Friday, December 13, 2019

Torture Artwork Release by Guantanamo Detainee

Michael Borys
Staff Writer

Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abu Zubaydah released images of the CIA’s tortute program that President Bush approved of. Zubaydah was taken to a C.IA. black site in Thailand.  Zubaydah sketched images of the various torture tactics that the CIA used in their secret prisons. These actions by the CIA were as a result of the terrorist attacks performed by Al Qaeda in 2001. Mr. Zubaydah was the first prisoner to ever be interrogated in the CIA’s new torure program. 
Two C.I.A. psychologists were to create a program that would use violence, sleep deprivation, and isolation on more than 100 different men in different secret bases. Some are even described as dungeons.  
Obama outlawed this program more than a decade ago. They then went on to partly declassify a senate study that found the C.I.A. lied about both its effectiveness and its brutality. The program was initially set up for Mr. Zubaydah, who was mistakenly believed to be a top Al Qaeda lieutenant. Analysis showed that while Zubaydah was a jihadist, he had no knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, and he wasn’t a member of Al Queda either. 
Zubaydah was captured in a gun battle in Faisalabad, Pakistan in March of 2002. He had a gunshot wound in his leg, and the U.S. sent him to the overseas prison network. He is the first known person to be waterboarded by the U.S. Which occurred 83 times. Zubaydah said “completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth.” Zubaydah expereinced many different torture tactics such as waterboarding, stress positions, short shackling, walling, large confinement box, small confinement box, and sleep deprivation. 
Zubaydah has never been charged with a crime, and military prosecutors have no intent to do so either. 

Mr. Rutledge has Completed his Doctorate


Jake Saxton
Staff Writer

This past summer Dr. Brian Rutledge, completed his doctorate degree at the University of West Florida. This process took six years to complete and consisted of 16 courses, which also included a comprehensive exam on everything he had learned. After the exam Dr. Rutledge, than had to begin his dissertation titled:  Integrating technology in a middle school classroom.
The one challenge for him throughout his experience completing his doctorate was being a cyber student for the first time. This was difficult because he couldn’t have any face to face contact with his editors or professors, it was all online feedback given back to him, which can be difficult to interpret his editors or professors feedback. However, during this process Dr. Rutledge had responsibilities that he had to keep up to speed with as well. When interviewing Dr. Rutledge he stated that he had never done more reading or writing in his life. After all his courses and competing his exam this is when he began writing his dissertation: He wrote the first 3 chapters of it which were around 80-90 pages the topics were: What, Why and How. After writing these he than had to defend that verbally. Once he got the approval, he then began Chapter 4 (Report of Findings) and Chapter 5 (Conclusions) after these two chapters he had to defend that verbally again. The dissertation took 2 years to write and consisted of 208 pages. 
Dr. Rutledge wanted to complete his Doctorates Degree is because he eventually wants to teach at a college level. He wishes to be a professor at a college and teach at the highest level.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Saving the Delaware River!

Olivia Hiriak and Meryl Callaway
Staff Writers & Editor
On Saturday, Sept. 21,  the Delaware River Greenway Partnership held the second annual New Jersey Communities Delaware River Cleanup. On this brisk Saturday morning, enthusiastic volunteers gathered in various locations along the Delaware and Raritan Canal, excited to take on a day of community service. This event was created in an effort to better the community and help native wildlife thrive.
  According to a volunteer, “This community service event was an incredibly fun and fulfilling way to give back to my community.”  The event began at 8:30 a.m. and ran until 11:30 a.m. In the span of just two hours, large quantities of trash, ranging from broken beer bottles to old car tires, were collected by the participants. In the end, huge mounds of trash bags were placed along the river and canal path, ready for the state to collect.
  All volunteers were given a complimentary t-shirt and a drawstring bag full of supplies such as water and trash bags and ended in a celebratory pizza lunch. If you are interested in participating in community service events such as this one, check the Delaware River Greenway Partnership website and stay tuned for next year’s event date!

Leaves are Fallin’ and Autumn is Callin’!

Devon Beacham
Editor-in-chief

It is officially fall and though summer is dearly missed, there are so many reasons to look forward to this season! Although the warm, sunny, off season is fantastic, it’s hard to not look forward to autumn. 
Senior Michael Borys said, “I had an awesome summer break, and it’s been hard to see it behind me, but I'm seriously looking forward to all the fun fall brings this year.” Nature’s colors are changing to beautiful hues of orange, yellow, green, red, brown, and more! It’s finally time to go outside and be able to wear warm clothing, such as sweatshirts, jackets, or jeans and be comforted in not worrying about being completely hot or freezing. It's “sweater weather.”
 It’s now certainly valid to begin diving into the Halloween spirit. One of the best ways to immerse yourself - aside from putting in an effort to find a Halloween costume that isn’t offensive - is to get excited with Halloween movies and TV specials, especially if you’ve grown out of some of the more traditional outdoor holiday activities such as trick-or-treating. Everyone loves a good Halloween film, whether it is a thriller or family friendly. During the week, pondering creative costume ideas and bringing them to life can be a great preparation for the spooky October event.
Don’t know what to do on a nice fall weekend? Grab some friends on a Friday or Saturday night and go to a nearby haunted attraction our area has to offer to enjoy hayrides, haunted houses, mazes, bonfires (s'mores of course), live music, good food, warm drinks, and more. Popular places to visit include Shady Brook Farm, Sleepy Hollow, Nonsuch Farms, Valley of Fear, and more. A nice way to finish off your weekend of fall festivities could be going apple or pumpkin picking with friends or family and ending the night with carving, creating new apple recipes, chatting, and enjoying it all outside by the fire or inside with music!
Our area offers some of the finest outdoor fall activities in the world, such as walking around town and getting a meal with your friends and family or going for a bike ride on the scenic Delaware River Canal. If you go visit Bowman's Tower, you can use the student discount for tickets to head up to see the naturally gorgeous view of the river and the fall colored trees.
Peddler’s Village is known for the many festivals they hold. Throughout the fall, you can view the scarecrows that are on display for the annual competition. The OctoberFEAST, Halloween Spooktacular, the Apple Festival, the Murder Mystery Dinner, and much more.
All these reasons should have you excited and festive for the joyful season ahead and hopefully make the transition from summer to fall feel a little more smooth.

Solebury Orchard takes #1 Spot

Eric Locke and Ian Mendola
Staff Writers

As residents of New Hope-Solebury, we are all very familiar with one of the most popular places in this town to get their fresh fruits and the fan-favorite apple cider donuts. Solebury Orchards grows apples, peaches, blueberries, pears, plums, apricots, cherries and more on a picturesque setting on 80 acres off Creamery Road.
  There are a lot of fun activities like complimentary wagon rides through the orchard for apple picking on Saturdays and Sundays. Also going apple picking with friends and family is another very fun thing that you should to while you make your trip over to the orchard. The fruit is ripe and delicious so you will want to go back for more.
  They have plenty of other treats and snacks besides just fruit. They carry all sorts of dried fruits and candy as well. The staff is very friendly and will take care of all your shopping needs for the season. The doors of Solebury orchards opened in 1989 to the public. Solebury Orchard has grown to a large scale operation since then and have been taking in a lot of revenue because of their organic and freshly grown fruits.
  Our town takes pride in the orchard as it has been here way longer than a lot of us. Eric Locke, an employee, said: “It's a great place to work. I love the environment. The fruit is fresh and tasteful. Their cider donuts are made daily, and their homemade pressed cider is sweet and flavorful.”
  Congratulations to Solebury Orchard on this fantastic achievement!

Excuse us, but how much time do you spend online?

Kaitlyn Ardite and Belinda Henry 
Staff Writers

When it comes to social media, how much is too much? A poll was taken of students who looked at their screen time and phone usage. In the past seven days most students have said they spend at least four hours or more per week on their devices,  highest being an overwhelming 53 hours. The apps that students used the most were Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and YouTube not far behind. The average time spent on the most used app was 1.7 hours. Being on your phone obviously takes up a lot of your time, but what about when you’re not on your phone? How many notifications do you get? Students said that they get anywhere from 20-243 notifications per day, 76 being the average.  
  So students spend a lot of time online. How do they feel about this? 70% of students said they liked social media, 20% said they were conflicted, and 10% of the students said they didn’t enjoy social media. If such a large percent of students liked social sites, why do 70% of them want to reduce the amount of time they spend on these platforms? Quite possibly people only say they want to reduce their time because “they want to be a better person”. Does anyone turn into a “bad person” after spending an extra hour scrolling through Twitter?
  We are pretty attached to social media, and we never realize how long we are on our phones until we see the numbers. While we do enjoy this time we spend online, it is often time that could have been spent participating in more fulfilling activities. There could, however, be a good reason for its influence in our lives. If you leave an app like Snapchat, you are immediately are out of the loop. People make plans, share stories, pictures, and thoughts on platforms like these. This is a major way we communicate now.
  Things are never going to be the way that they were. Most of us don’t share vacation pictures via slide projector anymore, or show up at someone’s house to hang out without texting first. Social media is definitely addicting, but it’s a big part of our lives. 

New McDonald’s Vegan Burger being tested in Canada


Olivia Harrison
Staff Writer

These days, eating veggie/plant-based burgers has become really popular. About two months ago, Burger King released the vegan, plan-based Impossible Foods burger “the Impossible Burger.” It has risen in popularity and is available at over 7,000 Burger King Restaurants. It is now also available at select Wegmans supermarkets around the US. However, McDonald’s is ready to serve up some competition for Burger King.
  On Sept. 30, McDonald’s will release their own version of the Impossible Burger called the PLT, which stands for Plant, Lettuce and Tomato. It will feature a popular vegan patty called Beyond Meat. The burger will consist of everything a normal McDonald’s burger consists of. 
  However, the only downside is, the burger is only available as of right now in Southwestern Ontario, Canada for 12 weeks.
  “During this test, we’re excited to hear what customers love about the PLT to help our global markets better understand what’s best for their customers.” McDonald’s vice president of global menu strategy Ann Wahlgren told the NY Post:
  The chains in Canada are not the only ones who have tested out vegetarian and vegan options. In 2017, McDonald’s Finland launched a veggie burger called the McVegan and then expanded the vegetarian/vegan options. This year, McDonald’s UK came up with a happy meal with a vegan chicken wrap. Sadly, McDonald’s franchises in the US have yet to add a vegetarian/vegan burger option. But, hopefully this 12-week test goes well and McDonald’s decides to bring the burger to the US.



Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Adversity Score: A Possibly Unfair Number

Lucie MacGillvray
Staff Writer

Recently, the College Board announced a new score that would be assigned to them based on a students’ environmental circumstances. This “adversity score” would take factors such as location, family situations, and income into consideration. Those with situations that are considered more “unfair” will be assigned a higher score than others which is rated from 1 to 100. After testing the score at 40 universities, it was found that “Applicants from higher levels of disadvantage were more likely to be admitted, suggesting the additional context influenced admissions outcomes” (CollegeBoard). This meant that students coming from poorer neighborhoods were given a higher chance of getting admitted to a university than students from wealthy backgrounds, even if their test scores were similar.
    Although students coming from disadvantaged neighborhoods may have an educational disadvantage, students do not get to choose their living situations. Wealthy children did not choose to be born with money in their families, and poor children did not choose to be born into that either. Giving students advantages based on factors they cannot control seems highly unfair to those who worked extremely hard to earn the scores they did.
    Additionally, the adversity score does not take into account specific data concerning the student or personal family challenges, whether it be that a child has suffered abuse, or has lived through other difficult situations. These challenges are overlooked, and only general data taken from censuses and other data collections are used to score the student. While students living in areas that are deemed wealthy and privileged could have very well suffered many personal obstacles in their lives, the only “challenges” taken into account are monetary.
    On the other hand, those who grew up in a poor setting may have been denied access to the tools that wealthy students had access to. For instance, wealthy students may have been able to afford a multitude of test preparation services, while poorer students could not, creating a large difference in test scores.
     The adversity score takes this into account and allows universities to see the monetary struggles of students that may affect their scores.

Music genres can affect how you feel


Skyler Dobson and Shannon Herbert
Contributing Sociologists

Music is extremely powerful, in the sense that it can draw people together just as quickly as it can tear people apart. Music is able to evolve and differ tremendously between generations and artists, and there still seems to be something for everyone and anyone. Artists are able to create and spread their words of wisdom and love to entertain people, or to even send a message within the deepest lines in the lyrics. In today’s day and age, it is extremely easy to tell if an artist is creating music for attention and money, or if they have a genuine love for the artform, and they want to share their craft for the rest of the world to enjoy. Even if the music falls under the “depressing” category, it can still be enjoyed by many, and can help bring people together. “Uplifting” music obviously has better long term effects on the brains of adolescents, and it is still able to bring people together from all over the world.
    In order to properly approach our interests concerning the topic of music, we first had to identify the problem or question at hand: How do certain genres of music impact people’s mood? With a question in mind, we were then able to discuss how we would approach discoveries we would make surrounding the topic of music relating to mood. We came to the conclusion that we would be able to construct a survey, and get the most information out of students if we structured our questions and statements about what kind of music people listened to, and how it makes them feel. Before surveying the public, we first had to know what we were getting ourselves into. After the information about different genres of music relating to mood and development was retained, we were able to construct a hypothesis, and surveys to collect data to either support or deny our agreed-upon hypothesis. We were thrilled to eventually get the results of our surveys back to either confirm or deny the predictions we had previously made about the music choice of the students of New Hope-Solebury High School, and how their mood was impacted by their choice of music.
    Feeling confident about the background knowledge we both had about our choice of topic, we were finally able to experiment with the numerous amounts of students surrounding us at New Hope. With out carefully constructed questions, we were able to receive a number of differing answers, which supported our hypothesis in a way we weren't expecting. Our hypothesis stated that “If students listen to certain genres of music (uplifting, pop, rap, etc.), then students will be in a better mood.” The songs that would fall under the “depressing” category, mainly hip-hop and rap, were a popular answer among students. Even though students stated that songs that fall under that category boosted their mood, those songs do fall under the “depressing category”. Even though we received no responses that correlated with a negatively impacted mood or a bad experience and an uplifting genre of music, the amount of responses that gave “depressing” genres a positive response overwhelmed the responses that said “uplifting” genres helped express a positive mood and mindset.
    In conclusion, with the help of the students of New Hope-Solebury, and numerous resources online, we were able to support our hypothesis and confirm our thoughts and assumptions about the music choice of our peers. Our research provided us with the different types of music that fell under the “depressing” category, and the uplifting category. Much to our dismay, most of the survey results showed that most of the population of our peers listen to music that is considered depressing. But, our hypothesis was never disproved because there were never any negative results reported back from people that listened to music that is considered to be “uplifting”. Our research and experimentation lead us to the conclusion that music is an extremely complex topic, and someone's music choice is able to completely alter a person's outlook on life, and it can even shift a person's mood completely and instantly, for the better or for the worse.

Prepared by
Connor Fitzgerald