Freedom Forum Newsletter January 25th, 2021

January 25, 2021

Learning how to stay active How to be socially and politically active online during the pandemic Yaelin Gonzalez, Journalism Student Over the summer a great number of people had become very socially and politically active online. With the election, the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM), protests, and more people have come together to use what they know and love: the internet.

There are many ways to stay politically active online. One of the very popular ways people have stayed involved is through Change.org, which allows people to make petitions, sign petitions, and chip in money towards an issue. It was used over the summer when people wanted to get justice for those affected by the BLM Movement.

Many other ways for people of all ages to stay educated and involved online include watching digital discussions and town halls, supporting important issues and organizations, filling out the

filling out the census form, and more.

While many people are staying active online, others attend in-person protests.

“There certainly is a risk, I would say that with confidence,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

It is important to stay aware of your surroundings and stay safe if you are taking an outside approach when fighting for change to help keep yourself and others safe from covid.

Some even say that protesting outside of the online world helps make even more of a difference during these harsh times.

“Sitting around watching the news all day and people dying and police harming African Americans and COVID-19 killing people, it is heartbreaking. But if you get

But if you get involved with other people, you can find a way to at least be a small drop in that bucket that makes a positive difference,” said Gina Fields, chairperson of the Empowerment Congress West Area Neighborhood Development Council.

She and others go on to say how it is best to get up and go out if you want to see a change.

The only way for a problem and a change to occur politically is to get to know people and help people become aware socially. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and even the infamous Tik Tok are all platforms that can help shine a ight on problems.

With the pandemic still being at large, there are various online organizations. The United Nations is looking for

volunteers online. Other great organizations include Catchafire, Smithsonian Digital Volunteers, Amnesty Decoders, and the Crisis Text Line.

Be prepared though. When getting so involved online, people's true colors are visible especially when it comes to politics. Many people were tested and had shown their true colors over 2020. Society got a glimpse of some of the most well known people and their views, including the U.S. president. There was no denying where he stood with different situations with the use of his social media and more.

There are still many ways to be involved online, and there will probably be many more ways to do so in the future. It is important to remember that when wanting a political and social change, it is best to be smart and use online tools as an advantage to make a difference.

UPCOMING CALENDAR DATES VIRTUAL LEARNING

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Monday, 1/25 and Tuesday, 1/26 KEYSTONE TESTING

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Wednesday, 1/27 - Friday, 1/29 SECOND SEMESTER BEGINS

Monday, 2/1

Source: Wikimedia Commons

January 25, 2021

Olivia Rodrigo releases another hit The heartbreak song of the month Alexis Swoyer, Social Media Editor Over the last week, our old Bizzardvark and High School Musical The Musical The Series star Olivia Rodrigo came out with probably the biggest breakup song from over the past year. The song Driver's License came out on January 8, 2021, it has only been out for five days and has already hit the top of the streaming charts everywhere. The music video has already hit over 11 million views and counting.

The song has reached the hearts of teenage girls everywhere, last year around this time another one of

Rodrigo’s songs called “All I Want” from her Disney + series, was released and was getting almost the same amount of attention from her fans. But this song was different this year; it hit harder and started off 2021 with a banger.

The song has blown up all over Tik Tok and has started a couple new trends using the song. The love for the song has not gone down since it came out, it is still being posted everywhere and everyone is talking about it.

There is a rumor going around that there is a love triangle between Olivia, Joshua Bassett,

and Sabrina Carpenter.

Olivia and Joshua were co-stars and each other's love interests in the Disney+ show, High School Musical The Musical The Series. There were skeptics about if they were in a relationship outside the show. But then the fans of the show's heart broke when we found out that nothing was going on between them because Bassett had said he would wait for her until she turns 18 and they can be together, which we got hinted at when she put on the cover,

the date of her 18th birthday.

Very romantic right? Wrong.

Bassett had then been seen with Carpenter and they seemed to be a little bit closer than just friends. This hurt the hearts of teens who shipped Bassett and Rodrigo from the show. Seeing Bassett and Carpenter started the rumors of Rodrigo’s new song being about the love triangle that was created. Another piece of information that we learned about this song was that Bassett was actually the one to teach Rodrigo how to drive.

Music makes a large impact The importance good music has in making a good scene AJ Minnich, Editor-in-Chief In any visual storytelling medium such as TV, movies, or video games the composition of a scene requires a delicate balance of many different aspects including sound design, performances, cinematography, and art/set design.

But possibly one of the most overlooked aspects of crafting a scene is the music. Now that is not to say people do not care about music quite the opposite in fact because in movies like “Star Wars” or “Lord of the Rings” the soundtrack is one of the most memorable parts of a movie.

What makes it overlooked is how many do not understand just how pivotal

music is to a scene.

For example in the “Empire Strikes Back” the music and sometimes lack thereof really helps to emphasize just how desperate the characters are and that they are in a losing fight but in Rise of Skywalker’s battle between Rey and Kylo it feels hollow because it has no music at all. It feels like some kind of editing error but in reality they put absolutely no music in what was supposed to be one of the most intense and emotional scenes in the film.

Strong music will always help to emphasise the emotions in the scene it is placed in. furthermore the best music will

still elicit the emotions of the scene even when listening to it completely removed from the scene it is in. For example most people still feel the same emotions as Luke Skywalker when listening to “The Force Theme” which plays when he looks at the twin suns.

In essence music acts as an emotional guide for what the director wants the audience to feel. It also makes scenes more memorable and can also completely change the context of a scene. For example scenes like Arthur Morgan’s final ride in Red Dead Redemption II would not be as memorable and impactful

without the beautiful music to accompany it. In terms of changing the context of a scene, a prime example would be Ross from Friends because after removing the laugh track and adding ominous music Ross comes off as a creepy sociopath.

In the words of John Williams “There’s a very basic human, non-verbal aspect to our need to make music and use it as part of our human expression. It does not have to do with body movements, it doesn’t have to do with articulation of a language, but with something spiritual.”