opinion
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Panther Prowler • Sept. 18, 2020
Students need to respect teachers Reese Kelem Chief Photographer Since the beginning of the pandemic and all throughout the summer, NPHS teachers have been constantly working. They have had to teach, grade and manage all new technology to keep our learning going, but it seems that they aren’t getting the appreciation they deserve. With the transition to online learning, teachers had to face a heavy load of adjusting alreadymade curriculums to be done entirely virtually. Teachers like Brianna Harris, biology teacher, have spent hours each day just to be ready for their classes. “I’m working a lot more than I used to to get ready. Everything has to be changed; every lab has to be changed, every test has to be rewritten, it’s a lot,” Harris said. Harris noted that she sometimes spends up to 12 hours a day on her computer for school prep and lessons. Despite the efforts that teachers have made, some students aren’t putting much work into their classes. Even from his first day of teaching marine biology on Zoom, many of Stephen Svoboda’s students in the class did not treat his teaching efforts well. The majority of the class had their cameras off, and he even met some “Zoom bombers.” With everything they do to set up Zoom classes, it doesn’t take much to show your face (at this point, nobody cares what you look like). “Actually, the problem is there are no backgrounds, just names on a black screen. What I’d like is to have them put a picture of themselves up there, at least,” Svoboda said. Many teachers have also had to balance teaching with taking care of their kids who are doing virtual learning as well. “Our breaks are really short, you know, ten minutes, so that’s a really hard break. When I come out to check on my kids it’s quick… so I definitely feel like I see my kids less,”
said Harris. With all the insane amount of work that our teachers have been doing, especially considering they had to become acquainted with the Canvas platform in a little over a week, they clearly deserve more respect from parents and students alike. Yes, there are always some rascals in a normal classroom setting, but the disrespect towards teachers has gone to a whole new level. Furthermore, they should get more recognition from the district as they have been working way more with no change in pay. Parents as well, have made the situation worse by attacking teachers if their kids are suffering in school. We have all struggled during this pandemic. It doesn’t take much effort to turn on your screens to show some appreciation for those consistently working their hardest for us. Carter Castillo/Prowler
AMC theaters open despite ongoing pandemic Sarena Kabir News Editor
Prasheetha Karthikeyan/Prowler
Slowly but surely, non-essential establishments all over the country, including AMC movie theaters, are beginning to open up while trying their best to maintain social distancing protocols. According to the AMC theaters, they are aiming to “bring back the 1920’s... by going all retro” and giving a huge discount on a majority of their movie tickets. Tickets that would usually cost between $8 and $20 are now 15 cents. While this may be an enticing deal, it brings up the question: is it worth the risk? These prices are insanely cheap, and they most definitely are hard to pass. Like come on, $0.15 for a movie is such a great deal. Though, it is important to remember that because symptoms often do not show for up to two weeks, individuals unknowingly carrying COVID-19 could cause problems for others in attendance. What is more important: our health, or our desire to watch a movie? While it is true that AMC may have lost a lot of money, opening up again could potentially lead to having to shut down again. As a whole, many
businesses opened up, and then had to shut down after the second wave of the virus hit in June. This is not to say that AMC is not taking any precautions. In order to comply with safety protocols, theaters lowered their capacity rate, now being capped off at 30 percent. They are also blocking off every other row of seats, disinfecting their entire auditorium between viewings and adding filters to their ventilating system. On March 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the initial statewide “shelter in place” order, leading to a partial reopening on May 26. However, due to a second wave hitting later on, the entire state of California had to close down yet again on July 14. Even with all the safety protocols being put in place in the theaters, the risk of COVID spreading is still high. With more and more people going out of their homes in hope that things are “normal,” the pandemic will never end and just be an ongoing issue in our society.
Do not defund the USPS Prasheetha Karthikeyan Sports Editor On Aug. 13, Pres. Donald Trump announced that he would deliberately election of the century, with the highest voter engagement the United block federal funding of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in an States has seen in over two decades. To force the American public to risk effort to suppress voters by discouraging the mail-in ballot. Also known as their lives to vote in-person in the midst of a pandemic, or abstain from absentee ballots, this system is essential to democratic integrity, especially voting, is a gross miscarriage of justice and democracy. in the midst of a pandemic. Besides the autocractical furtherance inherent in Trump’s tyrannical However, Trump has made numerous claims on the contrary, that mail-in actions, shutting down the post office is essentially class warfare, ballots are a source of rampant fraud, despite having absolutely no evidence disproportionately harming the poor, disabled and BIPOC populations to support this. In fact, the president’s own voter fraud commission, which that rely on the service. disbanded in 2018, found no evidence supporting claims of widespread Unlike the UPS and Fedex, USPS is a not-for-profit government voter fraud due to the absentee ballot. service that is legally required to deliver all mail at a flat rate, regardless Prasheetha Karthikeyan/Prowler On July 26, Trump tweeted, “The 2020 Election will be totally rigged if of distance or location. This is a service unlike any other in its Mail-In Voting is allowed to take place, & everyone knows it.” Yet, only nine days later, he tweeted, accessibility and affordability, making it especially crucial to impoverished communities, BIPOC “Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and neighborhoods, rural America, the disabled and the elderly. Secure, Tried and True. Florida’s Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats The post office is a resource many are dependent on. It is crucial to those who live in areas attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail!” It is clear that without banks in order to purchase money orders, which can be used to pay rent and bills. It is the the president supports mail-in ballots, but only when it’s in his favor. His problem lies not with the means to which the elderly and disabled receive vital medications which could mean life-or-death, USPS, but with Democratic voters. and where already struggling small businesses ship their orders. It is where millions of Americans A Pew Research Center survey released Aug. 13 shows that 58% of Democrat-leaning voters will receive their stimulus check. prefer to cast ballots by mail, while only 17% of voters likely to vote for Trump prefer mail-in The president’s war on the USPS threatens not only the very structure of the democratic process, voting. States like Oregon vote entirely by mail, so it is no coincidence that in early August, the but also the livelihoods of millions of the already disadvantaged populations of the U.S. Trump’s USPS was forced to remove mailboxes in Portland and Eugene, traditionally left-leaning cities. actions do not reflect the greater good of the people, but rather his own corrupt political agenda. President Trump is abusing his power in order to blatantly commit voter suppression on a It is senseless, irresponsible, selfish and disgustingly unjust. #SavetheUSPS. We must vote him out. federal scale. Millions of Americans will be rendered unable to vote in arguably the most important
