Swastikas Found On Hanukkah Wrapping Paper

Just a few short hours ago, shopper, Cheryl Shapiro, was looking for the perfect wrapping paper.  She wanted to find some cute wrapping paper for her grandchildren to wrap their Hanukkah gifts.  She picked up a silver and blue paper and within moments, she spotted swastikas on the design. In an interview with CNN, she said, "To me, it was a big deal.  I'm Jewish, and I don't want to see swastikas on anything. And to see it on Hanukkah paper, that I'm wrapping gifts in for my grandkids... no that wasn't going to fly for me..."

At first glance, the wrapping paper seems like a bunch of rectangles all bunched together to look like an intricate design.  However, upon looking closely at the corners of the rectangles, you can very clearly see that there are indeed swastikas embedded within the design.

Hallmark Cards Inc. has removed this specific wrapping paper from its shelves to prevent any further problems. The controversy of the wrapping paper only deepens with the fact that it was in a Hanukkah display.  Hallmark spokeswoman Julie Elliot says the gift wrap wasn't intended for the Jewish Holiday, Hallmark didn't mean to offend anyone and it was an oversight that no one at Hallmark noticed the intersecting lines could be seen as a swastika.

It is horrifying to me that there could be swastikas found in wrapping paper for Hanukkah.  I think Cheryl Shapiro was right in saying that we shouldn't see swastikas on anything. The wrapping paper was distributed by Walgreens which is no longer selling it, however this oversight is something that potentially could lose a lot of business. It also puts a huge damper on the holiday spirit, bringing up a horror of the past during supposedly happy times.  It is upsetting to see something like this pop up in the news especially as we are all scrambling to get all those presents wrapped in time. This oversight is horribly shocking and hopefully will never happen again.

#Confused

In an era with such amazingly advanced technology, it might  surprise you just how hard it is to find out about true working conditions of clothes manufacturers. I was looking up the brand Splendid, owned by a company called VF, for close to an hour and all I saw was the pristine, laid out policies and terms of how they should treat their workers. I was baffled.  My soft, cozy black and white striped sweater that was draped around me had a tag that said, "MADE IN CHINA." However, everything that I read online about Splendid, said that it was an American company and their clothes were made in the USA.  Confused? I was, too. 

  Upon further research I looked into VF as a company.  VF Corp. owns many well known brand names such as The North Face, Nautica and Wrangler Jeans.  Turns out, they have 2,000 factories in countries all around the world.  All of a sudden some of the policies started to make sense. For example, Principle Number 4 of their Global Compliance Principles says that, "VF recognizes that compensation packages vary by country." It now clicked because I understood that they did manufacture their clothes in other countries.  Feeling deceived I continued to look into this corporation.  Turns out, VF was highly pressured to reveal the names of their factories, especially those in Bangladesh, following the collapse of the Rayna Plaza two April's ago, which killed 1,129 workers.  Many companies keep the names of their suppliers hidden not only to hide it from competitors, but to not be publicly linked to accidents like the collapse, fires or unfair labor. 

It is easy to say taht I will only by sweaters that were made in the USA, but I had thought that all of Splendid's clothes were made in the USA.  So despite what their website says, am I really going to know who actually made my sweater? The confusion comes from the deception and the hush-hush of the manufacturing. However the more we hear about the horrible incidents, like factories collapsing, the greater awareness people have about the horrid conditions.  To prevent further microscopic attention and immense pressure on the company, I think VF is doing the right thing by being honest and giving the names of their suppliers upfront.  Transparency into their company and honesty about their work will hopefully lead to a better outcome in the end. 

Number 20 in the Nation (NTHS)

As a student, walking through the halls of the west campus of New Trier High School, it is very clear that the school needs some major fixing.  The school founded in 1901, is over 100 years old, and it shows it. Its got a certain smell that only a Trevian would be able to take, and the community agreed that it is about time to change that.  Knowing that the school needs a little TLC, the administration proposed a renovation plan that required a referendum. This past Tuesday, New Trier Township tallied all the votes and the referendum passed.  The Cook County Clerk's website on Wednesday showed 65 percent of voters in favor and 35 percent against the measure to increase taxes to pay for the renovation project. The few stipulations for this referendum were that the school was asking to borrow $89 million for a projected $100 million project.  With this, community members should expect to see about a 1.7% increase in their property taxes.  This would mean that someone paying $15,000 for their property taxes would have to pay an additional $250.
As a student who attends the school, I would say that $250 is so worth it.  The facilities that we use are very old.  It feels like we are stuck in the mid 1900's while other schools are more modern. Recently a study came out ranking the top high schools in the nation and New Trier was number 20, behind our competitors GBS, GBN and Stevenson. As a school that prides itself on being a top notch institution encompassing academics, athletics and the arts, I feel that one of the ways to stay in that category is updating and maintaining those facilities. Compared to four years ago, when the school tried and failed to pass a different renovation plan that would borrow $174 million, it seems reasonable that this would be passable. People like Wes Bauman, former principle, didn't support the 2010 referendum because they "Love New Trier! But not a $174 million plan rich in Unnecessary spending.." I feel very strongly that this is a good thing to pass and that it is a issue that has been needed to be addressed for a long while.

Projected Renovation of New Trier

New Tier High School

The Frightening Numbers of Halloween

As Halloween is today, I thought about all the preparation and work so many people put into this fun holiday.  For me, it was a grand total of about 10 minutes right before school, last minute desicion to be a 'lax bro.'  However, when I was younger I remember thinking ahead months in advance and making sure that I would have the perfect outfit.  My 8th grade year was crazy as I realized that I had to spend $50 on a leather jacket.  However, much to my shock, American's will spend about $7.40 billion on all Halloween products in just 2014.  Alone, $2.8 billion will be spent on costumes.  Adding on to that, about $350 million is spent on animal costumes. It is estimated that nearly four million more people are going to celebrate Halloween this year than did in 2013.

Expenses and Statistics for Halloween

In the picture on the left there are all the statistics and numbers of how much was spent on Halloween in 2014.  It also talks about top costumes for the year.  It is interesting to see that 20% of people make their own costumes.  I love to go out and see all those super cool and well thought out costumes.  However, there is one thing that I didn't come across in my research, but what I heard on the radio; Apparently a very popular costume this year was an ebola patient and or a 'sexy ebola nurse'.  It seems funny to me that people are making such light of a serious situation. Hopefully people will think it's clever and not get too terrified by the epidemic.

ACL Insanity

This Saturday morning my alarm was waking me up at 5:15am for a 6 am practice. I watched as my teammate hobbled across the field on crutches, thanking my lucky stars that I was not the one in her place.  About two months ago, she underwent the unfortunate event of tearing her ACL... for the second time. My teammate tore her ACL freshman year of high school, and then again, two years later she tore her other ACL. She was the first of 3 girls on my team, but the only one to have to go through the extensive and frustrating recovery process twice.
Oddly enough, only a few hours later, Maryland backup quarterback, Caleb Rowe, met almost an identical fate to that of my teammate.  During practice, in a non-contact drill, Rowe kicked his left foot to the calf of his right, causing his next step to land awkwardly.  That awkward step did the trick and his left ACL was torn.  Two seasons ago, as a freshman, Rowe tore his same ACL. Now Rowe will be out for the season with a long road of physical therapy ahead of him, as recovery after the surgery can be anywhere from 6 to 12 months.

Maryland Backup Quarterback, Caleb Rowe

Rowe has now joined two of my teammates and the 150,000 other unfortunate people (most of the time athletes) who tore or will tear their ACL's this year. Each year, ACL injuries account for more than $500 million in US Health Care costs. Statistics show ACL injuries are common in teen athletes and that girls are 8 to 10 times more likely to tear their ACL's.  Statistics also show that only 30% of ACL injuries are due to contact.  70% of the time, ACL's are freak accidents like talking an awkward step and just landing funny.  Of the four ACL's that have been torn on my team, only one was due to contact. Rowe will join the 70% of the freak accidents.  It truly is a long recovery process and it takes a lot of motivation from a lot of different people to get back out on the field. Hopefully Rowe and my teammate will be back faster than they think, as I am sure they are telling themselves for the second time.

Are the Police Fighting Us or Protecting Us?

October 12, 2014. St. Louis, Missouri, at least 17 people were arrested after refusing police orders to disperse from a sit-in outside of a convenience store. Aside from the arrests and some pepper spray, the protests were peaceful. The protests were taking place in a St. Louis suburb very close to Ferguson, where earlier this summer an unarmed black teenager was shot dead by a white policeman.  To make matters worse, according to the Chicago Tribune, another "fatal shooting of an African-American teenager by an off-duty cop last week inflamed tensions." The fact that there have been two shootings similar to one another is causing lots of chaos and the people of St. Louis are getting very upset.  It is horrifying and frankly disturbing to me that these two deaths have occurred in such a short period of time, very close geography wise and by the very people who are supposed to protect us.  This brings up a very important and serious issues of race and discrimination.  People were protesting the Ferguson shooting because of how it brought up the fact a white police officer shot a black, unarmed teen, raising the ongoing dilemma that discrimination is truly still a major problem in our society today.  We saw the protest bring police to the scene to make sure that everything stayed peaceful.  However, just like in Ferguson, police were fully armed and equipped with face masks.

Comparison of Ferguson to Birmingham in 1963

This picture shows the similarities between Birmingham in 1963 during the Civil Rights movements to Ferguson.  The photographer who took this photo was quoted saying, “It looked like soldiers. And soldiers’ job isn’t to protect. Their job is to kill people and to be ready to die.” A policeman's job is to protect and if they are being compared to soldiers ready to kill, the people won't feel safe. 

I think it is very interesting to now add this third image in.  All of the police still look as if they are soldiers instead of police officers and it is crazy to think that perhaps we are fighting against the desire to eliminate discrimination with soldiers.  Is everyone truly protected?

Is Crossing our Fingers Enough?

Recently the nation has been clouded with fear of a highly contagious, deadly virus that has now entered the United States: Ebola.  The reason Ebola is so easily spread is because it is transmitted through bodily fluids.  So for example, that guy on the bus who just coughed all over your face, could be giving you a deadly disease. Someone who has ebola might not even know it for up to three weeks.  Symptoms can take anywhere from two to twenty one days to present themselves after exposure. Many common symptoms are high fever, diarrhea, vomiting, muscle pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.  As of right now, there is no cure or vaccine for ebola.  However, researchers are trying like mad to try and find both a cure and a vaccine. The problem is some people feel like not enough is being done to cure it because it is taking too long. We can sit back, cross our fingers and hope it doesn't spread and wait to hear, or we can get down to the grit and work to find a cure.

 Just this past week, Eric Duncan, was taken to a Dallas hospital where he was and remains the only person in the United States diagnosed with Ebola. A top federal health official said that a man [Eric Duncan] was "fighting for his life" and expressed confidence that the disease would not spread widely to those with whom he had come in contact.

I thought it was very interesting, as my brother attends Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, that my mom this past Friday received a letter from the school assuring parents that they were closely monitoring the information about the Ebola case.

I never really thought about it until my mom showed me the email, but the possibility of Ebola breaking out right near a college campus is a terrifying thought.  Disease would be running rampant throughout a college campus. Without a cure, it would be frightening to have our future of bright minds be compromised by a fatal disease.  Luckily, we are doing everything in our power to isolate this one case and stop it from spreading.  Fingers crossed my brother won't have to worry about it!