Seattle in my eyes, a photo story
This photo story captures the sights and colors in Seattle, but mainly Pike Place. Many of these sights are places that are well known but people don’t really pay attention to the masterpieces in front of them – whether it be neon signs, small glass sculptures, or even the mere sight of the Ferris wheel.
This small place is what draws in many people to come see this tourist city. There is just so much to see and so much to offer in the city of Seattle.
Gas station drugs fuel addiction with little oversight
When stopping at a gas station, customers may notice brightly colored bottles near the register. These bottles contain a variety of substances, marketed in various ways, either as a supplement, an aid for sexual performance, or as a boost for energy. While easy to ignore, these drugs are highly addictive and often lack oversight or consistency.
The harmful effects of these substances are not being communicated to consumers. In fact, these drugs are often marketed as “dietary and brain supplements.” There is little oversight or regulation regarding these substances.
Moonwalk through memory: “Michael” brings the legend back to life
Watching the new Michael Jackson movie feels like stepping into a kaleidoscope. Every turn shows a different color of his life – some bright, some dark – all spinning around the same center: a boy who just wanted to create freely.
The film doesn’t pretend Michael’s world was simple. It shows the politics between the Jackson siblings, the pressure from Joseph, and the way fame wrapped around Michael like a spotlight he couldn’t escape, even when he wanted to.
Why we should not be proud of anything: A case for acceptance over elevation
We live in a culture that celebrates pride. Pride in where we come from, in what we’ve achieved, in who we are. It is woven into the language of social movements, graduation speeches, and everyday conversation.
But it’s worth pausing to ask: How much of this pride is genuine? What does it actually do, and does it serve us as well as we assume?
Campus
How can poetry be used as a way to empower ourselves? That question informed the activities taking place during “Speaking Your Truth”, the third event put on by Highline College for Week of Wellness, which took place from May 5 to May 7.
Hosted collaboratively by the Counseling Center and the Arcturus editing team, “Speaking Your Truth” was held in Building 2 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Managing time is one of the main struggles that college students go through. Not having the time or motivation to get the needed work done within the time they have. Many college students face the trials and tribulations of going to school all day, having to go home, cook, clean, or even take out the dog. Some of us go straight to work right after racking our brains with so much information it takes a toll on our brains and bodies.
Based on the Student Engagement Insights survey, up to 87% of surveyed college students agree that having better time management skills would help them get higher grades, while 88% of them want to improve their ability to budget their time.
Highline College’s Canvas goes down in a ransomware attack by hacker group, ShinyHunters, who are using a “pay or leak” extortion framework. Nearly all 30 million users of the online learning platform lost access to the site today in a nationwide attack that followed an earlier attempt this past weekend.
Canvas is down for its nearly 30 million users across the country in the ransomware attack.
Highline College’s Board of Trustees has filled their fifth and final seat, highlighting a renewed effort by our leaders to strengthen the college’s economic standing and restore faith in the governance of our school.
Lorraine Chachere is the Economic Development Specialist for the city of Burien, with a specialization in business attraction, retention, and expansion. Her previous work with Highline staff, notably Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Josh Gertsam, shows a commitment to community development and student success.
Community
This photo story captures the sights and colors in Seattle, but mainly Pike Place. Many of these sights are places that are well known but people don’t really pay attention to the masterpieces in front of them – whether it be neon signs, small glass sculptures, or even the mere sight of the Ferris wheel.
This small place is what draws in many people to come see this tourist city. There is just so much to see and so much to offer in the city of Seattle.
A collective of indigenous communities are organizing against ICE releasing resources to inform people who are vulnerable of prosecution in the event they are detained.
A notice released by Ireta P’urehepech largely focusing on documenting excessive force used by ICE emphasizes the importance of testimony being documented and sent to American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The intake complaint form demands the stop of illegal militarized tactics ICE is using against communities.
A new social media trend on TikTok have groups of people storming inside Scientology buildings across the country. Fashioned with Go-Pros and costumes, these people pile against doors and push themselves, dodging workers with the goal of getting as far into the building as possible.
Videos of these ‘Scientology speed runs’ catch dozens of people, in small and large groups. Part of the goal is to map the building out.
Finding love is far from easy. Every generation has felt that dating is hard because love is one of the most complicated yet widely desired feelings there is. However, Gen Z has felt that they have it harder than the generations that came before them. Is this true or just whining? There’s a reason almost every song you hear on the radio is about the ups and downs of love; nobody is an expert and everybody is just trying to navigate it.
Gen Z has voiced a particular sense of difficulty compared to past generations though, with 56% of Gen Z entering adulthood never having experienced a romantic relationship (for reference, Gen Z is people born from 1997 to 2012).
Federal Way High School’s production of “The Sound of Music” opens on May 8 and will feature Highline Running Start students in its cast. “The Sound of Music” tells the story of the von Trapp family singers in 1930s Austria in the political context of the Nazi annexation of Austria. The family resists submitting to the Nazi party, despite the consequences of such rebellion.
Residents of southern King County are more connected than ever thanks to three new light rail stations in the area: Kent-Des Moines, Star Lake, and Federal Way Downtown. These stations are undeniably a community good, with the train being an affordable alternative to driving (Fares are free for youth 6-18 and three dollars per ride for adults 19-65 compared to Des Moines’ six dollar gallon of gas).
However, the ridership has some safety concerns, including a source who says that Kent-Des Moines Station, and others along the 1-Line route, may be compromised by meth usage.
Sports
The NBA Playoffs are well underway, and the First Round of the playoffs have concluded. As the top teams of the two conferences duke it out to continue their seasons until the conclusion of the tournament, where the best team of the Eastern and Western Conference will face off in the NBA Finals.
Currently, we are in the tail-end of the Conference Semifinals of the playoffs for the 2025-2026 NBA year. The hunt for the Larry O’Brien Championships trophy continues for six remaining teams.
The SheBelieves Summit is U.S. Soccer’s premier leadership platform, bringing together influential voices across sports, business, media and culture to inspire and drive the next generation of women leaders.
The speaker line up was absolutely incredible including: U.S. women’s soccer coach Emma Hayes; philanthropist and founder of Pivotal Melinda French Gates; forward for the U.S. Women’s national team Ally Sentnor; Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) alum Julie Foudy and two-time Olympic Gold medalist and 10-time World Champion Hilary Knight, and more!
Arts
Watching the new Michael Jackson movie feels like stepping into a kaleidoscope. Every turn shows a different color of his life – some bright, some dark – all spinning around the same center: a boy who just wanted to create freely.
The film doesn’t pretend Michael’s world was simple. It shows the politics between the Jackson siblings, the pressure from Joseph, and the way fame wrapped around Michael like a spotlight he couldn’t escape, even when he wanted to.
“Hungerstone” is a sapphic, gothic horror retelling of “Carmilla”. This book is meant to bring out the queer and sapphic elements of the original book that might have been repressed or misinterpreted during the time it was written.
“Hungerstone” (2025) by Kat Dunn is set during the late nineteenth century in England’s moorland. Dunn leaned into the theme of female desire to portray this new take on “Carmilla”.
The title “Hungerstone” is based on the old European practice of marking stones at the waterline during a drought. These marks typically came with the date and cryptic inscriptions like “if you see me, weep” to signify its dark history. These stones were only marked during extreme droughts that lead to famine and death throughout the land.
In a society that worships visual effort, contemporary art has a tendency of provoking distinctly negative reactions among viewers. With time, effort, and results frequently overlapping in the artistic process, simplicity in a final product seems to be an easy target for criticism. Stylistic choices are perceived as an inability to reach standards of what “good art” should be, and age-old debates continue to be rehashed.
Even the colorful world of artistic expression can’t help being viewed in black and white. Good art requires skill: detailed and time-consuming in the way that impresses people who linger over your shoulder. Good art draws people in. Good art makes sense.
So what happens when it stops making sense?
Each year, Disney cashes in on the galactic success of the Star Wars franchise, and this year, they counted down to Star Wars Day (May the fourth) with the weekly release of “Maul: Shadow Lord,” which concluded on the fateful day.
“Maul: Shadow Lord” rose to nearly every expectation set for it. Upon its initial release, the show shot up on the charts, dethroning “Star Wars: Rebels” (2014) as the highest-rated Star Wars show. The hand-painted environments gave the entire show a personal, human touch, which is especially important in a time of AI-riddled animation.
Around April 26, my Facebook feed filled with the same face, the same voice. Old concert clips resurfaced. Grainy recordings from decades ago played again. People were not just celebrating – they were holding on.
It was the birthday of a renowned Hazara singer, Dawood Sarkhosh. But that wasn’t the whole story.
For years, Sarkhosh’s birthday has not been like this. This time felt different. The flood of messages carried something heavier: gratitude, memory, and a quiet, unspoken fear.
Do you feel sad, depressed, unmotivated and feel like you can’t accomplish anything? Then you should watch the 2007 mecha anime “Gurren Lagann”.
“Gurren Lagann” was made by the animation studio Gainax, the same animation studio that gave us “Neon Genesis Evangelion”, wanting to shift away from Evangelion’s depressing vibe and focus more on breaking limits, perseverance, and fighting against oppression.
Science & Technology
When stopping at a gas station, customers may notice brightly colored bottles near the register. These bottles contain a variety of substances, marketed in various ways, either as a supplement, an aid for sexual performance, or as a boost for energy. While easy to ignore, these drugs are highly addictive and often lack oversight or consistency.
The harmful effects of these substances are not being communicated to consumers. In fact, these drugs are often marketed as “dietary and brain supplements.” There is little oversight or regulation regarding these substances.
In the Federal Way School District, AI is a tool that is being embraced and encouraged by educators and administrators alike – and Colleague AI is a tool that is springing into action for both.
Colleague AI is an online LLM that, unlike public user models that function as an ask-and-answer tool (e.g Gemini or ChatGPT), Colleague AI is built like a domain. Colleague AI can be used to create graphics, worksheets, quizzes or surveys, and create chatbots for assistance in brainstorming. Colleague AI was introduced years prior, but there’s been an emphasis on the district reminding the teachers it’s a tool that is available for them, should they want to use it.
When thinking about the concept of pets, coyotes and raccoons aren’t the first animals that come to mind. However, two intriguing cases of self-domestication may change that.
Self-domestication is an evolutionary survival tactic used by species who are losing their habitats to human urbanization. It is a process that scientists have characterized as reduced reactive aggression. This is the single trait that starts domestication. Reduced reactive aggression eventually leads to tameness or docility, seen in domesticated animals today like the house cat or dogs.
News Briefs
Former Highline President Dr. John R. Mosby passed away Monday surrounded by friends and family.
He served as Highline’s first Black president, navigating the community through a period of growth and significant challenges including a global pandemic health, racial equity initiatives, successful accreditations, and the implementation of CTClink.
Dr. Mosby served as Highline’s sixth president from July 2018 until Dec. 2025.
On International Workers’ Day, commonly commemorated as May Day, protests across Seattle and nationwide have laborers and activists rallied with a new purpose — fighting for workers rights, immigrant rights, and the end of the Trump administration that continues to strain the American working class.
Local demonstrations took place across Seattle neighborhoods. Most notably Capitol Hill, where labor rights coalitions and various Seattle-based political advocacy groups mobilized around Cal Anderson Park to South Lake Union. The Seattle demonstration saw speakers tie the inseparable connection between labor rights and immigrant advocacy.
Opinion
We live in a culture that celebrates pride. Pride in where we come from, in what we’ve achieved, in who we are. It is woven into the language of social movements, graduation speeches, and everyday conversation.
But it’s worth pausing to ask: How much of this pride is genuine? What does it actually do, and does it serve us as well as we assume?
“The Amazing Digital Circus” (TADC) is coming to an end in June, with the last episode airing in theaters on the fourth. The story is based off of Harlen Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream”, which, if you’ve read the short story, makes TADC make a lot more sense, but also makes it more disturbing.
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to put on a VR headset and get sucked into a bright and fun digital world, where you can’t die, but you also can’t take the headset off? You’d be trapped in this world with other humans who have put on their own headsets. No? Yeah, me neither. But if you want to experience this, I suggest “TADC”.
ThunderPod
Jump into this week’s ThunderPod episode with a stimulating interview with Highline’s department of Innovation, Transformation & Student Support. Dean Justin Dampeer & Associate Dean Mariela Barriga Chavez share details on the department’s founding and its exciting new projects that impact staff and students.
That’s not all! This week’s segment is one you won’t want to miss! Sit down with ThunderPod host Evelyn Rissell, as she digs into the topic of female writers. From great works of the 18th century and beyond, this holistic point of view engages all.