Controversy Archives - the bird on fire

Waffles versus Pancakes

May 15, 2025 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Middle-School Bloggers Calum Webster and Mason Conway

Inspired by the song “Do You Like Waffles?” by Parry Gripp, 7th-graders Calum Webster and Mason Conway set out to find which breakfast entrée is the ultimate way to start your day. The two conducted their scientific research by walking around the Palm Valley campus and asking people for their opinions: Waffles or Pancakes?

Addison chooses “waffles because they have little pockets that can hold syrup.”

Jaxon says, “Pancakes because they have the crispy edges.”

Sami likes “pancakes because they are so fluffy and soft.”

Max prefers “waffles because they are pancakes with abs.”

Ben likes “pancakes more because they have aura.”

John says, “Pancakes because I eat them more.”

Elizabeth “prefers a flat breakfast”–so pancakes for her.

Morgan likes “waffles because they’re fluffier.”

Mason and Calum weigh in . . .

Mason: My tastebuds tell me that pancakes taste like cardboard and waffles taste way sweeter. Waffles have a nicer nexture and have a little bit of give with a slightly crunchy outside unlike their counterpart.

Calum: I believe that waffles are way better than pancakes. Waffles have places to hold syrup, and they are so much fluffier.

At the end of the day, pancakes won, but, with Mason’s and Calum’s votes, waffles would have won. So, the boys have answers to the song “Do You Like Waffles?” but not the way they wanted. It is fine because, according to the two of them, people will soon see the beauty of waffles over pancakes.

What’s the Hardest Sport and Why?

April 4, 2025 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Middle-School Bloggers Mason Conway, Calum Webster, and Elizabeth Greenwood

Here at thebirdonfire.org, we argue over everything–including Why my sport is harder than your sport! We thought we’d take it to the Palm Valley sidewalks. We asked people what they believe is the hardest sport and why. We know what the hardest sport is (Water Polo!), and we know everyone else is wrong, but wanted to hear their insights. Their answers surprised us, displaying a wide range of perspectives on the physical and mental challenges involved in different sports.

**John Webster, What’s the hardest sport?** “Formula 1 or rock climbing. F1 is difficult because you are driving at a high speed and you risk your life, but rock climbing is also difficult because there is a demanding mix of physical strength and balance.”

Mr. Kisling : “Open water swimming because if you stop, you drown.”

Ms. Maguire: “I think that decathlon is the hardest because you have to be able to run a marathon and do all of those sports really well, and I think that is really hard.”

Devlin Roosevelt: “Soccer because sometimes the refs are blind.”

Mateo Omier: “I think boxing or wrestling because you get beat up every single time.”

Maxwell Pretorius: “Boxing because you can get hurt.”

Ivana Vega: “I would say wrestling because you can genuinely die.”

**Addison Uhlhorn, What’s the hardest sport?** “Hockey because it’s physically demanding on multiple different levels.”

Emmy Kaminsky: “Hockey because you have to skate while you are fighting while holding a stick while moving a puck.”

Jaden Ramer: “Ice Skating because you have to be precise.”

Brooklyn Hatrak: “I agree with Jaden because you have to be flexible.”

Sami Alnabelsi: “The hardest sport and why? I don’t know soccer because the refs are blind.”

Grace Ghaly: “Soccer because the coaches in soccer are mean.”

Ryder Gardner: “Hardest sport? Football because you have to do conditioning.”

**Jaxon Pacilio, What’s the hardest sport?** “Football because you get get hit really hard.” Photo Credit: Mason Conway

Sarah Alnabelsi: “Soccer because it has a lot of running.”

Zoe Groendyke: “Ice Skating.”

Mr. Killeen: “F1 because you have to be short.”

Riley Jorgensen: “Football because it’s the most physical sport possible.”

Coach Jake: “I would personally say football.”

Julian Berumen: “Volleyball”

Cindy Wang: “Volleyball’’

Silvinita Garcia:” Volleyball or basketball.”

Now, Elizabeth says…

As you can see from the wide range of answers, everyone has a different opinion on what makes a sport difficult. Whether it’s the physical demands of hockey or the precision of figure skating. It’s clear that all sports require hard work and dedication.

And, Calum adds…

In my opinion, water polo is the hardest sport for a couple of reasons. First, you have to be treading water for a long period of time. The game is 50 minutes long with only 13 players and 7 playing at a time, and you can only get subbed out after a goal or a time out. So you are for sure going to be tired after the game. Secondly, you can only use one hand at a time. You can not pass in from hand to hand. You either have to dribble it or drop it in the water. This can be really hard because you are going to have to have a really good grip on the ball. The ball is constantly in the water, which means it is going to be wet and slippery. In addition to that, you can only shoot from 5 meters or farther. Finally, it can be a very physical sport. There is a lot of fighting that goes on under water that the ref doesn’t see. That is why water polo is the hardest sport.

Finally, Mason concludes…

I’m going to agree with Calum on this one, I can barely swim, so imagine swimming for that long. If I was to try to play water polo, I would be at the bottom of the regulation 20-feet deep pool. Some people like to drag the players when the refs are not looking, which sounds terrifying; I’d die. I also believe lacrosse is one of the hardest sports solely because you’re allowed to break your stick over someone; the sticks they use are made out of carbon fiber and hard plastic, which I imagine would hurt a lot.

Figure Skating vs. Hockey: Which Sport is Harder?

April 2, 2025 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By 6th-Grade Bloggers Greenlee Bartley and Reagan Kaminsky

Reagan is a figure skater; Greenlee is a devoted hockey fan. They have had many disagreements on which sport is harder: Figure Skating or Ice Hockey. They have decided to each make their claim on what they think, then get a few people who have experience in both sports to make the final judgement. They, for one, were very surprised with the results, and they think you will be, too.

Reagan says . . .

Personally, I think that figure skating is much harder than ice hockey. Although I have no experience in hockey, I have figure skated for over a year now, and I can confirm that it is not an easy sport. Arguably, to me hockey is much easier than figure skating because you are not required to do jumps, spins, and more while being incredibly dizzy at the same time. Look at professional figure skaters; they are doing “Triple Axels” and “Double Salchows,” while hockey players are simply skating around trying to put a small object into a goal. Personally, I can’t do any of these crazy figure skating tricks, but I do get very dizzy while skating and performing my routines. Also, hockey players even get breaks in between playing time and get to wear special padding and warm clothing. Figure skaters, however, have to wear thin tights and short dresses while skating. Once again, I think that figure skating is much harder than hockey.

Reagan (Right) and Greenlee (Left) at a hockey game, snapping a picture with Coachella Valley Firebirds player Luke Henman.

Greenlee says . . .

I think that ice hockey is harder than figure skating. Although I have not much experience in figure skating or hockey, I do watch hockey a lot, and I have season tickets at Acrisure Arena. I go to almost every hockey game. Reagan claims that hockey is easier because “you are not required to do jumps, spins, and more while being incredibly dizzy at the same time”–which is untrue because hockey players get very dizzy because they are going so fast while sticks are being shoved at them. Also they get thrown into the glass; they fall, and sometimes they get in very bad fistfights that can make them very very badly hurt! Also, hockey players have no choice sometimes but to fight or just accept defeat! Hockey players get to wear padding and more clothes than figure skaters for a reason! It’s not only to keep warm; it’s because, like I said, they get in bad fights and need the padding. Also the goalies need way more padding because they have a hard puck of rubber coming at them at top speed, and hockey is rated #2 Hardest Sport in the World! (ESPN) Once again, I think that hockey is way harder than figure skating.

So, unable to agree, we interviewed three people with experience in these sports to see what the final result would be. First, we interviewed a fellow blogger, and hockey player, Mark Huber. We asked him, “Which sport is harder, figure skating or hockey, and why?” Mark said: “Hockey, because it challenges every single part of your body, even your brain. Also, you have to make decisions in like 0.5 seconds or something, and you wear all this equipment that makes you super sweaty which is annoying.”

Next, we interviewed a PVS Science Teacher, and also hockey player, Mr. Killeen. We asked him “Which sport is harder, figure skating or hockey, and why?” Mr. Killeen responded, “Figure Skating because… as a hockey player, you just have to skate one way until you run into something, but when you are figure skating you have to be graceful, and you don’t have a team to support you.”

Lastly, we interviewed Benjamin Rouche, a figure skater and hockey player, and also a PVS student. He answered, “It’s hard to say, but I think it would be hockey because you have to be able to shoot, control the puck, and sometimes get physical.”

In conclusion, we got many different opinions from students, staff, and even bloggers about which sport is harder: figure skating or hockey. Hockey came out as the number one answer with 3 votes, while figure skating had 2. Despite the controversy, we think that each sport has its easy and hard parts. Even though the votes say otherwise, both sports are hard!

“Survey Says”: Overrated Edition

April 24, 2024 by szachik@pvs.org 5 Comments

By Freshman Louisa Richardson

If I have learned anything as a “professional” surveyor, it is that the kids at Palm Valley have strong opinions. Most opinions are very original and unique, often controversial as well. What better way to get the kids talking than to ask them, “What, in your opinion, is overrated?”

*Disclaimer: Yes, I know that Taylor Swift is overrated; this is NOT original, and since everyone had that as an answer, it will not be included in the following responses.

8th-grader Tony Ratner states, “TikTok is overrated. No one really thinks it’s good; it’s just an addiction.”

Freshman Rylie Conway says, “6th grade girls are too loud, specifically in Sephora’s. If they were a bird, it would be an angry seagull.”

6th-grader Morgan Richardson says, “Bacon is too hard to cook just right and is therefore overrated; I’d rather have a sausage.”

Freshman Brooklyn Hatrak states, “Mr. Satterfield deserves the same hype as Mr. Killeen; he is really underrated.”

Ms. Melissa Patino (the kind woman at the front desk in the high school–our Administrative Assistant) says, “Crocs are overrated; they were never stylish to begin with. I doubt anyone has ever liked them; they just liked the little fidgets.”

When I asked Freshman Pip Watson what’s overrated, he answered, “Drake’s music videos.”

Freshman Zander Eaton says Kanye West is overrated “because everyone glazes him, and he hasn’t made a good album since 2014.”

Junior Rachel De La O states (in a sarcastic tone), “Women’s rights are overrated. I want to go back to the kitchen. All this education is confusing, but I know how to cook! Take me back.”

8th-grader Alex Kirov says, “Dinosaurs are overrated. I mean ‘rawr rawr’; stop writing movies that aren’t even correct, and cry about it.”

Freshman Leah Ferreira says “Human rights” are overrated. “I don’t know why; I just want to go to sleep and never wake up.” I think she was having an existential crisis. Note: I talk to Leah quite a bit, no need for concern; she is okay.

Though this article turned out to be a bit more depressing than I had hoped, I can confidently say that I agree with ALMOST all of these opinions (especially the dinosaur one). Do you have any overrated opinions?

Jack’s Advice On How to Not be Annoyingly Rude

March 1, 2024 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By 8th-Grader Jack Edelstein

To be honest with you, there are a lot of things that people do that just irritate me. The things they do are not really serious but just so annoying that it’s like, “Really?!” An example of this is when people don’t move in the middle-school HALLWAYS (you know who you are). People have things to do, places to be, so please stop moving so slowly, or move off to the side. But, there are other things that really annoy me, and I’ll tell you what they are. I’ll also give advice on what YOU should do to stop it–because if you’re annoying me, you’re probably annoying others.

Not being able to accept you are wrong

I’m guilty of this; I’ll be honest, but I accept that I’m wrong for doing it. An argument turns sour when you can’t accept that you’re wrong. You want to make sure you’re correct with your evidence and own up to it when you’re wrong. “The pinnacle of ignorance is not being able to admit to your own mistakes,” says senior Gil Maruvada. It feels like you make it much more serious and personal then it has to be when you demonstrate no intellectual humility. Advice on how to stop this stubbornness? Actually listen to the person you are talking to. Simple as that.

Using unrelated or untrue points in an argument

Again another argumentative irritation is using unrelated or false points in an argument. Stop doing this. People who do this are out of things to say, or they switch the topic of the argument. It’s actually really rude when people do this. You’re willfully ignoring the point of an argument. Advice on how to stop this, don’t lie.

Talking over people

I have a severe dislike when people talk over me. Especially when they are dominating a conversation when I really want to say something. Please just close your mouth for one minute and let me say what I want to say. When people talk over, it does two things: makes the conversation very boring, and it actually makes it not even a conversation–it becomes a lecture. Advice on how to not make a conversation into a lecture? Stop, and listen to me, or whoever you’re talking to, then take your turn to respond. Easy as that.

Acting stuck up

My final maddening habit that people have is acting stuck up. You are not better than everyone else. Don’t act super disrespectful to teachers or adults. It’s just a major… ugh. I see these people, and I wish someone would humble them. Advice on how to stop this? Be humble, and respect people who are older than you.

Conclusion

If you do any of these habits, fix them. I know that sounds rude, but people do not think you are cool for being stuck up or not letting people speak. Ask the people around you if you do these annoying things about how you can stop. Anyways, if you have any other advice on how to not act rude, let us know in the comments.

Hot Take: Biden Deserves a Second Term, and He’s Probably Going to Get One

November 3, 2023 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By Senior Indiana Behr

In the last of our Controversial/Unpopular Opinions post, Indy vouches for President Joe Biden. Indy says, yes, Biden is a viable shot for a second term. Indy is not afraid to stand, possibly, outside popular opinion.

President Biden at his 2012 Inauguration (Photo Source: today.com)

Note: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an announcement on October 9 that he will be running for President as an Independent due to his opposition to the Democratic National Committee’s public support of Joe Biden. This means Kennedy will likely be on the ballot in the general election in several states. This article was drafted prior to the RFK announcement.
–Indy

Full disclosure: My positions often align with the Democratic Party. As such, given the current field of the Democratic 2024 Presidential Primary, the state of our nation, and the current administration’s performance, I think that Joe Biden is the best option in 2024. However, I think he currently is not doing well in approval ratings and in his primary. I do think he will be reelected, but I think the election will be closer than I would have predicted a few months ago.

Polling shows that I am in the minority. Both Democrats (and most Americans) want younger, newer, candidates. Biden is winning pretty much all primary polls, but the alternatives are Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson. Kennedy is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, and is an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who is only prominent because of his last name. Williamson, who also ran in 2020, is a spiritual guru who once said amidst the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1992 that “sickness is an illusion and does not actually exist.”

On the other side of the aisle, Republicans are coalescing around former President Donald Trump. Though at one point it seemed like the primary might be close, it really isn’t looking that way these days. As of September 27, FiveThirtyEight ranks Trump as being in first with 54.7%, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in second with 13.8%, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in third with 6.1%, and Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy with 5.7%. There are a few others also being polled who are below 5%, like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregate of the 2024 GOP Primary as of September 27th, 2023. (Photo Source: projects.fivethirtyeight.com)

On January 7, 2023, DeSantis was at 40.5% and Trump was at 42.4%. That’s a 1.9% margin, which is very close. But now, Trump is up 12.3% from then, and more significantly, DeSantis is down 26.7%. That is a huge drop-off. What happened? Well, DeSantis had some incredibly embarrassing moments. As the New York Times put it, “DeSantis Lost the Internet,” which is hard to come back from in the digital age. DeSantis doesn’t show well digitally. At one point, one of his staffers posted a video promoting DeSantis’s anti-LGBTQ policies that had a Nazi symbol in it. Once viewed as the future of the GOP, having won the governorship in 2018 as an underdog in an otherwise bad midterm for Republicans, and then winning reelection by nearly 20 points against a former Florida Governor–his reputation is now in the gutter.

As someone who wants Democrats to be successful, the unity seen on the GOP side lately worries me. An incumbent President only polling in the low-to-mid 60s during their primary reelection campaign is not an amazing look. Right now, RFK Jr. is at 15.1% according to FiveThirtyEight. Trump pretty much never polled that low during his 2020 primary campaign, where his two opponents were former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. Ultimately, his challengers received 1.08% and 1.31% of the vote respectively. Trump received 97.14%. I think it is very clear that Biden will win the primary, but clearly not all Democrats are behind him. However, I really do not think that this will affect him much in the general. I think almost all true Democrats will unite behind Biden in the general. I don’t think that this is necessarily the case with former President Trump.

FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregate of the 2024 Democratic Primary as of September 27th, 2023. (Photo Source: projects.fivethirtyeight.com)

Okay, so I have made it clear that though I think Joe Biden will win reelection; it’s closer than I wish it were. My main point is that I think Joe Biden has so far done well as President, and I think he deserves a second term to finish what he’s started. To be honest, in 2019 during the Democratic primary for the 2020 Presidential Election, I was firmly opposed to then-former Vice President Biden. In fact, he was one of my last choices, and I thought candidates like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, or Pete Buttigieg would be better. With hindsight, I do not think Warren or Buttigieg would have won a general election. I think Sanders probably would have, but I do not think his presidency would be fundamentally different from Biden’s, and I think he would have struggled with reelection even more.

Biden made many commitments in his run, like most candidates do, that have not been put in place as of yet. However, during his first two years, we had a 50-50 Senate, and Democrats had a very narrow House majority, so of course he couldn’t accomplish everything. The Senate has the filibuster which essentially means most major things actually need 60 votes, and even then, there were two Democratic Senators who made it hard for Biden to pass anything: Joe Manchin, a conservative from very red West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, a Senator from Arizona who tried to water down every one of his proposals. After the 2022 midterms, Sinema became an independent but has still caucused with the Democrats and retained Committee seats as a member of the majority.

First of all, many people think that Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is a stain on his legacy. However, I think given his options, that was the best choice. I do not think the US should be the police of the world. I think that the initial invasion of Afghanistan in the 2000s was somewhat justified, but once we accomplished our primary goals, we should have just left. The Taliban are absolutely horrible, but American intelligence was apparently stating that the Taliban taking over almost immediately was pretty much impossible. Besides, if the Afghan military wasn’t able to fight for even a week after over a decade of practice, that’s on them! Nevertheless, Biden’s approval rating dropped by a lot after this withdrawal, and pretty much never recovered.

I also think the student loan debt issue has been handled very well by Biden. Some people think he went too far by giving “handouts” by cancelling debt, but some more progressive activists and politicians think he should go farther. I think he has done fine. I think if Biden were to cancel all of the student debt at once, it would immediately be struck down by a judge and ultimately the Supreme Court. I think therefore that his pragmatic approach of cancelling small amounts of student loan debt and temporarily pausing payments in different ways is the most effective way to accomplish this goal. We spend trillions of dollars on our military. So a few billion to help millions of Americans have an easier life is worth it! Some people say, “But what about those who already paid it back?” That’s cool, but other people shouldn’t have to suffer because you did. That’s not justice; that’s just kinda cruel.

I also think the Biden administration’s signature program, the Build Back Better Plan, might have not been successful in some ways, but none of this was Biden’s fault, and what he did accomplish was very impressive. Like I stated earlier, the filibuster in the Senate meant many bills that passed the House in Biden’s first two years struggled to gain traction in the Senate. But what came in the end was the Inflation Reduction Act, which is essentially a watered-down version of the original Build Back Better Act. Almost all of the social safety net proposals did not make the cut because of the filibuster and conservative Democrats like Sen. Manchin and Sinema opposing many of the proposals. However, major climate change solutions made it in the bill that is now law. Prescription drug prices are being significantly lowered, too. It also will help fund new clean energy plans.

In terms of his electability, many polls are starting to show him slipping against the likely GOP nominee, former President Trump. Personally, I don’t buy it. I think pollsters are screwing up. And even though the electoral college usually favors Republicans, 2024 may be an exception.

If the 2024 election were held today between Biden and Trump, I think it would go like this. The lightest color is Lean, the slightly darker is Likely, and the dark colors are Solid/Safe. Tan indicates a tossup. I think that Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin have a pretty good chance of staying Democratic, and though I think Pennsylvania is a little closer, I’m pretty confident it’ll go blue.

So overall, I am concerned about President Biden’s electability, but nevertheless, I think he will win in 2024. Disagree? Please comment: I’d love to prove you wrong.

Why Dr Pepper Is the Best

October 26, 2023 by szachik@pvs.org 3 Comments

Wouldn’t You Like To Be A Pepper, Too?

By Senior Gil Maruvada

In our pursuit of controversy, we’ve unearthed Oliver’s unpopular sports opinions and the fiery opinions of PVS middle and upper schoolers, its staff and faculty (Thank you, Louisa). Gil, who “requires controversial opinions in order to tell the difference between his own identity and that of other people,” finds this was a subject made for him. Gil stands alone(?) in his love for Dr Pepper. He explains why he’s “a Pepper.”

In Waco, Texas, at the turn of the 19th century, before world wars and the Great Depression, an invention that would change the face of the world today was created. That something was the soda Dr Pepper, first sold on December 1st, 1885 (thoughtco.com). It is the world’s best commercially available soda sold in most retail stores. Now, you might have a personal favorite brand, but Dr Pepper is the best soda you can get just by walking into any store near you. That might be a bit of a bold claim, so allow me to prove definitively once and for all that Dr Pepper is better than its alternatives: Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, Mountain Dew, etc.

Now, let’s get this straight first, Dr Pepper has no period. While Dr Pepper was initially stylized with a period, the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company dropped the period in the 1950s, so referring to it with a period is incorrect (drpeppermuseum.com). Additionally, there is no consensus as to why it is called Dr Pepper, and if it was named after a person there are competing theories as to who (dallasnews.com).

The superiority of Dr Pepper has been heralded by a small circle of pepper enthusiasts, some may call it cult-like but I like to think of it as the global Dr Pepper ~~conspiracy~~ community. Dr Pepper is something entirely different from Coke or Pepsi because Coke and Pepsi are colas while Dr Pepper is a pepper soda, which is an entirely different category pioneered by Charles Alderton. And while soda sales overall have been going down for other companies, Dr Pepper sales have been going up (cnn.com).

A large number of people swear by Dr Pepper as well (not just me). Elizabeth Sullivan, who drank three Dr Peppers a day, credits it with her longevity; she lived to be 106 years old (nbcdfw.com). She famously stated that “Every doctor that sees me says they’ll kill you, but they die and I don’t” (time.com). She has a point–-Dr Pepper is a heaven-sent elixir and panacea.

Centenarian Elizabeth Sullivan discusses here her affection for Dr Pepper.

Now Dr Pepper isn’t for everyone; some people don’t like its additional flavors and complex layers (and while I think these people are weak and inherently wrong, they technically have the right to their own incorrect opinions).

But this doesn’t answer the question of what Dr Pepper is. Dr Pepper isn’t a soda but a representation of human freedom. Every soda above Dr Pepper in sales is owned by either PepsiCo or the Coca Cola company. That makes Dr Pepper the third most popular alternative company, the third choice in a two party system. Sodas emulate politics. Coca Cola and Pepsi represent how a two-party paradigm can naturally emerge in a voting system. The only difference from politics is here people vote with their money. But a two-party system inherently restricts options and variability. Coke and Pepsi both have supporters and detractors who would fight to the end for their corporate overlords’ sakes, but in the end they are both really similar sodas. Dr Pepper, however, is an alternative to the system, a giant cooperation in its own right stepping into the ring and making a spectacle. This battle will not be fought with the force and passion of political debates but with the slow and steady machinations of the economy. And I for one would welcome a new Dr Pepper paradigm, where pepper sodas completely take over. Out with the old corporate overlords and in with the “new.” It just tastes better.

The 2008 Dr Pepper ad campaign: Be a Pepper.

*The views expressed by Mr. Maruvada do not necessarily represent the views of The Bird on Fire, Ms. Zachik, and PVS, or anyone else for that matter.

What’s your hill to die on?

October 20, 2023 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Freshman Louisa Richardson

In the Blog’s continued exploration of controversial opinions, ace-reporter Louisa surveyed the Palm Valley scene and logged the following unpopular rants and raves. She had a good time. And she picked up a lot of sass.

A hill to die on is essentially a controversial opinion that you stand by. My fellow blogger Gil, in our class discussion of Controversy, used this phrase. It caught my ear. In order to unearth controversy, I decided to survey people, asking, “What’s your hill to die on?” Opinions these days are nothing short of controversial, whether it’s pineapple on pizza, or Donald Trump. The people have something to say. The middle/upper-school students and teachers, and my father, were all asked the simple question, “What’s your hill to die on?” (usually followed by an explanation of what the phrase means). These hills tended to fall into six categories: pop culture, politics, food, fashion, dogs, and school.

Unpopular Opinions on Pop

8th-grader Jack Edelstein and the rest of the Podcasting class take passionate issue with Taylor Swift–not a popular stance. Jack leads the podcasting flock with the following statement:

“Taylor Swift sucks[;] she dates every guy ever and is still obsessed with them! She blames them for everything, making 99% of her songs the same. She acts like the victim in every relationship she is in. She has been with every weird actor you can name, and she always acts like she was the victim in the relationship. . . . [And,] 99% of her music is unoriginal. It goes from sad, depressed, angry music to then Love-“I-found-another” relationship, and repeat. Lastly, her fanbase sucks.”

8th-grader Ethan Brooks from Podcasting adds:

“Kanye MADE Taylor Swift.”

Other unpopular opinions regarding popular culture include . . .

“Avatar was not that good.”

–My father

“Spotify is terrible; it makes it hard to provide money as a not-so-popular artist, as the platform rarely even showcases new artists!”

–Mr. Hesson, Math/Podcasting Teacher

“Paramount Plus is better than Netflix.”

–Elijah Berliner, freshman

“Elijah is wrong.”

–Brooklyn Hatrak, freshman

“Joe Jonas is a dweeb.”

–Ms. Maguire, English/Creative Writing Teacher

Several opinions surfaced about School . . .

“Poems should be abolished; they are useless in the learning curriculum.”

–Tony Ratner, 8th-grader

“Essays are useless, and don’t teach anything.”

–Jackie Padgett, 8th-grader

“Reading can be fun; you just have to find the right book.”

–Zoey Guess, 7th-grader

“The snack shack is overpriced.”

–Hudson, Jack, and, again, the rest of Podcasting Class

“PVS is the best!”

–Jerry Wang, senior

“Middle schoolers need to STAY IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL!”

–Anais Lee . . . and the rest of the high school

Opinions on food were . . . interesting . . .

“String cheese with chocolate milk is delicious.”

–Ally Bankers, senior

“Fries are better with ranch than with a milkshake.”

–Coach J. Erenberg

“Mustard is better than ketchup, and there are no better Bob Dylan albums than THE Bob Dylan original.”
–Mr. Satterfield, History Teacher

“Fruits shouldn’t be in the dessert; if I am ordering a chocolate cake, and you give me cantaloupe on the side, I will be mad.”
–Abby Assefa, junior

“Vegan diets are just bad for you.”

–Zander Eaton, freshman

“Chocolate milk SHOULD come from brown cows.”

–Emerson Dunn, 6th-grader

People had strong opinions on fashion.

“Skinny jeans are ugly.”

–Lily Jones, junior

“Low rise jeans are actually the worst.”

–Morgan Richardson, 6th-grader

“High top Converse suck.”

–Olivia Puetz, freshman

And, while Grandma always said, “Don’t talk Politics at the dinner table,” we do.

“Banning books should be unneeded.”

–Addison Uhlhorn, 7th grade

“Donald Trump won.”
–Alex Kirov, 8th-grader

“The moon landing was fake.”

–Luke Sonderman, senior

“Asians aren’t yellow.”

–Edward Berg, 7th grade

A few of us had opinions about Dogs.

“Dogs should be allowed on the bed!”
–Ms. Zachik, English/Blog Teacher

“Chihuahuas are the worst dog breed; they are glorified rats. They serve no purpose in this world. When you have hunting dogs, and service dogs, Chihuahuas just shake. They all have three teeth and live forever. If there was one dog breed that had to go extinct, I would choose Chihuahuas. Chihuahuas should be banned.

–Emma Murdock, Middle-School Receptionist

And, finally, Coach offered a little compassion . . .

“I don’t think anyone should die on a hill.”

–Coach Erenberg

People sure do have a lot of opinions. Controversial or not, this was the most fun I have ever had surveying. Do you have a controversial opinion we missed? Add it to the comments.

The Most Successful Unemployed Political Commentator in The History of Television News

May 18, 2023 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

If you’ve been asking, “Where’s Tucker Carlson?” Luke has something to say about that.

By Junior Luke Sonderman

“Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American television host, conservative political commentator and author who has hosted the nightly political talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News since 2016” (imdb.com). On Monday, April 24th, Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News, fired Tucker Carlson from Fox News only one week after the Dominion Voting System settlement which made Fox News responsible for over $700 million in damages (latimes.com). So who is Tucker Carlson? Why did he get fired? And, why is he in the news headlines?

Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged over 3.25 million views per night in 2023 (thehill.com). That is over double CNN’s total nightly viewership (forbes.com). According to Britannica, “Carlson was known for his extreme positions on a range of political and social issues” (britannica.com). Time Magazine refers to Tucker Carlson’s style of journalism as “Tuckerism,” saying that he “sanitizes and legitimizes right-wing conspiratorial thinking, dodges when you try to nail him down on the specifics, then wraps it all in an argument about censorship and free speech” (time.com). His massive fanbase is full of millions of Americans “who are already suspicious of everything he questions” (time.com). Carlson gained traction amongst the far right by televising theories that challenged mainstream media reports on subjects as varied as immigration, George Floyd, and masks (time.com). After Carlson and Fox parted ways on April 21st, Fox’s market value dropped by a whopping 800 million dollars (cbsnews.com).

Although Carlson’s removal coincidentally came a week after the 700-million-dollar Dominion lawsuit, The Guardian attributes his removal from the company to “a lawsuit filed by his former senior booking producer Abby Grossberg, who claimed she faced sexism and a hostile work environment” (theguardian.com).

Personally, I attribute his removal to a more long-term plan for credibility on Fox’s part. There is no doubt that Carlson’s removal has hurt the finances of Fox, but removing extreme far-right commentators on Fox News will only help their long-term credibility, especially once conspiracy-theory breeders fall out of the limelight. I think Fox wants to leave the conspiracy theories to sources like Newsmax and Info Wars. It suits them better.

We Need to Abolish the Electoral College

September 7, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

We’re concluding our look at causes. Indiana, who feels strongly about many things, expresses passion for the Electoral College–not for keeping it, but for abolishing it.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By Indy Behr, Junior

What is the Electoral College?

In the United States, Presidential elections are not actually decided by the people directly. They are decided by a compromise made between the Founding Fathers in the Constitution called the electoral college. A candidate wins the election by winning at least 270 of the 538 possible electoral votes. Voters decide how a group of electors vote, and these electoral votes are then certified every four years on a day you may recall, January 6, and the events that transpired on this day in 2021 have led to the Electoral Count Reform Act being introduced in Congress, which would make several changes to the electoral college certification process such as establishing the Vice President’s role in certifying the vote as ceremonial and raising the objection threshold to 20% of both the House and Senate, as opposed to the current system where only one member of each body is required to object.

The electoral college is an antidemocratic institution that allows a minority of voters to determine the future of our country, and it no longer has any use. I believe that America cannot truly be referred to as a democracy until the electoral college is abolished, and until then, serious reform is required.

*Supporters of former President Donald Trump* *storm the US Capitol* *as a Joint Session of Congress is counting the electoral votes of the 2020 Presidential election.*

Disproportionate Representation

If anyone should be upset about the electoral college, it should be us Californians. Wyoming, the least populated state in the US, has 581,000 citizens, according to the US Census Bureau. Due to its size, Wyoming has only one Representative in the House of Representatives and, like all states, two Senators. The amount of electoral votes a state receives is simply the amount of people in their Congressional delegation. This means that in Wyoming, one electoral vote represents 135,000 citizens. California has a population of 39,538,000, and has 55 electoral votes (this will change to 54 in the 2024 Presidential election). Therefore, one electoral vote represents 712,000 people. However, one electoral vote represents just 195,000 people in Wyoming. Yes, you heard that right, a voter in Wyoming has more than three times the voting power as someone in California. Some Republicans argue that Democratic voters concentrated in big cities choosing who wins in the end is unfair, but guess what? That is where the actual people live!

Forgotten States

Another issue with the electoral college means that during a Presidential election most states are not visited by candidates, and most states don’t even see candidates’ TV ads as there is no point. This is because some states are so partisan that it is near impossible for a candidate to win. The fact that candidates feel that trying to promote their candidacies to voters is a waste of time is incredibly problematic in my opinion, and unfortunately the candidates are indeed making a strategic decision in this case. The electoral college is for the most part a winner-takes-all system, meaning that regardless of how narrow or wide a statewide win is, all electoral votes go to the winner, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska. In 2020, six million Californians voted for Donald Trump, and two million Ohioans voted for Joe Biden. Despite this making up almost 10% of the total popular vote, these people never had their voice heard. Donald Trump never made a single visit to California because he knew that it was simply impossible to outright win the state, meaning winning swing votes would not benefit him. In this model presented by the New York Times, we can see that TV-ad buys in the 2020 Presidential election were concentrated in just a few states. California did not have a single ad! Trump and Republicans spent many millions on ads in Florida and won in the end, and yet he won one million more votes in California than in Florida. In spite of this, California’s winner-takes-all system gave all electoral votes to Biden, and Florida gave all electoral votes to Trump.

Faithless Electors

Though luckily in 2020 we did not see any, in 2016 we saw a massive uptick in what are known as faithless electors, likely due to both major party candidates being relatively unpopular. Many people do not realize this, but electors are actual individuals assigned to vote for one party in the event they win. These electors are selected by the state party of the winning candidate. However, in almost half of the states, electors are able to vote for another candidate regardless of the will of the voters. Trump was expected to win 306 electors, yet only won 304. Clinton won 227 instead of 232. Seven of the 538 total electors voted faithlessly. Do you know who Faith Spotted Eagle is? I didn’t, yet she won an electoral vote in 2016. The late Colin Powell, George W. Bush’s Secretary of State, won three electoral votes. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) won two electoral Vice Presidential votes, one being with Powell, one from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

In 2016, Hilary Clinton won the state of Washington over 500,000 votes, or 15.7%, yet a whopping 33% of the electors voted for candidates who did not appear on the ballot. Though some of these candidates received a small amount of write-in votes, Powell won three votes, or 25% of the total electors, with a grand total of zero votes. In 2004, John Edwards was Democrat John Kerry’s running mate, and yet in Minnesota he received both the Presidential and Vice Presidential nod from one elector. And, because these slates of electors are selected by the victor’s party, these electors are often relatives of politicians or retired lobbyists. Both former President Bill Clinton (D) and his wife Hillary Clinton (D) were Biden electors in New York, as were the New York City Comptroller and the Temporary President of NY’s State Senate. A Florida State Senator, Keith Perry (R), was a Trump elector in Florida. The only disqualifying factors for electors are being an incumbent US Senator or Representative, and since the Civil War, having engaged in rebellion or insurrection against the country.

Faithless Colorado elector Michael Baca casts his ballot in 2016. He chose to support a former Ohio Governor, Republican John Kasich, rather than Hillary Clinton.

Popular Vote Winners Losing

In 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016, the individual who won a plurality, or in 1876, an outright majority of the popular vote, lost the election. The electoral college gives so much more power to residents of smaller states that in 2016, despite winning the popular vote by 2.8 million or 2% in 2016, Hillary Clinton lost by 77 electors. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore defeated Republican George W. Bush by over 500,000 in the popular vote yet lost by five electoral votes in the end, or four if you do not recognize a faithless elector who did not vote at all. In the end, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court forced Florida to end an ongoing recount, and according to CNN, “The studies also show that Gore likely would have won a statewide recount of all undervotes and overvotes, which are ballots that included multiple votes for president and were thus not counted at all . . . . The studies also support the belief that more voters went to the polls in Florida on Election Day intending to vote for Gore than for Bush.”

Florida vote counters try to determine which candidate was selected on a ballot in 2000.

Conclusion

To me, it is very clear we need to abolish the electoral college. However, this would require a Constitutional amendment which has an approximately 0% chance of passing within my lifetime. It would require 67% of both the House and Senate to pass, which itself is completely impossible considering the Senate also has the issue of disproportionately representing smaller states, and it then would require 38 states to ratify it through their legislatures, even more unlikely. So, in the meantime, we are going to have to continue dealing with the electoral college. However, we can support reform so that we can scrap the winner-takes-all system like Nebraska and Maine have done, and we can also support banning faithless electors. But, if you really want your voice heard, your only option is to move to a swing state like Wisconsin.