The MaST Tribune
November 2019 Edition
Overview
Time to Vote!
Thanksgiving Traditions to StartThe College Path
Fall 2019 Fashion
JRA Food Drive
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
MaST to the Past: Kidz Bop
Time to Vote! -By Kara Hondros
This year marks the first time many of us can vote in an election, and the first time we can give our opinions on who should be our public officials. If you’re 18 years old, exercising your right to vote is an easy way to make a change in our community. Before you vote, though, you should be aware of a few things. Firstly, you must bring a valid I.D.(photo or non-photo) with you to the registration such as a driver’s license. Also, make sure you find the polling place closest to you by using the online form linked below. Most important of all, though, is making sure you’re aware of the candidates’ policies before going into the voting booth. Voting for someone who you’d trust to take care of our state and country ensures that you’ll be happy with your decision. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. so make your mark!
The Politics Club will be having a Voter Registration Drive on November 22nd in the LGI. I encourage you all to come out and register so your voice can be heard!
https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/PollingPlaceInfo.aspx
Thanksgiving Traditions to Start -By Kaylynn Siedlecki
Football, parades, and turkey may be Thanksgiving go-to's, but this holiday can have so much more depth if family traditions were added and stuck with every year. Here are some unique traditions that you and your family can start this Thanksgiving.
Sign a tablecloth - Last Thanksgiving, my mom bought a reusable, plain white tablecloth that will last for years. Every Thanksgiving, me and my family will sign the tablecloth and then write the year under our signature. This tradition is very important to me, because one day, I will have that tablecloth and eventually my kids will and so forth.
Have a table toast - The most important part of Thanksgiving is: being thankful. Ask each family member to raise their glass - even if that’s a sippy cup full of apple juice - and make a toast about what they’re thankful for. This is a great way to begin Thanksgiving dinner.
Pass around a journal - You’re probably thinking this is a little too formal and somewhat “extra”, but one day, it would be amazing to look back at. Simply get a blank journal and pass it around at Thanksgiving dinner. Ask all your guests to write at least one thing that they are thankful for. Over the years, fill the book with comments and enjoy reading them aloud at Thanksgiving celebrations come around.
Go for a family morning walk - Yes, this may sound corny. However, Thanksgiving is all about spending time with the people you are thankful for. A walk in the fall air with your family is a perfect way to start a busy and often stressful day.
The College Path -By Bridget McLaughlin
During my junior year, I felt like I was constantly being bombarded with questions about what I want to do in the future. What colleges am I going to apply to? What do I want to major in? Do I have plans for after college? At the time, I was overwhelmed by these questions. I had only visited a couple of colleges. I felt pretty secure in what I wanted to major in, but that soon changed. I would tell people that I was going to major in English because I felt like I needed an answer to people’s ‘college major’ question. I was good at English at school, so why not just major in it? This past summer, I realized why I shouldn’t “just major in it”. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I could do with an English major after college: a lot of things. However, none of those things would make me feel happy or fulfilled. It wasn’t the right path for me.
Luckily, I knew what I truly did enjoy: art, graphic design to be specific. I just didn’t know what I could do with a major in that field. I felt like “I’m going to major in English” sounded a lot better to adults than “ I’m going to major in Graphic Design”. English is safer. After further research, however, I found that graphic designers are in high demand since every company wants a face to their business. So I rerouted my college plan, and began looking at schools that offered a major in Graphic Design. Now, I’m in the process of creating a portfolio of the work that I loved creating in order to get into a school where I can learn about something that I love.
Though I’m still completely overwhelmed about college in general, I now know what direction I believe I want to go in, but that might still change and that’s okay. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure put on us as teenagers to know what we want to do with the rest of our lives. I’ve only been on this planet for 17 years, how am I expected to know what I want to do with my life for the next number of decades? I know it might seem like everyone around you knows where they are going and where they want to be in 20 years, but the truth is, their plans will most likely change. Take your time and do what makes you feel fulfilled. We’ll end up where we’re supposed to be (hopefully).New Fall 2019 Fashions -By Megan Heineman
JRA Food Drive - By Sophia Shaloka
As young adults, I feel as though we often forget about giving back to others in our community. Participating in community service creates mutual respect amongst strangers and a feeling of accomplishment knowing that your small actions have a big impact. On Sunday, October 27th, I volunteered with other MaST students in NHS and Student Council at the Jewish Relief Association. Within a couple of hours, over 3,000 food boxes were packed for hungry families. I was fascinated by how organized the process was and how many people were volunteering with their families, friends, and schools. I started by going through the assembly line, first getting a box and then entering a row where more volunteers were ready to pack my box with food. There were lots of color-coded rows to ensure that the process of making boxes was quick and efficient. After going through this cycle a couple of times, I was then asked to volunteer by putting carrots in everyone’s box who enters the row I was assigned to. I quickly learned that I would have to be fast in order to keep up with the abundance of boxes coming my way. Making sure that everything fits securely in the box was a bit of a challenge, but the process was still quite simple and went by fast. Though I was sweating by the end of the day, I actually found the process to be quite fun and rewarding. While I did this as an event with MaST’s Student Council, I hope to volunteer again soon and I encourage everyone to try and volunteer at the JRA or another place of service. I know we all may be quite busy, but to take even thirty minutes out of your day to help those in need is greatly appreciated. Your minor sacrifice of time on one day could be the reason that someone has food on their table for the next week.
If you are interested in volunteering at the JRA, Mrs.MacConnell and Mr. Gellert have plans to attend the JRA monthly. If you are interested, be sure to email them!
Black Friday and Cyber Monday - By Tekle Tskhvariashvili
For lovers of shopping like myself, Black Friday is an exciting time to look forward to. For some, it might be an opportunity to get an early start on Christmas shopping, or just a way to get a new high priced item they’ve wanted for a while. Black Friday is best known for being the time when popular electronics companies, like Best Buy, have consumer- favorite deals everybody rushes to get. There’s an alternative for those who dislike being pushed around the store and taking 15 minutes to find a parking spot at the mall: Cyber Monday. Here is a list of websites and stores that have the best Cyber Monday deals!
Walmart:
Up to $100 saving on select TVs, tech accessories, and toys.
Apple Airpods- $144 (Originally $160)
PlayStation Slim Fortnite Bundle with Gaming Headphones—$299 ($59 off)
Target:
Beats Powerbeats Wireless Pro - $189.99 (save $60)
Clothing, shoes, and accessories- buy one, get one 60% off.
Old Navy:
Clothing- anywhere from 10-60% off plus 30% taken off at checkout.
Macy's: Promo Code- FRIEND
Select regular-priced, sale & clearance clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, luggage & home items- extra 30% off
Select regular-priced, sale & clearance watches- extra 25% off
Select beauty- 15% off
Select regular-priced, sale & clearance furniture, mattresses, rugs & small appliances- extra 10% off
Hollister:
Entire store (jackets, coats, tops, bottoms)- 50% off, plus free shipping on all orders.
Don't forget to mark your calendars! Cyber Monday is on December 2nd this year.
MaST to the Past: Kidz Bop - By Stephen Schmidt
I had the idea of writing an article about Kidz bop, since the start of MaST to the Past in October of 2018. I never went with that idea, because that would mean I would have to listen to a lot of Kidz Bop. So over the last month or so I’ve basically listened to enough Kidz Bop to last my entire life. The first thing I want to talk about is something minor but it still really bugs me. Why is it KIDZ Bop and not KIDS Bop? Replacing the S with a Z just makes it sound like they’re trying to be cool when it really just makes them seem annoying.
Now for zome hiztory (see, replacing the s with a z makes no sense). I could not for the life of me find any history on Kidz Bop. I know it was created by two men, Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam, and that the brand is owned and managed by Razor & Tie (yes that’s a real company name). After doing some more research, I was able to find out that Razor & Tie actually had some successful artists like Joe Jackson and a bunch of bad teen artists (which makes sense coming from those in charge of Kids Bop). I also found out that Ross Lynch, the kid who played Gibby on I Carlie, and Zendaya were all Kidz Bop performers. I’m glad the rest of their careers were better than this.
Geez, we haven’t even talked about the music yet! I like to call Kidz Bop the already-chewed gum of the music world. It’s cheesy bubble gum pop music without any of the flavors. For those of you blessed without the knowledge, Kidz bop is kids sing covers of modern pop songs. Sorry, I meant to say Kidz bop is kids brutally murdering modern pop songs until there is nothing but hollow shells of what they used to be. They have been doing this for a while, as there are 40 main kidz bop albums, and dozens more special releases and compilations.
But it is not like they are taking pop songs and singing them exactly the same. Nope, Kidz Bop is famous for its lyric changes. Some of these changes make sense, like removing the curse words from the song, but other changes, however, don’t make sense. To explain this, let’s look at just one recent example: Old Town Road. The first change is from “lean on in my bladder” to “ riding on my bladder”. Why? What was wrong with the original lyric? Also, riding on a bladder sounds very painful. They leave the line “cheated on my baby” alone, which is funny coming from, children. The next change is from “bull riding and B@@#!@s” to “ bull riding and bougie”. This change does make sense since b@@#!@s should not be in a kid’s song, and bougie fits the tone of the song, good job Kidz Bop! I will give you that one. Any goodwill is lost with the next lyric change though. The lyrics went from “wrangler on my booty” to “Wrangler like on TV”. This is the worst lyric I have ever heard in my life. What was wrong with the original lyric? If you had to change it, ( which you didn’t), why did you change it to “Wrangler like on TV”? No kid would get that reference, The TV show Wrangler lasted for only six episodes and it was on in 1960!!! They also have to change the song to fit who is singing it.
The song Thank U, Next does not make any sense coming from anyone except Arianna. The Kidz Bop crew changed the song in a way that just takes all of the meaning out of the song. Kidz Bop takes good songs and makes them the worst garbage ever made. They ruined the guitar solo in Livin’ on a Prayer, took all of the beat out of Thrift Shop, took all of the meaning out of Tik Tok, made Sk8ter Boi sound even worse, and don't get me started with what they did to Feel Good Inc. My favorite song of all time is Float on by Modest Mouse, and I was horrified to find out that there was a Kidz Bop version. The opening guitar line in the original was smooth and honest. In the Kidz Bop version, the guitars sound like they have been put through 90 different filters until it sounds like something made on a computer. The opening line of the original is deep and meaningful, and the Kidz Bop crew added a big, loud, “yeah” after it. Float On is a deep and depressing song and Kidz Bop made it sound happy and flavorless.
Don't ever listen to Kidz Bop, you will regret it. If you want to listen to some lighter pop listen to the Spice Girls, New Kids on the Block, Or Joe Jackson. Remember him? The Razor & Tie artist I mentioned earlier? He actually had some really good pop stuff in the ’70s and ’80s, so instead of listening to Kidz Bop, listen to Joe instead. Oh, by the way, it goes without saying but, I give everything Kidz Bop has ever done a 0/10.
Here is my favorite Joe Jackson song. Give it a listen!