Issue 05 2021 by The Tower

THE

TOWER Issue 05 MMXXI

DETAILS

PHILOSOPHY The Tower is a student-run publication at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, CA. Writers and editors work together under the guidance of a faculty advisor to enhance the Bishop’s community and stimulate meaningful conversation through the collection and distribution of news. The Tower aims to educate the Bishop’s community about issues and events that pertain to the experience of young adults. Sections of The Tower include Sports, Arts, Culture, Campus, Local & Beyond, Opinion, and The Bell. The Tower prints six issues each academic year, in addition to continuous online content.

CONTRIBUTORS Editor-in-Chief Daniel White

Graphics Editor - Print Lucie Edwards Assistant Graphics Editor Kyle Berlage Online Editor Sariah Hossain Social Media Manager Maya Buckley

POLICY The Tower refrains from prior review of its issues and maintains the right to publish anonymous quotes when the privacy of the individual is a concern. All quotes are subject to editing for clarity and length. Opinions expressed in The Tower do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or of The Bishop’s School.

Copy Editors Crystal Li Clare Malhotra

COLOPHON The Tower is printed by Streeter Printing Company in Mira Mesa, CA. Due to COVID-19, Issue 04 was published online and sent out to the Bishop’s community via email. The Staff uses Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator to arrange photographs and graphics. Typefaces include Didot for the cover, headlines, and subheadings; Minion Pro is used for bylines and body text. Issue 03 and previous issues of The Tower are available digitally on issuu.com.

Faculty Advisor Ms. Laine Remignanti

Staff Writers Isadora Blatt Leila Feldman Katherine Ge Max Stone Tate Vaccaro

CONTACT The Tower c/o The Bishop’s School 7607 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla, CA 92037 www.thebishopstower.com thetower@bishops.com IG @thebishopstower TW @thebishopstower

All members of the Bishop’s community are invited to submit letters to the Editor-in-Chief by visiting THE BELL our website, The Bell is a section of The Tower www.thebishopstower.com, and that intends to serve as a relief from clicking on the ‘Submit Letter’ tab. the depth of the magazine. Satire, puzzles, quizzes, and the like are frequent inside The Bell.

02 DETAILS | Issue o5

OUR COVER Art by Lucie Edwards (‘21)

In this issue, Crystal Li (‘23) discusses COVID-19 after the holidays, exploring the increase in cases due to holiday socialization. The cover depicts a graph of daily cases made out of a string of holiday lights.

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D F

or the first time in what feels like my entire life, I didn’t do anything this Christmas. My family is one of tradition—once we find a habit that sticks, we tend to stick with it no matter what, and our yearly Christmas activities were no exception to the rule. The plan was always simple: Christmas Eve would be spent with my mother’s family, Christmas Day would be spent with my dad’s mom, and the day after would be spent with my dad’s dad. It was our annual window for socialization with my extended family, the only time of the year I could flex on my cousins with my superior gift-giving skills and catch up on all the family drama and, honestly, no one would miss it for the world. But, as has been the case in so many respects, this year was different. My mother, father, brother, and I spent our Christmas camped out in front of the TV, eating pizza and binge-watching the holiday specials of Downton Abbey. We exchanged the usual pleasantries with our various family members via poorly-coordinated Zoom meetings, awkward FaceTimes, and drive-bys to drop off plates of cookies my mom kept pumping out. It is hard, undeniably, spending what is renowned to be the time of year you get to be in the company of family and friends stuck inside your house. At the very least, it is not what I imagined for the end of 2020, and I can imagine many of you feel the same way. As we come up on month 10 of the pandemic, nearly a full year since the disease first broke international headlines, the concept of COVID-19 fatigue is likely not a new one to many people. But it is the frustrating, almost painful reality of the situation is that, fatigue or not, we aren’t quite out of the woods. There is perhaps no better reminder of this fact than this issue’s cover story, in which Crystal Li (‘23) tackles the impact COVID-19 has had on this year’s holiday festivities. As she expertly outlines, the fight is not over yet: as we’ve seen in the past, holidays often precipitate a rise in cases, and at a time when we are already stretched so thin, it’s up to every single one of us to do what we can to prevent that. I don’t mean this as a declaration of disaster on all fronts, nor do I mean to nag. Rather, I mean it simply as a reminder—one that we have all doubtless heard an uncountable number of times at this point, but an essential one nevertheless. I’ve gotten to the point of COVID-19 burnout where I almost miss the terror-induced adrenaline I’d feel before math tests and I’m fairly certain I could write a college dissertation on how sick I am of opening Amazon just to order some more disposable face masks. But I also speak without naivety or hyperbole when I say that there is a light at the end of this excruciating, dark, ten-month-long tunnel, and that giving up now will only snuff it out. Every day we get closer to the end of this thing, to life truly being able to return to some substantiative semblance of normal. Let’s not start taking steps backward now. Love,

Daniel White, Editor-in-Chief

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | Issue 05

04 CONTENTS | Issue 05

CONTENTS [campus]

[local & beyond]

GAME, SET, MATCH

How the suspension of high school sports has affected student-athletes and how it will moving forward Max Stone

CAMPUS CASES

FIGHTING FAST FASHION

How the Bishop’s administration manages COVID-19 cases within the community Tate Vaccaro

How manufacturers and consumers are dealing with the “sustainability” argument Katherine Ge

[opinion]

[cover]

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SMALL SHOP STOP

Why you should start an Etsy shop as a teen in 2021 Isadora Blatt

A DARK, DARK HOLIDAY Analyzing and comparing post-celebration pandemic trends Crystal Li

[reviews]

[the bell]

CHECKMATE

TAYLOR SWIFT’S EVERMORE

On The Queen’s Gambit’s rise to popularity and universal appeal Clare Malhotra

An Album Review

Sariah Hossain

TOP TEN BISHOP’S SLOGANS

CONTENTS | Issue 05

GAME, SET, MATCH

How the suspension of high school sports has affected student-athletes and how it will moving forward Max Stone

n integral part of the competition until after Jan- as a large portion of their “High School ex- uary 1, 2021, at the earliest.” Senior year was cut short beperience” is sports. As much as this did come cause of COVID-19 but it’s Whether it is being a mem- as a surprise to some high looking as though the class ber of a team or simply just school athletes, it was some- of 2021 is getting the worst supporting your school, high what expected because of the of it. It seems as though their school sports bring students report that a large portion of whole year will be either ontogether and make school California was in the “pur- line or hybridized because of just a bit better. COVID-19 ple tier” of COVID-19 cases. COVID-19. Traditionally as has obviously swept the na- What that meant is that the Seniors, students are promtion in every way imaginable virus went from being la- ised exclusive events like and I’m sure every athlete Prom and/or their Senior “I was so blindsided by was looking forward to Class Trip and of course, season ending. I mean, having a sports season. Graduation. Another Making sure everyone you look forward to your huge thing that almost is safe should always be sports season for the en- all senior athletes look the number one priority tire year, and then sud- forward to is their senior in terms of COVID-19. sports season. Their sedenly it just gets taken On December 1 of nior season essentially away.” this year, the California lets them know that all of Ryan Hemerick (‘21) Interscholastic Federatheir hard work has paid tion, or CIF, came out with a beled “Substantial” to “Wide- off and that it is THEIR time State Media Release that read spread”, or from Red Tier to to shine. They may have the “Due to the continued surge Purple Tier. Back in March ability to be the captain(s) of in COVID-19 infections, the when no one really knew their team and finally have California Department of anything about the virus, ex- the satisfaction of leading Public Health (CDPH) has perts predicted that the virus their team throughout the postponed the issuance of its would peak in June of this season. Being greeted by updated youth sports guid- year but due to many factors, their parents with flowers ance. CIF does not expect the that was not the case at all. before their Senior night is CDPH will issue any guid- People could argue something that I know evance allowing for schools to that the class of 2020 was af- ery athlete looks forward to return to full practice and fected the most by the virus and keeps them motivated.

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The Tower

Coach Wells and the Girls Basketball team discuss strategy in a timeout on Febuary 11, 2020 in a game against Tri-City Christian School.

Ryan Hemerick is a senior at Bishops and is the Varsity captain of the Girls Lacrosse team along with the Girls Soccer Team. Ryan is a multisport athlete and has been playing lacrosse since the 7th grade and soccer since she was a toddler. She has dedicated a lot of her time in High school to sports and she is not the only one. In response to being asked how she would react if she did not have a senior season, Ryan said, “I think I’ll be crushed. It’s hard to put into words the connection you have with your teammates.” Her lacrosse teammate, Senior Maggie Keefe, is also a dual-sport athlete and is one of the captains of the Field

Hockey team along with Senior Piper Holthus. When asked about her initial reaction to the season being suspended, Maggie said “I hate to say it but I wasn’t surprised when the season was suspended. I was still heartbroken when the news actually came out and it definitely took awhile for me to calm down and realize that there is still hope for a season.” High school sports are something that bring people together, whether it is the athletes or the fans. The overall message that can be taken away from the responses of the captains at Bishops is that their season has always meant a lot to them and this one in particular means so much more.

CAMPUS | Issue 05

CAMPUS CASES

How the Bishop’s administration manages COVID-19 cases within the community Tate Vaccaro

n Sunday, October 18th, Bishop’s disclosed the first positive COVID-19 case on campus. The case, as revealed in an email sent out to parents, faculty, and students, was isolated to the childcare center. “Due to privacy laws, information regarding this individual’s identity cannot be released, and we are limited in the details we can offer,” the email wrote. “We urge you to respect the privacy of everyone within our community.” Since then, a total of 20 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported at Bishop’s, ten of which were confirmed through the school’s testing program. As cases continue to climb in San Diego, the Bishop’s administration is maintaining its current phase-in plan: daily health screenings upon student arrival; abiding by labeled oneway walkways, stairways, and designated entrances and exits on campus; requiring all students and faculty to maintain physical distance at all times; and limiting room occupancy totals per classroom. In addition to this, the administration will be moving forward with offering weekly testing to the commu-

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nity as well as notifying individuals who test positive for the virus. But how exactly are those cases reported to the community at large? What are the successive means of action taken by the school following a confirmed case? “There are a lot of different offices that have reporting requirements,” Assistant Head of School for Internal Affairs Mr. Michael Beamer explained. “The letters that you get concerning positive cases are largely a courtesy. As a school, we have an obligation to remind people when we have a case, what the symptoms are, what they should be looking out for, and who to contact if they are concerned. We have a significant requirement to protect the person who is infected which is why we do not supply any identifiable information.” Despite efforts to conceal this information, Mr. Beamer described his concerns regarding further speculation among members of the community back in October, when Bishop’s had its first few positive cases. “Certainly for the first letters that were put out, people were really interested in trying to figure out who the individuals mentioned

were. Now that we’ve put out so many of those letters, I think there is less of a curiosity than we initially saw.” Bishop’s conducts their surveillance campus testing through the Expedited Covid Identification Environment (EXCITE) Lab at UCSD. The testing facility is responsible for reporting positive cases within the school’s community to public health departments so infected individuals can get in touch with contact trasers. Vice versa, if an individual tests positive through a different testing site outside of Bishop’s, it is then the county’s responsibility to notify the school nurse, Suzie Fournier, of that positive case. “The county is required to send me any positive test results from Bishop’s employees or students.” Mrs. Fournier explained. “In the last month, however, I haven’t been receiving any emails from the county which is likely because they are overwhelmed with cases and are lacking the manpower to notify schools. Because of this, I’m largely counting on families to reach out to me and share this information.”

The Tower

“Something like this requires all of us to be responsible to the larger community in our behaviors— and this virus has tested those skills in all sorts of ways.” - Dean of Students Ms. Michelle Shea

CAMPUS | Issue 05

The Tower

To a certain degree, there is a level of mutual trust that must be upheld regarding the communication of COVID-19 exposures that takes place between students and faculty with the administration—one that ultimately allows the school to remain open. “If an individual wants to share personal health information, then that is their story to tell.” Mr. Beamer said. “Even if a student comes to me with a rumor of a positive case, I will not confirm that, nor say I am aware of that. I feel it is my obligation to not share that information.” Mr. Beamer continued to explain the challenges of navigating contact tracing and confidentiality. “When it comes to contact tracing, however, those conversations become complicated—often, it feels as though we are withholding information— which can be enormously frustrating for someone who may be experiencing an exposure.” Dean of Students Ms. Michelle Shea expressed a similar outlook on the matter. “Sometimes people seek more information that we just can’t give out.” She explained. “Something like this requires all of us to be responsible to the larger community in our behaviours—and this virus has tested those skills in all sorts of ways.” Greyson Davies (‘22) expe-

10 CAMPUS | Issue 05

rienced an exposure at school when one of his classmates tested positive after being on campus. “My mother got an email from the administration telling her that a student in one of my classes tested positive for COVID-19.” Greyson said. “The email entailed that I was likely not exposed to the virus because I wasn’t near the person who tested positive so I did not have to quarantine afterwards. Nevertheless, it was slightly frustrating for me at the time because I didn’t know who the individual was and I felt it was more up to me than the school to determine what distance I considered ‘safe’ for myself.” Bishop’s defines a “close contact” as someone who is closer than six feet for 15 minutes or longer, regardless of whether they are wearing a mask or not, in the 48 hours prior to an individual’s testing positive or showing symptoms of the disease. According to the school’s current safety protocols, a close contact is expected to quarantine for 10 days following their last exposure to an infected person. Erin Ellsworth (‘23) was considered a close contact and had to be quarantined as a result. “My mother received a phone call from the San Diego Health Department saying that I had been within six feet of someone at my

The Tower

school who tested positive.” She said. “It wasn’t too hard to figure out who the individual was. Besides not being able to go to in-person school, I didn’t feel frustrated and tested negative soon after the exposure.” Another student, Arden Lichter (‘21), experienced something similar. “I was exposed to someone who tested positive on a Monday and it wasn’t until Friday when my mother received a call from the school nurse confirming this information.” She said. “I immediately got a COVID-19 test that same day and tested negative, but the school still required me to quarantine for 10 days and I couldn’t come to campus.” Arden continued to explain what happened following the incident, touching on what other students in the class experienced as well. “There were four of us in the class total. Two of my classmates also had to quarantine for 10 days. However, one of the students in the class did not, which confused me. According to the school, their desk was the furthest away from the infected student which theoretically meant that they were not exposed to the virus. Despite this, they still interacted with the positive student since all four of us walked out of the classroom together.” While the school’s contact

tracing system may be imperfect, Mr. Beamer and the rest of the administration feel grateful that the school’s current protocols have been as effective as they have demonstrated themselves to be in the past few months. “Out of 437 people tested after Winter Break, one person who was symptomatic tested positive and one person who was asymptomatic tested positive.” Mr. Beamer explained. “If you compare that to the percentage of positivity in San Diego, it is clear that this community continues to take this disease really seriously.” With that in mind, the administration recognizes that distanced learning is not the most COVIDsafe approach and that there is some inherent risk in having students on campus. Though faculty and staff also recognize that the current hybrid system has its flaws, the belief that having at least some sense of normalcy on campus prevails. “It’s a much sadder place when kids aren’t here.” Ms. Shea explained. “We miss having kids on campus the way that kids were once on campus in a way that I can’t fully explain to you.” As it seems, this feeling is reciprocated among students as well.

CAMPUS | Issue 05

A DARK, DARK HOLIDAY Analyzing and comparing post-celebration pandemic trends Crystal Li

s colorful lights adorn bare fir trees, as the weather drops a few frosty degrees, as the ghost of Thanksgiving still lives on, the holiday season arrives. Due to the current state of the world, it is safe to assume that the celebrations this year will be different. However, end-of-year festivities have always been a fond tradition for many, so how will individuals cross the line of safety for a merry taste of Christmas? According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel considerations, traveling increases the chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and those around you. Those who did travel should quarantine themselves and get tested for the coronavirus as cases surge in the United States. “Traveling is definitely not a good idea,” explained Dorien Zhang (‘23). “The number of cases has increased dramatically a couple of weeks after the holidays.” Thanksgiving travel was far lighter than pre-pandemic

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times. However, US air travel reported its highest numbers since mid-March over the holidays, which leaves out millions of Americans traveling by car to join family and friends at the dinner table. More people passed through airport security checkpoints during the Sunday after the celebration than on any other single day since the pandemic limited air travel, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). It was announced that TSA had screened 1.17 million passengers that day as countless individuals head home from their Thanksgiving travels. That is 41% of the 2.9 million people screened by the TSA on the same day in 2019. Thanksgiving 2019 had set a TSA record. It should be noted that there are lagging indicators to the results of prior transmission: an incubation period. It will take a few days for those who get infected to start feeling sick, to get tested, and to get their results back. It will be a few weeks or so before people who get sick enough to need hospital care show up in

emergency departments. And it could be another few weeks after that before the seriously ill die, and a bit longer before those deaths are recorded in official tallies. Despite the timeline, we are starting to see an alarming post-Thanksgiving COVID spike. Across all U.S. airports, 830 TSA workers currently have active COVID-19 infections. That’s a 38% increase since Thanksgiving Day. In the past two weeks, the TSA has recorded new cases at a surprising 97 airports in the United States. According to the COVID Tracking Project, the seven-day average line presents December 11 as the day with the most US daily cases. With more than 234,800 cases, this day marks approximately two weeks after Thanksgiving day. The number of American deaths inches closer and closer to 300,000. And experts say the worst is yet to come. Furthermore, multiple COVID-19 variants are circulating globally. In the United Kingdom, a new variant has emerged with an unusually large number of mutations.

The Tower

According to the CDC, this variant seems to spread more easily and quickly than other variants. Currently, there is no evidence that it causes more severe illness or increased risk of death. This variant was first detected in September 2020 and is now highly prevalent in London and southeast England. Hitting closer to home, as of January 8, there has been 1 confirmed case in New York and Georgia, 2 confirmed cases in Colorado, 22 confirmed cases in Florida, and, direly, 26 confirmed cases in California. Despite being just a few weeks later after Christmas and New Years’, signs are already foreshadowing an upcoming infection spike. More than 19,000 new cases were counted in L.A. County on New Year’s Day, and 16,603 more joined them on Saturday, according to Los Angeles Times. Those are the third-highest and fifth-highest counts for a single day. On December 11, 2020, the FDA granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine

developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. This should be great news. However, there are still certain individuals who believe that with this new vaccine, it is impossible for them to ever contract the disease or lose their lives because of this sickness -- spurring ignorant carelessness. “This is just proof of how little regard people have for the virus,” said Dorien. “This apathy is likely due to the announcement of the vaccine. But what people fail to understand is that the existence of a vaccine isn’t a reason to live life like it used to be.” No vaccine is 100% effective, and the makers of coronavirus vaccines are still evaluating whether the shots protect against all infections or just those that cause symptoms. Through analyzing case trends after holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years’ Day, it is evident that there is a pattern. And that pattern continues to worsen as people disregard restrictions and put their celebrations above their health. “From one perspective, I un-

derstand that because people want to see their friends and family during the holiday season,” Kasie Leung (‘23) said. “but that doesn’t make it right. It might seem like the impact is trivial if you think you’re the only one who’s decided to see their family over the holidays, but the impact is huge if everyone does it.” Wear a mask, practice social distancing, and let’s not fail the test of our lifetimes.

LOCAL & BEYOND | Issue 05

FIGHTING FAST FASHION

How manufacturers and consumers are dealing with the “sustainability” argument Katherine Ge

isit any social media post tagged #clothinghaul and you’ll undoubtedly find thousands of users debating in the comment section. On one hand, many will advise the creator to stop buying fast fashion; on the other, an abundance of comments also tell people to “mind their own business.” As fashion retailer sites become more abundant on the internet, our desire for clothing has increased. Business Insider stated that “On average, people bought 160% more garments in 2014 than they did in 2000.” A survey conducted by The Tower found that 54 percent of Bishop’s upper school students have bought clothing online in the past month. With the rise of quick, cheap clothing came a flood of people against it due to its environmental effects and the rise of “sustainability.” Big-hit companies like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga have become carbon neutral in effort to reduce carbon footprints--therefore becoming more so-called environmentally friendly. In 2020 alone, a myriad of small “sustainable” businesses took off, and brands like Adidas and H&M began using recycled material. In an email interview

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with CNN, Achim Berg, head of McKinsey’s Apparel, said sustainability isn’t considered an option anymore; rather, “It is becoming increasingly seen by CEOs as a ‘must’ in doing business.” To justify the efforts of the fashion industry trying to become sustainable, we have to look into its reasons. Firstly, fast fashion requires a brutal amount of resources. The fashion industry alone stands at second place for having the largest global water consumption, according to Business Insider. Quantis International, an environmental consulting group, explains that this is due to cotton cultivation, fiber production, and dyeing the textiles. According to Earth.Org, a pair of jeans alone takes 2000 gallons of water to produce. Yet the average human only drinks 183 gallons of water a year. Furthermore, Vox said that the average American generates 82 pounds, or 684 gallons, of textile waste annually. The New York Times added that textiles usually contain synthetics, “so if and when our clothing ends up in a landfill...it will not decay.” The ruthless cycle of leaving unwanted clothing landfills instead of recycling or donating annually loses,

according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, $500 billion of value. Aside from the resources needed to produce it, who actually makes the clothing? Sweatshops, clothing factories with sometimes illegally low wages, are the basis of unethical clothing manufacturing. They have been around for decades, since the late 1800s, but are more common than ever in the 21st century. Brands like Nike, H&M, Forever 21, and Aeropostale rely on them. The Tartan says that without sweatshops, “fast fashion would likely not survive.” The tragic 2013 Dhaka Garment Factory collapse finally brought awareness to the perilous conditions of sweatshop workers, producing a death toll of 1,134. Arizona State University explains that sweatshop workers face numerous other challenges, like “ergonomic hazards...high concentration of dust, poorly ventilated dry-cleaning solvents, or fumes from glues and fabric treatments.” 83 percent of Bishop’s students surveyed confirmed that they were aware of fast fashion’s environmental impact, yet 76 percent continue to purchase it. How come brands like Zara and Forever 21 continue to thrive today?

The Tower

The main reason seems to be social media, fast fashion’s greatest advocate. Vox clarifies that “popular celebrities and influencers, like the Kardashians…have the ability to turn whatever they wear into an instant trend.” The same article claims that “Wearing the same outfit twice then starts to seem taboo.” A 2017 survey by Hubbub, a London sustainability firm, found that 41 percent of 18 to 25-yearolds feel pressured to wear different outfits going out and in social media posts. Owning unethically-made clothing doesn’t mean the fight for sustainability is over. Some previously fast fashion stores like Zara and H&M have begun using recycled materials in their pieces, though it’s met by remarkable skepticism. Brands making notable progress on environmental friendliness include Patagonia, Ghanda Clothing, LA Apparel, and Reformation. They’re using recycled materials and ethical work

and pay, but each company is unique in their efforts as well. For example, LA Apparel pays its workers $12$15 an hour and recycles cotton into their domestically-purchased textiles. Sustainability, however, is not harshly divided; many brands like ASOS, Nike, Everlane fall into gray areas. In an interview with NPR, Mark Summer of the University of Leeds said “Depending on who you talk to, the definition of what sustainable means will vary.” A undoubtedly great alternative to buying online is shopping local, especially going to thrift stores like Goodwill, which is becoming increasingly popular. About 46 percent of younger, “Gen Z” people shopped secondhand in 2019, according to a Survey by Medium. Not only is it cheap, but thrifting also helps reduce the textile waste that usually ends up in landfills. Additionally, it’s guaranteed to find unique or vintage pieces.

Over 250 million children are hired in sweatshops for up to 16 hours per day, 70 million being in child labor.

Since only about 15 percent of clothing is recycled annually, over 13 million tons of textiles reside in small landfills similar to this one, which is in Penang, a Malaysian state. 21 billion pounds is contributed by the U.S. alone.

LOCAL & BEYOND | Issue 05

SMALL SHOP STOP

Why you should start an Etsy shop as a teen in during the pandemic Isadora Blatt

ho’s not to be jealous of @jewelzbycamryn on Instagram? After starting her own jewelry shop on Etsy a little over a year ago, she’s made more than 6,000 sales and gained 17k followers. Camryn’s shop is only one example—many teens have taken quarantine as an opportunity to start their own online business, selling anything from clothes to jewelry to phone cases. Etsy (a platform used to sell homemade crafts) has been very popular, as it is a user-friendly site that allows anyone to run a business for 20 cents per uploaded listing. Nora Bitar (‘25), with her best friend outside of Bishop’s, sells handmade jewelry and accessories on her Etsy shop called Pacific Paradiso. Mira Singh (‘25) paints phone cases and popsockets for her shop, Ocean On The Go. Emeraude Westlake (‘24) makes jewelry, accessories, and tops for hers called BooBoosBoutiquee. So why has starting your own business become a trend during the pandemic? #1: Free time! The main reason this trend started was because of the extra free time that quarantine brings. With Bishop’s online school that finishes promptly at 2:00 p.m., sports practices and other extracurriculars often canceled, and fewer social gatherings, most teens have found themselves sitting at home with nothing to do for many hours more than usual. “I never would’ve started my own business if it wasn’t for the pandemic,” said Mira. #2: As an entrepreneur, you

16 OPINION | Issue 05

can decide your own schedule and work hours. This makes it easy to balance school and other activities since you can take as many days off as you need. “When running a small business, you get to decide your workload and schedule,” explains Mira. “This makes it a lot easier!” #3: It’s a fun way to make extra money. It likely won’t be much, but it is still rewarding to know that you earned that money completely from scratch and out of your own creativity.

“When I see people enjoying the products I make, it’s all worth it.” - Nora Bitar (‘25)

#4: Starting a shop is the perfect way to show off your skills to your friends and family! Having others acknowledge all your hard work is the best feeling. The worst feeling is when your hard work goes unacknowledged. “When I see people enjoying the products I make, it’s all worth it,” says Nora. In July, I started my own Etsy shop called scrunchiesntiedye, where I sell tie-dye clothes. So now that you’re convinced why you should start an online business, I can offer a few tips to help you along the way. First of all, don’t be motivated solely by money. You can’t expect to

make any profit for at least the first few months, as goes with starting any type of business from the ground up. If you want to make some extra money but are having trouble thinking of what to sell, it might not be the right thing for you. Ideally, you already enjoy making a certain type of craft like tie-dye or jewelry and are interested in showing your hobby to the rest of the world. Second, be committed to your business, and publish new listings consistently. Even if you make 10 tie-dye sweatshirts in one day, don’t upload them all in one epic product drop—upload one of them every day or every few days. This is essential in keeping your business’s momentum. To maintain your customers’ interest even more, consider starting an Instagram or other social media account dedicated to your business, where you can post and update your followers every time you make a new product. Third, be inspired, not discouraged, by others’ success. Both Nora and Mira said that it is difficult to see other businesses succeeding more than their own. “Your first thought is that your business isn’t good enough,” says Mira. But you can’t let it take away from your own motivation. Nora has learned that “in a business, success is gradual”. There are many lessons to be learned from running a business. And who doesn’t think it’s cool to see themselves pop up on the Etsy search page?

The Tower

With her best friend outside of Bishop’s, Nora Bitar (‘25) sells handmade jewelry and accessories on her Etsy shop called Pacific Paradiso. She found quarantine to be the perfect opportunity for it, since she has always loved making jewelry.

Emeraude Westlake (‘24) also runs her own Etsy shop, called BooBoosBoutiquee. Similar to Nora, she and her friend outside of school hand make jewelry, accessories, and tops.

Mira Singh (‘25) sells hand-painted phone cases and popsockets on her shop, called Ocean On The Go. She enjoys using her shop as an outlet for creativity while also learning more about business and time management.

OPINION | Issue 05

CHECKMATE

On The Queen’s Gambit’s rise to popularity and universal appeal Clare Malhotra

New York Times best selling book. A TV show ranked number one in 63 countries. Top ten in 92 countries. Sixty-two million viewers in the first 28 days. The Queen’s Gambit was released on Netflix on October 23, 2020, and viewing rates skyrocketed to make it Netflix’s most popular scripted limited series ever. The total of 62 million households who watched the TV show in its first month on the streaming service fell just short of the uber-popular, unscripted, documentary-style show Tiger King. The seven-episode miniseries—based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel of the same name—was an unlikely star: few viewers understand the complexities of chess and tournaments tend to consist of significantly long periods of silent staring. Many watchers wondered: what makes The Queen’s Gambit so enjoyable? Each episode is named after a different aspect of chess, and in the first episode, “Openings,” a differ-

ent, younger actor—Isla Johnston—portrayed lead character Beth Harmon in a depiction of her childhood struggles and her introduction to chess. It has a much more storybook, isolated feel, as Beth loses her mother to a car accident and goes to live in an orphanage known as the Methuen Home. It is the 1950s in Lexington, Kentucky, and the orphanage has a mysterious and twisted underside; they dispense mandatory tranquilizers to the girls each day, which would catapult Beth’s struggles with addiction. In the dingy basement, she finds an escape in the game of chess after the custodian, Mr. Shaibel teaches her to play. As she lies in bed, the tranquilizers enable her to visualize a chessboard and mentally play out the game, later leading to a dependence on the pills. Years pass, and Anya Taylor-Joy assumes the role of Beth. She is adopted out of the orphanage and begins to win chess tournaments, rising into the international spotlight of the 60s.

In The Queen’s Gambit, main character Beth Harmon played by Anna Taylor-Joys truggles with addiction as she rises into the international spotlight for her chess abilities. 18 REVIEWS | Issue 05

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“It is, of course, about a woman who is brilliant at chess and that rises to the top of a male-dominated field, but...pretty much every field is male-dominated, so it’s more about a really brilliant person who struggles with herself and overcomes that internal struggle.” - Lead Actress Anya Taylor-Joy

She also meets chess player Benny Watts, portrayed by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, known best by teens as Newt in the Maze Runner movies. Neither Taylor Joy nor Brodie-Sangster portrays their character as particularly outwardly emotional. “They’re both oddballs and they both stand out,” Brode-Sangster noted in a Review Nation interview. Both, however, find personality in their intelligence and slight frigidity and haphazard internal emotions. “She [Beth] can’t reach out to [the people around her] because she’s not comfortable in herself,” explained Taylor-Joy in an interview with The Guardian. Harmon’s rise to prominence in The Queen’s Gambit has led to an 87 percent increase in the sale of chess sets and a 603 percent rise in chess books. “The show inspired me to start learning the game and taking lessons,” Bish-

op’s Senior Whitney Hejmanoski explained. There has also been increased dialogue about and attention drawn to the women in chess. According to the New York Times, only one woman—Judit Polgar—has ever been ranked in the world’s top ten players, and men so frequently beat women that they usually play separate tournaments. In nearly all of the tournaments throughout the TV show, Beth is the only woman. Rather than a tomboy fashion sense, she wears consistently feminine outfits that blend 1960s tradition with a modern style. “They aren’t mutually exclusive,” Taylor Joy noted about Beth’s genius and love for feminine fashion in a Mashable interview. “You’re supposed to want whatever it is that you want and be able to go after it regardless of your gender.” The show takes creative liberties in that players often speak

during chess matches, and the games move relatively quickly. But more than that, many reviewers believe the story is not really one of chess; the New York Times frames it as a “coming-of-age story about a woman succeeding in a male-dominated world, and a restrained spin on an addiction saga, as Beth [Harmon] rises in the chess hierarchy on a steady diet of alcohol and downers.” Taylor-Joy agrees that chess can be a metaphor for any person’s, especially a woman’s, internal struggle. “It is, of course, about a woman who is brilliant at chess and that rises to the top of a male-dominated field, but...pretty much every field is male-dominated, so it’s more about a really brilliant person who struggles with herself and overcomes that internal struggle.”

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TAYLOR SWIFT’S EVERMORE An album review Sariah Hossain

urprise, again. Just five months after the dayof-release announcement of her eighth studio album, folklore, Taylor Swift released her ninth: the steady, wistful, beautifully contemplative evermore. She introduced evermore as folklore’s sister record, establishing a similar genre and production, the same aesthetic and universe. “To put it plainly,” Swift wrote in her album announcement, “we couldn’t stop writing songs. To try and put it more poetically, it feels like we were standing on the edge of the folklorian woods and had a choice: to turn and go back or to travel further into the forest of this music. We chose to wander deeper in.”

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The surprise and novelty in folklore’s 180-degree pivot from its predecessors–a creative leap characteristic of a new Swift album or era–wasn’t there to prop up evermore. This time around, the record and its songs were more forced to carry their weight without the buzz that comes with an artist redefining their sound. Perhaps evermore was done a disservice in setting up this unavoidable comparison with the lauded and beloved folklore, but perhaps that record’s success–and, surely, quarantine-induced alone time–allowed Swift to create more freely, unburdened from tour planning and talk shows and the need to rebrand herself to keep people interested. “I was danc-

ing when the music stopped, and in the disbelief I can’t face reinvention,” she murmurs in “happiness,” a track she wrote just a week before the album’s release. “You haven’t met the new me yet.” It was smart of Swift to lean further into her strengths on evermore, keeping production restrained and intentional while setting her lyrics as the record’s centerpiece. Both in its sudden arrival into our music libraries and in the nature of the album itself, evermore sneaks up on you. I’ll find myself taking a momentary pause while listening, suddenly keenly aware of the profundity or relatability of a line (“I made you my temple, my

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mural, my sky, now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life,” from “tolerate it,” or “My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand, taking mine, but it’s been promised to another, Oh, I can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland,” from “ivy”). I’ve found that evermore is at its best when you listen to it with intention. Less obviously catchy than a pop record, it requires a few careful listen-throughs to stick, but it doesn’t leave once you let it in. There’s an element of give-andtake in the interactions between the stories Swift tells and stories of the listener–your stories, or mine–that makes the album feel distinctly alive. I’ve come to appreciate the record more as

I’ve found pieces of my own thoughts in the sentiments Swift sings about. Her greatest virtue as an artist is her penchant for creating songs, webs of one-liners and specific, gutting details, that we can project ourselves onto. These songs are her stories, but really, aren’t they all of ours? evermore is collected, it’s mature, it’s cool – if we’re thinking in terms of sister records, it’s folklore’s older sister who drinks whiskey, reads Donna Tartt, and has lived through love and hurt. While folklore, especially in its latter half, can feel like an anthology of individual stories tied together by general theme or production, evermore feels more centralized, and perhaps real-

er because of it – like “Modern Love” columns as opposed to something like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” folklore feels its emotions the way a teenager does–intensely, consumingly–but evermore? evermore knows better. “gold rush” is the solitary track that could feel like it belongs on folklore, its enchanting, layered, synth-andstring production reminiscent of “august”; both songs have the fingerprints of Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff all over them. Swift wrote that “gold rush” takes place “inside a single daydream where you get lost in thought for a minute and then snap out of it,”

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snap out of it,” and its anchoring bassline is reminiscent of an indie film’s dream sequence, where a character hears their heartbeat thumping loud in their ear as the rest of the world spins and blurs and shines. True to its purpose, the track does feel like a starry-eyed interlude of sorts, sandwiched between the ballads “champagne problems” and “‘tis the damn season.” If “gold rush” is a musical standout, “champagne problems” is a lyrical one, reaching into evermore’s goodybag of compelling characters and pulling out a deeply honest and heartbreaking narrative of a woman turning down a proposal, the decision stemming from a jumble of unreadiness and the allud-

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ed-to obstacles her mental illness has thrown into her relationship. Swift has consistently been so skilled in crafting a bridge, and “champagne problems” boasts one of her finest, ever. It’s an instant classic in her vast discography. Somewhere in the months between folklore and evermore, Swift seems to have found a science for keying in to the emotions of her audience at this late-pandemic moment of time– craving company after spending too much time inside your own head, sinking back into old habits for comfort, or just wanting to leave for a shinier, more exciting life. Two of my favorites, “tis the damn season” and “dorothea” do exactly that in a two-sided

portrait of highschool sweethearts all grown up. Dorothea chases stardom in Los Angeles but returns, nostalgic, to her hometown of Tupelo–Elvis Presley’s birthplace, actually–for the holidays in “tis the damn season” (“I’m staying at my parent’s house, and the road not taken looks real good now”). Her former lover sings to her in “dorothea,” an ode to what they used to be (“Dorothea, they all wanna be ya, but are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers?”). As a listener, there’s a little thrill in piecing together the other side of a story, like finding hidden treasure on the other side of the tracklist.

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tracklist. It’s a brighter quality of both folklore and evermore. The established atmosphere is fit for a winter album, even putting aside the holiday titles and the distinct lack of winter here in Southern California. It’s melancholy and reflective and reveals the wisdom of a year come and gone. In “marjorie,” Swift honors her grandmother, repeating “What dies didn’t stay dead, you’re alive, you’re alive in my head,” until it sounds like an affirmation, a prayer. And “cowboy like me,” a late-night-empty-diner-slowdance love song, seems poised to be one of her most underrated, sneaky-good tracks. There are patches where the record loses some of its rumbling magic:

“happiness,” “closure,” and closing song “evermore” are so close to being pulled off but fall a little flat in comparison to the tracks they share airtime with. Still, the lows on evermore, though lower than those of folklore, are still at least a head above the weak parts of Swift’s earlier albums. Her growth is here, it is evident, and the collective strength of two albums recorded and released in the span of 9 months is laudable. folklore, in retrospect, felt a lit tle distant–like a wonderful and wellspun dream from which, after you wake up from it, you can still feel the emotions it stirred deep inside you. evermore is startlingly intimate and quite real. It’s comforting not in the gath-

er-round-the-living-room-fireplace kind of way, nor in the hug-from-aloved-one way.There’s something reassuring in just knowing that another feels the way you do, thinks the things you’re thinking, feeling. That doesn’t seek to cheer you up, but hears you. evermore seeks to do just that, and in my book, job well accomplished.

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Top Ten Bishop’s Catchphrases

“Let’s go to the bookstore”

“The Bishop’s Difference”

“Brick and Bell?”

“Daddy bought me a Tesla”

“Better Buzz?”

“Did you see the DU this morning?”

4. 5.

“We’re a different kind of cool”

Origin: The Website. It’s a wonder this is still up there after it’s been memed so hard.

Origin: Unknown. Used ironically to mock how much Bishop’s advertises itself as super special.

Origin: Unknown. Pretty self-explanatory. Some people have a lot of money.

“Questions, Comments, and/or Concerns?”

Origin: Coach Carr. This infectious feel-good slogan has reached the entire school and is now regularly used by History department teachers.

“Go in peace to love and serve one another” Origin: Rev. Fiddler. Used in really wholesome Chapel moments. Reverend Simopoulos likes it so much she made merch.

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10.

Origin: Kids who have no money limit. Not as common now that literally no one comes to campus but we love the nostalgia.

Origin: People with pastry deficiencies and caffeine addictions. You don’t even need to say anything like “Do you want to go to...”. People just know.

Origin: People who are seriously addicted to caffeine. Honey, are you OK?

Origin: History teachers. They love current events and the Tower is really long. :(

“Is my skirt too high?”

Origin: Panicked students. The fact that people have to worry about this is a sad commentary on objectification.

PHOTO

CREDITS 06

GAME, SET, MATCH

CAMPUS CASES

[local & beyond]

FIGHTING FAST FASHION

[opinion]

SMALL SHOP STOP

[cover]

A DARK, DARK HOLIDAY

CHECKMATE

TAYLOR SWIFT’S EVERMORE

[campus]

[reviews]

PC: Renee Chong (‘22)

Courtesy of Knights News

Courtesy of @marissaorton and @Marufish on Creative Commons

Screenshots by Isadora Blatt (‘24)

Art by Crystal Li (‘23)

Courtesy of @anyataylorjoy on Instagram

PC: Beth Garrabant

Front cover thanks to Lucie Edwards (‘21) Back cover courtesy of @Googoo85 on Wikimedia Commons

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