Category Archives: Opinion

Opinion

Smith’s Slap Reflects Toxicity of Revenge

Copy Editor: Cristian Velazquez

  The internet exploded near the end of March when, during the 94th Academy Awards on live television, after Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s extremely short haircut while presenting an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, her husband Will Smith avenged her by getting up from his seat and striking Rock across the face with an open hand, then walking back to his seat without saying a word. Smith then continued to escalate by yelling profanities at Rock; making the auditorium gasp, fall silent, and leaving a disconcerted Rock to continue the award ceremony. Smith would win an Oscar for Best Actor about 45 minutes later; giving a tearful acceptance speech for over five minutes, where he apologized to the Academy and the award nominees, but not to Rock.

  “I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people,” Smith said in contrast to his actions not even an hour prior.

  “Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said. I look like the crazy father just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things,” Smith said, referencing his character in the movie King Richard (2021) he won an Oscar for portraying. Rock made a similar connection before he was slapped. “Uh Oh! Richar…” Rock said laughing as Smith walked on stage.

  I became aware of the incident the night it happened after looking at my phone before I went to bed, as is my bad habit. Going to school the next day, the meme had entranced the majority of the student body. I joked with my friends and laughed about it. People in the hallways were talking about it. People in my classes were talking about it. Two of my teachers discussed the incident with their class.

  As teenagers, we can probably all relate to situations where an insecurity is agitated by someone, we act out emotionally in retaliation, and then suffer the consequences for our actions; penally and emotionally. Countless physical fights at schools follow this formula. A quote dubiously attributed to Benjamin Franklin rings ever-so true in cases like these: “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.”

  Smith has since posted an apology to Rock, the cast and crew of King Richard, and the Williams family on social media. He resigned from the Motion Picture Academy while awaiting his punishment from the organization, which was revealed last Friday to be a ten-year ban on attending Academy events. However, none of these acts can make up for the deep, dark shadow that Smith cast on his accomplishment and the accomplishments of others at the Academy Awards with his belligerence that night. His attempt to get even with Rock ended up having multiple negative repercussions that rippled across the Academy, the public, and his own career.

  Many have come in support of Rock for enduring particularly humiliating unjustified violence; myself included. However, some believe that, regardless of Smith’s conduct, Rock’s joke was in extremely poor taste as Pinkett Smith has publicly stated she wears a shaved head, not purely as a style choice, but to conceal her hair loss condition.

  “Jada, I love you. G. I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it, all right?” Rock said smiling; comparing Pinkett Smith’s haircut to the Demi Moore character’s haircut in G. I. Jane (1997), where Moore plays the fictional first woman Navy SEAL, Jordan O’Neill, who also sports a shaved head. Some of the audience, including Smith, laughed at the joke, but many audience members expressed shock and thought it went too far, and Pinkett Smith’s face immediately displayed disapproval. “It’s—that was a—that was a nice one!” Rock said after the joke before continuing his monologue.

  While people may criticize Rock for making a dubiously dubbed “ableist” joke, It is actually Rock who suffers from a disability. In 2020, Rock revealed he was diagnosed with nonverbal learning disorder (NVLD), a neurodevelopmental disorder that hinders comprehension of nonverbal communication. Given this information and Rock’s body language at the time, one can reasonably infer then that he was not even aware that his person was in danger before the slap because Smith failed to give a verbal cue until after he attacked him.

  I do not want to say that Jada Pinkett Smith should not have rolled her eyes and endured the joke. Despite what she has said about her haircut, she is not completely comfortable with her status as shaved-headed, and her feelings were hurt. If the Smiths did not want to take this sitting down, there were multiple options to address Rock’s transgression. They could have expressed their disapproval of the joke by giving a statement after the ceremony, incorporating a statement during Smith’s acceptance speech, leaving the ceremony, or all of the above; perhaps guilt-tripping Rock to make an apology later on and raising awareness for hair loss among women.

  Talking about what could have happened that night won’t change what has already been done. But hopefully for Smith, and for us in our worst moments, we can recognize our mistakes, forgive, and look forward towards a brighter future.

Opinion

Simple Steps You Can Take To Enhance Your Privacy Online

by Staff writer Cristian Velazquez

When most people think about internet privacy, they think that the tools for utilizing it are reserved for either criminals, whistleblowers, or crazed conspiracy theorists. That could not be farther than the truth. Developers have been crafting software and tools for a long time to make privacy as easy as possible for everyday people. As concern over Big Tech grows as time goes on, people with a passion for protecting your privacy have been developing the competition to companies that take users data to make money off of you through targeted ads that don’t seem to go away. Here are some simple steps to take back your data and take back control over your digital life.

Surfing the Web

With your browsing habits being able to reveal numerous aspects of your personal life, this is one of the most important areas of your digital life to modify. A great start is to use the DuckDuckGo search engine, as opposed to Google Search. What makes DuckDuckGo so great is that it doesn’t store any data that could personally identify users, such as your search history, IP address or device information. This way, user search queries don’t fuel the “creepy ads” that follow you around based on what users lookup. However, targeted ads still can haunt you through the trackers that most of the websites users visit have. To remedy this, you need a good browser.

A picture of DuckDuckGo’s homepage. For a cleaner look, try start.duckduckgo.com

One of the best web browsers for keeping yourself private and secure is Firefox. Firefox is widely recommended by privacy enthusiasts not because of what it can do out-of-the-box, but because of its ability to be modified to better protect you against tracking, or “hardened”.

Firefox is also open source, meaning that the source code of the software is freely available to view and modify. Open-source software isn’t good for privacy in and of itself. But since the code of the software is open to scrutiny, open-source software is trusted to do what it says it does.

Take some time in the preferences menu (gear icon) to harden Firefox. Set DuckDuckGo as your default browser, set Enhanced Tracking Protection to Strict, set cookies and history to clear after Firefox closes, disable any data collection from Firefox, and go into HTTPS-Only Mode. Be aware that some of these modifications can and will break some websites or website features (such as staying logged in to websites). If you want to see how these changes affect users’ browsing habits, make these tweaks incrementally.

For mobile browsing, Try the DuckDuckGo app, the Firefox app, and the Firefox Focus app. All of these apps are free, open-source and have privacy in mind.

Chatting with friends

Users texts and calls with people they know are also a treasure trove of personal information that people and companies are interested in. One of the easiest and most popular way to make your communication more secure against threats to your privacy is to install and use Signal. Signal uses end-to-end encryption when sending messages, which essentially means that no one but the user and whoever you’re chatting with can digitally access your texts, calls, etc. Furthermore, Signal goes above and beyond other encrypted messengers by being open source and never collecting personal data (except for your phone number, which is required to use the service). Although Signal only works with people already using it, inviting your friends to use the app is easy and built into the app with a setting that sends a message to one or more contacts inviting them. With features that other apps for communication have, such as video calls, audio messages, group chats, the transition for you and others should be very smooth. Signal also comes with some fun privacy-centric features, such as disappearing messages and a tool to blur identifying information in photos (such as faces and license plates).

These are some very good first steps to take in the internet privacy journey. However, this merely scratches the surface and much more knowledge is available from enthusiasts in online communities who will help you with similar novice advice and also guide you through more advanced steps to strengthen your privacy, like switching to a Linux OS, using Firefox extensions, and utilizing more open-source software. Here are some of those communities. Make sure to cross-reference sources and check dates when services and methods are recommended so users have the most up-to-date and helpful advice to maintain privacy.

Opinion

Editorial: Equal representation for all

By Taylor Alton Staff Writer

President-Elect Joe Biden is not the only winner this election season. Various communities nation-wide have found remarkable representation among the senate, house of representatives, state legislatures and even in the place of Vice President. Women, Native Americans, African Americans, Asians, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Latinx people, and Muslims have been elected making a mark across the country.

The most well-known “first” this election would be Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, who happens to be the first woman, the first person of South Asian descent, and the first black person to hold this important position in the office. In Orange County, California, Michelle Steel and Young Kim will be taking two seats in the House of Representatives as two of the first three Korean American women elected. Another historical candidate is Yvette Herrell of New Mexico. She is the first Native American Republican to serve in Congress and is part of New Mexico’s historical congressional representatives, all of which are women of color.

Speaking of these women and their leadership positions, 2021 will have at least 141 women serving in Congress, 14 more than in 2019. Specifically, the Republican Party played a significant role in this new record. Although there are far more Democratic women than Republican women in the House of Representatives, the Republicans went from 13 women in the house to at least 26, doubling their numbers. Going back to explicit diversity, approximately 51 congresswomen are women of color, more than ever before. Despite women only making up about one-fourth of Congress, this new representation still packs quite the punch, allowing for American citizens to see themselves represented in government, regardless of gender.

Other monumental moments belong to the LGBTQ+ community. Mauree Turner ran as the democratic candidate for the state legislature in Oklahoma. Their win makes them the first openly non-binary state legislature in the whole country, and also the first practicing Mulsim in the position for the state of Oklahoma. In New York, newly elected congressmen Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones will be the first openly gay black men holding this position in Congress. Similarly, all the way in Flordia, Michele Rayner-Goolsby will be the state’s first openly queer black woman in the House of Representives. And Shevrin Jones will be Flordia’s first openly gay Senator. As for the transgender community, Delaware’s Sarah McBride will be the country’s first transgender Senator. As mentioned before, this remarkable diversity allows people nation-wide to gain a sense of belonging by seeing people they can relate to, in those political positions.

2020 has been a crazy year, full of ups and downs. But this election season has brought hope for a better future. These record-breaking candidates are more than just some numbers and names. They are a step in the right direction towards unity and inclusivity in America. Politics aside, everyone can agree that diversity brings us together, instead of tearing us apart. And with that being said, congratulations to everyone who ran for office whether they won or lost, they are setting the precedent for younger generations that you can do anything regardless of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.

Opinion

Politicians, Influencers, Celebrities encourage Voting

By Taylor Alton Staff Writer

  This election season, Politicians, influencers, and social media applications nationwide are putting in their best efforts to inspire those young voters to make their mark. Social media apps look a little different. Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Tiktok have all added features to their layouts that have to do with voting. For example, Instagram has introduced a new Voting Information Center. This can be accessed many ways from the app, one of which being by tapping on a tab attached to a celebrity’s post encouraging their audience to vote. The Voting Information Center is a very convenient way to find information about how to vote. It selects your state for you, and offers information about how exactly you can vote. On my Instagram account, the Voting Information Center has selected Texas for me, and gives me the dates regarding early voting, deadlines regarding mail-in ballots, places I can vote in person, and ways to check if I am registered to vote. All of these are relative to my location and very helpful for anyone who happens to be a first-time voter. In addition to these features, Instagram is making huge efforts to prevent misinformation about voting and the election. Instagram also offers cute and fun eye-catching stickers to post on stories and remind people to vote. Especially since social media platforms mainly consist of the younger generations, these informative new features are a great way to encourage young people to vote.

  In more efforts to encourage young people to vote, United States congresswomen, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar, took part in a Twitch Stream a couple of weeks ago where they played the very popular multiplayer game, Among Us. AOC had tweeted out, asking if anyone wanted to play the game with her to “get the vote out”. Numerous well-known Twitch streamers such as Pokimane, Myth, Disguised Toast, and Dr. Lupos, all reached out and agreed to play with her and representative Omar. A day later, these congresswomen set up their games and were ready to play. AOC’s Twitch stream “had a peak live viewership of well over 400,000 people” according to the Washington Post, which is said to be the third-highest in Twitch history. This extraordinary turnout not only due to Ocasio-Cortez’s already massive appeal to the younger generation but the fact that she and popular gamers were playing a very trendy game together. All throughout the three-hour stream, both congresswomen and even the gamers they played with, made sure to remind their audiences of how important it is to vote. They also take some time to briefly discuss political topics such as health-care, in a simple matter their primarily younger audiences could understand. Although not all of AOC’s 400,000 viewers are of the age to vote, providing this type of information is still vital when educating the younger communities about what is going on in America. All and all, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s and Ilhan Omar’s efforts as congresswomen to appeal to their audiences of young people, whether they can vote or not, was an amazing success.

  The turnout and usage of these two different methods of encouraging young people to vote may be successful, but we won’t know the final impact until Election Day comes. Until then make your voice heard, vote.

Opinion

Flu shot significance, public health concerns

Emma Szabo

With flu season in full swing, many people are asking a very important question — is the flu shot really necessary, or can I go without one? Plenty of people choose not to get their flu shot based on the many myths circulating, but the truth is that getting a flu shot can help protect your body and help prevent the spread of sickness within your community. Viruses like the flu are spread through droplets that leave a person’s body when they cough, sneeze, or talk, and the symptoms of the flu are serious enough to kill, so it’s important to keep yourself and others safe. Choosing not to get a flu shot because of something you’ve heard circulating that may not be true isn’t worth the danger of getting sick or infecting others.

In order to understand the dangers of the flu and why the flu shot is important, the symptoms and the myths surrounding the flu need to be known. There are two main strains of the flu, type A and type B. They both have the same symptoms, but type A can be spread by both humans and animals and the symptoms are more severe, while type B spreads slower and can only be spread by humans. The Texas Influenza Surveillance Activity Report has confirmed both flu types A and B are active in Bexar County, and surrounding areas are having more flu cases each week. The flu has symptoms

similar to a cold, like a sore throat, stuffy nose, and fatigue, but the symptoms of the flu show up abruptly while symptoms of a cold will appear gradually. Unlike a cold, the flu can give you muscle pains, chills, chest pains, inflammation of the heart and brain, and can lead to more serious conditions like pneumonia and can cause bacterial infections. These symptoms and conditions are especially dangerous for children under five and adults over 65, who make up almost 85% of seasonal flu related deaths. Another group of people that are at high risk of developing flu complications are people with asthma, who are more likely to develop pneumonia from the flu than those without asthma. The flu shot protects against both strains A and B and can easily prevent all of these symptoms, which range from annoying to dangerous, and prevents the virus from spreading to the people most vulnerable.

One of the most popular myths going around about the flu shot is that it can give you the flu. The shot no longer includes a living or weakened flu virus, but instead uses a dead virus or genes from the virus that will produce a response from your immune system. Since there is no living virus in the shot, there is no way it can give you the flu, but the shot can cause soreness, headaches, and fever. If you do get the flu even after getting a flu shot, it may be a different strain than what the flu shot protects against, since the shot only targets the most prominent flu strain of the season, or you could have been infected with the flu before getting the shot. The vaccine takes about two weeks to be fully effective,

so it’s recommended that people get the shot before the end of October so the vaccine is in effect by the time flu season is at its worst. It’s never too late to get a flu shot, though. Doctors recommend getting the flu shot even if it’s late in the season, since late vaccination is better than no vaccination.

Another myth is that the flu isn’t that serious, so healthy people can skip the shot. Even the healthiest people are susceptible to the flu, and being healthy doesn’t guarantee protection from the disease. The flu is also a very dangerous virus, which killed around 61,200 people last year and has already killed 1,124 people in Texas this year. Only two of the deaths were children, but both were not vaccinated for this flu season. The flu can and will kill, and the only way to prevent it is by getting a flu shot every year.

Because the flu is a widespread and serious virus, getting a flu shot is easy and can be done at almost every convenience store with a pharmacy. At most pharmacies, the flu shot costs around $40, but Costco has them for only $20 for both members and non members. Getting a flu shot is more beneficial in the long run than skipping it, and it helps others stay safe from the virus. Besides the basic measures of washing your hands, coughing into your elbow, and limiting contact with sick people, the flu shot is the only way to decrease the chance of getting the flu. Essential oils and washing your hands all the time can not protect you from the flu, but a flu shot can. Not getting the shot is a useless risk to take, and the consequences can affect everyone around you. Friends, classmates, family, and everyone you regularly interact with may have a higher chance of getting the flu just because you didn’t want to get your vaccine. It’s a completely safe and low cost shot, so there isn’t any reason to avoid getting it. The best way to keep yourself and others healthy every flu season is getting the flu shot, which is the best protection against getting sick.

Opinion

Testing causes student anxiety, unnecessary

Kace Schermerhorn

Semester exams start on January 14 and they run through January 17. The exams, which are district enforced, are unnecessary. Why do we need to take an exam that has to go toward our final averages to prove what we learned? Why can’t students just take the class, pass all 6 six-weeks, and be done with the year? Why do we have to make it so complicated? According to ABC, a national survey of 1000 young people aged between
14 and 25 experienced an increase in stress from 51.2 percent in 2017 to 65.1 percent in 2018 from exams. Students have to complete these unnecessarily large packets, which are given in several classes, and are expected to finish them before the exam day. It’s also terrible timing taking second semester exams are on the last week of school. Who wants to have to worry about exams during the week before summer vacation? No one.

The big problem with midterms is we are expected to take a STAAR exam as well. While STAAR exams are state-based and would be difficult to remove, they cover the necessary information to pass the class as opposed to what the teachers put on their own final exams. Grandview University History Professor Kevin Gannon stated that he sees students who can do A work all semester and then their

grade perishes from the exam. He later asks why semester exams are ever necessary. To answer his own ques- tion, he says that while the exams show what students learn, one exam cannot truly show a students learning capability, as some students may be having a bad day or cannot function as normal. He uses the Indianapolis 500 as an example, and says that the winner can win the cup just by doing better than the other racers on the final lap, even though one racer may have done fantastic on the previous laps.

Students can fail one of the three tests that they take a six weeks and still manage to pass the class. But, if you fail the final exam, you most likely won’t pass the course, as it’s 20% of your grade. And this goes especially with those people taking a class that is considered to be “difficult.”

The thing with STAAR exams is that they don’t go toward your final average; they’re just an exam, that you still need to pass that you take to see if you understood the course. Students don’t have to study as hard for the STAAR exam as they do for final exams. In my opinion, I hate both. But that’s just me saying that, and I know a lot of people feel the same way. But it does make sense to have an exam
to determine how much you actually obtained from the course. Gannon also stresses that in his experience he has seen that final exams show which students are tired, stressed, sick, or overwhelmed and which students are good at taking tests. His claim completely aligned with mine in the sense that we both agree that semester/final exams are a waste of time, paper, and student stress/anxiety. If that wasn’t enough proof, according to a Mental Help study, students were asked how often they were stressed throughout the semester. 89 percent of students said they were stressed at least two to four times per semester, and

thirty percent said they were stressed for almost the entire semester. Thirty-one percent of students surveyed said that finals were the biggest source of their stress. Research shows that semester exams only cause stress and anxiety for students, and are an overall waste of time.

Opinion

A “Constellation” Series Review

Jennifer R. Gardner

Staff Writer

The final installment of the “Constellation” series “Defy the Fates” by Claudia Grey was released April 2 of this year. After about a year-long wait “Constellation” fans can finally sink their teeth into this conclusion. For a series recap, the story centers around teenage orphan Noemi Videl who goes off to fight for her planet’s independence from Earth in a futuristic setting where the Earth has been revenged from years of pollution and overcrowded conditions. The Earth wants to use up their other interplanetary colonies for resources and land against their will which causes a war between the colonies and Earth. During this war, Noemi stumbles across a forgotten mech, a sort of cyborg android, Abel who had been left behind by his father and creator Mansfield. As the series goes on, both Noemi and Abel travel across different star systems and learn to look deeper into themselves and the world around them. Along the way, these two encounter many new people, obstacles, and moral dilemmas that force them way past their comfort zones and boundaries.While this series was a pretty interesting ride, it did fail to fully utilize the sci-fi premise as it leaned heavily on troupes for its plot’s major developments.This reliance on troupes wasn’t a bad thing but the series as a whole could have definitely gone deeper into the ideas it presented.

The first area needing development was its use of supporting side characters. But the very diverse supporting cast, with differing motivations, was one of the positive things in the series. Aside from the main characters, they aren’t given as much time for the audience to get to know or care about. An example of this is with Virginia Redbird, a sassy tech nerd who definitely provided some of the comic relief within the story. She could have easily been included as one of the main characters if she had been given more time with the audience and a bigger role to play other than the ship’s main mechanic. Because the story focuses so much on Noemi and Abel, Virginia is forced into the limelight time and time again. This kind of treatment would be fine if she weren’t such a big part of the plot. Her quick-wit and backstory are eclipsed by the slow burn romance between Noemi and Abel. While Virginia’s neglect could be justified by her tendency to be a lone wolf, there are other characters whose ideas and gray morals could have been better explored, either with more conversation or a better fleshing out of their backstory. This problem is obvious with the lack of attention towards the leader of the terrorist group Remedy. The author meant for her, Riko, to be morally gray in that she uses excessive threat because she feels it is the only way to stop Earth’s tyranny.What the author does well with this character is that she shows her twisted moral compass and how it hurts the resistance rather than aid it, but what could have made this better was if the audience was more acquainted with Riko herself and with Remedy’s other members. By showing the audience how other members of Remedy feel about their actions towards the Earth and how it impacts them, their families, and their small community, the story could have taken a grittier tone and opened up a deeper discussion about how oppression brings out the worst in human nature.

Furthermore, for a book that claims to explore distant planets and star systems, it sure spends a lot of time with Noemi and Abel. Alone. On a spaceship.Talking. Putting all of the plots’ weight upon these two characters is a bit risky but for the most part, thanks to the couple’s banter and personal growth, these long stretches of them just traveling around and spending time with each other were some of the most charming scenes. But when you have an intergalactic war with differing perspectives, characters, planets, and challenging moral dilemmas just waiting in the background of the plot, it can seem a bit too convenient for them to just have all this time to themselves. There’s a part of the first book, “Defy the Stars” where Noemi and Abel watch Casablanca as they wait for the repairs on their ship to finish. Now, this was a pretty cute scene that added a bit more fleshing out to Noemi’s backstory and how the loss of her family had affected her, but the way the author does this is through dialogue.What could have shown through Noemi’s interactions with other character and help her grow herself outside of the Earthship she has with Abel is instead told to the audience directly from Noemi herself. Usually, authors follow the mantra of ‘show don’t tell’ but with Grey, she’s using dialogue and inner thought to convey and explain too much of the character’s actions to the audience. If the goal for the main character was embedded a bit better than the audience would not need constant reminders on why Noemi and Abel are scrambling around the galaxy like lost chickens.

This leads into the third issue that hinders the book’s overall impact and pacing. Now pacing is a tricky subject, some books and media do it perfectly and some miss the mark, but that said a general rule of thumb is that the pace you have in the first chapter of a book is the one you have to try and at least stay somewhat true to. With the first book in the series, the pacing started out slow and stayed that steady but was completely thrown kilter with the third book “Defy the Fates”. One of the main concerns fans of this series had was that the third book was considerably smaller than the first, something very unusual for the final book in a series in comparison with other literary works. For reference “Defy the Stars” had 501 pages while “Defy the Fates” had little over 466 pages. A 35-page difference may not seem like a lot but take other book series like “Harry Potter” with a 374-page difference between its first and final installment. Now a page difference may not be as big a deal, but seeing as “Defy the Fates” was meant to tie up all the loose ends and leave the audience with something to take away from the book series as a whole, it should have been longer. This ties into the final book’s weird pacing because, even though it was shorter, it still had an almost laughable amount of added drama between the characters, planets, and Abel’s creator. Now, this could be seen as a good thing, if the audience had been given more time with the supporting cast and the world. But to rip us from the main characters and shift the previously established focus is quite jarring.

All this being said, the “Constellation” series still had redeemable qualities that pushed it past being a mediocre read. But those same qualities should have been utilized to a greater degree within the story’s narrative to make it a stronger and overall more satisfying ending.What could have been a fantastic cautionary tale about the exploitation of resources and how oppression impacts different groups of people was not given enough breathing room to become more than a slow burn romance with bits of action sprinkled in.

The second installment of the “Constellation” series, “Defy The Worlds.” Photo courtesy of Google.

The final installment of the “Constellation” series, “Defy The Fates.” Photo courtesy of Google.

Opinion

Censorship in journalism

Emily Bayardo

Staff Writer

Censorship, the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security. Censorship is a common issue that is faced throughout day to day life. Whether that be through art, photography, internet, television, or journalism censorship occurs quite often. So, who exactly has the power to deem what is considered “acceptable?”Often times, the public turns to the generic answer of either the government or private groups.As of recently, there has been a movement in Texas to eliminate prior review and censorship within journalism. With that being said, the argument that is presented is “does censorship suppress the First Amendment right of free speech?”

Over years of rapid technological advancements, social media platforms such as Twitter are in use as information outlets that journalists can use to share their stories.These platforms have also taken on the role of censors, while somehow attempting to find the duality of free speech in moderation of a couple policies. Clearly, there are many cracks and flaws within this attempt. Content is flagged, blocked, or even taken down completely without warning.This can be detrimental to the public due to the fact that so many people turn to Twitter, Facebook,Youtube, and/or other forms of online media rather than classic outlets that would not publish such content. There is obviously a clear difference in numbers a story reaches if only one-hundred people are able to read it over one-hundred thousand.

Online media censorship is actually found very commonly across school districts. Now, yes, there is an extent as to where it is understandable to place restrictions and I acknowledge those circumstances. However, while using the internet at a school, there is always a common issue of material that gets flagged and then blocked.This is an issue because as students are trying to research for projects, work on online assignments, etc they are unable to reach these sites due to censorship proxies placed by the district.

Another issue that is also holds controversy is the power of prior review. Prior review occurs when a person of authority outside of a staff of editors, demands and insist they read a copy of the article(s) prior to the distribution and publication of the piece. At Har-Ber High School, in Arkansas, the newspaper staff ran into this problem. After re-publishing a previously censored editorial that had criticized the district’s inconsistent policy on transfer students, the staff faced backlash from the Spring- dale School District. Jared Cleveland, the district’s deputy superintendent, demanded that both articles get taken down immediately due to its disruptiveness. This had been taken to court and under Supreme Court Ruling Tinker V. Des Moines (1969) the story was in no way as controversial and disruptive to be censored by a public school. According to SPLC Senior Legal Counsel Mike Hiestand, the school officials have their backs against the wall and are insinuating that despite what the law says, they will do what they want.

Change is most definitely needed. Stu- dents, young writers, and journalists should not have to fear that their writing and stories will become censored because of shedding light onto the taboo.What is needed is an uncensored platform, within moderation, to bring light onto the subjects. As a result, the New Voices of Texas Bill is having its hearing in state courts. The bill protects young individuals right to share ideas and gather information relating to current public concerns.

Neha Madhira, one of the student founders for New Voices of Texas. Madhira is a senior at Prosper High School. Photo courtesy of CNN.

Opinion

Games and Mental Health

Jordan Barton

Staff Writer

I sat on my step grandma’s living room couch watching my mum. She’s playing “You vs Wild”, a visual novel lite about adventures in the wild. It looked cliche and fake, but as my mum chose whether or not to climb an unstable rope or a slippery rock slide by clicking the buttons on the Roku remote I saw her eyes glowing.

She felt in control.

Her brain surgery last year made tasks like getting dressed beyond her physical and mental ability, so to see her feel power was inspiring even though the illusion of control was poor to me, my mum was immersed.

She fell asleep part way through but woke up to keep playing as though nothing happened, it was kinda sad, but my mum didn’t mind, in the prison of her week body, this game let her flourish. A face I hadn’t seen her wear in years. Growing up, my mum indulged in TV, so to see her playing a game and enjoying it was a victory to me. I remember being annoyed at the tens of thousands of hours she’d spend watching random shows. Getting older I learned TV and sleep were just distractions from her depression, and I soon grew a strong empathy for her feelings. Like her I would sleep away my negative feelings but rather than tv, I ended up growing fond of games.

My first Minecraft, then Portal, Overwatch,Titanfall 2, and especially Dark Souls 3. Dark Souls 3 and the souls-like genre are brutally difficult. Propelled by my ego or some kind of masochism I began. Perpetually throwing myself against the wall that is Dark Souls 3.

In this, though I found some sort of meaning that through this game I could exercise courage and overcome this game that somehow made me feel responsible to complete it.

Unlike reality, Dark Souls didn’t care how long I took to accomplish a goal.

Though Dark Souls masquerades as a melancholy and apathetic game, its glum grey world and harsh punishment for your imperfect performance.The other people playing the game left messages for me another giving advice and encouragement that subtle but powerful, kept me moving.

After playing I realized that even though Dark Souls has a somewhat cheesy dark fantasy aesthetic it had everything it needed to give me the sense of accomplishment I needed to grow.

Just like my mum, we both had a game that on the outside looked cheesy and dumb, but we both experienced a game that gave us a feeling that would normally be unattainable due to physical or mental limitations.

Opinion

She said, he said: School time change

SHE SAID

Bijou Davant

Staff Writer

Next year, instead of starting at 8:50 a.m we will begin school at 9:00 a.m. Also school will end at 4:15 p.m. instead of 4:05 p.m. It’s not a big change to our schedule, everything will just be shifted forward ten minutes. The time change was approved by the NISD school board.

High schools and middle schools in the district are the last level to experience a time change, elementary schools have already changed their times and middle schools are also working on a time change.
Students will get home ten minutes later which will push their schedules back ten minutes so they don’t really gain anything from the change. Everything will happen later, so there isn’t a “increase” in sleep unless you sleep earlier. Ten minutes later is really no difference at all.The change isn’t essentially different.

In addition to this, the buses will have to go through more traffic causing more kids to come later to school since traffic will be heavier at this time. Also, kids will have to change their personal schedules to conform to the new bus times.

Seniors who have off periods for first, seventh and eighth are the least affected by this as off periods work around these times. With all these drawbacks in mind this time change is pointless with no benefits for the students.

HE SAID

Austin Hurt

Staff Writer

With school starting later students can now get a little more sleep, even if it is only ten minutes. Anything is welcome when you are tired, especially when sleep and the lack of it is the biggest complaint around the school.

Also having school end ten minutes later isn’t a terrible thing, especially for those who have off campus for eighth period. NISD has been growing for years with many new kids and neighborhoods being built so the time change can help with this influx of kids and inevitably, traffic. Helping those who ride the bus, hopefully next year busses will have an easier time of getting to school with extra time in between picking up and dropping off kids.The busses have trouble going between all the schools and dropping off kids which is plainly seen if you ride the busses, now it’ll be fixed.The kids who are dropped off by their families will also be helped with the traffic decrease.

All this being said, they have to push the time back in the evening if they push it back in the morning because of a Texas law. Texas schools must have students on campus a certain number of minutes per year so moving the times around keeps the minutes at school the same despite starting later. But at least now we get ten minutes extra sleep, thankfully.

This change is a welcome one for students who love to sleep without a huge price tag attached.