 Did you know that professional female soccer players are getting paid around $40,000 per season, yet male soccer players are getting showered in $250,000 to $300,000 per season? Yep, it's true. The U.S. Women's National soccer team won the World Cup this year and got paid 30 million dollars, meanwhile, the World Cup for professional men's soccer, in 2018, gave 38 million dollars to the winning team, France. In addition to pay, their complaints include worse playing fields, lack of private flights and less promotion than the men's team. According to ESPN “The U.S. women have been fighting for equality for some time. In 2016, five high-profile members of the USWNT -- Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn -- filed a complaint against the United States Soccer Federation (commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint remains pending in California.”
When the women returned with their second consecutive world championship and fourth overall, it seemed like they were selling themselves short by simply asking to be treated the same. The men have never made it past the quarterfinals of their World Cup and didn’t even qualify for the last one. According to the Los Angeles Times, “the women’s lawsuit and the equal pay argument focus largely on bonuses and other issues related to national team games. A player on the U.S. men’s national team can make as much as $17,625 depending on the opponent and the outcome, court documents allege. A women’s player would get about half that for a comparable result.” Many people support Equal Pay for women soccer, including many US soccer followers, other women's teams, and the US Men's professional team. The U.S. men's team issued a statement in support of the USWNT, saying, "The members of the United States National Soccer Team Players Association once again stand with the members of the world champion Women's National Team in their pursuit of fair compensation for their work as professional soccer players. The USMNT players were not impressed with US Soccer Federation president, Carlos Cordeiro's, letter made public. The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them. This is more of the same." All of the players on the women's national team are fighting for this and have things to say about it. “Everyone is kind of asking what’s next and what we want to come of all of this,” Megan Rapinoe said hours after the World Cup final. “It’s to stop having the conversation about equal pay. It’s time to sit down with everyone and really get to work.” My opinion on the matter is that equal pay should be enhanced for women's soccer. I absolutely love to play soccer and think its an amazing sport in general. I would like to be somewhat of a soccer player when I get older. I want that generation to be different than the one for soccer now, which includes equal pay and women get treated the same as men. As of right now, all the women on the national team are having to have two jobs while most men are just playing pro soccer and gaining a larger revenue than the women. The USWNT deserves to be paid the same as men, they are both great teams who are completely equal and payment should be fair. Many other women teams have this problem for soccer but are fixing it. According to Los Angeles Times, “Norway figured that out 18 months ago when its federation became the first to agree to equal pay for its men’s and women’s teams, with the men agreeing to take a cut to make that happen.” So why doesn't the US federation make this leap and create a big jump for the next generation of US soccer stars? Story by Lily Severance  The darker the blue, the higher that state was ranked. There are 50 states in America, and people live in all of them. If you wanted to, you could move to any of them. To help you become familiar with them, I have gathered data from 3 different websites: USA Today, Wallethub and CNBC. I will be going over which five states were ranked highest, which ones specialize in certain categories, and other interesting data about other states.
5. Vermont: Vermont has the 6th lowest unemployment rate, 3rd smallest increase in population change, and it was also ranked #1 in education and health. It is very expensive, but fortunately the weather makes up for it. It has lows in the 10’s in winter, but great cool summers, with highs in the 70s, sometimes reaching the 80’s. 4. Colorado: Colorado has the 4th lowest annual unemployment rate and the 4th highest economy rank. However, it’s not very affordable. It has beautiful mountains with a very high elevation which is great for those who like skiing. Though, it’s cold: it can reach 14 degrees Fahrenheit in January. 3. New Hampshire: New Hampshire has the lowest poverty rate in America. It has a very low crime rate and a great economy, but it was ranked 42nd for affordability. However, the weather never gets too hot or too cold, and it is great for people who love the rain. 2. Minnesota: Minnesota has the 2nd longest life expectancy, the 4th lowest poverty rate, and it was also ranked at 3rd for education and health. It is quite snowy, with annual highs in the 80’s, and brutally cold winters. 1. Massachusetts: Massachusetts was ranked the highest, and for a good reason. It has the 5th longest life expectancy, 2nd in economy, 2nd in education and health, 3rd in quality of life and 4th in safety - its only flaw is its affordability, which got ranked at 43. And if that’s not enough, there are great attractions such as Cape Cod beaches, and activities such as whale watching and the Freedom Trail. It has annual highs in the 70’s, and the winters are in the 20s, so it’s cold, but not hypothermia-cold. After reading about these states, you might have noticed something: they are all quite expensive and up north where it is more chilly. If you prefer the heat, or just don’t want to live in an expensive area, here are some higher-ranked states that are affordable and warm (not in any particular order):
As you can tell by the writing so far, there are categories that states are ranked in, like “education” and “life expectancy”. So, to wrap this up, I will go over every category’s state that ranked highest. Don’t worry, it’s not a lot to read: The smallest increase in population change: Rhode Island. Rhode Island got ranked 15th overall. Lowest unemployment rate: Hawaii. Hawaii got ranked 7th overall. Lowest poverty rate: New Hampshire. New Hampshire got ranked 3rd overall. Longest life expectancy: Hawaii again. Most affordable: Alabama. Alabama got ranked 47th overall. Best economy: North Dakota. North Dakota got ranked 14th overall. Highest “education and health” ranking: Vermont. Vermont got ranked 5th overall. Highest “quality of life” ranking: New York. New York got ranked 16th overall. Most safe: New Jersey. New Jersey got ranked 6th overall. Well, that’s it. I just went over the best states to live in America, and after reading this, I hope you know some states you would like to live in or visit one day. If you are still undecided, feel free to check out the websites on your own by following the links in the first paragraph. Story by Rowyn Esslinger  In the Outer Banks of North Carolina, twenty years ago from June 17th, 1999 to July 9, 1999, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse was moved 2,900 feet farther inland from Hatteras Point. So you may be asking yourself, what would motivate anyone to move a historic lighthouse? Why? How? In fact, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has changed over time with different styles of architecture leading up to its present design and location.
The History And Older Versions Of The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse The first Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1803. The lighthouse was built of sandstone and was 90 feet tall. According to Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the 1803 lighthouse was too short and was not able to effectively warn ships if they were in danger or if they needed to know which way the shore was. Also, because the lighthouse was made of sandstone, it blended in with the color of the sand, so it was harder to see than you would expect. In 1853, the Lighthouse Board decided to add 60 feet to the height of the 1803 lighthouse making it 150 feet tall. It was then painted red and white making it easier to see during the day. However, people still complained about the effectiveness of the lighthouse. The construction of the 1870 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse started in October of 1868 next to the 1803 lighthouse. The 1870 lighthouse was completed in December of 1870 costing $155,000 which would cost millions in today’s dollars. The 1803 lighthouse was destroyed in February of 1871. The Moving of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse In 1999, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore decided to move the lighthouse because of the constant erosion of the shore. As you can imagine, moving a lighthouse is not very easy! As described by the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, the whole original foundation was temporarily replaced by shoring parts and supports. After cross beams and main beams were set, the temporary supporting parts were then removed. Hydraulic jacks were built into the main beams and were used to make a 6-foot raise so that they could use roll beams and rollers to roll the lighthouse into position. The hydraulic jacks were retracted and they were then able to roll the lighthouse into its new location. It cost $11.8 million to move the lighthouse! Today, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is still used frequently to guide ships in the coast of North Carolina. It is no longer in danger of the eroding shoreline and has withstood many severe storms in the past 20 years. But with the shoreline continuing to erode, how long before they will have to move the lighthouse again? Story by Tate Lloyd  On September 4th 2019, the company YouTube, owned by Google, was fined 170 million dollars. Why, you may ask? We'll, YouTube was fined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for a child privacy violation lawsuit. This lawsuit was put into motion because YouTube was “spying” on kids’ YouTube accounts. Now, the reason why they were “spying” was to put out specialized ads for children and to flag the videos that are most commonly watched by the children. To justify this, YouTube says they put this information into the YouTube Kids App to make it a safer and more efficient service to younger viewers. As a response to this lawsuit, YouTube has stated that it is going to completely stop the display of ads on videos related to kids and turn off the notifications and comments of children-related videos.
This Privacy Violation Law is effective until a child is 13 years old. For anyone younger than the required age of 13, it would still be illegal for YouTube to collect data on them. Even though a fine has been paid and YouTube fully understands that it will pay for its actions if a violation happens again, many people still do not fully trust them. For example, Digital Information World said, “Despite the settlement and the new policies launched by YouTube, the majority of people still fail to trust YouTube and accuse it of violating Children’s Online Privacy for years. Even two members of the FTC also voted against the settlement.” YouTube, because of this lawsuit, has lost a tremendous amount of money. Much of this money has been either given to NewYork or to the FTC. The next big issue is the money. It has become very clear that Google and YouTube are going to be losing a tremendous amount of money. Now I’m sure you're wondering, where is all this money going to or who is it going to? Well Google will pay 34 million of it to New York and the other 136 million will go to the FTC. This is said to be the highest amount ever paid to settle a fine. This is also the biggest amount ever paid to the FTC for a case since the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act was formed in 1998. This case has vastly affected YouTube, many people now don’t trust it, but somehow Google’s stock has gone up by +4.10. Story by Hadley Wallace  After demolishing the Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the Carolina coast on September 1st, 2019. It hit as a category 1 hurricane, it was moving at 21 miles per hour. The hurricane leaves 5 dead on the Carolina coast and 45 or more in the Bahamas. The hurricane brought heavy rains, bad winds and lots of flooding. It was quick-moving but the damage was still devastating. 100s of people were stranded on Ocracoke island. Ocracoke is/was only accessible by air or by water on normal days.
The storm surge rose 5 to 7 feet in a matter of hours. As it moved north it started too split up over a wider area. Most of the homes that Dorian hit didn't have flood insurance. In only a couple of days, people have raised 10,000 dollars for recovery after the hurricane. Power has been restored to Dare county but much more is needed to be done. Trees began destroying roofs, and local tree companies in Manteo have already begun clearing trees. But trees are the only problem. Almost ½ of the pair is missing because of the storm. Almost 300 feet were ripped off. Our coast wasn't ready for this kind of devastation. A Virginia based rescue program rescued 21 dogs from Florence South Carolina. They were working to recuse another 40 dogs on the 7th. Most of the dogs will go into the foster families or will be at an adoption event in Washington. One dog has already been adopted. It brought the community closer even though it tore their town apart. Story by Chloe Summerlin SOURCES: Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas. “Hurricane Dorian Whips North Carolina's Outer Banks: Live Updates.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/us/hurricane-dorian-updates.html Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas. “Hurricane Dorian Whips North Carolina's Outer Banks: Live Updates.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/us/hurricane-dorian-updates.html. “Outer Banks Rallies to Recover after Hit from Hurricane Dorian.” WAVY.com, 10 Sept. 2019, https://www.wavy.com/weather/hurricane/outer-banks-rallies-to-recover-after-hit-from-hurricane-dorian/ “21 Dogs Rescued from South Carolina as Hurricane Dorian Continues On.” Newsela, newsela.com/read/hurricane-dorian-dogs/id/56787/. Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas. “Hurricane Dorian Whips North Carolina's Outer Banks: Live Updates.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/us/hurricane-dorian-updates.html. “Outer Banks Rallies to Recover after Hit from Hurricane Dorian.” WAVY.com, 10 Sept. 2019, www.wavy.com/weather/hurricane/outer-banks-rallies-to-recover-after-hit-from-hurricane-dorian/.  On May 1st, 2019, roughly 32 school systems and 4 charter schools closed in North Carolina. Why you may ask? Well, the N.C. Association of Educators organized a rally. The rally was for the teachers of North Carolina to be able to stand up for school budgets. Last year the school systems had a very similar rally. The rally attracted at least 20,000 people and 42 out of the 115 school districts in the state closed so that their teachers could attend the rally. The main points of the day are the arrival, the march to the general assembly, the rally, the legislative visit, and the bus pick-up.
This rally happened because on April 28 2019, the state house education budget papers were released. As you may have guessed many teachers and school attendees disagreed with what was in the budget. One of my school teachers, Miss Forsythe, attended the rally that happened in Asheville. When I asked her why she went, this was her response. “I have gone to the rally for the past two years because I believe that North Carolina should value education more than it does. This includes paying teachers a competitive salary so that they are not leaving of the state, and funding schools properly so that students can have everything they need like mental health services, supplies, and up to date resources.” Also many teachers and attendees of schools that weren’t canceled also had rally’s in their own cities, Asheville is one of those examples. Many teachers went because they disagreed with the budgets, but for what reasons? The NC superintendent’s letter stated that the new average teachers salary was now $54,000 per school year, though the most a teacher can make currently in NC is just above 52,000 per year with 25+ years of experience. Many teachers think that people with higher degrees should get a higher pay, which was one of the rally’s demands. Some also wanted to expand medicare for the teachers and students. Some people did oppose the rally though, people like Senate President Phil Berger and State Superintendent Mark Johnson. Mark Johnson asked that teachers took action while school was not in session but the teachers didn’t take no for an answer. The teachers rallied up in Raleigh and protested for a better budget. As of now no official changes have been made to the budget. Story by Hadley Wallace Sources: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article229714994.html https://www.wral.com/may-1-teacher-rally-who-where-when-why/18349926/ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article228372884.html https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article229863299.html  Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in the United States in 1916 after being outraged that she was unable to give her patients information about contraceptives. Under the 1873 Comstock Law, it was illegal for Sanger to hand out information about birth control. She was arrested 9 days later when she handed an undercover police officer a pamphlet titled “What Everyone Girl Should Know”. According to NPR, “‘The courts ... ruled against her and said 'A woman's right to life gives her the right to not have intercourse with a man,' " says Lepore. "Sanger's argument is that a woman has a right to have sex without fear of death [during childbirth].” When the case was appealed, the courts ruled that it should be allowed for a doctor to hand out information about contraceptives. This allowed Sanger to open birth control clinics around the country. Her organization, American Birth Control League, was later renamed Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Although abortion was legal in the United States up until the 1800s, it was unsafe and unregulated. Connecticut became the first state to ban abortion-inducing medicine in 1921. Legal punishments for the women did not start until 1845. The reasons for these early abortion laws has been debated over the decades. Some argue that early laws were not made concerning the unborn fetus, but to protect the mother’s lives from untrained medical professionals performing the unsafe procedures while others say that pro-life was already influencing the abortion movement. On January 22, 1973, in the case of Roe v Wade, restrictions against abortions were ruled unconstitutional by Justice Harry Blackmun. In the coming years, court cases have been made to limit the effect of Roe v Wade but none have successfully been able to overturn it. According to Britannica, “In Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992), the Supreme Court established that restrictions on abortion are unconstitutional if they place an “undue burden” on a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus is viable.” States made restrictions by passing bills that would limit healthcare funding for abortions, banning abortions after 20 weeks (when a fetus is able to feel pain), banning abortions for babies with abnormalities, and more. Recently, Alabama’s legislation has introduced a heartbeat ban on abortions. This bill outlaws the procedure after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which occurs at around 6 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors who perform the procedure after this amount of time face up to 99 years in prison. This law does not leave exceptions for cases of incest or rape. Alabama isn’t alone in passing these bills. Governors in Georgia, Mississippi, and Ohio have also signed bills similar to Alabama’s. These laws may be unenforceable due to the decision of Roe v Wade, but supporters hope that because of Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court as the 5th Republican vote, this could be a step towards outlawing abortion throughout the country. Article written by Erin Chen Additional Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/16/politics/states-abortion-laws/index.html https://abortion.procon.org/history-of-abortion/ Image source: https://abortion.procon.org/history-of-abortion/  The CIA is our nation's main security branch. We had many different security forces in WWll before the CIA was established. CIA stands for Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA was established in 1947. It was officially created when President Truman signed the security act. By 1953 the CIA was an established part of our government. Unlike the FBI the CIA has no law enforcement function.
Some of the intelligence agencies before the CIA were Office of the Coordinator of Information (COI). Which was founded in 1941 and lasted for 337 days. It was founded because the U.S needed an intelligence agency during WWll. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) it was established in 1942. And lasted for 3 years and 3 months. Strategic Services Unit (SSU) was founded in 1947. It lasted for 1 year and 5 months. It was founded because we needed an agency to temporarily take over for the OSS in London, Paris, Rome, and Cairo until and permanent solution could be found. The last agency before the CIA was the Central Intelligence Group (CIG). It was founded in 1946 and lasted for 1 year and 3 months. It was founded because we needed an organization not only to analyze info but also produce info. All of the version above were used in WWll. The CIA is tasked with gathering and processing international security. The CIA reports to the Director of national intelligence. It also analyzes international data. It has grown in size since the 9/11 attacks. Its headquarters are in Virginia. The CIA is the only agency authorized by law to carry out and oversee covert operations. Story by Maddy Peeples Sources: https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/history-of-the-cia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency https://www.cia.gov/portlet_content/home-slider-images/cia_seal_slider/image.jpg  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) named one of their numerous facilities after Katherine G. Johnson, who computed trajectories for John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission to orbit Earth and Neil Armstrong’s Apollo’s Lunar Lander. The Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility (IV&V) was renamed February 22, NASA announced. President Donald Trump signed a law in December calling for the redesignation, NBC Washington says. The New York Times writes that Joylette Hylick, one Johnson’s daughters, says that her mother is living comfortably and is humbled by the recognition. Hylick added that she hoped the dedication would inspire others in the future, beyond Black History Month. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said, “I am thrilled we are honoring Katherine Johnson in this way as she is a true American icon who overcame incredible obstacles and inspired so many.” Previously, Johnson won the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2015 and countless other awards for her prestigious talent for mathematics.
Johnson, along with Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson, were three main characters in the 2016 film Hidden Figures, which chronicles the journey of these three African-American women and their success at Langley Research center in Hampton, Virginia. The film was based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly and won three Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. CNN reports that “Johnson's contributions, like those of many female ‘computers,’ were often overlooked in history.” That’s certainly true. Johnson was born in 1918 in West Virginia, where equality was hard to come by. Her skill led her several grades ahead of her age. When she was only 13, she was attending high school and when she was 18, she had enrolled in college. Johnson graduated with honors and took a teaching job at a segregated public school, although her sights were still set on math. When West Virginia decided to desegregate schools in 1939, a professor chose Johnson and two male students to enter the West Virginia University graduate school. NASA says that Johnson left the school at the end of the first session to marry and raise children. In 1952, Johnson was told by a friend that a spot was open at the Langley laboratory in Hampton, Virginia. Johnson, then Goble, moved to accommodate the position at Langley. During that time, she analyzed data from flight tests. Katherine’s husband, James Goble, died of cancer shortly before Sputnik’s launch. Johnson did some math for a compilation of documents. The engineers of this compilation later formed the Space Task Group and Katherine “moved along” with them. She did the trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 and coauthored a report describing how to know where a spacecraft would land. Johnson then completed the work she was known for. The IBM machines (the first computing machines, or computers) were prone to blackouts and technology problems, which made everyone at NASA cautious of them. John Glenn basically refused to go into his capsule, Friendship 7, until Katherine Johnson had checked them herself. She retired after 33 years at Langley and several year’s worth of important work in service of America’s space age. Now, after her work being held from the outside world for more than a half a century, Johnson deserves this recognition. Katherine, be proud of this. Your talent and prestigious skill makes all of us proud and inspires young women like me to follow in your footsteps. Story by Caroline Barton SOURCE FOR PICTURE: https://www.makers.com/profiles/591f267c6c3f646439558630  On January 20th, 2017 Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States, during his run for president against Democrat Hillary Clinton the election was a close call and many were hopeful for the first woman to be president. From the beginning, President Trump's election has been viewed critically by many political leaders and citizens of the United States. President Trump has made a statement that he will build a wall on the southern border to keep illegal immigrants and terrorists out of the United States. Many professionals and celebrities have made the comment that not everyone that comes into the United States are terrorists and drug lords but President Trump has refused to believe them. Enforcing the idea of a 1,000 mile long wall from Arizona to Texas to keep thousands of famlies from coming to the United States. The wall could take up to 8 billion dollars to build according to nbcnews and millions to take care of every year taking funding away from important departments.
President Trump recently has declared a state of national emergency regarding the 8 billion dollar wall he hopes to build, after President Trump proposed the amount of money the wall will take to build, Congress passed a bill only allowing 1.375 billion to be used causing President Trump to consider the national emergency. The Pentagon announced they would send an extra 3,750 troops to the wall for more protection. Congress is on the verge of formally repudiating President Trump's national emergency making it a historic first and many agree with this idea. Many celebrities have tweeted comments such as "Speaking of borders, I do believe loving people know that regardless of politics, there are some lines you do not cross. Protecting children seems to be one we can all agree on."- Jennifer Nettles along with many others tweeting similar posts. A national emergency can be declared by the government during three different situations civil unrest, disaster, or armed conflict. There have been 59 national emergencies in U.S. history and 31 of them have been in effect for many years. Some of the National Emergencies that are still in effect today are the national emergency with respect to Iran in effect because of the Iran hostage crisis and was put into effect on November 14, 1979, and the national emergency with respect to prohibiting certain transactions with respect to the development of Iranian Petroleum Resources this was put in to effect in March of 1995 along with 29 other emergencies still active today these are just a few. Most of the national emergencies still in effect are active because the U.S. is still considered to be in a state of crisis. Story by Barret Bryson link |
