All posts by HPSH Plaid Line

Science/Nature

How Iceland became Green

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By Grace Helmke

In an era of revolution and emerging awareness on all spectrums, environmental change, and the impact of humanity on planet earth, is a topic well discussed. But even with numerous papers published, research documented, and proof being given to confirm our planet’s great need for the development of environment friendly living, most of the world has yet to act upon this issue.

However, some countries have taken great strides in this mission; sustainability becoming their way of life. Iceland has been unofficially dubbed “poster child” of Nationwide sustainability, finding greener ways of life, and producing more renewable energy than anywhere else in the world. 

Iceland can thank their incredible geological features for allowing them access to plentiful hydro and geothermal resources. These natural assets account for over 85% of Iceland’s energy supply, and 100% of their electricity production.

When compared to the United States, this feat seems far more impressive. Our nation’s renewable energy production only makes up 11% of our supply, and 17% of electricity generated. This is such a significant achievement for Iceland because of the incredible good it can do for our planet. Generating energy from fossil fuels furthers air pollution and global warming. This contributes to eustatic change, intensified natural disasters, and temperature rise. 

Not only is Iceland a leader in renewable energy, but they have taken steps in educating their nation’s children on climate change, and the effects we have on our environment. Sustainability is one of the national requirements in the Icelandic education system. Students are taught what global warming is, and that it will continue to happen if nothing is done to change it.

This is in comparison to The United States’ system, where the teaching of climate change is optional, and largely not discussed for an extended period of time. 

Plastics are also a major concern when it comes to the environment. But starting in the summer of 2021, all single use plastics are being banned in Iceland. This includes: straws, cutlery, bags, and dishes. The only exception will be single use plastics required for medical reasons. All products sold in restaurants and fast food chains will now be reusable or biodegradable, including cutlery and packaging. 

Iceland has taken major steps in healing our environment for future generations. They lead all nations in renewable energy production, and have implemented changes to provide a better environmental education, and a tighter restriction on eco-friendly products. There’s no doubt there are more changes on the way, as other countries join Iceland in pursuit of a greener way of life. 

For more information, and more statistics on Iceland please visit:

https://visiticeland.com/article/renewable-energy

https://www.government.is/topics/business-and-industry/energy/

Advice/How To, Editorials/Student Voice

Why it’s important for the young to vote

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By: Jihan Ali

When the idea of voting is mentioned to young adults, they push it off or avoid voting because they either don’t understand the voting process or they aren’t educated in politics. Many people don’t understand the impact of voting and how it can affect who becomes president. It is important for young adults to learn the voting process and why it is important to vote.

Voting is having a say on who, or what, you want, and it is usually a choice to the people. In the U.S., adults are given the option to vote, and it is strongly recommended to people.

You may wonder why you see so many flyers and advertisements around you. This year is an important year to vote because the president is being chosen so the media is encouraging young adults to vote.

Many people are trying to convince young adults because they want Trump out of office. According to Wells and Goods, Trump won in the swing states by less than one percent. This shows that your vote matters even if you think it doesn’t because of the population.

According to Dr. Cobb, your vote has power and it gives you the right to choose who you want as your president. Voting is an opportunity that many people should do because American citizens have the right to have their opinion on who we want as president.

If you’re underage, you may be wondering what you can do. You should first learn about how voting works by doing research or asking your parents. You can also volunteer at a polling place, if safe, to help others and know how it works on election day. You can also voice your opinions by talking to peers or reaching out to people of age so that they can vote.

Make sure you vote if you can on Tuesday November 3rd.

Getting To Know/History

How AOC went from a bartender to a lawmaker

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By: Elizabeth Woxland

Less than two years ago Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (known by her initials AOC) was a bartender in Manhattan. Today, she is the 28-year-old democratic socialist who unseated 10-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley (this also made her the youngest woman elected to Congress).

A brief bio of AOC, as reported by The New York Times reads:

She was born in the Bronx where half of the residents are immigrants, and 70 percent are people of color. AOC grew up with two working-class parents Her mother was born in Puerto Rico, and her father was from the South Bronx. She went to Boston University, where she studied economics and international relations. After graduation she took up bartending and waitressing jobs. The primary, in June 2018, was Ocasio-Cortez’s first run for office, but she had experience in politics. In college she worked for Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts on immigration issues, and she was an organizer for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign. AOC promoted Medicare for everyone, tuition-free college, criminal justice reform and ending private prisons. She also supports immigration reform, specifically abolishing ICE. At the time, AOC argued that Crowley — a 56-year-old white man— couldn’t properly connect with this diverse district.

AOCs journey to become elected to Congress was not easy. According to Business Insider, Crowley had not faced a primary challenger in 14 years. He also had raised nearly $3 million for his re-election campaign and spent about $1 million, while AOC raised just $600,000. Since AOC rejected corporate donations, over 70% of her campaign donations were under $200, compared with 0.78% of Crowley’s.

Yet, AOC put in the time to introduce and make herself heard. Democratic strategists and AOC herself attribute a lot of her victory to her aggressive door-to-door ground campaign. “We won because, I think, we had a very clear winning message, and we took that message to doors that had never been knocked on before.”  In comparison Crowley, who lives in Washington, sent a surrogate to one debate to take on AOC in his place.

AOC won the Democratic Party’s primary election for New York’s 14th Congressional District on June 26, 2018, which soon would lead her to representing New York’s 14th District in the midterms, and becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

COVID-19, School Life

How COVID-19 has affected students’ education

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By: Leslie Lopez Ibanez and Kayla Arellano

In December of 2020, a virus was discovered in Wuhan, China. The virus slowly went spreading worldwide creating a human pandemic. This virus is called the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and thousands of people have died from it. Some have recovered, but there is no cure for it yet.

To prevent the spread, there have been restrictions that caused all businesses and schools to shut down with only a few businesses open because they were deemed essential.

Now that the schools are closed, teachers are forced to be giving online classes. They are slowly opening everything back up, but still with restrictions, and it’s very difficult because school districts have to get their system approved on how they are going to manage to have all their students in school safely.

COVID-19 has affected student’s education in a couple different ways. Many schools around the U.S. have switched to full time online learning to prevent the spread of coronavirus and to social distance.

Other school’s have chosen to do part time online and part time in school.

Students K-12 are not being able to do face-to-face learning because of the restrictions. A family source informed the authors that because of this, parents are now taking their kids out of public schools to put them in private school because private schools are now open.

But not everyone can afford a private school, and are instead forced into isolation. They also can face depression and anxiety due to always being inside their house and not being able to go to school everyday.

Some students also don’t have equipment that the school provides for them like WiFi, food, and much more. A lot of families can’t afford WiFi, or an everyday meal for their kids, and a lot of students rely on the schools for that. 

Due to the pandemic, and school getting held back, student assignments are getting canceled or postponed. This is affecting students in a negative way because it’s interrupting their learning and they aren’t receiving the education they need.

Studies show that students have lost a large percentage of their learning skills, achievements in math and reading, and overall learning skills. According to brooking.edu, students are now showing low grades and are making less than 50% of educational gains, which may be putting them almost a year behind compared to when they were attending school. 

The class of 2020 graduation was also affected by COVID-19. College students have experienced teaching interruptions in the final parts of their studies. Instead of them graduating on time, they get to graduate at the beginning of a major global recession. As for high schoolers, they didn’t get the graduation they thought they would’ve had. Some schools did virtual graduation and some schools did a graduation ceremony, but having to be 6 feet apart or more without any family or friends being present. 

Many high school graduates have changed their mind about going to college and what they want to study for because of the crisis going on. Some of them are having a delay on college to start, or some of them just have decided to just work and not even go to college anymore. 

Even though all this negative stuff is happening, let’s look on the positive side!

Students are getting the chance for a new learning opportunity. Some people may find online school better for them and might just switch to online school learning from now on. People are also considering this because they find it more affordable and it’s a way to keep yourself socially distanced.

With all of this happening, this also means that there are more online resources for the students. More programs and educational resources are becoming available for students doing online classes. 

Tech/Games

Nike Training Club app review

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By: Joxery Mezen Camacho

At the beginning of the quarantine I was looking for a way to stay active since all of my activities had been either canceled or postponed. I luckily found the Nike Training Club app. 

This app has video workouts that you can follow. These videos have a person demonstrating the workout along with a voice over giving directions and tips on how to improve your form. This voice over also gives encouraging words from time to time to help you stay motivated as you listen to music. 

The app works best with the Apple Music app because it allows you to listen to your music right in the app as you workout. 

There is a “browse” section where the app divides their workouts into 8 different sections: Muscle Group, Workout Focus, Equipment, Trainer-Led classes, Whiteboard Workouts, Short Workouts, Athlete Workouts, and All Workouts. I believe this is great because there are options for everyone! This especially helped me be consistent with working out, since I have tried many different workouts after getting bored of the one I had been doing. 

There is also the Nike Training Club Premium which is free to all Nike members. It includes expert tips, different programs, and workouts which are led and given by Nike Master Trainers.  

In the section called “Expert Tips”, there are different groups which include sections for training, nutrition, recovery, mindset, and sleep. 

There is also a “For You” section that personalizes the workouts and nutrition plans suggested based on your goals and current interests. 

I especially enjoy the achievements you can get. You can get trophies, milestones, workouts in a week, and streaks. These can help motivate you to keep pushing yourself and be consistent with your workouts. 

With all that the Nike Training Club app includes, while still being free, I am compelled to give this app a 5/5 and encourage you to give it a try!

Science/Nature

Threats to biodiversity

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By: Olivia Kendle

There are many threats to our planet at this current time. One of the most serious threats is loss of biodiversity. It is important to know the main risks that decreasing biodiversity poses for the health of our planet.

First of all, the term biodiversity is short for “biological diversity”. Biological diversity refers to the way that all plants and animals and everything on earth are interrelated and dependent on one another. Since everything is dependent on everything else, if anything changes to one part of the environment, it shows up in other parts of the environment. Scientists are especially concerned about the effects that humans have on biological diversity. They study these effects so that they can tell us what we need to do to keep our environment healthy.

Among the serious threats is climate change. The effects from climate change include weather and climate effects which some animals can not adapt to in time or are struggling to survive. For example; pollution and trash in ocean waters as well as warming in ocean temperatures are affecting many species to survive. Ice is one of the main reflectors of sun rays. But with the ice melting, many rays of sun are coming into our atmosphere, “bleaching” our coral reefs. Many marine species die without the protection of the coral reef.

Another threat to biodiversity is human population growth. The slow growth of population causes expansions of cities. More farms and factories are built and forests are being cut down to make room. Many species can not adapt to these large changes and are forced out or killed in the process.

Fortunately, there are many things that can be done and are being done to solve these issues. According to the American Museum of Natural History, “Over 100,000 protected areas—including national parks, wildlife refuges, game reserves, and marine protected areas, managed both by governments and local communities—provide habitat for wildlife, and help keep deforestation in check.”

We need to be informed about the threats of biodiversity because it affects the wellbeing of all of us and more importantly, our planet.

For more information, please visit:

Getting To Know/History

Differences between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder

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By: Kayla Madison

*Note, this article may have material that could trigger individuals (suicide), therefore, we present a trigger warning here.

Mental health is a big deal, always has been. There are a variety of mental disorders, and while most can seem very similar, the two I’m going to talk about today are almost twins.

Borderline Personality Disorder not only affects your moods, it affects your personality, hence ‘Personality Disorder.’ Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder are both characterized, in part, by major mood swings. The similarity of the two mood shifts having extremely high highs, to very low lows, causes people and clinicians to confuse the two disorders.

Borderline is said to be characterized by: rejection-sensitivity, chaotic relationships, and difficulty in managing emotions. Most people think the stressor is a bad childhood, which can be it, but it could also be other things. If your spouse leaves you, you’ll tend to get depressed and that’s normal, with borderlines though, they are more reactive to relatively minor events and demonstrate contradictory emotions.

Borderline Personality signs:

  • Fear of abandonment; they’re terrified of being abandoned or left alone.
  • Unstable relationships; relationships get intense very quickly and are very short lived.
  • Unclear or shifting self image; there is no clear idea of who you are or what you want. You may frequently change everything about yourself from jobs to even your sexual identity or religion.
  • Impulsive/ self-destructive behaviors; you may start engaging in harmful, sensation-seeking behaviors such as spending money recklessly, doing drugs or drinking alcohol to ‘feel better.’
  • Self harm; suicidal behavior and deliberate self harm is a common factor with mental illnesses.
  • Extreme emotional swings; unstable emotions and moods these moods are intense but tend to pass very quickly.
  • Chronic feelings of emptiness; you feel empty, as if there’s a void you have to fill, you may feel like you’re nothing or nobody.
  • Explosive anger; you may struggle with intense anger and a short temper.
  • Feeling suspicious or out of touch with reality; you lose touch with reality- dissociation. You struggle with paranoia.

Everybody has a mood swing or two but with Bipolar Disorder these are more severe. These cycles can last days, weeks, or even months. These mood changes can interfere with your everyday life such as your job or school performance. During a manic episode you may quit your job or spend huge amounts of money on useless items. During a depressive episode you might be too tired to do anything most days or be full of self-loathing and feel hopeless.

Bipolar Disorder Causes:

  • Stress; stressful life events can be very triggering in someone with genetic vulnerability. These events tend to have drastic or sudden changes.
  • Substance abuse; this doesn’t cause bipolar, it can bring on an episode or worsen the course of the disease.
  • Medication; certain medications, notably antidepressants, can trigger mania, most over the counter medications can as well.
  • Seasonal changes; episodes of mania and depression are sometimes caused by the seasons changing.
  • Sleep deprivation; loss of sleep can trigger a manic episode even skipping a few hours of sleep.

So, what’s the difference? Well, BPD is a personality disorder that causes you to think, feel, act, and relate differently than those without it. Bipolar Disorder is a mood disorder, which is a category of illnesses that causes severe mood changes.

For more information, please visit:

  • medicalnewstoday.com
  • helpguide.org
  • healthmatters.nyp.org
Tech/Games

The switch to the Switch: How the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly increased and continues to increase the sales of the Nintendo Switch

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By: David Meyer

Nearly four years ago, the Nintendo Switch was released and received amazing reviews immediately, and within the first six months the console had sold over 20 million units. The console has continued to grow since then and has accumulated over 60 million units sold, with nearly half of the sales being within the past fiscal year. And although about 10 million of these sales were within the holiday season, the overall rate of the sales of the Switch has increased on average by over 200 percent: the best year of sales, of the Nintendo Switch, over three years after its release.

A large part of the Switch that attracts many customers is the wide range of games you can play on the console, with popular titles such as ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ and ‘Super Mario Odyssey.’

However, as quarantine started to become a necessity to slow the spread of COVID-19, a new game from a series nearly 20 years old was released: ‘Animal Crossing (New Horizons).’ For many casual gamers, this was a big deal because the previous main series title was released almost a decade earlier. However, this game significantly started to attract newcomers as well, being a sandbox style game that has a very small learning curve with nearly endless hours of playtime. This, coupled with the fact that many people would be staying in their homes for long periods of time, made both the sales of the game, the Nintendo Switch, and the Nintendo Switch Lite skyrocket.

The Nintendo Switch Lite was released by Nintendo in late 2019 as a way to get more customers interested in the Switch and the games that come with the console (although, many people that ended up buying the new console already had a Nintendo Switch). But, with the lowered price of the newer console, and many people eager to try out ‘Animal Crossing’ during quarantine, this console’s popularity grew and its sales followed suit.

Going forward, the Switch announced some very large titles recently, including ‘Super Mario 3D All-Stars’; a collection of the three first 3D Mario games to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros’ initial release. This collection includes three of the highest rated games of all time, all having a score of 97 or above out of 100 on Metacritic which is a very respected source on the popularity of video games.

Additionally, these games are all dated, and especially with one of them, ‘Super Mario Sunshine,’ being nearly two decades old. This made many Mario fans ecstatic, and resulted in the game being sold out for pre-orders within the first three days worldwide. And although the limited time release of the game is partly to blame for this rush, the dramatic sales of this series of nostalgic games for so many will no doubt continue to increase the sales of the Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite in the near future.

Books/Art, Editorials/Student Voice

Mental illnesses expressed through art

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By: Grace Blummer-Lamotte

There are many different mental illnesses in the world. This can include depression, anxiety, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Schizophrenia, ADHD, and many others.

Some choose to show their feelings through journaling, painting, drawing, sketching, charcoal, and other mediums. Usually many different artworks have a bigger meaning behind the actual art: it could be a personal connection or a traumatic experience. 

Around the end of June, in summer 2020, I struggled a lot with my mental health. I went through many different programs and I still am. I like showing my feelings of my mental illnesses through art. I do not like talking about it because I feel like I can’t find the words, but I can draw pictures of it. I currently have a sketchbook full of many of my paintings of my feelings throughout the past 4 months. 

To other people, they just see a simple painting. They don’t see the big picture behind it. One of my paintings has a human head profile that appears to be drowning, with their mouth stitched up. Many people just see an amazing painting and don’t ask about the story behind it. My story behind this specific drawing is when I was at the lowest point in my life I felt like I was drowning. I was drowning but I couldn’t say anything because my mouth was stitched up. The water represented my thoughts and feelings. I just had to sit there in my thoughts and feelings and not say anything about it; drowning silently while having no one notice, no one care, no one supporting me. 

According to the Western Journal of Medicine, the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh had evidence of manic depression and alcohol abuse. Much of his artwork could suggest a bigger story behind them. He uses the color yellow a lot in all of his art; that could be because of his alcohol abuse, as he drank absinthe that contains thujone. “Excessive consumption of this liqueur may cause the consumer to see all objects with a yellow hue.” Another explanation of this theory was Van Gogh using overmedication with digitalis. When people receive large doses of this medication they often see the world with a yellow/green-tint. In his most famous painting, “The Starry Night”, he produces a bit of the color yellow around the painting. Sadly in 1890 he committed suicide.

Editorials/Student Voice

Why Bob Woodward’s Trump interview should concern everyone

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By: Quentin Miller.

Many may already be aware of the recently leaked interviews between Trump and the famous reporter Bob Woodward. But for those who have not heard of it, to build anticipation for his upcoming book, Bob Woodward leaked parts of interviews between him and Trump regarding his presidency. 

One specific part of this interview, conducted on Feb 7th according to The Washington Post, contained Trump saying “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”, implying that he was very aware that COVID-19 was much more deadly than he let on.                                                          

Speaking of what he let on, here’s what he had to say on Feb 28th at his South Carolina rally, 21 days after admitting COVID-19 was a serious threat, “Whoever thought of this two weeks ago? Who would’ve thought this could be going on four weeks ago?”. You, you did Trump.

Now, why should this concern you? Well under UN definition, a decision is considered genocide if it has the intention to destroy part of/the entirety of an ethnic or religious group based off of their ethnicity or religion, and one of the following acts associated with it:

  • Killing members of the group
  • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
  • Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part
  • Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
  • Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

So, theoretically, if Trump knew that poorer people can’t get proper medical treatment and that poorer areas in the U.S. are normally made of minorities, and he showed a clear motive for wanting to commit genocide, that would make a very clear case for the hundreds of thousands of deaths due to corona to be genocide. According to PBS, on Jun 11th, 2016, Trump claimed, “You live in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs” while referring to African Americans. This clearly shows he is aware African American people, or as he likes to say “The Blacks,” face clear financial disadvantages. 

Also, according to The New York Times, Trump, during April 2020, said this when referring to a plan to cover uninsured treatments of COVID-19, “This should alleviate any concern uninsured Americans may have about seeking the coronavirus treatment.” This shows that he is aware people who can’t afford/don’t own an insurance policy need aid in paying for treatment. 

But what could the motive be? As has been reported on by PBS’ NewsHour, there are many possibilities.

Maybe the idea that Mexico is the enemy to the United States, and implying many Hispanics are rapist is his motive. But if blatant racism and harsh language towards Mexico and its people wasn’t evidence enough that he has disdain towards minorities, just take the words of Rep. Elijah Cummings who claimed Trump’s words and actions are hurtful and offensive to the black community.

So, maybe it’s the fact that he constantly voiced support and thanks to African American’s during Black History Month, only to completely ignore them almost directly after Black History Month was over.

Or maybe it’s when he openly supported “Stop and Frisk” laws which have been proven to discriminate against minorities.

Maybe his claim that the reason black youth have a hard time is because of their lack of spirit is his motive. Or when he called people protesting the very suspicious death of Freddie Gray “thugs,” aware of the fact that the majority of them were black. 

So, Trump has a motive for genocide, let a pandemic he knew was deadly devastate poor areas, and knew that demographics he was clearly racist towards would be hit hard by his actions. In short, he committed genocide in the opinion of this writer. And any world leader who is genocidal against minorities should concern you. 

For more information, please check out the following:

  1. ‘Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans’ by: Robert Costa and Philip Rucker, at The Washington Post
  2. ‘Donald Trump Charleston, South Carolina Rally Transcript – February 28, 2020’ on rev.com
  3. ‘What exactly Trump has said about race’ by:Lisa Desjardins, at PBS NewsHour