Kaneland Krier Volume 50 Issue 5

Confronting the innovative changes that technology will bring

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LETTER FROM THE EXECS

The line between reality and fiction may blur as we start moving towards a dystopian landscape. Technology, along with social media, opened a doorway for enhanced communication. However, as technology continues to advance, our society may continue to diverge and become a place where human connection is limited. If individuals do not confront the reality of where technology is taking us, we may risk disconnecting more from the reality we have known into a dystopian future.

Katie Pfotenhauer

Elliot Krippelz

Kisella Valignota Lizzy Sidman

Jackson Kottmeyer

Rafika Khan

PASSING OF KANELAND HIGH SCHOOL SRO

BY SARAH SLATTERY Editor

On Feb. 14, 2024, Kaneland Community Unit School District 302 was informed that Kaneland High School Resource Officer (SRO) Deputy Christopher Ruchaj passed away unexpectedly from cardiac arrest at the age of 50. Ruchaj had been a part of the Kane County Sheriff’s Department since 1997. He had been the SRO at Kaneland High School since the 2022-23 school year.

“I like to say he was a friend to all and a mentor to many,” senior and former Fox Valley Career Center (FVCC) law enforcement student Connor Anderson said.

Throughout his time at Kaneland, he made it his goal to help any student who needed it.

“He wasn’t the type of cop that wanted to just get kids in trouble,” Anderson said. “He wanted to figure out the root of the issue and then dig into that. He would talk to their parents and teachers and figure out what he could [do] to help them get on a better path.”

Ruchaj was known for trying to help students find their right way in life and impacting them in different ways. He did the same for the staff.

“We were co-workers,” physical education teacher and former Dean of Students Joshua West said. “He was the SRO when I was the dean. But just over the last couple of years, [our rela -

tionship] turned more into a friendship than a working relationship.”

Ruchaj was set to retire in June and was preparing to help find a new SRO to replace him. Because of his unfortunate passing, there were rotating officers at the high school until a new SRO for next school year was announced.

“He loved working with the kids, and he loved working here. Finding someone to replace him will be difficult,” West said.

During the bathroom fire at the high school last spring, Ruchaj’s quick actions did not go unnoticed.

“He immediately jumped out of his chair, ran down to get the fire extinguisher and ran into that bathroom to see if anyone was in there,” Anderson said. “He put his life on the line… he got to the point where he did have smoke inhalation, but he was just that kind of guy.”

Before becoming the SRO, Ruchaj had worked as a corrections officer and patrol officer for Kane County, along with doing some detective work.

As a patrol officer, Ruchaj became friends with Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain.

“We worked together for 21 years… we [both] started in the patrol division here [in Kane County]. He was always very close with me,” Hain said. “We worked the same patrol areas together, and he was always very supportive of

my career.”

Ruchaj took pride in everything he did relating to his work, from patrolling parts of Kane County to later working at the high school.

Along with being proud of his career, he was also a proud father. Ruchaj had three children: Riane, Amber and Chris. His children were Kaneland High School graduates, with the youngest, Chris, graduating with the class of 2023.

“The only thing he loved more than his job was his kids,” Hain said.

Not only was he a father to his own children, but he was also a father figure and mentor to students.

“We’ve had officers who would come in right when the bell rings and leave right when the bell rings. But Ruchaj would sit in his squad every day and wave at every kid leaving until everyone left that parking lot,” Anderson said. “His favorite part was getting that connection with kids…he really served as a father figure and mentor to many people.”

Ruchaj’s memorial visitation was on Feb. 23, and his Full Honor Police Funeral occurred on Feb. 24. Both ceremonies were held at Harter Middle School.

“It’s important to recognize that he would not want us to cry,” Anderson said. “He would want us to smile and remember his quirkiness and the fun times we had with him.”

Photos courtesy of Janelle McCornack, Sarah Slattery and Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain

Photographs of Officer Ruchaj serve as a reminder of his dedication to Kaneland. Many people formed personal ties to Ruchaj, and he will be remembered for his connections with the community.

Photo courtesy of Janelle McCornack Officer Ruchaj was the resource officer at Kaneland since the 2022-23 school year. A memorial was placed at the Old Second Bank in Elburn.

SUPREME COURT’S EFFECTS ON LOCAL HOMELESSNESS

BY AUDREY WALKER Editor and Co-Social Media Manager

On Jan. 12, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that they would hear the case of Johnson vs. Grants Pass, which will decide whether a city can punish people for sleeping outside when there is no adequate shelter, according to the National Homeless Law Center. The case could have wide-reaching impacts on our Kane County community, which has an ongoing homeless population.

The case originated in Grants Pass, OR, when the original lead plaintiff, Debra Blake, accumulated over $5,000 in fines from sleeping outside, according to the news organization Vox. The case was later renamed for Gloria Johnson, another homeless plaintiff. In 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the homeless plaintiffs, and this precedent has also been consistently set in lower courts.

A decision will be made by June 30, 2024, as this is the end of the court term. If the court rules in favor of Grants Pass, cities will legally be able to fine or arrest people who are sleeping outside, even when there is no safe shelter to go to. This ruling could have serious consequences that affect unhoused people both in the short and long term.

According to Vox, “Lawyers with the Fines and Fees Justice Center argued that civil penalties frequently trap unhoused people in cycles of poverty and homelessness, ensnaring them in debt that prevents them from securing housing at all.”

At Lazarus House, a nonprofit homeless shelter located in St. Charles, IL, Donor Relations and Communi -

cations Coordinator Carlos Gonzalez-Mendez agrees that having a criminal record can seriously impact the jobs that homeless individuals can get. Despite sleeping outside being the only offense someone may have, they will still have a criminal record, which could drive away potential employers.

“No one’s going to wait to hear that story,” Gonzalez-Mendez said. “They’re just going to see ‘criminal.’”

While this case originates in Oregon, its outcome could impact cities across the country, including in Kane County. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, 35% of homeless individuals in population areas similar to Kane County are unsheltered. In addition, Lazarus House, which serves central and western rural Kane County, saw a 17% increase in guests in the last fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year. This means that in the Kane County area, an increased number of unhoused and unsheltered individuals could be directly affected by this case.

Although the outcome of the case will determine whether the City of Grants Pass can punish people for sleeping outside, the decision will ultimately set the tone for how every other city in America can approach the subject, making its outcome vitally important across the country.

“If you have a Supreme Court decision, you don’t have to back yourself up,” Gonzalez-Mendez said. “It can set a precedent where other cities will feel emboldened to [criminalize homelessness].”

ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW SUPERINTENDENT

BY CARLI FILEK Editor and Co-Social Media Manager

At the Feb. 26 board meeting, the school board announced that Dr. Kurt Rohlwing will replace the retiring Dr. Todd Leden as the superintendent of Kaneland Community Unit School District 302 at the start of the 2025-26 school year. Next year will be a transition year for Rohlwing as he shadows Leden, overseeing his responsibilities and learning about the district. Rohlwing will officially become Kaneland’s superintendent on July 1, 2025.

After receiving his master’s degree and doctorate in educational leadership, he worked in several districts in various administration roles. He is currently the assistant superintendent at Round Lake Area Schools Community Unit School District 116.

“Every step that I take, I feel like I have an opportunity to impact more student lives,” Rohlwing said. “As a superintendent [of Kaneland], I’ll have a whole community.”

Kaneland’s superintendent search was announced at the Oct. 11, 2023, board meeting. During the search, there were multiple steps to the interview process that involved a variety of stakeholders and focused on community engagement.

“We wanted the administration to be involved in the community and to engage with the student body, teachers and the employees,” Board President Addam Gonzales said.

Rohlwing also plans to live in the Kaneland community and have his son attend Kaneland schools, which was a big selling point for the board.

While there was a large pool of candidates, including some internal options, Gonzales thinks they made the right decision choosing Rohlwing.

“[The community] emphasized they wanted some new blood,” Gonzales said. “We felt like he was that new breath of fresh air.”

As we move into next year, Rohlwing wants people to know that he plans to start making connections with the Kaneland community.

“When people see how passionate I am, I think that we’ll start to build good relationships,” Rohlwing said.

Photo by Audrey Walker

Lazarus House is a nonprofit homeless shelter in St. Charles, IL, that is open every day of the year. It is the only transitional housing option that is available in the Kane County area.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACTS

BY RIVER MULLINS & NATE SAND Editors

When the iPhone was released nearly two decades ago, it was the first of its kind to include email, a web browser, a music and video player, and a phone all in one device that could fit in your pocket. While this was groundbreaking at the time, cell phones are now an everyday object most people would feel lost without. If technology keeps advancing on the same trajectory it has in recent years, the way humans interact with each other will inevitably change.

A recent example of this technology advancement is the Apple Vision Pro, Apple’s newest revolutionary product. The Vision Pro is a portable augmented reality headset that can assist in everyday activities. The Vision Pro makes it possible to scroll through social media or watch videos while not utilizing a phone in public. Apple markets their Vision Pro at $3,499. While this product might seem convenient for someone who wants to engage in active tasks while also using the Vision Pro’s various features, it can result in their attention being drawn from their own reality.

One of the primary concerns many people have with the Vision Pro is its use of spatial video, which is essentially

a 3D video that can be viewed when using the goggles. Users can also access websites, and they can interact with them using their hands, eyes and voice. While this may seem very convenient for someone with a busy lifestyle, it can very easily take away the attention and awareness of those using the device. This can result in people becoming detached from reality, which can seem odd to those not using or even familiar with the product.

Kaneland High School senior Sunny Agrawal is a frequent user of the Apple Vision Pro, as he owns one and even lets others try using it.

“I can text or call anyone through it,” Agrawal said. “It’s both a virtual reality and augmented reality device. For augmented reality, it combines the virtual elements into the real world. For example, I could watch a movie and put it wherever I want, and you couldn’t see it, but I’m seeing it.”

The Vision Pro’s capabilities may be able to easily overtake those of a phone in upcoming years. The virtual reality headset’s main setback for the public is its price point. Because it costs as much as a used car, the Apple Vision Pro is not easily accessible to everyone.

“I think if it was cheaper, a lot more people would be walking around with one,” Agrawal said.

The Vision Pro’s price is a target for Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, as his virtual reality headsets are much cheaper. The Meta Quest is a fraction of the Apple Vision Pro’s price and has most of the same features. Zuckerberg claimed in a video posted to Instagram that the Meta Quest offers more range and comfortability, a deeper immersive content library, wider field of vision and more accurate hand tracking. For a price of $500, it provides a potentially more accessible option for anyone interested in exploring virtual reality.

With virtual reality products already on the market, more technological developments are on the rise. According to NPR, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has

recently started experimenting with telepathy under his Neuralink company. Musk told Business Insider that he started developing a telepathic device, named Neuralink, to achieve symbiosis between the human brain and artificial intelligence. The current goal of this innovation is for humans to be able to control computers and mobile devices via a chip inserted into their brain. Musk has already made progress in terms of the development of telepathy capabilities, recently claiming in an article posted to Reuters that the first test subject controlled a computer mouse while using Neuralink.

Telepathy and similar brain-implant devices may have the potential to help people in different ways, which Fox Valley Career Center (FVCC) teacher Danielle Wukitsch recognizes.

“If Neuralink could fix neurological problems such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, that would be amazing,” Wukitsch said. “But when your computer can read your thoughts and print out what you’re thinking onto a screen, do we all want to know what each other is thinking?”

The controversial part about this product is how it involves the implantation of a brain chip, which is about the size of a coin, into the human brain in order for it to work. According to AP News contributors Wyatte GranthamPhilips and Laura Ungar, the chip is implanted directly onto the skull and has thin wires going directly into the brain. Another unique part about the procedure is that it uses innovative robotic surgery, compared to a traditional neurosurgical approach to implant the device. Wukitsch says recent technological advancements have affected our society in a far more significant way than they used to.

“It used to be that, when there was a new technology out, it just meant our productivity increased. It didn’t actually change the nature of how we interacted with each other, but now these actually change the way we interact with each other,” Wukitsch said. “There will be this huge societal shift if you have a Neuralink [chip] in and it connects to my Neuralink and we’re having our own side conversation, and no one else knows. It’ll change how we live.”

by Sophie Ponce de Leon

Senior Sunny Agrawal demonstrates how to use the Apple Vision Pro. This spatial computer is the first of its kind.

Photo by River Mullins

IHSA GREEN LIGHTS GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL

BY ZOE GANNON Editor

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) approved girls flag football for the upcoming fall season. Girls flag football has grown in popularity in high schools throughout the country, and fans of the sport in Illinois are viewing the news of the sport’s acceptance as an exciting opportunity. As of the 2024-25 school year, girls flag football will be a part of the IHSA State series.

There are still a lot of unknowns in terms of the specific and logistical details involving girls flag football. The IHSA website will ultimately provide a comprehensive overview and set of rules for the sport, information for schools that need assistance or guidance introducing girls flag football, and dates for informational events for coaches and officials.

As of early April, the IHSA Girls Flag Football Advisory Committee has met on two occasions and will look to finalize the rules and structure of the State Series at upcoming meetings. The first IHSA Girls Flag Football State Finals will take place on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18-19, 2024.

Girls flag football in Illinois started with an inaugural league in the Chicago area during the fall of 2021. What used to be a partnership between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Bears is turning into an official sport for girls across the state. According to IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson, the goal is to create more opportunities for students across Illinois and to continue

to grow the sport of football by making it more inclusive. With the growth of this sport across the state over such a short period, Anderson believes it will continue to grow in popularity as it becomes an official high school sport.

There was a 500% increase in participants in girls flag football leagues from 2022 to 2023. In that same time, the Chicago Public League grew from 40 teams to 60 teams and from four divisions to six. The Northern Illinois Girls Flag Football League began with six teams and grew to eight teams after its creation in 2022. The West Suburban Conference also started with six teams, and within a year it doubled its number and had to split from one league into two.

According to the IHSA, there are commitments from over 100 schools to participate in the inaugural State Series in 2024, while nearly 40 other schools have expressed interest in creating a team in 2025.

With the introduction of any high school sport, many high school teams, coaches and players will need support to get gear and to gain more knowledge on the sport and its rules. According to the IHSA, some of the support being offered is that new teams can apply for a $2500 donation from the Bears. Additionally, USA Football offers field equipment kits, grants and opportunities for students to get exposure and practice.

At this point, there is no plan for

Kaneland High School to begin offering this sport. There are a lot of factors that weigh into bringing a new sport to a school, including the funding, the space for the players and how it can affect other sports.

“One of the questions the IHSA has to work through is that many of us have had girls play football before, so if we have both flag football and 11-man football, then what if we have a girl that wants to play both?” Kaneland High School Athletic and Activities Director David Rohlman said.

There are many unanswered questions and concerns that contribute to delaying the introduction of girls flag football at Kaneland, but there is still hope and excitement amongst students about the possibility of creating a team in the future.

“I think we would have a strong, brave and overall great team,” junior Grace Flinchum said. “I’m a bit disappointed [that Kaneland won’t be introducing the sport], but I understand why, and there are always future years to try. Although some girls may be let down they won’t get to participate in this opportunity, there is hope that one day Kaneland can have a team of its own.”

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, Kaneland hosted its annual flag football Powderpuff game between the junior and senior girls. Now that the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) approved the sport for the upcoming fall season, participating schools can have flag football be a part of the IHSA State series.

Olivia King and Carmella Rio

Photo by Audrey Walker

AN UPHILL BATTLE: KANELAND’S TRACK

BY ANNA GATZ Reporter

Whether it’s rain or snow, Illinois isn’t known for its glamorous springs. But inconsistent weather doesn’t prevent kids from doing the things they love.

While the weather may be starting to improve, practicing outside can still be a challenge for certain sports. Not all facilities are up to date considering Kaneland’s age of 65, which is especially true for Kaneland’s track.

Head boys track coach Andrew Drendel said the track is “the most unflat track I have ever seen in my entire life.”

The issue of the track predates Drendel’s time at Kaneland. Previous head girls track and field coach Eric Baron brought the track issue to the district in 2009, but there was no resolution to his concern.

Drendel described the track as bumpy and wavy, giving a ballpark estimate that only 40% of the track is actually flat. The track also has a variety of cracks throughout it, which are especially present on the home stretch. This past summer, Kaneland patched the cracks. However, the track is already showing evidence of re-cracking despite the recency of the repairs.

Running at top speeds on a bumpy track can lead to multiple injuries, such as rolling an ankle or tearing an ACL/ MCL.

“Those are not track injuries,” Drendel said. “You should never sprain your ankle in track, and you should never have a knee problem. An ACL injury is not a track injury.”

With such predominant physical flaws, the track no longer becomes a question of quality or being a “good track” but a student safety issue. And this concern affects not only Kaneland athletes but also Kaneland meet attendees, most of whom are not aware of the problem.

To eliminate bias, Drendel invited Head IHSA Track and Field Official Michael Powers to Kaneland to observe the track last fall.

“On arrival, I noticed that the track had deteriorated over the years,” Powers said. “I noticed that there was some ‘patch’ work done on the track...cracks in the track were filled in. And there were [still] numerous cracks to fill in

around the track. The worst part of the track is on the final straightaway before the finish line.”

Drendel recalls Powers telling him, “‘It’s the worst track I’ve seen in 20 years.” Their discussion steered towards the question of whether or not it was safe to host meets. Hesitantly, Kaneland personnel decided at that point that it wasn’t yet bad enough to be pushed over that edge.

“We’ve always said as coaches that it’s going to take a kid getting hurt for something to finally change,” Drendel stressed. “And unfortunately, that’s what happened.”

Runners wear spikes on their shoes, which provide extra grip while running. Sophomore Luke Gadomski was jogging in lane 5 when the spikes on his shoes got caught on the track, causing him to break both his hand and wrist.

“When I was slowing down after doing a drill, I just tripped and fell,” Gadomski said. “But it was actually my spike that got stuck in the track. That led to me falling with only my hands [to break my fall].”

Drendel gathered the boys track team in early March and asked them if they would be comfortable competing on their track. Overall, the team was hesitant.

Drendel also contacted head coaches planning to compete in the annual Peterson Prep Invite on April 20. Each coach agreed that it would be safer to relocate the meet, so it will now

take place at West Aurora High School.

One coach in particular wrote, “I wouldn’t want my athletes competing on that surface in those conditions.”

Kaneland personnel determined that they would only practice on the track and cancel or relocate all upcoming home meets.

The asphalt base underneath the track was laid in 1975. Usually these bases only last 30 years, meaning it is 19 years over that deadline. The physical track should be resurfaced every 8-10 years, but Kaneland’s was last resurfaced in 1997.

Kaneland Harter Middle School resurfaced their track in 2018 when that track was only nine years old. This project cost $68,487. At that point, the high school’s track was already 21 years old.

“You should resurface your track every 8-10 years, and the middle school did, which is great. I just don’t understand how ours has not been touched in 27 years,” Drendel said.

Currently, the district has a plan set for 2028 to dig up the foundation of the track, but this is not the first time the district has planned improvements. They have had similar plans in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2023. The track has been taken off the capital improvement plan four times in the last 15 years.

On June 22, 2022, the approval of capital projects for the summer of 2023 showed that previous plans to reconstruct the track changed to recoating the surface.

When it became clear to coaches and the community that the proposed improvements would not be happening, Drendel spoke to the board on May 8, 2023, about the caved-in concrete and long cracks. He also expressed concern about how spikes would adapt to the filled-in cracks, a concern that came to fruition this year.

“We did some repairs last fall, and they’re already not holding up. And we had a fairly light winter,” Director of Athletics and Activities David Rohlman said.

While the board has talked about fixing the track, it is still unclear when it will be done.

“We’ve pushed it off and pushed it off way longer than we can,” Rohlman said. “We can’t keep doing it.”

Photo by Anna Gatz

A crack in lane 5 spans the home stretch of Kaneland’s track. This crack has been involved in at least one injury of a track athlete whose spikes got caught while jogging.

SOCIETY’S DESIRE TO LABEL AESTHETICS

BY KATIE PFOTENHAUER Co-Editor-in-Chief of Print and Co-Copy Editor

Through social media, you have probably noticed that some people make life out to be aesthetic. With the daily barrage of perfect Instagram posts and effortless morning routines, it can be hard not to compare yourself to others’ aesthetic.

On social media, everything has a label, with different posts helping you find your certain aesthetic. For example, instead of simply viewing yourself as pretty, a range of TikTok posts can

extreme thinness or certain heights, ex aggerated features such as oversized lips or chiseled jawlines and unsustain able fashion tendencies.

“I feel there are both positives and negatives following certain trends,” said Sofia Jane Pantigoso, senior tal ent manager at Grail Talent. “Some trends could lead to misinterpretation if considered an unrealistic aesthetic, but there are benefits like having sim ilarities with people you never thought you would have something in common

Outside of social media, societal norms and expectations can influence how we act. Each day, we may catego rize ourselves and others as good or bad and ordinary or different, similar to how we use social media to find out what we like and dislike. However, it

While the idea behind aesthetics is for people to follow a label based on a shared understanding of what the aesthetic is, in the end, it is often some thing you can choose for yourself and only yourself.

be part of a club even if they under stand its absurdity.”

Like most things on social media,

What is your biggest

irrational f

By Kayli Loonam and Casper Suehs

Sophomore

e ar?

“My irrational fear is vomit because I’ve had really bad experiences, and it gives me panic attacks. When I was in 5th grade, one of the other students vomited, and it was vile.”

“I’m scared of the ocean because I’ve seen videos of when it’s night and it’s pitch black, and it’s scary. I don’t know when the fear appeared, but I’ve always been afraid.”

“I have a fear of eating in public. I’m a messy eater, and my parents are always super on top of my eating and making sure I’m clean. Sometimes I try to forget it and push it deep down. I remember it, though, because sometimes my friends comment about how I’m eating.”

“My irrational fear is bad car accidents. When I’m stressed out, I can almost see [them] as I’m driving. I can see big car accidents happening that we’re involved in, even though it’s most likely not going to happen. [I noticed] that it is worse when I’m in high-stress times in my life. I’ve never been in a serious car accident, so I don’t know where it came from. I also think that since I’ve had kids, it has gotten worse, especially when they’re in the car with me.”

Giana Lamela

Sophomore Ricky Rios

Senior Brie Booher

Science Teacher Amanda Dekker

READY PLAYER ONE: A NEW ARTIFICIAL ERA

BY PRESLEE SUTHERLAND Editor

Imagine a world where everyone’s eyes are glued to technology, with little social communication or human interaction. Their dependence on technology has become so profound that day-to-day activities, once done in person, now occur in virtual reality.

In this world, virtual reality is a reality. In Ready Player One, Ernest Cline creates a dystopian world with a dependence on technology that isn’t too far from the reality we live in now.

Ready Player One takes place in 2045, where almost everyone owns a pair of virtual reality glasses that take the wearer to a video game called the Oasis. In the Oasis, anything is possible. Life in the Oasis can mirror real life or be where people escape to fight aliens and live out their fantasies.

When the Oasis’s creator, James Halliday, died, he left his entire fortune to the person who could solve a series of riddles he created inside the Oasis. The book’s narrator, Wade Watts, has a goal of being the first person to solve his puzzle by learning everything and anything there was to know about Halliday.

Cline was able to strongly emphasize the progression of technology and where it’s going in relation to when video games first became popular in the 1980s. Most of the book takes place inside a virtual reality with more advanced technology than what was available when the book was released in 2011, but the book has many puzzles and references to 1980s retro video games. Video games from the ‘80s were 2D and didn’t have much variety in color. Since then, they have developed into 3D worlds that resemble real life with more color. Players evolved from using joysticks to being able to physically feel items in a game and vibrations through a controller.

Since most of the book takes place in virtual reality, it was easy to forget that the characters were already in a video game. Then Watts would teleport into an ‘80s retro video game, which made the differences between the worlds more defined.

The hard part about reading the book was the lack of dialogue. Throughout most of the book, Watts is alone inside the video game, so the majority of the book is full of paragraphs detailing Watts’s inside

thoughts instead of real life-conversations.

As an avid reader, if I get bored with the plot, I tend to read the dialogue until the book gets more interesting. Because there was little human communication, there wasn’t room for dialogue. However, unlike other books, it kept me engaged without the dialogue while pushing the story along.

The pacing of the book felt evenly spaced for the most part. Because this is a dystopian novel, there was quite a bit of world-building at the beginning. It felt slow to start because there wasn’t much of a change in scenery, location or people for Watts to talk to. However, after solving the first clue, the story started to pick up as more characters got involved.

Overall, Ready Player One did an excellent job of illustrating a dystopian society with elements of our current world while also showing the contrast of how far technology has evolved. Even though I wish there was more character interaction, that absence was necessary to allow Cline to devote attention to the dominance that technology has over human relationships.

CREATING A MODERN DAY TRAGIC ROMANCE

BY ELLIOT KRIPPELZ Design and Photography Executive

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 film starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. The movie showcases a creative type of cinematography that can be hard to execute, which can draw viewers in instantly. This movie captured my attention, unlike anything I have seen. The unpredictability made it nearly impossible to stop watching, and I desperately wanted to see what would happen and how the end would play out.

The film starts off in a very traditional way. The main character, Joel Barish, wakes up and heads to work. The camera pans to his living environment to showcase that he is just your average person. Then we meet the antagonist, Clementine Kruczynski, who is the exact opposite of Joel. She is extroverted and spontaneous, while Joel is quiet and more of an observer. The movie’s beginning shows them meeting for the first time, revealing their personalities as they interact. Shortly after their en -

counter, the film switches scenes to Joel ranting to his friends about Clementine. We then find out that Joel and Clementine were once dating and that Clementine has erased her memories of Joel by getting a medical procedure done as she sleeps. The film progresses into Joel erasing his memories of Clementine, and we see their past memories from when they were dating.

As the movie concludes, we see that the beginning of the movie is the ending scene. When the protagonists meet for what they think is the first time, it is shortly after they erased their memories of each other. The plot went perfectly with the visual aspect. I loved the way that the movie started with the ending scene to hook the audience. If you were to watch the movie a second time, you will notice things you wouldn’t have picked up watching the first time. When plots are unpredictable, I enjoy the movie more because I am constantly engaged and not bored.

This movie is a psychological, bittersweet love story. When I finished watching it, all I could do was stare and think about what had just happened because of how heavy the plot was. It is viewed as a tragic love story because even after they find out they were once together, they insinuate that they realistically will end up splitting apart once again but would be willing to try. Even though the movie makes it so that we want them to be together to be the perfect couple, it shows how they are not meant to be. Their relationship is not good for either of them, but the idea of having those happy memories without still being with one another is too hard to bear, hence the reason they tried to erase the memories in the first place. The creative plot and beautiful cinematography captured the essence of such a bittersweet movie. It mimics the unfortunate and heart-wrenching realism of relationships, showing how hurtful memories are better than none.

Elliot Krippelz and Sophie Thill

PROBLEMATIC ELITISM IN SOCIAL EVENTS

BY SELA VALIGNOTA Co-Editor-in-Chief of Print

Every year, major events are showcased live, from red-carpet award shows to athletic grand championships. Most of these shows are adored, with millions watching as they provide entertainment and a glimpse into the lives of some of the world’s wealthiest individuals. However, some argue that this glorification contributes to the desensitization of larger societal problems, like international conflicts and environmental issues.

One of society’s most well-known examples of this is the Met Gala charity event, which has been notorious for encouraging exclusive elitism. Although this showcase is meant to raise money for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, it’s recognized for debuting fashion designs made by top designers and worn by highly exclusive guests. With the paparazzi trying to get the first look at many outrageous and iconic outfits on the carpet, the attendees come wearing clothes that fit the Gala’s set theme for the year. However, recently, some have criticized these controversial themes and participants.

Vogue defined the 2022 Met Gala’s dress code as “gilded glamour.” While these Met Gala themes are typically left up to interpretation, many stylists recognized 2022’s choice as a representation of the golden age in America - a period when the economy and industry were thriving. Others, however, thought the theme was insensitive towards the worsening inflation and financial inequalities in America at the time. Additionally, people argued it disregarded other issues around the world, like the Russian invasion of Ukraine. International lifestyle media brand Popsugar contributor Charlotte Kho acknowledged how the theme could be seen as distasteful toward the invasion.

“Some critics feel that its focus on opulence is insensitive given the current war in Ukraine,” Kho said. “...Centering [the gala] around golden wealth during wartime is being viewed by some as tone deaf.”

sociology student Lindsey Stoddard examined both the contrast in social classes and how everyday people consume media.

“A lot of people like to see the outfits they wear because some of them are outlandish and crazy. To us, they live in a fantasy world,” Stoddard said. “A lot of these events, like the Grammys, have different movies and entertainment that they’re awarding...on the other hand, there’s a lot of money that goes into them that could be benefiting a lot of other issues in the world.”

While events such as the Met Gala, where the wealthy flaunt their richness, can be controversial, that does not mean that some of these affluent occassions aren’t for a good cause. Beyond raising money for art organizations, some celebrities, such as British musician Elton John, raise money for health causes. On the night of the Academy Awards, where some of the greatest talents in the film industry are honored, the Elton John AIDS Foundation holds its Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party, which allows philanthropists to raise money for HIV/AIDS prevention. Beyond money, the way these individuals attend and present themselves at these parties can make a bigger impact than some may expect.

controversy.

“Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people,” Glazer said. “Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza - all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist?”

The way society has come to glorify opulence and those who perpetuate it puts these people in a state of influence. Celebrities bear that responsiblity on and off camera. Taylor Swift is a prime example of a glorified figure that has had controversial topics tied to her name, specifically due to her use of her money and accessible luxuries.

People questioned the appropriateness of the culture and theme as the celebrities appeared unaware of major global affairs, yet thousands still tuned in to watch the event live. Junior and

People may view the wealthy to be in this greater, separate world, but the reality is that they aren’t. How people choose to take advantage of the influence they have in society challenges their morals and intentions through these events. During the 2024 Academy Awards, a few attendees wore Artists for Ceasefire pins to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. While this demonstration caught the attention of many, some still argue about the celebrities’ minimal effort of protesting, considering their presence at the prestigious, affluent award show. While roughly a thousand people gathered outside Dolby Theatre to protest, very few artists inside wore a pin, and only one award winner acknowledged the violence in Gaza in his speech: British director Jonathan Glazer. The Zone of Interest, a historical drama about the Holocaust, won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. In Glazer’s acceptance speech, he condemned the conflict, which has caused a rise of

Since the recent development of her relationship with American football player Travis Kelce, Swift has attended many of her partner’s professional games around the country. As someone who already extensively travels for her career, many began to question her private transportation and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions contributed by other Super Bowl attendees. With the average private jet emitting two metric tons of CO2, news magazine Newsweek highlighted the hundreds of private jets used by celebrities and other individuals to see the 2023 Super Bowl, and many, including Stoddard, argue that their wealth is more than enough to hold them accountable for their harm to the environment.

“All these celebrities releasing so many carbon emissions and motor jet fuels have the money to support the environment and put money towards that, but they don’t...I think they aren’t aware of the amount of help that they could be providing,” Stoddard said.

Although there are many celebrities who’ve taken on the responsibility of making environmentally and socially friendly choices throughout their careers, there are still many others who outweigh the good. Whether they are rich in fortune or influence, higher-class individuals have a choice in participating in controversial social events that include problematic lifestyles. Whether these people are aware or not, their decision affects the livelihood of everyone in society, no matter the class.

EXPLORING THE MEANING OF DREAMS

BY KATIE PFOTENHAUER, OLIVIA KING & ADRIANNA WELLS Co-Editor-in-Chief of Print and Co-Copy Editor & Editors

As a child, you may dream at night of distant lands with dragons, princesses and a knight in shining armor. In this kind of fairytale-like dream, the dragon is keeping the princess locked away in the castle, and her only hope is the prince, whom she falls in love with after the perilous rescue. However, as you get older, those dreams grow with you. Instead of dreaming about the fairytales you read before bed, you may have dreams where you are being chased or falling.

When you are asleep, your body is in a state for dreams to occur. While there are four stages of sleep, rapid eye movement (REM) is the deepest sleep stage. This is the stage of sleep where the most dreams happen.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit academic medical center that provides clinical and hospital care, “Its name comes from how your eyes move behind your eyelids while you’re dreaming. During REM sleep, your brain activity looks very similar to brain activity while you’re awake. REM sleep makes up about 25% of your total time asleep. Your first REM cycle of a sleep period is typically the shortest, around 10 minutes. Each one that follows is longer than the last, up to an hour.”

The four stages of sleep are considered vital to getting high-quality rest through all of life’s developmental stages. As we follow the developmental stages of childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age, our dreams develop too.

According to associate editor Alex Orlando’s article in Discover Magazine, an American science magazine, children tend to dream more about animals and close relatives. Older adolescents may often dream about physical altercations, falling and being chased. Adults, meanwhile, are inclined to dream about other adults in their lives, from friends to significant others. The elderly are prone to dream about the life they will leave behind.

All people dream, but the debate between scientists consists of whether they mean anything.

With dreams you have experi -

enced, you may find that it is hard to remember what you dreamt about after you wake up. With the fading of a dream, it can be hard to gauge what you experienced in your sleep if all the details are not accounted for. While dreams are undeniably real, the objec -

tive meaning of dreams themselves can be hard to understand based on their elusive nature.

Psychologist Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis, and his theories laid the foundation for the study of dreams.

As described by Crystal Raypole in

a Healthline article on whether dreams mean anything, “[Freud] suggested that dreams helped protect people from waking up early when light or sound disrupted their sleep, but he also believed dreams pointed to buried desires.”

While Freud’s theories have been critiqued, his ideas influenced dream analysis. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s perspective on dreams conflicted in some ways with Freud, as he believed that dreams had a deeper meaning.

According to Raypole, “Jung focused on specific archetypes, or patterns, that appear symbolically in dreams, theorizing that dreams could help explain daily events and balance out aspects of yourself you aren’t aware of yet.”

Some also argue they are the thoughts of your subconscious mind, while others believe them to be manifesting what you desire. Many spiritualists agree that dreams are signs of what is to come.

Kelly Bulkeley, an author and researcher who studies the field of dreams and the psychology of religion, wrote in TIME magazine, “Science may not be able to prove the existence of God or the gods. But it can prove that, for many people, dreams offer a way to expand their sense of reality and attain a higher level of being – not unlike religion.”

While spiritual beliefs about dreams vary across different cultures, they are still not fully understood. Kaneland High School social studies teacher Daniel Ferrel teaches psychology, and he leans toward the argument that dreams do not have meaning and understands that this debate may never have a single answer.

“[Dreams] may feature information that we encounter during the day, which may be misinterpreted as manifestations of the unconscious,” Ferrel said. “These theories are just thattheories - so we do not fully know or understand this process, and science may not ever be able to give us these answers.”

by Riley Merdzan

Cartoon by Dane Coyne and Riley Merdzan

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE GUT INSTINCT

BY SOPHIE THILL Editor

Many of us have been in a position where we feel a little queasy about an upcoming event or a pivotal decision we need to make. Usually, we chalk up this sixth sense to anxiety, but can we trust our gut feelings?

According to Psychology Today, a gut feeling is a reflection of a human’s unconscious mind. The unconscious is made of needs and fears, and these needs and fears help us make decisions, whether we know it or not.

Out of 153 voluntarily polled Kaneland students, 92.1% reported experiencing a gut feeling that turned out to be true.

Freshman Ezekiel Howard recalled a time when his gut feeling was right. He was leaving the high school from Scholastic Bowl practice and his cousin was driving. It was winter, and Howard remembered thinking about the possibility of the car skidding from the ice.

“I knew my cousin was a pretty safe driver and assumed it would be fine…about halfway home, on Harter Road [near the middle school], my cousin started to spin out. We barely missed hitting a tree and a massive pole. We narrowly avoided totaling the car. When all was said and done, the damages were minor. No one was injured, but I remember thinking that my gut was right about skidding off the road.”

Not all gut feelings come from the gut. Sometimes, there’s that little voice in the back of a person’s head telling them something is wrong, but there is science behind why we get uneasy when something doesn’t

feel right.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, scientists regard the stomach as the “second brain” because it has a vast network of 100 million neurons. These neurons work with the brain to assess past memories, experiences and preferences to help us make decisions.

But what sends these signals into our gut? According to Dr. Winston Sieck, a cognitive psychologist, “Dual process theory describes the interactions between intuitive and deliberate thinking.”

Dual process theory essentially states that there are two parts to the decision-making process. The first part is our immediate instinct, caused by our unconscious mind, which is the first

thing that pops into our brains after a question and usually represents what we truly want deep down. The second part is making a rational decision, which is the part where we think through how a decision will affect us in the long run. This might not always be the decision we want to make, but it could be one we feel is needed.

Essentially, instincts are the thoughts our brain hasn’t fully rationalized. While most of our instincts might seem absurd, they are oftentimes grounded in some form of truth based on our previous experiences or silent worries.

“Gut feelings are probably a combination of intuition and prior experience,” Howard said. “Whenever you see something that reminds you of a different situation, you get a bit of a gut feeling. It also is intuition because your brain can recognize patterns that might lead to something good or bad unconsciously, and that could be what we feel as a gut feeling. It’s probably a combination of previous experiences and recognizing patterns and situations.”

by Jasper Paulson

Do you trust your gut instincts?

Being able to understand gut feelings is one thing, but learning when and how to trust them is different and often can only come through personal experiences. If a person has had experiences in which their intuition has been right, they are more likely to trust their gut. If their intuition has failed them in the past, they most likely won’t trust their original gut feelings moving forward.

“I always trust my gut. It never fails me,” Howard said. “I think others should because it can reveal how you really feel about a situation.”

THE HUMAN THE HUMAN

Written by Jasper Paulson Design by Sarah Slattery

Anew website called Class Companion allows teachers to submit student work and receive automated feedback. It uses data from the College Board to assist with the personalized response it can bring. Artificial intelligence (AI) can also help students with tasks such as math homework and essays. AI can help generate ideas for everything from projects to lesson plans. However, there can be some problems with this constantly growing dependence on AI. According to Psychology Today, it can cause the “frontal lobe of your children to not develop properly, causing their empathic abilities to be potentially dulled.” While using AI for schoolwork may seem harmless, it could lead to problems with future generations’ reliance on it.

As technology advances, there is a worry it will hinder connections

view AI as invasive. Chat boxes, facial recognition technology, personalized advertisements and videos popping up on an individual’s recommended feed are all ways AI is in our daily lives. However, as its influence and capabilities grow, it can be important to figure out how to not become dependent on AI.

According to the human behavior department of Instituto Empresa (IE) University in Madrid, “Social connection is a universal human need that, when met, makes us smarter, happier, more productive, more resilient, and capable of dealing with stress.”

An ability to connect can be imperative for growing generations. The connections you form with people around you are often irreplaceable.

“Humans, in general, are social,” junior Julian Velazquez said. “Almost everyone is social, whether they know it or not. They enjoy company. I think it’s important for their development. It helps you find out who you are as a person. It can help bring out the best in you.”

The value of in-person conversations has been diminishing because people tend to rely on technology. It can be hard to notice how much time people spend on electronics when seemingly everyone around you is captivated by their devices.

Also according to IE University, “Screentime, and how it has crowded out in-person interactions, is one of the factors contributing to the global loneliness epidemic.”

Being so captured by technology can cause people to isolate themselves from others, which can cause relationships to deteriorate.

“If they mean a lot to you, losing them will hurt. It’s going to feel a little empty,” Velazquez said.

Feeling empty and lonely are the mental effects of losing connections with others, but there are also physical effects of that loneliness.

C O N C O N

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Social isolation and loneliness have been linked to increased risks for heart disease, stroke, addiction, dementia and an early death.”

People often long for others to understand them, which cannot be done by AI. Technology doesn’t have the empathy needed for a healthy relationship.

“That person-to-person contact is hindered through technology. I don’t think you can ever replace that human relationship with AI,” math and computer science teacher Matthew Smith said.

However, that does not mean technology can’t assist in that relationship. AI can allow you to overcome language barriers and talk to someone if they are nonverbal.

“I think [AI] is going to be great for people who can’t express themselves very well or write down the things they need to write,” Smith said.

Technology also allows people to collaborate with others who understand different topics. Someone who has trouble comprehending code but is extremely creative could collaborate with someone who lacks creativity and excels at coding to develop a creative, well-coded website. With all of these aspects that can improve with technology, collaboration can grow. However, sometimes people who will cater to your needs in these ways are hard to find. AI can solve this dilemma by becoming the tool you need. Technology can fill in the pieces that you’re missing.

“You can have AI do all of the fancy calculations while the person has to use their critical thinking skills to apply [them],” Smith said.

While there are so many ways com -

CRISIS CRISIS

munication has improved throughout the era of AI, this quick communication can also be negative. Being able to send something instantly has brought a new level of distrust in the knowledge learned from the internet, as misinformation can spread quickly.

N E C T

E

According to the National Institute of Health, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many false theories circulating about how to test for the virus. One rumor advised people to hold their breath for a minute to see if they had COVID or not, causing doctors in various countries to go into a “panic trying to urge citizens to not hold their breath for extended periods of time.”

Another drawback of modern technology is how misinformation using pictures of people can be easily circulated. AI is advanced enough to create fake videos, pictures and audio recordings, which people often trust on the internet. So the ability to fake such content can cause problems in the future. One of the ways people do this is called deepfaking. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines deepfaking as “an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.” The ability to do this can cause distrust throughout the internet.

“Photos and videos can’t be trusted anymore,” senior Rain Anzaldua said. “Deepfaking is growing in popu -

larity, and it might even get to the point where the justice system won’t be able to trust photos and videos as evidence.”

If people cannot tell what is edited by AI, it can cause them to question everything they see. According to a Teen Vogue arti cle by Cindy Otis, “If your face is on the internet, AI can use it in deepfakes,” which can take away from people’s privacy. If some one manages to edit you into a picture doing something morally or legally wrong, it can affect your digital footprint, which can be harmful when you’re looking for a job. At the same time, AI can also take jobs away from people.

“With AI art, it’s stealing the styles and artwork from other people and then putting it together like a jigsaw puzzle and calling it their own,” Anzaldua said. “This causes artists to lose their jobs because businesses learn that they can use AI instead of hiring a person to make advertisements.” Without those jobs, people have fewer places to connect their work with others, making it easier to lose motivation and even give up. However, there are some ways that the advancement of AI does add to the job market.

“There has to be someone there to cover maintenance of the AI systems,” Smith said. “AI can take away more calculation and fact-based jobs, but the analysis and application of these things will become new jobs on their own.”

How AI will influence life in the future is not something we know with certainty. There are many possibilities of

what will come from the age of AI. People often believe that it’s going to get to the point where society is hooked on it.

“I think that sometime in the future, we as humans could be entirely reliant on AI,” Anzaldua said.

Being in a world so overwhelmed with AI and technology is what so many movies have shown us. Just because people view the world that way doesn’t make it reality. People still value each other enough that there is hope that the world won’t get to this technology-driven dystopia.

“There’s some great technology out there that is very helpful,” Smith said. “They solve language barriers and provide technology for people who are amputees. They have smart limbs that can help amputees grab and walk. No matter how many times we think some of the AI-created things are ridiculous, we have to think about the positives. For every ridiculous thing, there’s got to be two or three good things for human development.”

The advancement of technology, mainly AI, changes how humans connect. What will stay consistent, however, is the need for person-to-person relationships. There is no getting rid of or replacing human connection.

CLEANING OUT THE INTERNET BRAINROT

BY KEVIN SIGRIST Advisor’s Assistant

Over the past several years, a new form of online entertainment has not only been introduced but has become the most popular and dominant means of internet content. Known as short-form content, it is available on almost every popular social media platform. If you are unfamiliar, shortform content is as it sounds: incredibly short, digestible videos rarely longer than a minute. They are designed to keep you, the viewer, interacting with the content for as long as possible. As young people, it is nearly impossible to avoid this form of content. Because of this almost unavoidable exposure, many modern slang terms have been created to describe the arguably brainless experience of consuming shortform content for extended periods, one of the most popular being the term brain rot.

content is always readily available and perfectly tailored to the viewer, keeping their attention even longer and indirectly killing their attention spans in the moment.

“I think all the companies are trying to get as much viewership as possible, and I think there’s psychology in this because it’s just really short term, which leads to short attention spans… and there are all these different kinds of [short-form content], so you can’t escape it,” social studies teacher James Fuller said.

Given this information on TikTok alone, which does not even mention the amount of time people spend on other popular social media platforms each day, the desensitization that comes with social media use may be unavoidable. But there are solutions that even Kaneland students are utilizing.

al,” Nordenberg said. “I definitely feel that I have more of a connection with people that I talk to because with Snapchat, anyone can kind of talk to anyone on there or snap anyone on there, but you don’t actually have a connection with anybody. The people who want to reach you actually talk to you.”

Developing a mindset similar to Nordenberg’s is one way to help exit the perpetual cycle of social media. Fuller also utilizes some more direct ways he and those around him manage social media while still having it in their lives.

Between TikTok, Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlight, YouTube Shorts and many other iterations, if you have social media, you are likely aware of short-form content. Beyond its availability, there are other reasons why short-form content has thrived on social media.

To put it into perspective, TikTok’s statistics alone appear very drastic. According to information released by Statista, a provider of statistics, consumer survey results and industry studies, the average successful TikTok video is between 41.2 and 50.4 seconds long. Also, according to MixBloom, a technology company helping brands and agencies scale content production, the average person spends 55.8 minutes on TikTok each day. These statistics would equate to about 73 TikTok videos watched each day. However, these platforms make it easy for its viewers to scroll without watching the whole video, making the number likely much higher.

CartoonsbyDaneCoyne

On top of this, social media platforms have begun to truly master their algorithms’ abilities, meaning video

Junior Evan Nordenberg offers a unique perspective as he has never even had social media and, therefore, has watched its development and effects on his peers from an outsider’s point of view.

“I think the biggest reason [I don’t have social media] is that it’s time consuming. I have friends who I know for a fact spend more than two and a half hours on social media platforms, and to me, it is just unproductive and a waste of time. It’s an easy distraction, and I feel like it’s something I don’t really need in my life,” Nordenberg said. “The second reason is that, with social media, it’s gotten to the point where you’re just another number. When people follow each other now, it’s not, ‘I want to follow somebody because they’re interesting.’ It’s just, ‘Who do you follow? Are you being followed?’ I think that demeans the true reason behind why social media exists.”

Nordenberg is correct in his first claim, as according to Forbes, an American business magazine, the average American spends two hours and 25 minutes a day on social media. Because of this policy that Nordenberg operates under, he has been able to see many benefits.

“School becomes so much easier because you just have the time to actually do your stuff, and you’re not distracted by social media in gener-

“There’s one thing you can do, which I myself don’t use but my girlfriend does, which is set limits on different apps. Personally, if I have a big responsibility where I need to get something done, I would leave my phone in other places so that the urge isn’t there. I know some people also say to put your phone in other rooms before bed, as it helps you wind down,” Fuller said.

One of the biggest issues many have with reducing their social media usage is the fear of missing out. Nordenberg finds this to not be a problem, as the connections with others on social media are often superficial.

“In the first few weeks [of not having social media], it’s hard because that connection with so many people feels good,” Nordenberg said. “But, as time goes on, you realize how important the people that actually want to have a connection with you are, and that makes it so much easier to realize that you don’t actually need social media to have a connection with people.”

Social media is increasingly oriented towards viewer interaction and monetization, and because of this, it has become increasingly difficult to limit the amount of time you spend on social media, leading to the so-called brain rot. The kind of content that is presented, most notably the short-form variety, is optimized to retain your attention over long periods. Because of this, it is difficult to escape it. However, if you utilize self-control, set limits, put your devices away at times and try to develop a deeper understanding of social media’s role in your life, you can also reduce your overuse.

LIMITING FUTURE DYSTOPIA

It is unlikely that we will ever experience The Hunger Games’ deadly arena, the Divergent series’ strict personality-based factions or the Fahrenheit 451 universe’s ban on all intellectual thought, but that does not mean dystopia will never come. It is the responsibility of us all as young people to recognize what a realistic dystopia could look like and how to prevent it.

Using the word “dystopia” to describe reality can sound ridiculous, as many of us probably associate it with popular young adult novels. Still, when we examine the meaning of the word, we can begin to analyze the extent of its accuracy in reality.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes a dystopian society as “an imagined world or society in which people lead wretch ed, dehumanized, fearful lives.” Although a dystopian society is described as “imagined,” it could very well exist at some point.

Dystopia is not necessarily what we see in books and moviesit does not have to involve an apocalypse, worldwide government totalitarianism or a violent revolution - dystopia could look eerily similar to our reality. In this world, over 30,000 are confirmed dead in Gaza since Oct. 7, around 9.2% of the world lives in poverty and about 44 million people are food insecure, along with other statistics that describe the struggles that plague our world. The world may not be entirely dystopian now, but it is far from a utopia.

Some may point to history where discrimination and inequality were sky-

high compared to what our society has progressed to. While this is important to acknowledge, we rob ourselves of crafting an even better society when we just sit and admire our progress. When we become complacent this way and lose sight of our most important issues, we allow our world to slip into dystopia. In contrast, we progress further when we productively criticize the world around us in search of constant improvement.

2024 is a presidential election year, meaning that many current Kaneland junior and senior students can vote for who they want to run our country for the next four years. As we select our preferred candidates, we must account for the dystopian future we hope to avoid and the one we work towards. No matter how we vote and whom we elect, we should keep in mind that our world is not perfect, despite its progress. Therefore, we must continue to organize and compel our leaders to steer us to a better future.

Real-life dystopia can be difficult to imagine because of how popular culture presents it, but it is far from impossible. An imminent dystopia does not need to paralyze us in fear, but we should recognize that our world has the ability to resemble that of fiction, giving us the responsibility to prevent it. Simply refusing to be complacent when improvements are necessary may be enough to save our future. Life is not fair. However, our responsibility is to make life as fair as possible instead of dooming future generations to a world we would prefer to read about in the fiction section. 0 34

Franny Ramirez Cassie Cramer Carson Pipenhagen Kaci Randall

Cartoon by Dane Coyne

PROBLEMATIC EFFECTS OF MASS MEDIA

BY SOPHIE PONCE DE LEON Editor and Co-Columnist Manager

In modern society, we have grown into a culture that is desensitized and even addicted to violence. Death and gore have been glorified for decades through various forms of entertainment, such as movies and video games. The more we see the violence, the less we are bothered when we see the same violence on social media. We can watch a low-quality video of someone getting assaulted or even being killed and not think anything of it.

As we watch a video, we see the victim and the abuser. Yet there is always another participant that we all tend to forget about. We always disregard the person filming the situation who could’ve saved the victim from what was happening to them. They could’ve stopped the abuser, yet they chose to film it and upload it on social media instead.

Filming something might not seem like a big deal, right? It’s not like you’re the one who started the altercation. You are just an innocent bystander who happens to have a phone. When you see something violent playing out before your eyes, what else could you do? The only morally correct way to handle the situation, at least in your mind, is to film it.

If you believe that, then you’re wrong. Instead of calling someone or going to get help, you chose to watch it unfold. The main question is why filming was your first thought. Out of everything you could’ve done, why didn’t you help?

to CommonLit.com, a website focused on education, it was reported that 37 bystanders heard what was happening and did nothing to prevent her murder. A more recent bystander effect situation, however, is the murder of 16-year-old Khaseen Morris on Sept. 17, 2019.

Morris was walking a group of friends home when he was attacked by Tyler Flach, a 22-year-old man, and stabbed to death.

According to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, “[Flach] attacked 16-year-old Khaseen Morris and several of his friends during an after-school fight outside of a strip mall.”

“There is a phenomenon known in psychology as the ‘bystander effect,’” Aurora University Psychology Department Chair David Rudek said. “This refers to the tendency for individuals to only help others when there are few or no other people around. That is, one is more likely to give direct help if there is more pressure to help. When we are in a group, we experience a diffusion of responsibility, which is to say that we identify as part of that group more so than as an individual and therefore don’t feel like it is our duty to help.”

The bystander effect has been around for a long time. One of the first reported bystander effects involved Catherine Susan “Kitty” Genovese’s murder on March 13, 1964. According

What the report fails to share was how about 50 bystanders were filming and uploading the video of Morris getting killed. A video later went viral, and instances like this keep occurring. Instead of helping Morris and saving him from his untimely fate, the people stood around filming his gruesome death.

However, sometimes filming things is necessary for change to happen. For example, on May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer while bystanders filmed. Little did the filmmakers know that this one video would spark protests speaking out about police brutality in the United States. Protests regarding this murder took place in over 60 countries and on all seven continents.

“Certain things need to be shown in order to have a change,” junior Janesa Winston said. “Some videos are valuable to the state of the world.”

The video of Floyd is a valuable piece of evidence regarding police brutality and the need for the abolishment of racism in America. Yet this was still a prominent example of the bystander effect. Someone was harming an individual, and still, people chose to film it. Filming is oftentimes important in terms of shaping how we perceive the world and gain information about what is happening.

But there are times when videos shouldn’t have been created, and action should’ve taken place instead. Morris might still be alive if one of those many bystanders had taken action and done something.

Many people in the world might not have suffered trauma or lost their lives if someone had just put down their camera and called 911. In a world of negativity and violence, it’s important to be the person who decides to take action and save someone. It’s necessary to prevent something that could ultimately end in disaster.

“I think that violence is inevitable. But the outcome of the violence is preventable. You just have to gain enough courage to do something about it,” Winston said.

Cartoon by Zoe Gannon

BRANDS PRESSURING MASS CONSUMERISM

BY BARBARA MARTINEZ Editor and Co-Columnist Manager

Consumerism has been an undeniable part of the United States for many decades, and there is little that people can do to escape it. In-store marketing strategies today are so subtle that you often don’t realize how much you are encouraged to mass purchase. It’s common in supermarkets to see items sold in bulk at a cheaper price than they would cost individually. Even when items are not in bulk, there’s still a large supply.

For example, at the American retail corporation Target, the store is divided into sections. These include food, clothing and accessories, home furniture and decor, toiletries, makeup and more. Looking at what’s available for purchase, many items sold in bulk don’t necessarily have a high demand compared to necessities. A prime example of this is the dinnerware. There are aisles dedicated to a single type of dinnerware, such as bowls, plates or cups. However, these items rarely sell out, and why would they? You might think, who is buying dozens of cups in bulk?

This strategy is likely to take advantage of the psychology behind why a person would buy in bulk in the first

place, and it is not just Target who does this, as Costco also relies on its customers buying in bulk. According to Ali Fenwick, a behavioral specialist who was featured on the Global Health & Pharma website, this is likely because of a need for control. Especially in times of anxiety, the human mind will anticipate that a product won’t be available in such supply later on. So they purchase a large quantity to avoid missing the opportunity later.

quickly can lead to minimum use by consumers, which can result in people getting rid of items before they need to be let go.

Rationally, you might think this is not a mindset you would possess since items such as water cups will not go through a shortage, but this effect manifests on a more subconscious level.

“Being able to buy things provides us with a sense of control over our surroundings, which also leads us to buy more than we need to have,” Fenwick said.

While the ethics of marketers taking advantage of this mindset when it comes to selling to consumers is debatable, it is clear that big brands are aware of this effect and try to use it to their advantage.

This is not exclusive to supermarkets. Fast fashion is a source of consumerism today. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Fast fashion [is] the rapid production of inexpensive, low-quality clothing that often mimics popular styles of fashion labels, bigname brands, and independent designers.” Popular fast fashion brands include H&M, Zara and Shein.

There are several problems with fast fashion, but a major one is waste. Fast fashion encourages people to keep buying clothing as trends come and go. The tendency for trends to fade

Considering the impact of fast fashion, this can be incredibly wasteful. According to Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, an online review journal focusing on research that spans all aspects of Earth and environmental science, fast fashion produces 92 million tons of waste and consumes 79 trillion liters of water.

When it comes to brands promoting mass consumerism, the problem doesn’t necessarily lie in the fact that they promote it. The true issue is that it enhances the consequences of consumerism by increasing it. However, being aware of how your spending habits have a broader impact on the world can lead you to take steps to do your part to reduce harm.

The key to avoiding mass consumerism is to be more thoughtful with what you purchase. Depending on your financial situation, it’s unrealistic to avoid every company that promotes harmful practices, so buying in moderation can be ideal. When it comes to household items such as dinnerware, consider what you can recycle before purchasing large quantities. As for clothes, you may want to avoid buying items to follow trends and instead purchase only those items you will get good use out of.

Cartoon by Zoe Gannon

Cartoon by Zoe Gannon

Photo by Carli Filek

KHS COUNSELOR EMPOWERING FUTURES

BY CARLI FILEK Editor

When Kaneland High School guidance counselor Kate Ozarka was growing up, the thought of becoming a counselor had never crossed her mind. As a child, her dream job was an elementary school teacher.

“I was that kid in the basement talking to the fake class,” Ozarka laughed.

When she switched from an elementary education major to a sociology major in her undergrad years at Augustana College, Ozarka knew she wanted to be in a profession that helps people, but she didn’t know what that would look like. It wasn’t until she did internships with various school counselors that she finally found something she could see herself doing.

Ozarka got her master’s degree in school counseling at Lewis University, and she believes her siblings paved the way for her. All three of her siblings earned their bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Her sister runs a clinic and works with kids with autism, which is a part of how Ozarka got experience with special education.

“She helped me grow and see different perspectives and how different learning takes place in each kid,” she said.

Ozarka’s first counseling job was at Plano High School, but after one year, she moved to the Somonauk school district. There, she worked as a counselor for grades K-8. While she enjoyed the tight-knit community, working with elementary and middle school was a challenge for her. Compared to middle school counseling on its own, elementary school counseling dealt with more behavior.

“I’d be working with a first grader, and then the next second, I’d be called to the middle school to work with an eighth grader,” she said.

After three years, she moved back to Plano High School, but living in Hampshire, it was a far drive. After a year, she decided it was time to move on, leading her to Kaneland.

When Ozarka began working as the College and Career Counselor at KHS during the 2022-23 school year, the role was new. In this position, she

works in the College and Career Readiness Center (CCRC), helping students with their post-secondary education plans. On top of this role, Ozarka works as a guidance counselor but with a smaller student caseload.

“Our administration and department value our students’ feedback, and every year, we seek student input,” guidance counselor Erin Shore said. “A few years ago, students asked for more support for post-secondary planning, so we advocated strongly for her position.”

Ozarka currently has a caseload of about 140 students. While the other counselors have a caseload of about 250, this allows her to dedicate more time to work with students in the CCRC and student services.

Senior Falyn Soto has received guidance from Ozarka in the CCRC. It has been hard for her to figure out her college plans because she will be in the National Guard for the fall 2024 semester.

“Whenever there is a challenge in my college plans, Ms. Ozarka has gone out of her way to find solutions,” Soto said. “She’s helped in so many ways, and she’s always available to talk if you have questions.”

While Ozarka did not have a focus on post-secondary education planning in her undergrad or postgrad, she was eager to learn when she began her role here at Kaneland.

“They had a lot of faith in me,” she said.

Since taking on this new role, she has implemented new programs and ideas, including representative visits, field trips, a career fair and more. The career fair, which took place on March 6, gave students the chance to explore new careers and interact with representatives from over 30 companies.

Ozarka’s creativity is something that does not go unnoticed by her colleagues.

“She’s constantly coming up with new ideas,” guidance counselor Anne Kuntz said. “She started these little mini college fairs in the hallway instead of having one college with a table.”

One of the first things Shore noticed about Ozarka was her professionalism and creativity.

“She has an interest in digital design, which has benefited our department’s communication with the students,” Shore said.

Since her position was new last year, the counselors also had to rearrange their caseloads. Ozarka, whose caseload is students with the last names D-G, took over several students from Kuntz’s caseload.

“I had to collaborate with her on the students that she was sort of taking over,” Kuntz said. “She was very collaborative and interested in the students’ individual wellness.”

Ozarka’s favorite part about working with students is the connections she makes with them, which is why she became the head junior varsity boys and girls soccer coach.

Something she tries to work with her students on is finding out what the next step is instead of working on the end goal, believing it is all about taking the baby steps.

“I validate that it’s going to be stressful, and that sometimes helps,” she said.

While she doesn’t have a whole network of students who have graduated yet, she loves to hear about how her students are doing after high school.

The job of being a counselor and juggling two different positions comes with challenges. And when these challenges arise, Ozarka often turns to the rest of the student services team.

“We lean on each other,” she said. “No one is an expert all the way.”

On days when she has had to handle tough situations, she makes sure to take time for herself. She tries to balance her work and home life, so setting boundaries is important to her.

“When I’m driving home, every mile, I’m taking off the hat of Ms. Ozarka and putting on Kate. I’m listening to music or letting the day go,” she said.

As for the future at Kaneland, Ozarka would like to solidify all of the programs she has implemented in the last two years. She also wants kids to remember that she is always there. She tries to flexibly organize her schedule so she always has availability for students when they need it.

“I don’t want to turn kids away,” she said.

THROUGH THE LENS: A DIGITAL CAMERA’S STORY

BY NATALIE LYCAN AND RILEY MERDZAN DESIGN BY KATIE PFOTENHAUER

From digital to disposable, Gen Z is starting to choose physical cameras over the typical phone camera. Following the trend of Polaroid cameras becoming popular in the 2010s, digital cameras are becoming many teens’ primary camera choice.

The question remains as to why this return to the past is happening during a time where so many other aspects of technology are advancing. Keith Larson, the owner of PJ’s Camera and Photo Supply in Glen Ellyn believes people love the discipline that tangible cameras require.

“You’ve got 24 or 36 pictures to make it count [on some cameras],” Larson said. “You’re not shooting two, three or four hundred pictures. You’re making it happen with 36 exposures.”

With today’s phone cameras, people may feel the need to capture everything perfectly, so they end up wasting time and phone storage with multiple attempts at the same photo instead of living in the moment with a smaller number of more authentic photos.

Although younger generations are contributing to the return of alternative cameras, older generations are enjoying the comeback as well. PJ’s Camera and Photo Supply will celebrate its 50th anniversary in March of 2025, and Larson has seen people from all walks of life come into his store. With his business opening in 1975, he has had customers spanning multiple generations. Kids who had fond memories of coming into the store with their parents or grandparents have continued to preserve their memories through PJ’s.

“We’re in the memory business. We always have been,” he said.

Kaneland students have different reasons why they choose to use cameras. Sophomore Noah Witz uses his Canon EOS R50 for practicing photography.

“You can really express yourself more with the settings you are able to use,” Witz said. “You can adjust your light, and you can shoot sports better because you can shoot faster and adjust your settings for it.”

However, others may simply choose to use a camera for fun. Senior Adalynn Ruh uses her Canon PowerShot to take pictures of herself and her friends.

“I think it takes better pictures. The pictures always come out cuter, and the lighting is always much better,” Ruh said.

While smartphones have made significant progress in camera technology, there are quailities found in tangible cameras that people enjoy.

Photo by Riley Merdzan

Photo by Riley Merdzan

Photo by Riley Merdzan

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AdALYNN RUH AND NOAH WITZ

“It used to be that, when there was a new technology out, it just meant our productivity increased. It didn’t actually change the nature of how we interacted with each other, but now these actually change the way we interact with each other.”

CTE Teacher

Danielle Wukitsch

Page 5

“All these celebrities releasing so many carbon emissions and motor jet fuels have the money to support the environment and put money towards that, but they don’t...I think they aren’t aware of the amount of help that they could be providing.”

Junior

Lindsey Stoddard

Page 11

“That person-to-person contact is hindered through technology. I don’t think you can ever replace that human relationship with AI.”

Matthew Smith

Page 14

Computer Science Teacher