Anaya Quayyum '24 Vice President Kamala Harris caused an uproar when she was featured on the cover of Vogue. In the February issue, a dark jacket by Donald Deal is worn with skinny jeans, Converse, and a pearl necklace. She stands in front of a green leaf backdrop with a pink curtain flowing out of it, hands clasped at her waist. Critics slammed the cover, calling it "unflattering" and "unprofessional." Ms. Harris's staff claimed they were unaware of Vogue's decision to change the photographs because they had not seen the magazine's final selection since they did not have contractual cover approval rights. Critics argued that the casual cover was unprofessional when the United States desperately needed mature and robust leadership. However, the pictures our leaders and role models portray are extremely important to us. They continue to impact our perceptions of what authority looks like and how our identity changes. The "digital cover" of Vogue magazine was released just as the public's heated opinions about Ms. Harris began to emerge. It featured her in a powder blue Michael Kors Collection suit with an American flag pin on her lapel. Many thought her arms crossed in an executive power pose against a gold curtain was much more appropriate for the vice president of the United States. Others believed that the previous cover gave Ms. Harris an approachable charm, while critics argued it was inappropriate. The public reaction to Ms. Harris' Vogue cover demonstrates how desperately the American people require a leader
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Isabella Wren '22 On Oct. 18, 2021, Allison Williams, as well as fellow ESPN workers, spoke out that they will not continue their work with the company because of the vaccine. The deadline to be fully vaccinated for ESPN was the following Friday Oct. 22. "I have been denied my request for accommodation by ESPN and the Walt Disney Company, and effective next week, I will be separated from the company," she said in a video posted to Instagram on Friday. (NPR) Her reasoning for not taking the vaccine in early September was that she and her husband,Couts, were trying to conceive their second child. There is a rumor going around for women trying to conceive after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. There have been statements that it may cause infertility problems or miscarriages even though there is no set evidence. Still, many women are still cautious since the vaccine is still considered “new.” Even though she has stated that her second child was the reason for not taking the vaccine, some are speculating it is her political/ moral beliefs as well which is seen as controversial. “I am also so morally and ethically not aligned with this, and I’ve had to really dig deep and analyze my values and my morals, and ultimately I have to put them first,” Williams said in her Instagram video. (CNBC) Senior Sophia Lopez shared her opinion about the issue: “If there is no medical evidence that her pregnancy will be jeopardized, then she shouldn't use that as her reasoning. There are numerous reports of the vaccine being safe for pregnant women, so I don’t think it is worth losing her job over a vaccine.” Williams has not spoken out about getting the vaccine in the future nor returning back to ESPN. Hopefully after she has her child and more information about the vaccine is discovered, we may see Williams back on the sidelines for future football and basketball games. Leigha Curcio '22 Students of Fontbonne Hall believe that they should be allowed to wear their jackets or sweaters in class during the colder seasons. Many students have disagreed with the rules of taking jackets off once they get to class due to the temperatures.
Students of all grades don’t believe the rule to take off extra layering is necessary. If the students are in full uniform a jacket shouldn’t be a prioritized problem. Although we are allowed to wear scarves that are school colored, scarves are not as heavy as needed to be sometimes. Sophia Lopez ‘22 believes the school should let us wear our jackets. She points out that this is a problem “especially because we're sitting inside and the heating doesn’t always work.” Lopez also states “we switch in between classes so we shouldn’t be worried about wearing jackets.” When Alison Kienzle ‘22 was asked about her opinion if students should be allowed to wear jackets inside she said “Yes especially with Covid the teachers have all the doors and windows open so it’s cold.” Since the school has to follow strict Covid regulations, many doors and windows are open throughout the day, letting in cold weather and causing students to want to wear their jackets more often. When students of all other grades were asked they all agreed that the jacket rules should be “less strict.” This includes grades from freshwoman to senior year. So it’s safe to say more than majority of the students believe students should be allowed to wear jackets indoors. Mr. Haughwout also has an opinion on the restriction. “I respect the dress code policies, but I worry that students may struggle to focus in class if they are uncomfortable from being too cold from the classroom temperature.” Although many students disagree with the rule of taking jackets off once you get into class, many students are open to regulating the rule. They believe a fair mandate would be in order to wear a jacket inside it would have to be school colors or a school-affiliated piece of clothing. Kristen Russo '24 Six Flags’ annual Fright Fest is back in season, and it’s scarier than ever! The event has returned with their haunted mazes, live band performances, fireworks, all new Halloween themed shows, monster rides in the dark and scary actors creeping and crawling through the walkways. Since COVID started, Six Flags has been dying to get back to the normal fright fest they have every year. “After a one-year hiatus, our entertainment teams have created an immersive and thrilling experience while also adhering to jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction safety protocols” said Senior Vice President of Operations Bonnie Weber. The guests will now be able to take part in “Thrills by Day” and “Fright by night.” During the day, there will be trick or treat trails, pictures with the looney-toon characters, and interactive dance parties, for the kids or anyone who wants to go. When the night comes though, everything changes. Scary special effects are taken out to make the park look horrifying. Guests can take part in watching parades with scary monsters run out in SFX makeup and scary costumes. Go visit now, Happy Halloween! Brianna Cummings ‘21
Bill and Melinda Gates announced that they were getting divorced on May 3. They tweeted on Twitter, “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.” Melinda Gates filed a divorce petition in King County, Washington, requesting that the marriage be dissolved based on the couple's separation agreement. The records that were made public did not contain any financial information. Bill Gates, 65, and Melinda Gates, 56, met at Microsoft, which Bill Gates had created and was running as CEO in 1987. Melinda began her career as a product manager. She was the only woman in the company's first class of MBA graduates and moved up the ranks to become the general manager of information products. The couple married in Hawaii in 1994. With a $50 billion fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has had a considerable impact on public health and early childhood education. It has made significant progress in reducing malaria and other infectious disease deaths. The Gates have been active in the battle against Covid-19 and the campaign to create vaccines and evenly spread them worldwide through their foundation for the past year. The group had contributed a total of $1.75 billion to the global pandemic response last December. According to two inside sources close to them, Mr. and Ms. Gates have had relationship issues in recent years. According to those sources, there were many occasions when the relationship was on the verge of breaking up, but they worked hard to hold it intact. Mr. Gates agreed to step down from the boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to spend more time with his family. They both decided to part ways and focus on their business ventures and their kids. Olivia Bodnar '23 Another day, another group has been approved for vaccination. This new group includes 12-15 year olds. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, has said, “The CDC now recommends the vaccine be used among this population, and providers may begin vaccinating them right away.” A member of the White House officials told NPR about the administration’s plans. They wanted to make sure that all packages of Pfizer vaccines were shipped to doctors’ offices as soon as they became available.
The Pfizer vaccine for 12-15 year olds has officially been approved and distribution has begun. The department has stated in their weekly vaccination report that sixteen percent of an estimated 322,219 individuals throughout the age group, or somewhere around 51,000 kids have all received their dose of the vaccine. A professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Professor Koh, said, “I expect the numbers in this category to rise rapidly to soon make vaccination the norm, not the exception, as seen as the older groups.” Massachusetts is a national leader in how many of its people get vaccinated. So far, the percentage of teens who have been vaccinated is lower. During a March clinical trial, Pfizer proved to have 100% effectiveness in stopping COVID-19 by studying people who are ages twelve and up. Some areas have reported on having at least half of the kids, aged twelve through fifteen, receiving their first shot. Other communities have lower vaccination rates among all other age groups. The reasons are varied. Some parents are “anti-vaxxers” who are against any shot for their child, while some others are not convinced that there has been sufficient testing for the vaccine. Since Pfizer has been approved for kids ages twelve and up, this has allowed for more places to fully reopen. The common goal is herd immunity. The more people vaccinated, the more cities may return to normal. Restaurants and other public places have also slowly begun the option of not having to wear a mask indoors if fully vaccinated. Some people can still wear a mask in case they don’t feel safe. Mask usage is encouraged but not mandated. On a personal note, my almost-fourteen year old sister received her first shot of the Pfizer vaccine this past Friday. Her arm was a bit sore, but that was the extent of the side effects. Of course, every case differs and parents have the right to decide for their families what is best. I, for one, will enjoy being able to go mask-less with my sister and the rest of my family. It certainly gives me peace of mind. Angelic Molos '21 While around 43% of Brooklynites have at least one dose of one of the COVID vaccines, there is still a long way to go when it comes to that other 57%.
Now there are many factors that could tie into why these statistics are the way they are, some of them being: easy accessibility (location and time-wise), concerns over efficacy of the vaccine, it’s rapid rollout, possible side effects, and more. Just like most things in life, there are many myths that have been spiraling all around, and I feel the need to debunk some of them in the name of science. Starting off with the first myth, some believe the vaccine and its ingredients can actually give you COVID-19. The two most popular vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, are made from mRNA, which is a genetic material already found in your body. These two companies have also published the ingredient list of the vaccine just you can really see what is going on when you get the shot. There is mRNA, fats or lipids and other simple ingredients that we consume everyday to keep the vaccine stable. When your cells pick up on that mRNA in your body, they make a little spike protein that can be found in coronavirus. Then from there, your immune system takes care of the rest. The second biggest myth would be that we cannot trust the vaccine because of how quick the rollout was. Yes, the Vaccine was developed in a shorter time than usual but that does not make it any less effective as they still went through all the same processes and steps to make sure it is safe for the public. Many scientists, researchers and medical professionals have been working on using mRNA for over 30 years now, and they’ve been proven many times to be successful in past trials. On top of that, companies like Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer all had many thousands of volunteers for multiple clinical trials. In most cases that rarely happens, but because of the severity and prevalence of the pandemic, many more people were willing to help out in the name of science. Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration in America and vaccine experts from many other countries deemed both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines safe to use in emergency situations. The third and last popular myth would be that because someone has already had Covid-19, they do not need the vaccine. Due to the newness of Covid-19 and its side effects, not many scientists or doctors truly know how long you are immune to the virus after contraction. Even if you have contracted the virus, the CDC recommends that you still get the vaccine as long as it has been 90 days since initial signs of the virus. When it comes to the Covid-19 survival rate though, just because most people can recover does not mean that you won’t have any lasting side effects. As of now, Covid-19 has been found to hurt the heart, lungs and brain, along with many more long-term health issues that are still being found and researched. Getting vaccinated, if you can, ensures that others are protected, especially the medically vulnerable who may not be able to get it because of health complications. It is so much better to be safe than sorry, but getting the vaccine is still a personal choice you have to make for yourself. With what you know, try to make the best decision for your health and everyone else around you. And even if you don't know much, do not be afraid to do some research using reliable sources! Brianna Cummings '21
On April 9, about 20,000 people were evacuated from the area nearest to La Soufrière volcano on the northside of St. Vincent after it began erupting. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The eruptions at the 3,864-foot volcano have continued nearly every day since. On Wednesday, April 14, a fresh eruption sent clouds of ash into the sky and superheated clouds of gas, ash and rock speeding down the hillsides, island officials said.” Luckily, no one was killed in the eruptions. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country lying within the Lesser Antilles, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It consists of the island of Saint Vincent and the northern Grenadine Islands, which stretch southward toward Grenada. A heavy blanket of ash has covered most of the island, ranging from a few inches in the south to several feet in the north. Ash has suffocated farmland and contaminated local water reservoirs, leading to a shortage of fresh water. The volcano's eruption has left the entire population of St. Vincent, 110,000 people, without clean drinking water or electricity. The water system has been shut down, so any drinking water is coming from outside the country. The eruption of La Soufrière is expected to continue because it is displaying an episodic eruption pattern with long pauses. Explosions and ashfall of similar or greater magnitude are expected to continue for the next few days, according to the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre. To help out the efforts, The United Nations has requested $29.2 million in humanitarian aid to support St. Vincent in its recovery from ongoing volcanic eruptions that have caused widespread damage, including the relocation of 20% of the island's population. Meanwhile, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock announced that the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has been allocated $1 million to assist affected people, especially those who have had to be evacuated. Prayers and best wishes go out to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and its people. Kareena Joseph '23
As indicated by a claim recorded on Monday, March 29, 2021, in a government court in New York, Nike has filed a lawsuit against MSCHF and Lil Nas X's restricted release Satan-themed Air Max 97 shoes. MSCHF Product Studio dispatched 666 sets of shoes for $1,018 each on Monday, and they have all since sold out. Many people are worried about the possibility that the shoes contain actual human blood. Nike, in any case, didn't affirm the release of these shoes. The supposed "Satan Shoes" are Nike Air Max 97s consisting of a pentagram pendant, a drop of “human blood” in the liquid part of the shoe, and the Bible refrain "Luke 10:18" composed on the padded sole, alluding to the Bible section where Satan falls from Heaven. The “Satan Shoes” were made as per Lil Nas X's music video for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," in which he crushes Satan. The song is about Lil Nas X himself, Montero Lamar Hill, a 21-year-old singer, who in the song is hiding a queer relationship. He wrote in a note accompanying the song's release on Twitter, "I know we promised to never come out publicly, i know we promised to never be ‘that’ type of gay person, i know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist.” [sic] The music video has since caused a culture war and a lot of backlash, to the point where even moderates object to the tunes utilization of strange and sinister symbolism. MSCHF presently can't seem to remark on the claim. However, Lil Nas X answered with a tweet about it Monday early evening, utilizing a SpongeBob SquarePants cut. After consulting with a number of people about their feelings on the shoes, several have varying perspectives on the matter. “In my opinion I do believe that the idea was great but it was executed very wrong,” said one student who requested anonymity. “In my opinion I don’t really care. I'm not a religious person. I do not think people are as upset that it’s satanic, I think they’re more upset that it’s a prominent figure who has an ‘influence’ on children,” another unnamed source said. “Honestly I do not have an opinion on them because I do not know what they are exactly,” states Amanda Gopie, ‘21. “To be honest they look cool but the message is bad. I think people are taking it too seriously just because he’s famous. But when someone famous makes it, everyone makes it seem worse,” says Sabrina Lockley, ‘23. To me, Lil Nas X was doing whatever he could to make money, and those who despise these shoes should not pay attention to them and should not buy them if they feel that way. People should not waste their time criticizing these shoes. Gianna Veneziano '21 Arab-American Heritage Month is celebrated in the month of April, despite it being less well-known. Just like other heritage months, April is a month that aims to bring pride to those who have immigrated from the Middle East and North Africa to America, and their children and grandchildren.
Arab Americans have helped build up America, specifically New York City, as they’ve brought new culture and food, as well as their skills in business, medicine, technology, government, and so much more. As a grandchild of two Arab immigrants and someone who is involved in their culture, Arab-American Heritage month is an important month to me. It helps me focus on reflecting on my culture and how much I love it, and I aim to spread that love to others who are curious about it. There are 22 countries that are considered Arab nations, most of which are located in Northern Africa through Western Asia. Although each of these nations are ethnically, politically, and religiously different, they all share a common culture and language. Despite common knowledge, not all Arabs practice Islam. A good amount are actually Christian - including my own family! I myself am mainly Lebanese, Syrian, and Egyptian. The month of April encourages people to learn more about these 22 countries and what they’re brought to America, and it also encourages me to become more in touch with my background and connect with it through learning more about it and becoming more conscious about it. Arab Americans have been migrating to America more and more during the past few decades, especially here in New York. Because there is a lot of instability in many Arab nations, immigration over the years has skyrocketed. Nearly 70,000 Arab American refugees moved to the U.S. in 2017. My own grandparents immigrated here in the 1970s, for the common reason of political instability. Many of them have chosen to live in New York City, including my own family. This makes NYC a very Arab American populated state, which makes me feel really comfortable and supported in my heritage. New York City is full of Arab American immigrants, which is proven through the various neighborhoods scattered throughout that are filled with rich Arab culture. My own neighborhood, Bay Ridge, has plenty of Arab spunk to it, ranging from its various Arabic restaurants, markets, stores, and general population of Arab Americans. I feel grateful to live in a neighborhood that allows my culture to flourish and grow, all while becoming more known to those who may not have heard much about it before. April being Arab American Heritage month recently became known to me through the app Tik Tok. A hashtag entitled “#ArabTikTok” gained popularity this month, featuring Arab creators showing off their culture, food, and shared comedy. Scrolling through this hashtag made me feel at home. If you’re interested in learning more about the Arab culture, I recommend looking through this hashtag to learn more about what it really means to be Arab! |