aidancook – Page 2 – A Student Publication of the Roxbury Latin School

Class I Matriculation

As of May 23, 2020

Avi Attar – Princeton University

Ian Balaguera – Brown University

Joey Barrett – Colby College

Collin Bergstrom – Harvard College

Varsity Wrestling toughs it out

By Mat Cefail I

Varsity Wrestling was optimistic coming out of the gates. We were already predicted to be one of the top teams in the league, and we were scheduled to compete with Governors and Nobles for second place. This held true throughout our season as we dominated. Our ISL dual meet record by the end of the year was 14-3. Those losses coming from close meets against Governors and Nobles. As many of you know this year the annual Graves Kelsey ISL Championship tournament was hosted by RL. It was one of the best-run tournaments credited by many coaches present– a big thank you to all who helped out. RL overall took 4th missing third by a small margin to Nobles.

Tactics of big-spending candidates raise questions about campaign financing

By John Harrington I

The fight for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2020 included a very interesting and diverse race. The initial field was massive, including young startups Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang, experienced moderates Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar, progressives Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, tenacious representative Tulsi Gabbard, along with a full cast of relatively minor players who dropped out along the way. Perhaps the most notable pairing in this array were the two billionaires, businessman Tom Steyer and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The Nevada Democratic Primary Debate on February 12, 2020

Sixies adapt to life in quarantine

By Omar Rahman VI

COVID-19, the epidemic of our century, has kept us stuck within ourselves and among our families while boredom and weariness creep upon us. Sixies in particular are used to the bustling commotion of sixie year and endless hours of homework and neglect for themselves as their grades plunge into the abyss. Now, with the time for anything and all things, sixies transition themselves into a more reflective state of emotion, not like that of a sage gaining wisdom but more akin to a fox plotting sly actions to escape their solitary confinement. Of course, most parents try to coax their children into an academic and athletic workload, but of course sixies con them with music, many TikTok videos, and in some cases, nothing is an escape from this contagion.

Rapid research efforts offer pandemic hope

By Raj Saha VI

Throughout the past two months, many organizations have sought to prevent the social, economic, and health impacts of coronavirus. While much emphasis has been placed on the social and economic implications, we must remember that this a health crisis at its root. The invisible clouds of fear encircling our communities and the plunging of stock markets are simply ramifications of an insidious virus amongst us. So, if we were able to create a remedy and neutralize the virus, all social and economic consequences would diminish. Thankfully, there is hope. With the collaboration of brilliant minds from biotech and pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and academia, we have developed our own intellectual army to combat COVID-19. All of these people are together in the quest to substantially reduce the mortality rates of this virus, hopefully to levels similar to influenza (flu) virus.

Facing tough competition, Varsity Hockey never lost heart

By Peter Frates II

The 2020 varsity hockey team finished its season just under .500 this year. This group was led by captains Dante Cuzzi, Joey Ryan, and an experienced crew of seniors. Sam Ginzberg, Matt Traietti, Mikey Jones, Kevin Swan, and Kam Miller, each played a critical role in the team’s success and set examples of hard work for the underclassmen. From the freshman to the seniors, this team was extremely close, partly due to the great senior leadership.

Economic downturn is a national crisis

By Aidan Cook I

There is no question that the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic rivals the scale of some of the biggest crises in the history of the United States. As of April 16, over 22 million people in the country have filed for unemployment aid since President Trump declared a national emergency. The public health crisis has caused small businesses to shut down and layoff workers and even large companies have cut back production. These unemployment numbers, continuing to rise as the pandemic approaches its eighth week in the United States, are close to reaching Great Depression levels.

Dr. Esther Duflo gives virtual Hall

By Krishantha Muniappan VI

On April 21^st, Roxbury Latin gathered for its third-ever virtual Hall with Nobel-prize-winning economist Dr. Esther Duflo, to conclude a series that has been focused on homelessness and poverty around the globe. This year, RL has already heard from four other prominent speakers experienced with this theme. The first was Matt Desmond, author of Evicted. The second, Tina Batista, is the director of A Bed for Every Child. The third was Kate Walsh, the CEO of the Boston Medical Center and the fourth, Bill Walczak, the co-founder of the Codman Health Center. Each told their separate stories in an engaging manner meant to educate and inspire their audience. As one might expect, the Nobel prize winner had no trouble meeting this standard with a riveting presentation of her own entitled “Fighting Poverty, with Facts and Passion.”

Meme Central: Tweets, TikToks and more!

These memes, videos, and fake tweets were submitted by various students from across all six grades.

Faculty Tweets:

Advice for dealing with quarantine

By Christo Velikin VI

Some stay inside and play video games all day long. Some are outside all of the time. Some are creative with things, and come up with their own fun. Some are optimistic, some are pessimistic. So what should you do during lockdown? Well, in this article, I will give you a couple of ideas about what to do when you are bored at home, which for me is probably 80% of the time.