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Archive: Fri Aug 2022

  1. Drought in Somalia: “We Are On the Edge of Famine”

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    BY RUBA ABDELGALIL

     

    According to experts at several nonprofits, the severity of the drought in Somalia is exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine, insufficient rainfall and the struggles bordering countries face.

    Somalia is home to nearly 16 million people, of which roughly 7.1 million face catastrophic hunger. The remainder of the population also feels the effects of food insecurity. Approximately 1.5 million children, all under the age of 5, suffer from acute malnutrition. Of these children, about 25 percent suffer from severe malnutrition. 

    Typically, a year in Somalia consists of two rainy seasons. Currently, Somalia is approaching the fifth season in which the amount of rainfall has not sufficed. The country’s next rainy season will take place from October to November. Estimated forecasts suggest the season will also underperform. If this occurs, experts from the World Food Program state that this will be a historic event for the horn of Africa. 

     “If this fifth season fails, we will be in unprecedented and dangerous territory,” says Petroc Wilton, the head of communications for the World Food Program.

     Although climate shock and flooding frequently occur in this country, this drought is of unusual intensity. This issue has raised concern in governments of bordering countries and worldwide. Despite their acknowledgment of this crisis, these governments face difficulties in their nations. Specifically, in East Africa, similar issues are happening. Countries such as South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya face hunger crises due to related reasons. These countries have similar climates and several rely on Ukrainian and Russian imports. Experts from several nonprofits are hesitant to refer to this crisis as famine. With that in mind, they acknowledge the possibility of progression into that stage.

    Within Somalia, conditions worsened since the outset of the crisis in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine are responsible for 90 percent of Somalia’s wheat exports, a prominent crop in the average Somalian’s diet. Once the war began, wheat supply considerably decreased, thus causing prices to skyrocket. With a shortage in agriculture, animals and livestock are subsequently affected by this drought. Since agriculture and livestock are heavily relied on for sustenance, the consequences of this inaccessibility are faced nationwide. Not only does this interfere with their diets, but the scarcity of wheat and other necessities raises the cost of living. Due to the unlikelihood of a woman or child making a livable wage in this country, those two demographics are directly affected. 

    Because of the proximity in which the two crises occurred, the crisis in Somalia receives little recognition. The crisis in Ukraine also creates issues in worldwide fuel supply. Since the war began, the price of oil has increased by an estimated 300 percent. Russia is responsible for 12 percent of the global oil supply. While oil imports have not stopped, there is a notable gap in supply. 

    “We are on the edge of famine,” Wilton said.

    The World Food Program is the largest humanitarian agency in Somalia. Of their many programs, the main one focuses on supplying life-saving food assistance to those most vulnerable. According to them, the supplies they have will suffice until September of 2022; this signifies that this program promptly needs more funding to feed those in critical condition. To maintain progress across the next 6 months, the WFP needs about 320 million dollars.

    Since this program’s main source of funding is donations from governments, such as the US, experts recommend citizens to notify their local governments of the importance of this crisis. Other aiding organizations include Care, UNICEF, and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). These organizations work with the Somalian government to ensure food security for those facing malnutrition and shelter for those displaced by flooding. To support these organizations, one may volunteer or make donations. 

    Despite the extremity of this drought, there remains a possibility to stop conditions from worsening. As of July 2022, the WFP alone reached 4 million people in total across all programs. This is an immense level of progression when considering the time period of 3 months. Other organizations such as UNICEF are working to ensure each child receives nutrition, healthcare and education. In addition to aiding kids, UNICEF also seeks to support young mothers. Statistics show that 5 percent of women ages 15-49 die due to pregnancy. Similarly, about 13 percent of kids in Somalia die before reaching the age of 5. 

    The hunger crisis in Somalia is on the verge of being recognized as a famine. This drought is the product of an unsteady climate, the Ukraine crisis, and little media coverage. Although conditions continue to worsen, a possibility to make a change before it becomes a famine remains. Many nonprofit organizations are devoted to aiding those at risk of severe malnutrition, as well as the many displaced by flooding. Experts encourage those not living in Somalia to notify their local governments and raise awareness about this tragedy. 

  2. Food, family and Filipinos: the San Francisco Pistahan Festival

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    BY KYLE YOUNG

     

    San Francisco — Among vibrant banners and bustling pavilions surrounding the center stage, hundreds of people reunited in person for the first time in two years for the Pistahan Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens.

    Meaning “Having a festival” or “feasting” in Tagalog, the two-day return of Pistahan celebrates the roots of Filipino culture in San Francisco and the general Bay Area. When in person, the event continues to be the largest Filipino cultural festival on the West Coast. Although virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, it garnered a following of almost 500,000 people globally in both 2020 and 2021.

    “The last couple of years during the pandemic were really hard because we actually had to reimagine and rethink how the festival would be,” said Fatima Wright, an organizer, and attendee of the festival since the founding of Pistahan. “[But now, being back in person] the festival blows my mind because you have a whole weekend to share so much with our community [about] the beauty of being Filipino.”

    The Pistahan Festival originated in 1994 in response to the displacement of San Francisco Filipinos due to the construction of the Moscone Convention Center and the Yerba Buena Gardens, and always occurs in the second week of August. On August 4th, 1977, Filipino-American (Fil-Am) residents were forcefully evicted from their accommodations in the International Hotel by fully armed riot police. This would mark the last stand of Manilatown, the Filipino cultural center in the city. The festival occurs annually after that first week to represent the rebirth of Filipino culture in San Francisco. 

    “To me, it’s about the celebration of our culture, of our community, our traditions. It’s about the community coming together,” said Al Perez, President of Pistahan SF. “This festival is very important for the community to have that source of rejuvenation and reconnection to re-engage with all parts of our culture.”  

    The festival is free for everyone to attend in order to better spread awareness and to let the city enjoy a breath of fresh air while learning about another’s culture. 

    The theme for the 2022 Pistahan Parade and Festival was “homecoming”; honoring roots, heritage, and community. Although the festival was attended by many Fil-Am and Filipino immigrants currently residing in the city, non-Filipinos were encouraged to actively participate to spread Pinoy pride and acceptance.

    “I hope that this will evolve into amazing directions in the future, but keep its mission to broaden awareness and deepened understanding of Filipino culture and in the process sparked cultural pride,” said Perez. “I hope that [non-Filipinos] will see in a lot of ways we just like them because we care about our families. We care about our jobs or care about our culture. [But] in some ways, we’re also very unique. Our uniqueness makes us special, [rather than] weird.”

    Pistahan 2022 featured eight pavilions for attendees to learn about Pinoy culture and representation within the modern world; from Tinikling dancing to how Filipinos were actively engaging in Silicon Valley.

    “My parents tried to teach me about Filipino culture when I was young, but [Pistahan] is the way for me to tap into things like the arts, dance and entertainment and see how it all merges together,” says Kikani Libadia, Pistahan SF’s social media coordinator. 

    However, it isn’t always easy for the festival to gain attendance. Younger generations of Filipino Americans often straddle a gap between cultures,  which often creates a disconnect between kids and their heritage.

     “When us kids came [to the United States], our first priority was to be as American as we can. That’s just kind of protecting ourselves from harassment from being bullied,” said Perez. “The priority was to lose our accent to be as American as we can.”

    Similarly, Libadia emphasized the dependency on familial-like connections in the Fil-Am community when it comes to the continuation of Filipino culture in America. Libadia believes the future of Pistahan SF is in the hands of the next generation of Fil-Am volunteers continuing the tradition. 

    “It’s really hard to draw young crowds to Pistahan because the majority of us initially started going because of our parents,” said Libadia. “But, when you get older, you don’t really want to go and your parents can’t always force you to.” 

    Even so, as a current college student and the festival’s social media coordinator, Libadia strives to connect all age gaps, from the young to the elderly. 

    “I think especially working with social media, one of the challenges I came across was trying to bridge that [inter]generational gap,” said Libadia. “Even so, we can appeal to everyone… Whether you’re Filipino at all, I really want people to come in and see that these are people that this is our culture and that we’re all interconnected. No matter what background you come from, there’s a lot to learn about your culture.” 

    By bridging traditional and contemporary, Pistahan shows people the future via the discovery of the past. Through food, dance, fashion, and technology, connecting families and building unity remain Pistahan’s main objectives.

    “My favorite moment was being able to share my love for community with my children because my kids who are now teenagers volunteered at this Pistahan for the first time this year,” Wright said. “I think that was my proudest moment to date because they finally saw and understood why I do what I do for our community.”

     

  3. STEAM Education is Being Revived in Glastonbury

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    BY KATE QIAN

     

    With enrollment in STEAM courses steadily dropping for the past few years, it appeared that Glastonbury High School wouldn’t be able to provide students with an up-to-date education in the sciences. However, during the 2021-2022 school year, construction on the STEAM lab began with the goal of reversing that downward trend.

    According to the Glastonbury High School STEAM Lab webpage, the new lab will be located in one of the school’s lower hallways, replacing the space where three outdated classrooms used to be. Its objective is to introduce more students into STEAM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, to help them learn and develop new skills, and to provide a space for the school’s robotics team to work in. It will be used for the first time in the 2022-2023 school year. Design Careers in STEAM, Computer Modeling for Animation and Game Design and Digital Electronics are all new or updated courses that will be arriving during the year, along with Principles of Applied Robotics and Engineering, a course that was first offered in the 2021-2022 school year. This has resulted in new teachers and staff, and it has also excited many students. 

    “It sounds like a lot of fun, and I hope that it will give me an opportunity to explore the STEAM fields more in-depth and increase my understanding of these subjects,” Serena Laizhou, is a student who has enrolled in Design Careers in STEAM, one of the new courses, wrote to the News.

    The decreasing interest in technology education courses at the high school and the increasing number of jobs requiring skills in STEAM were key factors in the decision to build the lab. Glastonbury High School originally had a woodshop class, an automotive course, and a metals elective. However, the program did not adapt to the need for more modern technological skills in the fields they were preparing students for. They did not teach students how to use computers for modeling and designing, which made the courses continually more outdated as time passed. 

    The STEAM lab was designed to include industry-standard modern technology in order to provide students with a more current and relevant education. Unlike the classrooms that it replaced, the lab will not be sectioned off by walls. This will allow for more effective usage of the space. The space was also designed to provide the GHS robotics team a place to store and experiment with their creations. According to Glastonbury Superintendent Alan Bookman, the project has also been expanded beyond the original 3,000 square feet area. An old electronics room and an outdated graphics room have been renovated to help improve STEAM education at GHS, too. 

    The curriculum has also been updated to reflect these changes. Elizabeth Cole, the Director of Career Technical Education, has worked with a “dynamic team of curriculum directors, teachers, industry leaders, community partners and colleagues in higher education” to develop the programs and courses. While creating the program, they considered what students would need to know going into a college or career in the area of STEAM. Further down the line, they hope to give students the opportunity to work with professionals and gain experience through internships.

    “Overall, when looking at both new and existing courses we have worked with our partners in industry and higher education to prepare Glastonbury students to be able to problem solve, design, and innovate for the issues of both today and tomorrow,” Cole wrote to the News.

    As a rising sophomore, Serena said that she was very excited for the new lab and hoped that it would allow her to more deeply explore the STEAM fields. Serena did not attend a public elementary school. Instead, she went to a school with a small, tightly knit community that did not give out grades. Serena and her peers only had access to five, slow, outdated computers. When she matriculated into a public middle school, she found much of the science and technology education to be different. This inspired her to become especially interested in the sciences. 

    Ilakkiya Tamilirasu, a Glastonbury High School student interested in the field of technology, is also looking forward to the arrival of the lab. She’s interested in pursuing a career in robotics and engineering and wrote to the News that she hopes to see the lab offer hands-on experience to students. 

    Rising junior Madison Archambault has been interested in biology since sixth grade, and is currently participating in the Assisted Research Mentorship program at GHS. She is enthusiastic that the school is helping make STEAM education more accessible to all students, especially younger girls.

    Madison emphasized, “I think it’s extra important to expose young girls to STEAM education because that’s oftentimes an option that they don’t even know exists for them until they’re exposed to it and, you know, us girls, we got some good ideas.”

    The funding to build the lab was provided through a combination of federal and state grants. Dr. Bookman, the superintendent, stated that the school was able to obtain federal funding easily because the funding was meant for schools to enhance education and specifically mentioned STEAM as a way to do so. $300,000 of the Board of Education’s operating budget was also used to pay for construction planning and equipment, and the school hopes to raise $400,000 more to help pay for specialized equipment and furniture. 

    Some students believe the money was needed elsewhere. Students Elliot Finch and Sarah Zhang wrote to the News about some areas of the school that could have used the funding. They mention more effective AC units, maintaining availability of lunches near the end of school, and expanding locker rooms and restrooms.

    While there are some mixed feelings about the new STEAM lab, many students hold positive emotions towards the addition to the high school. The lab brings with it the chance to learn useful and relevant skills and gives Glastonbury students a more accessible way to pursue the sciences.

    “It’s just a place that I think will start off really well in September. By the time we get to October, it will be better. By the time we get to January, the amount of things that will roll into that place will be quite impressive,” Superintendent Bookman said, “And so I think it’s going to be just a continually growing kind of place where it’s going to be more exciting for all our students.”

    Glastonbury High was founded in 1902.

  4. Mental health of teenagers in Poland

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    BY KAMILA OLSZEWSKA 

     

    About 8 million people in Poland are struggling with mental health problems, according to research done in 2020 by EZOP, and research done by UNICEF in 2021 found that only 11% of teenagers are diagnosed with mental health issues, which leaves many issues undiagnosed. 

    Teenagers who require immediate healthcare are often forced to sleep on the hospital floor because of the lack of space. The COVID-19 Pandemic did not help the situation. Due to pandemic restrictions, hospitalized people were not allowed to see their friends and families.

    “I’ve been there for over five months, and the only moment when I could see my family is when they came to the window in the dining hall to wave at me from behind the bars,” a patient hospitalized in 2021 said. “How am I supposed to get better when my doctor has 10 other patients and doesn’t even have time to talk to me?”

    Shortcomings in the medical staff are a huge problem in the mental health unit in Poland. Parents with children in the hospital are concerned about their treatment but struggle to get answers when doctors don’t have time to talk to them. One parent with a hospitalized child expressed this concern, saying “We can’t communicate with our child’s doctor!”

    Danuta Wieczorkiewicz, president and founder of the Zobacz…JESTEM foundation – an organization helping young people with mental health issues – recognizes the situation in Poland.

    “Poland is currently ranked 2nd in Europe in terms of suicides committed by children and adolescents,” Wieczorkiewicz said. “In 2021, as many as 115 people between the ages of six and 18 took their lives, and it is estimated that there are 200 times more suicide attempts. 4% of children in kindergarten, 8% in primary school, and over 20% of teens suffer from depression in Poland, and that’s just the tip of the trouble with mental health.”

    According to Wieczorkiewicz, there are only 494 child psychiatrists across the country, which worsens the situation when combined with the “poor availability of other care systems, such as psychological care, family support centers and crisis intervention centers – anything that may help a child in a mental crisis.”

    Wieczorkiewicz founded Zobacz…JESTEM in 2013 with the goals of helping children, teens and young adults work with their mental health and supporting the families of the foundation’s patients. The foundation aims to promote mental health awareness.

    “Currently, our youngest patient is eight years old, and our youngest patient suffering from an eating disorder is just 10 years old,” Wieczorkiewicz said. “We accept kids this age sporadically because we are not an institution specializing in this age group. We accept such young people most often only because they can’t receive help in other places.”

    There are still many young people, who have to deal with their problems on their own, since the law states that, without parental consent, patients can only start therapy after the age of 18.

     

  5. Is Graffiti Art or Vandalism? Yes.

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    BY ASHLEY ZHOU 

     

    Defined as the unauthorized marking of public space by an individual or group, graffiti dates back to prehistoric times. 

    Ancient cave art, like the Lascaux cave paintings in France, shares remarkable similarities with modern-day graffiti. Thousands of years later, during World War II, it became popular for soldiers to write the phrase “Kilroy was here,” along with a sketch of a bald figure with a large nose peeking over a ledge.

    As time progressed graffiti has evolved from crude, simple tags and become increasingly technical and complex, developing into large, artistic, and colorful pieces. As graffiti is unauthorized and illegal, by the 1980s, the city of New York began to crack down on its proliferation and dedicated a massive amount of resources to solving the graffiti “problem.” However, graffiti artists saw these as mere challenges and worked even harder to hit their targets. Graffiti was anything but eradicated. In fact, it has spread around the world.

     “Graffiti, at its core, is both vandalism and art. In my opinion, graffiti is 100% art and 100% vandalism,” said Henry Zhou, a student artist in Los Angeles, California.

    Zhou noted that graffiti is the voice of those who perhaps cannot find other ways to voice themselves and express themselves. 

    Zhou compared graffiti to the Dada movement, a reaction to World War I which rejected logic and civilization, embracing irrationality, non-sense, and chaos in artistic works. Both movements, he said, have challenged the social norms of society. 

    “Unlike traditional and institutionalized art forms, graffiti is rebellious and defiant, presenting a new form of art and creativity,” Zhou said. “At the same time, graffiti is vandalism, a crime, as it is an act of defacing public property without permission.” 

    The prevention and removal of graffiti in a community can be very costly and ineffective, he added.

    The very reaction it arouses from the public and the government as vandalism makes graffiti graffiti, and it pushes the boundaries of art, Henry concluded. He is not alone in these beliefs. 

    Shayla Waldron is a young artist, majoring in the arts at college, and a volunteer at a nonprofit arts organization fighting for social justice. Like Zhou, Waldron also strongly said graffiti was art despite being vandalism. 

    She described graffiti as a form of self-expression, that adds character to the cities and buildings it is on.

    “People express themselves in so many different ways artistically that I just consider it [graffiti] another form of that,” Waldron said. “ I’ve seen some amazing works of art done by graffiti artists.”

    In addition, Shayla noted that because of the legality aspect of graffiti, the perceived value of graffiti differs greatly for people. 

    Waldron noted that graffiti was a “prime example of how art is subjective.” From an outsider or someone who doesn’t understand the art of graffiti, it may not seem like art, while others who appreciate it may see it as an expression of self, love, and life.

    Indeed, perhaps there isn’t a clear answer to whether graffiti is art or vandalism, and there needs not be – after all, like all art, graffiti is valuable, but the value is subjective.

     

     

  6. “People, not wildlife, are the cause of coexistence problems,” says Yale Professor Changing Humanity’s Outlook of Nature

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    BY HANS YUAN

     

    Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Policy Sciences Susan Clark is searching for solutions to human-wildlife coexistence amid challenges currently confronting biodiversity and biosphere health.  

    As someone who has spent more than 50 years in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and published nearly 400 published papers, the pressing urgency to develop better conservation strategies is testing Clark’s abilities to change the public’s perception of nature – including how humanity fits into the equation. In particular, she is interested in exploring how people can walk the fine line between development and conservation.  

    “[We] need to fundamentally change our underlying deep notions of the ‘good life’, or put another way, to revisit and modify our understanding of ourselves in this wildlife-and-wilderness-rich GYE place,” Clark commented in a paper submitted to the Journal of Multidiscipline Research: “This requires a kind of thoughtfulness at the individual and social level that goes well beyond every day, conventional practices.”

     Hoping to draw attention to the loss of global biodiversity, Clark suggested a new “frame of mind” to ease and promote humanity’s much-needed transition to coexistence. Philosophically, the professor argued for an egalitarian view of humanity and wildlife as a means of helping people build a sustainable relationship with nature.

    “We know that all living beings are attempting to realize their own good in their [world],” Clark said. “We humans are evolved biological creatures, just like everything else, and we are a part of the planetary system in which we live.”

    According to Clark, this outlook on wildlife would promise respect to all species based on the fundamental ethical obligations as cohabitors of the planet. In practice, the mindset demands conservationists to act on ecosystems as a whole, giving support to all members indiscriminately. Morally speaking, it would be wrong to assess what species to save based on man-made metrics, like intelligence.

    “It’s not fair to say, oh, pandas or something else, that’s A or B,” Clark said. “That’s the wrong kind of thinking. So you’d want to protect pandas and their ecosystem.” 

    There should not be a universal metric in place to evaluate traits, according to Clark. The measurements of subjective concepts such as intelligence or cuteness are dependent on a biased observer, meaning that the intrinsic values of all creatures — including humans — are equal.  

     Other conservationists have also maintained that the philosophy does not trivialize the inherent values of different species. In fact, Gao Yufang GRD ’23, Professor Clark’s colleague, stressed the importance of appreciating such intrinsic values, and not merely focusing on the materialistic gains they provide for humanity: “Every living thing has a right to exist, no matter whether they are useful to human society or not. We should respect their intrinsic value, and we should protect them not just for humanity’s benefit, but also for their own sake.” 

     Such views have not been met with complete public acceptance, according to Clark. Though the professor conceded that society is “highly resistant to new information and data [challenging] existing views,” she maintained the importance of developing mindsets to “foster attentiveness and show a sensitive kind of reciprocity of actions, feelings, and satisfaction amongst humans and wildlife.” 

    The professor also acknowledged the importance of valuing nature as humanity’s home, outside of its intrinsic worth. 

    “No one is [going to] have a good life if you don’t have a healthy environment. Not possible. We’re destroying the atmosphere. We’re destroying biodiversity.” 

    Similarly, for the practicality of promoting environmentalism in public, Gao emphasized the importance of being open-minded to his audience’s values. According to Gao, the best way to promote environmentalism is not through opposing preexisting notions, but to empathize with the challenges of the targeted communities.

    Clark stressed the importance of creating a global movement, specifically mentioning the Jackson Institute on Yale’s campus. According to Clark, the institute is indispensable in its mission of considering grand strategies to tackle coexistence.  

    “I’d encourage students to branch out and not stay too narrow. You need to know what other people are doing so you can integrate it, emphasize it, and make your own mind up. So take courses that integrate and synthesize,” Clark said in closing. “We’re actually talking about very serious things about your future… I’m so lucky to be dead soon. These are very important things.”

    Clark will continue to research natural resource management and policy in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

  7. The U.S. Soccer Federation recently took large steps in ensuring equal pay for its women’s and men’s national teams.

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    BY HADLEY LEVENSON

     

    The United States Soccer Federation recently made a landmark decision to push for gender equality on the playing field. 

    Last May, the U.S. Soccer Federation reached a collective bargaining agreement with its female players to compensate the men’s and women’s national teams equally. This decision came following years of women soccer players receiving significantly less than their male counterparts. Women soccer players previously received 44 percent of what men’s players earned for making the World Cup roster, and made about 30% less than their male counterparts for each match. In addition to giving equal pay going forward, the Federation agreed to pay the women’s soccer team $22 million to make up for lost funds, as well as compensate both teams equally in their next union contract. 

    “We made the same sacrifices, we shed the same amount of blood sweat, and tears, we’d left it all on the field for decades with the same ferocity, talent, and commitment – but our retirements wouldn’t be the same at all,” World Cup winner Abby Wambach said in a 2018 Barnard commencement speech. “Because [accomplished male athletes] walked away from their careers with something I didn’t have: enormous bank accounts,” Wambach said.

    Despite the positive changes by the U.S. Soccer Federation, the highest-paid male soccer player makes almost 250 times their female counterpart. Christiano Ronaldo earns $125 million per year, compared to Carli Llyod’s $518,000. 

    This gender gap in compensation is not limited to soccer.

    Even after retiring in 1999, basketball star Michael Jordan still gets 5% of each Air Jordan sneaker sale, allowing him to maintain an annual income of $150 million. On the other hand, Sue Bird, one of the most sought-after women’s basketball players of all time, had an annual salary of $72,141 before she retired this year. 

    One main factor influencing athletes’ salaries is news and media coverage.

    Historically, coverage of women’s sports in the news and media has not attracted the same level of fans, and therefore advertising revenue, as the men’s game. A USC/Purdue study found that 95% of total television coverage, as well as ESPN highlights, show SportsCenter focused on men’s sports in 2019. 

    Media coverage, even from school newspapers, sports play a key role in preserving a fan’s connection to the game.

    “When considering games to go to, I usually consider the opponent and playoff implications,” Yale Daily News sports editor Melanie Heller ’24 said. “On any given week, there are about the same number of stories for men’s and women’s sports.”

    Even though the national media may focus more on women’s sports than men’s, Heller prioritizes equal coverage of both men’s and women’s sports at Yale. This comes from her belief that student newspapers drive a student body’s investment in their teams.

    However, ticketing poses another problem in closing the gender gap in recognizing athletes. According to Heller, only football, men’s lacrosse, men’s basketball, and men’s hockey are ticketed events for non-students at Yale, promoting their popularity in the community as opposed to women’s games. 

    Jeanne Briody, a former Princeton women’s soccer player, observed a similar scene at her college in the mid-1990s. 

    “Football, men’s basketball, and men’s hockey were the games where you would find the most students attending. A football game was a big social occasion so many students went to these,” said Briody. Much like at Yale, these games were promoted as social events, creating a community that revolved around men’s sports instead of women’s. 

    Even though less than 10% of sports coverage today focuses on female athletes, Briody believes that the culture around women’s sports has shifted in the decades since she played to provide young girls with more opportunities to engage in athletics.

    “It’s great for girls to be able to put the TV on and watch a women’s soccer or basketball game… I never had that when I was a kid,” Briody said.

    Head girl’s soccer coach at Trinity School in New York City Tom Bolster also believes that the sports world is finally bringing its attention to women’s athletics. 

    “They’re starting to realize there’s a huge audience out there. Sports is a vehicle for hoping that you become structured, positive, contributing members of society. And the lessons you’re learning in sports are the things that helped you do it,” Bolster said. 

    Former Mercer women’s soccer player and coach Haleigh Svede believes that community incentive will be what finally ends the inequities in men’s and women’s sports. 

    “Go out of your way to connect and find different female athletes from different sports, see what barrier breaking things they are doing. We are the future, so let’s make it female,” Svede said.

    The U.S. Soccer Federation was founded in 1913.

  8. Asian American Women comedians are leading a revolution to fight for their belonging in America.

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    BY EVALYN LEE

     

    The rise of Asian women comedians disrupts the dominant tradition of white male comedy in America, but challenges and stereotypes remain. 

    Giants in the comedy field, such as Christopher Hitchens, Adam Corolla, and Jerry Lewis, have expressed the belief that women are not funny. In an interview by Martin Short at the 2000 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, Jerry Lewis said, “A woman doing comedy doesn’t offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world.” Meanwhile, Psychology Today, a peer-reviewed journal, cites evolutionary psychology to explain their conclusion that men are funnier than women. 

    Jiaoying Summers, a comedian with 1.2 million followers on TikTok, spoke about the challenge of entering comedy as an Asian woman immigrant. She said, “It’s a boys club, and they are going to do whatever it takes to keep you out of the gate, as long as they can — until one day it is absolutely undeniable when you become a star.”

    Summers noted a glaring issue with the lack of diversity in the comedy industry. SNL has only had four Asian cast members of Asian descent and zero women of east Asian descent. I often watch SNL for inspiration as an editor of the satire section of my high school paper. I remember digging through my school paper’s archives, stalking many of the preceding editors. In the 165 years that the paper has existed, I cannot find a previous female Asian editor of the satire section. 

    So why does representation matter? SNL can still make me laugh regardless of a female Asian cast member. And not having a previous editor of Asian descent does not impede my ability to make fun of poorly dressed lacrosse boys weekly. Asian female representation matters because the entertainment industry sometimes pushes racist misrepresentations of Asian Americans, disseminating harmful stereotypes. 

    Pema Sherpa, a board member of Asian Women Empowerment, an affinity group at Phillips Academy Andover, noted the importance of representation by pointing to Ali Wong. She said, “It’s her [Ali Wong] just being herself, which I think shows that representation is important because it lets people know that Asian women are more than stereotypes that are put onto us.”

    Historically, the “Dragon Lady,” a derogatory racial caricature, has been used to represent east Asian women as hypersexual and submissive. The Dragon Lady caricature was inspired by Anna May Wong, a Chinese American actress from the early 1900’s. Many producers assigned her to supporting roles as an exotic dragon lady, despite her fame. Anna May Wong has been perceived as “foreign” even though she was born and raised in California. 

    The treatment of Anna May Wong is the reality for many Asian American women to this day. Even beyond Hollywood, fetishization and exoticization continue to persist and affect many Asian women and girls.

    Pema Sherpa described the presence of yellow fever, a term for Asian fetish, on her high school campus. Sherpa said, “I think it’s really interesting how through all this history and to this day, Asian women are exoticized, and there are suddenly fantasies about having the perfect Asian girlfriend who is quiet and fulfills all your sexual needs. And I feel that is just so harmful because there are so many friends my age who are Asian — and who have told me that they have been fetishized by white guys who … are … looking for an Asian girlfriend [just] to check that box off their list.”

    Challenging this harmful perception, many Asian women comedians do not shy away from talking about their sexual desires on stage. Jiaoying Summers gives credit to Ali Wong and Margaret Cho for bringing a revolution against this dehumanizing caricature. 

    “They want Asian women to be portrayed as an obedient robot, and I am really proud that the revolution that Margaret Cho and Ali Wong has brought shows that Asian women are just humans,” Summers said.

    To empower younger Asian women, Summers speaks her truth over American culture’s delusions. In one of Summers’ viral Tiktoks with 3.4 million views, she said, “We are not exotic. I am not exotic. I am made in China. I am everywhere. Your underwear is made in China.” 

    This past summer, Summers also used her stand-up comedy to raise money to benefit nonprofits that aid the AAPI community. By giving back to her community, Summers shows that her comedy has a cause beyond making people laugh. 

    “Me getting noticed and respected by the comedy community, also globally, is going to empower a lot of Asian girls to speak their mind,” Summers said. “I feel like women of color are suppressed, especially Asian American women. We’ve been facing racism since [we were] little girls [going] to school.”

    Asian women comedians enrich American comedy because they don’t just tell jokes. They craft a social commentary that confronts American culture on sex, femininity and race.

    Watch out because the rise of Asian women in comedy is no joke. 

  9. Pan Athletic Center to Open This Fall, Replaces Borden Pool Among Other Amenities

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    BY ETHAN QI 

     

    After first beginning construction in the spring of 2020, the Pan Athletic Center is set to open for use this fall, offering a myriad of student athletic opportunities. 

    Located behind the Borden Memorial Gym, the Pan Center will boast a new pool, wrestling area and dance studios. Such facilities will replace those previously found in Borden, though Borden will still house Andover’s primary gym, basketball and volleyball courts. 

    “I’m absolutely thrilled to have such an incredible facility available to me for my senior year,” said Theo Randall ’23, co-captain of the Boys’ Swim and Dive team. “Now that we’re nearing the end of construction, I’m realizing how much of an honor it is to be able to have such an incredible state of the art facility to swim and compete in. Thanks go out to all the donors, of course, who made this pool possible.”

    The Pan’s pool will replace the historic Borden pool, which was first constructed in 1911 and has seen four Olympians––two gold medalists––and numerous All-Americans. Total funding for the Pan Center cost $25 million, supported by major contributions from Andover alumni parents, Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi, and two anonymous donors. 

    Talks surrounding the construction of the Pan Center first began in 2013. Due to the Borden pool’s limited size, practices for JV and Varsity swim teams needed to be held at separate times. Such robust scheduling resulted in conflicts with students’ other academic and extracurricular commitments. 

    “[The Borden pool] is probably not something that we could easily renovate, nor would we ultimately want to. So there’s just kind of an aged facility issue, and then there’s also a big programming issue,” said David Fox, Head Coach of the Boys Swim and Dive team. “Our indoor facilities forced us to [practice] from three to eight, which then gets into study hours. It conflicts with a lot of music, theater, dance––a lot of important activities. And so we’ve had students have to sort of make choices, and so kids might be part of the orchestra for the fall and then have to step away in the winter, which is not what we want. And so the Pan also allows us to consolidate our program.”

    The Borden pool’s dimensions are approximately 75 by 50 feet, holding five lanes at a maximum five-feet depth and just under 200,000 gallons of water. In comparison, the Pan’s pool stands 75 by 128 feet, holding thirteen lanes at a maximum of seven and a half-feet depth and 525,000 gallons of water. 

    The Pan’s spacious pool will not only allow for larger practices for the swim teams, but also proper play of water polo. During construction of the pool area, safety and health were of top concern.

    “We’ve thought really deliberately about the deck,” said Fox. “Pool decks are usually very slippery; we made sure that this had the least slipperiness as possible, all sorts of things like that. So safety, I think, is the biggest thing, and then the size gives us the chance to go from three practice times to two. We’re able to actually play legal water polo for the first time.”

    With the construction of the Pan Center replacing numerous facilities in Borden, the future of the Borden Gym as a whole remains unknown. While a new athletics center for the remaining sports residing in Borden is expected in the future, plans regarding construction are not confirmed yet.

    In the meantime, students will still be able to enjoy the contemporary facilities of the Pan while still having access to Borden’s active facilities and over century-long history. 

    “There have been a lot of conversations over the years of what will happen to the current pool area, the current wrestling area, the current dance area, and I don’t know what they’re planning on doing at the moment,” said Fox. “Ultimately, there’s a phase two for Pan where all that programming comes over to a new facility––basketball, volleyball, fitness center––and the only thing that would remain is the actual Borden where they have the gym classes, like the historic space.”

    Due to the size restrictions of the Borden pool, Andover’s swim and dive teams primarily competed at away meets. Now, the Pan Center’s more accommodating pool will see Andover hosting more meets at home this season.

    Leaving the lauded history of the Borden pool, the transition to the Pan’s pool is both exciting and bittersweet for some. Randall hopes to carry over the legacy of the Borden pool to successful seasons of swimming in the Pan. 

    “Despite the oldness of it, there was kind of a special feel that came from swimming in it because it’s the same pool that countless All-American swimmers, National Qualifiers, and even a few Olympians all swam in, so to swim in the same waters as them, it felt pretty special,” said Randall. “I’ve come to be pretty familiar with the Borden pool, so in a way, it feels like we’re moving out of our old home.”

    While the Pan Center will open up for all members of the Andover community to use––swimmers, dancers, wrestlers, and everyone else––Fox hopes that the investments in the pool will incite new interest in aquatic sports. Ultimately, Fox hopes to eventually be able to open the facility to the broader town community.

    “It’s such an investment that certainly I hope it creates more of an aquatics culture on campus where swimming becomes a pretty common form of recreation and exercise that the whole community can do it, be involved with it, and will use it a lot more than the Borden pool,” said Fox. “And then also ultimately, I hope that we’re able to open the facility to people who aren’t members of our Phillips community and just share this resource.”

    Students can expect access to the Pan Center’s facilities in September.

  10. Dallas City Council passed the GRACE Act. It’s not enough.

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    BY EMMA NGUYEN 

     

    Clinics in Dallas are sounding alarms about abortion access, even as local lawmakers try to protect the right to choose.

    On Aug. 10, the Dallas City Council voted 13-1 to pass the Guarding the Right to Abortion Care for Everyone (GRACE) Act, which limits the use of city resources to investigate abortion-related offenses. The move follows the footsteps of other major metros like San Antonio and Austin.

    “On the whole, it’s great when you have elected officials talking publicly about abortion access being important,” said Jess Pires-Jancose, who manages outreach and organization in Dallas for Avow Texas, a statewide pro-choice group. 

    The resolution’s passing comes in light of Roe v. Wade’s overturning, as well as Texas’s S.B. 8 – one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S. Also known as the “Texas Heartbeat Act”, S.B. 8 effectively bans abortion in nearly all cases and does not make exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

    But access to abortion has always been difficult to attain, pro-choice advocates in the county told the News. While they praised the GRACE Act as a step in the right direction, some noted that the resolution could also reinforce misconceptions Dallasites have about the wider legal implications of receiving an abortion. 

    “It’s complicated because we also want to emphasize the fact that in Texas, a pregnant person cannot be criminalized under state law for accessing abortion,” Pires-Jancose said. “Sometimes these resolutions reinforce the idea that you can be criminalized for having an abortion.”

    Previous Texas law required patients seeking abortion to undergo an ultrasound period and a 24-hour waiting period before the abortion. It also prohibited telemedicine abortion care and required patients to pay out of pocket to cover expenses. 

    Only 19 clinics that offered surgical abortion were open in 2021. And that was just pre-S.B. 8, said Pires-Jancose.

    “Nearly 900,000 Texans lived more than 150 miles from a clinic,” said Pires-Jancose. “For example, if you live in Lubbock, you have to drive over five hours each way to reach an abortion clinic. That means taking time off of work, finding childcare.

    Because of the 24-hour waiting period, they added, patients could be forced to make the trip twice.

    One former physician in Dallas County, who declined to share their name in the face of recently-signed criminal laws, agrees that patients should have the right to choose. 

    “When you’re taking a patient, you’re always a physician first where you’re looking at what’s in the best interest of the patient,” they said.

    The increased criminal hazards for physicians are “disheartening”, they added. 

    “Nobody is in the business of doing abortions. You’re in the business of taking care of people’s health. And when that physician-patient bond is taken to legislation you kind of violated that whole relationship,” they said.

    For the doctor, while the GRACE Act does help, it doesn’t prevent the criminalization of abortion providers at the state level.

    “You never know at the state level what ramifications there are,” the anonymous doctor said. “At the end of the day, physicians should be a part of the legislature so that [the Texas government] understands the worst-case scenarios. Like, ‘hey, someone’s bleeding and they need their uterus taken out because if they don’t, they’ll die.’ These dilemmas are complicating situations that are just routine.”

    Community members say they agree, with hundreds showing up to June protests in the city after the Dobbs decision. Katherine Clapner, who owns a chocolate shop in the Bishop Arts district, told the News that she received an abortion nearly four decades ago. 

    That right should be guaranteed for women now, she said, saying that the current abortion access environment in Texas disgusts her.

    “Every single person in the entire world is one bad decision away from catastrophe,” Clapner said. “It could be a malfunction of birth control. It could be a malfunction of a condom. It could be a sexual assault. It could be a medical complication. It could be any of these things, and they have no rights or say so in their future,” she said.

    At the time of her abortion, Clapner said, she was a heavy drinker. She recalled that the process of receiving the abortion was clinical, although religion was embedded into informational pamphlets.

    Like the physician and Pires-Jancose, Clapner echoed the sentiment that it should be the person’s right to choose.

    “This is not a male versus female thing. This is just a pure life choice,” she said. “I’m just saying that they don’t have the right to make a decision for our lives. It’s not just our body. It’s our life.”

    For now, abortion access groups will attempt to rally support for increased access in the state and incite action beyond the GRACE Act. Pires-Jancose’s work includes destigmatizing and educating others about abortion access, as part of Avow Texas’s broader mission to ensure safe and unrestricted abortion access through community organizing and working with elected officials. 

    “We’re working towards a world where all people are trusted, thriving and free to pursue the life that they want,” Pires-Jancose said.

  11. “TikTok Killed the Internet Star” — Three 17 Year Olds Weigh in

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    BY DORIAN PARK WANG

     

    Arlo Hazzard smiles at the camera, bare-faced and washed in the glow of a sunset lamp as he lip-syncs to a sped-up version of Save Your Tears by The Weeknd. 

    Hazzard began using TikTok in 2020 as a source of entertainment and social connection when COVID-19 restrictions kept people in their homes. As of August 2022, Hazzard has amassed a following of over 421,200, with 16.6 million total likes and averaging thousands of views per post. While he initially posted art, Hazzard transitioned to primarily posting their face, their cosplay, and generally, “really random stuff…just for funsies,” he said.

    “It was just a few videos [at first]. Then eventually, I started posting stuff on friends only [mode],” Hazard said. “Then, I started doing art publicly, because I had a pretty big platform on Instagram for a different account that was art-related…Then I posted my face, and people started liking that more than the art, so I started doing that instead.”

    A look through Hazzard’s art Instagram and early TikTok content reveals a cache of mediums and subject matter. He enjoys rendering stylized anime figures in bold, sharp lines. Videos of Hazzard at their piano or cradling a ukulele make occasional appearances, and so does intermittent current events commentary, particularly during 2020 and 2021. Hazzard has also several distinctly TikTokish vlogs, featuring his family and pets—most recently, his new cat, Miso. 

    Yet as Hazzard shot up in popularity, he began feeling pressure to produce new content constantly. On his art Instagram, @aidekari, with over 5,800 followers, Hazzard has felt the need to post daily, a routine that has become both time-consuming and stressful, he said. In the midst of his burgeoning TikTok fame, Hazzard felt the same pressure — create, post, stay popular, go viral.

    “The stressful part was once I started blowing up,” Hazzard said. “I was like, ‘this is my 10 minutes of fame. I want to milk this as much as possible. What if my followers aren’t interested in me anymore?’ So I had to continuously post content, and it was really hard, because I would stay in my room and just think for long periods of time…‘What are people going to like? How do I need to do my makeup and make my hair look right so people don’t think I look ugly?’ I have to keep my appearances up, use filters. The other stressful part was definitely what posts I should make and how to not be judged, because TikTok is brutal.” 

    In 2021, his posts often reached anywhere from 10 thousand to 3 million views, but as he kept posting, Hazzard noticed that his videos weren’t showing up on the app’s For You Page — the hallmark of a process known as “shadowbanning.” An unofficial ban from the app, TikTok’s shadowbanning action removes creators’ videos from its discoverability pages without notifying them, resulting in less reach, views, and overall engagement. 

    Hazzard’s videos have also received frequent guideline violations from TikTok’s censors, racking up thirty violations so far. In one video, he was flagged for nudity because he wore a tank top. Hazzard’s engagement has begun to stagnate under the weight of his multiple shadowbans and violations.

    “I mean, I know views shouldn’t mean everything,” Hazzard said. “But when you’re on Tiktok for a long time, and you’re used to getting all those views and stuff, it kind of hurts your ego a little bit and makes you think, what am I doing wrong? Like, am I not interesting anymore?…The algorithm, it just makes me worry all the time.”

    Hazzard’s experience echoes that of many TikTok influencers who have come forward about the stress of constant posting, the pressure to go viral repeatedly, and the precarious popularity creators find themselves in once their accounts have garnered fame. 

    These days, many an influencer-hopeful can be found moving out west, to Los Angeles, in search of internet stardom. A 2019 poll by Morning Consult reports that 54 percent of Americans aged 13-38 would, if given the chance, become an influencer. Of this 54 percent, 26 percent “strongly agree that they would take the opportunity to become an influencer.” Yet though 12 percent of young Americans already consider themselves influencers, the “influencer lifestyle” comes with no shortage of anxieties.

    “The scary thing is you never know how long this is going to last,” TikTok star Brandon Westernebrg is quoted saying in Barrett Swanson’s Harper’s Bazaar article, The Anxiety of Influencers. “It’s like, What’s next? How long can we entertain everyone for? How long before no one cares, and what if your life was worth nothing?”

    TikTok’s anxieties are not limited to creators. A quick Google under “TikTok” will return countless articles on data privacy concerns, users lamenting the app’s effect on their attention spans, cultural commentary, and the future of the digital world. 

    In particular, TikTok is notorious for its addictive algorithm and format. Anecdotes of shortened attention spans as a result of app overuse are common among users, such as Fae Ross, a 17-year-old from North Carolina. 

    “Before, if I was watching things, it would be a TV show or a YouTube video — something much longer,” said Ross. “During lockdown, I just spent all day scrolling through these tiny little videos. And that made me kind of jittery. I think it did wreck my attention span because I didn’t really do much else in the way of watching things over lockdown. I’ve gotten better, and I’ve tried to regulate my TikTok usage, but for a while, it was really addicting.”

    This sentiment is echoed by 17-year-old Min Beharry from New York City, who attributes TikTok’s format to a wider internet phenomenon that began with the now-defunct micro-video sharing site, Vine. According to Beharry, this short format, combined with the relative passivity of TikTok use, amplifies the app’s addictive qualities. 

    “It’s a constant shock of dopamine,” Beharry said. “You have something new every 15 seconds. When you’re tired or don’t have the emotional energy for anything, it’s really easy to just sit down, and you don’t have to do anything other than scroll…you start training yourself to focus on one thing for 15 seconds and then your brain gets ready for something new after that.”

    Yet one sentiment that is consistent across all three teens, despite the differences in their video tastes, is that finding your “TikTok niche” is key to enjoying the app. For Beharry, this looks like the following: art, social justice content centered around gender, race, and neurodivergence. For Ross, this means watching fashion content for inspiration or following arts and crafts, and tuning out discourse and controversy. And for Hazzard, this looks like engaging with his audience in the comments under his videos, staying close to the TikTokers whose cosplay inspires him, and being discerning when it comes to consuming political content on the app. 

    “Whenever I see people talking about TikTok, it’s [as if] it’s just shallow dances and stuff’ said Ross. ‘A lot of it is, but I also think you can find useful things on there. You can find inspiration, and you can even find glimpses of something you want to be, ways to improve yourself.”

    TikTok was launched in September 2016. 

  12. Has social media desensitized us?

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    BY DESIREE SMITH

     

    Turn on your phone and open the first social media app you see. How many minutes does it take for you to find a vicious or insensitive comment?

    While it is well known that social media can be unhealthy,there has not been enough discussion. There should be a larger focus on social media’s powerful influence over younger generations and society as a whole. What does this mean for us?

    “Many observers have noted that communication has become coarser in the social media era, and that some platforms, such as Twitter, encourage a kind of snarkiness and combativeness that’s at odds with the way most strangers interact in-person and offline,” Katie Day Good, Associate Professor of Media, Journalism and Film at Miami University and co-founder of Little Tech, said.

    Little Tech is an educational consultancy in digital literacy and wellbeing.

    In this social media age, harassment and mockery over differences between people has become more prevalent and normalized. As Good emphasized, it’s so easy to not think twice about leaving a malicious comment under someone’s post when every other person is doing the exact same thing. 

    Marissa Abbatiello, a teenager who uses social media, believes that hatred and a lack of empathy is common, especially on TikTok.

    “I see tons of toxicity and violence on [TikTok] and I think it’s making people a lot more aggressive, especially if someone has a different belief than you,” Abbatiello said. “If they don’t [like] your belief, even if the belief isn’t harming them, they will literally burn you at the stake.”

    Part of the reason people are so comfortable with making these comments Abbatiello described is because of the fact that this often has no real life impact. Anonymity makes it extremely easy for people to say things they wouldn’t otherwise say. Even without anonymity, confrontation is more convenient when you know you won’t ever see these people face to face. You can bash people from the comfort of your own home.

    Another cause of desensitized social media users, according to Good, is because of the validation social media provides. 

    “The platforms are designed to elicit users’ “engagement”—their likes, clicks, comments, and page views,” Good said. “Content that is surprising or interesting gets more engagement, and that can sometimes lead platforms to elevate posts that contain misinformation, conflict between users, or ideologically extreme content.” 

    A prime example of this attention driven cruelty is online personality Logan Paul and his role in prank and shock culture. Paul who rose to prominence on YouTube with a younger following due to his outrageous content and prank videos. 

    On December 31, 2017, Paul uploaded a video onto YouTube where he walks through Japan’s Aokigahara Forest, also known as the Aokigahara Suicide Forest. In the video, Paul, his friends, and his production staff come across the dead body of a person who committed suicide. Paul proceeds to laugh and make jokes about the victim while his team films. The video amassed six million views until he took it down. On January 2, 2018, he posted a less than two minute apology video that has garnered over 60 million views and 1.7 million likes. 

    Whether Paul changed for the better or didn’t learn anything from his mistakes is up for discussion, but this incident shines a light on a very important issue. The fact that he even contemplated posting the video is frightening. Just how far will people go to go viral? 

    The spread of violence or disturbing images isn’t unique to YouTube. Other websites like Twitter or Instagram make it extremely easy to find accounts dedicated to sharing videos of violence, ranging from videos of people getting into fights or videos containing gore and snuff. On Twitter for instance, with one simple keyword typed into the search bar videos of people getting shot and run over by cars is a tap away. 

    “We prohibit gratuitous gore content because research has shown that repeated exposure to violent content online may negatively impact an individual’s wellbeing,” Twitter’s “Sensitive Media Policy” states. “For these reasons, you can’t share images or videos that depict violent sexual conduct or gratuitous gore on Twitter.”

    If this is true, then why is this very same content so easy to find on the website? 

    Widely broadcasted tragedies and flurries of online chatter following these events is also at the center of desensitizing young people to violence, said Destini Humphrey, a young adult who occasionally uses social media. Humphrey spoke about the mental exhaustion and lack of shock she experiences after news of major tragedies surfaces online.  

    “I feel that social media always displays tragedies and I have begun to lack emotion when I see tragedies because I am so used to the stories being presented in all forms,” Humphrey said. “Seeing tragedies on social media constantly has made me feel numb.”

    So what do we do about this? 

    Good noted some key solutions could include requiring social media companies to enforce and institute stronger age restrictions, root out disinformation and fake accounts, and prioritize protecting user safety in their product designs. She added that governments can try to require and push for “more robust” social media literacy education offerings in schools. Families, workplaces, and communities can also set cultural limits on social media, according to Good. This could include limiting device use during meals, at work, and in schools.

    “Society will have to find a balance in how it incorporates social media into daily life,” said Good. 

    A Pew Research Center study published in August found that almost all U.S. teens, roughly 97%, report using the internet daily. 

     

  13. Recovery in rhythm: the power of music therapy

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    BY BROOKE WOO

     

    With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, countless people all over the world found themselves suddenly deprived of everything they’d once called normal, forced to quarantine away from work, friends and family with little indication as to when their isolation would end. With the exponential increase of problems such as depression, anxiety and insomnia came a huge influx of people seeking sanctuary from the worsening chaos — in many cases, this took the form of therapy. 

    When people think about therapy, many immediately envision sitting across from a smartly-dressed figure armed with a plethora of degrees and a veritable arsenal of probing questions, the image of classic “talk therapy.” However, there are many other forms of therapy which, though less renowned, have been found to be just as effective. Music therapy, which has slowly but surely gained popularity over time, is one such practice.

    “Music therapy is a profession where we help people using music to achieve their health or wellness-related goals,” Andrea Hunt, a music therapist and music therapy professor at Rowan University, said.

    In Hunt’s experience, sessions can involve a wide range of musical activities: listening to music, yes, but also singing, composing songs, improvising music and more. The experience changes depending on the participants and what they need.

    Music has been known to be able to reach and affect the brain in unique ways still not fully understood by scientists. Some people cry hysterically to sad Spotify playlists, some unwind with classical piano tracks at the end of a long day and some just smile a little bit wider when a favorite song comes on the radio. Music is emotionally entrenched in the lives of millions, if not billions of people – and that’s where music therapy comes in.

    “We used music depending on how ill people were in those settings to kind of help people feel grounded in reality,” Hunt said, recalling her time working in adult mental health rehabilitation and addiction recovery.

    For patients struggling with psychosis and other similar mental health issues, sessions often included live music-making and were conducted in groups – for example, drumming together. 

    Singing participants’ favorite songs in a group allowed them to ground themselves in the familiar lyrics, which would help with both the stronger symptoms and elevating everyone’s mood. For substance abusers, music helped them cope with and express their feelings while no longer having access to drugs during treatment.

    “Sharing the same beat is really reality-orienting because we’re all hearing the same thing [and] we’re all playing together,” Hunt said. 

    In private practice, Hunt describes sessions as listening to music while in a meditative state. Participants imagine a scene in which they address a problem in their lives in response to evocative, usually classical, music, while she helps them stay focused and experience the imagery as fully as possible. 

    The problem addressed can be anything, from confronting someone who has been bothering them to what taking a specific risk might look like in their life. This is the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, which can result in a “really intense, really cathartic experience,” according to Hunt.

    “Music therapy is especially good for people who have a hard time verbalizing what they’re going through,” Hunt said. “[It’s] really good at integrating what you’re feeling with what maybe you haven’t figured out how to put into words yet.” 

    This is part of the reason why music therapy is known to often work well with people who have autism and other learning differences, very young children, and nonverbal individuals. 

    “It can be therapeutic to listen to music, or make your own music […] but it’s not therapy,” Hunt said.

    The key difference between listening to music independently and professional music therapy? A professional music therapist: someone specially trained to build a relationship with a participant, guide them through the necessary music experiences and work with them through whatever problems arise on the way.

     

  14. Once in 50 Years? The record high temperature in Chongqing, China, raises health alerts for people in the delivery industry

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    BY LUCY WANG

     

    As the temperature in Chongqing reached above 104 degrees Fahrenheit for seven consecutive days, the extreme weather raised health alerts for people working in the delivery industry as they work twelve hours a day in the heat with little to no protection. 

    Despite the heat in the summer, Chongqing is quickly becoming one of the most popular cities to travel to in China in recent years because of its rich entertainment culture and various street food. While the city’s booming economy brought prosperity and exchange of culture from all over the country, it also brought struggle and pressure for the people underpinning the economic success of this city.  

    Junjie Li is originally from the Fuling district of Chongqing, working a summer job before his third year in high school. Li does delivery for Meituan, a Chinese platform for retail services, including entertainment, dining and delivery. Li is among many working for the company who struggle to make a living while being concerned about the risk of being exposed to such high temperatures, especially when Chongqing’s tourism industry is highly developed while the food delivery industry is short on employees.

    “The heat wave this year made our work even more difficult,” Li said. “I was a standard delivery man with supervision when I started working [for Meituan], wearing their yellow uniforms with the company’s name on it. We need to follow stricter rules and have meetings once in a while to report on how things are going, but we are paid at a significantly lower price for each order and get a lot of deduction if an order is late or if we receive a negative review from the customer.” 

    The deduction is about 500 yuan, or 56 dollars, per order, which is about one’s weekly salary. 

    Li soon transferred to being an informal employee of Meituan, which made his job a lot more flexible since now he can determine how many orders he wants to take daily. The deduction is significantly lower than before if an order is late, from 500 yuan to about 50 yuan, or seven dollars, per order. However, it also means that Li can no longer enjoy the benefits and protections from the company, which include insurance, subsidies at high temperatures, and employees’ need to rent their own motorcycles and pay for the gas; Li said he is essentially on his own now. 

    Li is one among many people in the industry willing to work without protection in exchange for the benefits of a flexible schedule and higher pay, but he also understands the risks of doing it.

    “It is nice that you get to control the pace of work, but it is highly dangerous, especially in this year’s heat,” Li said. “Many people choose to end the day earlier than usual and take a break, but lots of people also don’t have that option because they have to make money. If the order is running out of time soon, we will just have to ride faster with the motorcycle down the highway.” 

    Chongqing is one of the main places for motorcycle production in China, which is one of the reasons why the delivery business can thrive in this city. It is also more convenient to use motorcycles to go into more narrow streets and neighborhoods, which Chongqing has a lot of. It is easy to weave in and out of traffic with a motorcycle, but it is also very easy to get hurt since they are often too close to the cars. Li understands the risk that he is taking by riding a motorcycle without the company’s protection.  

    Although Chongqing is quickly becoming a center for commerce and trade, a lot of the old buildings there are still preserved and kept well as part of the city’s culture and history. 

    “We delivery people usually don’t like going to old residential buildings because they usually do not have elevators, and often the customers refuse to come down and get the order, so we have to climb up the stairs,” Li said. “They [the customers] don’t care if we are exhausted; they only care if they get their food on time.”

    Shusong Lin is a formal employee of another food delivery service platform named Ele.me, with approximately 62.6 million monthly active users in China. Lin is 25 years old and has been working for the company for four months.

    Like Li, Lin has also faced difficulties in this line of business.

    “You fully rely on your body’s health doing this business in this weather,” Lin said. “It’s not just me, everyone working in this industry often breaks traffic rules to get an order in on time, and customers don’t understand; after all the sweat and tears, we get nothing in the end if they give a negative review on us. I will go out of my way to pick up orders for long distances and take orders during hot or rainy days because the price of those orders is a lot higher.”

    Lin also mentioned the unique style of architecture in Chongqing, where there are buildings within buildings; in those cases, the navigation system on the phone becomes wildly inaccurate, and they get lost in the facilities a lot.

    The end of Chongqing’s scorching summer is still a long way off, and people like Li and Lin need to continue to work.

  15. What Will the Young Democratic Vote Look Like in 2024?

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    BY JOSEPHINE MURPHY

     

    While Biden’s win in the 2020 election has largely been attributed to the support of younger voters, recent polls bring to question if this demographic will help bring him to victory once again. 

    Recent polls conducted by the New York Times and Siena College among Democratic voters have shown that 64% of Democratic voters would prefer a candidate other than President Biden for the 2024 election. This is especially true among younger voters, as 94% of voters under 30 have expressed their preference for a different Democratic presidential candidate. Despite President Biden’s current low approval ratings, the White House has remained adamant on his running for reelection in 2024. 

    One of the main reasons attributed to these low approval ratings has been President Biden’s age, who became the oldest president in the history of the United States upon taking his oath into presidency. This sentiment regarding age is commonly held towards many of the nation’s top government officials, as many are a part of either the silent or baby boomer generation, leaving younger Americans feeling unrepresented in the government. 

    “A lot of people voted for Biden in 2020 because they just didn’t want Trump, and because they wanted a break from the chaos for a little bit, said Ayaan Ali, 18, a freshman at Columbia University. 

    Sasha Mayer, 15, a junior at Bard High School Early College Manhattan said that there where many times when they felt that Biden’s policies had been ineffective and that he had failed to follow through on many of the promises made during his candidacy. 

    “I would like to see candidates who are aligning beliefs with more of the youth and the ability to follow through on those beliefs while in office,” Mayer said. “I really would like to see someone who represents a more current way of thinking in office, and I think a younger candidate than someone like Biden or Trump could achieve that.”

    Amina Seth, 16, a junior at Chatham High School said that a “younger candidate would better understand the perspectives of and generally just understand young people better” and that politicians such as President Biden, President Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders “grew up in very different times.” 

    Gustavo Hernandez, 18, a freshman at Columbia University pointed out how “companies will often not hire older people” and that he believes that the government “needs age limits and term limits.” 

    However, some young voters do not consider age as a concern for their voting choice. Ali said that “my opinion on age is based on [a person’s] competence.” Oliver Neumann-Lorek, 16, a junior at Chatham High School elaborated on this idea, saying that “a lot of presidential candidates are older, often with a lot of experience, which is very important.

    “If a person is, for example, 60 but can really connect with a younger audience and understand us, which is harder to do when you’re older… then age wouldn’t matter, ” Neumann-Lorek said. 

    The lasting effects of COVID-19, including the recent effects of inflation, have resulted in dire effects on citizens and concerns of a possible recession. They have also dropped Biden’s ratings, as shown by the 13% depletion in approval by democrats between spring of this year and July, as according to a CNN poll. While some of these concerns may have been eased by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, some may feel that it is too little, too late. 

    Hernandez feels that “bills such as this one could have been passed in the beginning of Biden’s presidency.” He attributed  the recent economic crises to “the administration not looking into the future well enough.” 

    “We [citizens] have to face the consequences of everyday consumer goods, like food, as their prices are going up astronomically,” Hernandez said. 

    In terms of who the next democratic candidate could be, given that Biden does not run, there have been several favorites among young democratic voters. 

    Seth expressed her support for Pete Buttigieg, the United States Secretary of Transportation, as she believes he has “many middle ground stances which can appeal to both parties.” Ali, on the other hand, stated that “Buttigieg is a little bit right of Biden,” and that he would not choose to support him in 2024. 

    Ali said  he sees Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, as someone who is “positioning himself as a new presidential contender, as someone who’s a fighter, and as someone who can pick up where Biden left off.”  Newsom has also recently shown in polls to be a top contender among California voters to potentially succeed Biden.

    However, Biden and Trump have each recently discussed their plans to run in 2024, potentially meaning that the next election could mirror the 2020 election. Despite the current uncertainty that surrounds the 2024 election, young people are still emphasizing the importance of voting.

    “It’s crucial, especially with all that has been going on in the political realm, to get young voices out there and for us to be heard,” Mayer said. 

    Seth echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the youngest generation of voters will inherit all of the country’s current issues. 

     

  16. A finer vision for the Schwarzman Center: what Rachel Fine brings as executive director

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    BY JOON WHANG

     

    Moving from a sprawling Los Angeles to Yale’s New Haven neighborhood is a big change. For Rachel Fine, the Yale Schwarzman Center’s new executive director, the change marks “unprecedented new professional opportunities,” as she said in a Broadway World Article.

    Previously the executive director and CEO of Los Angeles’ Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center, Fine replaces Garth Ross, who was the inaugural director of the Schwarzman Center, which first opened its doors in September 2021. 

    As executive director and CEO of the Wallis, Fine conducted both larger administrative duties and smaller routine obligations. She operated a large staff, which at a point had reached over 55 full-time workers, and managed the $10.5 million yearly budget (pre-COVID-19) every day. For the past seven years at the Wallis, Fine dedicated time to help foster the local arts community. In 2018 she took the title of executive director and CEO of the performing arts center.

    “Again, this goes back to being a person with many different interests, and an insatiable curiosity,” Fine said in a University of California, Irvine article. “As a lifelong learner, a job would not be interesting if it didn’t consistently present challenges and opportunities for me to be a better leader.”

    Trained in classical piano from youth and having studied music at University of California, Irvine, and even having tested the waters at Yale’s Ph.D. program in Musicology, Fine’s extensive arts experience gave her the ability to understand the unique role the arts played in a community.

    “For me personally, no community is complete or well without rich and robust arts offerings,” Fine said in the same article “I feel that way about my own life, and my family’s life too. Whether or not my children go into music or the arts, that’s up to them. But I want them to have the understanding that the arts are an integral part of wellness.” 

    The intersection between art and human well-being does not go unrecognized at Yale either. The Yale Schwarzman Center, conceived seven years ago by multiple student government bodies and fueled by an $150 million donation from Blackstone CEO Steven Schwarzman ’69, was designed to serve as a center of community through food and the arts to help better create “One Yale.”

    As the official December 2015 report by the Schwarzman Center Advisory Committee writes, “The Schwarzman Center will transform student life at Yale by creating a vibrant social and intellectual hub with daily activities that are a magnet for students.”

    One unique feature that the YSC provides is a dance studio.

    “We are excited that the Schwarzman Center has built a studio with state of the art amenities like a sprung floor and new sound system,” Rhea Cong ’25, president of Yaledancers, said.

    During Covid, the space was used as a testing center, but next year it will be available for dance groups on campus. 

    “There really is a place for everyone in the dance community at Yale,” Colby Bladow ’24, treasurer of Yaledancers, said.

    Equipped with new facilities, Rachel Fine hopes to “[establish] it as a leading performing arts presenting organization,” as she said in a Yale News release.

    Under Fine’s vision, the YSC is prepared to return to the new school year as an integral part of the student body and arts community at Yale.

  17. Community Polarization: The Untold Story of a Divided Society

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    BY VINDHYA ADAMALA

     

    Two people stand at opposite ends of a city not knowing each other — and maybe there is a reason why they don’t. In Washington, newer, more developed neighborhoods are on the rise, and their popularity says less about the area itself than the demographic that ends up living in them.

    Members of this community are flocking towards their own specific group of people, as they feel a boundary has been put up preventing them from engaging with others even in their area. Community polarization is one that pertains to many in a city and appears in many ways. Community polarization refers to the idea of groups feeling divided in a society.

    “Our community is at its strongest when we are showing the wealth of cultures,” said Principal Matthew Grant of Olympia High School. 

    As a group of individuals who are frequently stereotyped by bias, many of the struggles and stories reported about people in these regions are frequently ignored in mainstream conversations.

    Washington State resident Kimberly Il said polarization and immigration have a domino effect on one another. According to Il, people of certain groups feel the need to stick together in order to feel more comfortable. 

    “I’ve had experiences dealing with community polarization and immigration, Il said. “Both my parents are refugees who came from Cambodia…We know that when Asian immigrants came to the United States they experienced a lot of racism and wanted to create their own communities and you see this in places like Chinatown, Koreatown, and specifically in Washington, the creation of the International District in Seattle. They needed and wanted to form their own community in order to support each other and support themselves especially when the rest of the city wouldn’t support them.”

    Chinatowns and Koreatowns are ethnic enclaves of Chinese people and Korean People. Now, “towns” like these are found in cities all over the world. 

    Communities around Washington and beyond are urging people to take the time to really educate themselves about these issues while being open to new perspectives. 

    “We have to look at what these people have to go through as an ongoing migrant justice and polarization issue, not just one of the past but one that is taking place right now,” Il said. “People are going through so much and this happens in our own state as well at places including The Northwest Detention Center. A lot of what is really happening in these centers isn’t being publicized enough. It’s a really horrible place for all of these people to live in and the media doesn’t cover that.” 

    Schools are now focusing on educating students about these untold stories. 

  18. Climate Activists Across the Nation Offer Diverse Perspectives on Inflation Reduction Act

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    BY ERIN KIM

     

    As President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, climate activists Suhaila Cotton, Sebastian Lemberger, and Ian Harrison both applauded and sighed from states apart. 

    Cotton, who hails from Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a Field Representative with “Our Climate,” a youth-led national climate organization, while Lemberger is a climate lobbyist from Louisville, Kentucky. Harrison, based in Boulder is Colorado’s Conservative State Lead for “Citizens’ Climate Lobby,” a non-profit grassroots advocacy organization. They are three of the millions of climate activists demanding healthcare, economic and social climate-based reform, and have fought for many years to make the Inflation Reduction Act a reality.

    “As good as the Inflation Reduction Act is, it is also quite obviously a compromise,” Lemberger said. “This is likely because of Senators Manchin and Sinema, two moderate democrats who had very high negotiating power in getting the bill passed. Manchin’s influence is not only present in the reduced sum that the Inflation Reduction Act pledges, but also in some sneakily hidden clauses in the bill.”

    The Inflation Reduction Act, enacted on August 16 with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris, aims to combat climate change, lower health care costs and cut the deficit. In particular, the bill includes the most extensive measures to reduce domestic climate pollution in the nation’s history, with a $386 billion investment in climate and energy, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

    However, all three activists saw the drawbacks of the Inflation Reduction Act, especially given that the act serves as a reconciliation bill following Build Back Better’s stalemate in Congress. Lemberger’s disappointment with the Inflation Reduction Act stemmed from its dilution of the amount pledged to address climate change compared to Build Back Better’s originally proposed budget. 

    “While it pledges a significant amount of money to climate change, the bill also leases several thousand acres of land in Alaska to oil and coal companies and protects the construction of a large oil pipeline through the Appalachian mountains,” Lemberger said. “These clauses are likely what bought Manchin’s approval of the bill, as his prior resistance to similar legislature was quite adamant.”

    Harrison shared a similar sentiment with Lemberger and emphasized that the Inflation Reduction Act had to be limited to budgetary issues due to the act being a reconciliation. 

    “In scope and impact, it is a shadow of the original aspiration, and notwithstanding the widely reported 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, this bill is expected to accelerate emissions reductions to 40% below 2005 levels in 2030, compared to 30% under current policy,” said Harrison.

    Also stemming from this compromise, Cotton said that her main issue with the Inflation Reduction Act is its large amount of tax credits. 

    Nonetheless, Cotton remained hopeful about future legislation the Inflation Reduction Act may inspire, particularly given the Act’s intersectional view of climate change.

    “It’s finally a large step in the right direction that finally handles some of the intersections of climate change,” Cotton said. “It isn’t just greenhouse gas emissions and the effect on nature but how and where those greenhouse gas emissions are emitted.”

    Harrison is excited about the act’s passage with limited opposition. In particular, he said he looks forward to more bipartisan legislation after seeing through the Inflation Reduction Act that such legislation is, indeed, a possibility.

    “As the Inflation Reduction Act came into view, some Senators called energy companies to rally opposition. It is notable that, with the exception of some press releases, few rallied to the flag… the common theme seems to be that the political will existed to pass it, so why bother fighting it,” said Harrison. “I suggest that this would hold true for most bills and gives me hope that significant, enduring and bipartisan legislation is possible and that the fabled power of external opposition only enters the arena when there is a lack of political will.”

    Another part of the bill — lowered health care costs — gave Cotton hope. Cotton said the healthcare improvements come hand in hand with the bill’s efforts toward climate, considering how a given community’s prevalence of pollutant-emitting factories and highways often predicts the eventual presence of life-threatening health effects like emphysema or cancer.

    “Our own Springfield, Massachusetts being the asthma capital of the U.S for a while—now it’s some city in Pennsylvania—the clean energy investments were great, but the health care improvements were what I was looking for,” Cotton said. “Climate action can’t just be improving the future but addressing the effects of our past.”

    According to an April-May 2022 FiveThirtyEight poll, 52 percent of Americans believe that the most important issue facing the country is inflation. 16 percent of Americans believe that climate change is the most pressing issue. 

  19. Chinese Family Camps Foster Community for Post-Pandemic Families

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    BY ALEX ZHANG

     

    After annual sessions were put on hold due to the COVID pandemic, families have started again to gather each summer at Camp Greylock in Becket, Massachusetts for Chinese Family Camp, or CFC. 

    Five families — the Yuans, Woos, Yens, Shiangs, and Lees — started the CFC in Sharon, Massachusetts over sixty years ago, and that number has now increased tenfold. CFC at Camp Greylock features a week of sleeping in cabins and participating in different outdoor activities for both children and adults. Families often attend for years on end, and children grow up with deep ties to the camp.

    “For the children who come to CFC, this is a very valuable experience in their lives,” Zhaohui Zhang, a parent of four campers returning to CFC for the twentieth year said.“When my family first came to CFC, my daughter Anna was seven years old. She spent all of her childhood summers here, and the same with the rest of my children. They make friends here that they see each summer, and the experience is amazing” 

    The “family” in “Chinese Family Camp” is integral to the experience, according to Zhang. 

    While the families themselves are important to the camp atmosphere, campers also often praise the food and the communal dining system for being greatly beneficial to fostering Chinese culture.

    “China is a huge country, with many different ethnic groups and their associated cultures,” Zhang said. “Families here have roots from all over China, meaning that they speak with different accents, dialects, and most obviously enjoy different cuisines. Preparing meals for over 60 families is a tough task, but different parents come together to cook and prepare all sorts of food, and the result is a diverse selection every day, and everyone is able to try something new, but something still Chinese.”

    China is split into 23 different provinces, and each region of the country has distinct cultural features. There are eight commonly recognized famous Chinese cuisines that span the country, the most popular of which include Sichuan and Cantonese cooking. 

    Furthermore, being able to return to a majority-Chinese environment after years of increased anti-Asian hate and sentiment has proven to have benefits for many campers. 

    “[Coming back to CFC] was quite refreshing,” 19 year old Claire Ma said. “I felt that my identity weakened in some ways after hearing about the hate crimes. Seeing that the Asian community I grew up with still had the strength to unite and spend time together without being bogged down by the weight of anti-Asian hate was revitalizing. It showed that we still had the spirit in us to have a good time regardless of what was happening around us.”

    Many spaces similar to Camp Greylock’s CFC exist across the United States, such as an unrelated Chinese Family Camp in Cedar Lake, Illinois. Despite location and management differences, Camp Secretary Allen Yang finds similar comforts and experiences at CFC, especially considering the cultural bonds that are created in such a tightly-knit family space.

    “The emphasis on having the family attend camp, and having multiple family groups sharing experiences together is a huge bonding experience, as well as connecting with true peers. I remember as a teen feeling deeply connected with the other teens who were going through the exact same issues with being Chinese in a predominantly or completely Caucasian town and school.” said Yang.

    The Asian-American population in the United States has grown by 45.6% from 2000 to 2010, and is expected to be 10% of the American population in 2050. The Chinese population in Illinois has been steadily rising during the past few years, at 6.1% of the population in 2021 according to the US Census.

    Camp Director Lawrence Wang emphasized Yang’s sentiment..

    Wang noted that the “level of pure comfort knowing you are at a gathering where participants are Chinese or partially Chinese… just allows one to be at peace without fear of racially motivated negativity and enjoy a week with others learning about Chinese heritage in the morning or kayaking in the afternoon or participating in a scavenger hunt in the evening. The usual end result is the creation of life-long bonds.”

    Such “racially motivated negativity”  has greatly increased in recent years during the COVID pandemic, with reports of anti-Asian hate crimes up 164% in major cities during 2020. 

    Cedar Lake’s CFC also notably has many participating families with adopted Chinese children. Wang explained that this has allowed families to help their children learn more about their heritage in a culturally-rich environment as adoptive families “ are always looking for ways to provide Chinese heritage.” 

    “The motto of CFC is ‘Family, Friends, and Fun,’” Zhang said. “Campers have the opportunity to escape their busy lives and simply enjoy a fun week with people who share their identities, something that is especially difficult in today’s world.”

    CFC is expected to return again next year to Camp Greylock for its 63rd year.