China receives a new leader of the Communist party

On November 11th Xi Jinping, former Vice President, has been chosen as the new leader of the worlds’ most populous nation.

Xi Jinping, 59, will be the leader of China for the next decade. He hopes to better education, make the living conditions of China more comfortable, create more stable jobs that would provide a better income, and lastly he wants to produce a more beautiful environment. According to the Telegraph, a British newspaper, Xi Jinping stated that “the people’s desire for a better life is what we shall fight for.”

Xi Jinping is a very well known man not only for his previous position, but also for his wife Peng Liyuan who is a famous Chinese Folk singer. Xi Jinpings father, Xi Zhongxun, is also very well known for being a communist veteran and a revolutionary hero. The New York Times say that Xi Jinping hopes to “take up the historic baton and continue working for the great renewal of the Chinese nation.”

According to the New York Times Xi Jinping wants “that China and the United States should forge a ‘new type of relationship between major countries in the 21st century’.” However a professor at the School of International Studies at Renmin University in Beijing stated that ‘Mr. Xi was challenging the global leadership of the United States by suggesting that Washington needs to make room for China’s rising power.’”

 The size of the new standing committee has been changed from nine to seven members. These members include “president Xi Jinping, the head of China’s anti-corruption  body Wang Qishan, Shanghai’s party chief Yu Zhengsheng, Party boss in Chongqing Zhang Gaoli, and lastly the propaganda chief LiuYunshan. Along with Xi Jinping, these members are subject to come into office in March.”

By.Amanda Wentzel

Petraeus scandal takes over the U.S and threatens national security

David Petraeus former director of the CIA has been catapulted to fame since the news of his extra marital affairs became public. Petraeus had an affair with Paula Broadwell, the woman who wrote his biography, from 2011 to 2012.

Towards the end of the affair Broadwell started sending Petraeus’ family friend and sponsor of the MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, Jill Kelley, threatening emails. These threatening emails were reported by Kelley to the FBI and through the investigation of them in June 2012 the affair was revealed but Petraeus did not admit to it until November 26, 2012.

Emails were also sent around Tampa and Kelley now claims the city is against her and that she is “scared and cannot believe” what is going on.

The fear of the public is that Petraeus leaked classified information to Broadwell. This fear occurred when Broadwell discussed the Benghazi attack revealing information that is not readily available to the public.  Broadwell showed knowledge of Petraeus’s movement in and out of the country, as well as knowledge of two militants being detained by the CIA.

Stephen Bidle, a professor of international affairs, states that Petraeus’s “use of non-official email…was potential blackmail threat “also. Obama reinforces that this was only potential stating that there was “no evidence, from what [he] has seen at this point, that classified information was exposed” and that the scandal poses no threat to national security.

In the heat of the Petraeus scandal Marine Corps General John Allen came under fire for emails that were exchanged between him and Kelley. Thousands of emails were sent between the two and are currently being investigated by the FBI. The investigation has delayed Allen’s appointment to head of NATO forces in Europe.

The emails currently show no threat to the nation or Allen’s future and are the FBI has deemed them as “sexy” but also claims they in no way “crossed the line”. A senior official close to Kelley said that “there is no affair” and that Kelley is just “a bored rich socialite”.

Consequences for those involved in the scandal have been doled out with no mercy. Petraeus ultimately resigned as director of the CIA, while Allen has a delay on being promoted to his new position and Kelley is currently suspended from going on Florida’s MacDill Air Force Base.

President Obama sated that Petraeus resigned because “by his own assessment, he did not meet the standards that he felt were necessary as director of the CIA with respect to his personal matter that he is dealing with.” Despite the scandal Obama hopes that “right now [Petraeus] and his family will be able to move on”.

By. Ashley Wiesner

Obama wins presidential election

On November 6th, after weeks of shifty poll results and heated inter-school debates on political views, Obama has become the 45th president of the United States, evoking both cheers and tears.

During the debates, political polls indicated that Romney was gaining in popularity, while Obama took a tough blow. However, as we inched closer to November 6th, President Obama steeply climbed back to his seat of popularity, and had many states' vote.

It all came down to Election Day, where the race was iffy. Romney had an early lead with 19 Electoral Votes to Obama’s measly 3. As more data was collected, it showed that Obama was climbing in votes. By the end of the night, it was in light that Governor Romney would not win this year’s election.

Weeks before the election, speculation was cast on which battleground states would go to Obama and which would go to Governor Romney. Among these battleground states are; Colorado, Ohio, Florida, and Virginia. These states have a good amount of Electoral Votes, which would help either runner in sealing a victory with 270 Electoral Votes, the necessary votes to automatically win.

According to Politico.com, Obama pulled through, winning both the popular vote, and a total of 303 Electoral Votes. Politico gives detailed maps of the election results and statistics.

After it was shown that Obama was going to secure the win, he offered the media an outstanding speech. During his speech, he brought up his wife and daughters, unity of our country, and freedoms of the people. The crowd was cheering and waving American flags with a ferocity.

Of course, Governor Romney has to give a condolensce speech. He offered a prayer to our country’s success, announced that America had chosen it’s next leader, and wished the President his best.

By. Nate Lamping

WSU student dies of alcohol poisoning

Washington State University freshman died Saturday October 27th with a blood alcohol level of .4, five times the limit that is considered legally intoxicated.

Kenny Hummel, 18 of Lynwood, died in a Stephenson Hall dorm room after a night of drinking alcohol and energy drinks. Students called the police Saturday night reporting Hummel as unconscious and were performing CPR when the police arrived. Hummel was taken to the Pullman Regional Hospital where he was reported as dead.

The school addressed this tragedy by making new efforts in order to educate students’ on the affects of alohol. The WSU President, Elson Floyd, cited the incident as a “dramatic incentive to redouble [they’re] already extensive efforts in student education about alcohol use and abuse”.

WSU already has a required alcohol program all incoming freshmen must go through during orientation. Floyd has deemed more student education in this area need after this student death and upon the realization that alcohol abuse is a growing problem with college aged students. 

Further required education for college students does not come without its share of critics. Instead of furthering education throughout their college career Mrs. Jones of the career center said “they should elaborate on the hazards during orientation and put responsibility on RA’s to educate and remind the students on their floor”.  Ryann Lindsey, a junior, feels it is important for college students to be educated by the school and their peers because “there is no other place to get this reminder and in most students’ mind college is a safe place to party”.

Alcohol abuse in college is a growing problem in the United States. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism nearly 2,000 college students die every year from alcohol related incidents. The problem is easy to prevent through moderation and education on the consequences of excessive alcohol.

Kenny Hummel, 18, died of alcohol poisoning.

Alex VanHook, a senior, says “Being exposed to the opportunity is new for students and in college they think there are no consequences”.

The push in alcohol education at WSU is intended to show that there are consequences. They may not be your parents or your teachers but they are even more hazardous. In response to this tragedy and its relationship with more education Dean of Students, Melynda Huskey, “the final goal would be to identify the best practices that could intervene and prevent any similar case from happening”.

A memorial for Hummel was on Monday, November 5, in the Olympia Avenue Housing where Hummel resided. Hummel was described as a “sunny dispositioned young man who had a lot of friends” by Huskey. Students across the campus have been affected by his death and grief counseling is being provided by the school.

By. Ashley Wiesner

WA state residents vote yes to legalize marijuana

Washington State made history on November 6th, 2012. In this recent election, I-502 [legalization of Marijuana] was passed in the state of Washington. Laws are supposed to be active one month after the election. In this case, I-502 was planned to take action December 6, 2012, however, with an adjustment this drastic, the state will have to extend the time over into the year 2013.

According to the new law, adults twenty-one years and older will be allowed to purchase one ounce of marijuana at a time. If they are caught with more than an ounce, they will be charged with a felony.

Needless to say, the success of the legislation, has caused some strong reactions. Social studies teacher, Carole Layton said she was "shocked" with the results of I-502 being passed. "I didn't think that Washingtonians were that supportive of it [marijuana], but it passed.” The vote of I-502 was close; fifty-five percent of Washington voted yes, while forty-five percent voted no on the initiative.

Although there was an overwhelming amount of “yes” votes, this does not mean that all voters will partake in the activity of smoking marijuana. Other circumstances to consider with the legalization of marijuana, is revenue the government will receive from taxing this product. The state [WA] plans to tax a whopping twenty-five percent on every ounce of marijuana sold from state leased dispensaries.

Kevin Wimsett claims that the legalization and taxes on marijuana will help “some” with revenue, but “it's not going to close the huge budget hole”.

Along with Colorado, Washington State is one of the first states to legalize marijuana.
The Vice-principle at Black Hills High School, Dave Myers, stated “If we are one of the only states that legalize it [marijuana], people will just move here [Washington] to smoke, and they are generally not the most motivated people.”

One of many questions that come up about I-502, is what is the federal-state law going to do? Marijuana may have been passed in WA, but not federally. 
Another staff member at BHHS, Cissy Fontenot, says that she is in the “middle”. She states that “only time will tell if it is an improvement in our government.”

Fontenot's statements are very true. Although the bill has passed, it has not yet taken action in Washington State. Washingtonians will just have to wait and find out what happens in the year 2013.

By. Arianna Cecotti

Hurricane Sandy devastates East Coast

Hurricane Sandy fiercely hit the East Coast on October 29 leaving thousands of people out of power and anticipating what is next in relief efforts

The water front was the hardest hit area. The streets and board walk of the Jersey shore were flooded with water leaving citizens helpless. New Jersey citizens were stranded in their homes waiting for rescue crews which were set to arrive between October 30th and November 1. 

Livescience.com, a website focused on scientific brealthroughs, says that Hurricane Sandy is a record breaking storm for the East Coast. Hurricane Sandy devastated the land as it grew more and more powerful after its initial hit.

According to Livescience 4.7 million people in 15 states were out of power. All forms of transportation skidded to a halt and will stay this way until government safety officials give the green light for transportation to resume.

The storm was such a catastrophe government intervention was needed. President Barack Obama met with the Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey, to discuss damage control and the next steps for the areas' rehabilitation. The hurricane was declared a state of emergency by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A study from www.forbes.com, a business magazine website, averages the costs of the damages to be about $158 million dollars. There are many options and websites accepting donations for the effort such as redcross.com.

When asked what the students at Black hills could do Ms Layton said donations to the Red Cross "would be better than care packages because the Red Cross knows specifically what each community needs.”

Unfortunately in the midst of Hurricane Sandy clean up there is a predicted snow and ice storm from the North East is headed toward the East Coast.

The best advice for East Coast residents at this time is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Preparation tips and emergency plans for residents in high risk areas are available at fema.gov.

By. Nicole Adams

Austrian man skydives from space

Four world records were broken on October 14, 2012 at approximately 10:35 am. Dare devil, Forty-three year old Felix Baumgartner from Austria, skydived from space. Twenty-four miles, one hundred twenty-six thousand seven hundred and twenty feet, or four times the height of Mount Everest. From space. “Man. The adrenaline he must have had. That is some intense stuff!” stated junior, CeCe Noyen.  Junior, Emily Quillen agreed with CeCe Noyens comment and added: “Yeah! That was a very risky move!”

I asked junior, Sarah McGee, if Baumgartner’s reason for jumping was all for scientific reasons, then why would Red Bull be his sponsor, rather than scientist? Her response was “He needs to grasp the attention of the young audience. Young people drink Red Bull. Basically, they all want attention.“ Senior, Ayadejha Turner responded with a similar answer. “ Our generation doesn’t really care what scientists have to say. But they will listen to Red Bull!”

By Red Bull sponsoring Baumgartner’s jump was genius, in the sense of attention.  I asked students how they feel about Red Bull sponsoring this scientific test (Baumgartners jump). Senior, Eline Haaland answered with “Red Bull sponsoring his jump is ironic, because it (Red Bull) gives you wings! That’s how he made it to the ground so safely! He obviously drank a Red Bull before the jump.”  Senior, Makenzy Tarrow responded by saying “Red Bull knew that his (Felix Baumgartner) jump was going to be a big deal and gain a lot of attention, so Red Bull saw it as a perfect opportunity to show off.”

Felix Baumgartner broke the world record from 1960 which 19.5 miles performed by Joe Kittinger. He (Baumgartner) was also the first man to break the speed of sound while free falling, and jumped from the highest manned balloon ever.  ( nytimes.com )
This stunt was incredibly expensive, record breaking, and brave. Baugartner came out of this alive and in one piece.  This is a stunt that no one will ever forget.

By. Arianna Cecotti

Teen suicide comes to light with social media

Teen suicide has always been a concern; however the Amanda Todd story is helping to spread awareness about this issue.

Suicide prevention line available in all areas.

Jay Inslee wins governor seat

By the end of the week it was certain that Democrat candidate Jay Inslee had secured his seat, over Rob McKenna, in our government.

Jay Inslee, 61, will take his seat in Washington on January 14th of 2013 and will be replacing Christine Gregoire as our Democratic governor, who was our governor for 2 terms.

To begin with, many initiatives and bills were on the ballots that were somewhat controversial. For example, Initiative 502 was on the ballot, that would legalize the use and consumption of marijuana and you could posses anything under an ounce. On the Secretary of State website, Jay Inslee has stated that he personally does not condone the use of marijuana, but stated that he would help to protect the choice of the people. Although this is illegal under federal narcotic and drug laws, it doesn’t look like the Federal Government will do anything to revoke this bill.

Not to mention that Referendum 74 was on the ballot. This was a petition to repeal the earlier vote to allow same sex marriage in Washington State.  According to Jay Inslee’s website, as someone of Catholic faith, Jay Inslee has stated that he personally does not support same sex marriage; he is, however, in support of the popular vote, and doesn’t believe in the infringing of people’s rights.

Jay Inslee wants to help train more citizens in technology and engineering for the growing skilled work job market. Also, He promotes clean energy in our state, which would open up jobs and income. According to the Secretary of State website, part of Jay Inslee’s statement was, “We will prioritize our investments in: early childhood education; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); and make college more accessible and affordable. No excuses.”

Jay Inslee will have many tasks to tackle this term. With a state that has a federally illegal bill and one of the first states to keep a same-sex marriage law, we are a black sheep state.

By. Nate Lamping

BP found guilty of manslaughter

After almost two and a half years of investigation and a lengthy trial, the British Petroleum is now being charged with eleven counts of manslaughter and is now being fined 4.5 billion dollars for the explosion of their deepwater horizon mobile.

On April 20, 2010 nothing short of a tragedy occurred off the coast of the United States when a British Petroleum mobile explosion and sank in the Gulf of Mexico. The United States Department of Interior’s website said that once the mobile sank, it immediately started “spewing” oil at the rate of hundreds of gallons a minute. Eleven British Petroleum workers perished in the accident. After 87 days of no relief the result was thousands of square miles of ocean waters were oil invested, and nearly 210 million gallons of oil had been leaked into the Gulf.

The British Petroleum was held responsible for the deaths of those eleven workers, and fined for the damages. Although government justice was served, there was still so much to do about the damaged ocean and ecosystems. According to the DOI, 37 percent of fishing waters were closed and efforts to protect wildlife seemed impossible. With the help of donations and volunteers, many of the oceans natural habitants remained unharmed.

The Gulf of Mexico explosion was indeed tragic, and luckily efforts to repair the ocean are still ongoing, but how can this be prevented for future oil drillings? On British Petroleum’s website they made the statement:  “We are committed to understanding the causes, impacts and implications of the Deepwater Horizon accident and to learn and act on lessons from it.” The company also states that they continue to stay committed in the hope of restoring the Gulf to its original state.

A lengthy investigation was done by BP’s head of safety and operations. The verdict was somewhat broad. The conclusion of the investigation as said on British Petroleum’s website reads that, “a complex, interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgment, engineering design, operational implementation and team interface failures, involving several companies including BP, contributed to the accident.” As the article read on efforts are still in action to heal the Gulf.

British Petroleum takes full responsibility for this truly unfortunate catastrophe, they have been charged and are paying their fines. Although the incident itself happened almost two years ago British Petroleum is staying committed to cleaning the Gulf and restoring it to its original state. 

By. Nicole Adams

With flu season around the corner flu vaccines are on the rise

With flu season just the around the corner there are many precautions one must take in order to fight the flu and not get sick.

According to the Center for Disease Control there are anywhere from 3,000 to 49,000 deaths from flu associated deaths in the U.S. with 90% of those deaths being from people 65+ years old. People who are 65+ or who are often around elderly people should get the flu vaccination. Other good candidates that should get vaccinated include people with medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or chronic lung disease. One should not get vaccinated if they have a chicken egg allergy, or have severe reactions to vaccinations. Center for Disease Control recommends that “everyone 6 months and older as soon as the vaccine is available.”

Flu vaccines are being given at many locations such as drug stores or supermarkets, but there are a lot of people that aren’t aware of how flu vaccines actually work. After receiving the flu vaccination antibodies begin to develop two weeks later. These antibodies help to fight against the infection. However one can still become sick if they are exposed to the virus before the antibodies have fully developed.

There are two different ways one can be given the vaccine; either by shot or with nasal spray. The flu shot contains unactivated (dead) viruses, while the nasal spray contains live viruses that have been weakened. Although these vaccines have viruses in them, they are not strong enough to actually cause someone to get sick. Some side effects of the shot may include soreness or swelling at the spot where the needle was inserted, or a low grade fever. Side effects of the nasal spray may include runny nose, headache, sore throat, or a cough.

By. Amanda Wentzel

Possible Wolf Hunting Brings controversy in WA

Recently in the Pacific Northwest, Wolves have just beaten the numbers of being overpopulated. Wyoming and Minnesota have already established a “Wolf Season” in their state. In Minnesota, only 3,600 people are allowed to get a wolf hunting license to prevent wolves to become endangered.

The question is, should hunting wolves be legal in Washington State? Nick Leingang , along with many other students, suggested that the Department of Fish and Wildlife should draw tags. This means that however many people can put their name into a drawing and when the Wolf hunting season comes along, the Department of Fish and Wildlife will draw only a certain number of names for that season of the year. 

Senior, Austin Heyland thinks that having a Wolf Hunting season in Washington State is a great idea. However, he identified a problem.  He stated “We never see wolves just roaming around. So it would be difficult to find any to hunt.” Heyland also stated a solution to this problem “Maybe for the first year of Wolf season, we could do a test week, just to see how many wolves are being killed. If not a lot are killed, they should extend it and so on.”

There were also some students at Black Hills who were against having a Wolf Hunting season in Washington. Sophomore Paige Shivel said “Wolves are so innocent and rare! We don’t see wolves running around like we see deer. So why would we want to kill them?” Though rare, they do prove a threat to livestock. Junior, Kris O’bannon stated “Wolves kill livestock, so only farmers should be allowed to shoot wolves and only if they (wolves) are killing their livestock frequently.”

Minnesota’s Wolf Hunting season is from November 3rd-January 31st. However, Washington is still undecided about Wolf Hunting. Perhaps it will be on the ballot for 2016.

By. Arianna Cecotti