The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 16

January 5, 2021 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 3 News 2020 in the news: A recap of last year’s happenings 2020 was an eventful year, to say the least. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, the presidential election and even murder hornets, at many times 2020 certainly felt like living through the chapters of a history book. Some of The Current’s staff and contributing writers have recapped just a few of last year’s most prominent news stories. The COVID-19 pandemic The year 2020 welcomed a new normal -- living through the pandemic. People were shocked at this unexpected outbreak and immediately ran to their local supermarkets to stock up. The stock piling escalated to a point where toilet paper, hand sanitizer and many disinfectant products became a scarce luxury, turning empty aisles into an early hallmark of the shutdowns. Due to the pandemic, there was a significant decrease in employment rates and many people were let go from their positions. COVID-19 became a term used daily as society began wearing masks and staying indoors to prevent contracting the disease. After a couple months of quarantine, some thought it was safe to slowly try and return to normal. On Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, it was reported that the U.S. hit its peak in hospitalization due to the virus, with 61,964 hospitalizations in total and daily cases exceeding 139,000. In the beginning of the pandemic, it was recognized that most cases stemmed from nursing homes and small crowded spaces. As establishments began to reopen, more cases started growing from private gatherings. Many people are curious as to when this pandemic will cease and if life will ever return to the way it was. Fortunately, several vaccines such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna have shown promising numbers in regard to their efficacy, inspiring hope that the end of the pandemic might be in sight. The Black Lives Matter movement The Black Lives Matter movement caused an outpour of emotion for social injustice throughout the world. Throughout 2020, videos and media coverage of men and women of color being killed by police brutality surfaced. Although the movement received significant attention in 2020, it has been afloat for years on end. According to The Movement for Black Lives Matter, “The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) launched the Vision for Black Lives, a comprehensive and visionary policy agenda for the post-Ferguson Black liberation movement, in August of 2016.” Due to countless men and women of color being treated unfairly, the public eye has been centered on police. As the prevalence of news stories on the unjust murders of people of color increased, these movements began to grow. People all over the world, regardless of age and race, came together to support this cause. “The demonstrators—black, brown, white, a mix of fed-up first-timers and veterans who had marched many times on those same streets — could not be stopped,” said The NewYork Times. As months continued to pass, the voices of men and women of color finally began to be heard. News stations started highlighting the good coming out of these movements rather than focusing on the anger and emotions individuals were facing . There are still many Black Lives Matter movements taking place throughout the world despite not receiving as much attention anymore. Whether popular news sources focus on making this important topic a part of their breaking news segment or not, there continues to be men and women of color fighting for justice and basic human rights. According to the Black Lives Matter website, “We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise.” Murder hornets Murder hornets, or Asian giant hornets, were found inWashington state on Oct. 22, 2020, marking the first confirmed “murder hornet” nest in U.S. history. TheAsian giant hornet, as the name implies, is native to Asia and is the world’s largest hornet. The “murder hornets” are predators of honeybees and can wipe out an entire nest in a short period of time. Their painful venom is also capable of killing humans, hence their nickname. According to The New York Times, these hornets kill as many as 50 individuals annually. For reference, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that between 2007- 2017 regular hornet, wasp and bee stings were responsible for the deaths of 62 people a year on average. How the invasive hornets got to the U.S. is still unknown, but the Department of Agriculture in Washington discovered that the nest that was originally found had almost 200 queen hornets inside and each queen could create a new nest effortlessly. Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told USA Today that “he was confident” that most of the queens from the destroyed nest did not escape, but there is a chance that any that did could establish a new colony in the future. The presidential election Just before noon eastern time on Nov. 7, several news outlets called the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden, the Democratic party candidate and former Vice President under the Obama Administration from 2009-2017. President-elect Biden won the popular vote by approximately five million votes and successfully flipped several swing states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona, among others, that went to President Trump in the 2016 election. Incumbent President Trump did not immediately concede the results and called for recounts and lawsuits in several states. This loss adds Trump to the short list of U.S. Presidents who did not get reelected for a second term. Biden’s running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, is now set to become the first woman, woman of color, Black person and person of Asian descent to be elected as the Vice President of the U.S. Additionally, Jill Biden, First Lady to President-elect Biden, has stated that she plans to continue holding her full-time position as an educator, something no other First Lady has done in this role. This new administration, along with all of its historical firsts, will begin with Biden’s inauguration set on Jan. 20, 2021. A record-setting hurricane season In line with the rest of 2020, the Atlantic hurricane season saw unprecedented occurrences and joined the ranks as one of the most active seasons on record. The season, which is typically considered to run from June 1 to Nov. 30, generated 30 named storms and 13 hurricanes, six of which were considered to be major storms according to the Yale Climate Connections. The 2020 season broke the record for most named storms, while the number of hurricanes came in second and major hurricanes matched the previous second place. In mid-May, the occurrence of the first tropical storm, Arthur, began weeks before the season started. According to CNN, Arthur formed on May 16, but had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone a few days later. The first hurricane of the season, Hanna, struck in Texas as a category one storm at the end of July. After running through the predetermined hurricane names, the system transitioned to using the letters of the Greek alphabet mid-September. While Florida was considerably spared from many major storms, Tropical Storm- turned-Hurricane Eta hit land with wind, heavy rain and flooding throughout early to mid- November. PRINTED WITH PERMISSION BY E. COWAN Students coming together during the pandemic PRINTED WITH PERMISSION BY F. SHABAN Preparing to watch the election on CBS News OBTAINED BY NASA Hurricane passing over North America PRINTED WITH PERMISSION BY S. GALLUS Protesting for Black Lives Matter By: The Current Staff & Contributing Writers