2.25.2011 Issue

CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL 520 E. MAIN ST. CARMEL, IN 46032 WWW.HILITE.ORG

Acumen: The “Millennial” Issue See Insert

FEB. 25, 2011 | VOL. 56 | ISSUE 7

*CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL’S STUDENT NEWSMAGAZINE

STEM Education Blooms The United States falls behind in science and mathematics.

Is Carmel turning over a new leaf? — Page 16

Be a

riend, keep in

ouch.

Page 2 | Table of contents | hilite | hilite.org | Feb. 25, 2011

Table of Contents 4 News

The College Board revamps the AP Biology curriculum and postpones change to AP U.S. History.

12 Feature

Recent political riots in Egypt affect students at CHS.

14 Student Section

4

12

14

16

20

24

Students debate passion versus practicality in job choice.

16 Cover Story

Release of international test scores in December prompts a shift in educational focus.

20 Entertainment

Reporters Melinda Song and Dhruti Patel review the best frozen yogurt restaurants in the Carmel area.

24 Sports

The men’s basketball team faces a tough season with a new team coach.

28 Perspectives

The HiLite staff proposes improvements to the Distinguished Grad program.

32 15 Minutes

Junior Michael Kelleher participates in cage-fighting.

Arjuna Capulong / Cover Design DANIEL li / cover Graphic

32

Feb. 25, 2011| hilite.org | hilite | just a minute | page 3

Page 4 | NEWS | HiLite | HiLite.org | feb. 25, 2011

NEWS

submitnews@hilite.org | twitter.com /Hilite_news

News Briefs

Summarizing newsworthy content found daily online at www.hilite.org Dance Marathon scheduled for tomorrow. The annual event will occur tomorrow from 4 to 10 p.m. in the freshman cafeteria, varsity gym, and the fieldhouse. Last year, Dance Marathon raised over $174,000 for Riley Hospital, making it the nation’s largest high school dance marathon.

Participants are encouraged to arrive early to check-in with their color groups.

CHTV will broadcast live coverage of Dance Marathon tomorrow. CHTV will be at Dance Marathon for the entire event, from 4 to 10 p.m. During the coverage, a phone number will be shown on screen so viewers can call in and make a pledge to Dance Marathon.

Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation (CCPR) is planning a Breakin’ 101 to occur on Thursdays from March 3 to April 28. According to Lindsay Labas, marketing manager for the CCPR, new events are occurring specializing in the arts and culture. Along with new special events, Labas said that volunteers are needed. According to Labas, Dime Carnival on March 5 will have a few hundred participants and is open to anyone who wishes to volunteer.

Important Dates

Feb. 26: Dance Marathon Mar. 1: NHS meeting Mar. 4: Deadline for AP exam registration Mar. 11: End of 3rd grading period

Weather Forecast

Tired of the snow and ice? Find out if temperatures are going up and the sun is coming out from Patrick Bryant’s Weather Forecast.

AP and ib programs

College Board reexamines curriculum for AP classes College Board announces changes in instruction of AP Biology while postponing change in AP U.S. History by melinda song msong@hilite.org

T

he College Board’s Advanced Placement program is gaining popularity both at this school and around the world. According to an October 2010 press release, last school year marked a 9 percent increase in AP course enrollment here. Moreover, according to the College Board, in 2009, 1.8 million students took more than 3.2 million AP exams.

However, with this upward trend, complaints have also been on the rise.

According to a New York Times article “Rethinking Advanced Placement,” the loudest of these voices targets the overwhelming amount of content required and lack of in-depth understanding within certain course curricula.

The College Board has responded with the “New AP” program, which includes curriculum changes that will

shift the instructional focus from breadth of material to depth of coverage in several of its 33 AP courses.

The first AP course up for change is AP Biology, which had about 173,000 exam-takers in 2009. College Board publicly released its changes to this course on Jan. 29.

AP Biology teacher Tom Maxam, who has taught this course for 16 years, said there is evident room for improvement within it.

“The kids don’t learn enough process,” he said. “There’s too much memorization in AP Bio, too much volume. If you saw how much anatomy and physiology I’m supposed to teach in five weeks, you wouldn’t believe it. It’s kind of like going to law school. While not academically super hard, the volume of material you have to learn is the difficult part.”

Despite the amount of material within in AP Biology, however, senior Jeremy Weprich, who is currently taking

Story continued on next page >>

DECA members prepare for State competition March 6 to 8 in downtown Indianapolis.

According to DECA sponsor Janice Brown, the team has performed well in past State competitions. Scoring and ranking is determined by the number of students who manage to place in each of the events.

On March 21 the German Club is scheduled to visit the Heidelburg Haus, a German restaurant and gift shop in Indianapolis. According to Alex Wallace, German Club co-president and senior, all participants will meet after school to play German games and then take a bus to the restaurant around dinner time.

HiLite staff members were recently awarded 17 Gold Circle Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). Staff members placed in 11 categories, two in the Online News division and nine in the Online News Writing division.

For more information and stories, go to our website www.hilite.org

Hope Boyer / photo

A Look Ahead: AP Biology teacher Tom Maxam instructs his class. The College Board announced changes to the curriculum last month to emphasize a shift from breadth of material to depth of coverage on the national exam.

feb. 25, 2011 | HiLite.org | hilite | NEWS | PagE 5

School makes IB block class available for incoming freshmen starting next year Gibson said, “I think I would have taken the block class because it’s a higher level of learning. It’s different then AP because it doesn’t have as many details. I think When senior Irene Gibson planned her schedule for it’s a good idea.” her freshman year, she didn’t have as many options as While Gibson and all other CHS students had the option incoming freshmen now do. Like other students, Gibson of pursuing the IB diploma, taking pre-IB courses as a had to choose which diploma she wanted, and she selected freshman is a new option. “The decision to offer the new the IB diploma. But unlike incoming freshmen, Gibson freshman course was made by the CHS administration, could not take any pre-IB classes until her sophomore and those involved in the IB program,” IB coordinator Lori year. Beginning next year, however, freshmen will be Harmas said via e-mail. able to enroll in a pre-IB block class, which combines According to the CHS website, the IB program is made up Honors English 9 and Honors World History 9. of six classes taken over the course of a student’s junior and Gibson said having those choices as a freshman might senior years. These six classes are mandatory to receive the have altered her schedule.

IB diploma, but the new IB block class will not be required and is considered to be pre-IB. Still, the new class may provide a good way to lead more students to seek an IB diploma, according to Katie Gray, a social studies teacher who will teach the honors world history portion of the class.

Number of schools around the “The pre-IB block class will simultaneously globe that offer IB diplomas, prepare students for the advanced curriculum by country at Carmel and challenge them to apply their learning to creative problems throughout the year,” Gray said via e-mail. “In addition, the pre-IB class will be a great bridge for students who are unsure if they are ready for AP World History.”

Gray said the idea for the new program began from discussions she had with Jason Elrite, who will teach the Honors English 9 portion of the class. She said, “The inspiration for the class was a combination of the block class that Mr. Elrite taught in California and my own experiences in the AP U.S. History and AP American Literature melinda song / graphic ibo.org / source course while a student at CHS.”

by natalie maier nmaier@hilite.org

IB Diplomas Worldwide

<< Story continued from last page this course, said knowing the fine details of biological processes is crucial to understanding overarching biological concepts.

“You can’t just understand why evolution happens because of the definition of evolution. Because it’s the AP and it’s a college-level course, you have to understand the actual elements, the biological elements, that make that up,” he said. “So instead of just knowing the definition, you really have to know the parts that equate to that larger picture.”

The AP program is designed to challenge students intellectually and better prepare them for college courses.

In 2002, the National Research Council, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, criticized AP science courses in general for failing to develop problem-solving skills through labs and experiments in their students.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, stopped accepting college credit for AP Biology in 2007 for this reason. According to Maxam, however, effective college preparation has not been a large issue in his class.

“The kids do fantastic with the course,” Maxam said. “I get e-mails from former students who said that they were beyond prepared, like they could teach the class when they go to college, even at Ivy League schools.”

Maxam said he believes decreasing the amount of content and increasing the amount of critical thinking on the AP Biology exam would be more beneficial.

“I think students will like the change. It’s a less frenetic pace,” he said. “I mean, we’re basically pouring the stuff down their throats. They learn it, but it’s pretty intense.”

AP U.S. History, a course College Board also plans to revamp, is currently the most popular AP subject, with over 387,000 test takers in 2009. While the board planned to release changes to this subject last month, they have been postponed due to complaints of vagueness.

Social studies teacher Will Ellery, who has eight years of experience teaching this course, said he has a concern with College Board’s plan to reduce the amount of material students need to know for the national exam.

“There is a cause-effect relationship in all of history.

And if we start eliminating prior history to just zero in on certain other parts of history, we may not understand the ramifications of what we’re looking at,” he said. “For example, if we look at political figures—if I were to look at America’s handling of imperialism at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, we’re going to look at Theodore Roosevelt and his command of what happened with the Monroe Doctrine. Well, if you don’t understand the Monroe Doctrine, you’re not going to understand that. And if you’re not going to understand the Monroe

The class was also added as a way to provide more opportunity to incoming freshmen who want to be challenged more academically and as preparation for other advanced courses, like IB or AP classes. According to Gibson, another benefit of taking the new class would be meeting and interacting with other students who might eventually choose the IB program.

Harmas said, “So many students at CHS have the ability to achieve at such a high level, and the staff at CHS is committed to making sure that the needs of each student at the appropriate level.”

By offering different rigor to students, both students and parents are able to select the course that best meets the needs of each student. Only one AP course is currently offered to freshmen.”

Combinations

The IB block class will combine honors English 9 and honors world history 9. Jason Elrite and Katie Gray will teach the respective courses.

The Origins

According to Gray, the idea for the program was influenced by her own experiences in the AP Block class at this school and a similar program Elrite instructed in California.

Expectations

The IB block class is designed to be challenging yet manageable. Class expectations will be adjusted to suit the freshmen’s ability to cope with the academic rigor, according to Gray.

To read the full version of the story and for more on the new IB block program, go to hilite.org.

Doctrine as a result of George Washington’s neutrality proclamation of 1793, then you really might not get the whole concept itself.”

After looking at the new curriculum College Board has created, teachers across the nation have echoed Ellery’s reservations. As a result, vice president Trevor Packer said the board plans to make changes to U.S. history applicable during the 2014-15 school year.

“While there’s a lot of content (in AP U.S. History), the questions are actually analytical in nature—not just the free responses, not just document-based questions, but even the objective multiple choice questions are analytical questions,” Ellery said. “That’s the difficulty if kids run into it without having taken an AP course before and without, really, having their eyes opened. They haven’t had the experience of taking analytical, objective exams so it’s not necessarily the amount of content to memorize as much as it is the ability to take that content and then analyze the application of that content.”

Go Online For more To read the full version of the story and more on the latest events at CHS, go to hilite.org

Page 6 | NEWS | hilite | HiLite.org | feb. 25, 2011

clubs and Activities

Growth of Global Aid This school year finds increase in clubs, events dedicated to supporting global charitable causes by victor xu vxu@hilite.org On Jan. 12 last year, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. According to the New York Times, up to 250 thousand died amid collapsed buildings, and the total cost of the disaster piled up at $7 to $13 billion.

Nevertheless, the international response and relief efforts were remarkable, and over $9 billion and much more in relief have been contributed to Haiti, according to a Time article published in January. Yet despite the amount of global attention and donations to Haiti, statistics from the article show that only 5 percent of the rubble covering Port-au-Prince has been removed. Some cite the lack of glamour in donating money for removing rubble.

Slow Help for Haiti

Senior Kathleen Hayes said Haiti’s slow recovery was a cause of concern, but she emphasized that she still had faith in international aid efforts despite their ineffectiveness after the Haitian earthquake. Last year, Hayes headed the group Project Haiti, which focused on raising money by selling $2 stickers to support the victims of the earthquake.

The rise of many humanitarian groups in the past several years also reflects the student body’s confidence in international aid and helping the needy, according to Jim Inskeep, director of athletics and activities.

“I believe our student body as a whole has become more socially aware of needs across the world, whether that is the result of media attention to it or otherwise,” Inskeep said. “I also think our social studies department does a really good job of discussing current events and issues.

We have teachers who are specifically interested in certain types of aid, going different places and providing vehicles for students to get involved.”

Other Organizations

From Jan. 18 to Jan. 28, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) established the Peppermints for Pakistan fundraiser in response to the Pakistani flood in August of 2010. The flood had displaced over 20 million citizens, 5,000 miles of road and 7,000 schools, according to the New York Times. Despite competition with Dance Marathon fundraising, the group sold baked goods and candy and raised several hundred dollars in donations to the

Story continued on next page >>

Entertainment clubs give value to students

by andy yang ayang@hilite.org

T

his school has been home to a variety of clubs and organizations, and while some tend to focus on competition or humanitarian efforts, others emphasize a different interest.

These so-called entertainment clubs are based on social interest and allow students to get together just to relax. Senior Garrett Bacon created one such club: Scrabble Club.

“It started out that I was playing Word with Friends on my iPod a lot, and so I thought ‘Hey, why not just make a club for Scrabble because they’re very similar’.

I talked to my friends and they said ‘Yeah, that would be a great idea’, so I just did the paper work and put it together,” Bacon said.

Bacon also said that these clubs brings people with similar interests together who might otherwise never meet, and Jim Inskeep, athletics and activities director, said he believes these clubs bring a level of diversity that separates CHS from other schools.

“When there are kids interested in something and they can find a sponsor who is willing to work with them, I think it really celebrates the uniqueness of Carmel High School. I don’t think there are a lot of schools that would allow that or celebrate the fact that we have over a 100 clubs or the fact that we’re pretty liberal lots of times with what we accept as clubs. It really celebrates the diversity of our interests that we have.” Inskeep said.

Furthermore, in the club’s first meeting, around 30 students attended, according to sponsor Courtney Trachtman, and while Bacon attributes this simply to the popularity of the game, Trachtman says that this might in fact be due to the improved promotion of clubs in general.

“The promotion for them has been better and that might be because they tightened up the announcements, so videos and announcements have to be a little more polished and a little more planned,” Trachtman said.

Popularity

Sponsors and members attribute the unique video announcements to increased membership and interest in the clubs.

Importance

katie bourgerie / photo

Real aid: Caroline Stephens and Aneesha Kamath, co-presidents of the Real International Aid Club and seniors, conduct a club meeting. Organizations like this were started for humanitarian and charitable efforts.

Inskeep says the clubs provide a more diverse and inclusive environment only available at schools like this one.

Club Acceptance

This school does not accept clubs that mirror athletic organizations already offered by the school.

But Inskeep generally authorizes clubs that meet the necessary criteria.

For the full version of the story, visit hilite.org.

feb. 25, 2011 | HiLite.org | hilite | NEWS | PagE 7

<< Story continued from previous page Red Cross, according to Lyla Nassimi, president of the MSA and senior.

Inskeep said although certain clubs and events, such as Project Haiti and Peppermints for Pakistan, are temporary and formed in response to specific disasters, many permanent humanitarian organizations have arisen as well.

Caroline Stephens and Aneesha Kamath, co-presidents of Real International Aid Club and seniors, are among those who continue to trust in international aid. They reformed an existing club last year to create Real International Aid Club. The two said the organization is not interested in the glamour of donating that has prevented Haiti from alleviating a fundamental issue like the rubble coverage; the purpose of the club is to provide international aid in a realistic way by raising money to buy farm animals for families in third-world countries.

Stephens said, “A lot of times when you try to solve all those problems, it’s like here have food, it’ll last maybe a week or only one time. By giving someone a cow we give them a way to actually maintain a lifestyle at a realistic standpoint.”

Never Giving Up

Global Giving also started here within the last two years.

President and junior Rossie Nho said the goal of the organization is to bring educational resources to children worldwide who do not yet readily have access to educa-

Get Involved Looking for an after school activity or a chance to get involved? Consider joining the following clubs at this school that focus on giving back.

Key Club Muslim Student Association Real International Aid Club Global Giving Do Something Club tion. Nho emphasized that failure in any one international aid program does not mean people should give up on humanitarianism. “(Helping others) is the moral thing to do,” she said. “It’s good to know you’re making a difference in a child’s life, a brighter future and a more equal opportunity to do the things we can do.” Nho attributed the rise of clubs focused on international aid to students’ desire to show that high school students can make an impact.

However, in forming these clubs, Inskeep cautioned that club officers should carefully consider whether the group is a duplicate of an existing club and whether the group should concentrate on spreading awareness or fundraising.

“Is what we’re going for social awareness of a disaster, or is our primary focus fundraising?” Inskeep said. “I really want in those clubs a good mix between the two. I think primarily it needs to be social awareness and the main mechanism doesn’t necessarily need to be fundraising.

That’s why our clubs exist; they don’t exist to raise funds for things. They exist more for social awareness and making social connections.” Inskeep said that when the Activities Office does approve fundraising, it considers the fundraising mechanism, the organization the money goes to and how the money will be collected.

A Delicate Balance

According to Stephens, Real International Aid Club tries to strike a good balance between spreading social awareness and fundraising. She said although social awareness is necessary and significant, little real help can be achieved without money.

“We want to raise money to help the world, because if you don’t have money you can’t do much,” she said. “We hope through our fundraising we would spread the word so people would see what we’re fundraising for. It’s very cyclical. Somehow we want to get animals packaged to third world countries and get others to do it too.”

Although there is criticism of the slow progress of aid after the Haiti earthquake, Kamath and Stephens said they continue to have high hopes for international aid efforts.

“Even if there are problems, at least we’re trying, and I think (humanitarianism) is really important,” Kamath said. Without even trying how can you complain about something?”

Tomorrow’s Dance Marathon continues with new additions, minor changes from last year

by Henry zhu hzhu@hilite.org As the school prepares for its annual Dance Marathon tomorrow, senior Lauren Wiegand said she is both excited and a little saddened by the prospect of attending her last fundraiser for Riley Children’s Hospital.

“I’ve been doing Dance Marathon since a friend recruited me as a freshman, and I’ve loved it since the beginning,” Wiegand said. “I’ve seen Dance Marathon grow and change throughout the years, and it’s a little sad that this Dance Marathon is my last.”

According to Speaker of the House David Chiang, this year’s Cabinet has tried to encourage student participation in Dance Marathon with new events dedicated to raising funds and awareness for the cause.

“We’ve added new events like ‘Smoothie Smashdown’ last semester and some new restaurant fundraisers this semester to give students more opportunities to contribute to Riley,” Chiang said. “However, Dance Marathon is about more than the fundraisers—it’s about helping the kids at Riley who can’t do many of the things we take for granted; simply put, it’s about dancing for the kids that can’t.”

House of Representatives sponsor Sarah Wolff said that, though Dance Marathon has undergone small changes throughout the years, the event remains true to its original goals. Wolff said the actual day of Dance Marathon will include six hours of group activities, entertainment and inspirational speakers connected to Riley Children’s Hospital. The total funds raised this year will be revealed at

the end of the night, and students can still turn in any last minute funds both today during SRT and tomorrow right before the event begins.

“Though the donations and the fundraisers are a part of Dance Marathon, it’s important for students to remember that this event is about far more than six hours and one day and raising money for Riley,” Wolff said via email. “At its heart, Dance Marathon is about walking away knowing that you made someone else’s life easier for a day, or maybe even a second, and not needing to see them stand in front of you or know their name or hear them thank you to know that you helped them in some way.”

Wiegand, who has been part of Cabinet for the past two years, said her love of Dance Marathon and its goals encouraged her to get more involved with the event. From her first time participating as a freshman to organizing the event as a Cabinet member, Wiegand said her involvement in Dance Marathon has strongly impacted her high school experience.

“When I first did Dance Marathon, I was a little intimidated by how many people there were at first, but seeing all those kids together doing something for people they didn’t even know inspired me to get involved with Dance Marathon as much as I could,” Wiegand said. “For anybody doing Dance Marathon for the first time, I would tell them to just have fun and remember the great cause that we’re all here for. You don’t have to be a good dancer or be personally connected with Riley to enjoy the event—I’m not either of those things, and Dance Marathon’s one of my favorite things about this school.”

Henry zhu / photo

Flyered up: Cabinet member and seniors Allison Scott and Lauren Wiegand pass out Orange Leaf flyers before a Dance Marathon fundraising night. Dance Marathon will take place tomorrow from 4 to10 p.m.

Page 8 | FEATURE | HiLite | hilite.org | Feb. 25, 2011

FEATURE Sister Knows Best Go Online

For photos, news briefs and more features stories.

SUBMITFEATURE@hilite.org | twitter.com/Hilite_news

www.hilite.org

Did you know?

In Korea, it is considered unlucky for girls to be born in the Year of the Horse, a year in the Korean zodiac.

In past Years of the Horse, 1990 and 2002, the female-to-male ratio of births dropped significantly.

National Atlas of Korea / source

Recent study shows that growing up with a sister may have positive impact on the individual Psychological Society found that out of 571 randomly families, each with at least one female child, researchers selected citizens 17 to 25 years in age, those who grew up found that having a sister significantly decreased the with sisters were “more likely to be happy and balanced.” likelihood of the other sibling or siblings “feeling lonely, enior Cort Post is very familiar with the impact of Post said he agrees with the results. “My brothers are unloved, guilty, self-conscious and fearful.” having siblings, especially sisters. Post, who has five always there to joke and get physical with,” he said, “but “We found that siblings were related to being more prosiblings, including a twin sister and two other sisters, my sisters are really my rock. If there’s ever social, meaning helpful, and less depressed said his female siblings have “definitely hanged his something that’s upsetting me, (my sisters) will and less likely to be delinquent,” Laura perspective on certain issues and challenges.” always be there. I don’t always directly go to Padilla-Walker, family life and human “My sisters have really made me a softer person,” Post them, but knowing that they’re there whenever development professor at BYU and lead (My sisters) look said. “They look at things in a different way than I do, is comforting.” author of the study, said. at things in a which has made me more open.”

Junior Katie Pittman, who has a younger While the BYU study only focused on different way According to a 2010 study conducted by the Flourishing sister and younger brother, said she could also “early adolescents,” or children 10 to 14 than I do, which Families Project at Brigham Young University (BYU), Post’s relate. “Even though I’m the oldest sibling, I still years old, she said the findings could also has made me situation is not unique. After following 395 multiple-child find myself going to (my sister) to talk about apply to teenagers. “The current study things or work through things emotionally,” more open. focuses only on Pittman said. early adolescents,” Cort Post Pletcher said the results are due, in part, to she said,” but we Senior the traditional gender roles. “Even though males could certainly and females experience the same emotions, speculate that females tend to be more expressive,” Pletcher these would apply said. “A sister is going to be more caring and thoughtful to older teens as well.” and go over to that sibling and be more comforting.”

According to Padilla-Walker’s Padilla-Walker said, “The thought is that perhaps sisters results, growing up with a sister “was are more likely to talk, especially about emotions, and that a protection against internalizing might be why they are especially protective and influential, behaviors, perhaps because of but any sibling, brother or sister, was related to these higher levels of communication positive outcomes, so that is good news.” and/or care giving by sisters.”

Pittman said both her brother and sister have altered These findings, which indicate her behavior. She said, “Just having other people around a strong tie between relationships and in the same boat as you makes life way easier and way with one’s siblings and overall more fun.” behavior, may help adapt future Post said he would be a completely different person parenting programs as well as without his siblings. He said, “Even though I’ll never really sibling and family counseling. know how much my sisters have changed me, there’s no Current prevention or intervention doubt that they’ve made me a totally different and probably programs for adolescents focus even a better person.” on the parent-child relationship, according to Padilla-Walker. Based on the observations, however, addressing problematic sibling relationships may prove more Emotional expression effective in counseling.

• Sisters encouraged more emotional expresRobin Pletcher, psychology and sion in their siblings than brothers.

K-8 mentoring teacher, said she can see the validity of the findings.

Motivation “In the (K-8) mentoring program, • Not only were individuals with sisters more we have juniors and seniors who motivated, but also more social and often had are paired with an elementary or more friends. middle school student to give them that older-sibling-type person Stress management that they can meet with and have • Girls with sisters were better at coping with influence their life aside from a distress after an emotional experience. Also, in parent,” she said. “For me, I have families going through divorce, sisters encouraged families to talk through their distress.

Conner gordon / photo one sister who is two years older than me. (Growing up) there was Family Matters: Senior Cort Post (far left) stands with his siblings. Post said definitely that looking out for and De Montfort University and kind of protecting measure.” the University of Ulster / source he values the positive effect his brothers and sisters have on him.

A similar study by the British

By Sara Rogers srogers@hilite.org

S

‘‘

”

Sisterly Influence

=

=

CIA world factbook and Facebook / sources

The population in India was 1.2 billion.

That same year, the population in the United States was around 310 million

In 2010, Facebook had around 500 million users.

Facebook nation

Scientific American / Source

Last year researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh of York University conducted a study of 100 college students, and found that students with lower self-esteem or higher levels of narcissism were more likely to spend more than an hour a day on Facebook.

She clarified that her studies did not necessarily mean Facebook made its users narcissistic.

Did you know?

Negative headlines

Technological developments

Social trends

facebook Home Profile

Account

Story continued on next page

Although Facebook’s addictive nature does not bother Bajpai nor Wilson, two psychologists, Jean M. Twenge, PhD and W. Keith Campbell, PhD, wrote an influential book in 2009 titled The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement. They claim social networking sites allow people to escape real friendships and simply collect “Facebook friends” or “Twitter followers,” making them more self-centered.

In spite of such concerns, psychology teacher Peter O’Hara said Facebook is simply an outlet for emotions no different from e-mail or telephone. According to him, some people will always try to compensate for low self-esteem by acting confident and extroverted, whether on Facebook, on e-mail or on the phone. However, he said, the impersonal, accessible Internet is where narcissists may feel the most comfortable engaging in this behavior.

“You can sit in the comfort of your bedroom and put something out on Facebook that you would never do if all of your friends were watching you,” O’Hara said.

He said the same conversations or experiences are sometimes more difficult but also more enjoyable in real life than online.

In agreement, Bajpai said she is cautious of letting Facebook take over her social life because her friends’ profile pages do not match up to her friends in person.

“If you take Facebook (too) seriously, then you have an issue to begin with,” Bajpai said. “Some people sit there on their laptop and just take pictures of themselves for no reason. I think that’s a little stupid, but not many people are like that.”

Facebook, inflating heads?

Come home, log onto the computer and browse Facebook: it’s a familiar after-school routine for sophomore Shivani Bajpai.

“Everybody has a Facebook,” Bajpai said. “I think I was going to India the year I got one and that way pictures could be shared.”

Bajpai is just one of many Millennials who is connected to the world’s largest social network. Last year, Experian Hitwise reported that Facebook outstripped Google as the most visited site of the year.

Mass media teacher Nicole Wilson attributed Facebook’s overtaking of Google to the personal aspect of the social network.

“Who can you trust more than your friends?” Wilson said. “When you type in ‘vacation hotels,’ into Google, you can get 200,000 hits. You don’t know where they’re coming from; you don’t know if they’re credible. But you can put a Facebook status up that says, ‘Does anybody have a good hotel suggestion for...’ any location, and any of your friends…can respond to that.”

Facebook cited that its users spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the site. Bajpai said she uses Facebook three hours a day.

“Facebook is addicting now; I kind of like everything about it,” she said. “I like the fact that you can keep in touch with people. Like you can text them, and you can call them, but Facebook is just a new form of communication.”

Wilson also acknowledged the growth of other social media sites.

“Social media is the way of the future,” she said. “It’s here; it’s not going anywhere.”

The most visited site on earth

160

176

329

407

906

Nielson / source

• News Corp. plans to sell Myspace

• Twitter grew by 109 percent in 2010

Experian Hitwise and Mashable / sources

• Facebook surpassed Google as the most visited website • It accounted for 8.93 percent of all visits

Facebook’s season

10. www.bing.com

5. www.youtube.com

8. mail.live.com

3. mail.yahoo.com

9. search.yahoo.com

7. www.myspace.com

2. www.google.com

14. www.yahoo.com

6. www.msn.com

1. www.facebook.com

Top 10 most visited websites in 2010

= Change in ranking from 2009

2010 has seen both the rise and fall of some social media sites

Up, up and away

Instant Messaging

Portals

E-mail

Games

Social media

= 150 million hours

Study shows social media has become the most popular activity on the Internet

Internet time

Putting a new face on everything As Facebook grows, the social media site has changed work, play, interaction

Search

Page 10 | FEATURE | HiLite | hilite.org | Feb. 25, 2011

Turn page

Caroline Zhang / Graphics

Newsweek / source

You’re fired!

The British intelligence agency M15 plans to lay off several spies who don’t know how to use Facebook to fight online terrorists.

Did you know?

Newsweek / source

robberies committed in a two-month period

5. Mafia Wars 8 million: number of

dishes served every 24 hours

4. Cafe World 19.5 billion: number of

users each month

3. Frontierville 31.5 million: number of

so far

2. Texas Holdem Poker 8 billion: largest win

acres planted in the last 15 months

Top addictive games (5) 1. Farmville 500 million: number of

New York Times / Source

Scammers have even created Facebook pages under the guise of college welcome pages to earn money. According to The New York Times, a company called Roomsurf.com created fake college Facebook pages that offered roommate pairing to incoming freshman, charging a fee to use their services.

Did you know?

Newsweek / source

of people who have actually taken security measures to prevent it

43: percent

Harrisburg University blocked all social media sites for one week to study social media’s impact on staff and students.

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

Facebook is blocked on campus.

newsweek AND NY DAILY NEWS / sourceS

Purdue University is pioneering several Facebook applications designed to help students in their classes.

Purdue University

Need homework help? Go to Facebook!

Facebook’s popularity among students has caused colleges to respond in different ways

Two different experiments

msong@hilite.org, trazi@hilite.org, ttan@hilite.org, rzukerman@hilite.org

By Melinda Song, Thalib Razi, Tony Tan and Ryan Zukerman

Grandma

Pew Research Center / source

44% said they were on Facebook the day before they were polled

To say that Bajpai was against her parents becoming members of Facebook would not be true. In fact, as soon as her parents did join Facebook, Bajpai added them as friends.

“They just started to learn how to use it,” she said, “so there is ...and also friending the grandparents not much I have to worry about.”

According to a study by Kaplan Test Prep, nearly two thirds of American teenagers, like Bajpai, are friends with their parents on Facebook.

According to Wilson, social-networking sites such as Facebook, they play a different role in the lives of students and their parents.

Dec. 2010 She said, “I think teens use it more for keeping up with what’s cur42% rent and staying in touch with their friends where I think their parents use it to keep an eye on their friends and to catch up with people they haven’t seen in 20 years.”

Jan. 2010 These statistics can be misleading, however. According to the same Kaplan study, 16 percent of those who said they are friends 22% with their parents on Facebook had to become friends with their parents as a precondition for having a Facebook.

As for Bajpai, however, this was not the case. “My parents did not make me friend them,” she said, “but I made sure that everything was set up before I did.”

Though she is friends with her parents, Bajpai said she did take some precautions to limit what information they could see. She said, “I put them in a separate group because, no matter what, we are teens In 2010, the number of Facebook users age and no matter what we are going to be different.”

50 or older rose from 22% to 42%

Friending the parents

people age 18 to 27 who say they are concerned about identity theft

75: percent of

Study shows most young adults are unconcerned about security on social media sites

Concerned about security? Maybe tomorrow...

Wilson said concerns also include security issues. According to the Huffington Post, Facebook experiences an increased amount of spam activity.

“My guess is that scammers have gotten smart, and they’re realizing that people are using Facebook very predominately. The scammers are going where they need to go to get the targets,” Wilson said.

“Someone posted on my wall, and I accidentally clicked on it,” Junior Branden Clemens, a victim of a Facebook scam, said. “I’m not really sure how it happened, but I clicked on a video that was posted on my wall from someone who got hacked, and then it hacked my account, and it posted on a whole bunch of people’s walls that they should go lose weight on this new diet system. But I think most people will realize that I got scammed.”

According to Wilson, media literacy is important in remaining safe while living in the new social era.

“I think the first line of defense is understanding the technology,” she said. “If you are not a media literate person, then you don’t have any business being on Facebook, because it is dangerous if you don’t know how to use the tool. Until everybody is properly educated on…how to be smart online, then we need to be very cautious about how it is disseminated.”

Watch what you click

Feb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | FEATURE | PagE 11

Turn page

Page 12 | FEATURE | HiLite | hilite.org |Feb 25, 2011

Not so far from home

Turmoil in Egypt affects students at this school

second semester in American University at Cairo when this eruption occurred. About two weeks after her arrival, Erin was able to experience the protests firsthand by attending one of the earlier protests. fter the outbreak of the demonstrations in Egypt “My sister had texted me actually as she was there,” Andrea agitating for a new government, senior Crestin said.

“She was at the courthouse, and she had told me that Andrews said she was concerned for her relatives she had just run three blocks from the protest because police in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Although her officers had just started firing the rubber bullets everybody relatives did not participate, they still has been talking about.” needed to protect themselves during Erin’s tenure at Cairo was cut off the protests. by several months as the situation “I do know that a lot of them had intensified and became dangerous. to stand outside with weapons in an As Egypt experiences a Andrea said her sister and other attempt to protect their buildings revolution, the United States students needed to stay within dorms and families when the police told the citizens to protect themselves early on wonders about the country’s and wear gas masks when they left.

Ultimately, Yale University chartered in the protests,” Andrews said. uncertain future an emergency evacuation flight of all The protests in Egypt started on their students back to the United States.

Jan. 25 and lasted for less than three Islamic dictatorship: Erin’s account of her experiences can be weeks, culminating in the resignation 82: percent of Egyptians who found on the Forbes website. of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, believe stoning should be Andrews also had family in Cairo according to CNN’s website. The punishment for adultery during the protests. Her relatives told protests erupted in major cities across 84: percent who believe leaving her that the country was in chaos, and the nation, including Cairo and the Islamic faith should be all the stores, schools and banks had Alexandria, and most famously in Tahrir punishable by death shut down. Her uncle is one of the police Square in Cairo. According to Hicham officers dispatched to protect citizens Bou Nassif, a senior graduate student in Or democracy? during the protests; demonstrators had the Indiana University Department of 90: percent who believe in released many prisoners, and citizens Islamic Studies who has been following freedom of religion were concerned about crime. the events in Egypt closely, Egyptians 75: percent opposed to “Another story I was told was of are fighting for the end of the political censorship this girl that was sitting in her balcony repression, corruption and economic reading a book, not at all involved in issues under Mubarak’s regime.

Pew Research center / source the protests,” Andrews said. “She was “It was humiliating to have to listen shot (by) a radical on the street and died for years and years that Egypt is not yet instantly. Another person was robbed by one of the escaped ready for democracy,” Nassif said. “How come, say, India prisoners and ended up committing suicide because they is, but not Egypt? It is certainly humiliating to…know that stole everything he ever owned. Sad stories.” you can find yourself in jail just for venting out opinions Still, Andrews emphasized that the nature of the protests that happen to be ‘politically incorrect.’ The accumulation in Egypt were indicative of a new unity in Egypt as different of all these frustrations, over decades, led to the eruption social groups congregated for the cause of new government. we are witnessing.”

“I have been told that the sight in Tahrir Square is According to senior Andrea Biel, her sister, Erin Biel, a close to unbelievable,” Andrews said. “Millions of people sophomore at Yale University, was studying abroad for her

By Victor Xu vxu@hilite.org

A

Egypt’s Future

Part of it all: Senior Crestin Andrews shows her support of the revolution in Egypt. Andrews said the violence of the protests affected her relatives in Egypt.

Conner Gordon / Photos

from all different backgrounds are gathered together to stand up for the same cause, and it looks like they are not going to leave until they get what they want.” She added that Egyptians, Muslim and Christian, were uniting and praying together, marking what she hopes is a new era of cooperation between historically clashing religions.

According to Nassif, the Egyptian youth have been the “vanguard” in organizing the demonstrations. According to a Feb. 9 Gallup poll, the number of Egyptian youths who believed government maximized youth potential dropped from 39 percent in 2009 to just 29 percent in 2010. These youth utilized social media like Facebook and Twitter in organizing the demonstrations, Nassif said. For that reason, Mubarak’s government attempted to block the Internet.

The shutdown of Internet and mobile devices on Jan. 28 made communication with their Egyptian relatives more difficult for Andrews and Andrea. Andrews usually communicates with her family in Egypt through the Internet, but she had to resort to phone calls.

“It was much easier for us to call them from here than it was for them to try to contact us,” Andrews said.

Andrea said she and her family became apprehensive after they could not contact Erin any longer.

“My mom and I are naturally worrywarts, and we were really concerned, trying to find any way to get a hold of her,” Andrea said.

Despite some instances of violence, Nassif said the Egyptian protests and the government’s response to them have been peaceful, and family members in Egypt remain safe. With the resignation of Mubarak and the dismantling of his government, Nassif said he looked forward to a future Egypt in the hands of the people.

“People want freedom and dignity everywhere,” he said. “The Tunisians seem to be well on their way toward democracy. I hope the same will be true in Egypt.”

Page 14 | Student section | HiLite | hilite.org | feb. 25, 2011

STUDENT SECTION Passion vs. Practicality Like Us!

• Follow us on twitter @ HiLite_news for more updates wherever you are.

Studentsection@hilite.org | twitter.com/Hilite_news

As students look into the future, they discuss whether they would choose a career based on the economic stability it offers Passionate

Freshman pursues career in professional figure skating

By Henry ZHU hzhu@hilite.org

F

or many, high school is but another step in the path towards a future career. Some students choose to be doctors and others to be lawyers, but freshman Carrie Kolb said she hopes to pursue a profession unlike that of most other students.

“I know that I want to do something related to figure skating, whether being an instructor or a professional figure skater,” Kolb said. “Ever since I started figure skating it’s just been something I’ve been really passionate about, and I can see myself continuing figure skating as a career because there’s always something else to work at and

See “PASSION” continued on next page >>

practical

Medical job holds appeal for senior

By Henry ZHU hzhu@hilite.org

Though careers in medicine repeatedly rank among the most profitable in the country, immense medical school expenses and years of exhausting training often discourage many interested youth from entering such professions. For senior Meredith Moon, however, the economic stability of the vocation, combined with her own personal interest in medicine, has motivated her to pursue that career path despite future challenges.

See “PRACTICAL” continued on next page >>

Other Responses Some of the other responses received on the HiLite Facebook Fan Page!

Be part of the next Student Section by responding to these questions on facebook

Henry zhu / Photo

On the ice: Freshman Carrie Kolb practices her ice skating at the Carmel Ice Skadium. Kolb hopes to skate professionally in the future.

• What is the most creative April Fools prank you have played on someone?

• Does your culture have another type of spring festival?

Facebook.com / Source

feb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | student section | PagE 15

<< “PASSION” continued

Poll Results We asked you to take the “Passion vs. Practicality” Poll on Facebook. Here are the results: TOTAL VOTES: 45 QUESTION: In the future, would you rather pursue a job that follows your passions but provides less money, or a job that is practical and provides sufficient income?

Passion 36%

Practicality 64%

CHOICES: 1. Passion all the way! Happiness is what matters.

2. Definitely practical. Money is necessary, and I need a substantial job to live a comfortable life.

something new to learn.”

According to economics teacher Dan Bates, students who pursue a career based solely or heavily on personal interest often face more challenges economically compared to those more concerned with financial stability. Many passion-based careers, according to Bates, are not as financially stable as more practical careers and are also less dependable in terms of job security.

“The students who choose to be artists or professional athletes have to deal with a much smaller likelihood of success, at least economically, and thus their chances of financial selfsufficiency diminish greatly,” Bates said. “The possibility The students of success still very much who choose to exists, however, and those be artists or who pursue such risks often professional contribute to society in ways athletes have only they are able to.” to deal with a As for Kolb, she said she does acknowledge that pursuing a much smaller career in figure skating may likelihood have its difficulties, especially of success, concerning finances. Kolb also at least said she realizes the additional economically, challenges she faces due to and thus her decision to pursue an their chances economically unpredictable career, but ultimately believes of financial her personal happiness is most self-sufficiency important to her future. diminish “It’s true that professional greatly. figure skaters don’t make a lot of money from competing Dan Bates and the other things they do, Economics teacher but the most important thing for me is to have a career I’m interested in and would actually want to continue for as long as I can,” Kolb said. “I can always become a figure skating coach or teacher, which probably brings in more money, and I believe that if I’m happy with my chosen career, everything else, including the financial issues, will work itself out in the end.”

‘‘

Rebecca xu / GRAPHIC

<< “PRACTICAL” continued “I want to become either a surgeon or an anesthesiologist and, while medical school is very expensive, I think the financial benefits of the career once I start working will balance things out in the long run,” Moon said. “I’ve always been interested in medicine, and knowing that surgery and anesthesiology are two of the most profitable careers in the country helps to balance out the fact that the near future will probably be really hard.”

From his experiences, economics teacher Dan Bates said it is common for students to look into a profession for its monetary benefits. Bates said that, especially among youth who are not absolutely certain about their Henry zhu / Photo futures, high salaries alone are often reason enough for them to choose a A beat in my heart: Senior Meredith Moon dissects a sheep heart in her Human Anatomy and Physiology class. The class helps students prepare certain career.

“In today’s society, young people are for a future in medicine by providing them with hands on learning. often very drawn toward promises of big to have a solid plan for their economic futures before paychecks and end up choosing a career just to get rich,” Bates going to college. However, Bates said he also acknowledges said. “They sometimes don’t consider how challenging the the uncertainty of the future and jobs might be and whether it will fit them believes students should also try to well. I think there are lots of jobs out there keep their options open and explore that can satisfy both a student’s interests other interests before focusing solely and provide them a secure future.”

In today’s society, on one career path.

Moon said economic gain is only young people are “In general, going to college with one of her many motivations to go into often very drawn no plan for the future is not a good the medical field and she is fully aware idea. It’s best for students to go in of the many challenges a career in toward promises of with at least some idea of what they medicine entails. Furthermore, Moon big paychecks and are interested in,” Bates said. “It’s said she has desired from a young age end up choosing a much better to experiment and try to work in medicine and believes her career just to get new things in high school so that chosen career will be both economically rich. They sometimes by the time students go to college, and personally fulfilling. don’t consider how they won’t have to spend so much “The money and job security are challenging the jobs time searching when they should be really nice and important to me but might be and whether finalizing their career choices.” they’re not the only reasons I want to Ultimately, Moon said the choice pursue medicine,” Moon said. “I used it will fit them well. between pursuing a passion and to want to be a veterinarian when I was Dan Bates being practical depends on each young, and other than that I’ve never Economics teacher individual’s personal circumstances. thought about anything other than “In general, it depends on what you going into medicine. There’s not much want to do with your life,” Moon said. “For some people a job of your future you can be certain of at my age, but going they’re passionate about is all they need, while others might into medicine is the one thing I feel really sure about.” want a job that lets them pursue other interests too.”

As for Bates, he said he believes it is best for students

‘‘

”

”

Henry zhu / Photo

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Freshman Carrie Kolb balances on one leg while practicing her skating. Kolb recognizes a career in figure skating has its difficulties, but she is ready to overcome the challenges in order to follow her passions.

Page 16 | Cover story | HiLite | hilite.org | Feb. 25, 2011

A Shif 9

F

[He]2s22p5 fluorine 19.00

An international test The country now aim

Daniel Li / graphic

Feb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | 1 | Cover story | page 17

ft in Educational…

8

29

16

[He]2s22p4 oxygen 16.00

[Ar]4s13d10 copper 63.55

[Ne]3s23p4 sulfur 32.07

O Cu S

t reveals the weakness of American education in mathematics and science. ms to strengthen its focus on ‘STEM’ subjects.

A

t 3:05 p.m., when most students at this school flood the halls and prepare to head home, junior Ryan Wilmes usually remains behind with his fellow TechHOUNDS members to build a robot.

“Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we stay from 5:30 to 9 p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we stay after school until 6:30. And then on Saturdays, we usually have meetings,” Wilmes said.

Along with being a team leader in TechHOUNDS, Wilmes is enrolled in several math and science classes including AP Physics B, AP Chemistry and AP Calculus AB, and he said he intends to take AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C next year.

He doesn’t plan to stop there.

In college, Wilmes said he would like to study to become a mechanical engineer. Wilmes said his work in TechHOUNDS will be beneficial in his pursuit.

“You learn a lot (in TechHOUNDS). It’s more of like a hands-on class work,” he said. “Where in math and physics you just do the science behind it, here you can actually see how it works.”

However, recent studies imply that Wilmes may be among the minority of students in the country who are pursuing achievements in math and science, according to the test results from the Programme for International Student Assessment

(PISA), an internationally standardized test administered to 15 year-old students, released in December 2010.

American students who were tested ranked 23rd in science and 31st in math, far lower than 2006 levels.

Because of these dropping statistics, current politicians have begun to push for more success in these areas, dubbed “STEM” subjects, which stand for science, technology, engineering and math.

Math teacher Janice Mitchener, who recently traveled to Washington D.C. and met President Barack Obama for receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), said she saw several presentations on American education and its need to change, especially in regard to STEM subjects.

“I saw a chart that said, in over the last 10 or 20 years, the largest difference between the highest a country has ever ranked and the lowest a country has ever ranked belongs to the United States. We hold the record for the largest gap. That’s not a good thing at all,” she said. “I think maybe it’s time just to step it up a little bit in the United States.”

Mitchener said there may be a number of reasons for the sharp decline.

Story continued on next page >>

Page 18 | Cover story | HiLite | hilite.org | Feb. 25, 2011

Assemble the pieces: Each member of TechHOUNDS contributes to the building of a robot. The team meets every day after school and hopes to earn a $5,000 grant from Ingersoll Rand.

<< Story continued from previous page “Maybe other countries that were down lower in previous years started making some changes and improved,” she said. “As far as what happened in the United States, it’s hard to say. Maybe we just looked at our scores and thought, you know, the status quo was good and we didn’t need to make any changes, so we fell behind.”

Federal Programs to Help

Obama looks to change that disparity with a national program called Change the Equation. According to Change the Equation’s website, only 56 percent of 2010 high school graduates are ready for college math and 36 percent are prepared for college science. And those are some of the higher percentages. Mississippi, for example, has only 20 percent of its high school graduates ready for college math and 14 percent for college science.

To mend this, Change the Equation looks to create a widespread literacy in the STEM subjects. This, according to the site, will begin with improving STEM teachers, inspiring student appreciation of STEM subjects and

Where We Stand

Intel, Time Warner Cable, Xerox, Kodak and Sally Ride getting the nation involved through the help of over 110 Science, joined forces with Carnegie Corporation of New CEOs of several large companies across the board.

York and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to form A similar program was adopted last year called Race To Change the Equation. the Top. This program, according to Mitchener, would give “Companies have invested interest qualifying states grant money to work in this because it’s the mathematicians on their schools. and the scientists that come out “Indiana chose as a state to adopt Just by looking at the of colleges and go into some of common course standards and apply these companies, so of course the numbers, you can see for (Race To the Top), but we did not corporations have invested interest qualify for it. But we still are using something needs to be and funds into this project,” Mitchener those common course standards,” done, especially in math said. “It’s the students that benefit from Mitchener said. and science.

(Change the Equation) because it will The difference between Race To help them in the future.” the Top and Change the Equation is Janice Mitchener As far as what schools this will affect, mainly in STEM education.

Math teacher and PAEMST recipient Mitchener says she thinks it will affect Mitchener said, “I think the main all schools, including this school. thing to look at is that STEM education “They’re going to be looking at is the main focus. The big move is, how all schools. If you look at Carmel High School, we’re not can we improve our STEM education? How can we help to struggling academically as a whole school to meet our get more qualified and prepared teachers in the classroom?

Adequate Yearly Progress or to meet our state testing, but We just need to improve those fields,” there’s always room for improvement,” she said. “If you just The CEOs of several companies, some of which include sit back and think, ‘Well, we’re a great school, we don’t need to improve scores,’ you’re going to fall behind.”

‘‘

Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment indicate that the average student in United States is far behind the average student in top-performing nations.

Mathematics

1. Shanghai, China 2. Singapore 3. Hong Kong, China -------------------------31. United States

Sciences

1. Shanghai, China 2. Finland 3. Hong Kong, China -------------------------23. United States

Reading

1. Shanghai, China 2. South Korea 3. Finland -----------------------17. United States Pisa.org / source, tim lu / Graphic

”

Who’s Responsible?

Part of the success or failure of U.S. students in STEM subjects may come from parents, but even they don’t necessarily guarantee enrollment in STEM subjects. Senior Irene Gibson, who said that the pressure her parents placed on her in the past led her to be more self-motivated, chose to not take a math class this year. Gibson said her parents were slightly worried about her not taking a math class during her senior year at first, but did not pressure her too much to enroll in a math course.

“My dad wanted me to take math, but my mom was fine with it. When they realized there was no room for (Statistics), they were both okay with it, though,” she said via e-mail. “The only worry was that colleges looking at my classes would think I was using this year as a blow-off year, but really, I’m taking all IB classes. Also, my counselor said when she wrote to them she’d explain the situation.”

Gibson said she thinks it is the parents’ responsibility to stress the importance of academics on children.

“If done correctly, stressing the importance will cause the students to pressure themselves into performing well academically,” she said via e-mail. “In my case, both parental and personal pressure contribute to my academics.”

FEb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | Cover story | page 19

Emily Puterbaugh / photos

According to Mitchener, another aspect that could contribute to the drop in success in STEM subjects is teaching quality.

“There are some areas in our country where teacher quality is just not up to standards, and, if you think about it, that’s really not fair to the kids at that school. It’s just not,” she said.

Another issue in the world of STEM is that students just aren’t as interested in math and science anymore.

According to The New York Times, participation among students in science fairs is declining rapidly. The Los Angeles science fair, one of the largest in the country, has only 185 participants this year, compared to the 244 who took part a decade ago.

Politicians are worried that with the loss of the science fair comes the loss of exposure of the scientific process to teenagers and, with that, fewer teenagers interested in STEM-related jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, projecting forward from 2002 to 2012, the need for science and technology workers will increase by 26 percent compared to 15 percent for all occupations.

CHS Well Prepared

Mitchener said this school has always encouraged students to get involved in STEM subjects.

“Here we’ve always had our counselors encouraging students to take the highest math and science classes that they’re qualified for,” she said. “We are adopting a new engineering program in the Industrial Tech to encourage engineering professions, but other than that I don’t think we’re doing many other things to encourage STEM, mainly because we already are.”

According to Change the Equation’s website, in its first year it hopes to work with its member companies to begin spreading a small number of programs that work to 100 sites across the country where student performance is low. Also, it hopes to create a scorecard that can assess the condition of STEM education in all 50 states. This first scorecard will provide a baseline from which to measure states’ progress in coming years.

Mitchener said changes need to be made in education.

“Education reform, I think, is something that the Democrats and Republicans can’t really argue too much about. Just by looking at the numbers, you can see something needs to be done, especially in math and science,” she said.

As far as any changes hat this school, Assistant Principal Ronda Eshleman said they would not be remarkable.

“I don’t see dramatic changes for us,” Eshleman said.

“We are adopting the new national core standards over the next three years, but I don’t think it’s going to change the way we do things a whole lot. We already have highly qualified teachers in math and science, and we’ll keep stressing the importance of those topics, but I don’t see

significant changes.”

Eshleman also said this school is already doing a lot to focus on STEM classes for students.

“As a school, we feel it’s important to take rigorous science and math classes and encourage all students to do so. As colleges also see the need for this, it will become more important for students to show high levels of achievement in these areas,” she said via e-mail. “Our enrollment in our Project Lead the Way Engineering classes keeps growing each year, especially with the dual enrollment college credits student can earn from Invites and Purdue. We continually look for ways to integrate technology into all our courses.”

Wilmes said he thinks math and science are especially important subjects.

“What you learn in math and science, you can use in almost any job and on a daily basis. It’s really important,” he said. “From high school, you see a lot of kids who ask, ‘Well, why does it do that?’ but they don’t have the curiosity to see why it works. They just go through life accepting what it is without knowing why it is, but knowing the reason why can be really important.”

Fastest Growing Jobs CNN projects the 10-year growth (in percent) of the fastest growing jobs in the United States between 2008 and 2018. Nine of the 10 jobs require secondary education in STEM subjects.

72 53 39

Related News

34

31

30

28

28

7

8

CHS prepares for future American education President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of STEM education in the State of the Union address on Jan. 25.

Editor-in-chief Sara Rogers speaks to Principal John Williams about STEM education here at CHS. Visit hilite.org and search “STEM education” for more information.

1

2

3

4

5

6

26

25

9

10

5. Environmental engineer 8. Environmental specialist 1. Biomedical engineer 9. Occupational therapist 2. Telecommunications engineer 6. Physical therapist 7. Employment recruiter 10. Construction estimator 3. Physician assistant 4. Software architect CNN / Source, Danielle Yin / Graphic

Page 20 | Entertainment | HiLite | hilite.org |Feb. 25, 2011

Entertainment

Opening this weekend:

Upcoming concerts:

• Drive Angry 3D • Hallpass • Shelter

• Mar. 10: The 7th Annual 17 Green Tour with Flogging Molly • Mar. 11: Haste the Day

submitentertainment@hilite.org | twitter.com/Hilite_news

Freeze Time

With the recent surge in frozen yogurt shops in central Indiana, we compare some of the most popular spots to keep chilly year-round. Compiled by Dhruti Patel and Melinda Song

Orange Leaf 2760 E. 146th Street, Carmel, IN 46033 Service: B+

Self-service doesn’t allow for much interaction.

Pricing: A-

Weigh and pay: 45 cents/ounce, $3 to $7 price range

Variety: A-

Emily puterbaugh / photo

SWEET TREAT: Frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf. The shop, which opened in December, is a national chain with many locations on the West Coast.

Amount: A

Choose from either a huge 16-ounce container or a gargantuan 24-ounce one.

Atmosphere: A-

Crowded and popular, this location straddles the border between Carmel and Westfield.

It can hold about 30 people and attracts people of all ages. Despite its self-service aspect, the store has a warm atmosphere with the buzz of content customers, a vibrant color scheme, as well as a customized wall mural of its surroundings.

16 flavors: vanilla, coffee lover, chocolate, peanut butter, pineapple, coconut, cookies & cream, chocolate & raspberry, confetti cake, mango tango, peach, strawberry, cheesecake, cherry, Overall: Acaramel & chocolate, Orange Leaf seems to be the buzz in Carmel right now, and almond. it’s obvious why. Not only does the atmosphere welcome families, friends and even couples, but it’s also located on prime real-estate near Regal 17, Jet’s Pizza and Clay Terrace.

Taste: B+ Highlights include the Japanese-imported mango and strawI decided to try a berry “poppin’ bubbles” filled with flavored juice as well as combination of mango the unique mural that greets you. But where were the exotic tango and peach flavors, including Pistachio, Lychee and Green Tea, listed on with vanilla as the the Orange Leaf website? Granted, as the Carmel branch base, topped with continues to grow, these flavors may yet make an appearance. delicious “poppin’ Overall, the pricing is affordable, and you won’t feel guilty bubbles,” mango fruit after eating here: one ounce carries an average of 30 calories. and gummy bears. My Finally, self-service gives you, the customer, complete control creation tasted pretty of your unique froyo creation. good—until it started quickly melting.

Yogurt? Custard? Ice cream?

What’s the difference?

All the frozen questions you had but were afraid to ask

Ice Cream

Frozen Custard

Frozen Yogurt

According to USDA standards ice cream consists of at least 20 percent milk solids and 10 percent milk fat. Often “premium” brands contain higher percentages of milk fat.

Frozen custard is distinguished as a frozen treat by containing a small amount of egg yolk which contributes to the richer, smoother texture compared to ice cream

Frozen yogurt is a blend of milk fermented with yogurt cultures and the classic ice cream mix of milk, sweetener and cream. The yogurt cultures contribute to the slightly tart flavor in frozen yogurt.

Melinda Song / Graphic Recipe.howstuffworks.com / Source

feb. 25, 2011| hilite.org | HiLite | Entertainment | PagE 21

Yogokiss

Find the Fro-Yo

4825 E. 96th St., Indianapolis, IN, 46240

Amount: A

Unlike some frozen yogurt places, Yogokiss doesn’t have a self-serve option. While service wasn’t terrible at all, it wasn’t as warm and welcoming as I would expect from any kind of eatery.

For only paying $4, I was able to make my bubble tea last from the moment I got it to later on that night. While the small size of frozen yogurt would be best as dessert, the rest of the sizes are more than enough to fill a hungry stomach.

Pricing: B+

Atmosphere: A

Service: B+

The pricing was average: it wasn’t too expensive, but not cheap enough to brag about. A small size was around $3 and the extra large size was $8. Toppings were extra, being around 75 cents each.

Yogokiss is cozy and relaxing; however, the store is more hidden than other restaurants, being farther away from the road and near many car dealerships. Nevertheless, it’s a charming shop and definitely worth discovering.

Variety: B

While the flavors that were available were original and tasty, there were only five of them. However, there was a wide variety of toppings available, Yogokiss also offers bubble tea, soy ice tea and hot beverages in addition to frozen yogurt.

Taste: B+

Yogokiss offers original flavoring, from coconut frozen yogurt to pineapple bubble tea. I tried the latter and honestly have never tasted anything like it before. The coconut was delicious and the tapioca “bubbles” were a nice surprise every now and then.

Overall: B+

Yogokiss, while not offering all the variety of other frozen yogurt shops, is a quaint place that is an ideal location for a quiet Sunday afternoon.

With a calming atmosphere, I could easily spend a couple of hours there, relaxing on the couch and reading the sweet wall of love notes. However, it was not the best place I’ve ever eaten, and it would not be my first place when looking for a dessert.

Overall, Yogokiss offers a unique twist on frozen yogurt, venturing away from the expected.

Melinda Song / Graphic

Huddles 1356 86th St., Indianapolis, IN 46240 Service: A

Even though Huddles is self-serve, I have to say the service is great. The cashiers are friendly, upbeat and helpful.

Pricing: A-

Weigh and pay: 45 cents/ounce, $3 to 7 price range

Variety: B+

Huddles offered 10 different flavors of frozen yogurt when I went, though its website advertised many more. In addition, there were more than enough toppings available to create a custom-made dish for yourself.

Amount: A

Huddles offers 16-ounce and 24-ounce containers.

Atmosphere: A

Huddles appropriately shows its support for the Colts with blue coloring the walls and the tables. The shop is also very conveniently located on the Monon Trail, making me think that it’s where most of my summer will be spent.

Taste: A

Huddles’ frozen yogurt is to die for. Huddles shatters all preconceived notions about frozen yogurt and the dessert experience all together.

Emily puterbaugh / photo

MMMM...TOPPINGS: Frozen yogurt with Oreo topping from Huddles.

The shop is conveniently located along the Monon Trail.

Overall: A

Huddles is not only a great frozen yogurt shop, but dessert place in general. I will definitely be a returning customer, as the combination of great taste and a welcoming atmosphere are too much to resist.

Hungry for more?

Go online to www.hilite.org and check out Melinda and Dhruti’s review of Yogenberry

Page 22 | Entertainment | HiLite | hilite.org |feb. 25, 2011

A Rocking Late Nite Late Nite Reading transforms a passion for music into success compiled by kush joseph kjoseph@hilite.org

Late Nite Reading Members: Jacob Benner: drums, Aaron Severance: lead guitar, Brady Szuhaj: bass/harmony, Dalton Wixom: vocals/rhythm guitar

What’s in a name: According to Szuhaj, the name of the band was a

result of boredom with popular band names. “The name came from our dislike of generic and cliche band names that plague today’s music scene. We picked a name that was a little strange and unique,” Szuhaj said.

National Exposure: Late Nite Reading, in addition to playing at Es

Jungle in Broad Ripple and the Hoosier Dome, played previous events at The Rave in Milwaukee and the Mall of America.

Professional Connections: Late Nite Reading played on the midwest leg of Nevershoutnever’s Harmony Tour. The group is now playing the midwest leg of All Time Low’s Dirty Work Tour.

Attainable Goals: Szuhaj said that the band’s main focus for this year is to get signed by a record label.

lauren burdick / photos

ROCKING LOUD AND PROUD: (Clockwise from right) Benner, Szuhaj, Severance and Wixom of Late Nite Reading practice a few of their songs. The band has its own Myspace and Facebook fan page.

Want to see your band in the HiLite?

Contact submitentertainment@hilite.org for nominees.

Page 24 | SPORTS |HILITE | HiLite.ORG | feb. 25, 2O11

SPORTS

submitsports@hilite.org | twitter.com/Hilite_news

Sports Scoreboard Accurate as of 2/22 press deadline

Men’s basketball Record: 7-11 Upcoming: Sectional v. Noblesville on Tuesday at Noblesville Notable: Guard and senior Joshua “Josh” Baldridge had a season high of 24 points against HSE

woMen’s basketball Record: 22-5 Upcoming: Semistate against Jeffersonville tomorrow at Southport Notable: Team lost last meeting to Jeffersonville in Hall of Fame Classic Dec. 28

Women’s Swimming Final Record: 9-0 Upcoming: Season finished Notable: Team won its 25th straight championship on Feb. 12 while qualifying 26 of 27 swimmers to State (see photos on next page)

Men’s Swimming Record: 7-2 Upcoming: State at IUPUI natatorium today at 6 p.m., tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Notable: After placing first in Sectional, team seeks second consecutive State title

Wrestling Record: 18-3 Upcoming: Season finished Notable: Qualified four seniors to State—Ben Sommer (fourth) Grant Scurria, Curtis Anderson (sixth) and James Frascella (sixth)

MORE ONLINE

For up-to-date scores and stories, go to our website

www.hilite.org

Men’s lacrosse not to implement cuts

Go online

www.hilite.org

www.hilite.org

For the first time in three years, team will keep all participants.

Check out the story exclusively online:

For sports scores, updates, additional photos and more.

Men’s basketball

Team enters post-season facing tough Sectional with first-year head coach

By Charlie Browning cbrowning@hilite.org

T

here is nothing routine about this year’s upcoming Sectional tournament which begins on March 1 for the mens’ basketball team. The beginning of the post-season comes around every year right around this time, but this year is different. The coach is different. The system is different.

The mentality is different. One aspect, though, remains the same: the goal is still to win and advance.

“Looking at the big picture, our goal is to win a State championship,” Head Coach Scott Heady said.

“Right now, though, our main goal is to just keep getting better. We have one of the toughest Sectionals in the state, and we feel like if we get through the Sectional then we would have a shot at a State championship.”

Captain and junior Benjamin “Ben” Gardner said he is fully aware of how difficult the team’s Sectional road will be.

Stuart jackson / photo “We always have a really tough Sectional,” Gardner said. “It’s intense defense: Captain and junior Benjamin “Ben” Gardner attempts to steal the ball during always really competitive and has a the Varsity basketball game against Terre Haute South. Gardner said the team won’t change its lot of good teams in it. Noblesville approach when opening Sectional play. and Hamilton Southeastern “We would definitely much rather play at home,” Heady said, probably pose the biggest threat to us getting through (the Sectional), “but we have been within one possession of winning many of our but every game is going to be highly competitive.” road games this year. We have played teams like Pike, Avon and Heady said he thinks the quality of Carmel’s Sectional makes the Center Grove, all very tough, at their places. Those are all tough beginning of the post-season that much more important. environments, and I think we have done a good job handling them “Anyone can beat anyone on any given night,” Heady said. “We throughout the year.” have to be prepared and ready to play no matter who we draw because Heady said the difference between those games, along with every game is going to be tough. We always tell our guys that if we a few others throughout the season as well, was only one or two keep getting better every day and playing how we want to play, then possessions that didn’t go the Greyhounds’ way. The ability to we have a chance to contend for championships.” finish games is one aspect that Heady said his team still has the One factor that will not be in the Greyhounds’ favor come Sectional opportunity to improve in. time is its location. The game rotates every year between Carmel and “We’re playing better and have improved in several areas Noblesville, and this year the games will be played at the Millers’ home throughout the season,” Heady said. “We still have to finish games court. Noblesville always brings an especially rowdy fan base, according better and make plays down the stretch in the last minute or two to to Gardner, and it only gets more intimidating in its own gym. turn the game in our favor.”

“Playing at Noblesville is always difficult,” Gardner said. “They According to Heady, the key to finishing games down the always have a lot of fans and it’s a tough environment.” stretch often comes down to the leadership displayed by a team’s Furthermore, the Greyhounds have not been particularly potent on the road this year. They have only one win away from home the entire year. This statistic, Heady said, can be a little misleading though.

Story continued on next page >>

FEb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | SPORTS | PagE 25

<< Story continued from previous page upperclassmen, especially the seniors.

“The leadership shown by our seniors has been important throughout the year for us,” Heady said.

“We’re reliant on seniors (Josh) Baldridge and Alec Peterson to put up big numbers for us every game, with Alec inside and Josh on the perimeter. We also have a lot of other guys who can score as well and are crucial to our success.”

Gardner said he thinks that the leadership displayed by the seniors becomes more important as the games get bigger.

“How all of the seniors play and practice dictates how everyone else plays,” Gardner said. “When they raise their level of play, we become better as a team.

The tone they set is especially important in big games because everyone looks up to them.”

The Greyhounds have already met every team during the regular season that they could face in the Sectional. But with seasons on the line, Gardner said the atmosphere and intensity is at a completely different level.

“Having experience playing in a Sectional before and knowing how much more intense the environment is definitely helps,” Gardner said. “It’s the same teams you’ve played in the regular season, but there is a lot more excitement and preparation.”

Gardner said the team wouldn’t change its whole approach to the game, but it would just increase the intensity of its preparation.

“The coaches will scout more and look at more old film of the other team,” Gardner said. “We just want to know our opponent as well as possible coming into the game.”

Women’s basketball

Women advance to Semistate

Team breaks Ben Davis’s 81-game win streak, will play Jeffersonville tomorrow

by Reuben Warshawsky rwarshawsky@hilite.org Eighty-one games. Two consecutive State Championships. On Feb. 19, the women’s basketball team snapped Ben Davis’s unparalleled streak of success.

Guard and junior Blaire Langlois said, “Everyone was going crazy.

Beating Ben Davis was a dream come true to us. We wanted to win so bad and to finally do it felt really great.”

Now, with the 65-62 victory behind them, the team will advance to play Jeffersonville tomorrow in the Semistate at Southport at 2:45 p.m.

Carmel was the last team to defeat Ben Davis three years ago in the 2008 Regional. Forward and senior Torrie Thornton said, “It feels great.

It’s almost like déjà vu because it happened the same exact way it did my freshman year when we won the State championship. It was a great game and both teams played well.”

Thornton said the team will prepare for the next game the same way as it has the entire season.

When the team hosted Ben Davis earlier in January, it led at halftime and midway through the third quarter.

However, Ben Davis pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 58-45.

This game had a similar feel as the team led 31-30 at halftime and clung to a slim six-point lead throughout the second half. But when Ben Davis tied the score at 62 with under two minutes remaining, Carmel’s fan section became quiet and restless. Clutch free throws and crucial plays by the five starters sealed the game for Carmel.

Thornton said, “We were able to defeat them by playing our game.

It was close the first time we played them at home, but we just couldn’t pull it out. This time around we made it a priority to stay poised and focused at critical times in the game.”

Langlois added, “We played

aggressive all game by driving to the basket and hitting open shots. We also defended really well and played together as a team.”

mary brooke johnson / photo

defense: Forward and senior Torrie Thornton plays against Hamilton Southeastern during Sectional.

Women’s Swimming

A Quarter-Century of Dominance Women’s swimming team wins 25th consecutive State Championship

Paige hergenrother / photos

life in the fast lane: (from left) Sophomore Lacey Locke cheers after a victory. She placed first in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard individual medley and the national record-setting 200 medley relay (left). Senior Carly Marshall receives her first place medal for the 50-yard freestyle.

She also received the IHSAA Mental Attitude award (center).

Junior Lucy Kramer takes a breath during the 100-yard breaststroke (right).

PAGE 26 | SPORTS |HILITE | HILITE.ORG | FEB. 25, 2011

Playing at the Next Level

At this point, about 25 seniors have accepted athletic scholarships from various colleges and committed to compete at those schools next school year

A

ccording to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) about $1 billion worth of scholarships are awarded to approximately 126,000 studentathletes in the United States every year. Over the years, several athletes here have accepted scholarships to play at the collegiate level.

Here are some of this year’s seniors and juniors who have signed the documents to continue their athletic career in college.

Compiled by Alex Mackall and Reuben Warshawsky

Jones to play at Mizzou Name: Kelsi Jones Grade: Senior Sport: Women’s softball Position: Centerfield Years Played: 12 Future School: University of Missouri Location: Columbia, MO Colors: Black and Gold Mascot: Tigers Conference: Big 12 Division: NCAA Division I-A

Swimmers to stay in the pool after graduation Name: Matt Gerth Grade: Senior Sport: Men’s swimming and diving Years Played: 12 Future School: Indiana University Location: Bloomington, IN Colors: Cream and Crimson Mascot: Hoosiers Conference: Big 10 Division: NCAA Division I-A

How do you feel about getting to play there next year?

How do you feel about getting to play there next year?

“(I’m) so excited. I’m looking forward to the big time competition and being able to play on TV a lot. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

“I’m really eager and a little nervous because it’s a really fast team. But, I look forward to being able to compete with some of the best athletes in the Big 10 and being able to continue my swimming career.”

What are you most looking forward to?

What are you most looking forward to?

“I’m looking forward to playing for such a competitive team. They’re number seven in the nation right now.”

What are you least looking forward to?

“I’m least looking forward to being six hours from home.”

How are you preparing for this next level of athletics?

“Physically, I’m trying to get stronger, because I’m kind of small for division I softball. Mentally, I’m trying to prepare just like it’s any other game.”

Tim Lu / Graphic

“I’m most looking forward to getting to IU, meeting the team, seeing who I’ll be with for the next four years, kind of building that team camaraderie and being part of a winning class at IU.”

What are you least looking forward to?

“Just getting used to a new team. I’m not dreading it; it’s just something you have to adapt to. It’ll probably take me awhile to get used to it, but I think it’ll be a good thing once I’m finally settled in and I’m sure it won’t be as bad as I think it will be.”

How are you preparing for this next level of athletics?

“Right now I’m really training for not only the high school level, but the national level. I’m trying to compete in the Olympic trials.”

Name: Cameron Kantner Grade: Senior Sport: Men’s swimming and diving Years played: 7 Future School: Milligan College Location: Milligan College, TN Colors: Orange and Black Mascot: Buffaloes Conference: Appalachian Athletic Conference Division: National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

How do you feel about getting to play there next year?

“I’m really excited because I’m not a division I swimmer. So being able to still do what I like, at a level that I know is good for me makes me excited.”

What are you most looking forward to?

“For swimming, I’m looking forward to continuing to get better, and getting to know new people.”

What are you least looking forward to?

“The only thing I’m not looking forward to is I’ll have to do all that stuff myself next year and I don’t really know how I’m going to do that because I rely a lot on my mom.”

Go online

For results of last weekend’s men’s Sectional meet.

www.hilite.org

How are you preparing for this next level of athletics?

“Physically, I’ve just been continuing with my training.

I am still practicing with the team.”

FEb. 25, 2011 | HILITE.ORG | HILITE | SPORTS | PAGE 27

Women’s basketball players to stay in-state Name: Blaire Langlois Grade: Junior Sport: Women’s basketball Position: Guard Years Played: 11 Future School: Butler University Location: Indianapolis Colors: Blue and White Mascot: Bulldogs Conference: Horizon League Division: NCAA Division I-A Name: Torrie Thornton Grade: Senior Sport: Women’s basketball Position: Forward Years Played: 12 Future School: Purdue University Location: West Lafayette, IN Colors: Old gold and black Mascot: Boilermakers Conference: Big 10 Division: NCAA Division I-A

Hall’s career continues Name: Trent Hall Grade: Senior Sport: Football Position: Offensive guard Years Played: 6 Future School: St. Joseph’s College Location: Rensselaer, IN Colors: Purple and cardinal Mascot: Pumas Conference: Great Lakes Valley Division: NCAA Division II

How do you feel about getting to play there?

“I’m really excited. I went down there for a visit and I really liked the campus and I felt welcomed by the players that were down there.”

What are you most looking forward to?

“It’s going to be great competition, just playing with the guys, really just bonding with them and getting to know them better.”

What are you least looking forward to?

“Nothing really. It’s only about two hours away from home, so that’s not really that far. There’s really not much I’m not looking forward to. I’m really excited for everything.”

How are you preparing for this next level of athletics?

“Basically right now I’ve been going to Cardinal Fitness and I’ve been training and everything. I’ve already signed, and I’ve actually already received a workout book that has all the workouts I need to prepare me for next season. Mentally, I’m just doing the same thing I’ve been doing for the past six years, just being optimistic, being excited, being dedicated, and continuing to work hard.”

How do you feel about getting to play there next year?

“I’m pretty excited to go and play at Butler. I can’t wait to spend time and get to know my new teammates.”

What are you most looking forward to?

“I can’t wait to play at Hinkle Fieldhouse because it’s such a historic gym. I am really looking forward to my first game that I will be able to play in. I am really looking forward to the first game I will play in.”

How do you feel about getting to play there next year?

“I’m really excited. It’s close to home, so that’s a plus.

And they have a really good program there. They actually just rebuilt a lot of their athletic facilities, so I’m excited for that.”

What are you most looking forward to?

“Probably just the Big 10 experience just because basketball is just a big deal in the Big 10, especially in Indiana.”

What are you least looking forward to?

“Nothing. I can’t wait.”

How are you preparing for this next level of athletics?

“This summer, I will be doing workouts with trainers in groups and individual ones. Also playing AAU will be a part of my off-season development.”

What are you least looking forward to?

“I don’t have anything that I’m least looking forward to. I’m pretty much excited for it.”

How are you preparing for this next level of athletics?

“Right now I’m just kind of focused on high school.

But after the season ends, I have work outs and stuff that I’ll have to do in order to get prepared for summer conditioning with Purdue.”

Athletes must consider several factors when mulling college athletics

By Charlie Browning cbrowning@hilite.org Sophomore year is key

According to Athletics Director Jim Inskeep, a student’s sophomore year is very important in setting up his or her future. It is important academically because, along with keeping his or her grades up, the student will have to schedule classes for their junior year. Inskeep said that this scheduling process is very important in making sure the student is on the right track to be eligible for his or her intended school and that he or she have the correct number of credits to get in to his or her school of choice.

Two types of athletes

Athletically, Inskeep said students have two different approaches to pursuing a collegiate athletic career.

The first is an athlete who is very talented in his or her sport and stands out from other athletes. As a result, he or she attracts the attention of college coaches immediately. This student has little trouble drumming up interest from colleges, but instead just has to choose which college he or she believes will be in his or her best interest.

The second type of athlete is the one who plays varsity athletics but does not necessarily easily stand out from everyone else. This athlete will likely receive questionnaires in the mail or via e-mail from college coaches. Inskeep said he strongly advises an athlete to fill these forms out, regardless of whether or not he or she is interested in the specific school that is contacting him or her. If nothing else, Inskeep said, filling out the questionnaires will put the student on the map and get them ‘in the system.’ “

Lizzy grubbs / photo

Whose responsibility?

Inskeep said the student and his or her family are responsible for college. He said it is the student’s responsibility to pursue whatever he or she is looking for in a college education. A student’s high school coaches will do as much as they can to help facilitate communication between a student and college coaching staffs, but in the end it is the student’s responsibility to figure out what college best suits him or her.

Carmel supplies opportunity

“As a varsity athlete at Carmel High School, there is a place for you to play at the collegiate level somewhere,” Inskeep said. “Playing in the MIC and being in Central Indiana gives student-athletes a good amount of exposure to college coaches.” Inskeep said he is pleased with the role that CHS plays in giving its athletes the proper amount of exposure, but that there is always room for improvement.

Page 28 | perspectives | HiLite | hilite.org |feb. 25, 2011

PERSPECTIVES submitperspectives@hilite.org | twitter.com/Hilite_news

Check out the blogs: To see Olivia Walker’s pick for best outfit of the week, visit www.

hilite.org.

Have an opinion?

To be featured as a guest writer in the next issue, send your column to perspectives@hilite.org.

Staff Perspective

Administration should reconsider Distinguished Grad In 2008, CHS introduced the Distinguished Grad program to its graduating Senior Class. By replacing the titles of “valedictorian” and “salutatorian,” the title of “Distinguished Graduate” was designed for students to take leadership, service and extracurricular accomplishments, not just scholastic achievements such as GPA, into consideration. Now, a point-based system determines distinguished graduates, commended graduates and the top Distinguished Graduate, who has accumulated the most points and speaks at Commencement.

Yet during the three and a half years of Distinguished Grad, some students have voiced concerns about its nature, most notably in how it places emphasis on quantity of activities over quality of participation.

According to John Chang, Stanford Class of ’06 graduate and author of From Hopeless to Harvard who has the applications of over 100 generous high school students accepted to all eight Ivy League schools, Stanford and MIT, admission is “about depth over breadth, always.” In other words, he asserts that focus and strong development in one area, instead of spreading yourself too thin, will be more important in the future.

In addition, the point system as it is necessitates further change. How does one (somewhat arbitrarily) place a number on an activity?

Instead, point values should be determined by the amount of time, a quantifiable number, needed for participation in that varsity sport, volunteering event or theatrical production.

Speak Up

compiled by melinda song

tained deep-rooted, quality commitments in If the CHS administration seeks a holistic activities, an applicant cannot convey anything assessment process, numbers, once again, “reflective” or “meaningful” regarding his or are not enough. More subjectivity is required, her passions. Collegiate success, the primary perhaps in the form of a mandatory application goal of high school education, starts with essay on the senior’s most meaningful activvaluing depth over breadth. ity throughout his or her high school career or It’s time to turn the lights a brief formal interview. While on. Students have been kept such an action might deter in the dark about information, some students from applying, including an estimate of a cutthose who have steadfast deThe current off score, justification behind termination will not mind clearrecognized and unrecognized ing this additional hurdle.

Distinguished activities and procedure in Although about 100 seniors Grad program case of a tie of point values. will be recognized as either Now, however, they should emphasizes quantity distinguished (3 percent of the have more transparency in the graduating class) or commendover quality of entire application and judged (7 percent), the top Distinment process, as well as an extracurricular guished Graduate is not only opportunity to voice suggescommemorated with a plaque, activities and tions and improvements. but he or she is also rememshould be altered While the Distinguished bered and respected by many Grad program has effectively peers. An essay will provide in order to be more evolved to reflect the imporstudents with the opportunity representative of tance of balance within the to tell their individual stories. holistic college admissions Nowadays, most selective colthe Senior Class. process, it has also brought leges incorporate supplemental along confusion and complaints. By supportessays into their applications. The Common ing a clear contradiction of what colleges Application, which allows students to easily apsupport, the CHS administration owes to its ply to any one of its 414 member institutions, student body an explanation detailing the proincludes short-answer and essay sections. gram itself and justifying its aspects. Students Yale, which U.S. News and World Report should also be able to voice their own opinranks third in the nation, desires applicants who ions. Only then can distinguishable change can “share something meaningful about yourself come to this Distinguished Grad program. and your experiences.” Without having main-

Our Stand

What is your opinion of the Distinguished Grad program?

“I think it’s a good idea because Carmel is such a big school.

Having just one valedictorian would be difficult so it gives more people a chance to be recognized.”

“I think that it’s good that there’s a program for people to graduate distinguished if they earn it.”

sophomore sepaus crawford

junior taylor hall

“My opinion about Distinguished Grad is that editors in chief of communications and publications should get as many points as those who have varsity letters because in the end, we end up putting in the same amount of time as athletes.”

senior andrea biel

feb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | perspectives | Page 29

graphic perspective

From the Editor

Sara

Rogers Got real? Change comes in small doses, not serving size.

In 1985, not a single state in America had an adult obesity cheese stick saves an average of 100 calories and five rate over 15 percent. In 2009, 33 states in the United States grams of fat. I won’t even begin to mention all of the saw adult obesity rates of over 25 percent. Something has chemicals and additives avoided with the switch, to give, other than American waistbands. because, as evident by the “beef gelatin” example, that Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) can get pretty disturbing.

Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion issued the release The 2010 guidelines do acknowledge the of the seventh edition of its manual, “Dietary Guidelines for importance of real, wholesome food. In the fourth Americans (DGA),” the first update since 2005. chapter of the document, the USDA states that While these guidelines are well and good in their own children, ages 2 to 18, and adults, ages 19 to 30, obtain right, it’s impossible for me to ignore the underlying parallel more than half of their daily fruit consumption present. The USDA began releasing DGA reports every through fruit juices. five years since 1980. Over the last 20 years, Americans The USDA follows by saying, “although 100 have experienced the largest swell in percent fruit juice can be part of a overweight and obesity rates on record. healthful diet, it lacks dietary fiber That being said, it would be naive to and can contribute extra calories.” assume that these new guidelines For instance, a raw apple contains The common could significantly alter the lifestyles three grams of dietary fiber and misconception of and eating habits of Americans.

65 calories. One serving of generic ‘real food’ is that it These guidelines, issued by the apple juice, according to the USDA, is just another name federal government, do not only contains less than a gram of dietary for vegetarianism. impact consumers, but producers as fiber and 112 calories, doubling that However, real food well. In order to keep specific divisions of its raw counterpart. can include meat, of the food industry afloat (namely The movement toward the red meat and salt enthusiasts), the consumption of real food is already fish and poultry. The DGA must remain vague when appearing on college campuses with trick is recognizing the prescribing which foods to “eat less” the Real Food Challenge, a national difference between a of. In the 2010 guidelines, the USDA campaign designed to “redirect 20 chicken breast and discussed explicitly when advocating percent of all food purchased by breaded chicken an increase in the intake of fruits, colleges and universities towards fingers. vegetables, seafood, beans and nuts. real food by 2020.” Over 340 colleges When discussing which foods to eat and universities have officially joined less of, however, the USDA avoided the campaign to develop healthier specifics, encouraging Americans to students and faculty. avoid sodium, solid fats and added sugar.

It’s important that this transformation start with To the more informed consumer, these guidelines, the younger generation, which is now forecasted regarding both specific foods and vague nutrients, do to have a shorter life expectancy than that of their not require translation. For the majority of Americans, parents. It’s far easier to develop healthy lifestyles and however, the latter terms are foreign vocabulary. Mixing eating habits at a younger age while still developing health with politics and economics only harms and physically and socially. confuses the population.

In order to spark any sort of positive shift in A more reasonable solution? Eat real food. Eat an apple American health, a change needs to come from with peanut butter for a snack instead of fruit snacks or both producers and consumers. Governmental packaged cookies. Eat oatmeal for breakfast instead of dietary guidelines can serve as useful tools, but are that Pop-Tart (because, really, “beef gelatin” should not by no means driving forces of change. Unhealthy be on the ingredients list of any food I’m consuming). eating habits are rooted within American society, The common misconception of “real food” is that it is just emphasizing convenience and cheapness. At some another name for vegetarianism. However, real food can point, however, the well being of society has to include meat, fish and poultry. overshadow ease and accessibility.

The trick is recognizing the difference between a chicken While the newest DGA report contains wellbreast and breaded chicken fingers. A regular chicken breast merited information for improving America’s health has one ingredient, the “all-natural” Tyson brand chicken and well-being, it is inaccurate to assume that it will fingers have ten, including sodium aluminum phosphate bring about any real change. Telling someone what and sodium acid pyrophosphate. to eat does not guarantee a distinct change in diet, America has a ridiculous addiction to overly-processed, which is clearly necessary. low-quality, cheap food. The problem isn’t always that we’re eating too much food, it’s that we’re eating too much fake Sara Rogers is the editor in chief of the HiLite. Contact food. Replacing a serving of Cheetos with a Kraft natural her at srogers@hilite.org.

‘‘

”

alex mackall / art

Page 30 | perspectives | HiLite | hilite.org |feb. 25, 2011

Opposing viewpoints

U.S. education under scrutiny from varied fronts Tony

Tan

Rethinking education.

Western system of education system has flaws.

The publishing of Yale professor Amy Chua’s book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and her article in The Wall Street Journal in January initiated a media firestorm in which the implications of the Eastern parenting style have been redefined.

In her article, Chua compares the success of the demanding style of parenting that is a staple to Eastern culture to that of the permissive, Western style of parenting common in the United States. While a “Tiger Mother” of eastern descent may blatantly insult her children in order to persuade them to overcome an obstacle, a more Western-oriented parent may work their way around with euphemisms and gentle coaxing, worrying about their child’s self-esteem. Chua sees the Western style as weak and ineffective, but what are the larger effects of each style?

Education in America has seen its lows. According to a report by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) in December, the United States has fallen to an average global ranking in education with its scores in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey taken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The PISA, a worldwide examination

of the academic aptitude of 15-year-olds administered every three years, reported that the United States ranked 14th out of 34 OECD countries in reading skills, 17th in science and 25th in mathematics. Also, more than half the countries scoring in the top 10 on the PISA are located in either Asia or Europe. The resulting corollary: perhaps Chua is right in her assessment of the styles of education.

Chua isn’t the only one evincing her belief that the current Western style has many shortcomings in regards to managing education. Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the public school system in Washington D.C., has perhaps applied the same principles of Eastern parenting to the Washington school district. Although faced with the challenge of reforming what may be one of the most dysfunctional education programs in the nation, Rhee, during her service as chancellor, had institutionalized broad restructuring of the school systems, firing a mass of school staff and hiring new replacements based upon merit instead of relations of patronage.

Even President Barack Obama admitted the United States was lagging behind many other countries in education in his State of the Union address, and that parenting was

one of the roots of this issue.

Being the child in a family from China, I have experienced both sides of the spectrum. But what I have to say is that there is no iron-clad law of parenting that produces successful students: parenting can only be as effective as the student allows it to be. Consequently, students themselves have a large role in the parenting process. If parents are not the ones taking full, unmitigated responsibility of guiding their child to success like a “Tiger Mother,” then the students must push themselves are they to succeed. In other words, if your parents yield to your decision to either go out with friends to the movies or study at home the night before a math exam, you must decide which option will benefit you the most. If the United States wants to improve education without adapting to ideas from other cultures, then more students must take initiative themselves.

People don’t succeed sheerly because of their ethnicity or their parents; they have a guide that they must either obey or create and commit to.

Tony Tan is a reporter for the HiLite. Contact him at ttan@ hilite.org.

Steven

Chen

Education revisited. A case for American education.

The U.S. education system is not doing anything wrong. It is just too conflicted right now to move forward.

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address said we once again are in a “Sputnik moment” with the other superpower of this day – China. What defines the current “Sputnik moment” is a mix of standardized test scores and economic conditions that contribute to a sense of America’s decreased superpower status.

In fact, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) that put Chinese students at the top only assessed students in Shanghai, a hub for the smartest students across China.

While many U.S. students have formed a sense of adventure through education and learn through their mistakes along the way, China emphasizes rote memorization, essentially spoon feeding its students. Because of such rigorous education absorption, Chinese students lack the fundamental ability to think critically and creatively. A sign of this difference between U.S. and China is in testing.

While we write essays developing our thoughts and forming

our solutions with care, Chinese students go straight to the the most viable option. What schools really need are enrichment answer with a memorized procedure. opportunities that hone a student’s career choice(s). This is Then there’s college. Chinese students want to go to what Superintendent Jeff Swensson’s proposed Greyhound college. However, if they don’t test into a Senior Semester is trying to achieve. good school, the road stops there. High (Swensson is currently pushing for local school in China train students for the control of schools at the State Legislature, Although American Gao Kao, a test with more significance and one change he would install would education might be than the American SAT since it actually modify the senior year curriculum.) An losing its edge in public directly determines college acceptance. enhanced curriculum also calls for better opinion, it’s not too far In the United States, high school educators. Because China has an aura of teaches the basic critical thinking skills memorization, teachers don’t play as big behind. necessary for students who might of a role as they do here. not want to choose college as their Although U.S. education might be losing next step. This contributes in large part to the better U.S. its edge in public opinion, it’s not too far behind. Education is colleges where students have already received a foundation historically slow at reforming, but we will realize an American of critical thinking rather than rote memorization. This is education will succeed in the future, producing strong leaders why Chinese colleges do not live up to their American out of the current generation. counterparts.

The focus on standardization may not be the best route.

Steven Chen is a managing editor for the HiLite. Contact him China’s competitive student market makes standardized tests at stevenchen@hilite.org.

“

”

feb. 25, 2011 | HiLite.org | hilite | perspectives | Page 31

from the STAFF

Darlene

Pham

Too Young. Beauty pageants teach girls wrong values.

In today’s world of over-sexualized images and an emphasis risqué dance routine. Seriously? They might as well invite on beauty, it’s more important now than ever for children pedophiles to their homes and lock them in a room with to be… well, children. Forcing baby girls and boys to spray their daughters. unnatural chemicals on their skin, pluck hairs from their The parents argue that these beauty pageants improve little, innocent faces and dress up like the plastic Barbie doll self-esteem and family bonding and that their daughters in the attic toy bin is surely considered akin to child abuse. want to compete. The truth is these toddlers do not But in TLC’s show “Toddlers & Tiaras”, mothers, understand the difference between a competition and attempting to live through their daughters, expose them to reality. Since competitions are based largely on appearance the toxic world of beauty pageants and national television. and first impressions, when they lose, these kids inevitably It seems like in most episodes, the feel ugly and inferior to those who win. children are forced to perform as if They are too young to decide to compete they were objects for entertainment. or not; children rarely make decisions I’m not saying beauty Supporters for this sick act may argue for themselves, so it’s their parents who pageants as a whole for their actions, but in all honesty, it’s are forcing them to compete. are terrible, but there’s just wrong and there is no defense.

I’m not saying beauty pageants as a a difference between As a result, “Toddlers & Tiaras” whole are terrible, but there’s a difference Miss America and Miss has stirred up controversy in the from Miss America and Miss Diaper.

Diaper. These girls are media. Anderson Cooper of CNN These girls are just too young. They lose called the actions of some mothers their innocence due to their exposure too young. inappropriate, especially of one who of artificial beauty and attitudes. Kids forced her screaming daughter to wax should be kids. They shouldn’t know how her eyebrows. to wax their eyebrows or understand the The worst part is the costumes, make-up and other difference between foundation and concealer. factors that turn little girls into mini sex objects, imitating The next time you see your little sibling, cousin or today’s pop stars and celebrities. These girls spend hours neighbor, influence them to be a kid. Let them be innocent putting on fake eyelashes and bronzer to be flaunted on and careless. With exposure to the media, young children stage for the nation to see. The parents and endorsers of the are already pressured with issues they shouldn’t have to beauty pageants advocate a twisted perception of beauty; it deal with until years later. Be a positive influence and parades girls around on national television, exposing them teach them the right values… manners included. to your friendly neighborhood sex offender. They tell the world their names and where they live, then they show the Darlene Pham is a special projects editor for the HiLite. girls wearing Madonna’s notorious cone bra while doing a Contact her at dpham@hilite.org.

“

”

graphic perspective

steven chen / art

Contact information Mailing Address: 520 E. Main St., Carmel, IN 46032 Phone: (317) 846-7721, Ext. 7143 Website: www.hilite.org E-mail: Staff members of the HiLite may be contacted by using their first initial and their last name appending @hilite.org. For example, Sara Rogers will receive mail sent to srogers@hilite.org.

Responding to the HiLite Letters to the editor will be accepted for the March 25 issue no later than March 1. Letters may be submitted in Room C147, placed in the mailbox of Jim Streisel, e-mailed to letters@hilite.org or mailed to school. All letters must be signed. Names will be published. (Letters sent via e-mail will be taken to a student’s SRT for him to sign.) Letters must not contain personal attacks against an individual and may be edited.

Purpose

The HiLite is a student publication distributed to students, faculty and staff of Carmel High School, with a press run of 4,500. Copies are distributed to every school in the Carmel Clay district as well as the Chamber of Commerce, city hall and the Carmel Clay Public Library. The paper serves as a public forum and two-way communication for both the school and the community. Opinions expressed in the newspaper are not necessarily those of CHS nor the Carmel Clay system faculty, staff or administration.

Credentials

The HiLite belongs to the Indiana High School Press Association, Quill & Scroll and the National Scholastic Press Association.

Advertising

Businesses may advertise in the HiLite if their ads adhere to guidelines. The advertising policy is available in Room C147 or at www.hilite.org.

Staff Editor in Chief Sara Rogers Managing Editors Steven X. Chen

Mackenzie Madison

Rebecca Xu

David Zheng Accountant Pat O’Neill Acumen Monica Cheng

Ellie Seta 15 Minutes of Fame Yameen Hameed Artists Meredith Boyd

Daniel Li

Alex Mackall

Rebecca Xu Business Manager Patrick Bryant Beats/Calendar Rachel Boyd

Melinda Song

Victor Xu

Sarah Yun

Ryan Zukerman Cover Story Laura Peng Entertainment Lauren Burdick

Meredith Boyd Feature Afra Hussain

Caroline Zhang Front Page Arjuna Capulong

Daniel Li Graphics Daniel Li

Tim Lu

Danielle Yin News Tracy Sun

Nina Underman Perspectives Emma Neukam

Jade Schwarting Photography Arjuna Capulong

Lizzy Grubbs Special Projects Katie Norman

Darlene Pham

Jackson Whiteker

Sports

Stuart Jackson Reuben Warshawsky Student Section Shokhi Goel Web Steven M. Chen

Yusheng Zhu

Ray Qian

Patrick Tan Reporters Julie Kippenbrock Shayan Ahmad Lindsay Lehman Nick Andrews Chris Li Audrey Bailey Ben Lu Matt Barnthouse Natalie Maier James Benedict Alex Mackall Katie Bourgerie Amira Malcom Rachel Boyd Lauren Mugavin Hope Boyer Dhruti Patel Charlie Browning Thalib Razi Marianna Cooper Erum Rizvi Audrey Courter Tony Tan Eric Dick Olivia Walker John Du Katie Walstrom Ryan Duffy Jerry Xu Cassie Dugan Andy Yang Grayson Harbour Kendall Harshberger Adele Zhou Henry Zhu Blaine Herbst Kush Joseph

Photographers Kathleen Bertsch Katie Bougerie Gabrielle Bowers Brandon Candis Kathryn Dawson

Conner Gordon Mary Brooke Johnson Emily Puterbaugh Jenna Ruhayel

Adviser Jim Streisel Principal John Williams Superintendent Jeff Swensson

Page 32 | 15 MINUTES | HiLite | hilite.org | feb. 25, 2011

15 MINUTES OF FAME 15Minutes@hilite.org | twitter.com/Hilite_news

Cage Rage Junior Michael Kelleher competes as a cage fighter.

‘Like’ Us

To submit nominations for 15 Minutes of Fame, post on our Facebook page: ‘HiLite Online’

By sarah yun syun@hilite.org What does being a cage fighter entail?

You have to work out a lot. I work out about eight times a week and practice for three hours four times a week. You have to have incredible dedication and will power to train that much.

How did you become a cage fighter?

I started watching cage fighting in 2006, and I started looking for a place to train. My friend was actually training at the time, so he introduced me to a place one and a half years ago.

Why did you choose to become a cage fighter?

Because besides that fact that it is the most awesome sport ever, cage fighting is very natural to me. I like the competition and it’s a good way to express myself.

What was your scariest moment while cage fighting?

I was knocked unconscious once. But the worst thing that has happened to me was when I was training to do knockdowns, and I was trying to do this trip. I picked the guy up and he fell on my extended knee and I thought I broke my leg. It was a pretty bad day.

Where do you usually cage fight?

I train at the House of Martial Sport Arts in Clay Terrace.

What is your favorite thing about cage fighting?

The competition. The competitive nature that everyone has is very civilized and there is better sportsmanship in cage fighting than in many other sports.

conner Gordon / photos

(acumen*) *the millennial issue

Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Newest Generation Who are they, and how might they reshape Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future in the decades ahead?

mu sic... pa ge 7

tech n ology... pa ge 6

e d uc a tio n. . . p ag e 3 valu es... pa ge s 4&5 p o litic s... p ag e 2

Page 2 | acumen |HILITE | HiLite.ORG | Feb. 25, 2O11

(acumen*) Contact information Mailing Address: 520 E. Main St., Carmel, IN 46032 Phone: (317) 846-7721, Ext. 7143 Website: www.hilite.org E-mail: Staff members of the HiLite may be contacted by using their first initial and their last name appending @hilite.org. For example, Sara Rogers will receive mail sent to srogers@hilite.org.

Purpose Acumen is an occasional publication serving to supplement the HiLite.

Acumen is distributed to the students, faculty and staff of Carmel High School. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily representative of those held by CHS, the Carmel Clay system faculty, staff or administration.

Staff Editors

Reporters/Photographers

HiLite Editor in Chief HiLite Managing Editors

Principal Superintendent

Monica Cheng Ellie Seta Brandon Candis Audrey Courter Shokhi Goel Afra Hussain Melinda Song Andy Yang Danielle Yin Adele Zhou Henry Zhu Ryan Zukerman Sara Rogers Steven Chen Mackenzie Madison Rebecca Xu David Zheng John Williams Jeff Swensson

Hear Us Out

Millennials become more politically involved in their communities through clubs, voting and other activities

By Afra Hussain ahussain@hilite.org Junior Keeli Curtis stands out as the lone Democrat in her Republican family. Curtis did not always consider herself a Democrat, but she said she knew she had more liberal views than her parents.

“I was talking to my dad about Vietnam War veterans and I said something like, ‘Look what we have done to them’ because a lot of them are homeless and drug addicts; he said, ‘You sound like a Democrat” she said. Curtis then took an online quiz on the website Politicalquiz and found her views did in fact coincide with the ideals of the Democratic party.

Curtis isn’t alone in her beliefs. According to a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center, Millennials, or those born after 1980, tend to demonstrate strong liberal and egalitarian opinions and favor a more active government, like those espoused by the Democratic party, compared to those born before 1980. Some factors attributing to the change include technology and the media as well as social and economic conditions of this current era, according to Pew. How a teenager forms his or her political views is through political socialization, according to Joe Stuelpe, a U.S. government teacher here. “It’s a never-ending process

In This Issue Dear readers, Every individual has different values and traits. Though unique in our own ways, together, we make up the seams of America’s newest generation, the Millennials, which is in the middle of the coming-of-age phase of its life cycle. Its oldest members, according to Pew Research Center, are appraoching age 30 while its youngest are approaching adolescence.

And we are at the midst of it all.

In the following pages of Acumen’s Millennial issue, we take a closer look at just how different—or similar—we really are from previous generations. May we continue to be openminded and willing to be enlightened.

Acumen editors Ellie Seta Monica Cheng

brandon candis / PHOTO ARJUNA CAPULONG / COVER DESIGN AND PHOTO

For the nation: Junior Keeli Curtis jots down her political ideas. Unlike her parents, she holds more liberal views as typified by most Millennials.

that a person experiences where a variety of factors ranging from media to peers to family to events shape how a person looks at government and evaluates the actions of that institution,” he said via e-mail.

Curtis identified peers and media as factors in her political development. In elementary school, her best friend’s family was Democratic. “I think I got some ideas from her,” she said.

Senior David Atkinson describes himself as an “anarchosyndicalist,” which he said means he supports a strong working class and leans toward the extreme left on the political scale. His parents, with whom Atkinson shares his liberal views, have a slightly different outlook on politics, “Mom is leftist populist with a very strong feminist streak. Father would be, I would describe him as old Labour,” Atkinson said. He said his mother was moderately involved with the anti-Vietnam groups but was mainly focused on school.

Still, while his mother identifies herself as a Democrat, Atkinson said he does not associate himself with any political party. Along these lines, Stuelpe said Millennials happen to identify themselves more as independents. He said one of the biggest differences between Millennials and the previous generations is disalignment where more people split their ticket when they vote and affiliate themselves less with any single political party.

Equality is another value Millennials embrace in politics according to Pew. According to the study, Millennials have been more in favor of equal rights and opportunities in all of their surveys since 2003. Millennials even go as far as to prefer affirmative action programs; 45 percent of Millennials said they were in favor of affirmative action programs compared to the 30 percent of Gen Xers and 20 percent of Baby Boomers.

Stuelpe said a variety of factors influenced the Millennial view on equality. “Society has emphasized that value during their life time. Lots of different experiences from youth leagues to classes have emphasized equal participation.”

Technology, too, plays a large role in Millennials’ beliefs.

The Pew study revealed that 24 percent of Millennials said that technology was what makes their generation unique and that was the most popular choice among the five choices which also included more music and pop culture, liberal, smarter and clothes.

“With blogs, Facebook, Twitter and texting there are more ways for people to be politically active,” Stuelpe said. “I am not sure I would say one generation is more or less active, they are just choosing different avenues to communicate,” Stuelpe said.

Atkinson attributes his personal political views to the internet, where he said he found most of his information.

He blogs about his views and follows the New York Times, BBC, the Economist and the New Republic. Stuelpe said there are more reasons to take part in the American political process and range of options for political participation which make the Millennial generation unique.

He said, “There are so many ways to communicate with government officials and to gather information so that an individual can be informed that people really should have no excuse for not knowing about a topic or not participating in some fashion.”

Feb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | acumen | PagE 3

Millennials embrace new educational opportunities in increasingly competitive global economy “The educational focus has shifted from what units of knowledge students have to what students can do with knowledge,” Dudley said. “Knowing how to think critically, analytically and creatively are not new to education; ophomore Gabrielle Stephens is aiming high. however, these skills have taken on a new importance as Aspiring to be a marine biologist or lawyer, the nature of the economy and work has changed. Today’s Stephens said she decided that it is important to workforce needs to be able to find and analyze information, challenge herself now in preparation for college and often from multiple sources, and use this information to eventually the struggles involved in finding a job. make decisions and create new ideas.”

“I have decided that high school education is a great It is no secret that the global and national economy is way to prepare for college and the obstacles that I might becoming more competitive, and, according to the College face in my future job,” she said. “The courses I take now Board, the United States is falling behind. The United States will help me determine my strengths and weakness so that used to lead the world in the number of 25- to 34-year-olds I can determine the correct career choice.” with college degrees but it currently ranks 12th among 36 Stephens is not alone. According to a survey conducted developed nations. by the Pew Research Center for Social & Demographic According to Dudley, the Carmel Clay School District Trends, Millennials—those born after 1980 and come of has recognized the more competitive economy and has age in the new millennium—are particularly ambitious. made changes to the curriculum that In the Survey, over half of Millennials prepare students more for life after currently enrolled in high school, high school. college or graduate school said they The educational focus has “At Carmel High School we offer want to go on to earn a graduate or shifted from what units of a larger variety of AP, dual credit and professional school degree, and 34 IB courses in all departments,” she percent will end their education after knowledge students have said. “These courses provide a strong graduating from college. to what students can do foundation for students entering college.

These statistics show that Millennials with knowledge.

In addition to course work that focuses are on their way to becoming the most on higher-level thinking, students have educated generation in American Amy Dudley an abundance of opportunities through Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction history, but this is not without reason. and Assessment for Carmel Clay Schools sports, clubs and service organizations The study also determined that to corroboratively work with others Millennials are driven by the demands and solve real world problems.” of a modern knowledge-based economy making it more According to AP Economics teacher Dan Bates, who has difficult to find a job without a college degree. been teaching at Carmel for 32 years, the biggest shift he According to Amy Dudley, the Assistant Superintendent has seen in teaching was the integration of the AP courses for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for Carmel throughout the curriculum.

Clay Schools, post-secondary education after high school “It all ties into the AP program and the possibility of our is vital in today’s world. high school students entering college as sophomores with “I believe that some type of post-secondary education all of the credit they receive from AP exams,” he said. “So, is paramount for students,” she said via e-mail. “This yes, we have adjusted by providing that opportunity.” education may include a college degree or it may be Not all students, however, are pursuing a career path vocational training in a skill or trade.”

Because of this new trend, schools across the nation have started to shift their educational focus in order to better suit student’s future needs, and, according to Dudley, Carmel is no exception.

By Ryan ZuKerman rzukerman@hilite.org

S

‘‘

”

Number of undergraduate enrollment over the years

that involves higher education. Recently, students at Carmel and 11 other school corporations in Marion, Boone and Hamilton Counties have been given a unique opportunity by the J. Everett Light Career Center. According to the JEL Career Center website, Career Center classes apply academic subjects to the “real world of work,” and most students are juniors and seniors.

With a facility of over 150,000 square feet and space for over 1,000 students, the career center includes a full service Beauty salon, an onsite banking center, dental laboratories, radio and television studios, an auto repair shop and a child care center that cares for thirty preschoolers.

Stephens said she understands the current economic condition and said she feels that the more experience and education one has the easier it will be to find a job in the future. Because of this, she is taking advantage of the new opportunities available here and has filled her course schedule with several honors and AP classes. She said she realizes, however, that she can never be sure how well she is really preparing herself for the future.

“Planning for the future is hard,” she said. “Things just pop up every now and then. I think that by putting effort into the classes I am taking, I am preparing myself for the future.”

Danielle Yin and Andy Yang / Graphic

Page 4 | acumen |HILITE | HiLite.ORG | Feb. 25, 2O11

Different outlook, same

Despite their more optimistic views when it comes to the future, Millennials find they still share c

By Henry Zhu hzhu@hilite.org

F

irst came the “Greatest Generation,” then “Generation X,” and now the “Millennial Generation.” Though the existence of different generations is unquestioned, there is disagreement over what sets a generation apart from those that come before and after it. Like many others, junior Harriet Leishman said she believes the most significant distinctions between today’s youth and its predecessors seem to lie in their different perspectives.

“I think a lot of what sets us apart from our parents and grandparents involves how we see the world,” Harriet said. “We’ve grown up in a different time than they did, and it’s only natural that we have different views and opinions.”

According to a new study on Millennials by the Pew

Research Center, Harriet is not alone in her belief that her generation is unique. The study states that over 60 percent of Millennials said their generation “has a unique and distinctive identity” due to a variety of social and economic differences.

“Well there are obviously different generations, but there’s no one thing that distinguishes us from the older generations,” Harriet said. “It’s just the atmosphere that we’ve grown up with in general and how it changes our perspectives on a lot of things.”

Funding the Future

Among the many factors that constitute a generational identity, both Harriet and the Pew study mentioned contrasting economic views between Millennials and older generations as an important difference.

“I think teens in general are more positive and optimistic about our economic futures,” Harriet said.

“The current recession is affecting our parents more directly than it’s affecting us, and I think by the time we enter the job market a lot of the problems either won’t be there or won’t be as severe.”

The Pew study’s findings show that despite adverse economic conditions, most Millennials share Harriet’s optimism toward the future. Though over a third of youth are currently facing career difficulties, statistics show that approximately 90 percent of Millennials said they believe they will eventually achieve their economic and career goals.

According to economics teacher Dan Bates, this outlook is quite typical for a younger generation.

Bates said younger generations have historically been more optimistic while older generations have been more cautious about the future.

“Part of the difference is that adults have been around longer and have more experience,” Bates said. “Especially with the recession, adults are more cautious because they’ve had to deal with more economic and personal difficulties than most teens have.”

Harriet’s mother Amy Leishman said she has noticed several distinctions between older and younger generations’ economic views and situations. Mrs. Leishman said that, though the economy has become increasingly competitive and work is thus harder to find compared to the past, she believes an optimistic outlook will help motivate youth to overcome any future challenges.

Despite any difficulties, however, Harriet said she is confident she can be successful. Ultimately, she said, her choice in careers will be based on personal fulfillment rather than economic calculations.

“I’ve always wanted to go into law because I’m interested in that field,” Harriet said. “To me, it’s more important that I have a job I can enjoy than a job that makes lots of money.”

Positive Progress

Though economic outlooks differ among generations, Harriet said the most important distinctions involve each generation’s view on society. She said she believes the younger generations are more accepting of different ways of life.

“Our generation is definitely a lot more understanding and less judgmental than our parents and grandparents,” Harriet said. “It’s on issues

shokhi goel / photo illustration

Feb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | acumen | PagE 5

e focus

core beliefs and values with their parents like same-sex marriage that we’re really different and a lot Sides of the Same Coin more accepting than our parents, and, in my opinion, that Still, while there is ample evidence that each generation openness is one of the best things about our generation.” differs from ones before it, it is also evident that different According to statistics from the Pew study, Millennials generations have much in common. As for Harriet, she are more accepting of different ways of life than their elders. said she shares many views in common with her parents.

When it comes to issues of marriage and relationships, “For the large part, I feel like my mum and I have very less than a third of Millennials see same-sex marriage as similar values because she raised me well,” Harriet said. “I a “bad thing for society” while approximately half of older feel like even though we grew up in different times, there’s generations hold that less tolerant view. The study concludes not much of a generation gap between us.” that because Millennials had been raised in a modern Bates, who also teaches sociology, world throughout their lives, they said the similarities between different have become more accepting of generations are as much to be expected “modern family arrangements” as the differences. According to Bates, it We’re different people than previous generations. is natural for children to inherit many who grew up in different Mrs. Leishman said from of their parents’ values despite different times and places, but her experiences, she feels the outlooks. Overall, he said the current Millennials are far more tolerant my mum has been a generation’s perspectives are very similar of previous generations. Yet, big influence on me to those of previous generations during Mrs. Leishman said a number of their youth. throughout my life. the differences also depend on As for Mrs. Leishman, she said she has geography as well as culture. much in common with her daughter despite Harriet Leishman Junior “In the Midwest, the older growing up in different times. Though they generations are less understanding share many views, Mrs. Leishman said she than the youth, but in other places like and Europe, the believes allowing Harriet to form and develop her own older generations are very accepting,” Mrs. Leishman said. opinions is more important.

“For our family, the gap is more between Harriet and me “We’re very similar in that we highly value respecting on one hand and her grandparents on the other rather than and acting compassionately towards others,” Mrs. Leishman between Harriet and me.” said. “I want Harriet to share many of my values, but I For Harriet, she said the increased openness of younger wanted her to learn that herself rather than just following generations has positively affected society. On the other everything I say.” hand, she said she also acknowledges that society is not Ultimately, Harriet said that, despite the generational as openly tolerant as it should be and that there is work differences and occasional disagreements, she still feels to be done. very close to her parents.

“We’ve made really great progress recently toward more “We’re different people who grew up in different times equality (in society), but there’s always more work to be and places, but my mum has been a big influence on me done,” Harriet said. “Nobody should be treated differently throughout my life,” Harriet said. “Our generation is a for who they are, and I think American society is finally unique one and I think we’re doing a lot of stuff right, but getting that message.” it’s also always good to learn from those before us too.”

‘‘

”

Generation Unique A 2010 survey shares by percentages which aspects are the most prominent among these three generations Millennial

Generation X

24%

12%

Technology use

Technology use

Baby Boomer

17% Work ethic

11%

14% 11%

Pop culture

Work ethic

7%

Respect

7% Liberal

Traditional

6%

6%

Intelligence

Intelligence

8% Values

6% “Baby Boomers”

Danielle Yin / Graphics Pew Research Center / source

Transcending Time Traditionalists • • • •

Born between 1900 and 1945 Financially difficult childhood followed by prosperity Famous people: Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Dole Famous influencers: Great Depression, WWII

1900

•

Born between 1965 and 1980 • First generation predicted to be less financially successful than their parents • Famous people: Barack Obama, Jennifer Lopez • Famous influencers: Watergate scandal, Tiananmen Square Massacre

1945 The Baby Boomers

Melinda Song / Graphics WMFC.org / source

Generation X

• •

•

•

Born between 1946 and 1964 Era ended with the advent of the consumer birth control pill Famous people: Bill Clinton, Meryl Streep Famous influencers: Cold War, Space Age

1964

1980 The Millennials

2011

• Born after 1980 • Grew up in a sheltered lifestyle because their parents strove to protect them from the “evils of the world” • Famous people: Mark Zuckerburg, Rihanna • Famous influencers: 9/11, AIDS epidemic

Page 6 | acumen |HILITE | HiLite.ORG | Feb. 25, 2O11

Not So Silent Night Addiction to social networking leads to sleep deprivation among Millennials

Shokhi Goel / photo illustration

By Audrey Courter acourter@hilite.org

A

s her phone vibrates on her night stand two inches from her head at one in the morning, junior Valerie Hicks wakes up suddenly to see who has texted her. This is a regular occurrence throughout the night, Valerie said, which leaves her tired the following day.

“I often fall asleep while texting people, so when I hear my phone I have this urge to text whoever it is back no matter what time it might be,” Valerie said.

“I feel like if I don’t always communicate with people then they will get upset with me and I would be missing something socially.”

Valerie is not the only student who has sleep patterns like this. According to a report from December 2009 Pew Research Center, a non-profit organization that researches trends, Millennials all over the country are not getting the recommended amount of sleep due to their desire to stay connected socially.

Millennials, the newest generation, with ages ranging from kids reaching adolescence to 30 years old, have increased levels of tiredness that not only affect mood and fatigue levels but also school performance according to the report.

Valerie’s mother, Judith Hicks, is a baby boomer and said she went through the same process as her daughter when she was a teenager of fatigue and tiredness, which affected school performance. She said she still experiences this today but for different reasons other than the desire to stay socially connected. She said her desire to stay current in the world motivates her to be up to date with technology and have her phone near the bedside.

“Millennials don’t know any other way; it’s what is out there it’s the acceptance. I put the phone in my life for convenience and it’s not convenient for me at this time (of night),” Mrs. Hicks said.

Although Valerie said she lies in bed for eight to nine hours each night, she technically only gets five to six hours

Valerie said fatigue from only receiving half the advised of sleep. The lights may be off in her room and the light hours of sleep does not affect her immediately, but throughout setting on her phone changed to its lowest option, but the day it settles in. She said she becomes socially affected as according to Valerie the nightly texts sent and received she rambles on during the day and it also affects her school from her phone vary from 70 to 100. studies. Though she may study for three hours, she said she “I don’t have to study at night and my parents think I’m was still not able to retain the information because it takes sleeping, so it’s easy to text; plus I can’t fall asleep before her a lot longer to process the schoolwork.

10 o’ clock,” Valerie said.

“Exhaustion can affect moods because lack of sleep in According to a study from Kidshealth.org, teens are class can cause you to fall asleep during the supposed to get eight and oneclass and you end up missing everything the half to nine hours of sleep per teacher said,” Valerie said. night but because the hormone Maude said he knows that when he texts Students need to wind melatonin, which tells the brain while studying nothing gets accomplished, to fall asleep, is produced later at down for the night to so he said he leaves his phone off during night, teens fall asleep later than help fall asleep better that time. But at night his phone is on the older and younger generations. and help the brain relax. charger located near his bedside.

Most teens end up texting later They can do this by not “My phone is a way to stay connected to into the night, according to the drinking caffeine, do people when I’m not with and I don’t have website because they already exercise, watch TV or to worry about calling them,” Maude said. have a later start than do older play Xbox a couple hours The desire for technology and social generations. connection affects many aspects of the daily School nurse Carol Gelatt, said before bed. life, especially when it comes to the time that students need to decrease any for “lights out.” When Valerie is waiting Carol Gelatt stimulation before bed in order to School nurse for someone to text her back, she said it fall asleep faster and get a better becomes harder to fall asleep than just night’s sleep. simply lying in bed. She said she is a really “Students need to wind down light sleeper, and it’s easy for her to wake up in the middle for the night to help fall asleep better and help the brain of the night to texts, especially when she places her phone relax,” Gelatt said. “They can do this by not drinking within easy reach in case anyone does text her. caffeine, do any exercise, watch TV or play Xbox a couple “I randomly wake up in the night and think, ‘Oh, wait, hours before bed.”

I have to text them back; I fell asleep. Oh, wait, it’s 3 a.m.’”

Sophomore Craig Maude gets more sleep than most teens Valerie said. “I think it has only been five minutes, but in at about seven hours a night, but that still does not meet the reality, it has been three hours.” recommendation for teens to meet their fullest potential in Although being connected socially has its rewards, school. Like Valerie, his phone may be a reason for that.

Valerie said texting doesn’t need to be a habit.

“I leave my phone on my bed so I have an easy way to talk “I feel more refreshed when I don’t wake up in the to my friends and I can hear it if there’s ever an emergency,” middle of the night texting because my sleep was not Maude said. “If I ever fall asleep texting, in the middle of the interrupted,” Valerie said. “It will be hard to not text at night somehow I will be able to hear the texts and wake up night, but being successful in life is more rewarding than to respond. In the morning, I become tired and lazy with my finding out something happened socially.” schoolwork.”

‘‘

”

Feb. 25, 2011 | hilite.org | HiLite | acumen | PagE 7

Millennials, parents share common music interests

Research shows rock ‘n’ roll is the most popular music genre among both parents and teens music did have plenty of rhythm with a lot of drums, but the emphasis on swing music is on good musicianship, good singers, good soloists, horn players and all Junior McKinley Clayton shares a love of rock that stuff, and rock ’n’ roll didn’t emphasize ’n’ roll with her father, Michael Clayton. Both that as much.” have said that liking the same classic rock bands Mr. Clayton said he remembers having from the 1960s and 1970s, such as The Beatles different musical tastes than his parents. and AC/DC, gives them some common ground, “My parents grew up in the big band era, so benefitting their relationship. there wasn’t any rock ’n’ roll or any of that kind “(Our music tastes) are really similar,” of sorts,” Mr. Clayton said.

McKinley said. “Me and my parents both like Albright said that the musical interests the oldies. That’s mainly because when I was between parents and teenagers today are younger, in the car, they would always listen more similar than they were in the 1960s. to their stations and I wasn’t allowed to change “I think the reason that Mom and Dad the channel. So I just grew up with it and got and kids can like the same music or come used to it.” closer to liking the same music is because McKinley’s shared music tastes with her those Mom and Dad grew up with that beat, of her father reflect a certain trait of today’s but their parents did not, and that’s what generation of teenagers and parents that did not caused that big generation gap in the ‘60s exist previously. and ‘70s.”

Today, for every age group under 65, rock ’n’ With McKinley and her father, it is roll is one of the most popular genres of music. clear that the musical generation gap has According to a nationwide telephone survey disappeared. Both said they sometimes go done by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan to rock ‘n’ roll concerts together. research organization in “I’ve always gone to August 2010, 35 percent concerts with them,” of respondents said they McKinley said. “AC/ I think the reason that listened to rock often, and DC came to Indiana for Mom and Dad and 30 percent saying they a concert—sophomore listened to it sometimes, year maybe.” kids can like the same placing rock ’n’ roll ahead McKinley said music or come closer to of other popular music although going to liking the same music is genres, such as hip-hop, concerts with her because Mom and Dad country and jazz. parents is different grew up with that beat, However, in the 1960s, than attending them but their parents did not, the national opinion of with her friends, she and that’s what caused rock ’n’ roll was extremely still enjoys the time different. In a 1966 national she spends with them. that big generation gap in survey, 44 percent of adults “It’s cool seeing your the ‘60s and ‘70s. said they disliked rock ’n’ parents jam and rock roll compared to other out to the same stuff.”

Randy Albright genres, and only 4 percent Mr. Clayton said “The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll” professor at IUPUI said it was their favorite that he enjoys attending kind of music. rock ’n’ roll concerts Consequently, kids of this generation are with McKinley. “You feel like you have a more likely to share a love of rock ’n’ roll connection when you go to concerts, and it’s with their parents, which cannot be said for fun being together and enjoying something past generations, when there were major together,” Mr. Clayton said. differences in music interests between parents Albright said having similar music and their children. tastes can be beneficial to the relationship According to Randy Albright, a professor between parents and kids. “I do know for at IUPUI who teaches courses such as a fact that it’s helpful, parents and kids at “History of Rock ’n’ Roll,” the music the adults least try to listen to some music together preferred and the music the kids preferred and talk about it,” Albright said. varied in the 1960s.

“It’s cool to talk to them about (rock “The parents of the kids who grew up in the ’n’ roll),” McKinley said. She said if rock ‘60s and the early ‘70s were not accustomed to ’n’ roll did not exist, “I guess we wouldn’t music with such a heavy beat,” Albright said. have something in common to talk about, “Their music came from the swing era. Swing and agree on something on the radio.”

Similar notes Think your parents have boring taste in music? Today’s music takes similar cues from music of previous generations, proving that what goes around really does come around.

You would probably like...

If you like...

By Adele Zhou azhou@hilite.org

‘‘

”

Lady Gaga

Madonna

Glee’s “Don’t Stop Believing”

Journey

Kid Cudi

Run-DMC

Mumford and Sons

Bob Dylan

Flickr.com / photos

Page 8 | acumen |HILITE | HiLite.ORG | Feb. 25, 2O11

Ask the Contributors Acumen staff members of this issue share what they think makes the Millennial generation unique

“Pop culture. With stars like Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas, Madonna and Michael Jackson are, unfortunately, taking the back seat.”

“Our opinions. It’s crazy that in just one generation, things that were absolutely forbidden in the past are now socially acceptable, or on the path to being socially acceptable, today.”

“We may be narcissistic, and we may have a shorter lifespan than previous generations, but we do not hesitate to volunteer and involve ourselves in various charities.”

Sophomore Ryan Zukerman, reporter

Senior Danielle Yin, graphics

Senior Afra Hussain, Feature editor

“Our positive attitude. Especially with the recent recession, we don’t see the future as all “doom-and-gloom” like older generations tend to.”

“The biggest difference between our generation and the previous generations that we are better informed about major health issues such as obesity and smoking.”

“Our ability to surf the internet without getting a computer virus every 20 minutes.”

Junior Henry Zhu, reporter

Junior Audrey Courter, reporter

Junior Andy Yang, reporter Henry Zhu and Lizzy Grubbs / photos