Trinity Voice March Issue 2021

THE

TRINITY VOICE

March 24, 2O21 Volume 23 Issue 4 Trinity Preparatory School 57OO Trinity Prep Lane Winter Park, FL 32792 thetrinityvoice.com

TESTING TRIAL ON CAMPUS Trinity partners with researchers to study the effectiveness of COVID-19 testing clinics.

Pages 8-9

NEWS

Floridians struggle to access unemployment benefits during the pandemic.

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LIFESTYLES

Stereotypes are a natural process but can become a slippery slope.

Pages 1O-11

FOCUS

Gene editing technology has huge potential for food insecurity and vulnerable species.

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OPINIONS

Don’t blame affirmative action for your college rejection.

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SPORTS

Swimmers use the Trinity pool to train for the Olympics.

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Table of Contents

March 2O21

TABLE OF CONTENTS News

Local Newspapers O4 Amanda Gorman O5 Unemployment O6 Mulloy Leaving O7 COVID-19 Testing O8-O9

Lifestyles

Stereotypes 1O-11 Disability Awareness 12 Space Race 13

Focus

Taste Perception 14 Diets 15 Vertical Farming 16 CRISPR 17

Opinions

Lead Ed 18 Affirmative Action 19 GameStop - Unity 2O GameStop - Ethics 21

Sports

Olympic Swimmers 22 Girls Weightlifting 23 Remote Sports 24 Varsity Baseball 25 Anuha Tatineni

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The Trinity Voice is a member of the Florida Scholastic Press Association and the National Scholastic Press Association.

The Trinity Voice is produced by the newspaper/journalism class at Trinity Preparatory School of Florida. Editorials represent the opinion of The Trinity Voice writer and are not necessarily the views of the administration, faculty, or Board of Trustees of Trinity. The Voice welcomes letters to the editor and freelance articles or photography. All submissions become the property of The Voice. Please send all correspondence to 5700 Trinity Prep Lane, FL 32792. The Voice may also be contacted via phone at 407-671-4140 and via e-mail at voice@trinityprep.org. For information regarding the purchase of advertising within The Voice contact us by one of the methods mentioned above. The Voice is a monthly publication during the school year (with the exceptions of November, January, and March).

VOICE@TRINITYPREP.ORG Anuha Tatineni

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Cover Photo

Staff/News Bites

March 2O21

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NEWS SPOTLIGHT

STAFF

Editors-in-Chief: Ryan Zehnder, Matthew Mapa Managing Editor: Matthew Halpin Copy Editor: Deniz Bölöni-Turgut Layout Editors: Emma Kim, Amy Qiao Online Editor: Maneesh Rajulapati News Department: Andrew Bachrach (Editor), Ava Savino, Julian Sealy, Jack Ververis Opinions Department: Connor Raffa (Editor), Maddie Peckham, Jake McCreary Focus Department: Deniz Bölöni-Turgut (Editor), Evan Huang, Marcos Membreno Lifestyles Department: Sidney Seybold (Editor), Alec Diaz, Sarah Zehnder, Amy-Ruth Gyang Sports Department: Jake Raffa (Editor), Oliver Johnson, Boaz Kim, Cate Williams Graphics Department: Henry Van Voorhis (Editor), Jaidyn Holt Photo Department: Kayla Alexandre (Editor), Mateo Membreno (Editor), Anuha Tatineni, Ella Craghill, Jessica Dorrien Fact Checker: Oliver Johnson Business Manager: Sidney Seybold Adviser: Erin Miller

This Month: By the Numbers $16,000

7.5%

311

electric bills facing some Texans after February power outages

Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19

weeks tennis player Novak Djokovic has held World 1 ranking

The Headlines Supreme Court rules that New York state prosecutors can access former President Donald Trump’s tax returns Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy sentenced to 3 years in prison for corruption Chloe Zhao becomes the 2nd woman and 1st Asian woman to win Best Director at the Golden Globes

Quote of the Month We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup... and to restore the democracy.

Myanmar’s Ambassador to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun, condemning the recent military coup in his country (he was removed from his post the next day)

Local Spotlight A Peppa Pig theme park is set to open at Legoland Orlando in 2022.

Teachers and first responders over 50 can now receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida.

The Trinity Voice March 2021

Winter Park, Florida

News

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LOCAL JOURNALISM ON THE DECLINE Article by Jack Ververis Graphic by Jack Ververis

In a 2004 Wired article, associate professor Adam L. Penenberg warned about the effect an online Generation Z might have on the newspaper industry. He wrote, “what this world will look like is anyone’s guess, but it probably won’t include The Washington Post thudding on anyone’s doorstep at 5 in the morning.”

Turns out, Penenberg was right. As found in a joint Common Sense Media poll, over half of teenagers get their news from social media or YouTube rather than traditional local sources.

But this decline in local journalism is a threat not only to the sustainability of reporting, but to the quality of it as well. For every local newspaper killed by the internet or investors, more politicians and billionaires are able to avoid consequences. While the papers might not be piling up, the problems certainly are.

While they might not realize it, most people read local reporting every day. A 2018 study by Duke University found that while local papers account for only 25% of media outlets, they make up almost half of all original reporting.

In particular, local papers excel at CIN: critical information need, or local investigative subjects that they are uniquely suited to report on.

Out of the fifteen 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning newspapers, ten of them were local. Florida paper the Orlando Sentinel investigated school vouchers being given to anti-LGBTQ schools. Perhaps the most high-profile story of the past few years, the breaking of billionaire Jeffery Epstein’s child trafficking ring by the Miami Herald, was an unprecedented show of both the power and rare acknowledgement of local journalists.

“That’s how unappreciated journalists are,” comedian Hasan Minhaj said on his show, Patriot Act. “[The reporter]’s been investigating a pedophile with a sex island, and the thing that shocks her is basic recognition.”

Yet the effects can be more clear when this kind of reporting doesn't happen.

As Nieman Reports details, when former Florida governor (now senator) Rick Scott was first elected to office in 2011 recession-battered newspapers were already stretched thin, causing many papers deliberately to deliber-

ately self-censor and not write about the ad- Journal. Reynolds, who owns a West Virginian ministration at all. The consequence? A term newspaper chain, is leading an antitrust lawwhere Scott grew his family’s combined wealth suit against the companies for monopolizing to over half a billion dollars and directly lied to and conspiring on digital ads, a legal first for the public about his conflicts of interest, the the industry.

Congressional Integrity Project reports.

“They’re keeping score on the same playing When local journalism goes down, govern- field [they made],” he said to The Verge. ment costs go up as corruption and deficits But often, papers aren’t just falling away— go unchecked, researchers at the University of they’re being stripped for profit. Private eqNotre Dame found in a study of local news- uity funds are investment funds that buy and papers from 1996-2015. Without the watch- restructure companies for financial gain. But dogs, both scrutiny and scruples disappear. by using tactics like transferred debt and huge “Our analysis budget cuts, these suggests that news"vulture funds" are Advertising Revenue of paper companies, squeezing newspaU.S. Newspapers or the information pers out of business. they provide, is a 50B “[Equity funds] public good and it’s see newspaper’s failworth providing,” 40B ures as their opporone of the researchtunity,” Minhaj said.

30B ers said. “But if we Data collected by don’t finance it, no 20B Minhaj’s show found one will produce that 30% of all newsit.” papers in the US are 10B Because while owned by just two local journalism is of these funds. The 0 0 0 Orlando 0 1 2 more crucial than Sentinel 20 20 20 ever, it’s also unrecently became one Source: Pew Research Center der threat. From such paper. However, 2004-2017, more than 25% of local news- these funds typically don’t care about the parooms have closed with 45% of staff cut in- per’s success. Budget cuts and forced bankruptdustry-wide, and over 65 million Americans cy lead to excellent profit margins, but with now live in “news deserts”, communities where expected consequences. Equity-owned papers there are no daily local papers. COVID-19 has downsize more than 72% of jobs, including only made this worse; Time magazine reports unionized ones, and equity-owned businesses that in one quarter of last year, ad revenue are 10 times more likely to go bankrupt. went down 42%, and over 60 local newsrooms There’s no single solution to these problems. closed over the course of 2020.

Nonprofit investigation sites such as ProA large part of this is newspapers not being Publica and The Texas Tribune offer national able to keep up to a changing digital business coverage, but might lose some of the local asmodel. Pew Research Center reports that from pect. And collective funds such as the Orlando 2008-2018, newspaper ad revenue dropped Sentinel’s “News Fund” might bring in cru$37.8 billion to $14.3 billion, primarily due cial support, but to many it seems more like a to online monopolies on ads with Google and stopgap than a solution.

Facebook. According to the Washington Post, Journalism cannot be easily replaced. Its the two companies are responsible for over half current competitor information-wise, social of all online ad revenue. media, is the difference between researched re“These companies are more powerful than porting and eye candy. But keeping local newsStandard Oil in its heyday,” lawyer Doug rooms alive is more important than ever— we Reynolds said in an interview to the Wall Street can’t windowshop for our democracy.

March 2O21

News

POET STEALS SPOTLIGHT AT INAUGURATION

What Gorman’s words mean for the future of contemporary poetry Article by Julian Seaaly Graphic by Henry Van Voorhis While Inauguration Day is usually a celebration of the incoming President of the United States, this year, National Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman stole the show. Reciting her powerful poem, “The Hill We Climb”, Gorman’s words awaken citizens to a new age of politics and leadership.

Twenty-two year old Gorman was handpicked by President Joe Biden according to the Los Angeles Times. She is also the first ever National Poet Laureate and just the fifth poet to be invited to the inauguration, others include Maya Angelou and Robert Frost.

In Gorman’s inaugural poem, she elaborates on the topics of hope and optimism and embraces the problems we face as a “nation that is not broken, but simply unfinished” while tying in her personal experiences in America.

“She is [saying], ‘Yeah we have got a lot of problems, and my story is just one of the many mosaics of lives in America’,” English teacher and Orlando Poet Laureate Susan Lilley said. “I think she is out to combine the future with the grim realities of the challenges that we face as a country.”

In a section of her inaugural poem, Gorman brings up harsh words like grieved, hurt, and tired, while contrasting them with more optimistic words like grew, hoped, and tried. Here, she means to say

that we’re all trying to get to the same place of harmony while seeking harm to none.

She brings up the importance of speaking out for what you believe in.“We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,” meaning that we as people need to speak out to the world’s problems and break the silence to bring peace to the world.

Various famous names gave outstanding reviews of Gorman’s poem, including former President Barack Obama.

“A poem that more than met the moment,” Obama said via Twitter.

According to a New York Times article, Gorman took from speeches of American leaders who tried to bring people together during intense times of division such as Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.

With rising young poets like Gorman coming into the scene, it brings up an important point about how people like her can change the outlook on the way we see modern poetry and how it can be used more. English teacher Jay Jay Stroup mentioned the importance of modern poetry and how it could be a new change in education that we could embrace.

“The ability to teach [about] a living poet who you can tweet about or watch interviews and see how she’s reacting to real life events is really invaluable,” Stroup said. “It also helps that she’s a real person in ways. Homer doesn’t feel like a real person and she’s a living breathing person.”

Many, including Stroup, believe that we should embrace modern poetry more in the form of education and politics. Lilley discussed her mission to bring more contemporary poetry in the curriculums as well as in the AP exams.

“Sometimes people think modern poetry is inaccessible and weird and that’s just not the case [because] it does take a little more attention because the language is so compressed,” Lilley said.

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News

March 2O21

UNEMPLOYMENT SYSTEM LEAVES OVER 1 MILLION WITHOUT BENEFITS Article by Ava Savino Graphic by Jaidyn Holt When social science teacher Brandon Burmeister’s neighbor lost her job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she immediately filed to receive unemployment benefits. Not only did it take her three months to get cleared, but by the time she received her first check, six months had already passed since she first contacted the state. “[By that time] you’re six months back rent, you’re six months back bills,” Burmeister said.

“You almost can’t recover from that.”

The pandemic has changed the lives of millions of Americans, and record job losses were recorded during the spring and early summer of 2020. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate in April 2020 rose by 10.3%, about 15.9 million people, making the pandemic the cause for the highest recorded month-over-month unemployment increase since January 1948.

The pandemic bombarded the job market here in Florida, as the resulting economic crisis left 1.7 million people without work in April 2020, according to The Florida Times-Union.

This was due to the largely tourism-based economy that was almost completely shut down when COVID-19 arrived. The shutdown is likely to have an impact that will last for years, as Central Florida is heavily dependent on tourism. The Orlando Sentinel reported in 2019 that domestic and international tourists contributed over $5 billion in state and local taxes.

With so many people out of work, there was a large demand to claim unemployment ben-

efits, and depending on the state, these pro“As you’re waiting for the approval, there’s cesses vary significantly. According to the De- nothing coming in; you don’t have any benepartment of Labor, Florida is the second worst fits received,” Burmeister said. state in receiving unemployment benefits, with On top of the long wait times during this only 6% of residents receiving benefits. NPR’s process, Burmeister also said that compared Laurel Wamsley offers an explanation to this to other states, Florida has many more reproblem in her article entitled “Gov. Says Flor- strictions and caveats that can deny coverage ida’s Unemployment System Was Designed to to those who need it most. Having the system Create ‘Pointless Roadblocks.’” In this, Florida only accessible on a frequently broken website Governor Ron DeSantis says that the state’s makes filing for any benefits impossible when system of filing and processing unemployment it is out of service. Because of financial issues benefits was almost made to have challenges to caused by the pandemic’s impact, staffing is deter people from using it. also low and constantly occupied. This leaves “Having studied how [the unemployment people who don’t have access to technology system] was internally or don’t know how to file constructed, I think the “As you’re waiting for the unable to get any benefits. goal was for whoever deState House Represensigned it was, ‘Let’s put approval, there’s nothing tative Anna Eskamani, as many kind of pointless coming in; you don’t have whose district encompassroadblocks along the way, es parts of Orlando and any benefits received.” so people just say, oh the Winter Park, has been hell with it, I’m not going - Brandon Burmeister, Social one of the key figures in to do that,” DeSantis said.

Science Teacher advocating for changes to Florida State Senathe state unemployment tor Annette Taddeo also system. One of the main spoke out against the state’s unemployment ways that she helps is by communicating disystem’s issues. rectly with constituents who aren’t able to pro“It would keep the politicians looking good cess their requests. by pretending that less people are filing for unShe frequently posts on her Medium.com employment when the reality is, even before page providing links to access resources such the pandemic, people were having a really hard as virtual town halls with audience questions time not only applying but [also] in getting and job-finding websites. Eskamani was also benefits,” Taddeo said. in constant communication with her constitBurmeister explained that the process of uents on Twitter, updating them daily on the filing for benefits in Florida is filled with dif- situation. ficulties and problems from the get-go. The Last fall, the Orlando Sentinel editorial system is fully online, and it frequently crashes board endorsed her for her reelection bid in because of the overwhelming number of peo- House District 47, highlighting her efforts to ple using it. Once the form directly help people claim their benefits while makes it into the website, also striving for state government reform. the approval process be“She became a one-woman clearinghouse gins. According to an in- for Floridians trying to navigate what was uniformational PDF posted by versally panned as the nation’s cruelest, most the Florida Department of dysfunctional unemployment compensation Economic Opportunity, it system,” the editorial board said. stated that there is no timeFlorida’s unemployment system has had line available for how long it challenges and delays in delivering benefits, could take for each claim to even before COVID-19. Although the econbe processed due to the fact omy has started to recover and advocates are that each claim is done case- working hard to create change, the pandemic by-case. This means that the is still causing problems with no end in sight process can take longer to for the near future. take effect than the benefits are available to some people.

March 2O21

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Upper School Principal Patrick Mulloy cheers on the varsity boys soccer team. Watching games at Hubbard Field is one of Mulloy’s favorite ways to show his support for the teams and school spirit.

MULLOY MOVES TO MARYLAND Article by Alec Diaz Photo by Anuha Tatineni Upper School Principal Patrick Mulloy is leaving Trinity after seven years to teach at the St. Paul’s School in Maryland next school year.

Seeking opportunites for himself and his family, Mulloy took the job as the Upper School Head for the boys and coordinator for classes.

Mulloy said he is excited to be back on the East Coast and misses his time up there.

“Getting on a train and visiting really good college friends who now live in New York City [and] hopping on an Amtrak is very exciting for me,” Mulloy said.

Another reason Mulloy chose the St. Paul’s School is because the environment is similar to Trinity in that they both share great camaraderie. He also loves that the St. Paul School values Episcopalian religion and coeducation, just like Trinity.

“An opportunity to stay within the Episcopal tradition is key for me,” Mulloy said.

In his new position, Mulloy will become more involved with students' lives at the St. Paul’s School.

“I love the way that I've collaborated with Dr. Dryden and Mr. Dowdy about oversight of department chairs,” Mulloy said. “What classes should we offer? What classes should we

not offer? I'll be doing that in Baltimore. It’s their definition of an upper school head probably does. A lot of what I do and then a lot of what Dr. Dryden does for us. So I'm excited to kind of have a foot in both of those worlds.”

Mulloy also made the decision to leave as he is raising two young boys and wants to prepare them for the future.

“Raising two boys has gotten me thinking just personally with my educators [about] what young men need in the 21st century,” Mulloy said. “A lot of what St. Paul's does is social emotional programming on what young men need.”

While Mulloy is excited to move up north, he is grateful for the memories he has made on Trinity’s campus. Mulloy will miss the passion that Trinity students bring as he loves when the students represent their school.

“I see simple and very powerful pride in little sixth graders who are wearing Trinity gear everyday and the freshmen who are new to town who really fall into a great group of friends, connect with teachers,” Mulloy said. “They are very proud to wear their Trinity sweatshirt around town or put on their uniform and go play a football game.”

Mulloy said he will to miss the friendships he has built over his years at Trinity.

“The faculty friendships that I've had, the

deep conversations I've had with Dr. Dryden, Mr. Garnett, or Mrs. Hill, they really are friendships among the adults that I'm going to keep with me for a very, very long time,” Mulloy said.

Mulloy had been an administrator for seven years and loved teaching history for the past four years. He loved getting to know the students and meeting new students as well.

Moving to Maryland is the start of a new chapter for Mulloy. To signify that, their family has recently adopted a goldendoodle puppy that they will be picking up at the end of February. While he is ready to introduce a new member to his family, he has to get acclimated to the cold weather up north as well. Mulloy says that his family is excited to see snow and finally use their snow gear.

“There are three cardboard boxes in my parent’s basement that have all of our down coats [and] all of our wool coats that we obviously haven't used down here,” Mulloy said. “[My sons] want to see some snow!”

For the seven years that Mulloy was at Trinity, he most valued the friendships he made.

“I would definitely say, the really, really strong friendships that I'm walking out of here with are ones that are going to last,” Mulloy said.

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News

March 2O21

A TIMELY TEST FOR TRINITY Article by Andrew Bachrach Photos by Jessica Dorrien

Testing for the coronavirus has become a battlefield, as availability is few and far between across the country. Americans have had to drive dozens of miles just to produce a sample, and it may take days to receive a result, which could sadly come too late. Not only have people been unable to find the time during their workdays to get tested, but affordability has also become a major issue, with costs ranging wildly.

With the nation’s testing infrastructure being called into question numerous times over the course of the pandemic, Trinity is now offering students and faculty a pathway to completely bypass this chaos. Beginning mid-February, a research study conducted in partnership with researchers at UCF and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard brought free COVID-19 testing to campus.

Head of School Byron Lawson detailed that the school had been in talks since August to bring testing to campus. After mulling over many different approaches, researchers led by Dr. Taj Azarian proposed a study regarding how COVID-19 spreads among interconnected communities, as well as the feasibility of pop-up testing clinics.

“There are schools who are testing, but what’s really unique about us is that nobody’s doing it in partnership as far as I know, with any university, especially schools of a certain caliber like UCF and Harvard,” Lawson said.

While other schools across the country may make students pay for tests, the research study allowed participants to receive results for free.

Lawson’s goal is to ensure that students continue to learn in the most effective learning space: in-person on campus. With cases still prevalent throughout Florida, especially from the new variants from the U.K. and South Africa, the school is bringing in testing infrastructure in hopes of shielding itself from the brunt of future coronavirus waves.

“We are inextricably linked to other places.

We know that kids are going to catch this from somebody,” Lawson said. “The more testing you do, the more you know about what’s on your campus, or what’s in your space, the few-

Junior Jordan Alch hands her saliva sample to a UCF researcher, who will then neutralize the sample, killing any live virus present.

er people go out on quarantine. If I can mini- particular study at Trinity? It’s because the mize how many [students] go out on quaran- drive was there. There was interest from the tine, I’m doing my job well.” administration, as well as the students and Azarian, an assistant professor at UCF’s parents to implement this.”

Burnett School of BioThose eligible for medical Science, de- We thought this would be...one testing are students, scribed the study as an whose parents signed exploration of the risk of the critical ways in which we them up earlier this factors and certain be- can keep campus open for lon- year, along with faculhaviors associated with and staff members ger. Because this is the only ty positive COVID-19 who signed up. With cases. Having done his way as far as everybody knows, around 180 students postdoctoral research to keep people who are infected and faculty participatat Harvard Universiing, Lawson said he ty, he connected with away from people who are not: hopes that the school Trinity alumna Dr. to test regularly. will gain a clearer picPardis Sabeti, one of ture of the impact of - Byron Lawson, Jr., Head of School the pandemic on the the foremost epidemiological researchers in community. The samthe nation. After working together to prepare pling process, which takes about 5 minutes, is Trinity for the school year, they proposed a re- simple, quick and painless – unless lines begin search study to allow for students to get tested to grow. Participants come to the tent between for the virus. the library and the RAC to produce the sam“The main scientific question we want to ple. Each test is kept anonymous, and particianswer is whether pop-up testing at a school pants answer some COVID-related questions can be successfully implemented for routine regarding symptoms or possible exposure. surveillance,” Azarian said. “Why start this “Pick up your vial, spit in your vial, close

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UCF Research Study Brings Free COVID-19 Testing to Campus your vial, put your vial in a new box that will kill any active virus, walk away and disinfect your hands,” Lawson said, emphasizing the simplicity and non-invasive nature of the process in comparison to PCR tests, which involve nasal swabs.

The sample is tested at UCF, and if the virus is detected, the researchers will inform both the participant and the school within 24 hours, and contact tracing will ensue. However, only those who test positive will be contacted with their results. Then, the research component enters the fray. The RNA and other genetic material will be extracted from the virus to learn more about its origins, characteristics and similarities to other viruses.

School Nurse Kelly White stressed that the tests are not meant for sick students to request; they are being used to explore the genetic information of the coronavirus, as well as to understand the scope of the pandemic’s impact on Trinity. White, who is aiding the researchers in conducting the study, said that students should not have concerns over the accuracy of the tests, however the school strongly urges those who test positive to take a PCR test in a healthcare facility to confirm their result.

“While the PCR nasal swab tests are the gold

standard, the saliva tests are far less intrusive,” the protocols of the study prevent researchers White said. “The reagents that Dr. Azarian has from looking at anything personal. are 97.5% accurate. There’s hardly ever going “We want to make it clear that we’re seto be a false positive or negative.” quencing the virus, and that has nothing to do Studies done by other research institutions with your human genetic material, which will have produced similar accuracy rates, as there be completely secure,” Azarian said. is little to no difference White said she believes between the accuracy of There’s hardly ever going that because a larger portion saliva tests and nasal swab to be a false positive or of the school community tests, according to a report will be regularly tested, stuon 16 studies published in negative. dents should expect higher the Journal of the American positivity rates. Students - Kelly White, School Nurse who may have thought they Medical Association. The study indicates that saliva were just feeling symptoms testing has shown 99 percent accuracy at iden- from allergies, fatigue or stress may actually tifying negative cases, while being far less inva- be suffering from COVID-19. An increase sive. However, it cannot be forgotten that no in positive cases on campus could also be atavailable test has been proven to be 100% ac- tributed to asymptomatic cases that would not curate. In order to confirm test results, Azarian have been normally detected. will confirm positive results with a similar proAzarian emphasized that the research study cess to PCR tests. is still open to new volunteers. Testing will con“By the time I report it out to the admin- tinue at least once a week or every other week istration or the individual, I’m certain that it over the next few months, likely until vaccines either contains the virus or very likely contains are made available. Researchers hope that the the virus,” he said. study will help them learn more about whethWhile some students have shared concerns er pop-up clinics are effective enough to test regarding the privacy of their data, Azarian school or work communities. The pandemic said that there is nothing to worry about, as will likely have lasting effects for generations, but Azarian hopes that research studies like this will open the door to new advancements in infectious disease research, preparation, and detection.

Although Lawson praised the newfound ability for students and faculty to know their COVID-19 status, he implored that we must not let our guard down. It is imperative that we all continue to follow the CDC and the school’s guidelines for the safety of yourself, your family, and those around you.

“Please continue to follow our COVID protocols,” Lawson said. “If you feel the slightest amount of illness, do not come to campus… do not go to a party. Do not go to sports practices. Tell us [if you are infected]. We’re just asking people to be responsible for their health and the health of others.”

School Nurse Kelly White assists a student in completing the pre-sample survey before producing a sample. White explained that these surveys are key for the researchers to learn more about how COVID-19 spreads around the school community.

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Lifestyles

March 2O21

ARE ALL STEREOTYPES BAD? Article by Sidney Seybold Graphic by Jaidyn Holt

This article contains potentially sensitive material concerning violence, racism and sexual assault.

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once warned of the danger of a single story, or believing that one version of a story universally applies to everyone’s experiences.

She was essentially criticizing the ever-controversial stereotype. When most hear the word “stereotype,” an overwhelmingly negative image comes to mind — “women aren’t good at sports” or “gay men are feminine.” Yet, doesn’t

assuming that stereotypes are always destructive mean that we as a society have given stereotypes a single story? Are all stereotypes bad?

According to Principles of Social Psychology, stereotyping comes from social categorization, or the brain’s natural need to organize people into specific groups to then assess how to interact with them.

“Stereotypes are the way our brain was designed to categorize and simplify the world around us,” social science teacher Donna Walker said.

Aside from the fact that it’s natural, the habit of stereotyping can be hard to break be-

cause the brain tends to remember only what we perceive as predictable in a process called confirmation bias.

“Here’s a stereotype, women texting while driving,” Walker said. “… For all the women you see that aren’t texting while driving, you don’t particularly make note of it. But when you do see a woman texting, you’re like ‘ah see, there it is. Texting while driving.’”

One’s surroundings influence confirmation bias, like what one sees in the media. The online scientific magazine Scientific American states that social media companies employ user data to cater content that the user will most likely enjoy or agree with, meaning that the person is consuming mostly one-sided information, which can reinforce biases they already have.

For example, suppose someone believes that all executives of oil companies are greedy and don’t care about the environment. If the only information they receive on Instagram is content focused on oil companies’ refusal to help the environment and nothing about the economic benefits of oil, it will most likely solidify that person’s stereotype.

There has also been a push in recent years to stop portraying stereotypes in film and television, particularly in entertainment marketed towards children. In a 2017 report, Common Sense, a nonprofit organization focused on helping children navigate technology, asserted that a child’s exposure to TV with traditional gender stereotypes massively reinforces a child’s idea about the roles of men and women.

One study in the report involved girls ages 6 to 9 drawing a scientist after either watching gender traditional programming, programming with “women in STEM” or

March 2O21

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In theory, no. In practice, yes. no programming at all. 30% of the girls who had watched the traditional programming drew a female scientist, while a greater 75% of the girls who had seen the clips of women in STEM careers did. Furthermore, The New York Times revealed in a study they conducted that by age 6, “young girls are less likely than boys to view their own gender as brilliant.”

Although mentally categorizing people is a natural cognitive process, Walker said that concluding that stereotypes apply to all people in a particular group leads to discrimination.

“What is more important is what you do with those stereotypes,” Walker said. “How does that affect your behavior? … And when it comes to people being treated unfairly, unjustly, unkindly, that’s not a stereotype anymore; that’s discrimination.”

Sophomore Jeffrey Wang is first-generation Chinese American and said that although some Asian stereotypes might be seen as flattering, like being smart, they still can negatively affect one’s sense of self. He can mostly tell when people are joking about stereotypes, but after having lived in three states across the U.S., he believes that stereotyping is widespread.

“I used to get kind of mad about it [stereotyping] when I was in elementary school, but after a few years, you kind of deal with it,” Wang said.

From microaggressions to systemic oppression, stereotypes harm marginalized communities.

“People always talk about how we have gotten too sensitive, but I remember when I was growing up, some of the stuff they said actually hurt quite a bit,” Wang said. “Especially when you’re growing, especially when those are your first impressions of people … As you get older, it’s not that bad. It’s just when you’re young, that’s when you learn about other people, you know? That’s when you start to learn about what society is like.”

One of the greatest examples of the manifestation of stereotypes in America is police brutality. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, police brutality fueled by discriminatory ideology is not new; groups that historically were deemed as threats — Jews, southern and eastern Europeans, Mexicans, Muslims, the LGBTQ community and African Americans

— have all been targets. vantageous in queer dating when the person is These groups’ reputations worsen when not necessarily out of the closet but still wants tensions are high and violence occurs. Fur- people to know they are LGBTQ. She also has thermore, social science teacher Robin Grenz to mentally evaluate other people when out said the media, including literature, worsens with her girlfriend to keep themselves safe. the situation by often reinforcing harmful ste“It’s kind of like a safety thing,” Robinson reotypes like that Black people are more dan- said. “You have to read the room and the sitgerous than white people. She cited minstrel uation because people are going to stereotype shows as one of the most effective ways that you into possibly being gay, and you have to negative Black stereotypes spread in the 19th stereotype them back. You have to consider: and 20th centuries. ‘are you going to be homophobic and be agThese stereotypes reinforced prior discrim- gressive towards me?’” inatory views and became deeply ingrained Additionally, oftentimes women have to use in society. They partially fueled racist policies social categorization to try to keep themselves like housing discrimisafe from sexual assault. nation and Jim Crow “People always talk about A report issued by the laws, which further held Department of how we have gotten too sen- U.S. up existing stereotypes Justice concluded that by disproportionately sitive, but I remember when I 99.6% of offenders of keeping Black Ameri- was growing up, some of the rape serving sentenccans poorer than white es in state prisons were stuff they said actually hurt men, and The GuardAmericans.

How deeply negative quite a bit.” ian found that men Black stereotypes are who join fraternities are - Jeffrey Wang, Sophomore “three times more likely rooted in American society can be seen through to” commit sexual aspublic opinion of last summer’s Black Lives sault. In a TIME article, writer Jessica Bennett Matter protests. TIME reports that 93% of stated about her experience with Greek Life, the protests were peaceful, yet in a poll con- “We learned the rules to frat life quickly, or at ducted by the Armed Conflict Location & least we thought we did. Never let your drink Event Data Project (ACLED), 42% of people out of your sight.” said that “most protesters (associated with the Therefore, although it’s an obvious stateBLM movement) are trying to incite violence ment that a small minority of men are predor destroy property.” ators, women have to prepare for the worst. It The Washington Post attributes this senti- is always the responsibility of the perpetrator, ment to media companies like Fox News, who not the victim, to prevent sexual assault, but cater to a conservative audience, that over- women are forced to categorize people in cerwhelmingly showed more violence and de- tain situations, based on prior knowledge, for struction than peaceful protests. This out-of- their own safety. balance reporting contributed to confirmation This type of “stereotyping” is usually essenbias, leading people to believe that most of the tial in keeping vulnerable people safe, but it’s a protests were not civil. slippery slope to fall into using it to discrimiAlso, the BLM demonstrations, though nate in the name of safety. largely peaceful, were met with more police So how do we eradicate these single-story violence than the January 6 attack on the capi- narratives? Grenz says, like most problems, the tal, a protest comprised mostly of Anglo-Saxon path to progress starts with education, which white Americans, displaying the racially un- she seeks to do in her own social studies classes. equal attitudes that exist in the police system.

“Breaking stereotypes is by highlighting Yet, categorizing people can be helpful, as achievements, looking at resiliency, recognizwell. Senior Sophia Robinson, who identifies ing that we’re all part of this collective humanas lesbian, believes that stereotypes can be ad- ity,” Grenz said.

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IDENTIFY, DEMYSTIFY, DIVERSIFY March brings awareness to intellectual/developmental disabilities Article by Sarah Zehnder Graphic by Jaidyn Holt This article contains potentially sensitive material concerning the harsh treatment of individuals with disabilities and discusses the ‘R’ word.

History

March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan made this designation to encourage equal rights for those with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD). The intent of this designation is to acknowledge and appreciate those with I/DD and tell their stories. The Trinity Family can help make a difference not only at school but in our community.

Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities are conditions that adversely affect the trajectory of one’s physical, intellectual, and/or emotional development. But, who exactly falls into the I/DD community? Common or well-known examples are Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Cerebral Palsy.

Discrimination

For many years, the ‘R’ word was used in the context of “mental retardation” by medical professionals for people with I/DD. However, the ‘R’ word has since become a slang word for someone stupid or ignorant and is now considered pejorative.

“It [the ‘R’ word] is such a horrible word,” senior and founder of Trinity’s Best Buddies club Emma Davey said. “It was used so much to oppress people with disabilities. People with disabilities used to be sent to intuitional camps just because they had an extra chromosome, for example. That word represents all of that because that’s what they were labeled as and it hurts me to say it.”

Lobotomies, a procedure that involves the severing of brain connections, were performed on people with disabilities in the early 20th century as a way to “fix” them.

People with disabilities were and often still are called this hateful word as a way to make them feel lesser than. This word is not to be used jokingly in passing; it represents decades of injustice and prejudice.

The offensive word shows up a lot in today’s tweeted: “I’m sorry. I plan to remove the redialect, even on campus. Davey said she has straint scenes from all future printings. I lisexperienced situations where people say the tened to the wrong people and that is my word, and she does not know how to react. She responsibility, my research was clearly not said that it is uncomfortable when it is said so thorough enough, not wide enough.” The often. people she listened to were in fact an Autism “It [the ‘R’ word] actually came up in one of awareness group, Autism Speaks, which has the Trinity plays when I was in seventh grade been heavily criticized for its unflattering porand I didn’t know how to handle the situa- trayal and pitying treatment of people with tion,” Davey said. autism.

As an attempt to combat this, during the month of March, the Best Buddies club is What can Trinity do?

Although the percentage of students at Trinstarting a campaign called “Spread the Word to End the Word” where participants vow to ity with I/DD is very low, the school comnot say the word as a way to spread awareness. munity can still make strides in improving its “Part of the campaign is having a bunch of inclusivity at school towards students with I/ people sign a banner and pledge that they are DD and to those in the community at large. not going to say the ‘R’ word anymore,” Davey Although being deaf does not fall under the category of I/DD, ASL is commonly used to said.

The media has played a role in heighten- communicate with nonspeaking people with ing awareness about the challenges faced by autism and other disabilities.

“If we [Trinity] had an ASL class and those with I/DD. Often, accurate informacount[ed] it as a foreign lantion and authentic characterizations of “It’s all about inclusion. Peo- guage, which I know Winter does that, we could have people with disabilple with disabilites are peo- Park a whole curriculum and that ities are portrayed. would be amazing,” Davey But sometimes the ple just like the rest of us. said. “Being able to converse media still gets it - Emma Davey, Senior even a little with someone wrong. One recent who is deaf, opens up a whole example is in the movie “Music,” produced by artist Sia. The new world.”

From learning how to respectfully navigate movie follows a young woman named Music, someone who uses the “R” word, to includportrayed by Maddie Ziegler, who is autistic.

The film includes a scene that features a dan- ing someone new in your everyday activities, gerous restraint method being used on Music Davey believes we can all take steps to make when she has a meltdown. The method of re- campus more inclusive.

“I try to come from a place of educating straint depicted has been lethal in some cases people instead of flipping out,” Davey said. and is upsetting to watch on screen.

“It’s all about inclusion. People with disabilThe movie also has scenes with flashing lights and bright colors, which can trigger ities are people just like the rest of us. They seizures, which people with autism are prone deserve to be in classrooms right next to us, get to. Although unintentional, and to the fault jobs, and get paid like the rest of us.” of Sia, Ziegler’s performance came off as toneThe background is inspired by the logo for deaf and mocking.

2020 Developmental Disabilities Awareness Although the film was nominated for GoldMonth. en Globes’s Best Motion Picture- Musical or Comedy, the backlash for the movie was catastrophic.

Before deleting her Twitter account, Sia

March 2O21

Lifestyles

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THE MODERN DAY SPACE RACE Article by Amy-Ruth Gyang Graphic by Jaidyn Holt

On July 20, 1969, 350 million people around the world watched Neil Armstrong say his most famous words, “This is a small step for a man, a giant leap for humanity.” NASA had achieved what many thought was impossible: sending a man to the Moon, starting a rage in space travel from newspapers to radios to children’s toys—until it wasn’t. As the public interest in space exploration declined, so did the willingness to spend taxpayer money to fund these costly missions.

NASA’s government funding peaked during the Apollo programs of the 1960s, but has since reduced dramatically. In 2011, the government discontinued funding for NASA’s longest-running space shuttle program, which was responsible for the construction of the International Space Station (ISS) and satellite facilities, but its failed flights and exorbitant costs made it clear that funding had to be cut.

In the recent decade, private companies and investors, largely pushed by competition, funded millions into their own space programs with hopes to develop clean energy technologies, establish colonies and develop space infrastructure. The modern day space race had begun.

Kelvin Manning, who currently serves as Associate Director of Kennedy’s Space Center and is the father of sophomore, Rachel Manning, has worked at NASA for more than two decades.

“When you have two people with similar net worths and ventures for space travel, it’s not crazy that they have developed a competition,” Manning said.

Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, both leading the race to space, have formed a competitive rivalry.

“The reason we go to space, in my view, is to save the Earth,” Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the rocket company Blue Origin said in a 2019 interview. “If we are

going to continue to grow this civilization, we need the Moon.”

New Shepard, Bezos’s reusable suborbital rocket system, is set to travel to the Moon by 2024.

“What I really hope is that we stick with going back to the moon, this time to stay, because that is actually the fastest way to get to Mars. It’s an illusion that you can skip a step. Skipping steps slows you down, it’s seductive but wrong,” said Bezos. The Amazon founder foresees his colonization of the Moon, as an opportunity to construct colonies with various themes and designs that will be able to house trillions of people while remaining sustainable After striking a deal with NASA, in 2008, Musk hit a milestone in the billionaire space race: creating a commercial spacecraft system trusted to send humans to Mars. Musk, known for his company of electric vehicles Tesla, has raised concerns over gas emissions on Earth. Musk’s company, SpaceX, became the first to launch a privately owned spacecraft and to create fully reusable rockets. According to SpaceX’s website, reusable rockets have reduced emissions by 64% and cut costs by 65%, compared to NASA’s single use rockets.

“You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great - and that’s what being a spacefaring civilization is all about,” said Musk, “And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”

SpaceX’s reusable rocket, Starship, is expected to fly to Mars by 2024, with the goal of creating a human colony.

Due to the temperature difference between Mars and Earth, and because the atmosphere of Mars provides limited protection from radiation, the colony will have to begin in domes that protect inhabitants from these conditions. On a “Third Row Tesla” podcast, Musk described the colony being under a direct democracy where

people will make their own choices. In an aim to make Mars more habitable, Musk plans to use terraforming, transforming plants from a hostile ecosystem to terres trial life, to support human life.

While Musk’s exploration to space emerged from curiosity, Bezos’ drive for space exploration is rooted by concerns that have arisen on Earth, such as environmental and resource restrictions.

“They take a long time to solve. You can’t wait until the long-range problems are urgent to work on them,” Bezos said.

For decades, public institutions dominated space exploration, but with the arrival of private companies, space exploration has accelerated, offering numerous advances.

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March 2O21

TO TASTE OR NOT TO TASTE

Sense of taste is more important than it seems Article by Deniz Bölöni-Turgut Graphic by Jaidyn Holt

Seventh grader Owen Raffa takes a bite of his usual after school snack of toast, making a face as he tastes it. Despite his growling stomach, he abandons the toast and starts working on his homework.

Raffa, like many others who contract COVID-19, partially lost his sense of taste as a symptom of the virus. In particular, Raffa said he could still taste foods but that their tastes were odd and unappetizing. Loss of taste and smell are some of the most common symptoms of COVID-19 according to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) website. According to an article in Today, most people’s loss of taste and smell returns or improves within a month, although there is a small percentage of people for whom the loss lasts much longer or is even permanent. The majority of coronavirus symptoms impact the respiratory system.

Shortness of breath, reduced lung capacity, and coughing can signify a more serious case.

In comparison, temporarily losing taste and smell might not seem very bad. “[Taste is] a lot more important than I’d originally thought,” Raffa said. “When I go to eat my favorite snack and it just doesn’t really taste the same, that’s really weird. I didn’t expect that to be that severe. I didn’t really expect it to have an actual impact, but it really did.”

While Raffa didn’t lose his sense of smell in addition to his sense of taste, the two are connected. While there is no precise evidence, most experts agree that much of what one

tastes comes from their sense of smell. An oft cited experiment involves tasting foods while plugging your nose; most report a diminished flavor. Yet, smell is often ranked quite low in importance among the five senses. In fact, Raffa ranked it last. Science teacher Bill Personette, on the other hand, said that odor and scents play a very important role in most people’s lives.

“One thing you probably do know is that smells trigger memories like hardly any other sense, so they’re very fundamental,” Personette said. “And also, I’m no evolutionary biologist but there’s reasons why people have the ‘smell test’ in terms of survival as far as not poisoning yourself with rotten food.”

According to the Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition, taste preferences can be shaped by culture, gender and race among others. Some research suggests that males prefer salty foods while females prefer sweet ones.

Personette said that there are also cultural differences that impact dining experiences.

“I think we all know that it’s good to have a good appetite overall,” Personette said. “I think in America sometimes people eat for the sake of eating as opposed for the process of enjoyment. I’m pretty sure I do know that in Europe, they really take their time when they have meals. They really savor the moment and a lot of times in America it’s really wolf it down and move on.”

Regardless of food preferences, when humans have diminished taste receptors, their appetites tend to decrease.

“I think this goes along with having Covid, not necessarily losing taste but I haven’t been as hungry as I usually am,” Raffa said. “I’ve gone days with only eating a bite or like a piece of fruit for breakfast and then not eating until dinner and just not being hungry.”

There are commonly believed to be five different taste receptors: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. Umami, a Japanese word, refers to the savory taste present in some foods such as red meat and tomatoes. Raffa said that his taste buds reacted differently, depending on the flavor of the food.

“If I’m being honest, the sweet things I don’t really like anymore,” Raffa said. “It’s gotten a lot better now but, for example, I’ve tried a strawberry and it tasted not good. Actually, I guess sweet and salty [flavors] because I had … bread with garlic salt on it and that was not good [either].”

At the end of the day, taste and smell are both far more important than most might originally think. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought this fact to greater public awareness as more people than usual had to deal with the loss of these senses.

“What you lose is a certain richness of experience,” Personette said. “So, you go through life I think really oblivious to all of the pleasantries associated with odors and smells and tastes. … It’s almost like taking a color video and it becoming black and white. A lot of the subtleties and richness are lost. I think smells and odors and taste, they’re easy to look past. They’re just so much a part of you on a daily basis.”

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HOW WELL ARE WE ACTUALLY EATING? Article by Marcos Membreno Infographic by Emma Kim

Student health is now more important than ever, and it all starts with diet. However, in this hectic year it has been very hard for students to keep up with good nutrition.

“When I was in quarantine, I usually wouldn’t even eat breakfast— over the summer especially— I woke up later and sometimes I would just skip over it,” sophomore Max Balon said. “Those days I’d feel really slow and now I know why.”

Many students experience problems similar to Balon’s and struggle to realize it until after its effect.

A study published in the U.S. National Library of Medicine explains that shifted lifestyles due to the quarantine affected nutritional habits negatively. This was because of the reduced availability of goods, limited access to food caused by restricted store opening hours, and convenience of unhealthy foods.

This, coupled with years of unhealthy eating, has only been detrimental to the wellness of high schoolers. According to the State of Childhood Obesity, “15.1% of U.S. high school students drank soda at least once a day in 2019, 16.7% did not eat breakfast, and

7.9% did not eat vegetables during the week before the survey.”

For many, these choices are impacted by their schools’ dietary options and meal plans.

“Once we got back [to school], it went back to normal, and I was able to start eating a lot again [for swimming] and feeling energized,” Balon said.

To improve how students are eating on campus, the Grille does its best when prepping food. Chef Manager Chris Behrens said that all canned products are low sodium, including meats. All food that can be made in house is done so, in order to have fewer preservatives.

Most importantly, they make sure to give a variety of options to choose from.

“We are conscious of not trying to fill people, but again at the end of the day, it’s still deli meat and it’s still pasta … and so we make sure to give options … with [pasta] sauces there’s the cream-based sauce which will kill you, and the tomato sauce which won’t. So, you choose what you want,” Behrens said.

However, it is up to the kids to make the right choices, whether at the Grille or at home.

As the pandemic continues, significantly fewer students are buying from the Grille, and diet will be up to kids and their families.

“I don’t think that many people take their health into consideration when they buy food from the Grille, but it’s not a problem because of the Grille, it’s because of the decision making of the students,” Balon said.

Convenience plays a big factor in their diet choices. Behrens helps explain one of the reasons behind this.

“The younger kids want to go for what’s quick [like] fries and burgers … but it’s normal, I remember when I was a kid, I didn’t want to sit down and eat, I wanted to go hang out with my friends,” Behrens said.

Although burgers and fries are not always the wisest choice, they shouldn’t be taboo. A 2014 study by University of Canterbury professor Roeline G. Kuijer found that viewing chocolate cake and other “cheat meals” negatively resulted in worse eating attitudes and weight control when compared to mindfully eating sweets every now and then. The same principles apply to other unhealthy foods.

“With life it’s about moderation, if you eat 400lbs of ice cream everyday you’re not going to be a healthy guy, so you got to moderate your food intake,” Behrens said.

MOST POPULAR AT THE GRILLE French Fries

Fountain Drinks

39% of students do not eat breakfast 2O% of students believe their eating

habits have become unhealthier during the pandemic

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March 2O21

SPROUTING A NEW DIRECTION

Vertical farming gives an alternate method to traditional farming Article by Evan Huang Graphic by Jaiydn Holt

Ever since the Industrial Revolution in America, the world has only looked up. Mass exploration and industrialization caused a crisis of expansion, having developed the majority of our livable land, many began to imagine a new dimension of expansion, the sky. Skyscrapers and apartment complexes revolutionized our way of life, and now, as we face an impending crisis of agricultural production, the vertical solution has extended to farming. Discovering new ways to improve crop production has been a topic of discussion for decades.

New ideas like GMOs and using greenhouse gases that help regulate temperature have improved crop production. Yet today, agriculture faces the possibility of a radical paradigm shift, going vertical.

Vertical farming is a method that grows the maximum amount of crops in the smallest amount of space. It allows for year-round crop production that isn’t dependent on the weather and avoids the usage of chemical pesticides and the toxins that come with it Although a new concept, many scientists have constantly sought to use alternatives to ordinary means of growing crops.

“Vertical farming is taking place where there’s less access to arable land and so, … vertical farming allows you to grow crops yearround,” science teacher Emily Massey-Burmeister said.

Unlike traditional methods of

farming, vertical farming does not require the use of natural sunlight but instead, adapts to the indoor environment used. Companies use multiple colors of LED lights like red to enhance photosynthesis and control the light and humidity of the room to create an optimal growing environment for the plants. It also uses three different systems: aeroponics, hydroponics, and aquaponics to skip the growing mediums that are traditionally needed. For example, these systems allow the plants to skip the use of soil.

In an era where food security and shortages have become a looming threat, the idea of vertical farming has caught multiple investor’s attention. Traditional means of farming In fact, the US vertical farming market is projected to reach values of around $3 billion by 2024.

However, although the idea of vertical farming brings efficiency to the farming process, it comes with its disadvantages.

“In terms of if it is more productive, I would say it’s probably going to give you less productivity not because of the individual plants but because the spaces that you’re growing them in is limiting,” Massey-Burmeister said.

For starters, vertical farming also requires higher labor costs in comparison to farmers, and the potential effects a natural disaster can have are devastating, as the whole system depends on electricity. Additionally, it’s very costly to start up a vertical farming complex.

In fact, Agriculture Consulting found that the average start-up cost for a vertical farm was $4

million dollar due to the tremendous amount of electricity needed to run the farm.

Since the industry is brand new, the prices for vertically farmed crops are massively higher than ordinary crops. A study by iGrow found that while the cost of kale was $1.33 per pound at Walmart and organic kale costs around $4.99 per pound at Whole Foods; vertically farmed kale ended up costing a much larger $14.18 per pound.

Vertical farming also takes away multiple important aspects and lessons that only traditional means of farming can have.

“It helps bring the community together and it could teach more people about what it’s like to grow your own food which could be really important for communities like those in a food desert of a city,” senior and garden club president Emily Wilhelm said.

Today, the key to the most popular form of farming is efficiency. So while the state of vertical farming seems dim, the industry has room to grow and improve. For example, companies could find a way to reduce energy consumption through alternate means.

“If there was a cleaner way to generate the energy then it wouldn’t be as detrimental as if you’re running fossil fuels,” Massey-Burmeister said. “I think if your need to boost production you can do it as long as it isn’t causing a major detriment to the environment around you.”

Massey-Burmeister suggested using renewable energy rather than ordinary means of combusting coal and fossil fuel. New ideas should be formed around farming and even more, the relationship between technology and farmers should grow closer. Because in a time when our population only continues to grow, our needs for food will increase with it.

“I think what we’re doing right now is kind of limited, and I think we should take technology and kind of expand it into fields like hydroponics,” Wilhelm said.

Vertical farming is not perfect by any means.

Some may consider it a drawback rather than an innovation. However, in a generation that must build off of ordinary means to solve problems like the food crisis, vertical farming creates a new lens, one that looks up.

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THE MODERN FOOD ERA: FROM LAB TO KITCHEN Developing gene editing technology changes the approach to food Article by Maneesh Rajulapati Graphic by Jaidyn Holt

which can release harmful toxins to nearby organisms. This improves the overall quality Venturing into the 21st century, society of plants, global agriculture and food security. stands in the midst of a technological revoluAnother viable use of CRISPR is saving ention. Such modern innovation has even found dangered food plants. Oranges and chocolate its way into the realm of could be gone before 2100, food, redefining and re- “The GM products are but CRISPR can avoid sizing the typical “plate.” such extinctions by creating Thanks to gene editing, safe. There is nothing plants with better longevired carrots, non-browning different about them ty. Aside from helping the apples and decaffeinated actual plant, this will also coffee beans could soon be- except the introduced betters the shelf life of their come everyday meals. How- genes.” products, eliminating excesever, the majority of these sive food waste.

- Scottie Smith, AP new food varieties will be However, despite the nuBiology Teacher merous promising benefits, indistinguishable from their non-edited counterparts. In C R I S P R food techfact, it's likely that genetically modified foods nology has many barriers to have already become staples in your kitchen. cross before its products The ability to engineer food to have desir- can fall into consumer’s able traits has made food science an emerging hands. The first obstacle hot topic. The most efficient way to do food is society’s growing conediting has been the genetic modification of cern with the ethics of macromolecules: proteins, carbs, lipids and genetic modification. AP nucleic acids. Current developments in this Biology teacher Scottie area of research have used CRISPR, a gene Smith states that this large editing technology. CRISPRs are specialized public distrust could be due stretches of DNA that control the enzymes to having a misinformed responsible for cutting DNA. Discovered in public. In fact, a majority 2012, CRISPR technology involves introduc- of the food people already ing foreign DNA into an organism in order to consume are GMOs. The enable or disable their genes. For both animals National Center for Food and plants, CRISPR has made the editing pro- & Agricultural Policy recess cheaper and easier. Cancer.gov states that ported that 85% of domesCRISPR has been used for a variety of purpos- tic corn is modified, as well es such as improving immune defense respons- as most brands of corn flake es. Its ability to help protect against viruses has cereals. Other common even led to experimental trials of using CRIS- kitchen items that have PR to detect the coronavirus. already been edited inModern utilization of CRISPR deals with clude cooking vegetapotentially increasing crop yield, which will bles—like potatoes and work to curb world hunger. The World Bank soybeans—fruits, canola finds that GDP per capita increases when pop- and even milk. ulation hunger levels decrease. New accelerat“It’s because people don’t understand these ed plant domestication will help in boosting genetically modified foods. People fear what yield rates. These new plant variants can adapt they don’t understand. If people realised that to changing global conditions by being more they actually consume such foods daily, then resistant to droughts, herbicides, insecticide they’d calm down. GMs are just a faster way and antibiotics. Resistance to the environ- to breed an organism than traditional breeding ment can end the use of pesticides globally, mechanisms. The GM products are safe. There

is nothing different about them except the introduced genes,” Smith said.

The public also believes that these types of crops could exacerbate climate change, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Smith said that organisms could be engineered to have elevated carbon dioxide saturation levels, meaning these plants would remove more CO2 from the atmosphere. Further, CRISPR can remove lawn weeds which greatly contribute to CO2 levels. This is done by creating plants that have larger storages for energy.

Other obstacles deal with how this tech affects the economy. At the current moment, farmers and small businesses make up the foundation of the food industry. National Geographic reported that farms accounted for 70% of the world’s food. However, capitalizing CRISPR can shift the industry into the hands of big corporations. The reaction to farmers potentially being driven out of the market for monopolizing corporations cannot be predicted, but the recent farmer riots in India are a good indication as to how this could turn out.

Nevertheless, Smith and others believe that the benefits of CRISPR food technology outweigh the harms. Smith states that this tech would still go through the same legal process that any other food production method would, ensuring its implementation won’t cause disastrous and negative consequences.

“Most of the time it doesn’t change the effetiveness or taste—in fact, sometimes the taste is enhanced,” Smith said. “Such gene editing can only be dangerous if genes are implemented that can trigger allergenicity [which hasn’t happened]. Aside from that, these are just the genes and foods we’ve been eating our whole life.”

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Opinions

March 2O21

SO FAR SO GOOD Trinity’s COVID response has been effective — it’s up to us to keep it that way The 2020-2021 school year has been a tu- occurrence of off-campus behavior.” multuous one, to say the least. However, it In January, Trinity saw its first major uptick has gone better than many expected. At the in case numbers, which ultimately led to the beginning of the school year, it would have entire seventh grade being quarantined. Herbeen difficult to fathom we would stay open ron explained that there were primarily two past Labor Day. Now in March, we are still factors that went into this decision. First, after going strong and have experienced minimal a large number of positive cases in the seventh outbreaks to date. While it has not been per- grade alone, the decision to quarantine the fect, this speaks to the effectiveness of Trinity’s grade was made to combat the spread of the response to COVID-19. virus. Secondly, with a significant amount of Though some may argue it is still safer to the grade quarantined as a result of contract go online completely, tracing anyway, a gradeTrinity is doing its best “We have pretty good evi- wide quarantine made it to provide what it coneasier on the teachers as siders as the best possi- dence that many of the cases well. ble learning experience have been an occurence of “When it gets up to for students. There have the area of around 35 to off-campus behavior.” been a variety of proce40% of the class being dures in place to curb - Dennis Herron, Associate out or quarantined by the spread of the virus, Head of School us, then we’re going to and for the most part, be looking at [quaranthey have been successtining the entire grade],” ful, with only 37 reported positive cases as Herron said. of March 1, according to Associate Head of If an outbreak like this occurs, it’s easy to School Dennis Herron. Yet, even this number point fingers and blame the school for any is slightly inflated as it includes all those who possible mistakes it made. However, this incitested positive, even if they never came onto dent shows that if push comes to shove, the campus or exposed anyone else. school is ready to send large numbers of stuThe school’s implementation of contact trac- dents home to limit the chances of more geting, in particular, airs on the side of caution. ting infected. This seems to have worked, as For example, many athletes have gone online the seventh grade has since returned and case to avoid getting contact traced and missing numbers have subsided. games, not out of fear of actually contracting If anyone is to blame for an outbreak, it the virus. At times the contract tracing has is the student body for our actions outside been so extensive that large portions of various of school. The majority of the positive cases grades have been sent home, but to the best of this school year have resulted from off-campus our knowledge, the policy has been effective in behavior, namely a few super-spreader events, curbing the spread of the virus. where social distancing and appropriate mea“We have little evidence that there has been sures weren’t being taken. a significant transmission on campus,” Herron “I think the school can play a part in presaid. “I can’t say that it has never been trans- venting an outbreak,” sophomore Sophia Lamitted on campus, but we have pretty good mar said. “But at the end of the day, it’s the evidence that many of the cases have been an students who need to commit to wearing

masks, do their best to stay away from other students and stay safe outside of school.”

Trinity appears to have recognized that it is impossible to control the actions of students and faculty off-campus, which is why measures have been put into place like remote days after school breaks. Granted, the online days after winter break probably didn’t do much, as two days isn’t enough time for symptoms to develop. Neither did the fact that teachers were required to get tested, but were allowed to return before the results came back.

However, any policies that even minimally increase protection against COVID-19 and don’t take away from too much time in-person learning should be embraced. The school has also rolled out optional testing for the student body and faculty in tandem with UCF and alumna and computational biologist Pardis Sabeti. While the effectiveness of in-school testing is yet to be seen, it certainly can’t hurt.

Ultimately, Trinity is doing all that it can to provide the most normal year possible to those who seek it. And for those who feel unsafe, or would like to be unsafe outside of school, the option to go online remains. As the school year is reaching its final months, it is everyone’s hope that we can remain open. But whether we are able to or not is up to the student body and our actions off-campus.

The lead editorial expresses the opinion of the Trinity Voice editorial staff. Please send commenets to voice@trinityprep.org

March 2O21

Opinions

19

Affirmative Action for college THE BIGGER PICTURE: Blaming rejections epitomizes anti-blackness Article by Amy Qiao Graphic by Henry Van Voorhis

In conversations concerning college acceptances, remarks like “he only got in because he’s Black” or “she only needed a 1300 on the SAT to look competitive” are often thrown about carelessly. However, the students (often Asian or white) making these claims fail to recognize the gravity and ignorance of their sentiments.

It is time to address how these widely used lies, recently fueled by a lawsuit against Harvard’s Affirmative Action policies, perpetuate harmful anti-blackness in our communities.

Affirmative Action programs were built on notions to diversify campuses, eliminate stereotypes and, most importantly, provide equal opportunities to historically oppressed minorities, and they do just that. According to Janelle Wong, the director of Asian American Studies at the University of Maryland, Asian American success post-college is attributed to their admissions in higher education through these exact policies; they fail to recognize that they are direct beneficiaries of Affirmative Action.

Moreover, in 2016, researchers found that omitting African Americans and Latino applicants from admissions processes only increases an Asian American’s chances of admission by 1%. This would make it unlikely that a rejected Asian American student would be admitted even if Affirmative Action wasn’t ruling.

Scholars state that Asians were able to gain success in America after whites started treating them as equals. Nathaniel Hilger, an economist from Brown University, found that Asian Americans were able to close the wage gap with their white counterparts simply because they were treated better. Brown correlates the increase in Asian income with the disappearance of discriminatory institutions from World War II and the alleviation of racial prejudices. Today, there is no doubt that Asians and Blacks alike still suffer from racist violent attacks and slurs. However, racism against Blacks is still in-

grained in our very own foundational systems (prison-industrial complex, police brutality, etc.) and has not been lessened like discriminatory programs against Asians have. Not to mention, Blacks are still recovering from the impacts of decades of slavery and segregation.

“We, [Asians], need to stand in a higher moral ground and make some sacrifices,” said Li Wei, Rollins College’s Coordinator of Asian Studies. “The system isn’t perfect, but we must work with the people, and understand [America’s] history. This country owes a great deal to Black Americans.”

When a Black student is admitted into a school, they are often ridiculed instead of celebrated. Not only does this invalidate their high school merits, but it pits them against their Asian peers when they should be working in solidarity.

For decades, the “Model Minority” notion has been disguised as a compliment for Asian Americans, praising them for their success that was seemingly achieved with diligent hard work and strong family values. However, it is all a myth. The commonly generalized “rags to riches” narrative is not applicable for every Asian American, and it is dangerous to assume every person’s experiences are the same. By stereotyping all Asians in this way, it fiercely categorizes Blacks as “lazy” in contrast to Asians and assumes all Asians are successful, which is far from true. In fact, 12.3% of Asian Americans, consisting mostly of Southern Asians, live below the poverty line.

Conservatives often use Asians as their mascot to dismantle Affirmative Action, an action that would significantly benefit whites.

UC Berkley Professor Ling-Chi Wang states that “at no time has anyone in the Asian American community linked concerns to the legitimate affirmative action program for the historically discriminated minorities.” Asian Americans must stop believing that Affirmative Action policies that help other minorities

discriminate against them. White conservatives continuously attempt to divide Asians and Blacks from each other just so they can prevail, and it must be stopped.

When Asian American and white students aren’t admitted into their school of choice, they often direct their anger toward their peers who were offered admission, blaming Affirmative Action to be the sole cause of their rejection. However, they fail to point their fingers to the substantial number of students who receive admission solely based on their familial connections: legacies.

The legacy admission system is an inequitable cycle that continuously rewards affluent (often white) families that are not in need of an advantage in social climbing, let alone deserve it. Legacies take up an overwhelming amount of the student body makeup. In fact, NPR reported that in 2018 over 14% of Harvard’s undergraduate school consisted of legacies.

In a 2011 project studying 30 of America’s most selective schools, a Harvard researcher found that legacy applicants had a 23% higher chance of admission than a regular applicant.

Moreover, a “primary legacy” applicant (a student with a parent who was as an undergraduate) had a 45% higher chance of admission.

“It’s a terrible system because most students are not qualified to get in,” senior Julee Sharma said. “Also, immigrants don’t have that luxury of having someone go to college before them.”

This system reinforces the idea that a child needs well off parents to flourish later in life.

However, true ambition, merit and embracement of diversity should trump any nepotistic standard held by college admission processes.

Upholders for legacy admissions claim that they fund colleges and programs for financial aid. However, researchers found in 2010 that there is no significant evidence that suggests legacy preferences impact alumni funding.

If we want to build a future where Blacks can close their poverty gap, we must give them the means to do so—means that Asians have been given. Race conscious policies are crucial to end systemic racism and support underrepresented minorities. We should focus on derailing the inequitable legacy admissions process, not Affirmative Action.

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Opinions

March 2O21

WALL STREET MEETS ITS MATCH Article by Madeline Peckham Graphic by Emma Kim

This newfound unity is a welcome sight, but it’s hard to say if it will last or not. Promises of It’s no secret that the stock market is a lu- unity are made within politics all the time, but crative business. Though it can be risky, when are rarely made to last. This community drivsomeone knows what they’re doing, it’s easy to en unity, however, seems serious. Many Wall reap serious benefits.

Streeters didn’t believe the r/WallStreetBets Many people who don’t trade for a living community, and were scrambling to respond will get into the stock market recreationally, when Redditors accomplished what they set following trends and occasionally getting very out to. lucky. On the other hand, people who do it Effects on the economy, though mildly conprofessionally oftentimes cerning when considering take advantage of a varicrash from the highly “At one point in your life, aelevated ety of complicated techprice for companiques, one of which is almost everybody is going nies like GameStop, have “short selling.” to be invested in the stock been good, showing lots “You’re promising to of much-needed spikes afsell a stock, and a very market...I mean, it’s a ter the depression during short period of time at a survival skill, right?” the pandemic. maximum price,” Hon“The companies them- Brandon Burmeister, Honors selves just got flushed with ors Economics teacher Brandon Burmeister said.

Economic Teacher a ton of cash,” Burmeister “What you’re basically dosaid. “Right? I mean, they ing with shorting is like, just got hit with a ton you’re doing that to basically bet against the of cash because a ton of people bought their stock.” stocks.”

Analysts do this in order to make money off Many people have hopped on the bandwagof a declining company. Betting against these on despite not knowing anything about stocks companies often ends up being the final blow, and investing at all. This has lifted spirits in a once and for all killing it within its industry. time when we cannot be together physically, Seeing hedge funds “shorting” nostal- and has allowed many people to begin to ungic companies such as AMC, Nokia, and derstand the stock market, something that is GameStop caused some Redditors to get in- crucial in our lives. volved.

“You know, at one point in your life, almost Their unity has been impressive to say the everybody is going to be invested in the stock least. During a time of extreme division be- market, whether they know it or not, right?” tween people due to political and economic Burmeister said. “They’re going to be investstrains, seeing the unity of the regular day-to- ing in securities mortgages, you’re going to be day person against the powerful corporations buying a mortgage on a house, you’re going and hedge funds was inspiring. During such a to be buying, you know, a loan on a car, sturough time, it was nice—for those involved or dent loans or something like that. All of those not—to see a community band together for a things are traded as securities on markets. So I common cause.

mean, it’s a survival skill, right?”

Some high school and college students got involved as well, starting investments young.

“I was referred to Robinhood by a friend and thought it would be a good way to put away some money to save,” UCF freshman Andrew Lipscomb said.

They were able to use this as a learning experience, and went from knowing very little about investing to understanding how it works and what to do in the future.

“Aside from buy high and sell low I knew nothing. I learned that some stocks are super volatile and if it dips after you sell, you ride the low and if you are willing to double down buy a few more,” said Lipscomb.

Other students that want to start investing should take tips from others that did, and apply it to themselves.

“I would not recommend super volatile stocks like GME, AMC, or DOGE right now unless you can sit there and stare at the graph from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m,” Lipscomb said. “I would get things like Tesla, and the companies that supply them with materials.”

Students should take this as a time to understand what investing can mean for them, and if it’s a good idea for them. They don’t even need to know anything about investing to start.

Investing and the stock market create opportunities for everyone that is eligible to buy and sell, and the GameStop AMC phenomenon was just one example of this. The average citizen does in fact make an impact, especially when unified. One thing is for sure; Wall Street has met its match.

March 2O21

Opinions

21

UNFAIR BUT NOT UNPREDICTABLE Article by Jake McCreary Graphic by Emma Kim

funds to satisfy their backers. Robinhood out- become licensed “accredited investors.” Those lines this clearly in a blog post made shortly that pass gain access to valuable perks like Following the famous r/WallStreetBets following the incident. complete autonomy over one’s retirement savfiasco, social media fell into chaos and “As a brokerage firm, we have many finan- ings and the ability to invest in exclusive assets. outrage as apps and brokers, most notably cial requirements, Private corporaRobinhood, closed all trading on previously including SEC net Since Robinhood profits from tions like FINRA and rising stocks, including GameStop, AMC, capital obligations NASD exist solely to and more. and clearinghouse de- reckless and risky decision regulate brokerages While this initially seems like a betrayal posits,” Robinhood making, they have no incen- and investors to ensure against the ideology of “little guy” empow- said on January 28, everyone plays tive to reassure that incoming that erment, Robinhood’s actions were clearly 2021. “Some of these fairly and makes optelegraphed and predictable. Unfortunate- requirements fluctuate investors stay informed, which timal decisions, and ly, someone in the end had to come up based on volatility in is why these companies’ inter- with the backing from empty-handed, and novice investors who the markets and can be government agencies hopped onto the trend ended up suffering substantial in the cur- vention is necessary. like the SEC, they have the most due to lack of experience. To avoid rent environment.” the jurisdiction to act future confusion, the installation of severExperienced investors should and did know on this issue. Since Robinhood profits from al gatekeeping tests are needed to ensure what was to come. Those that bought the reckless and risky decision making, they have that amateur investors have a solid grasp on stocks at high prices caused by the initial rap- no incentive to reassure that incoming inveshow the system generally id stock growth were met tors stay informed, which is why these compafunctions.

Unfortunately, someone with dismay when Rob- nies’ intervention is necessary.

What many investors inhood’s artificial freeze The public ire and shock at the actions of don’t realize is that Rob- in the end had to come up caused the stock to drop brokers could’ve easily been avoided if all of the inhood’s primary source empty-handed, and nov- back down to normal lev- Reddit investors knew what they were getting of income isn’t its user Thus, they were forced themselves into. Think of it as a driving permit ice investors who hopped els. base. In fact, the main to sell their stocks back at exam; To ensure the safety, whether physical or source of income for the onto the trend ended up a far lower price then what financial, of both yourself and others, a simapp is user data. Citadel suffering the most due to they initially paid. ple yet effective test is administered in order to Management, a notable Preventing future pub- make certain that all users understand the syshedge fund organiza- lack of experience. lic outrage and harm to tem they are entering as well as all of its minute tion, exchanges payment beginning traders, the mechanics. While hedge funds meeting their for information on what stocks are rising solution is clear: the installation of preliminary match was a flashy show for those spectating, and falling — information that gives them tests to ensure that no investor is uninformed. it’s important that we remember to prioritize fantastic tips and advantages when it comes An example of the effectiveness of similar the safety and security of those involved. to where they should invest. tests is the Series 65 License exam. The FinanAs hedge fund backers like Citadel take cial Industry Regulatory Authority requires financial blow after blow from Reddit war- people to pass a 130 question test in order to riors, they demand higher payments from key clients like Robinhood. Therefore, Robinhood had to close trading on many of the popular stocks to buy them time to raise the

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Sports

March 2O21

THE GRIND FOR GOLD

Swimmers use Trinity’s pool to train for Olympics Article by Jake Raffa Photo courtesy of @GiannaAcetoPhoto The sun shines brightly overhead. The swimmers push themselves to go faster and faster, a blue blur as they race down the Trinity Prep pool. After finishing a grueling set, the swimmers catch their breaths and start swimming again. These aren’t your average swimmers — they have the Olympics to prepare for.

“It’s been a sustainable effort to try to get Olympians here training, and we’ve done quite a good job,” said head swim coach Rocco Aceto.

Currently, three Olympic-level swimmers and their teams are using the Trinity pool to train for the upcoming Olympics. Perhaps what makes this experience so unique is that the swimmers aren’t just using Trinity’s facilities, they are interacting with the Trinity Prep swimmers as well. Senior swimmer Austin Warwick described how he and his teammates swam in a meet with them so they could get their Olympic trial times. Essentially what this means, he explained, is these swimmers needed to get faster than a specific time to try out of their country’s Olympic team.

“It’s definitely impressive to see someone so

much better than you, and it makes you motivated to get to that level,” Warwick said. “It also helps to watch their technique and learn from them.”

Aceto was able to provide this opportunity with the Olympians for his swimmers due to the relationships he’s made over the years.

“Many years ago, I had a career that skyrocketed into the college and international level,” Aceto said. “Once you hit that level... you can never really leave [your] connections behind.”

One of these connections Aceto talks about is with two-time Olympic swimmer Brett Hawke. Back in the ‘90s at Auburn University, Aceto coached Hawke. Hawke went on to win multiple NCAA championships and qualified for the Olympics twice. Hawke, like Aceto, is now a coach — he was the head coach at Auburn University until 2018 and continues to train swimmers from around the world.

“These [Olympians] come to train with Brett and me,” Aceto said.

One of the Olympic-level swimmers who came to train with Hawke and Aceto this year is Cody Simpson. Simpson, an Australian, was

Cody Simpson relaxes after finishing his daily workout in the Trinity pool. Simpson qualified for the Australian Olympic trials after he competed in the 100m butterfly at a meet in San Diego last December.

once a national champion as a kid but decided to shelf his swimming career to become an actor and pop star. After almost a decade away from swimming, he decided to give it another try. Only eight months into training, he has already made his Australian Olympic trial cut.

“When I stopped swimming when I was younger, I always had the plan of coming back to it one day, but I didn’t know exactly when that was going to be,” Simpson said. “I felt like I had unfinished business with the sport. I felt like I didn’t reach my full potential, so I wanted to come back and have a proper go at it so I don’t live with any regrets or what-ifs later in life.”

Simpson uses the Trinity pool to swim seven to eight times a week. In addition to these swim sessions, he tries to lift weights at least three times a week. Although daunting, he enjoys every second of it.

“It’s been great,” Simpson said. “Swimming is such a personally challenging sport...it’s really just you and the water and how far you can push yourself. I really like the solitude of it and also the challenge of it.”

Another swimmer is Matt Targett. Targett is a two-time Olympian for Australia and a seven-time NCAA champion. According to Aceto, Targett retired from swimming and started working full-time at Google, but now at 35, he decided to give the Olympics another shot.

Bruno Fratus is also training at Trinity’s pool. Fratus is a Brazilian who placed second at the last World Championship behind Caleb Dressel. After coming up short in the 2016 Olympics, he’s trained relentlessly, medaling in countless international events. He looks to prove his skills once more in the 2021 Olympics.

It’s no secret that the student body, both swimmers and nonswimmers alike, have enjoyed having Simpson and the other swimmers on campus. The swimmers are thankful for their time at Trinity as well.

“In California everything’s so shut down that we just had no access to pools or facilities,” Simpson said. “Having [Aceto] let us come and swim here [has] been a lifesaver!”

March 2O21

Sports

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GIRLS WEIGHTLIFTING RETURNS TO STATES Article by Oliver Johnson Photo by Ella Craghill

The Girls Varsity Weightlifting team had a strong year, with five lifters from the team qualifying for states. Clara Dowdy, Gabriella Cochran, Alexia Steinberg, Hannah Yared and Morgan Cox were all of the qualifiers for the state meet which took place on February 12th.

The state meet was held in Suwannee with around 200 lifters competing.

Unlike the rest of the season, the state meet remained fairly similar to previous years.

Masks were required to follow COVID-19 protocols, and there were two lifting periods during the day.

According to seniors Clara Dowdy and Gabriella Cochran, making it to states was a huge accomplishment.

Cochran had come a long way since joining the team. She started weightlifting four years ago and has been on varsity since then.

During her time on varsity, Cochran had made the regional competition twice, but wanted to have a better performance to qualify for states. After regionals this year, she was seeded in the top 15 and qualified for states, where she ended up 13th in her weight class.

Cochran attended the state meet on the

12th and was able to break a couple school re- ever, Dowdy said she was unable to attend the cords while there. state meet due to COVID-19 complications.

“I feel like I did well,” Cochran said. “I went Prior to the meet, she was contact traced and in hoping to break one school record and end- quarantined for two weeks. ed up breaking two.”

“I was really disappointed,” said Dowdy afOne of her goals was to have her name on ter learning she couldn’t make the state meet the record book, and this year she was able to and needed to quarantine. accomplish that.

Although Dowdy was saddened that she had “It’s a great way to end the season on a high to miss the meet, she understood she must take note,” she said, “When you precautions and was still dedicate yourself to a sport happy for her teammates so much, it’s rewarding to “I feel like I did well. I who went and competed. see the results.” went in hoping to break Both senior state qualiAnother state qualifiCochran and Dowdy one school record and fiers er was Clara Dowdy. Just gave high praise to their like Cochran, she started ended up breaking two.” coaches and those who weightlifting her freshman helped along the way.

- Gabriela Cochran, Senior year and has been compet“My coaches have been ing at the varsity level ever with me since my first year since. on the team and have always pushed me to go “Qualifying for states has been a goal of the extra mile when it came to lifting,” Dowdy mine since my first year on the team so to be said. able to finally do that as a senior was a very Dowdy recognizes the effect that her coaches emotional moment for me and my coaches,” have had on her performance and how much Dowdy said. work they have put in to making not just her She was very excited about being able to better, but the whole team better. She also accompete at such a high level and watch all the knowledged her friends who stuck by her side other top ranked lifters go head to head. How- throughout the year as a key to becoming the lifter she is today.

As for Cochran, she is thankful for the coaches working with her to succeed and pushing her to work her hardest.

“I always get in my head and psych myself out when lifting in a competition, but with help from my coaches, going in with the right intentions and not being intimidated by other lifters truly helped with my performance,” Cochran said.

She is also grateful for her teammates who motivated her throughout the season on her road to being a state qualifier.

“The whole team is encouraging during practices and meets and we always cheer for each other when one of us surpasses our goals,” Cochran said.

Amanda Dean, the Girls Varsity Weightlifting coach, also recognized the team’s accomplishments this year.

“It’s been a different year, but the girls have worked hard and it paid off,” Dean said.

Junior Alexia Steinberg lifts in preparation for the postseason. Steinberg was one of five girls to qualify for the state meet.

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Sports

March 2O21

GOING VIRTUAL FOR THE VICTORY Article by Cate Williams Photo by Anuha Tatineni

Success within the winter season pushed many athletes to attend school virtually. As a result, the parking lot now sat empty, revealing the blank rows that were once filled with cars.

To eliminate the fear of being quarantined, Assistant Athletic Director Rita Kienle created an option for athletes to commit to two-weeks of remote learning. In response, the boys varsity basketball and boys varsity soccer team made this switch, resulting in a majority of the upper class at home.

One of the teams that took up on this offer was the girls varsity soccer team. With COVID-19 case numbers rising on campus, the team felt it was at high risk for losing out on the post season.

In previous years, the team had successfully made it to district semi-finals and beyond, and with new athletes and a long season of training, the girls expected to make another deep playoff run. In the face of strong competition, the girls needed full participation from every teammate, but with most girls in face-to-face learning, there is always a risk of being exposed to COVID-19.

According to junior Kara Wilcox, the team set to make it to regionals. Unfortunately due consistently dealt with challenges due to the to several injuries, the team lost in the district virus. Over the course of the season, several final game against Lake Highland. They still girls were contact traced at school and could advanced, but lost in their first regional game not participate in against West Shore. any games or pracBut luckily, without tices for two weeks. “I think bonding together as a interference from Along with this, three team is a big part of success. Al- contact tracing, the games were cancelled team was able to finbecause girls from the though we still have a lot of play- ish the season. opposing team had ers who are still connected from While still sucbeen exposed. cessfully completing past years, the new girls don’t their postseason, the The players had worries that in-per- have as close of relationships girls were unable to son learning would with everyone else.” participate in their be detrimental to the usual team bonding team during playoffs.

- Kara Wilcox, Junior activities like gameWith the encourageday lunches and team ment of head coach sleepovers. Although Joseph Avallone, the team ultimately made this may seem insignificant, it prevented new the decision to commit to the remote learning players from creating strong relationships with option, ensuring that each athlete would be their teammates, an important factor in perpresent for games. forming well.

In order to advance to the regional playoffs, “I think bonding together as a team is a big the girls had to place top two in the district. part of success,” Wilcox said. “Although we After winning in their semi-final game against still have a lot of players who are still connectCornerstone, they had done just that and were ed from past years, the new girls don’t have as close of relationships with everyone else.”

With the season finished, the remote learning option was effective in preventing any COVID-19 exposure or mandatory quarantine for the girls on the team. Able to play in their last few games, the option allowed the team to reach its full potential.

“I was so glad to have the option to go remote because the last thing I wanted was to be contact traced and not be able to go to the playoffs,” Wilcox said.

Like the rest of her teammates, Kara attended school from home during her team’s postseason run. This allowed her to avoid contact tracing and stay safe from COVID-19.

March 2O21

Sports

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BASEBALL TEAM FACES EARLY SETBACKS Early injuries and quarantines plagues baseball team Article by Boaz Kim Photo by Kayla Alexandre Sophomore outfielder Charles Lehr races toward the fence to track down a fly ball. As he reaches out to brace for impact, his right thumb gets caught in the fence. Pain shoots through his thumb as he realizes he’s broken it, joining a long list of sidelined players on the varsity baseball team.

Last year, the varsity boys baseball team went 5-3 and was looking to improve this year.

However, those plans took a backseat when many players were contact traced and had to be quarantined for two weeks.

“A couple other players and I were quarantined because of contact tracing, and this really hurt the team because we had just started the season,” sophomore Thomas Kienle said.

“Luckily I was able to come back in time for our first game of the preseason against Lake Howell.”

Despite the setbacks, the team has still been practicing with the players they have and going forward with their season. The team had to bring up JV players to help the varsity team, so the JV season was cancelled because they did not have enough players.

“It has been hard with many of the guys not being able to play but we have been getting through it without them and I have already seen a lot of our younger players step up,” head coach Jared Incinelli said.

Injuries have been a big factor as well, with three starters already sidelined from injuries only five games into the season.

“I have a partially torn labrum and cartilage damage that I guess I hurt from throwing too much,” junior pitcher Cole Merrell said. “It was disappointing because I was forced to sit out the remainder of my basketball season and the start of my junior baseball season.”

Merrell has been ruled out for the season due to his injury, while other injured players are working hard to get better and get back on the field to help their team out.

“I have been still working out but I have had

to modify the workouts because of my broken thumb,” Lehr said. “It really sucks being out this early, but I am working hard to be ready for when I come back.”

With so many players out, younger players have had to step up and contribute to the varsity team.

“As things have been unfolding we have had a couple players who have stepped up and doing a great job with the opportunity that they have been given and the practices have been great,” Incinelli said. “We even had the opportunity to bring in Slade Cecconi, a Trinity Prep and Miami alumni who was drafted in the first round to the Arizona Diamondbacks, to talk to our guys about working hard and buying into the program.”

The talk from Cecconi inspired many of the players to work hard and stay dedicated.

“Slade coming in and talking to all of us was a cool experience for us because he went to Trinity and now he’s a pro for the Diamondbacks, and it meant a lot that he came back and talked to our team,” Kienle said.

Even with the early injuries and quarantines, the players and coaches still have high expectations and hopes for the season.

“My hopes and goals are always the same and that is to develop these guys as men on and off the field,” Incinelli said. “Winning is something extremely important and something that we love, but one of my main goals for this team is for these players to show discipline and to have a hard work ethic.

The team is off to a 4-1 start and is looking forward to the rest of the season ahead of them.

“Even though we have had a rough start to this season I think we can still pick it up and go on to have a good season,” Merrell said. “I think we need to just get past this rough patch and hopefully, my goal is to have another winning record.” *all statistics finalized as of March 1st

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Photos

March 2O21

PHOTOGRAPHY EXPOSITION SPRING SHOWCASE

Mateo Membreno

Ella Craghill

Kayla Alexandre