By: Jessie Karn

History was made on January 14th, 2019 in Downtown L.A. on Grand Park, people walked for a change in an unfair system.

       The walkout had a lot of light shined on the situation and issues with their educational programs and system in Los Angeles. Many may think the walkout was just for a pay raise but the teachers were asking for a lot more.

      The teachers when they were establishing what they wanted to change, they focused more so on the students’ well-being. The teachers asked for practical changes to be made that most students would feel as those should be no-brainers.

      The teachers were seeking for smaller class sizes so the students would be able to have a better learning environment, one teacher had a picket sign that said “173 students… 1 teacher not okay”. This picket sign can be seen in many pictures from the strike considering how astounding that number is, this was one of the many issues the teachers and students of LAUSD were facing.

       Students at many of the schools in the LAUSD only had a nurse on campus one day of the week, resulting in medical issues being put on the teachers or faculty. The teachers taking on the job of being a school nurse usually do not have much prior experience with one’s state of wellness and had to interrupt their lessons to aid students.

      A pay raise was also on the list of things the teachers wanted to receive a 6.5 percent increase in their wages from their strike, due to the teachers not receiving a fair raise in the past couple years or so. The teachers of the LAUSD were taking on the jobs of being an educator, a nurse, and a counselor because of the lack of faculty working at the school.

      This strike was no average strike considering LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation with around 480,000 students enrolled.  This strike was for the well-being of those 480,000 students and to establish a sense of fight for a better environment for students to receive their education in.

       The teachers also came out with their own newsletter regarding the whole strike and reasoning behind their strike. To counteract the school district had their point of view on the situation put onto the front of a newspaper.  Usually, this would never be seen from an average school strike but since LA has the second biggest district in the nation it seems expected.

      The strike ended on January 20th, 2019 and because of how long the strike lasted the school district lost more than $100 million from students not attending school. During that time the district had to hire thousands of substitutes to keep the students in school.

     From the strike they came to these compromises in court,  “6 percent pay raise (3 percent retroactive to last school year and 3 percent for this school year); nurses at every school by fall 2020; 30 community schools with local control by spring 2020; 17 new counselors; and full-time librarians at each middle and high school by fall 2020” (NBC News).

      The teachers achieved their goal of creating an improved learning environment, it was accomplished on January 20th of 2019 through a non-violent strike. This strike has made history for showing that teachers truly care for their students well being and will go to extreme lengths to improve the students learning environment.

By: Giselle Hernandez

Unnoticed, the animal kingdom is slowly decaying under our noses, the beautifully bold square lipped rhino has met its decimation.  

    Rhinos, a species that dates back further than a millenium, have been endangered since the 20th century due to poaching.

    Poaching is the illegal act of hunting wildlife, especially those which are on the endangered species list, and trading them for profit. .

    These rhinos typically in groups of 14 run the planes of Africa, mothers protecting their young while the males protect their territory.

     There is a high demand in Asia and Japan for rhinoceros horns, being the biggests consumers of this illegal product, they use them as symbols of wealth and riches, and even break them down to be used in traditional Chinese medicine.

     The northern white rhino population decreased astonishingly fast, leaving only 15 of them by the end of the 1980’s.

     On March 2, 2018, the last of the white rhino subspecies were reduced down to three, spending their time roaming in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, a striking moment in history for these beings.

    Two of which were female and one male, on march 19th the last last male Northern white passed away at age 45 from and infection on his leg which was too painful to bear.

    With only two females left, they have come to an official extinction, the idea of reproduction is impractical.

    The giant herbivores are being guarded around the clock to live out the rest of their lives in peace without the threat of poachers.

    The illegal trade of wildlife not only has an impacting effect on biodiversity as these animals are being swept away, it may also affect the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, feeding into climate change.

    This is because rhinos feed on tons of grass per day, It helps maintain the Savanna Grasslands.

    Now with a whole group of subspecies wiped out, The grasslands won’t be maintained and certain Little Critters who live among the grasslands will be at threat with their ecosystem.

    In relation to carbon dioxide, these grasslands help maintain carbon levels by soaking it in by a process called photosynthesis.

     Ultimately  the White Rhino population helped maintain the grasslands, in which the grasslands helped maintain CO2 levels, which is why rhinos are an important part in the ecosystem.

    Scientist are trying to find a solution to this dilemma, but they collected eggs from the male rhinoceros when he was still alive, they are hoping to try and reproduce them synthetically.

    The fact that the 2nd biggest mammal is critically endangered, shows that laws need to be enforced on hunting and higher wildlife surveillance to prevent poaching.

By: Rachel Soo

It’s like the hunger games, but smaller and with adults.

    17. That’s the number this year, so far. 17 declared  presidential candidates for the 2020 elections. 17 not-so-young hopefuls, each aiming to win the metaphorical crown of the United States of America.

    Of the notable contenders, all but one are Democratic. We’ll save our odd one out for last.

    Let’s start with the minority, females. This year, there’s only 4 running.

    We have Elizabeth Warren, senator of Massachusetts and star of the spectacle that went down in October, when President Trump called her out on Twitter for claiming that she was Native American on her application to law school.

    Kirsten Gillibrand is also in the running for candidacy. She’s been a senator for New York since 2009, but with her radical change in stance regarding the subject of illegal immigrants, it’ll be very interesting to see how she runs this race.

    Kamala Harris, one of California’s very own senators, is running for the top seat as well, and is currently wrapped up in claims regarding her past as a progressive prosecutor. Her past actions raise question regarding her ethics when it comes to criminal justice.

    Our last female contender is Hawaiian representative Tulsi Gabbard. Like two of the other women running alongside her, she too has a her own share of controversial opinions and has recently publicly apologized for her previous anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.

    Moving on to the men that are in the running for this next year’s election we have Joe Biden, former Vice President and Senator.

    Biden served for 8 years as our country’s Vice President under President Barack Obama, and some fear that his growing popularity is only a result of nostalgia for the party that occupied the White House last.

    We have John Delany and Richard Ojeda running, representative from Maryland and senator for West Virginia respectively.

    Delaney was the first of the democrats to announce his candidacy, and even though he’s shown his boldness and taken initiative, many feel as if he fits the stereotypical ‘rich and white’ mold too well.

    Ojeda has taken to a different showing of gut. He’s known currently as the ‘Trump-voter’, for having voted for President Trump in the 2016 elections, and he’s approached the pro-life vs. pro-birth discussion with guns blazing.

    The former US secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro is also fighting alongside them for the presidency, but concerns regarding his lack of foreign policy experience seem to be emerging from every which way.

    Of our notable contenders, our only Republican representative is one whom we all know very well. He’s a successful businessman, and he has a following that’s probably just as large as the group that opposes him.

    That’s right. Our current president, Donald Trump, is reapplying for the position he currently holds.

    However, seeing how the last four years have gone, it’s impossible to tell if he, like the three presidents that came before him, will have a second term.

    So, let’s recap:

    Elizabeth Warren lied to get into law school, Kirsten Gillibrand hates loves immigrants, Kamala Harris is just looking for power, and Tulsi Gabbard is a reformed homophobic.

    Joe Biden is out-of-date, John Delaney is too wealthy and too white, Richard Ojeda is the Trump-voter, and Julian Castro doesn’t know what he’s doing.

    Also, Trump.

    The future of America rests in your hands. Choose wisely.

By: Kaycie Adams

With minimum wage rising, the question is raised on how the economy is being changed in California.

    Imagine a world where sugar cost four cents a pound, eggs were fourteen cents a pound, and coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

   These weird, low prices you never see, (not even for a single piece of Party City candy) were the reality 100 years ago.

    Imagining these prices today seems impossible, right? The average box of sugar now costs $1.69 per pound.

    Minimum wage is rising, and its due to the economic situation surrounding California. The cost of living has increased dramatically recently, and as the minimum wage continues to rise towards fifteen dollars an hour, this weird utopia seems more and more likely.

    On January 1st, 2019, a company with 25 workers or less increases from $10.50 to $11. Companies with over twenty five workers now pay employees a minimum of $12 per hour.

    One might see this as an incredible thing, to have a higher minimum wage. However, if you look at the statistics over the years, the bigger picture of a rising wage is a scary thought.

    1n 1919, a cook earned only 60 dollars a month. Based on inflation rates, that would be about $870.89 a month today.

    As high schoolers, that seems like a great amount of money. But in the real world, this number is nowhere near enough to be able to afford anything.

    A studio apartment in Los Angeles costs a minimum of $1,600 a month. Between food, transportation expenses, bills, and other living expenses, that is over $2,000 a month. This $870.89 is nowhere near close enough.

    Many years ago, two adults could put their savings together and buy a house and pay the mortgage on it before the kids went to college and could pay for said college.

    But this isn’t the 80’s anymore. Raising minimum wage is a necessary evil that comes with a rising inflation rate on goods and services.

    Being able to afford basic necessities is something we all deserve. There is no one wage to give everyone, when an apartment’s rent in Los Angeles is the same as a monthly mortgage on a 4 bedroom house in Texas.

    Understandably, as California high school students, buying a 4 bedroom in Texas isn’t high on our list of priorities right now. But something that is a priority to us is college.

    The raising of minimum wage affects us in all parts of daily life, including outside of work. One seen example of this is how despite wages rising, business must raises their prices in order to keep up with the increase in paychecks.

    Senior at Mission Viejo High School Emily Robinson comments that “I’m kinda in the middle, I’m happy I get paid more but prices go up. So technically we aren’t getting paid more”.

    So even though you make an extra few dollars every paycheck, this money isn’t yours to invest, save, or even use on a rainy day. It slowly goes back into your everyday purchases.

    Yes, minimum raise rising sounds like a good thing. A great thing almost. But in the end, it doesn’t affect us as greatly as we would hope.