General Interest
Administration of the First Digital SAT
By Dylan Kaan Uludag
On June 23, 1926, the College Board administered the SAT standardized test for high school students for the first time. Almost a century later in 2024, however, the test has gone fully digital. According to PBS, the reason for the change is “part of a larger effort to make the test more accessible and fair.” The switch has received mixed reactions from both students and teachers.
There are many key differences between the new digital SAT and the former pen and paper one. First off, the digital SAT is shorter. There are 56 fewer questions and 46 fewer minutes to complete the test. It is also now adaptive like the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test, which means the questions you get depend on your performance during the exam — the better you do the harder questions you will have and vice versa. This change means that not every test taker will have the same test as one another.
The new adaptive format of the SAT has raised concerns for students. While the format is supposed to promote a fairer test, it may be more difficult for well-performing students. In the New York Post article, “First all-digital SAT exam, tough math section puts students to the test: ‘Worst one yet’”, by Deirdre Bardolf, Ben Morden, a Manhattan representative to the Citywide Council on High Schools, explains, “I suspect [the SAT] was much tougher for kids who do well on it because it is now an adaptive exam.”
More changes are evident in the English and Math sections of the test. For the ELA section, texts are now shorter and only contain one question per reading. For the Math section, there is no longer a no calculator section, and students now have an attached Desmos calculator available to them throughout both of the Math modules.
Given all of these changes: is the new SAT easier or harder? Well, Priscilla Rodriguez, the vice president of College Readiness Assessments at College Board, says, “The digital SAT will be easier to take, easier to give, and more relevant.”
However, the Bayside High School community may just disagree. Bayside High School Junior Daniel Tian said that his digital SAT experience was “a little mediocre. Some of the questions were harder than usual.”
While the new SAT is supposed to be easier, many students believe that the questions are more difficult than the practice materials given. In the New York Post article, First all-digital SAT exam, tough math section puts students to the test: ‘Worst one yet’”, by Deirdre Bardolf, one student wrote in a Facebook page for a digital test prep, “I practiced all the Bluebook tests and SAT Suite questions, but the real ones were more difficult.”
On the proctoring side, the experience was not so great either. When asked about her digital SAT proctoring experience, Bayside High School English Teacher Ms. Serpe said, “I would say initially I was happy with the way everyone was able to log in. It was easier than we thought it to be. But unfortunately, there were issues later on with the Internet, and it caused a few issues with the exam.”
Additionally, when asked if the switch from the paper to digital was necessary, Ms. Serpe stated, “No, I think that there are too many things that can go wrong with computers. I think that if you are writing on paper and filling things in manually, there would be less room for error.”
The digital SAT is said to be easier for everyone involved. However, there is some room for improvement and fine-tuning to be done in upcoming years to ensure a fair and desirable experience for test takers and proctors.
Indie Games and Their Evolution Over Time
By Valerie Cantillo
Video games are a new medium and have been growing rapidly thanks to creative minds. However, it can be difficult to publish games that may be considered “risky”. Because of this, some people may decide to make their games independently. These types of games are known as “indie games”. Many of these games have gained huge success and popularity: Shovel Knight, Undertale, Touhou Project, and Fez. Independent game development has been around since the beginning of video games and has been very crucial in the progress of video games.
Indie games are made by a wide variety of people, from beginners who want to try out game development to veterans who want to freely work without restrictions. They tend to have a small number of people working on them though it is very common to see games made by a small team or even one singular person. Despite the amount of freedom and possibilities indie developers have, there is not a great deal lot of stability. It can be difficult to get funding, advertising, and commercial gain, making indie development a very unstable job. This makes it much different from “Triple A” games,games that are made by large companies with higher budgets. However, thanks to the Internet, it has become much easier for indie developers to share their works with others.
Video games had their start in 1962 with the game Spacewar!, but only gained popularity when personal computers became common in the 1970’s and 1980’s. During this period, people began to code their own interactive experiences using their PCs. Mail order was commonly used to distribute these games, but sometimes publishing companies and magazines like Atari or Softside, respectively, would offer to publish these games. Shareware, software that is meant to be freely shared among users for little to no cost, was also common among indie developers. They were easy to distribute, and if the player liked the game, they were encouraged to send money to support the creator. In some cases, payment would be necessary to access more of the game. DOOM, a first person shooter game created by id Software, began as an episodic shareware series and was highly influential in the progress of first person shooters.
However, indie game development was heavily impacted by the introduction of a new invention: the World Wide Web. The Internet made it much easier to share information across the globe, and video games were no different. Shareware continued to be a popular method of distributing video games, but browser games, games that can be played in browser, were beginning to grow in popularity. These games were mainly text-based at first, due to the technological limitations of Internet video games. As browser technology further progressed, games would be made using Javascript and Macromedia Flash, especially by indie developers. Newgrounds, created by Tom Fulp in 1995, was made to be a hosting service where users could publish their works. Browser animations and games made with Macromedia Flash were the most popular on the site and many games found popularity on Newgrounds.
Modern indie games have garnered more attention and almost as much recognition as their Triple A counterparts. Minecraft, a sandbox game made by Markus “Notch” Persson in 2011, became the single best selling video game of all time in 2019.
In the current day, video games have changed a lot. Although indie development continues to be an unstable career, as long as technology continues to be accessible to the average person, independent game development will continue to grow.
Puzzled Form of a Love Story : Signalis
By John Sullivan
Signalis is an indie survival-horror game made by the game development studio rose-engine. The studio was founded by Yuri Stern and Barbara Wittman, both illustrators and games designers in Hamburg, Germany.
Signalis begins with its protagonist Elster, an android, otherwise known as a Replika. Like many of the enemies in the game, her background is unknown, except that she is on a personal quest to find someone. The game’s puzzles and combat resemble the Resident Evil franchise: slow paced, giving off creepy vibes as if you are being watched and at times psychologically messing with you. The game also includes a lot of symbolism from books such as The King In Yellow. In the game, a description is given: "An ancient-looking tome is lying on the table. It feels like it is calling to me...". Despite the book reference, you do not need to read it to understand the game.
The game’s soundtrack is based on German opera music, while combining sci-fi sound effects, breathing, and scraping. The music elicits strong emotions that feel very unique and fit the horror theme of the game. Composed by multiple musicians, the music and sound effects are always ominous.
After a while, you figure out more about the game’s puzzles, the facility's backstory, and the corrupted Replikas. At one point you encounter a unique character—the only male in the entire facility—named Adler. He manages the facility you're in, which explains why the cameras are always watching you. But like the rest of the characters, he tells you that you shouldn’t have returned, before shoving you down an elevator shaft. When you eventually wake up from your plunge, the real game starts. You are there to fulfill a promise—although the game is vague about what the promise is—and are introduced to a new character named Arianne. This introduces the game’s main plotpoint: Signalis is a lesbian love story between Arianne and Elster. During this portion of the game, enemies are now armed with shields and batons, and puzzles become far more challenging. What you do from this point forward can affect the game’s ending, from the amount of enemies you defeat, to the amount of time you play.
I personally loved the story from this point on. I could say it is nothing but a heartbreaking love story; you will start to realize it's not just any regular love story. Elements of the story are left vague on purpose, so you have to piece it together yourself. You feel the emotions the characters feel.
Signalis is not a happy story, in fact it is incredibly sad, enough to make almost anyone cry. You don’t play as a “good guy” in Signalis, in fact some people show dislike for Elster by the ending, calling her stubborn or selfish. I believe that even if the game is spoiled for you, it's still an experience worth buying for $15.99 on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, or Xbox.
The Vultures : A Review of Kanye's New Album
By Hillary Villegas
Should you listen to Kanye West's new album? Produced by Kanye himself and other talented musicians such as Ty Dolla $ign, Ambezza, Fya Man, Gustavo Rudman, Ovjivolta Chrodz, Juice, Wheezy, Adey, and Jasper Harris. The album, The Vultures, was released on February 9th, 2024. This new release marks his 13th album after producing Donda in 2021. The Vultures follows a hip-hop and rap genre, similar to many of the other albums Kanye has created.
Although Kanye has been a very controversial - person this year, the underlying question still stands: does his controversy affect the way people listen to his music? - I believe it does not. - I believe that Kanye West's new album, The Vultures, is definitely worth listening to if you are someone who supports Kanye or is into rap. However, some of the songs may be deemed questionable to those who are more sensitive to certain topics.
“Questionable?”, you may ask. Well, in a couple of his songs, he raps obscene yet interesting topics that might trigger some people. For example, in his most popular song “Carnival”, featuring Playboi Carti, Ty Dolla $ign, and Rich The Kid, Kanye sings, “I’m the new Jesus b-” and “I turn water into crist”. Due to Kanye’s controversial nature, some may believe that he takes his lyrics literally, while others claim that it is “just a song”. - The Vultures album is really not for everybody to enjoy, especially for those who have different beliefs than Kanye.
The first song on the album is “Stars”, featuring Ty Dolla $ign. Only a minute and fifty-five seconds long, the song is Kanye’s shortest song on the album. Some of his other songs vary in time, his longest being six minutes and eight seconds long in “Beg for Forgiveness”. The most popular song on the album is “Carnival”, which features Rich The Kid and Playboi Carti; it has over 34 million streams according to Variety.
I have to admit, some of his songs on his other albums are different from his songs on The Vultures. Some of Kanye's old songs are not as controversial as his new songs. I believe that Kanye tries to express himself through music, which is why I like the newly released album because it’s almost like I can spot the difference between his old songs and his new songs.
My favorite song on The Vultures album would have to be “Beg for Forgiveness” featuring Ty Dolla $ign. The reason I enjoy this song is -because of the way the rhythm makes me feel as a Kanye West listener. “Beg for Forgiveness” reminds me of his old songs that were more “romantic” in a sense. His voice is softened, fitting the vibe of his songs before the new Kanye West or “Ye” as he calls himself. Contrary to some beliefs, I feel that The Vultures is completely different from his old works, making the listening experience - more enjoyable - because it’s something Kanye doesn’t normally do. I would rank this album an 8.5/10 because of how creative it is.
So, should you listen to Kanye West's new album? Yes! If you are -not a Kanye West fan, but are looking to expand your music choices and listen to something different, The Vultures is definitely an album to put on your list! If you are already a Kanye West fan and listen to him, it’s an even bigger reason to stream and support his new album.
