Author Archives: Mr. Planeta

Are School Uniforms Beneficial?

Currently there is an ongoing debate in our nation on whether or not schools should have a uniform policy. Schools that require students to wear school uniforms want to promote unity in students clothes. These policies have generated an argument between parents, students, and schools. Parents and students say that uniforms take away the students’ freedom of expression and individuality. Between the school years of 2003-04 and 2011-12, the percentage of public schools that require students to wear uniforms have increased from 13 to 19 percent. Schools declare that uniforms help students to focus on school work. So is taking away student’s individuality worth the reward of decreased behavioral problems and increased test scores? To resolve this argument, research done by David L. Brunsma, University of Alabama and Kerry A. Rockquemore of Notre Dame proved that uniforms did not lead to an improvement in any of the school performances. According to their conclusion, “Student uniform use was not significantly correlated with any of the school commitment variables such as absenteeism, behavior, or substance use (drugs). In addition, students wearing uniforms did not appear to have any significantly different academic preparedness, proschool attitudes, or peer group structures with proschool attitudes than other students”.

Should schools force students to follow the uniform policy? In my opinion, schools shouldn’t make students wear uniforms. I believe that uniforms decrease student’s creativity and self-expression. Schools should create an environment that encourages students individuality and which inspires students to gain self-confidence. The only way that this can be achieved, is if students get to choose what they wear.

~Anhelina

The iPhone of San Bernardino

On December 2, 2015, a Pakistani couple carried out a terrorist attack at a banquet in San Bernardino, California.  The attack left 14 people dead and 22 injured.  The couple fled from the scene, but were pursued and killed by the police in a shootout 4 hours later.  The two were confirmed to have pledged allegiance to the Middle Eastern Terrorist group known as ISIS over social media, but did not carry out the attack under their orders.  In other words, the attack was not carried out by ISIS, but the couple was inspired by them to do it.  An iPhone was found, belonging to the couple, that was suspected to have information related to the attack on its hard drive.  Apple was asked by the FBI to open the phone, but Apple could not due to its encryption.  In a statement published on February 16, 2016, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said, ”We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone.”(Cook).  The FBI has asked Apple to create a new form of the iPhone operating system (iOS) that would have a weakness in the code (and therefore would allow access into the phone) and install it in that one iPhone.  Apple refused to do so, due to the fact that there is no guarantee that

a.) The FBI would only use it for only this case, as they stated, or that

b.) It would fall into the wrong hands, allowing evildoers to access the contents of every iPhone in existence.  
Honestly, I think that the attack itself was a terrible act, one that should be considered as terrorism.  I also think that if there is data on the phone that could be vital to the security of the people of the United States, Apple should develop that software and install it onto that phone.  After the data is retrieved, Apple can supervise the FBI to make sure that they dispose of the software properly.  This would be to make sure that the software does not fall into the wrong hands, what with all of the cyber-criminals surfacing these days.  That would be bad.  Of course, that raises the question, what if there isn’t any information on the phone?  So what if there is nothing on the phone?  There is a reason for suspicion, (Come on, it was a terrorist attack) so the phone should be investigated, even if it ends up that there is not any information on it.  Now I ask you readers, what are your thoughts on this incident?  What should Apple and the FBI do about it?  Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.  

~Laxman

Ballet in the Whole

One topic I am very passionate about is Ballet. Ballet has many types of styles inside of it, including Story Ballets, Classical Ballets, Neo-classical Ballets and Contemporary Ballets. One of the highest levels of Ballet is being a principal dancer of a professional Ballet company. Some of the best ballet schools and companies are the Royal Ballet, Joffrey Academy of Dance, American Ballet Theatre, The Juilliard School and Paris Opéra Ballet School. One interesting fact is that the first professional ballet dancers were De Lafontaine or Mademoiselle De Lafontaine. All in all Ballet has a lot of variety and is a very old concept.

My view on Ballet is that it is a traditionally a very classical art that has turn into more of a sport. Throughout the years ballet has become more athletic. In the beginning ballet was mainly for the royal and was used for parties and celebrations. Currently ballet has loads of variety. One day a dancer could be performing a contemporary ballet and the next day performing a classical ballet. One of the main reasons why ballet has become more athletic is that wearing pointe shoes has become more popular for female dancers. These shoes are used to put the dancer on the top of their toes, they are a satin shoe with a hard toe and a hard shank. In conclusion ballet went from a traditional dance for Royals to a athletic performance technique.

~Brianna

How to Become a Successful Coach

Coaching can be a very difficult thing, but to be a successful one you have to remember certain things. These things can help you along the way greatly and are very important. So, you might ask, what does it take to be a coach? Well, you will need college degrees, experience, certification, and key skills. These key skills can vary but the most important keys to becoming a successful coach are, listening, questioning, constructively challenging, and encouraging and supporting. You might also ask, to be a college basketball coach, does it help to be a former player? It certainly can have its benefits to be a former player, but it is not necessary to be a successful coach. It also does not matter your age either to become a coach. Some are even saying that it is becoming less important when hiring.

My view and opinions on how to become successful coach are very similar. I agree that you need to have certain key skills. Some other key skills that I think are important are to see different perspectives, trusting and using intuition, and keeping focus. I also believe that age should not matter and being a former player should not matter on being a successful coach. Experience should be very important for becoming a coach so you can know what to expect and understand how to be one. These reasons are how to become a successful coach.

~Caroline

The Reason Why We Eat!

All throughout my life I have been fascinated with cooking. I used to follow my mom around trying to help her with whatever I could. Then when I was around six or seven years old I tried my favorite dessert, tiramisu. Tiramisu is a Italian dessert, it’s name meaning pick me up. A typical tiramisu normally consists of eggs, mascarpone cheese, sugar, and coffee, and is normally shaped like a small cake which can be compared to a napoleon. Though the original shape of the tiramisu was like a ladyfinger, but luckily for us it was change for a larger portion! When you take a bite of this cake it has a nice moist, spongy chocolate taste. My favorite part of the cake is the cream that is layered in between the cake pieces. The cream is made of egg yolks, sugar, and milk to create a smooth, creamy, silky taste that is truly pleasant to eat.

When I first tasted a tiramisu I immediately wanted to try and make it myself. So I searched online for a simple recipe for tiramisu and found one recipe that was very simple and only consisted of two steps. First in a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with sugar and vanilla until the cream is smooth and the color is light yellow. Then fold the mascarpone cheese into the egg yolk mixture and then set it aside. Next dip the  ladyfingers briefly in coffee and put 12 of them in the bottom of an 8×8 inch dish. Spread half the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Repeat with remaining cookies and mascarpone.Then  cover and chill the dessert for 1 hour. Then sprinkle with cocoa just before serving. Finally let yourself indulge in the delicious dessert and find out the real reason why we eat!

~Natalie

Saving The Elephants

 

About 100 African elephants are killed daily by poachers. The African elephant population has decreased by an estimated 600,000 in the past 36 years! There is an estimated 400,000 left in the world. An online clothing store known as Ivory Ella has raised over $288,270 to save elephants by selling shirts, sweatshirts, water bottles, phone cases, hats and jewelry.

“savetheelephants.org” is one of the organizations that Ivory Ella sends its proceeds to. It’s focus is to ensure elephants a future by working with wildlife departments and communities to help defend elephants from poachers and traffickers. There are over 50 different projects focusing on stopping the killing of elephants for ivory. Aside from the organizations, many people are kind enough to make donations towards helping the elephants.

I believe that these organizations and donations will overall help increase the amount of African elephants and will keep the population at a good place. Many people are working towards protecting the areas in which the elephants live. Organizations are working towards stopping the killing of elephants and the demand of ivory. The amount of elephants being killed is very unsatisfactory. It is great that some people are helping to raise money and bring awareness to this cause, and helping to save the elephants.

~Talia

One Last Wish

Make-A-Wish foundation is all about helping kids with life threatening diseases. The foundation started when a 7-year old boy named Chris Greicius was diagnosed with leukemia. From the beginning of his diagnosis, they knew he probably wasn’t going to make it. Chris had wanted to be a police officer, and Agent Tommy Austin was bound to make that happen. One day, Chris and his family were gifted with seeing a police motorcycle, helicopter, and a patrol car. Along with that, Chris even got a hat, a uniform, and his own badge. They even got Chris a small battery-operated motorcycle that he rode through cones to become an official Department of Public Safety officer. Four days after his dream came true, Chris passed away. Agent Tommy Austin says, “He was only seven years, 269 days old when he died. But he taught me about being a man. Even though he was only a boy. I can tell you that because of meeting Chris, I am an entirely different man.” Ron Cox said the same thing. He said he didn’t fear death anymore, because he knew Chris would be there waiting for him.

After going to Chris’s funeral, members of the community  began to hear what they had done for him. This is when they thought every kid should deserve this. That summer, a group of people came together and made it official, the Make-A-Wish foundation. By the following spring, they had made $2000 and were able to grant their first official wish. The first Wish kid, Frank Salazar, had three wishes. He wanted to be a fireman, go to Disneyland, and ride in a hot-air balloon. With the help of the organization, all of Frank’s wishes came true. The day he came back home, he was sent to the hospital, where he passed away later that night.

Currently, in 2016, more than 270,000 children in the US have had their wishes granted. Make-A-Wish even has a fundraising lacrosse team here in CT. Each player on the team has a goal to raise $500, which all goes to help kids experience one last great thing. In my opinion, Make-A-Wish is a fantastic organization and it helps so many kids get that one last chance to do something remarkable. If make-A-Wish wasn’t a foundation, then so many kids wouldn’t be able to have their dreams come true. When kids are on their trip, it helps them forget that they have a life-threatening illness. I believe that everyone should live life to the fullest, and Make-A-Wish gives kids that option.

~Kaylee

The Ringling Brothers Draw the Curtain on Their Famous Performers

The Ringling Brothers recently promised to retire elephants in the circus after animal rights activists found out the way elephants were treated when they traveled with the circus and demanded them to be released. The circus used dangerous weapons to force the elephants to cooperate and they lived in harsh living conditions, while getting poorly taken care of. On March 6th the elephants performed their last show two years earlier than the scheduled date. In May they will be sent to a 200 acre preserve in Florida where they can finally be free and not have to perform for “The Greatest Show on Earth”.

The last 11 Asian elephants performing on Sunday, March 6th closed the curtain and are now living freely, with other elephants in a preserve where they will be cared for, and not punished or forced to perform. Maybe not, while they won’t be performing they will be undergoing medical research and animal testing because Dr. Shipman has studied elephants for a while now and realized elephants rarely get cancer so they should be medically tested. Stephen Payne, vice president of communications for Ringling Brothers said “We’re working with Dr. Shipman to see if we might be able to find novel new treatments for cancer for kids, and perhaps for everyone.” They will be forced to undergo tests and treatment to help everyone.

The elephants should not be tested at the preserve because they have been through alot and have worked basically their entire life. They should be free in the preserve like any other elephant in the wild. Elephants are already endangered and we don’t need unnecessary tests and to put anymore cruelty on these gentle giants that have already been through so much. That is not how an animal should live.

~Abigail

Kobe Bryant: Leaving a Legacy

After this 2015-2016 NBA season, star shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team Kobe Bryant will be retiring. Bryant led the Lakers to 5 NBA championship victories and won just one MVP award. His incredible stats show how he can lead his team. In 2006, Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points to lead the Lakers to a win. This is the second highest single-game scoring record in NBA history. Although Kobe is a phenom basketball player, he is also a star off the court. The Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation helps improve the lives of the youth and families in need. This shows how Kobe is also a success off the basketball court. However, at 37 years old Kobe Bryant has announced his retirement. His legacy remains, and he will be missed by basketball fans around the world.

Although Kobe Bryant is retiring after this 2016 season and leaving the sport he loves, it is the right time. The stars numbers have dropped over the past couple of years and the Lakers are not winning like they used to. It’s time to bring in some new, young talent and say goodbye to the old stars that had their time. Even though Kobe’s numbers are dropping he is still a top player in the league even at his age. He played in his 18th All Star game this 2015-2016 season. In my opinion, it is a good time for Kobe Bryant to retire because he is old, his numbers are dropping, and he is leaving on a good note. What I mean by this is Kobe is still having a good season for a man as old as him, and it’s a good time to leave before his numbers really start dropping.

~Charles

Solving The Immigration Issue

Throughout the past decade, illegal immigration has been a hot topic in our country. As of 2012, there were 11.4 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States. This amount will possibly increase substantially in the next decade if we do not take action. How are we supposed to lower the number of immigrants who illegally enter the U.S? Donald Trump, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate thinks a wall should be built in between U.S and Mexico. He says, “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton has other ideas on solving the issue. She wants to secure our borders with more security, while also give the illegal immigrants a chance to become legal. She stated, “I am 100% behind comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.” Along with these two presidential candidates, many others have their own ideas on this topic.  

IMMIG-BORDER
Although there are many ideas to stopping illegal immigrants from entering this country, I believe there is only one good idea. This idea is similar to Hillary Clinton’s idea. I think that the illegal immigrants deserve a chance at becoming a legal citizen. Unlike Trump’s opinion, I believe that deporting millions of these immigrants is the wrong thing to do. In my opinion, that is inhumane and unfair. Many of the illegal immigrants that enter the country are looking for a better life, and deporting them would not be fair. In addition, if we have secure our borders with more border patrol, without building a wall, the United States would be much better off. This would save them a lot of money as well as time. Overall, I think that the amount of illegal immigrants entering this country can be decreased, and the only way to rightfully do that is to listen to Hilary Clinton’s idea.

~Ben