International News by Ivy Truong
It has been a busy summer. Here is what has happened in the world since our last issue: May 17, 2013: Several sponsors of Paula Deen dropped her when she admitted to using the “N-word” at times, during an interview. She defended her choice of words by saying that it was the way things were said in the south in the 1960s. June 8, 2013: Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s health is slowly improving day to day, and is responding well to treatment. Ever since the 95 year old was hospitalized in Pretoria on a recurrent lung infection, he has been in critical condition. He was first hospitalized on June 8, only a few months after he went through a successful medical procedure for a similar lung infection in March. June 30, 2013: Nineteen firefighters died while fighting the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona. The wildfire burned through 8,400 acres, and destroyed 200 structures before it was declared fully contained on the following Wednesday. June 30, 2013: Cirque Du Soleil performer Sarah Guillot-Guyard fell 90 feet to her death during a show in Las Vegas. She was the first performer from that company to die in an onstage accident. Sarah was a mother of two. July 2013: After the military ousted the former President Morsi of Egypt in July, mass civilian demonstrations have taken place to find a new leader of Egypt. The military gave Morsi and his opposition an ultimatum, or they will impose their own solution. New interim President Mansour Adly was sworn in and as he disposed of the Islamist upper house of Parliament, soldiers opened fire on the Islamist protesters. July 1, 2013: A twenty-one year old man died in a “molly” overdose at the Gorge Amphitheater in central Washington, which also sent more than one hundred others between the ages of 18 and 26 to different hospitals in the area. Seventy people were treated and released at one rural hospital alone. “Molly” is a pure, crystalline powder form of MDMA, or ecstasy.. July 13, 2013: The verdict of the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin had the world reeling - George Zimmerman is not guilty of Martin’s death. Last year,
Zimmerman shot the 17 year-old Martin after following him and labeling him as a suspicious person. Zimmerman was later charged with second degree murder, but he was declared not guilty. July 17, 2013: Britain formally legalizes gay marriage after Queen Elizabeth gave her stamp of approval. Her approval was only a formality as the same-sex marriage bill cleared in Parliament the day before. It will allow gay marriage in England and Wales, and allow those with civil unions to convert to marriage. July 22, 2013: Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge arrived to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince George is third in line to the British throne. His highly-anticipated arrival took Twitter by storm, and as soon as the news took, 25,300 tweets were sent per minute. August 1, 2013: After being on the run for several months, Edward Snowden found a temporary asylum in Russia. President Putin of Russia granted the convicted whistleblower one year of asylum, against the urgings of President Obama. Snowden has been on the run since May. August 1, 2013: Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize marijuana for both medical and recreational reasons. August 21, 2013: Georgia school was saved after a lone gunman stormed inside the school. Suspected gunman Michael Brandon Hill, 20, fired outside the elementary school, but disarmed himself after being dissuaded by bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff. Tuff, while speaking to the 911 dispatcher, calmed Hill down after telling her own stories of depression and personal triumph. The gunman claimed no lives. September 2013: Hundreds are dead and many more will be disabled after an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria the second to last week of August. This latest episode in Syria’s civil war has casualties rising past two thousand in the area of Damascus. Syria recently allowed the United Nations to inspect the site of the attack. President Obama declared his support for war in Syria, but allowed Congress to make the final decision.
Lancer Teachers Overcome Health Problems
by Arkalya Tenney- Howard and Juliana Nadler Chemistry teacher Mrs. Mary completely open about her health with her Kaemmerer has had her share of health students. “Why should I lie to them?” said scares over the past year. On December Kaemmerer. The science teacher continues 21, 2012, she was diagnosed with colon to get her work done. “I don’t use it as an cancer. She went through radiation and excuse...the more you lay around the more chemotherapy during February this year. you want to lie around,” said Kaemmerer. Despite this, Kaemmerer did not miss Our freshman AP, Mr. Karstens school days during February. However, was also in the hospital for a routine she was gone for the month of May surgery, which ended badly in a situation due to surgery.. Surgeons removed her that could have been life-threatening. He entire rectum, 10 inches of her colon, was in the hospital for a routine surgery on two sets of lymph nodes, and her badly his neck, a vertebral fusion. The surgery damaged uterus, tubes, and ovaries. itself went very well. However, the next During this tough time, Mrs. Kaemmerer morning he had swelling on his neck and stated that “School was an escape... was hardly able to breathe. He went back my classes competed to be the best.” to surgery and they found he had blood This year, doctors discovered that pooling in his neck which caused the the radiation had brutally burnt her ureters, swelling. The doctors removed the blood and this presented a threat of losing her clot which had formed. Thanks to the kidneys. Doctors placed stents into the doctors, this situation, which could have ureters because they would not function been life-threatening, was easily cleared alone. Last week, Mrs. Kaemmerer found up. By Tuesday, he was able to go home, out that she had an infection near her where he is now resting and recovering, kidneys. Nothing could be done. “I’ll hoping to be back within a few weeks. just have an infection for the rest of my Mrs. Karstens said she wanted to “thank life,” said Kaemmerer. She still wears a everyone for their prayers and concerns, ileostemy bag on her stomach because her obviously that makes a difference.” intestines had to be taken out to heal. She is
Staff photo
Students approach the Chess Club team table and play a game of chess with the club members.
East Club Rally by Jade Hess
Many students complain about not being able to join clubs in time or not having enough informations about all of the organizations that Belleville East has to offer. Now, however, there is no excuse. All of the clubs had various information available to the students who were curious to join the many clubs offered. Central Terrace was cluttered with hundreds of eager of students. At the Hope Club table, advisor Mrs. Brown sat ready for questions. “The goal of Hope Club is to get together and go on field trips, and to get to know new students.” said Mrs. Brown. With her was Tevin Warren, a member of Hope Club. When asked why he joined the club, Warren said, “ I wanted to meet new people. I’m a very shy guy. Hope Club helped me become a bit more talkative, and I realized the importance of diversity.” At the German Club table sat Senior Alex Denton. When asked why students should join German Club, Denton said, “German Club is the best club on campus!” At the Chess Club table sat Advisor Mr. Schmidt.
“I love chess! I have played it ever since I was five , and I really got into it when I entered high school. I have coached chess for almost twenty years. My goal is to win the state championship.” Schmidt enthusiastically said. The DOC, or Disciples of Christ table was attended by Jake Wetterlin. The purpose of DOC, according to Wetterlin, is, “ ...to come discuss problems, give biblical answers to your problems you face in everyday life and to focus more on people’s needs”. Rita “Niki” Cloutier, who represented the Comic Book Club, explained her love for comic books by saying, “I have a deep love for comic books and fantasy manga, it is a type of diverse reading.” A few feet over, members of the Ecology club handed out fliers to students passing by, encouraging them to join. When asked why she joined the ecology club Madeleine Mcgrady answered without hesitation, “I love camping and hiking! Ecology club allows you to be surrounded by people who are friendly and non-judgmental.”
Belleville East: Going Green? by Chandriss McAllister- Lang After school Wednesday, September 4th, members of the Ecology Club met with District 201 Superintendent Dr. Dosier to present him with their proposals for the school to possibly get solar panels. The Ecology Club argued that these solar panels would greatly benefit Belleville East; they reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, have less of an impact on the environment, and over time would save the District a great amount of money. The big question is: can the district afford the initial cost of the solar panels? The cost of the solar panels would be $110,500 per building, or approximately $2,652,000 for the entire campus. Although this number may be intimidating, there are many grants that are offered to cut the costs of the solar panels that are available to the district. The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation would cover up to 60% of a project cost, or $1,591,200. Solar Renewable Energy Certificates, or SRECS, would cover $61,500 for the first five years.
This leaves the school paying $999,300 out of pocket. With annual savings of approximately $99,360, the solar panels would virtually pay themselves off in a little over ten years. “This (the solar panels) is something that would eventually boost savings to the district.” Dr. Short said. Even so, whether or not the district can afford them has still yet to be determined. Dr. Dosier requested a future meeting to look more in depth at the financial aspects of the Ecology Club’s proposals. “You all make a very compelling argument. I’d like to start it tomorrow, but we have to continue to do our homework.” Dosier said. Still, whether or not we will see solar panels anywhere on our campus is still up in the air. Dosier said, “One thing that would be required before we move on with this is that we get permission from the Board of Education.” If the Board of Education approves, it could set a trend for other schools to do the same. “...It’s taking the first step.” Ecology Club member Hart Morgan said.
Local Food Establishment Robbed by Derek Santiago
Approximately at 9:45 PM Saturday, September 7th the Belleville Captain D’s on Carlyle Avenue was robbed. Two burglars seen wearing all black covering their face with bandanas stormed in the store ordering guest who were eating to get on the ground. One of the two thieves ran in the diner room ordering one of the employees who was in the diner room and all of which were only three guests to “get on the ground” while the other stormed into the kitchen, ordering one of the cooks to get on the ground and forcing the manager on duty to open the safe by gunpoint. The ordeal ended with the thieves stealing all of the guests’ phones and some petty cash. The Belleville Police Department arrived on the scene shortly
after the burglars escaped through the back emergency door. “I am very impressed with the Belleville Police Department...About ten police cars went in all different directions after tracking one of the stolen phones to trap the guys.” said the General Manager. There is still no sign of the burglars, but a strong investigation is being conducted. “Although I wasn’t present on the day of the incident I feel unsafe as an employee because there aren’t enough safety precautions set in place to prevent this from happening and there haven’t been any precautions set in place after the incident to prevent it from happening again,” Says Charles Coldon, who is a senior at Belleville East.