Hex Code

Letter From The Editors

Spring is always bittersweet as an Editor-in-Chief. It’s more comfortable and less nerve wracking than the Fall. The weather gets warm again. Everything feels right in Loco Land. It also means that it’s time for the Mag to pass things off to new leaders who can put their own spin on things.

This semester brought with it a lot of pride, especially with regard to the print edition. My second semester in Loco Mag (Fall 2022) involved taking over print edition duties and getting to redesign the process in my own way, based on all of the hard work done by past staff members. It was a hard but rewarding process, and now three semesters later I had the pleasure of passing this duty off to Dakota, our new Print Edition Director. This will be the first print edition under their guidance, and I’m so excited to have the opportunity to present all of their hard work.

This edition encompasses all of the new and exciting things we have going on this semester. It includes a wide range of articles, podcasts, videos, and even photo essays from our first two issues of the year: Quarter Quell and Morally Grey. It also marks some epic milestones, like brand new Loco Mag t-shirts designed by Sydney Howse and Jason Kramer (featuring our recently added mascot Leno!), as well as the unveiling of a big announcement for the Loco website.

There are some changes in store all around, and I am so excited to see where the Mag goes from here. As Jake and I celebrate our last few weeks as Editors-in-Chief, we hope you enjoy this peek into all that we accomplished this semester. It has been a pleasure.

Until Next Time, Jewel, Jake, and the Loco Staff

LocoMag would also like to say an extra special thanks to Dr. Michael Dwyer for his constant support and guidence in helping us run this magazine and create cool things like this.

Also thanks to Jewel, Sydney, Gabby, Patrick, Daniel, and Eric for helping with the formatting of this issue as part of Loco Mag’s print edition committee.

WHAT IS LOCO MAG?

L o c o M a g i s a n i n d e p e n d e n t , o n l i n e m a g a z i n e t h a t a i m s t o s h o w c a s e t h e i d e a s a n d t a l e n t s o f y o u n g a d u l t s i n t h e

P h i l a d e l p h i a r e g i o n . W e f o c u s o n c u l t u r e a n d l i f e s t y l e r e l e v a n t t o s t u d e n t s , e m e r g i n g c r e a t i v e s a n d n e w

p r o f e s s i o n a l s a n d e m p h a s i z e t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e i n o u r

t o n e a n d c o n t e n t

L o c o M a g a i m s t o c o v e r a b r o a d r a n g e o f s u b j e c t s , i n c l u d i n g t h e a r t s , o f f - c a m p u s e v e n t s , e n t e r t a i n m e n t , t r a v e l , a n d p o l i t i c al n e w s . O u r m a i n g o a l i s t o b r i n g a

p u b l i c a t i o n t o t h i s c a m p u s t h a t w i l l n o t o n l y w o r k t o c o n n e c t s t u d e n t t o o n e a n o t h e r , b u t w i t h t h e w o r l d a r o u n d u s . W e w a n t t o l e a r n y o u r s t o r i e s a n d h e a r y o u r o p i n i o n s , w h e t h e r t h a t i s t h r o u g h w r i t i n g o r p h o t o -

j o u r n a l i s m - - w e w a n t t o b r o a d c a s t y o u .

L o c o M a g i s c o m p l e t e l y i n d e p e n d e n t a n d w e p r i d e

o u r s e l v e s o n s h o w c a s i n g o u r w r i t e r ’ s h o n e s t , u n f i l t e r e d

v o i c e s . W e a r e u n c e n s o r e d a n d o p e n t o h e a r i n g f r e s h

p e r s p e c t i v e s .

MEET THE STAFF

Eric

Gabby

Patrick

Sandro

Joe

Jason

Aleishka

Why Is Pennsylvania So Gray?

by Jewel

It’s that time of year again. The daily high temperature is somewhere in between forty and fifty degrees. I’m speeding down route 309 at 60 miles per hour, only narrowly avoiding some 300 potholes and occasionally hitting one head on (which at this point I’ve become so desensitized to that the jarring thump and bounce of my wheels against the pavement hardly phases me, really). It’s times like these, when I’m forced to stare endlessly at the monochrome highway cement and barren tangle of trees beyond, that I ask myself: why is Pennsylvania so damn gray?

This inquiry has existed in my mind for quite some time. Even as a kid learning the different US states, Pennsylvania always conjured images of bland leafless gray-brown trees—I’ve continued to this day to consider it as the state’s signature color.

I can hardly be blamed for thinking this. What’s the most common tree in Pennsylvania, you may ask? The red maple. And what color bark does the red maple have? That’s right, Brownishgray. What animal is the state known for? Deer. Everywhere. (If you haven’t yet heard that signature thump against your car or seen one haphazardly lying across the road I envy you, but that’s another discussion). Have you seen the color of deer fur? No? Well, it’s grayish brown again. As icing on top of the cake we have another

PA public figure, perhaps most prominent and equally irritating (especially if you—god forbid— want to feed birds in your backyard or have lawn furniture that doesn’t get destroyed). The squirrel. Not just any squirrel. The Eastern Gray Squirrel. And what color are they? I’ll give you one guess.

Don’t even get me started about the rocks in Pennsylvania.

No matter what I do, there is seemingly no escape from this desaturated gray-brown existence. Yes, we may get a brief respite during the warmer months when the trees are green for a whopping few months out of the year, before turning brilliant orange for a maximum of one week and then returning to their dormant brown state, but in between that the brown-gray is all consuming.

All that said, I took a recent extended trip to Texas to house sit over spring break, and I discovered that after a while another color entered the midst: tan. The highways, the dirt, the houses. When I finally returned to Pennsylvania, I was almost, and I do mean almost, slightly comforted by the desaturated gray-brown landscape outside the plane window.

So, as I hit yet another pothole while gazing out my front windshield, it occurs to me that perhaps PA isn’t the only state plagued by their own dreary color scheme. Maybe the sky is sometimes blue here and many of the trees are still green if you remember to look hard enough. It’s probably just the March end-of-winter-begging-for-spring mindset that gets to me this time of year. I’m still going to complain about it though, even when the buds on the trees give me just a shred of hope.

Gray-brown Pennsylvania. Ridiculous.

Featured Image by Jewel Miller.

This article was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Morally Grey.

What’s the Deal with True Crime Podcasts?

by Dakota

True crime shows are nothing new, Dateline has been on since the early 90s and 20/20 since the late 70s. But, true crime comedy as a genre has been stirring up a lot of discourse. How can stories about horrific murders and serial rapists be... funny? Or relaxing? Or enjoyable at all? I fall asleep to a true crime and paranormal podcast nearly every night, and I often find it almost impossible to explain how I could find that comforting. Listening to any genre of podcasts with more than one host often simulates being around other people for me. It allows me to be in a conversation without having to put the energy into participating in it. Hoorah technology! But why true crime comedy? Why something so dark and, at times, really violating for the victims of these crimes?

A big part is the illusion of control. A lot of Millennials and Gen Z kids have been raised with an ever present fear of violent crime that really didn’t exist in our parents or grandparents generations. Our parents were always nervous about us being kidnapped, we had those fuckass stranger danger presententions (que John Mulaney’s

JJ Bittenbinder bit) and morning newscasts with horrific crime reports. And then social media came along and made it omnipresent. If it’s not someone retweeting a news article, it’s a notes app screenshot on Instagram or Snapchat detailing the newest sex trafficking scheme and warning women to look under their cars before approaching so no one will slash their achilles and kidnap them. Or a TikTok demonstrating how to effectively check your hotel room or AirBnB for cameras in the bathroom and bedrooms. We want to be able to control crime; we want the ability to prevent it happening to us.

“We want to be able to control crime; we want the ability to prevent it happening to us”

Hearing about the same serial killers and their motives and methods makes us feel like we can spot that behavior in other people

and avoid it. We know that Ted Bundy lured women into his VW Bug by pretending to be injured and in need of help, or pretending to be a photographer interested in them as a model.

So, now we know not to follow random men to other places, especially without telling anyone. Being able to laugh at these criminals takes it a step further. Calling Ted Bundy a stupid, ugly little bitch takes makes him less scary. It takes some of the power away from him, turns him into the pathetic, desperate freak he was rather than the handsome boogeyman that media coverage made him into.

developed, as they go violently in the other direction. The hosts of these podcasts usually focus pretty heavily on what is predictable and consist in killer’s behaviors and what social systems in place allow these things to go under the radar. My Favorite Murder uses “Fuck Politness” as a tagline for the show, as a lot of survivors have reported interacting with someone who later hurt them despite having a bad gut feeling because they didn’t want to be rude. My personal favorite, And That’s Why We Drink, frequently mentions Gavin Debecker’s The Gift of Fear, a book exploring the value of instinct and a gut feeling and how people often downplay those feelings. The hosts are also quick to point out concerning behavior that no one seemed to pick up on and where authorities often fuck up a case.

“...turns him into the pathetic, desperate freak he was, rather than the handsome boogeyman that media coverage made him into”

Traditional media like movies and TV doesn’t really do that kind of work. Adaptations and docu-series like Dahmer, or Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer series all emphasize how well killers like Bundy and John Wayne Gacy were at going under the radar and how nobody expected Jeffery Dahmer or Ted Kaczinsky to do the shit they did. They all lean into the unpredictable boogeyman quality of the story.

True crime comedy podcasts seem to act as a response to the fear those kinds of media have

We’ve been raised looking for killers in our closets, under our cars and behind our hotel room mirror, thinking that we have to always be on the lookout for a predator of some sort or another. Movies and TV have reinforced that notion, making it abundantly clear that horrible things can happen at any second, to any person, in any place. True crime comedy podcasts dismantle some of that anxiety and lets the listener feel more in control of their surroundings and their life, which is inarguably valuable, even if it’s just an illusion.

Featured Image from Adobe Stock. This article was orignally publish online in the Spring 2024.

When You Can Drink, But Still Can’t Drive

By Allison

A week ago, I finally turned twenty-one. It was funny, though. Despite being twenty-one, I still felt like I was seventeen. Sometimes in my life, I feel like my past is still my present. It doesn’t matter if I have bangs now or if I attend college. It still feels like I am waiting to step onto the train and for it to take me anywhere, but it always passes my stop as if it doesn’t see me.

There are many reasons why I feel this way, but I’m only going to talk about one. And, unfortunately for me, it’s also the most embarrassing one. While I am finally able to drink, I still can’t drive. In the United States, teenagers can get their license when they turn sixteen. I never got mine. The reasons for this are endless, but the main one is that I did not need a permit then. I was doing fine living with my parents, but that was over four years ago. It’s an entirely different story now.

I’m three years into college, and I need a car. It’s not a matter of want. It is a matter of need. Not having a car on campus makes living on campus ten times more complicated than it needs to be. Something as simple as getting groceries just got a lot harder. It is hard, and it is also not fun. I want to do many things, but it’s hard to do them because I need a car. Because of that, my life, at times, is as exciting as counting sand. However, that’s not the worst of it. The worst of it is that I feel like I’m behind in life.

It feels like I’m twenty steps behind in life all because I don’t have a car. I may have turned

twenty-one, but I am still seventeen. It feels like I have not left my childhood at all. That is completely ridiculous, which took me a long time to realize. I shouldn’t feel guilty because I can’t drive. The world should feel guilty for placing these ridiculous expectations on me and everyone. Society puts so much pressure on us. Society places so many expectations on us. When those expectations are placed on us, and we don’t live up to them, it feels like we have failed. It feels like we are not where we are supposed to be in life. But what people need to know is that expectations aren’t promises. And the only thing in life that is promised is death. Nothing else in life is promised.

I was able to look at life in an entirely different way after I made that realization. It felt like I could breathe again. I could also look back and realize how much not having a license benefited me. So many strangers offered me rides (which I’m eternally grateful for) and have become my closest friends. It also made me independent in a way I never thought I would be. There are so many things that I was forced to learn how to do because I don’t have a license. That makes me a lot more adult than I initially thought. So, while it may feel like I’m still catching up in life, I’m actually right on schedule.

Featured

Image by Allison Schmidt. Originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Morally Grey.

Through a Car Window: A 75 Minute Photo Project

by Jake

For this very special milestone issue of Loco Mag, I wanted to try something I’ve never really taken a shot at before; photography. Being that I have more free time in my schedule this semester than I have in a long time, I decided to just take a drive on a random Wednesday, as driving can often be something meditative to me, but with a few simple rules:

1.) Drive for 75 minutes (for the 75th issue of course)

2.) Drive without aim, as much as possible

3.) Stop after 75 minutes and take pictures of wherever I am

From my house, I began by heading east, towards River Road, which runs along the PA side of the Delaware River. Turning north along the river, I was heading for one of the infamously narrow suspension bridges. These bridges technically span two lanes, however without any shoulder or space between lanes, lost and broken mirrors become a common occurrence during crossings. On this particular day, crossing at the Riegelsville bridge, I was fortunate enough to get the whole bridge to myself with no opposing traffic, so as I drove, tires on the yellow line all the way, I was actually able to admire the raging gray river below me.

Once safely in New Jersey, I began heading west along the Musconetcong River for a few miles, during most of which the river ran mere feet from the road. Much like the PA side of the Delaware, the Jersey side feels like the heart of Appalachia, much further from civilization than you actually are. An abrupt right turn across the Musconetcong and I’m southbound, still on a two-lane road, seeing signs for places like Stockton to the south and Flemington further east. After 15 minutes or so, things start to look familiar. Colorful, meticulously maintained Victorian houses draped with Pride flags begin to appear and it’s not until I pull onto the main drag with its plethora of quirky

local businesses that I realize I’m in Frenchtown. (If you haven’t been, I’d highly recommend a trip!)

From there I continue east, then south, then east again passing roadside stands and farmlands, all the while noticing that time is running short, hoping I’ll wind up somewhere noteworthy. It was then that I came upon a covered bridge, a rare sight in general, so I was surprised to find one on some random back road. As I pulled to the side of the road to get some shots of the bridge, I noticed a bright red sculpture in a yard on the next street. Not only is this a very rural area, but also a very wealthy one.

Feeling as though I was on the trail of something bigger, I decided to drive a little bit further down the road, which is when I stumbled upon the sleepy town of Sergeantsville (pronounced Sirgents-ville). First settled in 1700, the town still has a colonial feel about it. From the rural setting to the buildings dating back to the revolution, it really feels like you travel back in time once you cross the covered bridge. The town really only has one intersection, where a 4-way stop is located, and is lined with local businesses including the Sergeantsville Inn, Rosemont Fitness Studio, and 89.7 WDVR, a community-access radio station which broadcasts music from a variety of genres, mostly from lesser-known artists.

When all was said and done, I was really pleased with how this adventure turned out. Not only did I get to capture the beautiful landscapes of rural New Jersey, but this trip also gave me an opportunity to challenge myself with a medium I don’t frequently work with, as well as an opportunity to relax, center myself, and just enjoy my own company for the day.

All images by Jake Horan. This article was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Quarter Quell.

Farewell to Familiar Faces: A Tale of Letting Go and Moving On

by Ethan

Have you ever lost someone you didn’t plan to lose? A lot of the time that’s about a romantic relationship, but the truth is that there are so many different kinds of love in this world. There are so many people in our lives who give us love and care, and that’s shown in so many different ways. You could say love is everywhere and in everyone. Everyone has their own love to give, and everyone wants to be loved.

In my life, I have a group of friends that I met back in High School, and they’re deeply important to me. They made me who I am, they were there for me during some of the most crucial and impactful times in my life. They cared about me even when I wasn’t the best version of myself. There aren’t enough words to describe my devotion and loyalty to them. We all went to separate colleges, and we all have our own lives now. Despite that, we still text in the group chat we made back in High School. We have our annual Halloween party where we all plan 6 months in advance to ensure everyone can make it. Everyone in the group is incredibly smart, hilariously funny, and probably the most capable young adults I know. Even if they think otherwise and I’ve been privileged to be able to grow up with them. We all met roughly around FreshmanSophomore year of High school when we were

about 13-15 when we all met. Those beautifully stupid souls have my heart.

This doesn’t mean we haven’t had our issues like any teenage friend group had. We had plenty of arguments, many of us drifted apart for a bit and some left the group entirely. Nevertheless, we figured it out somehow.

I think there’s something about growing up in one of the most dangerous parts of the city with these dummies. But we made it out. We all managed to go to college, or into the workforce. Some got certifications and others moved out into their own apartments. A few of the High School couples ended up living together, which was beautiful to witness. A couple of my friends plan to even have children within the next 5 years. Which is a scary change for not only me and our friendship, but I know they’d be amazing parents. Most of us have experienced our childhoods, and our teenage years til the very last drop. Now we’re over the age of twenty, or turning twenty this year. Now that I am older I’m proud to have grown up and survived the streets of Kensington with them by my side.

Regardless I feel so strongly about the friends I have, and deeply grieve the friends from High

School who didn’t make it with me to where I am now. It hurts even more when they’re not really gone. Just cause they don’t talk to me, doesn’t mean they don’t talk to the others in the group. While that’s valid, I wouldn’t ever expect my friends to base who they talk to based on who I talk to. Regardless, seeing them at the Halloween party hurts me more than anything. Especially since they were special to me. Two Halloween parties ago, we were all together, drinking, laughing, smiling. I remember being so happy, content, mostly drunk and there was nowhere else in the world I would rather be than by their side. The contrast of being children, having to ask our parents if we could hang out. Executing a party with all our friends from High School, and a house one of our friends owned, bringing alcohol that we could legally buy. It was a great time.

“It hurts even more when they’re not really gone.”

Then this year we avoided talking to each other, I couldn’t even look at them and they didn’t want to look at me too. My heart broke, and it’s still breaking. I didn’t want that, it’s never how I imagined it to be. I wanted to be friends with all of them forever, but we all grew in different directions. I wanted them in my life, but they seem to be occupied at the moment. They seem content, happy even. Happier than I’ve ever seen them. I just wish I could experience their joy firsthand. Instead of watching it drunkenly from across the room. I miss them more than I’ve ever missed anyone, and I carry their absence everywhere I go. It still hurts because I still think highly of them. I still think they’re incredibly smart, hilariously funny, and probably the most capable young adults I know. I just wish they could think highly of me as well. I miss when we were all friends.

This is a weird grey area to navigate. Especially cause it hurts, a lot. But whenever I try to talk to others about it, they say I can make new friends or better friends. To be honest with you, we didn’t

fall out for no reason. Things happened, trust was broken, and things weren’t the same. The end. So while people seem to associate breakups with romance, can’t I love someone in a platonic way? Cause I love them all so deeply, and I’m honored to be someone in their lives, someone they call a friend. Although, the love I felt for them, is nothing but a grey pile of memories and heartbreak. I find myself sifting through the lifeless wants and hopes, just because it’s all I have. Their spot in my heart didn’t leave, it greyed itself out. Now it’s just a hard and brittle stone where my love for them used to be.

Nothing in this world could keep me away from those who do want to be in my life. Those who stayed, those who enjoyed my presence at the party. Those who I’ve loved since High School, those I’ve cared for since High School. The friends who run at me full force when I come into the room. The friends who held onto a present they got for me for several months over quarantine, and gave it to me at the Halloween party. The friends who danced with me, even though we all looked like a bunch of sims on the dancefloor.

My favorite thing is when they jokingly yell “Ah Look it’s Efannn!” (Making the TH- into an F? Or PH- I’m not sure which they use but it’s cool) or “OMG ETHAN!!!!’. They’ve been saying variations of that since I was 14. It sounds nostalgic at this point. These are the idiots I want to grow old with. So, I put on a brave face when I come across ones I’m not close with. Nonetheless, I enjoy my time anyway because no matter what, love is still everywhere.

Featured Image by: Original public domain image from Wikimedia Commons. This article was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Morally Grey.

75 Things I’ve Done in College that I May or May Not Recommend

by Sydney

I’ve entered the final leg of my college career. I’m one month into the spring semester and it’s going too fast. It feels like just yesterday that I was graduating from high school in the midst of the pandemic. Yet, I know this can’t possibly be the case, as the very experiences that I list in this article have caused me to change and grow so much over the past four years. Which brings me to the point of this article. Here, I have cultivated a list of 75 things (in no particular order) that I’ve done and accomplished during my college career. Some things I’m proud of, others not so much. Some things I would recommend . . . others less so.

1. Go to college out of state and move away from home

2. Become best friends with your roommate

3. Do online schooling your freshman year

4. Join Loco Mag

5. Join Quiddity, Arcadia’s literary magazine

6. Learn how to crochet

6.1 Fill your apartment with crocheted dragons and other oddities

7. Take a plane trip on your own

8. Go rock climbing and be pretty bad at it

9. Tour Fonthill Castle and the Mercer Museum

10. Watch all the Indiana Jones movies for the first time

11. Rewatch The Office forty thousand times

12. Buy your first bottle of alcohol

12.1 Find out that Bahama Mama cocktails are the best

13. Go to Southern Germany for ten days

14. Take a summer semester abroad in London

14.1 Have a cough for the entire two months that you’re there

15. Be with your grandmother in the last months of her life

16. Cook and try out different recipes

17. Drink out of juice boxes

18. Go to Morris Arboretum

19. Go to Longwood Gardens

20. Take your roommates to Texas

21. Foster puppies on your school breaks

22. Go to Wegmans for the first time (scary)

23. Go to Trader Joe’s for the first time (even scarier)

24. Get your septum pierced and hide it from your parents

24.1 If said parents are reading this, this one’s a joke

25. Dress up as Inigo Montoya for Halloween

26. Watch Howl’s Moving Castle for the first time

27. Learn how to use a blow torch

28. Get your first tattoos

28.1 Get your first tattoo covered up

29. Take the SEPTA train for the first time

30. See the best movie ever in theaters (Cocaine Bear)

31. See the worst movie ever in theaters (Blue Beetle)

32. Have your roommate teach you how to ski

32.1 Get some really good bruises

33. Buy a bunch of fun socks

34. Pass your classes

35. Learn that you’ve been saying “ghoul” wrong

36. Make a quote wall

37. Teach your roommate about the wonderful ways of the air fryer

38. Get free meals at your mommom and poppop’s house

39. Learn that you love zucchini

40. Meet some really amazing people

41. Meet some really weird people

42. Cook a meal for your parents

43. Go to Chestertown, Maryland

44. Go on hikes

45. Take a ceramics class

46. Celebrate your 21st birthday with your twin brother

46.1 Cringe when you down a tequila shot

47. Get tattooed by said brother (who is a professional tattoo artist (no tequila was consumed at this time)

48. Try Georgian food

49. Try Japanese food

50. Try Greek food

50.1 Learn how to pronounce Gyro

51. Try a chimichanga

52. Try wine and hate it

53. Find a core group of friends

54. Learn to play pool

55. Point out every patch of moss that you pass

56. Play in snow for the first time in years

56.1 Build a snowman

57. Have your cousin take you to a bar for the first time

58. Go to Ott’s Exotic Plants

58.1 Acquire a bunch of plants that you don’t need

59. Go ice skating and decide you never need to do it again

60. Have high tea at Tilly Mint’s

61. Go to the Philadelphia Zoo

61.1 The reptile room (the thing you were most excited about) is closed

61.2 When you go to the London Zoo, their reptile house is also closed!

62. Get your first pair of suspenders

63. Go to a formal dance because you didn’t get to go to prom during high school

64. Take a weekend trip to Edinburgh, Scotland

64.1 This is where you fall in love with Bahama Mama’s

65. Write and illustrate a children’s book

66. Visit Briar Bush Nature Center

66.1 Pet a possum

67. Go to Reading Terminal Market

68. Take a day trip to New York

69. Get vanilla flavored lube from the condom fairy

69.1 Tape it to the quote wall

69.2 Be much too afraid to ever actually try it

70. Visit the Franklin Institute

71. Watch a color guard competition

72. Go to the Renaissance Fair

72.1 Have it rain all day

72.2 When you’re driving back, have the GPS take you an hour in the wrong direc tion

73. Ask to pet every dog you cross paths with 74. Learn just how amazing Wawa is

You might think I’ve lied to you here as this is in fact not a list of 75 things, but a measly 74. This is not because I couldn’t come up with another (how dare you insinuate such a preposterous thing), instead I would like to leave my last spot open. I’m leaving my number 75 open to the opportunities that I will have during my final semester. There are so many things I would like to add to this list that just haven’t happened yet. Graduation will be in May along with all the graduation parties and weekend trips. My completed creative writing manuscript will be due in April which I will then present in front of a large group of people. March is filled to the brim with many of my friends’ birthdays, a spring break trip to Texas, getting a mushroom tattoo with one of my good friends, and so much more. There’s still so much I want to do and I’m dreading the fact that I might not get to do all of it. The end of my college experience is fast approaching and I’m not sure what lies beyond it. For right now I just want to focus on number 75 because 75 isn’t missing, it’s there, it just hasn’t happened yet.

All Images by Sydney Howse. This Article was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Quarter Quell.

A/V Room

Directed by Klaudia

Contributed to by Aleishka, Jason, Joe & Sandro

For our first issue of the semester, Quarter Quell, Aleishka produced a For Loco episode explaining the The Hunger Games franchise using online summaries!

For our 76th Issue, Morally Grey, the A/V team currated a playlist with Loco’s favorite monochrome and ethically questionable songs!

Jason posted a video on our YouTube for Morally Grey discussing the morality of Vander from Arcane’s choice not to fight due to his troubled past!

Also for Morally Grey, Gabby recorded an episode for ForLoco with Dakota and Klaudia where they enthuse and debate about their favorite morally grey characters!

America is (Rapidly) Reaching the Reality of the Hunger Games

by Gabby

This year, America and the rest of the western world experienced a long overdue Hunger Games renaissance. Mostly due to the November release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and the subsequent rewatching of the original series spawned a collective revival in popularity of the iconic series. Although the novels will eventually join the ranks of other critics of American society such as George Orwell’s 1984 dystopian and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby similarly critiquing American society’s warped view of wealth and classes, the movies will continue to be viewed as entertainment for decades to come.

Even looking back at TikTok trends from the last few months (looking at you Josh Hutherson-whistle jumpscares) conveys the relationship we have with The Hunger Games media in the 2020s so far; a critique of America disguised as highly-entertaining books and films that we slowly analyze as a fictional world separate from our current society. Yet, I believe the reality of Panem is closer to us than we are able to fathom.

America is beginning to find itself further and further from the rest of the western world as we hurtle towards a purely capitalistic hellscape that is becoming increasingly difficult for the general public to merely live in. I believe that the current path we’re on has two possible endpoints, both of which are eerily-reminiscent of the world of

Panem Suzanne Collins created; a Capitol-esque capitalist hellscape or a district-style revolution.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, every day Americans have begun to see the fatal flaws in our current society. Between the physical isolation and subsequent social isolation of the pandemic, the number of lives lost despite quarantine efforts, the rising cost of living due to inflation, and the failure of the political system to place a competent leader or take any accountability, there’s only so much Americans can deny before we admit that we need a drastic, Katniss-style revolution.

Slowly, Americans are coming to terms with the depressing reality of the country and The Hunger Games resurgence is part of this reckoning. This is partially because it provides a palatable media that can be deconstructed and analyzed as a fictional piece, which is easier to digest than actual commentary on our day-to-day reality. Creators across social media platforms descended upon the trends, not only producing fun content but also in-depth analyses about every aspect of the source content from Katniss and Peeta’s slowburn to Snow’s sociopathic tendencies. But one thread of content began to emerge: America’s similarities to Panem.

Considering that the Hunger Games is a dystopian set in an ambiguous timeframe that falls sometime in the future of North America, it makes sense that there are recognizable aspects of the country in Panem. This is, of course, intentional by the author but it is still jarring for many casual consumers of the series that don’t normally engage with social commentary. So although some of the analogies in the series are not necessarily ground-breaking, they can be revelations for the general population.

One of the most obvious examples of Capitol values infiltrating American society is their overthe-top fashion. The bold colors, unconventional materials, dramatic silhouettes, and unnatural body modifications all contribute to the physical differences between Capitol and District citizens. Yet, more and more “innovative” fashion trends that occur in America today seem to be scarily similar to the trends we see in the Hunger Games era. This concept is most clearly seen by the general public in regards to the Met Gala because it is such a phenomenon in popular culture known for its extravagant fashion moments that are supposedly in the interest of a charity.

This concept gets even crazier when we consider how we view the same celebrities that parade around the Met carpet in a similar way the Capitol views the tributes. Partially due to the prevalence of social media and an increase of odd, codependent relationships with public figures, the dynamic the general public has with celebrities is shifting into something almost sinister. These public figures are still only humans, like us, placed on a pedestal due to their career, with real lives and real emotions. Yet, fans idolize these figures so much so that it is becoming impossible for some of them to even go to the grocery store while others are viewed as a “friend” who the internet can hold accountable for every small misstep (and some experience an unfortunate mixture of both). Then, you begin to think about how the tributes were only mourned as a character in the Games as opposed to a human being when they were well-liked by viewers, which sounds oddly similar to the reverential, back-and-forth relationship we have with celebrities and public figures today.

There is also a deeper theme of desensitization here that we cannot overlook. The central plot point of the Hunger Games is the annual violent killing of impoverished children by other poor children that is normalized and seen as an entertainment event akin to the Olympics. Although it is undeniably horrifying, I believe that the reality of an event like this is not that far off considering how many awful things we are already desensitized to as a culture, especially in younger generations. For example, a graphic photo of the current violence in Gaza is posted on a platform like

Instagram next to an ad for the newest trending water bottle and we are supposed to be content, if not pleased, by clicking through jarring atrocities while mindlessly consuming entertaining content. Does that sound a bit similar to you? It should, because those horrors and many more are not the only example of how desensitized we as a society are nowadays.

Growing consumerism and the system of capitalism is another concept of American culture that is not only hurtling us towards an economic-centric dystopia similar to Panem’s own state of disarray but is also another aspect of society that we are experiencing increasing desensitization to. We are currently attempting to survive in a late-stage capitalistic society that has not been seen in history before, yet we can still speculate where we are headed next and it could be much more similar to Panem than we think. First off, the cost of living for an average person is rapidly rising out of reach, which is beginning to cause a widespread rise in poverty levels, similar to what we see in the socioeconomic struggles within the districts of Panem. The upper class is rising to new levels of wealth while the middle class disappears as the lowest grow in numbers exponentially and struggle to stay alive, which is a less-extreme form of the class divide seen between the Capitol and the districts. There’s even a few obvious examples of this divide already, such as the TikTok homestead trends popping up more and more across younger generations searching for meaning and means in a supposedly-simpler life seen in both America’s past and the districts’ reality (need I mention cottagecore my friends?). As capitalism continues to increase in America along with the wage gap, warmongering, and especially global warming, we as a society are edging closer and closer to not only echoing the Hunger Games but becoming members of a real, maybe even worse warped version of the country of Panem.

Featured image from Murray Close/Lionsgate. Originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Quarter Quell.

Taylor Swift’s Impact Goes Far Beyond Viewership for the NFL

By Daniel

In a cozy living room in the middle of America, there is a family all sitting together enjoying the company of each other with laughs and utter happiness. On the television, their favorite Sunday pastime is being shown, NFL Football. The family is in a heavenly state, strapped with permanent smirks, that turn into loud laughter or quiet awes as the game progresses. However, the camera switches from the field to a daintylighted suite in the upper stadium, with Taylor Swift inside. The family’s mood switches instantly. Eyebrows pointed downward, fists clenching, heavy breathing. The husband is drawing all his strength to stop himself from launching the TV remote right at the TV. Instead, they consensually agree to “Get that off our TV!” Enraged, they all go to bed early and think about all the ways how Hillary Clinton or Joe Rogan have ruined their great country.

The facetious hyperbole aside, there’s no doubt that the relationship between Mega pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce has dominated storylines inside and outside of the sports world. There’s also no doubt

that it has heavily divided the general NFL fan base, and even has struck casual fans as well. However, this story isn’t about whether promoting Taylor Swift or showing her on camera is good for the NFL. Sure, it’s definitely upped the NFL’s revenue and awareness worldwide (evident in people wearing Travis Kelce jerseys at a Taylor Swift show in Japan). This article is about Taylor Swift’s presence with the Chiefs organization transcending the organization higher than anyone would’ve ever thought.

Before Kelce and Swift’s relationship, the Chiefs were still among the most popular or hated franchises in this last decade. Led by the best player in the league, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, intrigue in the team has always been and will always be high due to the playstyle and enjoyment of watching him play. To go along with that, in six years of Mahomes starting the Chiefs have been to six straight conference championship games and four Super Bowls. There’s no question the Chiefs are the newest NFL dynasty, but how they’ve done it has been ultra-unique. They are the first team to really start breaking the business

is business mold of the NFL, that’s been around since the beginning, and perpetuated by the dominant New England Patriots dynasty. Because of their style of play, many fans gravitated towards them and how electrifying they can be.

The electricity has diminished only slightly this year, with the Chiefs being a less offensive-driven team. Yet, they have become an immensely bigger spectacle because of Taylor Swift. Swift’s presence at the games has brought another incredibly unique layer to the games that the NFL has never seen before. When the Chiefs come to your city, you know they’re coming with celebrities and superstars. They’ve become more than just another football team, they are a show in themselves. They no longer have a football schedule but feel like they’re on a country-wide tour. It’s comparable to what the Los Angeles Lakers get with any and every superstar going to the arena to sit courtside. And just like the Lakers, their franchise is becoming bigger than the league they are in.

“Before Kelce and Swift’s relationship, the Chiefs were still among the most popular or hated franchises in this last decade.”

The Dallas Cowboys surely have their argument for being bigger than the NFL as well, but the ways they got there and how the Chiefs got there are different. The Cowboys got there purely based on their performance on the field as well as their massive fanbase. Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo also had a relationship with star actress, Jessica Simpson, who would also attend her boyfriend’s games. However, that didn’t affect people’s feelings or attitudes towards them. People hate the Cowboys because they are

the Cowboys and all the success they have had with a potentially annoyingly large fanbase. The Chiefs hatred and opposition from neutral fans have come in a way similar to the Lakers, where they hate just how much they have been (in the case of the Chiefs) ingrained in pop culture and celebrity status.

For years, the NFL has been about the game and only the game, whereas the NBA and the 90’s version of the MLB have seemed to have bigger stars and personalities who translated more as celebrities than athletes. After all, Football is more of a team game and while the NFL has always had superstars, it’s never quite translated into what’s been happening the last few years. This year especially, both Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes may just be breaking barriers that many of the greats never could. Who knows if this will last or not, and who knows if the Chiefs being in Missouri will hamper their stardom compared to the likes of the Lakers or the New York Yankees. However, this time will be remembered for years to come not only as a part of the Chiefs’ ongoing dynasty but as an eventful arc of the NFL and its history.

Featured Image by Jean-Daniel Francouer. This article was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Quarter Quell.

Oakland’s Sports Culture is Being Quelled

by Patrick Hood

If you were to wake up one morning and read that one of Philadelphia’s sports teams were leaving for another city, how would you react?

Oakland has been dealing with this exact situation for several years now. In 2019, the NFL’s Raiders played their final season at Oakland Coliseum (pictured above), and they relocated to Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium for the 2020 season. That same year, the NBA’s Warriors moved across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco’s Chase Center from Oakland Arena – then known as Oracle Arena – following their loss to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals.

Very soon, Major League Baseball’s Athletics (commonly known as the A’s) will be following suit. MLB and A’s owner John Fisher have announced plans for the team to leave the Coliseum at the end of this coming season and play in a new ballpark in Las Vegas in 2028, with unclear plans for 2025-2027.

Professional sports culture in Oakland is now in the final stages of being erased completely. Baseball has been the city’s last hope ever since the Raiders’ departure. Yes, there are still plenty of other teams in the Bay Area for fans to root for,

but Oakland has had their own identity – their own place within sports culture – separate from other cities in the Bay Area, such as San Francisco and San Jose. Now, though, that is dangerously close to being erased entirely, being quelled, if you will. Before that happens, though, let’s take a look back at what the A’s have meant to Oakland.

The A’s have had many enthralling moments in Oakland. They have won four World Series titles during their time in Northern California, including three consecutive championships from 19721974. That three-peat of the 1970s saw the A’s prevail in the maximum seven games in both ‘72 and ‘73, over the Reds and Mets, respectively. This era of Oakland baseball featured starting pitchers Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, and Catfish Hunter, as well as postseason hero (and Cheltenham High School alumnus) Reggie Jackson.

To capture their fourth World Series title, the A’s triumphed over their Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in four games in 1989. That last title was the second of three straight appearances in the World Series, sandwiched between defeats to the Dodgers and Reds in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Some notable players from these playoff runs included power hitters Jose Canseco

and Mark McGwire (collectively known as the “Bash Brothers”), base-stealing phenom Rickey Henderson, and relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley.

In the early-2000s, the A’s were frequent playoff contenders, finishing either first or second in the American League West division every year from 2000-2006. This was known as the “Moneyball” era, a time in which the A’s were consistently winning games despite maintaining a low payroll. Perhaps the Athletics’ best season during that stretch was the 2002 campaign, where they won 20 consecutive games from August to September, totaling 103 wins by season’s end. These years were headlined by a trio of starting pitchers – Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito – dubbed the “Big Three,” and American League MVP Award winners Jason Giambi and Miguel Tejada.

The Moneyball era ultimately changed baseball as a whole, as the A’s were not just consistently finding ways to win on a tight budget, but they were doing so while forcing other teams to reevaluate how they were playing the game.

Then-A’s general manager Billy Beane began to utilize sabermetrics – a more mathematical approach to sports statistics and roster construction – to get the best out of players who otherwise may not have been utilized as much.

Today, the use of advanced analytics such as sabermetrics has become commonplace within MLB and professional sports as a whole. While Beane and the Athletics did not invent the idea of using such statistics to win games, they certainly helped to popularize it.

Later on, the A’s had some more success between 2012 and 2020, appearing in the postseason six times under manager Bob Melvin. However, this all came to a halt around the 2021-22 off-season, when the team began to sell off some of its more prominent stars. Between 2021 and 2023, standout players like Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Mark Canha, Chris Bassitt, and Sean Murphy all left the A’s either through trades or free agency. These roster moves led to one of the most hopeless two-year stretches in franchise history, as the Athletics finished a combined 110-214 from

2022-2023.

With that came continually decreasing attendance figures, quelling over a half-century of memories made by fans and players alike while celebrating the highs and lows of the Green and Gold and Oakland’s place within professional sports culture as a whole.

Gone are the days when Oakland had a strong presence within sports culture. The height of the Moneyball era and the thrills of October baseball in the city are now nothing but a distant memory. The Athletics may still exist as a professional sports team, but their success as a low-spending contender has been left behind.

What happens next for the A’s? Where will they play once their lease agreement with Oakland Coliseum ends after this coming season? Who will Oakland fans root for once the A’s leave town?

Imagine if a team like the Phillies did this – if their owner, John Middleton, decided to move the team elsewhere for whatever reason. How would that affect Philadelphia as a whole? How would they move past the loss of their beloved baseball team, a team that has played in the city since 1883?

Featured Image by Matt Dodd. This article was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Qaurter Quell.

Running Out of Time

BY SANDRO

I am currently coming to the end of my freshman year of college. It might not sound scary to you, but to me it opened my eyes to the fact that I am going to be an adult soon. The future is unknown and that’s the scariest part of all. The unknown can be scary because you can try and make a plan to follow but anything can interrupt your plan. There will be bumps in the road that will throw you off course, but you must always remember to get up and don’t stop. Keep going because the future is unknown, but if you have a goal then go for it. Work for it and never stop moving forward. Take control of your future because you will be scared and stressed throughout the journey but it will be worth it.

The majority of the young adults have no idea what to do and they begin to panic. This can cause them to stress out and possibly get depressed. Mental health issues are seen all throughout young adults who are scared of the future. Even adults, who have already made it past college, are struggling with depression. Unfortunately, it is something that might appear during the path of becoming an adult, but you

should always move forward with your goal. You will become great as long as you push through til the end, and you finally accomplish the goal you set for yourself.

So, with adulthood slowly creeping up on my life and others around the world, I realized adulthood is inevitable, so make the best of the time you have now and prepare yourself the best you can for what is to come. Be scared, get nervous, go cry sometimes. It’s ok, because it is all okay. You aren’t alone whether you feel like it or not; there are people growing up with you. Get ready to embark on the hardest parts of your life, but enjoy it too. It will be worth it in the long run.

Featured Image by Julio Menéndez. This article was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Quarter Quell.

[

The Final Quarter, a Photo Essay ]

by Joe

These photographs are taken in the last quarter of a game or match, either by time or structure. They represent a range of emotions and outcomes that happen in sports, and how student-athletes process those emotions. The fourth quarter of any sporting event is always the most intense because it is the end, it is suspenseful. This is where games are won and lost, where mistakes are costly and mercy is not shown. The final nail in the coffin is beaten in here, and upsets come from nowhere to surprise you. Hearts are broken and memories are made here. - Joe

This photo essay was originally published online in the Spring 2024 issue titled Quarter Quell.

A Bond University rugby player relaxes on the sidelines at the end of the match.

Donnie Feldman (#8) watches on from the bench in the final minutes of a 5-1 loss to Stevenson.

Mike Kocsis (#76) sits alone on the bench after a 5-1 loss to Chatham.

Hockey players pushing and shoving at the end of regulation.

A Bond University Water Polo player anticipates blocking a shot in the final minutes.

Arcadia University

Men’s Soccer Player

Tyler Jankowski (#29) falls to the ground in disbelief after a very tough 2-2 tie to FDU-Florham.

Declan Kelly (#8) prepares to take a free kick in the final minutes of the game versus Delaware Valley.

Nas Johnson (#1) going for a layup in the final minutes of the Battle of 309, an annual contest versus the nearby Gwynedd Mercy University.

Delaney Bell (#13) shooting a corner-three in the final minutes to help clinch a 76-59 victory over Penn State Abington.

Hockey players tussling against the glass, as players from Franklin Marshall express their anger in a 7-1 loss to the Arcadia Knights.

Rain falls down over Jean Lenox West Field during the end of the Arcadia University Women’s Soccer

versus FDU-Florham.

game

Giancarlo Ciotoli (#10) lies on the ground after a heartbreaking 3-0 loss to Misericordia to end the season.

Alexis Rabold (#24) expressing her emotions after losing the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom Semifinals 0-2 to Stevens.

Donnie Feldman (#8) celebrates his second of three goals on the night against Alvernia. His third goal would go on to win the game for the Knights, 5-4.

A confused Arcadia University Men’s Soccer player Johan Savage (#24) receives a yellow card right before the match ends.

Spring 2024: Semester in review

Our social media team made some more stellar posts for our issue announcements, Cringe Reading Night and our semesterly pizza event...

Loco hosted our first ever Cringe Reading Night on March 4th, where anyone could come and read their cringiest past writing for a chance to win one of our specially crafted crochet animal prizes! Michael started us off by bravely reading the first email he sent in college (an absolute gem).

In Memorium: The Liotta Wordpress Theme

After a “critical failure” of our website on the first day of class this semester, we figured out that the time had come to update our website theme to make sure everything kept running smoothly. This means that Locomag.com will be getting a makeover in the near future, but in the meantime we will leave this image here as a mememto of what once was, but tragically cannot be. Rest in Peace Liotta, 2020-2024.

T-Shirts!

Loco Mag unveiled brand new swag in the form of T-shirts! The design, created by staff members Jason Kramer and Sydney Howse, features our recent mascot Leno (pronounced LEE-no) the Loco Mag dino, andour unofficial motto “bullying works”. We hoped that these would help our staff not only be stylish, but also raise money (if you’re reading this, you should buy a t-shirt).