Stonehill Skyhawk View

By Michael Paniagua JRN-100 News Reporter   Recent anti-Semitic episodes in athletics highlight ignorance and hate in the sports world, reflecting an increasing number of incidents against Jews in the wider world. This spring, NBA player Meyers Leonard was recorded using an anti-Semitic slur while live-streaming himself playing the popular video game Call of Duty: Warzone . The incident sparked attention from the public, the media, and Leonard’s team. On March 9, 2021, the Miami Heat suspended Leonard indefinitely, and the NBA fined him $50,000. Eight days later, Leonard was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder from Miami, just to be released from this new team.   Leonard has apologized, and is working with Jewish communities to restore his image and heal the hurt, but the example is only one among many. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents are on the rise in the United States.   Alan Freedman is the director of the Jewish Sports Heritage Associa...

By Amanda Maier  JRN100 Staff Writer  When COVID-19 hit at the beginning of 2020, the dangerous virus spread quickly through the population, but the pandemic also took its toll on the nation’s small businesses.  Within weeks of the pandemic shutdown, 43 percent of small businesses were temporarily closed according to the study, “The impact of COVID-19 on small business outcomes and expectations,” published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in July 2020. Researchers conducted a survey of more than 5,800 small businesses in the spring of 2020 and found small businesses experienced mass layoffs and closures, showing how “fragile” this sector of the economy is. The article states that the median firm with monthly expenses over 10,000 had only enough cash on hand to last about 2 weeks. The study also used the survey to review small business beliefs about the evolution of the crisis. The median business owner expected it to last well into midsummer, as 50% ...

By Curtis O’Donnell JRN 100 News Reporter     The world can breathe easier thanks to the limited number of cars on the road because of the pandemic lockdown. A recent study by researcher Tanjen Rume found that COVID-19 stopped industries, transportation, and companies from functioning, which caused a sudden drop in emissions of greenhouse g ases, also known Rume's study, called Environmental Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Sustainability Strategies. Global coal consumption also saw significant declines, the study found.   Pollution lessened as fewer planes have been flying. According to Rume, motor vehicles, including aircraft, largely contribute to greenhouse gas rising levels. Attorney Nick Vaz, an environmental science lawyer from Berkley, has worked in the field for seven years. "A lot of policies have changed to encourage the development of green energy. With the focus of changing coal to natural gas. This can be seen vividly in Pennsylvania,...

By Robbie Ix JRN100 Reporter Covid-19 antibodies developed after being sick with the virus offer people immunity similar to getting a vaccine and protection can last eight months or longer, a recent study shows. Researchers at the University of Minnesota found people who had COVID-19 had an 84% lower risk of becoming infected for a second time, and a 93% lower risk of symptomatic infection. This affects those who have previously tested positive for COVID-19 and reassures possible immunity for reinfection. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), After a person is infected with the virus, your body/immune system stores a memory of it. This memory is what we know as antibodies. Antibodies are the result of your immune system accepting recovery, after fighting off disease, offering brief immunity from the disease or virus. Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that latch onto one's bodily foreign invaders, such as disease or infection. These proteins are found in the bloodwork ...

By Emily Bramanti JRN100 Staff Reporter COVID-19 took its toll on mental health, especially for student athletes. Abby Remick, the junior captain on the Stonehill College volleyball team, had to find a way to cope with not being able to play with her team. She felt anxious and lost when the pandemic stopped her from playing volleyball for several months last year. Like many students, sports and exercise helped her deal with stress. “Not being able to play the sport I love has affected me in so many ways. Playing volleyball was an outlet for me to step away from everything that was going on, and since the COVID-19 took that away I was struggling” said Remick.  Sports are a way for people to get their emotions out in a healthy way. Exercise is proven to create a positive impact on mental health issues. Not only in the mental aspect that sports brings, but it brings a sense of community that was taken away during the pandemic. For Remick she had a hard time dealing with her stress and...

  By DJ Rankins JRN100 News Staff Writer   Sports leagues around the world have been successfully using restricted “bubbles” to contain teams within confined areas and keep them away from the public as a way to limit COVID-19.   Zachary Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University, said his study shows that the bubbles have worked with NCAA men’s and women’s basketball along with multiple professional sports leagues.    “As I see it, each and every bubble has been successful in terms of limiting the number of positive cases. This first began with the NBA who came out of a month-long bubble with zero negative cases,” he said.    Binney helps viewers to see both sides of the study of how productive these bubbles can be for players and staff. The unpopular non televised aspect of these confined areas is the mental health of those involved.    Geo Baker, a starting point guard for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, said the restrictions weigh heavily ...

  By Connor Walsh JRN 100 News Reporter Fast breaking news creates pressure situations that can lead to reporting errors harmful to journalist and people featured in the media, as with the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing coverage when sources identified an innocent man as the main suspect. “The natural impulse to identify the perpetrators of horrific acts as quickly as possible has often led to reporting of law enforcement efforts that swept up ,” said Jeffrey Hermes, author reporting for the Neiman Lab. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution released an article by Kathy Scruggs, claiming that Richard Jewell, a part-time security guard at the scene, was the lead suspect. The article, “F .B.I. Suspects ‘Hero’ Guard May Have Planted Bomb,” caused a whirlwind in the media, and even more so, forced the Federal Bureau of Investigation to distinguish Jewell as the main suspect. “Breaking news reporting is of most importance when it comes to the standard of truthful details as stories ca...

By Jack Schwietz JRN100 News Reporter   Sitmatic was riding high with a million contract to deliver ergonomic chairs for a healthcare company when the pandemic hit last year.  “We thought that we were doing great, and then suddenly, boom,” said Mary Houston national vice president of marketing and sales at Sitmatic, a small company based in Fullerton, California, that employs about 50 people.   Sitmatic is one of 9 million small businesses in the United States that struggled to survive through the shutdowns during the past year. A recent study found that COVID-19 forced many small businesses to shut down, resulting in job losses and companies going out of business. “Massive layoffs and closures had already occurred—just a few weeks into the crisis. 43% of small businesses had temporarily closed, and nearly all of these closures were due to COVID-19. Smaller businesses reported having reduced their active employment by 39% since January,” according to Impacts of ...