Welcome to Robertson’s Reportings, a weekly series to inform Pirates of local, national, and global news! Recently, a survey was conducted to see how much voters knew about major issues affecting the world. These voters provided their age (18 or older), gender, and political inclination. The survey consisted of 23 questions, and the majority of voters answered only five correctly. The highest section of ignorance was made up of questions about taxes, health insurance, and education spending. In this part, the average percent of correct answers was only nine percent. This shows how uninformed people contributing their opinion to society can truly be. It is important to know what you are voting for and what the circumstances are when November comes around. Young college students and high school students are major victims of jumping on the bandwagon by voting for who their friends want electet, and many do not even vote at all. This series will provide you with short explanations of important events to keep you updated and informed.

On November 30, 2018 George Herbert Walker Bush Senior, America’s 41st president,  passed away at 94. Before his presidency, Bush served as a pilot in World War II. He is survived by his five children and seventeen grandchildren. As President, Bush led America through the breakup of the Soviet Union. Later, his son, George Walker Bush, went on to become America’s 43rd president. For Bush Senior’s 90th birthday, he went skydiving, against his doctor’s wishes, with a huge smile on his face the entire time. This Republican president served from 1989-1993. After his father passed, George W. Bush stated, “George H.W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens.” His funeral took place on December 5 in the Washington National Cathedral.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched successfully on Monday, December 3. The take off was delayed because mold was found on food for the mice traveling early in the day of take off, but this issue was quickly taken care of. On this flight, the Rodent-Research 8 project is taking action since forty mice will be flying on the launch vehicle. The Rodent-Research 8 research project is a way for scientists to explore the mechanisms behind aging and age-related illnesses. The team stated in a description of the study, “Responses to spaceflight in humans and model organisms such as mice resemble certain aspects of accelerated aging.” The Falcon 9 is made up of nine engines and is a reusable aircraft as this is the vehicle’s third launch.

On December 3, students from Smith High School in Greensboro were put into lockdown because a man was found in the cafeteria who “did not fit in”, according to a school employee monitoring lunch. The man was found to be carrying two handguns and a backpack full of ammunition. Luckily, three Smith employees took action. The employee who noticed that the man looked suspicious confronted him when the suspicious figure showed the two guns. The Smith employee then radioed for a lockdown as the man quickly left the school, but as soon as a resource officer was notified the man was stopped. He was tased to get under control and then taken into police custody. The police found magazines and eight boxes of bullets inside the man’s backpack, along with the two handguns. Police say that the target may not have been a student but instead an adult at the school.

Extreme rioting has broken out through the streets of Paris due to the cost of diesel fuel rising unreasonably. Over 400 have been arrested and hundreds injured in the past three weeks of violence. The “Yellow Vests” movement has caused police to throw tear against angry protesters. Over 40,000 protesters across France have participated in the movement against Emmanuel Macron, president of France. These protests have caused hundreds of roadblocks and fires started by the rioters. See you next time on Robertson’s Reportings, coverage you can count on!