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An unfortunate part of American history is our dark side, a side where we stray from our foundations of “all men are created equal.” From slavery to Japanese internment camps to deportation of Latin Americans, minority racial groups have been repeatedly targeted and looked down upon not just by the white majority, but the American people as a whole. Perhaps, the most notable of these infractions is one of the first, the relocation of Native Americans.

 

Proposed by Andrew Jackson and approved by Congress in 1830, the Indian Removal Act forced Native Americans onto designated land in the Midwest called reservations. Since then, many Native Americans have had to adjust to new living conditions and lifestyle.

 

Now, once again the government is paying complete disregard to Native American’s with the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The 1,172 mile pipeline would begin at the Bakken Formation, an underground oil source in parts of Montana and North Dakota and run through South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. After its completion, the pipeline would deliver over 470,000 barrels of oil per day. The downside? The pipeline would put the environment at great risk, possibly contaminating the Missouri River water supply and disturbing historical territory belonging to various Native American tribes.

By failing to reconsider the Dakota Access Pipeline, the United States government is not only disrespecting the Native American community, but is also showing its lack of support for finding eco-friendly alternative energy sources. Although this oil deposit is a great economic boost, we have to remember that these resources are finite. It is a shame that our government is prioritizing economic gain rather than the well being of the American people. With global warming and air quality concerns on the rise, it is our responsibility to take action and protect our environment.

Instead of investing money into a project that eventually will be abandoned when natural resources become deplenished, the government should be investing in projects that can last forever. Natural gas and solar energy are cleaner options for our future.

Continuing the Dakota Access Pipeline will destroy the Native American community, their culture, their home, and their heritage. If their home is destroyed, then what is to stop the government from destroying ours too? The construction of the pipeline must be terminated not just for the safety of the Native American tribes who live there, but for our planet as a whole.

Were you ever scared you’d be the last one picked for a game of dodgeball in your high school gym class?

A couple of high schools around New York City show how there is a clear division between race when picking teams for school sports.

During a game of dodgeball at the Institute for Collaborative Education, the gym teacher picked one white girl and one white boy as the team captains. Both started picking people to be on their teams. Out of a class of sixty five kids, 15 percent are black, 30 percent asian, 5 percent mixed, and 50 percent white.

While watching this game of dodgeball, the team captains picked white kids, most specifically white males, first than any other race.

“I usually don’t think about it too much. I just pick who I think will make me win,” one of the team captains said. Many kids acted like this was normal.

At two other dodgeball games the next few days, the same thing happened. Most of the time, the white captain would pick a white kid first.

A couple of 11th grade black girls who were part of the game, said they began noticing that they were usually the last one picked as they got older. “When we were in 9th grade we would play all the time, but now we never get picked! None of them white boys want to pick us,” one said.

During one of the dodgeball games, as the kids were playing, it also became apparent that most white kids were trying to hit the black kids on the opposing team, more than the other white kids.

Talking to some teachers about whether or not there was a race divide in their classrooms, most of them said there was. “I think it’s hard to see that there is because it is so internalized. We live in such a segregated society, especially in America,” a humanities teacher said.

“Kids are taught at such a young age, to play with their biological race. This is a bi-product of the segregation in communities, schools and neighborhoods,” a professor at NYU said. A couple students exhibited this during an interview. “Yeah I gotta say like all my friends are black. I mean I got a few white boys in my class and we joke around a lot.” A black boy in the 9th grade said.

A recent article published by the New School, reported that in New York City 332 of the city’s 734 neighborhood elementary schools have enrollments that are more than 90 percent black and Latino. Most of these are in neighborhoods that are also predominantly black and Latino. They found 59 schools with enrollments of more than 90 percent black and Latino students in neighborhoods that are more racially mixed, that is, neighborhoods that are less than 80 percent black and Latino. These schools have a combined enrollment of 28,175 children.

“Our analysis found the sharpest discrepancies between the demographics of schools and their attendance zones in District 3 on the Upper West Side, District 5 in Harlem, and District 13 in downtown Brooklyn—neighborhoods which have undergone gentrification and where public housing sometimes abuts luxury high-rise apartment buildings or high-priced brownstones,”the report said.

From a dodgeball game to housing projects to schools and the education system, people all over NYC have been remarking about this internalized segregation. “We need to integrate everyone of all races, genders, orientation. That’s how this segregation ends,” the NYU professor said.

“I always keep two masks ready, I show the defensive side, hiding my true self. I hide myself completely, as if I’ve become a criminal; I could not take one step out of the dorm that seemed like a prison.”

Although these words are said in Korean, the meaning in English is the same. There are more lines like this in Min Yoongi’s very first, powerful mixtape, Agust D.

Min Yoongi, stage name Suga, is a 23-year-old South Korean rapper. He is one of the rappers for the popular seven-member boy group Bangtan Boys (BTS). The group’s genre is K-pop, otherwise known as Korean pop music. Their good looks, strong vocals and unique musical style have reached the hearts of people worldwide.

After the release of his fellow member Rap Monster’s mixtape, RM, in March last year, Suga released one of his own this past August. Its tracks contain Suga’s best rapping yet.

The name of the mixtape is also its title track, and it opens Suga’s story with a strong drum beat. The chorus incorporates a catchy repetition of the title. Suga also shows his creativeness in that the title of the track is a rearrangement of his stage name.

As a whole, the mixtape represents Suga’s unique artistry, compared to the youthful songs he performs with his group. His personality shines through the tracks, with the fast-paced, dark and almost angry way he raps. For example, his song “The Last” is his most aggressive and personal piece, where he talks about how he has struggled with the price of success and defining himself. “On the dark side of a successful idol rapper, my frail self stands, a bit dangerous; depression, compulsion, at times relapse.” His lyrics often shift in emotion from depressed, to hateful, to brazen. The flow of music from the keyboard, electric guitar, synthesizer and other effects connects to the lyrics as well.

Another important track is “140503 at Dawn,” which is a sort of prologue to “The Last” in which he attacks the idea of having a true self and a fake self, something most people can relate to. The rawness of his rapping touches the hearts of many, even people who do not speak Korean. His unique, soulful melodies break through the language barrier between Korean and other languages.

When most of Suga’s songs are this hard-hitting, it is easy to be surprised at his last two tracks. “Interlude; Dream, Reality” is a piano tune with a water drop effect, followed by soft drums. This is a calming song, and Suga only says the word “dream” in this minute-long song. This signifies that being able to dream and have hope is important to him.

His final track, “So Far Away,” is accompanied by female Korean singer Suran. The piano, with the electric guitar accompaniment, gives the song a desolate and desperate feel, but also somewhat hopeful. Suga’s rapping is mellow, and it matches well with Suran’s airy falsetto.

The song is about how Suga longs to dream and believes that something good will happen. Although he expresses loneliness and believes he has no one to go to when he feels anger or sadness, he includes lyrics of optimism and hope.

This choice makes the song a fitting ending to a deeply emotional mixtape, especially with the lines, “You will fully bloom after all the hardships, your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.” With these words, along with his skillful rapping and musical rhythm, Suga has created an emotional and impactful mixtape.

Sleep is one thing teenagers can all agree that they find valuable. New studies have found that school should start later because adolescents need a sufficient amount of sleep to function.

You may think teens just need to go to bed earlier, but according to The Sacramento Bee, “research also shows that it’s difficult for children, especially teenagers, to fall asleep before 11 p.m.” This is why starting school at a later time makes sense.

My English teacher, Ms. Drabman, used to work at a school that began at 10 a.m. “Everyone was happier all around,” exclaimed Ms. Drabman. Because she was happier she exhibited more energy, which her students absorbed.

Now that she is in a school that begins at 8:00 am, she notices a difference in energy. Everybody appears more tired, making it harder to get the attention of her students and teach effectively.

Not only would starting school later benefit the students, but it would save schools money. According to the Los Angeles Times, In states such as California where state funding for schools is tied to attendance, it follows that later start times could translate into extra dollars because the attendance rate would be higher.

In addition to saving money, standardized test scores and grades of students increase when school days start later. The lowest scoring students have seen the biggest increase. However, despite all of the benefits of starting later, it means the school day would finish later. A later day would cut into extracurricular activities and sports.

These activities would not start later because of regulations of keeping students out too late, but instead students would miss their classes at the end of the day. Although this presents a new issue, the less sleep student athletes get, the more likely they are to get injured.

Starting school at a later time benefits their health, as well. With the stress teens undergo with the pressure of school, not enough sleep puts them at a high risk of depression and drug abuse.

Sleep deprivation is never positive when it comes to health and learning. Therefore, starting school even just an hour later could make all the difference in a student’s character.  

Teen Night: planned by teens, for teens.

These events are located on places like the New, Brooklyn, and Metropolitan Museums and the High Line. These events are completely free to teenagers. Teen night at these museums consist of activities like scavenger hunts which require you to look for specific pieces of art, screen watching movies, art making, workshops, along with live music and dance performances. Places like the High Line provide photo booths, face painting, tarot card readings and more hands on activities.

Each Teen Night has a different theme which everyone loves. Now senior at LaGuardia High School, Alma Rodriguez, an intern at the Brooklyn Museum Teen Night events, states “Teen Night events hosted by museums are incredibly fun without a doubt-in their own ways of course. It is evident that most Teen Nights are fun and are great hang out spots for teens. However, there is a lot of work that goes into these one night events. The Teen Night Planning Committee at the Brooklyn Museum works tremendously hard to plan the Teen Nights that take place in museums. Being a part of the committee, I have focused on social media outreach, planned art activities, food, and contacting performers. For every Teen Night event we plan, we always have a theme. Our themes are based off of the exhibits the museums hold. We spend some time in the exhibit and/or galleries and base our ideas by the exhibitions, which is why for every Teen Night has an activity. We ask teens to go on a scavenger hunt in specific exhibitions, hopefully, to gain an understanding of the work.”

“The main purpose of constructing our Teen Nights from exhibits is to persuade teens into becoming involved and familiarizing themselves with the arts and bring attention to some issues and do it in the most fun way possible. Most of our Teen Nights share a common goal: activism.” Alma adds on. One example of that would be was Teen Night: Call2Action. It was based of the exhibit called “Agitprop!” which was based on political propaganda in the form of art and literature. The teens who attended were called to take a stance on issues they face in everyday life. They’ve set up a wall which teens can write about the issues they care about and asked then to write down names of activists that they consider important.

Rising senior at University Neighborhood High School, Willie Batista says “Teen Nights for me have always been a cool way to hang out and interact with peers across the city. It’s like the only time people of my age group can conjugate and have fun. Attending has always been fun with friends and I make a lot of new friends at them as well.”

Alma believes “As a planner, my main goal is for teenagers to enjoy the Teen Nights given by the music and activities that we plan, but we hope that they leave the event with an open mind and question why we chose our theme and how it pertains to the importance of the exhibition we chose. Our Teen Nights are a great form of entertainment but our events always go beyond its theme.”

“I love to skate because I feel liberated when I do so. I don’t have to follow any rules or depend on any team. Although there are competitive contests, skateboarding is not a competitive sport. I’m only really competing with myself,” said Roy Rivera who has been skateboarding for about 6 years now.

Others may not describe it the same way but make no mistake, skateboarders from all around New York are hitting the streets this summer. Feeling the wind in their face and doing an “ollie”(skateboard trick).

Why is warm weather important to skateboarders?

“Spring/summer is very important to skateboarders, especially to the East Coast. Sadly we’re forced to be seasonal skaters due to weather. So when summer breaks out and it’s nice and warm, it becomes crunch time to do what you love,” stated Wade Yates, who has been skating for nearly a decade. Summer is the season for skateboarders to go all out learning new tricks and perfecting the tricks. “Well here in the East Coast the warmer weather is such amazing time for skateboarding. Because of the fact that during the winter there aren’t many places to skateboard with all the snow everywhere. We’re not fortunate enough to have warm weather all around like the West Coast,” stated skateboarder Luis Rios who recently broke his ankle in half while skateboarding and is no longer skateboarding.  

The cold weather makes skateboarding much difficult. With snow on the ground a skateboard can’t be used. During the summertime, skaters wear t-shirts or even go shirtless. But when it’s cold outside, wearing many layers to keep warm limits a skater’s movement. When skaters do try to skate in cold weather, they get cold and fall down. Falling hurts significantly more than falling down in the summertime.

There are many skateboarding competitions and jams around and near New York. Events such as Go Skate day, Street League Skateboarding contest, Zumiez best foot forward contest or National Go Skate Day. Another event is Harold Hunter Day, Wade Yate is part of making this event possible. The  Street League Skateboarding is a grand scale professional skateboarding contest that takes place across the world. Each stop takes the best professional street skateboarders in the world and pits them against each other for a night of insane skateboarding. The contest will take place at Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey on August 28, 2016.

You can catch skateboarders such as Roy or Wade out in the streets of New York skateboarding, feeling the air in their face. “Sometimes I’m just flustered with emotions and the only thing I can do is go out and skate. It’s gotten me through some tough times,” said Unitus Bright who has been skateboarding for almost three years. 

Should you celebrate who you are, even if it puts you in harm’s way?

After the shooting on June 12th at Pulse nightclub, many in the LGBT community looked to pride month with uncertainty. June, officially proclaimed LGBT pride month by President Barack Obama, usually attracts many eager queer people and allies ready to celebrate with events such as the pride parade and dyke march. However, the safety of those marching seemed to be in jeopardy after the Pulse shooting directly targeted queer people. Many were faced with a decision: take the risk and express yourself, or play it safe. LGBT New Yorkers living near Greenwich Village, home to a gay center and the famous Stonewall Inn, gave their input.

“I mean, yeah, there’s always the risk of someone attacking us, but hiding is what they want us to do,” remarked one lesbian sitting in the Gay Center’s small coffee shop. “They can’t stop us from being who we are.” Most other LGBT people asked gave a similar response: aware of the dangers, but willing to face the odds.

Knowing the dangers of LGBT visibility, some people chose to play it safe and spend pride month at their local gay centers. The Greenwich Village gay center hosts activities and events for those in the community, as a queer person or as an ally. Clubs for queer youth, such as a video game meetup affectionately named “Gaymers,” allow mingling and community building in a safe environment.

Despite this breach in the safety of queer people, an overall societal acceptance of LGBT individuals has been observed. Schools, hospitals, workplaces, and other communities all show this: many buildings have stickers tacked on the wall with small rainbows, reading “safe space for all.” Manhattan, New York, and the entire northeast region of North America show long-term growth in support, to where the Economist even states that “Quietly, but quickly, anti-gay attitudes are vanishing in schools.”  It’s a rocky path to complete equality for gay and trans people, but New York continues to be one of the safer places for them to live.

Dive into the ocean with 30 huge blue, red, purple, and pink fish and prepare for the ride of your life. As you lie down on the fish you can see the colors of the fish change from the the surface of tropical beaches to the blue of the deep sea in the SeaGlass Carousel.

The SeaGlass Carousel’s one year anniversary is less than 3 weeks away and since August 20th, 2015, it has taken Battery Park by storm because of its modern and chic take on the classical Merry-Go-Round. It has had an impact on people of all ages, especially those who have who have been living in Battery Park for many years and those who often go to Battery Park.

The SeaGlass Carousel cost five dollars and not only spins around but and up and down as well. Although it is not a water ride it manages to make you feel like you are under the sea.

Ashley, a photographer who works for the SeaGlass Carousel, says that this ride is available to everyone. Ashley thinks what attracts many people to this ride is that it floats, it is colorful, and it glows in the night.

She also says that after the ride opened last year there have been more people in the park.
Melissa, a 16-year-old, who often goes to Battery Park has also seen a huge increase in people visiting there since the grand opening of the ride.

Melissa’s 10-year-old sister, Haley, thinks that what attracts so many to the SeaGlass Carousel is the fishes and design. However, 6-year-old, Valeria does not think the design was pretty she just liked the way it moved.

But one thing Melissa, Haley, Valeria and Ashley have in common is that they all believe the SeaGlass Carousel is better than the old school classic Merry-Go-Round.

Ashley stated that the SeaGlass Carousel, “Is much better because the poles are attached to the floor.” This makes the ride safer and prettier.

Haley and Melissa both think that the SeaGlass Carousel is better because, “It goes in more than one direction and has prettier designs.”

The SeaGlass Carousel took the old school Merry-Go-Round and made it into something better by taking it under the sea and modificating it.