17 minute read
cancer on Nov 8., 2020 at age 80
20 November 2020 Red & Black Current Events 7 Current Events
COVID-19 Impacts Water and Air Pollution
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Hayden Stein Red & Black Contributor
In response to the global COVID-19 outbreak, many countries went on a shut down, closing all non-essential businesses and travel in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Many of these business shutdowns resulted in a change in air pollution (specifically nitrogen dioxide levels) and water pollution for the countries that demanded them.
In China, nitrogen dioxide levels decreased the most out of all the air pollutants with a 54 percent reduction. China’s water also had more dissolved oxygen concentration, which is an indicator of good quality. These changes in air and water quality are due to China’s strict business and travel laws since they saw an outbreak. In Italy, another country affected heavily by the virus, strict laws similar to China’s helped see an improvement on air and water quality as well. The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, claimed “We cannot waste time, we must put in place measures to avoid a generalized lockdown, which could severely compromise the economy.”
While the first priority of these measures was no doubt the economy, the environment of Italy also benefited. The Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite footage revealed the nitrogen dioxide levels over Italy have significantly dropped from January to March and have stayed lower than what they were at before Italy restricted business and travel.
The manager of the satellite, Callus Zehner, had this to say about the findings: “Although there could be slight variations in the data due to cloud cover and changing weather, we are very confident that the reduction in concentrations that we can see, coincides with the lockdown in Italy causing less traffic and industrial activities.”
In addition to China and Italy, the United States has also seen an improvement in air quality. Nitrogen dioxide levels from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. were down 30 percent from January to March, according to NASA satellite.
The impact of COVID-19 on water quality in the United States is unclear, but efforts are being made to find a relationship between them. Maria
Courtesy Insider
Venice canals clear as residents self-isolate and tourists evacuate amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tzortziou, a professor at the City College of New York, said that “this project will help fill a gap in our fundamental understanding of the air-water exchange of nutrients and pollutants and how this affects and is influenced by environmental regulations, socioeconomic policy responses and decision making.” Although these countries have seen an increase in air quality due to their social distancing laws, they will most likely be temporary.
This increase has come at the expense of business owners and employees sacrificing their livelihoods, and the laws that caused these sacrifices will be lifted as soon as it is safely possible.
8 Current Events 20 November 2020 Red & Black ‘Jeopardy’ Host Alex Trebek Dies at Age 80
Alex Trebek asks contestants trivia questions on ‘Jeopardy.’
Courtesy Associated Press
Sofia Jenkins Red & Black Contributor
‘Jeopardy!’, one of the most popular game shows of all time, the show with the highest amount of Emmy Awards of all time (35) and arguably, the game show with the most well-known and loved hosts of all time.
Alex Trebek, host of ‘Jeopardy!,’ sadly lost his battle with stage four pancreatic cancer on Nov 8., 2020 at age 80. Trebek announced to the world that he was fighting this battle on Mar 6., 2019 and was completely transparent with what he was going through.
“There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on,” said Trebek. The amount of loyalty that Trebek showed to the show ‘Jeopardy!’ is unlike any host in history.
Trebek began hosting the show in 1984 when the show was first aired, and has been with the show ever since, only missing one episode in that 37year span so he could swap shows with fellow game show host Pat Sajak of ‘Wheel-of-Fortune.’ ‘Jeopardy!’ became such a well-liked and watched show because of how orderly and consistent the show was.
Through having a consistent host who knew every direct answer to every question he asked, was very satisfying and comforting to viewers. Throughout the last two years, there have been shows where Trebek would walk off stage afterwards and begin to cry because of how much pain he was in, yet he believed that he should fight on because of all of the people surrounding him, helping him survive. ‘Jeopardy!’ is a show that millions of family center their nights around. To these families, Trebek was a staple at 7 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays.
“Ooh, noooo, I’m sorry that is not correct,” Trebek would say when a contestant would get an “obvious” answer wrong, deliberately meaning that this was an answer that Trebek thought he would have answered correctly if he were a contestant. This is a phrase that will be remembered by everyone who has watched ‘Jeopardy!’ with Alex Trebek.
While the producers have not named who will be replacing Trebek, no one will be able to fill the big shoes that Trebek has left behind.
20 November 2020 Current Events 9 Red & Black Did Biden Win by a Landslide or Narrow Margin?
President Trump and President-elect Biden speak on the 2020 campaign trail.
Courtesy Associated Press
Molly Kilbourne Red & Black Editor
A presidential election in the midst of a pandemic added new complications and uncertainty to a process already full of tension. As states continue to report their election results, the margin between President Trump and President-elect Biden grow.
However, with mail-in ballots, discrepancies regarding utensils used and false accusations of voter fraud, what do we know about these results, and how do they compare to past elections?
Wis., Mich., Pa. and Ga. were monumental for Biden’s victory. The Midwest has traditionally been the battleground for swing-state votes and Trump maintained many counties his second time running. Flipping historically Republican states like Ga. was unprecedented by many in securing Biden’s victory. Despite the margin of victory being so thin, their role in the election was monumental: Biden won Wisc. by .63 percent compared to Trump’s win of the state by .82 percent in 2016, and Biden’s win in Mich. of 2.69 percent blows Trump’s slim claim of .24 percent in 2016. In regard to the popular vote, Biden made history in attaining the most votes for a presidential candidate. The record was, ironically, held by Barack Obama for his 2008 win, when Biden was his Vice-Presidential running mate. Even amidst a global pandemic, the 2020 election is expected to have the highest voter turnout for a presidential election in over a century.
A pause is necessary here as we know that, due to the Electoral College system, it is possible for a presidential candidate to win the popular vote and still lose the presidency. This is how Trump beat Hillary Clinton just four years ago.
Ga. is subject to a recount because of how thin the margins are but Biden is still poised to win the state. If he succeeds in winning the state, he will claim the same number of electoral votes as Trump in 2016: 306. After that victory, Trump stated that he won in a “massive landslide victory;” now, he casts doubt over not only the results, but the entire voting process. Effort was immediately shifted from campaigning to throwing baseless accusations of fraud in an attempt to pout his way to the presidency.
Going forward, we will await the final counts in both swing states and flipped states in addition to the establishment of security in the votes themselves. Trump’s accusations will continue to be proven false as we move towards the end of the most tumultuous year in history.
10 Diversity
Red & Black Diversity
What Does Kamala Harris Mean for BIPOC?
Akansha Das Red & Black Staff
The election of Kamala Harris to the second highest office of the land has sparked waves of social media adoration and has made her an “icon” in the eyes of many young women of color.
Harris’s election is certainly historic for its strides in representation and the varied voices of the working class and minority interests she can voice at the table of power. In the words of Representative AOC “For so many of us, especially women, we’ve grown up being told women are too emotional and this country would never elect, first, a Black president...but now a woman of color, no less a Black woman to the second highest office of the land.”
However, as TIME reporter Brittney Cooper has said “Representation is not everything. But it is absolutely something.” Ultimately, changing the racial makeup of our leadership does not change the deep structural problems plaguing this country nor does it change Harris’s embodiment of neoliberalism, identity politics and lack of fundamental change.
With the much-needed spotlight finally falling on the faulty criminal justice system, it’s important to look at Harris’s record as district attorney of San Francisco and eventually Attorney General of California speaks to what she could potentially do as Vice President of America on criminal justice reform. Harris ran as a moderate progressive in California trying to appease both the large proportion of conservatives in the state along with the clearly known left-wing individuals.
It is also important to note that many of the progressive policies that Harris began advocating for such as distance from the death penalty were not popular positions of progressive and establishment Democrats in the 1990s and early 2000s which permits Harris a bit of leniency. Additionally, Harris did begin the “Back on Track” program in California that provided first-time, nonviolent offenders pathway for removing a felony from their record and co-introduced a piece of legislation into Congress that would enact meaningful police reform.
However, it’s clear that Harris may not have had as working-class committed views as her identity politics might suggest. The fact is that Wall Street pushed for Joe Biden to add Harris to the ticket shows that Harris may be more lenient to corporations than the working class and underserved communities she claims to be elected by. Additionally, Harris has projected conflicting stances on the legalization of marijuana (despite seeing first-hand how its criminalization affects people of color) and overcrowded prisons. Moreover, Harris is fundamentally a moderate Democrat willing to shift her views based on what will help her move up the ranks. If that means a symbolic mention of working-class individuals in her speech without enacting enough meaningful change in order to increase their voter turnout past post-Obama numbers, so be it.
At the end of the day, what Vice President-elect Harris means for people of color is more nuanced than the skin-deep diversity she provides as the second vice president of color (Charles Curtis under the Hoover administration was the first). The main takeaway is that knowing Harris’s love for media moments, symbolic gestures and identity politics, it is important that the nation continually press her on issues facing disadvantaged communities. Because in the end, that is the only way we will be able to move forward.
Courtesy Politico
20 November 2020 Red & Black Diversity 11 Indigenous Voters Swing the 2020 Election
Bavi Makkar Red & Black Staff
Once all the votes are counted, the margins in Ariz. are slim but leaning towards Presidential Nominee Joe Biden.
On the northeast corner of the state, a frequently overlooked population of those living in Navajo Nation had a significant power in swinging the votes in the 2020 presidential election. These Indigenous Americans showed up to help Biden win in Ariz., yet they remain overlooked and subjected to discrimination.
The Native Americans’ right to vote has been systemically violated for generations. They did not even receive the full right to vote until 1975. No one ever tailors to this population and they are underrepresented in government. Unfortunately, the Native Americans frequently lack voter registration due to no home address.
A project called the Rural Utah Project actually worked to register and turn out Indigenous voters. Just in this year alone, they were able to help over 4,000 Native Americans register for their democratic right. However, while “this one instance of 89% Navajo Nation voter turnout is incredible; it really shows how united people must come together to make a change. This is just one awesome instance, but classic American voter suppression is still making is hard for other Indigenous Americans to speak out,” said Brendan Troesch ‘21.
Constantly, this population feels like the government is working against them as they face devastating consequences for access to clean air and water, health, education, economic opportunities, housing and sovereignty. Yet, outside of these obstacles, the Native Americans in Ariz. face plenty more. Some live in isolated areas with badly maintained roads, which can hamper postal delivery, including getting and mailing back absentee ballots, as well as voting in-person. Some states do not even accept tribal IDs to use as valid ID.
Furthermore, COVID-19 hit Indigenous lands disproportionately hard with a significant shortage of healthcare providers. Despite of all of this, “the vote in Ariz. was one on tribal lands. These people had to fight to get to the polls and they still made it. This shows the fight that all Americans should have for democracy,” said Dylan Bertovich ‘21.
Courtesy Buzzfeed News
20 November 2020
Red & Black opinions
Biden’s Constituency Demands Progress
Bavi Makkar Red & Black Staff
After a hard election, the real work in the White House can finally begin. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris inherited a pretty much split congress as well as a more conservative Supreme Court than what was wanted by the American population. Given a country that is more divided than it has been since the Civil War, the president will have to address numerous ongoing issues.
Brendan Troesch ’21 felt that “since Biden was elected, we cannot ignore the rampant racism and classism that plagues this country, along with the actual COVID-19 plague. We need to address our problems locally and then work our way up to higher levels”.
Biden and his followers have a unique challenge as over 70 million people voted against him. Due to this, he will have to win more people over than usual when creating his policies and reform. This president will have to communicate frequently with his followers and help them become comfortable with widespread ambiguity, uncertainty and constant change, something the current administration does not do.
With Trump leaving, “gone from the White House will be an administration who has threatened countless lives through policies from the Muslim bans to the human rights violations at the southern border, an administration who held a photo-op with a Bible following the gassing of nonviolent protestors, and an administration who has dismissed science in the face of a pandemic.” Biden has been pushing his “return to normalcy,” but the old normal is not enough to satisfy the people and the movements that have been emerging. To improve America, “Biden must listen. He must listen to activists, apply the mission of Black Lives Matter to his own, and addresses issues of police brutality and systemic racism. He must listen to scientists, as he is doing, to battle both the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. He must listen to people of other countries and address America’s longstanding actions of imperialism aboard and our broken immigration system at home. He must listen to the people and work towards providing healthcare, college and a livable wage for all.
Ultimately, we need big, bold changes and Biden has to be willing to enact them,” said Amanda Fitzpatrick ’21. Biden has been handed a broken country that will constantly fight against him; however, he cannot just appease all people. Instead, he has to push to prevent an even greater disaster in the subsequent election.
Courtesy New York Magazine
President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, wave at his supporters.
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Akansha Das Red & Black Staff
Lilly Singh, best known for her rise to fame as a Youtuber, her current night show “A Little Late With Lilly,” and her overall platform as a spreader of positivity and unconditional love, has released her newest special “Sketchy Times” for free on the streaming channel Peacock.
While the special ranks mediocrely in terms of the comedy that I enjoy and have seen, the special certainly provides a laugh and is characteristic of the relatable and ironic comedy that she normally presents.
Beginning with the creativity and content itself, it was very typical of Lilly Singh. Many of the sketches/scenes were exaggerations of problems caused the pandemic (such as relationship conflicts during quarantining together— a quarantine special of the bachelor), parodies of events that have happened during the pandemic (the entertaining vice presidential debates) or simply hilarious references to and innuendos regarding public health related “buzzwords” that have become part of our vernacular.
Perhaps one of the most amusing the parts of Singh’s comedies are the seemingly simple one-liners that can stick with viewers long after their delivery.
Her parody of a Drake song during the pandemic was a prime use of this comedic strength and constantly had lines about Dr. Fauci, flattening the curve and social distancing that were funnier than I expected. The amazing construction and context of the scene where she plays a paranoid dad requesting a COVID-19 vaccine and saying that his COVID-19 had gotten so bad it progressed to ‘COVID-20’ and was the best one of all.
Having gained decent camera and production experience while filming her own videos, the production elements were excellent in the special.
Additionally, Singh’s ability to play a wide variety of characters from a Southern son-in-law to multiple variants of a “Karen” to self-centered reality show contestants to Indian parent archetypes was incredibly impressive and it was astounding to watch her wide range in accent and acting ability, even if it was only for a couple of minutes each scene.
Singh also slipped in some subtle social commentary that I personally appreciated. When talking about the large number of couples who had to cancel their weddings she plays on the stereotypic concept of a Bridezilla and exaggerates the archetype. Yet, it was refreshing to see that she displayed a very similar exaggeration of the husband for his seemingly trivial interests so as not to add to the prevalent gender stereotypes.
Additionally, her continual and obnoxious repetition of “Yass queen” during her debate sketch– unintended or not – really addresses the problem of identity politics and idealization many women do of Vice Presidentelect Kamala Harris while ignoring her political shortcomings.
All in all, Lilly Singh’s “Sketchy Times” was by no means a comedic masterpiece but for people who have enjoyed her comedy before, it serves its heartwarming purpose: giving viewers a laugh in light of the truly “sketchy” and uncertain times that we are in.
Courtesy Peacock Films
