St. Anne's Newspaper
2020-2021
St. Anne's Newspaper
In the News
Simply the Best
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Holocaust Remembrance Day
By: Claire Wallerstein
January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a solemn day worldwide to remember all the lives taken unjustly during the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, approximately six million Jews were murdered, along with any person of color, or people who were disabled, and anyone who criticized the Nazi leadership. Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed worldwide, and leaders usually speak out about why we must remember the Holocaust so we never again let so many people be tortured and killed. It is celebrated on January 27, the annual anniversary of the liberation of concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the most notorious and deadly camps. In just over four and a half years, this horrible camp killed 1.1 million people, many of them Jewish. Had this camp not been liberated, millions more innocent Jews would have been murdered. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly resolution declared a worldwide day for people to remember the liberation of the camp, and educate people around the world on the atrocities the Nazi regime and its collaborators committed on Jews. Holocaust survivors were also given free Covid-19 vaccines. Erika Jakubovits said, “We owe them this.”
My grandfather, Ladislao, was born in Budapest, Hungary, and when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, his parents sensed trouble brewing for Jewish families like their own and fled to the United States, New York City. But, NYC was “full” and they were told to go south, to Cuba. It was a good thing they did, because after they fled, Germany would invade Hungary and kill many Jews. Eventually, after graduating from college in Cuba, my grandfather moved to the United States. It has always been a sensitive subject for me, since I have always been interested in the Jewish faith and knew about the Holocaust since I was young.
The Holocaust was a horrible atrocity that must be remembered so that it will never again be repeated. People must pass on what happened to future generations, so they know to never be blinded by hatred and violence. Millions of families were wiped out, many innocent people who did nothing wrong were put to death. Even today, anti-semitism still exists. If future generations continue to be educated and reminded about what happened during 1941-1945, they hopefully will never make the same horrific mistakes. It was hatred, and people standing by and being scared and doing nothing, that allowed the Holocaust to happen. Holocaust Remembrance Day is an important day to not only educate people on the Holocaust, but marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Jeff Bezos Stepping Down from Amazon
By: Austin Hsu
Jeff Bezos has announced that he will be stepping down from the position of Amazon’s CEO (Chief Executive Officer). This news came from the fourth quarter earnings report of Amazon, an American technology company, offers e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence services. Being one of the most valuable companies in the world, its soaring stock (in part due to COVID-19) has made Bezos the richest man in the world (only being briefly passed by Elon Musk). With this event, he will be replaced by Andy Jassy, the current head of AWS (Amazon Web Services). Bezos will step down to an executive chairman and focus on his other companies. These include Blue Origin, the Washington Post, and the Bezos Earth Fund (his climate project).
The reasons behind this are to do with Bezos’ stress, and his lack of time for his other companies. By stepping down, he could take a smaller share of the work at Amazon, enabling him to work on his other projects and companies. Blue Origin, his space company, has been widely viewed as the rival to SpaceX (also wanting to build reusable rockets and promote space travel/tourism). He has invested billions of dollars into the company, and he claims it to be his big passion. He also owns the Washington Post, a media source that he purchased back in 2013. All Amazon employees reportedly got sent an email about this event. Nevertheless, Amazon is expected to continue its market growth (despite shares flattening after Bezos’ announcement), and it will continue to be a major player in both the US and world technology industry.
Kamala Harris: Vice-President of the United States
By: Christina Chew
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On January 20, 2021, Kamala D. Harris of California was sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States. What is the significance of this? Not only was she the first female to hold such high ranks in the U.S. government, she was also the first African-American and South Asian American woman to hold office. Her story is a story of hope for all girls and people of color. Throughout her career, she had been shattering glass ceilings and became a lot of “firsts”: the first female district attorney of San Francisco, the first female attorney general of California, and the first Indian American in the US Senate. This historic woman had many memorable accomplishments.
Kamala Devi Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California, to a Jamiacan father and an Indian mother. She studied political science and economics at Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, D.C.. After her graduation, she then proceeded to earn a law degree from Hastings College of the Law at the University of California. After Kamala had her law degree, she joined the district attorney office as a deputy in Alameda County, California. After holding several public offices, such as sitting on California’s Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and running the Family and Children’s Services Division, representing child abuse and neglect cases for San Francisco’s city attorney Louise Renne, she ran for District Attorney of San Francisco against Terence Hallinan and Bill Fazio. She won with 56% of the vote and became the first person of color to be elected to the post. She ran for attorney general of California against Alberto Torrico and Chris Kelly in 2010. She won with 33.6 percent of the vote. With her win, she became the first woman, the first African American, and the first South Asian American to serve as Attorney General for California. In 2014, she ran for re-election for attorney general against Republican Ronald Gold. She got 57.5 percent of the vote to 42.5 percent (Ronald Gold). When Barbara Boxer retired from the United States Senate, Kamala Harris ran for Boxer’s senate seat in 2016. She ran against Loretta Sanchez, a congresswoman and fellow Democrat, and won, capturing over 60 percent of the vote with all but four counties. She was even sworn into the Senate by Joe Biden! Now, in 2021, she is the Vice-President of the United States. These, for sure, are some great accomplishments, especially for a female and a person of color! If you want to know how you can have great accomplishments like Kamala Harris, I would say dream big. According to the book called Phantom Tollbooth, “so many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” You must also work hard. The Vice-President didn’t get her ranks overnight. She had to work hard for people to vote for her. You must do that as well. Work hard and dream big. As Vice President Harris said in her inauguration speech, “This is a country of possibilities. With hard work and a big dream, anything is possible in the United States!”
A Six Planet System
By: Cassandra Conde
Astronomers have found a remarkable solar system. It is a system of planets orbiting a nearby star. For one thing, there are at least six planets found orbiting the star. For another, the outer five planets are orbiting the star in synch, moving like dancers to the tune of gravity! The star is called TOI-178, and it's a hair over 200 light years from Earth. TOI stands for TESS Object of Interest, a star with candidate planets detected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.
TESS looks for regular, periodic dips in starlight indicating that we are seeing planets passing directly in front of the star, making a mini-eclipse, what we call a transit. That only happens when we see the orbit edge on. But from that period (the planet's "year") and the size of the planet can be found, bigger planets block more light. When astronomers analyzed the TESS observations of TOI-178, they found there are six planets orbiting the star, and the outer five planets all have periods that are simple multiples of each other!
The planets are called TOI-178b through TOI-178g (the first planet discovered is given the star's name plus a lower case b). The periods of the planets, in order out from the star and in Earth days, are b = 1.91, c = 3.24, d = 6.56, e = 9.96, f = 15.23, and g = 20.71.
They tend to slowly move closer to the star. As this happens, they can move into a resonance pattern, and their gravitational interactions tend to reinforce the pattern. If one planet moves a little too fast the planet outside it pulls it back a little, and vice-versa.
On the other hand, having five planets in a chain like this can be a delicate thing. If one planet is off by even a little bit, it can throw off the entire dance. This will cause the planets' periods to change, disrupting the resonance. A reaction like this, tells us something about how they formed: It must have been a relatively gentle process, allowing them to settle into these orbits. If there had been another big planet yanking on them, it would have disrupted the chain. The star is roughly 7 billion years old, so this system has been stable for a very long time.
I'll note that these planets are pretty close to their star, which is what we call a K-type star, smaller and cooler than the Sun. Still, they're very close and all cooked by it.
Transits tell us the sizes of the planets, too: In order from the star, the planets' size relative to Earth are b = 1.18, c = 1.71, d = 2.64, e = 2.17, f = 2.38, g = 2.91. They're all bigger than Earth, but smaller than Neptune, so we call them super-Earths on the low end and mini-Neptunes on the bigger end (they're all mixed up).In our solar system, the smaller planets orbit closest in, and the giants farther out. That's not the case here.
Odd, but there's more. The astronomers followed up on the discovery with other telescopes to measure the reflex velocity of the star, which tells us how massive the planets are (as they orbit the star they tug on it, making it go around in a complex pattern; the more massive the planet the harder it tugs).
If you calculate the density of the planets (the mass divided by volume) it's even more mixed up. In terms of Earth's density (about 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter, or 5.5 times as dense as water), in order, the planets of TOI-178 are b = 0.91, c = 0.9, d = 0.15, e = 0.39, f = 0.58, g = 0.19. So the inner two are a little less dense than Earth, but d is much less, with e is much denser than d, and f denser still, and then g is way lower. They're all over the place!
The density is important because it tells you what kind of planet it is. Gas giants have densities up to 0.2 Earths or so, and rocky/metal planets closer to 1. Here we see they're mixed up in their order from the star, completely unlike our own solar system. That's hard to explain, and is telling us something important about how these planets formed. We just don't know exactly what yet.
I'm delighted that we're finding all these systems so different from ours. I was going to call them "odd" and “complicated” at first, but I wonder. If this one is only 200 light years away, it implies systems like this are common; it seems like long odds one would be so close if they were incredibly rare. Maybe we're the weird system. I think that would be delightful, too. Maybe we just seem normal because we're what we're used to and that's what we base our opinion on.
Mental Health During the Global Pandemic
By: Princewill Onyebuchi
We are no strangers to a little extra stress and anxiety, especially, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the effects of the pandemic, such as death, hospitals being overwhelmed. Public health measures can make persons feel alienated and alone, such as social distancing, and can increase depression and anxiety.
A lot of the stress caused by the spreading of an infection like Coronavirus can also lead to:
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Fear and concern of the health of you and your family and friends, your financial condition or employment, or the lack of social resources that you depend on.
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Differences in sleep or feeding habits.
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Difficulty to relax or focus.
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Worse of serious health conditions.
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Worse in mental health problems.
Physical wellness is a vital aspect of health and well-being overall. It influences our thinking, feeling and behaving. It can also influence our management of tension, our interaction with others and our decisions during an emergency.
Persons with mental health problems or disorders with the use of drugs can in an emergency are especially vulnerable. Mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia) impair the mind, feeling or attitude of an individual and impact the capacity of the individual to communicate and function with others on a regular basis. This may (short-term) or long-lasting situations (chronic). Persons with mental health problems need their care extended and new or deteriorating signs should be noted. Contact the health care professional if you find you have different or worse symptoms. The CDC recommends taking care of your mental state by:
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Refraining from saddening yourself with news of the pandemic.
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Breathe in deeply or extend the outside icon or meditate.
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Eat good balanced food.
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Regular exercise.
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Get enough sleep.
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Take your time to relax. Try to do something else you like.
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Reach out to others. Connect to others. Talk to trusted people and socialize
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Connect to your community and religious organizations. While measures to distance the social community are put in place, consider connecting via social media, telephone or mail.
Like they say, Keep Calm and...well, you fill in the rest.
The New COVID-19 Vaccine
By Annika Watkins
According to federal officials, the United States registered its 16 millionth COVID-19 case on Saturday, even as a newly approved vaccine is already being circulated and vaccinations are scheduled to begin Monday. It has taken the U.S. three months to register its first million cases but between the 15th and 16th million case thresholds. It has only been four days, just another indication that the virus is spreading at an alarming and deadly rate. But in the coming months, the nation's first approved Covid vaccine promises to help delay the pandemic, as the federal government races to distribute it rapidly.
Vaccinations will begin on Monday, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a Saturday meeting. First in line are health care staff and nursing home patients. Fact sheets detailing the risks and benefits will be provided to patients and caregivers. Officials of the Food and Drug Administration informed the American public that the department did not cut corners stating that improved technology created a more efficient process in its analysis and encouraged individuals to get vaccinated. The United States is on the cusp of losing 300,000 individuals to COVID-19.
"Science and data guided the FDA's decision. We worked quickly because of the urgency of this pandemic, not because of any other external pressure," FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said. "I will absolutely take this COVID-19 vaccine." Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the FDA, said the FDA needs vaccine developers to monitor while they seek standard approval for "any significant adverse events" There is also oversight by the FDA and the CDC, he said. More information on whether some groups of people could get the vaccine was given by officials. People who are pregnant or immunocompromised and who have not been included in safety trials should discuss the vaccine on an individual basis with their providers.
Allergic reactions would be treatable at locations where the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is administered, Marks said. About 1.6 percent of people have had a significant allergic reaction to food or something in the environment, but Marks said that they are willing to receive the vaccine. The vaccine should only not be given to those who have experienced a significant allergic reaction to a prior dose of the vaccine or one of its components.
Experts agree that the ingredients in the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine look typical: fats, salt and sugars, active ingredients (in this case, messenger RNA). Dr. Matthew Heinz, a Tucson, Arizona-based hospitalist, said it could be one of the components of the fat molecule if any aspect of the vaccine were to cause an allergic reaction. That's unusual, however, “We're talking about a number of relatively mild reactions that can be counted on one hand,” said Heinz. This week, two British individuals with serious allergies reportedly had reactions to the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech. In the U.S. trial, in which more than 20,000 participants received two doses of the vaccine, allergic reactions were not a major issue. Subjects that had extreme allergic reactions were kept out of the U.S. trials. In conclusion, the vaccine will react differently from person to person. However it seems likely that those with preexisting conditions reacted negatively.
Starship SN8 Takes Flight
By: Austin Hsu
In the afternoon of December 9, 2020, a prototype Starship vehicle, specifically Serial Number 8 (SN8), made its first high-altitude test flight. This flight, according to estimates, had a ⅔ chance of failing, as it was the first of its kind. It had been delayed from the previous day due to an abort of its Raptor engines. Nevertheless, the rocket soared into the sky to its target altitude of 12.5 kilometers (about 40,000 feet), turning engines off in succession as it reached its apogee. Once all three engines were shut down, the vehicle used its fins to control a “bellyflop” descent as it horizontally fell toward the landing pad. Before landing, two of the engines reignited as planned for the landing, but one unexpectedly cut off and the other was producing a green flame. Due to a lack of sufficient velocity reduction, the vehicle slammed into the landing pad and exploded.
The landing failure was attributed to abnormally low pressure in a header tank as a result of the high velocity of the “bellyflop'' greatly shifting the gases. As a result, one engine didn’t receive enough fuel, hence the shutdown, and another had a flood of oxygen without methane to combust with. This rich oxygen environment corroded the copper materials inside that engine, leading to a green flame. The test flight was considered a complete success by many, as the prototype had actually performed better than many expected. Lots of data was gained, and it’ll likely prove valuable to perfecting the vehicle. Meanwhile, SpaceX has recently completed a replacement for SN8, which is dubbed SN9, and there are many more in production. It is highly likely that we’ll see a similar test flight conducted with SN9 by January or February 2021.
Has the Biggest Dinosaur Been Found?
By: Cassandra Gwyneth Conde
Some paleontologists in Argentina may have discovered bones that they believe belonged to a very large dinosaur, it would have been the largest land animal to ever live on earth. A pile of bones from Patagonia, Argentina, has been confirmed by paleontologist that it has been bones from a dinosaur known as a sauropod, according to a paper published in the scholarly journal “Cretaceous Research”. Sauropods were dinosaurs with extremely long necks, extended tales, small heads and legs that resembled trunks or pillars. Some examples of famous sauropods that existed were the Brontosauruses, Apatosauruses and the Brachiosauruses.
The bones discovered in Argentina's Province appeared to have belonged to a group of enormous sauropods, the titanosaur. Experts believe that the titanosaur survived right up until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. That was the moment roughly 66 million years ago when an asteroid is thought to have hit the planet and wiped out a majority of the animals that lived here at that time. Up until then, titanosaurs are believed to have thrived in the same areas of South America where the new fossils were discovered.
It is unclear whether this new dinosaur surpasses the size of the patagonian (one of the biggest titanosaurs), as well as that of every other known sauropod, because the fossil record is incomplete. With that said, scientists are intrigued by the measurement of the pelvic bones and vertebrae that have been discovered.
A paleontologist with Argentina's Museo de La Plata and a co-author of the study, Alejandro Otero, reported the finding and said that there was a number of physical differences between the new dinosaur and other titanosaurs that lead scholars to believe that it belongs to a different and larger group of dinosaurs. These include the shapes of various parts of the vertebrae, the appearances of the neural spines (or the spike-like appendages that appeared on the backs of many dinosaurs) and also the complete differences in size. Otero also pointed out that "this new specimen comes from a younger age than Patagotitan."
Otero also said that, "the specimen here reported strongly suggests the co-existence of the largest and middle-sized titanosaurs" along with smaller sauropods known as the brachiosaurus "at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous in Neuquén Province." That suggests that natural selection forced different species to find alternative ways of using their environment in order to coexist, a phenomenon known as "nice partitioning." The new findings in Patagonia have "contributed to a better understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of titanosaurs, revealing the existence of a previously unknown lineage and shedding new light on body mass evolution." Otero said.
With that said, Otero said that the new findings will not change that much about what we know regarding paleontology without additional research.
A Military Coup in Myanmar (Burma)
By: Austin Hsu
On February 1st, the military of Myanmar, or the Tatmadaw, deposed the legitimately elected State Counsellor/president Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League for Democracy party. The coup occurred in the nation’s capital, Naypyidaw, in the early morning. After Kyi was detained, the Myanmar Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hliang was effectively made military dictator of the country, with the country’s vice president Myint Swe ascending to the role of acting president. This was likely driven by the military’s strong desire to hold onto central power within the political structure of the country.
From 1962 to 2011, the country of Myanmar had effectively been ruled under a military dictatorship. After losing their absolute power, the military kept the right to certain aspects of government including the ability to choose 25% of parliament members. After the November 2020 election resulted in Suu Kyi’s landslide victory and her NLD party’s massive victory in the legislature, the military started spreading claims of election fraud and declared the results invalid. Rumors spread around that a coup was imminent until February 1st, when Internet and cellphone lines were deprived of connection before the army conducted the coup. Besides Suu Kyi and her cabinet/advisors, about 400 members of parliament were also taken and a few dozen other officials were as well. Not long after, these detainees were charged by the military, and a strict curfew was imposed nationwide in major cities such as Yangon (Rangoon), the capital Naypyidaw, and Mandalay. In addition, a one-year state of emergency was imposed, where the military pledged to hold elections (it is assumed these elections may be rigged in favor of the government).
In the aftermath, protests and riots across Myanmar sprung up in defiance of the coup. They called for the military to step down and reinstate Suu Kyi as the legitimate democratic ruler of the country and for other officials and representatives to also return to their offices as well. People flocked to the Internet to spread their voice of democracy, and in response, the military government blocked communication apps and shut down the Internet in the country. Worldwide, many countries, especially Western democracies, greatly condemned the coup and called for the democratically elected leaders’ release. Other countries and autocracies such as China and Russia also expressed concern, and called for dialogue between the world and Myanmar. Intergovernmental organizations did the same, with a resolution in the UN proposed that would strongly condemn the coup and urge the military to step down and restore democracy. Nevertheless, the military is expected to hold onto power through brute force for the near-future.
COVID-19 Vaccine
By: Zaara Dhaddey and Ella Gorospe
Although COVID-19 was discovered over a year ago, we already produced a vaccine. It’s the quickest the world has ever done so, before COVID, the quickest to ever produce one was four years. Unlike other vaccines, in the U.S, the COVID vaccine requires you to take two doses each twenty days apart for the most effective results. There are three distributions for the vaccine here, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer. More than 27 million Americans already have their first dose, and 6 million both doses. The vaccine has no serious side effects other than symptoms of a cold. In other parts of the world, there are other places and distributors for it, none that we use here though.
The United States has decided to distribute the vaccine in phases to people who need it more, starting with healthcare workers and residents in long-term care facilities in 1a. Healthcare workers and residents in care facilities are getting it first because they are at most risk of getting it, and could spread it as well. The next phase, called 1b, vaccinates essential frontline workers and people ages 75 and older. Frontline workers include fire fighters, police officers, postal service workers, grocery store workers, teachers, and daycare workers. The last phase, 1c, has people 65-74 years old, people who are 16-64 years old with serious medical conditions who are more susceptible to COVID or can get worse symptoms, and more essential workers. As the COVID vaccine starts distributing around the US, more and more Americans are stopping the spread of COVID-19.
A Huge Cold Storm Cripples the Central & Southern U.S.
By: Austin Hsu
Across the central and southern United States, a massive storm has been causing many record-low temperatures. Heavy snow and rainfall have affected up to 200 million people, with many in the storm’s path preparing to keep themselves warm over abnormal below-freezing weather (homes in the southern US were not built to keep heat in). Power grids across the impacted areas were overwhelmed, and millions have been left without power to their homes. The worst-hit outage area has been Texas, where over four million buildings and homes have lost power completely in temperatures as low as -30 degrees. With the shortfall in power generation, rolling blackouts have begun in some areas, where power supply would be rotated evenly between areas, shutting off some areas and powering others and switching in defined intervals of time. People were quick to criticize the government and infrastructure. Nevertheless, with a lack of power, people have been desperately looking for alternative sources of heat. Some used their cars, while others used fireplaces. Nevertheless, the harsh weather has caused casualties, with over 20 people across the country dead due to causes such as suffocation (from cars and fires while trying to stay warm), car crashes (due to the stormy weather and freezing), and subfreezing temperatures (people freezing to death). Other places impacted include Appalachia, the Great Plains/Ohio Valley (Midwest), and New England.
It is expected that these conditions, caused by a system of cold air, will continue for a few days in a significant number of areas as a result of a second storm closing in on the Southern US. Conditions will probably get slightly worse before subsiding. During this time, air travel, power usage, cell service, businesses, and schools were shut down or at the least limited. Texas counties scrambled to use up their COVID-19 vaccine doses before they were lost (the lack of power disabled cold refrigeration). People are currently being urged to remain indoors and wait out the harsh conditions, with some areas across the country (including all of Texas) having a state of emergency. Federal and state authorities are preparing to aid recovery efforts after this event is over. Until then, more will likely perish and services will continue to be halted.
How can Vaping Be Bad for Your Body?
By: Valeria Fuentes
Lots of people want to stop smoking. Smoking can create problems in your organs and especially causes problems in your heart. Studies show that E-Cigarettes are less harmful than actual cigarettes. This is because E-Cigarettes burn nicotine, they also have flavorings, and have fewer chemicals than a traditional cigarette. E-Cigarettes are still bad for you though. Nicotine is highly addictive and you can crave smoking which is not good for you. E-Cigarettes can be just as addictive as normal cigarettes. A Report from US surgeons says that the use of E-Cigarettes for high school students has increased by 900%. 40 percent of those young people have never smoked traditional cigarettes before. Johns Hopkins lung cancer surgeon Stephen Broderic says,” With tobacco, we have six decades of rigorous studies to show which of the 7,000 chemicals inhaled during smoking impact the lungs. But with vaping, we simply don’t know the short- or long-term effects yet and which e-cigarette components are to blame.” Both smoking and vaping include warming a substance and breathing in the coming about vapors. With conventional cigarettes, you breathe in smoke from burning tobacco. With vaping, a gadget (ordinarily a vape write or mod, an improved vape write) that can see like a streak drive) warms a fluid (called vape juice or e-liquid) until it turns into a vapor you simply breathe in. In San Francisco, some voters go for proposition E back in 2018. Proposition E was supposed to ban all flavored tobacco products. Voters backed it despite an expensive advertising campaign funded by a major tobacco company.
Myanmar Military
By: Austin Hsu
Ever since the February 1st coup by the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) against Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democratic politicians, people have been protesting very frequently in support of restoring the ousted democratically-elected government. Strikes have occurred in mass, resulting in severe pressure on the country’s economy. Companies have opted out of business out of fear of harassment or violence. Unfortunately, however, the military is ignoring demands for them to step down, instead escalating the crackdown on civilians and resorting to brute force to achieve their ends. Harsher and harsher force was used gradually, resulting in a total of about 150 shot dead by live ammunition and many more injured during these past weeks. Some police and the military were indiscriminately harassing, dispersing, beating, and killing peaceful and violent demonstrators alike. In the face of hopelessness, however, the movement perseveres and is still going strong, with the Burmese people determined to win their democracy and prevent a military dictatorship from solidifying its power.
In the United Nations, Russia and China have used their veto powers to prevent any resolution condemning the coup to pass. This has given the junta breathing room to commit more atrocities and ignore the opinions of the outside world. All that major Western world powers (who are generally against the coup) can do is issue criticism without taking much action, as the Chinese government doesn’t want democratic powers at their doorstep, or for instability to take hold near them. This position has become clear, with China and Russia favoring a “restoration of order” without calling the event a coup. As a result, rioters have burned down Chinese factories in the country while also fighting the military government’s power. It is expected that the government will continue to hold onto power and intensify the crackdowns, leading to more casualties and violence. If the movement fails, Myanmar will become a symbol of autocracy winning over democracy.
A New Southern Border Crisis
By: Austin Hsu
At the U.S.-Mexico border, there has been a massive surge in arrivals at the border, resulting in a total count of over 15,000 unaccompanied children held there. Both migrant families and unaccompanied children have been heading up north in search of asylum or what they believe to be a better life. Like before, they are either fleeing violence and disorder in their own Central American countries or attempting to gain a better source of income to sustain their families and escape poverty. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has detained many and taken them into already crowded border facilities, overflowing them and only making living conditions worse. In these facilities, people are being crowded together without social distancing, sleeping on the floor in cramped areas surrounded by chain fences or plastic walls, and enduring other harsh conditions. This wave of activity after the election of President Joe Biden is likely due to both softer border policy (not deporting unaccompanied children/halting the construction of Trump’s southern border wall) and migrants’ beliefs that he will be more welcoming and friendlier to them than the previous Trump administration (also spurred on by human smugglers in Mexico).
Domestically, the President has deployed FEMA to help with the humanitarian aspects of the situation at the border. Deportations (of accompanied children/families) from the border have risen, and security forces are greatly struggling to stop migrants from crossing illegally in mass. The current administration has indirectly pinned the blame on the previous Trump administration and has refrained from firmly calling it a “crisis” so far. Various politicians, mostly Republicans, have been quick to pin the blame on Biden’s “weak policies, poor handling, and ill-preparedness” for a crisis that they believe was inevitable. Mexico has also been requested to help ease the pressure, and their government’s response has been and likely will continue to be to step up raids on migrant caravans/smugglers and turn back/deport as many as possible at Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala. Despite all these measures, the surge is likely only going to get worse with time, as many are getting the memo that Biden would be a “president for migrants” in their eyes. In addition, some migrants have been pushed on their dangerous journey with nothing else to lose, seeing America as their only hope for a better future for themselves or their children.
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Vaccines for 12-15 Year Olds
By: Cassandra Conde
On Wednesday, Pfizer said that Covid-19 vaccines are 100% effective for young adults in the age of twelve through fifteen. This is good news for middle schoolers. They will be able to get their Covid-19 vaccines before fall, and might be able to go to school. Pfizer and BioNTech are planning to create a partnership, so that Pfizer can submit the new data onto the vaccine and, hopefully, distribute the vaccines to the adolescents.
“We share the urgency to expand the authorization of our vaccine to use in younger populations and are encouraged by the clinical trial data from adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15,” said Bourla, in a press release.
There was a trial held, which enrolled 2,260 participants in the United States. Eighteen Covid-19 infections were confirmed in the placebo group. However, in the group that received the vaccines, there were no confirmed Covid-19 infections.
Children's immune systems respond differently than adults' immune systems do. That is why the clinical testing of vaccines for kids is still not complete.
The company declared that the vaccine obtained with a vigorous antibody that responds with children. Giving children vaccines is pivotal to putting an end to this pandemic. The United States is not likely to attain herd immunity without children getting vaccinated. About %20 of the U.S. population is made up of children. Somewhere between %70-%85 of the U.S. population need to be vaccinated to attain herd immunity.
“We’re talking about improving the safety of youth activity like youth sports and youth art and youth extracurricular activities,” Isaac Bogoch said.
Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine has now been given permission to be used for people sixteen and older.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical advisor, said that the United States will be distributing vaccines to older kids this fall while they might distribute vaccines to younger kids early next year.
An Accidental Shooting
By: Austin Hsu
In the afternoon of Sunday, April 11, in Brooklyn Center (just outside of Minneapolis), Minnesota, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was tragically shot by a local police officer, Kim Porter, and later died from his injuries. Initially, he was pulled over due to an expired license plate. After officers ran Wright’s name through a database, it became apparent that he had a warrant for his arrest (for carrying a permitless pistol and for fleeing from a police officer). At this time, he was apparently calling his mother regarding the pullover. Police then ordered him to exit his vehicle, but before he was handcuffed, he suddenly attempted to return to his driver’s seat and resisted his arrest. While he was wrestling in his driver’s seat, Porter wielded her pistol (instead of a taser) and performed standard protocol to warn her colleagues of an imminent taser discharge (“Taser! Taser! Taser!”). Then, instead of tasing Wright, he was shot by a single live round before speeding away (the car crashed into another, and Wright was found dead). Porter and the other officers were in shock from the accidental discharge (based on bodycam footage and early indications/information so far).
The event triggered unrest nationwide---the most severe occurring in Brooklyn Center itself---with violence among some peaceful protestors taking hold. There were also some reports of looting. In response, curfews have been imposed in the local area around the shooting site. Many celebrities and some organizations online have also spoken out and offered sympathy to Daunte Wright and his family, calling for a thorough investigation and police reform in the country. Officer Porter and the police chief have permanently resigned from their positions, and the former will face second-degree manslaughter charges for her actions. An investigation into the situation is currently ongoing, with current focus being on the cause of the discharge as well as Wright’s resistance to arrest. (For the record, police are trained to use a taser and other equipment with their non-dominant hand and their pistol with their dominant one.) Meanwhile, the George Floyd trial continues
not more than ten miles away.
Ingenuity Helicopter Performs First Powered Flight on Mars
By: Austin Hsu
On April 19th, the helicopter drone Ingenuity performed the first ever powered flight on another planet. The brief flight lasted around 40 seconds, and the helicopter reached a sustained altitude of 10 feet above the surface before touching down. Due to the thin Martian atmosphere (consisting mostly of CO2 and has an average density of less than 1% of Earth’s oxygen atmosphere), the rotors needed to spin extremely fast at 2400 RPM as opposed to only about 500 RPM for the main rotor on regular helicopters on Earth. Weighing in at around 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), this tiny probe had been previously brought to Mars mounted on the bottom of the Perseverance rover. Over the course of several weeks after the landing in Jezero Crater, the probe was slowly lowered and extended its legs before being dropped onto the Martian surface. Unlike its mother rover, which uses an RTG for power (which lasts decades and converts the heat emitted from a radioactive isotope into electricity), this drone uses a small solar panel due to the need to keep the design compact and light. The flight was originally scheduled to take place around a week beforehand, but a bug in the software caused a rotor test failure and required new programming to correct it.
The flight has been widely advertised as the “Wright Brothers moment” of Mars, and Ingenuity cements this by carrying a small piece of wing covering from the original plane Wright Flyer, which became the first aircraft to fly back in 1903. The drone is planned to perform four more flights over the next two weeks of ever increasing difficulty and length in order to further validate the concept of flight on another planet. Afterward, its mission will likely end due to Perseverance needing to move on from being a stationary communications hub for Ingenuity to carry out its own mission (it needs the rover’s stronger transmitters to have the strength to communicate with Earth). The data gathered from these test flights will be insanely valuable in the design and development of future missions that use similar technology, including the future NASA Dragonfly quadcopter drone (which is larger and heavier than Ingenuity and will expand on flight technology on other worlds) meant to explore Saturn’s largest moon Titan.
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❁❁Earth Day❁❁
By Mikayla Cheng
Today is Earth Day, the time of year when we pay extra attention to our environment. We do stuff like pick up trash, plant trees, flowers, and other plants to help our environment. Earth isn’t doing the best right now, and we are at risk for intense climate change. During quarantine, it seems everything is just different, and we can’t do as many things as we want to. With the billions of students all over the globe also stuck in the pandemic, the increase in use of electronics has spiked. Because most students are doing online school, computers, ipads, and other electronics with Zoom installed on there are being used a lot more than before the pandemic started. The overuse of technology can release chemicals such as copper, aluminum, and iron. They are released and accumulate in the air. Before the pandemic however, our planet was still at risk for climate change.
Earth Day was a holiday first celebrated on April 22, 1970. In Wisconsin, there was a senator who was beside himself when he thought that the Earth wasn’t getting enough attention. So, Gaylord Nelson decided to create a holiday dedicated to our planet. Over 20 million people participated in helping the Earth that day. Now, every April 22nd, Earth day is celebrated. However, in the late 1900’s, scientists realized that climate change was becoming a problem. And today, it still is. However, just because Earth Day is the special day to help our Earth, that doesn’t mean that we should neglect it any other day. I think we should try our best to save our planet every day, or as often as we can. When quarantine is over, and we go back to school, we should also try to clean up our school yard.
COVID-19 Hits India Hard
By: Austin Hsu
Currently, the COVID-19 virus (most notably a double mutation variant) is surging throughout India at a rate never seen before worldwide. There are around 350,000 new cases and almost 3,000 deaths daily in the large South Asian country of 1.4 billion, which is roughly one death every four to five minutes. The fragile and underfunded healthcare system of this part of the world was completely unprepared for the second wave, with basic medical supplies, ventilators, and oxygen running extremely low. Hospitals were overflowing well over maximum capacity, with parking lots and hallways being used to house as many beds as possible. In addition, the number of deaths has been overwhelming crematoriums, who are literally running out of resources to cremate so many bodies (especially in hard-hit areas such as Delhi). India has passed 200,000 total deaths, with cases (on record) only surpassed by the US. It is likely, however, that some positive cases and deaths aren’t documented, resulting in some estimations of the true number of cases being many times higher than reported.
Currently, there is a massive oxygen shortage in some cities and regions, and patients have died due to a lack of it to run their ventilators. India’s government has pleaded for foreign aid to help combat the deadly virus swarm. The Biden administration has pledged to send aid such as masks, PPE, ventilators, oxygen, and important vaccines (specifically the AstraZeneca doses not approved for use in the US). Other countries are doing similar things to assist, as the mass infections in India have higher chances of producing mutated virus variants resistant to drugs and vaccines (which would cause further harm worldwide). Within their own borders, the Indian government has been criticized for their lack of preparation and their cockiness before the catastrophe, with “victory” being declared prematurely in January. They have also been asking for criticism of their mismanagement to be suppressed and silenced in social media and the press, which has drawn further negative attention. Only time will tell as to whether this massive pandemic can be adequately contained.
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NASA Helicopter Landing
By: Zaara Dhaddey
On Monday, April 19th, 2021 NASA’s helicopter took a test flight. This little helicopter made history by being the first thing to fly on another planet. It was 4lbs, and first made contact with mars in February of 2021. The helicopter stayed in the air for 40 seconds before landing. It has four foot blades and went more than 10 feet up in the air before taking a picture then landing. Furthermore, NASA states that it was a “gentle flight,” with light winds only reaching 13 miles per hour. NASA also states that after the flight the helicopter is in great shape and there was no damage done. You can see the footage of the flight on NASA or CNN.
Just today, April 22, 2021, NASA’s helicopter took another flight. It took off at 2:33am western time. This time, it rose to 16 feet. According to The New York Times, “It tilted itself by 5 degrees to move seven feet sideways, hovered and turned to point its color camera in multiple directions, then returned to its starting point to land.”
This is one of the biggest steps in the past couple of years for our future with Mars. Scientists are even looking at it as a future home! But, with this there is always more to discover and figure out. But, this shows scientists that they can, and it is one big step towards the future. Using this, scientists can know what sustains and what doesn’t on Mars, but there will always be trial and error.
Vaccines Available for Calfiornians Ages 16+
By: Claire Wallerstein
Starting today, Californians aged 16+ will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This is a large milestone for all Californians alike, because now minors are able to receive the vaccine. The Coronavirus pandemic has been going on for over a year now. During that year, people have been forced to quarantine in their homes, wear masks, and keep 6 feet away from others outside their household. It has been very tough, but having the vaccine available to everyone ages 16+ is good. The order wasn’t supposed to go into effect until today, but appointments were available for people in this age group as early as Wednesday. Some people report side effects, while others don’t. Some of the commonly reported side effects are pain at the injection site and chills. However, the amount of people looking to get a vaccine is larger than the amount of vaccines. This is good and bad. It is good in the sense that this means that lots of people want the vaccine, but bad because more people want it than what is available. Here are the numbers: There are 32.2 million people eligible for the vaccine in California. Some have already been vaccinated, but millions still haven’t. California received 2.4 million doses of the vaccine, and 1.5 million of those were for the first dose. As the vaccine is distributed throughout the U.S., we hope to see the numbers of new cases and deaths go down drastically.