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By The BBK Staff
Harvard University Expands Their Financial Aid Program
By Brett Schlossberg
On Monday, Harvard announced their decision to cut tuition for students from families making less than $200,000 a year. University President Alan M. Garber believes this will make Harvard more inclusive and successful. The new financial aid plan will apply to approximately 86% of Harvard students, a jump from 55% before. In 2023, the average yearly income in the United States was $80,000 per year. The current tuition rate at Harvard is $56,550, with things like health, housing and other student services bringing the total to $82,866. This will obviously be costly to Harvard, especially considering their endowment fell more than $150 million last year after several prominent donors made known their feelings about campus policies around antisemitism through their wallets.
Jekyll 2025: A Scientific Success
By Daniela Palatchi
From Monday, March 17, 2025 to Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 9th Grade Honors Biology students took their field study trip to Jekyll Island, a sea island and one of the Golden Isles of the Georgia Barrier Islands. According to HP Bio teacher Andrea Patterson, the trip consisted of 58 students and 5 Woodward teachers, and the group stayed at the University of Georgia’s 4-H Camp Jekyll with camp staff and instructors. On the trip, students divided into groups accompanied by one Woodward teacher and one Camp Jekyll instructor: together they hiked in the maritime forest, waded in the saltwater marsh and strolled on the beach, all while exploring species and their role in Jekyll’s ecosystem. The group also received an interactive herpetology lesson during which students got to hold amphibians and reptiles. The group further participated in a boat tour of the estuary (where freshwater meets ocean), where they dropped a net and pulled up species. Ms. Patterson recalled seeing several dolphins swimming there, one of which swam right next to the boat. Jekyll Island was first inhabited by Native Americans. British colonist General James Edward Oglethorpe established the colony of Georgia in 1733, and named the island after Sir Joseph Jekyll, a prominent financier of the colony. The island measures 5,950 acres. The average annual temperature is 71 degrees Fahrenheit. It is home to just over 1,000 inhabitants and attracts about 3 million annual tourists.
NASA Astronauts Return from Unexpected 9 Month-Stay
By Akiva Bryant
On Tuesday, March 18, two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to earth after they were stuck in space for 9 months. They returned aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Their original trip was only supposed to last 8 days and was a test of whether or not the Boeing Starliner spacecraft could be used for astronaut rotation missions. However, it experienced technical problems, such as helium leaks and issues with the thruster, delaying their journey when, out of caution, the craft was sent home without them. Although the astronauts were in space for longer than anticipated, they don’t seem to harbor any bad feelings from the experience and they deny media assertions that they felt abandoned or stranded.
New JFK Files Released
By Hannan Zeyde
Over the course of this week, the National Archives released files related to President Kennedy’s assassination almost 60 years ago. Back in January, President Trump signed an executive order commanding the release of almost 80,000 pages, which would clear up rumors and conspiracies surrounding Kennedy’s death. On Nov. 22, 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated while in Dallas, Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson became president and had the Warren Commission investigate his assassination. It concluded it was Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, who shot Kennedy. These new documents are the most complete versions of the files related to Kennedy’s death to be released with past ones being heavily redacted. In the coming weeks, files related to the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy are expected to also be released.
Oscars 2025: A Night of Twists and Turns
By Trey Voegtlin
Leading up to the Oscars, fans and critics put in their winners and were ready to see who would and would not be awarded. However, the Academy pulled a wild card and steered away from many of the predicted wins, such as Demi Moore for Best Actress or “The Brutalist” for Best Picture. Viewers were left stunned, arousing social media stirs. Sean Baker’s Anora took home plentiful awards, including for 27-year-old Mikey Madison as Best Actress and Sean Baker for Best Director, bringing his total to four awards (and tying him with a previously set record by the infamous Walt Disney). Although some viewers were shocked by the outcomes, other winners like Kieran Culkin, Zoe Saldana and Adrien Broady, didn’t shock due to their previous acclaim from other award shows.
The Saint of Ireland
By Sabenah Abudu-Abrams
St. Patrick’s Day, the day for the Irish! This day for parades, lucky charms and everything green is an annual holiday celebrated on March 17. It dates back to Ireland’s 7th century when St. Patrick gained popularity and became a well-known symbol of the country. It is rumored that St. Patrick died on March 17, leading to the annual day of celebration. In earlier iterations of the holiday, many Irish families would attend church in the morning and then celebrate in the evening, even pausing for the day Lenten prohibitions on eating meat so that people could celebrate worry-free. In its North American iterations, parades have come to dominate St. Patrick’s Day. The first recorded parade was held in 1601 in St. Augustine, Florida.
Tesla Targeted in Musk Protests
By Alex Piazza
On March 18th, 2025, an as of yet unknown individual in Las Vegas set five Teslas on fire and fired three rounds of gunshots at a Tesla facility. The individual also spray painted the word “resist” across the windows of the store. This protest or act of vandalism, depending on who you talk to, is just one of an increasing number of incidents involving Teslas since Tesla CEO Elon Musk took charge of President Trump’s DOGE at the end of January. During a press conference one week prior, President Trump said that Tesla protesters should be labeled as domestic terrorists. He also blamed Tesla’s falling stock on “radical left lunatics,” who he deemed were “illegally and collusively boycotting” the brand. United States Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed the president’s words, saying that any vandalism of a Tesla should be considered domestic acts of terrorism directed at Elon Musk. Outside of politicians, Tesla owners may feel the hit of vandalism, even if their car is unscathed. Because of the spike in damage to Teslas, insurance companies may start driving up claims costs. There has also been an increase of bumper stickers on the road, reading “I bought this before Elon went crazy,” and notably, “Elon ate my cat.”
Tornado Season Begins
By Greta Vianna Sletteland
Springtime means tornado season in the United States. This year’s tornado season began strong on Saturday night into Sunday morning, bringing devastation to the Midwest and the deep South, including metro Atlanta. The storm–with damaging winds of up to 80mph, large hail, wildfires and dust storms–left at least 40 dead, including more than a dozen people killed in Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. In Atlanta, Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency with a risk of damaging winds, hail, flash flooding and tornadoes. At the same time, western Georgia faced the potential of an EF-2 or greater tornado. The storm left Georgia with trees fallen, property damaged, and downed power lines. The National Weather Service also confirmed a high-end EF-1 Tornado in the Paulding County area; more than 17,000 people in Georgia lost power. Thankfully, there were no reported deaths in Georgia.
US Deports Venezuelan Migrants in the Face of a Federal Judge’s Order
By Auria Araghi
More than 200 Venezuelan migrants were sent to El Salvador on Sat., March 15 after President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law which grants the government authority to deport citizens of any country with which the United States is in an armed conflict. Trump’s executive order accused the migrants of belonging to a prison gang called “Tren de Aragua,” claiming that their operations were done in partnership with a cartel group allegedly sponsored by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Shortly after the action came into effect, a federal judge demanded that the Trump administration temporarily halt deportations of the migrants by all methods necessary, instructing that any planes already in the air immediately turn back and return to the US. Yet despite the court order, all three flights landed in El Salvador late Saturday night, where the migrants were imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca. Justice Department lawyers refused to answer questions from the judge on Monday over whether the administration had wilfully violated his order.