Author Archives: Zachary Payne

Syria Dilemma

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The war in Syria has been an ongoing issue for six years complicated by the third party involvement of the terrorist group IS; better known as the Islamic State. Syrian civilians are struggling to continue their everyday lives between the fighting of three different armed forces, each with a goal of its own. Although I believe the country would be better off without Bashar Al-Assad as president and my morality is tested by hearing of the unfair impact the Syrian Civil War has left on its citizens, I do not think we should get involved in such an entangling war.

This ongoing conflict was started by the controversy of a thirteen year old boy spray painting a slanderous message about the government regime under Bashar Al-Assad. The young boy was apprehended, tortured, and killed by Al-Assad’s forces, actions greatly displeasing the citizens in Syria. Civil protests soon followed but were countered by government and military interventions. Many factions formed to fight against the “corrupt” Syrian government as a result of forceful oppression from Al-Assad. Today many of these have converged into the Syrian Opposition, Ahrar al-sham, Tahrir al-sham, CJTF-OIR, and the Rojava, the latter two supported by the United States and other participating countries in the United Nations.

Photo Credits The National

The more complicated aspect of the fighting between the government and the rebel forces is a third force also trying to gain control of the region; the Islamic State. The Islamic State is a terrorist group well known throughout the Middle East for radical ideology and brute force. Because of the already weakened state of Syria the IS were able to gain land and power and become a strong belligerent. The United States already has a long history with this radical terrorist group.

Our ongoing involvement in other Middle Eastern affairs, such as the constant battle against radical Islamist terrorism of groups like IS, has cost the United States in money and American troops. It is hard to imagine all of that sacrifice to protect and preserve innocent people involved must be for “nothing” if we do not follow through, but it just might be an answer to the never-ending economic stress that comes with being a global morality monitor.

Photo Credits to The Daily News Hungary

If a “one-or-the-other” approach must be taken then it is more economically feasible for the United States to set aside its steadfast promise to uphold a certain global morality, and focus on self-defense and self-preservation. However, if a healthy middle were needed to be obtained then my suggestion is that we carry out our agenda with the radical Islamic State that has begun to overrun Syrian lands, and then to respectfully allow the Syrian citizens and its government to reach an agreement with the facilitation of members of the United nations that are closer to the conflict and more heavily involved.

Stay in Bed, Stay in School

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The average American public high school student starts school between seven-thirty and eight in the morning, which means the student wakes up around six to six-thirty. After a seven hour school day students have jobs, clubs, sports, homework, and other extracurricular activities to attend to. High school students are missing out on the sleep they need because of  late nights and early mornings. Students who participate in extracurricular activities, obtain jobs, or are overloaded with homework have a higher risk of health problems due to the amount of sleep they are losing.

In order to produce higher academic success and a more healthy educational environment, high schools should start later in the morning to let students be more alert and prepared. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later to allow students the opportunity to get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights, about 8.5-9.5 hours.

Photo credits to depositphotos.com

Getting enough sleep is essential for people of all ages, but especially for high school students. The majority of schools — about 82 percent, on average — started earlier than 8:30 a.m. High school students are busy with hours of school, jobs, sports, homework, clubs, and other extracurricular activities. If school starts at seven-thirty a.m., most students are out the door between seven and seven-ten to get to school on time in all the traffic.

I would try to leave for school before seven-ten and would still be late even though I lived less than ten minutes away. Having to leave around seven means students have to wake up anywhere from six to six-thirty depending on how long it takes them to get ready. Students have to wake up even earlier if they want to make and eat a nutritious breakfast. When school starts early students are likely to skip out on breakfast.

Some early risers wake up extra early and can take time to get ready and to make and eat a nutritious breakfast. Another solution to not getting a nutritious breakfast is preparing it the night before or grabbing something right before walking out the door and eating on the way to school. There are also school breakfast programs that provide breakfast for students in the morning.

Sending sleep-deprived students to school is not productive. For many people, days just don’t seem long enough. In order to cram everything into one 24-hour period, something has to give. Judging by many surveys of Americans, it’s sleep. If students could sleep in they would be more alert during school. Later high school start times means students have the freedom to get up at a decent time and not have to rush to get ready or eat breakfast.

With jobs, homework and extracurricular activities, high school students stay up late at night to try to get all their stuff done before they go to sleep. For example, a student with a job goes straight to work after school and works a five-hour shift, but still has to eat dinner and finish all their homework before falling asleep. Having a later start time for high school means that those students who stay up late get to catch up on their sleep.

On the other hand, not every student has a job or does sports outside of school. There are some students that strictly go to school and go straight home and have plenty of time for homework. Even though the recommended amount of sleep is anywhere from seven to eight hours, some students can function properly and pay attention with less than the recommended amount because it works for their body. When people wake up without the recommended amount of sleep or wake up too early are not fully awake. Sleepy students don’t learn or perform as well as their well-rested peers. Students who do not get enough sleep have a hard time paying attention and staying awake in class. Those students that might drift off with a quick nap on their desk are usually considered lazy, but their teachers and peers do not know how busy they are at home after school.

Photo credits to depositphotos.com

If schools started later and high school students had a chance to get the correct amount of sleep then there would be fewer students falling asleep in class. During adolescence, the body goes through many changes. These include a shift in sleep needs. When students are not falling asleep in classes they pay more attention and their grades can improve. For some students, their classes are too important to fall asleep in the middle of class and miss crucial information. Those students that are in dual credit (DC) and advanced placement (AP) classes cannot afford to miss any information if they want to get the college credit hours during high school.

Pushing back the start time of school means that the end time would also have to be pushed back. This could interfere with jobs or after school activities and give students less time in the afternoon and night to get all their stuff done before falling asleep. Some high schoolers also have the responsibility of picking up a younger sibling or family member from their middle school or elementary school. If schools push back the start time of high school there is a good chance that high school would start at the same exact time as the elementary school or middle school, causing problems for drop off and pick up times. Another outside influence is parent and student schedule conflicts. Having school start early makes it easier for parents to drop off their kids at school and make it to work on time. Even though school starting early makes it easier on the parent, the school bus system, public transportation, personal cars, and carpooling can help students get to school on their own without a parent’s help.

Starting school too early forces teens to lose a large chunk of what’s known as REM — or rapid eye movement — sleep. This type of sleep helps teens (and everyone else) control their moods. But that’s not the only problem. Too little sleep also has been linked with an increased risk of obesity, depression, drug use and other problems.

Students are not getting enough sleep due to high school starting too early. Too little sleep has become so common among teens that the CDC calls it an epidemic, a widespread public-health problem. Students overloaded with homework, sports, clubs and other extracurricular are missing out on sleep. There are many benefits from pushing back the start time of high school including, catching up on sleep, paying more attention in class and health benefits.

New Soccer Season at TAMUT

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Are you looking for things to do while you procrastinate on that homework you have? If you have school spirit and enjoy sports, then the new soccer season is perfect for you.

The Texas A&M University – Texarkana soccer program has brought in new players and lost many key players. Since the program started in 2014 for the women’s team and 2016 for the men’s, both teams have had one goal, to compete in the conference tournament. Our first home game was on September 8th against Southwestern Christian University, and the most recent was at Eagle Field against Huston-Tilliston University this week on October 4th. This Saturday October 6th, come see a double-header against Our Lady of the Lake University on Senior Day at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

With last year’s women’s soccer season coming to an end in a heartbreaking fashion, losing one to zero to rivals St. Thomas in the conference final, the women have a lot of new faces after graduating eleven players. They hope to start where they left off last season and get back into the conference tournament. They have seen the value of the graduating class after losing against Wayland Baptist and Bethel University. The team lost lots of key players, such as Lily Cardozo and Neeley Keller in the midfield. On the defensive line, the team lost Hanna Williams, Hazel Espinoza, and Ashley Bainton. On the offensive side, the team took its biggest blow, losing leading scorer Sam Sharpnack-Isom.

Juliana Summerlin goes in for a tackle against Jarvis Christian College. Photo credits to Amanda Johnson Vaughan

The women’s team has bought in new players from California such as Lesly Macias, Taylor Hale, Jacky Padilla, Sabrina Murillo, and Brittany Small. The rest of the transfers and freshmen are from Texas. These players were recruited by Coaches Don Koontz and Fallon Keller, with some help from the graduating class.  The new incoming players are seen as some of the best recruits as incoming freshman and junior transfers. Although the team has already began competing against other teams and have faced defeat, they plan on progressing throughout their season.

On the men’s side, after last season, the men lost four from their graduating class and lost many players from the Class of 2021. Last season the class of 2021 bought in twenty new players and lost more than half of those players, but for the 2017-2018 season Coach Don Koontz bought in twenty-four new players, including freshman and junior transfers. The new incoming players came from all over Texas such as Frisco, Plano, Rockwall, Austin, Houston and Dallas. With the incoming players, Koontz raised his expectations and says so far that the men have met or surpassed them.

Dalton Hinton dribbles pass a Texas College defender Photo credits to Amanda Johnson Vaughan

As the men head towards the later half of their season, they hope to pick up where they left off last year and go further to hopefully advance and make it to the conference tournament for the first time in men’s soccer history. The men hope to pick up a few early wins at home, before they start traveling more, later in the season.