DA March 1-11

HINSDALE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL | HINSDALE, ILLINOIS | VOLUME 92 | MARCH 2019 199645 Devils_Advocate_r1.indd 1

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[CORRECTIONS] It is Devils’ Advocate’s utmost goal and value to report truth in a fair and balanced way. With that said, we want to correct information that had been reported in the February story Student Interns Wanted. First, Mrs. Karen Russo was not the first to introduce the program to Central.

It was a class here prior to her being employed at Central. Second, grading for the course goes as follows: Research Paper is 20 percent, Hours & Journals is 35 percent, Mentor assessment is 25 percent, Application, Interview, and Public Speaking Exercise is 10 percent and other mandatory paperwork is 10 percent. Third, Russo found mentors and internships for the students interviewed in the article.

Finally, salaries are not a part of the internship program.

-DEVILS’ ADVOCATE STAFF

2 | Cover

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C ON T EN T S OUR STAFF LAYO ADELAKUN HANNAH AHDAB SARAH BADAWI OLIVIA BEARGIE AUDREY CARTER GABBY COSTELLO CATHERINE DOLAN CAMERON GARBER RAYHAN HUSSAIN ANCHAL KUMAR RIMA RAFIQ KATIE SHARP GAYATRI THIRUNARAYANAN ANAND YALLAPRAGADA

01 04 08 11 14 24 26

COVER 02 CORRECTIONS 03 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PERSPECTIVES 04 EDITORIAL 05 CAM CRITIQUES 07 DEVILISH ADVENTURE

AROUND CAMPUS 08 THE DAILY DEVIL 09 DEVIL IN DISGUISE

FEATURES 11 A YES OR NO QUESTION 18 TROUBLE IN PARADISE 20 CHEW ON THIS 22 IN THE FRAME: THE SPINS

PROFILES 14 THE CENTRAL NETWORK

BY THE NUMBERS 24 MARCH MADNESS

IN OUR COMMUNITY 26 BEATRIX REVIEW 27 CHEERS & JEERS

MISSION STATEMENT Devils’ Advocate seeks to provide an open and diverse forum created by and for students from Hinsdale Central. The staff of Devils’ Advocate aims to bring news to the community of the school and surrounding area, by working with students, parents, and faculty, as well as reporting on events in a fair and balanced manner. The publication strives to inform, educate, and improve the atmosphere and student body by sharing information and recognizing individuals and ideas.

LETTER FROM THE

[ E D I TOR ]

March brings to mind Spring Break, March Madness and of course, the April referendum looming over our heads. In this issue, we continue to explore the impact of the D86 referendum on our community, examining both the “Vote Yes” and “Vote No” campaigns to look at their opposing viewpoints. On a more student-focused note, we profile “social-media influencers” within our school—students who use use social media platforms to build a following by posting about their passions, whether it be poetry, basketball, or comics.

With Spring Break quickly approaching, we analyze senior Spring Break habits, involving trips to places such as Punta Cana and Mexico, as well as the risks involved. We also look at the phenomenon of “fad diets,” which are popular diets on social media that encourage extreme dieting compared to a healthy lifestyle.

We critique the lack of equality between physical education classes, such as Group Fitness classes being taught self-defense and shown a video about risk reduction and sexual assault, none of which is a part of the curriculum of other PE classes, such as F.I.T.S. 2. Finally, our Devil in Disguise goes undercover and investigates Poetry Club in light of their recent record-breaking success, and our adventure columnist goes roller skating to recapture a sense of nostalgia from a new perspective.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

HEAD EDITORS

ANNIKA AGRAWAL

LAUREN LEE

CONTACT ADVISER, CHERISE LOPEZ CLOPEZ@HINSDALE86.ORG 630.570.8361

SAFI Z. A. QADIR cover photo by Safi Qadir

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illustration by Audrey Carter

“ BOYS WILL BE BOYS.”

Last week, close to 100 students gathered in the dance studio at Central to watch a documentary entitled Audrie and Daisy, a story of two girls, among many, who endured sexual harassment and assault as teenagers. This documentary is highly moving, as it touches on the repercussions and stigmatization that can result after women report an assault. It is also the leadin to the Self-Defense unit of the Group Fitness Physical Education class—a unit that is taught every semester in every Group Fitness class, which involves teaching every student in the class some basic skills, such as what to do if a stranger grabs your wrist, as well as emphasizing risk reduction.

All of this is incredibly helpful to many students in the class. There is only one problem. Group Fitness is a class of all girls.

Even though this documentary is very prevalent in today’s society in light of the #MeToo movement, it is not shown to any of the boys in the school. The stories of Audrie and Daisy reflect the stories of countless women in the U.S., so much so that women are taught at a very young age not to go outside at night alone. Not only do men not receive the same risk reduction strategies, they are also not taught that women live with a perpetual fear of being assaulted.

A study conducted by the American Academy of Political and Social Science showed that women have a significantly higher fear of being victims of a crime, particularly sexual assault, wen compared to men. This is why the documentary should be watched by PE classes such as F.I.T.S 2 or Weight Training, classes that 4 | Perspectives

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consist mostly of men.

According to Ms. Janelle Marconi, Physical Education Department Chair, in order to teach both the sensitive content and physical skills in the Self-Defense unit, teachers must be nationally certified in Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.). Currently there are only four PE teachers who are R.A.D. certified.

“One of the road blocks that we are facing in this district are finances to support professional development for our teachers,” Marconi said. “Although we would love to move forward so we can provide a curriculum that exposes all students to the R.A.D. program, we lack the funding.”

While we recognize that funding is not so easily procured, we need to prioritize helping more of our teachers become R.A.D. certified. We also need to utilize the training that our R.A.D. certified teachers do have to help develop a foundational curriculum that can be taught without the certification.

“We know the documentary has a powerful and important message, but the film alone does not change the mindset of a victim or perpetrator,” Marconi said.

“It is the curriculum developed by our R.A.D. professionals and teachers that will make the greatest impact for change and risk reduction.”

We need to put more of a spotlight on the reality of sexual assault in our society, which won’t happen unless we start teaching it across all genders. To start with, we need to show the documentary to both boys and girls, and follow it up with discussion points that could be preapproved—a unit that

would take up a week’s worth of curriculum at most and could be implemented, if not in PE classes, then in other core courses, similar to the implementation of Social Emotional Learning last year.

“It could be taught in health classes, especially since they already talk about healthy relationships there,” said Kayleigh Excell, junior.

We need to educate young students on how not to be bystanders in bad situations, as well as on how to openly listen to victims.

This debrief session would open up a healthy dialogue between Central students of both genders about sexual harassment and assault.

Furthermore, we need to offer SelfDefense classes to both genders as well.

If those classes cannot be taught within the school, due to the lack of availability of R.A.D. certified teachers, we need to find and offer other avenues to learn Self-Defense for any students who may want to. As the documentary pointed out, sexual assault is not just unique to women, and being able to defend oneself is a skill all young adults should have.

“Everyone deserves to know those skills since anyone can be a victim,” said Sarah Kim, senior. “Sexual assault is not a gendered crime.”

As of right now, Group Fitness classes are grateful for the opportunity to learn about and practice Self-Defense; however, as a school, we need to step up into the future, where double standards don’t exist and every student nationwide is aware of the troubling reality of sexual assault.

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

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SPOILER WARNING! “How To Train Your Dragon 3” is directed by Dean DeBois and written

by DeBois and Cressida Cowell. The movie follows Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), the teenage leader of a village of dragon-riding vikings, as he tries to lead his people away from constant attacks from raiders threatened by their dragons. Throughout the movie, Hiccup and his allies are stalked by Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), a fierce dragon hunter who plans on killing Hiccup’s dragon Toothless, who is the last of his kind.

“I saw both of the previous movies and all of the trailers for this one,” said Michelle Shen, senior. “I was expecting it to be sad at the end, but other than that I didn’t know what to expect.”

This film continues from the previous two films in the series both narratively and thematically. “How To Train Your Dragon 2” shows the growth of both Hiccup and Toothless into capable leaders, and much of this film is dedicated with the two of them struggling with their newfound responsibilities in the face of newfound threats. Hiccup’s character arc stands out in particular, as he has to learn to deal with defeats and the loss of his dragons, helping him and his village to become less reliant on their dragons.

Overall, “How To Train Your Dragon 3” continues and expands the maturity that characterized the previous two entries in the series.

“I have seen the other films and I liked them both,” said Marco Doyle,

freshman. “It’s good. The characters were more mature and there are changes in the morals of some of the characters as the movies go on.”

This film’s central theme is growing up. The ensemble cast is made up of teenagers who are forced to mature into adults as the movie goes on. This is best exemplified with the relationship between Hiccup and his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera). At the beginning of the film, the two of them are reluctant to get married because of their youth, which makes Hiccup feel insecure about his leadership of his village. Near the end of the film, when Grimmel kidnaps every dragon in the village, Hiccup and Astrid, along with their friends, are forced to confront an enemy army without the support of the dragons that they had been relying on.

Fittingly, after successfully defending their village with nothing but their own skills, the two of them are mature enough to both let go of their dragons willingly and to get married and solidify their leadership of the village.

“I always liked Hiccup, and his character development was really interesting,” Shen said. “He changed a lot, which makes sense in this movie. I felt that all of the minor characters were there for comedic relief and they didn’t have their own development.”

“How To Train Your Dragon 3” is also a stunning film, visually. The character models perfectly convey how each character is thinking, and the animations for the dragons are fluid

“MORE THAN A KID’S MOVIE.”

RED DEVIL RATING: 9/10

k DEAN DEBLOIS STARRING JAY BARUCHEL, AMERICA FERRERA /CATE BLANCHETT. A REVIEW BY CAM GARBER.

and beautiful. Special mention needs to go to the environmental effects, which represent some of the greatest attention to detail exhibited in any animated film. Whether Toothless is dancing around on the beach, slicing through clouds, or gliding against the surface of the water, the animated particles behave just as they would in real life and further realizes the setting of the series.

“The animation was great,” Doyle said. “There’s a scene when they were in the forest and the grass looked insanely good, and the beach scene had great looking sand.”

The biggest, and perhaps only, flaw of this movie is its rather predictable plot. Any twists and turns that the film undergoes were so heavily foreshadowed that the end result becomes incredibly obvious even before the film reaches that particular moment. This results in much of the film, particularly the ending, feeling somewhat uneventful. “[This film] didn’t get dark like the last Harry Potter movies, but I think it’s natural that they ended it the way they did,” Shen said. “It was inevitable for the ending to this franchise to be melancholic, but on the whole the tone was mostly comedic.”

Overall, this film, and the entire series for that matter, is a wonderful showcase of how entertainment that is aimed towards children can transcend its target audience andtellastorythatiscompelling to anyone, no matter their age.

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Juniors Esha Modi and Rima Rafiq go rollerskating at the Lomabrd Roller Rink over the weekend.

Sët thë Ådvëñtürë Devil’s Adventure: Skating into Spring

By Rima Rafiq

photo by Marcos Lopez

W

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ith the end of the quarter creeping up and spring break on its way, these last few weeks are all about focusing and finishing off strong. I racked my brain thinking of chill, convenient activities that don’t require a lot of time or effort in this chaotic month.

Finally, my friends helped me brainstorm and we realized that when we were little, we did a lot more active things than hanging out at someone’s house or going out to eat. We thought it’d be interesting to go old-school and try something we hadn’t done in a while, so we decided to go to the Lombard Roller Rink, located at 201 West 22nd Street in Lombard.

When we got to the roller rink, I felt a sense of nostalgia seeing all the kids skating because that’s not the type of place my friends and I usually spend time at these days. The atmosphere was super energetic and the place was filled with all kinds of people celebrating birthdays and just enjoying themselves. After we got our admission tickets and put on the blades, it was time to test out our skating skills.

At first, it felt really hard learning how to balance and stay steady. Of course, after a couple of falls, I finally got the hang of it and was skating smoothly by the end.

If you haven’t gone rollerskating in a while, you might be scared or nervous to try it out. However, I found that it was a non-intimidating environment; in fact, most of the people at the rink fell at some point. The idea is that even if you do fall down, it’s important to persevere and get back up as best you can. This is important

in school too; if you do poorly on a test or a project, don’t let that stop you from trying the next time. There is always room for improvement, even when it may not seem like it. And while I probably wouldn’t go back to the rink soon, it was really nice to try something outside of my usual scope.

In an article by The New York Times, author John Tierney discusses the benefits of revisiting old memories with new memories. In fact, nostalgia has been proven to counteract boredom, loneliness, and anxiety. Reminiscing over things that made us happy in our childhood or our pasts can be helpful regarding your mental and physical health. At Central, you could try a club like video game club or something else that you used to spend your time doing in childhood. While it can certainly be weird to revisit old times, you might enjoy it and implement it into your current life.

Rediscovering an old passion or hobby is never a bad thing and can be a great escape from school.

There are tons of great indoor activities like rollerblading that have popped up all over our area in the past few years.

In addition, other types of skating have become very popular. Ice skating is a common one because you can experience the feeling of skating in Millenium Park without the cold. For example, Downers Grove (indoor) Ice Arena is the perfect place for this. In terms of the Lombard Roller Rink, admission is around $8, with an additional rate of $4 to rent skates or blades. If you want to try something convenient and interesting, put on some skates and give it a try.

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The Daily Devil

By Lauren Lee

O

n March 8, the National Honors Society (NHS), sponsored by English teachers, Ms. Katie Janicek and Mrs. Gina Chandler, hosted a Blood Drive, where students donated blood during the day in the fieldhouse. The blood would then be shipped to Heartland Blood Center and then distributed to local hospitals.

“I thought the event’s goal and motivation this year was awesome, and the fact that a student organization can organize something like a blood drive is really neat,” said Omar Shaikh, senior and NHS co-president.

Once students signed up and made sure their teacher approved of them missing the period they were donating blood, they went down to the fieldhouse to start the blood drawing process.

“I had to wait a while after this which honestly added to my nerves, but I still

knew I wanted to go through with it.

Finally, I was up to go donate,” said Ella Pope, senior. “I felt really comfortable and safe throughout the whole process and it’s definitely something I would do again.”

Before blood was drawn, there was a health screening performed to check if students were healthy and eligible to donate.

Once students passed the screen test, it took 10 to 20 minutes to draw the blood.

Donors received juice and cookies afterward to help with blood pressure.

The whole process took about an hour for each student, which is why they had to get approval from their teacher.

“I wanted to donate blood because it’s honestly such a simple and painless thing to do that can literally save someone’s life,” said Melissa Li, senior. “There’s literally no reason to not do it as long as you’re a healthy person.”

photo by Safi Qadir

NHS Blood Drive

The nurses fill out ‘paperwork’ on their iPads for the Blood Drive.

By Audrey Carter*

O

n Friday, March 8, as the student body poured into the cafeteria, they were treated to an unexpected scene.

In the corner, a girl stared intensely at her blowtorch, twisting a metal wire back and forth until it heated to just the right temperature.

Sitting beside her, other students brought to life portraits of young children with splashes of watercolor or sat editing photos at a large desktop.

Kicking off March, the Art Department hosted its annual Live Day of Art, a celebration of Central’s creative talents.

From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., students of a wide variety of classes from jewelry-making to digital art congregated in the cafeteria to demonstrate their skills.

“It’s kind of nice to show other people what we actually do,” said senior and AP Studio Art student Sahan Maheswaran. “I feel like a lot of times we’re underestimated. It’s thought that it doesn’t take much effort to do art, that it’s just something that comes to us...but in

reality, it takes a lot of time and thought.”

The Live Day of Art concluded the department’s celebration of Art Education Week. Beginning on Monday, with the decoration of their hallway in the theme of Bob Ross, the department hosted several events showcasing the importance of creativity.

“We believe that...making art [is] a wonderful complement to [the] academic preparation that we [offer] at Hinsdale Central,” said Laura Milas, Art Department Chair. “It’s fun and teaches students about themselves. That’s why we celebrate Youth Art Month.”

Other events during Youth Art Month included a showcase of the work of Central alumnus Tony Moy, an illustrator, and a lesson by two videographers who encouraged students to play around with their software, teaching them about shooting film and editing.

By the week’s end, the junior and senior artists of the department were ready to show off their own abilities.

photo by Safi Qadir

Live Day of Art

Senior Jackie Tu works on her artwork during Live Day of Art on March 8.

*Audrey Carter is a current art student in AP Portfolio

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DEVIL IN DISGUISE An outsider’s perspective on the inner workings of a different club every month.

he fight in my bones is the most American thing about me,” and “now I have to pray every day since nothin is ‘Hole’ier than black death” are a few of the powerful phrases bouncing off the walls. Standing squarely at the front of the room, seniors Amani Mryan and Ayana Otokiti take turns rehearsing their poems. Members sitting around the room burst into snaps upon hearing lines that resonate the strongest with them.

When thinking of poetry, it’s easy to get caught up in the elementary aspects of it.

Forced rhyming patterns and haikus that we all wrote in grade school. However, the members of poetry club take poetry to the next level. Every Thursday after 3 p.m., room 254 gets transformed into a haven for poets.

Poetry club begins its season early in the year. Every practice is open to those who want to write poetry and those who just enjoy listening to poetry. This year’s cocaptains are seniors Amani Mryan and Ayana Otokiti. Typical club meetings start with the co-captains placing writing prompts on the board. The writers are then given time to write whatever they desire, whether or not it is related to the prompt. At the end, members are given the opportunity to share what they’ve written with the rest of the group.

“The whole point [of poetry club] is to provide an opportunity for people to share their thoughts and feelings. If we’re putting too much restrictions on that with a power structure it wouldn’t be beneficial,” Mryan said.

Those who attend poetry club are always given complete freedom in what they choose

to write. Members of the competition team tend to work on their pieces for very extended periods of time trying to perfect them for their competitions. When they are satisfied with their pieces, they reach out to club sponsors Ms.Corelitz and Ms.Hoeksma to polish it.

Members of this year’s competition team include Amani Mryan with her individual piece called ‘Real G’s Move In Silence Like Lasagna’ highlighting the complexity of the English language and constantly being told to “speak English.”

“Usually my poetry isn’t happy poetry. I write a lot about being biracial and bilingual.

I think this year my piece is a lot different than what I’ve written before. It has a more sarcastic energy,” Mryan said.

This year has been the first year Otokiti has performed an individual piece. Inspired

by Noname’s song called Casket Pretty she talks about the death of African Americans due to gun violence. One specific line in the song refers to holding their older cousin as they cry after losing a friend due to gun violence.

“I spun this whole poem based around that recallance of holding my cousin as she cries because she lost someone to gun violence. I wanted to tell my own version of the story using those words,” Otokiti said.

The number of competitions that poetry club decides to attend varies year to year.

It’s popular opinion that the smaller the competition, the worse the judges are.

The biggest competition that Poetry Club competes in is called Louder Than A Bomb, which prides itself on being the largest youth

photo courtesy of Amani Mryan

Poetry Club

The Poetry Club’s competitive team performed at Louder Than A Bomb on Sunday, March 3 at Columbia College in Chicago.

Pictured left to right: Seniors Maylani Sapaula, Soledad Sapuala, Kristal Moseley, Amani Mryan, John Lo, and Ayana Otokiti.

poetry festival in the world. It’s hosted here in Chicago every year.

“It’s my favorite solely because you get to hear so many different types of stories because you’ve got kids from all over the place,” Otokiti said.

This year, poetry club has made it all the way to the finals, for the first time in the school’s history. The final round of competition took place on March 17 at the Auditorium Theater. To many though, it is not about the competitions but as growing as a writer and providing a safe space within school.

“We’re the home for outsiders. Anyone who doesn’t fit the ideal model of what being a Hinsdale Central student means is welcome.

It’s a safe space for anyone looking for a break from the Hinsdale stereotypes,” Mryan said.

- Dickinson Devil

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A

YES OR

NO

QUESTION

A LOOK INSIDE THE CAMPAIGN EFFORTS OF THE APRIL REFERENDUM PART THREE OF A SERIES TITLED “A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL”

BY ANCHAL KUMAR AND AUDREY CARTER

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