As New Yorkers, snow in the winter is all but uncommon. While two inches of snow here may feel like we have avoided a destructive winter storm, there are some areas in the country where snow is just as uncommon as an alien ship. One of those areas is the state of Texas.
Over the past few weeks, parts of Texas had temperature drops that are more extreme than any other since 1989. With these temperatures, precipitation that would normally come in the form of heavy rain has changed to unprecedented snow and ice. This unusual storm has captivated the country and overtaken the state. Because Texas typically has a warm climate, government officials, individuals and households were unprepared for the change in weather. These winter storm conditions have caused many power outages, a lack of running water, and created an overall unsafe living environment. This left many people with damaged property (burst pipes), lacking heat and food and no way to shovel or plow the snow away. So far there have been about 26 deaths due to the harsh conditions What would normally be an extreme scenario has become even more of a struggle with the added issues that COVID-19 brings. People have less of an opportunity to stay together, for warmth, in the very few areas that do have electricity and heat. Although this has been a difficult scenario for all Texans, many have been making due by wrapping themselves in blankets, moving into their cars or going to “warming centers” that have been opened by government officials. With the hard times Texas has faced there is good news ahead. The wintery conditions in Texas are about to leave as soon as they arrived. Temperatures are supposed to rise up to 50 and 60 degrees within the next week which will likely melt most of the snow. With the snow gone and help from relief foundations around the country, workers should be able to get power back on and water running very soon. These have been a difficult few weeks for Texans and their families. Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon. Reported by Jessica Levy While our lives have drastically changed over the past year, one event continues to excite American football fans across the country. On February 7, the 55th Super Bowl commenced as usual, with the Kansas City Chiefs defending their title against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although the Football Power Index, along with 109 experts reported by ESPN, predicted a Chiefs victory, the Buccaneers won 31- 9. The game earned Tom Brady (the Bucs quarterback) his seventh win, a feat accomplished by no other player or NFL team. The MVP award also went to the star, making it Brady’s fifth Super Bowl MVP, extending his previous record.
For the much anticipated halftime show, Grammy-winning singer, The Weeknd, performed on the grand stage. Spending nearly $7 million out of his own pocket, he blew the crowd away with his elaborate and flashy performance. Starboy, The Hills, Can't Feel My Face, I Feel it Coming, Save Your Tears, Earned It, House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls, and Blinding Lights were all included in the show. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 protocols, there were no surprise guests. Instead, the singer had an army of bandaged dancers, later explaining (in an interview with Variety) that the significance of the head bandages was a reflection on the “absurd culture of Hollywood celebrities and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated.” The Super Bowl is always known for their popular, but expensive and competitive advertisements. With their iconic commercials and celebrity cameos, the short videos share the spotlight with the actual game. Due to the current circumstances, however, many companies such as Budweiser and Coke, chose not to run commercials during this year’s game. CBS reportedly took two more months than usual to sell the spots. Moreover, they charged $5.5 million for a 30-second slot which is lower-priced than usual. Amongst the variety of comedic and sentimental commercials, USA Today’s Ad Meter ranked Rocket Mortgage: “Certain is Better- Tracy Morgan, Dave Bautista & Liza Koshy,” Rocket Mortgage: “Certain is Better- Tracy Morgan & Joey Bosa,” Amazon: “Alexa’s Body,” M&M’s: “Come Together,” and Toyota: “Upstream” as the top 5 Super Bowl ads. As for the usual packed crowd who cheers alongside their teams, only 25,000 people were part of the audience this year, distanced by 30,000 cardboard cutouts of celebrities and fans. Reported by Christine Song Given the current situations of the Covid-19 pandemic, College Board has made changes to how the AP exams will be administered for 2021. To ensure the health and safety of both teachers and students, they have created 3 different exam schedules that will be on paper or digital.
Administration 1 will be between May 3-7, 10-12, 14, and 17. This will be a traditional, full-length paper exam that students will have to take in school. Digital exams will be the format for some subjects in Administration 2 and 3. Administration 2 is between May 18-21, 24-28. There will be a total of 17 subjects with a digital exam and 15 subjects with a paper exam. Administration 3 is between June 1-4 and 7-11. There will be a total of 25 subjects with a digital exam and 7 subjects with a paper exam. Digital exams will be full-length exams that will cover all of the topics for that given course. They can be taken in school or at home. For in-school digital exams, each student will need access to a laptop that is fully charged, can access the school’s internet network, and has a built-in camera. For at-home digital exams, each student will need access to a laptop or desktop computer with a good internet connection and has a built-in camera. For both in school and at home digital exams, students have to install the College Board’s LockDown Browser application, which has been designed to monitor internet connection issues throughout the exam. Unlike the 2020 AP exams where you could use the internet and your notes to search up questions, the digital 2021 AP exams will not have any questions that can be answered using those resources. Additionally, students will not be able to go back and forth between questions throughout the digital exam. Reported by Elif Koch In the past few weeks, a hot stove that has been anything but hot, has begun to heat up. On January 7th, Shortstop Francisco Lindor and Starting Pitcher Carlos Carrasco were traded to the New York Mets in exchange for Shortstops Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario, Outfielder Isaiah Greene, and Right Handed Pitcher Josh Wolf, the Mets’ 2019 second-round draft pick to the Cleveland Indians. This trade was not something that Mets fans were complaining about, nor were they completely blindsided by it. Lindor had been rumored to be getting traded for a long time, and by this point, the Mets were among the top suitors for the shortstop. Giminez signed with the Mets as an international free agent back in 2016, and made his Major League Baseball debut with the club in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Upon debuting, Gíminez kicked out Amed Rosario out of the starting shortstop role. Rosario hit just .252/.272/.371 and failed to steal a single base. It will be interesting to see how this situation will pan out over in Cleveland. I am in the camp of believing the Mets won this trade, but I think that Greene and Wolf- the Mets’ number 9 and number 10 prospects, respectively, prior to the trade- should have been swapped out for another pair of prospects.
Roughly 20 minutes from the Mets’ home of Citi Field, sits Yankee Stadium, the Yankees’ home stadium during baseball season. The Yankees have also made splashes of their own in Corey Kluber and Jameson Tallion. Kluber pitched just 36.2 innings over the past two seasons while dealing with a laundry list of injuries. Before this deal was made, to bring Kluber over to the Yankees on a one year deal, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Yankees rotation. Gerrit Cole was clearly the ace, but after that, the remaining five man rotation lacked substance. Luís Severino is slotted into the rotation, but it will not be until July before we see Severino back in the Yankees pinstripes. Not long after the Kluber deal was struck, the Yankees sent pitchers Miguel Yaruje and Roansy Contreras, infielder Maikol Escotto and left fielder Canaan Smith in exchange for another rotation bolster and good friend of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Tallion. Although he has faced a number of obstacles, coming off of two Tommy John surgeries and beating cancer, Tallion is back and ready to dominate opposing lineups in the Bronx. New York native Adam Ottavino was shipped up to the Boston Red Sox along with the Yankees number 24 prospect, Frank German, in exchange for a cash consideration or a player to be named later. It was the first Red Sox-Yankees trade since 2014, when Stephen Drew went to New York in exchange for Kelly Johnson. In my opinion, all of these moves have upgraded the Yankees and equipped them for multiple World Series runs in the near future. Both New York teams have dominated the offseason, even if the hot stove didn’t get ignited until late into the offseason. Reported by Seth Schlank |