Facebook Leak p. 5 | Asian Hate Crimes p. 5 | Dear Zombie Apocalypse, I Love You p. 6 | Taylor Swift Rerecords p. 9
Vol. 107 No. 3
SANTA BARBARA HIGH SCHOOL - FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2021 Who is the Best Vocalist in Pop?
Masks, Vaccines, and Testing Define New Normal
Our music critic breaks it down, from | p. 7
Sports testing finds more cases, but vaccinations expand | p. 3
Est. 1914 Theme Parks Reopen Many SoCal attractions are now open for reservations only | p. 4
One Last Ride
Dons finally get their sports season, albeit abridged and bittersweet | pg. 12
REOPENING
Santa Barbara Enters Orange Tier More businesses able to reopen as COVID cases continue to decline in SB County | p. 2
THE FORGE MAGAZINE
I Never Wanted to Die Students respond to Dorianne Laux’s poem and reflect on a year of uncertainty | p. 6
sbhsforge.com
Artist of the Month:
Controversy Around
Rowan Dowdall
the Term Latinx
This VADA sophomore’s creativity surged during quarantine. Learn about his new song and clothing brand! | p. 5
Our opinion writer breaks down the fiercely debated word and what it means for identity | p. 8 Miguel Unzueta Sr.
2 | NEWS
THE FORGE STAFF
APRIL 30, 2021
Santa Barbara Enters Orange Tier
Spring 2021
700 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, CA 93103 sbhsforge.com admin@sbhsforge.com
EDITORS EDITOR-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 Charlie Hess Mia Huerta Zoe Husted Emma King Harper Locatelli Carlo Maguire Marko Mendoza Gabriela Miranda Barreto Valeria Polanco Lujan Charley Raymond Jesus Reynoso Sebastian Salcido Mia Talaugon Miguel Unzueta Deva Villa-Salcedo
ADVISOR
Joanne Cloutier
State of California BY CATHERINE HARLOW On Tuesday, April 20, Santa Barbara County advanced to the orange tier after being stuck in the red tier for several weeks. The orange tier allows more capacity in businesses and public places. The majority of California counties are in the orange tier at the moment. There are four stages in the whole COVID reopening process: the worst is purple, the widespread tier, where almost everything non-essential is closed. Red is second-worst, meaning some of the non-essential businesses are still closed. The tier we are in at the moment, orange, means some of the indoor businesses are open with modifications. The final tier, yellow calls for most or all indoor businesses to be open with modifications. With the county opening up, retail stores
will be able to open at 100% capacity, Movie theaters can open at 50% capacity, Hotel facilities will be allowed to reopen along with gyms at 25% capacity. The county has seen a 21% decrease in active cases from April 5 to 19, which allowed the county to open more. For example, a maximum of 25 people were allowed to gather in the red tier, but in the orange tier, the maximum has been brought up to 50, since the county has been slowly decreasing in cases. Private events can have 100 people outdoors, or 300 if they all have negative COVID-19 tests or vaccinations, along with indoor private events being allowed to have 150 people with proof of negative tests or being vaccinated. Since moving to the orange tier, around 52% of the Santa Barbara County population has at least had their first shot, along with 29% hav-
ing been fully vaccinated, which is great for the higher possibility of being able to move faster towards the lowest yellow tier. The number of cases is decreasing so fast that advancing to the orange tier is safe and a responsible choice for the county. Within the clinics, they allow between 50-250 appointments per day. This allows for more vaccinations to occur, making the county as safe as possible. To reach the next tier, the minimally restrictive yellow tier, the county has to remain in the current tier assignment for three whole weeks. The county Public Health Department released new guidelines for businesses within the orange tier late on Tuesday, April 20 which officially went Wednesday, at 8 a.m. COVID-19 vaccinations were opened up to everyone aged 16 and up in Santa Barbara County on April
9, six days ahead of the state’s schedule for distribution. The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine being administered to 16 and 17-year-olds since the other 2 vaccines have not been approved for underage recipients. So far, about 45% of Californians have gotten at least one dose so far, which will help slow the spread of COVID. With 28.7 million doses administered, hopefully, soon enough a majority of California will be fully vaccinated. The more people vaccinated, the faster we will be able to open the state up to more activities and businesses. This will also help us get to the yellow minimal tier, with most indoor businesses fully open with modifications.
Together At Last With the A and B cohorts now combined, the Forge has been starting to feel more like its old self. Many of our new writers got to experience the buzz of the newsroom for the first time, and old faces were always a sight for sore eyes. We have also been able to distribute papers on campus again. As is tradition, we arrive early in the morning with a fresh stack of papers delivered straight from our print shop in Los Angeles. While we used to hand them directly to you, out of an abundance of caution, you can find them in stacks in most of your classrooms. Take one or take a few for friends and family. We’re honored to be able to serve this school back on its historic campus again. We hope to see you around as we cover how the current situation continues to develop, and we approach the end of a very strange school year and a very strange year in general. Sincerely, Emerson Steady Karissa Fields Joanne Cloutier
NEWS | 3
APRIL 30, 2021
Santa Barbara High School Adjusts to New Normal
Emerson Steady BY EMERSON STEADY With students back on campus four days a week and Santa Barbara County firmly in the Orange Tier, students are adjusting to a new kind of normal. This is Santa Barbara High School as it has never been before. Students wear masks and desks are spaced out three feet in classrooms. While some students still forget their mandatory lanyards that must be worn around campus, everyone has gotten used the entry process each morning, where students must have their Crisis Go badges ready to present. Overall these safety measures have seemed to prove very effective, and as more and more students and staff get vaccinated, the level of safety on campus continues to increase. We have reached a very strange point in this pandemic where students are beginning to return to their regular routines as conditions improve, but the threat of virus transmission still always looms. Although community-wide and state-wide, positive COVID tests per capita are at some of the lowest levels in the nation, many parents have also recently noticed an uptick in the number of notifications they receive for positive COVID tests of students on campus. However, this tends to be more of a matter of testing and not actually the situation on campus. According to Roxanna Stern, Teacher Induction Coordinator for Santa Barbara Unified School District and a point of contact for COVID testing in the school district, the return to campus has also happened to align with an increase in youth sports competition. Many sports teams have only finally gotten the chance to play in the past few months, after a long period of on-campus training. How-
ever, when athletes compete, they are required by SB Unified to receive a COVID test. More testing leads to more cases being found which means that parents receive more messages about on-campus cases. Stern said that “A number of our athletes that we are testing are asymptomatic, […] but they have to test routinely to participate in sports and then COVID is being detected.” When COVID is detected, the district nurses led by head nurse Liz Christen determine who students may have been in close contact with. The CDC defines close contact as being within six feet of someone for more than 15 minutes. While this is one of the tools that the district uses, Stern said that they also have their own set of questions and metrics to determine who may actually be at risk and who will have to quarantine. Of course, new CDC guidance allows desks to be spaced three feet apart in classrooms because studies have found that this is still a safe distance for students to maintain. However, this is just the distance that is used as a mitigation effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When a case is detected, the more stringent six feet guidance is generally used. When it comes to cases on campus though, there has been very little, if any, on-campus spread. If three cases were to be found to be linked together, it would be considered an outbreak and more actions would be taken to determine the safety of the school environment. So far though, there has only been one case of student to student transmission district-wide. Another part of the campus safety equation is vaccinations. On April 9, Santa Barbara County began allowing all residents 16 and older to get vaccinated. While the Johnson and
Johnson and Moderna shots are only approved for adults, the Pfizer vaccine is available to 16 year olds. This is purely because it’s the only vaccine that included 16 year olds in its clinical trials. Many 16, 17, and 18 year old students have already been vaccinated for a multitude of reasons. Notably, CDC guidelines allow fully vaccinated individuals to gather indoors without masks with other vaccinated individuals. Fully vaccinated is defined as two weeks after the second dose in a two-dose series (i.e., Pfizer and Moderna) or two weeks after the one-dose Johnson and Johnson shot. For many students who have been unable to properly see their friends for over a year, this has been a moment of great excitement. While students who work in food-service or other essential industries have been able to get vaccinated for a while, many more are just now reaching that fully vaccinated threshold. Having many vaccinated students on campus is also good for everyone else’s safety. While it’s unclear if COVID can spread through fully vaccinated individuals, the more people that are vaccinated, the closer we are to herd immunity. This is the point at which COVID runs out of people to infect, and we see case rates drop dramatically. While only about half of students at Santa Barbara High School are currently able to get a shot, Pfizer is looking to expand its availability to 12 through 15 year olds in the next few months. This means that theoretically all students could be vaccinated by the start of the school year next year. With so much changing so quickly, the school district has refrained from making hard plans for the 2021-2022 school year. They plan to once again welcome students back to classes, this time for 5 days a week. Students who
wish to will also be able to remain online, but it probably will not resemble the current mix of in-person and Zoom learning that is happening in our classrooms right now. Most likely, masks will still be an important part of this situation as the virus does continue to percolate at least somewhat. A survey was recently sent out to determine who may plan to study fully online in the next school year. Another issue is that federal, state, and local governments have not produced guidance for next school year yet. Without this crucial information, the school district can’t know what they are legally able to do and what is safe for everyone involved. However, SB Unified Superintendent Hilda Maldonado and members of the district’s COVID response team are in constant contact with local public health officials. The main thing Christen said that she has heard is simply that we can’t make any predictions. There are too many variables and the situation continues to evolve
Amaazon
quickly. As we get closer to that goal of herd immunity though, Christen said that we have better chances of returning to what people call “normal.” Although restrictions are beginning to lift, and Governor Gavin Newsom plans for a “full reopening” of the state by June 15, it’s important that people continue to keep their guards up. A majority of Santa Barbara County’s population has now been at least partially vaccinated, but many vulnerable people remain unprotected. Large gatherings should still be avoided and masks should be worn in public, even after the state reopens. This has certainly been a year unlike any other, but we do appear to be nearing the end. If people continue to do their part, and everyone, including students, get vaccinated when they are eligible to, this school year will soon be an archaic story that is passed on, rather than a hard reality that students must continue to endure.
4 | NEWS
A Royal Loss
APRIL 30, 2021
Amusement Parks Reopen
BY SABRINA CRUZ
Weeks have now passed after the death of Prince Philip, who had a wonderful and long life. He was a prominent figure for all supportive husbands of powerful women and used to like describing himself as a professional unveiler. He was a very successful man in the British navy which he had to give up for his wife when she was crowned queen. They were married for seventy-three years .He was 99 when he died After the death of the Queen’s long time husband of seventy-three years many questions arose about the Queen’s reign and if she was going to continue her duties or pass them along to the next in line but people are even questioning weather the crown will even go to Prince Charles because he is not very popular with the public and is a divorcee who is also married to a divorced women with whom he had a very public affair with during his previous marriage to Princess Diana. It seems that in light of the Prince‘s death Is already preparing and transitioning into the job he has been preparing for since he was brought into this world . The Queen does not plan on retiring but she has been relieved of some of her duties and stays mostly in Windsor castle where she was quarantined with her late husband. The line of succession to the British throne is the order in which the crown would go if someone who was supposed to get the crown dies or dies during their reign. Because Prince Phillip died his title of The Duke of Edinburgh goes to Prince Charles. When the Queen dies the Royal title of Queen and King would go to Prince Charles and Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall. When he dies to his oldest child Prince William and then to his oldest child and so on and so forth. The law was traditionally the oldest son but the law was changed on the twenty-sixth of March 2015. People born after the date October 28,2011 the line of succession is only decided by age. You can also be excluded from the Royal line of succession if you are Catholic or an illegitimate child. The most historically prominent moment in history when someone was excluded from the Royal line of succession was when King Henry declared his marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon illegal therefore making their child illegitimate and preventing her from succeeding the throne. There are many intricacies to being a part of the Royal family and probably lots of pressure. The Queen lost a husband and their children a father so we should let them mourn the loss of a beloved figure in their lives. And respect the privacy they seek during this difficult time.
Disney Parks BY MIA TALAUGON The secretary of California Health and Human Services Mark Ghaly announced that on March 5th, they were changing the state’s blueprint for a safer economy and allowing amusement parks to open at a 15% capacity in the red tier and a larger percentage in less restrictive tiers beginning April 19th. Immediately all the amusement park fans were thrilled and the parks started to set up for their opening. Disneyland and California Adventure will open to the public on April 30th following all the COVID guidelines. Universal Studios Hollywood will reopen on April 16th. Six Flags Magic Mountain is now open and you can attend the park with a reservation, however they are only allowing California residents to visit. Knott’s Berry Farm plans to reopen May 21st and season passholders may enter as soon as May 6 with the park’s new reservations system. LEGOLAND California and LEGO CHIMA Water Park reopened on April 15. Disneyland has announced that not all rides and attractions will be open due to COVID. These rides are Animation Academy, Boudin Bakery Tour, Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, Chip ’N Dale Treehouse, Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes, Disneyland Monorail, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Donald’s Boat, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Frontierland Shootin’ Exposition, Golden Zephyr, Goofy’s Playhouse, Grizzly River Run, Jungle Cruise, Main Street Cinema, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Mickey’s House/ Meet Mickey, Minnie’s House, Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Red Car Trolley, Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, Sailing Ship Columbia, Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, Sorcerer’s Workshop, Star Wars Launch Bay, and Storybook Land Canal Boats. Most of the rides are closed because they are indoor-only. However Astro Blasters and the Matterhorn are listed as “closed for refurbishment.” The Jungle Cruise is closed so that Disney can renovate it to remove culturally insensitive depictions. Another fa-
mous spot that will be modified is the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where many princesses and princes got fairytale makeovers which will be open for merchandise purchases only. Most of Six Flags Magic Mountain’s rides are opened, however BATMAN The Ride, CraZanity, and The Looney Tunes Lodge are temporarily closed and do not have a date set to allow riders on. At Universal Studios Hollywood most rides are operating however like the other parks some are closed to comply with health restrictions such as DreamWorks TheaterFeaturing Kung Fu Panda, The Simpson’s Rides, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Ollivander’s, WaterWorld, Special Effects Show, DinoPlay, and Super Silly Fun Land play areas, however the Silly Swirly Fun Ride is open. There are two new rides for guests to enjoy: a new Secret Life of Pets ride and a new Jurassic World attraction as well. Knott’s Berry Farm has not announced which rides will be open or closed, however they announced that in honor of the 100th year anniversary of the park, guests will be able to enjoy a brand new Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair ride that is going to be a 4-D interactive and pays a tribute to the classic attraction from 35 years ago. Lastly the rides that are temporarily closed at LEGOLAND California are Dune Raiders, Kid Power Tower, LEGOLAND Express, LEGO CITY: Deep Sea Adventure, The Hideaways, Pharaoh’s Revenge, and DUPLO Playtown. Zoos and Aquariums are also announcing their opening dates at this time. SeaWorld San Diego is currently operating and almost all the rides are open, but the rides that have remained closed are Skytower and Tidal Twister. There are five new rides that will be coming to SeaWorld San Diego. There are two high thrill ones that are called Manta and Journey to Atlantis. The two medium thrill rides are named Riptide Rescue and Shipwreck Rapids. The last one being built is Bayside Skyride which is a low thrill ride. Shipwreck Rapids and Journey to Atlantis are both water rides. San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are both open but now require res-
ervations or dated tickets like most parks do. The zoo has also temporarily closed the Botanical Tours, Guided Bus Tours, Kangaroo Bus, they have shut down all the shows that take place in the theaters and are indoors, the 4D theater, Animal encounters and feeding the animals, play areas, and the Balboa park miniature train. However the attractions that are still open are the inside look tours, Animals in Action Experience,The Early Morning Cheetah Experience, Discovery Cart Tour, and Crazy About Cats. While remaining in a red, yellow, or orange tier, these are the guidelines you must follow to attend one of the parks. All parks have stated that every guest older than two years old must wear a mandatory face covering unless they have a medical condition, are hearing impaired and the mouth is essential for a conversation, or wearing a face covering would create a risk to the person related to their work as determined by local, state or federal regulators or workplace safety guidelines. People who are seated at a restaurant or other establishment that offers food or drink also don’t have to mask while they are eating or drinking, however they must be able to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet away from persons who are not members of the same household or residence. Your face covering must also remain on in photos. The park suggests that people exempted from wearing a face covering due to a medical condition, who are employed in a job involving regular contact with others should wear a non-restrictive alternative such as a face shield with a drape on the bottom edge as long as their condition allows it. Until further notice, the parks are only open to California residents/ The parks will in force this is by the ticket reservation using geocoding and GPS data to determine where the visitor is buying the tickets from. The reopening guidelines have allowed theme parks to sell tickets at the ticket booths but all ticket sales require contact information such as a name and phone number for contact tracing. The ticket booths may be open, but that does not mean that theme parks will have tickets available at the ticket booths.
It is recommended to buy your tickets in advance because of the capacity limits. The park could sell out and have full reservations in advance. Guests may not eat or drink anything in the queue, and eating and drinking are only allowed in designated areas. Theme parks may discontinue the use of equipment lent to guests unless it can be properly disinfected after each use. The height check stations will be touch free. There will be no single-rider lines and indoor rides are restricted to 15 minutes. Everyone that is going to be riding in a vehicle together must all be in a family together. Outdoor entertainment must have physical distancing as well as characters maintaining 6 feet distance between them and guests. If you rent out a locker you must stay a safe distance in the locker area. To ensure parking, the entrance and exit areas are marked, monitored, and configured for physical distancing and to prevent congregating and any big crowds. Guests are going to be encouraged to consider alternative queueing, directional entry and exit for show areas, and make purchases online or through an app. Governor Gavin Newsom has limited the guests in the park to just be California residents, however he is allowing parks to have fully vaccinated visitors from out of state. Disneyland and Universal Studios are still only allowing the California residents just to have less people in and out of the park and keep others safe. SeaWorld however is letting vaccinated out of state visitors in. The other parks have not announced their plans yet. Every amusement park is limiting the groups to a household unit and discontinuing tours that combine multiple groups of families. You may have heard that parks are trying to limit screaming on rides, though the California Attractions and Parks Association has never recommended limiting yelling or screaming on amusement park rides. The theme parks are doing everything they can so their guests can have a safe and enjoyable experience, and they hope that soon they can fully reopen all attractions and have guests from all over come visit the park.
Artist of the Month: Rowan
Rowan Dowdall
Rowan Dowdall is a sophomore in VADA at SBHS. He is currently working on creating music and a clothing brand. He recently released a song called Don’t Go and is soon going to be coming out with his own brand “Mezzanine Soleil”. He comes from a musical family where they all play many instruments. However, he was never very interested and didn’t get into it until a few years ago when he decided to pick up the guitar. After learning to play he learned a couple of other instruments including bass and drums, along with learning about music production. He started to write his song Don’t Go at the very beginning of quarantine because he felt like he was losing a lot of friends, and he knew that many other people were going through the same struggles. He felt that he wanted to share and talk to someone but he had no one to talk to.
533 Million Facebook Accounts Leaked BY JESUS REYNOSO
Dowdall
BY CHARLEY RAYMOND
NEWS | 5
APRIL 30, 2021
However, he created the lyrics more abstractly so the meaning can change for each person and can be interpreted in many different ways. His inspirations for music are mainly tv shows and pop culture from the ’90s, he’s gotten interested in different genres from that time. He also loves sampling intros and other things like that for his music. For a long time, he “despised every aspect of fashion”. He would buy the most basic and tattered up clothing he could find. He then began to get more into fashion and figuring out how to make things look unique. He learned to draw and do art through VADA and began to put it on his clothes after learning how to screenprint. He showed it off to his friends and family and they all loved his work and wanted to buy it. He had never considered starting a business but the good reactions from others made him want to start. I asked about the name of his
brand name “Mezzanine Soleil”, he explained that “Mezzanine” is the name of his favorite album and “Soleil” means sun in French, the meaning is like the album came from the sun. It’s still early in his artistic journey but he hopes to take his brand “as far as it will go”. He’s currently working on getting his clothing into local stores and promoting it as much as he can including potentially hosting a pop-up show once he launches his website over the summer. He’s trying to be more strategic with his music career and is currently trying to gain a following. He’s trying to put out music consistently, every few months he releases something and promotes it. His end goal is to be able to submit it to a record label and hopefully get a good record deal. Through the interview, I could tell that through his artistic endeavors he strives to create something unique to himself. He’s only a sophomore and already working hard to achieve suc-
You probably haven’t heard this but 533 million Facebook accounts have been leaked. This is due to a very old issue in the Facebook database which allowed some users to leak private and sensitive information. The “bug” was discovered by users on low tier hacking forums and they have been keeping the bug unknown to withdraw as many accounts as they could. On April 11 the bug was discovered by many and was abused. It led to 533 million facebook accounts to be leaked such as emails,passwords,phone numbers,names, etc. Facebook has addressed the breach and has said “In this case, updating the ‘How People Find and Contact You’ control could be helpful. They also recommend people do regular privacy checkups to make sure that their settings are in the right place, including who can see certain information on their profile and enabling two-factor authentication.” That is supposed to mean that we should protect our own security and information rather than let them handle that. They have also stated that the information was already breached a while ago and that it has only become public now. I earlier stated that the exploit has been present since before 2021, so why hasn’t Facebook fixed it? They claimed that the exploit was a part of Facebook settings where it would let you find your friends or relatives and with that method people got random names and put them all in a search so they could get all the information on that person that is public. Also this method is still not patched to this day but a powerful computer is required to just store the information and an even more powerful one is required fr the searches.
Some people have gotten their information stolen but they have deleted their accounts and in Facebook’s TOS (terms of service) states that their information should be deleted. Facebook can keep one’s information for up to three months but there are also reports of people’s information getting leaked after they have deleted their account over five years ago. If this were true then it would be a violation of their TOS and Federal Technology Service (FTS) law. They have already been fined for five billion dollars which states that “Facebook, Inc. will pay a record-breaking $5 billion penalty, and submit to new restrictions and a modified corporate structure that will hold the company accountable for the decisions it makes about its users’ privacy, to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that the company violated a 2012 FTC order by deceiving users about their ability to control the privacy of their personal information.” Many people wonder how they can know if their information is being illegally sold or distributed online. And haveibeenpwned.com is the place to go if you are worried if your information is being distributed they have the biggest database of information that is somewhat public. They only tell you if your information is being distributed. They cannot disclose the information at all but also give tips on how to protect your information from being stolen in the future.
The Increase in Asian Hate Crimes [Opinion]
VOA News BY VALERIA POLANCO LUJAN If you’ve been paying attention to the news and media, you would know that anti Asian attacks have increased tremendously this year. Asians have been verbally and physically attacked simply because of their race. Just a few weeks ago, Jenny Dupuy, a Korean art teacher, was attacked by Jauhar Tajuddin. According to the LA times he was later arrested for suspected hate crime, assault and other charges after punching Dupuy in the stomach and making racial
comments. “Dupuy said she suffered a concussion and fractured shoulder, among other injuries,” according to the LA times. In Brooklyn, New York, a 64 year old woman was pushed to the ground by Joseph Russo, the same man who pushed a 77 year old Asian man and assaulted a woman on March 22nd. He has been arrested for multiple crimes including assault and hate crime but seems like he can’t get enough. The coronavirus has proven to be the reason why these Anti-Asian attacks have increased tremendous-
ly. According to the BBC’s article “Covid ‘hate crimes’ against Asian Americans on rise,” since last year, Anti-Asian attacks have skyrocketed. Just in the months of March through May last year, over 800 anti Asian attacks were reported because of the pandemic. Although numbers aren’t as dramatic this year, these attacks continue to happen. Just in the last few weeks more than 13 videos have gone viral of people harassing Asian people. We can only Imagine all of the crimes that have not been reported. It’s a horrible thing.
I believe that President Donald Trump had a big part when it came to these attacks increasing, whether he realized it or not. Last year when the pandemic was first announced In March 2020, Trump made several racist comments towards Asians, specifically Chinese people, when he referred to the virus as the “China virus” for the first time on Twitter. The tweet was followed by thousands of his supporters using the hashtag “#chinesevirus. “To test their theory, Hswen and other researchers analyzed nearly 700,000 tweets containing the hashtags #covid-19 and #chinesevirus published between March 9 and 23, 2020, corresponding to the week before and the week after Trump’s tweet” according to the Washington post. Clearly, people saw it as a green light to harass people which is not at all what should be happening. I wanted to get a different perspective and especially from someone with an Asian background. I interviewed Thepo Tulku. Thepo was born in Tibet but grew up in India after China invaded Tibet. I started off by asking what he thought caused such an increase in anti Asian hate which he responded by saying that the media and covid 19 was mainly responsible. “Covid-19 was discovered in Wong-Hong and President Trump started using the word China-Virus”
he explained that some people aren’t really educated and see an Asian face and automatically blame them for the virus. Thepo says he doesn’t blame Trump and doesn’t mean to cause harm. “I think he was disappointed because the Communist Chinese government hid the virus, If they communicated better with the world leaders they could’ve controlled the virus better.” As we continue to see these hate crimes increase, I ask that people educate themselves on why it’s wrong to harass people simply because of their race. Asians all over the world are constantly living with fear of being assaulted anywhere and at any time because a false narrative was spread. Asian people were not the cause of this virus and harassing people on the street won’t make it go away. We need to come together at a time like this instead of harassing each other because of our background. “There is no China virus, we’ve had viruses start in other places and we don’t call them African virus or England virus, it has nothing to do with where they come from, they affect the whole world.” Thepo ended by saying we have to focus on overcoming the virus instead of blaming people because he believes the media tried to blame China. Thepo believes we need to come together and stop the hate.
6 | MAGAZINE
APRIL 30, 2021
I Never Wanted to Die Students Respond to a Poem I Never Wanted to Die Dorianne Laux - 1952It’s the best part of the day, morning light sliding down rooftops, treetops, the birds pulling themselves up out of whatever stupor darkened their wings, night still in their throats. I never wanted to die. Even when those I loved died around me, away from me, beyond me. My life was never in question, if for no other reason than I wanted to wake up and see what happened next.
I decided to connect a personal life experience of mine to this poem for this week. This poem discusses themes of undiscovered potential and touches on the fleeting nature of all feelings including grief. The author opens the poem with a discussion of something beautiful--in her case it’s the morning light. She then uses the phrase “I never wanted to die” which is obviously the poem’s title. The subsequent sentence is there to instill the idea of life’s variety. Something simple and beautiful and unappreciated in every day is sometimes enough to step away from whatever ledge one is close to. Jumping off the hypothetical ledge may seem much more difficult. There have been several moments in my life
where the grief, pain, or confusion has seemed overwhelming. (Disclaimer nothing to do with suicide hence the choice of poem). From being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, to moving to three different states within three years, or simply facing the COVID-19 pandemic as a senior in high school, the idea of going to sleep and not getting up in the morning was contemplated in my head. The question of what it would feel like to want to die has flitted across during dull afternoons but just like this author the idea of what comes next kept me excited for the next phases. Life was always precious to me and after the suicide of a girl I regarded as a little sister, it seemed almost frivolous to stay stuck in
moments when life is passing whether I want to stop it or not. The poem closes with “Even the cut flowers in a jar of water lift their soon to be dead heads and open their eyes, even they want a few more sips, to dwell here, in paradise, a few days longer.” I really liked the sentence “soon to be dead” because it showed that life is short, but there’s no need to disregard our short time we do have because someday it will come to an end, we have eternity to rest but right now we should live. -Nikhita Rao
And I continue to want to open like that, like the flowers who lift their heavy heads as the hills outside the window flare gold for a moment before they turn on their sides and bare their creased backs. Even the cut flowers in a jar of water lift their soon to be dead heads and open their eyes, even they want a few more sips, to dwell here, in paradise, a few days longer. “My life was never in question, if for no other reason than I wanted to wake up and see what happened next.” This line in the poem “I Never Wanted to Die” by Dorrianne Laux resonates with me in an unfamiliar way. I have never really considered this perspective when I struggled with motivation to continue living. I think it is really interesting that a driving factor to stay alive is curiosity and that has really changed my perspective on life. Life is not all about being happy, it is about
experiencing every high and low that comes with it. There is no guarantee that life will get better, but there is a guarantee that it will be different, and with change comes the possibility of adapting to the change and improving. -Anonymous
Dear Zombie Apocalypse, I Love You A Sequel to “Dear Zombie Apocalypse, I Hate You” BY ZOE HUSTED “Welcome! You made it to a very special place, my personal hell!” Hades screams violently. Hades… is a little special. He’s a streamer, he’s whimsical, and most of all he’s an older brother. Furthermore, he isn’t a good older brother, as you can see visibly. Hades is the type of person who would go out into a horde and kill all the zombies. This man derives half of his personality from The Joker and the other from Hisoka from “Hunter x Hunter’’. To keep it short, he’s weird. “Shut up, narrator, you’re interrupting my game!” As you can see, he can hear voices. “I said shut up,
narrator!!!” That time his mom began to bang on the door. As she opens the door, she says “THERE IS NO NARRATOR, HADES HALEY EVANS! WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, AND YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO THE DISHES, YOU 21-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE DROP-OUT!!!” So you understand, this is completely his own fault. Hades soundproofed his room when he was 16. Hades left the room a complete mess, just walking in his underwear to go do the dishes. He’s 6’4 and muscular, but no one knows why because this man just eats, games, and sleeps all day. He also has his entire
body covered in tattoos that he got for no reason. We don’t talk about his piercings. He is the embodiment of chaos. “Thanks for saying I look handsome, narrator.” He says with a smug face because he knows he’s handsome. He’s narcissistic, sassy, and worst of all, he’s lazy. Oh yeah, the zombie apocalypse. That’s happening. The vaccine is being developed in the laboratories of huge companies. The world’s beginning to reopen. Everything is happening again except for the fact that now there are huge walls everywhere. Air travel is now the most used mode of transportation. People now carry huge spiked bats in case
of a zombie, but nothing much more has changed. Hades, since you can hear my magical voice, what are your thoughts on Greek mythology? The zombie apocalypse happening currently? Your sister’s mental health? “Oh, Greek mythology. DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON IT! I hate it,” Hades replies to the narrator’s questions with a whirlwind of emotions, and of course, he continues, “I don’t understand what’s going through the mind of someone who names their kids after Greek gods, like what the hell. I also just hate Greek Mythology. Now the zombie apocalypse, that’s fun, now I have a legitimate reason to be violent to
everyone. I love it. I feel sad for the people who got turned into zombies and their families, but now I have some target practice. Now my sister’s mental health…” he takes a long pause due to the number of overwhelming emotions. “That’s a hard question to answer. I love my little sister. That dweeb is a ray of sunshine normally, but what do you want from her. All her friends got turned into zombies. I’ve tried to cheer her up, but it didn’t work.” He lets a tear roll down his cheek and land on the floor. Obviously, he doesn’t want to continue, so we end this story here once more.
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MAGAZINE 7
APRIL 30, 2021
Who is the Best Vocalist in Pop Music Today?
Entertainment Weekly BY CHARLIE HESS Freddie Mercury, and his band Queen, had vast crowds clapping and singing along to their infectious tunes during their high-energy performances. Aretha Franklin made jaws drop with her impressive, live vocal runs. Michael Jackson left audiences in awe with his outer worldly high notes inside his expansive range. These are all excellent examples of skilled vocalists in times past, who dominated in popularity during their heyday. Aretha, Freddie, and Michael are all illustrations of being the voice of their generation, with their actual vocals being so closely associated to the time period when they were at their peak. But now in 2021, I’ve begun to ponder who has the best voice in pop music right now? As I contemlated who the potential title holder should be, I decided a few preliminary regulations should be put in order. First off, in popular music today, it’s noticeable that artists at the pinnacle of their career tend to be on the younger side, oftentimes being under the age of 40. So, I’ve made the birthdate cutoff for these singers the year 1986, leaving every artist in the running to be 35 years of age and younger. In addition, the younger an artist is, the healthier and more elastic their voice tends to be. After years and years of world tours and starving the voice of it’s much needed rest, a singer’s vocals tend to wear out and weaken. With these rules in place, I will sadly have to exclude formidable vocalists such as Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera. While they both still have astounding pipes, they’ve most likely already reached the peak of their popularity, as some would argue Christina’s peak was during her 2002 ‘Stripped’ album and Beyoncé’s during her 2008 ‘I Am...Sasha Fierce’ project. Also, given that both Aguilera and Knowles started their music careers while they were in their teens, their voices have matured and become less flexible as they enter their 40s. Lastly, neither of them have dominated the charts with solo hits in recent years, I fully believe they still have plenty of gas left in the tank, but in this exact moment in time, I don’t feel as if they are the most relevant of artists.The final restriction I’ll put in place is that they’ve had to have a hit song(s) in the past ten years to prove their relevance in music today, and to show they’re not just a talented songster from decades ago. Another topic I would like to cover before I reveal who made it into the running is the absence of the male popstar on this list. In short, I never discovered a male vocalist who
could hold their own against the women who made it into the top five. Throughout my research, I did find that singers such as Zayn Malik and Shawn Mendes absolutely kill it vocally. Both of their upper registers, and falsettos are unparalleled, but sadly they still don’t make the cut because they don’t exercise as many different vocal talents like the others. The five soon to be mentioned singers can either riff and run up a storm, hold notes to no end, obtain a mastery over the different vocal registers, effectively perform consistent vibrato live, or practice singing with a healthy technique. As I previously stated, I’ve settled on five artists who I believe raise the bar in the world of music and singing. These vocalists will take the 5th through 1st slots on this list, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a very close race to secure a spot on top. Along the way I’ll also quickly mention a few other talented singers who almost made the cut, as well as discuss some other voices that have taken today’s music by storm. One more thing I’d like to touch on before we jump in is how I’m choosing which voice takes which spot. There are a lot of factors that are taken into consideration, it’s not just about having a ridiculously broad range. It’s about being a unique, multitalented, and dynamic artist who has spent countless hours devoted to improving their abilities. So without further ado, here is the 5th entrant on our list... Making her way to the podium is the incomparable Jessie J! Making her debut on the scene in 2011, with catchy songs like ‘Domino’ and ‘Price Tag’ feat. B.o.B., Jessie J captured fans’ hearts with her lovable personality and uplifting messages. But even more evident was her powerhouse vocal ability, with her range spanning three octaves. This soprano packs a real punch, she displayed her extensive skills in her most notable song, ‘Bang Bang’ feat. Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj. While she does have one of the strongest voices on this list, she ranked at the fifth and final position only because she’s only had a finite number of hits where she’s been able to exhibit her exuberant voice. At only 33 years of age, I certainly hope Jessie J gets a few more chances to present her stellar pipes for all the world to see. Moving on, the next singer on our list is best known for her undeniably unique performances and spectacular live vocals. Her real name is Stefani Germanotta but she’s best known to her fans, The Little Monsters, as Lady Gaga! Bursting onto the music scene in 2008 with instant classics
like ‘Poker Face’ and ‘Paparazzi’, Gaga proved she was a force to be reckoned with. Songs like ‘Perfect Illusion’ and ‘Shallow’ with Bradley Cooper present her extraordinary belting abilities and unwavering vibrato. With a three octave range under her belt, Lady Gaga has shown great improvement in her technique over her 13 years in the industry, and proved to listeners that she’s more than just a Bubblegum Popstar! Turning 35 years old this past March, everyone’s favorite Mother Monster has become a multi-talented vocalist that continues to take the Pop Music genre by the reigns. With no obvious signs of wear and tear on her agile voice, we’re blessed to be able to enjoy and listen to the artist that is Lady Gaga for many more years to come. Taking the 3rd spot on our stacked list of exceptionally talented singers is the one and only Demi Lovato! Making her debut on the charts with her first solo album, ‘Don’t Forget’ in 2008, Lovato revealed her fierce vocal ability to the world when she was only 16 years old. She’s written and sung handfuls of hits, many of which flaunt her unbelievably thunderous voice. ‘Fall in Line’ with Christina Aguilera showcases just how high she can belt in her chest voice, while ‘Wildfire’ introduces us to her amazing whistle register. Demi’s voice is certainly not lacking in potency, nor emotion, however, this doesn’t mean she is without flaws. There is no doubt in my mind that she could bring the house down singing one of her many vocally challenging songs, but oftentimes her voice sounds a little too scream-y. A truly exceptional vocalist can master the art of singing powerfully but still not over do it. This isn’t saying Demi has issues controlling her voice, but I do sometimes feel she can sing a little too ‘hard’ for many peoples liking. Following Demi Lovato, and taking the number two spot is the delightful Adele! Frequently compared to the late great Amy Winehouse because of her mature lyrics and distinct tone, Adele became well known for writing the most heart wrenching, yet elegant songs about her past relationships. Across three critically acclaimed albums, Adele unleashed her powerful, yet honest voice to audiences across the globe. Bearing a three octave range, Adele presents her top notch belting ability in songs like ‘Hello’ and ‘Rolling in the Deep’. But she still leaves audiences in tears with the amount of raw emotion infused in the way she sings songs like ‘When We Were Young’ and ‘Don’t You Remember’. Her soulful tone of voice is unlike any other on this list, Adele
without a doubt is the most authentic singer-songwriter in Pop Music today. This does come with its drawbacks though, many have theorized the British Songstress has suffered vocal damage over the years by exercising unhealthy singing techniques. Her recent performance on ‘Saturday Night Live’ displayed her forever pleasant vocal tone, but also left fans concerned after she dodged the high note in her song ‘Someone Like You’. Regardless of the current state of her voice, we should be grateful for the masterpiece LP’s she’s delivered over the years, and get excited for her fourth studio album rumored to be released in these coming months. Before I reveal who I placed in the number one position, I’d like to discuss a few honorable mentions. Artists like Rihanna, Selena Gomez, and Camila Cabello are all exceptionally talented in their own right, however, this list is specified to cover solely vocal ability, and I didn’t feel they were quite to the caliber as the other vocalists in the top five. However, they still carry distinct voices that have gifted them great success in the music industry. Also, I’d like to acknowledge a couple more artists whose voices have greatly enhanced over time and are worthy of recognition. Both Kesha and Billie Eilish have impressed me with how much their voices have improved throughout their careers. Kesha stunned the world with her release of a song ‘Praying’ which shed light to her excellent belting ability, emotion, and of course that wicked high note. Billie, on the other hand, sings in a very soft, and light manner, with the exception of songs like ‘No Time To Die’ and ‘wish you were gay’. So when I began analyzing her performances, I noticed how she exhibits extraordinary control over her voice given how airy her singing style is. But still, there lies only one artist who stands tall above the others and takes the cake... That person is the outstanding, iconic, and infinitely talented, Ariana Grande! Stealing our hearts way back in 2010 when she portrayed the character of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon show, ‘Victorious’, Grande has without a doubt been an artist who defined the 2010’s. Making her solo debut in 2013, Ariana released ‘Yours
Cosmopolitan
Truly’ a 13-track album that instantly proved her vocal potential. The lead single off of her first LP, titled ‘The Way’ featuring Mac Miller, disclosed her capacity to effortlessly enter into her whistle register. To this day she continues to reach unbelievably high notes, and it has now become her signature, with many claiming she’s the modern day Mariah Carey. Now eight years into her career, Ariana has shown no signs of slowing down, with her voice indicating no obvious signs of fatigue or injury. In 2020 she released her most recent album ‘Positions’ which features songs like ‘shut up’ and ‘my hair’ that illustrate her continued prowess over the different vocal registers. The rest of her discography includes even more vocally elastic tunes such as ‘Dangerous Woman’, ‘Into You’, and ‘Problem’ featuring Iggy Azalea that exemplify her seamlessly high belting, healthy technique, and impressive ability to riff and run. Ariana Grande is a gifted Soprano with an extensive four octave vocal range, but placing her at the top of this list doesn’t mean she’s a flawless practitioner of her instrument. When Grande sings, she tends to mumble over her lyrics, leaving her diction and enunciation being noticeably sub-par, especially in comparison to the other skilled vocalists on the list. However, this may actually be deemed a style choice for her, and it’s really an insignificant issue as it doesn’t damage her voice or have any serious or harmful repercussions. Music today is full of a variety of different sounds and unique singers, but I think it really makes a difference if an artist has great control over their voice. A truly great vocalist is someone who is disciplined and can pull off a show stopping live performance. Everyone on this list effectively displays both of those qualities, and I think it’s why they’re such treasured, distinct, and adept artists. I believe that in Pop music, production and lyrics are only half the battle, it’s having a dynamic voice that accounts for so much of an artists success. So next time you’re listening to a singer on the radio, take a second to appreciate the hard work and time they’ve poured into not only their music, but their voice too.
8 | NEWS
APRIL 30, 2021
Food You Thought Was French!
Joe Pastry BY SEBASTIAN SALCIDO How many of you have knowledge of a man named August Zang? Some may have never thought such a person would exist. Well I would like to introduce you to him. August Zang was born in Vienna, Austria on the 2nd of August in 1807. August was born to a well-known surgeon in the city of Vienna. Zang served in the army as an artillery officer for his first profession. The job was admirable and showed signs of future success. However, Zang lost interest in the occupation. When he was 30 years old, Zang relocated to Paris to bring Viennese-style baked goods, despite having zero experience in baking. Zang introduced steam baking to Paris. Steam baking is when steam is injected into an oven as it is cooking. The steam reduces the speed of the formation of the crust and makes the
Cook Pad outside of the bread flakier and less thick. For croissants, it made the crust extra thin with the inside being moist. In 1839, Zang opened a bakery called “Boulangerie Viennoise” which grew in popularity, inspiring many French bakers to imitate it. The bakery served Viennese baked goods, one of these dishes being the kipfel (the photo above) which was crescent shaped. The dough became less heavy and more frail over time, and the Austrian kipfel developed into what modern society calls the French croissant. When censorship was removed from Austria in 1848, Zang relocated back to Austria and founded a daily newspaper called “Die Presse.” He brought in many of the same popularizing journalistic methods from France to Austria, birthing modern commercial journalism in the nation. Zang’s newspaper accommodated shorter simplified articles with
paragraphs and was obtainable for a particularly low price sustained by advertising. The amount of subscribers to the newspaper was enormous for the time and set off to be one of the leading newspapers in the European continent. However, Zang sold it to an alliance of major financiers in return for millions of dollars. He wanted to start something else. In later years, August Zang founded a bank known as Vereinsbank. Zang was also its director. However, the bank only lasted a small amount of years, and August retired. August Zang retired a year before the infamous economic panic of 1873. Zang invested his fortune and became a landholder and tradesman. Zang purchased a mine in southeast Austria, and the area is still known as “Zangtal” (“Zang Valley”). August Zang died on the 4th of March in 1888 at the elderly age of 80 in Vienna, the same city where he
was born. Zang was a soldier, a baker, a journalist, a banker, a landowner, a tradesman, and a mine owner. Even his name was interesting. He
kept pursuing all kinds of different things in his 8 decades of life. This was the life of August Zang.
Alchetron
The Controversy Around “Latinx” [Opinion]
The Independent Florida BY ALEXA COBIAN SIMON There’s a lot of debate around the term Latinx within the Latine community. The term Latinx was made to represent non-binary or gender neutral people who don’t identify with the term Latino. But where did it come from? The origins of the term is still a bit cloudy but one of the theories of where Latinx may have come from, according to Yara Simón’s article, Latino, Hispanic, Latinx, Chicano: The History Behind the Terms, is that protesters from Latin America came up with the word. As feminists protested from the 1970s to the
1990s, they would add Xs to words that ended in OS to “visually… reject the notion that the default is the masculine”. The reason why non binary or gender neutral people prefer Latinx, or sometimes Latine to better fit the rules of Spanish or simply because it’s easier to say, over Latino is because Spanish is a gendered language. When a word ends with an “o”, it’s considered masculine, but when a word ends in an “a”, it’s considered feminine. An example of Spanish favoring masculine nouns would be if there were a group of girls, they would be referred to as “un grupo
de niñas”. But, if one boy were to be present, the group would now be referred to as “un grupo de niños”. It seems unfair to favor one gender over the other, so why not make it fair? Some people from the Latine community may argue that the term Latino is already inclusive or that white liberals made up this term to whitewash our language. A quick search on any social media app or website will show how outraged some people get over the term Latinx. Again, the reason why Latino doesn’t come off as inclusive to everyone is because the word is technically masculine. And for someone who identifies as non-binary it’s difficult to find a word in Spanish that they might feel comfortable identifying with. On top of that, there have been Spanish words that have been changed that implement an X or an E like the word muxe, which comes from the Spanish word for woman “mujer”. In Marc Lacey’s article, “A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico,” Lacey provides some context behind the word muxe stating that the Zapotec people have a third gender, the muxes, women who were born male, but now identify themselves as women. It’s also a bit ironic when people argue that it’s the white people white washing Spanish when Spanish has always been a European language to begin with. With the help of my AVID teacher, Mrs. Daniels, we led a discussion about what my classmates preferred
to be called. Most of them responded with Chicana/o, Mexican, or Hispanic. But, there were 3 classmates who didn’t mind using the term Latinx or Latine, 2 classmates who preferred Latino, and 2 other classmates who chose Latina. In the end, most of my classmates didn’t mind identifying with the term Latinx or Latine. Are people making too big of a deal over
Refinery 29
the term Latinx? Latinx, or Latine, are terms that were made to simply help people feel more included in a community they should’ve felt a part of a long time ago. Everyone uses pronouns whether they’re cis, non-binary, or trans. It’s a simple thing to do and respect without making a huge fuss about it.
NEWS | 9
APRIL 30, 2021
Taylor Swift: The Making of a Legend
Pop Sugar BY EMMA KING When does the music industry acknowledge the legendary status of a musician? When they have multiple platinum records? When they have won countless awards for their music? Taylor Swift has achieved all of these incredible feats, but what makes her stand out from the rest? In the music industry songs being put out can be carbon copies of one another. There is a gaping difference between putting out music because of the copious amounts of fame that follow and putting out music because it is something the artist is putting their heart and soul into. Arguably, listeners can tell the difference. To make a hit pop song, there are three main ingredients: a song, good rhythm, a catchy melody, and good singing along capability. Taylor Swift has mastered the art of the pop formula, but what sets her apart is her versatility and her originality. She has been able to be successful in multiple genres in the music industry, these categories include country and pop. To truly understand the creative genius of an artist it is important to go back to their roots. Taylor Allison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her grandmother Marjorie Finlay was a professional opera singer and at the age of ten, Taylor decided to follow in her footsteps. Swift started performing at local events, these events included fairs and contests. Swift
Pop Sugar
sang “The Star-Spangled Banner’’ at a Philadelphia 76er’s game at the age of 11. A year later, she began to write her original songs and learn how to play guitar. Her parents identified her talent and her potential at a young age, so they did everything they could to support Swift. She often visited Nashville, Tennessee where she co-wrote songs and tried to land a recording contract. Her family moved nearby to Hendersonville, Tennessee to support Swift’s career. Turns out that was just the beginning. Soon after, a performance at a local cafe got her a contract with Scott Borchetta from Big Machine Records. She released her first single, “Tim Mcgraw” which became one of the top ten hits on the country charts. As well as her first hit, “Our Song” also became a No.1 country music hit. Two years later Swift was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Artist category. When Swift released Fearless around the same time as her Grammy win, the album hit the top of both pop and country charts. Fearless stayed on the top of the charts for eleven weeks. That is when she started to become a well-known name in the music industry. Her concert tickets started to sell out in less than two minutes. She made guest appearances on Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, and The Late Late Show With James Corden. Additionally, at the age of 20, she was the youngest artist to win
a Grammy under the Album of the Year category. She won the Grammy for her album Fearless in 2010. In the year 2010, she released Speak Now which featured the hit songs “Mean”, “Ours”, and “Sparks Fly.” This album sold more than one million copies in the first week and ended up on Billboard’s Top 100 charts. She followed with Red (2012), which featured the hit single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and also topped 1 million in its first week of sales. On October 27, 2014, Swift released her album 1989 the hit pop record featured songs “Shake It Off ”, “Blank Space”, and “Style”. This album rewarded her with the 2016 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. After she released 1989 she went on to release Reputation (2017) and Lover (2019). There was an underlying meaning for the album Reputation; it was an ode to how Swift perceived her reputation to be the lowest at the time of her album release. Her reputation being the lowest due to her highly publicized feuds with Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, and Calvin Harris. Taylor’s view of herself was deeply damaged by the trending social media hashtag #TaylorSwiftisOverParty and snake emoji circling through her social media. There are some other key themes throughout the album. One of those themes being her current boyfriend Joe Alwyn and his big blue eyes. Swift mentions him in “Gorgeous” and “Delicate”. Another of those themes is the way people only see her through different stereotypes. Everyone only saw what the media and tabloids were portraying. These different themes lead to the creation of the hit album Reputation. Following the release of Reputation and Lover, one of the biggest turning points in Swift’s career was publicized on Social Media. On June 30, 2019, Scooter Braun from Ithaca Holdings obtained Scott Borschetta’s Big Machine Label Group. Scooter Braun is a talent manager for big celebs such as Arianna Grande, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Hillary Duff, Kanye West, and many more big names. Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Label Group for 300 million dollars. Discussed in this deal was the thirteen-year deal Swift signed with Big Machine Label Group, where 6 albums were produced. Back when the contract was produced Swift signed a deal granting Big Machine Records ownership to her masters.
In exchange for her masters, she was given a cash advance to kick start her career. Those six albums’ worth was calculated at 140 million dollars. After that contract ended, Swift signed a new deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group. With her new contract, Swift negotiated the ownership of all future masters, the issue lies in the fact that Big Machine retains ownership of her first six album masters. To understand the information being given it is important to understand what masters are. According to PopSugar, “Put simply, controlling the master rights essentially means you have control over what is done with the song or album, full stop. When record labels are valued and sold, their ownership of masters comes into play.” The drama started when Taylor Swift made comments about the situation to her official Tumblr stating how “sad and grossed out” she was about the deal Borchetta made with Braun. Borchetta being the previous owner of Big Machine Label Group. She also comments that “For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead, I was given an opportunity to ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in,” Swift also released another claim that Borchetta has known about her distaste for Braun for years, saying that the man who gave her her first record deal “knew what he was doing.” Other artists gave statements on Swift’s side and Braun’s side. The people who gave comments were none other than Scott Borschetta and Scooter Braun’s wife. Justin Beiber also gave a statement in support of Braun stating, “I usually don’t rebuttal things like this, but when you try to deface someone I love’ character that’s [sic] crossing a line,” Bieber wrote. He also added that Braun had nothing to do with the post she took issue with and claims that Braun has always had her back. Swift is now re-recording her first six albums to reclaim ownership of her masters. The thing about fame is it changes people’s lives for the better and the worst. For Taylor Swift in particular
Pop Sugar
it did so much good and equally so much bad. She gained admiration from fans, admiration from the musicians she grew up listening to, and the achievement that she was able to accomplish her dreams and goals. But like I said there is equally as much good as it is bad in the music industry. She developed an eating disorder from the over-scrutinization of the tabloids and the press and with her massive social media presence, she would get in feuds online. The Tabloids diminished her and broke her down for having multiple boyfriends while being in the industry. Later in her career, she was able to talk about the blatant sexism she experienced in regards to men not taking her seriously as a 16-year-old female artist growing up and becoming more successful. Stating, “It’s fine to infantilize a girl’s success and say, ‘How cute that she’s having some hit songs,” Swift said. “But the second it becomes formidable? As soon as I started playing stadiums — when I started to look like a woman — that wasn’t as cool anymore.” Swift also commented on the double standards for men and women when writing songs about love and the sexist way her songs are portrayed. Commenting, “Find me a time when they say that about a male artist: Be careful, girl, he’ll use his experience with you to get —God forbid — inspiration to make art.” She still deals with the issues that proceed a successful woman in the music industry, but she has become more and more attuned to her happiness. Currently, she has released Folklore and Evermore which also contributed to her versatility as an artist because these two albums go back to her roots and show similarities to the music she was putting out at the beginning of her career. Throughout her successful career, she has won eleven Grammys, four of those being awards for Album of the Year. These successes have thoroughly claimed her as a legendary musician in the music industry.
10 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
APRIL 30, 2021
Mariposa de Barrio BY MIA HUERTA The Netflix series Mariposa de Barrio was first released December 15, 2017 and started becoming really popular on tiktok. It’s about Jenni Rivera struggling from being suicidal and getting pregnant as a teen and being abused several times. She was also a young banda singer who was born and raised in Long Beach. The series first starts off with her getting pregnant at 15 while getting married to someone who didn’t actually love her. He was abusive towards her because he didn’t believe she was pregnant with his daughter. After she had the baby he would constantly be cheating on her with several different women which made her depressed to the point where she wanted to commit suicide and made her not finish school. However, her parents were super supportive and thought it was best to put her into a rehab center. So
many people doubted her about her singing career but she still proceeded to make it work. The characters are really dramatic because it’s based on telenovelas. What I personally like about the series is how her parents supported her decisions even though they didn’t like her choices. I also loved how she would always stay strong when things weren’t so good and still provided for her kids as a single mother. The way I reacted to the show was interesting because at first I thought they seemed like a perfect family but once I got more deep into the show I realized what it was like. What I didn’t like was how she was getting abused and yelled at in front of their kids. But overall I enjoyed watching the series. It was definitely an attention grabber and very dramatic .
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SBHSFORGE.COM Follow the Forge on Instagram: @sbhsforge Like us on Facebook: The SBHS Forge Subscriptions, coming soon: sbhsforge.com/ subscribe The Setting Sun BY YULIANA DE LA LUZ The Setting Sun is yet another one of Osamu Dazai’s well known novels. Published in 1947 it was able to give the readers a peek into life in postwar Japan. Throughout the novel we follow the life of an aristocratic family in catastrophe after World War II in Japan. Kazuko is a 29 year old young woman whose father died leaving her mother a widow. Once living a rather wealthy life due to the impact of the war Kazuko and her mother are forced to leave their home in Tokyo, moving to a Chinese-style house in Izu, Japan. Her brother Naoji goes on to disappear after being sent off to some island in the South Pacific. He later comes to return after the end of the war. We are able to see how not just this family but the whole nation struggles with transitioning from feudal Japan to a more advanced society. The destructive effects of war were evident in the main characters.
From the very beginning it is clear that Kazuko’s mother was greatly impacted by the war and disappearance of her son, Naoji. She even set herself to never see him again unlike Kazuko who had a feeling they would reunite once more. Like Kazuko mentioned her mother rarely ever showed signs of sadness whether it be after her father’s death or whenever Naoji had caused trouble. But the thought of leaving behind her home in Tokyo where she had lived many years with her family and was not just full with memories but was also the place of her husband’s death was too much for her. She ended up falling sick shortly after arriving at their new home in Izu, Japan. For the first time she had a breakdown in front of Kazuko leaving her shocked and worried after witnessing her mother who is usually calm and collected in a state of misery for the first time. After a small fire went off in their home Kazuko’s mother was left traumatized and only grew weaker day by day. And news that Naoji was alive
and will be returning to life with them caused great distress. Naoji’s stay would make it harder for them in terms of money especially after he had picked up opium drugs again. Having to leave behind their life where money wasn’t a problem Kazuko was finally hit with what it felt like to be without money. She described it as “a horrible, miserable, salvation less hell,” Something I really liked about the novel was that Dazai was able to take us along the tragic yet alluring life of Kazuko and her family during the difficult postwar years I enjoyed this book and was once again astonished with Dazai’s writing and how he shared the emotions of his characters. Although I found myself enjoying another of one his works No Longer Human much more, this novel was still able to leave a good impression on me. To those who enjoyed this novel I definitely recommend checking out his other works. Osamu Dazai
APRIL 30, 2021
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | 11
A Silent Voice
A Silent Voice BY CHARLEY RAYMOND Over the past few years, many people have brought up xenophobia within the Oscars. It’s apparent when you look at the movies nominated and see that almost all of them are from the Western movie industry. While it’s understandable for a large portion of the movies to come from Hollywood as it’s the biggest movie industry, many movies from Asia are overlooked and not considered because of the difference in language and culture. This conversation is especially prominent within the animation category, because Japan has created many critically acclaimed animations, but only one has ever won. As Bong Joon-Ho once said, “Once you
get over the 1-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be exposed to many more amazing films.” I wish that people could open themselves up to seeing artwork from other parts of the world rather than the small bubble of art in their language. A Silent Voice tells the story of a teenage boy, Shoya Ishida, who struggles with his view of the world and where he fits into it. He tries to tie up loose ends in hopes of fixing the damages he’s done. One of them is a deaf girl, Shoko Nishimiya, who he bullied in elementary school. She was a new student, and he along with others in the class bullied her until she had to leave school. When the conclusion was finally made by everyone that he was the main tormenter, his old friends and other classmates no
longer talked to him and isolated him. He is now in high school and has social anxiety, envisioning X marks over other’s faces. He decides to learn basic sign language and find Nishimiya, in hopes to apologize for the hurt he caused her. Ishida goes to her new school, and when she sees him, she runs away from him and is frightened by him. However as time goes on, he finally has the chance to apologize and they start to become close with one another. They grow to realize that they understand each other in more ways than they thought. They have the ability to sit in silence and learn to grow from their pains with another person by them. A companionship forms as they combat their struggles and the world around them.
This movie isn’t a romance, but rather a coming of age story about growing and hardships that the two characters face. It’s easy for a storyline like this to make the boy look innocent as if because he’s changed, his actions no longer matter. He’s no longer hurting anyone so the hurt he has caused is now unimportant, she has forgiven him and all is fine. Especially in Asian dramas, the girls are made out to have no backbone, and they do what others expect of them. However, in this story they show her quietness and forgiveness as a form of resilience and strength. She stays happy and calm even as others bully her. It’s one of the many things admirable to Shoya as he gets older: her resilience, and her happiness even when others around her did
The Four Agreements BY DEVA VILLA-SALCEDO After reading this book I would recommend this to anyone wanting to expand their knowledge on Toltec teachings. Toltec is a pre-Colombian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca. 900– 1521 AD). Toltec is not a religion, it could be referred to as a spiritual path, so you have to read this book with an open mind. This book is a practical guide to personal freedom. A guide that helps teaches the readers to transcend our limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behavior patterns so we may live a fulfilling and authentic life. Once you start applying these four agreements to your everyday life you will see a big difference. It helps you make your
own heaven on earth. The first agreement is to be impeccable with your word. Being impeccable with your word is important because you won’t give false hope. Your words have so much power then we realize and it can spread like a wildfire if we let it. The second agreement is to not take things personally. Nothing others do is because of you, what others say and do is a projection of their own reality. Once I started to apply this to my daily life I started to be immune to the opinions and actions of others, I finally felt free. The third agreement is to not make assumptions, once you start to make assumptions you start to cause drama in your life. Communicating instead of assuming can help you grow as a person and also with others. Lastly, the most important agreement is the fourth one, always do your best.
I think this agreement everyone should follow because it helps you avoid self-judgment and regret. I would give this book a 5 star rating because all these agreements helped me look at my life in a different perspective. It helped me change my thinking patterns for the better. This is a good book to read any time of the day. If you are a slow reader this book is perfect because it is meant to be read at a slow pace so you can really absorb the information. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to Improve their lives or want to have a deeper understanding about the universe.
The Four Agreements
everything to take it away. I respect the movie for not just forgiving his actions. It’s apparent that he got consequences for what he did, and that he had to live with who he once was. The movie was made in 2017 and won many awards within Asia. The animations by Naoko Yamada are beautiful illustrations of Japanese gardens and bustling Tokyo. The 2 hour long movie takes you through a roller coaster of emotions as you see the characters grow and change. The movie was wonderfully written by Reiko Yoshida, and by the end, you feel connected to the characters. The movie shows a friendship and connection even with a language barrier. I hope that the movie industry and mass media can learn to do the same.
12 | SPORTS
APRIL 30, 2021
Athletes Overcome in a Unique Season BY ANDRE BATTLE Although people were very pleased with how sports are back and operating for the first time in what feels like forever, flaws seem to be arriving more and more as we get deeper and deeper into the sports season. All of those flaws are COVID-19 related, and even though we have now fallen lower on the COVID-19 Tier list and have made it to the orange tier, a huge victory for the entire county, outbreaks and positive COVID-19 tests still seem to be happening in local Santa Barbara High School sports. Safety is the top priority in all high school sports, and Santa Barbara High School makes sure to have each student-athlete get tested weekly, sometimes multiple times a week for all indoor sports, as it is more dangerous and people are at a higher risk to come into contact with COVID-19. If there is ever to be a positive test, that student’s sports pod is to quarantine for at least 10 days before they can return to both school and sports in order to keep the public safe. In the past
few weeks, positive cases in sports have been recorded in numerous scenarios. For example in the past two weeks there has been a positive test in both the boy’s volleyball and boys basketball program, meaning that for the individual pod for each of those sports that had a positive COVID-19 case, players were told to quarantine, even if they had tested negative for COVID-19. All games that that sports team was supposed to play in the next 10 days were rescheduled or canceled completely. Not only is this unfortunate for the specific sports program that got positive COVID-19 cases, but it is very disappointing for the players who have part of their season on hold due to one positive test. I interviewed one player via Zoom whose sports team was recently put on hold due to a positive case, and they said, “It hurts knowing that a virus that has almost zero percent chance of even killing me can stop my season right as we were starting to play,” No players that I asked are against this quarantine though, as all of them understood
Miguel Unzueta Sr.
that it is the safest option, and they knew that these consequences would come as the sports season kicked off. As of right now, COVID outbreaks seem to have hit football the hardest, as their original ten-game season was brought down to a mere three-game season, and without any CIF playoffs after that. CIF officials wanted the season to be a shorter five-game season, then two games that Santa Barbara was said to play got canceled as the other team came back with a positive COVID-19 test before the game. It hurts especially for seniors as they had to end their high school careers in a three-game season, but an upside is that they were able to finally have games in the newly renovated Peabody stadium, which was a big deal as Santa Barbara High School has not hosted a football game in years. The good news for sports right
now is that even with some sports pods being put on hold due to positive tests, almost all sports are still continuing without any problems , and it looks like as of right now there will be CIF playoffs for all sports that are competing. How those playoffs will go is not known as of right now, and little information is given out on how they will look, or what will change due to the new COVID-19 regulations. But that is still a plus. On another note, eight Dons signed their letter of intent to continue their sports career in college recently at Peabody Stadium. Juju Martinez de Amaral from the Dons girls water polo team and Jordan Hayne from the boys water polo team will both take their talent to the next level and go to UCSB. Matt Suh from boys volleyball will go play at Princeton, while Athena Saragoza from girls
basketball will go to Regis University. From the Dons baseball team, Oliver McGibben will play at the University of Colorado, and Luke Weshsler will go to Cal Lutheran. Football star Jake Knecht was able to sign his letter of intent to UC Davis. And finally, from track and field, Logan O’Keefe will be heading to Claremont McKenna. We wish all of these athletes the best as they pursue their outstanding goals. For right now, most are hoping for just a completed season, but in doing so all players, staff members, spectators, and everyone involved with sports must be smart and be safe, wear a mask, social distance, stay out of large crowds, and if you can, please get the vaccine. Our very own Dons sports season is depending on it!
A Bittersweet Homecoming for Dons Football
BY MIGUEL UNZUETA Santa Barbara High School football finally came to an end this past week. For this year’s Homecoming game, the Santa Barbara Dons faced off against the Lompoc Braves at home. Although this was a very serious game for all players and coaches, it was also a meaningful one for everyone in that stadium that night. This was the seniors’ last game to be dressed up as Santa Barbara Dons. Although this season finally gave the players the validation of playing again, there was still a roller coaster of emotions that went along with it as well. The Santa Barbara Dons unfortunately got “unlucky” with a couple of the games this year. Santa Barbara was scheduled to play five games against the other teams in the Channel League. Those teams were San Marcos, Santa Ynez, Cabrillo,
Dos Pueblos, and Lompoc. Sadly, two of the games were cancelled this year due to positive cases on the opposing teams. Players for San Marcos, Cabrillo, and Dos Pueblos all tested positive. Santa Barbara was able to find a game for week 3, however, against Hueneme, a team that was actually not scheduled for the 2021 season. For San Marcos and Dos Pueblos, these games were not played nor rescheduled. The Dons also could not find another team to play since there was no one in a position in the league like us. Sadly enough, the Dons only got a chance at playing three games this year. It was a very abbreviated season, in a wayno one ever could have imagined, especially for all the seniors with the amount of work that was put in over the years. They lost the dream of playing one last time, and finishing on a high note in a normal, regulated
season. The season overall was a hard one to get over for many. Little memories were made except for the Homecoming game. Parents, siblings, aunts and uncles were there for their kids, in order to see them as a Santa Barbara Don one last time. Right before the game started, all seniors from football to cheerleading gathered up near the home stands. They entered through the gate and walked out to the field to a standing ovation. All seniors were lined up on the track with their parents and spaced socially distanced from other seniors. One by one their names were called for their moment of recognition. The Santa Barbara Dons knew they were in for a tough matchup against a very talented and undefeated squad. The Dons started off strong with their defense holding up against a very potent offense and almost led
them scoreless through the majority of the first quarter. However, Lompoc struck back with their very well known running game and scored to finally be ahead of the Dons. Both defenses on each side were limiting the offense’s movement of the ball. Although on one drive, Santa Barbara’s offense turned on the jets and drove down the field for a Deacon Hill score. Unfortunately, that was Santa Barbara’s only touchdown of the night. Lompoc would end up scoring on two big plays to win the game. The score was tight throughout most of the game, but Lompoc’s offense was too strong to handle for the Don’s defense. That ended up putting the nail in the coffin to cap off the game. The final score was 19-9.
Despite the loss of games, playoffs, and a full season, Santa Barbara was fortunate enough to be able to play some football again. It was an unimaginable season that no one ever saw coming, and you never knew what could have happened next. Unfortunately for the Dons, they received that heavily. Nearly two years without football and having to wait constantly for some light at the end of the tunnel was emotionally draining and upsetting for many of these players. But in the end, we were lucky enough to just get enough games to play during these gloomy times. It may not have been the season these seniors wanted but they did get one last ride which then can cherish the final moments of forever.