Globe Newsmagazine September 2014, Issue 2, Vol. 86

THE

GLOBE Issue 2, Volume 86

EYES ON FERGUSON

CLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL, CLAYTON, MO.

SEPTEMBER 2014

Weekday special- All Day Family Meal Deal Monday-Thursday 16” 2 topping pizza Large House Salad 12” one topping $8.99 Large order of Toasted Ravioli $21.99 Football Special- All Day Saturday and Sundays 16” 2 topping pizza I pound of wings Large order of Toasted Ravioli $23.99

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0 3 8 008 NEWS Schwelcome back

028 SPORTS Fall sports preview

043 COMMENTARY Scheduling conflicts

Notice a familiar face in the halls? That face likely belongs to Alex Schwent, Clayton’s newest math teacher.

It’s that time again - with the school year in full swing, Clayton sports are back and ready to dominate.

With Clayton’s heavy emphasis on course rigor, sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back and stop worrying over the details.

016 FEATURE All the world’s a stage

032 REVIEW Clayton arts fair

047 Q&A Don’t gloss over Glossy

Ever noticed St. Louis streets being closed off at night? It was likely due to a production of Shakespeare in the Streets.

The streets of downtown Clayton were closed on Sept. 5-7 for the annual St. Louis Art Fair.

Daniel Glossenger has returned to teaching at Clayton after teaching at Marquette High School for several years.

contents

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THE

GLOBE Issue 2, Volume 86

EYES ON FERGUSON

CLAYTON HIGH SCHOOL, CLAYTON, MO.

editors-in-chief

SEPTEMBER 2014

emily braverman patrick butler

nicole beliz

ashley chung

zach bayly

sophie berstein

matthew coco

jeffrey friedman

bridget boeger

alaina curran

peter schmidt

gabrielle boeger

neil docherty

charles brennan

beatrice engel

noah brown

noah engel

daniel cho

andrew erblich

lucy cohen

felix evans

emma ebeling

anna pakrasi

brian gatter

alexis schwartz

peter indovino

leah shaffer

joan kim

katherine sleckman

nisha klein

katharina spear

nicholas lee

benjamin tamsky

benjamin litteken

cosima thomas

natalie miller

katie warnusz-steckel

alex bernard

max steinbaum rachel bluestone jeffrey cheng lemuel lan

distribution editor lawrence hu

reporters

business manager

richard simon

photo editor

noah engel

editors

sophie allen

nikki seraji

grace harrison

mitali sharma

sierra hieronymus

micaela stoner

audrey holds

amy tishler

camille respess

karena tse

zachary sorensen

neel vallurupalli

helen tomasson

ashleigh williams

albert wang

tara williams

UPFRONT

photographers

lily brown

kevin rosenthal

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phoebe yao sophia barnes

rebecca polinsky

webmaster

Cover Photo By: Noah Engel

elise yang

marina henke

copy editor

GLOBE

peter baugh gwyneth henke

senior managing editors

section editors

THE

elizabeth ngyen olivia reuter harry rubin

graphics editor

audrey palmer

graphic artists

cherry tomatsu victoria yi

foreign correspondent peter shumway

adviser

erin castellano

FROM THE EDITOR

During the school day the Globe office is a bustling crossroads. A few scattered seniors eat lunch in the back of the room, while beginning freshmen learn what exactly a news article looks like. People print out essays and hone-in on font sizes for the upcoming issue.

Despite the urgency of upcoming deadlines or the cantankerous nature of a computer software, students rarely seem to be more at ease as within the walls of the newspaper office. Grade lines blur, and even the youngest students instantly become a member of the team.

Our love of the Globe comes from our love of the community.

As a staff, we talk about the camaraderie of the newspaper often. What worries many of us is that the vast majority of CHS students do not have a similar community within the school. Too many of our peers feel driftless and out of touch with their own student body.

Having a place where we belong should not place us in a minority. By walking through the doors every morning, all should enter into a place where they feel part of the process.

Although administrator’s decisions play a role in the formation of a strong community, the process of making our high school a more unified place goes beyond that. The foundation of a strong community comes from small actions.

So smile at people in the hallways. Know the names of your classmates. Recognize when a careless joke morphs into a back-handed insult.

In classes we learn how to write well and think critically. Many of us can whip out an in-class-essay without missing a beat, and still have the energy for a two-period long chemistry lab. But when the period is over, and we make our way to our next class, how many people put their head down and pass by fellow peers who could deeply use a “hello”?

This issue of the Globe explores the varying perspectives on the Ferguson shooting.

However polarized this crisis has become, the undying belief from all of those involved is that a strong community makes for less contention. As we demand for city-wide, and even nation-wide change, to create more unified groups of people, let’s take a moment and make sure our daily actions echo what we insist for others. 

Marina Henke, News Section Editor

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. We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement - 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@claytonschools.net Professional Affiliations: Sponsors of School Publications . Missouri Interscholastic Press Association . Missouri Journalism Education Association . National Scholastic Press Association . Columbia Scholastic Press Association

August 2014: Ferguson, Missouri

Protestors holding signs outside Greater Grace Church in Ferguson, where Al Sharpton was speaking, following the fatal shooting of unarmed teen Mike Brown.

Photo by Justin Seiwell

He Came and Schwent A new addition to the CHS math department Photo by Katie Warnusz Steckel

by HARRY RUBIN

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layton’s newest teacher isn’t exactly new to the school.

Alex Schwent, a first year teacher in the math department spent most of the second semester of the 2013-2014 year as a student teacher in Katelyn Long’s Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry (HAT) class.

In the third quarter of 2014, Schwent sat in the back of Long’s room and watched as she taught. He observed silently, but his presence was noticed by the students.

“Mr. Schwent sat in the back of the class for a few weeks watching,” sophomore Victor Xie said, one of Schwent’s students. “From the first time he walked in the classroom, I could tell he was cool.”

During the final quarter, the teachers swapped - Schwent taught the class while Long watched.

“I had a great time watching him start his career in teaching,” teacher Katelyn Long said. “Through the short time he spent in my classroom he earned respect and admiration from each class.”

During the time he spent teaching, Schwent graded tests and taught HAT lessons completely on his own.

“Mr. Schwent taught me a lot last year,” sophomore Ben Schneider, a student in Long’s HAT class, said.

After May, however, most students expected to never see Schwent again.

“It was kind of crazy,” Schwent said. “We got into the summer, and there wasn’t a position available. As I understand it, Mrs. Felps moved into the instructional coordinator role, which opened the door for a math position.”

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As soon as he found out about the open math position, Schwent applied and interviewed for a job. When he was then offered the job, Schwent also had a pending offer from another school. He chose Clayton.

“I realized I really liked Clayton through my student teaching and I thought it would be the best fit for me,” Schwent said. “I really like everyone in the math department and I love how independent the students are allowed to be.”

What set Clayton apart from other schools for Schwent was how the open campus lets the students be independent and gives the school a college campus feel, which he feels is positive for teachers and students.

Schwent has wanted to be a math teacher since 2010, his senior year of high school at Lindbergh. “I liked math, so I wanted to be an engineer, but when I started tutoring, I realized that helping and teaching was what I liked and was what I wanted as my career.”

Since starting his new job, Schwent has done well adjusting from being a student teacher to a real math teacher. He now teaches five classes a day: three college prep geometry classes and two algebra classes.

“Teaching all these classes is a lot of work,” Schwent said, “but luckily my student teaching went well and I knew how much work there is to put into it. I haven’t had any major issues yet. I try to make sure my class knows what to expect.”

So far, Schwent’s students know to expect a good and calm teacher, and they’re looking forward to the coming year.

“I’m very excited to be here and I hope I have a bright future ahead,” Schwent said. 

(Left) Senior Zach Bayly high fives a participant at the VolunTEEN soccer camp. (Above) Junior Bebe Engel assists during a basketball camp.

Photos from VolunTEENnation.

VolunTEENnation Clayton High School offers a way to give back.

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very kid should try to get involved in their community and give back,” Clayton junior Jane Gillette said. Gillette and Abigail Lewis, also a junior at CHS, are the founders of the VolunTEENnation club. The club is a chapter of a national organization called VolunTEENnation, which was created by two CHS alumni.

VolunTEENnation is a national non-profit organization that helps teens find volunteer opportunities, create service projects and explore ways to make a difference in their communities. The site has over 8,500 volunteer opportunities across the nation. More than 78,500 students nationwide have found opportunities on the site. VolunTEENnation also gives users the ability to access grants and scholarship listings.

The VolunTEENnation club at CHS is focused on spreading the mission of the organization by getting young people involved in service.

“I wanted to create this club so that we could connect VoulunTEENnation back to the school, even after I graduate,” Gillette said. “I also want to raise awareness for this organization.”

During the course of the school year, the club hopes to help teens find a place were they can volunteer and organize service projects. Lewis explained the importance of volunteering.

“Service is a great way for students to reach out to parts of the com-

by SOPHIE BERNSTEIN munity that we may otherwise not be involved with,” Lewis said. “It’s a great way to spread some of the great opportunities we receive at Clayton to others.”

The club brainstormed a variety of service project ideas. Possible projects for the club include organizing sports clinics for youth on the Autism spectrum, building gardens at low income preschools and food banks, hosting a volunteer fair and cleaning up a park.

The club plans to team up with organizations such as Autism Speaks, the Mid-County YMCA and the Center of Clayton. Additionally, they plan to partner with many CHS sports teams to organize clinics for youth on the Autism Spectrum.

In the past, students at CHS have partnered with VolunTEENnation to host several service projects, but with the creation of this club, Gillette and Lewis hope to get more students involved in service initiatives throughout the year.

Lewis and Gillette want students to know that the VolunTEENnation Club is going to be a lot of fun and a good way to get more involved in the community.

To learn more about the VolunTEENnation Club, the founders suggest coming to a meeting, which take place Friday mornings at 7:30 a.m. in room 107. 

News

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ON

CAPITOL

by NICK LEE

Last January, when Clayton High School junior Henry Brown walked into the U.S. Capitol building, he had no idea that he would be spending his summer there.

Brown was on a school field trip in Washington, D.C. called “Close Up”, which was organized by history teacher Josh Meyers. Upon their arrival to the Capitol, the group of CHS students found the Senate chamber gallery to be deserted, except for three teenagers. Brown, curious, leaned over to Meyers and asked, “Who are those people? Can I do that? That’s a really cool job.”

Those three teenagers were senate pages, or high school juniors who had been appointed to assist in the correspondence between senators.

Brown returned from D.C. determined to become a part of the Senate

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Page Program.

Shortly after Brown submitted his application for the coming summer, he was nominated by Senator Claire McCaskill, approved by Secretary of Senate Nancy Erickson and ultimately appointed to one of the 41 summer senate page positions.

As a page, Brown’s daily life consisted of delivering mail, bills, resolutions and other federal documents. But the pages were also required to take tests over their knowledge of the government in order to determine who was the better page.

“I was one of the top ranked pages, so I was allowed to do things that other pages weren’t necessarily allowed to do,” Brown said. “I was able to deliver executive orders.”

of police officers that he had grown friendly with over the summer. One particular officer stopped all traffic at an intersection, including a representative’s motorcade, allowing only the pages to pass through.

Upon arriving at the Capitol, Brown and his friends decided to relieve the page.

They worked for another four hours, during which Brown remembers hearing debates over pressing issues including immigration and Israel.

Despite all of the political drama he was able to witness that night, Brown’s favorite memory was a moment of solitude. “Right before we let out, I walked into the Rotunda, and no one was there,” Brown said. “It was absolutely dead quiet, I just walked in there and I stopped and looked around and I got to see the most amazing room in the world, just by myself.”

In addition to the memories and relationships he made, Brown believes he made a difference during his time as a page. “I was able to serve my country, and that service was probably the most rewarding thing,” Brown said. 

Throughout the four weeks he spent as a page, Brown’s work required him to interact with many of Washington D.C.’s politicians.

During these encounters, Brown said his perception of politicians changed positively.

“They’re not as evil as people think they are,” Brown said. “I think a lot of them truly want the best for the country.”

As he encountered people with different beliefs, Brown gained a better understanding of the value in respecting different opinions.

“Sometimes it’s better to just listen and not talk and start an argument,” he said.

Brown also acquired valuable workforce experience during his time. “When you’re working, you don’t matter,” Brown said. “Your personal feelings don’t matter, what’s going on in your life doesn’t matter, what matters is getting your job done effectively, and quickly.”

Although the pages were required to work long hours with few breaks, Brown felt the overall experience was extremely rewarding.

The night before the senate was supposed to let out for their break, Brown was at a restaurant with some friends.

“While there, we look on the news and we see C-SPAN,” Brown said. “I see that some other pages have been there for over 12 hours at that point and no food, no drink, nothing.”

Brown and his friends decided to relieve the pages and so they left, running to the Capitol. Along the way, Brown saw a number

(Left) Brown with Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. (Right) Brown with his Senate Page Class. (Photos from Henry Brown) news

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he utors

by KARENA TSE

CHS students start tutoring program for 5th grade Normandy transfer students over the summer.

Sophomore Anisa Buttar-Miller and a team of six other volunteers from CHS spent the month of July in an overheated classroom with a group of rowdy fifth graders.

“It was amazing and surprising. Definitely beyond anything I expected,” Buttar-Miller said about the experience.

Last spring, she got the idea to organize a program within the Normandy Collaborative summer school program. After weeks of planning and discussion, Buttar-Miller, Sharmon Wilkinson, the superintendent of the Clayton School District, and Ty McNichols, the superintendent of the Normandy School District, reached a solid plan for a program that would take place during the month of July. Volunteers from CHS would work with a group of Normandy students who were struggling academically to help them further develop basic math, reading and writing skills.

The idea didn’t come out of nowhere.

Buttar-Miller has always wanted to help out, and she thought Normandy was a great place to start. “I wanted to make a difference in the community, but Clayton’s pretty good in almost every way, so I branched out a bit and saw all the problems at Normandy,” she said.

There was no time to waste. The idea was barely out of the developmental stages when she had to start recruiting volunteers. The process was informal and a little bit chaotic. “Everything

was last minute,” Buttar-Miller said.

But it didn’t take long to get together a team of enthusiastic volunteers, many of which were already interested in working with kids, like junior Melanie Villani. “I’ve had experience working with less privileged kids in the city before, and I really enjoyed it,” Villani said.

Others, like sophomore Tessa O’Bryan, simply thought it sounded like a good way to spend their time and decided to get involved. “I just really like to be around kids. It seemed like fun, and I didn’t have anything planned, so I was like, ‘Why not?’” she said.

Buttar-Miller is very grateful for the six volunteers who stepped forward. “None of it would’ve happened without them,” she said.

None of the volunteers knew exactly what they were getting into. Technicalities, like the number of kids from Normandy participating and how the program would fit into their schedule among their other classes, were still being worked out. Some days, the volunteers would show up to find that two kids that had been coming to the sessions would not be coming back and that three new kids would be coming for the rest of the month. The next day, one of those three kids might decide to stop coming altogether. Keeping track of them proved to be no easy task. “We just had to see who was there that day, and what they felt like doing,” O’Bryan said.

“It was always a surprise.”

However, the challenges extended far beyond attendance issues.

Oftentimes the volunteers and the Normandy students disagreed over viewpoints that they were not used to having challenged. A significant cause of conflict was the issue of homophobic slurs, which a few kids would use to make fun of each other without realizing the weight of their

He’s a great kid, just without a lot of resources.

- Buttar-Miller

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words. Villani found this particularly troubling. “I wasn’t really sure how to deal with the slurs. They really affected me on a personal level,” Villani said.

Instead of seeing this as a problem, the volunteers saw it as a learning opportunity. One afternoon, when one student called his classmate “gay” after multiple warnings, Buttar-Miller promptly grabbed a dictionary from the nearest shelf and had him look up the meaning of the word. He was surprised by what he read. “I think it worked,” Buttar-Miller said, laughing.

The kids were not just limited in their views on issues like the meaning of the word “gay.” They also lacked certain essential learning resources such as specialists and supplementary programs during the school year. Some of them had learning disabilities that had not been addressed.

Travis, a student with whom Buttar-Miller worked, wanted to become a doctor, but wasn’t sure how to. If the system wasn’t so [messed up], he would do so much with his potential, but, as it is, he doesn’t think he can be a doctor. He’s a great kid, just without a lot of resources,” Buttar-Miller said.

The common goal of pushing the kids past their limitations was the driving force behind the program. There were bumps in the

road and more than few unexpected challenges but the combined effort of the tutors and the students allowed for a gratifying experience for all who participated. Many of the volunteers can pinpoint the moment when they realized the meaning of what they were doing.

“At the very end of the program, we asked the kids if they’d want to be a part of a similar tutoring program during the year. Most of them said they would be interested, even the kids we were sure we weren’t getting through to,” Villani said. “A couple were really excited about the prospect of us coming back. That moment was really gratifying for me. It was great to know what we were doing wasn’t a complete waste.”

One moment that all of the volunteers shared was reading a note that a few of the students left for them. Just a few short sentiments scribbled on a whiteboard in the corner of the room, an afterthought. But it meant more to the volunteers than the kids would know.

The note read, “Thank you for teaching us a lot. Bye and thank you. Good luck.” 

From left: Anisa Buttar-Miller, Tessa O’Bryan. They were two of the tutors in the summer program. (Photos by Bebe Engel.)

ch E cK ma t e A look into the development of St. Louis as one of the top chess cities in the world.

Between August and September, St. Louis became a part of chess history. From Aug. 27 to Sept. 7, six of the world’s greatest chess Grandmasters converged on the St. Louis Chess Club in the Central West End for the Sinquefield Cup — the highest rated chess tournament of all time.

For a short period of 10 days, St. Louis became the center of an international spectacle. But while this intense level of fame may be new to St. Louis, the game of chess certainly is not.

The World Chess Hall of Fame fits in perfectly with the cobbled streets

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by PETER SCHMIDT and shady sidewalks of the Central West End. However, that is not to say that it doesn’t catch the eye. The Hall’s red brick façade is framed by an ornate black and white wooden trim — a color scheme that reflects the massive chessboard below the building’s entrance.

At any given time of day, cigar-smoking seniors, curious pedestrians and caffeinated patrons of the nearby Coffee Cartel can be found pinning, skewering and forking the three-foot tall rooks and bishops around the giant board.

But the defining landmark of the Hall of Fame is also its most ostentatious: a 14.5 foot tall wooden chess piece that commands the attention of anyone passing through the Maryland intersection of the Central West End. Just across the street is the home of the St. Louis Chess Club. Financed in 2008 by philanthropist Rex Sinquefield, the formation of the club represented St. Louis’ entry into the chess world. The club now has over 1000 members.

Chess Associate Nic Weiss of the St. Louis Chess Club described his personal philosophy towards the value of chess in the community.

“I feel like chess is about expression and the ability to say things that don’t have to be said because you just make a move. Your focus gets put entirely onto one thing and to express yourself with one move [or] another. I think it’s very eloquent,” he said.

Accordingly, the Club’s mission is to bring chess to the St. Louis community.

“We do scholastic chess, teaching in schools and we also have events out at the botanical gardens, the zoo [and] the ballpark,” Weiss said. “So we go out and about throughout the city to spread chess and put it out there.”

Just three years following the birth of the Chess

Club, the World Chess Hall of Fame opened its doors across the street.

Since then, the Hall has hosted all the performance art, exhibits and competitions that the world of chess has to offer.

On Monday, Sept. 3, the hall was illuminated by the light of 512 candles, each representing a certain piece or player across 16 chess boards.

The event was called Burning Boards, a performance piece conceived by artist Glenn Kaino.

Hall of Fame attendant Matt Venker described the spectacle, saying, “You can tell which piece is which by the size of the candle and nothing else, so while you’re playing, the candles are burning down and it becomes kind of difficult to tell which piece is which.”

Because Burning Boards occurred in the middle of the Sinquefield Cup, it involved some of the greatest chess players in the world. One amateur and one professional were assigned to each board, resulting in an unusual competitive dynamic.

“A professional chess player could be humbled by blowing out his own king or knocking over his own piece accidentally,” Venker said.

But as the candles burned low and the board disappeared beneath a swirling film of melted wax, the game began to feel more like a conversation than a confrontation.

“Burning Boards … [has] this sense of reflection on chess not as a game of competition but more as a collaborative effort between the two people that are playing as well as the audience… The point isn’t so much of winning as it is having a good time,” Venker said.

Meanwhile, the artistic expression and pacific symbolism of Burning Boards could not have made a starker contrast with the battle ensuing across the street.

This year was the second annual version of the Sinquefield Cup, a tournament named for the St. Louis Chess Club’s benefactor. It brought together six chess grandmasters, including the current world champion,

Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.

In order to accommodate and broadcast the spectacle, the St. Louis Chess Club transformed for ten days into a production studio. Weiss described the frantic excitement of the event, more closely resembling a Super Bowl broadcast than a quiet intellectual match.

“Grandmaster Maurice Ashley stands up here,” he says, gesturing to a podium amid the tangled cords and forest of camera tripods, “and he’s like John Madden going through the games and drawing lines on the board.”

Fans flocked from across St. Louis, eager to watch the superstars of chess clash across three boards.

“People would come in here, fifty, seventy five, a hundred people standing shoulder to shoulder just watching the players play. It was a pretty incredible sight to see,” Weiss said.

After days of playing, the $100,000 prize went to Fabiano Caruana, the 22 year old Italian player with a record of 7-0.

Although the tournament is over, St. Louis has firmly established its role as a worldwide leader of chess.

Weiss and the members of the St. Louis Chess Club are optimistic about the future of chess in St. Louis “This is not just a big deal for St. Louis, this is a big deal for America,” he said. “It’s not only rare for the world of chess to have a tournament of this strength—it was the highest rated tournament of all time—but it’s especially rare for this tournament to be taking place on American soil. St. Louis was recently named the ‘Chess Capital of the United States…’

We’ve got the key to the city, we’ve got Congress saying that we’re the chess capital and players have started to come here to take advantage of it.” 

“People would come in here, fifty, seventy five, a hundred people standing shoulder to shoulder just watching the players play.”

- Nic Weiss

Various chess boards at the St. Louis Chess Club. (Photos by Emily Braverman) feature

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All The Street’s A Stage A Saint Louis-wide initiative to bring theater to the streets.

by Alex Bernard

“It’s a great celebration of our

community,” Clayton High School Drama teacher Kelley Weber said regarding “Good in Everything,” a show recently written and revolving around the lives of Clayton residents.

The show is modeled after William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” written in the 1700s. The play contains contemporary English interspersed with Shakespearean language, which is used to express heightened emotion in the show.

“Good in Everything” is the third production of Shakespeare in the Streets, a sect of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. Each fall, a different community is represented by a play written to fit the structure of a play

by Shakespeare. The first production, which took place in 2012, was set on Cherokee Street, and last year’s show featured The Grove. The plays are performed right on the streets of St. Louis; however, the sets are packed up during the day to allow for regular traffic flow.

The idea for Shakespeare in the Streets (SITS) was formed by the original executive director of the program, Rick Dildine. Dildine noticed that several streets in St. Louis were blocked off, and was told the cause of these closings was the crime in the neighborhood.

“He started to think, ‘What if we made a statement and, instead of blocking streets off for crime, we blocked them off for art?’” said ‘Good in Everything’ director Alec Wild. “His idea was to shut down streets in the name of art and create togetherness.”

“Good in Everything,” which opened Sept. 17, 2014, was written by playwright Nancy Bell. Bell and Wild worked for months on the content of the show before beginning work on the acting itself. A few short months after the end of ‘Old Hearts Fresh,’ a play about the Grove based off of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” Bell and Wild began to study the Clayton community.

“We go into the neighborhood for six or seven months. We meet as many people as we can. We talk to them, we record them, we ask them questions,” Wild said. “We try and embed ourselves in the community as much as possible.”

To Wild, community is the most important part of the SITS project.

Without the support SITS has received from St. Louis, the show would neither be attended nor funded. The shows are free, which is one factor

that draws many people to see them. “Theater, in this day and age, is really for rich people, really for white people, really for people who can afford it,” Wild said. “So, I think it’s important that we bring, first of all, theatre to people, and second of all, that we tell those people’s stories. It’s not a matter of, we’re going to take Shakespeare’s 400 year old play to Clayton, and ask people to listen to it. We’re actually taking their story and making their stories into a play.”

The stories in the St. Louis community are not always picture-perfect, and the Shakespeare in the Streets production does not portray them to be perfect. Bell does not shy away from difficult subject matter; in fact, she bases the plot line on controversies that arise in the featured communities. “[Bell’s] a great tackler of big issues, about race or sexuality, while at the same time remaining deeply funny and true,” Wild said.

Junior Adam Treutelaar, who appeared as Charles, a gay jock “archetype,” as Treutelaar described the role, agreed. “It’ll be good to have those types of things in a setting that’s more laid back,” Treutelaar said. “You don’t feel like you’re being preached to.”

Treutelaar initially heard about the project in the spring of 2014, when Bell and Wild came to CHS to look for inspiration. “The people from the Shakespeare festival came and talked to us,” Treutelaar said. “They decided that the high school was one of the most diverse communities we have here in Clayton, so they talked to us about the high school and the way that life works here.”

Bell and Wild also sat in on CHS theater classes. From these sit-ins came the creation of the character Kelly Dukes, who was shaped by teacher Kelley Weber. “I’m actually playing a role that was written for me.

I’m sort of playing myself,” Weber said. “The kids here at school call me KDubs, and in the play they call me KDukes. So, it’s not the biggest acting challenge I’ve ever had, but there is something challenging about playing someone so close to you. It’s fun.”

Treutelaar did not hear about the show again until he was approached

by Weber. He was initially hesitant to make the show work with his already busy schedule, but “a little bit of pressure from Ms. Weber helped me realize that it’s doable, it’s just hard,” Treutelaar said.

Treutelaar, who attends his zero-hour, show hoir, four mornings a week and has either soccer practice or a game every day after school, did not struggle to fit the show into his schedule. The challenge was find-

“What if we made a statement and, instead of blocking streets off for crime, we blocked them off for art?” - Alec Wild

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Photo by © J David Levy).

ing time to do homework. “[Rehearsal is] probably every other night,” Treutelaar said, “And we also have to do homework at some point,” like at 5:30 in the morning, what has become Treutelaar’s habitual time for school work.

“Good in Everything” is the first professional production in which Treutelaar has been involved; although, he has been active in theatre productions both at Wydown Middle School and CHS. Treutelaar represents a portion of the cast that comes from the Clayton community, an element that is vital to the creation of SITS. Wild said that for casting, a task which he considers to be “90 percent of [his] job,” he holds two audition sessions: one for professional actors and one for community members interested in theater. Wild’s goal is to create a cast of half professionals and half members of the neighborhood of interest, a mission that was successful in the casting of “Good in Everything.”

“A lot of rehearsal is about the professionals tutoring the non-professionals about how to act, what rehearsal behavior is like and how to do things on stage,” Wild said. “On the other hand, you also have the people from Clayton who are sort of tutoring all of us about what Clayton’s really like.”

Because there are always Clayton citizens at the rehearsal, Bell has continuous feedback on the authenticity of her script. Although much of the script came from direct recordings of people from Clayton, “The actors will have things to say about it,” Wild said. “‘Well, I don’t know that I’d do that,’ the people from Clayton might say. With their input, the play actually changes.”

For Wild, the greatest part of directing the show is seeing the two very different groups interact.

“That mix of energy is the greatest thing about the project,” Wild said.

“That’s the real reason for me to be there. That process of two groups teaching each other is very exciting and fruitful.”

Wild and Bell are already looking ahead to their 2015 project, which will be set in North City.

“Rick [Dildine], the executive director, [has a] mission to go into every single neighborhood in St. Louis,” Wild said. “The point is to get to everything, so I guess that Clayton was third on the list.” 

Adam Treutelaar takes center stage in “Good in Everything” (Photo by © J David Levy).

feature

17

EYES ON FERGUSON

the beginningS of change

On Aug. 9, 2014, Michael Brown, an 18-yearold African-American student, was shot unarmed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting took place roughly eight miles north of Clayton. In response, a wave of riots and protests swept across Ferguson, St. Louis and America, forcing citizens and the government to begin to address the racial tensions which continue to simmer within the nation. BY GWYNETH HENKE

with reporting by Lawrence Hu

I. Introduction In the weeks since Brown’s death, thousands of news sources and individuals have speculated over the exact circumstances of the event, picking apart unknown questions such as whether or not Brown fought, which way Brown was facing when he fell and how quickly Wilson discharged his weapon during the altercation.

Ultimately, however, discussions over the facts of the shooting itself are largely futile.

The incident went unrecorded and the moments leading up to Brown’s death are unclear.

Because of this, one cannot fully analyze Wilson’s motivations or Brown’s actions without a note of uncertainty and conjecture.

What can be said, however, is that the tensions and conflicts that have been brought to light by the Ferguson shooting and resulting protests represent the culmination of years of geographic, educational and socioeconomic segregation within St. Louis and the effect that this segregation has had on its inhabitants and community.

In this look into the Ferguson crisis, four stories will be told. Each story shows one role experienced during the movement and how it was impacted by the shooting. They offer unique viewpoints that are essential to consider when forming an opinion and a response to the tragedy that has taken place next door. Furthermore, each experience provides St. Louis residents and citizens of America with powerful lessons in empathy, bravery and change.

II. The Resident “You fear for your life when you see a cop, when they should be here to protect you; you know that they’re not really there for your best interests,” Maalik Shakoor, a 2014 Clayton High School graduate, said.

Shakoor grew up in Baden, Missouri, a district adjacent to Ferguson, and was living there when Brown was shot. Outraged by Brown’s death and exasperated by years of experiencing inequality and racism firsthand, Shakoor, an African-American student at Webster University, quickly joined the rallies and protests filling his neighborhood.

Shakoor participated in a variety of protests, some more successful than others. Immediately after the shooting, much of the community response was fueled by an overwhelming sense of anger and disbelief.

“There is anger because as a black community we are thinking, ‘We’re not valuable. They still think that they can kill us in the middle of the street and people can get away with it,’” Shakoor said.

Although strong feelings of outrage continue to pervade the movement throughout its entirety, as time passed, protesters increasingly began to feel a duty to their growing global voice and presence.

“We felt angry initially, but as the movement started to gain more awareness I felt like we needed to lead by example,” Shakoor recalled. “Right now, all eyes are on St. Louis. It is kind of a beautiful thing in the wake of a sad moment.”

For Shakoor, this chance at voicing his experiences is long overdue.

Throughout his entire life, Shakoor has had to face daily reminders of America’s racial inequality, from the way people speak to him to the warnings he’s been given by his family.

“If you are young and black, you have this conversation with your parents - I’m pretty sure anyone can attest to this - about how you conduct yourself with the police,” Shakoor said. “For example, the first thing my grandpa told me when I bought my

J

JUSTICE

car was not if you get pulled over - not if - but, ‘When you get pulled over, Maalik, do not reach for the damn glove box because the cop will think you’re going for a gun.’”

For young black people growing up in America, the threat of police aggression is felt - and prepared for - early. From outright warnings like the one Shakoor received to more covert messages, many African Americans are taught regularly and repeatedly that police officers pose more of a danger than they do a safety net.

“I know that when I get stopped by a cop, I almost have to prove my innocence to the cop,” Shakoor said.

As the use of police deadly force against unarmed civilians becomes more common (with Brown, Eric Garner and John Crawford being victims in recent months), many young black men, including Shakoor, feel increasingly alienated from and insecure within the nation’s security system.

When reflecting on Brown’s case specifically, Shakoor was overwhelmed by questions and anger over the injustice of the situation.

“What happened to a fair trial? Why did [Wilson] come out guns a-blazing? Why did he shoot him from his car, almost like a drive-by?

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What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty?’” Shakoor said. “Even if he did steal those cigarellos, I would be disappointed, but that he lost his life for that? No! No. No, because then what? Am I going to get shot?”

According to Shakoor, the overwhelming sense of suspicion and aggression against young black men goes beyond America’s police forces.

Even the way the media deals with shootings like Brown’s reveals underlying double standards within society.

Shakoor recalled one stark comparison that reflected this difference.

After the shootings in Aurora, Colorado by James Eagon Holmes and the more recent shootings by Elliot Rodgers, Shakoor felt that many media sources responded overwhelmingly with sympathy while unarmed black victims face accusations.

“Tell me why these guys that shot and killed innocent people in cold blood were portrayed as victims: ‘Oh, they were troubled youths. They were A+ students. But they were just troubled, they were mentally disturbed,’” Shakoor said, “But Mike Brown, a kid shot in cold blood, and Trayvon Martin, a kid shot in cold blood, were painted as thugs … They tried to make us feel like we shouldn’t feel sorry for these kids … They

Previous: Ribbons carrying messages to the Ferguson community tied to a security fence (Photo by Peter Baugh). Left: The Ferguson QuikTrip after being destroyed by protestors (Photo by Noah Engel).

III. The Community Member

don’t get as much sympathy as a murderer. It’s heartbreaking.”

For Shakoor, escaping this mentality of racism, stereotypes and oppression begins at an individual level. Every American owes one another basic compassion and respect. Education and communication are key in order for this to be possible.

“The main factor in all of this is ignorance. I think someone who’s racist has as much of an effect as someone who refuses to see color, because refusing to see color is basically denying who I am … the [solution] is to understand and listen to each other, and to know that … we’re all human beings,” Shakoor said. “Don’t just try to stereotype me from first sight. Get to know me.”

If Americans are willing to approach Brown’s shooting as an invocation for change and conversation about difficult and complex issues, then some good, Shakoor believes, could emerge from the tragedy.

“I think this will really bring light to true disparity and the true struggle of minorities in America. Not just black people, but all who suffer,” Shakoor said.

CHS French teacher Elizabeth Caspari has attended the St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ferguson for years. St. Stephen’s was responsible for organizing the food drive for Ferguson citizens during the crisis, and Caspari observed first-hand the effect of the tragedy and resulting movement on the community.

Ferguson has a large percentage of low-income families, many of whom rely on food stamps augmented by food banks like Caspari’s church’s in order to survive. When the shooting, subsequent protests and looting broke out, many local grocery stores closed, forcing the St. Stephen’s food bank to shut its doors or look elsewhere for donations.

“When the news heard that the food pantry was calling for food, there were a lot of people in the area and outside of the area that thought, ‘There’s something we can do to help!’” Caspari said. “In the three weeks since this has hit its peak, we’ve distributed 4500 bags of food.”

Amidst the despair and tragedy of Brown’s death, this outpouring of support from across the nation has offered Caspari and many other community members hope.

“The kind of stuff that was showing up at our church was overwhelming. We have a huge parish hall, and the entire hall was covered with food. The response was really heartwarming,” Caspari said.

It’s moments like this one that remind Caspari of the many aspects of Ferguson that stand out as special and beautiful. Eclipsed behind footage of looting, tear gas and chaos, this was a part of the community that was often forgotten during the weeks following the shooting.

“The news focuses sometimes really heavily on what’s wrong, but there’s a lot right,” Caspari said.

In addition to not writing Ferguson off as a “bad” neighborhood, Caspari also emphasized the importance of not assuming that Ferguson is unique in the issues surrounding race and equality that came to light after Brown’s death.

“I don’t think we should kid ourselves that this is terribly far away from [Clayton] ... I think it could have happened in a lot of places in the St. Louis county and area,” Caspari said.

Nor, Caspari noted, is the sudden attention on St. Louis’s segregation representative of a new awakening in the city.

“This wasn’t a news flash to anybody that spends time [in Ferguson], just like I don’t know very many native St. Louisans who don’t know that we have some racial issues,” she said.

This means that even if Brown’s shooting receives the justice demanded by so many protesters, St. Louis will only be treating the symptoms of an illness that descends deep into its history and politics, reaching from education disparities to economic crises.

“None of this has been fixed,” Caspari said. “It’s not like the concerns have been addressed to [anyone’s] satisfaction. A lot of this has to do with societal inequalities, and you can’t address those overnight.”

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Clockwise from top: a liquor store in Ferguson adorned with messages from the community; a local restaurant (Photos by Noah Engel), ribbons tied to the fence outside the burned QuikTrip (Photo by Peter Baugh).

IV. The Police Officer “It’s upsetting. I’m always upset [about the shooting]. Obviously, being a police officer, I always put myself in the position of the police officer. How would I react if I was that officer? … I still think about it now,” CHS Student Resource Officer John Zlatic reflected.

Questions like this one have plagued Zlatic and have been running through the heads of police officers nationwide in the aftermath of Brown’s shooting.

Brown’s shooting and the pattern of police use of deadly force, combined with the militaristic response to the Ferguson protests, caused many Americans to question whether or not the current police system has been designed as effectively as possible for the protection of its citizens.

One aspect of police work that many citizens might not be aware of is the standard protocol for addressing someone using force.

If a police officer is dispatched to a scene and encounters aggression, procedure dictates that they must use one level of force greater than that being used against them. So, if a police officer was being attacked with fists, they might use a taser. This plan was designed in order to disarm the attacker and protect all those involved as efficiently as possible.

“In any given situation you have to look at ... how can I reasonably take care of this situation or apprehend this person, thinking with regards to the safety of him, myself and everybody else,” Zlatic said.

Often, Zlatic noted, such calls must be made within just a few seconds as altercations quickly escalate, as it seems was the situation with Brown’s death.

When approaching Brown’s case, Zlatic urged onlookers to address the bigger issues surrounding the tragedy rather than to focus on the unknown details of the shooting.

“I think we need to wait and see how this plays out,” Zlatic said.

“And then, after that happens, then I think it’s time to start digesting it … [to look] at this one single event, what started this whole thing and what were the variables that were problematic with it.”

When thinking about the shooting, Zlatic couldn’t help but imagine himself in Wilson’s position.

“God forbid, if I had to take someone’s life in a situation like that, how do I deal with that? I’m thinking, how many times can you play that through your head and say, ‘Should I have done this, or could I have done that? Could I have changed anything, even if I had done these things, would we have ended up in the same situation?’” Zlatic asked. “I think you’re always going to think about that and it’s a hard situation to be in.”

V. The Educator “I take my role of teacher pretty seriously, so I’m always trying to talk to the people in my various communities and help provide the frameworks for rethinking some of these problems,” Dr. Jonathon Smith, a professor at Saint Louis University, said.

Smith has worked with CHS through several mediums in the past to educate and discuss issues of race and equality in Clayton and St. Louis.

Since Brown’s shooting, Smith has attended rallies in Ferguson and has worked to promote and lead discussions on addressing and

improving race relations. Recently, he collaborated with CHS’s Drama Department to stage and discuss a professional reading of “The Dutchman” for CHS students and faculty in order to foster conversation about the crisis.

A longtime resident of St. Louis, Smith saw the riots as emblematic of an insidious and ancient problem in the city and nation that has touched his community, his students and himself.

“It just felt like I couldn’t not go [to the protests]. I couldn’t ignore this thing that’s really a backyard issue, not just as someone gaping at a traffic accident, but as someone who could feel potentially affected by incidents like this,” Smith said.

For Smith, an African American man, issues of race and police bias have plagued him for most of his life and have become the study of much of his work. Stereotypes and oppression still exist in much of American society and consciousness, Smith believes, and many young black men face difficult challenges and expectations because of that.

Smith also noted a dangerous pattern in the media response to Brown’s shooting and the discussion over police deadly force. Immediately after his death, an outpouring of news sources began a fierce debate over Brown’s moral character, making judgements based on rumors of his actions and statements leading up to his death. Many have accused the media of attempting to paint Brown as a thug and a criminal in order to discourage support for him.

“There’s a kind of cultural response that seems to suggest that if this wasn’t a perfect kid, then what’s the big deal? And that’s a very dangerous approach to take to the use of deadly force by police in the street, because the moral quality of a citizen shouldn’t matter in terms of assessing whether that citizen should be met by deadly force,” Smith said.

The same applies to speculation over whether or not Brown had stolen $50 worth of cigars from a nearby liquor store immediately before his death and the role that might have played in the shooting. The supposed morality and legality of Brown’s actions before his death play no role in the debate over his murder, Smith argues.

“Police are enforcement officers, not judge and jury,” he said.

According to Smith, when people attempt to paint Brown in moral extremes - angel or devil, good or evil - they allow a dangerous tradition to enter the conversation surrounding America’s police system: judging people’s morality as an indicator of whether or not they “deserve” to die.

“You get some people who want to turn Mike Brown into a saint and then people on the other side who want to turn him into the Devil. When that happens, you lose this other conversation in the middle, because both of those end up giving disproportionate weight to ‘good guy/bad guy.’ They’re saying, ‘He’s a good guy, he shouldn’t have been shot!’ or ‘He’s a bad guy, he shouldn’t have been shot!’ Then you lose the part in the middle: ‘He’s a guy, he should not have been shot,’” Smith said.

Discussions like this one over police deadly force and America’s legal system are just one facet of the dozens of issues that have emerged after Brown’s shootings and the Ferguson protests, especially in St. Louis.

Ultimately, the system of prejudice and aggression that contributed to Brown’s death is far from new to the St. Louis area. Smith argues that much of this structure and the hostile environment it creates within St. Louis will persist unless citizens rethink their daily actions and perceptions.

The QuikTrip that was burned during protests, seen through the security fence put up around the premises (Photo by Peter Baugh).

“Conversations about the relationships between the city and the county are old, old, old conversations, and as long as no one really does the work of rethinking these big concepts and learns how to frame them and how to see other people differently across the table, we’re going to end up repeating the same thing,” Smith said.

Despite the revolutionary nature of the protests, for Smith, little has changed in his view of himself or his understanding of the stereotypes and aggression he and thousands of other black men face every day.

“In many ways, this whole thing hasn’t taught me anything new about the world. It certainly didn’t teach me anything new about myself and the body I live in. It’s simply reinforced stuff I already knew,” he said.

If events like Brown’s shooting continue to occur unhindered, Smith warned that America’s systems of inequality will continue to consume the lives of thousands of young men, just as it’s already touched Shakoor’s.

Despite this looming shadow, Smith witnessed moments of hope and transcendence within the crushing tragedy of the protests.

“There’s something very affirming about seeing nationally known figures, political and otherwise, embedded in a crowd of ordinary people from all over St. Louis. It wasn’t just African Americans - it was a widely diverse group,” Smith said. “It indicates the possibility that whatever the situation, there are moments where all of us can drop the things that normally separate us and find some way to actually get together harmoniously.”

VI. Conclusion The shooting of Michael Brown and the resulting protests that inundated Ferguson have irreparably altered the lives of thousands of people. Brown’s family lost a cherished son on the cusp of his adult life.

The Ferguson community was rattled by daily protests that shook the streets and attracted tear gas and snipers. Police officers across the nation have met enormous criticism as tactics have come under question and attack.

Brown’s shooting and the Ferguson protests are, above all else, complex. They cannot be summarized in a five minute sound byte or a speech tacked on to the end of the daily news. Instead, the Ferguson crisis is one made up of hundreds of individual stories just like those told here, and in order to understand the tragedy one must work to comprehend and to empathize with the human beings themselves who have lived it in a variety of ways.

From residents to community members, from police officers to educators, everyone has a story to tell and a perspective to offer. If any good can be said to have come from Brown’s untimely death, it is perhaps the fact that these voices are finally being heard within the Ferguson community and beyond, and messages of revival and transformation accompany them.

In the days following Brown’s death, protestors destroyed a QuikTrip located near where the shooting occured. Soon after, a chain link fence was erected around the perimeter of the property.

Community members and mourners flooded the area, standing as close as they could to gaze at a physical embodiment of the turmoil their community has endured since the shooting.

They covered the fence in messages carefully drawn onto brightly colored ribbons: letters to the boy with whom they would never again be able to speak, encouragement to their neighbors, prayers for a better future.

One such ribbon stands out from the multitude.

It reads, “Hope and pray that all will see the very good that is Ferguson, my home town for almost 60 years. Unity, acceptance, caring, improvement, growth, hope, forgiveness, love!” 

SETTING THE BAR HIGH

AT H

PROF

LETE

ILE

RYAN

FLET

CHER

Senior Ryan Fletcher in a game early in the 2014 fall season. (Leah Shaffer)

W

by PETER BAUGH and NOAH BROWN

hen Ryan Fletcher was a freshman on the varsity volleyball team, it was hard for her to make her voice heard.

“It was definitely hard as a freshman to tell these senior girls what I want them to run and how they should be hitting, so over the years I’ve really learned how to take charge, which is something that was really hard for me to do earlier on,” Fletcher said.

Now a senior, Fletcher has become a dominant player and was named one of the team captains. Head coach Jackie Jaques, who was an assistant when Fletcher started her high school career, has noticed her development.

“This year she has kind of come into her own,” she said. “She understands how to motivate people and they all really like her … She kind of has a totally different persona and the girls really enjoy working with her.”

Senior Lilian Heil has been a varsity teammate with Fletcher since her junior year and has enjoyed having Ryan as a teammate.

“She is a great leader,” Heil said. “Everything she does is in the best interest of the team.”

Well liked off the court, Fletcher’s leadership skills are evident even while the game is being played. She is the team’s setter, which is the equivalent of the quarterback in football. She calls the plays for the team

and runs the offense -- a role which is generally fulfilled by one of the team’s strongest players.

Fletcher is not sure about her college future. She has received interest from college coaches and will evaluate her options when the time comes.

“If the opportunity presents itself I’ll definitely look into it,” she said.

“I think it would be fun.”

Both Jaques and Fletcher are excited about the team this year. Clayton plays in both a tough district and conference and has a smaller team in terms of height, but Jaques confidently says her team is one of the best in Clayton’s recent memory.

“They are really strong and they work very well together,” Jaques said.

Fletcher agrees, as she believes the team makes up for their lack of size by being scrappy.

“Scrappy is being able to get to every ball,” she said. “Being really fast.

We don’t have the height to kill a ball every time or get a block up every time so we have to cover each other and just we can’t give up on a single point.”

Fletcher also has a number of goals for the team and is determined to have a good season. She also wants to focus on bringing intensity to every game.

“Being unafraid, being aggressive even when the score is something that is a little scary,” Fletcher said. “Just fight through and have fun.” 

SWIMMING TAKES THIRD AT LADUE

The CHS boys’ swim team had several victories at the Ladue Early Season Invitational on Sept. 6. Senior Andrew Litteken and sophomore Tiger Chen led the team, with Litteken winning the 200 free and placing second in the 500 freestyle and Chen placing second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 100 IM. The 400 free relay--made up of Litteken, Chen, sophomore Ricky Kuehn and sophomore Spencer Anderson--medaled with a third place finish.

Anderson also earned two individual medals and Kuehn received a medal

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in the 500 freestyle.

Both Chen and sophomore Taylor Edlin qualified for state, Edlin for diving. The state competition will occur Nov. 7 and Nov. 8.

Overall, the team placed third in the invitational of 15 teams, with John Burroughs and SLUH taking first and second, respectively.

Coached by Rob Laux, the team is optimistic for further accomplishments as the season progresses and are proud of their strong showing early in the year. 

-GWYNETH HENKE

THE

CRAZY SPORTS MOMENT OF THE MONTH

by KEVIN ROSENTHAL

It’s been a strange start to the Clayton Football team’s 2014 season. After a tumultuous debut, losing 49-0 at home to Lutheran North, the Hounds rebounded a week later with a 28-0 victory over Maplewood-Richmond Heights. It is difficult to make sense of these games. How did Clayton go from an utterly embarrassing defeat in week one to complete domination in week two? Although there is no explanation, we can speculate. One reason Clayton may have bounced back is because the change in pace in offense. Against Lutheran North, quarterback Jake Brown completed just two of ten passes for 19 yards, and running back Tyler Melvin rushed for an average of 2.8 yards per carry. One week later, when Clayton abandoned the no-huddle offense and spent significantly more time considering how to run each play, Brown’s numbers surged. Brown threw two touchdown passes, and

had a total of 101 yards on the night. Melvin also had an exceptional night, rushing for 200 yards, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. The defense was stellar, as Clayton recovered four fumbles, had two sacks, and intercepted the ball twice. Nobody knows quite what to expect out of the Hounds this season. They looked pitiful in the first week, but have shown promise ever since. How does a team give up 49 points one week, and then shut out the opponent the next week? Last year, Clayton’s squad did what was expected. They had a modest season, victorious in games they were expected to win, and losing most games in which they were the underdog. So far, the Hounds look inconsistent. Were the first two weeks a complete fluke? Or do the scores hold a deeper meaning?

Will Clayton Football be competitive this year? These first two football games have Clayton asking, “Whataya Nuts?!”

FALL

sports preview

by PETER BAUGH and NOAH BROWN

Photo by Bebe Engel

Photo by Katie Spear

Soccer

Tennis

2013 Record 10-13

2013 Record 14-3

Players to watch Zach Bayly Malik Hadjri Peyton Ross

Players to watch Connor Cassity Cameron Freeman Hadley Alter

Goals To develop underclassmen into players capable of filling the shoes of the graduating seniors. Beating Ladue is also on the team’s mind as the season begins to unfold.

Goals To improve on last year’s second place state finish by becoming state champions. The team is optimistic about their chances as they have a lot of experienced players on their roster.

Boys’ Cross Country

Girls’ Cross Country

2013 Record District Champs, 13th at State

2013 Record District Champs, 11th at State

Players to watch Noah Engel Ben Tamsky Tom Cormier

Players to watch Gabby Boeger Bridget Boeger Gracie Morris

Goals To win the District championship for the fourth year in a row and to make it to the State Championship.

Goals To qualify for state as a team and to place higher than last year. The team also hopes to have success by placing well in meets.

Swimming and Diving

Football

2013 Record 12-6 Players to watch Tiger Chen (swimming) Andrew Litteken (swimming) Taylor Edlin (diving)

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Photo by Ashley Chung

Goals To qualify swimmers for state, to have a near-perfect record and to place highly at invitationals.

2013 Record 5-6 Players to watch Mike Gant Tyler Melvin Jake Brown Goals To beat Ladue in the Homecoming game, to win a District Championship and to work hard enough to make it to the State Championship.

Photo by Katherine Sleckman

Volleyball

Softball

2013 Record 14-7

2013 Record 7-10

Players to watch Ryan Fletcher Sydney Swinton Anna Thompson

Players to watch Emma Chereskin Micaela Stoner Katie Howard

Goals To make up for graduating size by relying on the strength of returning varsity players of all ages.

Goals To adjust well to the new coach, to become more competitive than in previous years, to develop the underclassmen and to enjoy the sport.

Girls’ Golf

Field Hockey

2013 Record 3-4

2013 Record 3-15-5

Players to watch Molly Droege Leah Peipert Olivia Reuter

Players to watch Pauli Tapia Marina Henke Emily Braverman

Goals To get multiple state qualifiers and to utilize the large number of girls golfing this season.

Goals To build a strong team community, to work on cohesiveness and to find the back of the net more often.

Rivalry Record

by PETER BAUGH

The Globe introduces its new monthly sidebar, the “Rivalry Record.” This column will keep track of the cumulative record between Clayton and Ladue’s varsity sports teams.

Swimming (win) - Clayton swimmers finished ahead of Ladue’s team at the Ladue Early Season Invitational. Of the teams present, Clayton finished third and Ladue finished seventh.

Field Hockey (loss, 7-0) - Clayton fell behind early to Ladue.

The Rams took a 4-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Leading the Ladue offense, Fiona Vetter scored two goals and assisted two more for the Rams.

Tennis (win) - In a match shortened due to weather conditions, the Greyhounds handily defeated the Rams. Clayton used their victory over Ladue as a catapult into their next match in which they defeated Visitation, one of the state’s top teams.

Softball (loss, 6-0) - Despite playing well, the girls’ softball team came up short in a full seven inning contest against Ladue. The Greyhounds collected five hits in the loss.

Upcoming rivalry matches: Sept. 27 - football Oct. 7 - volleyball Oct. 14 - boys’ soccer Oct. 20 - boys’ swimming Record (as of Sept. 19)

Photo by Dawn Weber

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Max the

Man

On Saturday, September 19, junior Max Nissen played in a 10 a.m. varsity soccer game. Instead of going home after the game, Nissen put on his pads and kicked in the 1 p.m. varsity football game. A starter on both teams, Nissen is the only CHS student playing two varsity sports in the same season.

Max Nissen, a longtime soccer player, has been playing the sport most of his life. Last year, Nissen made the varsity team as a sophomore, a major accomplishment, as nearly everyone else on the team was an upperclassman.

As a junior, Nissen has set the bar a little higher. This fall season, he is playing two sports at once: Nissen is continuing soccer as well as joining the football team as a kicker.

Despite his desire to play two sports at once, Nissen was somewhat reluctant at first to take on the challenge.

“The coach came scouting for football players last year and I was kind of hesitant about it,” Nissen said.

His doubts subsided, however, and Nissen was excited to try something new. “I thought, ‘why not give it a shot?’” he said. “My friends wanted me to do it, the coaches wanted me to do it and so I gave it a shot and I liked it.”

Although the soccer team knew that they would be have to share Max’s practice time with the football team, all the coaches and both teams were supportive of Nissen’s decision.

“My soccer coach thought it would be a unique experience. He thought it would be fun for me, although at the same time, a little bit difficult with the crossover schedules and practices,” Nissen said.

Tom Redmond, head coach of the boys’ varsity soccer team was not concerned about Nissen missing some soccer practices if it meant Nissen could pursue an opportunity to play on the varsity football team, coached by Scott Weissman.

Right off the bat, it seemed as though there would be very few problems. “Coach Weissman and I had a conversation and I said, ‘I think we can probably work this out,’” Redmond said.

Since the season began, Nissen has been splitting his practices, and had no trouble attending the 14 practices required by MSHSAA for either sport. The football and soccer coaches have agreed that if there is ever a crossover between a soccer and football game, Nissen will play in the more important game. If games between soccer and football overlap, Nissen will play for the team playing a District game, or other games that take priority.

Redmond does not believe Nissen’s abilities on the soccer field have lessened at all since picking up another fall sport.

“So far he seems to be holding up pretty well with both … [playing

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by KEVIN ROSENTHAL, PETER BAUGH and GRACE HARRISON

football] hasn’t seemed to affect soccer,” Redmond said.

Redmond also mentioned that the football coaches have been impressed with Nissen so far, and thinks he can be a very talented football player.

“They think he’s got a real future in kicking and punting. They’re very excited about having him,” Redmond said.

Playing soccer and kicking for the football team is the most common crossover in the rare occurrence for an athlete playing two sports in the same season.

“It’s a pretty natural thing to do because nearly all kickers now are soccer style kickers,” Redmond said.

Nissen is not the only CHS athlete playing two fall sports. Freshman Sophie Bernstein is on both the varsity softball team and JV cross country team.

Lee Laskowski, assistant athletic director of Clayton High School sports fully supports these athletic endeavors.

“I think when the opportunity is there to do something like that, I think it’s great. Especially being a smaller school, whenever we can utilize the talent at the school, I think everyone involved benefits and I believe it’s a great experience for the student athletes,” Laskowski said.

Overall, the experience Nissen will have by playing two sports will memorable. “Being able to be a part of the football team and the soccer

team is something special,” Laskowski said.

Nissen feels as though the extra commitment has not hindered his ability to keep up with the many rigors of Clayton academics.

“My parents fully support me and go to every game. But they tell me I’m going to have to stay on top of my schedule and not slack off.

Homework and classes haven’t been too much of a struggle right now,” Nissen said.

Nissen has learned many lessons from playing two sports, and has developed a deeper appreciation for both soccer and football. “I like them both,” Nissen said. “They are completely different families. They have their own unique personalities. I’ve been having fun playing two sports, and it has definitely strengthened my relationship with a few more people.”

Nissen’s unconventional experiences have been powerful for him, and Clayton students are always encouraged to try something similar if the circumstances make sense.

Max Nissen in his Clayton soccer uniform with his Clayton football helmet. (Emily Braverman)

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RR EE VV II EE W W

D u r -

CHS Busking Club performs at the St. Louis Art Fair on Saturday, Sept. 6 Photographed by Ashley Chung.

ing the #Art Fair when I walked down Central between Forsyth and Carondelet, I came across a large crowd in front of a booth. Curiously, I decided to check out the scene. What I found was a piece of art that I was familiar with, having seen it in previous years. It was the three dimensional mechanical devices and kinetic sculptures with different marbles moving through. The person responsible for creating such art was Jeffrey Zachmann. The different sculputures were amazing to watch because it was obvious that such hard work went into the final product. When I asked him how long one took to make, he responded with from anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. He said it was due to the fact that he has been creating sculptures like that for many years. The booth was by far my favorite since it was one of a kind art.

In spite of the stormy weather at the beginning of the weekend, the Clayton Art Fair was a great success.The event, which drew artists from all over the midwest, featured amazing fine art, free entertainment and childrens’ activities in the Creative Castle. The art this year ranged from jewelry to wooden sculptures, and even included interactive art.

The Creative Castle was the kids’ area and offered fun activities for all, including shooting a guy with different colored paints, blowing up a punching balloon, and creating a hat out of a paper Schnucks bag. Despite these great activities, there still just didn’t seem to be enough activities or booths.

The free entertainment by the stages attracted many fair goers, including the one and only Dancer of Life.

Each year she makes her presence known by the Forsyth Stage. She carried a couple of suitcases filled with her different props, which included paper fans and umbrellas. While the band played in the background, she danced close to stage while video taping her self. Her dance moves were always one of a kind and can put a smile on anyones face.

In past years, one of the best features of the fair was the food. Not so this year. As I ventured to Brentwood for some food I found that there were fewer vendors compared to previous years. There was still the Mandarin House, Manhattan Cafe, and Hank’s Cheesecake. A couple of years ago I remember there being a Pasta House booth and a pizza truck.

It would have been a nice touch if there were more Clayton based restaurants represented.

Overall, I thought that this years Clayton Art Fair was memorable. Each year there tend to be different changes, which keeps people like me coming back for more.

#byLucyCohen

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This past weekend, Sept. 6-7, the St. Louis community joined together for two days of music and fun at #Loufest, St. Louis’ very own music festival.

Dressed in “artsy” outfits, leather jackets and colorful bandanas, festival-goers gathered in Forest Park to see some of their favorite bands and just have a good time.

From the beginning, Loufest was well organized. The website had festival tips, tricks and any information you might need. Tickets could be bought online and were simply emailed to you, which you could then print out and take to the concert in exchange for your wristband, if you were going both Saturday and Sunday.

The great organization extended into the festival itself. . Stages were set up around the area, not too far away from each other, but not too close that you couldn’t enjoy a band without hearing the background of another group. Loufest also contained a small market, where creative and unique art goods could be purchased. Food and drink were not missing. The appropriately named “Nosh Pit” contained tents fromdifferent local restaurants. From Kaldi’s Coffee to the Turkish restaurant, Aya Sofia.

In concern of facilities, there were plenty of port-a-potties around the area. Although lines got long, it was great to have the bathrooms right by you.

However, people don’t come to Loufest for the bathrooms or the food; they come for the music.

With four different stages and two days worth of amazing bands, the crowd always had a great act to see. While there were some more famous bands playing there, such as Arctic Monkeys and OutKast, the majority of the musicians were lesser known local talent, and Loufest gave St. Louisans a chance to get to know the homegrown music scene. .

The concerts were well planned as well. Having bands like Arctic Monkeys at night was a great choice by the Loufest organizers. In the night, the whole atmosphere was different and strobe lights really made a difference. The Arctic Monkeys had a great performance, especially because of this choice of timing.

The Loufest weekend was capped off with perfect weather, and as the sun set, the crowd gathered around the stage, dancing to the music, singing along and wishing the night would go on forever. #byNishaKlein&MitaliSharma

(This Page) Loufest concert-goers enjoy the sights and sounds in Forest Park on Sept.

6-7. Photos by Felix Evans

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Salt + Smoke

Salt + Smoke, a fairly new restaurant in the Delmar Loop, sold me on the looks but not on the food.

I was hooked by the delicious scent of smoked meat before I even stepped inside. From the seating and bright yellow awnings on the outside to the Texas decor on the inside, the Salt + Smoke’s lovely atmosphere made it a pleasure to dine at this restaurant. I was thrilled to see the wait staff dressed in plaid like cowboys. It really added a fun feel as we made our way to our table.

The main course menu includes the signature brisket, pulled pork, and several other smoked meats. I was very excited to eat when the food arrived after an appropriate wait time between the appetizer and main course. It was beautifully displayed on the plate and looked delicious. I wish I could say that it was. When I bit into my pulled pork sandwich, I was overwhelmed by the saltiness of it. Their ‘My Sweet Bessie’ sauce had too many flavors, and I was even more repulsed. The garlic and herb fries I ordered as my side were nicely seasoned but were dry and tasted old.

Another disappointment.

The appetizer I ordered was quite good compared to the main course.

The toasted ravioli was crunchy on the outside with somewhat sweet burnt end brisket on the inside. It introduced me to a different texture of ravioli - crispy, crunchy and chewy.

I tried my mom’s brisket with the “My Sweet Bestie” sauce and it was amazing compared to my meal. I also ordered the chocolate pie and that was beyond words. It was unbelievably rich and creamy, almost like Nutella, and it included homemade thin whipped cream; I was hoping to be able to say the same thing about the pulled pork.

Owner Tom Schmidt opened Salt + Smoke this summer. Judging from the number of people at the restaurant on a sunny Sunday afternoon, it looks like this venture is a success. Check out their trendy website with menus and photos at saltandsmokestl.com. 

by Emma Ebeling

by Amy Tishler If you were expecting “If I Stay” to be another heart-wrenching film like “The Fault in Our Stars,” leave your Kleenex at home. With the exception of a couple of sad scenes, this movie is mostly a sappy teenage romance.

The movie follows the plot line of the book “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman almost to a tee. The viewer accompanies seventeen-year-old Mia Hall, an aspiring cellist, through an out-of-body experience she has after her family gets into a car crash. Hovering between life and death, Mia must examine her life and choose whether or not to wake up from a coma. Primarily-and rather nauseatingly--her decision hinges on whether or not her longhaired, rocker boyfriend Adam loves her enough to make life worth living.

The movie alternates between flashbacks from the past eighteen months of Mia’s life and scenes of friends and relatives gathering at the hospital.

While the premise of the movie is unique and the first ten minutes are dramatic, the rest of the film moves slowly and isn’t always entertaining.

The transitions to the flashbacks are choppy and confusing, and a few of the flashbacks do nothing to enhance the viewer’s understanding of Mia’s life. Chloë Moretz’s performance also leaves much to be desired. She delivers her lines in a monotone voice and her facial expressions don’t portray sufficient emotion. The supporting actors Stacy Keach (Gramps) and Liana Liberato (Kim), however, deserve recognition for their believable performances.

The saving grace of the movie is the music. The main melody, Bach’s “Prelude,” always comes into the film at just the right time. Classical music mixes masterfully with rock, including several original pieces played by Adam’s band, Willamette Stone. In my mind, the only explanation for “If I Stay” placing third in the box office is that the trailer and the soundtrack were easy enough to appreciate. 

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IF I STAY

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The Greyhound sadly ponders the lack of fans. (Photo by Matt Coco.)

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Empty Bleachers

by BRIAN GATTER

eventeen. That was the total number of CHS students that watched Clayton’s varsity boys’ soccer team in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Vianney on Tuesday night at the season home opener.

Others in attendance eyed the scarce student section throughout the game, hoping for more than an occasional faint cheer. Sadly, the greyhound cheering squad remained seated the entirety of the game.

“It’s nice to hear the fans cheering when it’s the last few minutes of a game and everyone’s really tired. They help us keep playing hard,” senior soccer player Peter Ryffel said.

Why do students not attend these games? Junior Franco Tong said he rarely attends any athletic events except when he is forced to in pep band.

“I don’t think it should be forced on anyone to go to games, some people just do not like sports,” he said.

Although Tong makes a fair point, this issue goes beyond sports. For example, let’s say your friend mentions an exhibit that they are in for their art, or a choir performance -sporting events are the same thing.

For many at CHS there is a mentality of ‘why should I care?’. To this, I say there is no difference between seeing the work your fellow classmates have put in, in a classroom or band room or on a soccer field.

Many students will use their homework load, especially on weeknights, as an excuse for not attending games. Science teacher Gabriel De La Paz said homework is a problem, particularly on week nights,“especially for the kids taking AP Chem and AP Bio, homework is an issue because of the high level of these classes.”

Although these classes put more stress on students after school, these

classes aren’t the rigorous classes at CHS. For the most part, though, AP classes aren’t available to underclassmen. However, the majority of students that attend weeknight games are upperclassmen.

This is where the absolute ignorance and predictability of much of the student body comes into play. In this situation, we see the Clayton student philosophy of ‘the grades are what matters’.

Unfortunately, our student body is mostly focused on what they want to succeed in. We need to see this as selfish behavior, especially when the minuscule act of cheering on a fellow classmate at a sporting event can help that classmate gain success in whatever he or she cares about, not to mention form bonds between students that may have otherwise not met each other.

A student unwilling to come to a game and cheer on his or her friends and school for two hours after the (at least) three hours a day these players put in to help our school succeed athletically? Ridiculous and selfish.

As Andrew Boeger lined up for a corner kick in the second half of a close game, sweat glistening across his forehead and drenching his white jersey on the humid night, he glanced for a moment into the stands. Of those seated in the CHS student section, three were on their phones, seven aimlessly chatted and one was doing homework. Beyond that, just line after line of empty silver bleachers.

This is a frustrating sight for someone who cares not only about the success of our teams, but the overall improvement of the CHS community.

The final whistle blows and the defeated and exhausted CHS soccer team lugs itself towards the sidelines to the pitiful sound of a few overdue golf claps. 

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#Ferguson 36

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The Pro:

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by NOAH BROWN

hether you like it or not, social media is a part of the world that we live in today. It is likely part of your life and your daily routine.

The platform of social media, whether it be Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, is used in countless ways, from marketing presidential campaigns to reporting earthquake damage.

Most recently and locally, it has been used during times of struggle and crisis, specifically during the troubles in #Ferguson.

On August 9, Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old, was shot by a policeman. A series of riots, ceremonies, walks and protests erupted following this incident. People arrested, people uninformed, people frightened, saddened and left without a voice.

Social media is a pipeline for making connections, absorbing information and voicing opinion. It has given people, not just those involved with the Ferguson crisis, but people all over the globe, a voice - one that can be heard. And when everyone is given a voice and everyone’s voices are heard, powerful and meaningful things happen. Communities come together and during times of crisis, that is absolutely pivotal. #Ferguson has been trending on Twitter in mass numbers. 4 million.

Yes, 4 million tweets that contain #Ferguson have been posted since August 9, the day of the shooting. Millions of people have had the opportunity to share their thoughts about this incident.

People not following the traditional routes of news coverage could be seamlessly informed of live events, during the protests, the ceremonies, the marches or the riots, instantaneously, by just scrolling their mouse.

The details of events like the date of Brown’s funeral, walks or ceremonies were spread to millions of people with ease.

That is powerful.

Because of #Ferguson, networks were built. News surfaced. People came together. People said what they needed to say. And a digital history was created to document a pivotal moment in the ongoing fight for equality. ďƒź

What role does social media play in a movement?

News media from all over the world cover a rally for Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during a rally for him on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. (Huy Mach/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)

The Con:

A

by MARINA HENKE

geotagged time-lapse map was recently released on the internet, showing the location and number of times people retweeted a particular phrase. Faint orange circles mark the location of the tweets, and as the number of mentions increase the circles become white hot. On Aug. 9, a few orange circles radiate from the United States. Five days later the map looks much different. White circles pulse from all corners of the globe, including South Africa, India and Denmark. Four days later, and the United States still burns white; however, much of Europe and Asia have simmered down.

The phrase? #Ferguson.

With the current crisis in Ferguson, after the shooting of unarmed 18 year-old Michael Brown, Twitter has become a hotbed for news updates and demands for equality. #Ferguson has been trending on Twitter, typed out by members of the Ferguson community, journalists and people living halfway across the world . This social media network serves as an excellent platform for such information.

It’s fast. It’s accessible. It’s free. Essentially, Twitter serves as a modern embodiment of American’s freedom of speech and press.

However, an increasing reliance on social media to provide people with news of current crises can lead to narrow perspectives.

Tweets cannot exceed 140 characters. Originally marketed as a website to document life’s seemingly mundane moments, Twitter is far from its days as a platform to share a live-feed of the Academy Awards or the

score of the Super Bowl.

However, as this social media giant transformed into a popular space for dealing with world wide struggles, elements of the old Twitter still remain. The sheer limit of characters suggests far different news-reports than an average New York Time’s article. It’s virtually impossible to describe the account of the Ferguson shooting in 140 characters, and it’s even less likely that people could point out the enduring issues of racial inequality and police brutality in two sentences.

Twitter also places an emphasis on users gaining followers and amassing thousands of retweets. With a few thousand clicks of a button, a Twitter user can easily be catapulted into internet stardom. Established journalists have criticized eager news reporters in Ferguson for being more preoccupied with making a name for themselves, than telling the story of Michael Brown. When journalists can write up a live update in thirty seconds, the temptation to make rash statements is far too easy to succumb too.

Perhaps the most concerning issue of people’s growing reliance on Twitter, is a disregard towards other sources. Tweets certainly have their place in a broad understanding of the Ferguson shooting, however they should be supplemented with a varied number of sources and perspectives.

In an age of massive networking, people have the opportunity to get a widespread and insightful view of social issues, an opportunity which fifty years ago was not possible. However, social media users must make conscious choices of from where they are getting their stories. Armed with a variety of perspectives, from a variety of sources, people have the opportunity to truly get the full story. 

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Pro/Con:

Police Use of Force In the New York Daily News on Aug. 23, 2014, John Paolucci, a retired detective sergeant from the New York Police Department, wrote a commentary defending the use of police force. In the article, Paolucci emphasized a point that many civilians tend to overlook: street cops constantly find themselves in positions where they are fighting for their lives.

With the recent events that have taken place in Ferguson, as well as the recurring use of the banned choke hold in New York, the use of police force has come into question. Is it alright for police officers to use force against civilians in a society that values “innocence until proven guilty?” For many, the answer is no.

However, the voices shouting no to police force are the voices of the people that have likely never fought for their lives. The voices screaming out about the injustice of police force are unaware of the near constant danger that police officers face.

If these police officers are attacked, are they supposed to give in? Are they not allowed to fight for their lives? Or what if a suspect begins to flee from the scene?

Should the police officer let the suspect run, or should the officer prevent the suspect from escaping?

In his article, Paolucci detailed an event where, upon a suspect resisting arrest, he fought the suspect and ended up having him face down on the concrete.. The suspect said he couldn’t breathe, and so Paolucci released the pressure on the suspect’s back. As a result, the suspect escaped Paolucci’s hold and not only cracked Paolucci’s jaw but also began to flee the scene, getting a head start on Paolucci.

While this incident did result in the successful arrest of the suspect, it is essential to emphasize that the suspect attacked and injured Paolucci. This isn’t the only time Paolucci was injured by a resisting suspect - during another arrest, he sustained three herniated cervical discs and, to this day, suffers pain from the injury.

Police officers use force because they feel they have to, not because they want to. Although police departments are not infallible, with the occasional unjustified use of force or violence, it is almost cruel to expect police officers to not use force when their lives are in danger.

A suspect does not need to be armed to be dangerous. If a police officer were to lose a fight against a suspect, the suspect would then be in possession of not only

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the police officer’s weapon, but also the officer’s police car - this puts not only the life of the police officer in danger but also puts the safety of the entire community at risk. Police officers work to keep civilians safe - without the use of police force, there is a heightened chance that police officers will lose the confrontations they face.

The voices of the people calling out for an end to police force are putting not only the lives of police officers at stake,but also their own lives.

Police work is a dangerous field, and prohibiting officers from using force simply makes it more dangerous.

The only way to ensure a successful arrest and the safety of the officers is to permit police officers to use force in times when they feel as if they have no other option. 

- by RACHEL BLUESTONE

Pro

e

Photos below: Activists gather in front of the White House to deliver nearly 900,000 signatures calling on the Department of Justice to fully investigate, prosecute, and fire all police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday, Aug. 28 2014, in Washington, D.C. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT)

In the light of recent and distant events in Ferguson and around the country, the use of police force is more prevalent than ever.

What is certain is that some force will always be necessary for the sake of order, but what cannot be denied is what has caught people's attention most of all - the use of excessive, at times deadly, force in situations that do not warrant such a response. This is compounded

Con

by the little action that has been taken to discipline police officers who are seen using excessive force, as well as by the rampant racial discrimination associated in these instances.

One example of this is the $1.25 million the city of Chicago is paying the family of Jamaal Moore, 23, who was shot and killed by police while unarmed. Moore was gunned down after his car matched the description of one involved in a robbery. After a brief chase, Moore was run over by a police cruiser as he left his vehicle. As he crawled out from under the car he was shot several times, as the police believed he was in possession of a firearm.

Another example is when a New York Police Department officer was filmed using a choke hold on an unarmed man, Eric Garner, resulting in Garner's death. Garner was believed to be selling untaxed cigarettes when the officers attempted to place him under arrest. The officers were then punished the one who killed Garner was fired, and the one who held Garner down was placed on desk duty with no criminal charges.

There are a number of other instances involving excessive police force. For example, an unarmed airman, with his hands up, was shot in the stomach after a minor traffic accident. An unarmed fleeing robber was gunned down as police from one department misinterpreted shots being fired by another department as live ammunition.

The use of police force needs to be better regulated with consequences for officers that use excessive force - not just the ones that cause a scandal with their actions. The way things are now is that if an officer believes his life to be in danger, then he can shoot to kill. The con of the status quo is that innocent civilians have been killed and the police are rarely held accountable in situations where they abuse their rights. Reform has to be taken not to remove the use of deadly force, but to temper it to the point where cops can’t just shoot people that scare them. Furthermore, police departments must be held accountable if it is deemed an act of reasonable self defense. ďƒź

- by ZACH SORENSON

Amendment Three

On the Nov. 4 ballot, Amendment Three will allow the Missouri government to evaluate a teacher’s skill based upon the test scores of their students.

by JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

Sam Harned lectures in his classroom. Passage of Amendment Three would fundamentally change public teaching in Missouri (Photo by Katie Warnusz-Steckel).

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umbers don’t lie. No one can argue against the notion that a numerical value provides some sort of concrete insight into the operation of a system. However, numbers often don’t tell widely accepted truths; in other words, people tend to interpret figures in a wide variety of ways, most of which cannot be objectively true.

If we aren’t careful, public education in Missouri might take a drastic turn for the worse because of the interpretation of a few numbers.

Amendment Three, also known as a Missouri Teacher Performance Evaluation, is on the Nov. 4 election ballot as an initiated constitutional amendment. In other words, since enough registered voters signed a petition in favor of this constitutional amendment, a public vote on the issue will ensue.

According to ballotpedia.com, “If approved by voters, this measure would implement teacher performance evaluations that would be used to determine whether a teacher should be dismissed, retained, demoted or promoted. It would also prevent teachers from collectively bargaining over the terms of these evaluations.”

At this point, these words might not seem to hold much water. Nevertheless, unless public awareness raises to the maximum, such an initiative might pass by before we get the chance to think twice. Part of the potential danger of an initiative is that, as the word implies, it deals with a law initiated almost completely by the people.

Sponsoring this proposal is the Teach Great campaign, run by the Children’s Education Council of Missouri. Those in favor of the initia-

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tive claim to be focused primarily on protecting the educational rights of teachers and students as well as fostering academic justice. That said, to put the quality of a teacher’s past experience by the wayside and to use nothing but “quantifiable student performance data” to judge an educator is to place a disproportionately great amount of emphasis on schooling and nowhere near enough emphasis on education.

Here’s a question to ponder: is our country’s system of higher education not number-driven enough already? Students are constantly preoccupied with inching one point higher on the ACT, keeping the GPA above a specifically set value and keeping the price of college at a reasonable value given the circumstances at hand.

If voters aren’t deliberate in their decision making and allow Amendment Three to slip by unnoticed, our teachers, even those who have been around long enough to have had our parents in class, will be judged almost completely by their students’ test scores.

How much should we be paying Mrs. Jones? Check her students’ median test scores for the past three years. Who deserves that new job opening? Well, all signs imply that Mr. Smith is excellent at inspiring young people, but Ms. Johnson has produced students with some of the highest test scores in the state.

Of course, the teacher’s perspective on this issue is one of insurmountable pressure and discomfort, but imagine the student’s point of view. It’s painful enough to know that, in today’s world, numbers can make or break us. But the absolute last thing that anyone wants to do is to bring down somebody who has dedicated their life to shaping the minds of the youth with them. 

Helicopter Parents Many choices involving a student’s education are being guided by their parents. Where is the line crossed?

Graphic by Audrey Palmer and Andrew Litteken

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by REBECCA POLINSKY

was sitting in the waiting room before a doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago, and two middle-aged women were sitting a few seats away from me, loudly chatting. I sat quietly, minding my own business until one woman asked the other, “How is the college process going for your son?” The other woman responded, “Great! We’re going to start applying as soon as we get the ACT score back!” I couldn’t help but chuckle; she had seriously said “we.”

As seniors begin to dive into the college process, I have noticed something skewed and disturbing. Parents truly believe that this is their big decision to make – that these are their applications.

And I can admit based on personal experience, the suggestions I receive from my parents are beneficial. But this is our time - these are our moments that could structure our futures.

The entire purpose of the college process is attempting to explain to institutions why we belong at a given place, and it’s quite difficult to do so when one’s parents are physically and metaphorically hovering.

These increasingly “helicopter” parents are constructing and submitting a representation of what they believe the colleges would like to perceive of their child, rather than the student expressing his or her ide-

ologies and desires. Ultimately, the submitted application is completely distorted and inaccurate.

What is important for colleges to know: what the parents believe about their child, or what the prospective student believes about him or herself?

The process then becomes unjust. What happens to the students who do not have educated or academic guardians controlling the process?

Now, these students are at a disadvantage. Or are they? Maybe college admissions officers can detect that these are manufactured essays, lacking honesty, heart and voice.

Parents must understand that their deep involvement in their children’s lives can consequently be detrimental, not only in terms of the college process. Students get to college and can’t do their own laundry, make their own food – a dependency is formed.

I believe that as we spend our final months under the same roof as our parents, we should see this as an opportunity to become increasingly independent.

Perhaps the only solution lies in the hands of these parents: take a few steps back. These are our applications – and our lives. 

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Ice Bucket Challenge Senior Jolena Pang and George Lui dump a bucket of ice water over the head of teacher Hongling Zhang (BeBe Engel).

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge raises over $100 million dollars for research.

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by HELEN TOMASSON

few years ago a close family friend was diagnosed with ALS. I remember the moment we found out. I walked into the kitchen and knew by my parents expressions that something terrible had happened. ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”, is a neurodegenerative disease that degrades the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, weakening the patient until he or she can no longer move. At first, the friend just started tripping more than usual, then he was confined to a wheelchair, and later he was unable even to talk. On Saturday, Aug. 30, after a long battle with the disease, he died.

In mid-July, a group of people with ALS started the popular Ice Bucket Challenge. Jeanette and Anthony Senerchia, Pat Quinn and Pete Frates and his family were the first to popularize the challenge and it has snowballed ever since.

Some have criticized the challenge, arguing that people accepting the challenge don’t really care about ALS, it is a waste of water, or it does not promote long term change, but the reality is quite the opposite.

The ALS Association has raised over $110 million since July 29, a staggering 3,500 percent increase from the same time period as last year.

These numbers speak for themselves. If it wasn’t for the challenge, most of these donations would not have been made. The money goes a long way for research and helping families affected by ALS.

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Skeptics claim that many people accept the challenge for the wrong reasons and that accepting the challenge means you’re too cheap to donate to the cause. Scrolling through the newsfeed of Facebook and Instagram, you’ll see the videos everywhere and some don’t even include the link to the ALS Association website, but it still spreads awareness. At the end of my friend’s life, he loved watching all of the ALS ice bucket challenges of friends and celebrities. It made him so happy just to see people caring about ALS. Before the challenge, if you asked people on the street what ALS was, very little of them would know. The few people who did know, however, probably had a personal experience touch their lives. After the birth of the challenge, people have started wondering about it and looking it up online and becoming generally aware of its existence.

Now, almost everyone has heard of ALS and knows what it is. Awareness is the first step to grappling this tremendous problem.

As for some thinking people who accept the challenge are cheap, many people do the challenge as well as donate and others are not financially able. Many high schoolers taking the challenge do not have jobs or money to donate.

No one can be forced to donate money, but raising awareness is better than nothing.

Yes, not everyone who takes the challenge donates, but in the end, what will matter will not be the ones who didn’t donate, but the millions who did. 

FREEZING SCHOOL CHS has a temperature control problem.

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by BRIDGET BOEGER

new solution to global warming has suddenly been proposed: simply open the doors of Clayton High School, and there will be cold air to cool the planet.

While that might be a bit of a stretch, CHS, among other things, is known to students as a temperature confused building.

In the winter, we have to layer our clothes properly with tank top and shorts under our typical winter attire. In the summer, we have to bundle up to combat the freezing temperatures.

While Clayton students are typically pretty smart, once we enter the threshold of our own building, the cold takes over our minds. The building confuses us, forcing us to shiver and chatter our teeth in the midst of summer. We forget about the scorching temperatures outside and focus our energy on heating our bodies up.

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Now, there are several rumors behind our building’s cold spells: 1. The District wants to be sure students are dressed appropriately, so they crank up the AC in order for students to have no choice but to haul out their winter clothing at all times.

2. There is a secret herd of penguins kept in the basement of the school, so the temperatures need to be kept extremely low to ensure their wellbeing.

3. The culinary arts classes are currently in the trial phase of their latest project: turn the school into a refrigerator to store more food, no wonder there are sometimes pieces of food found randomly throughout the hallway. 

LoveYOUR SCHEDULE Schedules are not worth stressing about.

ne of the biggest responsibilities that high school presents to each student during their four-year experience is to put together a schedule that works best for them.

Although in the long run it seems as though it’s not earth-shattering if someone decides to take one class over another, these decisions may be more important than they appear.

However, if they do have a significant impact on the student’s future, it is most likely not directly related to the class itself, but rather to the manner in which the student decides to take or not to take the classes in question.

Did Jimmy decide to take the AP science course because he’s sincerely interested in the topics covered? Or, instead, did he enroll because he’s naturally good at the subject? Did his parents put pressure on him to sign up for the course? Or maybe, indirectly, he felt obligated to take it as a result of the actions and mindsets of his peers.

Most accurately, all of the above factors and perhaps even more play into the decision-making process. It’s not very significant which ones have a stronger presence than others. What matters is how the student chooses to respond to the different aspects that play into the process, especially when they start building up one on top of the other.

The worst possible case scenario would involve a student choosing to eliminate a certain class or classes from his or her schedule and, as a direct result, not being granted admission to the college of their choice or not receiving his or her desired job position right out of high school.

However, except for an occurrence like this one, the long-term impacts of the decisions that go into schedule-making are few if any. Although,

by JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

especially during the long winter months in St. Louis, a school year can seem like forever, it always seems to end in a flash and then next year’s schedule is right around the corner.

That said, post-secondary schooling is different. Then, engineers place more emphasis on their education in mathematics and science, students of philosophy place a greater amount of emphasis on the classics and language-learners immerse themselves in another culture so that they can fill a specific role when all is said in done.

Yes, the overall rigor of a student’s schedule can help to build his or her work ethic and character, but the actual classes that students take in high school aren’t that important. All of them help to train the brain, and aside from a few AP classes for which one can receive college credit, none of the information in them is needed (although, in most cases, it will definitely help) for success after high school.

So, aside from the fact that they have the potential to contribute directly to our success after graduation, the classes that we choose don’t matter so much.

What does matter is what students choose to let influence their decisions regarding their high school schedules and, more specifically, how they choose to weigh the factors side-by-side.

Old habits die hard.

Worry a tiny bit about how much your schedule challenges you. Worry a little bit less about how the actual content that you’re currently absorbing is going to impact your life right out of high school. However, worry a lot about how you treat each of the factors that play into your schedulemaking decisions. There’s nothing more difficult to change than a habitual response to certain characteristic outside pressures. 

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Some Privacy, Please!

Why is the person who sends inappropriate media always punished but the people who forward it are let off the hook completely?

by SOPHIE ALLEN

Photo by Olivia MacDougal

L

eaked (Internet slang): when an image, song or quote is taken from its creator without their explicit consent and shared via the Net with millions of people who were not [yet or ever] supposed to have access to it.

Compromised photos were meant for the original recipient and no one else. What Twitter users have forgotten in recent months is that this doesn’t include all of their followers, friends and family.

Hackers and untrustworthy receivers have recently posted several nude pictures of celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence, Dylan Sprouse, Calum Hood, Jennette McCurdy and Victoria Justice for all the Net to see, and without consequences.

Sexting, though not recommended, is practiced by many young people. With the invention of the ever-popular front camera and apps like Snapchat, sending a picture of yourself in little-to-no clothing has never been so easy.

While the integrity of the sender is often questioned, Internet users

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have recently chosen to avoid casting any blame on the hacker.

Violation of someone’s privacy without his or her knowledge or consent is undoubtedly wrong.

Is it fair that those in the picture are considered more to blame than those who shared it? With the recent release of Lawrence’s nude photos, the Net has finally started to rally behind the one in underwear.

While Lawrence is simply one example, she could be the beginning of a very important trend: privacy trumps all.

The senders, celebrities and regular high school students, intend for only one person to see the image that they’re sending. While the trend is undeniably dangerous and can lead to serious consequences, the kid’s decision to share the pictures without the sender’s consent is equally as punishable as the sender’s original action.

Justice is hard to achieve as a celebrity, but in light of these recent events, everyone can take a step backward and think before pressing “share.” It’s time to equalize the blame and to acknowledge that privacy is meant to be respected, no matter the situation. 

Ferguson protesters stand outside of the Quick Trip that was damaged on the first night of rioting (Justin Seiwell).

Staff Editorial

E

ight miles is not very far. It just feels that way to most people in Clayton.

With such close physical proximity and connections to the Ferguson situation, Clayton citizens have a responsibility to know what is going on. People involved in the CHS community live in Ferguson. Our teams play sporting events there. We drive by it on the highways fairly regularly.

It’s safe to say that we don’t lack exposure.

In the Globe’s cover story, we explore different people’s perspectives on the Ferguson situation. For the article, we speak to those who have been directly impacted by what has happened in recent weeks. In various commentary pieces, we discuss what limitations the police should have.

We look at social media’s role in what has become a national topic for discussion.

As shown in this issue of the Globe, there are plenty of chances to learn about what is happening. These chances to learn are unique to the St. Louis area. Our access and exposure to the situation is unrivaled by any other city in the country.

So we must take advantage of it. We must use our proximity to learn from these tragic events. We can advocate for political action. We can hold signs and protest peacefully. We are right in the thick of things, and we must take full advantage of our situation.

Ferguson

In late August, the City of Clayton was mentioned in the New York Times. Our small town of 16,000 people was discussed in one of the nation’s most influential publications. This does not happen every day.

When protests came to the Buzz Westfall Justice Center in downtown Clayton, students were told to stay away. A brief intercom announcement recommended that we avoid the protest, but glossed over the exact purpose of the demonstrations.

It is understandable that kids were discouraged from going to the protest site, but there should have been more discussion. Students should have been given the chance to share their different perspectives.

Keeping quiet is not the approach that we should be taking. This situation is far from over. When the Grand Jury makes their decision, this story will likely make national headlines again. All perspectives on the issue should be brought up in classes and discussed, even if that means taking a break from scheduled curriculum.

The Ferguson case struck a nerve for many people. Years of racial tension and police distrust came forward in the form of protesting and rioting. Social media exploded. St. Louis made headlines in places across the entire country.

It would be ridiculous if we did not take full advantage of the events unravelling within a few miles of where we live as a chance both to learn and to grow. 

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Staff Editorial

Our Clayton Legacy

O

n Aug. 13, Clayton High School Principal Dr. Dan Gutchewsky welcomed the senior class back to school by reiterating one of his personal missions at Clayton. “I strongly believe in the power of relationships,” he said.

Just four days earlier and eight miles away, Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson in an incident that would ignite the St. Louis community and echo around the world.

In the following week, the sole explicit acknowledgement of this tragedy at CHS came from Gutchewsky himself. In a third period intercom announcement, he addressed the highly emotional circumstances of the shooting and its consequences while emphasizing the need for community support and empathy.

Thirty seconds later, class continued according to plan.

The tragedy in Ferguson remained almost entirely undiscussed in

Graphic by Victoria Yi.

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most classes. History lectures resumed while history was being made mere miles away. In the aftermath of this crisis, when Gutchewsky’s mission to build strong relationships and community was the most crucial, CHS was silent.

The students and teachers of CHS need time to build a community.

We are a school that prides itself on academic excellence, and, as a result, every moment is precious. But this strict use of time has a cost. When every passing minute is single-mindedly dedicated to achieving deadlines and covering various curricular requirements, we lose the opportunity to build the relationships that truly define an education.

Accordingly, we, the CHS Globe staff, believe that the administration should change the high school schedule to include a 30 minute advisory period every two weeks.

Twice a month, every CHS student would have 30 minutes of unstructured time to discuss with their class anything that occurs beyond the doors of CHS. The most pressing example is the Ferguson crisis, but this community period is not intended to simply be a reaction to tragedy.

Ferguson did not prompt the need for a closer CHS community.

Rather, it emphasized a problem that already needed to be addressed.

When students understand more about the lives and beliefs of their teachers and peers, they perform better in school. It is a simple practice that is used in kindergarten classrooms and college tutorials. All it takes is a little time.

Of course, with our already packed schedules, the task of allotting thirty minutes every two weeks to extracurricular “team-building” seems absurd. But, over the course of the year, this schedule change would result in a cumulative loss of only one and half periods per class.

One and a half periods. This is the equivalent of a sophomore missing a single lab day in their chemistry class. At the cost of one and a half periods of a class, we can give every CHS student nine whole hours over the school year to simply learn about their classmates and the world.

It is crucial that the teachers are a part of this advisory as well. The change would require no extra work on the part of the teacher. Clayton is defined by its stellar staff, but their prowess as educators is by no means limited to a textbook.

Our teachers have graduated from high school, grown up and found direction. That alone gives them a type of wisdom that we as students lack. For adolescents trying to find our place in the world, this is perhaps the most important lesson of all.

The realizations that our teachers have discovered and the mistakes that they have made are just as important to our development as young adults as any differential equation or historical treaty. We are given eight periods a day to learn how to survive school.

We need at least one period to learn how to live.

For thirty minutes every two weeks, CHS students and teachers can build a community. We can learn to value the results of our Clayton education as they relate to the outside world. We can grow not just as students, but as people.

I believe that everybody at CHS would agree with Gutchewsky’s mission. We believe in the power of relationships.

Let’s prove it. 

Don’t Gloss Over Glossenger

by AUDREY HOLDS

Daniel Glossenger taught US/World History I and Contemporary Issues at CHS during the ’08-’09 school year. He taught at Marquette High School before returning to CHS for the ’14-’15 school year.

Why’d you come back to Clayton?

Clayton is how school should be. If you picture how a school ought to operate and what the culture should be like––that’s Clayton. That’s why I came back. I had to apply for Mr. Bayles’s job which was a pretty competitive process because a lot of people want to work at Clayton. I managed to get back here and I’m pretty happy about it.

What made you want to go into education?

It’s a long story. Basically, I spent some time in Africa and worked at the local school that was near the university. It was just kind of like a light bulb went off. It was also in a real literal sense––I was reading a book by Jonathan Kozol who writes a lot about education inequalities.

And in Ghana there was a lot of time where there wasn’t power––they had cycled power on and off for 12 hours. So I was in the library––the basement library in the education section just reading. I was halfway through the chapter on inequality in the Saint Louis area and the lights literally went off. So I was like––okay, well I guess this is kind of a sign.

And it just occurred to me I really liked working with students. I liked school. I liked high school and I liked college––I was in college at that point.

What do you like to do in your free time?

This. And that makes me sound really lame. Wait a second, let me think about that before you quote me in the newspaper. Uh...

Reading books on educational philosophy?

It’s a really good book! It’s over there––I think I have it. Here we are––Jonathan Kozol.

Anyways, free time––I’m a Speech and Debate coach, I guess, that sucks up my time. I work with Mr. Seiwell. No, but seriously this is like my life. During the summer I get really sad. That’s funny, but it was probably the middle of July and I was talking to my wife like, “Julie, I want to go back to work.”

Why do you enjoy it so much?

I guess I enjoy the culture where people want to know more things

and improve their lives. And school is that place for me. School is a safe place for students. School is a place where you can grow. I like being here. It’s kinda boring when the students aren’t here though. I mean I enjoy the environment, but without students, it’s sort of sad. The worst days of being a teacher are those teacher prep days right before the school year starts because you’re really excited like –– “I wanna get started, I wanna get started. Okay––it’s two o’clock in the afternoon, where are my students?” 

Visit us at www.chsglobe.com to see the rest of Daniel Glossenger’s engaging interview.

(Photo by Felix Evans)

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