Harbinger 19-20: Issue 15

the harbinger.

S H AW N E E M I S S I O N E A S T 7500 MISSION ROAD PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS 66208 APRIL 27, 2020 VOLUME LXII ISSUE 15

MASKED

H E RO East parent and nurse picks up and goes to New York City to help out with current COVID-19 crisis

PEEK INSIDE

04 | NEWS IN BRIEF

1 0 | S E E K I N G ST R U C T U R E

25 | QUIBI REVIEW

0 2 | I N S I D E COV E R

cover design by | rose kanaley

ONLINE

PREVIEW @smeharbinger

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STORIES

HOW TO GIVE BACK

Staffers explain how to still volunteer for struggling organizations during the pandemic.

STILL SEWING Junior Sienna Sun uses quarantine as an opportunity to continue sewing her fashion creations.

by | peyton moore, caroline gould and campbell wood

by | sophie henschel

S T AY I N G E N T E R T A I N E D I N Q U A R A N T I N E

MUSIC TO PUT ON REPEAT There’s too much good music to get bored during quarantine. Scan to find tracks to add to your playlist. by | ben henschel

CARTOON | RIVER HENNICK

NEXT IN FASHION Already blown through all your go-to Netflix shows? “Next in Fashion” is Netflix’s newest mustbinge series. by | lauren dierks

S TA F F L I S T PRINT EDITORS Lila Tulp Carolyn Popper Caroline Chisholm ONLINE EDITORS Ben Henschel Jackie Cameron ASST. PRINT EDITORS Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley ASST. ONLINE EDITORS Lauren West Riley Atkinson ASST. DESIGN EDITORS Celia Condon Sarah Bledsoe HEAD COPY EDITORS Carolyn Popper Jackie Cameron ASST. HEAD COPY EDITOR Natasha Thomas PHOTO EDITORS Aislinn Menke Kate Nixon ASST. PHOTO EDITORS Sarah Golder Trevor Paulus Julia Percy VIDEO EDITORS Maggie Schutt Ryan Gossick Lawder DeSantis ASST. VIDEO EDITOR Sydney Williams BROADCAST EDITORS Alex Dinyer Lucia Barraza ASST. BROADCAST EDITOR Natalie Scholz Megan Stopperan PHOTO MENTORS Noelle Griffin Megan Biles Megan Stopperan STAFF WRITERS Lyda Cosgrove Kaia Monaco Caroline Gould Caroline Wood Kate Heitmann Cesca Stamati Lily Haw Grace Tucker Peyton Moore Kelly Murphy Jilli Foley Campbell Wood Winnie Wolf Sophie Henschel Brynn Winkler Elizabeth Mikkelson Tommy Paulus Lauren Dierks Sydney Newton Emma Brown Lily Billingsley Allison Wilcox Phoebe Hendon Grace Allen

Annabelle Moore Lydia Underwood Maddox Mogenson Sydney Decker COPY EDITORS Ben Henschel Lila Tulp Carolyn Popper Jackie Cameron Caroline Chisholm Natasha Thomas Sarah Bledsoe Brynn Winkler Lydia Underwood Catherine Erickson Rose Kanaley Campbell Wood Lauren West Phoebe Hendon Jilli Foley Allison Wilcox Sydney Newton Riley Atkinson Lily Billingsley EDITORIAL BOARD Ben Henschel Brynn Winkler Caroline Chisholm Carolyn Popper Catherine Erickson Jackie Cameron Lauren West Lila Tulp Natasha Thomas Riley Atkinson River Hennick Rose Kanaley Tommy Paulus Phoebe Hendon Sarah Bledsoe Lydia Underwood SECTION EDITORS EASTIPEDIA ONLINE Kelly Murphy EDITORIAL PRINT Tommy Paulus NEWS PRINT Sophie Henschel & Campbell Wood ONLINE Phoebe Hendon OPINION PRINT Annabelle Moore ONLINE Gabby Caponecchi FEATURES PRINT Sydney Newton Jilli Foley ONLINE Brynn Winkler A&E PRINT Elizabeth Mikkelson ONLINE Sydney Decker SPORTS PRINT Allison Wilcox ONLINE Lydia Underwood ADVISORS Lucia Barazza & Alex Dinyer PAGE DESIGNERS Caroline Gould Caroline Wood Kate Heitmann

Cesca Stamati Lily Haw Grace Tucker Peyton Moore Kelly Murphy Jilli Foley Sophie Henschel Elizabeth Mikkelson Tommy Paulus Lauren Dierks Sydney Newton Emma Brown Lily Billingsley Allison Wilcox Grace Allen Annabelle Moore Maddox Mogenson STAFF ART EDITOR River Hennick STAFF ARTISTS Sophie Henschel Gabby Caponecchi Lyda Cosgrove Natalie Scholz STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS MJ Wolf Maggie Merckens Emily Pollock Hadley Chapman Emma Kate Squires Maggie Klump Reily Moreland Elise Madden Taylor Keal Annakate Dilks Lucy Kostner VIDEO STAFF Olivia Olson Natalie Scholz Lawder DeSantis Evelyn Roesner Ryan Gossick Maggie Schutt Sydney Williams Roberto Galicia PODCAST EDITOR Lydia Underwood Sophie Henschel SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Lilah Faye SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Annabelle Moore Maddox Mogenson SOCIAL MEDIA STAFF Kaia Monaco Megan Stopperan Reilly Moreland Gabby Caponecchi ADS MANAGER Sydney Newton CIRCULATION MANAGERS Campbell Wood SOCIAL CHAIR Lila Tulp Reilly Moreland CONTEST COORDINATOR Catherine Erickson

EDITORIAL | 03

design by | tommy paulus cartoon by | natalie scholz

A CASE FOR

CONSISTENCY The district should have mandated a plan in which teachers are able to adequately provide students with ways to raise their grades for fourth quarter EDITORIAL POLICY The Harbinger is a student-run publication. Published editorials express the views of the Harbinger staff. Signed columns published in the Harbinger express the writer’s personal opinion. The contents and views of the Harbinger do not represent the student body, faculty, administration or Shawnee Mission School District. The Harbinger will not share any unpublished content, but quoted material may be confirmed with sources. The Harbinger encourages letters to the editors, but reserves the right to reject them for reasons including but not limited to lack of space, multiple letters of the same topic and personal attacks contained in the letter.

The Harbinger will not edit content though letters may be edited for clarity, length, libel or mechanics. Letters should be sent to room 413B or emailed to smeharbinger@gmail.com

A

djusting to the impacts of COVID-19 is a constant work in process, with one of the major adjustments in the lives of East students being the move to online learning.

Given the circumstances, the decision to cancel school makes sense. But what doesn’t make sense — and frankly, isn’t fair — is the decision made by the Shawnee Mission School District to not allow teachers the ability to give us fourth quarter grades. The coronavirus may have taken our school year, but there’s no excuse for it taking opportunities to raise our grades with it.

According to information released by the SMSD for parents and students, “[third quarter grades] will become the second semester grades,” meaning whatever grade a student finished third quarter with would serve as their semester grade on an official transcript. However, the district said not only can work assigned prior to spring break be completed and submitted for points, but students could meet with teachers to discuss any improvement of third quarter grades.

Essentially, more points can be added to third quarter grades, but there will be no new fourth quarter grades.

This policy isn’t fair to the students who fell behind on classwork while trying to deal with seasonal affective disorder in the winter months. It isn’t fair to the students who struggled with certain concepts and saw their grades suffer because of it, but spent mornings and afternoons with their teachers working to get better and learn, hoping to set themselves up for a successful

FOR: 11 AGAINST: 1

The individuals on the editorial board who agree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by for, and those that disagree with the viewpoint of the editorial are represented by against.

fourth quarter.

Potentially the most notable part of the district’s guide was the resolution that grades “may go up, but will not go down.”

Because attendance and participation in fourth quarter academics aren’t mandatory, you could completely check out from school and your grade would stay locked. As per the district’s wording, teachers are not mandated to provide ways for students to raise their grades in a class or collect points on new assignments during continuous learning — but they should be.

The district’s current plan leaves ample room for students to remain squandered with undesirable grades — and that room stems from the lack of proper communication from the district on how teachers should handle grades across the board.

While seniors in AP English have the ability to raise their overall grades by 10% during quarantine, some students in Honors Pre-Calculus or IB Biology classes aren’t given the opportunity to raise their grade even a fraction of a percent. Students shouldn’t have to beg via email for extra homework and other opportunities just because their teachers are under the impression they can’t provide their students with new points.

And though teachers are technically allowed to make their own decisions about grade changes on a student-to-student basis, there has been rightful confusion on instructors’ sides as to how exactly they’re supposed to give students opportunities to increase their grades.

Many teachers have made the decision to provide students with new opportunities to raise grades beyond locked-in third quarter grades, but there are still those who’ve merely posted their office hours and taken off. To avoid leaving eager-to-work students hanging, the district should have mandated a uniform policy from the get-go to avoid any discrepancies among teacher policies.

For some students, the district’s grading policy may appear to provide them with a perfect setup. Teachers can’t wrangle you out of bed every morning for a 9:30 a.m.

Zoom call, and you won’t get a “missing assignment” ping on Skyward for the Conjuguemos you didn’t do — so why should you even care about changing your grades? Now’s the chance to smooth-sail into an early summer, right?

But every student is stuck in a different situation, and the difficulties the district’s grading plan is pigeonholing some teachers in can seriously impact students’ academic futures.

Fourth quarter grades are important for the freshmen who had a hard time adjusting to the rigor of high school and were just starting to get the hang of it.

They’re important for the sophomores whose parents told them they’re grounded for the summer if they don’t round that 79.1% to 79.5%. They’re important for the juniors desperately laboring to raise their cumulative GPAs in time for college applications. They’re important for the seniors so close to securing scholarships but still depending on another quarter of grade

opportunity.

We may not be in the halls of East every Monday through Friday, but we’re still here.

For those of us who are willing to put in the effort, it’s only fair to offer the same opportunities we would’ve been given had a virus not infected our lives. If we’re willing to do the assignments and sit through the Zoom calls, read the textbooks and write the essays, we should be allocated the points we deserve for our work — points we would be offered under any other circumstance.

SMSD teachers have been through a lot this year between contract negotiations and now a complete 180 to their routine. As students, we can’t imagine what it’s like to take it all on in only a few months. But we stood with you in the board meetings where you argued on behalf of what you believed to be fair, many of us walking out in support of your cause. We tried to do right by you where it mattered. This pandemic isn’t fair to anyone, but you should be given the tools to do right by us.

We’re grateful for the teachers still making efforts to provide academic material.

But their efforts are only matched with our motivation if there’s an incentive — which is why the district should’ve allowed for fourth quarter grades and point opportunities. Our year may have been cut short, but class is still in session. We’ll take the notes, do the homework and come to the lectures. All we ask for in return are the grades — and resulting opportunities — we deserve.

04 | NEWS

NEWS

design by | sophie henschel

by caroline wood

HIGHLIGHTS Catch up on news around the school, the state and the nation

EAST

Student council hosting virtual spirit days

IN EFFORTS TO spread school spirit, Student Council has been hosting virtual spirit days where students show their school pride via Instagram stories for the chance to win a gift card.

Each week has a different theme, similar to how there are different themes on each day of an in-person spirit week. However, instead of the typical dress-up themes, these are activities for the students to do while in quarantine.

The first theme — “What’s Cookin’?”

— required students to post a picture of a homemade meal. The second week’s theme was “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” — post a picture playing a sport — and the third week was “DIY Day,” which encouraged students to share something creative they’ve made while at home.

Each Wednesday, StuCo announces the week’s theme on their Instagram and Twitter accounts. Students then have until Friday to post a picture for the week’s theme on their personal Instagram story and tag StuCo’s account, @smestuco.

At the end of the week on Friday, the execs and StuCo sponsor Hannah Pence look through the posts and decide which one earned the most merit. The winner receives a $10 Chick-Fil-A gift card that is mailed to them.

There are still three more spirit themes left, going through the week of May 11. The remaining themes are “Book Worm” — post the book you are currently reading, “Movin’ and Groovin’” — post a picture of you dancing and “Pets” — post a picture of your pets.

Although students are no longer in school and can’t have normal spirit weeks, school spirit can still be celebrated, according to senior and student body president Eva Hill.

“Our job as Student Council is to really host events and get students involved and reach out to students,” Hill said. “The only way to reach students right now really is digitally.”

L O C A L Rallies hosted in Kansas City to protest lockdowns A B O V E At the Shell gas station on Nall, prices are steadily decreasing. photo by | emma kate squires

N A T I O N A L Oil prices fall into the negatives Oil prices fell into the negatives on Monday, April 20 due to the sudden decrease in demand and a lack of storage space.

With stay-at-home orders in place, the demand for oil has greatly decreased with fewer people driving their cars around and less planes taking off, spurring the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

That Monday, the price for a barrel of crude — raw, natural oil — dropped about $50. When the market closed, the price was at -$37.63 per barrel, marking the first time in US history that the oil prices have reached the negatives.

Although big oil companies in countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia are slowing production, the supply of oil still greatly exceeds the demand, causing issues of where to store the excess supply.

The numbers going into the negatives means that oil has become a burden to store, so those who sell oil would have to pay their buyers $30

a barrel just to take the oil off of their hands because they don’t have the space to store it, and some sellers do.

At President Donald Trump’s Monday briefing, he mentioned the U.S.’s plans to put as much as 75 million barrels of oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to help with the issue. He said that this action will cause the reserve to be “topped out,” which hasn’t happened in a long time.

Since the oil prices went into the negatives, gas prices at gas stations have also dropped significantly.

According to the American Automobile Association, the national average gas price is more than $1 per gallon cheaper than it was this time of year in 2019.

Kansas also made the AAA’s top 10 largest decreases for the week in oil prices from its cost falling seven cents, dropping the average state price to $1.54 per gallon of gas.

OVER 50 PEOPLE rallied at the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain near the Plaza at noon on Monday, April 20 to protest the stay-at-home order, along with a smaller gathering of protestors in downtown Kansas City.

Since the beginning of April, several states such as Michigan and Colorado have seen protests against the stay-at-home orders. The protestors want their cities to reopen because they view the shutdowns as unnecessary and believe they cause too much damage to the economy and small businesses.

Kansas City’s protest was triggered when the Kansas City, MO Mayor Quinton Lucas extended the stay-at-home order from April 24 to May 15.

The protestors at the Plaza held American flags and signs reading phrases like “Fauci, Liar,” “All Jobs are Essential” and “Let Americans Decide to Shelter.”

People also supported the protestors from their vehicles by honking their horns as they drove by.

There were counter protestors — several

SCAN ME | ARTICLE T H E CO RO N AV I R U S I S FA R D E A D L I E R T H A N O F F I C I A L N U M B E RS S H OW. A N E W YO R K T I M E S A N A LYS I S O F 1 1 C O U N T R I E S F O U N D T H AT AT L E A ST 2 8 ,00 0 M O R E P EO P L E H AV E D I E D I N T H E L A ST M O N T H T H A N I S R E F L EC T E D I N O F F I C I A L C OV I D -1 9 D E AT H C O U N TS F O R T H OS E N AT I O N S .

T H E N E W YO R K T I M E S | 0 4 / 2 1 / 2 0

Scan to read about the results of Johnson County’s random testing

of them were healthcare professionals — present as well, who were there to express their disapproval of the protests since they felt that gathering in large groups is not the solution to the problems presented by the pandemic.

There were similar protests that occured in Jefferson City and Topeka later that week to show their disapproval of the stay-athome orders too.

Another protest took place along I-70 stretching from Kansas City to St. Louis.

Over 60 people from the Coalition to Protect Missouri Tenants pulled over on the shoulder of the highway to demand that the Missouri Governor Mike Parson freeze rent and suspend mortgage payments.

“I know protests are happening around the country,” Lucas told the Kansas City Star on Monday. ”I just shake my head at the fact that what we’re trying to do is make sure we maintain space. Not for me, not for government — so that people can stay safe.

Unfortunately, I see some protests not doing that. I hope in Kansas City we do.”

P OLL Do you think Johnson County’s random testing shows accurate projections?

INSTAGRAM POLL | 132 VOTES

SCAN ME | INSTAGRAM

69% NO

Scan to see the SME StuCo Instagram

31% YES

NEWS | 05

design and photos by | caroline chisholm

CAN’T

CONNECT Students stuggle with VPN and Wifi connectivity during at-home continuous learning by sydney decker

W

ith working and learning from home as the only option amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, internet connectivity is being put to the test.

VPN connectivity issues have been a recurring problem throughout the school year, and have only escalated due to the high number of students completing class work from home.

One of the most essential tools for online learning requires the most internet connection — Zoom, a video-chat platform for teachers to hold virtual classes with students. Connecting to Zoom calls has been difficult for students as it’s not supported or adapted by the district, so ICT cannot help resolve those issues.

The Ford family noticed delayed Wifi connectivity on March 30, the day online school started.

With two siblings now tackling college courses online and both parents working from home, junior Jane Ford has been struggling to connect to online Zoom calls and finish online assignments.

“It’s been rough trying to schedule Zoom calls because it will cut somebody out because the Wifi can’t handle it,” Ford said.

Ford said Zoom has been the biggest problem as far as online school goes, since she never knows if the screen will freeze on her.

“Zoom is not supported,” SMSD Technical Support Team Leader Eric Haake said. “WebEx is most supported by the district, but Zoom is being used more.

Issues are being found when using Zoom because when any problems arise during a Zoom call, ICT cannot provide assistance. Unlike if you were using WebEx because this is the platform the district adapted.”

A small fix to the problems faced on Zoom and WebEx calls is to eliminate or reduce the video option when joining a call. And if possible, limit video and streaming services and apps that require any internet connection to reserve bandwidth and internet speed, according to Haake.

Beyond newer problems students are facing with Zoom, familiar VPN problems are still making it hard

for students to complete their work from home, such as having to reschedule oral Spanish exams due to connection issues or VPN blocking access to online college tours.

Assistant principal Britton Haney recommends that students who constantly struggle with VPN issues fill out a help ticket. If there are problems with connecting to Wifi in general, he suggests contacting local providers.

The backbone of the internet is seeing an immense amount of traffic from so many people in the country, and around the world, working from home.

eric haake | SMSD technical support If students have noticed slow connection, an option to take is switching providers or buying an additional router to strengthen connection.

The Ford family switched providers to Spectrum, which offers a stronger connection from their countrywide hotspots, as well as a discount for students and teachers.

“Slow connectivity is a relatively new issue and is something that a lot of people are seeing, not just SMSD students,” Haake said. “The backbone of the internet is seeing an immense amount of traffic from so many people in the country, and around the world, working from home. People may also have platform specific issues because of the increased demand.”

The internet is crashing due to the amount of traffic it’s currently getting, according to Haake. The key to dealing with these internet issues is patience and understanding.

“This is an extraordinary time,” Haake said.

“Systems just were not built to handle the enormous work loads that are now being placed on Internet and provider services.”

S E E K I N G S P EC T RU M S p e c t r u m o ffe rs free i nte r n et a n d w i fi to p u b l i c a m i d c o ro n av i r u s c a n ce l l a t i o n s

IN SCHOOLS PA R T N E R E D W I T H S C H O O L D I S T R I C T S T O E N S U R E T H E C O M M U N I T Y I S AWA R E O F T H E T O O L S O F F E R E D T O H E L P S T U D E N T S R E M O T E LY

AT H O M E FREE INTERNET AND WIFI FOR 60 D AY S S T U D E N T S A N D E D U C AT O R S W H O D O N ’ T C U R R E N T LY D O N ’ T H AV E I N T E R N E T AT H O M E

IN PUBLIC O P E N E D A L L W I F I H OTS P OTS AC ROS S T H E I R FO OT P R I N T FO R PUBLIC USE I N F O R M AT I O N C O U R T E S T O F W W W. S P E C T R U M . C O M

T RO U B L E S H O OT I N G T I P S T RY R E S TA R T I N G YO U R C O M P U T E R W I T H P E R M I S S I O N , T RY U N P L U G G I N G YO U R W I F I R O U T E R A N D R E P L U G G I N G IT IN U P DAT E YO U R W I F I R O U T E R I F P O S S I B L E

06 | NEWS

design by | allison wilcox

COLLEGE CHANGES Changes taking place at the college level due to COVID-19

A

by rose kanaley

fter colleges across the country shut down due to COVID-19, they’ve made changes regarding virtual learning, tuition prices and study abroad programs for this semester and the upcoming

year.

The University of Washington was one of the first colleges to close in early March, and almost every university in the country followed shortly after. They switched to virtual learning, with many schools holding classes over video chats like Zoom.

Students are adjusting to the online courses and have even found them easier with access to notes and the internet for assignments and tests, according to East alum and freshman at the University of Kansas Jack McElroy. However, McElroy has also found that it brings technological problems and issues with internet connection.

Along with connection issues, the lack of accessibility to campus has prohibited students from using student centers filled with resources like the Writing Center and Math Help Room or peers to help solve problems. McElroy found that the lack of additional resources can make studying and working more difficult.

“I was used to going to the math help room and going to the writing center and getting advice from professors who knew exactly what they were doing, and now I’ll be at home and have to ask my parents those questions and they don’t really know any more than I do about the subjects,” McElroy said. “It’s been challenging.”

The abrupt closure of schools, many announcing the closure in the middle of their spring break, left students struggling to bring their belongings home. East alum and sophomore at the University of California, Los Angeles, Madeline Hlobik, was lucky to bring all of her belongings home, but many of her other out of state friends were not.

“A lot of my friends left their belongings in the UCLA dorm room, then they got an email a couple weeks later that said that if they didn’t move your stuff out by some date UCLA was going to move it out for them,” Hlobik said. “And for all of my friends who live out of state, they couldn’t just fly back out and get it all. Most of them either had roommates or friends from California who had to go pack up all their essential stuff for them.”

Some schools, like the University of Kansas, had students sign up during time intervals of two hours to go clear out their dorms and pack their belongings.

Colleges like the University of Kansas and Creighton have refunded smaller portions of tuition for room and board and allowed meal plans to transfer to next year or be refunded, according to KU’s COVID-19 Information.

Many however, according to US News, such as Harvard and Tufts are not giving any refunds for the tuition cost of the semester, primarily because they cannot afford to.

Financial issues weren’t the only thing affected by COVID-19. Even before the closure of campuses, study abroad experiences were being shut down across the globe.

East alum and sophomore at Marquette University Matthew Trecek was three weeks into his study abroad program in Beijing when he was sent home mid-January. He was supposed to study at the University of International Business and Economics in the Beijing Center for the whole semester, and then complete two internships through August.

“The weeks kind of went by and we started hearing things about them closing down cities and the city we were in got closed down so we had to leave and then [were] kind of being forced to get out of the country as quickly as possible,” Trececk said. “It just hit us pretty quickly.”

Trecek will be able to complete the program in the spring semester of his junior year, but many other students cannot

CHANGES

EXPECT

M ORE T H AN 24 SC H OOLS H AVE WAI VED T HE SAT & ACT

A N IN C R EAS E I N

TUITION

EXTEND I NG DECIS ION DAY TO RAISE FALL E NROL L M E NT

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FOREIGN STUDENTS

postpone the experience. According to US News, some study abroad programs for the upcoming fall semester have already begun closing.

Concerns have also been raised about the possibility of canceling classes for the 2020 fall semester, according to Trecek. Although nothing has been confirmed, many students like Trecek are considering removing their enrollment for the fall semester if this were to happen.

I was used to going to the math help room and going to the writing center and getting advice from the professors who knew exactly what they were doing, and now I’ll be at home and have to ask my parents those questions and they don’t really know any more than I do about the subjects.

jack mcelroy | ku freshman “I hope that plans won’t be ruined that far in advance, but from the perspective of someone who would be going back to their normal college experience in the fall, if I were to do that and then find out my classes were to be cancelled for another semester of staying home and doing classes online I would just take a gap semester,” Trecek said.

Students like Trecek, Hlobik and McElroy haven’t found the same college experience with virtual classes, and hope that amidst all the changes colleges are trying to navigate, they can return to normal soon.

INTERNATIONAL

A look at why U.S. universities are impacted by a decrease in foreign students

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TUITION FOREIGN STUDENTS PAY FULL PRICE, ALLOWING SCHOOLS TO GIVE MORE FINANCIAL AID TO OTHER STUDENTS

ECONOMY IN 2018-2019 INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS CONTRIBUTED NEARLY $41 BILLION TO THE NATIONAL ECONOMY

W ILL STAY W I THI N 180 MILES O F THE I R HOM E information courtesy of NY Times & CNBC

NEWS | 07

design & copy by | lila tulp

TO P 1 5 CO RO NA

Breakdown of the most popular events and activities that have been affected by COVID-19 so far

Scan this QR code to be directed to the Google site dedicated to all things COVID-19.

to over 750,000 cases just in the last two months. In an effort to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus, festivals, premieres and events around the globe have rescheduled their original dates until safe or canceled events completely. Continue reading for 15 of the most popular events of the year in entertainment, sports, politics and music that have fallen victim.

Award shows and announcements have been canceled or postponed until further notice. Pulitzer Prize announcements, the Tony Awards, and Emmy award nominations are among the list of postponed events.

TELEVISION Production has been delayed or suspended for nearly every show following the COVID-19 outbreak, including popular titles like ABC ’s “The Bachelorette” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” However, live competition shows such as “The Voice” and “American Idol” plan on doing remotely produced episodes airing in the next weeks.

CO N C E RTS

The 2020 Democratic National Convention has been postponed from July 13 until August 17 where the official Democratic nomination will take place.

Whether you’re a Swiftie or still have a case of Bieber Fever, seeing your favorite singers in concert will most likely have to wait until 2021. After the coronavirus outbreak, over 44 of the world’s biggest names in music have been pulling tour dates with plans to reschedule concerts and tour dates when deemed safe.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference where countries will come together and discuss preventions has taken extreme precautions and has postponed the Nov. 9 event until 2021.

W HI TE HO USE D IN N E R The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been working to protect the health of their members by postponing their 2020 events. Journalists, Hollywood celebrities, athletes and White House Administrators will have to wait to rub shoulders until the rescheduled Aug. 29 date.

The 2020 Billboard Music Award ceremony hosted by Billboard has been postponed with plans to reschedule from their original April 29 date.

COAC H E L L A Looks like we’ll have to wait until October to see Vanessa Hudgens and Kylie Jenner rocking their Coachella outfits this year.

Billboard announced in midMarch that the Frank Oceanheadlined festival has been postponed.

K ENT U C KY D ER BY The Kentucky Derby, usually taking place at the beginning of May has rescheduled their annual competition until Sept. 5.

W IM B EL D O N The international men and women’s tennis championships have canceled their late-June to mid-July tournaments until the following dates in 2021.

M ET GA L A The star-studded Met Gala will not take place on the first Monday in May as usually planned. Hosted by Vogue Magazine, this year’s gala held out as long as they could, but has been canceled until further notice.

P RID E PA R A D ES New York City, along with many other major cities across the nation and world, have swapped their 2020 Pride parades for a virtual Global Pride event taking place on June 27 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Pride events.

A P P L E CO NF ER ENC E

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The 2020 Olympics taking place in Tokyo, Japan have yet to be canceled but rather have announced to postpone their original date until July 23 and concluding at the beginning of August.

The 2020 Cannes, South by Southwest and Tribeca film festivals have been canceled without plans to reschedule.

However, select films will debut online beginning in April.

S P ORTS

SCAN ME | INFO

FI L M

EVENTS

The world has hit pause as the continuous battle with the COVID-19 pandemic only worsens.

Globally, there are over 2.3 million confirmed cases of the virus and in the U.S., the number has risen

E N T E RTA I N M ENT

I N T RO D UC T ION

CANCELLATIONS

Apple’s Worldwide Development Conference (AWDC) and biggest event of the year where they announce the newest developments and products will now take place in an online-only format packed with content for consumers, press and developers.

SCAN ME | VIDEO Scan this QR code for a complete list of all event updates from Deadline.

08 | OPINION

design by | annabelle moore

OPINION

HIGHLIGHTS

A look into student opinions and the opinion section

H O U S E PA R T Y A P P O P I N I O N S WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THE REBIRTH OF THE APP HOUSEPARTY WITHIN TEENAGERS?

THE WEEK IN 280 C H A R AC T E R S S C I E N T I STS S AY T H E U. S . N E E D S TO B E A B L E TO CO N D U C T 5 0 0,0 0 0 TO 7 0 0,0 0 0 A DAY FO R C O RO N AV I R U S TO R EO P E N W I T H A N Y A S S U R A N C E O F S A F E T Y. I T ’S ST I L L O N LY T E ST I N G A B O U T 1 5 0,0 0 0 P EO P L E A DAY FO R C OV I D -1 9 B LO O M B E RG O P I N I O N | 4 / 2 0/ 2 0 O U R P EO P L E A R E H U N G RY. W E N E E D A L E A D E R W H O W I L L F E E D T H E M , @ C H E F J OS E A N D R E S W R I T E S

I think it’s good just because right now with quarantine and everything, I only have Zoom on my computer and I feel like it’s harder to do on a mobile device, so Houseparty is a way to be able to socialize with people while you do other things.

WAS H I N GTO N P OST O P I N I O N | 4 / 2 0/ 2 0

jess pindell | junior

G UA R D I A N O P I N I O N | 4 / 2 0/ 2 0

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FEATURE TO HOUSEPARTY AND WHAT SETS IT APART FROM OTHER VIDEO CHAT PLATFORMS?

So, recently Houseparty has been a really easy way to connect with my friends who I haven’t seen in so long. I really like how it has fun interactive games for a group to play together and it makes it feel like we are all sort of hanging out again. The main thing that sets it apart from others like group FaceTime is that you can have many more people on at a time and it notifies you if any of your friends are on the app and available to chat. It’s nice to be able to interact with friends like this just so we make this quarantine a little less boring.

isa rogler | junior

W H AT D O I D O W I T H M Y S E L F ?

STUDEN TS UN IQ UE WAYS OF CO PI N G W I T H ISOLAT IO N WH E N FACIN G BO R E D O M

I N T I M E S O F C O RO N AV I R U S A N D C L I M AT E C H A N G E , W E M U ST R E T H I N K N AT I O N A L S EC U R I T Y | A L L A N B E H M

“ O F C O U R S E , T H E L I V E S W E L E A D N OW B EC AU S E O F S O C I A L D I STA N C I N G G U I D E L I N E S A R E N OT H I N G C O M PA R E D TO W H AT P EO P L E W E N T T H RO U G H I N T H E H O LO C AU ST , B U T T H E I S O L AT I O N C AU S E D BY T H E H E A LT H C R I S I S C A N TA K E A S E R I O U S E M OT I O N A L TO L L , ” W R I T E S @ H A L E Y D R A Z C N N O P I N I O N | 4 / 2 0/ 2 0

O P I N I O N AT E D . p. 9 HAVE YOU GONE THROUGH DIFFERENT PHASES IN QUARANTINE? | 243 VOTES

22% NO 78%

p. 10 ARE A MAJORITY OF YOUR CLASSES MEETING REGULARLY ON ZOOM? | 270 VOTES

80%

freshman sofia blades “[I] p ut a slit in my eye brow and triple pie rced [my] ears”

junior libby h ise

“parkour o n my roof”

NO

20% YES p. 11 DO YOU THINK DEMOCRATS SHOULD POUR SUPPORT INTO JOE BIDEN’S CAMPAIGN NOW THAT BERNIE SANDERS HAS DROPPED OUT? | 202 VOTES

39% NO

“[I] cut e ight inches off my hair”

fresh man kayaan patel

YES

61% YES p. 12 IF YOU’VE BEEN SOCIAL DISTANCING, DOES IT BOTHER YOU TO SEE OTHERS NOT FOLLOWING THE SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES IN PLACE? | 273 VOTES

16% NO 84%

sophomore august hyde

YES

p. 13 IF YOU’RE A SENIOR, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GOT PROPER CLOSURE FROM HIGH SCHOOL? | 129 VOTES

94%

“[I] shaved my eye brows”

6% YES

NO

design by | carolyn popper

OPINION | 09

S TAG E S OF QUARANTINE

Staffer explains the four phases many of us social-distancers are going through in quarantine

by natasha thomas

WE’RE ALL FAMILIAR with the “stages” concept — the stages of change, the stages of grief, etc. And now, we’re facing the stages of social distancing. If you’ve cried for no reason, thrown a cereal bowl at your brother when he looked at you the wrong way or inexplicably pulled an all-nighter to deep-clean your room, you’re not alone. Take comfort in knowing that you, and many other people around the world, are just going through the same stages of social distancing.

F O RC E D N O R M A LCY

G E T P RO D U C T I V E

N O M OT I VAT I O N

N OW, S E TT L E I N

PHASE 2 IS very common among social-distancers, and the proof is in the suburban-mom-crowded streets and flood of posts attempting the Chloe Ting twoweek shred. During Phase 2, you took our current situation as an opportunity to start an overly complex workout plan.

Middle-aged men decided to take up jogging again despite not having moved over three mph in years. Your neighbors terrorized the nearby dogs by running every dust-covered appliance in their garage to landscape their yard.

YOU KNOW YOU’VE reached Phase 3 when your workout regimen gets swapped for laying in bed on TikTok. This phase is the peak of your laziness — spent sitting around on social media, avoiding your current reality and reminiscing all the fun you’ll have when social distancing is over. Half the boxes on your to-do list from Phase 2 will remain unchecked — the strong and powerful motivation that once filled you is replaced with unwavering couch potato syndrome.

Sleeping ‘til noon is unavoidable. Your inner monologue of wanting a snack and not wanting to move frequently battle. The painting set you bought to finish during quarantine

Jokes (and inexperienced joggers’ poor knees) aside, this phase is notably better than Phase 1. Is it realistic to decide you’re going to wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and only eat fruits, veggies and lean protein for two months? Absolutely not. The truth is, we are all feeling helpless. Unless we are a medical professional, we can’t do anything about COVID-19 except staying inside. If you need to overload your schedule with fitness goals and colorcode your closet to cope, that’s perfectly acceptable — and you might get some goals accomplished in the process.

that remains unopened taunts you from the corner of the room.

A positive aspect of this phase is that you’re likely spending more time on the phone with your friends than you have since social distancing started, and it might even feel like you’ve been transported back to when life was normal. But if you’re spending all your time planning the perfect hangout and pinning summer outfits on your “Post-Quarantine Summer” Pinterest board, try to not get pulled too far out of reality. You will absolutely have an amazing time after the stay-at-home order is over, but don’t neglect your present by planning for the future.

PHASE 1. OTHERWISE known as denial. You refused to fully acknowledge a life-threatening pandemic and the major changes it’s bringing — namely, the cancellation of half the year. The concert you have tickets to next month? See you soon, Sprint Center!

Grad parties coming up?

I’ll just use this time to plan my outfits! If anything, this shutdown is just an “extended spring break.”

Those trapped in Phase 1 are the ones still spreading the disease. They’re taking “walks” that end up at their friend’s party, still hitting up their favorite restaurants that have stayed open and generally living like they

ONCE YOU’VE ACCEPTED this situation for what it is, you’ve reached the “Settle In” stage.

Congratulations!

You’ve gone through being unable to grasp this difficult time, trying and giving up on running 10 miles a day and being unable to pick yourself up out of bed. And, good news, you’re better because of it!

You understand that this is an unprecedented situation that could continue far longer than we expected back when we were at school getting Twitter notifications about the first case in the United States. Instead of grasping onto your old routine or trying to stick

aren’t affected by something that will most definitely affect them. De. Nial.

Other than the occasional cluster of Jeeps gathered at the East parking lot that are still violating the stay-at-home order, most of us are past this phase — unfortunately, that means we no longer have that blissful ignorance. But once we overcome denial, we face quarantine with a new prospective and a clearer head. It’s time to get out your cleaning supplies and workout leggings.

to an unattainable one, you’ve decided to run a mile a day, not wake up after 9 a.m. and live with balance. You’re realizing you could be in your house for a while, so you want to be able to relax and accomplish things.

Don’t be upset if you haven’t fully reached this phase yet — most of us struggled to reach the “Settle In” zone in our everyday lives. This phase takes work to get to, and even more effort to stay in. But once you can find ways to be happy in your current situation, you’ll spend these next few weeks feeling more fulfilled despite not being able to leave your house.

10 | OPINION

design by | lauren dierks

YO U ’ R E I N V I T E D TO J O I N S M S D ’S CO N T I N U O U S

APRIL

L EA R N I N G

30 ZOOM

SEEKING

STRUCTURE With the transition to online school staffer desires structured school days and for the district to make a plan in case students can’t go back to school in the fall

by catherine erickson

I

used to stress about being able to get from the first floor to the fifth floor within the five-minute passing period. Now I sleep through most of my morning, knowing my only planned event is a non-mandatory history Zoom call — the only class I’ve regularly met with this entire virtual quarter. I feel stranded without a structured schedule that incorporates social interaction, and the district is not helping.

With the Ivy Leagues already discussing plans to cancel the 2020 fall semester, Kansas schools are likely to follow their lead as Gov. Laura Kelly was quick to cancel the rest of this school year. The online system we have in place right now is barely sustainable for another month, let alone to kick off a new school year. SMSD needs to recognize that no master schedule, no accountability for attendance and no incentive to maintain grades is not practical. They need to use this time to begin formulating a structured plan for school in the fall in the event that it is online.

Kelly’s abrupt announcement for all schools in Kansas to be closed for the remainder of the school year left the district with little time to develop a plan for continuous learning. I expected the first couple of weeks to be a difficult transition — however, as we start our fifth week of online education, I’ve seen no improvement.

School days have no enforced structure, making it difficult for students to motivate themselves on their own time. And with the gradebook

practically locked in place, many students have gone completely MIA. As a public school district, it’s understandable that the district adjusts to a lower denominator. Students’ home lives, child-care obstacles and financial struggles that have emerged due to the coronavirus make it difficult for many students to perform as well as they would in a school setting, and this should be taken into account for online school.

However, “taken into account” shouldn’t justify calling off most learning for the rest of the year.

Teachers were given a choice of how to continue their classes virtually, but that decision shouldn’t lay completely in their hands. Because of this, I’ve had only one teacher consistently hold Zoom lectures similar to those we had in class. As for the rest of my teachers, some post assignments on Google Classroom, and some I haven’t heard from since the beginning of April.

Scheduled “face-to-face” communication over programs like Zoom is pivotal for maintaining a relationship with students, providing structure and keeping students interested in the course. Sporadic check-ins from teachers isn’t the same as having class set four times a week, with scheduled due dates and a sense of purpose. These factors simply cannot be provided over weekly Google Classroom updates. I’m sorry but typing my response to the question of the day for English in Google Classroom just does not compare to discussing it with the whole class.

If the district wants students to stay interested in their classes, this personal connection is necessary and should be required from teachers.

Without scheduled interaction, students quickly lose motivation because it doesn’t feel like anyone is paying attention to their work.

Especially because grades can’t decrease, students need that connection to feel like there’s a purpose behind their work.

Many local private schools such as Pembroke Hill School have implemented daily schedules adjusted for distanced learning. The schedule is slated down to the hour, with blocks throughout the week assigned to each period while still holding students accountable for attendance. SMSD should mirror some of these methods in a plan for the upcoming fall semester, in the event that schools remain closed.

Special circumstances where students cannot participate in a more intensive schedule while at home can be evaluated case-by-case by the district, rather than lowering the expectations for every student.

In addition to all sense of routine being tossed out the window, incentive to complete assignments to maintain GPA has been obliterated with the district’s decision to freeze grades in place. While this decision is understandable for a couple of weeks of continuous learning, it is not adequate. Without the motivation to maintain grades in the upcoming fall semester, students will continue to not complete assignments.

ST RU C T U R E D S C H OO L DAY A guide to recreate a normal school day at home Set alarms and create a schedule to stay on top of your work

Work on your most important classes first

Give yourself breaks frequently to avoid stress

F I RST H A N D EX P E RI E N C E Students share their experiences with online learning Honestly I haven’t been doing that much [online school] because I feel unmotivated since our grade can’t go up... I feel like there’s no point in doing it

alexa true | freshman I feel like the district could have done more with accountability in classes from the start, my sister has scheduled zoom classes every day for college and with my classes there isn’t really that kind of classroom feel anymore.

claire baker | junior

OPINION | 11

design by | sophie henschel

WE STILL MUST VOT E Democrats should support Biden campaign, not another, to prevent Trump’s re-election

J

by ben henschel

oe Biden is a political pin cushion.

There are too many vulnerable spots on him to count, with verbal gaffes tainting his speeches and a number of past bill-voting slip-ups on issues like the Iraq War and the Hyde Amendment drawing easy political fire. Not to mention sexual assault allegations recently brought back to light, despite investigators finding no pattern of sexual misconduct in Biden’s past.

For a while, it seemed that the Democratic party would pour trust in a candidate without these weaknesses — less old-time Washington, less politically bruised, less condemnable. But that slowly fell apart.

Candidates began to drop like flies early this year, leaving Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Biden to face off — but as Biden captured delegate after delegate in state primaries, Sanders opted out. And despite the wide discrepancies in policy between candidates like Sanders and Biden, Democrats need to realize the importance of

Candidates began to drop like flies early this year, leaving Sen. Bernie Sanders and Biden to face off. supporting the Biden ticket this November.

For a few years now, the party has oscillated between progressives like Sanders for the future’s sake and moderates like Biden for the sake of an election. And after Biden was cast as the Democratic nominee, the fissures within the Dem party were highlighted more than ever before.

Some supporters of Sanders were quick to start #NeverBiden tweet strings, with plans to abstain from voting or write-in voting for Sanders. But that’s an overstep with huge ramifications — one that could cement the 2020 election in the same unfortunate vein as 2016’s.

I’ll be honest, it’s with a heavy heart that I endorse Biden, considering he scraped the

bottom of my list a few months ago. He’s not as consistent as Sanders. He’s not as sharp and precise as Pete Buttigieg. He’s not as passionate and driven as Sen. Kamala Harris and not as likeable as Andrew Yang. But given that there is no chance of a nomination for any of those candidates, Biden is the obvious — and only responsible — choice for Democrats and moderates to support.

He’s a respected figure in international relations and a far, far cry from the likes of Donald J. Trump — and the Dem party, along with surrounding moderates, need to realize the importance of supporting Biden before their reluctance brings Trump another term.

In this political moment and over the next four years, a blue White House couldn’t be more pivotal.

One of the most critical reasons why Dems must support Biden in this election lies in the Supreme Court.

It’s in all likelihood that left-leaning Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will call for replacement in the next four years. Biden would nominate another left-leaning judge to replace her, holding the court at its current 5-4 conservative-liberal placement.

If the Dems’ negligence allows Trump another term, he’d nominate a right-leaning judge, moving that ratio to 6-3 and swiftly killing a progressive SCOTUS agenda for at least a decade.

Given that important cases involving abortion and voting rights will be evaluated — along with emerging issues to a similar magnitude as Trump’s travel ban — maintaining level judgement without heavy partisan skew is paramount.

Aside from SCOTUS, it’s important to note that much of what makes a president are the people that surround them — cabinet members, economic advisors, the White House staff. At first glance, it’d be easy to assume that a Biden administration would be littered with the same lack of aptitude that he displays in public remarks and onthe-spot thinking. Sure, it’s tough to forgive botching the preamble of the Constitution in front of thousands.

But Biden’s cabinet and advisor team is already in a selection process as his campaign forms its post-election transition committee in case of a win in November.

He’s described that there are several hundred seasoned officials going through a vetting process to determine which are most apt to serve. His appointees would look beyond the many-times toxic “America only” mantra and corrosive, niche mindset that Trump and his cabinet touts.

SCAN ME | ARTICLE Scan to read Biden’s bio page in The New York Times

Biden’s not-yet-announced cabinet and advisor team — the brains behind his presidential decisions — would automatically be an upgrade from the likes of economic advisor Peter Navarro and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. To remind you, DeVos was the one who defended the idea of armed school security guards by citing a school in Wyoming that probably already had guns in it to “protect from potential grizzlies.”

Biden has promised to defer many of his decisions on looming issues to the experts who’ve actually spent their lives dealing with them. This, too, is a vastly better picture than Trump’s, who seems to distrust anyone who doesn’t flow with his laughable train of thought.

Most prominently, Biden’s trust of experts and scientific discovery would help calcify the wounds that Trump brought to the climate change effort. Rejoining the Paris Climate Accord — an agreement between major world countries to reach

lower carbon emission standards — or creating a more advantageous version of it for Americans is something Biden has committed to.

Even though he isn’t a supporter of Medicare For All, or “Medicare For All Who Want It,” Biden’s plans to keep and bolster the Affordable Care Act are at least a vehicle to reach progressive standards.

Even Sanders — who wrote the Medicare For All bill and is its most fervent supporter — helped write the ACA as a more mild improvement to the U.S. healthcare system.

Supporting any candidate besides Biden would mean another four years of Trump’s efforts to move healthcare to increasingly private arenas.

As for the issues that Biden hasn’t yet promised to address, his administration would at the very least entertain progressive options and bills to pass — moving forward with the times instead of cementing itself in the first industrial age, as Trump has.

Yes, it’s a tough move for a substantial number of Dems to join Biden’s camp completely, myself included. But the severe — and in some cases, irreparable — damage that any other option would bring should be enough to convince all of us.

So to progressives, moderates and onthe-fence Republicans, no matter who your first choice in this race would’ve been, a vote for Biden is a vote for a better direction.

A vote elsewhere or a decision to abstain is an acceptance of Trump’s continued presidency.

Vote Biden, or opt to continue down a path that evaporates the middle class, kills essential progress in the fight against climate change and casts the U.S. as an international embarrassment.

OPINION | 12

design by | peyton moore photos by | annakate dilks

Staffer encourages all to follow the stayat-home ordinance to flatten the curve

W

P LAYING IT

SAFE

ithin days of Gov. Kelly announcing the closure of Kansas high schools for the rest of the year on March 17, my social media feeds were clogged with pictures of sentimental high schoolers celebrating beachside in Florida or Mexico.

When they returned from their tropical “coronacations,” more posts flooded in of those same seemingly carefree people hanging out with their friends — almost as if there isn’t a worldwide pandemic going on?

Those travelers should’ve self-quarantined for 14 days after their return and followed the statewide stay-at-home order, as per guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Gov. Kelly.

None of us want to put our lives on hold and sit around at home all day binging “Tiger King,” but we all need to be taking social distancing more seriously in order for things isolation

sep e ra tes s i c k p e op le w ith a contagiou s di se a se fro m p e op l e w h o are n ot sic k

to return to normal as soon as possible.

Social distancing — keeping a precautionary minimum of 6 feet between yourself and those outside of your home — doesn’t just apply to the beach and friends’ houses. It pertains to the people aimlessly wandering the aisles at the grocery store, swarming to Loose Park or drifting too close to the woman wearing a mask on her morning jog.

Ignoring warnings and precautions isn’t just dangerous to yourself, it’s dangerous to

everyone around you as well. It’s especially insulting to those wearing scrubs and personal protective equipment working 24-hour shifts and sleeping in their garages to protect their families while they sacrifice themselves on the front lines of this pandemic.

Why should these professionals risk their lives for people who choose to ignore all the guidelines?

I’m tired of hearing that those not complying with statewide stay-at-home orders “know” they don’t have COVID-19.

With the inefficiency in current available testing for the virus and the fact that some people — especially young people — can function asymptomatically, you have no way of knowing until you’ve already infected others.

On average, it can take anywhere from five to 14 days from when someone is infected with the virus for symptoms to show, according to the World Health Organization.

Maybe you’re not worried about how the virus will affect you because you’re “young and healthy,” but the people you could be spreading it to may not be. If you’re infected and continue to socialize normally, it’s likely you will pass the virus on to two or three other potentially older or immunocompromised people, according to BBC News.

Even if you think you’d only be infecting people that could safely recover, you’d still be contributing to the battering that our medical system is currently taking. By stopping the spread of the virus or “flattening the curve” with social distancing, we can help prevent our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed.

The demand for ventilators and beds in U.S. hospital intensive care units is surpassing supply, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. We can’t make COVID-19 completely go away with social distancing, but by doing our part to slow its spread, we can reduce the amount of cases and help conserve resources. If every American does their part, we can save one million or more U.S. lives, according to recent epidemiological models from the White House.

The White House has estimated that with social distancing in place, there will be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. — compared to up to 2.2 million deaths without it. The magnitude of those numbers is in our hands, it all depends on how seriously we take social distancing.

That’s the tricky part about social distancing — it only works if we all abide by the rules. It’s because of the people who refuse to acknowledge the severity of this crisis that

so many people are being diagnosed and dying.

Even though it might be tempting to grab Chick-Fil-A with some friends one last time, staying in is the best option for everyone other than essential workers right now.

And I’m not saying it’s easy. Keeping up with your mental health is difficult when you can’t see your friends. But video chatting apps like FaceTime or Zoom make it easier than ever to keep in touch. Other alternatives for normal, day-to-day activities include getting groceries delivered, ordering takeout from your favorite restaurants and using telemedicine to communicate with your doctors.

So while social distancing might feel like a major inconvenience during what feels like an endless, boring summer, it’s the best way for us to protect our loved ones, community and future.

W H AT A R E

P ROT EC T I V E M EAS U R E S ?

By following guidelines provided by the CDC, the increase of COVID-19 cases has slowed — the graph shows how the number of cases could look if people hadn’t taken precautions WITHOUT PROTECTIVE M EAS U R E S

P E RS O N A L M EAS U R E S PERSO NAL H YGIE NE S UCH AS WAS HING H AN DS, WEARING GLOVE S AND MASKS

CO M M U N I T Y M EAS U R E S SOCI AL DISTANCING AND STA NDING SIX FEET APA RT

E N V I RO N M E N TA L M EAS U R E S WASH I N G S URFACE S AF TE R US ING THEM AND U SI N G D IS INF ECTA NT WIP E S WHE N POSSIBL E

HEALTH CARE SYSTEM CAPACITY

WITH PROTECTIVE M EAS U R E S

OPINION | 13

design by | jackie cameron illustration by | natalie scholz

H OW D O W E SAY BYE? L by brynn winkler

ast moments. The last time in your childhood home before leaving. The last time you talked to your grandma. Your last day of high school. Last moments suck. They sting because you’re already feeling the sense of loss you know awaits you after the moment is over. Still, we treasure these last moments because they provide a sense of closure to the end of a chapter.

Now, with school canceled for the rest of the year and the possibility of having an in-person graduation wavering, seniors are grappling with the reality of not getting their final goodbyes. But it’s important we don’t ignore this sense of loss we may be feeling, and realize we can still find closure by reflecting on the smaller moments throughout high school that made us the person we are today. After all, it’s the smaller moments — from awkward Link Crew Day icebreakers to English class inside jokes and 6 a.m. bus rides to cross country meets — that give big events like graduation so much meaning.

All of the pictures we had in our minds of our last moments of high school began to drift away on March 17 with the announcement of school being canceled for the rest of the year. But at this point in the stages of the pandemic, many seniors, like me, are still holding onto the possibility of a graduation.

As teens, we don’t step into adulthood the moment we blow out our candles on our 18th birthday. Rather, society has established your last days of high school and graduation as not only a symbol of the end of your high school experience, but also your childhood. You’re not just saying goodbye to high school, rather many are saying goodbye to being fully dependent, to having homecooked meals every night and having your laundry washed and folded for you.

Graduation is romanticized in pretty much all forms of media, and the ideal format is easy to picture — all of your childhood friends together in matching caps and gowns. Your mom tearing up in her seat while your dad moves out into the aisle to get the perfect shot of you walking across the stage.

Moving your tassel over to the left side of your cap.

This is it. You made it.

But for me, I wasn’t utterly heartbroken about losing those fleeting moments of glory in my Columbia blue gown. I was scared because these moments are more than just fun with friends — they’re moments to say goodbye to the people and places that shaped my last 18 years.

Graduation would be sad. Definitely scary. Maybe I’d even cry a little bit. But at least I would know that it was my last time with my peers, and I wouldn’t be left feeling like I didn’t get to see the last 15 minutes of a rom-com after the couple had their big fight. In the same way I know the guy will end up getting the girl in the end, I know I’ll get my diploma — but we all still look forward to the ending.

But what almost hurt me most was the realization that all our “lasts” had already happened and we didn’t even know it. I didn’t get to savor my last swim meet. Or the last day of high school. I didn’t

get time to process what it would be like to not hear the marching band practicing outside my bedroom window every morning in the fall.

What I’ve found was circumstances like this make you miss the things you thought you always hated. Like waking up 5:30 a.m. for morning swim practices or even socratic seminars (yes, I said it).

Having these last moments stolen from me, and of course the social isolation of quarantine, have forced me to reflect on the entirety of my high school experience and make me more appreciative of it than I would’ve been with those last months of school.

But while I encourage seniors to lean into these smaller moments in replacement of the final days of high school, I’m not going to deny the situation this virus has put us in really is unprecedented. Right now it feels like someone, or rather something, has pressed “pause” on our high school experience and hasn’t decided whether to start it again or not. We know we’ll never return to East for another normal school day. But will state and federal guidelines allow us to experience our graduation on July 14?

The uncertainty produced by this pandemic has placed seniors in an awkward limbo in which we are faced with the decision to either move on by ourselves, or hold on to the idea of somehow getting that sense of closure in the near future. Do we take “SME ‘20” out of our Instagram bios or wait until we know if we’ll get to walk across that stage? Should I hold onto my senior year when I haven’t set foot in school for over a month now, or start transitioning to the mindset of a college freshman?

There’s no right answer to that question, but it’s important to face these emotions and sense of loss rather than turning away from them because you feel ashamed of feeling that way. All around us, unemployment, illness, loss of loved ones and domestic abuse are unraveling people’s lives.

As a class, we have the ability to recognize the magnitude of these impacts while also mourning the sense of closure to our youth that was promised.

Closure. We crave it. We try to manufacture it when we feel it’s been taken away from us. We may not have known that March 13 was our last moment. But my hope is that we can find closure in something less fleeting than a moment — by reflecting on the many memories we had before that.

All the buzzer beater basketball games. The times you stayed up until 2 a.m. cramming before a test. Getting breakfast on late start days with your friends. Fighting with your friends. Failing pop quizzes. The good, the bad and the ugly. By reflecting on these and recognizing how they have prepared us for our lives after high school, I know we can step into this new chapter with confidence and grace — even if the pandemic doesn’t allow us to have these moments of closure we were expecting.

With an in-person graduation up in the air, seniors should try to find closure from the smaller moments of high school

COME VISIT 5813 johnson dr, mission, ks www.energizingmission.com

FEATURES | 15

design by | sydney newton

F E AT U R E

HIGHLIGHTS

AG G I E W I L L I A M S F EAT U R E D ARTIST FAV O R I T E T O O L S

CO L L EC T I N G FO R A C AU S E B E L O W A box with Liljeren’s flyer on it holds all donations until they are collected. Collections will continue when school begins and Liljeren can pick them up. photo by | kate nixon

MPK mini key b o a r d computer

HOW DID YOU GET INTO MUSIC? “It all started when I was a baby. I did piano lessons when I was four and my mom came to pick me up from a lesson one day and my piano teacher was like ‘Your daughter can actually sing.’ My mom brushed it off and said that everybody sings, but my piano teacher said that I really could sing. Then, my mom put me in all these sports. But I decided I didn’t want to run all the time. Then eighth grade came along and I was in my first musical which was my gateway into the music world. That was when I started making sense of what music is.”

WHY DID YOU START WRITING SONGS? “I started just journaling about my day and what was going on and what happened. Once eighth grade started and I got into musical theater and finally

T O P Junior Emmett Liljeren poses next to his collection box, which is located in his driveway for students to drop off book donations. photo by | kate nixon

understood what music was, I turned those journals into song lyrics. I started messing around with my creativity on the piano and making little melodies in my

R I G H T B E L O W Liljeren stands next to his collection box. While Liljeren was originally only going to accept donations until the end of April, he has now extended his timeline and will be accepting book donations through May in hopes that people will donate after AP testing. photo by | kate nixon

head and then transferring that onto the piano. That’s where the whole song writing started. As time went by I started learning more and I started using Garage Band on my computer. I have a software that I can make beats and piano and guitar sounds on the computer at my disposal now that I can make music with, but it took a long time to get there.”

V I D E O F E AT U R E S SCAN ME | GOODBYES & THOUGHTS FROM THE CLASS OF 2020 Shawnee Mission East seniors reminisce on their last year of high school that came to a quick end due to the corona virus. | by maggie schutt & evelyn roesner

WHAT WAS THE PROCESS OF RECORDING YOUR FIRST SONG? “It was so fun. The producer is Ben Grove, and he is the pianist for my show choir. He came up to me and said that he had a song for me that he wanted me to sing. I went over to his house and he has a whole studio in his basement. We were there for like five hours recording vocals and I got to see his setup and how he makes music. He taught me a bunch of stuff about software and what chords you need for what

SCAN ME | YOUR WEEKLY COROBREAK WITH ME: EPISODE ONE Watch staffer Roberto Galacia talk about what to watch or play to make quarantine a little more bearable. | by roberto galacia

instruments.”

SCAN ME FOR MORE AGGIE Read more about how Williams got into music and came out with a song on Spotify

16 | FEATURES

FROM THE

H EA LT H C A R E

FRONTLINE

OF KANSAS CITY

Other East parents have stayed in Kansas City to help treat local COVID-19 patients

MEGAN HISE | nurse at Research Medical Center Have you been concerned about your family’s safety and health?

East parent and nurse picks up and goes to New York City to help with the current COVID-19 crisis

“I started living in the basement to protect [my family]. So, when I come [home], I come straight to the basement and I wash my clothes on hot and get in the shower and stay in the basement. If I have to come up for something, I wear a mask and make sure my hands are really clean.”

MICHAEL CROSSER |

pulmonary critical care physician at KU Medical Center What’s something you’ve learned from working on the frontline?

“People have an incredible capacity to want to help — from healthcare providers volunteering outside of their job description, from family and friends wanting to help...I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of people willing and able to go above and beyond to help manage this pandemic.”

SCAN ME | BLOG

ABOVE Kotar and her co-workers wear an N-95 respirator mask, curgical mask, plastic gown, surgical cap and show covers to protect themselves from the virus. photo courtesy of | brenda kotar LEFT Billboards in Times Square were all changed to blue to show appreciation for workers operating on the frontline of the COVID-19 outbreak. photo courtesy of | brenda kotar

Scan for Kotar’s blog, “Being Brenda in NYC,” to read and view pictures Kotar’s experience being on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.

design by | catherine erickson by annabelle moore

A

rriving at the general adult COVID unit at 7:15 a.m., East parent and nurse Brenda Kotar’s patient assignments are thrown at her while she stands among a swirling pool of night nurses, rushing to check their patient’s breathing one last time, or send them to a ventilator.

“Nothing prepares you for this,” East parent and nurse Brenda Kotar said. “Nothing.”

20 different patients’ call-lights are going off, and the night nurses handing their patients off to the day shift have lost sight of what it feels like to sit down and take a break.

That will be Kotar in 12 hours.

A line of COVID-positive patients engulf the halls of the unit at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, NY, waiting for someone like Kotar to check their breathing, hook them up to an IV or get them on some oxygen. Chaos. Absolute chaos.

Being a nurse during this pandemic is miserable, and as a deployed nurse from Kansas City, Kotar had never seen anything like the four large tractor trailers waiting outside Jacobi ready to be filled with dead bodies, victims of COVID-19. The trucks remind her why she’s there, so maybe next week there will only be three trucks, then two, then one.

After hearing from a co-worker about Krucial Staffing, a Facebook page dedicated to finding nurses to help during times of emergency or disaster, Kotar knew she belonged in a hospital in New York where the pandemic hit hard.

Back home, she works as a pediatric nursing instructor at Metropolitan Community College. She’s young, she has skills in a hospital setting, she’s in good health and has supportive friends and family who will cheer her on for the 21 days she’d be gone.

She couldn’t make any final decisions without consulting her kids, aged 12, 18 and 21. They understood the importance of what she was doing, so she packed her scrubs and on April 5, she was off to New York City.

“Some people would be like, ‘I don’t know why she would leave her kids,’ but that thought never went through my head,” East senior Sophia Kotar said. “I was thinking, ‘She is a freaking hero.’ I could never imagine putting myself in harm’s way for people I don’t even know. That’s just something that she does every single day.”

The first week on the job was one of the hardest weeks of Kotar’s life. Her patient load was double that of what she’d ever experienced back home. Patients fill the hallways — not just the rooms — and Kotar treats everyone.

“I really never thought I would be reporting from the frontlines, I [had only] dreamt it would be from the eye of the storm in a hurricane, but here I am,” Kotar said in a blog she’s been keeping, called Being Brenda in NYC. Despite Jacobi’s lack of essential supplies such as water cups and ice, they don’t have a shortage of PPE. To enter a COVID patient’s room, Kotar must have on the N-95 respirator mask that she’s worn all day. She gets a new one of P•P•E

Pe rso n a l P rote c t i ve E quipment: Equipment such as gloves, m a s ks a n d h e a d covers used by doctors to protect a ga i n st t h e vi r u s

those every three days, whereas most nurses back in Kansas City get a new N-95 every day. She doesn’t bother putting on makeup for work — the mask would rub it off anyways.

On top of the N-95 goes a surgical mask, face shield, a plastic gown over her scrubs, surgical cap, shoe covers and gloves. This process takes four to five minutes, but she hardly has that time when eight of her nine patients are calling for

help.

In her unit, the general adult COVID unit, Kotar finds herself restlessly working despite the ‘breaks’ she’s supposed to be given. Someone always needs a bed change, a cup of water, more medicine or any of the supplies Jacobi is running short on. Kotar’s had times where she’s found herself having to get creative to make an oxygen mask with a latex glove, because they’re out.

It’s considered a slow day for her if she has time to use the restroom even once or make her way down to the lobby by the giftshop to eat a quick lunch. She says if she has time to do this, she comes back to the unit in a much better state, for herself and for her patients.

Her patients mainly range from ages 20 to 60, but regardless of age, Kotar quickly learned to prioritize patients who are the sickest, even when she wants to treat everyone.

Kotar said when she goes into a patient’s room, she hardly ever thinks about the risk she’s putting herself in. Instead,

I really never thought I would be reporting from the frontlines, I [had only] dreamt it would be from the eye of the storm in a hurricane, but here I am.

brenda kotar she looks forward to making her patient better and getting them out of there. Though if she were to get sick, Jacobi would offer her a test.

While over 9,000 COVID deaths have been recorded in NYC — up to 500 deaths a day — Kotar feels lucky none of her personal patients have died from the virus. Not the 82-year-old man restrained to a bed with a broken hip and dementia, or the 33-year-old Hispanic woman forced by the virus to be put on a ventilator.

“Some of the nurses have said they’ve walked in and their patients were already dead when they walked in the room,” Kotar said. “I’ve had nurse friends that have lost two or three patients in one day.”

Kotar makes a point of educating her patients with deep breathing exercises called incentive spirometer that will help to keep them alive. She believes the only way to keep them from developing COVID-induced pneumonia is by telling her patients the harsh reality: you either do the breathing exercises, or you could die.

Once, Kotar spent four hours in one of her patient’s rooms who went from feeling normal to immobile in minutes. Many patients fluctuate between moderate and severe conditions, so it’s paramount to keep constant tabs.

“You have to monitor them, because [this patient] was within four hours of me sending her to the ICU because her blood pressure was so low,” Kotar said. “We were hanging bags of fluid and starting more IVs and drawing labs and amping up her oxygen and all of that. And so in that time, that’s when it becomes really scary because it happens so fast and you have to put those other patients on hold — you have to prioritize and take care of the one who’s the sickest in that time.”

Since Kotar isn’t working in the ICU, she typically sends severely ill patients to the ICU before it gets especially bad.

Given she has seen some disheartening sights, Kotar says discharging patients is one of the most rewarding parts of her grueling job.

Kotar will never forget the time she treated a COVID patient whose 11-year-old daughter was at home alone because there was no one to take care of her. The girl’s grandma was also hospitalized with COVID-19. Kotar said

that discharging this mother to her child is what reminds her that she’s making a difference — she knows leaving her own three kids at home to care for families like this was the right decision.

“I wanted to hug her, but I couldn’t,” Kotar said. “But I wanted to.”

Most COVID nurses in New York are dealing with the dark end of the virus, one way or another. They’re exhausted.

They’re getting sick. Their families are getting sick. Some nurses have even quit because they couldn’t take it anymore.

Sometimes when Kotar is supposed to hand off her patients to the night nurse, the nurse just doesn’t show up. Kotar is then left rushing to write patient reports before the bus leaves at 7:30 p.m. for the hotel.

“I think it’s a lot harder for [the nurses that live here] because there’s not really a light at the end of the tunnel,” Kotar said. “[I’m going home on April 27], and that’s what’s getting me through it, because it is very hard.”

Kotar has found that the most important part of her job is balancing time and focus between work and home. When a patient is struggling or hospital beds are clearing up because people are dying, she has to be able to go back to the hotel and take her mind off of work. Reading a book, taking a shower or talking to her kids can usually get her mind off of the 12-hour shift she had and refresh her for the brutal 5 a.m. wakeup call the next morning.

When she had to work on Easter, her three kids sent her flowers. This made her cry, but also made her realize how good she has it. Even separated by thousands of miles, Kotar feels lucky to know her family is healthy and rooting for her.

Exhausted and hungry, Kotar finishes her shift around 7:30 p.m. She walks past the cheering crowd outside of Jacobi who hold signs of encouragement, ring cowbells and yell words of appreciation for doctors and nurses like her.

“You know [nurses] don’t do this job for attention, honestly,” Kotar said. “Sometimes we call it a thankless job because we don’t do it for attention, that’s not the point. I don’t need a bunch of attention for doing it, but it’s nice to be supported and it feels really good to be supported by your friends and family and I have that.”

Kotar is a single mom, currently working three jobs, with three kids back at home: her oldest daughter, 21-yearold Abby, has been taking care of 18-year-old Sophia and 12-year-old Owen.

Sophia says that life at home without her mom is a team effort. Abby is the one who gets all of them moving every morning, making Owen do his school work and keeping the house clean and organized. Sophia makes dinner and meal plans because she likes to cook, and says Owen is just a good source of energy. They also have a number of caring and supportive neighbors who have been bringing meals to the kids almost every day.

“It’s so helpful for me because I can’t do that obviously, and then I can be here and not be worried and stressed that they’re not getting dinner or whatever,” Kotar said of her neighbors’ efforts. “I call it the support for the support. It’s been really helpful.”

After working this job and leaving her family for a bit, Kotar says she will never take her normal schedule at home for granted again.

“It’s going to take me a long time to start complaining again about little things, just because I’ve seen some really terrible things,” Kotar said. “But, I would absolutely do it again — not right now, but if I had to do it over, I would do it again.”

18 | FEATURES

design by | lily billingsley photos courtesy of | zine club

P H O T O S Some of the pages featured in the Zine Club’s “Pandemic” themed publication

QUARANZ I NE by sophie henschel

W

hile most have used quarantine to binge watch “All American” or teach themselves how to bake, some see the extra time as the perfect opportunity to produce and expand on art forms like zines — small, handmade magazines ranging from five to 10 pages, featuring digital drawings, objects, collages, illustrations, photography and more.

These mini magazines are produced by Zine Club, which typically meets every Monday after school in sponsor Adam Finkelston’s room. Looking to continue creating their projects, they’ve found ways to work around the troubles of quarantine by brainstorming theme ideas using their club’s GroupMe chat.

“The great thing about zines is that they can be anything that you want them to be,” Finkelston said. “It’s definitely a really great way for students to be expressive, to be thoughtful and also be creative.”

The great thing about zines is that they can be anything you want them to be.

adam finkelston | club sponsor After bouncing around ideas, they quickly decided that the theme most fitting with the current circumstances would be “pandemic.”

Each of the six students participating were assigned a page — along with Finkelston’s two pages — and given complete creative freedom to fill their page with whatever they wanted, as long as it related to the central theme of pandemic.

Senior Sydni William chose to fill her page with poetry, writing about her existential, dark and edgy thoughts regarding viruses spiraling through her head. Written in all caps on an aged piece of paper, the poem focuses on the

“lingering spirit of closure.” William conveys the idea that we are all mourning through this hollow time in different ways, however she hopes that “we emerge from this thing as appreciative, empathetic people.”

“In fact I was thinking about [being quarantined] more,” William said. “But [making zines] is a way to make art and share art so I like doing it.”

While William chose poetry, other students chose things like drawings and digital art. Sophomore Arin Sowell, who was assigned the front cover, created a human-like figure with an array of Victorian flowers — chosen with intentions of portraying symbolized meaning through the flower types.

Sowell drew a dark, crimson rose to represent mourning, chrysanthemums to show neglect and pogonias to represent sickness in his digital painting — all coming together to perfectly represent the idea of pandemic.

Club founder and sophomore August Hyde represented the idea of pandemic through a hand sewn mask that he scanned to cover the majority of his page. Using Photoshop, he outlined the mask with the words “I’m very worried.”

Hyde felt that creating his page was the best way to express the reality that COVID-19 could be a plausible threat. Struggling with lung issues since childhood, Hyde knew that the autoimmune issues running in his family could create a serious problem.

“It was kind of a growing concern in my brain that I [feel] like can be relevant to express in this zine,” Hyde said.

As for Finkelston this was a way for him, like the students, to dive into the deeper thoughts he’s faced through this pandemic. He created two pages, carving out of monolium and turning his works into prints — looking simple, but again with deeper understanding.

One of which includes a simple wooden chair adrift at sea, and the other with a man losing balance standing on a poll over a body of water with numerous dangers beneath him.

“They’re both images that I felt illustrate the atmosphere

The Zine club created a pandemic-themed project as a way to continue their club during quarantine

of having some confusion, some instability, and imbalance... feeling like you’re drowning a little bit or trying to keep your head above water,” Finkelston said. “Things that are familiar being thrown into unfamiliar territories” While shedding light on the more in-depth and even

SCAN ME | STORY Read another story by Sophie Henschel about what artists are creating during their time in quarantine.

metaphorical meanings of pandemic along with the feeling of being mentally and physically quarantined, the “pandemic” zine also incorporates the more bubbly side of things.

Titled “Tatum’s Pandemic Essentials,” freshman Taitum Aikin created a page illustrating all of the things helping her get through quarantine with quick descriptions — from gallons of peach iced tea to phone games and lots of snacks.

The club has used zine-making as a way to both fill their time during quarantine, and dive into the thoughts and feelings correlated with this pandemic. Whereas they would typically keep their finished zines in their “zine machine” — a cardboard box in Finkelston’s room — the quarantinezines are meant simply for personal use.

When it comes to jumping into any form of art during quarantine, the zine club is all for it.

“Even if it’s not trying to make the best piece of art, just experimenting and trying a new process that you’ve never done before, you get so carried away,” William said. “I’ll wake up in the morning and I’m like, ‘I’m going to do this today,’ then I’ll forget to eat until like five o’clock because I get so into it.”

FEATURES | 19

design by | catherine erickson

CO U P L E S I N by emma brown

GOODBYE DINNER DATES, hello FaceTime. Dating during quarantine has forced high school couples to find creative ways to stay connected with each other while following

social distancing rules. Despite being unable to meet up for typical dates like movies or concerts, here are some couples that have adapted so they can spend time with each other.

D I STA N C E D DAT I N G Date ideas that comply with the social distancing regulations

H A M M OC K I N G Hang a hammock in the park and draw, listen to music or just hang out

PICNIC Bring a homemade or carryout lunch to the park for an conventional lunch date

B I K E RI D E Go on a bike ride on the Trolley Trail to explore Brookside or the Swope Park Mountain Bike Trails to see the woods

BETWEEN THE SCREENS How to use technology to your advantage for staying connected with your partner NETFLIX PARTY is an online extension that allows you to sync up a Netflix show or movie and host a virtual watch party.

ZOOM isn’t just for online lectures — use the screen share feature to play games together or invite other people to the meeting for a double date.

POSTMATES allows you to surprise your partner with their favorite take-out. Then you can FaceTime for a virtual dinner date.

High school couples are learning to adjust their dating lives to life in quarantine

THE CREATIVE COUPLE SENIORS HUNTER COOPER and Elise Griffith, who have been dating for six years, meet up to sit in the trunks of their cars to catch up on each other’s weeks in addition to their nightly Zoom calls, where they normally fall asleep on the call.

“We watch movies together,” Griffith said.

“We’ll share our screen on Zoom and set up a movie. We watch a lot of light-hearted stuff, like the other night we watched ‘Princess and the Frog.’”

Since Griffith and Cooper used to spend time together almost every day, hanging out only three times a week has caused them to see a change from their pre-quarantine

relationship.

“We definitely text the normal amount, but we are for sure FaceTiming a lot more,” Griffith said. “It’s the only way we really get to see each other, so I like it better than nothing.”

Along with virtual dates, Griffith and Cooper have managed to follow social distancing restrictions by spending more time outdoors in hammocks.

“Hammocking is really chill,” Griffith said. “I mean, we just brought a bunch of food and I brought like a coloring book and we just drew a bunch of stuff.”

THE LIMITED COUPLE WITH A “ONE date a week” rule enforced by their parents, sophomores Jack Muller and Megan Angell spend their time either sitting in their cars talking through rolled down windows or at a Meadowbrook Park bench for a spring picnic.

Muller and Angell have experienced many difficulties in regards to dating during quarantine. Staying six feet apart and limited to take-out restaurants, it has left them at a disadvantage, causing them to rely on their frequent FaceTimes.

“We used to be able to watch movies together and play Mario Kart in my basement,” Muller said. “But now, because of quarantine, we aren’t allowed to be in each other’s houses, so it’s been difficult coming up with alternatives.”

Their relationship pre-quarantine consisted of dinner dates to Freddy’s, watching multiple episodes of “The Office” together and going to the movies. Quarantine has forced them to find quarantine-friendly versions of their typical pastimes to enjoy.

“We usually just go sit outside somewhere and have lunch that we pick up from Panera and Chick-Fil-A,” Angell said.

“We find a bench somewhere, typically at Meadowbrook Park, and have a two-hour lunch date”.

According to Angell, they were both very busy before quarantine, but now have a plethora of free time, so they are both wishing to see each other more.

THE WORKING COUPLE AS THE CORONAVIRUS first hit locally, seniors Jenna Stindt and George Morgan decided to work seven to 10 hours at a time helping their community by making protective gear — allowing them to spend every day together.

The couple spends most of their day working with local crafted goods company, SewKC, to make up to 600 masks a day.

Since they’ve been allowed to see each other while working, they haven’t found a need for FaceTime or car trunk dates.

“There is a whole group of people working, but we’re pretty much around each other the entire time during work,” Stindt

said.

Along with making masks, Morgan and Stindt have gone on outdoor dinner dates, fished at Perry Lake and exercised together.

Although the couple enjoyed activities like these pre-quarantine, social distancing has limited the things they can do in public together — though it hasn’t caused them much trouble.

“If you’re with the right person, quarantine shouldn’t really change anything,’’ Morgan said. “It shouldn’t get in the way if you generally care about the person.”

FEATURES | 20

design by | caroline gould photos by | taylor keal

working through COVID-19 by allison wilcox

S

T O P Riscovallez takes precaution during his job at Hen House by wearing a protective face mask.

L E F T Junior Ethan Riscovallez hoses down shoppings carts for his job at Hen House.

PA N D E M I C

P R EC AU T I O N S

PROTECTION Junior Ethan Riscovallez has made an effort to maintain proper sanitation during shifts by wearing a mask and a pair of gloves, even though they are not required.

DISTANCE

Senior Kathleen Stanley works at Hy-Vee and has noticed a shift in the atmposhere, as shoppers are keeping a mindful distance from others.

SANITATION Hen House is now requiring employees to clean checkout stations every 30 minutes, as well as having a designated employee clean the store, including shelves and carts.

ome can’t work because of strict parents. Some can’t work because of pre-existing medical conditions.

Some can’t work because someone in their family is at risk. But that’s not everyone.

Essential businesses, like grocery stores, have kept students busy bagging groceries and stocking shelves. With school out, students at East have put themselves to work as much as they can to benefit themselves with all the excess time they have.

Junior Ethan Riscovallez has worked at Hen House for a year and a half — and with a number of employees sidelined due to compromised immune systems or older age, he’s picked up more shifts.

Typically, he works 12 hours a week, but since quarantine he’s been maxing out at 34 hours. That’s considered a full-time job.

“At this point if I stop working, because we have so few cashiers, it would hinder Hen House’s ability to maintain a safe front end,” Riscovallez said. “Because we’re short on cashiers just to check people out as it is, but we also need someone to clean carts.”

Riscovallez has made an effort to maintain proper sanitation during his shifts by wearing a mask and gloves, even though they aren’t required. Hen House is additionally requiring employees to clean checkout stations every 30 minutes and has designated a worker to clean the store, including shelves and carts.

Riscovallez’s parents allowed him to continue working because of the precautions Riscovallez is taking, even though he comes in contact with a large portion of the northern Prairie Village population. And even though no one in their immediate family is at risk, his family has taken extensive measures when he gets home to ensure health is their top priority.

“When you come in the house, right at the front door is a place to take off our shoes and spritz them with rubbing alcohol on the outer surfaces,” Ethan’s dad, Jerry Riscovallez, said. “Before anything else we’ll tell him to get a change of clothes, they go right into the hamper, right into the wash.”

Senior Kathleen Stanley is also using this time to clock in. She began working at Hy-Vee after spring break to occupy time and has also been careful to protect customers, her family and herself from the virus. To stay safe, Stanley sanitizes everything customers touch, from keypads to shelves, and showers immediately upon arriving home from each shift.

According to Stanley, most of the employees at Hy-Vee are continuing to work, but the store has needed as many workers as possible with the increase in store and online orders. Beginning as a cashier, Stanley has now been gathering items around the store to complete the

At this point if I stop working, because we have so few cashiers, it would hinder Hen House’s ability to maintain a safe front end because we’re short on cashiers just to check people out as it is, but we also need someone to clean carts

ethan riscovallez | junior constant online orders, mainly bottled water, bread and eggs, for delivery or pickup.

Stanley has noticed a shift in the atmosphere at Hy-Vee — people are staying far away from each other and seem to be scared to be in a public place, with most people wearing gloves and masks.

“I really love the people I work with, I think a lot of us have a really positive attitude about the whole situation,” Stanley said. “Definitely though people are taking really strong precautions and we can definitely tell people are fearful of being near others.”

While working in essential businesses, Stanley and Riscovallez are both trying to keep the community safe, they said — whether that’s advising a customer to stand farther away or remembering to sanitize the conveyor belt after every purchase.

design by | elizabeth mikkelson photos and information courtesy of | spotify, npr and barnes & noble

A&E | 22

LIST E N-WO RT HY RECO MME NDAT IO N

A&E

HIGHLIGHTS

The Harbinger hub for all things trending in the arts and entertainment world

THIS WEEK’S TO P P O D CASTS T I T L E | N P R N E W S N OW

T I T L E | L A ST P O D C A ST ON THE LEFT

C H A RT R A N K I N G | # 2

C H A RT R A N K I N G | # 1

Including coverage of breaking stories, national and world news, politics, business, science, technology, music, arts and culture, this podcast will keep you up to date on the world around you

This podcast covers horrors both real and imagined, from demons and cults to serial killers and kidnappers, and will surely statisfy your want for villainy

T I T L E | E V E RY L I T T L E T H I N G

T I T L E | S H OTS O F S C I E N C E VS

C H A RT R A N K I N G | # 6 C H A RT R A N K I N G | # 3

Every Little Thing is a podcast dedicated to answering all burning questions pertaining to why things are the way the are or have evolved to what our surroundings are today

Answering all of your unsystematic scientific questions, whether that be about coronavirus, the environment or UFOs, this podcast covers all topics of information

Staffer reviews one her favorite podcasts “Crime Junkies” which explores crimes and unsolved mysteries by

elizabeth mikkelson

I’VE BEEN SCARRED FROM watching horror movies ever since being pressured into watching “The Visit” and “Human Centipede” in seventh grade.

Although watching horror movies is an activity that keeps me from sleeping for weeks, listening to them is a whole other story. There’s a difference between imagining a crime and actually seeing it happen, but when I gave up watching horror movies and started listening to the podcast “Crime Junkies” about a year ago, I had no idea how much this podcast would save me when I’ve already rewatched all of my Netf lix and Hulu binges.

In the podcast Crime Junkies, Ashley and Brit, the two hardcore crime junkies themselves each with a craving for case solving, break down mysteries, crimes, theories or missing person cases — transgressions that are all worth listening to.

The two are the epitome of crime junkies, always intrigued and excited by criminality and what may be lurking under the surface of numerous inexplicable events such as murder, arson — you name it and they’ve covered it. Their utter excitement extends itself to me, trans•gres•sion

a n a ct tha t goes agai nst a l aw, rul e, o r co de of cond uct ; an offense

N E W YO R K T IM E S B E ST SE L L E R PI C KS

T I T L E | A M E R I C A N D I RT

T I T L E | R E D H E A D BY T H E S I D E O F T H E ROA D

T I T L E | T H E WO M A N I N T H E W I N D OW

PAG E S | 4 0 0

PAG E S | 1 9 2

PAG E S | 608

BY | J E A N I N E C U M M I N S

BY | A N N E T Y L E R

BY | A . J. F I N N

SCAN ME | STORY If you’re looking for your next binge-worthy book that you won’t be able to set down, check out Jackie Cameron’s review of the suspenseful and worthwhile “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng

SCAN ME | STORY Kate Heitmann reviews “The Alice Network” by Kate Quinn which follows two female spies during World War I and World War II, and shares the virtually untold story about their experiences

making me hang on every last of their words.

Over this year, I’ve binged every episode since the podcast debuted in 2017, and I’m still excited when a new episode is released. Trust me when I say you’ll be hooked within the first 30 seconds of them setting the scene, before a bomb drops out of nowhere that the suspect had a connection and motive to the victim.

On Mondays, aka “Crime Junkie” episode release day, I get in my car and drive with no destination in mind. I listen to the sometimes hourlong episodes, sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time to see if they find a fingerprint at the crime scene

*****

P O D C A S T | 5 / 5 S TA R S

or a new suspect in question — leaving me with “full body chills”, as Ashley and Brit would say.

While the show is free on Spotify, my addiction for these true crime stories has gotten so extreme that I’m incentivised to start paying the extra $5 a month just to get an extra fix of bonus episodes each week. The most recent bonus episode covers the mysterious disappearance of Carole Baskin’s former husband, Don Lewis from the infamous “Tiger King” docu-series, which I am dying to listen to.

Since most of the episodes are unsolved crimes, you’re given the role of detective and an opportunity to develop your own opinion about what might have happened in these infamous cases. Ashley and Brit explain in detail the nature and occurrence of the crime, before delving further in to share different theories and their predictions — whether that be foul play, the dark truth revealed about a suspect or someone missing but presumed dead.

Although this podcast has become my guilty pleasure, it has also given me a whole new lens of looking at criminal cases through a new standpoint and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious in the world we live in.

E L I Z A B E TH ’S TOP FAVORI TE E PI SOD E S M U R D E R E D | T H E WAT TS FA M I LY I N FA M O U S | D. C . S N I P E R M I S S I N G | PAT T I A D K I N S

A&E | 23

design by | caroline chisholm

H OW TO M A K E

MONEY by cesca stamati

INTRO

D U R I N G Q UA R A N T I N E SURVEY

FETCH

After dropping my last few pennies on summer clothes I can only hope I’ll have a chance to wear and room decor taken straight from TikTok, my piggy bank is pretty much empty. So, it was obvious to me that my quarantine self-care needed to be taken to a whole other level — I’m talking about how to make some extra cash from the comfort of your own home using only your Macbook and what’s left of your sanity this far in quarantine.

REDBUBBLE

STICKERS Redbubble is an app or website that allows creators to make designs that can be printed out for the buyer on anything from stickers to phone cases. Typically, stickers are sold at two to four dollars and you will have a default “markup” of 20%, giving you 20% of each sale or adjustable to what you deem fair.

However, this means that the buyer will have to pay more, which may decrease sales.

While this method of making money is one that benefits from some preexisting experience in design, you don’t have to be an expert to sell stickers on Redbubble.

All you need is to have Adobe Illustrator downloaded on your school computer and an idea for a sticker that you would buy yourself.

Depending on how much effort you put into making stickers, Redbubble can potentially make you a lot more than the other methods of earning money online — that is, if your sticker gets popular. After spending less than 30 minutes creating my COVID-inspired sticker — a globe wearing a facemask that said “stop the spread” — I didn’t have high expectations for anyone buying it.

After creating and uploading my sticker to my profile, I waited hopefully for days — and made no sales.

Now, I don’t claim to be a master of stickers or anything, but I did spend 30 minutes making the sticker — more than the average person might. So if no profit was made after that, then I took it as a sign that this may not be my calling.

However, trying out the app made me realize that those with an exceptional gift for design and a more creative brain than I could use this app to start their own business. Start small, creating around ten stickers, and make sure to put in related tags when publishing that correlate with the sticker — the more you do, the more people will see it.

JUNKIE

R E WA R D S

According to Tik Tok, if I signed up for Fetch Rewards, a rewards app that gives you points for scanning receipts which can be added up to buy gift cards, I would get paid and receive free clothes and makeup products. With all this time I have, I thought it couldn’t hurt to spend a few minutes trying out the app if it meant getting paid — and I wasn’t disappointed.

Signing up wasn’t exactly what TikTok made it out to be — free Lululemon and Glossier products didn’t magically appear at my doorstep, but it did earn me a few free gift cards. All I had to do was scan every grocery receipt in your house — which Fetch sells to companies for market research to improve marketing — and send out referral codes to everyone on your contacts list.

The app rewards in points for taking pictures of receipts from stores like Price Chopper or CVS, and with those points, you can redeem gift cards from a wide range of rewards the app offers, from Visa rewards cards to Ray-Ban gift cards. You’ll get even more points by sending out your referral code — there’s a 4,000 point reward if they sign up and scan their first receipt. But to put it in perspective, if you want to cop a $5 gift card, you better gain 5,000 points.

THE In only a few days I’ve managed to stack up enough points from referral codes and my parents’ Hen House receipts to receive a $10 Chipotle gift card via email.

While it may take some time to get your points to add up before you can buy anything, doing so took me a minimal amount of effort and I did it all from my bed. It’s a great way to make use out of those Costco receipts your family has accumulated during quarantine before throwing them away.

STOP SPREAD

Survey Junkie, a website for answering survey questions that go toward points that transfer to money in your Paypal account, proved that taking surveys to make money is something that you would have to spend months doing before you can cash in your reward. The amount of time and countless surveys it would take to cash in your money is discouraging, and not the most efficient way to earn some pocket money.

Survey Junkie is one of the most popular surveytaking sites, so it’s ironic that they only offer one or two surveys per week, ranging from topics like how many times you’ve traveled this year or how many siblings you have. I was bombarded with six of them the first day I signed up — which didn’t even seem like much at the time — and I have yet to see another one.

On top of that, I wasn’t allowed to redeem the heaping fortune of $1.65 that I made — you have to have earned a minimum of $5 before redeeming a single dime of it. While I didn’t expect much for just answering questions like whether I have a goldfish or a gecko, I was expecting at least a few more surveys since the point is to help out as many companies as possible.

While barely any effort is needed to answer a few questions about yourself and your opinions, it would probably take months before you can earn a useful amount of points to buy any gift cards. Let’s just say, you’re better off rummaging through an old piggy bank and collecting what’s left — which would probably add up to more than you’d make on this website.

EARN ON APPS ROBINHOOD

Investing app that offers you the oppor tunity of buying stocks with a $0 trading cost

S WA G B U C K S

Earn money on this app by par ticipating in online surveys, voting in polls, or playing online games

design by | lila tulp photos courtesy of | sarah & luke bledsoe, brooklyn manning & will green

24 | A&E

I

by sarah bledsoe

was that girl in middle school who constantly “competed” in my very own “Cupcake Wars” in my kitchen with my family, yet still couldn’t bake to save her life. And the last time I attempted chocolate chip cookies from scratch, they came out of the oven burnt and flat and were thrown away the next day.

But, with all the free time I have now in quarantine, I decided to make it my personal mission to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookies. And with the help of some recipe I found online — and mysteriously can’t find again — I learned a few tricks that make all the difference to perfect your chocolate chip cookie recipe.

So what makes these cookies special? The first step is the butter, which needs to be soft, but not melted — meaning please don’t put it in the

With all the free time I have now in quarantine, I decided to make it my personal mission to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookies.

sarah bledsoe | senior microwave. I usually start by setting it out before I do anything else, but honestly, the longer it’s out the better.

While I’ve never owned a sifter, I like to shake the three cups of flour for 20 seconds to pretend like it’s doing something before I add the other dry ingredients. While comparing my masterpiece with Toll House, I learned that my recipe calls for about half a cup more sugar, which could definitely be another contributing factor to its success.

When it comes to actually baking the cookies, I take an ice cream scooper and make excessively large balls that cook for 10 minutes and end up looking slightly raw — but they’re better that way, I promise.

I’m not saying that Gordan Ramsay should contact me for the recipe, but my dad’s office devoured the dozen I gave him to take to work, and he came back with raving reviews.

I know most of you are probably skeptical that I’ve cracked the code for the best chocolate chip cookies ever — but you don’t just have to take my word for it. I recruited a few special guests to let you know what they think of my gooey perfection.

T H E V E R D I C T | BY O U R G U E ST W RI TE RS B ROOKLYN MANNING AT FIRST I was a little taken back because usually I don’t like super doughy cookies and these cookies are very moist. So when they came out of the oven, I was like, “Oh dear.”

I was there watching Sarah make the cookies and I noticed that the cookie balls — the raw dough on the pan — were enormous. It was like the biggest ball of dough I have ever seen, it was huge. In my head I was like, “That is never going to bake in only ten minutes,” and I was right because they looked pretty raw when they came out of the oven.

I was like, “oh I don’t know how I feel about that” to Sarah when she offered me one. Then I split the cookie in half. You know like they do on the Instagram Tasty videos when they break the cookie and everything's in slow-mo with the melted chocolate chips. Well, that’s how it was — and it completely changed my mind about half baked cookies, because this cookie was the best cookie I’ve ever eaten.

I even made her drop off three more cookies later that night.

LUKE B LED SOE SARAH’S FIRST EXPERIENCE with cookies was making her horrendous vegan gluten-free cookies which she would originally try to feed me, and I would have to pretend I didn’t know they were vegan or gluten-free, but they were disgusting. And if I asked why they were so bad, she would get very offended, so clearly this evolved into a better cookie.

I appreciated them even more as a family member who has had to suffer through her previous cookie baking disasters. But I also will say they are really solid cookies. I like them a lot. The ratio of chocolate

chips was solid, they seemed to expand more than the average and they were very fluffy — but all also tasted very sweet and I liked that, honestly. So the recipe is pretty good.

I also will say that they kind of maintain well.

Sometimes I feel like if cookies last a day or two they tend to kind of lose their appeal, but this recipe specifically kept well in a Tupperware longer than I would’ve expected.

I also enjoyed that they went well with a chai or a milk — overall phenomenal cookie.

WILL GREEN THE COOKIES WERE surprisingly amazing. They’re large and picturesque when you take one out of the Tupperware container, almost perfect at first glance — and they taste even better. There’s something incomparable about the feeling of eating a perfect cookie, and this is very close. Definitely make the recipe again — it was an awesome mix.

T H E R ECIP E Preheat the oven to 375 and set out two sticks of butter to soften.

Add 3 cups of flower and sift, 1 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp of baking soda and a tsp of Kosher salt (the flaky kind) in a separate bowl.

Then in the mixer, mix the two sticks of butter — which should be soft and if not wait until they are and for goodness sake DO NOT melt in the microwave, it wrecks consistency.

Next add 1 cup of packed brown sugar and 1 cup of granulated sugar to your mixing bowl and mix.

Add two tsps of vanilla extract and two eggs — then once again mix it.

Add the dry ingredients and mix. Add your preferred amound of chocolate chips.

Finally, roll the dough into big balls and into the oven they go for 10 minutes — they will come out looking raw but they cook more on the pan I promise.

COOKIES LE T ’S MAK E

Staffer “perfects” a take on a classic recipe and delivers samples to her friends to put them up to the ultimate test during quarantine.

25 | A&E

design by | rose kanaley photos courtesy of | imdb

C ATC H YO U I N A

QUIBI by maddox mogenson

SCAN ME | QUIBI

Staffer reviews new mini-show streaming service, Quibi

Scan this link to check out Quibi and the options they have to watch

FLIPPED

GAY M E S H O W

IT’S ABOUT TIME for Netflix and Disney+ to move over — the new queen of streaming services has arrived. When I first started seeing advertisements on Snapchat and YouTube for a streaming service that consists entirely of content only five to 10 minutes long, I thought it was a joke.

Two months later, Quibi is one of the mostused apps on my phone. And for only $4.99 a month, it’s kind of a steal compared to the current big-time services. Out of their extensive library of shows featuring A-list stars such as Chrissy Teigen, Jennifer Lopez and — wait for it — Ariana Grande, I chose four shows that seemed to fit my interests.

FLIPPED 7 MIN COM EDY

4 / 5 STARS

****

“FLIPPED” WAS THE first show on Quibi that drew my attention. A show about a couple that enters a HGTVesque competition only to find the house they’re flipping is an abandoned meth lab owned by a Mexican drug cartel? Talk about a multi-faceted storyline.

“Flipped” takes you through the monotonous lives of Cricket and Jann Melfi. Both fired from their jobs on the same day, they decide to use their artistic abilities in a contest to win their own interior design show.

But upon the first day of renovations, they demolish a wall that reveals a

floor-to-ceiling stack of money that they used almost instantly to afford a professional-grade film production crew. Jaw officially dropped.

A few weeks and many highlight reels later, the couple finishes the house, but the current owner, one of the cartel bosses, isn’t too happy.

In return for using all the money he earned, he sends the two newlydubbed “celebrity interior designers” to remodel houses for almost every member of the cartel. I’ll try not to spoil too much of the show, but let’s just say it’s a deal that isn’t quite the fairest.

BECAUSE I HAD only seen previews for a handful of Quibi shows through their 30-second ads, I tried to search a little deeper in their catalog to find a show that hadn’t seen much promotion.

Through filtering genres and scrolling for what seemed like hours, I stumbled upon “Gayme Show,” a cleverly-titled and unscripted game show that tests two straight men to see which one of them will be crowned “honorarily gay” and “Queen of the Straights.”

Each episode brings in two contestants that look like lost causes of heterosexuality — boring polo shirts, unkempt haircuts and complete inability to dance. The contest consists of three rounds, the first being a game called “Celebrity Essences.” This game throws three random pictures at the straights, anything from pictures of aged oak wood and Rutgers University

tour guides, that somehow come together to display the essence of a particular celebrity. Let me tell you, as an actual gay guy, I got it wrong every time.

The second game is different each episode, but activities include anything from naming facts about actress Kirsten Dunst to re-stating information that was just told to them from a woman’s story to see if they were listening. The third event is the grand finale, where they “Make an Entrance.”

Each contestant walks the runway decked out in opulent-ish costumes that look like they’re imported straight from Spirit Halloween. Regardless of the tacky outfits, the show provides LGBTQ-friendly entertainment that anybody can enjoy.

GAY M E S HOW 1 0 MIN GAM E S HOW

5 / 5 STA RS

*****

& MUSIC & MUSIC 10 MIN DOCU-SERIES

5/5 STARS

*****

IF I COULD pick one word to describe the beauty and complexity of music, I wouldn’t be able to. That’s exactly what “&Music” does. This show is more of a docu-series, in which six aspects of music production and performance — lights and visuals, dance, mindset, fashion, audio and lyrics — are explained by professionals in each field and showcased through a certain artist, tour or body of work.

Each episode is different, yet adheres to an overall theme that always comes back to music. No, Ariana Grande’s choreographers and Anderson Paak’s stylist aren’t similar at all, but they all share the ability to turn their backstories and experiences into art. Watching the show made me learn to appreciate hidden basslines and cuttingedge live visuals even more than I already do. The passion shown through every artist comes through in each of their respective areas, whether that be a laser beam that swipes through the crowd as the beat drops or an outfit inspired by growing up in the Caribbean, along with the stories told through each one actually moved me to tears at a few points.

This show is definitely one for lovers of any art. Everyone should be able to connect to the stories told, no matter if you can belt out high notes or you’re practically tonedeaf.

design by | celia condon photos by | trevor paulus

G ROOVY L IKE Staffer tests out AMC’s On-Demand movie theater, while making it into a fun quarantine activity by tommy paulus D URING THIS SEEMINGLY never-ending quarantine, it’s easy to slip into boredom and resort to YouTube and Netflix to binge “Bon Appetit” cooking videos and “Parks and Rec” in your room for hours.

However, instead of rewatching old shows and movies, opting for an at-home theater experience brings more excitement and distraction from your mundane quarantine. To watch the latest flicks you can use AMC-on-Demand — with most movies being between $3.99-5.99, including all the recent movies that couldn’t be shown in theater due to the stay-at-home order.

I WANTED THE first movie we watched to keep us captivated, but the movie did not reflect the same excitement we got from our theater set up. “Downhill” follows a family’s reaction to almost dying in an avalanche while skiing on vacation. You’d think a natural disaster would be captivating, but the lousy dialogue and lack of a plot almost put me to sleep in our blanket and pillow dwelling.

Besides shifty snow-work, the dialogue was very average (and I’m being generous)— if the producers were going for a vanilla family on a ski resort they would get a gold star. When the actors tried to get in fights over some clouds of snow “attacking” them, it felt disingenuine, and the whole idea of a shift in family dynamics over a near death experience barely came across. Instead, it felt like I was watching welldisguised robots getting into a programmed argument. And it was only “Downhill” from there.

The plot, much like leftover popcorn, got stale quickly. The central story of Julia Louis Dryfous being angry towards Will Ferrell — I say this because they were basically not acting like characters at all, rather “playing” themselves — seemed like a crutch to pass the 80 minute mark.

However, with some yawns — the slightlytoo-comfortable air mattress did not aid in our attentiveness — came some laughs. A peppy and invasive German woman became a saving grace of the snooze-fest, and from the second the broken couple sat down with her for dinner she spoke in such a comedic accent from Deutschland that the mundane aura of the movie pepped up into a campy, fun surprise.

While the movie was not the most attentiongrabbing and insane movie, we didn’t really care because we were so happy with the set up we had made for ourselves. As my mother said “Who cares how good the movie was, it was a party,” which we all need more of these days.

After some disappointing acting, my family

And since cinemas aren’t considered an essential business, I decided to bring the AMC movie theater right to my house.

With an old projector found during one of my many quarantine cleaning sessions, three bags of Hen House’s finest bagged popcorn and an ironed white sheet duct taped to the beam on our patio, I moved on to the more decorative side of creating the movie theater.

To add some comfort to the patio-cinema, my family and I foraged around our house to find objects that would provide peak coziness. This included a couple blankets,

AN AT HOME

a sleeping bag and a blow-up mattress — air bed viewing is one of the many perks of home movie nights. The advantage of an at-home theater? You can get as creative as you’d like with it. If you feel like watching a movie from a blanket fort, then for all I care make a blanket fort.

To pick the movies we were going to watch, I went on the ‘New Releases’ tab of the website and chose a double feature of “Downhill” and “Knives Out” out of what seemed like every single movie. Our family typically likes movies with Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfous, so without reading

chose “Knives Out” to keep up from drifting off on our air-mattress — and it certainly kept us awake.

“Knives Out” is a who-dunnit murder mystery film — one of my all time favorite tropes.

The movie did a good job at modernization the murder mystery plot that’s entertained people since Alfred Hitchcock’s hayday. Almost all the characters seem real except for the clashing son and daughter who call each other “nazitroll” and “libtard snowflake” — the usual Gen Z political clash in Instagram comments did not translate into real life smoothly.

Other than minor questionable acting skills from those two, the movie had us captivated from the first 15 minutes with the seemingly simple plot of trying to solve a death within the Thrombey family. With Daniel Craig playing a serious yet fun southern detective — old-timey accent and all — the movie kept our attention.

The movie was refreshingingly wellthought out, compared to “Downhill” — the director of this movie was creative with his inclusion of fatal details from pecular paintings to nods at other murder mysteries that we as the viewers completely missed. Even the set, a victorian mansion with a modern architecture of any Texan mansion, was filled with clues and foreshadowing at what was to come. Everytime a new explanation towards solving the murder appeared such as missing footprints and airtight destruction of revealing footage, it had me inching further and further towards the edge of the couch seat.

Soon, what was left of my family — half of them peaced out after “Downhill” — discovered the true fate of Mr. Thrombey and our double feature was coming to an end.

Although we can’t go to the theaters, staying home and safe is all that matters, so you should try out your own DIY movie night sometime soon — what else is there to do?

reviews — which in retrospect would have been a good idea — we hunkered down to watch it.

With the 8’oclock sun setting on a dark pink sky, we were ready to watch our two movies — some might say having dogs bark through the movie is annoying, I just say it adds to the ambiance. What’s a movie theater without a little noise from the crowd? If you have any pets they might wanna join in — just keep an eye on the popcorn bowl. Now, you’re ready to enjoy watching whatever movie — or movies, I won’t judge — you decide on.

W H AT C A N YO U

WATCH?

A look at a couple of the most popular movies available to rent on AMC Demand right now

LITTLE WOME N P G | 2HR 15 MIN | ROMANCE, DRAMA Jo March reflects back and forth on her life, telling the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women, each determined to live life on her own terms.

IMD b | 7 . 5 / 1 0 ROTT E N TO MATO E S | 9 5 %

BAD BOYS FOR LIF E R | 2HR 4 MIN | ACTION, COMEDY Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett must face off against a mother-and-son pair of drug lords who wreak vengeful havoc on their city.

IMD b | 6 . 8 / 1 0 ROTT E N TO MATO E S | 7 7 %

T HE RISE OF SKY WALKE R P G | 2HR 22 MIN | ADVENTU RE, ACTION The surviving members of the resistance face the First Order once again, and the legendary conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reaches its peak bringing the Skywalker saga to its end.

I MD b | 6 . 7 / 1 0 ROTT E N TO MATO E S | 5 2%

A&E | 27

M OV I E

A B O V E To make for a comfy viewing party, Paulus set up an air mattress by his couch.

R I G H T Paulus begins setting up the screen and projector for the movie night.

F A R R I G H T Paulus hangs a sheet up to act as a movie screen for the projector.

T O P R I G H T Paulus starts up the movie projector before it’s dark out T O P The Paulus family enjoys their athome movie theater

SPORTS | 28

design by | lily haw

MAKING A

RUN FOR IT INTRO by | riley atkinson

WHETHER IT’S AN excuse to get out of the fourth family game night in a row or to escape the virtual entrapment that is TikTok, it seems as though the entire city of Prairie Village is out on the sidewalks.

I tried three highly rated running apps — Peloton, Nike Run Club and Zombies, Run — to help guide you through intervals and workouts.

Keep reading to decide which app will support your next quarantine escape.

ZOMBIES DIFFICULT Y: 4/ 5

THE DIFFICULTY OF THE SPECIFIC WORKOUT

CREATIV I T Y: 5 / 5 THE CREATIVITY OF THE SPECIFIC WORKOUT

NO I WO ULD N OT

NIKE RUN CLUB recently paired up with Headspace, a mindfulness app, to create guided runs for specific purposes. I decided on a run called “Morning Run with Headspace” that focused on waking your body up and facilitating a good start to the day.

As the suave-voiced co-founder of Headspace instructed me to “check in with my body” or “release negative energy,” I barely paid attention to the sweat beads dripping down my forehead. Well done on the calming factor, Nike.

Unlike Peloton, the instructors for this workout didn’t take me through any interval or tell me what speed I should be running. This left some room for personalization, but I also felt inclined to jog for most of the 30 minute workout as the co-founder would encourage me to “make the most out of this time.”

I was also impressed with Nike’s free selection of workouts — they have everything from full programs for marathon runners to start-up programs for newbies, not requesting a penny. A feature titled “Club” provides challenges like the “April Weekly Challenge” to unite the community.

If a reminder popped up on my screen and told me I’m “so close to finishing this week’s goal,” I might just be able to swipe out of Instagram and strap on my tennis shoes.

Big props to Nike’s marketing team — the app even has a section called “My Running Shop,” which promotes the latest trends of Nike running essentials. So just a warning — if you do download this app, your wallet might hurt a little afterwards.

It’s tough not to reward yourself with those new printed sneakers after a three mile run.

A ZOMBIE CHASE doesn’t exactly serve as a peaceful escape from reality. And in all honesty, when I first heard about this app, I thought the apocalyptic theme felt a little too real in the trying times of a pandemic.

The Zombies, Run app features an elaborate storyline — it starts off by placing you as one of the few who survived the zombie apocalypse. The commentary upon opening the app tells you in the intro that you’re a runner en-route to one of humanity’s last remaining outposts. How calming!

A “Missions” tab in the app holds all the options for how you can “save humanity” — whether that be through a 5k training plan to “get fitter and faster” or personalized interval training with the goal of “clearing out nests of zombies.”

In order to access some of the more advanced settings in the app, you have to join the club, which costs $5.99 per month or $34.99 per year.

They do have some good free options, though, and personally, I’d rather contribute that money to my Starbucks addiction than pay to get chased by zombies. But if fear of being eaten by animated zombies is the only way to

YES, PELOTON IS known for their incredibly overpriced spin bikes, but their mobile app is chock-full of running classes like “High Intensity Interval” runs and themed jogs. They’re also currently offering a free 90day trial — perfect for a quarantine budget.

There are classes for both treadmill and outdoor running, each rated on a difficulty scale of one to ten so you know what you’re getting into. The title of some workouts made me a little short of breath just by looking at them — a “Fat-Burning Fun Run” doesn’t sound so fun to me. But props to Peloton for supplying such a wide variety of intensity levels, even though I’ll stick to beginner.

The program I tried was an outdoor run called “30 minute walk and run” with a difficulty rating of 6.8/10. As someone who never runs but works out regularly with other forms of cardio, this was the right level for me.

“Interval” was the instructor’s favorite word — we walked, then jogged, then ran with an increasing interval through the 30 minutes.

With an impressively-chosen music soundtrack of Lizzo, Drake and

NIKE RUN

DIFFICU LTY: 3/5

THE DIFFICULTY OF THE SPECIFIC WORKOUT

CREATIVITY: 4/ 5 THE CREATIVITY OF THE SPECIFIC WORKOUT

Y E S - I WOU LD DO AGAIN

get you to run three miles, you should head to the App Store.

I chose a 30-minute run and turned on GPS tracking so I could see how much land I covered. There’s also an option to link your own music — but I must say, my running playlist is a little too upbeat and cheery to play in the background of helicopter sounds and frantic screaming.

Oddly enough, the zombie feature could be turned off. This actually worked out great for me since I didn’t necessarily appreciate the impending doom of supernatural death, but without it I was missing the point of the app.

While on the run, I found my eyes darting around the neighborhood.

The sound of a squirrel running up a tree made me think I was about to get attacked.

And I won’t lie, I had to turn the audio off a few minutes in. The zombie noises spiked my heart rate way more than it would’ve if I was sprinting, and I wasn’t a fan. But again, if you thrive in high-pressure environments, you should try this out.

Nicki Minaj, it was hard not to stay motivated, even when the 90-second sprinting interval came around and I thought I might collapse into my neighbor’s yard.

While going through the workout, the app shows the distance you’ve gone and calories you’ve burned, which adds another motivating factor. In only 30 minutes, I burned over 200 calories — enough to cancel out a good handful of chips. And the time went quickly because the instructor continued talking, which easily kept my mind off my heavy breathing.

Unfortunately for my ego, everyone in quarantine had the same idea — get out of the house. So while Peloton encouraged me to “get those knees high” or “swing those arms,” I felt the burning judgement from fellow walkers. Embarrassing.

Overall, I can definitely say I’ll be coming back to this app and I’d recommend anyone to do the same, whether you haven’t run since the elementary school Pacer test or you’re a state-qualifying XC runner.

PELOTON DIFFICU LTY: 4/5

THE DIFFICULTY OF THE SPECIFIC WORKOUT

CREATIVITY: 3/ 5 THE CREATIVITY OF THE SPECIFIC WORKOUT

Y E S - I WOU LD DO AGAIN

SPORTS | 29

design by | sarah bledsoe

P OO L

****

IF YOU FEEL LIKE half of your social distanced day is spent in your imagination, day dreaming about pool days and summer nights, retrieve that focus you know you have into pool. This game demands hyper-focus — time will fly when your brain is computing just what angle and velocity will launch that solid ball into the corner hole. Plus you can play this game one-on-one, as a duo act or even work in teams — my favorite is kids versus parents. The kids always win. Pool adds a competitive twist to quarantine — something you won’t find during a family puzzle.

There are two types of balls, stripes and solids, and each team is assigned one of the two. The first person to hit a ball in, whether it’s stripes or solids, is assigned that type for the rest of the game. Players

alternate shooting their balls into any of the six pockets. Once all but the eight ball is left, the object is to sink the lone blackball into a pocket you verbally claim.

And if you hit the eight ball in before the rest of your balls, it’s an automatic loss.

If you’ve tried your hand at pool, and you need more than a one-graphsynopsis, there are helpful tutorials on Youtube. While it took me hours of leaning over and pushing the cue stick to get the hang of it, I’ve discovered the simplicity of pool. When I first started out I thought it was impossible, but with the hours of practice time, gifted by quarantine, my skills have improved indefinitely. Even though I didn’t win any games my first few days of playing, I’d recommend pool for some competition to keep yourself sane.

S M AS H BA L L SMASHBALL IS A GAME similar to ping pong and tennis. You can play with as many people as you’d like — as long as you have enough paddles. My family ordered our $12 set from Amazon, which came with two paddles and a ball.

Remember the game we played when we were young: Don’t Let the Balloon Touch the Ground? Imagine the balloon is a tiny ball and instead of hands, paddles.

Though I’ve only played with one other

PING PONG

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person, the more paddles allow more players. So if a group activity is what you crave, get creative. Use a book, cutting board, ping pong paddle as your paddle.

Playing smashball inside might result in a broken vase or lamp so it’s better suited outdoors for the driveway or lawn.

Running around with your siblings while flinging yourself to get the ball before it hits the ground is, in my opinion, the best way to get out your energy being cooped

SINCE I’M A TENNIS PLAYER, I’ve naturally loved ping pong. This game is fast-paced and you’re never quite sure where the ball will end up, meaning I can hit the ball back and forth with my sister for hours without losing interest — though my ping pong stamina usually runs out after 2 and a half hours of forehanding.

During this painful quarantine, ping pong has helped me to keep my mind off the seperation anxiety I’m having with my friends.

grace tucker | sophomore During this painful quarantine, ping pong has helped me keep my mind off the seperation anxiety I’m having with my

up inside all day. The competitive nature in me had myself diving across concrete to keep that ball up. Which, I strongly advise against. The bloody scrapes still sting.

Since the fault of a dropped ball is hard to pin on anyone, this game is inherently less competitive — which is probably why it’s not my favorite. At least I can still get into it with my brothers when they fumble and anything is better than Khan Academy, laundry, or Tik Tok.

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friends. Not only does this game push the boredom blues away, it also has me on my feet, and out of my bed. My room is on the top floor and the ping pong table is in the basement, so even the hike up and down the stairs is a slight workout.

You don’t have to be some big shot tennis player to enjoy the game — even though it may look like a miniature tennis court. Obviously a smaller scale, so ping pong wont demand as much physical rigor as a tennis match might. But the high level of focus and terse arm movements are enough for a workout in my book.Key differences between the games include paddles instead of rackets, it’s played on a table instead of a court and the scoring system is simplified. And if you’re a ping pong table, don’t worry, you can build a DIY one on your kitchen table — just make sure to get your mom’s approval first.

SCAN ME | LINK

A review of indoor games to keep the competitive edge alive during quarantine

I N D O O RS by

grace tucker

AS A GIRL WHO THRIVES in the life of competition — poaching during doubles matches or faking people out during scrimmages — self isolation could not be more inconvenient. For me, the hundreds of YouTube video workout challenges and

Amazon link to $11.50 smashball kit.

conditioning videos are just not cutting it, especially in comparison to all the games and sports that have been canceled. I’m not allowed to kick around a soccer ball or hit tennis balls with my friends, but luckily I’ve been able to find enjoyment with a little athome, ambitious fun.

30 | SPORTS

design by | elizabeth mikkelson images courtesy of | imdB

V I D EO GA M E TA K E OV E R F by

Students have turned to online gaming not only for entertainment purposes, but also as a way to make money

JOIN GAME HERE

grace allen

rom running laps around the block to painting every wall in sight, many high-schoolers have taken up new hobbies while in quarantine. And with all the time on their hands, many have spent that time propped up in gaming chairs, letting their competitive side out through video game tournaments.

As soon as Cox wakes up in the morning, he begins his activities for the day: playing Fortnite and Counter-Strike

preston cox | sophomore The tournaments take place on several video game platforms, such as Rainbow Six Siege and Counter-Strike, and most have 100 players per game. They’re randomized so no one knows who they’re playing against or how good the players are.

Sophomore Preston Cox has been

competing in Fortnite tournaments for fun and to earn quick cash, winning one thousand dollars himself. After his first win in a tournament, he had to register himself and fill out information through email. Every time he placed after that, the new money was transferred into the account he made after only a few days.

“There’s games and you get points from killing people or placing well in the singular games, and if you get enough points you can win money from it,” Cox said.

Though Cox plays for the enjoyment of having something to do and creating goals for himself, it can be challenging competing against people when still learning new things in the game himself.

But the longer he plays and improves, the easier and more enjoyable it becomes.

Most nights, he and his friends stay up until 2 a.m. playing video games — even after playing for most of the day. They’re glad the video game realm can fill the otherwise boring lockdown days.

As soon as Cox wakes up in the morning, he begins his activities for the day: playing Fortnite and Counter-Strike.

S o p h o m o r e Spencer Newton has also spent a lot of time playing video games during quarantine. On games such as Madden and Fortnite, Newton and his friends have spent hundreds of hours playing together —and eventually, they also got into tournaments for money.

Newton plays three to four hours a day and has competed in tournaments against randomized competitors. Eventually he began winning small amounts of money with high placements.

Newton and his teammates’ lacrosse season has been canceled – leaving him and his friends with lots of time on their

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Scan here to see the upcoming Fortnite tournament schedule and the game’s overall guidelines

hands. Video games satisfy a competitive fix that the boys can’t sustain given the circumstances.

Competing in video game tournaments has given Newton and Cox a way to

stay connected to their friends as well. But when they’re playing with random people, the tournaments can get incredibly challenging and competitive, they said. Several gamers have spent years mastering the game, making it difficult for Newton to beat them.

“The hard part is that people are typically a lot better and they spend a ton of time on video games,” Newton said.

Sophomore Jaidyn Glover has also played video games like Rainbow Six Siege with Newton during quarantine.

But instead of looking to win money or compete, he plays to have fun with his friends.

“I like talking to my friends,” Glover said. “We usually play with each other in a custom game so it’s only people we know.”

Video games have given a number of East students a new passion and distraction — and with the amount of success, according to Cox, it’s not one that’ll diminish any time soon.

V I RT UA L GA M I N G E SSE NT I ALS MOUSE

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G E TT I N G C R EAT I V E

I N Q UA R A N T I N E Students and alumni take advantage of quarantine to learn new tasks, expand knowledge and watch their favorite shows

R I G H T Senior Charlie Wolf makes tamales.

“The Broadmoor Bistro gave all their students a box of meat and produce and encouraged us to make creative meals — I’ve always wanted to make tamales, so I thought I’d try it during the quarantine“, Wolf said. photo by | mj wolf F A R R I G H T Former Lancer Jonah Golder practices the guitar after deciding to learn during quarantine while home from college. Golder usually attends Tulane University in New Orleans, but was kicked out of his dorm five weeks ago in the transition to online learning.

photo by | sarah golder FA R L E F T Seventh-grader Finn Kloster takes advantage of extra time during quarantine to watch Netflix. photo courtesy of | grace kloster LEFT Sophomore August Hyde holds up a sheet with information he’s researched about honeypot ants during quarantine. photo courtesy of | august hyde

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design and copy by | caroline chisholm

T H E H A R B I N G E R ’S Q UA R A N T I N E

T R E N D R E P O RT A look at the newest trends taking place during social distancing

WHIPPED COFFEE

H A I R SW I TC H-U PS

B I L L C L I N TO N ’S A L B U M S

Whoever thought to put instant coffee, hot water and sugar into a bowl and whisk it until peaks formed was apparently a genius. The concoction has gone viral across social media, with users sharing their whipping trials while griping about the exhausting process. That much whisking is on par with a Chloe Ting workout. The mixture scooped on top of a cup of iced milk has become the new go-to way to satisfy the caffeine-addicted.

Since barber shops and hair salons have closed due to the coronavirus, desperate people are taking matters into their own hands. Boys are buzzing off their long locks now that the lacrosse flow is no longer needed, and girls are finding out if blonde is their color. Considering the results of these makeshift hairstyles are pretty hit or miss, it’s safe to say this trend won’t be continuing past stay-at-home orders.

Chances are you’ve seen multiple Instagram stories showing former President Bill Clinton holding a variety of albums ranging from rap to musical theater. It’s hard to discern where this trend started and why, but it seems like everybody is entering billclintonswag.com in their browser to make their own versions with their top album picks. Tapping through these stories might even inspire you to branch out from your usual playlists.

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H O U S E PA R T Y You can’t go to any real parties because of social distancing, so why not go to a virtual one? The Houseparty app is making a comeback from our middle school days, allowing friends to jump into group video chats.

B I R T H D AY PA R A D E S

BORED IN THE

If your birthday is during the current stay-athome order, you can bet your closest friends will be driving down your street with signs.

Honk Honk, happy birthday!

Boredom has reached new heights during this pandemic, so much so that a TikTok sound with the lyrics “bored in the house, and I’m in the house bored” has become the newest anthem for TikTok users to dance to. People of all ages have started channeling their boredom into making videos to the song –– even celebrities like rapper Tyga and dancer Derek Hough have hopped on the trend.

C H LO E T I N G With the summer in just a few short months and gyms and studios closed, Chloe Ting has come to the rescue to provide at-home YouTube workouts to get your summer body ready for the pool’s opening once COVID-19 concerns die down a bit.

P H OTO CO U RT E SY O F C H LO E T I N G. CO M

P H OTO F RO M @ SA R A H B E L L E E L I Z A B E T H

T I E DY E With a sweatshirt or sweatpants, rubber bands and a bottle of bleach in hand, teen girls have taken to making their own loungewear-setsfor-less during their down time.

P H OTO CO U RT E SY OF CLAIRE PERKINS ROCK

P H OTO CO U RT E SY O F T I KTO K

P I L LOW D R E S S E S You may have thought the fashion influencer content on your Instagram feed was going to slow down since those glamorous fashion week trips have come to a halt, but then the pillow dress emerged. Influencers are dressing themselves in pillows tied around their bodies paired with a chic belt, some even adding heels to style their ‘look.’ On the bright side, this is a fashion trend that won’t break your piggy bank.

TIGER KING At the start of quarantine, the only thing anyone could talk about other than the coronavirus itself was if Carole Baskin really did kill her husband. Netflix’s popular docuseries “Tiger King” has a slew of misfits and mayhem, and much like the news, you can’t look away.

OUTDOOR MIRROR Grab a mirror and go outside to take your mirror selfies in more scenic settings this quarantine – your VSCO feed will thank you.

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