Cardi B recently talked about the pressure she feels to be a role model, saying that she feels trapped and sad because she has to watch what she says but people still “spit her past in her face.” She has said she’s going to go back to her ‘old self’ and not hold back on what she wants to say or do.
The issue with this, is Cardi’s “old self” was someone with transphobic, homophobic, racist, and sexist tendencies that willingly said whatever she thought of and got mad at people for saying what she deemed wrong. It would be understanding that she’s fed up with people bringing up her problematic past but she hasn’t once apologized or acknowledged that she was in the wrong.
Cardi B is anything but a role model so there shouldn’t even be any pressure on her to be one. She says problematic things and doesn’t back up and realize the wrong that she’s in ever. How is that being a role model for young girls?
The thing is is that Cardi still says and does problematic things, maybe just not as much as she used to. She called a black baby a monkey while in “beef” with Nicki Minaj last year. She allowed her husband, Offset, to rap “I do not vibe with qu**rs” and excused it by saying she never heard anyone say that was a bad word for gays. She joked about if Offset ever cheated on her that she would set him up with a “tr***y” and excused this by stating that transgender people use the word so there isn’t a problem. She has continuously called black women “roaches.” She brags about not writing her own raps. She even said she only makes music for money. And the most recent: being called out for drugging men and stealing from them when she was a stripper, excusing this by saying that’s ‘just how it is living that life’. She’s still the person of her old life, just a more hushed version so that she’ll keep her career.
Cardi needs to learn from her mistakes instead of pushing the blame to “haters” that just want to see her downfall when she’s the one creating it. It’s great to understand what one has done or said in the past is bad, but when one still continuously does problematic things and acts like it’s someone else’s fault, that just shows they have no sign in actually wanting to change. Cardi doesn’t want to change how “outspoken” she is and that would be completely okay if what she says isn’t offensive to every minority that she ever speaks about. She still even says the n word when she’s not black. There’s no hope in her changing from the looks of it.
At the end of the day, Cardi B isn’t a role model and shouldn’t complain about the pressure of being one. She puts blame on people, including her own fans, for the wrongs she’s done. If Cardi B is your role model, maybe rethink that.
A student looks at the formal wear available for free in the Black Box Theater at McClatchy before Junior Prom. Photo Credit: Adriana Barrios
A student looks at the formal wear available for free in the Black Box Theater at McClatchy before Junior Prom. Photo Credit: Adriana Barrios.
In the weeks before prom, the announcements and signs all around school were promoting a dress drive, encouraging students to donate their old prom dresses, suits, and shoes. This dress drive will also run in the weeks prior to Senior Ball.
Prom can be expensive, and that means some students who want to go can’t because they’re unable to afford tickets along with the necessary prom attire. As a way to combat this, ASB set up a dress drive for students to donate old dresses, suits, and shoes, so that more students will be able to attend.
The drive accepted donations until March 29th, a week before prom, which was Saturday, April 6th. They asked for donations of dresses, suits, shoes, and jewelry. The drive took place in room L3 in the lunch quad.
Finally, what all the donations had been leading up to, the prom closet officially opened April 1st in the Black Box Theater, and will be open again before Senior Ball. There was a variety of gowns, suits, shoes, and jewelry all set out ready for students to see and maybe take.
Mr. Lowe, coordinator of the Student Support Center on campus, was there to oversee the closet, and encouraged students to look for something for prom if they needed it. He mentioned that even a teacher’s sister who attended the Grammys donated her dress to the closet. Students would sporadically show up throughout the lunch period and browse the selection of prom attire.
On March 12, several United States federal prosecutors revealed a college admission scandal involving up to 50 charged members of wealthy families using bribery, unfair testing, and other forms of fraudulent activity to get their children into top universities. As news of this scandal sweeps the nation, C.K.M. students are left concerned with their future.
Many students worry about the implications of this pattern of fraud on their future admissions to their desired colleges. “The whole scandal made me doubt my chances,” said Adelina Hernandez (‘20), who also stated her disappointment at the financial inequity of the admissions system. “College admissions are very stressful, especially towards the end of junior year, and it’s frustrating knowing that people don’t have to deal with the stress because money could get them anywhere.”
The revelation served as a wake-up call, exposing the underhanded motives of universities. “Although I can’t say it’s really affecting me personally, I’m feeling a little wary about applying to colleges next year knowing that admissions can be affected so drastically by money and other biases,” said Alex Levy (‘20).
Others fear that their hard work could be overshadowed by the sway of these biases. “It’s definitely discouraging, especially since many of us work so hard to even be considered at some of these colleges, to hear about parents using the wealth and status to con their way into schools and take spots of well deserving students,” said Serena Feniger (‘20).
“It’s really sad to know how much stress students like us deal with on a daily basis only to play in a game of college admissions that’s rigged for the powerful,” said RJ Czajkowski (‘20).
Molly Dreher (‘20) and Feniger added that throughout the scandal, qualified students seeking acceptance to play for collegiate sports teams were rejected in favor of students who “did not even play the sport,” causing Dreher—a soccer player—to lose trust in the coaches of universities with whom she frequently interacts.
Levy and Feniger also stated their surprise that these crimes have been kept concealed from the public.
“I think it’s ridiculous how something like this can go unnoticed for so long,” said Levy.
Feniger added that the offenders may not face fair punishment for their actions: “Many of the scandals happened a couple of years back and are just coming to light now, so [the charged individuals] certainly believed they would be able to get away with their behavior, which is upsetting,” she said. “It shows the underlying world that is not often reflected through media about the world of wealth, and particularly Hollywood: certain individuals do not generally face consequences because of their money.”
The housing market in Sacramento is currently producing increasingly high values. On paper, this sounds good for homeowners. However, for those without support, this increase in housing price makes life increasingly difficult for those without support. Rents are extremely costly for those with low income levels, compacted with the near unfathomably high requirements for teenagers leaving home at 18.
Credit scores, monthly income, services, and basic rent are all very tough opponents to overcome. Most parents wouldn’t trust their children with a credit card, and only having time for part time jobs during school makes it difficult to find a satisfactory income with one job to meet the qualifications. Sure, some houses do not require all of these prerequisites. However, rent is still extremely high in Sacramento. Buying a house itself is not even possible without having a huge sum of money saved, and even then it would cost so much more than most would be willing.
Seniors, and some juniors that may be leaving their homes due to getting kicked out, or leaving of their own volition, will find it very hard to pay for somewhere to live by themselves. The possible solutions to these problems are not the best solutions, but the options are limited.
Some potential options could be combining incomes with friends or moving out of state to somewhere rents are lower.
This is an unfortunate predicament some students are in, and having little known help or being too guilt ridden to seek help makes matter much worse. An overall solution to the housing market increasing to extraordinarily high prices could be to purposefully lower the property values of the city, but to a reasonable degree. However, this does not condone illegal activities such as vandalism even for the greater good.
In a recent publication of The Sacramento Bee,Sawsan Morrar reported a recent transition of the Folsom Cordova School District to eliminate class rankings. Her article highlighted the motives of the district to make this change and described that many other school districts in the greater Sacramento region have recently made the same decision.
“Counselors in the district said the ranking system doesn’t accurately represent the students’ achievements, and is often misleading—even hurtful—when they apply to colleges,” Morrar writes. “Several parents and counselors spoke in support of removing rankings from transcripts, citing anxiety and unhealthy competition as factors.”
Morrar discussed that many students who were equivalent in academic success are separated by class rank systems and can be overlooked by college admission processes that take rank into consideration. Many high schools and districts in the Sacramento area have decided to eliminate the system to avoid this problem. A few of these schools and districts include Davis Joint Unified and San Juan Unified school district as well as Jesuit and Saint Francis high schools. Oak Ridge and Del Oro are “discussing following suit.”
Such news begs the question: If class rank provides such a “skewed picture” of a student’s success, why does our school still report it? When interviewed about the issue, Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) spokesperson Alex Barrios stated that the district’s debt is currently overshadowing any movement to change the current system.
“The school district is facing a $35 million budget deficit and is at risk of a state takeover. If all labor partners do not come to the table in the coming days to help reduce costs, then our Board of Education could lose its ability to make decisions regarding issues such as the class rank system,” said Barrios.
He added that there have not been requests from members of the community to change the current system, so it has not been a priority. However, RJ Czajkowski and Serena Feniger (‘20), both actively involved in college admission research, placed greater emphasis on making a change.
“The class ranking system is not a true testament to how well a student performs,” said Feniger.
Feniger also illustrated that a student’s effort to challenge his or herself may hurt his or her class rank. “If a student opts to take higher level classes, such as AP or Honors classes, but do not receive A’s in those classes, despite being high achievers and succeeding in their classes, their ranking will be lower than those who decided to take easier classes and receive all A’s,” she said.
Additionally, students hoping for admission to selective universities already struggle with the stress of portraying themselves well on their applications. Numerically comparing them to their peers “perpetuates our harshly competitive academic culture,” said Czajkowski.
In recent years, it has become a trend to not vaccinate children for many groups of parents. On social media, the memes of unvaccinated kids has made its rounds on Twitter and Instagram. As well, there’s many videos like middle ground where both anti-vaccinators and vaccinators get to put out their argument. Why are vaccines now being heavily questioned?
For the past few years there seems to be more question raised about the safety of vaccines and if it’s linked to developmental disorders such as autism. The argument of vaccines being linked to autism has been disproven many times, but still seems to be the center of anti-vaxxers’ argument. It’s offensive and sad to hear that the prospect of having an autistic, healthy child is far worse to anti-vaxxers than their toddler getting polio or measles, which could result in their death.
Recently, there has been an outbreak of diseases such as measles and polio, which are preventable diseases that were officially eliminated in the United States in 2000. But now we are seeing so many cases for a disease that we thought we would never have to see again. In a first world country, where we are lucky enough to have the health care to prevent us from these deadly disease, we are seeing an influx of measles and doctors are astonished.
In New York, measles have been on the rise with 285 confirmed cases since Fall 2018. The state declared a public health emergency, requiring Brooklyn residents to get the measles vaccines or face up to $1,000 in fines.
In the country, there has been 465 cases of measles with 78 new cases last week alone. In the Chico-Sacramento area there has been 6 confirmed measle cases. This is one too many cases for a disease that was supposedly eliminated.
Measles is a deadly disease that can easily be passed on as well as being airborne. Many who cannot be vaccinated due to other health reasons or age, rely on everyone else to be vaccinated, known as herd-immunization. When groups of people decide not to get vaccinated because of personal reasons, they put not only themselves in danger, but others as well.
Yes, vaccines are not for everyone—many people do get infections or allergies due to vaccines, but that is no reason for the rest of America to be unvaccinated. Those who do have bad reactions rely on herd immunization to be healthy. It’s unfair to put the health of others at risk as well as our own selves and our children.
Vaccinations are proven to work and given for a reason. It’s also unfair to discredit the studies and work of doctors who have attended medical school for close to a decade after reading one article that has many times been disproven. Though essential oils are great, they will not protect you from measles, or polio, or hepatitis.
Brooklyn Criner (’22) holds up a fist in solidarity with SCUSD teachers on the picket line. Photo credit: Riley Burke
I was sitting in my friend’s backyard over the weekend, little less than one week before the teachers at C.K.M. are supposed to walk the streets in defiance of the district’s leadership. I was talking to my friend’s dad, whom I have known personally for years, about the fissured educational system in California. His position at the State Capitol oversees mental health systems across the state. Having worked with students in his department and having two daughters of his own in the education system, he has seen up close how inadequate the system has proved itself to be in recent years.
My first question my friend and I presented was “Do we have to go to school on Thursday?” This was likely the first thought many students had, and I would be lying if I said this wasn’t the same for me. The attendance debate was brief, but the conversation that ensued over the breakfast spread, was an interesting one.
The Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) called for the strike once the district ultimately proved it was unsuited for meeting the union’s terms, violating open-meeting laws, and failing to make sufficient changes. Enough conversations with my teachers, SacBee articles, and hallway hearsay have had me convinced from since November that the teachers should not stop pressuring the district. On behalf of my teachers, I was frustrated with the incapacities of what should be a sound and efficient authoritative body.
When the district announced it would begin laying off teachers, I was appalled. It seemed to me like the district was in such panic mode, it didn’t pause to think their options through, or at least consider what an irreplaceable role teachers play in students education. Numerous other solutions could have easily been readdressed in order for the crisis to be stopped or, at the least contained. I can certainly think of one right now.
Both the district and unions could have begun work on a healthy beneficial system had the district possess enough maintenance to meet the teachers’ terms; instead they didn’t pause to recognize that the number one priority in the grand scheme of things is preserving and improving students education. They seemed firmly bent on keeping the upper hand.
I hadn’t realized until that Sunday morning on my friend’s patio that I didn’t know the district’s end of things, and over a plate of french toast I learned, from my friend’s dad, what sort of stress the district has been facing.
He began with delivering the bigger picture. He compared the situation with SCUSD with how other districts in the state, such as Elk Grove or Southern California districts, are faring under state governance. Having eliminated the district level leadership, these districts were forced to cut extra-curriculars, music and arts, and other exclusive programs for students because they were stripped of district funding.
Currently SCUSD faces the threat of state takeover due to the over-weighted budget crisis. Should that happen, programs like 4th R and extra-curriculars would start losing money, and it would be the demise of arts and after school activities for Sacramento students. This, at least, the district is aware of.
Aware of the threat of state takeover, the entire picture started to fall into place. Now I started to see the district in an almost defensive position, taking fire from the teachers and wavering beneath state threats, while trying to manage 77 schools as best they can with faltering leadership and absolutely no money. Knowing this did not make me more sympathetic for their cause, but it did make me realize that maybe district’s appeals for the union to make more reasonable demands are not entirely unfounded.
This strike will be the union’s first strike in 30 years, and that fact alone should be enough to rattle the city and district into acknowledging the real danger Sacramento schools face.
I am sympathetic to the teacher’s cause, but understand the district’s difficult position. In the grand scheme of things, I hope for the best to come out of the strike, and for a solution to be reached that saves my education and the education of the students that will follow me.
This playlist is not one for the parties. These are all nice relaxing songs with a rap twist to keep up with the likes of today’s teens. Featuring well-known artists, and some not-so-well-known artists. These 12 songs make up 35 minutes of chill songs to vibe to. Enjoy.
772 Love – YNW Melly
No Label – Lil Durk
Ungrateful – Shordie Shordie
Kids to Bed – Yung Bleu
Don’t Lose Me – Offset
Worth It – YK Osiris
Voice Mail – Shordie Shordie
City Girls – YNW Melly
Lie – Lil Pete
Work It Out – Shootergang Kony (feat. Shootergang Deray)
Come Closer – A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie (feat. Queen Naija)
Prom. Promenade. A semi-formal dance or gathering of high school students. A big part of popular culture, and an even bigger part of high school life.
Prom is something that’s been quietly sitting in the back of our minds ever since we were kids. Thanks to Hollywood and her glamorous portrayals of prom night, we believed it was supposed to be almost magical. Because of movies like Pretty in Pink, 10 Things I Hate About You, She’s All That, Mean Girls, Twilight, High School Musical, and even Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, all key movies that have shaped our childhoods and popular culture around us; our perception and understanding of proms and formal dances have been warped to an extent worthy of a Hollywood set.
For weeks leading up to the revered night, its prom-talk everywhere. It’s in the hallways between classes, at lunch, in class, and outside at home. Prom takes over everyone’s minds and suddenly all anyone wants to talk about is who’s going with who, how’d they ask, who’s wearing what, and what are they doing after.
Most students don’t know of the history behind prom. In the early 1900s, proms were held at colleges and were more similar to tea services with a fancy dress code rather than a dance. It wasn’t until the ‘50s, with an increasing amount of money and leisure time that American proms grew to be more extravagant and elaborate; how we know them to be today.
Historically, proms used to serve a function similar to that of a debutante ball and were documented as heavily as first communion or even a wedding. It’s not much different today, with some couples and groups hiring professional photographers, everyone’s armed with the expensive camera they borrowed from their parents, and everyone’s cell phone is glued to their side, documenting every moment possible throughout the night.
Proms were originally separated by gender. The boys’ colleges would have their night, and the girls’ another night. It wasn’t until the 1940s that schools implemented co-ed dances, intended to keep youth sexually straight. By doing so, schools became fundamentally important agencies in the nationwide campaign to fight homosexuality.
This homophobic attitude further promoted other heteronormative practices within the tradition, like naming a prom king and prom queen, which we still do today. The prom, ever since its creation, has been a nauseatingly strong advocate for heterosexual agenda, and it hasn’t been until these past few years that anyone really spoke up about it.
One of the biggest shouts for change came in one of the most unlikely of places, Fox Network’s sitcom, Glee. Glee, a monumental show that aired from 2009 to 2015, was centered around a ragtag group of show choir kids and their annual journey to nationals. It was always revered for its diverse cast that had representation for all types of ethnicities and sexualities.
In one significant episode of the show, one of the most prominent characters, Kurt, a gay white teenager, was the victim of a cruel joke that involved his crowning as prom king and his sexuality being used as a form of humiliation. By nominating and voting for him as a joke, knowing Kurt’s acceptance would be social, and almost literal suicide, in a conservative school, students were encouraging the alienation of queer kids. Glee’s portrayal of an incident that could’ve happened at any school across the country brought nationwide attention to an outdated practice that should have changed with the times.
Needless to say, the high school prom culture has since been transformed during the 21st century, without really losing touch with the charming aspects of its history. This year, as the junior class prom king and queen were announced, there was only applause and pretty lights amid music and loud cheers.
2019 Junior Prom was off to a shaky start. Members of the prom committee in ASB were worried in the months leading up there wouldn’t be enough money to put on the dance. For an uncertain period of time, the thought of having a photo booth and other prom necessities were up in the air.
ASB Secretary Mackenzie Crall (‘20) commented on the issue, “For prom, our goal was to do the most we could with the littlest amount of money possible.”
Luckily, the class of 2020 was able to hold together and raise enough money to put on a memorable night for all of the juniors. “[The limited budget] caused us to be creative but I think that we did really well you couldn’t tell we were on a tight budget at all.”
The dance was held at the Masonic Temple in downtown Sacramento. From the outside, the only signs that it was C.K.M. prom night were the wide doors flocked with girls in colorful gowns and the well-dressed couples helping one another out of their cars. On the inside, the venue was quite breathtaking, spacious and clean and fit with a balcony that perfectly suited a nice string of lights. Although entry came with three flights of stairs and limited elevator use, the Masonic Temple proved to be an enjoyable venue that ASB plans on using for future events.
One of the creative aspects Crall refers to was the photo booth. Instead of a traditional sit-in photo booth that would have required several more bake sales in order to pay for, the committee took an innovative approach. Using an elegant paper background, iPad app, and iPad stand, students were able to take their photos and have them sent directly to their phones, rather than printed.
Overall, views were mixed about personal prom experiences. Several students complimented the Masonic Temple. Ellinor Arzbaecher (‘20) said, “The venue was really pretty and I liked it was downtown.” Lily Ewing (‘20) commented that she was grateful for no lines because both coat check and the check-in system was quick and efficient.
Majority of student responses offered constructive criticism for certain details about the dance. Sofia Abramsky-Sze (‘20) mentioned that one thing she liked in particular was the photo booth, although she added, “I would honestly be willing to pay a couple dollars extra for tickets if we then got the option to print pictures.” Ewing added, “Yeah printed would be better, maybe you can pay to print it or you can do it for free and just have the digital copy.”
Elizabeth Reynolds (‘20) commented, “It would have been better if the lights were off earlier and water was free.” Generally, some people didn’t seem to think very highly of the dance experience. Ryan Travis (‘20) said, “It was like any other school dance except there was less people and they looked nicer.”
Despite troubled beginnings that required strokes of genius from ASB, lukewarm reactions from students, and quite a bit of unreasonable expectations set by tradition, it goes without saying that, good or bad, the C.K.M.’s class of 2020 had quite the unforgettable night. As Nicole Fong (‘20) eloquently put, “Prom wasn’t perfect, but it was prom nonetheless.”
Members of Team CUREismatic Kids at a team meeting in November. Photo via @teamcureismatickids on Instagram.
This year, C.K.M. juniors created groups to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Student of the Year program. The three teams, the Supercure-os, Team Cureismatic Kids, and Team Secure the Cure consisted of C.K.M. juniors as well as juniors from other high schools in the area.
“LLS Student of the Year is a leadership program in which groups of students around the nation are given seven weeks to raise as much money for LLS as possible. The funds raised by the youth go directly toward funding cancer research or providing financial aid to families affected by cancer,” said Nicole Fong (‘19), a leader of the Supercure-os team.
Each group attempts to set itself apart from other groups by raising the most money or doing the most community outreach. Some teams used their creative team names to capture attention. “We decided to give our team a superhero theme. With handmade capes and a custom logo, we hoped to capture the strength and bravery of those who fought and are currently battling cancer,” said Jadelyn Wong (‘19).
In order to raise funds, teams held events to attract contribution from members of the community. Team Cureismatic Kids, led by Lauren Morris, Olivia Vinding, and Katie Wolf, held a large dinner party, sold tickets to a Sacramento Republic FC game, and a barbecue. The Supercure-os, led by Jadelyn Wong, Sam Wong, and Nicole Fong, held a classical music benefit concert and a youth debate camp, and Team Secure the Cure, led by Katharine Jacobs and Sage Dickinson held a fashion show and auction.
This seven-week fundraiser culminated in a gala event in which teams were awarded recognition for their hard work. “Our team won the Bobby Dean Mission Integration Award, which is given to the team who succeeded in giving the most community involvement and hard work. We knew that raising money was important, but our team made it one of our goals to involve the community as best we could,” said Fong.
In addition to their concert and debate camp, the group emailed monthly newsletters to their supporters in order to “update everyone on what [the team was] doing and ensure everyone was involved in [their] campaign.” These newsletters also each included a Spotlight Survivor excerpt. “Each month, we had one of our team members interview a friend or relative who has been affected by cancer. Through this, we wanted to put real faces behind our campaign and reveal that donations and LLS’s hard work truly benefit those in need,” said Jadelyn Wong,
Students intimately familiar with the struggle of cancer found inspiration to join LLS groups in support of their loved ones.
“The motivation behind our campaign was based on the impact cancer has had in our lives. I worked on this campaign in honor of my grandfather and my dad who both recently overcame their fights with the deadly disease,” said leader Olivia Vinding.
Jadelyn Wong also shared her family’s experience with cancer and said, “It distresses me to know that someone’s life could just end in a matter of months because of these illnesses. I wanted an opportunity to help those who are suffering every day.”
Additionally, juniors at C.K.M. are involved in the fundraiser nearly every year, making it somewhat of a tradition for C.K.M. students. “Seeing all the prior McClatchy kids participate in this campaign really motivated me to get involved,” said Fong.
Participating in the program also provided students a chance to get involved in the community, gain leadership experience, build up their college resumés.
“By participating in a program like this you learn important leadership skills you can take with you for the rest of your life,” said Vinding. Wolf added, “Participants gain a great advantage for college applications; admissions offices are always very impressed with LLS participation. They also gain valuable career skills like time management, communications, and workability with peers.”
Many students involved were truly touched by the experiences they had. “Our team had the opportunity to have a booth at the Crocker Riverside Fall Festival where we actually met a parent whose child was battling Leukemia. This campaign really allowed us to see the effects of cancer and gave us an opportunity to make a difference,” said Fong.
Sage Dickinson of Team Secure the Cure said, “I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Taylor, the Student of the Year 2019 Honored Hero. She was extremely young when she had to battle with Leukemia. Hearing her story and now seeing how well she is doing today, with the help of LLS, truly showed me first hand the amazing affects LLS has.”
Wong added, “I think that through a philanthropic program like LLS, C.K.M. students are able to encounter the ‘real’ world. At the end of the campaign, I was definitely left with a rewarding feeling in my heart for being able to help out the community, especially those in need of funding from LLS.”
Wolf agreed that contributing to this cause was very gratifying. “I could make a difference for the local families affected by blood cancer,” she said. “At the end of the long and challenging days of the campaign, that really made me feel good.”
Sage Dickinson of Team Secure the Cure said, “Going through this campaign and learning about people’s stories and everything LLS does is very touching. A few times throughout the campaign I’d just sit and think about the greater effect that all of our work has, and it is amazing. Being a part of something like this very humbling and really makes you grateful for what you have. The SOY campaign and LLS have certainly left a lasting impact in my life and has opened my eyes to philanthropy as something I’d love to do more of throughout my life.”
