SEARCH RESULTS

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections To Blush or Not to Blush? Giancarlo Oliveri Volume 4 Issue 2 January 16, 2024 Image provided by Patrick Ta Cosmetics Makeup trends have evolved significantly just in the past decade alone. From matte-based looks with blinding highlighter, to the current dewy clean girl makeup, many have shortened their application time from hours to minutes at a time. Notably, one of the greatest changes to date is blush . Ever since the Ancient Egyptians first rosy-d their cheeks, many consider blush as a staple of their makeup routines. However, with increasingly popular methods of powder, liquid, matte, and cream blushes on the market and the recent I’m Cold Girl makeup trend, based on appearing flushed, many think blush usage has gone overboard. Has it? On one hand blush elevates one’s appearance as most cosmetics are intended to do. Appearing feminine, rosy, and classic; with prominent usage from pin-up girls in the 50s, to striking 80s supermodels, all the way to the liquid users now. When blended correctly, blush adds a feminine flush to the face! Further, when applied from the temples of the cheek, one looks contoured, adding the illusion of cheekbones, and framing the face in a sharp, almost model-like way. On the other hand, blush may add the unintended consequence of sweatiness. As mentioned briefly, the dewy look is in style, with moist setting sprays, and liquid/cream products in power, many look as if they had just perspired. Pounds of blush may add to this effect, with some appearing as if they just ran the New York City Marathon or like a tomato. However, to others this look is appealing, seen with popular actors and influencers such as Sydney Sweeney’s character in the hit-tv show Euphoria , or Hailey Bieber, dawning the look frequently. In contrast, the natural, light, no-makeup look has always been applauded. Focusing primarily on concealing blemishes, adding warmth to the face, and appearing effortless and flawless, this look highlights natural features without the time and products needed for other looks. This may also appear more beginner-friendly, with less abstract, time-consuming processes required for other looks. The verdict? Completely up to your preference. There is no better way to find out than testing and trying new unexplored methods and techniques. Skyrocketing in popularity in 2016, the YouTube Beauty Community remains strong today, with anyone from Drag Queens to at-home influencers providing tutorials. Also, makeup does not have to be the flashiest, or priciest, with expense ≠ quality. Makeup from your local CVS or Walgreens, otherwise drugstore makeup works as, if not better than most luxury brands, with the bonus of not hurting your bank account. No matter your choice however, it is important to note the significance of your dollar. Many popular companies such as Covergirl, Clinique or Maybelline, still readily test on animals in 2023. So, regardless of if you are trying out a new product, remember not to support companies that harm animals. For more information, attached is an article detailing cruelty-free brands: https://ethicalelephant.com/cruelty-free-makeup-drugstore-brands/ . Also, overconsumption, or the excessive buying then disposing of items, remains a prominent epidemic, with millions of products ending up in landfills and later in our ozone layer. Thus, choosing cruelty-free brands that will last, rather than hopping on the next mini-trend is essential to repairing our increasingly declining environment. Overall, whether you like the rosy look, the natural look, or an in-between, makeup is a highly diverse form of expression, for anyone and everyone willing to pick up a beauty blender. As such, experimentation with one’s look is inevitable, especially with the diversity of products, and ingredients, most evidently with blush; a staple for many. However, regardless of if you enter a Sephora , or CVS Pharmacy, be mindful with what you spend your money on, as your choices could harm both animal and human health. BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork The Memory Project Back to Sections Zainab- Sophia Mura Sophia Mura February 24, 2023 Volume 3 Issue 3

Back to Articles Polaris Back to Sections I See Ghosts In My Bedroom Mirror By Eva Grace Martinez Volume 2 Issue 5 March 28, 2022 Original photography by Eva Grace Martinez I see ghosts in my bedroom mirror, let me clarify I only really see one. I see the way her room was painted purple, black sharpie forming vignettes of a person who lived here before I. I hear the subtle beat of music in a language I won’t understand until after she goes. I hear giggles of a teenage dramedy, the kind of nostalgia-inducing, jealousy-inspiring laughter that forms the basis of poems with comparisons to stars. If I listen hard I can hear the heater ticking, the same way it must’ve when it lit your mattress on fire. There is no metaphor there, when you left I remember finding the scorched side of your mattress. Sometimes, I feel like an archeologist, this bedroom the dig site. Unearthing old necklaces and Sinatra records you couldn’t fit in your suitcase. It’s been at least a decade I think? Do you miss these old records and painted over walls? I’d like to think so. I want so desperately to reach out and ask you, but I’m scared that if I do, I will have to confront the concept of you leaving me too. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Entertainment & Media Back to Sections EGM’s Top 5 By Eva Grace Martinez Volume 2 Issue 3 January 14, 2022 Image provided by Car Throttle Hello everyone! It is once again the time of year when I convince myself that doing a music review won’t be death upon my sanity. As much as I could spend hours going on and on about all the music I’ve loved (and hated) this year, here is a bite-sized review of my top 5 favorite songs of 2021! Note: The songs do not have to have been released in 2021 to count towards this list; I find that my music taste would be hard to limit to a yearly format. Also, this list functions in descending order; therefore, 5 is the least favorite of my favorites.  5. Maps - The Front Bottoms Are “The Front Bottoms” the best band you’ve ever heard? Definitely not. A folk-punk band from Woodcliff Lake, NJ, it is undeniably one of my favorite bands of all time. Full of clever lyrics surrounding the idea of growing up, making future plans, and ultimately trying to achieve your goals even when your relationships become tangled because of your ambitions. This song has sunk into my bones. As a senior grappling with what feels like an infinitely changing reality, attempting to hang on to lifelong dreams and passions, and doing my best to adhere to my “big big plans,” I have found comfort in Brian Sella’s sweaty-palmed and awkward adolescence.  If you like this song, check out: Skeleton - The Front Bottoms, Redo- Modern Baseball, and Romance is Boring- Los Campesinos! 4. Wasteland Baby- Hozier Ever wanted to live out your dreams of running away to a cottage in the woods and making cookies until the warmth of the stove matches the warmth in your heart? If so, this song is for you. This song may just be the sweetest end of the world you have ever seen; as Hozier pushes a clear and warm melody over a simple plucked guitar, you might find yourself falling in love with rainy Sundays best spent in PJs with those you care about most. The lyrics paint a soft description of two people falling in love with the end of it all in the background, but is their love world ending, or is the end of the world the reason they love? Your guess is as good as mine.  If you like this song, check out: Like Real People Do- Hozier (Ala recommends this one too), Nine in the Afternoon- Panic! at the Disco, and Shampoo Bottles- Peach Pit 3. Keep It Easy- Bears Tn Trees A self-described “dirtbag boy-band” from South London, Bears in Trees is one band I am always excited for. I’ll be honest; I’m reluctant to place this band on this list because they’re my “I’ve been a fan since day one” band. Yet, my love for their new album and everyone smiled back (editor’s note, the title is stylized to be lowercase) continues to grow as I keep listening. Keep It Easy is an upbeat romp through attempting to, well, keep it easy. Its joyful tones and gang vocals make it feel like something to be screamed at the top of your lungs amongst friends. This song has the distinct feel of the first 50-degree day after a long cold winter; it’s not perfectly warm yet, but it’s getting there, and you’re overjoyed because of it.  If you like this song, check out: I’m Doing Push Ups- Bears in Trees, The Moss- Cosmo Sheldrake, and Oh Yeah, You Gonna Cry- Lovejoy 2. Glitter and Crimson- All Time Low Alright, listen, this is where my personal bias starts to be increasingly apparent. With most songs I listen to, I connect with them because of lyrical witticisms, interesting melodies, or cool production choices. Not simply because I find something relatable, see the entirety of 100gecs.  But this one? This one is entirely personal. The lyrics tell the story of a hidden and closeted pair of lovers, choosing to risk it all by coming out and fighting for their right to love openly. The singer knows that if they let the “sunshine fade,” everything good they’ve got is likely to be washed down the drain. I first heard this song while learning to drive down a nearly empty highway during the early pandemic, and while tinged in the empty sadness of April 2020, I swear I can still feel the sun through the windshield when I hear it. Clover, this one’s for you.  If you like this song, check out: Backseat Serenade- All Time Low, Fourth of July- Fall Out Boy, and Voldemort- With Confidence 1. You would Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out to Get You)- Waterparks Waterparks have been the top artist on my Spotify Wrapped for two years in a row. I crowd surfed for the first time at their NYC show on November 25th, 2019, an experience I would later craft into my college essay. On November 5th, 2021, I was lucky to see them and crowd surf again. Two years later, I had learned to take every second for granted, and I wasn’t going to waste my chance.  As the crowd once again lifted me, I felt my heart swell. This song was playing loud enough to damage my hearing, I was sweaty from being crammed into the pit, and I knew my makeup must have been melting off my face, but none of that mattered. I was flying, singing, laughing, and honestly just trying not to fall. Regardless of my opinions on this artist in the future, I cannot deny the astronomical impact they’ve had on my high school career.  If you like this song, check out: Lowkey as H*ll- Waterparks, Planetary Go!- My Chemical Romance, and Choke- I Don’t Know How but They Found Me And that’s a wrap! I hope this list helps you find something new to listen to as we enter 2022 or reminds you of an old favorite. I know I can’t wait to see what next year brings!  P.S.  Interested in hearing more? Here are a few Honorable mentions (in no particular order): Sofia- Clairo, Coals- Modern Baseball, Karma- MODSUN, Perfume- Lovejoy, Alrighty Aphrodite- Peach Pit, Kenny- Still Woozy, Heatwaves- Glass Animals, Passerine- The Oh Hello’s 26- Caamp BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections SADD Club’s Contribution to the Island Harvest By Jeselys Vazquez Volume 3 Issue 2 December 23, 2022 Image provided by Island Harvest The SADD club (Students Against Destructive Decision) once again has contributed to promoting and working with the Island Harvest Food Drive. For those who do not know what that is, the Island Harvest Food Drive is an organization that works to help end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island, especially when Thanksgiving and Christmas come around. Our high school has donated 900+ food items to Long Island Harvest, and this year we planned to donate even more, but we could not have done it without your help. Did you know how many people have suffered just on Long Island from hunger at some point this year? 283,700 people. As a matter of fact, 182,000 people will go hungry on Long Island tonight, and 72,980 of those people will be children. It is crazy to hear how many people are affected by this hunger crisis, and 316,000 people in need rely on the Long Island Harvest food bank and other local pantries. This number of people has been increasing since the pandemic due to mortgages and taxes our parents and adults must pay, as well as inflation. Even though we have provided so many resources, Long Island is still struggling to meet the demands of living in Nassau and Suffolk County. A donation could’ve been as little as one can of food, but with everyone contributing, it certainly has added up. I hope we can have another successful donation season next year! BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections Criminal Minds Book Review By Aamna Raja Volume 3 Issue 1 November 7, 2022 Have you ever heard one of those podcasts made by millennial goth women about true crime and thought to yourself, “This story is intensely disturbing, I wonder what could make a person want to do these things”? That is exactly the question that intrigued Stanton E Samenow (Ph.D.) motivating him to write Inside the Criminal Mind, a book that consists of interviews and studies with offenders. Samenow explores criminal psychology and motivators that encourage everyday people to become straight out evil. If you are interested in psychology and social science, this book is for you. Reading it as a psychology lover, I found it to be very entertaining and interesting. I would finish a chapter and have to stop myself from reading the whole book in one day because I needed to know what Samenow would discover in his findings next. In particular, I really enjoyed the chapter “Parents don’t turn children into criminals; the child rejects the parent.” In this section of the book, Samenow inspects many criminals’ defense to their actions; that they grew up in a bad home. Samenow finds that this argument is usually untrue and is used by offenders as a tactic to gain the sympathy of those who are judging them on trial. Personally, I think I see myself as a pretty empathetic person, and reading this chapter changed my view on criminals as a whole. It taught me that we should continue to question people who commit crimes instead of falling for their sob stories and hold everyone accountable no matter what they say. This book is also very relatable universally. At the end of the day, everybody is only human, and sometimes it seems really much easier to do harm than good. Although it may come as a surprise to some people, you can easily relate to the criminals in the book and their motivations. If you place yourself in their true positions, you’ll come to find that the criminals who aren’t mentally unstable were placed in bad situations, and they had no easier choice than to do what they decided to do. Overall, I would rate this book a 9/10. Nothing is perfect (like the book taught me) but this did come pretty close. It’s entertaining, fascinating, and exciting if you enjoy psychology. However, if you don’t like psychology, you may be less interested in it, so I’d rate it a 6/10 for you. I hope I’ve convinced you to read this book! BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Sports Back to Sections Sports Around the World By Aleeza Dhillon Volume 2 Issue 5 March 28, 2022 Image provided by WLZR-AM In honor of culture week, let’s celebrate with haikus about popular sports all over the world: America Ten seconds remain The ball soars across the field “Touchdown!” yells the crowd Mexico The ball comes to me Looking for an open pass What a perfect pass Japan “Bam!” I hear a hit The ball glides high in the sky My teammate runs home India I hear the loud chants The joy of scoring a run Physical pain gone Canada As my sharp blade glides I focus on the black puck Shooting with great force BACK TO TOP

Back to Artwork Perspective Back to Sections Victoria Scarpa - Perspective - 1 By Victoria Scarpa December 16, 2020 Digital Art Volume 1 Issue 3

Back to Articles Advice Back to Sections The Pros and Cons of Attending Multiple Schools By Isabella Somma Volume 3 Issue 1 November 7, 2022 Image provided by Fine Arts America This interview discusses the positives and negatives of attending multiple schools, how that can mold you academically and socially, and compares the schooling system of Valley Stream North to a high school in Chesterton, Indiana. In this interview, conducted by Isabella Somma, Valley Stream North Senior Gurjosh Multani, a newer Valley Stream North High School student, reflected on his previous high school years. Question 1: Have you ever lived anywhere else besides Valley Stream? If so, where? I’ve lived in Germany, Indiana, and Queens. Can you explain the timeline? Yeah, so I was born in Germany in this little city called Ingolstadt. It’s the home of Ali. Then I moved to America in 2008 and then I lived in New York from 2008 to 2016 in Floral Park, Queens. Then I moved to Indiana in 2016 to this little city called Chesterton. It was actually one of the only Blue [Democratic] cities in all of Indiana, and then in 2020, I moved to another city in Indiana called Bloomington, where the University is: Indiana University of Bloomington. In August of 2020, I moved back to New York, here in Elmont actually, and I went to Elmont Memorial, and then in 2021, I moved to Valley Stream. Question 2: Out of all of the schools you attended, which is your favorite? Which has given you the best social experience? The best educational? The best social experience has definitely been North. The best educational experience has definitely been Chesterton High School in Indiana. What programs did they offer that made it superior in education? It wasn’t necessarily the individual programs; it was more of the school as a whole and the budget of the school that allowed for more opportunities. It was ranked in the 1,000s out of the 24,000 high schools in all of the United States. They had a cooler system for scheduling where the day was organized in blocks instead of periods. I really liked that I think about this a lot actually while comparing Indiana to North. So, I would have eight classes, but I would only take four a day and they would all be an hour and a half long so if I had work to do, I would have two days to do it because I take that class every other day. Question 3: How has living in multiple places shaped you as a person? It definitely has helped me socialize better; I know what to do now in any kind of social situation. I’m also very open to change because of this and I think it’s easier for me to make friends. That’s about it. Question 4: How has living in multiple places shaped you academically as a student? I actually think moving has ruined me academically. Well not “ruined,” but definitely made it worse because I was on the track to being an advanced student throughout high school in Indiana, which started in 9th grade, but then moving to New York in 10th grade put me in regular classes, and that really messed me up, but then I got back to AP classes in 11th grade. I still think that if I was in Indiana, I would be a lot smarter. Question 5: What are your plans for after high school? Do you wish to attend college? I do wish to attend college. After college, I definitely plan to stay in New York - just not in Valley Stream. Are there any colleges you have in mind? I am undecided right now, but probably in the state of New York. I definitely hope to get my bachelor’s degree in Engineering or some kind of computer science. BACK TO TOP

Back to Articles Feature Back to Sections King Tutankhamun and the Curse By Rehmat Kaur Volume 3 Issue 3 February 24, 2023 Image provided by The BBC This is the tomb of King Tutankhamun, commonly known as King Tut, who became Pharaoh of Egypt at the age of nine in 1332 B.C. He was granted command of his civilizations during a time of conflict with neighboring kingdoms for territory. King subsequently married his half-sister because they had the same father. During his reign, he contributed to the restoration of traditional Egyptian religion and art. He died at the age of nineteen from a broken leg, according to scientists, but in 2010, evidence of malaria parasites were discovered in Tutankhamun's remains, indicating that malaria, potentially in combination with degenerative bone disease, may have been the reason. This has debunked the widely held belief that the Egyptian pharaoh was assassinated by a blow to the head over 3,300 years ago. A curse was placed over King Tut's tomb to keep robbers and political adversaries from desecrating the burial, and the curse was invoked against offenders. His mummy was found over 30,000 years after his death by British archeologist Howard Carter and others in 1922. Mr. Carter died unexpectedly a few months after the tomb was discovered igniting the legend of the mummy's curse. Another popular victim of the alleged curse was George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who funded the excavation of King Tut's tomb. Lord Carnarvon died of blood poisoning after accidentally tearing open a mosquito bite while shaving. There is still no evidence of whether the deaths were a cause of being exposed of the alleged "curse of the pharaohs", but the deaths were quite coincidental; it is still a mystery. BACK TO TOP