ISSUE 972 March 1, 2021 TORRANCE NEWS TORCH Lighting the Way to Torrance High School Since 1922 RCH BRINGING LOVE INTO THS ORIGINS OF VALENTINE’S DAY BY ANDREW GERGES Club Writer Although the Breezeway is not filled with the regular nervousness, roses, Pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was celebrated on February 15th and and awkward gift exchanges, Valentine’s Day remains special for many Tartars was to honor the Roman gods of agriculture and fertility as well as Rome’s despite social distancing. mythical founders, Romulus and Remus. Although February has long been celebrated as the month of romance, Members of the Luperci Order would sacrifice a goat for fertility as Valentine’s Day officially began in 3rd Century Rome. Although there are many well as a dog for purification in the caves of Rome and would then go to the versions of the legend, the most popular one belongs to one of the men named streets and slap the women with dipped-in-blood goat hides, a ritual believed to Valentine who was killed by Roman emperor, Claudius II. Gloomily, there were three grant fertility in the coming year. The women would then use that blood to write men named Valentine who generally contributed to the legend and were also killed their names on an urn (an ancient pot or vase) and men would randomly pick a by the tyrant-emperor in the same month, February. name for consummation that night. The story begins when Claudius II decided that bachelors made better Nonetheless, Valentine’s Day was canonized in the 5th century by soldiers than men who were married, so he outlawed marriage all together. But a Pope Gelasius and was popularized in the 15th century when Charles, the Duke Christian priest named Valentine continued performing marriage ceremonies for of Orléans, was imprisoned in London and would write love letters to his wife in young adults in secret. When Claudius II discovered this, he ordered Priest Valentine France, citing the notes of St. Valentine. Many English and French nobles to be swiftly put to death. adopted the practice and it spread quickly. Other versions of the legend focus on Valentine being beheaded because Today, Valentine’s Day is nationally celebrated in the United States, he had helped Christian men escape the harsh Roman prisons by sending “Valentines” Britain, France, Canada, Mexico, and Australia as well as by Roman Catholic to the women outside the cells and also because he spread Christianity to the Pagans Christians everywhere. Of course, it is also celebrated right here at Torrance High of the prisons. School as an homage to young love. Other sources state that Valentine’s Day originates from the 4th century February 12 marked the beginning of the Year of the Metal Ox. PREDICTIONS FOR WINTER Photo courtesy of CNN BY AHSLEY MERCURIO Club Writer Groundhog Day is a tradition observed every February 2nd in North America since the late 1800s. The tradition originated from the Roman Christian holiday “Candlemas” where they used a badger to predict if there would be six more weeks of bad weather. Candlemas was eventually introduced to Germany who used hedgehogs then German immigrants introduced it to America where they chose to use groundhogs. The start of this American tradition began in Punxsutawney, Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume Pennsylvania by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club after Clymer Freas, a local holding Punxsutawney Phil, the weather newspaper editor, prompted the idea to its members. The first groundhog that was predicting groundhog, as the 135th used to predict the weather was called Phil and since then, every weather-predicting Groundhog Day Celebration on groundhog in that ancestry line has promptly been named Punxsutawney Phil. Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney. This year was the 134th anniversary of Groundhog Day and because of Pennsylvania on February 2. the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the on-lookers wore masks to the event for the Photo courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer first time. Unfortunately, when Punxsutawney Phil crawled out of his burrow, he saw his shadow and crawled back in. That’s six more weeks of winter for us! x YEAR OF THE OX BY MIKI IGNACIO Staff Writer While some people celebrate the new year luck and fortune, and red envelopes represent that wealth on January 1, China and a plethora of other Asian and prosperity is on its way to the receiver. countries celebrate the Lunar New Year. On February According to China Highlights, other 12, the Year of the Ox finally made its way around the traditions involve eating reunion dinner, the dragon and twelve-year cycle, and many were excited to welcome it. lion dances in public spaces, and setting off fireworks. As the name implies, the Lunar New Year is However, the coronavirus prevented many from determined by the lunar calendar. Britannica states the celebrating the Lunar New Year as done before in specific date for the new year lies on the first new moon previous years. NBC News reports “major cities have of the year between January 21 and February 20. Each canceled parades, festivals and fireworks displays that year is assigned an animal, and this year is dedicated to typically draw large crowds.” the Ox. Despite the restrictions, it did not stop There are twelve Chinese zodiac animals the people from celebrating; Asian Americans in New Lunar Year revolves around: the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Jersey held performances over Zoom and “drive-thru Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, celebratory meals” (reports USA Today). People on and Pig. The origin of this precise order traces back to multiple social media platforms around the world unite the story of the Heavenly Gate Race, where the Jade as they unite under the shared festive spirit. While emperor issued a race for the first twelve animals to be maintaining social distancing and COVID-19 protocols, his guards. The first to win the race was the intelligent people are able to upkeep the liveliness of the new year. Rat, while the last being the Boar. Although the world is currently at a stage of As an abundance of Asian countries social disconnection, people welcome the Year of the Ox celebrate the Lunar New Year, there are a variety of in collective unity. Nothing beats the tradition passed customs and traditions held only in specific countries. down from generations, and a pandemic is not enough to One of the most well-known traditions is the giving of stagnate it one bit. Perhaps the luck stored in the red red envelopes (hóngbāo) filled with money. In China and envelopes will manifest into a hopeful new year. other Asian countries, the color red symbolizes good News 2 STOCK TRADERS LOSE ON GAMESTOP BY JOSHUA FLORES Staff Writer Last month, several people losses. invested into a company called GameStop. This left investors with millions These people bought part-ownership of the of dollars in stocks they had bought at a company by buying stock. Companies sell high price, which they then had to sell at an a portion of their business to investors to equal or higher value to make a profit. acquire needed capital. The investment According to S3 Partners, a financial data will either increase or decrease, depending company, by January 27, short sellers had GameStop store logo on 14th Street located at union Square. on the profitability of the business. Some lost $23.6 billion on Gamestop in January. Photo courtesy of ABC News make good and some do not. It is a gamble. The antecedent for the price Professional investors increase of GME is the reddit community subjected Gamestop to a “short selling,” r/wallstreetbets, or WSB. Reddit is a social which is when investors “borrow shares of news website and forum. Traders on the stock to sell and then buy back later so they reddit community WSB decided to invest can return them, which lets them pocket the in GME, which drove up the price of the profit if the stock price goes down,” stock. This caused short sellers to buy more according to nbcnews.com. Essentially, shares, which caused them to lose a large they were betting that Gamestop would amount of money. fail. Unfortunately for WSB Gamestop was then subjected investors, GME stocks fell from $347.51 a to a “short squeeze,” and their stock prices share on January 27 to $51.10 as of rose sharply. This forced some investors to February 11. This means their success in buy more shares, but because several beating Wall Street at their own game was investors bought GamesStop stocks, or unfortunately short lived. Any good GME, at a concurrent time, there were no gambler knows when to fold or walk away. more shares for them to buy to cover their. GameStop’s stock-value movement demonstrates its jump in value during the month of January. Photo courtesy of Insider TRIBUTE TO BLACK HERITAGE BY PHOEBE LIN New York Nets players sport Black History Club Writer Month shirts prior to a game. Photo courtesy of The Guardian Every year from February 1st to March activists, Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass. 1st, Black History Month takes place. Also known Eventually, this week-long affair turned into a as African-American History Month, it is to pay month-long obersvance, and by 1976, Black tribute to the past generations of African- History Month was officially recognized by Americans for their fight against oppression and President Gerald Ford. towards freedom. Once February was officially About 50 years after the abolishment of recognized in 1976 as Black History Month by slavery in the United States, Black History Month President Ford, a theme has been established every began in 1926 as actually a week-long observance.