Cardinal Columns (January 2016)

COLUMNS

School Fights

J A N U A RY 2 0 1 6

When in Doubt Hug it Out P.13

Also Inside:

Hugs For a cure P.19 A Hug a Day Keeps the stress away P.11 You May Now Hug the bride p.29 Hugs not drugs p.21

Creating the Cover Inspiration

Setting the Scene

After Regan’s interview with Officer Meilahn, there was one quote we had from her that took us all back and made us fall in love with the idea of designing everything around the thought of a boxing ring.

After completely designing the front cover, we didn’t like how our model was so colorful, so she came back like a trooper and we re-did the shoot, but this time with a more shadow effect.

Front cover created by:

Madison Supple

Happy Holidays!

Back cover created by: Anna Leasa 1

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C ardinal Columns

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YEAR IN REVIEW p3-4 AROUND FONDY p3-7 D.I.Y. OR BUY p8 REVIEWS p9-10 SCHOOL STRESS p11-12 SELF HARM p12 FIGHTING AT FONDY p13-18 BEATING CANCER p19-20 DRUG USE p21-25 ADHD p26 ELECTION 2016 p27-28 TEEN MARRIAGE & ENGAGEMENT p29-30

Fond du Lac High School 801 Campus Drive Fond du Lac, WI 54935 920-929-2740

www.cardinalcolumns.org

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief Madison Supple Kay Sacasa

Art Directors Zach Renderman Anna Leasa

Internet Director Evan McEssey

Desk Editors Robert Brown Regan Le Doux Morgan Tollard

Staff Writers

Gaby Chapin Jordan Kavage Tanner Nelson Hunter Anderson Carley Higgins Alyssa Lawrence Andres Christian Noah Burdett

Advisor

Matthew Smith

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Strings Under The Sun An Update on The World Of Orchestra

Evan McEssey // Internet Director

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his spring break the orchestra students will have the chance to take a trip to Hawaii for a small tour. The group will be visiting the historic Pearl Harbor and will have the opportunity to perform for veterans. They will also be performing at Honolulu University.

“This will be a once-in-a-lifetime tour for a lot of the orchestra students,” said orchestra instructor Kimberly Henning.

This year the High school held their annual “Night of Silence” in the PAC. The Night of Silence is a yearly concert that the orchestra and choir come together and perform Christmas songs. It is called the

Night of Silence because the audience is asked not to clap until the very end of the show.

“I believe Night of Silence went phenomenal this year,” symphonic orchestra viola player Makala Nitkowski, said.

“Every year seems to be better than the last, and every performer hit it out of the park this year.”

“I believe Night of Silence went phenomenal this year.”

Timeline by: Editor - In - Chief // Madison Supple Staff Writer // Alyssa Lawrence January: Terrorist Attack in Paris (7)

March: Boston Marathon trial begins (4)

May: NFL finds Tom Brady guilty in deflategate (6)

Tension rose between Israel and Hezbollah (18)

New religious freedom laws cause controversy (26)

Boston Marathon Bombing jury sentences Tsarnaev to death (15)

February: Nigeria postpones election (6) Denmark has worst terrorist attack in 30 years (14) The Russian opposition leader was assassinated (27)

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2015

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April: Jury finds Tsarnaev guilty in first phase of Boston Marathon Bombing trial (8) Death in Boltimore causes riots (12)

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Aaron Hernandez found guilty of murder (18)

June: BlackHawks win the 6th Stanley Cup (16) Supreme Court rules for same sex marriage (26)

P7 Club TAkes Charge Introduction On The P7 Club Morgan Tollard // Desk Editor

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t Fondy High we offer clubs that show many different interests for students, they create a fun and comforting environment for each individual.

The P7 Club is a Christian group that meets once a week in Mrs. Aleckson’s room 1425.

“P7 concentrates on 7 “Ps”. 1). Preview: What it will be about? 2.) Praise: This would be an activity of some sort.

3.) Parable: The lesson or moral of the story. 4.) Present: Explain it, 5.) Pray, 6.) Practice: Share how you are going to practice this new lesson, 7.)Plus: What they take home from it all,” said advisor Kelsey Aleckson.

Every Thursday since second semester of last year, the group meets up to discuss a variety of topics and eat some breakfast.

“Mostly, the students use bible verses / stories for the lesson,” said

“...the students use bible verses / stories for the lesson”

Aleckson.

Aleckson has been advising the group for almost a year. “[I’ve been advising] since second semester last year. One of my students asked me to house the club, and of course I said yes.”

Though the group only meets only once a week a bond is definitely created. “[The group’s] favorite memory [was] IGNITE Rallies that they attend together on weekends throughout the year,” said Aleckson.

Review

July: South Carolina removes Confederate flag (10)

September: Judge reverses Tom Brady’s suspension (3)

Four Marines killed in Recruiting Center shooting (16)

House votes to cut planned parenthood funding (18)

August: First female army rangers make history (21)

November: Royals win their first World Series in 30 years (1) Shooting in Paris (13) Three killed at Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs (27)

October: Obama announces reversal on U.S troops in Afghanistan (15)

December: 14 killed in San Bernardino Social services center shooting (2)

U.S. sends troops to fight ISIS in Syria (30)

All military combat roles are now open for women (3)

Events Information Courtesy of Infoplease.com CARDINAL COLUMNS.ORG

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Conference Champions Football Season 2015

Carley Higgins // Staff Writer

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ith the Fondy Football team finishing their 2015 season, they have once again shown how far the team has come in the past couple of years. This season the team showed many skills that they had and many accomplishments by winning the conference championship. This is the first time this happened since 2002.

As for the team, they shared an overall good outlook of the season.

“There was a lot of good things we did good this year,” senior Gage Zahradnik said “But we still have things to work on for next year.”

The players are not the only ones that

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view the season in this way.

“Last year, at the end of the season, we finished ten to two,” said coach Mike Gnewuch. “We kinda stated as a team we wanted to take the next steps, as a program, that was winning the conference championship and hopefully making it deeper into the playoffs.”

With every season there always come skills that need to be worked on.

This year the coach and team players both agreed that there are certain skills that they need to work on.

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on.

“We completely changed our identity on defense,” said Gnewuch. “We went from a threefour defense to a four-three defense, and I think the guys did a great job grasping that concept.”

Senior Justin Maratik said that the whole team had came together as a family as the season had gone

These players didn’t just start off in high school. There is always a background on where they got some of these skills. Some players have started off playing flag football and some of them started off playing catch in the backyard. ”When I was really young I know

my dad used to play catch with me in the backyard I think that’s how it all started,” says Maratik.

Zahradnik started playing football in seventh grade at Theisen Middle School.

Many of them had got advice that they followed to continue in football.

Senior Ryan Collien had been told to catch the ball while other players like Maratik were told to keep working hard and you will always have your ups and downs; it’s a roller coaster, but to just stay strong.

As the season comes to the end some of the players will be entering college and playing football and some will not be. Junior Jason Schneider will not be playing football in college while other players like Zahradnik will be who already has colleges looking at him.

“We completely changed our identity on defense.”

- Mike Gnewuch

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: JACOB WALGENBACH, MIKE GNEWUCH, JUSTIN MARATIK, GAGE ZAHRADNIK, PEYTON NETT, JACK COLE, ZACH WALLJASPER. PHOTO CREDIT// KAY SACASA, CARLEY HIGGINS

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Cardinal Columns Holiday Party s, e i t r a ing p v a h to e t v e o g l I we e s r. u e a h t e bec tog d o o eat f tie Supple - Mat

ty r a p s tma s i r r. h e h C t e s g i to Th l l a s n tu a i h t g s u i r o r b Ch s e r d - An

I definitely feel like I won the Christmas p arty because I go t the blanket.

- Regan Le D oux 7

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Y U rB

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Create your own EOS DIY Andres Christian // Staff Writer

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IY, also known as, Do It Yourself projects have become severely popular over the years. Whether it is home decor, accessories, or party ideas, people have been looking towards DIY projects for so many reasons.

Some to do with the fact that most of the projects are inexpensive and “cute” in variations. Many of the younger ages, such as teenagers and young adults, look towards DIY projects for convenience purposes, for it to be, boredom, new style, or if an individual is a person who is entering college and wants to make their dorm more “homey”. Some popular DIYs that have a personal connection are earrings, candles, ornaments, other jewelry or even cosplay costumes, which in some can turn out very interesting.

One of the most popular projcets, has to be the DIY of the EOS lip balm. EOS in itself is an amazing lip balm brand and is real soothing. But they can get fairly expensive when you purchase them throughout the year. Just one EOS container costs about $2.96 at an average supermart, like Walmart. If an individual were to purchase one

new EOS lip balm for a whole year, the total cost would come out to be $29.52.

Using a common DIY substitute, you could drastically cut the cost by using only a few ingredients, some of which you should have lying around the house. The supplies that you will need to complete this EOS DIY are as follows: an old or used eos container, two teaspoons of beeswax, five teaspoons of olive oil, a lipstick of your choice and tape. A flavoring is an option if you would like to add some tang to that EOS lip balm. This can be achieved with a powdered drink packet, Kool Aid for example. If you were to buy all of these ingredients new, from your local store, the total would come out to be $17.63. That total is without the flavoring.

With about one pound of beeswax and needing of only two teaspoons for your project, and seventeen ounces of olive oil whilst only needing five teaspoons, a little slit of your lipstick of choice and, of course, some tape, which is hopefully around your house somewhere. Making one DIY lip balm will cost you $0.99. Less than

a dollar for just one! In addition, because of the amount of supplies purchased, you will make a total of fifteen DIY EOS lip balms. Which also means that you will have three extra EOS makings than if you were to buy a new EOS lip balm every month from the store.

The total cost of buying new EOS lip balms for each month for one year, and the total cost to make an EOS by DIY, the total savings that you will have are $14.69 from doing DIY other than buying new.

Other Popular DIYs 1. DIY Facial 2. DIY Makeup Methods 3. DIY Room Decor 4. DIY Cosplay 5. DIY Ornaments

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Zach Renderman // Art Director

What A Time To Be Alive - Drake and Future

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rake, following his solo effort from earlier this year, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, has collaborated with fellow rapper Future to create What A Time To Be Alive, a mixtape that has surpassed nearly every other rap album that has been released this year. Reportedly created in less than a week, Drake and Future have a clear ability to work as a unit to create spectacular content. While other rappers may struggle to share a spotlight, both Drake and Future share equal time within the mixtape itself. This is evident on tracks such as “Big Rings”, “Digital Dash”, and one of the high points of the mixtape, “Change Locations”. The two rappers included one song each that shows their solo abilities, with “Jersey” from Future and “30 for 30” from Drake. Drake has managed to surpass the success shown on his previous album, with assistance from Future, in What A Time To Be Alive, and is sure to produce even more quality content as the years go by. Other rappers throughout the industry should strive to meet the high standards set by Drake and Future with this mixtape.

Immortalized - Disturbed

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n the end of a hiatus that has lasted almost five years, Disturbed returns with Immortalized, a thunderous album complete with everything that both fans of Disturbed and casual rock listeners typically look for in an album. David Draiman’s vocal power has not lost a step during the hiatus, and with his powerful screams and roars, he continues to make each song instantly recognizable as a Disturbed song. With a variety of elements of music on the album unseen before, Disturbed moves away from their former identity as a band. There are, of course, the songs with the old Disturbed sound that remain on the album, such as lead single “The Vengeful One”, but the band does not limit themselves to their roots. “Save Our Last Goodbye” is structured as a final call to a dying friend, “The Light” brings more synthesized and clean sounds, and “The Sound of Silence” shows the band’s exceptional skill in slower music. Immortalized is the perfect comeback for Disturbed, showing everything that the band is fully capable of and exciting both fans and new listeners for the exciting things coming from the band.

Drones - Muse

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ith the most recent attempt to step outside their of boundaries, Muse remains stuck in a familiar musical standstill. While the concept album Drones does contain some departures from the stereotypical Muse song, the majority of the album is still comprised of the band attempting to be profound while creating radio friendly songs with the same typical theme: the government is oppressing us and we need to do something to stop it.

In fact, that’s basically entire theme of this album. While the album’s popular single “Mercy” is extremely catchy, it is nowhere near the quality of some of the lesser known songs from the album. Songs like “Reapers” and “The Handler” showcase the aspects of Muse that appeal to more than just charts: talented guitar work and the sounds that Muse has been commended for.

Unfortunately for Muse, the dramatic synthpop sound that is shown in their more mainstream material brings Drones down as an album, and prevents it from repeating their past success and becoming another classic Muse album.

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And Cue The Fangirl/boy Screams 5 of the Most Anticipated Book Releases of 2016 Gaby Chapin // Staff Writer Glass Sword (Red Queen #2)

By: Victoria Aveyard Release: February 9th Mara Borrow’s blood is Red, but she has a Silver ability. The royal courts want to control her but call her a fake.

When she escapes the court’s control, Mara finds out that there are more like her. Will they rebel against the Silvers? Or will Mara become one of them?

This is the very anticipated sequel to Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

Heartless

By: Marissa Meyer Release: November 8th Comparable to the movie Maleficent, this is about the Queen of Hearts and how she got to be the way she is.

She was just a girl that every man wanted, especially the King of Hearts, who is looking for a bride. All Cath wants to do is fall in love on her own. But, in a land of magic and madness, fate has a way of taking it its own way.

Morning Star (Red Rising #3)

By: Pierce Brown Release: February 9th In the final book in the Red Rising Triology, Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest class in the color-coded society that is his world. He finds out that they reached the surface generations ago and that all the other colors live on it. He realizes the Red class is nothing more than slaves to all the other colors.

Darrow joins a group that is working destory the enemies. He will do anything, even if that means becoming one of them to bring it down from the inside.

The Killer In Me

By: Margot Harrison Release: July 12th Nina Barrows is fascinated by a murderer called “Thief.” She now has the opportunity to do something about him, and you bet she’s going to take it. With her ex-best friend, Warren, she head to New Mexico and found the “Thief;” but he’s nothing like she expected.

Does the “Thief ” even exist?

A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2)

By: Sarah J. Maas Release: May 3rd In this Beauty and the Beast retelling, Ferye kills a wolf in the woods close to her town. As a result, beast like creature drags her to a magical land-- a place she only knows about from legends and-- keeps her hostage. Their relationship goes from cruel and rude to passion and need in a short time. A great threat is coming at Freye and her beast. She has to stop it or condemn Tamlin and his world.

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Overlooked

the

Struggles

Exploring Stress in High School Students

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tress: the word seems overused and insignificant, but high school students experience more stress than people realize.

“My grades are important to me,” senior Roxie Mulholland said. I’ve created an expectation of a 4.0 GPA for myself.”

This expectation leads her to have perfectionist tendencies. Mulholland described long nights in her computer room that stretched into early mornings. The same routine she uses to finish work for her classes, including two Advanced Placement (AP) classes. With that being said, it is not just the homework itself that poses a problem.

“Being so involved makes the workload seem less manageable,” Mulholland said.

Mulholland is actively involved in eight extracurricular activities. Some of these include Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS), Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Ignition Mentoring, and National Honors Society (NHS). If she were to have all of her activities in one week, they would take up thirteen hours of her time. This is excluding attendance of church activities and Bible studies.

While Mulholland’s list of involvement seems excessive, students are encouraged to be like her. They are told early on that colleges want well rounded students with good grades. They are told 11

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that colleges want to see involvement in clubs, sports, volunteering, as well as challenging oneself. Ultimately, the problem with school stress is that there is no way around it if a post secondary plan is in place.

Students of Fond du Lac High School face stress as a problem due to their busy schedules. According to a survey from the Cardinal Columns, taken by 609 of Fond du Lac High School’s students, 82.8% of students find school to be a place of stress. In the same survey, it was recorded that 84.3% of students feel overwhelmed at school.

“It is alarming that the teen stress experience is so similar to that of adults,” Chief Executive Officer of the American Psychological Association, Norman B. Anderson, PhD said. “It is even more concerning that they seem to underestimate the potential impact that stress has on their physical and mental health.”

“A lot of my students have the equivalent schedule of nearly two full time jobs,” Jenny McClyman, English teacher at Fond du High High School said. “They go to school all day and have work and activities that consume most of their nights.”

While stress is the body’s response to a demand or threat, it can lead to many emotional, physical, behavioral, and cognitive problems. The most common being anxiety and depression*. Many of these stress overload symptoms,

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Regan Le Doux // Desk Editor however, are confused with normal teenage issues. They include moodiness, irritability or short temper, aches and pains, eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little and poor judgment. Because this sounds like a dramatic teenager, the probability of stress overload is overlooked. It has been recognized by staff members as well as students themselves that some of the more serious sides of stress need to be addressed.

“Stress and learning are connected,” AP psychology teacher, Elizabeth Severson, said. “Being under stress can definitely affect cognitive, physical, and social learning.”

I find school a place of stress

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree Agree Disagree FROM CARDINAL COLUMNS SURVEY

Our ancient ancestors had stress in the form of a “fight or flight” response.

The stimulus, or cause, of stress was survival related. For example, if one was being chased by an animal that could harm them, that person would commonly run from it. When the chase is over and the body begins to calm itself, the stimulus is gone. Thus, the stress is gone.

In schooling today, the stimulus is not so cut and dry.

THE

“We have psychological stress: our stress doesn’t shut off,” Severson said.

It is psychological because there is not life or death threat, like being chased by an animal. This poses for a few problems. Because the hypothalamus, in charge of regulating mood and releasing hormones in the body, and the amygdala, in charge of regulating fear, cannot rationalize the fear that is presented with the stimulus. In other words, the brain does not see the threat with being

overwhelmed by school. Being unable to isolate the threat, the brain cannot get rid of the stress from the stimulus.

“Everyone experiences stress all the time,” principal Michelle Hagen said.

“Different people cope with stress in different ways.” *Depression may also lead to self hate/ self harm. Here is a first hand experience with both.

Ages

Dark

My Experience with My Self Harm and Depression Andres Christian // Staff Writer

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Warning: The content of the following story may be triggering to those that suffer or have previously suffered from self hate/ self harm.

was always a person for helping other people with their problems: giving them advice, comforting them, and just being there when they needed it. But, upon entering high school, everything flipped on me. There was no longer all my close friends joking with one another.

One day everything changed. I was getting called names, fat, ugly, stupid and worthless people would say to me. I started to take the comments literal, but I still ate more than I should have for a person at my age. I was an endless pit of eating unhealthy.

When I was getting bullied by people who I believed were my friends, repeatedly, day after day, I became scared to return.

I skipped a whole week of school, terrified to go back.

But, I would have to say, sophomore year was the worst for me. It went from bad to worst and I completely stopped eating. I cut out my family and friends. I held so many secrets from my them that they started to ignore me as well. I was even stupid enough to put myself out there on the

web, and later found out that I was being catfished. I shut down even more then, and still, not eating, I lost about 20 pounds within one month. Eventually, I gave into my depression.

One night while my whole family was out with friends, I went into my sisters bedroom and snatched her pencil sharpener. I screwed out the blade and ran to the bathroom. This is the night I began cutting. The strangest part was that I actually enjoyed it. I started to do to more, and more, and more. And eventually stopped because I thought I heard something. I quickly cleaned up, and ran to my room, blade still in my hand.

I threw it in my night stand, and tried to go to bed. The next day, and the day after that, and months after, I did it every day, every night, even in school.

One night, I lifted the silver object close to my face, I was shaking with fear, I was thinking about how people would be if I ended it. Contemplating the line between life, and death.

Later throughout my experience, my mother found out about my cut-

My scars tell a story. They tell how I have survived this battle.

ting and started to worry and cry. She thought she had a part in my actions.

She begged me to promise her that I will never do it again; I stated that I will try. But I failed her. My mother later set me up for therapy to talk to someone to help me through this tough time.

The counselor was helping me a lot and made me feel like I was not the only one who was going through this sort of stuff. She gave the advise to surround myself with distractions to help me not think about cutting, or killing myself again. That is when I started to make more friends. My friends help me talk through my depression, though it can be hard to explain how I feel sometimes.

My scars tell a story. They tell how I have survived this battle, how I have not given up on myself and how I will rise from this dark time and learn to be the happy, loving, and caring man that I have always wanted to be. I still struggle with my depression and anxiety: it gets really bad at times, but I am learning to control my urges to go back to that haunting weapon that sits in my night stand drawer. I am currently seven months clean, and I will continue to make myself stronger. #MYSTORYISNOTOVER

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Not A Boxing Ring

Reactions to a Fight and the Repercussions

Regan Le Doux // Desk Editor

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ype “high school fights” in a search engine. What comes up is video after video of high school students engaging in fights. If you keep looking, they go from bad to ugly. Millions of fights recorded from all different angles. It’s something that cannot be escaped.

At Fond du Lac High School, there has been an uptrend in the number of reported fights: physical and verbal. In the school year of 2014- 2015, there were a total of 34 fights labelled as assault. Of those 34 fights, 16 were first semester. As of mid-December this year, there has been 21. This means, so far, there has been five more fights were at least one of the participants were physically injured.

“I don’t think anyone wants fighting at school,” principal Michelle Hagen said. “Even one or two is disappointing. We are trying to be more watchful, especially in the hallways during passing time.”

One of the underlying questions, in regards to these numbers, is: why do students feel the need to fight in the first place?

“It’s a barbaric eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,” Tammy Chase said.

Chase is an English teacher that has broken up many fights over the years.

“I get that there is history behind it, but kids are not necessarily encouraged to work it out,” Chase said. “I don’t think kids want to fight. They have no other tools to work out their feelings. We have, as adults, failed in teaching them to deal with their emotions.”

“I would love for [Fond du Lac High School] to be just a learning institution,” School Resource Officer Kristina Meilahn. said “There is a clear behavioral policy and fighting distracts from being here. This is a learning institution, not a boxing ring.”

Students have used fighting as a sort of vigilante justice.

Many students have agreed that the general mentality is ‘you have wronged me or someone else therefore you deserve to be put in your place’.

“It’s a sense of entitlement,” Chase said. “They feel that fighting is their right.”

The reason for fighting does not simply end there.

“People seem to have a difficult time talking to one another face to face,” William Morgan, history teacher at Fond du Lac High School, said. “I wonder if people have lost the skill to disagree with someone else and have that be okay.”

Morgan is also a lunch monitor during sixth hour.

Through his years at Fond du Lac High School, Morgan has witnessed as well as broken up fights. He has also noticed an increase in verbal fights. The increase being in both frequency and intensity.

“I am bothered by this level of unsafe behavior,” Morgan said. “I have a daughter and son at this school now.”

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Blocking Avoidance

Bear hug Walking away

Challenging Verbal

Yelling back and forth

Physical Contact Physical Injury

No Punishment

Disorderly Conduct

Ages: 14- 16: $187 Ages: 17- 18: $313

Suspension Suspension

Disorderly Conduct

Juvenile Intake: Criminal Referral

Temporary

Possible Civil Suit

When In Hug It

Felony Permanent

Disorderly Conduct: $150 Battery: $500 Juvenile Intake: Supervision

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Definitions:

Sa

fet y

n o i t c e Prot

Battery

causing bodily harm to another by an act done with intent to cause bodily harm to that person or another without the consent of the person so harmed

Disorderly Conduct

in a public or private place, engaging in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance

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Sh

Salv atio

Felony

Penalties for felonies are as follows:

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(a) For a Class A felony, life imprisonment. (b) For a Class B felony, imprisonment not to exceed 60 years. (c) For a Class C felony, a fine not to exceed $100,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 40 years, or both. (d) For a Class D felony, a fine not to exceed $100,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 25 years, or both. (e) For a Class E felony, a fine not to exceed $50,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 15 years, or both. (f) For a Class F felony, a fine not to exceed $25,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 12 years and 6 months, or both. (g) For a Class G felony, a fine not to exceed $25,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 10 years, or both. (h) For a Class H felony, a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 6 years, or both. (i) For a Class I felony, a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 3 years and 6 months, or both.

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CARDINAL COLUMNS.ORG

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Sec

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Co ve r

e c n ra

u s s A Bar r

Juvenile Intake

A juvenile may be held under s. 938.207, 938.208, or 938.209 (1) if the intake worker determines that there is probable cause to believe the juvenile is within the jurisdiction of the court and if probable cause exists to believe any of the following:

ier

(a) That the juvenile will commit injury to the person or property of others if not held. (b) That the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the juvenile or other responsible adult is neglecting, refusing, unable, or unavailable to provide adequate supervision and care and that services to ensure the juvenile’s safety and well-being are not available or would be inadequate.

Self Defense

(c) That the juvenile will run away or be taken away so as to be unavailable for proceedings of the court or its officers, proceedings of the division of hearings and appeals in the department of administration for revocation of aftercare supervision, or action by the department of corrections or county department relating to a violation of a condition of the juvenile’s placement in a Type 2 juvenile correctional facility or a Type 2 residential care center for children and youth or a condition of the juvenile’s participation in the intensive supervision program under s. 938.534.

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Self Defense

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A person is privileged to threaten or intentionally use force against another for the purpose of preventing or terminating what the person reasonably believes to be an unlawful interference with his or her person by such other person. The actor may intentionally use only such force or threat thereof as the actor reasonably believes is necessary to prevent or terminate the interference. The actor may not intentionally use force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm unless the actor reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself.

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Shei

Definitions from legis.wisconsin.gov/

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Students’ Stories Regan Le Doux // Desk Editor

Cara Marshlick: Q: How many fights have you been in?

A: Four, but one of them was in middle school Q: How were they started?

A: Mostly people talking crap and they wouldn’t stop.

Q: Which fight was the worst?

A: Definitely the first one*. My lip was ripped open and I had to get stitches. The other girl bashed her nose on a fire extinguisher and broke it.

Doubt Out Regan Le Doux // Desk Editor

Q: What were the repercussions for these fights?

A: The first one* was at church so I was banned from the church. The second one, I got a ticket for disorderly conduct. The last one, I was suspended for three days and got another ticket. The one in middle school was just a suspension.

Q: Why do you feel the need to fight?

A: There is only so much you can take with verbal fights. It becomes so annoying and it just bubbles over. You think the only thing you can do is fight. *the first fight is a reference to the first fight she got into at a high school level.

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But It Was Self Defense

Jory Getchel: Q: How many fights have you been in?

A: Verbal fights? Uncountable. But I’ve only been in one physical fight.

Q: How were they started?

A: Spreading rumors and talking s***. I tell them to stay out of my business.

Q: Is there a trigger word or phrase? Something that pushes you to fight or fight back?

A: When people act like they know the person I am. Overall, just disrespect. There’s not just one thing that puts me over the edge.

Q: Which fight was the worst?

A: I haven’t left more than bruises.

Q: What were the repercussions for these fights?

A: For the physical fight I was suspended for three days and got a ticket. Disorderly conduct.

Q: Why do you feel the need to fight?

A: Sometimes it’s hard not to fight because people are trying to get a reaction from you.

It’s like we’re both level headed people. We can talk this out. But, sometimes, people push me to that point. It doesn’t really solve anything but it relieves stress sometimes.

Regan Le Doux // Desk Editor

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here are more rules to fighting than people realize.

One cannot throw a punch or two to prove a point, even when calling it self defense. Not many people realize that any form of fighting is not taken lightly, in the eyes of the law. In Wisconsin, whether it’s from the instigator of the fight or the victim that fought back, physically harming another person leads to consequences. Depending on the damage left behind, the person that begins as the victim could reap more punishment. While there are those who have deemed this unfair, everyone is accountable for their actions.

“People don’t think about the consequences,” said Morgan. “Once you throw a punch, you can’t take it back.”

Once the victim of the fight uses a punch, kick, slap to get their point across, they are no longer just a victim. That is where the punishment comes into play. This can range anywhere from in-school suspension to a battery charge. The punishment depends on on the intensity of the injury.

For example, a sixteen year old starts a fight with an eighteen year. “I don’t think kids If the eighteen year old injures the sixteen year old, even once, he or want to fight. They she could be charged with abuse just have no other to a child. The injury could be tools to work out temporary or permanent. their feelings” A temporary injury can be anything like a chipped tooth, concussion, fractured or broken bone. A permanent injury could be something like injuring an eye to the point of blindness. In addition to the punishment for the fight itself, anyone that causes harm can be sued by the parents of the injured.

“I would never punish anyone making a clear effort to avoid the fight,” Meilahn said.

If avoidance is not possible, there are some things allowed in defending one’s self. These ways of defense include the following: blocking hits, bear hugging the other person and pinning the other person to the ground. A bear hug is wrapping one’s arms around the other person while restraining their arms.

Self defense, however, does not have to be physical. Telling the person to stop and warning them that a staff member will be alerted does count. While the tactic is not preferred, it provides a warning for the instigator to stop before he or she will need to be restrained from causing further injury.

By remembering the repercussions and accepted defense tools, a victim can remain a victim and out of trouble.

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One Step

MOLLIE TENNESSEN AND BECKY MCARDLE AT A FOND DU LAC FOOTBALL GAME. PHOTO CREDIT // MOLLIE TENNESSEN.

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At A Time. . .

Mollie Tennessen’s Heartbreaking Diagnosis

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Alyssa Lawrence // Staff Writter Anna Leasa // Art Director s a seventeen year old, Mollie Tennessen was up to the typical things that any other senior in high school was doing. Juggling things such as soccer, volleyball, and being accepted to Stevens Point for human biology.

However, her plans were soon put on a sudden pause when one day she found a mysterious lump on her neck.

Right away she knew something wasn’t right and after telling her mom, she went to the doctor.

On October 23rd, 2015 Tennessen arrived at St. Agnes Hospital for an appointment that would change the rest of her life. At the hospital, Tennessen waited to be examined by a doctor. Tennessen wasn’t worried at first MOLLIE AND HER FRIENDS AT A FOND DU LAC HIGH SCHOOL but then had a sudden rush of emotions.

FOOTBALL GAME. PHOTO CREDIT // MOLLIE TENNESSEN After being seen, she was told to have blood drawn imMollie, as well as her friends and her family who describe her mediately, following her appointment.

She had to have blood drawn and some scans done to be to be always happy and vibrant person.

“It was definitely hard at first. Now, biopsied. Not long after the biopsy, it was I’m getting more used to it.” Said sesent to the lab and the test results came “Every one is really nior Becky Mcardle “Every one is really back.

Every day at least 1,500 people are diag- supporting her and supporting her and trying to keep her happy- to get her mind off of things.” nosed with cancer, but not every day is it a Mollie says that she is doing good trying to keep her fellow student at your school. Tennessen, and still working out with her soccer a student at Fond du Lac High School was happy- to get her team. one of the 1,500 diagnosed on November 2nd, 2015. Tennessen was diagnosed with mind off of things.” A fundraiser selling t-shirts raising money for Mollie and her family has raised stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a non- Becky McArdle around hereditary cancer in the lymph nodes. $3,500.

“I took it really hard. A lot of people M r s .

I know have had cancer.” said Tennessen.

Chase Doctors say Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is one of the most curable cancers if caught in the early stage. will be selling bracelets after The survival rate for someone diagnosed is 90-95% after a few Holiday break. The money treatments of chemotherapy. The amount of treatments is raised will also be given to Mollie and her family to help with based of the individual and the severity of the cancer.

Tennessen had her last of the first four chemotherapy the expenses of the treatments. treatments on December 28th, 2015 and will have her scan to Don’t forget to buy one yourdetermine the length of her future treatment on the 5th of self to help support Mollie and January, 2016. If the cancer is 100% gone or only faintly there, her family. she will have four more treatments. If the scan comes back the same or more, she will have eight more treatments, then another scan.

Getting cancer at seventeen was definitely a surprise to PHOTO CREDIT // MOLLIE TENNESSEN

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The pictured model is not affiliated with the story.

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overdose OF REAlity

the wakeup call for the school, the community and the nation to fix the system

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robert brown // desk editor “It started to become more uncontrollable.”

K

@

ayla, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, has been struggling with substance abuse for the majority of her high school career.

“I started with alcohol,” she said. “Then, I went to weed and pills.”

Kayla began using these substances on a regular basis in her Freshman year here at Fond du Lac High School. Kayla was also exposed to more dangerous narcotics when she started socializing with new people in high school.

“I started hanging out with a new group of people,” she said. “My friends did cocaine and heroin. They influenced me -- they seemed happy.”

Addiction treatment services in the United States are in crisis.

According to Dr. John M. Grohol Psy. D. for PsychCentral.com, as of February 2013 only 14 states required a high school education or GED to become a drug addiction counselor. Twenty states do not require a diploma of any sort or do not even require a prospective counselor to be certified. Grohol adds that 43 percent of spending on addiction services were solely directed towards specialty addiction treatment centers, which hold the patient for a maximum of 30 days, then are released regardless of their condition after this period.

Law enforcement has been the gateway to treatment for many individuals, both in Fond du Lac and in the nation. Law enforcement is seen by some as intimidating, which can be even more difficult for members of law enforcement to provide help for addicts.

According James Gierech, board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), law enforcement officials sometimes fail to provide resources that users need.

Gierech is pushing the public to call on President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing to “replace the criminalization-and-incarceration model of drug policy with a system of legalized, controlled, and regulated drug markets, treating drug abuse as a health problem and not a law enforcement issue.”

“The system is broken. . .It’s a huge problem, it’s huge,” Director Ellen Sorensen of the Fond du Lac chapter of Drug Free Communities said.

Since 2003, the coalition created between local businesses, churches, law enforcement agencies, hospitals, locals schools and colleges and nonprofits have increasingly have tried to provide a healthier and welcoming treatment environment for addicts and loved ones alike. While Drug Free Communities’ core mission is to increase the age of onset to prescription drugs, alcohol and opioids and aim to decrease youth reporting of use of alcohol, Sorensen would like to see Drug Free Communities expand to appeal to other substances and issues regarding them. In the United States alone, four of the 50 states have already legalized cannabis for recreational and medicinal use, while another 17 permit it to be used for medicinal use only. Many states are taking the steps to decriminalize

marijuana and let minor drug offenders free. Currently, Wisconsin has no law permitting use of any kind and has no statute decriminalizing cannabis.

“Any amount [of use] is a problem,” nurse Sarah Kirchhoff said.

Kirchhoff has served on the Drug Free Communities committee in Fond du Lac since the 2014-2015 school year. “[The legality of] Marijuana says something to youth.

‘Marijuana is harmless.’ That’s the message that sends.” She, along with members of STAAND, Students Taking Action Against Negative Decisions, wish to provide awareness and work towards prevention. This year, STAAND has a total of 10 consistent members, with multiple students attending meetings and events when they can.

More than ever are Americans being prescribed medications. CBS News reports that approximately 70 percent of Americans take at least one medication, while more than half of Americans take at least two.

According to the foundation DrugFreeWorld.org, almost half of teens view prescription drugs as safer than other narcotics. Everyday there are 2,500 youth abuse prescription painkillers for their first time in the United States.

They’re probably in every household in this country,” said School Resource Officer Kieran Weed. He, along with School Resource Officer Kristina Meilahn are assisting school administration in combating the drug epidemic not only in the high

“they’re probably in every household in this country.”

-Officer Kieran Weed

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school, but in the community.

School Resource Officer Kristina Meilahn stated that law enforcement is a crucial part of the treatment system and how they can help if a student approaches them about drug use, asking for help.

“It certainly helps if they are not actively using at that point because they are under the influence on school grounds. If a student confesses she said, that it is a huge help in expediting the treatment process.

At that point, it’s not us saying you’re going to be in trouble with us because you’re admitting that you did this, this and this. We could care less at that point other than getting you help.” she said.

Kayla had fairly easy access to prescriptions. “I grabbed three different med[ication]s, three different bottles,” she said. “I didn’t take them on a regular basis because I didn’t feel like taking them. I went into the bathroom, poured them into a cup and I started taking them.” These pills consisted of antidepressants and sleep medications, two of the most commonly abused medications in the country. During her frightening experience, she had felt things physically and emotionally that made her want to change for the better.

Kayla had overdosed on her medications. “I couldn’t see” she said. “I could hear my heart.” Kayla had instantly thought about her little sister. Her motivation to quit overpowered her addiction. Kayla does not take any prescriptions nor does she abuse them any longer.

Local experts agree that the system currently utilized by local governments is not working. Kayla agrees that the system needs to improve.

“People need to understand and listen.” she said. Cities across the country are taking strides to improve

their current conduct on how they deal with addicts and their loved ones. Many cities often provide a multitude of

hospitals, counseling offices and addiction centers to assist addicts in their battle against drug addiction.

There are multiple nationwide resources available to youth struggling through addiction. Some of the most notable resources are listed below.

Now ask yourself, how can you help?

resources for drug-addicted youth drug use hotlines national cocaine hotline (800) 262-2463

substance abuse treatment help (888) 328-2518 National Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Information Center (800) 784-6776

school resources

school resources (CONTINUED) officer kieran weed SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER student services ext. 3445

JOLINE SCHATZINGER SPECIAL PROGRAMS COORDINATOR STAAND REPRESENTATIVE STUDENT SERVICES EXT. 3444 SARAH KIRCHOFF NURSE MAIN OFFICE EXT. 3542

monica zindler psychologist student services EXT. 3944

JEANA SCHMITZ NURSE MAIN OFFICE EXT. 3541

&

julie rehfeldt social worker student services EXT. 3744

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officer kristina meilahn SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER main office EXT. 3543

E D I T O R I A L S

Not thinking improperly thinking Differtly

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like to think of ADD as an out-of-control conversation with friends; the ones where you and your friends are walking around talking about things you guys did together.

They will mention one thing and it will eventually go off in a completely different direction. It seems like you never get to the actual point of the conversation because you keep on going off on tangents. That’s a lot like having ADD: a constant changing thoughts or subjects.

When I was young I would walk around my fourth grade classroom. I’d never listen to what the teacher was saying. I’d just read my book, pacing the class. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to sit down and look up at the front, like a normal child. It was too frustrating to be confined to one space all day-- it drove me nuts. After telling me a billion times to sit down, the teacher finally gave up.

Many people don’t understand ADD or ADHD. A lot of people think it’s an excuse for a “problem child” to not do their work. However, it is a real thing that affects 10-11% of children, ages 4-17, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

One thing that can be misinterpreted is that

EDITORIAL POLICY The Fond du Lac High School Media Editorial Policy applies to all FHS media, including the Cardinal Columns News Magazine, CardinalColumns.org and the daily broadcast of Fondy Today. All student media referenced in this editorial policy are designated public forums written, edited and managed

by FHS students as part of journalism classes tought by a certified journalism instructor.

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Noah Burdett // Staff Writer ADHD is an impairment but I believe it is just a different way of thinking and if we can find a way to be less closed minded about it in schools, that less people would suffer the struggles that come with it. Instead of labeling that child as a distraction to the class label him/her/them as somebody who can be the hardest worker, the most motivated person in the world if you can catch their eye with something meaningful and fulfilling to do.

One thing I tend to forget is it’s not a disorder or something that can keep me from success, which is something that gets drilled in your head repeatedly of all your life, it’s something I can harvest if I use my energy and my thoughts wisely.

“Your ability to concentrate can differ from time to time depending on your situation and the problems around you,” says Dr. Marian Freund, a pediatrician at Aurora Health Care in Fond Du Lac. The worst part about ADD/ADHD is that you can be days away from failing all your classes and it’s still hard to even start on homework. It’s incredibly stressful. Going through the motions other kids go through, step by step, is incredibly

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hard. it’s almost torture to just stare at a page, because I’m not the same as them.

I need to be able to do my work and I want to, but it also feels like i need to do anything but that. And that’s another reason why ADD is hard to believe, is it seems like laziness or just plain defiance.

Something that constantly happens is somebody will insist that they must have add/adhd because sometimes it’s hard for them to concentrate, but of course it is! Everybody has difficulties with concentration, but i literally cannot control my concentration level at all it can be the most important thing for me to do I can get sidetracked as if it was the most mundane thing in the world. When people say they understand, I feel that they think it can be easily dismissed. Although you would never go up to somebody with a wheelchair and say well sometimes my legs get sore so i know how you feel.

“Some of the hardest students to help are those who have organizational problems that deal with ADHD and or ADD.” Says Mrs.Glowacki a learning specialist at Fond Du Lac High School, Mrs. Glowacki also felt like she was lesser than her peers due to her struggles. “I

would work my butt off for a D in a core classes and be ecstatic. Then when I took the ACT’s I received a high score. It took awhile for me to realize I wasn’t stupid.

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, but I chose to be a Special Education teacher because of these struggles.”

ADD or ADHD is a really hard thing to treat, with a lot of misdiagnosis and overmedication. The reason for ADD/ADHD is a deficiency of certain in chemicals in the brain, usually it is either norepinephrine or dopamine.

These chemicals are apart of your brain’s reward system, if you do something good these chemicals are transmitted in your brain and you get the feel good feeling like a warm cuddly hug. But low levels of these can cause Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit, or Impulsive behavior. Which are outlining symptoms of ADD/ADHD.With these low levels

PHOTO CREDIT // NIKLIS PAPAGEORGIO

your brain can sometimes try to overcompensate which can cause you to be distracted easily.

Others tend to believe that those with ADD/ADHD are over stimulated and is why they are so hyper or distracted.

The actual reason is because they are under stimulated which can make easy tasks almost unbearable or undoable because there is no satisfaction at all.

It is frustrating to do things like worksheets or easy tasks.

The theory is that if you were to fill the gap of chemicals with stimulants it will help the patients brain function “properly”. Which is why most ADD/ADHD medications are stimulants.

Stimulants helps with motivation anxiety and impulsivity because it fills in the gap of missing chemicals in your brain One of the weirdest things to me is when you start medication for ADD/ ADHD, it’s a night and day difference.

You go to school and you act completely different, it can make feel like you’re not yourself. Some of the things you hear from a teacher is “compliments” on your concentration or better behavior. they’ll say “Wow you’re doing great today!” and what you feel like he/she said is “your only good enough when you’re on your meds” and it’s incredibly demeaning to hear that you aren’t good enough, you start to think things you like about yourself are the things that people hate about you. It’s a destroying feeling, but you can’t say anything because you know that if you do then you might breakdown There is no easy solution to treat somebody with ADD/ADHD, but it is not an excuse to be lazy, and people with ADD/ADHDare usually the opposite of lazy the best way to help is to understand that they have struggles and to be patient and consistent with any task they have to resolve. And without the support of family and friends, you can feel alone.

“Your ability to concentrate can differ from time to time depending on your situation and the problems around you.”

- Dr. Marian Freund, MD

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THE FUTURE OF AMERICA Why students should care about the 2016 election Zach Renderman // Art Director

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he first issue of the Cardinal Columns was slated from the start to contain a piece on the 2016 presidential election. While there wasn’t an editorial in the works quite yet, I came into our first staff meeting with a fairly straightforward idea.

Finding out some student opinions on the upcoming presidential election couldn’t be too hard, right? But I was extremely surprised to find that with the numerous students I approached, the vast majority replied with the same amount of apathy and overall disinterest in the elections. Either students seemed to think it was far too early to even bother with candidates, students didn’t see why they needed to care or any other reason you could imagine.

With both juniors and seniors, who are the ones most likely being able to vote in the next election, being the targets of my interview requests, there was the similar feeling of indifference within both classes.

Now, I’m sure that there are some students out there who I didn’t get around to who feel extremely passionate one way or another already. But those students are a very small minority, especially at such an early stage of the presidential race. Voting for president isn’t just an activity that the students at Fondy High should be seeing as an afterthought or as something that doesn’t hold much merit in their own lives. The activity and naivety of different students, not just at Fondy but all across America, could be the deciding variable in who wins and who loses the race. According to RockTheVote.com, throughout the country over twelve thousand teenagers turn eighteen each 27

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day. The legal voting age in the United States is, of course, eighteen, meaning that over the course of a year, over four million teens will become eligible to vote. Yet voting turnout statistics have shown in past years that young citizens of this country are the members of the population who are least likely to vote on the day of an election.

This is an absolute travesty. The actions of a future president will have impacts on each and every person in the country, whether any of the American citizens realize it or not. Serious problems such as ISIS, global warming, poverty, immigration, abortion and many, many more are beginning to plague the country as the Obama era comes to a close. And every American citizen who is eighteen years or older and eligible to vote by the next election finally has a chance for their voice to be heard and for their own decisions to matter.

Realistically, students should be the people who are more engaged in what goes on in the election than anyone else. As high schoolers eventually graduate and go to college, many of the real world issues that most students have never given a thought to in the past are going to start to have an actual effect on younger people. Many candidates are taking a variety of positions relating to issues such as the costs of college, the legalization of cannabis, raising the minimum wage for the benefit of the middle and lower classes, and different taxes in many capacities, all of which are issues that affect lots of students, whether they want to admit it or not.

Every student from every social group, social status or other walk of life has something to care about in the upcom-

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ing election. If a student wants the country to take steps in the direction that they prefer, it’s important for the student to start paying attention to who is taking what position and informing the people around them who may have similar intentions as to the importance of voting in the election.

Fortunately for those who remain uninformed in regards to the election, there are other young people who have a grasp on what is going on in the primary races thus far. Information on the major candidates within both the Democratic and Republican races, their upsides and downsides, what their goals for the country are, and a basic summary their respective views of the important points in the election thus far. While there are definitely far too many different people who are claiming to run for presidency to analyze in a simple two page editorial, I’ve narrowed down the top candidates as of December 2015 to give more important details about. I’m not including any candidates outside of the major two political parties, in the interests of getting a general summary of what is going on rather than digging too deep.

The deeper digging is your job.

There are things to like and dislike about each of the important candidates, and I’m here to help you start to find the candidate whose campaign stances and goals for the country suit your own beliefs the finest. And, naturally, as my beliefs do not matter in the slightest amount to anyone but myself, I’ll be keeping those far away in the interests of focusing the student body on the election itself rather than one single candidate.

Pictures of all Republican candidates and Bernie Sanders courtesy of Gage Skidmore. Picture of Hillary Clinton courtesy of Marc Nozell.

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he current Republican primary leader as of December, Donald Trump is a billionaire business mogul who took the primaries by storm through self funded campaigning and next level stances on a variety of issues.

Whenever Trump takes a position, he never apologizes or takes anything back, and stands by everything he says. But when he takes a position, it tends to be the furthest extreme that a position could be taken to. His far right ideas thus far include a controversial ban on any Muslim entering the United States of America and claiming that climate change and global warming is “a total hoax”. lorida senator Marco Rubio was among the earliest of the Republican nominees to begin a campaign, officially announcing his candidacy in April. Rubio has remained a consistent frontrunner ever since, remaining in the relative middle of the pack yet slowly picking up supporters from other groups by maintaining traditional conservative viewpoints that most voters can get behind. The November attacks in Paris were seen as somewhat of a booster to the Rubio campaign, as he has consistently held an aggressive stance on foreign policy. However, Rubio has been criticized by his fellow Republicans for voting on past issues with the Democrats rather than being loyal to his own party. eb Bush was the frontrunner for the majority of the early stages of the Republican primary, as most candidates had not campaigned extensively until late summer. The son of George H. W. Bush and brother of George W. Bush, the former Florida senator had shown interest in many past years in running for president.

Jeb’s campaign kicked off in June, and while he has been in the picture ever since, his popularity has slowly declined ever since. Jeb insists that his presidency will produce far more productive results than his brother’s previous tenure as president, if elected. n independent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders began his campaign with a grassroots fundraising campaign that has propelled him to the national spotlight. Bernie is an aggressive progressive, who aims to remove the influences that the billionaires of the country tend to have on government actions, Sanders intends to increase wages and overall quality of life for the lower middle class citizens of the country. Some argue that at 74 years old, Sanders is too old to be a serious candidate for the presidency. But his campaign insists that with the new ideas he brings to the table, the country will become a more accepting and pleasant place with Sanders in charge.

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retired neurosurgeon and steadfast Christian, Ben Carson has quietly rallied a majority of Christian voters to garner a wide supporting group of Republicans thus far. Although he has no political experience in government, he has written numerous books regarding his political viewpoints and is viewed as a legitimate contender for the presidency. As a surgeon, Carson was renowned worldwide for performing a successful operation that separated two conjoined twins. Carson maintains a strong pro-life stance, yet is questioned by many within his party for not having enough experience in the realm of foreign policy.

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nother early candidate, Texas senator Ted Cruz has constantly been a mainstay in the Republican race, typically being associated with those in the middle of the pack of candidates. Starting his campaign mostly in the Southern United States and slowly progressing to the rest of the country, Cruz was viewed as an early frontrunner and still has the potential to rise back up to his previous standing. His debate performances have been criticized for criticizing the questions being asked rather than giving answers. Yet Cruz keeps a steadily increasing amount of support going over time, garnering support from many traditional conservatives.

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ormer first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been the frontrunner of the Democratic primaries ever since talk of her candidacy began. Sharing the famous last name of her husband, former president Bill Clinton, Hillary has been recognized as a fierce politician, with a vast amount of experience in foreign policy and having run for president before, in 2008. Although critics have accused her of exclusively siding with whichever position fits the popular vote at the time, Clinton’s liberal positions have kept her in the lead of the Democratic race throughout the primaries.

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It’s About Love

My understanding of marriage and what it’s really about Editor - In - Chief // Madison Supple t starts with a decision. Marriage isn’t about finding the perfect wedding dress, getting married on some island far away, deciding which 500 of your relatives to invite or even having the perfect bridal party. Weddings are stressful: you spend thousands of dollars on perfect food, the right venue and making everyone including yourself happy. Planning a wedding will be one of the most stressful things you will ever do, and sometimes, people still aren’t happy with how they turned out, but why does it have to be like that?

Marriage is defined as the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a relationship, but what some people don’t realize is that marriage is so much more than that.

It’s about commitment: promising that you will be forever devoted to one person and one person only. It’s about compromise; having more than your way or the highway as an answer for every argument and decision.

It’s about communication: being able to talk about anything and everything, being comfortable enough to share everything with the other person and having clarification with words and not actions.

It’s about love: waking up in the middle of the night to rub your spouse’s back because they caught a stomach bug and need someone to comfort them. Seeing something at the store and just buying it because you know it will make them happy. Saying you’re sorry even if the fight wasn’t your fault because you can’t stand the silence between you two.

It’s about trust: confidence in your partner to take care of you for the rest of your life, holding the other person up when they’re too weak to do it alone.

Standing by their side because you believe in them and support them one hundred percent in whatever they do.

Marriage isn’t just a documentation of vows and two signatures, marriage is taking two whole people that want and need each other, and making them one person, one flesh. Marriage isn’t perfection, it’s about fighting because you ate Tuesday night’s supper for lunch or feeling frustrated because one person cares too much about something and the other doesn’t care enough, but in the end it doesn’t matter. It isn’t about the size or price of the ring because honestly, who really cares about what the price of your ring was?

Finally, it isn’t about finding the perfect dress, because we all know that you’ll maybe wear that thing once and it will sit in the closet for who could possibly be the next victim, because let’s get real, that thing was not as perfect as you thought it was. It sure looked great for the pictures but it really wasn’t comfortable.

It ends with a commitment; Marriage isn’t just about a wedding, saying “I do” or spending a ridiculous amount of money to please everyone other than yourself. It’s about accepting flaws, dealing with more than you can handle, going through hell and going through it again, but doing it with someone by your side, who wants nothing more than to be yours and yours only.

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Happy Holidays

From The Cardinal Columns