Key club lieutenant governor strives for improvement across schools
Dynamic duo: Sisters run cake business
Page 2 Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA
Volume 71 No. 4
February 23, 2021
Expanded horizons: Tetv implements online sports broadcasting
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spoke.news
Students of the Year Philadelphia: Raising to find a cure
Courtesy Lily Norton
Putting the fun in fundraising: Students celebrate at the 2019 Students of the Year Philadelphia Banquet. People gathered to hold up signs displaying the total amount raised by all the teams.
Jui Bhatia
Staff Reporter In 2018, nearly 18,000 people had been diagnosed with cancer in Philadelphia alone, and most of these types of cancer do not have a cure yet, but students from and around Philadelphia can all do their part to help in the cause through Students of the Year Philadelphia. Students of the Year Philadelphia is a fundraising competition that lasts about seven weeks, where the highest raising team gets named the Students of the Year Philadelphia.
The participating students raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, which invests these funds to find a cure for cancer. Each team has one or more candidates with some team members that help them fundraise. Most candidates are raising in honor of a loved one who has been through cancer, and junior Sophia Mabilais has a similar motivation and is running with Zoe Davies. “I’ve had relatives, family, friends and just overall loved ones that have dealt with cancer and the hardships of it, and you can really see
how much (of a struggle) it can be,” Mabilais said. “I just want to spread awareness and help my community, and not just the community because LLS is global.” Raising $25 - $300 will grant a donation directly to research. If a participant raises anywhere from $1000 to $5000, they can donate this to a more specific research program of their choice.” Any team that raised over $10,000 can donate that money to help a specific person or to a specific type of research. Sophomore Rennie Hoey, who is working with Riley
Holzapfel, points out the other general uses of these funds. “All (these funds) also go to raising awareness,” Hoey said. “They not only use the money for research but also to inform others of what this foundation is and what this type of cancer is.” In addition, Mabilais stresses the importance these funds have and the difference they make for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. “I know that there’s other cancer money raising programs but honestly, I think the thing about LLS is that it’s very student involved,” Mabi-
lais said. “In other programs it’s really just adults and they bring in the children but this is really like the students are doing the work here.” Sophomore Sejal Kaushik, who is raising in honor of her grandfather, echoes the sentiment. “3 years ago, my grandfather passed away from leukemia,” Kaushik said. “So when I was presented with this opportunity, because I’ve seen what happened to our family and the effects it had on everyone, I thought it would be a good way to participate and do some-
thing to make an effort.” Sophomore Lily Norton, who fundraised last year, and is on the Junior leadership team this year, talks about her experience and connection to the cause. “My motivation was that my cousin had leukemia when she was younger. And I feel like I know a lot of people who have been affected by blood cancer. So it’s just a really good cause to donate to and help find a cure since a lot of people are affected by it, especially young kids,” Norton said. “My friend told me about the (Junior Leader-
ship team) and so I was like this sounds so fun. It’s also such an amazing thing to do, especially through the Leukemia Lymphoma Society who had helped my cousin when she was sick with money and things like that.” Recognizing how tough it might be to fundraise this year, Norton encourages all the fundraising teams. “It’s very fun, and I had so much fun doing it, and it’s for such a good cause and just know that every single dollar you raise is helping,” Norton said. “No matter how much you raise, it will help someone who needs it.”
Literary magazine The Folio wins NSPA All-American rating
Zakiyah Gaziuddin/The SPOKE
Staff favorites: One of current literary editor and senior Angeline Ma’s favorite pieces in the issue is the painting “Pavarti del Cardellino” by Class of 2020 graduate and previous art editor Monisha Gupta. Ma particularly liked the way Gupta’s piece fused different cultural elements together.
Zakiyah Gaziuddin News Editor
For 53 years Conestoga’s literary magazine, The Fo-
lio, has been compiling and publishing literature and art produced by the student body. After working through unprecedented challenges,
the magazine managed to release its Spring 2020 issue for which it received an All-American rating from the National Scholastic Press
Association (NSPA). The rating is the highest of its kind and is awarded by judges that are made up of professional journalists to the best-scor-
ing publication during their critiques. Publications are scored in several categories including coverage, writing, and design. The magazine has
received the All-American rating in years past, most recently for its 2016-2017 issue. Continuing a tradition of framing each issue around a central concept, the editorial board settled on the theme of playlists as they found music to be a common source of comfort through the unfamiliar nature of the year. Because of the pandemic, the issue was released online in place of physical copies. Pieces were grouped into four playlists expressing different moods: “Wholesome Vibes”, “Emo Hour”, “Alternative/ Indie” and “Podcasts” Current managing editor senior Lydia Naser who’s been working with the magazine since her freshman year noted the group settled on the idea for something music-related right before abruptly having to leave the school building. Naser feels proud of what the magazine has accomplished and the importance of its consistent role as a creative outlet for students. “I think because of the high school format, lit mag really is kind of like a cycle of students and it’s always changing,” Naser said. “I think it’s really just kind of a sense of pride and just happiness that we’re continuing to explore creativity and get the students involved in ways that are effective and seem to be paying off.” Monisha Gupta, a graduate of the Class of 2020 and one of three art editors last year who worked together in organizing the pieces for the issue, agrees. She recognizes the ability of The Folio to bring both people and piec-
es together and admires the work it’s done. “As you’re putting this together just seeing naturally that pieces end up having the same sort of feeling, it’s like two puzzle pieces coming together that you just didn’t expect,” Gupta said. “It’s a great process of seeing that happen.” Junior Ashka Patel who currently serves as one of the magazine’s art editors remembers feeling a sense of pride while reading through the judge’s comments and seeing them take note of her pieces “Canyon” and “Forest.” “For me, personally, it makes me feel proud. She said that vivid colors were captured in my canyon’s photograph and the photo of the trees is a strong perspective so that made me feel really good,” Patel said. “I feel like, as a whole, the magazine, the entire staff, should be really proud.” Senior Angeline Ma, currently serving as one of the literary editors, although feeling like the Folio’s work is underappreciated, remarks on the high quality of student-led publications at ’Stoga. “I feel like the Folio is more underrated of a publication, especially in comparison to the Spoke. Both of them are just really astounding and reading through them, the calibers so high. I surprise myself when I remember that they’re just high school publications,” Ma said. “I would just like to see more people to submit to the Folio and read the Folio. The work that everyone puts into it is so great that I feel like you know, it would be a shame if people didn’t like the issues.”
News
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A BRIEF LOOK THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN T/E NEWS
tesd urges prioritization of school employees for recieving vaccine
The district, along with multiple schools across Chester County, are urging community members to reach out to their legislators about prioritizing school employees as receivers of the COVID-19 vaccine. The district stated one of its most urgent objectives is to get all staff members placed in the 1A group for receiving vaccines. families sign letter to school board requesting reopening schools
On Feb. 2, a group of families in the community sent out a letter detailing their plea for reopening schools to members of the school board and pandemic team, namely Richard Gusick. The parents requested a meeting with Gusick to propose a plan that offers all in-person learning or hybrid, and there will be a school board meeting to discuss the group’s requests. Read more at
NEWS
Hippie Chic Cakes: From birthdays to a business
Hippie Chic Cakes was born as a hobby and transformed into a livelihood for Cara Wiechecki. Hippie Chic Cakes is a Conestoga home-run bakery that offers custom cakes, pies, seasonal items and baking classes.
Justin Chow: Musician, violinist and songwriter
Freshman Justin Chow’s musical journey began as a curious first grader that wanted to play the violin. With a serious commitment to violin, Chow has gone from PRYSM (Philidelphia Region Youth String Music) to PYAO (Philidelphia Youth Artists Orchestra), and still considers it his top priority in music. T/E LIFE
Take a look at the clubs ’Stoga has to offer
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Bus drivers allowed to pull down masks when driving Ben Shapiro Staff Reporter
“Wear your mask.” “Stay six feet apart.” “Keep everyone safe.” Americans have heard these commands on repeat for the past 11 months, with health officials practically begging the public to follow them. COVID-19 guidelines have been implemented everywhere, and it is expected to wear a mask when around others to stay safe. That is, unless you are a bus driver. For multiple school districts in Pennsylvania, the pandemic had grim consequences for transportation departments. The Perkiomen Valley School District had to halt busing services after a bus driver died and more than 25 other drivers and bus aids tested positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 1, according to NBC10 Philadelphia. Likewise, the Hatboro-Horsham School District paused its busing services on Feb. 3 because more than 20 staff members, roughly 25% of the transportation staff, were out of work due to positive cases and mandatory quarantining, according to 6ABC News. Despite the growing number of COVID-19-positive bus drivers across the state, the T/E Transportation Department still says that “when drivers are facing forward, driving, they may pull their mask down for safety reasons.” “Every student is close to the
bus driver when they’re on the bus. (When the driver) doesn’t wear a mask, it doesn’t feel safe,” said Nathaly Sanchez, a freshman currently signed up to take the school bus. The CDC agrees with the executive order President Biden published on Jan. 26 (Executive Order No. 13998), which states that everyone must wear a face mask to keep themselves and those around them safe. The CDC states that face masks are “required to be worn by all travelers while on public transportation. People must wear masks that completely cover both the mouth and nose.” However, it makes an exception for bus drivers saying that “masks should not be worn if their use creates a new risk.” Using the ambiguity surrounding the words “new risk” in the CDC’s statement and the executive order, many transportation departments have adapted their mask-wearing policies to be optional for bus drivers. The safety policy of one of TESD’s bus contractors, On The Go Kids, states, “Masks must be worn by drivers and aides when onboard the vehicle.” One sentence down however, and the “new risk” interpretation changes the meaning of the statement in its entirety. The safety policy furthers, “masks can be removed by driver when driver is seated in (the) driver’s seat.” Krapf School Buses, TESD’s other bus contractor, does not ac-
knowledge mask-wearing in its policy. Stating, “Drivers and monitors are provided with PPE,” the policy excludes the part with real impact — wearing the mask. “Unless (bus drivers) have problems with their glasses fogging up — because that’s an actual danger — I would say they should be required to (wear a mask) because we’re in a pandemic,” said Elise Turner, a freshman who is also signed up to take the school bus. On The Go Kids’ safety policy acknowledges this, citing the fogging of glasses and the impediment of vision for why mask-wearing is optional for bus drivers. While Turner recognizes this concept, she explains that there are many ways to get around this visibility issue without putting people at risk. “If a driver doesn’t wear glasses, they (should be required) to wear a mask,” Turner said. “There are things that you put on the lenses of your glasses so that they don’t fog up; there is spray for that, and it’s $5. I’ve seen people driving around in their cars with masks on with glasses, so I know it can be done.” Disagreeing with Turner, one bus driver for Conestoga High School who wishes to remain anonymous believes that she shouldn’t have to wear a mask while driving. Maskless during the in-person interview, the driver claimed that students cannot catch COVID-19, saying that they would
Abby Carella/The SPOKE
A different set of rules: Students board the buses at the end of the day. They have to wear masks while on the buses, yet according to the CDC and the T/E Transportation Department, the bus drivers don’t have to. rather not wear a mask at all. “I still think (the buses) are safe because I don’t think the kids are carrying (COVID-19). They are young and strong and vibrant; they aren’t going to carry the virus. I have no problem with (driving during a pandemic),” the driver said. “I would drive with no mask on if I could, but I can’t. I can’t breathe when you put it on my face.” While drivers do not have to wear their masks while driving, they are required to put a mask on when students enter and exit the bus. The bus driver quoted was referencing the latter part of the rule
when they made the claim about not being allowed to drive without a mask on. Knowing the devastating effects of not wearing a mask, Wayne Memorial Hospital surgeon Dr. Lisa Medvetz, Fellow of American College of Surgeons, disagrees with the driver’s beliefs and the mask policy ambiguity. She explains that people can wear masks properly without any negative side effects, calling the exclusion of bus drivers from the mask mandate to be concerning and irresponsible. “I’ve worn masks daily since I started my residency in 1994, and
my wearing a mask has never once impeded my ability to operate on somebody,” Medvetz said. “The mask covers your nose and mouth. Anatomically, their rationale (that masks impede vision) is idiotic.” Agreeing with Medvetz, Sanchez believes that the policy allowing bus drivers to remove their masks is not acceptable. “I can’t remember a time where I have worn a mask and have had trouble seeing. It’s not right for (the policy to allow) bus drivers to not wear masks,” Sanchez said. “They need to be wearing masks. We are in a pandemic.”
Key Club lieutenant governor strives for improvement across schools Becky Tang Staff Reporter
With over 100 active participants at Conestoga High School, and many more across Division 20, senior Lucie Song, who is the current Key Club lieutenant governor, serves as the communicator between five schools and the district. The lieutenant governor position, one that a Conestoga student has held for the past three years, comes with many responsibilities including presiding over all divisional meetings, creating monthly newsletters, and attending Board meetings. Though there may be a lot of pressure at times, Song feels that the position has brought her to experience much more. “It’s a really good opportunity to make new friends across the state and across the country. There’s a ton of just really cool service projects, Song said. And it’s just a really welcoming and nice community. So I really enjoyed this position.” One of Song’s most important jobs is to train officers at the school level and keep them updated on any district or international news about Key Club. She also
supports the school clubs as much as possible by holding training sessions for leadership roles and providing new service opportunities around the community. In addition, Song also creates and delivers a newsletter every month using the
program, Canva, to further connect the Division 20 community, which consists of Conestoga High School, Renaissance Academy, Downingtown STEM Academy, Great Valley High School, and Phoenixville High School. In it, she details upcoming events and
new ideas, as well as international partners of Key Club. With the making of newsletters, Song has seen improvements in her design and communication skills. “My leadership skills have greatly improved, I made a ton of new friends by just or-
ganizing and managing service activities and Key Club. I would also say that my graphic design skills have improved so much because of (newsletters).” Song said. Key Club members who are interested in applying for the lieutenant governor position
Courtesy Christine Jung
Volunteer efforts: Lieutenant governor Lucie Song actively participates in multiple fundraisers including the Yellow Tulip Project. Song has hosted divisional meetings, made monthly newsletters, and attended Board meetings as part of her job.
must first fill out a Statement of Candidacy and obtain signatures from the school club’s president and teacher advisor. Then, they must prepare and present a two-minute speech to around twenty people at an election. There are also higher positions that lieutenant governors may apply for, such as district governor, or even international representative. With the many leadership roles that the Key Club offers, Song expresses her positive stance on the non-profit organization’s possibilities. “It’s a really nice ladder of leadership opportunities that are available in Key Club, and it is a really welcoming community,” Song said. Overall, Song highly recommends that students who even have the slightest interest in the position to consider applying as they will be able to gain valuable experience even if they are not elected eventually. “I feel like in Key Club especially, or in any other leadership positions, you just have to go for it,” Song said. “You never know if you might be able to get the position and you’ll gain a lot of experience and a lot of new opportunities by applying.”
The Black Cat Cafe: A place to have a meal and save a cat Chemistry Club: Chemistry Club is one of the many academic-based clubs offered at Conestoga, yet still community oriented. It’s offered to anyone with an interest in chemistry or lab-based activities.
Teacher Feature: Timothy Mumford
Business/Tech teacher Tim Mumford knew he wanted to be a teacher ever since high school, but wasn’t sure how to apply his interests in the real world. During those years, he met a business instructor who encouraged him to use his skill sets in the classroom. SPORTS
Squash Captain finds joy amongst the competition
Most members of the squash team picked up the sport in high school, but senior Diana Knezevich, one of the three current captains of the girls’ squash team, started playing when she was six.
Grace Kuryan and Chanelle Ongagna Staff Reporters
“Where can you go eat and save a cat? Nowhere.” That’s the thinking behind the creation of the Black Cat Cafe, a nonprofit all-cats adoption center in Devon, which also doubles as a restaurant. With there being so many dog adoption centers already, Pat Maloney, the executive Vice President of the Pet Adoption and Lifecare Society (PALS), helped found the Black Cat Cafe as a way to find homes for cats. The Cafe operates under PALS’ management, taking in cats from dangerous situations, saves them from euthanization, and cares for their injuries. PALS reallocates all proceeds from the Black Cat Cafe’s restaurant towards the cats’ food and medical costs. PALS is one of Philadelphia’s largest cat rescues, adopting hundreds of cats per year. For a long time, the organization had been looking to create an income source to support their animal rescue work, beyond animal fees alone. They considered everything from a thrift shop to a moving company. Then a friend, who had previously owned a restaurant which served British-themed cuisine, sold that
business to a private owner. “The new owner moved the business from our location to a different location, leaving this building that was already set up as a cafe,” Maloney said. That cafe space was perfect for the Black Cat Cafe. PALS owns the Cafe as a business, but the owner of the building out of which it operates donates it to the rescue for a dollar a year. Cat-themed gift shop items, donated by customers, are sold to support the cost of caring for the cats during the day. During the restaurant’s business hours, the cats remain “on display” in the gift shop, where the customers interact with them since the dining room is off-limits. The cats’ foster parents, who deliver them in the morning, take them home once the Cafe closes. The cats repeat this process until adoption. When asked how customers feel about being able to not only connect with these adorable animals but also support them by eating a delicious meal, Judy Link, the head chef says: “They love it. They really do. A lot of people will call: ‘Do you have cats today? Otherwise, I’m not coming.’ They look forward to it, especially the elderly.” The outbreak of COVID-19, however, drove away most cus-
tomers except about 100 regulars, hitting the cafe’s dining revenue hard. “It has killed us,” Link said. “It definitely has.” Though the pandemic saw some of the highest demand ever
for cats, with more than 500 adopted through the cafe’s Facebook last year alone, the restaurant can’t afford to take in anymore. “It’s hard for us all working there knowing we can’t save these animals because nobody is com-
ing in,” Link said. Still, the cafe works hard to support itself during the pandemic. Junior Ally Howell, who visited the cafe at the beginning of the school year enjoys going there because despite COVID-19 restric-
tions, the cafe still boasts a comfortable atmosphere, cute cats, a unique gift shop, and great staff. “The head cook [Link] is really friendly,” said Howell. “It all feels really genuine. It’s a nice place and the meals are great.”
Jui Bhatia/The SPOKE
Cool cats with a cause: The entrance of the Black Cat Cafe sits on 42 Berkley Road in Devon. The cafe, which is managed by PALS, has put all proceeds towards taking care of the cats they already have as well as taking in new ones.
Maybe the SAT and ACT will just go away?? No, no, that’s just wishful thinking, you’re still going to have to take it. Many schools that are “test optional” this year won’t be next year. So time to start thinking about a plan for getting really, really good at it, even if you really, really hate standardized tests. Find out more at CrimsonReview.com.
T/E LIFE
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Senior designs Program of Studies cover Aditi Dahagam
Co-Web Content Manager Students relax on bleachers in a pencil case, attend class inside a laptop and swim on a calculator screen on senior Olivia Wang’s 2020–2021 Program of Studies cover. Wang merged elements from previous covers to create a design that reflects the school, students and trends. Wang first learned of the opportunity to design the Program of Studies cover in November, when visual and performing arts department chair Amy Cruz mentioned it to the seniors in her studio art class. Wang and her peers submitted their design ideas to a OneDrive folder so the art department could send their picks to the administration who made the final decision. Cruz and Principal Amy Meisinger chose Wang as the final cover artist and notified her in early December. “I was super excited (when I found out) just because I know that, at least for me, the cover art has been kind of a big deal, just because I’ve seen the past ones and they’re all so
amazing,” Wang said. “I kind of wanted to also showcase my own ideas and voice to the Program of Studies.” Wang found her passion for art from the private classes she took when she was young. At Conestoga, Wang furthered her experience by transitioning into the studio art program and drawing covers for The Folio, the school’s literary and art magazine. “(My work from The Folio) is kind of how I got more interested in drawing covers, and I guess that resulted in me also being interested in drawing the Program of Studies cover,” Wang said. Wang’s initial design had school supplies laid out on a desk, but Cruz and Meisinger wanted more social interactions between people and liveliness. Wang decided to incorporate ideas from previous covers with isometric design, a third-perspective style of art. “I thought about last year’s cover, which was just a bunch of people, and then the year before that it was just school supplies, so I was like, ‘Why not just blend them together and maybe
get little people in school supplies?’ which I thought would be super cute,” Wang said. After choosing the basic elements, Wang added Easter eggs, including a drone for the business and tech department, the pioneer mascot, the play “Hamlet,” and a frog dissection. She also combined different hairstyles and skin tones with the typical clothing of students to ensure the cover represented Conestoga. The cover doesn’t have pandemic-related elements because Meisinger and Cruz wanted to leave that aspect behind and focus on what students missed out on this year. “No one’s actually wearing a mask — I think Mrs. Cruz and Dr. Meisinger wanted to steer clear of that — so it’s kind of an opposite direction where everyone’s interacting with each other. This year has been super isolating, so it’s nice to have at least everyone interacting in the program of studies cover,” Wang said. To facilitate the critiquing process, Wang and Cruz met weekly over Microsoft Teams to discuss design changes. Cruz
believes the biggest change to the cover was the color palettes — Wang went through 10–12 different versions. Nonetheless, Cruz explains that she knew Wang would work hard to make a good design and be receptive to constructive criticism. “When you’re working with a client, you also need to be open to feedback, and Olivia is not only open to feedback, but she loves that,” Cruz said. “She loves when people are discussing her work and giving feedback and making changes, so I think knowing that she would be open to that process is good as well.” After spending roughly five hours per week on the design, Wang finalized the cover in mid-January. Wang believes creating the cover was a good opportunity to make a time capsule of the year and demonstrate her artistic abilities. “Not only do we create art that’s tailored to Conestoga, but (designing the Program of Studies cover is) a good experience for the artist to draw something that’s according to a business partner,” Wang said. “It’s a good experience overall for the artist as well as the school.”
Courtesy Olivia Wang
Skillful sketching: Senior Olivia Wang shades in the people on the Program of Studies cover she designed. Wang combined elements of previous covers to make a design that not only represented the students and trends of Conestoga, but also included fun Easter eggs.
Dynamic duo: Sisters Anna and Elli Mayock run local cake business Abby Carella
Multimedia Editor
Courtesy Elli Mayock
Favorite flavor: One of junior Elli Mayock’s favorite flavored Oreo cakes sits on the counter. The girls sold over 40 baked goods to families across the Main Line.
It is Saturday morning and sisters, Junior Elli and ‘Stoga 19 alum Anna Mayock, roll out of bed and head into their kitchen to pull out the eggs and flour. Back in March, during quarantine, the girls began baking birthday cakes for relatives who later urged them to start their own business. Today, the girls co-run “BakedbyMayock” and have sold over 40 items to families across the Main Line. “We have always liked (baking) and we would see photos of different kinds of cakes and were like, ‘Oh, let’s replicate that,’ and then it kind of just turned into something more,” Anna Mayock said. The BakedbyMayock menu is filled with dozens of items, ranging from brown butter chocolate chip cookies to coffee cake muffins to sea salt caramel blondies to funfetti layer cake. During winter, peppermint and pumpkin items were added. When summer rolls around, the girls hope to add lighter and fruitier desserts. Their most
popular item, the compost cookie, is filled with butterscotch and chocolate chips, coffee grounds, pretzels, potato chips and graham crackers. “It’s pretty much an everything but the kitchen sink type of thing,” Elli Mayock said. While the compost cookie may be their most popular, the sisters always recommend their favorite, the frosted layer cake. “Oreo or graham cracker frosting is our personal (favorite). If anyone ever asks what frosting to get, we tell them that,” Elli Mayock said. The girls always loved to bake but have been tweaking their technique the last few months. They started with boxed mixes and have worked their way up, through trial and error, to their current perfected recipes. “We always watched “Cake Boss” when we were younger. We have always been into watching baking shows. So, seeing some of their techniques and implementing them into our own has been helpful,” Elli Mayock said. While the girls can currently whip up a cake with
little to no incident, the first few weeks were much more hit or miss. “Sometimes we would be making a cake and it just wouldn’t be going how we wanted and we would kind of have a little break down, but then were like, extra cake for us! So, there are always baked goods in our house and when that happens, we just scratch it, and restart,” Anna Mayock said. All desserts on the menu can also be made gluten free or vegan, a decision that was important to the girls. “It’s becoming so popular these days, and we normally don’t eat that much dairy and we know a lot of people that are the same. So, it’s nice always having it as an option when you (can) find good ingredients that you can swap it out with that doesn’t affect the taste or bake. It was just finding those ingredients, which was super easy, so why not,” Anna Mayock said. The girls, who run a company Instagram with nearly 200 followers, manage orders via direct message. They file
all the information into a spreadsheet, such as desired flavor and pick up/drop off date. While both girls bake, Anna helps with organization of profits and Elli focuses on taking pictures for their social media accounts. Currently, the girls are working on expanding their business in terms of finding new customers and figuring out how to mail cakes. “It is hard to figure out packaging of the layer cake and keeping it cool and paying all the shipping fees,” said Anna Mayock. “People ask us, ‘Can you ship my friend a cake for her birthday’, and that is something we definitely want to be able to do.” With an overflow of customers and a growing business, the girls always make sure to prioritize time for personal baking. “I mean obviously we’re not spooning batter into our mouths when we are baking for customers but when it comes to baking stuff for ourselves…” Anna Mayock said. “All bets are off,” Elli Mayock said laughing.
Former TEMS teacher participates in inauguration Reese Wang
Co-Managing Editor
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Staff Sergeant and recording engineer of the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band Michael Ducassoux remembers listening to recordings of the band he now records. “My band director was playing recordings all the time of the Marine Band. And I’ve always known about the Marine Band,” Ducassoux said. “(The President’s Own U.S. Marine Band) was just a resource. I would listen to the Marine Band, because they put out amazing recordings, and they were really good. So for me, I always knew about the Marine Band, but I never knew that they have full time recording engineers.” However, Ducassoux did not originally intend to become a recording engineer. He went to Temple University to pursue jazz studies and music education. He taught local students drums and jazz lessons at Temple, and went on to teach at TEMS for nine years, where he directed multiple ensembles, taught music and worked at the TV studio. “(Teaching is) an opportunity to pass on something that you have spent so much time working on, and that you can share with somebody else and open them up to new things that they might not be familiar with,” Ducassoux said. His time as a student at Temple also introduced him to recording. A frequent jazz concertgoer, Ducassoux remembers his conversation with Temple University’s head of the jazz program, Dr. Ed
Flanagan, that introduced him to audio recording. “(Flanagan) approached me in the hallway one day and said, ‘Mike, we’re looking for somebody that’s really responsible and really loves jazz and really wants to attend a lot of concerts and run audio for them.’ I said, ‘Well, Dr. Flanagan, I don’t know anybody that knows how to run audio.’ And he’s like, ‘Mike, I’m asking if you want to do it. You’re a really responsible person. And we’ll get you all the training you need,’” Ducassoux recalls. By the end of his time at Temple, Ducassoux had recorded a total of a couple hundred jazz concerts. While teaching at TEMS, Ducassoux and his friends started Red Room Productions, a mobile audio recording company that aims to “bring the studio to the people”. One day, Ducassoux was scrolling through Facebook where he saw a job posting for The President’s Own Marine Band recording engineer. Ducassoux, who enjoyed listening to recordings of The President’s Own Marine Band and always wanted to serve his country, applied and joined the band in 2016. “I’ve always been involved in audio, I’ve always been doing projects, but one day I decided, you know, what happens if I kind of really go for it?” Ducassoux said. “I’d never even known that I had the ability to serve our country and simultaneously try to work with one of
the best musical organizations in the world full-time.” Since joining The President’s Own Marine Band in 2016, Ducassoux has audio recorded, video recorded and digitally archived performances from all over the globe. Recently, he recorded the band’s performances at the 2020 presidential inauguration. There, he worked with other recording engineers and TV broadcast teams to get the best sound out of the band as possible in cold weather. Ducassoux’s favorite part about his job is not only getting to be at the band’s performances and historical events, but also getting to preserve these events for other people. “Getting to hear the full ensemble play and just do what they do and for me to be able to record that so that it will live on not just for me, but so that it will live on for generations to come. That’s the coolest thing about when I get to do: I get to preserve that awesome moment in time, forever,” Ducassoux said. “And that goes for any of these historic events that we get to work on. It’s really special.” While Ducassoux’s current teaching is mainly made up of mentoring other recording engineers and participating in The President’s Own Marine Band’s student outreach programs, he believes his experiences playing music, conducting ensembles, and teaching students have helped him in his current career. “(Playing music and recording are) very different, but very much the same,” Ducassoux said. “It’s one of those things where my time per-
forming all the time was amazing. My time conducting orchestras and bands was amazing. Recording is just a different avenue of the music industry. And it literally runs in
parallel with everything. And it’s a situation where all of my experience up to now with conducting and composing and working on scores and all that stuff has really helped.”
Courtesy Michael Ducassoux
Motivated musician: Former T/E Middle School teacher Michael Ducassoux participates in The President’s Own Marine Band’s student outreach programs. He enjoyed his past experiences conducting orchestras.
T/E Life
4
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
“I Will Always Love You” sung by Whitney Houston
’Stoga picks: Valen-tunes to jam to Written and Designed by Katherine Lee, Co-T/E Life Editor
“The song is a cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You,’ and Whitney Houston sings it in the movie “Bodyguard.” I think Whitney Houston brings more power to the vocals, and Dolly Parton sings it well, don’t get me wrong, but her voice is softer and more delicate, so Whitney Houston sings it with more power behind her voice and she can belt those notes. I’m not too familiar with the movie, but essentially there’s a bodyguard and a woman and they’re in love, but they can’t be together, so this is kind of like their parting song. I like it because I love trying to sing along with it and I really like the sentiment behind the song because I think it’s romantic that they’re putting their lover’s needs before their own even though they want to be together.”
- Gloria Geng, Senior 4:31
0:00
“kivotos” by katy garby
“How Long” by Charlie Puth
“(The title of the song) means ark in Greek, as in like Noah’s Ark, and the song is saying that no matter what happens, you’re my ark, and I think it mentions floods, hence the Bible reference. I like the feel of the song; it’s upbeat, which is not something I listen to a lot, so it’s a good song to just dance along to. It’s a fun song; it makes me feel energetic. I like listening to it when I’m in the car or at work because it gets you up and moving. I drive with my dad a lot, so (Greek songs) are something that we can talk about.”
“The song is from a girl’s perspective of a guy cheating on her and basically it’s him admitting that he did cheat. I really like this song because it’s catchy, I like the beats to the song, and I can easily follow the lyrics in my head. It’s a song that I’ve been listening to for a while and it’s really relaxing and chill. I like listening to it when I study because, again, it’s very relaxing.”
- Nav Manick, Sophomore
- Caitlin Hadjiliadis, Sophomore 0:00
4:05
0:00
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
“Orange Colored Sky” by Nat King Cole “Nat King Cole is telling a story through this song about how he was walking down the street and then he sees someone and love just hit him almost like Cupid’s arrow struck him. And you hear it also with the brass section when he says, ‘Flash, bam, alakazam,’ so that’s the reason why I like it a whole lot. It’s the story that goes along with it and then the explosive sounds that also represent the feeling of love. The song is meaningful to me because I feel like it just represents pure love. It makes me think of cartoons with the big heart-eyed cartoon person and they just fall in love, and it always makes me happy when I’m hearing it, and I feel like that’s how love is kind of like. Whenever I’m relaxing I just put on that song and it makes me so happy. Whenever I turn on that song, all my negative emotions flow right out of me.”
- Amy Douglas, Junior 2:33
0:00
3:20
“It’s basically a love song about how there’s nothing that can keep the two people apart. It uses mountains and valleys and rivers to show that there’s nothing that will separate them. I like that it’s an older song, but it’s upbeat and it’s kind of similar to songs today. I kind of don’t see it as a love song as much as other people might, so I like listening to it when I’m wanting to listen to a happier song. (When I listen to the song), it sort of reminds me of mostly my parents because their relationship was kind of similar to this song because there was a lot that was sort of keeping them away, but they were able to stay together.”
- Lukas Metz-Topodas, Freshman 2:27
0:00
Musical masters: Conestoga faculty members pursue their musical talents Hiba Samdani and Umar Samdani Photography Editor and Co-T/E Life Editor
Assistant Principal Anthony DiLella is not a typical musician. He is proficient in not one, not two, but eight different instruments. The school administrator ignited his interest in the musical world from a young age. When he was in fourth grade, DiLella’s father inspired him to start playing an instrument. Over time, this passion drove him to play several musical instruments, including the trumpet, piano, guitar, bass guitar and multiple woodwind instruments.
“My dad was a bass player, and I would watch him play and I got interested,” DiLella said. “I went to a very small Catholic school [that] only offered piano lessons down in the basement of the rectory with an old piano that was out of tune, and then it kind of developed from there.” DiLella has been a member of multiple bands. His most memorable experience was with the Lima Bean Riot. The band played four times a week, and DiLella was the lead bass player. One thing DiLella finds inspiring in these musicians is the devotion they show to their music. “What I’ve learned about all the people I’ve played with, from the classical people to like
the rock musicians, is that every single one of these people (is) extremely passionate about their music, whether it’s made up of three chords, or whether it’s a 30 piece orchestrated composition,” DiLella said. For DiLella, musical inspiration comes from bands and singers he enjoys listening to. DiLella is especially fascinated with Wynton Marsalis, a trumpet player in the ‘80s and ‘90s. On the guitar, DiLella tends to play in a style similar to another popular rock band in the ‘80s: Guns and Roses. “People will say to me that my solos sound very much like Slash from Guns and Roses. Well, Guns and Roses was the predom-
inant band on the radio at the time so that’s all everybody heard and that’s all we ever wanted to learn,” DiLella said. A lot of my guitar licks, and a lot of the solos I play come from a lot of stuff from Slash from Guns and Roses, and it kind of sticks with you through life. DiLella is not the only faculty member that plays an instrument for recreation. Music teacher Cassandra Hesse has a master’s degree in trumpet performance from the University of Delaware. She has played a variety of different types of trumpets in multiple events around Philadelphia. “It’s kind of crazy but I would spend several nights a week [playing in Philadelphia]. Tues-
Courtesy Ryan Palmer
Super strummer: Spanish teacher Ryan Palmer strums his guitar to some of his favorite songs. Palmer started playing the guitar 16 years ago and was first inspired by his sister.
Courtesy Anthony DiLella
Striking a chord: Assistant Principal Anthony DiLella tunes his base guitar in preparation for a show. DiLella used to play with the band Lima Beans Riot.
days I would be with the mainline Symphony, Mondays I would be with the Philadelphia Wind Symphony. I also play in a brass quintet sometimes,” Hesse said. Not only has she performed professionally, but she has also played with her elementary school music teacher Ronald Evans in the recent years. Hesse credits her interest in the trumpet to this music teacher. “I got started in school with my elementary school teacher Mr. Evans,” Hesse said. “A fun fact is that I actually get to gig and perform with him. I’ve played a couple performances at churches and a couple other local spots with my elementary school teacher, which is kind of a crazy thing.” Hesse enjoys the community aspect of music. She believes
that both musicians and audiences can create an especially supportive environment. “It’s the human element of everybody putting themselves out there and supporting each other and like playing in a way that makes people support each other,” Hesse said. “Music is the chance to be around other people and challenge each other and encourage each other.” Spanish teacher Ryan Palmer is also very passionate about music. Palmer primarily plays the guitar, but he also knows how to play the piano and the harmonica. Similar to DiLella, the Spanish teacher’s family inspired him to start music from a very young age. “I grew up in my musical family. We were always singing, and I was always entranced by the
idea of playing music, especially my own music. My sister started playing the guitar and it seemed really fun. And so I kind of figured out after her,” Palmer said. Palmer believes that music can be a unique form of communication. He appreciates certain instruments’ ability to convey unspeakable messages. “I find that the music that moves me the most is usually the music that comes out of people’s hardest times. It’s communicating with someone else even if no one else hears it. So you might just be communicating with like your future self, or the present self,” Palmer said. It’s a way of communicating with feelings. The best music is probably the music that communicates the clearest message.”
OPINION
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Unsigned: How to kill a relationship Valentine’s Day this, lovey-dovey stuff that. BOR-ing! Don’t you ever get tired of happy relationships? Here’s how to kill one in 18 easy, foolproof steps: 1. Go out to a fancy restaurant for date night, order the most expensive thing on the menu and conveniently “forget” your wallet. Do this every single time. Make your partner’s pockets hurt! They’ll love it. 2. Play so hard to get that they think you despise them. I mean, who doesn’t love constant rejection, right? You should expect them to pursue you forever because their life revolves around you. 3. Stand them up. Plan elaborate, well-thought-out dates and then simply don’t show up. They’ll definitely fall for you that way. 4. Lie to get them to like you. Who cares about trust? You can be who you want to be, and that includes identity theft and impersonation. 5. Never compliment, only criticize. In fact, insult them and call them weird and derogatory names on the daily. Make sure you’re extra condescending. The best basis for a relationship is obviously a foundation of feeling awful about
yourself and not feeling loved by your partner at all. 6. Constantly compare them to your ex. Nothing will make your partner feel special like being told they’re inferior to a partner you had in the past. For good measure, you should often make remarks about wishing you were still together with an ex-partner instead of your current one. 7. Argue for the sake of arguing. Your relationship will be fortified by all the time you spend slinging shots at each other over completely insignificant things with no rhyme or reason. 8. Don’t let them have any friends that aren’t you. Controlling and manipulative is the only way to go. Platonic affection does not exist. In fact, as far as your partner is concerned, no one exists except for you.
9. Don’t let them speak unless spoken to, and don’t let them say a single word you don’t like. Employ the loud shushing method, and glare them down every time they
try to get a word in edgewise. 10. Threaten to break up with them every time they do anything you don’t like. They will love having your relationship used as a bargaining chip, and it will make
your partner feel very secure in your love for them. 11. Force them to change to fit your standards. Everything in your relationship must be about you. Autonomy? Having their own personality? Compromise? Absolutely not. Your partner should be just like a programmable mannequin — 100% customizable and completely under your control. 12. Don’t communicate about anything. Ever. Once you say yes to the relationship status, you gain the ability to read your partner’s mind. There’s no need to ask about anything anymore. You know what’s best for them. Sophia Pan/The SPOKE The mind isn’t THAT complicated. 13. Snoop through all their stuff without permission and for no reason. It’s your human right to be as intrusive and nosy as you want. What’s privacy?
14. Manipulate and gaslight them. Convincing them that they cannot even trust themselves and that they can only trust you is how you show that you respect them as a person and how you cultivate a healthy relationship. 15. Blame and shame. When anything goes wrong, from bad weather to that bad driver who cut you off this morning, blame it on your partner, even if — especially if — you know it’s not their fault. Then, shame them for things they had no hand in. That’s called respect and good communication. 16. Cheat on them. Make sure to cheat on them while you’re still in the relationship instead of just breaking up. You’re in the right here. Clearly. 17. Break up over text (after cheating, of course). Nothing says I respect you and the time we spent together like a single “we’re over” message. And make sure to decline all calls and refuse to provide any closure: the only breakup better than a text message is ghosting them completely. 18. Stalk them after you break up. In fact, take a page out of Colton Underwood’s book and be such a creep that they file a restraining order against you!
The Spoke Editorial Board voted unanimously 13-0 in favor of this article.
Retail investors try to dethrone Wall Street kings of finance
Evan Lu
Webmaster When you picture an investor, you probably imagine a Wall Street banker with a jet black suit and slick, gelled-back hair. But the six million members of the Reddit investing forum r/WallStreetBets are trying to introduce a new type of investor into the playing field: the retail investor. These everyday investors with little capital and training but big ambitions recently flexed their muscles by driving up stock prices, most notably that of GameStop, calling for a financial revolution against the institutional power of hedge funds and banks. However, their short-lived success is not enough to upend
big money Wall Street investors. A dwindling video game seller that relies on customers visiting their stores, GameStop is widely considered to be a tanking business model as it is quickly overtaken by competition from more convenient online marketplaces. Many investors, including hedge funds managing billions of dollars of assets, hope to gain from GameStop’s eventual demise by short selling its stock, essentially betting that the stock is going down to turn a profit. Massive hedge funds, like Melvin Capital and Citron Research, invested billions of dollars in the decline of GameStop. In January, a group of Reddit investors collaborated to drive up the stock prices of GameStop and similarly failing companies to punish short sellers. Using stock-trading apps like Robinhood, they encouraged one another to buy and hold as many shares of GameStop as possible in a
“short squeeze”. Within days, GameStop stock rose from $19 per share to nearly $500 per share at its peak, an increase of 2400 percent (shares have since dropped to $60 per share). Amidst the chaos, short selling hedge funds lost
nearly 13 billion dollars. The GameStop short squeeze is admittedly a scary shakedown for institutional investors. Even Reddit’s PR team joined in on the frenzy with advertising in the Super Bowl, flaunting the “victory of the masses” on one of the largest commercial stages.
Freed from the shackles of limited capital by social media and commission-free brokerage apps, ordinary people can now band together and move the market on a large scale through coordinated investments. Their actions not only cost Wall Street managers
Nonetheless, this incident is no “French Revolution of finance” as claimed by Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trump’s former communications advisor, nor is it a harbinger of systematic change. Do not mistake this for anything other than what it truly is: a quick ploy to beat Wall Street investors at their own game. Unfortunately for retail investors, stock prices always end up at their true intrinsic value sooner or later, and while a few lucky people may strike big, there are and will always be people who are too late to the party and take the brunt of the fall. At the core, it’s a classic incidence of illusory superiority: norKatherine Zhang/The SPOKEmal investors overestimate their intelligence and ability billions of dollars, they challenged to judge stock prices, often losing corporate power. Normally the everything as a result. In truth, ones controlling, influencing in an attempt to make some easy and manipulating the market, cash and stick it to the Wall Street corporate power holders and snobs, these investors are gamWharton-educated hedge fund bling their life savings away in the managers were simply outplayed casino that is the stock market. But in an embarrassing match against remember, at the end of the day, unsophisticated couch potatoes. the house always wins.
From the Editor: My view on student productivity
Hyunjin Lee
Co-Editor-in-Chief When you read the words productivity, productive, and efficiency, what images are conjured in your head? Endless hours of nonstop studying? Floating from one obligatory task to another without breaks? Checking off every single item on your to-do list before bedtime? Never procrastinating? Well, these are the images conditioned into our minds to be associated with productivity by our Western culture, our society. In the highly individualistic society that we live in, we succeed by doing better, by working harder, studying more, practicing, and achieving more than the person next to us. The emphasis we place on productivity, the need to constantly churn out results and products like machines (humans aren’t robots for goodness sakes!), prime us to demonize productivity. In some sense, especially for students, productivity becomes that idol we place on a pedestal and we rotate our lives around it, doing everything to keep our productive furnaces going. For some, including me, that means sacrificing sleep, coming up with excuses as to why we can’t hang out or go somewhere, and maybe overthinking every opportunity we missed for doing more work. The list of negative side effects of intense productivity goes on and on. Perhaps what rang an alarm bell in my head regarding my obsession with productivity were some instances from this past year. When I found myself reading or doing creative projects that I love to do, I came to the uncomfortable realization that I didn’t feel comfortable or necessarily relaxed doing these things. And isn’t the point of doing fun activities to relax and to take a break from our demanding schedules? I realized
that in the back of my mind, I was scolding myself, “Why aren’t you practicing more cello? Why aren’t you writing that essay instead?” Eventually, I came to the conclusion that my mindset and the way society has cultured me to view productivity and idolize productivity, has turned me into someone who can’t even enjoy simple things without feeling guilty about the “more productive” things I could be doing instead. However, unending productivity is NOT the solution to greater happiness and satisfaction. And more often than not, I know from personal experiences, non-stop productivity doesn’t even yield the quality of work you want. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word “productivity” as of 1899 meant “rate of output per unit.” Doesn’t this definition sound like something fit for machines? Then why should we, humans, be pushed for higher and higher productivity rates each day? After all, we aren’t electronic devices that can chug out larger and larger outputs of math problems per minute, or programmed to produce greater numbers of tasks finished per day. It’s time we stop beYuting Pu/The SPOKE ing crutched by this concept of “productivity,” being workhorses to the yoke of society and our negative conceptualization of productivity. In some ways, I suppose productivity is like a hedonistic treadmill, a treadmill of productivity. No matter how fast we run, how many hours we sacrifice studying or working towards some goal, it seems like we are never content with where we are. Oh, you finished your history notes early? Congratulations! Work ahead now and do the notes for the next chapter! It will be difficult to radically alter our view of productivity, especially one so deeply ingrained into us. But like most things, every step matters. It can simply start with our acknowledgment of a negative idealization of productivity. As James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits” says, “being productive is about maintaining a steady, average speed on a few things, not maximum speed on everything.”
To the internet friends I love
om students, the community
Sophia Pan
Co-Managing Editor
submitted to Editors-in-Chief Ananya Kulkarni friends that I met Claire Miller andDearest Allison Ferriola.
online, Thank you. You may live a of The Spoke editorial board, not necessarily thousand miles away, but you ty or advertisers. opinions in haveThedone meexpressed a thousand fassarily the opinion The Spoke. me a thousand vors, ofcomforted ways and made me a thousand times the person I was before I vertisements. Email hello@spoke.news. knew you. For some of my internet friends, I have not spoken to you in a very long time, and for some of you, we have fallen out of favor, but rest assured: I remember you, and I am eternally grateful for how
you have changed me. You have been there for me, reaching out with arms made of pixels to lift me up when I am down. I only know your faces in 2D, and yet, some of www.spoke.news you know me better than I know myself. I have spent so many hours laughing with @thespoke you. The impressions left by your friendship will stay with me forever. @thespoke So, to Natalie and Kia and Paris and Jade and Kierra and Mere and Sithmi and Van and Mayo and/thespoke everyone I didn’t have the space to list, I love you. I carry bits of all of you with me: Bears the_spoke remind me of Mayo just as volleyball reminds me of Jade. When I think of kindness, I think of hello@spoke.news Kierra, and when I the best I’ve ever gotten, and think of pickles, I still remem- it’s because of Paris that I love ber texting Natalie. Whenever Australian accents. Van’s funny I need motivation to study, I voice messages continue to play remember when Mere drew in my head on repeat, and I still me a phone background to stay learn from Sithmi every day. focused. I still boast Kia’s nickYou’re all family to me. name for me (Microsoph) as
Thank you for everything. As Helen Keller said, “True friends are never apart; maybe in distance, but never in heart.” With love from a thousand miles away, Soph
The Spoke is published seven times a year ay School Paper Express. It consistently receives a Gold rating from PSPA and CSPA, and is a National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker award-winning publication. The Spoke serves as a public forum for student exoresssion
The
Staff
Editors-in-Chief: Ananya Kulkarni, Hyunjin Lee Managing Editors: Sophia Pan, Reese Wang News Editor: Zakiyah Gaziuddin T/E Life Editors: Katherine Lee, Umar Samdani Opinion Editor: Devon Rocke Sports Editor: Alexis Costas Assistant Sports Editor: Akshita Joshi Photography Editor: Hiba Samdani Multimedia Editor: Abby Carella Business Manager: Andrew Fessick Webmaster: Evan Lu Web Content Managers: Aishi Debroy, Aditi Dahagam
, Cartoonists: Leon Li, Sophia Pan, John Phillips, Yuting Pu, Charity Xu, Katherine Zhang Staff Reporters: Nishka Avunoori, Abby Bagby, Anika Basu, Jui Bhatia, Kate Emmanuel, Amna Faheem, Melissa Fan, Andrew Franceski, Julia Harris, Omkar Katkade, Brooke Kennedy, Grace Kuryan, Sally Murphy, Chanelle Ongagna, Kate Phillips, Trey Phillips, Abbie Preston, Val Pucci, Ben Reed, Tashikaa Senthilkumar, Maya Shah, Ben Shapiro, Becky Tang, Michael Tierney, Cosmo Thompson, Shreya Vaidyanathan, Brooke Vallin, Mindy Wang, Ruijia Yang, George Zhang Faculty Advisers: Alison Ferriola, Cyndi Crothers-Hyatt, Claire Miller
Katherine Zhang/The SPOKE
Charity Xu/The SPOKE
SORRY, WE MISsPoke
In the January issue, on page 8, the cartoon for “The Capitol riots: An American nightmare” was credited to Charity Xu when it should have been credited to Trey Phillips. On page 10, it is Ursinus College, not Urinus College. Also on page 10, it is Doug Pederson, not Doug Peterson. On page 11, Noel Park is a sophomore, not a junior.
Non-staff contributions: Non-staff contributions from students, the community, graduates or other interested parties are welcome. Editors will decide which contributions are publiched based on space and relevance to the community. All contributions must conform to journalistic practices, including accuracy, timeliness, purpose and writing conventions. The Spoke reserves the right to work with the contributor to meet these standards. All outside contributions are bylined.
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Letters to the editor: Letters to the editor may be submitted to Editors-in-Chief Ananya Kulkarni and Hyunjin Lee, or advisers Cyndi Crothers-Hyattt, Claire Miller and Allison Ferriola. Editorials: Unsigned editorials represent the views of The Spoke editorial board, not necessarily those of the administration, student body, community or advertisers. The opinions expressed in signed columns are those of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of The Spoke. Paid advertisements: The Spoke accepts paid advertisements. Email hello@spoke.news.
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OP/ED
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Why I advocate for student press rights and why you should too
Ananya Kulkarni Co-Editor-in-Chief
As student journalists, we search for the hard truth, and in my searches, I have discovered the biggest villain of all. This pernicious evil has seeped into every crack of American society, silently breaking down the basic tenets of our democracy while we were all too busy reading tweets. People know this villain by a variety of different names, such as a “spin” or “twist,” but I like to call it by the scariest name it has: alternative facts. Nowadays, we see alternative facts taking a multitude of different forms. We see it in the fake news on Twitter that circulates six times faster than the truth does. We saw the seizure of Jim Acosta’s press pass, the lies presented by Kellyanne Conway and our own for-
mer president inciting a riot through his refusal to accept legitimate electoral results. There is a rift in our democracy. That fracture is widening rapidly, disrupting every last issue in American politics from within. The media is under attack, and yet, it is our first line of defense against mass m i s i n f o r m at i o n . National news on both sides of the spectrum is tainted with capitalist ulterior motives. I’d go so far as to claim that an unpaid staff like ours will soon be the only safeguard against the flagrant lies that dominate the national narrative. The kind of local journalism we create at The Spoke is becoming more and more essential to democracy because, in the play for sensational headlines, big media has forgotten that we are a nation built on town halls. Disrespect for journalism is on the rise globally. Drawing
attention to improving industry standards press rights combats this issue. But in order to cover the stories that matter — the stories in small neighbor-
hoods and classrooms that will never see the light of a national headline — we must first fight that disrespect for journalism on a local level. We must fight it in our classrooms and in
closed-door meetings with our administrations so that same disrespect doesn’t corrupt the highest levels of government, as we have seen occur in the
last four years. Names like Hazelwood and Tinker are familiar to all of us from the dense U.S. history textbooks we carried around not so long ago. Those names
seemed so unimportant in the scheme of things, except perhaps for when we frantically studied for the next test. But understanding the
weight of those names allows student journalists to help make small changes in wording in local school publication policies, journalism education policies and state codes,
changes that give us the ability to fight for rights to our own work, the ability to maintain our websites and the ability to choose to run stories while still being protected from litigation. And while I have come to shout from the rooftops for these rights because of my time as a student journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Spoke, being any kind of student, whether you spend your time in the lab or the art studio, advocating for these changes ensures that your voice, and every other voice in our community, is consistently represented. So, I urge you to read your student newspaper, to respect the journalists of the future, and to fight for the jourTrey Phillips/The SPOKE nalists in your high school classrooms and beyond. Above all, stay informed about the news and seek out unbiased sources in your own community because in 2021, truth isn’t just our defense, it is our salvation.
6
Report Card Wandavision
A+
+ Extremely creative and just off-putting enough to keep me on the edge of my seat - I have absolutely no clue what’s going on
B
Microsoft Teams Update + We finally have more reaction options! - No match for face-to-face contact
Valentine’s Day + I got flowers and bought myself chocolates - Wayyyy too many couples posts to sift through
Wentz trade to the Colts + Good opportunity for Hurts to step up
“(My boyfriend and I) are going to send each other stuff through the mail and then FaceTime for a while.”
“I just hung out with friends a little. (Valentine’s Day) isn’t really a big thing for me.”
- Luka Tymchenko,
- Isabella Chen,
freshman
STUDENTS SPEAK OUT
sophomore
- Natalia Green,
“Obviously it’s more difficult to go out to restaurants, so (my girlfriend and I) are trying to find different solutions for that. Right now we’re planning on going out to a restaurant with bubble seating.”
Devon Rocke Opinion Editor
Many times in life, we are told to take a step back and look at the big picture, but how often do we take the time to take a few steps closer and look at the little things in life? Maybe it’s that beautifully scented candle that reminds you of home or the times when your soft blanket keeps you at the perfect temperature. Maybe it’s the subtle way the sunlight beams through the trees in your yard or the melodious song coming from a bird nearby. They are the details that you miss trying to
speed through the day just going from one place to another. It’s about time we slowed down and counted our blessings because this year has shown just how quickly the things we once enjoyed can disappear from our lives. No more concerts or parties. No more museums or group picnics. No big trip to Disney World with the family and no rendezvous down to the Jersey Shore. There’s no way around
it, COVID-19 has been the root of many sacrifices. However, we cannot allow
ourselves to only dwell in what once was. Instead, we must relish the things that we do have. Whether it’s something as small as the snowflakes silently drifting down from fluffy clouds, or as significant as watching the big game with our families, there is always something to appreciate. Take the fact that we can communicate with our friends and family with the click of a button via text or FaceTime, two of the many luxuries not yet invented when the last pandemic hit. Express your gratitude for the scientists, doctors and nurses that are actively working on the front lines and have faith that one day you may once again go back to appreciating the big things in Leon Li/The SPOKE life. Until that fateful day, though, I’d like you to stop and appreciate something small for a change.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Pregnancy
A+ B+
+ It’s really beautiful and is a nice distraction from daily stress
senior
Appreciating the little things
- Time will tell whether it’s a good trade or not
Snow Storms
- Andrew Valentine,
junior
c
+ Good for them, it looks like Archie has a sibling coming his way
Q: How was this Valentine’s Day different for you? “I treated it more like a friend thing than anything. Actually, I met with a friend and dyed my hair pink!”
A
- Too. Much. Shoveling.
Misogyny in romantic comedies
Aishi Debroy
Co-Web Content Manager Every February, individuals single and taken all watch romantic comedies (rom-coms) to enjoy light-hearted, simple plots: boy and girl fall in love through amusing circumstances and defeat all odds to show their true affection. However, this genre, marketed mostly toward young women, is often a testosterone-filled, misogynistic interpretation of love. Rom-coms falsely teach the viewer that love must be complicated and difficult in order to be fulfilling, that one (in most cases, the woman) must sacrifice for love. This “difficult” journey of true love is actually coded with harmful messages to impressionable, young viewers. The pervasive theme of “love conquers all” has a catch: the woman is undesirable without the love of a man and must change to accommodate the male fantasy — what love actually conquers is everything she stands for. The typical rom-com begins with either character possessing a character flaw that they must overcome, but the woman is always the butt of the joke. If the
protagonist is male, he is often average and untalented but redeemed because he is a “nice guy.” This “nice guy” may possess no attractive qualities, often having a victim complex, but for no logical reason is paired with the most attractive, talented woman, who helps him overcome his flaws. This perfect woman sees past all of his imperfections and fixes the “broken” man, serving only as a catalyst for character development. If the protagonist is female, she is either unattractive or highly ambitious (therefore annoying to the viewer). Neither trait is inherently negative, but she must learn to change her appearance or personality to become society’s stereotype for a perfect woman. If she is too ambitious, like Andie Anderson in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” she must show the male protagonist she is “one of the boys,” someone that loves eating pizza and watching sports yet maintains the ideal appearance. If she is conventionally unattractive and too masculine, like Grace Hart in “Miss Congeniality,” she must wear a tight dress, straighten her hair and wear “natural” makeup to appease the male viewers.
Rom-coms tell the viewer that, to be satisfied in a heterosexual relationship, the woman must lose her ambition and uptightness and must overlook the male protagonist’s mediocrity. She must become the epitome of perfection in a man’s eyes: a “cool girl.” Author Gillian Flynn describes the “cool girl” in her novel “Gone Girl” as “above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let
are seen as evidence of (most often) the male protagonist’s devoted love, a gesture that the female protagonist must swoon for. In reality, the woman is guilt-tripped into accepting his love. These sensationalized public displays create false expectations that materialize into real issues: men feel entitled to a woman’s feelings based on their efforts, regardless if those feelings are reciprocated, and women think denying unwanted advances appear selfish and cruel. “How I Met Your Mother” character Ted Mosby explains this phenomenon as the Dobler-Dahmer theory: “If both people are into each other, then a big romantic gesture works: Dobler, but if one person isn’t into the other, the same gesture comes off serial-killer crazy: Dahmer.” Although, as viewers, we must be aware of the harmful stereotypes and themes in rom-coms, the genre is not hopeless. Sometimes we need an impractical plot line with cheesy dialogue that follows relatable characters. By avoiding romanticizing manipulative behavior, exploring plot lines Sophia Pan/The SPOKE not centered around hettheir men do whatever they want.” eronormativity, and creating auPainting manipulation as an thentic and complex female leads, act of love is a more serious conse- the next generation of film-makers quence of rom-coms. High-stakes could and should create positive grand gestures, like the boombox narratives about womanhood that serenade in “Say Anything” or the will help young women feel more cue card scene in “Love Actually,” secure and fulfilled in love.
Charity Xu/The SPOKE
Sports
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
7
Healthy Sibling Rivalry: 'Stoga brothers strengthen swim team and each other Julia Harris Staff Reporter
Siblings Jake Wang and Gary Wang have been swimming competitively for most of their lives, and yet they have only raced together once. This will soon change, as freshman Jake Wang joined the boys swim team alongside his older brother, a junior. Being teammates with a sibling can lead to increased competition, and swimming is no exception. Swimming is an individual effort at heart, but it truly is a team sport. It is common to compare event times, but, besides the occasional inevitable sibling disagreement, Jake Wang and Gary Wang try not to see competition as a bad thing. In fact, the brothers view it as an advantage driving them to push even harder to improve their performances. “We’re both great swimmers and being on the team and just swimming in relays together and swimming against each other is beneficial for the both of us,” Jake Wang said. “It’s going to be fun. I’m going to enjoy it. I feel like we’re going to do really well on a relay together.” Jake Wang has been swimming since he was five years
old and eventually joined the Suburban Swim Club team in Newtown Square. He is consistently ranked among the top swimmers in the region and beyond. For his age group, he is ranked first in the nation in the 100-meter breaststroke. He also made Junior Nationals with his exceptional times. “He’s only 14 and he’s already almost at the same level as I am,” Gary Wang said. “It is definitely a huge boost for our team and he definitely adds to our depth. The reason we thought we could win districts as a team is him joining.” Even though Jake Wang is a nationally recognized athlete, winning awards isn’t what he enjoys most about swimming. For him, it’s more about spending time with his teammates and supporting each other during competitions. “The most fun part of swimming for me is the meet itself,” Jake Wang said. The swimming is probably like 1% of it, just being there with your friends and your team is the best part about it.” Gary Wang has also been swimming since he was five years old and has been recognized for his own athletic
talent. Last year he achieved an all-American time at States, making the Junior Nationals cut as well. As teammates, Jake Wang and Gary Wang have helped Conestoga defeat every competitor so far this year. Although Jake Wang’s addition to the team has been beneficial, Gary Wang noted that it does put some added stress on him, especially because the siblings primarily compete in the same events. “It definitely puts a lot of pressure on me because (I don’t want to) lose to him. But it’s fun and it definitely creates a better, more competitive environment at meets and in the house,” Gary Wang said. Swimming isn’t an easy sport; it requires a lot of mental strength to battle through tough practices and meets. Gary Wang mentioned that while he and Jake Wang aren’t always happy with their performances, the most important thing is that they are able to be there for each other through all of it. “Sometimes I have a good meet and he has a bad meet, or I have a bad meet and he has a good meet, but we always support each other,” Gary Wang said.
Courtesy John Yeniay
Brotherly bonding: Junior Gary Wang and freshman Jake Wang stand together at the February 5th boys swim meet against Radnor. It was ’Stoga’s third meet this year, all of which they have won.
Expanded Horizons: TETV implements online sports broadcasting Abby Bagby and Ruijia Yang Staff Reporters
With pandemic protocol in effect this school year, TETV has expanded sports broadcasting into online streams that can be accessed anywhere. The result? Nearly 300 people watching the games at once. While the club has been recording games since 2013 for the local cable news channel, they began streaming online this year to further accommodate virtual viewers and reach a wider audience. The expansion, which uses the web streaming program VieBit, has led to a surge in viewership and been well received by the community. “One of the limitations that we’ve always had with the cable channel is you have to generally live in the district or very close to the school district to have that channel on your cable box.” said Mike Baskin, a video production contractor for TESD. “So for teachers who may not live in the district or relatives that may not live in the district, they’ve never really had the opportunity to watch. This allows us to expand our viewing to really anywhere in the world.” The live streaming services have also allowed TETV to access the view count of a game at any given time. While most games get 60 to 120 live viewers, those from sports such as football have gathered about 300 at once.
Abby Bagby/The SPOKE
At the line: Freshman Marisa Francione makes a free throw against Upper Darby on the TETV live stream. This was one of the team’s several streamed games found on demand via tesd.net/tetv.
“It’ll vary depending on the interest, but it is nice because we can get some real-time feedback of at least who’s watching it on the livestream,”
Baskin said. Senior Jack Susanin, a commentator on TETV, is also glad that more people are interested in watching sports.
This year in particular, he felt like he had a greater responsibility to broadcast sports. “We’ve seen a steady increase in views because this
was the first year we really pushed out our online live streaming,” Susanin said. “It’s been nice seeing more viewers and more people enjoying the
broadcast that are thankful that we’re there.” Susanin has four years of experience at TETV, and says that there haven’t been too
many changes in the process of recording with the exception of COVID-19 protocols. All members are required to wear a mask, and their equipment is spaced out. “The hardest part is being in the gym, having to sit six feet away, and social distancing with not much space. It’s kind of difficult to hear sometimes because the gym, even without any fans, gets pretty loud,” Susanin said. Baskin is looking forward to the technological progression and advancements being made in broadcasting at TETV. “Having the live stream is a nice way for us to sort of catch up with how a lot of people are watching things these days. People are moving away from having cable, and so it’s nice for us to be able to have a different ability for people to watch what we’re doing,” Baskin said. “I think that’s the nice thing for us right now.” Freshman Marisa Francione, a player on the girls’ varsity basketball team, is thankful for the online streams and more easily accessible broadcasting. “Conestoga’s doing a really good job live-streaming. It’s a great way for people who normally wouldn’t come to games (to watch), like my grandparents who live in another state,” Francione said. “I think it’s the best option available right now to keep everyone safe, but still be able to enjoy the game.”
Eagles Update: Offseason moves offer a fresh start for the Eagles
Sophia Pan/The SPOKE
End of an era: Just a few years ago, fans wore Wentz jerseys with pride, but a losing season has caused a complete overhaul of coaching and players. Fans will have to wait and see what the Eagles future holds.
Andrew Franceski Staff Reporter
For the first time since Jan. 3, an embarrassment on Sunday Night Football at the hands of the Washington Football Team, Eagles fans have something to look forward to: the future. The Eagles have made a slew of coaching changes in the last month and traded embattled quarterback Carson Wentz, and are set
to take the team in a new, successful direction. The first of the hiring changes was the firing of Doug Pederson after five seasons and a Super Bowl victory. After weeks of silence and swirling rumors, the Eagles named former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni as head coach, a move met with mixed feelings amongst fans. Sirianni has a reputation as a tough coach who does not like egos, the
type of coach desperately needed in Philadelphia and is in my opinion the best candidate for the job. This has brought hope to a dejected fanbase that was forced to suffer through one of the franchise’s worst seasons while the coaching staff and players at times showed little urgency. A change in head coach and the corresponding change in team culture will hopefully fix the fractured and often hostile locker room; a locker
room often seconds from fighting. On Jan. 25, the Eagles hired former Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, who coached alongside Sirianni on the Chargers to the same position for the Eagles. This hiring unjustly ignored Duce Staley, the Eagles’ running backs coach for a decade, who was considered to be the top candidate for either the head coaching or offensive coordinator positions. Staley was an Eagles fan favorite because of his time as a player, but was only briefly interviewed and left for an assistant head coaching job for the Detroit Lions. Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman also fielded multiple offers for Wentz, accepting the offer proposed by the Indianapolis Colts of a 2021 third round pick, a 2022 conditional second round pick and full salary payments after 2022. This means the Eagles are only responsible for 30 million of the remaining 100 million dollars left on his contract. The conditional pick switches from a second to a first rounder if Wentz plays 75% of offensive snaps, or starts 11 games. Fans should keep an eye on the Colts, as the better they do, the better the 2022 pick, and the better the trade is for the Eagles. Since Wentz has been traded, the Eagles should begin to focus on developing Hurts and looking towards the NFL Draft in late April. The Eagles are in desperate need of a number one wide receiver as well
two offensive lineman and a cornerback, and with the sixth overall pick, they need to draft Devonta Smith. Smith won the 2020 Heisman Award for best player in college, and the 2020 Biletnikoff Award for best wide receiver. However, Roseman has a reputation for drafting unorthodox players, often to the detriment of the team and the chagrin of fans. Everyone, myself included, is praying he does not do it again. We do not need a repeat of Jordan Hicks or Nelson Agholor both of whom
were busts in Philadelphia. COVID-19 has also created unforeseen money problems for the Eagles. They are 46 million dollars over the cap this season, and for the first time in almost a decade, the cap will not rise due to a loss in revenue. This will lead to inevitable roster cuts and restricts their ability to sign free agents. Fans should expect cuts of veterans including Alshon Jeffery, Javon Hargrave, and Malik Jackson, all of whom had their con-
tracts restructured in early January and will most likely be cut in March, saving close to 15 million dollars. These players all didn’t play meaningful snaps all season and myself and many others are not sad to see them go. Roseman will need to be frugal, and draft well to avoid a pricey luxury tax and other potential fines during and after the 2021 season. Eagles fans will have to stay tuned next season, as it promises to be interesting, and reveal the future of the franchise.
SPORTS
The SPOKE
Commitment Corner Page 7
Brothers compete for ’Stoga Swim together Page 7
TETV launches online sports broadcasts Page 7
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Opinion: A fresh start for the Eagles Page 7
Decked out: The girls’ swim team poses for a picture after a meet against Radnor High School. The team’s win at this meet added to their current victory streak, which the girls hope to maintain for an undefeated season.
Courtesy Carys Collin
new FACES : FreshmEn TEAMMATES BOND DESPITE PANDEMiC Akshita Joshi
Assistant Sports Editor Freshman year at ’Stoga entails new challenges, perspectives, and opportunities. However, for this year’s freshman athletes, COVID-19 has made this adjustment harder. Team bonding events allow athletes to connect and feel closer as a team allowing opportunities for freshmen to feel more welcomed. While teams have been trying to preserve as many of these activities and traditions as possible, COVID-19 creates limitations preventing several events from occurring. Freshman Lukas Metz-Topodas is a newcomer to track and field at ’Stoga, but is not new to running. He has over four years of running experience, including running for his middle school track team along with the Hershey Blaze team outside of school.
“The upperclassmen have been very welcoming to freshman athletes and have been helpful in getting used to high school sports, but COVID-19 has definitely made it difficult to meet new people and interact with others, and being a freshman makes this even more difficult,” Metz-Topodas said. For basketball players, team bonding activities such as team dinners and other events have been cut out from the season. Freshman basketball player Isabella Valencia believes the lack of connection between teammates is caused by the removal of these traditions. “Because of COVID-19 I haven’t really experienced what it is like to be on a team that is so close and has team dinners a lot. The connection between all of the girls has decreased because of the fewer opportunities to do things together,” Valencia said.
Another problem freshman athletes face is the lack of bonding with teammates even in everyday practices and games. Freshman and ice hockey player Eva Stagnaro feels distant from her teammates due to the safety precautions in effect due to COVID-19. “I feel like it has been hard to get to know my teammates better because there are not too many activities outside of the rink as a team. There is less connection because we are not allowed to hangout or talk in the locker room because of the pandemic, and to me that bonding is a really big part of the ice hockey team,” Stagnaro said. Despite the situation, upperclassmen in several winter sports teams have been accommodating to freshmen to ensure the process runs smoothly for them. Freshman Jake White, member of the ’Stoga
squash team, has played squash for eight years. White first started practicing at Berwyn Squash Club, and previously played for the Valley Forge/TE Middle school squash team. White greatly appreciates the efforts of his upperclassmen teammates. “The upperclassmen interact with me and the new team members just as much as they would the other team members, it is like small talk in-between practices, they have been very nice to me and all the new teammates so far this year making the transition a little easier,” White said. Additionally, freshman Arielle LePage, member of the ’Stoga varsity basketball team, shares her gratitude towards upperclassmen while admitting to the difficulty of this adjustment from the middle school to high school team .
“The connection is definitely different than it would be without the pandemic. It’s taken everyone a bit longer to become familiar with each other and I feel like we’re not as close as we would be if it was a normal season; but all the upperclassmen’s outgoing and kind personalities have made this season a little easier,” LePage said. Regardless of this difficult shift for freshman athletes, many remain optimistic and grateful for what this season has brought so far. Freshman Carys Collin, member of the ’Stoga swim team, acknowledges the triumphs of this season. “The swim team doesn’t see everyone together anymore, but I have gotten to see most of the people on the team if not every day, most days,” Collin said. “I’m happy that at least we can have this.”
Swifter, Higher, Six Feet Apart: Why the Olympics should be postponed Alexis Costas Sports Editor
Alexis Costas/The SPOKE
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed until the summer of 2021 as a COVID-19 safety precaution. Surely, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) thought, the world would have gotten the pandemic under control in a year’s time. Flash forward to February 2021, less than six months from the rescheduled Games, and COVID-19 cases remain on a steady incline worldwide. To much of the public, the idea of hosting an event as massive and globally involved as the Olympics seemed so ridiculous that thousands of people began taking to social media such as Twitter and Facebook to discuss its cancellation- that is, until Jan. 22, when the IOC published an announcement confirming that preparations for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games would be continuing as planned. Within 24 hours, the statement garnered over 10,000 interactions on Twitter alone. The fact that the IOC was compelled to make an official statement in response to rumors at all says a lot about the international community’s uncertainty as to whether or not the Games should still occur this July. Hosting a gigantic meeting of athletes, coaches and spectators from as many as 206 countries would be catastrophic for the efforts of world health leaders to “stop the spread,” even though that is certainly a good enough reason on its own for postponement. The truth is, there isn’t a way for the Olympics to happen without horrible consequences, whether they be for people’s physical or mental health. Obviously, one can’t overlook the fact that the world is in the middle of a global pandemic. As evidenced by the COVID-19 cases
within the NFL and other major league sports, even daily testing and social distancing efforts can’t guarantee that no one will get sick. With people from all over the planet traveling to an urban area and many planning to compete in contact sports like boxing, even one infected person would be a massive health risk. On top of that, new, more contagious COVID-19 strains recently discovered in the UK and South Africa have proven the virus to be a fast adapter. Doctors and scientists have no way of knowing how many mutations may develop by the time the Games begin, or how dangerous those strains might be compared to the current ones. With all the health variables coronavirus already brings to the table, the world doesn’t need the Olympics introducing more. Another factor that most people have overlooked is that holding an Olympic Games in the era of COVID-19 would simply be depressing. If spectators end up being permitted at all, they’ll be heavily limited. The image of the most viewed event in the world having little to no in-person spectators is an uncomfortable one. Even though the Olympics aren’t as big a deal to American viewers as they used to be, it still has a massive audience without even considering that people from almost every nation on Earth will be tuning in. When I watch sports on TV these days, I always feel weird seeing seats occupied by cardboard cutouts, knowing that the cheers I hear are pre-recorded tracks echoing through a mostly-empty stadium. If I watched an Olympic Games limited by the current COVID-19 safety precautions, I’d only end up missing the way things used to be, which isn’t a very good
feeling to have when you’re supposed to be entertained. Even though the Olympics are not what the world needs right now, it would be inconsiderate not to acknowledge that a second postponement might deny hopeful athletes the chance to ever compete in an Olympic stadium again. The reason representing your country at the Olympic Games is such a big deal is because you’ve been deemed the best your nation has to offerbut maintaining peak physical condition is no easy task. If you’re a serious athlete looking to go pro in college or beyond, you might know firsthand how rigorous workout and dietary regimes can be. For many Olympic trainees, especially those in the infamously intense gymnast community, the toll training takes on the body makes their windows of serious competition small. Postponing the Olympics until 2022 would essentially equal two lost years for Olympic athletes- some of whom will be too tired or physically strained to compete by the time the Games finally happen. It’s a sad thing for a person to come to terms to, but it’s very possible that the Olympic Games happening this July will be postponed yet again- meaning some athletes competed for their country for the last time without even knowing it. No matter how hard the IOC and Tokyo government try, the 2021 Olympics won’t feel normal. They won’t have passionate crowds of fans cheering in the stands, eager to see their country perform, and that lack of energy can’t be truly replicated. The Olympics are supposed to bring people from all over the world together, but in a time where coming together could literally put lives at risk, maybe it’s best to hit the pause button and wait until the Games can be held properly- and safely.