![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
Lola Zurweller, junior, has seen one account showing up all over her TikTok: Kamala HQ.
Kamala HQ is a social media account that is the “official rapid response page for Vice President Harris’ campaign,” according to a post from the account. The account endorses Kamala Harris in her bid for presidency and posts photos and videos that support her campaign.
Zurweller said Kamala HQ is targeted to Gen Z.
“They’re doing it in a very trendy fashion, in more of a pop culture kind of way,” Zurweller said.
Zurweller has mixed feelings about candidates using social media, but said she likes this election’s content.
“They’re following trends, and they’re not shoving it in your face,” Zurweller said.
Harris is not the only candidate to campaign on social media, nor is she the first, said Dr. William Horner, professor of political science and director of Mizzou’s Office of Participatory Democracy.
In 2008, the Obama campaign used Facebook, which was popular with young voters, effective and inexpensive, Dr. Horner said. Current presidential candidates such as Harris use social media to spread information about their campaign.
“A lot of it is for messaging about policy, attacking their opponents, responding to their opponents and inviting action by supporters (such as donating money, attending rallies, contacting others, etc.),” Dr. Horner said.
The target audience of social media campaigning varies based on the platform, Dr. Horner said. Generally, Facebook is aimed at older voters, while Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat are targeted toward younger voters.
However, X, formerly known as Twitter, is different.
“Its number of users isn’t nearly as large as the other platforms, but it is used by a lot of people who are seen as influencers of one sort or another—celebrities, news media, other politicians, etc,” Dr. Horner said.
Dr. Horner advises people to approach election information on social media with caution.
“Although we call social media ‘media,’ it is so different from what we think of as news media with editors, fact checking and a genuine interest in reporting facts,” Dr. Horner said. “This is one of the great problems with modern society, in my opinion.”
While social media can organize and mobilize groups, it has the potential to do great harm, Dr. Horner said.
“Social media should be just one source of people’s information, combined with what they learn from traditional news media and from talking with family and peers,” Dr. Horner said.
Sohum Tokekar, senior, is the vice president of Politics Club and said social media changes the tone of presidential campaigning.
“When a candidate is able to speak in such an informal way on social media, it resonates more than if they were to take everything more seriously,” Tokekar said.
Tokekar said that he is wary of solely relying on social media for election information, especially with the rise of AI.
“Cross-referencing and double-checking what you see online is a pain, but it’s worth it if your main goal is to actually understand everything about each candidate,” Tokekar said.
This story was originally published on Marquette Messenger on October 7, 2024.