“I don’t know who makes my clothes or where they’re from, but I don’t really think about that. I would think they are manufactured,” freshman Austin Hall said.

The Organic Consumers Association reports that after being exposed, major clothing companies such as Gap and Nike have admitted to knowledge of worker exploitation and abuse and have made a promise to turn the sweatshop environment around.

Gap, a large chain clothing company with stores nationwide, including a location in Tyson’s Mall, has pleaded guilty to charges of substandard and dangerous work environments for those who produce their goods. It has been discovered that the said severe working conditions for the company consist of child labor, 80-hour weeks and labor to the extent of slavery in Mexico, China, India and Russia. Gap has since discontinued its contracts with these factories.

Nike, another worldwide clothing powerhouse, that specializes in sports wear and shoes, was exposed for its poor factory working conditions in Indonesia and Thailand. Workers who have been victimized by the sweatshop environment have come forward with their complaints about poor working conditions, poor pay, dangers that have resulted in the loss of worker’s limbs and work weeks that exceed 77 hours. Nike has since provided a list with details concerning approximately 700 factories and organized a task force to monitor the meeting of pay, hours and working conditions.

There are sweatshop factories dispersed throughout several countries, with extremely low wages that leave workers in poverty. According to data from an independent organization focused on the issue, China, where a vast majority of brand labels like Abercrombie and Fitch and Vera Bradley are made, has an average hourly rate of 44 cents for apparel workers.

The same organization also noted the severely low wages of sweatshop workers. Indonesia, whose workers produce goods for Adidas and Nike, has its minimum wage set at 34 cents an hour. In Vietnam, American Eagle Outfitter’s main country of production, workers receive only 24 cents an hour. That leaves 16.6 percent of China’s sweatshop workers, 7.5 percent of Indonesia’s and 17.7 percent of Vietnam to live on one dollar a day. Just because a brand has its products made in these countries does not mean sweatshops are being used, however there is still very poor pay and treatment of workers in countries like these by factory owners.

“I’m not familiar with any sweatshops. If I knew a brand used them, I would not buy their clothes. It’s so wrong that they are doing that!” sophomore Roya Ansary said.

The food in the U.S. is different from the food in my country. Food in the U.S. makes people fat and the taste of U.S. food is boring. Some foods taste good but some do not. Moving to another country is very hard because you have to try and eat the new food.

The U.S. and Vietnam have different weather. In the U.S. they have four seasons but in Vietnam they just have two. In U.S. the spring is cool, summer is very hot, fall is a little cold and winter is really cold. In Vietnam, we just have two seasons “rain” and “sunny.” If you had just came to the U.S. like one or two months ago maybe you couldn’t adapt to the weather.

The most important difference between the U.S. and Vietnam is education. In my country, studying is very hard. If we get low grades we will get hit by the teacher. In the U.S. teachers are really nice to students, studying is not really hard, and teachers care a lot about students. In Vietnam every student in school has to pay for every all month of school, in U.S. we get a free education. In my country I don’t like the education because I don’t like teachers hitting students. In my country, they didn’t care about us but in the U.S. things are different, teachers love students and are nice to them.

I really miss my country and I want to go back and visit. The things that make my country special are the food and the holidays. Moving to another country is not easy because everything is different. The first difference is food,the second is a weather and the third is the education. (In the U.S, we don’t need to wear uniforms but in Vietnam we have to).The education in Vietnam is really hard, not easy like U.S. I really miss my country and one day I will go back and visit.

When the weather suddenly seems to drop 50 degrees, the trees become bare, Thanksgiving leftovers are at their ends and lights seem to outline every house on the street, it is clear that the holiday season has arrived.

For the AHS community, the season is marked by holidays and traditions from around the world.

Many will celebrate Christmas, which is arguably the most anticipated holiday of the year, on Dec. 25.

“My parents are Catholic so we celebrate Christmas; I’m excited to get presents!”  sophomore Gabrielle Montes De Oca said.

The holiday spirit is alive throughout the halls of AHS, as gift lists are being checked off, and Christmas trees lit and decorated.

Due to the diversity of AHS, many students celebrate Christmas through their own traditions and cultures.

“In South Asia, Christian women put henna on their hands in celebration of Christmas,” sophomore Elisha Musih said.

“I’m excited to cook great Spanish food with my parents,”  sophomore Herson Palma, who is originally from El-Salvador, said.

But Christmas isn’t the only holiday celebrated by students. For the Jewish population of AHS, Hanukkah is just as anticipated. Known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah is an eight day Jewish holiday commemorating the creation of the Second Temple, also known as “The Holy Temple,” in Jerusalem.

“It’s [Hanukkah] around Christmas time, and I get to spend time with my family,” health teacher Gabe Romano said.

For many Muslims, the holiday season ended last month with Eid Al-Adha; however, the holiday spirit is still alive. A very important Muslim holiday, Eid Al-Adha, is celebrated by Muslims worldwide in honor of Abraham’s obedience and willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, before God intervened by sending down a sheep to be sacrificed instead.

“I personally don’t like Eid Al-Adha because it’s about killing a sheep, but I can understand what it’s about and why people celebrate it,” sophomore Mariam Hassan said. “[I went to this] little fair at a community center for kids with disabilities so they can celebrate it too.”

In mid-January, junior Ashley Lok and many others will celebrate the much-anticipated Chinese New Year, which marks the beginning of the year and is China’s most important holiday.

Families spend time with one another to celebrate the holiday, which also marks the end of the winter season and the transition into the spring season.

“The house is usually already decorated with different signs. My parents, aunts and uncles give me envelopes on Chinese New Y ear,” Lok said.

For many Hindus, mid-September to mid-December is the time for Diwali.  Also known as the festival of lights, Diwali is celebrated by thousands of people in southern   Asia to commemorate Mahavira attaining nirvana.

“I am excited, because I get to spend time with my family and friends, and eat a lot of food.” sophomore Rajit Bhangu said

As the season progresses, many are finding themselves highly anticipating the upcoming holidays.

Whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, New Years, or any other holiday lights are being lit up, houses decorated, and celebrations beginning. From all over the world AHS is truly experiencing the holiday season.

Students use ribbons to show support for those who live homosexual lifestyles

Nigeria has passed a bill banning the practice of same-sex marriage and same-sex relationships. The bill means that Britain’s threat to withhold all aid from nations who violate gay rights will be enacted. The consequences for being caught committing homosexual acts can range from a 10-year imprisonment sentence, for ‘accomplices’, to a 14-year sentence, for the ‘criminals’ themselves.

“I think it’s a little extreme and unnecessary,” sophomore Gabi Montes DeOca said. “It’s not like it’s something they are trying to rebel against and if they want to like the same sex they can.”

Homosexuality is prohibited in the majority of African nations.

“Do not get tempted into that [homosexuality] madness. You are young people. If you go in that direction, we will punish you severely. It is condemned by nature. It is condemned by insects and that is why I have said they are worse than pigs and dog,” Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said about the issue.

Many students find this bill to be an act against the human race.

“It’s not fair that they take away human rights and discriminate people on sexual preference. People should have the right to be gay if they want to, “ senior Bryan Harrod said.

Honduras is a special place because they have my favorite language and food and different schools, also people are nice.

My language is different than the U.S language. In my country people speak Spanish, it is not too hard to learn but for other people it is very hard. In the U.S people speak English and it is different than Spanish. Some words are the same but not all, the languages are so different. Writing and reading in English is not easy for me because I came from a different country where I speak a different language.

In my country we eat different food than here. My country food is so different, we eat different food in different holidays. I love my  country food, it’s better than U.S. food. This country has a lot of greasy food more then my country food.

Schools are different than my country. In my country your teacher has to go to your class, and you learn something different. In U.S you have to go to different rooms. In my country, schools are smaller then here, schools are too big. But, here you have more education then my country, you learn more in United State then Honduras

My country is so different then U.S. In my country we have a lot of special things; we eat different foods, we celebrate more than this country, and we do more interesthing things than here.Well I miss my country and one day i wanna  go back with my family and my friends.

- Norma Herrera, Special to the A-Blast

Are you interested in learning about Pakistan? When I first came to the U.S., I noticed that the way of the life here is different from my country. There are many differences between the U.S. and my home country such as jobs, languages, and government.

The first difference is the job market. In my home country finding work is hard, because we don’t have enough infrastructure technology or enough people who are educated and able to work.  People work from early in the morning until late at night, but they get little money. In my country, they pay you daily or monthly. If you have a better education and you are doing well, you can get better pay. If you are an employee and your boss knows that you can handle the business, they still won’t let you become a manager. They won’t believe in you and they’ll think that you might create a problem for the business. Also, in my country they don’t have people who are educated and know how to work, because education is expensive. So if people don’t have an education, how they can get a job? People are poor and they can’t pay the school fee to get a good education.

In the U.S. they have better infrastructure, better jobs for the people, because the people are educated, smart, have skills, and are able to do work properly. In the U.S. they pay you hourly or monthly, so people can get money faster and they can live easier. In the U.S. education is free and people have access to it, but in Pakistan they don’t, because of getting money late, so they don’t have  money to purchase their supplies or pay their children school fees. I like the U.S. work way, because it’s better than my country.

The U.S. is called the land of immigrants, because the people here came from all over the world. All these people speak different languages. In the beginning, it’s hard for everybody to speak English. It’s kind of hard, but you have to learn it. Also, if you should go to school, they teach foreign languages life French, Spanish, and Arabic. If you don’t study foreign language at school you cannot graduate. It also helps you to make twice money at a job, if you have learned a foreign language. In my country they don’t teach you foreign languages in high school, because it’s not necessary to graduate. Most schools teach Urdu and a few international languages. They don’t teach English that much, just a little bit, so it is hard for some students to read and write. Those people who go to English speaking countries and then return to their country know how to speak and write. Otherwise people are smart, but they aren’t interested in learning foreign languages.

The U.S. government is different from that of my country, because in the U.S. they have a strong democracy and presidential system. In the U.S. if there is a bad situation in a city or state the government is responsible for solving the problems; the army will not interrupt the system of government. In my country they have weak democracy and presidential system; when the flood came and hit the country very badly, the army helped the people instead of the government. The government told the people of Pakistan that the people didn’t pay taxes so that’s why we couldn’t help the people when flood hit the country. In the U.S. everybody has to pay taxes so that the government can help people when they need help. It’s illegal to not pay taxes in the

U.S. If people don’t pay taxes the government will send them to jail. In my country they don’t have infrastructure; that’s why some people pay taxes, but not everyone.

Therefore, people create problems because they know that no one is going to arrest them and the country is not advancing. I like American government laws and rule regulations. If my government becomes a true democracy like the U.S.,  it will progress.

Pakistan and the U.S. are different in terms of jobs, languages, and government. There are more differences, but the three I discussed here are what stood out more when I came to the U.S. I’m happy to live in the U.S., but I still miss my country.