Monthly Archives: November 2020

Movies/TV/Theaters

Why ‘Bill and Ted Face the Music’ is the best movie of the year 

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By Teah Henry

‘Bill and Ted Face the Music’ is a movie that came out the summer of this year. It’s the third Bill and Ted film to come out, nearly thirty years after the previous two: ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ and ‘Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey’ came out in 1989 and ‘91, respectively. 

The films feature two California Valley boys, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, who are told their music will unite the world and create peace. Bill and Ted don’t seem to have a problem with this destiny in the first two movies, however, the third one shows a middle-aged Bill and Ted who haven’t written the song that will create world peace yet, and time and space is collapsing because of it. 

‘Face the Music’ is one of the best movies to come out to in 2020, even if it doesn’t have much competition due to the coronavirus. It’s a solid comedy and manages to capture the heart of the original movies, despite coming out decades later, something that a lot of later released sequels struggle with.

The Bill and Ted movies appeal to any age group, and ‘Face the Music’ appeals to older and newer fans. Part of that is due to their daughters, Billie and Thea (yes they named their kids after each other), played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Samara Weaving, who serve as a younger generation Bill and Ted while also being their own unique characters. 

The movie also features some LGBT+ representation. Billie’s actor, Brigette Lundy-Paine, is non-binary, and has said they played their character as such. Alex Winter has also been vocal in his support of his character, Bill, being interpreted as a trans man. Non-binary and transgender representation is fairly sparse in media, so it’s always nice to see. 

Not only is ‘Face the Music’ just an excellent movie, but it’s also a very positive experience to watch, and that’s what we all really need in 2020. This year has just been bad news after bad news, so it can be nice to lose yourself in a fun film with good vibes. 

The first two films are available on Starz, while the third one is only available to rent or buy. If you’re able to, it’s totally worth the money to buy, or rent, all three. 

COVID-19

The sprouting of a new beginning

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By: David Meyer

Many schools across the country have had school gardens for a very long time. And with the COVID-19 pandemic that has happened recently, going into schools was not available to most students.

However, one of the few activities that has still been ongoing for many schools is participating in the school gardens. These gardens have been able to provide an outlet for a large number of students while the pandemic has been happening. It’s a way of them to get outside and be productive when many people feel trapped inside their houses all day with not much to do.

A by product of all of these gardens is fresh produce that can go to either the school, the students who help out, or even to food banks. These food banks are ever more in need of food for the people that depend on them, especially fresh and organic fruits and vegetables.

Not only have people been participating in school gardens, but many have also made gardens of their own.

Since, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, the fresh produce had been limited, people have tried to find a way to get their own fresh fruits and vegetables. So, many home gardens have begun to appear. Not only is the food fresh, but it is almost guaranteed to be safe from COVID-19 because it is home-grown.

But, many families also kept on this trend, and many have started to take care of animals as well; for example, chickens in order to have fresh eggs. The sales of baby chicks that will end up producing eggs has skyrocketed, even as many as 10 times the amount before the pandemic are selling.

These, and other ways people are dealing with this pandemic positively, shows the resilience of many to make the best out of a bad situation.

Advice/How To

Is it worth it to have an in ground pool in 2020?

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By: Jimmy Somerville

Today I am asking the question: Is it worth owning an in ground pool in 2020?

Having a pool in your own yard is something many people desire and want. It can cool you down, give you something to do, you can play in it, exercise, chill, and there are many other things you can also do with a pool.

But everything comes with a cost, and pools are rather expensive, and are a pain to take care of. You also have to close the pool up and open the pool in the different seasons and other annoyances.

According to Homeadvisor.com the average cost of an in ground pool is an astounding $51,509, with basic maintenance needs of the pool adding on an extra $1,200-$1,800 yearly. Other utilities and repairs can also be an extra $2,000-$3,000 yearly. As you can see by these statistics, buying a pool isn’t cheap, whatsoever.

Now, what may surprise you, is that actually, my house does have an in ground pool, so my family does own one. In Minnesota, we use it from late May-early September, so we get around 3.5 months of use. During those months, we use it pretty regularly and often have pool parties.

Now, I don’t know how much of a financial burden this on my family exactly because I don’t know my parents salaries, and other things, so as a kid I obviously like having the pool and I think it’s worth it. But if you were to ask my mom if it’s worth it, she may say “No,” and if you were to ask my dad if it’s worth it, he’d probably say “Yes.”

To answer my title question then, it really depends on your own family because if you guys really like water and swimming, and you have a lot of money, then it’d probably be worth it. But if you aren’t into swimming, and don’t have as much money, it probably isn’t worth it. It all comes down to preference.

Quite a simple answer.

-Jimmy Somerville.

National

The importance of swing states

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By: Aisha Dirie

With every election, we know that there are states that historically go red, and there are some states that go blue. But there is also something called swing states.

Swing States are states that are unpredictable. There have been many changes in swing states over the years. Some common swing states are: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Iowa. These states can determine the outcome of the election.

As we all know, it takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. Swing States play a big part in a candidate’s victory.

This year, some swing states, according to Cbsnews.com, were: Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, etc. Many of these states have a large number of electoral votes, making them desirable for candidates. To increase the chances of landing a swing state, most candidates will campaign in that state.

Although some swing states are close in numbers, some usually lean republican or democrat, the two major parties. For example, a swing state this year could be Georgia. Because Georgia is in the South, historically it leans red, but this year that was not a given. Another example could be Pennsylvania. Although this was a close state this year, it historically leans towards blue. 

This year was a perfect example of the importance of swing states. Although Georgia usually goes red, it didn’t.

We also have to consider the COVID-19 pandemic. With the pandemic, it caused many people to mail in their ballots. This election also had the largest voter turnout in the history of elections.

With this, we know that swing states are as important as any other state. They are the most critical factor in winning the election, as they can change the outcome of the elections. This year, Georgia was leaning red, but we soon found out that it turned blue. Changes like these are historic.

Swing states are the most important tool in winning an election, just as we saw Joe Biden do this year.

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Advice/How To

Mental health vs. Mental illness

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By: Grace Blumer-Lamotte

I asked a freshman, a sophomore, and a junior what is the difference between mental health and mental illness.

The freshman said mental health is taking care of all 3 areas of your health, physical, mental, and emotional health. They said they weren’t quite sure what mental illness was.

The sophomore said that mental health is your emotional state, and how you feel at that specific time. They said mental illness is different from mental health because it is a problem that may need therapy or medication.

The junior said mental health is you being able to control everything that is going on in your head. It is focusing on yourself internally. They said that mental illness is ADHD, ADD, and more that they’re not aware of. 

What is the actual difference between mental health and mental illness? According to ‘Heretohelp,’ mental health is “Our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, our ability to solve problems and overcome difficulties, our social connections, and our understanding of the world around us.”  Mental health is allegedly just how you are feeling in the given moment. Ways to maintain a healthy mental health are to: exercise regularly, stay positive, get 8-12 hours of sleep, stay connected with others, and eat a balanced diet.

Also according to ‘Heretohelp,’ a mental illness is an “Illness that affects that way people think, feel, behave, or interact with others.” There are many types of mental illnesses such as depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, plus many more. Mental illnesses usually need a lot more attention, and they need a diagnosis from a medical professional. The people who struggle with a mental illness may go and see a therapist and get prescribed medication. Ways to cope with a mental illness are to: educate yourself about it, stay connected with friends and family, and seek support from a health provider.

As you can see, the students didn’t quite know what the difference between mental health and mental illnesses were. When I was done interviewing them, I asked them to educate themselves and others about the difference. They did so.

Now, after reading this, do you think you know the difference between your mental health and a mental illness?

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Horrible Homework

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By Nora Doyle and Olivia Miller

Ugh homework!

It’s something every kid has to do if they want to succeed in school.

But why do we do it?

Most students think it’s pointless and adds to the daily stress of school. We have work in class everyday, about 6 hours a day, so why give us more at home? That’s supposed to be the space where we get to relax, eat, sleep, and do things we actually enjoy.

If you were to ask any student, they will most likely say homework hurts them more than it helps them. Maybe they are right, I mean, do we really need homework? What good does it do? Who even created the idea in the first place?

The question of who is to blame for the invention of homework is sort of a controversial question. According to ‘Market Business News’, many people argue that homework was invented by Italian educator Roberto Nevilis, in either 1095 or 1905. But, if both of these are looked into, neither are possible according to this site. This is because in the year 1095, there was no formal system of education in, and around, Europe. Even in the 1500s, education was given by private tutors.

It couldn’t have been invented in 1905 either, because 4 years before that, in 1901, the state of California passed an act to ban homework for any child studying below the 8th grade. The law was passed because during that period, homework was frowned upon by parents. They felt that homework interfered with a child’s time for house chores. Sweet times, right? Anyway, Mr. Nevilis couldn’t have been spreading the idea of homework when he couldn’t even do it himself.

So when did it truly start?

According to ‘Market Business News’, homework has historically existed in one form or another for simply just practicing at home. It could have been singing, poetry, playing an instrument, or reading the Bible. So, in a certain way, homework has always been a thing when it comes to education.

Homework is a very controversial topic when it comes to deciding whether or not it is beneficial to students. There have been many arguments and laws throughout the years surrounding homework. According to Study.com, in 1930, homework became frowned upon because it was declared as a form of child labor, which had recently become illegal.

Opinions vary among students, teachers, and parents. Coming from a non biased point of view, here are some pros and cons of homework that have been proven, or come from a variety of studies.

Pros: According to Goodschools.com, homework is beneficial to a student’s learning when it comes to developing study skills. “From time management and organisation to self-motivation and independent learning, homework teaches students a range of positive skills that they will carry with them throughout their academic and working lives. Home learning motivates students to take responsibility for their workload, while also encouraging the development of positive research practices.”

Another pro to giving students homework, according to Vittana.org, is that it, “Provides an indication of academic comprehension. Assigning learning tasks at home is a useful way for teachers to identify whether students are understanding the curriculum. Teachers can analyse gaps in comprehension or information through homework, making it easier for them to tailor their approach to each student’s needs. they can recognise students who need extra support in certain learning areas, while also identifying children who may benefit from more complex learning tasks.”

Cons: According to the American Psychological Association, a Duke University social psychologist, Harris Cooper says, “Too much homework can do more harm than good. Researchers have cited drawbacks, including boredom and burnout toward academic material, less time for family and extracurricular activities, lack of sleep and increased stress.” He believes in the 10 minute rule, which implies “That students should do no more than 10 minutes a night per grade level — from about 10 minutes in first grade up to a maximum of about two hours in high school. Both the National Education Association and National Parent Teacher Association support that limit.”

So, next time you complain about doing homework, consider the good that it does, but also keep in mind that too much homework can make you burnt out, so limit yourself, but get it done!

Editorials/Student Voice

Trump’s documented racism 

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By: Quentin Miller

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Trump has made some very sketchy statements about race/ethnicity in the past, but just how bad is his racism? Here’s a list of things he has said publicly about many different races and ethnicities, organized by said races and ethnicities (all following facts have been checked by ‘USA Today’ and PBS.)

Black people: 

  • Implied that laziness was a trait found in lots of black people, insinuating that black people are to blame for systemic issues.
  • Referred to black protesters as thugs.
  • Claimed that a group of black men should have been executed before proven guilty (The Central Park 5 case).
  • Used, and continues to use, the term “the blacks”.
  • Asked what black people have to lose, saying they don’t have jobs or money.
  • Supported “stop and frisk” policies, which allowed police officers to pull over anyone for seemingly no reason, which increased police violence against minorities by a disproportionate amount.
  • Said that areas of high amounts of black populations are “like hell”, saying that getting shot is very common in these areas.
  • Asked a black reporter if the CBC are her friends. 
  • Asked why the Civil War was necessary, implying that slavery is somehow not a big enough motivator.

Hispanic people:

  • Referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists, drug dealers, and overall criminals, then corrected himself by saying “some” are good people.
  • Tweeted a picture of him eating a taco salad and captioned it “I love Hispanics”
  • Claimed that immigrants (while he did not say Hispanic immigrants it can be inferred by the previous talking points in his speech) were stealing black jobs, trying to turn black people against immigrants.
  • Claimed he would force Mexico to pay for a wall to stop illegal immigration, further demonizing Hispanic immigration 
  • Referred to immigrants as animals.

Asian people:

  • Called the coronavirus the Chinese virus. 
  • Called the coronavirus the Kung Flu

Muslim/Middle Eastern people: 

  • Temporarily banned immigration from the Middle East.
  • Says that we should have more white immigrants from places like Norway and less Middle Eastern immigrants escaping from actual wars 

Jewish people:

  • Refused to acknowledge Jewish people during a speech about the Holocaust.
  • Apologized for not acknowledging Jewish people, also claimed he was the least anti- Semitic person ever.
Baseball

The 2020 World Series

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By: Caden Ligman

So far, 2020 has been a series of unfortunate events. Since March, the pandemic has affected everyone’s lives and we have lost many things, including sports. However, by the end of the summer, all major sports leagues in the U.S. were able to return. Leagues such as the NBA and the NHL thrived under the new COVID protocols, reporting very few cases throughout the season.

MLB on the other hand struggled with 104 cases being reported among players during the regular season alone. Despite all of the struggles, MLB finally concluded their unusual season after game 6 of the World Series, on October 27.

The 2020 World Series was played between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won the 7 game series after winning game 6 and going up on the Rays, 4 games to 2.

Game 6 however, seemed to be going in the favor of the Rays. Their starting pitcher, Blake Snell, was hot through six innings; throwing 9 strikeouts and only allowing two hits and one earned run. Snell looked ready to dominate the rest of the game.

Then, in the sixth inning, Ray’s head coach Kevin Kash pulled Snell from the game, replacing him with Nic Anderson. This decision proved to be quite controversial, and was evidently the turning point for the Rays in game 6. Nick Anderson immediately gave up a run and was pulled shortly after.

The Dodgers winning the World Series during these unusual times was exciting, however, the biggest headline of the night came from Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner.

Late into game 6, he was mysteriously pulled from the game. It later emerged that he had actually tested positive for COVID-19. Turner was isolated immediately after he was pulled, however, after the game, he was seen on live TV celebrating with his teammates out on the field.

This carelessness, by the players and coaches in the Dodgers organization, capped off a roller coast of a season for the MLB: 43 regular season games cancelled, and 104 positive cases in players (by far the most of any of the major sports leagues).

Hopefully, MLB can walk into the 2021 season more prepared.

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Tech/Games

The effects of social media on its users

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By Irene Cohen and Ellie Mulvaney

In this day and age, it’s no secret that social media takes up most of our time. People of all ages are devoting so much of their lives to scrolling and posting that it has become second nature to the majority of the population. However, now that entertainment is just the click of a button away, what happens to our patience to be interested in real life situations? Technology may be very detrimental to our attention spans, especially as its use becomes more and more ingrained into society.

To put this effect into perspective, let’s look at just how big social media is. ‘Statista’ reports that, in America alone, 244 million people used social media as of 2018. That’s approximately 79% of our total population helping to rake in roughly a $6.7 billion dollar revenue for last year. This industry is obviously thriving, which means that more and more users are affected by it.

A California University study, conducted by Larry D. Rosen, l. Mark Carrier, and Nancy A. Cheever, exemplified the obstruction of attention by social media in a group of students. They were reported to study, on average, for only 6 minutes before switching to technology, and, further, the students on Facebook were even recorded to have lower GPAs than their counterparts.

With the addition of social media for mainstream consumption, it’s become a staple distraction for people performing tasks like homework, as exemplified in the aforementioned research. People have become used to quickly moving visuals and easily changed subjects at their fingertips, leaving a need for breaks and distractions during longer and more tedious activities.

Students who need to complete their studies are finding it harder and harder to concentrate, as they are so used to social media, and therefore, a generation with lower attention spans and work ethic is being made.

The sheer amount of information that social media can provide for one single person is more than any piece of media has been able to in the past. Since there is so much information packed into small frames of people’s time, those who consume a lot of social media have trained themselves to focus on things for a shorter amount of time so that they can ingest more content. In fact, according to ‘Griffin Webstudios’ the average attention span of someone in the year 2000, was 12 seconds, compared to now where it has dropped all the way down to 8 seconds.

That’s not the only place we can acutely measure this decrease in attention span among social media users. Studies have shown that those who use different social media for short bursts of time, alternating between them, have actually been shown to have less grey matter in the brain in areas associated with attention and concentration.

Social media platforms and influencers are fighting hard to maintain viewer retention when their viewers have gotten used to such a quick delivery of information. Many people suspect this factor has been a great help in popularizing the social media app, TikTok. These bite sized videos are easy for someone to watch quickly and in huge volumes.

Social media’s influence has shortened the attention span of its users, and this can be shown in many different scientific studies. This decrease in attention span has affected many areas of people’s everyday lives. However, this relationship is not a one way street. This decrease in attention span has forced social media platforms to alter their formats so they can maintain viewership for a longer amount of time.

National

Issues with the 2020 presidential election

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By: Anna Hisle

The 2020 presidential election was a very stressful one. Election year is usually nerve wracking, but the 2020 election was even more nerving than most.

With the pandemic and the important election, there are many issues that occurred. 

Pictures of Ballots

One issue was people taking pictures of their ballots. While this is always an issue, it was especially dominant this year. Because of the pandemic, according to “Pew Research Center”, half of the people in the 2020 election mailed in ballots.

While in some states, it is completely legal to take pictures of your ballot, according to “VOX”, in more than half of the U.S. states, it is illegal.

Because it is illegal to take pictures of your ballot in some states, some ballots could become invalid.

So, always make sure to check if you’re allowed to snap a selfie with your ballot before you do it, so it is counted.

See the image below to know if it’s legal for you to take a ballot selfie.

Not mailing ballots in time

Due to COVID, people weren’t as willing to go to vote in person this election year.

Mail in ballots are normal during elections but this year, many more people than usual have mailed in ballots instead.

Since it was some people’s first time mailing in ballots, they did not know how early to mail them. 

Also, due to the amount of mail in ballots, the USPS, and mailing services, were overwhelmed. 

Due to the fact that so many people were mailing in ballots, some of them might not have been correct, or they might not have arrived on time, or been counted. 

If you mailed in your ballot, you had to make sure that it arrived before the deadline. Some people didn’t notice if it never arrived, or if it was sent in too late. If you didn’t receive a message/confirmation your vote arrived, or your vote didn’t arrive in time, then your vote was most likely not counted. 

These things cause many voters to not actually have their vote counted. While the chances of this actually affecting the election are slim, it is still better to make sure your votes are counted.

Before mail in voting, always make sure you have enough time to send in the ballot. 

While where were more issues that occurred during this election, these were the most important, and most common ones, that arose. 

Be smart voting and be heard!