2727 Fuller Road Ann Arbor, MI 48105
The Emery
Volume 3 Issue 5 March 2018
The Student Publication of Huron High School
Ensuring safety in AAPS postParkland shooting
State
Students fight back Not victims, but survivors Former gymnast shares her experiences of sexual harassment with the Larry Nassar case, and helps to make a change. See more | Page 2
Julie Heng | Staff Editor
In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, students, parents, staff, and administrators alike have been concerned about safety in schools. Liz Margolis, Ann Arbor Public Schools Executive Director of Student and School Safety, says she feels very confident in the Ann Arbor district’s safety precautions. “We are always assessing our emergency response protocol,” Margolis says. “We are right now going through assessments about perimeter doors on all our schools.” Margolis notes that many crisis safety measures have been implemented since Columbine. In terms of law enforcement, for example, the first officers on the scene now automatically follow the threat rather than wait outside for SWAT teams. In the early 2000s, Ann Arbor received a grant from the federal government to examine the operation of safer schools, which led to a focus on buzzer systems and locked doors. ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training was introduced to AAPS in 2013 with support from the Ann Arbor Police and Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department. Students and teachers have been actively training since 2014. The ALICE program is different from the traditional “hide under your desks” lockdown system. It promotes individualized, educated decisions in response to the threat of an active shooter. These may include barricading doors, countering attackers, or evacuating the premises. Margolis credits the staff for their vigilance when it comes to these stressful training simulations. She explains that teachers have long been actively seeking out places for students to hide and escape in an See more | Page 2
National Students hold posters and listen to student speakers as they protest against gun violence. They stand out on the football field on March 14, despite the below freezing temperatures to show that they want change, and they are ready to make a difference. Students stood on the field for 17 minutes, starting at 10 am, while listening to a few of their classmates speak and taking a 2 minute moment of silence. Photo by Sami Ruud.
Huron students join in the fight for gun control and their rights after recent Parkland school shooting
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What we need is a change. And that is exactly what we are going to get. Shamim Wambere Senior
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We are the next generation, we are the future, we are the change. Anna Scott Junior
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A protest is a step in the right direction, but only a small step. There are many more miles to go. Charles Chisen Sophomore
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If there’s no stricter gun control laws, then the students shot at parkland… could have just as easily been ours. Olivia Li Sophomore
Sami Ruud | Staff Editor
As the clock hit 12 p.m., seas of students piled out of their classrooms and into the hallways, down the stairs, and out the doors. At first glance, it appeared that students were leaving at the end of a school day. But instead, they were doing the opposite. They left the building and peacefully protested under the arch for only 17 minutes, each minute representing one life that was lost in the school shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Around the country, there have been many ways students have already started to stand up to politicians and for students to make a change. There was a national school walkout on Feb. 14, along with other marches and press conferences, mostly led and organized by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. There was also a recent march on March 14, led by the Women’s March. Students had many reasons for walking out of school on Feb. 14, and voiced those opinions to many. Some students even got up on the ledge and
started a chant, saying ‘We are students, we are victims, we are change.’ Many students protested their right to feel safe in their school. “I should not have to fear for my life when I got to school where I feel like my school is going to get shot up,” senior Trevor Dial said. “Coming to school, we have a right to feel safe.” “I have to be a student, an athlete, and now I have to be a warrior. I have to fend for my life. I have to feel unsafe at my school,” junior Theresa McKelvey said. Principal Dr. Schwamb ensured that students have the first amendment right to protest, and although administration cannot voice their opinion, students can not be punished for a peaceful protest. Most also protested for gun control, including not allowing guns in schools. “AR-15’s are made to kill other people,” McKelvey said. “They should not be accessible.” Another reason for this protest was to support the families of the victims and the See more | Page 2
Deer cull: Is it humane?
Timeline of major events that occurred during Donald Trump’s first year of presidency. See more | Page 4
Entertainment
The Touhou Project An introduction to the game series ‘Touhou Project’ and why you should play the game. See more | Page 10
Entertainment
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2 Love, Simon: Movie Review
Ritvik Jillala | Staff Writer
There were a total of 159 deer killed in the Ann Arbor deer culls of 2015 and 2016. 63 deer were killed in January of 2015 and 96 deer were killed in January of 2016. In 2015, the Ann Arbor City Council passed a policy that created a 4-year program to control the population of deer through sterilization and shootings. The city is now in the third phase of the plan. This year, a total of 115 deer were shot from Jan. 7 to Jan. 31 , although the target number was 250. The week before, 18 female deer were sterilized to control breeding. White Buffalo, the contractor that is carrying out the deer cull, acquired an experimental sterilization permit from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Ann Arbor is currently the only city in the state that is using sterilization to help control the deer population. In a count conducted by the city on March 6, 2015, a total of 168 deer were spotted. By Feb. 18, 2016, 202 deer were counted. See more | Page 3
Trump’s first year in office
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1. Student speakers speak out to the hundreds of students who walked out of school on March 14 to support the victims of the Parkland shooting. “We may be young, but we have to force the government to listen to us,” Shamim Wambere said. 2. Sophomores ......., Aisha Said, and Macie Angeli smile for the picture. Right before, they were cuddling for warmth in the freezing temperatures. 3. Hundreds of students gathered on the football field during the March 14 walkout. Many carried posters with them. 4. Sophomore Maureen Kengara, junior Alena ....., and sophomore Kasim Henderson hold posters to show they don’t want any more lives to be lost in schools. 5. Sophomore Cameron Donell asked to speak and said “No more violence!” 6. (From left) Shamim Wambere, Sophia Gibson, Anna Scott, and Karley Misek were the four student speakers at the walkout. Gibson and Scott were the two organizers of the walkout. “We are the next generation, we are the future, we are the change that this country so desperately needs,” Sxott said. “Without action and advocacy against this epidemic of gun violence in the US, nothing’s going to happen, but with your help, we can make a fundamental change to the essence of our country’s warlike nature.” 7. Akshay Sivakumar ‘wants change’.
Box office sales have already hit $39 million for the new LGBT+ rom-com. See what makes this movie so popular. See more | Page 10
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