Sit With Us

Middle school can be a dark time. It was an especially tough period for Natalie Hampton, who was severely bullied by a clique of mean girls at her school. The most daunting period of the day was lunch, where she walked into a crowded lunch room and regularly ate alone. After transferring schools and finding a strong group of friends, Natalie constructed an app to promote kindness and inclusion in schools. Her app, “Sit With Us” allows students to indicate that their lunch tables are open to any peers. Other students can look on the app and view tables that would be welcoming to them at lunchtime. Download her app, and forever avoid the awkward “You-can’t-sit-with-us” conversation.

Booming Business

You may have had a bad week but at least you’re not Samsung. Reminder: Samsung recalled 2.5 million of their Note 7 smartphones after word came that the phones were overheating and exploding in users’ pockets. The problem? A chemical reaction within the phone’s lithium-ion batteries. Now, in a federal class action lawsuit, families are suing Samsung on account of defective washing machines. The washing machines have also been exploding. In several accounts, some of their top-loading washing machines have been ripping holes in walls, flinging shards of metal into hallways, flooding laundry rooms, and even shaking an entire house. Allegedly, the problem lies within the machines’ violent vibrations under heavy loads. Samsung’s advice? Use lower speeds. Our advice? Avoid Samsung for the time being.

Mistake or Murder?

One of the most recent victims of police brutality is Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old black man who was shot and killed after reports were sent to the police that described an abandoned car that was blocking the street. When police arrived on the scene, officer Betty Shelby asked him if the car was his and in response, he walked up to her with his hands in his pockets. He raised his hands in surrender, but then put them back in his pockets. Officer Shelby soon began to think that Crutcher was drunk due to his erratic behavior. Shelby demanded that he get on his knees but Crutcher walked back towards his car. The officers claimed that they saw Crutcher reach into the driver’s side window and because of that, officer Shelby opened fire, ultimately killing Crutcher with gunshot wounds to the lungs. Scott Wood, attorney of Betty Shelby, swears this case isn’t about race, but most others think otherwise.

Celebrating with JDRF

And in some life-changing news from JDRF, the FDA just approved an artificial pancreas system for people with Type 1 Diabetes. The system is the first approved to automate the dosing of insulin. With the system’s help, people with Type 1 Diabetes can lower high blood sugar levels and stay closer to their target blood sugar levels more consistently. What this means: in the near future, people with Type 1 Diabetes might be able to sleep through the night without having to wake up to manage their blood sugar levels. If you hear “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang playing in the distance, it’s probably JDRF celebrating the approval of this project, ten years in the making.

Not So Worldwide

I hope you’re enjoying scrolling between Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and your other various social media accounts, because if you were born in North Korea, this wouldn’t be your life. Recently, due to what seems to be an unfortunate mistake, it has been revealed to the entire worldwide web that North Korea’s web isn’t quite worldwide. It only has 28 available websites. Some of the approved websites include a cooking site, a flight-booking site and a social media site. So the next time you complain that your Twitter feed is dead, be thankful that you have it at all.

A New Addition 

Move over, National Civil Rights Museum! There’s a new museum in town. The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened this week in Washington, DC. It is the 19th Smithsonian museum and boasts an updated history of black people in America. From the beginnings of slavery, to the Black Lives Matter movement, this museum has it all. While it isn’t yet opened to the public, you can order “Timed Entry Passes” that would be assigned to a date in early 2017. If you cannot make that crazy long trip to Washington, we guess the website should suffice with its library of photographs, biographies, etc.

Welcome to the Circus

“Wow this was the best presidential debate ever, I really learned so much,” said no one ever. Especially not Lester Holt, the moderator, who was most likely wishing he chose any career but politics. If anyone at all was enjoying the debate, it was likely the paid fact-checkers, because, boy, their job was not boring. After some fumbles in the beginning, Clinton definitely showed up for the second half of the debate and ended up winning by a whopping 34 points, according to a Gallup poll. But in the coming two debates, we’re hoping that the candidates focus more on their respective policies than spending all their two minutes personally attacking each other. While there are a lot of things that people are saying about this election season, boring is never one of them.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Three months ago, a Canadian woman was mauled by a dog, assumed to be a pit-bull. On Tuesday, Montreal took the drastic measure to ban pit-bulls. While most people grow up hearing that pit-bulls are more aggressive than the average dog, it has yet to be proven that they show an above-average aggression towards humans. Pit-bulls in Montreal now either have to be grandfathered in and registered or face euthanasia. It’s important to note that the breeding papers of the original dog in question state that it was a boxer. Regardless, it is hard to rationalize punishing dogs by death. Animal rights groups have already begun work to overturn this new law, so we will keep you updated on whether they are successful.

BB Blues

13-year-old Tyree King, an African-American from Columbus, Ohio, was shot and killed last week after police received reports about an armed robbery. The officers engaged in a short foot chase with two men who matched the description of the suspects until they cornered them in an alley. As they were trying to take them into custody, Tyree appeared and pulled out a “gun” from his waistband. Officer Bryan Mason quickly responded, shooting Tyree multiple times. It was later discovered that Tyree was not in possession of a real firearm, but a BB gun. The realistic features of the gun prompted the officer to believe it was real and act accordingly. This tragedy brings up important questions about responsibility on the behalf of both the toy companies and the parents who’re buying these toys. We can only hope that we come to a consensus soon.

Pop Culture Announcement

Justin Timberlake succeeds yet again in proving that he is the man who can do anything. Timberlake is set to have a tour documentary called “Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids” released on Netflix on October 12. Now for only $8.99 a month, you can see Justin Timberlake in concert whenever you please.