By Sammi Bray
In 1956, Betsy Wade became the first woman to edit news copy at The New York Times. She also was the first woman to lead the NewsGuild (then known as the Newspaper Guild of New York), a national journalism union. Yesterday, Wade passed away at the age of 91, after battling colon cancer. Wade was a champion for women in the world of journalism. When she entered the field, women were severely underrepresented, underpaid, and often tasked only with articles on fashion or cooking. Before joining The New York Times in 1956, Wade was fired from her reporting job at The New York Herald Tribune when she became pregnant. Her talent and skills quickly became essential to the success of many New York Times articles, fighting against attempts to keep her work confined to “articles for women.” Wade continued to pave the way for women, shattering many glass ceilings at The Times, including being the first women to edit articles by foreign correspondents, the first deputy chief of the foreign copy desk, and the first chief of the foreign copy desk. Her success was not accepted by all, as Wade often was subjected to sexist comments. In 1974, Wade, along with six others, filed a lawsuit against The Times for discrimination on the basis of sex. The women argued that their salaries were far less than their male counterparts, there were no women in top corporate positions, on the editorial board, or national correspondents. After four years of legal battles, The Times promised to hire more female employees. Wade’s dedication to the respect of others and equality, as well her accomplishments are admirable. In her lifetime, she reflected the St. Paul core values of character, excellence, and service, making her an excellent role model for all of our school’s aspiring writers. By Nicholas Coulliard
When the 2020 presidential election was held on Tuesday November 3rd, many knew going into it that we would not know the results that night. That evening, it was looking very likely for a Donald Trump victory, with the 45th president winning the state of Florida and leading in many competitive states early on. However, through the days following election night, President-elect Joe Biden took the lead in enough key states to reach the required 270 electoral votes to win the Presidency. As most polling firms anticipated, the voter turnout increased from the 2016 election. In fact, Joe Biden and Donald Trump received the largest and second-largest amount of votes cast for a candidate in United States history, respectively. This may be attributed to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the current state of the economy, etc. It appears that Democrats generally voted early, either by mail or in person, whereas Republicans were more likely to vote in person on Election Day. The abnormality of this election does not seem to end at how votes were cast. Joe Biden will be the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the states of Arizona and Georgia since Clinton carried the two states in 1996 and 1992 respectively. On the other hand, Republicans overperformed what many polling outlets were expecting in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, winning over many competitive seats that were not expected to go to the Republican Party. Trump has claimed that voter suppression is the reason for Biden’s victory and has refused to concede the election despite increasing pressure from other Republicans. Rather, his campaign has filed a multitude of lawsuits in key states, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, etc. As of the time this article was written, Trump’s administration has seen little success in backing these claims, with the majority of the disputes being dismissed. By Nicholas Coulliard After months of hard campaigning and a record-setting amount of money raised, Election Day will take place on November 3rd featuring Republican- nominee Donald Trump and Democratic- nominee Joseph Biden. Every eligible voter must decide how to cast their ballot - as New York Times bestselling author Sharon Salzberg has said, “Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country, and this world.”
Regardless if you’re a first-time voter, or if you’ve voted in previous elections, it is not difficult to register and cast your ballot. In the state of Connecticut, registration may be done online by accessing the state’s online voter registration system at https://voterregistration.ct.gov/OLVR/welcome.do. If you are planning on registering to vote online or by mail, the deadline in Connecticut is on October 27th. To verify that you’ve successfully registered, you may check the Connecticut Voter Registration Lookup at https://portaldir.ct.gov/sots/LookUp.aspx by inputting the same information you used to register. Additionally, Connecticut offers the option to register in-person on Election Day. As stated on the CT. Gov website, “Connecticut also has Election Day Registration...for voters who need it. Election Day Registration permits anyone to register and vote in person on Election Day who meets the eligibility requirements for voting in this state and is not already registered.” https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Election-Services/Election-Day-Registration/Election-Day-Registration While an ID is not required to vote at your polling station in Connecticut, it is recommended to bring one to streamline the verification process. A sufficient ID includes a driver’s license, a birth certificate, or a photo ID. In the event where no accepted form of identification is available to you, you can sign an affidavit, or a written oath, at your polling station. Go out and vote! It’s your right! By Nicholas Coulliard
With the 2020 general election less than a month away, the two major political parties are fiercely competing on virtually every level - presidential, senatorial, etc. For this reason, the shocking news about President Trump contracting COVID-19 couldn’t have come at a worse time for the RNC. Regardless of how long it takes the incumbent President to recover from the contagious virus, he will be required to spend two weeks under a quarantine. Being unable to do campaign work during one of the most critical periods of the election season is something that any political group would be terrified of. With this being said, the GOP has released a plan to compensate for the unfortunate turn of events. Dubbed as “Operation MAGA”, the President’s re-election campaign describes it as a plan to continue campaigning while Trump is quarantined. It will consist of in person events featuring Vice President Mike Pence and many of the incumbent President’s family members, in addition to virtual events featuring the President. In a time of such uncertainty, it is vital that you remain aware of the safety precautions required to ensure the health and safety of yourself and others during COVID-19!
Q: How does COVID-19 spread? A: COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets (breathing, talking, sneezing, coughing, singing). Q: How will I know if I have COVID-19? A: The most common symptoms are cough, shortness of breath, and fever. Symptoms can appear as soon as 2 days after exposure, but can take up to 2 weeks to show up. Q: How can I prevent contracting COVID-19? A: Wear a mask in public (avoid using a bandana as a face covering), continue to socially distance (minimum of 6 feet), and wash your hands regularly. Q: Who is at risk? A: People of all ages are at risk. However, those who are elderly or have underlying health conditions are the most at risk. Additionally, people in marginalized groups are increasingly at risk. According to the CDC: “Long-standing systemic health and social inequities have put many people from racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19...social determinants of health have historically prevented them from having fair opportunities for economic, physical, and emotional health” (CDC.GOV). To read more: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fneed-extra-precautions%2Fracial-ethnic-minorities.html |
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