November
Photo of a dawn moon, late in the morning (photo courtesy of McAdams McAdams)
Permanent daylight saving might become a reality soon
Permanent daylight saving might become a reality soon
By: Victoria Grazette
On March 15, 2022, just 2 days after the clocks “spring forward”, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021, which would create a permanent daylight saving time. Even though a lot of states are considering legislation to end changing the clock, only federal action can make that a permanent thing. The first Daylight Saving Time policy began in Germany in 1916 in hopes of saving energy during World War I. In the United States, daylight saving time was first used in 1918 when a bill introduced the idea of a seasonal time shift. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act of 1966 established the regular time change. The idea behind the clock shift was to maximize daylight in the Northern Hemisphere, as the days start to lengthen in the spring and shorten in the fall. The logic is that by moving the time forward and back, people add an hour of daylight to the end of the work day. But, there has been talk of ending this twice a year event and keeping the same time year round. According to the Washington Post as of November 7th, discussion in the House is waiting on the Department of Transportation to report on the effects of a permanent change to the time. But with the change pending for the next year or so, there are a lot of pros and cons that are being considered when they think about changing to permanent time. “I think that having the change in time can be beneficial, but it also has its faults,” said Sadie Dickson, a Brown School sophomore.Keeping Daylight Saving Time would lower crime rates, good for the economy, and promote more active lifestyles to name a few. Economists Jennifer Doleac, PhD, and Nicholas Sanders, PhD, found that robberies drop about 7% overall, and 27% in the evening hours after the time change in the Spring. They stated, “Most street crime occurs in the evening around common commuting hours of 5 to 8 PM, and more ambient light during typical high-crime hours makes it easier for victims and passers-by to see potential threats and later identify wrongdoers.” Daylight saving time is also good for the economy. More people go shopping after work, drive and buy gas and snacks from gas stations, and more people can play sports and do other activities. “You get more time outside to do things during the warmer months because of the change in time,” says Dakayla Rucker, a Brown freshman. Chambers of Commerce tend to support daylight saving time because of this positive effect. Consumer spending increases during daylight saving time which boosts the local economy when compared to states that don’t have daylight saving time. But, the problems with permanent Daylight Saving Time is it’s bad for your health, it drops productivity, and it increases car accidents. Permanent time change would be harmful because it just wouldn’t align with our natural circadian rhythm and it messes with our sleep. Our internal circadian clocks influence everything from hormones to blood pressure. “Day after day of eating at the wrong time, being active at the wrong time, sleeping at the wrong time, build up into longer-term health effects,” Erin Flynn-Evans, a San Francisco-based sleep and circadian researcher and consultant, said. Permanent Daylight Saving Time could be more difficult on teens because of their delayed internal clock which are already disrupted by early school start times. “Daylight saving, more specifically spring forward, really messes up my sleep schedule. I think that the system messes with your mind because the only difference made is how long or short the days are. And while it can be important to measure that, it has so many negative effects on people,” Dickson explained. Too much light in the evening has been linked to an increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, and chronic illnesses, including cancer (FOX Business).
Segundo "hanging out" for his birthday. (Photo courtesy of Ruby Guelda)
Segundo, an orangutan at the Louisville Zoo, celebrates his 35th birthday
Segundo, an orangutan at the Louisville Zoo, celebrates his 35th birthday
By: Ruby Guelda
Segundo, an orangutan at the Louisville Zoo celebrated his birthday on Sunday, November 13th, though his actual birthday is November 12th, of 1987. He was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas and joined the family at the Louisville Zoo on May 19 1997.
To kick off “Orangutan Caring Week”, the zoo celebrated Segundo's birthday at the Islands Pavillion around 2:30, where visitors could come in and participate in coloring and orangutan quiz activities, while also interacting with Segundo himself. A few keepers entered his enclosure early to set up food and birthday treats for him. There was a pumpkin engraved with the message Happy Birthday, and his favorite treats- pineapple leaves, pureed fruit, yogurt, and fruit-filled gelatin.
A “keeper talk” was done to introduce Segundo, and educate the crowd on orangutans in general. Stacy Wren, the keeper, explained that he is a sumatran species of orangutan, and on the older side because typically male orangutans live to be around late 30’s early 40s. She told the crowd male orangutans use the flap of skin on their faces to impress females when mating, but also to create this verbal call to females. Segundo was described as one of the more shyer orangutans, and when he entered the enclosure he ran across in front of the glass then swung on the metal bamboo sticks, because his entrance was to demonstrate dominance as Wren stated. Then he proceeded to hide behind a sign, because after his entrance, he returned to his normal shy state.
Not only did the keeper talk include information about Segundo, and orangutans in general, but also, a very real threat orangutans face every day. The zoo was raising awareness about palm oil, which is an edible vegetable oil, and can be found in a variety of food and products people buy everyday. According to the Louisville zoo, “it is the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the world, created from the fruit of oil palm trees native to the rainforests of Africa as well as Central and South America.” The farming for the oil is one of the most unsustainable industries; the plantations cause wide-scale deforestation, air pollution, water-pollution, soil-pollution, erosion, all factors contributing to climate change.
Orangutans aren’t the only species suffering from the industry, (rhino’s and tigers) however they are now considered critically endangered. The zoo has created an app that allows people to find sustainable palm oil products to help save endangered species, and their habitats in the wild.
Picture from New Life Kids Instagram reminding everyone to bring in their boxes for collection Sunday (Screenshot Courtesy of Victoria Grazette)
Operation Christmas Child & Samaritan's Purse
Operation Christmas Child & Samaritan's Purse
By: Victoria Grazette
Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, they have helped meet the needs of people who were victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine and share God’s love to them. They have multiple mission projects including International Crisis Response, U.S. Disaster Relief, World Medical Mission, Greta Home & Academy, Children’s Heart Project, Operation Heal Our Patriots, The Greatest Journey, and Operation Christmas Child.Operation Christmas Child is a mission project that sends Christmas gifts to children in poverty and in the midst of disaster. People of all ages pack shoe box gifts every year that get sent out to kids around the world. Churches and groups collect these boxes from the people in their communities. Some churches also serve as drop-off locations for the shoe boxes every year on the third week of November. On the 3rd Sunday in November, New Life Church in Louisville has a box walk up event during their service. The children go into the big church service, bringing the boxes they have packed and the boxes people have brought in and take them to the front of the sanctuary. People in the congregation also take this time to walk up and place their boxes on the steps. Later, a team goes through the boxes to make sure there are no items that cannot be shipped in the boxes. They make sure they are securely sealed and put them with the other boxes in their gym. “You don’t have to wait until you're an adult to be a disciple, you can do that when you’re young and these kids are an amazing example of that,” said Tim Parish, the Senior Pastor at New Life Church, which also serves as a drop-off location for Operation Christmas Child. People in the community and church bring their boxes to their gym, where they are stored until they are counted and loaded onto large trucks to one of the 8 processing centers across the US in Atlanta, North Carolina, Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, and Southern California. Thousands of volunteers at those processing centers inspect and prepare the shoeboxes for international shipping. Every hour, the volunteers stop and pray for the children who are receiving the boxes. They are then loaded into a plane and sent around the world to orphanages, churches, low-income communities, countries in poverty, and other areas, where they are distributed to children. The children also receive a booklet sharing the Gospel of Jesus in their own language! “When they receive these boxes, I hope that these kids are filled with joy and they know that there are people across the world that love them and care for them,” Grace Timmons, a 3rd grader at Christian Academy of Louisville, said as she packed one of her 11 boxes.Being able to give children who don’t have as much as we do Christmas gifts is such a blessing for the children, as well as you and the children's families. “If I was in their position, it would be nice to know someone cared about me and worked hard to get me a gift and make me feel special,” Ruby Guelda, a Brown School sophomore, said. Neysa Jones, a high school teacher at Brown, later told me about when she packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child and how much fun it was. Even if you give to a charity that isn’t faith based, finding ways to help children and families in need around the holiday season is a good idea. Organizations such as Toys For Tots, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Angel Tree, Project Linus, St.Jude, and other places support children during the holiday season and they are amazing to donate to. It is an amazing thing to give to others and allow them to experience some of the joys that we might take for granted. Even though collection week for the Operation Christmas Child is over, you can still pack a shoebox online through their website for $25 and help support these kids.
A homeless encampment in the city. (Photo courtesy of Ruby Guelda)
Fining the homeless is the next solution to solve homelessness
Fining the homeless is the next solution to solve homelessness
By: Ruby Guelda
Recently, 3 Louisville city metro council members- Nicole George, David James and Pat Mulvihil- proposed changes to the anti-homeless ordinance to fine the homeless for camping on public property. The ordinance, which was first introduced back in 2018, has now been an ongoing process of amending since the middle of September. The original ordinance was made to give rights to homeless individuals camping in public areas not to be removed without a prior warning. The proposed change to the ordinance was argued so that homeless could be fined up to $200 per day for camping in public parks, and up to $1,000 per day for leaving personal items in public areas. The proposed changes were described to help clean the city and have a more appealing look to the public every day. The main concern for these 3 council members has been to minimize the objects left behind everyday in the streets and in neighborhoods. According to an article written by Ana Rocio Alvarez Brinez for the Courier Journal, a statement made from Councilwoman George regarding the ordinance was “We don't want to see a canopy and a La-Z-Boy (recliner) on the sidewalk, right? We don't want to see a barbeque grill on the sidewalk. You don't want to see a motorcycle on the sidewalk, like, chained to the utility pole. We're not talking about someone's housing status ... we're talking about what this looks like from a public access standpoint.” The city has had a range of viewpoints for “restricting access to public space” - as George put it - fellow council members, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters/services believe that to relieve homelessness, “fining them is not the way to go about it”. However, some people who are living in the Downtown Nulu area disagree, specifically parents have expressed their distress for finding needles lying around, and the question of their children's safety for even playing outside. Our school has had issues with the homeless prior to the changes of our entrance to the school. Our Safety Administrator, Curtis Moss, when asked if he believed the ordinance would change the “regulars” hanging out around Peace Park or the school in general, he answered, “No, because if they are homeless they probably will not be able to pay for it. You can't charge people for money they don’t have, it won’t solve the problem.” He explained that the current change in the amount of homeless people around the school is not due to any ordinance, but ultimately the weather, “The homeless use the shelter more during the winter but many don’t want to most of the time.” Moss said they tend to camp outside, but once the temperatures get below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, they tend to go back to shelters. When the weather warms back up, even with our new upgrades and any proposed changes Louisville Metro passes, he doesn’t expect to see any changes. Furthermore, throughout the entire city of Louisville, Councilman Jecorey Arthur explained his goal for the ordinance is to make sure it doesn’t criminalize homelessness, “I’ve been fighting to get rid of any recommendations that would fine people just for trying to survive.” He explained that furthermore, beyond being fined money they might not possess, it then becomes impossible to get services, including housing. “The best way to help people who are homeless is to make sure they have a home.” Arthur explained to solve the city’s homelessness problem, it can’t just be on the city’s local government. “We have been able to get more funding for housing and services, but we need more. We also need the state and federal governments to do more to help us here locally.” He added, “The housing gap in Louisville is so big it would take over $5 billion to close it. We do not have enough money in the city budget to this bit the state and federal governments do.”Councilman Bill Hollinder is in agreement with Councilman Arthur and believed that from the beginning of the ordinance back in 2018, the rights of the homeless are important. He explained that the ordinance originated from an incident that occurred in Portland where belongings that were left in a public area were taken away and thrown in a landfill. “These are people’s only belongings, and they're being thrown away,” Hollander said. As the ordinance has had proposed changes since 2018, he says that the recent changes are “troublesome” because it's talking away from what the ordinance is supposed to stand for. He says that he is opposed to the initial proposal, however, with recent changes he does agree with a small portion. “You can’t impede sidewalks for anyone for any reason.” So as far as not impeding sidewalks, that portion of the ordinance does make sense to him. But overall, to help relieve homelessness, Hollander says more permanent housing or even temporary shelters are necessary and more funds from the americanrescuefunds would be above all helpful. Though changes and improvements have been made, Hollander has looked towards Councilman Arthur's proposal about increasing funds from the federal government. Overall he says, “If we are going to tell people they have to get off the street, we have to have some place for them to go, moving them around from place to place isn’t going to do anyone any good.In agreement with these sentiments, upcoming running Louisville Metro District candidate Andrew Owen expressed his fresh perspective on the ordinance and homelessness by determining that the city needs to address the issues with the utmost compassion. His opinion sways towards keeping the original ordinance, “but I would also like to have a conversation with Nicole George, I know she is a social worker and has had experience working with the homeless” he said. Owen explained that his understanding of the frustration coming from current members seems to stem from the game of “whack a mole” they seem to be playing by removing an encampment and having them pop up a few blocks away. He agrees with Council members Arthur and Hollinder that in order to create new provisions for the ordinance, homelessness needs to be further addressed and more efforts need to be made. Whether it be through Councilman Arthur’s view or a few of his own ideas. Owen expressed that he would like to work with Hope Villages and create more stable housing while offering opportunities and services to help an individual. But Owen truly believes that to make any kind change, it starts with compassion. In turn, there are changes from the initial proposal to fine the homeless, however as a community, everyone should be informed for the future of the homeless because they also call Louisville home.