Amber Hancock-Burns Staff Writer On Sunday, Oct. 30, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 hit Norcia in Central Italy, about 170 km (105 miles) northeast of Rome. This earthquake came only a few days after tremors in Northern Italy caused minor damage. Italy is an area in which the African and Eurasian tectonic plates meet and cause high amounts of tension. This tension causes faults that run along the “spine of Italy” in the Apennine Mountains. When these plates rub against each other, the faults do as well which causes movement of the land or earthquakes. Bryce Cullen Staff Writer Our oceans are currently facing the greatest plague ever, and sadly, we are the sole cause of all of its destruction. At the rate we are increasing our plastics in the oceans fish and mammals have had to deal with this for years now, and it continues to get worse. The United Nations estimates that the plastic kills about one million marine organisms every year although they still consider this to be a great underestimate as to the true amount of marine animals the plastic kills. If we do not change our ways, this can cause catastrophic damage for people from all walks of life. Rhea Sodem Staff Writer Junko Tabei was the first women to climb the world’s highest peak and was the thirty-sixth person to ever climb Everest. She recently passed away from cancer at a hospital near Tokyo. Although she was diagnosed four years prior to her death, she kept climbing and went beyond Mt. Everest. She was the first woman to ever conquer the “Seven Summits”, which are the highest mountains on all seven continents. The “Seven Summits” include Kilimanjaro, Denali, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Carstensz Pyramid, Vinson, and Everest. Her famous Mt. Everest climb was in 1975 at a height of 8,848 meters. After this climb, many women, including Malavath Poorna, who climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest at the age of thirteen, and Lakpa Sherpa, who has climbed Mt. Everest six times, have been inspired to follow in Junko Tabei’s footsteps. Many people assume that Mt. Everest is not very difficult to climb compared to others, but it is in fact very difficult to even survive. At the summit of Everest oxygen decreases about fifty percent, and temperatures drop below negative thirty degrees. Even then, climbing up Everest is not difficult compared to its descent, which is when most climbers catch severe altitude sicknesses and frostbite. The success rate of conquering Everest is only twenty-nine percent. Now that it is known that climbing Everest is possible, more and more people are climbing it, and climbers are getting younger and younger as the years go by. Now there are restrictions for who can mentally and physically endure Everest. Junko Tabei is not only famous for her mountaineering achievements but also known for her defiance to the Japanese society when she left her child and husband to go achieve her dreams. She also created the first all woman climbing club in Japan. Junko Tabei once said “There was never a question in my mind that I wanted to climb that mountain, no matter what other people said." Meenakshi Sathish Editor-in-Chief It is cloud nine at Apex High School’s media center. The school is the first to receive seven hundred (of the 52,000) laptops in Wake County as part of the Capital Improvement Project 2013 (CIP 2013). The media center is filled with Styrofoam and innumerous amount of black carts filled with fresh laptops which are part of the 3-to-1 initiative. This means that in every (core) class there will be a cart of laptops for the students for the means of collaboration. For every one laptop, there will be three students assigned to it. The reason this is a big deal is because it will offer a lot of flexibility in the classroom and curriculum. In order to be able to use computers, teachers have to make reservations at either the media center or computer labs. That being said, there are only a limited number of desktops in the media center and only a couple of computer labs in the school available for use. Considering the number of classes who need to use computers on a regular basis, it is both frustrating to teachers and students when they do not get access to a computer. Now, students have access to computers right in their class. Also, a lot of the work students do now is via Internet. Typing up papers, researching for projects, and accessing important information from teachers are all significantly computer-dependent. Now, students can access everything they need without having to scavenge the school for a free computer. Nevertheless, Ms. Munger still encourages students to come to the media center. Carlee Lewis Staff Writer Jacob Hall was killed when a teenager started shooting at his South Carolina elementary school. A bullet hit an artery in his leg causing him to bleed out. Jacob was put on life support for three days but sadly passed away on Oct. 1. The shooter was fourteen. The teen had killed his father before heading to the school, injuring two people in addition to killing Jacob Hall. According to Jacob's mom he would, “pretend he was a superhero. He imagined himself being the good guy and sure enough, it’s almost surreal to think what’s happened. This little boy has spoken to us and said, ‘I want you to love each other like Jesus loves us’.” The front of the funeral programs said “God’s Superhero”. Jacob’s casket was decorated with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stickers and a bright floral spray on top including large figurines of Ninja turtles and Captain America. Jacob’s family encouraged people to dress like superheroes to celebrate his life. Amber Hancock-Burns Staff Writer Thirteen month old twins Anias and Jadon McDonald were successfully separated during a grueling twenty-hour surgery, starting on Oct. 13 and ending on Oct. 14. The twins were born on September 9, 2015 in Chicago, Ill., but their family moved to the Bronx in New York City, once the twins were stable in order to be closer to the hospital in which the separation surgery would be occurring. This surgery was only the fifty-ninth craniopagus separation surgery, or separation of twins conjoined at the head, since 1952. Nicole and Christian McDonald, the twins’ parents, say that the main thing they look forward to is the boys finally being able to see each other. ‘I just cannot wait to see them look at each other with their big brown eyes.’ The twins’ parents are staying as positive as they can, due to the very high risks that run with these surgeries. They were forced to make the decision whether or not to operate, because when conjoined twins are not separated they are very unlikely to live past the age of two. Andrew Bulieris Sports Editor A GOP office in Hillsborough, North Carolina was viciously firebombed over the past weekend. Swastikas and the words “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else” were displayed on adjacent buildings. Further investigation showed that the flammable substance was ignited inside the building after a bottle housing the substance was thrown through the front window. No arrests have been made so far in connection to the incident but there are still ongoing investigations. Speaking from the scene of the incident, Governor Pat McCrory called the incident “an assault on our democracy”. A 911 call was placed to alert the authorities about what they saw occurring. Police arrived to the scene after the assailants had already left. "The office itself is a total loss," Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the state Republican Party, told the Charlotte Observer. "The only thing important to us is that nobody was killed, and they very well could have been." Both presidential candidates were informed about the incident and tweeted out their regards about the situation. This attack has sparked a debate on if people really are taking politics too seriously? If a person is willing to firebomb a Government facility then what’s stopping them from murdering someone over their political beliefs? Somehow the people of America have to find a balance on the intensity of their feelings toward this upcoming coming election before it becomes even greater. Political beliefs have always been strong and sometimes ugly but politics are what is supposed to band this country together through the hard times we face, instead it has created an unhealthy and unstable source of anger from either sides of the political world. From bombing a GOP office to other political related attacks, America clearly faces a problem ahead that must be solved. Amelia Borger Staff Writer Since the Samsung Galaxy S7 debuted in August, complaints about the phone catching on fire have not stopped in multiple countries. Ultimately, the world’s biggest smartphone maker has halted production of the smartphone. Production of the Samsung Galaxy S7 was officially put to a halt on Oct. 10, slashing sales by billions. Experts say a design flaw may be responsible for the battery explosions. The company said that faulty lithium ion batteries were exploding both while the phone was charging and while the phone was not charging. 2.5 million Phones were recalled in early September, blaming the battery fault. Yet since replacement phones have been exploding, the company had no choice but to recall all phones. Regardless of the company’s past, this is still a huge blow to the reputation. Shawn Minter, a devoted customer, said "I’m really taken back by the fact that the replacement phone is the actual phone that exploded. I feel let down by a company that I’ve spent thousands of dollars with. I put my trust in Samsung and it’s like, they kind of lied.” What Samsung can do is focus on the next model, which will probably be the most inspected piece of technology. The company can only hope they will solve the problem to multiple design flaws in the phone and come back with a safer model. Amber Hancock-Burns Staff Writer Nigerian-American Obinna Ukwanni decided to help his hometown in Nigeria rather than finding a six-figure job, like most graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He moved to Nigeria for his eighth and ninth grade years of school when his parents wanted him learn more about his family’s heritage and background. Now as a graduate of MIT, Ukwanni has created a program with other graduates and companies in Nigeria to help students there to learn more about robotics and computers. Ukwanni grew up Washington D.C. and attended McKinley Technology High School, where he graduated as valedictorian, with focus on biotechnology. He later graduated from MIT with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics with some coursework in Business Management in 2014. When Ukwanni returned to the United States for schooling, he realized how far behind Nigeria was and wanted to make a difference to help boost their education on technology for teens. McKenzie Feldman Staff Writer Whenever people hear the names Katrina, Sandy, Charley, and Andrew they think of the storms that devastated this nation. Matthew is a popular name that means “Gift from God”, but over the past week it has become cringe worthy. Millions were left without power, winds exceeded 110 miles per hour with miles of destruction, death tolls reached nine-hundred and coastal roadways turned into roaring rivers, and storm surges flooded nations. Hurricane Matthew delivered some of the worst tragedies along its path as it started its slow crawl up the East Coast. First, Matthew made landfall in Haiti on Tuesday as a Category 4 hurricane. It left behind widespread destruction. Haiti was struck with wind speeds up to 125 miles per hour and heavy rain that flattened homes, razed crops, swept away livestock, and flooded villages. After experiencing a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 2010, it seems so unfair that the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere should have to encounter another natural disaster. Also, fears of an even worse cholera outbreak and food shortages are something for the people of Haiti to be concerned about. Despite it all, Haiti’s positive spirit remains. However, Matthew had more to give. After tearing through Haiti, Matthew began to set its sight on the United States East Coast. Matthew bore down on Florida Friday morning. Grocery stores were emptied and roads were jammed as 1.5 million Floridians were advised to evacuate. The storm surge caused massive amounts of erosion of the Florida beaches, portions of state roads were washed away, houses were surrounded by rising water, and thousands of trees uprooted. Many people are grateful that the damage was not worse, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Matthew continued to crawl up the coast towards Georgia and the Carolinas. The same conditions that battered Florida, occurred in Georgia and South Carolina. Curfews were even set until daylight to avoid looting. Carolina coasts braced for flooding as Matthew made its way north. |
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