All posts by HPSH Plaid Line

Travel/Food

How COVID-19 made a reservation at state parks in 2020

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By: David Meyer

Starting over a century and a half ago, state parks have been great places for visitors to camp, to hike, and to view the amazing wildlife and scenery. They have also been safe havens for wildlife and people alike. However, with the introduction of COVID-19, this past year, state parks have had to shut down. Many reopened soon after the quarantine was lifted, but some were still unable to open to the public. This is because people who help maintain the parks got COVID-19 or are highly susceptible to getting it. 

With that being said, the pandemic has created an eagerness to get outdoors since quarantine ended because people want a change of scenery. Large numbers of people quickly began to fill up the parks with more visitors and more people willing to pay money to stay at these parks. This overflow helped many state parks recoup much of the money they had lost from their months of closure.

However, the increased revenue has ended up deficient in combating the issues that many state parks are facing. With the large influx of people, there has been an increase in trash and coronavirus littering throughout the parks. In turn, this leads to many workers at state parks having to go out more to help pick up the trash while increasing the chance for employees to contract COVID-19. Because of this, more state parks are beginning to close not only from having less healthy workers to maintain the parks but also from the lack of funding states can provide to help keep them open.

At the moment, many state parks have been staying open despite these troubles, but hopefully people maintain their excitement of visiting state parks after the pandemic eventually ends, so our beautiful parks can remain open to visitors and continue to be havens for wildlife and people alike.

Getting To Know/History

A basic overview of depression

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By: Ayane Jarso

Depression is a mental illness that over 246 million people worldwide suffer from. Typically, from what most people understand, they think of depression as sadness. It is that, but it is much more.

Depression can happen due to many things. A study in the ‘American Journal of Psychiatry’ found that men were more likely to have depression due to drug abuse, childhood sexual abuse, prior history of depression, and major stressful life events.

That being said, depression can also be genetic, and it can happen to anyone. A chemical imbalance in one’s head causes them to have this illness. So, in some cases, something might have happened to someone (see above list of trauma), or they just developed depression due to a naturally occurring imbalance. Some people may have gotten it from a parent, and in the future, they may possibly pass it on to their children.

The physical aspect of depression can cause major headaches, nausea, body aches, and other pains. It can also cause other illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and anxiety. All of these other symptoms cause much more stress to a person that’s already dealing with the other effects of depression.

Depression in women can often be another story. According to MedicalNewsToday.com one in seven women suffer from postpartum depression, which happens after giving birth, and women have a 2 to 3 times greater risk of getting depression during the time after birth even if they have never been depressed in the past. Also, a woman’s chances of getting depression during the menopause transition is much higher.

Editorials/Student Voice, Getting To Know/History

Misconceptions about Islam (by a Muslim who knows)

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By: Mohamed Ahmed

After 9/11

Studies show that eighty percent of all news coverage about Islam is negatively. After September 11th, Muslims around the world were affected. Muslims were terrified to even leave their apartments to get food or other things. National Muslim organizations advised Muslims to stay in their houses, not to congregate, and to stay in well lit areas. Going to the mosque was not recommended. Muslims were targeted and beaten in the street. Mosques were firebombed, and even people who appeared to be Muslim were beaten to death.

The Muslim community was viewed as a tumor. And with a tumor there are only two options: keep it under supervision or remove it. 

Radicals and Mosques

A common misconception about Islam is that all non-Muslims must be killed by Muslims. In fact, Muslims are unable to kill because it is strictly taboo. In fact, unless you are 100 percent sure the assailant is going to kill you, or someone you love, you are going to pay for killing. It is one of the highest order sins. 

Police chiefs and anti-terrorism specialists say that people do not become radicalized at mosques. They become radicalized in front of computers in their basements or bedrooms. People are targeted when they are not connected to their communities or their families. They’re unstable and vulnerable. Then they are brainwashed by the radicals. 

Islamophobia and how it affects and spikes 

A study in ‘Neurostudies’ shows that when subjects were exposed to negative news about Islam, and try to instill fear, they become more accepting of attacks on Muslim countries and restrictions on Muslim rights.

Anti-Muslim sentiment spiked during the election cycles, and the run-up, to the Iran war. This proves that Islamophobia isn’t a direct response to terrorist attacks. It can be a tool of public manipulation and isn’t tied to American deaths or suffering.   

Muslims are not a tumor, but a vital organ. Muslims are business men, and women. They are engineers and part of the military. They are doctors, and teachers, and more. Muslims make a difference, and deserve better than to be beaten in the streets, murdered, or hated. 

For more information, please visit this TED Talk:

Movies/TV/Theaters

Unrealistic beauty standards in Hollywood

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By Irene Cohen and Ellie Mulvaney

Since Hollywood’s creation in 1910, this film industry has been a huge source of influence for its audience. It is currently the most dominating movie production agency in the world, and often is used as a representation of Americans, regardless of this image’s attainability. This becomes an issue when it is taken into consideration just how unrealistic the beauty standards in Hollywood are. It’s incredibly damaging for people to compare themselves to these famous figures, when the actors themselves struggle to fit the paragon of how they should look.

One example of this is one of Hollywood’s biggest icons; Marilyn Monroe. It was discovered that the actress had multiple plastic surgeries in secret with Dr. Michael Gurdin, and a few of his colleagues, throughout her years in the spotlight. The image that she projected onto young, impressionable women, was one that she herself didn’t even naturally have.

Of course, getting plastic surgery is not inherently harmful, but it further perpetuates unrealistic standards when it is not explicitly stated that certain features are artificial. Monroe went through chin, nose, and breast alterations, as reported by her medical records, where she got the surgeries using a cover name. Obviously, great lengths were taken to conceal the fact that her appearance was not completely natural, which consequently implied to her audience that they were expected to organically look like the figures that they saw on screen.

Monroe was praised as the ideal woman, though she herself went to extreme lengths just to fit the crazy Hollywood norms. She once stated, “When my looks start to go, so will most of my fans,” proving just how image-based the film industry is.

Another example from the past, was John Travolta’s transformation for the John Woo film ‘Broken Arrow,’ in the 1990’s. As a military officer, his character required him to lose around 20 pounds in a few weeks by boxing and dieting. Even at the age of 40, he was under scrutiny for his weight, influencing viewers to potentially not recognize the impacts of aging on the body. For everyone to think that they should look like, and weigh as much as, a young adult, even in their midlife years, is a damaging ideology that Hollywood has dangerously promoted.

One more recent example of this comes from actress Carrie Fisher. One might think that she may have gotten criticism for her weight when she was still a young, unknown actress, but now that she has achieved a legendary status, studios would want to book her regardless of her weight. Right? Turns out, this is not the case.

Fisher opened up about how she was forced to lose 35 pound to be cast as her renowned role as Princess Leia in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’ Carrie Fisher had this to say after she was pressured to lose weight, “Nothing changes, it’s an appearance-driven thing.” You can clearly see why she said this especially with the history she has with the Star Wars franchise telling her to lose weight for her role. All the way back in 1977, when she was just 19 years old, and 105 pounds, producers still asked her to lose weight for her role as Princess Leia. Fisher was too right with this quote, and many actors and actresses can attest to that fact.

This pressure to be thin in Hollywood is not only thrust upon actresses, but actors as well. One Richard Madden speaks out on this fact. In one British Vogue interview he says, “I find myself with actor friends – after we’ve done a kind of barely eating, working-out-twice-a-day, no-carbing thing for these scenes – looking at each other going: ‘We’re just feeding this same s*** that we’re against.’”

He also goes on to say that he’s had his body rolls pinched at auditions, corset-like costumes to slim him down for the cameras, and flat out been told to lose weight and to go to the gym. In his interview, he clearly says that how he is filmed is not how he usually looks. The preparation he does for these scenes is not sustainable nor realistic, but many men may see these scenes and think to themselves, why don’t I look like that?

National

How did Hurricane Laura affect people?

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By Grace Blummer-Lamotte

On August 16th, 2020, Hurricane Laura started to form a disastrous path. It started its path just off of a large tropical wave that moved off the West African coast. On August 20th, 2020, it became a “tropical depression”.

The highest recorded wind speed of this hurricane lasted one minute and it was 150 miles per hour. This is the twelfth named storm, fourth hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. It dissipated August 29th, 2020.

The storm affected people’s lives by taking 42 lives and destroying homes. Family members have been lost, and major flooding after the hurricane caused damage to homes and towns requiring people to have to rebuild their homes and towns. The damage this hurricane did cost $10 billion dollars just on the Southwestern portion of Louisiana and the Southeastern portion of Texas, near the Gulf of Mexico. To put $10 billion dollars into perspective, you could buy at least 10 football stadiums and still have a lot more money left. 

You may be wondering why we name hurricanes. The reason is because they are tropical storms such as hurricanes, cyclones or typhoons that can last for months and sometimes years. Scientists used to track them by their year, but because we could experience 100 storms in 12 months, they started naming tropical storms so they are easier to track.

According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center they are forecasting 13-19 named storms with winds 39 miles per hour and higher, 6-10 that could result in hurricanes with winds of 74 miles per hour and higher, and also 3-6 major hurricanes (category 3, 4, and 5, which is winds 111 miles per hour and higher).

Getting To Know/History

What is criminal profiling?

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By: Olivia Knafla

With the rising popularity of shows such as ‘Criminal Minds’ and ‘Mindhunter’, the idea of criminal profiling is growing more and more common. However, there are lots of misconceptions regarding how it works and why it is used. Today, I will let you know a bit about this subject and help you gain a better understanding of what exactly it means to be a criminal profiler.

According to ScienceDict.com, criminal profiling is: “A collection of inferences about the qualities of the person responsible for committing a crime or a series of crimes.” Profiling is relatively new in the science world and it rests between the worlds of law enforcement and psychology. There is some dispute on it’s accuracy and methodology, but it has been proven to work in the past.

For example, between the years of 1940 and 1956, Georgr Metesky was able to evade police capture while planting over 30 bombs throughout New York City. After reviewing some crime scene photos, James Brussel (an assistant commissioner of mental hygiene), was able to come up with an idea of how this offender would be like. He profiled that he would be an unmarried, self-educated man in his 50’s, who lives in Connecticut, and has some sort of a personal vendetta against Con Edison.

This may seem random at first, but when you look into it, things begin to make a lot more sense.

He was able to deduce that he was in his 50’s as paranoia tends to peak around the age of 35, and considering it had been roughly 16 years since the first bomb was planted, it would put the offender in his 50’s. Also, from a psychological standpoint, bombers tend to be loners, typically unable to hold down a steady job or maintain relationships with others.

With this knowledge and a geographical profile, investigators were led right to Metesky, who was caught and arrested in 1957, and immediately confessed to his crimes.

This is only one example that shows the way that criminal profiling is able to serve its purpose, which is to help investigators examine evidence from the crime scene more thoroughly and to create an offender description based off of psychological theories and trends. Many people believe it to be as much of an art form as it is a science, but at the end of the day, there is still a lot to be learned about it, and we are off to a great start. Profiling has contributed to investigations more than ever recently, and now is the perfect time to learn what it’s all about.

Editorials/Student Voice

The pros and cons of American Exceptionalism

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By Irene Cohen and Ellie Mulvaney

Exceptionalism. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines this word as the condition of being different from the norm.

In the context of a nation, it becomes an ideology, one that believes that a particular country or region is inherently different than its counterparts, and significantly more remarkable.

In America, this conception affects how we live and develop, but the question is; is this more helpful or harmful?

To start, let’s take a look at some benefits of American Exceptionalism. One key benefit is the ability of exceptionalism to foster entrepreneurship in up-and-coming generations. According to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 84% of children are earning more than their parents as of 2017. This can partially be attributed to the desire of many Americans to reduce international reliance and produce the majority of products in the country. This strengthens the workforce, and actually creates jobs in the nation, given the exceptionalist mindset leads to highlighting “made in America,” as superior to overseas production.

A second contributing factor to the increasing entrepreneurship comes from the belief that America presents opportunities for everyone. In the assumption that America is, indeed, exceptional, comes the theory that America is so outstanding that anyone can create something out of nothing in this country. The validity of this statement is arguable, and no answer can be absolute, because it’s so subjective, but this positive reinforcement and encouragement can give citizens a drive to push themselves up on the socioeconomic ladder.

American Exceptionalism, in certain instances, can also lead to a constructive patriotism in its citizens. As an effort to maintain the reputation, or rank, of the country, Americans may strive more to improve conditions within. This can include policy reform, like firearm restrictions, education, environment, and economic affairs, as well as judicial undertakings and criminal justice. The more inspired a person is to improve their nation, the more likely they are to vote, protest, etc. to make a change.

On the flip side, American Exceptionalism is not all positive. American Exceptionalism often creates the idea in many of its citizens that Americans can do no wrong. This leads to them believing that they should have the final say, not anyone else. This is clearly illustrated by many poll findings of a majority of Americans thinking that U.S. soldiers should not be tried internationally for war crimes, unlike Europeans who do think their soldiers should be allowed to be tried internationally for war crimes. Another instance of this decision making bias is Americans being much more opposed to letting international organizations decide what they should do regarding global warming, starkly contrasting the opinions of other Western countries’ populations.

Another drawback of American Exceptionalism is that it does not foster a good sense of community. An August, 2004, Pew and Council on Foreign Relations poll found that while most Americans thought that they were not respected as much globally as they used to be, that same poll found that Americans did not rank improving foreign relationships very high on their list of international goals. This poll shows while Americans acknowledge that they don’t have the best relationships with foreign countries, they feel as if that is not a necessity. American Exceptionalism breeds the idea that you only need to look out for yourself, you don’t need to work with others to get ahead in life.

After looking at both pros and cons of American Exceptionalism, it is ridiculous to think that one could objectively answer the question, is it more helpful or harmful? Like everything, people have their opinions with their own reasoning behind it depending on their values. Some may think that American Exceptionalism benefits us more than hindering us, but someone else could think that it was harmful. Both opinions are valid and have many points to back up their statement, and that is why you can’t objectively say whether it’s good or bad.

Movies/TV/Theaters

Netflix could be giving ‘Hannibal’ a fourth season

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By: Teah Henry

‘Hannibal’ was a TV drama series that aired on NBC. The show was about Hannibal Lecter, a cannibalistic psychiatrist, and the FBI criminal profiler Will Graham. The show explored their relationship, and was highly praised by critics for its visuals and good characters.

Unfortunately, not many people watched the show while it was airing. Despite being loved by critics, the show was cancelled after its third season due to low viewership, and was only on for a little over two years.

The show was well liked by the people that did watch it, and it gained a pretty loyal fanbase (labeled Fannibals). Many fans enjoyed the way the show represented Hannibal and Will’s relationship with each other. Throughout the series, Will becomes more and more involved with Hannibal, which brings out the violent side of him that he tries to push down. The two become co-dependent, and their relationship has romantic undertones. 

The season three finale ended with Hannibal and Will Graham defeating the serial killer they had been trying to catch for the past few episodes. They hug and Will throws them off a cliff together. It can be seen as a definitive ending, with them dying together after their fall. However, there is also a possibility they survived, especially since the people working on the show wanted to create more seasons. 

‘Hannibal’ appeared on Netflix in the beginning of June, giving hope to the fans that they would pick it up for a fourth season. Netflix has picked up cancelled shows before such as ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Arrested Development’. There’s a good chance it will be picked up, as the entire cast and the creator would be happy with filming a season 4, and given Netflix’s history with cancelled shows.

The cast also had a reunion about two months ago. Nothing is confirmed, but there’s a lot of hope in the air for a fourth season of ‘Hannibal’.

Getting To Know/History

How likely is it to get robbed in your life?

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By: Jimmy Somerville

I am here asking the question: How likely it is to get robbed in your life in America? What are the odds?

According to the FBI website, FBI: UCR, robbery in America happens on average 150 times per year, per 100,000 of the population (in 2007). So the chance of being robbed in one year is 1 out of 667 so 0.0014%. Over a 4-year period, the chances of being robbed is out of 1 in 167 so 0.00598% (There are also many other variables that go into this. If you live in an area with a higher crime rate, the odds of you getting robbed increase, while if you live in an area with a lower rate of crime, the odds of you getting robbed decrease).

The average American lifespan is 78.5 years, so I rounded up to 80 and did the math. The odds of you being robbed while living 80 years in America (assuming you live  somewhere near the average of the average crime rate in America) is 0.11994%, according to my math. So, basically around a 1/10 chance you get robbed living in the average American town over 80 years.

Honestly, I thought the odds would be a little bit higher, but then again, I don’t know that many people personally, that have gotten robbed. I also wonder how much property needs to be stolen for it to be considered a statistic, and I bet some robberies go undocumented or unheard of. Maybe some people get robbed without even knowing it as well.

There’s a lot of information we don’t know, but that’s probably as accurate as we’re going to be able to get.

All of this is based off of data from 2007. Since 2007, the robbery rate has dropped 33% but
most people alive in America right now we’re alive quite a bit before 2007, as the median age in
America is 38.2 years old, so I figured choosing a statistic from an earlier time would be more
accurate for most people. The crime rate is always shifting so it’s hard to tell, but choosing the
statistics from 2007 made sense to me (it may not though).

Thanks for reading!

Science/Nature

Seasonal Depression

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By Nora Doyle and Olivia Miller

Ever feel yourself slipping into a funk right around when the weather starts to get cooler, and your motivation is pretty much in the gutter? Maybe you start to have trouble staying awake, or trouble concentrating. This may be more than just a recurring funk.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, otherwise known as SAD, (kind of funny, right?) is common in young adults and even more so in women. In fact, it is 4 times more likely for women to have SAD.

According to Mayo Clinic, most cases of Seasonal Affective Disorder appear during late fall or early winter and go away when the sunny warm weather of spring and summer begin. But in some cases, symptoms can appear in the spring and summer, and go away in the fall and winter.

Although SAD can cause a drastic change to someone’s daily life, it is actually very common, affecting over 10 million Americans according to Psychology Today.

There are quite a few symptoms that can be recognized as Seasonal Affective Disorder. These include feeling depressed daily and for most of the day, losing interest in previously enjoyed activities, having low energy, trouble sleeping or trouble staying awake, changes in appetite or weight, feeling sluggish or easily agitated, difficulty concentrating, feeling worthless and or hopeless, and frequent thoughts of death or suicide. So yes, it can be very serious .

There are some differences in the symptoms of SAD in the fall/winter time than the ones in the spring/summer time. For example during the fall/winter time some of the symptoms are oversleeping and gaining weight, while in the spring/summer time some of the symptoms can be not getting enough sleep and you may even lose some weight rather than gain it.

A few things can cause Seasonal Affective Disorder according to the Mayo Clinic. The three big ones are your circadian rhythm, serotonin levels, and melatonin levels.

Your circadian rhythm is like your inner clock. Your inner clock has to do with the cycle of the moon and sun. The decrease in sunlight in fall and winter may disrupt your body’s internal clock and lead to feelings of depression.

Serotonin is the chemical in the brain that affects mood. Reduced sunlight can also cause a drop in serotonin, triggering depression.

The change in season can also disrupt the balance of the body’s level of melatonin. Melatonin plays a role in sleep patterns and mood. There are some factors that may increase the risk of SAD. Factors include family history, having major depression or bipolar disorder, and living far from the equator.