muslim’s and Americans.
Anti-Muslim campaigns extend from comedians and politicians. As of September 29, advertisements will be displayed throughout the New York City public transportation supporting the anti-Muslim campaign. Posters displaying brutal messages will be displayed throughout the subway systems on the busses. The posters use images to make horrific comparisons. One even makes a comparison between the Jihadists and Hitler. The posters, presented by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, or the AFDI, are intended to fight against Jihadism.
“The term jihad refers to a holy war or personal struggle done in devotion to Islam. ” The advertisements, intended to prevent jihads only appear intended to provoke American hatred towards Muslims entirely. With bold statements like “Islamic Jew-hatred: It’s in the Quran” posed next to a picture of Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini, it becomes easy to see how this advertisement is effective. Other headlines claim “Yesterday’s moderate is today’s headline.” This title is accompanied by a pre/post photograph set that establishes the position of a moderate Muslim as identical to a radical, head-chopping terrorist. A final poster, using only words says, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”
With slogans like “It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism,” it becomes evident that these advertisements cannot possibly explain why Muslims deserve such hatred. This hate campaign, similar to Bill Maher’s is undeniably oppressive against non-ISIS Muslims.
Another terrifying form of oppression sparked from Islamophobia is the recent ban of the burka in France. Outraged Muslims, justifiably, are speaking out against this cruel injustice. Banning the burka is essentially banning a core part of the Muslim religion. Banning the burka is slightly hypocritical of the French government due to their freedom of religion. Banning the burka would be akin to banning a cross necklace or banning the Star of David. The irritation expressed by French Muslims, therefore, is understandable. Furthermore, in their effort to explain this moral crisis, Muslims point out that this act of religious intolerance is an obvious intrusion into rights, and the Muslims noted that the same power could be expressed over any other religion or social right. It depicts a weakness and corruptness stemming from the fear of the Islamic women in the nation. Irrational, though it may be, the fear is real.
With the increasing fears stemming from the Muslim world, political leaders elsewhere have to be certain that they come up with solutions quickly. Obviously, ISIS needs to be dealt with, but nonviolent, non-extremist Muslims don’t. For the sake of stability of the United States as well as the European Union, this fear should be managed, not perpetuated with horrific advertising. Elongating the paranoia can only cause future problems.
Honeybees are arguably one of the most important insects, as they provide invaluable service agriculturally and environmentally. Unfortunately, they are declining rapidly. The reported loss of percent of bee colonies decreased from 30%, the average from 2005 to 2013, to 23% in 2014. However, in just this past year, more than 40% of honeybee hives have died, and this is the second-highest annual loss ever recorded. Colony losses have been at a record high throughout all seasons.
If these losses continue, it could easily threaten the economic health of the pollination, not to mention the literal health of many crops. The cause of these losses is yet to be discovered. The cost of honeybee pollination services would rise, and these would cause increased costs to consumers. Honeybees are responsible for pollinating innumerable crop plants: onions, cashew, celery, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, coffee plant, melons, lemon, strawberries, mangos, avocado, and the list goes on. A world without honeybees would be a very deprived world indeed.
Jordan Spieth: the next big name in golf? (Still not as catchy as “Tiger Woods”.)
By Jason Phillips
Jordan Spieth had one of the greatest masters in history tying Tiger Woods’ tournament record of a score of 270 or eighteen under par. When Woods set the record ten years ago it was thought to be unbeatable at a course as difficult as Augusta. Plus, if you actually watched all four rounds Spieth had the chances to break the Woods’ record, and enter the last hole of the tourney with a score of 19 under before he bogeyed the hole. The question everyone is now asking is: is Spieth the next Tiger Woods?
This question has been posed about many golfers in the past and most in recent memory have been letdowns except for maybe Rory Mcilory who’s been successful over the past several years although not dominating the sport like Tiger did when he was at the top of his game. Rory has had a very successful career when you compare him to anyone else he’s competed against, but still he’s not Tiger. Rory has brought upon comparison with Tiger by signing a deal with Nike and now appearing in a commercial that shows tiger “passing the torch” to him. Still, Rory does not have the consistently win pretty much every tournament like Tiger once had. Golf from a casual fans perspective is uninteresting because you don’t seem to know the person that’s winning the majors anymore. That’s why people get interested when someone young like Spieth wins because he might be able to have the dominance that Tiger did.
Still, you can only speculate because golf is more mental than most other sports. That’s why I honestly do think Spieth could reach that level of dominance Tiger did because he doesn’t put himself in too many tough spots. However, on the flip side, whenever Spieth hits a bad shot he struggles to find a way to scrap out a par the way guys like Tiger, Rory and even Phil Mickelson do. When Spieth is firing on all cylinders, like how he was in the first round of the masters, he just doesn’t make a bad shot but he just makes good solid shots on every hole. If Spieth can go out every tournament and drive the ball and putt as well as he did at the masters he could possibly be one of the greats and maybe the greatest of all time. Still, I don’t think Spieth will have great US Open this June. It’s not because of the pressure; it’s just do to the fact that course where its being played is a long links style course that in which you miss the green it’s going to be tough to get up down. Spieth not being one of the longer guys on the tour in my opinion will have trouble positioning himself to make birdies in the tournament. Still I hope Spieth proves me wrong because I can for sure say golf is way more interesting when there is a Tiger in the sport.
By: Harleen Kaur
