Many people know someone with an autoimmune disorder like Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis, but not many know what it’s like to have them. 

   The Autoimmune Association states that 50 million Americans have these diseases, and 75 percent of these people are women. Many people also do not know that March is autoimmune awareness month.

  According to Healthline, some of the most common autoimmune diseases are Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease and diabetes, but there are over 100 named by doctors. 

   Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s immune system mistakes its own tissues as foreign and attacks the cells. These diseases are often able to be managed with medication, but not cured.

   These diseases often have periods of time where the pain or symptoms increase, also known as a “flare up.” These can be triggered by colds, stress, weather changes, skipping medications, or even pollutants in the air. 

   New research into treating autoimmune disease comes out every day, but there’s still little progress. According to the National Health Council, research is being done into immunotherapies and stem cell therapies, but each disease is so unique that there isn’t often a catch-all treatment.  

   For people with these diseases, life can be very difficult. 

   “It is imperative that the public be more aware of their own risk factors for developing autoimmune diseases … Early diagnosis and onset of treatment can make a significant difference in someone’s chances of becoming disabled or suffering organ damage,” said Virginia T. Ladd, President of the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association.

   According to her, awareness is more important than ever.

   Raising awareness doesn’t mean doing something big. Associations like the Autoimmune Association all have social media where they share information, and these posts can always be reshared. Even just educating yourself about the realities and prevalence of these diseases can help. 

   With more awareness and support, there is hope that these diseases will become more manageable or even cured in the future. 

    Throughout the history of medical care, new technology and advances have been made to further help people fully recover and regain their good health. Here are just a few of the strangest, but most successful, medical transplants in the history of time.

   This year in Toulouse, France, a woman who lost her nose due to radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment for nasal cavity cancer was able to grow a new nose thanks to new medical technology.

   A custom nose was made for her out of 3-D printed biomaterial to replace cartilage and implanted onto her forearm, where it was able to grow for two months before being transplanted to her face.

   “This type of reconstruction had never before been performed on such a fragile and poorly vascularised area and was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the medical teams with the company Cerhum, a Belgian manufacturer of medical devices specializing in bone reconstruction,” the hospital said.

   “This new technique also makes it possible to overcome certain limitations presented by other techniques,” the hospital continued.

   In 2016 in El Paso, Texas, Shamika Burrage grew her own ear back in her forearm after losing it in a car accident.

   Burrage was driving from Mississippi to Fort Bliss, Texas when her tire blew out. Her car skidded and flipped several times, she sustained head injuries, compression injuries in the spine, and a total loss of her left ear.

   “I didn’t feel comfortable with the way I looked so the provider referred me to plastic surgery,” said Burrage. 

   “I didn't want to do the reconstruction but gave it some thought and came to the conclusion that it could be a good thing. I was going to go with the prosthetic, to avoid more scarring, but I wanted a real ear,” Burrage continued.

   The ear was crafted by removing cartilage from her ribs, carving a new ear, and placing it on her forearm to grow. Once it was grown, they removed it from her forearm and reattached it to her head.

   In 2021 in Sweden, surgeons transplanted the first fully synthetic organ, a trachea, into a man with tracheal cancer.

   The organ was made out of porous polymer and lined with stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow. The cells formed tissue around it in a few days, and there was no need for immunosuppressant drugs since the organ was made from the patient’s own cells.

   In 2011 in Turkey, a 21-year-old woman who was born without a uterus received one through a transplant.

   Doctors will need to implant embryos into her new womb in order for her to ever become pregnant and have a child. 

   "The surgery was a success ... But we will be successful when she has her baby," said micro-surgeon Dr. Omer Ozkan, who was part of the surgical team.

   New medical technology has allowed for groundbreaking transplants and surgeries that were never possible before, so people who lose noses and ears are able to grow them back themselves.

   Tracheas can be made from porous polymer, and women who were born without uteruses are able to get pregnant with their own children. Hopefully, technology continues to improve, and more medical feats will be made possible.

   On Nov. 1, Atlanta rapper and one-third of the rap trio Migos was shot and killed outside of a Houston bowling alley in the middle of the night.

   The shooting occurred outside of 810 Billiards and Bowling in Houston, Texas after a private party had ended. A group of around 40 people were gathered outside the front door of the building.

   An argument broke out amongst the group, resulting in shots being fired from at least two different weapons and people fleeing the scene.

“A lot of people that were there fled the scene and did not stick around to give a statement,” said Sgt. Michael Arrington Houston police officer of the department’s homicide division.

   Two other people in the crowd, a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

   Police officers are working to figure out exactly what happened: why the argument ensued and who fired the weapons.

   The police have not made any arrests or named any suspects yet, and they have asked any witnesses to come forward with additional information.

   “Let me just ask ... that anyone who has information on the shooter or shooters to provide that information to HPD and let us solve this situation. Let us bring justice to this family,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner.

   Takeoff was only 28 years old at the time of his death.

   Junior Roman Nowaczewski was devastated when he heard about Takeoff’s death.

   “I can’t believe he was so young when he died. He had his whole life ahead of him and he was already doing so well for himself. I really liked listening to music by Migos and Takeoff’s solo music, and I can never listen to it the same again,” said Nowaczewski.   

   Late Tuesday afternoon, fans set up a memorial in Takeoff’s honor that had candles, roses, and a teddy bear on the first floor of the building that the bowling alley was in.

   810 Billiards and Bowling is closed down as police continue their investigation, and yellow crime scene tape blocks off the stairs leading to the alley.

   Takeoff was sometimes referred to as the backbone of Migos, and his death has left the music community and many more fans with a deeply painful loss.

   Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness program, launched on August 24, 2022, which allows Americans earning less than $125,000 to be able to receive up to $10,000 in federal student loan forgiveness, has been temporarily halted by the Federal appeals court.

   On October 22, 2022, The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued this block, and it’s considering a motion to stop the program altogether proposed by Republican-led states.

   Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina filed a lawsuit that argued that the loan forgiveness program would hurt state-based loan companies that have to manage federal loans themselves.

   This lawsuit has not stopped the motion of the program, and the Biden Administration is continuing to review applications and prepare documents.

    “This temporary order does not prevent borrowers from applying for student debt relief and it does not prevent us from reviewing these applications and preparing them for transmission to loan services,” said White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

The administration is still encouraging people to continue submitting their loan forgiveness applications.

   Because the government already has their income data, almost 8 million people who borrowed money will have their debt automatically forgiven without applying. 

   Despite this, the government encourages everyone to apply, and the cutoff to do so is December 31, 2022.

   Even with the temporary halt of the program, people can expect loan forgiveness within 6 weeks of applying to the program as the lawsuit is not expected to win in court.

   “We are moving full speed ahead to be ready to deliver relief to borrowers,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

   English teacher Michael Binge hopes that this block does not ruin his chance to have his debt relieved.

   “I’m currently going to school for my Master’s degree, and I’m hoping to use this loan forgiveness to help pay for it. I was really looking forward to this, and I just really hope the whole program doesn’t get stopped altogether,” said Binge.   

   To apply, go to studentaidgov.com and click “Apply Now” in the student loan debt relief section and fill out the prompts.

   “It’s essentially a lot of paperwork and filing you have to fill out. You have to fill out a lot of basic information, like how much you owe, and you have to go back and look at some applications you filled out to take out loans, things like that,” said Binge. 

   This block of Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness initiative is just temporary, and the program will be up and running again in no time.

   The recent rise in inflation has affected people all over, but how do you think it affects students and teachers? The most obvious effect of inflation, as of right now, is gas prices. This can definitely put a damper on traveling plans and how many visits you pay to the gas station. 

   Inflation is the general increase in prices and the fall of its purchasing value. We have recently seen a very noticeable rise in inflation so far this year due to conflicts in Ukraine. It has increased from an average of $2.32 to $3.76. It may only be a 1 dollar increase but that can be the difference between deciding to buy gas or not.    

    Senior Isabella Elsey says, “ I usually buy gas about once every two weeks but now I resent going to the gas station and try to go as little as possible. I don't get very many hours at my job because of school and sports so paying for gas is especially hard.”

      Students are expected to drive to and from school, be there all day, work a minimum wage job with little hours, and be able to pay for gas when it's this expensive. This can be very stressful for students and can distract them from more important things like schoolwork and sports.

   Inflation and gas prices might also be a big concern for people going on spring break. Especially for those who are driving rather than flying. 

   English teacher Nicholas Gwozdz stated “My girlfriend and I were concerned about whether we were going to have to change our spring break plans because of the gas prices and conflicts in Ukraine.”

   Some people are taking actions into their own hands and going as far as stealing gas out of other people’s cars. One man in Roseville, Michigan was caught on camera stealing gas straight out of 83 year old Eline Beth-Ferman’s 93’ Town Car.  It is safe to say that gas prices are driving people crazy. 

    Over the past few years as gas prices have steadily risen, some people have looked to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which could contain a possibly retrievable 5-16 billion barrels of crude oil and natural gas reserves as a solution.

  Over the past year, gas prices have risen nearly a dollar a gallon, increasing almost 60% from the $2.20 cost in Nov. 2020 to $3.49 at the end of Dec. 2021. Additionally, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the economic sanctions against the country, the benchmark in international oil markets has risen 4.9%, European gas prices have increased 15%, and US gas prices have risen 3.4%.

      Accessing this oil could be very beneficial in the context of rising gas prices yearly, and in specific to the rising gas prices correlated with the economic sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Most European countries buy their oil from Russia, which is the third largest producer of oil in the world. Therefore, economic sanctions and the halt of trading with the country will severely reduce the world’s access to the vital resource. However, it has been pointed out that renewable energy sources will not be affected by the awful events occurring. Nonetheless, it is possible that there will be a greater push for drilling of this land. 

   Environmental groups around the world are against drilling in this region because the consequences of the extraction will severely harm one of the last expanses of pristine, unspoiled wilderness and the species that reside within it. The disadvantages oil drilling include air and water pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions, from extraction, processing, and burning, habitat destruction from extraction and spills, biodiversity loss from exploration, extraction, and spills, and the presence of an occupational and community health hazard for the workers and the surrounding Gwich’in and Iñupiat communities.

   Natural gas extraction has similar disadvantages, including water pollution from extraction and burning, habitat destruction from extraction and spills, biodiversity loss from exploration, extraction, and spills, and the release of methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas. 

   During May of 2021, the Trump administration opened part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas development, selling a total of 600,000 acres. However, the Biden administration has suspended oil and gas drilling leases in the meantime. 

   The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is located on Gwich’in, an Athabaskan-speaking Alaska Native people, land and comprises 20 million acres, making it the largest wildlife refuge in the United States. It is run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the federal government’s bureaucracy. 

   The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to a plethora of different species, including Arctic foxes, caribou, polar bears, and migratory birds. Drilling in this area would severely damage the habitat of these creatures and make survival much more difficult. 

   To ensure that this vital habitat is not destroyed by big business, supporters can write or call their congressional representatives, sign online petitions, contact the department of interior, and share the word of the story online. 

      In the age of movement and travel that we are currently in, these rising gas prices affect the daily lives of all people.

   Delaney Grant, ‘23, said, “My family has to be cautious about how much we drive. If everyone can start to use more public transportation or other transportation methods that conserve fossil fuels, then the price of gas will go down.”

   LHS environmental science teacher, Kristine Hill, said, “National Wildlife Refuges have been created to focus on conservation of native species, and the lands and waters they live on. Extracting oil is not what these lands have been designated for.”

   She also said, “Organisms living in arctic regions are already stressed due to climate change, and ANWR provides protected habitat for them. Drilling in the ANWR will provide additional stressors to these organisms, which could lead to decreased populations and extinctions…the best thing we can do is to continue to work towards decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels.”

        David Bennett Sr. has been the first man in medical history to receive a heart of a genetically modified pig successfully. The procedure was performed at the University of Maryland Medical Center. This was Bennett’s only chance at living. 

   The 8-hour surgery happened last friday. As of now, Bennett is doing well and hasn’t faced any major problems. “It creates the pulse, it creates the pressure, it is his heart,” said the head surgeon, Dr. Bartley Griffith.

    Griffith was the one who originally suggested the pig heart. According to Business Insider, Dr. Griffith described the whole eligibility process as a “severe obstacle” because of Bennett’s medical incompetence. 

   Bennett wasn’t the most ideal patient to work with for several reasons. In his past attempts at getting medical help, he failed to show up for check-ups, wasn’t consistent with his medication, and failed to follow the instructions his doctor gave him. 

   Along with all these problems, there was one more controversial factor that played into whether or not he received the surgery: he had an appalling criminal offense. 

   In 1988, Bennett was convicted of stabbing Edward Shumaker seven times and was paralyzed. He died in 2007, according to The Washington Post. 

   With only six years in prison, Bennett went on to live a normal life. He was ordered to pay $3.4 million to the family, but the sister of Shumaker,  Leslie Shumaker Downey, said they never received that money. 

   “Now he gets a second chance with a new heart, but I wish, in my opinion, it had gone to a deserving recipient,” said Downey to The Washington Post. 

   Some doctors argue that a person’s past should not play a part in the advancement of medical studies and findings. 

"In general, medicine does not take into account criminal history in selecting people for treatments or experiments," said bioethics professor Arthur Caplan to Insider. 

     The American Dream has been a very controversial concept since Martin Luther King Jr. released his most famous speech “I Have a Dream” on August 28, 1963. The original interpretation of King’s speech was meant to describe how the United States grants freedom to citizens which includes the opportunity for success and prosperity that can be achieved through hard work in society with few barriers. More specifically, individuals can achieve these qualities regardless of family history or social status.

  Today, many people have pulled away from this idea and explained that the American Dream is a fantasy and unrealistic for many citizens, especially immigrants and people of color. The definition of the American Dream has definitely changed through Senior Kevin Nazarko’s eyes.

   “I definitely believe the definition has changed from ‘anyone can achieve success’ to ‘everyone has the freedom to live how they want to.’ Unfortunately, it is harder for people of color and immigrants around the world to achieve these goals because people are more hesitant to hire them and accept them. In America, the concept of the American Dream is more achievable for everyone than in other countries. For example, my parents immigrated to the United States and were able to get a better education to have their dream career as surgeons and create a better life for their children than they were able to in their home country Albania since it is quite poor.” 

   Other students such as Amaya Johnson believe the American Dream is and has been a very materialistic concept for success in America and in the world.

   “People believe success comes from materialistic things like a nice car and is not based upon the value of what you work for. Everyone has their own interpretation of the American Dream, but most believe that their happiness comes from money.” 

   Martin Luther King Jr. has always talked about success for everyone in the United States and has inspired many people for years to come. Despite this, many citizens still believe the American Dream is not attainable for everyone, but Senior Ava Smigielski believes it is.

   “A lot of things we want to achieve take a lot of hard work and dedication. If you’re willing to put in the work, I believe success will be granted to you regardless of where you came from. My mom immigrated from Canada and had to work very hard to get her dream job that has made her successful today.”

   Students in the United States all interpret the American Dream differently. The concept is very broad to many people. Some citizens think it is a great concept to motivate all people to work hard for their dreams while others believe it doesn’t truly apply to everyone in America. The American Dream preached about in 1963 still has a large impact on U.S. students today. 

    The Red Cross has announced the first national blood crisis in the United States. More blood drives have seen a drop in the number of people donating due to the pandemic, as well as drives having to close because of short staffing. 

   Since March of 2020, there has been a 10% decline in the number of donations overall, with a 62% decrease in donors from high schools and colleges, according to NPR. 

   Since the Red Cross supplies 40% of the nation's blood, many hospitals have taken a hard hit due to the crisis.

   Treatment centers across the United States have reported that they have less than a one-day supply of some of the more rare blood types. 

   This shortage has led to very difficult decisions having to be made by doctors, who have to pick and choose which patients need the blood more than others. 

   This is a hard task, since blood is a necessity for surgeries, transplants, cancer patients and chronic illnesses. 

   The winter weather has not been a help for the blood drive centers either. With freezing temperatures and heavy amounts of snow, centers have had to cancel appointments and shut down, causing less donations to be made. 

   To make donating blood more appealing to citizens, the Red Cross has teamed up with the NFL. They have announced that anyone who donates blood in the month of January has a chance to win tickets to the upcoming Super Bowl. 

   Donators are also entered into a raffle to win a home theater set. 

   The Red Cross has said that lately they have been unable to give hospitals the amount of blood they need to treat their patients. 

   Donations are needed all across the nation, especially from people with the O blood types. 

    Singer and actor Harry Styles has decided to expand on his career. On Monday, Nov. 15, Styles released his very own nail polish line called Pleasing.

   Because they were released so suddenly, fans were very excited to order them before they were all sold out. 

   Styles has said that this was more of a sudden project but had a meaningful message behind it.

   In an interview with Dazed, Styles said, “It was a fun little project, but during the pandemic, we eventually named it Pleasing. It felt like so much more than nail polish.”

   Styles made the brand to make people happy when they see it. He wanted to please them.

  “I think that the essence of Pleasing is finding those little moments of joy and show them to people,” said Styles.

   Styles has expressed that he wants to give back to the people who supported him, specifically his fans.

   People found that some of the products can only be purchased in a limited amount of time. This could be a problem because many people will not have the chance to purchase it from the website Pleasing.com.

   “I don’t think there's enough to get around because the first release was only limited edition,” said Alexander Mccullough 10’.

   Many were also surprised when they saw the prices for the nail polish, arguing that it is too expensive. For one nail polish, the price is $20. For a pack of 4 nail polishes, the price is $65. Both of these prices exclude shipping which varies depending on where the consumer lives.

   “I think that paying that much for nail polish is a little overpriced. It would have to be very good quality for that much money,” Mccullough added

   Along with the nail polish, Styles also released 2 skin serums. Fans anticipate what Pleasing will come to in the future.

    The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, a moment in time that signified the extinguishing of the seminal fire that engulfed the majority of the civilized world back from 1914 to 1918. What sparked with the death of a prince led to millions of deaths spanning from the cliffs of Gallipoli, to the forests of France.

   Veterans Day started as a day to commemorate those who fought in this conflict, both living and dead. Veterans Day was originally  known as Armistice Day due to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles taking place on this day in 1918, signalling the end of The Great War. It was seen as a moment of commemoration the year after the war’s conclusion by then president Woodrow Wilson, but was set as a true national holiday in 1936.

   “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…” stated Wilson during his proclamation of the first Armistice Day.

   American linguist and World War Two Veteran Raymond Weeks proposed the holiday be expanded to include Veterans spanning from across all wars, from WWI to the Korean War, and all in between. This proposal was finally made national law in 1954.

   The traditional flower of Veterans Day is the Scarlet Corn Poppy (popaver rhoeas), a small flower recognized easily by its bright red petals. This flower became associated with Veterans Day even before the first world war was over. These flowers are special in that they are one of the few plants that could regrow in the barren earth of No Man’s Land. Within the French Fields of Flanders, a major theater of the war, Canadian Surgeon and Poet John McCrae noticed these poppies and immediately saw their significance. He later included them in his poem “In Flanders Field”, a somber poem about the tragic loss of life and the need to remember the brave young men to keep their sacrifices from being in vain.

   Humanity will always be in conflict with one another. It's in our very nature. Men will always be there to fight for what they believe in. And when the war is inevitably won, by one side or another, the guns will rust, the grass will grow, and there will be nothing left of any of it. The land will inevitably heal itself, as all things do. It may not be in their lifetime, it might not even be in ours, but it will happen. Until that day comes, these men will pick up arms, stare death in the eyes and fight. We will always remember these men. We’ll share tales of how they lived, how they fought, and for some, how they died. And every year on November 11, we’ll honor these men by keeping the flame of their hearts alive. That is what Veterans Day is about, for we are only the land of the free so long as we are the home of the brave.

   As of today, there are roughly half a million cargo ships stretching from Portland to South California either waiting to dock or to be unloaded. Most experts expect these shipping issues to continue for months or even years due to the shortage of truck drivers and cargo unloaders. Labor shortage is claimed to be caused by the surge of the delta variant for Covid-19, the lack of vaccines in other countries, and the small amount of shipping containers. Since this has impacted the number of items available in stores, prices on store shelves are increasing. 

   With Christmas coming just around the corner, people are having a really hard time affording the price inflation and dealing with shipping delays. It is even worse for the online shoppers that send packages to loved ones around the U.S. or other parts of the world. The ships are holding a lot of Black Friday cargo and items that people have already  purchased online. Right now, it’s anticipated to take over a month for one small online Christmas purchase to reach your chosen destination.

   Items like fake snow and talking dolls are just floating around waiting to be unloaded and transported from these ships. This is a huge problem for parents or guardians with young children and for other relatives who send their grandchildren presents from long distances. 

   “ I usually buy presents for my grandchildren from Walmart and Amazon, but sending the packages to Alaska will take too long this year,” said grandmother Shelly Vitton.

   Vitton often sends her grandchildren presents from her Michigan home all the way to Alaska. With these delays, she’s quite worried her items won’t make it in time or that she’ll have to give alternative presents. 

   “ I send the gifts about a month in advance to make sure they get there on time. Unfortunately, I can’t put trust in sending them this year when they aren't supposed to get to me until a month from now and I don’t have many gifts to give because the shelves are running low. It’s going to be a very sad Christmas for children this year.”

   If you’re going to shop online for Christmas, I would start adding to your cart and finalizing the orders now to get them to your home on time. There’s about 3.5 million Christmas packages waiting to be shipped out leading up to Christmas Eve that would be including yours.

   Demi Lovato released a four-part docuseries telling her struggles with drug and alcohol abuse, including her overdose in 2018 that nearly took her life. Lovato, who struggled with her alcohol and drug addiction in years past, spent almost two weeks in the hospital undergoing treatment at a rehab facility and then at a sober living facility.

  Lovato shared that she is doing way better, but she is not exactly sober. Instead she explains that she is ‘California sober’. 

   “Historically, California sober came from a mentality of culture that took things easy when it came to substance and didn’t make a big deal out of it,” said Dr. Yaro Garcia, clinical coordinator at FGCU.                                                   

    The documentary also chronicles Lovato's life and career up until 2017. Including her upbringing and early career as a child star on “Barney & Friends” and later as a teenager on Disney Channel. She also had her first stint in rehab in 2010 for an eating disorder and emotional issues. Also not only did she share her struggles these past few years, but also when she struggled growing up with an alcoholic father and how that affected her. Those things have had an impact on her and her addiction struggles. 

   Claire Ottinger, ‘24 stated, “I really liked it, and I liked how she was very honest about her struggles.”

   In Lovato’s documentary from 2017, “Simply Complicated”, she shared about her addiction but also shared she has bipolar disorder, which is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. Lovato also admitted to being dishonest about the initial outcome of her recovery in a previous documentary, Demi Lovato: Stay Strong (2012), and revealed she was in fact under the influence of cocaine while being interviewed about her sobriety for that film. 

   A website, insider.com, shared that During the 45-minute segment, Lovato spoke openly about what she's learned from her experiences overcoming addiction to marijuana, cocaine, and Adderall, which intersected with eating disorders and body dysmorphia. 

   There were times she lived at the gym, so much so that she took business meetings at the gym in between workouts — a habit she now sees as an extension of the addictive behaviors she was trying to recover from.

The 27-year-old said it was useful to have people around her who she felt comfortable enough with that she would listen to them when they pointed out extreme behaviors that she hadn't noticed, such as replacing calorie-counting and substance abuse with fitness. 

   "Being open to feedback is really important," said Lovato. The more you spend time around people in recovery, the easier it gets to talk to them without accidentally triggering them, she said.  

   “But at the same time, people in recovery have to be really upfront and open about what your triggers are," said Lovato. "If I don't let someone know they're doing something that's triggering me, they're going to keep doing it and it's going to keep triggering me." 

   Overall Demi had overcome her many struggles. People have to know that people with addiction have to want help. You can’t force someone to get help if they don’t want it. So, they have to take the step to get the help they need to get better. 

 A carbon tax could be detrimental in lessening or even reversing the effects of climate change, but what is it? A carbon tax is a tax on consumers and businesses for the use of, or the burning of fossil fuels. Such practices include the burning of oil and coal to power our daily lives and the use of gasoline in our cars. The purpose of this tax is to reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions from entering the atmosphere, which accelerate the rate of the greenhouse effect.

   The greenhouse effect occurs when carbon based fuel emissions enter the atmosphere, forming a layer of soot that prevents reflected sunlight from leaving the atmosphere. About 30% of sunlight is reflected away from the earth’s surface by clouds, snow, and ice, and while this sunlight usually leaves the atmosphere, layers of soot block it from leaving. This soot forms a blanket around the earth, trapping the sunlight inside, which raises temperatures to warm the earth.

   There are both pros and cons to implementing a carbon tax. One pro is that this tax will motivate consumers, industries, and businesses to find cleaner, cost effective energy sources. It will also boost economic growth by increasing government revenue. After having a carbon tax for 27 years, Sweden has reduced its carbon emissions by 26% while its economy had grown 78%. These are some of the reasons why big oil companies, such as ExxonMobile, Shell, and BP, support it. In addition, it’s estimated that the tax would raise $1.2 trillion in government revenue in 10 years, which could be used to help fund climate change prevention organizations or provide support for the poor.

   One complication with this measure is that the external cost for each ton of greenhouse gas emission, which is an essential part of determining the cost of the tax, is highly disputed between scientists and the government. Some cons to the tax are that it will likely have to be high to be effective and it will penalize those who can’t switch to alternatives, such as by raising gas prices. As such, this is a regressive tax, in which it will unfortunately impose a greater burden on the poor than the wealthy. This is because those who receive lower incomes will not be able to immediately switch to new systems and will have to face the consequences of using older, more carbon based systems. This however can be resolved by gradually implementing the increase in prices, though it may also delay the results of reducing carbon emissions. There is also the fact that this tax will likely be heavily opposed by big businesses in the fossil fuel industry and by consumers who do not wish to have to buy new systems or have to pay more to keep using their older systems.

   Eva Schienke, ‘23, noted, “I think that a carbon tax could really help the environment, but I also think that people would be mad at the rising prices.”

   However, not all agree with this punitive approach.  Christine Hill, the environmental science teacher at LHS, said, “ I don’t know if I agree with penalizing people, but I certainly think that a tax credit could potentially encourage people and companies to reduce their carbon footprint.”

   As mentioned, “a tax credit involves the reduction of personal or business yearly taxes after the purchase of eco-friendly systems, such as electric cars or solar panels,” stated Hill.

   This brings up a difficult debate about whether a more punitive approach or a more encouraging approach would be better suited to reducing emissions. While a carbon tax may be more effective in reducing emissions, will it doom those who can’t make the switch? Or will a self-encouraging tax credit be sufficient enough to reduce emissions and help the poor stay economically afloat, even without requiring eco-friendly measures.

  On April 25, the 93rd Oscars premiered to historically low ratings. 

   The Oscars managed to net a total viewership of 9.85 million, down 58% from 2020. 

   Senior Loren Gagnon said, “I didn’t think there were enough movies to warrant it.”

   This year especially, no one seems to care about the Oscars. Most people don’t even seem to recognize the Best Picture winner, Nomadland. 

   The Oscars saw additional controversy in the naming of Best Actor.

   Throughout the show, the late Chadwick Boseman was expected to be the winner. However, at the end the winner was declared to be Anthony Hopkins.

   Hopkins wasn’t present at the show. Instead, Joaquin Phoenix accepted the Oscar on his behalf. 

   The whole situation was savored by anticlimax. Anticlimactic seemed something of a tone to the Oscars this year, between the Best Actor awards and the films that no one seemed interested in.

   One could chalk this up to COVID, which produced a bad year for theatrical movie releases in general. It’s a factor, but it’s not the whole story.

   Award shows in general have faced a decline in recent years. In September, the Emmys premiered to its own record-low ratings. This was during a year where TV viewership surged.

   Oscar viewership has been declining for years. Ratings have declined from 40 million in 2010 to 10 million this year. 

   People just don’t seem to care. An air of cynicism surrounds them.

  Alumni Cory Foley commented, “In my opinion, all the awards go to the people the industry can make the most money on.”

   One reason could be the Oscar’s reputation as pretentious and shallow. 

   Alumni Stephen Hunter added, “The Oscars, the Emmys, all those award shows are just so big actors and producers can get an extra ego boost.”

   It’s worth considering that the ratings don’t include non-traditional viewers of the Oscars. Viewership numbers through streaming weren’t included in the tally, because there isn’t a solid definition on streaming services of what counts as a viewer.

   Overall, it’s been a rocky time for the Oscars, and it isn’t hard to see why.

   The Oscars have been around for 93 years and never before in its history has the recipient for the last award not shown up. 

   At this year's Oscar Awards, Anthony Hopkins won the award for best actor for his performance in “The Father”, making him the oldest recipient in the history of the Oscars at the age of 83, exceeding the record set by Christopher Plummer when he won best supporting actor at 82 for 2011’s “Beginners.”

   Hopkins, however, was not on hand to accept the award, which for the first time in Oscars history was placed at the very end of the telecast. Presenter Joaquin Phoenix had to accept the award on Hopkins’ behalf, providing an altogether abrupt and anti-climactic conclusion to the most unusual Academy Awards ceremony in modern history. 

   It was unclear why that award was presented last, but most viewers and some participants in the Oscars assumed that the late Chadwick Boseman would be locked in as the winner of that award for his performance in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Which in the end would have provided a great but emotional ending to the night, with his wife accepting the award on his behalf.

   Boseman's brother, Derrick Boseman said he and his family don’t consider the loss a snub because every nominated actor was deserving, and while Chadwick would have considered winning an “achievement”, it wasn’t an “obsession”.

    Anthony Hopkins posted a video message Monday acknowledging the late Chadwick Boseman, after qwinning best actor at the Oscars on Sunday in a shocking upset.

   In Hopkins thank you video for his award, he said, “Good morning. Here I am in my homeland of Wales and at 83 years of age I did not expect to get this award, I really didn't. I'm very grateful to the Academy, and thank you.” "I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early, and again thank you all very much. I really did not expect this. So, I feel very privileged and honored ... thank you." 

   Then the ending of the Oscars was like the peak to the low ratings and the record low viewers. Variety, another newspaper site, cited early Nielsen numbers. The Oscars rating plummeted to a record low with an average of 9.85 million viewers watching that Sunday evening, which is a 13.75 viewer drop-off from last year. While the result of this information wasn’t because of the ending but because no one really was interested in the movies that came out or because of the way the Oscars were shown through zoom. Aside from that, it was also said that the show earned a 1.9 rating among the key demographic of adults aged 18-49.

  Being a teenager in high school is already a difficult task, and with the addition of mental health issues, everyday life can be even more daunting and difficult. 

   Common mental health issues in teenagers include high levels of stress, anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), addictions, eating disorders, and yet, what help is provided to these students? These issues can make everyday life and its tasks even more challenging and can lead to changes in many teenagers' lives, such as self-isolation, changes in behavior and habits, and turning to unhealthy practices, like drugs and alcohol. 

   There is not enough help and resources provided to struggling teens and unfortunately, many will never seek help due to fears of being judged, associated with stereotypes, or accused of faking it for attention.

  It can also be seen that the pandemic this past year has contributed to increased mental health issues and stress. There has been increased worry in families and teens about the health and safety of loved ones, jobs, money, school, and grades. 

   One challenging aspect of this school year has been the presence of online, hybrid, and quarantining school work. Learning to use unfamiliar technology and websites, while having the majority of learning online until just recently, has been very difficult for many. In addition, without having teachers readily available while doing work, students have had to become more independent and deal with issues like unclear instructions, difficult assignments, and internet and website errors. While teachers have been trying their best during this time to make things seamless, errors and unclarity will always arise.

   Many have also noted dropping or lower grades while partially or fully online, which has resulted in increased pressure from parents to improve their grades. This is already on top of the other pressures that teens face, like overwhelming and strict parents, gender normalities, societal and beauty standards, and the self-inflicted pressures of perfectionists. 

  One Lakeview student noted, “I was going through the darkest point in my life, and yet no one knew.”

   “I didn’t have a lot of friends during that time but I think that if I had someone to turn to, I would have found the light a lot sooner,” they also noted.

   Another student said, “There was little help for me when I was struggling with some of these issues, especially during the pandemic. It was as if they were ignored and only brought up to make me less than and different.”

   Our school and others around the world need to become more able and willing to help students find the light in the dark patches of their lives and regain feelings of happiness and stability. Students should not have to be alone during tough times. Spread kindness daily to those who you think might need it and even to those who may “look” to be fine. If you ever find yourself in need of someone to talk to, always seek out a counselor for assistance.

  If you were a kid growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s, you might have watched an early morning block called Cartoon Cartoons where you got to see all of the classic cartoons, while eating cereal before going to school. Some of these cartoons include Cow and Chicken,Codename Kids Next Door,and Ed, Edd, and Eddy.

Samuel Lucido '21 said, “I had probably come across it at some point, but I always watched Nick when I was younger.”

   Everyone was sad when Cartoon Network announced in 2008 that they were ending the block, so they can focus more on live action shows - which was a big mistake. 

   Kyle Hedge '21 said,  "the shows on Cartoon Cartoons were one of the greatest shows during my childhood like “Courage The Cowardly Dog” and “Ed Edd n Eddy.”

   Luckily for us, Cartoon Network saw the bad reception from those live action shows and decided to end them and come out with a rebranded block called “Adult Swim” which started in 2012. 

   Hedge said he was happy that adult swim came out “only because of the show ‘Robot Chicken’. It was also one of the greatest shows because it was funny and they did parodies of other tv shows and movies.”

   Adult swim is a Cartoon Network block that is not family-friendly.  

   During this late 90s to early 2000s block, there would be a lot of classical programs like Dexter's Laboratory, The Power Puff Girls, Courage The Cowardly Dog just to name a few.

   With Cartoon Network reviving the 90s classical block, this opens the door to all new types of possibilities. Some of these include a spinoff  called Galactic kids next door, which was pulled by Cartoon Network when they ended the block.

    Lucido said “Maybe if they were not popular,  then CN won’t make money in a reboot.”

    All in all, whenever Cartoon Cartoons returns I guarantee a lot of fans will be happy and that it will bring back so many memories from fans' childhood.

  Nasa’s first launch occurred in 1964, on Nov. 5 and Nov. 28. Mariner 3, unfortunately, did not make it to Mars as its craft didn’t survive. Mariner 4 successfully made it to Mars after eight months.

   In 1969, Mariner 6 and 7 were launched. They both completed their mission to Mars between Feb. 24 and Mar. 27. Many pictures and analyses were gathered of the planet’s atmosphere over the equator. 

   Mariner 8 and 9 were launched on May 8, 1971 and May 30. These were the final pair of spacecraft to be launched together. However, Mariner 8 did not successfully land on Mars. Mariner 9 was the first satellite of Mars once it arrived and orbited around it.

   Viking was launched twice, Aug. 20, 1975 and Sept. 9, 1975. It was the first craft to land safely on the surface of Mars in 1976. Once it landed, another spacecraft descended off of it. One was used on the ground and the other for the atmosphere. 

   After 17 years of research and preparation, the Mars Observer was launched on Sept. 25, 1992. This observer had been converted in order to carry out the task of studying the geology, geophysics and climate of Mars.

   The Mars Global Surveyor was launched on Nov. 7, 1996 arriving on Sept. 12, 1997. This spacecraft was the longest to be orbiting Mars than any other. It had collected detailed information which impacted the understanding of Mars greatly. 

   During the mission, the Mars Pathfinder was launched Dec. 4, 1996. The craft had a land rover called the Sojourner. It brought back astonishing information about the ancient flooding of Mars’ northern hemisphere known as Ares Vallis. 

   Mars Climate Orbiter was launched on Dec. 11, 1998, which was set out to relay weather communications to the Mars Polar Lander and  also contained a copy of the Mars Observer which was lost in 1993. The Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 was launched Jan. 3, 1999. It was used to dig into Mars’ south polar cap trying to find water ice. 

   A major exploration, the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) were launched in Jun. 10, 2003 and Jul. 2003 landing in Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, 2004. They had more extensive technology than the other spacecraft, and were used to research the planet’s past and terrain.

   The Phoenix was launched on Aug. 4, 2007 landing on May 25, 2008 successfully in the polar region of Mars. Its mission was to dig up and analyze the soil. 

   Nasa’s latest launch in July, 2020 landed on Feb. 18, 2021. The mission, Mars 2020, was directed to find information about ancient life and collect samples of rock/regolith. The rover was also signed to test technology for future robotics and human inhabitants. 

   Fearless is the second studio album written by Taylor Swift. It was released on Nov. 11, 2008 by Big Machine Records. Swift began writing the songs while opening for various country concerts to promote her debut album. Of the 13 tracks on the standard edition of Fearless, eight were written solely by Swift, and five were co-written with Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Colbie Caillat, and John Rich. Swift co-produced all songs with Nathan Chapman.

   After the album's release, Swift began the Fearless Tour, which ran from April 2009 to July 2010 and brought in about $66.5 million. Five of the songs on the album were released as singles: "Love Story", "You Belong with Me", "White Horse", "Fifteen", and "Fearless". This album really began to promote her career and ended up spending 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and was the best-selling album of 2009. Not only did it top the American charts, but it also topped the charts of Canada and New Zealand. 12 million copies were sold worldwide. 

   In 2019, Swift shared that she had intentions of re-recording her first six albums. The re-recording stems from the issue with the contract she signed with Big Machine Records at 15. When Swift signed she agreed to write six albums that the label would own. Because of this she was not able to produce all of the songs she wanted and wasn’t able to make a ton of decisions. In Feb. 2021, she announced the re-recording of Fearless, titled “Fearless (Taylor's Version)”, as the first in her series of releasing the six re-recorded albums. “Fearless (Taylor's Version)” expands to 26 tracks, composed of all the songs from Fearless, Swift's 2010 single "Today was a Fairytale", and six new "From the Vault". The vault are songs that did not make the cut for the Fearless album but are songs she wanted to release now that she is not under the control of Big Machine Records. 

   The release of the “Fearless” was a smashing success as well as the release of “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”.

   Senior Rachel Byers stated, “I was absolutely thrilled to hear that she was re-recording. Not only in the sense that it was a rebirth of my childhood, but also because it was like she was reclaiming her own music. It’s disgusting how she was taken advantage of as a young woman in the music industry and it is very empowering to watch her reclaim the music as her own.”

   Swift is getting her name back out in the world which has many excited about her work to come. 

  Spring break is one of the most popular times to travel throughout the year, and this year was no exception. In fact, some may say that even though the COVID pandemic prompted some to stay home, it unintentionally prompted more to travel.

   Though this past year has been ever-changing due to the COVID pandemic, one consistency is that many people have been spending more time at home. This increased time at home because of quarantining, stay-at-home orders, and heavy restrictions on daily lives may have encouraged restlessness and the want to travel. This April’s spring break just so happened to be the “perfect” opportunity for many as the distribution of the COVID vaccine has been greatly increasing to almost all age ranges.

   So far, the effects of this time of increased travel have not had as drastic an impact on COVID case numbers as some people speculated. However, this does not mean that COVID cases did not and are currently not rising. As such, LHS took the preventative measure to stop the spread of COVID after spring break by having remote school instead of in-person school on April 12. The rest of the week of the 12th was also remote due to PSAT and SAT testing for all grade levels, which gives many students the ability to quarantine and get COVID tested after going on vacation. Though we have not seen drastic increases in COVID case number yet, this is not to say that there won’t be consequences as the incubation period for COVID stretches all the way up to 10-14 days.

   It can be seen this year, and many other years, that the most popular travel destination for spring break was Florida, particularly the Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers Beach, and Cape Coral areas. However, Florida was not the only place that LHS students traveled, with some going to California, and others staying closer to home, exploring closer cities, such as Toledo and Marine City, on day-trips.

   One student Carly Denbas, ‘23 traveled to Florida for the first time over her spring break.

   “It’s a lot different than I thought it would be,” noted Denbas.

   “The scenery was the most different, I could tell the difference the moment I drove over state lines,” added Denbas.

   Denbas traveled to Jacksonville, Fort Myers Beach, and St. Augustine.. She experienced many exciting things while traveling, such as going in the ocean for the first time.  

   “It’s like a big salty lake,” she stated.

  “I also went to an alligator farm in St. Augustine. It was cool but really sad to see all the alligators so cramped together.” 

   Spring break is a great time to experience new things and see new places, and LHS students did exactly that this year!

ASL (American Sign Language) has been said to originate in the American School for the Deaf (ASD), founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817. ASL was originally known as The American Asylum, at Hartsford, for The Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb; the school was founded by Yale graduate and divinity student Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet.

   Deaf adults were first hired as teachers as well as sign language models for Deaf children at school. (Sign language models are just like normal models used to sell and promote clothes or different products) This was changed later, in the early 20th century, when the oralist movement had taken hold in the educational system. Alexander Graham Bell led the movement in opposing the use of sign language in the education of deaf children. As a result, many Deaf adults were forced out of the teaching profession or demoted to being teachers of vocational classes.

   Prior to the creation of ASL, sign language had been used by various communities in the United States. There are many different types of ASL, one being the one Laurent Clerc taught. Laurent Clerc, the first teacher at ASD, taught using French Sign Language (LSF) which developed in the Parisian school for the deaf, established in 1755. There is also British, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Spanish, and Arabic sign language. They all have their own alphabets and signs, just as if you were learning a foreign language.  Although there are all of these forms of sign language, the most common is Pidgin Signed English. Pidgin Signed English vocabulary is drawn from ASL, however it follows English word order.

   Studying ASL promotes better awareness of and sensitivity to the deaf and hard of hearing community. Learning ASL will help you develop a strong appreciation for deaf culture, and you can promote understanding and acceptance of the language among others.  So, when you associate a movement with a word or a letter- the benefits are massive here for your spelling and language skills. In addition to spelling, ASL also enhances other things in hearing people such as small motor skills, behavior, and widens vocabulary.

   Kids can also learn signs just as adults can. They’ll learn sign language naturally if they learn growing up, just as hearing people learn English growing up.   

   Parent Anisha Harris stated, “ASL will allow me to be able to have dialogue with family members and friends that are deaf and it also assist me at my job to be able to help the customers”

   A good way to learn ASL is to use YouTube, using the TakeLessons channel. This channel teaches you the first few signs you should know as a beginner and others as you progress. If you don’t want to use that source you can go to a community college or take private lessons somewhere else. According to handspeak.com, It takes at least six three -credit ASL courses over the span of two to three years to attain a beginning-intermediate skill. To attain an intermediate-fluent skill, it takes another two years in the ASL/English interpretation training. Also depending on where you go you may pay up to $300 or $15 to $35 per half hour for ASL lesson. 

Spongebob Squarepants is a well-known cartoon that has continued to be shown on Nickelodeon, and now some of the creators have created a spin-off called “Kamp Koral”, going against the wishes of the original creators such as Stephen Hillenburg.

    “Kamp Koral” is a show where the characters are reimagined as young children. Spongebob is a kid camper who spends his summer catching jellyfish, building campfires, and swimming in Lake Yuckymuck. 

   Soon after the death of Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of Spongebob Squarepants, Nickelodeon announced that it was planning to release over half a dozen spinoffs of his show. They jumped at the chance to release some of these shows even though Hillenburg has always said no. To make things worse they have planned to create three spin offs including “Kamp Koral”.

   Hillenburg was always against the spinoffs that wanted to age down Spongebob’s character. The first spinoff that was announced included a combination of everything Hillenburg did not want. Back when Hillenburg pitched the original Spongebob Squarepants back in the 1990’s, the executives wanted to turn the show into something just like Kamp Koral, insisting that Spongebob would never be popular if he was an adult character. Through his creation, he wanted to convey that people, like Spongebob, don’t have to “grow up” when they become an adult. They can still be happy, have fun, and love what they are doing. 

    Mikel J. Davies, a writer from The Harvard Crimson stated that it has also been said that Hillenburg approved of the show “Kamp Koral”. According to the Executive Vice President of Animation at Nickelodeon Ramsey Naito, Hillenburg was credited for the project because “Kamp Koral” is about friendship and it shares the origin story of how our bikini bottom friends met.” 

   Many people don’t like the new show, some think it’ll never be like the original Spongebob. There have been petitions with almost 10,000 signatures to get rid of the new show. 

   Mikel J. Davies, also wrote that, “In Kamp Koral, it seems to overemphasize Patricks stupidity and ignorance. For example, in the beginning of episode four, Patrick complains, “No activities means no...something.” To say the least, it’s not funny and the line of humor almost skirts the line of unenjoyable.”

   One thing that stays the same is, “Kamp Koral” still has all of the original cast including Patrick Star (Spongebob's bunkmate), Squidward Tentacles(Camp counselor), Mr.Krabs(Camp director), Sandy Cheeks, Pearl Krabs, and Mrs. Puff. 

   Although the show may never be better than the original Spongebob Squarepants, it’ll be a show that the younger generations to come can watch. 

When One Direction member Zayn Malik announced he was leaving to pursue a solo career in March 2015, the band slowly fell apart, leaving the rest of the boys to follow Malik's lead. When Zayn left, the band was right in the middle of their On the Road Again tour where they were performing their album , “ Four.” They continued the tour without Zayn and wrote their last album “Made in the A.M.” The remaining band members decided after that album was released, that the band would be going on an 18-month hiatus, which has now turned into almost 7 years. With that being one of the most demanded band reunions, teachers and students from Lakeview added their input on groups they wish would come together again.

   English teacher Nicholas Gwozdz said he hopes for an Outkast reunion someday. 

   “Andre 3000 and Big Boi's unique rapping styles always come together to make something refreshing,” said Gwozdz.

   André Lauren Benjamin, also known as André 3000, is best for being a part of southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. Benjamin passed away in 2007 at the age of 57.

   Senior Brendan Hicks said if he could get one band back together again, it would be a band from the 90’s, Matchbox Twenty.

   “If I had a band that I could get to come back together it would be Matchbox twenty since their last album was released nine years ago. They were one of few artists that my parents listened to that I enjoyed, and their old music reminds me of a lot of good childhood memories like driving to our cabin up north,” Hicks said. 

   Lastly, Ava Robinson, ‘22, said if they were still alive, she would wish to see the Beatles together again. 

   “The Beatles hold such an important place in my heart,”  Robinson said. “My grandpa would play their songs on the guitar and piano for me and my siblings since we were little.” 

    John Lennon died in 1980 and George Harrison died in 2001, leaving only four members still alive: Paul McCartney, Chas Nesby, Ringo Starr and  Paul McCartney.

   “Every single one of the Beatles are unique and amazing in their own ways and I truly believe they paved a way for further musical careers for other singers and bands,” Robinson added.

   Will these bands (the ones that are still able to) ever reunite? A question we will just have to wait and see what the answer is! 

Girl Scout Cookies have been a fan favorite for decades and everyone has their favorite cookies and their least favorite cookies.

   Girl Scout Cookie season typically starts in January and ends in April, but this varies based on bakeries and the sales each year. The first Girl Scout Cookie sale took place in 1917 and, at the time, there were only one or two flavors. 

   During this time period, there was no way to massively produce cookies so it was up to the troop moms to bake them.

    In 1951, Girl Scout Cookies came in three varieties: Sandwich, Shortbread, and Chocolate Mints. These were the easiest cookies to make with the resources they had. But just five years later, the number expanded to four: a vanilla-based filled cookie, a chocolate-based filled one, shortbread, and a chocolate mint. Some bakers offered special flavors that were limited to various troops.

   Today, up to 28 varieties of Girl Scout Cookies are offered. The same cookies may be sold under different names by different bakeries. Each bakery has the choice to determine what name the cookies will be sold under. Yet, there has been no talk or any moves made to standardize names.

   Polls have been conducted in all states to help determine which Girl Scout Cookie is the favorite. Thin Mints were both the most popular Girl Scout Cookie, scoring the highest number of votes, and the top choice in most states. Thin Mints were the fan favorite in many states but many disagree with this poll.

   Junior, Abby Miller stated, “I hate Thin Mints because they literally taste like you ate chocolate and then brushed your teeth too soon after. My favorites are the peanut butter ones (Tagalongs), chocolate and peanut butter together never goes wrong.”

   On the other hand, Junior Allison Anastas said, “My favorite are Thin Mints. They are best straight from the freezer. And I also like that they are vegan.”

   Polls have also been conducted to determine which cookie is the least popular among consumers. The results show that the least favorite Girl Scout Cookies are Thanks-A-Lot, Toffee-Tastic, Lemon-Ups, Lemonades, S'mores, and Do-si-dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich. A few of these cookies are not available in our area and are limited to out-of-state troops.

   Senior, Sydney Phillips stated, “Now hearing that there are so many flavors, I can’t really say I have a least favorite because I’ve only tried a few flavors. There were so many that I’ve never even heard of, let alone tried.”

   Similarly, Senior Andrew Messina said, “I have not tried a ton of different flavors but I can say that my least favorite are Samoas. I don’t like coconut and I don’t think the combination of chocolate, coconut, and caramel is very good.”

   Girl Scout Cookies are loved around the world and you should try a new flavor that you’ve never tasted before. The out-of-state flavors might just be the best ones.

 Marvel fans won't be starving for content from Marvel with the release of this new series on Disney Plus.

 Marvel’s Assembled is a  series set to release in between drops of Marvel shows and movies. It is  a new docuseries that is going to go in depth with the behind the scenes of different Marvel TV shows and movies. 

  The first episode of this is going to come out March 12th  with all the behind the scenes stuff  from the most recent Marvel cinematic universe show WandaVision which just wrapped up its first and only season. 

   Kyle Hedge, ‘21 said,  “I have always loved Marvel movies. I love what they are doing with their new tv shows, and I would love to see how they make them.”  

   With this series, fans can expect to have multiple episodes of it focusing on the different shows and movies set to come out this year; the next episode of the series will drop on April 30th a week after The Falcon and The Winter Soldier ends. 

Loren Gagnon, ‘21 said, “I feel like there is a possibility that it might happen because other series have done things like that in the past”.   

   The first episode is going to be called “The Making of WandaVision”.  It's going to touch upon why they chose to draw upon sitcoms, recreating different film methods to coincide with the different sitcoms and  of course what it was like filming in front of a live studio audience among other things. 

   Hedge also said , “I think that they will touch upon how covid has affected the show and how it may have changed the story.”

  There is another series that is similar which aired earlier this year on Disney Plus called ”Marvel's Legends” but it has since been stated that it has no correlation with this Assembled series.

    Gagnon also said that,  “I feel like it would be interesting to bring the two together although the possibility of it I'm not sure.”

   All and all,this series is going to be worth checking out if you're a Marvel fan and you want to know what really goes into making marvel movies and TV shows.

  On Feb. 25, Hasbro announced that they would remove the “Mr.” from the Potato Head brand name. Following this announcement, there was some confusion and slight outrage regarding this choice.

   Critics claimed that this was once again, cancel culture run amok.  Hasbro was quick to clarify that Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head are still available by name. The intent was to rebrand the toy  to be more inclusive.

    A similar disgruntled reaction occurred over Disney’s release of the Muppet show on Feb. 19. Content warnings were placed over episodes deemed to have insensitive and outdated uses of racial stereotypes. 

   Finally, on March 2, six Dr. Suess books were pulled from publishing on account of racist imagery, which is being covered in its own article by The Husky. 

    These events received large amounts of attention, and a meme circulated recently about the subject. While the image isn’t appropriate for a school newspaper, it read, "Imagine living in a nation where Cardi B's ("WAP") wins 'song of the year'...Yet 'The Cat in the Hat' is deemed 'inappropriate content' and Disney slaps content warnings on 'The Muppet Show.’”

    Now, the song was declared song of the year by National Public Radio and Rolling Stone, however it was not submitted for a Grammy. 

   In any case, it is worth considering the context that Cardi B’s song can be considered provocative and offensive, but very arguably isn’t provocative and offensive in the same way as decades old depictions of race that don’t really line up with our modern understanding of what’s considered okay. Not all boundary pushing is created equal. 

   The phrase “modern understanding” brings up another point. Does this all matter really? Is this worth getting upset about either way? 

   Do the content warnings on Muppets or the change in the Potato head brand really matter? Maybe it’s better to just accept minor, harmless changes in service of inclusivity increased inclusivity, at least from a branding standpoint

   That branding standpoint is also something to note. Shifts in branding to reflect shifts in culture (or more accurately, marketable culture) is just the nature of the game under capitalism. Whether preformative or genuine, companies will do this as long as they believe it’ll get them brownie points.

   Overall, it’s worth remembering that values shift. Not all change is bad, and everyone should remember that not everything is worth getting upset about. 

   Theodor Seuss Geisel, famously known as Dr. Seuss, books are being cancelled for somehow including racist and insensitive imagery in some of his well-known books. This news is surprising to many just because many kids then and now grew up listening and reading his books.

   The Chicago Public Library is temporarily removing six Dr. Seuss books from circulation after Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it would cease to publish the books. The six books were, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “ If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.” 

   “These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong. Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure that Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ catalog represents and supports all communities and families,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises told The Associated Press.

   Currently, all copies of the six Dr. Seuss books are currently checked out, meaning people are still using and reading them, with additional copies on hold. They will honor the holds, but after that the titles will not return to the shelves. Dr. Seuss may not have been the only one to portray these insensitive imageries in his book.

   “Perhaps Dr. Seuss’ intent was to add diversity to the story, but he promoted a stereotype. Maybe he never considered that the depiction would paint a picture in the minds of children of all races that Asian Americans are different from everyone else, even strange,” said Dahleen Glanton from Chicago Tribune.

   In his book “If I Ran the Zoo,” two African characters resemble monkeys without shirts and shoes on. It is confusing to many on how an anti-racism advocate such as Dr. Seuss couldn’t see a problem with this. 

   He once was a political cartoonist for a left leaning New York Newspaper called PM.  His first book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” encourages kids to use their imagination. What impression might have been given off to kids reading the book from looking at a Chinese man with two lines as his eyes, wearing a pointed hat and carrying chopsticks and a bowl of rice. 

   After the same book, “If I Ran the Zoo” was published, he drew cartoons for the PM opposing World War II. Dr. Seuss deplored anti-semitism and racism, and used his cartoons to bring attention to the horrible conditions African Americans were experiencing at home in America.

   These are just a few of many examples of where people caught Dr. Seuss, a person and author of anti-racism being racist and rude to other cultures and races. 

   Despite his mistakes, there is still more to admire about him as a person and author.

Since 2002, Chris Harrison has been the longtime host of The Bachelor and many of the spin-offs too; but in his time hosting, there have been accusations of racism towards him and other people on the show. 

   Most recently Rachel Kirkconnell, a participant of season 25, has been accused of racism. She has liked Instagram pictures with Confederate iconography, wore an appropriate Indigenous costume on Halloween, spread QAnon theories, and bullied an old highschool classmate for dating black men. 

   Following an ‘Extra’ interview with Rachel Lindsay, discussing allegations against Rachel Kirkconnell, Harrison has made it known that he will be stepping down from hosting The bachelor. 

   During the time of the 2020 “Black Lives Matter” protests, some of Harrison’s remarks had started to push “Bachelor Nation” to the edge. Rather than denouncing racism and calling Kirkconnell out for a statement, he chastised the police for pressing the issue. He urged Lindsay to “have a little grace” and give Kirkconnell the chance to respond. 

    Many of Harrison’s comments came from pictures of Kirkconnell attending a sorority party that celebrated the antebellum South. During the interview, he said that the party she attended was five years ago, when it was actually three. In addition, because of how long ago it was, he thinks that she should not be held responsible for her past actions. He also added that “50 million people” attended and participated in similar events that same year. However Harrison was still persistent that times have changed, saying “Is it not a good look in 2018 or is it not a good look in 2021?”

   Not too long after that interview, Harrison faced a lot of backlash for the things he said, going to instagram the next day to post an apology. On Feb. 13, a second statement was released on his behalf saying that he will be leaving the show for a “period of time”, including the season finale of the bachelor, to educate himself. There is no clear answer on when or if he’ll return. 

   Actor Dustin Diamond, widely known as Screech from Saved by the Bell, died on Feb. 1, 2021.

    “Dustin had just been released from the hospital earlier in the week. He had been staying at his friend Jules' house because the house he shared with Tash was being remodeled,” said Dan Block, a friend of Diamond’s. Tash Jules had been Diamond’s girlfriend at the time.

   After being admitted back into the hospital in January, a month later he had passed from a type of lung cancer, stage 4 small-cell carcinoma.

   In 1989, Diamond began his role on Saved by the Bell. He played as a quirky teenager surviving highschool life.

   After the show stopped airing in 1993, Diamond struggled throughout the years. He had some rough patches with the directors. With knowledge and experience from his time on the show, Diamond created a book called Behind the Bell. In this, he explained behind the scene incidents and dramas between different characters. He used the book as a way to tear down the show’s reputation. 

   Additionally, Diamond aired on Dr. Oz in 2016. Here, he had pleaded that a ghost writer had written this book on his behalf, trying to frame him.

    “Sorry dude, but we're in a boxing match and you went against your word and tried to make me look weak and stupid in front of 17 million people. That's just not gonna happen,” stated Diamond.

   He filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Five years later, his luck wasn’t any better when he supposedly fell behind his mortgage.

   One night at a bar in 2014, Diamond had gotten into an argument with a man. As a result, he ended up stabbing the man and served four months for the altercation. 

    “I want it to be clear that this situation will not be repeated again,” Diamond explained. He recalled this as his, “single most terrifying experience of my entire life.” Luckily, his actions didn’t have very much effect on his fans and followers.

   Mark-Paul Gosselaar who played Zack Morris in Saved by the Bell commented on his loss. Gosselaar tweeted, “Looking back at our time working together, I will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce. A pie in your face, my comrade.”    

   Diamond’s seemingly torn reputation didn’t hold him back from embracing the rest of his life. 

   Tash had told, “You had to experience Dustin as a human being, you can’t describe him. He was pure fun, I laughed more with him in these few short months that I have in my entire life.”

 With Marvel's phase four underway, fans of Marvel now know some information about the next Spider Man film, set to come out on Dec.17

   Loren Gagnon, ‘21 said, “I am certain we will be watching the new movie.”

   The movie is set to possibly deal with some multiverse fall out that will lead right into the next Dr. Strange film.       

   The multiverse is essentially a collection of different versions of the world. 

   The reason for why possibly dealing with the multiverse in this Spider-Man film goes back to what is taking place in Wandavision right now. If you do not know what is happening in that show, you should watch it so you understand more. But, for those of you who have, let's just say Wanda did something that essentially could have broken the Marvel Cinematic Universe's multiverse.

   Samuel Lucido, ‘21 said, “I do think the third Spider-Man movie will involve the multiverse. Into the spider verse introduced the idea and due to its popular reception, it only makes sense the filmmakers would use it again and expand upon it. The leaked pictures only reference the possibility of the multiverse being in the third movie.”

   There have been so many leaked photos of a bunch of different characters such as Andrew Garfield and Toby Maguire along with their cospinding villains. 

   Lucido said, “Usually new movies will add new villains to make a different story. With that being said, older villains could still have a part in the plot along with the newer enemies. Or Disney  is truly out of ideas and wanted to force their mediocrity on to Marvel.”

   There are theories about what this movie is going to be the most prominent one being a live action Spider-Verse film. 

Gagnon said, “It could be possible, but I don't think that they would remake a movie like that.”

   Tobey Maguire was the first well known Spider-Man that had a successful trilogy. There was originally supposed to be a fourth  movie with Tobey Maguire, but that fell through.

   After the trilogy with Tobey Maguire, Sony decided to reboot the Spider Man franchise with the amazing spider man movies with Andrew Garfield as Spider Man. However after the second Spider Man movie, they decided to pull plans for a third and fourth movie mainly because of the reviews and because the second one didn't do as well as Sony hoped.

   Sony then worked out a deal with Marvel to bring Spider Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe which came out three years after the Amazing Spider Man two. 

All and all, if these photos turn out to be true and we get confirmation that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are back as spider-man, then this movie will be great.

 Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday, celebrated every third Monday of January. This holiday is marked as MLK’s birthday. Most of what King was known for was the civil rights movement and his peace movement. During his civil rights movement, King gave one of the most iconic moving speeches in American History, his “I have a dream” speech. 

These are just some of the things about King and the things he has done that has made history:

1. January 15th, 1929- Michael King, later known as Martin Luther King, Jr., is born at 501 Auburn Ave. in Atlanta, Georgia.

2. January 30th, 1956- While King speaks at a mass meeting, his home is bombed.

3. January 10-11th, 1957- King is named chairman of the Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Nonviolent Integration (later known as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, SCLC)

4. September 20th, 1958- During a book signing at Blumstein’s Department Store in Harlem, New York, King is stabbed by Izola Ware Curry.

5. October 19th, 1960-  King is arrested during a sit-in demonstration at Rich’s department store in Atlanta. He is sentenced to four months hard labor for violating probation conditions he had received earlier that year for driving with an out of state drivers license. He is released on $2000 bond on October 27.

6. October 16th, 1961- King meets with President John F. Kennedy and urges him to issue a second Emancipation Proclamation to eliminate racial segregation.

7. August 28th, 1963- King delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech. After the march, King and other civil rights leaders met with President John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House.

8. June 11th, 1964- King is arrested and jailed for demanding service at a white-only restaurant in St. Augustine, Florida.

9. December 10th, 1964- King receives the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway.

10. April 4th, 1968- King is shot and killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

          King has made history with the things he has done to gain justice for segregation and racism that many African Americans faced back then.  

   “I think MLK was a great man and wasn’t afraid to speak about what he believed in and even though he had some major backlash he still pushed through and made a big impact in the civil rights movement like the famous Washington March in 1963,” stated Ava Quainton ‘24. 

   Everything he has gone through within his lifetime has paved the way for so many others. 

King will always be remembered as one of the most influential and historical figures in history. 

  If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, then you were excited when you got the news that Wandavision was finally coming on Jan. 15 after being delayed multiple times.

   This show is the first entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universes phase four.

   Wandavistion is modeled after a bunch of different sitcoms in different decades over the course of nine episodes. Each episode will follow different decades starting with the fifties and going all the way up to present day, which will lead up to an epic season finale.

   The series is following the characters Wanda and Vision who have moved into a town called Westview. Most Marvel fans will know them from the movies. Some people might be confused, because if you saw Avengers Infinity War, you have seen Vision die at the hands of Thanos in order for him to wipe away half of existence and unlike everyone else who was brought back in Endgame, Vision was not. 

   So that begs the question, how is he back in this series? Well, we can assume that Wanda brought him back because as we see in the first episode, Wanda has some control of this reality but not all control.

   This show is also going to connect to the third Spiderman film which is currently in production in Atlanta and is set to come out in December.

   Another film that the show is going to be connected to is the second Doctor Strange film called Dr Strange Into The Multiverse Of Madness, which as of right now is set to come out on Mar. 25 2022. 

   The first episode of the series is modeled after fifties sitcoms such as The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Love Lucy. The next episode of the series is modeled after a 1960s sitcom called Bewitched. The most recent episode has the viewer jump into the 1970s, with this episode being modeled after The Brady Bunch and Good Times. 

   There are plenty of theories going around about who the main villain is. One theory is that Agnes, who is Wanda and Vision’s nosey neighbor, is actually Agatha Harkness.  

    New episodes of Wandavision are set to come out every Friday up to Mar. 5.

Season 17 of Grey's Anatomy premiered Nov. 12 , but this season isn’t like previous seasons. The show is touching on something that is happening in the real world, the COVID-19 pandemic. 

  The medical drama has been airing  for almost a decade and has been filled with drama and romance, but season 17 is taking a more serious approach.

  Season 17 comes after the last four episodes of season 16 were cancelled because of the pandemic. 

Grey's Anatomy first started in 2005 and has set records of being the longest running primetime medical drama with a total of 365 episodes so far.

   The 2-hour crossover event, with the show Station 19, was dedicated to health care workers who have been working on the frontlines.

  There have been rumors that season 17 will be the last of the medical drama 

   The episode started off with the doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial struggling to adjust to  the pandemic and highlighting what many healthcare workers have been going through since March.

   Since the show is a medical drama, actors can get away with wearing masks and personal protective equipment.  According to cast members, they are getting tested multiple times a week and the set is limited to how many people can be on it.

    Grey's Anatomy is not the only show that has aired episodes focused on the pandemic, the ABC drama Station 19 returned for their fourth season in November.

     Other shows including This is Us, The Good Doctor, and Chicago MED along with many others chose to incorporate the pandemic into their shows.

   As more shows return with new episodes they seem to be choosing to focus on the pandemic, which means many series are taking a different approach than they normally would.

Formula 1 is the highest class of international auto racing for single-seater racing cars. It consists of 10 teams and 20 drivers, some as young as 18 years old. The 2020 season marked the sports 70th Anniversary, and through those seventy years the sport has seen many changes. The 2021 season, however, we will see a rebrand unlike any other, as Aston Martin will return to the sport after a 60 year absence.  

   Lawrence Stroll is a Candian billionaire. He was the owner of the BWT Racing Point F1 Team, and he will rebrand them to Aston Martin, as he is the CEO of Aston Martin. He is also the father of one of the team's drivers, Lance Stroll. From his time with the team, he has saved them from bankruptcy by investing millions of dollars into the team, he brought his son to Racing Point from Williams racing, and, with his support, they finished in the top four of the constructors championship of Formula 1, just behind the legendary teams of Mercedes and McLaren and ahead of Ferrari. 

   In the 2021 season, nearly every aspect of the team will change. Their driver lineup will still have Lance Stroll, a Canadian in the number 18 car, who was a part of the Racing Point team beforehand. But, they have managed to sign 4x Champion of the World, Sebastian Vettel. A German who will drive the number five. In the past four seasons he has driven for Scuderia Ferrari, and before that, with Red Bull. The team will also have a new car livery, or design. The Racing Point team was a bright pink color with grey and navy blue touches, but this season, the colors will change as they are a new team. The car livery won’t be released in March, but it is expected to be a british racing green color with possible touches of black, gold and/or lime green. The drivers suits will also be this color, as will all the mechanics suits, team wear, crash and safety helmets and garage design. 

   January 17th of 2021 was a big day in the reveal process of the team. The team revealed their primary title sponsor, “Cognizant.” They are a professional services company. The Company operates through four segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing/Retail/Logistics. Fans also saw the first look at the drivers in the new green driver suits. Finally, they revealed a tease of the new green car in the Cognitive sponsorship announcement. They also were interviewed about the upcoming season and expectations. 

   “There’s so much for me to discover over the next few months and I’m incredibly determined to help make this team even more successful. Before we know it, we will be at the first race, seeing this famous name back where it belongs. I’m proud to be part of this journey,” says Sebastian Vettel. 

   Lance Stroll also mentioned the energy in the factory. “You can feel the buzz and energy. We’re ready for this. There’s so much hunger in the team and I just can’t wait to get the season started.” 

   Many people, including drivers, engineers, team officials and fans alike have high hopes for the team. It is a legendary brand that will have a powerful engine manufacturer in Mercedes. Many people hope they will finish in the top three of the constructors championship, and have top three finishes for the drivers and possible wins. The announcement sent a shockwave through the Formula 1 world, and now everybody will be waiting until Mar. 26th, which will be the first race of the Formula 1 season in Australia. 

   All over this world, 2020 has taught us many lessons in life. Some being to never take anything for granted, especially when it comes to friends and family. In the blink of an eye, this world was basically all shut down; borders were closed, entire countries went into lockdown, and many people spent weeks at their home. Some view 2020 as a blessing and some view it as a lesson. Here are how students at Lakeview are going to bring in this new year. 

   Gwen Archibald, ‘22 spent the majority of her 2020 in her own thoughts. 

   “Some ways I coped with the year was doing my art. One major goal for 2021 is improving my art and knocking out more pieces faster.”

   Archibald then goes on to say how the best way she thinks to accomplish the goal she has set. 

   “I think one thing I could do to contribute to my goal is putting away distractions. Taking time out of my day to let go of the world around me and focus on what I am creating. Another thing I can do is incorporate my struggles into art as a type of therapy.”

   Here is something Gwen succeeded in the past year.

   “Something I am proud of from the past year is really letting go of the little things. If 2020 taught me anything it is that this Earth is too big to be worrying about the things that just don't matter.”

   Sophia Sloan, ‘22 has set goals and also accomplished some. 

   “I think one thing that I am definitely going to work harder is getting better grades. 2020 was a really hard year for me so it always feels good to start fresh.”

   Sloan’s solution to this goal is very simple.

   “I am going to study way harder and put the best effort Ipossibly can into the work I do.”

   From the past year here is one thing she succeeded on.

   “Something I have struggled with for a while is time maintenance. Over 2020 I really worked hard to better my time and it worked!”

   Rachel Rahaman ‘22, has set her New Year Resolutions for 2021.

   “My major goal is to be happy and relax when possible. 2020 was so stressful for all of us so I am going to take this New Year as a change to better myself.”

   Rahaman continues about how she is going to accomplish these goals.

   “I believe that it is okay to not be perfect all of the time. Something to work on yourself is to recognize life isn’t perfect no matter how hard you try. So instead of putting yourself down, you need to keep a clear mind and work on what makes you happy.”

   Rahaman is still working on herself and her wellbeing. 

   “I have set my mind to a clearer future and face any obstacle with decency and work towards the best form of myself.”

   I think as a whole we are all ready to start fresh and hopefully have a better year than 2020.

 If I told you that World War III memes, Kobe Bryant’s death, and the beginning of the Senate’s  impeachment trial against Donald Trump all happened last January, how would you feel? 

   A lot happened in 2020. Some of the big events include the Australian bushfires, the impeachment trial, BLM protests, riots, the presidential election, and an attempted coup against Michigan’s governor. 

   Then, of course, there’s the topic that dominated this year. COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization on Jan. 30, 2020. A vaccine was developed and rollout of the vaccine began in December.

   People kept holding out hope, waiting for 2021 to be the year that things get better. 

   On Jan. 6, armed rioters forced their way into the United States Capitol. In support of Donald Trump, they forced the evacuation of Congress during a session meant to certify the election of Joe Biden. 

   Many words have already been written about the riot and many more are yet to come. We are living through history. 

   Some are ready to write off 2021 as another awful year, and after this inauspicious opening, it's understandable. 

   Events don’t start and end with a changing year. There’s a prevalent binary attitude that years are either bad or good, and if it’s bad we just have to wait until next year and hope next year is good. 

   For brevity, we’ll call this the New Year Line. The common idea, embodied in New Year’s resolutions and “New Year, New Me” is that the New Year offers a fresh start. The events of last year can be put behind us as we enter a new, better year. 

   This is a fairly common attitude with many milestones, like a new presidential term or a birthday. It’s a nice, neat way of thinking about a change, and a fresh start is always nice.

   This conception is fragile. It’s easily shattered. 2021 has echoed 2020. Within a week, major events happened that dealt a blow to people hoping this year we could move forward. Now we’re staring down the barrel of a second impeachment. 

   The problem with the New Year Line is that major events simply don’t care for it. COVID-19 doesn’t care for years, and political unrest doesn’t right itself by the will of a New Year. The problems making themselves apparent year by year don’t solve themselves. 

   Living through history is exhausting. It feels like things are bad, no one knows exactly when they’ll get better, and there’s the hanging question of “When can we go back to normal?”

   “Normal” is a fickle thing. It is both a monolith and a house of cards. It is intimidating and yet comforting. It inexorably changes, yet you can pretend that it never has and it never needs to. 

   The thing about “normal” is that it doesn’t rest out of reach at the top of an ivory tower. It’s alive, and we can shape it. We can change it. 

   “Normal” changing can be scary. It’s scary to see it shatter or shift, but there’s some comfort in knowing we can make a new, better normal. Sometimes a shatter or shift is a fresh start, a chance at something better. 

   If nothing else, keep sight of that. History doesn’t always have to be something that happens to us without our say. 

   A vaccine is rolling out and the inauguration is Jan. 20. Things will keep happening, but it doesn’t always have to be without our say. 

   Happy 2021. 

   Back in December, Disney held their investors call, where investors get the inside scoop on Disney’s future releases.

   Release dates for Wandavision, Falcon And The Winter Soldier along with some movies like Black Widow were revealed.

    Wandvision is coming at us this month; it is set to have nine episodes in the series with the first three episodes coming out on Jan. 15

    Loren Gagnon, ‘21 said, “Wandavision looks like it will be a cool show.”

   Another series that is coming at us is the Falcon And The Winter Soldier, which is set to have 6 episodes airing starting March 19. 

   Gagnon said, “I feel like that isn't too late although it might be an issue if it has to be delayed.”

   The first Marvel film that is set to come out this year is Black Widow, which is releasing May 7, Black Widow was set to release on May 1, 2020, but due to the Coivid-19 pandemic it was moved to May 7, 2021 instead.

    Gagnon stated, “If things stay the way they are and everything continues to open up, I can see it coming out on May 7th, but if things get worse and we go into another lockdown I could imagine that the release will be pushed back.”

   They also revealed some Star Wars shows as well including Rangers Of The New Republic, an Ahsoka series and a reel for the Andor series that has been in development for a while along with many other things. 

   Kyle Hege, ‘21 said, “I hope to see in the Rangers of the New Republic how the fall of the Empire has impacted the galaxy. I hope to see Ahsoka meet Luke in the Ahsoka series. I think that it could reveal how Ashoka reacts when she finds out about her former master's redemption.”

   At this investors call they also revealed that Hayden Christansin is going to be back as Darth Vader for an upcoming Obi-wan Kenobi series which takes place 10 years after Revenge Of The Sith. 

   Hege said, “I think that Hayden being back as Darth Vader will have a huge impact on the kenobi series. I think he will make the show better because he is the original actor from the prequels who gave Anakin an origin story.”

   They then continued to reveal the next animated series called The Bad Batch which is set to come out very soon, and they talked about another animated series called Visions which is a collection of short films. 

   There is also an original series called Willow coming in 2022 which already has a director and actor attached to it.

   There is also talk about expanding the Star Wars universe.

   Hedge said, “I do like the fact that Star Wars is trying to make an extended universe because Star Wars is something that many people love and many people have found interests in these characters. This extended universe will allow us fans to see more of these characters that we love so much.”

   All of these shows will be released on Fridays on Disney Plus over the next couple of years, so if you're a fan of these shows or if you're interested in them and want to see them, then make sure you have a Disney Plus subscription and enjoy the content.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and many people are getting prepared early. However, some people aren’t getting the traditional Thanksgiving feast.

  Thanksgiving was made a national holiday in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln and ever since has been a family- oriented holiday. Turkeys have been hunted since the 1600’s. It gained popularity as the meal of choice when Thanksgiving was declared a holiday. Much of what is eaten along with the turkey came from Mexico and South America. 

   Keyera ‘24 stated “I like eating turkey and macaroni for Thanksgiving because my mom seasons it very well.” 

  Not all people eat turkey as their traditional meal. Some people feel it is too much preparation and too much food for the average family. Many turkeys are killed around the time of Thanksgiving, and people think it is cruel to the birds and they feel it is also unhealthy.    

    Chloe Castle, ‘24 stated, “If I'm not having turkey for Thanksgiving, I'll usually just have ham instead.” 

   Others don’t celebrate Thanksgiving because of either their religion or the history of it. Alternative meals that some people choose include: roast, ham, or chicken. Even some restaurants offer Thanksgiving meals. Cracker Barrel, Boston Market, and Denny’s all offer Thanksgiving meals. Although they all offer similar things in their meals, it is a way to still enjoy Thanksgiving without the pressure or the time of cooking a turkey. 

     Some cultures have different ways of celebrating Thanksgiving, which means they also might have a different meal. Jamaicans eat goat as their main dish for Thanksgiving. They think it is healthier and better than turkey.

   In India and parts of Asia, they like to eat tandoori chicken. It is similar to how the Jamaicans cook their goat, spicy but less saucy.

  There are so many other options other than turkey. You can choose something from many different cultures, or even buy something from one of the many restaurants listed. If it’s too much stress, you do have options.

 The polls are closed. Results are in. For better or worse, it appears now that our next president will be Joe Biden.

   For many, perhaps most, this result is unsatisfactory. In fact, this election was coated in an air of discontent at the two leading candidates. 

   Lakeview Alumni Cory Foley stated, “You had the choice between expired skim milk or slightly less expired skim milk.”

   This is perhaps showcased best in reactions to the first debate. Tweets lampooning it blew up, and popular conservative speaker Ben Shapiro said, “I literally have no idea who won this debate. I just know we all lost.” Business Insider called it an embarrassment. 

   This leaves the question, “How did we get here?” How are our options for two white men in their 70’s and where do we go from here?

   You might remember, either from U.S. history or Hamilton, that George Washington warned against a two-party system. You might also remember that there practically was one already.

   Of course, these were not the parties we have today. But it does bring to mind that perhaps our most famous founding father warned against the very thing we’re experiencing today, to no avail. Ironically, this was because of the very system that the founding fathers designed.

   While it might not be obvious at first glance, the two-party system we have is a result of the way we vote. America, like many other countries, operates on a winner take all system, often called first ‘Past the Post’. The winner is not the person or the party who claims a majority of the vote, but simply the one who can win more votes than anyone else.

   How does this lead to the two-party system? Put simply, when several parties compete in this system, one party wins with only a small fraction of the vote. As a result, people abandon smaller parties and gravitate toward the larger parties that don’t represent their interests as well, but have a better chance of winning. 

   First ‘Past the Post’ also leads to what’s called the spoiler effect. The spoiler effect occurs when voters choose a smaller party that aligns more with their interests, taking votes from the main party they’d normally vote for and inadvertently causing it to lose. 

   The election of 1860 is an example of these concepts in action. As a refresher, four parties ran in 1860. The Republicans were a new party formed to oppose slavery’s expansion into new territories. The Democrats were in the race as well, with the Southern Democrats splintering off over party disagreements. The Constitutional Union party was made up of people who disliked both the Democrats and the Republicans . Of these parties, only the Republicans had a platform that was anti-slavery. The Republicans won 180 electoral votes, a decisive majority given that they only needed 152. 

   Overall, the Republicans only won about 40% of the popular vote. Following this election, the Southern Democrats and the Constitutional Union party dissolved, with most of the Southern Democrats uniting around the Democrats in elections following. 

   The votes in 1860 were split heavily among the four parties. In the end, Lincoln won by decisive majorities in all of the states he needed for the 152 electoral votes. However, in California and Oregon, he won with 32% and 35% of vote respectively, with the Southern Democrats and Democrats having between them enough votes to make a majority had they not been divided.

   If winner take all is such a problem, what are the alternatives? One option is Ranked Choice Voting. With RCV, voters rank their candidates in order of preference. If no candidate has a majority, the one with the least number of votes is eliminated and the votes are retallied using the second choice of the voters who chose the eliminated candidate. This process is repeated until a clear winner is selected. 

      RCV has drawn criticism, mainly that it wouldn’t necessarily promote more diverse spreads of candidates. Another argument is that it is contradictory to the democratic process. There are more systems and more nuisances to those systems than I could personally hope to explain in a short school newspaper article, and I encourage you to research for yourself. 

   No matter what system we use, we have to create one that gives voters choices they want, and not choices they can barely tolerate.

 Ever since Ruth Bader Ginsberg tragically passed away on Sept. 18, President Trump has been racing to fill her seat on the Supreme Court. If the president does get his way and appoints the new justice, he will have had three supreme court appointees in his first term. 

   Now, three justices may sound like a lot, and it is, but it's not the most a president has ever appointed. That record goes to Franklin Roosevelt, who appointed 8 judges to the supreme court during his presidency. 

  Trump’s opponents, mostly democrats,have stated the president should wait until the election is over to pick the justice, that is if he wins the 2020 election. The democrats say this because after Justice Scalia died in 2016, then-president Barack Obama waited the nine months until the election, and let the new president, Donald Trump, pick his replacement. 

   In the recent presidential debate, the president made the point that ,“Elections have consequences, I am president for four years not three. And even if I lose this election, I am still president until my opponent takes office.” 

  Meaning in essence, just because it’s an election year doesn’t mean he’s not still president. He still has the ability to appoint this justice even though he may leave office in early 2021. 

  Trump has already submitted a nominee to the supreme court: Amy Coney Barret, a 7th circuit of appeals judge.  Barret is a conservative judge voting mostly pro-gun, pro-life, and pro-capitalism when cases were brought to her. It’s because of those beliefs and choices that made her opposers question her place on the bench. Now just because Trump nominated her does not mean she is guaranteed the job. The senate still has to vote on her confirmation. To gain the job, Barrett has to achieve a majority vote. The republicans do have a 53-47 majority vote in the senate, but two senators have come out and said they will not confirm the nomination until the new president takes office. 

  Senate democrats were pleading with the republicans to honor Ginsberg’s last wish, which supposedly was for her seat to not be filled until the election happened. This last wish is highly debated as only Ginsberg’s close family would have known about it.

   Lakeview students had their own opinions on the subject, with senior Maria Musilli saying, “I don’t blame the republicans for trying to get the nomination through before the election. I know the democrats would do the same if they had the same situation, but it’s not the moral thing to do.”

   With a different perspective, Junior Zack Graham stated, “ I believe that the republicans should wait. Even if the democrats would do the same, that’s not the point. The point is that we’re about 35 days away from an election. It wouldn't kill anyone to wait those days to see who’s the next president.”

    Graham continued, “And I mean if president Trump does win I honestly wouldn’t care that he got 3 picks in his first term, but it's the fact that he’s trying to shove this nomination in right before an election he could very well lose.”

  Overall, this is a pressing issue because the supreme court is so important to the laws in our country. Whatever happens, whether the nomination goes through or not, this will be one of the most important decisions in Trump's presidency.

 In 1975, September was established as Suicide Awareness month. But the official day for suicide awareness is Sept. 10th. 

   Each year, around 800,000 people die by suicide worldwide. That equals to about one person every 40 seconds. 

   Those statistics only count for those lives lost, but for every 1 death by suicide, there’s another 25 attempts. 

   Only about half of the world's population with depression actually receives medical treatment, whether that be by medication or therapy. However, when treatment is sought out, there’s an 80% of successfully treating the depression. 

   Every person, no matter what age, has been affected by poor mental health. However, teenagers have some of the highest depression and suicide rates. 

   Mental health is something most people are afraid to talk about. Either don’t know how, are afraid to, or feel like their problems are insignificant and would rather deal with it themselves. But, because they try to take it all on by themselves, the outcome is usually devastating. 

   Most middle schools across the U.S have yearly assemblies raising awareness about suicide. They typically have guest speakers telling other people’s stories or telling everyone about their own battles with suicide, and a large number of these students go on to remember these stories.

   But once entering high school, a lot of these assemblies stop and there is not as much attention drawn to the issue. 

   Attention to suicide should not be focused on one age group, one month, or one day, it needs to be every single day for every single person.

   Suicide can affect someone in a number of ways. They may have lost someone to suicide, contemplated suicide, witnessed suicide, are struggling with thoughts of suicide, or coping from someone else’s suicide.

   Everyone must be aware that there is help for every single one of these issues, and suicide is never the answer. You are never alone. 

   If you or someone you know is struggling with suicide in any way, please reach out. 

  In addition, you never know what people are struggling with silently, so as you go out into the world be kind to everyone you meet. 

National Suicide Prevention Line: 800-237-8255