The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News
The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News
The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News
Instances of betting within baseball are not a foreign concept to the highest level of the sport, Major League Baseball (MLB). Past examples include the 1986 Pete Rose scandal, in which Rose was found to have gambled on MLB games during his time as a manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Recently, two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians have also been indicted for allegedly rigging bets on MLB games. The pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis L. Ortiz, were said to have been manipulating wagers on specific pitches, which involved betting on the speed and type of pitch thrown by the pitcher. The two could face up to 65 years in prison for multiple charges, including money laundering and influencing sporting contests by bribery. Due to the extensive history of sports betting within the league and the severe consequences that follow, many are surprised that players continue to be involved in sports betting in the present day.

Cartoon: Bank-ball

Grace Stiefel, Staff Writer
November 11, 2025
Cartoon: The political chessboard

Cartoon: The political chessboard

Emilia Bateman, ScotCenter Editor
November 9, 2025
In a world that never stops pushing us to do more, it’s easy to feel like resting is failing. The pressure to constantly produce, even during sleep, seeps into every corner of our lives. Not being productive has been shown to negatively affect sleep, and the idea that work is always more important makes rest feel even worse. It’s like the world wants us to maximize productivity at all costs, but where do we draw the line between our health and our output?

Cartoon: Work over rest

Emilia Bateman, ScotCenter Editor
November 3, 2025
The Louvre heist that occurred on Oct. 19 has taken the internet by storm. Rather than viewing it as a national betrayal, many online users have cast the thieves as modern-day “heroes.” The culprits reportedly left with eight of France’s crown jewels worth an estimated $102 million, which they escaped with in broad daylight. Social media has since turned the crime into a spectacle, with skits, memes, and satire making light of the situation. The public’s fascination seems to mirror reactions to Mathias Rust, the German teenager who landed his plane in Moscow’s Red Square during the Cold War. The audacity of the crime left the public in awe rather than outrage, which is similar to how people are viewing the Louvre heist. Public opinion can heavily influence how crimes are handled in court, and it remains to be seen how this fascination will shape the fate of the Louvre thieves.

Cartoon: Crowning around

Caitlin Stehr, Scot Scoop Editor
October 29, 2025
This cartoon explores how policies in the United States continue to affect women and ethnic minorities, exposing deep-rooted inequalities. Economic measures, such as minimum wage laws and labor protections, have offered some progress, yet significant wage gaps remain. Especially for women of color, who earn less than both white men and white women. The work also alludes to broader systemic disparities, including maternal health outcomes and restrictions on civic participation shaped by voting legislation.

Cartoon: Interrupted liberty

Jade Wu, Staff Writer
October 28, 2025
Political polarization has become an increasingly common issue in the United States in recent years. The divide between the Republican and Democratic parties has caused many to formulate opinions on others simply based on which party the individual associates with. Increased animosity towards one another leads to a significant decrease in empathy, appreciation of one another’s views, and understanding of the other side. This failure to empathize with the other side often leads to rifts forming in communities and families that include different political beliefs. It’s imperative that society moves away from hostile debate and instead focuses on understanding the roots of a person’s beliefs and seeing the world from their perspective.

Cartoon: Separated citizens

Grace Stiefel, Staff Writer
October 28, 2025
Recently, there has been an influx of global fans, specifically those who like K-pop, reporting idols to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This epidemic of reporting started with popular K-pop idol Choi Soobin from Tomorrow by Together (TXT) being reported by a fan due to a fan war that the group was embroiled in. These types of fans can be described as toxic and create a toxic fandom. According to Verywell Mind, a toxic fandom identifies popular culture fans who exhibit behaviors and take part in actions that are negative and harmful. Toxic fandom behaviors can range from bullying to harassment of the fandom that they are in. Typically, these behaviors tend to divert incoming fans from being one, and the K-pop industry is notorious for that. According to ResearchGate, many fan wars occur on social media platforms as fans become invested in the idols' personal lives. For example, if a member of a group does one thing that looks like they are copying a member from a separate group, that member might get hate that could possibly escalate into psychological warfare. Another behavior toxic fans may exhibit is racism. According to ScienceDirect, during the 19th century, racial distinctions were becoming popular and were especially targeted towards Black people on the West Coast. Korea latched on to these ideas and, inspired by Confucian ideals of social hierarchies, adopted them, and they persisted even into the 21st century. The same ideals can be seen in the K-pop industry, as many idols have been seen partaking in racist acts, such as blackface, in which a person uses makeup to imitate and mock the appearance and stereotypes of Black people, mockery, and saying derogatory words that aim to poke fun at another race. Many K-pop fans tend to be around 18 to 24 years old, which is the age of many impressionable teenagers. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), teens are very keen on peer influence, and the reward system within that teen becomes very sensitive. Due to this, once they see an idol acting a certain way, they might follow suit. However, this also means that once they act in a harmful way, many fans may come to their defense and start exhibiting the same behaviors. Since the idols won't get backlash for their actions, each party will assume it is okay to be that way. This has lasting consequences for the fandom of that group, especially fans of those races. While KATSEYE is a global group rather than a K-pop one, many of their fans like K-pop themselves, as the company KATSEYE is under, Big Hit Music, fosters many K-pop groups. However, since it is a multiracial group, the members can be subject to racism, and in this case, Lara Raj. Some say that the tip was filed because of a fan war, with the fan being against KATSEYE in favor of another group. However, there is racism rampant within the tip, as the reporter labels Raj as an "illegal alien." Unless this behavior is seriously mitigated and measures are taken to prevent such immature and careless acts that seriously harm these idols, not just idols, but artists will also be targeted further and reported to ICE.

Cartoon: The ICE abuse

Ziya Myneni, Scot Scoop Editor
October 26, 2025
Every scroll and tap on social media has a high chance of seeing a report of a death or tragedy, whether of a celebrity, a victim of violence, or any ordinary person. Constant exposure to violent content has caused many individuals to become increasingly desensitized to tragedy, viewing loss and death as just another disappointing headline. This numbness is reinforced by entertainment, where death and violence are often treated casually in movies, television, and video games. As a result, empathy towards others is at risk, and the value and individuality of human life become easier to overlook. There needs to be a larger focus on the damage that social media can cause its users, specifically the desensitization created by the overconsumption of media involving violence and death.

Cartoon: Tragedy trope

Grace Stiefel, Staff Writer
October 14, 2025
With the rise of social media, the number of people engaging in performative altruism has reached an all-time high. This occurs when someone engages in charitable acts or good deeds to gain attention, popularity, or social capital, rather than genuine pure goodwill. Many influencers, for example, showcase their “good deeds” online as a way to boost engagement and enhance their public image. One of the most common video formats for this kind of content typically begins with an influencer walking into a restaurant and asking to purchase a large amount of food. The employees often hesitate until the influencer explains that the food is “for the homeless,” at which point the influencer expects or receives the food for free, and they film themselves afterwards handing out the food to people in need. While these videos are meant to be heartwarming, they reduce acts of kindness to content for views, likes, shares, and follows, exploiting people's hardships for entertainment.

Cartoon: Performative altruism

Chloe Chu, Scot Scoop Editor
October 4, 2025
The recent shooting at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan brings to light the pre-existing issue of untreated mental health disorders in war veterans. The suspected gunman, Thomas Jacob Sanford, was a 40-year-old Iraq War Marine veteran who previously struggled with PTSD and drug addiction following his service. Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for war veterans such as Sanford to act in extreme ways, often including suicide and violent outbursts. Though many debate the real reasons behind Sanford’s actions, such as religion or political outlook, the fact remains that mental health in war veterans goes widely unnoticed. To help prevent extreme acts committed by war veterans, it is crucial that we break the stigma surrounding mental health care and advocate for more accessible post-service mental health treatment programs.

Cartoon: Ticking scars

Grace Stiefel, Staff Writer
September 30, 2025
This cartoon responds to the rapid expansion of for-profit immigration detention under President Donald Trump. In Southern California, companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group have opened facilities without permits, emboldened by Trump’s aggressive ICE buildup and federal contracts. According to a Citizens for Ethics investigation, Trump’s policies serve to increase profits for companies that donated to his campaign, specifically CoreCivic and GEO Group, and their subsidiaries and executives, who donated around $2.8 million to his 2024 presidential campaign. Moreover, these private detention centers, often backed by major investors like investment firm BlackRock, have been repeatedly criticized for abuse, legal violations, and exploiting detainees as cheap labor. The cartoon depicts Trump as a pig in an ICE mask defecating money into a dumpster labeled with these corporations, while detainees are reduced to profit tags like "illegal," “quota," and “$150/day."

Cartoon: Dirty profit

Staff Cartoonist
September 23, 2025
The First Amendment, written during the foundational beginnings of the United States, protects freedom of speech and outlines the government’s lack of authority to prohibit speech. However, many are concerned today about several questionable incidents related to the First Amendment. One particular incident sparked outrage across the country when Jimmy Kimmel, a late-night show host, had his show indefinitely pulled after a remark regarding Charlie Kirk’s shooter. Many believe that pulling Kimmel’s show violated his freedom of speech and that he only faced these consequences by criticizing the president and his rights. Although Kimmel’s show is set to return to the air, freedom of speech and expression continues to be violated in other situations. The government must take action to uphold and reinforce the First Amendment.

Cartoon: Censored comedy

Grace Stiefel, Staff Writer
September 23, 2025
Load More Stories