By Scarlett Shelley
As of 2024, college admission for over 1,900 universities will remain test optional. Universities such as Yale, Stanford, Harvard, and other prestigious universities are among the many schools allowing students to not submit test scores. This drastic change from previous years leads us to ask, how are these changes affecting students? Since schools started experimenting with a test optional application, acceptance rates at universities have been rapidly declining. The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University’s student-run newspaper, emphasizes that, for the class of 2025, the acceptance rate is “about 3%,” but in 2015 the acceptance rate was “about 6%.” For students that are applying to these prestigious universities, it can feel like every year it becomes even more difficult to be accepted to their dream schools. Since students are not compelled to divulge scores that may be less than desirable to these universities, many may feel they have nothing to lose by applying to schools they originally may have avoided. Universities are not all of a sudden admitting fewer students. Rather, more people are applying, making that slim chance of getting accepted even slimmer.
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By: Katarina Dynda
As you drive home, you get hungry. You ask yourself, “Where should I go?” as you pass Wendy’s followed by Chick-Fil-A. So, you decide to stop at the next fast food restaurant: McDonald's. There's nothing wrong with a quick bite, right? It's easy, convenient, and tasty. But there is something hidden underneath all the flashy signs. Obesity, health problems, and even death. These are only some of the effects fast food can have on your body. By: Ariana Bellio
The salary gap between women's national leagues and men’s national leagues has always been a sore topic within the sports community, as women have always made significantly less money than their male counterparts. In basketball, specifically, the women's “superleague” salary, which is only given to the best of the best, is around 220,ooo dollars; in the men's league the average salary is 7,900,000 dollars. This glaring salary gap has been an issue for a long time, but nothing has been done about it. By: Isabella Morhaim
Oyster Bay High School’s 2022 spring sports season is well underway. Some of the sports played during this season include: tennis, softball, track and field, baseball, boys’ lacrosse, and girls’ lacrosse. While student athletes work hard to improve their game, however, one sport seems to be taking lots of hits. By: Scarlett Shelley
Abortion is a medical or surgical procedure performed to deliberately end a pregnancy. Some women do not desire to conceive a child, and if they were to get pregnant, an abortion would ensure that they had control over their own futures. Unfortunately, some people want to take away that freedom. Some people want to take away my freedom. On September 1st, 2021, some of that freedom was taken away. By: Giovanna Sherlock
In the sport of rowing, weight is a crucial factor in racing success. On the water, the lighter you are, the higher the boat sits and the faster you move. On the erg the heavier you are, the more weight you have to push yourself off the machine, so you pull better times. Because of this, US Rowing makes lightweight categories for people weighing under 130 pounds in spring and summer and 135 pounds in winter and fall. These weight classes have the potential to play a part in the onset of eating disorders in many young children. Girls standing at well over 5’11 starve themselves to be under 130 pounds, which is not only unhealthy, but unsafe. They do this to be able to race in the lightweight category with girls who are much shorter than them and, therefore, cannot get the same reach. This puts the taller girls at an advantage in the races, but it is at the risk of their mental and physical health. This causes a very common and disturbing correlation between lightweight rowers and eating disorders. By: Scarlett Shelley
Around 55% of college students struggle to pay for their education. About 51% of college students drop out because they can’t afford to pay for their education. In the United States, students must pay to get the education that they deserve and need. In many cases, companies require college education as a prerequisite for employment, but, because college is too expensive, not as many people can enter the workforce in higher-paying positions. According to Northwestern Mutual, depending on the kind of college students choose to attend, the prices can range from an average cost of $22,000 per year at a public institution and $50,000 per year at a private institution. Why do young people have to make such important and long-lasting financial decisions to be educated? The University of the People reported that, in the United States, the average debt per person is $31,172. For those teenagers that work, data show that they make about $2,000 a year, so even if they were to save up for their whole high school careers, they would each only have $6,000. Teenagers can’t get the education they need because they can’t afford it. By: Isabella Morhaim
Is technology more friend or foe? We often view technology as a gateway to escape our problems and seek control, something we may have trouble finding in our own lives. Having the choice regarding what we search, watch, or even surround ourselves with online gives the impression that we are in control of our technology use. However, the more we turn to our technology as an escape, the more dependent we become on it. By Scarlett Shelley
On the first Sunday of each November, the often feared daylight savings comes our way. At 2:00 a.m. EST, all clocks will fall back one hour, resulting in an extra hour of sleep. Although this may sound wonderful, many have found that we no longer need to turn the clocks forward and back each year. According to Time Record News, the clocks will move ahead one hour or fall behind one hour, in all but Hawaii and Arizona (in the US), twice a year. Web Exhibits reports that daylight savings was originally invented in 1918, towards the end of World War I, to conserve electricity, but it has been found in recent years that daylight savings increases the amount of energy used. By Shannon Walsh
The constant flow of images that society deems “perfect” is mentally exhausting. It should not be normal to scroll through your phone every day and see photoshopped, edited, and fake images of celebrities, social media influencers, and friends. These images create false expectations and a beauty standard that is specific to few bodies. Social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, and several others are catalysts for body image issues among all people. These apps all have specific filters that are meant to make users look different. In particular, the video app Tiktok has a filter called the “beauty filter” that manipulates the video to show your face with clear skin and no blemishes. Viewing this constant flow of images and videos with “perfect” skin, faces, and bodies is not realistic. Social media is a direct representation of society’s unrealistic beauty standards. |
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