​By Hana Nakayama
Everyone thinks that Valentine’s is a day for love and gifts, but in reality it is not. The history of this day comes from pre-Christian origins. In ancient Rome, February 13th, 14th and 15th were celebrated as Lupercalia, a pagan fertility festival. There were several people named St. Valentine who were executed on February 14 during the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius, according to FoxNews.com. Belgian monks spent three centuries collecting evidence for the lives for the saints from manuscript.  One of the Valentines died in Africa with 24 soldiers. They didn’t have much on the first one but they had a lot more on the other two.
In medieval legend Valentinus, a Roman priest, was arrested by the Roman Emperor Claudius. He was arrested because he preached about Christ leading pagans out of the shadows. Asterius was the one who let him preach, so he made a bargain with Valentinus: If he could cure Asterius’s foster daughter of blindness, he would convert. Valentinus then put his hand over the girls eyes and chanted, “Lord Jesus Christ, enlighten your handmaid, because you are God, the True Light.” Claudius heard about this and ordered them all to be executed. But Valentius was the only one executed by being beheaded.
There is still more about Valentine’s Day. Look on Snopes.com to find out more. There are ton more legends about this day.

​By Joshua Madera
Lunar Year is the most important holiday celebrated in China.
China recently entered the year of 4717 also known as the year of the pig. This traditional holiday is based on honoring ancestors, gods, and goddesses. Also, it gathers the family together to have a banquet. According to theculturetrip.com, “The Lunar New Year season is a busy time for Chinese temples. Worshipers typically visit the temple on the third day of Chinese New Year to light incense and pray to the deities for blessings and good luck in the year ahead.” Also, several temples have lion dances and festive dragons in the courtyard. Red lanterns are hung up in streets, while windows and doors are decorated with posters and papers bearing lucky characters or phrases, according to theculturetrip.
According to History.com, “In the first five days of the New Year, people ate long noodles to symbolize long life. On the 15th and final day of the New Year, round dumplings shaped like the full moon were shared as a sign of the family unit and of perfection.” Twelve different animals that meet Buddha are named as a year in China. According to CNN, “The animals in the Chinese calendar are the dog, pig/boar, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, and rooster.” During Chinese New Year, people give red envelopes containing cash gifts to their children and to younger unmarried family members.

​By Yahnai Lennon
During Japan’s colonial rule between 1932 and 1945, Japanese soldiers would kidnap young girls from Korea, China and other occupied territories, transporting them from their homeland to Japan to become military sex slaves.
Kim Bok Dong, one of the many comfort women, was kidnapped from her family to serve as a comfort woman at age 14. For 8 years she was raped every day. After the World War II, Japan tried to cover up the existence of comfort women by making them work as nurses in Singapore, and instead of labeling them as comfort women Japan can label them as nurses.
But Japan’s plan fell as Kim Bok Dong spent the majority of her life informing others of her story and standing for not only comfort women but women in general. She became a strong activist for feminism, anti-imperialism and workers’ rights in South Korea.
Along with other comfort women, Kim Bok Dong created a three-fold demand for the Japanese government. In the three-fold demand these women demanded a formal state level apology, reparations, and the correction of Japanese history such as including the truth about comfort women in Japanese textbooks.
But sadly Kim Bok Dong passed away on January 28, 2019 before the demands were made.
YouTuber Danny Kim, regarding Japan’s lack of acknowledgment of the three-fold demand says, “The best thing we can do is raise awareness about comfort women.”  So to help spread awareness of comfort women, inform someone of the history of comfort women when discussing WWII.

​By Miguel Rodriguez Segarra
 
East High School is full of many wonderful things: teachers, students, sports, and even clubs. But what happens when students don’t feel like their classes are worth learning?
 
Students feel like they need more “life learning” classes learning about how to fill out taxes, checks, save money, how to lease houses and cars. At East, many students feel like they don’t learn these things.
 
We do, however, have classes that teach these valuable life skills. Envision IT and Personal Finance are half- year classes taught by Ms. Gross and Ms. Gerritz. There’s even an exam that you can take after passing both classes called the CDOS. If you pass this exam it can replace one of your 5 regents for you to graduate.
 
Many students believe they would benefit from these classes being full-year instead of just half-year courses.  Also, some students can’t fit these classes into their schedule so they and up missing out.  If you haven’t taken these two courses, you should see your counselor to make sure they can fit them in your schedule for next year.  You definitely don’t want to miss out.