timsmith – A Student Publication of the Roxbury Latin School

Patriot or traitor? Brady’s departure is the end of an era

By Miles Baumal-Bardy VI

As we sit here stuck in our homes, upset that all major sports events are canceled, it is important to reflect on one of the most important people in New England sports history: Tom Brady. Some might hold a grudge against this man, but we can never repay the satisfaction he brought us. Winning six Super Bowls, he was the only man in history to accomplish such a marvelous feat. Brady started as a lowly sixth-round pick from Michigan in the 2000 NFL draft, but he would soon blossom into someone much greater.

Zoombombing slows meteoric growth of video-conferencing company

By Tim Smith I

In this time of self-isolation, the resultant decline in consumption outside of necessities has caused the stock of many successful companies to decline. The opposite has happened for Zoom Video Communications. Their stock was steadily climbing due to the increase in working and learning from home, but this recently changed due to privacy concerns within the company. That lack of privacy has been exploited in a popular yet controversial way: zoombombing.

Teddy’s Teaser the Third turns heads

By Teddy Glaeser III

It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Greek myrmidons, enraged at the death of Achilles, have awoken from a centuries-long slumber deep beneath Fenway Park. Meanwhile, you relax peacefully on a mysterious beach, sipping herbal tea as you observe the beautiful serenity of the cerulean sea. You aren’t sure of your location, but it’s probably somewhere around the island of Tasmania. Lounging upon your cozy futon, you suddenly realize that you forgot to bring your favorite pair of moccasins. This calamity is only worsened by the arrival of Tsar Nicholas II, who launches into a diatribe concerning The Scarlet Letter. Wallowing in ennui, you lament your decision to murder Rasputin. But the Gedankenexperiment remains: if Schrödinger’s monkey falls over while Descartes is in a cave, is its allegorical typewriter still the same ship? Write out your answer in kumquats and mail it to me by owl to receive your reward (“yes” or “no” are sadly unacceptable).

Standardized testing is a victim of the pandemic

By Aidan Cook I

The coronavirus pandemic has caused everyone to reconsider how to assess students as they start thinking about college. This year, the College Board, the institution that organizes and administers most of the standardized tests high schoolers take as they apply to college, has announced that AP tests will be given remotely and that SAT tests will be cancelled until at least August. These changes have far-reaching implications in the college process for not only juniors but also younger students.

Please stop writing about Corona!

By Dennis Jin V

These are extraordinary circumstances and extraordinary times. Our lives have been upended and our livelihoods changed, possibly forever. Everything is online now: our classes, our work, and, most troublingly, our knowledge about the outside world.

18-5 season earns varsity basketball a playoff berth, first in a decade

By Tim Smith I

In terms of sheer results, the 2019-2020 varsity basketball team had a historic year. We finished 18-5, with wins over several league powerhouses like Lawrence Academy, Beaver Country Day, and Rivers. The team earned a Class-B playoff berth for the first time in about a decade. In the first round, we were slated to play St. Luke’s School at Cheshire Academy. We fought hard, but ended up losing 47-57. Although we came up short in the playoffs, each of us were proud of the effort we had put in, the results we achieved, and the growth we all experienced as players and people.