Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Studying New Hope’s feminine mystique

Grace Wu
Claire Vandenberg

Throughout the past few centuries, feminism has evolved dramatically into an extremely delicate and controversial issue. Feminism began in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, emerging out of an environment of urban industrialism. Women during this period bravely fought for their fundamental rights to be equal to those of men, focusing primarily women’s suffrage. Second-wave feminism surfaced in the 1960’s, and strived parallely to the Civil Rights movement, retaining a more radical voice as oppression continued. Today, women are continuing the work of their female ancestors and persisting the fight to achieve utter gender equality and end oppression against women through third-wave feminism. Third- wave feminism hopes to expand the definitions of secaulity and reinforce the idea of bodily rights and consent. The two main political parties, republican and democrat, have truly polarized throughout this time span as well, supporting entirely different positions on pressing issues. With such passion behind both feminism and politics, the area of inquiry that we identified is in the relationship between one’s identification as a feminist and one’s political party. In our research project, we studied the relationship between political ideology and belief in feminism.
  Before conducting research of our own, we review previous literature about the correlation between political party and feminist ideologies. Although we did not find any research that matched our plan exactly, we discovered information that served as a strong foundation off which we would base our future results. Specifically ,according to feminist scholar and author Jo Freeman, for most of our country’s history, the Republican Party provided a much warmer reception to women and its women were much more active than those of the Democratic Party in working to promote women’s rights. Freeman continues, stating that “the Republican Party was, traditionally, the more feminist of the major political parties.” However, at some point between 1970 and 1973, the parties switched sides. In 1980, the Republican Party removed the ERA from its platform a second time, which actively oppose legalized abortion, allowing the democratic pro-choice stance to emerge. All of this background information allowed us to conduct our research has informed individuals, searching specific information in regards to our inquiry pertaining the correlation between political party and feminist stance.
  We sent 14 surveys, each of which had five questions to determine political ideology. Each question was paired with at least three response options, one corresponding to a liberal view, one corresponding to a moderate view, and one to corresponding to a conservative view. The liberal view was given 0 points, the moderate view was given 5 points, and the conservative view was given 10 points, and then all the scores from the five questions were averaged to give an overall score. The person’s average score was then used to determine political ideology. A score between 0 and 3 is liberal, 4 and 6 is moderate, and 7 and 10 is conservative. Towards the end of the survey, we also asked if the person supports gender equality, and then in a separate question, if they support feminism. After collecting the surveys, we found that five out of the eleven people that returned surveys identified as feminists. Of those five people here were liberals, two were moderates, and therefore, none were conservative; thus, all feminists were either moderate or liberal. These findings supported our hypothesis that democrats that those with more liberal political ideologies are more likely to be sympathetic towards feminist ideals.
  Aside from the main goal of our research, we found that most people are not feminists despite the fact that most people support gender equality. According to Merriam-Webster, feminism is “the belief that men and women should equal rights and opportunities.” Thus, very objectively, feminism is a movement for gender equality. We cannot firmly extrapolate why so many participants see those two entities as separate; however, we believe this perceived separation between gender equality and feminism is an issue. People are refusing to label themselves as feminists, but the label isn’t really the issue. People are refusing to label themselves as feminists, but the label isn’t really the issue, it’s about the implications of rejecting this label. By rejecting feminism, people are rejecting the idea that there is a dire need for action in order to resolve gender equality.From child brides, female genital mutilation, the wage gap, to a belief that women are less capable than men, gender issues are pervasive throughout the whole globe. And because of the gravity and ubiquity of this issue, gender inequality isn’t going to disappear overnight. However, the solution is simple-the solution is education. As long as those who are privileged are being informed about the inequalities that exist and those who are marginalized are being informed that they gain mobility, change will occur. With an increased awareness comes an increased need for change; thus, we believe the first step towards inciting a movement of change is education.

SpaceX lands successfully and makes history

Sam Lombardi
Staf Writer

Elon Musk and SpaceX once again shocked everyone with a feat that is arguably one of the most important events in the last century. After launching its Falcon 9 rocket and delivering cargo to the International Space Station, they once again attempted to land the rocket on a barge on April 8. However, this time it finally worked after a number of failures.
  This success will revolutionize spaceflight and greatly increase the amount of opportunities for SpaceX. Being able to successfully land a first stage rocket on a floating barge will open up new doors and allow rockets to be reused, saving millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent replacing every rocket launched. SpaceX has plans to attempt the same landing with the same rocket, which would help to prove two things: the landing can be repeated consistently and the rocket can be reused efficiently and effectively.
  Elon Musk is looking to make these landings so reliable and routine that the price of a launch could be reduced by one hundredfold. Those tracking the accomplishments of SpaceX should expect another launch as soon as May or June, and maybe even a successful landing.

Anthony Lagana named Bucks County High School Poet Laureate; New Hope high school student poets honored at Bucks County Poetry Competition

Victoria Siano and Charlotte Haigh
Staff Writers

On Saturday, May 7, a reading and reception for the participants of the Bucks County High School Poet of the Year was held on the Bucks County Community College campus.
  The Bucks County High School Poet of the Year is an annual competition for all high school students in the Bucks County area in which future poets are allowed the chance to submit a few of their works to be judged by two Bucks County poet laureates, Tyler Kline and Sandra Becker. In the reading on Saturday, participants and finalists alike had a chance to read their poems to other participants and community members. This year, the winner is  Anthony Adams Lagana, a junior at New Hope-Solebury high school. His poems entitled “On Goat Hill,” “For the hungry moon,” and “American Dream,” were described by judge Tyler Kline as “[having] an energy that cannot be ignored or won’t be…” Mr. Kline and co-judge Sandra Becker praised his power and skill as a poet, as well as his use of rhetorical devices.
  Other participants from New Hope-Solebury included Lexi Anderson, Margaret Burmester, Maryna Chuma, Caroline Donado, Anneliese Fitzsimmons, Charlotte Haigh, Emily Madara, and Seamus M. Slack. Annelise Fitzsimmons, Charlotte Haigh, and Emily Madara were three of the 27 finalists in the competition as well.
  Congratulations to all participants in the competition for their efforts and for highlighting the talent of students at New Hope-Solebury.

Seniors to end high school in Disney

Bailey Jaronski and Talia Wolf
Staff Writers

This year, seniors have been trying to redefine the senior trip from a day pass, such as last year’s trip to Tyler State Park, to an overnight adventure. This year the senior class has managed to seize the goal of traveling to a destination to celebrate graduation. The students will be traveling to the happiest place on Earth: Disney World. They will have the chance to visit any park they chose, visit a water park and explore all experiences Disney offers. Despite the 100-plus senior class size, only 41 are going on the trip, however the enthusiasm will by no means be limited.
  The APEX Project that was installed here at New Hope for the graduating seniors will take lots of time, effort and work, therefore when the senior class trip comes along on June 2, the students will have definitely earned it.
  Graduates on Tour in Kissimmee, Florida has worked with the senior class student government to design a trip that includes park hopper passes, group discounts, a three-night stay in Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, and unlimited magic.

The trip’s agenda:

Thursday, June 2: Depart from PHL to Orlando. Go to Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort to meet up with Graduates on Tour tour guide. Students then chose between the two water parks: Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon, then end the night with premium passes to Disney Quest in Disney Springs. Lastly: get a good night's sleep to get ready for the rest of the trip.

Friday: Students spend all day in the parks of their choosing with premium park hopper passes. This includes Universal Studios, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot.

Saturday: Same idea as Friday; students have complete freedom to choose what park(s) they venture into.

Sunday: AM check out & depart back to PHL

  It has been a long process and student government officials have worked endlessly to ensure that this dream of celebrating graduation  in Disney came true. They made and wish, along with hours of persuasion and work sheets, to make the class trip unforgettable.
  “There were times when I did not think this trip was possible, but thanks to the amazing work of our class officers they made it happen,” said Senior Talia Wolf. “I am so thankful for their hard work and dedication that will give us all a magical trip to remember.”

And Then There Were None haunted our dreams

Jacob McCloskey
Staff Writer

In And Then There Were None, directed by student Abby Bultemeier, the entire performance exceeded all expectations.
  In case you missed out, every part of the show took place completely on the stage. The seats were located on the left and right side, surrounding actors giving audience members a distinct experience that they would not have seen since last year’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream.
  “This was the most stressful yet rewarding experience of my high school career,” Director Abby Bultemeier said. “The actors were really hard working and even though I yelled at them from time to time, they never got discouraged and always gave it their all.”
  On top of the great stage setup, everything else about the production was great. Quinn Kirlew did a flawless execution of the mysterious, murderous bad guy who gets revealed at the end, while the other performers did a great job at leading the audience to blame their own characters for the crime instead. As a love plot slowly came to place between Shaelyn Parker and Patrick Toohey, tensions among the group began rising, making the audience honestly unsure how the show would finally end.
  The acting was great, but the overall picture was just as great as well. Set changes involving movements of walls occurred in pitch black lighting, symbolic dolls would illusorily disappear, lighting was well executed, and the makeup changed over the course of the show. All of these feats were delivered by Abby Bultemeier under the supervision of Mrs. Pittner. On top of balancing nearly total independence, everything else in high school, and putting in hours of work each day, students were able to pull off an amazing piece of art.

Wolf signs medical marijuana into law

John Sharkey
Staff Writer

On Saturday, April 17, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed into law the legal sale and use of marijuana and THC products for medical use, further advancing the fight for marijuana legalization in the United States.
  The overwhelming majority has spoken, with the State House of Representatives of PA voting 149-43 on the bill. Wolf finished the process with a signature that turned the bill into state law.
  Still, the controversy continues with much speculation about what is legal, in terms of the federal versus state governments, and the effectiveness that marijuana and THC based drugs have for medicinal purposes.
  To this day, marijuana is still listed by the US Government as a schedule one drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. In other words, it has no medicinal value in any way, and is highly likely to be addictive or abused. This classification, whether right or wrong, is still contradictory when juxtaposing it to legalization efforts. All that remains is who is on the right side of issue.
  Either the US government needs to readjust the classification of marijuana, or there must be a recall, of sorts, of all laws pertaining to marijuana legalization, either medically or recreationally. As it stands, the federal government can still prosecute users of marijuana in certain situations because of this law, and PA is just another place where legal opposition can come to the courts.
  One of the main points brought up by the senate in favor of the bill is the usefulness of marijuana in combatting seizures in children. Hitting the emotional side of the voters, this helped bring the vote to an overwhelming victory...for the children.
  What is not being talked about is the tax dollars that will be brought in through the sale of medical marijuana, with the five percent tax on all sales. The state of PA will gain some extra money.
  Off the subject of the monetary value of pot, the bill did specify the forms of marijuana to be prescribed to medical patients. The list includes forms of liquids, pills, topical form (like a gel), but not a smokable form.
  Finally, Governor Wolf made some final remarks on the issue. He noted that the main reason for the passing of the bill is to help medical patients who truly need marijuana to live better lives. The legal action does not make recreational marijuana use legal and does not provide any leeway for those caught illegally with marijuana.
  With now 24 states having legalized a comprehensive medical marijuana plan, the federal government is being pressured more and more to change the classification of marijuana. Until this happens, many will still suffer from chronic seizures and other illnesses without proper treatment options.

Tesla has best first-week launch ever

Joey Tebben
Staff Writer

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk finally revealed the Tesla Model 3, Tesla’s long-awaited “economic” car, on March 31. With the price ranging between $35,000 and $42,000, the Model 3 will cost almost 70 percent less than their previous car, the crossover Model X.
  On the day of the launch alone, over 300,000 people had already preordered the car. By April 19, they had received over 400,000 reservations, more than twice the expected amount.
  Why are so many people obsessed with this car? What makes it different from your average Prius? Why is it called the Model 3 if it’s their fourth car?
  So many people preordered this more affordable Tesla that all the sales added together total over $14 billion, giving the Model 3 the biggest one-week product launch of any product ever. The car so popular because the Model 3 is Tesla’s first truly affordable car. $35,000 definitely isn’t the smallest price you could pay for a car, but it’s certainly not as much as Tesla’s previous $100,000 models.
  The base model of the car starts at $35,000, but the average cost of the car is predicted to be around $42,000. When buying a Tesla, you get a $7,500 federal credit, which would bring the average cost of the vehicle down to the base price that it starts at. If someone is looking for an affordable, reliable electric car then the Model 3 is your car.
  As much as some people enjoy the Prius, it is no match for the Tesla Model 3 in nearly any sense. The Prius is a hybrid, meaning you will still have to fill it with gas. The Model 3 is fully electric, meaning that you only have to charge it at home every night. The 2016 Prius only gets around 50 mpg, while the Model 3 can go over 200 miles on a single charge. The Prius may be $10,000 cheaper, but once you factor in the money you’ll be saving on gas, the Tesla is probably worth it.
  The Model 3 is Tesla’s fourth car. They’ve had a sports car with the Roadster, a luxury sedan with the Model S, and an SUV with the Model X. So what should the name for the new car be? The newest car was originally supposed to be called the Model E. Elon Musk originally wanted the Tesla range to spell out S-E-X, but Ford had already trademarked “Model E”, so Tesla changed the name of the car to the “Model III” or “Model 3.”
  If you want a good-looking, comfortable car that saves you loads of money on gas, the Model 3 might be for you. The car is still available for preorder right now, but you probably can’t expect a delivery until about 2018.

Monday, May 16, 2016

It’s just not big enough: Two lunches next year

Amanda Horak & Sabrina Bilotta
Staff Writers

  There will be two lunch blocks next year, the first at 10:15 a.m. and the second at 11:00 a.m. Students will be randomly divided into the two blocks. This is similar to the 2012-13 school year, when the current seniors were freshmen, and there were two lunch blocks; at that time, the first block was much smaller than the second.
 With this change, you might not be able to talk to your friends during the one time of day that you are allowed to freely, because you might not have lunch at the same time as them.
  According to Mrs. Nealis, the reason why separate lunches are going to happen next year is because the freshman class coming up is bigger, and there will not be enough room in the cafeterias.
  This change is not predicted to interfere with the student class scheduling process.
  Mr. Seier said that there are going to be approximately 530 students in the high school next year.  There is room for 220 students per cafeteria, so 530 students cannot fit all at once.  The board policy says that students have to be provided with a safe place to eat even if they would prefer to eat elsewhere in the school or outside.
  This lunch divide will not affect the middle school, and they will still have lunch at 11:45, as they do now.  At 10:15 the high school cafeteria will be filled with all freshmen and some sophomores. Then, the remaining sophomores will have lunch at the usual 11 a.m. time slot along with the juniors and seniors.