Recess For All

By: Ryan Gauss

Recess isn't considered a vital part of the school day, as if it doesn’t matter. However, it is probably more vital than you think. The average kid sits for about eight and a half hours every day. Studies have shown that more aerobically fit children do better in school. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends recess for kids in elementary, middle and high school..

        Sitting for eight and a half hours a day is working in the opposite direction of physical activity. Five and a half of these hours are from sitting in a classroom. Recess would help counteract these long hours by giving kids more physical activity. Children sitting for this long has been a factor of childhood obesity more than tripling since the 1970s. It has been shown that 20 minutes of recess daily combined with 150 minutes of PE weekly has made a noticeable difference in calories burned. An example of this is that walking for just 30 minutes can burn a whole 280 calories.

Studies have shown that more aerobically fit children have had better grades in school. A Brain and Cognition study from 2014 said, "Physical activity can boost children's ELA skills." Dr. Scott McGinnis, who is an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School, stated, "Parts of the brain that control memory and thinking are larger in people who exercise regularly." These two studies could prove why recess and physical activity are important for kids' development and learning.

        It is recommended that kids ages 6 to17 have one hour of physical activity per day; this is in line with the CDC recommendations. States have started to require recess daily. For example, students in Florida are now guaranteed 20 minutes of recess every day. Likewise, eight other states have also started requiring recess. Debbie Rhea, a professor at Texas Christian University, stated, “Ideally, children should get four fifteen minute recesses every day.” These states have taken the lead for giving their students the appropriate amount of recess, hoping that other states will follow in their path. 

Recess is a long debated topic between students, parents, and teachers. There is lots of research in support of the fact that recess is very important. Once recess is eliminated from school most kids lose their love of learning because they have no time to process all the information they take in. Processing is quicker when your blood is moving because it gets more oxygen to the brain. This increases neural connectivity and nerve cell growth, which can increase memory capacity and improve attention span. When there is a vote or a chance to promote recess in your local school, try to stand up for it. Don’t just sit around and let recess fade away like one of your earliest memories, never to be seen again.

The Therapy Crisis

By: Jackie Emans

When you’re sick, would you rather have no one know and have to go about your day in this condition, or would you rather have someone to help you feel better? You probably would want help to feel better. People with anxiety or depression go to a therapist to feel better in their minds. Mental illnesses and disorders are more common than society leads you to think, especially since the world epidemic known as Covid-19. Depression and anxiety rates have now swelled by 25%. US citizens are flocking to therapists and psychologists to help them sort through their thoughts and emotions. Even though the demand for therapy has risen sharply, the number of therapists has stayed the same. The result is a shortage of mental health help and overworking those already there. The population of America needs better access to therapy.

        Did you know that, as of 2019, a study proved that one in five American adults have a mental health condition? That is approximately 66.4 million people. And the problem is only about 40.2 million adult Americans in 2019 went to therapy. That leaves around 26.2 million people who didn’t get treatment for their illness. It could not affect the people around them, but for the person, it might be living in agony and grief.

        A woman named Angelle Haney Gullett visited numerous different therapists in Los Angeles in the wake of her father’s death in September 2021. Los Angeles is a sprawling metropolis with many therapists in business, and all of the therapists she researched either had a wait list or were not accepting new clients. Angelle couldn’t find a therapist, and six months later, she watched through tears her father’s favorite football team, the Cincinnati Bengals, in the 2022 Super Bowl. The mental health help she needed wasn’t available when she needed it, and the grief affected her life immensely. 

        A big part of the mental health crisis is the insurance companies that people are relying on to help them pay for therapy aren’t compatible with the therapists themselves. Michael Klein, a psychologist in San Francisco who has been operating for over 20 years, doesn’t take insurance rates. He says, “The reimbursement rates don't provide a living wage. You can't own a home and drive a car and survive on what in-network providers pay you." He also stated that insurance takes a lot of paperwork. “For an hour of psychotherapy, you spend a half-hour on paperwork!” That might not seem so bad on a small scale, but after three hours of sessions, he would have to do an hour and a half of paperwork.

        In the opposite situation, Jonathan Horowitz, also in San Francisco, wants to accept insurance, but the insurance companies refuse Jonathan’s offers outright. They claim that there is no demand for therapists. April Dembosky from npr.org sums it up quite neatly: “So even though a patient might call seven therapists in her insurance network and not be able to get an appointment, insurance companies are telling new and willing therapists that there's no demand for them." This situation is absurd because there is a massive demand, and insurance companies choose to ignore it.

        Mental Health is a colossal issue in the US. In a study by The Commonwealth Fund, out of the other countries surveyed, the US has the fourth-lowest workforce for mental needs (therapists, psychologists, etc.). Insurance Companies and the US government must take their clients’ and citizens’ mental health more seriously. A fifth of the population has a mental illness. If they can’t afford therapy, it might affect the people around them, and whether it is extreme or not, it is still an effect that could derail society if someone takes it far enough. Stop this madness for people who, like you, when sick, want to feel better.

Climate Crisis

By: Mili Patel

        Modern human civilization has only been around for one percent of the Earth’s history; in that meager one percent, carbon dioxide emissions have increased by a whopping forty percent! But that’s not even all. Climate change is a very severe issue that needs to be addressed not just more seriously, but more effectively.

By now, you’ve probably seen the very iconic photo of a desperate polar bear hanging on to a lonesome piece of ice as its beautiful home melts away. However, the reality is, polar bears don’t just gravely cling onto melting pieces of ice. They go elsewhere in search of food. There have been increased sightings of polar bears in areas inhabited by humans. Hungry polar bears have trespassed on towns in the Canadian Arctic and have even killed people. The bears have been spotted in Alaska, where they survive off of the remains of hunted whales. In Greenland, sightings have become more and more common, and in Northern Russia polar bears have terrorized a whole town. The bears might seem like monsters; really, in the big picture, humans play a major role in this fiasco. The melting ice is the result of our burning of fossil fuels. The fossil fuels release greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming and climate change. In 2016, the estimated polar bear population was 26,000. That number is only expected to decrease by 8,600 over future decades. However, the bears are not the only ones facing hunger and extinction. 

        The Svalbard reindeer lives in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. While you might have never heard about this animal, 2019 marked one of the highest death tolls ever recorded of reindeer in Svalbard since 1978. Over 200 animals starved to death, and all of the reindeer that survived were underweight. Yet again, humans come into the picture. Our greenhouse gas emissions heat the planet; these warmer temperatures cause extra rainfall in the Svalbard archipelago. The reindeers can dig through soft snow for food, but as the rain freezes into a layer of ice their hooves cannot penetrate it. Furthermore, the warmer weather prolongs the breeding season of Svalbard reindeer, giving the population an extra boost. As a result, more competition arises in winter because of food scarcity due to the rain freezing to hard ice. Climate change affects not just polar bears and Svalbard reindeer, but also millions around the globe. To fix a problem, and especially a big one, you need to understand it first.

Climate change is sometimes confused with global warming. Global warming is the constant and continual warming of the Earth’s surface. On the other hand, climate change is a result of global warming. Climate change is the long-term change in temperatures and weather patterns. Both of these things occur naturally, but since the last few centuries they have increased drastically due to human activity, and more demand of resources from industries.

         When sunlight shines on the Earth, some of it reflects off of ice and clouds and travels back into space. The sunlight that stays in the atmosphere is absorbed by the Earth’s surface. The sunlight then emanates back off of the Earth’s surface as heat; on its way back to space, some of that heat is caught by natural greenhouse gasses. These gasses trap and re-emit the heat in all directions. Some of it travels back down to the Earth. This cycle keeps the Earth’s surface and low atmosphere warm. If there were no greenhouse gasses, sunlight would just pass through the atmosphere and back to space. This means that the Earth’s temperature would be tens of degrees colder than it is today. 

        Even though greenhouse gasses are important, too many of them can cause awful problems and even more awful consequences. Since the industrial revolution, greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane have increased. Carbon dioxide has increased by more than forty percent. Nitrous oxide has increased by twenty percent, and methane has increased by more than one hundred and fifty percent. More than one half of the increase of carbon dioxide has occurred after 1920. In fact, considering human emissions and natural causes, carbon dioxide is the greatest contributor to climate change. Human emissions release too many greenhouse gasses than are naturally removable by nature. Fossil fuels and cars are just two of the contributors to pollution, climate change, and warming at a global level. Another major contribution to climate change and global warming is the push for profit with industries. Factories release over 100 million pounds of air pollutants annually. In fact, industries are responsible for two-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions. The greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have not stopped. At Mauna Loa University in Hawaii, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 316 parts per million in 1959. In 2019, the amount of carbon dioxide was 411 parts per million. These increases are expected to become greater in future years. Currently, more and more factories are being built for human profit. Trees and forests are being cut down to make more room for these factories. This over foresting is a problem in itself, but the increasing amount of factories still continue to emit increasing amounts of greenhouse gases.

        The increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere leads to global warming and climate change. This has serious impacts on millions of people and animals around the world. Floods and wildfires are becoming a more and more frequent occurrence; the oceans are rising, warming, and becoming more acidic. Snow, ice, and glaciers are melting. Many species are moving to new locations. All of these changes and events are expected to continue in the future. Temperatures are rising, fast. The global average surface temperature has increased by 0.8 degrees celsius since the 1900s. If emissions continue to be unaddressed, further warming of 2.6 to 4.8 degrees celsius would be expected by the end of this century.

        Maybe we’ve been somewhat inconsiderate and late to realize this climate crisis, but it’s not too late to save our planet. Using eclectic vehicles, finding renewable energy sources, and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is all crucial. The problem is, to save an entire planet, we need more than just these things alone. We need to stop the Earth from heating more than 1.5 degrees celsius since the start of the 20th century. Turns out, we need to be kind. To nature. According to The Nature Conservatory, “nature is the most sophisticated system for processing greenhouse gasses in the universe.” The world is already facing an extinction level threat. What we are doing is good, but not enough. Stopping the destruction of forests, grasslands, and wetlands would remove 3.9 billion metric tons of carbon out of the atmosphere. Smarter farming and forestry techniques would remove another 5.1 billion tons, and restoring our lost forests and wetlands would wipe off another 2 billion. All together, nature has removed 11 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere! That is one third of the amount of emissions needed to be reduced. How does all of this work though? 

        Well, trees do this thing called photosynthesis, where they use the sun’s light and carbon from the atmosphere to feed themselves. Mangroves are like trees, but they grow near bays and beaches along the coast. They can store up to five times more carbon than regular trees. Restoring our wetlands would increase the number of mangroves, and these plants would absorb more carbon from the atmosphere. Lastly, as trees and all plants age, they deposit their carbon into the soil. Other plants then use this to grow. Some of these plants are eaten by animals and humans. The carbon then gets released back into the atmosphere. This is called the carbon cycle. It worked well for a long time, until humans started unbalancing the cycle by burning fossil fuels, and cutting down too many forests, as a push for more profit. All of this harshness to nature just to make more money. All of this trouble just because of people’s greed and selfishness. The horrible impact of humans, and the push for more profit has made a ginormous dent in nature—not a good one. Restoring our damage to nature, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, fighting climate change, and being able to successfully sustain human life all at a global level will probably be one of the hardest things humanity will ever do.

        “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” This is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, and it is indeed very true. Humans have gotten quite greedy by pushing the Earth beyond its limits for resources. We have neglected climate change for long enough; if we continue to neglect it, all of humanity will suffer the consequences. It’s still not too late to stop. We can restore our damage to the Earth and find new ways to live better and greener lives. Because, let’s face the facts: at the end of the day, there really is no Planet B.

Animal Testing, Affecting You and Furry Friends

By: Lizzie Lamme 

        Have you ever wondered how companies test their products? Most companies use animal testing. This is a traumatizing situation, killing more than 100 million animals each year. This abuses animals everyday, hurting them in many ways you couldn’t even imagine while also affecting us too.

Animal testing is a form of animal abuse. Animal testing burns, poisons and cripples tons of animals. Some examples include drilling/screwing bolts, electrodes and metal plates into their skulls. Today, many companies still use animal testing for their products, including cosmetics, medications, household products and pesticides. This is causing the death of more and more animals each year. On a cosmetic test during an experiment, the Humane Society Factsheet said that, “chemicals are rubbed on shaved skin or dripped into the eyes without any pain relief.” This only shows us that animal testing is vile and cruel to many animals who aren’t fortunate. Many animals suffer through the process of animal testing, but some of them aren’t even protected either. Some organizations are starting, trying to help animals in need like the ones in laboratories, like AWA (the Animal Welfare Act). Still, even they can’t help most of the animals getting tested.

Many animals have suffered, and some are lucky enough to escape the facilities and live a much happier life than what they had. Many animals are separated from their families while they are still young, only to be led to a facility where they are tortured. They never get to go outside, get their own bed or interact with another animal in their time at the facility. One Green Planet shared a story about a Beagle named Nelly and how she was tortured until she found a new home. The text states, “Nelly was rehomed by the Beagle Freedom Project, an amazing group that works to save beagles who are suffering at the hands of the animal testing industries. In their words, Nelly had a horrifying start in life, as she was used for years as a laboratory test-tube, was mutilated, sold, then abandoned, shot, and ultimately left for dead with two other murdered beagles in a locked crate on the side of a desolate road in Florida. This scenario is all too common for laboratory dogs.” Normally, most of us wouldn’t think animals were treated like this, but, surprisingly, this scenario is “all too common” for dogs in labs.

There are many ways animal testing can affect us too. In the years 2011 to 2013, the National Institute of Health (NIH) division of Intramural Research Laboratories calculated that 1.5 million pounds (give or take) of animal waste was produced from testing. All that waste is reused and goes into our food. All of the food contains chemicals and is intoxicated, poisoned and infected from the tests it’s been used in. This eventually gets eaten by us and might lead to some side effects, such as diarrhea, vomiting, etc. 

        In addition, animal testing also has delayed the discovery of medications that could be helpful to us. This is because animals are different from us, and it isn’t obvious if it will work. Some labs and companies use chimpanzees because they are similar to us, but even using them doesn’t work all the time. According to Abigail Greer, “Relying on animal experimentation in some cases impedes and delays discovery of drugs and procedures that may be beneficial to humans because they fail in animal testing.” Also, 92% of drugs tested don't even get approval for humans to use because they are unsuccessful in testing. This may also lead to the fact that tests may become approved, yet they still harm and kill a bunch of people. For example, the Vioxx drug was tested on animals, and nothing exhibited any damage or showed anything unsafe. They approved the drug, and many humans used this. This caused 140,000 people to have extra heart attacks and 60,000 people to die, all because of the Vioxx drug that was inconclusive. This just proves that animal testing is severe and risky because the more we use animal testing, the more deaths and harmful effects might happen to us.

        Some people began to boycott certain products using animal testing because they know animals' lives are more important than marketing products. A well-known popular makeup brand called NARS was getting hit with a wave of criticism from 8,500 people. NARS said that they were against animal testing, but they wanted to spread their products to China. The only way they could do that was to use animal testing. This caused riots on their Instagram page, and many of the NARS users even started to boycott their products. NARS was trying to figure out a way to use an alternative for animal testing, but if they wanted to sell to the markets in China, there was no other way. This just shows how some people are starting to try and save animals' lives. 

        Overall, more and more people are recognizing the cruelty happening in animal tests, and most are helping to put an end to this horrid situation. 42 countries and ten states (from the US) have banned or put a limit to animal testing, causing many animals’ lives to be saved. From boycotting to adopting, there are many ways we can help put an end to testing on animals and help companies find safer ways to test their products. Animals are suffering 24/7 for products we use everyday. So, the next time you use makeup or one of your cleaners, imagine how much pain and agony our furry friends have gone through for our daily products.

If You Drink, Don’t Drive

By: Catherine Zhong

        The fire burns. The bone jabs through the veins. Blood is everywhere. Have you been in a car crash before? If yes, you know what it feels like to have your heart stop when the big BANG happens. Car crashes can put you in extreme precariousness, especially if the driver is drunk. Alcohol harms the lives of the drinkers and the people with whom they come in contact.

        On January 15, 2016, Scott McGuire's life, a federal agent with the Homeland Security Investigation Unit, was cut short. Scott was standing on the sidewalk, hailing a taxi. He was immediately hit by the 21 year-old drunk taxi driver. Despite knowing that she had harmed an unimpeachable man, she didn’t stop. Scott was left, bleeding on the ground. Nobody got to say goodbye to Scott. When his family finally got to see him in the hospital, he was unresponsive and was using a breathing machine. All they could do was stare and cry. “He had staples from the front to the back of his head, a tube trying to relieve the pressure on his brain, and internal injuries,” said Scott’s twin sister. That was how bad it got. Scott died nine days after the crash with uncountable injuries. Later that night, the cries of Scott’s son were louder than any scream.

        About 32 people die like Scott every day, breaking many people’s hearts into pieces. That’s one death per 45 minutes! Even more astounding, a person gets injured by a drunk driver every 120 seconds! The person doesn’t have to be an intoxicated driver. It could be a pedestrian, another driver, or even a road director. All these people could be guiltless. They still die for no other reason than a drunk driver. In fact, pedestrians are the most endangered. One out of six people who died in car crashes were pedestrians in 2020. “In 2020, 11,654 Americans were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes,” says the Alcohol Rehab Guide. That is a lot, especially when some people show few but fatal signs of being inebriated. 

        Getting behind the wheel can seem simple, but it takes a lot of responsibility. Many adults drink alcohol and convince themselves that turning a wheel doesn’t need much concentration. They’re wrong. Many lives have been lost due to the impairments of drunk drivers. Alcohol can take 30 minutes to two hours to be absorbed in a person’s bloodstream. Even a little bit of the symptom can cause a monstrosity of a crash. Some of the symptoms people can look out for are slow reaction, bad motor skills, horrible concentration, and even worse judgment. All of these are crucial to driving. The police aren’t everywhere. An average tipsy driver could drive 80 times before they get caught. They could kill people and drive away without getting caught or even knowing they hit someone. 

        If one is caught driving drunk, severe punishments and consequences follow, the  easiest being a fine up to 2,500 dollars! They could lose their job. They could also be banned from driving for up to 90 years.  The states with the most deaths due to impaired driving in the US include Montana, South Carolina, and Wyoming. States that have more deaths tend to have more restrictions. Would you rather lose your private transportation, or simply quit drinking alcohol? 

        So, what can you do? Don’t drink alcohol in the first place! Alcohol is terrible for your body. If you are addicted to alcohol, treating it will not only prevent further car crashes but may also add a few more years to your life. Another tactic you can use to both help you and a friend is if you want to drink, don’t drive; let someone else drive. The same goes for if someone else hands you the keys. You can’t control anybody else, but you can do something about it.

        Although the amount of vehicle fatalities has decreased over the years, drunk driving is still very dangerous. There are lots of things that could kill you, but drunk driving is one of the most sizable accidents that happen. Play it safe. Alcohol not only can take your life but can also take other innocent souls. 

Teachers Need Better Pay

By: Cameron Kile

        Do you think you’re being underpaid? Well if you’re teaching you definitely are. This situation has worsened over time. It’s also a big concern to not just teachers themselves, but a lot of other adults too. Teachers are working way too hard for the money they’re being paid.

        Weekly wages have been flat since 1996 while the wage penalty (the difference between the average pay and the wage paid to covered employees) is still growing. The wage penalty in 1996 was 6.1 percent, but in 2021 it was 23.5 percent. In 2019 the average earnings for full-time workers increased by 2.6% from 2010. Public school elementary and middle school teacher’s average earnings decreased by 8.4% from 2010 to 2019, and high schools teachers have also decreased by 4.4%. To go along with that, Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. where the average teacher pay rate is higher than the average pay rate across all professionals. This financial penalty is stopping students from entering teaching positions. 

        Public school teachers typically earn more than private school teachers, but their pay rate is still very low. The average salary for public school teachers is 65,090 dollars a year while the average pay rate for a full-time worker is 75,203 dollars. The average teacher pay rate range is 48,000 dollars (Mississippi) to 88,000 dollars (New York). Teachers earn money and then turn right around and spend it all because they need the money for things like appliances, bills, groceries, and other household items.

        Teacher strikes are a big problem too. In 2018 300 school districts participated in a strike. The movement was called #RedforEd, and it was for higher wages. In 2022 teachers in many states went on strike for higher wages and better teaching conditions. Some of the bad teaching conditions teachers teach in are: lack of funding when teachers are expected to make do with the resources they have, burnout, meaning that they are lacking motivation, dreading to go to work, and teaching being one of the most demanding jobs or professions there is. Movements like this are dangerous for schools and students because there are no teachers there to teach.

        Teachers also go through years of college and earn their degrees just to be underpaid. 97.3 percent of public school teachers grades kindergarten to 12th have at least a bachelor's degree, and 58 percent of public school teachers grades kindergarten to 12th have at least a master’s degree. Most teachers also work extra hours and spend about 50 working a week. They also spend around 300 dollars of their personal money on school supplies for their students.

        Low wages and teacher pay is a big problem and needs to be fixed. Although teachers face low wages and in some cases bad teaching conditions, it is important to have teachers around, and that includes higher pay and better teaching conditions for them. Teachers have a big impact on how kids learn, whether it’s how helpful they are, the way they teach, or just how kind they are. We need to think more about how we treat teachers.

Women Don’t Get Enough Attention in Sports

By: Natalie Hankin

        Have you ever thought about how much you see women's sports being broadcasted? Well, it's not a lot. That's because women’s sports do not get the same attention as men’s sports do. Few watch women's sports because men are favored over the women. 

        In the NBA (National Basketball Association) the average men's salary is 7.7 million dollars. In the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) the women's salary is only 100,658.10 dollars. They are not earning enough money because media coverages do not want to cover women's sports. Women's sports receive 0.4% total sponsorships because there are no media coverages that actually want to cover women. Media coverage favors men’s sports because they have higher production values and higher quality coverage.  The men will always get more money than the women because media coverages do not give the women the chance to improve and make more money. 

        Maya Moore has won nine rings and four titles in less than a decade. Maya Moore played for the Lynx when she played in the WNBA. She is easily the most underrated women’s basketball player. Her dominance is unmatched. Most people think Lebron James is the greatest basketball player of all time. Lebron James has only won three titles, and it took him more than a decade. Moore, on the other hand, has won four titles in less than a decade, and that's not even including her international play. People have no clue who Maya Moore is because women’s sports is not appreciated enough. 

        ESPN makes a list every year highlighting the top 100 athletes in the world. Maya Moore isn’t even highlighted by ESPN world of fame list. There were only 12 women on that list. Most of the women were below the 80s spot on the list. There was only one woman over the 80s, and it was Serena Williams; she was at the 12th spot on the list.  “Unfortunately, half the women on the list didn't even make an appearance until the late 80s,” said OberLineReview.

        At the 2021 March Madness, “the men’s teams having all kinds of weightlifting machinery, all the women received was a rack of dumbbells," said Sedona Prince. The women should not have to go through this. The weight room issue was getting so much attraction that the people running March Madness had to add more machinery into the women's weight room.

        As you can tell, men get a lot more attention than women in sports. It's time to wake up and put a stop to this discrimination. This will not stop soon if people do not help out and fight for women to get more media attention.