Soft As Baby Jesus' Bottom

Michael Whitcomb

America seems to be becoming more and more sensitive every day. Last week, Muslim citizens were offended by President Obama’s asking Muslims to be more vigilant in their neighbors for extremist, Muslim youths.  Before that, Duke University banned the phrase ‘man-up’ because of its discriminatory nature, and other campuses across the country recommended banning the use of the phrase “man-cave.” All of these point to an outer shell in American society that was once strong like bullets but is becoming more like a piece of tissue paper.

Trigger warnings have been around for years. They originated online to with the idea to warn people who have had a traumatic experience in their past about what was about to be discussed or viewed. Soon, trigger warnings gained momentum and began being applied and, in some cases, required of college professors in lecture halls throughout the country, stirring the current and heated controversy.

A Yale University organization conducted a survey revealing that 63% of students support the use of trigger warnings by professors. Most professors now warn students in their syllabi about possibly uncomfortable topics they plan to explore. The idea behind this is that students who have had a traumatic experience can prepare themselves and plan accordingly.

Similar to colleges becoming politically correct and sensitive to all possible conflicts, many companies have switched from the traditional 'Merry Christmas’ to ‘Happy Holidays’ for similar reasons, particularly to avoid "offending" people. Some companies that are saying ‘Happy Holidays’ are Staples, Footlocker, PetSmart, and Family Dollar. They have moved away from saying "Merry Christmas" because its Christian overtones can come off as offensive to other religions.

However, there are companies that still using the traditional phrase of ‘Merry Christmas.’ Some of these are Lowes, J.C. Penny, Wal-Mart, Macy’s, and Home Depot. These places do not get scrutinized by most people, but have had a complaint every now and again.

These continual conflicts surrounding the unintentional ramifications of primarily harmless traditions highlight America's progression towards becoming softer than Drake. Ideas, concepts, themes, and phrases that used to be acceptable are now being ridiculed for being ‘too offensive.’ People can’t make a joke anymore without someone trying to sue or give a lecture on why what was said is wrong. Understandably, jokes can sometimes be bad, such as a racist joke that is very offensive, but even little jokes that might just use a swear are ridiculed.

Little stuff like this epitomizes the strictly first world problems we are too often consumed and divided by.  In a world where rap lyrics allow children to idolize drug dealers and gang violence, and pornography is at everyone's fingertips, it's funny to think people are offended by a simple phrase intended to express happiness and well-wishes. Instead of accepting the phrase for what it is, so many people use this to divide rather than bring us together, which seems, whether or not you call it Christmas or Holidays, to be counterintuitive to the spirit of the season. So, try to keep your earmuffs tight if you need to and your heart as warm as the unseasonable weather, for I'm going to go there: Merry Christmas!

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Where did the arts go?

Emily Bresnahan

It seems as if all people care about these days is how we perform on standardized tests, so to improve these scores we cut everything but math, reading, and MCAS practice. But ironically this may be exactly why our scores are less than admirable. 

According to Do Something, a non-profit organization for young people & social change, arts and music education programs are mandatory in countries that rank consistently among the highest for math and science test scores, such as Japan, Hungary, and the Netherlands. If this is the case, why are arts and music programs always the first to have their budgets cut? As President of the Art Club and a member of Chorus and Drama Club, I have experienced first hand how neglected the fine arts departments are. Our paintbrushes are hardened, our costumes are stained, and our stage is falling apart; yet there is nothing we can do about it. This is often the case for many public schools across the country. 

When budget cuts are discussed in school districts, the art department is normally the first to feel the pain. Overall, arts and music classes have been on the decline. In 1999, 20 percent of schools offered drama classes, but that number dropped to 4 percent in 2009. In a quote from Matt Wilson, MASSCreative Executive Director, he states that “Massachusetts is home to large-scale museums, theaters, and orchestras, as well as numerous community-based playhouses and art centers that drive our economy, enhance the academic performance of our students, and build vibrant, connected communities. Core to the success of these cultural institutions is public investment in the arts through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The budget proposed today by the House Ways and Means Committee is a step backwards.” 

Without the funding from their own school districts, Fine Art Departments are forced to rely on private funds and donations. This is true in our own school district, since the only way we were able to afford new curtains for our theatre was from a private donation. Without the necessary funds to run a successful art program, art programs across the country will start to disappear. It's time to make a change and help support the arts and music departments in your town. 

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History of Thanksgiving and How it Has Changed

          Alina Page, Victoria MacMillan, Michaela Kane

Waking up to the smell of savory spices circulating the air, downstairs the Thanksgiving feast is in preparation. With the turkey slowly cooking to perfection in the oven, and the tablecloths being arranged just right on the tables, family is to arrive in only a short few hours. The television is on, the faint background sound of the Macy’s Day Parade, everyone on this day is joyful. It’s a day to rejoice and give thanks, to be loved and to give.

When we think of Thanksgiving, we think back to the time when the Pilgrims and Native Americans came together to have a feast after their first harvest in the New World in 1621. This feast lasted for three days and it was attended by ninety Native Americans and fifty-three Pilgrims. However, even before this day, people were worshiping God by having a feast, and these feasts were meant to remind them of His goodness and faithfulness, and to thank Him for a good year. Still, the name “Thanksgiving” did originate from the Pilgrims and Native people.

However, the peace between the Native Americans and settlers only lasted for a generation. The Wampanoag people do not share in the popular admiration for the traditional New England Thanksgiving. Since 1970, many native people have gathered at the statue of Massasoit in Plymouth, Massachusetts each Thanksgiving Day to remember their ancestors and the strength of the Wampanoag. Thereafter, in the 19th century, the modern Thanksgiving holiday started to take shape.

In 1863, a magazine editor named Sarah Hale wrote a letter to president Abraham Lincoln. The idea to make Thanksgiving a national holiday was part of Hale’s seventeen-year campaign. She thought it would benefit the country to have a national holiday for giving thanks, since the country was in the middle of the Civil War. After reading Hale’s letter, Lincoln declared two national Thanksgivings: one in August to commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg and the other in November to give thanks for "general blessings."

Today’s national Thanksgiving celebration is a blend of two traditions: the New England custom of rejoicing after a successful harvest, based on ancient English harvest festivals; and the Puritan Thanksgiving, a solemn religious observance combining prayer and feasting. Annual football games and shopping also play a big role in the celebration, and not just food shopping.

Just like Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start to summer, Thanksgiving and Black Friday signify the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. It has been this way since 1924, when Macy's held its first Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. With Christmas right after Thanksgiving, Black Friday is a time where stores have huge deals for families to get all their holiday shopping done. Black Friday is slowly becoming part of Thanksgiving history, especially since it is now starting Thanksgiving night.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, be sure to remember the reason it all started.  Spend time with family, give thanks, and eat lots of turkey.  Thanksgiving is a time to recognize everything we are grateful for, so be sure to not forget the original meaning as you celebrate it this season.

Happy Thanksgiving

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Benefits of a local Thanksgiving

Morgan Seale

Thanksgiving can be, and should be, one of the most profitable times of the year for farmers; however, in recent years, more and more people have turned to buying from large chain grocery stores who get their products from enormous farming plantations in the South and other far off food production areas. According to PBS, on average, our food travels 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate. They also said that “even though broccoli is likely grown within 20 miles of the average American’s house, the broccoli we buy at the  supermarket travels an average of 1,800 miles to get there.” This is due to the fact that many corporations find it easier to buy produce in bulk at a low cost from enormous farms where the farmers are constantly growing the crops the companies intend to sell.

Over the years, it has become embarrassingly obvious that although this mass transportation of food can provide asparagus and clementines in February it also comes with dire costs, particularly the toll such voyages take on the nutritional character of our ingestibles. According to Vern Grubinger, a vegetable and berry expert from the University of Vermont and author of “Ten Reasons to Buy Local Foods,” without a doubt  “local food is better for you. The shorter the time between the farm and your table, the less likely it is that nutrients will be lost from fresh food.” The depleting sojourns our stuffed birds and cranberries have undergone before being placed next to Grandma’s Famous Gravy may not be on the top of any of our lists of concerns, especially on a holiday dedicated to gluttony and afternoon naps between buffet rounds, but, with the help of some local farmers, a switch to a more environmentally friendly, locally-grown, and, often times, more delectable selection of Thanksgiving fare may be quite painless.

When it comes to locally grown produce Haverhill has plenty of options:

1. Wally’s Vegetables - 799 Amesbury Road Haverhill, MA
2. Chris’s Farm Stand - 436 Salem St, Haverhill, MA
3. Raymond’s Turkey Farm - 163 Hampstead St Methuen, MA

These are a only a few of the options Haverhill has to offer, with a little research and friendly conversation, you’re sure to come across many more.

Thanksgiving is upon us and it is up to us to make sure our local farmers have the business they need to keep doing what they love; besides, what's Thanksgiving without a delicious, healthy, locally raised turkey and fresh vegetables? Mediocre is what it is. Buying locally grown food is a win-win situation for everyone (except for maybe big businesses). If everyone went out and bought just one part of their meal from local farmers it would have a huge impact and really help to support their business. Adding fresh grown vegetables and possibly a locally raised healthy Turkey can be very beneficial for both the farmer and consumer.

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The Appeal of ISIS

Dimitrios Stamoulis

Around nine p.m. on November 13th, Paris, France was attacked. With about 130 dead, this attack caused more discussion about the radical jihadist group ISIS (or ISIL). As more information arose about the men who carried out these attacks, it was found that most of them are Belgian, which can help but lead us all to wonder: what is it that attracts citizens, particularly young people, of the Western world towards the extremist group? As many political analysts have stated, there are a few things to consider:

1.  The group provides a feeling of brothership and community. In a recent interview, a former member of ISIS admitted that he misses the strong relationships he formed with the people there, but not the group itself. This desire of a strong community is a consequence of the sense of Islamophobia that many extremists believe pervades the Western world. Since the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, there is undoubtedly a negative association between Muslims and terrorism. As more and more people try to avoid those of the Islamic religion, Muslims have become desperate to find a community. ISIS, through their recruitment videos, promise to provide a tight knit community to those Western society, intentionally or not, has ostracized.

2. Members can also come to believe they are protecting their families, neighborhoods, and countries. The leaders of ISIS have stated that there is no way to kill their group because for each member killed there will be 10 new members recruited. This has proven to be true since many of those recruited volunteer themselves in order to protect their home countries. When governments attack the group, more often than not, civilians are caught in the midst of the destruction. This is what then motivates these young men to join ISIS, believing that they will be protecting their nations, cities, and families. Because of this, the members of ISIS feel as if they are unified in protecting their homes, seeing each other as brothers. Therefore, once one is killed, they become a martyr for their living brethren.

3. Lastly, is the strive for purpose in a generation seemingly gone awry when it comes to solid values and principles. ISIS has been using propaganda videos to recruit members. They make the group and its members seem heroic, as they are saving the lives of “Muslims oppressed by Western society.” Along with that, a majority of those videos show the victory parades into newly captured cities and territories. What they don’t show are the five men crying to God for forgiveness, with bombs across their chest, about to take down the defending forces. The recruited expect a positive atmosphere, the opportunity to be a hero, and celebrations after victories.

These are a few of the more convincing theories among dozens trying to explain the unsettling phenomenon that is the popularity of ISIS, especially to European-born men. Regardless of how these young men are viewed as they wave flags, brandish weapons, even brutally murder, each of them was at one time a young man, a boy, before somehow coming to believe eradicating “infidels” was a noble pursuit. That shift in the direction of one’s life, the corruption of one’s heart and mind, the cause of it, is what needs to be explored and understood if the flow of fresh, young, violent individuals into the ranks of ISIS is to be stemmed.

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Sales or Tales: Black Thursday versus the Family

Emily Mills

    

Thanksgiving is defined as the expression of gratitude. It is thought of as a time to be thankful for the things that we value the most. Typically, when a person hears ‘Thanksgiving’ the thought that slips into the mind is of families sitting around a dinner table, gratefully enjoying the family, friends and food they have been blessed with. However, it is very hard to spend time with family and close friends when some people have to go to work because so many now want to spend their Thanksgiving evening shopping.

Black Friday originally began at the break of dawn the Friday following Thanksgiving, but in recent years doorbusters and sales are starting even earlier. A handful of stores are now commencing sales on the afternoon and night of Thanksgiving. Another handful of stores and thousands of individuals are actually boycotting Black Friday on Thanksgiving. With 40,000 people, give or take,  within the facebook group, “Boycott Black Friday”, they plan to encourage big stores such as Walmart and Target to stay closed during Thanksgiving night. Given that people continue to shop, the stores continue to stay open during the holiday. However, as a “blue law” lies in Rhode Island, Maine and Massachusetts, it prohibits supermarkets, large box stores, and department stores from opening on Thanksgiving. Though there have been few legislative issues to attempt to change things, the attempts have failed and stores continue to open on Thanksgiving. Provided with this opportunity to shop-shop-shop, many people will choose to leave family events to go…shopping. 

Unfortunately, many store clerks will not be lucky enough to have the choice to leave their families and will be expected to meet customers at the store to assist them. The same customers that chose to leave their families to shop. Some retail employees, nevermind leaving early, may not even get the opportunity to make it to their Thanksgiving dinner due to having to show up for the crowds that often wait outside long before doors open. 

Top 10 Black Friday Stores & Opening Times;

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1.  Walmart - 6PM 11/26

2.   JCPenney - 3PM 11/26                          

3.   Michael’s Craft - 4PM 11/26                

4.   Dick’s Sporting Goods - 6PM 11/26     

5.   Gamestop - 5AM 11/27  
6. Target - 6PM 11/26
7. Big Lots - 7AM 11/26 6AM 11/27
8. Old Navy - 4PM 11/26
9. Best Buy - 5PM 11/26
10. Kohl’s - 6PM 11/26

However, there are stores who understand their employees’ desire to spend the holiday with their families. Some stores are simply sticking to the traditional opening of Black Friday on the Friday following Thanksgiving. 

Top 5 Stores CLOSED during Thanksgiving;

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- A.C. Moore  
- TJ Maxx

- Petco  
- Gamestop

- Staples

Some of the stores that stay closed on Thanksgiving tend to still have sales online. Handfuls of people will choose to shop online rather than in stores in return of having more family time during the holiday. According to Bankrate.com, a projected 75% of previous year shoppers are expected to be staying home and online shopping. There are many stores offering free shipping on Black Friday. Some stores may even have better deals online compared to the deals in stores----and don’t forget about Cyber Monday when more deals become available, just in case you were not able to get the deal you have been waiting for.

Choosing Cyber Monday over actually going in stores can lead to wonderful things. Yes, wonderful deals...but also wonderful memories made with family at home rather than a crowd of angry and greedy people pushing and shoving for a TV. The memories that are made on Thanksgiving will not be available in any stores this year or any other year for that matter. A big amount of the memories that stick with individuals throughout their lives are formed during times spent with family. It is not about remembering how big of a deal you received on one day of the year, it is a time to be with the ones we love and admire. It is a time to be thankful for the people around the dinner table and to realize, that quality time is important, a lot more than the materialistic things in stores. So this Thanksgiving remember how important family is and spend as much time as possible together. You going out to shop on Thanksgiving motivates these stores to keep the people who do not want to shop, on the registers. You might have been able to spend your Thanksgiving with family, but just because you were able to does not mean that others are as fortunate. Keep that in mind when you choose to leave family to shop. Most importantly enjoy the holiday season filled with warm food, drinks, and hearts. 

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History of Halloween, What it has become

Alina Page

When we think of Halloween, we usually think of children running around dressed in costumes, knocking door-to-door grabbing candy; the one time a year where it's okay to take candy from strangers. You think of carving pumpkins, colorful leaves that have fallen on the ground, drinking apple cider, black cats, and Halloween marathons on television. It’s also the one time a year when teenage girls tend to dress quite provocatively and no one can say anything about it. However, was Halloween meant to be like this?

Originally, Halloween, also known as All Hallows’ Eve, was a Pagan holiday, which honored the dead on November 1st. It can be traced back to about 2,000 years to a pre-Christian Celtic festival called Samhain which means “summer's end” in Gaelic. The Celts believed that on this night the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, more than any other day of the year. People would gather and sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They’d light fires to honor the dead but also to keep them away from the living. Today, we don’t necessarily light fires for the dead but rather carve scary faces on  jack o'lanterns and put a flame in them to set them on our front steps for decoration, or maybe for some, it’s their way of keeping the spirits away. However, Samhain was less about death or evil and more about the transition of seasons. Although there isn’t a direct connection between Halloween and Samhain, because they are so close together on the calendar, many scholars believe that they influenced each other into later combining the holiday that we celebrate.

Today, all traditions can be traced back to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Trick-or-treating for instance, the wearing of costumes and going door to door getting treats, can be traced back to the Celtic period or even the first centuries of the Christian era. This was a time where it was thought that the souls of the dead were out around with witches and demons, and by leaving drinks and treats out, it would calm them. On the other hand, dressing in costumes and going door to door may go back to the practice of guising in which people would disguise oneself and go door to door asking for food. It can also be related to souling, which is a medieval custom on Hallowmas where poor people would knock on doors asking for food in exchange for prayers for the dead. It was also a superstition that ghosts could disguise themselves as humans and go door to door asking for food. If you turned them away, you’d face the risk being haunted or cursed by the spirit. Another myth was that by dressing up as a ghoul you could trick the evil spirits into thinking you were one of them, therefore they wouldn’t try to take your soul.

Halloween, wasn’t always meant for little kids to dress up and go door to door getting candy, so was the evolvement of this holiday to what it is today, for the better? In some ways, you could say yes. The holiday that it is today is fun; children get free candy, and it’s a day where they can dress up to be anything they want to be. We watch scary movies on television and get told scary stories that we know, deep down, are not real. We made a day that was meant to be about the transition of seasons and that the  transition, at least metaphorically speaking, was a bridge to the world of the dead, into a day of getting candy from strangers. It became a day that has nothing to do with seasons except the fact that it takes place in the fall, and a day that has nothing to do with the bridge to the world of the dead but rather the scary stories told through voice and film.

Every year, the more each generation before us dies out, the meaning of this holiday and many others slowly die out. We don’t learn about the meaning and originality about this holiday or any other for that fact in school, we hear about them through stories growing up, and even those we might not believe because they aren’t told as history, but rather only just a story.                    

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Pictures of Spirit

Jacob Valenti

Friday, October 9th marked the day of Haverhill High School’s homecoming football game, prompting current students, alumni, teachers, and parents to flock to the stands. “School spirit,” of course, is measured by attendance and crowd participation at the game, of which I saw very much...on Instagram.

School spirit used to mean that when one of our teams, no matter the sport, took the field (or playing arena) we would cheer and scream until we’d won, Hell, even if we lost we’d still support our peers. School spirit in the past meant that, as a unified group, we would fill our team's hearts with fire and their souls with passion. We’d chant together, we’d jump together, and we’d dress together as one coagulated group of all types of people. Brown and gold lined the stands on Friday, yelling filled my ears, and people surrounded me.

Yelling and cheering is of course standard with this type of gathering; however, the sounds I heard were not the ones I wanted. I was standing to the right of the section of people who consider themselves to have “spirit” and originate most of the main chants. I enjoy chanting at the games, especially to the theme of a White Stripes song called "Seven Nation Army." But Friday night the chants were half-hearted, hardly going past two verses. Traditionally, chants have a creative saying like “You’re still ug-ly” followed by a clap--clap--clap-clap-clap, this process is repeated at least three times, or at least it should be. At the homecoming game the chants stopped after repeating the initial chant once. Other chants were louder and had more length, but those were the ones by specific cliques cheering for individuals rather than for the team as a whole. 

The most disappointing part however was the chanting of "Seven Nation Army." The beat of the song is sung in a series of “whoas" by the crowd usually following a touchdown, field goal, or basically anything awesome. This event did occur but it stopped within ten seconds of its starting. When this happened I leaned over to my buddy and said “If this was a European soccer match that chant would be going for ten minutes.”

The most distracting thing to happen during the game was the number of pictures being taken of different people who had dressed up for the game, decked out in brown and gold clothing and paint. I noticed that while the game was being played, these fans with “spirit” would be facing the other way so that they may get their pictures taken from above in the stands. Flashes and shutters covered up two point conversions and vuvuzelas. At this point I leaned over to my buddy, who must’ve been getting sick of me by then, and said “It’s no longer about spirit, it’s about pictures of spirit.”

School spirit is no longer measured by unified chants, it is measured by whether or not you can get your friend on the field to hear you. School spirit is no longer about jumping when points are scored, but about how still we can stand and look at our phones. School spirit is no longer about being slathered in brown and gold; instead, it is measured by how many likes a picture of you dressed in brown and gold gets online. 

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Amping up gun regulations

Morgan Seale

In writing the Constitution, our Founding Fathers had no way of predicting what the Second Amendment would entail for the future. At the time it was written, “arms” meant very ineffective firearms that only shot one bullet at a time. Furthermore, guns were meant to be used to arm militias in an era when violent invasion from foreign powers was a very real concern. Now, automatic weapons and ammunition capable of piercing law enforcement protective gear abound and the only remaining semblance of a militia are street gangs.

According to the FBI, gun violence accounted for 69% of homicides in the US in 2013. Most of these deaths were not in self defense, which is what the Second Amendment looked to guarantee the American people. In recent years, incredible advancements in firearm technology have also allowed for an unsettling increase in mass murders. According to Christopher Ingraham from the Washington Post there have been 294 mass shootings so far in 2015 alone.

Despite the evident need for urgency to stem this proliferation of bloodshed at the tip of bullets, Congress continually seems to be unable to arrive at any real solution. The Democrats are looking to solve the problem by restricting access to firearms and creating a more rigorous process by which people purchase guns. Hillary Clinton recently called upon to"make sure the irresponsible and the criminal and the mentally ill don’t get guns.” Her views are not necessarily representative of all of her fellow Democrats but are representative of a progressive majority who recognize the problem of the mentally ill and reckless enjoying easier and easier access to guns.

Republicans, on the other hand, tend to be less proactive in their policy. Their theory is that by removing restrictions on gun ownership and purchasing it will lead to a decline in crime. This is to say that the more people who have guns, the more likely it is for responsible gun owners to stop criminals. They think if people had easier access to guns they would be able to more easily protect themselves and others. Regarding the most recent mass shooting in Oregon, Republicans tried to argue that since the school was a gun free zone the victims were unfortunately unprotected and vulnerable, or, as Donald Trump audaciously phrased it, every student was a "sitting duck."

The real problem is neither gun-free zones or oppressive restrictions on purchase. The real problem is the availability of guns. Something has to be done about this and right now Democrats are the only people who offer any real solution. They want to stop violence at the root of the problem, while Republicans want to let more people have guns to be used in cases of self defense. Guns are the most dangerous weapons Americans have  access to and should not be given out to people purely on the basis of a person’s Second Amendment right. Giving anyone access to guns is not actually solving the problem. If guns are the cause of the high crime rate, how could a reasonable person think that providing more guns would reduce that? It would just lead to more guns floating around and become even easier for people, whether they are part of organized crime or troubled individuals, to obtain them illegally. Currently there is no law requiring gun hobbyists to conduct background checks when selling their guns. There is an appalling lack of restriction on these weapons. There needs to be restrictions on this so as to prevent people from illegally gaining access to guns, and the only way to do this is with the help of the federal government passing specific policies addressing this issue.

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