five things to know: April 8

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1. The Lancer Dancers’ Spring Show 

The Lancer Dancers are hosting their annual Spring Show this Tuesday, April 9.

This year’s theme is Around the World and their feature songs, like All Around the World by Justin Bieber and Waka Waka by Shakira, embody that theme.

All three teams will be performing individually as well as together during the opening and closing numbers being a collaboration between all of the teams.

Along with their competition dances, they will perform new dances for the audience. Such as their class dances and their mancer dancer routine.

“We are a team that works the entire year which is unlike any other team,” senior and varsity team captain Sophie Lawrence said. “It’s kind of nice to just showcase everything we’ve done. It’s a good way for people to see the different types of dances we do.”

Each year, the senior Lancer Dancer choreograph and perform their own solos. This year, 10 seniors will present their solos on stage. For some, this will be their last time dancing on stage, while for others it’s the start of their dance career. As of now, Sophie Lawrence is wishing to continue dancing in college by becoming an NDA instructor and planning to try out for their respective college’s dance team.

2. Choir contest 

The choir will be competing in Contest along with other schools across the Kansas City areas on Wednesday, April 10 at Blue Valley North.

The three choirs, Choraliers, women, and men, will perform seven songs in total and will be given feedback by the judges.

While most schools are getting scored, choir director Ken Foley chose to be critiqued rather than scored.

“I just philosophically don’t think that music is ever about a number, getting a score.” Foley said, “I think it’s about moving people, learning about ourselves and we can always get comments and critiques to make ourselves better,” Foley said.

To ensure that all choir students are available to go to Contest, there will be no tests in any classes assigned that day, unless given special permission by the administration, according to Foley. The rule was put in place to eliminate students from being torn between class and the contest.

The chemistry department was given special permission to assign a test on Wednesday, so sophomore Lucille Winter is making it work.

“I am really excited for the contest, but I have a chem test that day,” Winter said. “I still wanted to go to the contest so I am taking the test during another hour.”

3. FDA investigates Vaping 

The FDA is investigating vaping after 35 incidents of people seizing after vaping were recorded over the past nine years.

The supposedly safer alternative to smoking has been causing kids and young adults to experience seizures.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb motivates the public to use the FDA’s safety reporting portal to report issues or concerns relating to vaping.

The safety reporting portal (SRP), allows people to report product safety issues. The safety reports should be submitted by either the manufacturers, researchers or distributor, however, consumers and customers can also submit reports if need be according to their website.  

The link between the seizures and vaping has caused tobacco stock to drop, with The British American Tobacco trade shares alone dropping nearly 3 percent in the U.S.

While the FDA said it is unclear as of now whether the two are connected, it’s known that severe nicotine poisoning can cause seizures.

According to the National Capital Poison Center, when nicotine is swallowed it can be poisonous and result in sweating, nausea, dizziness, and tremors. In more severe cases, nicotine poisoning can result in seizures and even death.

For people who are using products that contain nicotine, such as vapes, they should be aware of the health problems before proceeding to use the product.

4. Apple’s new product!

Apple and the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have collaborated to create a new form of payment — the Apple Card — which will be available this summer in the U.S..

On March 25, Apple’s press release stated that the Apple Card is an optional subscription for iPhone owners that can be accessed through the Wallet app. According to the press release, the Apple Card is “designed to help customers lead a healthier financial life.”

The Apple Card comes with many features that are not available with regular plastic credit cards, such as, the 24/7 support care that’s accessible within iMessages. Any questions regarding the card can be directly texted to customer service.

The Apple Card also offers “daily cash,” which allows customers to receive a certain percentage back from every Apple Card purchase.

Customers will receive 2 percent back when they use Apple pay and 3 percent back when they purchase directly with Apple.

Users will also have access to the titanium card, the tangible version of the Apple Card that was created specifically for stores not offering Apple Pay.

For added security, the card has no numbers on the front or back. This feature coincides with the Apple Card’s heightened security and privacy policy. Also, when users notice an unfamiliar purchase on your card, you are able to see where the purchase was made on a map, which helps to protect against card fraud.

5. Kansas City Film Festival 

Take a trip down to Cinemark on the Plaza anytime from April 10-14 for the Kansas City Film Festival International.

According to the KCFFI website, the mission of the film festival is “to provide shared cinematic art experiences that entertain, educate, and inspire audiences from children to adults.”

There are five film categories: feature documentary, feature narrative, documentary short, narrative short and heartland student shorts. There are multiple films in each category, available for viewing on the KCFFI website.

Sixty-one films will be shown over the course of four days.

Participants can also take part in the KCFFI after-parties. The after-parties take place at local restaurants such as Rye, Zocalo, and Hogshead.