Good morning, Her Campus Murray State readers! It’s 2018 and that means everything is happening at lightning speed. And that includes news stories. But, no fear! Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on all the stories from last week you might’ve missed!
Horror in Parkland, Florida after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz walked inside a school with an AR-15, killing 17 and wounding several others.
Students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) walked into school on Valentine’s Day––a day that’s supposed to be full of love––only to have a former classmate open fire in the hallways. Emma Gonzalez, a student of MSD, spoke at a rally on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale urging the audience to fight for stricter gun restrictions. Fighting tears, Gonzales called “BS” on a list of things, including the “politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA, telling us nothing could have been done to prevent this.” Gonzalez’s speech has gained massive attention across social media.
President Trump visited the city of Parkland, including a sheriff’s office and hospital, on Friday, February 17. Many people were not impressed with his visit. Florida’s vice mayor, Mark Bogen, slammed Trump’s visit as “absolutely absurd… Him coming here is absolutely absurd, and he’s a hypocrite,” Bogen said of the President in an interview Friday with CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield. “How can you come here and talk about how horrible it is when you support these laws?”
The “support” Bogen is referring to comes from Trump’s decision to rollback on an Obama-era regulation, which required the Social Security Administration to disclose information to the national gun background check system about certain people with mental illness four times a year.
Emma Gonzalez (Photo courtesy of RTE News)
13 Russian nationals have been indicted for interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Robert Muller has indicted and charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities with conspiracy to defraud the United States. Five of the defendants have also been charged with aggravated identity theft, and three defendants have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
President Trump has been briefed on the indictment and is “glad to to see the Special Counsel’s investigation further indicates— that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia and that the outcome of the election was not changed or affected.”
According to the indictment, the Russian organization, Internet Research Agency, has had operations underway to interfere with the American political system since 2014. The defendants allegedly created fake US personas and operated social media pages and groups designed to attract vast US audiences.
The 2018 Winter Olympics are underway in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The United States currently holds nine medals (five gold, two silver, two bronze) falling behind Canada, The Netherlands, Norway and Germany.
The latest medal, a second place win in speed skating, came from John-Henry Krueger. This event snapped the US speed skating free of an 8-year dry spell in the sport. Their last medal was in the 2010 games in Vancouver.
Chloe Kim, a 17-year-old snowboarder, took home the gold in women’s halfpipe with a score of 98.25. But it’s more than her snowboarding skills that have caught the attention of people across the world. It’s the now famous ice cream and churro tweets that have made her so relatable.
Kim has proven to be one of the most marketable athletes that snowboarding has ever seen. She came into the 2018 winter games with deals from Nike, Visa, Mondelez (Ritz and Oreo), Samsung and more. However, since she is not yet 18, she doesn’t have much control over her deals, but her father and agent agree that she should have that control once she hits the magic number. Her birthday is April 23, meaning all of her current deals will be on the table.
Even Oprah thinks Black Panther was “pehnomenal.”
Marvel’s newest superhero movie release brought in a massive $78.5 million. And that was just on Friday. Playing in over 4000 theaters, Black Panther drew a very diverse audience; 37 percent of ticket buyers were African-American, while Caucasians made up the next largest group (36 percent), according to comScore. Typically, African-Americans make up roughly 15 percent of audiences for a marquee superhero film.
“Among the thousands who went to see Black Panther early this weekend and positioned the Marvel movie to make box-office history was former talk-show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey. And after seeing the film with her longtime partner Stedman Graham on Saturday, Winfrey’s verdict is that it’s ‘phenomenal.'”
Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios.
The 15-year-old suspect in the Marshall County shooting was arraigned in a circuit court hearing on Friday, February 16.
Jacob Ford, the assistant commonwealth attorney, released the name of the suspect behind the Marshall County shooting shortly after the hearing ended on Friday. Following Ford’s announcement, the Kentucky State Police sent a news release naming Gabriel R. Parker and announcing the charges: two counts of murder and 14 counts of first degree assault.
After the arraignment, which was closed the the public––the parents of the two deceased students, Parker’s defense attorney, prosecutors, state police, Marshall County Public School’s superintendent Trent Lovett and essential court employees were the only people permitted––Judge Jamie Jameson’s office confirmed that Parker will be prosecuted as an adult.
MSU students are rejoicing over QDOBA’s new delivery service in Murray.
While the news didn’t break last week, our first wake-up call has to have more good news in it, don’t you think? Well, what’s better than a new delivery option on campus? QDOBA has rolled out a new delivery service to Murray residents within the city limits, and campus is just across the street from the restaurant, so you know what that means, Racers! We don’t have to leave the comfort of our beds anymore when the cravings hit! The popular Mexican restaurant will deliver daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. to all of Murray.
What to look for on campus: The Diary of Anne Frank, a play of international fame, will be showing in the Wilson Hall Theater on Murray State’s campus starting on Thursday, February 22, with showings running until Saturday, February 24. Each show begins at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children, or free with a valid MSU student I.D.