Category: Uncategorized

By Max Newton

J.R Smith retired from his professional basketball career in 2020 after playing 15 seasons for 4 separate teams. He had a very successful National Basketball Association (NBA) career, winning 2 championships and being a prominent player on most teams he played on. After retirement, he had to figure out what was next for him, he ultimately decided he wanted to go to college, he ended up enrolling and North Carolina AT&T State. On top of going to school, he received a waiver from the NCAA giving him permission to play college golf while at school (usually professional athletes lose their NCAA eligibility for athletics once they receive compensation for a sport). Having gone straight from high school to the NBA, J.R Smith had previously missed out on his chance to go to college and get an education, now he has a chance to get that opportunity.

While this would seem like an opportunity to promote his decision, publicly celebrate the fact that a rich, prominent star is taking the time to go to college at an older age, the media didn’t see it as an opportunity to do so. They mocked J.R Smith, made fun of his decisions, portrayed him as a partier, Hennessy drinker, and that he was going to college as a joke of some sort (Diddy, 2021). The media played into the stereotype of an African American going to college. To J.R Smiths credit, he ended up calling out the media, specifically BuzzFeed who were heavy contributors to this negative press.

Here’s where I see the issue, this was an opportunity for the media to promote the decision J.R Smith made, a chance to share his story with the world, show little kids everywhere the maturity and dedication J.R Smith is showing and how he is making a decision in order to better his quality of life. He doesn’t need a degree to get a job that makes more money, he has plenty of money ($90 million career earnings (J.R Smith Career Earnings, 2021)). The media was simply looking for a quick hit on an article and ultimately, they approached this topic insensitively and unethically. If instead, they had brought J.R Smith in to do an interview, give him a voice to share his story and help inspire people everywhere, this decision by J.R Smith would have had a much greater impact on people around the world, especially African American kids. Imagine being an African American kid and seeing all the negative press and hate that J.R Smith was getting for simply wanting to go to school? Would that inspire and motivate you to want to go to college? Or would that make you potentially shy away from that route?

In the end, the media, specifically BuzzFeed handled this situation terribly. They had an opportunity to really showcase this decision made by a prominent figure but instead used it as a mockery in hopes of a quick laugh. I guess I understand that their page primarily focuses on these aspects of stories but this situation truly seems like a missed opportunity and one where they could have been able to help change lives and help change the culture of race in the world by simply giving J.R Smith a platform to share his opinion.

References

Diddy, S. (2021, August 15). NBA’s JR Smith BLAST Media Cracking Jokes About His Return To College. Retrieved from KMEL: https://kmel.iheart.com/featured/shay-diddy/content/2021-08-25-nbas-jr-smith-blast-media-cracking-jokes-about-his-return-to-college/

J.R Smith Career Earnings. (2021). Retrieved from sportrac: https://www.spotrac.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/jr-smith-2296/cash-earnings/

by Ashley LoPresti

We live in a time where social media has run rampant. Different social media platforms have progressed and advanced, and now, all of its users are achieving their goals of showing the world glimpses of their life – the glimpses they want the world to see, that is. The advent of social media caused an influx of careers for influencers, which also contributed to the ‘bragging’ or ‘flexing’ on social media platforms that users tend to do. 

We show off our new, fancy foreign cars and designer clothes with hopes of getting likes and comments from our social circles in return. We may show off elaborate dinner dates, or like some celebrities, the expensive bills that result from those dinners. We may think that these things look impressive or show others that we are successful, but in reality, it can cause further issues in our private lives than the standard user tends to think about before clicking that ‘post’ button.

For the everyday user, we may choose to educate others, or express our political/religious views through social media in hopes that we can make connections with other like minded users. For some, this may work, and create a new network of friends for them to banter with. For others, like the mother in the court case Dexter v. Dexter out of the Ohio Court System, it lands them in further legal trouble. 

In Dexter v. Dexter, the mother appealed a custody decision which granted custody of their daughter to the birth father, stating that she felt “the trial court erred in interjecting its own biases regarding her lifestyle and religious choices when making its custody determination.” Excerpt from “DOES THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA EVIDENCE IN FAMILY LAW LITIGATION MATTER?” authored by Marcia Canavan and Eva Kolstad.

The appellate court upheld the divorce court’s decision in granting custody to the father, and after examining the mother’s social media accounts, it’s clear to see why. The court, through evaluating the mother’s own personal blog, her MySpace account postings, and other platforms, found the following information that would jeopardize the health, safety, and welfare of the daughter at issue:

1. The mother practices sado-masochism, which is defined by Merriam-Webster, is the “derivation of sexual gratification from the infliction of physical pain or humiliation either on another person or on oneself.”
2. The mother admitted to previous drug usage, and even stated that she plans on continuing usage of drugs after the trial, including when her daughter is sleeping in her house. 

This is just one example of social media’s influence on custodial matters. As the usage of social media is becoming an everyday feature in our lives, there will be more mentions of social media posts in evidence for custody trials. Just think of a parent who says they can’t pay their court ordered child support, then posts a picture on Instagram of their new designer purse or designer watch. 

I believe that in this case, the custodial issue was fairly addressed and that there was no reason for the mother to bring this to a higher court. We all make our own decisions, and unfortunately, those decisions can harm others without it being our intention of doing so. In this case, her decision to be involved in these practices does jeopardize the safety of her child, and she should not be the custodial parent for said child. If the individual is posting on social media to the public, there cannot be an adequate claim made regarding privacy rights for those posts being utilized in court proceedings. I think that we knowingly and willingly post this information, so there should be no problem with these posts being utilized in the name of justice.

Social media postings are important because they show the world a different version of yourself, much like your work personality may be different from the personality you take on at home. Social media has shown us through many different celebrity scandals time and time again that their posts will come back and harm them, and it’s clear to see that the everyday users are not immune to that treatment either.

The Umbrella Academy, one of Netflix’s original hit television shows, is coming under fire as being antisemitic due to the language that the villain of the series speaks. By having “The Handler,” played by Kate Walsh, speak Yiddish, many people in the Jewish community feel attacked by the choice of language. Walsh has also starred as Dr. Addison Montgomery in both “Grey’s Anatomy” and the spin-off series “Private Practice,” where her character was the main focus during its run. Even though Walsh’s character also speaks Mandarin and Swedish, it is interesting that there is a big outcry when Yiddish is not the sole language spoken by Walsh.

Due to this dilemma and concerns of the viewers, The Umbrella Academy’s co-creator created a response to the situation. The response can be found here. The co-creator Steve Blackman is upset that viewers have been calling The Umbrella Academy antisemitic as it is hurtful and factually incorrect. Blackman, who is Jewish, wrote the episode where Walsh’s character spoke the Yiddish language and is backing up the claim that “The Handler” was not created as an antisemitic character and that viewers have misconstrued the intention of having her speak the language.

Many viewers see the organization “The Handler” works for as “evil,” and that was not the intention of the creators. “The Commission”, the name of the organization “The Handler” works for on the television show does not control the media or governments; it is their job to protect the timeline of the fictional universe.

After reading the response of Blackman and knowing that “The Handler” speaks all languages and not just one here and there, it seems that this outcry could be an overreaction to a fictional television series. It seems that Blackman, who is also Jewish, would not want to harm those that share his religion in any way. Once Blackman explained that “The Handler,” speaks all languages, not just Yiddish, Swedish, Mandarin, or English, I wonder if the public will see “The Handler” speaking all different languages in future episodes to put this problem to rest and appease the Jewish viewers of the show. Watching the show, I did not remember that the character was speaking Yiddish, and as for me, it was just a language that I knew I had to read the subtitles for, as I do for all foreign languages showcased, such as Swedish and Mandarin.

The error that was made in this scenario was using the language in the first place. People today seem to get offended by everything in every possible way. There are many things that cannot fly or get past sensors, which could have easily been played on shows in the past. Blackman is trying to ease the tensions that came up with this situation, and I think viewers will see a change when season 3 comes out in early 2022. In this case, the choice Blackman makes on how to respond and fix the issue can end up being a decision of having a duty to self, a duty to his company, and a duty to the community. By explaining his decision and the reasoning behind the character, I hope that the public will understand why the show made the choices it did when choosing languages to portray on screen.

Written by: Cara Cahill

By: Joseph Jorgenson

Throughout my life my family has always grown and tended to our family garden. Everyone in the family has always helped out and it is a activity we all enjoy doing. We grow tomatoes, basil, cilantro, red/green peppers, and many different kinds of flowers. My mom would always go pick vegetables from the garden and make a fresh salad or other delicious dishes with the freshest ingredients.

Our family’s garden means so much to our us and is so special to the family. Weather its enjoying a meal directly from Garden or spending Sunday’s planting or picking in the garden. Some of my best memories include picking fresh vegetables, after weeding and tending to the plants , and making a lunch made right from the garden.

Recipes from the garden:

• Caprese sticks
• Fresh tomato sauce
• Roasted butternut squash
• Egg plant-parm
• Fresh salsa
• zucchini bread
• Lavender tea

Family Garden effect on the community and neighborhood:

As we’ve ready many books in class we see a general theme in gardening. That is the sense of community and friendships it brings to everyone around out. My neighbors would come over and help plant vegetables and even take some flowers home. We would share everything we reaped from the garden and the neighbors would do the same. This sense of community built by the garden really strengthened and built a positive relationship Throughout the neighborhood. I believe every community should have a public garden where everyone can enjoy the beauty of it.

Effective planting strategies we use in the garden:

Some planting strategies we use in the garden is planting bright pollinating flowers right next to the vegetables. Another effective strategy we use is using fertilizer rich mulch on the flower beds to help them grow and retain as much water as they can. Having these certain flowers next to the vegetables for many reasons. Primarily it increases pollination from one bed to another, but also deters unwanted insects from the vegetables as well. In the future we are going to look to build raised beds to better protect the flowers and hold more water for them.

Wrap up:

My family’s garden provides much for than just a place to get vegetables or a pretty sight to look at as you walk by. Although it does provide those things, it also provides a sense of community and a sense of friendship that is carried on with every weed pulled and every delicious vegetable plucked. I believe everyone should start a garden to enjoy the multiple benefits and different ways it helps you and your community!

 Written by: Morgan Barker

Have you ever had a garden or something that you take care of regularly? Well my family does, and every year during the summer my stepdad makes the best salsa. He grows his own tomatoes, jalapeños, onions, cilantro, and other plants to make the best tasting salsa that I have ever had along with many other tasty dishes. My stepdad grows tomatoes towards the end of spring, beginning of the summer and they are usually ready around July or August. He is so engaged with his garden that every time a vegetable starts to sprout, he sends it to me and my family. I remember when his onion started to sprout, he was so excited, and I was excited too because I knew that salsa time was about to begin. My favorite part about his salsa is growing the vegetables with him, especially watching the jalapeños grow. It takes about three to four months for them to be ripe. Some of the jalapeños that he plants in our garden are not fully sprouted, however the ones that are we use for our amazing dip. To add a little flavor to our dip my stepdad usually puts a little bit of cilantro to give it that kick. Growing vegetables in my stepdad‘s garden makes me feel somewhat like a chef, because I am making salsa with the ingredients that I grew in our garden. Not many people can actually take the time to grow vegetables or different types of fruit to make something on their own. Usually people just go out and buy salsa or whatever they need to make the salsa and just make it themselves. I think it is more fun and enjoyable for me to grow the ingredients with my step dad and make the salsa from scratch. I think everyone should try to make this recipe from scratch even if you grab a little packet of seeds and watch the vegetables grow within three to four months. It is definitely worth the wait. I believe that everyone can actually do it but it takes time and patience. Try to make your own salsa and see how it comes out! Having a garden in our backyard has really brought my family together. Gardening can be a wonderful way to connect with your family, friends, and other members of your community.

By: Jillian Dunn

Lavender is a plant known by so many for its vibrant purple color, and it’s amazing smell. The plant is grown usually outdoors and is fairly easy for a gardener to maintain. However lavender can usually only be found in the hot summer months of June to August due to its strive for the hot dry weather. Lavender can also be grown indoors by anyone who decides to do so, however the plant must stay close to a window for sunlight and overwatering is never good. But how does this plant affect our sleep? For years I was told to use various lavender based products to fall asleep easier and to stay asleep longer, but is there scientific research behind this idea and if so how effective is it? Lavender has been proven to cure insomnia of many who struggle falling asleep. When inhaled the plant works to relax the muscles in the body. The lavender based essential oils include antidepressants and anti-inflammatories causing the person to feel less stressed and more relaxed. However this plant does not only cure insomnia but a variety of other stress disorders as well including depression, anxiety, and nausea. Personally I have used lavender based products for years including pillow mists, and hand lotion. I have seen a difference in not only my sleep cycle but in my stress level the following morning as well. I wake up with a lot more energy to start the morning. Overall lavender has seen to be effective but can affect everyone differently. If you would like to try growing lavender yourself I would definitely recommend it, but on the other hand if gardening is not for you I highly recommend pillow mists which can be found at any local drug store. 

Resources:

Wong, C. (2020, December 09). The health benefits of lavender essential oil. Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/lavender-for-less-anxiety-3571767

Company, R. (2020, July 27). Can lavender really help you sleep better? Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://restonic.com/blog/can-lavender-help-sleep-better-3749

Garden Design Magazine. (2020, December 08). Growing lavender, Planting & caring – Buy LAVENDER plants – garden design. Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.gardendesign.com/plants/lavender.html

Photographs:

Wong, C. (2020, December 09). The health benefits of lavender essential oil. Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/lavender-for-less-anxiety-3571767

Lavender plant Pods. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2021, from https://www.clickandgrow.com/products/grow-lavender-indoors

Written by: Eliza Whitfield

This semester, I’ve been taking a couple of food and agriculture-based classes; between that fact and my general love for the great outdoors, I decided that I wanted to grow my vegetables this summer. Feeling extra inspired, I decided to build two raised garden beds at my house in Upstate New York. I have always considered myself to be relatively handy, so I confidently drew up basic design plans for the beds and determined what supplies I would need. I figured I would build an eight-foot by the three-foot bed and a six-foot by the three-foot bed would provide sufficient space to grow a handful of vegetables.

I started my project with seven 2” x 6” x 12’ boards, six 2” x 6” x 8’ boards, and two 4” x 4” x 6’ boards. Using a circular saw I cut the 2” x 6” x 12’ boards; I cut three boards to 6’, three boards to 3’, and one board to 18” increments. I then cut the 4” x 4” x 6’ board into 18” increments.

I lined the boards up and using #9 x 3” outdoor screws,  I drilled two 18” boards against three 8’ boards — in the case of the 6’ bed, I only used one 18” board. I then attached the 4” x 4” ‘s to the ends of the lined boards.

I then added the 2” x 6” x 3’ boards to the other side of the 4” x 4” corner posts. Then repeated the process for the remaining sides of the garden bed.

The final step to completing these beds is: filling them with soil, compost, mulch, and seedling vegetables. I have not done this step yet, I will fill the beds in May once this semester is over and I am able to plant the vegetable seedlings.

I have made sure both beds are located in areas that recieve generous amounts of sunlight to allow the vegetables to grow big and healthy. These beds were very easy to build and through building them I was left feeling very accomplished and eager to produce my own food.

Written by Aleda Collins

Basil is said to improve the quality of neighboring herbs, as well as repel flies and mosquitos. Mint also repels mosquitos, aphids, and ants while attracting bees (Dyer, 2021)! The list of beneficial properties of herbs and other crops is endless, but the important thing to remember is to do your research before companion planting because some plants don’t like to leave near each other such as basil and sage. For that reason, they will be on the opposite sides of my herb garden.

Gardening comes in so many forms, and being creative with the space that you have can lead you to a successful harvest. I am eager to see how herbs grow alongside each other compared to in separate containers, and to see if I can get away with my secret garden.

My mom has always been interested in all things relating to flowers. Every year in the early days of April, she would drive down to our local gardening store and buy a couple bags of soil and an assortment of flowers to plant in our flower bed in front of our house. She loved to plant daffodils, roses, and tulips. She would pick a warm Saturday morning in April and she would spend the whole morning planting her flowers.

While she always loved planting roses, tulips, and daffodils, she always wanted to plant sunflowers. My mom would always run into problems growing sunflowers with squirrels eating them early on or having them blow over from the wind or a storm. The sunflowers never would last the whole season. But my mom has had enough and she was more determined than ever to grow sunflowers to their fullest potential and have them last the whole season.

Last April, my mom enlisted me to help her grow the sunflowers. With the Covid-19 pandemic at its worst, we both had nothing to do and we can put our full focus on the flower garden. We first worked to space the sunflower seeds about 6 inches apart and 2 inches deep in the bed. We then made sure to water them regularly and monitor their growth. To deter the squirrels from eating them, we found that if we planted thorny or sharp tipped plants around the base of the sunflowers, they will not be a problem. Sure enough, during the whole growing process, we did not see one squirrel attempt to eat our flowers. To keep the sunflowers from blowing over, we used stakes and tied the sunflowers loosely to the stakes which proved to be successful. 

In about 3 months, my mom and I were able to grow the sunflowers up to 10 feet and we were able to keep them around without them dying prematurely. This made my mom so happy and it proved to be a very good project during the pandemic.

Jeff Joslyn April 6, 2021