Discovery Digest

March th

Train derails, causes toxic chemical explosion in Ohio

Chemical disaster in rural Ohio shakes up lives, a town and the nation at large.

By: Jack Walsh

On Feb. , , near East Palestine, Ohio, a freight train belonging to the Norfolk Southern Corporation and carrying approximately cars derailed due to negligence and continually-decreasing railroad conditions. The circumstances leading up to the derailment were spearheaded by corporate movements toincreaseprofitwhilecompromisingonstaffnumbers. The derailment’s miscalculation was that nearly a quarter of the freight cars contained highly hazardous chemicals that caused a large fire. Vinyl chloride, a substance used to make hard plastics for piping and wiring, was one of the chemicals being moved. Vinyl chloride has the potential to release other toxic chemicalswhenburned.

Two days later, officials in charge of the situation ordered , East Palestine residents to leave the area and demanded a controlled release of the vinyl chloride from the cars. The chemicals were causing serious concerns about a blast, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine wished to prevent any catastrophic events. A cloud of toxic chemicals was released into the air as a resultofthesechemicals'release.

Even though the initial disaster was still going on, its consequences were already visible. According to Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the chemicals had tainted local waterways resultinginthedeathsofthousandsoffish.

Two days after the controlled release of vinyl chloride, displaced residents were informed that they could safely return to their homes, despite the presence of toxic chemicalsintheair.

TheU.S.hadlearnedalotfromthiscatastrophe.Asthis event reaches national media and alarms the nation, railroad workers are likely to receive the national attention they deserve for their long-standing demand forsafetyreforms.

Discovery High School Aurora Borealis Ball

Aurora Borealis Ball was a hit at Discovery High School!

By: Haylee Kohler & Ivan Frazee

Discovery High School (DHS) hosted their Aurora Borealis Ball on Feb. , . The dance was the first of the new year and was designed around a winter theme—despitebeingclosetoValentine’sDay.Thedance was a much bigger event in comparison to the Fall Fest dance,whichhadasmallturnout.

“I believe it went very well, especially when compared to theFallFest,duetothefactthatthedancefloorwasnever empty,”saidZimriBaxter,afreshmanstudentatDHSand a member of the Associate Student Body (ASB). Imogen Jones shared a similar enjoyment in the fullness of the danceandalsobelievedtherewasareasonthedancefloor feltfullerthesecondtimearound.

their workers in my career.” He said the tension had been exacerbated by the rail companies’ determination toincreaseprofitsbycuttingstaff.

Despite being a disaster that should’ve been avoided, this chemical train derailment will certainly be an important piece of evidence for those in congress to push their agenda of reforms within the rail industry. Many have said this is evidence that the drive for profitswillpropelhumanitytoimmenseharm,oreven worse,extinction.

Amtrak engineer in Reno, Nevada and the vice-president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Norfolk Southern, the company that caused this disaster,hadbeengiventheresponsibilityofcorrecting

Southern representatives withdrew from a meeting with town officials, angering East Palestine residents. However, in addition to carrying out extensive testing of the water and air quality, Norfolk Southern has set up an Assistance Center and donated more than $ million to individuals in order to assist them in

Norfolk Southern has been the subject of a number of lawsuits and the governor is now calling for tighter regulationsonrailcompanies.

“I like how condensed it was,” Jones stated. “I didn’t likethegameroomthingthattookplaceinthegymat the previous dance. I felt like [the most recent one] wasmoreofadance,ratherthananactivitytime.”

“I believe as the ASB continues to work and improve, as well as experimenting with different ideas, that the dances will continue to become more enjoyable for attendees,”saidBaxter.

The dance’s decoration was a hit among students and somestudentsevenwishedthereweremore.

“I really liked the decoration, the light, it was all really on theme,” said Story Hope, a student at DHS who attendedthedance.

“I wish there were more noticeable decorations, a red carpet, a disco ball,” Hope continued. “I like the decorations, but it would’ve been cool if there were evenmore.”

However, despite the positives, there were also some critiques from students about the dance. The most common concerns were the theme, snacks, and, especially,themusic.

“It was a bit difficult to dress for the theme, however overall,itwasauniqueandcooltheme,”Hopesaid. ,

“I wish the theme was more Valentine-like, or more wintery,” Jones said. “The theme felt way too fancy, eventhoughthedancewassemi-formal.”

“I wish they had soda instead of hot chocolate or whatever,”Jonesexpressed.

Themusicwasalsoalargenegativetothedance.Some said it was hard to dance to, while others said it felt like music they listened to in elementary school; some evenmadefunofthemusicchoice.

“They [ASB] had taken actual suggestions from the form, which wasn’t actually implemented into the dance’smusic,”saidJones.

Jones had previously added music to a Google form from ASB and was quite disappointed to not have heardtheirrequestsduringthedance.

“The date changes for the dance [were] very rushed due to the Camas High School ASB having little to no communication with ours,” Baxter said. “[This] will hopefully be a change we are able to make in the future.”

For the future, some ASB officers want more student input regarding the dance’s themes, songs, and decorations.