Wednesday, June 1, 2016

NH-S music program ranks nationally

Jacob McCloskey
Staff Writer

Gaining recognition from the National Association of Music Merchants or NAMM Foundation, New Hope-Solebury School District has ranked in the top 476 schools among over 13,500 school districts nationwide as one of the best communities for music education.
  The award comes from “outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders who work together to ensure access to music learning for all
students as part of the school curriculum.”
  Other schools in the area such as Pennsbury, Council Rock, and Central Bucks have also won the recognition, but for New Hope, this prize is a first. Our choir department has a concert choir, madrigal choir, and chamber choir. Our orchestra department has an orchestra as well as a select orchestra. Our band department has a concert band and an award-winning jazz band.
  Not only does our school have a great music program, but the entire community does as well. New Hope is known as one of the artsiest towns in the area, surely enough to influence New Hope students. This award is sure to bring attention to everything going on in the music department from students, parents, and the community alike.

Tennessee law allows therapists to refuse treating LGBT people

Stella Kelley
Staff Writer

To add to the string of anti-LGBT legislation that has been passed in the South recently, Tennessee’s House of Representatives passed a bill on April 11 that allows therapists and counselors to reject patients they feel would violate “sincerely held principles.”
  The bill is GOP-sponsored and has been passed to Governor Bill Haslam for approval.
  Opposers of the bill claim that there is no limit to what these “sincerely held principles” could be. The bill is aimed to allow therapists to reject homosexual and transgender patients, however these principles could hold prejudice against races, genders, and religion in addition to just the LGBT community. Governor Haslam would not comment specifically on the bill; he only stated that he wanted to read the final version of the bill before deciding whether or not he would sign it into law.
  If the governor were to sign this legislation, Tennessee would be the only state with a law quite like this one.

Harriet Tubman replace$ Andrew Jackson on $20

Hannah Goulding and Claudia Kolinchak
Staff Writers

Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew announced a very shocking change in monetary production and appearance on April 13. He proposed to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the twenty dollar bill.
  Along with changes to the $20, feminist leaders are also vying for a spot on the five dollar bill. This is the largest change in currency since 1929, and the brand new bills could be in wallets by 2030. These new bills will have other modifications and improvements as well. One feature that is being considered is technology to aid the visually impaired.
  Tubman will be the new face of the $20 bill because, Lew reports, “Her incredible story of courage and commitment to equality embody the ideals of democracy that our nation celebrates, and we’ll continue to value her legacy by honoring her on our currency.” The grand unveiling of these bills will coincidentally fall on the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
  The 2016 democratic presidential candidates are showing a hugely positive response to Tubman replacing Jackson. Hillary Clinton, not surprisingly, is in great support of this new currency. Bernie Sanders is also an advocate for this monetary change. Both of these influential politicians have shared tweets showing their support. There are some supporters of Jackson who show opposition to this change, but the numbers are not in their favor.


Bernie Sanders draws crowds in New York

Beatriz Martinez-Olivera
Staff Writer

Bernie Sanders and rival Hillary Clinton fought for New York City’s vote on Wednesday night, April 13.
  Sanders held a rally in Washington Square Park where he talked about the inspiration he drew from trade unions, gay rights activists, and other subjects who aim to change the status quo. His speech was laced with mentions of “corporate greed and the rigged economy” which was an indirect reference to the big banks. He said he plans to raise taxes on Wall Street.
  Sanders also made comments about his opposing candidate Hillary Clinton.
  “It is about creating government that works for all of us, not just the wealthy campaign contributors,” he said. “This campaign is sending a message to corporate America: You cannot have it all.”
  The Sanders campaign announced that about 27,000 people attended the NYC rally, a very striking number compared to Barack Obama’s turnout of 20,000 in the same park in 2007. This may be partly due to social media, where announcement of the rally went viral and drew people to fly to New York for this event.
  There were New York University students and workers pressed against windows to watch Bernie and his supporters on the chilly night. People waited for hours in a line that stretched several blocks to get into the park.
  Sanders included that “it's going to be a tough primary” for his campaign and for his supporters because independents could not vote in New York’s closed primary, however he was still hopeful that young people would come out to the polls.
  “If we have a larger voter turnout on Tuesday, we’re going to win this thing.”
  Although voter turnout was large, Clinton won the primary contest with 58% of the vote.

Mui commits to Brandeis University fencing team

Lexi Anderson
News Editor

New Hope-Solebury High School Senior Hannah Mui’s extensive fencing history and training surely paid off as she committed to Brandeis University, part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC,) for fencing on April 14.
  Hannah began fencing when she was seven years old at the Bucks County Academy of Fencing in Lambertville, NJ after her brother started, and she wanted to follow in his footsteps. Initially, Hannah didn’t take it too seriously, taking a break before picking the sport back up again in middle school when she started fencing competitively.
  Sophomore year, Hannah began training at Premier Fencing Club in South Brunswick, NJ to further perfect her fencing ability. Here, Hannah trains with the best. Her coach is a former Olympic fencer for Egypt, Tamer Tahoun, who also fences foil, like Hannah. She has competed on the national level, qualifying to fence in the Junior Olympics, National Championship, and various North American Cups.
  Brandeis University is located in Waltham, MA, and it struck Hannah’s attention because of its strong fencing team and NCAA status.
  Academically, Mui plans to follow a five-year plan in the International Business School Scholars Program, earning a BA in business and an MA in  international economics and finance after five years.
  Hannah’s tremendous aptitude for fencing has led her to a successful future, in fencing and business alike.