Meteor Showers

Karen Kaplan writes about approaching meteor showers between sunset thursday night and sunrise friday morning in an article titled, "Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight; Comet Wirtanen May Add Sparks" published on December 13, 2012 in the Los Angeles Times. The Geminid meteor showers have become an annual show with the bright, streaking remnants of the asteroid Phaethon flying around the sky. It receives its name from the constellation Gemini because most of the flying objects seem to fall near one of its stars. The Geminid meteor showers are the first to be traced a to an actual asteroid, unlike others which are mostly related to comets. This would truly be a spectacular event to witness, unfortunately for most southern Californians it will be a difficult one to see because of the large overcast tonight. Sadly, there is also school tomorrow, therefore even if the show is visible, students such as myself will be sleeping. It is a lose-lose situation, however it will be a marvelous scene for those who have the opportunity to see it. The farther they are from the city lights the better their view of the show will be.

Religious Discrimination

In an article titled: "My Turban: Made in the USA" published on November 30, 2012 in the Los Angeles Times author, Dilveer Singh Vahali, writes about how being Sikhs in America are constantly and discriminated against. As a Sikh Vahali is mandated by his religion to wear a turban and keep a beard, however, unfortunately, because of the way he looks, Vahali is often taunted by onlookers and called a terrorist. Just in this past year several Sikhs have been murdered or assaulted as a part of brutal hate crimes. There has been recent progress however in the effort to make Americans respect and recognize the Sikhs who have been a part of their culture for over one hundred years. November was California's first Sikh Awareness month and in January, California's Workplace Religious Freedom Act goes into action. Which protects the rights of workers and job applicants to wear religious clothing or hairstyles. This is a positive step towards raising awareness for minorities that are discriminated against for showing their faith in their appearance such as, Jews, Muslims, and of course Sikhs. America is a land of religious freedom, therefore no religious groups should ever be taunted for "wearing" their faith.