The Hilltopper | 2020–2021 Volume 2

The Hilltopper a combined gray & maroon edition

Volume 20, Issue 2

March 2021

Junior Schoolers Speak: Virtual or In-Person?

Ella Rinaldi In my advisor group, we were discussing whether we preferred online school or in-person school better during Covid. While some of my classmates decided that in-person was more productive, some said that virtual learning gave them more time to study and catch up on sleep. While I could relate with how it is easier to fit in work with virtual learning, I could also see how being in person helps you be more engaged in class. I couldn’t decide which I liked better, so I decided to find out what other junior schoolers thought.

Here’s what they had to say: For people who didn’t favor one over the other: “When doing in person I focus more, but am also more stressed.”

-Anonymous “At home, I am more comfortable and at school I can see my friends, so I like the hybrid model as well.”-Layla Kenkare, ‘25 “In person I get to see friends, at home I get more sleep.” -Nate, ’25

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Comparing the 1918 Spanish Flu to COVID-19 Kyle Zhang Many people have commented on the similarities between the Spanish Flu, which originated in 1918, and COVID, which is raging now.

Spanish Flu first spread to America via returning soldiers from World War I. It spread around the world in two years and infected one whole third of the people in the trail.

COVID-19 originated, ostensibly, in a fish market in Wuhan. The whole city was locked down in only CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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VIRTUAL OR IN-PERSON?

For people who prefer virtual learning: “I really like virtual learning!

Learning in my bedroom is awesome.”-Alexander Skula, ‘25 “I like being virtual because I get to sleep in, and my middle period during the day (11:30-1) is much more productive.”-Anonymous “I chose this answer because there are a lot of benefits to Virtual learning, such as getting to sleep in later, getting to spend more time with your family, and a lot more.”-Anonymous “I feel like I prefer virtual because I need to wake up at 6:30 (during in person weeks).” -Anonymous For people who prefer in-person learning: “It’s more fun to see my friends and I learn more.”-Anonymous “I think in-person is much more fun and better for me academically, because I get to have the best part of school (being around my friends) and I can also focus more easily, cause it is harder to get distracted.”-Ripley Chance, ‘26 “I chose the answers because overall, I feel like I improve more in my social skills and my academic learning. It is a lot easier virtually, and I get a lot of breaks, but staring at a computer screen all day isn't ideal for me at least.”-Shriya Vaid, ‘26 “I can learn better in person because it is easier for me to focus when watching and listening to my CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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VIRTUAL OR IN-PERSON?

COMPARING 1918 SPANISH FLU

teacher in person as opposed to over zoom.”-Lucas Llovera, ‘25

one month. People fleeing the city spread the virus to the rest of China, and later the world.

Both pandemics had a small spring wave, which disappeared quickly, but came back with vigor the next winter. Based on the 1918 Spanish flu, there will be another spring wave before it all disappears.

However, as a vaccine has already come out and cases are declining

Has your opinion changed since the start of the year?

“A little bit, since the beginning of the year I've started enjoying online learning a bit better.” -Liv Samuelson, ‘26 “Yes. I was happy to see people in person again but then I realized that I liked online much more because I had more time and I was more productive.” -Anonymous “No. I really like going on campus because I get to see my friends, and I feel less distracted.”-Anonymous “As I've developed more friends at Hopkins I like being there more.”Kyle Abrahamsen, ‘26 “I always knew that no matter what, both formats won't be good.

The social aspect of Hopkins feels taken away by all the distancing regulations and the fact that it is hard to read people's faces with a mask on.”-Henry Weinstein, ‘26

Trash Talk: How would ‘Paying as You Throw’ Affect Connecticut?

Alima Conde Last December we became aware that the MIRA (Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority) plant in Hartford was closing down.

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rapidly, maybe the pandemic is almost over already.

Much of the difference comes from the fact that during the 101 years between the two pandemics, medical technology has advanced so much. In 1918, a vaccine was nowhere in sight while now, it is only a question of when, not if. We are very fortunate that this pandemic is not as close a disaster to the 1918 Spanish Flu.

Spanish Flu

Covid

Infected

~500 million

~107 million (so far)

Deaths

~50 million

2.35 million (so far)

For decades, the plant has burned trash and turned it into energy.

Big changes are expected after the closing which is planned for July of 2022. One of these changes would be introducing the idea ‘Pay as You Throw,’ where you pay to have your trash disposed of. Dealing with the closing will be difficult, and depending on how it is conducted, there may be some positives. However, paying to throw away trash would

ultimately have a negative effect on too many people.

The plant is already the center of controversy with a number of people who are against the burning of the waste. “Emissions from burning waste worsen environmental inequalities, create financial risks for host communities and reduce incentives to adopt more sustainable CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

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TRASH TALK

waste practices,” says Ana Baptisa in her article, “Is Burning Trash a Good Way to Dispose of it?” Waste incineration in charts. If more money had been able to go into the plant it could have adjusted to become more environment friendly, but shutting it down will cause bigger and probably more harmful changes such as resorting to landfills. Tom Kirk, CEO of MIRA – the organization that runs the plant – says, “We’ve landfilled almost none of our garbage for 30 plus years. To now be stepping backwards to a landfill-dependent solution … putting

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it in other states, is a disappointing development.”

Acknowledging that it’ll be more expensive to bring our trash to out of state landfills, the ‘Pay as You Throw’ idea makes sense. It could lead to reducing overall waste and saving towns’ money. It would also take trash expenses out of general taxes – replacing it with direct pay – and encourage recycling.

However, while all this might be productive, paying for trash removal would affect lower income individuals as well as whole communities.

The direct pay model would be too much of a burden. Additionally, locals may completely reject the idea.

To conclude, I believe we would generally be better off without the ‘Pay as You Throw’ idea. Connecticut might benefit as a state, but the people living there are ultimately more important.

Sources Is burning trash a good way to dispose of it? Waste incineration in charts (pbs.org) Could ‘Pay as You Throw’ Be the Future of Connecticut's Trash? (wnpr.org) After Decades of Burning Trash, MIRA Plant in Hartford Says it Will Close in July 2022 (wnpr.org)

out the danger to wildlife, people, and the earth.

The Keystone XL pipeline and others like it can harm the environment in many ways. It is situated in many wild areas, and therefore has a big impact on the wildlife surround-

ing it. For example, the chemicals in the pipeline, as well as the oil itself, can leak into the drinking water of nearby animals. This poses a particular threat to endangered species.

In fact, the pipeline has already caused harm. Almost 400,000

Biden Revokes Permit of Keystone XL Pipeline Abby Rakotomavo What is the Keystone XL pipeline?

In 2008, a 17,000-mile-long Canadian pipeline owned by TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corp.) was proposed, and construction began a few years later. The pipeline was to carry around 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta to the Texas Gulf coast while passing through Montana, Kansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Part of Biden’s Day One Plan as president was to revoke the permit of this pipeline.

While proponents claim the pipeline is important in terms of economic growth, decorators point

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XL PIPELINE

gallons of crude oil were spilled in North Dakota in October of 2019, putting many animals at risk.

Pipelines such as Keystone not only affect wildlife, but also contribute to climate change. They leak fossil fuels, which, when burned, produce greenhouse gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere and continually warm the planet. Keystone also carries tar sands oil which has a fossil fuel component. When tar sands oil is burned, it creates even more pollution than normal crude oil. Considering that the pipeline would transport large quantities of tar sands oil over long distances, the potential damaging impact is immense.

The pipeline would also require

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the construction of new power lines and roads which would heighten the chances of bird collisions and crush the dens of the endangered northern swift fox. Keystone also crosses through and damages many lands that are sacred to various Native American tribes. It poses a threat to the surrounding tribes by poisoning their water supplies.

Although some support Biden’s move to halt Keystone XL, others argue against the revocation of its permit. Marty Durbin, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, says that the argument against the pipeline lacks solid scientific evidence, and would leave thousands of people unemployed. Many say that since the pipeline has already been under construction for years and has avoided any problems, the halt is

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unreasonable and unnecessary. They claim that, contrary to the beliefs of environmentalists, the pipeline is actually a safe and efficient way of transporting oil through such a massive stretch of land.

There were many contributing factors that led to Biden’s decision.

In the executive order, the president says, “The United States and the world face a climate crisis. That crisis must be met with action on a scale and at a speed commensurate with the need to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory.

Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my Administration's economic and climate imperatives.”

Now, people are left wondering what the Biden Administration’s next move will be.

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Who is Kamala Harris? samantha clare 2020 was certainly an unusual year and so was its United States presidential election. There were copious amounts of turmoil and division in our country as well as in the world outside of our borders. Because there has been so much going on, there has been little time to focus on how truly monumental having Kamala Harris as our Vice President is.

America’s choice is groundbreaking regardless of any individual political views.

Vice President Harris is the 49th Vice President and, as most people know, the first woman of color to hold this position. She is now the second in command of the executive branch of the United States making her extremely important.

VP Harris was born on October 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. Her father Donald Harris (1938-), who is Jamaican, was a professor at Stanford University and her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris (1938–2009), who was Indian, was a scientist.

VP Harris got her bachelor’s degree from Howard University and her law degree from UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Professionally, she started as a Deputy District Attorney of San Francisco before being elected District Attorney. Harris was elected the Attorney General of California in 2010 and Senator in 2015. She was sworn into office as vice president on Wednesday, January 20 of 2021.1

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/us/children-watch-kamala-harris-oath-trnd/index.html

To greater appreciate the enormity of this vice presidency, it is important to shed light on the history of this country. The 19th Amendment, which was passed in 1920, technically gave women the right to vote, but, unsurprisingly, this newly granted right often didn’t extend to women of color as it did to white women. In an interview with TIME magazine historian Martha S. Jones said this: “Some African-American women will vote with the 19th Amendment. Some are already voting in California, New York and Illinois where state governments have authorized women’s votes. But many Black women faced the beginning of a new movement for voting rights in the summer of 1920, and it’s a struggle they will wage alone because now the organizations that had led the movement for women’s suffrage are disbanding.”2 So although just over 100 years ago, white women

were allowed to vote, the battle was nowhere near over for women of color. To further put this into context, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963,3 not even 60 years ago. Our country has a difficult past rooted deeply in sexism, racism, and their intersectionality (overlapping social characterizations that create interdepent modes of discrimination), which is important to remember as we move forward and make progress. Even as the struggle for equality continues, it is encouraging to acknowledge the positive change that has occurred over the past 100 years.

America is still far from embodying the qualities of the idealistic country it is often propagated to be, but the new vice president serves as a symbol of just how much progress has been made already.

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KAMALA HARRIS

alized and often underrepresented in media and politics, so seeing one such woman as one of the most important American political figures is incredibly inspiring. In an opinion piece in The Stanford Daily

on the importance of representation, Natachi Onwuamaegbu writes, “Everyday, the media reassures us that America is white. Minorities are sidekicks or the help, the American Dream is alive and well, and racism is dead. Representation in the media means that America can finally see

itself in all its multicultural, multiracial, beautiful self. Representation in the media means that America sees more to minorities than stereotypes. Representation can make disadvantaged groups become real CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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KAMALA HARRIS

people.” Kamala Harris provides representation for the tremendous potential that women of color and other minority groups have, even as society attempts to hold them back.

To wrap up with some words from the Vice President herself, spoken on the day of the inauguration:

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“We not only dream, we do. We not only see what has been, we see what can be.”4 Harris, no doubt, embodies the words that she speaks and is working to make the vision of true equality in America a reality. ___________ 1 https://www.whitehouse.gov/ administration/vice-presidentharris/

2 https://time.com/5876456/ black-women-right-to-vote/ 3 https://www.archives.gov/nyc/ exhibit/mlk 4 https://www.washingtonpost. com/opinions/2021/01/24/ distinguished-pol-week-she-istransformational/

While it might seem like it's impossible for one person to make even the smallest dent in this problem, the solution can start with reducing your own carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases you put into the atmosphere. You make your carbon footprint by riding in a car or flying on a plane; anything that emits carbon dioxide. You can also emit greenhouse gases from your own home! Your energy usage in your house (how much you use your lights or the heat, etc.) can contribute to the amount of carbon dioxide

and other toxins that go out into the world each day.

One of the ways you can reduce your carbon footprint is to travel less. In doing so, you can cut down the amount of fossil fuels you are responsible for. Cars and other sorts of transportation were one of the top sources of carbon emissions in November of 2017 according to Climate Central, an independent organization of leading scientists and journalists that researches climate

Is Climate Change Inevitable? Steps YOU can take to make a difference LUCY REYMOND For the past several decades, climate change has become one of the biggest problems humanity has ever faced. Humans are devastating the environment, the only place we have ever known as home and eventually, climate change will wipe out humanity entirely. Climate change is a problem involving the greenhouse gases, gases that absorb and trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the planet to get hotter. As a result of this, our storms are getting stronger, the oceans are rising, wildfires are more frequent.

So what can you do? For the most part, companies and other corporations are responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions. According to the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), 71% of the greenhouse gas emissions come from energy companies.

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CLIMATE CHANGE

issues. You can walk instead of drive, carpool, use public transportation, and take trips only when absolutely necessary.

Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is to recycle or reuse materials. This helps the environment and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. When factories produce new products, they also produce many greenhouse gases. In addition, factories and these new products require resources from the environment, such as wood from trees.

When you choose to recycle materials or make do with what you have, you will also reduce the number of trips you have to make to the store.

These efforts to reduce the amount of new materials you consume will make a positive impact on the environment.

Climate change may seem like a gargantuan and insurmountable problem, but you can start protecting our planet by taking a few simple steps.

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Texas Weather Crisis Bella Li ’26 As you probably heard on the news and countless breaking headlines, Texas is suffering from a blackout which began when temperatures plummeted down to freezing levels last Sunday leaving people without heat or drinking water.

And it's still not going so great.

On Sunday the 14th, power grid failures started in Texas leaving residents with little to no power in freezing temperatures. While people are still getting their power back on, many residents have found themselves with dry taps and pipes that have burst, making them have to boil their water before using it.

Almost 4 million people in Texas had no power this week leaving them with no heating in their homes to fight the cold weather. Just as the people weren’t prepared, the power plants weren’t prepared for this weather either and the natural gas production froze as did the pipelines that transported the gas. People had turned up their heating causing an increase in demand for natural gas and shortening the production of electricity.

Demand for food and water has also increased because, burst pipes and failed water treatments led to a shortage of water supply. Many have to boil their water before being able to drink it. And many others have no running water out of their faucets and are unable to bathe and use the bathroom. Texans are running

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low on food and are struggling to find more. Grocery stores are either closed or lined with empty shelves, and food banks are handing out as much food as they can. “Over 500 cars lined up on Friday morning at the headquarters of the San Antonio Food Bank who were distributing 100,000 pounds of food to residents throughout the weekend.” [1] The Texas National Guard handed fresh produce to people hit by the blackout.

There have been over 30 deaths blamed on the blackout.

The schools in Texas have been hit hard by this disaster as well. The two largest school districts in Texas closed after the storm. Many school buildings have been damaged with flooding and boiler issues delaying both virtual and in-person classes.

“The Arlington Independent School District reported 26 school campuses damaged with many other schools suffering from burst pipes, water damage, and sheetrock erosion.” [2] Many of you might be wondering “How can I help?” well, you can donate to food banks. The Houston Food Bank is providing a total of 150 meals with a donation of $50 and the Austin Disaster Relief Network is accepting donations to provide people with emergency housing and supplies.

Sources: [1 & 2] https://www.nytimes. com/2021/02/20/us/texas-winter-storm-explainer.html https://www.bloomberg.com/ news/features/2021-02-20/texasblackout-how-the-electrical-gridfailed

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WERE WE RIGHT? Super Bowl Predictions Don’t Add Up emi fridman

Tech Corner with Alexander Skula 2020 was a rocky year in the world with COVID-19, an economic crisis, and lots more, but that didn’t stop technology from moving forward with a leap. 5G data networks have finally made their way to the iPhone lineup, Tesla is getting closer to its

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As this unique year continued on its path, we slowly approached one of the biggest events in February; The Super Bowl.

In 2021, people all around the world asked themselves; Who will win? The Chiefs, or the Buccaneers?

We know now that the game ended with Buccaneers oustripping the Chiefs 31 to 9. But how well did the Junior School do? A poll of 7th and 8th graders and JS Faculty showed taken before the game revealed a pretty divided field:

goal of fully autonomous vehicles, Apple is beginning to roll out its first lineup of Macs with their own processors, trying away from Intel CPUs, and graphics cards soar through the roof in performance.

With all this excitement, what should we be excited about in the future?

Two highlight are 5G iPhones and nationwide 5G coverage. In case

you were living in a cave for the past few years, 5G is the new generation of wireless networking that can be over 800% faster than LTE, the previous flagship of mobile networks.

This enhancement in speeds will be huge in the future, allowing for fast mobile networks wherever you are.

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TECH CORNER

In addition to 5G, the future of self-driving cars and automation reaching consumers may not be so far away. This year, Tesla released its first lineup of cars with a “fully automated” option, which is as close to a fully autonomous driving experience as ever. Although not a budget option—a $100,000 one at that—it is very exciting to see how close we are to the reality of autonomous vehicles reaching our ownership.

Cars aside, 2020 had another major release of a series of products that many of us know: the Mac computer. Since 2006, Apple has been relying heavily on Intel computing processors to power their device lineup. While this worked for them for a long time, Intel processors became very power hungry and hot, causing laptops with insufficient cooling to thermal throttle, or overheat. In November 2020, Apple launched a new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini, a revelation to millions of Apple fanboys around the world.

In addition to bringing a fanless design to the MacBook Air, these processors could smash their Intel counterparts, performing up to 3x better in almost every way. Considering how every new Intel processor is only about 10-20% better than the previous, three times the performance is absolutely stunning.

What’s more; rather than drawing 65 watts of power, these new Apple “M1” processors only draw up to 20 watts. It is hard to complain about these new products.

If Apple isn’t an interest to you, and you’re more of a PC gamer, this next innovation may interest you.

In October 2020, NVIDIA launched their new lineup of 3000 series graphics cards, smashing the pre-

vious market of consumer graphics cards. For only $500, the RTX 3070, the weakest of the three new graphics cards, matched the previous flagship, the $1200 RTX 2080ti. This is really incredible because a $500 GPU just matched a $1200 GPU, bringing the reality of 4k gaming to more budget-oriented consumers.

The excitement doesn’t end here, though. The $1500 RTX 3090, the biggest and baddest of the new lineup is officially the fastest graphics card ever made, beating over

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TECH CORNER

$5000 RTX Quadros for a quarter of the cost. Good luck getting these graphics cards for MSRP, however they’re all sold out!

2020 was very exciting, but what should we get excited about in 2021 and beyond? Let’s go through them as fast as possible. Firstly, cloud robotics are expected to begin taking place, taking away the need to have a program running inside of a robot.

Second, diseases might soon be edited out of sick peoples’ DNA with gene editing. Next, the future of AI is bright, with biological robots in the realm of the near future. With all of that and much more, it’s hard not to get excited about the near future and what technology will bring us.

TikTok: Signs of a declining media Quinby Berry

Image Sources: Atlas-network.com Which.co.uk legitreviews.com 9to5toys.com At first glance, TikTok may seem like a good place to share thoughts and ideas. However, when you take a deeper look into its depths, you may find some disturbing news.

TikTok has been around for about four years, and at first, it was not too big. Then, suddenly, in 2018, there was a huge spike in popularity.

No one knows exactly how or why this happened, but it did. Once this happened, people started taking advantage of the media’s weak structure and security, and posted videos that were strictly against TikTok’s policies. TikTok quickly saw that their platform was growing, and developed a new system that saw inappropriate content and reported it to the staff, much like many other big platforms, such as Facebook.

This worked for about a year, from

March 2019 to March 2020. However, when the pandemic hit, TikTok was in trouble.

The pandemic hit everyone hard, especially people with little to no income. These people and all people turned to platforms such as TikTok for hope and joy. This brought millions of people around the world together on TikTok. Everyone loved it. All ages, all races, all genders. Then people realized that millions of people were on the platform, and noticed that they could get tons of attention by posting on it.

There are different types of videos on TikTok. The two most popular types of videos: people

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TIKTOK

dancing to songs, and people doing challenges. This is where the bad part comes in.There are many kinds of challenges, such as the ice bucket challenge, where you sit in a freezing cold tub until you get a question right. The worst challenge is the benadryl challenge. This is a terrible life threatening challenge where you film yourself taking benadryl until you can’t take it anymore. This could eventually kill you. This is done by hundreds of users, and it is a terrible thing. There are also other challenges that are potentially dangerous especially for kids. There are multiple challenges that have profanity, which are technically banned, but somehow some of them still remain.

All of these problems lead to another, and all of them are just getting worse. How will TikTok fix them? Or will they be forced to shut down? There is no foreseeable good solution to these problems, as there are people whose intention every day is to make platforms like TikTok less safe.

And while the future of TikTok is uncertain, here is a snapshot of what 100 seventh and eighth graders at Hopkins think of the site.

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Things to Do During Covid Liam Teel Covid has many people trapped in their homes. The pandemic doesn’t allow many activities, so here are some zero risk ideas of what to do: Game Night With Your Family If you’re constantly fighting with your siblings, then maybe you could play a game at your table (unless you’re an only child, in which you could play with your parents, as long as they are not working). Try Pandemic by Z-Man Games, a cooperative game that is relevant to the world’s current status.

Video Games Video games are a great way to get rid of boredom. If you’re sick of dealing with your siblings, play a single player video game, but if you’re willing to work with them for once, go in multiplayer games like Roblox, Minecraft, or Among Us. Listen to Music If you just don’t want to play video games or have a game night, then how about sitting down and listening to music? To most people, doing this beats boredom easily. There are many platforms for listening to music, such as Spotify, iTunes, or just search up your favorite song on YouTube and you can find a music video.

Baking If you don’t mind getting a bit messy, then try baking! You can make so many things, from cupcakes to cookies to anything you want. And all your hard work pays off—you get a delicious outcome!

Here is a link to a delicious recipe for brownies to make: https:// www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10549/ best-brownies/

Play an Instrument If you play an instrument and you love it, then great! Playing an instrument can be fun and interesting. Even if you don’t love your instrument, then why not practice for a bit? Favorite instruments include piano, flute, and violin. Of course you don't have to play one of those—play whatever you want!

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Valentine's Day Word Scramble Ella rinaldi

etrhsa 2. udipc 3. dre 4. olve 5. teinlvaen 6. scdar 7. aycnd 8. hctlcaeoo 9. Efrbayru 10. ipkn 1.

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Stories from the Vault— As told to Shriya Vaid Junior Schooler Share Memorable True Tales Tale #1 I was two years old and I was shopping at Macy’s with my mom and my sisters. We were at the counter and about to check out, but apparently we weren’t done shopping yet. As we were turning around, I hesitated for a second and lost track of what I was doing. I quickly brushed it off and walked towards my “mother.” As I was following her, I noticed my sisters were gone and she continuously kept walking deeper into the store to places we had already been. After a while of following her, I noticed this wasn’t my mother at all! I immediately stopped following her and after a few minutes, I realized that I was all alone. Abandoned.

I was sobbing in a corner imagining the worst possible scenarios known to a two year old. I’d never find my family again! Noooooooo!

As I was drowning in childly despair, a kind lady walked up to me and asked me if I was lost. I was ecstatic! Maybe there was hope for me after all!

“What’s your name, honey?” she asked.

I replied with my first name.

“And your last name?”

“I FORGOT!” I cried as I held back my sobs.

She looked at me with pity and asked me a few more questions, which I obviously didn’t know the answer to.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the store, my mom was shopping with my sisters. She didn’t notice I was not there for a long time, and when she did, she roared at my sisters. [Glad I wasn’t there for that.]

Eventually, my mother found me. She ran over to me crying and I had no idea why she was crying. I was finally reunited with my bawling mother and scared sisters who had sat through an entire lecture about responsibility.

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STORIES

A long time ago, I was playing with my sister in my cousin’s basement. As we were playing a slightly modified version of “The Floor is Lava”, a faint scratching noise reached my ears. At first, I didn’t mind, but soon after that, the scratching became undeniably loud. I was terrified and so was my sister. We leaped behind the couch and waited. Suddenly the scratching stopped and we heaved a sigh of relief. I guess it was just a figment of our naive imaginations. Then out of nowhere, we heard a rowdy growl. Our souls left our bodies when a reddish-white eyed tiny dog leaped down from the stairs and found our hiding spot. We immediately jumped on top of the couch, hoping the beast wouldn’t reach us there. We were wrong. The beast or whatever it was chased us until we cried. We sat atop pillows and hid ourselves beneath blankets so the beast couldn’t reach us. Thankfully, the creature didn’t have a strong will to chase us so she left. We hid in a corner shuddering and we knew exactly who the queen of the house was. Our cousin’s dog, FuFu. Tale #3 I was a toddler. A very perceptive toddler.

I was watching a movie with my family. Yes, I was a toddler in a crib watching a movie with my family.

Anyway, in one scene of the movie, two characters ran and hugged each other. This scene seemed very interesting. My intelligent child brain told me to do exactly what I had just seen. I did. I hopped out of my crib leaping towards my parents in baby glory when I tripped on the bar of my crib and smacked flat onto the wooden floor.

My parents were probably worried, and I was crying too. In hindsight, that was probably not the best idea ever. Ever since then, I haven’t ever listened to sayings or actions in movies.

Tale #4

*This experience was real, but the cult was a joke. The cult members were friends of storyteller. Everything was handled.

I was walking down my street, as I should be, when a group of strangely enthusiastic people called for me.

Bewildered, I went towards them when a creepy girl walked up to me and told me that apparently, this group was a cult. They explained the backstory of the cult and I was even invited to join. I walked away in silence, but then they told me something they shouldn’t have. They pointed to a small twig wedged into a stone.

“That is our leader, YaYa YaYa’s grave. Please pay your respects before you leave.”

As evil as I was, I marched up to the grave and stomped all over it.

They were so offended and were cursing me.

“HOW COULD YOU! YOU FEEBLE HUMAN! YOU INSOLENT BRAT! YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS OFFENSE!” I was chased everywhere. Good thing I lost them. I would probably be dead if they caught me.

Tale #5 I was standing outside of a bullpen with my uncle as an excuse to get some fresh air from the car. We were on a road trip and I was feeling a bit nauseous, but then again, I was 6 at the time.

Most of the bulls in the pen were grazing on the field or just sitting down. We noticed the gate was open and my uncle hopped inside. He told me to take a photo of him, and I agreed. We were trying to be quiet, but that didn’t work very well. Within a split second, 4 bulls stood up and started charging at my uncle. He hopped out of the pen and attempted to lock it, but it was no use.

The rampaging bulls were already catching up. My uncle picked me up and he ran for his life. We both bounded into the car, locking the doors. Then we drove away.

Thankfully, the bulls were nowhere to be found after a few minutes of driving. Although I didn’t really understand what was going on, I could tell that everyone, (including my other relatives who were in the car the whole time) had been spooked.

Volume 20, Issue 2

The Hilltopper

Page 17

Introducing… Florida Man Andrew Keisman If you have been on the internet and browsed through memes, you’ve probably seen Florida Man. If you are unaware, Florida Man is a term for someone (usually in Florida) who does crazy acts or commits wacky crimes.

You will see the “crazy” part below. I hope you laugh at these funny moments of Florida Man doing Florida Man things.

Here are some of my favorite headlines:

“Florida Man Charged With Assault With a Deadly Weapon After Throwing Alligator Through Wendy’s Drive-Thru Window” All I really have to say is poor alligator.

“Florida Man Gets Tired of Waiting at Hospital, Steals Ambulance, Drives Home” I guess all the Ubers in Florida were taken.

“Florida Man Breaks INTO Jail to Hang With Friends”

Creative ways to see their friends are Facetime and Zoom, not but breaking into jail. At least that must be a first.

“Florida Man Arrested for Assaulting Girlfriend With Fried Chicken”

Usually you see “Assault and Battery” but in this case it is “Assault and Fried Chicken”. Although that seems dangerous, it also sounds dangerously delicious.

“Florida Man Arrested For Eating Pancakes in Middle of Crosswalk”

For this, I’m not even sure what to say. Oh wait, yes I do, just why?

“Florida Man Steals BMW After He’s Told He Can’t Buy It With Food Stamps”

It’s in the name “Food Stamp”, it's meant for food not cars.

I don’t know about you, but right now I’m glad I live in Connecticut, not Florida. But at least if I did live in Florida, I would have some funny stories.

Jokes of the Issue shriya vaid Q: What’s the last thing to go through a fly’s head as it hits the windshield of a car going 70 mph?

A: Its butt.

Q: Why did the mailman die?

A: Because everyone dies.

Q: Why are friends a lot like snow?

A: If you pee on them, they disappear.

Q: Why was the Leper hockey game canceled?

A: There was a face off in the corner.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

WORD SCRAMBLE

Answers: 1. Hearts 2. Cupid 3. Red 4. Love 5. Valentine 6. Cards 7. Candy 8. Chocolate 9. February 10. Pink