JANUARY 2015 EDITION IV

TURKISH PRESIDENT SPARKS OUTRAGE WITH $165M PALACE WORLD NEWS | YOON SUN (SUNNY) HONG ’15……….2

BRIDGING CULTURAL GAPS BETWEEN AHA’S NON-THEISTIC COMMUNITY AND RE LIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY OPINION | RENATA FRANCESCO ’15 ……… 3

The AHA voice EM B O D Y I N G T H E V O I C E O F O U R C O M M U N I T Y

EDITORIAL | The Editing Staff

THE TRUTH ABOUT TECHNOLOGY

PRIVACY AT AHA

Privacy seems to be more of a privilege than a right, especial-

ly when it comes to technology. In fact, technology privacy at

AHA is virtually nonexistent because of the Technology Pri-

vacy Contract all students sign in the beginning of the year.

Several Angels have been admonished by their teachers for

goofing off in class at least once. The infamous “Warning!

Please pay attention in class!” is undeniably frightening.

Many teachers have come to know and love the program

DyKnow, while students cringe at the thought of its use. Be-

cause of this program, teachers have the all-powerful ability to

control their students’ screens. DyKnow is actually “a class-

room management program that allows teachers to create a

more collaborative classroom environment through screen

sharing, group presentation, and polling,” according to Mr.

Ballane. The program was initially purchased to provide

teachers with another resource to help students reach the full-

ness of their potential. As far as the benefits of the program,

Mr. Ballane stated, “[The program] has helped [classes] to be

more productive and collaborative. The most beneficial aspect

of the program is that it allows the teacher to assess the level

of understanding of the concepts that are being taught. This

allows the teacher to adjust lessons so that students are able to

learn at a higher level.”

Read more at ahavoice.holyangels.org

FERGUSON: THE REAL REASONS WHY EVERYONE SHOULD BE UPSET OPINION | CASSIDY FERRICK ‘15 AND JULIET VICARI ‘15 ……….2

FEATURED ARTICLES

Photo courtesy of Education Career Articles

AN ADDICTION IN OUR HANDS ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT | By Catherine Moscatt ‘15

When thinking about addictions, the first things that come to mind are usually alcohol, drugs, or gambling – hazards that are taught in the average health class. But in the last ten years, a new type of addiction has emerged that you can access with just a few swipes of your fingers: an addiction to phone applications.

Read More at ahavoice.holyangels.org

Photo courtesy of Mactrast

FERGUSON: THE REAL REASONS WHY EVE-RYONE SHOULD BE UPSET

OPINION | By Cassidy Ferrick ‘15 and Juliet Vicari ‘15

There is a lot of information sur-

rounding the events in Ferguson cir-

culating on the Internet and on the

news. However, there is also a lot of

false and harmful information about

the situation being shown and is com-

pletely derailing the case of Michael

Brown. The fact remains that the po-

lice officer who shot Michael

Brown, Darren Wilson, sentenced an

18 year old to death without a tri-

al and then left the body in the

street for about four hours for every-

one to see.

The media has a history of demonizing

the victims of police brutality. Instead of

focusing on the tragedy of a lost life,

Brown has been portrayed as “No Angel,”

going so far as to search his Facebook for

compromising photos; however, throwing

up an occasional gang sign in a picture

does not warrant an execution. The police

force also has an extremely skewed view

of young black males. In the case

of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old

boy who was shot for holding a

BB-gun (the toy guns), the cop

who reported the killing described

Tamir as “20 years old”. In Dar-

ren Wilson’s testimony,

hereferred to Michael Brown as a

“demon”, showing the literal de-

monization of young black men

by cops. This is true in everyday

society as well – Trayvon Martin

was shot in 2012 for just wearing

a hoodie which, according to

George Zimmerman, made him a

“thug”. Alarmingly, black people

are viewed as “thugs” just for

wearing the color of their

skin; the incarceration rates for black

compared to whites ranges in certain are-

as from twice as high to ten times as high.

From the beginning, the St. Louis police

force tried to cover up the incident in or-

der to minimize Darren Wilson’s punish-

ment. The gun used to shoot Brown was

not confiscated and filed as evidence as it

should have been, and there were no fin-

gerprint tests done upon it.

Read more at ahavoice.holyangels.org

Photo courtesy of The Blaze

Want to add to the conversation? Share your insight? Raise

a question? Inspire debate? Leave a comment, write a

Letter to the Editor, submit a Humans of AHA entry, or

even join the staff! Whatever you choose to do, let YOUR

voice be heard!

GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?

TURKISH PRESIDENT SPARKS OUTRAGE WITH $615M PALACE WORLD NEWS | By Yoon Sun (Sunny) Hong‘15

Turkey’s newly-elected president Recep Tayyip

Erdogan sparked a huge controversy after moving

into his new residence in capital Ankara: the

world’s biggest palace with 1,000 lavish rooms.

Nicknamed “Ak Saray” (White Palace), the Presi-

dential Palace’s 3.1 million square feet of land ex-

ceeds the world’s largest palace, the Istana Nurul

Iman Palace of the Sultan of Brunei. The complex

is more than 40 times larger than the White House

and even bigger than France’s grandiose Palace of

Versailles. Its total construction cost amounts to

$615 million, nearly twice the previous budget.

Since officially unveiled on October 29, Turkey’s

Republic Day, Ak Saray has evoked a storm of

protest from opposition parties and the public. De-

nouncing president Erdogan as Turkey’s “new sul-

tan,” Erdogan’s political opponents criticized him

for overspending public funds to satisfy personal

pleasure when the country is struggling with rising

unemployment. Critics also con-

demned the palace’s extravagance as a

sign of Erdogan’s autocratic nature.

Against his critics, president Erdogan

explained that the new palace is a

“work of art” that contains Turkey’s

Ottoman heritage in the interior, and

his move to the new palace is a vivid

symbol of his drive towards a “new

Turkey.” He also emphasized that it

has been registered as state property,

not a personal one.

In addition to its huge expense, the

palace is also under debate because it

was built on a historic forest reserve

against court orders. It is reported that

President Erdogan ignored a number

of court orders to stop construction,

saying “Let them demolish it if they

have the power to do so.”

Read more at ahavoice.holyangels.org

BRIDGING THE CULTURAL GAPS BETWEEN AHA’S NONTHEISTIC COMMUNITY AND RE-LIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY EDITORIAL | By Renata Francesco ’15

Note: an earlier edition of this article was advertised

to the public. The earlier version was not published

due to its controversial nature. This is the finalized

version of this article, which is currently on the site.

On January 6th, The Academy of the Holy Angels

celebrated the Epiphany with a heartfelt liturgy. For

most students, the liturgy was just

as celebratory as any – people sang

along to the psalms and recited the

prayers they grew up with.

For some, however, liturgies aren’t

necessarily familiar subjects. Holy

Angels’ school philosophy proudly

states that “the Academy wel-

comes students from many differ-

ent communities, ethnic back-

ground, and religious affiliations,

appreciating the uniqueness of

each individual while working to-

wards the fulfillment of Jesus

Christ’s prayer ‘that all may be

one.’”

It’s a powerful commitment that

has shaped our school’s identity

for more than a century, inspiring

our community to work towards a

more united world. The school has

fulfilled this commitment by fos-

tering a loving relationship

amongst students of various back-

grounds and accepting many stu-

dents of diverse socioeconomic,

religious, and ethnic backgrounds.

Though our school is very accept-

ing towards all individuals, some

may wonder: if you don’t believe

in God, is it difficult to embrace

our school’s philosophy? Is it a

matter of assimilating to the

school’s Catholic culture? Or have

nontheistic students been able to

successfully, comfortably coexist

with our school’s philosophy?

Read more at

ahavoice.holyangels.org

Photo courtesy of WeHeartIt