What happened this week?
Our varsity boys’ basketball players aren’t so excited about the cancelled games and corona being the big issue this year, but they said they are staying in shape and working hard so they can get their chances on the court when they can.
ICU beds fill up as Covid cases surge: what happens now?
South carolina history
With Black History month being two months away I know that it’s never too early to talk about some South Carolina history and here is some news you should hear.
Recently Kevin McCarthy house minority gathered to talk about the historian Joseph Rainey of South Carolina Who was the first African American who was a member of the House of Representatives.
Kevin McCarthy wanted to say a few words and here’s what he said “would we have honored Rainey if he hadn’t been a Republican? Also said the party was “continuing the legacy of the first African American to serve in congress.”
Another political voice in Nancy Pelosi also had some stuff to say about Rainey. “She said it is my hope that in sharing the story of Joseph Rainey, we will help ensure a fuller story of America will be told and inspire a new generation of civil rights and advocates for justice.”
He won a seat in the Senate and in 1870 he was elevated to the U.S. becoming the first African American member of the chamber. He would then go on to serve eight years making him the longest tenured African American member In that period.
Martha’s Vineyard restaurant fined for causing health complications to their customers. Five suffered from food poisoning; others suffered from rapid breathing, rash and high temperature.
#savethefood #omg #stomachache
Source: foodsafetynews.com
WWII Veteran Honored at State House
A Columbia man was recently honored at the State House to celebrate his one-hundredth Birthday in advance. World War II veteran O’Neil Derrick will be 100 this Christmas Day. To Celebrate, he was honored in the chambers of the South Carolina House of Representatives, He received a House Resolution to honor his birthday and years of service. He was born and raised in Chapin and was drafted into the army in 1942. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and is also one of only nine South Carolina military members still living who survived the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Because of Covid-19 Concerns, they have no immediate birthday plans, but they hope to have some in the near future. Ascension Lutheran Church is hoping for “100 cards for 100 Years”. They ask the public to send the cards to the church at the following address: Mr. O’Neil Derrick, c/o Ascension Lutheran Church, 827 Wildwood Ave., Columbia, SC 29203.
a.c. Flora football team quarantined
All players and coaches on the A.C. Flora football team are currently under a 14-day quarantine, after a member of the coaching staff tested positive for COVID-19 on December 5.
The positive test result came after the team celebrated a huge win against North Myrtle Beach for the 4A championship title just the night prior. Because of the close contact in practices leading up to the game, on the sidelines during the game, and in the celebration after the win, Richland One Athletic director Bob Matz stated the district thought it necessary to quarantine the entire 80-person team. According the Matz, a member of the coaching staff woke up the Sunday after the game not feeling well, and tested positive for COVID-19 that day. Matz also stated while looking over video game footage for close contacts, they came to the conclusion that the entire team needed to be quarantined. “You can go back and watch the tape and say ‘well where did this individual go,’” Matz stated “Well with practices, you’re all over the place and there’s contact with scrimmage teams and walk-throughs. It was safer for us to say all players and coaches will be quarantined.” He also stated that the district’s policy is that all coaches and players take their temperatures ahead of every practice and wear masks on the sidelines. However, he admitted that some of the safety policies fell by the wayside on the night of the game as many players and coaches were seen hugging and celebrating. Matz stressed that the district has all its sports teams follow CDC guidelines, adding that overall, they didn’t have many instances during the fall of teams needing quarantine. North Myrtle beach high school has been notified of the positive case and that Horry County schools will notify potential secondary contacts.
Richland One is planning on returning to Phase I of their Restart Strong program after winter break. This decision is based on the recent spike in cases after Thanksgiving. The plan by Richland One is to go from January 4, 2021 to January 15, 2021 to be full virtual and to see what the cases look like will determine if we come back to school or we stay virtual until the cases decrease.
COVID Impact on Sports
As many of you know COVID has changed our lives in many ways. Howe we get an education, how we get groceries, etc…It has also taken a hold of the things that many young teens enjoy. SPORTS. Fall sports such as volleyball, and football in Richland one and most other school districts still had a season with moderations. The amount of people allowed to come went down and everyone had to wear a mask and be socially distanced. Now with the rise of cases in the winter, many winter sports such as basketball are not having a normal season as they would hope. As of December 14, winter sports in Richland 1 and 2 will be shut down for 3 weeks. In an article about the shutdown of these sports it states that, “the move to halt sports is being done as the state navigates a record spike in new COVID-19 cases.” Many kids in other schools such as Cardinal Newman, Gray, etc… have had to quarantine their basketball players and are taking their normal season away. I understand that the rising in cases is a problem but it seems that the kids that play winter sports may seem to think that it’s unfair because the kids with fall sports still got to play even with the pandemic.
covid and basketball
Covid- 19 and basketball are fire and ice and with seniors the ice is very thin. An article regarding the subject states that health experts warn against basketball during corona virus. The nationwide risks that this choice holds has caused many teams to not participate in an indoor contact sport. Another article that talks about youth sports and covid-19 and understanding the risks, states that as coronavirus the pandemic continues many parents wonder if it’s safe to let their children participate in sports. In a booming city for basketball with one of the best college basketball programs Kansas. On oct 30th there was a letter addressed to the city’s superintendents in regards to basketball asking an urgent plea and strongly recommending that they do not allow indoor sports. Such as basketball or wrestling based on the level of the community. This is a major reason how the statement I made earlier or analogy I made regarding basketball and covid-19. There are lots of high school seniors who not just in sports but in general do not get the same amount of time and experience to not just enjoy there last year in high school but to be successful in general. An athlete may need time to be grow with his team and get better over the summer, This year we could not do that or even go to some outside parks due to rims being removed and constant new rules and guidelines. A player should not have to take two weeks breaks or more during the season. And then come back with one day of practice and play a game. There are also lot of social events that seniors miss out on in sports and not sports due to social distancing and constant new rules and the fear of everything getting shutdown.
Covid-19 is bringing back skateboarding
Many people have started skating since quarantine, thanks to the coronavirus. Skaters that started in the early 80’s - 90’s are finding themselves with free time and are getting back into it. Local skater, Jeremy Davis, started skating in 1986 and grew up with the skateboarding community. Over time, he stopped skating but recently picked it back up. He said he has seen more people out skating. Recently, skateboarding has gained a wider appeal and is more accessible to everyone. “I saw like 4 or 5 girl skateboarders the other day and I never saw that growing up”. The skateboarding style “street” is more difficult now. “it seems different, it doesn’t seem like it’s as street oriented” with new parks and social distancing there are less street skateboarders then when he started skateboarding “nobody was really looking for it “ now security is more strict and street is frowned upon by property owners. Skateboarding Businesses have seen more customers this year then pre COVID “It’s definitely gotten bigger then when I started out”.
biden chooses cabinet members
President-elect Joe Biden has worked expeditiously to assemble his cabinet positions. Since his election victory, President elect Biden promised Americans to build a Cabinet that reflects diversity. When the Biden nominees were announced, people were quick to notice that twelve out of sixteen nominees worked for former President Barrack Obama during Biden’s vice-presidency. Nonetheless, two out of the sixteen nominees, who have never been appointed, will make history if confirmed by the Senate. Lloyd Austin, a retired Army general, was nominated to lead the Department of Defense. If confirmed by the Senate, Austin would be the first African-American to lead the Pentagon. California’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra, was nominated to serve as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Becerra would be the First Latino to do so if confirmed by the Senate. Biden has confidence that his cabinet will reflect and serve the American people.
Sexual assault in schools
National Sexual Assault Hotline:
1-800-656-4673
Before going on with this article, it should be noted that this writing will include statistics, information, and general advice on how to educate on sexual assault and rape in our schools.
Sexual assault is nothing to joke about and is a serious topic. 1 in 5 high school girls say they have been sexually assaulted at school. In total, 53 percent of high school girls are sexually assaulted by a peer, according to a 2008 study of more than 1,000 students, and 39 percent of sexual assaults took place at school. Schools should not be a place where this happens. Some saythe solution to this problem is to separate the boys and the girls further.
This is not a good strategy. Rape and sexual assault go further than the gender binary; all genders can experience rape and sexual assault. Implicating this type of discussion in our lives should be normalized to fix the problem. Becoming aware of the situations that happen in the real world, learning good morals, and learning signals to be aware of, Can help mitigate these situations.
Sections like that could be available in our health and sex education classes. Bring awareness to teenagers in high schools is important, their families might not be the best educated in those areas and schools can help with that. Another beneficial thing could be educating guidance counsellors and teachers on what to do if a student comes to you with something that has happened to them and handle it properly and with damage control.
Rape culture is something that is rampant in our society, and we must learn how to fight against it. Rape culture a culture in which sexual violence is treated as the norm and victims are blamed for their own assaults instead of the assaulters being held accountable. It's not just about sexual violence itself, but about cultural norms and institutions that protect rapists, shame victims, and demand that people make unreasonable sacrifices to avoid sexual assault. It essentially blames the victims, saying that they did it to themselves, which is morally wrong and inconsistent. Anyone is at risk, regardless of what you could be wearing, or look and act like. Rapists and assaulters should be held accountable in our legal system, regardless of the status they hold in our society.
Rapists are still rapists regardless of being a politician or a student. We need to work to hold all accountable.
For any victims reading this, just know that we hear you. You deserve to heal and be able to receive the proper justice. No one deserves to have that happen.
Young people have less covid risk, but in college towns death rose fast
Health officials was in a central fear around the increase of death in college communities because young adults are limited to symptoms and they are unwittingly transmitting the virus around increasing the spread to someone more vulnerable to the virus symptoms. Researchers have continued to find proof of links to college students. Using genetic sequencing to monitor Covid-19 cases around the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Paraic Kenny, a cancer geneticist at the Gundersen Medical Foundation's Kabara Cancer Research Center, has identified associations between university infections and cases and deaths in the surrounding area. In a report, Dr. Kenny, who wrote about his results, said he found at least 18 deaths in long-term care facilities and in the La Crosse population that happened in September following a college virus epidemic and had the same genetic fingerprint as two strains that triggered the college student outbreak.
Big 10 Changes Requirement to be eligible for conference championship
Last Wednesday, it was announced that the BIG 10 and NCAA had decided to change the eligibility requirements for the conference championship. Although they claim that this was done simply to less complicate a very complicated and confusing year and college football season, this was clearly done to allow Ohio State University’s football team to meet the eligibility requirements. Many people, mainly fans of the team and people who will profit off of their success, have said that this was clearly both the best and the right choice. Their main argument was that Ohio State was clearly the best team in the BIG 10, and that it would be wrong not to include them. All conferences in college football have a 6 games played rule to qualify for the conference championship, however, there is a rule that negates that requirement if the average amount of games played by each team is less than 6. Although Ohio State may be the best team in the BIG 10, the overall conference record average does not constitute a rule change, so the decision seemed to be made simply because the BIG 10 favors Ohio State, as they make the conference the most money. As of now, the Ohio State Buckeyes are set to take on the Northwestern Wildcats in the BIG 10 championship game on Saturday, December 19. If they win this game, although they will have played 5 less games than all other contenders, they will surely get a spot in the college football playoff.