Tag Archives: Editorial

Editorials/Student Voice, Science/Nature, World

Water and food crisis

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By: Tenley Em

A view of most of North America taken from a low orbit of about 826 km altitude by NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring via Wikimedia Commons

Currently, about 266 million people are said to be at risk of hunger, and on the other hand 1.8 billion people don’t have access to a safe and reliable water source. We get our water from nature; it comes from rivers, lakes, etc. We are lucky to have the privilege to be able to use and drink this water, but when our ecosystems are overused, polluted, or damaged, we put our own water supply at risk. If water sources are not taken care of, the water we use could become unsafe, unreliable, or even more expensive. Water is something we need every single day, so when we damage the places that provide it, we are also putting ourselves at risk by making the water unsafe for ourselves.

Another major issue is climate change and the fact that we are continuing to warm the Earth. The world is already getting hotter, so making it even warmer can create even more serious problems. Climate change can affect where clouds and rainfall move. One example is the expansion of the Hadley Cell, which can cause areas like sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Central America to get less rain.

At the same time, other areas can experience more precipitation, leading to more flooding. At least 21 million people around the world are currently at risk from river flooding, and that number could possibly increase to 54 million by 2030. Floods can destroy homes, farms, roads, and even sources of clean water. For example, severe flooding in Bangladesh affected about 5.7 million people and caused 115 deaths. This shows just how serious flooding can be and how many people can be affected by it.

Healthy ecosystems are also a type of natural infrastructure. This means that nature can do some of the things that we would usually need to build systems for. Forests, wetlands, rivers, and plants can help provide clean water and protect communities from flooding. They can also filter pollution and prevent soil from being washed away. For example, wetlands can absorb and hold a large amount of extra water during a flood. Trees and other plants can also help keep dirt and pollution out of rivers and lakes. When we destroy forests and wetlands, we lose some of this natural protection. As a result, flooding and water pollution can become even worse.

All of this connects to the food crisis around the world. People need water to grow food, and farmers depend on water for their crops and animals. When there is a drought, crops can die because there is not enough water. On the other hand, floods can destroy crops by giving them too much water, and people can end up with less food.

Another issue that is happening around our world right now is the food crisis. In 2024, more than 295 million people in 53 countries and territories are going through hunger. Millions of children also suffered from this because they did not have enough food. There are many different reasons people go hungry. Wars can destroy their farms and make it harder for food to reach people. Food can also become too expensive for families to afford. Climate change can make these problems even worse by causing droughts, floods, heat waves, and severe storms.

In 2024, around 96 million people faced serious food insecurity because of climate-related problems. When farmers lose their crops, there is less food available. This can also cause food prices to go up, making it even harder for families who are already struggling to afford what they need. Water and food are closely connected. Without clean and reliable water, it becomes much harder to grow food. Without healthy ecosystems, it also becomes harder to keep our water clean. Climate change can make both of these problems worse. This is why protecting the environment is so important.

There are things we can do to help. We can protect forests, wetlands, rivers, and lakes instead of destroying them. Farmers can use water more carefully and take steps to protect their soil. We can also work to prevent pollution from getting into our water sources. The Earth provides us with almost everything we need to survive, including food, water, clean air, and healthy land. If we continue damaging the environment, our problems with water and food could become even worse. Taking care of nature is not just about protecting plants and animals. It is also about taking care of ourselves and making sure future generations have a healthy planet to live on.

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Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Laziness Is A Lie

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By: Avi Wyler and Louise Wallraff

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

When I was in 7th grade, I was a huge procrastinator. When teachers gave me homework assignments, I was much more likely to put them off then do any of it. I’d go home, stay on my computer until bedtime, go to bed late, rinse and repeat. At my very worst, I was ignoring over 35 overdue assignments, wasn’t participating in extracurricular activities and was barely participating in class.

What I have just described is something that many people would consider laziness — I wasn’t getting work done, I wasn’t taking care of myself and, most importantly, there were no obvious signs that I was trying to change, or even cared. But here’s the thing: I was trying to change, and I did care. A lot. So much, in fact, that every afternoon spent on my computer was a desperate attempt to distract myself from how much stress my overdue work was giving me.

That feeling of anxiety is often felt by others that have had similar experiences to me. Most people want to do well and live good lives. Most people care about the work they put in. It’s not an issue of morality, or even work ethic. But then what is the issue? Why can’t so many people get themselves to do work? And is laziness even a thing?

To understand this, we first have to look at where the idea of productivity comes from, and that question is easy to answer. Since the moment America was founded, values of “self-reliance” and “diligence”, rooted in religious beliefs, have always been core principles of society. In fact, they were historically used to rationalize slavery and are still used to justify economic oppression: it was your fault you couldn’t do the work, not the fault of those who were putting it on your shoulders.

Today, we start preparing for our future jobs from kindergarten, and don’t get a break until 65, the average year of retirement. This is in order to make enough money to survive in America, with the average household expenditure costing 80,000, but also because it becomes our only purpose. When how hard we work is tied to our value as people, we live to work instead of work to live. It should not be this way. But what is actually happening in our bodies that causes us to feel that motivation at all?

Our motivation is tied to a host of different things. According to psychiatrists Elenor Simpson and Peter Balsam at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, whether we’re motivated to do something at all is related to the weighing of costs and benefits. This cost/benefit balance can change drastically depending upon how rewarding doing a task feels and the physical/mental state of our bodies.

If you are in an environment that causes you anxiety, being in a constant fight-or-flight mode can significantly impact your motivation. People that have less dopamine in their system also struggle with motivation because completing a task doesn’t feel as rewarding. And if you feel stuck, or overwork yourself, motivation can also crash significantly in the form of burnout.

Unfortunately, most people that suffer from motivation issues aren’t given the help or understanding necessary to get back on their feet, causing a cycle of procrastination that can lead to feelings of hopelessness.

The idea of laziness and a non-stop work ethic ingrained in our culture is detrimental to us as students. We are surrounded by it: from parents pressuring us to work harder and get A’s, from teachers and coaches piling more work on our plates, and from never ending clips on social media of successful people teaching us new strategies and techniques to achieve perfection. Our brains constantly checking off items on an imaginary checklist makes us feel like we can never get a break, and on top of that, phone notifications streaming in force us to always be “on.”

We need to stop being so hard on one another. Equating our bodies’ response to a stressful world as “laziness” only makes things worse. Instead, we should treat signs of toxic productivity seriously so we can stop feeling so burnt out all the time. To paraphrase Harvard Health Publishing, feelings like a false sense of urgency, the inability to relax, and guilt or shame about not accomplishing enough can be combatted with deep breathing, journaling, and examining your relationship with downtime.

Take a break! Make sure to find time in your week to actually relax or do the things you enjoy! Even if those suggestions don’t help, be comforted by the fact that many others are going through the same thing. There isn’t something wrong with you; the whole concept of productivity being tied to self worth just comes from a system that is trying to blame you for its own faults.

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Editorials/Student Voice, Sports

NIL and Transfer Portal

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By: Fred Gallatin

Over the last few years, the landscape of college basketball has completely shifted when it comes to NIL and the transfer portal. As recently as 2018, there were harsh restrictions on players looking to get paid or transfer schools. 

Players were banned from receiving any benefits from schools that the league deemed “excessive”. The power of this rule was displayed with the NCAA’s “Cream Cheese Rule” that was repealed in 2014. It stated that schools could provide prospective student-athletes with bagels but not extra spreads like cream cheese or peanut butter.

Before the rule changed, players who accepted even small amounts of assistance, food, or money lost scholarships, eligibility, and professional opportunities. Collegiate athletes struggled to make ends meet. They spent so much time in the classroom and around their sport that working a job was extremely difficult. 

After winning the 2014 National Championship, UConn star Shabazz Napier famously told reporters, “Some nights I go to bed starving but still have to play up to my capabilities”. This enraged the general public and resulted in the NCAA providing athletes with access to unlimited meals. 

As college sports (specifically football and basketball) shifted into a borderline amateur league, schools began bringing in millions of dollars. Additionally, the NCAA makes more than a billion dollars annually from March Madness alone. 

In 2009, UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon was featured in EA’s NCAA Basketball 09 without giving permission or receiving any compensation. In August 2014, after five years of dispute, the O’Bannon vs NCAA case ended with athletes being granted the right to their own name, image, and likeness (NIL). 

Still, the NCAA was hesitant to allow players control and money. This was the case until 2021, when the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the NCAA’s restrictions violated antitrust laws. Additionally, states began passing laws that made it illegal for schools to punish athletes for accepting NIL benefits. This forced the NCAA to change their stance on player revenue. 

Also in 2021, the one-time transfer rule was added, which meant players could transfer schools for the first time and immediately play without sitting out a season like in previous years. This rule was soon replaced with the modern transfer portal, which essentially allows players to become free agents within the NCAA. 

Since these changes were implemented, college basketball is a different game than it was five years ago. Poaching culture, roster instability, and locker room disparities now run rampant. 

When players at mid-major schools have a breakout season, they are almost immediately poached by a larger, wealthier school. A prime example of this is Kansas State’s Nigel Pack, who, in 2023, entered the transfer portal and headed to Miami for $400,000 and a luxury car. He and the Hurricanes immediately made it to the Final Four in their first season together. 

The Michigan Wolverines won the National Championship in 2026, and have been heavily criticized for their usage of the transfer portal and NIL. After their head coach, Dusty May, left Florida Atlantic in 2024, he began assembling a formidable roster that leaned heavily on the transfer portal. 

The team’s entire starting lineup was poached by Michigan from a variety of schools. These starters and their former schools are listed below.

F Morez Johnson, Illinois

F Yaxel Lendeborg, UAB

C Aday Mara, UCLA

G Elliot Cadeau, North Carolina

G Nimari Burnett, Alabama and Texas Tech

All these players were given massive, but undisclosed amounts of money to transfer. 

With the new fluidity of college sports, building a long-standing roster that shares values and relationships is difficult. Coaches like Michigan State’s Tom Izzo have spent decades developing their school’s expectations and culture. Senior night and other traditions have lost value due to the disappearance of the four-year player archetype.

Since 2021, roster turnover has doubled, meaning coaches have to work twice as hard to get their players to come back and assist in growing a well-cultured and strong program. 

Rivalries do not cut as deep, players lack connection to their peers and campus, and money controls the decisions of many players in the NCAA. 

Locker room disparity has also become a major concern in modern college basketball. For example, BYU star AJ Dybantsa made over 5 million dollars in NIL money this season, while some of his teammates only made a few thousand.

This damages team chemistry and sparks internal competitions between players. When combined with the impact of the transfer portal, tensions are higher than ever on many teams across the country.

Overall, a large majority of people believe that the transfer portal and NIL earnings are a good thing for the NCAA, but that it needs to be controlled more. 

The Emory Wheel said that “The transfer portal overshot the sweet spot of giving players deserved freedom and crossed the threshold of giving players too much authority on a team”. 

Players are able to live comfortably and capitalize on their hard work, but roster-building grows more difficult and team chemistry continues to dwindle. 

Smaller schools struggle to compete due to roster poaching, which results in less March Madness Cinderella runs and upsets. Small mid-major schools have one shot at doing damage before the players they built up are stolen by larger schools. 

Finally, what makes college basketball so special is slowly being phased out of the game. Rivalries, school pride, and tradition are becoming less prominent with each season that passes. It is important for players to make money and make decisions for the future, but something must be done to maintain the integrity and tradition of college basketball and other sports.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Pros and cons of being homeschooled (high school edition)

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By: Arturo Benitez-Osorio

Image via Canvas

Homeschooling in high school is all about freedom and responsibility. On the pro side you can skip the social drama of high school and focus entirely on your own goals. You can also finish your work faster instead of the 7-8 hours of being at school waiting for the bell to ring giving you time for a job, sports, hobbies and more.

On the other hand, it can get very boring since you’re not socializing with people that much. Like going to a fun school event, daily classes with your friends and lunch. It’s also harder because you and your parents have to make sure to actually learn difficult subjects without a professional teacher standing there teaching y’all.

Is it a good idea?

It is good if you’re someone who wants to get a head start on life and doesn’t mind studying alone. It is bad if you use it as an excuse to sleep in all day and not do work or if you feel sad when you aren’t around with your friends.

Who should do it?

  • Someone who has a big goal and needs a flexible schedule
  • Someone who is bored in class but gets the work done early

Who shouldn’t do it?

  • Someone who loves to socialize and loves being part of a crowd and would feel left out
  • Someone who needs a teacher watching them to get any work done

Conclusion

If you need more time and need to have a flexible schedule, but you will know that you’ll do the work on time and wouldn’t have trouble learning alone without a professional teacher and have everything turned in, then homeschooling is for you. But, if you struggle to stay motivated on your own then stay in a traditional school.

Books/Art, Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

The ghost in the machine: Is AI killing the artist or just the brush

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By: Weston Halgunseth

Robotic arm labeled ART-BOT 01 painting a colorful abstract canvas in a studio
A robotic arm creating a colorful abstract painting in an artist’s studio. Image created with AI

Introduction

For centuries art was defined by the muscle ache of musicians, paint soaked clothes, and pencil lead fingers of artists. To create means to physically struggle with concepts and tools. However, in the last few years a new artist has joined which is AI. While many celebrate this as a “new era” others fear we are trading human touch, meaning, originality for mere convenience and speed.

The rise of the machine

The statistics are hard to ignore. Today a vast majority of artists are using AI to generate or do most of the work with stuff like drawing, instruments, painting and books and stories. We have moved from a world where you had to spend months to years learning to play instruments, draw realistically, make complex stories, etc, to a world where you simply type “make me a story about ____, make me a song, etc” into a box.

What we gain vs What we lose

On one hand tech provides accessibility and speed especially with broke people that want to make music but are low on money but still want to learn. Another plus is that if you have a great idea but have no skill to make it, AI can help you express that idea. But the cost is steep. When a computer generates a piece of art, it lacks the element of human experience, emotion and overall just seems dull and boring most of the time, losing the stuff that made art pop.

The devaluation of “the doer”

The most concerning trend I saw is the shift from “doing”. If a machine can create a perfect art piece in seconds what happens to the person who spends hours practicing their art? I’m seeing a decline in dedication in art. As people become more used to the “perfection” of algorithms we risk entering a “post human” art era where everything looks and sounds “perfect, flawless, and downright inhuman”. It feels like there was no emotion or bigger picture when making it and it was just making it to look good.

The robbers

Much of the art AI makes isn’t original because AI uses the internet to learn. If it has to look at other art to get an idea of what art is, what is stopping it from just straight up copying or taking most of someone else’s art to make another “masterpiece”? There has been a lot of hate with this especially with stories and taking ideas and phrases from other texts for their “original” art pieces.

The path forward

We must decide if we want technology to be our pen, brush, pick, etc. or our helper and guide for art. The future of creativity depends on our ability to prioritize human “mistakes” and experiences that only a person can show, over an art piece made just to look good and get praise and fame.

Conclusion

Ultimately, a computer can mimic a heartbeat but it cannot feel the rhythm of the brain’s experiences and the emotions that come with that. As we move further into this digital age we must make a conscious effort to support the artists who are still picking up their art supplies and make sure they don’t fall out of the cycle.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Why is it more important that we have more teachers of color in the education system?

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By: Alexsia Williams

This is an image of “African people at work” from Nigeria. 29 June 2017, by Shadowguy97. Via Wikimedia Commons

As someone who has grown up their whole life attending the public school system, there’s only been one teacher of color I recall having, which was in elementary school. Given that I’ve been in the Spanish immersion program my whole life, one thing I’ve noticed is that all my teachers teaching me Spanish have all been white. Now, there is nothing wrong with being a white Spanish teacher, but sometimes I do wonder what it would be like if I was actually being taught Spanish by someone who has grown up speaking Spanish their entire life and that’s their family’s native language. For this reason I believe that representation truly matters because when you have someone teaching you who also may happen to look like you, there is a more likely chance that you will end up building a better connection and a stronger relationship with that particular teacher.

Studies have shown that having teachers of color can be very beneficial for several reasons. The first one being is that having teachers of color can improve a student’s academic performance, and the outcome with that is that they have the potential and a more likely chance of being referred to gifted programs when they have a teaching professional who looks like them.

The second reason being is that when students have a teacher of color they often build more trusting relationships between themselves and the teacher. With building a trusting connection with a teacher who looks like them, students of color often have a role model and someone who they can look up to.

The third and last reason why teachers of color are important is because they can bring culturally responsive teaching practices which can improve the curriculum and make learning both more fun and engaging.

Although I haven’t had a lot of teachers of color through my education experience, I hope as I leave high school and continue on with my education in college, I hope to see professors who look like me.

Editorials/Student Voice, Local, National, News, World

Why gas prices are so high

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By: Simon Pluger

Strait of Hormuz, 14 May 2021 by: European Space Agency (ESA) via Wikimedia Commons

Since the beginning of 2026, the biggest question is when are the gas prices going to go down? Really, we don’t know but we can statistically track when they will.

Ever since Trump helped Israel launch several bombs to Iran it hasn’t been good. Many people have died mainly in Iran. We bombed hospitals and places with kids but that’s not what we are talking about today.

Since Trump has been very violent towards Iran recently they have been cutting ties and trying to close the Strait of Hormuz which is a narrow body of water in Iran. 20% of the world’s crude oil is passed through the Strait of Hormuz, making it really important. Because of the closure, the ships that are carrying the oil have to redirect and go different routes making it take longer and using more gas and oil itself.

It is not the gas itself that is expensive but it is expensive right now because it is taking more time and importantly, more work, for the oil to arrive where it needs to be. Even if we go to real war with Iran, gas will stay relatively the same price because we will most likely just switch providers of where we buy our gas from and different ways to ship it. As soon as our conflict with Iran stops though, the gas prices will steadily go down as shipping boats are able to go through the Strait of Hormuz. People would think that it would become cheaper very fast, but it won’t because there will still be ships that are going the new alternative ways.

Also, it’s not just the physical shipping that costs money. Other countries need oil too. The supply and demand goes up everywhere so that makes prices go up as well. Since companies don’ t know when they might get their oil, they charge higher prices as they still need to make money, and they are having to spend more.

The hardest part to understand is why things won’t get better the second the fighting stops. The change won’t be rapid, but instead will be more slow. Ships are going to still be stuck at the Strait, or they are going to still be going around Africa. It’s going to take a while for the shipping routes to get back to normal, so we probably shouldn’t expect cheap gas for a few months after peace starts.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Smoking in schools

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By: Janessa Castro Cruz

Photo by Alexas Fotos on Pexels.com

All over the world, but mostly in the schools of the United States, children under 18 use e-cigarettes, vapes and carts more than any other tobacco product. The smoking begins to start as early as 6th grade. Teachers around the world claim to see it more in middle schoolers and in older students, it’s harder to tell as they get better at hiding it.

Smoking has a huge impact on students’ mental health and they either depend on nicotine or cannabis during the school day. School smoking policies can be difficult to apply to students, and many require proof of possession which has made students more capable at hiding their products. Tobacco and nicotine products are daily issues in schools and in children, and educators report that “it’s everywhere”.

The World Health Organization released 2 statements: to “free schools from tobacco and vapes” and a “nicotine and tobacco free school toolkit”.

The toolkit is a guide for schools to create nicotine and tobacco free environments, and it also contains topics on how to support students to quit and implement policies and how to enforce them.

Some of the guides for schools to implement a nicotine and tobacco free environment are:

  • Banning nicotine and tobacco products on school campuses
  • Refusing sponsorship or engagement with tobacco and nicotine industries
  • Banning direct and indirect ads and promotion of nicotine and tobacco products near schools
  • Prohibiting the sale of nicotine and tobacco products near schools

School-wide policies are difficult to enforce when it comes to tobacco use; some schools all over the world have requested for stronger policies and some educators only use the school resources while others demand a social wide shift. A lot of schools worldwide were successful at implementing those policies after the WHO’s statements were released, and were also successful in implementing policies that support tobacco and nicotine free environments. Even though the tobacco use in schools is still big, schools try their hardest to apply those rules.

Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

The ethical concerns about the development of AI

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By: Calvin Westin

Photo by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels.com

The story about Prometheus, where fire stolen by a mythical figure from the gods became a symbol of the destructive and bad side of progress. While giving humankind a tool for making civilization and ruling the world, the fire itself remained uncontrollable. Mary Shelley used this same idea while creating the book of Victor Frankenstein, whose creation had made something too powerful to stay under its creator’s control, similar to fire in ancient times. And now, as the development of artificial intelligence technology progresses at a fast speed, it seems humans are once again following this pattern. By publishing these powerful artificial intelligence algorithms, companies like OpenAI are committing theft of fire, therefore risking disruption of domains of human intelligence.

People are also worried that our current safety rules aren’t enough to keep up. In Chapter 5 of Shelley’s book, Victor Frankenstein’s sadness creates an unsettling relationship. Having brought the monster into being, Frankenstein goes on, “This was then the reward of my curiosity; and I became myself capable of bestowing existence on whom I had created. Perhaps a corpse would be reanimated; galvanism had give tokens of such a wonder.”

This story is a major warning for us today. Scientists like Geoffrey Hinton believe that computers will soon beat humans in terms of dealing with data analysis and handling data. Once developers lose control over the results produced by the machines, there will be serious consequences following after that.

Consequently, it appears to be time that IT professionals start actually managing and executing their responsibilities more effectively. New tech isn’t an excuse to do sketchy stuff in this field, so experts working on AI really need to follow some strict safety rules while they’re doing their research.

In the end, the people who create anything have full moral responsibility for it.