Hemorrhagic Disease (HD) is the general term for illnesses caused by one of two diseases: Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) and Bluetongue Virus (BT). The primary difference in these two diseases is the species that is most severely affected. While BT is most common in domestic livestock, like cows or sheep, and often results in death among cattle, EHD primarily affects wild ruminants, such as Mule Deer, Pronghorn Antelope and most notably, Whitetail Deer. EHD was first reported in 1955, where 700 Whitetail succumbed to the disease in New Jersey, and 13 years later, 440 more died in Alberta during an outbreak. In 2007, the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study reported that an indicated 65,000+ whitetails had died of EHD in a total of 31 U.S states (Haas). Unlike BT, EHD is mostly harmless to livestock, and only really affects deer. The key to lowering rates of Hemorrhagic disease in Whitetail Deer is a community effort to maintain the environment and keep water sources clean.

Both EHD and BT have several subtypes and the severity of the symptoms depends on the subtype. Initially, both diseases are contracted from small, biting midges, or gnats. These insects originate from specific outside environments, predominantly poor-quality water sources (caused by animal waste, decaying vegetation, algal buildup, etc) and surrounding soil (Haas). Populations of these gnats spike during summer, especially in dry periods after rainfall meaning that the effects of EHD and BT go down during fall and winter months, and rise after drought periods (Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife). These insects use deer and other animals as blood meals or as reproduction grounds. While both diseases are not contagious directly, gnats use asymptomatic deer as a receptacle until they interact with other deer, or other ruminants (sheep, cattle, horses, etc) where they spread further through bloodborne pathogens.

Most affected Whitetail are asymptomatic for the first 7-8 days after contraction. Symptoms include fever and edema (intense swelling), often drooling or running nose, and often there is swelling in the head, especially in the eye or mouth area. The term “Blue-tongue” comes from the change in color of the tongue due to lack of oxygen. A loss of appetite usually occurs, along with weakness in limbs or hooves. Deer affected by either EHD and BT often die within 8-36 hours of the initial symptoms.

Despite the large number of deaths coming from BT and EHD, there are little long-term effects of HD deaths on the ecosystem, as the population in deer still rebounds within a few years, and there are increased rates of immunity among fawns (Bureau of Wildlife). Because humans can't contract HD, there is no reason to worry about the effect EHD or BT has on venison; regardless, visibly infected or deer that were found dead should never be consumed. 

What is the Cure for Hemorrhagic Disease?

There is no direct cure for Hemorrhagic Disease, so prevention in the wild can be challenging.  The preservation of clean water sources can help lead to a decrease in midge populations, which can in turn lower the rates of HD; many public lands have resorted to putting beneficial bacteria and enzymes to water and surrounding muck to maintain clean water. Public land owners can help by eliminating midge breeding grounds, like still-water sources, and muddy areas surrounding ponds and rivers (Mossy Oak). Prevention of HD in domesticated deer is easier, however, with many owners tagging their deer, as well as stopping spreading means of sharing blood between deer, by using single-use needles and the proper disinfection of tools when used between different animals. 

The prevention of Hemorrhagic disease in Whitetail Deer relies on a community effort to maintain and keep water sources clean, and lower the rates of midge populations on private and public land, especially during drought periods. Although deer populations can retain a balance through repopulation, it's still important that we as a community lower the amount of death caused by this disease.

Works Cited

Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. “Hemorrhagic Disease of Deer.” Cwhl.vet.cornell.edu, 4 Nov. 2016, cwhl.vet.cornell.edu/disease/hemorrhagic-disease-deer. 

Dragon Creek Ranch. “Big Whitetail Deer Buck.” Dragon Creek Ranch, Dragon Creek, 2026, dragoncreekwhitetails.com/pictures/big-whitetail-deer-pic-60.php. Accessed 7 Jan. 2026.

Haas, Zach. “EHD-Fense Offers Hunters a New Way to Prevent EHD.” Deeranddeerhunting.com, 2025, www.deeranddeerhunting.com/content/articles/deer-news/ehd-fense-offers-hunters-a-new-way-to-prevent-ehd. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Hemorrhagic Disease - Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife.” Ky.gov, 2019, fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Epizootic-Hemorrhagic-Disease-EHD-and-Blue-Tongue.aspx. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.

Mossy Oak. “EHD Treatment and Prevention.” Www.mossyoak.com, 9 Oct. 2019, www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/deer/ehd-treatment-and-prevention.

New York Bureau of Wildlife. “Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease.” Department of Environmental Conservation, 2021,dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/wildlife-health/animal-diseases

/epizootic-hemorrhagic-disease.

Strickland, Lew. “Bluetongue & Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease.” University of Tennessee, Institute of Agriculture, 15 Feb. 2021. https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/wp-content/

uploads/sites/4/FactSheet_LACS-EHD.pdf 

Texas Parks & Wildlife. “The State of Whitetails|November 2019| TPW Magazine.” Tpwmagazine.com, 2019, tpwmagazine.com/archive/2019/nov/ed_1_whitetails/. 

In today's world, AI is everywhere. We see it on all our devices, in Apps, Social Media, Chat GPT, and in AI videos featuring Jake Paul, but that's not the only place AI is being used. We are seeing AI in places of work in healthcare, finance, marketing, transportation services, and those aren't the only jobs it can and will be used in.  “The International Labour Organization predicts that by 2045, nearly 50% of today's jobs could either be automated or drastically redefined. AI-driven technologies are set to embed themselves deeply into workplaces across every industry, reshaping how we work and what we work on” (Romford). AI technology is becoming more ingrained in our daily lives, but what  lasting effects will it have? A study done by UC Merced gives information on what Americans think about AI infiltrating the workforce and if there is a threat to their jobs.  “These results suggest that Americans’ beliefs about automation risks are stubborn, even when told that human-level AI could arrive within just a few years, people don’t dramatically revise their expectations or demand new policies” (Murray).  In short, many people believe their jobs won’t be threatened by AI.

Customer service is a big part of many jobs. Being able to connect with real people has a major impact on how companies and different places of work function. AI isn't human, it will not be able to connect like a human will. However, AI is starting to take a toll on society's jobs. In the next couple of years, AI will be more advanced at learning and analyzing different data, taking over more jobs. “Globally, 62% of executives say that generative AI can disrupt how their organization designs experiences—and personalization is at the core of this evolution. Generative AI for customer service allows companies to move beyond simple answers and deliver proactive suggestions, tailored recommendations and even solve customer issues before they happen” (Finio and Downie). 

However, organizations and companies receive complaints worldwide because of generative AI answering questions about their company. Most of the time, AI can become more of a problem than a solution in the workforce. “Virtual Learning Assistants (VCA)  are more advanced than basic chatbots. Often used in e-commerce, VCAs are found in mobile apps or smart devices that use conversational AI, which combines Natural Language Processing Models (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) to create human-like interactions. A virtual AI agent can handle more complex tasks like placing orders, resolving account issues or offering product advice, often through both voice and text” (Finio and Downie).

AI is a wonder of a human achievement, but is it helping humanity?   Large-scaled job displacement across the world is happening due to AI’s cheaper cost than paying a professional workforce. 

Works Cited

Finio, Matthew, and Amanda Downie. “AI in Customer Service.” Ibm.com, 15 May 2025, www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-in-customer-service. 

Murray. “People Don’t Worry about Losing Jobs to AI, Even When Told It Could Happen Soon | University of California, Merced.” Ucmerced.edu, 2025, www.ucmerced.edu/news/2025/people-don%E2%80%99t-worry-about-losing-jobs-ai-even-when-told-it-could-happen-soon. 

Romford, Jill. “What Jobs Has AI Already Replaced — and Which Roles Are Next as It Takes 

over the Workplace.” AgilityPortal, 2025, agilityportal.io/blog/what-jobs-has-ai-already-replaced.  

“What Is the AI Revolution and Why Does It Matter to Your Business? - WIZ.AI.” WIZ.AI, 4 Jan. 2024, www.wiz.ai/what-is-ai-revolution-and-why-does-it-matter-to-your-business/.

The Winter Olympics have come around again this year, and from February 6th to February 22nd athletes from all over the world gathered in Milan, Italy to compete for one—or more—of the coveted Olympic medals. The Paralympics will also be taking place from March 6th through the 15th. The Olympics are a showcase of the best athletes in the world at the height of their talent, and have a long history of attracting a huge audience of people, whether these people have been fans of these sports for years or have no idea what they are.

The Olympics are extremely unique in the way they bring the world together, which is one of the reasons the Olympic stage is so big. Because of the huge influence this event has, Olympic athletes have often used the global stage for subtle and not so subtle acts of protest and commentary on the state of the world. There is a long history of athletes protesting at the Olympics, and certain countries choosing not to participate in the games because of political issues.

One of the earliest examples of protest was in 1906, when long jumper Peter O’Connor climbed a flagpole to raise the Irish flag. This action stemmed from the enforcing of new regulations that compelled him to compete for Great Britain, since Ireland had no Olympic Committee. The green flag he raised displayed the words “Erin Go Bragh,” which means Ireland Forever. O’Connor won gold at three separate competitions, and he waved the flag at each of them. 

Another notable moment in the history of protesting at the Olympics is the entirety of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. These games were more than just a worldwide sporting event—the Summer Olympics were used by Hitler to show Nazi propaganda, causing significant conflicts. Movements to boycott the Berlin Olympics surfaced in multiple countries, with the debate becoming most intense in the United States because of the size of the team that they regularly sent. In the end, individual Jewish athletes from many countries chose to boycott the Olympics, but once the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States opted in a close vote to participate in December 1935, other countries fell in line and the boycott movement failed. This failure to take a stand was so pivotal that some observers at the time claimed if the boycotts had succeeded it may have given Hitler pause and bolstered international resistance to Nazi tyranny. 

There were still smaller acts of resistance though, such as the nine athletes who were Jewish or of Jewish parentage who won medals, or the accomplishments of Jesse Owens in winning four gold medals and setting Olympic records in all of his events. These successes taking place clearly contradicted Hitler’s belief in the Aryan race being superior. In the end, though, Germany emerged victorious from the Berlin Olympics, both on the field and off. On the field, German athletes received the most medals, and German hospitality and organization won the praises of visitors. All of the pomp and propaganda of these Olympics were merely a facade, though, hiding the racist and violently oppressive regime that was growing under Hitler. 

During the 1968 Mexico City Olympics one of the most memorable protests took place as two Black U.S. athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stood on the podium after winning gold and bronze, respectively, in the 200-m race. The men raised their fists into a Black Power salute during the U.S. national anthem. This move, with their hands in black gloves, marked a silent expression of Black unity and power. 

This is not where the story ends, though—when considering these kinds of protests we cannot ignore the real life consequences that come with them. Smith and Carlos were condemned by the IOC for what the sporting body called a “deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit.” The athletes were suspended from the games and sent home for their defiant gesture, and they even received death threats. Their decision to protest would ultimately hinder their sporting careers, as the pair was criticised by the media and ostracized by the sporting community.

Not all political acts at the Olympics are even peaceful. On September 5th, 1972, during the Munich Games, the Palestinian commando group Black September seized the Israeli Olympic team quarters at the Olympic Village. They held eleven Israeli athletes and coaches hostage and eventually killed them after attempts to negotiate for their freedom failed.

It is also important to note that protesting is not always done by athletes alone, as seen in that example, and in many others. In 1976, in a collective show of solidarity, around 28 African countries boycotted the Montreal Olympics over the IOC’s inclusion of New Zealand. This came amidst the high tensions because of South Africa’s apartheid regime.

One of the most recent instances of protesting was Ethiopian runner Feyisa Lilesa’s actions at the 2016 Rio Games. Lilesa raised his crossed arms above his head as he reached the finish line of the men’s marathon, a nod to deadly protests taking place in Oromia, his home region in Ethiopia, despite fears it could have resulted in him being killed or imprisoned by the government when he returned home.

There are, of course, other instances of protest that have not been mentioned, but there are less than one might think. This is mostly because of Rule 50—a rule under the Olympic Charter which prevents all athletes from taking part in any "form of political, religious or ethnic demonstrations”.

As clearly shown throughout history, though, Rule 50 is not always followed, and there is always the possibility for a new athlete to join the ranks of O’Connor, Smith, Carlos, or Lilesa in refusing to stay quiet. The Milano Cortina Games came around during a time of increasing tensions in countries around the world this year, which caused the possibility of this much more likely. Even at the opening ceremony there were minor tensions, with the crowd booing Vice President JD Vance during his speech. Anti-ICE protests led by students in Milan also started as early as the day of the opening ceremony in response to ICE coming with Team U.S.A. to Italy. Team U.S.A. was at the center of most tensions this year, with freestyle skiers Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess, as well as figure skater Amber Glenn, all speaking out about the inner conflict they feel representing Team U.S.A. in light of the recent events in their country. President Trump responded to Hess’ comments, calling him "a real Loser" and saying it was "very hard to root for" him.

Most other attempts at protest were shut down by the International Olympics Committee (IOC) before they could occur. The Haitian Olympic team was forced to remove a depiction of Toussaint Louverture from their opening ceremony uniforms because the IOC determined that his presence on their clothing violated Olympic policies on political expression. Many Ukrainian athletes also attempted to speak out for their country, including Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was banned from wearing a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed during the Russo–Ukrainian War, as the IOC stated that the helmet violated the Olympic Charter's guideline on demonstrations and "political, religious or racial propaganda". In the end, the 2026 Milano Cortina Games were relatively unsurprising, although still very affected by the tensions around the world. The Olympics are a wonderful celebration of athletics and the variety of sports around the world, but we cannot ignore all of the outside tensions every country brings with them and the way that affects the athletes that represent them.

Works Cited

Syed, Armani. “A History of Political Protest at the Olympics.” Time, Time, 31 July 2024, time.com/7005819/political-protest-olympics-history/. 

“1936 Olympics: Berlin Games and the Nazi Regime  | Holocaust Encyclopedia.” Holocaust Encyclopedia, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nazi-olympics-berlin-1936.

“A Long History of Politics and Protest at the Olympics.” NBC Bay Area, 7 Feb. 2022, www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/a-long-history-of-politics-and-protest-at-the-olympics/2803756.

“Rule 50: A History of Protests at the Olympic Games.” BBC Newsround, 5 June 2021,www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57357068#:~:text=What's%20been%20said%20about%20the,what%20they've%20been%20about.

The Rocky Horror Show, created by Richard O’Brien, premiered “at the Royal Court Theater in London on June 19, 1973. The film adaptation—whose name was elongated slightly to The Rocky Horror Picture Show—was released in the United States on September 26, 1975.” “The Rocky Horror Show [is] a musical about a newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet, who take refuge in the castle of cross-dressing mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter during a storm. After the doctor brings his new muscle-bound creation Rocky to life, the foursome becomes entangled in a love square, all while the castle’s alien butler and maid plot to return to their home in outer space” (Wakeman). I chose to write about this musical because of its cult following and the community surrounding it. This piece will address the key figures, influences, themes, and impacts surrounding The Rocky Horror Show.

“‘From start to finish, [Rocky Horror] is a lighthearted and very loving parody of horror movies of the 1930s and campy science fiction movies of the 1950s,’ says Jeffrey Weinstock, editor of the 2008 book Reading Rocky Horror: The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Popular Culture. ‘It unveils, in a not very subtle way, the sexual subtext that existed within all those films’...” The show is very much a product of its time, “building on and responding to the 1960s counterculture movement, gay and sexual liberation, and second-wave feminism” (Wakeman). These themes of self expression and openness are why Rocky Horror has largely become a safe space primarily for those in the LGBTQ+ community, but, as creator Richard O’Brien explains, “it was never intended to [be that]; it’s just a musical comedy with no message, not trying to say anything. Simply to entertain, make us laugh, tap our foot, and to go home giggling. That was basically the premise, and it remains so” (Taylor).

There were numerous key figures in the creation of Rocky Horror, each having influences on the production that can still be seen today. Richard O'Brien is indisputably the most significant individual in the History of Rocky Horror, as he both created The Rocky Horror Show and played Frank-N-Furter’s hunchbacked butler Riff Raff (Taylor). “Richard's brilliance really was just, you know, it was really like reaching up a hand into the zeitgeist and just grabbing, you know, '50s horror movies, Sandra Dee, comic books and '50s rock and roll, and just hurling them all together with, you know, some fishnet tights thrown in,” explained Tim Curry, another notable figure when it comes to Rocky Horror. Tim Curry “played the cross-dressing scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter” (Gross), and O’Brien is quoted saying “I’ve often wondered, if it was any other performer, would we have had the same success? He really did step up. He just had this presence, this aura. I remember the women would be looking at him in his German Expressionist makeup and his ripped fishnet stockings, and they’d be saying he was attractive, and the men sitting next to them would surprise themselves by agreeing” (Wakeman). Another person that left their mark on the musical is Jim Sharman, director of The Rocky Horror Show who’s “unique vision was informed by the works of Kubrick, Jean-Luc Godard, Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Weimar cabaret and German opera” (Moyle).

The Rocky Horror Show wouldn’t have the same campy unorthodox feel without the unique designs & production elements that went into it. Sue Blane, the costume designer for Rocky Horror, explained in an interview “I'm not really that interested in recreating a certain era when I design. I like to concentrate on minute details instead, like wondering what type of pen Dr. Scott has in his pocket, whether his tie has stripes or not, or whether he's got holes in his maroon socks. It also helps the actors tremendously in creating their characters” (Morrisroe). In an interview with set designer Brian Thompson, he discusses the fact that Rocky Horror, for the most part, lacked set design. “Once we hit on the idea that it was a derelict cinema we were able to fashion our ideas very cheaply. In a way The Rocky Horror Show is an example of anti-set design. All you are really presenting to the audience is a big white movie screen” (Morrisroe).

The Rocky Horror Show, and later The Rocky Horror Picture Show, provides a safe space for the “marginalized and disenfranchised” to this day (Wakeman). Admittedly, there are numerous aspects of the musical that are outdated. “In recent years, the film has drawn criticism for its use of dated and offensive terms like transvestite and transsexual, and for its depiction of sexual coercion, misogyny and disrespectful portrayal of disability” (Woelfle), but these shortcomings do not negate the acceptance and community Rocky Horror provides.

The Rocky Horror Show is a cultural phenomenon that wouldn’t be the same without the artists and performers that made it. The musical’s cult following truly embodies the musical’s message: “Don’t dream it, be it”

Works Cited

Gross, Terry. “Tim Curry remembers his first film role in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.'” NPR, 21 March 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/03/21/nx-s1-5334567/tim-curry-remember-his-first-film-role-in-the-rocky-horror-picture-show. Accessed 28 January 2026.

Morrisroe, Patricia. “Brian Thomson Interview (1979).” Rocky Music, 1979, http://www.rockymusic.org/showdoc/BrianThomson-1979Interview.php.

Morrisroe, Patricia. “Sue Blane Interview (1979).” Rocky Music, 1979, http://www.rockymusic.org/showdoc/SueBlane-1979Interview.php.

Moyle, John. “Sharman relives his musical journey.” 9 News, 2 8 2008, https://web.archive.org/web/20090709132643/http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=608067.

Taylor, Katherine. “Interview: Richard O’Brien of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The Big Takeover, 31 10 2025, https://bigtakeover.com/interviews/interview-richard-obrien-of-the-rocky-horror-picture-show.

Wakeman, Gregory. “'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' Started Out as a Critical Flop. Fifty Years Later, the Beloved Film Is a Cultural Phenomenon.” Smithsonian Magazine, 25 September 2025, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-started-out-as-a-critical-flop-fifty-years-later-the-beloved-film-is-a-cultural-phenomenon-180987393/. Accessed 27 January 2026.

It’s starting to feel like AI is found in everything that we consume, all our social media, ads in the superbowl and even our search engines.  And new challenges are presented with every new update made to ChatGPT. Excessive amounts of energy are wasted on every image generated, and AI is infiltrating the arts, making it impossible to tell what’s human and what’s robot. But is this issue as relevant as it seems? Should we be worried, or is it time to accept our fate? (Spoiler alert, it’s not.)

Recently, an AI generated artist named Xania Monet’s breakout single, “How Was I Supposed to Know?” made it into Billboard’s R&B Digital Song sales top 10, as well as No. 22 on the overall Digital Song sales chart (Melville 3). This is a cause for concern. Although her creator has called Xania an extension of herself, how much of that extension is trained on another human's hard work and creativity? Even her name, Xania Monet, is a combination of other female singers: Shania Twayne and Janelle Monae. These two women worked hard to make their names known and now they’re being thrown together and skewed to create an AI artist. If the use of generative AI in the songwriting process continues to grow and inspire others to create AI music of their own, this will lead to a massacre of their craft. The worst part? There’s a chance the average listener won’t even notice. According to a survey by French streaming platform Deezer, “97% couldn’t tell the difference between fully AI-generated music and human-made music in a blind test with two AI songs and one real song” (Deezer 5). What’s worse, “52% felt uncomfortable with not being able to tell the difference between AI and human-made music.” (Deezer 5). With these numbers, what’s stopping people from producing soulless AI-Generated music trained on stolen melodies and voices, and making more money than they need? Without the soul, there is no music. C.J. Farley, an author for TIME, shares a similar statement. “This practice anthropomorphizes AI in a way that’s unearned. They should be referred to not as AI artists or musicians, but as AI products” (Farley 6). AI can never be human, as it’s only capable of mimicking the human experience. And that experience is what separates AI music from real music. It can never be real. 

Not only is AI a thief to all human creativity, AI contributes to a massive amount of energy waste. To train generative AI, you need graphic processing units (GPUs) which are specialized circuits that were originally designed to help speed up the creation of photos and videos. And because the process relies heavily on GPUs, AI has taken hold of data centers, and as the Penn State Institute of Energy has discovered, “AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), requires enormous computational resources. Training these models involves thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) running continuously for months, leading to high electricity consumption” (Kandemir 4). As well as a massive energy waste, training and running AI models requires an absurd amount of water to simply cool down the hard drives. “Chilled water is used to cool a data center by absorbing heat from computing equipment. It has been estimated that, for each kilowatt hour of energy a data center consumes, it would need two liters of water for cooling” (Zewe 8). As stated by Adam Zewe, generative AI requires a large amount of resources to be ‘effective’. The very low payoff of ChatGPT is not worth the high price of the water and energy wasted. These data centers, which house a large amount of GPUs and require thousands of liters of water to continue functioning, consume up to 1,287 megawatts of electricity (enough to power about 120 average U.S. homes for a year) by just training models.  It takes very little time to waste all this water, and though it’s not a specified gallon per use amount, this process is wasteful and destructive and the usage builds on itself until we reach the point we’re at now. It’s clear that creating these AI artists damages far more than the creative process.

Music should make you feel something, whether that’s an explosion of happiness or stomach-turning sadness, or any other emotion our messy, complicated bodies can experience. We experience everything in such a confusing and unique way, and it’s amazing to know that there’s someone out there who can capture the way you’re feeling and put it into song. ANd music brings people together, that connection, that understanding you share with the artist who performed a song that speaks to you. It’s a way to make friends and share things with them tha bring you closer together. That is why the listening experience and creative process of music is such an important part of culture. We’ve told stories through songs since the beginning of time, through hymns from church that preach the word of a book that’s connected communities, tribal songs passed down through generations that describe the core of a culture, to something as simple as a lullaby, a mother pouring all of her heart into the words to soothe her baby. Music has always brought humans together, and no AI voice could ever take that connection away.

Works Cited

Farley, C.J. “It’s Time to Rage Against the AI Music Machine.” TIME, 2025, It’s Time to Rage Against the AI Music Machine. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Kandemir, Mahmut. “AI's Energy Demand: Challenges and Solutions for a Sustainable Future.” Institute of Energy and the Environment, 8 April 2025, https://iee.psu.edu/news/blog/why-ai-uses-so-much-energy-and-what-we-can-do-about-it. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Melville, Doug. “AI Singer Xania Monet Just Charted On Billboard, Signed $3 Million Deal. Is This The Future Of Music?” Forbes, 27 September 2025, https://www.forbes.com/sites/dougmelville/2025/09/27/al-singer-xania-monet-just-charted-on-billboard-signed-3m-deal-is-this-the-future-of-music/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Wendel, Jesper. “Deezer and Ipsos study: AI fools 97% of listeners.” Deezer Newsroom, 12 November 2025, https://newsroom-deezer.com/2025/11/deezer-ipsos-survey-ai-music/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Zewe, Adam. “Explained: Generative AI's environmental impact.” MIT News, 17 January 2025, https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117. Accessed 19 December 2025.

On the morning of December 26th, 1996, 6 year old pageant star JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado. But who would take such an innocent, young life? The Boulder Police Department has received over 1,000 tips on the killing of Jon Benet and the media has had nonstop coverage for the 29 years since it happened. However, until this day, almost 30 years later, this question still remains unanswered, and the case unsolved due to the abundance of overlapping evidence and contradicting ideas, causing neither the police nor the public to come into an agreement and no official killer has been sentenced or even tried. Thus, it is declared it a “Cold Case.” 

The Life She Never Got To Complete

JonBenet Ramsey was born August 6 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia to parents Patsy Ramsey and John Ramsey who subscribed her to the pageant life pretty much since she was born, going on to win many major awards like Little Miss Colorado and America’s Royal Miss. The Pageant industry is known to be abusive towards kids, and the high pressure from JonBenet’s mother and the insane media attention did not make it any easier for her; however, no one would expect that a little girl so full of life would be found deceased on the morning after Christmas. 

The Scene 

On that fateful morning, Patsy Ramsey called the Boulder police department to report her missing daughter; she later found a ransom note demanding 118,000 for the release of JonBenet. Two officers were immediately sent to the scene, but still no child was found. John Ramsey and a family friend headed over to the basement and found a broken window, a suitcase, and not much later, JonBenet’s cold body tied up and with a slab of duck tape covering her mouth. The autopsy revealed that JonBenet’s cause of death was strangulation and a blow to the head. 1,400+ pieces of evidence have been released about the case which have raised suspicion on many people, causing many theories to arise; yet none of them seem to perfectly align or find a prime suspect. Many of these ideas say that JonBenet might have been sexually abused and some of the most popular ones name a family member as the killer of JonBenet.

Someone From The Inside 

As the Boulder Police Department investigated, they named JonBenet’s parents as suspects almost immediately as much of the evidence seemed to frame them. For example, some of the most obvious evidence includes the ransom note found by Patsy Ramsey, which matched her handwriting almost exactly; and the amount demanded for ransom was 118,000 which was the same amount as John’s bonus for the year. In addition, there were no footsteps found on the snow or specific signs of an intruder. Officer Linda Ardndt has also kept her suspicion of the family no secret as she has repeatedly mentioned how John almost immediately headed to the basement (a mainly unused part of his house) and found his child’s lifeless body and carried it upstairs despite being told not to mess with evidence.  However, in 1998 a grand jury voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey for child abuse leading to death and accessory to a crime but the charges were declined by prosecutors on the case due to lack of major evidence. 

People have also accused JonBenet’s older brother, Burke Ramsey, of causing his sister’s death. The main idea is that Burke got into a violent fight with his sister and he somehow hit her in a way that killed her, which the parents hid in order to not lose another child. This theory is supported by the fact that an indent almost perfectly fit to a flashlight found on the kitchen table was found on JonBenet’s head during the autopsy, however, no DNA evidence of JonBenet or Burke was found on the flashlight. This theory becomes even more believable when the undigested pineapple in the child’s stomach, also found during the autopsy, is taken into account. Some suggest that JonBenet took a piece of pineapple from her brother and he struck her with the flashlight in a fit of rage, knocking his sister out and killing her. John Ramsey acknowledged this in the 2024 documentary, “Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey?” where upright denied it and recalled multiple encounters where he and wife Patsy had to cover Burke’s eyes when passing by magazines in grocery stores because the magazines were filled with ideas about this theory and they wanted to protect him. CBS released a docuseries in 2016 that proposed the flashlight theory; Burke later sued CBS for $750 million to “redress the permanent damage.” To which a private settlement was set in 2019, with no public result.

Intruder 

Another possible explanation for the murder of Jon-Benet is that there was in fact an intruder. John Ramsey himself suspects a masked intruder who raped a 12 year old girl in Boulder a few months after JonBenet was murdered; this man’s name has not been revealed. Some other suspects include a mall Santa Clause and multiple people involved within the pageant industry.

With all this evidence, the Boulder police department has failed to find and charge a suspect within the past 30 years. However, the police department still hasn’t given up and advancements are made every day with this case, so maybe one day we will find out who killed JonBenet. 

Works Cited

“JonBenet Ramsey (Homicide).” City of Boulder, https://bouldercolorado.gov/jonbenet-ramsey-homicide. Accessed 9 February 2026.

“JonBenet Ramsey Murder Fast Facts.” CNN, https://www.cnn.com/us/jonbenet-ramsey-murder-fast-facts. Accessed 9 February 2026.

Lovitt, Bryn. “Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? 8 Possible Suspects.” Rolling Stone, 12 October 2016, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-8-possible-suspects-129125/the-brother-129299/. Accessed 9 February 2026.

Sager, Jessica. “Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey? All the Possible Suspects Investigated In the Pageant Queen's Unsolved Case.” People.com, 27 November 2024, https://people.com/who-killed-jonbenet-ramsey-possible-suspects-8752345. Accessed 9 February 2026.

“Why Is JonBenét Ramsey's Murder Still Unsolved? Reexamining the Death.” People.com, 25 November 2024, https://people.com/what-happened-to-jonbenet-ramsey-8751259. Accessed 9 February 2026.

Cambridge Dictionary defines fatigue as an “extreme tiredness,” but in the concept of engineering, it can mean a “weakness in something, such as a metal part or structure, often caused by repeated bending.” Black Fatigue would be a perfect example of this: a repeated action, such as microaggressions, systemic racism, and the general racial caste system in America, causing a chronic weakness in Black health: mentally and physically.

What is Black Fatigue? 

Coined in the book “Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit” by Mary-Frances Winters, where she describes this type of tired as “repeated variations of stress that result in extreme exhaustion and cause mental, physical, and spiritual maladies that are passed down from generation to generation” (Winters). Calling it a  “deeply embedded fatigue that takes inordinate amounts of energy to overcome,”  and “a near-impossible attempt to keep the optimistic attitude and a faith in the idea that ‘we shall overcome someday’” (Winters). A perfect example of Black Fatigue would be why Winters wrote her book, it was a “response to what [she] heard from Black employees in corporate spaces” (Winters). These employees, usually millennials, have to deal with everything from microaggressions to unintentional implicit biases to racial slurs. But, these employees remained silent, due to a fear of being called “too sensitive,”  losing  their job, or not being believed. These actions are the remnants of the anti-Black racism that’s still plaguing the Black community today. 

So, we’ve already established the true meaning of Black Fatigue: chronic, persistent exhaustion stemming from systemic racism. That brings us to the opposite of this spectrum of fatigue.

What is White Fatigue? 

Coined in a 2015 article, then book “White Fatigue: Naming the Challenge in Moving from an Individual to a Systemic Understanding of Racism” (ERIC). Joseph Flynn coined the term “White Fatigue” to give a name to the fatigue of “White students who have grown tired of learning and discussing race and racism” (ERIC). Even if the White students are aware of “the moral imperative of anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices,” White Fatigue isn’t to be joined in meaning with White resistance, White guilt, or White fragility (ERIC). The differences in feeling (as compared to Black students) consist of white superiority, guilt and remorse or shutting down. Another perfect example of White Fatigue would be a group of white students going quiet during a presentation about white privilege and police brutality to Black people, or a white student backing down from a group after they decided to research white privilege and its effects on U.S. citizens. 

Most of the effects of White Fatigue barely compare to Black Fatigue, usually only leading to uncomfort, feelings of being overwhelmed, and a sense of exhaustion. 

How Have They Been Portrayed On Social Media? 

On platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (Who calls it X anyways?) and TikTok, the exact meanings of White and Black Fatigue have seemed to have become blurred. People have started to use Black Fatigue incorrectly, usually as a way to show “an exhaustion with both Black culture, and the prioritization of Black people” (Rolling Stone). Comments can range from, “It’s when I can hear you 10 aisles away in Walmart with your [f***ing] five kids,” to “When you have no home training and no idea how to act in public” (Rolling Stone). The whole idea surrounding people thinking, “We’re tired of the ghetto ratchet (using the word to describe Black people as “overly hood”) behavior,” only shows how Black Fatigue has been morphed into a shield for supposedly conspicuous racist rhetoric. 

On the other hand, White Fatigue has also been portrayed in a different way than its meaning online, usually as a way for Black people to say “You’re tired of us? We’re tired of you, too.” The only difference with how it’s portrayed is how White and Black Fatigue are talked about online in general. Black Fatigue is mostly called racist by Black people, but sometimes, White people agree with the mistaken meaning. White Fatigue’s mistaken meaning, mostly has little rebuttal, and only discusses widespread stereotypes about White people. Both were taken in by the internet and molded into apparent fatigue of how races act, showing how people can alter any word, event, thing, or even photo to try to change others’ narratives, especially to justify their horrific wrongdoings.

The Pejoration of “Race Fatigue”

The internet adopted a phrase that a racist molded into yet another form of hate speech. Then people began to fight back, posting photos and videos of racist White people, then saying they have White Fatigue. In this case, the internet took a phrase, and flipped it against the people it was originally for. Made for a minority, then used against them.

On platforms with Charlie Kirk-ifyed photos, Epstein jokes, racist videos of the Obamas being portrayed as monkeys, White people casually saying the N-word as if it’s “just a word,” and people in actual blackface, Black Fatigue can be felt even after you’ve scrolled away. Even offline, White Fatigue can cause you to pull away from the discussion about race and belonging after your only Black classmate said they feel like they don’t belong in class. So, even if you think you’re having Black Fatigue because you’ve met a Black woman who was “stereotypical,” or you think you’re gaining White Fatigue because you despise boiled chicken, you’re not. 

My advice to people in the United States, there never will be You vs. Them. There is no my gender vs. their gender, my wealth vs. their wealth, my knowledge vs. their knowledge, my age vs. their age. We all fall under the same government, and the same harsh political powers. We are all Americans. 

Work Cited

Jones, CT. “Black Fatigue: Origins of an Online Racist Punchline.” Rolling Stone, 2 July 2025, 

www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/black-fatigue-racist-punchline-hijacked-1235377440/.

The relationships you have as a child and as a teen with your friends,  family, and educators can affect how you generate and build your relationships when you become an adult. Healthy relationships with the people around you as a minor can have a very positive effect on your adult life, resulting in healthy relationships with co-workers, family, and friends. It can even alter the way you lead relationships or create intimate relationships with others. However, unhealthy relationships with family, friends, acquaintances, and educators as a child, can affect the way the child will view others later in life as an adult. The repercussions of child trauma, is the child could develop insecure attachment styles, difficulty with emotional regulation and communication, lower relationship satisfaction, internalized harmful dynamics, trust issues, hypervigilance, and even negative expectations.

 Some of the repercussions and ripple effects with childhood trauma are trust issues known as a symptom of childhood trauma, when a child’s need for safety is transgressed by the adults that are the primary caretakers that the child depends on. It can lead to the child believing that people in general are not safe..

 As Harmony United Psychiatric Care claims, “One of the most common effects of childhood trauma on adult relationships is trust issues. When a child experiences trauma, they may learn that the people they trust the most, such as parents or caregivers, can hurt them. This can lead to difficulties trusting others in adulthood, making forming close and meaningful relationships challenging” (Harmony United Psychiatric Care). Focusing on internalized harmful dynamics as another known associated symptom, is that the individuals could standardize unfit and maladjusted behaviors learned in the abusive childhood environments, such as manipulation, or emotional abuse. They could repeat these patterns in relationships, intimate or not, connections or acquaintances with other individuals,  not knowing  they are replicating these toxic, and unhealthy relationship habits into adulthood. 

This happens because these actions feel familiar, comfortable, and correct to them. More reasons is that they just learned these ways of relating from their parents because their parents were constantly fighting and then the child will subconsciously think that it is normal to have an abusive relationship. 

This also distorts their view of relationships because as a child they spent most of it in a toxic environment. The ripple effect of this is it can cause them to see toxic relationships whether it’s intimate, family, or friends as normal and acceptable relationships and then that is how they would repeat them in their own relationships as an adult. As Kaytee Gillis states, “There is a strong correlation between experiencing childhood abuse and entering abusive relationships in adulthood (Black et al., 2010). Individuals who were abused as children may subconsciously seek out partners who replicate familiar dynamics of control or manipulation. This phenomenon, known as repetition compulsion, reflects an unconscious attempt to master or resolve unresolved trauma from the past, albeit in a destructive manner (Levy, 1998).Not surprisingly, many survivors of childhood abuse find themselves attracted to partners who exhibit traits similar to their abusive caregivers. This attraction is not necessarily conscious or intentional but is rooted in familiar patterns of relating and distorted perceptions of love and intimacy” (Kaytee Gillis). 

Insecure attachment dynamics can lead to anxious and disorganized attachment patterns in the child's adulthood. This can develop or become a fear of abandonment, feeling distant emotionally, and even manifest into unhealthy relationships or chaotic relationships physically and emotionally.

  For example, mental abuse from your friends or physical abuse from your parents can lead to lasting effects leading up to adulthood and beyond. It may also lead to bad habits and disruptions, or delays in brain development and other long term effects. Such as PTSD, chronic anxiety, depression, heart disease, obesity, sleep disturbances, low self-esteem and self blame, dissociation, immune and stress- response system changes, and even cancer. 

As the Child Welfare Information Gateway states, “such as damage to a child's growing brain, can have psychological implications such as cognitive delays or emotional difficulties. Psychological problems often manifest as high-risk behaviors. Depression and anxiety, for example, may make a person more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol or illicit drugs, or overeat. High-risk behaviors, in turn, can lead to long-term physical health problems such as sexually transmitted diseases, cancer, and obesity” (Child welfare information gateway). To broaden on the explanation of long-term effects of childhood trauma. Focusing on dissociation, which happens in cases of severe trauma. 

Which means some people may generate Dissociative Identity Disorder also known as DID and use this as a coping tool. DID is a complex psychological condition. In which an individual has two or more different personality states, mind sets, or identities. Which may take turns controlling the person's behavior affecting their actions and words.

The cause of this psychological condition is, it is often used as a coping mechanism in response to extreme traumatic events, especially during early childhood.

Works Cited

Administration for Children and Families. “Trauma.” Acf.gov, 2025, acf.gov/trauma-toolkit/historical-trauma-concept.

“Trauma.” Acf.gov, 2025, acf.gov/trauma-toolkit/historical-trauma-concept.

Gillis, Kaytee. “The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Adult Relationships.” Psychology Today, 13 Sept. 2024, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/invisible-bruises/202407/the-impact-of-childhood-trauma-on-adult-relationships.

Harmony United Psychiatric Care. “How Childhood Trauma Affects Adult Relationships and Also How It Affects Behavioral Health - Best Psychiatry, Mental Health Clinic, Top 10 Psychiatrist in Florida.” Hupcfl.com, 25 Dec. 2023, hupcfl.com/how-childhood-trauma-affects-adult-relationships-and-also-how-it-affects-behavioral-health/.

“Long-Term Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect.” Www.aaets.org, www.aaets.org/traumatic-stress-library/long-term-consequences-of-child-abuse-and-neglect.

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1 Aug. 2023,www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037.

Nelson, Charles A, et al. “Adversity in Childhood Is Linked to Mental and Physical Health throughout Life.” BMJ, vol. 371, no. 371, 28 Oct. 2020, www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3048, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3048.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. “Effects of Childhood Trauma.” The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 2018, www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types/complex-trauma/effects.