Near Antarctica, approximately 1.5 million Adelie penguins are estimated to thrive. Researchers are calling it a “supercolony”. They have been found in large numbers in the Danger Islands, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. These Islands have never been a prioritized region to preserve, but now that scientists are aware of the high population of these inhabitants, they want to change that.

Scientists found out about these penguins due to the advanced technology of aerial drone photography. The penguins have a pinkish tint, and were easily recognized by the satellites as well. The Adelie population generally survives off of a diet of mainly krill, and are only a few feet tall. The population of these animals has been increasing steadily for years, and it hopefully will continue that way.

This discovery of these Adelie Penguins is extremely important. In many areas, penguins are losing habitats and dying off due to global warming. This new knowledge will help scientists continue to study these penguins and put in effort in order to maintain their health and numbers. Hopefully, more of these unique creatures will be discovered, and the future of these penguins will continue to thrive.

 Story by Willow Schenk

Works Cited
Newsela | More than a Million Adelie Penguins Found Thriving in Antarctic Peninsula, newsela.com/read/mega-colony-penguins-antarctica/id/40983.
“Hidden Penguin Mega-Colonies Discovered in Antarctica.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 2 Mar. 2018, news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/adelie-penguins-colonies-discovered-antarctica-environment/.
Weintraub, Karen. “A Supercolony of Penguins Has Been Found Near Antarctica.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/science/adelie-penguins-supercolony-antarctica.html.

Have you heard of the Times Up movement? The Times Up movement is a movement against sexual harassment, founded January 1st 2018 by Hollywood celebrities. It was created in response to the Weinstein effect and #Metoo. The Weinstein effect is that in early October, dozens of  women came forward and accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse. USA Today said ¨Since then 150 celebrities have been accused of sexual misconduct.¨ After this made news headlines, people started to share their stories on social media, using the #Metoo.
 
Did you know 1 in 3 women ages 18-34 have been sexually harassed at work? Being harassed can range from inappropriate comments to someone touching you in an inappropriate manner. Even though 1 in 3 women are harassed at work, it mostly happens to people working low wage jobs. Research has shown that women in a mostly male dominated workplaces are harassed more than women in a female dominated workplaces. Hopefully with awareness this problem will get better.
 
If you want to help with the Time's up movement, here are some things that the movement's website recommends. For starters, don't be a part of the problem. Next if someone tells you they have been harassed believe them, and help them find resources for help. Just because you're not the one being harassed doesn't mean you can't address the harasser or you can find help. You can also donate to the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund to help those being affected. 

Story by Maya Fuchs
 
Sources:https://www.timesupnow.com/#what-you-can-do-anchor
http://people.com/movies/how-to-donate-to-times-up/
http://time.com/5189945/whats-the-difference-between-the-metoo-and-times-up-movements/
https://www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/life/the-harvey-weinstein-effect/
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/sexual-misconduct/weinstein-here-s-growing-list-men-accused-sexual-misconduct-n816546

Child Labor is a big problem all over the world. Child Labor is children under the employment of work. As a child in employment, it affects their childhood because it takes time away from their life; It makes it hard for them to attend school, and it can be dangerous and harmful due to the work such as mining.
 
According to ILO There are 218 million children within the ages of 5 and 17 years old in employment. Of them, 152 million are victims of child labor. Close to half of these children (72.1 million) are located in Africa, 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific, 10.7 million in the Americas, 1.2 million in the Arab States, as well as 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
 
Countries all over the world are contributing to help, but some are promoting it. According to Newsela, the Indian government has suggested that they make some changes to the current law regarding child labor. For example they could work for a family business that does not harm them as long as it’s their own choice; this rule also includes allowing children under the age of 14 to work in certain situations. The new rules ban children from working in dangerous places but still, it allows them to work in basically any other industry. The only requirements for this is that they work for family and after school.
 
India’s new rule would punish bosses who break this rule; they could face 2 years in prison and an $800 fine. According to Newsela, children make very little money for a lot of work. In Surat, children making clothes can earn as little as $1.50 a day.
 
According to a child labor website, Child labor started in the United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s. When the Industrial Revolution started, many families had to find someone to work or they wouldn't survive. Children usually worked long hours for very little money. Children were useful due to their size; they could fit in small spaces or mines where adults couldn’t fit. Children were also easier manageable and control, but perhaps most importantly, children didn’t have to be paid as much as adults. Children were families only hope because these children had to work just to help them and their family survive, and barely.
 
According to History.com, although children have been servants throughout most of human history, child labor has reached new extremes even with the new rules enforced. Child laborers often worked to support their families, but by doing this they were forced to decline an education.  According to Scholastic, in 1924 Congress proposed a constitutional amendment prohibiting child labor but the states did not agree to it. It wasn’t until the great depression that Americans wanted all available jobs to go to adults rather than children. The small amount of child labor in the U.S. is one of the more important and valuable things we have succeeded in. Even though the U.S. has succeeded to end child labor, other countries haven’t.

Lots of kids forced into labor want a bright future and because of this they can’t. 

Story by Ariella Valdiviezo
 
Image sources https://www.thebetterindia.com/69863/ten-ways-can-stop-child-labour/

Teens all over the world are helping. How? In very many ways! There are thousands of teens everywhere standing up for their rights. Even you can be a teen activists! People are fighting for things like LGBTQ rights, E-waste, women's rights, and animal rights. There are some pretty cool teen activists in North Carolina and even Asheville.

One of them is Hallie Turner. She was in Raleigh when she was planning to sue NC for climate change. Sadly she didn’t succeed the first time but now at 15, she did it again. Two other teens in North Carolina- Emily Liu (16 years old), and Arya Pontula (17 years old)- were helping Hallie make a petition to the state Department of Environmental Quality and the state Environmental Management Commission to make a rule for a sharp reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases over the next three decades.
 
One person that isn’t from NC is Jazz Jennings. Jazz uses her life to spread awareness of her life as a transgender girl. She has a YouTube channel that follows her life called “I am Jazz.” She vlogs, speaks about her family and friends, and about her issues being trans. This also makes her the youngest transgender female to talk about her issues publicly. She was born October 6, 2000 in South Florida. Her parents say that, “she was clear on being a girl as soon as she could speak.” She eventually started a foundation called Transkids Purple Rainbow Foundation in 2007 to assist transgender youth.
 
Alana Rosie West is an animal rights activist. “She studies social work and human rights, and she’s dedicated to destigmatizing mental health care and ending cruelty to animals”, says peta2. It started when she was 7 and she started finding out about zoos and aquariums didn’t treat animals right. She is now hoping that SeaWorld will close.
 
Another one from North Carolina is our very own Sam Phillips from Asheville. Sam was 16 years old when he went to North Dakota to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Born in August of 2000, Sam knew from a young age the effects of pollution and cared a lot about economics. He was homeschooled most of his life and only went to school for one year saying that school just never did him right. During his 16th year he went out to North Dakota for 2 months in the Spring and 1 month in the very harsh winter. Now 17 years old, Sam is applying for Warren Wilson College and wanted to major in Economics and continue in helping the earth. (Sam is my brother and is where I got my information).
 
These are only some of the many teen activists especially in North Carolina and Asheville; they are really changing our society that we live in. I encourage you to use some of these people as influences and try something new everyday even if it’s something small to help because it might end up changing the world piece by piece.

Almost everyone reading has been involved in some kind of sports, whether it’s just your P.E. class or you competitively compete around the country. While soccer has a World Cup, and football has a Superbowl, what has all of the sports competitions combined into one? The Olympics! Every four years the annual summer and winter Olympics occur. During this time of year, it’s basically half of the news, and you may have heard all the gossip about it. However, the history of the Olympics goes much further back than all of that. In fact, the first Olympic games were estimated to take place in 760 B.C. in Ancient Greece. As you may have predicted, the games have changed quite a bit, and to some extent, a lot.
 
The first Olympic games took place in Ancient Greece, honoring the King of the Greek Gods, Zeus. According to www.olympics.org, the games were a very big deal. One of the most famous examples of that is when the Greeks had to delay training for the Persian war because so many people were going to compete in the Olympics. The Olympics were not just a sports event, it was a religious gathering which only men could attend.
 
According to, olympic running, olympic pankration, olympic long jump, javelin, discus, olympic chariot racing, and olympic boxing, the activities in the ancient Olympics including boxing (which had almost no rules, weight classification, scoring system, time limit and no one really cared if you died), chariot racing (which is known to be the most dangerous sport invented by man), long jump, javelin, discus, pankration, running, track, and wrestling. Now, there was no determined winter or summer Olympics, but I’m pretty sure that the ancient Greeks weren’t skiing, or competing in beach volleyball. As you can see, the Olympics have evolved a lot throughout the years.
 
Now, fast forward a couple thousand years and you arrive in 2018 where the twenty-third winter Olympics take place in PyeongChang, South Korea. In the present winter Olympics, the sports events have drastically changed from sports in Ancient Greece. Olympic sports says that there are six skiing events in the game, bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, luge, short track speed skating, skeleton (sled), snowboard and speed skating. Almost all the world’s greatest competitors come to together to perform in a top-notch competition. Anyways, if you do watch the winter Olympics in PyeongChang, just remember how far we have come in the process of competing.
 
Story by Liv Suydam

Sources: https://www.olympic.org/
https://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games
http://www.history.com/topics/olympic-games
Source for pictures:
http://blog.minitab.com/blog/the-statistics-game/analyzing-the-history-of-olympic-events-with-time-series
http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2017/11/08/nbc-olympics-pyeongchang-military-programming/

In many countries in Europe, college is free or has significantly reduced prices for both residents and international students. Many U.S. citizens are moving to Norway. Germany, Austria, etc… Here are the specifics:

GERMANY- As of fall, 2017, students can study here for 1,790 U.S. dollars per semester. This is incredibly cheaper than the average of $25,620-$34,740 in the US. Colleges here even offer classes taught in English. The top ranked public universities are Technical University of Munich, Ludwig-Maximilliant-Universität, and Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg.

NORWAY, DENMARK, SWEDEN, and FINLAND- If abroad students are willing to learn Norwegian, they can study for the same price as German Colleges. These places are beautiful to live in, although they can be quite costly. The best rated free universities in these countries are University of Oslo (Norway), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Lund University (Sweden), University of Helsinki (Finland).

AUSTRIA- Austrian Colleges cost only $870 per semester. There are many masters degrees available in English as well. The country is known for its high class living. It is also said to have incredible architecture and greenery. The top universities are University of Vienna, Vienna University of Technology, and Universität Innsbruck.

BELGIUM- These schools are on the more expensive side at $5000 annually. however, that is still much cheaper than the schools in America. They also offer plenty of courses in English. The top public universities here are KU Leuven, Ghent University, and Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL).

SPAIN- Public Universities in Spain for international students can vary between around 800 and 1,670 U.S. dollars per year. One downside to living here is that Barcelona and Madrid are on the top 50 most expensive places to live universally. They have limited courses in English as well. The top ranked public universities here are University of Barcelona, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

ITALY- In Italy, International Students have the opportunity to the same scholarships as locals. Their public colleges range from somewhere around $1000 per year. Italy is moderate in price and a wonderful place to live. They offer courses in English and the best public universities are Politecnico di Milano, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, and Sapienza University of Rome.

GREECE- Colleges in Greece cost just under $2000 per year. It is one of the cheapest places to live in Europe and has great weather and breathtaking scenery. Most courses are in greek however, so it would be smart to study up if you were thinking about attending college here. The top public universities in Greece are National Technical University of Athens, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

CZECH REPUBLIC- If you are fluent in the language, attending college here is 100% free. They do have English programs but they have an additional fee. It may be worth it however, because the living costs are very cheap. The best public universities here are Charles University in Prague, Czech Technical University in Prague, and Masaryk University.

​Europe would be a good option to consider attending college. It is both full of adventure and significantly cheaper. More people should be aware of the benefits because it could determine a person’s future.
 
Story by Willow Schenk
​
Information from: here

You may have heard animal activists talking about our rapidly decreasing honeybee population lately and wondered why these somewhat pesky insects are having such a big impact on our environment. First, you need to understand that the food chain is connected, one small change can have a vast rippling effect. Honey bees are pollinators, and with the astounding rate they are disappearing, flowers, fruits, and vegetables, along with many other plants are not able to reproduce as rapidly. With a more sparse population of vegetation, many of the foods you know and love are having a hard time thriving. This includes cherries, almonds, and avocados, not to mention honey, which would cease to exist entirely without bees. A lesser known fact is that honeybees are key players in the meat and dairy industries. This is because they pollinate plants such as clover, alfalfa, and lespedeza. These plants directly feed cattle, and without their existence, the cost it would take to feed cows would sky rocket. Therefor the price of meat, along with other products produced by cows, would dramatically increase.

Why are they disappearing?
In the past couple of decades, honeybees have been pulling somewhat of a disappearing act, leaving people puzzled on where they have been going. To better understand what is happening to them, you need to take a deeper look into how our environment has been changing, and the pieces begin to fit together. With humans rapid use of non-renewable energy sources, and our staggeringly high pollution output, it is no question that our atmosphere has become a dangerous concoction of man made poison. Honey bees use their strong sense of smell to guide them to the flowers they need to pollinate, however this path  becomes interrupted by pollutants, causing it to be very difficult for them to find these plants. A key role in the decline of bees is colony collapse disorder (CCD), this is when a majority of  worker bees in a hive go out and never return to their queen. Some causes of this disorder are pesticides being used causing them to be poisoned, high stress levels of the bees, or changes in the habitat bees forage in (could be caused by deforestation). Although the rate of this disorder has gone down a small amount in the past couple of years, it is still very common for this to happen to hives. According to the EPA, in 2006 and 2007 many beekeepers reported loss of 30-90%  of their hives, record high numbers, thus the discovery of CCD was made.

What are bees telling us?
Bees are bioindicators, meaning that the status of their species reflects how well the earth's environment is doing as a whole. This means that what is occurring to the bee population could be mirroring what is happening to the earth's climate. Since bees are struggling to thrive, this could be foreshadowing a future of prominent environmental issues, more so than we are currently facing.

What can you do to help?
There are many ways that people can advocate for bee rights. One way you can help the bee population is to plant bee friendly plants and herbs in your garden. This provides more safe places for them forage. Another great thing you can do is to refrain from using pesticides to kill weeds and bugs, as was mentioned earlier, these can be deadly. Lastly, for a healthier, and tastier alternative to processed honey is to purchase local honey from a beekeeper in your area. It's a good way to help support members in your community who are supporting bees. It’s time that we stop antagonizing these helpful insects, and start protecting them.

Story by Alana Kendrick
 
Sorces: https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/bioindicators-using-organisms-to-measure-environmental-impacts-16821310

On new years day, Kim Jong-un told the world of his nuclear button; on Tuesday night, Donald Trump responded via Twitter with “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”. This comes after months of a war of words sort of stand off between the two leaders. The conflict started in early 2017 as North Korea started testing missiles. Much of this has taken place on social media. 
 
Experts are still unsure if these missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads to the east coast. However, Kim Jong-un claims they can hit DC and New York with ease. Many experts claim the missiles are all there, but the heat shield isn't capable of letting the warhead enter the atmosphere. Whatever the case, a nuclear war seems to be closer than ever. 

Story by Franklin Bester-Sproul

I had the opportunity to email Princess Elizabeth Station in the Antarctic for an interview. I emailed them and Lisa Bendetti put me in contact with Johnny Gaelens. Princess Elizabeth Station is a station which is staffed with scientists from Belgium. Also, Princess Elizabeth Station is the first zero emission station, which means that they do not use fossil fuels. These are the questions that I gave him and the answers that he gave me.
​
Q1. What job do you do in the Antarctic?
A1. I'm responsible for all the systems in the station. These tasks are divided in a few groups, one is electricity. We produce our electricity with solar panels and wind turbines and if there is too much energy, we store it in batteries. Another technical system of the station is the heating/cooling/ventilation. Princess Elisabeth station is a passive building, so we do not need heating during the season to get the temperature inside to 20C, but we do need to ventilate to get the CO2 which is made by the workers in the station to get out and sometimes if there are many people we need to cool it. This is not difficult because outside it's always below -5C. To make water we melt snow. This happens in a snow-melter, a big device where we put snow and hot water (water heated with the sun) in it, so the snow melts and creates new water.

Q2. What ways do you think climate change is affecting your place in the Antarctic?
A2. We see that the area is changing, when going to the sea you can see that the edges of Antarctica are changing fast. Here at the station 200km from the sea, I do not see big changes but I'm only here for the 4th time.
Q3. What ways do you think that the average human can help with climate change?
A3. Consider non renewable sources (example oil) as very valuable, they can not be renewed, so if you consume fuel, think that  it took million years to be made, and so if it's gone, it's gone and the next generations can not use it anymore.

Q4. What does your job entail?
A4. In this job, I'm away for 4 months, so my family misses me for long periods of time.

Q5. What is a normal day with your job?
A5. I start the day at 7:00am with making weather observations. This information is sent to the meteorological station in Antarctica to make weather predictions. Then I have a look at the systems, if it is sunny, then we can make hot water for the snow melter and if it will be windy then I can expect a lot of energy to come to the station and we can perform tasks that require a lot of energy (as washing, heating water boilers ect). After breakfast, I'm performing maintenance to the systems or I help scientists with the installation, calibration or reparation of there instruments. At noon, I launch a weather balloon. In the afternoon I continue with maintenance tasks. I stop between 7:00 and 8:00pm and then we have our dinner. The next day is another day.

This was an amazing opportunity, to interview someone from Antarctica! Thanks so much Johnny for answering these questions.​

On November 13th, 2017, an earthquake hit on the border of Iran and Iraq. It was the deadliest quake of 2017. It had a 7.3 magnitude. It was about 14 miles deep. It killed over 400 people and left almost 10,000 injured. Many were left with no houses.

Iran sits on a giant major fault line. This is why there are so many earthquakes in Iran. This affected many people by leaving them with no houses, many injuries, and deaths. It was felt as far away as Turkey and Pakistan. Iran and Iraq did send out rescue operations to help the cause. A great way to help things like this is to fly out to where natural disasters have hit and help with the relief. It is great for volunteer and means the world to so many people.

Story by Winston Sloan

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/12/middleeast/iraq-earthquake/index.html