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Your Summit Weekly Briefing

By Ashwath Vimal, Angela Hwang and Ethan Ignatovsky

Staff Writers

Disclaimer: Though the Weekly Briefings are no longer tagged in the Opinions section of Summit News and we try to remain as unbiased as possible, our opinions may show through in this article, especially in the “Actions” section.

Summit:

Technology: Check out this article by Summit Denali staff writers Sean Quigley and Cayden Tsai on the pros and cons of technology at schools, using professional studies and personal interviews. Also, read this article by Summit Denali staff writers Vibhu Gogineni and Joshua Schermann which expands upon the negatives of technology use overall, such as poor mental health and obesity.
Entertainment: Read this article by staff writer Arianna Medina which reviews the Netflix-original Korean drama “All of Are Dead” and the potential impact it had upon its audience. Additionally, click on this link to check out an article on why Frozen is a great influence on younger kids by Cooper staff writers Cooper Afendakis, Meiru Chen, Sophia Garcia and Karissa Tang.
Summit Denali: Head to this article by Denali staff writer Jennifer Curry to see how skateboarding has transformed Denali students physically and mentally.

General News:

Daylight savings may be here to stay full-time, as earlier this week the Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act. Before it gets passed into legislation, however, it needs to be approved by the House of Representatives and President Biden. Potential benefits of the bill include a decline in crime due to later hours of daylight, reduced obesity rates amongst children since they can go outside later into the day and a decrease in depression cases associated with less sunlight, as stated by Senator Marco Rubio. However, opposition to the bill includes doctors saying that the later the sun sets, the less sleep people will get as melatonin (which helps people fall asleep) sets in after sunset. Furthermore, educators have voiced concerns about children having to wait for the bus in complete darkness and the fact that the sun may only rise at 9 a.m. in some places.
Nine people were killed in a vehicle crash involving multiple golf players from the University of the Southwest located in New Mexico. The crash occurred on Tuesday night when the men’s and women’s golf teams were returning to the University from a tournament, where they crashed into a pickup truck containing a now-deceased adult and child. There were two survivors from the golf teams, who were both in critical condition on Wednesday. Early discoveries from the ongoing investigation on the crash concluded that the truck, which was heading south, swerved into the southbound lanes into a van carrying the golf teams. Officials from the University of the Southwest announced they will “provide counseling and religious services to all students…and staff…”.

Covid-19:

As the US continues to open up, and look hopeful towards the future, Europe might be facing another wave of Covid-19. Cases have ridden by 48% and hospitalizations by 17% following the lifting of mitigations by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Over half of the European countries have seen an increase in cases during the past couple of weeks. The situation has caught the attention of American health experts, with Dr. Fauci saying “we’re watching this very carefully”. The rising infection numbers are from the BA.2 variant, which is highly transmissible, and the beginning of maskless mingling indoors is a leading cause for these new infections according to experts.
Pfizer/BioNTech have officially submitted an application to the FDA for emergency authorization of a fourth dose of their Covid-19 vaccine for people 65 and older. New data has come out from Israeli scientists that have led Pfizer to push for this. An analysis of more than 1.1 million Israelis over the age of 60 have seen decreased infection and less severe cases of covid after receiving the third dose. However, data is showing that the effects of the third dose don’t last very long, which has led Pfizer to pursue a fourth one. Pfizer has tested a fourth dose on 154 Americans, and there have been positive results. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CBS on Sunday, “The protection we are getting from the third, it is good enough — actually quite good for hospitalizations and deaths — [however it’s] not that good against infections… [it] doesn’t last very long… we are just submitting those data to the FDA, and then we’ll see what the experts also would say outside Pfizer”.

Politics:

The New York Times reports the Texas Supreme Court has “shut down” a “final challenge” to the Heartbeat Act. The Act gave everyone power to enforce this law, regardless of whether they are a government official. Because of this, Texas has said the law may not be challenged in federal court because the Court “cannot rewrite the statute”.
Iranian missiles hit the U.S. consulate in Iraq on Sunday. The complex was unoccupied at the time and there have been no reported injuries; however, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have increased.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Congress on Wednesday. He requested stronger policies to stop the conflict, using “graphic” media in order to try and convince Congress. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace,” he said. Previously, the U.S. has sent about $14 billion in aid to Ukraine and moved to stop importing Russian oil. Also, China may have offered military support to Russia; however, the U.S. has warned China against aiding Russia. It should be noted both China and Russia denied these claims. In addition, the U.K. will no longer have a “cap” on the number of Ukrainian refugees that may live with host families. Both the U.S. and the U.K. have announced new sanctions on the Russian elites and imports.
Sarah Bloom Raskin has withdrawn her nomination as President Biden’s “pick to be the Federal Reserve’s top Wall Street watchdog amid a clash over her climate views,” according to Politico. She wrote, “Their point of contention was my frank public discussion of climate change and the economic costs associated with it.”

Sports:

NFL:

In a week with an immense amount of sporting news, one event that stands out among the rest is the unretirement of Tom Brady. Lots of people saw this coming, but now it’s official. Brady took to social media to confirm he would be back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the upcoming season, saying “These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands… I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business”.
NFL Free agency is in full swing as well, and here is a brief coverage of the most important moves:
1. J.C. Jackson (Cornerback) – Los Angeles Chargers 5 years, $82.5M: Jackson broke out for the New England Patriots with 8 interceptions and a league-leading 23 pass breakup. Now the 28-year-old finds himself as CB1 with a rising team in the Chargers.
2. Chris Godwin (Wide Receiver) – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 years, $60M: Godwin was franchise tagged by the Buccaneers heading into the offseason, he’ll return once again to be a go-to-guy for Tom Brady.
3. Von Miller (EDGE) – Buffalo Bills 6 years, $120M: Von Miller was a face of the Denver Broncos franchise before being shipped to the Los Angeles Rams during last season. Although he only played half a season for LA he will go down in history as he was a part of the SuperBowl winning squad. Now he will take his talents across the country to Buffalo, the contract is quite a big one for an aging star, coming out of his prime, but if anyone could make the deal worth it, it’s probably Miller.
4. Chandler Jones (EDGE) – Las Vegas Raiders 3 years, $51M: Jones had a nice year for the Arizona Cardinals coming back from injury, and is a nice pickup for the Raiders.
5. Mike Williams (Wide Receiver) – Los Angeles Chargers 3 years, $60M: Williams had his best season last year in terms of staying healthy and his play on the field; he proved to be a great deep threat and option in the red zone for young Quarterback Justin Herbert. There’s some talk that Williams might be moved and won’t spend all that time with the Chargers but only time will tell.

Entertainment:

Marvel released their trailer for their upcoming summer show “Ms. Marvel”, which hits Disney+ on June 8 of this year. The series follows Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager who suddenly gains superpowers as she tries her best to fit in as a normal high-schooler. The trailer shows the audience flashes of her everyday life, revealing her worship of superheroes (especially Captain Marvel), before transitioning into her discovery of her powers and how they reshaped her life. Her powers are described as “cosmic”, and we see her use them to create energy fists and stepping stones to walk on air. While Kamala says that “It’s not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world”, the series is sure to prove her wrong as she eventually transitions into her role as the first Muslim costumed hero. Kamla is also set to appear in “The Marvels”, the sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel”.
On March 13, the 75th British Academy of Film Awards was hosted by actress and comedian Rebel Wilson. “Dune” had the most nominations, with “Power of the Dog”, “Don’t Look Up”, “Licorice Piza”, “Belfast” and “King Richard” amongst the other films up for multiple awards. Best film was awarded to “The Power of the Dog”, with the director also winning an award due to his work. Prominent names such as Tessa Thompson and Leonardo DiCaprio and Benedict Cumberbatch were in the running for leading actor and actress, but in the end, they went to Will Smith (“King Richard”) and Joanna Scanlan (“After Love”). The most awards won of the night went to “Dune”, with “CODA” and “West Side Story” also winning multiple awards. See the full list of winners here. The critic’s choice awards went similarly in the movie department, with “Succession” and “Ted Lasso” dominating the television side of things.

Weather:

Atlas and Sierra (Seattle): Highs will stay relatively steady this week: 50℉ on Thursday, 53℉ on Friday, 48℉ on Saturday, 49℉ on Sunday, 51℉ on Monday, 52℉ on Tuesday and 55℉ on Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 44℉ on Thursday and Friday, 38℉ on Saturday, 40℉ on Sunday, 44℉ on Monday and Tuesday and 42℉ on Wednesday. It will be raining all week.

Summary: Highs in the low 50’s, lows in the low 40’s, rain.

Olympus (Tacoma): Highs will fluctuate a bit this week: 52℉ on Thursday, 54℉ on Friday, 49℉ on Saturday, 50℉ on Sunday, 51℉ on Monday, 54℉ on Tuesday and 56℉ on Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 44℉ on Thursday and Friday, 38℉ on Saturday, 40℉ on Sunday, 44℉ on Monday, 45℉ on Tuesday and 42℉ on Wednesday. It will rain every day except Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the low 50’s, lows in the low 40’s, rain.

Denali (Sunnyvale): Highs will fluctuate a bit this week: 66℉ on Thursday, 68℉ on Friday, 59℉ on Saturday, 60℉ on Sunday, 67℉ on Monday, 73℉ on Tuesday and 74℉ on Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 44℉ on Thursday, 47℉ on Friday, 42℉ on Saturday, 43℉ on Sunday, 46℉ on Monday, 48℉ on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be cloudy every day except Saturday when it will rain.

Summary: Highs in the upper 60’s, lows in the low 40’s, clouds.

Everest and Prep (Redwood City): Highs will fluctuate this week: 64℉ on Thursday, 65℉ on Friday, 60℉ on Saturday and Sunday, 65℉ on Monday, and 70℉ on Tuesday and Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 46℉ on Thursday, 49℉ on Friday, 45℉ on Saturday and Sunday, 48℉ on Monday and 49℉ on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be cloudy every day except Saturday when it will rain.

Summary: Highs in the mid 60’s, lows in the upper 40’s, clouds.

K2 (El Cerrito): Highs will fluctuate this week: 63℉ on Thursday, 65℉ on Friday, 58℉ on Saturday, 61℉ on Sunday, 67℉ on Monday, 72℉ on Tuesday and 71℉ on Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 46℉ on Thursday, 50℉ on Friday, 44℉ on Saturday and Sunday, 48℉ on Monday, 49℉ on Tuesday and 48℉ on Wednesday. It will be cloudy every day except Saturday when it will rain.

Summary: Highs in the mid 60’s, lows in the upper 40’s, clouds.

Tam (Richmond): Highs will fluctuate a bit this week: 63℉ on Thursday, 65℉ on Friday, 59℉ on Saturday, 62℉ on Sunday, 67℉ on Monday, 72℉ on Tuesday and 71℉ on Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 46℉ on Thursday, 49℉ on Friday, 43℉ on Saturday, 44℉ on Sunday, 47℉ on Monday, 48℉ on Tuesday and 47℉ on Wednesday. It will be cloudy every day except Saturday when it will rain.

Summary: Highs in the mid 60’s, lows in the mid 40’s, clouds.

Shasta (Daly City): Highs will generally rise this week: 59℉ on Thursday and Friday, 56℉ on Saturday and Sunday, 60℉ on Monday, 65℉ on Tuesday and 64℉ on Wednesday. Lows will drop then rise this week: 46℉ on Thursday, 48℉ on Friday, 43℉ on Saturday, 44℉ on Sunday, 47℉ on Monday and Tuesday and 46℉ on Wednesday. It will be a cloudy week. There will be rain on Saturday and winds on Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the low 60’s, lows in the upper 40’s, clouds.

Tahoma (San Jose): Highs will generally rise this week: 69℉ on Thursday, 72℉ on Friday, 62℉ on Saturday, 61℉ on Sunday, 70℉ on Monday, 77℉ on Tuesday and 78℉ on Wednesday. Lows will also rise this week: 43℉ on Thursday, 47℉ on Friday, 40℉ on Saturday, 41℉ on Sunday, 46℉ on Monday, 49℉ on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be a cloudy week and there will be rain on Saturday.

Summary: Highs in the low 70’s, lows in the upper 40’s, clouds.

Cooking: Beef Noodle Soup

By Kaitlin on The Woks of Life

Serves 10

Ingredients:

3 pounds beef shank (cut into 2-inch chunks)
2 tablespoons oil
A 2-inch piece of ginger (smashed)
6 cloves garlic (smashed)
3 scallions (cut into 2-inch segments)
1 onion (cut into wedges)
1 tomato (cut into wedges)
4 dried chilies (ripped in half)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons spicy bean paste
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Shaoxing wine
8 cups water
1 Chinese aromatic herb packet
32 ounces fresh wheat (white) noodles
A small handful of bok choy for each serving
Cilantro (finely chopped)
Scallions (finely chopped)
Pickled mustard greens

Instructions:

Boil enough water in a pot to boil all of your beef. Once the water is boiling, add the beef. Let it come back up to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Strain in a colander and rinse thoroughly with fresh water to remove any impurities.
Next, in your instant pot, turn on the saute setting. Add the oil, crushed ginger, garlic, scallions, and onions in that order. Stir to lightly caramelize. Let the onion turn translucent. Add the tomato and dried chilies.
Next, add the meat to the pot. Then add the tomato paste, spicy bean paste, sugar, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine, and mix thoroughly.
Pour 8 cups of water into the instant pot. Add the spice packet. The instant pot should be filled to the 10-cup line; it shouldn’t be more than ⅔ of the way full per safety instructions. Our instant pot is the largest size (8 quarts); if yours is smaller, you can halve the recipe accordingly.
Close the lid of the instant pot, and make sure you have your vent set so it is not venting. Cook for 100 minutes on the Meat/Stew setting. If you don’t have an instant pot, you can use a regular pot on the stove, but instead, cook the soup on a low simmer for 3-4 hours.
When the instant pot timer is up, carefully release the pressure valve (wear an oven mitt, so you don’t scald yourself!). Boil some noodles per package instructions, and in the last minute or two of the noodles cooking, throw your bok choy in and blanch until just tender.
Serve each bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup with a serving of noodles, a few stalks of bok choy, and generous sprinklings of finely minced cilantro, scallions, and Chinese pickled mustard greens. Pro-tip, buy the pre-seasoned spicy mustard greens and you can use them straight out of the package. If you are using the non-spicy version (from a can, for example), chop and saute with a little oil, a few chopped dried red chilies, and a pinch of sugar.

Actions:

Editor’s note: The “Actions” section includes petitions to sign, prompts and scripts to write officials with as well as other opportunities to engage in your local, national and global communities.

This yeaar, Women’s Equal Pay Day landed on March 15, which means women had to wrok form Jan. 1, 2021 until March 15, 2022, to get the same salary a man makes in one year. This actions sections will highlight the importance of equality in the workplace amongst genders.

Equal Pay Day was eightdays earlier this year than last year, showing essential progress
Reach out to your local newspaper use them as a medium to spread more awareness about the pay disparity between men and women. Or if you have any posittioon of power in any community, use it to do the same!
Lern about the California Equal Pay Act and conmpare it to how much it has actually impacted Calif. over the years.

Watch or listen or listen to this playlist. All advertisement revenue goes to Black Lives Matter. Do not skip the ads, the donations will not go through otherwise.

Watch or listen to this video. All advertisement revenue goes to various aid organizations easing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Please note it is blocked on school-issued Chromebooks due to being in the “Entertainment” category