By: Jaylen Cartagena, Finances Reporter

May 4th, 2023

USA -  Currently there is a banking crisis due to the rise in interest rates causing people to take out loans they cannot pay back. This is causing a lot of issues with clients of banks withdrawing large amounts of the money that have been saving in the bank causing the collapse like the S.V.B. bank. This sparks controversy in the trust between banks and people. This also raises people's attention on things such as if they can safely invest their money in banks and if their money will be safe. Are you better off holding your money or putting your trust in the banks?

The S.V. B bank crisis is something that has happened in the past Savings and Loan Crisis from the FRB (Federal Reserve Bank). The cause for both of these banks crashing is the same problem which is the Rise of Interest Rates and Inflation Rates. This also sparks the question of if your money will be held safely in banks. This also makes people wonder if banks can't give you your money back. What will you do then? Another thing is if they charge you opening fees and processing fees and you don't know if your money will be safe are you better off keeping your money?

Banks are one of the biggest known necessities for both domestic and international payment systems. This also makes it necessary to have an account for savings or checking when you get paid via check you can cash it in at a bank. As Well as if you want a credit card which is what most places use to pay for things now but you will need a bank account which you then get a credit card which is where you access your money. Simple solutions can see what banks have had the most users but the least amount of issues. As well as look for some that are secure and if a bank is known to be good chances are it's better to go for a bank like Chase and Bank of America.

Sometimes banks do end up having issues and sometimes you need help to solve them like customer support so look for banks that have good customer service/support. Your money can't be trusted in an environment/place that does not look trustworthy so do your research. Also like the S.V.B., their clients withdrew their money due to their suspicions of uninsured deposits being (deposits over 250k dollars) risk. Another thing is rising interest rates which for the most part do help banks but come with the risks of threatening the bank's earnings, capitalism, liquidity, and solvency. So do your research on how banks work as well as where/how much interest rates are rising.

No bank is 100% safe but that's a risk that most people have to take. You have the power to choose where your money goes so choose wisely. Most trusted banks are Chase, Capital One, and CitiBank. Chase is also highly valued with their customer services as well as Capital One. You need to choose a bank that is close to you and highly accessible. Do your research and look at what is statistically best as well as most helpful. Only you can choose who holds your money so choose someone you trust.

By: Oscar Morales, Business and Tech Reporter

February 21st, 2023

UNITED STATES - Artificial intelligence is a relatively new technology that can help innovate this world. This is what AI was intended to do but it has recently caused more issues than initially thought. Many students across the world have been abusing the power of AI and in this case, the AI causing this is called ChatGPT. Students are making the AI write their work for them whether that be stories or essays. They have teachers fooled because they are none the wiser that students are simply copying and pasting something they didn't write. For all the teachers know the students are writing them.

There has always been an issue with work being plagiarized and being passed on as someone’s own. This has been going to the next level because so many more people are doing it and educators can’t do anything about it because there’s so many of them that seem so genuine and feel like it's been written by a person. This problem is spreading across people of all grades starting as early as what seems to be middle school and even reaching college students. AI technology has grown since its creation just a few years ago and now it's capable of completely fooling humans by creating images and written works. ChatGPT is making people lazier because people aren’t doing anything when it comes to work because they type up a broad and simple topic and within seconds they have a full essay.

ChatGPT has become such a prominent issue that people are taking matters into their own hands. Many people are trying to combat this but are still somehow failing. A student at Princeton University named Edward Tian has created an app specifically designed to combat ChatGPT he calls it GPTZero. GPTZero has gained a lot of popularity because it’s helping this problem faced by schools everywhere.  Using this program educators and people alike can use this to paste something that is suspected to be written by AI and GPTZero can determine whether or not something was written by an AI with an accuracy of 87.5%.  

ChatGPT has caused the creation of many things to either support or combat it. Just recently something has been created to combat the thing that's been exposing many people. Something called GPTHero has been made to type in an AI generated text and it makes it even more human-like. It again causes teachers to be even more fooled than before. GPTHero is making this so incredibly realistic that it's even fooling GPTZero.

The recent emergence of ChatGPT is causing many companies to try and replicate or make their own versions of this AI technology. Google and Microsoft have come out saying they are trying to develop their own AI to compete with ChatGPT. Both companies have blown millions of dollars to try and push their own ai to the mainstream. Just released on February 9th new information has been released about Google dropping $100 Billion after their attempt at an AI made a mistake. Microsoft has their own vision towards this technology stating “AI work will create more satisfaction in current jobs and net new jobs”.

In most cases, AI can be used to innovate our world by helping us to figure out parts of society as well as advance our technology like space travel. As we have all seen throughout recent times it can be corrupted and can even outsmart people. Seeing how it has caused the creation of different tools which combat it as well as disguise it even more it will be a battle that goes back and forth. This trend might last for a while because as people keep combating it others are trying to support it by making it almost undetectable. As time passes AI will continue to advance where it might even become sentient but we will have to see.

By: Brandon Garcia, Business Investigator

Febraruy 21st, 2023

Los Angeles- Something never seems to stay normal for long. With a new year comes higher movie ticket prices at AMC theaters. With movie tickets already being costly should people go to the movies anymore. With only a few movies known to be set to release this year will it even matter. Will it be better to wait for a movie to be released on a streaming service? Or perhaps people will end up paying more for entertainment. Why are the prices rising and is it only temporary?

Why is there a price rise? We don’t know exactly why they are doing this, but what we do know is that the only rise of prices was to the seat found in the near/in the middle row of seats at the center of the auditorium. From a business perspective it makes sense because it is common to make people pay for “better” things. What doesn't make sense is that they are raising costs on mostly pack rooms. There aren't any highly anticipated movies going on this year so far so it's most likely that movie theaters will not be super packed. So should you pay more to get better seats or could you bypass this by getting the AMC membership.

As hinted, people with the AMC membership will not be affected by the price rises. Does this mean You should fork up 20-25 dollars? Let's find out. The average movie ticket price right now for Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania child, adult, and senior seat costs in that order is 15, 18, and 17 dollars. Prices will be rising to about 3 dollars so now prices for good seats are 18 for children, 21 for adults, and 20 dollars for seniors. We shall not forget the popcorn and drink. At AMC a combo of a large popcorn and drink is 20 dollars. So for a single adult with snacks old prices are 38 and new prices are 41 dollars. So all in all it is just a 3 dollar up price which isn't too bad. So still being a bit more expensive you aren't going to waste too much going with the new prices. With the AMC membership you can get one free refill and be able to make 3 movie reservations in one week for free. Also it costs about 7 dollars a month. So just to get a bit more popcorn and not be affected by the three dollars extra it doesn't seem that worth it.

So as for money wise just sit in a different seat if you don’t want to pay extra money. What will this mean for the future of AMC? I see two things happening. One is that people don’t care about the 3 dollar increase and just pay up. Second is that people will just wait for time to watch the movie where they don’t need to pay the 3 dollars or just go to another movie threader. With these two choices I think option two is the most likely. If option two does happen it can end up with AMC losing a bit of money and losing business. Leading to this change of price being temporary.

With all this important information is it better to not go to AMC movies? No, the change in price is not as extreme as one may think. With only a three dollar price increase it is still fine to go to the movies. Though it is entirely possible that the prices will go back down in time. If you are wondering if the AMC subscription is worth it, yes, over time you will save money with the subscription, but if you are fine with roughly paying the same price then you don’t need to get it. So feel safe knowing that you can still go to the movies without spending a lot of money with the new prices. 

By: Kaley Lopez, Tech Reporter

February 21st, 2023

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA-Throughout the years, technology has been evolving rapidly and continues to this day, allowing medical researchers all over the world to find all kinds of answers. Without the advanced technology today, the medical community wouldn’t be as advanced with x-rays, MRIs, health tracking on smartphones, and much more. These devices have made diagnoses clearer than ever before, treatments are more accessible and possible which had been impossible in the past. There are many examples of technology amplifying the medical community including hearing aids, prosthetic arms, etc.

Back in 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen invented the X-ray, prior to this, doctors had to use invasive techniques such as surgery to see inside their patients which were harmful to human body tissues. However, now doctors are able to see the conditions of their patients without causing harm as technology has improved. The X-ray device has specific functions as providing images of internal organs, tissues, and bones to diagnose bone fractures, dental problems, certain tumors, and injuries. Since the X-ray, like other devices, has a narrow scope of what diagnoses it can provide, the ultrasound was then invented in 1956 by Tom Brown, a Scottish Engineer, and Ian Donald, a Physician and industrial designer. Sonography uses sound waves to provide images of the structures in our bodies. These allow for regular examinations of the development of babies during pregnancies, finding blood clots, fluid buildup, heart issues, etc. So, x-rays focus more on the bones and lungs while ultrasounds focus on soft tissues, heart, etc. There are now pocket sized ultrasounds.

The inventions in the past have allowed us to create MRIs, the first brain scan was in May of 1978. MRIs are used for brain scans which have allowed us to diagnose many brain tumors, different types of brain injuries, and brain disorders. Through these brain scans, scientists were able to discover the different brain structures and their functions. Scientists can use brain activity by using MRI scans and machine learning to interpret a person's emotions by naming a person, watching a film with a certain emotional impact, or music. In a study done by two professors at the University of Central Florida, neuroscientist Kiminobu Sugaya and violinist Ayako Yonetani, did a study on the effects of music on patients with late stage Alzeheimers. People with late stage Alzeheimers are mostly unresponsive until their favorite music is played. We can see the changes in MRI scans because the different parts of their brain were active, which before were unresponsive. Without the technology, this research would have never been possible.

In 1937, a surgeon Dr. Vladimir created a total artificial heart that was transplanted into a dog, who then lived for 5 ½ more years. The first permanent Artificial Heart transplant was performed in 1982, first used on a 61-year old patient, Barn Clark. But on January 7th, 2011, the first FDA-approved artificial heart was performed in California. Heart failure is the most common cause of death affecting millions and millions each year. In 1937, a surgeon Dr. Vladimir created a total artificial heart that was transplanted into a dog, who then lived for 5 ½ more years. The TAH replaces damaged heart ventricles and valves which are placed in the chest area.

The brain is a complex organ that is responsible for our thoughts, actions, memory, and how we experience the world. Since it is so complex, scientists are not able to find the exact causes of conditions like Schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease. Artificial intelligence helps with understanding the brain, it is trained to work as a human brain, and neural networks of artificial intelligence can help neuroscientists give an idea of how neurons work in the human brain. The neural networks of artificial intelligence are based on the biological neurons of the human brain. Neurons are made up of the dendrites soma, an axon on which artificial neurons are based on structure and function. This allows experts to view how impulses form and travel through the body.

By: Breezeda Gaistardo and Kevin Licona, Business Reporters

February 21st, 2023

SAN JOSE, CA - Tuesday morning Zoom's CEO Eric Yuan announced that they will lay off 1,300 employees or approximately 15% of its staff due to Zoom not having as much work as they used to. 

Zoom never thought they would go big during the pandemic but they did. Shares of Zoom rose nearly 9% in midday trading Tuesday following the announcement. Due to school not being online or work not done at home anymore, zoom has really gone low and they are not as big as they were in 2020. 

Since Zoom has not really been making as much money as they used to, they have to fire workers because not much can be done. Zoom has struggled to maintain its growth. Its market value soared in late 2020, topping $150 billion. But with workers gradually returning to offices, the company's value shrank. It is now worth about $24 billion, not much more than in the months leading up to the pandemic. Which is pretty bad because they won't have enough to pay the workers they needed when the pandemic started. Yuan wrote a blog post that as the world continues to adjust after life with Covid, the company needs to get used to adapting to the uncertainty of the global economy as well as its effect on their customers. 

Zoom experienced a huge blow out during the pandemic when people had to work from home or do school online. Also people had to stay in contact with friends or family. Zoom claims they worked so hard for their customers to be happy and use the app more often but also claims to have made a lot of mistakes throughout the process. However Yuan wrote that in order to accomplish this, he is eliminating his FY23 company bonus and decreasing his compensation for the upcoming fiscal year by 98%. Zoom is far from the only pandemic darling to experience a sharp comedown. Yuan said that the executive leadership team members' base wages would be reduced by 20% for the upcoming fiscal year and that they would forgo their incentives for the fiscal year 2023.

The early stages of the pandemic were more closely associated with Zoom than with most other businesses since so many people used its platform to video chat with friends and coworkers while under lockdowns. As Yuan fires the workers the workers will not leave empty handed. Yuan had said the cuts will impact every organization across Zoom, and employees who are laid off. They will be offered up to 16 weeks of salary and health-care coverage. The CEO also said he plans to reduce his own salary for the coming fiscal year by 98%, and he is also forgoing his 2023 corporate bonus. What Yuan also said in the post is: As the CEO and founder of Zoom, “I am accountable for these mistakes and the actions we take today– and I want to show accountability not just in words but in my own actions.”