The Falcon's Quill, Volume 5, Issue 1

The Falcon's Quill

Pending TikTok ban leaves American influencers uncertain

Anusha Shukla

TikTok: the digital app that has dramatically changed the world of social media. TikTok has 1.9 billion users worldwide and its short-form content has captured recent generations since its debut in 2016 People 4 43 billion minutes each day scrolling on TikTok.

Though TikTok is popular, there may be a dark side that users need to become more familiar with ByteDance, the company that created TikTok, has been revealed to be collecting personal data from Americans and distributing it to the Chinese government.

The U.S. government also suspects that the Chinese government utilizes the information they gather from TikTok to interfere with United States politics, using their platform to spread anti-American ideas

The U.S. suspects the Chinese government is interfering with politics

This could pose a significant problem for America, especially with the upcoming presidential election in November Chinese interference could result in a rigged election.

Recently, the United States addressed the situation and has developed a proposal concerning TikTok.

During the second week of March, the House of Representatives passed a bill addressing the situation.

This bill allows ByteDance to sell its ownership of TikTok to a non-Chinese company within six months. If they have yet to do so by the end of those months, TikTok will be blocked from American citizens.

Courtesy of Brooke Cullinane

Eliana Tekie

Zahra

Mottaghian

Anusha Shukla

Meghna

Gopalakrishnan

Padrig Jan

Kyla Murphy

Mihika

Bobbarjung

Meghna

Gopalakrishnan

Brooke Cullinane

Enzo Gleichauf

Brooke Cullinane

Ada Yee

Mihika

Bobbarjung

Diane Shepherd

Mission Statement

“The Falcon’s Quill” is a forum where Blach students in the journalism class can exercise their right to express their thoughts and opinions.

Farming Protests Across Europe

Zahra Mottaghian

Farmers all over Europe have been protesting red tape, excessive rules and procedures surrounding agricultural policies, as well as unfair competition and higher prices since December, 2023.

In protest of European Union regulations, many farmers in Brussels sprayed police with liquid manure, while farmers in Poland blocked Ukrainian borders

According to irritated farmers, the EU, a union of about 27 countries, is enforcing stringent policies. Farmers are especially upset over recent climate policies: They must reduce fertilizer use by 20% and pesticide use by half This makes it difficult to make a profit and a living.

“I am drowning in debt...”

After Russia decided to block almost all trade routes due to the Russia-Ukraine War, Ukraine had to resort to trading locally with countries like Poland and Hungary.

This caused a supply glut by having too much grain staying in the area.

Angry farmers are protesting the EU’s recent policy to get rid of Ukrainian farmer’s import tariffs and stiff competition as farmers say they can’t compete with Ukraine’s cheap grain.

Rising diesel prices have also caused farmers to have to spend more on products and gain less by selling their produce.

According to NBC News, a farmer states, “‘I am drowning in debt… We [farmers] are

utilizing our farms as much as we can. There’s no lack of production, but we are not able to get any fair price for it.’”

Now, as elections are coming up for the European Parliament, governments have repealed recent policies. According to PBS News, “France scrapped a plan to end tax breaks for tractor diesel… [and the] EU abandoned a plan to reduce pesticide use…”

27 countries are enforcing stringent policies.

Courtesy of NBC News

Haiti declares state of emergency, gangs storm two prisons

Padrig Jan

On Sunday, March 3rd, Haiti’s government declared a state of emergency after gangs stormed two prisons in Port-auPrince, the capital, and nearby Croixdes-Bouquets.

Nearly all 4,000 inmates from the Port-au-Prince National Penitentiary were thought to have escaped, and the UN has warned that the Haitian government’s presence “continues to erode” with lawlessness and extreme gang violence. The state of emergency was extended on March 8th until April 3rd

Haiti’s government also imposed a nighttime curfew on March 3rd, and Finance Minister Patrick Boisvert reportedly called on police to use “all legal means” to recapture the prisoners and enforce the curfew.

Boisvert is also in charge of the government as Prime Minister Ariel Henry was in Kenya looking to gain support for a UN-backed security force

TikTok Ban

From page 1

This has sparked nationwide controversy and panic, especially among content creators whose livelihoods depend on the videos they post TikTok pays influencers about three cents for every 1,000 views they receive, which on average amounts to $46k annually. Many depend on this money as their only source of income and could become jobless without the app.

In a Googletranslated post on X, Arnel Remy, Head of the collective of Lawyers for the Defense of Human Rights, said a total of 3,597 prisoners escaped from the National Penitentiary.

3,597 prisoners escaped from the National Penitentiary

In another Googletranslated post on X, one of Haiti’s police unions called on all officers in the capital to assist in the battle to regain control of the prison. “No one will be spared in the capital because there will be 300 bandits now effective,” the statement said.

The U.S Embassy in Haiti has issued a security alert, urging U.S citizens to leave the country as soon as possible

The embassy also warned of heavy gunfire and traffic disruption near Portau-Prince Airport and said that operations would be limited on Monday, March 4th.

The embassy stated that further activity may be affected due to “gang-related violence and its effects on transportation and infrastructure.”

“No one will be spared in the capital.”

There is also outrage over the ban as people argue that a TikTok ban would violate their First Amendment rights of free speech and expression.

The government’s decision could change this country.

The Senate is still debating whether it will back this bill, so Tiktok’s future in America is still being determined.

No matter what, there is still uncertainty surrounding the ban on TikTok in America. The government’s decision could change this country for the better or for the worse.

Elon Musk’s Mars rocket may have

Enzo Gleichauf

On March 14, 2024, the third and latest test flight of Elon Musk’s company SpaceX “Starship” rocket lifted off from the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. This was the largest rocket ever launched, made of stainless steel and had planned for something big. Consisting of two sections, called stages, both parts would return to Earth and could be reused A world-first for orbital rockets

This was the largest rocket ever launched

All the engines were active through stage separation, which went flawlessly. No fuel leaks were seen and the booster began its return to the ocean as the ship proceeded perfectly. Meanwhile, the new installment of special communications equipment was providing everyone with absolutely gorgeous views from the side of the rockets

The engines were scheduled to relight and slow the booster down to a gentle landing in the ocean.

However, disaster struck when the booster began to unexpectedly roll from side to side, while the aerodynamic systems were desperately trying to stop the spinning. The engines failed to ignite, and the booster blew apart 462 meters above the ocean The Starship, however, became the largest spacecraft to ever be put in orbit.

Almost half an hour after the success, numerous problems began to arise as the ship failed to relight its engines as part of a test maneuver. The problem was suspicious, but the ship soon began to descend back through the atmosphere. The ship was also slowly spinning, which was rather odd, especially because the thrusters

appeared

to be firing

before,

and little bits of something were beginning to float off the ship.

The ship plummeted into Earth’s atmosphere.

The ship plummeted into Earth’s atmosphere Plasma from air friction began to build and a pinkish glow began to consume the spacecraft.

This was the latest installment of the most ambitious plan in history and a huge leap forward.

Unfortunately for the situation, the Starship only had a heat shield only on one side, and with the rolling situation, both the heat shielding and the fragile metal part of the spacecraft were being exposed to high heat. Footage of the Starship was tragically cut as the largest spacecraft in history broke to pieces in the upper atmosphere above the Indian Ocean.

Courtesy of Space Explored

failed, but it’s a huge leap forward

This was the latest installment of the most ambitious plan in history and a huge leap forward.

SpaceX is a perfect example of a company great at learning from mistakes.

Many people have been wondering why SpaceX even bothers developing the Starship. After all, it’s been failure after failure. However, SpaceX is a perfect example of a company great at learning from mistakes. Each flight of Starship has gotten much further than the last, and their vehicle will be a great help to Humanity; In April 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to use a special variant of the

Starship to land humans on the Moon for the upcoming Artemis missions.

Additionally, farthertraveling missions of Starship will need orbital refuellings, which will be launched by a fuel tanker Starship Disposable deep-space missions will launch satellites farther than ever before, and cargo Starships will build huge space stations faster than we could imagine. All that at a fraction of the cost of conventional rocketry One day, we may see humans land on Mars and explore the outer solar system. People should be

glad

that

something

so far-

One day, we may see humans land on Mars

Each flight... has gotten much further than the last

fetched like Starship is becoming a reality, and that given enough effort, money, and a slight tinge of ambition, anything is possible.

Courtesy of NPR

Can Americans trust the voting system? Editorial

Eliana Tekie

America is still haunted by the reminder of her catastrophic last election.

However, time has marched rapidly forward, and the 2024 election is now looming before us, not at all unlike the election four years previous. The last election was incredibly tense, critical, and at its worst, violent. Fortunately, our voting system proved strong President Biden was deemed the winner of the 2020 elections, and the elections were officially over.

But we are still ringing from its effects.

On November 4th, 2020, Joseph R. Biden was elected President Almost immediately after the election, Donald Trump went to work at fabricating a complex web of statistics and stories that accused that year’s election of fraud. Trump could find no

“Be there, will be wild”

official court to support his outlandish accusations.

According to the Washington Post, the former President then went on to privately attempt to convince Attorney General Barr to support his cases of fraud in hopes of gaining the support of a credible source, asking, “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me ”

When Barr still refused to support Trump, Trump threatened to replace Barr with Jeffery Clark, a subordinate to Barr who had previously indicated he would be willing to support Trump’s accusations Various highranking members in the Justice Department threatened

to resign if he did so Trump backed down.

Trump began using a different, more practical approach to rouse support for his cause: social media. Trump’s supporters started the hashtag #StoptheSteal on X (Twitter), which quickly gained momentum after the election.

On December 19th, 2021, Trump posted about a planned protest on January 6th in Washington D.C. He tweeted, “Be there, will be wild!”

On January 6th, 2022, Trump gave a speech in front of a crowd of his supporters who had traveled to see him from all over the country. He referred to Biden as an, “illegitimate President” due to the election being supposedly contrived Trump stated, “They rigged it like they’ve never rigged an election before.”

Initially, Trump’s speech began quite peacefully, with old, patriotic themes of fighting for justice “Everyone here will soon be marching over to head to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

However, by the end of the speech, our former, red-faced President was demanding he wanted his supporters to, “Fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Maybe it was this violent attitude which sparked the January 6th incident

“Fight like hell. And if you don’t... you’re not going to have a country anymore”

Spurred by Trump’s words, the mob marched their way down to the U.S. Capitol, where the Capitol police force was quickly overtaken as the mob broke into the Capitol.

Courtesy of NBC News

According to Britannica, “Many officers were brutally beaten with deadly weapons (bats, pipes, and flag poles), sprayed with chemical irritants, or crushed and trampled by the surging crowd.”

By the end of the attack, nine officers who had helped defend the U.S Capitol would be dead, and 174 would be injured.

9 dead. 174 injured.

Something most Americans take for granted is the peaceful transfer of power that occurs every eight years, more or less. Old president out, new one in, no mess, no fuss. Many countries don't have this gift. Every attempted transfer of power takes at least several years of war and a deluge of suffering. If there is one thing Americans pride themselves on, it’s their democracy. And while the January 6th incident may not have caused a war, it points at a much deeper, unsolved problem in the framework of America’s democracy-it’s voting system.

This is no longer a question of political stance or party.

No other President in US history has been impeached twice, found guilty of having substantive evidence of various crimes and misdemeanors, incited a public riot, and still been one of the prime candidates for an election. How have we allowed this?

This is no longer a question of political stance or party; it is simply a question of ethics. Why should a criminal be allowed to run for President? How can someone who has severely broken the law be the primary candidate for running our government? What does letting such a person run for President say about how far America has strayed from its original vision of democracy?

The only reason Donald Trump is still allowed to run for President is because of power.

Not only is he an opulent individual, but he is also very well connected in many government spheres. He has

some of the best lawyers in the country at his demand and friends in the justice department who have no doubt given him a hand in avoiding jail over the past years But these advantages shouldn’t be doing anything to help Trump at all.

Modern times require modern laws. We need to implement stronger, more specific requirements on exactly who can run for President. Our voting system should naturally be rejecting someone like Trump from running for office. Otherwise, America is heading in a very dangerous directionone where we overlook criminal records in favor of cash, one where we prioritize liaisons over litigation. Donald Trump is only the first step.

Modern times require modern laws.

If we’re not careful with who we allow to run for President, we could find Presidents in the future severely overstepping their powers Worse, we could find ourselves with a law that allows it.

Courtesy of Wake Country Government

Blach’s standards grading system needs to change Editorial

Brooke Cullinane

Letter based grading is a typical grading system for schools around the US, especially high schools. However, Blach uses a different system called standards based grading and learning, a 1-4 scale with an added section on report cards for “behavioral skills”.

According to LASD Superintendent Sandra McGonagle, the district chose to switch to standards based grading 10 years ago, due to teacher recommendations and a goal to provide more specific feedback on report cards.

The district chose to switch to standards based grading 10 years ago.

Due to the pattern of Blach wishing to prepare students for high school and the flaws in standards based grading, it’s time to take a second look at standard grading.

Blach has stressed the importance of not sending its students into high school unprepared. A clear example of their goal is the new chromebook program Students each have their own personal school-issued chromebook, similar to how high school goes about technology. Students are

responsible for charging and bringing their chromebook to school every day.

This builds responsibility in students while allowing them to become comfortable with an aspect of high school they will need to adjust to in 1-2 years.

“It is essential that we prepare students for high school.”

Another key example is Blach’s “block schedule” on Wednesdays and Thursdays

Block schedule creates a longer period of time for each class period, with even-numbered classes on Wednesday and odd-numbered classes on Thursday.

High schools near and around Blach, Mountain View and Los Altos High, also have a block schedule. The main school that Blach feeds into, MVHS, has a block schedule for Tuesdays - Fridays.

Blach also makes sure to provide resources for eighth graders to prepare them for high school next year. This includes counselor meetings, online resources, and scheduled in-school high school information meetings.

Blach principal Mr Spenader states, “While it is not our only mission at Blach, it is essential that we prepare students for high school. Once at high school, things get biggerbigger student body, bigger

campus, more opportunities and higher stakes.

The high school years are important if a student wishes to attend college or join the workforce… At Blach, we strive to give our students the skills and knowledge they need while still providing lots of support. That way, students transition to high school is not such a shock ”

This statement from Principal Spenader clearly shows how seriously Blach is taking the issue of preparing students for high school in the upcoming years.

Due to the pattern of Blach wishing to prepare students for high school, and the flaws in standards based grading, it’s time to take a second look.

Not only do letter grades stress the importance of completing all assignments, they also build a sense of responsibility in students. If all work matters in middle school, students feel more responsible for completing their homework

SBG doesn’t conform with the majority of high schools

When they reach high school, they will need to have responsibility towards their homework because it truly will matter. If students don’t build those skills in junior high/middle school, it will create a much more jarring switch to high school grading.

In addition, standards based grading has many flaws SBG doesn’t conform with the majority of high schools (68% in the US use letter grades according to the Wiley Online Library group).

This is definitely an issue because it is not the same as high school grading systems. Therefore, students may be confused as to how the system works in high school.

SBG also doesn’t have a wide spectrum of grades The letter scale provides pluses and minuses as a way to be more specific while there are only four choices for SBG.

Katie Mather, Blach teacher, stated, “I think [letter grading] better prepares junior high students for high school and college - where they use letterbased grades. I also like the option of giving plusses (like a B+) and minuses (like an A-).”

77% of Blach teachers prefer letter based grading

In standards based grading, homework and most classwork play no part in your final “content” grade, only factoring into the behavioral standards.

This allows students to not dedicate enough time to making sure they complete their homework and classwork thoroughly.

Blach teacher Senor Lopez says, “With letter grades, students put more effort into the work they [turn] in.”

A supposed benefit of standards grading is the behavioral standards, a system that is not effective. Each teacher is supposed to fill out five behavioral standards for each student, among these “Make responsible decisions” and “Adapt and persevere ”

Many teachers at Blach have around 100 students across all their classes, which means 500 individual behavioral standards.

Many teachers at Blach have around 100 students across all their classes, which means 500 individual behavioral standards. As expected, this is a very difficult process for many teachers

A recent survey revealed out of 9 surveyed Blach teachers, 77.8% find it difficult to fill out behavioral standards, and 28.6% were neutral. 77% of teachers also prefer letters based grading as opposed to standards based grading.

Now is the time to act. Standards based grading is no longer effective for Blach and the Los Altos School District. Due to the goal of Blach wishing to prepare students for high school, and the numerous flaws in SBG, it is time to switch back to letter grading.

High school shouldn’t be this hard

Anusha Shukla

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

We've all been asked such a basic get-toknow-you question sometime in the past. As kids, we’ve all given frivolous answers such as “a dinosaur” or “Steph Curry”, but as we got older our answers changed.

With high school around the corner for eighth graders at Blach, the question of what comes after becomes more relevant with every passing moment. As young children, high school was a distant worry we would tackle when the time came near. Now, with it only months away it becomes harder to ignore. High school is a crucial part of our lives; what happens during those four years determines the path we will follow for the rest

of our lives When we decide how those years will play out, we start feeling the pressures of life and begin to panic.

The question of what comes after [high school] becomes more revlevant

But how do these irrepressible thoughts affect our happiness in the long run?

High school is meant to be a buffer between us and the real world.

changed

There have been drastic increases in competition during the college selection process. Students are constantly trying to achieve every medal, every trophy, and every prize to appear proficient on the selection board. They feel that they need to do so to be accepted into a “good” college, which leads to landing a good job, ultimately leading to success in life.

The pressure of high school impinge[s] upon students’ welfare.

school impinge upon students’ welfare. High school graduates now describe high school as the worst time of their lives, due to how much time they had to commit to studies and extracurricular activities just to be accepted into college. They forget that maintaining their happiness and achieving their goals are equally important We mustn’t let our generation get used to this type of ethic because we will soon live in a world where people put their work ahead of themselves, never living life to the fullest.

High school claims to provide support and guidance for those who feel uncertain about their future

However, throughout the years, the school system has noticeably

This mentality, despite being effective for many people, is overall detrimental to the wellness of our nation’s young community. As the current generation becomes more open to discussing mental health, it becomes clear that the stress and pressure of high

Compromising our happiness right now shouldn’t be the only way to achieve success in the future.

Now, as this stage in our life looms over our heads, the same question comes around again: what do you want to be when you grow up? For many people, the answer is simple: “I don’t know yet ”

It’s okay not to be sure about what your future will look like. Though certain events could influence your life more than others, it’s important to soak in life and enjoy the present.

Courtesy of Alamay

Hate is anything but harmless

Kyla Murphy

Why do we need to learn about history?

I am sure you have stopped once in your life to question the point of this subject. What could we possibly need to learn about the past? Why not focus on the present or the future?

The answer is quite simple: We need to study history, so we do not repeat it. The reason why kids sit through hours of history lessons each week is because we need them to

We need students to learn about the inhumane and malicious wars that we have overcome.

We need students to learn about the violent acts of racism, sexism, and hate towards religions.

We need students to learn so that these vicious crimes don’t continue.

If we spend all this time teaching our students about the wrongs and rights of our past, then why are these heinous crimes still so prevalent in our society? Many of these acts are a simple joke or tease. Many tend to laugh them off and call it “harmless.” The truth is, though, that hate is anything

We need to study history, so we don’t repeat it.

but harmless

These small and simple actions are what lead to the cruel hate crimes that we know today.When we play it off and consider the “small incidents” innocent, we are essentially encouraging vile actions and leading to a future of continuous hate and malice.

This issue has gone so far that we have even started to see major hate crimes commited by middle schoolers

Blach Intermediate School has recently found the repulsive Nazi symbol, known as the swastika engraved on many lockers in the boys’ locker room. This disgusted many Blach parents, teachers, and other kids Many began to question the motives surrounding the incident.

Why would a student do this? Do they think of it as just a simple joke? Do they know the background and disgusting meaning of this symbol? Worse, did they think that this act of hatred was funny?

Although these questions are valid, blame cannot be placed solely on a child. What we should ask ourselves is why have we not taught students well enough to know how wrong this is.

Children’s views and actions are very heavily influenced by the adults in their lives. If teachers and parents continue

being so lenient on the simple things like words and insults that students use, then bigger problems, such as the swastikas, are unavoidable.

Why is humanity’s awful past still ever so present in the modern day?

These students are young. They do not understand the impact of hate and how hurtful it can be to the people to whom their cruelty is directed This means that it is easy to step up and stop hate crimes before they even begin. By telling your peers the consequences of name-calling or a harmful “joke,” you can help to stop the bigger problem

If we learn about history, so it is not repeated, then why is humanity’s awful past still ever so present in the modern day? The answer is simple: we are not doing enough to stop it.

Courtesy of NBC News

Industrially - produced ‘ente

Enzo Gleichauf

There are forty million dollars on the ground.

Dropped by a rich person Take it or leave it, there’s a lifechanging opportunity in front of you and there are other people around that could take it from you. Could you even make several times the amount of money you took?

History has an obvious trend: When something rare gets into high demand, given enough reasoning and time, the process can be industrialized to give that thing to everyone. We see this with food during the first agricultural revolution,

There’s a life-changing opportunity in front of you

books with the printing press, complex machines with factories, and pictures you can make in your pocket with cameras and smartphones. Many of these technologies used to be luxuries of the rich or expensive laboratory prototypes, but given enough time almost everyone could afford it. Now a new subject of mass-production comes to mind: Digital entertainment. Social media apps are known for hosting all kinds of content types and qualities, providing a diverse ecosystem of passions and interests to share with others. Some sites even pay creators with actual money for getting views, followers, or whatever other valuable metric is available. The problem for most creators becomes apparent: They spend lots of time and effort, but most of the time don’t obtain the money they deserve for the effort they put in.

So you just posted an art project that you spent weeks on.

There are forty million dollars on the ground.

The next day, your head full of fantasies of popularity, you see the only view on your project was from yourself, and your only new follower was your alternate account because you felt lonely.

However, there is safety in numbers, right? Just post a couple thousand more duplicates of the video and that will significantly increase the chances of someone coming across your content by chance.

Unfortunately for you, people are not that dumb (yet). If they go to your account to see what other kinds of glorious art projects you have made, they will likely be disgusted by the thousands of duplicate videos, all posted in the past day. That can significantly ruin your reputation, and people are still not very interested in creative pieces: They are more focused on the recent trends.

What if you spent hours making a video template and then reuploaded slightly different things in the template each time? That way, the content looks different enough that people won’t become too suspicious. If you create several different templates and mix up which ones you use, things work even better.

Despite uploading upwards of ten videos per day, you want more. You know how the search engine works, looking for keywords to show in the results. You cram the titles of all your videos with the most

rtainment’ ruins kids’ lives

recent trending words, turning it into an incoherent mess of capital letters and misused proper nouns, along with filling the remaining length of the video with useless selfpromotions to potentially encourage even more monetary gain. You have now created a content farm.

Content farms are incredibly prevalent, specifically in platforms targeted towards younger ones such as Youtube Kids, which is surprisingly more adult than normal Youtube because of these content farms. The Youtube kids’ content farm controversy even has its own name: ElsaGate, named after the Watergate scandal because of the general audacity of the content, and Elsa, the Disney character that most often takes part in the videos. Along with other characters that give kids dopamine rushes, you can find a child’s face glued to a screen, laughing their heads off at an incoherent mess that is awful in every aspect.

Content farms forcefully employ workers for lowerthan-minimum wages.

According to a study done on 1278 children aged 1 and 1345 children aged 3, ten percent of children exposed to television at early ages had further attentional problems by age seven. These results could be potentially worse due to the possibility of addiction to the incredibly low-quality and stimulating content from these mass-production channels

One of the biggest problems with these mass-production outlets is the effort required to pump out the massive amounts of content every day, 24-7.

There may be forty million dollars on the ground, but it might be best not to take it.

While effort is minimal for these template-based content farms, other kinds can be worse. Sometimes, content farms forcefully employ workers for lower-thanminimum wages. While these cases are rare, the content farms definitely trick various social media platforms in numerous ways.

The amount of negative content that uses copy-pasted objects can shed a bad light on where those objects came from. Several creators make things that the public really likes, and unfortunately, that piece of content becomes the basis for several inappropriate and lowquality posts from content farms. This tricks the algorithm into thinking that the original content was as bad as the content farms that stole from them, and as with many cases, the original content gets taken down while the farms keep going and getting vastly more profits than the original content.

10% of children exposed to TV at early ages had further attentional problems by 7.

Lastly, there is one specific content farm that needs to be talked about: a Youtube channel by the name of LankyBox, uploading upwards of five videos in a single day, all of which are either reused animation templates or cheaply made live-action shots. The colors are vibrant, the sound effects engaging, the movement plentiful, and the random favorite characters of kids sprinkled throughout.

Lankybox’ channel has over 40.3 billion total views and primarily uploads their content on Youtube Shorts, where the random thumbnails and easy, spoonfed scrolling style allow kids to be addicted with maximal efficiency. Lankybox tills the field, popular subjects plant the seeds, keyword mashing titles fertilize the fields, and viewer support provides the irrigation It’s a delicate ecosystem at work.

And that means it can be broken easily.

There may be forty million dollars on the ground, but it might be best not to take it.

Courtesy of Youtube

Features

Blach’s School Counselor

Mrs. Walker

Eliana Tekie

When Mrs. Walker isn’t in her office at Blach, she will almost certainly be found outdoors.

From sleeping in a tent 11,800 feet above the ground in Machu Picchu to gardening in her backyard, Mrs. Walker has spent a lot of time outdoors. This love for the outside world sprouted early, from when Mrs. Walker was a little girl water skiing and boating on Lake Erie during summers in Ohio.

“I always knew I wanted to work with kids.”

“It was a very familyoriented town,” she says fondly. “We’d go boating, we’d swim, we’d go to the beach.”

Along with boating and water skiing,

Mrs. Walker played softball for 10 years and even participated

[Her] love for the outside world sprouted early.

in synchronized swimming at her local YMCA from ages six to sixteen, eventually going on to become a lifeguard and swim instructor. “I have always loved being around the water,” Walker adds

Despite the fact she would eventually go on to become a middle school counselor, Mrs. Walker never actually attended middle school

Mrs. Walker had attended a kindergarten to eighth grade school instead. While Mrs. Walker stated that her own 7th and 8th grade experiences never influenced her career significantly, she admits that she always felt comfortable in school settings.

“I didn’t know exactly what field of psychology I wanted to be in, but I always

Mihika Bobbarjung

“Do your best to be an upstander,” states Dana Guterman, Blach counselor.

For over 25 years, Ms. Guterman has worked as a school psychologist at different schools across California, including schools in her hometown, Los Angeles. This is her second year at Blach, as a full time school psychologist.

Ms Guterman has a 19-year-old daughter, who was adopted from China at eight months old. Her daughter attends U.C. Berkeley. With Ms. Guterman’s daughter in college, she has more freedom for where to live, which drove her to the Los Altos School District.

She says her favorite part of her job at Blach is interacting with the students and getting to know and help them with emotional and behavioral challenges they might be facing. She explains that school isn’t all learning; there are other aspects of it, such as the social emotional part.

According to Ms. Guterman, “A school can’t just be teachers and admin, there has to be a support system.”

Ms. Guterman

Mrs. Guterman

school using three words, evolution, identity and bridge.

“During middle school, you evolve into yourself, you start to find and form your own identity, and you cross a bridge between 7th and 8th grade ”

“When you’re in 7th grade, you come in all young, and naive. In 8th grade, you sort of blossom into yourself,” she exclaims.

Ms Guterman grew up in Los Angeles, California, with two sisters and many pets running all over the house. “I was always the one to bring home stray pets ”

“I was always the one to bring home stray pets.”

From the young age of 13, Mrs. Guterman knew she wanted to be a school psychologist when she wrote about it in an autobiography for school. She also knows what it feels like to be the new kid, having changed schools midway between her middle school years.

Ms. Guterman studied psychology at UCLA, the University of California in Los Angeles, for her undergraduate years.

Courtesy of Meghna Gopalakrishnan

rs: beloved by students

For graduate school, UCLA did not have a psychology program, so she transferred to California State University Northridge.

In her free time, Ms. Guterman loves to hike, read, watch movies, and travel. She loves the outdoors and used to be a rock climber, and a runner. She’s been running from a young age, and pursued the talent while running in the Alaskan Marathon.

She has traveled to a countless number of places outside the U.S., making her way to Italy and France in a couple of months. She loves a variety of international foods, including cuisines from India, China, and Italy.

Ms. Guterman tells students at Blach to embrace their own identity, and to welcome other people’s differences, because “you never know what the people around you might be going through.”

Despite growing up in East Palo Alto, also known as the “murder capital” of the US at the time, Mo Graves, a new school psychologist at Blach, always felt safe in her neighborhood. She acknowledges the pleasant community and can still remember her early childhood memories of the outdoors and riding bikes.

[Mo’s grandmother] was one of the first black nurses to work at Stanford.

Having two little brothers, Mo learned responsibility at a young age while taking care of them. She recalls a memory of cutting her brother’s hair and was surprised to realize that it was rather difficult “It looked super easy, but was much harder than barbers make it seem,” Mo stated.

Growing up, Mo’s favorite dish was her grandma’s lasagna, and still is her favorite today.

Her childhood role model had always been grandma Mary Carter,

Mo Graves

Growing up, Mo’s favorite dish was her grandma’s lasagna

who was one of the first black nurses to work at Stanford.

Inspired by her grandma, Mo decided to try nursing school, but ultimately, decided it wasn’t for her

She went to Foothill College to become an elementary school teacher. Afterwards, she went to San Jose State University to get a psychology degree Eventually, Mo decided that she wanted to be a social worker, and earned a masters degree in social work from Ohio State University.

She chose to come to the Los Altos School District because she had heard positive things about the district from a lady at church. So far, Mo’s had a great experience and really appreciates the day-to-day diversity around campus.

“No day is the exact same,” she says.

Mo also highly acknowledges her team

here at Blach and just loves everyone in general She hopes to create more resources and add more procedures for the school during her time here.

When she’s not in her office, Mo can often be found coloring, a hobby not many people know she enjoys. She even creates her own coloring sheets.

Mo also really enjoys baking but didn’t discover her interest until a party, where she ordered caramel cupcakes. After a

“No day is the exact same”

Ada Yee

Courtesy of Meghna Gopalakrishnan

Courtesy of Meghna Gopalakrishnan

Mrs. Walker

From page 15

knew I wanted to work with kids,” she says.

Mrs Walker went on to pursue this dream by earning a degree in psychology at the University of Dayton in Ohio, with a minor in English. Her university years also included sharing a house with a group of girls she still speaks with to this day. It was after college, during graduate school, that Mrs. Walker became engaged to her husband “He was already living and working in California. I moved out to be with him as I knew I could easily get a job anywhere with my degree while he worked in tech and needed to be near Silicon Valley.”

Mrs. Walker has already made several strides towards Blach having a more inclusive environment.

After working as a school psychologist for both the Evergreen and Moreland School Districts, Mrs. Walker started working in the Los Altos School District in the 1999-2000 school year. She then returned in 2019 and since then has made several strides towards Blach having a more inclusive and diverse environment.

“I meet with counselors

Mo

From page 15

quick taste test, she decided to make her own because the caramel cupcakes didn’t taste nearly as good as expected.

Making the new cupcakes sparked a newly found interest in her: baking, especially making breads and cakes

Mrs. Walker also supervises the Alphabet Association

at Blach once a week, every week. We [Mrs. Guterman and Mo] also meet with counselors at Egan once a week to discuss trends with students and how they can problem solve.”

Mrs. Walker has also supervised the Alphabet Association, a lunchtime club dedicated to creating a community for LGBTQIA+ students at Blach. She also aspires to have more academic support for kids at Blach in the future in the form of student or adult tutors.

At heart, Mrs Walker truly cares for her students. Students who schedule appointments with her through Google Classroom can count on being provided a private, helpful conversation.

Mrs Walker says that if a student ever expressed thoughts of suicide or self harm, she would immediately be on the phone with their parents. “I wouldn’t even let them go home ”

At heart, Mrs. Walker truly cares for her students.

Now, Mo mostly gets her baking inspiration from social media platforms like Instagram. Recently, she’s even attempted to make butter, which she says is surprisingly simple.

Outside of her occupation, Mo is a very adventurous person She went on a camping trip to Santa Cruz all by herself. She had only gone before with her church group and wanted to try something new. After the experience, she decided she won’t go camping solo ever again.

If she wasn’t in the psychology field, Mo would want to work in a prison or juvenile hall. She says this is due to many children whose parents are incarcerated tending to repeat the cycle of crimes. Also, the amount of Black and Latino people in prison is substantially higher than any other race. She wants to be able to talk to the children and their parents to improve their mental wellbeing so the prison cycle isn’t repeated.

But, for now, Mo is happy at Blach, and she wants to strive to be the best person and psychologist she can

When asked to give students advice for middle school, Mo said, “Stand up for things you believe in” and “always be your authentic self.”

Olivia Nam: a musical sensation

Kyla Murphy

“I just do it because I love it,” says Olivia Nam, a virtuoso 8th grader at Blach Intermediate School.

Olivia has been a musician for as long as she can remember, debuting her musical talents at age four with the ukulele.

“The only reason I like to play these instruments is what comes out of it.”

From a young age, Olivia played multiple instruments including the ukulele, clarinet, bass, guitar, drums, harp, and saxophone, totaling seven instruments.

Music plays a vital part in Olivia’s life. Ever since she was little, Olivia can’t remember when her house wasn’t filled with beautiful melodies

Music was always in Olivia’s genes; her dad plays both the bass and guitar, and her older sister plays the harp. Olivia will not hesitate to tell you about her love and passion for music.

“The only reason I like to play these instruments is what comes out of it ... the beauty of it,” says Olivia.

Her teachers and family also played a monumental part in motivating her through her musical journey. Ms Rollo and Ms Yu, two of her favorite music teachers, always helped her to “strive to become the best version of herself.”

Her teachers and family also played a monumental part in motivating her through her musical journey.

Olivia will always be thankful for the guidance and aid that her past teachers gave her, as they helped her realize what made her happy, particularly her utmost passion for playing the harp.

Olivia explains that she loves the tone and sounds that the harp produces. For her, it’s easy just to get lost in the music and play for hours. In total, Olivia spends about seven hours a week playing the harp, leaving only a few hours for her other instruments. If one thing is certain, Olivia

for a while.

Olivia also assists the Blach Orchestra by playing the harp and the drums.

“I like to express myself through music with other people,” she explains, adding how it makes her happy to do the things she loves with the people that she loves.

Olivia’s final advice to any aspiring musician like herself is to “feel it try to put your feelings into the music instead of just blatantly playing it.”

Photo courtesy of Mihika Bobbarjung

knows she will be playing the harp

Features

BGB: Champion for change

Ada Yee

Having raised a total of over $1000 this school year, Blach’s humanitarian club Blach Gives Back, or BGB, is using their profits to help and give back to the community

Blach Gives Back is held on Wednesday during lunch in Mrs. Hickman’s room, D2.

BGB is using their profits to help and give back to the community.

The club’s purpose is to raise money to help people in need.

In early November, Blach Gives Back hosted a bake sale at the front and back entrance of the school. The club sold an assortment of treats including cookies, muffins, brownies, and rice krispy treats

Having raised over $1000 in total

Students and staff alike crowded around their stands.

The baked goods were all made at home by the members of the club, and all the profits raised were donated to Make A Wish, an organization dedicated to aiding children with cancer. The club raised just short of $300.

earning almost $300.

Blach Gives Back’s next project spanned from December 18 to December 22.

During that week, Blach Gives Back held a raffle of baskets to raise money for Toys for Tots, an organization dedicated to gifting presents for children who can’t afford them during the holidays. The raffle baskets they were raffling included a goodies basket, a Fornite basket, a burr basket, which is a basket containing winter-themed objects, and a body care basket. Each basket was carefully selected and put together by members of Blach Gives Back with raffle tickets costing $2. The raffle was very successful,

Other than raising money, Blach Gives Back also works to put a smile on other people’s faces For the winter holidays, the club members spent time writing sweet, positive messages on cards to a local senior center.

Currently, Blach Gives Back is running a coin drive, accepting donations of all amounts. The funds will be donated to Sleeping Bags For The Homeless, a non-profit organization that helps homeless individuals around the Bay Area.

Each homeroom was given a jar to fill with coins and cash. The coin drive was turned into a friendly competition between homerooms. The homeroom that raises the most money will win a pizza and Krispy Kreme donut party.

Though Blach Gives Back has already had multiple successful fundraisers, the ideas for them don’t come up immediately Many of their weekly meetings include Blach Gives Back members holding “brainstorming sessions'' for their next project.

Eliana Tekie, one of the two co-leaders of Blach Gives Back, acknowledges her club by stating, “I just really want to help the community. This club is a great way to help people and have fun at the same time.”

“This club is a great way to help people, and have fun at the same time.“

Courtesy of Ada Yee

Courtesy of Ada Yee

Features

Mr. Kane retires after 37 years of teaching

Anusha Shukla

After 31 years of dedication at Blach Intermediate School, our beloved 8th grade P.E. teacher, Mr. Stephen Kane, will be retiring at the end of the 23-24 school year.

Mr Kane has worked in Blach’s physical education department since 1996. He has been determined to make his classes fun and inclusive while also challenging students to do their best daily.

His past three decades at Blach have been “spectacular” since the beginning. “For the most part, every year you come away feeling good about most, if not all, the students,” Mr. Kane says proudly.

Out of all the amazing memories he has, Mr. Kane will never forget coaching Blach sports every year From flag football and basketball

him considering taking it as a profession.

As he got older, he began thinking about whether to continue with mathematics or explore other options. “[My] four brothers all went into computer science or math,” said Mr. Kane. His mother, a teacher, also encouraged him to consider teaching in the future

“I hope people appreciate the work I do.”

Working alongside his wife for 31 years made being at Blach an enjoyable experience for Mr. Kane.

Mr. Kane has been considering retirement for a while, especially after long-distance learning during COVID-19. “[I] can’t do as much as I used to when I was young,” he laments.

to volleyball and wrestling, throughout the years Mr. Kane has coached every sport Blach has to offer, stating, “I cherish the sports.”

A great source of pride for Mr Kane is when students are introduced to a sport at Blach. He loves “seeing their take to it” as they continue into high school.

Mr. Kane’s love for sports began on his dad’s farm in upstate New York. “Growing up, it was acceptable to skip the chores, like milking the cows, to play sports,” says Mr. Kane.

Working on a farm with his father taught Mr. Kane hard work, a valuable skill. His oldest childhood memories include playing baseball with his parents cheering him on Mr Kane excelled at math in school, which led to

Mr. Kane went to the State University of New York Brockport with both options in mind and eventually “started gravitating towards teaching ” He graduated with a degree in physical education, attaining his teaching credential shortly after.

In 1990, Mr. Kane started his career teaching at all the elementary schools under the Los Altos School District. He alternated between them for six years before finally settling at Blach.

Blach holds a special place in Mr. Kane’s heart because it was here where he first met his wife, Mrs. Kane.

Mrs. Kane was already working at Blach when Mr Kane came in 1996 After growing close for two years, they were married in 1998.

However, Mr Kane is very glad to have worked here for this long. Mr. Kane has always planned to retire at 60 and thinks now is a good time. While Mr. Kane will miss staying active once he leaves Blach and the camaraderie he shares with teachers, he hopes to return to Blach after his retirement to officiate volleyball games

On his own time, he plans to start helping around the house more and to support his daughter as she works towards earning a teaching credential

“I don’t think of myself as a great teacher, but I think I have been a steady teacher and coach,” Mr. Kane says. “A lot of time and energy goes into being a coach all these years. I hope people appreciate the work I do.”

His past three decades at Blach have been “spectacular”.

Courtesy of Mihika Bobbarjung

Sports Boys and girls basketball

8th Grade Boys Basketball

Blach’s eighth-grade boys basketball team had a thrilling season this year, finishing in fifth place Player Jayan Nair described the season as a “fun last season of Blach basketball. We got pretty far.”

The season kicked off strong with crushing wins against Hyde (score: 44-28) and Lawson (52-33). However, by the third game of the season, the team had hit a rough patch and lost several games in a row to Cupertino (44-21), Miller (46-30), and Kennedy (52-37).

The players themselves were also facing many challenges.

“I tore two muscles in two weeks,” said player Noah Chan. “My thumb and knee ” In a particularly tough moment, Chan’s teammate Jivan Nangia was played early in the game, missed a basket, and then immediately got subbed out and couldn’t play for the rest of the game.

However, player Jackson Corbett claimed that the team’s camaraderie kept team morale high despite the losses Corbett

“We didn’t pull each other down. We brought each other up.”

said, “We didn’t pull each other down. We brought each other up.” The team eventually ended their losing streak with a crushing win against Columbia, winning with a final score of 5131.

“Mr. Maye was a really great coach. He taught us how to do great things.”

Blach went on to dominate playoffs, beating rival school Egan Junior High during a harrowing game. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, Blach was tied with Egan As the quarter progressed, things started to look bleak for the team. With six minutes left in the game, Blach’s 7th grade history teacher, Mr. Maye, called for a time out and delivered an inspiring speech that Corbett later credited for their win. Blach won their game against Egan 45-37.

Nearly all players on the team agreed that their game against Cupertino in the semifinals was ultimately their worst played.

According to various players, members of the crowd started chanting “game is over” during their last two minutes on the court Player Milo Ye would later refer to that moment as “devastating.” Blach ended their season in fifth place.

The team credited their coach for their successful season. Player Noah Chan called Mr. Maye “one of the best coaches I ever had,” a sentiment expressed by several other players on the team.

“Mr. Maye was a really great coach,” Milo Ye expressed fondly. “He taught us how to do great things on and off the court ”

Eliana Tekie

Courtesy of Mr Kane

Courtesy of Mr Kane

: a recap of both seasons

8th Grade Girls Basketball

Twelve girls, one team, one goal: win. Blach’s eighth-grade girls basketball team fought hard the entire season and secured their spot in third place.

Compared to last year, the girls basketball team has experienced significant differences. For one

The team had gone on a ninegame winning streak during the regular season.

Blach’s vice principal, Mr. Ramirez, has taken back his position as the eighth-grade girls basketball coach after taking a break during their 22-23 season

Along with the new coach, a new basketball experience came for many new players. Amiya Garg loves going to practice after school, saying they are “so fun.”

Amiya was unable to play on Blach’s

Twelve girls, one team, one goal: win.

basketball team last year due to a knee injury and is grateful to be playing this year.

“I love playing outside of school, but playing inside of school with people you know and grew up with is really cool.”

Before falling to the number one seed, Egan, the team had gone on a nine-game winning streak during

the regular season.

Claire Feng’s favorite part of the season was the winning streak, and her favorite win had been the game against Lawson, which had ended 2726, a narrow victory

“It was a pretty close game and winning felt really good,” said Claire Claire wasn’t able to play on Blach’s team

“It was a pretty close game, and winning felt really good.”

last year but joined this year because she knew she would regret never playing on her middle school team. Despite their broken streak, the girls were excited to be in the playoffs.

“I’m feeling pumped,” describes Antonia Kristovich.

Unfortunately, the team lost during a tough game to the second-place seed, Cupertino, and ended the season in third place. Despite this, the entire team had a wonderful season and is excited to continue playing basketball moving forward

Anusha Shukla and Eliana Tekie

Courtesy of Eliana Tekie

A tumultuous season for the 8th grade boys soccer team

After bringing home the championship trophy last year in an amazing 7th-grade season, the Blach 8th-grade boys soccer team returned a year later with high hopes for the same successful season.

However, after a quick loss of 7-2 to Sunnyvale, the team was quickly humbled. As their hopes of a back-to-back championship win faded, they continued through what seemed like countless games with no hope of a win.

One of the teams, Colombia, was crushed by Blach last year, but when they came back for a rematch Colombia managed to beat the Blach team 7-0. The boys were extremely disappointed in the outcome of the game.

Milo Ye, one player on the team, said, “They weren’t even as skilled as us,” making it an even more difficult loss.

At this point, the team felt defeated and their drive to win started to diminish.

At this point, the team felt defeated and their drive to win started to diminish “Everyone thought the season was over,” said Gavin Elefant.

However, when one of their teammates came back after quitting at the start of the season, the team started to make a comeback.

They quickly started winning games, even reaching a streak of three wins in a row with Graham, Kennedy, and Cupertino.

The team was starting to get back on track.

The team was starting to get back on track and began getting more excited with some wins. Gavin said, “It was disappointing at the start but slowly started to get better ” Kjartan Arnarsson also adds to this by saying that it was originally quite depressing, but they eventually got more enthusiastic as the team’s “chemistry started to grow.”

The team was especially over the moon after beating Graham. Graham had always been a big competitor for the Blach team and, according to Gavin, “many people expected Blach to lose.” This meant that after winning the team came out with new hope for the season’s outcome.

Coach Lily also played a major part in encouraging the team. Colby Liu said, “She was good at getting the team’s spirit up and didn’t take things too seriously ”

Although the team didn’t make it to the playoffs this season, they still came out with a new love for the game. They realized that not everything was about winning, and they ended up “just trying to have some fun,” said Colby

Kyla Murphy

Courtesy of Mr Kane

European Champions League kicks off, quarterfinals drawn

Padrig Jan

Once a year from September to June, 32 soccer teams compete in a Europe-wide tournament to be the best club team in Europe.

Teams first have to place well in their league in the year prior.

In order to qualify for the Champions League, teams first have to place well in their league in the year prior. The group stages consist of eight groups of four with the top two teams making it to the round of 16.

In the knockout rounds, each team plays the opposition twice, once at home and once away Whoever wins on aggregate, the total score of both games, advances to the quarterfinals.

Whoever wins on aggregate, the total score of both games, advances to the quarterfinals.

In the round of 16 first leg, Manchester City beat Copenhagen 3-1, while Real Madrid narrowly overcame a tough Leipzig team. Paris Saint-Germain won against Real Sociedad 2-0, and Lazio got a surprise win versus Bayern Munich

From September to June, 32 soccer teams compete in a Europe-wide tournament to be the best club team in Europe.

There were other games in which PSV Eindhoven tied Borussia Dortmund 1-1, and Inter Milan won 1-0 against Atletico Madrid. Porto beat Arsenal 1-0 with an exciting finish and a good win, and Napoli tied Barcelona 1-1.

In the 2nd leg, Man City beat Copenhagen 3-1 again, to make it 6-2 on aggregate, while Real Madrid tied Leipzig 1-1 to beat them 2-1 on aggregate. Bayern Munich bounced back from the first leg and beat Lazio 3-0 to put the score at 3-1 on aggregate, and PSG kept it comfortable and beat Real Sociedad 2-1, and 4-1 on aggregate.

In a tight race, Arsenal beat Porto 1-0 to tie it on aggregate, but Arsenal won on penalties, while Barcelona beat Napoli 31, beating them on aggregate 42 Dortmund beat PSV 2-0, making it 3-1 on aggregate, and Atletico Madrid slipped past Inter Milan with a 2-1 win, which tied the score on aggregate 2-2, Atletico Madrid winning on penalties.

The quarter finals were drawn with Arsenal playing Bayern Munich, Man City playing Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid playing Borussia Dortmund, and PSG playing Barcelona. Bayern Munich are expected to play Real Madrid in the semifinals and Atletico Madrid are expected to play PSG. This tournament will crown the best club team in Europe.

This tournament will crown the best club team in Europe.

Courtesy of IMDb

Entertainment

Barbie: the viral movie abo

Zahra Mottaghian

Who knew a movie could capsize society?

Barbie was the highest grossing female led movie in history, gaining more than $1.4 billion at the box office. Outside of the box office, Barbie has had a big impact on society as well

In this world, all Barbies and Kens live in a place called Barbieland, where the Kens are inferior to the barbies.

“Stereotypical Barbie,” the main character, begins becoming more human-like as the movie goes on, with flat feet and no longer fitting in with the pieces of her world.

She embarks on an adventure to the real world to find the source of her problems, with Ken as a stowaway In the end, she decides to join the real world and gives up her immortality, having learned that you don’t need to be perfect.

“ ... a nuanced commentary on patriarchy, legacy, and the complexities of womanhood in the contemporary era.”

The Economic Times called this movie, “ ... a nuanced commentary on patriarchy, legacy, and the complexities of womanhood in the contemporary era.” One factor for this movie’s success is “Barbenheimer.”

As a result of Oppenheimer and Barbie having the same release date, Barbenheimer merged the movie names Oppenheimer and Barbie, encouraging viewers to watch both movies as a double feature

People found it funny that two vastly different movies would be released on the same date. Both movies also became successful with Oppenheimer gaining $958 million and Barbie $1 4 billion in the box office

Even after the movie craze, the term “Barbenheimer” is present, signifying two polar opposite events happening concurrently.

However, there were multiple unintended consequences to the “Barbenheimer” meme Barbie was not as successful in Japan as it was in the US, earning only 3 million out of 1.4 billion dollars earned worldwide. This is most likely due to “Barbenheimer.” Many Japanese people felt that the meme was insensitive to the effects of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. It also didn’t help that the release date of Barbie was August 11th

while the Hiroshima Nagasaki Anniversary was on August 9th.

The movie was also banned in Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and other countries bordering the South China Sea. This is because Barbie’s map, featuring eight dashed lines coming out of Aisa, resembles the nine dash line, which was China’s claim to most of the South China Sea.

There were multiple unintended consequences to the

“Barbenheimer” meme.

Vietnam and other countries dislike these claims as they feel it violates their “territorial sovereignty,” as stated by Vox. The company responded with Variety saying, “‘The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing’ ‘The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.’”

Courtesy of Barbie Official Movie Site

ut feminism .

Barbie’s publicizing also didn’t hurt its chances of being popular. Margot Robbie, the lead actress, decided to go all out on the red carpet.

The movie itself also had a significant impact on the audience.

Instead of predictably wearing pink, she replicated Barbie’s own attire, such as the first black and white bathing suit that Barbie wears. She set a high bar for other actors on the red carpet.

“...just 53 movies have made over $1 billion”

The sounds and music for Barbie were also successful, with Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell’s song for Barbie, “What Was I Made For,” winning an Oscar for the best original song.

and pink

The movie itself also had a significant impact on the audience. The moment that hit a chord in the movie was Gloria’s speech. After Barbie comes back from the real world, sees Ken re-creating the patriarchy, and breaks down sobbing, Gloria delivers a speech about being a woman that gets Barbie out of her hopeless trance.

While some call this speech “basic feminism” because of its bluntness, others, in agreement to USA Today, said it “resonated strongly with moviegoers ever since "Barbie” arrived in theaters last weekend. Women and men have tweeted that the scene made them cry…” And even more Latina women were moved, as it was a Latina actress, America Ferrera, who was delivering this speech.

Barbie achieved its goal of informing everyone about the dangers of patriarchal society and sexism.

Most women were touched by the very bluntness and truth that Gloria’s speech held. Ferrera said she herself was stirred by the “meaningful and powerful” message behind it: No one can be a woman perfectly, and that’s ok. It’s too hard to be a woman, with all of these contradictory social

norms

In the end, Barbie achieved its goal of informing everyone about the dangers of patriarchal society and sexism. According to BlueBanner, “Men have come to further understand women's struggles in society because of the movie…According to a survey conducted by Resume Builder, 53% of viewers say Barbie improved their opinion of women in the workplace. Two

No one can be a woman perfectly, and that’s ok.

in three respondents said Barbie made them more aware of patriarchy in the workplace.”

Barbie is also a milestone for the film industry. NBC news states, “ just 53 movies have made over $1 billion,” and Barbie is one of them, and female-led to boot.

53% of viewers say Barbie improved their opinion of women in the workplace.

This will [hopefully] lead the way into an era of a more diverse set of Hollywood elites.

Courtesy of Shutterstock

The downfall of Disney: wh

Meghna Gopalakrishnan

What started out as a small studio in 1923 has expanded into a multibillion dollar media company. The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as just Disney, has had its share of disasters as well as successes over its last 100 years of production.

Take Encanto for example, a recent movie grossing over $256.5 million in box office revenue worldwide. The movie included a catchy, award-winning soundtrack, with hit song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks.

The timing of Encanto’s release in November of 2021, during the heart of the pandemic, contributed to its success. Its focus on family and theme of feeling alone, yet among other people, resonated with families stuck in lockdown

Encanto has also sent a strong message o representation. American-Colombian actress and singe Diane Guerrerr played Isabel Madrigal, Mirabel’ gorgeous an seemingly perfec sister.

Disney+ subscriptions skyrocketed, boosting Disney’s stock to $203.

John Leguizamo, the mysterious Bruno Madrigal, was born in Colombia.

There’s no doubt that Encanto was a massive win for Disney, but lately it is becoming apparent that the company is struggling in multiple areas.

For instance, its many theme parks, notably Disney World in Orlando

Last year, in the peak season of summer, there were less occupied rooms than the previous year, and attendance at the parks was low. Disney blamed this on a “reduction in operating income across its entire domestic park operations,” according to a statement released by the company.

So why is this happening now?

That means Disney World’s failure isn’t just a one-time thing, it was due to lack of funding for a division that in total contributes to a whopping 62% of Disney’s yearly revenue according to Investopedia. Disney’s theme parks aren’t the only moneymaker

underperforming for Disney.

The company is struggling in multiple areas.

Marvel Studios’ numbers have also been quite low recently, especially in the box office. Marvel spent $193 million for pre-production and filming of Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Once it was released, only $476 million was made in theaters, less than almost every other Marvel Studios movie. After splitting the income with theaters, Disney was left with only half. Not to mention the movie’s pitiful Rotten Tomatoes score of just 46%.

So why is this happening now?

Courtesy of Digital Spy

at’s in store for the company

It all started with the pandemic With everyone indoors, there was a sudden new need for streaming content. Disney+ subscriptions skyrocketed above expectations, effectively boosting Disney’s stock to $203 in March of 2021.

Disney is also tending to rely heavier on old hits.

However, it was inevitable that the pandemic would end, streaming needs would lessen, and Disney’s stock would fall Marvel Studios unfortunately had to continue paying to create many expensive shows after lockdown ended. This created more pressure on visuals teams, which

meant it was more likely that the releases wouldn’t be up to the usual standard.

This sequence of mishandles resulted in Disney’s stock falling to below $84 in August of 2023, hitting a nine year low

Moreover, Disney+, their streaming service, directly competes with theater chains, whom Walt Disney Studios works with to present their movies. This means that any increase in streaming revenue comes at the cost of business with theaters.

[Wish] was projected to make $50 million but fell disgracefully short, making only $19.5

million.

Disney+ subscribers also get all of Disney’s back catalog, as well as content that releases during their subscription period, so instead of paying multiple times to see new releases in theaters, customers only need one Disney+ subscription.

Disney’s new content has been lacking as well. Wish, a production made for Disney’s 100-year anniversary in 2023, placed third at the box office on opening weekend. Critics blamed it on the trailer, saying that it didn’t explain the premise well enough, calling it a “plug-andplay princess movie” with “silly sidekicks,” such as the talking goat. The movie was projected to make $50 million but fell

disgracefully short, making only $19.5 million.

Disney is relying on a concept first released in 1955, but how much longer can they pull it off?

Disney is also tending to rely heavier on its old hits, such as the Toy Story franchise. A total of four Toy Story movies have been made, and a Toy Story 5 is currently in the making and set to release in 2026

The movie has already faced much backlash, with fans calling it “unnecessary” and wishing the series ended with Toy Story 3. Disney is relying on a concept first released in 1995, but how much longer can they pull it off?

Encanto was Disney’s most recent hit, yet it was released over two years ago With theme parks like Disney World failing, and Disney’s stocks decreasing, things aren’t looking too good for The Walt Disney Company

This sequence of mishandles resulted in Disney’s stock falling to below $84.

Courtesy of Common Sense Media

Entertainment Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shatters records and leaves the music industry shocked

Brooke Cullinane

Since the beginning of the Eras Tour in March of 2023, countless records have been broken, making it the highest-grossing tour in music history. The show has gained over 1 billion dollars in revenue and an estimated $14 million per night.

The Eras Tour is over 3 hours and 15 minutes, with a tracklist of 44 songs. Swift breaks up the show into “eras” that represent all of her different albums over the years

There is no doubt the Eras Tour is a groundbreaking musical achievement.

Her long discography includes 10 eras: Taylor Swift (debut), Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights

However, Taylor Swift only performs songs from her nine most recent albums; no songs from her debut album are on the setlist

The elaborate concert also includes multiple special effects and costume changes, including a stage dive, where Swift imitates diving beneath the stage and is met with a crash of water.

The effects and deliberate choices help to create the mesmerizing concert that her fans have been obsessed with

The concert has gained over 1 billion dollars in revenue and an estimated $14 million per night.

Taylor plays two “surprise songs” every show, not repeating them unless, in her words, she “messes it up.” This is an ingenious way to incorporate fanfavorite songs that didn’t make it to the setlist. More recently, Taylor has also started playing mashups of two songs to create new melodies for listeners. Taylor Swift also shows her incredible generosity throughout the duration of this tour She has donated considerable sums of money to local charities in the cities she performs. Taylor is devoted to ending hunger and has donated many thousands of dollars to ending world hunger. Not to mention, Swift provided $100,000+ bonuses to members of her crew and truck drivers just as a way of saying thank you for their hard work.

While The Eras Tour was still in play, Taylor also created a movie documenting the concert - an entire show start to finish with one or two songs cut short. The movie has earned more than 261 million dollars globally as of January 2024 and is currently the highest-grossing concert film of all time.

The movie earned a record $37 million on its first day of presales, was nominated

The Eras Tour movie was nominated for a Golden Globe and has won four various awards.

for a Golden Globe, and has won four various awards

Taylor also released The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version), a remake of the original movie that includes the cut songs and the full performance even, including new surprise songs that were not included in the original version.

There is no doubt that The Eras Tour is a groundbreaking musical achievement, highlighting the genius of Taylor Swift and demonstrating how beloved she is by hundreds of millions of listeners worldwide.

Fans should take this as a message: Anyone can achieve incredible success, so never give up on your goals.

Courtesy of Harpar’s BAZAAR