Laren Salgado
On the night of Thanksgiving, there’s an event that is participated in throughout the United States. It’s called Black Friday, where shopping items are sold for discounted prices. It’s an exciting event, but it also has its cons. Where so many things are up for grabs in a short period of time before it’s all gone, it causes people to get physical, and with such a large amount of people it’s a huge challenge to control people to try to make injuries to a minimum. I interviewed two people who both had to control the situation on Black Friday, and both have their comments about it. Black Friday is a fun time for us as customers, but it’s not a fun time for those who work in retail. For example, after talking with Jose S., he mentioned that “Most stores don’t hire a security team for Black Friday. It’s mostly just the regular employees.” In another scenario stores that are within a mall have the reinforcements of mall cops or MSS mall security staff. However, for independent stores it is not common to hire security service. It becomes a problem because without security you depend on you average co-worker to handle all types of people, those who are calm and those who are violent. Jessica V., who worked at organizing the sales in the mall at Herbergers, said that “There’s a custom for Black Friday events to have a group of items that are more trending to try to catch the attention of the customer but make it so they can spread throughout the store.” One thing that stores, especially Walmart, are known for doing is having the items wrapped with a time written on it, letting the consumer know when its going to be unwrapped for the people to grab. This makes it so large groups gather around the item. This is common for stores that are 24/7, so most supermarkets have this custom. But smaller stores such as in a mall have a main door locked so when the event starts the main door will open which allows everyone to go in. With these large amounts of people going after something all at once, it can lead to injury, especially trampling with children, elderly, and disabled. In 2006, there were ten people injured in a southern California mall stampede. Other injuries are common as well when law enforcements try to control a situation, especially with pepper spray. In 2011, a pepper spray attack in Walmart injured 20 people. Whether the individual was a officer was not confirmed, but in the same year in North Carolina an off-duty officer pepper sprayed shoppers, leaving 20 injured. There are so many injuries resulting from Black Friday as well as deaths that result from violence with guns that there’s actually a Black Friday death count which stands at 12 deaths and 117 injuries from 2006 to 2018. Some stores are putting in practice different methods of selling their goods during black Friday, one being having the goods wrapped rather than being first come first serve. They instead have it so each product can be presented at multiple times so instead of having one large crowd trying to get the item all at once, smaller and more frequent groups can grab the item, all at different scheduled times. To sum it all up, the event of Black Friday is when items are discounted for the holidays for one night, which has the outcome of people becoming competitive with those items to get them before they run out. This usually leads people being pushed or trampled, which then leads to injury. For these reasons, Black Friday has become less popular and the option of Cyber Monday, an event in which items are discounted on online stores. This gives the people an option to either participate in Black Friday or Cyber Monday so people who do not want to compete in Black Friday can shop online instead. Or for those who do not mind the risk of Black Friday have the option to participate in that as well.
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Alexis Robinson
30 years ago Randy Lewis was working with a company in California trying to figure out if it was possible to combine silkworm silk with e coli for certain things. After much trial and error his team found out that it would not work at all. Silkworm silk is elastic but not very strong. He brainstormed ideas for a few hours and thought about using spider silk. After many days and hours of research on the subject of spiders and their silk he found out that the silk of a spider was elastic and strong enough for what they wanted to do. Talking to the project manager, Randy asked if he could take the reins and see where it would take them. He had done all of the research after all. The Office of Naval Research gave them two years worth of funding to find the gene of the spider that makes the silk and clone it. “It took my team and I a year and a few months for us to find and clone the gene. We created our company and launched our findings a year later.” Randy Lewis stated. Most of the work that Randy does is generate ideas for his team and help solve problems. Using his knowledge of chemistry and silk fibers, he found a way to put the silk gene of the spider into goats and silkworms to collect the silk protein and fibers. Some may ask why not just use spiders to collect the silk? One problem with using spiders is that they tend to be cannibalistic when there are multiple together. Another reason is that spiders spin six different types of silk at one time, so it makes it nearly impossible to collect them. Once the ‘spider-goats’ that have the gene have produced their milk, Randy and his team put the milk of the goats into a machine that they have created that isolates the protein of the silk from the milk. From the protein they spin it into fibers or use it to create many different types of things. The one problem that they have is that there are so many uses of the silk that they have to pick and choose what they get to do. When the silkworms with the spider gene have spun cocoons, the team puts the cocoons into hot water. After the cocoons are soaked in hot water they put them into a machine that spins the cocoons into individual fibers. At this stage the team can decide how thick they want the fibers to be. They can use these fibers that they have created that are stronger than carbon fiber for whatever they choose to do. “We use the silk and the proteins for a variety of things. Our problem is that there are so many uses for the silk, and we don’t have the space so we have to pick and choose. The fibers we spin into a non-petroleum based fiber which is elastic and stronger than carbon fibers. The non-fiber forms go into either industrial or medical uses. For example, for industrial we have created a glue that is stronger than super glue. For medical we coated a catheter in the protein and made it bendable, and we can add more things like blood clotters and vitamins and even more.” Randy Lewis said. At this moment they are the only facility that uses goats and silkworms with spider silk. We as a community do not see other facilities do this because it is hard to mass produce the silk. Even Randy and his team have problems with this. One of their current projects is for the U.S Navy about Hagfish slime. Hagfish slime is very sticky, the Hagfish use their slime to encompass their predators to save themselves immediate danger. Their goal is to try to use the slime and its fibers in non-lethal warfare. Emery Kent
As we know, the differences between freshmen and seniors are sometimes staggering. A four year difference in age at the time of puberty and development is a big deal. The seniors would like to forget that they were once freshmen and the freshman wish they could be seniors. Or so we assume. I wanted to shed a light on the details of those differences in relation to Logan High School specifically because when it comes to Logan High traditions, freshman and seniors have very different views. The most prevalent difference between freshmen and seniors seems to be the amount of school spirit, if that can really be measured. So I’ve asked a group of students from each class the same questions to see how they would each respond, starting with students’ favorite Logan High School traditions. The responses overwhelmingly had something to do with homecoming week. Honking on the L, Tie-dye on the lawn, the Homecoming football game, and the spirit bridge of years past all appeared in students’ answers. Homecoming is often the first tradition - or group of traditions - that LHS students think of when we say the word ‘tradition’ in the context of our high school experience. There has been a lot of talk about traditions in general surrounding Logan High - spurred on by the 100th anniversary of the school in 2016. And I found that when it comes to the difference between freshmen and seniors there isn’t much of one in this area. Each student I interviewed had a favorite tradition and most of them happened during the five days dedicated to Homecoming. Students also agreed that they like going to football and basketball games along with other sports games. However, that is where the easy data ends. Aspects like the school song, school merch, and friendship with teachers have much more varying responses. When asked if they know the song, Neath the Crest, and if they sing it responses varied from, “Yes, I love singing the school song,” said by senior, Kyle Truex, to, “No. I don’t like it,” said by an anonymous freshman. There was a gradual decrease in love of our school song as the classes went from senior to freshman. 63% of interviewees said they know the school song but only 50% said they like to sing it all the time. Our seniors said they love it, but our freshmen said they just don’t know it yet, which is understandable. As the topic of school spirit shifts to outward appearance I had to ask the students how many clothing items from Logan High they owned. As we know, the more involved you are in school activities the more t-shirts add up in your closet. A seasoned Grizzly generally ends up with a crimson wardrobe by the end of their senior year; which is generally the data that I collected. Naturally the freshman had very few Logan High School t-shirts because they haven’t been in school for very long. And on the other end of the spectrum, our seniors seemed to have acquired quite the stack. Being on teams, clubs, or in other groups throughout Logan High seems to be the determining factor in whether students had a plethora of crimson in their closet or not. Simply put, one of our seniors said she has, “A lot.” And one of the freshman said, “I barely have one.” So maybe the evolution of freshman to senior is less about their attitude towards school spirit and more about the ever growing mound of Grizzly merch. However, when evolution comes into play, along with stereotypes, teacher-student interaction comes to the top of the list. It has long been a stigma that freshmen are scared of all their teachers but as they grow into seniors they become more at ease and tend to be friends with multiple teachers. And today there will be no bursting of that stereotype. 100% of the seniors and juniors that were interviewed said that they are friends with at least one of their teachers. 50% of the sophomores said they had a friendly relationship with their teachers. And only 25% of the freshmen said they were friends with a teacher. Naturally there are exceptions to the rule; seniors who don’t feel close with a single teacher, and freshmen that are friends with every single one. But the general data shows that this stereotype comes from a general truth. As a student grows from fish to shark they learn some things along the way. Maybe pride in school spirit comes with age, loss of dignity, or loss of hiding behind a mask of indifference. Whatever the hidden philosophical or psychological reasons, the basics are true: freshmen change a lot before they call themselves seniors, and seniors look back a lot on all their changes. We are all just students trying our best and maybe that means we aren’t so different at all. Myo Aung
Halloween is a globally recognized festive holiday. This archaic practice gave rise to the modern Halloween after many years of external influences. It all started during the Iron age; the Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago celebrated their new year on November 1st. They marked October 31stas the end of summer and the time to harvest their crops and begin safeguarding livestock for Winter. The Celts honored the start of winter with a festival called Samhain. The Agrarian Celts believed that on October 31stthe spirits of the past year’s dead finally journeyed to the afterlife, but wandering the earth to cause mischief among the living. The Celts donned costumes made to resemble ghosts of the dead before gathering around bonfires to guide evil spirits back to their grave. Around 43 A.D., the Roman Empire conquered the majority of Celtic Territory but did not wipe out the Celts. The two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the Celtic tradition of Samhain. The First Roman tradition was called Feralia. It is a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second Roman tradition was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The fruit apple symbolizes Pomona. Both of these Roman holidays strengthened the Samhain tradition. In the mid-fifth century, the Roman Empire fell and the Celts returned to independence. In AD 601, Pope Gregory sent missionaries to Christianize foreign lands. He didn’t want to eliminate local holidays and customs, but rather convert them into Christian rites. The church hoped setting new Christian holy days would transition more easily into worshiping Christ. The Celts never abandoned their ancient customs even though they accepted and participated in two Christian feast days, All Soul’s Day and All Saint’s Day. The Celts began to leave gifts of sweet foods outside their homes to keep away both the dead and the people who wore costumes and masks. The tradition of dressing up as a dead soul began in Scotland. It was called mumming or trick or treating in modern day terms. It soon spread to other Celtic areas. Modern Halloween costumes consist of ghosts, skeletons, or other variations of spiritual beings. The jack o’ lantern grew out of the Irish practice of carving faces into hollowed turnips and gourds. Immigrants from the Celtic countries brought the Jack o’ lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They found that pumpkins make perfect jack o’ lanterns. The history of Halloween went from scary urban legends to a modern day celebration. People celebrate Halloween differently from the original Celts to the Romans to countries around the world in modern day. Gold: "I was actually pretty nervous to play Powder Puff for lots of reasons. Our team had only two practices while the Crimson Team practiced almost everyday. They cheered louder in the parade and were pretty sure of themselves which psyched us out. In the end we played the best, the final score being 28-14. Winning was such a rush! I was so glad that we won and could remember this for the rest of our lives. Plus, it was exciting because there were so many people in the stands cheering us all on. I loved every minute of it, I loved my team, I loved my coaches, I loved how hard we all worked, and especially how loud we cheered on each other. Even if we hadn’t won I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I love the senior class I’m graduating with. This was one of my favorite high school memories by far." -Trinity McCrae Crimson:
"I had been looking forward to powderpuff since my freshman year and I am more than happy with the experience I ended up with. My teammates were incredible and so were our coaches. Even though we didn't win, I felt like I gave it my all and had fun. Our team fought hard and I'm proud to have been on the Crimson team. The cheers from the crowd, looking back and waving at my parents, and screaming in happiness when we scored made the whole thing worth it. My freshman dreams came true in a great way and I definitely encourage all senior girls to participate in that awesome Logan High tradition." - Emery Kent Alexis Robinson
There are a lot of traditions and activities that happen here at Logan High. Homecoming week is no exception. Fun activities and traditions like painting the street, the powderpuff game and the dance are just a few examples. A lot of work goes on for these activities to be a reality. Most students don’t know about what goes on for the activities to happen. Alex Rasmussen is the Student Body Officer for Activities and Clubs. Curious, I asked him a few questions about what goes on behind the scenes. Before the activities the Student Government committee has to figure out many things for our activities to be a reality. Putting their minds and thoughts together they must figure out what they want to do, what they need in order for it to happen, who can help, how much time they have and how much money is in their budget. An example of this is the parade happening this year. There are 7 SBOs along with teachers, janitors, administration and advisors. They have to plan all of the little tiny things or everything could go wrong. Students can help by telling their friends about the activities and going to them helps the best. They can go to the Student Government class and ask but what helps the most is being the best Grizzly you can be. This year the Student Government want to accomplish their goal of having students enjoy their highschool years. Their hope is that students will want to go to the activities and want their friends to come as well. Encouraging student participation is the best way they have decided to get people to help out. Now that you know of what goes on behind the scenes of activities I hope you appreciate them and go to more of the activities. Many people have come together to make this school the best that it can be. Don’t forget to thank the SBOs and all of the other people that help them to make our activities happen. Pershelle Rohrer Last week, Logan High School students had the opportunity to explore and sign up for clubs during Rush Week. Booths were set up during both lunches, and club representatives were present to encourage kids to get involved at Logan High.
“The purpose of Rush Week is to be able to bring Logan High together, involving them in clubs, and getting different things together so that people can find what they like to do and enjoy school,” Activities VP, Alex Rasmussen, said. “There are a bunch of different clubs. There’s a new club, Food Nation, that’s really cool, clubs that help you learn different things like Tech Crew Club and things that try to change the world like Leaf Club and FBLA, and then there’s just fun clubs that you can join like K-Pop.” Booths were easily accessible, allowing students to move from table to table to learn about the variety of clubs that LHS has to offer. School clubs provide students opportunities to form new interests or explore their passions by finding groups that best suit them. They also allow students to gain something outside of their assigned schoolwork. Guitar Club frequently plays at school assemblies, Leaf Club helped pass a climate resolution for the state of Utah earlier in the year, and GSA involves students from all walks of life to create a sense of unity. LHS has enough options for students to find the club that best suits them or even become involved in multiple clubs. Clubs accepted sign ups throughout the week but are flexible about letting students join after Rush Week is over. A list of club advisors will be available for students who are interested, and advisors will provide information for how to join. Students can also speak to Alex Rasmussen for more information on specific clubs. There are many traditions that students here at Logan High like to celebrate. One tradition is we do a pep rally before home football games to get everyone fired up before the game and come with their school spirit. Everyone goes and supports their football team and sings songs for their school spirit.
There is also Powder Puff for the girls who would want to try out football for one time. It happens once a year and all the senior girls sign up to play. It’s the one time where gender roles are switched because the guys dress up as cheerleaders, which is really funny to watch. The school preps all week for this event because it’s a one time event for the school year and most of the school goes to watch. Another is homecoming. Homecoming is a tradition that happens at the beginning of school year where students dress up in their nicest formal outfits. Students get their hair done, the girls get their nails done and put on makeup to look their best to go to this first dance of the school year. By Taylor Fang, Student Writer The Logan High Speech and Debate team is hard at work, after narrowly finishing second at the Region 12 tournament on February 24th. On March 2nd, which happens to be designated National Speech and Debate Education Day, the debaters will be competing at Ridgeline High School to qualify for the National Tournament. You might see some posters about the day around the school. The week after that, they will be competing at the two-day 4A State Tournament at Salem Hills High School. Debate is a very active extracurricular activity at Logan High, however, not a lot of people know what debaters do. Speech and debate, also known as forensics, is actually the largest academic competitive activity in the country, according to The Golden State Academy. Similar to sports (in Utah, debate is a part of UHSAA, and students are also drug tested), debate is competitive and requires practice, coaching, and dedication. There are many different events, and the region and state tournament comprises of eight: three “debate” events, and the other five which are generally categorized as “speech” events. Each event features a different form of public speaking; for example, some work in partnerships, and another works in a “Congress” format with multiple students and schools in a single round. Every event has a structure of speaking order and time limits. Debate events center around a topic, which changes either once a month, once every two months, or once a year. Topics are about current issues, both national and global. Recent examples debated this year include: universal background checks for handguns in the US, education reform and funding, Catalonian independence from Spain, NCAA student athlete wages, and humanitarian assistance, among others. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a naturally good public speaker, or an argumentative person, to join debate. Debate isn’t just people arguing with each other, and you can vastly improve how comfortable you are with public speaking after joining. Forensics sharpens your ability to think and listen, and to articulate your thoughts persuasively. You get to advocate about issues that matter to you; debaters often present cases on structural oppression, racism, and patriarchy. There are a wide variety of events that you can tailor to fit your interests. Debate also helps you write essays and take tests, due to drastically improving linguistic skills and the ability to quickly process information. Colleges love students in debate, according to Professor Minh A. Luong of Yale University. Finally, the speech and debate team is a supportive place, and you get to meet cool people from across Utah and the nation (Logan’s team went to the University of California, Berkeley tournament this year). However, debate is hard work, and it can take a lot of time and dedication. In the end, most debaters would agree that it’s worth it: it’s fun and exciting to go to tournaments, the team spirit is strong, and you learn a ton about what’s going on in the world. If you’re interested in joining next year, feel free to contact me at [email protected], talk to Mr. Unsworth (Logan’s speech and debate coach) or sign up for the debate class with your counselor. By Samantha Castro Staff Writer The best way to have a great high school experience is to be involved. At Logan High, joining clubs is one of the easiest ways to get involved. On the 11th of September, sign-ups for all clubs began, There are many amazing clubs such as LEAF club and Key club. But the club that would love more people, the club where you can educate and be educated about one’s culture and have a blast is the Multicultural Club. On the 13th of September, The Multicultural Club had their first meeting. As a member of The Multicultural Club since my freshman year, I want to say that we would love to have more people come to our meetings. We have meetings once a week on Wednesdays. We have potlucks and some days, an individual or a group presents about their culture. We have a president, a vice president, a historian and we can add as many positions as we deem necessary. We also have diversity week coming up, which begins in the third week of January on the 16th. We plan out fun activities for each day of the week. Last year we played music from different countries over the intercom on Tuesday, we served horchata on Wednesday, we held the Diversity Assembly on Thursday, and hosted a diversity dance on Friday. And fun fact, this club was created by the current superintendent. I talked to Aeden Anbesse, last year’s Multicultural Club president. Her words on what the club is, “a gathering place for the diverse students from Logan High to come together and talk about concerns that they may have and genuinely share their culture with other people.” She stated that prior to being involved in The Multicultural Club she thought she was, “well versed on world news,” but, “it wasn’t until I got more involved with the club and started talking to students from different countries that I got a broader perspective of conflict and political issues. All in all, Multicultural introduced me to a whole new side of LHS and gave me some of my best friends.” Being involved is one of the best things at Logan High. Have a good time and sign up to be in The Multicultural Club. Sign-ups were in September, but you can still come in anytime, we meet on Wednesdays after school in Mr. Mudrow’s room. The advisor of Multicultural Club, Mr. Mudrow, says, “We want the whole school to join.” Don’t miss out, join The Multicultural Club. By: Rachel Vernon, Social Media Editor The end of the year is approaching fast, and life after high school seems daunting to many. With our futures right around the corner, the Career Center is a helpful resource here at LHS to help us prepare for our lives outside of high school, whatever that may be. Life after high school is different for everyone, and with so many options everything can be a bit overwhelming and confusing. The Career Center is here to help students discover what they want to spend the rest of their lives doing and can put you on the path best fit for your plan. Those lucky few of us that already know what they want to do after high school can still receive help in the Career Center. If you need help applying for scholarships, financial aid, or anything, visit the Career Center in the counseling office! The Career Center is an amazing resource available to all students at Logan High, so make sure you take advantage of it! By Matthew Marquez Staff Writer Happy Halloween LHS! Don’t be scared or frightened, for I’ve got few treats for you that I know you're going to love. On the 23rd, as some might have heard, we will have a door decoration competition. Your 3rd hour A-day door is the one you need to prepare before it ends on the 26rd (Thursday). The rewards for first is a pizza party, second is donuts, and third is candy. We will also have our annual Halloween dance on Friday, October 27 from 8pm-11pm. I can tell you the location and whereabouts, but are you willing to go? That decision is up to you, for it will be where the grizzlies feast -- the cafeteria. If you’re not into this symbolism and metaphor speaking, I’m sorry. I’m just in the mood, okay? However, there is a fee for each flea (person) you see. In order to enter you must give something of value for each person. It costs $5 if you wish to enter. See you soon LHS! I hope to see you there on the floor. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Have a great day Grizzlies!
Elizabeth Hansen Staff Writer On September 15th and 16th the inaugural Utah Youth Environmental Summit (UYES) was held at Alta Ski Resort. UYES was created to provide a space for environmentally conscious Utah youth to network and gain the skills needed to become leaders for statewide environmental justice and sustainability efforts. Workshops, guest speakers, and outdoor activities were held to achieve these goals. Two Logan High students, Piper Christian and Elizabeth Hansen, along with West High student, Mishka Banuri, planned this event out of the want/need for a statewide environmental youth network. The event began on Friday afternoon and started with some icebreaker activities, which were followed by a catered dinner. After dinner a hybrid Beehive Collective presentation was given by Will Monger and Emily Hornback. The Beehive Collective tells environmental justice stories through art. The presentation was based on this artwork depicting the rise and fall of coal mining in Appalachia. They related this issue back to similar issues in Utah like the Black Mesa Mine. Following this presentation, students had the opportunity to go on a stargazing night hike. Temperatures were at or below freezing, but students bundled up and braved the cold. Emma Larese-Casanova, an LHS student who attended the summit said, “I love stargazing!”
The next morning, many students got up before sunrise to go on a sunrise hike. The morning started with an environmental club basics workshop followed by a spectrogram activity and a community organizing workshop. Non-profits and college campuses then had a tabling event which allowed students to talk to potential colleges about environmental involvement opportunities and learn more about the work that non-profits around the state have done. Students also had the opportunity to work with their schools to decide on a project to work on during the year. Project ideas ranged from guerilla gardening to starting a composting program at school. Students attending the summit joined the Utah Youth Environmental Solutions, a network of youth led by a council of members. To apply to be a council member click here. If you would like more information about joining Utah Youth Environmental Solutions email [email protected] or text 435-890-9672. To see pictures from this year’s summit and to get information on future events follow @utahyes on Instagram. |
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