Destination Information
Buckhannon-Upshur High School
Phoenix serial killer on the run
In Phoenix, Arizona, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been investigating a potential serial killer scenario with the help of agents from the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Nine victims- men, women, and children- have been ambushed by the individual, and seven of them have died in result of their injuries. Each of the victims were assaulted by their homes while walking down the street or traveling in a car.
The gunman appears to have access to at least two vehicles, one of which is thought to be a black BMW. The surviving victim of the last attacked confirmed that a BMW had fled the scene.
Freshman Victoria Epp struggled to understand what could possibly motivate a person to commit such atrocities, “They [serial killers] are cruel. I don't see how someone could take multiple other lives and be fine with it.”
Local law enforcement officers are accepting tips and believe that the case will be broken by a tip from the public. Consequently, the police are offering a $75,000 reward for anyone who may have any information that could lead to the capture of the suspect. Police officals in Arizona have received 1,500 tips thus far, but they have not panned out. “In a way, I feel it is wrong to offer money because you should want to help no matter what. However, I feel that it is right because you're saving lives. I hope that anyone with any information goes to the police,” Victoria's thoughts on offering a reward.
Shooting at Texas high school results in death of female suspect
According to authorities, a female student suspected of shooting her classmate at their West Texas high school, died on the morning of Thursday, September 8, 2016.
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The suspect died due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her victim was taken to the nearby hospital and their identification and condition is currently unknown. An officer was also taken to the hospital after intervening when federal agents responded to the scene at Alpine High School, 200 miles southeast of El Paso. The shooting resulted in the entire school being locked down.
Fellow students described the chaos as having erupted at around 9 a.m. local time after having returned two weeks prior from summer vacation. Students heard other classmates in the hallway screaming for people to run and another teacher barged into their classroom and told students to hide in the corners. They then proceeded to turn all the lights off and lock the doors as the school went into lockdown.
Junior Alyssa Godwin had a hard time comprehending why someone could be driven to shoot up a school, “The people doing the shootings are obviously not thinking about the other person’s life and family. It’s sad.”
Youth concussions
Since 2010, according to a report recently released by Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), more of America’s youth are experiencing concussions when playing sports. An increase of seventy-one percent in rough-sports-related concussions has occurred for children ages 10 to 19. In general, patients ages 10 to 19 are five times more likely to be diagnosed as having a concussion than all other age groups combined. Researchers are hoping to increase awareness as an attempt to prevent cases of potential paralysis, long-term memory loss, and many other short-term and long-lasting effects due to concussions.
Such a steep rise of diagnoses in the United States has prompted state legislation. Enacted in 2009, Washington’s “Shake It Off” was the first in the country to require medical clearance of an athlete before they can return to the field after any indication of head trauma. The other forty-nine states, along with the District of Columbia, have adopted similar laws. Despite these actions, rates of concussion diagnoses, are still on the rise.
“You can’t control what a kid can or can’t get. What’s the law going to be? No football? If you want to try to prevent concussions, you’d probably have to ban all sports. However, I feel that athletes need to be more careful when they play,” Junior Chynna Sparks argued against further legislation restricting sports.
Many argue against legislations and claim that the increase of concussion awareness and diagnosis is most likely the result of education mandated by state-level laws addressing the seriousness and legal implications involving youth competitors.
HIV’s patient zero has his name cleared
Gaëtan Dugas, dubbed HIV’s “patient zero,” did not bring the HIV virus to the United States. According to a recent research report, Dugas had his name cleared, despite having died in 1984. Kaitlyn Turner-Slaughter commented, “He probably would’ve been relieved that he didn’t start it.”
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An analysis of blood samples from the 1970’s shows a new insight into how the virus spread to North America via the Caribbean from Africa. Currently, more than 1.2 million people in the US live with the virus. “It’s a big deal because it is deadly and the more it spreads, the more people will possibly die,” stated Turner-Slaughter.
In 1981, researchers from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) documented a mysterious disease that had no known origin. They linked the human immunodeficiency virus to sexual activity in their research. The examiners their study, beginning in California, and they eventually connected more than 40 men in ten American cities. Dugas happened to be placed near the center of this cluster, and he was identified as patient zero. The media picked up on it and interpreted “0” as the number.
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He and his family were condemned for years, and Dugas himself was named a “sociopath” with multiple sexual partners. “Even though he was believed to have brought the disease here, he didn’t know better. It isn’t like he was trying to start it,” declared Turner-Slaughter.
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When the researchers gathered archival blood samples that were originally collected for a hepatitis B study in 1978 and 1979, they found 8 genome sequences of HIV, representing the oldest genomes in North America. The samples collected were ones from men who had sex with men. A genome was also recovered from Dugas’ blood sample.
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After the genomes were analyzed, the researchers were unable to find any biological evidence that Dugas was the primary case that brought HIV to the U.S., and the genome from Dugas appeared typical of the other strains already here at the time, resulting in Dugas having his name cleared.
With Castro dead, new heir is apparent
Fidel Castro and Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana, Cuba.
After Fidel Castro’s recent death and his brother Raul’s vowing to step down as Cuba’s President in fifteen months, attention is turning to Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is thought to be the new heir. Miguel is currently occupying the position of Vice-President, which puts him next in line for the Presidency.
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Fidel Castro died Friday, November 25, 2016, at the age of ninety. Raul Castro is eighty-five-years-old and took over presidency in 2008, but he has stated his plans to step down in February of 2018, the end of his second five-year term. Sophomore Kasen Woody weighed in on the subject, saying, “I really feel like Fidel Castro was responsible for some bad things. I also feel like he died too well for what he’s done. I don’t really know that much on Raul to have an opinion on him.”
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Miguel Diaz-Canel is an advocate for modernizing Cuba’s state-run media and abysmal internet access, and he appears to be trying to improve the country. He is a relative youngster in the ruling Communist Party’s leadership; he will need appeal to younger generations if he wishes to have any chance of maintaining Cuban communism beyond the Castro brothers.
If he does take over in 2018, Diaz-Canel will follow fifty-nine years of rule by the Castro brothers, one who was gifted with abundant charisma, and the other a powerful military figure. “It wouldn’t take much, in my thoughts, to be a better leader than Castro,” commented Woody.
World leader thoughts on Trump’s election
Shock waves were sent around the world after Republican candidate Donald Trump was elected to represent the United States as its president. It seems to have especially pleased one world leader in particular however: Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Hours after Trump’s acceptance speech early Wednesday, Putin congratulated the US president and expressed Moscow’s willingness to fully restore its ties with the US.
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In addition to Putin’s support, Cuban President Raul Castro also sent Trump a congratulatory message after hearing of his win from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone.
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Even after Trump painted China as a threat to American jobs during his campaign, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated him via phone call and later told China Central Television that the two countries should work together since they are the world’s largest developed and developing countries.
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In other countries there has been some uncertainty shown in anxious statements about how Trump’s presidency will affect diplomatic relations. European Council President Donald Tusk has communicated that although it is respected that America made its democratic choice, there is worry over challenges that it may bring and one of those is uncertainty over the future of transatlantic relations. French President François Hollande’s reaction was also far from enthusiastic.
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B-UHS student Cole Tonkin claims to be “ecstatic about Trump’s win”. However, he claims, “I can understand why some political leaders would be concerned because most of the world is on the left side of the political spectrum, and they believe that a Trump presidency could damage the work that they’ve worked towards.”
City spends nearly $250k for overtime in 2016
According to records, the City of Buckhannon was reported to have spent nearly $230,000 on police and firefighter overtime pay in 2016. The police department alone paid out $80,184.70 in overtime to their nine officers, averaging to about $8,909 each. The city also paid $148,012.18 during the 2016 calendar year in overtime to its six firefighters, about $24,668 in average. Sophomore Morgan Bowman commented, “I think overtime is an issue because people have families to go home to, places they want to be, and things they need to do. They would probably rather be at home than at work.”
Matt Gregory, Chief of Police, and Jim Townsend, Fire Chief, were not included in this, as they are on a fixed salary. “Being the chief comes with responsibility and they knew they would have to make sacrifices choosing to be in the position they are in,” Bowman said.
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The total amount of overtime paid out to the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department deputies in 2016 was $52,380.52, or about $5,238 per officer. The average overtime of $24,668 per firefighter is almost equal to the complete starting salary for a new worker.
The base salary for a probationary firefighter is about $24,960 while the base salary for an officer ranges from about $31,387 to $35,089, depending on certification and whether the officer has obtained a college degree or not.
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On Thursday, January 12, 2017, the city is expected to discuss the issue of overtime during a special meeting at the Public Safety Complex, which is located at 2 Friendly Way. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and is to discuss “public safety operations of the fire and police.” Bowman stated, “I don’t think they will try to prevent it because they still will need people to work for them.”
Student facing expulsion after bringing gun to trade school
On January 24, 2017, Fred Eberle Technical Center was put on lockdown after a suspended student allegedly flashed a gun.
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After the student was seen, Fred Eberle’s director, Dr. Michael Cutright, told The Record Delta that he had informed law enforcement officials and superintendent Roy Wager, and the school was put into a precautionary lockdown that lasted for about an hour. The student was located by the sheriff’s deputies. Junior Alyssa Godwin shared her thoughts, saying, “I think that they took great precautions to keep all students safe.”
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The student was not believed to have pointed the weapon, which was later determined to be a CO2 pistol, but had pulled his shirt up enough to make it visible. Red flags went up after school officials heard that information, and that is when law enforcement became involved. “More precautions could be taken because this could have been a bigger problem if the ‘student’ that did the incident wanted it to be,” commented Godwin.
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The individual was found at his girlfriend’s house and reportedly admitted to officer Rocky Hebb that he had been there and he been in possession of the pistol.
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It is believed that the student was on his second day of a two-day suspension, but the reason for that suspension is not known. The student will, however, face additional penalties including a possible expulsion from the school. “I believe that he should be expelled because he knows better than to bring a gun onto school property and should have to suffer the consequences,” Godwin stated.
It is not currently known whether any charges will be filed or not, and even though the student is eighteen, his name is not being released at this time.
Should students be able to grade their teachers?
Every day, teachers across America hand out grades to their students as a reflection of their progress and accomplishments throughout the quarter. Yet, some teachers do not teach the materials that the students are required to learn at a pace or method the class will retain. Therefore, many students feel left behind or confused because they do not understand what is put in front of them. A student who wished to remain anonymous—Let’s call her Linda—stated, “I think that it is only fair that we grade teachers since they can grade us.”
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Personally, I believe that, because of this, students should be able to give their teachers grade at the end of each quarter or even each semester. That grade should reflect how well that specific teacher’s teaching methods work towards educating today’s youth. However, I only believe that high school students should be able to perform these tasks, as I feel they are the most mature and are most willing to take it seriously.
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I once had a teacher point out to me that if as a teacher, you do not give definite instructions, then students do not understand how to do the task at hand. In that presentation, the students who did catch on to what she was talking about made fun of those that didn’t. Often, instructors often overlook kids that seem to understand the material, when they don’t. This leaves the student behind those that do understand and those who do choose to pick on the ones who haven’t caught on. “Many of my teachers don’t explain what we are doing in class that day so it makes it hard to know what to do,” added Linda.
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Many might say that students don’t go to school to grade their teachers, that they go to learn, but they cannot learn if they are not taught in a way that makes sense to them. They will not be prepared for life after public school if they do not know what to expect. I think it is only fair that they grade their teachers. The teachers can then use that evaluation to conform their methods to be more efficient. “Teachers I’ve had in the past sometimes haven’t taught in a way that I picked up on,” Linda commented.
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In conclusion, students should be able to grade their teachers so that they may be able to properly learn everything that is thrown at them during the school year. Yes, students go to school to learn and not socialize or mess around, but they cannot learn if it is not presented to them in a way that they will learn and retain that information. It is up to you to decide, should students be allowed to grade their teachers?