School is back! Here is how to handle this new year! …...2014/08/09 · By Sana Chaudhry...

By Sana [email protected] Florida Governor Rick Scott promised a crackdown on illegal immigration. But this summer, he quietly signed a legislation known as the DREAM Act, which allows undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition at Florida colleges and universities. In accordance with the bill, undocumented im-migrants must meet a certain number of requirements to qualify for instate tuition rates. They have to attend secondary school for three consecutive years before grad-uating from a Florida high school and after graduating high school, students have 24 months to apply to a Florida college or university. Earlier this year, ef-forts to extend in-state tuition to undocumented students at public colleges and universi-ties failed due to huge opposi-tion from leading Republicans within the state Senate. But

it was able to pass this spring since party leaders were trying to appeal to Hispanic voters, which could be because it is an election year. One of the battle-grounds for Hispanic votes is Miami-Dade County, home to the largest number of Hispanic voters. According to party registration statistics, Hispan-ics tend to lean Democrat-ic; however, in actual voting patterns, the Hispanic vote is competitive within parties. President Barack Obama overwhelmingly won Florida’s Hispanic vote in 2012, and they narrowly backed Scott in 2010. Although historically Miami-Dade’s Cuban-Amer-ican vote has been reliable for the GOP candidates, it has be-come inconsistent over time. House Bill 851 was a huge priority to the House Re-publicans, but they were over-come by opposition from the Senate conservatives.

Continued on Page A2

Undocumented Students Get Extended Tuition

The start of a new school year brings big chang-es as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are fully im-plemented in Florida schools. CCSS are set standards that have been adopted by the State of Florida, along with 43 other states, to ensure that teachers, students, and parents are all aware and understand the expectations students must meet from kindergarten through 12th grade. Although Florida re-named them to Florida Stan-dards, they do not substantial-ly differ from Common Core. In essence, state and local authorities are still in charge of their schools’ cur-ricula; however, that curricula must meet the standards. CCSS allows for kids in California to be compared to a student in Miami or in Kentucky. Although the federal government did not have an official role in developing the standards, the Obama admin-

Common Core ChangesBy Elizabeth Martinez [email protected]

istration has supported them by giving $360 million to the group of states that is writing the new Common Core tests. It has also declares that states adopting the guidelines will have a better chance of win-ning federal dollars under Race to the Top, a competitive grant program. The standards are a data-collecting effort, but the guidelines also hope to make American students more com-petitive internationally by raising all the states to teach guidelines that put an empha-sis on fewer, but more in-depth subjects, and by putting a larg-er emphasis on critical and an-alytical thinking. Florida first adopted the CCSS back in 2010, but the standards were only fully implemented in kindergarten, and they didn’t require schools to begin to fully phase into common core until 2012-2013. swing. Continued on Page A2

With summer coming to an end, there’s a chance to give back to the beach for wel-coming you all vacation long. The Peace Mural Foundation will be hosting an interactive event open to volunteers on August 30th at Virginia Key Beach during which art will be created and the beach environ-ment will be restored. Dubbed OceanUs, the project is aimed to raise aware-

Saving the Ocean One Brushstroke at a TimeBy Carina [email protected]

August 2014 ~ Vol. XV No. 1Miami Lakes Educational Center 5780 NW 158th St Miami Lakes, FL 33014

the Harbinger

Back to SchoolSchool is back! Here is how to handle this new year! Pg C2

News

The End of the Road

By Lessenitt Campos Why is there a smaller amount of teens out on the road and why are so many prolonging their driving test? Cont’d Pg. A3

Pgs. A2-A3

Feature Will Marvel Ever Come To Disney World?

By Vivian Bermudez It’s hot, not too humid, and not really that hard-core, but still kind of – it’s Warped Tour at West Palm Beach’s Cruzan amphithe-ater. Cont’d Pg. C6

Pgs. C6

Opinion Wraped Tour 2014

By Carina Vo It’s hot, not too humid, and not really that hard-core, but still kind of – it’s Warped Tour at West Palm Beach’s Cruzan amphithe-ater. Cont’d Pg. D8

Pg. D7-D8

Online Exclusives A Summary of The World Cup

By Marissa Echeverria After four years of wait-ing, the World Cup finally took over our television screens.

Should the United States be the world’s police?By Michan Walsh So, do we help Iraq once again, or should Pres-ident Obama make good on his promise to end all military involvement in the country?

Pseudomature Behavior

By Nathalie Mairena The behavior was named “pseudomature” behavior by Allen. The at-tempt to act older and more brazen as a way to impress their friends. Cont’d Pg. A2

Fall Fashion: Incorporat-ing It Into Your UniformBy Laura Gonzalez This past summer, many styles of clothing seemed to have been switching in and out of what most would consider “trendy.”

ness of the “all the damage we are causing our marine envi-ronments with pollution, lack of consciousness, and contam-ination,” as stated by the proj-ect’s official website. Between a beach clean-up and the collaborative creation of an 8’ x 200’ mural, OceanUs is a surefire way to beautify Virginia Key.

Continued on Page A2

In accordance with the bill, undocumented immigrants must meet a certain number of requirements to qualify for instate tuition rates.

Sara

h G

onza

lez/S

tate

impa

ct F

lorid

a

Millions are spent buliding these ships but some are finding that safety isn’t a cost for the curise line companies.

Tristina Dietz-Elm

es/artbookbug.blogspot.com

One theory is

that they missed

an important

developmental

period.

Pseudomature Behavior

Contiuned from Page A1 For many parents and students, it is easy to get con-fused in the political rhetoric from both sides of the argu-ment on the approval of the standards, but one thing is for sure, the changes will be a dis-advantage to older students at an average level because they will be forces to do more criti-cal thinking. The shift to common core standards means that learning will be more oriented to analysis rather than recita-tion. For example, instead of

Common Core Changes

When Carolina Ma-cias didn’t come home from work, her mother panicked. According to CBS Mi-ami, she received a phone call from Carolina’s boss saying that Carolina was gone and had left her cell phone along with the rest of her belongings. She called 9-1-1 to report it but after four hours of silence, not long enough for police to officially declare Macias a missing person, she reached for her cell phone and texted her family and friends, asking for help in finding her daughter. Carolina’s older sister, Andrea Macias who lives in Texas, created an Instagram collage of the mother’s text, a picture of Carolina, and a message to readers with the hashtag “#prayforcaro” at-tached to it. The photo trended world wide on Twitter and In-stagram, reaching over nine thousand reposts within 12 hours. Strangers created Face-book and Twitter accounts dedicated to finding the teen. “Although I didn’t know her, I thought it would do justice if I at least tried helping out,” said Elizabeth Vargas, who created the Face-book page, “Help Find Caro Macias.” According to Insta-gram users talking about the

By Maria [email protected]

Caro Macias: The Incident

case, people in Ohio even went as far as putting a billboard up for the missing teen. Senator Marco Rubio also tweeted the photo. The following day, rumors spread that she was found but the family denied them and continued asking for help in finding her. By noon, she was officially found. According to The Mi-ami Herald, “Surveillance vid-eo later showed Macias enter-ing a Publix supermarket with a friend…and renting a movie from a RedBox.” When people found out that she was just “hanging out with a friend” some were relieved and understanding of the situation. “There’s no way to prove she’s a runaway until she is safely secured,” said Jon-athan Salazar, a Search and Rescue/First Responder who has worked in numerous miss-ing persons cases. “No matter what the circumstances are, she had the potential to be in danger.” Others were upset and felt cheated. “I was one of the thou-sands of people who retweeted her picture in order to help find her and I ended up find-ing out that she just ran away. Now, I can’t trust families who say their child is missing anymore and I feel really bad

about it. She turned this seri-ous matter into a joke,” said Alexander Del Valle, a student from FIU. Why did her case re-ceive much more attention than most other missing per-sons cases? For example, on July 4th @Childhoodruniner, a popular Twitter account with over 359,800 followers, tweet-ed two photos of Talaija Dors-ey, a twelve-year-old missing girl from Los Angeles, Califor-nia. The photo attracted 3,628 out of the 300,000+ followers they have. A local news station reported the missing child and that’s all what was heard from the case; no billboards or sena-tors were involved. According to The Advocate, a local newspaper in L.A., “Talaija Dorsey dis-appeared on July 1st and her body was found in a grassy area near a cane filed in St. James Parish, Sunday, July 6.” Unfortunately, she did not have the same fate as Caro

Macias. A lot of people on Twitter claim that it’s because of her race or her social class. “I think her social status definitely played an im-pact,” said Jonathan Salazar. On Carolina Macias’s Twitter profile, you can search through her photos and tweets and see how people have com-mented on where she lives, the brand name and designer clothes and shoes she wears. One example is a photo of her posing with her leg and foot bent upward to reveal her Louboutin high heels. Maybe her family had the resources to get the help they got. Or maybe her pop-ularity at school or on Twitter got her the attention. “Families employ so-cial media and that’s not a bad thing,” said David Ovalle, a crime reporter for The Miami Herald. Regardless, “the media has a duty to be responsible no matter who the person is,” said Ovalle, when asked if her race or social class/status had any-

By Lessenitt [email protected]

The End of the Road

Most teenagers don’t consider being able to stay up late, being able to go out with-out parental supervision or receiving a diploma on grad-uation day a rite of passage. Getting a learner’s permit and full license is what they wait for. So why is there a smaller amount of teens out on the road and why are so many prolonging their driving test? “I don’t have [my restrict-ed]. I keep procras-tinating, thinking ‘I should get one as soon as possible.’ But even if I did I wouldn’t be able to drive…it’s about the money,” said Melanie Chiurli-za, a junior at MLEC. Nowadays, there ap-pears to be fewer and fewer teenagers working. Teenage unemployment has increased by 11 percent since 2006. With fewer teens making their own money, few-er are able to pay high gas pric-

es.Floridians are paying more money for gas than any of the other southeastern states. With an average price of $3.63, Florida charges eight cents more than the nation-al average according to AAA. Teenagers between the ages

of 16 and 19 are three times more likely to be in a fatal car crash than drivers 20 and older. Consequent-ly, adding a teen driver typically increases an in-surance premium by about 84 per-

cent in Florida. The number of covered teenagers has de-creased by about 12 percent. “It looks like teens just can’t afford to drive,” said Matt Moore, Vice President of the Highway Loss Data Institute. Instead of spending money on gas and car repairs, teenagers are communicating more through technology. The generation today depends on

and embraces the technology around them - more so then past generations. Cellphones, Wi-Fi, and applications like WhatsApp and Line are chang-ing the way people communi-cate without the need of actual interaction. “…Access to virtual contact reduces the need for actual contact among young people,” said Michael Sivak, a research professor of the Transportation Research Insti-

tute at the University of Michi-gan. Sivak and researchers gathered evidence showing that countries with a higher amount of Internet users also had lower rates of licensed young drivers. They hypothe-sized that, “social media may be taking the place of motor-ized transportation.” According to the Flor-ida Department of Highway and Motor Vehicles, there are

thing to do with the amount of attention she got when she was missing. This issue also brings up the use of social media in all missing persons cases. AM-BER Alert is the main contrib-utor in broadcasting missing persons through Android and iPhone users who receive an alert nation wide when some-one is missing. Twitter, Face-book, and Instagram are usu-ally the first method people use to spread the news on a missing person. “Social media spread word on this situation VERY rapidly. It went nation wide in the first 12 hours. The power of social media, which lets us transmit information faster than a blink of our eyes was a tremendous resource to this case,” said Salazar. “It’s human psychol-ogy; The same instincts that lead us to give our change to those on the street by us. Peo-ple believe they can make a difference. In this case, it defi-nitely proved it.”

just memorizing math formu-las, students will have to learn the thought process behind the formula. This will mean the end to the FCAT and its teaching ways as we know it. The FCAT will be re-placed by the FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), which will focus on analysis of sub-jects and provided informa-tion. Beyond just the test, the most pertinent changes are the addition of calculus, an emphasis on print and cursive

4,000 less 16-years old getting their driver’s licenses than those of seven years ago. Get-ting a driver’s license used to represent freedom and inde-pendence: the first big step into adulthood for teens. Now, they appear to have other financial and logi-cal priorities. Communication remains a priority, but ulti-mately, it is easier to connect through a phone than through the road.

By Nathalie [email protected]

NewsA2 A3News

As prices for gas, insurance, and automobiles rise, teenagers are starting to second guess getting behind the wheel.

Contiuned from Page A1 The immigration bill passed in the House 84-32 but was stalled in the Senate until Scott asked for help from two former Republican governors - Jeb Bush and Bob Martinez - who called upon the Senate to take action. Currently, 17 other states have allowed in-state tu-ition rates for undocumented students, according to anal-ysis by Florida’s House of Repre-sentatives. Rick Scott focused on tuition control to compete with the policies of former Governor Charlie Crist. Scott had his bill approval timed to coincide with a weeklong tour of college affordability in major Florida cities – a tour meant to emphasize his dif-ferences from his opponent in November, Charlie Crist. The state Republican Party has also released an ad bashing Crist, a former Re-publican who will now be run-ning as a Democrat, for allow-ing colleges and universities to spike up their tuition rates by up to 15 percent a year while

he was governor. Crist also accused Scott and lawmakers of short-changing teachers by passing a large, $77 billion budget that still funded Bright Futures scholarships and per-pupil funding for PreK-12 classrooms at lower levels than at Florida’s peak during Crist’s first year as governor. “You want people to get good jobs, but you won’t

educate them. It’s nonsense,” Crist said. Crist’s cam-paign issued a statement saying that they applaud the tuition break, but labeled it a political ploy so Scott could gain popularity amongst the His-

panic population. With such politicking taking place from both sides in efforts to gain Hispanic votes, Hispanics will prove vital in the gubernatorial race. According to a poll done by Quinnipiac Univer-sity, though conservative Cu-ban-Americans tend to vote for Republicans, Crist was leading Scott amongst Hispan-ic voters.

Ruth

Rey

es/Th

e Har

bing

er

Undocumented Students Get Extended Tuition

One of the bat-

tlegrounds for

Hispanic votes

is Miami-Dade

County, home to

the largest num-

ber of Hispanic

voters.

In middle school, be-ing a cool kid meant having multiple dates, going to old-er kids’ parties, and skipping school. Being cool meant not caring about the rules and try-ing to imitate being an “adult.” Many parents and teachers have chided that this sort of behavior only leads to more troubling behavior as the child gets older. And accord-ing to a research study by Jo-seph P. Allen, this is very true. Allen is a psycholo-gy professor at the University of Virginia and has recently pub-lished a study in the journal Child Development. The study followed 184 chil-dren for 10 years from the age 13 to 23. Out of those children, 20 percent fell into the “cool kid” category. Researchers made sure to document all of the subjects’ social rises and downfalls, while consistently interviewing them and those close to them. They discovered that all of these “cool kids” shared three common behav-ioral traits. Researchers looked for friends who were physical-ly attractive and usually older,

they had multiple romances (which were often more sexual than those of their peers), and they also participated in minor criminal activity, like shoplift-ing. The behavior they ex-hibited was named “pseudo-mature” behavior by Allen. Many of these at-tempted to act older and more brazen as a way to impress their friends. But as their friends matured, their actions were seen as less grown-up and far more ridiculous. Their

popularity plum-meted. The study shows that as they grew older, they became much more prone to problems with al-

cohol and marijuana, with a 45 percent higher rate than their other peers. They were also 22 per-cent more prone to criminal behavior. The reason behind this pattern in behavior is un-known. But according to psy-chology professor B. Bradford Brown of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “pseudo-mature” behavior was a huge indicator of the extent of alco-hol and drug abuse the subject

would exhibit when they were older. There are several theo-ries as to how these individuals go from being the popular kids to socially inept adults. One theory is that they missed an important de-velopmental period. Those kids who dis-played pseudomature behav-ior were attempting to imitate what they considered mature behavior, which often involved harmful behavior, while their counterparts were developing healthy behaviors and rela-tionships for kids their age. Still another theory says that the individuals were too overburdened with trying to keep up appearances of be-ing “cool” and drifted to older kids of bad influence. Many of the former “cool kids” have failed roman-tic relationships, and their peers give them a social rating 22 percent lower than their “unpopular” peers. It should be noted that while pseudomature behav-ior does have some predicting ability, the results are not set in stone. While some individu-als ended up high school drop-outs, others graduated college with steady jobs.

Instead of

spending mon-

ey on gas and

car repairs,

teenagers are

communicating

more through

technology.

The start of the 2014-2015 school year brings a higher bar set, and asks more of students as Common Core Standards are fully implemented.

writing, and a focus of finan-cial literacy and nonfiction. The emphasis on such is to bet-ter prepare students for college and careers. All in all, the roll out of common core standards will affect many students. For up and coming middle and high school stu-dents, the changes will have been implemented since they were younger; but for students in their later years, the test will present the challenge of a higher bar and more analytical questions.

Eliz

abet

h M

artin

ez/Th

e Har

bing

er

Senator Marco Rubio also joined the Twitter campagin to find Caro Marcias. Even people in Ohio went as far as putting a billboard up for the missing teen.

@m

arco

rubi

o/Tw

itter

Contiuned from Page A1 Art interns are encour-aged greatly to seize this op-portunity, not only as a chance to do good for the community, but also to gain knowledge of complex art techniques and experience in the industry. Through a workshop that is hosted closely by the designer of the mural, Huong, aspiring artists will master the finesse required to complete the mural as well as the art of public speaking and spreading the word – the selected art in-terns will be making the gen-eral public aware of the ocean issue. This workshop will be hosted August 30th, running from 9AM through noon. The Peace Mural Foundation is accepting art-ists’ portfolios and resumes through e-mail at [email protected]. Those who are chosen will have the chance

Saving the Ocean One Brushstroke at a Time

to be part of the artistic effort that will be revealed at Art Ba-sel in November. Yet an artistic inclina-tion is not required to take part in this effort; all volunteers are invited to clean up the beach. Volunteers will be picking up trash and recyclables among other efforts of beautification and restoration on this day. The Peace Mural Foundation has already cap-tained several successful mural projects, such as the Peace Mu-ral, the Immigration Mural, and the War Mural. Each work of art tackles their own issues of interest, no matter how con-troversial. With these murals, the Peace Mural Foundation artfully brings significant is-sues to the public in a visually interesting way that will have onlookers agreeing, disagree-ing, or maybe even rethinking their own opinions.

peacemural.org

A child looks at one of the murals on display in Miami Beach by Peace Murals.

fun. Club Rush is meant to be a display for new students in order to persuade them to join. So why not take a look around?Looking for Something Fun? MLEC is known to be solely based on academics, so we don’t have any sports here. Luckily, some students have taken it upon themselves to spice up school life. Some clubs are all about some fun and quirky interests anyone can get into! If you like anime or Japanese culture go ahead and join the Japanese Culture and Anime Club; if you like to strum a guitar or break out in song, join the Music Club; if you like to preach Shakespeare or make clothes, join the Dra-ma Club. There is a club for ev-eryone, just take a look at the newly founded ASL Club. “American Sign Lan-

However, these don’t disappear after high school, or college, university, and beyond. Remember that. Good luck.Florida Virtual School Virtual school is a simpler alternative to dual enrollment. The classes ar-en’t college level unless you decide on AP. They’re de-signed for easy leaning, don’t take up too much time, and they’re flexible to your sched-ule (you can take a year to finish, unlike DE’s 6 weeks.) To sign up:

As you would for any other online website, click sign up and follow instruc-tions. You don’t need a coun-selor’s permission to sign up, but once you’re on and have chosen classes, you will need a counselor to approve your classes – usually they take a day or two to approve it, if not, go to Student Services to see your counselor. Once ap-proved, you’ll receive an email and you can begin your class-es instantly in the comfort of your home.

B4 B5

back

schoolto

By Ruth [email protected]

A Letter To The Freshmen

Dear Freshmen, I don’t know how to start this so I’m just going to go out and say it: Welcome to hell rookies, you’re all in for a ride. I’m sure most of you are worried about high school, the great secondary education everyone always talks about. I’m sure you all picked out the coolest outfits in your closets and dressed in your best smiles. I know you’re wor-ried about how many friends you’ll make this first week, who you’ll be sitting with at lunch, and what crazy things you can do to have an out-standing social life (and repu-tation), but I’m letting you in

on a secret now: don’t waste your time, those should be the least of your worries. High school, no mat-ter what adults tells you, will be the worst time of your life (there isn’t really a point in trying to make it better.) You’re going to go through a horrific self discovery pe-riod. You’re going to fail - big time - for the first time. You’re going to get hated on, you’re going to feel like you’re not good enough for a while (you’re even going to have your first all-nighter with your only companions being a textbook and an in-finitely long assignment sheet.)

By Gabriela [email protected]

Itching To Join A Club

Every year at MLEC, clubs get together and sponsor an event called Club Rush. For up and coming freshmen, this is your time to join clubs based on your interests and gain the community service hours you need to graduate. As for the sophomores and juniors, this event is not only a way to prove your clubs spirit, but gather new mem-bers in hope to make your club thrive. With that being said, here’re some reasons to partic-ipate in Club Rush.When is Club Rush? Club Rush usually takes place at the beginning of the year so that new freshmen and students can join clubs right away. The event usually happens the second week of school or in the beginning of September. During first and sec-

ond lunches, dozens of clubs are outside eagerly encourag-ing you to sign-up.Welcome Class of 2018! From Class of 2015 to this year’s new Class of 2018, our own classes blend in with the clubs and gather volunteers for the Hallway Competition during mid-year, as well as start collecting dues for their own class. Although Class of 2018 won’t be able to join the rest in gathering volun-teers, this is the year to prove their own spirit through other events such as the Homecom-ing Prep Rally.Gather Your Friends and Join Join Join! It’s important to get community service your first few years of high school, but that doesn’t mean you can’t join clubs for some harmless

By Ruth [email protected]

FLVS/Dual Enrollment Guide

Tedious but rele-vant– those are two words used to describe FLVS and dual enrollment classes. If normal classes are overwhelming already, why would anyone torture themself further by taking extra ones? Well, unfortunately, you should be raising your hand right now. Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and dual enrollment (DE) classes are ways to get ahead of the game– gradua-tion credit wise and by explor-ing subjects that interests you. Students who want to get their graduation credits early can do so through either (or both) of the sources above. In that same way, students that are interested in a specific subject– but can’t learn about it because the class is not of-fered at school or it doesn’t fit on their schedules– have the option of signing up for FLVS or dual enrollment to explore their passions at will. Whichever situation it might be, the benefits of taking extra classes are these: an appealing transcript– that demands attention from col-leges and universities– and the ability to take your future into your own hands by ex-ploring subject that could po-tentially become your career. Dual Enrollment (Miami Dade College) There’s no way to avoid seeing your counsel-

or, so go to student services and fill out a Request Form. The directions on the pa-per are self-explanatory. Once you’re with your counselor, ask for a dual enroll-ment application. If you need help figuring out what classes to take, don’t be afraid to ask for guidance. If you’re too embar-rassed to ask scan the QR Code below for an overall list of dual enrollment classes at MDC.

(Search up the names of the classes that catch your eye, read up on them, and go with whichever ones seem best for you.) The second step is to fill out your application. Now, if this is your first DE class, you’ll have to take the Postsecond-ary Education Readiness Test (PERT.) This is a test that mea-sures if you’re qualified to take college level classes, and it’ll test your math, reading com-prehension, and writing skills. The test is approxi-mately three hours long, but it’s not timed. You can retake it a total of two times every two

years, and you can take it in multiple sessions - but only the first day is free, any day after re-quires a ten dollar fee. The ap-plication given to you by your counselor will have the form to take the PERT; the rest of the application can be filled if you read the directions attached to the packet. (Or your counsel-or can help you with that too.) Once you’ve complet-ed the application process, head to the MDC campus of your choice. MDC North is closest to our school, but it’s your per-sonal preference depending on convenience and your home address. At the campus, they’ll have a dual enrollment room, so don’t go to the registry as if you were a college student. The dual enrollment room is specifically to deal with high school kids and their cra-zy schedules. You’ll be directed to the PERT testing center to take the test, and after you pass it, they’ll register you, send you to get an MDC ID, and give you a choice of classes. (Re-member: you can chose your schedule. If what was assigned to you is inconvenient, let the registry member known.) A word of advice: make sure you’re ready for dual enrollment. Classes may seem easy and failure might not seem possible, but once you begin classes, your grades will become as perma-nent as the ones at school are.

By Christian [email protected]

Fixing Your Schedule: Be Patient Every year, time-in and time-out, our school schedules are not perfect by any means necessary, and ev-ery year we complain and play the blame game with the poor counselors. Do you know how many kids attend Miami Lakes Educational Center? 1,600 to be exact. Now that doesn’t even include the incoming fresh-man who require papers to be transferred from their mid-dle-schools which is even more cumbersome to organize. Not all of our sched-ules are as easy to construct as others’- some of us go beyond the necessary lengths and take courses either through du-al-enrollment or Florida Vir-tual School (FLVS) that must also be taken into account. They can’t input the class until the student has completed it and a majority of us are not so considerate as to complete it by the necessary deadline, thus giving counsel-ors even more tedious work. If someone was plan-ning to take pre-calculus sophomore year by complet-ing Algebra 2 through Dual Enrollment or FLVS over the summer, then they would have had to finish the course before the school year started. The counselors try their best to avoid this, but it is very difficult to change a schedule once the year has started. With six classes a stu-dent the amount of responsi-bility per counselor sextuples. There are only three counselors working in our school- each of them have to split up the work, capping at 533 schedules each. But they cannot split the work evenly. Some counselors, like Ms. Tigerino, have an unfair disadvantage: they are separat-ed by letters and some groups of letters are more common in last names than others, like P-Z. So next time you have to wait a couple of days to get a small mistake fixed in your schedule, take into consider-ation all the factors that come into making up your six very distinct classes. All the overdue class-es, the copious amount of stu-dents, and our limited work force all cripple the chances of a perfect first day. Ms. Feria, Mr. Lasaga, and Ms. Tigerino are all trying their hardest and they deserve a round of applause!

By Julissa [email protected]

11 Survival Tips For Incoming Seniors

1) Avoid senioritis like the plague. It is a plague.You might feel compelled to give in to that terrible disease. Don’t. You have worked too hard. You have given too much of your-self. You can see the finish line. Don’t give up. 2) Capstone is real and it’s coming. Don’t put it off. Start brainstorming, talking to your mentors, and working on your final product (if you have one). Don’t avoid it, embrace it, and if that’s not possible, simply take is as a challenge. If you finish it early on in the year, you won’t have to stress about it later. 3) Take a mental health day every once in a while. Don’t get so caught up in work that you feel like you can’t afford to find a moment to decompress. School is not everything and your health is

more important. Not to men-tion that you will perform bet-ter if you have a well-rested mind. Get in touch with your true priorities. Health always comes first. Period.4) Don’t get overwhelmed by college applications. Everyone has to do them. And if everyone can do them, so can you. Space them out, try doing them ear-ly, give your essays to teachers in advance so they can correct them, and ask for recommen-dations in advance as well. Teachers and counsel-ors are busy and they will ap-preciate you coming to them early for help. Create a sched-ule and take it one day at a time. 5) Make a senior bucket list. Take time every week to cross something off your list. Go a little crazy. Fit some-thing into your schedule that you don’t usually do. Make it a

In short, a lot of bad, self dep-recating, things are going to happen throughout the next four years, but really? That’s not why they’ll be your worst years (that’s not even half of it.) Today you’re going to meet someone that’ll show you who you are. You won’t know that when you’re meet-ing them, but just wait. Start-ing today, you’re going to make friends that’ll be impossible to forget. You’re going to have the most important epiphany of your life. You’ll meet your favorite teacher - ever - be-cause for once, that teacher won’t cover just the subject on your report card but the one inscribed in The Book of Life. In these next few years, you’re going to find that you no lon-ger care about what others say, or think, about you; you’re go-ing to have people who love you so deeply that nothing else matters; you’re going to fall in love - whether it’s with a per-son, or with a music genre, or with a fictional character

featured in a book from your class’ mandatory reading list. You’re also just going to fall, and then you’re going to fall again and again, but each time you’ll rise with a stronger will and greater determination. That’s why high school will be your worst night-mare - because once it’s over you’ll never be able to experi-ence it again, and if you do it wrong, there won’t be a way to go back and do it again. So no pressure, but make sure to sit with whoever you want to sit with at lunch - to try your hardest at math, to be involved in clubs, to take risks, to be happy, to make memories - because you’ll never get these years back. This is the begin-ning of the end, and the choic-es you make now will either be the best ones you’ve ever made or the ones you’ll regret. So good luck and remember: it’s the worst memories that always mean the most to you.

With love, Your First Friend

goal to come out of your com-fort zone. 6) Don’t be mean to the poor, little freshman. Everyone has painful-ly reminded you at one point or another that you were in their shoes once. Most of them are having trouble adjusting to being freshman, so while you think it might be funny to make fun of them for being at the bottom of the food chain (which, they kind of are) they might not think it’s so funny.7) Don’t be hesitant about associating yourself with new friends. Just because you’ve been with the same people for the past three years doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to find new friends. If the same group of friends is not working for you, venture out and find one that does. It’s not too late to ex-pand your circle of friends. If

you have already found those people, create better connec-tions with them. But it does not mean you can’t have other friends. Make time for every-one. You will look back and come to appreciate that you did. 8) Take time to try and figure out who you are. We are at a moment in our lives that we must really get to know ourselves, find out our interests, figure out what we stand for, and figure out what we want from life. We surely won’t have all the answers but now is the time to begin. 9) Events are good, go to all of them. This is your last year. Go to all the events you pos-sibly can and have fun. Don’t deprive yourself of going to once-in-a- lifetime events like homecoming and prom. Buy your high school yearbook. Have fun at grad

guage (ASL) Club started two years ago. Our main goal is to spread the knowledge of sign language and get people inter-ested in learning this unique language. In order to join you don’t have to know a single word, but throughout the year we start off with the alphabet and by the end of the year each member should be able to have a basic conversation in ASL,” said Sharon Zajac, President of the American Sign Language Club. Community Service Exists Here is where you start proving what you’re worth to colleges and one way to do that is by showing how much time and dedication you’ve put into your clubs in the form of community service. In MLEC, countless clubs have been working to help students tran-sition through high school to

Ruth Reyes/The H

arbinger

Welcome to next four years of your life!

bash. Buy your senior shirt. 10) Be fearless. Don’t be scared to be remembered for who you are and what you’ve done. Don’t be scared to put yourself out there, to tell people how you really feel, to do something you’ve always wanted to do, to go up on stage and make a fool out of your-self. Don’t hold back. 11) Though graduation is near, don’t become eager to live for counting down the days. Remember to live in the present. Graduation is closer than you think and time passes by quickly, so don’t find yourself wishing every day that the end will come soon. It will and when that happens you might find yourself wishing you had a couple more days to simply have fun with your friends before you move on to bigger and better things.

college. Joining clubs is the best way to gain community service, so it’s up to you to gain the hours needed to wear your own cap and gown on gradua-tion day.If There’s Nothing Left…Start Your Own! If you can’t seem to find something you like, an-other alternative is to just start your own club. Can’t find something you like? Just make it. Every student has an in-terest they want to pursue so even if you don’t see a Home Economics Club or a Film and Photograph Club, you can surely make one. So, as school starts, keep an eye out for Club Rush. During your lunch break, stroll around with your friends and become involved in MLEC’s very own Club Rush.

FeatureC6 D7Opinion

ucation. Th ough these tests might not measure a student’s intelligence, colleges and uni-versities need something to determine whether a student is deemed fi t for the school. High school grades are important too, but there is a varying de-gree of grade infl ation or de-fl ation that may not represent the students well. And thus, though we might not like stan-dardized testing, it is the only way the government can effi -ciently measure the knowledge and skills of a student. Although these tests shouldn’t defi ne who you are as a student, remember that these are the certain standards that need to be met and the government wants to know if you can meet them. It sucks that the gov-ernment has to fi gure out our intelligence based off of one test but let’s face it: they have to fi gure it out some way.

Summer Body All Year LongBy Julissa [email protected]

To most people the summer months are synon-ymous with “beach,” which means the emphasis on having a “summer body” has become a worldwide concept. Th e problem with this is that most people are easily bored with commitment and only fi nd motivation when those around them are moti-vated. Aft er the fad passes, it becomes easy to fall into old, unhealthy habits. Society re-volves around trends and fads. When losing weight to look good in a bathing suit is popular, everyone wants to do it. When losing weight as a new year’s resolution is popu-lar, everyone buys into it. Th e catch is that as soon as it goes out of style, those that do not have the will-power to continue fall behind. Finding this willpower is not always easy but it is not impossible. It starts with see-ing “being healthy” as a way of life instead of just as tedious work. Most people that de-cide to suddenly give up their favorite sweets or that begin an intense workout routine to ful-fi ll a short-term goal, end up falling backwards sometime down the road. When a more gradual approach is taken, however, it becomes a more rewarding, long-term experi-ence. Giving up harmful foods or taking up new ex-

ercise routines is much more likely to become a habit not only when it is taken up grad-ually, but also when it is en-joyed. By fi nding pleasure in activities that will help one be healthier, one can reduce the likelihood of giving up a healthier lifestyle. If a task becomes too draining to accomplish, chanc-es are people will not continue it for too long. Understanding how much more important health is compared to exterior beauty is another tactic to help main-tain a healthy lifestyle. Decid-ing to eat right and exercise to help the inner body be healthy will allow exterior beauty to follow. Focusing solely on exterior beauty can be a good motivator but it usually only results in short-term eff orts. Interior health is always the best motivator. Losing weight for the sole purpose of fi tting in a bathing suit can mean several things. Not only is it much eas-ier to be caught up in bad hab-its to lose weight quickly, but it is also much easier to adopt the mentality that we only needs to look good when other people are seeing our body. Putting in the extra eff ort to make being healthy a lifestyle results in fulfi lling long term goals that will keep you happier longer.

As summer comes to an end, some of the hit TV shows face a contract renewal with their network. Fear not, as not all the popular shows have said goodbye and new pilots are in the works this sea-son.Gotham Th is action-packed su-perhero series follows the sto-ry of Detective James Gordon from the DC Batman comics and Th e Dark Knight trilogy, in his early days at the Gotham City Police Department. Gor-don is on a mission to solve the murder of Th omas and Martha Wayne. Aft er meeting the young Bruce Wayne in the wake of his parents’ murder, Gordon must confront gang boss Fish Mooney, as well as many of Gotham’s future vil-lains, such as the Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face and the Joker. Set in the point of view of one of the greatest detec-tives in Gotham City, Gordon steers through a corrupted city on the edge of evil, forming a friendship that will help shape Bruce’s future.Sleepy Hollow A modern-day twist on Washington Irving’s classic Th e Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the drama is based on Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison), a resur-rected solider from the Ameri-can Revolution. Alongside the infa-mous Headless Horseman, Ichabod learns that stopping the Horseman’s murder-

Fall T.V Season: What’s NewBy Lessenitt [email protected]

ous rampage in modern-day Sleepy Hollow, New York is just the beginning. With the help from Lt. Abbie Mills (Ni-cole Beharie) the two will fi ght evil in their town to protect not only their future, but also the world’s as the series returns this fall.A to Z A to Z, a new NBC ro-mantic comedy, brings viewers in on the lives of two lonely people who cross paths at an Internet dating service. Mad Men star Ben Feldman plays Andrew, a se-cret romantic under his “guy’s guy” persona. Working for an internet dating company, he fi nds the perfect match to oth-er hopefuls like himself as he waits to fi nd his own true love. Zelda (Cristin Milioti) is a “girl’s girl” type of lawyer with a powerful defense when it comes to dating. Aft er a computer glitch in the system sends her a wrong match, she is asked to come to the inter-net dating company where Andrew works. Despite their diff erences, sparks fl y and their journey begins. Brooklyn Nine-Nine Aft er winning two Golden Globe Awards this year, Brooklyn Nine-nine re-turns this fall to give fans the laughs they’ve been waiting

for. Andy Samberg reprises his role as Detective Jake Per-alta, who is no longer working for the precinct anymore, but is now working undercover for a FBI investigation. Aft er con-fessing his feelings towards De-tective Amy Santiago, played by Melissa Fumero, Jake is left wondering if she feels the same way. As great of a detective as he may be, Detective Peralta is up against something he has never faced before and more is at stake than before.Emerald City From the Executive Producer of Terminator: Th e Sarah Connor Chronicles comes Emerald City a dark ad-aptation of the colorful tale of Th e Wizard of Oz. Desperate for clue/s to fi nd her biological mother, twenty-year-old Dor-othy Gale breaks into an un-derground facility oubt in the Midwest. Unable to fi nd what she was looking for, the her-oine in the classic tale steals a police dog and drives away into the night straight into the path of a tornado. Similar to the fable, she is transported to mystical world, far away from our own. Th e Land of Oz is transformed in a way unimaginable for the TV screen.

As the new school year begins, students are looking forward to catch up with the latest TV series once they are fi nished with their homework.

Bing

Imag

es

On December 31st, 2009, Th e Walt Disney Corpo-ration offi cially bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion; Marvel’s comics, movies, toys and most importantly, their characters, now belonged to Disney.

Marvel: Will It Come To Disney World?By Vivian [email protected]

With Disney’s com-plete ownership, fans won-dered if Disney could handle the blood, violence and an-guish central to Marvel com-ics, themes that Disney usually does not advocate, but rather avoids altogether. However,

fi ve years later, Disney hasn’t been an obstacle as Marvel Studios released blockbuster hits, all of which have a couple of things in common: blood, anguish and violence. As Marvel fans around the world began to garner trust towards Disney’s ownership, they turned their eyes to the Disney Parks and began to wonder, “When am I going to see Marvel here?” Th e simplest answer is most likely never. Prior to Disney’s own-ership, Marvel had sold the movie rights of the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Spi-der-Man and amusement/theme park rights to Universal Studios. Hence, why Marvel Superhero Island exists at Is-lands of Adventure. But hav-ing Disney buy Marvel should have automatically nulled ev-ery contract Marvel made with other companies, right?

Disney

Iron Man: Th e Experience is set to open up at Disneyland Hong Kong in 2016.

Not true. Both Marvel and Dis-ney have stated that they plan on honoring each contract and license until they expire. Th at may hold true for the movie franchises but the contract be-tween Marvel and Universal never set an expiration date. As long as Islands of Adven-tures is still in business, they will continue to hold the rights to the characters and Disney cannot. Yet, Disneyland hosts Marvel events like meeting Th or or Captain America and has set up an Iron Man exhibit. Why are they allowed to have Marvel? Because Disneyland isn’t east of the Mississippi Riv-er. Th e contract is only applicable to Disney Parks east of the Mississippi River and solely in the United States, which is why Disneyland Hong Kong is getting an Iron Man

ride and Walt Disney World will probably never get one. Even if Disney decid-ed to pay Universal a gargan-tuan sum of money for the Marvel characters, they would have to also pay to redesign that section of land. So looking at the sum of money they would have to pay Universal, in addition to paying for replacement land, which Universal, their com-petitor, could profi t off of, Marvel fans will most likely still not see a Marvel ride at Disney World. Disney will most likely not risk losing that much money just to acquire Marvel. Marvel fans, more specifi cally Florida Marvel Fans, are at loss; with a nev-er-ending contract, it’s likely that Marvel will never see its way into Walt Disney World beyond an outside theme park advertisement.

The Debate On Standardized Testing

Stephanie [email protected]

Sana [email protected]

The End of Creativity

An Effi cient Tool

Last October, a group of over a hundred and twenty authors–including Maya An-gelou and Judy Blume–sent president Obama an open let-ter stating, “Our public school students spend far too much time preparing for reading tests and too little time curling up with books that fi re their imaginations.” Indeed, our students do. Any teacher would be thrilled to get the opportunity to teach a student with an IQ in the top fi ve percent; any school would welcome a naturally in-quisitive child that questions the world around them. But standardized testing, which is implemented nationwide, mis-categorizes these young, curi-ous minds. Th e American Feder-ation of Teachers conducted a study in 2013 on two school districts, which they named

Midwestern District and East-ern District. Th e results of the study showed that high school stu-dents in the Midwestern Dis-trict and the Eastern District spent an average of 42 hours and 123 hours, respectively, of their entire school year prepar-ing for standardized tests. Having to spend so much time focusing on these exams, as well as the time it takes to administrate the tests, forces teachers to subject their lesson plans to test prep and drills. And this makes teachers teach less and less of the mate-rial that is truly valuable to the student. Proponents of stan-dardized testing applaud its ability to objectively show how schools are doing and how they are improving through-out the years, but how much of a child’s education should be purely objective?

Objective test sta-tistics, which can be used to ‘grade’ schools, aff ects school funding through a form of pol-itics called grants-in-aid. By implementing this type of pol-itics, the state government can supply schools with certain amount of grants based on two main factors: test performance progress and test administra-tion. Hypothetically, schools can r efuse to administer standard-ized testing. But by doing so, they would endanger govern-ment grants that are necessary for their students. On top of that, these test statistics fail to consider subjective aspects of the school environment, such as the dis-trict’s socioeconomic status. Th is creates a paradox in which schools with a lower socioeconomic demographic do not get the funding they need to pull their school’s test

scores up to qualify for more state grants; schools that aren’t doing well are expected to im-prove without the means nec-essary for improvement. Art and music–al-though barely funded–should be an important part of educa-tion and purely objective test-ing contradicts the creativity that is needed to fl ourish in this fi eld. And in a world where our lives are practically online, why hasn’t there been a HTML or C++ section on the FCAT? In the opposite sphere, standardized testing in math and science diverts class time from doing hands on labs. In order for students to fully grasp the conceptual aspect of math and science, it is important to see it come to life through novel experimen-tation in order to achieve a level of understanding above rudimentary concepts.

Every year students all across the country prepare to take standardized tests that are supposed to measure the level of competency based on the testers application of knowl-edge and skills. However, with-in the past few years, questions of the legitimacy of these stan-dardized tests and whether they truly measure how much a student has actually learned have been raised. Th ough the govern-ment has attempted to stan-dardize the education system to provide students with the basic skills set to maintain a decent lifestyle, the failure and loopholes throughout our standardized system have re-mained present, begging the question: What is our govern-ment trying to achieve? “American students fall behind in core subjects.” “Education system in the Unit-ed States is causing students to

fail.” Th ese are some headlines seen when researching the American education system. However, what exactly is “failing?” According to stan-dardized tests, a 70 percent or higher is considered “passing,” but what does that mean in the long run? On one end, by imple-menting a standardized cur-riculum a solid foundation of knowledge and skills that ev-eryone should know is created. Th e test also allows the government to easily hold teachers and the state account-able. Our government will be able to know if students are learning by the number of stu-dents that pass the standard-ized tests. However on the oth-er end, if less emphasis was placed on standardized test material, teachers are allowed to teach students at their own pace and apply real-world ap-

plications that won’t necessari-ly be tested by the government. In this case, the role of standardized testing is re-duced where rath-er than testing a student’s ability to pass, the test can simply measure their basic knowl-edge. Th ough the United States may be falling behind compared to oth-er countries in testing perfor-mance, the government’s basic role is to ensure that a student is educated in the important matters of life. But, so what? Of course it’s important to be educated and we need to know how to do certain things, but where does the role of stan-dardized testing come in? Standardized testing allows the government and ed-ucators to determine whether a student is learning what is

vital in school. However, some argue that a standardized cur-riculum doesn’t allow the free-dom of learning what truly

matters in life. And so if standardized test-ing were to con-tinue, will we be lacking the educa-tion to maintain a decent lifestyle? Th e short answer is no. Many peo-

ple oft en emphasize that learn-ing should be focused on the individual because everyone learns at a diff erent pace and the education system should be adjusted to meet those needs. But if we were to make adjustments, standardized testing still play a role on how much a student knows. Th e same applies for tests, such as the ACT or SAT, that are taken if you plan to pursue a post-secondary ed-

Th e benefi ts of a com-prehensive approach to edu-cation have been proven over and over again. Th e benefi ts standard-ized testing has to the quality of life of students, to letting young minds imagine, and to preparing kids for the future have never been shown. By teaching students to pick the right answer, and not to question its rightness, we fail to teach kids to think for themselves. Th e United States needs employees that question authority. Employees that fi ght for what they believe in and are civically engaged, employ-ees that are the next genera-tion of creative entrepreneurs, employees that will create the bright future we all dream about–none of which will rise from the monotonous minds bred from standardized assess-ments.

On one end, by

implementing a standardized curric-ulum a solid founda-

tion of knowledge and skills that everyone

should know is created.

It’s hot, not too humid, and not really that hardcore, but still kind of – it’s Warped Tour at West Palm Beach’s Cruzan amphitheater. 2014 proved to be a pretty strange year for Warped Tour. After Warped 2012’s heavy concentration on the scene’s most “hype” bands at the time (Sleeping With Sirens, Pierce The Veil, Of Mice & Men, and so on) and Warped 2013’s pop punk powerhouses (The Story So Far, The Wonder Years, Man Overboard, and so on), Warped 2014’s line-up seemed to lack a strong genre to focus on. This, along with the presence of older bands, definitely seemed to disillu-sion a lot of people, eliciting “WARPED SUX THIS YEAR” tweets and stubborn refusals to buy tickets until the “good bands” were announced. What a shame for them; this year held strong. While it wasn’t a metalhead’s dream or a pop punk kid’s fantasy, the 2014 Warped line-up had a little bit of something for everyone. Take State Champs,

Warped Tour 2014By Carina [email protected]

who played first in the amphi-theater, for example.

Although they’re nothing groundbreaking to pop punk, they still kicked off Warped Tour’s split main stage with an undeniable energy that the crowd reflected. The pit audience pointed and pushed, singing along to the stick-in-your-head choruses that State Champs singer Derek Disca-nio managed to nail at only 11:15 in the morning. State Champs’ set list consisted of a good balance be-tween fast-paced (their song, “Elevated”) and groovy (“Pre-pare to be Noticed”). Even non-fans would consider State Champs’ energy admirable, to say the least. And while the crowds’ energy didn’t hold up quite so well in the heat, the bands’ did. Cute Is What We Aim For, playing another relatively ear-ly set, came out swinging with songs both old and new, nudg-ing the nostalgia even out of warm fans. The band urged the audience to sing along, even if they didn’t know the words.

“If you don’t know the words,” Shaant Hacikyan, the singer, yelled, “make ‘em up!” It only reinforced the acceptance of everyone at Warped. Yet you can’t get more acceptance than that of The Maine – John O’Callaghan, the singer, dedicated the band’s entire set to Pitbull. Although it seems like a silly remark, the band’s per-formance was far from it – The

Neyda BorgesAdvisor

James V. Parker

Principal

Amanda DelgadoEditor-In-Chief

Alejandra Mendoza

Managing Editor

Vivian BermudezLayout and Design Editor

Maria Vasquez

Layout and Design Editor

Stephanie BritoCopy Editor

Nathalie MairenaCopy Editor

Elizabeth Martinez

Copy Editor

Michan WalshCopy Editor

Ruth ReyesPhoto Editor

Carina VoWebmaster

Laura GonzalezMarketing Manager

Staff WritersLessenitt CamposRosaly Casanueva

Sana ChaudhryMarissa Echeverria

Julissa HigginsGabriella Indart

Ana MijaresSalwa RazaDaniel Saiz

Maria SanchezChristian SteinerAngelie Yglesias

Publication PolicyMLEC’S Harbinger staff pledges to: Publish articles that will not disparage any individual and will not interfere with the rights of privacy. We publish this newspaper for the student body, faculty, and community members. No articles will convey bias or be based on personal motives. We will not take credit for the work and publication of others. Any opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the faculty and administration but rather those of the newspaper staff and its editors. MLEC’s Harbinger is intended to inform, entertain, and communicate to the public in an open

forum.

For more, visit us atmlecharbinger.com

Follow us on Twitter: @HarbingerMLEC

Like us on Facebook:MLEC’s The Harbinger

Follow us on Instagram: @HarbingerMLEC

The Harbinger

Staff

Maine, perhaps one of the best bands on this year’s Warped Tour, played one of the most interestingly upbeat and emo-tionally raw sets of the day. Their slow, build-up of an intro into “Run” seemed almost visceral, and their invi-tation of a fan onstage during “Girls Do What They Want” was incredibly interactive. And they changed their songs. “Growing Up”,

which was released as a slow song, was sped up, and “Mis-ery”, the band’s final surprise song, featured a hard-hitting riff not present on the original track. For not being on Warped in five years, The Maine still know how to rock a crowd in only half an hour.

Go to our website for the rest of the story!

OpinionD8

Aman

da D

elgad

o/Th

e Har

bing

er

Tony Pizzuti (guitar) and Luke Holland (drums) from The Word Alive aided in provided one of the most energetic shows of the day.

As an avid thrift shop-per, I enjoy going to GoodWill at least once a week. I am constantly drawn to thrift stores because I enjoy what I buy and most impor-tantly, the great prices. Lately, that has not been the case. Because thrift shop-ping is becoming more pop-ular in the fashion scene and with teens, places like Good-Will, The Salvation Army, and other small thrift shops have increased their prices drasti-cally. As of right now, The Salvation Army has the most expensive prices compared to GoodWill and Red, White, and Blue; however, GoodWill is catching up and almost sur-passes The Salvation Army in prices. These stores receive all of their merchandise through donations. They do not pay a cent for any of the clothes, fur-niture, electronics, books, and kitchenware they sell. Minus the costs of running and maintaining the store and paying their employ-ees, thrift shops make pure profit off of the donated goods. If they’re increasing the prices, where does that ex-tra money go?

To see if, perhaps, GoodWill is investing on im-proving their stores, I paid a trip to a local GoodWill. The fitting rooms have holes in the walls and are full of dust and filth. The bathrooms look as if they are never cleaned be-cause the toilets have residue of urine and feces; the soap dispenser is empty and the floor is also filthy. If you take a look around the entire store as a whole you can see the messed up walls and dirty floor as well as the battered clothing racks. Clearly, the money is not being spent on renovating the stores. When I looked at what type of clothes are increasing in price I noticed that basic t-shirts that would usually go for 99 cents are now a dollar and fifty cents or more. Designer jeans that would normally go for seven or eight–instead of the usu-al four or six dollars–are now up to twelve dollars. Shorts and skirts that were once two dollars and fifty cents are now four dollars and fifty cents or more, which is the same price as regular jeans. When LookingFlyO-nADime, a popular blogger,

asked their local GoodWill branch in New York and New Jersey why the increase in pric-es, GoodWill responded. “As far as pricing goes, the stores’ profits support Goodwill’s mission–a dedica-tion to providing opportuni-ties to those outside the eco-nomic mainstream… While our stores serve to fund our programs and provide jobs for those otherwise facing barriers to the economic mainstream (including visible and non-vis-ible disabilities), we also aim to provide an interesting array of like-new clothes at affordable prices at our Goodwill stores.” “To do so, we rotate goods, run weekly sales and have a shoppers award pro-gram for frequent shoppers. Still, please remember every dollar you spend at Goodwill is put to incredible use, benefit-ing the less fortunate members of your community–in fact, 92 cents of every dollar sup-ports direct service, whether to single mothers, people with disabilities, veterans, kids, or others in hard circumstances looking for an opportunity to create a better life.”

Go to our website for the rest of the story!

Is GoodWill Getting Expensive?By Maria [email protected]

School is back! Here is how to handle this new year! …...2014/08/09 · By Sana Chaudhry...

Documents

Transcript of School is back! Here is how to handle this new year! …...2014/08/09 · By Sana Chaudhry...