Table of Contents
Editor-in-Chief
Hunter Maguire
Cover Art
Hunter Maguire
World/National News (page 5)
Lynn Yang, Editor
Community/School News (page 11)
Isabella Fuertes, Editor
Reviews (page 14)
Hunter Maguire, Editor-in-Chief
Faculty Advisor
Mr. McAuley
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the following articles do not represent the opinions of the administrative staff at GCHS, merely those of the writers themselves.
Dear Readers,
A Note From the Editor
It is with great pleasure that I begin my tenure as ECHO’s Editor-in-Chief. I am beyond excited to be curating this issue, as well as this paper’s subsequent publications for the 2024-25 academic year.
You may notice that our Fall 2024 publication is late this year, as well as somewhat shorter than previous years’ issues. Your eyes do not deceive you: all of this is true.
We’re currently quite a small publication, made smaller by the graduation of our beloved Editors-in-Chief, Elaine and Emma, as well as most of student writers, including Stephanie, Maria, and Ana, last year. For this reason, we are in great need of a new generation of Garden City High School student writers. To my fellow Garden City students: if you are at all interested in journalism and what’s occurring around you, whether on a local or international scale, I highly encourage you to join this year’s team of ECHO members and write, write, write for our Winter and Spring Editions. Our membership is mostly juniors and seniors, so the tradition of maintaining ECHO next year, and for many years to come, falls on you, if you do so choose to accept it.
In the meantime (and on a lighter note), enjoy the final ECHO issue of 2024
Sincerely,
Hunter Maguire Class of 2025
Trump vs. Harris, In Recap
by Isabella Fuertes
The results are in; Donald J. Trump is the victor of the 2024 presidential election In many ways, this year's elections held historic firsts for America, many of which centered on President Trump, the 45th president of the United States President Trump is only the second president to have been reelected to a nonconsecutive term. His comeback, winning both the popular and Electoral College votes, was an extraordinary feat in election history This is the first election in which one of the top candidates is under “criminal indictment” Due to a stream of appeals and court meeting postponements, Trump avoided attending court during the height of primary season, preventing conflicts between his court appearances and campaigning events. The topic of presidential immunity was resolved in Trump v. The United States, where the Court generally ruled that the government can only enforce criminal prohibition if it does not directly conflict with executive powers, nearly guaranteeing his trial to be
pushed beyond the November 2024 election. However, on May 30, 2024, President Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of criminal business fraud; the president was convicted of a crime, which will not affect him taking office The power of the president to issue a presidential pardon to himself remains unclear
On the Democratic side, Joe Biden faced trouble even before the presidential election As the 46th President of the United States, President Biden faced criticism for rising inflation that followed the country’s rapid economic growth; the claim that his older age (President Biden being 81 years old, and President Trump being 78 years old) inhibits his presidential abilities, and the blame of the country’s “humiliating” withdrawal from Afghanistan, the latter being expressed by President Trump during the 2024 election season. In June 2024, the first televised debate between the presidents proved to be the nail in the coffin for President Biden Due to poor performance, he ultimately withdrew on July 20, 2024,
throwing his support instead behind Kamala Harris. As a result, President Biden is the first president to not run for a second term since 1968. Kamala Harris went on to become the first Black American and Asian American to win a nomination to a major political party on August 6th. Just days before Biden withdrew, President Trump faced an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, sustaining a bullet wound from Thomas Matthew Crook It was an extremely close call Luckily, it failed, and President Trump did not suffer the fate of four previous presidents. In addition, on the 15th of September, an attempted assassination of Donald Trump swept the nation. Ryan Wesley Routh was charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump. Harris faced similar issues as President Biden; she faced criticism for contemporary inflation as well as immigration in past years. As a result, she was unpopular as vice president of Joe Biden and, likewise, as a candidate for the nation’s highest office
Furthermore, given that she began her campaign only after President Biden’s tardy withdrawal, she faced not only less time to connect with the public but avoided media interviews for the first half of her campaign, further ostracizing her individual opinions from the public. Paired with President Trump's overwhelming popularity and publicity nationwide, as well as support from Elon Musk of X, the election tipped in President Trump’s favor. Ultimately, this year’s election was both historic as well as nerve-wracking for both sides. As cherished in America, the country is grateful for another graceful and peaceful transfer of power, as has been the culture of the nation since its first presidential election
Courtesy of NPR
Courtesy of Northeastern Global News
A breakdown of electoral votes in the 2024 election for United States president Courtesy of Decision Desk HQ
Shrinking Antarctic Ice: Where, Why?
by Lynn Yang, Hunter Maguire
Where?
In 2024, Antarctic sea ice coverage was measured as the second smallest on satellite record, only slightly above extreme record lows from 2023. The map (below) shows the Antarctic sea ice concentration on September 19, 2024, the likely date of this year’s hemispheric maximum.
How?
When sea ice melts, it exposes dark ocean water that absorbs sunlight and warms, establishing a positive feedback loop with very negative effects on global climate. This cycle of warming delays the growth of new sea ice in a process called ice-albedo feedback. Thus, when less ice coverage is present in polar regions, more ice will continue to melt NSIDC reported that the 2024 Antarctic maximum was 77,000 square miles (200,000 square kilometers) above the 2023 record-low extent, but was a whopping 598,000 square miles (1.55 million square kilometers) below the average maximum extent from 1981-2010.
Consequences & Conclusions
Though melting sea ice may seem inconsequential to the lives of those in a community like Garden City, this phenomenon poses a global threat felt even here on Long Island. Sea levels have risen by eight to nine inches since 1880 (before carbon dioxide emissions disrupted planetary climate processes), threatening low lying communities not just in nations like Tuvalu or the Maldives, but in nearby towns such as Island Park and Long Beach
Additionally, delicate food webs which rely on Antarctic ice’s presence are being strained by this melting trend, jeopardizing the security of iconic species like the Adelie penguin, emperor penguin, and humpback whale, which feed on krill around and under ice shelves To thwart these existential threats, action must be taken by those who created them in the first place: us
Courtesy of NOAA
Courtesy of Science News
Hurricane Francine: A Louisiana Bust
by Lynn Yang
Timeline & Preparations
On September 11th of this year, Hurricane Francine made landfall, sweeping across the Louisiana coast as a Category 2 hurricane
Overall (and thankfully), Francine caused no casualties. The Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry sent thousands of guards from the Louisiana National Guard to regions of the state most likely to be affected by the storm. Many towns had prepared beforehand, calling a shelter in place and asking residents to gather enough food to survive without power for several days. Other cities, such as Barataria, Grand Isle, and Lafitte evacuated people to shelters in a more drastic action.
Storm Impacts
In the end, nearly 400,000 people were left without power, but effects were mild compared with 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which killed over a thousand in the region, and past severe hurricanes in the Gulf. As the hurricane exited the state, it weakened into a tropical storm before dissipating on September 14 On the 15th, most of the power outages in Louisiana were resolved In addition, and conveniently for state residents, Louisiana received a tax return extension from the IRS in affected areas until February 3rd
For hurricane safety & preparation information, visit the link below at https://www.weather.gov/safety/hurricane
Flooding in Paterson, Louisiana as a result of Hurricane Francine on September 12th Courtesy of USA Today
Boarding of windows in coastal Louisiana Courtesy of The New York Times
Hurricane Francine after being downgraded to a Category 1hurricane in the western Gulf of Mexico Courtesy of WAFB
Sports and Celebrity Mix in 2024
by Hunter Maguire
If you’ve turned on the television, prepared to tune in for your sporting event of choice this year, you may have felt that as much attention was placed on certain high-profile spectators as the game itself. National events such as the Super Bowl, World Series, and U S Open are sure to be star-studded, but the integration of sports and celebrity reached new heights in 2024 As this whirlwind year winds down, read on for an analysis of when, where, and why.
The Super Bowl
Super Bowl LVIII was played on February 11, 2024 by the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, with the Chiefs ultimately clinching a win at the end of a long, overall tight game The star power of the Chiefs themselves was already on full display, with recognizable figures like quarterback Patrick Mahomes playing a pivotal role in the game’s outcome
The halftime show, played by Usher and Alicia Keys and including a dance number on rollerskates, was also memorable, but one figure not on the field managed to remain in the limelight: Taylor Swift
Surrounded by other representatives of the music industry, including Lana Del Rey and Ice Spice, in a Chiefs box, Swift frequently found herself on camera during the event’s runtime, surely a familiar sensation to the megastar who, like the NFL, routinely sells out arenas herself However, Swift’s association with football is no coincidence: since entering into a high-profile relationship with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce
in mid-2023, she’s made an effort to be visible at her significant other’s games, often with family and friends at her side. Though critics of the singer have decried the pair’s romance as a “PR relationship” and lamented the attention she garners at football games, we can only expect more glitz, glamour, and celebrity intertwined with the NFL if the influence of Swift and others continues to positively influence viewership
The U S Open
No one star seemed to steal the limelight during this summer’s United States Open in Flushing, Queens, but congestion, price increases, and omnipresent selfies at the event garnered conversation about another form of star: the influencer To event organizers’ delight and longtime tennis fans’ distaste, many socalled influencers, younger, affluent individuals largely disinterested in tennis, attended matches not for the excitement of a five-set nail biter, but for the social scene and newfound buzz surrounding the event.
Though this shift in appeal can’t be measured concretely, one proxy for spectators’ interest in the Open’s social scene is the Honey Deuce, the $23 signature cocktail featured in Instagram stories galore Sales of this drink increased from $9.9 to a whopping $12.8 million, likely reflecting the increased desire of some to see and be seen at this already popular sporting event. Like usual, conventional celebrities such as Simone Biles, Bethenny
Frankel, and Dwayne Wade also made appearances at this year’s US Open.
The World Series
Though discussions of celebrity did not dominate the World Series in the same way as the two prior events, a handful of players did
receive a large share of the event’s national attention, particularly the L A Dodgers’ Japanese sensation Shohei Otani and New York Mets’ star Juan Soto. Each signed ten-year contracts with $700 million and $765 million, respectively, a bellwether of shifting focus from teams to individual icons in the sport
Taylor Swift in the stands of the Super Bowl with other well-known names, including Lana Del Rey and Ice Spice Courtesy of E! News
Former New York Yankees star Juan Soto, who recently signed a $765 million contract with rival team The New York Mets Courtesy of Elite Sports NY
Portuguese model Sara Sampaio poses with the US Open’s signature drink, a “Honey Deuce ” Courtesy of People
Calling All Readers!
Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity! Garden City's Literary Circle is looking to expand its membership this year through new club activities. Literary Circle hosts triannual poetry readings, and is a longstanding literary institution at the high school. Unlike clubs for composition such as ECHO and Inkspots, Literary Circle is targeted at appreciating different forms of literature and discussing influential writers Its first year without its previous head, Mr Rebolini, the Literary Circle faces decline The Literary Circle community needs readers
What is the Literary Circle?
Meetings consist of twenty five minute sessions, where the group reads a poem or short story, and engages in open ended, opinionated discussions Occasionally, the club may analyze short film adaptations . orddddd
by Isabella Fuertes
famous works, or share their own short written works, constructed outside of the club
This spring, the club hopes to collectively read a book of members' choice Literary Circle will be hosting a plethora of holiday parties this year; look forward to the Literary Circle's first “Secret Santa” this Christmas season!
Spread the word about future meetings. Alternating with Inkspots, Literary Circle meets every other Monday in room 131 While the club has started from small beginnings this year, it has hopes to grow under the advisory of the wonderful English teachers, Ms. Bocca and Ms. Laucella. Literary Circle's goal is to promote appreciation for the written works, and unite the literatureloving community at Garden City high school for years to come Keep an eye out for the
club’s future events; we hope to see you there! And in the meantime, enjoy a seasonally appropriate Robert Frost poem curated below.w
Dust of Snow by Robert Frost (selected by Hunter Maguire)
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Courtesy of Medium
Courtesy of ABC7
Seventh Street’s Changing Face
by Hunter Maguire
If you haven’t visited Garden City’s main drag for a while, you might be surprised by which businesses you see (and which you don’t) lining Seventh Street Always in flux yet as popular as ever, here’s a quick recap of what’s new on Seventh
Iavarone Bros
Let’s start with the largest addition to Seventh Street: Iavarone’s, a longtime Italian grocery store chain originally from Bushwick, Brooklyn but now found across Queens and Nassau County.
My family has shopped there since the 1940s (yes, really) and continues to stop by for all things Italian-American, but for the uninitiated, I suggest going for semolina bread, butter cookies, or anisettes and staying for their high quality produce, cheeses, and prepared items Some items fall on the pricier side, but most prices are reasonable, especially considering what you’d pay in the city these days!
Nonetheless, many shoppers, my mother included, continue to mourn the closing of Natural Market, the previous owner of the space The specialty market, with its unique selection of teas, toiletries, fruit, and health foods, filled a niche that Iavarone’s doesn’t directly serve, but other businesses may break into in the future.
Il Gufo
Though Walk Street, the restaurant that’s served American classics to Garden City residents for decades, closed in mid-2022, Il Gufo, its modern Italian replacement offering an indoor-outdoor design alongside small plates, pasta, and pizza dishes, just opened this September.
I haven’t tried it yet and can’t speak personally to the quality of the food, but the place is stunning inside and outside and certainly breathes life to the street with its presence. It remains to be seen if Il Gufo stands the test of time in Garden City.
Starbucks
Though this isn’t a new business in town, the Starbucks franchise on Seventh Street was renovated this summer and returned in August with a complete redesign For starters, the location’s basic layout has changed, with the back seating area replaced by a new bathroom and the front opened up for order pickup and standing room. The tables are noticeably smaller, a con for Starbucks studiers like myself, but the store is just as popular as before, if not more so.
top: Remainder of the Iavarone storefront on Wilson Ave, where my great-grandmother grew up (The Glorified Tomato) bottom: Iavarone’s on Seventh (Newsday)
Pantano’s Doz Bagels
Finally, as if two bagel cafes (and another just outside of town on Nassau Boulevard) weren’t enough, another location called Pantano’s Doz Bagels recently opened at 180 Seventh Street, close to the Franklin Avenue end of the street. The store is part of a local chain and offers a vast selection of intriguing bagels, from classic flavors like plain and sesame to “Dorito” and “Oreo Twist” takes on the New York specialty
The idea of a Dorito-flavored bagel doesn’t appeal to me, and to be honest I find their decor a tad overwhelming, but their bagels are tasty overall and the place seems busy when I’ve visited Another bonus is that, unlike most bagel shops, Pantano’s offers a gluten-free option that compares well with a standard bagel. If you have celiac or a gluten intolerance, I’d highly recommend trying it!
Reflections
As a high school senior, I’ve witnessed significant changes in town since childhood, but the pace of them has only increased over the past few years Whatever the future holds for Seventh Street, I expect the strip’s popularity to only grow from here.
The new Pantano’s Doz Bagels outlet at 180 Seventh Street Courtesy of Michelle Mascioli (via Google Images)
International chain Starbucks’ Seventh Street location on a snowy day. Courtesy of Newsday
Community members enjoying a night out at Il Gufo Courtesy of The Garden City News
2024 - A Reflection On Horror
by Ella Pocock
As a lifelong horror fan, most filmgoers with a similar genre preference to me are familiar with their lack of representation at Academy Awards To quote horror actress and certified “Scream Queen” Mia Goth (of Pearl, Suspiria, and Infinity Pool fame), “A change is necessary...A shift should take place if they wanted to engage with the wider public. I think it would be of benefit, really, [to nominate horror movies].”
The Oscars are known for completely disregarding horror movies, with particularly notorious snubs including the performances of Toni Collette in Hereditary, Bill Skarsgard in It, and Lupita Nyong’o in Us Regardless, I find horror to be easily one of the most culturally impactful and insightful genres, despite how often the genre is overlooked during award season. 2024 has been a stellar year for horror, with many critics describing it as the “best year for horror in decades”. But, what can this tell us about the year as it comes to a close? 2024 has, no doubt, been a
tumultuous year, shrouded in the changing political climate of an intense presidential election. Many of my personal favorite horror movies of this year reflect these societal anxieties in unique ways that, through analysis, give us insight into the cultural landscape of the times.
It’s important to note that 2024 hasn’t just been a big year for horror, but a big year for women in horror Women have always been the cornerstone of the horror genre, with gothic heroines to Hitchcock blondes and slasher final girls each becoming part of the cultural lexicon. Recent films like The Substance, Immaculate, MaXXXine, and Longlegs take a genre historically reliant on the exploitation of women and invert those tropes to push progressive messaging. Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney as a young nun unknowingly impregnated with the DNA of Jesus in an attempt to resurrect Christ, offers a textbook example of this shift. With a stunning performance by Sweeney, the actress breaks
out of the bombshell roles she’s held in Euphoria and Anyone But You to great effect Ultimately, Immaculate is a body horror dealing with the very real fear of losing one’s bodily autonomy. Following the overturning of Roe v Wade, abortion has become a highly contested issue nationwide, regularly breaking headlines and becoming a poignant discussion point during political debates Often sarcastically dubbed by critics as the nuns and abortions movie, Immaculate doesn’t shy away from the idea of forced pregnancy as an element of body horror, a staple of the genre.
Similar to Immaculate’s use of body horror to push feminist messaging about women’s autonomy, The Substance, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, takes a quite literal approach to body horror. In the film, Demi Moore plays Elizabeth, an aging Hollywood actress who seems to fall farther and farther out of the spotlight In a last-
ditch attempt to preserve her fame, youth, and beauty, she begins taking a mysterious substance that allows her to temporarily morph into a younger, idealized version of herself (but not without a great cost, of course)
In the age of social media, where it’s impossible to scroll without seeing some form of artificial beautification, whether through plastic surgery, filters, or photoshop, the unattainability of female beauty standards are only becoming worse In an era dubbed the Age of Ozempic, it appears that most celebrities are willing to take body-damaging
risks to maintain a falsified image of physical perfection. The Substance takes this to a whole new level, satirizing the lengths to which women are forced to go to stay “beautiful”. Finally, a unique horror standout, I Saw the TV Glow, paints a harrowing portrayal of the LGBT+ experience. The film is one that grows only more relevant with a recent spike in anti-trans hate crimes, especially in states that have placed restrictions upon transgender individuals Directed by Jane Schoenbrun, who identifies as non-binary, I Saw the TV Glow constitutes a
supernatural horror focused on its main character, Owen, who befriends a girl named Maddy through their shared, obsessive love of a television show called The Pink Opaque. When the show is abruptly canceled on a cliffhanger and Maddy mysteriously disappears, Owen is forced to confront what forms reality and what exists only in his mind. A powerful metaphor for the transgender experience and the dangers of attempting to hide your true self, I Saw the TV Glow received critical acclaim and was considered a landmark film in queer cinema history
Sydney Sweeney’s portrayal of a young nun in Immaculate Courtesy of The New York Times
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, each portraying the same middle-aged actress who achieves youth (at a cost) in The Substance Courtesy of Vulture
The Island of Sea Women
by Hunter Maguire
When I first picked up this novel, on a whim in a Boston Barnes & Noble, I knew next to nothing about the island of Jeju, its long tradition of female cold-water divers (haenyeo) who served as primary breadwinners in many coastal villages, or Lisa See’s impeccably researched historical storytelling.
I began reading during the long car ride home, and was quickly impressed by See’s evocation of the landscape, community, and central tensions of Hado, the village where much of the novel takes place, under Japan’s occupation. Its plot hinges on the bond between two girls: Young-sook, the protagonist from a long line of haenyeo women, and Mi-ja, the orphaned daughter of Japanese collaborators living with an abusive aunt and uncle nearby, from 1938 until the present (2008).
The novel opens as Young-sook’s mother, Sun-sil, finds Mi-ja stealing crops from their fields to survive, but treats her with kindness rather than anger, absorbing her into the family and teaching her, alongside her own daughter, to dive with Hado’s haenyeo collective. The pair grow into womanhood together, even after Sunsil’s untimely death, but their divergent pasts word
continue to impact the friendship’s future, particularly in the wake of their respective marriages and the 1948 Uprising on Jeju Island.
The Island of Sea Women reflects profoundly on sisterhood, misunderstanding, and the equal, opposite burdens of anger and remorse, reaching its most tragic, touching epiphanies when doing so. The prose is forceful in its simplicity, if a little dense with factual information at times, but as a lover of both fiction and untold histories, the novel is one I return over and over to without losing interest Not everyone would fall in love with this book like I have, but if a time-transcending tale of female resilience (with a generous helping of historical study) appeals to you, I can’t recommend The Island of Sea Women enough.
For More Like This, Read...
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)
Paradise (Toni Morrison)
Sula (Toni Morrison)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
Haenyeo from Jeju Island today (mostly elderly) Courtesy of Forbes
A still from a Korean miniseries portraying the novel’s events. Courtesy of IMTV
