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Over the past few years, the nature of school dances has been changing to better fit the times. It has become increasingly common to see girls asking boys to these dances or to see queer couples in attendance. The more progressive and inclusive school dances are, the better for under-represented students. One school dance tradition that has persisted despite being particularly outdated is the Sadie Hawkins Dance.

The Sadie Hawkins Dance- also called the Backwards or Girl’s Reverse Dance- is a school tradition where the girl is supposed to ask the boy to the event and perform the stereotypical role of males. This tradition originates from the Li’l Abner comic strip, created in the 1930s. The specific comic which birthed the Sadie Hawkins dance was a satirical feature about a woman who became tired of waiting for men to ask for her hand in marriage. Sadie Hawkins organized a race in which women would chase after men and, upon catching them, would force them into marriage. The tradition of the Sadie Hawkins dance is loosely based on the ideas of this comic strip.

While the Sadie Hawkins Dance does not involve women hunting down men and forcing their hand in marriage, it is founded on the misogyny that was normalized in the 20th century. The antiquated dance reinforces gender normativity by implying that it is out of the ordinary and quirky for women to ask men for a school dance or any partnership. This can disempower women and reinforces the expectation that women should be submissive toward men.

The Sadie Hawkins tradition also reinforces gender and heteronormative ideals in its failure to consider queer and non-binary students. When the dance was created, it was considered highly abnormal for someone to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Even further, non-binary identities were almost entirely unheard of; in fact, the first occasion of someone gaining legal recognition as non-binary did not occur until 2016. These dynamics are very different now, considering the increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ identities. Based on data from the 2021 Gallup poll, approximately 20% of Generation Z individuals over eighteen now identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. These statistics prove the outdatedness of traditions like the Sadie Hawkins dance, which only considers male and female individuals and heterosexual relationships. It is crucial to challenge traditions that keep members of the LGBTQ+ community ostracized.

In efforts to challenge gender and heteronormativity, some schools are opting to replace the Sadie Hawkins dance. In 2015, the Phillips Academy, located in Andover, Massachusetts, replaced the Sadie Hawkins Dance with the Abbott Ball, named after the Abbott girl’s campus. The Director of Student Activities- Christopher Capano- said that they decided to do this based on the realization that they “want all [their] dances to be as inclusive as possible.” Other schools have simply been replacing the dance with winter balls or formals. These are straightforward solutions that can have a significant impact on allowing LGBTQ+ students and young women alike to feel more empowered. 

It is important to avoid condemning school committees for traditions that have existed since before many of the schools that practice them were even established. Most schools that practice these traditions do not intend any malice; instead, many are unaware of such traditions’ implications and origins. Even though this is a nationwide discussion, Myers Park is also taking this issue into consideration. Ms. Fiore, who is in charge of Myers Park’s SGA, says,

“There has been discussion surrounding the name of the dance. [SGA] is willing and open to changing replace the name of the dance if it’s in the student body’s best interest.”

This is why it is essential to continue creating awareness surrounding issues like the inclusivity of school dances that affect groups that have been historically discriminated against.

In a historical milestone, the U.K appointed its first prime minister of color, Rishi Sunak on October 25, 2022. Sunak is the son of Indian immigrants and won the Conservative Party contest to secure his new position. Prior to serving as prime minister, Sunak was the Conservative MP for Richmond (Yorks) in 2015 and the Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since June of 2017. Additionally, before his political career, Sunak was the co-founder of an investment firm and utilized this business venture to assist smaller British companies expand.

Sunak has gained control as Britain’s 57th Prime Minister following Liz Truss, who only held office for fifty days. According to The New York Times, he worked to create a cabinet joined together by continuity and stability, with Jeremy Hunt being one of his most significant appointments as chancellor of the Exchequer. Additionally, Sunak kept James Cleverly for the foreign secretary post and Ben Wallace as defense secretary. Suella Braverman, who resigned the previous week due to a breach of security rules, was also re-appointed as home secretary. Since Sunak was formerly the chancellor of Exchequer, it is predicted that he will navigate Britain back into mainstream policies after Truss’s unsuccessful attempt of trickle-down economics. Sunak notes that her policies were “not born of bad intentions” but describes them as “mistakes nonetheless.”

Rishi Sunak has not reached this level of success in his political career without controversy, however, and many critics question how his immense wealth could limit his leadership. 

According to The Times of London, “Mr. Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, were worth more than $800 million, and this week, as Mr. Sunak emerged as the winner of the Tory leadership contest, critics immediately picked up on that.” 

Critics are concerned that Sunak’s wealth renders him out of touch and jeopardizes his ability to govern a country where many citizens are living in opposition to his financial conditions. This accusation is not helped by the fact that his government is expected to roll out public spending cuts and tax increases to lower debt levels. 

Nadia Whittome, a member of Parliament with the Labour Party, criticized Sunak’s wealth on Twitter by writing, “Remember this whenever he talks about making ‘tough decisions’ that working-class people will pay for.”

On top of criticism for his financial standings, Sunak’s rise to power has spurred growing demands for the government to call a general election. Britain has had two prime ministers appointed in under two months with only a select percentage of the public having a direct effect on the choice. Sunak was appointed by roughly two hundred Conservative Party lawmakers. Back in September, Liz Truss claimed victory in a runoff party leadership election where less than one percent of the population voted. When Truss announced her resignation, 63% of people polled by YouGov indicated that they believed a general election should be called. After it was announced that Sunak was appointed the new prime minister, 56% of people surveyed by YouGov indicated that they believed he should call an early general election. Britain’s general election system does not directly place a prime minister into office and instead allows members of the public to vote for lawmakers to represent their local constituency of the House of Commons. The individual remains in the seat until Parliament dissolves, and if one party wins the majority of the seats, the party’s leader claims the position of prime minister.

Rishi Sunak’s appointment as both the first prime minister of color and youngest individual to hold the position is historic. United States President Joe Biden noted that Sunak’s leadership was “a groundbreaking milestone” and world leaders from India and other locations acknowledged its significance as well. Although he faces various political challenges, Sunak hopes to settle them through his goals of bringing continuity and stability to the U.K.

On December 24, 2021, NASA’s InSights lander detected what was thought to be a massive quake on Mars. While InSight- a spacecraft designed by NASA to give Mars its first thorough checkup- was stationed on Mars, it noticed the planet’s surface starting to tremble beneath. This disturbance was thought to be a marsquake (the Mars version of an earthquake) with a magnitude of 4. To mark its extremity, the biggest marsquake recorded had a magnitude of 5. In articles published on October 27th, 2022, from NASA, the cause of this massive disruption was revealed. 

A meteoroid between 15-40 feet in diameter, traveling 3.2 kilometers per second (equivalent to two miles per second), crashed into Mars nearly 2,174 miles from InSight. This Metroid released energy somewhere between 2.5 and 10 kilotons of TNT. For reference, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II was equal to 15 kilotons of TNT. This created a crater wider than a football field in the Amazonis Planitia region (located between the two main volcanic regions on Mars), reaching 492 feet across and 70 meters deep. Some of the material from this meteoroid even landed 23 miles away from the crater. Quoted from NASA, “This is one of the largest craters in our solar system ever observed as it was created.” When scientists from NASA started studying this strike a little further, they began connecting the dots back to their previous studies on Mars. They realized this was one of, if not the largest, meteoroid strike on Mars since NASA started studying the planet 12 years ago. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter even confirmed it was the most immense meteoroid impact on record in the entire solar system. They also discovered that the impact was not a marsquake but rather the thunk of a space rock hitting the surface of Mars. 

Upon careful investigation, NASA scientists found “boulder-sized ice chunks”. This usually wouldn’t be such a significant discovery since ice had been found on the martian surface before, but this ice specifically was found buried closer to the equator than ever detected before on the planet. Due to how deep this crater is, it is allowing scientists to take an even closer look at the martian subsurface than ever before. 

So how exactly can this affect future astronauts on Mars? One of the most crucial parts of a mission for astronauts is landing near an accessible ice source to find a way to make drinking water and create rocket fuel for their journey back to earth. Since this crater is as big as it is, this becomes a perfect landing point for future travelers for a safe and accessible mission. With the open landing of accessible ice, astronauts won’t have to worry about a limitation on these sources. Not only will it help with the creation of drinking water and rocket fuel, but it could also be a way astronauts can grow fresh crops during their mission. Another major advantage of the discovery of this crater is that it shows ice, which astronauts are so desperate to find, can be located in various places on the Martian surface, including somewhere close to the equator. Scientists can also benefit from this crater because, with careful inspection, they could start to better understand past and future climate changes on the planet. 

So the main questions are, could this lead to the possibility of life on Mars? Could this lead to the discovery of another sustainable living planet? What discoveries on Mars will this lead to in the future? As of right now, there are no answers to these questions, but what we do know is this opens a new opportunity for further investigation. Only time will truly be able to provide us with the answers to these dier questions. 

Companies have become accustomed to using social media influencers to market their products, specifically drinks. For the past 140 years, brands have used celebrities to promote their products, starting in the late 1800s with a famous actress endorsing Pearl Soap. Throughout the 20th century, products like Coca Cola, cigarettes, and the famous Air Jordan shoes were all endorsed by celebrities. Given the rise of social media over the past 20 years, companies have been experimenting with new marketing strategies. Well known brands now have prominent social media accounts and market through creators on social media.

Many companies market heavily through influencers. For example, on Tik Tok, Bang Energy and Bloom Nutrition utilize creators with large followings to promote their brands. Bloom Nutrition has over 130 million views under the hashtag #bloomnutrition on Tik Tok, and Bang Energy has more than 18.4 billion views. Additional companies market directly through social media accounts. Duolingo and Chipotle are two notable examples, and both have several million followers on TikTok and a few viral videos. The brands are known to partner with prominent creators, but primarily promote their companies through their own accounts.  

TikTok star Charli D’amelio coined the Charli Drink at Dunkin Doughnuts in 2020 and created a huge rise in popularity for Dunkin. The release of the Charli Drink triggered a 57% spike in app downloads. A few years ago, David Dobrik, a famous Youtuber, partnered with Chipotle to create a loyalty program with a chance of winning $10,000. Campaigns like this have become common online and successfully promote the companies and their products. 

Now, influencers have been releasing their own brands of drinks. Josh Richards and Bryce Hall, both TikTok stars, released ANI Energy in 2020. While it wasn’t incredibly successful, making under $100k with the last deal, it demonstrates a shift in online presence. 

Previously, product placement on social media platforms was mainly through outside companies as a form of marketing. Now, more and more social media personalities are starting their own brands. 

Internet celebrities Logan Paul and KSI recently launched Prime Hydration, which has been incredibly successful. At the moment, all flavors of the drink are sold out on their website and Prime is only available at select health stores nationwide. After its release in January, Prime is already the 6th largest sports drink brand in the US. At $29.99 per 12-pack Prime has sold over 110 million drinks and generated almost $200 million in revenue. 

Another internet celebrity who has built a brand is Emma Chamberlain. She has a large following on Youtube and many other social media platforms and rose to fame in the last 5 years. Emma now has a very successful podcast, Anything Goes, and her own coffee brand, Chamberlain Coffee. She sells matcha, chai, coffee, and a variety of cups and tote bags. Founded in 2020, Chamberlain Coffee has been extremely successful, bringing in more than $7 million in revenue. Emma built her brand and personality on social media platforms and now has deals with brands like Louis Vuitton and a net worth of over $90 million.

While social media has, and always will be, a creative space for everyone, influencers have begun to blur the line between trend setting and marketing. This has effectively transitioned social media platforms into a marketplace. Influencers working with brands as a form of income has become the norm. However, it has also become increasingly common for creators to enhance their income by promoting their own brands. A shift is evident in social media personalities making money through their own products instead of brand deals or acting as a company’s ambassador. 

According to the CDC, in 2021 there were 107,375 deaths from overdose in the United States, 67% of these deaths involved opioids like fentanyl. Fentanyl is classified as a schedule II prescription opioid that is used to treat severe pain, however, this substance can also be synthesized and distributed illegally. The difference between fentanyl and other opioids is that unlike drugs like morphine and heroin which are extracted from the opium poppy plant, fentanyl is synthetic and is 50-100 times more potent than morphine. The DEA says that—depending on body weight and tolerance—the lethal dose of fentanyl is only two milligrams, which for comparison is about 10-15 grains of table salt. Fentanyl serves a major role in the opioid epidemic which has become an extreme threat to global health.

Due to its potency and the fact that it can be made in labs, fentanyl has grown increasingly popular over time. Those who produce fentanyl can bypass the time that it takes to grow plants from which other opioids are extracted by making their substances in labs. This coupled with the fact that very little fentanyl is needed to produce a high means that producers and distributors can increase their profit by opting to sell fentanyl. According to the Fentanyl Working Group, a U.S. Law Enforcement task force, the cost to produce one kilogram of fentanyl is about $32,000 while that same kilogram has a street value of about $20 million. This whopping economic incentive explains why some people would be willing to sell such a deadly product to buyers.

Some addicts may intentionally purchase fentanyl to pay less money and achieve a more intense high, however, many people think they are purchasing street drugs like heroin, Xanax, or cocaine when they are purchasing fentanyl. The visual appearances of street drugs that are laced with fentanyl versus those that are not are often identical. According to the DEA, almost half of the counterfeit pills they tested contained fentanyl. This terrifying data could largely explain the high number of deaths from overdose since people do not actually know what substances they are consuming and therefore are unaware of how potent they are.

Fentanyl is not only used to lace ‘hard’ drugs anymore, nor can it be confined to one particular region. Recently, there have been instances where people have purchased weed that was laced with fentanyl. Parents across the U.S. are fearful to allow their children to go trick or treating after DEA agents seized nearly 12,000 fentanyl pills that were concealed in candy boxes. The LA County Sheriff’s department warned parents to inspect their kid’s Halloween candy before allowing them to ingest it. The Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the DEA’s Washington division says, 

“The nature of this crisis has really shifted over recent years. All people in all communities are 100% at risk of coming in contact with this deadly drug.”

Individuals and communities are taking action to fight fentanyl’s threat to society and spread awareness. The FDA approved a drug called naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, that can be used to temporarily reverse opioid overdoses and save lives. Universities like UC Boulder are making this life-saving drug more obtainable and encouraging people to take advantage of it by providing it to their students and staff for free. Along with this, in 2021 the DEA launched the “One Pill can Kill” public awareness campaign which is educating young Americans on the dangers of counterfeit pills. The DEA has also created The Faces of Fentanyl which is an exhibit designed to honor those who have lost their lives to fentanyl and spread awareness to the rest of society. People can regain hope by coming together and taking action to spread awareness about fentanyl.