In the 1930s and 1940s, cigarettes grew in popularity and were considered to be healthy. 

They were often recommended by doctors and physicians and many people got hooked without knowing the consequences. 

It wasn’t until the 1960s that evidence suggested that smoking was actually harmful to users and could cause serious problems. 

We all know today that smoking can lead to various forms of cancer, lower quality of life for users and may lead to premature death. 

However, there may be some items we use daily that might be causing problems that we aren’t aware of or don’t think are a big deal. 

I believe blue light may be an example of something that is causing more harm than people think. 

Humans have been exposed to blue light for all of mankind but in recent years we have stepped up our exposure to it a lot. 

The largest source of blue light to this day is the sun, but most people don’t usually look right at the sun and use sunglasses when it is very bright outside. 

In more recent history, humans are being exposed to a lot of blue light from their screens connected to their devices.

Although the consequences of this newfound issue are probably not as bad as smoking, I think our increasing use of technologies emitting blue light may be doing some harm.

Blue light is responsible for causing eye strain and has been traced to cause cancers in the eye. 

In addition to these obvious potential side effects, there are other hormonal changes that occur in our bodies when we have been exposed to blue light. 

The primary hormonal change creating negative problems when exposed to blue light is the suppression of the hormone melatonin. 

Melatonin is what is responsible for making us feel drowsy and regulating our sleep cycle. 

Melatonin is released naturally when the body senses it is dark outside or in your environment, and the use of blue-light emitting screens is throwing our body’s rhythm off and negatively impacting our sleep patterns and quality. 

This is the primary reason I think these screens are causing more harm than people realize. 

There are numerous side effects to not getting enough sleep that can significantly lower the health of an individual. 

In the short term, sleep loss can affect your physical performance by lowering your reaction time, balance, energy levels and endurance. 

Mentally, a lack of sleep is responsible for not being able to focus or concentrate and can increase the amount of time it takes to solve problems. 

But, these short-term issues are not the ones that make a lack of quality sleep comparable to the effect of cigarettes. 

If a person is unable to get consistent sleep and is consequently tired often, they are more likely to be depressed, develop diabetes or have a major cardiac event. 

In addition, people who sleep less typically have a harder time losing weight and become obese while also being more susceptible to disease as the immune system is weakened on days with less rest. 

One major difference between cigarettes and screen time is that doctors aren’t recom mending that you spend a lot of time on devices or looking at screens. 

But, I do know that screens are an integral part of our lives as students because we use computers, phones, projectors and TVs every single day. 

Everyone should know about the impacts that blue light can have on their sleep, which has an effect on their health. 

Some simple ways to reduce exposure to blue light and ensure you aren’t experiencing the negative effects are to make sure you limit the use of screens before you go to bed, use projectors if possible (since the blue light won’t be pointed directly at you this way), purchase blue light filtering glasses and, in general, try to limit your screen time overall.

The Atlanta Falcons opened their season on Sept. 11 with a home game against NFC South division rivals, the New Orleans Saints. This was the first real opportunity for Falcons fans to see the major roster changes made in the offseason. 

The Falcons, now led by former Heisman-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, got on the board first with a 54-yard field goal from Younghoe Koo to cap off the Falcons opening drive. The Saints were able to respond a few drives later after running the same play, a Taysom Hill quarterback run, twice in a row to score a touchdown and take the 7-3 lead. 

In the second quarter the Falcons responded with a touchdown of their own. Veteran running back and second-year Falcon, Cordarrelle Patterson, put the team on his back the whole drive and then was rewarded with a five-yard touchdown to cap it off. Koo helped extend the Atlanta lead by making two more field goals on the final two drives of the half, making the score 16-7.

The Atlanta defense, consisting of nine new starters, continued to hold strong in the third quarter as the only score from the Saints was a Wil Lutz field goal. The Falcons continued to move the ball on the Saints and the Falcons extended their lead further when Mariota, a running threat, ran into the endzone for a touchdown to give Atlanta a 23-10 lead going into the fourth quarter.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Atlanta was able to get on the board again with another Koo field goal, making their lead 16 points with 12:41 remaining in the game. From this point on the Saints began to rally. The Falcons offense was shut down and New Orleans quarterback Jameis Winston was able to bring the game back within two points after throwing two touchdowns to wide receiver Michael Thomas.

The Falcons tried to waste the remainder of the clock and were faced with a fourth and one with a minute left inside Saints territory. A first down would have won the game, but Falcons head coach Arthur Smith opted to play it safe and try to pin the Saints deep with a punt. Instead, the Falcons committed two penalties on consecutive plays and gave the Saints the ball on the New Orleans 20-yard line. The Saints marched into field goal range with ease and Lutz made a field goal with 19 seconds left that put the Saints up 27-26.

The Falcons were able to set Koo up for a 63-yard game winning field goal attempt after a string of good plays and Saint penalties, but the kick was blocked and the Falcons continued their theme of falling apart in the fourth quarter. The Falcons had more yards, more first downs and more time of possession than the Saints and had a 97% chance to win the game at one point during the contest, but were held back by turnovers which allowed New Orleans back into the game.

The Falcons showed promise and improvement from last season throughout the game even though they lost. Mariota played well and showed he can be a respectable starter for Atlanta, and wide receiver Drake London, the Falcons first round pick, was also impressive. The Falcons defense looked strong for three quarters as well. Overall, the Falcons looked decent while disappointing their fans yet again with another blown lead. If Atlanta can learn how to close out a game that they are winning, they may be a dark horse team to sneak into the playoffs. 

The Institute’s volleyball team is prepping to get back into action following a very successful season last year. Last season, the squad made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament before they lost to the top seeded Louisville Cardinals. The Jackets enter the season ranked ninth in the nation. 

Last season the Jackets tied their previous record of making it to the Elite Eight in postseason play. In the volleyball team’s 42 years of existence that was only their second time doing so. The Jackets were one of the best offensive teams of all time last season as they accumulated 1700 kills which ranked seventh all time for a team total throughout the duration of a season. 

The Jackets will look to reload after their successful season to try and repeat that success with a whole new group of players, as the Institute lost five players to graduation after last season. Four of the five players had significant roles for the team and all five provided for Tech at some point during the season. 

Offensively, the Jackets are returning key contributors senior Julia Bergmann and sophomore Bianca Bertolino. Bertolino was third on the team in kills with 286 throughout the season. Bergmann had 497 kills on the season which led the team last year as she earned AVCA First Team All-American honors. 

Defensively for the Jackets, graduate senior Breland Morrisette led the team in blocks last season with 112 and she will be returning this season to hopefully maintain or improve upon her role for the team. 

Paola Pimentel led the team in digs last season so her return will be cherished on the defensive side of the net for the Institute as well. 

Tech’s volleyball team also acquired five new players to replace the five that graduated. Three new freshmen and two new transfers have been added for the upcoming season. The freshmen are Anna Boezi from Dayton, Ohio, Mikalya White from Leesburg, Georgia, and Cara Bianco from Milton, Georgia. 

These freshmen were key contributors on their high school teams and will look to develop further as their collegiate career begins. The transfers are junior Tamara Otene from Illinois State, who was an All-American honorable mention and full time starter last season, and Tali Marmen, who was a standout player at UCF last season.

The Jackets will begin regular season play on Friday, Aug. 26 at Ole Miss in the Ole Miss Invitational. They will also have a match against Illinois at the invitational. 

The Jackets’ first home game will be the following weekend, Friday, Sep. 2 against Dayton for those who would like to watch the Jackets in person at O’Keefe gymnasium. ACC play for the Jackets will begin on Friday, Sep. 23 at home against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the regular season will conclude after 27 games, the last being held on Saturday, Nov. 26 in Atlanta against the Florida State Seminoles.

Tech’s Volleyball team is set and ready for another deep postseason run this year and will look to improve upon their Elite Eight exit from last season. The volleyball team at the Institute is one of the most successful teams on campus and they plan to make their fellow Jackets proud this season, and they would love to see students and faculty in attendance at their games.

The Atlanta Braves have almost reached the midway point of their season and have been able to maintain their hold onto second place in the NL East behind the Mets despite their many ups and downs.

The Braves season started slowly and they remained below .500 for most of their first 50 games in the season. They experienced some injuries highlighted by the late return of Ronald Acuna Jr. from an injury last season and the loss of relieving pitchers Tyler Matzek and Luke Jackson along with All-Star second baseman Ozzie Albies.

With a record of 23–27 the Braves needed to turn their season around to maintain any hopes of repeating as World Series Champions with the Mets beginning to run away in the division. Atlanta did so in June where they began the month with a 14 game winning streak during a stretch of their schedule against weaker opponents. During this streak the Braves swept the Rockies, Athletics, Pirates and Nationals and during this time they were able to claw themselves back in the race in the NL East.

As a team currently in contention for one of the three Wild Card spots in the National League, the Braves need to try and gain ground on the Mets to secure a spot in the playoffs rather than have to fight with the west coast powerhouses for a wild card spot. Atlanta will have their chance to do so as they still have 15 remaining games against the New York Mets. Currently their season record is tied 2–2.

Defensively the Braves are being led by starting pitchers Max Fried and Kyle Wright. Both have ERAs near or below 3.00 and they both have allowed the lowest averages and earned the most wins on the team. Starting pitchers Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson have struggled so far this season, and although they both have winnings records, neither of them are pitching as well as they have in the past. As a team the Atlanta pitching staff is just barely inside the top ten in terms of overall ERA, opponent’s batting average and wins. The fact the Braves have turned their season around without the help of two of their best starters playing well and with the Achilles injury to Mike Soroka should give encouragement to fans that the Braves may not have peaked just yet.

On offense the Braves are performing well as a unit and are near the top of the league in most categories. They are second in the MLB in home runs and lead the league in slugging percentage. Even with an above average offense the Braves are still struggling in some areas at the plate, the biggest being strikeouts. The Braves currently lead the league in strikeouts at the plate with almost 9.5 per game. Atlanta’s on-base percentage is about average right now and if they are able to fix the strikeout problem on offense, their offense could explode even further in the future.

The Braves current offense is being led by Dansby Swanson, Michael Harris II and Orlando Arcia who are all batting above or near .300 on the season. Acuna leads the team in stolen bases with 13 and in on-base perrcentages of .372, and Austin Riley is leading the team in home runs with 18 as of June 26.

The Braves’ first half of the season is coming to a close and although they have shown major improvement and gotten a lot of wins as of late, there is still a lot more room for improvement. If the Braves peak at the right part of the season again and can take care of the division rival New York Mets, Atlanta will have another opportunity to repeat and win the World Series again.

The Atlanta Hawks have just finished their regular season and are looking towards the postseason and offseason after what felt like a disappointing season following the Eastern Conference Finals appearance last season.  The Hawks hovered around the .500 mark in win percentage for most of the season. They have been very streaky, having two separate winning streaks of seven games and a five-game winning streak near the end of the season. The five-game winning streak gave the Hawks a 43-39 record and an opportunity to compete in a playoff play-in game as the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks suffered an unlucky stretch near the end of the season where they struggled to win in close scenarios. Teams Atlanta needed to lose to improve their seed never lost. Nevertheless, the Hawks still put themselves in a position to make a playoff run in the highly contested Eastern Conference.

The Hawks’ top performer this season was All-Star point guard Trae Young. Young led the entire NBA in total points and assists during the regular season, and he averaged 28.4 points and 9.7 assists per game. Young also earned his second All-Star selection in four seasons in the NBA. Young’s primary running mate, power forward John Collins, also had a successful season outside of injuries. Collins averaged the second most points and second most rebounds for the Hawks when he played. In the 54 games Collins appeared in, he averaged 16.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Hawks center Clint Capela led the team in rebounds with 11.2 per game along with his average of 10.1 points.

The Hawks as a team under coach Nate McMillan had a very good offense that ranked sixth in the NBA in points per game and were tied with the Utah Jazz for the most efficient offense. The defense on the other hand was toward the bottom of the league as the Hawks allowed the twenty-first most points and had the fifth worst defense in terms of efficiency. The great offense and poor defense led to a lot of high scoring games and inconsistency for Atlanta. Whenever Young and the other Hawks scorers were tuned in, the team was nearly unstoppable. When shots failed to fall, the defense was unable to pick up the slack and help them win many games.

Another factor to be considered regarding the inconsistency of the Hawks is their struggles with injuries. Collins alone missed 28 games for the Hawks this season and the team most likely dropped a few games because of issues with Covid-19. During a stretch from mid-December to mid-January, the Hawks amassed a 3-11 record and in most, if not all, of these games the Hawks roster was battling Covid. At one point during the season the team had twelve players on the roster with Covid at one time. Since the team’s struggles at the turn of the calendar year, the Hawks have won 27 games and only lost 14.

The Hawks suffered a regular season that left a lot to be desired, but with some luck this is just a down year with the team set to be more consistent and play better next year like they did at the end of the season. The Hawks had to win two play-in games in a row, the first this past Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets and the second on Friday, April 15 against the Cavaliers, to be the eight seed in the east. Their season would end with a loss in either of those two games or continue into the playoffs with a seven game series against the Miami Heat in the first round where they will look to make a run.

The Institute’s No. 22 ranked baseball team was back in action this past weekend with an ACC series on the road against the No. 3 ranked Virginia Cavaliers.

In game one of the series, the Jackets jumped into the lead quickly in the top of the first inning when senior outfielder Colin Hall poked a single in front of the center fielder and earned an RBI to give the Jackets a one run lead. A Cavalier error helped the Jackets secure another run. Virginia responded by scoring a run of their own, but the Jackets kept their foot on the gas. Sophomore infielder Tres Gonzalez and sophomore catcher Kevin Parada both drove in runs in the second inning to extend the Tech lead. Virginia again scored a run making the score 4–2 Jackets. 

Virginia scored another run in the third, but the Jackets responded in the fourth when Parada drilled a two-run home run, putting the Jackets ahead 6–3. From here, Jacket pitchers took over, with sophomore Zach Maxwell tossing four scoreless innings. After allowing a single run in the fifth inning, Tech held the Cavaliers scoreless and were able to complete the upset in game one of the series, 6–4. 

Game two saw the Jackets get out to a hot start again, but the pitching was not able to slow the Cavaliers down. The Jackets scored two runs in the first inning but gave up four runs in the second. Sophomore infielder Andrew Jenkins hit a solo home run to make the game 4-3 in the top of the third but the Cavaliers responded in the bottom of the inning. Jenkins would hit another home run to bring the Jackets within striking distance in the eighth inning but the bats of Virginia would be too much to handle. The Jackets gave up seven runs in the sixth inning and their four run comeback in the eighth and ninth innings would only be enough to cut the deficit in half. The final score found Virginia on top 13–9.

With the series tied 1–1 the Jackets again started off the rubber match strong. Jenkins hit another home run and Tech scored three runs in the first inning. Virginia then tied the game in the second inning by scoring three runs of their own. Tech regained the lead after a sacrifice fly by sophomore infielder Drew Compton but the wheels began to fall off afterward. Virginia responded with 10 runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth inning. The Jackets scored some at the end of the game but the damage was done. Their five total runs in innings six through eight were not enough to make a significant divot in the Virginia lead, losing 18-9.

On Tuesday, April 3 the Jackets began a five-game homestand by taking on USC Upstate. Tech dominated early and scored eight runs in the first inning to take an 8–1 lead. The team pitched via committee with nine different Jackets taking the mound in the contest. The pitchers allowed only nine hits and four runs in the blowout game. Tech’s offense remained hot during the matchup, eventually scoring a total of 27 runs. Sophomore outfielder Jack Deleo led the way for the Jackets by going 5 for 6 with a triple and a homerun while scoring four runs and totaling five RBIs for the game. 

The Jackets will be back in action again April 8–10 at home when they take on Florida State in another important ACC matchup. The Jackets are entering a two week stretch where they will not have to play any teams ranked higher than them and will need to capitalize on their opportunities to keep their hopes of high postseason ranking alive.

Tech Baseball was back in action last week after their series win against Georgia. The Jackets continued their season with a single game at Mercer on Tuesday, March 8 and then a weekend home series against the Virginia Tech Hokies from Friday, March 11 through Sunday, March 13. 

Against the Bears, Tech got out to a hot start when Chandler Simpson drove in the Jackets’ first run of the game in the third inning with a sacrifice fly. In the fifth inning, Kevin Parada scored another run for the Jackets when he crushed a ball to center field that hit the speaker system in the outfield to make the game 2–0. 

Mercer countered Tech in the bottom of the fifth inning by scoring two runs of their own to tie the game going into the sixth inning. Tech was able to respond with another solo home run, this time by Drew Compton, who sent a no-doubter over the right field wall to bring the score to 3–2 in favor of the Jackets. 

Over the course of the next two innings, Mercer was able to take the lead, leaving the Jackets in a dire situation, down 4–3 in the top of the ninth inning. Collin Hall provided an answer for the Jackets when he hit the third Tech home run of the day to knot the game back at four apiece to allow the Jackets a chance at extra innings. 

Hopes of another Tech opportunity to take the plate were soiled though, when the Bears were able to walk off the game with an RBI single and upset the No. 13 Jackets 5–4.

Scoring in the first of three matchups with Virginia Tech began quickly with a tie ball game at 1–1 after the first inning when Compton hit an RBI single to get the ball rolling for the Jackets. Virginia Tech had an impressive top of the sixth when they scored four runs and took a 5–1 lead. 

The Jackets fought back in the bottom of the inning when sophomore Tim Borden II was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score a run, followed by a two-run double by sophomore Steven Reid to bring the score to 5–4. The Jackets then tied the game at five when Borden stole home on a wild pitch. 

In the eighth inning, Reid hit an RBI single to take a one run lead and Tech was able to load the bases during a two out rally. The Jackets got another run walked in for the 7-5 lead going into the ninth inning. The Hokies took advantage of their final frame and scored three runs to retake the lead, leaving the Institute down a run in the bottom of the ninth.

The Jackets managed to load the bases yet again and were able to walk in another run to tie the game 8–8. With the bases loaded and only one out in the tie game, John Anderson came to the plate and smoked a pitch off the outfield wall to walk off the Jackets in the bottom of the ninth inning, 9–8. 

Inclement weather pushed Saturday’s game back to Sunday for a doubleheader to complete the series against Virginia Tech. In the first game the Jackets dominated the Hokies for most of the contest. 

The Jackets began the game down 1–0 but scored six runs in the second inning to give them the cushion needed for the rest of the game. The Hokies managed to string together a few runs before Tech inserted freshman reliever Cody Carwile. Carwile pitched four innings and held the Hokies scoreless, only allowing a single hit while the Jackets offense extended the lead to 8–4 after a solo home run by Kevin Parada and an RBI double from Compton in the sixth inning. 

The Jacket offense kept pouring it on in the seventh and eighth innings with four more runs and the Hokies could not keep pace. Junior Sam Crawford allowed only two runs in the last three innings to finish the game for the Jackets, resulting in a 12–6 victory in game two of the series. 

On the back end of the doubleheader, Tech began the game slow and found themselves down by a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. From there, Tech was able to score two runs from two RBI singles by Borden and senior Jack Rubenstein to take a 2–1 lead. Andrew Jenkins extended the Tech lead with a solo homerun in the fifth inning. In the sixth, a Virginia Tech error allowed the Jackets to score two runs through an awkward sequence of events on the base path, with Parada sacrificing himself at second to score another run. 

Virginia Tech managed to score two in the seventh inning and a run apiece in the next two innings to tie the game at 5–5. The Jackets managed to get two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to score, resulting in an extra-innings game.

On March 3 and 5, the Tech men’s basketball team wrapped up the regular season with their final two games of the regular season against Clemson and Boston College. The Jackets began their week on March 3 in Clemson, S.C. to take on the Tigers. Both teams went back and forth for the majority of the first half as neither team could keep or expand the lead. The Jackets were able to change this when freshman guard Miles Kelly scored a putback layup with 18 seconds remaining in the half to stretch the Tech lead to six points. Kelly almost extended the lead further with a floater that went in as the clock expired, but the shot was not released before the buzzer, leaving the Jackets ahead 33-27 at the half. 

In the second half, Tech was able to increase their margin even further, eventually leading by 13 points. The Jackets offense distributed points across the board but senior Michael Devoe led the team in scoring during this stretch, ending the game with 15 points. With just over thirteen minutes remaining, Clemson began to catch their stride and began to chip away at the Jacket lead. The Tigers eventually surpassed the Jackets with just over three minutes to play behind the scoring of Clemson’s David Collins, who finished the game with 19 points. From that point on the Jackets were never able to regain the lead and they fell short on their game tying attempt as the clock expired, leaving the final score 68-65.

Boston College visited McCamish Pavilion for Tech’s home finale and senior day game. The game began similarly to the Clemson game with a closely contested scoring battle and neither team gaining momentum. The tides turned again in Tech’s favor, this time with the Jackets entering the half with a ten point lead due to their solid 3-point shooting. At the start of the second half, Tech further extended their lead to 15 points before Boston College began to pick up steam. The Eagles went on a 12 point scoring run with around 11 minutes left to play, shrinking Tech’s lead to three points. 

From there, it was close through the end of the half. At the end of regulation the Jackets defense was able to stifle the Boston College offense, sending the game into overtime with the score knotted at 70 points apiece. 

Tech scored the first bucket of the extra period when Jordan Usher grabbed a rebound, going coast to coast before dumping a perfect pass into Devoe for the layup. Usher, who finished the game with 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists, led the charge for the Jackets, scoring six more points in overtime to secure the at home victory on senior night.

The Jackets will almost definitely not be a part of the NCAA postseason after losing to Louisville in their first round ACC Tournament game on March 8. The Jackets had not been projected to make the tournament before the loss, and failing to advance in the conference tournament should spell the end of the season for Tech men’s hoops.