The Election, a Relief for Many Seattleites Jimmy Porter | 8Th Grade | News
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Villa Times Thursday, November 12, 2020, Volume 13, Issue 2 The Election, A Relief for Many Seattleites Jimmy Porter | 8th Grade | News It is a fact that here in Seattle we live in a dark blue, liberal bubble. Seattle, along with other large west coast cities, lean left. Therefore, the majority of Seattleites are relieved that Joe Biden has won the presidency. Some West Coast citizens may even call him a savior. There is no doubt that Joe Biden will be a kinder president than Donald Trump and no matter your political affiliation or beliefs, you can see that. If you have not already heard, Joe Biden has become the 46th president of the United States. His mark to beat was 270 votes and he well-surpassed it. President-Elect Biden is projected to win around 290 electoral votes, with the prospect of winning 306. For those who do not know, the system to elect the next president in the U.S. is called the electoral college. The Electoral College aims to give representation to all states, especially low population states. Each state has a certain number of electoral votes (Washington has 12). When the popular vote* is counted in a state, the electoral votes go to the winner. In turn, low population states, which usually lean Republican, have more weight on them. Speaking of Republican, the red candidate and incumbent president, Donald Trump, has not yet conceded^. This means that Trump has not accepted defeat. Currently, there is a lot of controversy around President Trump’s heavy scrutiny of the election. In recent days, he has filed several lawsuits against states for voter fraud and other issues. So far, none of these suits have been accepted, for the lack of legal basis they carry. At this point, Donald Trump’s probability of even advancing a lawsuit is very low. (Continues) In contrast, the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, has just started his preparation for the Whitehouse. On the date this article is written, Joe Biden is just enjoying his win, but he has an important job at hand, naming his cabinet members. A cabinet member is an advisor that the President hires to take point on one key issue. For example, the Secretary of State is arguably the most important cabinet member. Their job is to attend to foreign affairs. Preventing wars, cutting deals, and strengthening ties are just a few of the Secretary’s job. To restate, no matter your political beliefs, Joe Biden will be better for the social welfare of the country. There is so much more to talk about, so I encourage you to read more articles online, in the newspaper, or on TV. We shall see what happens in Biden’s first 100 days. Will the country thrive or will it die? Many Seattleites would say thrive. Thanks for Reading! VS. *From Page 1 Popular Vote Definition: The popular vote is the common idea of a vote. The popular vote counts who is more popular. An example of a popular vote would be when you vote for what to play during P.E. Which ever game prompts more people to raise their hand wins and that is the game you play. Imagine this on a state wide scale with two presidential candidates. ^From Page 1 Concede Definition: In the context of the presidency the term “concede” means to congratulate the winning candidate. It is a formal way to say something informal. A concession would contain something like, “Great job so & so. That was a great race and this is a hard job, good luck.” Amy Coney Barrett: SCOTUS Nomination (Editorial) By: Allie S. | 8th Grade Amy Coney Barrett was recently confirmed by the Senate into the Supreme Court, the Senate is mostly republican at this time, after being nominated by President Trump. Supreme court members are there for life or until they decide to retire. That is why when a judge is nominated, it is a big deal. The nominee is questioned by the Senate to make sure that they are virtually unbiased towards a particular political party. I am kind of peeved that she was confirmed to the Supreme Court because senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was instrumental in getting her in. But when Obama was president and it was not a year before the next election, McConnell refused to vote, saying that the election was too close. But Trump was even closer to the election and he was really pushing for her to be selected. (Continued on next slide) The process where a judge is confirmed into the Supreme Court is interesting. First and foremost, the president will consult some senators privately before publicly announcing his or her nominee. Secondly, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take it under consideration. The committee will hold a hearing for the nominee. It usually takes about a month for them to collect all of the necessary records about the person from sources like the FBI. This is to get the nominee ready for more hearings. During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, witnesses, both supporting and opposing, state their views. Senators question the nominee about their qualifications, judgment, and philosophy. The committee sends their recommendation (whether it be confirmed, rejected or none at all). Then the full Senate debates the nomination, at least 51 out of 100 senators must agree for the debate to end. This rule was put into place in 2017, which replaced the old one where 3/5 or 60 senators must agree. This also changed the rules so that filibustering (a practice where an opposing senator will talk through the session and not allow the vote to happen until another session is called) is not allowed anymore. After the debate, the Senate will vote one final time and decide if the nominee is to be confirmed into the Supreme Court, which is decided by a simple majority in the present senators. If the vote is a tie, the vice president will be the deciding vote. As you can see, the SCOTUS nomination is a long process, but it makes sure that the nominee is considered fairly and confirmed not solely based on bias. Works Cited: “Supreme Court Nominations Research Guide: Nomination & Confirmation Process.” Guides, guides.ll.georgetown.edu/c.php?g=365722&p=2471070. Science and TechnologyHow Humans will Colonize Space (Projection) By: Allie S. | 8th Grade Earth is dying at an increasing rate. The effects of climate change are proving disastrous and will make Earth not a viable option in only a few hundred years. You might be thinking, a few thousand years? That’s plenty of time! Well it’s not. We're talking about the survival of humans here. If climate change is solved, overpopulation will begin. Space must be colonized. We’ll start with Mars, the closest planet to meet the standards in order to harbor life. In only a few years, SpaceX already plans on launching the first manned mission to Mars. From there, scientists can begin the process of giving Mars a thick atmosphere and terraforming it. This will make Mars have more mass, planets with more mass have larger and thick atmospheres. Next we will reintroduce water into the ancient rivers and lakes all over Mars. Another option is the Moon. The problem there is it doesn’t have enough mass to hold on to an atmosphere against solar winds. Scientists might decide to take element 76, Osmium, the densest substance on Earth. By replacing as much of the Moon’s core as possible with Osmium, the moon will gain mass and have a thicker atmosphere, one to sustain life. Asteroids are not big enough to create an atmosphere with Osmium. Humans might be able to hollow out the inside and have several colonies within the asteroids in the asteroid belt, therefore protected on the inside from space. (Continued on next slide) No matter how many colonies that humans can make, when the sun explodes in 10 billion years, we will have to find another star to settle around. One with moons, planets, or asteroids that we can convert into colonies. Space is dying as well. One by one the stars are extinguishing. Humans will have to one again move and settle around a white dwarf, the remains of a star that has collapsed in on itself. But even they will extinguish and space will be plunged into eternal night. Humans of the future may be able to find a way to live without light. This is only a projection of the future settlements of humans. Source: Youtube.com (How Humans Will Survive to One Billion Years) Beyond Earth: Questions Asked, Questions Answered Jimmy Porter | 8th grade Introduction Welcome back to my science column! Because last week’s name was a little bland, I’m back with a new and improved one. For all who read my column last week and the Villa Times in general, I salute you. We write this paper for the readers and our goal is to maximize engagement. I hope we have done that! Now to the topic of the day: Cell Service, The Moon, and NASA. Is Cell Service headed to the Moon? A question never asked before. A question to past generations that seemed like a joke. Nonetheless, here we are. To many, this might not come as a huge surprise. After all, the internet is one of, if not the fastest growing industry on the planet. Is it really true? The answer to the question is yes. NASA and telecommunications company Nokia are teaming up to build a 4G LTE network on the Moon.