The TigerScot News: A Publication of WMHS Journalism Class Edition #8 December, 2016 Tenley Alderson Erykah Barahona Dylan Cain Krysta Calvert Morgan Dean Samantha Ford Andrew Gambill Keree Graves Marcus Hungerford Adrienne Olson Megan Phillips Matthew Shafer Bryce Thul Destiny Warkentin
Cancer: We Must Be Strong! By Krysta Calvert Everybody has it, but some people's bodies are able to fight it off. And, other people's bodies are not able to fight it and get rid of it, so they end up with it: it s called cancer. It's not just one disease, but many. Cancer is a group of diseases that occur when abnormal cells grow uncontrollably. They start growing out of control, and go into other tissues, and make them cancer cells. Anybody in the world can develop cancer, though, over 30% of cancer is preventable by having a healthy lifestyle, and getting immunizations that fight against cancer causing infections (HBV, HPV). According to an article on www.who.int, cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, particularly in developing countries. There are many different types of cancer, including Breast cancer, Prostate cancer, Basal cell cancer, Melanoma, and Leukemia. These cancers can't just get treated overnight. There is a long, strenuous treatment to help cure it. Picture of some standard treatment equipment. Photo by Krysta Calvert To help get rid of cancer, people have to go through so many terrible treatments. Like, chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries to remove tumors, and even bone marrow transplants. Now, these are not easy procedures to go through. According to the website www.neulasta.com, side effects of chemo can be, fatigue, mouth/throat sores, diarrhea, and even nervous system effects. And, side effects of radiation include: skin problems, difficulty swallowing, nausea, and stiffness of the jaw. Surgeries and bone marrow transplants don't have very good side effects either. All in all, cancer is absolutely terrible, but there is a way to help! Cancer patients can't and don't usually just get better on their own. They do need help, and they can get help in many different ways, including people donating blood and platelets for cancer patients to get the infusions and transplants that they need. According to the article Blood Facts and Statistics on AmericanRedCross.com, every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood. Blood is needed is for the 1.6 million people who are diagnosed with cancer each year. Most of the time, cancer patients need blood transfusions daily, when getting chemotherapy. Donating is not hard at all. Just go to AmericanRedCross.com to see the eligibility test. Then, if eligible, find the next blood donation drive, which the NHS will be hosting in the spring! The blood type most often requested by hospitals is O because it's universal, but, all other blood types are accepted as well. And, they are needed just as much as O. Cancer patients are waiting in hospitals everywhere for their next blood transfusion. Be the next person to donate blood, and those cancer patients could get that blood, and their life could potentially be saved. So go donate blood, plasma or platelets, and save a life today!
How to Stay Safe from Sexual Assault \ By Destiny Warkentin Sexual assault can happen any time, to anyone. It doesn t matter if you re the most popular in school, the best athlete, the kindest person or the meanest it can happen to anyone, anywhere, any time. In total honesty it's NOTHING to laugh about, and not to be made fun of for, this happens to alot of people, both male and female. Assault can be very scary, and it can also physically and mentally scar someone. It can impact people s trust of others. And this terrible thing happens more frequently than you may think. I know of someone that had this experience herself. Unfortunately, she had been bullied about it,and she believed it was her fault. While there is nothing a person can mentally or physically do to completely prevent sexual assault from happening all the time, there are six actions people can take to help make sexual assault less likely to happen. These will not make you invincible, or more powerful, they just might help: Tips to Keep You Safe: stay in well-lit areas stay with a big group if you feel like you're being followed or watched go into an open store carry pepper spray and know how to use it carry a whistle around your neck portray yourself as someone that can't be manipulated or hurt easily put your keys in between your fingers and use them to defend yourself. 16-17 Weston McEwen Basketball Season Begins By Mrs. McIntyre Basketball season began with practices for all teams earlier in November. Soon, teams were made and strategies were planned just in time for the first home game, where the teams played against the DeSales Irish. Both JV teams won, varsity girls lost and varsity boys won. Then, over the first weekend of December, the teams played in a tournament in Ione, The Ione Basketball Bonanza where the varsity boys and girls teams won the tournament, beating Enterprise for the top spot. The teams will host their next home game on December 19, 2016 in the gym, against Mac-Hi. Play begins at 2 p.m. Rosters include: JV Girls, Coached by Joy Hearn: Hannah McIntyre (co-captain), Sierra Scheibner (cocaptain), Lilli Moses, Ally Mann, Katelynn Red Bird, Tyree Burke, Kaeleh Hall, Trinity
Hearn, Cloe Davis, Ellie Scheibner and Emma Olson. JV Boys, Coached by Tim Reger: Blair Rudolph (co-captain), Quanah Picard (cocaptain), Gavin Smith, Andrew Gambill, Kamryn Dalrymple, Zach Mann, Hadden Ball, Dylan Cain, Kason Broncheau, and Ethen Ezell. and Quanah Picard. Manager: Max Webster. According to Andrew Gambill, sophomore basketball player, he s enjoying the season because My friends are on the team and it s fun to play! So far the season s going well! Help is Possible for Our Dying Planet Opinion by Tenley Alderson At a recent game, the TigerScots work hard to keep up their defense. Photo by Ami Muilenburg Varsity Girls, Coached by Eric Jensen and Robert Hill: Sarah Finifrock, Sara von Borstel, Bailey Hillmick, Ashley Hill, Rena Penney, Ali Schroeder, Alyssa Finifrock, Maddi Muilenburg, Lyvia Powers, Chelsea Quaempts, Jordyn Lambert, Katie Vescio, and Amie Coffman. Manager: Keegan Verdin. Varsity Boys, Coached by Brian Picard and Tim Reger: Shaw Broncheau, Ethan Reger, Garrett Hungerford, Braydon Rudolph, James West, David Froese, Brendan Dearing, Brett Speed, Jacob Speed, Kevin Rodriguez, Parker Munck, Kason Broncheau, Though it may come as a surprise to some, our planet is in danger. From African elephants to our local honey bees and from the polar ice caps to the Great Barrier Reef, animals and environments across the world are dying. Since the late 19th century, scientists have been discovering more and more about the dangers our planet is facing, primarily thanks to humans. Despite several types of environmental organizations, like the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) or the Global Environment Facility (GEF), trying to encourage people to help the planet, it seems like the general population isn't that enthusiastic about it. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, scientists know of around 1,000 species that have gone extinct in the past 500 years. However, they note that that number doesn't include the species that disappeared before scientists had a chance to identify them. A subspecies of that famous white rhinoceros we learned about in middle school is critically endangered, with only three still surviving in captivity. In the past few months, National Geographic made it known that the Great Barrier Reef is almost entirely dead, and only in
the last year did the Australian and Queensland governments finally formulate a plan to help the Reef survive. Why does it seem like people are so indifferent to the declining environment? Sure, spending billions of dollars per year to preserve wildlife doesn t seem like indifference, but when was the last time you truly thought twice about the rapidly declining number of African elephants? Photo by Tenley Alderson When was the last time you looked at a plastic water bottle and thought Should I recycle this instead? While there are those who do this, and there are recycling bins in every classroom, there are still so many people who simply do not care. How can people be motivated to start caring for the planet we live on? It's hard to make a huge change in a short amount of time. Starting to recycle is a big change, because it means making a decision with every bit of food waste and making an extra trip to the recycling center every few weeks. Making small changes is the best way to add up to big changes. For example, use a reusable water bottle instead of plastic bottles. An article from Heal the Bay says that bottled water costs from 240 to 10,000 times more than tap water per gallon, meaning it saves lots to use filtered tap water instead. To help more locally with preserving the planet, there are simple steps such as cleaning out bird baths to help the birds avoid diseases or locking pet doors to ensure wild animals don't intrude on your home. Learning about animals in the area is helpful too, so the nest that houses a local endangered bird isn't knocked into the trash. After reading this, it s very likely that it won t resonate with readers enough to alter their way of living. Most likely, there won t be a sudden change and they'll start recycling or start learning about habitat loss and the decline of ecosystems. I don t blame you; it isn't something that changes quickly. However, I encourage you to try these small acts and develop a habit of doing them. Every little thing counts, but the most important part is making sure all these little things are actually done. The well-being of generations to come relies on our treatment of our magnificent and fragile planet, and we shouldn't let them down. Winter Driving is Hazardous: Take Care on Wintery Roads By Marcus Hungerford During the winter there are many precautions one must take while driving. On the highway to Pendleton there are many accidents that happen over the winter. Mostly due to either distracted and careless driving. Going too fast on roads that are unsafe. Then there's the constant concern of texting or playing on a phone while driving. Many of these cases may or may not be avoidable however. When driving, people need to drive slower and be more observant. Even give extra room for cars ahead in case the roads are slick. Then just put the phone away. That text can wait.
Another way people can prevent these accidents is to try and get either winter tires or chains. Of course these cost money so it's a solution that some people may not be able to take advantage of, but they can always go slower and give more room to stop if need be. History Students Discover Portland s Chinese Gardens By Morgan Dean On November 9th, Mr. White s Chinese Culture and Mr. Olson s A.P World History class took a field trip to the Chinese Gardens in Portland. They left around 6:15 in the morning and got home around.6:30 p.m. Once they arrived in Portland, the students took a tour around the garden and got to learn in the process. They had the option to get their names written in Chinese and to try tons of foreign food. They even went to a tea house. According to Raven Hunter she had lots of fun. My favorite part was going to the Chinese restaurant, because we got to try lots of food. Plus I surprisingly ate a spring roll and I hate vegetables, she said. A cold day in Athena. Photo by Marcus Hungerford Careful driving is a must during the winter and everyone needs to do what they can to be safe. The community can even come together and try to get supplies to try and de-ice the most dangerous sections of the roads to help prevent any accidents from happening. Students all had a great time learning and seeing the different types of architecture of the Chinese. While they were there the whole class learned about how the spirits could only travel in straight lines, which is why all the walkways were straight and jagged. A first experience for many was watching the many koi fish in the pond inside the garden. A picture of a portal between two worlds: the entrance to the Chinese Gardens in Portland, Oregon. Photo taken by Krysta Calvert
The bus ride to and from was long and tiresome but the students didn't let that dampen their fun. Most played games along the way while others slept until they arrived at their destination. Whitewashing in Hollywood Happens More than People Realize By Sami Ford Hollywood is known for many famous movies and stars who have broken through the cultural barrier between countries, providing entertainment for all globally. However, unless the ethnicity of the actor is predominantly white, it can be very hard to land a role. Hollywood has put into practice what is now called whitewashing -- giving roles that are historically ethnic to caucasian males and females. According to Aasif Mandvi, an editor at Salon Entertainment, this practice has been around for a long time, ever since the beginning of the American film industry, and most often heavily affects struggling Asian actors. Many accounts of this have been reported, with one of the most recent being when Tilda Swinton was cast for The Ancient one in Marvel's new movie Doctor Strange. This had put many fans in an uproar as in the comics The Ancient One was a man born and raised in Tibet but was cast by a celtic female. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige had addressed this topic lightly and stated, The sorcerers have been around for millennia, protecting us from things we didn t know about until this story. There have been multiple [Ancient Ones], even if this one has been around for five hundred years, there were others. This is a mantle, and therefore felt we had leeway to cast in interesting ways. It's alright for there to be diversity and new perspectives in casts, but the diversity they're trying to put in is the exact same type of people playing in every movie. Another highly talked about topic concerning whitewashing that has been debated for many years has been live action film adaptation of Japanese anime/mangas. In 2009, Dragonball Evolution was released and met with serious backlash. The main character, Goku Son, was casted by Justin Chatwin, a white Canadian while Emmy Rossum was cast as Bulma. The entire show was based in Japan with Japanese main characters, but instead of hiring an Asian actor to play an Asian character, the casting director decided to forgo that and bring on a caucasian cast. The turnout was not the best as the movie scored a measly 14% on Rotten Tomatoes and 2.7/10 on IMDB. Justin Chatwin as Goku Son and Emmy Rossum as Bulma Breigh both actors are Caucasians, playing Asian characters. Photo taken from the Internet
Fans have also been unhappy with the casting choice for the upcoming adaptation of the popular anime and manga Death Note. This 2017 film has already been hit with high criticism by hiring The Fault in Our Stars actor Nat Wolff to play the main character Light Yagami. They've even decided to completely drop Yagami and just call the character Light. Placed alongside Nat is Matthew Kevin Anderson set to play Agent Young and Keith Stanfield will play L, a traditionally very pasty character. The directors are putting diversity in the cast completely wrong by switching almost all the roles with different races from the original. We need to become more aware of this problem and understand that it is taking jobs away from aspiring ethnic actors. Our entertainment need more diversity and the only way to achieve that is to become conscious of what is happening. The Journalism Class asked students at the Athena Elementary School to write letters to Santa. They received so many letters and they were a hoot to read! However, the best one is as follows: Dear Santa: You should get a twitter account for your beard! Photo by Dylan Cain