Dec. 2011 Globe

83.4

GLOBE

NEWSMAGAZINE DECEMBER 2011

SILENCE.

THAT IS THE TYPICAL RESPONSE TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT

x

Facebook Fears KEEP IT CLEAN: COLLEGES AND SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE 12

Virtual Reality THE IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES

CLAYTON IS AFFLUENT. CLAYTON IS SHELTERED. BUT CLAYTON IS NOT IMMUNE TO THE REALITIES CONFRONTING THE NATION. IT’S TIME TO FACE THE FACTS.

PAGE 18

Hot Topic DEBATING THE NO-CUT POLICY PAGE 42

GLOBE

22

Volume 83 . Issue 4

A Fine Line

Sexual harassment was in the spotlight last month, as scandals erupted across the nation. Even Clayton became enthralled in the revelations and accusations.

10 Welcome To Summer School?

Budget concerns will likely take center stage as the Board of Education decides the future of summer programs.

13 Slippery Slope Slick tiles in the quad have caused wipeouts and, in some cases, severe embarrassment.

We ask how those tiles got there and what is being done to fix them.

20 Not Too Shabby Gabe Fleisher is only in fourth grade, but he already has a national following on his daily political blog. Oh, and he’s also met the president. No big deal.

40 The Year That Was There was good (Cardinals), bad (Joplin), and even ugly (Charlie Sheen) in 2011. The Globe looks back at the highights.

46 Q&A: Señor Johnson Parker Schultz sits down with the man behind the dreads to discuss consumerism, Black Friday and Buy Nothing Day.

// EVERY PENNY COUNTS [09]

Fish Out of Water Senior Elizabeth Krane hopes to swim Division I next year at Northwestern, but a compromise to let her swim for Clayton has fallen through.

[

FACEBOOK FEARS [12]

] CRICKET CLUB [32]

34

06 Sneak Peak This month’s Panorama captures the controversy surrounding plans to build a dog park in Shaw Park.

SINKING PIRATES [45] //

get creative.

LAST MONTH’S WINNER

THE GLOBE CAPTION CONTEST

FOR JANUARY: HOELSCHER ON PHOTO BOOTH

In sickness…to have and to hold…till death do us part?

Fergus Inder (12)

Courtesy of Paul Hoelscher

SUBMIT YOUR AMUSING CAPTION AT CHSGLOBE.COM

CHRIS WARE/MCT CAMPUS

2011-2012 STAFF Editor in Chief Noah Eby Senior Managing Editors Laura Bleeke Jackie Leong Zach Praiss Section Editors Jake Bernstein Caitlin Kropp Jocelyn Lee Meredith McMahon Sarah Tait Editors David Androphy

Lauren Friedman Caroline Greenberg Jack Holds Jake Lee Shuyang Li Eudora Olsen Katherine Ren Parker Schultz Shiori Tomatsu Anna Williams Arya Yadama Distribution Editor Jonathan Shumway Advertising Editor Dylan Schultz

Web Editors Appi Sharma Dan Zheng Sri Panth Copy Editor Maria Massad Graphics Editor Dee Luo Photo Editor Paul Lisker Reporters Peter Baugh Abraham Bluestone

Rachel Bluestone Chris Cho Neil Docherty Emma Ehll-Welply Isaac Fish Jeffrey Friedman Aidan Hayward Jessica Jancose Jon Knohl Nina Murov Steven Paster Charlotte Reed Adam Schultz Peter Shumway Richard Simon Christopher Sleckman Steven Zou

Photographers Claire Bliss Madeleine Fleming Lewis Grant Kate Harrison Lauren Indivino Meredith Joseph Christa Kopp Laura Kratcha Allison Peipert Regine Rosas Thalia Sass Dana Schwartz Andrea Stiffelman Rebecca Stiffelman Emma Veirod

Artists Taylor Gold Nicole Indivino Nia Charrington Jasmine Raskas Zoe Curry Business Manager David Behrend Adviser Erin Castellano

The Globe Newsmagazine exists to inform, entertain, persuade, and represent the student voice at CHS. All content decisions are made by the student editorial staff, and the Globe is an entirely self-funded publication. Not every story that our reporters write is published in the print newsmagazine. Visit www.chsglobe.com for additional stories and photos, and for more information about the Globe itself. For more information about advertising and subscriptions, please contact our office: Clayton High School Globe 1 Mark Twain Circle Clayton, MO 63105 (314) 854-6668 Fax: 854-6734 globe@clayton.k12.mo.us

4

MASTHEAD

EDITOR’S LETTER

ARE YOU READING ANYMORE?

A

s high school students and fulltime members of the age of technology, it is often hard to find time to sit down and read a book or a magazine or a newspaper all the way through. SparkNotes and CliffsNotes have begun to take up more space on our bookshelves than the original work, and the New York Times app on our smartphone makes reading the paper copy unnecessary.

When we do have the occasional 20 minutes to sit down and read a hard copy of some published work, it tends to be more of a skim: a quick look at the headlines, a glance at some photo captions, or a scan of the last few paragraphs in a novel. We have all found ourselves susceptible to the ever-increasing pressure from technology.

We need information faster and in easy-toread snippets. Time has become too valuable

to spend leisurely, and books and novels have taken a big hit. Many people are less likely to go to a bookstore and buy a hard copy of a book.

This trend has been proved nationally, from the closing of the Borders, and even locally at Clayton High School.

Our high school library, a popular place for students to study, has over 15,000 books. However, only 15 to 20 books are checked out in a normal school day. But, the 14 laptops that are available for students in the library are in use almost every period. The Internet has replaced research books and many students don’t even know where to look for them in the library.

These books surround us everyday, but they have become more of a decoration than a resource. These books hold thousands of facts and fun stories and are waiting to be read by the 900 students that walk by them every day.

So, take this upcoming winter break as a time to catch up on those lost hours of reading.

Take the break from school and sports to sit on the couch with a cup of tea and read a book cover to cover without SparkNotes or Wikipedia. Go to the library before finals are over and check out one of the 15,000 books that you can read for free.

Even take a moment to actually read an issue of a Globe without just skimming. We may be living in a fast paced and technology-filled world, but it’s okay to just take a moment and read a paper book the old-fashioned way.

LAURA BLEEKE SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR

Photos by Michael Noble

EDITOR’S LETTER

5

PANORAMA

TAIL WAGGING PROPOSAL For several years, Clayton residents have been sniffing out possible locations for a community dog park with little luck. Complaints of neighbors repeatedly chased out proposed sites in parks including Oak Knoll and Concordia. As a last resort, the idea of a one-acre dog park in Shaw Park behind the South Shelter by the baseball fields was developed. A recent survey of residents by the City of Clayton showed 56 percent in favor of the proposed Shaw Park dog park, 28 percent opposed, and 16 percent unsure. The Parks and Recreation Commission will consider forwarding a recommendation to the Board of Aldermen on the proposed Shaw Park dog park at their Jan. 9 meeting. More information can be found on the City of Clayton website.

Photograph by Zach Praiss

LD R WO TAGE S

UPFRONT WASHINGTON, D.C.

A proposed law, the Stop Online Piracy Act, would bring the hammer down on copyright infringement, but many say that it goes too far.

LATIN AMERICA

The Latin American poverty rate fell to its lowest level in 20 years according to the UN, though it still stands at a whopping 31.4%.

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS: TURNER V. CLAYTON UPDATE

27.8

% of students who would transfer from STL city to county schools if given the option.

3,567

Number of those students who would list Clayton as their first choice school.

2,517

Current enrollment of the entire School District of Clayton.

8

UPFRONT

{

Turkey and the Arab League imposed sanctions on Syria after eight months of brutal government suppression of prodemocracy protests.

{

{

#

SOURCE: School District of Clayton

{

SYRIA

{

PAKISTAN

A NATO airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in the border region with Afghanistan, reigniting tensions between the US and Pakistan.

CAIRO

Protests have resumed in Tahrir Square as parliamentary elections begin. The Muslim Brotherhood is favored in those elections.

SPOTLIGHT ON: WASHINGTON “Claims that [the Stop Online Piracy Act] will ‘break’ the Internet are unfounded. When one-quarter of Internet traffic is infringing, something is already in need of repair.”

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

“We haven’t seen a bill as problematic as this for a while. This is an unprecedented bill in its scope and how far-reaching and disruptive it would be to Web platforms.”

Markham Erickson, director of NetCoalition

Laura Bleeke

EVERY PENNY COUNTS

FULL STOP

PROJECTS PUT ON HOLD LIGHTING UPDATES

$127,000 AND CONTROLS

With district purse strings already tight, Prop S will likely come in slightly over budget.

NOAH EBY

T

he financials of recently completed Proposition S construction have been clarified in the past month, revealing that the $51 million dollar bond issue is likely to finish slightly in the red. This expected deficit is miniscule, about 0.1 percent of the total expenditure, and it overshadows the project’s otherwise overwhelming success.

The renovations and construction outlined in the original Prop S plan actually came several million dollars under budget, prompting the district to look for other projects that could be funded by the savings. These included roofing repairs at Glenridge, Meramec, and CHS at a total cost of just under $1.02 million; mending the ailing front entrance to Captain at a cost of $100,000; and athletic field repairs costing $125,000.

“We were able to do things beyond the scope of Prop S because of the savings,” said Board of Education President Sonny Buttar.

However, the district and the BOE were surprised and somewhat disappointed to discover a projected $67,000 deficit in late October. The causes of the shortfall are numerous. Frantically laboring to finish the high school before school began, workers racked up overtime pay. In addition, construction workers ended up renovating more classrooms than they expected due to

$113,000 SIDEWALK LIGHTING $57,000 $55,000

problems discovered when ripping out walls to install a sprinkler system and new wiring. By the end of the summer it was, as Chief Financial Officer Mary Jo Gruber put it, “chaos.”

Teachers returning to their brand new or renovated classrooms also incurred unexpected costs. They asked workers to change their rooms to suit their needs – often an outlet was not in a suitable place.

“When you have a building full of staff and a building full of construction workers, it’s really easy to say ‘Hey, I need this’,” Gruber said. “And that’s part of the reason we’re working with the vendors to negotiate the final cost, because they weren’t technically authorized to do all the work that they did.”

Indeed, according to Buttar, “there were probably changes that were requested that didn’t have a second set of eyes looking at them.”

Lack of communication between subcontractors and the general contractor, SM Wilson, therefore contributed to the unanticipated rise in cost.

After the realization of the projected deficit, the district put a halt to $400,000 worth of additional planned projects.

As Prop S comes to a definite close, $39.4 million Prop W is picking up steam at WMS. The district is eager to avoid such financial surprises this time around – a committee comprising Wydown Principal Mary Ann Goldberg, Facility

FACILITIES BLDG. ASPHALT DRIVE ATHLETIC FIELD WALL REPAIRS

$45,000 ADMIN BLDG.

-

$3,000

FLOORING CAPTAIN GROUND SPRINKLERS

SOURCE: Tim Wonish, Director of Facilities Services

PRIORITIES

CHS STUDENTS’ FAVORITE RENOVATION FEATURES 21%

QUAD AND WALKWAYS

19%

BISTRO TABLES AND COUCHES

19%

THE “BAR”

15%

NEW SCIENCE LABS

14%

ENGLISH OFFICE

12%

NEW CLASSROOMS

SOURCE: chsglobe.com

Services Director Tim Wonish, CFO Gruber and SM Wilson representatives will meet regularly to review requests and manage the bond issue’s extremely tight budget.

As Prop W is a complete rebuild of the middle school and not a renovation, it is also inherently more predictable.

“The whole process is going to be totally different, so we don’t really anticipate any problems with Prop W,” Gruber said.

Yet the problems with Prop S were hardly anticipated either, and every penny counts given the current financial state of the district.

Clayton is projected to run a $1.5 million deficit this year, and further projections show as much as a $10 million deficit by fiscal year 2017 if current trends continue. 

DIVERGING PATHS

ESTIMATED DISTRICT REVENUE AND EXPENSE PROJECTIONS (million $) 55

45

revenues . expenses 35 FISCAL YEAR 2003

FY ‘05

FY ‘07

FY ‘09

FY ‘11

FY ‘13

FY ‘15

FY ‘17

SOURCE: “Budget Update and Planning,” Board of Education

UPFRONT

9

In light of budgetary cuts, the Board of Education evaluates the importance of summer school.

KATHERINE REN

I

n light of the economy, everything is now being considered with a cost benefit analysis. As such, the Board of Education, BOE, is currently looking to refine and possibly reduce the summer programs offered for Clayton students. Although no decisions will be finalized until Dec. 7 it is likely that there will be some significant changes made to what is offered to Clayton students, K-12.

“Essentially, the BOE is trying to make a decision on what they want to spend on the summer programs,” Paul Hoelscher, principal of the Summer Program at Clayton said. “In the past 11-12 years that I’ve been involved in the summer program, there has never really been a thorough strict analysis on it. And that’s what we’re currently doing right now. What we are looking for is a balance - to what degree of classes should we offer for kids who have failed and for kids who want to get ahead? In addition, how many sections, how many kids, and should the classes be total open enrollment?”

The cuts to the program would be fairly equally distributed among the age groups.

“I don’t think any one age is going to be significantly cut. It’s much more of a philosophical thing,” Hoelscher said. “K-12, what do we want to provide for the whole community and that

10

UPFRONT

would be applied equally across the board.” and counselors started strongly advocating for For the BOE, offering classes for credit re- its completion over the summer, demand shot covery and remedial support will be the pro- up. Last year the maximum increased to 48 gram’s number one priority. However the popu- and this year the BOE is planning on offering lation of kids who have failed classes is minimal three sections, increasing the maximum to 66 and so the next step would be to offer required students. classes, such as Personal Finance, Physical EduAs for the enrichment, elective style classes, cation, and Government, for kids who want to such as film-making and computer programget ahead. ming, the BOE is “We have a I don’t think any one age group is going to hoping that it will lot of kids who get cut. It’s much more of a philosophical be able to offer use the sumthing. such on a tuition mer program basis. to get ahead “What we’re Paul Hoelscher looking at is not and free up their regular Clayton Summer School Principal necessarily cutschedules durting any particuing the year for APs and other courses,” Hoel- lar enrichment class, but how could we do it scher said. “We hear the voices of students and a bit smarter. Though we’re only speculating, parents who say this is the way we want to use what we’re playing with is the possibility of summer school. This makes sense and its some- still offering cool classes, such as ACT prep or thing where there is higher interest level. How- field research, but on a tuition basis. The classes ever there is going to have to be a compromise would no longer be able to count for credit, but between total supply and demand.” it would be of pretty minimal cost to the comWith personal finance for example, a course munity.” required by the state, the BOE is looking to Another concern for the BOE is the possibilraise the classes’ availability after seeing a sig- ity that offering too much in the summer may nificant increase in its demand. in turn prove to be detrimental to teachers durThe class started out being offered to a ing the regular school year. maximum of 24 students. But as the number “The more that is offered in the summer poof students making four-year-plans increased tentially means there will be less teachers need-

MAKING THE CALL

With tempuratures dropping , students and faculty return to the favorite seasonal quandary: snow days.

ABRAHAM BLUESTONE

T

Andrea Stiffelman

ing for a balance,” Hoelscher said. “Is it possible to add a section here without loosing a teacher there. How can we offer things in the summer where there is a need, but not negatively impact the department or take away people’s jobs.”

In part of the negotiation, teacher salaries have also been reduced. Historically speaking, there has been a flat rate of $25 an hour for teachers teaching in the summer. However, such minimal pay led to struggles with getting Clayton teachers, who were already familiar with the curriculum, to give up the first month of their summer to teach. Thus the district went to a per diem payment basis five years ago in attempts to attract more Clayton teachers. With the per diem system, teachers would get paid based on their annual salary broken down into hourly wage.

“Now in this cost cutting time, people are reevaluating the system,” Hoelscher said. “Last year, teachers were given the same per diem rate but there was a 15 percent cut compromise across the board. However, now we’re looking at is that still too much.”

The new salary structure hasn’t been finalized and so nothing has been set yet. However, it is certain that teacher salaries won’t increase and they will be less than the normal school year. The negotiation is how much less. The administration knows they want to cut costs, but keep quality teachers. 

he temperature is dropping, snow is fall ing, and the one thing that all CHS students are wondering is, “Will there be a snow day?” They turn on the TV, staring at the bottom of the screen. When the word “Clayton” finally appears next to the word “CLOSED,” they are elated.

However, there is a decision-making process behind those wonderful snowy mornings. Dr. Sharmon Wilkinson, the interim superintendent of the Clayton School District, is in charge of this process and is already preparing for the calling of snow days.

“Since this is my first year, as interim superintendent, I can tell you how it’s worked in the past,” Wilkinson said. “The superintendents in St. Louis Country begin by doing a call with each other. I think there’s around 10 superintendents who are on the call.”

During this call, which sometimes takes place in the wee morning hours, the superintendents look at the weather forecasts, and if the situation is bad enough, call the snow day. Ice tends to increase the chance of a snow day, as travel safety is the most important factor when the decision is made.

Once she decides to call a snow day, Wilkinson contacts Chris Tennill, the communications director at Clayton, who then contacts the television stations.

CHS Principal Louise Losos is surprisingly

low in the chain of communication.

“It [the chain of communication] starts with the superintendent,” Losos said. ”And then it typically goes to the assistant superintendent, and the chief communications officer, which is Mr. Tennill. He then, once she makes the decision, has a recorded message ready to go.”

However, the decision is not made just on the conditions in Clayton, but also on those in the city of St. Louis.

“Fifteen percent of our students come to us through the volunteer student transfer program,” Wilkinson said. “So you have to think about how if we’re in session, and if there is not transportation available to get them to school, then we’d have fifteen percent of our student population not in school.”

Wilkinson also knows that her decision will always be controversial. No matter what choice she makes, someone will always contradict her.

“The reason why this [calling a snow-day] is a difficult decision because it’s a decision that’s a no-win,” Wilkinson said. “Even though you’re saying you’re making the decision for the safety of the students, and you want to be sure that your staff will get into school safely, there will be someone who feels that schools should have been open. When you keep them open, there’ll be someone who feels that school should have been closed. So my job is to make the best decision I can, at the time, with the information I have. And I recognize that when the decision is made, there will be someone who will feel that it was not the correct decision.” 

Paul Lisker

UPFRONT

11

f

facebook fears

Can high school posts come back to haunt college applicants?

take advantage of the resource of Facebook and do further research into students who have morally questionable applications, inconsistenhile high school students constant- cies between letters of recommendation and ly contend with the pressures of parts of the application, or any other attributes maintaining a GPA, taking rigorous that the colleges worry about. coursework, and staying involved in extracur“Especially in smaller, more selective riculars with the hopes of attending the univer- schools, if there are any issues that might come sity of their choice, a new frontier has emerged up [in the application], Facebook might be a in the college admission process: social net- place where you can easily browse and look up working. a student to see if there’s some reason for some With a few nimble computer maneuvers, a kind of red flag or alert,” Modzelewski said. socializing teen can share his weekend night In order for a student to protect his or heradventures with hundreds, even thousands self from this exposure to the public domain, of friends. The advent of media like Facebook, Modz reinforces the need to use whatever priMySpace and Twitter has ushered in an era vacy settings are available to block out the abyss where the click of a button can instantly give of strangers who lurk in cyberspace. millions of people a window into your life.

“There are privacy settings -- please, young Numerous media sites claim that anywhere people, use them. You’re out [in cyberspace] and from 10 percent to 80 percent of colleges are social media is kind of like a diary,” Modelewski snooping through prospective students’ Face- said. “There’s a lot of information that can be book accounts. gleaned if you don’t set your privacy settings.”

John Hechinger of the Wall Street Journal Still, despite the precautions that teens reports that in a recent survey of over 500 top should take regardless of college admissions, colleges in the nation, 10 percent of admissions Modz is adamant that “these colleges don’t have officers reported they looked at social media time to look up every student and [students] sites of prospective students. need to use common sense in the process.”

Allen Grove of collegeapps.about.com has One of the popular precautions that Clayton bigger figures to boast. He reports that the students are taking is changing the name and eKaplan Test Prep released a mail address that appears You’re out [in cyberspace] on a student’s profile. survey in 2011 of about 360 admissions officers at top and social media is kind of They do so with the hope colleges where 24 percent acthat it is one more layer of like a diary. protection against probknowledged they visited social media sites such as Faceing colleges. book and MySpace to factor Not all students feel Mary Anne Modzelewski into the admission process.

CHS Counselor the need to hide their proHowever, Mary Anne files. Taylor Gold, a senior Modzelewski, CHS college counselor and for- at CHS, reveals she did not feel the necessity to mer Washington University in St. Louis admis- change her name on Facebook. sions counselor debunks the discrepancies in “I have nothing to hide,” Gold said. “I didn’t the media with a voice of reason. see any reason to change my name, and I didn’t Yes, Modzelwski - or “Ms. Modz” as she is really feel like it so I didn’t.” amiably known by CHS students - reveals there Whether students are worried or not about is some validity to the idea of colleges looking the possibility of colleges looking through their through social networking profiles, but she Facebook profiles as supplements to the applistresses that admissions officers simply do not cations, the least students should do is estabhave the time to tackle as great a task as comb- lish privacy walls that are applicable in any situing every applicant’s Facebook. ation, as Modz encourages. However, it’s not “For the most part, college admissions offi- worth losing sleep over fear that colleges are cers have so much on their plate that typically, perusing and probing the threads of students’ the larger the school, the less likely they would social media “walls,” so long as the student is even have the time, want, or need to view a stu- using common sense. dent’s social media,” Modzelewski said.

“There are a lot of reasons to not admit a However, Modz believes that there are still student and you want to make sure you’ve precertain “red flag” situations where colleges do sented yourself in the best light,” Modz said. 

W

12

UPFRONT

JACK HOLDS

Paul Lisker

SLIPPERY SLOPE Slippery tiles around the new addition pose a safety threat to students.

ZACH PRAISS

A

three-story addition, new science labs, a video recording studio, and cooking class were all part of the completed Proposition S construction at CHS. A 10-foot slip and slide straight out of each new entrance, however, was never in the plans.

At first sight, one would not recognize the safety hazard posed by the new tan tiles surrounding the new addition. The deceiving etchings and apparent textures of the tiles provide a false sense of security. As if magic, with a sprinkle of rain or morning dew, the tiles transform into a slick runway for students rushing from one class to the next between the new addition and Commons.

The tiles, which are a type of common outdoor stamp concrete, were originally selected for their aesthetic appeal to the exterior of the new addition.

“It gives a beautiful look,” Tim Wonish, the Director of Facility Services for the School Dis-

trict of Clayton, said. “It’s also less expensive than other finishes like pavers and such, but I don’t think anyone realized how slippery it would be.”

Ever since back in the summer when Wonish first recognized the danger of the new tiles, he has actively been pursuing a solution.

“The first time I walked on it when it was wet, I realized we had problem,” Wonish said.

“The contractors didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just not working really well for the safety of the students.”

CHS Principal Louise Losos admits that if she had to point out one mistake in the Proposition S construction, it would be the new tiles.

“Obviously it’s dangerous,” said Losos. “We had one person fall awhile ago…It’s not something that we would take lightly and it’s something that needs to be rectified.”

Since the start of the school year, Wonish has been working tireless to add some “grip” to the tiles with various rough surface sprays.

“We have applied a couple things to try to get it to grip more,” Wonish said. “It might be

better but I don’t think it’s good enough.”

As a result, Wonish is evaluating other possible solutions.

“Either we have to do some type of sand blasting, shot blasting, grinding, or sanding,” Wonish said. “Something is going to have to change to rough the surface up because it’s a safety hazard.”

Losos and Wonish are confident that the fix will not be a major financial cost for the District. For now, rubber mats have been placed at each of the entrances to the new building to help prevent any possible injury.

Nevertheless, Wonish is committed to resolving the slippery tile situation as soon as possible at whatever cost to the physical beauty of the tiles.

“I just don’t want to wait six months till summer because that’s the best time to fix it and in the meantime somebody falls and breaks their arm,” Wonish said. “Unfortunately, it’s beautiful stamp concrete but I have a feeling it’s not going to be so pretty when we’re done, but we’ve got to make it safe.”  UPFRONT

13

GUTEN TAG FROM GERMANY CHS teacher Paul Hoelscher’s summer travels in Germany provided opportunity for research and learning.

SHIORI TOMATSU

F

rom the tranquil city of Bavaria to the bustling streets of Berlin, CHS history teacher Paul Hoelscher had the rare opportunity to travel through well-known cities in Germany during this summer through the Goethe Institut. “[The Goethe Institut] is a public and private organization that supports scholarship and travel in Germany,” Hoelscher said. “In addition to funding my entire trip, Goethe opened opportunities to meet government officials and visit important places that I never could have accessed on my own as a US citizen.”

Hoelscher was one of about a dozen teachers who were selected from across the country to go on this trip.

“I applied for the fellowship,” Hoelscher said. “There is a long application process that considers your previous leadership as a teacher, the potential impact that the fellowship can have on your teaching practice, and several recommendation letters.”

Hoelscher traveled with a group for some parts of the trip and also conducted individual research.

“We were provided time and financial support to study topics that we wanted to research on our own,” Hoelscher said.

Hoelscher was able to visit cities in Germany such as Munich, Stuttgart, Dresden, and Berlin.

During the trip, he saw the diversity of Germany.

“I really got a good feel for the regional flavors,” Hoelscher said. “In the Southern region Bavaria, there is a much slower, wealthier and relaxed atmosphere. The city of Munich is large, but it feels like a small town and the pace of life is different from a Northern city like Berlin. Berlin was widely international, massive in size and scale and much more like New York or Tokyo than the Southern German countryside.”

For Hoelscher, this experience of diversity and the trip itself was a great way to learn new things.

“History comes alive as I explore locations that I have read about, but never visited,” he said. “Germany, like so many other countries in the world, has many things to teach Americans [like] environmental substantiality, architectural value, [and] respect for history and tradition.”

One thing that really stuck with Hoelscher

14

UPFRONT

was how much the idea of the Holocaust stays present in the minds of many Germans.

“It remains a complex and incredibly difficult balancing act for the German schools,” Hoelscher said. “On one hand, they want their students and the world to move on and consider the fact that Germany is so much more than that period of Nazi atrocities. However, at the very same time, the government, the schools and the culture spend a lot of time and money making sure that everyone who visits Germany is forced to consider what happened. Many of the memorials are in very public locations where people walk past them everyday. There are signs and symbols all around the country of what happened.”

Overall, Hoelscher saw it as an incredible trip.

“I think every trip makes me more open to new ideas and ways of thinking,” he said. “Away from tourist locations, an American can still get a feel for life in different countries.” 

Paul Lisker

Paul Hoelscher currently teaches Current Issues and World/US History II; he also coaches the girls’ varsity soccer team. Hoelscher spent this summer in Germany researching and traveling.

A tour of Germany

Hamburg

FINISH

Berlin

Dresden

Nuremberg

START Stuttgart

Munich Dee Luo

Follow Paul Hoelscher’s trip through the historic cities of Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and more!

Paul Lisker

ONCE UPON A TIME

NaNoWriMo challenges young novelists around the world and at home.

RACHEL BLUESTONE

M

any folks never consider writing a novel. Even fewer would consider taking on such a daunting task in a month. But there are a select few that choose to take on this challenge every November. These are the people of the National Novel Writing Month, or the “NaNoWriMo”, which takes place every year in November. As the website so kindly puts it, it is “thirty days and nights of literary abandon!” There really is no other way to put it, because when you have a month to write a 50,000 word novel, you are abandoning everything but writing.

Participants of NaNoWriMo, affectionally known as Nano, such as freshman Emily Lovett, are kind enough to warn new writers of the stress.

“Note that it is impossible to get balance on everything in your life during NaNoWriMo, i.e. social life, grades, sleep, and extra-curricular activities,” Lovett, a second year participant, said.

“I have cut two of these, sleep and social life.

So if you saw me walking around like a zombie, that’s why.”

The novels can be about anything.

Participants are free to choose any fictional genre, although all characters must be original and you may not start writing before 12 a.m. on Nov. 1.

However, you are allowed to outline your novel, which sometimes helps to ease the stress. Sophomore Rilke Griffin is writing a novel in one month for the second time.

“My novel is about an author whose daughter and husband died in an accident that was partially her fault,” Griffin said. “It is written in the form of letters to her daughter, and it’s about how she came to be a well-known author and all of her misadventures during that time.”

While the name of the event is National Novel Writing Month, it is actually international. An author from Lancashire, England, Hayley Smith, also a second time participant, won last year and had reached the 50,000 word mark by mid-November this year.

Many people debate over the hardest part of a novel. While it’s different for everyone, often-

times relatively simple things are the hardest.

“I think [the hardest part about writing a novel] is actually getting the words on the page for me,” Smith said. “I have the novel waiting to be written, but I find that I can’t get it down quickly enough. It frustrates me, and I often just want to scrap the whole thing. Getting the ideas down is easy in my opinion, but putting them down in some form of order that makes sense is what I struggle with the most.”

While NaNoWriMo is very rewarding, it is definitely a lot of work. Smith believes that the effort is worth it.

“Despite all the stress, the pain, and immense amount of caffeine consumed, [NaNoWriMo] is amazing, and it should be tried at least once by all writers,” said Smith.

However, some students wonder if this is a task students should undertake. Griffin encourages students to plan ahead before writing.

“Honestly, unless you want your grades and social life to suffer, I would wait until you are out of high school, college, and a member of normal society,” Griffin said. “I do it [now] because I am completely obsessed with writing.”  UPFRONT

15

Hold s Jack

SARAH TAIT

T

he idea was not sudden or spontaneous. For English teacher John Ryan, creating a program which would offer faculty the rare opportunity to discuss just for the sake of discussion took years to formulate.

Last January, his idea came to fruition in what has become CHS Talks.

CHS Talks is constituted of forums held around every six weeks to discuss a wide range of topics. All faculty, teachers, counselors, and administrators included, are invited to join in the discussion.

“The basic principle is to get faculty together to discuss a variety of issues of any interest,” Ryan said. “There’s no expectation that we would be problem-solving or have to report something at the end or make a plan.”

For some, the lack of expectations represents a needed respite from the increasing academic pressures. Given the ever-present drive to keep up with raising standards, there is little time to discuss non-school related topics.

It may be surprising, then, that CHS Talks marks a return to what used to be standard practice at Clayton.

“It was pretty typical for the faculty to get together and talk about issues that weren’t purely related to this school and these students

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UPFRONT

CHS Talks

before I got here,” English teacher Susan Teson said. “They would talk about more philosophical issues that are related to current events or trends. [Ryan] really took up the mantle and tried to revive these discussions.”

Ryan’s main inspiration for CHS Talks did not, however, come from past examples. Ryan’s investment in exploring the well-known TED Talks series drove him to create something similar within CHS. “I would load up my iPod with TED Talks and just walk around the city and walk around the park,” Ryan said. “I would just be walking and listening and thinking and that’s probably what drove a lot of it. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m hearing some great stuff, and I need to share it with other people and get their reactions.’”

CHS Talks has brought about more than just discussion. These semi-monthly meetings have strengthened ties within a faculty that is often very secluded in its departments.

“I think that with everyone who goes, you get to know something that you didn’t before,” history teacher Rick Kordenbrock said. “I worked in the Elvis room for the past four years which is pretty isolated, and I know people in our department, but I don’t have that much interaction with teachers from other departments. There are so many people here on the faculty who have a wide range of interests. It gives me a different look at people.”

Establishing connections throughout the faculty was one of Ryan’s original goals, a goal that seems to be experiencing great success.

Other aspects of the program have evolved as the program has grown.

In the most recent talk centered on technology, students were invited to join in discussion with the faculty.

“Students bring a new point of view,” Teson said. “At Clayton we have students who are not only really intelligent, but students who are really interested in current events. Because this forum exists outside the classroom, it gives them an opportunity to speak their minds and engage with teachers in ways that are not really a reflection of their relationship in the classroom.”

The addition of students may likely represent the future direction of CHS Talks. With the goal being encouraging open discussion and establishing connections, CHS Talks may one day encompass faculty, students, and community members alike.

All future plans aside, CHS Talks has had great impact on CHS so far.

“I think the change happens in people’s own belief system,” Kordenbrock said. “It alters the way you view a situation or approach a problem, and that’s change right there. It may not be something really obvious or far-reaching, but small changes can make a difference.” 

THE TURKEY’S JOURNEY TO YOUR TABLE Story by Neil Docherty // Graphics by Taylor Gold

I

t’s that time of the year again when you have your whole family over, including crazy Uncle Bob with the beard and those bad impressions. Your mom is scrambling to get the pies and stuffing cooked, filling the house with the comforting scent of the holiday season. Your family is sitting at the table waiting to eat, napkins on laps and forks on empty plates. Finally, the main dish comes out: A delicious turkey. The bird before you is long dead. But rewind this scene about 14 months back, and the turkey begins its ill-fated life on its way to your dinner table.

This is where the story begins: the beginning of a turkey’s life. A few weeks before the turkey hatches, the female turkey is artificially inseminated.

This is ensure the maximum number of fertilized eggs.

The chick hatches and the newborn turkey is immediately put on a conveyor belt and stamped with a number.

These domesticated turkeys have been genetically altered to grow twice as big and twice as fast as their wild counterparts. So big, in fact, that they are unable to fly, and many suffer from heart defects, foot and joint problems.

When the turkeys have reached their maximum weight of about 12-14 pounds they will be put in crates and shipped off to the slaughter house. Here, they are taken out off the truck and tied upside down on a chain.

The turkey will either be shipped to the store fresh or frozen and shipped later.

The turkeys move down the killing line.

Since turkeys are excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act, they are not knocked out prior to being killed. They are killed in a factory with a machine knife, but sometimes the blade misses the turkey or cuts it in the wrong place. If this happens, then the turkey will be boiled alive.

The birds are then put into a huge warehouse crowded with thousands of other turkeys. Each animal will have about three square feet of room, a little smaller than the surface area of a bath tub, if they are lucky.

After the turkey has been properly gutted, it is washed, and the packaging process starts. The turkeys are first put through a chiller. Each turkey on the conveyer belt is double-wrapped in plastic.

After a long and arduous journey, the turkey is finally picked up by the consumer, cooked, and served at the dinner table for a delicious holiday feast. Bon appétit.

UPFRONT

17

ALL IN

This is a new era; we live, eat, and breathe technology. Most likely your childhood, especially in the way of video games.

by Jessica Jancose

C

HS sophomore Josh Portman plays about 12 hours of video games per day on the weekends – two hours on weekdays. That’s a total of about 34 hours per week devoted solely to game playing.

However, Portman does not believe that this somewhat excessive amount of video game playing has impacted him negatively. On the contrary, Portman can name a number of positive effects that video gaming has had on him overall, including an increased

ability to problem solve and make quick decisions.

Studies indicate that Josh, who plays a fair amount of strategy games, is not incorrect in saying this.

“There are lots of positive effects of video games,” SLU professor and clinical child psychologist Dr. Honore Hughes said. “For games of strategy in particular, kids learn multitasking and cognitive flexibility and about problem solving and approaching problems logically. Sometimes the kids find that they have to stop and read the directions.

Zoe Curry

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FEATURES

Even those kinds of things can be really positive for them.”

According to Portman, however, the majority of kids at CHS play games, such as “Call of Duty” or “Grand Theft Auto,” which emphasize less strategy and more action.

Though these games may not significantly improve one’s ability to problem solve, research has shown that playing high-action video games can lead to heightened visual perception.

A study done by the University of Rochester found that prolific video gamers could process visual and auditory information more quickly.

When administered a visual test, video gamers could identify 30 percent more of the moving objects on the screen than those that did not play high-action video games. Researchers believe that this may be because the heightened sense of danger experienced in the games leads to an increased sense of awareness and visual processing.

Playing high-action video games can also improve one’s ability to make snap decisions using minimal amounts of information. In another study also done by the University of Rochester, sub-

MODERATION if you’re a student, you’ve done so for most of So, in the end, is it all worth it?

jects aged 18-25 were split into two groups.

The subjects of one group played a total of 50 hours of fast-paced video games such as “Call of Duty 2,” whereas the second group played “The Sims 2,” a much slower-paced game.

Afterwards, they were administered a test in which they had to look at a screen and analyze what was going on, then answer a question on the action in as little time as possible.

Results of the test revealed that action video game players were as much as 25 percent faster at coming to a conclusion than those that played Sims. And, moreover, they had the same percentage of accuracy as the Sims players.

However, this being said, when played to excess the effects that video games have are not entirely positive.

In this case, excess is defined as engaging in an activity so much that the activity “begins to take the place of other more productive social interactions with real people, ” according to professor of child psychology at Washington University Dr. Joan Luby.

The American Medical Association defines excessive playing as two hours or more per day.

Playing violent video games in particular can oftentimes promote “violent behavior in those who engage in it,” Luby said, who adds that this is why researchers are certain that “violence in programming is bad for public health overall.”

Hughes agrees.

“When you hear about the negative effects of video game playing, people are almost always talking about violent video games,” Hughes said.

For kids under the age of 10 in particular,

playing violent video games can cause connections in the brain to develop differently.

Kids can become “desensitized to the impact of violence and more willing to accept violence as a way of problem solving,” Hughes said. “Research has indicated that those kids may also be the kids that do more bullying, they have lower empathy for other kids, lower prosocial behavior – and just are more aggressive in general.”

Hughes adds that the reason why playing violent video games seems to be so much more detrimental than watching violent movies or TV shows is because “the person is an active participant. You’re performing the actions yourself virtually, as opposed to just kind of passively watching.”

Non-violent video games, such as “Mario Kart” or “Sims,” can have negative effects as well; however, these effects do not typically come from the content of the game.

They come from the time that playing takes away from other, more productive and “developmentally important” activities, such as communicating and interacting with real people.

Portman perpetuates that, though his gaming time has reached the point where it could be labeled as being “excessive,” he has not experienced a decrease in communication skills.

“Most of the time when I communicate in the games I use voice communication and speak to them as I do with people face-toface,” Portman said.

Portman does not feel as though gaming has negatively affected him socially, either.

“I mean, there are friends that I would have had,” Portman said. “But there are also friends that I have because of it.” 

The person is the active participant.

You’re performing the actions yourself virtually, as opposed to just kind of passively watching.

Honore Hughes SLU Professor FEATURES

19

LITTLE JOURNALIST, Flynn Park fourth grader Gabe Fleisher has achieved with his influential newspaper, The Daily

G

PETER BAUGH

abe Fleisher wakes up at 6 a.m. every morning. Although most kids his age would think this to be absurd, he has his reasons. Fleisher likes having time to work before going to school. He uses this time to write a daily newspaper, The Daily Rundown. Impressive as it is for any student to do this, the truly amazing thing is that Fleisher is only 10-yearsold and a fourth grader at Flynn Park Elementary School in University City.

Fleisher’s paper gives readers small bursts of political information, which he sends out every weekday as an attachment via email. His subscribers use his paper to find out what’s going on in the world. But the Daily Rundown, or the DR as his readers call it, especially focuses on U.S. politics.

One Daily Rundown subscriber, who relies on Gabe to keep her up to date, is Kaitlin Kremer. “Instead of trying to read the newspaper or look at CNN, I could check the DR and it would condense all the important information for

20

FEATURES

me,” Kremer said.

One of his subscribers, or Rundowners, is Gabe’s introduction into the world of jour- Ronnie Cho, an Associate Director to the White nalism began with his mother, Amy Fleisher. House Office of Public Engagement. On Nov. She would listen to Gabe as he told her what 6 Cho requested to speak with Gabe over the was going on in politics. phone.

“I would try very patiently to listen, but, as I “He talked about how I think President like to get to work early, it was increasingly diffi- Obama is doing, specifically outreaching to cult. So I said, ‘Why don’t you send me an email kids,” Gabe said. Besides Cho, two other White at work and then we can correspond that way?’” House aids are subscribers to his paper.

Amy said. “So he started In his early poI’ve never seen anything like this. litical career, Gabe sending notes about what was happening and points My most high ability students has already attendof interest. Then it slowly have gone and maybe wrote a ed an inauguration, expanded into the DR.” talked to famous blog, but I’ve never seen this. historians such as Gabe’s efforts are grown out of a desire to Doris Kearns Goodhelp Americans become Kurtis Werner win, and, most immore knowledgeable CHS History Teacher pressively, shaken about politics. hands with Presi“I think it’s important that the American dent Barack Obama. Meeting Obama was probpeople know their history, and their politics, ably Gabe’s most inspirational moment. “It just and what’s happening and who their leaders are brought everything together for me,” he said. and what they’re doing,” he said. Gabe loves hisKurtis Werner, CHS history teacher and tory, and wants to make sure people, young and leader of Politics Club, was blown away by old, stay informed. His work has also garnered Gabe’s work. some national attention.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Werner

BIG IMPACT national recognition Rundown said. “My most high ability students have gone and maybe wrote a blog, but I’ve never seen this.”

Gabe, who used to dress up as Ben Franklin when going to pre-school, has always had a passion for history and politics. He wants to be a historian, and Werner thinks he is well on his way.

“I could definitely see him taking up aspects of political science, local state or national government, history,” Werner said. “Any of the themes of humanity really are running large through his paper.”

Gabe’s paper, impressive as it is, still needs some work. Both Gabe’s mom and Kremer think Gabe should write more editorials. His editorials, such as his thoughts on the killing of terrorists and gay marriage, are always big hits, but are also more time consuming.

The most exciting thing about The Daily Rundown is what is left to come said Amy Fleisher.

“I’ve slowly watched him evolve, and what he does with his interests. It will be interesting to see in a year or two years, where this will take him.” 

Peter Baugh

Gabe Fleisher goofs off in his office. The fourthgrader wakes up at 6:00 a.m. every morning to write his newspaper, The Daily Rundown.

(Photos by Peter Baugh) FEATURES UPFRONT

21

CROSSING THE LINE WE HAVE BEEN BOMBARDED WITH STORIES of sexual harassment and assault in the past months. These stories ranged from the national stage – Joe Paterno at Penn State, Bernie Fine at Syracuse – to as local as Missouri and even Clayton High School. ¶ The infamous Facebook law proposed in Jefferson City put a spotlight on student-teacher relations, and allegations that a former School District of Clayton employee abused a student at another school several decades ago have brought the issue to our doorstep. ¶ But sexual harassment and assault are not always as simple as the media tend to suggest. The difference between normalcy and discomfort is often difficult to discern, and fact and truth are hard to separate from accusations and allegations.

SO WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE?

BY NOAH EBY & LAURA BLEEKE PHOTOS BY PAUL LISKER & DEE LUO

S

Some forms of sexual violence are obvious – rape being perhaps the most well-known. But sexual harassment can mean calling someone gay, spreading lewd rumors about them, or giving an unwelcome hug.

“It doesn’t have to be what we think of as sexual harassment; it can be those comments about what you’re wearing and what your body looks like and weight,” CHS guidance counselor Alice Morrison said.

A joke or lighthearted comment can be taken the wrong way, or a pat on the back mistaken for unwanted touching. Ultimately, sexual harassment is a phenomenon that is based on interpretation.

“When another party feels uncomfortable, that’s when you’ve crossed the line,” Director of Sexual Assault and Community Health Services at Washington University Kim Webb said.

But determining what is comfortable is subjective and can change literally overnight.

“It becomes really difficult to tease out, even for the recipient, is this normal and healthy or is this a red flag?” Webb said.

The line is made even more obscure by the fact that the majority of sexual assault occurs between acquaintances and friends – 73 percent of female sexual assault victims are targeted by someone they know.

In this way, the first step to addressing sexual crimes – identifying conduct as such – is far from black and white. The official definition of sexual harassment, as per Title IX, emphasizes the idea of “unwelcome” conduct of a sexual nature. This definition is, then, entirely one-sided: what is seemingly normal for one person may make another person feel uncomfortable.

Yet sexual harassment and assault are issues that must be addressed, especially in an environment like a high school. This article will discuss the tragic and shocking prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in education, the devastating effects that these actions can have on victims, and the reasons why this problem is so difficult to combat. We will focus on student to student interactions, although we will mention

teacher-student relations as well.

In the end, we will suggest ways that high schools, and Clayton in particular, can work to have open discussion about sexual harassment and assault and begin to implement programs that will have a real, positive effect on the school environment.

I

t is sad but true that sexual harassment is common in the middle and high school environment. A recent study by the American Association of University Women showed that 48 percent of students experienced some sort of sexual harassment during the 2010-2011 school year. Girls reported even higher levels: 56 percent said they had been harassed.

“There have been [reports of sexual harassment] – student-to-student, in school and out of school, and at every degree,” Morrison said.

“Counselors here have students that report sexual harassment, at all kinds of levels.”

CHS health teacher Melissa Hobick said that she regularly has students approach her after sexual harassment or assault is covered in class.

“Almost every semester, we have at least one or two kids that after class comes up and says this has happened to me or it’s happening right now – either they’ve been sexually harassed, [or] they’ve been sexually assaulted...” Hobick said.

At the middle school level especially, and at the high school level as well, students are developing an awareness of their bodies and their sexuality. This leads to problems, as students mature and alter their actions at different rates.

“I saw quite a lot of sexual harassment in middle school, especially when an adolescent body is changing to an adult one, and it happens

Technology only makes harassment easier. “It’s a nightmare,” says Kim Webb of Wash. U.

for people at different times,” Morrison said. “And what I see as students get older and their circles get larger is that the sexual harassment may get subtler, more aggressive, and [it] may get more visible.”

Sexual harassment that occurs in person is most common, but in the past two decades, the advent of the Internet, texting, Facebook, and the like have only made sexual harassment more of a problem.

“It’s a nightmare,” Webb said. “It’s increased the prevalence a great deal.”

The AAUW report indicated that 30 percent of 7-12th graders had been sexually harassed online. Many students find that the lack of faceto-face contact makes harassment less personal and therefore easier. It is also easier for a harasser to believe that they are not causing harm if they cannot see the effects of their abuse, as is often the case online.

“I think there are increasing chances of misunderstandings with technology and social networking,” social studies teacher and CHS Academic Director Joshua Meyers said. “I don’t think the line between what is right and wrong, though, has changed.”

Online harassment can include tracking the movements of another person, sending them unwanted messages, or spreading rumors about them – these can make someone feel threatened, Webb said. Social media also make harassment more public, and, in some cases, more hurtful.

“Anytime you add a technology it just gets so widespread,” Morrison said. “And it can be really hurtful because a person can’t control gossip or a rumor – it’s like trying to gather up smoke. And on the Internet it’s just so visible, and you don’t really know who knows, and so the sense of being out of control of rumors is even bigger.”

“I

guarantee you that in Clayton High School, and in every other high school around the country, there are gender differences regarding the issue [of sexual harassment],” Meyers said.

Historically, more men have been accused of sexual harassment and assault and more women have been the victims. Because of these trends, male teachers tend to be more fearful of possible allegations.

“Again, all of us want students to be safe and no one wants that to happen to a student,” Meyers said. “But if you’re a male teacher, chances are you have worried about being potentially accused by a student of sexual harassment. If that happens, even if it’s never proved and there is no legal action taken against you, it could potentially stay with you for the rest of your life.”

Indeed, Webb said that many cases of sexual harassment or assault come down to “he said, she said,” with little hope for discerning truth.

The court of public opinion rarely waits for facts to be straightened out.

Often, many of the upperclassmen at CHS are close in age to the younger teachers, making misunderstandings between students and teachers more likely.

“In addition, misunderstandings regarding tone and intentions happen with both sexes at all age levels – but my feeling is that those misunderstandings are more likely to happen with young male teachers,” Meyers said. “When I was first hired at Clayton, I had just turned 22. Some of the students I worked with were 18. I was paranoid that something I did or said would be interpreted incorrectly.”

Even in college, Meyers was taught to always be precautious when it comes to possible sexual harassment allegations and never close the door with a student or have physical contact with a student. But he often finds that he cannot always follow his rules.

“I was told two big things at college,” Meyers said. “Never to meet with a student behind a closed door, and never to touch a student. And I break those rules all the time. I believe that there are times when having physical contact with a student is okay, it’s not a big deal or problem. I shake hands with kids all the time. If I see a student struggling on a test,

“I AM MORE CONCERNED ABOUT DEVELOPING GOOD, POSITIVE, MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS AS OPPOSED TO PROTECTING MYSELF FROM A POTENTIAL ALLEGATION OUT OF LEFT FIELD.” JOSHUA MEYERS, CHS ACADEMIC DIRECTOR I might put my hand on their shoulder as I walk by to signal to them ‘you can do it.’ In addition, sometimes you need privacy and need to block the noises from the hall by closing the door.”

However, Meyers tries to make sure that his precautions do not take away from his role as a teacher. He finds that it can be hard to maintain a healthy relationship with students but still be careful not to put himself in a position where a sexual harassment allegation could be made.

“I try to make sure that in all my interactions with students I never can be misinterpreted in terms of my behaviors, or my actions, or my words,” Meyers said. “It’s not that I don’t know the risks, it’s just that I

Girls

40

30

20

01

10

0

0

3

2

1

Ex ha perie ra nc ss ed me s nt exu on al lin e

50

ha Exp ra er ss ien me c nt ed in sex pe ua rso l n

60%

02

concentrate, and even dropping out of school are some of the effects that sexual harassment can have, Webb said.

Staying silent about one’s experiences only adds to the burden that victims feel.

“I think of it metaphorically like an extra backpack full of books, this extra weight that they are carrying, that they aren’t talking to anybody about,” said Christina Meneses of the YWCA Regional Sexual Assault

SOURCE: AAUW report

03

CHRISTINA MENESES, YWCA REGIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT CENTER

Boys

04

“I THINK OF IT METAPHORICALLY LIKE AN EXTRA BACKPACK FULL OF BOOKS, THIS EXTRA WEIGHT THAT THEY ARE CARRYING, THAT THEY AREN’T TALKING TO ANYBODY ABOUT.”

7-12 graders, %

05

H

arassment and assault can be deeply destructive to victims. Of students who reported being harassed in the AAUW survey, 87 percent said the experience had a negative effect on them. “[Sexual harassment] impacts different individuals differently,” Morrison said. “But sometimes it can be pretty devastating, and it’s the kind of thing that just keeps coming up over and over.”

Eating and sleep disorders, lack of motivation, anxiety, inability to

STUDENT SEXUAL HARASSMENT

0 6

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exual harassment and assault are silent. Compounding the tragedy of harassment and assault are the statistics concerning how often victims report their experiences.

The AAUW report indicates that only 9 percent of students who had experienced sexual harassment reported their experience to a counselor, teacher, or other adult at school. About a quarter of victims spoke to family or friends, but half said absolutely nothing. The reasons for this silence are many.

“I think people are afraid of either suffering retaliation or being ostracized by society, being labeled, not being believed, or sometimes because of the power differential it’s flattering,” Webb said. “And then later, when they mature and are seeing it through a different lens, they realize that it was abuse.”

To confront one’s harasser is equally challenging. Victims feel uncomfortable themselves, fear making the other person uncomfortable or hurting their feelings, and worry about disrupting the social order.

Webb described a “ripple effect” that can occur when allegations are made in a small community such as CHS. For Goldie Taylor, a media analyst who appears on MSNBC and CNN, her silence lasted more than 20 years. Last month, she told her story of alleged abuse to the nation via television, Twitter and her blog. She accused a former Clayton employee of abusing her decades ago, when she was a student at a different high school and he was a coach there.

Prior to sharing her story in November, Taylor had never told anyone about her experience. She had never even spoken her alleged abuser’s name since she left high school.

“I was afraid of being shamed and blamed,” Taylor said. “But that shouldn’t be enough to keep someone quiet. Sometimes we think so much about our own lives – the shame and guilt that it could bring to us – that we don’t think about what we could be allowing to happen to other people.”

NATIONAL CRISIS

E of xper se ien xu ce al d ha an ra y k ss in me d nt

am more concerned about developing good, positive, meaningful relationships with students as opposed to protecting myself from a potential allegation out of left field.”

Center. Meneses comes to CHS to speak to health classes about sexual violence.

In Goldie Taylor’s case, her alleged abuse was utterly devastating.

“My life all but collapsed,” she said. Before becoming involved with the coach, she was a star student – at the top of her class, on the debate team, a cheerleader, and looking at Princeton for college. She had just gotten her first new car.

“And so 1984 was supposed to be the best year of my life, but as this progressed I dropped out of everything,” Taylor said. “I dropped out of school altogether.”

She found it hard to get out of bed in the morning and rarely got out of the house. For decades, her alleged abuse haunted her. Taylor said that she thought about it on a nearly everyday basis – it defined her.

Ever since, she has lived her life in fear, distrusting others and cutting herself off from people who cared about her.

“He took my life from me,” she said.

E

ducation programs often focus on awareness, perhaps with good reason. These are silent phenomena, and it is important to make the populace aware of their prevalence.

Yet statistics often make people feel helpless, Webb said, and simply generating awareness has done little to reduce the frequency of sexual harassment and assault. Thus, Wash. U has implemented a program

04

CAUSE AND EFFECT

40%

REACTIONS TO HARASSMENT

53

7-12 graders, %

Boys

SOURCE: AAUW report

Girls

03

30

52 02

20

51 01

10

5 C we han nt ge to d t or he fro wa m yy sc ou ho ol Sto p ac ped tiv d ity oin or g sp an or t Sw itc he ds ch oo ls

Sta fro yed m ho sc me ho ol Go t in to at trou sc ble ho ol

Ha dt sle roub ep le ing

ard stu to dy

it h nd

Did n go ot w to an sc t to ho ol Fe lt s ick t sto o yo ma ur ch

9

15

8

10

7

10

6

5

5

4

0

3

2

1

0

Fo u

0

0

20

25

20

30

35

30

40

45

40

Having someone make unwelcome 1 sexual comments, jokes, or gestures to or about you

2 Being called gay or lesbian in a negative way 3 Being shown sexy or sexual pictures that you didn’t want to see 4 Being touched in an unwelcome sexual way 5 Being physically intimidated in a sexual way 6 Having someone flash or expose themselves to you

7 Being forced to do something sexual

ONE NAME, MANY FORMS COMMON TYPES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT 7-12 graders, %

Boys

SOURCE: AAUW report

Girls

50 50%

called Green Dot that emphasizes bystander intervention.

“It teaches people how to recognize behaviors that could eventually turn into abuse, and then it empowers them to intervene,” Webb said.

Meneses hailed Green Dot as an “amazing,” innovative way to drastically reduce sexual harassment and assault quickly. The program is based on the idea that innocent bystanders, who far outnumber those actually committing sexual harassment and assault, can use their influence to stop problems before they occur.

Green Dot advocates three possible approaches to a situation of sexual harassment or assault – direct intervention, distraction, or delegation – which allow bystanders to stop harassment in a way that is safe and comfortable. (More details about Green Dot can be found at www.chsglobe.com.)

The program does not seek to directly target every student, or even most students. Instead, said Meneses, social, academic, and athletic leaders are individually invited to participate in the program.

“If they buy into it, you just ask them to live their life, and then their natural influence changes the culture of the school,” Meneses said.

Webb added that she “would love to see CHS adopt something like the [Green Dot] bystander intervention program.”

Students at Wydown have been proactive about this issue. A group of eighth graders came forward and asked the WMS administration to work with them to address various types of “meanness,” including sexual harassment. Among their ideas is to create a website where students could anonymously post their stories of harassment or assault and others could then read and comment on them.

The line between inappropriate and appropriate studentteacher relations is often blurred.

T

he AAUW survey showed that only 12 percent of students felt that their school did a good job of handling sexual harassment issues. Among the most common suggestions for school administrations were to create a way for students to report their experiences anonymously, appoint a teacher or counselor as the contact person for this issue, and hold in-class discussions.

Sexual harassment and assault are national issues, but they are local problems as well. Clayton is not immune to this issue as it is immune to so many others, and we must therefore deeply consider how CHS is addressing student needs.

When The Globe made an effort to survey students about their experience with sexual harassment and assault, asking questions much like those in the AAUW re-

“MY EXPERIENCE, OVER 11 YEARS WORKING IN ST. LOUIS, IS THAT SCHOOLS THAT ARE MORE AFFLUENT AND MORE WHITE TEND TO TALK ABOUT THIS LESS. I THINK IT’S DENIAL.” CHRISTINA MENESES

SILENCE

ACTIONS TAKEN AFTER BEING HARASSED 7-12 graders, %

Boys

SOURCE: AAUW report

Girls

07

70%

06

60

05

50

04

40

03

30

02

20

01

10

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port, faculty and the administration protested, citing concerns about potential problems that could arise from students breaking down while taking the survey.

But without a survey, it is all but impossible to gauge how prevalent sexual harassment and assault are at CHS. To rely on student reports to evaluate the prevalence of sexual harassment is inadequate, Meneses said.

“When we see increases in reporting, all that tells us is that more people are willing to report,” Meneses said. “It doesn’t really give us a clue of whether the thing is happening more often.”

Perhaps, lacking concrete data, Clayton has assumed that sexual harassment and assault are not truly problems for a district so generally wealthy and sheltered.

But Meneses said that it is precisely this type of school that has the hardest time facing facts.

“My experience, over 11 years working in St. Louis, is that schools that are more affluent and more white tend to talk about

this less,” Meneses said. “I think it’s denial.”

She added that, in general, these more affluent, more white schools experienced the same levels of sexual harassment and assault as other schools.

Currently, students spend a total of five days of sophomore year health class studying sexual harassment, sexual violence, and rape – that is the extent of education on this subject.

“I think that any topic in health should be covered in the entire school, every single year, because it can’t just be a message from me this one time,” Hobick said.

“It needs to be a repetitive message that people hear all the time.”

Hobick stressed the need for a “schoolwide effort” incorporating student groups that already have a leadership role in the student body.

“We have the Principal’s Advisory Council, we have the Captain’s Council, we have a lot of these leader-based groups that I would like to see do more about this

Telling others can be helpful therapy, but victims rarely report their experiences.

topic,” Hobick said.

Perhaps Clayton could become a leader and implement the Green Dot program. If it works for Wash. U, maybe it would work for CHS. The only obstacle is acknowledging that sexual harassment and assault are in fact relevant issues.

That is the first step of many. 

IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY HARASSED OR SEXUALLY ASSAULTED, YOU SHOULD TALK TO AN ADULT YOU CAN TRUST ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES AND CONTACT THE PROPER AUTHORITIES.

visit us at www.stlouisvolunteen.com

PLAY BY PLAY

Willie Wysession

CLAYTON CATCHES THE CRICKET BUG Seniors Fergus Inder, Ali Rangwala, and Apoorva Sharma establish Cricket Club.

ANNA WILLIAMS

C

layton is and has been the home to many unique clubs throughout its history. However, one new club has recently been introduced. The Cricket Club adds a new and interesting twist, both athletically and culturally, to the wide array of clubs at CHS. “Ali and I had the idea to start the Cricket Club, so we got together with other people who knew about cricket or played it before and started the club,” senior Apoorva Sharma said.

However, prior experience is not required in order to be a part of the club.

“One of our main goals of the club is to teach people how to play cricket,” Sharma said. “We had a meeting before that to talk about the basics of the sport, and we’ve taught the members how to play.”

Senior Fergus Inder, who used to play for a team in Australia, agrees.

“They’ve generally really enjoyed themselves

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and have returned the next time we’ve played,” teresting idea to have a club that could introInder said of previous members. “However, duce other people to the sport and teach other with it getting colder, the idea of playing at For- people how to play.” est Park is becoming less realistic, and so we’ll Because the game is not prevalent in the have to be innovative and try and find some way United States, most Americans are not aware of to play indoors.” how similar the game is to common American Aside from the basic principles of the sport, sports such as baseball and tennis. the club is also try“I really like that it’s People here don’t play it that really a game of strategy,” ing to spread cultural awareness to its memmuch at all, so it was an inter- Inder said. “It’s a lot like bers. tennis because you put a esting idea to have a club that lot of thought into where “We talk about could introduce other people you place the ball when how it’s an international sport and how to the sport and teach other batting and how you it has influence all people how to play. bowl it. Most Americans over the world,” Sharassume that cricket is a ma said. “Being from snobby game that lasts Apoorva Sharma for days and is rather India, it was really popular there, and I CHS Senior boring. On the contrary, played it with my dad it can be pretty fast paced as a kid. I didn’t play nearly as much as some sometimes, and has a lot of similarities to basepeople, but I really liked playing it. People here ball. When people play it for the first time, most don’t play it that much at all, so it was an in- of them see the light.” 

STUGO MAKES AN IMPACT The underdog sophomore team takes the championship away from varsity teams.

STUGO sponsor and teacher Kurtis Werner talks about the differences between last year’s event and this year’s.

Impact Soccer has become a tradition at CHS “This year, I think the Impact Soccer event and returned for another round on Nov. 18. was better advertised,” Werner said. “It helped Though the Impact team, which helped teen- that many members of our soccer team were agers make positive decisions and stray away available to play because last year they were from drugs and alcohol, originally ran the soc- battling for the state championship. With the cer tournament, after the club ceased to exist, soccer teams here, it was a great atmosphere all the CHS Student Government (STUGO) now the way around.” carries the tradition.

Another major difference from last year’s Last year, the boys’ varsity soccer team made event was the winner of Impact Soccer. Though it to state, leadmost were expecting the facing to one of the ulty or varsity teams to win, Though STUGO does not make unexpectedly, a team made of games colliding a lot of profit from the event, the sophomores took the chamwith the day of Impact Soccer. overall value and character pionship title.

As a result, fewer Winning team member displayed by the event sophomore Caroline Avery teams were presovershadows the costs of renting talks about the victory. ent, making the event not as pop“It felt really great to be out the facilities and other costs. ular. However, on the winning team in Imthis year the Impact Soccer, especially being a Kurtis Werner team composed of only sophpact Soccer event STUGO Sponsor omores,” Avery said. “There was full of teams, including the were many more teams comboys’ and girls’ pared to last year and the varsity soccer teams and other miscellaneous competition was much higher, which made the teams composed of the different grade levels. victory even more thrilling.”

JAKE LEE

Though the varsity soccer members were disappointed with their losses, they still enjoyed the event overall.

“It was interesting to see how Impact turned out because the teams that were expected to do well ended up not doing so well,” varsity senior Taylor Gold said. “However, everyone still had fun and enjoyed it, which is the best part.”

Impact soccer was not only considered successful to the participants, but it was also to the coordinators, STUGO. “I believe the Impact Soccer tournament was a huge success,” Werner said. “Though STUGO does not make a lot of profit from the event, the overall value and character displayed by the event overshadows the costs of renting out the facilities and other costs.”

STUGO President Isabella Jacobs also agrees with Werner from the large amount of participants.

“It was a lot more successful than I thought it would be,” Jacobs said. “Last year, we didn’t have as many students participate, but this year, we had around 125 people show up.”

Overall, the event was successful, but Werner wishes for one change next year.

“I am hoping we have better time management so that we can fit in all of the games,” Werner said. “We had a situation where the facilities closed at 10 P.M. and the faculty team had to forfeit in order for the championship game to finish on time.”

Besides the minor call for improvement, Jacobs believes that the event will be successful for the upcoming years because of the underclassmen.

“I was happy that many freshmen and sophomores were into the event,” Jacobs said. “They’re going to carry Impact Soccer for the next couple years and will be future leaders that participate actively in the event.” 

Regine Rosas

The girls’ varsity soccer team prepares for their next game and warms up for their upcoming season in spring.

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MAKING WAVES Senior Elizabeth Krane spends little time on dry land. She is in the water four mornings and every night during the schoolweek. Although she is a nationally ranked high school swimmer, she has never worn our beloved blue and orange in competition.

JAKE BERNSTEIN

S

enior Elizabeth Krane is, without a doubt, one of the most talented studentathletes at Clayton High School. Yet despite playing a Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) sanctioned sport, she has never donned a Clayton uniform in her four years at the high school. Instead, Krane has been competing at a national level with the Clayton-Shaw Park Tideriders (CSP) swim club. An inability to negotiate a compromise with the athletic department and swim coaches has kept Krane off the girls’ swim team.

According to the MSHSAA Official Handbook, swimmers can participate on their club team and school team simultaneously, however, “priority shall be given to all school team practices and competition.” In the case of a conflict,

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the school practice should take priority, unless a school administrator grants an “exception to a student to participate in the non-school swimming and diving program if in direct conflict with the school program.”

Simply put, CHS girls’ swim coaches and the CHS athletic department has not offered Krane the exception she desired: to limit her participation at the Clayton team practices in favor of working out with her club.

Krane has pursued the opportunity to swim for the Clayton team since freshman year. She predicted a few bumps in the process, but expected to be swimming all four years.

“I had an idea there might be a little trouble working with the coaches but my parents and I thought that we could approach it with Mr. Bone and see if we could come up with another option,” Krane said.

Krane, Athletic Director Bob Bone and the

swim coaches were not able to agree upon an option in her first three years at CHS. This year, however, Krane was optimistic when she met with Athletic Director Bob Bone and head girls’ swim coach Katelyn Long.

According to Krane, the committee of Long and Bone offered Krane the opportunity to swim for CHS given that she attend and fully participate in four practices each week.

Bone and Long could not comment on an situation of a specific individual. Long was able to describe the standard for girls’ swimming.

“Each team member is expected to be at every practice,” Long said. “Exceptions are made on an individual basis. Sometimes there are circumstances that are out of our control, such as illness or injury.”

Bone also described the standard for Clayton athletics was that the expectation was for athletes to attend and fully participate in prac-

tice every day.

Likewise, Krane hoped her role on the team Krane said that she was willing to attend would help others improve. four Clayton practices each week granted that “I am not going to make the team good,” she would only swim and fully participate in Krane said. “I am not going to say if they let me two of them, staying on the pool deck for the swim, they would have such a good team and other two practices. The disappointment over all that. But it might encourage some people the inability to come to a resolution with the to work harder. I know swimmers who are gocoaches has been compounded by the fact that ing for a state cut, and simply by racing next to many of Krane’s club swimming friends, some them, they will probably swim harder.” of the state’s best high school swimmers, are Long and assistant coach David Kohmallowed to swim by etscher were both their respective high I really wanted to join because high level Division schools without fully 1 NCAA swimmers. people talk about the camaraderie With sixteen state participating in high and that you get to meet people of championships beschool practice.

Krane’s current different ages, get to know them tween the two, they CSP schedule conbetter, and represent your school. have the credentials sists of ten practices to develop a suitweekly, including four able workout plan for Elizabeth Krane Krane and prepare weekday practices per week starting at 5:15 Senior her for national level A.M. A full one-sevswimming. enth of her life in high school has been spent Bone pointed to the experience of the coachin the pool or preparing for practice. If she ing staff as a nod to their knowledge of the had agreed to the four practices per week and sport. continued CSP, she would be swimming for apNonetheless, Krane’s concern was not over proximately 30 hours each week. the Long’s ability to write up a workout plan, “My body could not handle that work and but that missing a substantial number of CSP there would be risk for injury,” Krane said. “My practices would mean losing the daily “competiparents say that school absolutely comes first, tion with other national level athletes.” so I most likely would have to sacrifice club Few of the swimmers on the CHS team swim swimming in order to swim with CHS.” However, another MSHSAA law could hinder the plan to attend two practices per week.

At two practices a week, it would take at least seven weeks before an athlete could participate in competition. According to Bone, “just attending a practice does not count, a person must be able to take part in the practice.” Given this timeline, it would not be until early January when a swimmer could take part in competition.

According to Krane, the committee of Bone and Long said that giving Krane special privileges would separate her from the team and upset team members who might otherwise be on the relay team. Krane acknowledged that she knew some swimmers were not supportive of her joining the team, however, she said that, for all intents and purposes, she would not be taking anyone’s spot.

“I would be willing to give up my spot on the state relay team, even if I helped that relay qualify for the state meet,” Krane said.

Two-year swim captain Julia Grasse recognizes that while there had been some opposition in the past, it “may be less this year” and that she was personally supportive of Krane joining the team.

“It motivates the entire team to see someone else succeed,” Grasse said. “It would motivate the freshman to see someone making state times.”

year-round. MICDS girls’ coach Kristen Kaiser commented on the difference between a club and a swim team athlete.

“The thing that I believe gets lost in the equation, and that I tell my kids all the time, is that a club swimmer devotes 12 months a year to the sport of swimming,” Kaiser said. “A high school swimmer devotes three months to the sport. Both have their place, and one is not any better that the other but you are working with two vastly different categories of commitment.”

Both Long and Ladue boys’ coach Corey Miller agreed that a swimmer needed to swim year-round in order to compete at the top level.

CHS alum Gabby Inder, class of 2010, had personal experience with the difference between school and club swimming. Inder competed for CHS sophomore and senior years, and club freshman and junior years. She supported Krane’s claim that CSP offers a better opportunity to improve as a swimmer.

“While competing for CHS, I rarely attended CSP practices-maybe once a week at most,” Inder said. “In comparing my times for the seasons that I swam at CHS in comparison to the seasons which I swam for CSP, I swam much faster times in club.”

Long was a ten-time Missouri state champion, swimming for Marquette High School (Chesterfield). On the verge of her tenth state championship, Long’s high school swim coach

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A DAY IN THE LIFE Take a peek into the packed normal daily schedule for Elizabeth Krane 4:45AM WAKE UP 5:15 AM - 6:45AM PRACTICE AT WESTMINSTER 8:15AM - 3:00PM SCHOOL 3:30PM - 5:00PM HOMEWORK

All photos by Peter Krane

5:30PM - 8:00PM PRACTICE AT MICDS 8:00AM - 8:30PM DINNER 8:30PM - 10:30PM FINISH HOMEWORK 10:30PM GO TO BED

RACING AGAINST THE CLOCK Compare Krane’s times against MO State & Olympic qualifying times KRANE

STATE Q* OLYMPIC Q*

100 FREE 0:59.93 I 1:04.31 I 0:57.19 I 200 FREE 2:08.80 I 2:18.49 I 2:03.19 100 FLY 1:06.60 I 1:10.58 I 1:03.99 100 BREAST 1:16.33 I 1:24.39 I 1:12.19 200 IM 2:24.26 I 2:39.26 I 2:19.49 400 IM 5:08.03 I 2:39.26 N/A I 4:55.89 *All times are for a 50 meter pool. The state qualifying times were converted from a 25 meter to 50 meter pool. The olympic qualifying times are cut offs for the United States’ Team Olympic Trials.

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called her “the most versatile swimmer in the state.”

This begs the question of why a top athlete such as Long could swim for her high school, but Krane opts to choose club swimming. It is important to note the differences between the two athletes.

According to the website for the Rockwood Swim Club, “Rockwood Swim Club is a program of Rockwood School District Community Education.” Long, who graduated from Marquette High School in the Rockwood School District in 2001, swam for the Rockwood Swim Club.

The Marquette swim coach, a former US National Team Coach, doubled as the head coach for the Rockwood Swim Club. Thus, because the swim club and team were closely connected and because she had the same coach for both high school and club swimming, it is complicated to compare situations of Long and Krane as stellar high school athletes.

MSHSAA recently changed its guidelines to allow swimmers to participate in both club and high school athletics cohesively.

Long and other former high school students either chose high school or club. Kaiser, a Ladue graduate, class of 2000, faced the choice of club or high school.

“When I swam, you had to pick one or the other and it was all or nothing,” Kaiser said. “As a club swimmer, knowing that I wanted to continue after high school, I chose the club route.”

Krane plans to continue to swim in college, but regrets missing the opportunity to swim for a state title and experiencing the meaning of a team in high school.

“I have no idea what high school sports are about,” Krane said. “I really wanted to join because people talk about the camaraderie and

that you get to meet people of different ages, get to know them better, and represent your school as a group.”

Kaiser agreed that this “camaraderie” was a strength of high school swimming, and that she regrets missing the experience.

Inder questioned whether an athlete could swim for a club and for the high school simultaneously and still join in on this “camaraderie.”

In the case that the swimmer did not attend practice, Inder was not supportive of the swimmer being allowed to participate.

“I have friends at other schools, whose high school coaches do not require them to attend high school practices, and this practice means that these swimmers are not necessarily part of the ‘team,’ but are just the ‘stars,’” Inder said.

The coaches may try to make the decision in the best interest of the team, but inconsistency between different schools’ policy is not beneficial for the athletes. As Inder mentioned, club swimmers at other high schools are able to compete with very limited participation.

“I was thrilled when they changed the rule,” Kaiser said of the MSHSAA law that allows swimmers to compete both in club and school, given certain restrictions.

MSHAA did in fact change their rulebook.

But in making the change, they caused confusion. The rule of how much a club swimmer needs to participate in order to to swim for his or her high school needs to be clarified. It is not fair to the athletes, or to schools, to have such an open-ended bylaw.

“It is a very difficult issue to deal with as a high school coach,” Inder said.

It is an issue too difficult to deal with as a high school coach. The state needs to draw the line. 

Athlete Profile: Caleb Grady JACK HOLDS

A

s the winter sports season warms up and many student athletes at CHS prepare for the coming meets, matches and games ahead, one student stands out from the crowd, senior Caleb Grady.

Grady is a three sport athlete who leads by example. Not only does he exude commitment and focus, but his attendance at practices and matches is unparalleled during his many soccer, wrestling, and track seasons, as well as one cross country season this past fall.

Cross country coach Kurtis Werner high- ers, and one of our best leaders,” Verby said. lighted the positive influences Grady had on the “During practice he is a fast learner and hard worker. Outside of the wrestling room he’s an cross country team this past fall season.

“During every workout Caleb never let nega- excellent student and a three sport athlete.”

Grady’s numbers are telling. He now sports tive thoughts derail his running, which made him a better runner and solid contributor at ev- a 67-51 winning record -- two seasons with a ery meet,” Werner said. “Caleb was a standard -- record above .600 -- and multiple medals for championing four distinct which means you knew what wrestling tournaments. And you were going to get out of 2010-11 State Qualifier that’s before his senior seahim every time he set out to Career Record: 73-54 son has even begun. run; his leadership and work Despite the numbers and ethic will be missed next Season Record: 6-3 praise Grady has accumuyear.” lated through years of hard Werner was not Grady’s only coach to laud the young athlete; wrestling work and success, don’t be fooled. One might coach Doug Verby provided praise and powerful suspect such a stellar athlete to boast, let alone share, his tenured success with others, but numbers to boot.

“Since his freshman year Caleb has been one Grady is humble and soft spoken. He attributes of our best wrestlers, one of out hardest work- his high school accomplishments to his coaches’

Thalia Sass

excellent teachings and his personal hard work, and he seeks only to encourage his team mates.

As a final word to those of all sport disciplines, and especially wrestling, Grady offered advice.

He chuckled when asked if he was a vocal leader on the team during freshman year.

“That year I was quiet and the coaches would try to get me to be angry to pump me up,” Grady said. “I wasn’t as much of a leader that year as I was junior year.”

“You have to know that it’s going to be hard and that it’s going to be painful,” Grady said.

“You have to be willing to work that much harder to get where you want to be.”

Look for Grady on the mats in the coming months. The statistics and word on the street add up to one conclusion: he’ll likely be the man on top. 

ON THE COURT

Athetes to Watch Clayton Buchanan 18.8 ppg 4.4 rpg 41.7% 3P FG%

Charlie Harned 10.0 ppg 5.0 apg

Carmen Planells 9.0 ppg 4.5 rpg 69% FT%

Amelia Stubblefield 5.5 ppg 5.8 rpg

#1 Fan Sam “STAR” Fox Approved Schedule Girls’ Basketball Friday Night Lights 12/16 7:00PM vs. U-City 1/6 7:00PM vs. Normandy Senior Night 2/9 5:30PM vs. Ladue

Boys’ Basketball Annual ORANGE-0UT game: 12/12 7:00PM vs. Lutheran South: Friday Night Lights 12/16 6:00PM at Westminster: Rivalry Game Returns to CHS 2/9 7:00PM vs. Ladue: PLAY BY PLAY

37

IMMORTALS

REVIEW

ACTION

Andrea Stiffelman

THE WAR AT HOME

THE CIVIL WAR IN MISSOURI MEREDITH MCMAHON There is nothing so personal, nor compel- lied heavily on slave labor. The exhibit explains ling, as something that pertains to our own how Missouri created an intrastate conflict by lives. sending armies and supplies to both sides.

As narcissistic as this notion seems, it exThe exhibit does not bore people with wellplains why the new exhibit “The Civil War in known factoids about the Civil War but instead Missouri” at the Missouri History Museum provides specific details and stories of soldiers strikes such a resonant chord in patrons. and politicians during the era. One can view the It is one thing to read about the Battle of war from the eyes of women and children, and Gettysburg and its staggering casualties from a explore the intricate history of battles and skirtextbook, but it is quite another to see a picture mishes in Missouri. of a street downtown (Locust Street) where a It was refreshing to have such a fine-tuned slave market once existed. view on a specific section of history because it Though many history textbooks skim over allowed patrons to fully absorb the complexity the Civil War in Missouri so much that many of the time without oversimplification. forget we were even involved, this exhibit The clean design of the exhibit was tastefully brings to the forefront a history that we, as Mis- and maturely done. Though the scarcity of insourians, cannot forget. teractive visuals and profusion of texts and artiThe exhibit is in chronological order, and facts points to the exhibit being geared towards it explains Missouri’s discordant attitudes to- adult tastes, the setting was appropriate. ward slavery. City dwellers favored Northern The background music added to the somber attitudes in higher tolerance of freed slaves, but mood, and the exhibit stood as an interesting the country and farms outside of St. Louis re- testimony to the rich history of our state. 

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REVIEW

DAVID ANDROPHY Tarsem Singh’s action thriller, “Immortals,” was most certainly the highlight action film that premiered before the holiday season. Singh didn’t gather the most star-studded cast, but Henry Cavill and Freida Pinto certainly lived up to expectations.

“Immortals” was 2011’s “300” (well, the closest thing to it) and the film provided the audience with plenty of blood and gore. Similar to “300,” the plot was based upon Greek mythology and the tale of the Theseus as he was handed the heavy task of fighting Hyperion and the titans.

Throughout the film, Thesues is driven by revenge after witnessing Hyperion murder his own mother.

With the help of the gods and Zeus (Luke Evans), Theseus (Cavill) engaged in an epic battle against the Heraklion King, Hyperion, (Mickey Rourke) after Hyperion declared war on Mount Olympus.

As the movie wares on the action and fighting intensified after Hyperion called upon the titans from Mount Tartarus to help him in his quest to slay the gods.

In my opinion, Immortals never lacked exciting fighting scenes, but, it had a predictable ending. Unfortunately for many movie viewers, the movie’s rated R. This will certainly limit the size of the audience, but it is hard on the director’s part to make a movie that has the computer graphics of “300” and isn’t rated R. 

Courtesy of IMDB

TOWER HEIST

ACTION COMEDY

AIDAN HAYWARD

Dreamworks-MCT

PUSS IN BOOTS ACTION COMEDY

MARIA MASSAD “Puss in Boots” was not the revolutionary movie of the century, nor was it particularly life-changing.

It is admittedly more of a children’s movie than a young adult’s typical flick.

However, “Puss in Boots” was an enjoyable, clever, and hilarious movie.

“Puss in Boots” is a prequel to the “Shrek” adventure films – the movie draws the character Puss in Boots from the “Shrek” movies.

The fashionable Spanish outlaw Puss (voiced

by Antonio Banderas) looks for magic beans to save his town from the demise he himself has caused.

Puss must team up with his ex-best friend Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifinakis) and his assistant-of-sorts Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) in order to do so.

The movie infuses traditional Mother Goose nursery rhymes with action and spontaneity.

Hilarity ensues as the trio takes to the road to steal the beans from Mr. and Mrs. Jack and Jill.

However, the real laughs come from one-liners sprinkled throughout the movie.

As usual, Dreamworks did not disappoint in the photography and animation. Unfortunately, 3D did not add anything special to the experience.

I would recommend “Puss in Boots” to anyone, regardless of age, because it is such a likable film. 

“Tower Heist” is a somewhat funny and power-casted movie starring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, and Casey Affleck. Stiller plays manager of the Tower Hotel Josh Kovacs New York City lodgings, reserved for the ultra-rich.

Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), the hotel’s wealthiest resident and employee pension investor, is exposed as a fraud and placed under house arrest.

Kovak determines to get even with Shaw for losing the employees’ money, assembling a team of unlikely individuals to attempt to steal 20 million dollars.

Eddie Murphy retains his hilarious personality while nearly overacting a professional thief named Slide.

Ben Stiller plays his usual role of the guy trying to do the right thing; he also has his funny moments. Alda does a great job of coming off as an evil, corrupted man.

The dialogue, however, seems forced and repetitive. The plot, while interesting, is almost too unrealistic. There are some flaws in the movie, but if the viewer can look past them, it is a satisfactory watch. 

Courtesy of IMDB

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 HORROR

JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

Courtesy of IMDB

2011, BARELY

“Paranormal Activity 3” is the third in the Paranormal series, but it is actually a prequel, allowing fans to “discover how the activity began.”

The film has surprisingly admirable acting, starring Chloe Csengery as Katie and Jessica Tyler Brown as Kristi Rey. They screech, scramble around the house, and cling to their parents.

The film also stars Christopher Nicholas Smith as Dennis, the mother’s boyfriend, who is a believable household guardian, setting up video cameras to document the activity. He lures the viewer in with his deep interest in and confidence of suspicious activity in their house.

The film is pretty straightforward as far as horror flicks go, with strange movements and noises – lights shaking and doors slamming: great for those looking for a good scare.

If you like being frightened then “Paranormal Activity” is one for you, but it is not one for younger audiences, or anyone else who would rather not become paranoid. 

It’s almost 2012 ere’s a sample of the movies that are sliding in just in time for the new year.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close | The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo | The Adventures of Tintin | The Iron Lady REVIEW

39

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the

Occupy Wall Street protests broke out in New York’s financial district in mid-September. Numerous offshoots of the movement have appeared across the country, sometimes leading to violent clashes with the police.

final installment of the Harry Potter movie series, shattered box office records after selling $476 million in tickets around the world opening weekend.

The film marked the end of what many know as a major part of their childhood.

The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA championship.

The 18-year-old “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was officially

repealed on Sept. 20.

Film & M us ic

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Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times/MCT

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IN RE V

Hashtags became the norm on social

media sites outside of Twitter.

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Britain’s Prince William, heir to the throne, married Kate Middleton. The ceremony was the first big British royal wedding to be streamed live on the web.

Osama bin Laden was killed by American military and C.I.A. operatives in Pakistan. On May 1, President Obama announced bin Laden’s death in a televised address to the nation. He said: “Justice has been done.”

The seven billionth person was born.

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REVIEW

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The Oprah Winfrey show’s last episode was one of the biggest moments in television history.

Wikileaks published about 134,000 leaked diplomatic

cables, triggering even more debate about the website.

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Charlie Sheen redefined the word “winning.”

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami on the northern coast of Japan. The resulting damage included leaks and explosions at nuclear power stations, leading to a state of nuclear emergency in the country.

Robert Durell/Los Angeles Times/MCT

The state of New York legalized gay marriage.

Breaking Dawn made

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$41.7 million over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Harold Camping, a broadcaster on an evangelical radio station, predicted the world would end on May 21. His prediction led many believers to sell their possessions in preparation for what they thought would be their Judgment Day.

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E VIEW

Rebecca Black’s Youtube video “Friday” went viral.

After ruling Libya for 42 years, Muammar el Qaddafi was killed by Libyan forces who had forced him from power. Parts of his violent death were recorded as cellphone video. After the killing, many Libyans celebrated the end of his dictatorship.

The year saw a great deal of extreme weather.

A tornado - the most deadly in over half a century - swept across the Midwest and South in May. Joplin, Missouri was especially hard-hit.

Ron T. Ennis/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT

REVIEW

41

KEEPING CONFIDENCE

The no-cut policy allows students to learn about the benefits of hard work without damaging their self-esteem.

JAKE BERNSTEIN

T

he argument surrounding the no-cut policy is a well-versed debate. Being a three-sport athlete and having participated at the freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels for multiple sports, I have seen the benefits of our no-cut policy. I have been in situations where the no-cut policy personally saved my roster spot and I have been in a situation where lesser-skilled players, who might be otherwise cut, hurt the focus of the team.

However, as Clayton is a public high school, the emphasis should be on the student body and giving each student the opportunity to participate.

Failure is a life lesson. But the life lesson does not need to be taught to freshman in high school that take a risk in trying out a new sport.

In fact, a life lesson can be taken away through the no-cut policy all the same.

Instead of booting lesser-skilled students from the team, allowing them to practice every day gives them motivation to improve.

Michael Jordan is the epitome of this: he was cut from his varsity team, but he was able to keep a spot on junior varsity, and, through hard work and positive encouragement, he blossomed into the greatest player of all time.

Failure can be taught in a far more healthy way through the no-cut policy.

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COMMENTARY

Resources specifically for athletics may be Clayton has proved time and again that delimited, but if the availability of extracurricular spite our small school size, we are able to comactivities helps students, the extra cost should pete successfully with larger schools and private not be a factor. schools with cut policies such as Ladue or John The high school’s mission statement says Burroughs. the goal is to “provide an exemplary academic The team standard of dedication and disciand extracurricular program that will guide pline is not affected by the cut policy; thus, the students in the development of the charac- team’s level of success is not drastically affected, ter, knowledge, skills, and intellectual curios- either. ity needed to contribute to the world around As established, participating in sports allows them.” The School District’s mission statement for character skills to be cultivated. Winning is is similar. not a necessity for these skills Clayton has proved time and to be taught.

Thus, if Clayton is Students who join a co-curagain that despite our small committed to ricular activity perform better school size, we are able to helping “all its academically. The Department compete with larger schools and of Education summarized rechildren” deschools with cut policies... cent studies in a brief on exvelop life skills through extratracurricular participation: curricular programs, it is nearly impossible to “Recent research suggests that participation defend a traditional cut policy. According to in extracurricular activities may increase sturesearch published by the University of Michi- dents’ sense of engagement or attachment to gan, sports help develop leadership skills. If the their school, and thereby decrease the likelidistrict hopes to see these skills in all students, hood of school failure and dropping out.” the district needs to be willing to commit the Academics are at the forefront of public eduresources to allow for all students to acquire cation and if extensive research supports that these skills. students involved in athletics perform better A further argument against no-cut is that academically, Clayton should continue to supthe team’s performance will suffer. No where in port and invest in the no-cut policy. Offering a the mission statement of Clayton High School no-cut policy promotes a cohesive learning endoes it mention athletic success in terms of vironment and helps achieve the goals of public winning and losing. education. 

Photo by Claire Bliss

CUTTING COMPETITION

The no-cut policy leaves students lacking the motivation to work hard and weakens teams’ overall performance.

DYLAN SCHULTZ

A

thletics take a back seat to academics at Clayton. The school boasts the academic prowess of its students in newsletters and even in banners in the commons.

While Clayton has the firepower in teachers and course selection to give students the ability to excel academically, the school lacks the size and athletic prestige to pool a large collection of talented athletes.

There are a few athletes who lead their respective sports to competitive seasons, but the success is fleeting when talented individuals remain for only four years. Allowing the lesstalented a chance at participating in a sport is a good plan for a school where the number of superior athletes outnumbers the less-thanathletic crowd, but this is definitely not the case at Clayton.

Most varsity teams here have more than a few players who do not even entertain the thought of playing in college. Due to their difference in ability, the student athletes that make varsity or junior varsity squads via the nocut policy can and does end up as a detriment to their teams, as well as to the Clayton athletics system as a whole.

One popular reason for a no-cut policy is to take kids off the streets and place them in structured programs where they will learn discipline

and hard work. Who can argue against the fact that kids would benefit from having structured activities that reduce the time they could spend making mistakes?

This claim, however, does not validate a nocut policy, especially at Clayton. In many popular sports, the teams have a tradition of strenuous off-season training and extensive practices to hone the skills of young athletes. These activities all occur before the actual games begin.

Student athletes who probably should not make the team would still get to experience the discipline and team atmosphere before being let go.

Instead, all the juniors and seniors who want to be on varsity during the season make the team automatically. This causes some to not try their hardest during workouts and practices, disrupting their own learning and the development of legitimate athletes around them.

The Clayton sport that has something nearest to a cut policy is the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams. Due to the format of tennis matches, teams can only consist of up to 10 players.

There are no in-game subs. There are no bench players to watch.

Only a select few make varsity during the season, and only six of those get to play in districts. This program seems exclusive and unfair to other athletes, but there is no doubt that it produces fantastic results.

The key to the tennis team’s success is that

it keeps the number of participants low. The coaches are able to give in-depth instruction to all the players, and there are not any distractions from players who aren’t willing to work.

The exclusivity of the team also provides the incentive to work hard and rise up to the varsity level. Competition ensures that the kids who make the team play at a high level and the kids who don’t still improve dramatically.

This phenomenon does not occur on the baseball squad because seniors know that they’ll be on varsity regardless of how they perform. Occasionally, the kids who don’t make varsity on the tennis team are upset. However, they don’t sink into a downwards spiral of negative emotion. They pick themselves up and work even harder so that they can achieve their goal the next season.

The no-cut policy at Clayton is a project that has run its course. The policy discourages competitive behavior, something that is valued greatly in American culture. Instead of allowing all who try out to participate, teams could be selective, granting the rejected the experience of dealing with failure and the free time to try to master a different activity.

The competitive attitude they learn from fighting for varsity spots will aid them tremendously in navigating their ways through the challenges life throws at them. It is time to reinstate an air of competitiveness in this school. It is time to abolish the Clayton no-cut policy.  COMMENTARY

43

SANTA AND THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT Santa is the highlight of Christmas season.

Dee L

ADAM SCHULTZ

FOOD STAMPS AND UN-HEALTHY DRINKS

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ach year during the holiday season, every Santa Claus-loving person thinks the same thing: What present am I’m going to get from Santa?

Even after kids grow up, and (spoiler alert) learn the non-existence of Santa Claus, they still think of happiness and joy when they hear the name Santa, and they think of their own children believing in Santa with smiles, even though one day they will have to tell them the truth.

Pretty much everyone has believed in Santa Claus at one point in their life - even people not of the Christian faith.

But the question is, would these same people who once believed in Santa still be themselves if they grew up without a jolly fictional figure in their lives? If they wouldn’t be themselves, should we be worried if we don’t teach our own children about Santa Claus?

Sure, most kids feel betrayed and deceived by their parents when they find out that Santa Claus isn’t real. But maybe they are better off lied to as children than non-believers.

There are many hypotheses on how a child could turn out when they were not led to believe in Santa Claus.

One is that a person may be less likely to think of great possibilities such as believing that someone could be launched into outer space, believe in a god, or believe in any aspect of science itself.

Santa Claus helps us make the impossible possible. Society wouldn’t be the same without the idea of never giving up and believing to be able to do what cannot be done, which is why Santa is so important to all of us.

As both a cultural and religous icon, Santa Clause has shaped society so greatly that not even words could describe his effect on familes and, in particular, small children.

Santa Claus keeps the people of this world jolly and fun. So when you grow up and have children of your own, the best thing you can do is scar your children for life and tell them that every year, Santa Claus is comin’ to town. Ho ho ho. 

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COMMENTARY

uo

A NY bill has proposed banning the purchase of un-healthy drinks with food stamps.

City public schools are overweight or obese,” Farley and Daines said. “The numbers are especially high in low-income neighborhoods.” illions of people live off of food The Agricultural Department denied this stamps. It is necessary that the request from the mayor, saying that it would government provide these provi- “perpetuate the myth” that all food stamp sions to people in need; however, the free- useres bought unhealthy foods. dom that comes with these food stamps is This decision was based on upholding the more dangerous than one might think when image of those who bought healthily and their used for un-healthy purchases. used food stamps a healthy way.

Health commissioners Thomas Farley Opposition to the proposal could lead and Richard F. Daines spoke out against food to future health problems. However, the stamps to the New York Times. proposal was about promoting health con“The program, which is supposed to pro- sciousness among those who can be inclined mote nutrition as well as reduce hunger has to buy unhealthy foods. a serious flaw: food Obesity-related stamps can be used diseases have acSome 57 percent of adults and counted for over to buy soda and 40 percent of children [in NY 8 million dollars, other sweetened drinks,” Daines and City] are overweight or obese. however, restricFarley said. tions could lower Last year, the NY this.

T. Farley and R. Daines Mayor Bloomberg Restricting the NY Health Commissioners purchase of soda proposed a bill banning the purchase of with food stamps is un-healthy drinks with food stamps. a necessity due to the rising rates of health “In spite of the great gains we’ve made problems. over the past eight years in making our comAdditionally, restricting the purchase of munities healthier, there are still two areas un-healthy drinks could potentially encourwhere we’re losing ground — obesity and age more people to refer to more healthy opdiabetes,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said to tions.

the New York Times.

“At the least, it would ensure that food There is a debate whether or not this stamps wouldn’t subsidize, in the name of health-promoting bill is ehtical. nutrition, a product that causes obesity and “Some 57 percent of adults in New York a lifetime of health problems,” said Farley City and 40 percent of children in New York and Daines. 

ARYA YADAMA

M

BY THE NUMBERS 95% According to the industry federation, 95 percent of the music downloaded through the Internet is pirated.

93%

According to Nationmasters.com, the highest rate of software piracy is in Armenia with 93 percent.

Dee Luo

OFF THE PLANK PIRACY GOES supposed to be all about?

The enforcement, however, is brutal, poorly conceived, and open to abuse. To deny user achat is “piracy”? The term is thrown cess to offending sites, the bill would permit left and right in today’s volatile Internet service providers to screen the data to commercial climate. Industry de- and from user computers in order to identify fines piracy as copyright infringement, most those sites. In essence, surveillance of users. commonly referring to the streaming or transOne would be hard-pressed to find legitifer of copyrighted music and films via the In- mate rationale for censorship of a user-genternet. erated network like the Internet. It is, at its On Oct. 26, Representative Lamar Smith of heart, a form of communication. We have our Texas introduced the Stop Online Piracy Act privacy.

(SOPA) to the US House of Representatives.

We are assured that in America, the land Ostensibly, the bill’s purpose is to fight Inter- of the free, nobody will be watching us every net copyright violawaking moment, Protecting American businesses-- recording and judgtion and correspondisn’t that what Congress is ing our actions. Yet ingly increase film and music industry revesupposed to be all about? with SOPA, service nue. Not surprisingly, providers could go the Motion Picture Association of America through your Internet history, your site visits, (MPAA) and Recording Industry Association of and regulate what sites you could visit.

America (RIAA) are ardent backers of the bill.

YouTube, Facebook, Google, Yahoo - the The intentions are admirable and decisive: list goes on. These sites could all face orders SOPA would empower copyright holders to to heavily censor user content and remove request court orders to deny user access to millions of instances of copyrighted material. offending sites (presumably containing copy- However, SOPA also holds sites liable if their righted content) and even remove the sites structure enables copyright infringement, any from the Internet entirely. Protecting Ameri- site that permits the upload of user-generated can businesses - isn’t that what Congress is content falls foul of this line. 

STAFF EDITORIAL

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#107

According to Nationmasters.com, U.S ranks #107 and has the lowest rate of software piracy with a percentage of 20 percent.

$9.52 BILLION Business Software Alliance reported last year that the U.S topped other countries with the loss of $9.52 billion to piracy.

$59 BILLION According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the value of pirated software worldwide increased by 14 percent to $59 billion.

4/5

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, in China, almost four out of five programs in use are pirated. Piracy represents a problem for companies such as Microsoft Corp.

COMMENTARY

45

CURTAIN CALL

SPEND NO CASH

A COUNTER-REVOLUTION MOVEMENT

Is commercialism taking over the holiday spirit? Micah Johnson, a Spanish teacher at CHS, shares his thoughts on “Buy Nothing Day.” [By Parker Schultz] Paul Lisker

Q: How do you view Black Friday Spending?

Q: Who started the Buy Nothing Day movement?

A: Black Friday for me is kind of the bell ringing for the season of commercialism; it’s the season of buying stuff, and not necessarily buying things that we need - but just buying to buy. I like to practice restraint, and, if possible, buy nothing.

A: It’s a movement promoted by Adbusters, which is also behind the Occupy Wall Street movement. For years, they’ve been promoting Buy Nothing Day on Black Friday as an alternative for the many people who also felt that the consumerism of the holiday spirit was kind of taking away from what the season was really about: family, coming together, and giving thanks.

Q: When did you first think about not spending?

A: It was probably when I started to really think about where my money goes. Basically, if you’ve got a business model, and you’re selling me a cup of coffee for two dollars, and I give you two dollars for that cup of coffee, I’m not only giving you the two dollars for the coffee, but I’m also saying “Good luck in your business!” I had to start being a little more careful about where those dollars went, because every dollar spent is a vote.

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CURTAIN CALL

Q: Are there any flaws with Buy Nothing Day? A: The Buy Nothing Movement overlooks the fact that there are good ways to spend your money. We can choose more wisely where we spend and how we spend, and we can choose to reinvest in our local economy by buying local. So if I want a book, I can choose to buy it on Amazon, or I can go to a local bookstore and keep that money in St. Louis.