by Christina Maldonado '19

​​Marian Antoinette Patterson, a doctor from Valdosta, Georgia has been accused of threatening to slit the throats of her employees and patients.

The doctor damaged the wall with a reflex hammer, and was throwing water on employees.  Lowndes County Sheriff, Ashley Paulk told news outlets that Marian Antoinette Patterson was charged with three accounts of terroristic threats and one account of false imprisonment. Patterson turned herself in, but was released from jail on bond.

On the twenty-first of February, the family doctor yelled at employee in her office in Valdosta. Repeatedly, the doctor threatened the people that she would “slit their throats” accordingly to a license suspension order from the Georgia Composite Medical Board.

Patterson also threatened to cut one of her employee’s head off, roll it down a hallway and then she’d call the employee’s children, so that they are able to see it. Patients were told that their throats would be slit, and an employee would die if any one of them tried to contact the authorities.

The board had been advised that she appeared to be “under the influence” while at the practices several times. This suspended her license on the fifth of March. It is unclear if Patterson has a lawyer.

Christina Maldonado 19’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/doctor-accused-of-threats-to-slit-workers-patients-throats/2018/04/29/31d29652-4c28-11e8-85c1-9326c4511033_story.html

​

by Sydney Teran

Dear Ambush! staff and editors,

I am very proud of all the work you guys have put into this newspaper. I'm also proud to have known each of you because you all come with your own individuality which you managed to affiliate into your stories, and the projects we have done this year. My favorite would be the Photo Journalism project because i got to see parts of who you guys are through your pictures. Your culture, art, and everything in between. You have been patient and spent long hours researching, interviewing and to my editors, publishing. Thank you for the hard work and dedication you have had, and I hope you continue to write and support Ambush!. You each made this paper what it is now, and now the senior and I pass it on to you.  Continue to follow the stories you believe deserve to be heard. I wish you all the very best.  I love you guys!

by Christina Maldonado '19

On April 12th, two black men were arrested while waiting inside of the Center City Starbucks downtown in Philadelphia. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson arrived at Starbucks for a business meeting, and asked to use the restroom, but they were told that they could not, because they were not paying customers. A woman came by to see if the men wanted to purchase any drinks, but they told her that they had their water bottles, and that they’re waiting for their meeting.  Two minutes after the men arrived, the manager called the police to report that “two gentlemen in my cafe that are refusing to make a purchase or leave.”
Soon, the Philadelphia police would arrive. Robinson said that when he saw police arrive, he thought, “They can’t be here for us.” There was a cellphone video that had been viewed more than 11 million times; it displayed at least six Philadelphia Police Department officers standing above the two seated black men.The men arrived at 4:35PM for a 4:45 meeting.  Andrew Yaffe arrived to tell the police that the two men were waiting for him, but the police did not take it. Robinson said that they were not read any rights or were not told why they were arrested. The Police arrested the men for trespassing and creating a disturbance. The men were escorted out, but released the next day with no charges filed.
Police Commissioner Richard Ross, a black man said, “These officers did absolutely nothing wrong. They followed policy; they did what they were supposed to do. They were professional in all their dealings with these gentlemen...And instead, they got the opposite back.” Ross said police arrested the men after they refused three requests to leave.”Robinson said, “I understand that rules are rules, but what’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong..That’s in any situation, whether there’s race involved or anything.”
On the 17th, Starbucks announced that 8,000 U.S stores would be closed for an afternoon next month for racial-bias training for 150,000 employees.



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/business/wp/2018/04/19/they-cant-be-here-for-us-black-men-arrested-at-starbucks-tell-their-story-for-the-first-time/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/04/14/starbucks-apologizes-after-employee-calls-police-on-black-men-waiting-at-a-table/?utm_term=.5fb4a79eea84​

by Christina Maldonado '19

by Jocelyn Sung '18

These past few weeks have truly been something extraordinary. You see all these different students from schools across the country uniting under a shared cause. You see them transformed into student activists overnight. You see them fighting against the older opposition without basic high school diplomas or fancy college degrees.

It’s genuinely awe-inspiring. A staggering amount of people has always thought of teenagers as these rebellious, hormonal individuals. We’re too young to make important decisions. We’re too unruly to be considered proper members of society. It’s stereotypical. It’s condescending. And frankly? It’s getting old.

Haven’t these student activists proved nothing? Haven’t the innocents who have been unnecessarily slaughtered in these horrifying shootings proved nothing? Why is it that some of the adults of this society—and unfortunately, some of our own peers—keep telling us teenagers to sit down and be quiet? Why are our voices not being taken seriously? There are so many questions and so few answers.

I wanted to be a part of something that mattered. I wanted to do my part in attempting to make a difference. So I did. Or I tried to.

A majority of my classmates think of me as the quiet girl in class. I won’t argue with them. I contribute when I’m called on, but I stay silent otherwise. I do my best on my schoolwork in the hopes that I’ll be able to do my best later on in life. But despite my shy tendencies, I decided gun control was something I wanted—no, needed-- to advocate for. It’s too important for me to just stand back like I usually do.

In a letter I addressed to Principal Romero, I asked for his permission for GHS students to participate in the nationwide protest on March 14th. I wrote this:

“Mr. Romero, we understand that it is ultimately up to the district to decide if they will allow GMCS to participate in this protest or not. We are asking for your permission, and if you are willing to give it, we ask that you help bring our cause up to them. You might have a larger impact from your position as principal of Gallup High.

“We are not simply high school students as of now; we are young adults, respectfully asking to do our part in making a difference in this nation. Please, assist us.”

A week later, and I still hadn’t heard back from Romero. I was walking to my seventh hour after being released from NMSBA testing on Tuesday when I passed him in the hallway. I stopped him and asked what happened to my request, but he looked like he didn’t know what I was talking about. He asked me when it would be, how we would be handling it, who would be participating, and so on. They were all questions I already addressed in my letter.

He nodded after I repeated the information. “Meet me in the office at 10am tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll decide what to do from there.”

I relayed the encounter to a group chat on Snapchat, which was composed of a few of my classmates. While they agreed that it was strange, they said they would meet me in the office a few minutes before ten.

The next morning, the day of the protest, I was waiting in my second hour class. I already asked my English teacher for permission to participate, and she gave me the green light. I was beginning to gather my things when a sudden noise startled me. The fire alarm had unexpectedly gone off.

Everyone in my class shared perplexed expressions. A moment later, a woman spoke through the school announcement system. She confirmed that this wasn’t a drill and asked us to proceed to the exits. People started flooding toward the doors.

For a few minutes, I actually believed that the alarm was a response to something serious. But standing on the sun-warmed asphalt of the track outside the school, I paid a bit more attention to my surroundings. I realized that it wasn’t, for the following reasons:

Across the lot, the students of Chief Manuelito were standing on their football field. If this was something related to our building, Chief was far away enough to where it wouldn’t affect them.
Students were playing football and blasting music on their phones. If this was a serious, life-or-death matter, wouldn’t the teachers be making sure everyone was accounted for? Wouldn’t they be chastising us for messing around?

A teacher was standing a yard or two away from me, so I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation she was having with her students; “Do you guys know why they’re doing this? It’s obviously to stop you guys from marching out.” As the seventeen minutes ticked by, this became more and more apparent. It couldn’t have been a coincidence.

The alarm went off three minutes before the protest began. Everyone started walking back into the building five minutes after it ended.
Later, I would find out that the entire school district went through the same alarm. Chief Manuelito, Central High, Miyamura, etc.
A teacher told me it was because they were investigating a supposed gas leak. If that’s what it was, why would every single school in the district pull the fire alarm at the same time? Would a gas leak at Gallup High really affect Miyamura, which is miles away?
My younger brother, who’s a student at Chief, said that his principal told him the fire alarm went off for the actual protest itself.

The story doesn’t add up. Let’s say I give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that the fire alarm was set off for the sake of the protest. I would still be deeply upset about it either way. That would mean it was most likely a planned event, and the fact that none of us were notified about it is infuriating. We spent those seventeen minutes fuming about it instead of protesting. It was subtly taking away our most fundamental right: using our voices to protest a problem we see in society.

I wish they had told us no. I wish they had threatened us with suspensions. I wish they had outright prevented us from participating. Because then? Then I still would have had a choice. My classmates would have had a choice. We could have stood up for what we believe is important, what we believe is right. Then, it wouldn’t have been so disrespectful to both us, and the hundreds of innocents who have died in mass shootings.

I understand why they might have chosen this route. Perhaps they were trying to allow us to protest without offending the beliefs of other students and faculty members. Perhaps they wanted to make sure no one completely ditched by using the protest as an excuse. There could be a lot of reasons, but what is absolutely infuriating was that they felt like they didn’t have to discuss it with us. Is it because an entire week wasn’t enough time to track us down in class? Or is it because in the eyes of this society, we will always be viewed as nothing more than a bunch of pesky kids?

by Christina Maldonado '19

East Africa is expected to have a piece of land break off from the continent, but that's not expected until ten million years from now. But today, there is an issue regarding the surrounding area of Kenya’s Rift Valley. According to Face2Face Africa, the heavy rains and seismic activity is causing a giant, tearing gap in Kenya's Rift Valley.

The large rearing in the ground appeared on March 19 with the crack measuring at about 50 feet wide and several miles in length; however, the crack is growing more, lengthwise.

The rift has been reported that it was created due to the fact that Africa stands on plate tectonics and the most unstable ground on the continent. Most of Africa is on the African plate while eastern Africa lies on the Somali Plate, and when these two meet, it is known as the Eastern African Rift, which stretches out to 1,800 miles.

Perez Diaz, a postdoctoral researcher at the Fault Dynamics Research Group at Royal Holloway, University of London mentioned that the two plates (commonly known as the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate) are beginning to split in two due to their tectonic plates.

However, the crack is not fully continuous, because it is filled with “bridges" of soil, there are no signs of clear escarpments, and the land on either side of the crack is flat. This evidence shows that the rift was caused by “sudden erosion”. Also, there has been no reports by the authorities in Kenya regarding earthquakes.

Africa will split at a rate of less than 1cm/year, but the cause is not from newly forming tectonic plates. 

www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/national/health-science/a-huge-crack-provides-evidence-that-africa-is-slowly-splitting-into-two/2018/04/06/0b9a5144-3749-11e8-acd5-35eac230e514_story.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/apr/06/africa-is-slowly-splitting-in-two-but-this-crack-in-kenya-rift-valley-has-little-to-do-with-it

by Christina Maldonado '19

The Sinclair Broadcasting Group has given the public a different outlook upon journalist. Last month, a variety of news stations across the United States had their anchors read identical speeches on air, which was constructed by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Sinclair Broadcasting group is not as well known as Fox News’s News Corp. or CNN’s Turner Broadcasting System, but the company owns the largest amount of local television stations in the country. It has 193 stations with in 81 broadcast marketing that is stretched from coast or coast.

The speech also included a warning regarding fake news , promised to report fairly and accurately; the news stations also asked their viewers to visit their website and comment “if you believe our coverage is unfair.”

Many viewers may have noticed that reporters were reading the same script, but the video director of Deadspin, Timothy Burke was suspicious. Mr. Burke had read a report last month from CNN, and it included quotes from local station anchors who were “uncomfortable” with the speech. Burke tracked down the stations and discovered when each had aired, he referred it to as a “forced read.”

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published a copy of the speech last week, and reported that employees at a local news station at KOMO were “unhappy” about the script. On March 7th, CNN reported that the senior vice president of news Sinclair, Scott Livingston had read “almost the exact same speech” for a segment that went out a year ago.

The broadcast areas of Sinclair stations voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton by a 19-point margin, according to an analysis of the company’s markets by The Washington Post’s Philip Bump. President Trump tweeted about Sinclair, “ Do funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.”

​

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/business/media/sinclair-news-anchors-script.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/04/02/get-to-know-sinclair-broadcast-group-the-conservative-local-news-giant-with-a-growing-reach/?utm_term=.6d5919e3c50c

by Christina Maldonado '19
There were many students who gathered to support, and honor the people who lost their lives due to gun violence by expressing their support in a variety of ways- they used posters, wore certain colors, posted on social media, or wore hoodies that had a hashtag or slogan on it.

In New York, an abundance of marchers wore the official color for gun control violence advocacy group- the color orange- and they charged  their way to Central Park. 

In every American state, there were more than 800 posters planned, even in “gun-friendly” cities. There were small groups of gun supporters who also marched Saturday, the 24th of March. They too had signs, but they were not the one with #ENOUGH; however,  one of the signs in Salt Lake city read: “What can we do to stop mass shootings? SHOOT BACK?”

The March For Our Lives were planned by a group of students who attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. These students have a mission statement and it is to :“demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues.”

There were hundreds of thousands of marchers with their voices, signs, and etc to express their opinion, but The White House had only a statement to say about the event and the marchers. That statement was, “We applaud the many courageous young Americans exercising their First Amendment rights today.”

Seventeen year old Casey Sherman says, “After all this heartbreak, we have come back stronger than ever. Those 17 people did not die in vain. We will stop at nothing until we make real, lasting change.” Sherman is a student who attends Douglas high school, and one of the rally organizers in Parkland, Florida.
​

https://www.nymtimes.com/2018/03/24/us/march-for-our-lives.html

by Christina Maldonado '19

Only a month has passed from the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School; the shooting concluded seventeen deaths of staff and students, which was caused by guns. Many students believed that they should never have to run for their lives again, so they decided that they could walk. Students across the nation came together; they left their school by the hundreds, and thousands at ten o’clock in the morning. New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, and Santa Ana are a few places that had students participate in the walkout. This walkout was created to show respect for the people who lost their lives from school shooting, and to express their opinions about gun violence.

Last week, the governor signed a bill last week that raised the minimum age for purchasing a firearm to the age of twenty-one. This was from the students of Stoneman Douglas High, and other schools that went to rally.

Some of the schools’ students were punished for leaving school, but others encouraged their student to participate in a walkout; if the school did not allow the walk out, they, the students were informed of the disciplinary consequences ahead of time. At many schools, there were teachers and parents who joined in on the walkout. The walkouts usually lasted seventeen minutes, one for each victim from the Parkland shooting.

In Colorado, Ms. Tyner stood with her thousands of students who had signs. One of the sign  said, “This is our future,” and other students release balloons of the color red, white and blue. Students across the nation showed their movement on social media by posting on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and any other social media, so people can see how important it is to them, and how many people are there to support the movement.

In other places, Wednesday was just another day in the week, and classes went on. Some people have little interest for the lives of other people, the act of protesting, but as you see the news, you can see that the walkout was meaningful to a large amount of people.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/us/school-walkout.html

by Christina Maldonado '19

by Jocelyn Sung '18

by Christina Maldonado '19

by Jocelyn Sung '18

    A beautiful dusk begins to fall over the forest, and the arrival of the moon brings a symphony of sounds. Crickets chirp with excitement from a ditch of tall grass while owls hoot with anticipation from the leafy treetops above; even an army of ants pause their never-ending work to watch as a flurry of white bodies proceed down a well-beaten path.

   This is a monthly occurrence. The swans, ever so graceful, glide through the forest on swift, clementine-colored feet. They carefully poise their elegant necks in such a stiff manner that their beaks are pointed upwards in the cool air. It’s almost as if accidentally glancing at the sickening sight of their inferiors will simply be too much to bear. One look and their pureness will be tainted.
The other animals of the forest, such as the hardworking squirrels, can’t be bothered to gape at the parade like the crickets, the owls, the ants. Frost is quickly approaching, and the forest had not been kind to them this year. As they always have been, nuts and other delicacies were extremely scarce for them.

    Perhaps this year, they think, we will be forced to gnaw on sticks to appease the rumbling of our stomachs. But what do such pessimistic thoughts do? Nothing. So the squirrels work. But secretly, they all understand that no matter how much they struggle, overcome, and struggle some more, their efforts are never enough.

   The forest animals immediately notice that this particular procession is quite curious. Rolling behind the ever-so pompous flock of swans is what appears to be a hoard of tumbling, dirtied feathers. The bystanders gawk, murmured questions racing through the air as they wonder what they are doing here.

    Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that these are not merely soiled balls of muddy plumes, but rather a cluster of clumsy ducklings. In fact, these are the ducklings, the rather atrocious descendants of the majestic swans. They stumble behind their parents on unsteady feet, often tripping and falling over each other as they eagerly rush ahead. Their eyes gleam with wonder, their necks crane at unbelievable angles to take in as many of the forest’s beauties as they can, but something immediately sets the ducklings on edge.

   The forest animals glare at them with absolute disgust. The wolves bare their razor-like teeth in their direction, and the rainbow-scaled fish splash them as they waddle by a pond. The ducklings are completely surprised by this unwarranted hatred, so they tame their excitement as best as they can, following their parents in an abashed silence for the rest of the way. Their feet are still too large for their small bodies, though. Occasionally, one duckling stumbles forward, and the unlucky individual has to deal with the ugly snickers that echo after him or her.

    “What are they doing here?” a cub asks his mama bear, tree sap stuck to his chocolate-colored fur.
The mama bear rolls her eyes, hurrying her child along. “Absolute simplicity on the swans’ behalf,” she huffs. “I’m sure they thought bringing the ducklings along to experience how the council functions would be a good idea, but all those ugly brats will do is cause a ruckus.”

    By the time the procession arrives at their destination, they have completely forgotten about everything. No longer do their webbed feet complain of the soreness that came with the journey, and by now, they have completely forgotten about the maliciousness of the forest animals. They are back to gawking, to squeaking with delight and running around in dizzying circles as they take in the new sights.

    A deep pit has been carefully dug into the soft ground of the earth. An oval in the exact center is filled to the brim with clear, crisp spring water. Brilliant leaves in all shades of bright yellow, warm orange, and flaming red drift along the rippling surface, a quiet reminder that autumn is truly coming to an end. It reminds the ducklings of how crucial this gathering is to the forest. Here, their parents will be making decisions critical to all of the animals’ survival.

    The ducklings settle to the side, feathers ruffled with anticipation. They wait with their breaths held, almost as if they’re afraid that one misplaced exhale will disrupt the beauty of it all.

    Their parents, however, surprised the ducklings even more. Instead of arranging themselves in an orderly fashion as the ducklings were expecting, the swans group into two. Both halves spend a good hour simply glaring at each other, honking threateningly before ruffling their own feathers in agitation. The ducklings share perplexed looks, but they return to silently observing. There must be a method to this madness, they reassure themselves. They will do something eventually.

    And the swans do, but by the time they finally seat themselves around the oval pond, night has completely fallen. The ducklings huddle together, shivering against the bitter chill as the moon breathes ice on their muddy feathers. A few of them feel their eyelids drooping, as they have never stayed up this late before. Nonetheless! They must stay up! Who knows when will be the next time they will receive such an opportunity like this? This may be the last time they see how the council functions before they become the swans.

  Yet, the swans are not discussing matters that pertain to the overall good of the forest. One swan with a nasally squawk voices his approval when another with a particularly strange arrangement of feathers on top of his head honks loudly. “Animals complaining about the humans coming into the forests with chainsaws, threatening to cut down our trees?” the strange one screeches. “I say we take those chainsaws and threaten to cut down their houses! That will make them leave us alone!”
One portion of the swans cheer with agreement; the other, however, look as if they want to slam their beaks into the soft dirt of the pit. “Sir, we don’t see how this would be a good idea,” one swan begins. “We believe that we should....”

    The squabbling goes on for hours. It seems that whenever the swans are finally about to reach a solution, one swan has to put forth another topic of discussion that completely unravels all of their previous plans. When the face of the morning sun tentatively peeks out from over the peaks of the violet mountains in the distance, one duckling has had enough.

    “Leader Feathered Rump,” she chirps, standing unevenly on her clumsy feet. “I do believe that a simple solution to all of your problems is a compromise. Why can you not give both sides something they want? Why do you keep insisting on a plan that only benefits your party of swans? If you allow the humans a portion of the trees in exchange for a promise that they will replant them afterwards, wouldn’t that make everyone happy? You could also ask for a bit of extra food to ensure the squirrels do not go hungry this winter.”

    The duckling takes a deep breath, satisfied with herself. She presented the most logical solution to the swans’ problem, one that helps both the humans and the forest. Surely they can all go home now! Her own nest sounds so enticing right now…

    She’s about to drift off to sleep, standing right there, when a sharp laugh jerks her awake. Her eyes widen to see who’s laughing. She’s shocked when she sees it’s no one other than Leader Feathered Rump himself! She flinches away a bit.

    “How adorable!” Rump cackles. “A true politician right there! What’s your name, Miss?”

    The once-brave duckling shrinks back even more. “Lilac,” she whispers, on the verge of tears.
Rump crows to the rising sun. “Little Lilac! Do you really believe you can propose a solution that will actually work to a council of experienced professionals? Of course not!” He turns to the swans seated behind him. “Can anyone please remind Little Lilac what she is?”

    “An ugly duckling!” someone offers from the very back. Lilac feels more tears spring to her eyes, but she refuses to shed them. She will not.

   Rump moves his wings together in a clapping motion, even though his feathers muffle any sound they make. “Correct! Now, Little Lilac, we’re all aware of the fact that you would love nothing more than to be cuddled in your nest at home. I would like to be as well. Now, please let the swans settle this, and be patient, little ugly duckling!”
​
    So Leader Feathered Rump turns back to his fellow swans, and once more, the bickering continues with a full force. Lilac retreats to the other ugly ducklings, sobbing to herself as she does so.

Author’s Note:
    This op-ed was originally going to be about some of the outrageous demands schools make of students regarding dress code, but I decided that this particular topic was much more necessary, given recent events.

    Survivors of the Parkland school shooting in Florida have been trying to make a difference in America, if you haven’t heard yet. They have been fighting for gun reform by trying to ensure that it will be more difficult for individuals with mental illnesses or histories of violence to purchase guns. So far, some adults have claimed these student-activists are paid actors. Others have claimed that their grief has been taken advantage of by left-wing political groups.

  I want to remind you, as a member of Generation Z, you can make a difference in this society. Adults will try to tell you that you are, and I quote, a “kid.” I will tell you that the “hippies” of the 1900’s managed to end unnecessary killing from the Vietnam War. I will tell you that the some of the same adults telling you that you are a “kid” look at black children as dangerous criminals, but claim the Parkland shooter is simply a troubled individual.

    I want to remind you, millennials and baby boomers, to encourage your younger siblings. I understand there are some discrepancies between our generations. I realize it is more difficult for you to understand why we do some of the things we do because you grew up in a different era. But shouldn’t we stand together? Why do we constantly divide ourselves because we do not understand one another? Do you support unnecessary killing? So why are some of you looking at Generation Z standing up for life, and ridiculing them for it? Don’t ridicule them. Encourage them, help them.

    When you turn eighteen, Generation Z, I encourage you to vote. Millennials, baby boomers, I encourage you to vote. I encourage you to empower people who will actually work to make a difference in this nation, to fight for black lives, to fight for gun reform, or whatever you believe in. If you do not agree with something, speak up about it (in a respectful manner, of course). Generation Z, do not let these chains of being “just a kid” hinder you from making a difference, from making history. Millennials, baby boomers, do not let these discrepancies in time hinder you from supporting your younger siblings in their fight for change.