Scot Scoop

06/02/2025

Here's what you may have missed this week on Scot Scoop!

The final boss: how social media influences overconsumption
By Caitlin Stehr
https://scotscoop.com/the-final-boss-how-overconsumption-is-influencing-social-media/

Summer school provides an alternative for missed classes
By Sophia-Angelie Laluc
https://scotscoop.com/summer-school-provides-an-alternative-for-missed-classes/

Issues that matter: Should you judge someone based on their political values?
By Ashlyn Wong and Jiya Venkatesh
https://scotscoop.com/issues-that-matter-should-you-judge-someone-based-on-their-political-values/

Nintendo store presses ‘Start’ in San Francisco
By Ava Rafii
https://scotscoop.com/nintendo-store-presses-start-in-san-francisco/

Overconsumption is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon characterized by the continuous and excessive purchasing of goods and services beyond what is necessary or sustainable. Today, Americans own twice as many cars, eat out twice as often, and own twice as many clothes as those in the 1950s, an...

06/01/2025

Here’s what you may have missed this week on Scot Scoop in cartoons:

Freedom’s cost
https://scotscoop.com/cartoon-freedoms-cost/

All eyes on me
https://scotscoop.com/cartoon-all-eyes-on-me/

The unused string
https://scotscoop.com/cartoon-the-unused-string/

Cartoons by Amber Chow

05/31/2025

Colorism, otherwise known as the light-skin bias, is a social phenomenon that implies the favoring of lighter skinned individuals over darker skinned individuals, often seen as a variant of racism. Even within the races where everyone bears similar skin color, these patterns can still be found, often leading to lowering self esteem for many with darker skin-tones built upon stigmatized societal standards.

For more on this inequality, check out Addya Agarwal’s article on Scot Scoop!
https://scotscoop.com/the-dark-side-of-colorism/

Colorism, also known as light-skin bias, is a form of prejudice that discriminates against people of a darker complexion, which has become more prominent in schools and workplaces worldwide. Colorism is often passed off as a subsect of racism, but is actually prejudice based on the belief that light...

05/30/2025

On this day in 1999, the Discovery space shuttle made the first ever docking aboard the International Space Station (ISS), carrying over 1.5 tons of equipment to the interior of the space station.

Discovery, being the third Space Shuttle orbiter made by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the most utilized orbiter of the fleet, was ultimately the lightest of the existing shuttles, optimizing weight through the innovative use of special blankets and graphite epoxy instead of aluminum for parts of the ship.

In addition to this amazing feat, shuttle astronauts Tamara E. Jernigan and Daniel T. Barry made the second-longest spacewalks ever performed in history, attaching cranes and footholds to the ISS for future astronauts to tether themselves to.

Contributing to the maintenance of the Hubble Space Telescope and the assembly of the ISS, the Discovery orbiter goes down in history as one of the greatest shuttles ever assembled by NASA, with its impacts still felt by astronauts all over the world to this day.

Information from NASA

05/30/2025

Last Friday, Carlmont High School held its annual Scotsland fair, encouraging clubs and student organizations campus-wide to contribute to the fun while also taking part in food sales and club marketing. With special performances and student-led events, Scotsland brought smiles to many faces through various accounts of student interaction.

Photo Credits: Erick Cheng

05/29/2025

Young, naive, and impressionable; a combination for disaster when under the influence of body shaming and unsolicited critique. With the rise of social media among youth, trends regarding weight-loss drugs have surfaced, driving the young towards toxic and superficial self-criticism.

From what used to be suggestive gym selfies and weight loss recipes, the new talk of the town is unnatural remedies seen not as medication but as transformation magic, impacting mental health in all generations, primarily through the promotion of Ozempic.

Ozempic, originally marketed as a weekly-administered weight management peptide meant for Type 2 diabetes patients, has taken the world by storm, feeding the insecurities of teenagers and adults alike who do not meet the requirements in order to obtain this drug legally.

Key Facts:
- Weight loss, a subject that used to be seen in a medicinal light, is now on the minds of the young as a cosmetic necessity
- Prescriptions of weight loss drugs have risen by around 650% between the years of 2020 and 2023, according to Yahoo
- Regardless of whether or not people jumped on the artificial weight loss train, negative impacts of just seeing social media content promoting the drugs were felt in the form of crippling self-hate and growing insecurities

For more on this impactful topic, check out Jasmine Zelnis’ article on Scot Scoop!
https://scotscoop.com/selling-skinny-the-viral-influence-of-prescription-weight-loss-drugs/ #

A pill bottle clicks open. A video rolls — edited, filtered, and framed just right — showing a waistline shrinking in fast motion. A smiling influencer appears on screen, saying, “This changed everything.” This isn’t just about beauty anymore. Online, the face of wellness has shifted: it.....

05/29/2025

The centennial San Carlos Hometown Days officially commenced last Friday, a three-day celebration in honor of the city's 100th birthday. The event featured a local marketplace, family activities, live music, and various events for the community to enjoy. Whether by watching the Hometown Days Parade or the procession of pets at the Pet Palooza, San Carlos residents could enjoy the sense of community the city continues to cultivate.

Video by Shiori Chen
https://scotscoop.com/san-carlos-celebrates-100-years-of-community-with-hometown-days/

The centennial San Carlos Hometown Days officially commenced last Friday, a three-day celebration in honor of the city’s 100th birthday. The event featured a local marketplace, family activities, live music, and various events for the community to enjoy. Whether by watching the Hometown Days Parad...

05/28/2025

With summer vacation right around the corner for Carlmont High School, students have begun taking initiative, making strides to fuel their passions and positively impact their communities. Most recently, the hosting of week-long business and marketing summer camps by Carlmont’s own Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), marketed towards middle and high school students, serves as quite a step towards success for many aspiring business leaders.

For more on these new opportunities, check out Nathan Gonzales’ article on Scot Scoop!
https://scotscoop.com/deca-students-lead-business-camps-to-inspire-others/

This summer, Carlmont Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) members are hosting camps to teach middle and high school students business fundamentals. After six years of only offering a single camp, DECA is expanding its summer program to include two unique camps: the returning Business and....

05/27/2025

The Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer news sites have recently been found guilty of publishing summer reading recommendation lists using generative artificial intelligence (AI).

On the list, many famous and well-established authors appeared, including recent Pulitzer Prize-winning author Percival Everett, accompanied by books that didn’t exist.

Including summaries of the made-up books themselves, many of the book descriptions seemed believable, for the blurb provided by the AI was reminiscent of common themes that the authors had written about in the past.

Regardless of the perceived accuracy, many were quick to point out this mistake, causing a great uproar about the use of AI in writing and advertising.

Key Facts:
- The technology publication by the name of 404 Media was the first to notice and report this issue, finding both nonexistent books but also quotes from unknown people on the reading list
- The AI-generated list lacked a byline, but accountability was taken by a man named Marco Buscaglia, confirming that the list was partially made by an AI known as Claude
- The section was eventually taken down along with the e-reader version that continues to have many questioning the use of AI in professional writing

Information from The New York Times

05/27/2025

Happy birthday to Sally Ride, the first American astronaut to enter outer space, preceded by two Russian cosmonauts, Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya.

Having spent a great deal of her youth playing tennis and evolving into an incredibly clever girl, Ride abandoned her passion for the sport in order to attend Stanford University, where she received degrees in English and Physics.

While working as a teacher’s assistant at Stanford, Ride was approached by NASA, being selected to be one of the first six women in space. She completed her training in August of 1979.

Taking the shuttle orbiter Challenger on its first spin, Ride spent six days in outer space deploying satellites, setting up for future research.

After retiring from being a professional astronaut, Ride got a job at the University of California, San Diego, continuing to foster a sense of discovery in all age groups, most notably women in STEM.

Pioneering paths for various professions, especially astronomy, Ride continues to be an inspiration for many young women, sharing her stories from her glory days through presentations and even children’s books, co-written to tell her own story.

Information from Britannica

05/26/2025

Here’s what you may have missed this week on Scot Scoop:

Editorial: AP exams don’t measure intelligence; they monetize it https://scotscoop.com/editorial-ap-exams-dont-measure-intelligence-they-monetize-it/
Editorial Staff

East Palo Alto’s Cinco de Mayo festival celebrates Latino culture, community, and connection
https://scotscoop.com/east-palo-altos-cinco-de-mayo-festival-celebrates-latino-culture-community-and-connection/
Jiya Venkatesh

Opinion: The rich shouldn’t get a shortcut to college
https://scotscoop.com/opinion-the-rich-shouldnt-get-a-shortcut-to-college/
Valerie Pilipenko

Summer assignments spark debate among students and staff
https://scotscoop.com/summer-assignments-spark-debate-among-students-and-staff/
Lauren Roberts

As the school year comes to an end, many students look forward to summer break. But for almost all Carlmont students, break often comes with assigned summer homework meant to prepare them for the year ahead. While some view these assignments as helpful, others question their necessity. At Carlmont,....

05/25/2025

Here’s what you may have missed this week on Scot Scoop in cartoons:

All eyes on me by Amber Chow
https://scotscoop.com/cartoon-all-eyes-on-me/

Freedom's cost by Amber Chow
https://scotscoop.com/cartoon-freedoms-cost/

Dropping Duo by Leher Kawadia
https://scotscoop.com/cartoon-dropping-duo/