EVOLV, a weapons detection company that schools and event centers throughout the U.S have spent millions on, is now being sued by a New York student after they were injured by a weapon that passed through the company’s AI detectors. 

The company is domestic and produces ‘weapons detectors’ that use Artificial Intelligence to spot concealed weapons such as knives, guns, and explosives. According to their website, these devices have many advantages that regular metal detectors do not, such as not needing to hand over belongings or slow their pace while they pass through them. They function by using “safe, ultra-low frequency, electromagnetic fields and advanced sensors to detect concealed weapons,” as stated on the frequently asked questions page of their website.

In October of 2022, a student was stabbed by another student in New York’s Utica City School District after a hunting style knife passed through undetected, and the affected student and their family is now suing the company.  

In response to this, EVOLV issued a statement saying that there was confusion among school officials on the capabilities of their system, and when asked by NY1, a New York news station, if the machines could detect knives they reportedly said that they don’t discuss the details and capabilities of the system with the public. In the lawsuit, the student mentions that EVOLV claimed that they could detect “all the guns, all the bombs and all the large tactical knives.” 

Not only is the student suing the company, but the city and the school district are under allegations of deceptive marketing, negligence, product liability, failure to warn, and false representations. The city claims that they had nothing to do with the EVOLV system, “The city had no involvement with the EVOLV system and as such the city does not see any basis for the lawsuit against it,” stated Zachery Oren, the first assistant corporation counsel for the city of Utica. 

This lawsuit has stirred up many concerns about the effectiveness of this system after many districts across the country have implemented the system. News outlets have done in depth explorations on the topic and have reported that everyday items such as chrome books, binders, chargers, eyeglass cases, etc. trigger the alarms but not actual weapons. Much of this research has been conducted by Internet Protocol Video Market, or IPVM, a security group that focuses on reporting on video surveillance technology. In a report held by the IPVM, it states that the system is not capable of detecting all types of knives, with an overall 58% detection rate. A version of this report was published by EVOLV, but without these details. 

Another concern brought up by a JCPS middle school teacher was how many staff it took to man the machines, and how the district didn’t hire extra personnel after implementing the system. “Because so many security staff are stationed around the detectors, it feels less safe in the school. There’s no one immediately around to help with a safety concern, such as a fight, in most areas of the school.”

World famous artist Billie Eilish recently announced her new album Hit Me Hard and Soft is being released on May 17th, 2024. Soon after, she announced she will be doing another world tour. Her fanbase is very excited and has some firm opinions.

Hit Me Hard and Soft is Eilish’s third studio album. There are a total of 10 tracks, titled Skinny, Lunch, Chihiro, Birds of a Feather, Wildflower, The Greatest, L’amour De Ma Vie, The Diner, Bittersuite, and Blue. Blue is a song that bits and pieces of had been leaked in the past but is now set to be released. Based on her past album Happier Than Ever and the track titles, fans are predicting that this album will discuss deep issues and emotions. Eilish is partly known for the fact that she expresses serious topics and personal experiences in her songs. Brown School freshman Nico Greenwell says “I relate to a lot of her music, I think it’s great to have an artist like that.”

Eillish has been on 6 tours, including the 1 by 1 tour, Don’t Smile at Me tour, Happier Than Ever world tour, When We All Fall Asleep tour, Where Do We Go? world tour, Where's my Mind tour. She just announced her 81-date Hit Me Hard and Soft tour which will mark her 7th tour overall, and her 3rd world tour. Eillish’s last tour commenced on April 2nd, 2023, so it's been over a year. Eilish’s fans are ecstatic to be able to see her since they may not have had the chance prior to this. Greenwell says, “I went to her last tour and I was in the nosebleeds. Ever since they ended that night, I have told myself I'm going to her next tour and I am going to be as close as possible.”

The tour was announced on April 29th, 2024, and presale for American Express cardholders started on April 30th and ran through May 1st. The day presale opened, many logged on to view ticket pricing and seats. “I was really surprised about the tickets. They were nowhere near the price I thought they would be. I’m really happy with the seats I got for the price,” Greenwell says. Students across JCPS were even asking teachers to log in to presale. Tickets are now available for everyone to buy. 

Although the album has not yet been released, many are looking forward to it. Billie is known to have amazing live vocals and performing skills. Kali Chowdhury, Brown School 8th grader, says, “It was the best concert I've been to. Everything from the sets to the actual singing and background music was so good.” This album and tour is highly anticipated in the Billie Eilish fan base, and is something that many are looking forward to.

HBO Max released a documentary titled, “Brandy Hellville & The Cult of Fast Fashion” on March 11, 2024. It was directed by Eva Orner, an Academy Award winning filmmaker and producer. This documentary “exposes a system of exploitation within Brandy Melville Land the global fashion industry — from the fast fashion brand's impossible beauty standards to the far-reaching consequences of cheap, mass-produced clothing,” reads the summary on HBO.com.

Most people know this clothing company for being "one size fits all" and using social media to market and advertise. Brandy is a popular store that attracts mostly young girls from ages 12-20. They opened their doors in 2009 in the USA after having successful stores in Italy. 

Many scandals have arisen due to the popularity of this brand. Young girls disagree with their "one size fits all" clothing, as well as their unethical business motto. Previous employees have come forward saying that the managers at Brandy would push Black workers to the stock rooms or anywhere else out of the public eye. 

HBO released this documentary detailing each step of fast fashion production, focusing mostly on the corruption within a ‘small’ brand, Brandy Melville. This film has something more to say, aside from the cult of fast fashion that targets young girls. Fast fashion is filled with unethical labor and exploitation at each level. Worldwide 80 billion pieces of clothing are consumed every year, a 400% increase from only twenty years ago, says GW university in a scholarly article written by Emma Ross. She goes on to say, “The fast fashion industry employs approximately 75 million factory workers worldwide. Of those workers it is estimated that less than 2% of them make a living wage.”

Hayden Mathis, a senior at the J. Graham Brown School, owns multiple garments from Brandy and recently watched the HBO documentary. She says, “that's how it started for me… I saw girls wearing Brandy and thought they were so cool and popular.” She adds, “I was so surprised to see how the employees were treated and all the racism involved.”

Mathis says, “Their Instagram is just a bunch of tall skinny white girls."  Hayden also says she believes “people are still going to shop at Brandy because it's a staple in teenage girl wardrobe.”