April Issue 2018 by Devils' Advocate

How high school dating culture has evolved p.14

HINSDALE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOl-HINSDALE, ILLINOIS-VOLUME 90-APRIL 2018

photo by Caroline Bowater

Contents

Features Earth Day Ecology Club preparations for Earth Day

Evolution of Dating

Exploring how dating has changed in high school

Smart ALEKS How the ALEKS math program is helping students prepare for college

Newsfeed

A&E: Infographics

See page 10 for more details What’s going on in Hinsdale and at school

Letter from the Editor

Editorial

Militarized campus police

Health & Wholeness The ultimate guide to conquering prom

5 6 photo by Clairice Krzysik

Battleground

Profiles The Aim for Art Senior Xinru Li shares her passion for art

Obituary Remembering Robert “Bob” Skowronski

Club Spotlight Solstice Art & Literary Magazine

See “What’s Trending” on page 22 Find out what’s trending this month and take our monthly quiz

photo by Caroline Bowater

Perspectives Stop judging, please

A&E: Trends

Page 20 Social media and security: what students think of social media after the Cambridge Analytica leak

8 9 11

On April 6, 2018 a fatal accident occurred near Armley, Saskatchewan, Canada killing 16 and injuring 13. A semi truck collided with a coach bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos, a hockey team that’s a part of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Knowing how important hockey is to some students and how some even get recruited to play for various junior hockey leagues, this one included, Advocate wanted to pay tribute to the lives lost during this tragedy.

Cover & back photos by Clairice Krzysik Contact Info: @hcDevilsAdvo on Twitter & Instagram @devils_advo on Snapchat Adviser: Cherise Lopez, clopez@hinsdale86.org

Mission Statement:

Devils’ Advocate strives to provide fair and balanced reporting to its readers by working with students, teachers, and community members. It is a student-run monthly newsmagazine that wishes to inform the student body of Hinsdale Central.

Staff Letter From the Editor

Minna Hassaballa Editor-in-Chief

Juliana Mayer Managing Editor

Alex Choi Business Editor

Jayne Gelman Design Editor

Adam DeDobbelaere Design Editor

Julia Baroni Illustrator/Copy Editor

Julia Chatterjee Copy Editor

Charlotte Sudduth Trends Editor

Anya Uppal Feature Writer

Clairice Krzysik Photographer

Nora Wood Photographer

Caroline Bowater Photographer

As the end of the year approaches quickly, many students begin to anticipate prom. This month, Cassie Kruse, our columnist explains how to achieve the perfect prom in five easy steps. Also, Devils’ Advocate had the chance to explore the evolution of dating culture at our school. From the contemporary hookup culture, to just having “a thing” with somebody, it appears that dating in the 21st century is different from what it has been in even the century before. In addition, with the college decision deadline coming up fast, many students will need to take a math placement exam in order to advance. This month Devils’ Advocate features the new math class and program that some teachers are using to decrease the likelihood of having to retake a math class in college. This month also highlights senior Xinru Li, the mastermind behind the mural in the English hallway. Finally, in light of the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, we have comprised an infographic of the social media platforms that students at Central use and how secure they feel about giving them their personal information. We hope you enjoy reading this month’s issue as much as we enjoyed producing it.

Sincerely, Minna Hassaballa

Club Contributors Hannah Ahdab Katie Buscher Audrey Carter Catherine Dolan Emily Goggin Nubaira Kabir Elizabeth Litwin Jenny Witt

Ed Pletas Designer

Cassie Kruse Columnist

Layo Adelakun Feature Writer

Bilal Khokhar Feature Writer

Lauren Lee Feature Writer

Amanda Bagby Feature Writer

Annika Agrawal Feature Writer

Zaina Ahmed Feature Writer 3

illustration by Julia Baroni

Calling Out College Gossip

nstead of seasons, the year could be divided up by the college admissions process. With the sunrays of summer comes the sentences of the CommonApp Essay. Early Decision applications drop with the Autumn leaves. Winter is a waitlist Wonderland, and Spring is spent ordering college spirit-wear, sometimes for more than one school for the indecisive. Students will use any clue they can find to deduce where someone is headed to study after high school. Seniors can’t wear a college t-shirt to school without being asked if they applied there. Nothing makes a seniors’ college decision more official than putting the school with “Class of 2022” in their Instagram bio, often complimented by a posted picture of them at their new school. If one person sees it, soon everyone will know the news. While seniors’ obsession with their peers’ college news often lends itself to celebrating accomplishments, it also can transform into toxic gossip. An acceptance or a denial can be contorted into a way to criticize a person. “How did she get in there?” and “That’s not even a good school” are spat out in complete ignorance of the feelings or work that go into college acceptances. It is of course unavoidable to talk about college, but students should try to avoid reducing accomplishments or belittling the decisions students make during the college application process. At a school like Central, it can be easy to forget that not all schools see attending college after high school as a given. According to The New York Times, in 2014, 65.9 percent of people who graduated from high 4

school went on to enroll in college. At Central, more than 90 percent of seniors enroll in college. This fosters a group mindset that takes the opportunity to pursue a higher education for granted. Getting into a college isn’t enough, its perceived clout and prestige among students is what determines how much of an accomplishment acceptance is. Students should think about just how special and rare it is to continue an education after high school before reflexively judging their peers’ personal decisions. With all of the non-stop discussion of college, students begin to feel that they know everything about college admissions. They develop stereotypes of what type of student should get in where or what GPA means an automatic denial from a certain school. The truth is, how a college admission office makes their decision is allusive. Students also don’t know everything about their peers. Just because you haven’t seen her in your AP biology class doesn’t mean she isn’t a qualified applicant. At the same time, nothing is more offensive to a student to hear that he or she was only accepted to a school because of their race, gender, class, or parents. Jealousy can drive students to say impulsive comments that they may not fully mean about their peers, but they end up being extremely hurtful. Next time you here some college news that surprises you, take a step back, and challenge yourself to preach some positive gossip. The college admissions process can definitely wear you down, but instead of tearing others down, spend time getting excited for the future.

This editorial is the consensus of the Devils’ Advocate editorial board.

Battleground by Sophia Horowicz and Claire Lozier

THE MILITIRIZATION OF CAMPUS POLICE

CONTEXT: In April, a 21-year-old student at the University of Chicago was wandering around an off-campus Hyde Park neighborhood when he

encountered a University of Chicago police officer. The student, Charles Thomas, “was experiencing a mental health crisis” and lunged at the officer with a metal pipe. In response, the officer shot Thomas in the shoulder, leaving him alive but seriously wounded. The University of Chicago, like many urban schools, has its own police force for student protection. This police force, despite being private, has state-level training and weaponry. In the two days following the shooting, students organized protests on the University of Chicago campus to “demilitarize” their police force. This shooting comes less than a month after Johns Hopkins University proposed the creation of its own private police force. Though Baltimore legislators and university administration were generally in support of this plan, Johns Hopkins students protested strongly through demonstrations and on social media. After weeks of protests, lawmakers terminated the proposal on March 30. As the number of shootings nationwide continues to increase, universities must wrestle between keeping students safe and avoiding a militarized police force.

he students at the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University roponents of expanding campus police argue that the best way are standing up against the expansion and armament of campus police, to keep students safe is to place well-armed officers on campus as is their right. However, their arguments against it are diminished by grounds. They are correct—to an extent. From 2004 to 2011, the fact that campus police have a narrowed focus on keeping that school, and violent crime on college campuses dropped by 27 percent. This was its students, safe. largely the result of introducing police officers to university campuses Despite strong student protest, expanding police forces at Johns Hopkins and marked an improvement on student safety. However, this is where University actually makes a lot of sense. According to the Baltimore Sun, the the success story ends. city of Baltimore, where the university is located, had “more than 300 homicides Since 2013, the National Center for Education Statistics has revealed last year.” Supporters of the university’s plan, including the mayor, argue that that the number of on-campus crimes has plateaued, getting neither “without costing city taxpayers….the plan would free up more Baltimore police better nor worse. Despite this, universities continue to dump more to patrol the city’s streets.” The same can be said for any college campus. A officers, more pepper spray, and more guns on learning environments. private police force, paid for by the school, would allow the two different units Officers have been given the right to patrol off-campus areas, make (public and private) to specialize. A private force would be better equipped than arrests, and even use military-grade weapons on campus. In fact, both a public force to handle college-age persons and college-level conflicts, because the University of Central Florida and Hinds Community College in of its close proximity and the fact that it serves as an on-site, visual deterrent to Mississippi have modified grenade launchers sitting in their armories, criminal activity. repurposed to launch tear-gas canisters. We must also remember that the overarching goal of the police is to keep These universities are not alone: at least 124 colleges in the United people safe. Police officers don’t want to hurt people; they don’t want to make States own military-level equipment. Central Florida has acquired 23 themselves look bad; they don’t want the public to dislike them. Instead of M-16 assault rifles, while Ohio State University keeps a mine-resistant, protesting the expansion and armament of police, students should instead be ambush-protected vehicle on campus grounds. This is what the advocating for better training in areas such as weapons-management, conflictmilitarization of police looks like. management, cultural diversity, and problem-solving. The screening process for officers emphasizes interviews, criminal Because demilitarizing the police does not make anyone safer, and being background checks, and a clean driving record while ignoring the prepared should not be condemned. What happens when a serious incident comprehension of cultural diversity, conflict-management skills, and occurs on campus, such as the infamous shootings at the University of Texasproblem-solving abilities. The role of campus police is to prevent Austin and Virginia Tech? A private campus police force would be able to college-related crime, such as sexual assault and drug use. So why do respond within seconds of an attack, and a greater presence of campus police campus officers need access to assault rifles? could possibly deter or prevent such an attack altogether. Expanding campus police forces is not only ineffective, it is dangerous We are in an age of transparency: we’ve discovered that social media for students. In 2013, campus police at George Washington University companies sell our data to advertisers, we’ve unearthed and fought against were exposed for unlawfully detaining students and illegally investigating rampant sexism through the #MeToo Movement, and we’ve implemented off-campus, private residences. In 2011, a University of California Davis the technology necessary to expose police wrongdoing. No longer does our officer was recorded using pepper spray on passive, seated students society look the other way when we see something that’s wrong. We stand up during a protest. In 2013, a University of the Incarnate Word officer and say something. That’s why the expansion and fatally shot a 23-year-old in the back. In 2014, a San Jose State University armament of campus police should be looked at officer killed a man holding a saw. In 2015, a positively, given that their main goal is campus University of Cincinnati officer was indicted safety. Any wrongdoing beyond that will be brought for murder after shooting an unarmed man in a to light and met with traffic stop. consequence. CL A quick Google search will reveal dozens more examples of campus officers going beyond their jurisdiction, often with deadly results. Do not misunderstand me, I am not anti-police or anti-campus security. But piling assault rifles and grenade launchers alongside libraries and lecture halls does not lead to safer students. It only perpetuates violence. SH illustration by Julia Baroni Perspectives designed by Jayne Gelman • 5

health & wholeness by Cassie Kruse

1. Start targeting your date freshman year or as soon as possible. Obtaining a prom date is the most stressful part of prom, so in order to avoid this stress, and have the best date possible, you must start this early. I would suggest bringing in a quiz to hand out to all your prospects before the end of the first month of school, or as soon as possible after that. That way you weed out the pool and end up with five to 10 good potentials. From there, it’s time to see how they can dance. Gather them all into one room, preferably the lunchroom or gym to get the most space. Start them off easy, with something like “The Cha Cha Slide” or “Cupid Shuffle”. If they refuse to partake in the dance battle, automatically eliminate them. Then, put on a couple more songs, obviously one of them being “Party in the U.S.A.”. End with “All I Do is Win” by DJ Khaled, and see who can make their hands stay up the longest. Whoever can will obviously be tearing up the dance floor in four years, so lock them down then as your date. 2. Make a solid group of friends with six guys and six girls. Now that you have your date, it’s time to make the group. You will want to do this in January of freshman year, as three and a half years is the perfect amount of time to develop inside jokes, allow time for replacements to occur if the need arises, and most importantly, decide on a “squad song”. If you have already passed this deadline, begin this process as soon as possible. Obviously at this time the fire group chat will form, with both a favorite meme and vine decided on. 6 • Perspectives

Cassie scours the Internet for the perfect lakehouse. photo by Caroline Bowater

s every senior must already know, the most important day of our lives is coming up. The day we get to blow everyone out of the water with our unforgettable dresses, dance our hearts out at Navy Pier, and make memories that will last us a lifetime. That’s right, I’m talking about prom. In order to ensure that you have the best night of your life, I have comprised a list of my five biggest tips for success. Underclassmen, listen up, because with my help your prom will surpass any other accomplishment you will achieve throughout high school.

Preferably the other ten people in your group will have already completed step one and have decided who their dates will be. During this time each girl will also need to decide on the color that the dress will be, as two dresses in the same color would be a complete travesty. 3. Buy a lakehouse so there is time for renovations. Parents, this one is for you. Elect one member of the friend group’s parents to purchase a lakehouse, preferably in Wisconsin, but Michigan will also be acceptable. Once the house is decided upon, all members of the group will travel up there to take a look and see how accommodations can be added. To allow for a reasonable time line, the house should be bought before the end of sophomore year. A master list should be created of what renovations need to be made before the big day. Obvious necessities would be a boat house, with additional storage for jet skis and paddle boards, and a campfire and possible wood burning pizza oven. At this time you will all also need to decide as to whether you will invite other people who are not members of the group to join you, or if this is a squad exclusive event. 4. Begin directing your promposal video junior year. By the end of the summer going into junior year, you should have selected a reliable film crew to begin documenting your promposal video. This needs to be the best project you have ever worked on, so you will need the best team to help you. Ideally you get the whole squad involved, and

you already know her favorite color, candy, food, drink, flowers, Disney princess, Superhero, and member of the Spice Girls. You will also need to work with who you think will be your senior class board so you can get the exclusive tip on what the theme will be extra early. After the cost of this video, you may need to win the free prom tickets. 5. In August of senior year send away your measurements for your custom dress. To ensure nobody even thinks about copying your dress, begin designing your custom dress your junior year. In order to play it safe, send away for your final measurements as soon as your senior year starts. While this route may be a little pricey, looking amazing on your special night is more important than your college savings. Also, beware of the prom dress Facebook group. While it may seem like a fun thing to be a part of, it is really just full of girls trying to steal your dress. Trust no one.

OK all jokes aside, let prom be fun this year. Don’t get overly stressed about the little things like your date, lakehouse, or your dress. In fact, you don’t need a date, a lakehouse, or an expensive dress. Prom is supposed to be our one last dance party as a class, a celebration of the past four years together. Don’t let these little things get in the way. So while you are planning your great night, don’t forget to also enjoy it. designed by Jayne Gelman

THE AIM FOR ART Student shares her passion for art

photo by Caroline Bowater

by Amanda Bagby & Anya Uppal

AHHHHH! A very young Xinru Li has just been scolded by her parents. Her body begins to heat up as anger rushes through her as she throws up her hands to her eyes, which are now beginning to flood with tears. She struggles to catch her breath as her screaming turns into crying with pauses for gulps of air. Her parents, having enough, leave the room to let the tantrum run its course. Li paces the room back and forth when she sees a piece of paper and a pencil. Once the pencil hits the paper, she feels a sort of relief as she angrily scribbles. Li, senior, started her passion of art at an early age once she realized it allowed her to blow off steam. She continued throughout elementary school taking the mandatory art classes, and when she reached high school, she took advanced drawing and design her sophomore year and studio art honors junior year. During Li’s sophomore year, she thought of designing a mural for the school to not only showcase her artistic expression, but the artistic expressions of others. “I saw the works of Lewis Lavole, who paints a lot of small pictures and then fits them together into a larger image. I thought that would be fun since people can still do what they wanted but the mural will still end up fitting together,” Li said. With the help of 68 people, Li created a mural that is displayed in the English hallway for the entire school to see. It’s in the course of creating opportunities like this that has made Li recognizable within the school’s art community. “There’s always this inexplicable happiness I experience when I make or observe art,” Li said. Mrs. Sievers, an art teacher and the art club sponsor, has known Li since her freshman year. Mrs. Sievers encouraged Li’s fellow art club members to join the mural endeavor. “[Li] has been exceptionally organized and has followed through on everything,” Mrs. Sievers said. 8 • Profile

Kate Seikel, senior, was one of the 68 members that contributed to the mural. Seikel has known Li since sixth grade through orchestra, but said she acknowledges Li for her artistic talent. “Ever since I met her, it has always been apparent to me that Xinru is artistically gifted. She is always creating something, whether it was for a school project or just doodling in her notebooks,” Seikel said. However, art is not the only interest that Li has. In addition to art, Li takes interest in music and plays the viola and piano. Li has been playing piano since eighth grade and started playing the viola in ninth grade. “Maestro Tinkham, the conductor of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO), where I play on Sundays, once described music as the most abstract form of art, and thus the purest form of art, and I think I agree,” Li said. Li was primarily interested in the piano after a piano concert when she was three years old. After this, she started playing piano when she was 6 years old, but quit when she moved in second grade. In eighth grade, she picked piano back up along with the viola. “I’ve always liked music but it’s harder than drawing to just start since you need an instrument and teachers,” Li said. Li plans to create an art piece during the summer that combines art and classical music, which embodies her future goals of continuing to create both. “For a career, I [want to] make it possible for others to admire art more than making art myself,” Li said. Li continues to create art in her everyday life whether it is on paper or through an instrument with hopes of being in marketing or having a career related to art administration. While art has been described as a way for expression, Li sees it as more, saying “Art to me is something beautiful that makes the world a better place.” designed by Edmundas Pletas

photo courtesy of Suzy Skowronski

In Memoriam: Robert “Bob” Skowronski

obert “Bob” Skowronski passed away on Saturday, March 24, 2018 due to a massive heart attack. He was 57 years old. Mr. Skowronski was born on July 17, 1960 in Chicago to parents Barbara and John. He graduated from Curie High School in Chicago in 1979. Walking home one day from school he crossed paths with Suzy, who he later married in 1981. Mrs. Skowronski, who currently works in Buildings and Grounds at school introduced Mr. Skowronski to Hinsdale Central after he decided that he wanted to change his job as a truck driver. In fact, Mr. Skowronski joined his wife’s family legacy of working at Central with her grandfather and father having worked here, too.

Mr. Skowronski was an equipment manager in Buildings and Grounds and specialized in athletics. He could always be found talking to someone, his lively spirit making him the center of any room he was in. Mr. Skowronski loved how his job gave him the opportunity to interact with students daily. Outside of his job, Mr. Skowronski could be found playing his guitar in his rock and blues band with his friends. He began playing over four decades ago in high school, eventually dedicating a room in his house just for his equipment and rehearsals. His band featured music from his favorites like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Satriani, and Jimi Hendrix. Beyond music, Mr. Skowronski always surrounded himself in nature. He would

spend hours working in his garden. He decided to start gardening one day after seeing the price of flowers at the store. He began to grow flowers from mere seeds and every day thereafter pruned and watered them. When he wasn’t in his garden, Mr. Skowronski enjoyed taking long rides on his motorcycle. He also frequently went camping in Wisconsin, with plans to retire on some land there that overlooked a bluff along the Mississippi. In addition to his wife, Mr. Skowronski is survived by his three beloved dogs, Liberty, Britney and Taylor. Mr. Skowronski was cremated, with plans to spread half of his ashes along the Mississippi bluff and the other half to remain with his wife. 9

Newsfeed

Eco Club Raises Awareness Through Earth Week by Jenny Witt

don’t realize,” Hughes said. Tuesday through Thursday, an assortment of items, including confetti hearts containing wildflower seeds and eco-themed baked goods,were available for purchase outside of the cafeteria. Ecology club members passed out the seedlings to students arriving to school on Tuesday morning. The funds raised from the bake sale will go toward initiating a composting program. “Hinsdale Central has gotten much more eco-friendly than we were even two years ago, but we can still get better. Up until last year, there weren’t even recycling bins in some of the classrooms,” Hughes said. Ecology Club welcomes new members and encourages everyone to participate in various sustainable activities to make Central a greener place. The club, sponsored by Ms. Lopez, meets the second and fourth Thursdays of the month in room 249 after school.

Emma Stewart, sophomore, celebrates Earth Week by riding her bike to school.

photo by Katie Buscher

arth Day happens every year on April 22. To many students, it’s just like any other day. Ecology Club , led by co-presidents James Hsiao and Alex Hughes, seniors, aims to change that by making students more aware of their environment and how they can make the world a cleaner place to live. This year, as in the past, Ecology Club hosted Earth Week from April 23-27. It consisted of dress days, green tips in the announcements, and various other fundraisers for the club. On Monday, all the lights in the school were turned off, not only to conserve energy, but to draw attention to other, cleaner energy sources. Also, on Friday, the club sponsored a Bike to School Day, giving prizes to students who chose to ride their bike. “Earth Week helps raise awareness [about the environment’s problems] that are easily fixable with everyday actions that most people

Child Care and Development by Catherine Dolan and Hannah Ahdab

ear the Family and Consumer Science hallway, some students may pause with confusion in front of room 112. Maybe it’s the giggling, squealing or running around that throws them off. Or maybe it’s that three foot beings are excitedly playing with teenagers, something students don’t expect to see on their way to math class. Every spring, the child care and development class hosts a preschool. Children get dropped off during second period and are left in the hands of students who come up with activities and plan out the childrens’ day until they leave at 11:30 a.m. In the first quarter of the class, students learn about the behavior and development of young children. Then, they are able to begin planning what activities they would like to do with the kids before the preschool starts. “Each day the preschool has a different theme, so we plan activities based off of those themes. A lot of times we will look up ideas on the Internet like Pinterest,” said Emma Dillard, junior.

10 • News

The preschool runs from Tuesday to Thursday, with Monday and Friday being used as planning days. While at the preschool, the children participate in art and science activities, storytime, dramatic play, and time outdoors. “They’re so cute and I just love them. It’s so fun to watch them learn new things,” said Sydney Thayer, sophomore. Students alternate different roles within the preschool. There are three groups, one group teaches each day, one group aids, and one group observes. The observing group watches and takes notes on the preschoolers, and each student is assigned one child to create a memory book for. This is the twenty-fourth year that the preschool is being held here. “I think the students really enjoy it...I get lots of students that will sign up for peer leadership or peer buddies and even though it’s not the same age group (of kids) it stems from starting the preschool and a love for working with children,” said Ms. Lisa Sopiarz, child care and development teacher.

As for what’s next, Ms. Sopiarz wants the students to build upon what they know and continue to come up with more thorough lesson plans and practice giving explicit instructions. “The best part is being able to work with a wide variety of different age groups. It puts a smile on my face, it’s a lot of fun,” Ms. Sopiarz said. Gabby Costello, junior, helps a pre-schooler decorate pillowcases for pajama day.

Club Spotlight by Audrey Carter and Nubaira Kabir

he halls and classrooms are home to many students with various talents, but in a school of more than 2,500 students, such talents might not always be seen. Through its annual publication, the staff of Solstice -Art and Literary Magazine, work to ensure this is not the case, showcasing some of the most meaningful creative works produced by students within the year. Meeting once a week, the club consists of three branches -–literary, design, and photography– all of which focus on a specific element of the magazine. Some members gather to review submitted work, while others sit hunched over desktops, arranging the art of the student body as photographed throughout the year. With such different fields of expertise, the average Solstice meeting can look, as cosponsor Mr. Mike Cousineau describes, like ‘organized chaos’, but, by the end of the year, everything eventually comes together to form a sleek 64-page final print, a combination of each member’s creative choices. “Everyone’s opinions are taken into account,” said Selena Ren, sophomore and

member of the literary branch of Solstice. One of the most appealing aspects of Solstice to much of the student population is the opportunity to share one’s work with the rest of the school. Submitted via email throughout the first semester of the year, Solstice accepts a variety of work, from poetry to ceramics, by students of any grade or experience level. “Solstice is creative, so it has parts of everyone in it,” said Nina Tekkey, sophomore. “It’s something someone wrote when they were alone at home, something someone drew just because they felt like it. It doesn’t really have any meaning other than what the person gives it. I think it’s really amazing that people can just do something for fun and have it published seriously.” Each piece submitted anonymously by the student body is read and discussed by a group to determine if it is worthy of being published through a set of specific guidelines and through debates among peers. Though the selection process is rigorous, the members of Solstice remain unbiased towards even the intimate pieces submitted, in fact, more personal pieces are often encouraged. As

a result, the final product comes to represent an amalgamation of the student body. “This is something that is going to represent the school, not at one time, not at one moment, but for years,” Mr. Cousineau said. While the workload may seem intimidating, the club is oriented to help teach its members the skills necessary to make something they’re proud of. “What makes a good Solstice member is someone who’s willing to learn...It doesn’t matter if you know anything at all, we have room for everybody,” Mr. Cousineau said. Even during more stressful weeks working to meet deadlines, meetings remain laid-back for the members through the close relationships they have with one another. “If you’re shy or don’t really have a lot of friends, or you like writing and design, you like art, you just come [to the club] and everyone’s super nice,” Tekkey said. Solstice meets Wednesdays after school in Lab 15 in the basement for all those interested.

Profiles

photo by Elizabeth Litwin

photo by Emily Goggin

Members of Solstice, from left, seniors Tara Entezar and Julia Baroni, and junior Morgan Chisholm, with sponsors Mrs. Burrell and Mr. Cousineau, approve changes on this year’s edition.

12 â&#x20AC;¢ Features

Earth Day

Seniors Alex Hughes and Claire Callahan place stepping stones in the courtyard as they prepare for Earth Week (below). Callahan paints eco-friendly pottery (above left), Ecology Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stone from last year is repainted (middle left), and senior Elijah Villa helps create dress days for Earth Week (bottom left).

spread by Clairice Krzysik and Alex Choi â&#x20AC;˘ 13

THE EVOLU OF DA

UTION ATING by Annika Agrawal and Zaina Ahmed

oday, this type of conversation is commonplace amongst high school students, whether it’s taking place over social media, text, or an online dating application. According to a Reader’s Digest article, students today are known for a variety of activities—texting instead of calling, taking public transportation instead of driving, and having short-term flings or hookups in place of long-term relationships. Mrs. Julie Saller, math teacher, who met her husband while in high school, said that dating culture has evolved significantly since she was a student. “When I was dating in high school, the way that we would talk was over landlines,” Mrs. Saller said. “In school we’d be passing physical, folded up notes, which always had the risk of being caught by the teacher and read in class. It was more common to be dating than not, because dating was the social norm.” Today, dating is less prevalent at Central, as seen in a Devils’ Advocate survey with 168 respondents. Of the respondents, 45.2 percent said they were currently in a long or short-term relationship. According to Mrs. Saller, 25 years ago, dating involved long phone bills, going out on dinner dates, and attending school dances, of which there were several. “We’d go to every single school dance,” Mrs. Saller said. “Most schools had a homecoming, a turnabout, and two or three informal dances throughout the year.” With the change in student culture, however, the nature of dating has shifted. Some students believe that hookups and flings have become more normalized in society, as opposed to long-haul committed relationships. Lally Johnson, senior, has seen this trend in her own friend groups. “I’d definitely say I see more people in ‘things’,” Johnson said. “I’ll ask my friends if someone’s dating and they’ll say ‘no, but they’re together’”. According to the Devil’s Advocate survey, 74.8 percent of students have observed more short-term relationships, hookups, or “things” as opposed to long-term relationships. Other students have indicated that not all of the relationships they see around them have labels. Not always putting labels on a relationship has been attributed to many cultural shifts and new attitudes of younger students. According to the Washington Post, newer generations are more likely to err on the side of caution; they don’t define things unless they’re absolutely certain, and separate love and lust due to a “heightened awareness of emotional pitfalls”.

16 • Features

Aliza Panjwani, junior, has little interest in entering into a relationship while in school, choosing instead to wait until a point in her life when she feels the commitment has a larger chance of working out. “When you’re with someone before they become an adult, you don’t necessarily know them as well as you could in the future, because people change,” Panjwani said. “I think more students are conscious of problems that may occur after high school, such as going to different colleges.” This cautious take on entering long-term relationships as high school students is shown by the decline in the percentage of people who marry their high-school sweethearts. According to a Google Consumer Survey conducted by media company Mic, today only two percent of all marriages are between couples who met in high school. By the same token, younger generations are

“I’ll ask my friends if someone’s dating and they’ll say ‘no, but they’re together.’”

-Lally Johnson, Senior

more liberal by nature, and more accepting of open relationships. “Relationships are more up to the individual and people can have fun with them instead of being bound by obligations,” said one respondent in the Devil’s Advocate survey. Michelle Shen, junior, who’s had a shortterm, casual relationship in the past, said that society’s ability to talk about differences openly has led to a new sense of what is considered normal. “Different sexualities right now definitely receive more accepting and welcoming treatment,” Shen said. “Today, people are more open because they can be themselves and still be accepted by peers instead of being ostracized.” The change in acceptance of different sexualities is recent, and heavily associated with the openness of younger generations, according to Mrs. Saller. “I can’t recall knowing a single kid who

was out of the closet in high school,” Mrs. Saller said. There was still a little bit of a social stigma. There were no LGBTQ rights, and I never saw two boys or two girls together at a dance, unless they were there as friends.” However, despite the willingness to embrace new ideas of normalcy, national research has shown that younger generations are less concerned with dating as a whole. A study conducted by the CDC revealed that on average, students today have eight partners throughout their lifetime -- a 27 percent decrease from the baby boomers generation, where the average person had 11 partners. Although many theories exist as to why this rate has been declining and continues to still, some students believe it to be a result of increased work. Gayatri Thirunarayanan, junior, who’s been in an exclusive relationship for almost 11 months, said that she believes schoolwork is one of the biggest challenges that face high school couples today. “School comes first in any relationship,” Thirunarayanan said. “We go on casual dates on weekends, but only if we can allocate time after homework.” Krise Dang, a senior who has been in an exclusive relationship for 11 months, said that relationships are often hard work and not achievable by all students. “I think the majority of people are too busy to pursue something more meaningful,” Dang said. “Or they don’t want to invest the effort to make a good relationship.” Mrs. Saller said that she wasn’t surprised that students today date less. “Students do way more now than I did when I was in high school,” Mrs. Saller said. “If I did all that, I wouldn’t have time to have a boyfriend either. We just had a lot more free time to date.” Anthropologists cite grea ter focus on ca reer pa ths a nd female empowerment as pa rt of several factors tha t go into the busy lives of younger genera tions. Studies have shown tha t both women a nd men a re taking longer to get ma rried, due to time or energy constra ints. For women in particular, the average age of marriage has jumped from 23 to 27 in the last 30 years. The percent of women in the workforce, on the other hand, has gone from 50 to 75 percent in that same time period. “Women have been given more confidence to say no in relationships,” Shen said. At Central, 68.4 percent of survey respondents identified their main long-term life goal as finding a career path, as opposed to the 31.6 percent who said getting married or

finding a committed relationship. Several other studies, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Mel Magazine, have shown similar results. Students are now waiting to focus on relationships later in their life, choosing instead to prioritize their academics in school. “I’m not surprised that students are focusing less on relationships,” Panjwani said. “I find that high school is demanding enough without adding an additional commitment.” The nature of relationships has changed greatly as well. Although students now talk more freely about sexual relationships, the number of high school students who are having sex has declined from the baby boomer generation. Currently, it is 41 percent, as opposed to 52 percent 30 years ago, according to the Washington Post. “I think the drastic change is due to improved sexual education,” Shen said. “Teen pregnancies are much less common nowadays, and I think that’s because of sex ed.” Other students also cite sex education as a reason high schoolers may be avoiding having sex. “I think that with the immense number of programs there are today encouraging students not to engage in behaviors like having sex or doing drugs because of the consequences, the popularity of those behaviors has declined,” Panjwani said. Sex education, which is now required as a part of the health curriculum, is taught to every high school student in the state, according to the School Code of Illinois. Mrs. Fawn Kwiatkowski, a health teacher, said that high schools can educate their students about contraceptives because of a state law known as Public Act 98-0441 that went into effect on January 1, 2014. This law allows her and other teachers to explain both abstinence-based education, along with contraceptives, during the human reproductive unit. “The reason why reproductive educa tion is so valua ble is beca use it helps students make educa ted a nd informed decisions for their overall health a nd wellness now, a nd as they get older when these topics will sta rt to surface in their lives,” Mrs. Kwia tkowski sa id. The evolution of what is considered a relationship has led to changes in flirting and communication as well. In the Devil’s Advocate survey, 59.5 percent of respondents said that they know someone who has used a dating app, with Tinder and Bumble being the most popular. “Technology makes it really accessible to contact people you’re interested in,” Dang said. “It’s more convenient than writing a

letter or talking to them in person.” Dang met his girlfriend in class but then started communicating with her on Snapchat to get to know her before having more inperson hang outs. The increase in the use of personal electronics has changed how younger generations meet potential partners. Apps like Tinder, OkCupid, and many other matchmaking services make it simple to “match” with strangers who would make good potential partners. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that around 50 percent of all high school and college aged students use online dating, and 20 percent of people met their current partners online. “I think technology adds to the value of my relationship,” Thirunarayanan said. “It allows us to communicate when we’re busy with school and can’t always see each other.” However, technology and social media can

“I think you do a lot of learning in relationships in high school about what works and what doesn’t.” -Mrs. Julie Saller

also play negative roles in relationships. Some students said they believe that social media has perpetuated a false ideal, and that society has reduced the value of relationships by sensationalizing cheating. “All over social media, there are cheating confrontation videos that people enjoy watching,” Shen said. “On the flip side, there are also posts with #relationshipgoals that cause students to compare their own relationships. With technology, nothing is private anymore.” Others also cite the loss of privacy as something that cannot only hurt relationships, but the aftermath of a breakup. “It’s a lot harder to escape from a breakup now,” Mrs. Saller said. “If you go on any social media, you see what that person is doing.” The advent of technology has also made flirting more direct, according to some students. “It’s gotten more casual over the years due to technology like phones and social

media,” Johnson said. “You have more access to more people and you’re able to communicate more directly.” However, Mrs. Saller said that flirting was actually more direct when she was in school. “There was much more face-to-face contact because you couldn’t use a cell phone to text someone,” Mrs. Saller said. “We had to be more direct; we just didn’t have the means to do otherwise. If you wanted to go to a dance with someone, you would just ask the person. The most creative way someone asked me to homecoming was a post-it note that said ‘Check one: yes, no, or maybe.’” Despite the shift from long-term relationships to casual hookups, today it is very typical for students to ask others through grand gestures. Central hosts a ‘promposal’ video contest every year, where students are encouraged to submit videos of the creative ways they ask people to prom. However, according to Johnson, most of these promposals are pre-arranged in advance digitally. “My dates have always asked me beforehand,” Johnson said. “Technology makes it easier for people to be more direct, but you lose that spontaneity.” According to students, there are both positive and negative aspects to being in a relationship. Respondents to the Devil’s Advocate survey said that they like being in relationships for companionship, entertainment, and support. Other students said they want to wait beyond high school before they feel like they are in a place to devote time and attention to a relationship. “I think it’s unfortunate that students aren’t dating as much,” Mrs. Saller said. “I think you do a lot of learning in relationships in high school about what works and what doesn’t. Even with breakups, figuring out how to cope and move on are all important learning experiences.” New societal norms and evolving technology will likely continue to change the culture of flirting, dating, and sex. The changes that have been seen over the past 30 years have resulted in an entirely new environment for high school students, just as the scene 30 years from now will likely be radically different as well.

s. Gina Gagliano, a college prep math analysis and statistics teacher, writes down an Algebra 1 level problem on the board for her student to do. As she watches her students walk into her classroom, she is confident that her statistics class of upperclassmen will be capable of answering such a simple problem. But as her students start to turn in their answers, she realizes only a few of her students have answered correctly. Ms.Gagliano said that she was shocked that her students were not able to remember basic material. After speaking with the chair of her department, she knew something had to change. Over the summer of 2017, District 86 hired an independent firm that conducted studies on a variety of issues across the school. The data they collected cannot be disclosed to the public. However, they concluded that graduates who were entering their freshman years of college were not adequately passing their math placement exams. In other words, students could not recall many of their previously learned math skills for college. Because of these statistics, the math department decided to make some changes in regards to preparing their students for college. The Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces program (ALEKS) is an evaluation and learning system developed from research at New York University and the University of California that is used to help tutor students from kindergarten through college. One of the changes the department has made is incorporating the online program ALEKS into the classes College Prep Math Analysis and Statistics 2. Currently 198 students are using the program. Mr. Kurt Vonnahme, math department chair, said he wants high school seniors to have a better transition into college. He mentioned the negative effects of not doing well in placement exams, including retaking courses that a student may have already done or taking what is called a remediation class. A remediation class is a compulsory course that does not provide any credits for a college degree and student would still be required to pay tuition fees for it. Mr. Vonnahme said he is confident students will be better prepared for college by incorporating this math program into the curriculum of various courses. “We want to make sure that students make that transition from a high school level of learning to college level,” Mr. Vonnahme said. Multiple high schools are having similar experiences with their curriculum. In an article by PBS, two to four year colleges in the U.S., 96 percent of students were enrolled in remedial courses in the 2014-15 school year. While Central does have courses to prepare students for college, only 43 percent of Central students are proficient in math according to Niche.com. ALEKS works by initially testing a student’s capabilities in a certain subject or course. The artificially intelligent system 18

then calculates the topics that the student needs most support in and helps instruct it to them. Ms. Gagliano says that students are given at least one to half a work day in class once a week to practice the program. “As students work individually with laptops on their desk, I walk around the room and act as a tutor,” Ms.Gagliano said. “It’s kind of like a Khan Academy, but it’s individually guided.” Although this is the first year ALEKS is being used at the school, math teacher Ms. Melanie Kachinsky is sure of the benefit that the program will provide. Ms. Kachinsky used to teach at Oswego High School which also used the ALEKS program. From her past experience, Ms. Kachinsky mentions that although the process of learning through the system can be long, the improvements of a student’s math skills afterwards are evident. “If you do a problem over and over again, it’s kind of like a muscle memory with your brain,” Ms. Kachinsky said. Robert Mikes, junior, understands the benefits of the program and said that he likes that it keeps students up to date about subjects that they could have taken in eighth grade. However, he found that even though the program helps students, it can get repetitive. “[ALEKS] gets the job done, but it can get annoying when you have to repeat a problem over five times to move on,” Mikes said. When Ms. Gagliano saw the benefits of ALEKS in her college prep math analysis class, she decided to start incorporating the program into her statistics class as well. Senior Stephanie DalPorto is in her first period Statistics 2 class and finds that the ALEKS program has helped her refine many of her basic math skills. “I really liked how organized the [ALEKS] program was and how it reminded me of how many skills I forgot about,” DalPorto said. Alumni Camille Kim said she wishes that she had a program like ALEKS when she attended here. She graduated last year and is now studying merchandising apparel at Indiana University, and said she struggles with her math program. Her current math course, finite, is a mathematical analysis course which includes topics like mathematical model building, probability, statistics, and logic. “I thought my math class was going to be easy, but it was a lot more difficult than I thought,” Kim said. Some colleges have started to use the ALEKS program itself to administer their placement exams. Ms. Gagliano and Ms. Kachinsky both find that this gives an advantage to students who have used ALEKS in high school as students are more familiar with using the program. Colleges like Loyola University Chicago, University of Iowa, and College of DuPage also use this program.

DalPorto is planning on attending Loyola University Chicago and said she feels prepared for the placement exams, after her experience with ALEKS. “It feels kind of nice, because I feel like I will have an upperhand over other students who maybe didn’t get a chance to use it,” DalPorto said. Kim said students in high school should use the program to their benefit and must be responsible to their own learning. “I do not think students would take this class seriously at a younger age,” Kim said. “They do not want to focus on college and ACT, all they want to do is get their work done.” On the other hand DalPorto said she sees most of her classmates focused in the course. She finds that her classmates are putting more effort in because they know these math skills will come back later in college. Mikes agrees finding that this helped him with his ACT and SAT prep. He found that the things he was learning with his tutor correlated with the things he was learning in ALEKS. He plans to take precalculus next year, and even though he is taking a college prep class, he mentioned that the ALEKS program helped him keep his math skills fresh. “I like that the program touches on each subject, because you learn a little bit of everything,” Mikes said. According to a Devils’ Advocate poll of 63 students using the ALEKS program, when students were asked if they believe that Central should offer more college prep, 73 percent replied yes, and 20.6 percent said no. With the success the teachers say they’ve seen in the classroom, ALEKS may continue to grow with adding it to more math courses. Mr. Vonnahme mentioned that Central is the perfect place to install this program because he knows students have ambitions to go on to higher education and take college seriously. “We want to help students balance the procedural and conceptual understanding to math… with ALEKS we think this program can help with that,” Mr. Vonnahme said.

Senior Stephanie Dal Porto examines equations for an ALEKS exercise.

Smart ALEKS

Math Department prepares students for college with a new online math program by Bilal Khokhar and Lauren Lee

Internet Info Data and design by Adam DeDobbelaere

Survey size 297 students

Has the recent news about Facebook's data leak caused you to stop using social media?

Is it ethical for social media platforms to allow 3rd parties to mine profiles for data without alerting the userbase?

Yes 9.5%

10% Yes

No 82.7%

Unsure 7.8%

90% No

Do you feel your data is secure when using social media?

Yes

Unsure

% of Respondents 20

Do you care if your data is used for political or financial gain?

% of Respondents

â&#x20AC;&#x153;What social media platform do you use most often?â&#x20AC;?

Instagram (90)

Facebook (6)

Pinterest (6) Tumblr (5)

Twitter (12) Snapchat (157)

Social Media Usage by number of respondents

250

200

Facebook (141)

150

100

Twitter (131)

Tumblr (34)

Pinterest (73)

Snapchat (246)

Instagram (235) 21

What’s

Trending April 2018

Our Spirit Animal

Early in the month, a video of eleven year old Mason Ramsey from Golconda, Ill. yodeling in the middle of a Walmart went viral. The Internet’s newest meme appeared on Ellen and later made a surprise appearance at Coachella, a music festival in southern California, where he yodeled his heart out. He also appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn. Can the music department take a field trip to go visit the nowfamous town that molded this legend?

Their Final Days

Last week, seniors received their caps and gowns in preparation for graduation. It seems like half the class is ready to peace outta here and never see any of us ever again and the others are agonizing over how they’ll miss every last thing. Are you seriously going to miss the dinosaurs we call the library computers?

On April 9, 2018, the retrial of comedian and actor Bill Cosby began after the judge in the original court case declared a mistrial when jurors remained “hopelessly deadlocked.” Since the 1960s, Cosby has been accused by numerous women of rape, sexual assault facilitated by drugs, sexual battery, child sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct. Early on day 9 of this new trial, the judge denied to declare yet another mistrial after defense attorneys claimed prosecutors had misled the jurors through improper questioning. Based on the length of the last trial, it is estimated that a verdict will be declared in early May. 22 • trends

photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Struck Down

Which Central Stereotype Are You? Design your dream prom and we’ll tell you which Central stereotype you fit. Where are you taking your pictures?

A country club. Gotta have your hand on your hip so your arm looks toned.

A staircase. Everyone’s mom is going to post them on Facebook, too.

What color is your boutonnière/corsage?

Red, it scientifically will make me more attractive.

Black, like my soul. Why am I even going to prom?

What are your postprom plans?

Going home and studying for that AP exam at 8:00 Monday morning.

*That* Kid

Raise the entry fees for Senior T.A.G.

Partner with Chipotle

The class didn’t raise quite enough money. Where would you skimp a bit?

Lake house. Mentally preparing myself for that detention.

Their try-hard lifestyle is annoying right up until they pull way more than their own weight on that group project. Not all heroes wear capes.

How would you fundraise?

The deejay

Boysterous and Bougie

The food

Designer brands? Yes. Valet? Always. You better pick a career that can keep up with your lifestyle because at this rate, you’re going to need a starting salary of at least $150,000 a year.

The Athlete™

Friends who? Free time who? The. Student. Athlete. Grind. Never. Ends. Now go win us another state championship. designed by Charlotte Sudduth

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