The Antlerette
Volume 99
March 2025
What Is Happening To The Economy
Colin Metcalf, Staff
It’s not a far cry to say that the United States’ economy is in a rocky state right now. And the overarching plan the Trump administration has prepared seems full of contradictions and complexities, leading to many concerns about its effectiveness and coherence. The administration’s usage of tariffs supposedly aims to protect domestic industries, particularly steel and aluminum production. However, these tariffs, along with various other aggressive actions taken against major allies and trade partners, such as threatening to make Canada and Greenland a part of the United States, have led to retaliatory tariffs and sanctions, potentially creating a broader global trade conflict. These disputes can disrupt global supply chains, increasing costs for American businesses and by extension American citizens, and ultimately hold back economic growth. The significantly degraded relationship between the US and
many of its global partners becomes a large problem for another one of the current administration’s plans. Recent proposals to devalue the US dollar aims to reduce trade deficits by making American exports more competitive, but these actions could threaten the US dollar’s role as the dominant international currency, as well as increase inflation. Making US exports more competitive also conflicts with the global ill-will the Trump administration has fostered in the past few months, as we push away the partners most willing to trade with us. Competitive exports will be pointless if nobody wants to take them.
Finally, the administration’s strict policies on immigration, including mass deportations of illegal immigrants and restrictions on legal immigration, are claimed to prioritize American workers. But these measures have led to labor shortages in sectors that heavily rely on immigrant workers, such as agricultural and construction, which will more than likely cause production to stagnate and costs to increase quite a bit, contradicting the proclaimed goals of these policies.
Essentially, the domestic and economic policies of the Trump administration are filled with internal conflicts and inconsistencies that ultimately undermine their supposed goals. Policies stated to strengthen the American economy often seem to counteract that goal or each other: tariffs that hurt domestic relationships, mass deportations that create
labor shortages, and currency devaluation that could lead to inflation while further alienating our trade partners. These plans seem less like a unified vision of a growing American economy and more like impulsive actions all pulling in different directions, threatening to unravel the US economy altogether. Without a coherent, long-term strategy with economic reality to back it up, the US risks falling deep into economic uncertainty and isolation.
Tariffs for Dummies
Azriel Ezra Hu, Copy Editor
President Trump’s return to office for his second term has brought back a prominent topic: tariffs. Many people voted in favor of President Trump because of his promises about tariffs without knowing what, exactly, a tariff is.
Essentially, a tariff is a tax on imported goods. The purpose of a tariff is to promote American products since products made by other countries become more expensive, thereby promoting American manufacturing. This sounds like a benefit. American citizens buying American goods boosts the United States’ GDP (gross domestic product) - and the higher GDP we have, the less debt we have as a country, and the less the American taxpayer has to pay in taxes (since taxes are also a way to reduce debt).
However, what most people don’t know is that the consumer has to pay the tariff tax on imported goods.
President Trump has so far imposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. These countries are the US’ three largest trading partners. Because it is cheaper to outsource manufacturing
(for example, President Trump’s Bibles were printed in China because it was cheaper than printing them in the US), the US will still import products from these countries. However, the tariff tax will be passed onto the consumer, increasing the prices of goods from these products. Since the US citizens and industries consume many, many products from Mexico, Canada, and China, it is more likely that they will continue to buy foreign goods instead of domestically-produced goods since foreign goods may still be less expensive (even taking into account the tariff tax) and imported in greater quantities than are being produced domestically.
In industries that use parts from these countries (for example, Canada supplies the US with steel and supplies many northern states with energy), supply prices will rocket, meaning that their workers will see decreased wages. In this most recent 2024 presidential election, people with a lower socioeconomic status and/or a lower education level tended to vote for President Trump. Yet his tariff policies will likely end up harming those who voted for him instead of helping them. In general, tariffs aren’t inherently good or bad. When used in moderation and against countries who the US isn’t on good terms with, they will be successful at promoting American manufacturing. But when blanket tariffs are put on countries we are friendly with - well, it is certain that we will soon see these effects.
The Recent Spread of Nazism in America
Tyson Wise, Staff
With the most recent election and who has won said election, a lot of people have felt more comfortable with Nazi-related things in the country and politics. A major case of this would be Elon Musk's salute at a recent rally.
Many people dismissed his Nazi salute as a “Roman salute” or saying he's an awkward guy and doesn't know how to express himself. This behavior should be seen as unacceptable and disgusting given what Nazism is all about, but people will somehow defend it.
Nazism has no place in the world nor anywhere near politics. This belief is the most disgusting thing you could ever believe in and people who do believe in it should feel ashamed and disappointed with themselves. Nazism is purely rooted in hatred and bigotry and has been used in awful ways in the past and unfortunately history is repeating itself with they way things are headed
Sugar Addiction
Bailynn Heu, Staff
Have you had the thought of wanting more, from eating one piece of candy? When you look at your favorite sweet treat, you want it all to yourself? Your dopamine rises when you see something that you want because it makes you feel good. That's what’s happening when you ' re eating sugar.
Sugar affects the brain. The brain views sugar as a reward, which makes you keep wanting more of it. When you purposely eat more and more sugar, you reinforce the reward and then it becomes an addiction. As addictions are difficult to break, it's definitely difficult to break the consumption of sugar. And as the consumption of sugar constantly increases, it can lead to minor and major health breakouts.
Sugar affects the body. According to “How to Cut Down
Sugar” written by Regina Boyle Wheeler, it states “the sugar in it – called a simple carbohydrate – is quickly turned into glucose in your bloodstream. Your blood sugar levels spike.
Simple carbs are also found in fruits, veggies, and dairy products. But these have fiber and protein that slow the process. Syrup, soda, candy, and table sugar don’t.” Clearly, a
lot of sugar doesn’t really do much good to the body; it's just an extra calorie that triggers your gut. Over consumption of sugar also can cause weight gain and then diabetes since heavy bodies have a hard time using insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar. When your body resists insulin, blood sugar and the risk of diabetes increase.
Stop the sugar addiction. To stop the sugar addiction, you’d have to slowly decrease the amounts of sugar you eat. If you try to stop eating sugar fully, it causes the brain to want it even more than you would. So it’s best if you start slowly to get your body used to it. Eating in moderation is the best way to slow the overeating of sugar.
Language Influence
Maya Buqeileh, Design Editor
The ability to understand Spanish is a valuable skill and easiest to learn in the critical period of infancy. A child, who was just introduced into the world, can learn at the fastest rate, like the saying “ you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” In humans, early childhood is where we learn to walk, speak, and understand. This understanding is not limited to one language.
The Spanish language is one of the 5 major romance languages, and it is the second most common language spoken in California. Over 93% of California high schools offer Spanish classes. How can a parent give their child an advantage in these classes? The simple answer is exposure in a child’s critical period. Even in small quantities like TV shows and movies, teaching children at a young age will help them get a grasp on the language in their future.
In the long run, people who are bilingual will have an advantage in life. Most jobs find biliteracy to be a great contribution for their company in order to get more sales and allow their customers to get the help they need without the
unfamiliarity of being forced to use technology. Having the skill of speaking Spanish will allow you to communicate with more people through phone calls and transactions. Knowing a second language, that has about 559 million speakers as of 2024, can definitely increase your chances of stronger communication in the world. Also, the Spanish-speaking world is one containing many outstanding cultures and wide varieties. Each Spanish speaking country has its own traditions and food that can be thoroughly enjoyed when visiting. Spanish is the official language of more than 20 countries, including Mexico, Argentina, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Spain. The experience of visiting these countries, while not entirely unfamiliar with the language, is vastly different from knowing nothing at all. You can use your knowledge to get help if needed and communicate with the locals easier. Previous knowledge of another language will always be an asset. Being welcomed into the Spanish-speaking community may seem difficult for those who have never heard the language before. The simple solution any parent can provide for their children is only taking a few minutes a day to allow them to be exposed to Spanish in small quantities. One small step can create a world of oportunidades.
Corrupt Music Industry
Derrick Wright, Staff
The music industry has people who can seemingly do anything from discrimination to even murder. By far the most popular case like this from people in the industry is Ye formally known as Kanye West, from saying discriminatory remarks about religious groups to saying he supports Nazis. Ye has not faced the consequences of these actions likely due to the fact of his massive following.
Another popular rapper who has committed several crimes is P. Diddy. For a long time P. Diddy was able to get away with sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice. This is not all he has done, but he was able to get away with these crimes for around 15 years. He was able to ge ng cops and other he music industry i
Adrien Brody’s Speech
Belen Gutierrez, Staff
The Oscars are a time to celebrate the art and the artists that make up cinema. Arguably, it’s Hollywood’s biggest night where actors are honored for their performances in this year ’ s films. The way the Academy chooses is they have the AMPAS vote. The AMPAS are thousands of professionals from various branches of the film industry. This year the best actor winner sparked much controversy.
The nominees were Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice, Timothee Chalamet in A Complete Unknown, Adrien Brody in The Brutalist, Ralph Finnes in Conclave, and Coleman Domingo in Sing Sing. Most people assumed right away the award would go to Brody as he is considered a brilliant actor and he is the poster boy of someone the academy would choose as a winner. The Oscar went to him and as he was going up to deliver his speech, he stopped to turn to his girlfriend, took the gum he was chewing out of his mouth, and threw it to her before going onto the stage.
That was red flag number one as throwing a piece of gum to a significant other, even if it's because you have to deliver a speech, is strange and disgusting, especially at a place as high
maintenance as the Oscars. Finally, he was on stage almost too shocked to speak, like he wasn’t expecting to win. There is a time limit set on speeches, typically speeches lasting one to two minutes, and once that limit is passed, music will start to play to signify that it's time to wrap it up and get off the stage because they don’t have time for all the things you want to say. Brody disregarded that policy completely and his speech was five minutes and 37 seconds long.
Adrien Brody started his speech in a typical manner. He started to thank various people who got him here like God, the crew, the cast, the director, and his family. He then started to talk about what he’s learned from being an actor and he claimed that having perspective is most important because fame is glamorous but it can all go away in a second. Ironically, he then saidh he’s aware of that fact and is still able to do the work he loves. By this point it had been a minute and a half and he was speaking slow and taking long pauses throughout this whole thing. Then he said he was going to be as brief as possible but he’d already been speaking for so long and so slowly. Three minutes went by and finally the piano player started the music to indicate to get off the stage. He told the piano player to stop the music and said, “I’ve done this before. Thank you. ” Then he started talking about racism like he knows anything about that. Of course he knows it
exists, but he’s a white man talking about it like it's his problem and he’s experienced it. It was in poor taste, despite probably thinking he was doing good.
He spoke so much, yet said nothing; his whole speech was a bunch of words that held little to no meaning of anything. Adrien Brody has won an Oscar before. He won in 2009 for best actor for his role in The Pianist. He’s won an Oscar, but winning this year he acted like he’d never won and it was the pinnacle of his career. Winning a second time just doesn’t seem like it holds as much weight as the first time. Of course it was a huge honor but he already had that honor and if he would’ve given a decent speech, no one would’ve batted an eye to his reaction.
However he gave a long, meaningless speech and acted pretentious by telling the piano player that “he’s done this before.” Yes he has, so why doesn’t he get off the stage when the music starts? Winning once before also means you know the drill, his winning isn’t even a momentous occasion for the academy he’d won before.
His speech was too artificial and it felt like he was trying to act smarter than the rest of everyone there by speaking on topics of racism. Many also argue that he didn’t deserve the
Oscar because they used AI to make him have a British accent because he couldn’t get it down. Whereas actors like Sebastian Stan and Timothee Chalemet spent months studying the voices and movements of the men they were portraying and got both Donald Trump and Bob Dylan down very accurately. So not even giving his best in a performance and then having the audacity to act and speak like he’s better and smarter than everyone else just shows how some people don’t deserve to be given a high award and their speech reflects it.
Story Time With Ethen 4
Ethen Rico Villa, Staff
Good evening, good afternoon and good night. My name is Ethen Rico Villa and this is going to be just another short story for you “the reader” to just read and enjoy through. So has anyone grown up with old stuff that your family has kind of passed down or has given to you as a gift. I have and a lot of the things that they have given me in the past were great. But there was one thing that I grew up with that I didn't know what it was but now I do and it’s amazing.
Back then when I lived in San Jose, California, I lived and hung around my tios and my grandmother a lot and the one thing that they both either shared or had was a little device called a Gameboy. The Gameboy was a little handheld console that you were able to play games on and back then I was amazed by it. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. But now they are rare,but there are emulators and one that I have now that I have been using for the past three weeks has been the RG35xx sp. It is supposed to act and look like the Gameboy Advance SP. I have been using it non-stop and it has been fun doing so. I have been trying to complete all the games I missed out on and so much more. And I have been able to put it in
my pocket and have no problem with space.
The one game that I have been on the most is Pokédex and as well as shiny-hunt. If you don’t know what that is then you don’t have to worry about it, all you have to know is that it is hard to do sometimes. So, is this just me yapping about the RG35xx Sp? Yes. Is this me trying to tell you to get one? If you like or would want to try looking for retro handhelds then I would say this is the one. But besides this whole thing, it's basically just an advertisement. I hope you have a good day, good evening, good afternoon and good night.
Lost at Sea
Caiden Brown, Staff
There once was a guy named Liam. He was at sea one day for his fishing job. Turns out they went too far into the sea and they ended up sailing into a storm that they didn’t see. The sea then capside the vessel, and when Liam woke from being unconscious, he could feel his lungs filled with water as he spat the water out. He looked around and noticed that the sky was clear and that he was on a random island that seemed large. Liam decided he should check the shoreline where most of the wreckage would be. As he explored, he noticed a half-broken crate that they used on the boat to store fish they caught. As he got closer he noticed about two dozen fish still in the crate, dead and easily able to be made into dinner. Liam kept note of this and grabbed a palm leaf to then cover the crate to protect the food. As he kept looking, he saw bits of metal around the beach and he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, half buried in the sand—a survival kit. This survival kit had a pocket knife, rope, bandaids, a water bottle, a flashlight, a fire starter kit, and possibly the most important item, a flare gun.
Liam then carried this package toward the food and found a place to set up camp for the night. He finished setting up camp about an hour before the sun went down. He then figured he should set up a fire and he grabbed his fire starter kit. As he was setting up his fire, he heard seagulls squawking at the beach, the waves crashing on the beach, and the trees brushing against each other. When he woke-up from a not so pleasant sleep, he then searched for rocks to create an S.O.S on the beach. As he was gathering rocks, he heard a faint helicopter noise. He then sprinted to his current hut that he fixed up with some leaves and branches from surrounding trees. The helicopter started flying over the Island as Liam got to his flare gun. He exited his hut to look into the sky. He saw the front of the chopper and decided to shoot the flare up into the sky. The helicopter flew past the island. Then Liam saw the helicopter take a turn and start to lower itself towards the beach. As the helicopter landed, it made sand and leaves fly.
Liam started to sprint towards the helicopter with tears in his eyes because throughout this experience he wasn’t sure if he would make it off the island. Then as he reached the helicopter, he looked at the control panel and he heard a loud beeping sound. The sound kept going off as the helicopter started to take off. He then looked back at the island to see it
fading around him. He then woke up at 5:30am to his alarm and realized this was all a bad dream and he had to go to work on his fishing vessel. The day ahead of him was a mystery that only the sea knew.
Beyond the Morning Sun
Michael Coronado, Staff
Graduation was tomorrow. Alex couldn’t believe his high school days were about to be officially over, but most importantly he was not ready to say goodbye to all of his friends. They all made a pact a few weeks prior to never lose touch with one another and to never let life make them drift apart. Although, that doesn’t automatically mean they’ll always stay in touch since everyone always seems to forget their friends from high school. It’s not like it’s on purpose either, we just get too consumed with our own lives that we sometimes don't have time for others. Everything was moving so fast that Alex feared leaving the familiarity of his friends and school. Alex entered his kitchen with a surprise birthday cake. He’d forgotten today was his birthday, it hadn’t really been on his mind anyway. When his mother’s singing ended and it was time to make a wish, Alex made sure not to waste it. For the first time since he was a kid he’d made a wish and hoped it came true. Alex wished tomorrow would never come. He went on with his day, meeting a few of his best friends before class, and since they were seniors, his teachers were pretty laid back
on giving them any kind of work. Walking through the halls, attending each period knowing it’d be his last time felt too much for him. Like he could see the last remnants of his childhood life reaching its end to begin an adult one. He’d made sure to say goodbye to some of his favorite teachers. Mr. Martinez had been with Alex and his friends for all four years of high school. Saying goodbye to each other was hard on both of them he’d thought. Their last period ended Alex and his friends took one last final walk around their school. After they’d planned to go to their favorite boba shop for a nice drink and food. It was the first
My Friend (Short Story)
Jorden Dykes, Staff
I had always been curious. Since I was a child, I always felt that there were too many unanswered questions, unknown places, and with no explanation as to why I hear a voice and no one else does. I’ve been to physicians, doctors, and therapists, but none of that seems to help or give me an answer. My mother thought I might be schizophrenic, but I disagree. “Nothing about her suggests that she isn’t sane, ” they had said. But I, too, think they are wrong.
The voice visits me often, he sounds dark and menacing. He doesn't let me dream, though we talk to each other often, he too never answers my questions. Why are you in my head and no one else’s? Where did you come from? Why? Why? WHY? The responses were usually all the same. He would laugh with no feeling and hide in the dark corner of my mind. I have many purposes for you, something is coming and you might need me, he said and kept quiet after that. I rolled my eyes. Always has to be so mysterious.
I have seen flashes of his appearance. Dark, with unnaturally long fingers, hair slicked back as though it had been dipped in oil, and bright orange cat like eyes. He used to scare me, but I’ve found comfort in his company and his humming that never seems to end. I often find myself whistling along with his unique and eerie tune. He has looked out for me, I suppose, always wary and alert.
Is Your Guard Ready?
Lana Holbrook, Staff
I joined color guard my junior year, which, compared to others, was pretty late. I felt very behind and put so much pressure on myself to be better, to toss higher, to push more, to point my feet to the point of cramping. All of this effort, and most people don’t even know what color guard is. Most people don’t know the hundreds of hours, the tears, the sweat, the sunburns, and the laughs, of which there are many, that go into the experience. Guard taught me so many things, number one being to work harder than I ever had in my life the dedication I have to a sport often not even listed when searching for scholarships has woven new memories in my mind that can never be forgotten, or replaced.
I have so much genuine love for all the people I have met through this experience, from the seniors who graduated last year, whose steps I will soon be filling, to the people I see every day during class, practice, or a competition, I wish the best for them and I hope their high school color guard experience is as memorable as mine has been. To the almost twenty people I share a floor with, thank you. Thank you to all the freshmen who have made me laugh so hard I think I’m
going to pass out, to Francine for being my server during Senior Tent, to all the seniors whom I will be walking the graduation stage with, and to Mariam for being the best coach I could’ve had. I can never forget any of you, and don’t worry… I’ll be back. Despite the thoughts of quitting, panic attacks, twenty-four hour days at competitions, and many more negatives, the positives will always outweigh the negatives. The connections I formed among this group of people make me so sad that I’ll have to leave them behind in a few short months. Whether it’s on the field, or in a gym, hearing the swoosh of flags, the quiet counts of five, six, seven, eight, or the soft landings of jumps and leaps, performing is a feeling you can never replicate.
Hearing the snare crack as you step out on the field, worried if you’ll drop a toss or hit a band member, or anything else will go wrong. But the feeling of everything going right, the feeling of even though you did drop, it won’t matter in the long run because I still have my big group of friends surrounding me, at least before I graduate.