by: Finn McCarty
As someone with anxiety, I often have panic attacks. My heart rate quickens, my palms start sweating, the whole package that lets me know that I’m on the brink of one. Immediately, I spring into action, scrambling for my phone and headphones. I open the music app and turn on my ‘Anti-Anxious’ playlist. Very soon, a sense of relief washes over me. Mission accomplished. Music is known to be a natural remedy for stress. According to Portland Music Therapy, “When the body is stressed, it may feel tense and tight. Listening to music can help facilitate relaxation.” It has also been recognized in ancient practices. Portland Music Therapy states that, “In Native American culture, there are more than 1,500 songs that are used for healing purposes.” Ancient Greece also used music to express emotion in plays. The tempo and vibrations of the music can be a helpful factor to the effectiveness. Certain tempos and vibrations of instruments can make a person feel at ease, and even drowsy. This is because, according to Harvard Health Publishing, “The human brain and nervous system are hard-wired to distinguish music from noise and to respond and repetition, tones and tunes. Personally, I think songs by indie/ indie rock artists like Briston Maroney and flor are the most calming. This is probably because music is one of my main comforts, and since it is my favorite genre, it is probably where I receive the sense of calm. WHS senior Audrey Mainville says, “I listen to folk music, like 60s and 70s because it’s just simple.” When I asked why this calms her down, she said, “I think there’s good harmony and good guitar. Just not as many theatrics as other songs. It’s very simple and easy to listen to.” WHS teacher John Martin says, “[When anxious] I like to listen to music that I’m familiar with. I also like to listen to music that is naturally calming. So for me right now, it’s Bon Iver. I love their music because he has a high falsetto voice that calms me, and also the background music is a lot of atmospheric noise-pop, and for me it almost acts like white noise at times and helps calm me down.” Although it may not be helpful for some people, I think that music can be a very effective way to reduce anxiety. It is a valid coping skill that should be taught to more people. Everyone, whether or not they have anxiety, should have some sort of coping skills to deal with stress. Check out Finn's "Anti-Anxiety" Playlist below on Spotify!:
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 By: Haley Krawczyk and Matt Silver
Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash on January 26 in Calabasas, California, among others. Kobe’s death has had an impact on former and current students from Wethersfield High School. Many students looked up to Bryant and were shocked to learn of his passing. Despite never having met the former NBA player, freshman Christian Bonvisuto said, “It just doesn’t feel right without him here today. He meant a lot to me and I am heartbroken by his passing.” After playing professionally for twenty years for the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe retired from the NBA in 2016. As a senior who was able to see a younger version of Kobe, Tyren Watt said, “Kobe was a role model to a lot of younger people and even adults. He always had a positive attitude towards every challenge he faced.” On the impact that Kobe’s death has had on her life outside of basketball, freshman varsity player Gabriella Tomaino said, “Ever since it happened, I took more risks and seized more opportunities. I think it is the perfect example of how tomorrow isn’t given, so you have to go out there and just live it like it’s your last minute.” The media attention surrounding the death of Kobe Bryant represents the legacy and inspiration that he has left. “His biggest saying for young kids whether it be athletes, students, or just regular kids was to keep trying and it’s okay to fail. He definitely inspired me to never give on what I aim to do in life,” said junior,Kaitlin Ryan. While the Bryants are the focus because of their notoriety, there are more families currently dealing with loss. There were seven additional passengers that died in the crash. The media has recognized these individuals far less and sophomore Abigail King said, “Because Gigi and Kobe were the most well-known, they got the most attention. And it is almost like their lives mattered more. But, in reality, that’s not true.” The students continue to grieve the loss of the famous player, his daughter, and the other passengers. Kobe’s influence on the sport will continue to impact players and students, despite his passing.  by: Michelle Guerard
TikTok is a rapidly growing platform, and I wanted to find out more about it. TikTok is a social media platform where people express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing and was the most downloaded app in 2019. The app has seen enormous growth in the past year, with 1.5 billion downloads and 500 million active users. I asked history teacher Ms. Cavanaugh her opinion on TikTok, she said that she’s never downloaded the app, but she knows about it from her students. She said she doesn’t like it, and that she finds it a “waste of time” and a “distraction in school.” Senior Dzenita Korkutovic loves TikTok because it’s “funny and addicting”. I asked her what she likes about it and she said, “I like its funny content, the dances, and the music.” She said it’s addicting because “everyone’s trying to be on the ‘for you’ page,” which is another word for going viral. She believes the app’s hype will eventually die out like Vine previously did. Another senior, Kassandra Vasquez, thinks the app is overhyped. She said she has the TikTok app, but she doesn’t make her own TikToks. She said TikTok has “Vine energy,” which is a good thing because vine was very popular. Junior Alijah Ruocco is not a fan of TikTok. He’s never had the app and he thinks it’s annoying. He said he sees girls make them in public a lot. He also believes the app will die out like vine did. Overall, people have different opinions on TikTok. Half like it and half don’t. I believe what drives the app to be so popular is the idea of fame and users trying to go viral. Users create more and more in hopes that their videos will go viral. Some people do go viral and some people have even created a living off the app. I’m also an active TikTok user and try to get on the “For You” page. What are your thoughts on TikTok? Comment below!  By: Emily Fazzina
Many people know what a hot dog, hamburger, and a sandwich are, but are they the same thing? That is what I have set out to find! I interviewed a few teachers at Wethersfield High School to get their opinion and you’ll never guess what I found out. When interviewing math teacher Mr. Bucchi, I found out that his favorite of the three foods is hot dogs. His favorite place to get a good dog is Capital Lunch in New Britain. He also said that he disagrees with the statement that a hot dog is a sandwich. He mentioned something that no one I interviewed brought up. “Technically no [in reference to my initial question], but I have put a hot dog cut up into halves and quarter it, so it's laid out on a piece of bread,” said Bucchi. Following this, Bucchi turned around in my interview to ask me a question, and what he asked was eye opening. “I’m going to flip the table, have you ever eaten a hamburger with a hot dog bun?” This comment opened my eyes to the unfairness of the way we treat hot dogs and hamburgers as American foods. My next interview was with Science Teacher Ms. Alexopoulos . When asking what her favorite type of food staple was, she said that she likes both hot dogs and hamburgers. And if put in a social gathering of sorts (like a picnic or barbeque), she asks for both. When I asked her the question of the hot dog being a sandwich she also disagreed with my statement. When asking her more questions, she revealed that she eats her hot dogs with no bun! Shocking! Technology educator Mr. Sikora tends to put his own spin on the foods, making his own. He preferred the hamburger meat to be shaped into tiny sliders, adding A1 sauce to the patties after being cooked. When he isn’t at home making his own burgers, Sikora enjoys a good hamburger at Goldburgers in Newington. When I asked the relation of hot dogs to sandwiches, Sikora told me that he considered the two foods to be like cousins. Where hamburger and sandwiches look similar, a hot dog has the same elements of a sandwich but a different complexion. After that, I headed across the art wing to art teacher Mr. Bayak’s room to get his opinion. Shockingly enough, I found out that he is a vegetarian. Another fun fact, he has eaten the same lunch for the past twelve year while working at Wethersfield High School, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Sticking with the theme he answered that he would eat sandwiches for the rest of his life, because he’s already doing so, considering his daily lunch choice. He also said that his food lifestyle doesn’t hold him back from eating hot dogs. Rather, he enjoys veggie dogs and veggie burgers, which he told me were just as delicious. Ms. Campbell’s had her own opinions on the debate. She agrees with my statement by the notion that you can eat both with your hands. She also enjoys a good hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut. And depending on the day, she likes to grab a good cold cut sandwich from D'angelo's. Finally, I stopped by English teacher Martin’s room to get a final opinion on the question that is rattling everyone’s brain. He doesn’t agree with the statement that hot dogs are sandwiches because his point is that culturally they’re two different things. “If you asked a member of our world community that's not from the United States and ask ‘What is the most American food?’ They would probably say, ‘hot dogs or hamburgers’” said Martin. His argument is that hot dogs are a different food species than sandwiches, but the same genus as hamburgers. Martin also doesn't trust hot dogs. Weird, right? He says that he saw a video of what is truly in the meat casing of the hot dog, and has been grossed out ever since. But that doesn’t stop him from eating veggie dogs or shrimp burgers, but by far his favorite place to go for a burger is Max Burgers in West Hartford. And if given the choice to eat one of the three food staples for the rest of his life, he chose sandwiches for the reasoning that there is an endless possibility for food that is labeled as a “Sandwich.” At the end of my interviews, I was surprised to find that a majority of the teachers don't consider a hot dog as a sandwich. I also found out that if they had to eat hamburgers, hot dogs or sandwiches for the rest of their lives; a majority of the teachers said that they would eat a sandwich for the rest of their life. Understandable. But given the choice, What would you choose? Would you make the right choice? Would you be surprised if you asked for a sandwich and was given a hot dog. Or would that make sense to you?  By: Michaela Collins
I know we are all aware by now of the dangers of social media. The several school assemblies on cyberbullying and privacy has kept us all well informed. However, there is still something about social media that we all tend to ignore: The Terms of Service. Now I don't blame anyone for not sitting through the 70 something pages of rules and policies that social media apps have. I couldn't even make myself read the entire thing for this article. But with recent controversies such as Facebook’s $550 million lawsuit over facial recognition and Tiktok saving information and possibly sending it to it’s country of origin, you have to wonder what we are giving up when accepting these policies. I decided to take a look at some of the policies for three popular apps among teenagers today: Snapchat, Instagram and Tiktok. Now again, I didn't read the whole thing. Instead, I read the parts where it tells you what information they collect and how they decide to use it. And let me tell you, it's a little creepy. All of these apps said that they send your information to third-party affiliates. Meaning, if you searched for a certain thing using their app, they record that information and continue to give you more ads related to your searches. So while no one is listening to you or watching you through your phone, they are recording everything you type. The apps also stated that they collect data like the things you watch/see so they can push other videos/pictures onto you so that you will stay on the app. Now these things were general knowledge at this point, but reading further into it, it got more shocking. Snapchat states that they collect information log information about the pages that you visited before and after you use their app. If you search something up on Google before using Snapchat, they’ll be able to see what you’re doing. Not only can Snapchat look at other things you’re doing while not using the app, they even record how long you’ve watched a certain ad or story for. As for location, if you use Snapmaps, they can store your “favorite” places for up to 40 days. Snapmaps has also gotten the company in controversy, alarming child safety groups everywhere. According to Childnet International :“It is important to be careful about who you share your location with, as it can allow people to build up a picture of where you live, go to school and spend your time.” If you decided that you no longer want your Snapchat anymore, delete your account, Snapchat states that they will delete most of your information. They were not specific as to what information they do keep. Instagram's privacy policy wasn't as alarming as Snapchat’s. They provide you ads based on what you frequently search. Instagram also states that they can track which emails have been opened by and links clicked on by users. However, Facebook owns Instagram. Facebook has had a little history with violating users privacy. I wouldn't be surprised if Facebook had a little influence on Instagram in regards to their rules. The new app with rapidly growing popularity, Tiktok has had a few run-ins with the law recently. Their policy was similar to the other apps' policies. They do record everything you watch on the app and keep all of the information. Tiktok has been accused of saving information after you delete your account. So if you decided to make another account with this app, they will recommend the same videos you watched on your deleted account. Also just as appalling, in late 2019 the app has been accused by a California college student of sending users information to China, where the app originated. According to Reuters, “The plaintiff downloaded the Tik Tok app in March or April of 2019, but never actually created a Tik Tok account. Why would they send information to China and what exactly are they sending? We don't know. Now I don't expect many people to delete their social media if they took the time to read the Terms of Service. In today's world, it's difficult not to have some sort of social media. It provides us with current news, keeps us in touch with one another, allows us to see what our favorite people on the platform are doing, etc. The media does have several benefits. Unfortunately, these benefits also come with consequences. While you may have fun posting pictures of your vacations or making short dance videos with you friends, you may be giving up a lot more then what you intended.  by: Kyle Edman and Nick McGrath
After a Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs pulled out an amazing comeback win with a final score of 31-20. This was a fantastic game to watch, even if you aren’t a fan of those teams it was most definitely a thriller. With this nationwide event, we went around and asked some teachers in our school who they wanted to win and why they picked that team. With that being said, let’s see what some of our favorite teachers said. Out of all the teachers we interviewed, only one teacher, history teacher Mr Sand, went for the 49’ers. He said, “[I’m] mildly rooting for the 49ers. Not a fan but as a Vikings fan, I was going with the NFC team.” When we asked him how he felt about the niners blowing the lead he responded with “I don’t think they blew the lead. Mahomes and company are just really good. I thought they needed to outscore the Chiefs, not hold them to a low scoring output.” The other six teachers had the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl, science wiz Mr. Walsh had this to say about the Super Bowl, “I wanted the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl, because I prefer the AFC teams and I like Patrick Mahomes.” Another history teacher, Mr Ferrett agreed with Walsh saying, “[I wanted the] Kansas City Chiefs. They had not won in 50 years and half a century is a long time.” Earth Science teacher, Ms. Alexopoulus had an interesting and detailed response when asked why she wanted the Chiefs to win. “I know the coach wanted to be able to say he won the Super Bowl as a head coach, so given how dedicated and caring he is to his players, I just wanted him to get that win.” She also followed up with, “[Andy Reid] also wanted to win for his son who passed away a few years ago, and that makes the win that much more special for him.” All seven teachers we interviewed gave a similar response when asked why the 49ers blew the lead and it basically came down to the fact that they didn’t necessarily blow the lead, the Chiefs offense was just way more aggressive and ready to play. Long time teacher and Patriots fan Mr.Gallivan said, “I think it was less about the 49ers blowing the lead and more about Patrick Mahomes just switching to another gear in the fourth quarter. Great quarterbacks can do that - as Tom Brady has demonstrated many times.” Mr. Sikora added, “I had read and heard the coach was the winningest coach in NFL history without a ring, so I was hoping he could get one. Every game with Mahomes was pretty impressive too.” As other teachers have told us about their thoughts on the Super Bowl, Andy Reid seemed to be a big motive as to why they wanted the Chiefs to win. What were your thoughts on this exciting Super Bowl? Comment below! by: Lauren Cholewa The Wethersfield High School wrestling team has had a remarkable season this year. The team is closing out the season with their last home meet on Wednesday, February 5th, 2020. Throughout the season, there have been many struggles individually for the wrestlers but it becomes apparent that it has changed them for the better. “I feel that it prepares you for life and teaches you to handle adversity,” said Jacob Buser, WHS wrestler. Ready to close out the season, the wrestlers had reflected back onto the season and had some things to mention. Although it is hard work, some of the Wethersfield wrestlers or not more people should wrestle. Jacob Buser said, “Definitely, once you wrestle, everything else in life is easier.” Nicholas Thompson, another member of the team, said “Yes it helps your body out a lot and builds more character than any other sport.” As the season comes to an end with the last home meet against Manchester and the last away meet against Avon, everyone will see who rises to the occasion for the chance to wrestle at state opens in New Haven. by: Zack Grenier and Kassandra Vazquez
On January 3, Justin Bieber broke his 4-year silence in the music industry with his new single “Yummy.” The singer’s comeback was heavily promoted on all major social media platforms and led to big anticipation for the new song to be another one of Bieber’s chart topping bops. While many people are excited for this era of Bieber's career, this new single couldn’t help but make others wonder if the singer’s new approach to music seemed un-authentic to the Bieber we all know and love. While “Yummy” peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, many fans are criticizing the lyrics on the catchy song. “After the first verse it honestly got boring” WHS senior Haley DellaFera said, “It was disappointing to be expecting something so good as a comeback after 4 years and to get a song that is so repetitive.” The lyrics didn't seem to be the only thing off-putting to people when it came to the new song. While promoting the song, Bieber and his team took a different approach to letting "Beliebers" know how to get the song to be as successful as Bieber wanted. People found the way the "Yummy" singer decided to promote the song to be very unlike him and overall desperate. Joyclen Pinero, WHS senior and avid ‘Belieber’ felt disappointed in the singer’s new release. “I had higher hopes for this song, it feels very repetitive. It's very simple and there's nothing wrong with simple. It definitely was not a strong comeback song. The fact that he seems so desperate for views makes me not want to listen to it.” This comment was made referring to Bieber’s recent instagram post explaining how to get “Yummy” to number one in the Billboard Hot 100. Bieber went as far as to tell his fans from outside the U.S to get a VPN app to stream the song so it seems more people in the U.S. are streaming the song. Bieber has always catered to a teenage audience but it seems like they're the audience that dislike the song the most. This makes people like us wonder if Bieber is trying to switch up his audience. We asked Ashley Cavnaugh, a WHS teacher and pop culture enthusiast, her opinion on the song. “I have mixed feelings on the song,” she said, “I like the beat behind the lyrics but I just don’t see the point in the song. It’s fun to listen to but I guess you're not supposed to think that deeply into the song.” While the overall opinion in WHS seems to be that ‘Yummy’ is more of a flop than a bop, many fans around the U.S. are excited for the singers new album and feel like this era will be the best one yet. |
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Photos from shixart1985 (CC BY 2.0), verchmarco (CC BY 2.0), governortomwolf, Marianne Bevis, shixart1985, verchmarco, shixart1985
