Op-Ed: One should have been enough
By Nyah Fernandez, Archer School for Girls
June 2, 2020
How many black people need to be beaten for the system to change for black lives to matter in the world? How many innocent lives need to be lost for this to stop happening? I find myself asking these questions as I see one after another black person's life be taken like it was nothing. History has continuously...
Column: On ancient armor, quarantine and certain victory
By Lena Jones, Archer School for Girls
June 2, 2020
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the...
UC retaliation against COLA strikers not in accordance with their principles
By Youqi Huang, Lynbrook High School - CA
June 2, 2020
Graduate students across the University of California (UC) system have gone on strike, demanding a $1412 cost of living adjustment (COLA) per student to be added to their salaries. The UC system has responded with aggression and employed intimidation tactics contrary to its progressive reputation. As...
Opinion: Trump vs. Truth
By Atharva Weling, Wayland High School
June 2, 2020
This should have happened a long time ago. On Tuesday, May 26, the president tweeted that “there is NO WAY (ZERO!)” that mail-in ballots would not result in election fraud. He boldly declared that “mail boxes will be robbed [and] ballots will be forged,” and concluded by warning America of ...
Opinion: When will we all learn to stand together?
By Jaiman White, Baldwin High School - PA
June 1, 2020
I am not black. I am not black, I never will be black, and I can only imagine what the African-American community has had to endure for so long. With that being said, I am more than sympathetic for what my brothers and sisters are going through right now in black communities across the country. There...
Why the press does what it does
By Marta Hill, St. Louis Park High School
June 1, 2020
While protests and riots spread throughout the Twin Cities, the press has a job to do. The press needs to be there to truthfully record history for the people who can’t attend and for future generations to look back on. Student press fills a different role in this situation than professional press....
What You Missed at the BLM March in SF on May 30, 2020
By Zoe Mason, Woodside High School - CA
June 1, 2020
It is an overcast day in San Francisco, California. A Facebook event has invited people to protest police brutality after the brutal murder of George Floyd by police just a few days earlier. As of that morning, 370 people had marked “Going,” and another 1200 had marked “Interested.” At...
The arrest of CNN journalists is an affront to the First Amendment
By Rachel Cohen, Pascack Valley High School
June 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1266315061221613569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1266315061221613569&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbestofsno.com%2F%3Fp%3D44828%26preview%3Dtrue As a journalist, I stand with Omar Jimenez. Jimenez, a CNN correspondent, was arrested by state police on li...
If a pandemic won’t stop police brutality, what will?
By Yasmine Pascal, The Masters School
June 1, 2020
There has been a long history of police brutality against black people in America, from shooting unarmed black men, like Greg Gunn in the street or Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard - and most recently the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. During this global pandemic, politicians have called...
Where Education Fails LGBTQ+ Youth
By Alexa Williams, Middleton High School - WI
May 26, 2020
One year ago, I stood in the field house, presenting my board on LGBTQ+ history for the annual MHS Culture Fair. Person after person walked by my poster board, marveling at the same revelation: how little they knew about LGBTQ+ history. Most people had a passing familiarity with the Stonewall Riots...
Op-Ed: Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month matters
By Rio Hundley, Archer School for Girls
May 22, 2020
Recently, I was scrolling through Hulu in a bout of quarantine boredom when a stumbled across a promotion for "Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month." I was immediately confused. Even as a Filipina American, I had never once heard of or even thought about having a designated time to celebrate my herita...
Column: Other
By Reya Mosby, Marcus High School
May 22, 2020
“Reya isn’t fully Black or fully Indian, so she’s nothing.” This phrase is all too familiar to me. I’ve heard it from friends, acquaintances, strangers and even myself. I am biracial — half African American and half Indian. I’ve struggled with my cultural identity for a long time;...
Senior column: Dark chocolate
By Nikhita Ragam, Marcus High School
May 18, 2020
In a bustling cafeteria of nose-picking, immature third-graders, I sat with my peanut butter sandwich, quietly nibbling on it, amongst the girls from my class. Macey, a rambunctious basketball player, proposed the idea of comparing our skin colors to types of chocolate. Fear crept into my stomach. One by one, she identified my fri...
I Thought We Could Do Better
By Quinn Volpe, North Allegheny Intermediate High School
May 11, 2020
When I saw that #BelieveBiden was trending on Twitter, my heart sank. The party that I have generally supported on many different fronts changed their standpoint from #BelieveAllWomen to #BelieveBiden in order to benefit themselves. This behavior is almost bipartisan, as it can also be seen from the...
Biden Assault Allegations Reveal Hypocrisy
By Nina Burik, Latin School of Chicago
May 11, 2020
“For a woman to come to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real.” Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, shared these words in defense of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the...
Protection for election security cannot come soon enough
By Alex Steil, Stillwater Area High School
May 11, 2020
For the world’s oldest democracy, voting would seem to be the act most unilaterally protected by the government. In the United States, however, that does not seem to be the case. Although states and the federal government are providing basic funding measures for Secretary of States’ offices and...
Opinion: Hardship paves way for leadership
By Cori Nicholson, Carlmont High School
May 11, 2020
Throughout history, leadership is always needed. From monarchies to elected officials to unassuming individuals thrust into positions of leadership, society needs leaders who have the charisma to take charge. Though it might be hard to define leadership, times of crisis allow for stark contrasts between...
Corrupt Competition Culture #4: I Was Never Like This…
By Claire Majerac, North Allegheny Intermediate High School
May 5, 2020
Every day I walk into my homeroom hearing different variations of the exact same thing: How is this funny? It’s your health, first of all, and second, why on earth would you stay up until four in the morning studying for a test, when you could be sleeping and not cramming? Isn’t sleep supposed...
Toward a Land of the Free
By Kevin Pharrell Jackson, St. Benedict's Preparatory School
May 4, 2020
¨Where are you from? Montclair, Little Silver, Long Branch? You’re so well mannered!¨ A teacher at a prestigious nearly all-white high school in New Jersey, asked me; I was a student for a day. ¨No, I’m from Newark,¨ I said, trembling, embarrassed. ¨Aww man, did we check you for weapons...
Jira: The college application process–universally flawed and selectively rewarding
By Violet Jira, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
May 1, 2020
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” It would be nearly impossible to find a child in America who hasn’t been asked this question. This question is usually followed up with a statement: you can be anything you want to be. In fact, that very statement is why I spent a solid year of my li...
Remodel the model minority
By Jenna Wang, West High School
April 29, 2020
We all know the common Asian stereotype: super smart, math geeks and are perfectly quiet. Asians have achieved more success than any other minority and are therefore the model to follow, otherwise known as the model minority. Sounds like a compliment to Asians, right? You’d be wrong. Imagine...
Dystopia, Now?
By MILA BARRY, Gloucester High School - MA
April 28, 2020
Since the dawn of fiction, rhetorical thought experiments that explore the ultimate fate of human society have been a favorite of readers across the globe. From apocalyptic cliches to the methodical satires, we love to delve into the undetermined darkness of days unlived. The allure of dystopia has...
Supporting survivors should not be partisan
By Nora Fellas, The Masters School
April 28, 2020
Amidst allegations of sexual assault and a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2018, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court with 50-48 votes, the narrowest margin in modern history. Only one Republican senator voted against the conservative justice, and only one Democrat...
During Ramadan, Muslim students reflect on identity and Islamophobia during a pandemic
By Marjina Haque, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School
April 28, 2020
When dawn broke and the sun rose on the morning of April 24, around 2 billion Muslims around the world finished up breakfast, prayed and began their fast as part of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Muslim calendar. During Ramadan, Muslims are encouraged to fast every day from sunrise to sunset for...
Pete Buttigieg’s campaign emphasized core values, closeness to issues
By Grace Doyle, Archer School for Girls
April 27, 2020
Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Afghanistan veteran and a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, differentiated himself from the expansive presidential field using his millennial relatability and closeness to issues. Though Joe Biden, the candidate Buttigieg eventually endors...
A March Without a Shooting
By Emily Ito, Yorba Linda High School
April 22, 2020
The conclusion of the month of March was a momentous occasion. Why? Because it is the first March, in nearly two decades, that our country did not suffer from a school shooting. We should be celebrating. We should be proud of this enormous accomplishment. But I’m not celebrating. I don’t feel...
Corrupt Competition Culture #2: Shelf Life
By Samantha Podnar, North Allegheny Intermediate High School
April 21, 2020
Companies spend a great deal of time and money on packaging for their products. An eye-catching design can get consumers to spend their limited budget on a mediocre product, yet people won’t know if they’ve been the victims of flashy advertising until they open the box. Students do the exact same...
Opinion: Count every vote
By Isabelle Nunes and Cori Nicholson
April 14, 2020
America. A place where everyone has a say on key issues and can vote for change. A place where everyone's voice is heard. Or so it seems. Since its approval in 1787, the Electoral College has directly undermined this nation’s democracy with a state-by-state voting system. The Electoral...
Speaking out about Special Education in America
By Aivry Zamora, Clear Creek High School
April 14, 2020
Over the course of my life I have been repeatedly asked the same question: “What was it like to grow up with a sibling who has special needs?” Despite what many would like to believe, my younger sister and I are no different than any other sibling pair; we argue over pointless matters for the sake...
Analysis: Why Sanders had to suspend his campaign
By Marco Rivero, Metea Valley High School
April 13, 2020
Inside a crowded venue in the middle of Navy Pier, over 12,000 people were gathered to celebrate the start of a campaign. Every few seconds, the crowd erupted in cheers as campaign surrogates and local activists took turns riling up the crowd. Finally, with the crowd going crazy thanks to a bolstreus...
Jira: Reeves pulls Mississippi backward with ‘Confederate Heritage Month’
By Violet Jira, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
April 13, 2020
Living in Mississippi, especially the Mississippi Delta, has always felt a bit like living in a time capsule. I pass Dockery Plantation on the way home from school, and in the summer the sprawling cotton fields are a powerful reminder that the freedom I, as a black woman, have now would not have been...
Girls just wanna have fun without facing inherent biases
By Anvitha Reddy, Coppell High School
April 9, 2020
High school debate just doesn’t have enough women. “When you walk into a room and there’s my partner [Coppell junior Arnav Kashyap] and he’s male and the other team has both males and the judge is male. And you do realize that there is an evident lack of representation,” Coppell senior policy...
Sexual Assault Awareness Month: I was raped on New Year’s Day
By Kenny Kim, Westmoore High School
April 8, 2020
Editor’s Note: In commemoration of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a former Westmoore student would like to share her story. To protect her identity and those involved, she is referred to as the pseudonym “Melah” and her offender is "Peter" in this publication. It was New Year’s Day 2019, ...
#PonleAcento U.S.A. (OPINION)
By Adriana James-Rodil and Emara Sáez
April 8, 2020
On Mon., March 30, we — Multimedia Editor Adriana James-Rodil and Junior Staff Writer Emara Sáez — were in Advanced Placement Spanish class when we watched a video about the “Ponle Acento” campaign, and as Hispanic women ourselves, it sparked our interests. The Ponle Acento (which means “to...
Opinion: The damaging effects of cancel culture
By Angela Mashroutechi, Lincoln High School - OR
April 7, 2020
“Cancel culture.” When Googling the term, over two billion results come up. This is understandable considering the essence of this term is rooted in social media and the internet. We see it happen online, and sometimes we see it happen in real life too. But what is “cancel culture” really?...
Jira: Amazon deserves frowns for their employee treatment–now more than ever
By Violet Jira, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
April 6, 2020
In today's world of big business, only one company can overnight ship you the TikTok lights you impulsively ordered at 3 a.m., deliver groceries directly to your doorstep with the press of a finger, aid you in streaming the latest episode of “Love Island” and deliver audiobooks directly to a tablet...
On the Basis of Color
By Zayaan Tirmizi, North Allegheny Intermediate High School
April 2, 2020
Color. Noun. The property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way the object emits light. We are all captivated by the vibrant colors surrounding us, bursting with such beauty and combining with one another to produce an imperfect, yet so perfect, concoction...
The Awkward Years
By Lucie Flagg, North Allegheny Senior High School
March 31, 2020
Often, we’re not taught how beautiful we are until it’s too late. From the day I entered elementary school, I was taught all about my body’s physical health. I’ve completed the PACER test more times than I can count, and I know the proper form for lifting dead weights, climbing a rock wall,...
We should react this way to other contemporary issues
By Caroline Gans, St. Stephen's Episcopal School
March 30, 2020
About two months after the first case of coronavirus in America, the total number of US cases has reached nearly 140,000 cases, with approximately 2,400 deaths to date. That number seems scary and quite obviously, it’s a daunting one. It’s not the deadliest or fastest accelerating or most lethal pandemic of all time, but it is certainly up t...
The Other China
By Michael Taffe, North Allegheny Senior High School
March 30, 2020
The Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, to which the Chinese government lays claim, have long had a troubled relationship. But since the world first learned late last year of a new and deadly virus in the Chinese mainland city of Wuhan, the expanse between the two cultures has only widened....
Opinion: Undocumented Immigrant tax payers should be included in Trump’s “economic rescue” package
By Karly Ortiz, Don Antonio Lugo High School
March 30, 2020
After a near-unanimous vote by Congress, Trump signed into action a $2.2 trillion dollar "economic rescue" package as a result of COVID-19's impact on the economy as well as the people. This stipend money will go to businesses, healthcare providers, and families that have been affected by this national...
Rowland: Harvey Weinstein sentencing, a monumental verdict for the #MeToo movement
By Gracie Rowland, The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science
March 27, 2020
The New York prosecution of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein drew to a close on March 11 when he was sentenced to 23 years in prison for multiple sex crimes. He received a sentence of 20 years for criminal sex act and three years for rape. Six main female witnesses came forward to testify against Weinstein,...
Censorship In Our Peer Newspapers
By Peter Jones, Latin School of Chicago
March 27, 2020
This past February 19, staff of The Forum visited the UC Laboratory High School to meet with editors of their student-run publication, The Midway. The conversation was not only informative but enlightening on the purpose of independent school newspapers in Chicago. As it turns out, uncensored sc...
Balance of Children and Parental Rights Harms Everyone in Child Protective Services
By Kelly Tran, Henry W. Grady High School
March 25, 2020
The whispers of abuse and suffering that run wild in the Department of Child and Family Protective Services are no secret to the media or the public, although we may act that way. Just recently, Netflix released a documentary series, “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez,” which brought light to the consequences...
Opinion: Consumerism kills
By Cori Nicholson, Carlmont High School
March 25, 2020
Money. Profit. It drives all of us. It's hard to ignore — after all, society is set up like this. The majority of the world works until they can't anymore. Go to work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat. It's a process, a system if you will; we have to have money to survive, which means what we do with...
An open glance at men’s rights activism in the wake of feminism
By Brinda Ambal, Parkway West High School
March 25, 2020
People today are more eager than ever to join in discussions about gender equality in terms of feminism. When you bring up, though, that men also face issues specific to their gender, and that these issues also need addressing, more often than not you will be met with a slight (or heavy) grimace and...
Kashmir. Not Your Sweater.
By Zayaan Tirmizi, North Allegheny Intermediate High School
March 25, 2020
Everyone in the student body is somewhat up to date on vaping, stress, domestic politics, or essentially what the most common headlines are that we see day to day. However, in the digital age, there are so many headlines that it is impossible to read them all. Despite their lack of coverage, most of...
Fake It Till You Make It
By Kristen Kinzler, North Allegheny Senior High School
March 24, 2020
It’s a familiar situation for many high school students, particularly those who go to competitive schools. You look around the classroom, noting all your peers achieving the extraordinary. You see how much talent everyone around you seems to have. You feel inadequate. You feel you don’t belong. You...
My faith wavered, then disappeared
By Atmika Iyer, Oak Park High School - CA
March 24, 2020
I was wearing a blue and pink half-sari, standing under a thick cover of branches and leaves to seek shelter from the rain. My bare feet were bouncing up and down lightly in the puddles on the cold, stone floors of a quiet temple in Virginia. A Hindu priest came forward, with three threads, black, red...
They’re watching you… Life under Life360
By Ansley Morris, St. Stephen's Episcopal School
March 24, 2020
You’re walking out of your house to go hang with friends on a Saturday afternoon, but you get an eerie feeling that someone’s behind you, hovering somewhere nearby, tracking your every move. Whoever it is, they can see the slightest move, notice any time you speed up or slow down, even keep...