Summit Weekly Briefing 2/27/23

Your Summit Weekly Briefing

By Jovani Contreras, Ethan Ignatovsky, Sean Quigley and Ashwath Vimal

Staff Editors

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.  

Content Warning: Mentions of explicit themes occur in the third section of “General News” and in “Actions”. 

Summit:

1. UC decisions will be coming out throughout the month of March. While some UCs like Santa Cruz and Davis will have rolling decisions being announced throughout the next couple of weeks, UC Berkeley decisions are set to be released on March 30th. Please keep checking your emails and keeping track of any additional documents that could be necessary. 

General News:

1. More than 224,000 homes and businesses were without power Sunday. An additional 117,000 were dark in Michigan, 36,000 in Tennessee. Almost half a million Americans from Kentucky to Michigan were in the dark Sunday after a massive front dumped heavy snow across much of the nation’s northern tier and slammed parts of the South with powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes. At least 13 deaths were reported from the storm, which began by dumping several feet of snow in California’s mountains and pushing east, AccuWeather said. The storm spawned straight-line winds and powerful thunderstorms 
2. The U.S. House of Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to give Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok, in what would be the most far-reaching U.S. restriction on any social media site. More than 30 U.S. states, Canada and European Union policy institutions have also banned TikTok from being loaded onto state devices. Warner said he was concerned that TikTok “can be a propaganda tool” based on the types of videos it sends to users. He said the bill he plans “would say, in terms of foreign technology coming into America, we’ve got to have a systematic approach to make sure we can ban or prohibit it when necessary.”

Health/Medicine: 

1. A man from Charlotte County, Florida, has unfortunately passed away after an infection from the rare, brain eating amoeba, Neagleria fowleri. State officials say this was potentially, “a result of sinus rinse practices utilizing tap water”. Neagleria fowleri is a single-celled amoeba that is usually found in warm water, when water contaminated with the amoeba is ingested through the nose (and only when it is ingested through the nose), it can cause a deadly infection in the brain known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are only 157 PAM infections on record from 1962 to 2022 in the United States, but also only four survivors. Infections most often occur in the southern U.S. during warm months when people stick their heads under rivers and lakes, but as it seems to be in this case, infection can also occur if contaminated tap water is used to rinse sinuses. The CDC says people should “always assume” there’s a risk for infection when entering warm water. You should also be extremely careful to not dig up sediment in low water and to not ingest water through your nose when bathing, showering, washing your face, sitting in an inflatable pool, playing with hoses, running through sprinklers, playing with slip-n-slides, and other similar activities. As for sinus rinsing, your device should never come into contact with tap water, and always use sterile water, and let the device completely dry before the next use. It’s important to remember that the only way to get the infection is to ingest through your nose.

Politics:

1. A Florida Republican has pitched a bill to eliminate the Florida Democratic party. “The Ultimate Cancel Act” filed on Tuesday by state Senator Blaise Ingoglia, would require the cancellation of filings for any party that had “previously advocated for, or been in support of, slavery or involuntary servitude.” The bill would require Florida officials to notify registered voters belonging to the canceled parties that the parties no longer exist. It would also change their party affiliation to “no party affiliation” and would require voters to “show procedures” to update their party affiliation. The bill would allow canceled political parties to register again but would force them to change their name. Although the bill does not directly name the democratic party, it is most likely the bill’s intended target, given the party’s support of slavery throughout the 1800s before a political realignment in the 19th century. Florida Democrats have claimed that the bill was “unconstitutional and unserious.” stating that the Florida Republican was using the bill as a publicity stunt while ignoring issues Floridians actually cared about. Florida Republicans currently hold a supermajority in the state legislature, with its legislative sessions kicking off on Tuesday. Ingoglia stated his intention with the bill was to get back at democrats who “canceled” companies and people for things they did in the past, citing the removal of confederate statues.
2. The Nigerian opposition party has renewed calls for the election result to be overturned this thursday, a day after the election results were announced. Third-place Labour party candidate Peter Obi stated that the election was irregular. Four other parties are joining him in contesting the election. They have three weeks from the final election tally to appeal. An election in Nigeria can only be overturned if it is proven that the national electoral body did not act in accordance with the law when reaching a result for the election. No presidential result has ever been overturned by the Nigerian supreme court before. Opposition states that delays in uploading results from the country’s polling stations could have allowed for vote tampering. They also claimed that voter intimidation and other roadblocks preventing voting took place. YIAGA Africa, Nigeria’s largest election observer group, claimed that while there were inconsistencies in the Rivers and Imo states, the election’s final outcome was already set in stone. According to official results, resident elect Bola Tinubu of the ruling party gained 37% of the vote, while opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar and Obi gained 29% and 25% respectively.

Sports:

MLB:

1. On Monday, Dodgers middle infielder, Gavin Lux, stepped awkwardly with his right leg trying to avoid a throw running from second to third base. Lux fell to the ground in pain, and MRI’s a day later revealed his and the team’s worst fears. Lux has tore his ACL as well as sprained his LCL, most likely putting him out for the entire season. This was going to be a big season for the former top prospect as the reins to shortstop were being handed to him. Now the recently traded for Miguel Rojas will get the most time there. This obviously affects the Dodgers depth and will make the race for the NL West crown harder. The team is focused on their player though, with manager Dave Roberts saying, “Gavin is obviously crushed… my heart goes out to him. That’s kind of where we’re at”. The 25-year-old Lux will undergo surgery on March 7th, and start the road to recovery.
2. Another NL West team suffered an injury in spring training, as Rockies gold glove second baseman Brendan Rodgers dislocated his left shoulder diving for a ground ball to his right. Originally the Rockies hoped Rodgers would only be out for a few weeks, but the MRI results have shown that there’s more damage than was thought, and surgery is a possibility, which would threaten his season. The Rockies also could lose one of their better pitchers in lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath to Tommy John surgery, however the southpaw is looking at other options. 

Formula 1: 

1. The 2023 Formula 1 season will get underway this weekend in Bahrain at 7 a.m. PST. 

Entertainment:

1. Warner Bros. Discovery is filing a $500 million lawsuit against Paramount over the streaming rights of South Park. The company claimed that Paramount breached its exclusivity contract with South Park to only stream on HBO Max by airing South Park on its platform Paramount+. Almost all South Park episodes air on Comedy Central, a channel owned by Paramount. In 2019, Paramount and South Park’s creators auctioned off streaming rights to the first 23 seasons of the show to HBO Max. Prior to its merger with Discovery in 2022, WarnerMedia agreed to pay $1.7 million for exclusive streaming rights for each South Park episode, the suit alleges. The first episodes of season 24 were to be delivered in March 2020, but WarnerMedia was told that new production of the show would be halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Paramount+ was launched a year later, and Warner Bros. Discovery now claims that Paramount, MTV, and South Park Studios diverted as much South Park content as possible to Paramount+. The company also stated that it was promised 30 episodes over three seasons but has only received 14 as of now. The lawsuit also claims a separate $900 million deal between MTV and South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker broke the contract by agreeing to create 14 made for streaming movies for Paramount+

Cooking: Hot Reuben Sandwich

Prep time:10 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 slices of rye bread
• 1/2 cup of thousands island dressing
• 8 slices of swiss cheese
• 8 slices deli sliced corn beef
• 1 cup sauerkraut, drained
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened

Instructions:

1. Preheat a large griddle or skillet over medium heat. 
2. Spread one side of bread slices evenly with Thousand Island dressing. On four bread slices, layer one slice Swiss cheese, 2 slices corned beef, 1/4 cup sauerkraut, and a second slice of Swiss cheese. Top with remaining bread slices, dressing-side down. Butter the top of each sandwich. 
3. Place sandwiches, butter-side down on the preheated griddle; butter the top of each sandwich with remaining butter. Grill until both sides are golden brown, about 5 minutes per side.
4.  Serve hot and enjoy!

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.

Contribute directly to “Doctors Without Borders” Staffers with the medical relief organization remain in Ukraine and are “seeking ways to respond to the medical and humanitarian needs as the conflict evolves.” Offer your support here.

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

• Learn more about the crisis at www.monareliefye.org