Monthly Archives: May 2020

Life of a Brave: #BraveTogether Fundraiser Shows Strength of Community in Time of Crisis

Posted on by Leave a comment

by Ryan Tavera

Since its founding in 1940, St. John Bosco High School has been committed to empowering students to develop and achieve their fullest potential, but due to the recent economic decline caused by COVID-19, St. John Bosco’s goal to serve students has been put in jeopardy. Luckily, our community has stayed #BraveTogether to make sure no one gets left behind.

maxresdefault

COVID-19 has made nearly 10 percent of our families struggle to make due and pay tuition. Furthermore, the pandemic has resulted in several major fundraising events being canceled. As a result, an estimated $250,000+ was lost that needs to be made up.

Previously, Bosco aided 60 percent of students through its tuition assistance program. Unfortunately, no additional funds are available to help these families. So during these hard times, it is stressed as a faith and school community that we exercise perseverance and offer a helping hand to our fellow Bosco families.

The Brave Together fundraiser serves as a beacon of strength and unity and to inspire others to help one another.

“We responded to the challenges our families are facing due to the economic impacts of COVID-19 by establishing the Brave Together Emergency Fund. I hope the emergency fund offers a sign of hope to our students and families who are uncertain about their futures due to this crisis. We are in this together and that’s ultimately what this emergency fund is about,” said Ms. Amy Krisch, Director of Special Events at Bosco.

Thus, the Brave Together Emergency Fund was created in the hope of giving every student the opportunity to continue their education at St. John Bosco.

download

“You’re not alone and St. John Bosco High School is here to be that support as best we can, and if we’re able to help, then this emergency fund is serving its purpose,” Ms. Krisch said.

The creation of the Bosco Fundraiser signifies the sense of unity and brotherhood among the student body. Bosco has always been committed to this idea of togetherness and COVID-19 is our community’s biggest test.

“What makes Bosco truly unique is the family we’ve built within our community and in the last nine weeks we’ve shown how we come together when we’re in need — and it’s made us even stronger. No Brave left behind, we’re already living this. This is what community does, we support each other and come out on the other side, together,” said Ms. Krisch.

Ultimately, it is only up to one person you as an individual as stated previously COVID-19 is this family’s biggest test, and it is up to every individual within the Bosco family to help pass this test. As a brotherhood and community, we must come together and give not because we are pressured to do so, but rather because we may possess the ability and believe in our school’s mission and the perseverance of that mission.

“We have realized that we are in the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other,” Pope Francis said of the faithful during this crisis, a direct message to our own community of faith to give whatever we can.

If you are in the position to donate and wish to help, more information is located here on how to stay #BraveTogether.

News/Op-Ed: Not So Fast… California to begin phases of reopening in wake of COVID-19

Posted on by Leave a comment

With states across America aiming to slowly reopen, California Governor Gavin Newsom aims to begin this week with phased reopening starting with public beaches and small businesses.

gallery_medium

With California nearly approaching two months since social distancing guidelines have been put into effect, the virus has strongly affected small businesses, and the Governor’s announcement would put them back into business, although they still have to maintain the distancing guidelines. Curbside pickup and delivery, according to Governor Newsom in a press conference on Tuesday, would be the way that these businesses would operate starting as soon as last Friday. Businesses must need the proper protective gear and constant deep cleaning is necessary for these small businesses. Governor Newsom is set to offer the full guidelines to the small businesses in coming days.

Among re-openings were also public beaches, which were reopened for only a short time before mass crowds caused the Governor to close them again. This led to protesters scattered across California, but mainly in Huntington Beach, where a mass gathering protested wanting their beaches reopened. People have had little to do in the last two months, and as the weather warms, many are getting antsy. These protests have worked and Newsom has begun reopening select beaches in Huntington Beach, Dana Point and Seal Beach. Huntington and Dana Point had filed suits against the closures. Also Laguna Beach and San Clemente have gained approval for the same phased reopenings. More reopenings are to slowly take place with Newsom aiming for phased reopening across California.

The updated Covid-19 number of cases in California is nearly 70,000, including almost 3,000 deaths. As the Governor takes steps to reopen the state, new measures are also being taken to combat another peak spread of the virus. To help healthcare workers and businesses, Newsom has an inventory of 19.3 million masks to help fight the spread of the virus. In a new measure, Newsom also announced the deployment of nearly 2,800 “disease detectives” to track and quarantine infected Californians. This as the state expects to have more available “drive-by” tests and more testing in general.

The phase two of the reopenings, according to Governor Newsom, will slowly begin close to the end of this week, defining it as a low-risk portion of the reopenings. Newsom wants to modify the stay-at-home order, and these changes will begin in the near future. If the cases begin to rise again then the restrictions will tighten again, according to the Governor. Governor Newsom sums up his plan for reopening California with it’s not “ready, fire, aim”, but it’s “ready, aim, fire.”

SPORTS: UFC 249 Preview, Predictions, and Precautions

Posted on by Leave a comment

by Aharon Colon, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Although there is almost nothing to watch in the sports world right now, the UFC lives on with an exciting card on Saturday including two world title fights with a mixture of veteran and young fighters. 

053133_249_BoutAnn_TF-JG_1200x675_Eng(2)

You might think that since this card is taking place at such a time that it would be boring with fighters no one really knows about, but you would be totally wrong. It is actually the exact opposite. The UFC packed this card with fighters crazy enough to take this chance at giving the people what they want. 

Starting at the bottom, the early prelims are filled with young exciting talent looking to make a name for themselves. There is no better time to get your name out there because every MMA fan will be watching this from start to finish. The fight to look out for here is 13th ranked welterweight in the world Vicente Luque taking on Niko Price. Here Vicente is looking to move up the rankings, so he can eventually earn a title shot. 

The prelims are a whole different story. Resembling a main card quality lineup, its main bout is between 15th ranked welterweight in the world Anthony “Showtime” Pettis and 6th ranked Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Both fighters have great resumes, a great recond, huge fanbases, and are exciting to watch so expect sparks to fly when they meet in the cage. Other notable fighters on this card are veteran Fabricio Werdum, former world champion Carla Esparza, and Uriah Hall, all looking for upcoming title bouts. 

Now for the moneymaker, the main card. Headlining the entire event is Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson vs Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje and Henry “The Messenger” Cejudo vs Dominick Cruz. Personally, these four fighters are my favorite right now, so you could only imagine the excitement I felt when this card came out. Ferguson and Gaethje are vying for the interim lightweight title, while Cejudo and Cruz are vying for the undisputed bantamweight championship.

In the Ferguson vs Gaethje fight, look out for the conditioning of Ferguson. Although I expect him to get caught once or twice by Gathje’s right hand for which he is known for, it is his signature thing to always get back up. “El Cucuy” never gets tired and keeps the same pace the entire fight, which I believe will be too much for Gaethje. The only way I see Gaethje winning this fight is by his one-punch knockout power, but Ferguson has a strong chin and has been hit before. My prediction is that “El Cucuy” takes the interim title and extends his twelve fight win streak to 13, via submission in the 4th round. If I had to choose which submission, I’d say either rear-naked or triangle choke. 

In the other title bout, Cejudo is taking the world by storm. He is almost unstoppable right now holding two titles in two divisions simultaneously. Not only that but he is also a gold medalist in wrestling, taking the medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

Even after this impressive resume and with all the momentum in the world, it is going to be probably his toughest challenge yet facing Dominick Cruz. After multiple injury layoffs, Cruz is looking to pick up where he left off, which is taking his Bantamweight title back. He is the veteran here and has almost always been the champion in this division. With his fancy footwork and cage IQ off the charts, he is already on the lookout for being in the Hall of Fame. I say Cruz gets the upset in a razor-thin split decision, using his striking and footwork to his advantage. 

You might be wondering at this point, how are they even putting this whole event together? Well for Dana White, the president of the UFC, it wasn’t hard finding a place to hold it. Of course, it is going to be in Florida, and they are taking the utmost precautions heading into fight night. 

Testing everyone who is working that night, including fighters, coaches, and everyone in between, they are not letting anybody through the cracks. The UFC also has a whole hotel to themselves, checking everyone who comes in and out. At every checkpoint, fighters and associates alike are being kept in their respective camps, not being allowed to see anyone outside. They even have  24 different rooms for fighters to warm up in pre-fight, not letting any of them share a room like they usually would. 

All in all, I highly recommend you watch all these fights. Not only is it one of the only sporting events on right now, but it is actually action-packed with the best fighters of today. You can watch the prelims on ESPN, but the main card is only found on ESPN+. 

Here are my predictions for every single fight: 

Early Prelims:

Vicente Luque defeats Niko Price (decision) 

Charles Rosa defeats Bryce Mitchell (decision)

Ryan Spann defeats Sam Alvey (KO) 

Prelims: 

Uriah Hall defeats Ronaldo Souza (stoppage) 

Michelle Waterson defeats Carla Esparza (decision) 

Fabricio Werdum defeats Aleksei Oleinik (Submission) 

Donald Cerrone defeats Anthony Pettis (Stoppage) 

Main Card: 

Yorgan De Castro defeats Greg Hardy (KO)

Jeremy Stephens defeats Calvin Kattar (KO) 

Francis Ngannou defeats Jairzinho Rozenstruik (stoppage) 

Dominick Cruz defeats Henry Cejudo (decision) 

Tony Ferguson defeats Justin Gaethje (submission)

A+E: Online Music Festivals Have Taken Over Following Ban On Public Events

Posted on by Leave a comment

by Alex Rotter

Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, all events that were supposed to happen were canceled because of the outbreak.Since then, companies are trying to find a way to still do the events from home.

travis-scott-stage-at-night

A few weeks ago, the Insomniac company hosted an online music festival that hosted different types of artists. The online concert was two days and it lasted from 8 PM – 12 AM. The first event got over one million people from all around the world to watch the Livestream. The best part about the virtual concert is that it is free to tune in. Since they got really good viewers on the first online festival they did, they have been hosting one every weekend so people have something to do. Insomniac wants people to have fun watching the stream since you are limited to activities at home. On May 15, 16, and 17, they will be hosting a three-day event for EDC Las Vegas and you will be able to watch different sets on different channels. 

Another event called the Digital Mirage was hosted by Proximity and Brownies & Lemonade, this festival was able to raise up to 300,000 dollars for people who have the coronavirus. This concert was also free to attend but they recommended that you donate so they can raise more money for the coronavirus.   The event lasted from 12 PM – 2 AM and they were able to gain over 4.1 million viewers in total for three days.  Some really popular music artists are also hosting music events on Instagram live. The artists are playing a lot of their popular songs and they also play some unreleased music that people haven’t heard yet.

Another festival that is happening is the Dreamworld online music festival. This online festival is raising money for the Heart Water Foundation. If you also buy their water bottles, they are also helping improve the lives of children suffering from poverty, disease, and addiction. When someone donates to the charity, they will send money to hospitals so they can help with COVID-19. This festival lasted for three days and had over 50 artists performing.

The Room Service festival is another event that happened on April 14-16. It was a three-day event that had over 50 plus artists attending. Each day, the festival would last from 12 PM to 1:30 AM. The music festival was hosted by Chill Nation and Trap Nation which are Youtube channels that have over 30 million subscribers. They delivered a music festival that got up to 2.5 million viewers in total for all three days. It was also a music festival that was raising charity for Feeding America and Sweet Relief. Feeding America is a charity that helps people that need food and starving from hunger. The Sweet Relief charity is for music musicians and industry workers that are struggling because of illness. In total, they made over 135,000 dollars for all three days.

Fortnite hosted an online concert for Travis Scott and there were about twelve million players online. Fortnite also added a Travis Scott and Astroworld skin that you were able to buy from the item shop. The concert insisted on really colorful animations that made the concert very special to people who love Travis Scott. The concert lasted for ten minutes but it was a really exciting concert to attend in a game. 

The music festivals have been a great way for people to take their minds off COVID-19 while also contributing to great causes. There will surely be many more events to follow, as their popularity is only increasing.