News in Briefs: Catch up on school and local news

Over spring break, four private study pods were installed in the SM East library to provide a space for students to work.

Talks of adding private workspaces have been discussed for the past three years. The study pods are called “Privacy Pods” and are able to reduce noise.

The development of the pods was mainly funded by the East Fund, a group that gives monetary grants to support SM East, paid for by donors.

Feedback for the newly added work spaces has been positive with both students and staff. Librarian Jenny Robinson has observed students coming into the library throughout the day just to try out the new pods.

Sophomore Lauren Power used the pods with her friend.

“I really liked them,” Power said. “They were really quiet, cause the [library’s] air conditioner kind of bothers me.”

Associate Principal Kristoffer Barikmo claims the pods have been full every hour he’s visited them.

“I’ve seen groups of students collaborating [and] students just needing a quiet space,” Barikmo said.

The pods were also implemented to aid in testing by providing a quiet environment.

“We also need opportunities for people to take accommodated tests in a quiet setting. And so if a group of students need a test read aloud, they can go into one of those pods with a special ed teacher or paraeducator, and they don’t disturb the library then,” Barikmo said.

The spaces have also been helpful to teachers like debate teacher Trey Witt who have been able to use the spaces for his classes.

“I like it, especially for what I teach because kids need places to spread out,” Witt said.

Senior Mallory Wilkerson is an ambassador for the East Fund and is glad the spaces can provide a quiet environment after headphones were banned.

“A lot of people, especially in my class, were complaining about [noise] taking away their concentration as seminars can get a little loud,” Wilkerson said. “So it’s great that there’s more of a quiet place to work now.”

After Target removed many of its DEI-related initiatives in January, citizens across the country have opted to boycott their stores.

Target’s official statement states several diversity initiatives are being removed: “diversity-focused surveys,” Racial Equity Action and Change Initiatives and DEI goals.

Students who are participating in the boycott, like senior EJ Henley, believe it’s a hard decision to boycott Target since the store is widely accessible.

“It’s a difficult conversation to have cause it’s a place that, unfortunately for a lot of people, is a good, cheap option that’s a little bit more reliable than places like Walmart,” Henley said.

Henley believes the company is hypocritical and guilty of pandering to minorities by marketing towards the LGBTQ+ community and then pulling DEI initiatives.

“Especially since [Target] acted like [they] cared about minorities for a really, really long time and then [they’re] pulling it just because some people are kind of getting a little pissy,” Henley said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 1, declaring English as the official language of the United States.

The implementation of this order relates to members in the SM East community for whom English is their second language.

Chinese teacher Hau-In Lau. She believes that the order is acceptable if it doesn’t impede on the importance of other languages and cultures in the nation.

“At the same time, we need to have an open mind about learning about different culture and learning different languages,” Lau said.

The order cites the main reason for the change is because historical documents, such as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, were written in English.

It was also implemented to promote the U.S. as “a shared home” for citizens, aid in the exchange of diverse ideas, lead to more economic opportunity by speaking English and help integrate immigrants into the community.

The executive order nullifies an order signed in 2000, which required government agencies and those who were recipients of federal money to translate documents to those who couldn’t speak English.

According to the United States Census Bureau, over a fifth of the nation speaks a language other than English.

Freshman Giacomo Grotto was born in Italy and Italian is his first language. Grotto fears the executive order could lead to rights being taken away from non-native English speakers.

“I think it’s just not right,” Grotto said. “I’m kind of of worried we’re not gonna have a lot of freedom anymore.”