Sophomores participate in an experiment on the chemistry of tie-dye on Dec. 17... PHOTOS BY JOURNALISM STAFF Published biweekly by and for the Upper School students of Riverfield Country Day School in Tulsa, OK JANUARYAPRIL 14,3, 2015 2021 THE COMMONS More mask mandates in metro area Biden Inaugurated in six days By Maureen Sellers STAFF WRITER Since the number of COVID -19 cases has continued to rise in the last few months, more Tulsa suburbs have been imple- menting mask mandates. Tulsa was the first city in Tulsa County to require masks. So, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum has been wanting the suburbs to enact a mandate as well. Several suburbs have recent- ly passed mask mandates, such as Jenks, Sand Springs, Glen- pool, Claremore, and Sapulpa. The City of Jenks enacted a mask requirement on November 10 and will stay in effect until January 31. When that expira- tion date arrives, the City Coun- cil of that suburb will vote again to decide if they want to extend The President-elect speaks after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20. PHOTO: JAPANTIMES.COM the mandate or let it expire. Something that was unique about the Sand Springs City By Andrew Jordan building. At least 10,000 National Guard members are ex- Council was that they unani- NEWS EDITOR pected to be deployed in D.C., and acting D.C. Police Chief mously voted in favor of a mask said that number could ultimately swell to upwards of 20,000. ordinance, which took place on ith January 20th quickly approaching, The Capitol, however, isn’t the only thing that is getting November 23. some people are finally seeing what they extra protection. While President-elect Joe Biden had said that Glenpool passed a mandate see as light at the end of the tunnel with he planned to take the Amtrak to the inauguration, according to on November 18, after the en- this current presidency. Those who support an article by CNN, who quoted sources close to the soon-to-be dorsement of Mayor Tim Fox. the current president, however, are more president, he is now taking alternate transportation. The Claremore passed a mask re- Wthan just disappointed. change is in response to rising security concerns stemming quirement on November 20. While in years past, the inauguration has been a uneventful from the aforementioned capitol storming. Sapulpa’s mandate was en- transfer of power from one administration to another, this time, The President-elect reportedly received reports from both acted on November 16, requir- it has the chance to be something much different. With the the FBI and the Secret Service about possible violence, so he ing people ages ten and over to recent storming of the Capital by pro-Trump protesters, it begs therefore decided to take the train from Delaware instead of wear a mask. the question of possible violence come inauguration day. the Amtrak. A couple of suburbs recom- Tensions are already back to a high in our country’s capi- Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are still ex- mending mask use, but not re- tal, as reported by Fox 5, a local D.C news station, saying that pected to take their oaths of office on the West Front of the US quiring it are Owasso and National Guard troops are sleeping in the halls of the Capitol Capitol at a significantly scaled-down event. Bixby, while Catoosa and Coweta have not proposed a mask ordinance at all. There are some suburbs that have proposed mask mandates, but were not successful, such as Academic Bowlers attempt return to Nationals Skiatook and Broken Arrow. On November 16, the Skiatook City By Brenden Paul Riverfield currently comes ments, the first of which will As of now the Small School Council failed to pass a mask STAFF WRITER in to the tournament as the #2 take place on Saturday February National Championship will requirement, with a vote of 3-4. seed, however still undefeated, 13 as a qualifying event for the take place in Chicago, Illinois Broken Arrow voted on Novem- As we approach the latter and will face Waukomis in the National Tournaments in Chica- from April 23-25, and if the ber 23, and also did not succeed, half of January and February, first round. go and Atlanta. Ravens can repeat their success with a vote of 1-5. the Riverfield Academic Bowl If the Ravens can qualify for However, the event original- of last year, the National Cham- Although the majority of team will be busy with a few big the state tournament, it will take ly scheduled to take place in pionship will be held in Atlanta, Tulsa suburbs have mask man- tournaments. place on Saturday February 6 at Coalgate will now take place Georgia from May 28-30. dates, Mayor Bynum is still The action starts on Saturday Redlands Community College online using Zoom and an Be sure to wish these bow- hopeful the remaining surround- January 16, as the squad will in El Reno. If the Ravens are online buzzer software called lers good luck as they gear up ing areas will follow their lead travel to Garber for the OSSAA able to take home the state title, BuzzIn Live. for their final few tournaments in order to help stop the spread Area tournament. it will be their third straight According to coaches James and be sure to catch any virtual of COVID-19 until vaccines are In this eight-team tourna- state championship at the Class Wilson and Christopher Day, events if an opportunity arises. widely distributed enough to ment, Riverfield will need to 2A level. the rest of the school year will Winning a third state cham- eliminate the need for face cov- place in the top two in order to After this tournament, the be focused on qualifying for pionship would mark a great erings. punch their ticket to the state Ravens will be shifting their nationals as well as getting in end to a strange and unpredicta- Until then, keep it covered. tournament. focus towards NAQT tourna- extensive practice. ble season. THE COMMONS is published biweekly dur- VOLUME XV ISSUE 1 ing the school year by the Upper School Newspaper elective class FALLSPRING 2020 2021 STAFF STAFF VOLUME XV ISSUE 7 at Riverfield Country Day School, 2433 W. 61st Street, Tulsa, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER ??, 2020 Oklahoma 74132. The staff reserves the right to edit any article or THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 letter submitted for publication.letter submitted Send all submissionsfor publication. to the Send Editor all - EDITOREDITOR-IN-IN-CHIEF-CHIEF .................. ..................... Brenden Brenden Paul Paul in-Chief at [email protected] All toopinions the Editor expressed-in-Chief are at those NEWS EDITOR ......................... Andrew Jordan ADVISER ................... ............... Mrs. Brooke Knight of the individual writers [email protected]. do not reflect positions All of opinions the NEWS EDITOR ........................... Andrew Jordan SPORTSSPORTS EDITORS EDITORS ................... ...................... .Jon Morley Jon Morley staff, adviser, or schoolexpressed administration. are those of the individual A&E EDITOR ............................ Jack Bluhm writers and do not reflect positions of the A&E EDITOR .............................. Jack Bluhm FEATURES EDITOR ............... Maureen Sellers staff, adviser, or school administration. FEATURES EDITOR .................. Maureen Sellers COLUMNISTS ............................... Mr. Jason Bogle PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR ..... Anna Claire Boyd PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR ........ Anna Claire Boyd ADVISER ....................................... Mrs. Brooke Knight Online: riverfield.org/community/studentnewspapers.cfm COLUMNISTS ........... .. ............. THE COMMONS Thursday, January 14, 2021 Varsity basketball plays tomorrow at home SPORTS vs. LIBERTY. Watch the livestream! 2 Whatever happened to the XFL? By Brenden Paul Redbird Capital Group pur- caliber players, CFL players STAFF WRITER chased the league. and other journeymen football A lot of people wondered players who just haven’t found The XFL, a startup football what the league’s plans were for their spot in the NFL. league created by Vince the upcoming season, and it Due to the delay, not only McMahon, was revived in seems that some of our ques- can the teams build their ros- 2020 from its original 2001 tions have been answered. Ac- ters, but they can also develop iteration. cording to Deadline Sports, the chemistry. If the teams are able The XFL was a football XFL announced they will not to develop good relationships league that was targeted at play a 2021 season and will gear between players, this will lead making football more fun and up for a start back in 2022, with to a better product on the field. entertaining with no extra the same teams and logos. The 2001 XFL failed be- Gannon Alden and Miranda Cagle both plan to pursue basketball. points, fun helmets and logos According to additional in- cause they only gave teams 30 PHOTOS BY JOURNALISM STAFF as well as fewer commercials. formation via an XFL promo- days before games, which re- Early numbers indicated suc- tional video, the league will be sulted in no one being ac- cess, but, with the ongoing kicking off in the spring of quainted with each other, pandemic, the XFL was forced 2022, most likely shortly after which results in no chemistry Miranda and gannon are to limit fans and eventually the conclusion of the Super and sloppy football. It is a allow zero fans at games. With Bowl, as was the case in 2020. good thing to see the league no fans at games, the XFL was A lot of people wonder why learning from past mistakes, forced to suspend the season. they are skipping the 2021 sea- and I will be looking forward consistent teammates When this happened, all son, but the league cites one to watching in 2022.