The Iowa caucuses are seen as the official kick-off to the primary election season. For the 2016 presidential election the Iowa caucus occurred on Feb. 1.

Unlike in primary elections, where people just go to their local polling locations and fill out a ballot, caucusing Iowans must attend public meetings in schools, community centers, places of worship, libraries and coffee houses during the evening. Citizens partake in this time-consuming process to choose their preferred candidate.

The caucuses begin at seven p.m. central time. Caucuses generally begin with speeches in support of candidates before the actual voting goes underway. Each party handles their caucuses differently. Republicans cast secret ballots while Democrats gather in candidate groups and then reshuffle if some voters stood for a candidate who does not have enough support.

The Iowa caucus does not have a poll closing time like regular elections, so the caucuses can take as long as needed. The bulk of the caucuses are usually reported to the media by nine p.m. central time.

Finally, the state results are used to determine how the parties’ convention delegates are divided up among the candidates. The official candidate for each party will not be determined until around July.

By Bayley Patterson

On Jan 26, DECA, the international business career program, competed at Akron University against many different schools to decipher if any competitors would move on to states.

Both junior and senior DECA students competed in the competition. Students chose to either work in groups or work individually, and then they were given topics such as hospitality, sports and entertainment, and even travel and tourism.

For each event they were given a role to figure out a problem. Once they figured out the problems, competitors had to market their ideas off to the judges.

“It was my first time competing so I felt nervous talking to the judges, but I also felt very confident in my answers,” junior Kim Schirra said.

If competitors received a placement, and if one is placed in the top five, then they move on to states. If one does not get placed then they do not get to move on.

There are many new students involved in DECA this year, so there is a big change to how the students work and interact with each other.

“It was Allie Tinkler’s and I’s first time competing so we were really nervous and intimidated. We didn’t know what to expect and we really wanted to make it to states so we had a lot of pressure. We worked really hard and used our time wisely so I think we did well,” senior Maddie Mills said.

Although they have not received the results yet, all the competitors are very excited to know how they did. DECA will receive their results on Feb 29.

By Victoria Riggs

Ohio is in the middle of December and are experiencing record temperatures. Last weekend, temperatures peaked in the mid 60s. The 2015 El Niño, or “little boy,” is hitting the country strong and could drastically affect weather patterns across the country going into next year.

El Niño is a set of major weather changes. This term was originally used by fisherman to refer to a warm ocean current that usually appears around Christmas time and could last for several months. During the time of warm water intervals, fish are less abundant, the fisherman spend less time fishing and would often work on repairing equipment or spend more time with their families.

Over the years, the term “El Niño” has come to be reserved for these unusually strong warm water intervals that not only disrupt the normal lives of fisherman but also bring heavy rain.

El Niño is caused by changing wind patterns over the Pacific Ocean that push unusually warm seawater eastward towards America. The warmth of the water shifts the flow of heat and moisture around the planet.

In El Niño conditions, the trade winds are weak and may even blow in the opposite direction from normal. When this happens, warm surface water piles up near the west coast of South America and colder water remains deep in the ocean causing more surface clouds to form over the warmer surface water.

This phenomenon affects weather patterns all over the world. Areas that typically see drought conditions experience extreme amounts of rain. Unusual temperatures changes, like Ohio saw last weekend, are seen throughout the country.

El Niño events occur every three to five years. This year, the weather changes were noticed in March, and is the first event experienced since 2010. Scientists predict this could be one of the strongest seen in decades. It has a 90 percent chance of lasting through the entire winter and an 80 percent chance of carrying into the spring.

If the 2015 El Niño proves to be long lasting, the major weather shifts could bring global changes. The western Gulf Coast of the US will probably see record rainfall. This could mean a lot of extra rain for the southern California region which is typically impacted by droughts.

El Niño may change storm activity, causing stronger hurricanes in the Pacific and quieter hurricanes in the Atlantic. The strongest effects are experienced in the winter season. Countries in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Brazil, have seen less rain. For the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, winter may be drier than usual, meaning a milder winter season. The temperatures are forecasted to be 40 percent above­ normal the first three months of 2016. There is also a 40 percent chance there will be less than normal precipitation or snowfall during this time. If El Niño keeps getting stronger as it is expected to, 2016 could be one of the hottest years on record.

If one was looking for a white Christmas this year, unfortunately it was not likely. The latest forecast from the Climate Center are showed Ohio had a 90 percent chance of seeing temperatures above normal on Christmas Day.