The Sunset Crusader

Volume 42 Issue 6 Miami Sunset Senior High feburary 2019

Why President Trump’s Wall Won’t Work

By: Hurma Aziz
Staff Writer
Ever since President
Trump’s presidential campaign
launched, he promised the nation
stronger border control by building
a wall across the US and Mexican
border.
This plan has sparked many
controversial opinions on both
sides of the political spectrum.
However, when you consider the
facts, there is enough evidence to
support the idea that the wall most
likely won’t be feasible.
The main reason why Trump wants to
build a wall is to stop the overflow of illegal
immigrants from coming into the country
from the Mexican border. Because of the
immense number of illegal immigrants
coming in, the risk of increased criminal ac-
tivity in our country rises.
But according to the Cato Institute of Re-
search and the Washington Post, both re-
porting on criminal activity in the United
States, native born citizens are two times
more likely to commit crimes in all catego-
ries than undocumented immigrants.
According to the chart provided by
Washington Post, native citizens are 25%
more likely to commit homicide and 75%
more likely to commit larceny. In all of the
statistics, natives are more likely to commit
violent crimes.
Another issue in building the wall would
be the cost. President Trump shutdown the
government because he couldn’t receive the
funds for building the wall. It’s valid that the
idea of using our citizen’s taxes to fund the
wall could be unethical to certain individuals
who don’t believe the wall is a good idea.
The wall’s official budget as of right now
is $5.7 Billion dollars. The United States is
currently $5.73 trillion in debt. To add on
more to the debt when there are still con-
cerns about building the wall would be a bad
investment, considering there’s no guaran-
tee that the wall would work.
Many environmentalists have com-
mented that the wall could be dis-
astrous for the environment, exac-
erbating flooding, perils to wildlife
and plants, disturbing wildlife ref-
uges, and potentially splitting a riv-
er. The border wall would run
across Texas, California, and Ari-
zona, causing various issues of this
nature in all three states.
Lastly, building the wall is an issue
of morality. Many undocumented
immigrants are women and chil-
dren looking for better conditions
to in which to live, and in some cases, they
are fleeing from oppression. The families are
looking for better employment opportunities
and more educational opportunities for their
children to grow and live out the future they
were never given. Every person deserves a
chance to accomplish this. We are a country
built on immigrants.
If you consider all these issues when it
comes to building the wall, it can be conclud-
ed that Trump should not be allowed to build
this wall. They are plenty of other ways to
improve security for this country.

Measure Your Words: Don’t Fight Hate With Hate

By: Hurma Aziz
Staff-Writer
Social media is making
strides as it becomes more and
more integrated into our society.
Any new information or message
can now be sent out all over the
world in an instant. This can be a
great thing, but it can also bring
along many consequences,
which our youth fails to under-
stand.
A notable thing to know
about social media is, “what’s on
the internet, stays on the internet.”
Our generation is constantly post-
ing and making comments on plat-
forms, not thinking about the re-
percussions, and these comments
can get people in a lot of trouble.
Everyone is aware that
cyberbullying is illegal and dam-
aging to a person. But what they
don’t realize is that by “defending”
the victim by adding fuel to the fire
and blasting the “perpetrator” with
insults and threats, it is the same
thing as cyberbullying, just in re-
verse, and just as damaging.
There are many celebrities
on social media who get hate daily,
in some cases they call the hater
out and unintentionally put the
harasser out for their followers to
see. What they don’t understand is
that the celebrities are basically
doxing these individuals (doxing is
when you publish an individual’s
private or identifying information),
creating an open forum where
their fans can spread
hate and threats to a per-
son. By doing this, they
are encouraging this tox-
ic behavior; they’re
showing their fans to
fight fire with fire, which
is not okay.
YouTuber Gabi
Hanna recently received
criticism from commen-
tators on YouTube because
she doxed an individual who
commented on one of her In-
stagram posts. The individual
criticized Hanna for posting
too many similar photos, and it
makes her seem conceited. In
this instance, it’s very under-
standable for Hanna to get de-
fensive and upset, however,
her actions didn’t justify the
means.
Hanna took this com-
ment upon her Instagram sto-
ry by posting the comment and
leaving the individual’s username to
be seen by her fans. Although Han-
na “wished her happiness,” trying to
seem like the bigger person, her
actions were still passive-
aggressive and knowing what she
was doing or not, her fans did leave
death threats on the individual’s
Instagram page.
There are many stories like
Gabi Hanna’s that demonstrate an
eye for an eye isn’t okay, regardless
of the intentions. Doxing and humil-
iation are a prominent issue in the
social media community, and no
matter how small it may be, it can
ruin lives.
Social media creates an
easy platform for people to say
what they want, thinking that there
are no consequences, but that isn’t
the reality anymore. With cyberbul-
lying and threats now being taken
more seriously, hate comments and
false threats are being taken more
seriously, even if they were meant
to accomplish a righteous purpose.
 THE SUNSET CRUSADER TEEN LIFE FEBURARY 2019 PAGE 2

Why is it Hard for Teens to Commit in Relationships?

emotional needs esteem and maybe even depression when the
By: Misela Soto relationship comes to an end. Therefore, they
within other peo-
Staff Writer
ple instead of won’t be able to trust their perspective on love
within them- for a while.
Teenage ro-
selves. There’s a This lack of commitment doesn't always
mance. Movies and tel-
quote that applies have to do with the situations someone is going
evision series paint
to this situation through in their teenage years. It does have the
these relationships in
and it goes, “you ability to stem from their childhood. For exam-
picture perfect scenari-
can’t pour from an ple, if a teen experienced their parents’ divorce,
os. But, in reality, it’s
empty cup.” they may have a big issue with trust in their lat-
much more complicated
than it seems. Essential- er relationships.
ly, someone will Studies show that “Children of divorced
These relation-
not be able to care parents can experience self-protective fear and
ships have the tendency
for someone else a reluctance to enter into a committed relation-
to be very short-lived.
until they care for ship.” Basically, teens become afraid of being in
This is mostly due to a
themselves first. a committed relationship because they don't
lack of the ability to commit. Though a question
Teens are still at the stage of learning how want to be hurt in the way their parents were.
still remains: why is it so difficult for teens to
to love and be themselves. They’re build- Watching their parents fight or not get along has
be committed in their romantic relationships?
ing their character and an acceptance for a huge long-term impact on their mindset. It can
At this age, teenagers are going
who they are. This journey could be the make it that, if they do enter a relationship, they
through an abundance of changes. Through
cause of the fall out of several relation- may not allow it to become too serious. That
these changes they gain experience in certain
ships. Some teens are simply too busy try- way, they won’t become attached to the other
things. This means that they definitely will not
ing to commit to themselves before com- person and risk vulnerability. They also may
be the same person now that they were a year
mitting to someone else. leave the relationship as soon as any problems
ago. Such quick changes in personality can af-
Of course, this isn't going to be the arise. Divorce can place a sort of fear of rela-
fect the relationships they’re in. Whether it be
case for everyone. Sometimes someone tionships into a teenager, resulting in their ina-
in friendships or with a significant other.
can mistake infatuation for love. They will bility to commit.
During this time of self-discovery,
become completely obsessed with the These are just a few of all the different
teens may also lack confidence in themselves
idea of a person—an idea that they made situations that can contribute to a teen’s lack of
and have several internal conflicts. They could
up in their own head. Throughout the rela- commitment. How these teens are impacted
be struggling with their appearance, mental
tionship, the teen believes they are in love can have an effect on this world’s future. So, we
health, etc. This “negative” behavior reflects
with the other person. In reality, they have have to worry more about our youth. That way,
onto their relationships. If someone isn't happy
just created an illusion of who they want they can move into adulthood with a good mind-
with themselves, they will set high expecta-
them to be. When they begin to realize this, set that will lead them into happy and healthy
tions that their significant other will not be able
the relationship starts to go downhill. This relationships. Then, we can also see this world
to meet. Several of these teens search for their
can lead teens to experience low self- thrive continuously.

How Technology is Affecting Young Children

By: Nicole Gazol child’s life, it increases the child’s risk
Staff Writer for poor eye health and vision loss.
According to the American Optomet-
As technology has become
ric Association's (AOA) 2015 Ameri-
more implemented into our daily
can Eye-Q® survey, 41 percent of par-
lives, the usage of technology is be-
ents say their kids spend three or
coming more common amongst chil-
more hours per day using digital de-
dren. This has become a hot topic for
vices, and 66 percent of kids have
many people as they argue whether
their own smartphone or tablet.
or not it is healthy for young children
to be using technology at such a Barbara L. Horn, O.D., Trustee
young age. for AOA, explains that parents need to
take precaution when allowing their
Technology can be very ben-
children to use technology because
eficial for children as it helps them
there are many visual risks attached
retain information quicker and ad-
to staring at screens for long periods
vance at a faster rate when it comes to
important in their development pro- have proven that over-using smart of time.
cognitive development. Being that
cess,” says Dr. Carolyn Jaynes, a devices such as a tablet or a smart Not all children are ready to
technology will be used more fre-
learning designer for Leapfrog En- phone can create an addiction with- be introduced to technology at such
quently in the future, it’s ideal that
terprises. in the individual. Considering that young ages. In a supervised environ-
children adapt to the usage of technol-
ogy at a young stage of their life. “However, by age three, young children soak up so much ment, it is okay for the child to use
many children are active media us- information at a young age, it can be technology in moderation. However,
Although there are various
ers and can benefit from electronic implied that young children can gain in an unsupervised environment, it is
benefits for children, experts do not
media with educational content. This an addiction at such a young age. not recommended to purchase a
encourage parents to introduce tech-
content often uses strategies such Young children who have an smartphone or tablet for a child until
nology to their kids until they are at
as repeating an idea, presenting im- addiction to technology can become they reach their pubescent years.
least three.
ages and sounds that capture atten- aggressive and experience anxiety “Technology itself doesn’t
“Children under two years of tion, and using child rather than adult when they can’t access their smart create problems,” says Dr. Michael
age learn best from real-world expe- voices for the characters.” devices. Technology can cause chil- Rich, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Cen-
riences and interactions, and each
Giving children too much dren to fall into some bad behaviors ter on Media and Child Health at Chil-
minute spent in front of a screen-
access to technology can cause sev- that can be an issue later on. dren’s Hospital Boston.
based device is a minute when your
eral problems in their development. Because technology has “What matters is what we
child is not exploring the world and
There have been studies that become a more integral part in do with it.”
using their senses, which is extremely
 THE SUNSET CRUSADER REAL TALK FEBURARY 2019 PAGE 3

HOW FAR THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY HAS COME, AND WHERE IT

STILL NEEDS TO GO
By: Angelina Buenaventura
Assistant Editor-In-Chief
Over the past 50
years, the LGBT+ communi-
ty has made huge strides in
becoming more accepted in
society.
This was due to the
endless fight for equality
that all started when Mar-
sha P. Johnson (a trans-
women activist) threw the
first brick at an anti-gay bar
called “The Stonewall Inn,”
which kick-started the
Stonewall riots in 1969.
And since then, queer people
have become more demanding when it
comes to their equal rights.
Decades of fighting for equali-
ty has paid off in several ways socially
and politically. In the 1990’s, we saw a
lot more LGBT+ people in the media;
one of the biggest moments was when
Ellen DeGeneres came out as gay
women on national television in her
self-titled sitcom.
Unfortunately, right after her
coming out her show got cancelled.
The news was taken with harsh back-
lash from all over the country, howev-
er, it was a big step in the right direc-
tion.
In the 2000’s, media started
getting a lot more LGBT+ representa-
tion in music, television, and movie
industry.
At the start of the decade,
shows like “The L Word” and “Queer as
Folk” premiered which were the first
shows with accurate depictions of
LGBT+ people.
Another show which has
made a huge impact is, “RuPaul’s
Drag Race” which premiered in
2009. RuPaul’s Drag Race is a real-
ity TV show where drag queens
compete against each other in dif-
ferent categories in order to re-
ceive the title of “America’s Next
Drag Super Star.”
This show gave light to a
group of people whose voices had
never been heard before. Shows
like these put LGBT+ folks in the
homes of people across America
and told important stories of indi-
viduals that had been silenced for
years.
In recent years, the music
industry has started to have more
representation as well. When pop
singer Lady Gaga released the
song “Born This Way,” it instantly
became an LGBT+ anthem and set a
new tone for queer people in the
media.
After this, more celebrities
started coming out, more pride pa-
rades started popping up, and
more people started
becoming accepting of
the community.
Not only did we
see big changes being
made in the entertain-
ment industry, but also
in politics. On June 26,
2015 gay marriage be-
came legal in all 50
states across America,
which changed things
for the community for-
ever. The LGBT+ com-
munity was finally giv-
en a basic human right
they never had before this.
Today, there are many
LGBT+ role models for the com-
munity to look up to. Even more
movies are getting made with
LGBT+ stories at the center of the
plot.
There has been a lot of
improvements and big moments
that have impacted the LGBT+
community in a positive way.
However, there are still serious
problems amongst the communi-
ty, especially in the LGBT+ youth.
An overwhelming per-
centage within the homeless
youth is filled with LGBT+ teenag-
ers kicked out of their homes for
not being accepted.
A study conducted by the
Williams Institute at UCLA Law
shows that 1.6 million young peo-
ple experience homelessness
in the United States every year,
and 40% are members of the
LGBT+ community.
Many young people who
decide to come out to their parents
about their sexuality, have faced the
harsh reality of unaccepting parents
who kick their own children out of the
house.
A report released by Chapin
Hall at the University of Chicago on
youth found that LGBT+ kids are at a
120% higher risk of becoming home-
less compared to youth who identi-
fied as heterosexual and or cis-
gender. This is occurring even in
some of the most progressive cities
such as Los Angeles, where on any
given day there are over 6,000 teens
and young adults struggling with
homelessness and 40% of them are
LGBTQ.
On top of the homelessness
issue, LGBT+ people still have to wor-
ry about being called slurs on the
street or in worse cases attacked.
Just last year, right in Miami
Beach, a gay couple was severely
beaten by a group of college students
during a gay pride event. Luckily, the
attackers were eventually caught and
charged with battery, however, this
incident reminds us that homophobia
is still alive even in our much more
inclusive society.
As the years go on, LGBT+
people seem to be making more and
more progress, but there are still
more improvements that need to be
made. A lesson we can all learn here
is that no matter whether you agree
with someone’s identity, the least you
can do is give others respect as a hu-
man being.

The Miami Heat Post the “Big Three Era”

Felix Palacio
Sports Writer
The Miami
Heat basketball
team have been a
staple of the South
Beach sports cul-
ture ever since
they’re inaugural
season in 1988. But
their popularity has risen substantially since the
start of the 21st century. By winning NBA champi-
onships in 2006, 2012, and 2013, and acquiring big
name talent like Shaquille O’Neal, Lebron James,
Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, they’ve managed
to leave a mark on the NBA landscape. But it has
now been almost six years since their last NBA
championship and the question is, where does the
Heat stand now and where are they going?
The Heat’s good fortune began in the 2003
draft where they chose shooting guard Dwyane
Wade from Marquette University 5th overall.
Wade has turned out to be the franchise’s best
player and the main reason why the Heat won it all
in 2006 along with a veteran Shaquille O’Neal. This
NBA championship was the team's first and was
only the beginning of Wade’s historic tenure with
the franchise. Then in the summer of 2010, the
Heat made huge improvements by signing LeBron
James, arguably the greatest
player in the history of the
NBA, and Chris Bosh from the
Toronto Raptors. These acqui-
sitions were what turned the
Heat into an NBA powerhouse
with a formidable Big Three of
Wade, James, and Bosh, who
wreaked havoc on the rest of
the league for four years, win-
ning two Championships back
-to-back in 2012 and 2013.
But eventually the Heat’s super team be-
gan to fall apart, as on June 25, 2014, James decid-
ed to go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. This deci-
sion launched the Heat into a sort of limbo going
into the 2014-2015 season as they had enough tal-
ent to be a playoff contender but not enough to try
to win another championship. Another blaring is-
sue with the Heat were injuries, as Chris Bosh was
dealing with serious blood clots and Wade had
been having hamstring problems and was in and
out of the starting lineup. Along with mediocre cast
of supporting players and barely any young talent,
the team was in a state of flux.
Team President Pat Riley realized that it
was time to rebuild after the big three era and
started to assemble a team that gave coach Eric
Spoelstra plenty of depth and versatility. Playing
hard and playing smart was a big theme in the
2016-2017 season where the Heat just barely
missed the playoffs, finishing 30-11 in the second
half of the season. But many questions were left
unanswered after that season like what they
would do with Hassan Whiteside and Tyler John-
son’s huge contracts which would hinder their
chances of improving the team further.
Currently the Heat have a big problem.
They don’t have enough cap room to sign a big-
name free agent and don’t have many valuable
assets to trade so that they can improve the ros-
ter. Josh Richardson’s play has fallen off after a
fast start in the role of leading man, and Justice
Winslow, although much improved, is still incon-
sistent. The rest of the roster is full of role play-
ers with bloated contracts. In today’s NBA, star
power is a must. Unfortunately, the Heat’s big-
gest star, 37-year-old Dwayne Wade, is about to
retire.
This era of Miami Heat basketball has
come to an end because it is simply an era of
nothing more than uncertainty. The Heat doesn’t
know what to do with its roster and the coach
doesn’t know what to do with this group of play-
ers. Somehow, Pat Riley has to find that magic
that brought the Big Three to Miami, otherwise, it
may be a long time before the Heat competes for
a championship.
 THE SUNSET CRUSADER
MUSIC
thank u, next – Ariana Grande
After releasing her 4th full length studio al-
bum just 5 month ago Ariana Grande re-
leased another album on February 8th titled
“thank u, next.” This album became highly
anticipated after her release of the song of
the same title. This album is a bit different
from Ariana’s usual sound due to the use of
more hip-hop and trap inspired instrumen-
tals. This album started trending on twitter
quickly after its release and the title track hit
number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
bury a friend – Billie Eillish Jan 30th
Billie Eillish is a new force in the music in-
dustry releasing hit after hit. Her sound
could be described as alternative pop with
dark undertones. Her newest single titled
“bury a friend” was released on January 30th
and gradually gained more and more atten-
tion. The music video has many unique and
creepy visuals which made it something that
everyone had to talk about.
Sunflower – Post Malone and Swae Lee
Singer Swae Lee and rapper Post Malone
teamed up to make one of the top tracks on
the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-
Verse soundtrack. The song gained a lot of
attention after the release of the new Spi-
derman movie which came out in December
of 2018 and is still number 4 on the Billboard
Hot 100 chart.
Shallow – Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Released September 27th, 2018 and still holds
the number 1 spot on iTunes. Shallow is the
main track on the soundtrack of the Oscar
nominated film “A Star is Born.” Shallow is
an emotional ballad with a powerful climax
performed by Lady Gaga. It gained a lot of
attention online after the release of the film
and kept gaining traction. Lady Gaga and
Bradley Cooper even won a Grammy and
Golden Globe for the song.
Dancing with a Stranger - Sam Smith and
Normani
Another duet on this list, Dancing with a
Stranger, is everything you want in a modern
pop song. Sam Smith and Normani delivered
impressive yet chilled vocals on this track
about getting over an ex-lover. It’s a bit of a
hidden gem but recently started gaining
more radio play after the release of the mu-
sic video.
WHAT’S HOT IN ENTERTAINMENT
movies
Isn’t It Romantic
Released perfectly timed for Valentine’s day,
Isn’t It Romantic is a light-hearted comedy with
a twist. Starring Rebel Wilson, this movie took
the idea of a romantic comedy and turned it on
its head. The main character becomes trapped
in an alternate universe that is a romantic com-
edy and is forced to fall in love in order to get out.
The movie has some great laughable moments
and is perfect for people who usually find rom-
coms cheesy.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Although this movie was released in December
of last year, it is still playing in theaters and peo-
ple love it. This is the first time Miles Morales
has appeared in a Spider-Man movie. In the
movie Miles becomes the Spider-Man in his re-
ality and comes in contact with five other Spider
-Men from different dimensions and they have
to come together to stop the universe from fall-
ing apart.
Glass
This film became highly anticipated after the
tremendous success of the movie “Split” back in
2016. Glass was a cross over event which com-
bined the movies Split and Unbreakable with the
introduction of a new character played by Sarah
Paulson and the return of Samuel L. Jackson.
This film was action packed and had several in-
teresting twists.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Starring Chris Pratt, this movie was a sequel to
the first Lego Movie that was released in 2014. It
is a stop motion film that’s fun for the whole
family. The LEGO DUPLO invaders come to start
trouble for the citizens of Bricksburg. Batman
even makes an appearance. Will everything stay
awesome? You’ll have to watch to find out.
Happy Death Day 2U
Another sequel to a movie that gained much at-
tention back in 2017 is Happy Death Day 2U. In
this movie the main character is no longer the
one dying over and over again but she has to
help figure out the mystery. Although this
squeal has gotten lower ratings than the origi-
nal, it was a highly anticipated film, You can al-
ways decide for yourself and watch Happy Death
Day 2U in theaters now.
FEBURARY 2019 PAGE 4
Tv shows
Conversation with a Killer: The Ted Bundy
Tapes
Netflix released a documentary series
which gives us an inside look into the mind
of one of the most infamous serial killers,
Ted Bundy. This docu-series included in-
terviews and never before seen footage of
the serial killer. This sparked the interest
of many people and got much attention on
social media. It started many conversa-
tions regarding the romanization of the
killer.
Russian Doll
Russian Doll is a new Netflix original show
created by Natasha Lyonne and Amy
Poehler. Natasha Lyonne plays Nadia,
who on her 36th birthday finds herself in a
weird situation where she keeps dying and
coming back to life having to relive the
party over and over again. The show ex-
plores the themes of morality, dealing
with trauma, and what happens when you
look deep into your own mind. It has dark
humor and smart dialogue with an inter-
esting plot and great acting. It is definitely
worth checking out
The Bachelor Season 23
The new season of the popular reality TV
Show has everyone buzzing on Twitter
Monday nights. The Bachelor has been on
TV since 2002 but is still going strong. The
new season came with a surprise consid-
ering the bachelor in question, Colton Un-
derwood, is a virgin. Many people get very
invested in the show and some even make
bets on which girl will get the final rose.
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4
Sometimes referred to as the “gay Olym-
pics,” RuPaul’s Drag Race is the reality
competition where drag queens compete
against each other to win the crown. Since
the show moved over to VH1 it has reached
an even bigger audience and trends on
Twitter every Friday night. This season has
been jammed packed and filled with dra-
ma and stunning fashion.
One Day at a Time
The third season of the Netflix original
show One Day at a Time was released on
February 8th. The show has become very
popular due to the relatable nature of the
show and all the important subjects that’s
addressed. It’s a family sitcom that re-
volves around a Cuban family. The show
tells the story of a veteran single mom, a
teenage girl’s journey with coming out,
mental illness, and immigrant stories. It’s
one of those shows that can make you
laugh out loud one minute and make you
tear up in the next.