The Antlerette Issue 6

The Antlerette April 1 2019 Volume 93 Issue 6

Torn Apart Quynh Tran, Staff

When Donald Trump became president, he started to enforce new regulations when immigrants crossed the border: children had to be separated from their parents. Many people started to question the Trump administration seperating children for “law enforcement purposes” because in just one week about three hundred families were separated. These children that have been separated from their families were traumatized from this unexplained separation under the Trump administration. The federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to stop the separation of families, yet he has continued to seperate them for unexplained reasons.

The numbers of immigrants coming to America is rising to its highest peak this year and the separation of immigrant families from each other is not humane.

There are about 2,700 separated children of many ages from infants to young teenagers that need to be back with their families.

Since many children were separated from their families, it will take approximately two years to return all the children to their parents. Most likely, it won't happen anytime

soon as the Trump administration will not put this as an urgent matter.

The government has put a closer eye on the border control, but it has not stopped the Trump administration from continuing this “zero tolerance policy”, which has led to two children dying in border patrol custody.

These children, held by the border patrol, are constantly getting sick with no skilled pediatrician to help aid them. At these detention centers at the border patrol, there is a clinic to help the ill, but with no skilled pediatrician, so more children are getting sick.

The government is trying to put an end to these detention centers and stop separating children from their parents.

However, the Trump administration is also trying to change the rules so they can detain children longer, for more years. The government needs to end Trump’s actions by putting a real stop to this before there is more blood shed. Children will die from not being medically treated correctly, and mothers also being held could also become severely sick if they’re breastfeeding. Under no circumstances should people be treated like this, especially children that have just begun their lives.

https://www.alipac.us/f13/article-ivsection-4-u-s-constitution-93029/

Remembering Ermias Asghedom Daniel Thomas, Staff

On March 31, West coast rapper, Ermias Asghedom, also known by his stage name as Nipsey Hussle, was shot several times in front of his own store, Marathon Clothing, in his own town in Southern Los Angeles. He was not the only victim, two other people were rushed to an L.A. hospital, where at 3:55pm, Hussle was pronounced dead. Although I will not be talking about how he died, instead, this will be focused on how he lived for the 33 years he was alive.

He is loved and known for his music, but also for his determination and activism.

While growing up in the neighborhood of Crenshaw, Hussle became associated with the Crips and got involved in a gang in order to survive and start a studio for his music. Once his rap career got off the ground, he left that life, but he never forgot it. This part of his life served as inspiration for his life goal: to help out his community financially, bring them together, and overall stop gang violence. Most of his life was dedicated to community activism. He has associated with and recorded tracks with known Bloods like Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, and The Game. He spoke out against

rappers who glorified the gang life they grew up in to look cool. Hussle incorporated elements of boastful lyrics as well, but also dabbled in conscience rap to spread his message to the world. He was also a wellknown entrepreneur. He co-owned a consulting agency with Steve Caring (A.K.A. Steve-O ) and Karen Civil, called Marathon Agency. Its purpose is to help out young artists get more recognition and support. He also ran his store, Marathon Clothing, in his hometown meant for underprivileged kids to get affordable and quality clothing.

Including his wife and two kids, he left many people devastated and alone with just his music and impact left to remember him by; although, it seems that is more important.

The impact of his life was so grand that his contributions to the community have now been archived in U.S. history as part of the Congressional Record. His funeral was broadcasted live with many speakers such as his wife, Lauren London, his mom, and Snoop Dogg. Even former president, Barack Obama, while not at the ceremony and having never met Hussle, sent a letter praising him for his influence and contributions. “While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets, and despair, Nipsey saw potential.�

https://hartlandchronicles.wordpress. com/tag/ermias-asghedom/

The Underrepresentation of our Muslim Community Esmee Teresi, Staff

As May approaches, Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, will begin on May 5th this year. However, with Ramadan approaching, as someone who has connections to the Muslim community but is not part of the faith itself, I have questioned why this holiday is not widely acknowledged throughout the United States? Ramadan is a time for people to fast from sunup until sundown in an effort to become closer to God, similar to Lent in Christianity—which came to an end during the third week of April. The act of suppressing oneself from everyday pleasures is a common practice in several religions, but with the misunderstanding of what Islam stands for and what its followers truly believe in, there seems to be no communal acceptance of a holiday such as Ramadan or the religion of Islam itself.

Ramadan is a symbol of loyalty to one’s faith and often brings thoughts of joy to many people’s minds. It is a time of celebration and commemoration of the Quran, the prophet Muhammad, who is the founder of the religion of Islam. This year, Ramadan is concluded on June 3rd as Eid alFitr marks the last day of the holiday. Parties are thrown and people gather around to give one another gifts and donate money to charity, as it is a celebration of religion, life, and happiness. With the current worldwide circumstances, a day like Eid al-Fitr may become a day to target people of the Muslim faith as an uprising of anti-Islamic terrorists and white supremacy has continued to grow.

Following the devastating massacre of Christchurch was a fear of such attacks continuing to occur all over the world to attack Muslims. So why do we not have an immense amount of people ready to guard mosques and make sure that such targeted

groups will be able to pray in peace without the underlying fear that someone with a gun could show up at any moment to gun them down? People should be outraged by this, as one’s faith should not result in a higher risk of being profiled and killed. This is the issue with a community not having enough representation in mainstream media. People will continue to lack knowledge about a religion such as Islam and continuously stereotype and assume things like all Muslims are terrorists and call them obscene things like “towel-heads”. It is appalling and quite frankly, it is offensive to everyone that has to endure the bigotry and hatred that spews from so many people’s mouths.

The United States of America is a place for everyone, regardless of what faith they follow or where they come from. It is the melting pot of all cultures and that is exactly what makes this country so unique.

Everywhere, a person can go to learn about something new that they may not have been directly exposed to if they hadn’t looked for it themselves. So as a citizen of the United States, I ask that you please expose yourself to different cultures and travel; you will be a better person for it. Seek knowledge for yourself because knowledge is power. And being educated on topics such as religion will allow for such a wide range of people to better understand religions that are not accurately represented. People deserve common decency and respect and it starts with understanding everyone’s differences right now, when it matters most.

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/0 5/272356/ramadan-monday-france-europe/

Our Future, Our Fight Hannah Villarreal, Editor

On Friday, March 15th, over 100 students at Elk Grove High School participated in the nationwide walkout in protest of the denial and dismissal of climate change. Although the school found that over 100 students walked out, only about 60 students walked out with the intention of protesting for climate change awareness.

While marching to city hall we realized that not everyone who’d initially walked out was in support of us, but we did not let this diminish our confidence while protesting.

We received both support and disapproval from passing cars, the majority being supporters of us-I can recall only 2 people verbally expressing their distaste for us.

They shouted at us “get back to class” and “go home” out their car windows. Those supporting us simply honked their car horns and/or gave us a thumbs up, which was a major confidence booster for us as we chanted “Our Future, Our Fight” and “Climate Change is not a lie, please don’t let Our Planet die.”

When we finally arrived at city hall, our group reduced to 22 people, but determination strong, we were able to speak to a few people about the seriousness of climate change and what is being done within Elk Grove to help the environment.

The first being Mackenzie Wieser, a member of the Elk Grove planning commission, who openly confided to us that she seems to be the only person of the commision who shares our concerns about climate change.

We also spoke to member of the Elders Climate Action, who expressed his full support to what we were doing and even said the organization would gladly provide

transportation to us if we needed to travel anywhere, like a conference about climate change. Along with this, we were also interviewed by a reporter from the Elk Grove citizen. He asked a few people-the most outspoken people within for group, about our experience of getting the word out about the walkout within our school, any challenges we faced, any criticism, how many students walked out, what happened while we were marching to city hall, how much bystanding support did we get, etc.

Additionally, we were also able to speak to Christopher Jordan, the leader of the Climate Change Action Plan, and find out that the action plan was just approved by Elk Grove’s city council. Although some people within city hall did not consider the plan strong enough and believed more ideas needed to be created and added, we were overall excited to hear that at least something was being done by our city council members.

It is encouraging to be acknowledged for our efforts in spreading awareness about climate change and make it clear that even high school students, even with all the negative stereotyps put on us, understand the importance of taking steps to prevent further damage to our environment; we understand the importance of not ingoring this growing crisis.

To further explain what I mean by growing crisis, and to explain the extreme importance of preventing further damage, climate change is already happening. It is happening and it is severly effecting parts of the world that many people dont see.

Climate change, although it is by definition nothing new to planet earth, is currently of extreme importance to us now because of the fact that it’s human caused climate change.

Climates do change, I will agree to that, but this drastic change in our global climate is due to extreme pollution in almost all of our natural resources. Extreme pollution, in all aspects, is the most general explaination of why climate change is happenin at such a

drastic rate; we are basically poisoning ourselves in complete extinction.

This is why more awareness-more acknowledgement of climate change and the need to prevent it, by every single human being, is absolutely vital to our survival. It is vital to planet earth’s, our home, and humanities survival. Our walkout, along with the hundreds of other schools across the world, was not an act of simple defiance or a way to cut class. This walkout serves as a message to governments across the world, not just the United States, that we will no longer let past generations decide our future.

We will not let others, others who will not have to deal with future reprecussions, do what they want with our planet and it’s resources. Not only that, it serves as messge that we are aware of this. We are aware of what is happening around us; we know what our governments are allowing to happen; we will not, we cannot sit back and watch them destroy our future.

https://climate.nasa.gov/solutions/adaptation -mitigation/

The Pressure Placed Upon Younger Generations AdriAnna Delabra, Staff

From a young age, before we even know who or what we are and want to become, we are asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Many of us, if not all, respond with a certain job. It is very rare

to hear a child say they want to be happy, traveling, or content with their lives.

However, it is common to hear children reply with occupations such as doctors, firefighters, or more unrealistic ones like princesses. Either way, adults and society have engraved in our heads that we must know what and how we are going to achieve our occupation as young as possible.

A majority of all high school classes are general education. We are taught science, math, history, and English. We are rarely, if not ever, taught how to apply to get a job, when and how to apply for college or how to file taxes. In other words, we are not taught the skills we need to survive life outside of high school. Yet we are still expected to know all of these skills and many more.

Unrealistic and higher expectations are being placed on children at younger ages.

It is rare that parents have their children play sports for the sole purpose of having fun. It is generally one of two options: become a professional player or obtain a college scholarship. It is rare that people draw or sing because it is their passion, regardless of their skill. Young children are constantly asked if they believe they can make a living out of their passion. It is rare nowadays that children have hobbies that are not pressured upon them by anyone in society in order pursue a career.

The first question asked when applying for college classes is “What do you want do be?”

For me personally, I felt lost when asked this question. I had been asked all my life what I want to be and I still do not know. It is hard to know for sure what career to pursue when high school doesn’t generally teach us or let us find out what we are passionate about and what we want to do for the rest of our lives.

It’s more stressful now than ever due to society’s expectations of going straight into college after high school, and the increasing price and debt college students have to pay.

Again, in today’s society, it is harder than ever to afford a college education, and at the

same time, harder than ever to succeed and survive without a college degree.

Although we are all on a destination to live up to society's standards and expectations, do not stress and do not worry.

Many people do not know who they are or what they want to be until later on in college.

Society has pressured us to be ahead and to know everything before we are ready, but it has not prepared us and that’s okay. Take a deep breath, take your time, and do not rush through your life.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/509469663/ when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-a-unicorn

Confessions of a Student Enraged by College Scams Jordan Ritchie, Business Manager

Ambitious high school students work hard to get into college. Really hard. Because doing so is really hard; from maintaining good grades to joining clubs and extracurriculars. And then, just maybe, one can hope to get into the college of their dreams. Or… their rich parents can buy and cheat their kids’ way into college–because that’s what’s been happening. Operation Varsity Blues is the name they’ve given to this criminal conspiracy in which dozens of wealthy parents–some being popular celebrities–paid millions of dollars to a man

named Rick Singer to bribe college officials so their kids could get into prominent universities, a couple of these colleges being the University of San Diego and the University of Yale. Some of the celebrities involved in this scandal are Desperate Housewives’ Felicity Huffman and Full House’s Lori Loughlin. It’s understandable to want the best for your children and follow through by providing them with said “best”.

But what these parents fail to comprehend is that by giving their children these opportunities through criminal means, they steal those opportunities from others who’ve worked hard to deserve it. And there are repercussions not just for the parents and their kids, but others as well.

Felicity Huffman allegedly paid $15,000 to have her daughter’s SAT scores corrected before submitting them. However, Huffman’s daughter was not aware of her mother’s actions. On April 8, 2019, Huffman pleaded guilty, admitting her shame to her actions and accepting responsibility for them: “I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly." While her apology doesn’t justify her actions, as one of those many students who work hard to get into college, I accept her apology and appreciate her acknowledging those she has wronged.

However, not all those involved in the scandal are following suit. Lori Loughlin has pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charges. She and her husband allegedly paid Rick Singer $500,000 to help their two daughters get into the University of Southern California as row crew recruits, despite neither of them being rowers. What Felicity Huffman did was wrong, but in her apology, she’s taken the first step in righting those

wrongs. However, Lori Loughlin continues to dig a bigger ditch for her and her family by denying the charges. Upon hearing about her crimes, I was absolutely disgusted. It was very un-Hallmark of her. I didn’t think I could be more appalled by her actions, but I was wrong. What outraged me the most was finding old videos of Lori Loughlin, and her daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli–popular vlogger–discussing her college experience.

In one of her vlogs, Giannulli says, “I want the experience of like, game days, partying–I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.” While Giannulli’s comment disturbed me immensely, I am not directing all of my anger towards her, but to her parents. Lori Loughlin’s daughter obviously has no desire to further her education through college, so all she is doing is stealing an opportunity from someone who wants it and giving it to someone who clearly doesn’t. Giannulli even tweeted, “YouTube will always be my #1 passion…

I’d way rather be filming 24/7 than sitting in 6 hours of classes straight but an education is also super important to me…” Her statements that she “doesn’t care about school” and would “rather be filming” contradict her claim that education is important to her, but I’ll reluctantly give her the benefit of the doubt. But be it as that may, she doesn’t need a college education to pursue vlogging. She is definitely financially stable enough to turn it into a full-time career, as she comes from a wealthy family and does a lot of sponsored content. No matter how she feels about education, that opportunity should have been given to someone who actually needs it. I, myself, have considered applying to a few of the colleges involved in this scandal in the future. I can tell you right now, that if my application was rejected and an “Olivia Jade” was accepted in my place, I’d be heavily contemplating and maybe even, regretting the past few years of my life. I’m sorry, but I don’t spend a tortuous amount of hours studying for AP and Honors classes

and dedicating myself to doing anything that will make my college applications look more eye-grabbing just so I can be upstaged by someone whose parent has a bigger bank account. For someone like Olivia Jade Giannulli, opportunities are close to infinite, whereas for someone of lower social and financial status–great opportunities are as common as gold at the end of a rainbow.

While it may seem that the only consequences of these scandals are jail-time for the participants and stolen opportunities from students, it is much worse. When students learn of these scams, their work ethic will wither away for one of two reasons: students will either realize that there’s no need to toil away at school because their parents can easily buy them a ticket into their dream college, or they’ll give up on achieving academic excellence and lose hope, knowing that it might all be for naught. The latter student may have the right grades, but the former has the financial means to boost their GPA up a couple pointO’s. And just like any other act, it’ll be repeated and eventually encouraged, and soon enough, hard work will reap no reward other than experience that will be applied nowhere, and prestigious alumnus will have nothing but an immense lightening of their wallets and an increase in their guilt, and a college education they may not have even deserved.

http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/iteam/top-3-scams-against-college-students

The Response to DACA’s Elimination Emily Kennedy, Editor in Chief

Latino Americans have been increasingly voicing their societally induced plights and demanding a change within American culture and politics when it comes to inclusion. In terms of educational equity, Latino Americans have been protesting the lack of support systems within the United States’ education system.

There has also been an uproar of objection accompanying the elimination of DACA, which stands for Deferral Action for Childhood Arrivals. Imposed in 2012 by President Barack Obama, the program allowed individuals who had immigrated illegally to the United States as children to receive two year installments of reprieve from deportation. This allows Latino immigrants to seek opportunities both in furthering their education through enrolling in college and advancing to higher positions in the workplace.

Previously, these individuals had faced fears of deportation that prevented them from advancing in these ways. In current times, this fear has been reinstated due to the Trump administration’s deletion of DACA. Latino students have responded passionately with protests and walkouts, calling attention to their situation and the injustice ingrained in American society when it comes to immigration policy. According to student walkout participants, the end of DACA is a definitive step backwards and loss of advancement. These student activists call attention to their experiences of being rejected by the country they have called home for a majority of their life and of being continually suppressed in their attempts to progress in American society.

Additionally, teachers have been impacted by the elimination of DACA, as an overwhelming amount of school districts

employ teachers who had been DACA participants. Tired of being treated as if they are unwelcome, Latino students have begun to take a stand and voice their perspectives in the American conversation about immigration.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/17/pol itics/daca-deferred-action-for-childhoodarrivals-appeals-court-ruling/index.html