Month: March 2021

By: Chloe Bruno

After high school sports kept getting postponed, California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) decided on Tuesday, January 19th to cancel fall sports play-offs. While this decision was supposed to happen earlier in the year, it’s been put off many times due to fluctuations in the COVID classification tiers that Orange County is in. While the decision was made for the playoffs to be canceled, CIF announced that they were still looking for ways to make it work.

Many athletes, parents, and coaches have raised their concern about this and some even took initiative to start a group called Let Them Play California to raise awareness to start sports. It has gathered over 40 thousands members on Facebook where many people share stories of their children and how their mental and physical health has been impacted this year because of the inability to play sports. Many are comparing high school sports to college sports to try to get the season back. Since many college teams are still playing, people believe the same can be applied to high school however it’s far from the same thing. College players are adults who can sign waivers and similar paperwork while high school athletes can’t. Colleges also have a bigger budget to work with and can travel out of state to compete against other colleges.

There has been much talk between parents and coaches on what they can do about this situation including having all sports outside or even taking COVID tests daily. But as COVID vaccines start to roll out to the general public many will not have access to it and many will not take it out of personal wants. But as of now nothing is determined as no one really knows what’s going to happen as there may be no sports at all this year since many schools in California have not even opened their campus for students to go back to school. 

Although there may not be playoffs for Southern California, there is a possibility to still have league games. A maximum of 5 games or matches for the team to have at the end of the year if the pandemic gets better by early May or June. But many of the high level athletes in high school have already transitioned into club sports and have been competing out of state which puts many high school athletes with lower income and no outside help in jeopardy as it makes competition harder and they have no way of getting training with a coach or teammates.

The cancellation of Fall Sports play offs is just another step of student athletes losing hope for a season especially for the seniors that want to compete in college. Many college coaches, however, have taken what is happening in California into consideration and will look at previous years for recruitment. However many athletes will go to college rusty and will be a different athlete after a year long break from competition.

By: Amy Morrison

Despite it almost having been a full year since the first lockdown from coronavirus, most people still haven’t completely adjusted to the huge difference in lifestyle. Quarantine life continues to take its toll on most people, mentally and emotionally, but at this point most people have figured out the best ways to keep themselves sane. However, there’s never too many ways to improve one’s mental health and one of the most effective ways for many people is writing or journaling.

This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like though a tad more faceted than one might believe. The basic definition of journaling is using a form of writing to work through certain thoughts and emotions. Typically it’s used as a method of therapy by psychologists to get a better glimpse into their patients’ minds and how they feel in certain situations. However, there are lots of different methods of journaling in terms of everyday life rather than as a specific mental health benefiting technique. Working from this understanding of journaling, one can move on to the many different forms of journaling and how they help different people in various situations. 

The first method is one already mentioned: journaling for therapeutic purposes. Generally speaking when one is assigned to journal by their therapist, it’s in a specific way that the therapist assigns. This is usually keeping something of a diary where one jots down how their day goes while paying specific attention to their emotions and specific symptoms they may have. Keeping a diary helps in seeing patterns and repetition, which is beneficial for most people, as well as allowing therapists to more easily see what goes on in their patients daily lives. This is also a great tool for the patient themselves because it allows them to see their lives and how they’re living it from an outside perspective. Being able to look back at their feelings and thoughts can allow them to work through complex situations and figure out why they react a certain way to a certain event.

As a proven therapy tool, it’s no wonder that journaling was picked up by the populace as a whole. Although it has changed some because of its creative nature, the purpose behind the idea is generally the same: improving one’s mental health. Some of the most used methods of general journaling are free writing, unsent letters, reflection journaling, and worst case scenario journaling. 

Free writing and reflection journaling are pretty similar but have a few key differences. Both utilize writing without pause as part of the process as well as just writing all thoughts out. The purpose is also mostly the same. Both are used as methods to come to terms with complex emotions and situations as well as helping identify them in the first place. Some of the biggest difference is that free writing is basically just writing one’s stream of consciousness for a set amount of time. It doesn’t really matter what a person writes, just that they continue to write for the whole time. However, in reflective journaling there’s more of a set goal in mind to reflect on the day one’s had and work through any issues or difficult emotions that came up during the day.

Unsent letters and worst case scenario journaling are both methods that have a very specific process and use. Unsent letters are exactly what they sound like: writing letters to people but never sending them. The purpose of them is to help the writer come to terms with the relationship they had with that person and the emotions and thoughts that came up because of it. A lot of the times unsent letters can give a sense of closure to the writer who may never actually get it from the person they’re writing to. Worst case scenario journaling sounds a little counterintuitive but it can work. This type of journaling especially helps people who have a difficult time imagining horrible situations and get caught up in the “what ifs” of life. The process is to write out the worst case scenario one can think of, how likely it is to actually happen, and how one could and would react to said scenario. This helps the writer relieve some stress over the possibilities of a situation going wrong.

Overall, journaling and writing are insanely beneficial even to people who would classify themselves as “normal”. In the continuing troubled times, it’s always in one’s best interest to look after themselves and their own mental health.

By: Vivian Wang

As the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year comes to an end, many high school students around the world have started to plan for their summer. For rising high school seniors, their summer entails back-to-back days of planning for college applications. For younger students, their summer may revolve around preparing for standardized tests or participating in meaningful summer enrichment programs. With the pandemic still raging on, many students may feel isolated in regards to planning their summer, especially since internships and several programs have been canceled. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, it is recommended that high school students tap into various resources and opportunities. These resources and tips can help with navigating the summer, whether it be for preparing for college or searching for summer programs.

For many high school underclassmen, the thought of the SAT brings about a mixture of sighs as students think about the number of hours that they will have to sit and complete an exam. One of the best ways that high schoolers can maximize their time during the summer is by allocating an hour each day for SAT preparations, whether it be by reviewing SAT vocabulary or completing some practice SAT math questions. Additionally, with many test centers closed due to COVID-19, students may also consider not taking the SAT. Many colleges have announced that they are a test-optional or test-blind college, meaning that submitting standardized test scores are not a requirement for college admissions. 

Beyond preparing for standardized tests, it may also be a good idea to secure a remote internship in a particular area of interests. At ages 16, 17, or 18, high school students aren’t expected to know what field they hope to pursue after high school; however, internships are a great way to explore various areas that may seem intriguing. In searching for internships for this summer, many offices, labs, and programs have canceled their internship programs. Remaining proactive and resilient in the search for an internship is the best way to secure an internship. For instance, if a high school student is interested in exploring computer science — such as artificial intelligence — they can reach out to local university professors and ask if they can become a research assistant in their lab. When emailing nearby college professors, understand that not all professors are available. With this in mind, it is recommended that high school students email multiple professors, rather than just one or two professors.

In addition to internships, many high school students enjoy maximizing their summer by pursuing a personal passion project. Passion projects can range from launching a blog to founding a nonprofit organization. Perfect for independent self-starters, passion projects can allow a student to stretch their own creative boundaries, all while allowing students to make a difference in their community. For example, if a student is interested in promoting financial literacy around the world, they might be interested in launching a blog that teaches students about finance. Moreover, one of the best parts about passion projects is that they do not have to revolve around academics. If an individual finds interest in cooking, they might consider launching a YouTube channel dedicated to teaching various cooking styles and recipes. High school students interested in language learning may want to set up a language learning community in which students can teach one another languages. 

With these tips and tricks in mind, high school students can tackle their summer so that their summer is balanced and fruitful. Students who begin planning their summer as early as the start of second semester will find that they will be able to find various learning opportunities. Most importantly, summer is all about a balanced life — working hard and playing hard will lead to a meaningful, balanced summer.

By: Vivian Wang

With over 7,000 languages in the world today, there often lies a language barrier between two or more individuals. Google Translate becomes a traveler’s best friend, expressive hand gestures satisfy the basic everyday phrases, and miscommunication leads to potential conflict. For the start of this new year, many individuals have set new year’s resolutions to learn a new foreign language. Fluently speaking, understanding, and writing in another language is not like studying for biology or mathematics — language learning requires strategic learning so that conversations can naturally flow when speaking in another language. Here are some tips to keep in mind when trying to learn a foreign language efficiently and effectively.

1. Tune into podcasts or music artists who sing and speak in the designated foreign language. While completing every house chores such as cleaning the kitchen or folding laundry, enjoy a podcast or some music. The catch: ensure that the podcast or music is in the foreign language. At first, it will be difficult to grasp the language, but over time, the words and sentence structures will become second nature due to repetition. For those interested in learning Spanish, one popular music artist is Alvaro Soler. Individuals interested in learning other languages can search on YouTube, “podcasts for X learners”. Replace the X with the foreign language and there will be several pages of exciting learning opportunities.
2. Begin with picture books, and then move to chapter books. As embarrassing as it may sound, beginning with picturing books and then transitioning to chapter books will ensure that the language learner does not get discouraged from high-level vocabulary. At the same time, the language learner can associate the vocabulary with the pictures in the book. After reading picture books for a few months, it may be a good idea to transition to chapter books.
3. Reach out to individuals who speak the foreign language. Having conversations with those who speak the foreign language is extremely beneficial for any language learner. Native speakers — individuals who speak the designated foreign language as their primary language — can also provide feedback on one’s grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. Most importantly, speaking in the foreign language during informal conversations will help any language learner with their listening skills.
4. Build bridges between one’s primary language and the targeted foreign language. Many English speakers love to learn Spanish for their similarities. For example, in Spanish, chocolate is still “chocolate”. Animal translates to “animal”. These words that sound the same in two or more languages are most commonly referred to as “cognates”. Establishing connections between multiple languages can help with the learning process. It is also important to note that some words in a different language may not have the same definition. For example, “carpeta” in Spanish may lead a new language learner to believe that it means “carpet”, when in reality it means “folder.”
5. Allocate time each day to practice the foreign language. Foreign languages require consistent practicing, whether it be through reading, writing, speaking, or listening. Individuals who set aside the foreign language may notice that their background in the language declines over time. Dedicate at least 10 minutes to practice the foreign language. Activities that can help with language learning include utilizing Duolingo, calling a friend who speaks the foreign language, or reading a chapter of a book written in the foreign language. With this low time commitment, the language can stay fresh in the learner’s mind, all while ensuring that the learner continues to enjoy the language in their free time.

With these tips and tricks in mind, any language learner from around the world is ready to tackle the exciting realm of foreign languages.

By Snehal Shinh

When it comes to learning, there’s no right way to do it. There are, however, different styles of learning that make it easier to grasp complicated concepts. The idea of learning styles has been around for decades and entails that different people learn best when information is presented to them in a particular way. This theory has become especially popular in education, so most people may already be familiar with the main styles of learning. 

Before looking at the different and common types of learning, the history of the theory is interesting on its own. The concept of a “learning style” was first recognized as early as 334 BC by Aristotle when he said “each child possessed specific talents and skills and discussed the concept of individual differences in young children”. Since then the theory has evolved. 

Once Aristotle began recognizing these differences, many researchers began forming their theories and expanding on these ideas. One, in particular, is Neil Fleming, whose learning style theories are most known. Fleming developed the acronym, “VARK”, which stands for “visual”, “aural”, “reading/writing”, and “kinesthetic”, of course referring to learning preferences. According to Fleming, the Visual part of the acronym refers to those individuals who prefer charts, symbols, graphs, or such things that teachers utilize to replace words. For those with a visual preference, the layout, design, and color-coding of information are of importance. The Aural aspect in the acronym refers to those with auditory preferences; for example, group discussions, feedback, presentations, etc. are beneficial to these types of learners. The Reading/Writing part speaks for itself, these individuals learn best from working with words by reading and/or writing about subjects. Lastly, the Kinesthetic aspect refers to individuals who learn by doing it themselves, by practice. 

With all these theories and established categories, how does one know what type of learner they are? Well, like any learning style theorists, Fleming believed in the importance of people, teachers and students alike, to understand and know theirs and others’ style of learning. And so, Fleming created the first learning style questionnaire in 1986. Fleming developed a series of general questions and worksheets that could be applied to any population, intending to help people find their individual preferences for retaining information. The questionnaire consists of “a-d” options that correspond to the acronym “VARK” and based on the amount of each multiple-choice option and Fleming’s help sheets, one can find out what type of learner they are. 

Now that identifying one’s learning style is possible, what learning habits are most effective for each style? 

For visual learners, sight is the key sense that makes the information click, so here are some simple tips that make a big difference. Color-coding information goes a long way, don’t shy away from color-coding everything from notes and worksheets to textbooks. Stay organized with notes and general work; keeping notes orderly helps with retaining information and motivates one to look back at them. To be even more helpful, keep two notebooks: one meant for class, to take messy notes full of information, and another to rewrite those messy notes into something orderly and visually pleasing. Concept maps are especially useful for visual learners, they’re a great way to visualize brainstorms and draw connections. When creating a concept map, start with a central idea and branch off into main categories, and so on. 

For aural learners, limiting any loud distractions is the most important tip. Because auditory learners rely on sound for retaining information, it’s common to be destroyed by distracting sounds, so a quiet room or library is a good place to go to study. Not commonly used, but creating mnemonic devices is effective; a little rhythm can go a long way. Engaging in class discussions is essential because it’ll not only help aid in remembering details but it helps ensure full comprehension. 

Similar to visual learners, reading/writing learners are very visual. Re-writing and re-reading notes attach a physical motion to the information and help ingrain those notes. Aside from referring to notes, reading additional information about a topic expands one’s knowledge. Most of the time, reading/writing learners are a “list person”, so the best way to organize thoughts is through listing them in an order that makes the most sense. Lists are great because they can hold one accountable for the work needed to be done without forgetting anything. 

Lastly, kinesthetic learners. Aside from finding the ideal studying space that allows for any particular movement and taking notes, teaching others is a great way for these types of learners to fully understand a subject. By teaching others, be it a struggling peer or a family member, one is able to grow familiar and engage with the material. Since kinesthetic learners are quite physical, pacing, fidgeting, or other repetitive movements are usually helpful. It’s also noteworthy that kinesthetic learners don’t push themselves to sit still for long periods of time. As with anyone, taking breaks when needed, getting a snack, or going on a walk, does wonders.

By Snehal Shinh

The term “stan” is used widely, seen on every social media platform, and is familiar amongst a large majority of people. When it comes to the origins of the term, many believe that the term is a combination of “fan” and “stalker”; however, the term originates from Eminem’s song “Stan” which was released in 2000. The song features a twisted allegory about a man who was driven to the edge when his idol ignored his fan mail. The term was, and to some people still is, a substitute for an overzealous or obsessed fan. Now twenty years later, the term “stan” is seen as a badge of honor to those who are committed or just another word for fans to express how much they enjoy the content of their idol. With the label’s definition facing a period of transition, from obsessive to simply dedicated, the perception of stan culture isn’t so clear cut. 

Most celebrities seem to encourage stan culture or behavior, giving titles for their fans to refer to themselves as. For example, Lady Gaga refers to her fan base as her “Little Monsters” and Nicki Minaj has the “Barbz”. With enough motivations, fans have a great influence on the growth of a creator’s career, especially through social media, and have the power of a majority to hinder those that disagree with their views. This power dynamic has creators catering to their audience, tailoring their delivery for fans and who gets to hear it.   

However, there is a much more dark, toxic side to stan culture. Stan culture has been a part of history since the Roman reign, people used to collect gladiator’s sweat purely out of admiration. During the Victorian era, fans of author Arthur Conan Doyle forced him to revive fan favorite, Sherlock Holmes. On the more extreme side, a superfan of the Beatles plotted the murder of John Lennon. This isn’t exclusive to the west. In Korea, this type of idolization is prevalent within the K-pop industry. Many fans obsess over their idols to the point of stalking, privately taking photos, wiretapping their phones, and even breaking into their homes. 

Another issue with stan culture, is the generalization of stans. Social media is the biggest outlet for stans to express their love for creators, yet they may end up facing backlash. This is due to the one percent, the few, stans that cross boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed. It’s this same amount of stans that create a bad image for all by hate comments or direct messages towards people that don’t enjoy their idol as much or speak negatively of them. With the old definition clashing with the new, misunderstandings and confusion on the term is common. The old definition ends up supported by the actions of the small amount of toxic fans, and so many approach stan culture in this negative light. 

Despite the term’s origins, stan culture isn’t as toxic as it is perceived to be. More often than not, stans of celebrities or content creators use that label as a way to express their abundant joy for the content while being able to make friends that enjoy the creator just as much. Stan culture is beneficial in giving fans a safe place to create meaningful friendships and be able to talk endlessly, and openly, about their idols; it allows for people to feel accepted. And for the most part, many stans understand the boundaries they cannot cross in regards to a creator and their personal life. 

Stan culture still has hope for a less toxic association. The definition of a stan is beginning to shift and it’s important to not hold the one percent responsible for the entirety of stan behaviors. In its simplicity, a stan is merely someone that wishes to create friendships with those that will accept them and enjoys their idols just as much.

By: Inso Park

Given that we are in a new semester and finals have ended, it is completely normal to feel burnt out. It seems like spring break is a ways away and with no more three day weekends in sight, it feels as if the school year is going to last forever. Not to mention how classes seem like they have become significantly harder after the break, and AP seasons feels like it is on the way. There are a couple of tips to keep in mind that can help alleviate any stress from school or outside sources.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the feeling of being overwhelmed will go away once spring break hits. Instead of collectively looking at how many days of school are left, try taking each day one at a time. Focus on one thing that you want to accomplish everyday. If you are behind on your school work then try and complete one late assignment for every school day and two per day on the weekends. With a strict schedule and mentality, you are sure to catch up on your work in no time. A way to set a strict schedule would be to set attainable goals. The goals that you set should be measurable. Instead of saying that you want to improve your grade, you should set the goal of a specific percentage that you want your grade to be at. 

I know that I struggle with procrastination and that time really is my biggest enemy. If you have the same problem as me then you should follow the 60 second rule. This is a trick that I learned on Tik Tok to help increase your productivity and help you feel accomplished throughout the day. The 60 second rule is that if something takes less than a minute to do, instead of putting it off to do later, do it then and there. Examples of this would be making your bed, picking up a piece of clothing off of the floor, turning in an assignment, etc. I have recently started following this rule and it has helped me to feel decluttered and by the end of each day, my mountain of work seems more manageable.

Sometimes the only way to be more productive is to take a break. I realize that this seems counterintuitive, but the break that I’m referring to is a break from technology. Delete apps that are distracting you from your work and increasing your screen time. Apps such as Tik Tok, Snapchat, and Instagram, are the main forms of social media that can easily deter you from completing your work. One 15 second video on Tik Tok leads to another and before you know it you have wasted your entire day on there. Deleting these apps during the school week and redownloading them helps me to focus on the task at hand and completely removes the temptation to go on them. Additionally, the screen time that you previously spent on those apps will go towards something more productive and will make a huge difference in your grades. Preventing yourself from staring at a screen for hours on end will ensure that you are not drained for the next day and help you with your overall health as well. If you feel like you are not strong enough to delete the apps then you can always set a limit on your screen time. You can even limit individual apps to monitor how much of your free time you spend watching a certain thing.

It is completely normal to feel burnt out and unmotivated in the second half of the school year. That being said, following the methods above will not only increase your productivity, but also help you to lead a more balanced life. We are in the home stretch and waiting for spring break seems hopeless. Despite how you may be feeling now, you are going to want to end the school year strong. Do not disappoint yourself.

By: Amy Morrison

Since the quarantine set 8 months ago, the task of finding things to do to pass the time has become quite difficult. Because so much focus has been on the ways we can pass our time while indoors, video games have become a much bigger focus of general life. For many, video games have always been a large part of their routine, but in the world where we are constantly trying new things to disrupt the monotony of quarantine, video games have been given a whole new stage.

When quarantine first hit, Nintendo had just come out with their game Animal Crossing: New Horizons for their widely successful Switch console. The combination of a fresh game and a seemingly unlimited time indoors and alone gave way to an obsession. The game is defined as a “life simulation game” which could explain it’s rapid success and popularity. In the game, players can make a community from scratch on their own islands while also visiting their friends’ islands. The game’s ability to imitate a social life when reality was halted explains why it rose to such popularity in such a short period of time.

Later in the year, Animal Crossings was knocked from its throne as top game and was replaced by Among Us. Unlike Animal Crossings, Among Us was released in 2018 but did not gain a lot of popularity until around late August. The boom in popularity is traced back to popular gamers on Twitch, a streaming site, streaming them and their friends playing the game. As most people know by now, Among Us is a game about finding the imposter within a crew on a spaceship. As crewmates rush to do their tasks and win, the imposter, or imposters, rush to sabotage and kill everyone on board. If the crewmates finish their task or vote all the imposters off the ship before the imposters kill them all or completely sabotage the ship, the crewmates win. But if the imposters kill everyone or destroy the ship, they win.

Now while no one is disputing Among Us as the current most popular game, there is a new game moving up in the ranks. A new game called Phasmophobia was released in early access in September and has since caught the attention of many streamers. Since it’s release, big name gaming Youtubers such as Pewdiepie, Jacksepticeye, and Markiplier have already played the game multiple times. While Phasmophobia has nowhere near the popularity of Among Us, it did grab the attention of big Youtubers and streamers which is a good sign of its entertainment value. Since it is in early access, Phasmophobia is still being developed, but can be played by the general public.

This game is not for the faint of heart however. Phasmophobia, which means the fear of ghosts, is a ghost hunting game. The four players, who can communicate through the game, are ghost hunters who are hired to go to haunted locations, like houses, schools, and asylums, and determine what kind of ghost resides there. They can determine this through many different pieces of evidence such as seeing ghost orbs on cameras, the ghost writing in a journal, and the ghost talking to them through a radio. Each ghost can be characterized by three of these pieces of evidence, all with different stories and personalities. However, there’s a catch. The ghost can hunt and kill the players once they step into the location. Therefore, the players must race to find their evidence and identify the ghost, along with other optional objectives, before the ghost kills them. Once the players identify the ghost and log it in their journals they can get back to their base, and receive money for the job. With more experience and money, the players can do their objectives faster and better, buy more equipment, and harder maps to complete.

The one thing these games have in common is that they keep people occupied and entertained which is what is really important in these times. While the world struggles to right itself, those at home can still be entertained and bond with their friends through gaming.

By: Young Kim

It’s the merriest time of the year and families can expect classic festive movies that bring a sense of nostalgia to everyone. Some cult classics such as Elf, Harry Potter, Rudolph the Redness Reindeer, and the Nightmare Before Christmas are a small sample of the genre filled with thousands of movies. But there is a select number of Christmas themed movies that seem too similar. These movies all have the common theme of being created by the Hallmark Channel.

They all involve the same plot with the same cheesy moments that seem to symbolize the ideal Christmas movie for families to watch as they ALL have the same happy ending with two love interests living happily ever after. But why? Why are these movies practically copy and pasted with minimal differences? Well, it turns out that that is the whole point. These Hallmark Movies serve as a symbolical measure of tradition because they can be easily expected around Christmas time. In a world constantly changing, it can be relaxing to see that some things do not change no matter what global disasters hit. They provide slight changes that are easy to digest as the audience and therefore provide a sense of tradition. These movies pride themselves on this fact as they reproduce movies with parallel characters, story, and even setting. 

Another reason why they’re so successful? These movies are actually widely viewed during and even after the seasonal times. They provide Hallmark with a significant boost in viewership which therefore brings profits. Around the holidays they are known to be ranked in the top ten most viewed channels on cable, which is no small feat. No need to change the story and small production value needed to produce a Hallmark Christmas movie equates to a profit margin even Ebenezor Scrooge would desire. 

Christmas movies played on Hallmark are both loved and hated within every household. To some the basic nature in which Hallmark movies mirror one another reminds them of a seasonal time to be celebrated with family while others may believe in its shallow plot and sometimes borderline absurdity in how the conflict is resolved for the sake of having a happy ending. Love it or hate it, it would be a convincing argument to state that Hallmark Christmas movies have molded themselves into a Christmas tradition.

By: Young Kim 

Postmates, Doordash, and UberEats. These are all delivery apps that have had significant growth during the quarantine period due to the majority of the population staying at home. From the outside it seems like a win win situation. Users can stay at home while restaurants still gain revenue through a transaction fee collected by the third party delivery service. While the idea seems beneficial for all parties involved, it poses many challenges in the long term. 

The number one problem that is encountered by users of these delivery apps is the sheer cost of using them without even realizing how much those costs can add up. For example, a meal for one person can be almost double the price of what it would have been had one gone to the actual restaurant. The transaction fees plus the delivery fees plus a required tip can all add up to ridiculous markups. In extreme cases, some items on the menu of these delivery apps would be naturally marked up, taking advantage of consumer trust. Furthermore, the app could be charging the restaurant fees directly from orders taking the transaction fee, delivery fee, and a portion of the profits from the meal. So both the consumer and the restaurant are in positions where they lose. 

Another problem with delivery apps is the impact on restaurants. While having the ability to deliver orders is always good for creating revenue in a time in which customers do not necessarily want to go out and eat, the restaurant will have already taken blows to business due to having to deal with a lockdown and still having to pay fees. Furthermore, from a business standpoint they have no way of controlling brand image due to the separation from customers. These restaurants may lose long term customers because of food arriving late, delivery to the wrong address, and other problems associated with the delivery, not the restaurant. To the customer it is just a matter of putting a one star rating on the restaurant’s Yelp page and moving on with life, but to the restaurant this can prove to be devastating. There is no way to formally fix this issue either as the restaurant has no way of knowing what went wrong with the process. 

While delivery apps are a convenient way to get food from restaurants, there is a serious cost problem behind these systems. Users may believe that ordering from these restaurants is enough to support the business yet the restaurants are barely receiving any of the funds the user paid. In reality restaurants should be looking to find their own way of delivering as it is a cheaper alternative and can help with customer interaction (with social distancing efforts).