Page 1
M ay Quaran ti n e Issue 20 20
THE ECHO
BGA' S S TU D E NT NE WS PAPE R
Coronavirus Follow-up Shea Kelly January 29th, I wrote an article about Coronavirus and how it was impacting the global market after seeing it briefly on the news in the morning on the day of club. I explained how we were not to worry because the market “bounced back” after this epidemic, which in hindsight makes me believe that at the time I was under the impression that the worst was over with. I later talked to some of my friends and I distinctly remember the majority of them disagreeing with me as I told them that I believed that COVID would soon be in the US and it could affect us directly. (Ignorance is bliss). Little did I know that in the next few months we would experience coronavirus cases incredibly close to home, the largest point drop in the Dow since Black Monday in 1987, and millions of lives impacted by these stay-at-home orders nationwide. Even as we experienced cases in our county, I didn’t even think that we would get off school for the whole week preceding up to Spring Break. Here we are, three weeks later still out of school and still in quarantine. I’ll admit, even during Spring Break I did not think this was as serious as it actually is.
Embarrassed, I confess that I too enjoyed my week at 30A and chose to ignore the warnings. However, as soon as we returned from all the fun and leisure, we’ve been on full lockdown. There is not a time that I walk down the stairs and CNBC is not on. It was disconcerting to get onto Zoom and hear one of my classmates say that “they had no idea it was such a big deal because yesterday (they) walked into Kroger and there were still Little Bites on the shelves”. All joking aside, it’s important to recognize how serious this pandemic is, and how staying inside saves lives. In the United States, it is expected that we have a hospital bed shortage of 36,654 (As of April 7, 2020). This means that 36,654 people will not be getting the full attention that they need and that number could rise if Americans continue to not take these warnings seriously. Luckily, for Tennessee we are expected to have zero bed shortages. Of course, this number could change if Tennesseans chose to continue to go out and possibly share the virus while being asymptomatic. I would be remiss not to highlight the CARES Act, which is a 2 trillion dollar stimulus plan that shares the shares the money among individuals, companies, and other areas that may need it. (continued on page 5)
The Echo Staff
Bailey Anderson Shea Kelly Alex Pareigis Sydney Carroll Sarah May Lindsay Phelps Jack Cheney Mitchell Morrison Jack Such Dalia Diab Dominick Nesbitt Ching Ching Zhang Jad Diab Ally Newkirk Izzy Donoghue Kate O'Hara
Best Quarantine TV Shows & Movies -page 2 Crumbl Review -page 3 AP Update -page 4 Homeade Facemasks -page 5
Page 2
Entertainment
Best Quarantine TV Shows & Movies Mary Courtney Finn
TV Shows Tiger King (Netflix): The epitome of white trash televisionyet I can’t seem to turn it off… Like nearly every other person in the US, I began watching Tiger King to understand all the memes that went along, but after finishing the first episode, I knew there was no turning back. Following the story of Joe Exotic and his husbands, tigers, and enemy, Carole Baskin (who did feed her husband to the tigers), Netflix has truly outdone themselves when it comes to trashy TV that cannot be turned off. If you are one of the few people who hasn’t watched Tiger King yet, I highly recommend it, even if it is just for some laughs during this time of uncertainty. House of Cards (Netflix): While House of Cards is slightly older than some of the other items on this list, it is nonetheless cinematic art. I started House of Cards because of my love of political shows, but soon found out it dives far deeper than just politics. HoC follows the story of House Majority Whip, Frank Underwood, and his quest for the White House. What makes HoC different (and better!) than the average political show is the depth it follows the personal relationships of the characters and the unusually seen dark side of politics. I feel like I haven’t done HoC justice when describing it, so watch the first few episodes and I am sure you will be hooked! Arrested Development (Netflix): I always recommend this series to friends who finished and enjoyed either The Office or Parks and Recreation. The lighthearted and funny series follows the Bluth family and their struggles of running a family real estate business. Anyone who comes from a dysfunctional family will immediately be able to relate to the Bluth family and I think Arrested Development is a great option for anyone looking to find comedic relief or fill the void after finishing The Office or Parks and Rec. Succession (Hulu): Logan Roy has lived a lot longer than he The Barbarossa School is the best expected and his children are ready to take over the family school to go to. Come and join business in the media industry, however, Roy is anything but ready to do so. Succession focuses on the drama between the Roy family and the future of their business. This satirical series is perfect for anyone who loves watching family drama unfold but also appreciates a sophisticated storyline. Chernobyl (Hulu): Chernobyl is an award-winning miniseriesThe following the menSchool and women discovering their new Barbarossa is the best normal after the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. These school to go to.Step in and join. characters lost nearly everything from the nuclear accident, yet they exude passion and enthusiasm. Not only is this series very informative, but it also tells stories of first responders and volunteers involved in the incident. Chernobyl is hard to dislike and with only 5 episodes, why not give it a try?
Find more about us
Image: CNN
Image: LuckyChap Entertainment Movies The Social Network (Netflix): The Social Network was one of those movies my dad turned on that I did not want to watch, but ended up really enjoying. This movie is about Mark Zuckerberg’s founding of Facebook while a student at Harvard. While the movie does discuss coding and technology a lot, it is very interesting to see how Zuckerberg’s original plan evolved into the Facebook we know today. Additionally, the movie covers the lawsuits Zuckerberg faced early on from his “friends” and companies. Molly’s Game (Netflix): Similar to my Wall St movie phase, I also went through a gambling movie phase (concerning, right?) and Molly’s Game ended up being the favorite out of the ones I watched. Molly was an Olympic level skier who began running one of the highest-profile and elusive underground poker games in the world. Since Molly had much more knowledge of the skiing world than the poker world, the FBI eventually began following her poker games due to the Russian Mob’s involvement. Needless to say, it’s a thriller from the beginning and leaves you on the edge of your seat waiting for FBI agents to bust into one of these poker games.
Page 3
Entertainment
Captain Fantastic (Hulu): Like many other kids I’ve thought my parents were weird from time to time, but after watching Captain Fantastic, I could no longer make those claims. Ben Cash and his wife are raising their children in the woods of Washington state in isolation away from traditional society. After years of forcing his kids to do pull-ups on tree branches and learn about species of animals, Ben and his family are forced to reenter traditional society. Not only is this movie so interesting as it challenges many of the perspectives I and many others have grown up with, but the entire Cash family is hilarious throughout the movie. Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (Hulu): I originally read the book that the movie is based on right after it came out in 2012, so I excitingly awaited the movie last year. While I think the book was better than the movie, the movie did not disappoint. Bernadette had developed a life for herself in Seattle, but out of the blue and unknown to her family, she took off one day to begin to “rediscover” herself. Cate Blanchett does a phenomenal job conveying across the screen Bernadette’s wit and creativity. While still a comedy, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? has many dramatic and mysterious elements. I, Tonya (Hulu): After being forced to watch numerous 30 for 30s on ESPN with my brother and dad, I finally came across one I enjoyed. The kneecapping scandal of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan entitled, The Price of Gold, uncovered the true character of ice skater Tonya Harding. When I found out a movie on just Tonya Harding was coming out, I knew I would be at the first showing to witness Harding in all her aggressive and audacious glory. I was not disappointed, to say the least. I, Tonya covers the life of Harding in more detail and gets her perspective on the alleged kneecapping scandal. However, the cherry on top is that the movie features Margot Robbie and Allison Janney, an unforgettable mother-daughter duo. A Simple Favor (Amazon Prime): For the people who prefer mystery movies, A Simple Favor is a must-watch. The storyline takes turn after turn and keeps you engaged the entire time. After two unsuspecting moms cultivate what is thought to be a close friendship, one of the moms, Emily, takes off and her whereabouts become unknown. Just when you think the movie couldn’t take another turn, it does, and for the better. A Simple Favor is not considered a “scary movie” but I would say it is definitely a psychological thriller.
The Ranking of Crumbl Cookies
Izzy Donoghue and Dalia Diab Recently, the dessert chain Crumbl added another location to their growing cookie empire. With over 50 locations across the country (including one in Brentwood), Crumbl opened up a store in Cool Springs. The atmosphere inside the store is exciting and modern, with an open layout that allows customers in line to actually watch their cookies as they are prepared. Packaging is not usually something that we pay a great deal of attention to, but Crumbl pays attention to every detail with their cute and social media-worthy presentation. The employees inside the store are very welcoming and add to the friendly atmosphere that keeps customers coming back. A cookie delivery option and late night hours is very convenient as Crumbl serves cookies from morning until 12am. Crumbl’s late hours and delivery is a concept that other cookie companies, such as Insomnia, have adopted as well. However, in terms of flavor Insomnia’s cookies don’t compare. Between the two of us, we tasted 10 cookie flavors. The menu changes weekly with 4 limited edition cookies and two cookies that stay consistently (chocolate chip and chilled sugar cookie are always available). Over the course of two weeks we went to Crumbl twice in order to try other limited edition cookies. Here are our rankings: Chilled Sugar As the name suggests, the Chilled Sugar cookie is in fact cold with very sweet icing. The classic sugar cookie base resembles a shortbread cookie, and the icing perfectly balances it out. It’s unique because unlike most sugar cookies, Crumbl’s sugar cookie is almond flavor instead of vanilla. Better yet, Chilled Sugar is a staple on the menu and does not change weekly like the other flavors, so we know that we always have a great cookie to fall back on if any of the other flavors fails to impress.
Page 4
Community
AP Updates Ching Ching Zhang
As many of you might have heard, there has been plenty of AP changes to adjust to the current situation: All AP exam dates have been changed to May 11 to May 22. AP exam starting times have also changed. AP exams will only be 45 minutes with no multiple choice section. All exams will be online and will have a 5 minute upload period. The last couple of units have been removed from the exams. The material that will be on the exam is anything up to mid-March. Free online AP classes are available now to help with remote learning. (The daily schedule can be found on the official website.) For course specific information, please visit the official college board website.
2. Pumpkin The Pumpkin cookie has a subtle savory pumpkin flavor with a dense muffin like base. Paired with slightly sweet cream cheese frosting, the two perfectly balance each other and make for a cookie that will definitely be popular when it comes back in the fall. 3. S’more The S'more cookie did not disappoint. It consisted of two cookies mushed together with the bottom layer being a fudgey chocolate and the top cookie layer being a graham cracker flavor. The S’more cookie had a crater in the center filled with warm marshmello goo. It was better than eating a real S’more. 4. Dirt Cake The Dirt Cake cookie is an overload of chocolate and oreo, in a good way of course. The Oreo cookie rolled in crumbs and smeared with chocolate frosting and gummy worms is any kid’s dream. Despite the abundance of chocolate, the Dirt Cake cookie is not too sweet and has a more semi sweet/fudge taste to it that we loved.
5. Chocolate Chip Crumbl’s chocolate chip cookie is reliable and it does the job. While it may not be as extravagant as S’more or Dirt Cake, it’s consistently available and it's still tasty. However, the milk chocolate chips were a little overpowering on the sweetness. 6. Churro Crumbl’s churro cookie is a tasty and more sophisticated snickerdoodle. The cookie itself mimicked the doughy texture of a churro and was filled with cinnamon flavor throughout the whole cookie (not just in a cinnamon sugar coating). The cinnamon frosting on top was piped in a way to match the grooves of a churro. Crumbl’s little details in the cookie added up and made for a delicious and enjoyable cookie. That being said, the cookie was a little too sweet. 7. Eggo Waffle The attention to detail and presentation of the Eggo Waffle cookie was amazing. The cookie looked exactly like a waffle with a scoop of butter and a side of maple syrup that is new and exciting. Despite the fantastic presentation, the actual taste of the cookie was slightly disappointing. A slightly bland sugar cookie with a small serving of plain buttercream was not the most exciting taste compared to other offerings, but the look of the cookie mostly made up for it. 8. PB&J While the Pb&J cookie is a dream for Pb&J lovers, for us it combines two of the flavors we hate most into one cookie. In general, we both don’t like peanut butter or jelly and even in cookie form we still didn’t like it. Just like the other cookies, the Pb&J was moist, which was surprising considering that peanut butter gives a dry mouth effect. 9. Lemon The Lemon cookie was not bad, but it wouldn’t be our go to choice. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the Lemon cookie wasn’t bitter or tart. The cookie was adorned with a candied lemon piece, which was a good effort. While the lemon cookie was better than we expected, lemon isn’t really a flavor we are big fans of. 10. Warm Peanut Butter Just like the Pb&J cookie, the Warm Peanut Butter cookie receives a low score solely on the fact that we don’t like peanut butter. However, this cookie ranks even lower than the Pb&J because the Warm Peanut Butter cookie lacks any other flavoring besides peanut butter making it a more bland than its other cookie counterparts. In conclusion, the new addition to Crumbl’s cookie chain in Cool Springs is a must visit store. The friendly and modern atmosphere paired with delicious cookies that change every week make it an exciting new place that we encourage everyone to drop by and taste for themselves. Crumbl is now offering delivery and pick up in certain locations!
Page 5
Community
(continued pg 1)There are various parts of this program, Making Facemasks including the direct deposits to individuals that you may have Kate O'Hara heard of, or business loans to help protect the paychecks of working individuals that businesses and their owners need to At this point, we’re bored. While staying home is important, it’s also been dull. The endless Tik Tok dances apply for. There are many problems with this Act, but the and coffee recipes make my head hurt. The 15 minutes intentions are good. To receive the direct deposit, the government uses tax returns and Social Security statements workout videos are 15 minutes too long, and the thought of getting out of bed sooner than 5 minutes before zoom to quantify the direct payment that is owed. Any individual making 75k/year or under can receive a check for $1200 and classes makes me laugh. Yet as we approach our 5th week of quarantine, I realized I had to start doing $600/child automatically. Sounds great, right? What about something semi-productive. This led me to compile a list those who may really need it during these times, like the homeless who are likely not filing taxes, people like nannies or of the safest, most effective face masks, made out of ingredients most already have in their pantry. While I cleaners who get paid in cash, or anyone undocumented. Depending on your political views, this may seem completely might not be ripped when summer comes, at least my reasonable, as in if they are not a citizen and not paying taxes, skin will glow. they do not deserve the same benefits as everyone who is. In Products to avoid: my opinion, there are tons of people who need this money and Coconut oil -causes clogged pores in some won’t qualify for it, and although every business is hit hard, Butter (except maybe Zoom), there may be some Americans who take Cinnamon causes moderate to severe skin irritation more from this program than they actually need through their Harsh acidic ingredients like apple cider vinegar- likely Paycheck Protection Applications for small business owners, to cause irritation or burns which is another part of the CARES ACT that when applied for and can be used to cover 2.5x the payroll and other business costs for up to 8 weeks. If employers can prove that their loan went to paying at least 75% towards payroll costs then the loan will be forgiven, meaning they’re not expected to pay it back. At all. Even in this sect of the act, the problem is that the $350 billion allocated towards small businesses will run out quicker than you may think. The businesses that did not get their applications in on the front end might not get a dime of what they need, while other businesses may be able to pay their payroll, rent, keep their heads above water and then some. I think economic stimulus is good, I think trying to help individuals and businesses is great, but I think there’s a lot of problems with the CARES Act as well. As a teenager with a minor grasp on the economy and politics works, I don’t have a Image: Women's Health Magazine perfect solution. I don’t think anyone does. I also think that it’s Masks for Oil control / acne very poor timing for President Trump to have an election 2 tsp matcha, 1 Tbsp aloe coming up. Americans will be dissatisfied with the CARES Act 1 Tbsp green tea, 2 Tbsp Greek yogurt, 1 tsp honey but would have also been enraged if the President did nothing. -Great for sensitive skin At least he has his “beautiful” tests... This is a crazy time for all of us. There are only so many Instagram challenges that we 1 egg white, 2 Tbsp aloe - tightens pores can do to fill the time, only so many episodes of Tiger King and ** 1 tsp turmeric, 2 Tbsp greek yogurt really, we need to get back in the swing of things. So while this 1 Tbsp canned pumpkin, 1 tsp honey -> is going on, I ask for you to stay inside and take care of smoothes complexion yourselves. I hope everyone has been able to find peace in ½ cup cooked oatmeal, 1 egg white, 1 Tbsp lemon their homes and stay safe and healthy. I wish for us coming juice out of quarantine to be able to appreciate everything we experience daily that much more. Life after this is over will be Calming / reduces redness and irritation different, but nothing that we can’t adapt to. Stepping down 2 tsp matcha, 1 Tbsp aloe from my soapbox, I cannot wait to see all of you again in 4 oz aloe, 2 Tbsp diced or blended cucumber person and I hope you all are well! 1 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt, 1 tsp honey
Page 6
Community
Hydrating ½ avocado, 1 Tbsp honey 1 avocado, 2 Tbsp yogurt, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp honey (makes a lot) 1 Tbsp greek yogurt, 1 tsp oatmeal, 1 tsp honey Brightening / fades scars (test before applying directly to face) ** 1 tsp turmeric, 2 Tbsp greek yogurt ½ cup mashed papaya, 1 tsp honey, 1 whipped egg white (can sub 1 tsp lemon for papaya) (also good for managing breakouts) ½ banana, 1 Tbsp juice from an orange (not the drink), 1 Tbsp honey (can leave out banana, just increase other ingredients) Exfoliates (Do not excessively scrub, can lead to irritation) Juice from 1 lemon, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp olive oil (also brightens) ½ banana, 1 Tbsp coffee grounds, 2 tsp honey ½ cucumber pureed, ¼ cup milk, 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp brown sugar (gentle) ½ avocado, ¼ banana, 2 Tbsp honey, ¼ cup ground, raw oatmeal (gentle and also hydrates) 1 Tbsp oatmeal, 1 tsp honey, ½ tsp water -> Great for sensitive skin
Editor's Note This is certainly not what I expected my first edition of the Echo as editor would be. Of course, during our eLearning period we will continue to adapt to the new realities of today. We thought it would be best to have two articles during this time, one being dedicated to our Senior Class, as we do every year and another, discussing all things quarantine. That being said, I would like to thank Bailey for all the hard work she has done this year and making the Echo what it is today. She has done an amazing job organizing and encouraging our club members to get articles in and make this experience exciting and new. To all of our senior members, my heart goes out to all of you for how y'alls last year ended up. I have loved reading all of your responses for the Senior Article and wish you all the best! -Shea