Volume 46 Issue 4

THE FEATHERDUSTER

FD

WE NEED TO

TALK. Respect / Sexism / Racism

page 21

Westlake High School Volume 46 Issue 4 May 21, 2015 4100 Westbank Drive Austin, Texas 78746

2015

MAY

Cover photo by: Lucy Wimmer Cover photo of: juniors Jack Speer, Jesse Olguin, Maddie Chang and Uzma Momin and seniors Sydne’ Fowler and Lauren Turner

On pointe

Annual Zenith performance celebrates 45 years of dance

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Centre of attention Rugby wins second consecutive State Championship

Not to be racist ...

Students and staff discuss their experiences with racism

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Humans of Westlake

Eleven Chaps reveal personal anecdotes

The reel thing

Senior achieves success as film director

56 Editors-in-Chief Madeline Dupre Jack Stenglein Business Manager Samantha Jabour Copy Editor Colleen Pletcher Brains + Brawn Sage Sutton Drew Brown Dylan Webber Asst. Aro Majumder Asst. Nelson Aydelotte

People + Places Lexy Connolly Sophia Ho Asst. Michael Wiggin Respect Jack Wallace Asst. Conor O’Bryon Asst. Julia Rasor Rants + Raves Jack Speer Asst. Cooper Kerbow Asst. Maddie Miller Webmasters

Michelle Fairorth Asst. Raine Lipscher Photography Editor Lucy Wimmer Asst. Mary Beth Burns Samantha Jabour Alex Unflat Justin Whaling Reporters Ally Ameel Jazmine Longridge Ellie Mizell Kiera Quinn

The Featherduster attempts to inform and entertain in a broad, fair and accurate manner on subjects which concern the readers. The publication seeks to provide a forum of ideas and opinions between the staff of the newsmagazine, the faculty, the student body and the local community about issues presented. In this vein, the staff encourages signed letters to the editor. Due to space limitations, not all can be published, and the editorial board reserves the right to edit them.

All material published by The Featherduster staff is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without the writer’s consent or that of the edi-

Emily Sheffield PR15ONERS Nick Appling Alex Charnes Katelyn Connolly Rachel Cooper Nikki Humble Alexis Huynh Caitlyn Jane Kerbow Sabrina Knap ZZ Lundburg Nikki Lyssy Emily Martin

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This I believe

Featherduster staff members share their philosophies

Zhouie Martinez Michaela Moss Monica Rao Kathryn Revelle Ariana Gomez Reyes Peyton Richardson Sara Phillips Jacob Prothro Tim Whaling Ananya Zachariah Adviser Deanne Brown

tors. Content decisions rest in the hands of the staff, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier. Opinions expressed in the columns that appear in The Featherduster do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire staff, the school administration or the adviser.

No material will be printed that is libelous, advocates any illegal activity or which the editorial board deems is in poor taste. This restriction includes letters to the staff, advertising and anything else the board feels presents an inappropriate message.

ZENITH

The reel story behind annual dance performance Celebrating 45 years of Hyline, Zenith’s theme this year was “Reel: A Hyline Documentary.” To commemorate Hyline members, a documentary was made and shown between dances, with video footage of the girls dancing and sharing their experience as members of the team. Several entertainment groups other than dance classes performed all three nights, including the famous Gyline, which performed a dance choreographed by two of the Hyline officers, and a technical theater light show set to music from Pirates of the Caribbean. For each night of the show, groups and individuals such as the cheerleaders, Madrigals, elementary school dance clinics, vocalists and instrumentalists were featured.

But overall, the focus of Zenith was the dancing. Five dance groups — Dance 1, Dance 2, Starsteppers, New News and the Hyline — took the stage with dance routines choreographed mainly by dance coaches or Hyline members. Director Lindsey Joe and assistant director Lauren Smith worked hard to pick the music and choreography to show off the talents of all dance groups.

“With this year’s theme being ‘A Hyline Documentary,’” Joe said, “[Mrs. Smith and I] thought about every aspect of Hyline that we wanted to capture. We had to start it early, because we had to make sure that we got film of all of it. We picked all the themes and songs that we wanted to hit.”

For 21 senior Hyline members, Zenith commemorates their last performance at Westlake.

While many members of Hyline have been dancing since a young age, senior Hannah Cartwright first found her passion for dance in

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high school. She began Dance 1 as a freshman and made the Hyline team as a junior.

“It was my first Zenith on Hyline,” Hannah said, “so it was a completely different experience than my past three years. There were a lot more dances and costumes to keep up with this time around.”

Hannah expressed sadness to see her time as a Hyline girl coming to an end.

“Hyline has been my home base at school this year,” Hannah said, “and I can’t believe I won’t get to see my amazing teammates every morning anymore.”

Zenith was especially challenging for Hyline, since they were given the most routines: 10 featured the entire Hyline group. Funky Company and Jazz Company highlighted talented members of Hyline who performed hip hop and jazz routines, respectively. Seniors and officers also performed dances, and two officers were given solos. One of these was captain senior Nicole Phillip, who has been on Hyline for three years.

“This was my fourth year doing a solo, but I never had to perform in front of the school until this year as captain,” Nicole said. “To be honest, it’s terrifying, but once I’m on stage dancing, I tend to forget that there’s an audience.”

Being Hyline captain and a senior, Nicole has had a lot of responsibility, and many dance routines to perform and choreograph,

but she has gladly faced the challenge.

“I have loved being an officer,” Nicole said.

“It’s a really good feeling knowing that other people look to you for leadership.”

To Nicole, Zenith is her last opportunity to perform with the team that she considers family.

“Having this be my last Zenith is a really bittersweet experience,” Nicole said. “Hyline has meant everything to me throughout high school. There’s so much I have learned about myself as a person and as a leader through being on Hyline. It has shaped me to be the girl I am today.”

—Ally Ameel

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1. Hyline seniors pose after “I’ll Be There for You.” 2. Spinning in the spotlight, Star Stepper sophomore Claire Zurovec performs April 25.

3. Second Lieutenant junior Julia Dansby twirls for the “I Lived” dance at the performance of Zenith April 23.

4. Hyline performs its jazz competition piece, “Go Get It.” 5. Senior Nicole Phillip leaps across the Hyline members during Zenith April 23.

6. The Gyline finishes a dance at Zenith. “I’m never going to forget what it was like to perform with my brothers on stage,” senior Gyline member Reed Burch said. “I am so thankful to have had that opportunity.”

7. The Hyline officers perform to “Dreams.”

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photos by Lucy Wimmer and Julia Rasor Aurasma by Samantha Jabour

mind the gap

Seniors pursue alternative plans after high school

DES MOINES, IOWA Lily Adams FD: What are your plans for next year?

I’m going to go to Des Moines, Iowa, where the caucuses [party meetings to elect candidates] are normally run. Iowa is the first state to have a caucus in the 2016 presidential election, and it is going to have a lot of headquarters for presidential campaigns. I’m going to go there and work in the headquarters of Hillary [Clinton’s] campaign.

FD: When did you first get interested in taking a gap year?

I have a family friend that worked with Hillary Clinton in 2012 who’s close with the Clintons, and she spoke with me about what working on the Hillary campaign would look like. I did some work on the Wendy Davis campaign, and I really liked it, so I thought that this would be a good time to try this out. That’s when I first thought that this is something that I could have a future in.

FD: Do you have other friends taking gap years or are most going to college?

I have a decent amount of friends who are going to community college here or doing something that isn’t leaving the nest right away. I know a few people who are doing gap years, but it’s mainly to relax and find themselves, not as much to do work.

FD: Were your parents supportive of your decision to take a gap year?

My parents are really supportive; my mom thinks it’s a really good idea, but my dad is the one that set it all up. They wouldn’t let me go to college at this point — they really want me to do my gap year. My mom didn’t finish college, so she understands the importance of college, but she also understands that it’s important [for me] to do this right now.

FD: What are your plans for the future, after these next 12 months?

I figured out that my gap year is going to be more like 18 months because I want to be with it until the [next president] is announced. If I really like campaign work, I’ll probably keep doing it and not go to college. If I’m not in love with political work, then I’ll probably go to law school or get a political science degree.

FD: Do you have any advice for other people who are interested in doing a gap year?

There are a lot of real-world opportunities that you just can’t get in college. If you are really passionate about something, then this is a good time to follow your passions. Don’t feel like you have to go to college just because someone told you you have to.

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DUBLIN, IRELAND

what’s next?

We polled 202 Westlake seniors on their future endeavors. Here are the results

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR? 4% gap year

LONDON, ENGLAND Jenna Dwyer FD: What are your plans for next year?

I plan on moving to London. I will be attending the Regents University in London over there, but it’s not necessarily for school, it’s just to meet people. I will be staying on campus in a dorm, but the credits won’t necessarily transfer back, so I’m considering it a gap year. Also, I will be interning with Twitter. I interned with them here in Austin — I had a Mentorship with them — and they offered it to me in London. I applied to 13 colleges, two in the UK, and I just deferred a lot of my acceptances, and they all said, ‘OK, we’ll just hold your acceptance.’

FD: When did you first get interested in taking a gap year or working with social media?

My mom did a gap year in Austria between high school and college and she really encouraged me to take a gap year. London is one of my favorite cities, so throughout high school I always said I was going to do that. I did my Mentorship with Twitter, and I fell in love with it. They were so welcoming and cool about it. They really wanted to know what I had to say, being the demographic that they target.

FD: Do you have other friends who are taking gap years or are most going to college?

No, they’re all just kind of going to big state schools.

FD: Was your mom supportive of your decision to take a gap year?

She wanted me to go out and find myself a bit more. I kind of need a year to chill and not do math.

FD: What are your plans for the future, after these next 12 months?

My big worry is that I’m going to just fall in love with London and stay. I don’t know if that’s a worry, but then after that I’m thinking about College of Charleston. Throughout all of that, I want to keep interning.

I’ve talked to people at Google through my old mentor at Twitter, who moved to LA. FD: Do you have any advice for other people who are interested in doing a gap year?

Take a gap year. I feel like it’s really that year to figure out who you are because it’s hard when you’re in high school and 17, 18 and it’s like, ‘Alright, what do you want to do with the rest of your life; where do you want to go?’

undecided 1.5%

1% work

Brian Wieckowski

photos by Nikki Humble FD: What are your plans for next year?

I got a job for next summer at a water park [Hawaiian Falls], so I’m just going to work there until I have the money that I want, then I’m going to catch a flight to Dublin, Ireland. I’m going to meet my roommate and just start living and working there. I’m going because college is just not affordable for me right now. If I go out of the country for a year then I qualify as independent as far as the U.S. government is concerned, and next year I can fill out my own FAFSA [Federal Application for Financial Student Aid]. I’m going to work part-time as a bartender at a barbecue place whose whole thing is trying to be authentic American barbecue.

FD: When did you first get interested in taking a gap year?

In December, when it became pretty clear that college wasn’t going to be a guarantee, I started thinking about what I was going to do if I didn’t go to college, because I wasn’t just going to sit around. And obviously if I can’t go to college, then I can’t afford to take a vacation for a year. I started thinking about going to New York or other places, and I was trying to figure out cost of living because the whole point of this is that I’m making money and living as cheaply as possible. That’s why Ireland is good: because the housing is really cheap there. So I started thinking about Ireland just through a Google search.

FD: Do you have other friends who are taking gap years or are most going to college?

I’m pretty sure that all of my friends are doing the traditional college approach, which makes it more and less stressful [at the same time].

People getting full rides or getting into Stanford makes it a little daunting, especially because my dad is big on ‘make sure you get your degree,’ but then at the same time I’m watching people still fill out scholarships and panic over acceptance letters and I’m like ‘nice, I don’t have to worry about that.’

FD: Were your parents supportive of your decision to take a gap year?

More or less. They knew that a gap year was going to happen. I think if my dad had his choice I’d be getting a job at Whole Foods or something here. My mom is a little more adventurous, so she’s interested in what’s actually going to happen.

FD: What are your plans for the future?

I’m hopefully not going to be there more than two years, because I still want to go to college. I ended up getting accepted to all of the colleges that I applied to, so I’m going to contact them and ask them if they can defer the acceptance another year.

FD: Do you have any advice for other people who are interested in doing a gap year?

Like I said, it’s both more and less stressful. For a lot of people, college is an independence thing, but it’s still a little safe. Housing is provided and everything is kind of included. It’s a little daunting filling out forms for medical insurance and stuff right now. If you’re going to do a gap year, you just need to know that you’re not going to do any less work.

—Peyton Richardson

college 93.5%

50%

received a scholarship to the school of their choice

MOST POPULAR MAJORS

1. Business 2. Engineering 3. Biology 4. Undecided 5. Art/Political Science

MOST POPULAR COLLEGES

1. UT Austin 2. A&M 3. Texas Tech 4. Baylor 5. University of Arkansas

WHERE ARE YOU GOING NEXT YEAR? Canada: 3

UK: 1

Germany: 2

Ireland: 1 Spain: 1 Pakistan: 1

Bolivia: 1

Grand slam

Contreras, Tan, Sweeneys advance to State

A

fter a strong showing in the Regional Tournament April 2021 at the Waco Regional Tennis Center, the varsity tennis team qualified four athletes to the State Tournament.

Last season the Chaps qualified four players to Regionals, and seniors Charles Tan and Fernanda Contreras won the State Title in mixed doubles.

The Chaps played well in the District Tournament April 8-9 at the University of Texas, and the team qualified nine athletes to the Regional Tournament. Fernanda has consistently taken first in girls singles throughout the season and is ranked first overall in Texas.

“The matches are only getting tougher,” Fernanda said. “The beginning went by slowly, but now it’s only growing exponentially. I know State is going to be five times as hard as District, but I’m ready.”

Senior Julian Sweeney and sophomore Marcus Sweeney also placed high in doubles matches early in the season. The brothers took second in the Unicorn Open March 6-7 and the Lake Travis Invitational March 12. Marcus and Julian are also among the group that qualified for State.

The team went into the Regional Tournament unseeded but eventually took second.

“It’s different because I live with [Marcus] and see him every day,” Julian said. “I think it’s an advantage, but it is easier to get frustrated with him, which is something I have to contain every match for us to do well.”

This season the team has grown closer than past years, according to Fernanda.

“We’re tighter and accept the freshmen as equals instead of abusing them like during my underclassmen years,” Fernanda said. “We also go hike and have lunch at least once every two weeks to build friendships and trust.”

Three seniors have committed to play tennis in college. Charles is playing at Brown, Fernanda is playing at Vanderbilt and Julian is playing at Carnegie-Mellon.

“It was great to finally sign,” Julian said. “Playing tennis in college is something I’ve wanted to do since seventh grade.”

Fernanda is excited to play in college next year, but she will miss the Westlake team.

“It doesn’t feel like it’s my last high school season to be honest,” Fernanda said. “I’ve been doing this for years now, so it’s like a routine by now. It’s going to feel weird not going to District, Regionals and State with Coach Kim Riley every year. I’m really going to miss her and the team.”

The four State qualifiers are preparing themselves mentally and physically for the most important matches of the year.

“We played the best we’ve ever played together the last two days of Regionals,” Julian said. “We beat some really good teams, and we were just two points away from taking first. To get ready for State we’ll play a bunch of practice matches and work on a few new strategies.”

The qualifiers will go to the State Tournament May 12-13 at Texas A&M University.

—Emily Martin

Justin Whaling Top: Senior Fernanda Contreras rallies with her teammate during a practice game April 13. After becoming the Regional girls singles champion, Fernanda is heading to the State Tournament May 11-13.

Bottom: Eyeing the ball, senior Charles Tan returns a serve during practice April 13. Charles, who is the District and Regional boys singles champion, will compete in the State Tournament for the second time.

Gotta run

Track team sends 3 to State Both the girls and boys teams entered runners and jumpers in Regionals May 1-2 at Baylor University. Senior Hannah Campbell took fifth in the 800 meter run; senior Sydne’ Fowler took first in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 42.11 and senior Nicole Summerset brought home the gold in pole vault with a height of 13 feet. Nicole has now qualified for State four years in a row.

“It is an amazing feeling to be going to State again this year,” Nicole said. “It gives me the confidence that, even through all of my injuries and setbacks this season, I can continue to set the bar high for myself. I am going to give it everything I’ve got. State gives me one more chance to show off all the hard work I’ve put in the past four years.”

The girls track team had a solid season from the start. Led by a group of seniors, the girls had at least one first place finisher in every meet.

Nicole consistantly placed in the top three positions, and seniors Amelia Hood, Sydne’, Lauren Turner and Carmen Lee set new school records in the 4x200 race.

Junior Reed Klubnick placed fifth in the triple jump. Moving on to State, senior Tommy Lampman earned third place with a height of 14.6 feet in the pole vault.

The boys team made a name for themselves as top finishers feshman Matthew Kearney and sophomore JP Hefner placed second in the twomile race at the McNeil Invitational.

“It was a privilege to get to run with the older guys on the team this season,” Matthew said. “They did a phenomenal job showing me the ropes, getting me ready for Regionals.”

March 27-28, the Chaps competed in one of the most prestigious invitational meets in Central Texas, The Texas Relays. For the girls side, Amelia, Sydne’, Lauren and Carmen competed in the 4x200 race.

Smoking their competition, the girls managed to break the previous school record by three seconds.

“We had recently beat the school record at McNeil, our previous meet,” Carmen said. “So it was an incredible feeling to beat it again, especially at the Texas Relays.”

Not only was a new school record set, but Nicole won a gold medal in pole vaulting by clearing a 12.9 foot vault. This honor has not been awarded to a Westlake student since 1997. Nicole was also only the fourth female to win a gold medal from Westlake at the Texas Relays.

Maintaining the pattern, the girls placed first at the Georgetown Relays, with Hannah in the 800 and Nicole in the pole vault. This meet served as a good initial run before District coming up the following week.

At Georgetown, Reed took second in the 200 and Tommy took second in pole vault.

“I couldn’t have asked for much more this season,” Tommy said.

“Despite being short in numbers of seniors, I have matched my personal record from junior year and still have another week to get better.”

Preparing themselves for District was not an easy task. Stretching over a two-day time period April 8-9 at Burger Center, the girls placed fifth overall, qualifying in the 4x100 and the 4x200. Individually, Sydne’ qualified in the 300 and 100 hurdles, Nicole in pole vault, Hannah in the 800 and mile, senior Jessie Turner in discus, junior Sarah Zagorin in the two mile, junior Emily Thurston in the 400 and sophomore Valerie Morrow in the 300 hurdles.

The first day of District, Matthew was able to win his two-mile race by a 150 meter gap on his opponents.

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Nick Appling

Sophomores Jessi Dolezal and Valerie Morrow prepare for the Regional meet April 27. “I’m proud of my 4x100 relay team for making it as far as Regionals,” Jessi said. “We worked hard to get there, and I can’t wait to work even harder for next year.”

Competing at Area April 23, the 4x100 relay team of sophomore Jessi Dolezal, junior Julia Grisemer, Lauren and Amelia moved on, as well as Nicole who took first in pole vault. In the 4x200 Julia, Lauren, Valerie and Amelia placed fifth but did not qualify fo the State meet.

Sydne’ won the 300 hurdles and 100 hurdles, while Valerie earned fifth in the 300.

—Drew Brown

Regional Results

Sydne’ Fowler: First in 300 meter hurdles (Advancing to State) Nicole Summersett: First in pole vault (Advancing to State)

Tommy Lampman: Third in Pole Vault (Advancing to State) Hannah Campbell: Fifth in 800 meter run Reed Klubnik: Fifth in triple jump

Football coach implements tougher off-season workouts

game plan Although football is only played four months out of the year, it’s what the team does in the other eight months that lays the foundation for a State Championship run.

This semester, in Todd Dodge’s first full offseason as head coach, he installed a new offseason workout system that’s nothing like Westlake has ever seen. His program has obviously provided sustained success, as it won him four championships in five years with Southlake Carroll.

This is the level of success that he hopes to bring to the Westlake program in the upcoming years.

Dodge breaks the training up by month, starting in January with what he calls Chap-Maker.

“Chap-Maker is a hard-nosed, tough, boot camp type of offseason,” Dodge said. “We’re trying to instill mental toughness, leadership and build a high team morale.”

One of the workouts associated with the Chap-Maker phase is what the team calls Thunderdome. Named for a 1985 post-apocalyptic action movie, Thunderdome is a high intensity ab and push-up workout where the team is subjected to a lot of yelling and counting off.

“It’s hell,” defensive lineman junior Joey Piotrowski said. “If one person screws up, everyone has to start the workout from the beginning, and people mess up often.”

Come February, the team enters a weight training phase, where they begin lifting four days a week and doing speed and agility drills once a week. But February is also a special time for the quarterbacks, as Dodge pulls them out of regular offseason workouts to go through a special quarterback school. Being a former quarterback at the University of Texas, Dodge is well-suited to lead this program.

“It’s an intense training program,” Dodge said. “We’re outside throwing three days a week, and we’re inside breaking down film the other two days, and it went really well this year.”

Then through March, the team increases its time outside, running twice a week, while still lifting three days a week. For Dodge, the running kills two birds with one stone, as one of his goals is to integrate the football program into the track program.

“One of the things important to me as a head coach is that our football program and track program are one in the same,” Dodge said. “So we like to get some track work done during the athletic period.”

Dodge isn’t the only one who sees the benefits in having his football players participating in track. Cornerback and 4x400 relay competitor junior Matt Gibson has seen advantages as well.

“Since we don’t get as much time after school as kids who only participate in track, it’s helpful that we get time during the period to work on track specific things,” Matt said. “And it doesn’t only help us with track, as it also gets our usual sprints in, getting us in better shape for next football season.”

In April, the team starts what Dodge calls “pre-spring,” which is the team’s preparation for spring football. The team starts working specific football skills two days a week while still lifting three days a week.

“When we start spring ball, we start in full pads, and we want to make sure our offensive and defensive concepts are already ingrained so we can hit the ground running,” Dodge said.

With high school athletes, it can be hard to keep them motivated through the offseason as most just want to suit up and play. But the offseason is an essential part of the building of a program, and Dodge has done a good job relaying that message to his players.

Junior Reed Klubnik runs a route during spring football training April 21.

photos by Mary Beth Burns Quarterback sophomore Sam Ehlinger throws to his receiver during the new spring training program March 21.

“The coaches have kept reminding us of the teams they’ve been around,” Joey said. “They remind us of the championships they’ve won and the work required to win those championships.”

Not only has Dodge managed to motivate his players throughout the period, he also has them wanting more practice outside of school.

Knowing that they’ll need to invest their own time to reach their full potential, Dodge also has players come in for optional lifts before or after school.

In addition to the physical and mental preparation, Dodge has also made it clear to his players that, no matter who they are or what they’ve done, they aren’t guaranteed anything. Each player will have to earn their role on the team for next season.

And it’s not only this upcoming season Dodge’s program is preparing for, but also the future of the Westlake football program.

“Coach Dodge’s workouts are really building up this program,” running back sophomore Alex Comer said. “In a few years, with this workout system, we’ll have an even stronger program than we do now.”

—Dylan Webber

The varsity team limps back to half-field af- a guy who has played defense for football his whole ter scoring another try. Everyone on the field has life, you gain the chance to touch the ball.” lost track of the score at this point. They jet water However, not everyone is cut out for rugby: anydown their mouths and suck air through their lungs, one who has played the sport will attest to its toughconvincing themselves they’re not tired yet. With ness. sloppy postures and bloody knees, the players laugh “It’s non-stop running,” Stu said. “You’re pretty until they regain composure as the other team stag- much jogging the whole time, then you burst, then gers back to the half-line, heads down, not daring to you’re jogging [again] and then you sprint. It’s a very look anyone in the eyes. There’s ten minutes left, but rough sport; you have to be mentally tough.”

Westlake won the match a long time ago.

Fitness may be important, but most coaches con“Before games, I’ll tell everyone that I’ll die on the sider willpower the definitive trait of rugby athletes, field — they have to carry me off before I’m walking along with reliability. off,” varsity back senior Stu Lasater said. “I don’t care “The main thing to look [for in any rugby player] what pain I’m going through because all these guys is the character to play through tiredness, through are going through it too. We’ve put in the work, and I pain and through any type of adversity,” back coach know we can get it done.”

Aaron Cahoon said. “We [also] have to train outside Excellence in the Westlake High School Rugby to get to our level of fitness because we only practice Club has been ingrained since the team’s foundation twice a week.” seven years ago. Since then, they have attended the Though the school does not fund the program, state playoffs annually and, after defeating Lake Tra- rugby remains one of the cheapest sports. Players vis in the State Championship 17-14, maintained an do not need equipment, and Westlake rugby still atundefeated record for the last two seasons. tracts top coaches, despite no reimbursement.

“There’s no better feeling in the world than win“[By getting] younger people into the game, I ning,” Stu said. “It’s nice to be part of a team that can repay the game back for [giving] me so much can beat Lake Travis every year. We’re such a power- camaraderie and such a sense of accomplishment,” house that we have a tradition to win.”

Cahoon said. “[Only the] people that have played While this expectation may seem unrealistic, the game, that love the game and that have the right even a little unhealthy, head coach Jason Spodick techniques [coach at Westlake]. We don’t try to teach attributes the program’s success to its consistency.

“When the freshmen are learning rugby Playing flanker for Westlake’s for the first time, they’re learning what the rugby team, senior Andrew seniors have for three years,” Spodick said.

Marsh reaches up to catch “So as they get older and progress, nothing the ball during a lineout pracreally changes except their size, their contice April 22. fidence and their determination to be the

best team out there.”

The team’s demanding legacy pushes players past their comfort zone.

“We have to keep the tradition going,” Stu said. “When I have to make a tackle, I think about [the guys from last year] and what they would do to me, what awful things they would do to me, if I missed that tackle.”

Westlake rugby’s reputation prompted several ex-football players, such as seniors Andrew Marsh, Daniel Aidman and Manolo Gonzalez, to play one final contact sport before graduating.

“I love it — it’s better than what I expected it to be,” Andrew said. “You get to go out there and do a little bit of everything, so, for

“Winning the State Championship with that group of guys was the perfect end to my four years of Westlake rugby,” senior Corin Wakefield said. “Hearing the referee’s final whistle and seeing seniors Stu Lasater and Jack Lynn running towards me is something I will never forget.”

cheap stuff; we don’t try to cut corners — we teach the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”

Unlike most American sports, decisions made on the field rarely depend on the coaches and instead are left to the player’s discretion. “[The players] have more ownership [in rugby] than in football,” Spodick said. “The boys on the field don’t have a coach to look for on the sideline to ask for advice: they’re out there with their peers, and they [have to] look each other in the eye and decide what’s going to be best for them to win.”

Mutual responsibility forces players to rely on each other, forming a natural brotherhood. “[Throughout the game], you don’t have a facemask to cover up [your teammate’s] face, and you have to tell him, ‘Alright, he’s coming around the edge and you and I, together, are going to tackle him,’” varsity 8-man senior Bobby Butchofsky said. “[That’s why] rugby is so personal.”

Ultimately, rugby’s foreign origin, visceral play style and barbaric nature enforce the values of responsibility, pride and manhood.

“Coach James Lowrey [last year’s forward coach], being a Maori from New Zealand, taught us a lot about mana — it’s essentially the pride in your soul, who you are as a man, and that really resonated a lot with me,” Bobby said.

“It makes you want to be a better person, makes you want to look out for people, [makes you] want to be the guy who holds doors open for girls and helps everyone out.”

—Michael Wiggin

Bush did 9/11

TRY hards

After second perfect season, back-to-back rugby State Champs take the trophy

photos by Julia Rasor Senior Bobby Butchofsky catches a ball from the lineout April 22 at the Westlake practice fields.

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RULES OF RUGBY: Try: The rugby equivalent of a touchdown. There are two try zones, one on each side of the field. A team must place the ball on the ground of the opposing try zone in order to gain five points.

Conversion: These are comparable to the extra points scored in football, but with a twist. All the players of the scoring team return to midfield except the kicker, who must kick the ball into the goalpost relative to where the ball touched the try zone for an additional two points.

Ruck: This determines who gains control of the ball when a tackle has been made. The ball carrier must release the ball during the ruck as players from each team form a bridge over the tackled ball carrier in order to push away their opponents and obtain possession.

Maul: An advanced rugby technique typically formed after lineouts or penalties. A maul occurs when at least one offensive teammate latches onto the ball carrier. Once formed, the maul must move forward and the ball must be available to play or else a penalty will be called on the offense. A successful maul could technically drive all the way across the field for a try.

Scrum: A method of reopening play that involves all of the forwards plus the scrum-half who sets the ball in motion. The scrum is divided into 3-2-3 player sections for each team. After all of the players bind onto each other, the referee gives a series of commands to activate the scrum: “crouch” (the front three players, two props on the outside and the hooker on the inside, squat down, lowering the entire scrum), “touch” (the props grab the other team’s props, still maintaining their lowered position) and “set” (both teams begin leaning on each other; however, they do not start pushing until the scrum-half rolls the ball down the middle of the scrum where the props are connected). Then, both teams start pushing while the hookers attempt to scoop the ball with their feet back to their side.

Once a team has gained definitive possession with the ball securely underneath the back of their scrum, the referee will call out “hold,” upon which both teams will stop moving and wait until the scrum-half takes the ball out and resumes play.

Lineout: This is how play restarts if the ball goes out of bounds. Both squads line up an equal amount of players perpendicular to the touchlines. The team in possession throws the ball in between the two lineouts, while two players from each lineout lift one player up in the air to receive the ball. Once the ball is caught, the team either passes the ball back to the scrum-half or forms a maul.

LAX ATTACK C

After taking first in District, Chaps lose to No.1 seed ontrolled aggression — the phrase that perfectly describes this season of varsity lacrosse. The aggression comes from hitting a kid with a six-foot metal pole on the field. The control comes from being able to swoop through a crowd of defenders and score a goal. The sport isn’t exactly easy considering that the players have to keep track of a tiny ball through a huddle of brawny athletes, but Westlake is taking the lead with a District record of 8-1 and an overall record of 12-5 as of April 29. “[I] think we’ve had the talent the whole time,” midfielder senior Jack Sallis said. “We kind of struggled in the beginning. We lost to some teams we really shouldn’t have lost to. Then we figured it out going into the homestretch.”

One of the most heartbreaking losses that the team faced was 5-6 against Lake Travis, which happened to be the first District loss it had in three years.

“Personally, I think that was a really good thing for us,” captain defender senior Will Furst said. “It woke us up to the fact that we can’t be complacent in what we’re doing. The Lake Travis [game] put a fire in everybody. Everyone was amped up because when another team goes after you and smacks you in the face, you have to be ready to hit back.”

While the players were expecting to face Lake Travis for the District title after Westlake’s 14-5 defeat of Anderson on April 25, they were surprised to play Vandegrift instead, after Vandegrift beat the Cavaliers to make it to the championship game.

The Chaps beat Vandegrift 8-5.

“Winning the championship was amazing,” Will said. “This was my third year to have won it, and there is no better feeling in the world than earning that trophy.”

Between hard, long practices and gratifying games, the team has created some pretty unforgettable moments.

“In our last game against Austin High, [freshman] Tate Young threw a ball to a guy who was in front of the goal on what we call ‘crease,’” Will said, “and he threw a bounce pass through a kid’s legs, which is unheard of. [It] was ridiculous. During practice that week, everyone kept throwing bounce passes like, ‘I’m going to Tate Young it to you.’”

Every serious team has to have some not-so-serious occasions, including humorous traditions.

“We gave two freshmen on our team, Jacob Stoebner and James Lardner, haircuts,” Jack said. “The haircuts were really bad, so that was pretty funny. [The hair-shaving tradition] started one year, someone would shave their head for playoffs, and then last year we just decided, ‘OK, all the freshmen have to shave their heads.’”

Along with transforming the freshmen into monks and Avatar characters, the team has more classy customs.

“On game days when we have school, we encourage the guys to dress really sharply and wear tucked in white button downs and ties, to get you in the mode for game time,” Will said. “I always eat Thundercloud on game days and, if I can, watch Miracle; it’s my favorite sports movie.

We watched it as a team on our way to Houston.”

The season ended with a score of 7-8 in a nail-biter game against the Episcopal School of Dallas in the State quarter-finals. Even though they lost, the team is proud of how far they have progressed, considering that ESD is one of the best lacrosse teams in the state.

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“We started to peak at the right time,” captain senior Evan Janssen said. “I think we’ve improved a lot since the beginning and have come a long way as a team.” ­—Raine Lipscher and Emily Sheffield

Boys golf brings home silver at State Varsity boys golf finished second at the State Tournament in Georgetown on April 28, with sophomore Reese Ramsey and freshman Reid Davenport tying for third for best individual score. Although the team could not reclaim the championship this year, the future of varsity golf appears promising.

“I expect the guys to get better as each year goes on,” head coach Callan Nokes said. “The top five [varsity golfers] this year will all be back, so we’ll be [even] stronger next year.”

Boys golf has previously won seven State Championships thanks to an expectation of excellence imposed by their coaches, parents and fellow teammates.

“We demand that they work hard and don’t give them much of a choice,” Nokes said. “Their parents do the same with their academics, [and since] we have kids that are willing to work hard and push to get to that higher level, pretty good things happen.”

During training, Nokes creates a competitive atmosphere that ensures Westlake golf remains the

best.

“Coach always says, ‘After every practice we should be a little better,’” junior Trevor Brown said. “[Though he] likes to keep it where we’re not getting too tense about anything. You can’t have any negative thoughts because that’s what hurts you in the game of golf.”

By developing their middle game, short game and course management, the boys play at a level other teams can’t match.

“Our mentality is that if we don’t improve, we’re going to lose,” Trevor said. “You have to give 100 percent every shot, and if you don’t, then I don’t even know why you’re out there.”

This commitment, combined with the inclusive nature of golf, integrates all levels of players into a trusting community.

“We try just as hard to win a freshman tournament as we do a State Championship,” Nokes said. “[All the players] are important to us and, [as a result], we come together as a pretty tight-knit coaching staff and players.”

Once they’re out on the course, however, the golfers must focus on their own game.

“You expect your guys to play well, but at the same time, you care about doing what you have to do, playing the best you can for the team,” Trevor said. “You just control what you do.”

Keeping a calm mind is a necessity players must teach themselves.

“In golf you have so many things going through your mind, you just find a way to keep it simple,” Trevor said. “I always focus on the next shot. That’s it. No wind, no trajectory. Just me, hitting that next shot as close as I can to the hole.”

With a summer filled with practices on the horizon, the players will return next year stronger than ever.

“It all comes back to our tone: we’re all in this together,” Nokes said. “The players get the credit for buying into [this program]. They could be lazy and quit playing golf, but they don’t. [Instead], they work hard and see it through to the very end.”

—Michael Wiggin

Junior Trevor Brown practices for the State Tournament at Lions Municipal Golf Course.

Golfer Kennedy Swann earns State medal

Junior Will Hardin advances up the field against Southlake Carroll on Feb. 21.

In her first appearance playing for the State Championship title, sophomore Kennedy Swann spent April 27-28 at the UT Golf Club competing against golfers from all over Texas. She scored a 77 the first day and came back swinging with a 71 the second, tying for sixth place.

The nerve-racking feeling going into the first day was unlike anything Kennedy had ever felt before in a game.

“This tournament was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been for a tournament in my entire life,” Kennedy said. “I got up on the first tee box, and I felt relaxed, but I was shaking like crazy.

I couldn’t believe I was there.”

Kennedy was proud of her improved score the second day. Her 71 was the second best score posted for Sophomore that day.

Kennedy “The first day, I hit the ball really Swann tied well but didn’t score well,” Kennedy for sixth said. “I was tied for 19th with seven place in other girls from the first day. I came State. back the second day and played a whole lot better.”

Kennedy was grateful for the encouragement of her family, friends, teammates and coaches.

“I had a lot of support,” Kennedy said. “In the morning I turned around on the tee box, and I saw my boyfriend, his dad, three of my teammates, my parents, my high school coach and my photos by Nick Appling private coach. It felt good to know I

had all those people behind me.”

Coach Chuck Nowland said he was impressed with her demeanor and performance on the course.

“She hit pro-level shots,” he said. “She earned it. She’s got real talent and belongs at the top of the leader board.”

Leading up to the State Tournament, the team played Regionals April 15 in Waco. The Chaps played a very tough 18 holes, but came in fourth place – just one place shy of qualifying for State. Kennedy took home the Regional Championship with rounds of 72-77. With her scores of 74-78, sophomore Randi Romack qualified as the Region II first alternate.

Nowland said he was proud of the team’s effort throughout the Regional Tournament.

“On day one, we were right in the hunt,” he said. “We had some good team scoring; the girls played hard, and they gave it the best they could.

They tried to keep it going on day two, but it was a litle tougher.”

The team advanced to Regionals after beating Lake Travis in District, which took place at Lions Municipal Golf Course April 7-8. The team set a new record with a score of 275 or 9 under par. Kennedy led the team with a score of 67-66 in her respective championship rounds.

“When they announced I won, I just smiled real big and let out a deep breath,” Kennedy said. “I hugged my teammates and said, ‘It’s over.’”

Randi set a new record with scores of 72-64. These girls, along with sophomores Jordan Shackelford and Elena Castanon, made up the winning team.

The team’s collective will to win the District championship deeply impressed Nowland.

“Everybody came together as a team,” Nowland said. “They realized that they were playing for a team and for each other, for their school, and not themselves. That’s a key thing, and it’s a maturity thing. Because we’re such a young team, it’s occurring over time, and it’s very satisfying to see that happen as a coach.”

—Nikki Lyssy

Athletic trainer Vicki Stafko to retire after 30 years at Westlake

Athletic trainer Vicki Stafko, who will retire at the end of the year, has been at Westlake for 30 years and says she has witnessed a lot of change in that time.

Wrapping it up

D

uring the basketball season, athletic trainer Vicki Stafko wakes up at 4:45 a.m. By 5:30, she’s on the road, making the commute down to Westlake from her home in Georgetown.

Stafko has been at Westlake for 30 years, 22 of which have included the long drive south. She’s used to it by now.

But soon, Stafko will no longer be making the commute. Soon, she will no longer be in her office that she shares with trainer James “Doc” Allen, nor will she be walking the halls or standing on the sideline during athletic events.

That’s because Stafko is retiring in May. She’s seen a lot of changes since her first day in 1985. She’s seen coaches and administrators leave. She’s seen the campus transformed from a tiny school on the outskirts of Austin to one with an enrollment pushing 2600 students.

“I love working with the kids, I love my job, but I’m getting tired,” Stafko said. “I’m tired of getting up early, I’m getting tired of getting home late. When you’ve been doing that for 30 years it just takes a toll on you. I’ve missed a lot of birthdays, I’ve missed a lot of holidays, and that’s hard. I knew this was how it was going to be when I got into the profession.”

A three-sport athlete in high school, Stafko attended Southern Illinois University on a softball scholarship. While there, she also ran track, played basketball and served as a student athletic trainer.

“When I went through school, it was really hard for a female to get into medical school,” Stafko said. “I liked sports, and I’d always wanted to be a doctor. I came from a very small school, and I had never heard of an athletic trainer until I got to college. I thought it was pretty cool — you had the medical side and the athletic side. I thought that that would

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suit me better.”

After she graduated from Southern Illinois, Stafko found her way to Westlake, a small high school in the suburbs of Austin, some 850 miles away from Southern Illinois University.

“I had a friend that worked at the University of Texas as an athletic trainer,” Stafko said.

“She called me in October of 1985 and told me, ‘There’s a school down here — Westlake High School — that’s looking for a girls’ trainer.’ She gave me their name, and I called down here and talked to the men’s trainer and told him I was interested. I FedExed my application and letters of recommendation down and a few days later came in and interviewed. That was on a Monday, and they called back Wednesday and offered me the job. I drove down here on Nov. 5, 1985, my 25th birthday, and started Nov. 10.”

Back then, the school was smaller. It wasn’t a household name around Central Texas, but rather a school stuck in transition as developments popped up among the old cedar breaks and livestock pastures, with the new multi-million dollar dwellings housing some of Austin’s royalty — such as Willie Nelson’s children and Lady Bird Johnson’s grandchildren. Meanwhile, descendants of the original settlers, the people who had inhabited the area since the Civil War, were still trying to hold on to the land.

It made for an interesting social scene at the high school.

“It used to be real laid back, with a smallerschool feel,” Stafko said. “We used to see a lot more people running around in their jeans and boots and pickup trucks. [You’d see the individual groups], you had the ‘preppy’ kids over here, the ‘kickers’ over there.”

Stafko saw the school boom as those original families were driven out and the area became increasingly developed. Soon, Westlake came into its own as a Central Texas powerhouse in both the fields of academia and athletics. It all started under the direction of the late Ebbie Neptune, then the athletic director.

“He made sure that girls sports got the best coaches he could find and that they got paid

the same amount as boys coaches,” Stafko said.

“If you look at the number of State Championships we’ve had over the years, you’ll see we’ve been very successful, and he was on the ground floor of it. He made sure the girls were not discriminated against and the budgets were equal — he would try to make everything equitable.”

Stafko saw the school’s rise from an insider’s perspective. She operated backstage, taping tender ankles and wrists, overseeing athletes as they rehabilitated from injury and standing on the sideline, slightly out of view, but ready to jump into action if needed.

Stafko said she thinks the students’ attitudes are a big part of Westlake’s success.

“Our kids are pleasers,” Stafko said. “Everybody wants to win. Nobody wants to be that team that doesn’t win. That creates an atmosphere that breeds success.”

But Stafko and her fellow trainers deserve at least some credit, as they instituted a preventive exercise routine for athletes before it was a widespread practice.

“For years, I had my volleyball teams doing preventive exercises and wearing ankle braces,” Stafko said. “When I started looking at the injuries, I saw that the same people who weren’t wearing ankle braces were the ones who were getting hurt. So I thought, ‘Let’s put them in braces as if they’d been hurt.’ And then I saw a decrease in those [ankle] injuries, and I started thinking that if we did preventative exercises we could decrease [those injuries] even more, and it worked. So then we started doing them across all sports, with different types of exercises. We saw a significant decrease in ankle injuries across the board.”

Stafko’s best memories from her time at Westlake include championships and long playoff runs, in addition to the relationships she’s cultivated with students. She insists that students at Westlake are just different, that there’s just something about them, even the ones who aren’t athletes. “[Their] parents are usually highly motivated,” Stafko said. ‘The kids reflect that. We just have good kids. A lot of times we don’t have the superstar kids — you look at other schools

and they have these five-star recruits. Our kids are just highly motivated, they want to win, so they go that extra mile in order to do so. That’s not just in athletics, it’s in yearbook, TEC crew, theater, journalism and so on. We’re successful in a lot of different things.”

Perhaps that’s why she’s stayed at Westlake for so long. After all, she’s had plenty of opportunities to leave.

“Over the years, I could’ve had a job at Round Rock, Westwood and Leander,” Stafko said. “I got offered a job as an assistant trainer at UTSA, and I could’ve been the head women’s trainer at Texas A&M. Texas A&M wanted me to leave in the middle of the school year to replace their trainer who had left. I couldn’t do that. To me, that’s something that you just can’t do because then I’d be putting this school in the same position that [A&M] was in.”

In addition, several of those jobs required her to teach multiple classes and prove herself to a new set of coaches, something she rarely

“She’s dedicated to her job, and it’s been a pleasure and a joy to work with her and an honor to be able to work with someone of her caliber.”

–James “Doc” Allen

has had to do at Westlake. “[Traditionally], we don’t have a big turnover in coaches here,” Stafko said.

“You don’t have to prove yourself [to them every year]. Honestly, I never wanted to do that. I got comfortable here, and there was no sense going somewhere else.”

In 2009, she started working with trainer James “Doc” Allen, formerly the long-time trainer at Odessa Permian, who came to Westlake following the hiring of former head football coach Darren Allman. He will also be retiring after the school year.

Allen has come to respect Vicki as both a colleague and a friend.

“She’s a rockstar,” Allen said. “First and foremost, she’s a professional. She’s dedicated to her job, and it’s been a pleasure and a joy to work with her and an honor to be able to work with someone of her caliber.”

Mary Beth Burns Senior Grace Burr, a three-year letterwinner in girls soccer, has been around Stafko a lot over the past four years. Over that time, a bond formed between the

two.

“She’s like my favorite person in the world,” Grace said. “I love Ms. Stafko. She’s always there for us, always willing to take care of us or stretch us out. She’s always got a great attitude.”

At the end of the day, that’s what Stafko wants to be known as — somebody who inspired her students and co-workers and brought joy to their lives. She thinks that she succeeded in doing so.

“I feel confident in the fact that I’ve touched some lives and I’ve made a positive impact in kids’ lives,” Stafko said. “I take pride in that when I look back over my career.”

—Jacob Prothro

“

“

I feel very excited knowing that in the future we will finally get paid. We are fulltime employees. D1 college football players devote 44 hours per week, which is 3.3 more hours than a traditional American work week. The NCAA produces $11 billion in annual revenue off of us, and the fact that we get none of that money is finally making people realize how big of an issue this is. I couldn’t be playing college football at a more perfect time because the NCAA is finally about to give us our much deserved and needed compensation for our hard work. I will be a part of history in the making for the future of college athletics.”

Tim Whaling

I believe giving college athletes money for school is a good incentive to help kids strive for their dreams and make it a reality.

Not everyone is as fortunate as most people at Westlake, so it gives many other people the opportunity to pursue a college that may not have been in their reach before due to money.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that as long as the system is not abused—as long as the kids receiving money are doing well on and off the field, I see no problem with it.”

—junior Hailey Bishop (Hailey will play soccer for SMU in the fall of 2016)

Claire Schaffer

“

If you’re a college athlete on scholarship, you basically are getting paid to play. It’s nearly impossible to be a collegiate athlete and have a job on the side to cover day-to-day living expenses, so it would definitely be nice to get paid extra for that.”

—senior Breckyn Hager (Breckyn will play football for UT Austin next fall)

To pay or not to pay

w

College athletes may soon receive compensation ith the business of college athletics growing more and more each year, it looks as though the era of “student-athletes” may soon be coming to an end. Or at least changing dramatically.

Last year, a U.S. district court ruling paved the way for athletes to be paid salaries beyond scholarship incentives. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon proceeded to sue the National Collegiate Athletic Association, claiming that athletes should be compensated for the use of their likeness when colleges benefited financially from that use. The court agreed, and while exact details are still unclear, it looks as though colleges will be able to offer athletes as much as $10,000 a year. Half of that will cover living expenses not usually covered by athletic scholarships, while the other half enters a trust fund, all for the university’s use of the athlete’s name and likeness.

Some universities have compensated ath-

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Justin Whaling letes in the past and suffered the consequences. Southern Methodist University in the ‘70s and the University of Miami in the 2000s are notable examples, but those involved underthe-table payments and were violations of NCAA policy, for which the universities received harsh penalties. This deal would mark the first time college athletes have been paid above board, with no potential ramifications for the universities.

Fans, players and coaches all have their opinions on the situation, but very few people are in as unique a position to comment as Westlake’s athletic director and head football coach Todd Dodge. Dodge was a quarterback at the University of Texas in the ‘80s, coached the Southlake Carroll High School team to four State Championships and was the head football coach of the University of North Texas from ‘07-’10 before coming to Westlake this past year. Dodge has seen prep and college athletics from every angle.

“It’s impossible for a student-athlete to make any money while on full scholarship,”

Dodge said. “And yet they are generating a tremendous amount of revenue for their universities, so I absolutely feel like it’s a great idea [to pay them].”

A concern that the NCAA and fans have is that with the clearance to pay athletes, larger schools such as Texas and Michigan will be able to dominate recruiting by being able to offer more athletes a stipend. However, Dodge would advise his players to be focused on qualities other than money.

“I would tell [my players] not to let the dollar amount be the decision in where you go,” Dodge said. “I always tell them to make sure you go to a place where, if football goes out the window within your first few weeks there, that it’s a place the degree will have great value to you, and it’s somewhere you want to be.”

Sophomore Sam Ehlinger, who has already received interest from college football recruiters, shares Dodge’s view.

“Money isn’t a factor,” Sam said. “I would rather go to a school that offers a good education over a college that can pay more.”

“

Some college athletes come from poor families and to have some spending money would be helpful. As a full-time athlete, at the level they are at, they can’t do a work-study (or part time job) like other students. Paying players can help them out in their personal life since they are so busy with their sports and hours of school.”

If the current ruling in the O’Bannon case stands, universities will be able to pay athletes, but there will be a cap on how much they can be paid. With this, it seems as though cheating among collegiate teams would decrease significantly. That’s one of the biggest advantages of the ruling, many supporters say. But volleyball coach and assistant athletic director Al Bennett thinks otherwise.

“It will make the cheating that occurs in terms of players getting paid more prevalent,” Bennett said. “The big conferences are still going to manipulate who gets the most money from sources we never know about.”

While the O’Bannon case allows all scholarship student-athletes to be compensated, some think it’s fair to pay more to athletes whose sports bring in the most revenue. For example, football and men’s basketball bring in a majority of income at most colleges, and some supporters think it would be fair to only pay those athletes. Bennett said he understands that football and men’s basketball generate the most revenue and that should count

—senior Lindsey McLeod (Lindsey will play softball for Sam Houston next fall)

for something.

“The coaches already have significantly different salaries,” Bennett said. “The head volleyball coach at Texas is probably making six figures, while the football coach is making 4-5 million dollars a year. But it’s market driven, so they’re able to pay because they have the money. Following that same logic, I think there will be equity in like-programs, but there won’t be equity across the board.”

Although Bennett sees ups and downs in the idea, Dodge said he thinks that it would be unfair for the universities to reward the higher income programs with more benefits than the lower income sports.

“I think it needs to be done to athletes across the board,” Dodge said. “To say that a women’s basketball player doesn’t deserve the same stipend as a football player, I think that’s wrong.”

Junior Bailey Holle, a women’s basketball commit for Texas State, couldn’t agree more.

“I think it would be unfair,” Bailey said.

“Other athletes work just as hard and have to

Justin Whaling

—senior Michelle Irvin (Michelle will play volleyball for LSU next fall)

put in just as much work as those who may bring in more revenue. If some collegiate athletes get paid, then all of them need to.”

Another concern of the play-for-pay system is the maturity of the student-athletes and whether they can handle the large sum of money given to them. Dodge, being a former college coach, got to know the maturity level of his players very well.

“As a Division I head football coach, I know they wouldn’t be mature enough,” Dodge said.

“You need to take the money and give it to them as an allowance because if you give it to them as a lump-sum, then within two weeks, that money’s going to be gone.”

The idea of legitimate payments for college athletes isn’t new; it seems to resurface every couple of years. But the O’Bannon case looks like it is finally pushing the issue past the hypothetical stage to a position where universities, and high school recruits, will have to start thinking extremely hard about how they will handle this financial change in college sports.

—Dylan Webber

& RESPECT: it’s about time.

Do teachers respect us? (22) Microaggressions (23) Are we respecting teachers? (25) Sexism in politics (26) How do we deal with racism? (27-33)

[ opinion ]

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Crunch time AP student questions test-prep policy

ooking at Westlake students’ schedules, it’s clear that we go to a school of squares. Almost everyone is taking at least one AP, and every day the libraries are full of students studying. But even though our dedication to school is widely known, there’s still the issue of lack of respect by some teachers towards our concerns, time and mental health.

This isn’t something that is shown through outlandish behavior in classrooms; it’s shown through downplaying our legitimate worries and overloading us with work when they know that we’re already busy. Of course, not all teachers do this, and the ones who do are trying to help us either understand a subject better or prepare for the AP, but something needs to change in order for us to maintain fulfilling lives as students.

It’s probably fair to say that any disregarding of our ideas started with the recess controversy of early middle school. I don’t want to say that by taking away recess we’ve been disrespected, because that’s ridiculous.

But, in middle school, what we were really missing wasn’t just the

Georgina Kuhlmann games we played or the running around, but the downtime during the day. It’s often said that lunch is that time, but when you’re behind on studying, like so many people are, it’s clear that’s not true. When teachers assign what can feel like mountains of tedious homework, it becomes an all-day activity, overtaking all free time. But when we say anything, our valid concerns are ignored because “that’s just how things are” and students “don’t want to do any work.”

How is it that our concerns for our free time are brushed off, and, especially during AP season, some teachers can tell us that for a month or more our lives are going to suck? That may be true, and I certainly won’t be one to say that studying for AP tests is fun, but I don’t understand

why April has to become this ridiculously busy and stressful mess of a month. I understand that people should prepare for AP tests, but I don’t see why I have to accept the fact that I’m going to be drowned in test prep for almost six weeks. If this test prep was spread out throughout the year, then maybe this final push wouldn’t be so stressful for students who mostly just want a nap. Although I don’t think that these teachers are purposefully being disrespectful toward our time, there is a lack of thought towards our lives outside of the classroom.

Everyone knows we’re stressed. It radiates from this school in waves, especially before finals and AP tests, but there’s no real reason why it has to be this way. By cutting out busywork and streamlining test prep, all of our lives could get a lot less stressful, leaving us time for more sleep and rest. And this needs to happen soon, if not now.

I’m tired of being so exhausted all the time. I’m tired of not being able to pursue any personal interests. I’m tired of all of my friends and people I know feeling like this too. We need more respect for our time and energy from our teachers to make a change. Now. ­­—Madeline Dupre

lmann

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a Kuh Georgin respect westlakefeatherduster.com

Sticks and stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you

Or can they?

Anyone who attended an Eanes middle school only form that prejudice takes in our community. circa 2011 recalls the “R-word” campaign, that era of Just as insidious are the microaggressions — the unthe paper chains, melodramatic posters and extensive intentional snubs and “harmless” jokes that commuguilt tripping. It was cheesy. It was irritating. And it nicate intolerance and negativity to already marginalwent completely over our pathetic, acne-ridden little ized groups of people. heads.

We joke that a 90 percent on a test is an “Asian What we didn’t realize then, what many of us still fail,” implying that everyone of Asian descent is a don’t realize now, is that words are dangerous. They straight-A student and putting pressure on these can cut and bruise and knock someone to the ground kids to excel. We assume everyone is straight until as easily as any weapon, but their results are invis- proven otherwise and say that dumb things are “gay,” ible, psychological and unquantifiable, so they go forgetting that by putting a negative connotation on unchecked. When you’re swinging a baseball bat, you homosexuality, we are contributing to both externalknow to be careful – you don’t want to hurt someone ized and internalized homophobia. We mock boys and don’t want to face the consequences if you did. who display traditionally feminine behavior in a way But most people don’t treat language with the that undermines their self esteem and suggests that same caution. They throw about words like “retard,” female traits are inherently less desirable than male “fag” and “slut” as though they mean nothing, as ones. though they aren’t mired in decades of abuse and opMost people guilty of these microaggressions (and pression. And most of the time, no one is completely innocent) these people don’t even realize mean to be racist or sexist “It’s not the definitions don’t how much harm they are doing. or homophobic. They don’t realBecause it’s not the defini- of the words that make ize that the things coming out tions of the words that make their mouths are twisted by dangerous, but of them dangerous, but rather their them ingrained prejudices that have history. These words aren’t your rather their history.” been cultivated since birth, and everyday, run-of-the-mill insults they haven’t been taught to conor curses; they are ones that tarsider how their words affect peoget and disparage specific groups of people who have ple, whether it’s on a conscious or subconscious level. been consistently oppressed, mistreated and stigma- And many of the targets have just given up on trytized by our society. ing to protest because all they hear is “learn to take a So when you call someone a retard because they joke,” “but I didn’t mean it” or “don’t be so sensitive.” misspelled a word or whisper to your friend that the It’s about more than trying not to hurt someone’s girl across the room is such a slut, you’re not just feelings. It’s about being aware of the role language insulting one person. You’re helping to cultivate a and assumptions play in keeping people down. Keepsystem that harms thousands of people every year. ing them apart. Keeping them inferior. By making a You’re being an active participant in perpetuating the conscious effort to resist these patterns of prejudice, damaging gender stereotypes, racial prejudices and you not only combat institutionalized oppression, but casual homophobia endemic in our culture. You’re also train your brain to think critically about society, taking the side of the oppressor. language and your own actions.

I’ve heard it argued that if members of a group No one thinks to themselves “I am a racist,” “I have “reclaimed” a word, it’s OK for others to use it. am a homophobe” or “I am a misogynist.” Yet we do But no — it’s not OK. If a black rapper uses the “N- and say racist, homophobic and misogynistic things word” in a song, that’s his business, but for a 16-year- without realizing it. It doesn’t make us “bad people” old white kid to refer to his friends in the same way – microaggressions are the symptom of a flawed and is not only ridiculous, but extremely disrespectful to sometimes ignorant society; their perpetrators rarely a group of people who have been exploited for cen- mean ill by them – but once we are made aware of turies. In the mouths of America’s white population, what they are and the effect they have, it is our duty that word has been nothing but a weapon. to check ourselves and our behavior.

However, outright offensive language is not the –Georgina Kuhlmann

[ staff editorial ]

Ariana Gomez Reyes

Clowning around Jokers cross the line between funny and rude

I

magine it’s the talent show, and you’re singing in front of an audience.

You’re nervous yet excited to perform the piece you’ve been practicing for months.

The music starts, and you begin to sing. But as you look out among the sea of people sitting in their chairs, their arms are folded against their chests, their expressions are disinterested and many of them are texting or playing games on their phones. Most of the audience members in the back are talking. It is obvious that hardly anyone is paying attention, and those who want to can barely hear you anyway over the ruckus. Would it even be worth the effort of finishing your piece?

In a classroom setting, when the teacher is trying to give a lesson and the majority of the class is not paying attention, this is how they must feel every single day. It is a wonder they bother continuing to teach at all.

From 8:40 a.m. to 4:05 p.m., five days a week, students are expected to be in class working and focused on learning. That’s a lot of time to spend confined in a classroom, so it comes as no surprise that the humor and lightheartedness of a class clown is a much-welcomed respite. Stress relievers who bring laughter and amusement are enjoyed in the often stoic atmosphere of a classroom. However, there is a fine line between silliness and disrespect, meaningless fun and persistent disruptions of class.

To most of us, learning is important. Being in school matters, and that means the people who are influencing our lives — our teachers — deserve our respect.

It shouldn’t be that difficult for us to re-

spect our teachers. We were taught in elementary school that respect is a fundamental skill of citizenship. It’s a lesson we’ve had drilled into our heads since we were crawling on all fours: “Treat others the way you wish to be treated.”

If we want our teachers to continue pouring all their dedication into what they do, we need to express our appreciation.

“

This means that when the substitute calls on you for roll call, don’t tell him or her that you prefer to go by the name Peewee McButtmuffin.

”

For example, Snapchatting pictures of yourself while the teacher is speaking, or worse, Snapchatting photos of your teachers themselves when they have their backs turned, is disrespectful, not to mention creepy. Using social media as a means to poke fun at teachers — even in a lighthearted manner — is rude. We should be acting like 14-18 year old students, not pre-pubescent middle schoolers who just discovered their first curse word.

Respect for teachers shouldn’t stop when

they take a day off either. Our courtesy needs to extend to substitute teachers as well. This means that when the substitute calls on you for roll call, don’t tell him or her that you prefer to go by the name Peewee McButtmuffin. Give them your real name like a normal human being. It means that when the sub calls someone who is absent, don’t shout “Here!” to mess with them. It means not taking advantage of the fact that the sub doesn’t know who you are. We’ve all had the stern reprimanding from our teachers the day they return about our abuse of substitutes. We shouldn’t need that. We shouldn’t need the ‘time-out corner’ or the “You’re grounded!” from mom to teach us how to act.

We should know better by now.

At some point or another, we have all been guilty of mistreating teachers, whether we are the perpetrators or the students sitting silently or even the ones giggling at our desks. Everyone is equally to blame for disrespecting our teachers this way. Pointing fingers isn’t fair; we’re all contributors to the problem.

We all need to grow up. We need to take accountability for our own behavior. We need to stop encouraging those who disrespect our teachers in class with our complacency or our laughter. We need to let go of that fear of moving against the current.

We have to let the teachers know we appreciate their effort, to apologize for our mistakes and cultivate respect for others. We need to learn the difference between an innocent joke and a mean-spirited disruption. We know how we should treat those around us, so it’s time to do it.

COVER GIRL We need to change the way we talk about women in politics

W

hen I was about six years old, I had a playground friend named Hillary. Upon meeting Hillary for the first time, my grandma — who, like so many senior citizens, has an endearing preoccupation with genealogy, family history and, by extension, names in general — playfully asked if she was named after Hillary Clinton. Neither of us knew who Hillary Clinton was.

“Oh, she’s Bill Clinton’s wife,” my grandma explained.

Six years later I was asking my parents, “Why is Bill Clinton’s wife running for president?”

That question was somewhat surprising coming from the mouth of a little girl who always told adults she wanted to be president when she grew up. Prominent women in the world of American politics are few and far between, and it was no help that when I did find them, they could so easily be brushed off with dismissive labels like “so-and-so’s wife.” My classmates and teachers cheered me on towards becoming the First Female President, and I cheered with them. Rarely, if ever, did I stop to think that maybe that was too long to wait for a woman to move into the Oval Office.

Luckily, Clinton entered the Democratic presidential primary race in 2007 as a strong contender, proving to 12-year-old girls like me across the country that our gender could indeed play at top levels in the political game. One might think that this would be strides forward, yet somehow she appeared to be less respected and legitimate following her grueling White House bid than before she tackled the challenge.

Playing fields remain uneven for women and girls. This is a statement I know to be true in many realms of female existence, but it is most glaring when looking at positions of power. There are those who insist that the “glass ceiling” has broken, that opportunities abound in equal quantities for both genders. After all, Westlake currently has female National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta presidents, with a female student body president taking over next semester. Judging by these cases, women desire, and can be selected, to lead.

Unfortunately, only the former part of that statement applies on the national scale. Women still want power, but somehow their ability to attain it is slowed and even halted as they move into the cutthroat world of American politics. It isn’t hard to imagine why I don’t trust the successes of a few girls in my own community when they are so feebly represented in my government.

The statistics are far from unknown. According to Representation 2020, an organization working towards gender parity in American government, less than 20 percent of the United States Congress is made up of women; only five U.S. governors and 12 mayors of the 100 largest U.S. cities are women; the United States ranks 95th globally in terms of female representation in national legislatures. I recognize that these numbers are hardly going to change people’s opinions about much of anything, as they certainly haven’t so far. The United States actually dropped to that 95th position from 59th in 1998. Facts tell a story that seriously diverges from all the ideological changes and material gains for women that have supposedly been made in the past two decades.

Backtracking can be explained by two simple words: media madness. As a society, we are used to advertising and entertainment juggernauts forcefeeding us images of women — and sometimes men,

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[ opinion ]

too — cast in a provocative light or marketed as sexual objects. It is worth noting that there is no shortage of campaigns seeking to counter negative ideas propagated by a patriarchal media. But the relevant problem is that we have allowed the sort of sexist subtleties and stereotypes that plague female actresses and models — those who choose to submit themselves to an industry we already know to be problematic — to follow women in politics.

These women do not seek office to become celebrities, although it may happen that things turn out that way. They are serious thinkers who want to make changes and better the lives of the people they serve.

They are not putting themselves on the national platform to be ridiculed — or praised — for their looks or their personal and private lives.

Yet Hillary Clinton can’t escape attacks that are based on her appearance and womanhood. Rush Limbaugh said of her presidential prospects, “Will this country want to watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?” Interesting. Who ever heard of that question being put towards a man? I always considered an aging president inevitable. I mean, being the president is the most stressful job in the world.

Clinton is called “cold” for being too tough, while our male president can apparently never be tough enough. I guess guys have a monopoly on toughness. Journalists and pundits had a field day questioning her capabilities when she shed a tear in the 2008 primaries, but the frequent sobs of our male Speaker of the House are hardly national news.

Do guys have a monopoly on emotion as well? I thought that was a “womanly” trait.

Women like Sarah Palin experience the flip-side of this coin, facing attacks objectifying their youth and beauty, the very things Clinton is hated for lacking. But the effects are the same. Reducing a woman to comments about her motherhood and attractiveness, using language like “Barbie” or “babe,” do just as much to invalidate her as the terms “bitch” and “castrating harpy” do Clinton.

Running for president is a decision that involves a willingness to throw oneself under a magnifying lens of scrutiny. Hillary Clinton has the benefit, or curse, of having lived under this lens for more than 20 years. I’m not saying that some unsavory moments from her past should not be brought up in the upcoming race. But if we want girls to believe in their ability to earn the respect of men as world leaders, we need to start assessing them in terms of their experience and qualifications, and not how they would come across in a Cosmo interview.

—Katelyn Connolly

Zoe Je n

tzen

It’s an issue that tends to be silenced. We avoid facing it head on. Instead, we dance around it and make casual jokes. No one wants to say anything in fear of saying the wrong thing. Even the word itself sets us on edge. But it’s time to break the silence.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT

P

O

E W F

AKE STUDENTS L T S

RA C IAL

MA KE U

RACISM. American Indian/Hispanic 0.83% American Indian/White/Hispanic 0.67%

White/Hispanic — 13.02% Unidentifiable* 1.31%

White — 68.53%

American Indian/White 0.79% Asian — 10.36%

Asian/White 2.82% Black/African-American 1.23% Black/African-American/White 0.44% Based upon enrollment of 2,520 Westlake students. Statistics courtesy of Eanes Independent School District. *Students in the “Unidentifiable” category belong to groups with five or fewer students. In order to comply with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and to protect the identity of students, the district redacted every count with five or fewer students.

Students, staff share viewpoints on diversity

perspec tive A reputation We’ve all seen the links shared repeatedly on Facebook: “The 50 smartest public schools in the U.S.,” “Best public high schools in Texas,” etc. Westlake ranks in the top of these lists time and time again, always acing every category. We have a reputation of excellence, and in most ways, we embody it. However, when it comes to diversity, our scores aren’t as high. With our student body comprised of almost 70 percent white students, we also have a racial reputation: “We’re rich, we’re white, we’re Westlake.”

Many students learn of Westlake’s standing before moving to the district. One of those students is junior Sania Bakali, who is Pakistani. Before her freshman year, Sania and her parents made the decision to move to a school where she would thrive, and Westlake fit the bill. But despite the great academics, her parents felt that the lack of diversity would be an issue. “[My parents] were worried about [the school] being majority white,” Sania said. “One of my good friends who is a senior has had issues since elementary school and her parents would complain. So my parents were kind of hesitant, but I was like, ‘No, it’s fine, our generation is better about these things.’”

Luckily, Sania hasn’t had any serious problems concerning her race and has fit in well. Her parents’ original concern has also lessened, clearing the way for her younger sister who is a freshman.

“I think my [parents have adjusted], especially now because my sister is a freshman here,” Sania said. “They’ve been a lot less

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stressed about it.”

Kenyan-American sophomore Victoria Pierce moved to Eanes in middle school and faced an even larger disparity in the racial distribution.

“My mom mentioned [Westlake’s reputation] to me, and the percentage of black kids in the school,” Victoria said. “Originally, I went to West Ridge, and then I moved to Hill Country, so that went from less than 1 percent to 1 percent. It didn’t really factor in, because I’ve always lived in a mostly non-black community.”

Westlake’s reputation is acknowledged by the administration as well.

“I think this community and the school have a reputation away from Westlake,” said assistant principal Michael McKelvy, Westlake’s only black administrator. “I think we always need to be mindful of it and always work to show what our student body is really about. We really do have great people. We shouldn’t let some people reflect all of us. We have a great student body, but we’ve had a history and we want to be better.”

Separation Everyone has his or her own friend groups, and there are inherent separations between students. These splits are expected, but Sania has noticed that some groups are divided off by race.

“There’s almost a separation,” Sania said. “I don’t think that’s intentional. All the Pakistani and Indian students I know tend to hang out a lot outside of school, and our parents are friends. We have our own group of friends, and then we have a group of school friends.

So I think [students should] just branch out a little bit more.”

However, branching out is sometimes easier said than done.

Victoria has felt somewhat estranged because of her race, not only with white students, but also with other black students. Victoria is part of a very small minority here — she is one of only 11 students who identify as both white and black.

“It’s difficult for me to make black friends,” Victoria said. “Especially now because all the black people that are in my life are all Kenyan, because my mom is Kenyan. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable because I don’t feel like I can relate to American black culture.

I find myself feeling very alienated because a lot of the time I am the only black kid in the class or the group, and there’s not a lot of people that aren’t white that I can relate to.”

Racism or ignorance?

With such little diversity, students are divided over the topic of racism — does it exist here in Westlake, and if so, to what extent? Some students feel that rather than discrimination, ignorance is the bigger issue. Racism and ignorance can go hand-in-hand, and there’s a fine line between the two. Senior Richie Blanco said he feels that it isn’t racism that is the problem among students.

“Ignorance toward other cultures is the real issue,” Richie said.

“I don’t really think people go out of their way to make a racist comment, but sometimes people don’t take into account the people that are around them before they make a comment.”

According to senior Natasha

Perrino, racism is an unnoticed issue at Westlake, although it isn’t deliberate.

“I feel like nobody ever thinks that racism is at Westlake,” Natasha said. “I don’t think anyone intends to be a racist here. It’s just kind of in their actions, and I think that students tend to be more unaware of what they’re doing.”

On the other hand, junior Alan Ancira, who is Mexican, hasn’t seen racism or ignorance here. “[People just do things] as a joke, nothing serious,” Alan said.

“They’re not ignorant or mean about it. I think they’re just messing with me. No one is really hating anyone here.”

Personal experiences Experiences with racial intolerance and ignorance are not rare.

Natasha, who is half-white and half-Puerto Rican, is no stranger to these situations.

“I don’t think that people would make racist remarks to my face,” Natasha said. “I do know a lot of people think I’m black, so I bet there’s comments there. I always get the question ‘What are you?’ I used to get more offended by [people thinking I’m black], but that was when I was less comfortable with myself. I’m OK when people think that I’m black because I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with being black.

It doesn’t even offend me when people ask what I am, but some of it feels weirdly colonial.”

Jokes and stereotypes about different races are commonly heard throughout a typical school day. Richie, who is Costa Rican, has noticed these comments aren’t necessarily explicit, but indirect.

“I wouldn’t say [that anyone

makes racist remarks] directly towards me, but you kind of just hear it,” Richie said. “Being Hispanic, no matter what country you’re from, you just kind of get lumped up into the same group as Latino, so even though [you hear] a joke about a Mexican, you take it on as your own because it’s ultimately a joke about Latinos. I have a lot of pride for Costa Rica, so I don’t like just being lumped into a group. Sometimes you just definitely feel like you’re on the outside a little bit.”

Victoria has seen and even been a victim of racial insensitivity many times. One of the biggest problems she faces is students who use the n-word.

“I’ve experienced a lot of people around me, or to me, saying the n-word, which is not cool,” Victoria said. “I’ll actually point it out like, ‘Hey, don’t do that,’ and I will have people tell me, ‘No, it’s OK for me to say the n-word.’”

Victoria said she feels that many students use racial slurs to seem cool, but also recognizes there is a lot of ignorance when those words are used.

“A lot of people [say slurs] in the context of ‘Oh, I’m just singing a song,’ or ‘I’m just trying to be funny,’” Victoria said. “One of my friends, who I am no longer friends with for many reasons, said the n-word, and I brought it up to him and I actually made a big deal about it. I said, ‘I’m not comfortable with you saying that,’ and he just didn’t get it.

He brought up, ‘Oh, well, people make fun of me for being white.’

That’s not the same. It doesn’t affect you the same way.”

In light of the shocking and

powerful news surrounding the “Reverse discrimination” shooting in Ferguson, MO last The topic of reverse discrimiAugust, concerns have risen about nation is one that has increased in the law enforcement system. prominence throughout the past “I actually kind of live in fear at few years. Given the highly comschool just because it’s so predompetitive and cutthroat nature of inately white,” Victoria said. “Escollege admissions, it’s only natupecially because there’s a police ral that final decisions on applicaofficer on campus and because of tions leave many prospective stuwhat’s been happening in Fergudents with intense feelings. These son and other cases. Even though emotions can spill over into hard I know police officers are here to justifications, and some students protect us, I don’t feel protected. argue that minorities have an unThere’s always this fear of it just fair advantage. being a bad day and I’m targeted Natasha is a firm proponent and someone’s going to make a for equality in the college admisreason for me to be targeted.” sions process, especially regardAlthough it is widely accepted ing race or ethnicity as a factor in that stereotypes are often inaccueach application. rate portrayals of individuals and “I don’t believe that college groups, it’s hard to argue that they admissions are reverse racism,” aren’t still used.

“A lot of times people force black culture onto me and black stereotypes in the sense of ‘Be sassy, have your weave, rap this,’” Victoria said. “It makes it feel even harder for me because I’m mixed race, and I’m not black-American, I’m black-Kenyan. For me, there was a huge realization that I’m too black for white kids, but I’m too white for black kids.

That’s how it feels to me.

I’m very American — I’m so American — but I’m just seen as the black girl.”

Alex Charnes

Natasha said. “I think it gives a helping hand to people who are underprivileged. I’m not even offended when a wealthy black or Hispanic student is given that spot because I think that in their careers it will still be hard for them no matter where they come from. Reverse racism doesn’t exist.”

Opinions on both sides of this issue come in varying shades, and Richie has the ability to see both viewpoints.

“I agree and disagree to an extent on both sides,” Richie said.

“I mean, it sucks that a white kid is put at a lesser preference. But also, you have to look at the dispositions that have been placed naturally in front of a black kid or

continued from page 29 a Latino kid. Generally, they’re at a disadvantage economically and with resources.”

In her role as one of the AP government teachers, Rennie Rebe has tackled the most controversial topics of our time with her students. The nature of these issues consistently sparks debate, and Rebe has heard her fair share of comments from every point of view. One of the more heated arguments to develop in her classes stems from the unit on court cases, where the case of Fisher v.

University of Texas is brought to light. This trial examines one student’s claim of reverse discrimination, and as such, many students in Rebe’s classes have something to say on the subject.

“It always happens,” Rebe said. “Because they only look at it from their perspective — they see what they were kept from doing.

What they don’t look at is the big picture. [With respect to] college, what they forget is that they are going to go to college. They just look at it like, ‘It’s not fair because this student gained an advantage.’

They don’t understand that there are students who, because of their ethnicity or their race, could end up not going to college. Students usually focus on themselves, so my goal is to get them to see the bigger picture. That doesn’t mean it’s going to change their minds because ultimately we’re looking out for our own best interests. But [they need] to understand that they’ve always had access, so they

don’t understand what it’s like to not. I think if I can get them to be a little more sympathetic, that is where you create change — when people see it as a problem.”

their point of view because they’ve never been exposed to it or are just insensitive to it. [In terms of change], it always needs to start with students. We have a long history of things we’ve done, but they Staff perspective The staff at Westlake also plays can be better or more inclusive.”

Not only does the student body an important role in this issue, lack diversity, but the administraincluding dealing with cases betive staff and faculty does as well. tween students.

McKelvy recognizes that hiring “We do get reports of inciteachers of varying backgrounds dents where could add to the students are relearning process. ally being insen“It brings a sitive,” McKelvy different style said. “Sometimes and a different about language, understanding,” sometimes about McKelvy said. how they use cer“[Having a more diverse staff] altain terms where lows students they think it’s OK to meet people and they don’t rethey might not alize it’s offending ever have met other students.” before in their After the aslives, especially sistant principals as far as teachaddress the probers, because it’s lem individually a different enviwith the students ronment. I think involved, they it’s important don’t usually hear and that it adds to the feel of the of any repeat of—assistant principal school and how fenders.

McKelvy is under the Michael McKelvy different topics are addressed. impression that [But also], to a many of the stucertain degree, you want to reflect dents don’t realize what they’re your student body.” saying.

While Rebe is aware that the “You hate to call it ignorance, demographic breakdown of Westbut I think to some degree there lake is skewed, she acknowledges is some ignorance about it,” McK- that students have made an effort elvy said. “Some students just to look at other points of view. have a hard time walking in other “I’ve worked in more diverse students’ shoes or understanding schools,” Rebe said. “[And] I

“Some students just have a hard time walking in other students’ shoes or understanding their point of view because they’ve never been exposed to it.”

think the lack of diversity [here] is a problem. But I do [believe] that Westlake students seem more aware of problems in the world.”

Given one of the few chances to address these topics, Rebe takes her job as a challenge to contest the preexisting notions that students are often unwilling to waver from.

“Sometimes students say things that are disturbing,” Rebe said. “But [again], my job is to play devil’s advocate. You’re not going to change minds just by saying something. They’re not going to leave and go, ‘She’s right.’ But if you can make them think about their viewpoint, and you start to get them to see that there could be another side, that’s when you start to get them to think about what they said and maybe what the problem is with what they said. Usually when you have a majority, you don’t have to represent that viewpoint because it’s already represented. So part of my job is to give them the opposing viewpoint that they’re not going to see.

When you’re in the minority, it requires a lot more courage to voice that perspective. You always risk being drowned out.”

Principal Dr. John Carter takes a broad overview when looking at the issues facing the Westlake student body. However, with so many other matters to tackle, it is his opinion that racism is not a problem that needs to be significantly addressed right now.

“As I reflect on it, I have no direct evidence [of racism at West-

lake],” Carter said. “I have not had any issues that have been raised that make me think of it as a prominent issue. However, knowing the American society and culture as it is, you’re always wondering where it is. Right now, is it below the surface? Or is it nonexistent? So, as somebody who has spent my life working in schools and studying people, [I think] you have to be aware that it’s omnipresent, and you have to always be aware of what could happen and how it could manifest itself. But in terms of evidence, I have no evidence right now that it’s a concern [here].”

Bridging the gap

In 1964 the U.S. government passed the Civil Rights Act outlawing discrimination based on

race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

However, 50 years have gone by, and racism and discrimination are still current problems that have yet to be solved.

“I know that a lot of people get upset when you try to bring up race, because no one wants to think there are racists,” Natasha said. “I feel like there’s a difference between not only identifying it, but trying to change it. It’s much easier to identify it, but you have to make a huge effort to try to change what people have been taught because people have been taught to be racist. It’s not intentional, but just reinforced by society and TV shows and everything.

It’s just hard to introduce them to people and see past stereotypes.

EXPERIENCE FD: When did you first feel different?

Senior Lauren Turner: When I was little in elementary school I always felt different, obviously, because I was legitimately the only black kid until around fourth grade.

We got a mixed girl who still didn’t even look black. They said, ‘Oh look you have a black friend now,’ and I was like, ‘Halfway there.’ I would get made fun of for having big lips, and everyone would pull my braids, and it was just not cool. No one would really stand up for me either because they didn’t get it.

Senior Sydne’ Fowler: I had the same thing. I don’t think anyone really discriminated against me — it was more just like I was different. People would ask me why my skin was so dark, or why I had braids or why my lips were so big. It wasn’t really bullying, but just natural curiosity, I guess.

LT: It felt bad until I was mature enough to realize these people just don’t understand black people.

LT: Honestly, I feel like it’s been more recent. I don’t even know how to describe the feelings. Going off to college next year, I finally understand that some people are just ignorant, and you just have to let them go. respect westlakefeatherduster.com

school is moving forward with its back turned,” Victoria said. “Because even though the school is progressive in a lot of ways, it’s also not. I think we should have more open discussions about racial issues and just race in general. These kids are growing up and [racism] starts young, and if you don’t stop it young, these people are going to become our adults and they’re going to shape our nation. When people bring it up to me like, ‘Those are just a few people. Racism is over,’ — it isn’t. A generation might die, but ideas don’t die in the same way.

The Civil Rights Act didn’t happen that long ago. We really do have to start talking about it. It won’t die unless we kill it.”

—Rachel Cooper and Monica Rao

Black students discuss intolerance at Westlake

FD: When do you feel like you reached that conclusion?

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The literature we’re taught tends to be white, dead, [male authors], so if we made an effort to show more modern literature, not only with race but gender, then people would have a better understanding of the world.”

Sania said she feels the situation is moving forward and continually improving.

“Our generation is a lot better about these things,” Sania said.

“We’re really open-minded. It has to do with media a lot too, because we can see things that are going on on the other side of the world, and we know the full story usually.”

While many agree that we have come a long way since the days of segregation, others say we still have a long way to go.

“I like to describe it as the

SF: Some people honestly think racism doesn’t exist, and I’m just like, ‘Where are you living?’

LT: I have some friends I can talk to about it, and they understand when I’m talking about racism. But I also have other friends where, even when I talked about doing this interview, they were like ‘You don’t get discriminated against. All your friends are white,’ — that’s part of the problem. They honestly don’t believe there is still racism because it doesn’t affect them at all. And if they do see it, sometimes they think it’s funny. I have some friends who went to an OU visit last semester, and a wall said ‘No niggers’ and they took a Snapchat and were like ‘LOL,’ and I just thought ‘Oh my God, do you not think of me when you see that?’ I would think that someone who would be my friend, if they saw something like that, would think ‘How would this affect Lauren?’

But I guess that’s when you find out who your real friends are. I’ve had friends who I thought were my friends, but all of a sudden they’ll say something so ignorant. I just can’t understand it.

FD: Have you ever thought about going to another district?

LT: You have no idea. That has crossed my mind so many times. I probably talk to my parents about this two or three times a year — we

have a serious conversation about me moving to another school because it’s just too much.

Sometimes things happen, and I’m literally crying about it for a week or so because I’m so upset. This has happened almost every year, but this year Sydne’ and I were standing at a football game together, and some guys behind us yelled, ‘Get those niggers,’ because we were playing against an all-black team. We literally turned around and were like, ‘Excuse me?’ and they were just like, ‘Oh, sorry.’ They just brushed it off.

SF: And there’s always those people who say, ‘Oh, but it’s not you guys.’

LT: I’ve literally had someone be like ‘Oh I hate those niggers.’ And I’m like ‘Hello?’ and they’ll say ‘Oh not you, you’re not one of them.’

What does that mean?

SF: I feel like anywhere you go in Austin, there’s always the trade off between whether you want good education or to be in a community that’s predominately black. But that’s why you live in Westlake, that’s why you go to this school — to have better opportunities and not live in places that you don’t feel safe. But at the same time, I should be able to go to any school I want and feel that everyone is equal.

And I’m not saying that people make me feel unequal, but I just feel like at Westlake people don’t get it.

Texas] that takes him away a lot, so he’s not really around that much. A lot of people just think, ‘Oh it’s Sydne’ and her mom, and her black dad who’s never really there,’ and when they meet my stepdad they’re like, ‘Wait, your dad’s white?’ but obviously not.

LT: My brother and I went to the car wash to wash my dad’s Porsche, and this woman was questioning us because she didn’t believe we could own something like that. She was like ‘Oh whose car is that?’ and I said ‘It’s my dad’s.’ ‘Oh what does he do? Are y’all from Westlake? I’ve never seen you guys before.’ It’s things like that where you just think ‘My God, woman. It’s 2015.

This is ridiculous.’

FD: Have you ever felt ignorance from teachers or staff here?

continued from page 31 LT: You know that you’re different. There’s never been a day where I think ‘Oh, I’m like everyone else.’

FD: How do you deal with that?

LT: I have really great friends who know what I go through and are actually aware of everything that’s happening. If something happens to me, they’re crying harder than I am. I’m not one of those people where if something happens with my race I’m going to dwell alone, because they need to know. I feel like with them knowing, they’re making more people know. With most of my friends, I’m their first or only black friend, so they tell me, ‘If I didn’t grow up with you or I didn’t know you, I’m scared of what I would be thinking right now because I see ignorant people, and I feel like I would be an ignorant person if you weren’t in my life.’ Most people just have a black kid in one of their classes that they think they’re cool with, and they don’t go beneath the skin to learn anything else.

FD: Have you had experiences where you’ve experienced discrimination at Westlake?

SF: I have a lot of friends tell me ‘You’re not really black,’ or ‘You don’t act like a black person, you don’t talk like a black person,’ or ‘You’re black on the outside and white on the inside.’ I

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get it, I don’t speak Ebonics, I don’t have six-inch nails or a baby daddy, but just because I don’t ‘talk’ like a black person or act like a stereotypical black person doesn’t mean I’m not black. My mom is from Jamaica, and my dad is from Philly — they’re about as black as you can get.

LT: Same with my parents, they’re very black, and I shouldn’t be made fun of for being an educated individual and knowing how to pronounce my words and knowing all these things.

FD: Does this district affect your family as well?

LT: Oh yeah. I get sad when they get upset about it because they just feel like it’s harder to make friends. Honestly, white people are intimidated by black people — especially when there’s not a lot of us. Both of us have really successful families. My parents went on the senior [spring break] trip, and there were some parents who were super nice and others who would just look at them. This is so sad, but one night we went out to dinner and everyone’s parents had a dinner together, but no one invited my parents. They were so sad and frustrated. They have to try harder to make friends here, which they shouldn’t have to do because they’re really great people.

SF: My mom is black but my stepdad is white, and a lot of people don’t know that about me.

They know that I have a stepdad but they don’t see him that often because he has a job [as head track and cross country coach at the University of

SF: I would say mostly it’s just getting Lauren and me confused.

LT: That one really gets me. Sydne’ and me, from afar, I get it, because we both run track, we both wear workout clothes a lot, we style our hair the same, we’re together a lot — I get it. But some people are like, ‘Oh, sorry, I can’t tell the difference.’ OK, just look at our faces and personalities. That’s just ignorance. Someone called me [senior] Tamara [Brown] when they were handing back papers, and I was just like ‘I’m Lauren,’ and they said ‘Oh, you know, I just can’t tell the difference between you guys.’ No, that’s just not OK to say.

SF: I’ve even had teachers who aren’t my teachers come up to me and think I’m Lauren, and it’s really awkward because I don’t want to say ‘I’m not Lauren.’

LT: Some teachers have 10-minute conversations with me, and towards the end I realize they think I’m Sydne’. I’ll be thinking, ‘I don’t know what to do, I’m too far deep into this.’

FD: How do you feel when you hear white students talking about reverse discrimination, specifically in the college admissions process?

SF: That makes me so mad that people are like, ‘Oh, you’re only going to get into college because you’re black.’ OK, yeah. I’m sorry. People always say slavery was a long time ago, but they don’t realize the after-effects of slavery are still there. I’m not saying ‘Oh, all white people are racist, and we need to get into college because

of slavery,’ but it’s put black people as a population as subordinates to white people. If you look at college rates, there’s always going to be more white people in college than black people, because black people, after they got out of slavery, didn’t have jobs. So either people made it or didn’t make it. And it’s very obvious that those who made it are here in the Westlakes of life, and the people who didn’t make it aren’t.

LT: I’ve literally had people be like, ‘Oh, she’s black. That’s how she got in.’ You can’t just base that off of my race. Of course I’m not saying it didn’t help me get into college, but I’m also saying I’m smart, I have extracurriculars — I have things going for me. It’s not like I have a 50 GPA and got into a good college. It’s just ridiculous.

FD: Is the situation improving at Westlake? Do you have any ideas to improve awareness?

LT: It’s going to be a slow improvement. My godbrother was here about 12 years ago, and I’ll complain to him saying, ‘I have around 10 black kids in my grade. The most black kids I’ve ever had in one of my classes is three.’ But he’ll say back, ‘I was the only one in high school all four years. You can’t even imagine what I went through.’ In 10 years, I’m hoping if I came back here, I’d at least see numbers double, but even that’s pushing it. By the time I have kids, I don’t want them to feel like I feel, and that’s ridiculous because my parents wanted that for me, and the fact that I’m still hoping their grandchildren get that is really frustrating. I don’t know when it’s going to stop.

FD: Does having a community help?

LT: It does help us. I’m not saying my white friends don’t understand, because they do understand because I’m telling them, but Sydne’ really understands. I can say something, and she’ll get it because she’s been through it too, but if I talk to one of my other friends about it they’ll just be like, ‘Oh man, that sucks.’

Some people don’t care.

Some people aren’t as passionate about this, they’re OK with living how they are, and we’re not. I mean

we’re happy with it, but obviously there needs to be some changes made, so I’m hoping next year it will be better.

SF: We have a black AP now, so …

LT: But the fact that we’re even celebrating that … it shouldn’t be like that. Every time I see a new black teacher or a black coach, I go home and say ‘Mom, dad, you’re not going to believe it!’ It’s ridiculous. I’m looking for some more diversity in administration too. Obviously we’re getting it, but I remember freshman year I was thinking of making a diversity club, and I was thinking of teachers to sponsor it. I wanted a black teacher to sponsor it, but there were none.

FD: Any other thoughts?

SF: Westlake, in general, is not a bad place.

I love Westlake, I grew up here and these people are my friends and my family. I’ve known some of these people since elementary school, and I’m not saying they’re bad people, I’m just saying they need to be educated. I’m sure people are going to read this and be like, ‘Oh there go black girls,

complaining again,’ but I only complain about it because it’s an actual problem. I’m not asking you guys to change your entire person, because I don’t think anyone I’ve come across at Westlake is genuinely racist, they’re just ignorant. They need to go out in the world and be educated, leave Westlake, go to places like Alabama, where people don’t get served because they’re black. Go to places like that, and you’ll see it’s not just black people saying there’s racism, everyone is saying there’s racism, and there’s racism everywhere. I think once you realize that, you’ll be able to see our point of view and where we’re coming from.

LT: I’m challenging the seniors especially, because all of us are going to spread across the U.S. soon. Just try to meet people that are different than you because it really broadens your spectrum of understanding. We’re not saying Westlake is a terrible place with racism and discrimination, but it’s definitely there. If you said that this school is perfect, that wouldn’t be true.

—Rachel Cooper

& PROGRAM

P

P

WITH THE

people + places

Brilliant young coder interns at Silicon Labs Tall and composed, with wide dark eyes and a mane of curly hair, sophomore Abby Audet strikes most people as older than she is. But in 2014, at the end of her freshman year, it was neither her appearance nor her attitude that dropped the jaws of adults who had previously assumed she was a college student — it was her code.

Abby’s former Gifted and Talented teacher, Carol Reese, had put her in touch with Jason Savage, a manager at Silicon Labs.

The two had lunch together late in Abby’s freshman year, and Savage requested a sample of Abby’s work, which he shared with some of Silicon Lab’s top programmers, as well as a few programmers not employed by the company.

All considered it comparable to the code of a college sophomore studying computer science, and Savage invited Abby for what started as a tour of the labs and ended in a paid internship at one of the leading software companies in the tech industry.

“In this profession there is no shortage of prodigies,” Savage said. “Abby was treated as an equal. We just wanted to give [her] an early start on what we believe will be a very promising career.”

One of Abby’s duties at the lab was to write a demo for the department that made microcontrollers.

“There’s the actual microcontroller chip, and then there are these fun little demo boards [with LCD screens] that show how the chips work,” Abby said. “People use those to see if they want to buy the chip.”

During her seven weeks at Silicon Labs, the girl who had

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just finished ninth grade worked alongside seasoned professionals and fellow interns, the youngest of whom were juniors in high school. “[Being the youngest in the group] wasn’t really unnerving because I’m the youngest in my

as how to code and work with other people, but I had a great time meeting my co-workers. Once a month [we] would play these tabletop games together after work, which was a real bonding experience.”

Samantha Jabour Although she has only been studying programming and robotics for two years, sophomore Abby Audet has the coding skills of a college sophomore. family so I’m kind of used to it,” Abby said. “And I think everyone there thought I was a lot older.

And [although] there was a huge learning curve because I hadn’t done anything like [working at Silicon Labs] before, it was really fun once I got the hang of it. Not only did I learn a lot there as far

people + places westlakefeatherduster.com

Abby’s rapid ascent in the world of coding is made all the more impressive by the fact that she had been studying robotics and programming for less than two years when she met Savage.

After starting robotics in eighth grade, Abby took to programming like a fish to water and quickly

started writing her own code.

“Coding is like a puzzle that you have to solve, and when it doesn’t work you have to go through and figure out the solution,” Abby said. “It’s very logical and calming.”

Although she’s looking forward to the challenges of another internship at Silicon Labs this coming summer, Abby has been keeping herself busy with the Westlake robotics team.

“The robotics team has a very strong family dynamic that’s so nice and welcoming,” Abby said.

“It’s magical. And going to the competitions with so many people [who are] interested in the same things as you is incredible.”

Also a harpist and longtime participator in the Destination Imagination program, Abby dismisses the idea that people are either creatively or scientifically inclined.

“A lot of people don’t consider coding to be a creative thing just because it’s on a computer, but it really is,” Abby said. “You have to figure out what you’re trying to do, and from there you have to think of the best way to do it depending on what you want to do. If you want the program to be as fast as possible, that’s going to be done differently than if you want it to be as high-quality as possible.”

As with any science, coding is a sometimes-frustrating process of trial and error, or as Abby prefers to say, testing, but that only makes the hard-won successes sweeter.

“Though it doesn’t happen very often, when [the program] does finally work for the five minutes it will work before it stops, it feels really, really amazing,” Abby said. “You’re like, ‘I did that.’”

—Georgina Kuhlmann

T ake a walk

on the Wyll side

M

Teacher engages in powerlifting, cheer team, engineering course ath teacher Natalie Wyll is in complete control. With what seems like minimal effort, she manages to juggle an array of tasks from running her classes to participating in competitive powerlifting, obtaining a master’s degree, coaching cheer and preparing to head the first engineering class that the Eanes district has ever offered.

But every story has a beginning. In Wyll’s case, her passion for math sparked her drive to attend the University of Texas, where she studied math and science.

“I was always good at math and science at school, even in elementary,” Wyll said. “[But] I really fell in love with math when I took calculus in my senior year of high school. I just thought it was the best thing ever. I loved everything about it. I knew that I wanted to major in something math-related in college, [but] I didn’t think that being a math major was very marketable, so instead of deciding to become a straight math major, I thought, ‘Well, I’m good at math and science, I’ll do engineering.’”

After college, Wyll worked as a structural engineer in Dallas for three years. And yet, something just wasn’t right for her.

“I found that I wasn’t happy in the professional world of engineering,” Wyll said. “I really liked what I learned about and studied in school, but there is definitely a difference between what you do in school and what you do in work. I just felt that this wasn’t the right career path for me, even though I really did love engineering. I wanted to take my career in a different direction.”

While working as an engineer, she was assigned to help train interns, teaching them the design software used by the company. This got her thinking about teaching as a profession.

She began investigating opportunities in education, something that she actually had some knowledge in considering her mother was a teacher.

“My mom knew I wasn’t happy at work, but

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I had talked about how I had really enjoyed training these interns, and she said to me, ‘Have you ever thought about being a teacher?’” Wyll said. “[After that], I was like, ‘Maybe that would be a good choice for me.’ I stayed in engineering for about six to eight months after that and gave it a lot of thought. But [after I] talked with my mom and some other teachers, I decided that I wanted to get my teaching certificate and teach high school math. I really thought back to what I love, so I went back to school to get my alternate certification.”

Her teaching career began at Highland Park High School in Dallas, which is very similar to Westlake in terms of the demographics and academic expectations. Soon after, she and her husband relocated back to Austin to stay close to her family. While searching for a new job, she noticed an opening at Westlake that she immediately capitalized on. Having a cheer background, she was also offered a position as assistant cheer coach. Now, after three years at Westlake, she can finally combine her past experience with her teaching abilities to start a brand-new engineering program in the science wing.

However, she also needs to go back to graduate school to prepare for her class while at the same time dealing with her multifarious activities.

“I’m getting a master’s degree in science and engineering education through UT,” Wyll said. “My master’s work will set me up to teach my engineering course next year, which I’m very excited about. I still love engineering, so I really wanted to start a program here.”

When she’s not focusing on teaching math or prepping her next class, Wyll also finds time for competitive sports. She is an ex-bodybuilder and a current powerlifter.

“I no longer compete in bodybuilding, and I don’t train like bodybuilders do because now I’m a competitive powerlifter,” Wyll said.

“I’ve competed in powerlifting competitions throughout the years, and that’s what I focus

most of my training toward. There are some similar things, but my training is [about] back squats, deadlifts and bench press. I think most people are surprised because I’m a small, petite woman — I don’t look like a ‘powerlifter.’”

Her history with powerlifting traces back to just after she graduated college.

“I started going to the gym and lifting weights,” Wyll said. “I had a friend who lifted, and she introduced me to it. [From then on], I’ve loved it. I like feeling strong, knowing that if something is over there I can pick it up. I don’t need somebody else to pick it up for me. I got it — no problem. I like feeling that my body is strong, healthy and fit. I enjoy competing as it gives me goals to work toward, because I’m a really goal-oriented person. I don’t just go to the gym to work out. I go because I’m training for my next meet, and I want to hit this number, this number and this number. I’m pushing myself and always trying to improve and get better.”

Wyll relishes breaking certain gender stereotypes.

“It’s OK to be kind of a girly-girl,” Wyll said.

“I like makeup, shoes and shopping, but I also like to get in the gym and work hard and lift heavy weights. You don’t have to be a boy to go lift. You’re not going to become some big, muscular girl [if you work out]. You can like pretty dresses, and you can go lift weights. Those are not mutually exclusive.”

Despite her massive workload and incredibly busy schedule, Wyll keeps pressing ahead.

“I tend to sometimes bite off more than I can chew, but that thought [of having too much on my plate] didn’t really cross my mind,” Wyll said. “I don’t like placing limitations on myself, so if I think I can do it, I’ll make it happen. I don’t think I realize how hard I am working, because I’m in grad school, cheer, my own personal competitions and just regular class time on top of that. But it doesn't feel like work because I enjoy it.”

—Jack Wallace

It all adds up for math teacher Natalie Wyll, who divides her time between math and athletics. Photo by Lucy Wimmer.

bird’s eye view Queso shares her experiences as mascot

F

riday night. Hundreds of students, parents and faculty are gathered in the stands, cheering at the top of their lungs to support the varsity football team.

At the front of it all, senior Lane Lear sweats under the heavy layers of her blue “Queso” Chaparral costume, leading the crowd in a wave.

From the outside, it may seem as though Lane is a natural-born mascot.

However, spending countless hours of her free time buried under suffocating attire while leading a crowd in monotonous cheers has never been a dream of hers.

“I never necessarily wanted to be the mascot,” Lane said. “One or two weeks before my junior year started, a couple of my senior friends sent me a screenshot off of the senior page saying that [the school] was looking for a mascot. They sent it as a joke, but I thought it could actually be fun, so I went for it. I went to school, tried on the costumes and [coach Allison Leifeste and coach Jeff Nixon] told me that I was the new mascot, just like that. I was supposed to try out and stuff, but at that point they were just so desperate they probably would have taken anyone.”

Entering her new role as Chap mascot, Lane knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Fortunately, certain aspects of the job weren’t as bad as she had expected.

“I thought that the temperature inside the costume would be

unbearable, because I’ve always gotten hot really easily,” Lane said. “It’s the worst when I’m at pep rallies because there’s no ventilation, so I sweat a lot, but it’s not as bad as I expected it to be.

Other than that, it’s really not that hard to be a mascot. You have to be energetic, but that’s pretty much it because you just put on a costume and then you jump and dance around a lot. You just have to have energy and not want to hurt annoying kids — that’s probably the most important trait.”

Lane’s patience serves her well when dealing with fans.

“A lot of times I’ll go over to the pit and all of the middle schoolers love to brag that they know that I’m a real person,” Lane said.

“And they’re like 13 years old — they should know that I’m not a bird. One time a coach’s son was on the sidelines, and after he high fived me he yelled, ‘I felt your hand! I know you’re a real person.’ He was 11 or 12. I remember thinking, ‘Guess what kid, Santa Claus isn’t real either.’”

Now that she is used to being trapped inside her costume, Lane finds some refuge in the freedom of being completely disguised.

“It can be kind of cool because not everybody knows who you are,” Lane said.

“It’s also kind of hard sometimes, because when I take off the costume during my breaks, I’ll be waving to people, still thinking I’m in

the mascot costume. Then I’ll realize, ‘Oh wait, I’m just a human right now.’”

In her last two years of being the mascot, Lane has had a fair share of bizarre experiences, some ending in embarrassment.

In these moments, she is grateful for the mask that her costume provides.

“A lot of times I’m put out with the Chick-fil-A cow, and we just follow each other around,” Lane said. “One time, as a junior, all of the middle school mascots were there too, because it was the day that Eanes does the big tailgate. So they told the Chick-fil-A cow, the middle school mascots, the State Farm bear and me to race during halftime, and someone from the stands was going to come and be our partners. We were told that the race was going to be from the 20 yard line to the end zone, so I was like, ‘OK, I can do that. Only 20 yards.’ When they said ‘go,’ I started to run in what I thought was the right direction. I assumed they had meant just the 20 yards to the end zone, but they had meant the 80 yards to the other end zone. So I had to turn around and I started tripping, just trying to hold my head on because if I fell, I didn’t want people to see my face. That was probably one of my worst experiences so far.”

Aside from a couple embarrassing moments and the occasional bothersome middle schooler, being a mascot isn’t all

Mary B

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s

eth Burn

bad for Lane.

“Getting crowds pumped up can be fun,” she said. “Although I hated going to away games, I didn’t mind home games. It was nice for me because although I was technically a varsity cheerleader, the coaches weren’t as strict with me about all of the cheerleaders’ rules. I didn’t have to go to all of the practices and could go home after school and come back to Westlake right before the games.

Plus, I never had to pay for any of the football games, which was nice. I went to a lacrosse game a couple weeks ago, and I had completely forgotten that people have to pay for these things.”

Despite these perks, Lane wishes that people would give more credit to the struggles that she endures while stuck in the stuffy costume.

“People think I just put on a costume and dance around,” Lane said, “but it’s like 400 degrees in this costume, and I can’t see anything.”

By pushing through hours of sweat-filled pep rallies and endless football games, Lane has been able to learn some valuable lessons that she hopes to carry with her long after she graduates.

“Being the mascot was a big commitment for me,” she said.

“Sometimes I would try to back out of games, but my coaches would convince me. Although it hasn’t all been great, it’s taught me that if I say that I am going to do something, I should follow through and do it.”

—Lexy Connolly

“In fifth grade, I was humming during class, so my teacher got mad at me and made me sing ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ in front of everyone. I killed it.”

“I hit a pregnant lady’s car once. I was going to basketball practice, and I was already worn out and was listening to music. I just zoned out for a second and ran into the back of a pregnant lady’s car. I actually got on the ground and started crying.”

“I’ve learned that I can’t let people’s opinions of me affect the way I live life.

If they don’t like the weird me, then that’s their loss.”

“Last year, I was in the hospital for Lemierre’s syndrome. I had a blood clot around my jugular vein and a bone infection at the base of my skull. It’s rare and fatal, but I’m OK now. I still have checkups frequently.”

“Once at band camp, I took my shirt off. No one enjoyed it.”

“Leith is my friend who lives in Tennessee. I met him through Xbox. One day, I learned that Leith had muscular cancer in his left leg, and, if he didn’t get it amputated, the cancer would spread.

After he got it amputated, they put him on this medicine that made him loopy and a lot more fun. He kept saying he wanted to scratch his foot that got amputated. I told him to get over it because it wasn’t there.”

“Two weeks ago, I found 20 bucks on the ground.

I went and bought a lottery ticket with it and won 40 bucks.”

“I love to experience new cultures. The whole time I was in Honduras, I was the only guy over 6 feet tall. Everyone was surprised how much Honduran food I could consume. They were all looking at me trying to figure out who this giant gringo was.”

“I sing and write songs. I perform at a sandwich shop called Potbelly. I like singing because you can express your emotions through the music.”

“I had two pet monkeys for 10 years. They used to throw poop at my friends.”

“I was carrying a prop during color guard and was walking down some steps. I missed the last step and fell and rolled my ankle. The bucket of cement I was carrying fell and landed on my foot.”

Everyone has a unique story to tell. We talked to some students to hear theirs.

HUMANS OF WESTLAKE photos by Alex Unflat and Justin Whaling

Quote collection by Maddie Miller and Alex Unflat

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keep on moving W

Coach strives for PhD, shares benefits of physical education

Lucy Wimmer

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What do you spend 60 minutes a day doing? Watching Netflix? Helping your mom cook dinner? Scrolling through Instagram?

Research shows that 60 minutes of physical activity per day improves more than just your fitness. Basketball and volleyball coach and physical education teacher Lynne Bryant is set out to prove that.

Bryant has been teaching and coaching for 30 years, more than half of her life.

“I’ve always had a passion for teaching and learning,” Bryant said. “My mom was a teacher, and in fourth grade I wanted to be a physical education teacher. It was my goal from then on. I played collegiate basketball and [coaching] was a natural fit. When I grew up, we didn’t really have athletics for girls. I felt deprived, so I wanted to give girls opportunities that I didn’t have.”

After more than 20 years of working in education, Bryant chose to go back to school at the University of Texas and make the time commitment to earn her doctorate in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education. She is now in her fourth year of the program.

“I’ve always wanted to have my PhD and teach in college,” Bryant said. “It’s been pretty hard. I didn’t realize that only 1 percent of the population gets their PhD, and I can see why.

It’s really hard [to study] while coaching and teaching. This is my fourth year, and I’ve only had a week off per year for the last four years.

It’s really enjoyable to learn from the professors and collaborate with the brilliant minds that you work with. [Getting my PhD is] a personal challenge for me and it [is] intellectually stimulating. I’m learning how P.E. is connected to cognition and it really does affect [student’s] lives.”

Bryant’s goal is to find a way to evaluate how being active can improve all aspects of our lives.

“My dissertation topic is human capital,” Bryant said. “There’s so much research that connects physical activity to your brain and your body and your whole life. So I’m looking at the different facets of human beings: the intellectual, emotional, social, individual and financial capital of people. I’ve gone through a lot of statistics ... I didn’t realize how much research you do. You try to see how the physical factors [of life] load onto the human capital model. You take that information and try to predict how to better [life] through physical education or activity. What can you do to make that person better in each aspect? If we can get in shape, it helps our productivity.”

Through this research, she is closer to cre-

ating a tool that will explain these connections.

“I’m trying to develop the first assessment tool for human capital,” Bryant said. “It’s the first quantifiable tool that I’m trying to develop.

Hopefully from there, people can springboard and go even farther and check out the predictions of interactions between those emotional and physical subscales and how they affect each other. I’m hoping to see a relationship between being physically active and emotionally and intellectually or socially [active].”

This tool will make it easier for the next generation to stay educated on their health.

“The Society of Health and Physical Education has set out [to help students],” Bryant said. “By 2029, the kindergarteners today will be in good physical condition. It’s called 50 million strong — there are 50 million kindergarteners today and SHAPE wants them all to not be obese. That’s the big problem right now.”

Similar improvements are constantly being made for the health of students.

“With Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign (this is the fifth year of it), it’s already shown improvements for the younger grades,” Bryant said. “The obesity levels aren’t rising anymore. If we can keep teaching parents and communities, we can get everybody on the same page.”

Because of the progress she has made with her doctorate and dissertation, Bryant has many opportunities after she completes her PhD. “I’ve actually been offered a job at Mary Hardin-Baylor — I’m a candidate,” Bryant said. “I’m ‘All but Dissertation.’ I’ve completed my coursework and passed my comprehensive exams so I’m eligible to be hired. But I want to get my degree first. Teaching is definitely an option, but I want to see what other options I have. Maybe I’ll get my Post-Doc. A lot of people do that now: they go to another school and get their Post-Doc. It’s like an internship for two years after you get your doctorate. It’s more research-based.”

For the time being, Bryant will continue teaching and coaching at Westlake.

“One other thing that helps develop people is teamwork, whether it’s through athletics or being a part of The Featherduster staff,” Bryant said. “Everyone working together for a common goal is advantageous to [human] asset development. Teaching is a rewarding career — but whatever your career is, be passionate in what you’re doing. That’s what it’s all about.”

—Caitlyn Jane Kerbow

photo by Samantha Jabour, Aurasma by Cooper Kerbow (Clockwise from top middle) Seniors Justin Dunlap, Thomas Denning, Jeremy Howell, Wyatt Corder, Mabon Caniff, Miles Holmes, William Wright

NO STRI NGS ATTACHED Brass band finds success, ‘picks up women’ Nine current band students, seven brass instruments, one drum and a lot of funk combine to make up Big Wy’s Brass Band. Since last year, Big Wy’s Brass Band has had several school-related and community gigs, including Battle of the Bands, live music lunch and Midway Food Park. Senior members Wyatt Corder, William Wright, Justin Dunlap, Miles Holmes, Thomas Denning and Jeremy Howell shared with The Featherduster how the band has impacted their lives.

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The Featherduster: How did Big Wy’s Brass Band get started?

Wyatt: My neighbor, [graduate] Robert Patterson is the leader of a Brazilian drumming group called the Austin Samba School. We had played gigs with him before as part of the Samba School’s horn section at events such as Carnaval Brasileiro. He wanted us to form a brass band for a Mardi Gras gig. To get members, I used the guys playing in the horn section of Samba School as well as other players at Westlake with a background in jazz. We played that first gig at The Scoot Inn last year. The rest is history.

William: We all know each other through band, and we are all in the jazz ensemble together. One day, Wyatt got some of us current members and graduates together in a group chat and asked if we wanted to make a brass band. We rehearsed some easy radio tunes.

Since then, we have added more members and started creating our own songs.

Justin: I think what actually made us want to form a band was the fact that all of us are really tight and share a love for music. [The band] started out small and we just kept adding members as we went along.

FD: What unique qualities do each of you bring to the band?

Wyatt: I am the leader and soloist guy that yells a lot. I also like writing songs. Thomas is the perfectionist and the arranger of most of the tunes we cover. Will and Tim are the baseline.

Miles: I’ll play whatever. I solo, play melody, backup and bass line on rare occasions.

Thomas: Wyatt is the soul. I arrange and solo when Wyatt isn’t soloing.

Wyatt: Miles and I are the dancers, but he is always way better than me. I can do simple stuff, but when he throws in complex moves, I just can’t keep up.

Justin: I just do it for the money to be honest.

Wyatt: Jeremy is the ladies’ man. He will steal people + places westlakefeatherduster.com

yo’ girl if you aren’t looking.

Jeremy: I’m just here for the ladies, what can I say?

Wyatt: Basically we are just filtering all our crappy ideas through a funnel until something good comes out.

Justin: Most of our ideas are horrible, but you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.

Miles: You know, you have a bunch of different parts that kinda do their own thing, and then you put them together and they magically work into something greater.

Justin: Our band is like a think tank, but instead of smart people, it’s us.

FD: How often do you rehearse?

Wyatt: It varies. We really try to get together once a week, but most of the time we can’t do that because everyone is so darn busy.

Miles: We usually kick it into high gear the week before a gig.

Jeremy: For me, like once every other month if the stars are aligned.

Thomas: We rarely rehearse completely together.

Change lives.

Make their inner souls emerge.

—senior Jeremy Howell

FD: What has been your favorite gig?

Justin: Probably our most recent one at Honk!TX. I also thought Battle of the Bands was cool just because so many people were there.

Thomas: I liked playing this one gig at The Midway where it was all pretty much jam — half the band was gone, and most of [the per-

formance] was made up on the spot. The best gigs are the ones where every minute is spontaneous.

Wyatt: There isn’t a favorite gig because each one had its good qualities. At Battle of the Bands, it felt like we were rockstars ‘cause everyone there was cheering and going insane.

FD: Will the band continue after graduation?

Wyatt: I would like to continue it.

Thomas: Probably. Not as it currently is, though.

Miles: Most of us are going to [the University of Texas], so it’s a big possibility that Big Wy’s will continue.

Jeremy: We are also going to announce several new locations so you can find the Big Wy’s nearest you. I will create a Big Wy’s at Rochester.

Wyatt: Jeremy is making a big mistake going to [University of Rochester] because he’s a true Southerner at heart.

FD: What would be your dream venue to play at?

Miles: Headlining Austin City Limits, man.

Wyatt: At ACL, we would feel like we were playing to thousands compared to our small gigs like Midway and Battle of the Bands. Who knows what playing to thousands feels like.

Justin: [ACL] would be cool because what we do isn’t really all that popular. Nobody really listens to brass bands, but if we can get a ton of people to listen to us then it means we have reached the pinnacle.

Miles: No feeling is better than being good enough to get people to listen to a new genre.

Jeremy: Change lives. Make their inner souls emerge.

FD: What is the best thing about brass bands?

Thomas: Improvisation and creativity.

Jeremy: No one knows what’s going to happen, not even us.

Justin: [Brass bands] are loud. The style is pretty versatile.

Wyatt: Playing and expressing yourself without some notes on a page holding you back.

FD: What aspects keep this band so close?

Wyatt: Jeremy said he would help us pick up chicks if we let him join.

Miles: Jeremy is a god.

Justin: Jeremy’s got an arsenal of women at his side at all times.

Wyatt: The whole funk and nothing but the funk. To be honest, just being friends that love music and being creative. And Jeremy.

Jeremy: And women.

—Kathryn Revelle

g n i k a m movies

Scene:

4a

Take:

9

Roll:

3

Slate:

5

Film director achieves national success, wins accolades for short films

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photo by Tim Whaling courtesy video

he lights in Times Square are brilliant, luminescent orbs, encapsulating the passion and restless energy of the thousands of people walking beneath. Yellow taxis transport careful people with careless dreams that are bigger than the skyscrapers they glimpse through the window. The New York air has a seductive bite, the wind whispering promises of glamour and power with reckless abandon. Senior Gretchen Lynch looks down at the irresistible beauty of the city from the fourth floor of the AMC theatre, where her PSA entitled The Mask We Call a Smile, created with fellow Film student senior Bryn Poth, is premiering at the All-American High School Film Festival.

“It was the first festival I had heard of that was centered around high school filmmakers,” Gretchen said. “I watched my film play alongside several others. Then, there was a

gala for which I got dressed to the nines and had dinner with award-winning producers and writers, other filmmakers and presenters, like Alysia Reiner from Orange is the New Black. It was amazing, because all of these people were advocating for young filmmakers.”

If the film set is a circus, senior Gretchen Lynch is the ringmaster. Since her freshman year, she has guided actors through scenes and has arguably the most crucial role in the filmmaking process. Gretchen is a film director, though she didn’t always think she would be.

“When I was about 2 or 3, I was watching the show Little Bear, and I asked my mom why Little Bear wasn’t a girl,” Gretchen said. “She told me I should do something about it. From that point on, I wanted to act.”

Gretchen participated in theatre throughout elementary school. In fifth grade, she became interested in film acting, which led her

to hire an agent and audition for TV shows.

But for Gretchen, something was missing.

“In eighth grade, when [I was] doing course selections for Westlake, my friend Gabby convinced me to sign up for Film so that I could act in her films,” Gretchen said. “I did, but she moved to New Jersey that summer. I showed up to Film class by myself, but fell in love with the holistic aspect of filmmaking.”

Gretchen found herself torn between acting and directing until she attended the Austin Film Festival when she was 15. She saw the premiere of Silver Linings Playbook at the Paramount Theatre and was present for a Q&A with cast members.

“After the movie finished, I moved to the very front row for the Q&A,” Gretchen said.

“All of the audience questions were about the director, David O. Russell. They were asking about his well-known temper, rough dispo-

“I like creating a whole piece of art,

sition and what it was like to work with a direc- in November for the Women’s Independent Film tor notorious for being mean. Julia Stiles [said Festival.” that] David wasn’t mean; he was passionate.”

Evelyn Parker won Best Screenplay, Best DiStiles went on to describe Russell as someone rector, Best Film and Best Actor in its category. who was always on his feet and extremely lively. It also premiered in Marchesa Hall & Theatre She described him as someone with a clear vision as a part of the High School Division of SXSW, and purpose, but a willing collaborator. screened in Georgia and was played at the Para“She said that David had a way of getting these mount Theatre, where Gretchen’s passion for digreat performances out of other actors,” Gretchen recting was ignited. said. “He found what made them tick. I “It was fun to get to be on stage and realized that’s what I had been doing talk about my film with other filmmaksince I was little. Even when I was acters,” Gretchen said. “Of course, your ing, I always wanted to throw out ideas friends and family watch your movies of how other actors should do something and tell you that they’re really good, but or how to stage a scene to make it move to have judges and filmmakers that you fluidly. Hearing her describe how he respect in the industry say, ‘Good job!’ is directed clicked with me. What she dea really nice feeling.” scribed [Russell doing] was exactly what Gretchen credits much of her success I wanted to do.” to the enthusiastic and unconditional Gretchen still acts, but vastly prefers support of her parents. directing, because she likes that it gives “I’m sure when your kid tells you her more control over her future. they’re going to make movies, you’re like, “Acting is such a beautiful thing and ‘Yeah, sure, whatever, have fun with that,’ it’s such a passionate thing, but I noticed but when they’re 18 and they still want to that I was never going to have power over make movies, [you’re probably] not too my future if I stuck with it,” Gretchen thrilled about it,” Gretchen said. “But my said. “And I like creating a whole piece of parents are so supportive.” art, instead of just being a piece of it.”

Writing screenplays may seem chalGretchen sees directors as the ones lenging to many, but for Gretchen it’s who bring together all parts of the film. relatively simple. In fact, she has written “I usually have a very strong vision for so many, she practically has a vault of how I want my films to play out, but discreenplays yet unmade. recting is also a very collaborative thing,” “I’m a very visual person, so I see Gretchen said. “You have to talk to your the movie play out in my head and write director of photography, lighting dude, down what I see. Then as I revise it, I sound guys and production assistants. change parts if I get better ideas,” GretchEveryone comes to the director. Then en said. “I usually stick to my second or instead you all reach the same vision and colthird draft. I’m not the kind of person that of just laborate together to create that vision.” will write 12 drafts of a script.” being a Though Gretchen’s directorial debut Gretchen usually writes her films lincame as a kindergartener in a livingearly, but discovered a unique approach room rendition of The Lion King 2 (she to writing that she now implements. of it. wrote the screenplay herself, as she con“I use this method that Jeff Nichols, tinues to do for every film she makes), she the director of Mud, talked about when only began to consider herself a bona fide director I met him at the Austin Film Festival during my once she made a short film entitled Love You For- junior year,” Gretchen said. “Whenever he would ever during her sophomore year. Love You For- have an idea, he would write it down on a postever is a touching, three-minute silent film about card, and then he’d put it in a drawer, and when a young girl who grew up without a mother. Since he felt like he had enough index cards, he would then, Gretchen has gone on to do bigger and bet- take them out, throw them on the floor and start ter things. piecing the story together.”

“The biggest film that I’ve directed is called Gretchen lists her favorite directors as David Evelyn Parker, and it’s an 11-minute short about O. Russell and Clint Eastwood because of how a 9-year-old girl who wants to be a fashion design- fully they develop their characters. er,” Gretchen said. “That film, production-wise, “Million Dollar Baby is one of my favorite was a pretty big ordeal. Forty-six 9-year-olds movies,” Gretchen said. “And look at American submitted auditions for the lead role, and we did Sniper from Clint Eastwood versus Unbroken 11 taped auditions and three screen tests to find from Angelina Jolie. I didn’t like Unbroken. I our lead and supporting actor. We had to book think it was trying to be a very heartfelt movie elementary school classrooms and playgrounds and it was a valiant effort, but it didn’t have heart. and talk to the University of Texas to shoot on- You were watching Louis Zamperini go through location there. It ended up taking me out to L.A. this journey, but you didn’t feel for him, whereas

piece ”

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in American Sniper you knew Chris Kyle’s heart, you knew his soul and you felt everything that he and Taya felt.”

Gretchen has a resilient faith in herself and her abilities that can’t be found in many teenagers. She is aware of the reality of repeated rejection in Hollywood, but is prepared to put in the work to attain her dreams.

“People always tell me stories of [those] who have big dreams and didn’t make it,” Gretchen said. “I was always the kid that had huge dreams, and I think that’s kind of a beautiful thing — to have dreams bigger than anyone thinks you can accomplish. When I set my mind to something, I do it, so I have never doubted that I will make movies, but it’s a lot of hard work and long hours.

You always have to be working.”

Gretchen garnered more experience in the film industry during the summer of 2014. She received an internship in L.A., with directorproducer Rosser Goodman, in the Paramount lot.

Her role as an intern was multi-faceted, requiring her to read through scripts, help Goodman with projects and even write a 26-page business plan for the distribution of one of Goodman’s films.

Tim Roth and Dwayne Johnson are a couple of the actors she occasionally interacted with, and her office for the duration of the internship was once Katharine Hepburn’s dressing room. Exciting opportunities like this make it tempting to forgo college and plunge headfirst into pursuing a career in film, but Gretchen is adamant on continuing her education. She will attend UT to study Radio-Television-Film this fall.

Though Gretchen is young, she doesn’t let her age influence her ambitious dreams. If anything, her age pushes her to accomplish more and more each day.

“Hollywood is celebrating young people at the moment,” Gretchen said. “The head of Annapurna Pictures is Megan Ellison, and she’s 29 years old. She’s so young, but she produced American Hustle and Zero Dark Thirty. And Damien Chazelle, the director of Whiplash, just turned 30.

Hollywood is becoming more accepting of young filmmakers.”

Though Gretchen mainly writes shorts, like Evelyn Parker and The Mask We Call a Smile, she has written two feature-length screenplays and is working on another. She knows exactly what stories she wants to tell.

“I want to tell stories that show there is goodness in our world,” Gretchen said. “There are so many real people with stories that can be told through cinema, stories that can enlighten people, because film is such a readily-available medium for telling stories. I think the important stories to tell are not about the big people that everyone knows about, but the ones that have been hidden and kept away — stories about people who have led truly valiant lives.”

— Ananya Zachariah

& sack

R

R

Hit the

rants + raves

Nostalgic teen revives footbagging “You hacky, bruh?” I ask a random stranger as I lurch my way through the cafeteria, juggling a footbag between my chest, knees and feet. I swoop, dive, duck and kick, as a lunchtime audience of Chaps looks on in awe.

Just kidding. My record is five consecutive hacks. Hardly a source of pride to this footbagging fiend.

Five months ago, on Christmas morning, I dumped out the contents of my stocking and discovered a beautiful blue Hacky Sack. At the time, it was just another trinket, a cheap reminder of middle school days spent in bliss, part of an unbroken circle of Hacky devotion. But without much further thought, I tossed the quirky gift to the side and moved on to other, more valuable items (Tacodeli gift cards.) Soon, it was all but forgotten.

Flash-forward three months. Spring had just sprung. Already an obsessive tidier, I had decided to deep clean my room for the new season. And what did I find tucked in a box within a box under another box in my room, but a dejected blue Hacky Sack. It was almost as if it had lost its stuffing, the way it drooped and moped in a corner next to old Beanie Babies and dried-up Silly Putty. Standing there, gazing at the wealth of opportunity stranded within that box, brilliance struck.

Who can recall those days of freshman year when the Rotunda would ring with the cries of dozens of bona fide footbaggers? One could scarcely walk through a courtyard without confronting a flying Hacky to the face. Friendships were won and lost over a good toss or trick; gangs were formed and went to war when one Hacky Crew challenged another.

This was our cult. Footbagging was our religion. When did that magic disappear?

My mission was clear. My path was set.

There was a fire in my belly. I seized my foot-

bag, seized the moment and took it upon myself to bring Hacky Culture back to Westlake.

At first, the whole scene seemed to be made up of just me and a few friends footbagging during our off period and annoying random passersby in the English hallways. Yet progress is being made — our army is growing.

Hacky is rising again.

During a live music lunch, my pals and I were busy footbagging. Some might say we stole the show, but I prefer to be modest. Unfortunately, tragedy hit, in the form of a storm drain. Down went my footbag — down into the abyss. As in all communal activities, however,

“This was our cult.

Footbagging was our religion. When did that magic disappear?”

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loss only brought us closer together. Now, people stop me in the halls, forcing new footbags upon me. I have amassed a giant collection, covering every base: sand-filled, plastic-filled, sand-plastic-metal blend, woven, sueded, etc.

In the spirit of Hacky Culture, I pass these gifts on to others as well. May the circle remain unbroken.

These days, my spirits are continually lifted as I walk through the courtyards at lunch and see my fellow students Hacky Sacking. To me, this is a skill one should never forget. This is a hobby that bonds strangers together. This is a workout, a resume builder and a performance art. Footbagging is a way of life, and while Hacky Culture is still struggling for air, it is our duty to come together to resuscitate it.

—Katelyn Connolly

Alex Charnes

Mich

aela

photos by Georgina Kuhlmann Brave New Books’ storefront lets you know that it’s “anti-war,” “anti-state,” and “pro-market.”

The stairwell down to Brave New Books is every bit as eerie as you think it would be.

Junior Jack Speer browses educational Illuminati literature.

NOT BY THE BOOK

W

Subterranean conspiracy theory bookshop sparks intrigue

Want to pick up a new book in-store but feel oppressed by reptilian-owned corporate businesses like Barnes and Noble? Prefer not to make your book purchases online, but want to pay in the not-sorising-anymore cryptocurrency, Bitcoin? Are you looking for something a little more “underground?”

Then Brave New Books is the answer to your prayers (unless of course you are among the enlightened atheists who understand that praying is for sheeple).

Brave New Books is located at the intersection of West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Guadalupe Street, underneath a Chase bank. It’s a bookstore that caters to conspiracy theorists, juice dieters, hardcore libertarians and that one person who’s been desperately searching for a stripper, but can only pay in Bitcoin. (We kid you not. They had business cards advertising the services of Vivienne, a Bitcoin-friendly stripper, but, much to our dismay, they were all taken, leaving only a prominent sign falsely indicating their presence.)

After arriving, we warily descended a dark stairway to find a number of pamphlets — on how to avoid the IRS and the benefits of Bitcoin — and business cards like the one mentioned previously. With a shiver of anticipation, we crossed the threshold of the store itself.

In this BNB, one does not find classic novels, textbooks, cookbooks, authorized autobiographies or anything else of the sort that has been

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on your booklist since last year and you still haven’t picked up yet, (nor does one find bed and breakfast). Brave New Books’ selection consists of titillating tomes such as: The Case Against Fluoride, The Psychological Covert War on Hip Hop and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming™. In Big Sister is Watching You, you’ll learn that “feminazis” run the government and that Hillary Clinton is basically Hitler.

And if you’re skeptical about the credibility of your history teachers, the government and video evidence, there are, of course, a large number of books dedicated to 9/11 and assassination conspiracies. There’s even a memoir touchingly named Me and Lee: How I Came to Know, Love, and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald that asserts the innocence of a man who was “framed” for a murder he was “actually trying to prevent.”

For those less interested in literature, BNB has a small theatre room in the back, assorted knick-knacks at the counter (including Illuminati trading cards) and a 3D printer in the back that prints gun parts (exclusively)!

Without a doubt, Brave New Books is an Austin business — “weird” in every sense of the word. But don’t dismiss it quite yet. When the government replaces all online book orders with heavily censored copies of Barney: Sharing is Caring (a shameless piece of communist propaganda), free thinkers may rest assured — Brave New Books has you covered.

—Jack Speer and Georgina Kuhlmann

Moss

In theory...

Five conspiracies they don’t want you to know

Moon landing hoax

Hollow earth

Chemtrails

Forget those lies your middle school science teachers told you about the earth having a molten core; planet Earth is 100 percent hollow. By entering one of the holes located in the North and South Poles at 87.7 degrees latitude, you’ll be able to enter an entire world filled with mammoths and super humans. Before you try to argue against this theory with “logic” and “scientific evidence,” just remember that you’ve never been to the center of Earth, so there’s no way you can prove that it isn’t hollow. Plus this theory was supported by a bunch of scientists from the 1600s, including Edmond Halley. Come on, you don’t get a comet named after you unless you’re somewhat credible.

Ever wonder what those white lines left in the sky by airplanes are made of? The answer: mind control chemicals. Clearly the government is trying to alter human behavior — how else do shady senators get re-elected? There’s no better way to distribute toxins than through the oxygen we breathe. Don’t believe any “scientist” that says those lines are just water condensation. They’re probably getting paid off by the Illuminati to say that. Speaking of which ...

Illuminati

Reptilians

We are all slaves to this elite secret society. Members include Beyoncé, Obama, Justin Bieber and many of your other favorite celebrities. The Illuminati wishes to establish a New World Order in which we are all submissive pets to the famous and powerful. The all-seeing eye is everywhere, including on the dollar bill. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, because soon we will all be under the control of Blue Ivy and Martha Stewart.

PLOT TWIST: the members of the Illuminati are actually giant, blood-drinking reptiles. Or at least they’re controlled by giant, blood-drinking reptiles. You might think, “Wouldn’t we notice gargantuan lizard people walking among us?” No. These reptilians can shapeshift at will, making them imperceptible to the weak human eye. They hail from the Alpha Draconis star system, and their ability to travel through great distances of space probably means they are more advanced than you can even imagine. No doubt some of them are hiding out in the Earth’s hollow center. Lock your doors and hide in your underground bunkers, people. The end is nigh.

—Sara Phillips

Open your eyes, America. We never landed on the moon.

We never took one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.

NASA faked the 1969 moon landing in order to win the space race.

Twenty-eight percent of Russians believe this, so it has to be true.

Those photos of Neil Armstrong could have been easily faked. If you still have your doubts, watch Fox TV’s riveting exposé Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?. You’ll be a believer before you can say, “Houston, we have a problem.”

New age medicine ROCKS

na

a Ari

z me

s ye

Re

Go

Befuddled patient reluctantly dabbles in pseudoscience It was a bright, Sunday afternoon in a quaint, suburban home. The kind of home in which thick salt and peppercorn-hued carpeting clings perhaps too desperately to the curvature of your feet. The kind of home in which tacky family portraits taken at Disneyland adorn curved wood mantels. The kind which seemed alarmingly similar to the endearingly cat dander-seasoned one I’d taken my first therapy session in. However, the therapy I received on this day was not entirely of the talk variety, nor animal or vegetable, but mineral.

For those unfamiliar with “crystal healing,” it is defined as: “a pseudoscientific alternative medicine technique that employs stones and crystals.” In layman’s terms, it’s an expensive placebo with an occultic slant. A few months back, my mother suggested that I give it a try to help with a bout of depression I’d been going through. I was not overly enthusiastic, but I’m not one to turn down a surreal experience that hastily.

When I entered her abode, my crystal therapist asked me a few questions about why I felt I needed therapy. She listened, congratulated me for being a hypochondriac and proceeded to show me an intricate structure of crystals, apparently fine-tuned to the most integral dynamics of myself (aided by my mom’s brief description of me over the phone). It was an assortment of minerals in the shape of an eye, with the metal frame of a rectangular pyramid in the center, crystal skulls scattered within it and three tarot cards facing upward.

I couldn’t help but suppress a smirk. She then pointed out the spiritual properties of many of the minerals, while also presenting other random factoids about each.

“This quartz was struck by lightning. I’m not sure how you’d know that, but the store I bought it from said it was.” After that she presented a brief explanation for each of the tarot cards.

“This is the insight card. As you can see, it’s an eye, and it’s what I based the shape of the crystal grid on. It represents a higher level of thought and sort of a wide-range perspective and wisdom, which I think definitely applies to you.”

We’d been acquainted for 15 minutes by this point.

“On this card, each color on the circle represents a different angel, archangel or star looking after you. Usually, people only have one or two colors, but yours has quite a few, which is really something special.”

It appeared that she was about to change the subject, but I was still curious about the last card, so I asked, “And the last one?”

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“Oh ... That one focuses on the feminine aspects of yourself.”

“It says I’m ‘serene and dolphin-like.’”

“Hahahaha. Well, dolphins are very smart. I think that one sort of ties into the insight card as well.”

She then rolled a bed over the grid and directed me to lie on it. I did so, hesitantly, while she applied tea tree oil to my forehead and gave a momentary non-denominational prayer.

Then came the moment of truth. This was what I came here for. Confident, I was completely ready to have my conscience quelled by means of quartz. Finally, I could be healed by these sacred stones sent to subdue my suffering. My dalliance with these deitized deposits would no doubt deafen the darkness of my destitute soul.

I closed my eyes, and she began placing rocks on different regions of my front side and then removing them and relocating them to different frontal quadrants, clearly to properly aid chakra flow. This went on for 45 minutes, in silence, with the exception of my therapist’s occasional sneeze. How I’d lasted that long, I may never know.

After the process had been completed, she told me that I’d been cured of my troubles and that I could now go on my way to lead a fulfilled life.

“I can tell you’re a very empathic person. I’m an empath as well. Being empathic naturally causes many energies to latch on to you. Luckily, in today’s session I managed to remove three negative energies from your right side.”

“And my left?”

“Your left was fine.”

“Ah.” With the session complete, and my ride still about 15 minutes away, I proceeded to chat with her for a bit. She told me she studied Advertising at UT and that she’d been a masseuse for 15 years. I told her about the dynamics of my everyday life. We talked about college for a bit. Then we talked about dreams. I told her about a dream I had in which I’d watched a large number of beagles cannibalize each other in an ice skating rink. She told me about a dream in which her nephew had grown horns. I was then reminded of an old Facebook clickbait link to an article announcing that coral injections to the skull that grew into horns were the latest fad. Her response: “Some people do the strangest things.”

—Jack Speer

THIS

BELIEVE

From 1951 to 1955, This I Believe was an ongoing, five-minute CBS Radio segment in which submitted short essays about individual motivation were read aloud. It has since been revived

by NPR, and now it has its own organization, with a website that is updated with new essays regularly. As both an homage and a method of sharing their own personal philosophies and experiences, our staff decided to write their own.

BELIEVE IN OPTIMISM I have been in pain for two years. After dealing with chronic pain in my hip and a tendon that was continually snapping across my joint for a year, the doctor advised surgery. That fixed the tendon, but I now have constant pain down my leg and in and around my hip. For a year, I have gone from doctor to doctor looking for answers. Three MRIs, two physical therapists, six injections and countless doctors later, I still have no answer.

Pain sucks. There is no other way to say that. Whether it be physical or emotional, pain can control your life. It dictates your thoughts and tells you what you can and cannot do. There have been times when I have given up hope that the pain will ever go away. These are the days when I feel the worst. I focus on the pain and drown in self-pity.

There is no way to be happy when I don’t have hope. Hope for the future. Hope for things to get better. Hope that one day I’ll be able to run again, to play basketball, to work out, to sleep all night without waking up to sharp and burning pain.

I think we all learn a lot about ourselves through pain.

We all experience it in some way or another. Suffering is inevitable — it is how we choose to deal with pain and hardship that tests us the most and shows who we really are as people. Living through pain makes people stronger.

Most days I don’t see an end in sight, but I have to believe that soon enough there will be a doctor who knows what’s wrong with me and how to fix it.

As long as I can remember that, my days get better, and I can be a more optimistic person.

However, I can’t always follow my own advice. On bad days, it is all I can think about. I sit through class and struggle to pay attention. I go to lunch and give a fake smile to my friends so they won’t ask me what’s wrong. I go home and lie in my bed on top of ice packs and watch Netflix to try and take my mind off of it. That is when I am at my worst. I am weak. I let the pain defeat me. But strength comes out of pain. I remind myself how strong I am as a person, and I make a conscious effort to not let the pain defeat me. It may not always work, but living every day to beat the pain instead of letting it beat me can make a world of difference. It is easy for pain to hold us back, but we define ourselves by how we overcome it. I have not overcome my own pain, but I am working really hard to overcome the idea that it will never go away. It cannot defeat me.

—Emily Martin

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BELIEVE IN

COMMUNICATION photos by Alex Unflat

The air is thick with humidity, and sweat pours down my face.

I set the last stake in the ground and crawl into my tent, exhausted.

With bugs buzzing around me, I listen to the sounds of nature and relish the peaceful atmosphere. Moments pass, and soon my fellow campers and I are engrossed in face-to-face conversation. I’m getting to know them on a personal level and have their full and undivided attention, a rare treat in today’s society.

I believe in the power of a world without distractions. I find this euphoria in camping, where technology doesn’t have a place. Back in our parents’ and grandparents’ generations, technology was scarce. In today’s society, cell phones, iPads and tablets are constantly present, and while they are definitely amazing in some ways, they are distracting in others. It’s disrespectful when two people are having a conversation and one is scrolling through an Instagram feed on their phone. My relationships with my camping group are different than others in my life because we don’t text. Instead, we pick up the conversation where

it left off when we see each other each month.

Beyond my camping group, my friends at home and I often choose conversations over texting, and I know that those are more valuable than any Instagram or Twitter post. Don’t get me wrong – I love social media and am grateful to live in a generation where technology is at my fingertips. It is amazing to have apps that will tell me the color of my clothes or the value of a dollar bill. But it can also be extremely distracting. It makes me wistful when I enter a coffee shop and everyone is on a computer or phone. I understand that life is busy, but sometimes I wish those distractions would disappear. We would be a more attentive and respectful society if we truly listened to what our peers had to say instead of being glued to our phones. So, next time you think about pulling out your phone to text your best friend, call them and hear their voice on the end of the line instead. It may be one of the most cherished conversations you’ll ever have. This I believe.

—Nikki Lyssy

BELIEVE IN

FORGIVENESS BELIEVE IN

CRAM STUDYING If you’ve never heard of cram studying, you’re either someone’s parent, or you’re failing all your classes, including food science.

Cram studying is usually defined as procrastinating studying (despite knowing about the test’s date weeks in advance) until the night before, at which time the student will devour books upon books and stacks of scribbled notes in an effort to fill his/her brains up with information, like a water balloon.

Teachers will tell you that this method is ineffective, but they are lying. Cramming is very effective. If you cram the night before, you will do infinitely better than you would if you had opted not to study.

Unfortunately for us last-minute studiers, cramming is a habit often associated with the lazy, nonconforming and generally worthless student. However, this is also a lie. A lazy student would not cram. They would not study at all, they would never touch a textbook and they would have never taken notes in their lives. They would inevitably fail their tests, and they wouldn’t care either. A student who crams is a student who cares.

Like most students, I started cram studying in middle school, when I first discovered how absolutely terrible I was at real studying. Why is studying the “right” way such a pain? If you want to actually retain any of the information you learn in school, you have to review it every night. This involves using Quizlet, taking notes and often times even reading your textbook thoroughly. However, this is profusely boring, and there is no reason I should need to drill tedious information into my head until it sticks. Ten years down the line no one will be grateful they memorized all the elements on the periodic table.

Of course, even cram studying can become monotonous. If you want to maximize your cram-studying efficiency (as you should) there are certain measures you will need to take. Have two tests the next day?

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Skim both textbooks at once. Alternatively, if you have both a looming economics test and a vocabulary quiz, use your economics sheet as a cover for your vocab sheet while you quiz yourself. This way, you’re subconsciously soaking in both sets of information.

Unfortunately, cram studying can do a number on the muscles. In order to achieve ideal comfort whilst enduring a late-night cram session, consider paying a sibling to give you neck rubs and maybe fan you while you use your eye muscles to read through all those pesky notes.

Once you have learned to cram study at full efficiency, your life will improve ten fold, and your stress levels will drop throughout the week.

There is no reason to give yourself an ulcer over your 104.5 GPA. You won’t be thankful when you’re twenty-something with half a head of gray hair and a permanent brow-furrow. At least your gold-framed Ivy League diploma will look impressive hung inside your cardboard box, which is where you will live because the shame of peaking in high school drove you to gamble all your earnings away.

Cramming may have a bad rep, but it works, and, as they say, don’t fix what ain’t broken. If you’re tired of overworking yourself in school, stop sweating over your grades and start enjoying all the free time you will have when you quit spending an hour a day reading over your notes.

Here is what you could do with your life if you would switch to cram studying: watch all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix, learn to knit and crochet, pick up a hobby and maybe even a social life.

School isn’t about learning — it’s about passing. It’s about memorizing dates and names, studying for tests, worrying about your GPA and feeling miserable all the time about all your grades. So cram, because your only other option is to actually do your homework.

—Michelle Fairorth

Everyone goes through hardships in his or her life. No matter how big or how small, they still create suffering.

Carrying these burdens of regret, people often forget the importance of forgiving past mistakes. They lose themselves in the emotions that control them. But I believe it’s important to remember to forgive. To let go — and move on.

Looking back at my life, I have so many happy memories. But what I began to realize is that I have no recollection of happy memories when my father and mother were together. It’s like a whole part of my childhood is missing, like my subconscious purposefully buried it so it wouldn’t bring me misery.

During the divorce, I heard nothing more from both parents but, “I wasn’t the one who wanted this.” Neither parent wanted my brother or me to be involved in the divorce process. As time passed their anger with each other became increasingly more noticeable, to the point where they didn’t even try to hide it anymore. There was a constant toss of blame that they indirectly shared with each other. Indirect because they shared it through me.

Both would claim different reasons why the divorce happened. I was so tormented by these opinions that I lost all interest in what really happened. I shut out the negativity and just let things be as they were. Later came the tug-of-war game known as “the legal right of guardian ownership.” My parents formed an agreement, or a decree, that stated all the rights to each parent, which days I would spend with each parent, money handling, transportation, owning houses — the photos by Alex Unflat dance continued.

It was around this time I found my parents often depressed and upset. They both seemed to have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Things became so complicated that everyone began to lash out at each other. It was difficult and stressful to be around my family; it seemed to be so full of sadness all the time.

The next thing I knew, a year had

passed. My brother and I had been in and out of different houses going between both parents and suddenly a man I had never met before came to my mother’s side. Everything was changing, and I didn’t know how to take it. To be honest, I can’t recall how I was with others.

I can’t remember how my heart handled this aching pain. Sometimes I wouldn’t respond emotionally at all — other times, I would do nothing but pour my emotions on everyone around me. I was lost and confused.

And then suddenly, everything became so much better.

My mother was happy; she was smiling and laughing again. She was enjoying her time with her new boyfriend. He became a big part of her life and a big part of mine as well. He was good for all of us, and I couldn’t be happier now that he is a part of my family.

My father also changed. I began to see more of him every day. He made my brother and me his whole world and made sure we knew it. He found a woman for himself too, a woman who truly made him happy. I’m happy for my dad. It puts a smile on my face to know he’s enjoying himself.

I’ve had a difficult time accepting the pain the divorce brought and the hardship that the separation made me feel.

For a long time I was so angry at my family. I accepted the divorce, but I had difficulty accepting my new life. But life is so precious. I can’t spend all my time holding the pain in my heart. I forgive my mother, my father and my brother. I forgive them for all the arguments and disagreements. I forgive all the pain the divorce has ever caused. I forgive all these things; I’ve moved on and made a happier life for myself. It made me stronger as a person and helped build my personality.

But I won’t forget; I will never forget.

My life has become a policy of forgiving as often as I can but never staying attached to the past. Although, forgiving is the easy part. It’s moving on that takes more time.

—Julia Rasor

Tim Whaling

Turbulent travel

Frequent flyer vents about experiences in the air In my opinion, the people who say “don’t focus on the destination, focus on the journey,” quite possibly have never been near an airport.

Thinking about the exciting destination is the only thing that keeps me from losing my sanity when I’m cramped up in a pressurized aluminum can.

I remember countless times being stuck in a line at the airport listening to the crying of the young children around me. In these instances, I really contemplate why people take their 3-month-olds on a flight. Please don’t take a 3-month-old on a flight. Spoiler alert: they don’t like it. Wait until they are a bit older, or hand out ear plugs to everyone within a 300-foot radius.

At the front of airport lines there are even more irritations. At the check-in counter, you reach the Land of 1,000 Questions (and walletemptying schemes). Airlines entice you with additional services like “Would you like economy-plus? Great legroom! Only a small *ahem* extra charge!” But sometimes it gets ridiculous. Soon it will be “Would you like oxygen?” or “Would you like your baggage to arrive in one piece, sir?” And those “free” tickets you can buy with frequent flyer miles? Some airlines take out the fuel and other charges from those tickets, so you still can pay upwards of $100 per “free” ticket.

Flight connections are a risky business. You are in hot water if there is any delay. Once, my family was flying from Austin to Houston then connecting flights to London. We arrived at the airport ready for a long day. Little did we know

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just how long the day would be. Bad weather caused the closure of the Austin-Bergstrom Airport for about four to five hours. We had already missed our connecting flight, but luckily managed to book a later flight to London on the same airline. We then boarded the plane at Austin. My family arrived in Houston, and there was a chance we could still catch the later connection.

But fate was not on our side. While taxiing to the gate, the plane in front of us burst a tire and had to be towed at approximately .00005 miles per hour. The airport had given up hope our plane would arrive, and our designated gate was taken. We had to wait for availability to park and disembark. My family ran to our connecting gate, only to see no one there, the plane already a half-hour into flight.

The airplane itself specializes in making your trip uncomfortable. Short-haul flights can be a killer, especially if the airline crams you into a sardine tin. Oh, sorry, I meant those 50-seat regional jets. Those things take claustrophobia to a whole new level. I have been on regional jets that sound like dying lions. On one particularly bad flight, the engines were reverberating throughout the entire aircraft. It was as if the airplane was on the back of a cicada, and I walked off feeling like the plane had scrambled my brain. The only nice thing about short-hauls is that they are — well — short.

Long-hauls are a different matter. They are just plain miserable. Unless you would like to spend the amount of money a small car costs on a first class seat, you usually go with econ-

omy class. The seats in economy class have about half-inch thick cushions on them (Flotation devices? No way.) and aren’t even close to being able to recline enough for comfort. And I’m always told to try and get some sleep while we fly. Excuse me? Sleep? How? I don’t know about you, but I’m not a horse. I. Don’t. Sleep.

Upright. Fortunately — unlike others — I’m not too affected by jet lag.

Jet lag can be your worst nightmare. No, really, it can give you nightmares (like being back on a plane with a 3-month-old screaming loudly enough to wake the dead). Jet lag completely messes with your sleeping habits until you can’t tell if you are awake, asleep or sleepwalking.

Then there’s the economy class food.

Whatever you order, you can be assured it will look nothing like what you ordered. The “Grilled Chicken” looks like someone took a stick, burned it and ran over it in a car. I’m not much of a chef, but I’m pretty sure I could cook something that would at least be recognizable.

And don’t let airlines fool you — the lavatories are really storage cabinets with buckets and sinks. The cramped conditions make doing anything impossible, and most of the lavatories just seem unsanitary. What are those spots on the wall? Has anyone heard of bleach?

Air travel is not without its annoyances. It is a sacrifice we have to make to visit far-away relatives or enjoy a family vacation. With that said, there are times when I wish we could just invent a teleporter.

—Conor O’Bryon

memeing

the

of life

A retrospective on our favorite Internet fads

M

eme: an idea, belief, or pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance or horizontally by cultural acquisition.

Easy to define and hard to understand, a meme used to be what happened when a joke went viral. However, much like parasites, they have latched onto every aspect of our lives.

Memes no longer have to just be funny; they have to be provocative, ironic or fill your heart with profound despair for the folly of humanity.

Most memes, while extremely popular for a couple days, simply don’t have the staying power to remain in a world where everyone refreshes their screens every five minutes. One of the truest joys in life is watching companies desperately try to connect to younger demographics by appropriating a meme for an ad campaign. The problem is, memes move so fast that while American Airlines may tweet about “The Dress” (“white and gold, black and blue? we only have eyes for the sky”), it would be almost impossible for them to be able to produce an actual ad before the meme died.

And die they do. Certain memes (like “Left Shark,” or “Iggy Freestyles”) skyrocket to popularity and dominate the Internet for a few days, only to completely disappear. Other memes (such as “bruh,”

“Pepe the sad frog,” or “YASSS GAGA YASSS”) have managed to cement themselves so deeply in our minds that they stop being just memes, and start becoming a part of our everyday vocabulary. “Doge” originated as a meme, and now it’s a household term. Tell anyone you are hungry, and there is a significant likelihood that they will answer “Hi Hungry, I’m Dad.” All memes are utterly erratic and spontaneous. It is impossible to guess the next meme or predict which will last. Memes are uncontrollable. Memes are volatile. Memes have become their own meme.

“Ironically memeing” has also become an epidemic, in which an individual feigns a love of memes and unendingly repeats his or her personal favorites to annoyed friends. Eventually, the individual realizes that they have not been ironically memeing, but that they truly adored memes the whole time. This article in itself is ironic memeing! In February, one of the most popular google searches was “how to inform a friend they are memeing too hard.” Is a “meme” a verb? A noun? It can even transform itself into an adjective.

The core reason for a meme’s popularity is that everyone can relate to memes on some level. Most teenagers know the pain hidden inside “tfw no gf.” Anyone bogged down with soul-sucking schoolwork can understand “Grumpy Cat” on an emotional level. All high schoolers know exactly what to do when the bae’s parents aren’t home. Our shared love of memes creates a heightened sense of community on the Internet. These aren’t just any memes, they’re our memes. Adults don’t understand the hilarity of the revival of the Little Einsteins’ theme song.

Memes belong to us the way — at our age — most things don’t. They can break your heart and shatter your spirit, but they will never be able to take your dank memes.

—Sophia Ho

Ari

ana

Go

me zR ey

es

t a e r g look e t a r y at an

If you have $15 Created at: Plato’s Closet, 5400 Brodie Ln. This store is the place to go for low priced takes on the latest styles.

Almost everything is under $20, with awesome finds like almost new TOMS or Gap jeans with the tags still attached. Clothing is sorted by style and color, and Plato’s often has several sales going on.

If you have $20 Created at: Buffalo Exchange, 2904 Guadalupe St. Everything here is conveniently sorted on to separate racks by section and size, and the store itself has a cool Free People-esque vibe. Buffalo Exchange has amazing variety, and you can find several designer labels here, mixed with equally cute vintage items. Another bonus — you can sell your old clothes to them for cash or store credit.

DIY Flower Crown You will need: • several kinds of decorative fake flowers • brown wire • green florist’s tape • a sheet of green felt • a hot glue gun • a pair of pliers

After a “chilly” Texas winter and mild spring, summer liberates you from the confines of school dress codes and cold weather wardrobe limitations. Unfortunately, quality summer shopping can empty your wallet rather quickly. You may find it hard to believe, but finding cute yet cheap summer clothing isn’t too hard — if you know where to look.

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1. Take out out your green felt and cut it into small circles, each about the size of a quarter.

2. Using your hot glue gun, glue half of your total felt circles onto the backs of your fake flowers.

3. Lay out your flowers in the order you’d like them to appear on your flower crown.

4. Using your pliers, cut your brown wire as long as needed to wrap around your head once.

5. Wrap the entirety of your wire in the green florist tape, making sure to leave no sticky ends 6. One by one, glue your flowers onto the crown, covering the back where they meet the wire with another felt circle, making sure to press both firmly on so that they stick to the crown.

7. You’re done! Go enjoy your Coachella-ready crown, sending out good vibes wherever you go.

STUFF WE LIKE “Sandstorm”

As the opening bars radiate from a phone’s speakers, you are taken back to a time before civilization, before human intelligence — middle school. This song was the jam, and it makes you shudder with repressed emotions and vague remembrances of the early pubescent awkwardness this song embodies. Flashbacks of horrid school dances and sitting in the hallways with your “homies” listening to terrible music and pretending to be cool come to mind. Darude - “Sandstorm.” Jokes of its cringe-inducing beats are widespread throughout the Internet. If someone asks about the background music in a video, regardless of what it actually is, the answer is always the same thing — “Sandstorm.”

Puberty

ez Reyes

Ariana Gom

What’s more wonderful than breaking out all over your skin and sweating like a pig in mid-summer heat? Puberty is a fiendish embodiment of your clingy friend that you just can’t shake off.

I’m sure you enjoy just how peachy you feel when everything in the world seems to annoy you. Then there is the flaming hurricane of emotions that burns down the thatched roof cottages of your neurological villages, searing the walls to ashes and crumbling everything to pieces. Sure, we eventually metamorphosize into the majestic beings we call adults and become something only our juvenile selves dreamed of, but that transformation follows a maelstrom of awkward, biological inconveniences.

School bathrooms We have been trying to hold it in for quite a while, but it’s time to get serious: the school bathrooms are a war zone. The Sharpie graffiti scribbled on the wall tiles reveals word combinations that should never exist, much less be spoken. It’s great that the students here get a chance to observe the art of modern cave paintings — a truly contemporary interpretation of a primitive North American art form. Thinking about wearing those cute shoes to school today? Go for it, if you’re really good at holding it in for eight consecutive hours. You might as well wear high rubber boots to wade through the swampy marsh of toilet paper shreds and strange liquid on the ground — caution: slippery when wet, which is all the time.

Parking on white lines You cruise into the senior lot, the windows of your white Range Rover rolled down and the sun glinting off your Prada sunglasses. There aren’t any open spaces left, but never fear — no one has parked on the white striped lines next to the handicap spots. They’re like personalized spaces made just for you. The white lines go great with your blond highlights. You roll to a stop, unconcerned that half of your car is sticking into the space next to you. Who cares about handicapped people? They can ride in wheelchairs. You have to walk.

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