Monthly Archives: November 2021

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Pros and cons of homework: How much is too much?

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By: Isaac Lund

Homework is a concept that has been utilized by teachers all around the world for decades. It seems to be a tried and true concept, but is it really the best for students?

Many teachers and parents argue that homework is necessary to keep the standards of education high. With the following pros I’m about to list off, you may well agree.

First off, homework helps students develop study skills that they can utilize throughout the rest of their life. It teaches responsibility and organization, as well as enforcing individual learning skills that will come into play more and more as students stop having teachers to look to for help later in life.

Another upside of homework is that it helps to further engrain classroom learning. According to Ed Cooke, a grand master of memory, using a word repetitively is the best way to remember it. This repetition concept carries over to homework as well.

Homework can also help students apply what they learned in different situations, many of which weren’t gone over in class. This helps to improve improvisation.

Homework also helps teachers recognize patterns in academic comprehension within students. This can help give students who are struggling more help, and change teaching approaches if entire classes fail to comprehend the material.

Although the paragraphs above makes homework look like a fine and dandy tool, it ignores the grievous shortcomings homework has to offer as well.

Obviously, homework decreases leisure time. As I sit here at my desk writing this article, I am squandering time that could be spent building social skills or discovering a new hobby—both are things that will benefit me for much longer than my grade in newspaper class.

Homework also increases stress levels: when the workload becomes too much or too difficult, students lose sleep and motivation. Through this concept, homework is seen as a negative aspect of school by almost all students.

Finally, homework isn’t always effective. A study conducted at the University of Melbourne found that homework in primary school has an effect of around zero, with many students completing work unrelated to class material.

Homework can be greatly beneficial, but it can also be greatly detrimental. Although I do agree that homework should remain to some extent, it must be related to class material, and must create a low stress environment, while still reinforcing prior learning.

Baseball

The World Series

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By: Abby Altman

Back in July at the trade deadline, the Atlanta Braves had an estimated 3% chance to represent the National League in the World Series. Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL in July and would miss the remainder of the season, which put a huge damper on the Braves season and playoff hopes. 

On the other side of the league, the Houston Astros were winning the AL West with the best record in the MLB and a massive 10 game lead. The Astros making the World Series was not only possible, but probable. 

The Braves front office was busy this season. They acquired outfielders Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler, as well as Joc Peterson. All 3 played massive roles in the Braves postseason success. 

The Braves beat the Dodgers, and the Astros defeated the Red Sox, securing their spots in the 2021 World Series. 

Game one opened with a deep home run by Braves Jorge Soler on the 3rd pitch of the World Series. In the bottom of the 1st, Atlanta pitcher Charlie Morton was hit in the shin by a comebacker, resulting in a fractured right fibula, and an early 2nd inning exit. 

Games 1-3 went back and forth with the Astros winning game 2 and the Braves winning games 1 and 3. The Braves also won game 4 giving themselves a commanding 3-1 lead, with game 5 at home in Atlanta. The Astros went on to defeat Atlanta in a must win situation to force game 6, back at home in Houston. 

The Braves went out strong in game 6, and never let up. Atlanta’s offense went on to score 7 runs, propelled by World Series MVP Jorge Soler’s 3 run homer, and Max Fried and the Braves bullpen combined for a World Series winning shutout against the Houston Astros. 

The 2021 World Series marks Atlanta’s first series appearance since 1999 and their first title in 26 years. 

Freddie Freeman has been an Atlanta Brave for 11 years, drafted in 2007, making his first start in fall 2010. Freeman has been a team and fan favorite for nearly 12 years, winning an MVP, 2 Silver Slugger awards, a Gold Glove, 5 All Star appearances, the Hank Aaron award, and finally his first ring this year. Freeman will be a free agent after this season. 

“We’ve had so many ups and downs this year… and for us to be world champions…it’s still so great to hear,” via Freddie Freeman in a post game interview. 

The Atlanta Braves are your 2021 world champions. 

Movies/TV/Theaters

Bachelorette Recap

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In Season 18, Episode 2, the day begins with Michelle waking up feeling great and ready to start her journey to find love. The first date is a group date with Brandon, Romeo, Rick, PJ, Will, Olumide, Casey, Danny, LT, and Peter. The theme of this date is a teacher theme.

On this date they have to answer math questions without a calculator and spell three-syllable words.

After that date, they all went to a party with Michelle. At the party, Peter got heated with Will for making fun of him for losing. At the end of the date, Brandon J. got the group rose.

The second group date involved Joe, Clayton, Rodney, Martin, Mollique, Chris S., Chris G., Pardeep, Nate, and Spencer on the basketball court. Joe shows off his moves and got invited to the after party even though his team lost, and he also got the group date rose.

The real drama began later in the episode when rumors started about whether or not Joe and Michelle dated before the show. So, Jamie decided to tell Michelle, this turned her into an emotional wreck because Jamie lied and told her everyone was talking about it all day and that some of the contestants were questioning her character.

She then confronted the guys about it, but no one knew what she was talking about so she canceled the cocktail party and skipped right to the rose ceremony. She sent home Alec, Daniel, Pardeep, and PJ. Jamie got to stay because Michelle had no idea that he lied to her, but looking at the next week promo, it looks like it might be his last.

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Tech/Games

How social media affects self esteem in teens

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By: Liv Miller

In the past decade social media has taken the world by storm. If you ask any teenager today they will tell you that they have at least one social media app downloaded on their mobile device. Social media is a great way to connect with friends, family, and meet new people. We are now able to share videos, photos, and ideas with one another faster than ever through these platforms.

Even though the creators of the most popular social media websites created the platforms to bring people together, there is a very serious issue developing through social media, specifically affecting this generation’s teen population.

With social media comes influencers. Urban dictionary defines influencer as “a prominent figure on a social media platform whom generally exchanges financial instruments or special benefits for enforcements.” While this is correct, there is another aspect of influencers on social media. To typically become an influencer you have to fit today’s societies standard of beauty.

Instagram influencers in particular focus their brand on themselves, or their looks if you will. These influencers gain a following because of how “perfect” they appear online. When people, especially young teen girls, see these influencers they start to compare themselves.

The thought process this encourages is “If she looks like that and has 100,000 followers telling her how perfect she looks, that is what I should look like to be viewed as attractive.”

Nobody is at fault for this outcome but it is what’s formed over the years on social media. A study done by a college student at Duquesne University shows to what extent teens are affected by this. When asked if they have ever been left with low self esteem after viewing someone else’s post on Instagram, 83.3 percent said yes.

This is true for other social media platforms as well. The newest and most popular social media app right now, TikTok, has various trends that people partake in. For the most part TikTok trends are harmless, usually dancing, acting challenges, ect. but these certain trends focus on unrealistic beauty standards. An example of this would be people comparing side profiles, waist size, bust, and butt size, ect. When these trends show up on teen girls pages they start comparing themselves to everyone they see, which is not good for self esteem.

Even though social media was created for good, these new issues need to be taken care of for the sake of the mental health of our youth.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Inception’ review

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By: Eva Olson

This movie follows the story of a spy (Dominic Cobb) who steals secrets by entering people’s dreams and extracting information. He is tasked with doing something that is nearly impossible, inception. Inception is where instead of taking something from someone’s mind, you plant an idea in someone’s mind.

This movie was very suspenseful and kept me intrigued throughout the entire movie. I loved the way the movie messed with your mind and made you question everything. I thought the pacing greatly added to the suspense and made it feel very stressful.

I thought they did a very good job with the casting and I recognized a lot of the faces. I thought the acting was also very good and made the movie feel more real.

This movie had a lot of fight scenes in it that kept me on edge the whole time. This movie definitely had a lot of scenes that used guns and knives. Although the movie was very action packed there wasn’t a lot of blood and gory violence shown up close which I liked.

The plot was very interesting and captivating. I loved how everything didn’t go exactly as planned for the characters. There were a lot of unpredictable scenes and plot twists throughout the movie.

This movie was kind of hard to follow at some points but I think that added to the anticipation of what was going to happen next. The ending of the movie was also a cliffhanger and made me wonder what would happen next if they made a sequel.

Overall, I loved the movie and it exceeded my expectations. If you are looking for an action movie that is very suspenseful and will get you thinking, I recommend this movie. I give it a 9.5/10 rating.

COVID-19, Tech/Games

How does social media affect the way people view COVID-19?

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By Ella Sutherland

Fear is a big component of COVID and social media. There is a lot of different, wrong, exaggerated, and misleading information on social media apps.

The main social media apps that became a source of that information were Twitter and TikTok. Both of the apps allow anyone to post anything on them, and a lot of the information is false. On TikTok you can make short videos, and it is mostly Gen Z. On Twitter you can make short messages called “tweets”.

Before COVID was super well known there were a lot of accusations about what COVID really was. When there was wrong information out there, it scared a lot of people, and the reason for that was that we didn’t have a lot of information from real scientists.

Social media also helped influence people in different ways on how to handle the coronavirus. Lots of people looked to popular influencers on how to handle the whole situation. Many influencers were not doing a good job of staying safe and even with them knowing that they have a big fan base that looks to them for guidance, they didn’t really seem to care. They were still going to parties and going out to eat at busy restaurants, while some of them still weren’t wearing masks.

When the COVID vaccine came out I’m guessing many of them got it, but they didn’t make that clear. However, there were a few influencers that were promoting the vaccine and making it crystal clear that they were all for it and had gotten it. Many celebrities were promoting and talking about the vaccines and masks a lot more than influencers were, which definitely increased the amount of people getting vaccines and wearing their masks. Many politicians also joined celebrities in spreading the word about masks and vaccines.

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Entertainment

Britney Spears conservatorship

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By: Musab Mohamud

In 2008, following Britney Spears’ series of public meltdowns she was placed in the care of her father through a conservatorship. Her father, Jamie, gained control of her estate, assets, and business deals. Jamie Spears ran nearly every aspect of his daughter’s life and personal assets through 2019. Britney hasn’t legally been her own person for twelve years.

Her fan base has long been concerned for her well-being. Many have participated in protests, social media movements, and have expressed their feelings about her conservatorship online. One fan illustrates fan concern through this quote, “I think it was so wrong for her father to take advantage of the conservatorship, for years she was able bodied and able minded enough to take care of herself and make her own decisions. I’m glad to finally see her free of him #freebritney.” 

Her family still exhibits concern for her, with her sister Jamie Lynn being quoted as saying, “If you deal with mental illness or care for someone dealing with mental illness, then you know how important it is to respect the situation with privacy for the person, and the family trying to protect their loved ones, no matter how it may appear to the public, and as the public we must learn to do the same.” In a rant about ‘People Magazine’ she expresses her love for her sister and shows her disdain for the tabloid that has profited off of her sister’s name for decades. 

Britney Spears lived her life in the spotlight for years as the “princess of pop”, being pestered by tabloids, paparazzi, and locked out of her own life by her father. She has emerged as a talented and strong woman. To this day, Britney seeks justice, she is not content with her freedom from conservatorship. Supported by her fans she seeks to have all parties involved in her decade long ordeal prosecuted.

Books/Art, Editorials/Student Voice

Teens and reading

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By: Marcus Lund

How long has it been since you’ve wanted to read a book? Not for English class, but for fun? For some kids, it’s been a while.

Firstly, let’s look at the numbers. According to an NAEP survey, 13 year olds who read 30 minutes or more every night, not for homework, dropped 4% from 2017 to 2019. The number officially dropped under 50%. For high schoolers, the numbers are even more daunting. Only 20% of kids report reading a newspaper, magazine, or a book daily, whereas 80% of them reported going on some sort of social media.

This is a problem. With declining numbers in daily reading, a predictable result is becoming more and more obvious: kids are getting worse at it. With reading lessening, so are reading scores. This is a nationwide phenomenon, and a disappointment to many parents. Experts say that reading, even if it’s a book like ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ or ‘Captain Underpants’, is incredibly vital to teenage brain development.

Why are teens reading less? The problem resides in something vital to teenage existence: our phones. Teens average 9 hours of entertainment media use, and pre-teens average 6. This time takes away from less passive entertainment, like reading. But I find it hard to blame the average teenager. I personally enjoy some forms of social media and talking to my friends more than I do reading a book, and this is a nationwide opinion that’s widely agreed upon.

Screens also affect the brain more negatively than reading, with frequent screen use resulting in poorer literacy skills and less ability to use expressive language. Conversely, teens who read more scored higher on cognitive tests.

Reading is good for you, which probably isn’t a surprise. What is a surprise is the amount that teens are skipping out on it. Personally, I know that I’m going to start reading more. Will you?

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Travel/Food

What is spice?

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By: Isaac Lund

Chances are, you’ve tried something spicy before. Be it a spicy potato chip or a ghost pepper, any spicy treat is bound to leave that delicious heat in your mouth. But, have you ever thought about what causes that pain so signature of all hot food? Do you know the science behind what makes something spicy?

Cuisines all over the world—India, Mexico, China, have used the art of implementing spice into food to captivate millions, no, billions of people around the globe. Those who first practiced this culinary technique were putting science to work, whether they knew it or not.

Capsaicin, an organic chemical produced within peppers, is the culprit behind the madness. Pepper plants produce this compound to turn away predators planning on eating their fruit, a deterrent that has completely backfired over the course of history. As soon as the pepper touches your tongue, Capsaicin molecules seek out pain receptors, called VR1s, in your taste buds, and latch on. Your brain is signaled, and the burning ensues. Although it may feel like you will end up shriveled and burnt, no physical damage is really dealt to your mouth and tongue.

While many like to boast about their “spice tolerance”, the heat becomes too much for everyone at a certain point. Oh no! Better get a cool glass of water! Not. Capsaicin, in the form it attacks you in, at least, is an oil. Water and oil don’t mix, and the spice will only be spread around your poor mouth. Grab a glass of milk or some ice cream instead: the oils and fats here will dissolve clingy capsaicin and carry it down your throat.

And anyways, tolerance is no excuse for having an aversion to spice. Although some scaredy-cats may argue that others have built a tolerance for spice through repetitive exposure, this is actually impossible; your VR1s will forever react to capsaicin in the exact same way. So, how do some handle the heat so well? They’ve simply come to enjoy the burn.

For more information, please visit:

  • sciencenewsforstudents.org
Science/Nature

How do humpback whales communicate with each other?

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By: Sarah VonBerge

Humpback whales are very independent creatures and normally only stay with their mothers for about a year, whereas a lot of other species of whales stay in groups, called pods.

At most, humpbacks normally travel in groups of 3, even though they don’t normally stay that way. They may help a couple other whales hunt or get somewhere, but they only stay with the other whales for a few days at most.

Most known for their shrieks, humpback whales also communicate via grunts and groans and are often called ‘inveterate composers’ because they make noises that can sound like music made by humans.

According to Victoriawhalewatching.com, humpback whales have multiple different kinds of communication techniques and each technique can mean something different. As stated before, they are sometimes called ‘inveterate composers’ because of their songs, which can last up to 30 minutes and travel 100 miles. The songs are believed to be mostly for mating purposes. These songs are mostly sung by the male humpbacks to attract females but also used to let other males whales know that that is their territory.

Although they sing, shriek, groan and more, they are most known for their physical communication. This communication involves spyhopping, lobtailing and breaching. Spyhopping is when a whale sticks most of its head out of the water and either leaves its eye right below the water or right above it for an extended amount of time. Although it is not completely known why they do this, it is suspected that they do it to watch their surroundings.

Another physical communication that they use is lobtailing. This is when a whale lifts its flippers or tail out of the water and slaps it on the water surface making a loud noise. This is known to show aggression but also warn other whales nearby that there is a danger.

Lastly, there’s breaching. Breaching is when a humpback whale lunges itself out of the water, exposing at least 40% of its body. Again, this is believed to be a warning to other whales but it is also suspected that they do this to show dominance.

Even though most physical whale communication is used to show aggression, it can also be used in nurturing ways. Humpback whales sometimes put their fins against each other to show affection and compassion.

Although humans’ understanding of whale communication is limited, it’s interesting to look into how they react to themselves, to their surroundings, and to each other. Whale communication is one of the most complicated and sophisticated forms of communication known.

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