Tyson Spradling, a sophomore at Morningside, had recently volunteered at an animal shelter.

When asked why he decided to volunteer, he stated “I went to a Chinese restaurant. The food didn’t taste right and I was worried it was a dog. I had to rush over to the dog shelter to make things right.”

Tyson spent the day cleaning up after the dogs. He also did many activities with the dogs such as going on walks, playing catch and cuddling. Tyson loved his experience with the shelter and plans to go back soon.

After the experience, Tyson decided, “It definitely made me not want to eat dogs.” He also stated that the experience helped him saying, “It made me feel like a better person.”

Tyson encourages people to go adopt a dog from the animal shelter.

Interviews with Morningside Track Coach Frank Wallace and soon-to-be college dropout Ashton Verdoorn were quite interesting. They were both fun to talk to and gave some interesting answers.

Frank Wallace was asked what his favorite Netflix movie was. This question caught Wallace off guard and he had to go to the internet to jog his memory. After scrolling, he eventually answered with Me Time starting Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg.

“It was recommended to me by a couple of people,” Wallace stated. “the movie teaches you how to take time to have fun as you get older.”

Wallace said that he enjoyed the movie and thought that it was funny.

Ashton Verdoorn was rocking a Morningside Football National Champion shirt. While he was being interviewed by someone else, he was asked to turn and smile. He happily did this and gave a big smile to the camera.

After the photo, Verdoorn asked, “How do I look?”

Ashton was in the process of moving out of his dorm room, as he plans to leave Morningside to pursue a new career.

A barn fire, killing 15 horses, occurred at four o’clock this morning at Norfolk Downs Race Track in Chicago. 25 horses were in the barn when the fire started, 10 managed to escape.

Albert Ramos, a jockey and owner of one of the surviving horses, was there to watch the workers clean up the scene.

“That’s my best friend,” he said, pointing to the surviving horses. “I love horses more than I do people. I feel like I want to Cry.”

Arson is the suspected cause of the fire. An arson squad was called to the scene to investigate the incident.

The assistant general manager of the track believes that a device may have caused the fires.

“It could have been of an incendiary nature because it started in the middle of the barn, not at the end. The only heaters and electrical outlets were in the tack rooms at the ends of the barns.”

Fire Chief Jim Connery stated, “The fire exploded near the center of the barn. Flames were shooting out of the building when we got here. The fire is definitely suspicious.”

People are used to seeing multiple phones get released each year. Each phone is more powerful and has better features in each version. But what if there could be a phone that doesn’t need an upgrade every other year? 

A start-up named Fairphone is putting this question to the test. According to Fairphone, they have replaced the glass backing held together with adhesive, with a simple plastic back that can be removed within seconds. Components are also held in with basic screws, meaning specialty screwdrivers are not needed to open the phone.

Fairphone claims this gives people the opportunity to easily repair and upgrade their phones in a matter of minutes. Customers no longer have to buy a brand-new device if they wish to have upgrades. They simply buy the upgrades and put them in their current phone.

Fairphone claims they have enough replacement parts for their newer model to last until 2027. The company still has replacements parts for the Fairphone 2, which was released 7 years ago.

A big goal for Fairphone is to lower the amount of electronic waste being produced. According to United Nations figures, electronic waste has gone up 21% in the last 5 years, with only 17% being recycled. BBC Reported, “Fairphone argues that by making phones easy to fix they can have a longer working life, generating less waste and so having a positive impact on the environment.”

Some phone repair workers like Urs Lesse have taught people how to repair their Fairphones on their own. “I don’t repair phones if I don’t have to, but I have always been strongly motivated to encourage people to try to fix their own Fairphones by themselves,” Lesse told BBC.

A New York Times review of the phone said, “The experience of taking the phone apart was empowering. I had the confidence that if I had to do a repair or some basic maintenance, like swapping in a new camera or battery, I could do so in minutes and for cheap.”

Fairphone claims a new battery would cost $30. A replacement camera would cost $80. For comparison, Apple estimates a back camera repair for an iPhone 13 Pro Max at $199. A new battery would cost around $69.

According to Fairphone, they take many steps in making their phones sustainable and environmentally friendly. They source their raw material from non-conflict mining areas, make their phones and replacements recyclable, and make their devices long-lasting.

Fairphone’s goals are more than growing its company. In a BBC article, Fairphone states, “We don’t want to necessarily become the biggest of the industry, but we want to become the most influential and make sure other manufacturers mirror some of the initiatives that we have,”

In a review by The Verge, they claim the performance of the Fairphone can be compared to other mid-range devices. Since the company’s biggest concern is sustainability, it is not expected to compete with the higher-end phone brands when it comes to sheer performance. The phone ran about 35 percent slower than Google’s Pixel 6 when checking emails or doing other simple tasks. The camera performance also had a lot more grain and less attractiveness than more recognizable brands. Due to Fairphone having a small team, its technology is not competing with large tech companies such as Apple and Google.

Their newest phone, Fairphone 4, was released on October 25, 2022. The phone was £569 ($660) for the base model and €649 ($753) for the upgraded model with more RAM and storage.