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Students Losing Transpasses

January 10, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Leo Braveman

Staff Writer

Phone of a student who decided to put transpass on back to not lose it.

Students at SLA have been losing their transpasses since middle school. However, this year the situation has gotten worse due to the fact that students only receive one transpass at the start of the year.

When a student loses a transpass they have to manage and find a way to commute without it. Whether this be getting a ride to school, trying to get help from a friend or something else the students have to do this until they get a new one from the front office.

Sophomore Biran Mahmoud said he has never lost his transpass – and that he has strategies to keep it safe.

“The main thing I do to keep track of it is keep it in my wallet and try to never take it out,” he explained. Although he has been perfect with this, he had experienced the card just “straight up declining” before when he tried to swipe it at a subway stop.

Sophomore Eric Perez has also had transpass issues. Unlike Mahmoud, Perez had previously lost his transpass. Perez commutes every day using SEPTA to go to and get back from school. When Perez did not have his transpass for 2 days he had to figure out how to commute without it, the first thing he tried was borrowing the transpass of other friends.

“Every day when I would get out of school I would just try to find somebody who had their pass to help me,” He explained.

Although this usually worked, he said it was hard trying to find somebody to help him and it put him at risk for being declined getting onto the SEPTA train or bus. Luckily Perez was able to get through the two days, getting a ride from a parent one day until he was able to get a new pass from the counselor. Now Perez keeps close watch of the pass in his wallet, and told me sometimes he gets scared of losing it.

Unlike students, School Secretary Ms Diane’s perspective of transpasses being lost involves having to make new ones. When students lose their transpass Ms Diane is the person to go to for help. When I asked her if she sees a lot of students coming to get new transpasses she told me that “Normally I see at least one person a day come in here to get a new one.”

Ms. Diane agreed with the strategies of keeping it in one place and feels that with a lanyard is an effective strategy.

Rittenhouse Trial Verdict Shocks SLA

January 10, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Kyle Rittenhouse during trial, Photo Courtesy of The Today Show

Oskar Glahn

Staff Writer

The recent verdict of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial caught the attention of people all over America — and the SLA community is no exception.

Over a year ago, on August 25, 2020, Rittenhouse attended a BLM protest in the heart of Kenosha, Wisconsin armed with a semi-automatic rifle and med kit as a part of what was described as a militia or ‘vigilante group’.

Rittenhouse shot three men, killing two, in what he claimed was self defense. Recently Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all his charges, which left people outraged. In many peoples’ opinion, the facts presented a pretty clear case that Rittenhouse was not justified for his actions that night.

The verdict sprouted many questions about general safety and white privilege. Students and teachers at SLA had lots to say about how they felt about the Rittenhouse trial.

“The verdict is scary,” said Senior Mira Young. “It just shows what you can get away with on the claim of self defense. It sets a precedent for other people to get away as innocent in similar trials, even when they aren’t. It feeds into the pro-gun movement in America, and just overall reconfirms that going into a situation with a gun as a tool to solve the issue is a good idea.”

Young hopes that the case will be appealed or challenged to result in more gun control, but overall thinks this case will have a negative impact on our criminal justice system.

“It also makes me feel a bit unsafe at marches and protests, which is one of the best ways to peacefully voice beliefs. Allowing people to get away with killing people [at protests] can definitely infringe on people’s first amendment right to freedom of speech if they’re being killed while trying to protest something,” said Young.

She also points out the fact that he claimed he came to the protest as a medic, brought a medical kit, and said that he hoped to help people, but came armed with a rifle.

SLA alumni Horace Ryans says that the verdict of the Rittenhouse trial was not a shock to him.

“The injustice was expected, and the fact that Rittenhouse walks free is just another way the criminal justice system plays a role in white supremacy,” says Ryans. He thinks that this won’t change the leniency in future criminal trials because this system is made for people like him.

Senior Max Blakelock disagrees with the not guilty verdict and says that this is just another example of white privilege.

“If it was a black man in that same situation, I’m sure the response would have been much different. There was also only one black man in the jury.” Blakelock expresses a strong opinion that changes need to be made in America’s system.

Blakelock thinks that the world’s response to this could change things for better or for worse. “If jurors and judges across the US see people’s responses to the verdict, maybe it will change the way they deal with future criminal trials.” He also thinks that it could have a negative impact, since they let Rittenhouse off the hook. Blakelock says that maybe this will increase lenience since the system has acquitted Rittenhouse of his charges, lowering their standard for what is okay and what is not.

“Changes must be made to the system.”

Covid Impacts Holiday Travels

January 10, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Andre Doyle

Staff Writer

Now that 85% of Philadelphia has been vaccinated, society has begun to slowly re-open again .Opposed to the start of the pandemic, many restrictions have been lifted, and over the Thanksgiving break, many people have begun to travel to be with family, and friends.

That being said,the pandemic still isn’t over. Travel is still significantly affected starting last spring, to the summer the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted travel plans, closed down airlines, amusement parks, attractions, and as well as cruises which rely on tourism, and as well as travel.

So what were the holidays like for the SLA community, this time around?

History Teacher Dan Symonds “traveled to New Jersey to see his parents, then he traveled to Brooklyn, New York for a party.” Mr. Symonds was in contact with a total of 17 people, and that “masks were not worn as often” as they were during earlier visits.

He stated that ” Distance seemed the same when traveling. something that was different from pre – covid would be the ¨ hanging cloud of covid, social trauma, stress , and more.¨

In the foreseeable future Mr.Symonds plans to be cautious when traveling.

The New variant will decide whether we can move for Christmas or not to see my brother and his family.¨

Math Teacher Johnathan Estey traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to visit his parents, and Dover, NewHampshire to visit other relatives, visiting twelve people total. At the gatherings, everyone was vaccinated at both locations, so masks were not worn.

His mindset about the visits changed due to having a sense of urgency because of his older relatives who were present at the gathering. As for the travel itself, traffic was also long due to Thanksgiving day, on his way back he got delayed 2 hours.

Mr.Estey definitely plans to travel more as the restrictions lighten up stating that there will be a surge in travel, and will eventually die down due to traveling taking a lot of time, money, and energy.But overall he enjoyed his travels, stating ¨ it was absolutely the right decision although it was stressful.”

Teachers were not the only people to leave the state over the break, SLA Senior Sean Hogan Traveled to Virginia for a family´s birthday. Hogan had seen over seven individuals at the party, and was not sure if everyone was vaccinated or not but despite him being vaccinated himself was still cautious and often wore his mask.

He stated, ¨ It was very different seeing people in months, and actually being outside of the house for once.¨

Due in part to that positive experience, Hogan and his family are planning to travel to Florida for his brother , and his graduation.

There has been a new coronavirus variant known as omicron, healthcare officials state that it’s higher, and faster than anyone has ever anticipated, it has canceled professional sports games, and sent college students home. What will happen in 2022 remains to be seen.

Action At The Block!

January 10, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Sean Hogan

Staff Writer

On November 13th, 2021, Nerd Street Gamers opened up The Block to the public. I was there at the grand opening. So let me give you the details of the business and what it offers.

About the business

The Block is a place where you can go and play video games on high-end computers, retro and current generation consoles like the Wii, and the Nintendo Switch.

They host tournaments of all types of games, fighting games, first-person shooters, and sports games. They have a small restaurant in the business as well that serves pretty good food like burgers, chicken, etc.

Pricing

Prices are relatively cheap. Playtime is $5 for one hour of game time, which could be on the PCs, Arcade games, and or consoles run at the same $5 per hour price, (you have to pay $2.50 extra if you didn’t bring a controller). If you want more hours on the PCs, you can get another hour for $5 or you can get four hours for $17, eight for $30, and a whole twelve hours for $39. They are open on Mondays to Thursdays from 12pm to 10pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm to 12am, and Sundays from 12pm to 10pm.

And you don’t have to spend all that time there, the time you have remaining if you leave early stays in your account so you still have that time to spend next time. Also, on Mondays to Fridays from 4-5 if you bring in your School ID you get a free hour of game time.

The Grand Opening

On the first day in November, there was press everywhere, from the Inquirer to CBS News. They were giving away consoles and PCs to random people, and my brother won a brand new Nintendo Switch from a raffle.

Everyone was screened by a security team because of the number of people that were flooding the line to get in. I was one of the first 250 people in line, so I got a brand new mouse pad for free. There was a tournament for Counter-Strike already going on the stage.

I sat down on a setup and installed Half-Life on it. And I was playing that for a while. I had some computer trouble so they gave me a free hour extra.

There were people everywhere, crowding around the stage, waiting for computers and consoles to open up so they could snag the seat. It was very chaotic, but it felt welcoming after being inside for a year and a half because of the pandemic.

After we attended the event, I asked my brother on his take.

“I think The Block was a cool place and I’d go again.” he told me. “I think The Block can introduce students to E-Sports to prevent kids from doing bad things.”

Nerd Street did not respond to an interview request.

Possible SLA Connections

With The Block and SLA being so close to each other, there is the possibility for a New Club or an existing one like Smash Club being held at The Block. Also, If students need to work on a lot of school work at one time you can benefit from using a fast computer with high-speed internet.

Utilizing the free hour you get with your school id, you wouldn’t have to spend a dime! Or you and a group of friends can go and have a blast playing video games together after-school!

How did quarantine affect the Class of 2024?

January 10, 2022 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Leticia Desouza

Staff Writer

An digital representation created to display how present technology was during the early stages of the pandemic. *Illustration by Leticia Desouza.*

The recent pandemic hit the SLA community in many different ways. During those times, to keep ourselves and those around us safe, students needed to stay home and isolate ourselves from the outside world. With this free time, people chose many pathways where they could kill time. One of the many ways people around the world chose to kill time was with technology.

This was especially true for the Class of 2024, who started their high school experience entirely online. Whereas other grades at SLA had a chance to meet in person before being forced online, last year’s freshmen only had online interactions to connect.

Sophomore Eric Perez — connected with many people with activities like zoom calls and online games.

“I think that’s what made it fun, I’d stay up all night with friends and play video games. There was a lot of time for that which made me feel closer to friends.” Stated Perez

It seems that the freedom people across the world have with the internet allowed them to be less lonely during the cruciating moments of the pandemic.

“My relationship with most of the people I met online didn’t last long. If it did last, it was because we had something to connect with,” continued Perez. “For example, we both had the same interests or they were really funny.”

While some students had many experiences with the broad platforms in technology, other students mentioned their experiences during their time in online school.

Sophomore Shuhd Abdalla and Sophomore Auris Espinal shared some of their experiences with trying to build connections with other students at SLA during their online freshman year.

“It was a lot harder to make friends. I was really excited to make new friends but the pandemic has really made it difficult. Especially since everyone on zoom was over the pandemic at that point and sad about schooling being online that no one really tried to make lots of friends and stayed in a tight friend group.” Abdalla explained.

“I didn’t really get to connect with people mainly because I didn’t know anybody and they didn’t know me. When online classes first started I was very excited because I would get to see and talk to other students that were my age.” stated Espinal.

For all these reasons, Sophomores seemed to have difficulty creating a bond with their classmates. This made their experiences with the recent pandemic feel lonely.

After a while, things began to go back to normal after spending almost two years in quarantine. People began going back to their normal routines like going to work or school. This made many interactions and friendships made during the quarantine period start to fade.

“Sometimes I saw how we got distant from each other, but it never really bothered me. If there was a bad change, then I would simply block them.” Added Perez.

With the diversity of the sophomore SLA community, there are many other experiences recent 10th graders were able to experience during their time in the recent quarantine. Though with time only moving forward and with technology improving each day, online connections will only continue to grow. The recent pandemic allowed many people across the world to explore a world that they weren’t familiar with, allowing them to wonder and discover what is more to this unfamiliar world.