The Viewpoint Mountain View High School 2135 Mountain View Road Stafford, VA 22556 STUDENT NEWS MAGAZINE MVHS VOLUME 15 ISSUE 3 February | March Check out pages 08 and 09 to find out about GameStop and the stock market.
Index
01: Cover 02: Index 03: Briefs 04: The rise of Twitch 05: The rise of Twitch 06: Fin 07: Peaks and valleys 08: Game-Stock 09: Game-Stock
The Viewpoint
10: Dead or alive… you decide 11: Dead or alive… you decide 12: Now Trending 13: Now Trending 14: Body Signs 15: Wall Street in a nutshell
Editorial
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2021 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 3
Managing Editors Lexi Jackson Sean Jones Blog Editor Ceci Alvarez Social Media Editor Jules Torrice Photography Editor Jules Torrice Briefs Editor Catelynn Aiman Adviser Trisha Strahl
Staff Writers Catelynn Aiman, Ceci Alvarez, Destiny Fitzgerald, Jules Torrice, Lexi Jackson, Na’Syr Jackson, Sean Jones, and Taylor Cooper Front Cover Lexi Jackson 2014-2017 International Quill and Scroll First Place Articles 2014-2016 VHSL State Championship First Place Award 2013, 2014, 2015 Free Lance-Star Best Over All Newspaper 2011 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist Mountain View High School 2135 Mountain View Rd. Stafford, VA 22556
For the past few months, the topic of the stock market has been becoming increasingly popular. A lot of attention has been brought to the stock market because of the GameStop situation and popularity surrounding that. However, in order to understand what is happening with GameStop, it’s important to understand how the stock market functions. Even then, not very many people are interested in the stock market and how it works. CateLynn Aiman, junior, said, “I have no clue on what the stock market is.” Meanwhile, junior Destiny Fitzgerald said, “It has the potential to make lots of people rich.”Getting the advice of people who have been in the stock market before is one of the best ways to understand it. Senior, Lexi Jackson, said, “I invested in the stock market a few years ago, but I honestly don’t really know that much about. My grandpa was a stockbroker, so I mainly rely on him for advice.” Other people are more ambivalent about it. Na’Syr Jackson, senior, said, “I’m pretty neutral towards it, I guess. I know a little about it, but I don’t really pay attention to it right now.” In addition, Sean Jones, senior, said, “The stock market is that thing you hear about in the news, but never really pay attention to it. And I’m pretty sure that’s how my relationship with it is going to be for the rest of my life.” It’s very tedious and requires a lot of attention. Ceci Alvarez, senior, said “I understand how it works, but I don’t really have a desire to learn more or buy stocks.” On the other hand, junior Taylor Cooper said, “I’m actually very interested in it; I try to keep up with some stuff, but it’s a lot of information all at one time.” Nevertheless, the stock market has many different ways in which it supports the economy, so it is beneficial for people to understand it. Senior Jules Torrice said, “Honestly, I don’t know much about the stock market, but I know my grandparents follow and are very interested in it. Maybe by reading some of the articles in this issue I’ll have a better idea on it.”
02 u the viewpoint ufebruary | march
2021 uIndex
What’s new at the View States and signing by Taylor Cooper Senior Zara Christophe not only went to states for gymnastics, but also signed to Fairmont State University for acro and tumbling. Christophe says, “This year’s state was my best one out of all four years that I qualified.” She competed in all four events for the third year in a row placing fourth on bars, tied fourth on vault, scoring 9.600, and placed fifth all-around. Signing to Fairmont State University was a major deal for her since she loved everything about the school when she toured it. Choosing whether she wanted to do acro or gymnastics was very default for her. She said, “Before I chose this school, I was very indecisive about whether I wanted to do gymnastics or acro in college. I chose to do acro because it is something new, but at the same time it was the best of gymnastics and cheer.” Acro and Tumbling is a new, but growing, sport and she felt it would be a great fit.
Things to do at the Outer Banks by CateLynn Aiman Who doesn’t want to go to the beach for a week in the summer? Some fun things to do at Outer Banks or OBX for short can include going to see the wild horses in Corolla, spending the day in downtown Manteo, or travel the sand dunes. Something you do not see often is a wild horse; most of the time they are behind fences. The horses came from Spain when America was still being discovered. Today the horses walk around on the beach and swim in the marshes. You will be fined $500 if you get too close to a horse because they are not exposed to our type of bacteria and the OBX locals would like to keep it that way. Downtown Manteo has a lot of history. It is where Virginia Dare, the first person to be born on American soil, lived. It is also where the lost colony disappeared. During the day you can spend time shopping or at the aquarium. At night you can see a play on the Lost Colony and learn about what happened to them, or take a ghost tour and learn about pirates, colonists, and even people who have lived in Manteo. The Sand Dunes are a national park. They are these big hills of sand. On a nice day you will see people walking across them. On a windy day you will see people flying kites. On a rainy day you will probably not see anyone there. Of course, you can always spend the day at the beach, but these are some fun things to do while you are down there.
Presidential birthday by Na’Syr Jackson On February 22, 2020, a celebratory birthday party was held for George Washington at his home. The event itself was free; however, members of mountvernon.org could reserve tickets as early as February 1, whereas non-members could only reserve tickets starting February 12. Numerous events were held on his birthday, like the presidential wreath-laying ceremony that happened early in the morning, as well as all-day events like “Meeting George Washington” and hearing character interpreters share stories of the past. Before the event, a special menu in honor of George Washington’s birthday party was available at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant. The event also had its own virtual party for those who couldn’t attend.
briefs u february | march 2021 u the viewpoint u 03
THE RISE OF TWITCH Read about these games and gamers that had an awesome 2020 by CECI ALVAREZ
THE GROWTH As far as the overall traffic and concurrent viewers on Twitch are concerned, the platform has seen a consistent rise over the years. Twitch began as a spinoff to the general-streaming platform Justin. tv back in 2011. Since the beginning, Twitch, as a platform, was focused on video-game streaming, although of late, various different types of streamers have emerged. Twitch has experienced tremendous growth in terms of viewers over the past few years. At the beginning of 2018, the platform had around 1.08 million average concurrent viewers. That figure has now surpassed the 2 million mark, with around 2.08 million concurrent average viewers currently in 2020.
GROWTH OF JUST CHATTING One of the fuels of Twitch’s growth since May has been the steady rise of the “Just Chatting” category, which includes video logs, open conversations, and other unscripted interactions between a streamer and their audience. In December 2019, Just Chatting was already the No. 1 category on Twitch by a slim margin, accounting for roughly 80 million hours watched. This past November, Twitch streamers spent 228 million hours in the same category. That’s not just a nearly 300% increase in the audience in eleven months. That also makes it bigger than the next three top categories — livestreamed gameplay of League of Legends, Among Us, and Fortnite — put together. That’s an easy statistic to write off as a knock-on consequence from lockdown boredom, but that’s also the kind of overall audience momentum that’s not going to go away when COVID does. 04u the viewpoint u february | march 2021uopinion
xQcOW
AOC Summit1g
Tommyinnit- Minecraft AOC- Among us QuackityHQ- Variety KarlJacobs- Minecraft Georgenotfound- Minecraft
Kraynasty- GTA 5 DnellTv- 2k21 Annoying- Variety ExoTYB- GTA 5 Tommyinnit- Minecraft
MOST WATCHED xQcOW- GTA5 Gaules-CSGO ESL_CSGO- CSGO Summit1g-gta NICKMERCS -Warxone
tommyinnit
FASTEST GROWING
Ludwig
MOST POPULAR
POPULAR GAMES OF THE YEAR While a lot of video game coverage on Twitch did suffer slight to significant decreases in November, both Minecraft and World of Warcraft bucked that trend by enjoying big audience spikes. With World of Warcraft, this can be attributed to the release of its latest expansion Shadowlands, which sends players into the game world’s elaborate afterlife in search of the renegade ex-Warchief Sylvanas Windrunner. -In 2020, more mobile users downloaded Among Us than any other game worldwide. Data released by Apptopia ranks the year’s breakout hit at 41 million downloads in the US and 264 million downloads worldwide —surpassing PUBG Mobile and Roblox, which still remained to be in the top 10 highest grossing games in 2020..Among us finally peaked despite the fact it came out in 2018.Among us found itself in the spotlight of many streams, a game where players deduct who is the “imposter” while working together to complete tasks before they are murdered In November, almost half a billion people played the game, which is available on mobile, the Nintendo Switch, and PC. A release is also planned for Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.The popularity of Among Us caused an increase in similar games. Fall Guys was released in the middle of Among Us’ popularity spike. It’s more competitive but equally cheerful and silly. Fall Guys never saw the numbers that Among Us did, but it’s holding strong in trends for the latter half of 2020. Although Valorant wasn’t seeing the same numbers as Among us, it still came through as a top category in only its 4th month on the platform. The game averaged around 75,000 to 80,000 viewers at time in June, and the game retained the same numbers in July Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is usually among the top five sections on Twitch when a major tournament is happening, but July was a strange month for CS:GO. There were no tournaments, players took their breaks (some even streaming VALORANT), and Counter-Strike’s viewership numbers fell, But When the esports scene is grooving, Counter-Strike is one of the best categories on Twitch. opinionu february | march 2021u the viewpoint u 05
D
Fin
Learn about shark-finning with me by CateLynn Aiman
uring Covid, I have had a lot of time to watch T.V. A one hour special of Gordon Ramsey going undercover to find out the secrets of shark finning piqued my interest and I had to watch it. The documentary is called Shark Bait and took place in Taiwan. He found out the culture behind it, what happened on the boats, what they used to catch the sharks, and how the soup was made. According to the Smithsonian Museum, the meal known as Shark Fin soup is most popular in South East Asia. People who eat this dish are usually rich or part of the dynasty. They usually ate it because of what happened in Fiji. According to a Fiji legend, a Fijian warrior god, Dakuwaqa, is a protector of fishermen. He had to defeat a shark-like creature, Ketea, who was eating fisherman. The people of Fiji rejoiced by eating the shark and making shark fin soup. I could see why South East Asia hates sharks back then. But because we are in different times, we know a little more about sharks. Sharks are not at all bad. Most people do not know why they ate shark fin soup. Ramsey asked around and nobody knew why. If you’re going to eat a dish that expensive, you should at least have a meaning behind it. As I watched the documentary, Ramsey bought the most expensive shark fin soup he could find. It looked bland and dull, nothing I would want to eat. My thoughts were confirmed when Ramsey took a bite, and said that it was the most bland thing he has ever tasted. Ramsey said, “It could be chicken or duck and it would taste the same.” Walking along the street vendors in Taiwan, Ramsey happened to look up and he saw a roof full of shark fins. He tried his best to get to the roof, but the people at the top of the roof kept pushing him away and telling him to turn the camera off. He managed to get a glimpse of it with his camera and what he saw was horrific. It was at least 100 fins from all different kinds of sharks. We think we know where our food comes from. We like to know where food comes. We like to know what we are eating. However, when people eat shark-soup most of them have no clue where it comes from. Ramsey asked people who were selling it and they did not know what shark it is or where it came from. According to the Environmental Justice Foundation, in Taiwan it is legal to fish for sharks. However, shark finning is illegal. Shark fishing is when the fisherman kills the shark and uses the whole body. ”While, shark finning is when the fisherman saws the fins off and throws the shark back into the water, not using the whole body. This law is in place, but that only means that the fins are gonna be more expensive. The price goes up, but so do the consequences.
“Although this is a common exploitation for profit in certain parts of the world, it can have negative impacts on the surrounding ecosystems. Many people view sharks as dangerous animals; however, their role as top predators in the marine ecosystem is vital and when large quantities of sharks are dying as a result of shark finning, the large scale results can be detrimental,” said Danielle O’Toole, science teacher. If I saw someone participating in shark-finning, I would tell the authorities. Brooke Pickeral, junior, agreed and said, “I would call the police or try and stop them.” As a good end to the documentary, Ramsey gathered up restaurant owners and told them, in detail, what happens to the shark and why they should stop selling shark-fin soup. All of them told him they were no longer going to sell it. I have pledged to Humane Society International to not eat or participate in shark-finning. I encourage you all to sign the pledge too. They also accept donations to help fight shark-finning. Let us work together to end this act of animal cruelty.
06 u the viewpoint u february | march 2021 u
column
Peaks And Valleys A brief look at the Stock Market lows by Na’Syr Jackson | Pixabay The first modern stock exchange was created in Amsterdam in 1611. At the time, the Dutch East India Company decided to sell stock and pay dividends to investors. Formally becoming the first publicly traded company when it released shares on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. When asked about the stock market, Paige Jannereth, senior, defined it as “ a network where people and investors buy and sell stocks in companies that fluctuate in value.” In the US, the stock market started in the late 1700s, when a small group of merchants made the Buttonwood Tree Agreement, which eventually became the New York stock exchange. On October 24, 1929, nervous investors traded millions of shares via the New York Stock Exchange; five days later, around 16 million in stock was exchanged after another movement of anxious investors, and the stock prices collapsed while the machinery was slow due to a mass influx of trading. Afterward, millions of shares became worthless, losing billions of dollars and wiping out an exorbitant amount of investors, which was followed by, “the depression in the 1920s”, said Erica Divine, senior.
October 19, 1987, was the day that the U.S. stock markets fell more than 20 percent in a single day, colloquially referred to as black Monday. Similarly, the sudden and severe stock market crash was felt all over the world. While the cause is unknown, it is largely thought that the stock market crash was, in part, due to computer program-driven trading models that followed a portfolio insurance strategy. At the time, the program was never properly tested for its effects on the stock market, according to Investopedia. Sometimes referred to as the dotcom bubble, it was the period of time starting around the late 90s, which according to the New Economy, was when investors scrambled to give Internet-based companies money. In the hopes that their investments would take off, and they would be made incredibly wealthy. However, once capital dried up, the proverbial bubble burst, resulting in a majority of publicly-traded dot-com companies folding, and the loss of trillions of dollars in investment capital, according to Investopedia. The 2008 Financial crisis occurred due to the mass plummeting of housing prices, which dropped more than the price plunge during the Great Depression, according to The Balance.Two years prior, housing prices started to fall, which was at first applauded by realtors due to the common belief that prices would fall into a more sustainable range. However, they hadn’t factored in the state of homeowners’ questionable credit and loan acquisitions. At this time some banks went back on their word to invest only in low-risk securities to ensure their customer’s financial safety. When asked
about the cause of the 2008 Financial crisis, Amy Ellis, Finance teacher, said
“The mortgage industry infringed upon predatory lending by redefining creditworthiness and enabling people to purchase homes out of their means with adjustable rates. With new interest rates, their monthly payments skyrocketed. The housing market had hit an ultimate high and then crashed. People in adjustable rates were unable to make their monthly payments and couldn’t sell their homes. Many defaulted and ended in short sales or foreclosures.” The most recent economic crisis, being the Covid 19 recession that started February 20th, 2020, is largely in part due to its namesake, being Covid-19. 2020 started with a sudden and short-lived stock market crash, while the recession is still ongoing.
feature u february | march 2021u the viewpoint u 7
Game-Stock GameStop’s long lasting effect on the stock market by Lexi Jackson
08 u the viewpoint u february | march 2021 u
feature
O
n January 25, 2021, GameStop surprised everyone when its shares had a 145 percent increase. It is a very strange thing for this to happen, especially during a worldwide pandemic. At around this time last year, GameStop closed almost 450 stores across the country. Shares could be bought for $3.25. The real question is why did share prices sharply increase? According to The Guardian, “The strange saga of GameStop’s cult status can be traced back to last September, when Ryan Cohen – investor and founder of the online pet food giant Chewy – took a 13 percent stake in the retailer and started lobbying for it to move more of its business online and become a serious rival to Amazon. Cohen and two associates were added to the company’s board in January.” Senior Isabella Kulstead said, “GameStop shares rose dramatically due to independent shareholders on a Reddit thread (called WallStreetBets) who noticed unfair activity from multi-billion dollar hedge funds on the GameStop stock, also known as shorting the stock. These hedge funds kept essentially betting on the stocks to fail, and would count on the stock dropping in popularity to make money. So, investors on WallStreetBets organized a grassroots movement to put money into GameStop stock, thus increasing the stock’s value.” Surprisingly enough, other companies, such as BlackBerry, AMC Entertainment, and Bed Bath & Beyond, are also surging. The common thread between these companies is that they are heavily shorted by Wall Street firms. Their shares are prone to spike because investors who have shorted the stocks are forced to buy it back. Shorting means to borrow a company’s shares and sell them with the intention of buying them back cheaper when the share prices fall. Approximately, 71.66 million GameStop shares are shorted, which is worth about 4.66 billion dollars. AMC’s stock spiked after they announced they would avoid bankruptcy with new financing. After that, their shares rose 300%. Lisa-Marie Bastina, senior, said, “I think it’s crazy that the reddit community was able to manipulate the stock market the same way big corporations do.” According to NBC News, “The new activity even caught Federal attention, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission saying in a statement that they are “aware and monitoring the on-going market volatility.” On January 28, many trading platforms placed temporary restrictions on GameStop stock. The New York Stock Exchange even halted trade nine times. TD Ameritrade limited trade with GameStop and AMC Entertainment. Robinhood faces lawsuits after halting GameStop trading. These lawsuits were filed by people who claimed that they suffered financial losses at the hands of Robinhood when they halted trading. This situation will not have a huge impact on the population’s finances, according to Keith Beverly, managing partner and chief investment officer at investment advisory firm Grid 202 Partners. However, retirement accounts may be affected by companies’ shorting. Additionally, he says, “A drop in price for one of those stocks could affect your accounts, but only to the extent of the amount of holdings you have in a particular company, like GameStop.”
Jordan Basenback, social studies teacher, said, “I don’t think that it will continue specifically for GameStop for long. Other companies that have bleak features in industries that may soon be obsolete, and that hedge funds have made bets against, are going to probably be targeted for the same sort of mass buying of their stock. This will inevitably be followed by a mass selling off of the stock. The thing most likely to stop this is legislation that could be passed since these sorts of massive market fluctuations are not always good for the stock market and sectors of the economy. The Reddit group has exposed loop holes within trading and have highlighted practices that have been ongoing for years which most likely need to be fixed.” Experts say that it is only a matter of time before these stocks fall again. EPS estimation, analyst consensus, and fundamental intrinsic valuation work to determine the future value of GameStop’s stock. According to Macroaxis, by the end of the year, Gamestop’s stock price will drop to around $88, which is not the huge drop that other experts predicted.
feature u february | march 2021u the viewpoint u 09
Dead or alive... Learning self defense can get you out of a deadly situation by Taylor Cooper According to the National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL), the “castle doctrine” states that individuals have the right to protect themselves using force, sometimes even deadly force. In 23 or more states, civilians are granted immunity under certain self-defense circumstances. Statistically women have a higher chance of being attacked. With this being said, women tend to avoid situations on a daily basis such as, going out at night without friends, walking near vans. Rape is one of the major concerns women go through each and every day. According to Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, every 73 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. One out of six women have been involved in an attempted and/or completed rape. Eighty two percent of juvenile victims are female while 90 percent of adult victims are female. Kidnapping is another major concern for women. RAINN says, “In 2019, 235,367 women under the age of 21 went missing. Women over the age of 21 have a lower risk as 62,823 went missing.” Human trafficking is also known as “modern slavery.” It is an illegal trade of people for forced labor, sexual exploitation and, even debt bondage. Seventy one percent of victims are made up of women and young girls. Safe Horizon, an anti-trafficking program, explains that 3.8 millions adults that are trafficked are used for forced sexual exploitation. Another 1 million kids are used for commercial sexual exploitation. Men’s risk at being attacked is just as important. Men made up 13 percent, or more, of the human trafficking cases in the U.S. from 2012 to 2016. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline identified more than 24,000 cases, more than 3,000 of those were men. Eddie Nevgloski, senior, says, “I felt most unsafe when I was a delivery driver for a pizza place. I had to go to sketchy hotels where unholy things were happening. Even pulling into parking lots I got an uneasy feeling that something was going to happen.” According to Statista, statistics from 2019 show that men under
the age of 21 are more likely to be kidnapped than men over 21. In 2019 there were an estimated 311,008 men that went missing. 212,723 of those were under the age of 21 and the rest, 98,285, were over 21. According to RAINN, one in 10 rape victims are men. About 2.78 million men in the U.S. have been a victim of attempted and/or completed rape as of 1998. This also means that about 3 percent of American men have been a victim in their lifetime. That is one in 33 men who have been involved in such a disturbing experience. The recovery time needed after rape and/or sexual assualt can take time. It will take a lot of will power as it is very painful mentally, emotionally and physically. HelpGuide says, “The trauma of being raped or sexually assaulted can be shattering, leaving you feeling scared, ashamed, and alone or plagued by nightmares, flashbacks, and other unpleasant memories.” This being said, it is very common to develop anxiety, depression, and PTSD. If these develop often the victim blames them self for the trauma and questions their judgment. Opening up about what happened will allow the victim to move into the recovery stage. The amount of courage and strength it takes to open about such a vulnerable state is astronomical, it is extremely difficult to admit. Keeping silent will make the victim down play it, they will start to think if they do not talk about it, it did not happen. Talk to a trusted adult, a close family member, a close friend even, the first step is speaking up. Another thing victims tend to do afterwards is blame them self and what they did/didn’t do during. It is never the victim’s fault for such a thing to happen to them. During the coping phase, the victim will feel shameful or guilty. A thing to remember for victims is that the attacker is the one to blame, it was out of the victims control. Flashbacks, nightmares, memories and replays are going to happen. It will be painful and hard to get through, but realizing that it is not reality is important. According to HelpGuide, your body is going through a stressful time and can cause it to go into “fight-or
Out of every 1,000 sexual assualts, only 310 are reported, according to RAINN.
Pic Credits: USA Today
10 u the viewpoint u february | march 2021 u feature
Pic Credits: Indomitable Shop
you decide...
flight” mode which causes the flashbacks and nightmares. Not only are there physiological effects, but there can be physical ones as well. According to VerywellMind, women who had been raped were more likely to experience arthritis, chronic pelvic pain, digestive problems, harsh premenstrual symptoms and non-epileptic seizures. If you are ever put in such a situation, there are things you can do to defend yourself. Using the strongest parts of your body will give you an advantage. Your elbow is super powerful and forced, it makes a great weapon in any given circumstances. It uses the power, sharpness and strength of the bone to wound an individual. Striking the attacker with different positions can cause different damage. The horizontal elbow strike is when your arm is parallel to the floor; striking like this can cause gashes around the eye. If you are grabbed from behind, using the backward elbow strike is a better option. This type of strike will hit the attacker in the face and can temporarily confuse them. The top three places to strike are the nose, throat, and ear/jaw area. These places are the most vulnerable. Hitting the nose will make the assaulter have a bloody nose or watery eyes. If they are behind you, use the backward elbow strike. Using your palm is the best option, if they are in front of you. Senior, Takima Watkins, said, “I’ve been taught about self defense since maybe 5 years old? I was always told that since I’m a girl, I’m targeted more out in the real world. My parents have taught me and trained me to react in different situations whether I’m being harassed, kidnapped, or attacked. The main things I remember are to always travel in pairs, be aware of your surroundings, check inside and beneath your car, and always carry a weapon. If you don’t have a weapon, you need to fight as hard as you can and to use your elbows and knees to hit weak spots.” The throat is a smaller area but is one of the most effective. A strong and correct hit can even kill someone. This is not the goal of a fistfight, but when you are fighting for your life, it is important to know. Your ear/jaw joint is very sensitive. When this area is hit with force, it will cause the attacker to be disoriented. Continued force to this area can break and/or dislocate the jaw. Target the area from the bottom of the ear to the top of the jaw bone since this is
the golden area. Small businesses like Fabulyss Boutique sell self defense keychains. Alyssa Collazo, founder of Fabulyss Boutique, sells key chains that have a rape whistle, window breaker, chapstick holder, and pepper spray. She also sells other self defense mechanisms such as kitty knuckles, disguised knives and single pepper spray bottles. The key chains range from $40 to $45 and the add ons range from $8 to $15. Another small business worth looking into is Indomitable; it is a black-owned business that also sells self defense keychains. The founder sells themed key chains, and all her sales are final. Her keychains have all different designs. Some of her most popular ones are the Midnight Black set and the Bubble gum pink set. Her prices vary between $40 and $46. The keychains include chapstick, and the holder, a window breaker, pepper spray and a mini flashlight. Constant worry is the new norm for those who go out at night. Being aware of your surroundings is super important. When getting in your car, be sure to check under it before you get too close. It is known for traffickers to hide under cars and slash the achilles tendon making you immoble. There are very distinct signs of being tagged by traffickers. They will put zip ties around your mirrors, put an open bottle of honey on your car, they sometimes even write “F1” (meaning one female). They often ride in white vans or will have multiple cars sit in a parking lot looking for new victims. If there is a white van near your car, it is safer to go through the opposite door and lock them as soon as you get in. It is better to be safe than sorry so having an escort to your car is something to try. Most importantly knowing what type of people you live around. The Virginia State Police website can list all of the convicted offenders in your area. Not only does it tell you who was convicted, it tells you what tier they are, when they were convicted and what they were convicted for. Knowing who these men/women are is one way to stay safe. There is danger in our daily lives. Being aware and knowing how to defend yourself is the one of the only ways to stay safe. Keep your mind open to new self defense tactics as well as keeping defensive devices on you. feature u february | march 2021 u the viewpoint u 11
Trending Now Trends tips and styles on this month’s Pinterest board by Jules Torrice photos by Pinterest Hair Styles to Try
No matter the thickness, the texture, or how big your hair may be, you can always try something new with your do. Recently with the help of Tik Tok, a social media platform where you can make a variety of short-form videos, and with the help of Pinterest, they have helped to spread new hair looks and transformations to all who are interested or want something different. For example, “Skunk” hair and “Freaky Friday” hair. Skunk hair can best be explained as having/getting rich black color with thin or wide streaks of toned white hair pieces throughout, hence its name. This type of hairstyle can also be described as a two-colored hair transformation so it may not just be black and white but other color combinations as well such as the “Freaky Friday” hair look. Freaky Friday hair references the movie Freaky Friday, where actress Lindsey Lohan plays a rebellious daughter who doesn’t get along with her mother and they end up switching bodies, where each is forced to adapt to the other’s life. In the movie, Lohan has the combination of orange and white streaks in her hair. This hair look made its comeback on Tik Tok when teens started to do the Freaky Friday look and dye their hair from home and they did end up with pretty good results. Other trendy hair looks, cuts, and styles include curtain bangs, boleague, mullets, shags, wolf cut, red dyed hair, bleach blonde hair, and pixie cuts. If you need a reference photo on any of the other styles, Pinterest and the internet are one click away.
Style & Wardrobe
When you think of current style trends what do you think of? Baggy jeans? Animal prints? Chunky jewelry? Cropped tops? Social media such as Pinterest and Instagram have been booming with outfit inspiration and what style trends to follow. For example, layering has been really big, especially during this past fall and winter. Layering is just as it sounds, where more clothes is better. This gives you more options to play with clothes when it comes to choosing what to wear for the day, and it introduces different textures, fabrics, weights, patterns, and colors. An example of this in an outfit could be a turtleneck under a baggy sweater, black sheer tights under mini skirt, socks under white leg warmers, black boots, and this could be topped off with jewelry such as large rings and chained necklaces. Another outfit could include wearing a T-shirt, long sleeve, and heavy sweatshirt, leggings under ripped mom jeans, colored socks with doll-like shoes, and top it off with a headband in hair and cheetah print purse in hand. Other big style trends include pleated skirts, puffed sleeve jackets and tops, collared shirts, button downs underneath graphic tees, short dresses with ripped tights underneath, plaid sweaters, oversized zip ups, etc. “I’m really into fairy core / fairy grunge right now I think it’s so cute and is a good balance between like light & dark I guess. I’m also in love with leg warmers & giant platform shoes. Oh I also really like the 70s type of hippie style. I think it’s cute and reflects my personality, my music taste, and my interest in spiritually,” said Rachel Spreeman, junior.
12 u the viewpoint u feburary | march 2021 u feature
Natalie Monze, senior, said, “A fashion trend I’m currently into is the corset trend. I have always been drawn to Baroque fashion even when I was little. I was always mesmerized by the very elaborate and detailed dresses. It’s nice that it’s trending now because it makes it a lot easier to find affordable corsets instead of paying $200 for a steel bones corset that will take two months to ship.” She also said, “I would recommend to others is to wear whatever makes you feel confident, you don’t need a reason to dress up either ! It’s kind of like a self care thing, you get time for yourself to get dressed and to sit down and do your makeup if you wear it and just admire how beautiful you are. If you feel scared to go out in a super cool outfit, you made just pretend we are all avatars in a super customizable video game. Someone will always have something negative to say about how you dress yourself so don’t worry about the opinions of others and dress like the baddie you are”
Body Modifications
Style, wardrobe, hair looks for all people have changed or made comebacks over the years and this goes for tattoos and piercings as well. From septum and belly button piercing to microhand and full sleeve tattoos, there has always been an aesthetic of these kinds of body modifications. More recently, facial piercings and black and grey and tiny tattoos have been trending. According to Refinery, with the presence of Covid19 and many stuck at home, people have been eager for change and it is almost psychology with “many of us itching for a change, and a permanent one is especially tempting.” For example, getting a small tattoo of an animal, quote, or anything meaningful is a big aesthetic step This goes for piercing as well with either someone getting a septum piercing, “spider bites”, “snake bites”, and or regular lobe ear piercings. Spider bites are essentially piercings hanging on the bottom corners of your lips while snake bites can be found pierced on the corners of your upper lips. It is said that these piercings aren’t painful to get, but you might feel a slight sting within eight days of first getting them done. Any other piercings or tattoos you or someone else may want will have reference photos found on all spurs of social media, so just choose wisely and go for. Disclaimer: must be eighteen years of age or have parental agreement to get any form of piercing or tattoo. featureu feburary | march 2021 u the viewpoint u 13
Body Signs Disclaimer: People of Ancient Greek used this method and it should not be used if you are seriously sick or hurt. Socrates once said, “Man, know thyself.” According to the website Greek Medicine, many people interpreted this as mind and body has a connection. Medical astrology is a pseudoscience that was commonly practiced in ancient Greece. Astrology is usually based on the mind and soul, but what about the body? According to Princeton, the moment weather was able to affect a person's moods it was able to affect the body. Therefore, depending on your zodiac signs depends on what part of the body your mind is most connected with. Aries: Head and Face Issues: Headaches Solution: Calm down, seek a mental balance Taurus: Neck, ears, and throat Issues: Diseases that attack the throat Solution: Talk to people, get your vocal cords moving Gemini= Arms, Shoulders, and Lungs Issues: Lungs problems; asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia etc Solution: Take a nap once in awhile
“I like to take naps all the time,” - Kaitlynn Wilkerson, junior Cancer: Chest, Stomach, and Diaphragm Issues: Chest pains Solutions: Take a deep breath once in awhile
What body part are you most connected to by CateLynn Aiman
Scorpio: Reproductive organs, bladder, and rectum Issues: Reproductive organ problems Solutions: Drink some cranberry juice
Sagittarius: Hips and Thighs Issues: rheumatoid, sciatica Solutions: Go on a short jog, get your leg muscles moving
Capricorn: Knees, Joints and Hair Issues: Arthritis, thin hair Solutions: Get a good stretch in every once in awhile
Leo: Heart and Spine Issues: Heart problems and poor circulation Solutions: Don’t over exert yourself
Virgo: Intestines and Liver Issues: Digestion problems Solutions: Don’t allow your nerves to get the best of you
Libra: Kidneys, appendix, and skin Issues: Kidney failure Solutions: Drink lots of water
14 u the viewpoint u february | march 2021 u astrology
Aquarius: Lower leg, teeth, and blood Issues: Ankle problem Solutions: Watch where you walk, try not to trip
Pisces: Feet and toes Issues: Flu, cold, mucus discharge Solutions: Drink something hot, clear up those sinuses
Wall Street in a nutshell Don’t work for money, make it work for you by Sean Jones
The stock market is one of those things you hear all the time. “The DOW is up! The NASDAQ is down! The stock market is on fire!” These are all things said during the news, podcasts, and even day to day conversations. But for a good chunk of people, the stock market is an enigma to them. It’s not like it’s taught through general education classes or math. It exists and you can go your whole life never understanding how it actually works. But that can always be changed…
“Just hearing the term stock market sends shivers up my spine.”-Gabriel Cerrillo, Business Teacher
What is a stock? That’s a great place to start. Think of a company like a whole pie of pizza. The pie is separated by slices, but each slice is still a part of the whole pie. That’s what stocks are, a slice of the pie. When you own a stock, you own a piece of a company and become a partial owner of the company. This is explained in an article published by the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, NASDAQ for short, “for example, if you own a share of Starbucks stock, congratulations, you are a part-owner of Starbucks.” Now there are different types of stocks that do different things, but for the most part, they are a share of a company. So if we can buy stocks, then a stock market is where you can exchange them. You can of course buy and sell stocks at your pleasure, but you have to do it at a stock market. There are physical stock markets, like the New York Stock Exchange, and there are virtual markets, like Robinhood and e*trade. Robinhood and e*trade are virtual trading platforms that allow people to trade over the internet. This ease of access allows people to buy and sell stocks from their home, at work, or on the go whenever they please. It also allows people who don’t usually have the time to trade on a trading floor and trade when they have the time to do so.
“The use of apps such as Robinhood, Webull, and Sofie have allowed normal people to have access to materials needed to compete with the stock brokers that trade for a living.” -William Hayes, senior The stock market can also refer to things called indexes. Indexes are an average of a sample of stocks that are used to judge how good the overall stock market is doing. When you hear phrases like, “The NASDAQ and DOW are up again today.” These are referring to certain large indexes (the DOW and NASDAQ in this example).
How does the stock market work? So now that you know what stock and the stock market is, you can learn how the stock market works. The stock market is composed of buyers and sellers, buyers are the people who buy stock through brokers, and sellers are the people/companies that sell stock. Brokers are the middlemen that work to help people buy stock, think of your Robinhood and e*trade companies. The stock market works on a supply and demand type market, the more people that want to buy a certain stock, the higher that stock goes up, the more people that sell a certain stock, the lower the price of that stock goes. This action of people buying and selling stocks is what causes the changes in the price that you usually see.
How do you get started? Well, according to the same article from the NASDAQ, “You need two things to participate in the stock market, money and a broker.” This is usually done through a company as a retirement plan. You and a company would go to a broker and invest in a retirement plan that you can use after you retire. But if you want to have more control over what you put into your account, you would open an account by yourself through a broker. This account allows you to choose what stocks you want to buy and when you want to sell them. This is called a brokerage account. You can now even handle your stocks through apps. Many variables can determine what happens to the price of a stock. After big announcements on major developments, the price goes up because people think that that company’s price will go up over time and want to be a part of it. So they buy stocks. After a major scandal, the price will usually go down because people fear that other people will sell their stock and make the price go down, so they sell. Other things can also affect a stock, but it’s good to keep an eye on when to buy or sell. A good rule of thumb is to sell stocks at high prices, and buy stocks on low prices.
“START NOW! Contribute to your employer’s 401-K plan. If your employer matches, then take advantage of the free money. Try your best not to take out loans from your plan. You’ll be thankful when you reach retirement age!” -Tanya Smoot, Business Teacher
15 u the viewpoint ufebruary | march
2021 ufeature
knowyourmeme.com
