Editorial

  • Conflicting class credit advice causes discrepancy with students

    Conflicting class credit advice causes discrepancy with students

    As students decide their classes for the following years, information about credits and requirements can be dispersed and confusing. Newbury Park High School [NPHS] offers a variety of classes, including International Baccalaureate [IB], Advanced Placement [AP], Special Education, Digital Arts and Technology [DATA] and College Prep [CP]. Students also have the opportunity to take…

  • Youth involvement in activism empowers T.O.

    Youth involvement in activism empowers T.O.

    Throughout Thousand Oaks, and the majority of televised or covered protests, it is apparent that community conventions and volunteer meetings are primarily attended by older generations. There has been a cultural normalization in younger audiences not only speaking up about topical issues, but actively showing up to voice their stance. As we, Newbury Park…

  • Gift-giving traditions power dangerous overconsumption

    Gift-giving traditions power dangerous overconsumption

    As homes in Thousand Oaks are filled with festive holiday decorations and an abundance of gift-wrapped presents, landfills overflow with waste and sweatshop workers in third-world countries continue to be paid criminally low wages. As the demand for products increases every year, so does the exploitation of workers across the globe. America’s overconsumption skyrockets…

  • Diet culture normalizes dysmorphia and eating disorders for teenagers

    Diet culture normalizes dysmorphia and eating disorders for teenagers

    Food and appetite are a personal and cultural journey for each individual. The increased bias and misinformation on the health and regulations for young teens is growing and has been growing at an alarming rate for decades. Throughout campus at lunchtime and among the youth of our community, there has been a normalization of…

  • The government shutdown jeopardizes national climate efforts

    The government shutdown jeopardizes national climate efforts

    The U.S. government has been shut down since Sept. 30. This not only affects federal workers and U.S. citizens, but it also impacts the Earth’s climate by removing funding needed to maintain national parks and climate change research. The decisions made in the Capitol Building are impacting everyone from federal workers to local hikers…

  • The rights and responsibilities student journalists hold in today’s world

    Across the country, student journalists remain at their desks for hours, chasing interviews and working tirelessly to print a better issue than the last. With every edit to each article, with each review of each page and with every early morning wake-up, we, as a staff, strive to fulfill our utmost duty to represent…

  • AI threatens journalistic integrity

    AI threatens journalistic integrity

    The usage of Artificial Intelligence [AI] has significantly risen in the last few years and it sparks concern about the integrity of journalism. There is little understanding as to the impact AI has on journalism as a whole and an even less understanding of the influence it has on its writers and readers. Although…

  • The youth vote is necessary for change

    The youth vote is necessary for change

    As Nov. 5 draws closer and closer, tension and anticipation are felt across the nation by voters young and old. From the age of 18, citizens in the United States are able to vote in local, state and federal elections. Though only a minimal portion of high schoolers are able to vote in the…

  • Chipping away at campus free speech

    Chipping away at campus free speech

    Since the First Amendment passed in 1791, Americans have exercised their right to freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. Recently, nationwide university protests about the Israel-Hamas war have drawn attention to the most basic First Amendment rights: freedom of speech and assembly.  We have been taught that our opinions will be heard…

  • Music enhances nearly every aspect of life

    Music enhances nearly every aspect of life

    Music directly impacts and is essential to every phase and angle of existence. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, music is a factor of each level of the necessities to human life. The last tier, titled “Self-Actualization,” entails the psychological needs of creativity, acceptance and expressing the core of one’s being and music is an…