Author: Jennie Jasperson

Lights Out At McClatchy

SMUD substation struck by lightning, then caught on fire. Photo via Google Images

By Jennie Jasperson, Staff Writer

Everyone remembers the lights suddenly going out during first period on Friday, Feb. 6. “I was taking a math test and all of a sudden, everything just went dark,” recalls Jason Deng (‘16). What ensued for the next two hours was confusion and immense boredom, brought on by what appeared to be a lack of communication with teachers and students.

The power outage occurred due to a SMUD substation being struck by lightning during a heavy rainstorm. Not only did the power go out at McClatchy, the rest of the Land Park area was without power for several hours. Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s webpage indicated more than eight thousand people in their Sacramento County region were without power just after 9 a.m. Friday. The majority were reports from the Land Park and South Sacramento areas. SMUD reported that the power was finally restored around 11:30 a.m.

That might have been reassuring for students and teachers to know at the time of the power outage at school. Students were stuck in their classrooms and not allowed to leave, with the exception of going to use the bathroom. Teachers relied on updates from campus security monitors. Many students remember the frustration of not really knowing exactly what was happening. “My classroom was all the way in the D-wing during the power outage, and the campus security only came to give updates occasionally. Even then, the updates gave no actual information as to what had happened,” says Chloe Collins (‘16).

Many students also seemed to hear the rumour that if the power remained out for a certain period of time, school was supposed to be dismissed. “Yes, I heard that if the power was out for longer than an hour then all students would be let out,” says Lorena Garay (‘16). Principal Peter Lambert quickly dismissed that saying, “That’s not true, we would never dismiss students only to release them into a storm.”

When asked about safety protocols during events such as a power outage Principal Lambert explained, “Luckily, we had just reviewed safety drills a couple days before. During the power outage, it was important that students stayed in their classrooms. We had campus monitors stationed around the school, and teachers had their own safety backpacks with flashlights.”

Even with all of these safety protocols, there were still many student complaints about not being able to be dismissed from school early. Once the power had been out for over an hour, many students began calling parents to come pick them up. This resulted in a surge of parents arriving in the office, all trying to find their kids. This was a difficult task for both the parents, and the attendance office, due to the fact that the phones weren’t working and there was no real way of direct communication. However, Principal Lambert said, “There was no need for parents to come pick kids up. It was much safer to remain at school than to go back out into the storm.”

Despite this, the front of the school was soon filled with parents trying to find a staff member to locate their child. “There weren’t any organized lines, and a campus monitor even refused to help me at first,” says an anonymous parent of a McClatchy student. Furthermore, the parking in front of the school quickly turned to chaos. With no more parking spots available, many people were forced to park illegally on the side of the road.

When asked about the process of parents trying to pick up their kids, Principal Lambert responded, “I think things went very well. Everything ran smoothly. With each situation, there’s always something new to learn.”

It was certainly a relief when the power finally came back on and school was able to resume as normal. This was quite an experience and fortunately, everyone made it through safe and sound. As with situations like these the most important thing is that students were able to remain calm and get through the two hours of darkness.

The Real Meaning of a Hero

By Jennie Jasperson, Staff Writer

“Before I’m American, I am human, and no little girl, regardless of where she was born, should be forced to work the streets when her biggest dream is to go to school,” Katie Meyler writes on her More than Me website. She is the the founder of the More than Me Academy; a program dedicated to improve the lives of girls from the West Point Slum of Liberia.

With the Ebola crisis causing chaos and wreaking havoc all over West Africa, most people seem to forget about the hundreds and thousands of doctors, nurses, and health care workers administering aid to all those fighting the deadly virus. Although she may not be a certified doctor or nurse, Katie Meyler, from Bernardsville, New Jersey, is a leader devoted to changing the lives of girls in Liberia. She saw girls forced to sell their bodies at the age of eleven just to get a few dollars in order to afford clean water. She saw the destruction that poverty and lack of education brings. She decided to do something about it. The name of her organization, More Than Me, comes from the idea of thinking beyond yourself; of being part of something greater than just you. The purpose of More Than Me is to provide girls from the West Point slum in Liberia with education, health and social services to transform their lives. With the help of several different organizations, Meyler was able to open the More Than Me Academy in September of 2013; the very first tuition-free, all-girls school in Liberia.

But why girls in Liberia? Facts stated on the More Than Me website answers this question. More than 40% of Liberian girls ages 10-14 have never gone to school. Unfortunately, young girls fall victim to the most frequently reported crime in Liberia, rape. An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 percent. An extra year of secondary school: 15 to 25 percent. When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man. It is the hope of More Than Me to give girls endless opportunities, making it impossible for them to fail.

So how does Katie Meyler’s story and the More Than Me foundation have anything to do with Ebola? With the recent outbreak of the virus, Meyler has focused her attentions on putting the girls in Liberia out of risk of contracting the disease. In the past months, hundreds of children have lost their parents; leaving them as outcasts in their own communities and orphans with no where to go. The More Than Me Academy has closed temporarily in order to become a place of refuge for children who have lost their families. In addition, a quarantine center has also been created for girls and boys to be safely quarantined for twenty-one days to lower the chances of spreading Ebola.

Meyler risks has life everyday as she travels throughout West Point slum sending people with Ebola to hospitals, rescuing children with no place to go, finding children who are sick, and finding ways to provide food and water to struggling families.

Her story as well as the efforts of More Than Me to fight Ebola were recently featured on NBC. When asked about her own fears of getting Ebola Meyler responded, “Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s the ability to act in spite of it. And I feel like as long as my kids are here, they can’t leave, I’m not going anywhere either. I have the ability to go, but that doesn’t mean I should. I feel with everything inside of me that I’m supposed to be here fighting with everything I have.”

Day after day, Meyler fights for the lives of others and helps them in any way she can. She exemplifies the real meaning of a hero.

Tags ebola

Sweet Tooth for Rick’s

Photo via Rick's Dessert Diner Gallery — Photo via Rick’s Dessert Diner Gallery

By Jennie Jasperson, Staff writer

Just a few months ago, customers at Rick’s Dessert Diner would have found themselves in a tight, crowded atmosphere. The leather seats were old and worn. The counter and table tops were scratched and dirty. There were never enough empty tables available. Despite all of that, there was always a line. No matter what time of day the diner would be full of people laughing and chatting over a slice of red velvet cake and a chocolate shake. But this last July, Rick’s renovated and moved to a new location nearly doubling the size of the diner; to the appreciation of many loyal customers.

Rick’s Dessert Diner has been around in Sacramento since 1986 and is famous for its European cheesecakes, tortes, tarts, dessert pastries, cookies, and cakes. The menu includes over two hundred and eighty-five different items such as: Caramel Apple Spice Cake, Fudge Fantasy, Lemon Diva Cake, White Satin Cake, Fresh Fruit Tart, Raspberry Almond Tart, Peach Tart, and Oreo Mousse Tart. Some of the pies include: Apple Blueberry Pie, Blackberry Raspberry Pie, Butterscotch Pie, California Walnut Pie, and Strawberry Cream Pie. For those pastry-lovers, Eclairs, Cannoli, Lemon Bars, German Chocolate Bars, Blonde Brownies, Zebra Fudge Brownies, Napoleon, Pumpkin Bars, and Butter Cookies are just a few to choose from. Along with the huge selection of baked goods, Rick’s also offers freshly made milkshakes, smoothies, and coffee. With a variety like this, it’s no wonder the diner has been named the Number 1 place for dessert in Sacramento year after year by many local magazines and newspapers.

Not only is the new location in J Street much roomier, the building itself fits the perfect diner image. “It looks like a classic 60s diner, turned modern. It’s a really nice look,” Lilia Quevedo (‘16) says of the new exterior design. At night, neon lights create an attractive setting for customers. Inside the diner, pictures of iconic Americans are framed on the walls, including photographs of people like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Rock and roll music plays in the background as customers sit on bright red, leather bar stools. The diner is lined with mirrors and fluorescent purple and pink lights line the walls. There are also cozy booths all around the diner that provide great places to sit and chat with family and friends.

In terms of comparing this new location to the old one, there have been a few bumps in the road but Rick’s Diner is slowly coming around. At first, there were many complaints about bad customer service. The lines at the new location are extremely long due to a limited number of cashiers, many tables are left dirty and uncleared, and many customers complain that the quality of the cakes, pies, etc. has diminished. But that can be expected when any kind of restaurant or shop moves to a new location. It will always take a little bit longer to get things established and taken care of, before being able to get back to where it once was. Give Rick’s a few more months to get adjusted and it will once again become the famous bakery it always have been. Despite recent complaints, the diner remains a hotspot. The long line trailing out of Rick’s every night is proof of that. So next time you’re out and about downtown, it would be well worth your time to head over to Rick’s Dessert Diner and see for yourself what the rest of Sacramento has been talking about.

Tags restaurant review