By Jamel Brown
 
As the holiday season rolls around, it is tradition that people are going to want to come together to have a good time. But as we all know we have a pandemic on our hands that has been and still is affecting our country, and the activities that we pursue in our everyday lives. A lot of big events that happen around this time of the year with holidays like Christmas, New Year’s, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are going to have changes to the parades or any other celebrations because of safety and health hazards.
 
Now you may ask the question: “How is the New Year’s celebration going to be a hazard? Won't people be watching the ball drop on their televisions?” Well yes for some but think about the people who have the desire to watch it in real time. Think about the people in the crowds who are waiting, shoulder to shoulder to see the New Year arrive. They are at risk. How will this all play out?
 
The CDC has recommendations to help combat problems of being in populated areas such as: “Maintain a distance of at least 6 feet or more from people who don’t live in your household. Be particularly mindful in areas where it may be harder to keep this distance, such as check-in areas, parking lots, and routes of entry and exit.” They also have recommendations for avoiding overpopulated areas like, “Arrive at the event early or at off-peak times to avoid crowding and congested areas.” There are going to be some drastic changes to this year's celebrations, but we must respect and embrace them so that everyone is safe. So remember your holiday isn’t ruined, you just have to plan it differently.

By Jerome English
 
What is better: PlayStation 5 or Xbox series X? As an experienced PlayStation and Xbox player I really think that ps5 is better but there are way more opinions than just mine. For a long time there has been a feud between Xbox and PlayStation. There have been various amounts of arguments about what system is better. I will let you know what system is better in this article.
 
The price for the Xbox series x is $499 and the digital version which is the Xbox series s is $299. The PlayStation 5 cost $499, when the digital version is $399. Comparing these prices if you would want the cheapest system you would probably go with Xbox, but even though the PS5 cost more than Xbox it has a lot better features than the Xbox series x. The PS5 is a very big gaming console and is very hard to figure out where you can fit your console, while the Xbox series x is very small you can fit the console in numerous places, than the ps5. The Xbox series x has 802gb of usable storage, and the PS5 667gb of usable storage. So if you want a console with more space you would choose the Xbox.
 
Some more features that the PS5 have is the new dual sense controller. The dual sense has very great features such as the haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers. When using this controller you can feel the sensation of rain falling on your character or a gust of wind trying to push you off a platform, or the difference between running on sand or swimming through water. The Xbox series X has a better backward compatibility than PS5. On the Xbox series x you can play games from the original Xbox and the game we are talking about are about 13-15 years old. If you don’t have Xbox series X or PS5, hopefully now you can make a decision that’s right for you.

By Noah P. Smith

Originally social media was made to be a place where people around the world could connect and communicate with others like them. From Facebook to Twitter, anybody can post what they want as just a text post. Instagram is a different type of platform used primarily for photos. Since Instagram uses primarily photos this leaves a lot of space for people to post their content on the site, from sellers to models, people post what they take photos of.
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A dislike button on Instagram could help out sellers looking to see what people are willing to buy.  I mean clicking a button is a lot easier than leaving a comment. This could also help with people who post offensive content so it can’t get promoted and instead gets shut down, but this also applies to things like cyberbullying on just a photo posted by someone from your school they could get targeted by “dislike bombers” telling others to dislike. It is a lot different than comments that you can delete or even turn off. A dislike is almost an anonymous way of saying you don’t want to see this content again, everything is hidden except for the number.  A dislike could also be damaging for brands and advertisers as well.  For more information you can visit wordpress.com and see their article on if Instagram should add a dislike button-https://bymelanin.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/should-instagram-have-a-dislike-button/

By Aaliyah Bell
 
Surrounding a growth of rapid cases in the country, plenty of people question when and how will the virus end. For many they believe the answer to this is simple: a vaccine. While this is the case for plenty of people others oppose this solution due to a mix of feelings, past experiences, ethnic background, fear, and some solely off of what a majority of people are choosing. So without being biased how can people explain their reasoning without bashing the other side? In this month's Eagle Express article there are clear pros and cons to the vaccine without picking a side. 
 
In order for people to understand each other and mature we have to try to see things from other peers' point of view, because sometimes hearing another person discuss a topic might change your mind or teach you more about a topic that you didn't know before. 
 
Possible Pros of Vaccination for COVID-19
While there may be plenty of advantages of being vaccinated for the virus these are the main points I’ve heard from various sources. Starting off, an advantage of being vaccinated for the coronavirus would simply be to protect yourself from future serious illness that derives from catching the disease. Not only will the vaccine protect you from COVID but possibly other sickness that are common during the colder seasons, due to the fact that the vaccine is said to be able to temporarily build natural immunity. Another reason the vaccine is said to be safe is because of strains in the vaccine that are designed to help your body fight the virus. 
 
Possible Cons of Vaccination for COVID-19 
While the vaccine is said to be a great tool to stop the pandemic, disadvantages may still occur due to the short notice of creating this vaccine. Again there might be other reasons for why citizens in the United States should not be vaccinated but these are the main points plenty of people, including me, have gathered. Due to the short amount of time we had to create the vaccine there's no way of telling that everyone will react the same or be able to protect themselves without gaining other sickness from getting the shot. Many people that I have talked to about vaccination are not for it due to a bad history of getting vaccines that led to other dangerous diseases. Another con of getting the COVID-19 vaccination is the inability of knowing if certain symptoms will stay permanent such as not being able to taste or smell. It has been said that even with getting the shot you may still experience side effects until your body learns to accept the vaccine. 
 
While doing your own research at home about denying or accepting the vaccine and with this information in mind, you can also help at home by only going to places that are necessary, constantly checking temperatures and warn a doctor or family members immediately of any signs and symptoms of the Coronavirus.

By Davyon Johnson
 
There are certain words to describe situations involving pandemics, one of them being the red, orange, and green zones. Green being an area with no effect from a virus, up to red being an area with the most number of confirmed cases. So the orange zone may bring up a lot of questions, being the orange zone entails that there are confirmed cases, so it isn’t a green zone but also not being as severe as a red zone, the precautions are as expected to be vague, unclear, and debatable. 
 
So what exactly does an orange zone mean? Well if a green zone by definition is generally an area with no confirmed cases, and a red zone is an area soaring with cases and still have confirmed cases arising, then an orange zone is somewhere in between the two zones, meaning it definitely has cases but also is not extremely overwhelmed by it. Take the orange zone almost as a yellow light when driving, yes you can go through a yellow light but you should slow down. Taking that same example we can use that in terms of an orange zone in a pandemic, no the area isn’t highly affected with cases but it can be if the right precautions are not put into place. 
 
So now that we have an idea of what an orange zone means, It is important that we see the simple precautions people take that live in orange zones to make sure that zone doesn't turn into a red zone. I’ve interviewed a college student in grad school who said, “My goal is to stay inside as much as possible. And whenever I do need to leave, I make sure to leave with a mask on. It would be ideal to have gloves. If I want food from a restaurant or something I only order now pretty much. And yeah that’s mostly all the changes I’ve made. I just don’t go to any social events and stuff but I’m the type to keep to myself mostly anyway.”
 
So from the perspective of your everyday people it really seems to be about the small things that we once saw as normal, going to restaurants, not wearing a mask, being around strangers at a park or a grocery store are all things we should be cautious of in an orange zone. As far as a government standpoint there's not really a way to know exactly what needs to be done in an orange zone, but just enforcing more of the basic rules. As well as limiting some social events and maybe even jobs sometime. I think it’s very clear here that there isn’t a right answer, or go to plan with an orange zone. But simply a sign that things can get worse if the precautions like wearing a mask, and staying six feet away are not highly followed. We could be in serious trouble.

By Deziree Garrick
 
In 2015 East High Schools graduation rate was at 30 percent and as of June 2020 the graduation rates at East had risen to 78 percent. We are going to take a look into how the University of Rochester helped our failing school as an Educational Partnership Organization. To help us understand East High’s journey, Dr. Joanne Larson explains the UR-East EPO. 
 
Let’s start with the obvious, what is the “East EPO”? “Educational Partnership Organization is a legal status in New York State; it is one of the five options for failing schools in NY. The University of Rochester is the educational partnership organization as well as the receiver,” answered Dr. Larson, who is not only a full professor at the Warner School of Education, but also a co-teacher at East High (Critical Literacy and Hip-Hop). 
 
With the University of Rochester as East High’s educational partnership organization, naturally changes were imminent. What were some of the changes made at East? Well, “there was a complete overhaul of the curriculum being taught, as well as how students were being instructed; also every East staff member had to reapply for their jobs and agree to the UR-East EPO plan if they wished to remain at East,” Dr. Larson explained, and went on to say that “distributed leadership, restorative practices, and Family Group were also key implementations.” Distributed leadership is when not just one group of people have a say in important decisions. Take the Governance Council for example: students, administrators, parents, teachers, and school union representatives are all present in the decision making at East. Longer class periods and Family Group were changes that were necessary to ensure that no student would feel ignored or unnoticed. 
 
The UR-East EPO has seen many positive outcomes that students may not take into consideration.  For example, “Going from 3,000 suspensions to less than 500, the shift from seeing students as a behavioral problem to being valued and important, and also the students no longer see graduation as something only a few students can obtain, but they now can actually see themselves graduating,” said Dr. Larson. She went on to talk about how the sense in school pride has increased tremendously, as well as student accountability. Back in the 2015-2016 school year students never cleaned up after themselves, or they used profanity openly without regard to the adults surrounding them. Now students will make sure that they are throwing their trash away, or they’ll say “don’t speak to her that way;” the school climate has genuinely improved from having the University of Rochester as an Educational Partnership Organization. 
 
Dr. Joanne Larson describes the “East Experience” as “absolutely transformative in research life, an amazing learning experience. The East Experience is about relationships and truly valuing each other. It’s exciting!”

By Tkai Gibson
 
East High senior Taiaisia couldn’t go a week without social media.  “I checked it probably 10 times already today,” says Taiaisia.  She’s not even sure how long she spends scrolling through.  “I lose track of time when I’m on,” she says, “but I think like a few hours, on and off.”
 
What is Social Media Addiction?
Social media addiction is an actual diagnosable illness that affects 10 percent of Americans.
Behavioral addiction is defined by how overly concerned someone is with social media. Someone who is addicted to social media tends to have urges to log into and use social media and it stops them from doing other important things in their lives.
 
How can a Social Media Addiction affect you?
According to AddictionCenter, “This is observable in social media usage; when an individual gets a notification, such as a like or mention, the brain receives a rush of dopamine and sends it along reward pathways, causing him or her to feel pleasure.” 
Having a Social Media Addiction has a ton of negative effects such as your performance isn’t as well as it used to be at your job or school, During activities, you tend to not show much presence when with others, you get restless or irritable when you’re not able to log in and use social media or you start to ignore your real-life relationships.
 
How can I prevent it?
To prevent yourself from getting addicted to social media try picking up a new hobby that doesn’t involve you using technology, turn off your phone while working, studying or having a meal with friends/family to show you’re really there and participating. 

By Dyanna Garcia
 
It’s a new season for all NFL teams. Each team’s goal is to make it to the Super Bowl and take the championships home. The rise of our hometown Buffalo Bills has been a long time coming. 
September 13th - The start of 2020 NFL football season has begun. The Buffalo Bills started off their first game playing against the N.Y. Jets in the Buffalo Bills stadium. While this game had its ups and downs the Buffalo Bills took their first win home.  
 
After their first defeat of the season, the Buffalo Bills took off on their winning streak with a record of 4-0. During this winning streak the Buffalo bills played against the Miami Dolphins on 9/20, the Los Angeles Rams on 9/27, and the Las Vegas Raiders on 10/04. During the Buffalo vs. Miami game the Buffalo Bills scored in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarter, making the score 31-28. In the Buffalo vs. Los Angeles game the Buffalo Bills scored a touchdown in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th quarters and scored 2 touchdowns in the 2nd quarter. This brought their score to 35-32 making it a close game but a definite win. Lastly, in the Buffalo vs. Los Vegas game Buffalo scored in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarter. The final score came to 30-23. 
 
October 13th - At an away game against Tennessee Titans, The Buffalo Bills face their first loss. The first quarter started off good for both teams with a score of 7-7. Second quarter came and the Buffalo Bills began to fall behind by 11 points. After halftime the Bills were still not able to even the score. By the end of the game the Titans had too many points to catch up with a score of 16-42. The Buffalo Bills accepted their loss and humbled themselves for their next game. 
 
The Buffalo Bills have played a total of 13 games so far. Their current record is 10-3. Their record hasn’t been this good since 1991! The teams they have defeated are the Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Rams, the Los Vegas Raiders, the New England Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and the N.Y. Jets twice. The Buffalo Bills have lost against 3 teams including the Tennessee Titans, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Arizona Cardinals.
 
Overall the Buffalo Bills are off to a great start. While there are no fans in the stadium due to COVID-19, fans from home are rooting for their team, cheering, and hoping for more wins. Who knows we might see them in this year's Super Bowl. 

By Yasir Mungani

The world of sports has experienced much loss and grief this year. The year greeted us with the death of one legend, and bid us farewell with the death of another. Both Kobe and Maradona were retirees, so they’ve lived their lives playing, but they had much more to offer. They also were husbands, brothers, fathers, and most importantly, inspirations. 

The top scorer was announced dead two weeks after his brain surgery in the city of Buenos Aires according to his spokesperson Sebastián Sanchi. Many of Maradona’s fans were aware of his troubled past, his struggles with drugs. 

Diego Maradona was an Argentine futbol player, or as many of you know it, soccer player.  He is most known for being one of the best players to have ever graced the field. Argentina not only gifted us with Diego but also Lionel Messi, who is arguably the best player, record holder, and award winner of our time.  Another thing the two have in common would be the fact that they both can say, “I have played for Barcelona.” 

Yes, you heard that right both Diego and Messi have marked their influence on the international team of Argentina, and Barcelona futbol club, and continue to do so. 

Diego himself was quite the award winner in his prime. His notorious goal, which was scored against England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals which coined him the phrase “Hand of God” after the English team argued he punched the ball into the net, rather than it bouncing off his head. 
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Many took it to social media to honor and tribute the late legend. Lionel Messi captioned “Hasta siempre, Diego,” a side by side by side image of him and Maradona doing the same hand gesture whilst wearing the same jersey. It has been a hard couple of weeks for futbol. 

By Arthur Bittner
 
Guns.  We know them as semi-automatic, fully-automatic, bolt action, pump action, or lever action. They are the cause of countless deaths each and every year due to gun violence. But in recent news, there’s been outrage as to whether or not we should change the gun laws or not. On one end of the spectrum, gun deaths would decrease, but on the other end, deaths due to melee weapons would increase just as much as guns decreased. Not only that, but when you limit something a large majority of people want – for example drugs or alcohol – it creates a black market for said item in high demand.
 
But a weapon gives people a chance when a person with the intent of stealing from or harming the family breaks and enters into the home. Anything from a .45 ACP M1911, to a 5.56 AR-15 could do the job effectively, both scaring the intruder, and doing enough damage to defend the family from further harm or theft from the intruder. As stated by the NY Times; “In America, spikes in gun purchases are often driven by fear. But in past years that anxiety has centered on concerns that politicians will pass stricter gun controls. Mass shootings often prompt more gun sales for that reason, as do elections of liberal Democrats.”  Not only does this show how people are influenced by their fear and want for personal safety but they also feel like the newer presidents are trying to violate their rights. It's not guns that kill people, it’s idiots with the guns that get people killed. In America, you cannot just up and change a bill out of the blue. The right to bear arms is in the Constitution, and a standard American right that shouldn’t be infringed upon.
 
Another reason proven by the same article and possibly anyone’s paranoia at the same time in these trying times is: “What’s going on in the country right now, I’m afraid to be out by myself as a Black woman,” Ms. Jackson said, describing unrest in her city of Richmond and beyond. “There are a lot of people not necessarily excited that Confederate monuments have been taken down.” Also, with some rioters going around and harming or murdering others, you can see why people would like a concealed carry, or a firearm on them during these tense and trying times.
 
Of course, nobody here is supporting gun violence; they’re just exercising their right to a firearm, and right to a safe neighborhood, or house with said firearm. To change or remove these laws would be an infringement on both of those. Weapon licensing tests, as well as police tests, should require at least 2 years in college, a completely stable and unbiased outlook on each and every race, and no psychological problems, or felonies. Because it’s not just civilians that make these dumb decisions, its law enforcement too. This is why BLM has done these things because of officers with biased view on different races engaging said races in unorthodox and illegal ways. 
 
So no, gun laws shouldn’t be changed. But the way to OBTAIN a gun should be changed. It shouldn’t be open to everyone, because having it open to everyone is what causes gun violence, which is why my proposal for 2 years of college would be able to reduce gun violence by up to 20%, making a drastic decrease in gun deaths for education level, as stated by the NIH.