Category Archives: Front/Home

Front/Home, World Headlines

Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday Collide

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By Suzie Lee

     The two opposite holidays, Valentine’s day and Ash Wednesday ironically overlapped on the same day.

    Ash Wednesday is a seasonal holiday of church signaling the start of Lent in Christianity. Christians think of the meaning of Lent by meditating Christ’s affliction for 40 days by putting ashes on his forehead and making a confession of sin.

     However this year, the Valentine’s Day, a holiday that couples send chocolates and flowers to each other, fell on Ash Wednesday resulting in controversy between the two events.

    During Valentine’s Day, people buy rose bouquets and chocolate-covered strawberries to celebrate their love to each other.

    The problem is on Ash Wednesday, a day for fasting and self denial, those gifts are considered extravagant.

    Priests say the words to parishioners during the ceremony, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

    The last time this concurrence of holidays happened was in 1945, and it is expected to meet again at 2024 and again in 2029.     

      Last year, the Lenton Friday fell on the same day as Saint Patrick’s Day, a similar to situation this year, but some dioceses made decisions to permit Catholics to eat corn beef.

    From this conflict, many people decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day one day earlier among with Mardi Gras, known as Fat Tuesday.

    Although any specific decisions are not arising at the moment for Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday, the people resolved in different ways to respect and celebrate the events.

 

Advice, Front/Home, Lifestyle

Smartphones bring a new way of living

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By: Ryleigh Schelin / Staff Writer

 

    A couple of years ago, the invention that would change people’s lives was born. When Apple came out with their first IPhone model people were shocked at all the capabilities of the phone.

    This marked the start of the race involving  many companies to always have the newest and most stylish phone.

    The design and features of the smartphone has pulled people in, making them want to buy it. These features include camera quality and how big and thin the phone is. The most recent smartphones have the ability to connect to your car.  They also can connect to your home to enable alarm systems and lighting.

   The features on the Smartphones also create many sources of communication on platforms like Messaging, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and  many more.

   Cell phones are becoming a necessity for everyday life, cutting off real communication face to face.

    Apple is always working to add more features and come out with their latest models.

   Samsung and Google are also always competing with Apple to create more features to get more buyers.

    A phone is a phone. The features are a bonus but it’s scary to think about what some companies are creating to get more buyers.

   Ten years ago people gathered around the television to watch the news and figure out what’s going on in the world. Now an alert is sent to your phone seconds after something happens.

   Most people always know what’s going on in people’s lives. The latest gossip and what people are doing daily is all shared through these tiny devices in which our life revolves around.

   With smartphones people can share pictures and communicate with people from around the world.

   Different cultures can be discovered and relationships can be built through the Smartphone.

    Many people have many views on what smartphones are doing to our world. Some argue they are a positive impact but others would disagree.

    The way phones are today and how they are used can be very addicting. The urge not to be on a smartphone every five minutes is hard for some people.

    The smartphone is the new way of life for the good and the bad. Upgrades will continue to happen and companies will always compete to have the most elaborate phone out there.

Front/Home, News

Winter Formal 2018

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By Maria Leonino / Staff Writer

    Student Council hosted the annual Winter Formal dance February 10 in the high school gym. The theme was “Under the Sea,” and the commons was decked out in all types of blues and greens.

    For decorations, the lockers were covered with black paper. Nets were hung up with different types of fish that were multicolored to add to the sea effect.

    Two banners covered the trophy cases, and they were decorated with bubbles. Centerpieces included candles and leis serving as a beachy feel.

    One unique feature was a mini arch entering the commons. Lights were hung around the white painted arch, and blue gossamer was wrapped around it.

    The staircases served as a waterfall. Blue and green gossamer wrapped around the railings, while white poms of gossamer filled the space at the bottom.

    Winter Formal is not as popular as Homecoming, but many students attended. Formal is less fancy, but people still dress up and look nice.

    Over the years ticket sales for dances have gone up, which is a positive because more people are becoming involved with the school events. Many students enjoy school dances because they can relax and be with their friends.

    Something Student Council has added this year is a Spring Fling dance. By popular demand, students voted for a casual dance.

    For the venue, Student Council is working towards an outdoor event, and of course making the dance less formal. Overall, many students seem to enjoy the dances and will likely continue to attend.

Entertainment, Front/Home

Netflix struggles financially as they lose viewers

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By: Shea Sullivan / Staff Writer

    Netflix, one of the most popular streaming services, is in trouble. It is currently $4.84 billion in debt, and is losing contracts with many popular channels.

    Disney has announced that it is ending it’s contract with Netflix and will start its own streaming service starting in 2019, taking all of the Disney shows and movies off of Netflix.

    Of course, Netflix has many popular original shows such as “Stranger Things,” “Thirteen Reasons Why” and “House of Cards,” to name a few, but for the viewers those do not make up for the all the shows Netflix has taken off, and will continue to take off.

    Hulu, another extremely popular streaming service is taking advantage of Netflix’s struggles. For example, “30 Rock,” and many food network shows that have been taken off of netflix have been picked up on Hulu with additional shows to come.

    Netflix still has more viewers than other streaming services like Hulu and amazon prime, but Hulu especially is gaining ground, and may surpass Netflix while Hulu continues to add, and Netflix continues to drop.

    Recently, Spotify and Hulu paired up and announced that for only five dollars a month, students can receive Spotify premium and Hulu plus for 12 months. This can benefit Hulu greatly and may hurt Netflix even more.

    However, Netflix just announced that they invested $400 million into Canadian film TV production which may bring in a generous amount of money for the streaming service. Netflix will be working with Canadian producers and will even start making shows and films in French, but will that keep Netflix from falling below Hulu?

    Netflix has a few new seasons of it’s original shows coming back in October like “Stranger Things” season two, and “Haters Back Off” season two. Besides those two, there are not many other well-known shows joining the service this October

    Despite Netflix having two new seasons of two popular originals coming back, the focus seems to be on the shows leaving Netflix in October. These shows include but are not limited to “Malcolm in the Middle,” “One Tree Hill,” “Bones” and “Family Guy.”

    As of now, Netflix seems to have a risky and unpredictable future on the line with billions of dollars of debt. It is hard to predict where the most popular streaming service will go down.