Stop the Violence! By Jayline Torres 3/18
     On Wednesday, February 14th of 2018 at 2 p.m. Florida became a disaster. Many people didn't spend their Valentine’s Day the way they should have. Parents getting calls after calls. On this day, a man named Nikolas Cruz committed a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 children and adults. This was one of the most depressing days ever. There were videos of teenagers on the ground asking for help as you saw puddles of blood dripping down over children's bodies. When I heard about this, I thought about the Sandy Hook shooting all over again.
     I give my condolences to those who lost their relatives, children, siblings, etc. How can someone have the power to shoot up a school and kill so many children that were innocent and didn't do anything wrong? Some people don't have a heart or any feelings.
     I just want to take a moment to thank the New Haven school district and other school systems in the U.S. that had the courtesy to give respect to those who died. On March 14th, 2018 my school, Coop High School, and other schools did a so-called “peaceful demonstration” for the Florida tragedy that occurred. It was a very beautiful thing that we did, with signs and posters saying “stop the violence” or “ Guns down, books up,” that were positive messages. Many kids I know felt uncomfortable about the demonstration but continued to participate to show respect. That was the thing that I liked most. I loved the respect that my peers had for the Florida victims and the way they took things seriously.
     This is one of the most important things I think about every morning before going to school. I have to thank my school a whole bunch for the protection they give me and my fellow students. Again, I just want to thank our district for doing so many things to participate and show respect to those who passed on February 14th.

Gina Montalto, 14 * Christopher Hixon, 49  * Meadow Pollack, 18 * Peter Wang, 15 * Helena Ramsay, 17 * ​Meadow Pollack, 18 * Alaina Petty, 14 * Joaquin Oliver, 17 * Cara Loughran, 14  * Alyssa Alhadeff, 14  * Nicholas Dworet, 17 * Jaime Guttenberg, 14 * Martin Duque Anguiano, 14 * Aaron Feis, 37  * Luke Hoyer, 15
​

The Las Vegas Massacre
By Joan Benson 10/17
     On Monday, October 2nd, Las Vegas was involved in America’s deadliest modern mass shooting. A country music festival near the Mandalay Bay hotel was interrupted by the sounds of gunshots being rapidly fired. At first, many of the people attending the concert mistook the noise as fireworks, but soon realized what was really going on when people started getting hit by the bullets. A total of 58 people died and over 500 were treated for injuries from bullet wounds and from the stampede of all 22,000 attendees trying to get away.
The monster who did this went by the name of Stephen Paddock. He brought 25 automatic guns with him into a hotel room on the 32nd floor and aimed his gun at the sea of hardworking mothers, husbands, students, and doctors. Not only did he kill these innocent people, but also killed himself before even talking to the police.
There are so many things about this incident that not only sadden and infuriate me, but also make me quite worried and feel a bit on edge. Many news sites, I see people trying to humanize this 64-year-old terrorist. I see all of this talk about how he played golf and was a nice guy who kept to himself, but what is the point of telling us that? One site even called him a “grandad”, which he isn’t, since he never had any children of his own. Are they trying to make us feel bad for him? There is nothing to feel bad about except the lives he has taken away and the family’s lives he has changed forever.
It worries me that we don’t know what the goal of his attack was. This was not some kind of hate crime. It was a target on a diverse group of people that were just enjoying some music. He wasn’t linked to any religious groups or organizations. So, now that he’s dead, what is the next step to getting to the bottom of this? It was a fully-planned attack and he only talked to one person who was out of the country at the time. We don’t know much about Paddock and it scares me that he kept so much to himself that not even one person noticed anything strange about him.
Usually when these kinds of tragedies happen, we know what the motive is. Do they hate a certain race? Are they trying to make a political statement? Paddock is different. He talked to no one. He didn’t speak any final words to the police. Will we ever find out any more than that? That's what bothers me. This isn’t a mystery movie where we will find out why he did it in the end. There are so many open cases that won’t be solved and I hope that this won’t be another one.
If there is anything good that will come out of this, I hope that the issue of gun control will be addressed in a way that saves lives. No one needs to buy 25 guns. No one needs automatic weapons. The scariest thing about this is Paddock bought all of the guns legally. He also carried ten pieces of luggage into the hotel that contained all of his guns without being questioned at all. Things like this should be raising some eyebrows. Just because he may not have had a criminal record, which allowed him to buy all of those guns, doesn’t mean that he wasn’t capable of harming people.
    This brings up the question, do we really know what anyone is thinking? We don't know what anyone is capable of. The Bureau of Firearms and Explosives needs to make note of strange behavior like buying 25 automatic weapons. There were clues that something was unusual going on when Paddock transferred $100,000 to his girlfriend’s bank account. These two things, if monitored more closely, might have raised some eyebrows and may have prevented this tragic event. I hope that the authorities can get to the bottom of this and figure out what point Paddock was trying to make. This type of event is just too big to forget happened in a week.

​

Mr. Murphy's students compete in Washington D.C.

Congratulations to Ajae Jackson, Nzinga Temu, and Zherah Collier! They participated in the Marshall-Brennan Nationals competition in Washington D.C. this weekend through their Constitutional Law class. Zherah Collier finished in 2nd place in the nation!