July 2020

A MAGAZINE FOR STUDENTS, BY STUDENTS

VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 1 • JULY 2020

Sahithi Lingampalli founder tech co-director layout co-director

Shivanshi Sharma vice executive politics director

Pahel Srivastava vice executive art/humanities director

Vrinda Gandhi layout co-director

Samia Abdulle editing director

Samantha Masuto public relations director

Anannya Islam art director

Sanjna Mootakoduru tech co-director

Kavya Gurunath science co-director

Shabdika Gubba science co-director

Cindy Zhang opinions co-director

Nicole Pi opinions co-director

Samita Pandit lifestyle co-director

Taruni Manam lifestyle co-director

MEET THE STAFF @theaffairmag theaffairmag@gmail.com Published bimonthly by The Affair.

All Rights Reserved.

A CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE

WRITERS: Aidan Rosen Anagh Samavedam Cindy Zhang Emily Chen Harvi Karatha Kaushik Vada Kavya Gurunath Mansi Sharma Manushri Bapat Maya Krolik Nada Radman Nicole Pi Pahel Srivastava Riona Carrington Sahithi Lingampalli Samantha Bussell Samantha Matson Samia Abdulle Samita Pandit Sanjna Mootakoduru Shabdika Gubba Shivanshi Sharma Shreya Goel

EDITORS: Anannya Islam Arushi Patil Cindy Zhang Elizabeth Wu Harvi Karatha Kavya Gurunath Manushri Bapat Nada Radman Nicole Pi Pahel Srivastava Sahithi Lingampalli Samia Abdulle Samita Pandit Sanjna Mootakoduru Shabdika Gubba Shivanshi Sharma Taruni Manam

ARTISTS: Anannya Islam Pahel Srivastava Sadie Honchock Sahithi Lingampalli Sanjna Mootakoduru

LAYOUT DESIGNERS: Alison Ye Emily Chen Kaushik Vada Michelle Li Nicole Pi Sahithi Lingampalli Tristan Castro Vrinda Gandhi

4 5-18

Editor's Note

Art & Humanities

19-32

Politics & World Events

33-50

Tech & Design

51-70

Science

71-82

Lifestyle

83-92

Opinion

Hi! I'm Sahithi Lingampalli, the founder of this magazine. Just some background: I picked the name The Affair because it's misleading (people think it's a ROMANTIC affair) when actually, it's supposed to be short for The CURRENT Affair.

I started this magazine in literally three minutes; I was randomly working on Spanish homework, when the thought struck me that I love graphic design; I love writing; why can't I just "smosh" them together? Within a few minutes, I had already started creating a form to join the magazine, created an email account, recruited two of my friends to help me, and an Instagram account. Here we are now, a month later, with the first issue of this magazine. I just want to say that I'm grateful to every single person who helped create this magazine, and we couldn't have made it this far without you all. It's crazy that it all began with the three minutes (of random inspiration), and I think that it can happen to anyone. So, you may have been just like me: spending quarantine playing random video games, watching YouTube, and chiding yourself for your counter productiveness.

Sometimes in life you may not feel the motivation to do something, but sometimes, it may just hit you in the face while doing some (Spanish?) homework :) Hope you have fun with our first magazine!

Sahithi Lingampalli Founder of The Affair

07

AMPLIFY BLACK AUTHORS AND CREATORS 09

BLACK LIVES MATTER, AND ITS EFFECT ON ART 11

VIRTUAL ART TOURS 13

YEMEN'S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS 15

THE ARTS DURING QUARANTINE 17

THE REVOLUTIONIZATION OF MUSIC

Amp AUTHOR: SAMANTHA MATSON EDITORS: CINDY ZHANG

B L A C K

.

A U T H O R S

?

Education is one of the pillars of our society But what happens if that education is built through an inherently racist lens

,

,

It then becomes our own job to educate ourselves on topics that might have been overlooked misinterpreted or downright

.

falsified to portray a different message

?

America outside of the classroom

-

What books can we read to take our education on the Black experience in

-

Here are some of the most informative and eye opening books to get more educated

:

about the long term struggle of race relations in the US by Black authors of varied backgrounds

1. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates Coates writes his book in a first person perspective in the form of a letter to his

.

,

15

.

year old son

,

It offers a unique

honest

perspective on what it means to be Black in America Because it is written for his son he does not even unconsciously censor or soften

-

.

the language to make it more digestible for white or non Black readers

'

,

'

.

If you re looking for answers don t read this book

'

, ;

,

If you re looking to grapple yourself with the questions of how to move forward how to fight the racial injustice that still prevails or

;

how the system must change

' —

if you re looking to delve into your own experiences

currently faced by Black Americans

2.

This Will Be My Undoing

:

.

'

if you re looking to stare into the realistic problems

read this book

Living at the Intersection of Black

,

Female

,

and Feminist in

(White)

America by

Morgan Jerkins

;

,

'

Racism and sexism are issues discussed in mainstream American society but for Black women they don t just experience these two

.

,

,

,

.

issues For them they experience prejudices for being born Black for being born a woman and for being born a Black woman

'

,

.

In Jerkins series of essays she does not only focus on one topic or one thread of the issue She speaks on topics ranging from her

,

experiences abroad

,

essays cannot be put into a box

.

,

personal stories

,

revelations about the way Black women are expected to behave in society

;

and while they seem to be disconnected at points

.

and more

Her

that is a stylistic and meaningful choice made by

Jerkins

Her book is not

(

, 2018).

Jerkins

"

,

about all women

,

but it is meant for all women

So if you fall under that category

(

...),

you do

,

and men

.

"

and those who do not adhere to the gender binary

read the book

3. Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim What started as an online Instagram community and slowly evolved into a small book club is now a published book with a strong

.

initiative centered around Black representation in literature

,

.

Even though Well Read Black Girl is fragmented into different sections

and essays these individual stories are unified in common ideas and experiences

' .

.

I m sure all of us have read a book that changed our life to some extent A book that made us feel seen and understood by the

,

.

world For Black youth in the United States it can often be hard to find a book that does this To learn more about the importance of

,

’

-

.

.

feeling seen in literature read Glory Edim s Well Read Black Girl We must support the stories of Black authors and creators

ART & HUMANITIES 7

plify A N D

DESIGN: NICOLE PI

C R E A T O R S

5. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

-

.

Non fiction books are not the only type of literature that illuminate the struggles of race relations

,

-

In fact

reading too many non

fiction books that focus on the systemic aspect of racism instead of the real people affected by it can make us lose sight of the human

.

’

.

side of this issue Tayari Jones An American Marriage is an example of a powerful fiction novel that humanizes the issue of racism

,

.

,

The book focuses on a Black married couple Roy and Celestial Roy is wrongfully imprisoned based on a crime he did not commit and

’

the story demonstrates how this illegitimate conviction affects Roy and Celestial s relationship with each other

.

and the world around

them

’

Read this and put yourselves in the characters

.

?

shoes How would you feel if you were accused of a crime you did not commit

?

would you feel if your spouse was locked away based on prejudiced beliefs

.

,

By asking yourself these questions

How

it will give you a view of

,

the struggles Black Americans deal with in their lives While it will never be the same as experiencing these events yourself it can help you

.

empathize and listen

6. Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

?

What happens to the black boys who have their lives wrongly stolen from them at a young age by police brutality

?

afterlife of peace

?

Do they finally reach a place that treats them fairly

’

Smith s poetry creates a hypothetical scenario of happiness

,

for the boys when they finally reach the utopian afterlife where they can live without being criminalized

’

?

Smith s imagination

’

’

Do they have an

?

but why does it have to be in

Why can t that life exist for Black boys in America

Smith s poems focus on the way Black boys as well as the Black genderqueer community are affected by the racism in American

.

,

society They examine the communities that feel the brunt of violence

.

while also being unseen and unheard in mainstream society How

?

can these communities be simultaneously ignored and shamelessly persecuted

.

Their book harshly calls out the violence and oppression faced by these communities through honest and uncensored poetry

,

’

.

The

poems in this book cover topics that can be hard to swallow at times starting out with the title Don t Call Us Dead But discomfort and

;

.

brutal honesty can not be shied away from the book openly discusses realities we must confront as a society

We all have the responsibility to inform ourselves about not only the events coming to the forefront of the news in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement

,

but also about the small ways in which we can educate ourselves about the

.

racist system that allows these events to freely occur We know you might have some more time on your hands during this

,

!

,

stay at home period so take advantage of that and learn Read online if you do not have access to a bookstore or purchase books online

.

While decreasing our own ignorance is not the only step needed to dismantle the racism ingrained in our society

.

’

,

,

,

it is a

.

step we all have the power to take Let s get educated to eliminate ignorance in ourselves our homes and our communities

References

,

.

:

,

,

Jerkins Morgan This Will Be My Undoing Living at the Intersection of Black Female and Feminist in

(

White

)

.

, 2018.

America Harper Perennial

ART & HUMANITIES 8

by Harvi Karatha edited by Manusrhi Bapat

E

BLACK LIVE

and hu

veryone is aware of the Black Lives Matter Protests occurring globally. The protests are the product of years of torment, abuse, and oppression faced by people of colour around the world. Black Lives Matter protests have focused on institutionalized and socially accepted forms of oppression of black people in society. Protests were not sparked by the outrage

surrounding the single death of George Floyd, but the deaths of so many African Americans at the hands of police and other Americans.

Though skeptics say that protesting or rioting has no real effect, this is not the case. Laws surrounding force used by police are rapidly changing as international attention and public outcry increases. It was through protests that Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists were given rights by the government. Protests were peaceful until police began to harm peaceful protesters.

ART & HUMANITIES 9

ES MATTER

umanity

layout by Sahithi Lingampalli art by Sadie Honchock

Several police officers have lost jobs over assaults and excessive force charges from the past.

Mainstream media fails to cover the real brutalities and abuses of police during these protests.

There is institutionalized racism that has yet to be fully acknowledged and charged by the police.

The issue arises when police are meant to hold other police accountable from their wrongdoings.

Police are less likely to get severely reprimanded by their own peers.This differs across locations: in Canada, the Special Investigations Unit is called whenever an officer has caused serious injury, death or there are allegations of sexual assault. Whereas, in the United States, the police are responsible for collecting citizen complaints and reviewing them.

Videos have surfaced regarding police framing protestors for looting and even running into citizens with cop cars. It is ironic to consider that in a protest against police brutality, some police officers are proving the point of the citizens. Allegations of undercover police officers inciting violence among protesters and attempting to smash windows have surfaced through videos on social media. Videos of police showing excessive violence have surfaced throughout social media during the protests, in which several people have ended up in hospitals. Looking back in history, police have also violently fought against the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

Though there have been violent encounters with police officers in certain areas, there have been many peaceful protests around America, where police have sided with citizens to show their solidarity and support for the movement. Most cities had peaceful protests in which citizens stood with police to remember and cause reform in the country surrounding police force usage and non-violent conflict resolving training. To the majority of officers that speak to resolve conflict before pulling out their guns, it is shameful to see the actions of their colleagues that have cost lives. Police should not feel threatened for their lives against unarmed citizens.

A new study conducted by Frank Edwards, of Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice; Hedwig Lee, of Washington University in St. Louis’s Department of Sociology; and Michael Esposito, of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research found that roughly 1-in1,000 black boys and men will be killed by police in their lifetime. For white boys and men, the rate is 39 out of 100,000. Therefore, African Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. Considering that white people make up 73% of the US population, these statistics are a real threat to Americans.

Throughout time, humanity has faced problems that still exist today. Today, there are still debates around abortion laws, equality laws, and anti-discrimination laws. Debates about outdated ideas that should have stayed in the 1970s. Recently, 6 American Americans were found hung across the United States, they have been ruled suicides, but most people are pointing fingers to lynching. Racism is still a prominent issue. Police brutality is still an issue in the United States. The oppression of black people has remained constant throughout history. Now, it is time to change.

ART & HUMANITIES 10

VIRTUAL MUSEUM TOURS

Written by: Samantha Bussell Edited by: Sahithi Lingampalli Layout by: Alison Ye

The coronavirus has changed the way the world functions on a day-to-day basis. People’s lives around the world have come to a halt, causing work and school to be done from home. Leisure activities, such as traveling and visiting museums, are no longer an option.

However, many museums have made visiting and exploring a possibility through virtual museum tours. From the comfort of one’s home, visiting a local museum or a museum in a country on the other side of the world is just a few clicks away. Virtual museum tours can be used as a tool for learning how to cope with the psychological effects of the coronavirus as well.

A study took place over three months in Italy, the first country in Europe to close down in order to mitigate the outcome of the virus. The study targeted three different psychological problems: the stress of the disease, the disappearance of places, and the crisis of a sense of community (Riva and Wiederhold, 2020). With 400 participants, the researchers investigated the effects of virtual reality on mindfulness and the anxiety surrounding the coronavirus (Stieg, 2020).

ART & HUMANITIES 11

They suggest that virtual reality can provide a place of comfort and safety during a time of solitude. The coronavirus has isolated a majority of people, causing a loss of a sense of community. Virtual reality, including virtual museum tours, can help people feel connected to the outside world during this time of crisis.

One of the companies helping connect people with virtual tours of museums, monuments, and more, is Google. Google Arts & Culture is partnering with over 2500 cultural and educational institutions from around the world, bringing art and educational experiences to anyone who is interested.

Virtual tours of The British Museum in London, England; the Guggenheim Museum in New York, United States; the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, South Korea; and many more are offered through the Google Arts & Culture website for free (Romano, 2020). For those who are studying from home as well as those who had vacations and trips canceled due to the virus, virtual museum tours provided by Google help continue the educational experience while having safety as the main priority. Although Google Arts & Culture can help create museum tours, some museums have created their own virtual tours without Google. For example, the Louvre from Paris, France, offers tours from their museum website. The Van Gogh Museum website is also offering virtual tours of its museum, which includes many things such as school lessons and van Gogh collection highlights.

Due to the extra time many people have on their hands, the Google Arts & Culture and other virtual museum tour websites have witnessed an increase in traffic. Hauser & Wirth, a Swiss modern art gallery, had 200,000 visits in only three weeks, while having had one million visits total in all of last year. The British Museum collection page went from around 2,000 daily visits to 75,000 daily visits (Shehadi, 2020). People at home because of the virus are taking advantage of the opportunities presented by these virtual tours.

Virtual museum tours have offered people who have been isolated from the world the opportunity to experience and learn despite the setbacks caused by the coronavirus. The tours are helping people maintain a sense of community and offering people connection to the world around them.

Google Arts & Culture is providing over 2500 virtual experiences, which not only include museums but also monuments, parks, and other cultural and educational locations. These experiences are giving people a sense of normalcy, mental relaxation, and a change of scenery during

References Riva, G., & Wiederhold, B. K. (2020, May 6). How cyberpsychology and virtual reality can help us to overcome the psychological burden of coronavirus. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Publishers. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/ 10.1089/cyber.2020.29183.gri Romano, A. (2020, March 12). Stuck at home? These 12 famous museums offer virtual tours you can take on your couch (Video). Travel + Leisure. https://www.travelandleisur e.com/attractions/museumsgalleries/ museums-with-virtualtours Shehadi, S. (2020, March 23). How coronavirus is making virtual galleries go viral. NewStatesman. https://www.newstatesman.com/cultur e/art-design/ 2020/03/virtualgalleries-art-museums-tours-online Smith, L. (2020, March 11). Stuck at home because of coronavirus? How to get your art and design fix from your couch. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany .com/90475447/ stuck-at-homebecause-of-coronavirus-how-to-getyour-art-and-design-fix-from-your couch Stieg, C. (2020, April 25). Virtual reality videos can help you feel calm and connected during coronavirus quarantine: Study. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/ 2020/04/25/ study-vr-helps-you-feel-calm-andconnected-amid-covid-19quarantine.html We bring the museum to you. (n.d.). Van Gogh Museum. https://www.vangoghmus eum.nl/en/whats-on/we-bring-themuseum-to-you

a time of extreme change.

ART & HUMANITIES 12

Yemen's Humanitarian Crisis By: Neve Walker Edited By: Manushri Bapat Layout By: Tristan Castro

Yemen is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis. In addition to the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, Yemen is facing war, a scarcity of clean water and sanitation, and a lack of needed medical facilities. With only half of the medical facilities being operational, many are lacking basic supplies like face masks, gloves, and vital supplies used to treat COVID-19 patients, such as oxygen. To add, healthcare professionals in Yemen are receiving no salary or incentive. More than 24 million people in Yemen—over 80% of the population — need humanitarian assistance.

Even before its current crisis, the country saw several hardships. Yemen was known to be already the poorest country in the Arabian world. A 6-year civil war in Yemen in the 1960s resulted in the creation of the Yemen Arabic Republic. Since then, southern Yemen and northern Yemen have had rising tensions and been on the brink of civil war until 2015, when war erupted.

--Throughout this humanitarian crisis, children have been affected deeply. 12 million

children are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 10.2 million children don’t have access to a basic level of healthcare. Children are still being killed and maimed due to the ongoing war. The closure and damage of hospitals and schools threatened the access of education and healthcare throughout the country, leaving children vulnerable to more attacks and “robbing” them of a future.

Before the worldwide pandemic, 2 million children in Yemen were without school; currently 7.8 million children don’t have access to an education. As COVID-19 continues to spread, tens of thousands of children have the possibility of developing life-threatening severe acute malnutrition over the next six months. The overall number of malnourished children under the age of five could increase to 2.4 million children.

Although this issue seems impossible to fix, many UN bodies like UNICEF have helped to de-escalate the situation by providing needed humanitarian assistance to the people of Yemen—specifically children. UNICEF is on ground in Yemen to save children's lives, as

References https://www.unicef.org/appeals/yemen_sitreps.html https://unfoundation.org/what-we-do/issues/peace-human-rights-and-humanitarian-response/yemen-a-briefbackground/#:~:text=The%20world's%20worst%20humanitarian%20crisis,country%20in%20the%20Arab%20world. https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemencrisis#:~:text=Yemen%20is%20the%20largest%20humanitarian%20crisis%20in%20the%20world%2C%20with,hell%20for%20the%20country's% 20children.

ART & HUMANITIES 13

Image Credit: Hani Mohammed

well as help them cope with the impact this conflict had on their lives. UNICEF has helped these children recover and resume their childhood. UNICEF is treating acute malnutrition by providing essential medical and therapeutic supplies to children. In response to the pandemic, UNICEF has provided 18,000 COVID-19 tests, as well as 33,000 ventilators and face masks. UNICEF is also training 30,000 healthcare workers.

Wondering what you can do to help this conflict? Visit Here's How UNICEF Is Helping Children in Yemen to donate to the children of Yemen.

https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/heres-how-unicefhelping-children-yemen/36793#.Xw07JQcOmNs

References https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/yemencrisis#:~:text=UNICEF%20is%20on%20the%20ground%20across%20Yemen%20to%20save%20children's,recover%20and%20resume%20their% 20childhoods.&text=UNICEF%20is%20helping%20treat%20severe,therapeutic%20food%20and%20medical%20supplies https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/heres-how-unicef-helping-children-yemen/36793? form=FUNUDSVNCSH&utm_content=yemen2responsive&ms=cpc_dig_2020_Brand_20200109_google_yemen2responsive_delve_none&initia lms=cpc_dig_2020_Brand_20200109_google_yemen2responsive_delve_none&gclid=CjwKCAjwjLD4BRAiEiwAg5NBFpEOjzpDaaLfIT5QHSpmhW9nZPUH69io2lmW3RuH83IN7FshA8leRoColEQAvD_BwE

ART & HUMANITIES 14

HOW HAS THE WORLD OF ART AD SOCIALLY DISTAN In lieu of recent events, the world has been in a standstill of sorts. The year twentytwenty will be one for the history books. So much unprecedented change in so little time. One, a virus pandemic. Two, countrywide calls for stay at home orders; fueling a quarantine period. And more recently, the re-heat up of the Black Lives Movement which furthered divides in the nation.

Yet one constant has provided solace. Art. Though the world of art has also been on a hold of sorts, it has evolved into a steady platform that people across the world have used as a source of fuel for creativity.

releasing tensions and stress. And in the times of today, much of the world is facing increasing amounts of stress. Quarantine has allowed artists and art-lovers alike more time to dedicate to their passions. However, art from before differs from the art of now.

The current circumstances have inspired many to recreate famous works of art (Barajas, 2020). These silly renditions have not only provided a source of entertainment but acted as an activity to fill up free time.

A recreation of Édouard Manet’s “Jeanne (Spring)”:

Art has always been an escape. Throughout time, it has helped many in

The Arts During Quarantine

BY MANUSHRI BAPAT EDITED BY LAYOUT BY VRINDA GANDHI

ART & HUMANITIES 15

Not only has the art world seen a humorous outlook on life, but it has also rekindled art forms that have gone obsolete over the years.

The concept of “Mail Art” began in 1950; artists would send their work privately through mail compared to physical galleries (Taub, 2020). In times where art galleries and other commodities involving close groups of people have

DAPTED TO HAVING TO SHIFT TO CED STANDARDS? been shut down, “Mail Art” saw a rise in participation.

While the public has been resorting to art as a coping mechanism, artists had to deal with extreme career changes. This didn’t stop them utilizing the extra time in immersing into their art forms. Eric Croes, an artist from Belgium, reflected on the sudden shift: “Instead of drowning myself in melancholy, I took advantage of the time to throw myself into my work” (Gassman, 2020).

Arguably seen more this year than in past years, art has taken on a global perspective; gotten involved in cultural, social, and political spheres. Creative members in the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine adapted famous art pieces to COVID-19 precautions, proving that art speaks volumes (Looma, 2020).

A poster based on Rene Magritte’s “The Son of A Man,” :

In the end, art is more than a few paintings.

It is a platform, an outlet. It is a pastime activity.

It is a community that brings the world together, even in times of crisis.

References Barajas, J. (2020, April 15). Famous paintings come to life in these quarantine works of art. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts /in-these-quarantine-tableaushousehold-items-turn-into-arthistory-props Gassmann, G. (2020). What 11 Artists Have Created During Quarantine.

Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.architecturaldigest.com /story/artists-work-in-quarantine Looma. (2020, April 01). Art Of Quarantine: 9 Famous Art Posters Adjusted To Quarantine. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.boredpanda.com/digital -art-of-quarantine-posters-loomaprokopchuk/? utm_source=duckduckgo Taub, M. (2020, May 06). 'Mail Art' Makes a Comeback During Quarantine. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articl es/mail-art-from-quarantine

ART & HUMANITIES 16

THE REVOLUTIONIZATION OF MUSIC

BY RIONA CARRINGTON EDITED BY PAHEL SRIVASTAVA LAYOUT BY VRINDA GANDHI

Music always expresses the will of the people and their emotion.

Music was there to bridge the gap between social classes as well strengthen bonds among friends. The melody captures its audience and allows them to feel and be healed through its rhythm. Music throughout the decades was very diverse. Therefore a discussion of music throughout the 1900s and the 2000s will be examined.

ART & HUMANITIES 17

From the 1920s to the late 1940s music was dominated by genres of: jazz, swing, country, and many others. The fundamental theme of the melodies were optimistic and upbeat to help soothe the people after having experienced World War 1 along with prohibition in the US. This caused parties even though imes were rough. Furthermore, war was sustained through the two decades; ergo music was not only to lift the spirits of the people but as a means of motivating and consoling the soldiers.

From the 1950s to the end of 1970s music began to diversify. In the 50s social change was occurring all over the world especially in the US. According to history.com every year during the 1950s an average of 4 million babies were born in the US. According to Gallup news, religiosity also waned within the American culture at the start of the Woodstock era in 1969. The civil rights movement which was paramount from around the mid fifties to 1968 and was now in mainstream

media. A shift to Rock‘N’ Roll, Traditional Pop and RnB was topping the charts in the 70s and appearing on TV which was now in colour.

The music industry in the 60s welcomed commercialism. There was also a shift from the seriousness of the 60s to the energetic 70s.

This became a bridge to the 80s which revolutionized music.

According to Enclyopedia.com the 80s were defined as a time of “proud political and social conservatism”. The eighties were also a time when the industry changed dramatically since the introduction of MTV and music videos. Artists had to ensure quality videos to attain success on the charts and to sell records. The big technological advancement of cellphones was also established. Then 90s set into motion grunge.

Unemployment was at its lowest in two decades and Americans developed their love for coffee as stated by Encyclopedia.com.

In the 2000s music is now characterized by a mix of all the genres that were popular in the 1900s. RnB, pop and jazz. Our culture has now been more diversified than it has ever been.Black and white are still debating what it means to be a person. Hence, the riots in America now are flooding the news. We are now focusing on another revolutionary time in music because of the virus. People want tunes to keep their spirits up.

In conclusion, music reflects the consensus of society. Music helps to unite us no matter the time. Music is timeless and therefore more innovation will happen like it did in the past to accommodate the changing views on life.

ART & HUMANITIES 18

21

PROS AND CONS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES 23

COMPARISON OF GUN LAWS 25

REVIEWING 2020 SO FAR 27

30

ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS

PRIDE MONTH

31

DISBANDING THE POLICE

Pros and Cons of the Candidates Joseph R. Biden Joseph R. Biden Jr., 77, is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Presidency. He was a U.S. Senator for 6 terms and was the 47th Vice President of the U.S. to President Barack Obama. (Glueck, 2020) This is his third time running for president of the United States, one time in 1988 and another in 2008.

References https://markinreport.com/2020/02/28 /pros-and-cons-of-voting-for-biden/ http://content.time.com/time/world/a rticle/0,8599,1835480,00.html https://www.dailykos.com/stories/202 0/3/13/1927102/-Joe-Biden-Pro-andCon https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/ 2020/us/elections/joe-biden.html (Glueck, 2020) https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/us/j oe-biden-fast-facts/index.html https://www.politico.com/news/magaz ine/2020/03/05/biden-2020president-facts-what-you-shouldknow-campaign-121422 https://www.theguardian.com/comme ntisfree/2019/jan/23/joe-biden-2020candidate

POLITICS 21

BY SHIVANSHI SHARMA

Has strong relationships with politicians (mayors, governors, congressmen, etc…) around the country (Markin, 2020) Connects well with people (Markin, 2020) Persevering - has suffered great personal losses with his family, but powers through (Markin, 2020) Has lots of integrity - why President Obama sent him to Ukraine to eradicate their corruption (Markin, 2020) Has the best interest of Americans at heart - said by his loved ones, people on his campaign, and him while addressing his legislative mistakes (Markin, 2020) Was raised in a middle-class family (Halperin, 2008) and is ranked as one of the least wealthy government officials (Muller & Stanton, 2020) Strongly values and believes in bipartisanship (Glueck, 2020) Loads of experience with politics

Very old - if elected, he will be the oldest U.S. president in history (Markin, 2020) Doesn’t appear very energetic or enthusiastic (Markin, 2020) Not articulate - known in Congress for his long-winded speeches Has been in politics for so long that he reminds many of the old Democratic party - white men (Mudde, 2019) Has been accused of sexual harassment by an aide when he was in the Senate and has made many women feel uncomfortable (CNN Editorial Research, 2020) Many believe he will be badly demolished by President Trump in a debate Infamous for his gaffes and unintentionally offensive remarks (Halperin, 2008)

p r o s c o n s

Donald J. Trump

BY MANSI SHARMA

Donald John Trump, 74, is the 45th and current president of the United States. Donald Trump has run for president in 2000, 2016, and now, 2020. He is the first to be a president with no previous military or government experience. Sixteen days after his win in the 2016 election, he started funding and planning for the 2020 race.

Created a 6th US armed force, The Space Force. The Space Force is the first new military service since the US Air Force was created in 1947. (Business Insider, 2019) Considers low offense criminals to not be released from jail with the cash bail system. ( Donald Trump, Twitter.com, Nov. 5, 2019) More jobs, growth evident especially in rural areas (Business Insider, 2020) Stimulus checks for the public and business in a pandemic Almost 3.9 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps since his election.

(White House Gov, 2020) Expanded VA telehealth services, walkin-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care. (White House Gov, 2020) Women’s unemployment recently reached the lowest rate in 65 years.

(White House Gov, 2020) Signed the biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in history. After-tax cuts, over $300 billion poured back into the U.S. in the first quarter alone. (White House Gov, 2020)

p r o s

Main legislative accomplishment as president: a sweeping tax cut that chiefly benefited corporations and wealthy investors. (NYTimes, 2020) Has focused on undoing the policies of the Obama administration, including on health care, environmental regulation, and immigration. (NYTimes, 2020) Was impeached by the House of Representatives for seeking to pressure Ukraine to smear his political rivals, but was acquitted by the Senate. (NYTimes, 2020) Lied to Forbes about his net worth in the past (Washington Post, 2020) Has accidentally or purposely been racist in past actions and speeches During the previous 30 years, Trump and his businesses have been involved in 3,500 state and federal legal cases.

(Washington Post, 2020) Has constantly lied or made false promises The wall - Trump claimed that Mexico will be paying for the wall then denied ever promising that (Washington Post, 2020) Trump regularly insults or threatens to sue journalists who refuse to act as stenographers for his lies. (Washington Post, 2020)

c o n s

References https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/us/politics/2020-presidential-candidates.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/02/22/essential-cons-that-define-trumps-success/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/ https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biggest-accomplishments-and-failures-heading-into-2020-2019-12#failure-iran-and-syria-9 https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump

EDITED BY NICOLE PI LAYOUT BY VRINDA GANDHI

POLITICS 22

COMPARISON OF GUN LAWS

by Harvi Karatha edited by Samia Abdulle layout by Vrinda Gandhi

CANADA

Canada has implemented strict gun control laws to combat gun violence. About 1500 military-style weapons have been banned. To possess one of the guns that aren’t banned, you need a license. You must pass the Canada Firearms Safety Course (CFSC), which has practical and theoretical training. You must have 2 character references, and all the people you have lived with for the past 2 years will be contacted and notified. The theoretical part focuses on social responsibility, safety, laws, and etc. There’s a separate course for restricted firearms. After the course, you can apply for your license, which must be renewed every five years. In 2019, Bill C-71 was passed, which broadened background checks, empowered officials to look into a person’s entire history rather than the past five years, and forced gun sellers to verify licenses and keep records of purchases. Currently, officials are focusing on helping youth find healthy alternatives to gun violence and focusing on lowering poverty levels throughout the country as combative measures to gun violence. According to the NPR Organization, in 2019, 760 people were shot in Toronto, which led to 77 deaths. Since 2013, gun-related crime rate has risen by 42%.

USA

The United States has incredibly lenient gun control laws which has contributed to the growth of gun violence. The Second Amendment of the Constitution states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be

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infringed.” Concealed weapons and the possession of certain types of weapons cannot be banned in the United States, and guns can be sold to everyone. As of 2019, there are no federal laws banning semi-automatic assault weapons, military-style.50 caliber rifles, handguns, or large-capacity magazines. Guns can be purchased in department stores and normal retailers. People just fill out a simple form, and the FBI conducts a background check using the NICS system in minutes. Gun buyers don't even have to go through a background check when they make a purchase at a gun show.

The University of Washington conducted a survey that discovered there are 120 guns per 100 people in the United States. The runner up is Canada with 37 guns per 100 citizens. The United States has the most gun Homicides per year with 4 per 100,000 people in 2016. Even though the U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it also has 46 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns.

JAPAN

Japan has one of the lowest rates of gun crime in the world and extremely strict gun laws. To own a gun in Japan you must attend an all-day class, take a written exam, take mental health examinations from doctors, get doctors notes, drug tests, take a police interview regarding why you want the gun, and pass a shooting-range test with a mark of at least 95%. According to the New York Times, the authorities look through you, your family’s, and your friends’ criminal records and links to extremist groups. Police can search and sweep weapons at any time. Handguns are completely banned. Only shotguns and air rifles are allowed. Fresh cartridges can only be bought by returning your previous one. Police must be notified about the gun and ammunition lock and key storage spaces. Police will inspect guns once a year. After three years the course must be retaken and the tests must be readministered to renew the license. Japanese police officers rarely use guns and put much greater emphasis on martial arts, since all officers are expected to become a black belt in judo. As a result, in 2014 there were just six gun deaths, compared to 33,599 in the US. References https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-38365729#:~:text=Handguns%20are%20banned%20outright.,bought%20on%20your%20last%20visit. https://www.chatelaine.com/news/gun-control-canada/#:~:text=Typically%2C%20Canada%20has%20three%20classes,restricted%20and%20must%20be%20registered. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-gun-policy-global-comparisons https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/02/world/international-gun-laws.htmlhttps://www.npr.org/2020/01/17/794510796/why-gun-violence-is-surging-intoronto

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REVIEWING 2020 SO FAR This is just the splurge of my thoughts on the year so far. Nothing too argumentative, but I hope it enlightens you to new events or perspectives :). Aidan Rosen

0 stars, out of as many stars there are. Seriously though, this year sucks, and it sucks for everyone. Coronavirus, completely new and unknown, originated from China before this year even began, and just a few months later it had already spread across the entire planet. This virus has really thrown humanity, all of us, into a crisis.

In Saudi Arabia, the Great Mosque of Mecca was almost completely empty, which is insane considering how significant it is in Islam (Desk, Video). The Chinese government disinformed it’s people when it covered up Dr. Wenliang’s reports of the new virus back in December. Dr. Wenliang unfortunately died later of the very virus he was trying to warn the world about (McCurry, Justin, et al). Crisis as a noun means “the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever”, which is fitting due to our disease-rooted problem, but also “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending” (“Crisis”).

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Written by: Aidan Rosen Edited by: Samia Abdulle Layout by: Alison Ye Poem: Leslie Dwight

That is what this virus is bringing about - change.

Even in common, everyday life, people now wipe the rollers of their shopping cart with Lysol and must put on a mask before going inside. Pollution rates are lower and animals are reconquering city streets (McGrath, Matt). The Coronavirus (technically the coronavirus strain SARS‑CoV‑2) hit the U.S around the same time as Spring came. It’s poetic this virus, an evolved strain, is like Nature's ultimate weapon and was deployed in the season most associated with rebirth, change, and Mother Earth. But of all the things that Nature could pull storms, quakes, eruptions, more - this ranks the most clever. In its mysteriousness and sudden appearance, the Coronavirus has become Lovecraftian in how wide and devastating it’s effects have been.

Coronavirus has the power to dwindle the population, and so humanity has also become terrified of it, which is how this Lovecraftian virus exploited us on a global scale. Just by learning about the pandemics global effect did businesses finally bite the dust, such as Souplantation (Weisberg, Lory), and unemployment rates rose higher than those of the Great Depression (Bayly, Lucy). Many have chosen to point fingers at mass media, blaming it for spreading paranoia, but illustrates they are paranoid themselves.

This isn’t just by the common man. Even big figures like Elon Musk have tweeted against the media. As lockdown became enforced, many people began to protest it and refuse distancing protocols. But none of this is a direct symptom of Covid-19. All it does is infect en masse and cause major breathing issues, which is awful, but it does not crash economies or create paranoia as a biological function. Rather, it was how the virus infected people, how we reacted, and how we were or were not prepared for Covid-19 that brought about the most change. There is a photo going around that captures the gloom around the next months of 2020: This is what makes 2020 and our crisis so terrifying...that the year won’t get better and that everything is going to change or reveal or end.

When a vaccine releases, how are anti-vax supporters going to react? Is that movement going to die in the face of having no other option to fight Coronavirus? How long is social distancing going to last? How will this year's presidential election occur? If it even does, how will our current president’s favor shift based on his actions this year, when they are highlighted the most in anticipation of the next election?

Many things are uncertain, a common theme in Lovecraftian horror, and it’s especially scary when we do start to face reality. In this time of isolation, murder was expected to be at an all-time low. But when black lives were ended needlessly and unjustly, like Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, people sprang to action after nearly three months of being homestuck. And the U.S has been reacting and changing to these protests in many ways. The police are seeing potential or passed reformations (Zauzmer, Nirappil), but at the same time an area of Seattle has become autonomous (outside government control) and riots and looting plague much of the country (Baker, Mike). The crisis has spiraled to changes we never may have predicted solely a continuing pandemic’s spread. On the brighter side, Avatar: The Last Airbender released on Netflix, and change is a big theme in it. The sequel series has a particularly special quote for these days: “When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.” 2020 thus far has been our lowest point for many people and many things. School became really basic since you could cheese your way through Zoom meetings and wake up usually when you liked.

Many dragged themselves through the routine days of self-isolation and mask wearing, maybe filing for unemployment. But we must do what we can to adapt to this New Normal, whether we protest it or not, and face the truth. Only then, after trying to work through the now, can we hope to give 2020 the stars we hoped to rate it at the end of 2019.

References Baker, Mike. “Free Food, Free Speech and Free of Police: Inside Seattle's 'Autonomous Zone'.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/us/seattle-autonomous-zone.html.Bayly, Lucy. “Unemployment Rate Soars to 14.7 Percent, Highest Level since the Great Depression.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 8 May 2020, www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/u-s-economy-shed-record-20-5-million-jobslast-n1202696.“Crisis.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crisis.Desk, Video. “Coronavirus: The Great Mosque of Mecca Empty amid Outbreak: Videos.” Express.co.uk, Express.co.uk, 13 June 2020, www.express.co.uk/videos/6138676620001/Coronavirus-The-GreatMosque-of-Mecca-empty-amid-outbreak.Julie Zauzmer, Fenit Nirappil. “D.C. Toughens Officer Hiring and Discipline, as Wave of Police Reform Sweeps the U.S.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 June 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-council-police-reform/2020/06/09/c77ae6b0-aa49-11eaa9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html.McCurry, Justin, et al. “Doctor Who Blew Whistle over Coronavirus Has Died, Hospital Says.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 Feb. 2020, www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/06/whistleblower-chinese-doctor-dies-from-coronavirus.McGrath, Matt. “Coronavirus: Air Pollution and CO2 Fall Rapidly as Virus Spreads.” BBC News, BBC, 19 Mar. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780.Weisberg, Lory and Lucas Peterson. “Souplantation's Buffet-Style Restaurants Closing for Good Because of the Coronavirus.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2020, www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-05-07/souplantations-buffet-restaurants-closing-coronvirus.

POLITICS 26

Comparing Environmental Protection Efforts on A Global Scale

By Sanjna Mootakoduru Edited by Shivanshi Sharma Art by Anannya Islam Layout by Sahithi Lingampalli & Tristan Castro

Regardless of where in the world you live, chances are, you’ve heard of phrases like climate change, pollution, and deforestation. Each of these are silent killers - global problems that contribute to the deterioration of the lives we live but we don’t see the damage they cause right away. In one way or another, we’re all contributing to these problems. But our individual output of negative factors for the environment can be regulated and lessened by policies and jurisdiction that our countries place to be more environmentally conscious and friendly. The importance of environmental protection is probably obvious to most, but just to emphasize, as humans and inhabitants of planet Earth, it is important that we allow our planet to thrive and prosper, unlike we are doing now. We need to, as one race (the human race), do better.

The Environmental Performance Index, otherwise known as the EPI is an index created by Yale University to rate countries around the world based on their environmental health and the liveliness of their ecosystems. The index uses 32 different performance indicators across 11 different issue categories to rank 180 countries (epi.yale.edu). Countries can use these “scores” to strive to build a more environmentally friendly society. The EPI is especially useful for understanding trends, problems, and outcomes in a country's environmental policies. The overall categories that the index checks are the following:

- Air Quality - Sanitation and Drinking tWater - Heavy Metals - Waste Management - Biodiversity - Ecosystem Services - Fisheries - Climate Change - Pollution - Emissions - Agriculture - Water Resources

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Now that you have a basic understanding of the system, we will compare six different countries, two countries ranked the highest, two in the middle, and the lowest ranked two!

→

EPI

The two countries ranked highest on the EPI are Denmark and Luxembourg with scores of 82.5 and 82.3 respectively. Though Denmark ranked pretty high in all of the categories, it consistently ranked 1st out of the 180 countries for categories like Climate Change and Pollution Emissions. How did Denmark tackle these issues so successfully? According to the Danish Energy Agency, their policies are driven both by complying with international climate obligations and by setting and achieving national targets in the energy sector. Denmark is currently on a mission to phase out their fossil fuel usage; they will be completely independent of fossil fuels by 2050 if things go as planned. In addition to this, Denmark greatly reduced their overall greenhouse gas emissions between 2005 and 2020 and increased the percentages of renewable energy in transport and energy consumption in general. Luxembourg on the other hand also ranked consistently first on the category Pollution Emissions. The emission of harmful sulfur oxides has gone down over 80% in Luxembourg since the 90’s and the emission of nitrogen oxides has also decreased steadily (with a few growth periods in between). They managed to achieve this decrease thanks to the rising market share of low-sulphur fuels, encouraged by tax incentives. They also targeted the emissions from particular industries, such as glass, and made sure that there were decreases in those areas.

The countries that were right in the middle were Peru and Saudi Arabia, both ranked at 90 with EPI scores of 40. In 2016, an environmental performance review from the United Nations noted that Peru had made significant changes to air quality for the better which included eliminating substances that deplete the ozone layer at a significant and rapid pace. However, emissions of nitrogen oxides were increasing in the years from 2003 to 2012.

Peru also did well with biodiversity and ecosystems since during 2012 protected land and marine areas represented only 18.3% of the national territory which was 2.6% higher than the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average. Compared to the other countries discussed, Saudi Arabia didn’t do as well for Sulfur and Nitrogen Oxide emissions, ranking 156th and 130th in each other categories respectively. Saudi Arabia also ranks relatively high in the health category (EPI score of 76). It does this by maintaining public health by controlling pests and protecting urban environments against overuse of chemical pesticides and emissions of toxic chemicals.

The countries ranked the lowest on the index were Myanmar and Liberia with scores of 25.1 and 22.6 respectively.

Myanmar scored in the lower percentile for most categories, but did especially well with the The Sustainable Nitrogen Management Index or SNMI for short. This category is the country's ability to balance efficient nitrogen based fertilizer application and maximum crop yields in order to measure of the environmental performance of agricultural production. The score Myanmar received was 38, which is significantly higher than scores they received for any other category. Myanmar was able to achieve this score by frequently monitoring soil status, categorizing soil by types, and stabilizing the amount of micronutrients the soils receive. Myanmar scored badly on the categories of air quality, sanitation and drinking water, heavy metals, and waste management however, never ranking higher than 123. Liberia did particularly well (ranking first) in the subcategory greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita. GHG emissions in Liberia increased only by four percent from 1990 to 2012.

It is important to remain aware that it is impossible for all countries to be at the same level for sustainability right away because of each country's personal affairs and issues. NOt all countries in the world are even fully settled, and many deal with pressing problems like poverty, unemployment, and disease. With time however, it is possible (and immensely ideal) that all countries come to some advanced state of environmental awareness and are able to thrive sustainably. In the meantime, consider your personal impact on the environment, and things you can do to hasten the transition to a more eco friendly world.

References: Air pollution - State and impacts (Luxembourg). (2020, May 11). Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.eea.europa.eu/soer/2010/countries/lu/airpollution-state-and-impacts-luxembourg Danish climate policies. (2018, September 24). Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://ens.dk/en/our-responsibilities/energy-climate-politics/danishclimate-policies Greenhouse Gas Emissions Factsheet: Liberia. (2015, November 01).

Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.climatelinks.org/resources/greenhouse-gas-emissionsfactsheet-liberia Program, Y. (2020). Environmental Protection in KSA. Retrieved July 17,

2020, from https://www.my.gov.sa/wps/portal/snp/aboutksa/environmentalProtection/ !ut/p/z0/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfIjo8zivQIsTAwdDQz9LSw8XQ0C nT0s3JxDfA0M_A30g1Pz9AuyHRUBPXGyKQ!!/ Soil Fertility and Fertilizer Management Strategy for Myanmar. (2018).

Retrieved 2020, from https://ifdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/A-SoilFertility-and-Fertilizer-Management-Strategy-for-Myanmar-11-16-2018.pdf U., & O. (2016). Environmental Performance Reviews PERU Highlights and recommendations.

Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/environment/country-reviews/16-00312environmental%20performance%20review-peru-web.pdf

POLITICS 28

PRIDE

is

VIRTUALL

AUTHOR: SAMANTHA MATSON

EDITOR: SAM

International stay at home orders cannot stop the celebrations and activism of the LGBTQ+ community.

Combined with the Covid-19 pandemic and the increased coverage of the Black Lives Matter movement, Pride 2020 is like no other. Continue reading for more information on how it was celebrated…

What is pride? Is it streets full of LGBTQ+ people and their supporters, covering everything in rainbows, hearing chants of “We’re here, we’re queer, deal with it!”, packed gay bars celebrating shared identities?

Pride is more than a celebration—it’s our history. The history of the LGBTQ+ community.Pride cannot be canceled because it is bigger than marches. It is a time of remembrance for people who have come before us, those who have died for gay rights, closeted youth watching in awe, confident queer people making bold steps to express their identity, and the community these people form together. Whether we show our unity on the streets or the internet; the message and meaning behind the month cannot be taken away!

2020 has been a year of making history...Pride 2020 isn’t any different. Not only are we in the midst of a global pandemic, but the Black Lives Matter movement is a constant headline in the mainstream media and the public. African Americans and other people of color are largely credited with the beginning of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, led in the US by individuals like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Stormé DeLarverie. The Stonewall Rebellion (protests and rioting in response to police raids targeting the gay community) was a riot, and the policing issues against gay people it fought against are similar to the oppression currently faced by the Black community. The intersection between these identities is why much of Pride this year was interpreted through the lens of the experiences of queer people of color.

All over the world, virtual pride events have been keeping the spirits of pride month alive! In the United States, there were large virtual events in big cities including New York City and Los Angeles.

2020 was supposed to mark the 50th anniversary of the NYC Pride parade, but instead, virtual events, broadcasts, rallies, and town halls took over. Cities around the country participated in these events. Not only did it make up for the lost pride parades and events, it made pride more accessible to people still in the closet or otherwise unable to openly attend events.

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Y IMPOSSIBLE

MIA ABDULLE

to cancel

LAYOUT DESIGNER: NICOLE PI

Sometimes much good can come out of an unfortunate situation. This year allowed for the first pride event for the whole world on Saturday, June 27th. It is predicted to reach hundreds of millions of people during its 24-hour Livestream full of performers, political leaders, and other pride and LGBTQ+ organizations. The virtual setting allowed for pride month to be celebrated with a more connected global queer community.

Countries outside of the US held similar virtual pride events. Some include Canada, Britain, and Ireland.

In some places, like in Spain, pride became a televised event to expand its reach. Panels of experts in their fields and the LGBTQ+ community took part. A common thread in these countries was the increased accessibility to participate, volunteer, and celebrate Pride 2020.

Pride has always been more than a party or a celebration—it’s about policy and government reform. So looking at Pride 2020, it’s important to look at the political impact. In the United States specifically, LGBTQ+ rights have been inconsistent, to say the least, and pride month this year is no different. Policies coming out of the Trump administration have been often in opposition to the gay community. Recently this includes plans to allow for adoption agencies to discriminate against gay/lesbian couples from adopting.

However, we have also seen a milestone decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, the US Supreme Court declaring it to be illegal to discriminate in the workplace against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.

During pride month, of all times, these two legal actions are juxtaposed. A backward step met with a forward leap. Politics are important to consider during pride. The officials in power should be doing enough for the queer community during the entire year, not just during the month of June.

Pride 2020 was not like any other, and as we stand at crossroads between a social revolution and a global pandemic, the month was influenced by surrounding events. Pride cannot be canceled. Pride lives in all of us, all members of the LGBTQ+ community, and the allies who stand with them. Pride 2020 showed the strength of this community. If a global pandemic and a social revolution can’t dampen the spirits of the LGBTQ+ community—nothing will.

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DISBANDING

How This Radical Idea Changes L In lieu of recent events, America’s biased judicial system has been put under a glaring spotlight. Two weeks after the vicious murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, much of the city — and the country — are asking the same question: where do we go from here? On June 7th, the Minneapolis City Council indicated that the changes could be dramatic. 9 out of 12 members announced at a park near Floyd’s death that they intend to dismantle the current Minneapolis Police Department in favor of “a vision for communitybased public safety.”

"Decades of police reform efforts have proved that the Minneapolis police department cannot be reformed,” was the joint statement from city council members. As calls pour in from across the country for the curb, cut, or altogether disbandment of police departments, Council Member Phillipe Cunningham said the Minneapolis body plans “to start from a place of — what does a future without police look like? And then work backward from there.”It is evident that there is not a single era in the United States’ history in which the police were not a force of violence against black people. Policing in the South emerged from slave patrols in the 1700 and 1800s that caught fleeing slaves. In the North, the first municipal police departments in the mid-1800s helped quash labor strikes and riots against the rich. The justice system is built on suppressed and marginalized minorities to protect the status quo. It’s in their fundamental roots.

BY SAMIA ABDULLE EDITED BY ANANNYA ISLAM LAYOUT BY SAHITHI LINGAMPALLI

POLITICS 31

G THE POLICE

Law Enforcement as We Know It

In an interview with Jacobin, Alex Vitale, the coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College, mentioned that the “vast majority of police officers make one felony arrest a year. If they make two, they’re cop of the month.” We should redirect the billions that now go to police departments toward providing health care, housing, education, and good jobs. If we did this, there would be less need for the police in the first place.We can build other ways of responding to harms in our society. Trained “community care workers” could do mental-health checks if someone needs help. Towns could use restorative-justice models instead of throwing people in prison. These changes in society would not immediately become a part of the judiciary system, but the protests show that many people are ready for a different vision of public safety and justice.

As far as we know, yes. Some cities have attempted deeper reforms, such as Camden, New Jersey, which was once considered the most dangerous city in America. Camden made this drastic shift in 2013. They dissolved the city police and opted for highly trained specialists who were equipped to handle deescalation. Daily non-crisis interactions between police and the community went up, training on de-escalating situations was rolled out, and firm rules on using force as a very last resort – virtually unheard of in the US – were installed.

Officers are also required to intervene if a colleague breaks these edicts. The results have been outstanding; the city’s complaints about the police force have dropped 95% since 2014! Although this change has been virtually unheard of in the US till recent news, the expansion of these reforms across the US’s 18,000 police forces is a major challenge due to widespread resistance to change.

So, what does this all mean? When people mean “defund the police,” they really mean it. Take money out of the gigantic police budget and distribute it to sectors that need it.

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HOW TECHNOLOGY HAS AFFECTED COVID-19 TESTING 37 39

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS CHANGING THE GAME FOR BLM & OTHER SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS

APP SPOTLIGHT: FLORA

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HOW TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING STERILIZATION

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IPHONE SE LAUNCH

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TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS TO SOCIAL DISTANCING

MACHING LEARNING

Author: Kaushik vada Editor: Arushi patil Layout Designer: Alison Ye

How Technology has affected COVID-19 Testing

How advantageous is telehealth?

Background COVID-19 has caused a global crisis that is tearing through a world that is interconnected by technology more than ever before. Battling this pandemic requires drastic responses, and political leaders and public-health officials have turned to some of the most radical strategies available. But compared to previous outbreaks of diseases – even those as recent as SARS, MERS, and Ebola – current technology provides leaders and their countries with new tools to respond quickly and effectively. ortunately, developing technology has made it possible to have virtual doctor appointments, use machine learning to find potential COVID-19 cures, monitor symptoms, and track COVID-19 spread in your community.

TECH & DESIGN 35

Technology has made telehealth a very effective way to spread awareness and contain the spread of COVID-19 while still providing essential primary care to people. For instance, doctors use incoming health data, such as wearable personal IoT (Internet of Things), to diagnose and treat the patient. Medical websites’ chatbot integrations are another opportunity for diagnosis, based on the patient’s input of current symptoms.

In countries where medical costs are high, telemedicine increases the efficiency of care delivery, reduces expenses of caring for patients or their transportation, and can even keep patients out of the hospital. In fact, the Harvard health study showed that telemedicine care had over 19 percent of savings in healthcare costs. Telemedicine helps patients stay healthy and engaged in their health care. Most patients admire the convenient, flexible, and real-time care with their doctors, and providers can help prevent themselves from contracting COVID-19.

Using machine learning to find potential COVID-19 cures

Smartphone apps could monitor symptoms and track COVID-19 spread

Scientists are working around the clock to develop a cure for COVID-19, but computer scientists at USC Viterbi School of Engineering are applying machine learning to develop a possible cure for COVID-19. Dr.Paul Bogdan, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, used mathematical models and complex geometry to study the complex networks of the brain and interaction of the neural networks, in particular. Using FDAapproved drugs, they examine the neural interactions, looking for drugs that might be useful to treat another disease.

Researchers are working tirelessly in the effort of developing technologies that would allow people to fight COVID-19 with the help of smartphone apps.

At the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Biosciences, Peter Kuhn and his team are working on an app to monitor a person’s symptoms and location, and cross-reference that with information about others the individual may have crossed paths with. In the effort of implementing their work, Kuhn and his colleagues have teamed with a California company to develop a phone app to record and analyze symptoms and compare it to an individual’s social interactions using GPS data.

“It’s all about using data from individuals that becomes a source we can use to help stop the spread of coronavirus,” says Kuhn. The data helps identify sick people and prevent the spread of disease. It will have built-in privacy protection measures that will be included in the app. The origin of the app is based on previous research at USC’s Convergent Science Institute in Cancer (CSI-Cancer), which tracks health performance across populations. Kuhn and his team truly believe that the implementation of their app will help people better self-diagnose themselves and avoid the spread of this virus.

How does it apply to the coronavirus? In their research, scientists sometimes come across a drug designed for one purpose but have an unintended benefit. They say the same method can be applied in the exploration of a drug that may treat COVID-19. Find that, Dr. Bogdan says, and you may be able to stop the coronavirus in its tracks. For now, it’s a big problem that needs to be solved, and Dr. Bogdan says he expects his team could get close to a solution in several weeks. Right now, Dr. Bogdan and his colleagues are using powerful computers to run more tests and identify which drugs have the best chance of success — a task that will take a few months to complete.

References COVID-19 Updates. (2020). Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://techcrunch.com/pages/covid-19updates/Peter Kuhn, Ph.D. (2017, December 22).

Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://michelson.usc.edu/peter-kuhn/Cyber Physical Systems Group. (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://cps.usc.edu/Evidence for Telehealth. (n.d.).

Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://www.telehealthresourcecenter.org/evidence/

Conclusion COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of digital readiness, which allows life today to continue as usual. Building the necessary infrastructure to support a digitized world and stay current in the latest technology will be essential for any business or country to remain competitive in a post-COVID-19 world, as well as take a human-centered and inclusive approach to technology governance. But before that, it is important to stay healthy and stay alert of our surroundings. There is always one thing that we humans have to remember, there is no future if we don’t exist.

TECH & DESIGN 36

App Spotlight: flora

BY SANJNA MOOTAKODURU Staying productive is not always easy. Sometimes there’s the urge to check people’s Snapchat stories, scroll through your Instagram feed, or spend hours on end watching random YouTube videos. We’ve all been there; it’s hard to focus when there's so much commotion coming from a simple hand held device (aka: your phone).

Lucky for us, modern problems require modern solutions. Meet Flora: the free productivity app that encourages putting your phone down for timed sessions so that you can focus on things that really matter, like doing homework, cleaning your room, or spending time with friends and family. Flora’s clever display evokes concentration by planting a cute digital sapling that grows into a tree with time,patience, and no distracted phone usage. Picking up your phone and avoiding the app’s timed warnings will kill the poor, little tree you planted.

Flora allows you to plant, grow, and nurture a tree in your virtual garden just by refraining from touching your phone for a timed session. You can choose a session length of an hour or 25 minutes depending on your preferences, and cancel or pause a session at any given time. You can also adjust the time it takes for your saplings to grow to better suit your personal studying/productive habits. Your virtual garden will fill with trees you've planted during successful productivity sessions, and then reset in a week’s time.

TECH & DESIGN 37

You can also sync your Flora productivity session with friends in order to challenge each other. You can have competitions to see who can remain without their phone for longer, or you can even just stay focused to grow a plant with a friend. If either you or your friend uses a phone, the plant will die. I think this is a great way to coordinate study sessions while isolating yourself from others. From spending time together to doing work; Flora can really help keep you and your friends focused for whatever it is you’re doing with the incentive to reject distractions your phone may provide.

But the best thing about Flora by far is the fact that you can contribute to buying and planting REAL trees! The way this works is that you can choose to add optional stakes to your productivity session by chipping in money that gets donated to the cause every time you pick up your phone when you aren’t supposed to. Flora has currently planted over 29,000 real trees with the nonprofit organization Trees For the Future. So while being productive, you get to help the environment flourish! It’s a win-win for sure.

Flora is currently available on the Apple appstore for free, but unfortunately not for any Android devices. However, a great alternative for Flora is the app ‘Forest’ which is available on the Google Play Store, and Chrome Webstore as well. We really hope that you give this awesome app a try, and help make a difference in this world!!

EDITED BY NADA RADMAN, LAYOUT BY EMILY CHEN

Image Credit: Google Play Wikipedia flora.appfinca.com

TECH & DESIGN 38

How Social Media Is Changi other Social Just By: Sanjna Mootakoduru Edited By: Nada Radman

With all the heat in the current political and social climate, people have been taking it upon themselves to be educated on topics like the cruel occurrences of unjust police brutality against unarmed, and often innocent black lives.

By now, you may have heard the names of police brutality victims like George Floyd, a man who was suffocated to death by being held under the knee of a police officer for around 9 minutes, and Breonna Taylor, a medical professional who was shot to death in her own home which police officers invaded. These deaths - and so many more - were unjust, inhumane, and committed by those who were meant to be protectors. Ever since the time these stories (and videos) have been relayed to the internet, they have spread like wildfire. Posted, re-posted, and re-posted again. It’s endless exponential growth, opening thousands of eyes at a time. People near and far have rallied together, attending events that were organized by those unknown to them on platforms such as Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram. Through the sharing of various posts and information relating to recent

TECH & DESIGN 39

ing the Game for BLM and tice Movements

Art By: Sanjna Mootakoduru Layout By: Tristan Castro

events in our country, people have become unified for one cause.

It all comes down to something as simple as the fact that black lives matter. You’ve probably seen that phrase as a hashtag floating around, or maybe even flooding your Social Media page and dominating your feed. You may have even used the hashtag yourself. Nonetheless, questions like: “where does it come from?”, “what exactly does it entail?”, and “why is it so popular?” are bound to be asked.

In 2013, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi created #BlackLivesMatter in response to the many acts of senseless antiblack violence committed by police officers who, time and time again, went un-indicted. The hashtag, and its intentions, are not to be taken lightly. It is a black-centered social and political movement that advocates against a system that, from the very beginning, systematically targeted black lives. According to blacklivesmatter.com, the Black Lives Matter movement is a global network, encompassing over 40 chapters aimed to build ocal power and intervene in acts of anti-black violence administered by the police and vigilante organizations.

From 2016 to 2018 alone, #blacklivesmatter has been used a shocking average of 15,856 times daily (Anderson, Toor, Rainie, Smith, 2018). People all over the internet have taken the initiative to use their own voices in a much much needed manner. Social media has gifted people a platform where their thoughts, opinions, and ideas are all valid and explorable by others.

To rival the popularity of the BLM hashtag, critics of the movement have coined phrases like “All lives matter” and “It’s OK to be white”. These controversial phrases have also been turned into hashtags and are being used by people who want to negatively impact the BLM movement, and also by some people who remain ignorant of their insinuations.

German Lopez of Vox magazine explains that declaring “All Lives Matter” is counterproductive, and implies that the person has completely missed the point of the black lives matter movement. The Black Lives Matter movement focuses on the fact that black lives so often are not regarded with the same value as other lives, especially white. Yes, all lives matter, but not all lives are being targeted in such an unfair and discriminatory way,

TECH & DESIGN 40

especially white lives.

As for the frequency of #alllivesmatter, from 2016 to 2018 it was only used 1,844 times daily (Anderson, Toor, Rainie, Smith, 2018). In addition, an analysis conducted by Pew Research Center in 2016 concluded that from 2013 to 2016, #blacklivesmatter was used eight times more than #alllivesmatter (#blacklives matter was used almost 11.8 million times in comparison to the 1.5 million for #alllivesmatter).

Speaking more recently however, on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 thousands of individuals posted completely black squares on their social media pages with the hashtag #blackouttuesday in order to spread awareness, and show support for the BLM movement. Social media users have described that their feeds were completely filled with completely black images followed by supportive captions that expressed individuals' concern, heartbreak, tire, and will to keep fighting for the movement. Although the idea could have been potentially brilliant, the event actually became counterproductive because it took time, and space away from more important information that could have been spread regarding the movement.

The hashtag #blackouttuesday was soon followed by #whiteouttuesday which connected a series of posts with a contrasting image of a white square. This hashtag was being used by people who were looking to spread their racist agendas on the internet in order to drown out the motivation behind #blackouttuesday.

TECH & DESIGN 41

However, the hashtag #whiteouttuesday ended in supreme failure thanks to members of the K-Pop fan community who systematically tore down the hashtag and its influence in a matter of hours after it’s emergence. They did this by bombarding the hashtag with irrelevant posts including those of K-Pop stars, memes, and other forms of media that were captioned with criticisms of #whiteouttuesday and encouragements for #blacklivesmatter and the movement itself.

But BLM isn’t the only social justice movement that has been bolstered by social media platforms like twitter and instagram. The feminist movement has been completely transformed, giving an infinite amount of avenues for it’s endeavors through social media (Chittal, 2015).

Social media has given women and men all over the world more confidence to share their stories of sexual harassment and assult as part of the Me Too movement. The LGBTQ+ community has also prospered greatly thanks to the vast audience social media has the potential to allot them. In an age dominated by the influence of technology, social media has truly proven to be a catalyst for social change and justice.

Image Credit: Daniel Quasar

References Martin, Nicole (2015). “How Social Media Has Changed How We Consume News.”

Forbes, Forbes Magazine www.forbes.com/sites/nicolem artin1/2018/11/30/how-social-media-haschanged-how-we-consumenews/#:~:text=Social%20media%20has%2 0become%20the,Instagram%20instead%2 0of%20traditional%20media.

Chittal, Nisha (2015). “How Social Media Is Changing the Feminist Movement.”

MSNBC, NBCUniversal News Groupwww.msnbc.com/msnbc/howsocial-media-changing-the-feministmovement.

Anderson, Monica (2019). “History of the Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter: Social Activism on Twitter.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center www.pewresearch.org/internet/20 16/08/15/the-hashtag-blacklivesmatteremerges-social-activism-on-twitter/.

Anderson, Monica, et al (2020). “2. An Analysis of #BlackLivesMatter and Other Twitter Hashtags Related to Political or Social Issues.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center www.pewresearch.org/internet/20 18/07/11/an-analysis-ofblacklivesmatter-and-other-twitterhashtags-related-to-political-or-socialissues/.

McFadden, Syreeta (2014). “We Declared in 2014 That Black Lives Matter Because We Saw How Often They Didn't | Syreeta McFadden.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Mediawww.theguardian.com/commen tisfree/2014/dec/20/2014-black-livesmatter-because-they-did Lopez, German (2016). “Why You Should Stop Saying ‘All Lives Matter," Explained in 9 Different Ways.” Vox, Voxwww.vox.com/2016/7/11/12136140/blac k-all-lives-matter.-not.

TECH & DESIGN 42

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TECH & DESIGN 44

iPHON

article by Sahithi Lingampalli

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Image Credit: Apple

Apple unveiled it's newest iPho cheapest iPhone in their curre up to its

ack in 2016, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 series: iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, and iPhone 5 SE. The iPhone 5 SE, also known as the iPhone SE, was the smallest of all the iPhones released to date at that time. After four years, the phone was

forgotten; what was once commended for its performance inside a 4-inch display screen, is now barely used in 2020. However, in the latter half of April, Apple made a throwback to the small phone, and brought it back with even more features than before.

There are many things different about the latest addition to the iPhone family; some highlights include its affordable price (especially for an iPhone), the home button that made a reappearance, and the vibrant colors it’s available in.

Compared to the most recent iPhone models’ (iPhones 11 and the X series) prices on average for their base models, the iPhone SE knocks off around 300 dollars. The exterior has a lot of similarities to the iPhone 8; however, the interior is much, much, MUCH more advanced. Containing the same A13 Bionic Processor found in the iPhone 11 series, the battery

REVAMP SLIGHTLY THAN B (BUT HOLDIN SAME NAM IPHONE BACK (T THIS T

life and camera specs of the phone are comparable to that of the iPhone 11, despite being three Benjamins less. The iPhone SE also has a tantamount rear camera, despite having one less than the iPhone 11. The SE also boasts a waterproof exterior and supports wireless charging.

TECH & DESIGN 45

NE SE

layout by Vrinda Gandhi

one member in late May as the nt stock; however, does it hold s price?

Image Credit: Apple

However, doesn’t this deal sound too good to be true? Can the iPhone SE really have comparable features to another phone that’s worth three hundred dollars more? Well, that may or may not be true, depending on what you’re looking for. A popular feature used by many Apple users around the world, Face ID, is missing from the phone, and so are other popular camera features, such as Night Mode, Deep Fusion processing,

ED AND Y BIGGER BEFORE STILL NG THE ME), THE SE IS O STAY, TIME).

rsese

and Slofies. The selfie camera is also not as impressive as that of the iPhone 11 series, since it's five megapixels smaller. Apple also reverted to its older phone style for the creation of this phone, which is not as favored as the newer models. Many people also have a problem with the visible bevels (which are rounded edges) connecting the screen and aluminum exterior.

It’s a great phone. It may be cheaper, smaller, and“olderlooking” than the iPhone 11, but it has all the same internal features as the iPhone 11. The iPhone SE is comparable with the iPhone 11 for sure, and a good buy. It will help people who have low to average income get an Apple phone for a lower price. If you’re looking into buying a new iPhone, but don’t have the

funds, it’s a good buy!

OVERALL RATING

TECH & DESIGN 46

Scor

by Maya Krolik Edited by Harvi Karatha

Technological Solution

Taruni Manam, & Shabdika Gubba

A brief investigation into the rise of Social Distancing apps and the reborn Apple patent for social distancing selfies The novel Coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) has shaken and destroyed our everyday lives. It has been approximately four months since the United States and many other nations began shutting down, and it seems like we still have a ways to go.

Californian Governor, Gavin Newsom, claims that we “are not out of the woods yet”, in anticipation of a second wave of infections; therefore, we are likely bound to more time in quarantine and away from friends and family (KCRA, 2020).It is during these times of isolation that many have turned to apps, both new and old, to maintain connections with one another and the seemingly distant horrors of the pandemic frontlines. Many have also been telecommuting or attending “telly-school” for the past few months via platforms such as Google Meet and Zoom, the latter of which has had a thirty-fold increase in downloads so far this year (Evans, 2020). Other platforms have drastically pumped up their numbers as well. By mid-March, Facebook and WhatsApp have reported up to a 40% increase in usage and Live views on Instagram and Facebook Live have doubled in just a week (Perez, 2020) along with dating apps, which saw a significant increase throughout the pandemic (Sadlier, 2020).

TECH & DESIGN 47

ns to Social Distancing

Layout by Sahithi Lingampalli

Some programs, on the other hand, have found a new demand for their services. Netflix Party is one of these programs and works as a Google Chrome extension that allows one host to stream movies with friends from their account for free, which can replace movie nights and trips to the movie theatre (Post, 2020). Additionally, there are new products on the frontlines of technological innovation. Among these is a recently approved Apple patent for “synthetic group selfies,” which could allow users to snap a selfie of themselves, and then create a collage of selfies to form one group selfie (Meyer, 2020).

The patent allows for individuals to rearrange the order of faces on the picture to their taste, allowing every participant to create a version in which they are exactly their desired position. The timing of this patent may seem perfect; however, this patent was submitted back in 2018. It was only accepted earlier this month. Whether or not Apple will carry through with the app is unknown, but it seems as if the selfie rage will never truly die, even in quarantine.With a plethora of apps to choose from, we owe it to advanced and abundant technology to keep us connected and functioning during a time that would have been much worse without the Internet or even basic computers. So, whether you use technology to telecommute or keep in touch with friends, you have plenty of options with various features to choose from and more to await in the future.

References 'We are not out of the woods yet,' Newsom says of coronavirus. (2020, June 16). Retrieved from https://www.kcra.com/article/gov-newsom-coronavirus-updatejune-15/32869199 Evans, D. (2020, April 04). How Zoom became so popular during social distancing. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/03/howzoom-rose-to-the-top-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic.html Meyer, Z. (2020, June 11). Apple patent imagines automatic group selfies for the age of social distancing. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90515176/apple-patent-alert-group-selfies-for-the-age-of-social-distancing Perez, S. (2020, March 26). Report: WhatsApp has seen a 40% increase in usage due to COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/26/report-whatsapphas-seen-a-40-increase-in-usage-due-to-covid-19-pandemic/ Sadlier, A. (2020, May 01). People in relationships are signing up for dating apps during coronavirus isolation. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2020/05/01/surprising-percentage-of-americans-in-relationships-using-dating-apps-duringcoronavirus-isolation/ These four apps will help you survive social distancing in the age of COVID-19. (2020, March 25). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/amp/s/nationalpost.com/life/apps-video-conference-social-distancing/wcm/3a03ac27-8686-486e-9925-c03b9c933353/amp/

TECH & DESIGN 48

Machine By: Pahel Srivastava

E

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a huge field in the world of computer science. Machine Learning is a branch of AI that allows systems to learn on their own when given data and a model to train with without being explicitly programmed. Through this article, I will be giving you a ‘crash course’ on how Machine Learning works!

Machine learning generally involves taking hundreds of thousands of data points, and feeding them through a neural network, which then makes predictions about what the data represents. In order to understand what Machine Learning is, it is important to understand the fundamentals, or in this case, Neural Networks. Computer Neural Networks are heavily based on the human brain. When simulating our brains’ neural networks, we call it an “artificial neural network.” Our brains contain over ten billion neurons, that are all connected to over ten thousand OTHER neurons. Each neuron then receives electrochemical signals from the other neurons, and when these signals are powerful enough, they activate the neurons! As these neurons are activated, they pass signals (messages) along to other neurons. One can think of neurons as binary operations: they are either powered, or not powered.

The perceptron, or the most basic form of a an “artificial neural network” follows this structure: 1. Inputs are given to the model 2. Each input is connected to a weight, which is then changed to make predictions accurate (this will be discussed later in the article) 3. The output node takes the weighted sum and puts it through an activation function in order to decide whether the neuron will activate or not

So, what are activation functions? As mentioned above, activation functions decide whether a neuron will fire or not. One simple example of this is as follows: output 1 if f(net) >0 (otherwise output 0)

This is known as the step function, because when plotted, it resembles a stair step. This is the most simple activation function, and it doesn’t work

TECH & DESIGN 49

Layout By: Tr

Learning

Edited By: Harvi Karatha

very well due to the fact that it is not very differentiable. Some other functions that have been developed are: sigmoid, tanh, ReLU, Leaky ReLU, ELU, and many more These are all effective activation functions; ReLU is the most popular. However, going in depth about all of these functions will require a whole new article. In essence, activation functions are nonlinear equations applied to the weighted sum of inputs to confirm which neurons activate. The most simple Neural Network architecture is the feedforward network architecture, which in its simplest form is called a perceptron. A perceptron contains N number of input nodes which are then connected to their corresponding weights. A step function is then applied to the weighted sum, which outputs a class label. In order to train this perceptron, we must find an ideal value for the weights such that the output is accurate to the given data while remembering that in a neural network only the weights can be shifted around such as the activation function gives an accurate result. The pseudocode looks like this: 1. Initialize the weight values with arbitrary values 2. Until the perceptron gives accurate data: a. Loop over steps b and c b. Calculate the dot product of inputs and the weights associated with them c. Update the weight using the delta rule i. The delta rule will not be discussed in detail, but it essentially subtracts the actual output by the predicted input. If the difference is 0, the network was correct.

Other than this, the value will either be positive or negative, telling the weight which direction it must go in to be closer to 0. The weight will increase/decrease in intervals of a.

1. It is important for a (also known as the learning rate) to be calibrated correctly. If a is too large, the steps will be too large, and may “step over� the right value for the outputs to have the highest chance of being correct. If a is too small, it will take a LOT of time to train the network

While the perceptron is not accurate enough to be used in practice, it is the cornerstone of machine learning. Perceptrons are combined to create Neural Networks. This article scratches the surface of what goes into making a Neural Network; however, I encourage you to further your study of machine learning with the fundamentals outlined in this article. Machine learning is quickly becoming the most popular form of programming, and it's super interesting!

ristan Castro

TECH & DESIGN 50

53

COVID-19 55

MRNA VACCINES 59

BRIGHT SIDE OF COVID-19 61

DISPERSION TOOLS 63

MURDER HORNETS 65

67

CREW DRAGON DM-2 MISSION

SATELLITES DETECT AN OIL SPILL 69

MYSTERIOUS STRUCTURES LOCATED AROUND EARTH'S CORE

Written by: Mansi Sharma Edited by: Taruni Manam Layout by: Alison Ye

COVID-19 INFORMATION Covid-19, or SarsCov-2, has been said to have originated from Wuhan, China in late 2019. However, it has been closely being monitored since March 1, 2020.

This disease spreads through respiratory droplets of an infected person. The infected person can cough or sneeze and those droplets can land on places where the droplets have a way to get into the other person's body, through inhalation or through an open wound. As of June 16th, 2020, in the United States, there are 2,104,346 cases and 116,140 deaths. On average there are usually eighteen thousand new cases every day in the United States.

World wide there are 7.82 million recorded cases and around 432,000 deaths.

SCIENCE 53

As observed thus far, out of all the total cases in the United States only 87,806 of those infected are from the ages 0-17 years. That is about 4.2 % infection rate for the age group, and it is the lowest rate as well. However, adults from the ages of 18-44 have the most number of cases, 745,261 people, in the United States. The CDC website has a self-assessment that people can take in order to provide reasoning if they need to be tested for COVID-19 with a kit. To prevent the coronavirus, the World Health Organization has a public service announcement with 5 rules:

1. STAY home as much as you can 2. KEEP a safe distance 3. WASH hands often 4. COVER your cough 5. SICK? Call ahead

Most importantly, “Most public health experts -- including the Director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease -- have said they anticipate a big uptick to happen this fall or winter.”

(Smith, 2020). While these predictions are in place, many states are starting to open up and on June 19, governors of Florida and Texas said that they will not be closing down if or when there is a second wave. Also, as of June 19, California is requiring anyone in public, including areas of public transportation or a workplace, to wear a facial covering.

As for the vaccine, many universities and health organizations are teaming up to create one, and the research that was conducted, for the possibility of hydroxychloroquine helping with Covid-19, was dropped as of June 18th.According to the CDC, symptoms of COVID-19 include:

Fever or chills Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Fatigue Muscle or body aches Headache New loss of taste or smell Sore throat Congestion or runny nose Nausea or vomiting Diarrhea

If you see someone with: Trouble breathing Persistent pain or pressure in the chest New confusion Inability to wake or stay awake Bluish lips or face Please seek medical attention as soon as possible.

References Smith, D. (17 June 2020). A second wave of coronavirus: Is it here, how long it could last and more. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/a-second-wave-ofcoronavirus-is-it-here-how-long-it-could-last-and-more/

SCIENCE 54

ARTICLE BY: EMILY CHEN LAYOUT BY: VRINDA GANDHI EDITED BY: TARUNI MANAM

mRNA Vaccines: In

1796, Edward Jenner, a scientist, attempted to inoculate an 8-year-old boy from smallpox by injecting cowpox matter into the boy’s arm. The experiment was successful and became the first vaccine to be recorded.

Since then, vaccines have continued to be developed as medical research advanced.

Today, smallpox has been eradicated in all parts of the world and vaccines have become the most effective tool in fighting diseases. The World Health Organization has also confirmed that

SCIENCE 55

Art by Anannya Islam

SCIENTISTS EXPLORE A NEW APPROACH TO A POTENTIAL VACCINE FOR COVID-19 USING RNA GENE THERAPY

COVID-19 has already infected more than 8.9 million people worldwide, and the pandemic continues to spread like wildfire. A vaccination for this virus is urgently needed, but according to past studies, it could take 16 years on average! So researchers are looking into something different; mRNA vaccines that could be safer and more efficient than an average vaccine.

What are mRNA vaccines though, and how do they work?

Well, let’s find out.

immunization now prevents around 2-3 million deaths a year around the globe (World Health Organization, 2019)!

Recently, COVID-19 has infected more than 8.9 million people, resulting in almost half a million deaths worldwide. A vaccine for COVID-19 is critically needed more than ever, and it needs to be found as soon as possible. However, it can take many years to develop a safe and secure vaccine and will potentially end up costing a couple hundred million dollars! On average it could take 16 years (Tahamtan A, Charostad J, Hoseini Shokouh S J, Barati M., 2017).This is why scientists and researchers have turned to look at a different approach to immunization using RNA gene therapy.

RNA is a single-strand helix molecule that encodes a copy of DNA to instruct your cell on making proteins through its ribosomes with mRNA (messenger RNA). In the case of SARS-CoV-2, there are three proteins that each hold a strand of RNA with the genetic instructions that make up the virus. Once the spike protein on SARSCoV-2 attacks your cells, the RNA from it will start giving its instructions to the ribosomes which will start producing more viral proteins and so the virus spreads. Once the spike protein on SARSCoV-2 attacks your cells, the RNA from it will start giving its instructions to the ribosomes which will start producing more viral proteins and so the virus spreads.

A vaccine works by preparing your body for an invasion from a virus

SCIENCE 56

or bacteria. Your typical protein-based gets this job done by injecting a specific antigen (the signature virus protein) or a weakened pathogen of the virus or bacteria into your body. Doing this will trigger an immune response in the patient’s body but won’t be too harmful as it’s not the actual, full virus. It essentially gives your body a preview of a virus so it is prepared to attack, and produce antibodies to fight the virus if it is met in the future.

What researchers are looking into now is creating mRNA vaccines for COVID-19. This can be done by programming a synthetic mRNA that can be injected into your body. It would carry a blueprint of the genetic makeup from SARS-CoV-2 to your cells. This way, your cells will receive instructions to produce the viral proteins that will trigger that immune response that is needed.

Letting your bodies produce the antigens itself will be better than injecting pure viral proteins, because of several reasons. First of all, it would be safer. The mRNA to be injected is only a short and synthetic version of the viruses mRNA. So even if a patient was given an overdose on the vaccine, the effects wouldn’t be severe as the mRNA would only last about a week or two. Antigens and weakened

SCIENCE 57

pathogens injected from protein-based vaccines also have the risks of becoming active. Another huge advantage is that mRNA vaccines might be more efficient due to the fact that mRNA is relatively easy to program and encode instructions to produce any chosen protein (Wassiti, 2019).

The cool thing is, not only can we utilize mRNA for vaccines, researchers have also looked into using mRNA to produce the needed antibodies to fight SARS-CoV-2. The effective antibodies can be found by screening current survivors and isolating the antibodies.

The genetic instructions for the antibodies can then be programmed into synthetic mRNA that can be given as treatment for COVID-19 (Mishra, Carnahan, 2020).

Some biotechnology companies have already started to experiment and test this out. Moderna Inc. is already in the phase one stage with mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, and announced its start in clinical testing recently on February 24, 2020.

So, what do you think? The mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 certainly seems like a very nice idea to us but for now, all we can really do is wash our hands, stay at home, and hope for a vaccine or find a cure soon. I have hope that we will defeat this virus, and soon we will all be going out safely again!

References Smith, KA. (2011, June 14). Edward Jenner and the Small Pox Vaccine.

Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc /articles/PMC3342363/ Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic.

Retrieved fromhttps://www.worldometers.inf o/coronavirus/#countries (2019, December 5). Immunization.

Retrieved from https://www.who.int/newsroom/facts-inpictures/detail/immunization Tahamtan, A., Charostad, J., Shokouh, SJH., Barati, M. (2017, September 26). An Overview of History, Evolution, and Manufacturing of Various Generations of Vaccines. Retrieved fromhttps://sites.kowsarpub.com/j amm/articles/12315.html (2020, February 25). Safety and Immunogenicity of 2019-nCov Vaccine (mRNA-1273) for Prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (COVID-19). Retrieved fromhttps://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/s how/study/NCT04283461 Al-Wassiti, H. (2019, December 10). mRNA therapy: A new form of gene medicine. Retrieved fromhttps://medium.com/swlh/mr na-therapy-a-new-form-of-genemedicine-5d859dadd1e (2018, October 16). This RNA-based technique could make gene therapy more effective. Retrieved fromhttps://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2018/10/181016131943.htm Mishra, S., Canahan, R. (2020, March 26). Coronavirus: A new type of vaccine using RNA could help defeat COVID-19. Retrieved fromhttps://theconversation.com/c oronavirus-a-new-type-of-vaccineusing-rna-could-help-defeatcovid-19-133217

SCIENCE 58

The Bright Side of COVID-19

This article will go over what good impacts have come from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will cover how the effects of this pandemic have slowly started to fix our planet.

COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it. We all hear the death count daily, and the number of cases continues to climb. Every time we turn on the radio or the TV, countless advertisements about coronavirus are being thrown at us. But even though it seems as though the world is steadily deteriorating, there actually have been some positive side effects due to quarantine. Hopefully, we can provide some optimism in this tough time.

In many major cities, industries, transport systems, and businesses have shut down.

Because of reduced travel, the amount of air pollution from smoke has reduced dramatically.

According to the BBC, compared to this time last year in New York, air pollution has dropped by 50% (Henriques, 2020). Of course, quarantine should in no way be seen as a good way to promote environmental change, but it is reassuring to know that quarantine has led to improvement.

The only question is if these effects will be permanent once quarantine ends. when life goes back to normal. Scientists can’t predict exactly what will happen when life goes back to normal.

People will either go back to their normal routine, travel extra to compensate for the quarantine, or enjoy spending time at home and not travel as much anymore (Henriques, 2020).

Me? I am rushing to a movie theater and getting away from my crazy family. Just kidding, they are wonderful. Anyway, the atmosphere could either simply return back to normal or the appreciation of staying at home could permanently reduce our carbon footprint (Henriques, 2020).

One way to identify if this change will be permanent is to look at similar events in the past.

During the black plague and smallpox pandemics, there was a subtle reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. As the death toll increased, people started abandoning huge amounts of land, which were previously used for farming. The land filled up with wild plants, causing more absorption of carbon dioxide. However, the current death toll isn’t nearly high enough to cause any major change (Henriques, 2020).

Our situation is more like the 2008-2009 financial crash. When factory usage stopped, the carbon dioxide emissions dipped by 1.3%. Based on our current situation, scientists predict that our carbon dioxide emissions will reduce by 0.3% for this year (Henriques, 2020). It is strange to think that something which seems to be destroying our world is actually slowly healing it. Maybe if we all spent a little more time at home with those we love, we would reduce

SCIENCE 59

our carbon footprint.

Spending more time at home also has effects on the human psyche. While the stress of job loss, hunger, and the virus itself is the main effect of quarantine, there are also positive side effects. Our prayers are with those who are suffering during this time. However, those of us lucky enough to have a roof over our heads should look for the good in self-isolation.

Kids, particularly, have been positively affected by quarantining. While staying away from their friends is tough, they no longer have to deal with strict schedules, school stress, and waking up early. Now they are free to explore, try new things, and be creative. Kids can now discover and learn for the joy of learning, not for a grade on a report card. They can sleep and wake up whenever they want. Several scientists have expressed that the reduction of anxiety in children, because of quarantine, is pointing out flaws in our education system (Clopton, 2020).

Now, people have enough time to connect with their families. People barely see their families anymore, despite living in the same house. In my household, I am doing homework all day, my brother is always in some class, my dad is working, and my mom is trying to wrangle all of us. Now, we can settle down and eat all meals together, have family game nights, and even cook together. Now is also the best time to reconnect with long-lost friends and family. My dad recently had a Zoom call with nearly his entire family. They were laughing and talking for hours.

For the past decade, studies show that levels of anxiety, depression, and suicide are at a record high (Clopton, 2020). Carbon dioxide levels have also been drastically increasing over the past decade (Stein, 2020). It is odd how the Coronavirus pandemic is reducing both of these record-high levels. COVID-19 is a tragedy, and it will always be regarded as such. But in times of darkness, it is important to look for the light. However, it is even more important to learn from this pandemic. How do we use the reduction of stress levels to change our education system? How do we learn from the reduction of carbon dioxide levels to start healing our atmosphere? We need to learn from this pandemic and make sure that the small good that has come from COVID-19 doesn’t stop.

References Clopton, J. (2020, May 15). Quarantine Having Lasting Impacts on Kids' Health. Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200515/quarantine-having-lasting-impacts-on-kids-health Henriques, M. (2020, March 27). Will Covid-19 have a lasting impact on the environment? Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200326-covid-19-the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-the-environment Stein, T. (2020, May 14). NOAA exploring impact of COVID-19 response on the environment. Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2617/NOAA-exploring-impact-ofcoronavirus-response-on-the-environment#:~:text=In College Park, atmospheric researchers,-level ozone, or smog.

by Kavya Gurunath & Shabdika Gubba edited by Taruni Manam layout by Vrinda Gandhi

SCIENCE 60

DISPERSION TOO

By: Shabdika Gubba Edited by: Taruni Manam Layout by: Sahithi Lingampalli

and their effect on

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, many protesters have taken to the streets to protest police brutality and systemic racism. The protests are met with the police force, using tear gas, pepper spray, and even paintball guns. The effects of these tools on the human body can range from mild irritation to death, so it is important to stay aware of the tools that the police use.

Tear Gas (Riot Control Agents)

Riot control agents, also known as tear gas, have been used for over 100 years.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tear gas is made up of five main chemicals: chloroacetophenone, the chemical used in Mace (CN); chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS); chloropicrin (PS); bromobenzyl cyanide (CA); and dibenzoxazepine (CR). These chemicals are given military symbols because they are formally classified as chemical weapons. Inhaling tear gas can cause involuntary crying, nose and throat irritation, a choking sensation, cough, wheezing, and shortness of breath; tear gas which enters the body through a wound can cause irritation, rashes, and chemical burns. Long-term effects of tear gas can include glaucoma (a series of eye conditions which damage the optic nerve), blindness, respiratory failure, or death (CDC 2018).

Unfortunately, symptoms of tear gas can last for up to thirty minutes after cleaning off the affected areas. If you are exposed to tear gas, leave the area quickly and take off any clothes that may have been sprayed by cutting them off your body, not by pulling them over your head.

Pepper Spray

Pepper spray is a chemical that causes irritation to exposed body parts. The main ingredient in pepper spray is capsaicin, the same chemical which makes chili peppers spicy. Pepper spray is classified as a lachrymatory agent, which means that its primary purpose is to attack mucous membranes, such as in your eyes, nose, and throat.

An important thing to note about both tear gas and pepper spray is that they are both classified as less-lethal chemical weapons, but it is very possible to die from pepper spray or tear gas. If you are attending a protest, please use caution when tear gas or pepper spray are used.

SCIENCE 61

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ubber Bullets

ber bullets are large projectiles covered in rubber. The rubber bounces the ectile around after it hits the ground, which can cause injury to multiple people. ber bullets were originally only supposed to be fired onto the ground, however, with “precise” guns, the police can shoot bullets at aimed protestors. The intended cts of rubber bullets are to cause contusions, abrasions, and hematoma, all of which awful on their own. However, rubber bullets have been known to cause fractures, nal bleeding, and death.

un Grenades

grenades are explosives that are designed to overload the senses, usually by ting 7 megacandela of light and a “bang” of 170 decibels. For reference, the launch space shuttle is approximately 170 decibels. The flash of light emitted can stimulate e photoreceptor cells in the eyes, and cause blindness for five seconds. The loud disturbs fluid in the ear that helps with your balance and can cause temporary ness.

intball Guns

Black Lives Matter movement has not slowed down, we need these protests to e change. However, we do advise anybody attending protests to be careful and be ated about how to treat police and riot induced injuries.

s ecn er ef eR

her one of the tools that the police have started to use are paintball guns, which already been used in Benin, Turkey, Hong Kong, and Mexico. However, the police g paintball guns is new in the United States. Paintball guns are dangerous and are recreationally with ballistic eyewear. According to a study done by the Royal ge of Ophthalmologists, paintball guns “pose a significant risk for devastating ar trauma,” and “guidelines from the National Professional Paintball League in the ed States require that players exposed to shooting areas wear eye protection that ts these standards.” However, protesters don’t usually have ballistic eye protection. t makes the paintballs even worse is the use of special paintballs, filled with pepper y. Adam Keup, a protestor in Omaha, Nebraska, was shot in the eye with a paintball with pepper spray. Doctors said he would have “permanent eye damage” and ld never be able to see out of that eye again.” Paintballs are a little bit different most of the tools police use because paintballs are much more target-specific tear gas or rubber bullets. Don’t be fooled by the fact that paintballs have eational use: they are very, very dangerous.

Case Definition: Riot-Control Agents. (2018, April 04). Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/riotcontrol/casedefinition.aspFacts about Riot Control Agents. (2018, April 04). Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/riotcontrol/factsheet.aspRiot Control Agent Poisoning. (2018, April 04). Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/riotcontrol/agentpoisoning.aspMace (spray). (2020, June 20). Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mace_(spray)Da Silva, G. (2020, June 13). What makes pepper spray so intense? And is it a tear gas? A chemical engineer explains. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://theconversation.com/what-makes-pepper-spray-so-intenseand-is-it-a-tear-gas-a-chemical-engineer-explains-140441Rubber bullet. (2020, June 14). Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_bulletStun grenade. (2020, June 09). Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stun_grenadeGross, J. (2020, June 12). The Latest Police Tool in Protests: Paintball Guns. Retrieved June 14, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/us/paintball-george-floyd-protests.htmlTseng, V. L., Linakis, J. G., Mello, M. J., & Greenberg, P. B. (2014). Patterns of ocular injury from paintball trauma. Eye, 28(10), 1266-1267. doi:10.1038/eye.2014.149

OLS POLICE USE

SCIENCE 62

Are

‘Murder Hornets’ Really that

Concerning?

By: Nada Radman

Edited By: Taruni Manam

You may have heard that the infamous ‘Murder hornets’ have made their way into the U.S; and are causing people to feel anxious, but is losing sleep over them necessary?

These murder hornets, also known as Vespa mandarinia or Asian Giant Hornets, have actually been around in the U.S for longer than you think.

The first reported case of a queen hornet was found near Custer, Washington, on May 29, 2020. However, this means that there's a good chance a colony was present in the state during the fall of 2019, and they may have arrived even before that.

Researchers are unsure of how they appeared but speculate that one accidentally got trapped in a shipping container from one of the countries that they’re native in, such as Japan, Russia, and China.

While ‘Murder hornets’ may have caused a disturbance for citizens, it also puts the ecosystem in trouble. Their name comes from their gruesome attacks on honeybees; the insects make their way into hives and rip off the heads of bees, sometimes ripping off over a thousand heads in just a few hours. Since honeybee populations are already slowly declining, this news is definitely unsettling.

SCIENCE 63

The endangerment and disappearance of honey bees can cause a series of unfortunate events, including scarcity of multiple foods/crops, losing plants that bees pollinate, the animals that eat those plants, and so on up the food chain. Chris Looney, an entomologist at the Washington State Department of Agriculture states that these insects “are pretty formidable.”

Regarding their threat to humans, ‘Murder hornets’ have toxic venom in their large stingers, so if someone invades their space or is aggressive towards them, they can potentially kill that person. In Japan, they have been reported to kill up to 50 people a year.

In contrast, an average of 62 people in the U.S. alone are killed every year by bees and lesser wasps, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This shows that the likelihood of you dying from a ‘murder hornet’ is not as high as you may have thought. In fact, there have been no reported deaths from murder hornets in the U.S so far.

‘Murder hornets’ may sound scary, but they aren’t something to panic over.

Although they could be a threat to citizens, they don’t tend to go for humans and are mostly just a threat to our ecosystem. In addition, officials have been keeping the situation under control, and data shows that you most likely won’t encounter them. However, if you do encounter a ‘murder hornet;’ make sure to report it to the appropriate location. With that being said, take care of your environment, stay cautious, and enjoy your summer break!

Art By: Pahel Srivastava Layout By: Tristan Castro

References Main, Douglas (2020). “'Murder Hornets' Have Arrived in the U.S.-Here's What You Should Know.” National Geographic www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/05/asian-gianthornets-arrive-unitedstates/#:~:text=Looney%20says%20it's%20most%20likely,giant%20hornets%20were%20introduc ed%20separately.

Embry, Paige (2020). “Just How Dangerous Is the 'Murder Hornet'?” Scientific American, Scientific Americanwww.scientificamerican.com/article/just-how-dangerous-is-the-murderhornet/.

Fox, Alex (2020). “No, Americans Do Not Need to Panic About 'Murder Hornets'.”

Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/invasionmurder-hornets-180974809/.

Kurt, Bresswein (2020). “Those 'Murder Hornets'? They're Not Here. But Here's What to Do IF You See 1.” Lehighvalleylive www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2020/05/those-murder-hornetstheyre-not-here-but-heres-what-to-do-if-you-see-1.html.

“What Would Happen If Bees Went Extinct?” BBC Future, BBC, www.bbc.com/future/article/20140502-what-if-bees-wentextinct#:~:text=Honey%20bees%20are%20responsible%20for,human%20population%20of%207% 20billion.

Looney, Chris, et al (2020). “Chris LOONEY: PhD: Washington State Department of Agriculture, Olympia: WSDA: Entomology.” ResearchGate www.researchgate.net/profile/Chris_Looney.

SCIENCE 64

SATELLITES DETECT AN OIL SPILL IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE AUTHORS: SHABDIKA GUBBA AND KAVYA GURUNATH

RUSSIA HAS DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER 20,000 TONS OF DIESEL WAS SPILLED, BY A FUEL TANK, INTO THE AMBARNAYA RIVER. THIS ARTICLE COVERS THE CAUSES AND REPERCUSSIONS OF THE SPILL.

On June 26th, a fuel tank near Norilsk, Russia, collapsed. Over 20,000 tons of diesel was spilled: 6,000 tons onto the ground and 15,000 into the river (Weise, Zaiets, & Gelles, 2020).

The spilled oil traveled down the nearby Ambarnaya river, which feeds into Lake Pyasino; Lake Pyasino feeds into the Pyasina river. According to Alexi Knizhnikov, an expert from the World Wildlife Fund, the accident is the second-largest spill in Russian history (volume-wise) and has contaminated a 135 square mile area (BBC, 2020).

The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Copernicus Sentinel-2 spotted the spill. As defined by Gohd, the satellites Copernicus Sentinel-2“monitor and take high-resolution images of the Earth’s surface” (Gohd, 2020). The power plant, which was responsible for the spill, reportedly waited for two days before informing Moscow authorities about the spill. The authorities found out about the spill through social media. The spill has forced President Putin to declare a state of emergency. The power plant's director Vyacheslav Starostin has been taken into custody until 31 July but has not been charged yet (BBC, 2020).

The biggest problem now is how the massive oil spill is going to be cleaned up. A 135 square mile area of the river has been tainted red (BBC, 2020). Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of Russia's environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said there had "never been such an accident in the Arctic zone.” Cleaning the river could cost nearly 100 billion roubles (1.5 billion US dollars) and could take anywhere between 5-10 years (BBC, 2020).

Numerous methods have been proposed to clean the river. The river is too shallow for barges with booms. Pumping the oil onto the tundra won’t work as the oil has already saturated it. Burning off such a huge quantity of oil is out of the question. The only solution that could work is diluting the oil with reagents (BBC, 2020). The cleaning has already started. About 130 tons of diesel has been removed from the river (Weise, Zaiets, & Gelles, 2020).

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This tragic incident has brought to light the imminent threat of global warming. The melting of arctic permafrost, which brought about the spill, is the result of climate change. We need to start taking steps toward combating climate change; otherwise, these accidents will become more and more common.

References BBC. (2020, June 04). Arctic Circle oil spill prompts Putin to declare state of emergency.

Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52915807 Colorado Geological Survey. Ground Subsidence. (2020). Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://coloradogeologicalsurvey.org/hazards/ground-subsidence/ Gohd, C. (2020, June 05). Satellites spot major oil spill in the Arctic Circle (photos). Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.space.com/oil-spill-arctic-circle-satellite-photos.html Weise, E., Zaiets, K., & Gelles, K. (2020, June 05). Russia declares state of emergency over Arctic Circle oil spill caused by melting permafrost. Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2020/06/05/oil-spill-red-river-permafrosttied-russian-arctic-circle-emergency-diesel/3143679001/

EDITED BY: HARVI KARATHA, ELIZABETH WU, TARUNI MANAM ART:Â MANOUSOS BOULOUKAKIS & SANJNA MOOTAKODURU LAYOUT BY: NICOLE PI & SAHITHI LINGAMPALLI

SCIENCE 66

NASA has created history once

capabilities. It will also be the

again as American astronauts

first time NASA astronauts will

launched an American rocket from

test the SpaceX spacecraft systems

American soil to the International

in orbit.

Space Station as part of the NASA

Behnken and Hurley are among the

Commercial Crew Program. Astronauts

first astronauts to begin working

Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley

and training on SpaceX’s next-gen

flew on the SpaceX Crew Dragon

human spacecraft. They were

spacecraft, lifting off on the

selected for their extensive pilot

Falcon 9 rocket at 19:22 UTC on May

and flight experience, including

30, 2020, from Launch Pad 39A in

their successful missions on the

Florida, USA, for an extended stay

space shuttle.

at the space station for the Demo-2

Behnken is currently the joint

mission. “The specific duration of

operations commander for the

the mission is set to be around 45

mission and is responsible for

to 75 days, but we are hoping for

activities such as docking,

the best,” states the mission

rendezvous, and undocking, as

flight director, Zebulon

well as Demo-2 activities

Scoville.

while the spacecraft is

It was also SpaceX’s final

docked to the space

test. This mission will approve the company’s crew transportation method, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and mission control

station. He was selected as

by Kaushik Vada edited by Taruni Manam

a NASA astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space shuttle flights.

layout by Vrinda Gandhi Art by Sahithi Lingampalli

CREW DRAGON DM-2 MISSION SCIENCE 67

Hurley is currently the spacecraft

space station crew. The operational

commander for Demo-2 and is

Crew Dragon spacecraft will be

responsible for activities such as

capable of staying in orbit for at

landing, launch, and recovery. He

least 210 days as per NASA’s

was selected as an astronaut in 2000

requirement. Upon conclusion of the

and has completed two spaceflights.

mission, Crew Dragon will

The trajectory of the mission was

autonomously perform the undocking

to have the Falcon 9 liftoff from

sequence with the two astronauts on

Launch Pad 39A and accelerate the

board, depart the space station, and

Crew Dragon and its two passengers

re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

to approximately 17,000 mph to put

After splashdown just off Florida’s

it on an intercept course with the

Atlantic Coast, the crew will be

International Space Station. Once in

picked up at sea by SpaceX’s

orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission

recovery vessel and return to Cape

control will monitor the

Canaveral.

spacecraft’s performance by testing

The Demo-2 mission will be the

the environmental control system,

final step before NASA’s Commercial

the display and control system, and

Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon

the maneuvering thrusters. After 24

for operational spaceflight missions

hours, the Crew Dragon will be in

to the space station. This

position to intercept and dock with

certification of the Crew Dragon

the ISS. The spacecraft is designed

will enable NASA to continue the

to perform the docking sequence

important research and

autonomously, but astronauts aboard

investigations taking place onboard

the spacecraft and the ISS will

the station. This research is bound

diligently monitor the approach,

to benefit people on Earth and lays

docking, and can take command of the

the groundwork for future

spacecraft if necessary.

exploration of the Moon, Mars, and

After successfully docking, Behnken and Hurley were welcomed aboard the ISS and officially became members of the Expedition 63 crew.

In addition to conducting research, they are going to perform tests on the Crew Dragon with the onboard

beyond.

References Crew Dragon Demo-2 - Wikipedia. (2020). Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Dragon_Demo-2 4e, D. (2020, May 13). SpaceX News: First Manned Flight to ISS. Retrieved from https://twiftnews.com/digital/spacex-news-firstmanned-flight-to-iss/ Clark, S. (2020, May 31). Making history, astronauts ride commercial capsule to space station. Retrieved from https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/05/31/makinghistory-astronauts-ride-commercial-capsule-to-spacestation/

SCIENCE 68

MYSTERIOUS STRUCTURES

by Shreya Goel edited by Taruni Manam layout by Sahithi Lingampalli

Near Earth's Core?

Recently, scientists at the University of Maryland have found large, dense structures around the boundary between the Earth’s core and mantle. These globules had been observed earlier, but this discovery shows that their true size is much larger than previously speculated.

The way that scientists map the Earth’s interior is by analyzing seismic waves. So whenever we have an earthquake, scientists look at the waves coming from the ground and the delays between their arrivals to figure out what’s underneath the surface of the Earth. Decades ago, we first noticed odd structures around the boundary between the Earth’s core and mantle. The heat near these areas caused a lot of melting of the dense material, which slowed the velocity of waves traveling through it. That is why we call these zones ‘ultra low velocity zones’. Usually, studies focused on one or a few earthquakes at a time, so we only ever got glimpses of these structures. However, recently, geophysicists at the University of Maryland used an algorithm previously used for astronomy, the Sequencer, to look at data from many earthquakes at once.

"By looking at thousands of core-mantle boundary echoes at once, instead of focusing on a few at as is usually done, we have gotten a totally new perspective," said geologist Doyeon Kim of the University of Maryland.

This research focused on shear waves, which travel across the core-mantle boundary.

Image from Science Alert

SCIENCE 69

This study was very interesting, as it revealed many insights about the structure of the coremantle boundary.

Scientists figured out that anomalies around this boundary are much more common than expected.

They also realized that the ultra low velocity zone under the Pacific Ocean was much bigger than previous estimates. This area, located under the Marquesas Islands is currently the biggest ultra low velocity zone ever detected. This is a huge discovery, and shows the potential of the Sequencer in future studies. We still don’t fully understand what the cause of the structures is, but we are now one step closer to solving the mystery.

"This is a huge discovery, and shows the potential of the Sequencer in future studies."

References Starr, M. (2020, 12 June). Scientists Detect Surprise Structures Wrapped Around Earth's Core. Science Alert. Retrieved from https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-found-surprise-structureswrapped-around-the-centre-of-earth.Scientists detect unexpected widespread structures near Earth's core. (2020, June 11). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200611143101.htm Scientists detect unexpected widespread structures near Earth's core. (2020, June 11).

Retrieved from https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-unexpectedwidespread-earth-core.html Miller, M. S. (2020, June 12). Mapping Earth's deepest secrets. Retrieved from https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6496/1183

SCIENCE 70

73

BANANA BREAD RECIPE 74

LEMON BLUEBERRY DONUTS RECIPE 75

THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF THE ‘SMART KID’ STEREOTYPE (AND STEREOTYPES IN GENERAL) 77

SENIOR ADVICE 79

WHY STRESS SUCKS, AND HOW TO MAKE IT SUCK LESS

Eggless Banana Bread Recipe (Yields 1 Cake)

Ingredients: 3 banana ¾ cup sugar ¼ cup curd / yogurt 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ cup olive oil 2 cup wheat flour 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda ¼ tsp cinnamon powder pinch of salt ½ cup chocolate chips ~ TO MAKE IT HEALTHIER, REPLACE WITH ½ cup of

eggless banana bread

An easy to make eggless banana bread recipe! Once finished, you’ll be left with a moist, cake like bread that tastes amazing!

chopped raisins & ½ cup of chopped almonds

Instructions: 1) First, blend 3 chopped bananas and ¾ cup sugar.

2) Next, add ¼ cup curd, ½ cup olive oil and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

3) Add 2 cups of wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp cinnamon powder and pinch of salt.

4) Sift all together and make sure there are

IMAGE CREDITS EGGLESS COOKING

no lumps. mix well. Next, add ½ cup chocolate chips (or ½ cup of chopped raisins & ½ cup of chopped almonds) and fold gently.

6) Transfer the batter to the cake tray or bread mould.

7) Tap the tray twice to remove the air incorporated into the batter.

8) Top more chocolate chips (or dry fruits & nuts) to look more attractive.

9) Place the cake tray into the preheated oven. Bake the cake at 180 degrees Celsius, or 356 degrees Fahrenheit, for 60 minutes.

10) Allow the cake to cool completely and later cut into slices and serve.

Enjoy:) Store leftovers in airtight container.

To make it healthier, you can replace the sugar with date paste!

1) Soak a cup of tightly packed dates in milk or water overnight, and then blend to create a sweet paste as a substitute for sugar!

BY SAHITHI LINGAMPALLI LAYOUT BY VRINDA GANDHI

LIFESTYLE 73

RECIPE FROM HEBBAR'S KITCHEN UNDER EGGLESS BANANA CAKE

lemon blueberry donuts

Lemon Blueberry Donuts Recipe (Yields 12 Donuts)

Ingredients: 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour 1 cup Sugar 2 tsp Baking Powder ½ tsp. Baking Soda A pinch of salt ⅔ cup Greek Yogurt

6 tbsp Milk 4 tbsp Oil 2 tsp Vanilla Extract 2 Large Eggs, at room temperature

An extremely easy and healthy recipe- Lemon Blueberry Donuts! This is sure to be a super hit!

Just mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Then pour the wet into the dry and mix! Donut forget the blueberries! Carefully fill the donut pan with the batter and bake. Then cool and dip into the glaze. And it’s as simple as that! *If you do not have a donut pan, you can grease the back of a muffin/cupcake pan and use each individual cupcake hole as the center of the donut. Just make sure to leave enough gap between the donuts so that they do not touch each other.

2 cups Blueberries (fresh or frozen) Zest of 1 Lemon

Glaze: 2 cups Powdered Sugar 2-3 tbsp Lemon Juice (adjust according to consistency)

Instructions: 1) Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 12 cavity donut pan with oil or cooking spray. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.

3) In a medium bowl, add yogurt, milk, oil, vanilla extract, eggs, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine.

4) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry

and mix to combine and form a thick batter. Do not overmix.

5) Using a spatula, gently fold in the blueberries.

6) Fill a pastry bag with the batter and cut a hole large enough for the blueberries. Using the pastry bag, fill the donut cavities, about ¾ of the way full. Alternatively, you can use a spoon for this step (it may get a little messier).

7) Bake the donuts for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the donut comes out clean.

8) Remove donuts from the oven to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. Then carefully remove donuts from pan.

For the Glaze: 1) Whisk together the powdered sugar and

IMAGE BY: SAMITA PANDIT

lemon juice (start with 2 tablespoons) till a thin glaze forms. Adjust the consistency as needed.

If it is too thick, add extra lemon juice (1 tablespoon at a time, whisking between additions).

To Assemble: 1) Dip the cooled donuts into the glaze, ensuring that both sides are covered.

Enjoy :)

BY SAMITA PANDIT

LAYOUT BY VRINDA GANDHI RECIPE FROM FINDING DEBRA UNDER BAKED BLUEBERRY DONUTS

LIFESTYLE 74

Stereotypes are something that we know plenty about. When we think of stereo students based on their attributes. Movies love to portray very distinct social ci shape how we view ourselves in social interactions. Think about any stereotypes claimed the badge of ‘nerd’ and embraced the stereotype of a smart, awkward p they truly affect people and social groups.

Human brains like to organize things. Really, math is just a super intricate organizational system using patterns to organize the world around us. We like patterns. We like things fitting into neat groups. That’s just how our brains work as humans, and it’s just natural that we also put the people around us into boxes as well.

Labels are everywhere in our world, and in schools. These labels manifest as stereotypes. We all know the few smartest kids in our grade, or the ‘smart kids’.

This stereotype (along with many others) hurts not only who it describes, but also everyone else. The stereotype of ‘smart kid’ has certain traits you associate to it; wearing glasses, doing several extracurriculars, being slightly arrogant, being overly studious, always getting top scores, etcetera. This stereotype gatekeeps ‘smartness’. It outlines criteria that ‘smart’ people must follow to be considered a smart kid.’ Think

The Damagi of the ‘S Stereoty Stereotypes

By Shrey

about it, you can probably think of many smart students with good grades, but only those that follow the ‘smart kid’ stereotypes are considered ‘super smart’ from a surface level view. Really, ‘smartness’ no longer represents actual intelligence, it rather represents how much one conforms to the stereotypes of ‘smartness.’ This stereotype also hurts the people it defines. It puts them in a box. It makes them believe that if they don’t follow the criteria, they will no longer be considered ‘smart’. Think about it, if the ‘smart kid’ in your class got a B on a test most people did well on, you would be confused. In this scenario, there is almost an unseen pressure on the smart kid to do well for the sake of the class, for the sake of people having distinct roles in society, that if one does not fulfill, they will be punished. Society has a way of placing people into boxes and then punishing them if they don’t conform with the rules of the box.

But what keeps us in these boxes?

LIFESTYLE 75

types, we think about popular kids, nerds, theater kids, and other groupings of rcles, and while our reality isn’t as extreme, stereotypes definitely exist, and they s you identify with. I, for the longest time, identified with being a ‘nerd.’ I proudly person. But as I look back, I now realize how harmful stereotypes can be, and how

ng Effects Smart Kid’ ype (and s in General)

ya Goel

Surely, if they were all negative, we would break free from them. So what do we get out of having a stereotype? Stereotypes give us a basic human need; belonging. Humans need to feel like they have a role, or place in society and that they belong. In a way, a stereotype gives us a group, or a role. Movies and shows always tell us about the protagonist that doesn’t fit in, and how it’s cool to be different, but the truth is that everyone desires to fit in. (Sure, we say we’re ‘not like the other girls,’ but this simply places us in the category of all the other girls that say the same.) Stereotypes, though giving us that feeling of belonging, eliminate important parts of our identities to fit us into said groups. No one is just a nerd, or just a funny kid. Everyone is a combination of all sorts of characteristics that make up one’s individual identity.

Stereotypes generalize people into one characteristic, and devalue other characteristics. And when people don't follow their stereotype, they get confused looks.

This leads to the stress of trying to fit into one’s stereotype to maintain one’s social group.

edited by: Arushi Stereotypes are real and have real effects on people and their sense of Patil, Taruni Manam identity. So, how do you combat the harmful effects of stereotypes? First, layout by: Emily Chen understand that people are much more than stereotypes. Not all popular girls are the same, not all choir kids are the same, not all nerds are the same. Everyone has their own aspirations and ideals. Take time to get to know people from all sorts of social groups, and really understand others, instead of assuming their personality from their social groups or how they present themselves at first. Don’t judge people when they do something uncharacteristic. Even the most positive of people have days where they feel terrible. Take time to understand people and their desires, and share your dreams and ideas with them too. If we take the time to truly understand each other, instead of generalizing and grouping, we could have a more accepting society, one that doesn’t judge by stereotypes.

LIFESTYLE 76

Senior Advice By: Mansi Sharma

Advice, regrets, and experiences about high school from a recent graduate!

We have all wondered what life would be like when we become older! After having an interview with a recently graduated senior at Scripps Ranch High School, we have plenty of advice, regrets, and experiences from high school. We interviewed Isabella Daza, who replied by saying, “I am a graduated high school senior from Scripps Ranch High School. I am the oldest of four siblings, my younger sister Mikaela (an upcoming senior at Mission Hills High School), my brother Aidan (an upcoming 7th grader at Marshall Middle School) and my youngest sister Gabriella (an upcoming 6th grader at Marshall Middle School). Some of my hobbies are basketball and reading. And for those who do not know me, I love boba and recommend the best places to go to!”. Isabella is going to San Jose State University this fall and pursuing Chemical Engineering. Isabella was involved in many extra curriculars, “ AFJROTC (4 years), Co-Ed JV and Varsity Cross Country Manager (2 years), Basketball(JV Player 2 years, Head Varsity Manager Women’s 1 Year, Men’s 1 Year), JV Water Polo (1 year), Varsity Track and Field (4 years, throwing team), Saint Gregory the Great Servant Leadership Team (2 years).” It is clear that Isabella did many sports and her advice was, “you can do sports and ROTC at the same time and I am living proof of it, as so many others before me!”.

However Isabella also said her high school experience was very draining, especially with so many extracurriculars and three siblings.

Isabella had tons of advice, starting off with, “get along with teachers that you like and sustain a good relationship with them; they will help you with letters of recommendation your senior year.”

These relations are very important as she continues to explain that, “good relations with your teachers can benefit you in the long run, for me it was my US History teacher. He wrote me letters of recommendation. He also gave me lots of extra credit and an opportunity to scorekeep and be a manager for him since he was the Head Varsity Basketball coach as well.” For classes, Isabella recommended, “take classes that you know will benefit you when you go to college such as certain APs and college courses, and make sure whatever school that you go to will accept those classes or tests. Honors and APs may look good on report cards and your GPA increases but at the same time a lot of colleges look more at your unweighted GPA. GPA is just a small part of the overall application that you have to fill out before college. Some colleges do not accept certains Honors weighted classes since there is an AP class for it.” For standardized tests Isabella explained, “ with SATs and ACTs, take practice tests and see which test you are most comfortable with and stick with it. Do not jump back and forth and send in both scores, it does not impress colleges since they see it

LIFESTYLE 77

all the time.” Many of us don’t start the college search until the last minute, however, in Isabella’s opinion, “start your college and scholarship research your sophomore year. Don’t worry so much about your freshman year since you are still adapting from middle school. But determine what classes you need to take to make you stand out for your major.” For those who are already looking at colleges, remember, “you should know what you want to do at the end of your junior year since you will be narrowing down your college research to what majors that they offer. Even if you go undeclared, just have a little bit of a thought on where you want to go.”

Isabella had thoroughly enjoyed her highschool experience, however, she did have one regret, which was, “...not taking enough challenging classes that could have helped me with the major that I chose.” Also, Isabella would have loved to do water polo starting from freshman year instead of waiting for Senior year, especially since she swam competitively for ten years before starting her freshman year. If Isabella could redo something, she would have liked to redo her sophomore year.

She said her grades started to slip, and if she had worked harder, she would have ended school with a solid GPA. And finally, some advice that she had for her younger self was, “High school is completely different from middle school. Yes, you were able to slack off a bit in middle school but that is not the same now.” Isabella has a lot of potential and she will continue to achieve greater things in life.

Isabella reminded us, “don’t be afraid to try something new,” and we hope that all this advice and wisdom will help you!

Edited by: Arushi Patil, Taruni Manam Art By: Sanjna Mootakoduru Layout By: Tristan Castro LIFESTYLE 78

HOW

STRESS SUCKS,

BY SHREYA GOEL EDITED BY ARUSHI

PATIL

ART & LAYOUT BY SAHITHI

LINGAMPALLI

AND HOW TO

MAKE IT

SUCK

LESS

Stress has become a huge aspect of everyday life for the teens of America. In a 2013 survey, on behalf of the American Psychological association, teens, on average, rated their stress level as 5.8 (on a 10 point scale) compared to adults, who, on average, rated their stress as 5.1 (Bethune, 2014). 31% of teens reported feeling overwhelmed and 30% reported feeling depressed or sad because of stress… But you knew that...You’ve heard the statistics a million times before, how stress is an epidemic and it is increasing, it’s not new to you and it doesn’t matter, because to you stress isn’t a number or statistic. It’s an experience that teens like you or I know all too well. We both know the burden of stress and the pressure from school, college, and even just being alive in our time. You’re not here for the statistics, you’re here to understand and conquer the suckiness of stress. So let’s get right into it.

Well, what even is stress? We know what it feels like, but what’s really going on in your brain and body? Stress is a way your body responds to a demand or threat. When your body senses danger, physical or perceived, it knocks your defenses into high gear. Your nervous system sends a rush of stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, which get your body prepared for any action. Your heart starts racing, you get sweaty, you start feeling butterflies in your stomach, and all sorts of other stuff. Think about going up for a presentation you were really nervous for. These are the immediate effects of stress, and in a life or death situation, they’re actually pretty helpful. Getting your body prepared for action with more blood pumping could actually save your life in the case of a physical threat. However, with the threats that most modern humans encounter, the stress response isn’t usually the most useful. Still, once the threat has passed, your body is in a period of relief, and returns to normal. No harm, no foul. The real issue comes, however, when stress becomes chronic stress. Chronic stress is when your body doesn’t get that relief. You are in so much stress, or in an

LIFESTYLE 79

ongoing stress, that your body remains in that state of stress and doesn’t stop. Stress, although useful in a moment, does take a toll on your body, and long term stress can do serious damage to your physical and mental self. These are the symptoms you probably hear a lot about in relation to stress; sleep problems, depression and anxiety, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, digestive problems, memory problems, and the list goes on. It’s pretty sucky what prolonged stress can do, so how do we stop chronic stress in our lives?

Let’s start with stopping stress in the first place. A lot of our stress comes from things beyond our control. Take a moment and think about everything that’s stressing you in this moment. Now think, which of those things can you actually control? An example stressor is the results of a test. You’ve taken a test, submitted it, but now, during a passing period, you’re freaking out, wondering if you missed some problems. Take a second and think, can I control that now? The test is done, and out of your control. You’re (hopefully) not gonna bribe the teacher and raise your scores at this point, so do your brain and body a favor and realize that you cannot control it, and let it go. Now, I hear you; ‘what if I don’t do well?’ or ‘what if my teacher grades it wrong?’. Well, when you get your results back, then you can focus your energy on understanding what you did wrong to improve next time, signing up for a retake, or explaining to your teacher what was graded wrong. Right now is not the time to stress as the stressor is out of your control. A more current example would be the COVID19 pandemic. It’s easy to get stressed, with all the news about rising cases and deaths, but understand what you can and can’t control.

You can’t control people who decide not to wear masks, or the virus itself which keeps mutating (or making other strains or something like that). You can control yourself. You can control yourself wearing a mask and socially distancing to keep yourself safe. Whenever you are stressed, always take a second to step back and think ‘what can I control and what can I not control here’, and slowly teach your brain to not place importance on, and stress over, things which you cannot control.

Obviously this doesn’t happen in a day. You don’t just tell your brain to not stress about things you can’t control and your brain is like ‘yessir’. Stress is a subconscious response, and to modify it takes time and habit-building. But start by becoming aware of the different stresses in your life, and helping your brain understand that things you cannot control are not threats.

LIFESTYLE 80

Even after removing stresses of things you cannot control, there are still plenty of stressors in our lives, like projects, tests, and health, so the question now becomes how to manage them to prevent chronic stress. Chronic stress happens when stress is prolonged, or we have so many stressors that we never get a break. Now, I could simply say the advice of ‘step back every now and then, relax and let your mind have a break’.

But we all know the crippling feeling of your brain guilt tripping you because you aren’t doing work. This makes relaxation virtually impossible and is pretty much the nature of chronic stress. In fact, even when you try to work on a task, your brain brings up all the other tasks you could be working on at the moment, and occasionally, this leads to a big cycle of indecisiveness, procrastination, and doing nothing, in turn adding even more stress. It's a big, bad cycle of negativity, and you need a way to break out of it to finally get relief from stress. Now, most people tend to say ‘I’ll take a break when I’ve finally finished all my work to do,’ but often, the truth is that you never end up clearing your todo list, and there always is some more work to be done. So don’t tell yourself ‘I’ll take a break when I’ve finished my work’ because the day will likely never fully arrive. Rather, start taking action now. Even if it's a small task, focus on a task. Don’t worry about other tasks, and put your full energy on one task. Completing it feels rewarding, and you may want to continue. This leads to a positive cycle, the small relief and dopamine from one completed task fueling another one. Begin taking this action and focusing on one thing at a time. Eventually, of course, you will get tired, and in that case, understand your own tiredness. Take a break and reward yourself. Take time to watch an ASMR video, listen to music, draw, or whatever makes you feel at ease. And focus on that one activity. Your brain will bring up thoughts about the other work you could be doing, but don’t punish your brain. Rather, acknowledge the thoughts, yet remind yourself of the work you have done and try to fully enjoy your break. Allow your brain to have relief. Often, writing down all my tasks helps me, as it feels like I don’t have to carry the burden of remembering them. Rather, I just pick one task from the list to do at a time. The other tasks aren’t in my brain, adding to my stress, but are rather on the paper, waiting until I

LIFESTYLE 81

pick them up to complete. Whichever way you choose to help your brain ignore mounting tasks and focus on one at a time is up to you. Once again, it takes time and habit-forming, but it can be done, and can help you lead a happier and healthier life.

I hope I have given you some insight into the workings of stress and how to lessen its impacts on your daily life. All of the habits mentioned take time to form, and you should never punish yourself for not thinking a certain way. Rather, take time to understand yourself and your stresses and figure out what works for you. Stay safe and healthy!

RESOURCES

(2014). Stress: Signs, Symptoms, Management, and Prevention https://my.clevelandclinic. org/health/articles/11874stressBethune, S. (2014). Teen stress rivals that of adults. https://www.apa.org/monitor/ 2014/04/teenstress#:~:text=Many%20teens%20als o%20reported%20feeling,a%20meal %20due%20to%20stressSegal, J., Smith M., Segal R., Robinson L..

(2020). Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes. https://www.helpguide.org/ar ticles/stress/stress-symptomssigns-andcauses.htm#:~:text=Stress%20is%20 your%20body's%20way,body's%20w ay%20of%20protecting%20youPietra ngelo A. & Watson S. (2020). The Effects of Stress on Your Body https://www.healthline.com/hea lth/stress/effects-on-body#1

HOW

STRESS SUCKS,

AND HOW TO

MAKE IT

SUCK

LESS

LIFESTYLE 82

85

4 KEY THINGS DISTANCE LEARNING TAUGHT ME

87

AN ODE TO THE BOOKSTORE 89

TALKING TO MY PARENTS ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES 91

HOW I WATCHED SOCIAL DISTANCING CONVERT TO SOCIAL JUSTICE

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OPINION 85

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OPINION 86

An Ode to the When my nearby Barnes & Noble closed its doors, I was devastated.

This closure happened years ago, and yet the memory of my heartbreak upon seeing the store’s darkened windows and sealed doors remains in my mind to this day.

The reason for this closure is no mystery to anyone, however. For the past several years, the online Goliath Amazon has been dominating the retail sphere, posing a major threat to a diverse array of businesses, bookstores especially (Brumley, 2019). Just a glance at Amazon’s website reveals why: the online retailer offers a stunning array of books, all of which are just one click and a short delivery period away. This type of service offers consumers an efficiency and variety that bricks-and-mortar bookstores simply cannot provide. What bookstores lack in utility, however, they make up for with in-person elements.

That is, until “in-person” becomes impossible.

COVID-19 has devastated the American economy and has had particularly profound effects on nonessential bricks-and-mortar stores like bookstores.

Barnes & Noble, one of the larger booksellers in the industry, has closed about 64% of their stores throughout the country as a result of the pandemic (Dumond, 2020), while smaller indie bookstores, such as Gwinnett County’s Books By The Pound, have closed permanently, much to the sorrow of their local communities (Willis, 2020). With the loss of these bookstores and many more, the severity of the situation is evident. So what can we, as consumers, do? As it turns out, a lot.

Many bookstores have begun to make the changes necessary to remain in business. Independent bookstores like San Diego’s Book Catapult, for example, take online and phone orders while also allowing customers to drop in during specified time windows to retrieve their books, making buying books directly from the stores a continually viable option (Peterson, 2020). Consumers can also visit the website Bookshop.org to buy their books (Chow & Gutterman, 2020).

What makes Bookshop.org special? Well, the website has dedicated itself to supporting independent bookstores by giving away a percentage of its profit margin to these stores. In fact, according to its website, as of June 21, Bookshop.org has raised over four million dollars for the bookstores it seeks to

OPINION 87

B O O K S T O R E

support, making it another extremely viable shopping platform for avid readers (Bookshop).

What does the future look like for bookstores? It’s hard to say. For many owners of these stores, it is—and has always been—a question of how well they can adapt to the circumstances, be it a pandemic or a giant corporation (Chow & Gutterman, 2020). For consumers, however, it is a question of how dearly we hold such places to our hearts.

Bookstores represent the most intimate parts of our communities and ourselves. They serve as charming sanctuaries teeming with invigorating curiosity. A visit to a bookstore is never a cold, transactional exchange—it is an event. There is a reason why the main characters of Notting Hill meet in a quaint travel bookshop. There is a reason why you can remember so vividly when your childhood self plucked that bright blue paperback off the highest shelf in the bookstore that you could reach. There is a reason why you can recall those blissful afternoons spent bounding about in that endless jungle of books. And these reasons are reason enough for us to continue to support our bookstores, both during and after this pandemic.

References Bookshop. (n.d.).

About.

Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://bookshop.org/pages/about Brumley, J. (2019, November 27). 43 Companies Amazon Could Destroy (Including One for a Second Time). Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/T052-S001-43-companiesamazon-amzn-could-destroy/index.html Chow, A. R., & Gutterman, A. (2020, April 22). How Coronavirus Is Affecting Independent Bookstores.

Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://time.com/5822767/coronavirus-bookstores-amazon/ Dumond, S. (2020, April 03). Barnes & Noble Closes over 400 Stores due to COVID-19.

Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://bookriot.com/2020/03/30/barnes-noble-closes-400-stores/ Joy, W. (2020, June 10). 1918 and 2020: The lessons learned and forgotten from the last pandemic.

Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/1918-and-2020-thelessons-learned-and-forgotten-from-the-last-pandemic/287-2b3b3681-abbb4be9-b458-0da038a5c2ae Peterson, K. (2020, March 18). Column: In the wake of the coronavirus, San Diego bookstores work to keep San Diegans reading. Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/columnists/story/2020-03-18/columnhow-san-diego-bookstores-plan-to-keep-san-diegans-reading Willis, K. (2020, May 28). Gwinnett County's Books By The Pound closing its doors. Retrieved June 21, 2020, from https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/gwinnettcounty-books-the-pound-closing-its-doors/vkjefaP9cXqdf7YmPbhP3I/

BY CINDY ZHANG

LAYOUT BY VRINDA GANDHI

OPINION 88

TALKING TO MY PARENTS ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES I was on my daily walk with my mom. It was around 9 pm, which sent me into overdrive and hyper-awareness (I wish I could be that aware in Spanish class). I felt like a protective parent, standing on the side of the sidewalk closest to passing cars, and looking in all directions to make sure my mom and I would be safe.

My safety concerns were quickly averted when my mom turned to me, asking,“Pahel, don’t you think those Black Lives Matter people are thugs?”

I didn’t know how to answer this question. I wasn’t sure whether I should leave the situation as it was to avoid offending my mom, or whether I should disagree with her, which could potentially end in hurt feelings or the common remark of “You don’t know anything about the world.” Before thinking about how I could word my argument to prevent any offense, I snappily replied with “No, just because someone is black doesn’t mean they’re bad...” I know, that would’ve been a little too straightforward for me too, but it was almost necessary. She was unaware that much of the looting and violence was being done by those taking advantage of the situation, and not by the black people at the protest. She made the assumption that it was black people causing all of the lootings, because in her mind, much like in the minds of many other immigrants and other privileged people, minorities are dangerous.

Many immigrant parents are susceptible to covert racism. In fact, they may have even demonstrated it to you, whether it was by holding your hand a little tighter when crossing a black man, by clutching their wallets with a gorilla glue grip when the cashier is black, or by taking the long road to avoid driving through a “ghetto” neighborhood. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that our parents came to this country with no resources, leaving them to fend for themselves and thus causing them to stay away from those perceived to be violent. Additionally, many immigrant parents are still new to multiracial environments, [effect].

Either way, as soon as immigrant parents move into this country, they are immediately told to think that black is bad, and white is good.

This presumption can even be seen in Bollywood movies where

OPINION 89

background characters like thugs and other enemies to the Indian hero are black, while cops and dancers are white. In fact, immigrant parents are conditionally afraid of the minority, which is, unfortunately, black people.

Keeping this in mind, I continued talking to my mom. She again assumed that “there had to be some reason black people face more police brutality,” and that it was probably because “they commit more crime.” This was going to be a long walk. I explained to her that black people are policed more in the first place, due to the fact that they are strategically kept in the same neighborhoods, with worse schooling and consequently a higher susceptibility to crime. Again, like the last time she made an assumption, she was unaware of the facts.

“But why are Asians able to become so successful after coming from humble backgrounds. Are black people not able to work out of their conditions?”

She was unaware that black people are systematically oppressed, and that it is more difficult for them to secure better jobs and other advantages because of that oppression.

This happened again with my dad, the person I was most afraid of bringing up the current issue with. He saw me making a painting regarding social justice movements such as “Black Lives Matter,” ”Rape is Rape,” and “No Means No,” all of which are very taboo topics in an Indian household. He told me to stay away from these issues (specifically BLM) because they were heated topics. Instead of obeying him and putting the painting away, however, I decided to confront him. Again, without thinking, I said, “You would hate it if you were oppressed too.”

The few seconds I waited for his response were agonizingly slow.

After a long pause, my father simply replied with a “fine,” and left the room. While he acknowledges that these issues exist, he still doesn’t believe that he should be an ally for these causes, simply because it is taboo. But I haven’t given up on making him an open activist.

Many of our parents find social issues like BLM taboo or are covertly racist. However, it is our job (especially those of us who are firstgeneration US Citizens) to educate them and clear up all forms of their ignorance. I am still working with my parents (through many awkward encounters) to make them BLM supporters, and hopefully, I’ve given you enough confidence to do so as well. Ignorance is the true oppressor, and by overcoming the initial awkwardness and speaking about these issues, we are combatting ignorance and directly improving the human condition.

OPINION 90

How I Watched

Social Distancing Convert to

Social Justice By: Nicole Pi

TTTMarch is usually said to “come in like a lion and out like a lamb,” but this year, the age-old saying couldn’t have been farther from the truth. The beginning of March brought unbridled joy to most students of the world; no classes, no tests, and no pressure. Social distancing was all fun and games until seemingly never ending outbreaks erupted, the great toilet paper shortage began, and the US healthcare system was pushed to its limit. However, no one could’ve predicted the chaos that became May 2020.

TTTAlthough many found solace in the notion that COVID-19 causes mild symptoms in most people affected, the infection rates were humbling. The high fatality rate for COVID-19 for those in poor health or with pre-existing medical conditions showed that the full impacts of the virus would be experienced by defenseless populations. The response to these discoveries was shocking but not unwelcome. It birthed a unified cry from all ages, urging everyone to social distance and “flatten the curve,” thus taking the first step in the convergence of science and social justice.

TTTThe Flatten the Curve movement re-established the concept of intersectionality; many people who raised their voices weren’t members of those most affected by the crisis. The Flatten the Curve campaign forced me to rethink our relationships with one another and brought awareness to my fortune and others’ sorrows. I realized that I don’t need to be black to promote Black Lives Matter, be a woman to promote Me Too, and be at risk for COVID-19 to support Flatten the Curve. The newfound momentum of such movements manifested deep social reckoning, and for the first time, started wide-scale conversations about the origins and repercussions of social disparities.

TTTSocial distancing also brought to light the longstanding problems in America’s labor policies, education opportunities, and health care system. Although many businesses updated their sickleave policies and the House of Representatives passed an economic relief package, the most powerless laborers still lack protection. The shift of school to virtual space highlighted the socioeconomic disparities between middle to upper-class students and low-income students, who not only lacked resources to vacate schools on short notice, but who also relied on schools for food and protection. However, arguably the most despairing of all problems was the lack of stable infrastructure and equipment in the American health care system. COVID-19 proved that

OPINION 91

Art By: Sahithi Lingampalli

Layout By: Tristan Castro

the consumer-based health care system contains vulnerabilities that are detrimental in a pandemic.

TTTHowever, amidst the social justice movements and political crises, my most profound realization was the inherent privilege in being able to social distance. I realized that millions of essential workers and imprisoned individuals do not share the same luxury as people like me, who have the freedom and ability to separate myself from others. This realization pushed me to recognize my goodwill, thus motivating me to use my resources and help those less fortunate.

COVID-19 revealed some of the most troubling aspects of our society. The emergence of the Flatten the Curve campaign, in addition to the reemergence of the Black Lives Matter, Me Too, and other social justice movements, have forced us to engage in relevant conversations about our shared priorities and has reminded us that we all have the responsibility to improve each other’s situations.

OPINION 92

I created this piece because I wanted to show how truly harming and hurtful indifference can be. It is an invisible form of blatant ignorance of other’s emotions and the world around us, worse than even hate. I have personally received indifference with racist remarks and other things, even if people don’t know the sheer impact of those many small moments that come together to portray a false stereotype. Everyone is subject to indifference, but we need to be more aware of its consequences and our own actions in order to be sensitive to those around us. The center piece demonstrates the different pieces of ourselves and the world with various figures representing the nature of humanity. After all, we are all humans with valid emotions and unique thoughts and voices, so in order to be strong and united, we must be able to show all parts of ourselves proudly.

These are common objects in daily life, and in the same way, we must internalize these values as part of everyday life. We need to be able to reflect and express our innermost thoughts and emotions to create a happier, more connected world with less judgement and more love and empathy for each other as equals?

ART CONTEST 93

This is a paintin diversity. I believ should be treated e matter their appea are all different in we are all still huma

EQUALITY

ng that portrays ve that everyone equally and fairly no arance because we our own ways, but ans.

I painted the Earth, in Space. This may be strange for a contest with an "equality" theme, but surrounding the Earth are rings of colors; these represent every skin tone, bound together in unity. These rings make the Earth stronger, and so the Earth appears of beautiful colors.

Surrounding the Earth is a colorful Universe. It is surrounded by stars of many different colors. To clarify my artwork, at the bottom of the piece, I put a blurb that reads "no star looks the same. but they are all stars. we are all human. equality for all. we are all made of star stuff."

layout by Michelle Li and Vrinda Gandhi

ART CONTEST 94

g4m3 p14n35

by Maya Krolik & Sahithi Lingampalli

cr055w0rd

Use the clues below to fill out the cr055w0rd puzzle! Answers for the puzzle can be found throughout the magazine in the corresponding article, printable PDF on our website!

Across Down 2. One of the layers of the Earth 1. A style of self photography 5. Face covering 3. Existing on a computer or screen 8. Namesake of European Union satellite 4. Director of National Institute of Allergy and 11. Nearby planet Infectious Disease 12. A fixed and limited amount of money 6. Like poison but originating from an animal 13. A type of wave inside Earth 7. ___ distancing 15. A common symbol used in social media 9. Civil law enforcement 16. Highly aggressive bee-looking insect 10. A large outbreak spanning multiple continents 17. A shot 11. A measurement of intense luminosity 18. Spacecraft commander for Demo-2 13. Like anxiety 19. The concept of using your time wisely 14. Storage of electricity 23. An expulsion of air and mucus through the mouth 20. Space X rocket name 25. Bitcoin 21. Gas often used in dispersing protests 26. Surroundings 22. Human mark on nature: often in the air and water 27. North Pole 24. Inherited from family members

CROSSWORD 95

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