The Forge Vol. 107 No. 1

Stay-at-Home Order Lifted p. 2 | Vaccinations Underway in SB p. 3 | Magazine p. 6-7 | Modern Day Witchcraft p. 8

Vol. 107 No. 1

SANTA BARBARA HIGH SCHOOL - FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2021 JACKSON TEACHES HISTORY OF AFRICANS IN AMERICA New ethnic studies course at SBHS | p. 2

Est. 1914

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: ELENA EVEREST

84 JUNIORS TAKE THE PSAT ON CAMPUS

The sophomore track star looks to the future | p. 12

The pandemic testing raises questions abou the SAT | p. 3

WHEN WILL SCHOOL REOPEN?

IN-PERSON LEARNING

No Spread on SBHS Campus Cohort virus safety measures prove effective | p. 5

THE FORGE MAGAZINE

On Turning Eighteen VADA students reflect on coming of age | p. 6

SBHSFORGE.COM

Artist of the Month:

Golf, Tennis, and

Steven Fields

More Kick Off!

Meet the rising fashion designer in the MAD Academy | p. 7

Following safety protocols, new sports start practicing on campus | p. 12

Emerson Steady

2 | NEWS

THE FORGE STAFF

MARCH 5, 2021

Jackson Teaches History of Africans in America

Spring 2021

700 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, CA 93103 sbhsforge.com admin@sbhsforge.com

EDITORS EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Karissa Fields Emerson Steady

LAYOUT EDITOR Emerson Steady

LIFESTYLE EDITOR Viviana Trujillo

SPORTS EDITOR Andre Battle

STAFF REPORTERS Alexa Cobian Simon Sabrina Cruz Yuliana De La Luz Catherine Harlow Mia Huerta Zoe Husted Emma King Harper Locatelli Marko Mendoza Gabriela Miranda Barreto Valeria Polanco Charley Raymond Jesus Reynoso Sebastian Salcido Mia Talaugon Miguel Unzueta Isabella Vasquez Deva Villa-Salcedo

ADVISOR

Joanne Cloutier

UC Berkeley Department of Ethnic Studies

BY KARISSA FIELDS This term, Santa Barbara High School introduced a new class in coordination with the new state-wide required ethnic studies curriculum.

Santa Barbara used to have a course called “Black Studies” that has been redesigned into “The History of Africans in America” course being taught

by Mr.Jackson. This course fulfills the ethnic studies requirement and electives requirement towards high school graduation. This class is a year-long course but it was designed so the student can take just one semester. You can earn 10 credits for the full-year or just 5 for the semester. The first semester covers the history of Africans in America through the slave trade in the 1600s to world war 2; the second semester covers world war 2 to the modern civil rights era and the present. Currently, 14 students are enrolled, “it’s a small class because I didn’t have a normal chance to do recruiting,” says Assis-

tant Principal Mr.Dupont.

Mr. Jackson played a key part of writing the curriculum and he also teaches the ethnic studies semester-long course. Mr. Jackson is a part of the “Ethnic Studies Cadre”, which is a district-wide group of teachers.

This Cadre is supported by Artnelson Concordia, the district instruction support specialist, who says the implementation of this course is part of the “larger context for initiation of this class is our district’s commitment to developing a broad rigorous and dynamic ethnic studies program, that course is fundamental”. This group of educators worked together for months picking apart the old class using what they could and adding in what was necessary for the state’s ethnic studies requirement. They wrote out the units and their main ideas and key points. Mr. Dupont copied and pasted this course plan into a portal that the district uses to submit new courses. This course was then put on the board agenda in Decem-

ber and was unanimously approved at the December 15th meeting. Overall getting this course into the curriculum was about a year-long process.

Not only this course but also the ethnic studies curriculum are in response to community demands and needs. Though this class was in the works prior to the Black Lives Matter movement of this past summer, it was definitely a catalyst for continuing the initiation of ethnic studies and black stories into the larger curriculum within the district. Artnelson Concordia said, “my understanding is that the course is a result of community demands… curriculum should tell the stories that have been marginalized and even disappeared, so the History of Africans in America and the Black Studies program is part of this larger, and very welcomed, response by our district to make education a much more well-rounded experience reflective of our students, community, and larger country”.

Mr. Dupont said, “if we can add in a

course that like is completely relevant to modern-day topics, things that Society is talking about right now, heck yes we want to be able to add… so you know how this applies your everyday life, what’s going on in society made people more motivated to get it done right now”.

This class will be available to all three high schools DPHS, SMHS, and SBHS, as well as the continuation and alternative schools, however, the challenge, as Mr. Concordia tells me is that “we want to expand but we also want to make sure that the teachers leading the class are grounded in ethnic studies and are part of our teacher community where we are supporting curriculum development”. Not all schools have a Mr. Jackson that is well versed in social dialogue and the ethnic studies curriculum, but it is also a challenge to find a teacher willing to go the extra mile to take extra courses and educate themselves in order to properly educate their students.

A Letter from the Editors

Lockdowns Wear on Businesses

Dear SBHS community,

BY SABRINA CRUZ

Throughout the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the Forge has been working tirelessly to continue to serve you in the best way possible. With the launch of our site, SBHSForge.com, last Spring, and the launch of the Forge Magazine to showcase the works of students who otherwise may not have outlets to share their talents, we have had a very exciting year. And now for the first time in our over onehundred-year history, the Forge is thrilled to be delivered right to your door. We are providing this service to every Santa Barbara HIgh School family completely free of charge in partnership with the Parent Teacher Student Association. Now, all of the best stories, from our featured artist and athlete of the month to info on coronavirus restrictions to discussion of pop culture icons, can be read from the comfort and safety of your home. We hope that through this program we will be able to reach students, parents, and teachers alike and that you will engage with the paper in new ways. If you have any questions, news tips, or just want to get in touch with us, you can email

us at admin@sbhsforge.com

We are quickly approaching a year of social distancing and virtual learning, and for all of the difficulties we have collectively faced, we have also been given the chance to find unique solutions. We were founded in 1914 to inform and connect the community of Santa Barbara High School, and that mission has only become stronger over the years. We are very pleased to be able to share with you in our special report on school reopenings, that there is hope on the horizon. Our community is being vaccinated, case numbers are going down, and we look closer than ever to being able to see each other in person again. Until then, here is your monthly copy of the Forge to do with as you please, and a reminder that our community has been through a lot and will continue to persevere as long as we hold out hope for a brighter future.

Sincerely, Karissa Fields Emerson Steady Editors-in-Chief

Over the past couple of weeks Santa Barbara, along with the rest of Southern California, has been under a stayat-home order implemented by Governor Newson on (Dec 3 ,2020) after the rise in COVID cases, ICU beds close to capacity, and more and more people turning up infected following the holiday season. Now that cases have been slowing down fewer people are getting infected, lockdown has been lifted (January 24, 2021), what about the people’s lives that are most affected by the unstable conditions this pandemic has brought not only to our city but our country? The people that don’t have the luxury of a stay-athome job risk their health every time they go to work to make our lives easier. What do they think? How do they feel about the lives being uprooted every few weeks because of COVID -19? So I asked someone I know who works for a small business restaurant here in Santa Barbara and wanted to see what they thought while working during a pandemic and coming back to work after lockdown.

How has lockdown affected your workplace?

It shut down my restaurant (The

Palace Grill) and I haven’t seen some of my coworkers in over a year and business slowed and we open and close depending on the surge in COVID cases and only working with half of our staff and half of our menu.

How do you feel about coming back to work? Are you worried that the cases will skyrocket again when you open?

Yeah… I’m really careful when interacting with customers. I wear double masks at work and sanitize regularly and I have to do a lot more work to ensure we are filling all safety protocols and basically had to restructure the way we serve.

Has business been the same since lockdown?

No… we’re running at like 20% capacity and the income is very low As a small business what has been your hardest challenge during a lockdown?

Well not being able to interact the same with friends and families and seeing so many other neighboring small businesses close because of the pandemic.

Does your workplace have a plan in place to ensure the safety of your customers?

Yeah, we take temperatures upon arrival for both customers and staff

members and if someone calls in sick they must return to work with a negative COVID test.

Was this a job you relied on or do you have another job?

I have another job and I can work from home if and when we have to close again.

Do the people you work with rely on this job (The Palace Grill)?

Yes … the only job they have is at the restaurant and if they lose this job they live off of unemployment.

Do you think after this is all over that it will ever be the same again?

No … until we know more about this virus and until we know this is a seasonal thing I don’t think we will be able to interact the same with anyone without a mask on.

While opening and closing the state is essential for taming the wrath of COVID-19, it is important not to forget the lives being severely affected on an economical level. We also need to try not to forget that so many small businesses are being gravely affected by this global crisis. While lockdown measures are still necessary, students can support small businesses by ordering takeout or delivery or safely dining outside with members of their own bubble.

NEWS | 3

MARCH 5, 2021

84 Juniors Take the PSAT on Campus

GreatSchools.org

BY EMERSON STEADY On the uncharacteristically cold morning of Tuesday, January 26, 84 juniors arrived on campus at Santa Barbara High School, wearing masks and staying six feet apart, to take the Preliminary SAT. The logistical feat of proctoring a standardized test during a pandemic took place on a date added by the Collegeboard after certain schools including those in the Santa Barbara Unified School District were unable to administer the test in October when it usually takes place. Interestingly, Covid cases are actually higher in Santa Barbara now with the LA Times reporting that over 1% of the population has been infected in the last two weeks. But given its role of preparing students for the SAT and qualifying them for the National Merit Scholarship, the school decided it was worth it to move forward with its plans. Daniel Dupont, Assistant Principal for the 11th grade, who oversaw the administration of the test, said that given all of these extraordinary circumstances, “it went about as smoothly as it could have gone.”

Although there have been numerous cohorts for athletics, special education, and the arts since the fall, this is by the far the most students that have been on campus for such a long period of time since school first shut down last March. In order to limit exposure, they were split across 19 classrooms which each had a proctor who was tapped from school district staff. Furthermore, students who were already coming to campus in cohorts had to be grouped together with people already in their cohort.

In normal years, there would only be 3 classrooms for all of the juniors in the school.

Standardized testing is of course a very risky affair as it involves many students sitting together indoors for an extended period, the very types of activities that the CDC warns can turn into super-spreader events. To mitigate these risks, standard Covid safety protocols were taken as well as some extra protocols for this specific test. Specifically, students were required to wear masks and had their desks spaced six feet apart during the duration of the test. Windows were also opened to provide circulation despite the cold weather on the day of testing. Furthermore, parents were

required to fill out a form before the test confirming that their child did not have any symptoms of Covid-19 and that they had not been in contact with anyone outside of their household or travelled out of the area in the 14 days before the test administration. In total, Dupont said that 111 juniors signed up for the test, but the discrepancy with the 84 people who actually took the test was a result of some students who had recently travelled and others who simply didn’t show up on the day of the test. Both of these numbers are substantially less than the almost 530 juniors who attend Santa Barbara High School.

Given how few people were able to and chose to take the PSAT, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation provided an alternative qualification method for the scholarship which is awarded to about 50,000 students annually. Unfortunately, this method is based on getting a qualifying score in the actual SAT before June. With the slow pace of vaccinations and still high case rate in Santa Barbara, Dupont said that, personally, this alternative method sounded “disingenuous,” and regarding if the SAT will be administered in Santa Barbara before that deadline, he stated, “I don’t see it happening in the foreseeable future.

I certainly hope that we’ll be able to figure out something.”

The SAT and the ACT are both tests that are usually required for college admissions but current Seniors and Juniors have been unable to take them in Santa Barbara since school closed down last March.

Whereas Santa Barbara High School directly administers the PSAT, these tests cannot be done at Santa Barbara High School because they are directly proctored by their respective organizations and therefore require a civic use permit. Currently, the school district is not allowing any of these permits which are also given to groups such as churches that meet on district property. Over the course of the last few months, students have continued to be able to sign up on the Collegeboard website for testing at Santa Barbara High School, but each month’s test has been successively cancelled.

Because of the difficulty with testing during the pandemic, U.S. News reports that “more than 1,225 colleges and universities have test-optional policies in place for fall 2021

applicants.” However, many of these schools will still take a test-score as a supplement to an application and some schools are still requiring scores to be submitted. This also only applies to current seniors who may have never had the opportunity to take the test but leaves the fate of current juniors who may need to take the test much later than usual up in the air. An exception for juniors, however, is the University of California system which has become test-optional all the way until 2024 and plans to introduce its own test in 2025 instead of the SAT or ACT. The California State University system is also test-optional this year and these two school systems tend to make up the majority of destinations for Santa Barbara High School seniors.

The lack of standardized testing and information from the Collegeboard has left many juniors feeling stranded. Junior Class President, Gwen Tormey, who took an SAT prep class over the summer, said that “she hadn’t even bothered signing up for any [tests] because it just feels like a waste of time.” Tormey also didn’t take the PSAT because she had already done so much SAT prep, but she acknowledged that not everyone had been able to have that opportunity. She thought it was good that the school had offered it optionally and felt that the safety precautions that were taken made it a safe enough experience. Luckily for Tormey, her top choice for schools, Columbia University, has decided to go test-optional, but still, she said, “If I have the opportunity to take it I think I will just because I can and I should, but I’m hoping that I don’t even need to.”

Dupont agreed with this assessment: “I would encourage students to do it if they can do it safely just because it’s one more thing that makes them stand out.”

Some other students have gone to extreme measures to be able to add a score to their applications despite the lack of testing. Dupont cited someone who earlier in the pandemic had driven up to Sacramento for the SAT, and Tormey mentioned someone she knew who had more recently flown to Colorado and stayed with family friends just to take the SAT in a place that was administering it. Not only does this raise serious questions about equity in college admissions as not everyone can afford to travel

out-of-state just for a test, but it is also extremely counterproductive to the goal of mitigating virus spread by not holding the test. Despite her own experience with the test, Tormey still had firm beliefs about standardized testing during the circumstances of the pandemic: “I just don’t think it should be required at any school.”

Another even more difficult logistical question comes in the form of Advanced Placement testing which also helps with college admissions and allows students to skip courses in college. These tests are taken by far more students every year and those in all grade levels, with many people even taking multiple of them.

The Collegeboard, which also runs AP testing, is slated to make an announcement next month about alternative testing options. According to Dupont, “There might be an online option, but the Collegeboard has also said it’s not going to be the 45-minute tests.” This was in reference to the condensed online tests given last May near the start of the pandemic which only involved free-response questions. Dupont said it was a “possible avenue” that the school use a similar cohort model as the PSAT for AP Testing if they were to have them in person but that it was pretty unfeasible if Santa Barbara still had so much community spread of the Coronavirus as they would need upwards of 40 proctors for the AP World History test alone.

Despite the setbacks and the challenges still to come, Dupont is looking on the bright side. Regarding Tuesday’s test, he stated that “It was really good to have kids back on campus, it was energizing for everybody.” Meanwhile, regarding the SAT, Tormey said that her current plan as well as the plan of most of her friends is just to wait it out until they are hopefully able to take the test.

Standardized testing is just one more thing that used to be a routine part of school life, but has been fundamentally disrupted by a pandemic that has now take over 425,000 American lives. The future of the SAT, ACT, and AP tests in both the short and long term remains unclear but the PSAT has shown a possible model, particularly as cases start to decline. After that, it seems that the question of how useful they are in college admissions and if they should be required at all will be more directly addressed.

SB Drops D’s, F’s

BY ISABELLA VASQUEZ As coronavirus rates spiked after the holiday season, the SB Unified school district was faced with new challenges and decisions. While the January 5th board meeting addressed the ways the district schools are attempting to adapt to the pandemic through ventilation systems and teacher testing when in-person school resumes, one of the main topics was grading policy. Due to the increased number of Ds and Fs resulting from online learning, it was proposed at the board meeting on the 5th to get rid of these letter grades altogether.

The factors that the district considered which impacted this grading policy that teachers top priority is to respond to students individual needs in ways that display sensitivity to factors beyond students control and that grade scales should be asset oriented as opposed to punitive in their design and application.

Grading policies have fluctuated through the progression of the pandemic with the end of the 2019-2020 school year having the option for credit/no credit on a student’s transcripts instead of a grade. This change occurred after many national organizations such as the IB and AP program re-evaluated how to teach and grade during the pandemic and the new era of remote learning.

This letter grade reintroduction occurred due to universities not extending the waiver to accept the credit/no credit marks.

According to a quote from one of the board meeting academic supervisors, “throughout the fall term, SB Unified has been studying the student engagement data, and student academic performance data, and now, in response to the data, […] we need to re-examine what the appropriate grading policy is to […] effectively evaluate and communicate student progress during these times.” Data compiled throughout the fall and winter, or terms 1 and 2, that influenced the abolishment of Ds and Fs include that roughly a third of students have a D or F in at least one class, that there is an increase in the number of students earning a D or F in 3 or more classes compared to prior years, and that rates of D’s and F’s are disproportionately higher among the four traditionally underserved student groups: Latinx students, students with disabilities, socio-economically disadvantaged students, and emergent multilingual learners.

The new policy makes it so student may earn a letter grade of A,B, or C, an Incomplete (I), or a No Credit (NC) and that no student shall receive a D or F. When a mark of incomplete is issued, specific learning tasks will be assigned which, upon completion, result in a conversion of the mark to a letter grade of C or better.

When a mark of No Credit is issued, there must be documentation of consultation between the individual teacher and parent/ guardian in which a plan for recovering learning, and credit is determined. When in person grading resumes, the board will most likely revert this change.

4 | SCHOOL REOPENING

MARCH 5, 2021

SBHS In-Person Instruction Possible by March 15

BY EMERSON STEADY With Covid-19 cases at their lowest rate since the fall, and elementary schools reopening for hybrid instruction, the Santa Barbara Unified School Board has put into place a plan for secondary schools to reopen as well. This category includes Junior High and High Schools which are planned to reopen under a hybrid learning model as soon as state and local guidelines allow. Teachers are set to return to their classrooms on March 9 to prepare for hybrid instruction and receive new technologies to assist them to that end. The school will also switch to the new hybrid bell schedule on March 8, which consists of longer eighty minute periods and a shortened Wednesday schedule. Students will not actually return to campus until we are cleared by the state to do so. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended that all school districts, even those that have our current level of community spread of the virus, should be open for hybrid learning, and SBHS principal Dr. Elise Simmons said that she does believe we are at a safe level to reopen.

However, Santa Barbara County is still in the purple tier in the state’s coronavirus prevention model, the most restrictive tier which does not currently allow secondary schools to open.

However, as we approach 7 positive tests per 100,000 residents, the dividing line between the purple and red tiers, reopening looks more possible. Santa Barbara County would have to

remain below that threshold for one week and then in-person instruction would be able to begin. Furthemore, there is some possibility of the state’s guidance becoming less onerous in response to the new CDC report. Either of these scenarios is possible by the end of next week, in which case students could return March 15.

To this end, Dr. Simmons made a bold prediction: “I am anticipating that […] Santa Barbara High will be open for in-person hybrid learning around spring break.”

It has been almost a year since Santa Barbara High School first started teaching exclusively on Zoom, and there have been many raised expectations and false starts on that journey.

The school district initially planned for a hybrid model for the fall during summer last year, but was quickly shut down by the state’s guidelines. As cases trended downward in October, schools looked ready to open again but then came the massive surge in cases aided by holiday travel and a relaxing of precautions. In the last month, however, cases nationally and locally have dropped in number tremendously.

The most recent report put Santa Barbara’s positive covid tests at about 16 per 100,000 but that number continues to decrease quickly. Another important point in the school reopening debate has been teacher vaccinations. Teachers are supposed to be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine after healthcare workers and elderly people, but a shortage in supply has kept many of them from getting it. While some districts have

fought with teachers about vaccinations before reopening, the CDC has said vaccinated teachers are not a requirement for a safe school environment. In Santa Barbra, however, the teacher’s union has not made teacher vaccination a formal requirement for schools to reopen.

If Santa Barbara High School is able to reopen, it will be with a very similar model to that proposed in the summer with a few minor changes. Students that opt to return will be split into A and B cohorts which will come to school on Monday and Thursday, and Tuesday and Friday respectively. Parents were recently sent a form to confirm their cohort preference for their student. Everyone will attend shortened virtual classes on Wednesday and have time to complete independent work. Before arriving on campus, students will be required to fill out a pre-screening form and they will have their temperature taken upon entering. Masks and social distancing will be required at all times on campus, and if someone does test positive, their cohort will be required to quarantine and comprehensive contact tracing will be implemented by the school nurse. Thanks to the cohorting model, classes will be much smaller, and extra ventilation will also be in place. All of this will contribute to the “swiss cheese” model of Covid safety where many imperfect precautions are taken to compound into a safe school environment.

With many students feeling the effects of a continued lockdown harder than ever, there

is finally some hope on the horizon. A hybrid model at Santa Barbara High School looks to be around the corner, and the science has shown that it can be done safely. Obviously, even with all these precautions some spread of the coronavirus is still possible. There are also worries about how spring break travel may contribute to community spread. But overall, things are looking up for our community for the first time in a while and Dons are looking ready to get back to campus.

Santa Barbara Gets Vaccinated

BY CATHERINE HARLOW

MLive

Elementary Schools Reopen

BY YULIANA DE LA LUZ SB Unified elementary schools are set to reopen for hybrid learning on Monday, March 1st. Over the last few weeks, a sudden call from the district to re-open elementary schools caused school officials to start preparing. The key number for our state to start allowing elementary students to go back to in-person learning is 25 people testing positive per 100k people in California.

Seeing how close we were to reaching that goal, teachers were notified to start preparing their classrooms and materials once cases dropped below 30 people testing positive per 100k people in Cal-

ifornia. Families were sent a notice that allowed them to restate their choice on hybrid and digital learning for elementary only.

A letter was sent to the County Supervisors and Public Health Department from the School Board to prioritize vaccinations to school employees.

Thanks to this starting Tuesday, February 23, elementary staff will have access to COVID testing at their school site. This will continue for two weeks, and additional diagnostic testing will be offered to students that have either had symptoms or been exposed to a COVID positive case. This testing and the safety plans for the reopening have

been approved by the California Department of Public Health.

All classified employees for both elementary and secondary returned to in-person full-time work starting Monday, February 22.

It has been made clear by the school board that they are ready to let all SB Unified students across elementary and secondary schools back onto campus, and as we continue to follow COVID guidelines, the closer we are to achieving this plan.

In Santa Barbara County, the age for getting a COVID-19 vaccine has been brought down to 65 years or older. Appointments are very limited, although you can sign up for a COVID vaccine at any Public Health Department site. Appointments may fill up quite quickly due to limited supply. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are being distributed as of now. Both consist of two shots which are taken within 2 weeks of each other to be fully effective.

Recently, both of my grandmothers got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. I had the chance to speak to one of them about the experience. During my interview, I asked her a few questions about the process to get some insight into how the whole system worked and if she had any side effects. She told me “There were no open spots in Santa Barbara at the time, so [she] had to go to Santa Maria.” They arrived at the Marian Hospital, which she told me was set up very nicely with white tents all surrounding the vaccination area. She got her and her husband’s appointments through the Public Health Department website, which led her to the Marian Regional Medical Center. I asked her about the process and she replied that “The process was really fast, they had me pull up and then take our temperatures, then lead us to the tent where we would get our vaccines. The nurses were all very nice and we were in and out in less than an hour. They also had us wait 15 minutes to make sure we didn’t have any bad side effects.”

Asked whether she experienced any of these, she told me neither

her, nor my grandfather had any major side effects, except for some pain in her arm where the shot was placed. Even though she had to go to Santa Maria, it was well worth it.

Santa Barbara did not have enough vaccines for the over 36,000 elderly people in the specific age group that qualifies, with only 10,000 vaccines in stock in Santa Barbara at the time.

When arriving at your COVID vaccine site, you must bring your ID with you for verification. Santa Barbara County is receiving about 6,000 doses per week as of now, and with 61,000 ordered, they are hoping to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. Some pharmacies and other public health sites around the county are providing vaccine appointments. Cottage Health and Sansum Clinic are offering vaccination sites and are open for signups, while space is limited.

Cottage health is having drive-up vaccinations which also requires appointments that are available on the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital Website. Cottage Hospital is taking 65 years or older, while the Sansum Clinic is giving vaccines to ongoing patients, 75 years and older.

On Friday, February 12, Cottage Health vaccinated 7,435 healthcare workers and 9,424 people within 75 years or older. Vaccines are slowly although efficiently being distributed throughout Santa Barbara County.

MARCH 5, 2021

No Virus Spread on Campus

Santa Barbara Unified

BY EMERSON STEADY Since students returned to campus in small cohorts in the Fall, there has been no spread of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 on the campus of Santa Barbara High School. This was a statistic confirmed by principal Dr. Elise Simmons. Overall there have been twenty cases of Santa Barbara High School faculty and students who have at some point been on campus since summer testing positive. 12 of these were students and eight were faculty. Through the school’s contact tracing program which is run by the school nurse, however, the school has been able to confirm that none of these cases were a result of spread on campus.

Overall in the school district, of students who have been on campus in small cohorts, there have been 81 staff and 27 student cases with nine being spread on campus. All nine of these cases were found in staff and were a result of a failure to completely follow Covid safety protocols.

These staff members were found to be in “close contact” with others on

SCHOOL REOPENING | 5

campus who later tested positive. The CDC’s guidelines define close contact as “Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.” These are the conditions in which the coronavirus tends to be able to spread from person to person even with masking. Santa Barbara High School has also had but after quarantining for ten days, they were found to have no symptoms and determined to have not contracted the coronavirus.

The “Swiss Cheese” model of Covid-19 prevention which involves layers of precautions to create a safe school campus has proved to be effective. Most notably are masks and physical distancing which are required on campus as well as the daily completion of the CrisisGo form confirming that a student has not had contacts outside of their household, travelled outside of the area, or had symptoms. The lack of transmission on SBHS property despite the high number of cases proves the effectiveness of this model and the underlying facts of the CDC’s new guidelines.

These guidelines say that even with moderate levels of community coronavirus transmission, schools can reopen safely as long as these precautions are taken.

The lack of spread of the coronavirus on Santa Barbara High School’s campus is a promising piece of data as secondary schools look at reopening for hybrid instruction. However, even the few instances of on-campus spread there have been in SB Unified raise serious questions about campus safety. As Dr. Simmons said “if you have a close contact with someone, that means that you aren’t properly following the procedures.” With SB Unified employees not always adhering to the guidelines, what are the expectations for students’ compliance when they return to campus in large numbers? In Dr. Simmons’ judgment, however, students will follow the procedure and be careful enough to make that return well worth it.

How Students are Coping

BY JESUS REYNOSO All teens cope with COVID-19 in different ways and there aren’t any “right ways” to cope with COVID-19. One way some teens cope with this pandemic is by walking outside or doing exercise. Exercising is a great way to relieve stress and calm people down. Some teens play video games to help with stress, video games are a great way to distress. Doing things you like is also a very good way to distress because it takes all the bad things off of your mind and you concentrate on something positive rather than something negative.

Some teens do nothing to help cope with the pandemic. They feel like doing nothing is relaxing and calming. Distressing and calming down is great and everyone should do the best they can to do it, mainly because the key to stay healthy is your mental health stated by the 4-H newsletter. Eating healthy is also a good way to cope with any stress because feeling healthy can be motivating to keep you up and have good effects on you not just during the pandemic but also during the rest of your life. Covid has affected all of us, including me. I deal with it by reading, playing with my cat, and playing video games. I feel playing video games help the most because I control what I want to do,

there are no boundaries or limits to what I can do in games and I find them really fun. If anyone has animals they know it can be a hassle to take care of them. My cat is no exception. He likes to play fight a lot and wakes me up during the middle of the night because he wants to play.

I feel using social media to cope with COVID-19is also a good way to relieve stress because you focus on something other than COVID-19, I personally don’t use social media because I don’t feel the need to know what other people are doing or where other people are going. I also don’t invest much time in watching tv or movies. If I do it would be for the news or political reasons, investing in a VR headset is also really good if you have a lot of space. I don’t have one mainly because of the cost but if you can afford it, it is a great escape from reality and you can see things you’ve never seen or done before and there are a lot of games on vr headsets like beat saber and more.

COVID-19 has changed most people’s life either in a good or bad way, it has affected me as well, but there is no bad that doesn’t bring good, and during COVID-19 I got to spend a lot of time with family and my cat.

The Struggle of Sports and Covid-19

Noozhawk

BY MIGUEL UNZUETA Santa Barbara High School sports have been in a very different situation with the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the past seven months, starting around late September, student athletes and coaches in each sport have had to follow certain restrictions.

Those restrictions include social distancing, wearing masks, and rarely having any physical contact or touch.

It’s not only those restrictions that have not allowed the normal practice routine, but the separation of players

that are divided into different groups.

These groups are called “cohorts,” and student athletes are assigned to different groups containing around a dozen players each. This is to minimize the chances of the spread of the coronavirus. It allows for better containment and traceability. The procedure when an athlete reports to school during this pandemic is that all players must have their parents fill out a form prior to arriving on campus and get their temperature checked once they enter., There is then a protocol that must be followed

in order to keep all athletes safe.

Although this has been a great way to keep athletes safe, it’s also been a bit challenging. The reason for this is the constant promises of a season ahead, but then the dates end up being pushed back as we get closer to that given destination. I personally play football, and from what I’ve experienced, the cohorts have been a good experience so far, such as seeing teammates again, going over offensive and defensive schemes, and having some physical activity that would help improve our skills

for when we are approved to play.

But the challenges have been having to wear a mask during practice and getting an inadequate amount of air during physical exertion, times where we couldn’t use certain equipment (footballs, basketballs, etc.), and the unpredictable positive testings that could put football in jeopardy for a vast amount of time. If an athlete in any sport tests positive, his or her cohort will have to quarantine for fourteen days and thus miss practice time.

For other sports such as basketball, head coach Corey Adam has reported a positive outlook. Adam said, “We feel the cohorts are productive, the guys are getting some good conditioning in, working on individual skills, and we are able to have some competitive shooting games that are fun for the boys in addition to the camaraderie of getting to be together, even if socially distanced.”

Coach Corey Adam also shares why there is reason to be hopeful.

“We are definitely hopeful”, Adam said, “We recognize we are not likely to get a full season in but we think we’ll be able to get a part of a season.

We are in a very fluid situation, as more people get vaccinated and new research comes out about the spread of the virus, so we have reason to be optimistic.”

Sports may not have a full sea-

son or have a very small amount of games, but there is still a ray of hope for these athletes. This pandemic has taken almost everything from everyone in this world and their most passionate needs. And for these athletes, it has been a rough, and tiring amount of months with everything not going as planned. Although a handful of the seasons taken by each sport are a no-go, there is still hope for something, rather than nothing.

6 | MAGAZINE

MARCH 5, 2021

On Turning 18 A Collection of Anonymous Poems The whole idea of it makes me feel like I am running out of time something worse than the headaches or the nerves I get from going to college a kind of sorrow of the spirit, a stress of the psyche, a blind spot of the soul.

The whole idea of it makes me feel A bit uneasy something weirder than when my cat tasted my coffee or the creeps I got from that time a rat jumped out of the dumpster a kind of bubbling of the spirit, a wavering of the psyche, a whim of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the feeling of being one and the speech introduced by two.

But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

At five I was spider-man I could make myself stronger By going super saiyan At seven I was a batman, at nine a soccer player

You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the simplicity of being ten and the complexity introduced by sixteen.

But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

At 5 I was a shapeshifter I could make myself anything and everything Just by thinking it At seven I was a wizard, at nine a zombie killer

But now I am mostly alone watching time go by like a breeze.

Back then I was rolling around in dirt care free On the streets of my rancho And my ball never stayed in the garage as it does today, All the joy of it drained away This is the beginning of reality, I say to myself, As I walk through the field in my cleats It is time to say goodbye to my crazy side, time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe Five-minute crafts on youtube But now I want to create my own creations I hustle. I succeed.

But now I am mostly in my room watching a screen, waiting to graduate.

Back then I never expected this Sitting in my room while attending class And my backpack collecting dust as it does today, All the use it gave me now completely irrelevant This is the beginning of “adulthood”, they say to me, as I walk through the universe in my sweats and beat up sneakers.

It is time to say hello to uncertainty, time to turn the big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe In Santa and things of the like But now it’s time to leave it all behind I move forward though I’m still unsure of what lies ahead.

Welcome to the Forge

In our continued mission to serve the community of Santa Barbara High School, the Forge is excited to share with you a completely new endeavor this year: the Forge Magazine. In a strange world where human connection seems harder than ever, the goal of the magazine is to help give a platform to the voices and visions of student artists at Santa Barbara High School. This includes artists of all kinds, from the visual artists of VADA to the multimedia designers of MAD, and the individual writers, comic artists, and creatives throughout the school.

In this edition is a collection of poems written by seniors reflecting

You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the feeling of becoming an adult and the freedom introduced by this birthday But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

At four It was coming home to see my parents I could feel a warmth like this By 8 the feeling was brought to me by imagination At 10 I was getting this energy from dance, at 12 I felt a similar freedom from singing But now I am mostly excited for freedom watching my cousins and sister become adults is beautiful.

Back then we would create exciting times through games and roles we played.

Pretending we were grown with responsibilities, Relationships and next steps were never a thought as they are today, all the scary unthinkable life events of growing up This is the beginning of my real my own life, I think to myself, I dream about what experiences are not yet experienced It is time to be who I want to be and who I am to begin to live my own real life, time to turn the big number.

The whole idea of it makes me feel like being washed away something worse than drowning or the anxiety I get from talking to someone new a kind of weighing of the spirit, a tornado of the psyche, a numbing of the senses.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the freedom of being seven and the confusion introduced by twelve.

But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

At fifteen I was a danger to myself But I could make myself invincible By claiming my youth At sixteen I was a dancer, at seventeen I am tired.

Now I am mostly afraid watching my walls fill with paintings that I will soon have to leave.

Back then they were a prison Trapping me within the life I hated, And I never thought to live it, to make it mine, as it is today, About to change permanently.

This is the beginning of a stranger’s life, I say to myself, as I walk through the universe in my shoes.

It is time to say goodbye to the familiar, time to turn the big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe That away was the only way to happiness.

But now I want to say.

I want to stay. I leave.

The whole idea of it makes me feel like a semi adult something worse than a legal adult a kind of spiritual independence a breaking free of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the freedom of being 14 and the protectiveness introduced by 15.

But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

At 8 I was a singer I could hit the highest notes By 9, I was a teacher At 10 I was a doctor, at 11 I was an Olympic swimmer But now I am mostly missing the age of being 10 watching my life pass fast.

Back then I worried if I’d be able to touch the bottom of the pool against the side of my house lies my roller skates This is the beginning of a new life, I say to myself, as I stroll through the sidewalks on those skates It is time to say goodbye to restless days to waking up and planning a busy day time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe I was 10, Mornings spent in the pool Nights spent outside But now I am 18 I am an adult.

Mornings spent with homework Nights spent on the job I am starting a new life .

It seems only yesterday I used to think When will my life start?

But now it is I’m excited. I’m thankful.

The Untold Story of Native Americans

BY KATE WENZEL

Magazine

BY THE FORGE STAFF

The whole idea of it makes me feel So excited and thankful something greater than any other excitement I’ve gotten from a birthday or the feeling I got from backstage about to perform a kind of smile of the spirit, a jump of the mind, a passion of the soul.

on their coming of age. They are all published anonymously and a rich tapestry of how this group is feeling. There are also two pieces of art from our “Speaking of Stories” series which discuss race in relation to self-identity, as well as our featured Artist of the Month.

If you or someone you know is an artist at Santa Barbara High School and wants their works showcased in our paper, submission can be sent to admin@sbhsforge.com. Please include your name, grade, the medium, and the phrase “Magazine Submission” in the subject line.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and shining a spotlight on the many talented students at Santa Barbara High School.

This piece is about the untold story of Native Americans. It shows a Native woman surrounded by offensive art that depicts her in a negative way.

Natives are commonly seen as savages, non-human, extinct, or just a symbol to represent a sports team. Also, their story is hardly taught in school, perpetuating this line of horrible racism. I think more information needs to be spread about how terrible Natives were/are treated, and just how beautiful their culture is.

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MAGAZINE 7

MARCH 5, 2021

Artist of the Month: Steven Fields

BY CHARLEY RAYMOND The artist of the month for February is Steven Fields, an 11th grader in the MAD Academy. He is interested in the fashion industry and is currently working on his own brand, SAF. He started to work on the business in his sophomore year and hopes to start selling pieces in March.

It became an interest over quarantine when his grandmother got him a sewing machine. He took some lessons and started creating garments from scratch.

SAF is a street style brand that uses earthy and neutral tones. It is a brand with raw edges and denim work all hand-made by Steven. He also hopes to get more into embroidery as time progresses. He goes to the LA fashion

Foreigner

district for the fabric, and if he finds a good piece at the thrift store, he will make something new out of it.

He mentioned that he “skates, and fashion is a big part of skating”, and explains that one reason he got into fashion was because of skating and the culture surrounding it. He says that he wanted to try something different, and saw no one else was doing this sort of fashion within the community.

Fields credits MAD for helping him with the brand. The academy helped him to be more creative and opened up his senses to the creative world.

More specifically, he mentions that people these days mainly use Adobe Illustrator for many of the designs, which is an application you learn to use in MAD. It assists with coming

up with good designs and, more importantly, executing them. One of the hardest parts of being an artist is tak-

ing your ideas to paper, but now he’s able to take the concepts and actually bring them into existence.

He has his eyes set on going to fashion school and hopes that his business will be good for his portfolio. He hopes to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology, which is based in New York, one of the capitals for the fashion industry and home to New York Fashion Week. During Fashion Week, the top fashion houses in the industry host some of the richest and famous people in the world to showcase their designs and season’s collection.

He hopes to go into high-end fashion, based on his current brand.

I asked if he was thinking of brands like Off White which are brands that still hold more street style pieces in their collections. He tells me that he wants to steer completely away from the style he is currently working in , street style and has hopes to work in women’s couture.

He has no specific brands in mind, but he knows that he wants to work in that side of the industry.

He has dreams to pursue a career in fashion despite it being an industry dominated by women and mostly gay

men. As a straight Mexican-American man with the hopes of a future in couture fashion, it will be interesting to see how his career progresses as an under-represented figure within the industry.

BY GRACE WYMAN

“Foreigner” is both a self-portrait and a simple representation of people with no cultural ‘home’ to return to, the torn and displaced people who are foreigners no matter where they go. This piece specifically speaks to mixed-race and second and third-generation immigrants who have lived their whole life feeling out of place, and have visited the country of their origin only to feel entirely alien there as well. The single incorrect story that this piece fights is not entirely one that society forces upon people, but rather one that I have struggled with internally for a long time, and that I’m sure others have felt as well. We are not bound to a single home. We shouldn’t feel inferior because we are only half of a race or a culture. We have all the right to claim our identity and our culture no matter how we speak, how we act, how we look.

This portrait shows a girl in a traditional muji kimono with the rising sun behind her, stylized as it is on the Japanese flag. Half of her face is bare and the other is painted with maiko makeup, the boundary between the sides cracked and filled by kintsugi, representing healing and overcoming battles with stereotypes and alienation from both identities.

8 | LIFESTYLE

MARCH 5, 2021

A Beginners Guide to Modern Day Witchcraft many many years. Many people have thought witchcraft was dangerous.

And women were even killed for being suspected of witchcraft (i.e., the Salem witch trials). Now people have grown to understand that witchcraft is not a danger to society but rather a practice of mindfulness. Witchcraft is a practice to better yourself and the people around you. It can even cause mass positive change in the world. Just like any power, physical or spiritual, it can be used for good or bad. It all relies on intention. Many witches believe that if you project hate you receive it back 10 times.

How to tell if witchcraft is meant for you: Harper Locatelli

BY HARPER LOCATELLI During the times of Covid-19, many people have started to become more in tune with their spirituality. It has become a trend on TikTok to buy crystals, incense, and tarot cards. It is believed that witchy

practices can change your life. I am a strong believer in witchcraft and have been surrounded by people who also practice my whole life. When you hear the words “witchcraft,” many people’s minds go to demonic practices and think that witches are evil. Witchcraft has been around for

If you are interested in being more in tune with your spirituality and intuition DO NOT do it for the aesthetics. Just because it is all over social media and all your friends are doing it, does not mean that witchcraft right for you. Usually, if you are chosen to be a witch, you will start being more drawn to crystals and being more in tune with that feeling in your gut, or the burning of your ears when someone is being untruth-

ful. Another sign is seeing what is called an angel number for example; 222,1111,444. Most times, these numbers are seen on a clock or you will just notice these numbers wherever you are. This means your spirit guides are ready for you to see them and utilize them in your practice.

One more huge sign is the strength of your intuition. That is a big word so I’m going to break down what intuition is. In the simplest form, intuition is knowing something without having to be taught/told it, or knowing something before it happens. For example; if you see a strange person walking down the street your intuition will tell you to stay away from that person. There are many more signs but these are the most common in modern-day witches.

Tarot: Tarot cards are used for not necessarily telling the future but guiding you to make the future easier for you.

You pick 3,6, or 9 of the cards to see what your spirit guides have to tell you. A lot of these readings are seen on TikTok and some witches will give readings to people that see the video

on their For You Page. You use your energy to pull cards from the tarot deck and you pick up the cards you are most drawn to. This is a very big part of witchcraft and can be used by anyone with the right intentions.

Crystals/Stones: A lot of people know what crystals are and what they look like but not many people are very interested in the healing properties of crystals.

People in my family have used crystals for as long as I can remember.

There are many healing properties but the most common ones are love, protection, and intuition. There are many different stones for each of these things. You can also use stones to heal your chakras through ritualistic practices. A lot of people believe that crystals can’t heal you. However, back to the idea of intention, a crystal will not fulfill its power if your intention is not pure and trusting. If you aren’t open-minded to the experience you will never know if it’s real or not.

A huge part of getting into witchcraft is open-mindedness.

Catch up on all the latest news at

SBHSFORGE.COM Are Tattoos Distracting in the Workplace?

BY DEVA VILLA-SALCEDO For generations, there’s been an ongoing argument about whether or not body modifications are distracting in the workplace. Some argue that piercings are unprofessional and will

scare away people. For example, an author on the Iowa State Daily stated, “Many school systems in the United States do not allow teachers to have tattoos.” Or if they even want tattoos they can’t be visible.

The workplace normally puts peo-

ple in a box right away when they find out you have tattoos. A researcher on Workopolis decided to research how tattoos affect the chances of you getting hired, and found out that a 77% of employers will or might be less likely to hire you if you have tat-

toos. The reason the percentage is so high is that the person who is hiring is also thinking about the customer’s opinion. If the customer is scared off then they can’t make money.

Age is also considered to be a factor with the perspective on people with tattoos. Older people are the ones more likely to be concerned about tattoos than the younger generations. In their time tattoos were not ok while young people were raised with it being normalized.

I decided to interview my cousin since she is a young adult with a lot of tattoos looking for a job. The first question I wanted to ask was if the location mattered because she lived in Bakersfield. She replied that it does in her opinion. She thinks that the reason she’s even able to find a job is that she lives in an area where everywhere she sees someone has a tattoo. She wanted to state that she thinks that throughout the time the opinions on tattoos will change since the younger generation is starting to question the older people’s belief systems.

According to USA Today, the young generation doesn’t care if tat-

toos are in the workplace because they look at it as a form of art. It’s a form of expression that words can’t be used to describe. So the question of if tattoos are distracting just really depends on the person and the workplace. Certain places require a certain look they want for their company and some don’t care at all. What really matters is that a person finds a job that accepts them for who they are.

The Guardian

LIFESTYLE | 9

MARCH 5, 2021

TikTok is Redefining “Social” Media for the Better

BBC

BY EMERSON STEADY Over the course of the last two decades, there was a promise that came with each new social media platform.

From Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat, they were all supposed to connect us to one another in a way that was never possible before. They were supposed to bridge the divide of physical distance, to allow us to share our most important moments with the world, and to keep us informed in a rapidly changing world. Facebook’s official mission statement on their investor website is “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”

All of these companies have failed us immensely. It is an overused expression to say that social media has really become “anti-social media,” but in general it holds a lot of truth. The rise of social media also correlates with the rise of mental health issues in teenagers as our brains are literally rewired to crave short-term hits of stimulus and attention. Furthermore, the consumers have quickly become the product as our data is sold to ad-

vertising companies and we are fed misinformation. As you can tell, I am not usually one to harp on the virtues of social media, so I truly mean this when I say that I believe TikTok is different.

Tik Tok began as the successor to the social media platform Musically which was popular in the United States and the platform Douyin which was popular in Asia. Both apps allowed users to post short clips of themselves lipsyncing to popular songs and audios made by other users. ByteDance, the Chinese startup which owned Douyin, purchased Musically in 2018, merging the two into Tik Tok. For an app-based out of China, Tik Tok has ironically democratized social media in a way that no other platform really has. Most popular Youtube videos these days star twenty-something “influencers” with big budgets, a large production team, and an existing audience. On Tik Tok, the best content rises to the top regardless of who it comes from. Furthermore, the editing tools which are built right into the app, allow users with little to no experience with vid-

eo editing to easily create high-quality content. What videos Tik Tok decides to show a user on the “For You Page” is the result of a complex artificial learning algorithm that takes into account many factors like view time and like ratio but is able to sort a user’s preferences incredibly quickly.

These properties of TikTok have created a media ecosystem unlike any other that has ever existed. It is quickly becoming the social media app of choice for Gen Z with content that is generally made by teenagers for teenagers with little to no adult oversight. That may sound like a recipe for disaster, but in fact, it has been the opposite. With teens able to directly interface with each other like this, important and often overlooked voices have been. There is a “side” of TikTok for almost every subculture, hobby, and fandom you can think of.

In particular, the LGBTQ+ community, which according to a recent Gallup poll comprises only 5.6% of the adult population in the U.S., but has a very powerful voice on the side of Tik Tok known as alt-TikTok. In addition to sharing stories of coming to

terms with their sexuality or gender identity, people share their unique aesthetics such as Cottagecore and Dark Academia and just share fun videos of themselves with their friends interacting in ways that can be very different from mainstream, straight, and cisgender American society. People have even developed their own language for certain things in this community such as asking the question “Do you listen to Girl In Red?” in reference to an indie Norwegian songwriter being used as a popular euphemism for asking if someone is a lesbian. Compare this to modern television programming where queer characters have only just begun to break into the mainstream in shows like Queer Eye and the Umbrella Academy, and you can see the appeal of TikTok to LGBTQ+ teenagers who are just beginning the process of self-actualization.

Tik Tok also served an important purpose during the Black Lives Matter protests last Summer when TikTokers shared tips about how to protest safely and protect your identity. It is arguable that this sort of organizing power, along with TikTok’s penchant for spreading progressive messages contributed to Donald Trump’s attempt to ban it last year.

True, there are some national security concerns regarding China’s use of data, however, if Trump had actually been addressing these worries, he would have found a less destructive solution than a full ban or the forced sale of Tik Tok to an American company. Instead, it seems more obvious that Trump feared the power Tik Tok has as a megaphone for Gen Z, a generation which Pew Research found in January 2020 to have the lowest approval rating of Donald Trump’s performance as president for any generation. Progressive politics thrive on Tik Tok where capitalist critiques that fall outside of the neoliberal mainstream can be spread freely by freethinking teens.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Tik Tok soared in popularity, in-

creasing in daily users by 75% from January to September 2020 according to Forbes. This is an unsurprising trend given the lack of other outlets for socializing teenagers have had since lockdown began almost a year ago. While this lack of options has led many people to greater use of streaming services and other social media platforms as well, nothing seems to come quite as close to the real deal as TikTok. This makes sense when you consider how bizarre of an experience it has been to be a teenager during the last year. It is not an experience anyone outside of that group could ever hope to understand. While adults and mass media shy away from the topic, Tik Tok has become a place where teenagers can go when they feel truly alone and find people who are actually like them: other teenagers in their bedrooms, trying to survive a pandemic, enduring months of online school, and using humor as a coping mechanism.

In a feat never before achieved in human history, Tik Tok has connected teenagers all over the world to create a layered but cohesive culture for a huge swath of Gen Z regardless of physical location. It is a culture of acceptance, resilience, social justice, and joy. Oh, and did I mention that they also wrote an entire musical based on the Pixar movie Ratatouille? For all of the evils which social media has wrought in the past two decades, none of which we have been prepared to face, TikTok is, at last, a beacon of hope. I can personally say that TikTok has helped me feel more at home than just about anywhere I’ve ever actually physically been.

Furthermore, I think this holds true for millions more teenagers who have been helped through these difficult times by TikTok. We shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves here as this technology is new and evolving but I think it is possible that at last, we have finally found a social media platform that is actually “social.”

like me sell the real stuff it makes it harder for our business because why would you buy a $200 shirt when you can buy a $20 one at target. I mean since it’s in I see why all these big companies do it but I hate when big companies kind of capitalize on that and try to take that business away

from the real stuff.” I think that’s the hardest part about being in this business especially selling clothes that are so loved and trendy, everyone wants to have them and the lower the prices the better but we need to consider who is selling the real things and not just copying for their benefit.

The Industry that Repeats Itself

BY VALERIA POLANCO Everyone has their idea of what fashion is and what it looks like, but we can all agree that recycled fashion has and will continue to be a truth within the ever-evolving industry.

Recycled fashion is bringing back old trends that were forgotten or just went out of style. Right now a lot of those clothes are mom jeans, chunky sneakers, flared pants, vintage shirts, and many more from the 70s to the early 2000s.

A small business owner in the world of vintage fashion, Britney Cotledge, says, “I love where fashion is right now and the diversity we have in it,” Britney is the owner of Recycled Teenager found @recycledteenager_vtg. She says,“You can fluctuate too and be in style, one day you can do like a 90’s look and the next day you can do a 70’s trend and still be on top of fashion and going through those different eras.” You don’t necessarily have to invent new things to be on-trend because you can dive into old trends and eras. Britney says she is very content with the current state of fashion. She is a big fan of

all the 90’s looks and it’s also doing well for her business. “When I first started back in like 2016, 90’s trends were somewhat popular like the little plastic chokers and the high waisted shorts but then kind of left main street fashion and markets weren’t as active as they are right now like you can see on Tiktok, people love going to the Melrose trading post, it’s good for business. I’m selling a lot right now and I’m very grateful for it,” she continues saying, “I don’t want it to change, it’s awesome that the clothes that I sell are super in style and high demand, I love it.”

Just like we’ve seen before, fashion is constantly evolving and changing, trends that were popular last year could be forgotten this year, and trends like mom jeans and vintage clothes could be out of style next year.

To this point, Britney said “Absolutely, I feel like fashion is the most progressive industry in the world, one day this can be it, tomorrow there could be a birth of a whole new wave and we’re just gonna have to start rolling with that but things are constantly coming and going so I think it can fade away but I hope it doesn’t.”

I was very interested to know if there’s a dark side to all this and when Britney “I don’t like when big corporations try to copy vintage clothing and try to make it super mainstream like when you see target selling sailor moon shirts for like $20-$30 it’s just a little annoying because when people

10 | LIFESTYLE

MARCH 5, 2021

Claudia Conway Seeks Emancipation

MeBERE

BY EMMA KING Claudia Conway, daughter of political figure Kellyanne Conway and conservative lawyer George Conway, shocked the internet by publicly disagreeing with her parents’ view on politics. She came on live with the shocking news that she wanted emancipation from her parents.

Claiming that they have abused her.

With her mother being such an infamous political figure, those claims have weight behind them. Allegations like that could lead straight to

court. Besides already being in the public eye, due to her high profile parents, Claudia has amassed a huge following on TikTok. Her account has more than one-point seven million followers. On her platform, she has been vocal about the abuse she has received from her parents over her 16 years.

On January 25, 2021, Kellyanne allegedly posted a topless photo of Claudia on Twitter. Kellyanne shared a picture of her topless daughter by using the new Fleets feature which deletes posts after a twenty-four-

hour period. That Monday on TikTok Claudia confirmed that those pictures were authentic. In her videos, Claudia stated, “I’m assuming my mom took a picture of it to use against me one day and then somebody hacked her or something,” she said. “I’m literally at a loss for words.

If you see it, report it.” In another TikTok, she states, “nobody would ever have any photo like that, ever.

So, Kellyanne, you’re going to f****g jail.” The week before this incident happened Claudia posted a series of TikTok videos saying she was seeking

emancipation from her parents over alleged “trauma and abuse”.

Kellyanne has said some really questionable things about sexual harassment and about Donald Trump in her opinion “honorable moral standards”. In Claudia’s position, I understand how hard it would be to grow up in a household where you’re constantly at battle with differences in opinions and differences in politics. I also know how hard it is to argue and disagree with family members who are stubbornly set in their ways, and I’m sure many members of

Gen Z have shared in that frustration.

Claudia’s TikTok showed that she openly endorsed Biden. She also has supported the BLM movement and she has been open about coming out as bisexual to her TikTok followers.

When she tried to come out to her family they didn’t take her seriously and instantly shot her down.

In the past, Kellyanne has stated that “Jacked women can stop men from raping them.” According to The Cut “When Chris Cuomo questioned Conway about Trump’s endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by eight women, she defended him by saying, “The president has tremendous moral standards.”

According to Variety, in recent TikTok videos, Claudia Conway urged people to “stop calling authorities.”

She said that she and her mother will be “taking a break from social media” and will work on their relationship.

Claudia emphasized that making threats against her family also puts her in danger. “I know that my mom would never, ever post anything to hurt me like that intentionally, and I do believe she was hacked.”

It’s unclear if she’s in a dangerous position. The problem with social media is it draws a lot of unwanted attention to a situation. In her case, it has probably only made the situation worse. Her family matters, what is so publicized, should be handled privately. Other people argue that she has to do this publicly and the only way to be free from her parents is to expose them and get help from the public. Besides that, she is still consistently posting on TikTok. I would recommend readers keep updated on her situation, keep researching, and keep showing interest.

Hannibal Lecter… but Real?

BY MIA TALAUGON Armie Hammer is a well-known actor who has starred in many movies such as Call Me By Your Name, Mirror Mirror, Entourage, and many more. However, his career in show business may be coming to an end.

In early January multiple screenshots of messages sent in October 2016 and October 2020 claiming to be from Armie Hammer went viral. The messages contained different fantasies that involved domination and cannibalism as well as Hammer admitting to being “100% a cannibal.” Insider. com says that he has denied all of the rumors. However, Hammer was recently dropped by two projects with his agency and his publicist dropped him as well. Twitter users have linked Hammer to three murder cases and suspect that he is a potential serial killer. Cops have shot this rumor down, claimed that he is not a suspect, and there are no plans to investigate him.

While all of these rumors were going around, Armie Hammer’s exwife, Elizabeth Chambers, posted on Instagram saying “For weeks, I’ve been trying to process everything that has transpired. I am shocked, heartbroken, and devastated. Heartbreak aside, I am listening, and will continue to listen and educate myself on these delicate matters. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know. I support any victim of assault or abuse

and urge anyone who has experienced this pain to seek the help she or he needs to heal.

At this time, I will not be commenting further on this matter. My sole focus and attention will continue to be on our children, on my work and on healing during this incredibly difficult time. Thank you for all of the love and support, and thank you in advance for your continued kindness, respect, and consideration for our children and me as we find ways to move forward.” Hammer’s Fox News ex-girlfriend Paige Lorenze came forward and started talking about what FoxNews called Hammer’s “demonic” ways. Lorenze told Fox News that Hammer once shared his desire to eat her ribs. Lorenze also shared photographs of a scar she has of the letter “A” that Hammer cut into her body. Along with sharing her scar she also alleged that Hammer was obsessed with biting and leaving marks on her. She told Fox News, “He had knives, rope,

paddles, clothespins, he would use a wooden spoon, whatever he could get his hands on.” Lorenze was not the only ex-girlfriend of Hammers to speak out. Multiple women who were victims of Hammer claim that he has said a lot of the same things to them, and they have all shared similar experiences.

Mid-pandemic and mid-divorce last year Armie Hammer suddenly began working in construction. He

was unemployed, in between jobs, and working on a hotel in the middle of the desert. During the sixth month of his employment on January 31, about 10-15 minutes away from the construction site, the remains of three women were found. A spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff debunked the rumors and told The U.S.Sun that the two events were not related in any way however they have not identified the bodies of

the women.

The story of Armie Hammer unveils more as the days pass. Hammer refuses to say any more about the claims but not many movie producers are willing to hire him and he cannot find many jobs due to the situation. A couple of months ago everyone thought he was just a handsome actor with a family, but after all this, many people say they can’t look at Hammer the same way.

MARCH 5, 2021

Why To Wong Foo is a Must Watch Movie

BY ALEXA COBIAN SIMON In the film, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, it highlights the hardships and joys that come with being a drag queen.

To Wong Foo stars Patrick Swayze as Vida, Wesley Snipes as Noxeema, and John Leguizamo as Chi-Chi. The reason why I point out the cast is that these three men are well-known names and for them to be acting as drag queens, especially in the 90s, is a huge deal. Swayze was a symbol of sex and masculinity at the time so seeing him in this kind of role was shocking.

I imagine when the movie came out it was labeled as “scandalous” because of how the LGBTQ+ community was perceived, and how it was not often represented in a good light.

I think a contributing factor as to why the LGBTQ+ community was

seen the way they were was because of the AIDS epidemic. Due to the misinformation on how HIV and AIDS spread and where the virus came from, the LGBTQ+ community suffered the most. The majority of people assumed that only gay people could contract the virus, and that it would also spread by skin to skin contact. We now know that’s not true, but during those times, those types of rumors negatively affected the LGBTQ+ community. In the 90’s Princess Diana changed the public’s outlook on AIDS when she shook the hand of an AIDS patient without her gloves on.

In the movie, there are times where Vida, Noxeema, and Chi-Chi have experiences that are hilarious and heartwarming, like when Noxeema bonds with a little old lady because of their love for movie stars. Nevertheless, some moments brought you back to

reality. For example, there’s a pretty upsetting scene where all 3 of them get pulled over by a cop. Noxeema and Chi-Chi get called slurs, and then the cop sexually assaults Vida. It’s a reality that the LGBTQ+ community, unfortunately, had to and still deals with.

Overall, To Wong Foo is a whirlwind of emotions. This film was groundbreaking in the sense that it starred very masculine men portraying drag queens, especially during a time when homosexuality and men expressing feminine mannerisms were extremely taboo and very much frowned upon.

I’m really glad I looked into this movie after it came up on my TikTok For You Page. The endless scrolling for hours paid off. So, if you’re looking for something to watch, I strongly recommend To Wong Foo.

To Wong Foo

No Pardon for Joe Exotic

BY EMMA KING The name that has been circling the internet for months is “Joe Exotic”, the infamous Tiger King. Joe has been in a constant swarm of scandal and crime. He originally got famous for his feature in the Netflix show Tiger King. Currently Joe Exotic is in jail because of the convictions that follow: “two counts of murder for hire, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act for falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act”- U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing. He is currently serving twenty-two years at a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas.

The rumor that Joe Exotic was getting pardoned started as an Instagram post that turned into a national assumption. On January 19, 2021, George Resch posted a photo with the caption, “Trump to pardon Tiger King star Joe Exotic before he exits office.” The photo now is deleted, but before it was deleted it amassed 52,000 likes. According to the USA Today, “Resch said he made the post before the rumor went around that Joe Exotic might be pardoned. He said the post was “100% intended to be a joke.”

The most bizarre part of this whole situation is everybody believed that Trump had every intention to let Joe Exotic go. Joe Exotic’s private investigator Eric Love was the leader of the plan to free Joe. According to The Dallas Morning News, on January 19, Love stated that “We disproved the government’s case, we have laid it all out on the line, we know that Pres-

ident.

Trump has targeted himself like Joe,” Love also stated that, “The pardon will drop today.” Love was so sure that Joe would get pardoned that he hired a limo that was waiting to pick up Joe from prison. He was also sure Exotic would get pardoned because Love said, “Donald Trump Jr. is a fan of the show” and because “some people are behind the scenes.” Fortunately, after that rumor circulated it was fact-checked and Joe Exotic did not get pardoned by Trump. He still is going to have to serve the rest of his 22-year sentence.

At the end of Donald Trump’s time in office, he pardoned 74 people and commuted the sentences of 70 others. This list of 143 people includes political allies, high profile criminals, and unknown figures. Kodak Black, Lil Wayne, Desiree Perez, and Michael Harris are some of the rappers who were pardoned of their criminal charges. Presidential clemency is used to help the wrongfully accused or to grant people mercy. Before it was a power that should never be abused, but like the other aspects of Trump’s presidency, he abused his power once again.

I’m happy to say that all of this is in America’s past. We are entering a new year and hopefully, it will be better than the past years. I’m looking forward to putting Joe Exotic in the back of my mind (where he will be for the next 20 years). If you’ve been living under a rock and didn’t see Tiger King at the beginning of lockdown, you can learn more about the infamy of Joe Exotic on Netflix.

NBC News

LIFESTYLE | 11

12 | SPORTS

MARCH 5, 2021

Golf, Tennis, Other Sports Starting Soon!

Fall Sports Playoffs Cancelled

BY MIGUEL UNZUETA

SantaBarbara.com

BY ANDRE BATTLE With COVID-19, vaccines, political drama, and trying to get back to a sense of normalcy, school feels heavy, boring, and too much at times. All of us just want to go back to a “normal” life. For the past few months, athletes have been getting hit, arguably, the hardest as there seems to be no chance that they will have anything close to a season. Fall sports were scheduled to begin their season in the upcoming months. But, like the rest of the world, our school’s sports programs have figured out a way around these troubles, and are doing the best they can to have a chance of getting their seasons back. It turns out that

they are much closer than some people may think.

Obviously, sports that are mainly outdoors are easier to practice and adapt to this “new normal” which is filled with less strict guidelines than those played indoors. However, as it turns out, many of the fall sports are looking very strong right now as far as practices go, such as golf and tennis. Both sports are relatively individual, practice-wise, as not many players need to share equipment and can maintain social distancing. It is also a plus that both golf and tennis can practice on golf courses and tennis courts with little problems, due to their outdoor location and wide areas, This does not mean that not all sports are practicing at this time, almost every High School sport is

practicing right now, it is just that it is harder for those general sports to follow the guidelines due to their circumstances.

As of right now, with the COVID-19 number continuing to increase, there will most likely not be a season for any public high school in Santa Barbara county. This is a big deal as many of the senior student-athletes are relying on their sports to have a season in order for them to get a full paid tuition with an athletic scholarship, and colleges are mainly scouting during high schooler’s senior year. With no season, there is little chance that a lot of these players will have a chance at getting a scholarship. Nevertheless, there is still hope that a vaccine, with numerous in the making, can be given to those in need, and it will be safe

for student-athletes to have a senior season, which is the hope of almost every senior athlete as this is their last season at the high school before they leave for college.

Practicing six feet apart, not being able to share equipment, and not having any sort of competitions with other high schools can be a pain for all athletes, but if we continue to wear our masks, avoid large gatherings, and the COVID-19 cases decrease by a large amount, our county can go back to a “normal,” one where we can return to school, have sports, and get our lives back. Until then, all high school sports programs will be stuck training in the way that we are now, and nobody will end up having a season, which not a single person wants.

CIF Updates Sport’s Tiers

BY MIGUEL UNZUETA Recently the CIF(California Interscholastic Federation)has made some major changes in all sports that are trying to put a season together for high school athletes. Unfortunately due to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Santa Barbara County, it is becoming increasingly challenging for this to be a reality.

The new tiers are based on the amount of contact for any respective sport. The level colored tiers include; purple, which includes cross country,

swimming, and diving, golf, tennis, and track and field. The red tier includes; baseball, girls lacrosse, and softball. The orange tier includes; football, boys lacrosse, boys and girls soccer, volleyball, and water polo.

The final tier, yellow, includes; basketball, competitive cheerleading, and wrestling.

Santa Barbara County suffered a setback when it was moved from the red tier to the purple tier. The reality is that in order for football and volleyball to begin the competition those sports would have to move

down two levels from the purple tier (widespread cases) to the orange tier (moderate cases).

The task to be in the proper tier may seem daunting, but the effort to do our part is the epitome of teamwork. Wearing a mask, avoiding social gatherings, social distancing, and sanitizing your hands should be a part of our daily playbook. High school sports are an important part of the high school experience, for students and athletes. Let’s hope our efforts make it happen despite all the challenges ahead.

Recently, the CIF Southern Section unfortunately cancelled all fall sports playoffs and championships due to the ongoing pandemic.

Sports that are in the fall include football, girls volleyball, and both boys and girls water polo. Currently Santa Barbara County is in the purple tier, and for fall sports to be able to have a season, we would have to be able to get to the orange tier by a certain time. Unfortunately, not enough progress has been made in order to have postseasons for all fall sports. There is simply not enough time for league play and championships or else they would eventually overlap into the winter and spring sports. Winter and spring sports are still on schedule for their regular season, including league and postseason completion.

Now that there are no CIF Southern Section Championships, CIF Regional, or State Championships in place, these fall sports are hoping to continue on these given dates: boys and girls cross country on Saturday, March 27th, 2021; 8-man football on Saturday, April 3rd, 2021; 11-man football on Saturday, March 20th, 2021; and lastly girls volleyball and boys and girls Water Polo on Saturday, March 20th, 2021.

In order for play to resume, the school community would need to come together to help bring the number of cases down so that spring sports doesn’t end up in the same situation that fall sports is going through right now. This is possible if people wear their masks, social distance, and avoid social gatherings. As a community, Santa Barbara is strong enough to come together as one to avoid other cancellations that could unfortunately leave student athletes without their passions that make them happy in their high school careers.

State of California

Athlete of the Month: Elena Everest

BY ANDRE BATTLE Elena Everest, who has always had a passion for running since she was a little kid, runs both cross country and does track and field. She has done both of these competitively for only her 3 high school years and came into the sports with no experience with them, but she fell in love with the sports immediately and has worked hard on her skills ever since her first practice. Not only has she exceeded above and beyond the competition, but she has managed to earn her spot on the varsity team for both track and field and cross country. She finds her inspiration in her teammates and lifting others up to the top with her.

She has a goal of running competitively, whether that is track and field or cross country, but that is not her

main priority, as she has bigger goals for her future.

COVID-19 has affected us all in major ways but hit talented student-athletes very hard as well. Everest talked about how “COVID-19 has moved our cross country season about 6 months later so our training schedule has been a bit off and we will no longer have an offseason between track and cross country. Our cross country team is significantly smaller this year because not everyone comes to practice and those that do are split into smaller groups. Training is harder than usual because of these different groups, so we don’t always have someone [at] our pace/speed to push us in our workouts.” She hopes that everything can go back to normal, and she can practice with her friends, teammates, and coaches all together

instead of having to split people into groups like they are now.

Santa Barbara’s first cross country meet will be on February 27th. When asked if she was nervous about the upcoming meets, she replied, “I am a little nervous about the upcoming meets, but not as much as usual. There is less pressure this year because we are only going to have a few meets and we will only be competing against one team at a time.”

COVID-19 messed up her whole season, and even if she can still run, it won’t be as exciting and compelling as in past years. She is still happy that she can run through. The only change that CIF has regulated due to COVID-19 for cross country runners is that they must keep a mask on if they are running close to other people, once the race gets going and

people start to spread apart, they can pull their masks down.

Everest is not only an athletic machine, but she is also skilled with a pencil and paper. She finished her last semester with a 4.54-grade point average, as she took almost all AP classes and still had time to manage her practices and get her homework in on time. Everest is extremely excited to finally have a chance to run again, as it has been almost a year since the last competitive meet she had, which was in track and field last school year. She hopes that after the cross country season, she will be able to have a successful track season as well. We wish her a great rest of her school year and athletic career in the future.

Elena Everest