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Blue Light Special: The Rise of Blue Light Glasses

Milani Hunnicutt
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Blue Light Special: The Rise of Blue Light Glasses

As most schools are moving to distance learning due to coronavirus, Ukiah High Wildcats are stuck staring at a screen all day. Staring at the computer could have some negative effects on the brain and on eyesight but luckily a solution is gaining traction: Blue Light Glasses. 

According to information gathered from Blutechlenses.com, blue light is a color in the visible light spectrum that can be seen by human eyes. The website warns looking at blue light for too long can cause eyestrain, fatigue, headaches, and sleeplessness. Blue light glasses are glasses that can filter out blue light from your devices due to filtering materials or surface coatings on the lenses that block out blue light, the website explained.

As Wildcat screen time has increased and eye fatigue has been felt, several members of Wildcat Nation have begun wearing these blue light glasses in both ease their pain and look good doing it.

Freshman Aleea Johnston

Freshman Aleea Johnston first acquired the glasses because she was having headaches often so her mom got them for her. Johnston said that the glasses are not a fashion statement, but to help relieve her eye strain: “I don’t know if I like how they look on me, but the style doesn’t really bother me as long as they help.” Johnston said “I’m going on my third week of school with them on and they have decreased the days I have had headaches” Ultimately, Johnston “definitely recommend blue light glasses to fellow students.”

Freshman Farrah Daniels

Freshman Farrah Daniels’ mom bought her blue light glasses because she wanted to protect her eyes from the blue light. Daniels said, “I like how they look because they aren’t too big or too small” Daniels also says she would recommend blue light glasses to other Wildcats. 

Junior Basia L’Heureux

Junior Basia L’Heureux bought her blue light glasses because “being on devices all day made her eyes hurt and made me have headaches so I thought the glasses would help.” L’Heureux said, “I like how they look on me but I use them for function mainly and probably wouldn’t wear them out of school.” L’Heureux thought the blue light glasses help because “I feel like they help because they block out the damaging blue light being emitted from my Chromebook. I don’t get headaches and my eyes don’t hurt when I’m wearing the glasses while looking at the screen.” 

Take it from these Wildcats, as L’Heureux says, “You definitely want to keep your eyes safe!” Go online, order a pair, protect your eyes, and look cool doing it too.

“I Feel I Can’t Connect”: Ukiah High Wildcats Reflect on Distance Learning

Damien Amaya
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“I Feel I Can’t Connect”: Ukiah High Wildcats Reflect on Distance Learning

By Damien Amaya

Despite quarantine being established to protect the community from COVID-19, many Ukiah High students have started to experience the mental toll of distance learning feeling frustrated, anxious, and developing depression. Most students pointed towards the lack of socialization and stimulation as the root of this growing issue.

The National Center for Biotechnological Information (NCBI) states that humans are innately social. The American Psychological Association (APA) believes that loneliness can cause mental and physical health risks comparable to obesity, smoking, and drinking. What could this mean for students missing socialization and activities that UHS provided?

Many students have felt that their hobbies have been stripped from them. For example, Gavin Seng said, ¨Both my coping mechanisms: football and socialization have been taken away.¨ Gavin feels as though students do not have the easy opportunity to talk to friends anymore, to hear their voices: ¨I miss people and I haven’t found anything that helps other than actually talking. I only speak to one person now.¨ 

Sports and clubs at UHS have been a mainstay in student socialization and stimulations that has also, in general, come to a halt. Celena Linares is a club president of three different Ukiah High clubs, including the Improv and Poetry club. She expressed the difficulty of recruiting or doing anything at all through a screen. Linares loves swimming and playing tennis, although since sports are being pushed to spring, she is disappointed she has to choose only one. She said, ¨ I’m president of three now inactive clubs because they have to be in person. I can’t play my two sports. I can’t see multiple people a day. I spend my break, lunch, and after school in bed alone.¨ 

Along with social lives suffering, some students are worried about their academic life. One student, Serenity Gravlee, feels it is extremely hard to do schooling through a screen. When asked how she felt she responded with, ¨I feel I can’t connect with the teachers as much and it’s a lot harder to focus. Not being able to see the teachers face to face makes it really hard to learn for me because I´m a hands-on learner.” 

UHS Staff is also experiencing the challenges of distance learning. Ezra Post, a Spanish teacher for 18 years, feels it is hard to get to know students through the distance. He genuinely would like to get to know his students better and is worried about how we will reach out to his more shy students who may need help. Despite these distances, Post says, “I still see my students smiling and laughing. It reminds me of why I enjoy teaching.¨ 

Another teacher who misses learning about her students is Patty Halpin. She teaches biology and misses learning about her students and feels projects about students’ personality is important early on in the school year. Halpin said she would like to see students at their desks since she feels the distance affects students’ education.

Jacob Bainbridge, a social and emotional counselor, states that he is getting double the amount of students seeking help he usually does and expects more and more students to be coming for help. He thinks without a doubt quarantine is taking a toll on mental health. Bainbridge provided some advice for Wildcats seeking stimulations and socialization at this time: 

 ¨Reach out. Talk to your friends, family, or counselor. Letting it out and not trying to struggle alone is a huge first step. If you don’t want to talk with friends or family for whatever reason, come to a Social-Emotional counselor. It’s what we do and we want to help. Other tips:

1. Exercise – You may not want to but exercise gets the endorphins going. Exercise is a natural antidepressant.

2. Get outside – Sunlight provides you with Vitamin D another natural antidepressant in your body

3. Accomplish small goals – I like to start with just making the bed. It takes 2 minutes and it starts your day off with something you’ve already completed. Getting wins early helps.

4. Do things you enjoy – Find time for those things you do that are easy. Whether it’s reading, painting, Netflix, Tik Tok if it brings a smile to your face do it. The fancy term for that is self-care.¨

Wildcats are Going to the Ballot Box: UHS News’s Guide to Voting 2020

Bennett Gaylord
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Wildcats are Going to the Ballot Box: UHS News’s Guide to Voting 2020

By Bennett Gaylord

For the Wildcats turning eighteen before November, this will be the first time that they can vote in elections and vote for their beliefs. Even though voting is a fundamental activity for many Americans, it can seem intimidating if seniors do not know what they need to do to get there. Being educated on what you need to do and what you can do can be all that students need to feel more comfortable when they get to the voting booths this November. 

Mendocino County Assessor, County Clerk, Recorder, Katrina Bartolomie said that as of now, “We currently have 429 registered or pre-registered students that will turn 18 by Election Day.”

If Seniors have not yet registered to vote, they still can. Bartolomie said “If seniors are not registered yet, they need to register and anytime you move your residence you need to re-register.” 

Bartolomie said that as of now, “We currently have 429 registered or pre-registered students that will turn 18 by Election Day.”

If Seniors have not yet registered to vote, they still can. Bartolomie said “If seniors are not registered yet, they need to register and anytime you move your residence you need to re-register.” 

For recently graduated Wildcats who might be off to college, Bartolomie explained, “If you go off to school, you can change your mailing address so you get your ballot and voting materials mailed directly to you.  Completely fill in the box for the candidate you want to vote for – no X marks or slashed – use black or blue ink, or scanners read those colors the best.” 

With all of the first time voters registering to vote, it can seem intimidating when you finally get to the ballot box. Bartolomie recommends, “talk to your parents about how they are voting, ask questions.  If you are unsure on a race or measure, you don’t have to vote for or against it – it’s ok to not vote on that – the races/measures you vote on will still be counted.  

When completing the ballot, Bartolime reminded Wildcats to, “be sure to complete the backside of the envelope and sign your name, if you’re unsure of how you signed the voter registration card (a signature you can read or a quick squiggly signature) you can sign both ways, or you can call our office and ask.”

Ukiah High School Senior Haylie Seever is one of the students who will be voting this November. She considers herself to be rather educated on the topic of voting, and because of this, she has confidence in herself and her opinions. Seever said, “I feel pretty educated and comfortable voting in this election. Big matters on the ballot I feel I have more understanding about rather than the little ones, I’d say.” Even with the lack of knowledge on the smaller issues, Seever is excited to finally get to have herself finally heard:“I’m pretty excited because now I feel like I have more of a say in things that are going on.” 

Another Wildcat, Reagan McDougall is going to be voting this November. Expressing the feeling of voting for the first time, McDougall said, “It feels surreal. I remember going with my mom to vote every four years and always getting an ‘I voted’ sticker. Now this November, I can actually put an ‘I voted’ sticker on and it can be true!” 

Bartolomie said the county is hoping Wildcats will volunteer to work polling booths this coming November:  “We are looking for high school students to help us at the polls in November.” 

Senior Wildcats can register to vote at www.registertovote.ca.gov.

“Get a Job”: Wildcats Forgoing College for a Career

John Livingston
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“Get a Job”: Wildcats Forgoing College for a Career

By John Livingston

Ukiah High Wildcats are about a quarter way into the school year, and the seniors of Wildcat Nation are starting to think about life after high school. UHS News wanted to speak with Wildcats who do not plan to attend college and understand what they intend to do for a career.

12th grader Josh Smalls gave us some insight into his career path. His family owns the S&S Towing Company, and since freshman year, he knew he wanted to work for the family business. Smalls does not need to go to college to run S&S Towing, but he has to take a traffic management class. He said the class would help him identify hazards, assess and control risks, and determine control measures. Smalls will also take a towing course, which teaches the basics of towing, such as how much weight a specific trailer can hold and what hitch to use when pulling different things.

12th grader Kaycee Bushby said she wants to work for Granite Construction Company and be a heavy equipment operator. To qualify for a heavy equipment operator position,Edison.com says applicants must take the heavy equipment operator test, which covers the major knowledge areas needed to be eligible for the job. Bushby also said she might become a Marine or a firefighter. According to FCTConline.org, to be a firefighter, applicants must pass the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) which is a timed test that assesses applicants on how well they handle eight scenarios designed to replicate tasks that are on the job.

12th grader Chris Tussey has a love of cars. Tussey loves to buy and sell cars. When asked him what he plans to do for a career, Tussey said, “I plan to travel to wherever my girlfriend plans to go to college and get a job in a car dealership specializing in car sales.”According to Betterteam.com, to qualify for a car salesman position, an individual must complete a DMV salesperson qualification test. Some car sales also have to have to attend a dealer training program. Tussey already has experience selling and buying cars, but he still must be licensed. 

Whether a Wildcat goes to a junior college, a four year, an ivy league, or gets into a career, it is vital that a Wildcat can say, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” 

“Making the Most Out of This”: Ukiah High Wildcats Find a Silver Living in Life During a Pandemic

Mia Gittleman
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“Making the Most Out of This”: Ukiah High Wildcats Find a Silver Living in Life During a Pandemic

Since COVID-19 restrictions have been in place and schools have closed, many have worried that Ukiah High Wildcats would be negatively affected. UHS News sought out Wildcats who were able to find a silver lining in these dark times and make the best of a bad situation.

Ukiah High Junior Aaron Castañeda offered an optimistic outlook on the current state of distance learning: “The stress about going to school and doing school in person is gone.” He said,  “I love distance learning. I can work at my own time and at my own pace. I’m even improving academically.”

Castañeda did say he misses the camaraderie and group exercise of sports athletics: “When it comes to working out I relied on sports. I don’t like working out alone, so my motivation for exercise is very low because of distance learning”.”

Ukiah High Junior Roseli Nunez offered a different perspective stating, “I don’t enjoy school like I used to, but only because I’m not in the warm, welcoming environment that school provided for me.” Despite missing the school environment Nunez did say,  ¨It hasn’t been too hard, so yes, at the moment I am enjoying distance learning.”  

Nunez described how “[a]t the beginning of quarantine, I hadn’t figured out a plan. I had no motivation for anything”. She realized that if she wanted to stay motivated she needed to get a planner. Since then, Nunez described her motivation for school coming naturally.

Nunez did offer that since the closure of school her outlook about taking advantage of educational opportunities has changed: “Quarantine made me realize that I needed to get involved in as much as I could or I would regret it in the future.”

Nunez spoke of initial stressors from shelter-in-place and how those stressors eased over time: “In the beginning, I wasn’t doing well. Everyone was still adjusting so there was a lot of frustration in my household. Mentally, I’m doing better and I’m learning to make the most out of this.”

Album of the Week: George Clanton’s ‘Slide’

Drew Dattilo
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Album of the Week: George Clanton’s ‘Slide’
Slide | George Clanton

By Drew Dattilo

By 2018, vocalist and producer George Clanton had made a name for himself in the underground electronic scene during the 2010s, being one of the innovative pioneers of the meme-like micro-genre Vaporwave. Whether that name was one of his aliases, like Esprit or Mirror Kisses, or his current title George Clanton, the Vaporwave artist won the respect of all of his peers and all of the fans of Vaporwave at the time. 

Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music that began during the late 2000s and rose to popularity during the early 2010s, with projects such as Floral Shoppe by Macintosh Plus or Birth of a New Day by 2814. Vaporwave was stylized by slowing down and chopping up samples of the 70s and 80s songs, inducing a sense of nostalgia in every listener, even if they weren’t alive to experience those periods. 

The genre was a contribution to meme-culture at the time as well, with the song “Lisa Frank 420/Modern Computing” by Macintosh Plus being one of the most popular meme songs of all time. The track is essentially just a slowed-down version of Diana Ross’s 1984 song “It’s Your Move.” This song would lay the foundation for Vaporwave to come until musician George Clanton emerged and changed the entire scene. Clanton expanded the initial idea of Vaporwave by creating his compositions instead of sampling and adding the nostalgic feel that the original Vaporwave had. Clanton and fellow Vaporwave artist Negative Gemini started their label 100 Percent Electronica, a label that focuses on Vaporwave and keeps the genre fresh and alive. This label would become the most significant independent label specializing in Vaporwave of all time.

George Clanton released many projects under a few different names throughout the label’s creation back in 2015 and gained popularity in the Vaporwave scene. It was in 2018 though that Clanton took Vaporwave to its peak with his exhilarating album, Slide. This record is described by Clanton himself as a “Vaporwave opera,” and the album definitely holds up to that description. 

File:George Clanton.png

When you start the album, you’re immediately welcomed with the track “Livin’ Loose,” with warm synths and smooth saxophone licks creating a chill atmosphere. This atmosphere continues through the whole album, adding to this record’s consistent laid-back tone. Following the first track, comes the song “Make It Forever,” one of his most popular songs with over 3 million streams on Spotify to date. This song, being more straightforward, explores the idea of missing somebody you love over lush synth lines and a break-beat style drum beat, continuing the refreshing feel of the record. After that, Clanton serves us the more energetic “Tie Me Down,” a song that lays its foundation within the deep synth bass lines and smooth vocal lines. Although the track is a little more upbeat, it still continues the chill vibe that was established at the beginning of the record. Then, we get my personal favorite song on the whole album, “Dumb.” Everything about this composition is beautiful, how it hooks you with the simple guitar riff, and then adds a beautiful and lush synth with an energetic drum beat to it. On top of this, George Clanton provides an amazing vocal performance here, singing about leaving somebody in a relationship and the feeling that comes with it. When Clanton exclaims “I feel dumb, I feel lazy,” it always reminds me of how I sort of feel while listening to this record. I let everything go, and just become immersed in the music, and I believe that is ultimately what Clanton wanted the listener to experience. Letting the music flow through your ears until you just become numb to everything around you is the best way to experience this record. The ending to “Dumb” fades into the next track “Blast Off,” which acts as a sort of interlude with ambient synth chords among an arpeggiated melody. For the remaining half of the record, the songs flow through you with a calm and refreshing tone like the previous tracks, and they feature Clanton’s signature Vaporwave style all throughout. Clanton even experiments with using some of his previous songs on the album in the track “You Lost Me There.” The beautifully catchy hook from “Make It Forever” appears on this groovy, bass-heavy track with Clanton passionately singing “When you come back again, we can convene and make it forever!” While it’s the same line he had used before, it fits very well in this 6-minute track as it flows beautifully with the instrumentation, and being that it’s in a different key this time, it feels different; it feels a little more melancholy. The closer of Slide, “Walk Slowly,” manages to leave us with a lasting feeling of serenity, as it recycles the same chimney synth from the opener, making the whole listening experience feel extremely cohesive.

Vaporwave pioneer George Clanton released Slide in 2018, and listeners have been engulfed by this record’s feel-good atmosphere ever since. The songwriting is gorgeous, it creates a perfectly consistent tone while experimenting with different sounds. On the technical side of the project, it’s crafted beautifully. George Clanton proves himself to be not only a great songwriter but a talented producer and mixer. The mixes all sound amazing for it being entirely self-produced/mixed by Clanton. Clanton’s self-proclaimed description of his album (a “Vaporwave opera”) turns out to be incredibly accurate, as the album is entirely its own experience. I personally call this record a modern essential, the experience of listening to this record is one of a kind.

Sweet Dreams! The Grim Realities Of Catching Some Zzzzzs

UHS News Staff
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Sweet Dreams! The Grim Realities Of Catching Some Zzzzzs
Image: John Henry Fuseli – The Nightmare

By Makenzie Walsh

If there’s one thing people love, it’s sleeping. The problem is, once your mind slips out of the seams of reality and into a dream, it can get much worse. Prepare to wish you never read this article as we dive headfirst into dark facts about what was once a safe haven. There is no escape now.

  1. To begin with, sleep paralysis is a widespread occurrence that anyone can fall prey to. You, the reader, may have experienced it one or more times yourself! It most notably is the temporary ability to move or speak while falling asleep or upon awakening. Sleep paralysis doesn’t last very long, but it is known to be a frightening experience, nonetheless. A sensation like suffocation and troubling hallucinations tend to come with, the latter often being referred to as “sleep paralysis demons” by many. Even though it has been stated that anybody can become sleep paralyzed, some mental health conditions have been shown to have connections to sleep paralysis itself, making them more prone to it.
  2. Night terrors are episodes of flailing, intense fear, and screaming. All of which occur while still asleep, and can be paired with sleepwalking. While night terrors and nightmares are similar, they are not identical. For example, nightmares are vividly recalled, but night terrors can only be remembered vaguely, sometimes not at all. They last for several minutes, and people usually fall asleep again after the fact. Make no mistake, while night terrors aren’t too bad for the person having them, imagine having to see someone else experiencing it. That’s a very different can of worms I have opened for you, now lie in it.
  3. Fear isn’t the only cause of nightmares. Confusion, sadness, guilt, and so on are much heavier driving forces. On top of this, these nightmares, which are so intense that they can wake you up, can be terrifying that the people having them may fear falling asleep. Those awakened by nightmares may not be capable of falling back to sleep, creating artificial insomnia. This fear and subsequent lack of sleep can lead to deteriorating mental health, too, and given the cause of nightmares, this spells out nothing good.

On that note, we can put this article to sleep. Perhaps this article has given you a newfound interest in psychology, sleep, and anything related. On the other hand, if you wholeheartedly wish you never read this article, any hard feelings.

Ukiah High Students Create Discord Server to Stay Connected; Currently Recruiting Admins

Royce Whelan
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Ukiah High Students Create Discord Server to Stay Connected; Currently Recruiting Admins

Some students have created small Discord groups to stay connected and help each other with classwork. A group of students has a bigger vision: to develop a school-wide server and are looking for trusted admins to help monitor the content. Recruited admins will help make sure people are not hateful or toxic towards each other and keep it a lively community.

Because of distance learning, students have not been able to socialize as much as we used to. Before the pandemic, students could mix and make friends during lunch or break, but now, we can’t do that. Discord is an excellent way for people to stay connected and talk to each other in a simple, easy way. 

For those who do not know, Discord is a way for people to communicate with each other through text and voice chat channels. It has also been used as a way to make new friends or to stay in touch with old ones. Discord is usually used by gamers to communicate while playing or to chat with each other, but people often use it for other purposes as well.

To make a school-wide server, individual text chat channels are made for every class. Because this is such a big project, we need trusted people to help look over the server, and we are actively recruiting admins for the server. We ask anyone interested in joining the Discord or the the admin ranks to email royce_whelan22@uusd.net and explain why you’re interested and a little about your experience with Discord.

“A Vicious Cycle”: Kanye West’s Antics and Society’s Perceptions of Mental Health

Abby Kirkley
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“A Vicious Cycle”: Kanye West’s Antics and Society’s Perceptions of Mental Health

Most people know Kanye West: rapper, owner of Yeezy, husband of the famous Kim Kardashian, and recent presidential candidate for the 2020 election. It is also well known that Kanye suffers from Bipolar disorder. Many have seen his public manic episodes, the most recent of which was, reportedly, his run for presidency. During his campaign, he held a rally in South Carolina, at which he shared extremely personal information about his family, and ranted on several unrelated topics. This episode was extremely public, as he is a celebrity and has a large platform, so many peoples’ views on mental illness may have been influenced. 

Jen Julius, a social-emotional counselor at Ukiah High School, addressed how West’s manic episodes could influence the public’s perception of mental illness. Julius said, “I see people quite often writing people off as ‘crazy’ rather than showing compassion or curiosity around any potential mental health issues they could be facing.” Julius said that with the stigma around mental illness, “people are less likely to obtain help as they also don’t want to be perceived as ‘crazy!’ So we seem to be in a vicious cycle, unfortunately.” 

 Kanye West’s incident is a perfect example of the vicious cycle Julius described. Many members of the public assume that he has gone mad blaming his mental illness or writing it off as just a celebrity looking for attention. Because something like this is so public, people may become desensitized to it and not really view it as a mental illness. Julius commented on this by saying that people may lack empathy for him “due to his history of saying rather mean things publicly about others, which it appears he continued to do in his recent ‘episode.’ This can make it much harder to show compassion for someone who just appears ‘mean.’” 

Public portrayals of mental illness can skew the way people see their own mental health. If individuals assess their mental health based on what they see in the media (either ‘perfectly happy’ influencers, or severe emotional and violent examples) their assessment could be incorrect. With there not being much representation for the common middle ground, our culture’s measurement of mental illness is greatly flawed. Julius adds, “with this being so public, I fear it may cause people with more mild symptoms to ignore them, thinking they “aren’t a big deal” or “aren’t that bad” and using his behavior as their gauge”. A public display of mental illness such as West’s can not only influence ideas on mental health by making people indifferent, but also by changing their perceptions of their own mental health. 

There is a benefit of West’s public mental illness because mental health is usually so private and often taboo. Potentially, mental illness in the media may make it easier to talk about. The goal is to allow people to feel comfortable talking about and getting help with mental health, or as Julius put it, “No one would make fun of someone for going to the ER for a broken arm, or calling a mechanic when their car breaks down.” Julius added, “I wish people saw getting therapy/counseling/other mental health support the same way- when they are feeling their mental or emotional well-being isn’t where they’d like it to be- they simply contact someone who can help them gain the tools to feel better”. 

While West’s negative public episode may have negatively affected the public’s perception of mental illnesses, hopefully some good can come out of society becoming aware of the struggles of mental illness. 

The 6% Health Blunder: Public Misinterpretations of COVID-19 Death Data

Daniel Gonzalez
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The 6% Health Blunder: Public Misinterpretations of COVID-19 Death Data

By Daniel Gonzalez

As of September 1st, nearly 183,000 Americans have succumbed to COVID-19 and as the death toll continues to rise, so do the people who believe the death count is vastly inflated. A poll from July by Axios-Ipsos surveyed that nearly one in three people within the United States believe death counts are lower than what is being reported.

Over the last weekend, a claim via Twitter became viral: that only 6 percent of US pandemic deaths have been from COVID-19 itself. The statistic was originally from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that 94 percent of individuals who died due to the coronavirus in the United States had underlying health conditions that contributed to their untimely death.

Although assigning the reason of death is not straightforward due to the complexity of the coronavirus itself, it was not long until disease experts and scientists took to social media to point out the 6 percent infographic figure that had become widely misinterpreted. In addition to their efforts of refuting claims to downplay the death numbers, public health experts have consistently noted that numbers are likely undercounts to the true toll of the virus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a position he has been acting since the administration of Ronald Regan, believes that the real death count could be above 50 percent more than the official national death toll.

We as humans are susceptible to a multitude of biases, but not everyone is a coronavirus skeptic. That is because people with different basic beliefs approach new information with different attitudes and get caught up in misinformation, no matter your place upon the political spectrum. Don’t accept all your information from a singular source and investigate different viewpoints, so you can stay informed on the topics that worry you the most.

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