March 2022 by The Tattler

EDITORIAL

IHS TATTLER MARCH 2022 | VOL. 129 | NO. 7

ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO TATTLE.

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Editor-in-Chief

Jinho Park ’22

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Break the Cycle: Recycle! By THE TATTLER BOARD

hat if someone told you that the lined paper you just threw into a clearly-marked recycling bin will never be brought to a recycling facility? Instead, it will end up discarded as trash along with the rest of the bin’s contents. You might be surprised that such a thing could happen in Ithaca, NY, a town regarded for its eco-friendly attitudes. But in IHS classrooms, bins clearly marked “recycling,” and even the “paper only” bins in the library, are essentially recycling bins in name only. The Tattler spoke to Jeff Holcomb, the Head Custodian at IHS, who confirmed this unfortunate reality: when custodians empty bins from classrooms, although they carry separate bags for sorting, because of contaminated recycling bins, recycling and garbage bins are almost always emptied into the same bag, which eventually makes its way to the landfill. But the recycling crisis is not unique to IHS. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, although about 75 percent of American waste can be recycled, we only recycle about 30 percent of it. As a result, each year, an estimated eight million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean, and almost one billion trees worth of paper is thrown into a landfill, according to Recycle Track Systems, a New York waste management company. Recycling not only prevents pollution and conserves limited resources, but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by requiring less energy for production compared to raw materials. With these numerous benefits in mind, a recycling system seems to be a clear and simple solution. The challenge, however, is using it properly. IHS’s recycling dilemma is not the fault of our diligent custodial staff, nor is it due to any lack of a recycling system. In fact, a variety of cafeteria materials are recyclable—including empty milk cartons, clean parfait cups, and packaged cereal containers—or compostable, in the case

of lunch trays. However, when we throw a scrap of food or any other non-recyclable item into a recycling bin, the entire contents of that bin becomes contaminated and unrecoverable. This incorrect disposal of non-recyclable items is not an occasional error—rather, it is an ongoing situation for most recycling bins at IHS. According to Mr. Holcomb, the contamination of classroom recycling bins with food scraps and other non-recyclable items is the single greatest barrier to successful recycling at IHS. This contamination can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the trash bin is full, forcing students to throw their food scraps into recycling bins as the only nearby alternative. Other times, there’s a misunderstanding of what can and cannot be recycled, or even a complete lack of concern. Have you ever thrown something into the recycling bin despite being unsure of whether or not it’s recyclable? Have you ever done so knowing full well that it isn’t? If so, you aren’t the only one. Even one of the library’s paper-only recycling bins, located within sight of the librarians’ vigilant eyes, was found to be contaminated with non-recyclable food items. When asked about one of these paper-only bins, IHS librarian Mr. Lira told The Tattler, “It’s just an extra trash can with a recycling tag on it.” According to Ms. Augustine, a Social Studies teacher at IHS, the issue of recycling has been brought to the attention of the Board of Education at least three times in the last twenty years, revealing that IHS’s recycling system is not only an ongoing issue, but also one that has been addressed to no avail. Past efforts to monitor trash and recycling bins during lunch periods sought to ensure that materials were disposed of properly, but according to Mr. Holcomb, these attempts were largely unsuccessful. From interviews with staff who worked at IHS during these efforts, The Tattler found that individual recycling initiatives at IHS have fizzled out due Continued on page 4

The Tattler is the monthly student-run newspaper of Ithaca High School. All currently-enrolled students at Ithaca High School are welcome to submit writing and photographs. As an open forum, The Tattler invites opinion submissions and letters to the editor from all community members. Email submissions to editor@ihstattler.com or mail letters to: The Tattler 1401 North Cayuga Street Ithaca, NY 14850 Send submissions by March 11 to be included in the April issue. The Tattler reserves the right to edit all submissions. All articles, columns, and advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of editorial staff. To read The Tattler online, visit our website at www.ihstattler.com.

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Break the Cycle: Recycle! Continued from page 3 to the sheer amount of work and organization involved. The contamination of recycling has become more common and widespread in recent years due to pandemic eating accommodations, Mr. Holcomb affirms. Now that students have free rein to eat in classrooms beyond just the cafeteria and library, it has become more difficult to monitor recycling bins, leading to a higher chance of contamination in classrooms across the school. As a result, even more recycling is being combined with trash than in past years. However, this is not to say that IHS’s recycling system is entirely non-existent. Cans and bundles of cardboard from the kitchens, as well as whatever uncontaminated recycling bins are gathered by custodians, are placed behind the school to be recycled at BOCES. While the current situation certainly has much room for improvement, the potential to increase our recycling output offers a ray of hope. The way forward will require a collective and conscious effort. We can’t expect the already overworked custodians to sort through contaminated bins, and we can’t rely on IHS staff to constantly remind us which bin to use. While not all of the blame lies on students—unclear messaging about recycling and unmarked bins also play a role—it is because of our collective inaction that bins of potentially recyclable material end up in the landfill. Currently, many classrooms at IHS only have garbage bins, forcing students—who may otherwise be willing to recycle—to place their recycling in garbage bins and preventing the possibility of recycling altogether. Moving forward, a first and crucial step is the placement of recycling bins in every classroom as well as the library and cafeteria. Universally color-coded and clearly-labeled bins would help students more easily distinguish between garbage and recycling. Alongside this initiative, lunch monitors could help prevent the ongoing issue of food waste and other non-recyclable materials ending up in recycling bins. This system, perhaps carried out by hallway and cafeteria monitors as well as volunteer students, could help guide students to the correct bins and avoid contamination. However, to fully conquer the recycling problem at IHS, more than half-hearted cooperation is needed. For example, a visual tracker of the schools’ ongoing recycling progress could provide a motivating force, transforming the recycling dilemma from a seemingly-hopeless obstacle into a compelling challenge to overcome. Above all, it is essential to spread word of the recycling crisis at IHS wherever possible, such as through IHS Connects, the morning announcements, and posters in the hallways and nearby recycling bins. Only when IHS is made fully aware of the recycling situation can we take the necessary steps to hold ourselves accountable. In order for recycling to be possible at IHS, an honest effort must be made by the IHS administration to put clearly-labeled recycling bins in every classroom. From there, it’s up to us, the students, to follow the labels in order to dispose of our trash and recycling correctly and to educate our peers as needed. A recycling initiative cannot be unilateral on the administration’s part—nor can it be solely on the part of students. As was aptly put by Mr. Holcomb, it can only work “if we get the students and teachers and staff to work together on it instead of fighting

against each other.” To succeed where in the past it has failed, the IHS recycling effort must be a genuine and collective undertaking by everyone—teachers, students, and staff members alike.

Big Brother is Watching: How ICSD Surveils Your Personal Devices By THE TATTLER BOARD

ou find yourself in the school library, lounging in a plush, red chair during your sole free period. There to unwind, you try opening Instagram on your phone: Loading … loading … loading … nothing. After a second of confusion, you remember that ICSD blocks students from accessing social media on its Wi-Fi, and that your cellular data is too limited to expend. It’s fine! You figure that you’ll study for your upcoming Biology test instead. But, upon finding a six-minute YouTube video of the stages of mitosis, you see an exclamation point pop up on your screen. Whoops! You can’t watch online videos without express permission from IHS faculty. It’s an issue we’ve experienced countless times. How many times have you clicked on an internet link for a homework assignment, only to see that it’s blocked by the District? What’s worse, this happens whenever you’re connected to either of ICSD’s Wi-Fi networks, even if you’re using a personal computer or device. The issue extends beyond the District blocking unapproved sites, as the District stores your online activity with the ability to use it against you. ICSD maintains the right to monitor your behavior on District-managed devices and Wi-Fi. In fact, the District is legally obligated to do so under the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires schools to enact policies that protect students from harmful online content. However, the extent of ICSD’s digital capabilities stretches beyond blocking websites. On school-owned devices such as Chromebooks, the District keeps track of a multitude of information: your internet browsing activity, actions that you take on Google Drive, the emails you send from your ICSD email, and your Google Chat records are all stored and monitored. As recently as 2015, The Tattler reported

EDITORIAL

that ICSD had the ability to track and store the individual keystrokes made by students on District-provided devices, enabling them to save anything a student typed, from passwords to private messages to other sensitive information. This online surveillance isn’t limited to Chromebooks and other ICSD devices. When personal devices are connected to school Wi-Fi, any Google-related activity is logged automatically, regardless of whether a VPN connection is used. This means that ICSD can view your browsing history, the websites that you visit, and the apps you open on your phone and private computer. Through the use of access points, ICSD can also pinpoint the location from which your device is accessing a school account, even when you’re not on ICSD property. ICSD’s monitoring is fully legal from the moment you open a District device or log into school Wi-Fi. In fact, according to ICSD’s Student Handbook, you sign away your rights to any confidentiality when doing either: Students have no expectation of confidentiality or privacy with respect to any usage of an ICSD issued Chromebook, ICSD Google Apps for Education Account or other related district network asset, regardless of whether that use is for district-related or personal purposes... ICSD’s Wi-Fi is managed this tightly because it’s meant for ICSD-provided devices only. To this end, the District’s website even states, “The ICSD Wi-Fi network is our privileged network with connections to internal ICSD network resources and out to the internet. This network is for use on official ICSD provided devices.” ICSD does provide students with an alternate means of connecting to Wi-Fi: ICSD Guest. The District’s website acknowledges that ICSD Guest is meant specifically for non-District devices. Yet the majority of students who use personal devices at school use the District’s official Wi-Fi, even though that network is designed for District computers. In an email survey sent to IHS students, 69 percent of respondents reported connecting to the District’s Wi-Fi on their personal device; of those, only 32 percent connected to ICSD Guest. By connecting to the incorrect Wi-Fi system, the other 68 percent of students risk a greater loss of their own privacy. This is largely because ICSD’s monitoring of personal devices is not well enough understood. There are no easily accessible statements warning students that connecting to ICSD Wi-Fi may lead to their personal devices being monitored, and the only information differentiating the two Wi-Fi networks is buried in the more bureaucratic sections of ICSD’s website. This issue of privacy and surveillance of student devices isn’t just limited to ICSD. As highlighted by Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021), online student privacy has become a growing concern in school districts across the country. The case featured Brandi Levy, a 14-year-girl from Pennsylvania who, after being cut from her school’s varsity cheerleading team, posted explicit but non-threatening messages on her Snapchat account. When a fellow student reported the posts to Levy’s coach, she was suspended from her school and banned from her junior-varsity team for the remainder of the year, a decision upheld by the school board. Subsequent appeals reached the Supreme Court,

which overwhelmingly ruled that the school had violated Levy’s First Amendment rights. While this specific instance was reported to the school by one of Levy’s classmates, it remains an example of how a student’s online activity can be misused, misinterpreted, and mishandled by a school district. When asked how ICSD uses student’s online information in disciplinary matters, Zachary Lind, the District’s Chief Information Officer, informed The Tattler that the District’s actions steer on the “reactive side.” He stated, “for example, a school administrator might request a Google Chat log as part of an investigation into a student conflict at the school. We then find the log of the chat and provide it to the school.” To that end, there are cases where ICSD has rightfully controlled students’ inappropriate behavior on social media. Just this school year, there have been a number of bomb and shooting threats made against the District online, and, back in 2016, a student was charged with a felony after making a Facebook post threatening to carry out a school shooting. In both these cases, ICSD worked with the local police department to track the origins of such activity and was absolutely justified in doing so. Still, the fact that student’s private data can be freely used and requested by the administration is worrying to say the least. What is to stop ICSD from mishandling this power and misusing the personal data of students? Furthermore, how can we ensure that the school doesn’t abuse the browsing and chat logs of students in disciplinary matters when little to no transparency exists? Just as there have been cases where ICSD has rightfully controlled students’ behavior on social media, there have been instances where ICSD has questionably used data against students. Over the past few years, the District has shut down a number of school-themed Instagram accounts—one was banned simply for having “IHS” in its username. What is especially egregious is that the vast majority of students are not aware that they are being monitored and that their data stored and their internet activity could be used against them. This is understandable, as they do not submit a Terms-ofService agreement when using District technology, and the only information about ICSD’s surveillance policies is buried in sizenine font in obscure sections of their website. As the personal lives of students shift online, the range of data available to ICSD grows, as well as the District’s ability to mismanage it. Thus, students deserve to know their information is being stored and how it has the potential to be used. The Tattler Editorial Board encourages the District to create greater awareness on this topic, such as informing users that ICSD WiFi is a network meant for District devices and not phones and personal computers. While a Terms-of-Service agreement could be useful in achieving this, the information agreed upon must be clear, so it is not hidden in legal prose which students will avoid. The District must also increase its transparency regarding stored data and who can access such sensitive information. Rather than assisting students in hiding potentially inappropriate behavior, these steps would allow them to hold greater autonomy over their online experience.

Continued on page 5

EDITORIAL / NEWS

Big Brother is Watching: How ICSD Surveils Your Personal Devices Continued from page 5 How to protect yourself from being monitored by ICSD: 1. Connect to ICSD Guest. This Wi-Fi network is meant for personal phones or laptops and doesn’t surveil your devices in the same way ICSD Wi-Fi does. 2. Whenever you use either ICSD Wi-Fi or ICSD Guest, use a VPN (a VPN is a service that creates a protected “tunnel” for your data, giving you online anonymity)! A VPN can easily be installed on your personal phone or computer and allows you to access sites that are inaccurately marked as “inappropriate.” It doesn’t prevent you from being tracked by the district if you are using ICSD Wi-Fi. 3. Understand that District Devices such as Chromebooks, should be used for educational purposes.

Conflict is Ongoing at Border Between Russia and Ukraine By FIONN KNUTSON

Disclaimer: this article was written in early February, 2022. As such, information in this article may be outdated at the time of publication.

Untitled 2 by Ruby Zawel

A Series of Things Found Around My House (1) by Hannah Shvets

n November of 2013, large-scale protests erupted in Ukraine in response to their president, Viktor Yanukovych, refusing to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the European Union. As months passed, these protests escalated into violence. That February, clashes between protestors and riot police in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv concluded with protestors taking control of capital buildings, Yanukovych being ousted by the Ukrainian Parliament in a unanimous vote he claimed was coerced, and the Ukrainian government being overthrown and replaced with an interim government. Yanukovych responded to this by calling for assistance from the Russian Federation, which, along with protests for and against the overthrow of the Ukrainian government, ended up resulting in the Russian military invasion of the Crimean Peninsula—previously Ukrainian territory. These events marked the start of the protracted conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine that continues to this day. In the direct aftermath of the Ukrainian revolution, also known as the Maiden Revolution, protests against the new government in the Donbas region intensified into an armed conflict between the Ukrainian government and a Russian-backed separatist movement. This clash has been ongoing despite many unsuccessful ceasefire agreements between the two sides. In the last few months, however, a new question of whether Russia plans to invade additional Ukrainian territory has opened up. Beginning in October of 2021, some anonymous U.S. and European officials expressed concern about a reported build-up of Russian troops around the Ukrainian border. As unease grew, the White House started assessing strategies for dissuading a Russian invasion of Ukraine, including providing military aid to Kyiv, threatening sanctions on Russia, and reviewing military contingency plans. On October 29, 2021, President Biden said that he was in the process of putting together a “comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives” to deter Russian invasion. In addition, he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting on December 7, but the leaders failed to come to a substantive resolution.

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On January 28, 2022, Defense Department officials affirmed that Russia had assembled upwards of 100,000 troops at the Ukrainian border. By request of the US, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) met on January 31 to discuss the conflict, with US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield reporting the situation as “urgent and dangerous.” On the other side, Russia’s ambassador Vasily Nebenzia disagreed, noting current Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s statements that Kyiv hasn’t been “seeing any greater escalation than it has been before” and that the “acute and burning” warnings of American officials are a mistake. The diplomat accused the West of deliberately ramping up tensions through their alarmist rhetoric. Additionally, Nebenzia questioned the report of a hundred thousand troops being amassed at the border, asking how the figure was developed and comparing it to past disinformation by US officials, such as the claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq made in front of the UNSC prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. China’s ambassador Zhang Jun also offered his perspective, disagreeing with the use of the UNSC open assembly as a place to discuss the conflict and saying it “does not contribute to reducing tensions.” He pointed out that Russian officials have stated on multiple occasions that “[Russia] has no plans to launch any military action” and that Ukraine has made it clear they “[do] not need a war,” asking what the basis was “for the countries concerned to insist that there would be a war.” Zhang finished by suggesting quiet diplomacy (as opposed to megaphone diplomacy) as a better approach for the parties to resolve their differences, and condemned the U.S. for not accepting this proposal. Similar views were shared by Chinese political scientist Wan Chengcai of the Xinhua News Agency. Wan blamed the “major interference by the US” for complicating what he believes is a domestic Ukrainian issue. He also stated that the revision of old ceasefire agreements being worked out by Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany are important to the settlement of the crisis and that the US is ignoring these agreements to manage the crisis in their format to benefit US interests. The idea of creating peace agreements instead of increasing pressure on Moscow also has a significant amount of support from U.S. voters. From a sample of 1,214 Americans considered likely voters, 58 percent expressed support for a diplomatic deal with Russia to avoid war in Ukraine. However, one obstacle to a deal happening between the West and Russia is the ultimatum Putin issued in late October: that “concrete agreements prohibiting any further eastward expansion of NATO” be developed before Russian troops move away from the border. Putin called NATO’s expansion a security threat and raised concern about the possible placement of weapons systems by NATO in the vicinity of Russian territory. NATO originally began as a product of the Cold War, but its existence continued after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1990. Despite its promises to not expand eastward after the reunification of Germany, NATO continued to increase its membership to include Eastern allies of the Soviet Union as well as three former Soviet republics. In 1997, respected foreign policy thinker and Cold War diplomat George F. Kennan argued that NATO should stay away from Ukraine, claiming that further eastward expansion would “restore the atmosphere of the Cold War to East-West relations.”

Despite this, now, NATO maintains an “open-door policy” granting all European countries an opportunity for membership. NATO has expressed strong opposition to Putin’s demands, saying it commits itself to allowing every country to pick its own alliances. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, told reporters that “Russia has no right to establish a sphere of influence trying to control their neighbors,” and doesn’t have any say in whether or not Ukraine becomes a member of NATO. Stoltenberg also expressed disagreement with Putin’s requests, stating that NATO was not a threat to anyone, and that their support to a sovereign nation was not a provocation of Russia. However, regardless of who you side with on the question of NATO, the broader issue this disagreement raises is the wedge driven between diplomatic relations between the West and Russia. It’s increasingly apparent that both sides will need a greater willingness to compromise and make concessions in order to resolve the ongoing conflict through a diplomatic approach rather than through military force. Unfortunately, with the German government threatening “unprecedented sanctions” and Biden approving the deployment of 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe (a move that Kremlin secretary Dmitry Peskov called “the best proof that [Russia has] an obvious reason to be worried”), this doesn’t seem to be the approach the West is taking. As Russia continues to claim the right to freely move troops within its borders and does not feel any need to back down from its actions, a diplomatic approach seems off the table for now.

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Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Retires By WILL THOMAS

fter 27 years of service, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Breyer has elected to retire from his seat. His decision gives President Joe Biden an opportunity to appoint his first Supreme Court Justice. Breyer himself was appointed to the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton and served as a member of the Court’s liberal wing, along with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Calls for Breyer’s retirement had abounded since Biden took office, with many liberals recalling with regret the decision of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to not retire during the term of President Obama. Her death during the Trump administration led to the appointment of another conservative Justice in Amy Coney Barrett, which resulted in a substantial 6-3 conservative majority on the Court. Many on the left feared that a red wave in the House and Senate during the 2022 midterm elections would remove the ability of President Biden to ensure the seat would remain in similar ideological hands. Biden indicated that he would nominate a Black woman to the seat, similar to his decision to select a female Vice Presidential candidate. He recently named Ketanji Brown Jackson—who was successfully appointed to Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit with bipartisan approval after Judge Merrick Garland’s appointment to Attorney General—as his choice. Among other possible nominees he also had considered Leonda Kruger, a member of the California Supreme Court. Both of these possible options will face Republican opposition, but the likelihood of confirmation is high. The Democratic majority in the Senate, which confirms judicial nominees, is slim, but would only need a simple majority to confirm Biden’s nom-

inee thanks to a rule change. There is reason to believe that the partisan gridlock, which has plagued legislation recently, may briefly ease during this nomination process. Republican Senators have previously indicated that this will not be a hill they die on, with South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham saying, “Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America.” Graham also stated that he would support J. Michelle Childs, another potential pick, if she were to be nominated. While Supreme Court Justices are not supposed to have any political agendas, in practice all of them are influenced by their respective ideologies. Breyer was more moderate in his approach, working with both sides of the aisle and generally respecting the wishes of the legislature. He did, however, strongly oppose the originalist view of the Constitution, which calls for a narrow view of the law based on its intent when written. This belief repeatedly put him at odds with the conservative wing of the Court. Of his potential successors, Kruger, in particular, has been said to be most similar to Breyer in temperament and strategies. However, while ideological and temperamental similarity is perhaps inherently desirable, it may be also important due to growing division in the Court. With rulings increasingly divided, the hope of the liberal wing is swaying the moderate Justices on swing cases. A moderate Justice who doesn’t encourage divisions could aid in this pursuit, and contribute to collaboration between the majority and minority. With Justice Breyer’s moderatism departing the Court, President Biden has an opportunity to continue his legacy and keep whatever small degree of balance survives in the Supreme Court.

Saying Goodbye to Ithaca Commons Staple Trader K’s By FRANCES KLEMM

F The owners of Trader K’s, courtesy of Ithaca Voice

or 26 years Trader K’s has been a foundational part of the Ithaca Commons, offering second hand clothing for people of all ages. Voted the best used clothing store by both the Ithaca Times and the Ithaca Journal, Trader K’s has been run by Ithacan couple Karen and Jay Sciarabba since its opening. Now, they’re retiring to spend more time with family after the pandemic and Commons construction wore the business down. Karen Sciarbba said to the Ithaca Voice, “We survived it all— construction, the pandemic. It’s an emotional thing now and it’s a losing battle.” The second hand store has long been renowned for its reasonable prices that remain affordable for most everyone. The store was founded in 1996 by Karen Sciarabba in order to have a fami-

NEWS ly-friendly discount store in the area. After spending over four years collecting items, she was able to finally launch Trader K’s and eventually move down to their current Commons location. The couple recalled watching families come every year, seeing kids grow up and having kids of their own, and stated to the Ithaca Voice: “We’re going to miss the customers the most. Many of them have been shopping with us since the very begin-

ning.” The Sciarabba family will still be a part of the downtown Commons, as they own several buildings in the pedestrian mall, including where Trader K’s is currently located. Right now, everything in the store is on sale at 30 percent off—come down to the commons to pick up your last Trader K’s shopping cart! This Ithaca staple will be sorely missed.

Ithaca Guaranteed Income: What Can Cash Do? By FRANCES KLEMM

his year, Ithaca’s unpaid caregivers will be eligible for a new Ithacan experiment with guaranteed income. City of Ithaca residents who spend time as unpaid caregivers— taking care of children, parents, adults with severe disabilities— are eligible if being a caregiver is preventing them from working enough to sustain themselves or at all. The Human Resources Coalition website for the program goes as far as to say, “We think if you’re pitching in and freely offering significant time as a caregiver, you probably know it, and we encourage you to apply.” All applicants must live within the City of Ithaca and have an income at least 80 percent below their area’s median household income. The project is planned as follows: 110 applicants for the program will have $450 deposited into their bank account each month for the remainder of 2022, with “no strings attached”— there are no requirements on how the money is spent. This project, which Ithaca is taking on through its larger Ithaca Eviction/ Displacement Defense Project, will be evaluated by the Center of Guaranteed Income at the University of Pennsylvania. In an Ithaca Guaranteed Income (IGI) info session, Anisa Mendizabel —part of the Ithaca Urban Renewal Society (IURA)—explained that the City of Ithaca has been working towards understanding the issue of displacement in the City by asking essential questions such as, “What is causing displacement? Who is getting displaced? How can we strategize and intervene and prevent more people from getting displaced?” UPenn representatives say that the program is based on the question of how to best support people who are unable to work as much as they want or need to because they have to take care of others. An officer from the university explained that the program is aiming to see how successful consistent cash flow is in supporting people. The program also plans to build a body of evidence that represents the entire country in order to inform how future programs can be built to best support Americans. The program will rest alongside other new social safety policies to ensure that people “are holistically supported and are able to thrive and not just survive.” As for other cities trying out the same program, UPenn representatives say there are around 20 who are considering the program, and 15 that are at the same stage as Ithaca or at a more advanced stage. Katherine Caget, a research officer at UPenn, says that at the moment there are just two cities who are participating in the state of New York—Mount Vernon and Ithaca. The city of Stockton, California recaps and reflects on their experience with the program on the Stockton Economic Empowerment

Demonstration website, which includes testimonials from the program’s participants. The control group for the experiment, consisting of 132 people, receives $30 to fill out the application and will also be tracked through the year. The group will help establish a standard to compare with those who will receive the money through the program. If an applicant is placed in neither the control nor the treatment group, their information will be destroyed. If they are chosen to be in one of the groups, according to the website, “At no point will applications be viewable to anyone in our community, nor will your answers be attributable to you or your family.” The program as a whole is sponsored by a number of private donors, but Ithaca’s program specifically is sponsored by Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and one other private foundation. To apply for the program in Ithaca, one must fill out a baseline survey about their current income and benefits to gather data for the program. Applicants can figure out how the program could potentially affect the financial benefits they are already receiving by using the Benefits Calculator provided by the Human Services Coalition. This will calculate whether the cash the experiment provides could potentially hurt financial benefits people are already receiving. Government waivers for complete protection of benefits people are already receiving were reportedly not available for the IGI experiment. Participation in the program will not be affected by changes in lifestyle. “Life happens,” says the Human Services Coalition. “Once you are in the program, if you move out of the city or your role as a caregiver changes, you will not be removed from the program. Similarly, if your income level grows, congratulations. You are still welcome in IGI.” Go to the Human Services Coalition website for more information on how to sign up.

The Week After Valentines by Hannah Shvets

OPINION

Tear Down the Cages By LOUISA MILLER-OUT

A heartbreaking photo of a lion cub trapped in a zoo, courtesy of Jo-Anne McArthur with We Animals

rom the Bronx to San Diego, zoos have become a fixture in American culture. Even the word “zoo” is often associated with positive memories of going to see lions, tigers, penguins, and pythons as a child, perhaps pressing tiny faces or hands to the glass in awe. Keeping animals in display cages for human viewing pleasure is such a ubiquitous practice that many have never questioned it before. Today, I urge you to try. When you only see a caged animal for a few moments, it’s difficult to remember that they will likely spend the rest of their life cooped up in an enclosure far smaller than their natural habitat. For example, according to the New York Times, the average polar bear’s zoo enclosure is one millionth the size of its terrain in the wild. Other animals, such as elephants, need to be in constant motion to thrive, yet elephants in captivity have nowhere near enough space, and suffer other problems like foot infections from the nature of zoo soils. These infections can be so severe that zoos have to euthanize their animals. Given this, it’s no surprise that elephants live 30 years longer on average when they are free versus when they are in captivity. Cramped living conditions and debilitating infections are only the beginning. Being in an unnatural environment, surrounded by humans and other animals they normally wouldn’t interact with, and unable to engage in natural behaviors like roaming, mating, and hunting causes animals profound psychological stress. They often develop abnormal and self-destructive behaviors like pacing, tearing out their fur or feathers, and obsessively licking or biting the bars of their enclosures. This state of distress is so common among captive animals that it’s been termed “zoochosis.” The initial trauma of capture—and later being physically and verbally abused for attempting to escape or failing to perform for an audience—can further exacerbate animals’ suffering. Proponents of zoos claim they are a vital educational resource and drive people to care more about animals. However, because zoochosis is so common, observing animals in cages and other unnatural situations is not a good way to learn about their natural behavior. In fact, it’s likely to create misconceptions about

animals’ tendencies–if a distressed ape bares its teeth at a noisy child whom it feels threatened by, that child might think of the animal as aggressive and perceive apes as a threat to humans. Behind the immediate horror of the conditions that many zoo animals face, there is a systemic issue: the commodification of animals. At the end of the day, zoos treat their captive populations as products. So when zoos have “surplus” animals, or more than they can take care of due to spatial and financial constraints, they often just kill them. Instead of buying the highest quality food for animals, zoos are most likely to choose the cheapest, even if it’s not the optimal diet for them and causes health problems. In addition, the average zookeeper’s salary in New York State is quite low, at about $22,000 a year. Underpaid and stressed-out workers have less energy and patience to care for animals, increasing the likelihood of negligence and abuse. If zoos were to close, these workers could get better and more fulfilling jobs that still utilize their training and expertise in places like animal hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Holding animals in zoos is a misuse of funds that could be used to further their well-being by restoring them to their natural habitats. Managing animals in captivity is incredibly costly, both in terms of space and money. It’s also a colossal waste of energy; having animals who’ve adapted to wildly different climates all in the same place requires intensive temperature control and puts certain animals in danger should those heating and cooling systems malfunction. According to Britannica, most zoos in the United States are publicly funded by the town, city, or state where they’re situated. These funds, currently used by zoos to keep animals on display, should be redirected towards conservation efforts instead, including private donations that zoos receive. If these donors really care about animals, then their dollars would be better spent preserving natural ecosystems. For example, these funds could be spent on establishing legally protected wildlife reserves and combating poaching. Investing in conservation will benefit not only animals’ individual welfare, but the longevity of their species. In their natural habitats, their populations will have greater genetic diversity; zoo populations have abnormally high rates of genetic disease due to inbreeding. Although some argue that rehabilitation and captive breeding are important ways that zoos can help animals, these functions could be performed without exhibiting animals for entertainment. Even so, most species reproduce more effectively in the wild, as they have the freedom to engage in normal mating behaviors there, so breeding them in captivity should only be used as a last resort. We do not want these animals to be dependent on human intervention to survive. Our first priority must be conservation–after all, it seems futile to rescue a species from the brink of extinction if it has no habitat left to return to and will have to live out its days in a cage. As icing on the cake, preserving areas of the wild will have positive environmental impacts, as there will be fewer transport trucks and facilities causing pollution, and more green plants to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Managing climate change is yet another way to protect animals and biodiversity by conserving natural habitats and making mass extinction less likely. In addition, investing in these ecosystems now is crucial so that

OPINION they can regain the balance that’s been disrupted by human capture of exotic animals, many of them top predators or other crucial keystone species. By restoring ecosystems to equilibrium, we allow them to sustain themselves naturally, without human intervention. In contrast, zoos require a perpetual supply of energy, money, and labor to continue operating, and are not

even the ideal environment for animals to thrive. Ultimately, if we want to improve exotic animals’ quality of life, we should be incentivizing returning them to their natural habitats, not keeping them in captivity indefinitely. It’s time to tear down the cages and let zoo animals truly live again.

K-pop Fan: To Be or Not To Be By ALICE BURKE

Members of popular K-pop group BTS, courtesy of Times of India

Content Warning: this article mentions instances of abuse and disordered eating.

hen you think of K-pop, I bet you imagine the world-famous members of the boy band BTS, or perhaps you remember that BLACKPINK song that was all over TikTok a few months ago. You probably don’t consider that hiding behind the bright smiles and flashy dance moves of many beloved K-pop idols lies a truth a bit more sinister. I risk making this assumption because I was the same way. For over a year, even during the peak of my K-pop obsession, I was oblivious― maybe willfully—to the dark side of the K-pop industry. When I finally uncovered how my favorite artists had been treated for years, I was disgusted and dismayed, unsure if I could even call myself a K-pop fan anymore. Korean popular music, or K-pop, is a genre of music that originated in South Korea and has since become a global phenomenon, capturing the ears of Korean and non-Korean listeners around the world. K-pop is a cultural hybridization of local and foreign culture that takes the aesthetic pressure of traditional Korean society and combines it with trendy Western music and high-energy Japanese dance pop. In order to create music with these particular characteristics, K-pop pioneers started entertainment firms with the intent to produce the performers who would become what are now known as K-pop “idols,” vertically integrating all parts of the music production process to control everything from recruiting and training artists to the promotion and release of singles and albums. This strategy—one that is still

utilized today―allows entertainment firms to mold their blossoming idols into performers that will reach a global audience, with the ultimate goal of bringing in more revenue for the company and the South Korean economy. Unfortunately, the “creation” of these performers and the industry’s massive global reach results in an environment that is emotionally and physically harmful for its artists. The first dangers that K-pop idols encounter are found at the heart of the industry: the restrictive and harmful environment fostered by most entertainment firms. A major factor that plays into this environment is the trainee system that all K-pop idols must endure before they are able to release any music, or “debut.” According to Eudias, an ex-trainee interviewed on BBC, her typical day while training began before five in morning and lasted until past midnight, filled with training and schoolwork and devoid of any free time or socialization. She also noted that it was common for fellow trainees to pass out during dance rehearsals due to overwork and exhaustion—even praised for their “dedication” afterwards. In addition to long hours and limited free time, K-pop trainees severely lack agency and independence. When first agreeing to train with a company, prospective trainees must sign contracts that hand over their freedom to entertainment firms. Under these contracts—which usually last seven to nine years—trainees must live in the company’s dorms, abide by the strict schedule provided for them, and refrain from having any romantic relationships. Even after debuting, idols do not gain new freedoms. If anything, their lives are more controlled, with the entertainment firms managing their social media and keeping hidden cameras in the artists’ rooms. In the K-pop industry, idols seem to be viewed as products created for profit and the spreading of Korean popular culture, rather than as real people. Thus, entertainment companies treat them without humanity— as if they are merely a means to make money. The K-pop industry further hurts idols by amplifying the detrimental beauty standards already plaguing the majority of South Koreans. It is not uncommon for someone to be denied a job based on their appearance in South Korea, idol or not. In fact, most job applications require a photograph of the applicant that factors into their eligibility. This emphasis on physical appearance places extra pressure on Koreans to conform to beauty standards that may be very hard to attain. As a result, Koreans turn to plastic surgery and drastic weight loss as ways to alter their appearance and be considered “beautiful.” These procedures are so common in South Korea that, according to the medical journal Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the country has the highest rate of plastic surgery in the world, with a third of women ages 19-29 and a fifth of men in the same demographic having Continued on page 12

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K-pop Fan: To Be or Not to Be Continued from page 11 undergone these procedures. In addition, the strong desire to remain slim in South Korea contributes to the country having the lowest obesity rates in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) at four percent, which is more than 30 percent lower than the US. These numbers show the importance that visual appeal has to so many Koreans. For K-pop artists, fitting into the beauty standard is not a preference but a requirement, as this genre of music tends to rely more on visual input than other forms of musical entertainment. The reliance on appearances in the K-pop industry is reflected in its highly aesthetic, choreographed dance routines and the existence of a “visual” member in each group. This person is deemed to be the most attractive member and sometimes is able to secure their contract because of their looks rather than their talent. Failure on the part of K-pop idols to meet Korean beauty standards may result in mandatory diets, plastic surgeries, and fat-shaming by the entertainment firm, as well as job loss. For example, during the training process pre-debut, idols are often weighed in front of the other trainees, and if they are above the accepted weight or were unable to lose weight from the previous week, they are publicly shamed and put on an even more restrictive diet than their previous one. The K-pop industry takes Korea’s emphasis on appearance a step further by hypersexualizing idols in music videos and performances, even if idols feel uncomfortable with the outfits and choreography chosen to create the desirable image. This hypersexualization, as well as the prohibition of romantic relationships, is done to make idols appear more sexually available. Some K-pop fans who write fanfiction or fantasize what it would be like to be romantically involved with an idol might be put off by the knowledge of a relationship or an outfit that isn’t revealing enough. Efforts to keep idols sexually appealing for this demographic of the group’s fans reflect both the industry’s emphasis on the visual aspect of K-pop and the way it caters to the toxic subgroup of K-pop fans. Idols not only have to deal with overly-controlling entertainment companies and unattainable beauty standards forced upon them, but also a fandom ridden with anti-fans and sasaeng (obsessive) fans that threaten their mental and physical health. Anti-fans are individuals in the K-pop community who strongly dislike a certain group or soloist, usually due to tension between fandoms or other superficial reasons. Anti-fans are often responsible for vicious online criticism, and some have sent death threats to idols in the past. In fact, BTS had to cancel their New York concert in 2015 for their “Red Bullet” tour because of the amount of death threats each member received on Twitter. Sasaeng fans are intrusive, overly-obsessive fans of a K-pop idol or group whose actions mimic those of a stalker. In order to feel close to their favorite K-pop star, sasaeng fans have been known to kidnap idols, trespass on private property, “gift” the idols toys with hidden cameras, and even hire taxis to chase down idols, sometimes speeding up to 120 miles per hour and causing car crashes. While the majority of K-pop fans may be respectful towards their favorite idols and try to create a positive fandom environment, the toxicity of sasaeng fans and anti-fans results in conditions that can be extremely difficult for idols to manage. The K-pop industry fosters a harmful environment for its idols as a result of its controlling entertainment companies, its amplification of unrealistic beauty standards, and its toxic fan

culture. Now that I know the truth about the K-pop industry, I have to face the fact that it develops and produces the music I hold close to my heart while treating its artists with disrespect and inhumanity. I’m standing at a crossroads, unsure of the path I should take. Do I continue to listen to the music I love and support my favorite idols, despite knowing that the consumption of the music helps to expand the power of the very industry causing them harm? Or do I give up K-pop altogether, even though it means so much to me? If I continue to listen to and enjoy K-pop music in spite of what I now understand about the industry, would that make me a bad person―someone with flawed morals who should not be forgiven? Even if it does, I cannot seem to let it go. K-pop has become a pillar in my life; it is the music that not only brings me joy and comfort on bad days, but also allows me to meet new people and bond with old friends on days when I feel alive. Perhaps I will never reach a conclusion, but waver continuously between hating myself for wanting to listen to K-pop and feeling okay with engaging in the music because of the positivity it brings into my life. Unless artists like BTS use their international stardom and influence to demand that the industry improves for all K-pop idols, and supportive fans put pressure on entertainment companies to treat artists with more respect, I do not see myself deciding on whether or not I should listen to K-pop any time soon. Hopefully, the industry will change for the better and I can listen to the music I love with ease, just as I once did before I uncovered the secrets hidden behind each bright smile and flashy dance move of a K-pop idol.

The Westward Expansion of Anime By VICKY LU

nce upon a few decades ago, kids were starting to spend sunny days off from school inside rather than outdoors. Seeing as Tattler readers vary widely in age and experience, some might remember a time when playing video games was not “cool”, while others might be able to name a handful of professional gamers off the top of their head with admiration. A similar trend can be seen in other subjects, where a niche hobby enjoyed by a small community is stereotyped by the general public before someone with influence brings positive attention to it or the subject is made more marketable, followed by an uptick of interest and then an explosion in popularity. “Geeks” and “dorks” have become “gamers” and “roleplayers,” in the case of video games and Dungeons and Dragons-esque interactive fantasies. Likewise, manga and anime lovers are now coming out of the closet to an ocean of peers rather than the scattered puddles of yesteryear. “It’s become less of a thing to hide

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for people as no one cares. I have had 30+ year old dudes comment on the Jojo stickers on my welding hood,” millennial Reddit user Sevv2102 comments below one of many posts asking if and why anime is popular now. Another user, arcangelxvi, has a hypothesis for how anime has become so mainstream. “The biggest thing I think is that a lot of streaming services have cropped up to provide access to anime content in a way that isn’t contrived. Rather than having to really dig and search for something which you’d have to know about in the first place to even find... the widespread use of Netflix, Hulu, etc. make it much easier to just stumble upon the content in the first place.” As a kid, I got up at ten in the morning to catch the latest translated episode of Dragonball Z Kai, or sat in the basement of my afterschool program picking apart Japanese reruns of Sailor Moon on TV. Those who watched the Oscars in 2003 may have made a note of Ghibli’s Spirited Away, because more Ghibli titles like Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro started appearing on general store shelves. The internet grew to make space for anime streaming websites like Crunchyroll and Funimation alongside Toonami. Story and art analysis channels on Youtube dipped their toes into the raging successes of Naruto, One Piece, and Attack on Titan, to name a few. Influencers posted pictures of late-night anime marathons and anime-inspired designs on their clothing. A game created by anime lovers for anime lovers, Genshin Impact, made waves with its “Best Mobile Game” award from The Game Awards and over 85 million downloads in 2021. The growth of anime’s popularity has been especially fast in the past five years as the internet rallied to create a more accepting space for a wider range of people and the pandemic drove

the world to online entertainment more than ever before. In turn, production studios have reinvested the support into more Western representation in their characters, higher-quality translated voiceovers, and expanded merchandise. Anime is on track to being embraced with no more stigma than Western animated series—no longer a niche genre with a closeted international fanbase. However, that’s not to say that the transition has been seamless. The older, isolated community of anime enjoyers often feel divided about the change in status. The new wave of fans, although often well-meaning, have buried a rich culture with its own slang, classics, and rites of passage. Heated discussions on social media can turn toxic very quickly due to the sheer number of people contributing, and beloved references and inside jokes have been largely replaced, with those replacements cycling in and out of fashion at a rapid rate as well. There’s also an understandable amount of envy and bitterness from those who had to grow up hiding or downplaying their passion. Reddit user Thatanimeandkpopfan writes, “I am all for anime gaining the popularity that it deserves but honestly looking back to the days when watching anime was basically looked down upon and as someone who had to be a closeted otaku for a while to not be labeled as a weirdo, it does make me a tiny bit upset.” Is anime cool now, or do you plan to never lay eyes on it? That, dear reader, is up to you, but remember to reserve your judgment when someone wants to talk about a wide-eyed, bluehaired protagonist saving the world with a group of friends. You never know: you just might end up liking it.

Op-Ed Contest Attribution: How Film and Film Criticism Today Reinforce Capitalist Ideology

By ELI MCKENZIE

etween about 1910 and 1960, movies were attributed to the studio that made them. “That new MGM film,” one might have said, “is much better than the Warner Brothers one.” Remnants of this way of thinking still exist in some capacity today when we talk about Pixar movies or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since the French New Wave and the subsequent new waves around the world, film critics see directors as the artist behind the film; they paint with the brush of the camera. When we talk about our favorite Tarantino movies (Reservoir Dogs is the only right answer) or compare Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland with her later film, Eternals, we are doing this whether we know it or not. I’m here to argue that these methods are both inaccurate and hurt our movie-going experience. Film is, if you think about it, the summation of all previous artistic forms. It’s painting, photography, acting, writing, fashion, and music all rolled together with new artistic processes like

editing, sound editing, visual effects, etc. Film is, therefore, an entirely collective art form. The vast majority of films, especially Hollywood films, would not be made if not for the combined efforts of hundreds of producers, actors, cinematographers, set designers, costume designers, screen writers, composers, musicians, editors, VFX artists, and so many others. So why should the studio or director get all the credit? The studio paid for it and the director was the person in charge. People who know me can probably already see where this is going. For the rest of you, I’ll clue you in. In our modern society, it is almost never the case that any one person makes any product. What is bought and sold is generally made by a huge range of people from those that designed and developed it, the people who gathered the raw materials, the people that put those materials together, and so on. Dozens if not hundreds of people Continued on page 14

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March Op-Ed Contest Continued from page 13 could’ve been involved in making everything we buy. But the credit (and the profits) goes to the people who paid to start the company and those who run it. Apple made the iPhones. Elon Musk made the Teslas. Both make a lot of money. The problems with cinema and film criticism are a reflection of their capitalist surroundings. When we credit a film to a studio, we see it as merely a commodity, a product, a way of making money. When we praise a director for a film, we resort to ideas

of liberal individualism that, contrary to their promises, disregard the agency of everyone who worked on a film. Both of these attitudes play into the way we think about not only film but the world around us. We must, then, make and think about movies differently. We should reject the commodification of film in favor of the democratization of it and embrace the communal nature of the medium instead of the rigid hierarchy of capitalism. We need films but we don’t need studios or directors.

Why the World Would End if Potatoes Disappeared

By JIEFEI ZHAO and ALEX ELIA

n Ireland in 1855, a lack of potatoes caused a famine that killed up to 1 million people. Potatoes sustained the Incan army, fueled European countries’ efforts to conquer new land, and gave rise to modern food production. Throughout history, potatoes have saved lives and supported populations, and they continue to do so today. Without potatoes–a simple, substantial tuber–the world would surely perish. Presently, according to the Agricultural Market Resource Center, potatoes are the fourth most important crop in the world and the leading vegetable crop in the United States. The value of U.S. potato production is currently over $3.9 billion, and it creates hundreds of jobs. The potato industry, primarily run by family farms, supports countless communities around the U.S. Every year, the United States exports and imports billions of pounds of potatoes, which contribute to a large fraction of the world’s production and consumption of food. In 2020, the average American citizen consumed 30.6 pounds of potatoes alone. But not only are potatoes a staple food, they’re also a comfort for many people. “Potatoes are absolutely my reason for being alive,” says IHS 9th grader Carly Hare. Potatogrower. com says that 55 percent of Americans rank potatoes as their favorite comfort food. And comfort food consumption goes up in times of stress, such as during a global pandemic. With humans under as much stress as ever, they rely on potato forms such as

french fries, mashed potatoes, and chips as an important coping mechanism. Mr. Kirk, a Geometry and AP Statistics teacher at IHS and person who is “willing to go on record as a potato lover” says, “I would say that potatoes are one of the most versatile foods...You can do anything with them.” But by no means is this a bad thing, because potatoes are also healthy! A study done by Harvard scholars states that “potatoes provide more calories, vitamins, and nutrients per area of land sown than other staple crops.” These amazing vegetables contain nearly all the important vitamins and nutrients that we need to survive. The study also says that “the spread of the potato culture everywhere corresponded with the rapid increase of population.” Where potatoes go, civilization follows. A highly efficient crop, potatoes are the foundation of our lives and our diets. Modern society was built on potatoes, and if this foundation was ripped out, the rest of the world would soon crumble down with it. Imagine a world without potatoes. The economy gutted, a favorite comfort food gone. Without money, comfort, nor nutrition, humans would have no stability. The world would descend into anarchy, and society as we know it would collapse. So next time you eat a potato, remember how prevalent it is in our world, because that brown starch-filled lump deserves much more credit than you give it.

Why Abstinence-Only Sex Ed is Literally the Dumbest Thing Ever By HANNAH SHVETS

ow is abstinence-only education still considered a viable and realistic method for keeping teenagers safe from pregnancy and STIs? As of February 2022, only 26 US states and DC have laws in place mandating sex and HIV education. Even these states don’t provide sufficient education; it’s mostly on contraceptives, and 28 states require that abstinence (the decision to not have sex) be stressed or encouraged. Although abstinence may be the “most effective birth control,” all the recent research that has been done shows just what

a ridiculous approach it is to keeping adolescents safe. In fact, states that place a bigger emphasis on abstinence also (unsurprisingly) have some of the highest teen pregnancy and birth rates. When you think about it logically, it completely adds up. What educator genuinely believes that wagging their finger at hormone-high teens will keep them from having sex? At the end of the day, teenage years are a time of some of the first intimate relationships that inevitably become physical, which is in no way a bad thing. Exploring your sexuality as a young person, forming stronger connections with your partner, and learning about what you enjoy and don’t enjoy are all vital experiences to take with

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you into adulthood. Schools must begin thorough sex education before most students begin having sex, so middle school is an ideal time. Sex-ed honestly should be a class of its own; one short unit in health is rushed and completely insufficient. There’s so much that has to be taught, from consent, to contraception, and to anatomy (especially anatomy of those with vaginas so we can finally bridge the orgasm gap; yes, it’s a real thing and I suggest you read about it)!! Sex positivity in the home can also be a game changer. So many parents of teens try to “protect” their children with arbitrary rules like “no boys in your room,” others don’t allow their kids who are about to graduate to sleep over at the house of their significant other. By the end of high school, the majority

of people have had at least some sort of sexual experience and it’s naïve to think an open door to their room will stop them. Instead, parents should respect the privacy of their children and trust them; when a home is sex positive, one is more likely to feel safe coming to their parents with questions, asking for condoms or birth control, or sharing their sexual assault experiences. One of the biggest issues with pushing kids into abstinence is when people grow up thinking sex is “dirty,” and later in life, after experiencing some form of assault or rape, feel ashamed and uncomfortable telling their loved ones. As I’m running out of words, I’ll end my argument with this: encouraging abstinence is stupid and doesn’t work. Abolish abstinence-only education! Let teens be teens, and enjoy their blooming years while staying safe and protected.

My 21st Century Judaism Rejects Zionism, and Yours Should Too By RAIA GUTMAN

sk one of your Jewish classmates about their own Judaism, and you’ll probably hear Israel mentioned. The affirmation that they’re Jewish might be followed by a statement like “I visit Israel every summer.” For not only religious but nondenominational American Jews as well, Israel has become central to Judaism. Zionism—an ideology of political nationalism for Jews focusing on establishing a state in what was known up until 1948 as Palestine—has become so essential an expression of Judaism that those who oppose it are often accused of opposing Jews themselves. This was not always our reality. A connection to the Land of Israel—both historically and religiously—is undeniably a feature of Judaism. However, identification with and reverence for a Jewish state is a modern phenomenon. As American Jews searching for a 21st-century Jewish identity, we must recognize the harm Zionism has inflicted and reject it. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration dedicated territory for a Jewish homeland in the British Mandate of Palestine. Over the next thirty years, Zionist Jews from Europe began to settle in Palestine to escape persecution in Europe. Their settlements and new economy excluded and disrupted the way of life of Arabs already living in Palestine. After the Holocaust, the United Nations decided to partition the region into two Arab and Jewish states, a resolution that was supported by the Jewish community of Palestine and strongly opposed by the Arab community. This led to Israel declaring its independence in 1948 and the simultaneous expulsion of at least 700,000 Arabs, an event known as the Nakba. Since then, Israel has grown into a highly militarized state funded by the United States that holds Jewish supremacy as a core tenet. In 2018, Israel passed a Basic Law, equivalent to a constitutional amendment in the US, that holds that “the right to exercise national self-determination” is “unique to the Jewish people.” Racial discrimination against Arabs along these lines has led countless human rights experts and organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, to

accuse Israel of apartheid. Given its bloody history and justification of current racist actions, Zionism is not an ideology anyone should want to stand behind. So why is it so important to Jews? Part of the reason is the intergenerational trauma inflicted by the Holocaust. Fear motivates security, and security harms those seen as a threat. While a desire for safety is understandable, and Jews’ well-being must be protected, prioritizing it above another group’s very existence is inexcusable. We must find a route to safety that does not invest in state power or imperialism. The answer, I believe, is in the diaspora. Jews have existed in a diasporic state since the 6th century BCE. While our diasporic history involves expulsion and pogrom, it also reveals a triumph in dispersion and the importance of diasporic existence to Jewish religion and culture. Diasporism is a commitment to the pursuit of justice wherever injustice is found, rather than to the pursuit of a nation-state with secure borders.

Untitled 3 by Ruby Zawel

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“Just Gardening”: Ecology, Capitalism, and Saving the World By ELI MCKENZIE

he great Brazilian trade unionist and environmental activist, Chico Mendes, once said, “Ecology without class struggle is just gardening.” Ecology, in a basic sense, is the study of the relationships between organisms and their inorganic environment. Ecological theorist Murray Bookchin developed the idea of social ecology, which is meant to be both a method for critiquing the rift between humans and nature and also for repairing it. Borrowing from the philosopher Hegel, Bookchin advocates for policies of “unity in diversity” to both provide stability and growth to the ecological world. Social Metabolism is a Marxian concept that refers to the process whereby humans get energy and other resources from nature and then, at least in a pre-capitalist world, renew those resources. But capitalism has brought about a “metabolic rift.” Basically, when humans obtained resources from nature for the majority of our history, we would return most of the materials and energy we consumed right back to our ecosystem. Even after humanity developed agriculture, the resources they used would stay in the same areas and eventually return to the earth. Under capitalism, on the other hand, resources travel increasingly far from where they were harvested. This not only leads to humanity becoming alienated from nature but also to degradation of natural equilibrium. Sociologist John Bellamy Foster adds to the eco-Marxist critique of capitalism. Capitalism necessitates expansion. This means the increased extraction and accumulation of resources. That process leads to the exploitation of both people and the

Earth. Capitalism tends to destroy its two sources of wealth: nature and human beings. This destruction, Foster argues, occurs both in long periods, like the rising sea levels and acidification of the oceans, and in short-term crises, like hurricanes and oil spills. But while it might seem like the market might learn its lesson from frequent disasters, the opposite is true. Foster essentially argues that ecological crises aren’t a flaw but a feature of capitalism. They actually grow the economy. For example, the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill incident spilled almost $10.5 million worth of oil. The cost of cleaning that all up, however, was about $7 billion. The spill added almost 670 times more to the global economy than the oil ever would have. Marx writes in Capital Vol. III that the world should be organized such that “an entire society, a nation, or all simultaneously existing societies taken together, are not the owners of the Earth. They are simply its possessors, its beneficiaries, and have to bequeath it in an improved state to succeeding generations as boni patres familias [good heads of the household].” Only in this way, he argues, can the world be sustainable. Foster similarly argues that “the healing of the earth can only occur through the restoration of the elementary triangle of ecology under an egalitarian and sustainable socialist society.” Class struggle and the transition to a socialist economy are the only effective way of achieving ecological health and a stable climate. Anything less is “just gardening.”

Kurt Hummel Walked So Pinocchio Could Run By LUNA KING-O’BRIEN

t’s no lie that there needs to be more LGBTQ+ depiction in media. Even Josh Gad’s groundbreaking performance in Disney’s “Beauty in the Beast,” where he danced with another man doesn’t provide enough representation. And this was after RuPaul! Gay characters are usually reduced to supporting roles or one-liners. However, media like But I’m a Cheerleader (about a girl who discovers she’s gay by seeing a lesbian for the first time), Moonlight (a beautiful film but classic diversity pick for self-proclaimed “film buffs,” or single, white, unshaven men), Love, Simon, Circumstances, Grace and Frankie, Modern Family, Angels in America, Queer Eye, Friends, and Ellen all are included in the list that famously includes queer characters. But, just like some of my female science teachers, some films are more subtle about their gayness. “Fatherrrr when can I leave to be on my ownnnn!” Sound familiar? You may have heard this viral clip to the trailer of “Pinocchio: A True Story,” the latest Pinocchio adaptation on TikTok (another Pinocchio?!). A True Story is a Russian animation, dubbed by none other than the national treasure Pauly Shore. Shore is a comedian of the 90s, starring in nothing I’ve ever heard of, besides his inventive role as the “Unruly Bar

Patron” in an episode of Beverly Hills. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if at a press conference he leaves the wooden, all-telling nose behind. “Yes, I’m straight. No, I didn’t realize I’d ever queer bait in a kids movie! No, I’d never want to profit on acting GAY.” (Booooop.) Shore brings an extra note of sass to the project, discarding the high-pitched screech that Pinocchio is most famous for, and replacing it with a whinier impression of Roman Roy from Succession. However, it’s important to note that Shore identifies as a straight man, which directly contradicts his character as well as slinks to the back of the long list of LGBTQ characters that are played by straight/cis actors. Pinocchio was never written as gay. The 1940s weren’t as progressive as 2022. However, there is reasonable evidence to conclude that the wooden figure is a queer trailblazer. First of all, Pinocchio is told over and over, throughout the film, that he is not a real boy. It’s practically a manifesto to the gay experience. The invalidation and erasure that’s been common for centuries is a series known all too well by the community, especially to trans and nonbinary folks. Not to mention, Pinocchio has an uncanny resemblance to Elio in the controversial, highly acclaimed film, Call Me by Your Name; they both live in Italy. The wooden boy also appears in the Shrek franchise having marginalized fairytale creatures. If there was a Pinocchio musical made in the

OPINION golden age of movies-to-Broadway (Legally Blonde, Cats (?)), Kurt Hummel would cover a song from the show in a special epi-

sode of Glee dedicated to celebrating queer culture (Drag queens, Stonewall, Madonna, gay bars…).

Sleeping With Socks On Is a Crime Against Humanity By HANNAH SHVETS

t’s 12:30 a.m. and you’re getting into bed after a long day of wanting to die because of your AP Chemistry class. You brush your teeth, and put your retainers in, and then you put on your socks—wait. No, stop right there; you put on your socks? Why in god’s name do you put on socks to sleep? There’s a recent epidemic of sock-sleep-wearing and sock-sleep-wearing-apologists, and it must come to an end. Overall, I’d say I’m pretty anti-sock. They’re restrictive and uncomfortable and always make me late to my bus (if I didn’t have to wear socks, I would make it out the door on time!!). Nonetheless, I admit there are reasons to wear socks outside of the house; to prevent blisters, smelly shoes, that sort of thing. However, there is NO reason to sleep in socks. And don’t pull that “my feet are cold” BS. Blankets exist for a reason and the true masters of sleep know the correct way of arranging your blanket in a way that your feet are wrapped up like a cocoon. See, no socks needed!

Although there are few reasons to wear socks, there are many, many reasons to not wear socks. Some of these include: it’s weird, they’ll always come off at night anyways and you wake up with socks all over your bed, they keep your feet from breathing, et cetera. All day long, your feet are oppressed by society’s obsession with shoes. They struggle to breathe and get sweaty and disgusting trapped in their makeshift prisons. Night is a time to let go, to let your body out of its bounds. The socks must come off. To this you may say: this argument applies to clothes just as much! Are you saying we should sleep naked? My response is: yes, if your personal situation allows for it. It’s obviously uncomfortable to sleep naked if your parents like to walk in your room, but loose or limited clothing is always a good bet. You should try it, and no, you won’t be cold, because blankets exist. Clothes and shoes and socks are a capitalistic scheme and we must fall for it no longer. Free your feet—sleep with no socks.

Why Tofu is Better Than You By SIRAN JIA

ofu. Everyone’s heard of it, but not enough people give it the admiration and worship it deserves. Some “people” think that tofu is too bland. Well, I say to those “people” that you’ve probably never tried tofu broiled, boiled, fried, dyed, baked, as cake, as just the skin, as teriyaki balls, stuffed with sauce, stuffed and tossed, in greasy moss, under palest watch, in the forbidden sky, an all-consuming eye, ceaselessly watching, bidding for the day, the day of judgment come, and made using all sorts of other fun recipes. In fact, there are infinite permutations of tofu varieties. You won’t need to eat anything else in your life again! History buffs, listen up! Tofu has a rich history, dating back over 2,000 years to the Han dynasty. Compare that to hamburgers, which are only a hundred years old. That means that tofu has been refined and improved for over 2000 percent longer than hamburgers. Think you wanna save the world? Meat accounts for 83 percent of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in a European diet (that’s you statistically speaking). Cut out that meat for meat substitutes made out of tofu, and suddenly you’re Captain Planet! Here’s the real kicker: we feed most of our soybeans (tofu) to animals. If the stupid capitalists figured out that y’all wanna eat tofu instead, they would start feeding all those soybeans to humans, and end global hunger overnight. Gamers out there: John Tofu, inventor of tofu, specifically made tofu squares to pay homage to his favorite game, Minecraft (epic). And if you’re a double epic cryptobro, guess what? Your testosterone lowers your financial investment abilities (cringe). Swap out that testosterone for estrogen (found in soy products) like a sigma male, and suddenly you’ll be drowning in dogecoin

NFTs. Still not convinced? Eating tofu lowers your chances of getting cardiovascular disease, breast and prostate cancer, and improves kidney function. In addition, it will finally make your father proud of you. There you have it: irrefutable proof that tofu is the best food on Earth and 133 percent more worthy of the Throne of Gondor than you. If you have any questions or complaints, don’t hesitate to send a letter to 3R7J+5Q6, Pyongyang, North Korea. Peace!

Patterns by Ella Keen Allee

OPINION / FEATURES

Watch Local By SAM SACHS

es, I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters. And, based on the $1.6 billion it has made so far at the global box office, there’s a pretty decent chance you did too. Sure, it’s important to support movies you care about at big name-brand chain multiplexes, but it’s important to remember that they’re not the only option. Local independent theaters have long been the ideal place to immerse yourself in the diverse worlds independent film has to offer. These small theaters, like other small businesses, have really struggled during the pandemic. In the small city where I live, many store owners had to close their doors for months, or in some cases, permanently. While these institutions might have higher prices or more limited hours than their omnipresent big-box competitors, it’s crucial to remember the advantages of staying local. Tomoko Ogura of independent clothing brand Vince, quoted in Forbes, reminds us that supporting independent businesses is a way of investing in the future of the spirit and well-being of one’s community. In addition, local purchasing means interacting with actual people and building real connections, which online shopping and big chains remove entirely. All of this and more goes for independent movie theaters just like any other restaurant or store: staying local enriches your community.

Additionally, with the current streaming service boom, it’s easy to forget how the movie business evolved in the first place— that is, as a communal experience at a theater. All the quarantined watching on TVs and laptops has caused so many to forget that there’s nothing quite like seeing a film on a room-size screen with other patrons around to experience in real-time whatever story you’ve chosen to attend. The New York Times’ Ben Kenigsberg explains that the sound depth and quality, screen resolution, and lack of distraction all add up to a wholly different experience than living room viewing. Moreover, since the 1990s, some of the most compelling contemporary storytellers have utilized independent cinema as their medium of choice, creating films designed for the intimacy of a smaller theater. Yes, I saw Spider-Man, but I am also a frequent visitor to my local independent theater, Cinemapolis, which has featured a plethora of great recent movies, like the quiet drama Pig or the Japanese animated Belle. So, next time you’re thinking of opening up Netflix to look for the evening’s entertainment, consider your other options. The pandemic has been hard for individuals and businesses alike. Now more than ever, I urge you to do the research, support your community, and, if it is safe, go to a movie. I’ll see you there.

Immortal Art: The Graffiti Around IHS By NATALIE PATRONE

t is hard to find a bathroom in IHS that is not covered from floor to ceiling with graffiti. Many current and former IHS students have added to the large collection of sharpied works that pepper our walls. Some are explicit condemnations of the school system; some are quirky and whimsical doodles; some are heartfelt and anonymous confessions. Undeniably, there is something very personal and intimate about viewing graffiti that someone else has created. The creation of graffiti has spanned for thousands of years and is originally derived from the Italian verb graffiare (“to scratch”), the method by which the Ancient Romans used to create their graffiti. Reading the graffiti created almost two millennia ago is surprisingly familiar: There are plenty of insults (Epaphra doesn’t play football well); but there’s also a poetic romance to it as well (If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girlfriend). Reading the scribbles of Ancient Romans is a heady experience due to the obvious closeness to what we could see written on the bathroom stalls today. Archaeologists and historophiles aren’t the only ones who are seemingly fascinated by graffiti, however, as a prolific Instagram account has emerged recently. The content of this account? Hundreds of pictures of graffiti that were found around IHS. The account is run by an IHS student and filled with images of various drawings and writings that were captured by other IHS students.

The account has over 60 posts and 300 followers at the time this article was written. I’ve sat down with the creator of the Graffiti of IHS account (@ihs.graffiti on Instagram) and asked them some questions about their views and experiences with graffiti: Natalie Patrone: When did you start your account? @ihs.graffiti Account Creator: Let’s see, the first post was November 18, 2021; I think I made it around then, too. NP: What motivated you to do so? @ihs.graffiti: I had been taking pictures of graffiti around IHS to send to friends and post individually, and with the increase in the amount of IHS accounts, I decided that it would be something fun to do. NP: What, in your opinion, are the positive aspects of graffiti? @ihs.graffiti: I think that it can brighten someone’s day. Sometimes I’ll see something funny written in the bathrooms, and I’ve seen a lot of people writing about their issues and someone else will respond by saying “You can do this!” or they say something

FEATURES positive in response. NP: What, in your opinion, are the negative aspects of graffiti? @ihs.graffiti: I think that I’ve seen a lot of graffiti that’s very negative. For instance, I’ve seen people talking about their substance abuse issues or feelings of depression—that can be sad to see for some people. There’s also a lot of negative things about IHS written, which I usually choose not to post. I haven’t really seen any graffiti about a specific student at IHS, but I’ve seen it about teachers. Sometimes, it’s just outright mean and I choose not to post that, even if someone sent it in. NP: Do you have a favorite piece of graffiti that you’ve seen? @ihs.graffiti: Let me look at my account because there’s a lot there… There’s a really big thing on the downstairs G handicapped bathroom door and it says I LOVE WOMEN—that’s one of my favorites. There’s someone who draws these little…I don’t even know what they are. They say “Raaa!” It’s all over the school. I like those too.

Recently, a new and recurring piece of graffiti has started to emerge around the school in the form of both penciled doodles and printed stickers. The stickers use a dark contrasting palette and have a little character drawn on them, as well as the word OBEY. These stickers were placed around the school and you can see them everywhere from walls to windows to even phone cases and Chromebooks. The creator of this specific graffiti trend agreed to answer some of my questions about their work: Natalie Patrone: How did the creation of the OBEY bird start? OBEY bird creator: Well, It started with a p*nis. My friend drew a very crude p*nis on my piece of paper and I basically saw eyes and a beak so I added pupils, one facing to the left one to the right. Then I put a tuft of hair above it and I put an oval for the body and added legs. It was a very fast doodle and I drew it around the school and even made it into a sticker. It took on the OBEY because I wanted to use the style of Shepard Fairey’s artwork, which is just a closeup of a very simplified picture of André the Giant’s face, and under it is the word “obey” written in a big, blocky font. NP: Are you the only one drawing OBEY birds, or are there others? OBC: There’s one other person who I taught how to draw it. It took a while for him to learn how to draw it. His one looks a bit different, the beak is more rounded, so there’s only one other person who draws it. NP: How do you view graffiti? Is it ever ethical? OBC: To me, graffiti is just a very simple way to spread ideas or work anywhere, or say you were in some place at some time. There are some hate speech or hate symbols that people draw around, which is when it becomes bad in my opinion. There is one person I know who goes to this one school where pretty much every single hate symbol is drawn on the walls. There’s only one hate symbol around IHS that I’ve seen. Just drawing little characters you create is just a fun way to express yourself.

“Raaa!” creature, courtesy of @ihs.graffiti account

NP: Have you ever created graffiti? @ihs.graffiti: No, not here.

NP: Do you have any additional comments that you would like to share? OBC: This OBEY bird came from a little spurt of creativity and from a crude drawing, but I also wanted to create a cute drawing that was a little bit meaningful to me, specifically. I wanted to draw something around the school that was wholly my own and let others experience it. Since I made it, there are people I don’t even know who take stickers off the walls and put them on their phones. I think it makes me happy just putting it somewhere and having someone see it and think it’s cool, and if anyone thinks the OBEY thing is weird, it’s just a satire. It’s a funny little character, like why would you obey that? Even if graffiti can brighten the creator and viewer’s day, the creation of graffiti has obvious negative effects. Mr. Trumble has agreed to speak on the administration’s view of graffiti and the cost it takes to clean it up.

Sharpied OBEY Bird, courtesy of @ihs.graffiti account

Continued on page 20

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Immortal Art: The Graffiti Around IHS Continued from page 19 Natalie Patrone: What is your role at this school and what do you do to fulfill this role? Jason Trumble: My name is Mr. Trumble. I’m the principal and I fulfill this role by being here every day to make sure that students and staff have what they need to be successful. NP: There is a lot of graffiti that can be found around IHS. How do you view graffiti? JT: I view graffiti as being highly disruptive. I view graffiti as being disrespectful. I think there are a lot of mechanisms for students [to express themselves] through murals, writing, acting, athletics, debate, and social media. There are all kinds of ways in which students can express their opinion in forms that are not hurtful to the high school or its community. When somebody creates graffiti, it assumes that people are okay with looking at that, and that’s not the case. To have custodians that are busy cleaning up twelve buildings and making sure that they’re a safe space. They have a hard time cleaning graffiti, so it distracts them from what they are doing. There’s also a money factor there. A custodian has to spend half an hour a day, or a couple of hours a day cleaning it. It’s discouraging. It’s as if someone painted something on your house, on your wall, your porch, or your fence that you didn’t approve of. NP: How often does the school clean up graffiti? JT: When we learn of it, we clean it up right away. In other words, teachers and students do a good job of either writing to me or another administrator saying, “Hey, you’ve got some graffiti in this bathroom” or “Something brand new happened outside of the school” so they report it. There are things out there that are highly difficult to get off the building as well. It’s not just a matter of coming in and spraying something on it. Permanent markers can do a lot of damage. NP: Do you have an estimation of the cost that it takes to clean up graffiti? JT: I don’t, but again, formulaically, you would figure that out by taking the custodial staff and saying how much time during the day, or during the week cleaning things up that someone intentionally put there. It’s gotta be a high price tag if you’re asking somebody to stop their regular job and clean up behind somebody. NP: In your opinion, are there other creative methods that teens can explore instead of graffiti? JT: We have art classes and all kinds of ways for students to express themselves in ways that can be understood, appreciated, and heard. Teachers can provide opportunities for students to express themselves in meaningful ways. Researching, debating, writing papers, having interviews, having experts come in and talk, having art contests. I mean, when you go through downtown Ithaca on Route 13, you have all kinds of buildings with graffiti art, and it’s beautiful. But there’s a component that has been approved. That’s the fundamental difference. This entire

building has all kinds of student work all around it. It’s beautiful. When you walk into a restroom and you see disparaging or discouraging remarks, that’s hurtful. We can’t stand for that. NP: Do you have any extra comments you’d like to add? JT: My hope is that if there are avenues that we haven’t explored for students to voice their opinions or work with self-expression and artistry, then let’s find ways to do that. But again, putting something that’s hurtful on the wall is way different than doing approved artwork to have a strong sense of belonging. Graffiti is a highly controversial topic around IHS. For some, graffiti is important. It is often seen as a mode of expression; on the other hand, it can present a mess that needs to be cleaned up. For others, it’s just another doodle drawn on the wall. The cyclical nature of the creation and removal of graffiti at our school is a current issue that we must face. Further conversations should be had on this topic, which is clearly sensitive for many. Harmless doodles or otherwise, the remains of graffiti are visible for all to see, regardless of whether this is seen as a good or bad thing.

From the Archives: Excerpts from The Tattler Issues of Yesteryear Curated by ALICE BURKE

eep within the halls of IHS, at the end of the E-wing, one can find a very small, very pink room. This room is hidden to most—the number of students who have stepped foot in the room can be counted on a single hand. Although small and overlooked, this room holds some of the most enticing and unknown secrets of our school. For within these walls lie four average-looking filing cabinets that contain the annals of Tattler history, dating all the way back to 1892. Here follows a small selection. Read more online at https://tattlerarchive.wordpress.com/ Note: The current Tattler does not necessarily endorse the opinions published in historical Tattlers.

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March 10, 1961 “Spring Rain” It’s raining; A misty rain, A rain of Spring And countryside, A rain of dripping branches With swelling buds On chartreuse twigs. It’s raining; A singing rain, A rain of plows And furrows turned, A rain of ploshing horses’ hooves, Of dew-steamed breath From heaving sides. It’s raining; A youthful rain, A rain of birth And new-tried cries, A rain of warm and licking tongues, Of butting heads And frothy milk. March 18, 2008 “Ask The Pessimist” Dear Pessimist, He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves? - Friedrich Nietzsche Mr. Nietzsche, I find your question compelling, but I’m afraid the answer is no. Life is not a hundred times too short for anything. In fact, it is far too long and drawn out, filled with misery and despair. Boredom, of course, is part of our cruel existence. You make it sound like we can bore ourselves, but the sad truth is that boredom simply exists, like a haze in the air, constantly polluting our minds and motivation and … oh, never mind, I’m bored of trying to explain. Dear Pessimist, I’m nobody, who are you? - Emily Dickinson Ms. Dickinson, I’ve never endorsed drug use, although I think it accurately reflects our struggle for existence and the turmoil of our meaningless lives. You, clearly, have taken the next step and have immersed yourself in a mind-altering world, and your question, because it is chemically inspired, is utterly useless. However, for the sake of filling up space, I can answer it in a couple of different ways. First, the obvious: I am Wydo I. Bother,

also known as “The Pessimist,” a cynical, angry, and generally disagreeable fellow who slogs his way through life with excruciating glumness. The second way I can answer the question addresses the first part of your statement, “I’m nobody.” It is true that you are―excuse me for putting it bluntly―dead, deceased, pushing up the daisies, and so on. I am not dead, so my response in this light would be that I am somebody. Although this seems like it should be a moment of victory, frankly, I am exhausted. My brain is slowly going to shreds, or mush, or whatever imagery you choose to employ. In any case, I am going to stop thinking, officially, starting … now. “Crossover to the Extreme: A Look at Unusual Sports” I myself do not participate in extreme sports, but if I did, I would definitely try either Extreme Ironing or eXtreme Croquet. These two sports are unusual and relatively unknown, but they deserve their just recognition. In the world of stay-at-home mothers, nothing is more dangerous than Extreme Ironing. An activity that originated in England in 1997, Extreme Ironing (also known, in the enthusiast world, as EI) is the act of ironing clothing in a remote or dangerous location. Playing grounds for EI include in the middle of busy streets, while parachuting, and on top of speeding cars. The First Extreme Ironing World Championships were held in 2002 in Germany. Great Britain entered three teams, and one of them snagged the gold medal at the event. For international competitions, teams are awarded points by a panel of judges. The judges look for ironing creativity as well as finely made creases in the clothing. Without the well pressed shirts, but still packing a whole lot of adrenaline, is eXtreme Croquet. As a variation on the elitist lawn sport, eXtreme Croquet caters to a different crowd... the extreme crowd. It is played with basically the same rules as its parent sport, but with some special twists. The goal is still to use a two-sided mallet to hit little balls through small metal wickets. Whoever hits the ball through the set of wickets in the least number of strokes wins the round. However, in eXtreme Croquet, the setting is a little different. Instead of a clean-cut lawn behind a huge Victorian House in New England, an eXtreme Croquet match takes place in an area such as an overgrown forest, a swamp, or a beach. Roots and flowing water are preferable. In the world of eXtreme Croquet, there is no international governing body. Specifics vary from club to club, but the rules are fairly consistent. The rules exclusive to eXtreme Croquet include the use of any part of the mallet to advance your ball (the sport encourages the billiards style of striking), and the use of small children and animals to redirect shots. Because eXtreme Croquet is usually played in the presence of alcohol, the knocking over of another player’s beer gives a player another stroke. This act may also instigate an altercation, but it does give the player a better shot at winning. The emergence of eXtreme Croquet has revolutionized croquet equipment. Some clubs play with double-decker wickets: if you go through the upper level, you get extra shots. The mallets Continued on page 22

FEATURES

From the Archives: Excerpts from The Tattler Issues of Yesteryear Continued from page 21 are, in turn, manufactured with sloped edges to give the ball lift. This sport is always a good time. It’s an extreme endeavor without the danger, and can be a fun outing with friends. March 22, 2011 “Teacher Feature: Mr. Weissburg” Steve Weissburg’s first mathematical revelation came when he was observing his mother cut brownies. He realized that there was a relationship between the number of cuts and the resulting number of brownies. Based on this, Steve deduced his first formula―the number of brownies is equal to (n+1)(n+1), where n is the number of cuts, both horizontal and vertical. He was eight. Despite his obvious mathematical genius, Steve never wanted to be a math teacher: “The one thing I knew that I wasn’t going to do was set foot in a high school again.” After studying engineering in college, he joined the Peace Corps for two years. This was when he first encountered teaching: rather than build bridges and schools in Africa like he signed up for, he got a call telling him he would be teaching math to children―in French. Two challenging and interesting years later, Steve knew he still didn’t want to make teaching a career. He had various other jobs in the States―cabinet-making, carpentry―but it “wasn’t satisfying.” At the age of 30, he decided to become a teacher. When Steve applied for a job at IHS, people told him not to bother. The Math Department hadn’t hired people in years. Luckily, Steve was, as he said it, “in the right place at the right time.” He started out teaching Honors Geometry, his passion. The first year was very challenging because in the same year he also bought a house and his wife had a child. “It was an insane first year,” said Steve. Since then, he has never looked back. Almost everyone knows Steve as “the guy with the Converse shoes,” his trademark fashion statement. It started six years ago, when he was co-chair of the Math Department. Because students and teachers often wanted to discuss issues and ask questions, the two chairs wanted to divide the responsibility. They decided to each buy a gold pair of converse and wear them on alternating days, to let people know who to talk to. It worked so well that every year, they got a new pair. After 11 years of teaching, Steve has about 15 pairs of converse, because “people just give me sneakers;” he even has a pair autographed by a student who majored in math at Harvard. And finally, his favorite part of his job is teaching motivated, unique students at IHS. “The Insert” A Taiwanese woman married herself. On November 16, a bride was left standing at the altar…and could not have been more happy about that fact! 30-year-old office worker Chen Wei-yih sees this act as a commitment to love herself before she can begin to love others. The ceremony was a full wedding with all the usual components―minus a groom. Chen has been in several relationships and does not consider this marriage to be binding; meaning that she will still be free to marry whomever she chooses once she feels the time is right.

A man married a pillow. A Korean man named Lee Jin-gyu fell in love with a life-sized Japanese body pillow called a “dakimakura.” The pillow has the image of a cartoon character named Fate Testarossa on it, from an anime called Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. The 28-year-old man takes his pillow with him everywhere, and eventually got married to it. This is actually part of a broader cultural phenomenon. There is a growing subculture of men in Japan who engage in romantic relationships with pillows printed with cartoons. People who have difficulty with romantic relationships with real (3-dimensional) people instead find themselves attracted to 2-dimensional anime characters. March 28, 1934 “For Shelter, or Love?” At eventide a pilgrim came, And knocked at his beloved door. “Who’s there,” a voice within, “thy name?” “It is I,” he said, and knocked no more. “‘Tis well to ask the lodging of the sea, There’s no room for thee and me.” The pilgrim departed on his way. He dwelt with love upon the sea, And self-oblivion, and one day He knocked at his beloved’s door. “Who’s there” a reply came, “thy name?” “It’s yourself,” he replied― All thoughts of own gain gone. And suddenly the door opened wide. March 2014 “‘Fun’ Facts!” 1. Drowning in saltwater is different from drowning in freshwater. It takes longer, as saltwater draws blood out of cells into your lungs. You could drown in your own blood. 2. In a 2008 survey, 58 percent of British teens thought Sherlock Holmes was a real guy, while 20 percent thought Winston Churchill was not. 3. Nutella was invented during World War II, when an Italian pastry maker mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his chocolate ration. 4. In 1974, Basil Brown, a 48-year-old health food advocate from London, drank himself to death with carrot juice. 5. New Mexico State’s first graduating class in 1893 had only one student―and he was shot and killed before graduation. 6. African-Americans make up ten percent of the House of Representatives but only two percent of the Senate. 7. New Hampshire is the only state to have an all-female congressional delegation plus a female governor. 8. There was a third Apple founder. Ronald Wayne sold his ten percent stake for $800 in 1976.

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Hall Monitor By LORELLI CERVANTES

Do you have a catchphrase? If so, what is it?

Ben Czerwinski ‘24: “Good sh*t”

Cameron Greco ‘24: “brUh”

Bella Antes ‘22: “I forgot”

Mimi Chen ‘24: “That’s what she said”

Continued on page 26

24 Curated by FRANCES KLEMM

CENTERSPREAD

Graphics by YASMEEN ALASS

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Hall Monitor Continued from page 23

Flossie Martell-Glennon ‘24: “It’s kind of an issue”

Rhianne Rushing ’24: “Golly” (Gah-lee)

Ms. Marolia: *aggressively* “Hi!” to her students as they walk in everyday

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Code Red Is Ready to Rumble at Rapid React By CLARA WEBER

s someone in the Ithaca High School or ICSD community, the Code Red robotics team is something you’ve probably heard about. You may have friends in Code Red, and you may have seen some of their past projects, but do you really know what Code Red is? In short, Code Red is a team in the high school division of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an international organization dedicated to inspire young students to participate in STEM activities. As a school-affiliated club, Code Red is free to join and open to every high schooler at ICSD. Encompassing all levels from elementary to high school, FIRST provides amazing opportunities to students of all ages, including Code Red Robotics. Current Code Red president Andrew McCracken, a senior at LACS, has been hooked since eighth grade after attending a Code Red open house event. “I stayed because the experience and community isn’t like anything else,” McCracken says, noting that being in Code Red has taught him skills that he wouldn’t have learned in any other academic class. freshman members would agree. They gave rave reviews about being a part of Code Red, describing new experiences with learning how to use CAD (Computer-Aided Design) programs and machines, as well as participating in statistical analyses of part function. Their excitement and commitment to learning is a testament to the power of a student-led, hands-on experience. While Code Red is supervised by teachers and community members, these adults act as mentors for the largely independent student team. And all this teamwork and mentorship is not without objective. Each year, Code Red participates in the Finger Lakes Regional competition in Rochester, NY. They compete with other teams from other schools in their division to create a robot that can most effectively and efficiently navigate a set of point-based challenges. This year, the competition, Rapid React, includes two essential challenges: scoring points with a ball launched into a basket, and “climbing” a set of elevated bars. For the first challenge (scoring points by shooting gatorskin handballs), teams must first allow their robot to operate autonomously for fifteen seconds. After the allotted time is up, control of the robot is taken over by the drive team, members of each team that have been selected to operate the robot in the competition setting. The target for which teams are aiming has two physical levels. The lower level of the target, while easier to reach at its lower elevation, scores only one point, while the upper level scores two. Scoring points on the upper level almost necessarily requires a launching mechanism within the robot to actually shoot at the target. The balls, scattered around the playing field, can be acquired by the robots, or by team members, to be collected at designated terminals. As time in the competition runs out, the teams’ last challenge is to climb their robots up a set of bars, increasing in

height and point value. The objective for this challenge is to be able to get as high as possible as quickly as possible to leave more time for scoring points with the balls. For such a demanding competition, immense levels of preparation are essential. Code Red’s “build season” starts in early January and goes through February in anticipation of the March competition. Build season involves several teams and multiple phases of work to bring the robot to completion. The first step of any creative process is always brainstorming. The whole Code Red team divides up into specialized subteams to focus their energy on individual parts of the robot. Launch, Acquisition, Climb, and Field teams are vital to the prototyping process, creating and perfecting designs for specific aspects of the robot.

Mentor Mark Westwig (a Code Red alumnus, right) assists student Alex Duke Cardenas (left) in designing the active climb system. Foreground: Co-Build Team Manager Ben Armstead.

Acquisition team is what much of the primary challenge is based on. This team focuses on efficiently collecting the balls from the playing field for scoring points. To a human, picking something up from the ground is a trivial task, but for a robot, it’s an entirely different story. Acquisition team has to draw up designs for the mechanics of picking up the balls, holding onto them, and transferring them to the launcher mechanisms. Launcher team, being somewhat self-explanatory, is in charge of devising mechanisms for launching the balls on the playing field into the target hubs. This year’s model, according to Code Red administrator and launcher team member Steve Griffin ‘24, includes a curved chute that can be adjusted to shoot the ball at varying trajectories to get it into the second level hub. To be truly effective, the acquisition and launch mechanisms have to be as efficient and accurate as possible to score enough points in the primary phase of the competition. Continued on page 28

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Code Red Is Ready to Rumble at Rapid React Continued from page 27

Lukas Jander (head of the Launcher team) writes out prototype options for the launcher system.

Prototyping for the secondary phase of the competition falls to the Climb team. Climb, while usually one unified team, is divided into two sections this year to tackle the challenge: passive and active. Passive climb is theoretically not powered, while active climb requires power and motors and focuses on the upper rungs of the climb challenge. Development of this section requires replicas of the playing field for testing and revision of ideas, which the Field team handles. For every competition, blueprints for the playing field are released for replication by the FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) teams. Field team takes the released blueprints and models functional versions of the playing field for use in prototyping and testing. Following the prototyping process, final ideas are compiled and organized, allowing the Frame team to design a functional plan for packing each component into one cohesive vehicle. The Frame team works closely with the CAD team, who’s job is to translate each team’s designs into one 3D rendering of the final robot. While CAD and Frame are typically somewhat intertwined, their smooth partnership this year is amplified by the exceptional work of sophomore Luciné Barseghyan, the joint head of both teams. Since all of the physical parts for the robot are based off of the renderings of the CAD team, this blend of skill and expertise is especially advantageous.

ductions to the physical world, parts will be constructed into the final robot, which will then undergo testing and practice with the Strategy and Drive teams. These teams are also closely linked, as the Strategy team handpicks Code Red members to participate on the Drive team for operating the robot in competition. The Strategy team is also responsible for scouting at the competition, mingling with other teams, and figuring out potential allies for the finals. Of course, operation of the robot is not possible without the efforts of the Programming team, which is in charge of making the robot functional both autonomously and under human control. This team is able to hone their work on a practice robot before transitioning to perfecting it on the real thing after final fabrication. Code Red is eagerly anticipating the Finger Lakes Regional competition, set for the weekend of March 12. They were unable to attend a full, physical competition last year, and their competition was canceled almost immediately following their arrival in 2020. Naturally, hopes are high for this year. When I attended a build session in early February, I asked a few members of Code Red what they were looking forward to at the competition. Aside from winning, of course, answers varied. Expectedly, the freshmen I interviewed (Jennifer Zhao, Celene Sahoo, Alex Elia) are excited to see the culmination of their first appearance at the competition. Steve Griffin (10th grade, administrator) is hoping for successful launcher function, while Luciné Barseghyan (10th grade, Frame and CAD) is hoping for effective scouting and Albert Sun (12th grade, Programming) looks forward to seeing the vision system the robot, affectionately named “Red Zeppelin” this year, will be equipped with working. Annalise Thompson (10th grade, Build Team Manager) and Corey Hom (11th grade, Outreach Officer) are both looking forward to comparing the ideas and strategies of other teams and seeing all the other robot designs at the competition. Myron Brooks (11th grade, Documentation), realistically anticipating some amount of troubleshooting, hopes to have the resources to do so effectively. Declan Poles (12th grade, Machining) shares the sentiment of many, saying that he awaits watching Code Red’s teamwork and hard work pay off. You too can watch the culmination of all of Code Red’s efforts this year happen live, as the competition will be streamed on Twitch. For more updates on Code Red and the competition, check them out on Twitter @CRRteam639, Instagram @codered639, and YouTube under Code Red Robotics.

Various Code Red members and mentors work on prototyping (foreground), CAD (middle ground), and electronics (background).

Once designs make their rounds through Frame and CAD, they are sent to the Machining team. This group translates all of the 3D designs into physical parts for use in the robot. Ideally, no one part has to be machined more than once. After their intro-

(Left to right) Code Red freshmen Jennifer Zhao, Celene Sahoo, Alex Elia, and Peter Tchistyi discuss the launcher prototype (righthand table).

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The Tattler Editorial Staff Feature: Alice Burke By NATALIE PATRONE

and meeting new people. This year I became part of the Editorial Board. NP: What is your favorite thing about the role you have in The Tattler? Is there anything that you dislike about this role? AB: I really enjoy learning new things about IHS every single time I go into the archives room. You get to see different perspectives of people living at different points in history and how they viewed the world and all the opinions of people who are in our community who used to be students in this very building. I think all of that is really interesting. I also enjoy the archives room itself—it’s very peaceful and quiet and I like to chill there. If there’s anything I dislike, it’s that the archives are very disorganized. I don’t have the will or the time to try and organize it all. That makes it difficult to find some pieces sometimes. But it’s a really cool part of The Tattler and I’m glad that I’m able to do it. NP: Do you have a favorite excerpt from a past Tattler edition?

Alice Burke, photo by Hannah Shvets

lice Burke (she/her) is a junior at IHS. In addition to being very athletically and musically skilled, Alice has a very special and interesting role on the Tattler Editorial Board. Alice is the Archivist, and you can see her work every month in her recurring column, “From the Archives: Excerpts from The Tattler Issues of Yesteryear.” Natalie Patrone: What do you do as a member of the Tattler Editorial Board? Alice Burke: Every month, there’s something called the “From the Archives” column, which is in the Features section of The Tattler. I go into the archives room—which is a tiny little room in an alleyway off of E building, where there are volumes of the school paper all the way back to 1892, which is when it was first started—and I get to look through all of these old papers and choose selections from different issues to put in each month’s edition of The Tattler. I would look through something from 1894 about whatever was going on at that time, and then I would find a cool excerpt to put into this month’s newspaper. NP: When did you first get involved with The Tattler? AB: I started writing for The Tattler in grade nine, but not that much. In grade ten, I started writing a lot more for the school paper and would go to the writers’ meetings. I think that’s when I started to want to become an editor because I thought that The Tattler was a really cool space and I really enjoyed writing for it

AB: There was this one I found from an October issue on Ms. Craig. It was describing her as a witch that had severed heads in her classroom and was teaching a cult of students. It was really funny because I read it to her and she thought it was hilarious. I wanted to frame it! NP: What other extracurriculars are you a part of? AB: I am on the track team. I also do cross country and I play the violin. I’ve been playing the violin for twelve years now. I’m in the orchestra. I’m pretty much just a sporty, musical person who writes for the school newspaper. NP: What are your future plans for your involvement with The Tattler? AB: Next year I hope to be one of the main section editors of the paper because I think that’s a position I’d feel really happy to contribute to and I’d help other students write their best work for this newspaper. I’m also excited to see where the Tattler Board goes next year. Since there are so many seniors this year, we’re probably going to have a lot of new people coming onto the board. I’m excited to meet new people. NP: Do you have any comments for aspiring Tattler writers? AB: If you want to write for the school paper, just go for it. You don’t have to write long pieces, you don’t have to interview five Continued on page 30

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The Tattler Editorial Staff Feature: Alice Burke Continued from page 29 people on the origin of the universe. You could just write a couple of paragraphs or a small poem and that could be a really good place to start your Tattler experience. If you’re a writer and you want to be on the board, I’d advise you to write even more. Go to as many writers’ meetings as you can and try to be involved as much as possible with the newspaper. When the application process comes around in the spring, you’ll have a step up on the other people applying to the board. Interested in writing for The Tattler? Come to our next writer’s meeting on Wednesday, March 2 at 3:45 in H-Courtyard. Applications to be on the 2022-23 Tattler Editorial Board will be available in March and due on April 21.

Check Your Source: The Origin of the Word ‘Groovy’ By ADDIE HOULE-HITZ

for example. Popularized decades ago, it’s starting to make a comeback. But where (and why) did it even start being used? In the 1920s, the genre of jazz was in full swing (pun intended). The culture spread around the world and with it came jazz records. People began to try to find ways to describe jazz to friends and colleagues alike. Often they would refer to the groove, but that’s not entirely where this word comes from. Look up a picture of a vinyl record, and the first thing you will notice when looking closely is the indents and wide spaces that reside on it. When a needle runs along these indents in the vinyl, it transforms vibrations into electrical signals, which then are amplified by the speakers of a record player. These grooves, as they came to be known in the late 40s, were the primary source of how people got their music. Whether or not you owned a record player, radios became popularized—and later followed by radio shows and disk jockeys. With radios being how many listened to a wide variety of songs, the slang used by radio jockeys started to be picked up as well. In addition to referring to something as “hot” or “jive,” radio hosts would refer to a record as “groovy” to describe how good it was. As opposed to the Jazz Age, where someone would have to put an adjective before the word “groove,” the word simply became synonymous with a good record or piece of music. Eventually, that trickled into the common slang usage, and peaked in the early 1970s. But all good things must come to an end. The usage of the word plummeted after 1974, and continued to stay low until 2019, when it started to be picked up again. Today, the word is used in the same context as it was in the 70s, but now it has a slight “vintage” twinge to it. The comeback of “retro” things— such as record players and 90s fashion—applies to language, too. Groovy.

Image of a radio station, courtesy of RTBF

am—perhaps like some of you out there—a complete etymology nerd. Learning the origin of words and how they came to be is fascinating—especially when it comes to slang. Slang words have a tendency to fall in and out of fashion, their usage fluctuating over time. Words like ‘dude’ and ‘rad’ flow in and out of style, eventually becoming widely accepted as part of our everyday usage, and then suddenly dropping out of the lexicon. It’s strange to see words that were previously perceived as out of style come back into common usage. The history behind these words adds to the desire to use them and can be a fascinating conversation. Take the word “groovy,”

Untitled 1 by Kimily Bouché

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“Some poetry to fall back on”: The Literary Life (And Afterlife) Of the Great War By RUBY LaROCCA

n The Great War and Modern Memory, historian Paul Fussell makes a surprising claim about World War I: that the Great War was a “literary war”—meaning it emerged from, relied on, and generated works of literature. Fussell examines not only the poetry and prose produced in the Great War but the special literary quality of the war itself and of the men who fought in it. No war before or since has been fought by soldiers among whom it was common to be trained in the Classics, Latin and Greek, and even the long tradition of English verse. But Fussell goes further than simply acknowledging the soldiers’ literacy: He calls the war itself “vigorously literary.” In addition to the well-educated young soldiers produced by the unique collision of the ancient and modern in Victorian education, the circumstances of the war make the reader of modern history feel that the Great War was orchestrated by an artist—a feeling that Fussell establishes by illuminating the many examples of irony, contrast, and symbolism intrinsic to the war. Most people understand the Great War to be a four-year period of devastating conflict in the early 1900s, a time in modern memory that the world’s great powers were galvanized into political action by an assassination. To those competent historians, it may come as a surprise to hear that the war was not only a significant political event but also a crucial literary event. Of Fussell’s claims, the easiest to understand is that the soldiers of the Great War were exceptionally well-read. The “unparalleled literariness of all ranks who fought in the Great War” was not a fluke: “By 1914, it was possible for soldiers to be not merely literate but vigorously literary, for the Great War occurred at a special historical moment when two ‘liberal’ forces were powerfully coinciding in England. On the one hand, the belief in the educative powers of classical and English literature was still extremely strong. On the other, the appeal of popular education and ‘self-improvement’ was at its peak, and such education was still conceived largely in humanistic terms” (157). Middle and upper-class boys educated in the Late Victorian age and at the turn of the twentieth century—boys who would later fight on the Western Front—shared a common canon of foundational texts, and, for the first time, had a sense of national literature. By studying the British literary tradition they grew into young men brimming with common knowledge, repertoire, and interests. But the posh classes were not the only ones who benefited from this special moment in education: In the years preceding the war, there was an outpouring of support for self-education; working-class British lads turned to the newly-minted World’s Classics and Everyman’s Library volumes, introduced to England in 1901 and 1906, respectively. These fundamental texts printed cheaply as paperbacks for the layman completely

changed the conception of literature in a country known for its social distinctions and class hierarchies: the readers of these volumes had “no feeling that literature is not very near the center of normal experience, no sense that it belongs to intellectuals or aesthetes or teachers or critics” (158). Eventually, even the not formally-educated “had some poetry to fall back on” (168). And everyone fell back on the Oxford Book of English Verse—a compact edition printed on scritta paper, containing almost seven hundred years of English poetry. According to Fussell, “the Oxford Book of English Verse presides over the Great War in a way that has never been sufficiently appreciated” (159). The edition had the obvious virtues of containing centuries of pre-selected, chronologically ordered, and carefully anthologized poetry. But even more crucially, the Oxford Book was materially suitable for transportation to and around the war front: it was pocket-sized. This tremendous convenience in the trenches transformed the dynamic between the fighting men and poetry; its accessibility and materiality made it an invaluable possession. It was also the reference text for the up-and-coming poets of the time like Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and Edmund Blunden—poets of mixed educational and class backgrounds for whom the Oxford Book of English Verse consolidated the major work of their literary heroes into a portable edition that was their Bible from 1914 until death. The “instinctive and unapologetic” British intercourse with literature, combined with a new sense of accessibility to great books, kindled the personal literary fires of soldiers fighting in the Great War.

My copy of The Oxford Book of English Verse, 4’’ x 6’’—purchased at the Friends of the Library Book Sale, where all the best books can be found!

In addition to emphasizing the literary quality of British Great War soldiers, Fussell makes a broader claim about the war that is Continued on page 32

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“Some poetry to fall back on”: The Literary Life (And Afterlife) Of the Great War Continued from page 29 harder to understand: that the war itself has these same literary qualities. Saying that the soldiers are literary is one thing; saying that the war itself is literary is radically another. In order to substantiate this thesis, Fussell spends a great deal of time in The Great War and Modern Memory discussing qualities that one might expect to see on an English course syllabus, like “irony” and “juxtaposition.” Modern Memory swims against the current of standard textbook readings that conceive of the Great War as characterized solely “by a new geographical remoteness, mobility, rapidity, [and] complex technology” (221) that resulted in the deaths of millions. Within the context of this destruction and brutality, Fussell creates space for contradiction, nuance and beauty—which, counterintuitively, elevate the tragedy and grotesqueness of the war. Fussell’s investigation of the circumstances of the Great War turns up many examples of what we might call pointed juxtaposition. In the mud of the fields on which men die, red Flanders poppies grow. The genial sun rises and sets, Turner-esque, over the blasted wasteland. Young, healthy, beautiful lads (seemingly far from death) are sent willy-nilly to their slaughter. Or more ironical oppositions: Soldiers feed on memories of home, huddled in a damp dugout not twenty miles from familiar calm. Finding it hard to conceive of the war’s atrocities, writerly soldiers would “call upon Milton” to help themselves comprehend “that dread scene in terms suggesting the antithetical world of pastoral.” Siegfried Sassoon, notes Arthur E. Lane, was perfectly positioned to comprehend the dread scene by employing his memories of the pastoral: “Since his prewar background had been leisured and pleasant, Sassoon was all the more alert to the contrasts provided by the conditions of life at the front” (92). Fussell takes this point further, and argues for Sassoon’s memorialization of “the grinding daily contrasts which no line-officer ever forgets: those between ‘his’ ground and ours; the enemy and ‘us’; invisibility and visibility; his dead and ours; day rest and night labor; the knowledge born of the line and the ignorant innocence at home; the life of the line and the life of the Staff” (92). Ultimately, the starkest contrast the Great War poets explore is the difference between idyllic or unspoiled pastoral life and the suddenness and ugliness of death. Drawing on what remained of their pastoral Georgian literary training, soldier-poets understood the ironic contrast between visions of the idle merriment of shepherds in a bucolic landscape and the new visions that haunted their days and nights. A Latin phrase popular during the Great War, Et in Arcadia ego, suggesting ‘Even in Arcadia, I—Death—am to be found,’ captured the soldiers’ feeling that the shadow of death lurked in even in the most cheerful or carefree moments. Having pastoral visions in their minds, on their lips, while they faced bloody horrors created a remarkable new form of poetry. Sassoon’s poem “The Death Bed” depicts a wounded soldier facing his imminent death, and shows his skillful ability to juggle beauty and horror: He drowsed andand waswas aware of silence heaped He drowsed aware of silence heaped Round him,him, unshaken as the walls; Round unshaken as steadfast the steadfast walls; Aqueous like floating rays ofrays amber light, light, Aqueous like floating of amber

Soaring Soaring and and quivering quivering in the inwings the wings of sleep. of sleep. SilenceSilence and safety; and safety; and hisand mortal his mortal shore shore Lipped Lipped byby thethe inward, inward, moonless moonless waves waves of of death. death. … … ButBut death death replied: replied: “I choose “I choose him.” him.” So he So went, he went, And And therethere was silence was silence in the insummer the summer night; night; Silence Silence and safety; and safety; and the and veils theof veils sleep. of sleep. Then,Then, far away, far away, the thudding the thudding of theof guns. the guns. Here Sassoon contrasts “silence,” “steadfast walls,” “rays of amber light,” and the docile “wings of sleep” to the encroaching image of “death” lipping the mortal shore of a wounded young soldier. The penultimate line lulls us into contentment with “Silence and safety; and the veils of sleep” and then in the last line he gently reminds us of the sinister threat at hand: “Then, far away, the thudding of the guns.” This final couplet might evoke a later work, Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, in which, after an expected bombardment, “Guns were firing from the field behind the village and the shells, going away, had a comfortable sound” (Hemingway, 80). The entirety of the poem “To His Love” by Ivor Gurney is a suitable example of poetic contrast, but the final stanza is especially striking. The lover of a young soldier has died, a man whose “body was so quick” is now “not as you knew it”; the bereaved soldier decorates his unofficial gravesite with flowers: Cover him, cover soon! Coverhim him, cover him soon! And with thick-set And with thick-set Masses of memoried Masses of flowers— memoried flowers— Hide that red wetHide that red wet Thing I must somehow Thing I mustforget. somehow forget. In keeping with the Georgian (or even Romantic) tradition of pastoral imagery in poetry, many Great War poets (such as Gurney) chose to exaggerate the horrifying aspects of the war by contrasting it to the natural beauty of flowers, for example. In his remarkable poem “Break of Day in the Trenches,” Isaac Rosenberg delivers several potent examples of contrast. The speaker addresses a “droll” rat that has leapt into his hand: It you seems you inwardly as you pass It seems inwardly grin as grin you pass Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes Strong eyes, fine limbs, haughty athletes Less chanced than you for life, Less chanced than you for life, Bonds to the whims of murder, Bonds to the whims of murder, Sprawled in the bowels of the earth, Sprawled in the bowels of the earth, The torn fields of France. The torn fields of France. The rat, ironically, has a better chance of living than these young, strong men. Their beautiful features will soon be scattered and torn, just like the fields. Finally, soldier-poets captured how the Great War introduced a dichotomy between civilians and soldiers. Civilians would have never been to the Front or fought, immediately disqualifying them from any first-person experience of war. However, The Great War “was perhaps the first time in history that official poli-

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cy produced events so shocking, bizarre, and stomach-turning that the events had to be tidied up for presentation to a highly literate mass population” (178). The Imperial War Cabinet ordered the strict censorship of soldiers’ letters home. Officers and chaplains would censor letters on the frontlines, excising any information that might be useful to the Germans—and any information that might give the civilians back home an all-too-accurate sense of conditions at the Front. Any writing that showed signs of disillusionment or discontent could be legally discarded.

Wilfred Owen’s censored letters.

The causes of civilian incomprehension were numerous. In addition to the blatant censorship of soldiers’ letters, there was immense pressure on the press to print only patriotic and romantic portrayals of the war. Headlines and articles about the war were wholesome, optimistic, heroic, and contained no gruesome details—which allowed the war to be further celebrated. A correspondent for the Times depicts “Tommy” as “well-fed, warm, safe, and happy—better off, indeed, than at home” (87). The war office devised even more cunning ways of limiting the information that escaped from the frontlines. The introduction of the “Field Service Post Card” (the precursor to the modern bureaucratic ‘form’) divided and alienated soldiers and civilians even further. Designed to quickly inform eager loved ones of a soldier’s health or infirmity, the Post Card was simple and efficient—no personal sentiments were allowed to be added.

A typical Field Service Post Card.

Civilians might have been able to understand soldiers’ conditions if the soldiers themselves weren’t unwilling, hesitant, or rendered unable to write truthful accounts of their experiences. When writing letters home, soldiers would themselves excise the most horrific parts of their day in an effort to preserve the peace of mind of loved ones. “Ironically,” Fussell writes, “the reticence which originated in the writers’ sympathy for the feelings of their addressees was destined in the long run simply to widen the chasm of incomprehension which opened between them” (183). Perhaps it was out of sympathy, as Fussell says, or perhaps it was out of self-preservation that soldiers would self-censor; maybe by speaking elliptically or romanticizing their experiences soldiers could more easily sublimate the atrocities they faced. Alexander Gillespie, for example, sent a letter home in which he so emphatically adopts the idea of the heroic soldier that the letter, while mournful, is stripped entirely of bloody detail: I wandered about among the ghostly cherry trees all in white, and watched the star-shells rising and falling to north and south. Presently a misty moon came up, and a nightingale began to sing…It was strange to stand there and listen, for the song seemed to come all the more sweetly and clearly in the quiet intervals between the bursts of firing. There was something infinitely sweet and sad about it, as if the countryside were singing gently to itself, in the midst of all our noise and confusion and muddy work…So I stood there, and thought of all the men and women who had listened to that song, just as for the first few weeks after Tom was killed I found myself thinking perpetually of all the men who had been killed in battle—Hector and Achilles and all the heroes of long ago, who were once so strong and active, and now are so quiet. Gradually the night wore on, until the day began to break, and I could see clearly the daisies and buttercups in the long grass about my feet. Then I gathered up my platoon together, and marched past the silent farms to our billets. In short, the soldiers’ very ability to be elliptical, romantic, and “literary” sometimes got in the way of their ability to describe, in a way their friends and family could understand, the horrors they were living through. Civilians at home—relying on letters for factual testimony about the war—were convinced that their boys were living out the fantasy of the Romantic Hero. It is supremely ironical that the soldiers contributed to civilians’ inadequate understanding of what being at war was like—that they themselves originated much of the incomprehension they encountered as returning veterans. Having a rich literary tradition in their heads helped the soldiers survive and make sense of the war, but in a strange way it also robbed them of an audience who could understand their actual experiences. Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of England during World War I, “was convinced that if the war could once be described in accurate language, people would insist that it be stopped” (174). Ironically, Lloyd George did have the power to stop the war, as the young soldiers struggling to describe it—with coherence and irony, with a view of innocence ravaged and destroyed—did not.

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Euphoria: Realistic Portrayal or Glamorization? By HANNAH SHVETS

A still from Euphoria featuring the main character, Rue, played by Zendaya, courtesy of Variety

Content Warning: the following article will have spoilers for recent episodes of Euphoria, as well as mentions of potentially triggering topics including drug addiction, sexual assault, and more. Please read with caution!

very Sunday at 9 p.m. EST, the screens of countless teenagers light up as they view the week’s episode of Euphoria. Currently in its second season and mesmerizing audiences everywhere, Euphoria is a show about drug addiction, navigating the often abusive and complicated relationships of high school, and coming to terms with one’s gender, sexuality, and overall identity. The biggest question that has stumped viewers and critics is whether or not the show actually glamorizes and encourages substance abuse and harmful behaviors, or if it simply shows the reality of adolescent years. There isn’t a black and white answer; the show can have both effects. Overall, I believe the writers have made purposeful choices throughout the show to portray the pain and trauma that’s caused by being an addict or being a loved one of an addict, as well as the feeling of being trapped in an unhealthy relationship because of the love one may feel for their abuser. Each episode also covers important teenage issues like self-love (or lack thereof), the pressure placed on women to sexualize themselves as a way of making themselves more “worthy” or “valuable,” struggling with one’s queer identity, sexual assault, and the confusion that comes with these hormone-heavy, confusing years. The most prominent theme in Euphoria is Rue’s (played by Zendaya) drug addiction and how it slowly takes over her life, her friendships, and her relationships. It’s completely fair to criticize the show for making drug use look fun and exciting; however, I’d like to offer a different point of view. Season one was, without a doubt, very “aesthetic” (in terms of makeup, music, and cinematography), and could plausibly encourage teens to begin or continue to use substances. The season gives the feeling of being high—of being euphoric—exactly as the title suggests. Although the dramatic makeup glitter may seem to

glamorize drug abuse, one friend of mine interpreted it as “[representing] the fun euphoric feelings, but in reality, it’s more of a scary empty feeling.” The season shows the surface level of drug use—how colorful the world can become—but also shows how this facade soon wears off as the user spirals out of control. Rue’s drug use leaves her relationships completely unstable, especially with her little sister Gia (Storm Reid), girlfriend Jules (Hunter Schafer), and mentor Ali (Colman Domingo). Jules, the daughter of an addict, is put under immense pressure as she becomes completely consumed by Rue’s addiction, and is left feeling like she can’t leave the relationship in fear her girlfriend will surely relapse. Rue’s sister Gia also suffers as she sees her older sister, the person meant to protect her, lose herself to addiction. Rue’s biggest support system, a former addict in recovery named Ali, is always there for her despite the way she treats him. Specifically, in season two, episode three, he ends his relationship with her (for the time being) because he realizes she doesn’t want to get help. This is a feeling many loved ones of addicts can relate to, making this show hit so much harder. Other teen struggles like sexuality and gender are explored through Jules (played by Schafer, a transgender actress) and her relationship with her own femininity. In the special episodes following season one, Jules comes to the realization that her womanhood has always revolved around men and what they view as “womanly.” She suggests to her therapist that she may stop taking her hormones, which the therapist interprets as her saying she wants to “de-transition,” an idea Jules shuts down. In season two, new character Elliot (Dominic Fike) jokes how Jules is a trans woman who wears a binder. These plot devices show the audience that gender is more complicated than what cisgender people may assume—and someone’s trans identity is no less valid if they don’t prescribe to the “norms” we associate with them. There are also multiple queer characters and the main relationship (between Rue and Jules) is a WLW (woman-loving-woman) relationship, providing additional representation to teenagers worldwide. When you hear the word “sexuality,” the usual concept that pops into your head is sexual orientation (LGBTQIA+), but the word can have an entirely different meaning, explored through characters like Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and Kat (Barbie Ferreira). Sexuality can also mean one’s expression and relationship with sex as a whole. In Euphoria, a common theme is the internal battle in young women, the pressure put on them to be intimate—or to not—and how that can affect the way women view themselves. Like many bigger girls, Kat begins to feel the only way she can be confident is through presenting herself in a sexual way. This type of feeling—that you’re too fat to be beautiful or relationship-worthy but at least people are attracted to you—is one I’m sure many viewers share. Kat is a controversial character and sometimes viewed as a bad friend or a meaningless addition to the show, but I believe her existence makes Euphoria so much more accurate to the teenage experience of a large subset of people.

ARTS Cassie is also a character who struggles a lot with her sexuality because of how often she’s reduced to her body; this results in her thinking that her only value is sexual and sets the stage for horribly unhealthy and abusive relationships. In season one, a guy at a party yells at her after she turns down intimacy, saying she’s boring and insinuating that men only desire her for her body, with vulgar and demeaning language. These types of traumatic events continuously happen to her throughout the show and leave her vulnerable to abusive men like Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi). Jacobs is a complicated character; you can’t tell if you should pity him or hate him. He comes across as a regular football jock, except for one thing: his relationship with his dad. Cal Jacobs (Eric Dane), his father, struggles with his own sexuality and continually cheats on Nate’s mother. He records these interactions and saves them on DVDs in his desk, which are predictably discovered by young Nate. As a result, Nate’s concepts of love and intimacy are morphed with toxic, and often violent, behaviors. Nate’s relationship with Maddy (Alexa Demie) is exactly what you’d expect from someone who grew up in an environment like this: unbelievably destructive, and at times, physically abusive. Viewers who have also experienced these types of relationships find themselves reliving their own situations in the amazing acting of Elordi and Demie. Nothing is sugar-coated in Euphoria, which could potentially make it triggering for teenagers or young adults with similar issues, but also makes it the powerful show that it is. Cassie, as discussed earlier, is a deeply insecure young woman who fears not being in a relationship. She feels like her ultimate purpose is to be with a man, satisfying all of his desires and

growing up to be a domestic mother and wife. This sort of feeling is one to which many young people, especially young women, can relate. Oftentimes, being single can feel terrifying as we base so much of our worth and value on our relationships. Cassie perfectly exemplifies that: in season two, Cassie ends up in a relationship with Nate following his breakup with Maddy, which has made many people online announce she’s become their least favorite character and that she’s a terrible person. However, I’d like to remind viewers of the vulnerable position Cassie was in when the relationship began (she was intoxicated, and therefore their interactions were not consensual) and how it’s understandable she would do whatever she can to get male validation due to her low self-esteem. That doesn’t make her a terrible person or friend; it makes her a relatable teenage girl. So please, give Cassie a break; she deserves some sympathy. Last but not least: Elliot. Given that he’s relatively new to the show, there isn’t much to say about him yet besides that he’s awful. He enables Rue’s drug abuse, mocks Jules over the fact that she wears a chest binder, and tries to manipulate Jules into thinking Rue isn’t good enough for her. Elliot is the definition of a lesbian-fetishizing man, and it’s absolutely disgusting. The show Euphoria IS realistic to the high school experience, even if the characters are played by adults and most of us don’t have quite such drama-filled lives. Each character brings a unique perspective and struggle to the episodes, and there’s so much to analyze that it would take an entire book to do it justice. If you feel that you’re in the right mental headspace to watch Euphoria without being triggered, I recommend you do.

A Playlist To Get You Excited for Warm Weather By ADAM SAAR

s winter comes to a close and the birds and flowers make their first appearances, it’s quite easy to get caught up in the cheer of the impending up-turn in weather. Don’t be fooled, however, as months of mud, rain, and the inevitable late snowstorm still lie between us and the summer breezes we all crave. In the meantime, here is a collection of songs to get you excited for the warm weather while we’re still stuck in the slush and dreariness of early spring. “Warm Enough” by Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment (feat. Noname, Chance the Rapper, and J. Cole) Could any song be more spring-like than “Warm Enough”? It sounds just like an early spring morning, with birds chirping in the background through the whole song, most noticeably during the ethereal intro and chorus that sound like a misty spring sunrise. Three of my favorite rappers join forces with Nico Segal’s Chicago-based music collective The Social Experiment to produce a beautiful and heartfelt track that immediately puts me in a good mood.

“Misty Morning” by Lawrence As Gracie Lawrence—one of the two lead singers of the NYCbased funk-pop band Lawrence—croons, “Misty morning on our avenue, sometimes I wish I could stay with you,” you can’t help but feel the morning mist setting in around you. Although the rest of the song is rather rueful, it still gives off enough of a spring feel to make the list. “The Sun Is In Your Eyes - Voice Memo” by Jacob Collier In a departure from his usual grand arrangements, Jacob Collier complements his smooth voice only with a soothing guitar accompaniment for this incredibly sweet and short demo. As Collier sings “The sun is in your eyes / throw me the cold water of your smile again,” it’s easy to get lost in the imagery of a romantic picnic by the lake in the summer, with the sun shining warmly on your skin. It’s enough to make even the most single of us smile and anticipate the summer ahead.

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A Playlist To Get You Excited for Warm Weather Continued from page 35 “1 step forward, 3 steps back” by Olivia Rodrigo Another song with bird sounds in the background, “1 step forward, 3 steps back” interpolates the beautiful piano melody of Taylor Swift’s “New Years Day,” turning it from a wintry, romantic song to a spring-y heartbreaker. This track from Sour is a brilliant showcase of Olivia Rodrigo’s beautiful voice, all the while making you second-guess every relationship you’ve been in. “Stop By Anytime” by Devon Sproule Keeping with the mellow vibe of this playlist, “Stop By Anytime” is enough to make even the most winter-loving people look forward to warm weather. I mean, “the backyard green and blooming / let the humidity curl your hair…dry leaves catching ‘round the campfire pit” sounds like a sweet time to me. “Asleep On A Sunbeam” by Belle and Sebastian “Another summer’s passing by / All I need is somewhere I feel the grass beneath my feet / A walk on sand, a fire I can warm my hands / My joy will be complete.” No further explanation necessary. “Buzzcut Season” by Lorde “Buzzcut Season” is a quintessential teenage summer song. As the first 70-degree days of the year make their appearances, everyone thinks at least once about getting a summer haircut, and hopes to “live by the pool where everything is good.” In the meantime, we can look forward to the warm nights out with our favorite friends that make us want to “never go home again.” “Sunny Duet” by Noname (feat. the Mind) As Noname’s second appearance on this playlist, this cheery duet with The Mind is generally just a fun time. Honestly, any song from Noname’s debut album Telefone would fit the vibe of this playlist, but “Sunny Duet” just had to be on it because of its title.

Scan this QR code to jam out to the full playlist on Spotify!

Reflection: Falling Out of Love with Reading By KATIE LIN

can’t remember the last book I genuinely loved. It might’ve been Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which consumed my fourth grade self, or it might’ve been my sister’s Foxtrot comics, which I would read while eating my breakfast cereal. In fifth grade, I proclaimed my favorite book was The Blood of Olympus—but the word “favorite” is far too much of a stretch. Anxious to finish the Percy Jackson series, I was only reading it for 25 minutes every morning to satisfy my reading logs, and what took my friends one night to finish took me months. I adored Watership Down in eighth grade, but even then I was merely reading it for a school project. I rapidly began losing interest in reading in high school, the true beginning of the end of my passion. A perfect storm of academic burnout and reading exclusively for school instead of pleasure led reading to feel like a burden. Each word became tedious, an obstacle I had to conquer before I could write my assignment. I couldn’t wait to turn the page—not because I was enthralled in the storyline, but because I couldn’t wait to be done. Reading was no longer an activity I did for joy or for learning, and a busy schedule coupled with exhaustion kept me from finding the time and energy to sit down and read simply for the sake of reading. As a second semester senior, I mourn the life I could’ve had—the richer education I could’ve relished had I not fallen out of love with reading. However, it would be unfair to exclude the wonderful books I did have the opportunity to analyze as part of English courses. Persepolis in ninth grade showed me how graphic novels could be beautiful and emotional, and The Scarlet Pimpernel from tenth grade made me excited to discuss the dramatic storyline with my peers. A Tale of Two Cities, while extraordinarily frustrating to get through, I now see as a masterful piece of literature. Although I was only motivated to read it for college applications, guilty of reducing it to a title and topic for interviews, I read The Kite Runner last summer, the first book not required for school I had absorbed in years. Filled with moving imagery and diction, I still think about The Kite Runner from time to time, and the pictures the words burned in my head. I am forever grateful for Persepolis and The Kite Runner. They helped me realize my passion for books with diverse perspectives and stories by authors of color, and topics not typically discussed in history courses. I can confidently say they lie at the root of my intention to be a humanities student in college. Rem-

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embering how I felt while reading them encourages me to fall back in love with reading, and feel what book lovers feel. I have faith that college will be an improvement, as I focus on topics that bring back the youthful feeling of being excited to learn, and until then, I’ll savor the moments when teachers let me pick my own book to read. I have hope that one day, I’ll find the motivation to read the books I have sitting on the dusty shelf in the

back of my head, and I hope I learn to take time to do things for myself. My mother, an avid reader, once told me there are moments while she’s reading that make her stop and admire the sentence she just studied. For me, these instances are rare and fleeting, but I cherish them when they come, and wish they become more frequent in the near future.

The Dark Side of Tackle Football By LOUISA MILLER-OUT

h, tackle football. It’s almost as American as apple pie. So is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is the term for brain deterioration caused by repeated trauma to the head. Exactly the type of head trauma that might result from, say, being tackled over and over again, or knocking heads with a teammate. This incurable disease may sound abstract or unassuming, but it profoundly impacts the lives of sufferers. Its progression begins with headaches and loss of concentration, followed by short-term memory loss and emotional symptoms such as depression, extreme mood swings, and heightened aggression. These symptoms are soon accompanied by the development of visuospatial and cognitive difficulties, including trouble with reading, processing language, and perceiving one’s orientation in space. Suicidal tendencies have also appeared in some CTE cases. The final stage of the illness is characterized by even more severe cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues and devastating memory loss; late-stage CTE patients often resemble those with Alzheimer’s disease. The key difference is that CTE is completely preventable. It’s also incredibly, incredibly common, at least among certain populations. It is well established that playing football at the collegiate or professional level practically guarantees the development of CTE. A study by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 99 percent of brains from NFL players exhibited the condition, as well as 91 percent of brains from college football players. Slightly more surprising—and chilling—is the fact that 21 percent of high school football players were found to have CTE as well. This means that in order to sustain severe and irreversible brain damage, you only have to play for a few years, not decades. Although CTE is most common among football players, it’s also been found in the brains of other types of athletes, from hockey and soccer players to boxers and bobsledders. Any sport where one might receive repeated head injuries puts players at risk for CTE. Yet, symptoms often emerge years after the causative injuries, and little regard is given to this debilitating disease by the media, coaches, and athletics directors. So, parents continue funneling their children into youth leagues, blissfully unaware of the downward trajectory on which they could be setting them. By the time they’re old enough to commit to colleges, it may already be too late for them to avoid the initial stages of CTE. Once people are fully informed of the long-term risks of playing sports that involve frequent head trauma, they should absolutely be free to do with their bodies and brains what they will. But is a child really equipped to understand the repercus-

sions that such high-risk sports could have on the rest of their lives? The average lifespan of CTE patients is just 51 years. While most people in their 50s are having joyful moments with their first grandchildren and acquiring wisdom, most people with CTE spend the last years of their already truncated lives in an agonizing state of headaches and confusion. They often lash out at family members, becoming unrecognizable versions of themselves and straining connections with their loved ones, who they must often heavily rely on to perform everyday tasks. For the short-term gratification of playing rough, kids could be sacrificing more than they could possibly anticipate given the lack of information surrounding CTE. They could be giving up their personalities, their independence, and decades of their lives. I don’t know about you, but if I had a kid, I wouldn’t let them play sports where repeated head trauma is practically guaranteed, like tackle football. And I’d think twice about rugby, soccer, and hockey too.

Winners and Losers of the January Transfer Window By ADAM SAAR

he January 2022 winter European football transfer window featured a lot of big names moving to new clubs, as well as many notable almosts that could have drastically changed the European soccer stage midway through the season. Here are some of the winners and losers of the January transfer window. FC Barcelona While it’s still early to make any definitive calls, it seems that Continued on page 38

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Winners and Losers of the January Transfer Window Continued from page 37 FC Barcelona may be the biggest winner of the January transfer window this year. After a dismal start to the season ruled them out of the title race, Barcelona headed into the winter break in an unfamiliar predicament—a five-way battle with Atlético Madrid, Villareal, Real Sociedad, and Athletic Bilbao for fourth place in La Liga and the final qualifying spot for the UEFA Champions League. After some disastrous transfer windows in the last few years, Barcelona avoided spending big this year while making some shrewd moves, such as signing the powerful winger Adama Traoré on a loan deal from Wolves, and signing castaway star forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal for free on Deadline Day. However, Barcelona’s marquee signing this window was the $62 million signing of Ferran Torres, an exciting young winger from Spain who shone at the Euros last summer but struggled to get consistent playing time with Premier League leader Manchester City. These three signings offer high-quality and exciting attacking options to a team still reeling from the recent departures of superstar forwards Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Antoine Griezmann, and will complement Barcelona’s exciting young midfield. With this newfound depth, FC Barcelona should be able to solidify their place in La Liga’s top four and perhaps even third place. Juventus Juventus, like FC Barcelona, have experienced a significant slump in performance over the last two seasons, last year being the first since 2011 in which they did not win Serie A. Similarly, they were contending with the loss of superstar striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who left for Manchester United over the summer. Desperately missing a clinical finisher, Juventus splashed out on a $93 million transfer fee to win the hotly contested competition with other major clubs such as Arsenal to sign budding star Dušan Vlahović from Fiorentina. Along with the most expensive transfer of the window, Juventus signed promising Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria from Borussia Monchengladbach for an absolute bargain, paying a relatively small transfer fee of $10 million. Both of these signings are already paying dividends for Juventus, with both of them scoring on their debut against Hellas Verona to secure a 2-0 win. Only eight points below firstplace Internazionale (at the time of writing), don’t be shocked if emerging superstar Vlahović finds a way to fire Juventus to winning their tenth title in 11 years while becoming the top scorer of Serie A along the way. Arsenal Oh, my beloved Arsenal. How you have disappointed me. After a disappointing 2020-2021 season in which Arsenal finished eighth in the Premier League and failed to qualify for European competitions altogether, the c;lub was arguably the biggest winner of the summer transfer window, in which they signed a number of players who have significantly strengthened the side. Now firmly in the race for fourth place and Champions League qualification, Arsenal sought after a number of high profile strikers to replace the exiled Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, including Dušan Vlahović and Alexander Isak, yet a deal for either failed to materialize. Arsenal also looked to strengthen the midfield— currently the club’s weakest area—and were linked with Denis Zakaria, yet were beaten out by Juventus once again. The only notable signing of the window was the signing of American

goalkeeper Matt Turner from New England Revolution for a fee of $7 million, who will finish the MLS season and join Arsenal in the summer. Turner is being lined up as Aaron Ramsdale’s future back-up after former no. 1 Bernd Leno leaves in the summer. Otherwise, Arsenal departed from a number of back-ups all around the field: Aubameyang left for Barcelona on a last-minute deal; fan-favorite right back Callum Chambers and left-back Sead Kolašinac free transfers to Aston Villa and Marseilles, respectively; midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles and center-back Pablo Marí were loaned out to AS Roma and Udinese, respectively. Essentially, Arsenal cleared house, seeking to trim any surplus fat to maintain a strong competitive balance within the squad. However, in a top-four race that ultimately becomes a war of attrition, Arsenal is stretching their squad worryingly thin, and any key injuries could quickly derail their push to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2016.

The Underdog By JOYCE SPEARS

hen I was about 11 years old, I was invited to a track meet. My afterschool program had many different groups for specific activities. For example, there was the skateboard group, the basketball group, the jump rope and dance group (which I was in) and the track and field group. Now, I love running so I was over the moon when the group leader for track and field asked me if I wanted to go to Boston for a track meet. I had never been to one and thought it would be a great experience. We arrived at Boston and checked into a hotel fairly close to where the meet was going to be held. As we settled in, we eagerly shared what events we wanted to participate in when we got there the next day. I knew I wanted to participate in events like the 400 meter dash or the 100 meter dash, but what I was really excited for were the hurdles. I went to bed that night dreaming of the running and the jumping and the feeling of joy I knew I’d get to experience. In the morning we went down to the food court and almost everyone helped themselves to a hearty breakfast full of eggs, toast, pancakes, everything! I was far too excited to eat much so I just had some eggs. Thank goodness for me! What I didn’t know at the time was that you are NOT supposed to eat a ton right before a track meet. So while most of the kids were getting cramps during warm-ups I was perfectly fine as I decided not to eat that much. After we had finished with most of the events, my time came. It was finally time for the event I had been waiting for: the hurdles. We all lined up to start the race, however, I was not expecting everyone else to be so much taller, faster, or older than me. I was nervous, but I was determined to run my heart out to that finish line. And I did. From what I can recall I got fifth place, which wasn’t too great seeing as there weren’t many others running that round. I gave it my best and didn’t get the results I was hoping for, but the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair as I raced toward the finish line and the gratification I got every time I soared over each hurdle, is something that I would never trade for a first place ribbon.

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Ben Roethlisberger: How Much Do We Put Up With? By WILL THOMAS

or all of my life, Ben Roethlisberger has quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’ve won two Super Bowls in that span and Roethlisberger has established himself as a first-ballot Hall of Famer and an all-time great quarterback. Backed by some of the best defenses in his early (and later years) and boasting an electric offense in the mid-2010s, Roethlisberger took the Steelers into prominence and consistent contendership. Even as he helped my favorite team make a renewed case for being the best franchise in the league’s history, he’s made being a fan considerably difficult for me. When rumors of retirement started surfacing in the middle of this past season, I was simultaneously relieved and conflicted. On one hand, Roethlisberger deteriorated drastically as a quarterback over the last few years; on the other, that’s not what should have concerned me. Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault and rape on two different occasions. While one case was dropped due to lack of direct evidence (though there was a witness who was able to corroborate that Roethlisberger and the victim were together) and the other was settled out of court, it doesn’t appear that the defense for Roethlisberger was truly solid. So there, that’s it, that should be all of it. He’s an awful person. For a younger me, who was a much different fan than I am today, that reality was eventually ignored or forgotten. I won’t excuse that I personally glossed over it for a while, but I will say that it was not hard to get caught up in the game of football, as opposed to things that matter a good deal more. It would pop up in my mind once or twice every few weeks of the season, but it took his regression as a football player to truly bring out my disdain for him. It’s a lot easier to separate art and artist when the art is good, and by the end, it wasn’t. It took that deterioration to bring me to consider the player himself more, but that should be, and has become, my focus. So as Roethlisberger retires, it feels relevant to discuss how it applies to sports. From Roethlisberger to Tyreek Hill to Kareem Hunt, the responses to men in sports who commit abuse or sexual assault are extremely minimal. American sports fans are undoubtedly not a monolith, but dozens upon dozens of “That’s my quarterback!” and “Thank you #7” comments seen when one scrolls through a post about Ben’s retirement speak for themselves. Especially jarring is seeing the support and love coming from the franchise itself, a franchise owned by a family who the NFL’s primary rule concerning coach diversity is named after. It betrays every principle surrounding inclusivity and support that the NFL claims it stands for to have allowed Roethlisberger to stay in the league without so much as an acknowledgment of his probable crimes. Deshaun Watson, another NFL quarterback who has similarly been accused of misconduct by a truly incredible number of women, seems to be the poster child for the next generation of sports stars who abuse their power in horrible ways. He

hasn’t played for his team, the Houston Texans since the allegations, and only time will tell how his free agency resolves itself. I wouldn’t be particularly optimistic that the league has truly changed since Ben’s actions; somewhat telling is that Pittsburgh seems to be a potential suitor for Watson. God willing we won’t get him, but I worry for the same reason die-hard fans of Harry Potter worried when Rowling went increasingly off the rails. I can’t stop being a Pittsburgh fan, and I can’t bring myself to be okay with what the star player did and what the franchise didn’t do to address it. Sports can be art, but with that comes viewing players as artists. I wish I could go back to the ignorance of Roethlisberger as anything other than a quarterback, but I know that I can’t and won’t forgive or forget. Sports fans need to examine our players like we examine our politicians and artists— the conclusions aren’t always black and white, but the need for answers about those we idolize is.

Student Athletic Advisory Committee Announcement By JT THOMFORDE

his year I have been selected to represent Ithaca High School at the Section IV Student Athlete Advisory Committee. The main event that we will be planning is the Section IV Student Athlete Leadership Conference. The purpose of this event is to train student athletes in healthy athletic habits and help them develop leadership skills so they can make a positive impact on their teams. We want to help scholastic sports teams become more inclusive and healthy communities that are accessible to everyone. The keynote speaker at the conference will be discussing serious issues faced by athletes, such as stress, substance abuse, depression, and suicide. Other student representatives from Section IV and I will be hosting various sessions aimed at teaching athletes about leadership, nutrition and healthy eating habits, injury prevention, and injury recovery. Continued on page 40

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Student Athletic Advisory Committee Announcement Continued from page 39 My work with leadership and captains training is focused on encouraging and empowering student athletes to confidently assume important roles as teammates and team leaders for the betterment of their schools, peers, and themselves. I will be running a 50-minute session featuring two activities and a presentation about different leadership styles and how students can become effective leaders. My team and I will incorporate physical activ-

ities and provide an opportunity for building new relationships during our session. I hope that our leadership and captains training session and the rest of the Section IV Student Athlete Leadership Conference will leave students with lasting relationships with other athletes in our section and help them develop into stronger leaders to serve each of our school communities.

Something Old By Louisa Miller-Out The sky was impossibly clear, impossibly blue. My two best friends in the entire world and I shoved off from the shore on the ancient, crumbling foam paddleboards we’d found in a chest on the dock of the house we were renting. When Jason had first convinced us to spend the summer in Hawai’i, I’d been unenthusiastic. I wanted to stay at home and save some money—my college debt wasn’t getting any smaller, after all. But now I was glad I’d let myself be swayed by the twinkle in his hazel eyes. With bold strokes, he led me and Shayna further into the blue openness before us. We were tiny water gliders on top of an abyss. The water was so clear I could see snakes wriggling meters and meters below the surface and crabs trawling the seabed. I was generally squeamish about ocean creatures, but Jason’s confidence was beginning to rub off on me, and today they didn’t faze me. I returned my gaze to the sea ahead. Eventually, we took a break from paddling and sat up on our boards, swapping old memories and new ones. We let the waves carry us, let minutes and hours slip by like sand through fingers. We didn’t stop drifting until a look of horror crossed Jason’s sun-kissed face. He’d lost sight of the beach we’d set off from, and the sun was beginning to lurch drunkenly towards the horizon. To make matters worse, our brittle boards were practically disintegrating under us. “Should we try to navigate back to the shore?” asked Shayna, her voice wavering with anxiety. “We’re going to run out of board if we do that,” said Jason, as a chunk of his detached and floated away. We desperately started paddling towards the only land in sight, a lonely island topped with spidery black trees. Just as the sun sank out of view, we crashed onto the soft white sand, gasping for air. Shayna’s honey-blond hair was matted with salt. Grains of sand stuck to our wet skin like breadcrumbs to an oily piece of fish. After recovering from what felt like a triathlon, we took in our surroundings. The beach looked basically identical to the one we’d left from, from the blue-and-white-striped umbrellas to the cheaply constructed, candy-colored wooden cabanas. But although the infrastructure was modern, it looked like it had been abandoned and decaying for years, maybe decades. The parasols were broken and drooping, their wire armatures poking out in every direction like spider legs. The roof of one of the little huts had caved in, and splintered planks littered the sand around it. Stepping gingerly around the debris, we began searching the shacks for any sort of communication device. I entered one with peeling sea-foam-green paint, and my eyes immediately fell upon a cabinet with power cords snaking out of it, similar to the one

my family kept our electronics in. I blindly felt around inside until my fingers closed around something familiarly heavy, and I pulled out a dusty iPhone in a clear plastic case, nearly identical to mine. As I read the name on the ID card wedged inside, my jaw dropped. It was my name, letter for letter. But the picture wasn’t me. Or, at least, not me now. It was a wrinkled, graying lady in her fifties or sixties. Shayna and Jason hovered over my shoulders as I tried the “emergency call” function on the phone and held it to my ear as it rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Click. “Hello?”

It’s Always Been You By Addie Houle-Hitz

“It’s always been you.” Part of Jane knew that was a lie; it hadn’t always been him, and it wouldn’t always be him. Until forever falls apart is a long time, but that was what they had promised that day at the altar, with the air smelling of honeysuckle and her dress pinching in all the wrong spots. The wedding had been beautiful, granted she knew that, and she wasn’t unhappy. But a part of her always wondered what could have been; it tugged at her, pulled her back. Jane was always that hesitant type, but the summer between junior and senior years she hadn’t been— Gwen had shown her otherwise. They had started spending lunch together and then it progressed to every day over the summer. Jane worked a job that Gwen would come to sometimes and Gwen occasionally needed help filling in for babysitting, which Jane was more than happy to do. Then, around July, it started to feel different. Different from how Jane had felt about her other friends—she didn’t get red in the face when she and her other friends linked arms; she didn’t daydream about kissing her other friends. Turns out, Gwen felt it too. Their first kiss was on a walk in the woods after Jane got off of work, and for the rest of the summer they were

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sneaking around. It had been fun, but Jane had never put a label on it. She tried not to think about it in retrospect because when senior year started, she stopped it. She started going out with the star of the football team—hell, she married the star of the football team. They both had had their issues, but Jane had never felt the way that she felt with Gwen again, not since. The reunion brought new problems, old people, new faces, old friends and foes. She hadn’t been back to the high school since graduation; she had vowed not to go back. But her husband had been on her case, saying it would be good to see her friends. She didn’t have friends. She knew it was because he wanted to see his people, and who was she to deny him that? The gym pumped old music that was played at their prom. She received a name tag that had her senior photo on it. She cringed when she saw her fake smile. That had been the day she had gotten together with Liam; that was the day she had ended it with Gwen. Jane looked up to find Liam, to tell him she was going to wait in the car, she didn’t want to be here, but he was already gone into the crowd. She shrunk back against the wall, the familiar feelings of exclusion washing over her. There was a reason she hadn’t wanted to come, there was a reason she didn’t want to be here, because everyone hated her, because she was a loser, a worthless piece of shit a— “Jane?” She looked up through misty eyes from the spot she had remained focused on on the gym floor and was met with a familiar face. “Hi Gwen.” “Do you need to take a walk? This is all overwhelming.” She extended her hand for Jane to take, which she happily did. “Yeah, that’d be nice.” Jane told Liam she needed some fresh air and left him in the gym talking to old friends. He made no effort to follow and check up on her, but Gwen trailed along with her through the hallways which they had once ruled. “So…” “Yeah…” Jane didn’t know what to say; she had intended to avoid Gwen at all costs. “Look, I’m really sorry—” Gwen started. “You of all people do not need to apologize. I was confused.” Jane laughed awkwardly. “What?” “I was confused,” she repeated. “Was it not what you wanted?” “No, I…” Jane trailed for a moment. “it was what I wanted more than anything,” she whispered. They had come to a stop now, in a dimly lit hallway, a shadow cast across Gwen’s face so that Jane couldn’t read her expression. “Then why did you stop?” “I was scared.” “Are you still?” Jane paused for a beat. “Yes.” Even though Jane couldn’t see her face, she saw Gwen’s shoulders sink at this. “But I don’t want to be anymore.”

Gwen cupped her face and kissed her at this, and the world melted. For a few blissful seconds, Jane forgot where she was, until Gwen pulled herself back. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, you’re married, what am I doing?” Jane stood stunned for a minute and then started laughing. A full laugh. She hadn’t laughed like that in a long time. Gwen seemed surprised. “Don’t apologize,” Jane said, “it’s always been you.”

The First Real Night of Winter By Louisa Miller-Out I trudge downstairs, but something stops me in my tracks halfway. Through the glass door, I can see streetlamps surrounded by their fuzzy halos and big, fluffy snowflakes catching the light. It’s well past sundown, but the sky is a deep periwinkle instead of black. The ground is already buried in a thick layer of sparkling snow, and all the bushes look like they’ve been covered with powdered sugar. It’ll keep coming down all night, and in the morning, I’ll know I’ll feel a twinge of nostalgia for the days when my sister and I would throw on our snow pants and waterproof gloves and rush to go make snow angels, build forts and snowmen, bombard each other with carefully compacted snowballs. We’d melt handfuls of flakes on our tongues with zero regard to the dust and bacteria that served as their condensation nuclei, and it was glorious. Only subzero temperatures and esoteric atmospheric processes could turn plain old water into something so magical. Although I guess water did infuse my childhood with fun too, whether it served as the base for a bubble bath or coursed through a tube slide at a waterpark. Even condensation on car windows was a blank slate for drawing pictures with our warm fingertips or writing messages to each other that no one else would see. We could wipe them away in an instant. And we’d laugh into the night until our parents made us turn the lights off. Those days are long gone now, and maybe part of me is gone with them. Or maybe it’s just sleeping somewhere below a blanket of frost, deep in hibernation, and it’s not too late to uncover it. But I’m too tired now to get a shovel and start digging. Maybe in the morning. I see my dog sleeping in the basket chair, his favorite place. He looks impossibly peaceful. I hesitate to disturb him, but in the end, I can’t help myself, and I walk over and run my fingers through his thick fur. He barely cracks his eyes open, then sighs with contentment and returns to whatever dogs dream about. I love him so much it hurts, somewhere deep inside the butterfly of my ribcage. The ephemerality of his life suddenly hits me, and then my chest hurts even more because I can’t imagine this warm, innocent, perfect little being all cold and stiff with death. Why does my mind go there, of all places? But I try to quiet my thoughts and I place my hand on the white fur of his chest and feel his heart thumping reliably inside the butterfly of his ribcage. Continued on page 42

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The First Real Night of Winter Continued from page 41 For every sigh of contentment from a sleeping pet. For every flake of snow falling from the sky on a winter’s night that would have meant death for my Paleolithic ancestors but that I can watch comfortably from my window with the glow of a crackling fire on my face. For every little moment like this when the world

feels still and peaceful and everlasting. For every night I manage to sleep without my brain reminding me I might not wake up. I know none of it matters, and I know we’re on a tiny floating chunk of rock in an unfathomably vast universe, but god damn it, this is what life is for.

A Sense of Self By Valentina Lebret Afterward, she couldn’t remember why she had stepped up to the mirror. Perhaps to adjust the length of her eyelashes or ensure her lipstick more closely followed the arch of her Cupid’s bow. Perhaps to pin back her slowly graying hair, to push its thin strands away from her face. Or perhaps her feet had brought her here simply by habit, her ears registering the click-click-click of her heels by habit, her eyes turning towards the mirror by habit. Perhaps the reason didn’t matter at all. Over the loudspeakers, the lyrics of a love song were crooned by a man’s soft voice: “Please, please don’t let me go.” With the bassline pounding in her ears, the woman looked up at her reflection, facing the woman in the mirror. This Mirror-Woman’s eyes shifted relentlessly, first to the right, then to the left, first to-

wards the windows, then towards the door. In fact, although the woman on the other side stared straight ahead, the Mirror-Woman never looked at her at all. Even when the woman begged her reflection to look at her, even when her fists pounded on the glass, even when the mirror broke under the weight of her frail body, the Mirror-Woman did not look at her. Even when the woman wept, surrounded by shards of broken glass, the Mirror-Woman did not look at her. Even when the woman screamed, the satin of her dress chilling her bones, the Mirror-Woman did not look at her. While the woman sat, trembling as she held a shard of the mirror up to her face, the Mirror-Woman looked the other way. The voice over the speakers sang: “Please, please don’t let me go.”

Silver Dollar By Natalie Patrone The child cries near me. He wipes his cheeks, but the tears keep spilling out of his eyes. He stands in one spot, feet planted on the ground. His wails are interrupted only by his scattered inhales. I stare at the child. I wish he would stop his crying. Where are his parents? I bend down to the child, keeping my soles firmly planted on the ground as I reach the young boy’s height. I look him right in the eyes. “What’s the matter, champ?” I ask in my softest voice. The river of tears turns into a trickle as the child looks at me. He sniffs

and wipes the tears off his face. “I lost my special silver dollar,” he says forlornly, “I can’t find it anywhere.” I furrow my brow. “Oh, I think I saw a shiny silver dollar over there,” I say, pointing as far as I can. The child immediately stops crying. He perks up and runs into the distance. I sigh and pick up my foot, revealing the shiny silver dollar I had concealed. I numbly place the coin in my coat pocket, putting the memory of the weeping child out of my mind.

Clandestine Waffle By Caroline Sine They cart around the clandestine waffles, Made by Mr. Clandestine himself, who’s as real as a canozzle. The rich and the poor alike flock to the criss-cross pies, Too eager to waste away their lives. The police and the public cannot comprehend Why they disappear or where they end. Yet I know it to be true, the only place they lie, Is in Mr. Clandestine’s waffle of lies.

Untitled 2 by Kimily Bouché

LITERARY

Thirukkural Style Poems By Caedmon Sethupathy These poems are written in a South Indian language called Tamil. The most famous example of Tamil poetry is the Thirukkural, a series of poems where each consists of two lines. The first line has four words and the second has three. The following are five original Tamil poems in the Thirukkural form, with phonetic and English translations. இந்த உலகம் பச்சையா இருக்கு

Indha ulagam pachchaiyaa irukku

This world is green.

அது கடவுளோட பரிசு

Adhu kadavuloda parisu

That is God’s gift.

அந்த இரவின் காற்றோட பாட்டுல

Andha iravin kaatroda paattule

At that night’s wind song.

என் இதயம் பாடுகிறது

Yen idhayam paadukiradhu

My heart sings.

செகப்பான பூ என்னிடம் பேசுகிறது

Sehepaane puu yenitam pesukiradhu

The red flower speaks to me.

அதோட இதழ்கள் நடனமாடறது

Adhoda ithazhgal natanamaadaradu

Its petals dance.

வானத்திலிருந்து பனி வேகமா பெஞ்சது

Vaanathilirunthu pani vegamaa penjadhu

From the sky, the snow falls.

இன்றைய அழகான புயல்

Inraiya azhagana puyal

Today’s beautiful storm.

நான் ஒரு பழம் சாப்பிட்டேன்

Naan oru pazham saapitten

I ate a fruit.

அது வாழ்க்கை கொடுத்தது

Adhu vaazhkkai koduthathu

It gave life.

Tucker by Kimily Bouché

A Series of Things Found Around My House (3) by Hannah Shvets

tangerine juice

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By Jinho Park I watch her pour tangerine juice from a bottle into a shot glass. Tangerine juice, not orange juice, even though it’s twice the price. On our eighth date, I asked her why she drinks tangerine juice instead of orange juice. It’s just a little sweeter. She pours a shot of juice and downs it with conviction. She pours another one and downs it too. And then again. And again. By the time I’ve started counting, she’s had at least a dozen. The shot glass has streaks of orange, as do her cheeks. “Are you done?” I ask. “No.” She’s finished the pint of tangerine juice we had. We have another gallon that was supposed to be for the party on Saturday, and so she gets it from the fridge. She’s trying to drink straight from the jug, but her arms are wavering a little. I get up to help her, but before I can even offer to help, she wards me off. “I can fucking drink juice by myself, okay?” So I stop. Instead, I lean on the kitchen counter, watching her attempt to guzzle juice. Her arms wobble more, and beads of juice sprint down her neck, resting in the dips of her collarbones. After a few minutes, she sets the gallon container down. She looks at me. I avert my eyes quickly, and I pretend to be interested in her fingers, all of which are sticky with juice. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean what I said, okay?” she says, but I’m not looking at her anymore. I want to show that I’m pissed at her. I feel her arms come over my shoulders, and she starts to bring her fingers toward my collarbones. She kisses the nape of my neck a few times and then whispers that she loves me. Usually, I’d sulk and push her away. But now, I turn around and tell her I’m okay. It takes her a while to believe me. Are you really okay? Yes. You sure? Yes. You know I love you, right? Of course. We stay in silence. She’s sipping on her tangerine juice, and I’ve started drinking some too. She’s right. It’s sweeter than orange juice, but only just. It never has the stray harsh note that orange juice always has. Suddenly, she starts smiling at me. The smile is really coy. It’s the kind of smile that she wants me to ask about. I wait to ask about her smile, because I have a few more seconds before she’ll start to wonder why I’m not picking up on her hint. I could die watching her like this. I eventually cave and ask why she’s smiling, and in response, she asks me to come to her room. She’s been cleaning and packing, so there’s not much in the room except for a bed and some empty bookshelves. I remember I haven’t put away any of my things yet. In my room, the clothes in my dresser and books on my shelf rest in staunch rebellion. Her gown, cap, and tassel are on the floor. All in maroon and yellow. Her cap’s not in great shape. At least a few people must have stepped on it at the ceremony, because I can see dirty footprints on it. It’s impressive she even found hers. Mine got lost in the air when I threw it up. It’s something else I’m leaving behind, I suppose. We sit on her bed. Her head leans on mine. I realize that she never explained why she was smiling. She’s clearly been waiting

for me to ask because when I do, her smile widens. She starts talking. “Sorry about earlier. I felt horrible, with all these boxes around. When you told me you were coming over, I didn’t know what to say. Sorry I’ve been ignoring all your texts too.” There are little flecks of tangerine juice on her cheek. “Anyways, a part of me didn’t want you to come, you know? Not in an awful way. But when I see you I start counting. Minutes and hours. How many seconds will we actually have left together? And don’t give me any of that fucking nonsense that we can still talk once we get there either. That’s bullshit.” She pauses, waiting for me to respond. Then, she breaks the silence. “And the juice, too. Why’d you help me pour my fucking juice?” She’s pleading with me to answer, but I don’t. I just shake my head. Her eyes glisten, and she gasps for air. “Nobody’s going to fucking help me pour my juice anymore. Right? Who’s going to help me pour juice?” Little tears fight their way down her cheek. They sort of mix with the juice. What do tears taste like when mixed with tangerine juice? I realize I should probably say something, because she’s still staring at me. “I love you,” I whisper at last. She nods and whispers it back too. But she says it regretfully, as if she’s not proud of loving me. I don’t know what to say, so I start offering platitudes. “You’ll be okay. You and me—we can do this. Together. I’ll call you every night. I’ll write you too. We ca—” I say. “I never told you why I was smiling,” she interrupts. “That’s right. You didn’t,” I say. “Did I ever tell you why I like tangerine juice?” she asks. “It’s just a little sweeter than orange juice,” I respond, confused. “That’s right. Have I ever told you what two years with you have felt like?” she says. “No?” I say. “Just a little sweeter.”

Days at CTB by Hannah Shvets

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EDITORIAL

How You Will Avoid Your Work This Month By Caedmon Sethupathy Pisces (Feb 19 - Mar 20): The day will start out poorly when you set your alarm for 6:30 only to wake up past 8:00. Worst of all, you forgot to finish the essay due today. Despite frantic typing on the bus ride, the essay will remain unfinished. Better luck next time! Aries (Mar 21 - Apr 19): After struggling on that math homework assignment for over an hour, you’ll go outside to get a breath of fresh air. A quick break quickly turns into a long walk and you will find yourself three miles from home, having wasted a full hour. Taurus (Apr 20 - May 20): The coursework will pile up, and you’ll find yourself amidst an ever-growing stack of homework. The insurmountable odds you’ll face will lead you to use your assignments as kindling for the bonfire you’ve always wanted to make. S’mores galore! Gemini (May 21 - June 20): Unfortunately, that pile of late work isn’t going to disappear any time soon. You’ll wind up singing the blues at karaoke to avoid drowning in geometry. Cancer (June 21 - Jul 22): That chemistry test isn’t going to go away, but you’ll go on an ice fishing trip instead. After you get home it’ll be too late to study. Good luck passing! Leo (Jul 23 - Aug 22): Despite your best efforts, you just can’t ignore the new action movie coming out. You’re going to take a late night trip to the movie theater only to remember that you have four assignments due later that night.

Virgo (Aug 23 - Sep 22): This will come as a shock to you, since you’re usually so organized, but you’ll forget about your homework and have to cram several hours of work into a twenty-minute bus ride. Libra (Sep 23 - Oct 22): After school you will find yourself between a rock and a hard place. Maybe you should’ve made a schedule before going exploring in the woods because classes wait for no one. Scorpio (Oct 23 - Nov 21): That one level continues to befuddle you. You’ll spend your weekend playing video games rather than studying. Don’t worry, though. You’re definitely not the only one! Sagittarius (Nov 22 - Dec 21): You promised to do the extra part of that group book report for history, and it’s going to come back to haunt you. You’ll end up skipping the book and watching the movie instead. You’d better hope it doesn’t take too many liberties.

The Coolness Spectrum Cool :) Cabaret Colombia Decriminalizing Abortion Avocado and Veggie Straws Måneskin Last Kingdom Winter Formal

Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19): That book you’ve been reading is really great, but you don’t listen when your parents suggest taking a break until after your unit tests. You’ve just got to hope the half of a review sheet you studied will be enough.

College Decisions

Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18): You’ll get stuck in a conversation with a conspiracy theorist and before you know it, it’ll be midnight and you will question why you even bother trying to persuade them.

Trader K’s Closing

Euphoria Finale

Chasing After Ping-Pong Balls Stem Player

Cover photo by Charles Tyler on Unsplash

Uncool :(