Local

Know: Foundry STL has joined forces with an investor group SC STL and has made plans to invest $80 million to help build the proposed MLS Soccer stadium at the Union Station.

Inform: SC STL has made a verbal agreement with the MLS Soccer league to build a 20,000 square foot soccer stadium in St. Louis. The stadium is proposed to cost nearly $200 million, and Foundry has proposed they will cover the construction costs. The stadium would also be owned by the city of St. Louis.

Care: The current, and only professional sports teams in the St. Louis area are the major league baseball team St. Louis Cardinals and the national hockey team St. Louis Blues. St. Louis already has a minor league soccer team: St. Louis FC. Having a MLS soccer stadium will boost tourism to the area and strengthen major league soccer in the country.

National

Know: Eleven students were injured on The Ohio State University campus when Mr. Abdul Razek Ali Atan, an Ohio State University student,  attacked them, Nov. 28.

Inform: Artan hit a group of students with his vehicle and attacked them with a knife. Police Officer Alan Horujko shot and killed Mr. Artan at the scene. Mr. Artan was a Somalia native who moved to America with his family in 2014. Police are still investigating the case and trying to find a specific motive as to why he attacked the students. One the first day of the academic year, “The Lantern,” the student voice of The Ohio State University, featured Mr. Artan in their “Humans of Ohio State” where he talked about his identity as a Muslim and his concerns about how Muslims are portrayed in the media.

Care: While Mr. Gino Green, Class of 2013; Ms. Hannah Hampton, Class of 2014 and Mr. Zac Stava, Class of 2015 all attend Ohio State University, this tragedy speaks to larger matters of safety, community and identity. Nothing excuses Mr. Artan’s actions. The country would benefit more from coming together and learning from each other than using this act of violence as a means of further division. The act of one deranged person should not define the followers of a faith.

International

Know: A Brazilian soccer team’s charter plane crashed in Colombia, killed 71 people and injured five, Nov. 28.

Inform: Chapecoense, a first division Brazilian mens soccer team, was on their way to the Copa Sudamerica finals against Atletico Nacional on Wednesday in Medellin when the plane, LAMIA Flight 2933, crashed in northwestern Colombia. Before the crash, the crew stated they were facing technical issues so they contacted the local airport to make an emergency landing. An airplane was already scheduled to land, and they crashed shortly after. The president of Atletico Nacional released an official statement which stated that the Chapecoense team should be awarded the cup. The Sudamerica tournament and professional soccer tournaments in South America have since been suspended since the accident.

Care: These men represented so much to the 200 million Brazilian people. These players made up a small team from humble beginnings and came together to play great soccer, earning the devotion of a country. President Michel Temer of Brazil called for three days of national mourning as a sign of respect to those who died. St. Louisians are no strangers to that devotion: Cardinal Nation revels in every playoff game and despairs in each defeat. To lose so many who meant so much in such a random way compounds this tragedy.