By Ellen Page

CORTLAND, NY--- The beginning of the 2020 school year does not compare to previous years. Since we left in March of last year, Cortland High School has had to adapt to new changes while facing the COVID-19 pandemic. New guidelines and rules have been put in place for the safety of all.

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed how our school runs and has created many challenges for students and staff. Unfortunately, CHS has had 11 cases since the start of the school year.

The school has made various rules. Many students are doing a good job of following them; students have been mindful during mask breaks and complying with seating charts. The high school has done exactly what the health department has asked of It. The pandemic has been a good learning experience for teachers; many have learned better ways to use technology to assist in learning.

Some students, however, are not following the rules. Three students have been sent home due to not wearing masks. It has been made very clear through messages and signs around the school that mask wearing is an expectation. It is not intended as a punishment, but is for the safety of everyone in the building.

Between 45 and 50 students who started in-person learning have switched to online learning, often due to pandemic anxiety. The school has made It very easy to get help with mental issues. Counselors have been doing home visits and Google Meet calls with students who need help.

Opinion: I feel as though many rules and guidelines have been established but, some students are not abiding by them. Almost every student has observed others wearing masks improperly; whether it be below the nose or not at all, it has been an increasing problem. Some students receive multiple warnings in one class period or throughout the week. It is important that we all follow the rules the school has established in order to stay open and for the good of everyone at the school.

By Alysia Scott

Face masks have been causing extreme acne for multiple people during this pandemic. Chafing is also an issue because the masks cause skin irritation.

Since the pandemic started many public places require masks and many people have different opinions on these masks. The masks can hold bacteria, dirt and oil from your skin if you wear it multiple times without washing it. Masks make it so your pores can easily be clogged causing pimples or cysts. Lots of people’s maskne starts with dryness or skin peeling from the irritation of the masks.

Harry Dao is a dermatologist who does a good job of explaining maskne and how to prevent from getting it yourself. “Masks impose heat, friction and occlusion on the skin and when combined with a moist environment from breathing, talking or sweating, this is a recipe for breakouts,” Dao says. Acne is just one of the skin conditions people are receiving from wearing face masks. Some more examples are Rosacea, Eczema, Allergies, and Seborrheic dermatitis. Seborrheic dermatitis is when the skin becomes inflamed and scaly. and Rosacea is when the skin becomes reddish and has a flushed look to it from certain blood vessels enlarged on the face.

Some ways to prevent these skin conditions from happening to you are wash your face before even thinking about putting a mask on. You should also apply a good moisturizer, so your skin is less likely to cause friction from the face mask. Ladies or gentlemen, try to avoid applying face makeup if you know you’ll be wearing a mask for a long period of time because it can trap the makeup in your pores which causes breakouts. This one is obvious but try to only wear clean masks because the dirt will definitely find its way to your skin if it's dirty.

Overall this pandemic started back in March and we still have no clue how long we will still be wearing these masks for, so we need to look out for each other and our skin. We might be wearing them for much longer, so having a plan for your skin in the meantime is ideal. Because no one likes unexpected acne and breakouts. You can always visit any dermatologist if you feel like nothing is working for you.

Vinyl has been around since the 1940s, and has served as many people’s first way to consume music. Many older people dropped it for the easier to handle cassette and CD, and many may only listen to the radio and digital now. But lately there’s been a ‘resurgence’ of vinyl. Vinyl sales have been growing for the past 14 years and are now surpassing CDs, the biggest invention to come to physical music in the last 30 years. Many people are questioning why people are suddenly buying vinyl again and why it is becoming many people's favorite way to listen to music when ‘better’ options exist.

One reason is vinyl has been around for almost 100 years, which means there are tons of albums laying around. Someone in the family could even be sitting on a pile of collectable records, that (if well taken care of) could sound exactly like the day they were bought. Vinyl can be one of the most accessible music formats, due to the sheer amount there is out there and popularity even in the past century.

One thing that can turn people off of starting vinyl is warping and scratches on the records. There are many horror stories about warped records, and how easily they scratch. But in all actuality, vinyl has to be pretty hot to warp completely, and has to have pressure on top of the record to fully warp. Which means if they are stored carefully they’ll be completely fine, and the person can keep them away from sharp objects to make sure they don’t get scratched. From personal experience I have pretty scratched records that play completely fine, and have only come across one or two completely warped ones at garage sales, that did so because they were placed directly in sunlight.

They may be easy to store, but people may think it might be expensive to start collecting records, especially ones that are in genres less popular that people specifically want. This (in most cases) is not true. One of the best ways to start a collection is going to garage sales, there might not be anything modern but a can collection can start on the back of one dollar Disney soundtracks and classic rock records. And if the person does want something more modern they could go to a local record store or even Walmart to get albums they want for cheap. They don’t even have to have a massive collection and only have a few twenty dollar albums they personally want. That's one of the appealing things about records, it’s all up to the individual. Most genres and albums are on vinyl now making them accessible, a person may want to collect every hip hop album, and within reason they could do that, but they also have the option to get only things from their favorite artists, or only one artist entirely.

Another thing that draws people to vinyl nowadays is that they can come in super cool colors, and a variety of extras with etchings, picture discs, and posters all included in a 20 dollar package. It’s also a selling point to many people to have the album artwork as it was intended and the official lyrics to read along to the music.

Not only is it easy to get records themselves but it’s also easy to get a cheap turntable at Walmart or department store, and then if the person thoroughly enjoys vinyl they can get a better system. A lot of audio equipment can also be found at garage sales for cheap, I personally have a 2,000 dollar setup I only spend a total of 30 dollars on. The person could also get old equipment instead of overpaying, there exist many resources on how to get the best setup for the cheapest.

A setup like this can make music sound the best it can be, and if a stereo system with an equalizer on it, there’s the possibility to essentially mix the album the way the person wants them to sound. The bass can be adjusted, and even basic ones have bass boosting options. There’s also cheap small surround systems, and that can really push the vinyl sounds like for a full immersive experience .

There’s many reasons why people are suddenly switching to vinyl for their go to music source, while some people still stick with digital. Both of these ways to consume music is valid, and up to the individual in the end, due to many different factors. Vinyl has been resurging due to many things and it may even overtake digital sales, but it seems to be much more than a retro fad.

Cortland, NY- Mrs. Bottle has been an English teacher for the past 13 years. She currently teaches 11th and 12th grade english as well as mythology. She recently received the February Teacher of the Month Award. This award is given to a teacher monthly by a majority of other teachers for going above and beyond for their students.

In a recent interview with Mrs. Bottle, she stated “I am honored to be recognized by my peers”, when conversing about her initial feelings when hearing about the news. Of course, there's a good reason behind receiving the award. A couple weeks ago a class of hers had a vent session. They discussed how they were feeling about online and in person learning, how their workloads are, and how this year is compared to the end of later years at the beginning of the pandemic (as you may know this Friday marks one year since we were told that we would be getting a 2 week break). Hearing how the students truly felt deeply hurt Mrs. Bottle as an educator and a regular person, she decided to send a school wide email telling teachers how the students are feeling and what they can do to figure out how to help the students.

Mrs. Bottle doesn’t plan on stopping now though, she plans on “continuing to recognize the current challenges the structure poses and be a personal support, academically and emotionally for my students”. Although she is not all knowing, a little advice helps, “remember we teach people first, students second”. Mrs. Bottle further explains this by stating that a lot of teachers get caught up in making sure their students pass their class but end up forgetting that they have personal lives”.

Just over a month into Joe Biden’s presidency, his administration is facing severe criticism after the U.S. carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria. At least 22 were killed according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in London.

The Pentagon said the airstrikes on the selected buildings in Syria were used by Iranian-backed militias. According to an administration official and Defense official, the bombings were in retaliation for rocket attacks on U.S. personnel that the Pentagon blamed on the Shiite militia in Iraq earlier in the month.

A second airstrike attack in Syria last month was called off when a woman and two children were spotted in the area. The disruption of those civilians means only one of the U.S.’s targets were successfully bombed.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Biden’s decision to call off the second target’s bombing was “last moment” before the aircrafts were due to drop bombs. According to the Biden administration, they sent a private message to Iran following the strike.

Roughly 2,500 U.S. troops are stations in Iraq. The Shiite militias have recently become a threat for Western troops who operate in the country and are backed by the Iranian government.

The attacks were heavily critized by Democrats and Republicans alike on social media following the announcement of the bombings, citing Biden’s hypocricy. During his 2020 election campaign, Biden promised U.S. residents that he would put forward his efforts to minimize war violence and help bring the troops stateside. Yet again, it seems like the president and his administration lied to his supporters in order to gain support and power, just to become the next one in office.

Since the start of the pandemic, scientists have been working to create a vaccine. Now that we have one, some question if the vaccine is safe due to the speed at which it was developed.

Those with doubts include minorities, conspiracy theorists, and some who are just skeptical. Health officials have been trying to convince these groups that the vaccine is safe. During an interview posted Jan. 9 on YouTube by Buzzfeed, infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci tried to relieve people's concerns.

“There was no cutting corners, safety was not compromised, scientific integrity was not compromised. The speed was related completely to the breathtaking scientific advances that have been made over the previous 10 or more years,” Fauci said.

The vaccine was developed in less than a year. The first COVID-19 vaccines were shipped to the U.S Dec. 14. Since then, 82 million doses have been administered.

The COVID-19 vaccine has gone through rigorous trials. Many fear that it is possible to contract COVID from the vaccine, but that is not true. Breakthroughs in science have allowed for faster development of vaccines. The vaccines have met standards set by the FDA, and have gone through the four phases that vaccines must go through in order to be released for the public. The vaccines have been under careful monitoring.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, “None of the authorized and recommended COVID-19 vaccines or COVID-19 vaccines currently in development in the United States contain the live virus that causes COVID-19. This means that a COVID-19 vaccine cannot make you sick with COVID-19.”

Getting the vaccine will help to keep you, your loved ones and others safe. It is important to remember that even though you may be healthy, those with compromised immune systems would have a harder time fighting off the virus.

Xenophobia towards members of the Asian community have been on the rise amid the spike in novel coronavirus cases in the United States last April. The virus which originated in Wuhan, China has spread vigorously among the nation and globe. Ignorant people have been dehumanizing members of the Asian community for this spike in COVID-19 cases. We are seeing a rise in rallies for Asian lives, as well as other minorities. This has become a mirroring trend in this country, and we all must be allies of the Asian community to prevent this.

A Taiwanese woman in Cleveland was walking on the street and a man yelled from his truck “Get out of my country! That's an order. I’ll kill you.” Can you imagine walking on the streets in a city that you pay taxes towards, and have your life threatened all because of your race? There is no way to validate these attacks other than one's own hatred, prejudice and xenophobia within themselves. The people committing these xenophobic attacks mistake Asian community members as Chinese, when they are Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Korean ect. People are jumping the gun and automatically assuming that one person who appears as Asian is chinese, and that assumption is completely uneducated and uninformed. There have been 2800 recorded Asian-hate incidents between March 19, 2020 and Dec 31, 2020 and even more have gone unrecorded.

The first case of COVID-19 that was recorded in the United States was from a caucasian male who had just recently travelled home from Wuhan. The beginning of COVID-19 in the United States did NOT start from an asian individual, and to blame the spread of COVID-19 on Asian community members by physically and mentally abusing them is completely hateful and unrealistic. Another Asian woman in New York City was physically assaulted by 47 year old Patrick Mateo earlier this month. According to court documents, this is not being investigated as a hate crime, but rather Mateo is being charged with assault and harassment. He pleads not guilty, even though there is security camera footage of him blatantly abusing this woman. Many other cases of attacks on Asians are not being investigated as hate crimes.

Part of the fuel that pushed these attacks to this point was our former President Trump, as he himself would publicly make racist and xenophobic comments about the Asian community as a whole due to the coronavirus pandemic. The perpetrators of these acts of violence reasoning is because of the origin of the virus in China, they target Asian elders as they typically are unable to speak english and have limited mobility due to their old age. The spread of COVID-19 in the United States is not one specific racial community’s “fault”, but rather our country's leaders for not taking more precautionary measures sooner, and underestimating the devastation and danger of this virus to many Americans.

A solution to this problem would be to take a deeper dive into the real problem with hate in our country, and the real reason that COVID-19 is prevailing in our country, which is not wearing masks when outside of your immediate home and disregarding social distancing and CDC guidelines. Being racist is not a trait that someone is naturally born with, but rather taught and learnt. In elementary schools, it is so important to teach young students about every race and their history and how every race has relevance in the United States. Opening the conversation about acceptance and history of different races from a young age in the classroom is how we avoid creating a generation of hateful and racist people like the one we are experiencing now. How hard we work, the rights that we deserve or the treatment we receive should not be affected by our race or ethnicity. At the end of the day, we are all human and we all deserve peace.

These Asian hate crimes are on a fast incline and action needs to be taken immediately, and justice needs to be served. What we can do is shed light to the situation on social media platforms, using the #StopAsianHate with all posts. All of us no matter our race need to recognize the severity of the issue and refrain from comparing it to struggles of other minorities. Secondly, if you are able to, volunteer to be an escort for an elderly Asian so we can avoid them being in harms’ way. Finally, donating to the #EnoughIsEnough campaign which provides meals to the community, some of which are unable to venture out due to fear of being assaulted. Be the change that we need to see in this world and #StopAsianHate.