Sept 28th, 2020
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BELFIELD BANTER THE
Th e S t . An ne’s -B el fi el d S choo l S tud en t New s l etter
LGBTQIA community, in the famous ruling Obergefell v. Hodges, RBG was instrumental in allowing this bill to pass through the Supreme Court (5-4). Ruth was not only a champion for women but she fought tooth and nail for equality as a whole. Our generation is the first to fully appreciate everything she fought so hard for. As Ruth Bader Ginseburg once said “I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever ability she had to the best of her ability.” She certainly will be remembered as a trail blazer and a female Icon for generations to come.
RBG
by Hannah Laufer --
Ruth Bader Ginsburg devoted her life to the human struggle for equality. For the past five decades our legislation has undergone essential and organic change. When she was first appointed in 1993 she had already championed the Weinberger v. Weinfeld case. In which she defended a widowed man and fought for his right to receive Social Security survivor benefits. Three years into this tenure position (supreme court) she was faced with the case of United States v. Virginia Military Academy. In which VMI fought to preserve its all male tradition by rejecting women applicants. Ruth Bader Ginsburg led the majority opinion and the Supreme court found VMI’s male only privileges unconstitutional (under the 14th amendment). VMI was the last military academy in the country to discriminate against the sexes. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was also a fierce fighter for the
In This Issue:
RUTH BADER GINSBURG: A Life to Remember RENTED SUMMER, A POEM BY QIMING FU HOW MUCH COMPETITION IS THERE IN THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, REALLY? WAVE LEARNING FESTIVAL: Gen Z’s Reach to Teach in the Time of COVID-19 FACTULTY FEATURE: MR. IAN WATSON
Rented Summer
How Much Competition is There in the American Economy, Really?
by Qiming Fu The weather turned cold overnight As if the degrees were stolen by foreign gods Taken back and into their shallow heights. Before the sun is called out for its fraud.
by Hannah Slayton
I hug the sheets close to my chest Cocoon my dark silhouette If morning is heaven then the other is hell Because the cycle always repeats itself Like coins, the leaves fade into gold into the color of the price it has to sold One by one the gold pieces fall And leaves its worth behind on beggared ground slowly turning brown. How many weren’t able to pay their rent to lose hope before and after summer went? If I numb myself I can still pretend there’ll be blankets on the cold cement. Under the bridges and over the hills Radios praying “Lord, take the wheel” But Liberty’s silenced and Justice is killed For only the devils have free will 10, 20, 33 today Counting the fallen on daily basis Green, gold, red, they fade Buried below already new cases I took the rake my father had rented To gather the few new lonelies demented There was only a few but it wouldn’t be long until it’s littered again with what could be prevented This is why I stay inside So I can turn up the heat when it is night But some can’t just close their blinds And open a window to see the light As summer becomes unaffordable I realize, it’s inescapable There’s no use trying to escape the Fall For I’m a leaf too, after all. Behind the treetops, the sun starts to bleed the last golden leaf, my eyes turn heavy It steals the last reservoir of summer I have And Coldness corrodes the last of me.
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It has long been held that what drives the American economy is competition. This idea, born from Darwin’s theory of natural evolution, posits that competition for a limited number of consumers forces companies to produce newer, cheaper, and better products to beat their competitors, much in the same way that competition for food and other resources forces animals to adapt in the wild. In this kind of economy then, the best products rise to the top. Evolution is the name of the game. But, in many cases in America, what we as consumers perceive to be competition between brands is actually just the illusion of it. Many brands we view as major competitors, especially in the snacks and household cleaning industries, are actually owned by the same megacorporations. Branding is often only there to give the consumer the appearance of choice. When you go to a grocery store, you have the option to choose between Downy or Tide fabric softener, or maybe even believe that one is superior to the other. In reality, however, both Downy and Tide are owned by Procter & Gamble, and all your money goes to the same place. In the same way, when you want something to drink, you can choose between Vitamin Water and Powerade, but both are owned by CocaCola. The decision made by parent companies to keep brands separate comes from a relatively recently developed sense of “brand loyalty” in the consumer. Before the 1900s, brand recognition was not a key factor in consumerism or the economy. Now, most children can recognize popular brand symbols by the age of two. Brand loyalty has become a key component of marketing products, especially to younger generations, and so when a company acquires or develops a new product, they make it a unique brand in order to make it more marketable and obtain a new consumer base. In the mind of the consumer, there is a striking difference between “oh, there’s a new Procter & Gamble product out” and “Bounty is a new brand of toilet paper on the market!”
Sept 28th, 2020
In the modern day and age, it is almost impossible to avoid purchasing products owned by parent companies, especially when many of these companies have cornered a significant section, or sometimes nearly all of a market base for a particular kind of product. These companies are not monopolies, and so cannot be broken up by the law, but they do purposefully manufacture the sense of choice that the average consumer believes they have in the economy. So, next time, before you buy a product, become an aware consumer and know where your money actually goes before you purchase.
WAVE LEARNING FESTIVAL: Gen Z’s Reach to Teach in the Time of COVID-19 by Emma Finley-Gillis – There has long been (and remains) a massive disparity in the U.S. education system, which has been polarized by wealth gaps, and now invigorated by the pandemic. The switch to online learning in the spring impacted students everywhere: uncertainty, fear, and the generally feeling of disconnection complicated matters, hitting younger students, according to Karly Hou, sophomore at Harvard University and founder of the Wave Learning Festival, even harder, because of the lack of support and structure.
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Along with a team of other college students, Hou devised Wave Learning to combat this issue, cleverly maneuvering the boundaries presented by social distancing measures— in a way that actually made it a more accessible tool— allowing them to achieve and further broaden their goal of reaching a socioeconomically and geographically diverse group of students. Wave Learning is free and completely online, and has grown from a single college student’s idea to a country and world-wide operation. Now qualifying as a nonprofit, WLF has been able to provide classes to students in over 62 regions and countries around the globe. The name “Wave Learning” comes from their streamlined course structure— designed in six week “waves,” moving quickly from recruiting students to teach classes, to advertisement, to sign-ups, and finally to connecting students to teachers, so the classes can begin. Their first wave, back in May, launched with 445 sign ups, Wave 2 with 530, 3 with 2,101, and the numbers keep growing. The courses are continuing this fall with a diverse set of interesting and fun options, ranging from topics in history, tech, literature, arts, business, politics, and many more! The current wave unfortunately just closed for
registration yesterday (the 27), but the next one will start in just a few weeks! Remember that all courses are free, relatively short, and do not (generally) assign homework! With just a meeting or two a week, you could learn about activism through art, Greek and Roman politics, the history of B.I.P.O.C representation on Broadway, stats, Python, or even “The Mathematics of Burritos and Enchiladas”... whatever that is! The flexibility and creativity that has been required of Hou and her team to rally and create this platform, and then actually bring it to fruition, adapting and rethinking as problems raised as a result of their drastic growth, truly is inspiring. The Wave Learning mission and journey is a fantastic example of the good that can come, not only out of hard times like this pandemic, but also when someone, anyone— even someone young— recognizes a need and puts their mind to helping fill it. Check out their website: https:// www.wavelf.org/ seminars! The next Wave runs from Oct 5th to Nov 6th, with 45 course offerings.
FACULTY FEATURE: Mr. Watson an interview with Ellie Powell I meet my new advisor for the first time individually on a Thursday afternoon. Though we’re both on Zoom, I can tell that he’s sitting in the theatre arts office in the SCAS, a beautiful little room filled with books with convenient access to the printers. Ian Watson has bravely taken on the Falk advisory this year, a group that I happen to know is particularly tight-knit, and he has done so brilliantly. It is my pleasure to introduce ou readers to Ian Watson. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -Where are you from? I’m actually from Louisa County. I grew up thirty-five minutes away, and went to James Madison University for two years of undergrad before I came back and transferred to UVA. Then, I went to VCU for grad school and got my MFA in theater pedagogy. Then, I went to North Carolina for two years, where I taught middle and upper school students. This is very much home for me!
How did you get interested in theatre arts generally? Well, it started in my freshman year of high school when I was asked to do a monologue in my first or second week of school. I went up and did my monologue--I think it was from Frankenstein--and my teacher asked me to stay after class, so I thought I was in trouble, but really she had a role that she thought might be interesting for me, though it required me to move up to Advanced Theatre. As a freshman, that was crazy, because a lot of the upperclassmen were in that class, but I moved up to Advanced Theatre, and that was what initially got me hooked. I was actually a psychology major at JMU and UVA originally, but in my first or second week at UVA, I ran into my middle school theater teacher, and started wondering why I wasn’t doing theatre. I then declared it as my major, and that was how being a theatre arts teacher became a long term career goal of mine. Do you have any pets? I have one dog! he is a four year old Jack Russell terrier chihuahua mix named Finley, and he is the chillest dog. He’s super friendly, he loves people! Before I came to STAB, the last production I did was The Wizard of Oz, and he was Toto. It was very nerve-wrecking seeing your dog on stage! How have you been keeping busy over quarantine? I watched a lot of movies. It’s been tough not being able to go to the movie theater right now, but I like a large variety of movies including foreign and independent films. I’ve been utilizing streaming services now, though. I also watch a lot of premier league English soccer! My favorite team is Chelsea, and they’re based out of London.
Lo o k o u t fo r o ur w ee kly ed i ti on s con ti n ui n g thi s fa l l ! Sept 28th, 2020
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