Q&A with Girls State governor McKinna Harvin
Kaleb Jacups- Senior, Business Manager
August 30, 2019
Q: What is Girls State?
A: It’s a camp where you learn how to run a government. It’s more like a sorority and having a real job, almost like working in college. It teaches you how to educationally live in your government. You learn about women and their place in history as well as the government process.
Q: Where did it take place?
A: Girls State was at David Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN.
Q: When did it start and how long did it last?
A: It started Sunday, May 26, and ended Saturday, June 1.
Q: How were you chosen for Girls State?
A: Starting around January, you ask teachers to nominate you to be considered. Once a certain amount of people nominate you, you move on to being interviewed by Girls State alumni. They ask random questions and you try to present yourself as best as possible. Then you are chosen from there.
Q: What were your responsibilities during the running process and after you became governor?
A: As soon as we arrived we were divided into the nationalist and federalist parties. Each city chose a nationalist and a federalist delegate to create a platform for the party. I ran and my city elected me as the nationalist delegate. All the party nationalists met up and got a rundown of what the party stands for. Once that was over, we were told if we wanted to run for governor to get up and give a 30-second speech on the spot. If you got a certain percentage of votes, you moved on. There was then a series of speeches about random topics and another vote, in which I tied with another girl. That night, after a revote, I became the nationalist party nominee. I had to debate, write about our party platform, throw a party and entice people to come and answer questions from each city. On the last day, I was elected Governor. We had a party and an inauguration ball, and I got to give my winning speech.
CHS senior McKinna Harvin is the first Girls State governor from Cookeville in over 50 years. Source: Herald-Citizen
Q: What inspired you to run for governor?
A: It was spur of the moment. It was kinda fun to run for stuff, even if you lost. I just wanted to see what would happen.
Q: How did you feel the moment you found out you won?
A: Right before, my friends and I were holding each other, clenching our teeth, heads down, crying, and couldn’t breathe we were so stressed out. When my name was spoken, we started crying so hard. It was such a relief that all that work paid off. I was in disbelief.
Q: What opportunities have come up for you since becoming governor?
A: I got to speak at the American Legion Meetings. I’ve gotten some scholarship offers from schools like Tennessee Tech University and Lipscomb. The Star scholarship contacted me with the scholarship for the woman workforce.
Q: What is the best memory you have from Girls State and why?
A: It’s hard to even think of a bad memory. One night my friends and I hung out in my dorm living room and stayed up all night talking and relaxing. We fell asleep when it was daylight outside. One of the other girls found us cuddled together on the couch with a tiny blanket on all five of us. I loved the sisterhood at Girls State.
What's the tea on Tik Tok at Cookeville High School?
McKinna Harvin- Senior, Staff Writer; Jackson Hethcox- Sophomore, Staff Writer
August 30, 2019
If you can remember 2014, you can remember the takeover of the viral seven-second clips called “Vines.” In 2014 a similar video sharing app Musical.ly continued the trend of making celebrities out of short videos.
Not straying from the majority of Gen Z’s clear fascination with watching people lip sync, Tik Tok was introduced to the world in 2017 as the ultimate comedy app. Tik Tok combines the robotic lip-syncing of Musicl.ly with the ironic humor of Vine, becoming the fastest growing app worldwide.
The safety of Tik Tok is questionable, with multiple accounts of possible predators and underage users. Tik Tok’s policy reserves the use of the app to those 16 and older. In actuality, many users are younger than this. Many creators on Tik Tok understand their demographics may reach younger followers.
Tik Tok’s popularity has even found its way into Cookeville, with CHS hosting two prominent Tik Tokers of our own. Cayden Morack, senior, and Jordan Wagner, sophomore, have both gained a large following of 66,000 and 51,000 users, respectively.
Morack may have blown up on Tik Tok this June, but he is a seasoned creator with a previous following on Music.ly. His main claim to fame? The nose scrunch. Although he understands the slight awkwardness of his work, Morack also knows how to reap the benefits.
“I look at social media like it’s one big game,” said Morack. “You play it right and you succeed, or you play it wrong and you lose.”
Wagner was surprised about his following on Tik Tok. He did not expect to be in a very supportive environment with his followers. Wagner has faced teasing on social media, but nothing at school.
Wagner says he combats cyber bullying by ignoring it. He wants to be a voice for that shy person in the corner and to be a light of inspiration for a follower.
“The end goal is for my supporters to love me as much as I love them and for them to realize that they are not alone if they’re going through something,” said Wagner.
The longevity of Tik Tok is still unknown. Another app could easily replace it at anytime. Fortunately for our resident stars, the chance of the app’s downfall doesn’t seem to be near. There will always be a platform for people to voice their creative talents. Its future will only depend on its viewers.
Watch senior Cayden Morack on his Tik Tok @caydenmorack. Source: Allyson Birdwell
Follow sophomore Jordan Wagner on his Tik Tok @jordancolewagner. Source: Savannah Beaty
Data mining: has technology gone too far?
Treasure Evans- Senior, Features Editor
August 30, 2019
Have you ever been talking with your friends about going to a certain store or restaurant, and then all of a sudden you open your social media and there’s an ad for it right there? What about just thinking of a place of business, and then had it pop up on your phone. It can be frightening if you don’t know how this process, called data mining, actually works.
According to the popular science blog site Saagie,“Data mining consists in extracting and processing data, to transform them into useful information.” Companies can extract this data by using complex algorithms that are used by Artificial Intelligence, computer scientists and statistical workers.
An article written by Saagie states that “Text analysis, often used in big data platforms, is combined with deep learning. It permits to automatically detect patterns in any given text. It is often used by universities to detect plagiarism.”
Some anonymous students from Cookeville High School shared their experience with data mining.
“One day at my mom’s job, they were playing Pandora and discussing where they should get lunch. They started talking about calling Jersey Mike’s to order subs. Then a commercial came on Pandora and it was from Jersey Mike’s.”
Another student said “I was on a website for kayaking, and then I got on my Instagram and there was an ad for kayaking.”
Source: Audrey McDonald
A few questions often asked when experiencing this are, “Am I being watched or listened to?”, “Is this an invasion of my privacy?” and “Is my information being shared during this process?” The answer to all of these things is no.
Part of the data mining process is trying to understand your patterns in order to profit for businesses. With that being said, if you were just looking at makeup on Pinterest, and then you get on Instagram and see an ad for Ulta, it’s a pattern. That’s how businesses promote themselves. Your electronics can pick up things like that.
One student at CHS said, “I was on a math website in class called Mathpapa and I was talking about Doritos. Next thing I know, there was an ad for Doritos on the side of the website.” It’s all about patterns and the choices you make. That is going to determine your data mining experience.
Is the government hiding secrets in Area 51?
Kayla Tippens- Junior, Staff Writer
August 30, 2019
Everyone has heard of Area 51, but does anyone actually know what it is? Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, is a highly classified Air Force base in Nevada.
Back in the 1950s, the U.S. was flying aircrafts over the Soviet Union under the threat of being shot down. President Eisenhower decided that the U.S needed a remote area to build and test higher flying planes.
There is no confirmed reason for the name. One theory is that the base was built next to Nevada’s nuclear testing site, which was sectioned into “areas” by number. Therefore, they named the base Area 51.
In 1955, engineers at Area 51 developed the U-2 aircraft which could fly 60,000 feet in the air. Military aircrafts could only go 40,000 feet. The knowledge of the U-2 aircraft was extremely classified. So, if the aircraft was spotted, pilots would report it.
Although Air Force officials knew about the U-2, they could not tell the public. They explained the reported sightings as “natural phenomena”.
Area 51 served as a testing ground for many aircrafts, but no one seems to know what they are doing now.
The fact that the U.S. government did not acknowledge the existence of the base until 2013 lead to many conspiracy theories. Americans believe in these conspiracies, so much so that Facebook users are planning to break into the base on September 20.
Most of these theories stem from alien conspiracy. There have been many reported UFO sightings around the area. There has also been an ex-employee, Bob Lazar, who claims to have been given extraterrestrial material to work with.
In an interview with Las Vegas local news, Bob Lazar claims to have seen aliens and to have worked on their spaceships in 1989.
Some believe that Area 51 is similar to the “headquarters” from the Men in Black movies. The “headquarters” is like an airport for aliens. Others believe there is alien testing being conducted, more specifically with alien DNA.
Other conspiracies are less far fetched and arguably more dangerous. Many people believe the U.S. government is working on some type of weapon. It is believed that there are nuclear weapons held in Area 51.
Students here at CHS were asked about what they thought was hidden in Area 51. 65% of students asked believed in some type of alien conspiracy. This is followed by nuclear testing at 23%, then the belief that nothing is hidden at 12%. Almost everyone has an opinion, but is anyone right? Maybe we will finally find out what the government is hiding on September 20.
Students explore during their summer vacations
Erika Minnear- Senior, Staff Writer
August 30, 2019
During the two months of summer break, several Cookeville High School students went on extravagant trips around the world, breaking the beach getaway vacation trend. Here are a few exciting adventures that CHS students have embarked on over the summer.
Senior Devin Flanders visited New Orleans with her family during the break. She visited the iconic Cafe Du Monde, Bourbon Street and Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium. There was a huge culture shock coming from Cookeville to a place known for jazz music in the streets and local legends of voodoo and witchcraft.
She noticed that “there were homeless people everywhere.”
Overall, the beautiful city, incredible food and unique culture of New Orleans made for a wonderful family vacation.
Another senior, Nathan Phillips, traveled to Israel with a tour group from his old church in Nashville. It was a historical tour that visited major places in the Bible and explained their significance. Some of these locations included Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Bethlehem and Jericho. One of his favorite attractions was Petra, a city carved out of sandstone. He also had the opportunity to pray at Jerusalem’s sacred temple alongside the residents there.
Although the 11-hour flight was not the best experience, Nathan said, “This was the best trip I’ve ever been on,” because of how he was able to further his faith by visiting the exact places the Bible speaks about.
Senior Devin Flanders vacationed in New Orleans.
Senior Nathan Phillips took a trip to Israel.
Junior Audrey Birdwell flew to the Dominican Republic for a mission trip with her church, Jefferson Avenue Church of Christ, at the beginning of June. She teamed up with Manna, a global ministry dedicated to meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs, to put on two Vacation Bible School programs for both high schoolers and younger children. One of Audrey’s favorite parts was acting in skits that taught the children about Jesus while a Spanish translator narrated.
There was a huge culture shock coming to a poverty-stricken community in San Juan. Along with every meal involving rice and beans and interpreting Spanish slang in most conversations, something that stuck out most to her was the friendliness and joy that the people living there exuded.
A phrase that is often heard there that had an impact on Audrey is “Let’s share time” rather than “Let’s spend time together”.
This simple, sweet phrase and her experience in San Juan taught her to cherish the time she has with people and to not focus on materialistic or first-world problems.
Each of these students had a unique summer experience that created memories and perspectives that will last a lifetime. A common theme in all of these trips is that it is worth it to adventure out of your comfort zone and learn about various cultures in order to better appreciate and understand others. Take it from these CHS students who used their summer break to serve, explore and cherish time with others.
Junior Audrey Birdwell went on a mission trip in the Dominican Republic.