Jackson Cane
Staff Writer
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, and the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of $130 billion, has now committed ten billion dollars to address climate change in what he calls the “Bezos Earth Fund.” Grants are said to be sent out to help fund scientists, non-governmental organizations and activists in support, starting this upcoming summer.
Bezos’s influence came by Amazon employees pushing him on climate issues of the Earth. Over years of walkouts and ultimately talking publicly on the issues as Amazon employees, these employees compelled Bezos to take action.
As the employees applaud his quick actions and step toward a movement, they also look at the bigger aspect of his actions.
One employee from the group “Amazon Employees for Climate Justice” wrote publicly, “...one hand cannot give what the other is taking away.”
Bezo wrote in his Instagram post caption what it means to him, “Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” he said. “I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share.”
Along with spending billions elsewhere to help country issues like homelessness and schooling, this $10 billion contribution will be his biggest donation ever in support of a world issue. Unveiling the Climate Pledge in 2018, Bezos has already set goals for the future. In which he says Amazon as a company will meet the climate agreement of Paris 10 years ahead of plan, as well as being carbon-neutral by 2040.
Amazon revealed its own carbon footprint for 2018 as a company, data centers locating warehouses and the overall global network from shipping and receiving packages. The data there didn’t show the best side of Amazon. With emitting about 44.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, Amazon fell into the top 150-200 list of emitters in the world.
Bezos didn’t fully disclose his ambitions with the money, but he has also been seen as someone for a better Earth and healthier industry. With only $10 billion specifically said to be towards donations and not potential profit investments, it still leaves him the world’s richest man with plenty of money coming from other places and possibly other opportunities to help save the Earth.
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Boy Scouts declare bankruptcy
Rex Fowler and Chance Trammell
Staff writers
Facing a wave of lawsuits over sexual abuse allegations, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in an effort to protect the future of the embattled century-old organization. Filing for bankruptcy will help the Boy Scouts to continue operating as it reorganizes their finances and creates a trust to pay hundreds of potential victims.
Over the past decade, lawsuits, investigations, and media reports have revealed internal Boy Scouts documents detailing generations of alleged abusers accused of preying on Scouts.
An investigator hired by the BSA said last year that her team had identified 12,254 victims in internal documents from 1946 through 2016.
Among other high profile, child abuse scandals and the MeToo movement, several states, and the district have overhauled laws on child sexual abuse, opening the door to sums of potential lawsuits against the Boy Scouts.
Experts drew parallels between the Boy Scouts and other troubling companies that have used bankruptcy to handle costly lawsuits over abuse allegations. The Boy Scouts of America said no local council assets will be directly affected by the filing, and the national organization is working to protect local councils’ interests. It is similar to when the Catholic Church filed for bankruptcy rather than individual parishes. As more news sources came clear only the center for the BSA based in Texas will be affected but individual troops in other states around the country will not be affected.
Staff writers
Facing a wave of lawsuits over sexual abuse allegations, the Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in an effort to protect the future of the embattled century-old organization. Filing for bankruptcy will help the Boy Scouts to continue operating as it reorganizes their finances and creates a trust to pay hundreds of potential victims.
Over the past decade, lawsuits, investigations, and media reports have revealed internal Boy Scouts documents detailing generations of alleged abusers accused of preying on Scouts.
An investigator hired by the BSA said last year that her team had identified 12,254 victims in internal documents from 1946 through 2016.
Among other high profile, child abuse scandals and the MeToo movement, several states, and the district have overhauled laws on child sexual abuse, opening the door to sums of potential lawsuits against the Boy Scouts.
Experts drew parallels between the Boy Scouts and other troubling companies that have used bankruptcy to handle costly lawsuits over abuse allegations. The Boy Scouts of America said no local council assets will be directly affected by the filing, and the national organization is working to protect local councils’ interests. It is similar to when the Catholic Church filed for bankruptcy rather than individual parishes. As more news sources came clear only the center for the BSA based in Texas will be affected but individual troops in other states around the country will not be affected.
Apple pays billions in settlement for reduced iPhone performance
Ian Mendola
Staff Writer
Apple will pay up to half a billion dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of slowing down older iPhone models to compel users to buy a new one.
The proposed settlement agreement requires Apple to pay the owners of certain iPhone users in the United States can file settlement claims if they owned an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE device bought before December 21, 2017, $25 per affected device, totaling a minimum of $310 million and a maximum of $500 million, according to documents released on Friday, Feb. 11, 2020, in US District Court in San Jose, California. The amount each user receives could increase or decrease depending on how many claims are filed as well as any additional legal fees and expenses approved by the court, the document added.
The company admitted in December 2017 that it used software updates to slow down older iPhones. Soon after, angry customers and tech analysts flagged that the updates were causing diminished performance. Some of them suggested that Apple did so to force users to upgrade to the latest iPhone model, but the company said it was aimed at addressing issues with older lithium-ion batteries that would make the phones suddenly shut down to protect their components.
Apple later apologized and offered battery replacements to its customers for $79, which was then knocked down to $29 in January of 2018. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, admitted a year later that revenue for 2018 was partly hit by “significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements.”
iPhone users in the United States can file settlement claims if they owned an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE device bought before December 21, 2017.
Staff Writer
Apple will pay up to half a billion dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of slowing down older iPhone models to compel users to buy a new one.
The proposed settlement agreement requires Apple to pay the owners of certain iPhone users in the United States can file settlement claims if they owned an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE device bought before December 21, 2017, $25 per affected device, totaling a minimum of $310 million and a maximum of $500 million, according to documents released on Friday, Feb. 11, 2020, in US District Court in San Jose, California. The amount each user receives could increase or decrease depending on how many claims are filed as well as any additional legal fees and expenses approved by the court, the document added.
The company admitted in December 2017 that it used software updates to slow down older iPhones. Soon after, angry customers and tech analysts flagged that the updates were causing diminished performance. Some of them suggested that Apple did so to force users to upgrade to the latest iPhone model, but the company said it was aimed at addressing issues with older lithium-ion batteries that would make the phones suddenly shut down to protect their components.
Apple later apologized and offered battery replacements to its customers for $79, which was then knocked down to $29 in January of 2018. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, admitted a year later that revenue for 2018 was partly hit by “significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements.”
iPhone users in the United States can file settlement claims if they owned an iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE device bought before December 21, 2017.
Spirit Week Blue vs Gold Games kicked spirit into high gear before crisis
Eric Locke
Staff Writer
On Friday, Feb. 28, New Hope-Solebury High School hosted their Spirit Week games to end a competitive week between the Blue and Gold Teams. The games began with the girls’ obstacle course first followed by the boys’ obstacle course. The Gold Team won both games to gain traction for their team. The Gold Team continued their momentum by winning the next couple games, including the 1 vs 1 tug of war and the Magic Carpet games.
With all this energy on the gold team it looked like they were going to sweep all the games, until an Izzy Dizzy relay race in which a Blue Team member failed to spin the correct number of times and continued to race. This caused a major uproar on the Gold Team and it was their first loss. After this loss the games started going to the “Blue” Team. Mike Borys hit the half court shot for the Blue Team which gathered a lot of momentum for them. After that they continued to rack up the points by winning more games.
By the end of the games, what was thought to be a sweepin win by the gold team, looked to be an even battle by the end with blue and gold almost even in the amount of games won. Many Gold Team members were stunned that they lost their lead and momentum coming into the games. However, Blue Team members were excited that they were able to make a comeback in the second half of the games. After the final announcement of points gathered by hallways, cans, and coins, the Blue Team won spirit week for the 2020 year.
Evan Menz Contributed to this article
Staff Writer
On Friday, Feb. 28, New Hope-Solebury High School hosted their Spirit Week games to end a competitive week between the Blue and Gold Teams. The games began with the girls’ obstacle course first followed by the boys’ obstacle course. The Gold Team won both games to gain traction for their team. The Gold Team continued their momentum by winning the next couple games, including the 1 vs 1 tug of war and the Magic Carpet games.
With all this energy on the gold team it looked like they were going to sweep all the games, until an Izzy Dizzy relay race in which a Blue Team member failed to spin the correct number of times and continued to race. This caused a major uproar on the Gold Team and it was their first loss. After this loss the games started going to the “Blue” Team. Mike Borys hit the half court shot for the Blue Team which gathered a lot of momentum for them. After that they continued to rack up the points by winning more games.
By the end of the games, what was thought to be a sweepin win by the gold team, looked to be an even battle by the end with blue and gold almost even in the amount of games won. Many Gold Team members were stunned that they lost their lead and momentum coming into the games. However, Blue Team members were excited that they were able to make a comeback in the second half of the games. After the final announcement of points gathered by hallways, cans, and coins, the Blue Team won spirit week for the 2020 year.
Evan Menz Contributed to this article
Read Across America celebrates Dr. Seuss
Kaylee Lynch & Olivia Harrison
Staff Writers
On March 3, New Hope-Solebury students traveled to the Lower Elementary School and the Upper Elementary School to participate in Read Across America. To honor the famous American author Dr. Seuss on his 116th birthday, we read stories and had a wonderful time talking with the kids and teachers.
Dr. Seuss was a popular children’s author and is known for writing some of our very favorite books from when we were little. Born as Theodor Geisel in 1904, he started writing cartoon tales before creating the pen name Dr. Seuss. Seuss was his mother’s maiden name and that is where his pen name Dr. Seuss came from. He is known for writing Green Eggs and Ham, Cat in the Hat, Oh The Places You’ll Go, and One Fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue Fish. And who could forget Horton Hears a Who? Although Dr. Seuss passed away almost 20 years ago, his books are still loved today by people everywhere.
About 25 students went down and had an absolute blast talking with the kids and getting the chance to share our stories. We went to kindergarten through second grade in the morning, and third to fifth grade in the afternoon. From what we remembered, the LES looked much smaller walking through the classrooms and hallways. It was fun getting to see some of the old teachers again and finding out who is still there and who has left or retired. Longtime favorite teachers like Mrs. Zerby, Mrs. McGlynn, Mr. Manion, and Mr. Kopp are still there. Some other favorite teachers that we didn’t get the chance to see who have retired are Mrs. Goodwin, Mrs. Barringer, Mr. Snyder, and Mrs. Rogers. It was a pleasure to visit again and read Dr. Seuss and children’s books to all of the kids.
Everyone loved the stories. Student’s in Spanish 5 worked hard and created their own books and read them to the kids as well. They were great listeners and were so excited to be able to talk to the highschoolers about their lives and what they have to look forward to. The best advice we told them was that they should enjoy playing outside as much as they can and to have as much fun as possible.
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Thank you for giving us a chance to meet with younger kids to share our stories and yours as well. Here’s to many more years full of imagination and creativity.
Staff Writers
On March 3, New Hope-Solebury students traveled to the Lower Elementary School and the Upper Elementary School to participate in Read Across America. To honor the famous American author Dr. Seuss on his 116th birthday, we read stories and had a wonderful time talking with the kids and teachers.
Dr. Seuss was a popular children’s author and is known for writing some of our very favorite books from when we were little. Born as Theodor Geisel in 1904, he started writing cartoon tales before creating the pen name Dr. Seuss. Seuss was his mother’s maiden name and that is where his pen name Dr. Seuss came from. He is known for writing Green Eggs and Ham, Cat in the Hat, Oh The Places You’ll Go, and One Fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue Fish. And who could forget Horton Hears a Who? Although Dr. Seuss passed away almost 20 years ago, his books are still loved today by people everywhere.
About 25 students went down and had an absolute blast talking with the kids and getting the chance to share our stories. We went to kindergarten through second grade in the morning, and third to fifth grade in the afternoon. From what we remembered, the LES looked much smaller walking through the classrooms and hallways. It was fun getting to see some of the old teachers again and finding out who is still there and who has left or retired. Longtime favorite teachers like Mrs. Zerby, Mrs. McGlynn, Mr. Manion, and Mr. Kopp are still there. Some other favorite teachers that we didn’t get the chance to see who have retired are Mrs. Goodwin, Mrs. Barringer, Mr. Snyder, and Mrs. Rogers. It was a pleasure to visit again and read Dr. Seuss and children’s books to all of the kids.
Everyone loved the stories. Student’s in Spanish 5 worked hard and created their own books and read them to the kids as well. They were great listeners and were so excited to be able to talk to the highschoolers about their lives and what they have to look forward to. The best advice we told them was that they should enjoy playing outside as much as they can and to have as much fun as possible.
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Thank you for giving us a chance to meet with younger kids to share our stories and yours as well. Here’s to many more years full of imagination and creativity.
NHS tranforms itself in the face of COVID-19; parameters set by state and federal government
John Devaney and Teddy Devaney
Staff Writers
With all of the coronavirus closures, it has been a very hectic couple of weeks. New Hope-Solebury High School closed on March 13. On that day, state officials we would be back by the 29 of March. Due to the rapid spread of the virus and ever increasing death toll, that has now changed, and I am here to tell you about the latest updates on our school situation.
On March 12 the grades which were in for the third marking period were considered “final grades.” Students have until April 13 to speak with teachers to turn in any outstanding work. On April 13, mandatory online school will begin, unless the quarantine ends by then, which is looking unlikely at the moment. Schoolwork will be made available Monday to Thursday. There will be 20-30 minutes per course per day. “It is expected that students complete daily tasks each day and submit them on their respective learning platforms” says Dr. Charles Malone, the director of elementary and secondary education at New Hope-Solebury High School. Tech support will be offered during this time.
The APEX project has not been decided on yet, which would be unfortunate for seniors if cancelled. There are already several teachers who are doing optional zoom sessions and teachers also have work on their Canvas courses. The online classes seem to be relatively successful in terms of content and available support. The only problem is the extremely low attendance due to the fact that the work is not mandatory.
The situation appears to get worse and worse everyday, but students should still be able to continue their education during this time.
On a brighter note, this crisis gives people a chance to really spend more quality time with their families. But most importantly, be sure to have fun and stay safe.
Staff Writers
With all of the coronavirus closures, it has been a very hectic couple of weeks. New Hope-Solebury High School closed on March 13. On that day, state officials we would be back by the 29 of March. Due to the rapid spread of the virus and ever increasing death toll, that has now changed, and I am here to tell you about the latest updates on our school situation.
On March 12 the grades which were in for the third marking period were considered “final grades.” Students have until April 13 to speak with teachers to turn in any outstanding work. On April 13, mandatory online school will begin, unless the quarantine ends by then, which is looking unlikely at the moment. Schoolwork will be made available Monday to Thursday. There will be 20-30 minutes per course per day. “It is expected that students complete daily tasks each day and submit them on their respective learning platforms” says Dr. Charles Malone, the director of elementary and secondary education at New Hope-Solebury High School. Tech support will be offered during this time.
The APEX project has not been decided on yet, which would be unfortunate for seniors if cancelled. There are already several teachers who are doing optional zoom sessions and teachers also have work on their Canvas courses. The online classes seem to be relatively successful in terms of content and available support. The only problem is the extremely low attendance due to the fact that the work is not mandatory.
The situation appears to get worse and worse everyday, but students should still be able to continue their education during this time.
On a brighter note, this crisis gives people a chance to really spend more quality time with their families. But most importantly, be sure to have fun and stay safe.
Class of 2020 Captures Their 4-Peat!
Devon Beacham
To end the 2020 Spirit Week were the Friday Games which would break the neck-and-neck scores, to ultimately determine which team would win Spirit Week. To start off the games, the gold team took a massive lead, winning many of the obstacle course games, along with the magic carpet event. They gained great momentum, but then the Blue team turned it around and capitalized during the blind fold competition and pedestal 1 vs. 1 tug of war. Following this, it was back and forth between the Gold and Blue team wins. Mike Borys came in clutch with a 1-try half court shot for the second year in a row. Following the games, it was announced that the freshmen and seniors came in fourth and third place for the hallway competition. Sophomores and juniors came in first and second place. This was huge for the Gold team after Blue dominated them with cans. In the end, Mr. Gonsiewski threw up the Blue team’s flag and all Seniors and Freshman stormed the middle of the court.
Michael Borys and Connor Fitzgerald contributed to this article.
Staff Writer
The class of 2020 had a possibility at becoming the second class in New Hope-Solebury’s school history to clinch a four-peat in the annual Spirit Week. This year’s Spirit Week was one for the books. A huge component of the week is to bring in cans and coins, and this year, records were broken in both categories. Over 18,000 pounds worth of cans were brought in by the Blue and Gold Team combined. The can donations go to Operation Helping Hand, which distributes food throughout food banks in Bucks County. Records were also broken in coin wars, totaling $5,200. These profits go to the Leukemia and the Lymphoma Society. On Monday night, students gathered to participate in the Spirit Week Luau. During this event, sports gear such as bats, gloves, helmets, balls, and cleats were collected and given to the Pitch in for Baseball and Softball organization in Harleysville, which distributes the equipment to communities in need in the Philadelphia area. Over one-hundred of each item was collected at the Luau. In addition to that, throughout the week, National Honors Society raised over one-thousand dollars selling Saint Baldrick’s t-shirts, wristbands, and bandanas.
The first event was the Super Smash tournament. Junior, Alan Wu defeated senior, Rhys Mccollum, in the Super Smash Bros championship. On Wednesday, each team had four groups of four that participated in Family Feud. To no surprise, the game ended in a tie. After school on Wed., each team was allowed to prepare for their hallway decoration competition. During the hall decorating, teams had the ability to practice their dances, lip syncs, and special talents for the MANE event that would occur the next day.
On Thurs., the MANE event took action. The minute to win it challenge was first, with two very entertaining games, which also ended in a tie between the two teams. After that, a powerful performance by the freshmen ladies enabled them to take down the sophomores. Breakout performance by juniors Bryan Dougherty and Davis Nagg allowed them to defeat the senior girls’ dance. The freshman duet by Declan Curran and Nick Messick lip-syncing “Gotta go my own way” from High School Music fell short to the talented Jake Masino and Kyle Northrop duet. Junior, Alexander Walinski, said “I thought it was a strong performance by Masino and Northrop, they went out there and put in a lot of effort, and it showed” Juniors Ralphie Miller and Joseph Capriotti also performed a duet, singing along to “Love is an Open Door” from the popular Frozen film. It was a strong performance from the two, but the seniors had a powerful performance as well. Lear Asplundh, Michael Borys, Parker Cane, and Justin Horak sang and danced along to “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire along with William Kelley and William MacDowell dancing across the stage on rollerblades. In their 70’s outfits, the boys leaped to victory in their last ever performance as seniors. The after school festivities included hallway decorating and the volleyball tournament. The junior team “Pay the man” captured first place and seniors “Sherms children” second in volleyball.
Michael Borys and Connor Fitzgerald contributed to this article.
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