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
After most signup prompts comes a terms and conditions page–one that most people don’t bother to read through. According to Pew Research Center, only 9% of people say they always read the terms and conditions clauses. By skipping over terms and conditions entirely, people miss important clauses about surveillance or data use, meaning they don’t realize they have agreed to their private data being sold until after they face issues because of it. Reading clauses, or at the very least, skimming them, is important to help keep data from being sold to companies that shouldn’t have it.

Cartoon: Terms and conditions

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
May 31, 2025
Hustle culture promotes the idea that constant work and productivity are favorable compared to a balanced lifestyle that includes time to rest. People who succumb to this idea believe that success is achieved through long hours of work and relentless effort. However, this culture often does more harm than good. According to NPR and ResearchGate, work schedules that align with hustle culture (late nights and seemingly endless work) are linked to worsening health and depression. It is important to realize that rest can be just as productive as working, and promoting a culture that tries to eliminate one completely is dangerous.

Cartoon: Sleep sold separately

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
May 31, 2025
Weight loss drugs like Ozempic are becoming increasingly popular and accessible to the general population. According to Pew Research Center, 12% of people familiar with these types of drugs say they are good options for people who want to lose weight but don’t have a weight-related health condition. The widespread usage of weight loss drugs by people who don’t need them adds to an already problematic weight-focused view of health in society. Health is the overall goal, and it should be determined using metrics like a balanced diet and a good relationship with exercise rather than a singular number. These types of drugs should not be accessible to people who do not have a health reason to merit their use.

Cartoon: Fork the diet

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
April 29, 2025
From a lack of location precision to delays in forecasting, weather apps can seem inaccurate, though they are based solely on data. Users can be confused and misled by the ever-changing and often delayed predictions. There is no way for weather software to know if its predictions are accurate if there is no way to tell it otherwise. Weather forecasting would benefit from user feedback because it would then have a way to tell whether the forecast is accurate or not.

Cartoon: Mist-stake

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
April 18, 2025
As spring blooms, Canada geese flock to the streets, halting drivers and sometimes resulting in accidents. The often slow-moving birds annoy drivers, who must yield to them by law. Though geese and other wildlife can be a slowdown, it is important to respect wildlife and let them be in their habitats. Geese serve as a good reminder that drivers should be more aware of their surroundings in general, not just to avoid the birds.

Cartoon: Geese galore

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
April 5, 2025
People are often expected to respond to emails and calls while on vacation leave from work, which ultimately results in more stress and defeats the purpose of the vacation in the first place. In other countries, however, there are laws that give employees the right to ignore work communication while on leave. The expectation to be responsive while on vacation harms everyone because an inability to fully relax means that the quality of work produced will not be as good. The U.S. should implement similar laws allowing employees to make the most of their time off in order to improve employees’ quality of life and quality of work.

Cartoon: Ping prison

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
March 31, 2025
The Tesla Cybertruck, which launched in 2019, is starting to make its rounds in local areas. The extremely modern design has gained traction with some groups, but opposers often have stronger opinions about the car’s angular build, causing them to commonly refer to it as a “trash can.” The car sacrifices a lot of safety features for a design that doesn’t pay off. For example, the rearview mirror doesn’t work unless the bed cover is open. Instead, the truck relies on a camera for vision, which can cause major problems if it malfunctions. Admiration of the truck for its price tag rather than its features should not be happening because it contributes to an ongoing issue of money obsession in our society.

Cartoon: Can confusion

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
March 27, 2025
Egg prices have continued to stay high, having doubled since January 2024. Distribution companies blame the price increase on the Avian Flu, but people have started to become suspicious, especially as these middleman companies benefit greatly from the surcharges. These companies should be more tightly managed in order to prevent similar situations in which the companies deliberately keep prices higher to make themselves more money while harming consumers throughout the country.

Cartoon: Golden eggs

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
March 26, 2025
Subscription services like Netflix, Disney, and Spotify are on the rise, but come with their drawbacks. These companies are hungry for users’ money, often lacking price transparency. Subscriptions are also notoriously difficult to cancel, eventually making users give up and continue to pay for the subscription, even if they don’t want it anymore. These services are an example of companies having far too much power to manipulate their consumers. Rules like the FTC’s “Click-to-Cancel” rule, which was finalized in late 2024, should be more widely implemented because they force subscription companies to simplify the cancellation process.

Cartoon: Subscription overload

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
March 24, 2025
After the TikTok ban was revoked, users of the app began to take note of the fact that some topics, specifically ones that went against President Donald Trump’s ideals, were censored. So, they created a code hashtag: cute winter boots. under this hashtag, people began to post their videos on topics that would have otherwise been censored, allowing the information to reach a wider audience. As much as the government wants to limit free speech, people will always find a way to express their opinions, even if it means they have to go out of their way to do so. Either way, the government, under the Constitution, does not have the right to censor speech against it, and the fact that people are recognizing this and making it known is a step in the right direction.

Cartoon: Stomping grounds

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
February 11, 2025
Artificial intelligence yields varying results to users, often contradicting itself. It often reports information that is just plain wrong, which causes a ripple effect within the population: someone becomes misinformed, shares the misinformation and causes others to also believe the untrue information. AI is not a replacement for true research. It has its purposes, but quality information is not one of them. With the growing number of people using AI will come an even larger number of people who are misinformed because the “facts” are being shared with wider audiences. Artificial intelligence programs should, at the very least, provide more disclaimers if it is not able to adequately fact check an answer to a question the user has asked in order to prevent the rapid spread of misinformation.

Cartoon: Glitch genius

Julia Cline, Staff Writer
February 5, 2025
It’s common for students to feel immense pressure when preparing for the SAT. The stress of the weight that the test carries for college admissions combined with the high expression of parents creates axiety. Students struggle to balance SAT prep, extracurricular activities, school work, and personal life. The anxiety the prep causes can lead to burn out, sleeplesss nights, and the constant cycle of self doubt as the test day looms closer.

Cartoon: SAT study struggles

Amber Chow, Staff Writer
February 2, 2025
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