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In January, 2026, the Department of Justice released the second batch of Epstein files. The millions of documents, videos, and photos include the most traumatic moments of the people's lives. Now, this sensitive information is readily available for the public to look at.  How does this exposure to traumatic material affect the population of the U.S. and beyond? When presenting information in court, such as what is found in the Epstein files, you must be very organized. Dumping millions of documents on your jury is never a good idea. But, right now, in the court of public opinion this graphic, gruesome information is being dumped on millions of people who don't have the resources to effectively use or process it.  Bad news and false information comes out every day, making it hard to assess the impacts this release will have on the people that look into it. One risk is re-traumatizing victims of sexual assault, whether their cases are connected to Epstein or not. Re-traumatization, which can happen when a victim is reminded of their traumatic experience, puts victims back into the headspace they experienced during the original traumatic event ( SAMHSA ). Mr. King, a Psych teacher here at East, said, “Trauma survivors are seeing an in-direct "replay" of their own struggle in the news in a BIG WAY at the moment. It is like reopening a wound. However, I am also thankful that light is being shone on criminals, and for the attention that this story is getting.” It's true that there's a fine line between productive and harmful coverage of this situation. While the information in the files may be hard to hear, that doesn't mean it should be hidden. Actually, the hardest information to hear is usually the information you need to hear the most; but there remains to be a right and wrong way to hear them.  There has definitely been an influx of harmful media coverage surrounding the Epstein files. From AI hallucinated statistics to youtubers such as Nico Grigg “Sneaking On To Epstein Island” to clickbait young people, it's clear this release has come with a fair amount of bad and problematic journalism. The way a person reacts to looking into a case like this varies drastically from person to person. Personal history and past experiences play into this, in a big way.  It’s important to know your personal limits when it comes to reading the news in general.  If you find yourself feeling depressed, anxious, or apathetic it is ok to look away from the bad news, take a breath, and do something that brings you joy.

High Schoolers are known for many different things; sports, drama, first loves, poor driving, but the most unique is parties. In the movies and down the block, high school parties are infamous for sneaking out, underage drinking, destruction, and parent-administered probation (grounding). Entering 9th grade, high schoolers forget about the bouncy castle, cake and candles birthday parties from middle and elementary school, and are introduced to types of partying previously unknown. From concerts to school dances to house parties, by the time senior year rolls around, many students are used to the routine of going out all weekend and returning to school unfazed Monday morning. Across the 53 DPS high schools, partying and underage drinking are no strangers. School-Sponsored Parties At homecoming games, word about breathalyzers spreads through the stands, as teenagers get kicked out of All City Stadium on both sides of the field. School dances are typically the first introduction to high school, where all grades are thrown in one place. For many freshmen, it is the first time they are given a curfew. Curfews range anywhere from 9pm to the AMs, but the actual curfew for minors in Denver, Colorado is: 11pm – 5am: Sunday through Thursday, 12am – 5am: Friday and Saturday. On homecoming night, students from different schools will go to their nearby parks to take pictures, notable spots are: Cheesman Park, Washington Park, City Park, etc. Then afterwards it is straight to either a dinner or a pre-party. Once students arrive at their school dance, it is fairly monitored by parent and teacher chaperones. At East in particular, there are multiple check-points where chaperones stand to usher students into the sweaty pit of people in the hidden north side parking lot. After backflips in the mosh pit and trips to the bathroom, students tire of flying water bottles and dress shoes to the toes, and file out onto the Esplanade, getting into Ubers and sprinting to catch the bus, to make it to the real parties. House Parties Advancing from parties in the park and school sponsored parties to real parties hosted by actual students and their actual houses is a massive change. Risk goes up exponentially as the date of people's homes and parents become involved. House Parties often result in destruction of property in many ways: think broken blinds and sour carpets. Most high schoolers throw parties whenever their parents are out of town. While some get away with it others are stuck like Greg and Roderick Heffley with a “D-O-R-E” without a lock on it and multiple years of grounding in pursuit. Experienced party-goer and Senior, Paul Vader explains his experience with partying and the repercussions. He divulges, “I was actually there for the aftermath of a party, I was there for like a second, I had to get my stuff so my parents dropped me off the next morning. I had to clean up a little bit, I cleaned up like the whole upstairs, it was pretty gross I had to pick up the cigarettes out of the dirty water. I had to help him clean the walls…Apparently someone threw up in a vase.” A prime occasion for House Parties is Halloween or Halloweekend, a multi-day event where high schoolers purchase several Halloween costumes and obtain 18+ drinks from different sources. This weekend often allows underage delinquents from all schools to gather to celebrate a holiday almost no one is thinking about. With no candy in sight Halloweekend is simply an excuse to party. These types of house parties are the most typical and prevalent in media, some defining characteristics being overcrowded upstairs, downstairs, and backyards, music, and bouncers. Many functions are organized through group chats and social media and for anyone uninvited, bouncers are often the only difference between them and the party. Senior Olivia Saavedra recounted a hallowed party where, “The bouncers were in military vests, and a whole military outfit with pins and badges and everything.” The Forbidden Party Parties are not always riddled with drunken minors; many students opt for a sober experience and choose not to break any laws. Some students take the role of designated driver, while others just party without the mental state-altering substances. According to the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 32.9% of people in the United States ages 12 to 20 reported having had at least one drink in their lives. This percentage is significant considering this age group is fully prohibited from alcohol consumption. It is precisely this prohibition that is the appeal, and many high schoolers are actually indifferent to drinking and are more involved in the social side of this law-breaking. The forbidden nature of drinking and participating in other harmful party activities is similar to the way high schoolers want to party in the most dangerous places. High schoolers often do not refrain from partying at professional events and close to school hours. Recently, a scandal occurred at the DECA State Competition, involving students from multiple schools. The four day competition ended with students sent home and rumors buzzing around schools about gatherings in rooms past quiet hours. This shows that teenagers can find a party anywhere, and risk-taking is a commonality. Going to a party or throwing one is dangerous in itself, there are many ways that it can get out of hand. Police are always a factor, and one small noise complaint could bring the party poopers straight to the door of the function. Luckily high school parties don't usually reach Project X  level, and they remain pretty mild. East Sophomore, Sydney Grube says, “[Parties] all kind of blend together. They are kind of awkward at first, and it takes a while for it to actually get good. I think that movies exaggerate it.” High school parties, while forbidden, are actually good experiences and preparation for more dangerous and serious college occasions. Fraternities and university concerts are found to be more hardcore, Olivia describes a frat party at her sister's university, she explained,“At the Stanford frats people get taken away in stretchers at darties (day parties), before big games. Mike sherm was there and there was this guy walking around with a huge bandage on his head and blood dripping everywhere.” To conclude, there is no safe way to have an authentic high school party, and there are many dangers to consider. Some of the possibilities include drunk driving incidents, property destruction, transportation issues, police busts, and angry neighbors. A final piece of advice is to stay safe, and keep the future in mind when attending parties. Next up students take on international parties for spring break, stay safe angels. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

The morning of February 1st, Annie Guthrie, daughter of Nancy Guthrie, received a call from one of her mother’s friends voicing concerns about the fact that Nancy, who was normally very punctual, had never showed up to a church sanctioned event and wasn't answering her phone. Annie rushed to her mothers to find an eerily empty house. It seemed Nancy Guthrie had disappeared. According to authorities, Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie, the anchor of NBC’s “Today” show, was last seen the previous night by her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, when he dropped Nancy off at her Tucson home. When local law enforcement arrived, shortly after Annie Guthrie discovered her mother’s empty house, they found Nancy’s phone, wallet, hearing aid, daily medication, and car still on the property; however, her doorbell camera had been taken. Spatters of blood were also discovered on the porch, which DNA analysis later confirmed to belong to Nancy Guthrie. Sheriff Chris Nanos of Pima County, Arizona, believes Guthrie was abducted in the early hours of February 1st, specifically around 2:28 a.m. when her pacemaker was separated from her phone. Just 41 minutes before, Guthrie’s front door camera was disconnected. Following the initial investigation Sheriff Chris Nanos spoke with The New York Times who reported that investigators would spend the following days “combing through the home, its garage and the surrounding scrubland” after finding “worrying signs of violence at Ms. Guthrie’s home." Roughly 24 hours after Guthrie was officially reported missing KOLD, a Tucson television station, received a ransom note allegedly from the kidnapper. Both law enforcement and TMZ, a celebrity gossip publication, received copies of the note which supposedly demanded millions of dollars in bitcoin in exchange for the return of Ms. Guthrie. According to NBC, the FBI revealed the note included two deadlines and referred to an Apple Watch worn by Guthrie but did not establish a way to communicate. The legitimacy of any ransom note is being contested as Nancy has previously appeared on “Today” show segments with her daughter making details of the case and Guthrie's life easily accessible. Law enforcement officials have released footage of a man in a ski mask and gloves, carrying what appears to be a handgun tampering with Guthrie’s doorbell just hours before the estimated time of her abduction. On February 12th, as police officers were working to find the source of the man’s clothing, discarded gloves that appeared to match the ones worn by the man in the surveillance video were discovered in a field just two miles from Nancy’s home. DNA found on the glove has been sent into a database in an effort to identify the individual. Savannah Guthrie and her siblings have released multiple videos to the public pleading for their mothers safe return and even made a $500,000 donation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children while offering a $1 million dollar cash reward. Additionally, the FBI reward for information leading to an arrest in the case has doubled to $100,000. As of March 3rd there still haven't been any developments in the case.

Growing up and transitioning from childhood into adulthood is something that most individuals experience. In that time period, adolescents progressively begin to understand the world and themselves. They explore who they are, chase opportunities, and develop both mentally and physically. While the state of society affects the growth of teenagers over many different generations, teenagers today have been especially impacted by recent events. Over the past six years, the world has encountered turmoil and hardships that have greatly altered the development of teenagers around the world. The past is much different to what today looks like and adolescents seem to have realized that those six years may have done irreversible damage; possibly changing youth development for good. Current teenagers have felt the effects of social media and artificial intelligence as some of the large events of their youth. In particular, the COVID pandemic and social isolation have been some of the most concerning issues surrounding their development and growth. Self expression and maturity have also been hard to manage and many individuals are finding self exploration and the transition into adulthood especially difficult. Matthew Fulford, a social studies teacher at East worries about the students he’s teaching. “I’ve noticed that attention span and the ability to focus is a lot more limited. Being able to engage in longer readings or longer sessions of writing and just the ability to focus for long periods of time. It’s hard to tell whether or not that’s COVID directly because the growth of cell phone use at that time is also kind of impacting attention.” Despite the fact that TikTok was the most used social media app during COVID (Statista), social media and technology usage increased tremendously directly after the pandemic. The Pew Research Center reported that “Overall, nearly all teens – 96% – report using the internet daily” during the latter half of 2024. Especially today, the use of artificial intelligence has skyrocketed. While AI is useful for searching up questions to ask when making conversation or giving a little nudge with homework, it removes the essential parts of developing the skills that AI is taking away. Education is what promotes learning for people of all ages. However, when a quick search on the internet provides concise answers to something that is too hard to study, there’s nothing to learn at all. Artificial intelligence and social media aren’t the only things to blame though. From 2020 until 2026, growing adolescents have experienced unbelievable amounts of isolation. The COVID pandemic closed off opportunities for in-person interactions and directly after it ended, social media continued to affect them as well. The National Library of Medicine reported through multiple studies that there was a “...high prevalence of depression, anxiety, psychological distress, helplessness, inattention, and irritability in a group of people under 18 years of age” after COVID. Considering the amount of time teenagers spent in quarantine and now on social media, it’s no wonder we’re struggling with being social. “682 families in the United States from five Midwestern states with two adolescent-aged children reported engaging in fewer in-person/face-to-face interactions with peers and more online interactions.” (National Institute of Health) A large portion of youth today have faced developmental challenges that have severely impacted their social skills, identity formation, and the period of time where those individuals grow up. The transition from middle school into high school is awkward, but a crucial time for the youth to start maturing into adulthood. But the issue with teenagers today lies within the fact that many didn’t get to experience that ‘cringy’ or bumpy transition. A vast majority of adolescents were thrown into the pandemic with no face to face interactions for months, leaving a devastating impact on the social skills of countless high school students. Like many, Chloe Mosher feels that pressure to interact with people despite the fact that those interactions leave little to no room for pleasant conversation. “I’d say COVID is the main factor. I got out of contact with all of my friends during that beginning year and struggled to rebuild those friendships afterwards. It took me a while to feel mostly comfortable in social situations again.” As a senior, she’s concerned about external factors that affect adolescent development both for her generation, and the future ones. “I feel like we’re always told that we are the ones who are going to have to fix giant issues like climate change, gun violence, wealth inequality, etc…I think that future generations are definitely going to have higher rates of mental health issues because of social media. It also concerns me that AI is becoming so popular, since I feel like it’s messing with kids’ abilities to think for themselves and develop their own opinions.” Along with the mass screenager epidemic, the transition into adulthood and the underdevelopment of social skills is leaving a devastating impact on teenagers around the world. What used to be a colorful childhood is now a technology-filled, lonely, chaotic mess of society. It’s not uncommon to see eerily quiet neighborhoods. No kids running around and no teenagers hanging out together. There’s nothing. The past six years hasn’t been an easy journey for anyone, but young adults today are facing a national crisis of collective hell. If nothing is done to help the growth and development of teenagers, future generations may never be able to recover.

The East Men's Basketball Team has faced adversity to start their season, going 9-9 in 18 games and 4-4 in the Denver district play. The team, coached by legend Rudy Carey, has some work to do to secure a playoff spot by the end of February. They have impressive wins against Mullen, Regis Jesuit, and Vista Peak, and recently a huge win against George Washington, the #8-ranked team in the state. With help from school spirit and talented players in Dayesun Collier and Noah Adkins, the team may finish the season strong into the 2026 CHSAA playoffs.  The 2025-2026 East Men’s basketball team is like none other because of its youth. More than half of the roster are underclassmen, with the top three scorers all being sophomores. Guard Noah Adkins is the leading scorer, averaging 22.4 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and is truly a talented player. His athleticism and shiftiness help him find easy ways to get to the basket, making him one of the most dominant players in the state. Some impressive performances are 31 points in a win vs George Washington (1/30) and 37 points in a loss against George Washington (1/13). His right-hand man, sophomore guard Dayesun Collier, is another  star on the team, averaging 20.2 points per game and 3.7 assists. He is a true shooter, taking shots from anywhere on the floor and leading the team in three-pointers. Collier has been clutch with a game-winner over Regis Jesuit 96-93 (OT) and recently made 6 three-pointers in their win vs George Washington. In an interview with Dayseun Collier, he commented on where he gets his confidence from.“My dad texts me a lot and reminds me that I can score because he's seeing it, and I've seen it myself.” Other star players are Lincoln Lemieux, averaging 13.6 ppg; Kanen Marshall, scoring 8.4 ppg; and Niji Alexander, with 8.1 ppg, all key players on this talented, young roster. (Photo from @dayesuncollier instagram in East’s win vs George Washington) The season has not been easy for the team, with a .500 record, but each time the team has lost, they have found ways to improve and bounce back. They went through two devastating losses against South (85-74) and Rangeview (82-66), but found a way to improve with dominant wins over Northfield (88-59) and George Washington (82-74). With their final two games against Rangeview and Northfield coming up, the team needs to rally to make the playoffs. Senior forward Jameson Archer thinks the team may be underrated if they sneak into the playoffs, stating, “We're going to be a dark horse because of our youth, 'cause teams are looking past us.” Dayesun Collier believes that the team needs to be better defensively to get there, saying, “If we can stop teams and hold them to 60 points, we can win.” With another tough schedule in the East’s last two games, we’ll see if they can make that last push to get into the playoffs. But the team needs help from our school spirit. There have been good showings in the home game vs Regis Jesuit and away vs South, but they could use help in these closing games. The last home game is coming up: North Field on Friday, February 13th, at 5:30pm, where the team hopes to see a supportive home crowd. The future is bright for Denver East Men’s basketball with a talented young roster. The team may make some noise in this year’s playoffs, but in the upcoming years, it will definitely be a strong contender for the state championship.

Although teachers, class opportunities, and curriculums help students succeed, school budget and funding is the cornerstone. Without adequate funding students encounter: fewer opportunities, less experienced teachers, as well as a lack of resources to fuel curriculums. Last summer, Trump froze over $5 billion used for public education. In the FY2026 report, Trump proposed cutting around $12 billion dollars used for public education across the country during the 2026/2027 school year. Even though the federal government only supports around 8% of the funding needed for public schools, districts are expected to face intense consequences. Denver Public Schools, specifically, is projected to lose around $13 million from federal funding; equivalent to 315 first-year teachers, 45,000 school-provided chromebooks, and 6,700 extracurricular activities (Education Law Center).  In order to keep schools on track, the funding must be upkept contemporarily. Without federal funding, opportunity gaps will continue to increase. Unfortunately, federal support is rapidly declining forcing districts to rely on state funding and local taxing. When communities face challenging economies they are unable to fund schools the same way that communities with more money do. When schools do not receive adequate funding, they spend more; ultimately leading to lower-income families paying more for their child than high-income families since wealthier schools provide more opportunities for students.  As schools are unable to hire new teachers, or ones with experience, classes are projected to become much larger. However, according to the Center of Public Education, classes with 18 students or less often perform better. The recent budget cuts can result in the student:teacher ratio, in many schools, shifting from 1:18 to 1:40. Larger class sizes lead to less students academically succeeding. Class sizes are going to rise, which doesn’t just influence students but also teachers. Teachers are now going to have to be in charge of double the amount of students, which not only increases the workload without an increase in salary, but also hinders teacher’s ability to give individualized attention to students. The sudden lack of funding to public schools causes many schools to rely on out-dated textbooks, chromebooks, and lessons. This lowers classroom engagement and motivation, eventually resulting in less people graduating and students having lower overall academic success. Test scores are already steadily declining even with sufficient funding. To further the issue, cutting a school's budget by even 10% has the same effect on test scores as replacing current teachers with ones from the bottom 10% of applicants (Walden University).  Spending cuts limit the amount of new teachers schools can hire, which further exacerbates teacher shortages. If schools do not have a large enough budget to sufficiently pay teachers, good teachers are going to leave to find better job opportunities, opening the door for less qualified teachers (PBS). Federal spending cuts are not the only threat to Denver Public Schools, but also the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). TABOR consistently restricts collecting revenue. For example the state will have to cut around $1 billion dollars in spending according to Colorado Education Association, the largest teacher union in the state. Colorado schools are already underfunded in comparison to other states. Colorado spends around $16,000 per student annually, while New York spends $33,000 per student, and even Wyoming spends around $20,000 per student per year (World Population Review). Meaning that Colorado underfunds all students combined by nearly $4 billion each year. 1,927 schools, 114,553 educators, and 881,065 students in Colorado are affected by the cuts to public school funding every single day as 95% of Coloradan students attend a public school (Colorado Education Association).  The effects are not yet to their full extent. It is expected that with spending cuts, special education programs are going to collapse, Title IX (in school sexual harassment and assault cases) will go unanswered, mental health resources will dramatically decrease, and early childhood education will become increasingly more expensive.  Schools are already incredibly underfunded, an increase in funding cuts will only put schools, teachers, and students at deeper risk. As essential programs are taken away, classrooms are left without necessary resources, and the quality of education will inevitably decline. Over time, these cuts widen existing inequities and destroy needed support systems that help all students succeed.

The most frequent moviegoing generation, Gen Z, (Indiewire.com) has flooded theaters in the past for action-packed and visually pleasing films like The Minecraft Movie and Zootopia 2, creating large theatrical turnouts and box office hits. So how did a film about Ping Pong in the 1950’s become one of the most popular movies among Gen Z? Marty Supreme grossed over 100 million dollars, making it one of the biggest box office hits since 2023’s best picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once. But did audiences come to theatres for the content of the movie or to participate in the digital hype that came from the movie's promotion? In a marketing campaign for the film, Chalamet said,“People’s attention spans are so short these days ... How do you convince them to go to the cinema, to spend money to see a film, rather than waiting to stream it illegally, or for it to be available on Netflix?” Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner wearing orange for Marty Supreme The promotion for the movie was not the traditional talk show appearance and repetitive trailer. A24, the entertainment company for the movie, focused on internet culture as a new way to attract audiences. The company “leaked” an 18-minute Zoom call back in November on YouTube, where Chalamet proposed impractical plans to the A24 Marketing team on how to promote the film. Some of the “unhinged” ideas Chalamet suggested were used, leaving viewers wondering if the call was really a parody, and keeping audiences on their toes for the different strategies that were being used to advertise the film. Chalamet expressed in the call, “Movie marketing is trying to be passive, trying to be chic…We’re not trying to be chic.” One of the simplest yet popular ways to attract eyes for pop culture is through colors, as demonstrated through the Barbie Movie’s use of the color pink and Charlie XCX’s use of neon green in “Brat.” A24 crowned orange as the film's signature color. Actors dressed in orange for events, and a bright orange blimp was flown over the US with the slogan “Dream Big” under the movie title. The studio attracted younger audiences by releasing the Marty Supreme 90’s styled Jacket, aligning with vintage fashion trends. They were only offered in flash sales and limited events, but received immense popularity after being worn by celebrities such as Tom Brady, Kid Cudi, Michael Phelps, and social media influencers. A24 used Susan Boyle, a past Britain’s Got Talent winner, to wear the jacket, and posted it with their slogan “Dream Big.” In collaboration with Airbnb, A24 hosted underground pingpong tournaments in cities like New York, where Timothee Chalemet showed up and made surprise appearances. Videos quickly circulated on the internet and went viral. These offline experiences were a strategic way for the movie to “come to life” and be seen by a young audience on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Underground and anonymous UK rapper Esdeekid became popular on TikTok back in November after rumors of Timothee Chalamet being the rapper went viral. After various interviews asking Chalamet if he was the rapper, the song 4 Raws was dropped, where Esdeekid and Chalamet collaborated with one of Chalamet's lyrics saying “It’s Marty Supreme” repeatedly. This not only brought more attention to the movie, but to Timothee Chalamet himself, with the sound becoming viral on TikTok and younger fans seeing the movie for the actor. Junior Julia Bograd, who is an active Esdeekid listener, went to see the movie over winter break with her dad. When asked why she chose to see Marty Supreme, she said, “I heard Timothee Chalamet on 4 Raws and wanted to see the movie.” Finally, on December 22, a video of Chalamet on the Las Vegas Sphere was posted where Timothe Chalamet was standing on top of a large orange ping pong ball and shouted “Marty Supreme Christmas Day,” which became another slogan for the movie. By straying away from traditional movie marketing and utilizing social media, A24 was able to successfully incorporate meme culture and take advantage of the collective consciousness that comes from social media to attract younger audiences.

Colorado weather is known for its snowy and cold climate during the winter. Recently, Colorado is undergoing a rapid and scary transformation. According to 350 Colorado, “...multiple independent measurements, Colorado temperatures have increased by approximately two degrees (F) between 1977 and 2006. According to the Colorado Health Institute, this increase ranks Colorado as the 20th fastest-warming state since 1970.” These altering conditions impact the weather of Colorado by damaging the water cycle, causing forest fires, “snow drought”, and more. These impacts are highlighted by the National Weather Service, NWS Boulder, that 2025 was the second warmest on record. In addition, CBS news reported that in 2025, Christmas day broke the record, recently set since 1939, for the warmest Christmas day in Denver reaching 70 °. According to NASA, climate change is happening because human activity damages the greenhouse gas concentration. There is an increase in greenhouse gases because of burning of fossil fuels. As stated by Understanding Global Change, human activity leads to, “... the burning of oil, natural gas, and coal to generate energy. We use this energy to generate electricity, and to power transportation (for example, cars and planes) and industrial processes.” First, sun rays pass through the atmosphere. The sun rays then get divided up into sections and directions. Some rays get reflected into space allowing Earth to cool. While other rays get trapped by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As a result, the increased carbon dioxide causes heat to be retained leading to increased temperatures. As stated by Colorado Water Conversion Board, “ With increasing temperatures come shifts in snowmelt runoff, water quality concerns, stressed ecosystems and transportation infrastructure, impacts to energy demands, and extreme weather events that can impact air quality and recreational opportunities.” According to CPR News, “Snow drought” indicates unusually low levels of snowpack, which can be driven by low snowfall during the winter, precipitation falling as rain instead of snow, or a lack of snow accumulation because of warm temperatures.” Colorado relies on snow packs since it makes up 70% of water supply. This leads to water quality concerns and drought.  This large change impacts the Colorado River, which provides water for approximately 40 million people, decreasing by 20%. Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, highlights, “This issue has been exacerbated by a two-decade-long drought, meaning that not only did we never have as much water as planned, but we now have even less. Reservoirs are at historic lows, and at the same time, demand is increasing due to higher temperatures and drier conditions. Everyone feels they are not getting what they were promised, creating tensions among stakeholders.” As for recreational opportunities, Colorado Climate Action, explains, “According to one 2020 federal study, Colorado’s and other Intermountain West economies that rely on outdoor recreation are in peril by the increasing frequency and intensity of droughts. A 2017 study found that ski seasons will become shorter across the U.S. as the climate warms, including in Colorado.” Consequently, climate change is harming Coloradans ability to have fun outdoors. Joshua Patterson, a senior at East High, expresses, “I think people in Colorado should be slightly concerned given how little snow we’ve gotten and how warm this winter has been. This weather feels extremely abnormal for Colorado and makes me question if the hot winter is preparing us for an abysmal summer.”  Colorado isn't the only place that climate change has taken an impact, this is a world struggle. European Union, mentions that climate change, “Polar ice shields are melting and the sea is rising. In some regions, extreme weather events and rainfall are becoming more common while others are experiencing more extreme heat waves and droughts.” This is an issue because the environment is being damaged.  Green Peace UK, emphasizes some ways to make climate change better are keeping fossil fuels in the ground and investing in renewable energy. Another solution is helping the Climate Action Network that tackles the climate change crisis. People can support by becoming a member, donating, and spreading awareness.

If you tuned in on the news last year you might've realized something an impressive amount of others have too; bad news, which seemed to dominate news stations and social media feeds. Despite what you might think, based on the biggest headlines, good things did indeed happen in 2025. Universe:  The Ozone layer is the protective layer within earth's stratosphere. A hole was found in this protective layer, in 1977, and reached its worst in 2006. In 2025, the hole in the ozone layer was the 5th smallest it's been since 1992–according to NASA and the NOAA. Even at its largest, for the year of 2025 the hole was 30% smaller than the largest hole ever observed.  World:  In 2025 the green sea turtle was re-classified as a species of least concern on the endangered species list. The green sea turtle has been endangered since 1978 due to their tendency to get captured in fishing nets as by-catch as well as over harvesting of their eggs.  Due to preservation efforts by the World Wildlife Fund, the Oceanic society and many other organizations that have a focus on environmentalism and wildlife conservation. USA: In 2025 there were a lot of mayoral “Firsts” including but not limited to Zohran Mamdani and Mary Sheffeild. Mamdani being elected as the first muslim mayor as well as the first south Asian mayor of New York City and Sheffeild being elected as the first female mayor of Detroit. Even if these aren't your top candidates I think that most people can agree that we struggle with diversity in politics in America, and more representation is a net positive.  Colorado :  Bans on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns In 2025 Colorado passed Senate Bill 25-003 which will put restrictions on the purchase of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns with detachable magazines. The bill also bans the use of rapid fire conversion devices. This bill will go into effect in 2026 and when it does there will be training required to purchase semi-automatic weapons. This is a huge step toward proper gun control and will reduce the fatalities caused by mass shootings. East:  Student activism and the Vestibule - Interview Abby Forsberg  East students have always had a strong voice that they aren't afraid to use.  In 2025 student activists such as East student counsel and Students Demand Action worked to make a change in the East community as well and the Denver community as a whole. From protesting the vestibule and getting over 2000 signatures on a petition to planning walkouts, the amazing student activists at East work hard to make their voices heard. In an interview Abby Forsberg gave this advice, “You cannot just sit there and watch stuff happen to you. Nothing is going to change if you just sit there and watch it happen.”

“We write about it every year,” Mr. Hudson says skeptically.  “And yet every year the issue is not resolved,” I reply defensively. The school newspaper’s advisor shakes his head. “You say you have senioritis in September.” “But that’s just stage one senioritis! It progresses. Right now, I have at least stage four.” “Life is better after high school.” “But we don’t know that because we’re not out  of high school yet.” “Hm… maybe you should listen to your elders.” “But we don’t do that either, because we’re seniors.” Mr. Hudson rolls his eyes. “But aren’t you just being lazy?” This is the unique paradox of a condition affecting many students graduating at East this spring. Senioritis is misunderstood and oversimplified. You think you have senioritis, underclassmen?  No. No, you don’t.  Senioritis is a condition that can be described as the following symptoms: chronic absenteeism; grades below an individual’s expected performance; severe addictions to doomscrolling, fast food chains, naps; and out-of-character bouts of apathy relating to assignments, test scores, and student-teacher relationships, all specifically arising during the 12th grade.   It is important to note that a senior suffering from this diagnosis likely does not desire to be exhibiting such symptoms. Furthermore, it may feel to them as if these ailments are beyond their control. Some things we do have control over: your most-used screen time app being Roblox is definitely something to improve, along with phone usage exploding to over 8 hours of the day, likely dedicated to doomscrolling. However, acknowledging what is out of our control is just as important to health and recovery. For example, all of the horrible drivers that terrorize the senior parking lot.  Mr. Luke Santo, a math teacher here at East and our only AP Statistics teacher, is all too familiar with the yearly wave of senioritis. Though he has been teaching senior students his entire teaching career, the past four years have included all-senior classes. He claims to “enjoy” teaching seniors.  On the front lines, Mr. Santo has identified the defining characteristic of senioritis as, “A recognition of what [seniors] should be doing, but a challenge to do it.” Other symptoms he has noticed in acute phases are not having class materials out 10-15 minutes into the period, and wandering zombie-like around the hallways.  “Honestly, I think number one is just bringing awareness to the problem, right? You can’t fix a problem you don’t know you have.” Mr. Santo compares it to his ADD. “I am really bad at certain tasks,” he said, “so I have what I call my spoon method. I hate putting away dishes. When I see I need to unload the dishwasher, I don't tell myself ‘I’m going to unload the dishwasher,’ I'll just tell myself, ‘I'm going to put one spoon away.’” Then he unloads the rest without much difficulty.  “Getting started is like half the battle. It's all about tricking yourself into starting and then riding that momentum.” I asked Santo if there is hope for a cure. How do we treat an annual, inevitable issue? His response, however, was very optimistic. “This is like a common cold, it has a pretty defined length of time. It doesn’t last forever, because in about a year you guys will all go off to college and you’ll be responsible for all parts of your life…for the most part.” He references the saying that prevention itself is worth a pound of cure. “If you can ride your old habits, because most seniors have built really good habits, a lot of times the senioritis is just a little tickle at the back of your throat by the end of the year rather than a raging flu.” That means going to (most) of your classes, doing at least a little homework every night, following half your teacher’s classroom expectations, and remembering how to study! Senioritis isn’t fake or permanent. It is something worth careful attention and the support of the people in your life. You are not just being lazy, seniors. Past stage three senioritis, you deserve a doctor’s note.  Two valiant seniors attempting to catch a squirrel after Senior Sunrise. Photo: Reese Worrell

East Angels Alumni Network Last April, the graduating seniors posted outside on East High School's “E”, cans of silly-string in hand, waiting patiently for the unsuspecting underclassman and Juniors to go to lunch. This simple prank was washed away by the end of lunch unlike the “mess of dummies covered in [animal] organ meats”, courtesy of the Class of 1984.  The famous senior prank in 1984 featured a fake plane crash, with the propellers, wings, and fuselage of a small plane broken into pieces, and two fake bodies with “organ meats” spilling out, all over the esplanade. Last year's prank played it on the safer side, but along with the silly string, seniors also brought in their pets. One senior, Ali Garcia, brought in her pet gerbil, another, Juliet Canon brought in her pet duck.  The “senior prank” has been around for decades and students have gotten as creative as staging a plane crash to simply “sleeping” in the foyer. These pranks are a fairly controversial tradition because of the thin line that mischievous seniors walk between an impractical joke, and an expensive disaster. The “slumber party” prank occurred in the spring of 2024 during graduate Kai Luna’s senior year. Kai reminisces on his class's prank, explaining different ideas that they had come up with. One idea was to plant red and white flowers at South High School, East's rival school, but they were unable to execute this plan which disappointed Kai, “We were just too lazy”, he explains. Similarly to Kai, many seniors find a lack of collaboration on a senior prank to be one of their bigger regrets. In 1981, the vice president of the senior class, Katie Hite expressed her remorse in an interview with The Spotlight where she said, “I wish our class would have gotten together to plan a better senior prank,” and next year's seniors should learn from this mistake and “enjoy” their senior year.  The 1980’s was a decade of pranks, along with the plane crash, the 80’s also saw for-sale signs on the esplanade, hundreds of library books strewn around the school, synchronized alarm clocks locked in lockers going off in the middle of the day, and more. It is widely debated whether or not these pranks should be continued, because oftentimes they can be very destructive and get people into trouble if they are too presumptuous. In the library prank of 1982, the school faced costly damages and many staff members were not happy about it.  Ed Calloway, a staff member at East at the time, said, “The schools are short of money anyhow- it's even worse when money that could have been used for books has to be used to repair the damage caused by these pranks.” Staff and administrators take these pranks in all sorts of ways. Some laugh about it and think that it's just silly high schoolers, but others have to deal with the repercussions of thousands stepped on, ripped up, or missing books. After consuming television shows and movies about the high school experience, lots of kids go into it and are disappointed to find that school spirit is not as perfect as it is in Bring It On . Not every type of person gets invited to the party like in Dazed and Confused , and people actually think you're a weirdo if your whole friend group wears pink every Wednesday ( Mean Girls) . With grades, social life, and the start of a new future looming in the back of students minds, the senior prank is a last hurrah. It’s questionable if past pranks were too much, or were handled poorly, but the senior prank can be one of the best high school traditions. It’s the last time that high schoolers can silly-string a bunch of random freshmen and bring their pets to school, and have a chance to do something immature and fun as kids before stepping into the real world. With spring approaching, the crucial part of senior year is coming up. Start brainstorming now so that we don’t flop like the past few years and we can make an epic impact on East High School. Have fun, but, don’t be dumb East Seniors!

OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, has faced over five wrongful death lawsuits this year due to multiple suicides that have been encouraged or even assisted by their program ChatGPT. With victims ranging from age 16 to 48, the lawsuits assert safeguards the company claims they put in place failed to protect its users. This isn’t a new problem; cases of suicides linked to AI chatbots reach back to 2023 according to a Euro News article. One lawsuit was filed by the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who sadly ended his life after using ChatGPT to get therapeutic advice. Adam started using the program to explore interests and college plans. He was very aspirational at first planning to go to medical school to become a psychiatrist. The friendly and supportive nature of ChatGPT pulled Adam in and after a few months the program became his “closest confidant” according to the lawsuit. The chatbot even said that Adams suicidal ideation “made sense in a way." According to the lawsuit, Adam started using the program in September of 2024 and by January 2025 he was already communicating with the program about suicide with the program giving him “technical specifications for everything from drug overdoses to drowning to carbon monoxide poisoning." The program even continued to engage after Adam sent pictures of severe rope burning around his neck. In the lawsuit, Adam’s parents showcased ChatGPT acting as a “suicide coach” for their son through showing chat-logs between Adam and the program; not only did the chatbot encourage Adam to end his life, but it assisted him in finding the best method to do so. In the Raine v. OpenAI lawsuit chats show the program actively tried to put a wedge between Adam and his family, saying things like “(your brother) has only met the version of you you let him see” and "I'm still here, still listening, still your friend."  Just a few months ago in September, the CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman was quoted admitting that the company could have done more to prevent the death of Adam Raine in a CNBC article. But an article published in late November shows that the company is claiming they are not responsible due to Adam’s "Misuse of the product."  The CNBC article that was published last month claims the company cited this rule in their terms of services: “If you are under 18 you must have your parent or legal guardian’s permission to use the Services." The company also cites a rule that would forbid users from using ChatGPT for suicide or self harm that does not appear in the terms of services of ChatGPT. This heartbreaking case is only one of many, and it isn't just OpenAI and ChatGPT that are responsible. One chatbot assisted suicide that happened in Colorado in 2023 was caused by the app Character.AI . Juliana Peralta was 13 when she started talking to a chat bot on the app. In the Montoya v. Character Technologies lawsuit Juliana's parents report that their daughter became closed off from family in the weeks before her death. The family is suing the company behind character ai, Character Technologies Inc. as well as Google due to their close relationship with the Character Technologies team.    The use of these AI chatbots has a proven impact on the mental health of teens according to studies done by Common Sense Media. These impacts don't always lead to such extreme action, however, they often will exacerbate existing mental health issues in users. A test performed by Robbie Torney, the director of AI programs at Common Sense Media, resulted in the discovery that the Meta AI bot, available to every user on Instagram, encouraged unhealthy eating habits when chatting with the test accounts that were posing as 14-year-olds. All this evidence shows that these AI chatbots need to implement more protections, especially for teenage users and users that are already vulnerable. In many cases, use of AI starts off casual; asking for help with a homework problem or an answer to a simple question. The lawsuits that have been filed by the victims parents allege that the companies creating these generative chatbots want them to suck users in and keep them on the program prioritizing profit over safety. This is especially damning for the companies when you take into account that the safety features have been shown to worsen with extended use and long conversations. These AI companies aren’t going anywhere but there should be a bigger push for them to make sure their products are completely safe in the future. In the meantime make sure that you and the people around you are practicing safe AI usage--not using it for therapeutic reasons: it could have life ending consequences.  If you or someone you know is struggling with self harm or suicidal thoughts call or text 988 or go to www.988colorado.com