The Antlerette// April issue

Issue 3

THE ANTLERETTE 11

The Antlerette

April 2018

Elk Grove Students Walking Out

By Asiyah Mohammed, Staff IN THIS ISSUE Valentine’s Day this year was not the day previous mass shootings. of love for America. February 14, 2018 is Many students and staff participated in the marked by the murder of 17 innocent event on the morning of March 14. The Elk students of a Florida high school in Parkland Grove Walk-Out was planned and organized County. The Parkland shooting was the 30th by students of the Student For Change Club mass shooting in America this year. Amid that we have on campus. A moment of this crisis in Florida, political debate has silence was given to the students of Parkland broken loose, causing disruption to American who died in the shooting. Seventeen minutes schools. Students are choosing to walk out of for the seventeen lives lost. Students class to call action to American gun laws. The participating held signs with about a hundred leading walk-out was led by Women’s March names of students who have been killed in a for March 14, 2018. school shooting over the years. Students also Elk Grove High School chose to participate held flowers which were laid on the senior in this national walkout to honor the lives of steps at the end of the demonstration. all Americans who were murdered in a mass Empowering speeches were made by the shooting. The school encouraged students to students in the activist club including the leave their political stance on gun control at club’s president, Michelle Haflich. Other home and away from the event. The sole students who delivered a speech are Alexes purpose of the Elk Grove Walk-Out was to Sinogui, Katelyn Petrie, Anthony Wescom, show Elk Grove’s and Morgana Gorre-Clancy. recognition of those A song was performed as http://time.com/5195960/national-schoollost in the recent walkout-march-14/ tribute to the students who Parkland shooting have lost their lives in these and those who lost shootings by Dayed their lives in the many Amituanai. Elk Grove High is proud of these students for

offering such a memorable and emotional experience that our school has never seen before. They beautifully brought the students of Elk Grove High together in a way that the school will never forget.

The Udderly Horrible Reality of Dairy

Dairy industries either paint the happy picture of cows being taken care of or they keep what happens under wraps and completely unknown to the public. This way people won’t know the true pain these innocent cows go through.………Page 5

The Company Conundrum When tragedy strikes the world, there are two sides that tend to pop up: the right and the left. Although they can vary from person to person, both have their own unique beliefs about fighting hard to make laws, but companies tend to get in the way of the people’s battles. Companies generally do not have feelings, as they are not people and have an entity meant to do one thing: make money. There are people within the companies that have their own beliefs that they will fight for, but they usually separate their individual beliefs and their company’s policies……………………………………………………Page 9

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April Fools is a Joke

by Grace Vierra, Staff How many of you like presents? How many of you like spending time with family?

How many of you enjoy a yummy homemade dinner? Most of you probably enjoy all of these things greatly, and that is exactly why April Fool’s Day is stupid.

On the first day of April, every single year, people across the country plan elaborate pranks and basically make an effort to ruin other people’s day. There are no presents involved, no yummy dinners, and no special family time, but instead the complete opposite.

It's the morning of April 1st and your parents decide to surprise you with a big box of donuts...you would probably like this a lot until you realized they were mayonnaise filled. When you just need a piece of gum and realize that is has been replaced with PlayDoh. Or getting a caramel apple, but quickly realize that it is a caramel covered onion. You may have had one of these pranks pulled on you, and I just want to say sorry. There is no purpose for these pranks, and you shouldn't have to endure them. People play these mean jokes on others all day long just because it is April 1st.

Disneyland Trip

by Kyle Mann, Staff Freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and finally the end of senior year; we have been in this struggle people call high school for four whole years now. What is our reward for all of our hard work and dedication? What is our payment for the restless nights and countless weekends where we stayed up all night studying or finishing up homework just so we can just go back to another 5 days of school? The answer is Disneyland.

For some seniors, ever since they first walked through the depressing halls of high school, they only dreamed of having the day to walk across that stage and graduate, but, for others, they want the experience of high school. This Disneyland trip for seniors the

There is no point for this holiday. Historians can't even trace it back to the original origins. When did this stupid holiday start? Nobody knows. Why does this holiday take place? Nobody knows. What is this stupid holiday for?

Nobody knows!

Nobody knows anything about this holiday, and that is exactly why it shouldn’t be celebrated.

April Fool’s Day is a day when you are supposed to have a good laugh and that is far from reality. On April Fool’s Day, it is very common that a 10 year old prank is still being used on people. Pranks these days are very predictable; they don’t result in laughter and they result in annoyance because they are tired of the same prank. So please, do not pull pranks because odds are, they have probably already been done.

Another reason this holiday is dumb is

perfect opportunity for them to finally have a memorable time to talk about after this wretched time period of high school. The trip is basically fuel to the car that gives us students an extra incentive to finish off strong and successfully. Without this Disneyland trip, would we as students even want to graduate?

This trip is also a great way to say your final goodbyes to all those people you grew close to throughout your high school time. The bond and friendships you get within these 4 years are crazy, unfortunately you probably won't see these people ever again. Is there any better place to make your peace with leaving your friends forever than at Disneyland? NO! Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth and a great place to come together in fellowship one last time.

because it is technically a day where we are allowed to make a joke or pull a prank. Jokes are the funniest when they come at random not when they are planned. It is absolutely ridiculous that people find it funny to pull a prank on a day that was made for pranks. TRY TO BE FUNNY ON OTHER DAYS OF THE YEAR!!

So, as April first approaches each year, I encourage you to realize the stupidity of it. It is purposeless and unimportant. But with all things considered, I hope you have a great April Fool’s Day; it falls on the same day as Thanksgiving this year!!! APRIL FOOL’S (it falls on Easter)...see pranks are stupid, right!?

So what does this trip mean to you? Maybe it means you are finally free from this whole mess of high school and the people in it, or maybe it is a landmark of completion for those you who are restless to finish.

Whatever your views are for this trip are, I think it’s safe to say that everyone is in love with the idea of this trip.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2016/09/souther n-california-residents-disneyland-resort-southerncalifornia-annual-passport-returns/

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Bollywood Murder

by Yasamine Yusufzai, Staff South Asian superstar Sridevi was found dead. Sridevi was an Indian actress and film producer who starred in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada films in Bollywood.

She won six Filmfare awards and was ranked among the highest-paid actors in the 1980s and 1990s.

On February 24th, 2018, Sridevi died in a Dubai hotel. According to her husband, Kapoor, they came to Dubai to attend their nephew’s wedding. Kapoor flew to India for his business, but flew back to Dubai to surprise Sridevi.

He came to the hotel room at 6:20 pm and suggested that they go out for dinner. He went to the living room to watch T.V., while she went to the bathroom to get ready.

Around 8 pm, he said that he “got worried

Outlets

by Gianna Toribio, Staff Pent up anger or any other negatively associated emotion needs a way to be released. Negative emotions give way to regretful decisions or just amplified feelings.

At one point in your life, you've probably been told to just take a deep breath while angry to calm yourself. Yet, in this we all know it is not quite as simple as that. In some cases, it could even make people angrier. If you are someone that holds in lots of anger or even stress, the most important thing is to find a personal outlet.

Outlets are not the same for everyone.

People can tell you all they want about what you should do for specific emotional reactions. Although this generic advice may

http://www.ifred.org/creative-outlets

over the tables getting filled up in the hotel restaurant so he called for his wife to leave. He yelled two times for her and then went to the bedroom and knocked on the bathroom door. When she didn’t answer back, he opened the door and saw her laying in the bathtub unconscious.”

The Dubai Police have investigated this suspicious death and came out saying that she died of accidental drowning. After the investigation, Sridevi was flown to Dubai and had her funeral, which was open to the public, on February 28th.

Sridevi lived a wonderful life. She had a job that many people dream about having with a loving family and lots of famous friends, but her ending was sad. Some people suspect that her husband killed her and bribed the police and hotel staff to cover up his tracks, but this is most likely not true. When Kapoor first met Sridevi, he was already married to Mona Shourie Kapoor and had a son who became famous actor Arjun Kapoor. He said

help or steer you in the right direction, an outlet must be personally tailored for you.

Outlets can be anything. We tend to associate outlets with physical exertion to tire out or release the pent up emotions, but they can be anything one is passionate about.

Some people find their outlets in painting or dancing. Others find it at the gym or in a book. Finding your outlet is channeling what makes you happy. At this point, it might just seem like these are all well versed facts with no insight; however, this simple advice is true. People need ways to let out their emotions, and the way to do so is to creatively express it in passion.

Negative emotions are counteracted by positive ones. Here is where individuality comes into play. What makes you happy https://www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/openletter-runners-who-think-theyre-too-slow

that when he realized that he loved Sridevi, he immediately divorced Mona and proposed to Sridevi. Sridevi rejected him and he kept pursuing her for fifteen years until she finally agreed to marry him.

Many people wish for a better life, a job with a higher salary or to be more popular on social media. Sridevi had all of this since she was an actress. Though Sridevi had everything that she could ever want in the world, she died tragically at 54. This shows that even if you have the world at your fingertips, you will never escape death.

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most likely does not make me happy. You can find new outlets all the time. We are always changing. We are always evolving.

We spark interests in new things all the time.

A sliver of passion is what stems from the new, it excites us as beings. Perhaps finding new things each time is quite possibly one individual's outlet in itself.

Once finding the outlet that works best for you, you must utilize it. Though most of us would rather not admit that we don't often do the things that make us happy. As counter intuitive as that may sound, it is true. But, the only thing that can further your anger, stress, or sadness is to do nothing about it and let it be all consuming. Choose to allow yourself to be immersed in light and let go of what is holding you back.

https://cmxhub.com/article/how-creativeoutlets-make-you-a-better-community-builder/

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Learning to Love my Bilingual Tongue

by Tracy Tran, Assistant Editor Growing up in a household that does not primarily speak English can be a blessing and a curse. My parents and a majority of my family are war refugees from Vietnam. As a first generation Vietnamese-American, my life has been a roller coaster with its ups and downs.

By the time I became five years old, my vocabulary was at a much higher level than those of my parents. I was able to speak to the numerous children I met in my elementary school; however, my skills in speaking English did not stop there. Being the most fluent English speaker in my household, I was unable to receive help with my school assignments. My parents were always busy with their careers and keeping the house running in top condition. With a younger sibling starting elementary school, I was forced to be her tutor despite having my own troubles with the curriculum.

In addition, I was forced to be the middleman translator between the world and my

parents. I was their gateway to cross the language boundary; when they tried to speak English, I was frustrated with their thick accents and broken diction. In English, there are some words that do not exist in the Vietnamese language, making them lost in translation. Enunciation and implicit meaning in those words lose their true meaning. These became constant reminders that I could never be like the other children with American families who could speak English like the majority of the United States.

Despite those setbacks, I realized some benefits to knowing a second language; for me, it was Vietnamese. I was able to notice the similarities between multiple languages as I continued with my high school experience. By taking Spanish, I was able to comprehend the language quicker than others. This gave me an advantage in the class to succeed. Outside the academic realm, I was able to communicate with people in the Vietnamese community and

with my friends. It was like a secret language where only we understood; other individuals would have no clue to what we were saying. Gossip with the nail salonists or hairdressers are much easier. I’m able to communicate how I feel in two separate tongues that lets me speak for either my family, friends, or myself.

Without my family, I would be unable to grasp these skills unbeknownst to me during this time. Now realizing my faults in this internal conflict, I have come to have a greater appreciation for my family. To my parents, I’m sorry for being so disgusted and cruel at first when you spoke English; now, I am ever so thankful for everything. Cảm ơn mẹ và bố!

Don’t Tell Me to “Chill Out”

by Jenna Quarnstrom, Staff

For those who don’t know, anxiety consists of constant worrying, procrastination, fatigue, restlessness, excessive sweating, unwanted thoughts, poor concentration, trembling, nausea, insomnia, impending doom, fear, palpitations, stress disproportionate to the event, hypervigilance, and irritability. Roughly 18% of the United States, around 40 million people, suffer from anxiety. 7 million people suffer from General Anxiety Disorder (GAD); 15 million suffer from social anxiety disorder; 14.8 million suffer from major depressive disorder; 7.7 million suffer from PTSD. About 10% of adolescents suffer from some sort of anxiety in the United States. With that many people suffering from anxiety in one way or another, you would think that people would be more tolerant of those suffering from anxiety, but that is hardly the case.

Some people have more severe cases of anxiety; however, I am fortunate enough to have a milder case, which does not hinder me too badly within my life. For me, I experience the sweating, the constant fear, the impending sense of doom, the trembling, the constant disproportional stress, the fatigue, the restlessness, and the unwanted thoughts. I get heart palpitations while simply thinking about engaging in conversations with some people or when I am faced with a situation that causes me anxiety and stress. Sometimes even trying to get out of the school parking lot after school makes my heart race unnaturally.

The thought of talking to certain people can cause me to feel dizzy and makes me tremble with nervousness causing me to nearly shut down when in those situations.

This affects me during presentations of any

sort, so I have to find a way to divert my mind from the idea of public speaking in order for me actually go through with presenting. I am constantly worrying about anything and everything, even things that don’t concern me at all or that I cannot control. I am constantly being told not to and to try to control it. Honestly, it is something out of my control and I can hardly fix it.

People need to stop trying to tell people like me that my anxiety is harmless and that we can always do something about it. I see the effects that it has in our lives. We don’t choose to worry constantly or be overwhelmed with anxiety, and telling us to “chill out” won’t fix the fact that anxiety still has a large role in our lives.

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The Udderly Horrible Reality of Dairy

by Hannah Villarreal, Staff Dairy industries either paint the happy picture of cows being taken care of or they keep what happens under wraps and completely unknown to the public. This way people won’t know the true pain these innocent cows go through.

When a mother cow gives birth, they immediately begin to produce milk in order to feed their baby, but within hours of birth, these newborns are taken from their mothers. The female newborns are taken to hutches for 2 to 3 months where they're fed replacement milk. Then they move to dairy farms while the males are taken to be killed for veal and other meat products.

Many “humane” dairy farms separate the mother and baby quickly so it won't be as stressful to take them away if they were able to bond. Cows can be heard in farms crying out for their calves for days after being separated.

A mother cow does not lactate her entire life. To make her useful all year round farmers artificially inseminate them. They do this by shoving their arm down the cow’s vagina and inseminating the cow themselves. How is that considered humane and not rape?

These cows are daily beaten and abused when farmers try to get these animals move or stay still. The cows are dehorned by farmers by burning them off with hot iron.

The male cows have their testicles ripped out. Both of these atrocities are done without painkillers.

The living conditions for cows are horrendous. With the oversized udder, it makes it difficult for cows to move; many cows develop infections like mastitis. After five years of living in filth, raped repeatedly each year and being drained of energy and milk, eventually many cows are considered unprofitable and end up being dragged away by a tractor or shoved into a cramped truck to be taken to the slaughterhouse to be turned into a burger.

In the slaughterhouses, cows are first shot in the head by captive-bolt gun, then hung upside down by one leg to have their throats slit. They’re exsanguinated, then skinned and gutted. So why is this still happening to these animals? These animal live up to around 25 years, but in dairy farms they only live around 5-10 years. Why is one animal, for example a dog, cherished but the other is killed? Did the disconnect between the two animals come from being able to tame and

domesticate one and the other living free in nature? These gentle creatures do not want to die. Cows have been known to try to escape. Some even managing to do so and swim or run for miles until they are captured either by police, their owners, or a sanctuary. These animals need to be recognized as beings who want to live not as food. Life for cows is absolutely horrible.

They’re abused every day, fight painful infections, live in their own filth, watch their babies being taken from them, and in the end, are killed for meat. This needs to change, this cannot continue, we are killing off this gentle species for no good solid reason. If this would be considered animal abuse for cats and dogs, it should be considered the same for cows too.

Our Last Dance

by Emma Day, Staff Senior Ball is around the corner, the last dance of the year! Though we have welcome back dances, homecomings, and Junior Prom, nothing is more exciting than the Senior Ball. It feels like forever ago that we seniors were wishing we were that old, ready to graduate and partake in all the senior activities. Well, now it is our time, and it’s on us to make it the best we can!

Last year, the Prom and Ball were held at the Falls Event Center in Elk Grove, which was close to home. Even though it was close, it was not as fun for getting a party bus or going to a nice restaurant downtown or even for taking pictures somewhere fun. This year, it is going to be held in downtown Sacramento, which I think will be a better location. This will allow for more time on a party bus, more restaurants to choose from, and more areas for pictures. It gives the seniors a new venue to experience for our last dance.

Ball can be very expensive, so it’s important to budget and make sure it is

https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-establishdairy-industry-like-amul

stress free. It takes a lot of planning if you are going with a big group of friends. In order to go to ball, ladies must wear a dress or some sort of formal wear and, as for the guys, they must wear a tuxedo or formal wear. If you plan on taking a date, couples will usually match with their corresponding colors. Most commonly groups like to get a party bus, reserve a spot at a restaurant, and decide on a place for picture taking. This means someone needs to be in charge and make sure everything is paid for and taken care of.

Along with the side planning, you must make sure you and your date purchase a ticket for the dance. These can be very costly.

Ball is meant to be a fun night with your friends when you get dressed up and have time with your class. It’s meant to make everlasting memories that you will cherish forever. It is so close yet so far and will feel like we are waiting forever. Girls start to look for dresses and everyone scrambles to find dates and confirm plans. Senior Ball will be held on April 21, 2018, which will be a day we will never forget, spent with lifelong friends!

It is one of the last events before we are off to college and saying goodbye to those around us.

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I’d Like to Thank thby Anonymous This year, the Academy had its 90th birthday on March 4th. The prestigious awards show honors achievements in film, making the golden Oscar the most precious prize for anyone involved in the movie industry. Although the show celebrates a wide range of films, there are still several issues present with the Academy, especially after this year.

First of all, there has been a recent pattern among all of the nominees and winners: few people have actually watched the movie in theaters. If you research the Oscar-worthy movies, you’ll most likely find that no one is really talking about them. For instance, the 2018 Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water, opened with a gross of about $57 million, which is virtually nothing compared to other nominees, such as Dunkirk’s $188 million gross and Coco’s $208 million gross.

Very few people actually knew about the drama-fantasy film’s existence prior to its nomination. Host Jimmy Kimmel was sure to thank the people who watched the nominated films, which is ironic considering the very little impact a film’s audience turnout has on the Academy’s decision to award them with an Oscar.

Kimmel kept a running joke all night as he stated that the winner with the shortest acceptance speech would be rewarded with a jet ski (presented by Helen Mirren). This prompted the winners to rush their speeches, most of which were pre-written on small pieces of paper. It didn’t go unnoticed how the winners for “big” awards, such as Best Actor in a Leading Role, got more time than the winners for “small” awards, such as Best Animated Short Film. The people who are truly stunned to be at the Oscars- the working class people up for these “small” awards- are the ones who should have an equal opportunity at a proper acceptance speech (after all, acceptance was a revolving theme for the show this year).

The host also claimed that they did this because the very first Academy Awards show was only 15 minutes long, but he failed to mention that the acceptance speeches are not the sole reason for this. With each presentation of an award, there was also a long lead-in to the actual presenter.

Although the ridiculously long monologues preaching about representation and equality are important, they do not need to be said before every single presentation of a

presenter. The speeches weren’t even for the presentation of an award, just a presenter to present the award (Honestly, why even have a presenter present the presenter who will present the award?). Yes, it was nice that Kimmel took other stars, like Ansel Elgort and Gal Gadot, to a theater to give fans food and allow a regular man to present a presenter, but really? Was cutting down the acceptance speech for Best Documentary Short really necessary? No, it actually wasn’t, considering those who created “Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405” worked just as hard as Guillermo del Toro, the winner of Best Director for The Shape of Water.

Although not every film can be recognized as an Oscar nominee, all of the people involved with the industry have worked tirelessly on their projects and deserve some form of recognition. This should not mean that one award winner should be placed below another. Okay, you may not care about who won Best Sound Editing, but they worked extremely hard on their work, and they deserve their Academy Award just as much as the Best Actress in a Leading Role. A winner’s acceptance speech should not be cut short at the expense of a presenter’s attempt at comedy via an inspirational monologue. Maybe the Oscars could be closer to 15 minutes long if the focus was on the awards and the winners, not on th-

Reasons to Acquire a Critter

by McKenna Morris, Design Manager Oftentimes, the foreboding responsibility and possible catastrophes are what deter families from welcoming an animal into their home, whether it be a cat or a canary.

There’s the cost, the time commitment, the allergies, the noise, the destruction of property, and the inevitable heartbreak.

However, not only does pet ownership give an animal the opportunity to be happy and loved and to have a better quality of life, but it also holds multiple benefits for humans as well.

One of the biggest arguments for pet ownership is the therapeutic aspect of pets.

Contact with pets, like petting a dog, seems to counteract our stress responses to events in our lives by lowering stress hormones and heart rate. They also lower anxiety and fear levels by elevating feelings of calmness. One study from Loyola University, that found

people using pet therapy need less pain medication, proves the pain-alleviating capabilities of animals and how beneficial owning them can be, especially for people in recovery. According to the CDC, one hearthealthy result of being a pet owner is lower cholesterol. People who own pets are proven to have significantly lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels than those who don't have pets, lengthening their lifespan and decreasing the risk of stroke. Furthermore, the health benefits of owning a pet are endless and surprisingly effective.

Owning or raising any kind of animal is a great lesson of responsibility for children and adolescents. Learning how to balance the care of the animal and how to be responsible for another living thing’s wellbeing can aid the child’s development of good character traits and create a well-rounded sense of

accountability. Additionally, having pets as a child actually markedly decreases kids’ chances of developing certain allergies.

According to veterinary consultant and author Marty Becker, consistently being around animals and the hair, dirt, and germs that come with them at a young age results in a dramatic improvement of the immune system and causes fewer allergies to develop. A new 2017 study also found that newborns who live with cats have a lower risk of childhood asthma, pneumonia and bronchiolitis.

From unconditional love and companionship to pain relief and therapy, pets are in some regards the best medicine for many ailments people suffer from.

Ultimately, it will help their owners live better, longer, healthier lives.

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The Collapse of an Empire?

by Maya Corona, Staff When Snapchat was first launched in 2011 by three Stanford students in the productdesign program, it emerged under the name “Peekaboo” and had less than 100 users before it was shut down and remodeled to resemble what we now know as Snapchat.

Now, the app is worth a reported $20 billion dollars and has 187 million daily users; however, the app may be hanging in limbo after a dramatic update, which has received more backlash than the Facebook update in 2008. As of now, more than 1.2 million have signed a petition titled “Remove the New Snapchat Update.” Is this the beginning of the end?

Snapchat was slow to gain popularity when it was first introduced seven years ago, but the tables quickly turned a few years into its release. Teens have seemed to learn their lesson that whatever you post online stays online forever, and Snapchat has been a fun and convenient way to evade this law through sending pictures and chatting with friends without permanency or backlash.

Millions of teens, myself included, open the app dozens of times per day, checking for messages, snaps, and stories to pass the time, and it has become ingrained in millennial culture. Therefore, it was a shock to some when they opened the app to see a completely new and confusing setup staring back at them.

This only proves the frailty of Snapchat as a whole. In the same week that Kylie Jenner announced on social media that she hardly opens her Snapchat anymore because it is “sad”, Snap Inc. saw a $1.3 billion drop in market value in a one-week period. Whether this is a demonstration of the Jenner’s immeasurable influence on social media or the repercussions of such an unpopular update, it seems as if Snapchat is quickly losing approval. There seems to be a pattern: we saw the same decline with Facebook, a

social media application that has fallen out of its prime with the introduction of Twitter and Instagram and it is no longer the playground it once was. Perhaps Snapchat has incited an

unavoidable downfall that it only had coming. Regardless, the younger generation has a strong reliance on social media platforms as a source of communication and expression, and, if we outgrow Snapchat, a newer and fresher company will be quick to take its place.

Easter Traditions around the World

by Nina Skeen, Staff Easter, being one of the main holidays celebrated all around the world, has many events thrown by people from parades and city gatherings, to simple home and family activities. It’s a day for religions to take time to remember the son of Christ rising from the grave after being crucified in front of the whole town of Jerusalem. It’s a holiday known for early Sunday morning church services, pastel colored eggs, Easter baskets, and buffets of food and that’s not all.

In Florence Italy, they have a 350 year old celebration of fireworks that are put into a huge cart and it’s walked through the city streets, stopping in front of the Duomo, an Italian cathedral. Once it’s set down, they light the fireworks while people in costumes dance around drawing attention to the Easter celebration. The point of this celebration is to ensure a good harvest.

One of the most uncommon, yet most interesting celebrations for Easter is in Haux, France. There are chefs that gather around a large pan in the town center and make an

enormous omelet made from 4,500 eggs.

This omelet feeds around 1,000 of the town’s people. There’s no significant meaning in the number 4,500; it just happens to be the number they stop at every year. The point of this tradition is to follow the story of when one of their townsmen, Napoleon, stopped in the city with his men, and they sat down to eat omelets. Then, he thought it was so good that he gathered the town and made a huge one for everyone to share.

A stranger Easter tradition takes place in Norway. There is no specific name for it, but the people gather around and read crime novels on this day. It is celebrated so much that there are novels that come out just for Easter. This tradition started so simply: it’s said that in 1923 a book publisher released a crime novel on Easter and it was put into the newspaper that day.

People were so drawn to it that it just became a tradition to

read crime novels on this day.

Easter is a holiday of religious celebration.

It started by Catholics and Christians and other known religions celebrating the son of God, known as Jesus, overcoming death and literally being raised from the dead after being wounded by the world he died for. As this holiday became more and more known, celebrations like these with crazy food and countless books and activities and many more started to be created around the world and later became traditions in different places. http://www.rosettastone.co.uk/blog/eastertraditions-around-world/

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Crystals: Types and Uses

Jade:

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by Xena Allen, Editor Crystals and precious stones have many different uses other than simply looking pretty. Every type of crystal or stone has different metaphysical uses, including healing properties, energy benefits, and aid with manifesting things you want into your life. Here are some (not all) of the different types of crystals and what you focus on when meditating with each individual stone.

Rose Quartz:  Opens your life and heart to love and improves relationships with the people around you.  Frees you from negativity and allows positivity to take over.

Amethyst:  Eases stress and anxiety, and indulges your intuition.  The stone of insight

Earth Day

by Raymond Ali, Staff Earth day is the day we remember our planet, a day we enjoy the fact that we are able to be alive and in this world. If it weren't for Earth, no one would be here right now and none of this would even be close to possible, so hopefully this article will get others involved and help make this “Earth” a special place because that's what it is.

This day was founded by a United States Senator from Wisconsin named Gaylord Nelson, as a day of education about environmental issues and it was first held on April 22, 1970, over 40 years ago. Nelson had a plan to raise public awareness of pollution, he hoped to bring all environmental issues into the national spotlight, and he did just that. By the early 1960’s Americans were becoming more aware with the effects of

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Clear Quartz:  Brings clarity to one’s mind  Best crystal for manifestation  Balances all chakras Labradorite:  Stone of self-awareness and curiosity  Helps connect you to higher consciousness  Keeps you grounded and stable Selenite:

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Shifts aura to higher vibration, helps to achieve highest potential Stone with purest energy Positivity

Opens you up to abundance and prosperity Stone of wisdom

To use these stones, meditate with them and sleep next to them, as energy is transmitted this way. Holding them and meditating with them when you are feeling down or upset can greatly improve your health and well-being. Using visualization for energy transmission is the key to harnessing the power of crystals. Be sure to cleanse them often to get rid of any negativity you put into the stone. If you don’t know how to do this process, look online at different cleansing methods that fit your life. You can get these precious stones online, at gem fairs, or Etsy. Having these gems in your life and using them properly can relieve negativity and will make you overall much happier.

http://thehealingchest.com/crystals-stones/amethyst-meaning/

pollution, but many were not really doing anything about it because they felt they couldn't or thought there are too many others out there that don't help so why should they? At this time, protecting the planet’s natural resources was not part of the nation political agenda or anyone’s at this point in time. Factories pumped out pollution and some still do into lakes and rivers with few legal consequences.

Only a small portion of the American population was familiar or even aware of how recycling could turn a lot around. Long story short, if we don't change the way we are living, the world itself may be at risk.

The holiday is now a global celebration that’s sometimes extended into something called Earth week, a full seven days of events focused on green living. Green living is a series of things trying to help better your community and eventually the world itself.

There are many ways to do this, but here are a few I incorporate into my daily schedule:

using paper less, recycling more, cutting down on energy used in the house and simply just starting a compost pile or bin.

These are all ways to “Live green” and I feel like you should follow these steps in order to successfully live up to what we call Earth day and do your part by just applying yourself and helping out in your community.

In contrast to this year’s Earth Day, which is on April 22nd, it is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about recycling and using less electricity throughout your house. I hope you have a great Earth day and a healthy Earth week.

THE ANTLERETTE

| Issue 3

9

The Company Conundrum

by Daniel Thomas, Editor When tragedy strikes the world, there are two sides that tend to pop up: the right and the left. Although they can vary from person to person, both have their own unique beliefs about fighting hard to make laws, but companies tend to get in the way of the people’s battles. Companies generally do not have feelings, as they are not people and have an entity meant to do one thing: make money. There are people within the companies that have their own beliefs that they will fight for, but they usually separate their individual beliefs and their company’s policies. There are exceptions like Papa John’s Pizza who came out to say that they would cut ties with the NFL because they believed that the way the NFL handled the protesting players kneeling caused declining pizza sales, but the beliefs are still mostly separate. So when something like a school

shooting happens, those two stances tend to clash.

The nonprofit organization that advocates for gun rights known as the National Rifle Association, or the NRA for short, has been around since 1871 and has a lot of support from other businesses, such as Fed-Ex, United Airlines, and Walmart. These are nonbiased relationships that exist only to make money. The NRA is the main target for criticism mostly by some on the left when discussing gun control, especially lately. The organization supports gun rights and is against restrictions on someone owning a gun and this contradicts what most of the left wants. This organization has power. They are close with the government and the Trump Administration largely because of its campaign donations. You can’t just shut down an organization that has been around

for over 100 years and has that much influence. So what should those with leftwing beliefs or those with opposing beliefs to the NRA do?

Boycotting tends to be the answer to that.

It is a way to send a message to a big company risking their profit, the one thing that is really important to them. So they generally respond by either doing exactly what the boycotters want or not doing anything. Neither of these outcomes are 100% good for them. If you make a move and cut ties with someone like the NRA, then people usually on the right might boycott you for going against 2nd Amendment and being so-called “un-American” and, if you don’t do anything, then you will continue to be threatened by those who are against who you are supporting, in this case the NRA. In these situations there is no neutral stance, so what should companies do? That’s the problem that they face when politics and morals get involved. The only way out of this is to do whatever they think will cost them the least amount of money.