NA DI T VI IO DE N D
A The
Hawk
In this issue... Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville. Texas 78660 Volume 14, Issue 2 November 6, 2020
School Fire - Page 4 Programs Adjust - Page 10 Console Wars - Page 13
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News Nov. 6, 2020
state of the
UNION
Changes in Court Changes Nation
Amy Coney Barrett Confirmed to Supreme Court Landon Self | Asst. Editor
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Sep. 18 at the age of 87 which left President Donald Trump to nominate a new Justice to the Supreme Court. Trump nominated Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg on Sep. 26. Barett was born in Louisiana and has raised a family of seven children with her husband, including two adopted children from Haiti. In 2017, Trump nominated Barrett to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court and she was confirmed by the senate in a 55-43 vote. Barrett has repeatedly said that she believes judges are not policy makers and supports an originalist interpretation of the Constitution, which is simply viewing the document as a law and interpreting it the way the founders intended. Two weeks after her nomination to the supreme court, she began her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary committee. The Senate Judiciary voted in a 12-0 vote to advance the nomination of Judge Barrett to the full senate after Democrats boycotted the committee vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to get a full senate vote as soon as possible, which took place on Oct. 26 and Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed in a 52-48 vote to become the 103rd Associate Justice on the Supreme Court and the fifth woman to sit on the Country’s highest court.
• The Opinions “I think that President Trump is doing the right thing. Some people disagree with him now but they were perfectly fine when President Obama did the same thing when he was in office, he even said the president should nominate a justice if the position is open.” Hayden Thurber, 9
"It doesn't seem right nominating a justice in an election year. I think the president should wait until after the political season has ended to nominate a justice to give the opposing party a chance to nominate a justice of their own. Bailey Barker, 9
Monumental Moments in Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Lifetime Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor
1959, graduated from Harvard with a law degree, tied to be fist in her class
Born in NYC March 15 1933
1960 applied for a clerkship position with Supreme Court but was rejected because she was a woman
June 23 1954 Graduated from Cornell with Bachelor of arts degree in government
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1963 professor at Rutgers Law School and was paid less than the male professors
Got on US Court of Appeals, nominated by Carter, in 1980
1973-1980 Worked on many legal cases involving gender 1973-1980 Worked on many legal cases involving gender
Co-Founded Women's Rights Law Reporter in 1970 1972 co-founded Women's rights Project at ACLU
August 31, 2013-first Supreme Court judge to officiate samesex wedding
August 10, 1993-Sworn in as a Supreme Court judge 1999 diagnosed with colon cancer
> >
September 18, 2020 she died from pancreatic cancer 2018 expressed support for Me Too movement
Volume 14, Issue 2
News
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Climate Change Poses Threats Fires spread in California Causing Panic Liliana Moran | Reporter
Californian fires are worse than ever this year, with over 4 million acres of land setting fire within a year, breaking the record for most land burned within a year. There have been over 30 deaths and over 90 structures destroyed. The summer of 2020 has had the worst fires in California's history with the largest fire to ever hit California starting Sept. 9 in the August Complex. With the continual growth of these fires, it causes an increasing concern of the safety and well-being of citizens, along with the concern of the spread of Covid-19 and the effects of the environment.
Causes of the California fires
Arctic sea ice is declining at 13.1% per decade
2020 recorded the second-lowest Arctic sea ice minimum If all land ice melted sea levels would rise 70 meters worldwide
Fires occurring in California are nothing new, but in recent months they have dramatically worsened. With climate change causing a hotter and drier environment along with the start of summer, it’s easier for fires to ignite and spread, especially on the dry vegetation. Human activity is one of the main influencers of wildfires, causing 95 percent of California's fires. Accidentally igniting them in ways such as irresponsibly disposing a cigarette, the burning of wastes, unattended campfires, or equipment malfunctions, and even intentional arson. Storms and lightning strikes can also cause the wildfires.
Environmental Effects of the Fires
With the destruction of the fires ruining organisms' habitats, it leaves a severe effect on California's biodiversity rates. The erosion and soil damage caused by the fire’s rapid spread have also made it extremely difficult for plants to regenerate, and without enough plant varieties very few animals will return, hindering the environment's process of succession. The combustion of the fires has led to more carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere increasing global warming, making the cycle of dryness nearly irreversible. The smoke from the fires have also had a severe impact on many parts of America, with the smoke spreading as far as the East Coast, causing dangerously large amounts of air pollution.
Health Effects of the Fires
The large collection of smoke in the areas near California can cause a series of health problems for the residents. The smoke carries with it a mix of gases and particles. Inhaling this smoke means inhaling these particles that are capable of piercing into a person’s lungs depending on how much smoke is consumed. To attack this, the body will send out the same type of immune cells used when attacking a virus, except this particle matter cannot be broken down by the cells causing long-lasting inflammation that can leave large effects on a person's major organs, including the brain. People with underlying conditions could be at fatal risk when dealing with smoke inhalations. The deadly risks of smoke inhalation can also have a deadly impact on the spread of coronavirus. When people consume the wildfires smoke, it causes the inflammation to take over their body, leaving the person affected more vulnerable to other diseases now that their immune system has been compromised with the long lasting effects of the inhalation.
Artists present project to help increase awareness of climate change
Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor
Seven years is the amount of time that the world’s countries have to reduce carbon emissions to zero before climate change is irreversible. This has created a lot of controversy between environmental activists and political leaders in deciding a solution. Many people are tired of waiting and have decided to take action. Artists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd are among these people. They have decided to increase the intensity of the climate fight. They took a 62 ft wide electronic clock displayed in New York and turned it into the world’s first Climate Clock which displays the years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds that the globe has to fix climate change before it becomes irreversible. They have even created their own website, climateclock. world, to help raise awareness to how endangered the world is to climate change. On that website, there is the same countdown that is broadcast in New York.
Although the time the world has to fix our climate mistakes is limited, many politicians around the globe have been wary to do something about it because of the argument that fixing global warming would be disastrous to the world economy. But many scientists are starting to see an increase in environmental problems. Arctic oceans would be ice-free in summers by 2030, meaning that our seas levels would rise drastically. Permafrost is thawing more quickly than ever before. Heat waves in Greenland and extreme rainfall in Texas. These were all factors that pushed Golan and Boyd to their project. The point of Golan and Boyd’s project is to make leaders more aware of the situation at hand. In doing this, these artists hope to maybe be able to reverse climate change before it’s too late.
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News Nov. 6, 2020
School Fire causes damages, closes down A hall
Liliana Moran | Reporter The roof of the school building, which was under construction caught fire on Saturday, Oct. 3. The drumline was practicing in the band parking lot and assistant band director Nathan Zamora notified the fire department. “I was really confused because I didn’t know that it was really happening until the fire trucks showed up,” freshman percussionist Analyn Wyly said. “After that I felt pretty stressed. I think it was handled pretty well, things could’ve been more orderly but no one really expected it so it was hard to prepare for while it’s happening.” The fire started by some of the
equipment used for the roof construction malfunctioning and overheating which caused the roof to catch on fire. Most of the damage the fire caused to the school was by smoke along with some interior damage inside the walls. “It’s good that we practice our fire drills because you never know and I know sometimes people complain about it, but you never know, it’s a big building and sometimes weird things like this can happen,” Associate Principal Michael Grebb said. “So it’s always good to practice our safety plan.” Classes in A101-A104 had to be transferred due to the damage of the fire, including most fine art classes, debate,
and some language classes. The classes that have been affected have been provided their own different classrooms while theirs get repaired. “We’re hoping to get most of the teachers back in the band area and the art area, but the A hall might be a couple of weeks before students can go back in those classrooms,” Grebb said. “I was able to move those teachers mostly into computer labs and then they had a couple other empty rooms where we were able to put people, so I was really happy with that because I don’t think a lot of teachers would want to share a room with another teacher, just because of Covid and stuff like that.”
German teacher Audrey Saathoff ’s room was most affected by the damages of this fire, having to have parts of her room walls ripped out with all her supplies and desk damaged by the fire. “Most of it is just my teaching has been affected because I have a very efficient workspace for myself and I don’t have any of the supplies, so it’s a little bit of a struggle,'' Saathoff said. “The administration has been really helpful getting me another room, I have a bigger room now. So that’s at least a plus.” Debate has also been affected by the changes made in school due to the fire, though they are grateful for the quick
adjustments the school made for them. “It’s been difficult not being next door to Ms. Nash, especially when our debate classes have so much interaction,” Debate coach Aly Mithani said. “It’s just been more difficult having to go back and forth.” Crews are working on repairing the damage, but part of the main hall will remain closed until it is complete. “I’m just really thankful.” Grebb said. “[Mr. Zamora] was the one that noticed something was wrong and called the fire department, and I think his quick thinking caused limited damage to the building and it could have been a lot worse.
Administration Enforces New Regulations Among COVID-19
Bryan Ross | Co-Editor
After an initial four weeks of full online school, in-person learning for the 2020-2021 school year began with an initial group of 25 percent of students returning (although the number of students who actually came back to school was lower than the number which was approved). For the next four weeks, there was one cumulative COVID-19 case resulting in two total exposures, according to the PfISD COVID-19 dashboard. “There have been way less COVID issues than I expected,” associate principal Michael Grebb said. “I feared that the second week, we would have cases, or exposures, or that we would have to possibly shut down a classroom. I was thinking about the worst, but I’ve been pleased. I think we’re doing everything in our power
here inside the building to prevent someone from being exposed.” After a rumored hybrid schedule between in-person and virtual learning did not come to fruition, virtual students were given an opportunity to opt back in to in-person learning beginning with the second nine weeks starting Oct. 13, bringing the number of students up to 37 percent of normal school capacity. “Our response to new COVID cases is to figure out if other students or staff members have been infected or exposed, and to find out how long someone’s possibly known about it,” Grebb said. “It’s kinda like that ‘see something say something’ because the sooner we know the more reactive we can be.” Five weeks into in-person school, the first two lab-positive
COVID cases for a student occurred, resulting in 58 official exposures. The next week, two more cases were added, bringing the total numbers to 5 cases with 101 exposures (including an earlier case from a staff member with only three exposures), Anyone officially exposed has to quarantine for 14 days, unless they test positive for COVID-19, which would require them to make a full recovery in addition to quarantining. “Basically the district will send a letter, like the email Monday night, that we had a lab-confirmed positive case, and then we will contact trace 48 hours backwards from when a person was symptomatic on campus,” Grebb said. “So you might get a test back a couple days later but we’ll actually look back to when you were feeling symptomatic. If you were
exposed then you’ll get another email telling you you have to quarantine for 14 days from the exposure.” Contact tracing can be determined from check-in forms from extra curricular activities, seating charts in classrooms, assigned seats in the cafeteria, and hallway camera footage.
“I don’t think COVID is gonna start in the building,” Grebb said. “It’s not because we’re all here, it’s because of things people do on the outside, without masks, without social distancing, without hand sanitizer. I’m really shocked [by the lack of COVID issues]. I guess I prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
Choir members qualify for All-Region Choir Bryan Ross | Co-Editor
Harlow Hurley, Janessa Kumpati, Abigail Lewis, and Breean Arrant qualified for the TMEA All-Region choir on Soprano one, Alto one, Alto one, and Bass two respectively, with Hurley earning first chair in her division. Hurley, Kumpati, and Arrant additionally qualified for the pre-area audition. Due to the pandemic, All-Region choir auditions were held virtually, with students submitting recordings to be judged.
Volume 14, Issue 2 News
An Ink Lined October
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Students draw ink based pieces for each day of October
Yael Behar | Reporter
As the weather begins to cool down during the month of October and the leaves on trees begin to shift to bright yellows and vivid oranges, something else begins to change. The price of ink related art supplies beings to skyrocket and art stores start putting out display stands with a plethora of ink materials. Students bring out their sketchbooks and divide their pages up into an equal panel for each day of the month, leaving a small space for their daily ink drawing. Inktober, started as an internet trend, was implemented into the art I, II, and III programs after art teacher Jacqueline Cardenas joined the staff in 2016, which led to the concept catching onto the art program in general. “It creates creativity, because the students can respond to the prompts any way that they see fit,” art teacher Monica Lawrence said. “It doesn’t have to be Halloween themed, It can be anything, and I have had multiple different responses to a single prompt. It also helps their inking skills just a little.” Inktober is a 31 day art challenge for artists all over the world of all ages to participate in during the month of October. For students here, art begins with the daily prompt up on the board, it’s their job to make something out of that prompt, using only ink for the final piece. “Most students use sharpie pens and microns,” Lawrence said. “One of my students uses gel pens, the colorful ones, since she likes to add color to hers. For the most part the art is pretty black and white.”
Jordan Visciani, 12 “Dunes”
Tania Aguilar, 9 “Slippery”
Besides participating in the event for school, Inktober’s presence is mainly felt online, where many artists will post their daily pieces to social media for friends and others to see. “I found out about it through social media, specifically Instagram,” art III student Kaitlyn Vo said. “Most of the accounts I followed were dedicated to art, so my feed was filled with drawings for Inktober or original prompts that the artists would come up with” The prompts for the 31 days, which are generated by Inktober creator Jake Parker and put on the Inktober website, are made to invoke creativity into the artists who participate. Because the main purpose of Inktober is to make all of the illustrations in ink, certain artists who don’t create art traditionally try other methods for Inktober. “I use a pen, but on most occasions, I stick to digital art for Inktober,” art III student Megan Reichly said. “I don’t really do rough sketches or anything like that, I just draw whatever as I go, let loose, and work with any possible mistake.” The small scale of the mandated Inktober assignments encourages students to try different steps on the way to the final result. “I use a pen or a sharpie for my illustrations for Inktober,” art III student Andrew Laboy said. “I usually try to start off with a simpler drawing without any crazy details, textures, or shadows. Once I’m done getting the overall look then I go back in with detail, because the size of the illustration is smaller the detail work becomes more intricate.”
Diane Selazar, 9 “Rodent”
Yael Behar, 9 “Dunes”
The prompts given are always one or two words, forcing students to think outside the box and take time with their illustrations. “Most kids take about 30 mins or less,” Lawrence said. “Mine take about an hour. I always draw mine out in pencil first, because I’m a perfectionist, so I tend to then go back over it with a pen and add the outlines and then texture and stuff inside” Because of the challenge taking place over a 31 day period, many students find it difficult to keep up with Inktober should they choose to do it on their own time. “It’s extraordinarily difficult to do for 31 days straight,” Reichly said. “It can be hard to muster up the motivation for it at times.” Making it a warm up in Monica Lawrence’s art III, II and I class has sliced the amount of prompt numbers in half. “I drew everyday during the summer, so for me it’s not difficult to keep up with all of the days,” Lawrence said. “I don’t put it on my students to do all 31 days, only every other prompt.” At the end of the month of October, artists can look at the work they did for the month of October and see the hardships and progression they have made during the event, and as the autumn air begins to set in again next year, many will participate in Inktober once again. “I have something to look forward to every year for art,” art III student Kora Garcia Hernandez said. “Inktober has really helped me get out of my comfort zone and made me try different styles of art like ink of course. It gets you to be more creative.”
Jordan Visciani, 12 “Facny”
Miyah Madison, 9 “FIsh, Teeth, Armor, Dig”
6 Opinion
Nov. 6, 2020
• Staff Editorial Staff discusses consequences of political party system When George Washington stepped down as president in 1796 he gave his famous farewell address. During that speech he gave a warning against having a political party system. Despite that warning, the United States has developed a very divided party system, with the two biggest parties currently being the Republicans and the Democrats. Having a political party system in theory is very helpful. It makes things easier for citizens to choose candidates because they have the option to only vote for candidates within the party they support. In reality, it causes more problems than it solves. In the senate plans will get denied just because the party that has control didn’t suggest it. A Republican president will get push back from a Democratic congress just because their parties don’t align. During elections, citizens will vote for the candidate they believe has the best chance of taking down the other party’s candidate instead of who they actually want to be president. This issue has drastically increased in recent years. The divide between the two main political parties, Republican and Democrat, has always existed. However, the divide has increased tenfold since Donald Trump announced his run for president in 2015. His unorthodox style of campaigning took politics by storm. A large portion of voters turned into what could be described as a fanbase for him, proudly supporting Trump with merchandise such as MAGA hats. As that ‘fanbase’ grew so did an anti-Trump party made of mainly liberal voters. These two groups have worsened the animosity between the two political parties. Back in the 1800s when the first political parties were developed they were led by Alexander Hamilton, who led the Federalists, and Thomas Jefferson, who led the Democratic-Republicans. The hatred and disagreements between the leaders of the parties spread and created a divide
Hendrickson High School 19201 Colorado Sand Drive Pflugerville, TX 78660 http://www.pfisd.net/HHS (512) 594-1100 Student Population: 2,134 Staff: 180 Adviser: Kari Riemer Principal: Daniel Garcia www.facebook.com/HawkNewspaper
that turned both parties against each other. Suddenly it didn’t matter if someone might have been better at running the country as president. All that mattered was that your party won. The same issue is happening in 2020 over two centuries later. At the start of campaigning citizens are voting for who they truly align with within their party, but as it progresses and the candidates dwindle they begin to vote for whoever they believe will beat the other party’s top candidate. And once it gets down to the final two candidates they’ll vote for whichever candidate belongs to their party regardless of whether or not they fully support them. This has led to a lot of voters being unsatisfied with who they have left to vote for in the end. The party system also causes problems within the government. The constant power struggle between the parties can delay plans from getting through Congress or the Senate. Laws suggested by a Republican president will be shot down by a Democratic senate for no other reason than the fact that it was a Republican plan. A perfect example of this was the government shutdown from Dec. 22 2018 until Jan. 25, 2019. The reason for this was a disagreement over the government’s budget. Trump and the Republicans wanted money to be allocated for the wall on the Mexican-American border and the Democrats in the Senate didn’t. The shutdown went on for over a month all because the Democrats and Republicans didn’t want to let the other party win. The United States would be better off if it was able to get rid of the party system. Each candidate would run against every other candidate instead of competing with the ones in their party until the final election. However, it would be nearly impossible to actually get rid of the party system, so instead the U.S. needs to work on bridging this gap between the two parties, and learn how to work together instead of competing against each other.
The Hawk, the official student newspaper of Hendrickson High School, is an open forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions. Opinions expressed reflect the beliefs of the student author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the entire Hawk Staff, the Hawk Adviser, the Hendrickson Faculty and Staff, or the Principal. Letters to the editor are welcomed, and may be dropped off in E211. Corrections will be printed when brought to the attention of the staff.
The Hawk is printed monthly at Community Impact in Pflugerville, Texas. 1,000 copies are printed each run, and are distributed to the student body for free through an advisory period and on newsstands throughout the building.
Editorial Staff Co-Editors: Seth Deaton & Bryan Ross Copy Editor Angelyna Rosales Assistant Editors: Kaitlyn Nash, Landon Self, Ethan Tittle
Yael Behar Lili Moran Hector Santos
Reporters Artist Vy Bui
Weston Schlesinger Abraham Siyoum Natalia Zavaleta
• Your Turn “Having two main parties creates an ‘Us vs Them’ mentality that is detrimental to the health of a country. If more parties got enough support and funding, perhaps that mentality could be changed into just “Us” and bring more chances of collaboration between parties.” Robert Cook, 12
““I do believe that the system is working. I have seen more things being done with Trump in office and I think if we keep helping ourselves we can make our country better than what it is now.” -Ralph Garcia, 12
“Honestly no, I think having two political parties is splitting us up. George’s farewell address is often remembered for its warning against political parties and I don’t think he’s wrong. There is a lot of violence going on with Democrats vs. Republicans. If we never had the political system then we would vote for the better person to be president then what system they have always voted for.” -Micha Boothby, 11 ““I think the whole Democrat vs Conservative shtick is, to be frank, quite frustrating. And there are tons of people out there that attack the opposite sides because being different is such a big deal nowadays. Two political parties don’t really help that much. Independent sides however are a lot more balanced and they don’t attack different sides and are perfectly equal.” Kal Abraham, 12
“I think the two party political system isnt a good way to evaluate the desires of voters. I think it ends up just causing a growing divide in our nation and puts people against each other. Rather than looking into a politicians values, morals, promises, promotions, etc. voters often end up just voting Republican vs Democrat.” - Gabriella Pearce, 10 Associations Interscholastic Press League Texas Association of Journalism Educators Journalism Educators Association National Scholastic Press Association Columbia Scholastic Press League
Honors
ILPC Bronze Star, 2014 & 2015, 2017, 2018 Columbia Scholastic Press League, Gold Medalist 2016, 2017, 2018 Silver Crown, 2017, 2018 Pacemaker Finalist, 2018
Design by Kaitlyn Nash
• Hit or Miss
Band required to wear special masks
Because of the safety precautions that all extracurricular groups have to follow, the students in band must wear a specially designed mask that allows them to play their instrument while wearing a mask . The mask is a thick piece of fabric that has a set of velcro in the middle that can open up to allow the student to play with their mask on. While this sounds like a good idea on paper it doesn’t work out in-action. During rehearsals the students go from having their instruments up to having them back down and back up again so repeatedly, they don’t have the time to close the velcro part of the mask. This then defeats the purpose of the special mask because the velcro part where your mouth is stays open, and isn’t protecting anyone. On top of that the mask gets wet easily with the constant playing of an instrument right on it. The mask then becomes uncomfortable for the student to wear, especially when it’s cold outside. It would be much easier to wear a normal mask and just pull it down when it is time to play, so the special masks are a MISS.
Roof Fires Cause Inefficient Route to Art Hall
Due to fires that occurred on the school roof in early October, all class entrances located in the art hall including theatre, band, and visual arts have been closed off for construction. Students attending these classes have had to go outside via the library, and around the building to enter their classrooms. This new longer route had led to a big loss in time and efficiency. Teachers have to stand by the back entrance of their classes to ensure that the door is unlocked, and with the increasingly colder temperatures and rainy days, walking outside is not preferred. While this whole procedure is for the safety of students and can't be helped, this is an inconvenience and this new, albeit temporary, way to get to the art hall is a MISS.
Staggered Release Schedule Offers Easy Mobility
With the amount of students attending physical schooling, preventive measures have been taken to slow the spread of COVID-19, including staggered release schedules. Alternating within the weeks, different classes have been released determined by floor level and odd-even numbered rooms. Needless to say, this schedule has incited confusion onto the students, giving an unexpected ending to the end of the day, since the release time can alternate between 4:05 and 4:15. However, the staggered releases allow for less crowded hallways and easy mobility, and the alternating schedule per week gives an even distribution of early release; this new release schedule is a HIT
Students continue to not wear masks in hallways
All PFISD schools were ordered to wear masks at all times while in and around the school building. During the passing periods students repeatedly take their mask off or pull their mask down to talk, eat, or get fresh air. Although this may seem necessary to do, it puts the person who removed their mask and the people around them at risk of getting sick. In addition, the amount of outbreaks at the school are staring to increase which means that taking off a mask inside school is more dangerous now than it has been this school year. The amount of students taking of their masks is a MISS.
• Our Turn
Volume 14 Issue 2 Opinion
Editor opens up about having a sick sibling I was almost 4 years old when my sister got sick. When you’re 4 years old you’re not supposed to have very solid memories, but I can remember almost everything about that day. We were driving to the school to pick her up that day and all I could hear was the ambulance racing towards school and my mom’s phone ringing almost immediately after. She says she knew the ambulance was for my sister. When they took her to Dell Children’s Medical Center in the ambulance I wasn’t allowed to go because I was so small, so a lady in the front office volunteered to take me. When they got to the hospital they found out she had a stroke and needed to have immediate brain surgery. She has what’s called an Arteriovenous Malformation or an AVM, basically a cluster of veins and arteries inside your brain, and in my sister’s case, it ruptured causing her to have a stroke. She ended up having a total of three brain surgeries to try to get the AVM out. I don’t remember much from when she was in the hospital but I know she was lucky. She was lucky to have her teachers notice something was wrong. She was lucky to be able to go to Dell Children’s hospital. She was lucky to have an incredibly talented brain surgeon perform an 18-hour surgery on her. And she was lucky to only have a slight loss of feeling in her right hand. After that everything was okay with her and she was able to live her life to the fullest until she turned 16 when they found her AVM was still there. At this point, I was 12 so I was more aware of what was going on. I had always known she was sick, but I didn’t realize how serious her condition was until this point. After eight years pass you think you’re in the clear, but this time they tried a new approach, they tried radiation. For the most part, the radiation made it go away, but there’s still a chance that it could always come back. I wasn’t there at the hospital most of the time, instead, I mostly stayed with my grandma and cousins. I was pulled from preschool and I never got to finish. I remember blaming my sister for it one time when I was really small, telling her that she ruined that for me. When I think about it now, I can see how much that would’ve hurt
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her. It wasn’t her fault that any of that happened. My parents made a decision so they could be there for my sister as much as they could. I wasn’t the most important person in their lives at that time, but as a four-year-old, that’s really hard to understand. Seeing your sibling get more attention and care than you doesn’t really start to make sense until you get older. Obviously, for the person who was sick, it’s always going to be worse for them. But what about their siblings, their parents, their friends? It’s definitely a completely different experience for every person, but for me, I get extremely scared every time she leaves the house by herself. What if she has another stroke while she’s driving? What if something happens and I’m not there to protect her? She’s pretty adamant that she’s not going to let it affect her life and that she’s still going to do everything she would do if she didn’t have it, and I can’t do anything about it. I can’t tell her to stop. I think part of me will always worry when she goes on a big roller coaster, or when she stays at work for two hours longer than she said she would. It’s hard to think about my sister not being with me, but it’s always a possibility that it will come back, and there’s always the possibility that the treatment won’t work this time. It’s hard to think at just four years old, you’re going to worry about your big sister for the rest of your life when she should be the one worrying about you. Even though I worry about what could happen to her, I don’t really see her as being sick. I still go to her for everything you would go to a big sister for. I think that’s mostly due to her mindset and not letting it affect the way she lives. It could also be that the worst of it happened when we were both really small, and it was never really ingrained in our minds that she was a sick kid. We knew it was there, but it was never the most prominent thing after she was in recovery. I didn’t care that she was sick, I just wanted my big sister to play with me as we used to. I still want the same thing today. I want my sister to still give me advice, to go out to eat with me, to tell me what classes to take. I want the same relationship with my sister I would have if she didn’t have an AVM. Vy Bui | Artist
8 Feature Nov. 6, 2020
A NATION
Editor describes experience working for political campaigns Landon Self | Asst. Editor
The 2020 election cycle has been anything but normal. A traditional campaign would be nonstop door knocking and holding large campaign events on a daily basis. However, the pandemic has put all of that on hold. After working on a congressional campaign up until the runoff elections in July, I was added as an intern with the Republican Party of Texas for the Donald J. Trump for President campaign. Research proves that when you knock on voters’ doors, the turnout rate for your candidate is much higher when it comes time to vote. Canvassing looks much different here in the times of COVID-19 and is anything but normal. We are assigned neighborhoods to knock doors in for that day and we usually knock on 80 to 100 doors each on a daily basis. We will knock on the door and then immediately take six steps back so the voter doesn’t feel uncomfortable. We are required by the Republican Party to wear a mask when we do door to door canvassing, but we take it off when walking in between houses. Canvassing can also bring a lot of fun and memorable moments. While doing it in Georgetown, I knocked on someone’s door and forgot to pull up my mask. Since wearing a mask was fairly new then, I didn’t think anything of it. The lady that answered the door yelled at me saying she would call the police. That scared me so I just said have a nice day and marked her as an
• Your Turn
There are things such as research to identify eligible voters that I was unaware of and am now experienced in. I learned a lot during this journey and while most people will be excited when this election is over, I will be looking forward to the 2022 midterm elections.
Assistant editor Landon Self, 11, canvasses for the Donald Trump campaign leading up to the election. Photo provided by | Mike McCloskey
First-time voters discuss voting experience
“I really enjoyed my first voting experience. The line was long, but I was happy to wait. I was very nervous when working the machinery that I was going to mess something up, but I got through okay. The lady I had to check me in was extremely nice and so were all the poll workers. I was a little disappointed to not see as many young people out voting at least on the day I went. I am very glad I early voted though I can’t imagine what those polls will look like on the actual day.” Corin Oliver, 12
undecided voter. While we are talking to voters, we ask them a few questions about who they are voting for and if they have any questions about other candidates down the ballot. Occasionally, we will ask for their opinion about a certain event taking place. For example, we have had to ask people what they thought of the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Once while walking in Round Rock, I knocked on the door and an older man answered it. We were asking about views on the second amendment and he didn’t answer. He instead went back inside and came back with a 410 gauge shotgun in his hand. He said he was a strong supporter of the second amendment, and his action proved it. If the homeowner doesn’t answer the doors, then we will leave a door hanger with the Trump/Pence logo and a list of down ballot candidates and mark their home as “no answer” and then try again with that house later on. Back on the congressional campaign I worked on, before the March 3 primary elections, we did canvassing for that campaign and it looked much different in the Pre-COVID days. While going on this journey throughout this election year, I have had the privilege to meet many elected officials and other great people. For example, while canvassing in Hutto, Congressman John Carter came and did it with us. I learned throughout this year that campaigning requires a lot of work and attention to it.
“I put a lot of thought into my vote. I made sure that I did some research on the candidates, especially in local elections, because I think those are super important. The presidential election is always obviously a big thing, but I think it’s important to start in your immediate area and to choose your representatives wisely.” Jeremiah Gorman, 12
DIVIDED
Volume 14, Issue 2 Feature
• Our Turn
Editor reflects on experience working polls during election
Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor
Being a poll worker during an election year is an uphill battle, but this year, dealing with Covid-19 made that hill a mountain. Politics have always been a huge part of my life, so when I saw one of the most important elections coming around the corner, I just
Assistant editor Kaitlyn Nash, 10, helps run a polling place on election day. Photo provided by | Steven Nash
knew I had to be a part of it. So as soon as I could, I made it my priority to be a poll worker on the craziest day I could think of. Nov. 3, election day. When I arrived at Hendrickson High School, I was completely ready to begin my training on how to be the best poll worker I could be. But first, I had to find someone to open the doors for me. When I had finally gotten an office staff to open the theatre doors for me, I started getting nervous as all of my worries choked me. What if I messed up? The long line of people didn’t help with this insecurity. As more and more people joined this line, I could feel my worries growing. Those worries were soon relaxed when I met the poll working team. All of them had amazing attitudes and made it exceptionally easy for me to learn everything I needed to know in order to be successful in helping them. The first job I was given, which was to check people in, was the hardest to learn. Since everything on our database was mostly digital, I needed to learn how to work the check-in machines. At first, I was a little slow on figuring out how to scan driver’s licences and IDs, but after a while, I got the hang of it. Sometimes, we had people come in who were not registered or didn’t show up in our database. In this case, I had to issue them a “provisional” which is basically a fancy word for taking longer to prove the eligibility of a voter. Getting used to issuing out provisionals was confusing, but the staff said I worked hard and praised me for learning fast. Another job I had was to help drive-up voters with getting their ballots in. This process was a lot harder,
“My political knowledge was limited in previous years, during this election I was able to learn more about our presidential candidates and local representatives. I made sure to invest my time wisely and become knowledgeable about key topics that could make or break our nation. I can confidently say my vote was carefully determined.” Alejandra Perez, 12
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and I appreciate that I only had to do it once that day. If we had a drive-up voter, we would awkwardly wheel out a cart that had the voters ballot, an envelope, and a machine that the voter used for selecting their choices. Then when the ballot printed out, we would put the voter’s ballot in an envelope, take it to the machine that recorded ballots, and then put their choices in. The one couple who did this process, though, was dissatisfied with how “safe” their ballot was in our hands and questioned us a lot about their voter security. In the end, they were satisfied though. I had a few breaks in between shifts I took. There was a back room where we could eat and chat amongst ourselves. I dared not take too many breaks because I wanted to help my fellow poll workers as much as I could. Because of voter security, nobody who went to our polling station was allowed to wear attire representing or supporting a certain candidate. We only had to deal with this problem once, and since the man had no other shirt, he resorted to taking his shirt off in line, flipping it inside out, and putting it back on. It was one of the oddest things I had seen at the station that day. Another odd encounter I faced was the number of people who complained that the “I Voted” stickers were only in Spanish. In my heart, I am completely satisfied with the way that my poll worker experience turned out. Although the rushed work made me exhausted, I actually felt like I had made history that day. I just can’t wait until I can be a poll worker again, but next time, actually be able to vote.
“I put a lot of thought into who I voted for. I used mainly debates, social media, and my own morals to help guide my decision. I felt a sense of pride knowing that I helped determine my country’s leader. I feel it is extremely important to vote. It is so important that we utilize our voice because there are many countries out there that don’t allow their citizens to vote.” Konner Faust, 12
10 Feature Nov. 6, 2020
The Show Must Go On
Programs adjust to challenges caused by pandemic Marching Band Bryan Ross | Co-Editor
This summer, the houses behind the band lot were missing a loud neighbor on August mornings. The loud and steady clicks of the metronome followed by 200-300 band members counting and playing were missing. But eventually, that neighbor made their long awaited return. Two months later, about 20 degrees cooler, and with about half the members that were expected, the band took the field for the first time to rehearse Sept. 18. While this year’s edition featured temperature checks, social distancing, and no competitive show to work on for the first time in recent memory, senior John Fortanely says he appreciates the rehearsals this year more than he normally would. “In the previous years it’s just been ‘oh another day of rehearsal I’ve gotta go to,” Fortanely said. “Whereas now it’s ‘I get to go to rehearsal instead of having my band season canceled.’” The band was left without any competition opportunities after Bands of America canceled their fall season along with UIL’s state championship schedule rotating to 6A as the school dropped to the 5A level of competition. “I think the first initial reaction was anger and disappointment, then that turned into hope,” head director James Hairston said. “COVID has affected the
Speech and Debate Natalia Zavaleta | Reporter
Speech and Debate is no exception to the many clubs having to work around new schedules, use new platforms, and more. The Speech and Debate team is no exception to this. From online debates to ‘Among Us’ team meetings, Speech and Debate has been trying to make the most out of the new normal. “It has definitely required creative thinking,” debate coach Kirsten Nash said. “There are completely different problems that exist in the online space.” Debaters must learn new skills in order to be successful in online debates, such as having to be tech savvy in order to be as successful as possible, according to Nash. “It definitely is harder to debate via Zoom considering the internet issues,” junior Afsaneh Masoumi said. Connection issues are the main drawback of
band program a lot, we’ve lost students in the program, but we have enough students in the program to keep hope alive, students participating, students on Zoom, so it started out with anger but ended with hope and positivity.” In response to the lack of competition, the band’s planned fall production was delayed until the fall 2021 season and has planned a new production to potentially be performed for the community this spring if conditions allow. In the meantime, band members have the opportunity to sign up to perform at home football games. “I had mixed feelings leading up to the first football game,” Hairston said. “I am and was super excited to have the students back and be able to go to the football games, but also I’m saddened because we are missing 50 percent of the program. The fulfilment isn’t there, even though we do have 100 kids with us, you want to have the 200 kids all together.” At rehearsals and football games, members are required to wear masks that have slits in them to allow for playing their instruments, as well as other precautions such as social distancing, sitting one to a seat on bus rides, and only allowing a limited number of students in dressing rooms at a time. “I always put myself in the student’s shoes,” Hairston said. “I’m uncomfortable with the mask on, I know that they’re uncomfortable with the mask on, so I try to put myself on their level letting them know that the
discomfort they’re going through we’re going through as well, but we do have to do it in order to maintain safety, and I think with that aspect the kids buy into the fact that I do see it on their side, and we’re all in this together, so let’s all wear the mask so that we can still play together.” Band at the high school level isn’t the only aspect being affected by the pandemic. Hairston said that middle schoolers losing out on time to learn their instrument is a concern for the future of the program. “My worry is the fact that the 8th graders did not get a full 7th grade year, and they’re not getting a full 8th grade year,” Hairston said. “So I do worry that in the longevity of the program, we’re going to be hurting with the younger students as they get older and we’re exiting the older students that can already play. So that’s my biggest fear right now.” While it’s impossible to know what the future holds, Hairston said that he still has optimism for the rest of the year. “It’s been extremely difficult not knowing what this year’s gonna bring for us or what we’re going to do,” Hairston said. “I think the fact that I have hope that we are going to be able to perform Intergalactic and I keep believing in that, and make the safest plan for the students and have them believe in that.I think that’s the only thing that’s really driving me right now to make it through this year successfully with the students is the fact that we are going to be able to do this together.”
transitioning to online, according to team members. “I think that we definitely are missing out on some team building,” Nash said. “By this time we have already had a couple of potlucks and have hosted an in person tournament.” Students have also expressed their troubles of being away from the team. “The hardest thing about being virtual is missing team interactions,” junior Audrey Fife said. “We don't have bus rides or in-person practices to bond together as a team, which is one of my favorite things about being in Speech and Debate.” On the other hand, at least some team members agree that they feel more comfortable debating from home and virtually than in person. “I actually really like online right now because I get really bad anxiety competing in front of people so it’s been a good break for me,” Isaelle Cano, the only
senior on the team, said. “This year has been a huge change because not only am I the oldest and a leader, but the pandemic has changed the way we have to do everything. According to Nash, COVID hasn’t damaged the team's spirit or success. “We have a very young team this year and have been working to acclimate new novices with our small varsity group,” Nash said. “We already have earned 6 state qualifications and have a number of students with state points accumulated already.” By gaining new experiences, the Speech and Debate team is looking forward to new opportunities that will be coming this year. “There are a lot of ‘lost minutes’ in both practice and competitions,” Nash said. “I believe that we are exactly where we need to be at this point.”
Volume 14, Issue 2 Feature
11
The Silver Dancers performed at halftime for the first time this season at the football game against Cedar Park on Oct. 15, accompanied by the band. Cheyenne Cosley | Photographer
Silver Dancers Bryan Ross | Co-Editor
On a Thursday night at the PfIELD, the Silver Dancers performed at halftime, accompanied by the band. Not exactly breaking news in most years. But in 2020, when so many events and activities have become virtual or have been outright canceled, it felt a little different. After a summer which provided little clarity on when or if anything would happen in the fall, the first football game was played Sept. 24 with fans in the stands, as well as members of the band, Silver Dancers, and cheerleaders, and a virtual halftime production was broadcasted on the PfIELD’s screen. The first football game to feature a live halftime performance from the Silver Dancers was played Oct. 15. “As soon as we found out there would be actual football games, I started getting hope again,” senior dancer Anai Lopez said. “I was like ‘well, if there’s football games you’d need the Silver Dancers, and the band, and cheer would get to go’ but they didn’t say that, and then when they finally did say it I was excited all over again because we actually got to rehearse something and not just sit around.” The Silver Dancers had to prepare for the football season without their normal spring and summer camps to teach new members their football and contest dances.
“I expected everything to be back to normal by this point,” assistant director Autumn Fleet said. “I guess it’s been different because most of our students are virtual and we’ve had to figure out how to do practices over zoom and still watch everybody and give people feedback over zoom, which is very different than being in person.” Fleet said that they tried their best to stay positive and encourage the team to look at the bright side of things, even as they had to adjust or cancel their plans. “Before school started we had our own boot camp where we met daily over zoom and we worked on our technique and strengthening our muscles and getting back into the swing of things,” Fleet said. “We also did some team bonding activities to get them reconnected as a team before we started the school year. We definitely tried to build our foundation and keep that strong to what we have and what we stand by so that as we started out this year with all of the changes we were still firm in that strong foundation.” Once in person school started, the dancers began in-person socially distanced rehearsals before school every morning. Lopez said that because of the reduced time, they have to work harder during rehearsals. “There’s really nothing you can do about [missing spring camp],” Lopez said. “It’s just more when we’re in practice now you can’t goof around as much. It’s more
hardcore working than team bonding kind of things. It’s more of getting to work than just sitting around.” In order to maintain safety during the pandemic, everyone who attends rehearsals is required to wear a mask, have their temperature checked, and fill out a form to verify they don’t have any symptoms. In class, the dance room is divided into socially distanced sections for each dancer to use who then wipes it down at the end of class. “We’re still productive because we can be outside and they can stay six feet apart so we can still see what they’re doing and give them corrections,” Fleet said. “Basically we can’t see them smiling but besides that everything else is the same. As a drill team the goal is to make everybody look the same so that we’re one, and we’re still able to do that and polish and clean them and get them ready for performance.” Fleet said that the pandemic-altered season has made her appreciate the little things more. “I’m not seeing my students as much as I did last year,” Fleet said. “There’s a lot of in-between moments, like getting to talk to them, waiting for everyone to dress out, and sitting in between classes. I don’t get to just have conversations with them as much, which is how I built relationships with my students and so I think it’s made me appreciate that part of a normal school year more.”
12 Feature Nov. 6, 2020
Continued from pages 10-11
Journalism Yael Behar | Reporter
News about Coronavirus in early March was something that had been progressively covered more on the news, yet seemed distant to students around the globe. When the pandemic finally hit and case numbers started to skyrocket, school was impacted, with extracurriculars, including journalism, changing greatly. Online learning combined with physical learning has altered the prior methods of all things journalism and all things normal. “As much as this summer has sucked for a lot of people, and as crazy as it’s all been, it’s been excellent for the newspaper,” senior newspaper Co-editor in chief Bryan Ross said. “It was a lot harder to put the last issue together because we weren’t all at the school and there was less opportunity for us to work on it. But there was so much content for us to write about. Between obviously coronavirus affecting literally everyone in the country, and then you also have all the BLM movement and all the social justice movements that have been going on, everyone has been affected by one of those things, at least.” In a certain capacity, things within newspaper have enhanced the big picture, yet possibly smudged the detail work. “I somewhat think that coronavirus has stumped the number of things that can be reported, since there is not much entertainment related things to report on,” freshman newspaper reporter Lilianna Moran said. “I also think COVID has given us a lot of news worthy
Cheer
Ethan Tittle | Asst. Editor
With football season starting up again the Cheer team is another group that is affected by the extra COVID precautions that need to be taken. “COVID has been a large obstacle because we were unable to practice for the entire summer leading to us being pretty behind on all the skills we needed to learn,” senior Kylie Anderson said. “We also couldn’t stunt for our first couple weeks of practice which is one of my favorite things.” Like the rest of the school, the cheerleading team has to take certain precautions during their practices to maintain safety for all the members, but they get some exceptions because of the fact that they are moving around and physically exerting themselves. “During practice, everyone that is online for school has to get their temperature checked firsthand,” senior Isabelle Badua said. “We only use four mats now and we have to wait two to three days before we can use the same set of mats. We have to stay socially distanced whenever possible and we keep our masks on whenever we aren't cheering, stunting or tumbling.”
stories to write about, since there always seems to be new sorts of information involving COVID.” With computers open and Zoom links being clicked on the daily for this new form of newspaper, there have been some road bumps to accompany it. “I think the biggest challenge was that the program that we use to design yearbook and newspaper does not work on a chromebook and although it’s fantastic for the district to provide chromebooks for all of the students, it didn’t really help journalism classes,” Journalism teacher Kari Riemer said. “We’ve had to do a lot more after school type activities where we do things that kids would normally get done during class.” Issues like this haven’t been exclusive to The Hawk newspaper staff, with photojournalism dealing with similar roadbumps. “Things have definitely been more challenging because there are fewer events to attend and I’m doing school online,” photographer Ian Falkenbury said. “Because of that, I’ve only taken pictures for a few events, and not any headshots. Because of COVID-19, there are now fewer photographers allowed at events. I’ve noticed it mainly affects football because there’s only one photographer allowed on the field and two in the stands.” Yearbook is something that has had somewhat of a bumpy road to traverse as well. “It’s a little hard to get in contact with some people sometimes but we manage to make it work out,” yearbook co-editor in chief Mia Anarcia said. “It has been challenging finding things to cover for the
Along with practices, the cheerleaders are being affected with new covid restrictions at the schools football games. “Since the football team and the cheerleaders can’t really ‘cross contaminate,’ we are located right behind the field goal now,” Anderson said. “We have to keep our mask on unless we are actually calling a cheer or tumbling/stunting. In previous years, we would always play cheer games with the opposing cheer team during the third quarter and a lot of other districts aren’t allowing their cheerleaders to do that this year, and if they are, we have to remain sociallydistant from them.” Every other year the cheerleaders would travel out of state to their competitions. This past year they went to California for their competitive season. That means that this year they would have stayed in-state for their competitions and competed in 3 competitions with one large one in February. “I enjoy cheering, and although it’s different, I'm going to enjoy it while I can,” Anderson said. “It’s my senior year and I am just trying to make it as fun as possible given the circumstances.”
yearbook weekly but we keep our eyes and ears open to anything anyone is doing.” Communication between the team members in journalism has been changed too, with email being the primary source of information as opposed to regularly talking. “Finding people to interview was a lot harder because normally if you’re just looking for quotes, you can just go around the hallway before school and you can find a bunch of different people with a bunch of different perspectives” Ross said. “Versus this year you have someone on the staff trying to collect quotes, they need to reach out to people‘s Instagram or look through their friends phone numbers, it’s a little bit harder to find a variety of demographics.” Issues in the future will continue to be sent to the student body, whether electronically or physically. I think we will start to do hard copies again soon, hopefully this upcoming issue,” Riemer said. “I like printing the copies of the paper. There’s just something about the tangible issue that I like.” Regardless of all of these precautions and different schooling methods, journalism has remained the same at its core, and students have enjoyed seeing the papers that catch them up on all of the issues, locally, and nationally. “The whole staff was able to throw together a very strong issue,” Ross said. “If you compare this issue to issues in the past, it holds up even if you don’t take into account the fact of all of the pandemic stuff. I’m proud of the work that we did putting it together.”
Cheerleader MacKinley Coe, 12, cheers during the football game against Weiss on Oct. 29.
Nov. 6, 2020 Entertainment
Clash of the Consoles
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Dual between gaming systems continues with new releases Since 2001, the Playstation vs. Xbox rivalry is arguably the biggest in the gaming community. Back on Nov. 15, 2001 Microsoft released the original Xbox to compete with Sony’s PS2. This started a competition that has continued to this day. With the latest chapter being the release of the two new consoles the PS5 and the Xbox Series X.
At the beginning of the rivalry, it wasn’t really a big deal, the consoles were similar. However when the Xbox 360, and PS3 were released many people felt that the Xbox 360 had better features and games. On the other hand when the PS4 and the Xbox One/ Xbox One S were released, the PS4 was more popular.
Each console has their own set of exclusive games. The biggest of which are Microsoft’s Halo franchise for the Xbox, and Sony’s Spiderman games for the Playstation. The competition of these games will continue with the release of the new games alongside the consoles.
New Xbox Series X features Seth Deaton | Co-Editor
Y X
B A
Microsoft will be releasing its new Xbox console, the Xbox Series X, on Nov. 10. The new console will be equipped with features such as 4k gaming with frame speed of up to 120 fps and 3D Spatial sound to help immerse players in the games. A few months ago a rumor was started saying that the latest Xbox console would be able to run PC gaming software such as Steam. The rumors were based on the theory that the new Xbox would run Windows 10 software. However, these rumors have not been confirmed by Microsoft. A big selling point for the new console is the fact that it will have backwards compatibility, meaning games players bought for the previous console will be able to be downloaded and played on the Series X, and all gaming accessories purchased with the Xbox One will be compatible with the Series X. These along with the release of Halo Infinite, the latest installment of the Halo franchise which will be coming out in December, has made the console very attractive to Xbox gamers and even some PC and Playstation gamers.
New PS5 features Angelyna Rosales | Copy Editor
The new PS5 will be released next Thursday. Two versions will be released; an option for a console with physical game disks and an option for a console that only allows digital games with no disks. According to the official PlayStation website, the new console will offer ray tracing, 4K-tv, and 8K output video resolution, HDR technology, 8K output, and up to 120fps with 120 Hz output. Additionally, PlayStation is releasing Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which is based on Sony’s movie Spiderman into the Spider-verse. PlayStation has also added a new chat recording feature, which would allow people to report verbal harassment through a voice chat reporting system. Many people believe that this would actively record their conversations, PlayStation has since stated that it’s only reserved for harassment abuse. However, many people report others for “harassment” when they are upset with their opponent, essentially trying to get them in trouble. The recording feature would allow their conversations to be recorded without any true harassment occurring.
Xbox Vs Playstation sales
x
• The original Xbox had 24 million sales
• PS2 155 million sales
• The Xbox 360 had 84 million sales • The Xbox 1 49.1 million sales
• PS3 87.4 million sales • PS4 112.1 million sales
14 Sports Nov. 6, 2020
The Crowd Goes Mild
New COVID guidelines limit number of fans at events
We can manage the smaller crowds and loss of revenue A few months ago, having two teams go head to head as long as the kids get the opportunity to compete.” in a football game with fans cheering and the band According to Raymond, the district would like to blasting music from the stands seemed like something begin to increase capacity in the stands, but it’s very that wouldn’t be possible. Now it’s reality, but things unlikely that they reach full capacity at any point this are a little different than they have been in the past. year. This means teams will have to learn to adjust to Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the district the smaller crowds and different atmosphere. decreased the number of fans allowed at the stadiums “It’s our job as coaches and players to bring energy,” during games. Along with a limited number of fans, Killian said. “I don’t think there’s a great answer for only the home team is allowed to bring their band, how you replace the kind of energy the crowd can cheer team, and dance line. create at games. I don’t even think you “It’s been different,” head football coach can replace that energy, I just think we and boys athletic director Chip Killian have to be able to adjust just like we do said. “It’s a lot quieter which takes away to weather conditions. Just like I tell my from the little bit of the energy that the players when it’s really windy it’s hard to crowd creates. Even before we moved to hear so you really have to focus more, this the Pfield we would sell out every game is just a different kind of adjustment we here at home. And the way those stadiums have to make.” are built the crowd is really close to the Although the limited number of fans field so they get loud during those Friday allowed at the games takes away from night games. With a smaller crowd there’s the energy brought to the game, Killian not as much energy created.” says that not everything is bad, it’s just a Not having bigger crowds at the games different experience. has pros and cons according to Killian. The “I don’t prefer it one way or the other, larger crowds can help build on the teams I’ve been doing this a long time so it momentum during games but it can also doesn’t matter to me either way, I’ll play,” create communication issues on the field. Killian said “I miss it for the kids though, I “Sometimes it’s fun to get to feed off miss it for my players, and for the fans that The student section cheering on the varsity football team during the sold out of that energy and sometimes it makes it really want to be there and get loud and really hard to hear, so at least we’re not Weiss game. Makaya Smith | Photographer jump in the bleachers and chant. I think having to deal with that,” Killian said. “And then on the summer with local health authorities and other that’s really good, and it’s a neat experience for those road games the band doesn’t get to be there so that’s districts before anything was decided,” District Athletic people. So I miss the kids getting to feed off of it and weird. When we went to play Killeen neither band was Director Todd Raymond said. “It’s been odd at times, the players feeding off of it. It’s just a whole different there, and that takes some getting used to. I’d hate to but the bigger issue is that our kids are getting to play. experience.” Seth Deaton | Co-Editor
say there’s good things about having fewer people there because I don’t believe that’s true. It’s just a different atmosphere than we’re used to.” Currently, the stadiums are operating at 10 percent capacity to allow for social distancing and masks are required for everyone. The district is also trying to avoid people congregating in areas around the stadium; they want everyone to be in the stands unless they’re getting concessions or going to the restroom. “Several meetings and discussions took place over
Sports games canceled due to pandemic safety precautions
Weston Schlesinger| Schlesinger Reporter
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many district games have been cancelled. According to the new district policy, games will be allowed to go ahead, but if a player on a team contracts COVID the game will be cancelled, rescheduled or the team with the virus might have to forfeit. “We think some games will need to be postponed for safety reasons. I don’t agree with cancelled games or forfeits.” Campus Athletic Director Chip Killian said. “The District needs to have built-in dates for games that are postponed.” Ticket sales have been restricted in order to prevent a large number of people from being crowded together in
one place as a precautionary measure against the virus. In particular, before the beginning of the school year, it was announced that tickets wouldn’t be sold at the Pfield for varsity football games. Tickets have been sold and people have been able to attend games at the Pfield. “We are selling 1000 tickets for varsity football at The Pfield, 500 for outdoor events at the stadiums on campus, and 250 for indoor events.” District Athletic Coordinator Todd Raymond said. “Tickets are all sold online and links are only made available to the families of the participants.” This system should help prevent the virus from spreading to and from other schools. while allowing some games to
be played with fans in attendance. Weiss High School postponed all football games for two weeks after a faculty member tested positive for COVID before a game scheduled for Oct. 9. The games were postponed to Oct. 29 in order to protect students and staff from the virus. “At this point, we built in bye weeks to account for postponed games,” Raymond said. “We will have no issues making them up, but it could become more difficult down the road.” There were multiple volleyball games scheduled for Oct. 16, all of which were played without issue. Varsity and junior varsity volleyball games were played on Oct. 20. On Oct. 20, two volleyball
players that played on Oct. 16 tested positive for COVID after several days without knowing they had the virus. This delay caused the exposure of 58 people, which had to quarantine for 14 days. After the incident, the school has made more precautions to keep students and staff safe from the virus such as requiring seating charts for contact tracing. Currently all volleyball teams are quarantined until November 13 and will play two re-scheduled games on Nov. 14. “I feel that we need to keep all students, coaches and the community safe,” Girls Athletic Coordinator Norma Sierra said. “We will and must follow protocol in order for this to happen.”
Volume 14 Issue 2 Sports
15
Dig it Up
Volleyball team discusses abnormal season
Q&A Ethan Tittle | Asst. Editor
In what ways has Covid affected your season? “We were not able to start volleyball season until September, we usually start in August. We were not able to participate in volleyball tournaments, and our preseason was cut short. Covid hasn’t really affected our season much, it is more making sure we are using the correct precautions during games and practices. That is the hardest part.” Coach Carrie Sulak “COVID has affected my senior season a lot, it pushed back the season but honestly I’m just glad I get to play.” Skylar Cavil 12th
Do you enjoy being in volleyball during Covid ? “I enjoy playing volleyball during Covid because it takes my mind
off of the fact that we’re in a pandemic even though things are different. It offers some normalcy in everyone’s lives after such a tremendously unprecedented shift in the way we live.” Kat Neille 11th “I enjoy being with volleyball no matter what circumstances we are in. We are together. At first, it was hard to adjust, but now, unfortunately we have come accustomed to it. We do sometimes need to remind the girls to put your mask on, but it is what it is. We will do what is needed to play the sport we love. I love coaching volleyball and I love coaching these girls.” Carrie Sulak (coach) “There’s nothing else I would like to be doing in time even though there is the fear of getting it , as long as the team and I are healthy. It’s good.” Skylar Cavil 12th “Volleyball during Covid is honestly a light in the darkness, quarantine was really hard because we were not able to do much and being able to play a sport and win with my friends brings a lot of joy in my life.” Karys Dove 11th
Sophomore Kyra Dove (left) and junior Sydney Hill (right) teaming up for a block during the game against Weiss on Oct. 13. Sofia Dodd | Photographer
How has the season gone so far? “Thus far this season has been absolutely amazing. As a team we are playing very well and our chemistry is starting to manifest on court and we look very cohesive. This is resulting in a lot of wins which feels good after having a few bad seasons in the past. I’m looking forward to new growth and more changes in the future.” Kat Neille 11th “This is a brand new season and we are playing like a team and it’s been so much fun. I really think my team and I will finish the district champs this year and I am so excited to see how far we go into the playoffs! We are currently 6-0 in district and I am so excited!” Karys Dove 11th
Junior Brooklyn Moody preparing to serve against Weiss. Sofia Dodd | Photographer
16 Entertainment Nov, 6 2020
That’s Sus
Among Us game rises in popularity, skyrockets in downloads Kaitlyn Nash | Asst. Editor
An interactive, multiplayer game called Among Us has recently made a boom in sales on the app store, although it came out on June 15. of 2018. Online Twitch streamers playing the game increased its popularity by posting videos of their gameplay on YouTube, making downloads of the game increase by 661 percent. The game is now at 86.6 million downloads, with people all around the world joining in the fun. Among Us is available free of charge on all iOS and Android devices, and on PC it’s available for $4.99. “I like playing among us because it is a murder mystery game that really messes with your trust issues and has so many funny moments and quirks that leave me laughing long after I’m done playing,” sophomore Hannah Margaitis said. The rules of the game are given to the player when one clicks on the free play button after downloading the game. In all, there are three maps that players can choose from; The Skeld, Mira HQ, and Polus. Players can either host their own game, join a game from any of the regional servers, or enter a private code given to them by a friend. “Most recently there have been times where I am the first one killed as a crew mate and it has become a running gag of me dying first,” sophomore Val Hernandez said. “Besides that there have been many times where I stick to friends but then end up killing them which is great.” There are 12 colors for players to choose from; Red, blue, green, pink, orange, https://www.gamesindustry.biz/
yellow, black, white, purple, brown, cyan, and lime. There are also special items that players can buy to enhance their characters’ looks, like pets and accessories. “My favorite colors to play would be orange or pink,” sophomore Tam Ly said. “Orange is for Halloween and pink is because it represents my personality.” When the game starts, players are either chosen as the imposter or as a crewmate. As a crewmate, the players’ job is to complete all the tasks the game asks them to do in order to win. The imposter, which can be one to three players, aims to kill all of the crewmates before they are found out and is given no tasks. When a dead body is found, crewmates report it and discussion time begins. Then, everyone has to figure out who the imposter is and when they do, they vote. To win, imposters can also sabotage the ship and distract the crewmates into fixing it. “I prefer crewmate because killing people is stressful and running around pretending to be an angel when I’m actually playing god is terrifying and also because I like playing ‘who killed who,’” Margaitis said. In the end, the goal of the game is for the Imposter to kill off all of the Crewmates or have a successful sabotage while Crewmates either complete all their tasks or kick off all of the Imposters. “I like Among Us because it has become so widespread and easily accessible that many creators from across the internet have been able to easily collaborate and play with one another,” Hernandez said.
Cafeteria Weapons
661% Download Increase
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86.6 Million Downloads Med Bay
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Reactor 42 Million Downloads in September
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Admin Electrical
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Developed and Released in 2018
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Earned $3.2 Million on the App Store and Goolge Play
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