Author Archives: Amanda Torres

Scott announces run for U.S. Senate

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By AMANDA TORRES

Florida Gov. Rick Scott finally announced that he is running for the U.S. Senate on Monday morning at an Orlando rally. His announcement was much anticipated, as Florida residents had speculated that he would run for the U.S. Senate for months.

CNN posted the video of his announcement and it can be found here. The governor will be running against Democrat Bill Nelson, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000.

CNN and the Miami Herald pointed out in their news stories that the governor stated there should be limits for members of Congress and that voters should be cautious in sending the same politicians to Washington if nothing has changed in the previous years. Although not directly stated, his comments were probably aimed at Nelson.

This race could be a test of the popularity of President Trump. The governor has been a supporter of the president since the beginning. If the governor is not elected, this could express the public’s disliking towards the president and the Republican party.

Based on the video where the governor made the announcement, he did not mention the president directly, but his speech had the same ideologies as those of the president. According to the Miami Herald, he used the words “fix,” “tired old thinking” and “we gotta stop sending talkers to Washington.”

The governor also stated that he did not engage in “insider games” in Tallahassee and won’t in Washington either. He stated that he hasn’t fit in before and probably won’t fit into Washington, much like the president. The governor said that people should vote for a doer and not a talker.

CNN, The New York Times, the Miami Herald and many more news organizations have stated that this will be one of the most expensive races in history and both Scott and Nelson could have close votes in the results of the Senate election.

Senior accepted to 20 colleges, full ride

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By AMANDA TORRES

Micheal Brown, a 17-year-old senior at Mirabeau B. Lamar High School in Houston, made news this week for being accepted to 20 selective colleges and for getting a full ride to each. In addition to getting a full ride, Brown also received $260,000 in scholarships.

Eight of the 20 schools that he was accepted to were the Ivy League schools, like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford. He was also accepted to Pomona College, a small, but highly selective liberal arts school, Georgetown, Northwestern, University of Michigan, Vanderbilt and many others.

According to The New York Times, “It is rare but not unheard-of for a student to get into all eight Ivy League schools and complete the so-called sweep.” Brown and his friends said that they knew of students who were accepted into many highly selective schools as well.

Although not unheard-of, Brown’s accomplishment is well-deserved, considering his impressive record. The New York Times shared that Brown had a 4.68 grade point average, an SAT score of 1540 out of 1600 and an ACT score of 34 out of 36. Brown was also involved outside of the classroom, participating in mocks trials, the debate team, Key Club, and internships.

But even with an impressive record, Brown was not sure he would be accepted into the schools that he had applied for. Stanford, especially, was his dream school. When he received acceptance after acceptance, CNN quoted Brown saying, “It’s something I’m proud of because I see my hard work paying off, determination paying off, sacrifices paying off.”

Brown will tour his top favorite schools before making his final decision on where to attend on May 1. Whatever school Brown chooses, he will study political science and possibly economics, too. Brown has been interested in law for many years and hopes to become a public defender one day.

TESS to take over Kepler’s mission

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By AMANDA TORRES

On April 16, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, will launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. TESS was created by NASA and its main goal is to search for exoplanets. According to CNN, officials said Wednesday that TESS will search for planets that can sustain life, much like Kepler did since it launched in 2009.

After discovering more than 4,500 potential planets and exoplanets, Kepler will run out of fuel soon. Luckily, TESS will have arrived in space by the time that happens to continue the search for exoplanets. CNN stated that Kepler “will be abandoned in space, orbiting the sun and never getting any closer to Earth than the moon.”

To have a mission that outlives two years, TESS is expected to orbit around the Earth through the use of fuel and a gravity support from the moon. The mission will officially begin when TESS has an established orbit around Earth and when it passes instrument tests 60 days later.

Although similar in mission, CNN included the differences that Kepler and TESS do have. TESS will be able to “survey an area 400 times larger than what Kepler observed.” The area will also have 200,000 of the brightest stars. TESS will have four-wide cameras that will, for days at a time, take pictures and videos of the sky.

Through the transit method, TESS will search for exoplanets by detecting the brightness dips of stars as planets pass in front of them. NASA is predicting that TESS will find more than 1,500 exoplanets, but also think that TESS could find much more.

According to CNN, officials believe that out of the 1,500 possible exoplanets found, 300 could be similar to Earth or double the size of Earth, with the potential to support life outside of our solar system.

George Ricker, the TESS principal investigator at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, said that “we expect TESS will discover a number of planets whose atmospheric compositions, which hold potential clues to the presence of life, could be precisely measured by future observers.”

With Kepler, it was discovered that there were more planets than stars. TESS will reveal even more of those planets, allowing researchers to have a better understanding of the differences between these planets and whether they have the potential to sustain life.

Ups, downs for Florida Panthers

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By AMANDA TORRES

The Florida Panthers played against the Edmonton Oilers at the BB&T Center on Saturday afternoon. It seemed like the Panthers were going to win the game before the intermission, but they ended up losing to the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2.

Florida Panthers on their home ice on March 17 (Photo by Amanda Torres).

The Miami Herald said that despite losing this game, the Panthers are playing better this season, winning nine of the 11 home games they have played thus far.

Since Feb. 12, the Panthers have had a 3-2-1 record. The Miami Herald added that “two of the games the Panthers failed to win during that stretch were decided by just one goal.”

The Panthers have played 27 home games this season so far and have won 17. The next seven games the Panthers will play will be on the road. Being on the road could be a challenge for them, since the opposing teams are known to have road records that outshine those of the Panthers’.

According to the Herald, even though the opposing teams have better road records, their winning records show that five of next nine teams they will play against have had more overall losses this season than the Panthers have.

An interesting factor that the Herald included in their news story about the game were five bolded questions that answered some concerns that Panthers fans probably had in mind after yesterday’s game.

“Will the Panthers make the playoffs?” The Herald objectively answered this question based on statistics from Hockey-Reference.com. This website predicted that the Panthers probably won’t make it to the playoffs, but only by a couple of points. It will all depend on their upcoming road games.

“What the heck happened on Saturday against the Oilers?” The Herald answered this question in a clear and concise way that helped readers understand what went wrong in Saturday’s game. The Panthers made the choice to go for a 0-for-6 on a power play and “also allowed a shorthanded goal in an uncharacteristically poor performance.”

The other three questions were, “How good is Panthers center Sasha Barkov? Is help on the way for the Panthers? And who can be a surprise for the Panthers down the stretch?” These questions and answers focused on explaining how Barkov is a strong player and an asset for the team, on Henrik Borgstrom, a talented, incoming player who could join the team next year and on Frank Vatrano, a recently acquired hockey player from the Boston Bruins, who has scored two goals in the past four games.

Let’s hope the Panthers beat the odds in these upcoming seven road games.

Deadly nor’easter leaves big cleanup

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By AMANDA TORRES

On March 2, a storm known as a nor’easter hit the Atlantic coast, bringing incessant rain, snow and violent winds. The New York Times and CNN reported that the storm killed at least five people, brought down power lines and flooded homes and roads. Residents and travelers were stranded for hours. Some still are.

According to CNN, the deadly storm is now out at sea since Saturday morning. But its effects will remain for days to come. More than 1.2 million people from the mid-Atlantic to New England do not currently have power. The New York Times shared a slightly different number, stating that two million are out of electricity.

CNN shared a statement made by Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, who said that “people in these homes need to plan for a prolonged outage.” It will take days, maybe even weeks until their power is restored.

For people around the country wondering what states were impacted by the nor’easter, The New York Times informed its readers that states in between Maine and “as far south as Georgia” felt the effects.

The New York Times also shared the National Weather Service said that the flooding has caused damage to homes, have forced roads to close and even caused a car to float down a street. Meteorologists said that because the flooding is still severe, more damage is to be expected in the next couple of days.

The storm underwent bombogenesis on Friday, which means that its pressure rapidly dropped. This is why CNN called is a “bomb cyclone.”

On the coast of Massachusetts, winds were 90 miles per hours during the storm. CNN reported that Boston is currently underwater. The storm also dumped large amounts of snow in Ohio, New England and New York.

After experiencing the infamous wrath of Hurricane Irma, the aftermath of this nor’easter is something to which South Floridians can relate. Hopefully, the effects of this deadly storm will ease for the affected people and areas sooner than later.

Michelle Obama to release second book

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By AMANDA TORRES

“Becoming,” a memoir by former first lady Michelle Obama will be released on Nov. 13. After much anticipation, the announcement was made on Feb. 25 by Penguin Random House. “Becoming” will be published by Crown, an imprint at Penguin Random House. Crown obtained the rights to publish the memoir worldwide.

According to The New York Times, Crown said that the memoir will touch on topics like Obama’s experience in the White House, as a mother of two, on her campaign on public health and more.

CNN reported that Penguin Random House said that the Obama’s memoir is “an unusually intimate reckoning from a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations — and whose story inspires us to do the same.”

Courtesy of Michelle Obama via Twitter.

Obama said via her Twitter account that the memoir was a “deeply personal experience” to her.

According to the The New York Times, “Becoming” will be published in 24 languages.

Read by Obama herself, audio versions will also be published. The former first lady will donate a million copies of the memoir to First Book, a nonprofit based in Washington. First Book helps children get access to books and educational resources in the U.S. and Canada.

CNN also included that Penguin Random House said that the memoir will sell for $32.50 in the U.S. When the release day comes around, Obama will promote Becoming through an international tour.

This will be Obama’s second book. “American Grown” was published in 2012. The book encourages healthy living and talks about the White House Kitchen Garden.

Team USA Hockey wins against Canada

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By AMANDA TORRES

For the first time in 20 years, Team USA Hockey has won gold. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, a hockey player on Team USA, scored the goal that won the game. It was a 3-2 victory against the Canadian hockey team, who had been undefeated for four years.

If you did not watch the game, reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Miami Herald described the game and Lamoureux-Davidson’s move that lead to the goal in a way that was easy to picture and understand.

According to The New York Times, there were only seven minutes left to play when, Lamoureux-Davidson sister, Monique Lamoureux-Davidson, scored the goal that they needed to match Canada’s score. The game went into overtime and Team USA knew it had a chance to win.

Since overtime in a hockey game lasts five minutes, a shootout began when the score remained tied. This meant that there would be one member from each team attempting to make penalty shots against their opposing goaltender. Because there continued to be no change in the score, the game went into sudden death. The game would end as soon as a team got ahead of the other.

The Miami Herald described that Lamoureux-Davidson’s teammates were eagerly watching her play on the hockey’s biggest stage. As they watched, Lamoureux-Davidson made the anticipated move that they were hoping she would do: the triple maneuver. And she did, scoring against Canada’s goaltender, Shanon Szabados.

Lamoureux-Davidson practiced the intricate move many times. She admitted that she failed many of those attempts, but remained persistent to get it right. According to The Washington Post, Lamoureux-Davidson’s said that the triple maneuver consisted of, “a forehand fake, a backhand fake and then a quick transition back to the forehand to shoot the puck, all while selling each herky-jerky con with deft skating.”

Maddie Rooney, the U.S. goaltender, then made a save against Meghan Agosta of the Canada team, which gave the Americans the game.

Team USA hockey team members threw their gloves in the air and piled on top of Rooney. After 20 years, gold was finally theirs.

This Tesla’s fate is to be announced

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By AMANDA TORRES

The launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket on Feb. 6 was successful. There is a Tesla roaming space right now, playing “Space Oddity” by David Bowie, with a mannequin wearing a spacesuit whose name is Starman in the driver’s seat.

In the Tesla, there is a screen that says, “Don’t Panic!” But what is going to happen to it now? And where is it headed?

Red Roadster and Starman (Courtesy of Elon Musk, Instagram).

This past Tuesday night, Elon Musk announced via his Twitter that the Tesla, named “Red Roadster,” exceeded its envisioned orbit and would eventually pass by Mars and into the asteroid belt.

According to CNNtech, experts in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory took a look at SpaceX’s data.

Based on their observations, they inferred that “the farthest it will go is about 250 million kilometers from the sun, or about as far as Mars,” contrary to what Musk predicted. This prediction by NASA was supported by Johnathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who also took a look at the data.

By November, it is believed that it will reach its farthest point from the sun. But by September 2019, CNNtech said that the Tesla will complete a full loop around the sun. The expected path of the Tesla, however, could change by then, rising another problem and discussion.

Because solar radiation can shift the Tesla into a different direction, or because excess gas in the second-stage rocket can also move it into an unknown path, it is hard to predict its path and final destination.

While they still can, astronomers are taking the opportunity to take shots of where the Tesla is now. They are saying that the it will be too far away from Earth to spot by next week.

While the path of the car aligns with Earth’s orbit, CNN informed its readers that space expert Marco Langbroek made calculations that predicted that the Tesla would not be spotted again until 2073. But even he said that any predictions made right now would lack reliability. Being an asteroid expert, he also said that another possibility would be that the car could be confused with an asteroid.

Luckily, NASA added the Red Roadster, as well as Starman, into its “artificial object catalog” to avoid it being mistaken with anything else.

Amtrak train collides with a CSX train

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By AMANDA TORRES

On Feb. 4, Amtrak train 91, carrying 147 passengers, hit a CSX freight train in Cayce, S.C. According to CNN, the Lexington County spokesman Harrison Cahill said that two people were killed and 116 were injured. The train was in route from Miami to New York.

The two individuals that were killed were Amtrak personnel, Michael Kempf, 54, and Michael Cella, 36. The injured passengers were transported to local hospitals. They suffered injuries from scratches to broken bones.

At a press conference Sunday morning in South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster said that the crash occurred when the CSX train was stationed on the tracks. Luckily, no one was inside the CSX train. On the Amtrak, the lead engine and some passenger cars were derailed when the collision happened.

According to authorities, CNN reported that because of the collision, 5,000 gallons of fuel were spilled. Cahill, however, reassured the public that the spill would not be a danger to them.

This latest Amtrak crash is not the only one to happen in the past few months. In December, three people were killed when an Amtrak train derailed in Washington. After CNN conducted their own investigation, they surprisingly found “that engineers and conductors had complained to supervisors that they were not adequately trained for the new route before the crash of Amtrak 501.”

In January, an Amtrak train hit an SUV that took the lives of another two people. And just last week, another train carrying members of Congress collided with a truck.

The National Transportation Safety Board is going to conduct an investigation on this latest Amtrak incident in South Carolina, which will take 12 to 18 months.

Major League Soccer comes to Miami

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By AMANDA TORRES

After a “painful” four-year pursuit, David Beckham announced on Jan. 29 that he received approval to create a Miami Major League Soccer team. Beckham and his co-owners, Marcelo Claure, Simon Fuller and Jorge and Jose Mas, are now arranging a site in Overtown to build a $200 million soccer stadium.

The Miami Herald, which has followed the progression of starting an MLS team in Miami, said that the stadium will be ready by 2021. The team will begin playing in 2020 at sites like Hard Rock Stadium, FIU Stadium or Marlins Park until the stadium is ready.

Beckham admitted that he and his business partners are not thinking about who will take up the coveted spots on the new team just yet. Even though there are many people who are interested in joining, Beckham said that he and his business partners have “a lot of work to do” before they decide on who the team’s players will be.

In the months coming up, Beckham and his partners do want to take input from fans to decide on a name for the team, as well as possible options for its official colors and logo. According to The Herald, Beckham said “black” and “white” are a few options they are considering.

Beckham first announced the possibility of having a Major League Soccer team in Miami in February 2014, almost four years ago. Beckham and his team have been persistent throughout the process, even in the moments when it seemed like it would not end up happening.

“Luckily, these four years of pain, at times, has taught me that sometimes you go through certain moments where it’s difficult,” Beckham told The Herald before the ceremony. “I look at the past four years and see the positive. There’s a reason why it’s taken this long. If I hadn’t gone through those times, I wouldn’t have met these guys [pointing to Miami co-owners Jorge and Jose Mas], guys who are passionate about this city and this sport. It’s like the weather.

“You walk out the door and it’s raining, then you walk out another door and its sun. That’s kind of like the journey it’s been the last four years. There have been moments I got off a phone call and I’m excited and it’s happening, and I wake up the next morning and it’s all gone.”