The 2023 Pumpkin Show was 5 days of fun and was filled with many events and food. The Pumpkin Show lasts from October 17 to October 21, every day there are a lot of things to do and watch including rides, parades, shows and music. Some of the most watched events are the Miss Pumpkin Show and Little Miss Pumpkin Show. You can also see the largest pumpkin and pumpkin displays.

On October 18th, the Little Miss Pumpkin show and Miss Pumpkin show parades and judging were held. They went on stage and the judges chose from all of the girls and made a decision on who would win and get 1st and 2nd attendant. This year's Little Miss Pumpkin show was Skylor Cassady, 1st attendant, Charlee Hart, and 2nd attendant, Demi Fox. All of the girls who are competing for Miss Pumpkin Show will go through the parade and then go on stage and introduce themselves, the judges will choose 7 girls to stay and the rest will leave after the 7 girls are chosen they will go up to the microphone and pick a question, the judges will ask the question and the girls will each give and answer. This year's Miss Pumpkin Show was Sophia Seymour, 1st attendant was Madison Cordle, and 2nd attendant was Haley Robinson.

There are many projects you can enter into the pumpkin show for a prize if you win, this includes baked goods, wreaths, flowers, fruits and vegetables, float competitions, and more. At the pumpkin show, there were so many things to enjoy and good food. A majority of the food is pumpkin flavored however there are still so many options that are not pumpkin-related. The Pumpkin Show is known as “The greatest free show in the world” and most people think it lives up to its nickname. So come over to the Pumpkin show for a great time and great food.

As the month of March comes to an end, many colleges and universities are now out on spring break. As this time approaches, many students are planning on traveling with their friends. This may be an issue with COVID-19 still being a huge problem in the world today. This is currently a problem in Miami, Florida especially since it is a very popular destination for college students. In Miami, Florida, they have had many mishaps so far involving more than 1,000 people getting arrested and 100 gun seizures already this year. Also, Florida does not require people to wear a  mask in public, so a lot more people are at risk. With the law-breaking environment and the slipping coronavirus guidelines, Miami is a very problematic place to visit this time of year. Along with these issues, some of the people residing there this season have caused street fights, destroyed lots of restaurant property, and started dangerous stampedes. In many instances, it got so out of hand that the Miami Beach Police had to bring in SWAT teams to disperse the disruptive crowds. The police had to shoot pepper balls into the crowds to try and break the crowds up as well. To try and crack down on these issues, the state of Miami mandated a state emergency curfew at 8 every night. Along with the emergency curfew, the state of Miami is trying to limit the number of travelers that come for their spring break. According to CNN, “Too many are coming, really, without the intention of following the rules, and the result has been a level of chaos and disorder that is just something more than we can endure.” Hopefully Miami can get this under control before having to shut down their whole state for the second time. 

  The Coronavirus has changed the world as we know it. With everyone quarantining for months and having to wear masks everywhere we go, people are ready for this pandemic to end. Scientists have been working hard on a vaccine and finally, they have had a breakthrough. There are three different types of vaccines, but only two types have been successful so far: the Messenger RNA vaccine and the Vector Vaccine. 

First, the Messenger RNA uses genetically engineered single-stranded molecules of RNA to give instructions to your cells to create the harmless S protein found on the Covid-19 virus. This will cause you to create antibodies that will fight the dangerous virus and keep you safe. The companies Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna use the mRNA vaccine and have been shown to be effective at stopping Covid-19. 

The other vaccine that has been successful is the Vector vaccine. The Vector vaccine uses genetic material from the virus itself which is put into a weakened live virus, similar to adenoviruses, which are common viruses that affect areas all over the body. This will deliver the information to your cells that's needed to create the S protein and from there it is similar to the Messenger RNA vaccine. It makes antibodies that will fight off the virus from causing you harm. Janssen/Johnson and Johnson have officially released their vector vaccine while AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford are still currently working on a breakthrough for theirs.

Last but not least, the protein subunit vaccine is still waiting to be released into the world. The way it fights off the virus is very similar to the first two vaccines as it includes S proteins in it already which accomplish the goal of creating antibodies. Novavax is yet to release one and is still working on it. 

  After the one year anniversary of COVID-19 and the readily available vaccine for it being released, we all want things to get back to normal. Luckily, things are finally beginning to return to normal. However, the United States definition of normal isn’t all good. A little of a year ago we weren’t worried about the rising outbreak of disease, but the rising outbreak of mass shootings.

There is no specific dictionary definition of a mass shooting. However, it is typically an incident that results in multiple victims (by law 4 or more) due to gun violence in public places. Be that as it may, it is generally agreed that it is a mass shooting when there are 3 or more victims (not including the shooter). 

In January of 2021, there were a total of 35 mass shootings. Due to these shootings, 145 people were injured and 29 people died. In February, 152 people were injured and 49 people died as a result of 43 mass shootings. In March, there were 48 mass shootings in the United States. 188 people were injured and 70 others died because of these shootings. As you can see from the statistics of January vs. March, the amount of shootings is rapidly increasing. 

Now you may be thinking, what can we do about this? What is the point in telling us this? Well here it is, here is how we can reduce these statistics. According to Business Insider, we can begin by reducing mass destruction weapons and better background checks to buy a weapon. Another resource that could help are Red Flag laws. These allow family members and law enforcement to file “Extreme Risk Protection Orders” that will restrict or temporarily remove an individual's access to firearms when it is believed they could “pose a violent threat to themselves and others.”

  Recently there has been an increase in shootings across the United States. A large amount of these are happening in America´s malls, the place where people of all ages come together to hang out and shop. The most recent mall shooting happened March 3rd, 2021 at Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, Ohio. This uptick in violence across the U.S. is partially due to racial discrimination. With the Coronavirus outbreak this past year, some Americans have blamed Asians or people of Asian-American descent for creating and spreading the virus.  In Atlanta, Georgia a man went on a killing spree He shot and killed 8 Asian spa workers in malls. This has raised fear among common people and police alike that there may be more racially motivated shootings in spas and nail salons where asian men and women typically work (Ruth Graham, New York Times). With many of these establishments often being in malls, it has raised concern over the safety of all people who go to malls. Not all mall shootings are racially motivated though. Some people are just not mentally there so they feel the need to cause violence. With an uptick in violence this past year and malls beginning to reopen since the covid vaccine is out, safety in our favorite places to spend time with friends and family has been a concern. More than likely you will see advanced safety measures in your nearby malls for your protection. While mall shootings are not an everyday common occurrence you should still always be aware of your surroundings and the people around you to stay safe while having fun. 

As teenagers in America, we often think of education as a negative part of our lives. We constantly complain about homework, teachers, and exams. In other countries however, education is considered to be an extreme luxury. In Africa, the illiteracy rate in citizens over the age of fifteen was nearly 35% as of 2019 and many of its countries are in the top ten worst places for education in the world. Nearly 124 million children around the globe long for the chance to go to school. “Thirty-nine percent of the worldwide poor have no formal education at all,” (compassion.com). In wealthier countries, this issue is not brought to the surface as often as it should be. It is time to take charge and bring light to this heavily shadowed problem.

According to Justin van Fleet of Brookings, “...of Africa’s nearly 128 million school-aged children, 17 million will never attend school. Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that another 37 million African children will learn so little while they are in school that they will not be much better off than those kids who never attend school.” This is not just in Africa, but all over the world. UNICEF, also know as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, states that 11.3 million primary school children and 20.6 million lower-secondary school children in South Asia do not attend school. UNICEF is dedicated to protecting children and teenagers around the world from violence and making sure they have adequate nutrition, safe water, education, and medical availability. “Classrooms in South Asia are teacher-centred and rote-based, and children are subjected to corporal punishment and discrimination.” This means that teachers use repetition and memorization to get students to learn and when they fail to do so they are faced with violent punishments. These include caning, whipping, smacking, and many forms of verbal abuse. As Americans, we can work together to greatly improve the quality of education across the globe. We can contribute to organizations such as UNICEF and give them the power to give children a chance to learn. Although we cannot help every country, we can bring more attention to this rising problem and hopefully we will learn as individuals to appreciate our education system so that we don’t take it for granted.

  The United States’ Military currently have 174,000 active-duty personnel deployed on foreign soil. This personnel is stationed over more than 150 countries around the globe. A few of the more well known countries occupied by the U.S. Military forces are Afghanistan, Iraq, Britain, France, and Russia. 

Examples of active U.S. military operations are list on https://www.globalsecurity.org, but to list a few, there are Operation Ocean Shield located in the Horn of Africa/Gulf of Aden, Operation Ocean Look/ Trident Reach located in the Horn of Africa/Western Indian Ocean, and Operation Atlantic Resolve located in Europe. 

The purpose of Operation Atlantic Resolve is that the United States is demonstrating its continued commitment to provide security. This is done through a series of actions designed to reassure North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region, in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine. The US soldiers on the Atlantic Resolve mission are deployed on a nine-month period of time.

The mission of Operation Ocean Shield in Africa is to contribute to international efforts to counter maritime piracy, plundering, hijacking, or detention of a ship in international waters, while participating in capacity building efforts with regional governments. Operation Ocean Shield operates closely beside other naval forces including US-led maritime forces, European naval forces, and national actors fighting against the threat of piracy in the region. NATO's mission is in full accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions relating to privacy of the country Somalia.

Finally, Operation Ocean Look was the deployment of a contingent of satellite controlled aerial vehicles (UAV) to the Seychelles, island republic in the western Indian Ocean, to help counter-piracy operations in the Western Indian Ocean and along the Horn of Africa. This deployment was in support of existing US, NATO, and EU counter-piracy operations. The codename for the US’ involvement in this operation is “Operation Trident Reach”.

  Harold Shipman was one of the most prolific British serial killers of all time. He was born on January 14th, 1946. He had a relatively normal upbringing, until his mother (whom he was very close with) died from cancer when he was 17. He went to college at Leeds University, a few years later he became a general practitioner in the town of Todmorden. He eventually developed a love for killing, He would kill his patients by injecting them with diamorphine while he was operating on his patients. It is estimated he killed 200+ people. The local undertaker caught on and found that he was getting an unusually high number of deceased people who had visited Dr. Shipman before their tragic deaths. The undertaker informed the police about the unusual number of deceased he was seeing. Local authorities looked into it, but since he had a clean record, they stopped investigating. Around 1998, Kathleen Grundy was found dead in her home. The police found that she was visited by Dr. Shipman the same day she died. This was the first red flag that the authorities found. The police then began to investigate and after noticing that three more of his patients had died. In 2000, he was found guilty of murdering at least fifteen people and sentenced to life in prison. His youngest confirmed victim was a forty one year old male, named Peter Lewis, whom he killed on New Year’s day of 1985. Some believe, however, that he killed a four year old named Susie Garfitt. There’s never been an investigation into this claim. All in all, he was one of the United Kingdom’s most well known serial killers. On January 13th, 2004 (one day before his birthday) while in prison, he ended his life by hanging himself.

  Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera was born in 1957 on the 4th of April in La Tuna, Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico. He’s commonly known as “El Chapo” (Mexican slang for shorty), which he got because of his height of 168 cm (5’5) and “El Rápido” (Mexican slang for fast/speedy). He’s also considered to be the most powerful drug traffickers in the world. Before he became the head mafia leader of the Sinaloa Cartel he actually grew up in a very poor farming family and had an abusive dad. What started his journey in the drug trade was his father, who helped him grow marijuana for local dealers around his early adulthood. By the late 1970s, he began working with Héctor Luis Palma Salazar, a rising drug lord, and helped him map routes for drug smuggling through Sinaloa and into the United States. In 1988, Guzmán started his own cartel after Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, a nation leading kingpin during the mid 80s who he had also supervised logistics for, was arrested. 

          Guzmán oversaw operations where mass cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine were produced, smuggled into, and distributed throughout Europe and the United States. He pioneered the use of long-range tunnels by borders and distribution cells to be able to export more drugs than any other trafficker recorded in history. Of course being a well known drug lord would have its cons, he later was arrested in 1993 in Guatemala and sentenced to 20 years in Mexico for murder (claimed to have murdered 2,000-3,000 people) and drug trafficking but later escaped from a federal maximum-security prison in 2001 by bribing prison guards. Guzmán ended up having an $8.8 million reward combined from the United States and Mexico for any information on his arrest because of his fugitive status. He was later caught again in 2014 in Mexico. 

  Prior to his formal sentencing in 2015, he, of course, escaped through a tunnel under his jail cell, and was now hiding out somewhere in Mexico. He was caught following a shoot-out in 2016 by Mexican authorities and was extradited to Colorado in the U.S. a year later. In 2019, he was found guilty of a number of criminal charges including: murder, drug trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, and organized crime and others related to his leadership in the Sinaloa Cartel. He is still currently alive serving life in prison at ADX Florence in Colorado. 

Can the Coronavirus really cause other problems later down the road? The CDC states that there are “health issues that persist more than four weeks after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19”. Some of the most commonly reported issues are fatigue, shortness of breath, joint pain, chest pain, and coughs. Some other problems that have been noted are headaches, muscle pain, depression, heart palpitations, blood clots, neurological disorders, and kidney problems. Some of the uncommon issues that have been reported are cardiovascular issues and dermatologic problems. Some people are developing diabetes after contracting the virus. According to the Washington Post, “Fourteen percent of those with severe covid-19 have developed a form of the disorder.”

Many of these people had no preexisting conditions, but are now experiencing new diagnoses. A diabetes surgery professor, Francesco Rubino, told the Washington Post that he is convinced that there is a direct correlation between the uptick in diabetes cases and the coronavirus. Many of the people who have recently developed diabetes after having Covid did not fit the profile to become a diabetic. There is fear that cells produced by the virus are preventing the pancreas from making enough insulin to process what we take in.

The coronavirus also affects the neurological system. The neurological system deals with the brain and how it functions. More than thirty percent of people who have had the virus have developed impaired cognition (Harvard Health). Cognitive impairment is when a person has a hard time remembering, learning new information, making decisions, or concentrating. Some of these neurological manifestations can be very harmful. Studies have found that the virus may cause the brain to swell and also increase the risk a person has for strokes. One of the main reasons the brain becomes so damaged is because of the lack of oxygen flow to the brain. 

Having COVID can have long-term consequences. Many issues can form such as neurological problems, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes. It is important to try to stay safe during the pandemic and to protect yourself from dangerous medical outcomes down the road.

January and February of 2022 have already seen lots of harsh winter weather in the Midwest. Ohio experienced a severe ice and snow storm in the first week of February. Thousands of Ohioans were left without power throughout the week and most schools were canceled for a total of four days. However, weather forecasts predict that the cold weather and precipitation is not over yet and a small blizzard is likely for the Midwest and Northeastern United States. On the other hand, the western side of the country is experiencing warm, spring-like temperatures. 

This weekend, snow is expected for areas in the Midwest and New England. Although this storm will not be as bad as last week's storm. Meteorologists from Weather Underground at wunderground.com predict that rain will be mixed in with the snow which could lead to even more ice, this may result in more snow days for schools in these areas. The temperature will stay below freezing for most of the time and may even drop down to the low twenties. Global wind currents will bring the snowstorm from the Midwest to the Northeast. This will likely result in little snow, but lots of wind for the Northeastern United States. In areas like Sacramento CA, Los Angeles CA, temperatures range from the low seventies to the high eighties. Denver CO will have an average temperature of 57 degrees

March of 2022 is expected to bring warmer temperatures but more precipitation than February. Areas in New England and the lower midwest can expect temperatures in the fifties and sixties. Late March and April will bring the normal spring heavy precipitation. The upper Midwestern regions will still have temperatures in the low fifties. The western U.S. will continue to see temperatures rise higher than they were in February.

Teachers should have to dig deeper into psychology courses before being able to actually teach in order to know if a student is actually just being “lazy”, or if it is something deeper than that. 18.8% of high school students struggle with mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, which both disorders can cause a lack of motivation resulting in students failing to do their classwork and grades dropping to dangerous levels. Most teachers just chalk it up to the student being “lazy”, choosing to “goof off” instead of doing their work, but that's not always the case. Only 25% of students with a mental health problem seek help. The rest struggle in silence allowing everything to pile up until they can no longer handle it. All students have life outside of school, some have it worse than others, but we never know who those people are. Just because a student is no longer doing their work, or sleeping in class doesn't always mean they don’t care or are being lazy, something else could be going on and teachers need to be able to tell the difference in order to help their student succeed, one study found that five percent of students do not finish their education due to psychiatric disorders and estimated that 4.29 million people would have graduated from college had they not been experiencing such disorders. If teachers are able to recognize when a student is struggling and approach the situation to help, a lot more students might be able to get through all of  the classwork and graduate in order to be more successful in life. 

The Corona Virus has been around for two years now. Many events that we take part in daily have been greatly affected. Not only have lives been affected physically, but the virus has also affected many people mentally as well. Some main daily events that are still not the same are school, jobs, sports, going to stores, going on vacations, and even things such as visiting loved ones in the hospital. As a student myself, some of the changes that were made were masks being required and a quarantine period if you were exposed to someone with the virus. Many jobs around here still require masks. Sports have seen some drastic changes, but it is slowly going back to “normal”. As a basketball player myself, last year, a lot of our games got postponed because of quarantining. We had to wear masks on the bench and on the bus. However, this year, we only have to wear masks on the bus, and the only reasons our games have been postponed are because of snow days. Still, sports are affected by the virus. Whenever you go to the grocery store, not much looks different anymore. It is starting to look normal. However, for some people, such as the elderly or immunocompromised, it’s still a struggle to go to the grocery store, since masks aren’t required for all. However, some people still do wear them while going to stores. Also being affected is vacations. Some airlines you have to show a vaccination card. Depending on where you’re traveling, you might also have to show your vaccination card. Finally, one of the biggest and most heartbreaking effects of the Corona virus is hospitals. It’s different for most hospitals, but in most of them, you can either have no visitors or maybe one. Some people fighting the virus in the hospital might not be able to see their loved ones, even if it’s the last moments of their life. All in all, the Corona Virus has affected our daily lives, even if it’s not as noticeable anymore or it isn’t as bad as it used to be. 

Mental health is the overall well-being of someone, not only can an adult consider their mental health but children can too. Since the pandemic there has been a rise in anxiety, depression, and overall loneliness. Isolating and social distancing from Covid-19 can affect mental health by creating distance between people and then making people feel disconnected and isolated in return. Now with more children using social media platforms and coming back to school from the pandemic, mental health issues have increased in children. The most common mental health disorders found in children are anxiety, behavioral disorders, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although most mental disorders can be found in children. The best way to find mental health disorders in children is to look for the signs or symptoms. Signs and symptoms include, persistent sadness, loss of weight, difficulty sleeping, changing in eating habits, difficulty focusing, and frequent changes in mood, behavior or personality. If these early signs are seen in a child then the child should be brought to the doctor to get diagnosed or so then they can talk to a professional about what is going on. Access to health care to treat mental issues have been improved so the child can be more easily seen and heard. When going to the doctors office the doctor will have the child take a survey to ask questions honestly to see if the child feels a certain way so then they can help or treat the child. With almost 1 in 5 children having a mental disorder of some sort, access to health care has to be better to be able to get the child the help they would need. The CDC is finding imaginative ways to get healthcare where it is needed to reach all people. They are training more health care providers on how to help in certain situations dealing with mental health to then get more people able to help. The CDC is also creating maps on where the mental health care providers are located for easy access to mental health care as well as looking at maps to see where mental health disorders are rising to allow better access in that area. Mental health treatment also differs depending on the mental health disorder, more children that are diagnosed with depression seek treatment then children who suffer from behavioral disorders. Early diagnosis makes all the difference when it comes to mental health. More then 90% of suicides have been related to mental illness. Suicideprevention.osu.edu states, “However, those who do kill themselves, more than 90 percent have experienced some form of mental illness. The mental illness alone does not lead to suicidal behavior. The distress associated with a mental illness in conjunction with overwhelming life circumstances may result in suicidal feelings and behaviors.” Mental health is important and needs to be treated, there's so many self care options as well, but the best place to start is by talking to someone or finding the signs and symptoms early.

In forty-one states of America, in the case that a person has been hospitalized permanently, they have zero control over the time of their own passing. Is this lack of autonomy an appropriate decision? Or should individuals be able to request their own euthanasia in the case of a painful terminal illness? The answer is quite clear-cut.

To start, voluntary Euthanasia only includes cases in which a person is wholly competent and mentally fit to make a request to be assisted in their death. A Stanford article titled “Voluntary Euthanasia” written by Robert Young proposes five common conditions used to determine candidacy for voluntary euthanasia which go as follows. First, the patient must be suffering from a terminal illness. Second, it must be unlikely that they benefit from a sudden cure to said illness. Third, must be suffering unbearable pains or be living an unacceptably burdensome life caused by the illness. Fourth, has an enduring wish to die while fully competent or stated such wish while still competent once certain qualifications are met, And lastly, the patient is unable to end their life unassisted. It is recognized this ruleset isn’t perfect and bars individuals suffering from illnesses such as quadriplegia or Alzheimer's disease. For these reasons these conditions could likely be subject to change if ever legally implemented, but this example shows a simple and logical ruleset can be made for allowing the use of physician-assisted euthanasia.

Secondly, the U.S wouldn’t be the first country to implement a legal form of assisted suicide. The list of countries that allow euthanasia already includes the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Canada, and most notably Switzerland. Switzerland is a leading example of Euthanasia. In fact, it has even begun to solve another issue often found in Voluntary Euthanasia which is finding an appropriate way for doctors to go about performing the procedure. The Sarco pod is a relatively new invention that allows for a quick and painless death. The Sarco device is a fully 3D printable pod that once entered can be activated. Once started the pod will rapidly begin removing oxygen from the container replacing it with nitrogen allowing the user to peacefully pass within about ten minutes. It is also important to be noted the Machine can be turned off at any time during the process in the case of a last-minute change of decision or other circumstances.

All in all, while still a highly debated topic, medically assisted suicide may no longer be as morally ambiguous as it once was and it may be time for the U.S to turn over a new leaf. What do you think? Would you like you or one of your loved ones to have access to this option or do you still find it an ethical mess that's better left alone? Either way, the facts have been laid out and it may be a sooner coming decision than we first thought.