the westminster news
Published by the students of Westminster School
By Heather Zhu ’23
Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, California Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College … The names of 16 well-known, top universities and colleges, familiar to almost every high school student across the nation, appeared in the federal court of Illinois as they are faced with a lawsuit accusing them of price fixing and overcharging hundreds of thousands of current and former students eligible for financial aid within the last two decades. United States’ most prestigious universities, supposedly meritocratic and need blind, are in fact sued for discrimination against students of lower income. Although it is legal for schools a part of the President 568 group — an affiliation of colleges and universities, founded in 1994, who practice need blind policies — to share formulas when calculating financial aid, the financial needs of an applicant should not be a factor of their admissions decision. The current lawsuit filed by five former students from some of the 16 defendant schools alleged that nine colleges, such as University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University, have unlawfully taken students’ ability to pay into their waitlist admission decisions while the other seven schools, though not guilty of such practice, were aware of their conspiracy. Families with lower income bear the burden of unfair admission practices for waitlisted applicants with greater need for financial aid have a lower chance of getting accepted. The discriminatory favor of wealthy students and the members of the ‘568 price fixing cartel’s’ collusion to minimize the amount of financial aid offered to students have inflated the price of attending these elite universities. The right to higher education, often seen as the key to upward social mobility for lower/ middle income families, has been hindered by the unjust admission practices of colleges. The plaintiff calls on other alumni, who were overcharged for their attendance in the aforementioned universities, and current students, whose financial aid have been limited due to illegal practices of the ‘cartel’, to join them in their lawsuit against these schools. The plaintiff hopes to end admissions bias based on financial needs.
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By Grace Yuan ’23
When the omicron variant was discovered, Boris Johnson implemented Plan B measures, which included making face masks mandatory in most indoor public settings such as public transportation, shops and theaters and cinemas, and advising people to work from home whenever possible. A recent negative test or a COVID pass is necessary for bigger venues, as part of a plan to prevent the spread of the highly infectious version. High school students must wear masks in classrooms as part of the strategy to reduce the transmission of the highly infectious form. Building 40 new hospitals, overhauling social care, hiring and keeping 50,000 more nurses, and generating 50 million more GP surgery appointments are still priorities for Boris Johnson's government. Infection management during the COVID-19 pandemic is the government's top concern for adult social care. For the elderly, care facilities are especially susceptible since their occupants are often at most risk owing to their ages, and the architecture of care homes means that the virus may spread swiftly in enclosed settings. There is a comprehensive strategy to assist the 25,000 care home providers in England who have been affected by the emergence of COVID-19, including increasing testing and re-engineering the delivery of Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE. 33 members of NHS and local authorities are working together on supporting the extra requirements of people leaving the hospital during the pandemic, with £3.2 billion in additional cash having been provided, which may be used to address some of the higher costs the providers are experiencing as well as increased strains on social care. After everything is said and done, the United Kingdom has started on a large booster vaccination campaign since the Prime Minister has implemented measures, which has resulted in a reduction in the number of omicron cases. Booster injections restore most of the COVID vaccination protection that has been lost as a result of fading immunity, as well as protection against the more transmissible variety, which has weakened the potency of Covid shots much more than its predecessor, the delta strain. By Johnathan Li ’24
(Image: Neural networks that emulates Deleuze’s conception of a Rhizome) We reduce to the most fundamental binary: A and B. Why do we name one A and the other B? Why do we consider their similarities and differences based on the fact that they are one and the same? This is the perspective that has long dominated Western intellectual thought: A cannot be B, and B cannot be A. By Ryan Jainchill ’23
On Sunday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m., Super Bowl LVI (56) will conclude the 2021 NFL season at the brand-new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. A season full of exhilarating games ends with a matchup that no one would have predicted back in August– the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams. Both teams feature high-flying offenses, firing on all cylinders throughout the season; both also have solid defenses and special teams units, making this matchup particularly interesting. Let’s take a look at each team and their path to the big game. |