the westminster news
Published by the students of Westminster School
By Tarapi Pyo ‘24After a quick week of Thanksgiving break, students returned to their adored Westminster campus for Turkey (or Candlelight) Term – two and a half weeks of school before Winter break. Black SUVs, Toyotas, and white sedans packed outside the dorms. Parents and students unloaded students and luggage from their cars, hauling heavy suitcases and bags into rooms. However, these students are evidently more preoccupied with “hellos” and “I miss yous” to and from friends they see on their way into the dorms.
By Alice Tao ‘24Mrs. Nancy Urner-Berry, one of the first girls to attend Westminster, was a member of the class of 1981. She now remains a valuable faculty member. Let’s hear about her experience during the ‘Old Westy Era’ compared to her experience now. We discussed everything from 20th-century food to dress code. Enjoy!
By Jacqueline Wu ‘24Since the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, China has been implementing near-universal PCR testing, city lockdowns, and movement restrictions. While there have been requests to relax these restrictions, for most of the pandemic, the majority of Chinese citizens saw them as necessary precautions to reduce widespread infection and fatality until this winter.
By Chip Genung ‘25While the Midterms have officially been over for over a month, a viciously contested Senate run-off election still rages in Georgia. Unlike in many states where whichever senate candidate with the most votes wins, in Georgia, during a senate race, a candidate must reach over 50% of the vote to win. In the recent election last month between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Hershel Walker, neither candidate attained this minimum, with Warnock achieving 49.4% of the vote and Walker receiving 48.5% of the vote. Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver won just over 2%, or about 80,000 votes, which caused neither of the major party candidates to win a majority.
By Grace Yuan ‘23When he promised to pardon US Capitol insurrectionists if he ran for president again and won, former president Donald Trump envisioned a second administration that would serve as a tool of personal retribution that would be even more authoritarian than his first.
The Spread of Sports Gambling: Examining Through the Lens of Science, Technology & Society (STS)12/13/2022
By Meiyin Ren '25Photo by John Locher Gambling, the action of wagering on an event with the intention of winning valuable assets, has existed for years. One of its most prevalent forms is sports betting, feeding upon the passions of sports fans. This form of gambling originally emerged with the intent of placing a bet on a match or game to prove the individual’s knowledge of the sport, or to demonstrate their loyalty to a particular team or player.
By Kimi Weng ‘24SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19, is a virus that has been going around the world for almost three years following its first appearance in Wuhan China in 2019. This virus has troubled people’s lives, including the Martlets': at the beginning of last year, all students at Westminster had to obtain a negative PCR test result to be on campus. However, have you ever wondered what a COVID PCR is?
By Henry Flaton '25Photo by Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing - https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=124800316 Throughout 2022, the people of the United Kingdom have witnessed many historic events unfold across their nation. Perhaps one of the most momentous has been the appointment of British-Indian Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, the third within thirteen weeks. On May 12, 1980, Sunak was born in Southampton, England to foreign Punjabi Indian parents. The future Prime Minister grew up in a dual-income household. His father was a general practitioner for the National Health Service of Britain, and his mother owned and operated a pharmacy. This financial stability enabled Sunak to attend schools such as Winchester College, Lincoln College, Oxford, and eventually Stanford University.
By Hannah Small ‘25Times have changed, and so has the fashion industry. Clothes are more than a way to layer up to face the brisk winter weather; they are an art form, now more than ever. Fashion is an expression that allows people to share their identity with the world. Considering the dress code, picking out an outfit is a necessary and routine task in everyday life at Westminster.
By Andrew Pang ‘24What sense is evoked when I mention the word roasting? The firm texture of rotisserie chicken from the convection oven? Perhaps a rich waft of caramelized coffee beans at the local Starbucks? Personally, I recall dread and humiliation from getting roasted by a friend and being too dim-witted to think of a comeback. Due to personal reasons, I won't mention the specific roast, but it was enough to flatten my ego from a three-dimensional creature into a two-dimensional pancake. Since that day, like in other stereotypical villain’s origin stories, I've been practicing for revenge.
|