Local/National

Charlotte is set to lose another movie theater as Philips Place closes its doors. The Phillips Place theater first opened its doors on November 15, 1996, under Charlotte-based Consolidated Theatres; however, in 2005, Regal Cinemas purchased it. Its luxurious nature has drawn in many customers. Though unfortunate, this is not the first theater that has closed and certainly will not be the last. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated many businesses, including movie theaters. As people try to avoid getting sick and stay home to watch their favorite movies, theaters pay the price. The impacts of COVID-19 have been devastating on Regal Cinemas, an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. The pandemic left the company near bankruptcy. As the spread of COVID- 19 worsened, the theaters were left empty. Despite their efforts, the company has not been able to gain economic stability leading them to shut down more than just the Philips Place location.

The pandemic has greatly impacted not only the regal movie theaters but also the AMC movie theaters. Despite being the largest chain of movie theaters in the United States, it is said that AMC theaters founded in 1920 reported a net loss of $4.6 billion in 2020. The following spring, the company had to close nearly 1000 movie theaters to stay somewhat stable. Despite this economic instability, the company is hopeful as they open its doors again. According to a statement from Variety, the CEO of AMC, Adam Aron, said, “As we sit here today, we see that vaccinations are occurring in the United States at a brisk clip, our theaters in New York City have finally opened with theaters in Los Angeles likely opening shortly as well, blockbuster movie titles are currently scheduled to be released in significant quantity in the coming few months, and we have more than $1 billion of cash on hand. Taking these facts together, we have reason to be optimistic about AMC’s ability to get to the other side of this pandemic”. This demonstrates that despite taking a significant  fall, the company was able to rise again as it plans to open its doors. 

When discussing the fall of movie theaters, we must also talk about the rise of online movie streaming apps and websites. Platforms such as Netflix and HBO Max have made it easy for individuals to enjoy the latest movies and TV shows in the safety of their homes. These platforms are also more cost-efficient as you can get a monthly subscription rather than having to pay for each movie. With new media such as Amazon Videos that allow people to purchase the latest movies, people no longer have the desire nor the excitement to visit a movie theater to watch the latest film that is released. Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, these platforms have played a massive role in decreasing the popularity of movie theaters and ultimately leading many locations to shut down. 

Even before the spread of this deadly pandemic, movie theaters were becoming less and less popular. Many platforms such as Hulu now offer the option to watch live sports, something that is not offered in movie theaters. This shows that not only have online streaming networks become cost-efficient and convenient, but they have also allowed viewers to have more options. Online streaming networks are also a way for busy individuals to enjoy movies. Going to movie theaters can often take much more time than is available. It is much easier just to play a movie on your phone and pause it wherever you would like. The fall of movie theaters is a contribution of COVID-19 and the rise of online streaming networks. 

Picture this: It’s 5pm, you go outside to see a pitch black atmosphere.You’re starting to miss those summer and early fall nights when the sun would beam in the sky until 7 or 8pm. 

This strange phenomenon, daylight savings time, is a biannual occurrence. In the United States since 2007, on Sunday November 6th at 2am, clocks are set back an hour, causing it to get darker earlier, and on Sunday March 12th at 2am, they are set forward an hour, causing it to remain lighter for longer. The cycle of the sun doesn’t change, time does, and humans adapt.

There’s a lot of questioning and controversy surrounding daylight savings time and why it was even put into practice. Most people prefer following the post-March 12th cycle where it’s darker in the mornings so they can adjust to waking up with sunlight extending later in the day, allowing more time for activities outdoors.

Daylight savings originated a couple centuries ago so working class individuals could be more productive during the morning in the wintertime and have more time for post-work hobbies and studies in the spring. After being utilized during wartimes as a measure to conserve energy, the United States adopted daylight savings time in March 1918 and have used it ever since.

With this practice comes effects. The change in daylight impacts public transportation, such as buses, trains, and ferries because there are set schedules for certain departures. It’s a hassle for transportation directors to have to go back and change the schedules and get their employees and passengers acclimated to the change. If not adapted to properly, darkness causes more car accidents as well due to inhibited vision. Daylight savings time messes up humans’ natural circadian rhythm for sleep, and the body is not designed to adapt to this time change. Additionally, In 2020, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine petitioned to abolish it due to the decrease in good-quality sleep they observed. 

The most common side effect of daylight savings time, especially during the November time change, is seasonal depression, which is medically defined as Seasonal Affective Disorder. When it gets dark earlier, people get tired quicker, are more inclined to stay inside, and are less motivated and productive. To most, dark skies indicate night time or bedtime, and there’s an overall mood decrease when this occurs. According to the Nutritional Light Technology company Solshine,“we designate light as NUTRITION –our bodies literally need to be exposed to it to drive certain activities, including metabolizing nutrients we get from food or supplements.Without full-spectrum light, our bodies will struggle nutritionally, driving a cascade of physical and mental or emotional health problems.” 

To address the issue, The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 was created in hopes of abolishing daylight savings time and was approved by the Senate. However, it awaits approval by President Biden and the House of Representatives before it can be officially put into practice. 

There are many ways humans can navigate daylight savings time and look after their health. Sun lamps are available, which mimic solar energy and can psychologically improve mood. To stay active, people can exercise in indoor gyms, tracks, pools, or dance studios, even starting before the November shift so they can maintain a normal routine when daylight savings time hits. Creating balanced schedules every day can decrease fatigue and increase productivity, helping to resist the urge of laying in bed as soon as the sun goes down. A lot of people also recommend taking advantage of the first day of daylight savings time to get up early or at the same time as before the time change. That first early start goes hand in hand with healthy habits moving forward throughout the year. 

Hopefully these tips and information will help you better understand and adapt to the daylight changes in the future!

Cash is and forever will be a classic form of completing daily transactions. As the rise of digital payment forms continues, however, it’s no wonder that people have begun to place cash in the back seat of their wallets. Whether it be the convenience of virtual payments or the sheer ease of pulling out your phone and placing it above the contactless payment register, it’s never been easier to forget about the use of cash in completing a purchase. 

Moving toward a “cashless society,” it’s no question that people have begun to prefer their credit or debit cards and digital applications on their phones over handing somebody physical cash. Plastic and digital payments now dominate the payment industry, as some businesses and large corporations have even begun limiting the use of cash as a component of their business model. 

“…in a typical week, 29% of Americans make absolutely zero purchases using cash,” Ramsey Solutions, a wealth development and budgeting guidance company, says. “…a lot of people choose to make their everyday purchases using PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Apple Pay, debit and even…credit.” 

Beyond sticks of gum and outdated reward cards, the thought of carrying cash has become far less common in the grand scheme of payment methods, especially in the last couple of years. As wallets become full of anything except cash, space left over to carry a couple of dollar bills and some twenties is becoming smaller by the day. In a world where cash was once used exclusively, events like COVID-19 have escalated the recent downfall in cash usage.  

“…after COVID-19 came on the scene, people didn’t want to touch anything that someone else touched,” Ramsay Solutions says. “It didn’t take long for businesses to decide they didn’t want their cashiers handling cash from every random consumer coming in off the street. So they started pushing for cashless payments with only cards to cut back on the spread of germs.” 

As stores across the country began putting up signs that indicated restricting the use of cash as a form of accepted transaction, efforts to limit the spread of germs built a nationwide distaste towards carrying and using cash. While cash was never clean, even before COVID-19, moving away from cash usage left daily consumers and business owners with more confidence in their sanitation methods. Gradually growing away from the classic idea that “cash is king,” some individuals have also said that wealth and household income has a role to play in cash usage. 

“Adults with an annual income of over $75,000 were more than twice as likely as those making less than $30,000 to say they do not make any purchases using cash in a typical week,” contributing writer and personal finance coverist for CNBC, Jessica Dickler says. “…lower income adults were about four times as likely to say they make all or almost all of their purchases with cash.” 

As factors like annual household income and sanitation continue to influence overall usage, cash is still a prominent payment method throughout the country. Dominating any form of electronic payment, cash still plays a vital role in the economy, especially when it comes to low-income consumers and those who have no choice but to utilize cash on a recurring basis. When it comes to corporate America, however, some mainstream companies have hinted at becoming cashless organizations. 

“…more businesses, including Starbucks and Shake Shack, experiment with becoming completely cashless establishments,” Dickler says. “(Lawmakers working to pass bills that would require retailers to accept cash allege the growing cashless trend discriminates against low-income customers).”

Regardless of how society chooses to go about it, it doesn’t seem as if cash will be disappearing as a payment method anytime soon. Considering its significant roles in the economy, companies experimenting with a cashless business model will confront difficulties associated with lower-income consumers, revealing how necessary dollar bills really are, especially in today’s economy. 

Paying off student federal loans has been an ongoing issue for many Americans. However, on August 24, 2022, the Biden-Harris administration and the U.S. Department of Education announced a plan to help lower and middle class students. The plan includes 3 parts and focuses on both forgiving loans and making federal loans more manageable for future borrowers. This announcement has been long awaited ever since President Biden promised to reduce federal loans and provide aid for students who need it during his presidential campaign. 

The first part of Biden’s plan addresses the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy by granting students/individuals time off from paying their loans. This provides an extension for students who may need extra time to get their finances together after the pandemic. There has been a pause on loans and no one has had to pay any of their federal debts ever since Biden took office. This pause will continue until the end of 2022 and payments will resume in 2023.

The second installment of Biden’s plan focuses on providing debt relief to low and middle income families. The U.S. Department of Education has decided to provide up to $20,000 in debt relief for pell grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-pell grant recipients. Pell grants are typically awarded to recipients who may require extra financial help to attend college. Additionally, the new relief plan supports those who come from lower income backgrounds. Aid is provided to federal loan borrowers who make less than $125,000 individually or $250,000 for households. This was established to help over 43 million borrowers who make less than the required income to be considered for financial assistance. 

The third pillar of the plan includes making student loans more manageable for students through legislation. According to CNBC, college tuition has increased by a staggering 169% since 1980. The Biden administration aims to combat this increase by designing a plan that focuses on the annual income of the borrower and will reduce future monthly payments for low and middle income borrowers. This will grant more opportunities to underprivileged students and allow them to receive an education without the continuous burden of federal loans. A few examples of the rules created by the Biden administration include forgiving federal loans after 10 years of payment instead of 20 with borrowers with $12,000 or less loan balances and covering the borrowers monthly interest to reduce loan growth. The plan would cap borrowers monthly payments to just 5 percent of their discretionary income, which is a decrease from the current 10 percent cap. 

The Biden-Harris Loan Relief Plan will not only help current borrowers, but also future borrowers. According to FSA, nearly 8 million borrowers may be able to receive debt forgiveness automatically because of the Department of Education’s ability to access their income information. The Biden administration will launch an application in the upcoming weeks for borrowers to provide their income and financial information to see if they are eligible for loan forgiveness. An individual who fills out the application can expect to receive loan relief in 4 to 6 weeks. On August 24, 2022, Biden tweeted, “In keeping my campaign promise, my administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023”. Biden’s loan relief plan demonstrates a fulfillment of his presidential campaign promises and an executive focus on prevalent issues facing Americans today. To be notified when the application is open, borrowers can sign up at studentaid.gov.

“Houston, We are ready for take-off” is what we should have heard on August 29. Instead, we heard, “The Artemis 1 launch was scrubbed Monday after encountering an issue getting one of the four RS-25 engines on the bottom of the rocket’s core stage to the proper temperature range for liftoff,” from NASA’s press release on the matter. Artemis 1 will be the first spacecraft to enter the Moon’s orbit in nearly half a century. After countless delays, repairs, challenges, and more, NASA is planning to launch Artemis 1 on Tuesday, September 27, with a backup date of October 2.

The Artemis missions plan to eventually get humans back on the Moon in 2025 and set up a sustainable living environment for humans. The plan has three missions in total, ending with Artemis 3, which will send humans to the Moon. The goal for Artemis 1 consists of only an unmanned round trip to the Moon without landing on the surface. Artemis 1 is a test flight for Artemis 2, which will make contact with the Moon’s surface, then end with Artemis 3, which will have humans onboard and land on the Moon.

But what is the spacecraft? The spacecraft has two parts: the rocket and the space module. The rocket used for this mission is called the “Space Launch System.” This rocket is the most powerful in the world and is designed to be evolvable. The missile can be changed to suit future missions, which could be to Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn. The rocket has two big boosters and four engines, which are being reused for Artemis 1. The space module is called “Orion” and is made to accommodate 4 people for deep space travel. The future astronauts on Artemis 3 will live together on Orion, so it has to be evolvable and reusable for future missions. Orion is attached to the top of the SLS, which is how it will travel to space and back. 

According to NASA, the launch is supposed to be “no earlier than 11:37 AM eastern time”. Space travel is an exact science, so everything matters. How heavy the payload is, wind speeds at that time, and how the Earth and other moons and planets orbit and rotate. Mars has a larger orbit around the sun than the Earth, so every 26 months, a small window of time when the Earth and Mars orbits end up parallel allows us to have a straightforward path to Mars. For now, we have to worry about the Moon’s orbit and revolutions aligning with the Earth’s, which happens once every 24 hours. This trip will be the farthest a vehicle designed for astronauts has ever traveled into outer space. 

Initially, the Artemis 1 launch was going to be on August 29, but it got postponed to September 3. On the second go-round, they found a hydrogen leak in Orion, leading to the next launch date being delayed to the 27th. The spacecraft will launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a little island in Florida called Merritt Island. 

Most of us remember reading “The Martian” by Andy Weir, which highlights all of the difficulties and setbacks that the main character and side characters go through to get this man home while he is stranded on Mars. This novel gives the reader some behind-the-scenes understanding of how NASA works and how much of a challenge calculating and detail goes into facing mankind’s final frontier. 

The Artemis mission statement is “All that we build, all that we study, all that we do, prepare is to go,” and hopefully, on September 27, 2022, the launch is set and ready to go.

This November, an election is approaching: the midterms. The midterm election is always held: in the middle of the presidential election. One can vote on candidates for the US Senate, House of Representatives, State Officers, and Judges in their state. The House represents district citizens and has the ability to impeach laws, and the US Senators represent state citizens and have the ability to accept treaties.. The Senate also approves presidential appointments with Supreme Court Justices. When doing midterm elections, one can find out which political party will hold value in nominating candidates and law-making. Due to the fact that many high school students will be able to vote soon, or in a couple of years, it is essential to know information about the candidates, how to register, and why voting is so important. 

First things first,one has to know who they yare going to vote for. On ballotpedia.org, one can look up their state and see who they are voting for. Then, they click on one of the candidate options, and the list of people comes up with a summary of each candidate. This allows one to ensure they’re picking the right person to represent their state. Candidates can easily trick voters into thinking that they’re the right person, so research is a necessity!  

 Now, how does one register to vote in North Carolina?  On ncsbe.gov, the deadline is given for voter registration on the front page. There are many ways to register. One can register by mail, complete an application online or through the DMV, and they can register at early voting sites. This website also allows individuals to update their registration and find out if they’re even eligible to register. One thing that is always good to remember while doing the registration process is the closing date to register in North Carolina is twenty-five days before the  election date. According to spectrumlocalnews.com, this year’s midterm election will be the largest election since 2020. Ted Budd will be representing the Republican party for the US Senate ,and Cheri Beasley will be representing the Democratic party. Spectrum News predicts that Republicans will be able to win the US House and Senate, but it is still debatable. 

Lastly, it’s time to talk about why it is so important to vote, and why young individuals should vote. According to nationalgeographic.org, most people think that their vote won’t make a difference, or won’t matter, but there have been cases where a couple hundred more votes could have changed the presidential election. In 2000, when Al Gore was running against George W. Bush, the election came down to Florida. After they counted, Bush ended up winning by 537 votes. State elections are just as important because voters are voting on the people that represent their state ,and they can often have more of an impact on the state’s population than the president. John Colbert is a social studies teacher here at Myers Park. He discussed the importance of voting, answering the question, “Why is it so important for younger generations to vote?”  

“Because if you don’t vote, I will, and guess who gets to make the rules?” The older generation tends to vote more than the younger. That has to change because then they will get all the power on their generation’s opinions.  Colbert thinks that voting is vital in order to uphold democracy. “We have to have civic participation, everybody’s got to have a voice,and so if you don’t,then just a few people will control things. That’s not the way a democracy works.” Colbert displays that voting is imperative to giving the people in this country a voice and a choice to who they want in the government. Without voting, America would lack the freedom everyone all deserves.

Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully on September 8th, 2022 ending her 70-year reign over England and its many sovereign states. On April 21, 1926, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born, the eldest daughter of Prince Albert Duke of York and his wife Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. At the time, the next in line for the throne was her childless uncle Edward VIII and if Edward was to have children, they would replace her father in succession to the throne. While seemingly unlikely that Elizabeth would occupy the royal spotlight, fates changed when Edward fell in love with an American divorced woman and abdicated the throne to his younger brother to marry her. Elizabeth’s father was named King George VI and with no male siblings, a future of royalty was secured for the young princess. In another turn of events, World War II began in 1939 when Elizabeth was 13 years old. In order to avoid the dangers of the war, like many other children at the time, Elizabeth and her sister were sent away from their parents. However, unlike their peers, they had the pleasure of spending that time in Windsor Castle where Elizabeth gained an education from various college professors and experts in their field.

In 1944, when Elizabeth turned 18, the princess insisted that it was time to do her part in the war effort. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (female branch of the British Army) where she quickly gained her footing in mechanics and began maintaining a driving and vehicle maintenance operation. The lessons she learned from her time in the army carried over to her reign, often drawing parallels between her army experience and current role, as a guide for Britain through crises and turmoil. Two years after the war she was married to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in a wedding that was broadcasted to an estimated 200 million TVs worldwide. After her father’s untimely death in 1952, Elizabeth was crowned at age 25 and the new Queen began her corgi-accompanied and colorfully-dressed reign. 

Following WWII, nations formerly under British rule began to declare independence and the public view of the Monarchy changed. BBC news stated they were beginning to see Elizabeth and her court as “too British” and “upper-class”. People began to feel disconnected from the crown and the Queen quickly realized that. To help their image, the title of “the Monarchy” was slowly replaced by the less rigid “Royal Family”. Their efforts to humanize themselves went as far as allowing a BBC crew to film the inside of their home for a documentary where they could be seen doing everyday activities. The film brought back the idea that the Royals were normal people.

More recently Elizabeth maintained the integrity of the crown during what she has called their “annus horribilis” consisting of all the events of 1992. Windsor Castle was both metaphorically and physically on fire given that three of her four children went against the royal standard by divorcing their spouses and the castle was literally set ablaze, destroying 115 rooms and causing £36.5 million in repairs. 

The early 2000s saw tensions ease for the Royals, Elizabeth celebrated her 50th year on the throne in ‘02 and the resulting “Golden Jubilee” saw England rejoice. Prince Charles’ marriage to Camilla Parker Bowels in ‘05 went over well with the public, and the world regained interest in royal life with the marriage of Prince William (Elizabeth’s eldest grandson) to Katherine Middleton. Despite the challenges she faced in her final years including Covid-19 and the death of her husband in the spring of 2021, the Queen’s impact on the world has not diminished nor does it seem like it ever will. The amazing floral memorial surrounding Buckingham Palace serves as a small reminder of the influence Elizabeth left as the powerful, hardworking, and well-loved monarch who carried the Royal Family through to the modern ages.