COUGAR PRIDE AVL
  • Featured @ AMS
  • Cougar Community
  • City of Asheville
  • State & National
  • Around the World
  • Culture
  • Interest & Opinion
  • Cougar News
  • Featured @ AMS
  • Cougar Community
  • City of Asheville
  • State & National
  • Around the World
  • Culture
  • Interest & Opinion
  • Cougar News
Search

History of the CIA

3/22/2019

 
Picture
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

Katherine Johnson’s Work At NASA Pays Off

3/13/2019

 
Picture
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 ​

Can a president declare a national emergency?

3/8/2019

 
Picture
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

The 91st Academy Awards: When History Was Made

3/1/2019

 
Picture
Closing the awards season this year, the 91st Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, made history in many ways. From daring fashion statements to setting new records, the 2019 Oscars didn’t fail to impress us. On Sunday night at 8:00 pm the curtains rose on a smoke-filled stage. Emerging from the background, world famous guitarist Brian May emerges with frontman Adam Lambert to open the show with Queen’s first live TV performance since 1985. Performing songs “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” brought the awards ceremony to life. When the performance ended, stars Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph open the show and announce that there will be no host for the 91st Academy Awards. This hasn’t happened in 30 years. Even without a host, the show turned into one of the most memorable, record-breaking Oscar ceremonies ever held. Here are some of the highlights of the night!

Records
One of the most monumental records set was "Black Panther" production designer Hannah Beachler’s win. She was the first African-American winner in the production design category. Her speech was tearful and inspiring, saying “I give this strength to all of those who come next to keep going and to never give up and when you think it’s impossible just remember this piece of advice I got from a very wise woman: I did my best, and my best is good enough.” Legendary director Spike Lee also won his first competitive Oscar for “BlacKkKlansman,” even after being discouraged for not winning any direction awards for one of his biggest films, “Malcolm X” (1992). This was such a big moment for Lee. After he heard his name, he ran up to the stage and jumped up onto Samual L. Jackson for a huge hug! The room was ecstatic from the pure energy Spike Lee brought onto the stage.

Drama
After Lada Gaga won the Oscar for best original song with “Shallow” featured in “A Star Is Born,” she stunned the crowd with a live performance of her award-winning song alongside Bradley Cooper, her costar. Throughout the whole song, all viewers felt a strong sense of chemistry between the two and questioned whether there was a secret romance between them. The day after the performance Lady Gaga tells Randee Dawn, a reporter for ‘Today.com,’ “Yes, people saw love, and guess what? That's what we wanted you to see.” On a much funnier note, Mellisa McCarthy surprised the crowd when she confidently walked on stage wearing a gown covered in bunny stuffed animals. It was a tribute to the nominated film “The Favourite.” McCarthy managed to walk on to the stage and hand out the Oscar for best costume design with a straight face!

International
The biggest international record set this year was for "Roma." This movie became the first film from Mexico to win the Oscar for best foreign language film. The dialogue in “Roma” is in Spanish and Mixtec. Another new record set this year was Rami Malek receiving the award for best actor. This was his first nomination and first win. During his acceptance speech, Malek says, "I am the son of immigrants from Egypt. I am a first generation American, and part of my story is being written right now and I could not be more grateful." This makes him the first Arab American to win the best actor award at the Oscars.

Fashion Feature
A Hollywood award show wouldn’t be complete without a red carpet report! On Sunday night, singer Billy Porter stole the show with his tuxedo top the flowed into a magnificent gown. He later told stunned reporters that he wasn’t part of the drag community, he was simply a “man in a dress.” This red carpet outfit has hopefully opened up a new world to all boys watching, teaching them that stereotypes about boys not being able to wear skirts and dresses are unnecessary. Billy Porter taught everyone to move past gender stereotypes and do what others were afraid to do. After all, he ended up being the star of the red carpet at the 2019 Oscars!

Story by Lily Crum 


Sources:
https://abc7chicago.com/entertainment/women-win-record-number-of-oscars;-see-2019s-oscars-firsts/5155000/
https://www.cnet.com/news/oscars-2019-winners-best-picture-best-director-green-book-reactions-black-panther-bohemian-rhapsody/
https://www.vogue.com/article/billy-porter-oscars-red-carpet-gown-christian-sirian
https://www.bustle.com/p/hannah-beachler-is-the-first-black-woman-to-win-oscar-for-production-design-her-speech-is-so-moving-16051138
https://www.today.com/popculture/lady-gaga-talks-oscars-performance-bradley-cooper-shatters-our-dreams-t149566
https://people.com/movies/oscars-2019-melissa-mccarthy-rabbit-dress-presenting-costume-design/
https://www.bustle.com/p/rami-maleks-2019-oscars-speech-for-bohemian-rhapsody-honored-his-immigrant-parents-16051557


    Picture

    Archives

    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017

© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Featured @ AMS
  • Cougar Community
  • City of Asheville
  • State & National
  • Around the World
  • Culture
  • Interest & Opinion
  • Cougar News