The fact that two years ago, the student section at Harrisonburg High School consisted of empty stands after halftime, but is now filled with one of the better student sections of the valley district seems to baffle me. Two years ago, the football team was trying to work itself out of a deep hole. A hole that was filled with eight losses and two measly wins against other two and eight teams. The football team is the heart and drive of many schools. Win or lose, high school teams are celebrated throughout the beautiful United States. With a better performing football team, the stands have been filled more and more each week and show what some people are really made of.

In the time of struggle, the cheers heard in the stadium were heard coming mostly from the band and the families of athletes. Not much of a student section was there to show support for the football team. A team that is appreciated feels good, and when you feel good, you play good. Towards the beginning of the season a small crowd formed but was almost always driven away before the end of the game.

Last year, the team experienced prosperity and so did the student section. Headed by new leadership, a large crowd began to start showing up to the game. Overall school spirit seemingly increased and boosted the team’s performance.

The influx of fans leads me to wonder about the cause. Is it the rapid increase of freshman? They are one of the biggest classes to enter the school. Maybe it has only seemed better because since the current seniors entered the high school (supposedly one of the worst to go through the school system) school spirit has seemed to grow. Two years ago, leadership behind the Red Sea was basically non existent as were their appearances. Every night was disappearance night.

With a better season currently in the making, school spirit will hopefully get better too.  

Vinyl has been extinct for years, especially after CDs became a big hit. But it has finally returned. Rising from the grave, the old-fashioned turn table has made its way back from the 70’s, looking and working better than before. The sales of vinyl have gone up 240% since 2014, showing how quickly it’s become a trend once again. Nowadays, the typical fashion of listening to music is on a cell phone, which isn’t as effective as a record player.

1. Record Players were the original music players.

If you thought the MP3 player you used in ‘06 was the first music producer, you thought wrong. Thomas Alva Edison invented the old fashioned record player, the phonograph, back in 1877. Almost a century later, the record player was still a big hit, being the only way to listen to music. Eight Track Tapes were invented in 1965, followed by cassettes, which had gained a little popularity on vinyl. In the nineties, CDs slowly took over. Over the years, it is easy to tell that the technology became more on-the-go and advanced, especially with the ability to download music on iPods and cellphones. Although the alternatives may be smaller and on-the-go, the record player has been around the longest and has made its way back to the music industry.

2. There’s nothing like the record-buying experience.                                           

Due to the growing number of people listening to and buying records, more record stores have appeared. When one walks into a record store, the atmosphere is beaming with the passion for music. Everyone is searching for the perfect album to purchase, and you are too. You scramble around the racks and boxes, gambling, as you dig in your favorite genre, looking for your favorite artist. The large selection to choose from is overwhelming and incredible. People chat and give recommendations on albums to listen to as they all share a common interest. When using iTunes or music streaming apps, you don’t get to physically explore music and encounter other music lovers.

3. Vinyl is a keepsake.

The album is yours, all yours. Rather than digitally downloading a single song or a soundtrack on iTunes, you own the whole album, and it won’t have to always be on your phone. Plus, you can hold it in your hands (literally)! Even if you don’t use it any longer,  you can use it for decoration or pass it along. It’s not just the physical album that you hold, but the art on the cover, the pictures inside, all of the melodies, beats and rhythms and the emotions it brings.  

4. Music can serve its purpose.

Music is meant to be played and not to be skipped. Listening to a record is like being at a concert. Although you’ll hear some of the songs you didn’t want to be performed, when you get to the good ones, they sound even better. You have no control over what song may be played next, but that’s how it should be. When you listen to a record, you get to know each song and their lyrics.  

5. The quality is incomparable.

It’s that warm and fuzzy, genuinely rich sound that comes out of the speakers and fills your room. Anybody who listens to vinyl can agree that a record player makes music sound better. Also, the music that is normally listened to is compressed and broadcasted in a lossy format, causing the quality of the song to be reduced and certain details to be eliminated. However, vinyl does not lose anything while being pressed, due to the fact its a lossless format. Not only that, but the mild harmonic distortion vinyl gives off tends to pleasing to the human ear.

6. Records become a collection.

I hate to admit it, but records can become an addiction. After going to the record store once, you begin to find yourself going in there more. Having a collection is an accomplishment and makes you feel good because it’s more than just an album. Collections are usually sitting on a shelf or on a display to show the creative covers. Each album tells a story.

Colin Kaepernick, the leading quarterback for the San Francisco 49’ers has recently chosen to take a stand against police brutality in America by sitting during the National Anthem played before every football game. When asked why he didn’t stand, Kaepernick was quoted saying ”To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Not unexpectedly, this action has already caused people all over the country to take up arms against Kaepernick. Immediately people took to the internet, calling for the 49’ers to suspend Kaepernick for his ‘unpatriotic actions’ as well as several fans uploading videos of themselves burning his jersey in protest.

When it comes down to it, no matter how you feel about Kaepernick’s actions, he has just as much of a right to sit during the National Anthem as you have to hate him for it. Who are we to tell any player, or person for that matter, how to honor, or not honor, their country?

This is what the men and women who serve our country have defended here and overseas- Kaepernick’s right to sing the national anthem at the top of his lungs, and his right to choose not to honor it at all. As long as he isn’t interfering with his anyone else’s right to make their own choices, what’s the problem here?

To clear the air, I don’t agree with Kaepernick’s decision to sit during the National anthem, but I do respect what he is trying to accomplish. African-American athletes are often asked, (perhaps, unfairly) to speak out on social issues and well, he just did. If you don’t agree with what Kaepernick did or said, that’s your prerogative. But saying that what he said and did was “un-American” is to lose sight of what it mean to be an American.

In some countries, Kaepernick might face prison time or worse for his actions. So, to the people that are upset by the fact that he didn’t stand, ask yourself this: would you rather live in a country where you are forced to stand for your flag? By not standing, Kaepernick is simply exercising his right as an American citizen and voicing his opinion on a matter he feels strongly about. Instead of being seen as offensive, Kaepernick’s actions should remind us all that the U.S. is a pretty great place to live.

Bendy straws are a spectacular invention. They come in colors, polkadots and stripes. In the hierarchy of drink accessories, the fancy umbrella picks are for the rich and wealthy, or maybe the average person on a splurge day. Only if you belong to the peasant class do you drink from a normal straw, or -gasp- without any straw at all. But for our normal middle class, we have the stupendous bendy straw.

Let’s just take a minute to appreciate all the wonderful qualities of a bendable straw. A nice cylindrical tube, made from the finest quality plastic. Then, near the top, are the fantastic ridges and creases that allow us to bend our straw as we please. This drinking utensil is arguably the best invention since the light bulb.

Although some people feel them to be childish, the bendy straw actually improves the perceived maturity of the drinker by eliminating the need to slurp from the rim of a glass. If that’s not enough, they help you to drink more liquid in a shorter period of time, assisting you in staying hydrated and winning chugging competitions.

Sold at any and all grocery stores, these tubular devices can be obtained for as low as $2.50 for an entire pack. If used for water, you can always reuse them. As an extra bonus, they make it easier to determine which cup is yours. Have you ever been stuck at a gathering where all the cups look the same? It’s so much easier to find your own cup when there’s a fun, flexible straw sticking out of the rim.

Next time you get a drink, consider adding a bendable straw to enhance your sipping experience. I can guarantee bendy straws will change your life with their awesomeness.

I have an addiction. It has completely taken over my life. I’m constantly craving it, so I can’t go too long without it. I consume it with my breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner. I guess you could call it a drug, but I prefer the term oreo milkshake.

My go-to places to grab milk’s favorite cookie in a shake is Dairy Queen, Cookout and if I’m getting breakfast, Burger King (they put a lot of whip cream on top, yum!). Sadly, there are times when I can’t make it to any of those places, so I make them myself. Here’s how:
Olivia Comer

You don’t want to swim, not tonight. The water’s cold, 78 degrees, 20 degrees colder than your body temperature. Plus you still have homework, lots of it, but you won’t think about it until after practice ends. You’re nervous-it’s butterfly night, which is like swimming with a 28 pound cinder block strapped to your back. Coach is yelling at you to jump in. You take one sane breath, then leap. You have 4,000 yards of insanity left, nearly forty football fields of swimming.

And then next day, you have to convince your friends that swimming is a sport. They say, “Anyone can swim, it doesn’t any skill. All you do is move your arms and legs.” Maybe if you are swimming for recreational purposes, yes, but it is definitely untrue for competitive swimmers.

Competitive swimmers go to so many long practices and do dryland (aerobic exercises, like running and lifting), all to make their skill level increase. Swimmers need to learn and practice good technique, and technique takes time. Ask any athlete, and he or she will tell you that time is an athlete’s best friend.  

The dictionary definition of the word ‘sport’ also establishes swimming as a sport. It reads, “An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Swim team qualifies for all of those terms.

Another reason I say it is a sport is because nobody but the swimmer can change the outcome of a race. They do not get a time-out in the middle of a race, they cannot blame the referee, and they cannot blame another swimmer. They just have to leave it all in the water and hope it is enough.

That brings us to my final point. “You need direct opposition for it to be considered a sport.” There is opposition, it is just not direct. They swim in a heat with either five or seven other people at a time. Just because swimmers do not have a physical interaction with the other swimmers, that doesn’t mean they don’t have opposition.

In 2012, YouTube quietly began to demonetize “inappropriate” videos using an automated algorithm that examined video content. They claimed that advertisers didn’t want to sponsor videos with improper content, such as vulgar language and sexual suggestions. Demonetization, with respect to YouTube, means that for videos that they think is inappropriate, YouTube can remove the advertisements. This takes away profit for the people posting the videos. YouTube charges the advertisers, and then shares the fees with the YouTubers. Recently, YouTube has amended the policy and has started to alert YouTubers when their videos are not qualified for monetization, which called a lot of attention to the policy. Some of the new “community guidelines” that tell what people can and cannot put up if they want to make a profit include subjects such as violence, profanity or sexual language, the promotion or selling of drugs, and the discussion of controversial or sensitive topics. The YouTubers were outraged, because they had no idea that YouTube had been doing this for the past four years, and people on social media blew up about the irrationality of parts of the new policy.

Many YouTubers depend solely on their income from YouTube to make a living. Many of the most popular people on YouTube don’t have a second job, so the policy is hurting them financially.

The YouTubers should have a right to post whatever they want. If viewers don’t like the content of a video, they can choose to find something else. People can subscribe, like, unlike and comment on videos for a good reason. People aren’t going to post something online that no one likes to watch. Part of the reason YouTube is enforcing this new policy is in order to discourage “vulgar language.”  In this generation, swearing is considered the norm, especially amongst young people, who make up a large part of YouTube’s target audience. According to a study done by OpenSlate, the majority of women prefer beauty videos (makeup, cosmetics, nails, hair, etc.), and most men view videos about sports and video games. All of these things are directed towards young people who typically use profanity in their everyday language.

Social media has made it clear that many people, not just the ones who make money off of YouTube, are outraged because they think this new policy is irrational. YouTube already has various (logical) age-restriction guidelines to prevent people from watching inappropriate videos, but with this added policy, viewers are being deprived of a lot of content. Appropriate videos are being blocked for little things. Therefore, this policy not only limits YouTubers’ income, but it restricts the options for the viewers. YouTube plays a large part in educating people about current events, and it shapes people’s views and ideas, but now this is being blocked as well.

The other part of this supposedly improved policy that has raised a big controversy is that videos with content that is related to sensitive subjects are not qualified for monetization. This means that topics such as war, natural disasters and political conflicts are considered inappropriate, “even if no graphic imagery is shown,” according to YouTube, and those videos will not be sponsored by ads.

This means that no one can discuss any type of current events or news on YouTube while benefiting from advertisement. For big groups (such as various comedians or big news corporations), this may not be that big of a deal, because they don’t necessarily need the extra money, but for smaller YouTubers such as Philip DeFranco, this is drastic. His channel is a news/current events channel, so this policy is going to have a big impact on his financial situation. He claims that twelve of his videos were blocked at the same time.

YouTube needs to listen to what everyone on social media is saying and loosen up their guidelines. While some of their rules are logical (such as the rules regarding drugs and violence), the are violating people’s freedom of speech, which is a civil right.

On September 13, a rally took place outside the White House in Washington D.C. in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline project that is currently underway in North Dakota. The pipeline is supposed to run oil from North Dakota through South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois, crossing under the Missouri River and many others. Over 500 protesters found themselves in Lafayette Square, adorning the lawn with vibrant signs that bore slogans like “keep it in the ground” and “oil + coal + gas = climate chaos”. Several key speakers of the environmental movement took the stage to add their voices to the growing disagreement with the pipeline.

Ryan Doerr
Signs are held up by protestors

The official website of Dakota Access says that there will be “safe transportation” of an estimated 470,000 barrels of oil per day, with a capacity for over 570,000. On paper, the project seems like a cost effective decision that will create jobs and open new markets. This is not the case. The project promises “safe” transportation of oil, although just months ago another pipeline carrying oil from the Bakken fields (the same as detailed in the Dakota project) spilled 30,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River, destroying the drinking water in that area.

The Dakota Access Pipeline, originally placed in Bismarck, North Dakota, was moved down the Missouri near the Standing Rock Reservation in Cannon Ball because the Energy Transfer company believed that placing a pipeline near the population of Bismarck would be “too risky”. This project threatens the drinking water of not only the people of Standing Rock, but the rest of the populous near the Missouri—some 140 million people. Most directly affected will be the Native American population of Standing Rock, whose lives Energy Transfer has deemed less important than those in Bismarck or anywhere else in North Dakota.

Since the project has been put into motion, the Native American community has become the leading protest group against the pipeline. Hundreds of tribes across the country have been brought together under the simple slogan, “water is life”. This kind of inter-tribal cooperation is unprecedented—it has never been seen it before, and it will never be seen again in this lifetime. Natives and non-natives alike have been camping on the Standing Rock Reservation since February in peaceful protest of the construction project, and they have recently faced a number of different abuses from police, including arrests, mace and dog attacks. These abuses do not vary based on age or sex.

Ryan Doerr
Security officers watch over the protest

One of the keynote speakers at the rally was a girl named Jasilyn Charger, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, who ran almost 2,000 miles from North Dakota to D.C. with a group of women and children to petition against the pipeline. Her tear-filled speech discussed the dangers that the protestors faced, the odds they were up against and the repercussions of the project on the community. She remarked boldly about the irony of the “corporate thieves” placing “no trespassing” signs on native land. Jasilyn made points about the importance of preserving water, not for us, but for future generations—for the children and grandchildren and leaders of tomorrow. She called upon President Obama, who visited their reservation in 2014, to shoot down the project, saying, “you held our children in your arms, and now you hold our lives in your hands.” Her speech was full of passion about the youth and their place in making real changes to the world. The crowd, with right fists raised to the sky, felt her presence in a powerful way.

Following Jasilyn was a man named Van Jones, president and cofounder of non-profit organization Dream Corps, environmental advisor to President Obama, bestselling author and CNN contributor. He spoke about the importance of including indigenous peoples in the global conversation and ensuring that their rights were protected—in this case, their right to water and their right to life. He spoke of his family’s past in the slave trade, how he was a fifth generation American in his family but the first to have all his rights legally recognized by the US government. He spoke of the prejudices the native people of America face today, prejudices that have served as part of the foundation of the country itself, and the ways in which we as a society can help bring them to the forefront of politics. One of the men spearheading this inclusion of native peoples spoke after him—Bernie Sanders.

The second Bernie set foot on the rally stage, the crowd in front of him swelled with pride. As a man who quickly became the face of the modern progressive movement this election season, hearing

Ryan Doerr
Protestors hold up signs against building the pipeline

Bernie speak at this rally was almost like hearing the word of God. He said that although the Obama administration had set forth a motion to halt the project, Energy Transfer would continue construction regardless unless faced with something stronger. He proposed a full-scale investigation into the safety of the project to counter the superficial one already conducted, stating that the report would surely shut down a project as potentially hazardous as the pipeline. Bernie continued by discussing his mission to include indigenous peoples in current politics, as they have quickly become the most vital part of the environmentalist movement and can no longer afford to sit on the backburner of national legislation.

As Bernie left the stage, the crowd flocked towards the front of the White House. Signs and costumes and drumbeats danced across the street as everyone, fists raised, began to chant:

“We are the people.

“You can’t ignore us.

“We will not let you build this pipeline.”

“Good afternoon, it’s good to be back. I brought your Chromebooks,” instructional technology resource teacher Diana Flick said. “If you turned in your paperwork, yes, you get your Chromebook today. I need to go over a couple of things… and then we’ll hand them to you.”

This is the way Flick begins the talk she has given to more than 900 freshman and sophomores in the last few weeks since school started. In this particular class, the five minute talk is followed by another ten minutes of handing out Chromebooks and chargers to around twenty sophomores.

“I don’t get tired [of giving the same speech], but I forget what I’ve said,” said Flick, as she prepared to go into another classroom.

She gave the same speech to the sophomores in this classroom as well. After giving the Chromebooks out, Flick paused to make sure everyone was on the same page.

“Couple of reminders, because I know you’re excited. Who in this classroom says when, where, how, and why you’re going to use the Chromebooks? Who is the person in charge in this room,” Flick asked.

“Ourselves?” one student answered.

“Nope, that’s so wrong,” Flick said. “No, Mrs. Wilson, let’s give her our respect. I hope you enjoy using [the Chromebooks].”

“Thank you,” several students said as Flick left the classroom.

“I’m so glad, thank you guys,” Flick replied.

“Those moments make me miss the classroom,” Toni Sheets, director of technology for the city schools, said as both she and Flick headed back down to their base of operations in room 171 to restock. “I make a lot of decisions. It’s not very much fun all the time, but it’s also fun to get out and be able to see this kind of stuff. To see how the decisions I make end up impacting the students and the teachers.”

All of the current sophomores and freshman have been receiving Chromebooks since the beginning of school a few weeks ago. Many students are excited for the Chromebooks as they head into a new year. One of these is freshman Alexis Saylor.

“I feel like it will be a lot easier to be organized,” Saylor said.

Saylor knows the value of having a Chromebook from personal experience.

“I have my own Chromebook that my dad got for me for Christmas and it definitely helped out last year,” Saylor said.

Flick agrees, but also thinks that for students who might not be able to get their own computer at home, the Chromebooks allow for success, especially in an increasingly electronic school environment.

“[Chromebooks] level the playing field. No matter what your background, everyone gets the same machine, so students who have not had access before have something,” Flick said.

Sophomore Aaliyah Jordan thinks Chromebooks will help save both time and create a more equitable school.

“I think [Chromebooks] will help everybody be more responsible,” Jordan said. “I think [school is] harder for people who don’t have a laptop at home. When they have to write a paper, they have to stay after school. This is better because they can just go home.”

Besides this, Jordan thinks that it will also be nice to simply have a computer to herself. Her only concern is that she might accidentally break the Chromebook.

“I’m afraid that one day I’m going to drop my book bag and it might hurt the computer,” Jordan said.

However, the administration behind the decision to hand out Chromebooks was one step ahead of her. Included with the Chromebooks is a warranty and insurance plan. This warranty covers “liquid spilled on or in the unit, drops, falls and other collisions, and electrical surges”, but does not cover “theft, cosmetic damage, normal wear and tear, intentional damage, or damage due to fire or natural disasters” according to the Chromebook Handbook distributed to all freshman and sophomores.

In the case of theft, which is not covered by the warranty, the administration can lock down the Chromebook, rendering it a “paperweight” according to Flick.

The administration reserves the authority to filter Chromebooks and place certain restrictions on their use, which Flick hopes that most students understand.

“I hope that students realize that because of funding and because of age, we have to filter,” Flick said.

Per contra, the technology department is working on a possible way for students to access YouTube for educational uses. One possibility would be for YouTube to be unblocked after school hours so that students could use it for homework, although Flick says it will likely remain blocked during school hours. This is not only because it could cause a distraction during class, but also because of the strain it could put on the internet network, potentially making it slower.

“Probably the best teaching practice is that a teacher shows a video and then there are activities. Of course there is some value in the student at home learning. We’ll work on that,” Flick said. “This is all new to us, so we’ll address things as they come up.”

The idea to give out Chromebooks originally evolved from a program that has been in place in Harrisonburg City Schools for several years now called Transforming Classrooms. This allowed teachers to apply for electronics like Chromebooks or iPads to have in their classrooms. Looking to expand the program, administrators found a grant from the Virginia Department of Education called the eLearning Backpack Initiative that would pay 400 dollars per student for an electronic device that the students would take home. From there, the decision had to be made as to what kind of device the district would purchase.

“We could either get a really cheap, lousy laptop, or we could get the best Chromebook money could buy at this time,” Flick said.

So, the district went with the Chromebooks. Other advantages of the Chromebooks included ease of management for the technology staff (Chromebooks automatically update and are connected to the network all the time), and the fact that Chromebooks had a keyboard while other devices such as iPads or tablets did not.

All in all, the state grant covers the cost for 400 dollar Chromebooks to all of the more than 900 students currently sophomores or freshmen, and each rising freshman when they enter high school for the next two years. However, the state did not cover the cost of insurance, from 18 to 25 dollars per Chromebook, which the district decided to add itself.

“We have two more years that the freshman class will get them, so by the time [the sophomore] class are seniors, everybody will have them, but that’s it. That’s all the DOE money we have,” Sheets said. “Four years from now we have to decide whether we’re going to fund it ourselves.”

With the influx of Chromebooks also comes an increased workload for the technology staff. It takes work by the technology department to keep the school network running at peak performance with so many new devices while still managing other electronics like projectors, document cameras, the main servers for the whole district, which are located at HHS, and all the other computers in the building that are not Chromebooks. Even with all this, Flick praises the district for maintaining one of the fastest networks around.

“We probably have the fastest network of any school in the area right now,” Flick said.

The technology department has already moved some employees to the high school specifically to deal with Chromebooks. In addition to this, a new position has been created, known as a quarter time instructional technology resource teacher (ITRT).

Quarter time ITRT’s are teachers already within the school who take on the responsibilities of a member of the technology staff for one block of the day. One of these is teacher Nathan Hissong.

“[Being an ITRT] is a whole different world of chaos… You’re day comes to you a little bit more and you’ve got to be able to respond to whatever pops up and you don’t know what that’s going to be,” Hissong said.

Even before this year, when Hissong became an ITRT, he was a big fan of technology in the classroom.

“In terms of my class I don’t think [each student having a Chromebook] will affect me that much because I have been using them throughout the last year very enthusiastically. I’m all in on the Chromebooks and looking to help other people get all in on them too,” Hissong said.

Hissong likes the organizational aspects of the Chromebooks, like the ability for students to not have as many papers, the best. Flick thinks that the collaboration aspect is also important, but thinks that how they will ultimately be used is very open ended.

“How they will be used is wide open… No one’s dictating [what teachers should do],” Flick said.

The only concern that Hissong has is that an over reliance on Chromebooks, like what happened when the internet was first beginning to be used in the classroom, will begin to occur.

“My concern is that we’re going to become so dependent on Chromebooks that when a student doesn’t have a Chromebook or the network goes down, it will be a tough day instructionally,” Hissong said.

However, the simple solution to this problem, Hissong thinks, is to have a backup plan, similar to what he would do when he first started using the internet as a tool for teaching. Flick thinks that because of an increasingly digital world, having tools like the Chromebooks are necessary to allow students to succeed.

“That’s our world now, it’s how we learn, it’s how we get information,” Flick said.

Administrators like Sheets also see this as a reason for the work they do behind the scenes.

“Working on grants like what we did here, doing all the paperwork, talking to the department of education, making sure we follow all their rules, that’s not the easy part, but it has to happen for all this to happen,” Sheets said.

While the district has the funding for the Chromebooks for now, it will be up to the school board in three years to decide if the district itself wants to continue the program and start paying out of their own pocket, or if they want to go back to a more moderate plan like individual classroom Chromebook sets.

“This gives us an opportunity at the end of the three year grant to say as teachers, do we like this better or do we like when the set is in the room?” Flick said.

Sheets agrees.

“This was just a way for us to see what it would be like without us spending our local money,” Sheets said.

Sophomore Da-Sean Deloatch thinks that when the time comes, the money would be well spent if invested in Chromebooks.

“[Chromebooks are] about the homework and how you have access to school online more,” Deloatch said.

From the perspective of the school district, Deloatch thinks that this is what school is all about.
“There’s nothing better than homework, schoolwork, studying,” Deloatch said.

Get off your phone, please.

I come from a private school, where constant use of devices is frowned upon. And with good reason.

As I walk through the halls here, I am stunned to see people chatting with their friends, and yet they still have earbuds or headphones in. Are they really talking to one another or just listening to music?

The same happens in class. Many of the students are listening to music, and I have no problem with that when the teacher says they can. But when the teacher doesn’t give them permission, and the student next to me begins to blare music, I’m not so happy.

A phone or computer is just another piece of common technology, just like scissors. Many people turn to technology when it is not necessary. Think about it for a moment.

It’s like saying, “I’m bored. I’m going to go play with my scissors,” or, “Dudes! I got a new pair of scissors! Wanna come over?”

Where is the point of that? They’re just scissors.

Or how about when you’re sad? Sometimes you turn to your phone. How does that help in the long term? “My scissors make me happy.” But do they really make you happy? Studies show that dealing with your sadness is better than pushing it to the back of your head with a form of entertainment. It will come back.

We don’t use our phones for phoning much, but for music and games instead, which I don’t have a problem with, unless it starts getting abused. For example, when I am talking to some people, they don’t always continue the conversation and end up watching videos on their phones instead.

People use scissors on a regular basis for what they are needed for- cutting stuff.  But we use the technology in phones and computers for things that aren’t always helping the human race become closer to one another.

Instead of seeing someone in real life, we prefer to text or message them because it’s easier than talking to them. But I think that it takes away part of the human element of “hanging out” if everyone is on a device and not even talking much.

This is not to say that phones and computers are bad, but merely that our society overuses technology. I love to play video games at a friend’s house or call or text my family, email cousins and browse the web, but I feel that it should be in moderation.  Why do we turn to technology in times like these? Computers are like scissors and are even better in many ways, but they are abused far too much.

I use a computer every day, and I still wish I had a phone sometimes. But what would I use the phone for? It’s not like I constantly need to call or text people. In fact, the people we text these days are often close friends or family who we can talk to easily at home, school or work.

Please, get off your phone and talk to somebody in reality.  

Whether it’s playing a sport, working a job, or even being a part of a musical, doing an extracurricular activity is normal in high school; it’s actually recommended that we do one too. With all of the activities students are doing, wouldn’t it help if we had a little less homework? From personal experience and feedback from other students, homework is like a part time job, and we are drowning in it. We are in school for seven hours a day and then get fed another three hours of homework. I feel as if some teachers only think about their class and not of the other classes their students have. There are students out there taking AP, dual enrollment or honors classes. Actually, it doesn’t even matter what class you’re taking, it’s the fact that teachers are giving out way too much homework and not thinking about their students personally. There are many cases in the school where a student has a job and they don’t get off until late. Or cases when a football or basketball game runs late and they don’t get home until really, really late on a school night.

Teachers don’t have to always think about us, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask themselves, “What time do they get home from their game?” or “How long is he working today?” Getting lots of homework every night is stressful. Life would be so much easier if teachers from different departments got together and worked out a homework schedule by trying to figure out when to give homework and when to set project due dates. This is because we are getting hours and hours of homework every night.  It can be difficult to balance out personal life and doing an extracurricular activity, along with being at school all day and then going home to an excessive amount of homework.

Colleges these days are looking for students who do extra curricular activities. With that being said, not only are we taking on sports and clubs just because we like it, but we’re taking them on to make us look good; if colleges want that, then we will do it.

We aren’t pushing ourselves to all of these tasks and activities of our own accord, but we’re doing it because the school expects so much out of us. The school wants us to be a part of so many things. Students love being involved in things after school, but don’t get me wrong, how can the school want us to do so many things, but yet halt us from doing them by giving us way too much homework? Don’t forget that school starts at 7:45 a.m everyday for us, which leads to another topic about sleep and school hours. But for now, we need to focus on the thought that students are just sinking in homework.
Of course, having homework isn’t a bad thing, but having too much can be. Students have things to do other than school. So teachers, next time you give out an assignment, please remember not to suffocate us with work, but instead, remember that we are taking other classes and not just yours.

After a battle with bands from across the region, the Marching Blue Streak Band came out on top. At the competition at Millbrook High School in Winchester, Virginia, the band was a single point away from Grand Champion, leaving them in second place overall.

The Streaks won the Highest Marching, Highest General Effect and Highest Color Guard at the competition.

Trophies taken home include the following:

1st place Marching

1st Place Color Guard

1st Place General Effect

“Me Before You” is about about a young and adventurous twenty-something, Louisa Clarke, who lives in England with her family, jumping from job to job trying to find one good enough to make ends meet and provide for her family. Louisa is the cheeriest and brightest person around and it just so happens those qualities get her a very good job caregiving for a young and wealthy quadriplegic, Will Trayor.

Will is depressed and has lost the will to live, so over the course of a few months Louisa is put to work by Will’s mother to try to cheer him up and convince him that life is worth living. Louisa tries anything and everything to get him out of his funk while simultaneously falling in love. In the end even though in love, Will makes the decision to end his life leaving Louisa heartbroken but with inner peace knowing she did all she could do.

Yes, I know it sounds sappy, and it is, but it’s the very best kind of sappy that keeps you hanging on to every last word of the book just wanting to know what happens. The book was extremely well written and had me wanting to flip the book over and start reading it again as soon as I finished it.  

Just like most book to movie comparisons, “Me Before You” was better as a book, but for the record it didn’t go down without a fight. While watching the movie I laughed, a lot, and I cried even more. They truly did an amazing job on it, it’s definitely worth a watch. What I think helped the movie be very very similar to the movie is that the author, Jojo Moyes, wrote the screenplay for the movie so a large percent of the lines were direct quotes from the book.

Another plus was the casting job, Emilia Clarke did an outstanding job playing the role of Louisa. I  wouldn’t have picked anyone else to play her but Emilia. I can admit at first I was nervous when I found out Emilia Clarke was playing Louisa because she plays such an authoritative and powerful character as Daenerys Targaryen aka Mother of Dragons on the tv show Game of Thrones, but it was almost like she was a totally different person because Louisa is cheerful and quirky.  I also loved Sam Claflin as Louisa’s employer and love interest, Will Traynor. He was absolutely perfect for the part, same as Emilia, they fit the characters so well. I was extremely impressed.

Being a romance movie I was worried that it would get cheesy or not follow the plot remotely, but once again the writers/directors did an awesome job.

Although the movie deserves a lot of praise, it was missing a few scenes/moments from the book that I noticed, just as any book made movie would. Plus reading a book is just different from watching a movie on a big screen. In a book you can feel and read every detail of their expressions and actions and while the actors certainly did a good job it’s just not the same and it probably never will be.

The Harrisonburg International Festival occurred this weekend. Held this year at Hillandale Park, people were invited from all over Virginia to visit and embrace a multitude of cultures. Colorful dresses, jewelry and foods filled each tent. In the hot air, many people roamed the long strip, some with authentically made foods in hand. There was little time to rest as dancers and singers came onto the two different stages in a steady lineup.

Mavis, a clothing vendor who moved from Ghana to the United States, set up her shop on the beginning strip of the festival. Her clothes portray her culture, as dashiki patterns were displayed on each shirt, dress and headwrap. She is one of the few Ghanaians who live in Harrisonburg and it is her first year coming to the festival.

“To me [the festival] is a good thing. It’s a nice thing for people to see the different cultures that are here in America, not only in Harrisonburg. There are so many people from all over the world and sometimes it hurts to see too much racism going on. People don’t have the freedom to express themselves the way they need to, showing the good stuff in different cultures and traditions,” Mavis said.

Mavis is able to represent her culture and her business and is not the only person able to do so at this festival.

“We Africans love to dress. We look as if we are dressed for a party, so we want to look good and to be well dressed, not feel like people are looking at us weird. That’s what makes me want to come here and it’s one that I can take away from this festival.” Mavis said.

There were just as many people who felt similar to what Mavis described as they freely walked around in their traditional clothing. This is just one of the impacts the International Festival is able to have on a culturally diverse community.

See more about the international festival http://www.hhsmedia.com/16455/feature/bani-hani-experiences-unity-at-international-festival/

The Harrisonburg International Festival had its 19th run on Sept. 24th at Hillandale Park. Its goal is to celebrate the language and cultural diversity that Harrisonburg has. This year, more than sixteen different cultures had stands or performed, and the spectator turnout was in the thousands. Jordanian sophomore Malak Bani-Hani was among the spectators.

“[I’m here] so that I can celebrate the different cultures and the diversity of Harrisonburg. It’s important to highlight that diversity and to really display that even though we are all different, we can all come together and have one big celebration where we celebrate everybody. As kids come around here, it’s displaying that it is okay to be this different culture and have these different traditions. It’s kind of like the social barriers are being cut down because it’s seen as acceptable to be different,” Bani-Hani said.

Sam Heie
Flags are carried to represent countries

Bani-Hani helped at the Palestinian stall momentarily, but for the rest of the day, she tried to show off her culture with her clothing.

“I’m wearing the traditional Jordanian piece of cloth. It has the red, which displays Jordan, so if I were to see this on anybody else, I could definitely tell they were Jordanian. [I have also experienced] Kurdish culture; they are really cool. I really like their dresses and their traditions are consistent from at home to here. It’s cool to see them come together as a big family. I also really liked the Mexicans because they look good, and their food is incredible,” Bani-Hani said.

Bani-Hani was born in Harrisonburg, but her parents originally lived in Jordan. They moved to Charlottesville and then further North to Harrisonburg. Bani-Hani has gone back to Jordan twice in her lifetime during the summer of 2010 and then the summer of 2016.

“It was nice. I got to see all of my family, my sister got engaged and it was a nice time to reconnect with my culture because I had been so far away from it. Over there, it’s all family. You feel a lot more connected to the people because there is a lot of similarities. Almost everybody is the same religion, but here, not everybody has the same culture, not everybody speaks the same language and have the same religion, but it’s cool to be immersed in that. I just like to go to Jordan and experience those similarities,” Bani-Hani said.

Jordan borders Iraq, Syria, Israel and Saudi Arabia. It is a predominantly a Sunni Muslim country with about 90% following the branch of islam.

“[In Jordan] you hear the five calls to prayer and everything closes down. On Fridays, everyone is in the mosques. It’s easy to be Muslim over there, but here, you have to act upon your religion on your own. We practice five times a day. Our religion practices peace, unity and being kind. I think the media has definitely ruined that image of our religion towards a lot of people. It’s sometimes hard to live with that,” Bani-Hani said.

Outside of the International festival, Bani-Hani experiences some cultural and racial conflicts.

Sam Heie
Families represent their cultures at the festival

“Wherever you have two or more different cultures, there are always going to be tensions. I haven’t experienced any of that today which is a nice refresher. Everybody at this festival is unified and we all came here to celebrate culture so we are very accepting of each other. [Outside of the festival] not everybody displays their culture. Everyone keeps to themselves. They are afraid of people saying ‘oh, you’re this,’ but here, everybody is celebrated,” Bani-Hani said.

Bani-Hani’s worst experiences were not race or culture affiliated, but had roots deeper into Islamophobia

“Outside of the festival, I experience a lot of Islamophobia,” Bani-Hani said. “People scowl at my Hijab and I’ve heard people mutter terrorist under their breath when I walk by. It’s better if I don’t engage. I just don’t want to deal with it. It pisses me off honestly. You don’t even know me but you’re glaring at me and muttering under your breath. Sometimes, I even feel like I have to smile more to get the same amount of respect as others. Here at the festival, I don’t feel like I have to act like someone who I’m not.”

See more about the International Festival: http://www.hhsmedia.com/?p=16465&preview=true

It felt like a blink of an eye; I’m now a senior. I remember my first day of high school. I didn’t know where any of my classes were and I didn’t know what to expect. Everywhere I walked, I heard upperclassmen scoffing and giving my rather loud friends looks; I knew what they were thinking: freshmen are clueless. And in a sense, they were right. While it is an undeniable fact that I still have plenty more to learn, here are 5 of the things I wish someone had told me.

1. Know which friendships to keep and which ones to cut. The same friends you had in middle school probably won’t be the same ones you finish high school with, and that’s okay. Growing apart is completely normal, and it doesn’t mean you have to be on bad terms with friends that you lose connections with. Make sure that the friends you do surround yourself with are people who make you feel good about yourself and motivate you to be your best self. It sounds cliche, but the saying ‘four quarters are better than 100 pennies’ is absolutely valid.
2.  Pick your battles. Drama is a prevalent, and often an unavoidable part of high school. With so many cliques and labels, sometimes it’s a little too easy to make enemies. That said, try to look at every situation with an open mind, and not get involved in situations that don’t concern you. It’s easy to fall into a pattern of listening to and repeating gossip, but if you have a choice in the matter, choose to be the bigger person. In the long run, people will respect and trust you more if you choose to distance yourself from petty drama.
3. Be realistic with what you can handle. It might look awesome on your transcript if you’re taking 5 AP classes, play 3 sports, and are a part of multiple clubs, that is just not realistic for the average person. It is so much better to do one thing and do it well then to overload yourself with too many things and be stressed out of your mind every day. While you should always challenge yourself, don’t kill yourself.
4. Make schoolwork a priority. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Buy a planner. Set aside an hour or two a night to study and do homework. The habits you make as a freshmen will follow you throughout your high school career. As good as it would feel to take a nap after school or binge on netflix instead of doing your work, when it’s Sunday night and you have a week’s worth of homework to do, you WILL regret it. Pacing yourself is a lot easier than it seems, and it gives you a much more relaxed schedule and feeling of accomplishment. Find a routine that works for you and stick to it.
5. Don’t be scared to try new things. Whether that means joining a club you’ve been on the border about, or trying out for a sport you’ve never played before; go for it. As a freshmen, the world is your oyster. Don’t discount the countless opportunities that are being thrown your way. Extracurriculars are one of the best parts of high school, and often where you make the best connections with people. Do what makes you happy, no matter how nerdy it may seem.

All in all, enjoy the ride.

The second day of spirit week has students decking out in their collage gear. Colleges ranging from online, to across the world were represented.

Anna Rath is a sophomore page editor for the Newsstreak. Anna Rath swims for the HHS swim team and she score keeps/manages for both the JV and Varsity HHS men’s soccer team. In her free time she enjoys reading, shopping, netflixing, sleeping, hanging out with friends and cooking/baking.

Junior Lawan Rasul has lived in Harrisonburg his entire life. He was born in RMH on June 30th, 2000. Although Rasul was born in a peaceful community, his heritage was not as lucky as him.

“My dad [Majed Rasul] first went to Guam as part of a refugee program, and then to the Philippines for about a week, and then he came to America and settled in Maryland. He eventually gathered up a bunch of Kurds and came down to Harrisonburg, which is partially why we have such a large Kurdish community here,” Rasul said.

A year after Rasul’s father arrived, he returned back to Kurdistan and met his wife and soon-to-be Rasul’s mother.

“He married her and brought back my mom. That was in 1996. About a year after I was born, my brother, Khozeen Rasul was born. We found out he had Cerebral Palsy a couple weeks after he was born,” Rasul said.

Cerebral Palsy is a neurological disorder that affects the person’s brain development and their physical abilities. There are around 200,000 cases diagnosed in the U.S. every year.

“He’s 15 now. He goes to Spotswood because they have a special education program over there. He goes to school most of the day, but when he comes home, my dad feeds him and then lays him down. [My dad] will occasionally pick him up and kind of move him around for a little exercise so his bones don’t decay,” Rasul said.

Every day after school, Rasul goes home to help his dad tend to Khozeen. He weighs around 80 pounds, so Rasul’s dad has trouble carrying and helping Khozeen.

“He pretty much can’t do anything. The way we take care of him at home is we just lay him in his bed and occasionally feed him. He has an IV machine which gives him nutrients because he can’t really eat. That’s the hardest thing. My parents both have back problems; my mom has knee problems and my dad recently went through bypass heart surgery, so I have to take care of him. I can’t really go out with my friends a whole lot. I have to stay at home and take care of my brother,” Rasul said.

Khozeen was diagnosed when he was 3 weeks old. Kozheen’s mother, Rezan Rasul, went to the doctor and told them that Khozeen wasn’t developing properly. The doctor said he would develop soon, but it didn’t happen. On one of those visits, the doctor noticed an indentation in Khozeen’s skull. He was taken to the hospital for more than three weeks.

“My family had to go to court in around 2002 because they thought we were abusing him. They thought [it was] the reason he has Cerebral Palsy. There were also things going on in Kurdistan at the same time with my grandfather. He was really sick. I can remember my parents coming home and just crying, especially my mom,” Rasul said.

Rasul finds it hard for him and his family to interact with their community and do the things most families can do, like go out to dinner and travel.

“We went back to Kurdistan this summer and we had to buy him his own separate seat, but then he was in our dad’s hands the entire time,” Rasul said.

Khozeen is blind in one eye and nearly blind in the other. Because of this, he has to find enjoyment in other things.

“Khozeen really enjoys going to the park and listening to all of the kids play. He loves the sounds and when he starts to get excited, I get really happy too,” Rasul said.

Both sides of Khozeen’s brain are dead, leaving him unable to communicate with his family. He essentially has no reactions.

“We can’t communicate with him at all. It really gets to me. Like, why us? Why did it have to be us that this happened to?” Rasul said.

Khozeen’s needs don’t only interfere with Rasul’s home life, it can sometimes restrict what he can do after school.

“Sometimes when I have to stay after for school, it’s really hard for my dad to come pick me up because my mom works in the afternoons and he has to look after my brother. My dad works in the mornings, so my mom can look after him then. I also have a little brother who is about to turn nine and a little sister who is about to turn three. It’s a lot,” Rasul said.

It is unclear on how long Khozeen will live, but Rasul is confident that he will live long enough that eventually, Rasul will be able to care for him by himself.

“In the future, when I can settle down, I really just want to take care of him myself,” Rasul said. “I can’t make a career out of it, but I just want to dedicate myself to him. I feel like I have to. He didn’t choose to be [this] way. It could have been any of us, and if it happened to you, you would want someone to help.”

Noah Siderhurst is a sophomore who enjoys playing soccer, reading fiction, and writing. He likes covering sports, especially live-streaming sports games in collaboration with Broadcasting. He has lived in Hawaii for four years at different times.