KAELYN WASHBURN / Sophomore For this past year, many nurses have been feeling the pressure of the pandemic and all the things that came with it. My mom has been a nurse for almost 15 years and she had never seen the hospital this busy and chaotic. “You walk in the hospital and there are sick patients waiting for a bed or to get looked at and there is just not enough staff to go around.” At a local hospital my mom works at, there are currently 250 nursing jobs and 800 jobs open to housekeeping to a doctor. They are asked to do much more with limited supplies and many sick patients. “I have to store my respirator mask in a plastic bag and use it for each patient I have,” my mom explains. “I get a new one every year on my birthday.” Nurses are also getting asked to work on a floor they are not certified for. “I told my supervisor that it was very unsafe for me and my patient to work on a floor I am not trained for.”
But it isn't just the nurses that are feeling the stress and pressure. Their families and patients' families can tell how messed up the healthcare system is right now. After my mom got COVID from a patient, we all had to quarantine. Everyone was sick of it and just wanted to get out of the house. Upon coming home, she would come in by the garage, get in the shower downstairs, and make sure all her scrubs were in a bag and not out anywhere just in case she tracked anything from working on the COVID floor. We wouldn't get to see her for maybe 30 more minutes, and by the time she was upstairs, she was already drained from work and all the work she had to do to just be safe in the house. Sometimes she would come home and you could hear her crying downstairs. One time I asked her if she could change her job and she said, “this is the first time in 15 years I've ever thought about changing my career.” Nurses have been through so much this year and still can't get a break. COVID-19 has been a very political topic, but it is very real and is affecting people. Through my mom, I've experienced it in everyday life for the past two years. GRACE PATTERSON / Senior Have you ever had to deal with a narcissist?
I know I had. The following narcissist traits are having high self-esteem, self importance, self confidence, and thinking of themselves as better than everyone else. That is not all the traits a narcissist contains. Narcissists are extremely arrogant, they take advantage of the people around them, need constant admiration, lack empathy, cannot take criticism well, get jealous of others, believe people are jealous of them, and they have a sense of self entitlement. Now, I want to give you tips on how to deal with one. Take notes on the narcissistic personality disorder, set boundaries for yourself, speak up for yourself, watch your wording, stay calm, create a support system, and bring in a trusted adult like a counselor, preacher, etc. This is not how you deal with a narcissist. Do not argue with them or confront them, don't attempt to direct them, don't expect them to see your point of view, don't expect deep and meaningful communication, and don't go over past issues. Just remember this in life, narcissists will never change their ways. Narcissistic personality disorder can be treated with talk therapy or support care, but not cured. JAYDN HART / Sophomore No one likes to talk about mental health because of fear. Fear of making someone uncomfortable, fear of talking about your problems, or just fear that you truly aren't okay. I think writing this is important to tell and explain to people that not being okay is okay. Talking about your well being is important, and I personally think it makes people stronger. Mental health has become such a widespread topic around the world, and I think it is important to check how you're feeling once in a while.
Peyton James, Jackis son, fell victim to a tremendous amount of bullying at his school. Peyton was born nine weeks early and was in the NICU for 25 days. He was on feeding tubes and had pure oxygen fed to him through a tube. What his family didn't know was that the oxygen and liquid nutrition made a discoloration to the enamel of his teeth, causing them to be super yellow, which would then be the main reason for his bullying and harassment. Peyton was seen as weak and became a target to the boys in his school. This bullying lasted until they moved when Jacki got a new teaching job. Peyton was excited but nervous to change schools. After changing schools, the bullying sadly started again. At this point, he stopped telling his mom that he was even being bullied. After months of being harrassed and hated on, Peyton sadly took his own life. After he passed, he actually gave a gift that night which was giving his organs, skin, and corneas which saved the lives of 6 people. This story, like many others, talks about a helpless kid and uneducated children. We've taught kids about bullies and given detailed ideas of what bullies are and do, but what we haven't done is teach them how to just be nice to each other. Parents and teachers could make a huge impact on a student’s life if they knew how to handle similar situations. High school students and teachers as a group should focus more on making sure bullying is not occurring in their school... and it starts with us. JAYDN HART / Sophomore Today, I want to talk about honesty.
A pretty scary topic for a bunch of teenagers to read, but let's take a moment to talk about how good it can feel. Honesty is a word we learned when we were young. It's something that is expected and gratefully appreciated. Consistently being honest can change the way people think about you, and reflect on you as a person in a positive manner, whereas if you are known to lie you're not as trustworthy, and at risk of never being trusted with anything, from anyone. It's hard nowadays to find someone who will be truly honest with you. In a recent survey in Ask Your Targets Market, just 26% of people considered themselves very honest and 48% said they were honest. 14% said they are somewhat honest and 9% were neutral. Laurie Enby was shopping in New York City and found a wallet on the ground. She picked it up and looked inside, revealing a Jamaican driver's license. She tried many different ways to locate the man named George. When trying to find him through Google or Facebook she found nothing, so she resorted to a website called Nextdoor, where she got not so positive feedback. One lady suggested she check a little Jamaican store. She checked and did indeed find George, but it didn't stop there. Laurie asked what he and the migrants needed or wanted, and he responded with, ``some warm clothes.¨ Laurie was then able to open a clothing drive. The story concludes with all of the migrants getting better jobs and new clothes, etc. I think this story shows how just being truthful can help so much in life. If the wallet would have stayed in George's pockets, Laurie may have never tried to help the migrants. Just by doing little things, like returning a missing wallet and not keeping it or taking something out. Doing things similar to this can make you and others feel good, and will show how kind of a person you are. BRANDON UNCAPHER / Junior The Pittsburgh Pirates have just completed their 9th 100 loss season, with an abysmal record of 61-101. The worst part? They were even worse last year, with a 162 game Pace of 51.3-110.7.
The Pirates have been a basement-dweller for a long time, and there are many things to blame for this. For every failing business, there is a failing owner, and Bob Nutting fits the bill perfectly. Becoming the owner in 2007, they have has a 1069-1256-1 record, not even winning 46% of their games, with just 3 playoff appearances and just 1 series win in 2013. This can be explained because of 1 thing: not investing in the team. This year, they had a $40 million payroll, 29th in the league. Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets is making $45.3 million, more than the entire team combined, and for an overall team’s payroll the LA Dodgers leads at over $267 million, over 6 times as much. Not only is the owner not investing in the product but he also hires the wrong guys as well. To show you how incompetent management has been for the past 3 decades all I need to show is 1 quote. Neil Hunnington said after his baseball team went on a 4-24 stretch, “We did 10,000 simulations and we went 4-24 only 8 times.” That statement is so comical that it perfectly encapsulates how out of touch this team has been for so many years. They constantly tried to balance building for the future and winning now but all that led to is mediocrity and now complete garbage. The beginning of the end was the 2017 when the 2 biggest stars, Andrew McCutchen and Gerritt Cole, were traded for the equivalent of nothing as the only assets to still be on the team are Colin Moran and Bryan Renyolds, who was an all-star this year. Still, that is not much for a former MVP and a Cy Young candidate. However, the true “point of no return” was the Chris Archer deal, where we traded for him for Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow, both of whom became key pieces of the World Series Tampa Bay Rays last year. The manager, Derek Shelton, has an 80-142 record with the club as he has never been a manager at any level before. The entire team is uninspired from top to bottom and it feels like every time they find a quality player, they trade him. This team has went from 98 wins in 2015 to the worst team in baseball over the last 2 years and it’s blatantly obvious as to why. The team is bad at developing, drafting, and trading. They are given such little money compared to other teams that it’s extremely difficult for them to make big moves that most other teams could make due to cap. I only need to go to a few examples because it is all the same at this point, this team hasn’t cracked 100 wins since 1909, hasn’t won a world series since 1979, and hasn’t made it past the National League Semifinals since 1992, and they won’t reach those markers for a long time to come. The Pirates are an essay in failure, and they pass that test with flying colors. REBECCA HUSS / Freshman If you give me a minute, I can explain what impact a minute can make.
In the 2020-2021 school year, the coronavirus made learning very difficult because students would jump between online school, in person, and hybrid. Because of this, students had a total of 4 minutes between classes. At the start of this school year, a minute was deducted from the total time given between classes, making our break time 3 minutes. In comparison to nearby schools, Ligonier currently has a 3 minute break like we do, but Latrobe currently has 5 minutes between classes. Observing these constant issues with the 3 minute break, Derry Area has decided to add two minutes to the break time, making the total time between classes 5 minutes as of October 11, 2021. According to Mindshift in the article “How Kids Learn Better By Taking Frequent Breaks Throughout The Day,” students in Finland have 40-45 minute classes with a 15 minute break in between each session, where they would have time to head outside to play and socialize with friends. This method was tested by teacher Timothy D. Walker who taught in the US and moved to Finland within the last few years. Walker decided to test the difference between short breaks and long breaks by teaching two 45 minute classes in a row followed by a double break of 30 minutes to test the effect of short breaks. The students showed to be more stressed, angry, and anxious, so he then decided to test the Finnish method of taking breaks. He did this by incorporating short recesses into their time-table. The result of this was that he “no longer saw feet-dragging, zombie-like kids” in his classroom. This experiment proved that frequent breaks cause students to be more focused, more upbeat, and improve test scores. A main issue with the less time between classes at Derry Area High School included not having enough time to use the restroom between classes. This was especially difficult if your next class is on the other side of the school. I barely had enough time to get to my class let alone use the restroom as well like we’re told to do during our breaks instead of during class. “I [didn’t] like it because it makes me unprepared for the next class with how stressful it is,” Allie Chamberlain said. “You [didn’t] have time to go to the bathroom either. You also [had] to consider if there’s a line for the bathroom.” Another issue included backpacks. Students’ backpacks are filled with heavy textbooks, a binder/folder for each class, notebooks, and a book. This affected students' time between classes because the backpack weighs on students so not only did that cause us to be stressed about getting to our classes on time, but our backs hurt from carrying backpacks all day and speed walking. An argument against that would be lockers. However, the problem with using lockers is some students' lockers are upstairs and most of their classes are downstairs, like mine. Even if students’ lockers are on the same floor that they have most of their classes, 3 minutes was barely enough time to get to class let alone stop at your locker, get everything situated, zip up your backpack, and speed walk to your next class. “There’s no possible way that a student could make it to their locker and get to their next class on time with the distances we have to travel for some classes and some classes are on opposite floors,” sophomore Bella Spiers said. “Sometimes breaks are more stressful than the classes themselves.” But that is not the case anymore. Students won’t have to worry as much about not having time to visit lockers, socialize, getting to their next class on time, and having time to mentally and physically prepare for their next class. The minute being added will cause students to be more calm and less stressed. The arrival and dismissal times will not change and on 2-hour delay days the 3 minute break will be used because of the shorter class time on those days. Because the less time between classes causes students to be stressed and unprepared, the extra minute added will give students some relief. Stress has had a huge impact on students during over the past few years. The one minute being added might seem like something small, but it will take away the stress and worry of students like the experiment in Finland showed. BRANDON UNCAPHER / Junior Right now, we are witnessing one of the greatest 1v1 duels in racing history, and most people don't even know it.
Allow me to introduce you to Formula 1, the highest form of motorsport in the world. They race in 5 Continents each Year (North & South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia) and no country hosts more than 2 races in the 23 race schedule. Teams are given virtually an unlimited budget and resources. With only 20 drivers on the grid and hundreds of millions at stake, to become a driver you have to not only have great funding behind you but an equally great amount of talent. This is when we meet our 2 main characters of the story: Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Lewis Hamilton has been in Formula 1 since 2007, and is the 3rd oldest driver on the grid. After winning the Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships (both F1 feeder series) in 2005 and 2006 respectively, the 22 year old Rookie burst onto the scene with 4 wins, 12 podiums (top 3 finishes), and eventually lost out to Kimi Raikkonen by a single point. The next year, he won the championship by a single point, beating out Felipe Massa. After competing for the 2010 championship but being a non-factor in most other years, he signed onto Mercedes in 2013 and, after a slow start with just 1 win that season, he has won all but 1 championship since then, with the only year he lost out being to fellow teammate Nico Rosberg. He is now tied with Michael Schumacher for the most championships in 1 history with 7 and already has the most wins, podiums, and poles. He is quite possibly the King of Formula 1 with all his accomplishments, but there is a new driver looking to take his throne. Max Verstappen was the youngest driver in F1 history, as in 2015 he made his first start with Red Bull Racing at just 17 and, although not getting a win or podium, he still finished 12th that year with multiple great drives. Since then, he has accumulated 17 wins, 52 podiums, and 8 poles, plus has been top 6 in points in every year since, including two 3rd place finishes behind the 2 Mercedes drivers in 2019 and 2020. This year, he already has a career high in wins and poles and is in a fierce hunt for the championship. Right now, the gap is 2 points. The F1 point system only awards points to the top 10 finishers, and they get 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 point respectively plus a bonus point if they get the fastest lap in the race and finish top 10. This year seperate sprint races were introduced where the top 3 get points in a 3, 2, 1 order. The 25-1 system has been in place since 2010 and with the gap at just 2 points 15 rounds in it has never been as close as it is right now. In fact, the last time it was this close this many races was in 2006, when Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso also had that gap, but even then it was under a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system, far closer than this one. With the sport not being very competitive due to Lewis and Mercedes’ incredible dominance over the sport over the past 7 seasons, it makes this battle even more special. With all that out of the way, now it’s time to talk about how these guys have actually performed. Max is the leader with 7 wins (although one was half-points due to the race being shortened due to rain), 11 podiums, 8 poles, points finishes in 12 out of 16 starts. Lewis is not far behind with 5 wins, 11 podiums, 3 poles, and 13 points finishes in 15 starts. The biggest gap so far was at Race 9 where Max had a 32 point lead on Lewis, over a race worth at points. However, after a lap 1 collision at Silverstone, England, involving both drivers resulted in Max crashing out while Lewis won, the gap has not been larger than 8 points since. At the previous race at Monza, Italy, Max and Lewis collided, with both crashing out and not getting points. Now at this race at Sochi, Russia, Lewis barely won, with Max being 2nd and him retaking the lead. This is a battle of the teams, this is a battle of manufacturers (Max’s Honda vs. Lewis’s Mercedes), national pride (Lewis being from England and Max from Belgium), and most importantly a battle for world championship glory. One is looking to ascend beyond what any driver has done in the sport, the other is looking to just have his name written amongst the legends. With 8 races left, there’s still plenty of time to watch history be written, and we can all tune in to watch.
By LUCAS RAY / Senior
The downfall of Ben Roethlisberger is now.
The organization, along with the fans, all had hopes Big Ben’s experience would be enough for another playoff run this year. Those hopes are seemingly, seriously misguided. Big Ben has had an amazing career, winning 2 Super Bowls, a 6 time Pro Bowler, also having an awesome 13-9 postseason record. With that being said, Ben needs to either get out of this slump he is in, or maybe it is time for someone else to step in. After the loss on Sunday, September 26th, the Steelers fell to 1-2, and now, they’re being predicted to be in last place in the division for the first time since 1988. To start off the year, Big Ben has not provided for the Steelers. Statistics from ESPN Plus show this. Only passing for 801 yards being tied for 13th in the league, 3 touchdowns being tied for 22nd in the league, 3 interceptions also being tied for 22nd, and a 35.5 QBRrating, which is 28th in the league. In the 2020 season, The Steelers had a great regular season. Roethsliberger had 3803 yards, 399 completions, which is his 3rd best season with completions. Steelers had an unfortunate loss in the playoffs against the Browns last year, and it is easy to see the score and assume the worst for Pittsburgh. Ben having 501 yards and 4 touchdowns is a great game, but the 4 interceptions (the Browns scored on all 4 of those turnovers) did not help them whatsoever.
In 2019 Ben got hurt and needed surgery on his arm, only 2 games into the season he didn't have a chance to play that season, only playing 2 games. Year prior, the 2018 season, Big Ben had debatably had his personal best season of his career. Passing for a career high of 5129 yards, a career high completions and attemptions but a career high of 452 completions.
This year, Big Ben is not projected to reach 3000 yards this year, with this possible decline, the comeback year for Ben seems further and further out of reach. According to Ben Solak from The Ringer, the Steelers have gotten a new offensive coordinator, trying to get Big Ben back on his feet, but they are picking up right where they left off in 2020. Big Ben was very close with their past offensive coordinator, Randy Fichtner. As his career with the Steelers came to an end, parts of the offense were also falling apart, the offensive line was also on a strong decline. As of now, the Steelers season, and Big Ben hopes are not looking up. ABIGAIL DOPERAK / Senior Derry Area nurse, Wendy Angus, works round the clock to make sure her school stays safe and healthy by putting her kids’ needs first during the ongoing covid pandemic.
Prior to COVID, her day would start in her office looking over emails or attending morning meetings. Now, her typical routine has done a full 180. Angus’s day starts before she even leaves her house thanks to the new 3CX phone system that was installed during the pandemic. Phone calls start flooding in before she steps foot in the building with questions from concerned parents. At no point throughout the day does the phone stop ringing. During the interview with Mrs. Angus, it was clear to see how hard she works. The phones never stop ringing, and kids constantly come in and out of the office. Quarantining, contact tracing, and never ending phone calls take place on top of all the responsibilities that filled her job position prior to the pandemic. While she doesn’t have nearly enough help, she finds herself working closely along with Grandview nurse, Kim Long, due to the fact she feels that she is the “only one who truly understands.” Angus tries to find a positive outlet wherever she can. She tries to avoid getting caught up in all the negativity that surrounds her but knows it can be a real challenge for students. Angus expressed how the hardest part of her job is seeing the impact the pandemic has on the students. With quarantine orders being handed out left and right, it is hard for students to keep a positive outlook on the situation when activities are being shut down, ways of learning are evolving, and standards for social interaction are constantly changing. Angus expressed how she can see the clear toll it is taking on kids of all ages. Standards in the world are changing to fit COVID confides just as the position of school nurse has changed drastically. While some things are turning “back to normal,” Angus doesn’t think her job position will. She hopes for improvement with her schedule and duties, but doubts it will ever return to pre covid times. With the whole country reaching a point of frustration over the pandemic, Angus asks for everyone to do their part. She asks that the students wear their masks correctly, be honest about how you are feeling before entering the building, but also embrace the positive opportunities that present themselves to you during these pressing times. She encourages everyone to find positive outlets just like she does. The light at the end of the tunnel may not be visible to her, but she likes to keep hope and believe that there is one. ADDYSON GUSTAFSON / Freshman Sing/Songwriter Lorde has recently made her return to music with her third album titled “Solar Power”, on August 20, 2021. This is the first album she has released in the past four years, since her second album melodrama in 2017.
After the release of her second album Lorde unplugged from the internet in 2018. The reasoning behind her disconnecting from the internet was due to “massive amounts of stress.” While she took this break from she took a trip that inspired her to make the album “Solar Power." “Solar Power'' has a total of fourteen tracks and the run time of the album is 43:09. There are three singles on the album. The lead single is “Solar Power”, and the other singles are “Mood Ring”, and “Stoned At The Nail Salon”. Lorde announced that the album was not going to be released on cd due to environmental reasons. She stated she doesn't want to “make something that will end up in a landfill in two years”. In addition to this album coming out, on September 9th, Lorde released an EP of “Solar Power” titled “Te Ao Marama”, meaning “world of life." She re-recorded 5 EP features from “Solar Power” in the language of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. Lorde chose to re-record these songs in the Maori language because she is someone “who represents New Zealand globally” and she wants to promote the aspects of the Maori culture that make New Zealand a unique place. Have you heard the album? What do you think of it? |