The Elliott Spring 2021

Both Sides of GA’s New Voting Laws Ruby Kaufman & Jake Bogartz

Long Term Social Effects of COVID-19

Annie Levy

Kailen Hicks

The Elliott Page 4

The Galloway School

“Justice” for George Floyd, but Where Do We Go From Here?

College Talk is Canceled

Sophia Sanders

The year 2020 was one of the most unpredictable and trying years in recent history. Amongst the Coronavirus Pandemic and the heated presidential election, George Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after being suffocated by a police officer. After Floyd’s death, protests against racially motivated police brutality began to spread all over the country. Although the Black Lives Matter movement had been around for several years before this, it rapidly gained traction after Floyd’s death sparked necessary national outrage. On April 20, 2021, Floyd’s murderer, Officer Derek Chauvin, was found guilty on all three charges which included second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The three other officers who were with him on the day of Floyd’s death were charged with aiding and abetting murder. While we may feel compelled to rejoice in the fact that justice was served for Floyd, we must also remember the bigger issue at hand: Black people are still getting killed by police officers, and we cannot stop fighting until there is systematic reform to ensure that this does not happen in the first place.

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www.elliottmag.com

TheElliott_

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Spring 2021

Spotlighting A Few of The Beloved Departing Faculty

Mika Abney, Ruby Kaufman, & Annie Levy

In this pandemic era, we’ve all had ample time to look inward at our priorities and intentions. With a life that seems to move too fast for any time to reflect, this pause in operations led to many individuals reflecting on the trajectory of their career, and, consequently, many changed or altered their long-held path to success. Within our own community, a handful of teachers have decided to end their time at Galloway in pursuit of something bigger or just different. While each has their own specific reasons for leaving, this internal reflection is a common thread throughout the departing faculty, and we can do nothing but admire their vulnerability and choices, as well as the mark they’ve left on our community.

The Elliott staff has chosen to honor five Upper Learning teachers leaving the Galloway faculty next year for their great contributions inside the classroom and out.

We thank them, as both student journalists and members of the Galloway community, for the immense impact they have had on our education and wish them nothing but joy and prosperity in their futures.

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10 Reasons Why Percy Jackson is Better Than Harry Potter Mika Abney One day, after explaining to a cisgenendered friend why J.K. Rowling’s transphobic remarks are horrible, I got asked an interesting question: Does JKR’s transphobia ruin Harry Potter for me, and should it ruin Harry Potter for cisgender people?

This is not what this article is about, for the pure and simple reason that there are so many other reasons why JKR’s work is absolute garbage. If you do want an answer to my friend’s question, I highly recommend watching the video essay by Sarah Z, which spectacularly covers all sides of the debate.

What this article is about, is some of the main things that JKR got wrong with Harry Potter and examples of what should be done instead, provided generously from the author that got it right: Rick Riordan, and his Greek mythology series: Percy Jackson and The Heroes of Olympus.

So, without further ado, let’s get started.

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The Unwanted Numbness I Have to Another Shooting in America Ruby Kaufman My first memory of hearing about a mass shooting was in 2016, when 50 people were murdered and 53 were injured at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando, Florida. Hearing this was devastating to my 11-year-old self who had no idea how cruel this world could be and how full of malintent one individual could be.

One year later, I recall listening to CNN as it reported that 58 people were killed at a music festival in Las Vegas. Imagining 58 people with 58 stories and thousands of memories having their lives taken in an instant hurt. The joy that had once taken the music festival stage being immediately drowned out with pain and sorrow was an unfathomable scene.

I remember in 2018 when 17 high school students and teachers were murdered at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. This one hurt the most because one of the victims, Alyssa Alhadeff, was a friend of mine from sleepaway camp. These stories were no longer far away. They were true, obtainable, and staring me right in the eye. There was no turning off the TV to escape the nightmare; it was far too real.

I recollect later in 2018 when 11 people were killed while attending synagogue in Pittsburgh. This one hurt because this shooter made a place of community, hope, love, and Judaism, into one of hate. He turned this safe haven for people already plagued by anti-semitism into a disaster zone.

I remember in 2019 when 23 people were shot and killed in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. This one hurt because 23 individuals lost their lives. 23 families lost a mother, son, father, sister, cousin, aunt, or uncle.

I remember a few weeks ago ago when 8 women were killed 15 miles from where I live in Atlanta, Georgia. This one hurt because it was targeted at the Asian community and was so close to home. To see how racism targeted against Asians has spiked since the beginning of the Coronavirus breaks my heart.

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Spring 2021

Scots Nation

Farewell Faculty

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Dr. Vieron

Dr. Vieron has been at Galloway for seven years now and has quickly become a beloved member of the Galloway community. As a Latin student myself, I can safely say that Dr. Vieron’s Latin classes have often been the highlight of my day and that he is one of the most amazing teachers that I Anyone who’s taken Scottie Belfi’s class knows it’s a different kind of class. Even those have had the privilege of knowing. However, Dr. Vieron didn’t always plan on becoming a Latin teacher; he started out his journey as a psychology who haven’t had the opportunity know that Madame Belfi is the kind of teacher who goes major, which is what he’s circling back to now. He originally switched to beyond the classroom. Her handmade signs are Latin after seeing a classmate fill out a verb chart, and deciding it looked always found in the stands of every game, her like something he wanted to do. In our interview, however, he did say that coming to Galloway for what was originally supposed to be just one year favorite French pop music is always blaring through the Stonehouse hallway, and her voice was “the best decision [he] ever made.”

Dr. Vieron’s journey will next take him can always be heard giving words of encourback to the world of psychology, where he agement and support to any student, regardless will have the training and knowledge to of whether they take French. After seven years help adolescents in ways he was previof enriching the Galloway experience, Maously unable to. He stated that “there were dame Belfi has decided to move onto the next several experiences at Galloway where chapter of her life, not because she doesn’t the opportunity presented itself to help a want to teach anymore, but because she can’t student… but there’s only so much a Latin wait to embark on an array of new adventures. teacher can do.” He says that he wants to Prior to coming to Galloway, Madame Belfi taught part-time at Riverwood help people and that Galloway has helped International Charter School and had a myriad of other commitments while raisshape him into “a unique therapist.” While ing her two daughters. One day, she bumped into Galloway’s former director of he acknowledges that switching careers at admissions, Elizabeth King, who informed her of an opening for a French teacher 39-years-old is scary, he also feels that it’s at Galloway. “I said ‘Oh no, no, no. I play ALTA Tennis on Thursdays, and I not starting over - it’s building off of who have all my volunteer responsibilities,’” she explained. “And [King] said ‘Just he has become at Galloway. He explained, come talk to Gordon Mathis!’” When Madame Belfi came to then-principal Mr. “I always say, you know, Galloway is a place where students find out who Mathis’ office, the lure of Galloway was just irresistible, and she began teaching they are and become that person. Well, I can say for me as a teacher, it was in the fall of 2014. the same.”

To say Madame Belfi has changed the Galloway French department would be While we will all miss Dr. Vieron dearly, I feel I can safely speak for all an understatement to end all understatements. In fact, when she began teaching, of us when I say we are thrilled to see him setting such a great example for the Galloway administration had considered eliminating the French program us by following his passions in helping adolescents. When I asked him if altogether. “The program had gotten so small that when I started here I was there was anything that he wanted to share before leaving, he said, “I’m reteaching 7th-12th -- every French class on campus.” Regardless of the numbers, ally grateful to the community… it’s bittersweet… I’m not leaving because Madame Belfi saw this as a healthy challenge and was that much more motivated it’s the end, I’m leaving because it’s a transition.” He quickly added, laughto build the richest, strongest French program there could be. Every year after, ing, “I’m not going anywhere! I plan on coming back to visit and being that more and more students sought out French courses, which eventually led to three teacher.”

French teachers teaching full-time.

By Mika Abney It’s important to explain why this program has grown the way it has. It’s not because it looks great on a transcript or gives a boost in GPA. Students take While Mr. Titus has only been a teacher at Galloway for two years, he has French because they love it. Madame Belfi has been able to create a class that quickly become an integral part of our Galloway Community through his is challenging and rigorous but not because she assigns hours of homework or devotion to students, love for learning, and amazing baked goods us students makes students memorize hundreds of vocab words; the class is hard because often get! As an environmental science student, I have the pleasure of experieach student has to find a way to make it theirs. “I always tell my students at the encing his class each day as we venture not only into the AP curriculum, but beginning of the year that French is not a class they’re taking, but it’s a part of his personal ways of teaching the class that makes it extra special. Mr. Titus the person you’re becoming.” teaches with passion, enthusiasm, and a friendly nature that truly defines the A major reason why students love taking Madame Belfi’s French class has been welcoming classroom atmosphere he has created. her integration of French correspondents in southwest France. Since February My most cherished memory with Mr. Titus through my year of learning of her first school year at Galloway, Madame Belfi has fostered exchange bewith him has been the days after class when he gives all the students treats. tween Galloway and a school in a small beach town in France called Lisée Saint As we finish a difficult class period, he often supplies us with adorable Elme. Madame Belfi explained, “The flavor and the real-life motivation that themed sugar cookies or delicious fudgy brownies and for many of us, it the exchange provided to our program was just, like, the special sauce!” French is the highlight of our morning. Not only are these baked goods delicious, students from Saint Elme have visited Galloway back and forth for six years, and but this act really expresses Mr. Titus’s sunny and joyful demeanor that he for Atlanta students that haven’t been able to physically go abroad or host a stuspreads everywhere he goes. dent, videos and messages are regularly incorporated into Belfi’s class to allow As someone who has always loved immersing himself in the environment students to see how real the language they’re learning is. through “gardening, birding, fishing, and hiking,” it was natural for Mr. Titus While Madame Belfi has always loved her job, she realized over the past year to engage in the educational aspect of his first love. Following retirement, in quarantine that her devotion to teaching was holding her back from other Mr. Titus hopes to continue to wonder and learn through traveling as much opportunities in the francophone universe. “I have some great opportunities in as he can—an activity he has greatly missed over the pandemic. Though France that I’ve just had to put on the backburner to be fully engaged, really 24we will all greatly miss Mr. Titus as he moves on to the next chapter of his 7, 365 days a year, in Galloway,” she explained. With her daughters off at college life, as his student, I have no doubt that in his short time at Galloway he has and her husband able to work from home, the world is Madame Belfi’s oyster as impacted individual students and the structure of our beloved community. she’ll have the freedom to travel and explore as she likes. Her wide network of

By Ruby Kaufman friends will certainly supplement her journey post-Galloway; one example she gave was a colleague that owns a soup kitchen in Bordeaux and how she would Mr. Titus’ Brownie Recipe love to be able to take time to fly out and volunteer for extended periods of time. handle to pull cooked brownies from the pan (I Ingredients: 2/3 cup all-purpose flour used parchment paper). Spray sheet with cooking But Madame Belfi will never teach anywhere else. She has adored every spray.

1/2 teaspoon salt second of her job at Galloway and is leaving, as she says, at the top of her game.

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 3. Melt chocolates and butter in a medium bowl “My mom used to say to me, ‘Scottie, darling, we have to leave the party while over a pan of simmering water. Remove from veg cooking spray heat; whisk in sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs, 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate we’re still having fun.’” she says in a deep Southern accent. Of course, this 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate one at a time, fully incorporating each one before makes her departure that much more bittersweet, but she would rather leave on a 10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) adding the next. Continue to whisk until the unsalted butter mixture is completely smooth and glossy. Add high than burnt out. “It’s like a yes-and,” she explained. “Yes I love it so much.

1 1/4 cups sugar dry ingredients, whisk until just incorporated.

Yes I wake up every morning at 5’o’clock excited about teaching. And I want to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Stir in nuts, if using. create some more space in my life to do other things.”

3 large eggs 4. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a optional: 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, pecans, maca- toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes While no one could replace Madame Belfi and her magic, she affirms that out with wet crumbs, 35-45 minutes. damia nuts, peanuts her successors are a “dream team” and are more than capable of sustaining the 5. Cool brownies in a pan on a wire rack for five momentum she has created in the Stonehouse. She is eternally grateful for the minutes. Use handles to pull brownies from the Directions: 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and pan. Completely cool brownies on rack, at least support of her students, families, colleagues, and administrators and is grateful preheat oven to 325 degrees. three hours. Cut into squares and serve. If not to have had the privilege of teaching her own way and on her own terms. “My serving immediately, do not cut brownies. Whole 2. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside. Spray an 8-inch baking brownie cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap, time here has been magical,” she says glowingly. “I’ve had an absolute blast and then foil, and refrigerated for up to five days. pan with cooking spray.

Fit a sheet of foil in couldn’t wish for anything more… but if not now, when?” the pan and up two sides, so you can use it as a

By Annie Levy

Madame Belfi

Mr. Titus

Spring 2021

Ms. Cramer

Scots Nation Page 3 Young Democrats? More Like “Bye Ms. Cramer! Thank you!” echoes through the Galloway Black Box at the Liza Tewari Young Autocrats conclusion of class together. After an hour and a half of moving and dancing, students leave the Galloway Black Box on a Wednesday evening with their hair sweaty, limbs flexible, and smiles active.

Sally Cramer, Galloway Dance’s founder and fearless leader, responds to the thank-yous with a classic “Bye guys!” and a laugh as I sit down to speak with her. After 16 years and countless performances, technique classes, rehearsals, costume fittings, and pliés, Sally Cramer retires from the Black Box with nothing but gratitude and love.

Prior to taking on the title of Ms. Cramer, Sally Cramer was one thing first: a Galloway parent. With three children in Early Learning in the early 2000s, she took on the role of a mom full-time while integrating teaching dance in private studios as much as she could. With dance classes primarily taking place in the afternoons, squarely during her children’s pick-up time, dance fell to the back burner for a while. One afternoon, Ms. Cramer found herself chatting with the then Middle Learning principal Phil Wendel outside of the Flik building when he found out about her dance background and asked if she would be open to teaching a nine week ML elective. She agreed enthusiastically and ended up teaching a group of 8th graders in a ML classroom with the tables moved out of the way. She reflects that they “just had so much fun!”

“What stood out to me was that I had never taught students like Galloway students,” she said. “I was blown away by the creativity, and, just, artistically, I had always worked with people at the same level in a studio setting.

This was just really different and really fun.” At the end of that elective, the students requested they continue what they had started for another nine weeks, and this was really the beginning of Galloway Dance. Ms. Cramer organically went from just teaching middle school electives to choreographing ML and UL musicals to creating a full after-school dance ensemble with two performances a year.

What has allowed Ms. Cramer’s Dance Ensemble to sustain itself is its way of embracing every dancer regardless of differences. In a dance world that is oftentimes uptight and competitive, to have a group of dancers who are able to get together and just create art is a really special thing. At Galloway, every dancer has a “dancer body” with just as much creative and athletic potential as someone who trains 20 hours a week. Having come from choreographing primarily in private studios, this appreciation was something that grew with Ms. Cramer as more years at Galloway went by.

“I think that I have opened my eyes more and more and more, every single year, how beautiful [dance] is on every kind of body and person.” she said.

“I find choreography on dancers of all different levels equally interesting as dancers who are all the same level… there’s just something beautiful and interesting about it.”

Intangibly, Dance Ensemble has served as a means of expression for Galloway students. But tangibly, one can see a symbol of this expression in the very ballet barres that line the walls. In 2010, an adored Galloway student named Ben Chanin, involved actively in both dance and theater, died of suicide, and the ballet barres were donated in his name for his love of dance and performance. “I just hope people remember and think about how everything that happens in [the Black Box] is about what happens in the moment,” she said, gazing at the plaque by the door. “This is a happy place, and this was a happy place for him.”

It’s hard to imagine a Galloway Dance Ensemble without Sally Cramer leading it, but while she leaves behind an incredible legacy, she says the dance program was never about her. “I’ve always said I’ve wanted to build something that was self-sustainable,” she explained. “The thing I feel most strongly about is that it’s under the Elliott Galloway philosophy: it belongs to the students, not the teacher.” After all, the Dance Ensemble came from students asking for a 9-week dance elective 16 years ago and wanting more ever since. The dance program grew organically, and Ms. Cramer believes she was solely a vehicle for what was always needed. As it continues with new leadership and a new generation of dancers, the Galloway Dance Ensemble will grow and thrive because of the unbreakable foundation Sally Cramer built and nurtured.

By Annie Levy

ARob

At Galloway, there are dozens of clubs that any and all upper learning students can participate in. They span from cooking club, to French club, to Euchre club, to a Scandinavian club. The majority of these groups are made by students for students and there is no limit to who can join. One of these is the Young Democrats club with upwards of 20 participants across four grades, including myself.

We meet every couple of weeks to discuss the current political climate, policies, and ways that we can support our local politicians and government. As the school year comes to an end, we have been tasked with finding a new president for the club seeing as our current one is graduating this year. I thought that because our club is all about democracy, we would hold an election where those who want to run would campaign, hold small debates, and at the end, we would all vote to elect our new president. You know, like the democratic process that we spend our time discussing and supporting? Because this process is so vital to the ideologies and actions of the group members it feels indisputable that we partake in it every time we have the opportunity to do so. While many in the club felt that this election was the obvious choice, seeing as we have the time and resources to do it effectively, at the end of the day, these plans did not come to fruition.

In an important club meeting just a couple of weeks ago, I arrived with the expectation that we would be beginning the process of electing the new president.

I already knew who I wanted to support, how I wanted to support them, and had a growing excitement over how intriguing this election would be. When the meeting started, I was troubled to learn that the majority of the club felt as though an organized election would be “too much work.”

Holding an election seems like the most obvious thing that this club should do.

By mimicking the process of the federal and state elections that we follow and dissect so carefully, we could learn a great deal about what it is like to be in the shoes of the politicians we support. It would be especially beneficial for the many people in the club who are considering a career in politics but still could use some exposure on what such a career might entail. A low scale, low stakes election would give everyone the opportunity to not only get a little taste for how a race works, but also to be a part of the selection of their next president and have some power over what is going on in the club.

For a club of this importance and popularity, you would think an activity that many in the group want to do would be well worth the work, but apparently many feel otherwise. You would also think that the Democratic process would be important to Democrats but it appears that that is not the case either. When I voiced these concerns to the group, I was told that this doesn’t really matter and there is no point in holding an election this late in the year, especially when many of our members are graduating soon.

This back and forth went on for the majority of the meeting: those in favor arguing that an election is exactly what the point of the club is against those who couldn’t see the merit of putting work into something that would not affect them.

By the end of the meeting, the verdict was that the current class of juniors would decide amongst themselves who would be the president next year, mainly so that they can put it on their college resume. Personally, this decision made me feel unheard and powerless in one of the few environments at school where I thought everyone had an equal voice.

The mindset of it’s not happening to me, so why should I care? that many in the group are demonstrating is ironically the exact quality that makes us dislike the politicians we share a common hatred for. The dismissal of the Democratic Process is what we, as Democrats, find so unappealing about many of the politicians in power today, making it a shock that the club is demonstrating exactly that.

When asked his opinions about this, the current president of the club stated that he believes that it is fair for everyone to get their turn as acting president in their senior year. He further explained that “Galloway’s culture forces us to take part in this hierarchy where often enthusiastic and qualified people in lower grades don’t get the same opportunities as those in the older grades because the upperclassmen would feel slighted out of their role as leaders of our community.” He argues that the main reason for this feeling of being slighted is because the grades above them got the same privilege, which he believes is an endless cycle.

I agree with almost all of what the President has to say and absolutely believe that there were genuine and well thought out reasons for the decision to be made.

The only part that I do not agree with is that this cycle of unfair hierarchy is endless. It is entirely possible to end this system where upperclassmen get the privilege of being in charge, and all it would take would be fair elections in which everyone involved gets a vote. It would not change the system overnight, but the best place to start would be in the Young Democrats Club that could easily justify and facilitate a fair election that would begin to upset the hierarchy present at Galloway.

With all of this said and done, here is my final advice to my fellow club members: hold an election to begin the shift in power that we so desperately need.

Like Democrats do.

“Earlier this year, I made the bittersweet decision not to return to Galloway in the fall so that I can spend more time my little ones, Grace and Cleo, while they are so little. I have absolutely loved being back at Galloway as a teacher decades after leaving as a graduate and working with the most amazing students and colleagues, and since I’m an alum, I take comfort in knowing that my Galloway story isn’t over. Please stay in touch!” -ARob

News Highlights Page 4 Vaccine Rollouts and The Future Trump and Barr Aim to Kill of The Pandemic Sydney Feld Mika Abney Spring 2021

I used to believe that some people deserved to die. A few years later, after a discussion with my older sibling, I came to the conclusion that neither I nor any other person had the power to control someone’s life or death. A year or so ago, I added ‘victim’ to the list of adjectives I now use to describe myself, and my opinion on the death penalty switched with it.

Being victimized, being assaulted, it is easy to slip into the idea of wanting vengeance on those who have hurt you. Now, I have seen the Trump administration’s “hard on crime” policy, and it sickens me.

The first federal execution of 2020 occurred on July 14, with the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, breaking a seventeen year hiatus in federal executions.

Since then, there has been an average of two federal executions per month, sometimes more, in what Clint Smith of the Atlantic says, "can only be called a killing spree." The Trump administration’s pattern of rushing federal executions killed more inmates in Trump’s last few months than in the past sixty-seven years combined.

The Trump administration executed thirteen people, the Washington Post reported. The final person executed was Dustin John Higgs, who was killed on January 15, just five days before Trump left office.

The Roles of William Barr and Donald Trump Before stepping down as Attorney General, William Barr played an instrumental role in federal executions. ProPublica states that Barr authorized a new lethal injection drug and oversaw all capital cases, working to hasten the executions and approving them. After Barr stepped down, Jeffery Rosen took over his role as Attorney General.

Trump has also shown his support for the death penalty. ProPublica’s Isaac Arnsdorf reports that Trump said, “‘Death penalty all the way,’ at a February 2016 campaign event in New Hampshire. He continued, “I’ve always supported the death penalty. I don’t even understand people that don’t.”

Pentobarbital All of these people were executed using pentobarbital, a cocktail of drugs that simulates drowning, arguably one of the most painful ways to die.

Attorneys for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) argue that because of how quickly the drug takes effect, prisoners feel nothing, making the drug humane.

Controversies While each of these cases drew the attention of anti-death penalty advocates, two cases sparked interest with the general public: those of Brandon Bernard, who was executed December 10, 2020, and Dustin Higgs, who was executed on January 15. Bernard was involved in a robbery-turned-murder, when he was eighteen-years-old. Bernard’s young age during the crime combined with his status as merely an accomplice generated a media frenzy and several petitions. Higgs was in a similar situation: he didn’t pull the trigger, and the jury spared the life of the man who did.

Cory Johnson, another death row inmate, and Dustin Higgs both tested positive for COVID-19 prior to their deaths. Because it is unknown how the lethal injection interacts with COVID, a federal court ruled that their executions should have been pushed back to March, by which point Biden, who opposes the death penalty, would have been in office. However, a higher court overruled that decision, and Johnson and Higgs were executed.

I used to believe in the death penalty. I understand how one can be convinced that a jury of twelve can decide the fate of one. I have been victimized; I have family that have been killed. My cousin-in-law, Chase Maddox, was shot and killed while serving a warrant. His wife, my cousin Alex, went into labor days later. He never got to meet his son. It was this last fact that broke me - I have always disapproved of Chase going into the police force; I don’t believe in or trust the police as an institution. But he was still a good person, and he would have been a wonderful father.

I can understand the appeal of the death penalty and feel that it is wrong Two seemingly differing actions and ideals can coexist.

I am not trying to say that my moral compass is superior to those whose loved ones have been murdered. I understand where they are coming from.

I really do. I have wished those that killed my family ill. I have wished that Chase’s killer (who was killed in the shootout) suffered for the pain he caused Alex, and I was grateful for his death for a short while. I am not perfect. But even when I believed in the death penalty wholeheartedly, a small, nagging part of my brain asked: What if they killed the wrong man? What if that person didn’t deserve to die? What if one death doesn’t justify another?

Thanks to the widespread roll-out of vaccines, things are looking up in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world. The United States in particular has been doing especially well with vaccine distribution and virus containment in the past few months with newly instated President Joe Biden. With over 110 million citizens vaccinated in the US, people are hoping to have their lives return to normalcy soon.

Though some countries are still struggling due to lack of access to vaccinations and other factors, overall, COVID-19 seems to be well on its way to being more or less defeated.

Experts have estimated that between 70 and 90 percent of the American population, adults and children alike, must acquire the vaccine or resistance to Covid-19 in order to obtain and sustain herd immunity. As of May 10, the Pfizer vaccine has now been approved for children as young as 12. According to the CDC’s vaccination projections, it is predicted that 54% of people will have received at least one dose of the vaccine by July and that 63% will be vaccinated by December. Additionally, as of May 2, 44.5% of America’s total population had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

With nearly 3.5 times more people vaccinated than the total number of reported cases of COVID in the US since the beginning, things are looking up. The mortality rate has steadily declined in the last 30 days, as of May 11, 578,945 Americans had lost their lives to COVID. The greatest number of vaccines delivered in one day in the U.S. was April 3, 2021 at an astounding 4.1 million doses reported. As the vaccine rollout becomes more precise and less chaotic, the goal of herd immunity and the defeat of this abhorrent virus in America inspires hope around the globe.

Different types of vaccines are being administered around the globe. In America, the big three are Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. The Pfizer vaccine has been most widely administered with 131,657,484 doses.

It is also the most widely used vaccine in parts of Brazil and Europe. The second most administered vaccine is Moderna, at 107,477,821 delivered doses. It is most used in North America as well as Europe. Moderna and Pfizer are both two dose vaccines, whereas Johnson & Johnson is only one dose. Johnson & Johnson is the least utilized vaccine with only 8,449,067 doses distributed. This is in part due to its distribution being temporarily paused because of rare side effects that it was linked to. Outside of America, it is most distributed in parts of Africa.

Worldwide, over 1.19 billion doses have been administered. The countries with the highest percentage of citizens vaccinated include the U.S., the U.K., and Seychelles, as well as Chile, Israel, and U.A.E. The least include Mexico, Russia, India, and many African countries, though some of those places also have the least amount of reported daily cases.

Outside of America, though, many countries are seeing improvements in their distribution of vaccines and their reported daily case counts.

However, there are some inevitable struggles, particularly in countries like India. In India alone, experts expect to reach 50 million COVID cases by June and 403,000 total deaths. While India is the world’s largest producer of vaccines by volume, because of a late rise in COVID cases, they’re struggling to distribute vaccines at a rate that combats this most recent outbreak. The only vaccines used in India are the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the Bharat Biotech vaccine, also known as Covaxin, an indigenous Indian vaccine. While the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is reluctant to call for another ‘complete lockdown’ since the last one had such a negative impact on their economy, with hospitals full and cases and deaths spiking, India might be left with no other choice.

While the Pandemic has changed the world as we know it and impacted everyone in it, people are working hard to figure out how to overcome the challenges it has caused. With continuously updated studies and breakthroughs concerning the Coronavirus, it seems that we have a chance to beat this disease and return to normal life.

The CDC’s guidelines have adapted to the changes and challenges brought by the virus, just as people adapted to this temporary new way of living back in March of 2020, which included quarantines, mask mandates, limited supplies, and so much more that many could never have fathomed.

Though this past year has been difficult and draining, it seems that the control that COVID-19 has had over many of our lives is finally reaching an end.

News Highlights

Spring 2021

Racism With The Royals

Sariah Robbins

Page 5

“Justice” for George Floyd, but Where Do We Go From Here?

Sophia Sanders Continued from the front page

On March 7, an interview with Oprah Winfrey and Meghan Markle was broadcasted nationwide and watched by over 17 million people. The two discussed such topics as how Meghan was treated by the royals and why she and Harry decided to depart from the family. But, one of the main highlights of the interview was when Meghan brought up the topic of racism amongst the royals.

Since at the time Meghan was the only person of color in the family, she explained how she was treated differently from the rest of the royals and in particular from the wife of Prince William, Kate Middleton. Markle expressed that royal insiders and the press treated Middleton like a princess.

Middleton was gifted with many privileges; she was allowed to hang out with her friends whenever she wanted, and was regularly praised by the British press. Markle, on the other hand, revealed how the royal insiders would not let her leave the home to see anyone and on top of that, she was incessantly bullied by the press for months. The British press is known for unfairly comparing Markle and Middleton and often throwing Markle under the bus. A prime example of this is when the two were pregnant. British press exclaimed how nice it is when “Kate tenderly cradles her baby bump” but constantly asks the question ‘Why can’t Meghan Markle keep her hands off her bump?’

Markle explained how all of this unnecessary hatred put her in an awful place. She described to Winfrey that she was having suicidal thoughts and tried to seek help but was denied. “I told them that I needed to go somewhere, and they said that I couldn’t, they said it would be bad for the institution.” Meghan made it clear that if she were left alone any longer the consequences would be serious.

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The conversation about Archie’s complexion not only shocked Oprah but also the American public, no doubt changing the perspective of how millions viewed the royals.

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Winfrey responded with shock. She could not believe that such a pictureperfect family could possibly discriminate against one another, but Winfrey agreed that this wasn’t even the most shocking part. About halfway through the interview, Prince Harry joined and their son Archie was brought into the conversation. The couple explained that their son wasn’t given a royal title like the other royal grandchildren because Archie “limited” the “HRH” (His Royal Highness) title. While addressing the situation, Markle explained to Oprah that “They didn’t want him to be a prince.” At first, the couple found this extremely problematic, but they concluded not to care since they were stepping down from the throne anyways. Harry also mentioned that there were “concerns and conversations about how dark [Archie’s] skin might be.”

The conversation about Archie’s complexion not only shocked Oprah but also the American public, no doubt changing the perspective of how millions viewed the royals.

The next evening, the interview was broadcasted all over Britain. Many British people who had favored the royals did have a hard time believing Markle’s words and felt like she was simply trying to damage their reputation. The press also described the interview as a “Trash-a thon.” Though some of the British reacted in a negative way, others sided with the couple and began seeing the royal family in a different light. Either way, this powerful interview shed new light on a closely watched family and allowed Meghan and Harry to finally share their side of the story. They ultimately expressed their happiness at their decision to part ways with the royals and expressed excitement about their growing family, as they have a baby girl on the way.

So many Black people have lost their lives this year at the hands of the police, a couple of which have recently made national news. Daunte Wright was a 20-year-old devoted father, a loving brother, and was described by his loved ones as “one of those kids that everybody looked up to.” Wright was very close with many of his family members, but one of his closest confidants was his mentor, Jonathan Mason, who worked at his high school. Mason recalled the times when Wright talked about his hopes and aspirations for the future: “He said, ‘I want to be an NBA player, I want to be a fashion designer, I want to be a business owner.’” Mason also recounted the times when they spent their sessions talking about more serious topics, specifically, how Black men have to conduct themselves around police officers. Mason would tell him that if he was pulled over, he would need to keep his hands on the steering wheel and stay still, similar to the conversations many Black parents have with their children at home.

Wright always responded with “Man, why we gotta do all that just for people not to kill us?”

On Sunday, April 11, Daunte Wright was shot to death by a police officer who claimed that she mistook her gun for a taser. Wright’s mother, Katie Wright, told sources that her son called her when he got pulled over, stating that “they pulled him over because he had air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror.” Moments later, she heard her son put the phone down after an officer told him not to run. That was the last thing she heard before someone abruptly hung up. When Mrs. Wright called back, a woman who had been in the passenger seat of the car told her that her son had just been shot.

The shooting happened in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, which is nearly ten miles from the place where George Floyd’s murderer was on trial, causing anxiety and alarm in both of these neighboring communities. Though Wright and Floyd never knew each other, they share similarities in that they were both fathers, they lived in the same area, and they were both ruthlessly murdered by police officers. Another connection between the two that has recently come to light is that George Floyd’s girlfriend, Courtney Ross, was Daunte Wright’s teacher in high school. Ross remembers Wright as a happy kid with a great sense of humor who needed a lot of love. She also remarked on the fact that “our school system doesn’t serve kids like Daunte,” and that he needed more resources, but never got them.

Unfortunately another example of a child who didn’t receive the resources they deserved and then fell victim to police brutality is Ma’Khia Bryant.

Ma’Khia Bryant was killed by police on the same day as Derek Chauvin was found guilty of killing George Floyd, a day that many hoped would bring an opportunity to feel at least some relief. While the conviction of Floyd’s killer is most definitely a step forward for our country, we cannot forget that this is only one of the many cases of police brutality against people of color. Many question whether justice was actually served for Floyd or whether this was just finally a result that held his killer accountable. While there was overwhelming relief felt by many at the conviction of Floyd’s killer, there is so much work to still be done and so much that seems to be inherently wrong with the system. And so we are left with not only questions, but also perhaps a call to action: if justice was found for George Floyd, but true justice would have been him not being killed in the first place, what do we do differently? What is each of our responsibilities in invoking change? And, where do we go from here?

Spring 2021

Review

10 Reasons Why Percy Jackson is Better Than Harry Potter 10. Love potions In the Harry Potter universe, consent doesn’t seem to matter. First, we have love potions, which are commonly sold in joke shops such as the one Fred and George run. Second, we have the imperious curse. This curse, when enacted correctly, makes the victim do… whatever the caster wants. This spell is demonstrated in front of children.

On the flip side, we have Uncle Rick’s work, which doesn’t have love potions - it does, however, have charmspeak, which is similar to the imperious curse (the curse which makes the subject do its willing). Only certain individuals are gifted with it and are quickly taught not to abuse the power bestowed upon them. With the correct guidance, behaviors quickly change and become more responsible.

9. Unforgivables (and other deadly sins) We already talked about one of the three: ‘Imperious’. The other two, the killing curse and the torture curse, are also taught in school. For context: this would be like demonstrating to children in our school systems how to manipulate, torture, and kill in their fourth year of schooling (age 14). I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain why this is problematic, but I will: this is trauma. Seeing living things be manipulated, tortured, and killed, is traumatizing. This should not have happened. Granted, the teacher who was doing it turned out to be an evil death eater working for Voldemort, but the course curriculum has to go through someone, right? Or was this another oversight on Dumbledore’s part? Of course, these aren’t the only unsafe practices that happen at the school - every year, what is supposed to be the safest place for wizards on the planet turns out to put Harry, Hermione, and Ron in direct danger.

While children are taught how to kill monsters in self-defense at Camp HalfBlood, no such curses exist in the Riordan-verse. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are in danger every year, but of their own volition – they choose to take on quests, and should they need a safe space, Camp Half-Blood remains that.

8. Abuse of power Where to start for this one? First, we have Dumbledore, who abuses his power by playing Harry like a puppet, starting with leaving him with his abusive family - but we’ll circle back to that. The main example here though is Severus Snape, a teacher who abused his students so badly that Neville Longbottom’s worst fear became his teacher.

Power dynamics in Percy Jackson are actually quite interesting - there’s the camp director, Dionysus, and the centaur Chiron, who essentially run the camp.

However, those who have been at camp the longest also have a good amount of responsibility taking care of younger/newer students. While Dionysus may occasionally threaten to turn a student into a dolphin, no one takes him very seriously and these jokes/threats are understood to be false.

7. Endorsed bad parenting The Harry Potter series is riddled with horrible parenting. From the Dursleys, who abuse Harry from a young age, to Harry himself, who basically stops talking to his son for who he chose to be friends with. To be fair, I do acknowledge that just because a work of fiction features something like bad parenting, it does not mean it is an endorsement. I say endorsement because it is to be assumed that Harry had to stay with his abusive aunt and uncle for his own good. As if it made him stronger; as if there is ever a plausible reason for leaving a child in the hands of abusers.

In the final Percy Jackson book, Percy stands up to the Gods and calls them out on abandoning their children. He passes up immortality to make a deal: no child of a god should ever be left unclaimed by their parents.

6. Sorting hat system Children are sorted when they are 11-12 years old by the qualities they possess. They then associate only with like-minded people, essentially blocking them from becoming well-rounded individuals.

While there is a cabin system in Percy Jackson, it goes nowhere as far as the sorting hat system. In the cabin system, you live and eat with your half-siblings, but are free to interact with whomever you desire.

Page 6

Mika Abney

3. The prison and legal system The prison system in Harry Potter is appalling. Once proven guilty of a crime (without, for whatever reason, the use of truth potions) one is sent to Azkaban, the wizarding prison. The prison is guarded by dementors, soulless creatures who thrive on stealing happiness from other beings. There is never any attempt at rehabilitation, except for when Harry breaks a law, and is defended by Dumbledore himself, and ends up with a warning. This shows the massive favoritism that both Dumbledore and the legal system possess.

Would Dumbledore have defended any other student? Probably not. Would that student, particularly if a Slytherin, have had their wand snapped? Most definitely.

There is no known legal system in Percy Jackson. Campers hold each other accountable.

2. Importance of blood relations Harry Potter is a book series that will claim to show the importance of chosen families while demonstrating the exact opposite. For example, Harry has to stay with his abusive aunt and uncle because of their blood relation to him, as decided once again by, you guessed it, Dumbledore. As the old and wise character of the books, his decision that being safe from a possible outside threat is greater than an immediate threat by blood family says a lot – that in this world, blood family is most important.

Of course, because of godly heritage, blood family is important in Percy Jackson as well, but it also shows how unhealthy a blood family could be.

Percy’s mom’s boyfriend ends up being abusive, and she turns him to stone with Medusa’s head. Several campers come from equally abusive households, and a good portion are runaways. However, Percy Jackson also shows that this isn’t the only family one has. Grover and Percy share an empathy link, and while technically all campers are somehow related, they really are one big chosen family, no matter how much they get on each other’s nerves.

1. Racism The list of instances of racism in Harry Potter is a long and unfortunate one, but I’m going to boil it down to one main point: stereotypes, and with it, misrepresentation. First, let’s talk about the one East-Asian character, Cho Chang. To start with, her name is a red flag: just how stereotypical can you get? A Very Potter Musical, a musical spoof of Harry Potter, does a fantastic job pointing out the stereotypes the JKR seems to endorse in her books. It’s long, and the sound quality admittedly is far from great, but in my opinion, it’s way better than the original it’s based on.

Unfortunately, we still have more to talk about, as this isn’t JKR’s first or only endorsement of stereotypes in her books. The first example of them appears in the early chapter of book one (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone if you’re American) with the appearance of goblins. “Typical features of goblins in modern fantasy includes a shorter-than-human stature, either a flat or long and hooked nose, bat-like ears, and either a mischievous or malevolent demeanor”, and according to a Reddit thread, the modern goblins are indeed based on Jewish people. So while JRK’s use of goblins is understandable, it is not condonable. When I asked one of my Jewish friends about JKR’s use of goblins and how it affected their community, they swiftly replied with the history of Jewish stereotypes that lined up with the goblins in Harry Potter, and stated “it’s a big stereotype… it’s still antisemitic.”

Enough of the racism in Harry Potter. Let’s dive into the issues with Percy Jackson. I know, I’m supposed to be endorsing Rick Riordian here, but it’s important for me to acknowledge his flaws as well. An essay by Maxwell T Paule explains it all well: the first Percy Jackson book is full of white supremacy. As well-intentioned as the books were (they were started for Riordian’s son with ADHD and dyslexia), they still include passages in which Riordian basically says that because Western civilization is the most ‘advanced,’ it is where the gods lived. There’s a lot to unpack here, but that’s what it boils down to: Rick Riordian implies that Western civilization is ‘best’, and the only two characters of color in the first book are both literal monsters.

While all that is true, even the essayist who claimed that The Lightning Thief was a book of white supremacy ended his essay with a positive note on Rick Riodian: he became a model for how to listen to your audience, listen to their feedback, and do better. This is the main difference between J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan. While JKR never added more representation to her work, Riordan made a point of adding more characters of color, more LGBTQ+ characters, and had characters with disabilities from the get-go.

5. Segregation based on blood status In the wizarding world of Harry Potter, there exist a few different ‘blood purity’ types: you can either be a pureblood (having an all-magical background), a muggle-born (having only muggle, or non-magical background), or a mix of the two, otherwise known as a half-blood. If this isn’t ringing any bells, check with your history teacher, because this is a very, very close replication of United States segregation. There’s even a slur for muggle-borns, which children don’t get punished for saying at school.

Percy Jackson features a phenomenon known as the Mist, an otherworldly Should you feel a further need to look at JKR’s mistakes, I invite you to look force that can be harnessed by some that keeps most mortals from seeing at the rather hilarious fan-made list of every literal mistake in the Harry Potter demons and deadly weapons – in short, compartmentalizing for them what they books, from dates to plot holes, on ElliottMag.com. would not be able to comprehend. Other than this, though, mortals, half-bloods, Harry Potter lives on in the hearts of many, including myself. It’s hard to and gods mingle interchangeably. let go of such a big part of our childhood, and you don’t necessarily have to - but before you pick them up one more time for a read, consider all of the 4. Slavery There are creatures in the Harry Potter universe called house elves that enjoy problematic aspects of the books. Remember them as you read, and remember this world isn’t perfect. Perhaps immerse yourselves into the world of Percy their slavery. I don’t think there’s really anything else to say about that.

Jackson instead.

There are no creatures in servitude in the Riordan-verse.

Spring 2021

Review

Page 7

The Queen’s Gambit: a Netflix Orginal that The Controversy Behind Makes Chess Seem like a Thriller Ruby Kaufman “Strange Fruit” Sariah Robbins

I can not say I have ever craved a game of chess before. As a little girl, my Grandfather always tried to teach me how to play, but, despite my efforts, the game proved far too complicated for my young mind to comprehend. We always ended up playing checkers, a much simpler and much more boring game, or so my grandfather said. Chess just was not my thing. At my elementary school, a chess club was a big deal; at every assembly, while there were never any announcements regarding a basketball win, we always heard about the chess team’s victory. And while I found this very boring and even embarrassing at times, it seemed as if everyone was a part of this odd phenomenon. I even joined the chess team for a while, but my mom took me out when she realized the only reason I went was because once the meeting was over everyone got Doritos. The idea of moving pieces around a board so that I could collect your king and claim “checkmate” has never been all that appealing to me. But recently, I have been rethinking my negative opinion on chess. This reevaluation of my relationship with chess can be attributed to nothing but The Queen’s Gambit, a Netflix original that makes chess seem like the most thrilling yet elegant game ever. (SPOILERS AHEAD) Following chess-prodigy and orphan, Beth Harmon, the Queen’s Gambit tells the story of a young woman taking over a male-dominated game while struggling with addiction in the 1960s. As a young child, Beth was sent to an orphanage following a car crash that killed her mother. At the Methuen Orphanage, Beth became closely acquainted with Mr. Shaibel, the janitor, who taught Beth to play chess. From the first episode, it was clear Beth had a natural gift for the game. Furthermore, as was common during the time, each child at the orphanage was given daily tranquilizer pills intended to subdue them; Beth soon became addicted to these pills and her dependency on these drugs remained a constant struggle throughout the series. After a few years as an orphan, Beth gets adopted

by Alma Wheatley, a lonely housewife who struggles with vices that arise following the death of her birth child and horrid treatment by her abusive husband. Settled in her new home with an odd yet kind woman, Beth begins playing chess competitively, winning each game she plays, surprising everyone in her path, and making friends along the way.

As her skills progress, Beth begins to travel all over the world, soon decimating the best of the best. But as her chess skills grow, her drug dependence worsens.

In part, the beauty of the Queen’s Gambit comes from the elegant, quirky, and unstoppable Beth Harmon. A character who is not only the protagonist, but her own antagonist; a brilliant and talented person who could do anything, if it were not for the demons that lie beneath her shiny surface. But despite these evident hardships, Anya Taylor Joy, the actress who plays Beth in The Queen’s Gambit, embodies the essence of a swan. Beth’s encapsulating presence, that comes from her large, inquisitive eyes, flaming red hair, and her powerful disposition, are what makes The Queen’s Gambit a show that you not stop watching. Specifically, Beth Harmon embodies this elegant and fierce persona through the ways she plays chess, her quick movements causing her chess pieces to glide across the board, almost as if they’re floating. This is in contrast to her male counterparts who move their pieces with a thud, which not only makes watching the game uniquely intriguing, but also exemplifies the uniqueness of Beth’s style. Prior to each game, Beth places her chin atop her hands, staring sharply into the eyes of her opponent, as if she is ready to pounce; preparing to attack. These subtle yet consistent mannerisms make Beth a character that you cannot take your eyes off of.

Beth is not the only dynamic character with a strong personality that leaves you attached after just one 55-minute episode. Mr. Shaibel, the janitor who teaches Beth chess, plays a gruff grandfather like figure, who pushes Beth to her limits. While Mr. Shaibel can be harsh at times, it is clear throughout the show that he is nothing, but a lovable teddy bear who cares for Beth. This unlikely yet beautiful friendship continues to affect Beth, long after she leaves the orphanage. Another unexpected friendship arrives in Jolene, the older, bigger, and intense orphan, who to everyone’s surprise, takes Beth in as a little sister.

During the time at the orphanage the two grow close and years later when Jolene returns to save Beth at her low, the true strength of their friendship becomes apparent. Lastly, the most lovable character of the bunch, Harry Betik. Harry was the chess champion of Kentucky prior to playing Beth, who to his surprise, demolished him in a single match.

While Harry’s chess journey was not long lasting, he remained a part of the show as a friend and mentor of sorts to Beth. Specifically following the death of her mother, Harry acted as Beth’s main support. Harry was definitely friendzoned by Beth, and while he could not make his way into Beth’s heart, he surley found his way into the hearts of the audience.

The Queen’s Gambit is a complex and beautiful story. Each scene builds on the next, drawing the audience further into this unexpectedly captivating plot. Whether or not chess is your thing, I can say with confidence, that you too will watch each move with intrigue and will finish this show with a desire to play chess.

This article takes a deep dive into the history of the song “Strange Fruit.’’ The lyrics of the song directly address sensitive topics such as racism and lynchings during the late 1800s and early/mid 1900s.

These topics may make some uncomfortable, but it is important to acknowledge these types of situations to help educate and track the progress of discrimination as it is still an issue today.

In 1939, singer Billie Holiday was performing at New York Cafe Society, when she decided to close the night with a song she had never performed before. As she began to sing the crowd went silent. She sang slowly and deliberately, forcing those in the crowd to digest the powerful lyrics that spotlighted lynching and inhumane racism in the American south. For twenty years, Holiday proudly sang the song until her death in 1959. The song,“Strange Fruit” to this day is recognized for being one of the most powerful protest anthems against racism in America.

The song orginated from a poem by a white, Jewish man named Abel Meeropol who was strongly disturbed by racism and an image of a lynching he had seen. He added instrumental music to the lyrics and sent it to a New York producer who gave the song to Holiday. At first, Holiday was extremely hesitant about recording the song as she knew it would cause a lot of controversy and put her career at risk, but she felt the need to do it because of her father. Her father passed away after being denied treatment for a serious illness solely because he was a Black man. The passing of her father pushed her to sing the song, to express and expose those who had fallen victim to the systemic and cultural mistreatment of Black individuals because of their skin color. In the song, the Strange Fruit represents those who have been lynched. “Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.” The slow tempo brings a severity to the tone that is hard to escape. “The bulgin’ eyes and the twisted mouth...Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh...Then the sudden smell of burnin’ flesh.” The unsettling description makes you feel like you can see the traumatizing photo the song was written about and can easily bring chills.

Holiday opened the eyes of many who were blind to the discrimination Black people faced. The more people listened to the song, the more they realized how demoralizing American society was.

The US government was not happy about this. They viewed Holiday as a threat to the American public. So, they tried everything in their power to silence her. On one occasion, Holiday was arrested for drug possession to disguise the fact that they were arresting her to help prevent the song from being heard. Since it had been public knowledge for years that she struggled with drug addiction, the sudden arrest caused suspicion. Holiday ended up spending one year in jail, but she did not let this small set back get in the way of her mission to stop the spread of racism throughout the country through her music. As soon as she got out, Holiday got back on stage to perform her protest song. She performed her song everywhere, despite the fact that at almost all of her shows there were disguised authorities ready to drag her off the stage when she began singing Strange Fruit. The FBI even seized her Cabaret Card, which was required to continue performing in New York City. She was not discouraged and continued to perform illegally.

For years, Holiday persevered and performed. She wasn’t planning on stopping until a change was made. Sadly, in 1959, Holiday fell extremely ill. She was diagnosed with liver failure, putting an end to her legendary career. Even on her deathbed the government saw Holiday as a threat and handcuffed her to her bed. In July 1959, Holiday died still handcuffed as police watched over her.

Almost 25 years after her death, Holiday’s work was finally appreciated. In 1973, Holiday was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 1999 Strange Fruit was named “Song of The Century.” Not many people realize the amount of bravery it took to publicly and directly address the flaws in society as a Black woman during an era where racism was so pervasive. To this day, the song holds great significance and is known as one of the greatest fights for justice through music. It is extremely important to acknowledge this song, especially as the fight for racial justice continues.

Spring 2021

Media

The Potential Dangers of Parasocial Relationships Kailen Hicks

In 2020, the world saw many popular content creators get outed for being secretly predatory and manipulative individuals. These content creators were people that millions of young kids around the world looked up to, adored, and likely grew to trust. I’m sure that almost all of us, especially when we were younger, had some sort of celebrity or general influencer that we looked up to. At young ages, we grow to admire and idolize people who we usually have had no direct communication with whatsoever. It becomes dangerously easy to form a fictional ‘connection’ with someone who has absolutely no idea who you are. Now, I’m not saying that any sort of infatuation or admiration you may have for a ‘celebrity’ is wrong or isn’t normal in any way. Studies have even shown that we as humans are wired in some ways to make these types of connections when we encounter different people; however, what we’ve seen recently are influencers abusing the trust their young fans have for them in order to exploit them. It is at this point when these relationships become increasingly dangerous and unhealthy.

It is time to educate more young kids around the world on their dangers as a whole.

Page 8 accountable, but they can also intimidate other victims from coming out with their stories as well, due to fear of excessive harassment on social media. To see so many people quickly excuse or defend literal sex crimes because they idolize the influencer that they’ve never met is terrifying. It reflects an apparent lack of education on the topic, and it does a great disservice to the victims in these situations.

I know how it feels to see one of your favorite creators get exposed as being not the person you thought they were. ZeRo was someone that I watched since I was as young as 12-years-old. Seeing how someone could go from being dirt poor in a country like Chile to being a millionaire in their 20s in America through hard work and dedication was inspiring. I had thought so highly of him for so long, so seeing the accusations slowly come to the surface was nothing short of devastating.

However, through reading up on the stories of his victims it became difficult to deny or downplay his actions. While there was a small part of me that wanted to believe what he did was just some mistake from the past, I ultimately knew that even attempting to rationalize those actions would not be morally reprehensible because I had been educated on topics like this by adults in the past. It is because of this education that I knew not to let my admiration for some foreign internet personality cloud my basic, moral judgement when it comes to these situations.

I believe if we have the conversations to educate people on the significance of these crimes, and the impacts they can have on others, then more of these predators will be held accountable, and other people be dissuaded from repeating the same atrocities in the future. We can stop putting these polarizing figures on pedestals, and remember that they are no-less susceptible to doing horrible things than ordinary people are. People will hopefully act with more sympathy and focus towards the victims, rather than attempting to rationalize the actions of the abuser that they formed a connection with online.

see so many people “ Toquickly excuse or defend

- Kailen Hicks

“

The concept of these one-sided relationships is called parasocial relationships. These are relationships or friendships where only one party is technically committing energy or directly involved. In terms of social media, where this is most prominent, the image or persona of a celebrity is twisted into something that is likeable and relatable, regardless of whether or not that persona is an accurate reflection of the real person. Over the past year or so, these types of ‘relationships’ have become increasingly unsafe when it comes to content creators on different platforms like Youtube, Twitch, and especially Tik Tok. The reason that these types of influencers have tended to be more problematic is due to the fact that they typically create many more avenues of direct communication with their younger fans than your average musician or actor through platforms like Discord, Reddit, and Snapchat. This was seen just recently with popular Youtuber CallMeCarson who got exposed for using his platform and influence as a creator to have a predatory relationship with a 17-year-old over Discord. This has also happened on Tik Tok recently. Both Ondreas and Tony Lopez, brothers and creators with millions of followers on the platform, have faced substantial accusations of acting inappropriately with underage fans. Zoe Laverne, another influencer on Tik Tok, blatantly admitted to having a relationship with a 13-year-old boy. Time and time again, these creators, who have been put on a pedestal and idolized by young people for one reason or another, use their standing to do disgusting things, and grossly take advantage of those who cherish them.

These events are obviously extremely problematic, but perhaps another disturbing part of this is how the fan bases of these influencers consistently react. Whenever someone gets outed within a community, it is far from uncommon to see their young fans often rush to their defense, offering them misplaced words of forgiveness and support. To this day, people like the Lopez brothers and Zoe Larverne are still not banned from Tik Tok, and they actually now get the majority of their support from the very same demographic that they once exploited. Far too much focus and attention is given to the feelings of the predators in these situations as opposed to the victims. The thought of it is stomach-churning, and it enforces that idea that fondness or affection for these celebrities can horribly cloud people’s moral judgement. It presents another potential consequence that an unhealthy devotion to someone who you don’t know can have.

This behavior has also been present in many communities outside of TikTok. In July of 2020, ZeRo, one of the greatest Super Smash Brothers players of all-time, was outed as having had inappropriate conversations with a 14-year old fan when he was 19.

Instead of his fans condemning him, many of them went as far as attempting to attack and harass his accuser on Twitter. Even though it may not be entirely their faults, young fans are actually enabling these people to continue on in some forms without grasping the severities of their actions. Whether it be denial or sheer infatuation, kids will go out of their way to defend the character of predators who they simply don’t know as people. These actions can not only stop these predators from being held

literal sex crimes because they idolize the influencer that they’ve never met is terrifying. It reflects an apparent lack of education on the topic, and it does a great disservice to the victims in these situations.

Through many different situations and examples, it has become evident that parasocial relationships, and the idolization of content creators in general can lead to many devastating and varied consequences. While it’d be nice if we could just simply encourage the content creators themselves to establish boundaries and be good, positive influencers, the sad truth is that in doing so, we will likely encourage situations like these to happen again in the future. When so many people have substantial influence over large groups of people, it is inevitable that at least a select few will selfishly abuse that influence to do wrong in some ways. The best step to take moving forward would be to educate children and young teens around the world about the dangers of parasocial relationships, and take the steps necessary so that younger people act with caution, and so that those with a large standing in society are universally held accountable for their actions. It is unfortunate that some of the burden in this situation has to be on the potential victims. However, through this, people can hopefully end up being more cautious in these situations, thus preventing more dangerous interactions from happening in the future. For far too long we have allowed victims to be silenced by the mass influence that their abusers have. We need to be the generation that stops the selfish cycle of tolerating heinous crimes from popular influencers for the sole reason that we enjoy the entertainment that they provide us.

Media

Page 9

Social Media’s Affect on Mental Health

In today’s society, the number of teens with depression is steadily growing and has gotten to the point where it presents as normal. The severity of this mental illness is often dismissed without understanding how bad the effects are. There must be a reason for the spike, so what is it? In my experience, depression can cause so much fatigue that it is hard to make it through the day. During the time in which I felt depressed, I had spent hours scrolling through social media. Coincidence? I don’t think so. A large portion of the issue is addiction. Studies have shown that Social media causes the dopamine signals in your brain to increase, but as soon as you leave the app they stop. With this tool always being at our fingertips, social media feels impossible to avoid. Activities such as sports and social events start to feel difficult and less rewarding, leading you to go back to what is easy; your phone.

Common symptoms of depression include lack of focus, restlessness, fatigue, worsened sleeping

patterns, and loss of enjoyment in activities that you used to enjoy. These aren’t all the symptoms but they are the ones that link back to social media. There are many reasons that social media would cause a lack of sleep, one of which is fear of missing out.

Not only are people constantly seeing what other people are doing through social media, even when someone wants to put their phone down they start to think, “What if someone texts me and I’m not able to reply?” Because it is so normal for people to be on their phones 24/7, it has also become normal to respond within minutes. So much overthinking arises from this. You might think someone is mad at you if they don’t respond quickly or vice versa.

On top of depression, lack of focus might be the next biggest side effect. The app TikTok might be the most addicting app out there. Ninety percent of TikTok’s 689 million users use this app on a daily basis. The videos are endless, and not a single one is longer than 60 seconds. After adjusting to this form of entertainment, it becomes hard to focus on simple things that move at a slower pace. It makes watching a movie turn into a hassle, and doing homework becomes impossible. It circles back to fear of missing out because almost every teenager has the app. Lots of jokes come to light through the platform, so when you don’t have access to the jokes, it is very easy to feel left out.

The thought of deleting TikTok has crossed my mind on several occasions. I recognize the damage it

Violet Kottke is doing to my quality of life, so I started by putting a time limit on the app. Every instance where I ran out of time, I found myself putting in the password to get more. At one point, I would have preferred scrolling through TikTok all day over going on vacation. At various times I have told myself that if everyone else would delete TikTok, I would do it too. But, this excuse has just allowed me to continue using it despite the negative impacts.

“

- Violet Kottke

Regardless of the negative aspects of social media, it can be an amazing tool for things like connecting people, starting a business, or spreading news, but it does far more harm than good. While it is used for entertainment, it causes a large number of teens to miss out on actual life. Instead of going out with friends or participating in sports, they get sucked into a fake reality. With the incessant use of social media, it is no wonder many teens are left feeling depressed and drained while accomplishing nothing.

Believing The “Perfect Body” is You

With the rise of social media over the past several years, the frequency at which people are seeing images of the ‘perfect body’ has increased, which has had a negative impact on many people’s feelings about body image. Many men and women find themselves constantly comparing their bodies to those of reality stars and social media influencers, leading them to struggle with accepting how they actually look. This inevitably leads to low self-esteem and both mental and psychological disorders. The abundance of social media and the pressure to look a certain way has caused our generation to tragically believe that who we are is not accepted or enough.

The ideal body type for most women, highlighted by the media, is the slim, feminine figure that is typically recognized as the ‘model’ body type. In order to achieve this standard, many women want toned abs, arms, and legs, as well as defined curves to accentuate their femininity which society deems vital.

Model and reality star Kendall Jenner is a prime example of this nearly unattainable standard that has taken up a significant space in the minds of women and young girls all around the globe. Body ‘trends’ fluctuate overtime, but the ideation of an hourglass figure is something that our society keeps coming back to. However, Marilyn Monroe had a very different body type to today’s current influencers such as Gigi Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Adut Aekch, or Naomi Campbell.

It seems that the ideal figure continuously moves further out of reach. Additionally, some might argue that insecurities are far more widespread today. In the past, social media wasn’t around to play a role in the image of the ‘perfect’ body. Pre-social media, these standards were spread by magazines, television shows, movies and ads, which were far less invasive than applications such as Instagram. With how often many use social media, it is almost impossible now to avoid these often unattainable beauty standards. Wherever you look, women are constantly reminded that society identifies beauty based on size, and this

At one point, I would have preferred scrolling through TikTok all day over going on vacation.

“

Spring 2021

Sydney Feld

causes the misconception that women are valued more for their bodies than their intelligence or personalities.

Sizing has become a bigger issue as well. Many women struggle to accept their beauty if they do not fit in certain “acceptable” sizes, such as a size 0 waist with prominent curves. Along with the media, clothing brands have added to the misconception that there is such a thing as a ‘perfect body.’ Many brands cater especially to these body types with tight tops and small waist sizes to accentuate these specific points on the female body which are societally seen as beautiful. Additionally, some brands such as Brandy Melville only carry one size, supporting the notion that ‘one size fits all’. Not only is this advertisement inconsiderate, but it also leads women who do not fit in that one size to believe that they cannot be included in fashion, or that they cannot wear what others wear. In contrast, many influencers have taken to the media in order to promote ‘plus size’ bodies in an attempt to show that all bodies are normal and beautiful. Though the effort is there, many of these young men and women are not in fact plus size, leaving many people thinking that their physical appearance does not fit in anywhere.

In a study done on female body shape preferences in 2017, men from 10 different countries were asked to rank body shapes by attractiveness. It was revealed that many preferred a body type with a BMI of 19. This is borderline underweight. It was also found that there was an obvious correlation in the men’s preferences between a higher BMI and a lower level of perceived attractiveness. The misconception that skinny is the only beautiful body type can cause many long-term mental and physical disorders. Anorexia is one of the most prevalent eating disorders among men and women in America, and many cases, both mild and severe, are perpetuated by the media and the pressure to fit this limiting criteria. What many people fail to realize, aside from the fact that many influencers have had work done, is that every body type is very different. This means that even through a rigorous workout regime and strict diet, the figures of these models are often unachievable simply because of genetic makeup. Further proving that these influencers should not be seen as the ‘normal’ body type.

Rather than promoting realistic images, the media continuously highlights those that are often unattainable to the vast majority. This has been improving somewhat due to the backlash from members of younger generations who are sick of these ridiculous standards. These issues of how we see ourselves and how we feel about it are difficult to battle. Comparing yourself to anyone else, whether it be models, social media influencers, or even friends will never be beneficial to anyone. Though difficult to combat, comparison and discontentment in your own body can be the roots from which far more concerning issues can stem. Everybody and every body is beautiful. It is our imperfections that make us exquisite and unique, and we all need to put more effort into understanding that. Building confidence is never an easy feat, but it starts with selflove and appreciation for every ‘flaw’ and aspect that truly makes you you.

Spring 2021

Opinion

Long Term Social Effects of COVID-19 I don’t think it’s up for debate when I say that the Coronavirus has left a lasting impression on our generation. For a lot of us, it’ll be difficult to tell the stories of our lives without a significant mention of this era. This is because throughout quarantine, a lot happened and changed in many people’s lives. Some have unfortunately had family members or others who were important to them pass away, others have spent the past year in isolation, and many have been left feeling distant from loved ones.

I know that for me personally, I feel like quarantine has caused me to feel like I’ve completely lost a good chunk of my life to this pandemic. I’ll be a junior next year, and I still have yet to ever get the chance to go to a school dance. I missed out on Sophomore retreat, traveling abroad for excursion, and have spent more than half of my high school career behind a mask while keeping “social distance” from my peers. Also, even though I technically haven’t had even one normal year of high school, I’m expected to be amped and ready to start the phase of my life where I look for colleges and think about next steps, even if I’ve never really gotten to enjoy the majority of my high school experience.

Then there’s the impacts of this pandemic on my relationship with loved ones and the disconnect it has forced upon us. I have a sixteen-month-old cousin who’s never met me, a two-year-old cousin who doesn’t even know who I am and a cousin who went from being an eleven-year-old girl to a preteen with her own social life and opinions without me getting to witness this transition. I can imagine that other people in my family feel similar about me as well. The last time they saw me I was 14, had just finished 8th grade, was about 5 foot 6 or 7, and was in my initial months of high school. Now I’m 16, taller than most of them, discussing driving, and actively considering what colleges I’m going to attend in the future.

Everyone has experienced consequences of the pandemic, but the impacts on younger people have been especially acute. Many young children and toddlers have been completely devoid of interaction with the outside world, to the point that many of them may fear others their age. Honestly, they also might genuinely not have any idea as to what the concept of “social interaction” is. Middle schoolers and high schoolers are missing out on some of the most important moments of their adolescence. Teenagers are spending the years in which they’re supposed to be trying out new things and figuring themselves out largely in isolation at home, away from their friends and communities.

All of this causes many to wonder how life during the pandemic could impact our generation long-term. Throughout history, different generations have been defined by the era in which they grew up. Perhaps the most notable example is The Silent Generation, born from 1928 to 1945, who grew up during the Great Depression and World War Two. This was a time when a lot of Americans obviously struggled severely both financially or emotionally As a result, this generation tends to be financially conservative and cautious in comparison to other generations. Even now, almost eighty years later, these characteristics can still be painfully observed within those who grew up within these now adults. You will still see people of the Silent Generation exhibiting these more conservative and cautious character traits, even into their 80s and 90s.

The Baby Boomer Generation is another often cited example. Those born from 1946 to 1964 are known for what they believe to be a strong work ethic and higher rate of spending in comparison to other generations, mainly due to growing up in a very financially successful time for Americans.

Page 10

Kailen Hicks

Millennials, who were born from 1980-1994, have been shown to be much more reliant on technology because they were raised when the internet was gaining traction. Also, because of their vivid memory of and experiences as young people in connection to September 11th, they are known for being more politically conscious and openly critical about the state of their nation and political leaders than those in previous generations. Even though the extent may vary, it is safe to say that each generation acts noticeably differently from one another based on the circumstances in which they were raised.

This leaves the most recent generations. It has been just over 100 years since the Spanish Flu pandemic, which is the only pandemic in recent history that compares to the Coronavirus pandemic that we are experiencing now. To what extent this pandemic will affect younger generations, we unfortunately don’t know, which to me is a bit concerning to think about. I wonder if this time period in which our abilities to interact with one another were severely hindered is going to linger with us for the rest of our lives. I wonder if things will really ever go back to ‘normal’ for us, or if we’re always going to feel a bit more uncomfortable when in crowds, or getting close to people, or in tight spaces.

To those who have unfortunately lost family members to covid, I can only imagine the extent to which the effects of this pandemic are going to stick with you. Families and friend groups will likely never be the same or interact the same. For toddlers who have no clue how to interact with different people, it’s even scarier and harder to predict how they’re going to be affected, mainly because it’s unlike anything we’ve ever really seen or been able to observe before. We don’t know how the stress parents have felt will impact themselves or their kids. We also don’t know how this will impact classrooms or jobs in the future.

Even though the conversation has many perspectives and can be difficult and stressful to discuss, I believe that it is still an important one to have. I honestly don’t know how we can effectively plan or deal with the repercussions of this pandemic, but recognizing that its long-term impact goes beyond physical illness is an important place to start. Once COVID is finally behind us, whatever that means, acknowledging the impact it has had on the way we think is going to continue to be important with how we move forward. Regardless of what ends up happening, I hope we all learned a lesson about how nothing is guaranteed, and just how important it is to keep in touch with, appreciate, and value the most cherished people in our lives.

Behind the Scenes at Sea World As a young child, going to the zoo or aquarium is a magical experience. Seeing these huge animals that you would never encounter in your day to day life, and knowing they can’t hurt you, makes it a great place to go to when it’s nice out.

But have you ever stopped to think about how captivity affects the animals? To seem informative, employees at the zoo will tell you false statistics about how animals are living longer in captivity, or how they are eventually going to release their animals back into the wild. The documentary, Blackfish shows a video of this happening at Seaworld. One clip shows a trainer telling tourists that their orcas live longer than wild orcas; however, the orcas held captive by Seaworld have an average lifespan of 20 years, whereas in the wild, they have a lifespan of about 70-80 years.

Since 1977 Seaworld has bred 70 orcas, and not a single one lived past 30. In addition to these

whales, 30 more died before they were born.

One of the obvious cons of having animals in captivity is the confined space. Orca whales are held in 150 by 90 foot pools despite the fact that in the wild they swim up to 140 miles in one day.

It would take over 4,000 laps around the tank for them to swim a comparable number of miles to what they swim in the wild, basically turning them into couch potatoes. The minimal space has caused a very noticeable condition in most captive male orcas: a collapsed dorsal fin. When people asked about it, Seaworld said this condition is common in the wild and in captivity, but in the wild, collapsed dorsal fins only occur as a result of serious injury.

Something Seaworld doesn’t address is that orcas fight. In the wild, an orca whale is able to swim away when being attacked by another whale, but the small tanks make this impossible, and often lead to injury or death. It is believed that in the

Violet Kottke wild, orca whales have different languages, similar to humans. When Seaworld mixes all these whales together, a miscommunication is bound to happen .

This was made clear in 1989 when a whale named Kandu was being protective of her child. When another whale came near, Kandu immediately attacked her. The other whale came out of the attack fine, but Kandu suffered many injuries and later died from blood loss.

When Seaworld was being created, they had to capture whales, so they decided to go for the babies since they would be cheaper to ship. Tons of people in speedboats followed a pod of orcas until they were close enough to catch them. In the wild, whales typically stay with their mothers for their entire life, but these whales would never see their parents again. During these captures, more than twelve whales ended up dead.

(Cont. on page 11)

Spring 2021

Opinion

Page 11

How the “My Pillow Guy” Dove Headfirst Into American Politics When Mike Lindell was born in June of 1961 in Mankato Minnesota, no one would have known that one day he would be banging on the door of the Oval Office, demanding to see President Donald Trump so he could rant about baseless, non-existent election fraud. Yet, here we are, 59, almost 60 years from that day with a man who managed to make a fortune off of pillows and republicans. I guess anything really is possible in America.

It is not hard to learn about Lindell’s road to success seeing as he has an entire section dedicated to his triumphs on his company, MyPillow’s website.

He is not a very humble man, because why should he be? He’s an old, white, male CEO of a minor company with a poorly trimmed mustache. In the eyes of other Americans everywhere, he’s basically a superhero. Lindell has wanted to own a business since he was a child, so he started a carpet cleaning business in his community. He used the money that he made from that to enter the restaurant business, starting with his very own food truck, and ending up owning many establishments around his town. Although he was very successful with this career, he felt there was something bigger than food out there. Something much more necessary, something more useful, more essential. Then genius struck him. Pillows. Everyone sleeps on a pillow every night, making it an obviously better pursuit than something as futile as food.

That was when he started his journey towards creating the perfect pillow.

As all good things do, his idea for this pillow came to him in a dream. Why he was dreaming about pillows, I can’t tell you, but I have a feeling it had something to do with either severe neck pain or a minor concussion. Once the idea had been formed, it took another year to create a working, usable prototype that he could pitch to stores. He presented his pillow to many corporations and businesses, and they all took one look at his product and rejected him, just like what sensible people everywhere are doing currently. Unfortunately, this rejection did not seem to slow Lindell in his mission, and he kept pitching his pillows to other companies instead of out the window like people hoped he would. He started to sell at a kiosk at the mall and then worked his way to selling to sad, middle-aged women at home and garden shows, which are events where people buying or renovating houses can go to buy supplies from vendors who sell household items. Seems like a brilliant time.

That was when MyPillow really started to take off. They had their merchandise in at least a dozen homes, maybe even more. The products started to grow increasingly popular, and eventually, Lindell had enough customers to start selling in big chain stores. The pillows were featured in many magazines and Lindell even appeared on TV a few times to host an infomercial about his products. He plastered his face on the packaging and shipped his precious pillows all over the country. His manufacturing site went from a bus garage to a 30,000 square foot building with about 1,600 workers. This was all well and good for him, but just like with his restaurant business, he slowly started to realize that there was something even more important than pillows to get involved in.

When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Lindell started to gain more interest in politics. He saw that because someone as dirty and corrupt as Trump could be president, it should be easy for him to get some political street cred as well. He started to speak out on social media about his extremely far-right views and every once in a while he would even pepper in some QAnon conspiracy theories for all of his fans. He slowly began to gain a following of people who agreed with him and thought he was brilliant.

On the other hand, many people began to think he was crazy and painfully ill-informed. Either way, people were noticing him and giving him quite a bit of attention because of his views, so he continued to voice his opinions and concerns.

When Trump officially lost the 2020 election, Lindell was in disbelief.

He immediately stood alongside Trump, making false accusations against Dominion Voting Systems Inc., claiming that they rigged the election in favor of Joe Biden. This started a long train of harmful misinformation about how votes “got sent to China and then switched,” which is about as comprehensible as it is likely. He was also claiming that there were votes from dead people, undocumented immigrants, and minors. There has been no evidence to prove mass voter fraud in the election, so all of these accusations were deemed false. It was these claims from Trump, Lindell, and all others who participated in spreading and boosting the claims that led to the insurrection and violence at the Capitol on January 6th. It was then that a large number of republican congresspeople and supporters finally denounced Trump, claiming that they could no longer support a man who would so willingly put their lives in danger. Lindell was not one of those people, rather, he started to spread more false information, much more quickly.

Like conspiracy theorists everywhere, when people stopped paying attention to him, Lindell took to Twitter to explain all of his accusations to the world. He claimed that Trump was robbed of the election and that he had all of the proof that would incriminate Dominion, yet he showed none of it.

This led to Twitter permanently banning his personal account for defying the community guidelines and spreading misinformation. But like the persistent man he is, Lindell started to personally tweet from the MyPillow corporate account that Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, should be put in prison for stopping the spread. Shockingly enough, this resulted in the corporate account being banned as well. Who would’ve thought?

These rants became so unbearable to be around that during an interview with NewsMax, a reporter named Bob Sellers actually stormed offset because he was unable to get a single word in over Lindell shouting and demanding that he be allowed to share his “evidence” of election fraud when he was supposed to be discussing cancel culture. The female reporter who was on air with Sellers and Lindell at the time was trying her best to diffuse the situation and get both of them back on track with no success. At this point, NewsMax had already accepted the results of the election as legal and final, so not only was Lindell spreading fake news, he was doing so on a source that was openly against him. This trainwreck of an interview was precisely what I imagine it would be like to have a conversation with an angry goose trying to protect her nest. He looked unprofessional, foolish, immature, and slightly intoxicated, making this video the breaking point for many people who used to support him, causing him to lose followers and customers.

Another consequence of his baseless rants was that Dominion began to hreaten to file a lawsuit for defamation. Although Dominion has a solid case and Lindell’s life could be ruined if he loses this lawsuit, he doesn’t seem to be very concerned about it. He has publicly claimed many times that he has all of the evidence necessary to prove fraud, but not once has he shown it. In the official complaint, Dominion stated that Lindell “sells the lie to this day because the lie sells pillows.” He uses politics and outlandish allegations to keep his business in the news as much as possible so that even if people hate him, they know exactly who he is. The worst part is that if the whole point of his dive into politics was a marketing strategy, it worked perfectly. The only thing that is more difficult to accept than Lindell as a human, is the fact that he may have done something smart in his life and many have fallen right into his trap.

Now at this point, you’re probably wondering, “Why on Earth is this man significant? Why is he so important?” And the answer is, he’s not. He’s just some guy that made up crazy stories and sold pillows, who no one will care enough about to remember in 50 years. That will be the legacy of Lindell: gone, and blissfully forgotten.

Behind the Scenes at Sea World (Cont.)

(Contin. from page 10)

The most striking outcome of keeping whales in captivity is that the whale trainers can end up severely injured or worse. In 1991 a 20-year-old trainer slipped into the pool and after many attempts of escaping, she ended up drowning because two orcas wouldn’t let her go. Eight years later a man snuck into the park at night and in the morning his dead body was discovered draped

Liza Tewari

over one of the orca’s, Tilikum, who is known to be especially aggressive.

In 2009, a 29-year-old trainer working at a park in Spain was hit by a whale so hard that he went unconscious and drowned. Only one year later, a very experienced trainer was in the pool with Tilikum when he suddenly pulled her underwater and started tossing her around in his mouth. After enduring a fractured neck, broken jaw, and a dislocated elbow and knee, she died. There has never been a reported incident of someone being killed by an orca whale in the wild. Of the 153 incidents involved with captive whales, four have resulted in death.

Hearing about these terrible incidents might make you wonder why nothing was done.

When Seaworld was asked questions about the death of the extremely experienced trainer,

Violet Kottke Dawn Brancheau, they said that she broke several safety protocols, however, there are witnesses and footage showing something completely different from what the public was told. Instead of doing anything, Seaworld chose to pretend nothing happened and moved on.

The main thing that people are left wondering is why. If no orcas have killed people in the wild, why have four people lost their lives to whales even after training with them for years? Seeing an orca whale up close is an amazing and rare experience but considering what the whales are put through, it probably isn’t worth it. From the tiny environment, to being separated from their families, it’s no wonder that they might be a little angry.

Page 12 Opinion Georgia’s New Voting Laws: Jim Crow 2.0 Set Out to Stop a Blue State Spring 2021

Black men first secured the right to vote in the 1870s and it was not until 1919 that black women were granted that same right. While this right did exist for black men as early as the late 1800’s, it was not until recently that exercising the right to vote did not come at the cost of their lives. Medgar Evers did not fear his life fighting in World War Two, but what did scare him was the wrath of white Mississippians after he employed his right to vote in the 1945 presidential election. This is just one of the many Black individuals who feared employing such a foundational American right. Luckily, today in America, voter suppression no longer looks like a bullet, but there's still plenty of tactics used to suppress the right to vote from Black citizens. Now that overt violence is not a normalized tool, we rely on racist and classist legislation to do the dirty work. From Jim Crow to gerrymandering to the new Georgia Senate Bill 202, our country continues to rely on systemic racism to encourage voter suppression.

Laws aimed to limit the rights of people of color are not by any means foreign to Americans. Legislation and norms such as the war on drugs; the banning of voting following incarceration, a demographic primarily filled by black men; and over policing in areas predominantly occupied by black people are just a few of the many norms directed at limiting the progress made by black people in America. While many individuals are working to reverse racist legislation, laws that have been deemed “Jim Crow 2.0” are advancing around the country, and some of the most comprehensive legislation has recently passed in Georgia. The Georgia voting bill, which essentially increases voting restrictions, was carried through the house by a Republican majority and quickly passed into law. While Republicans who helped pass this law claim that it is in hopes of eliminating future voter fraud, with still no proof of voter fraud, it is evident this law has much more malicious intent: to restrict Black progress and to further the suppression of voting amongst minorities in order to stop Georgia from voting blue. It is also important to remark that the driving force of this bill is Georgia voting blue in this past presidential election and the senatorial races, largely thanks to Georgia’s Black voters. The results of the Georgia election played a pivotal role in Joe Biden’s win.

To begin to understand my claim that the new Georgia voting laws are in fact adjacent to the past infamous Jim Crow Laws regarding voting, it is important to understand the truth of these laws. Jim Crow laws did not directly ban black people from voting. Rather, voting-related Jim Crow laws were a collection of statutes that, through loopholes, aimed and successfully restricted voting rights, and other American rights. To do so, laws such as the Grandfather Clause, Literacy tests, and poll taxes were put into place.

So, what is this bill really doing? How are these provisions furthering obstacles to vote? I’ve broken down some of the major facets of this bill but, if you would like to see what all the law entails, look at the official ninety-eight page bill.

Guaranteed yet limited drop boxes One good aspect of this new bill is that it does require each county in Georgia to have a minimum of one dropbox for voters to place absentee ballots. However, this law also limits the maximum “amount of ballots a county can have, how many hours and days the boxes can be open, and where they can be located.” A county can not have more than one dropbox per 100,000 voters or a maximum of 1 dropbox per voting location. While in smaller counties this law may increase absentee voting, in large counties like Fulton County, this provision will create a dramatic decrease in drop box options. This change increases the number of voting locations in largely republican rural spaces and decreases polls in democratic and minority-filled cities. Furthermore, this law limits the location of drop boxes as now they must be in an election office.

Shortened Runoffs This law shortens the time allotted for runoff election campaigns and the runoff election voting period. The runoff election is now 4 weeks after the general election, 5 weeks earlier than before this legislation. The law also eliminates 3-4 weeks of the runoff voting period, meaning people will have less time to vote in a run-off. It is important to note that in Georgia’s senatorial races, both democratic candidates won during the runoff period.

“

It doesn’t say brown and Black people can’t vote. It simply says we’re going to remove things that we saw you use to your benefit; we’re going to make it harder for you to access these opportunities.

-Stacy Abrams

”

Absentee Voting Redefined The bill reduces the allotted time for absentee voting and it strengthens the identification requirements for these voters. This reduces that amount of time people have to requisition an absentee ballot and to submit their absentee ballot. Since previous elections have proven the absentee ballots tend to lean towards blue candidates, shortening the opportunity to cast these votes would decrease blue votes in the state of Georgia. State and Local governments can no longer send absentee ballot applications to those who did not order one, whereas in the past election, because of the pandemic, an application was sent to all eligible voters. Lastly, the new law, opposed to voters having to show their signature, must now “provide their Georgia driver's license number, the number on their state identification card, or the last four digits of their Social Security number.” Shortened voting windows will, “have an effect on voters who cannot vote during business hours.” All of these provisions, while seemingly insignificant, “respond to an increase in voting by people of color by constricting, removing or otherwise harming their ability to access these perquisites.”

Food and Campaign Restrictions One of the more unfathomable restrictions seen in these new laws is the illegalization of food and drink distribution to those waiting in line. While this is supposed to limit campaigning, its heightened effects on minority areas prove this legislation is directly meant to limit Black democratic votes. In non-white majority areas “where voter registration has surged” and the number of voting locations has shrunk, lines are long and banning a reliable distribution of food for those waiting hours discourages voting in these areas. While people working at the voting locations can technically provide food and drink for those waiting in line, it is not mandatory and in low-income areas, it may not be funded. Furthermore, groups are no longer permitted to campaign outside of election locations.

While these laws may not directly limit the voting of democratic groups, it does increase the cost and effort needed to mobilize and help minorities get their vote out; with more restrictions, come more obstacles, which works to silence the minority voice that truly helped to secure the results we saw in the most recent election.

This change in Georgia voting laws is by no means a coincidence. It is a direct result of Georgia voting blue in the presidential and senatorial 2020 elections. The monumental results of these elections are in large part due to the impressive increase of Black voters, thanks to Stacey Abrams and others.

Would there have been claims of voter fraud and would these laws have been proposed and passed if Donald Trump, Kelly Loffeler, and David Perdue had won the majority of Georgia’s votes? The answer to this question shows that the implementation of these laws did not help to eliminate non-existent voter fraud, but rather works to limit blue votes cast by minorities.

Stop Dismissing the Reason Behind the Atlanta Shootings On Tuesday, March 2, a man was arrested at a massage spa in Atlanta for the murders of eight people, six of whom were Asain women. The murderer told the police that he was a sex addict and saw the Asain-owned massage parlors that he targeted as “a temptation that he wanted to eliminate.” He was charged for murder and assault, and many officials claimed that they did not believe his acts to be racially motivated.

Following the shooting, it has been deeply disturbing to see news sources remain hesitant to cover the full story of the tragic event and the racial motives behind it. This is a prime example of the media failing to do their job by leaving out critical details about the reasoning behind this shooting.

Officials continue to dismiss claims that this was an act of racialized

Ruby Kaufman

Sophia Sanders

violence, and have made it clear that they believe this act was prompted by the suspect having some “issues” as well as the fact that he was having a hard day and was “pretty much fed up [and] at the end of his rope.” One officer in charge of an initial press conference, Captain Jay Baker, told reporters that “yesterday was a really bad day for [the shooter].” News flash: we all have bad days. A bad day simply cannot justify a violent act of terror.

We need to see this as a wake up call and take this time to have the heavily overdue conversation about anti-Asian racism in America, and more specifically, the disturbing spike in the number of hate crimes targeting the Asain community during the Coronavirus pandemic.

(Cont. on page 13)

Page 13 Opinion Georgia’s New Voting Laws: Georgia is Still Firmly in 2021, Not 1921

Spring 2021

Jake Bogartz

There is continued national uproar over a voting bill that passed in Georgia on March 26. The MLB has pulled the all star game from Atlanta, Joe Biden likens the bill to Jim Crow, and the masses try to squeeze disapproval out of Coke and Delta. The optics of the bill were bad to say the least. Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill surrounded by 6 other old white dudes under a painting of a plantation while a black female state representative was arrested outside. Suffice to say not many people cared to look into the actual provisions of the bill after seeing this and hearing the constant accusations of voter suppression from politicians, celebrities, and the President himself.

The most basic evidence against the bill is the fact that it aims to tackle voter fraud when voter fraud isn’t really a large issue. This is exacerbated by the fact that voter fraud is seen as a big issue only by republicans and is deeply associated with Donald Trump and the events of January 6, 2021. However, the fact remains that people are concerned about voter fraud, and perhaps if republicans were more confident in elections the nation may never have had the pleasure of watching a guy with buffalo horns stroll through the promenade of the Capitol Building. This bill aims to assuage those concerns about elections and in doing so is perceived as alleviating concerns that democrats will win elections due to the votes of minorities.

There are 7 main provisions out of the 98 pages of SB 202 that draw the most flak. The first gives state election authorities the power to replace local election officials. The popular belief is that this will allow the state to come in when they see a democrat pulling ahead and suddenly turn all the votes red. In reality, this will probably only be used when a precinct has persistent severe problems. For example, in this past election Floyd County accidentally overlooked 2,600 ballots and the chief election official was fired. So this concept isn’t even new, it's now just standardized, a theme throughout the bill. If there is evidence that this provision is used to overturn votes that should have been verified, then we can discuss it as a cause of disenfranchisement. The Secretary of State will no longer serve as the chairman of the state election board and will be replaced by someone who is appointed by the state legislature.

Given the right wing skew in the Georgia state legislature, this is certainly a pitfall of the bill. The election board operated perfectly fine in the last election and secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, demonstrated upstanding integrity in a phone call where Trump urged him to do something about Georgia voting for Biden. In terms of confirming election integrity to the populous, I would certainly much rather have an elected official, like the secretary of state, in that position.

The shortening of early voting, and the standardization of weekend voting is seen as a way to prevent those who have rigid work schedules, often underprivileged individuals, from voting. The bill actually increased the required weekend early voting period to two weekends. This is seen as a reduction because before one was required for precincts but more were optional. Now, the standard is set at 2 weekends statewide to make it fair across all precincts.

In earlier versions of the bill this was a stronger argument as they aimed to remove Sunday voting, but the bill that passed kept Sunday voting in place.

This is important as black churches often have a “souls to polls” tradition after Sunday services. Overall the early voting period in Georgia now begins on October 12 which is a 4 day reduction, but most other states start around the same date, with New York suppressing voters all the way to October 24.

Ballot Drop Boxes have been severely restricted from their operations in this past election. These boxes are great for busy groups, so it's obvious how this suppresses voters right? Nope. These boxes didn’t even exist before this past election when they were implemented due to the pandemic and were supposed to be removed after this year. However, thanks to this bill ballot drop boxes are a constant fixture of our elections. The boxes will now only be available during voting hours at poll locations. Voters will have more options than 2019, but less than in the anything-but-normal 2020.

Perhaps the most outrageous yet popular attack on the bill, echoed by Biden, is the restriction on handing out items including food and water at polling locations. Liberals gawk at how evil it is to use dehydration as a weapon against voters just waiting to enact their civil duty. However this is not what the bill does. It prevents third parties, BLM or the NRA, from doing a little electioneering disguised as providing that much needed water at polling stations. The most egregious part of these claims is that the bill specifically states that polling stations can have a self service water dispenser available to voters. There is also nothing stopping voters from bringing their own food and beverages to the polls. In fact, the bill aims to prevent voters from even one stomach rumble by requiring polling stations to time the voting line 3 times a day and make improvements if it takes over 1 hour.

Absentee ballots, a valuable tool for busy voters, are just as accessible, but much less subjective. Voters will still be able to request an absentee ballot without an excuse, making Georgia a bastion of voting freedom over such conservative dictatorships as Connecticut and Delaware which don't allow “no excuse” absentee ballots. The main change to mail in voting is that the unreliable and highly questionable signature matching system will be replaced by a requirement for a valid ID number. The signature matching requires poll workers to physically examine signatures which is a system that takes more time, is easy to mess up, and can give license to either side of the aisle to question elections. Thousands of ballots were rejected last year due to signature issues, to rectify these issues voters needed to provide an ID. Requiring an ID to start may even allow more votes to be counted because it removes the extra step of voters checking the status of their ballot. If you go to the polls in person you have always needed a valid ID, so why should mail in voting, an intrinsically easier to defraud system, be any less strict. This provision is what sets Georgia apart the most from other states. A few states require ID with first time mail in voters and a few more require them for in person voters, but none require them with every vote. It is impossible to know for sure the breakdown of ID holders by race but it is assumed that less underprivileged and minority voters have IDs. Those who don’t have IDs can get one for free at the DDS or a registrar's office in the two years before the next election. This is definitely a pain, but it does not equate to literacy tests and KKK voter intimidation. Perhaps if republicans had less licence to question mail in voting in 2020 that much more steam would have been vented from Trump’s Stop The Steal movement.

The final provisions move the date for runoffs closer to the actual election which irks democrats as they won two crucial senate seats in the Georgia runoffs last year. However, any Georgia resident knows It’s hardly a crime to limit the number of David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler ads we have to watch during Bowl season and NFL games. There is still a requirement for at least 5 days of early voting which is significantly reduced from the early voting for last year's run-offs. Again, there is an argument here that this could potentially make it harder for people to vote, but the connection to a specific race isn’t very strong. Shortening this period will however reduce strain and costs on voting officials and infrastructure.

This bill is not Jim Crow 2.0, it is a victim of the astronomical and concerning level of political division that is tearing our country apart. If this bill was passed in any other year and not after Georgia going blue for the first time in decades, I don't think America would bat an eye to it. The criticism of this bill instead seems inextricably and unfairly linked to the most controversial president in history being voted out amidst a pandemic, following the largest racial equality movement in recent history. If you think otherwise, and believe this is an attack on your freedoms; the best possible thing you can do is get your friends, go exercise your most sacred constitutional right, and vote.

Stop Dismissing the Reason Behind the Atlanta Shootings (Cont.) Sophia Sanders

(Cont. from page 12)

This rise in hate crimes is largely a result of Donald Trump’s reference to COVID-19 as “the Chinese flu” and refusal to apologize for it. Research by Stop AAPI Hate, shows that there have been 3,800 incidents reported over the course of the pandemic, which is significantly higher than last year’s number of 2,600. Additionally, it is estimated that many hate crimes have gone unreported or not officially documented. This is oftentimes because of doubts from authorities or a lack of support from the community.

Mayor of Atlanta, Kiesha Lance Bottoms, told CNN that she believes the Atlanta shootings “looked like a hate crime,” but according to the acting chief of the Atlanta Police Department, Rodney Bryant, “we are just not there yet.” Other law enforcement officers maintain that the killer’s alleged sex

addiction is a possible motive, but these spas were legally run and have no record of any sexual misconduct. The shooter’s assumption that the women who worked in this spa were offering sexual services for money is a problem in itself.

There are many reasons to be disturbed by the Atlanta spa shootings. The hesitation of the media, the law enforcement officers refusal to address the true motive behind the shootings, and the lack of coverage surrounding the spike in anti-Asain hate crimes during the pandemic are just a few of them.

As a nation, we need to be better. Regardless of how the media has covered the story, we need to recognize this horrific injustice for what it really is: a vicious hate crime and an act of racial terrorism.

Spring 2021

Opinion

College Talk is Canceled The Class of 2022 has finally entered the dreaded college prep phase of the high school experience. All of a sudden, classrooms that were once comfy spaces are now combative war zones as chatter and anxiety flutter about the air. As students fight their hardest year of schooling yet, the question of where your education will continue in a year and a half looms heavily. However, this stress isn’t even the most of it. The real stress is the chatter. The questions “What’s your top school?” and “Where are you looking?” are constant and with each inquiry comes stress and pressure from peers. It’s got to stop.

College is deeply personal. Where someone is interested in applying to school represents their educational philosophy, future interests, preferred region of the country, outlook on elitism, and financial status of their family.

To some people, especially those at Galloway, college is just a topic of conversation and only considers where you’d like to spend the next four years of your life. But for some, it couldn’t be more sensitive. While some may be able to look at every college on Earth and pick what’s right for them, others are limited to in-state schools that are covered by the Georgia HOPE Scholarship. Some students thrive academically and determine success by the level of the selectiveness of a college while others don’t care about this at all. These are all incredibly sensitive, sacred subjects and to bring college in conversation the same way you’d ask what class your friend has next period is just naive and uncomfortable. Even if you think you know someone’s personal situation and think you’re on the same playing field, odds are you’re wrong.

The college chatter becomes judgemental and offensive almost immediately. It feels as though you can’t have a conversation with someone about a college you like without it becoming a subconscious battle of what your “safeties” and “reaches” are. We are all drastically different students, learners, and people, so obviously our college choices are going to be wildly different. One person who may have spent their high school experience solely preparing for college may have safety schools with 40% acceptance rates, while someone else is reaching for the same school. This doesn’t mean one

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Annie Levy candidate is smarter or better than the other. It just means they are different.

Even if you personally don’t love a college or wouldn’t attend a kind of school yourself, the entire world doesn’t need to know. How you talk about colleges for yourself is often indicative of how you’ll see another person’s college choices. Denouncing a school in the middle of the West Wing is bound to hurt someone’s feelings and cause a stir.

We’re curious beings. With this new challenging, perhaps exciting chapter in our lives, it’s natural to reach out to our peers to make sure we’re really all in the same boat. The thing is, though, we are all in the same boat. Asking your friend their top five doesn’t make your college process go any smoother and just creates an unnecessary amount of anxiety. Obviously, we’ve spent the last four (or for some, about 14) years together, and it’s only intuitive to relate and identify with each other during this time. But it just does more harm than good. We’re all going to end up going to college or following the path that fits us best. Do yourself and everyone else you know a favor and agree to let this personal process be personal.

The Unwanted Numbness I Have to Another Shooting in America

Ruby Kaufman

I remember a shooting that happened a few weeks ago when 10 people were killed in a grocery store in Boulder Colorado.

This one did not hurt. This one did not hurt because today, I am numb to mass murder in America. This one did not hurt because I was not surprised; it was just another day in the United States. Another day where someone could purchase a deadly weapon with practically no restrictions and walk into a public space and leave blood on the floor. This one did not hurt because it was nothing new.

I wish I was hurt. I wish hearing this news made me want to fall to the ground and crumple into nothingness at the thought of 10 innocent people getting food to feed their families and then dying in a single instant. But I feel absolutely nothing. I heard the news, frowned, and continued on with my day as if nothing had happened. What's odd about this is I do not think there is anything wrong with me (at least not in this sense). I do not find it at all odd that I feel nothing because I think most people, except for those directly affected by the shooting in Colorado, felt practically nothing. No one I spoke to about it seemed particularly shocked or even saddened. It is our new normal.

But that is a truly terrible thing. To have mass murder be “whatever” is one of the greatest tragedies a civilized society can face. So where do we go from here? How can we halt this disastrous pattern of daily murder being ordinary?

First, here is a brief rundown of America’s most influential gun restriction laws to show you how easily some people can access a deadly weapon: • You must be at least 18 years of age to purchase shotguns, rifles, or ammunition. To purchase weapons with a deadlier price such as a handgun, you must be 21 or older.

• The only people restricted from purchasing firearms are fugitives, those confined in a mental institution, those with prior felony convictions, and those who have been caught with possession of drugs in the past year.

• While background checks are required to purchase a gun, these background checks are meager at best. Most of the time, they take “under

ten minutes by phone or online'' and even if someone was originally denied gun ownership, their application can be reevaluated per request and “FFL holders can act at their own discretion if the research proves inconclusive.”Only 12 of the 50 states in the US require permits for purchasing guns, and only three of those—California, Connecticut, and Hawaii— ” require permits for the purchase of rifles and shotguns.”

Worst of all, our laws have left open a major gun ownership loophole for those who should not be able to access murder devices; not every individual providing the gun in transfer requires a Federal Firearms License, and therefore not every prospective gun owner is legally required to go through a background check. This allows for people unfit to access firearms and is oftentimes the reason why guns are used in an irresponsible and even deadly manner. Essentially, any individual can sell a gun without a license from “[their] home, online, at a flea market or at a gun show” so long as the sale is not a regular business activity. Someone could even sell a gun without a background check straight out of their personal collection. So essentially, someone can purchase a gun without any background checks legally in the United States and this loophole practice, according to a 2017 survey by Harvard and Northeastern universities, “accounts for around one in five gun purchase interactions.” Furthermore, guns can be given as gifts to adolescents under the age of 18 by a guardian so long as there is written permission.

But this does not have to be the way. It is possible for America to tighten gun laws to ensure less deaths without completely stripping Americans of their Second Amendment right.

Australia is proof of a country that restricted guns and as a direct result have had far less deaths caused by gun violence. It has now been 25 years since Australia’s worst mass shooting due to the strict gun restrictions under the National Firearms Agreement which bans rapid-fire guns from “civilian ownership except under certain, restricted license” and requires guns to be individually registered and tracked. These laws, without banning gun ownership as a whole, have drastically decreased both murder and suicide by gun and have made Australia a far safer country. Americans must realize that our safety can be increased and shootings can be decreased without being deprived of their constitutional rights.

Or, we could sit in the numbness and allow this to continue. We can continue to allow blood to be shed among us as we lose our American brothers and sisters. We can allow bullets to be shot even as you are reading this article. As American citizens and voters we have the power and authority to enforce gun restrictions and ensure that the blood stops rushing and hearts keep pumping. We have the power to prevent the numbness that has become commonplace, we have the power to save each other’s lives.

Spring 2021

Jake Bogartz

Our Staff & Letter From Editor

Annie Levy

Sophia Sanders

Ruby Kaufman

Kailen Hicks

Liza Tewari

Co-editor in Chief

Co-editor in Chief

Assistant Print Editor

Assistant Print Editor

Mika Abney

Sydney Feld

Sariah Robbins

Violet Kottke

Dear Galloway Community, This month will mark the end of my eight year journey through Galloway’s Middle and High schools. Over the years I’ve learned what qualities make Galloway so special and where there could be improvement. I believe that in the future, I will look back on high school and be glad that I was instilled with not just information, but the ability to think for myself. I can already tell from the success of many of my friends in grades above me that Galloway does a fantastic job of preparing students to succeed in however they choose to continue their education.

The most important pillars of Galloway’s educational ideology are independence and individuality. Galloway upholds these values in a few ways, some fun like off-campus lunch or a lack of uniforms, and some more serious like allowing students more leeway when it comes to academics. For the most part, teachers are very understanding and willing to make concessions. This can be a double-edged sword, however.

Some students exploit these freedoms and get away with more than they should and would probably be better served by more structure.

However, this also creates flexibility for each student to pursue their interests and address their needs directly with their teachers.

Independence applies to not only students but also teachers. In a public school teachers are beholden to the state curriculum, but at Galloway, teachers have almost unfettered freedom to teach as they like. My favorite teachers have always utilized this to make their classes not just a requirement, but something I actually wanted to be in. Whether it be through interactive activities meant to demonstrate material, or thoughtful and realistic class discussions, these were always the classes I got the most out of. As with Students, some teachers can also deviate too far from the norm in their classes. I have seen this happen a few times in my tenure, but Galloway is usually quick to rectify the situation.

A main reason that Galloway is able to allow this type of freedom is the very small class sizes. My senior class has only 69 students in it, for comparison the public high school in my district has about 800 students in the senior class, and it is the smallest grade. These numbers keep Galloway classrooms at a maximum of about 20 students. In the past this has always been good as students have much more personal interaction with teachers and feel more comfortable getting help if they need it. Now, during a pandemic, these class sizes are invaluable. Galloway has been able to hold optional in-person classes for the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year, something not many schools can say.

The adaptability Galloway displayed in making this possible between August of 2020 and May of 2021 is commendable.

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Additionally, Galloway managed to accomplish this without Coronavirus spreading within the school.

These positive attributes of Galloway are in large part a result of the financially exclusive nature of private schools. With the benefits of this system, there are some downsides. The Galloway community tends to shelter students from reality to a certain extent. Galloway lacks diversity in many respects of the term. There is not a wide variety of perspectives amongst students both in terms of politics and socioeconomic background. The drawback of this is that students are not exposed to differing perspectives from their own. Because of this, they miss some opportunities for growth. The administration does actively try to fix these problems to some extent, but due to the location, ideology, cost, and size of the school, the student body will likely always be somewhat homogenous. Galloway does continue to strive, however, to cultivate a community that is aware and involved.

A major part of my personal Galloway experience has been writing for The Elliott. I started second semester freshman year and have continued to write throughout the rest of high school. I have seen The Elliott evolve consistently throughout the years, and I have evolved with it as a writer. Writing has always been one of my strong suits in all classes, and I owe a lot of that to my experiences here. Through writing for The Elliott I have been able to hone my writing skills much more than I would just going through normal classes. I have also benefited greatly from the input of our editors over the years. In my time as an editor, I have enjoyed reading the work of our other writers. The freedom afforded to us to write pretty much whatever we want is a really good representation of the school itself. This is why The Elliott has such a wide-range of content. From ornate op-eds to articles about Youtube stars, the interests and talents of all of our writers are on display. I’m sure that after I leave, The Elliott will be in good hands with the rising seniors.

There is no doubt that I am excited to move on to college and eventually into real life, but I do appreciate everything that Galloway has done for me. I know that I will have an academic edge because Galloway has prioritized providing me with the tools I need to solve problems on my own. To those of you who are leaving with me this year, remember what Galloway has done for you, and to those who still have some time here, appreciate it while it lasts.

Sincerely, Jake Bogartz The Galloway School; Class of 2021 University of Georgia; Class of 2025

Games

Spring 2021

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Special thanks to Ms. Benedict for her continued assistance and dedication to journalism as well as the publishers of Franklin Web Printing Co..

We’re rolling out digital content several times a week so be sure to check out ElliottMag.com and follow us on Instagram @TheElliott_ Thank you for reading The Elliott!

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