bear facts LAKE ZURICH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT MEDIA
THE SCHOOLHOUSE GATE How students exercise and fight for their rights PAGE 21
MARCH 2016
MR. LAKE ZURICH page 6
LUNCH BUDDIES page 15
ONE MAN TEAM page 17
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BEAR FACTS STUDENT MEDIA IN THIS ISSUE
VOLUME 28, ISSUE 4 // MARCH 2016
SPOTLIGHT
There’s a difference between knowing your legal rights and knowing how they affect you
None of the above
pg 22
RIGHTS
After the attack
pg 24
Right side of the law
DO
pg 27
Constant surveillance
YOU
pg 28
KNOW
YOUR
Testing fails test
pg 30
Cover photo by Madison Hart
24
LZ LIFE Wrecked pg 10 Students’ experiences with car accidents
A&E Netflix Hidden Genres pg 12 Discover the mysterious hidden genres of Netflix
12
SPORTS Hockey with Heart pg 16 Senior girl dedicates her free time to play goalie
PERSPECTIVES Staff Editorial pg 32 Bear Facts looks into the rights students have while in school
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Risks of travel in a season of Zika
Photo from commons.wikimedia.org
Families who are heading to certain tropical areas may want to change vacation plans or learn about the risks and precautions of the rapidly spreading Zika virus to stay safe this Sping. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the Zika virus is an illness spread through mosquito bites, blood contact, or sex with an infected partner. The Zika virus is known for its possible link to severe birth defects for pregnant women. The most common symptoms of the virus are fever, rash, and joint pain. According to the CDC,
why it
matters compiled by
IAN NORONHA // staff writer CAMILLE SHIM // staff writer
Oil prices
Gas prices hit a record low since 2004, at $1.71 per gallon. Average monthly prices are down by 13 cents per gallon, and compared to last year, gas prices are estimated to be 15 to 20% lower, according to the American Automobile Association. Jet fuel prices have also plunged to around $1 per gallon, resulting in a cheaper airfare just in time for students and families to travel for spring break. These lower prices come as a result of the United States’s increase of domestic oil production. Saudi, Nigerian, and Algerian oil that was sold in the US is now having to compete for Asian markets, forcing the producers to drop prices. However, this recent downturn in prices does not mean they will stay so low. Consumer Reports recommends buying a fuel-efficient vehicle because the prices of gas can be extremely unpredictable.
4 News
“currently, there is no evidence to suggest that the Zika virus poses a risk of birth defects for future pregnancies. The Zika virus usually remains in the blood for about a week, but has been found to stay in semen longer.” however, the CDC says extensive research on the virus has only recently begun. The CDC urges pregnant women to avoid traveling to affected areas. Pregnant women who decide to travel to an affected area should talk to their doctor or healthcare provider before traveling, for a full list of proper precautions
Photo from Blumforms.house.gov
iPhone privacy
In court battles brewing across the nation, the FBI is trying to force Apple to help it extract data from iPhones seized in more than a dozen cases. At the time, Apple explained that while it could technically unlock the iPhone in question because it was running an older version of iOS, being forced to comply with the order could “substantially tarnish the Apple brand.” This February, Judge James Orenstein, who is presiding over the New York case, decided in favor of Apple (via TechCrunch), handed down a ruling that could potentially impact the much more prominent San Bernardino dispute, a search warrant to unlock an iPhone that was used by one of the terrorists who killed 14 people and injured 22 in San Bernardino last year. Approximately 94 million iPhone’s are used in the US and studies show teens especially love them. A survey revealed that 65% of respondents own an iPhone, 4% higher than a year ago. 74% of Teens intend to buy a smartphone from Apple within the next six months. Almost half of the schoolchildren interviewed have tablets, and in 60% of cases has an iPad. All of which are Apple products. Apple, however, has officially opposed an order that would require it to break into iPhones to aid FBI investigations on the San Bernardino shooter, Syed Farook, and will now face off against the government in court on March 22.
around the AREA
Photo from commons.wikimedia.org
Photo from Brianne Saab
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
1
Have you ever seen a state-of-the-art robot in person? This could be the perfect chance. From April 2 to April 10, visit Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry for the National Robotics Week event. View and interact with robots from both amateur and professional roboticists, listen to professors talk about robotics, and even watch live robot compositions. This event will take place at the Museum of Science and Industry on South Lake Shore Drive between 9:30am and 4pm. Tickets are $18 for adults and $11 for children and can be bought at the museum or online at www.msichicago.org. Get your geek on and spend some quality time with science and robots, while visitng other exhibits the the museum has to offer.
Shamrock Shuffle
Rihanna Tour UNITED CENTER
2
Rihanna and Travis Scott will be performing at the United Center for Rihanna’s Anti World Tour on Friday, April 15, at 7:30pm. The album was a collaborative effort with singers like Kanye West, Paul McCartney, and many more. Ticket prices range by seating and can be bought at chicago-theater.com/theaters/ united-center/tickets.
Photo from roundrocktexas.gov
GRANT PARK
3
Show your St. Patrick’s Day pride by running in the 37th annual Shamrock Shuffle 8k on April 3. Participants will race from Chicago’s Loop to Grant Park. Each participant receives a T-shirt and a medal, in addition to a post-race party with live music and refreshments. Registration costs $50.00 and is at shamrockshuffle.com/ participant-information/ registration.
Magic Cabaret GREENHOUSE THEATER
4
Searching for a truly magical experience? Come see the Magic Cabaret on Wednesday, March 30, at 8pm on North Lincoln Ave. For over nine years, this group has brought shows Chicago. Their audienceinvolved-performances make you the center of the show. See tricks from mind reading to objects appearing out of thin air. Tickets available for $30 at greenhousetheater.org.
Terracotta Warriors THE FIELD MUSEUM
5
Love history? The Field Museum’s newest exhibit is coming: China’s First Emperor and his Terracotta Warriors. Finally see what you’ve been learning in your history classes from priceless treasures to archeological discoveries. Look at archers, infantrymen and armed officers as they stand to guard Qin Shihuangdi’s tomb for eternity. Tickets are $18 for adults and students start at $15.
News
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Mr.LZ This season on...
compiled by DOMINIQUE GERTIE, MADI KLEIN // staff writers
DAN MARSHALLA
Q: What are three words to describe you? A: Handsome, gorgeous, beautiful Q: Who do you want to win this competition for? A: For my dog. If she was a person she would be my favorite person, but she is not. Despite being old, she is young at heart and is an inspiration for all of those who have to experience aging. Q: To whom do you owe all of your success? A: My dog and the inspiration of Kanye.
NOAH MCGARR Q: Who is your biggest competition? A: Zack Keller Q: Who do you owe your sucess to? A: My little brothers. When you have little [siblings], you always want to be someone that they can look up to. Q: What are you most looking forward to in the competition? A: Having fun and entertaining people because that’s what it’s all about.
NICK SANDERS Q: Who is your role model? A: Jim Carey Q: What are you doing in preparation? A: Drinking a lot of chocolate milk and watching a lot of Spongebob. Q: Who is your biggest competition? A: Joey Lindstrom because he’s handsome and almost as funny as me. Q: What are you going to do after you win the competition? A: I’ll go to Disneyworld
WILL BUCHTA Q: What are you most looking forward to in the competition? A: Winning Q: What is an event in your life that made you who you are today? A: Being born. Q: Why should you be Mr. LZ? A: Because I’m Will Buchta and I’m tall.
6 LZ Life
JESSE DEVER Q: What are you most dreading in the competition? A: I’m dreading seeing Derek Rogers dance. Q: Who is your role model? A: Kent Nightlinger. He’s an amazing man. He really is. Q: Why do you think you should be Mr. LZ? A: Well I look incredible in a three-piece suit. Q: What are you going to do after you win the competition? A: I’m probably going to help my mom frame the ‘Letter to Mom’ because mine is going to be great.
ROBERT WITKOWSKI Q: What are you most dreading about the competition? A: Having to scrape my competitors’ crushed dreams off the soles of my shoes. Q: What are you doing in preparation? A: Carboloading. Q: What are you going to do after you win the competition? A: Have Jack Cooney serenade me with “Careless Whis per” on his saxophone. Q: Why should you be Mr. LZ? A: I believe in the divine right of kings JOEY LINDSTROM Q: What are you most dreading in this competition A: Embarrassment, but I don’t think that’s really going to matter. Q. Why should you be Mr. LZ? A. I’ll be able to say that I was Mr. LZ. But if I don’t win, I could say that I was friends with Mr. LZ. Q: What are you doing after you win the competition? A: Go to Disney World obviously, and I’ll probably get like… four cheesecakes. I already have one, so I might as well get four more.
RILEY COOK Q: What are you most looking forward to in the competition? A: I really enjoy the whole tux thing. Q: Who’s your role model? A: Wolverine. He’s super old, he’s got awesome powers, and he can just kill whatever he wants but he doesn’t. He’s awesome. Wolverine is the greatest. Q: What would you do to celebrate after you win the competition? A: Give everyone a hug. That’s a great way to celebrate: give people hugs.
JAKE MURRAY Q: What are you most dreading in the competition? A: The talent section, I don’t have that many talents. Q: What are you most looking forward in the competition? A: I’m looking forward to seeing all the faces of the other contestants when they see that I win. Q: What should you be Mr. LZ? A: Because I’m one cool cat.
ZACK KELLER Q: Three words that describe you? A: Hardworking, tired, friendly Q: Who is your role model? A: Leonardo DiCaprio. Q: What are you doing after you win the competition? A: Go to Disneyland. Q: What are you most looking forward in the competition? A: Seeing everyone make a fool of themselves, including me. DEREK ROGERS Q: What are you dreading most in the competition? A: I don’t have a talent. I’m just gonna read Dr. Seuss super seriously and really monotone. I’m going to have someone on bongos. Q: Who is your biggest competition? A: Zack or Jesse. I know they have no shame. Q: Who do you owe your success to? A: My parents. They raised me with a good head on my shoulders. I have a good sense of being morally correct.
LZ Life 7
Which hand is CHLOE FARIS // staff writer
What would happen if you woke up in the morning and everything was backwards? You would have to use your other hand for computer mouses and pencil sharpener handles. Simple actions would be a lot harder and take more effort than normal. This is what a left-handed person deals with every day. Although the people who are dominant in their left hand can face difficulties, there is evidence that left-handed people are more creative due to their unique type of thinking that helps to explore different solutions, according to research published in the American Journal of Psychology. “[Art] is just something I’ve always been good at,” left-handed junior, Colleen Schinler, said. “Other kids have sports or math that they are good at, but I’ve always been more talented at art. I really like it because it’s an outlet for the things that happen in my life and emotions and events I want to keep track of. Some people keep journals or some people write stories but I draw out what happens to me.” Due to Schinler being left-handed, she has a distinctive type of thinking through her passion for art, according to research published in the American Journal of Psychology. “I always thought it was really interesting how different types of art can convey different feelings,” Schinler said. “Music can have different feelings based on whether you’re sad or happy, like it could be upbeat or sad. I think the color palette and different textures Colleen Schinler, junior at left, and Gretchen Guimarin, freshman at right, point out the characteristics of people who share their dominant hand.
8 LZ Life
of art can convey the same feelings.” Schinler tries to take as many opportunities as possible to further develop her creative skills. “I’ve been doing art since elementary school. I’ve taken just about every class that we have for the art program here [at high school],” Schinler said. “I’m in art club, I’m an [art club] leader, and I’m going to be in AP next year. That’s pretty much what I want to do, I want to be an illustrator.” Even though it is common for left-hand dominant people to be more creative than others, according to research in the American Journal of Physiology, Karen Marchand, English teacher, does not agree. “I don’t necessarily think I am more creative,” Marchand said. “I’m more logical, I have some creative qualities, but I don’t think that’s dominant in me, I think I’m more the logic and reason, analytical personality.” Marchand still believes that even though she doesn’t carry the traits of left-handed people, her left hand plays an important role in her life. “I feel like [my dominant hand] does [affect me] because things are obviously made more for the right handed world,” Marchand said. “I feel like because I had that I’m stronger with my non-dominant hand than most righthanded people would be if they had to do something with their left-hand. Contrary to Marchand, Schinler never really thought anything big about being left handed, but “just thought it was an interesting quirk because being left handed is pretty rare.”
the ‘right’ hand? Only around 10 percent of people are left-handed, meaning 90 percent are dominant in their right hand for writing, throwing and other actions, according to Psychosocial Difference Between Left-handed and Righthanded Children, a thesis written by Jennifer R. States Fisher. Students’ handedness is opposite from the half of the brain they use the most. Therefore those who are dominant with their right hand are said to use their left brain more, according to an article on Indiana.edu. Dominant right-handed people are usually more analytical in their thinking and often perform well academically, which is very evident in right-handed freshman, Gretchen Guimarin. “I also think math is really interesting because there’s this quote, “if truth is beauty then math must be the most beautiful thing in the world” because it’s always true,” Guimarin said. “Everything has sort of a reason and within math you can always work things out [which] I just think is really cool. It’s fun to dig into different things. I also think it’s interesting that you can go through and find different theories and always figure out if things are possible or not by using math.” Although Guimarin finds math interesting, she does not believe it limits or distracts her from her other talents. “I’m really bad at sports, but everything else I’m marginally good at,” Guimarin said. “I won three state awards for art and I’m in mostly higher level classes. Also I’m learning three [different] languages.”
Similar to Guimarin, Michael Kaufman, history teacher, believes although he is right handed, he is still more of the creative type. “I like crafts like taking old furniture, sanding them down making them look original,” Kaufman said. “I’m the idea guy, I can see good ideas, but it’s much better when people can complete those ideas and I can sit back and be like, ‘yeah I was the first thought. You guys put it all into plan’”. Leah Enright, Spanish teacher, feels the same way as Kaufman. As a right-handed person she still considers herself a creative person. “I never attributed [being creative] to being right or left handed. I would think left brain, right brain would have some correlation. I’m definitely not left [brained], I’m definitely right. I’m more free and creative, and not so rigid. Although I like to be in control and I like to have everything lined up, but not to that extent,” Enright said. I’m also crafty, I like to do things like [make] jewelry. I have a niece and nephew and I’m always doing crafty things with them. I think if you walk into my classroom you can tell that it’s not so rigid and I like to have things that people would like to get their hands on.” Enright is right in saying that your dominant hand does not always affect your talents or passion, but for people like Schinler and Guimarin it does in many ways. Many things attribute to who you are, but keep in mind while you go about your life the role in which your hands play.
LZ Life 9
the teen years can be a real MELANIE VILLARMARZO // staff writer
-
WRECK AGE ] ]
High schoolers are more at risk when driving on the road. Statistics show that 16 to 19 year olds are nearly three times more likely to be in a fatal crash than drivers aged 20 or older, according to cdc.gov. With so many distractions, such as interactive GPSs, passengers, phones and more, it can be difficult for a beginner driver to stay focused, according to Dan Strickler, a driver education teacher. Sydney Goldman, senior, had her own car totalled in a car crash because she was focused on only one thing, which was finding her friend’s house that night. “Being focused on the task at hand is the most important piece. That is getting more and more difficult as technology is increasing,” said Strickler. “When I say technology, I don’t necessarily mean cell phones. Everybody knows that texting or
$19 billion worth of motor vehicle injuries are from teens. -cdc.gov
talking on the phone isn’t a good thing, but if cars are becoming so much more technologically advanced, [like] the screens that will display all kinds of information. People play with those. [Students] have to remain focused on what they’re trying to do: getting [to your destination] alive.”
When Goldman got into her accident she was focused, but not on the right thing. She was preoccupied with her thoughts and wondering where she would turn next. “I don’t remember really being hit. [The driver] says that I turned in front of him and that he couldn’t really stop,” Goldman said. “He hit me and he kept going because, he was trying to stop, but his brakes weren’t working. I ended up spinning, and he hit my back end too. My entire front bumper was totally gone, and I ended up in a ditch.” After the accident, the senior only wanted to know where she was and if the other people in the car were injured. She did not even notice that her own head was bleeding. “So I ended up concussing myself. I hit my head against the top of the seat belt holder. When the airbag came out it hit me at such an angle that my head went backwards,” said Gold-
man. “I hit that and ended up having to get nine staples in my head. 18 holes, whoo hoo! It was either staples or them shaving my head to do stitches. I was like ‘No thanks.’ And I did have some back pain from the whiplash and stuff, but that one wasn’t as major. There weren’t any broken bones or anything like that. I was pretty lucky.” Many teens who are beginnning to drive do take driving safety seriously, Strickler says, but he thinks there is a learning curve. “For a lot of teenagers, I think you have to experience things or see things first hand,” Stickler said. “Your parents or some other adult telling you [about the dangers] does not really hit home until it happens to someone close to you.” The driver education teacher wants all his students to be safe on the road, so he really tries to emphasize the statistical nature of accidents that can occur during teenage years and the risk factors of driving under unsafe circumstances. “We at Lake Zurich, I think, do a pretty good job at getting kids prepared. Yes, there have been kids from Lake Zurich killed in car crashes. They tend to be few and far between, which is great,” said Strickler. “It does make it a little more difficult when I’m talking in class about the possibilities when
of
nobody actually knows somebody. It’s both a blessing and a curse because I don’t want anyone to get hurt just as a demonstration to the rest of the group, but at the same time, sometimes it’s hard to tell people that it is a possibility when they haven’t seen it.” Alexis Charnogorsky, junior, was also very lucky to have had survived her car crash. Her car was “T-Boned” at the intersection of Route 12 and 22. Charnogorsky was on her way to school, making a stop to get coffee, and expected to arrive at school just in time. However her plans did not go as expected, and she was involved in a car crash. “I was so shocked, and it was so many emotions. I didn’t know if I was angry or scared. My first reaction was ‘Oh my God. Now I can’t get coffee!’ I was literally just so [anxious]. I got out of the car to look at the damage, and once I saw [the other driver’s] car and mine, I immediately burst out into tears,” Charnogorsky said. Since Charnogorsky failed to yield, she caused the accident. She was unsure on how tell her father once it happened. “Right when it happened, the cop came up, and told me that I needed to call my parents. He actually took my phone, and called my dad [telling him] for me,” said the
junior. “He was so angry that I crashed the car, but he was just so happy that I was okay. He approached me, and he hugged me; but then he was like, ‘I can’t believe you did this!’ I told him, ‘Yeah, yeah. I know. I can’t believe it either.’” After an accident occurs, the hardest thing to do is process what just happened and how to handle it. After all the stress, a person needs to also recover mentally, according to Goldman. “It was really stressful. I was disappointed in myself. I was in my head a lot of times thinking, ‘I let my mom down. She is always telling to drive safe. I could’ve killed someone,’” said Goldman. “It was definitely an internal battle for me. I almost had to [reteach] myself how to stay calm while driving. So if someone came too close, I wouldn’t freak out.” It took Goldman about a month to start driving, but she still did not feel 100% comfortable on the road. She said that she now knows, that she really has to focus. “You really have to focus when you’re driving because the slightest thing can happen,” Goldman said. “And when you don’t pay attention, you are is putting the lives of others and yourself at risk. I know I don’t want to be responsible for a lost life.”
] The presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers. -cdc.gov
]
Sydney Goldman sits on her car, which used to belong to her grandmother. She says this car helped her get used to driving on the road again.
Alexis Charnogorsky poses next to her leased car. She says she needs to be able to drive places, and being able to have this new car is very helpful.
LZ Life 11
Explore the secret hidden genres of Netflix has everything, from beloved tv shows to weird, obscure movies. But when it seems like you’ve watched everything and there’s nothing left, explore the secrets Netflix has to offer. Browse “Netflix Hidden Genres.” DANNA TABACHNIK // digital director
Dramas Based on Books: #4961
Read a good book recently? A book that you can’t stop thinking about? A book that may or may not be a movie? There’s a Netflix hidden genre just for that! There are some newer ones, like Silver Linings Playbook and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and the classics like Forrest Gump and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. But what about yet another movie for which Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t win an Oscar for? No, not The Titanic or The Wolf of Wall Street. In this movie, DiCaprio plays an intellectually disabled child whose older brother, played by Johnny Depp, is in charge of the entire family. A family in which the mother can barely make it to the bathroom by herself because of her weight, which she gained after her husband killed himself, and two teenaged sisters who tend to be too annoying to handle. Although made in the early 90s, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is anything but boring. It’s a little weird, with a random affair, DiCaprio climbing water towers, and how the kids end up dealing with their mom’s death, but DiCaprio and Depp’s characters make this movie anything but boring. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape may not be the most popular Depp or DiCaprio movie, but that doesn’t take away from its greatness. DiCaprio, who was 19 while shooting the movie, really knew what he was doing. Not only was he convincing, but this really was his best performance. The Academy Award snub really did start his career, though. The movie fits very well in the genre, even though Peter Hedges, author of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, didn’t write or direct the movie. This movie, like all the others in this genre, fit perfectly. They are dramatic and developed from a book, no matter how directly it follows the novel.
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Teen Comedies: #3519
Score! We have our own category! A category with movies that probably shouldn’t be in it, but still, our own category. But who knew that the movie about a girl changing her whole life and personality just to get a guy (that’s Grease by the way), was a comedy? Or that the cinematic masterpiece that is High School Musical was one too? 13 Going on 30 might count. Maybe even Clueless. But the one that is the most confusing in this category has to be Struck by Lightning. It’s a movie about a kid who wants to get into Northwestern and be the youngest editor of The New Yorker. To get there, he needs to make a Literary Magazine to show the school that he left a mark on the world. Except no one is interested in helping him because teenagers are mean. So to get what he wants, he starts blackmailing people. In between all the blackmail Carson has to deal with his mess of a family. It’s the same old narrative, except it starts with the main character literally being struck by lightning, which isn’t all that funny. “His home life features the usual suburban dysfunction. Here we smirk at the characters’ cluelessness,” Omer M. Mozzaffar, contributor for rogerebert. com, wrote in an article. “They are deeply unhappy, but would rather live a shallow life of television talk shows than face their demons.” Struck By Lightning is definitely a teen movie, but comedy might not cut it. To fully understand the meaning behind what Chris Colfer, writer and lead actor of Struck By Lightning, is really trying to say about life and what it throws at you, you have to think. A movie that starts out with death, relies on sarcasm and bitterness, and requires viewers to think can’t possibly be categorized as a comedy.
Late Night Comedies: #1402
Everybody has bad days, those days where you want to lock yourself in your room and ignore the world. Oh, and maybe watch a movie. A movie that’s so stupid it’s funny, and so bad that it’s good. Late Night Comedies is exactly the genre you need. White Chicks, Scary Movie 3, American Pie, and Dude, Where’s My Car are the best the representations of this category. But what doesn’t fit, a movie that’s both stupid and bad has to be Behaving Badly. This movie is basically Spring Breakers 2.0 for Selena Gomez, trying yet again to remind everyone that she’s no longer a Disney kid. It’s basically the same story, too. A good-two-shoes surrounded by a bunch of immature, gross people. The difference between Spring Breakers and Behaving Badly is that Gomez doesn’t leave halfway through. In this one, everyone gets to see how gross teenage guys and how naive girls are, too. Because despite everything gross that happened after Nat Wolff ’s character makes a bet about how he’s going to get with Gomez, she still gets together with him. “Aside from a few lines of juicy bad language, Gomez plays the innocent in this fast-paced screwball farce, which is full of cheerful vulgarity but dangerously low on wit, charm or narrative logic,” wrote Stephen Dalton, writer for The Hollywood Reporter. This movie is anything but a comedy. It’s stupidly cringe worthy, and completely degrades every woman in the movie. This movie doesn’t fit in the Late Night Comedies genre and takes away from the other amazing, actually funny movies presented. Behaving Badly doesn’t live up to the awful but hilarious movies in the genre. This movie should be taken out as fast as the amount of time The Naked Brothers Band was a thing.
1
Enjoy Netflix Hidden Genres
Pick a genre and code from this list
2
Input the URL, http://www.netflix. com/browse/ genre/
3
Copy and paste the code after the backslash in the url and click enter
A&E
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Shelf
Help
Cinder by Marissa Meyer Cinder, by Marissa Meyer, is part of one of my favorite series. The book is science fiction and romance and an awesome twist on the classic story of Cinderella. It takes place in the future after another world war and the main character, Cinder, is a cyborg mechanic, with an evil step mother and two step sisters. She eventually meets the Prince of New Beijing in her mechanic stall and sparks fly. I love this novel because of the action, romance, characters, and plot. There are some action filled scenes involving chases or escape acts. I’m also a huge sucker for a good romance novel, as I basically live for the happily ever after at the end.
Also, Marissa Meyers’s characters and plot are fantastic. The characters have so much depth and personality to them that you feel like you know their whole life story. Her plot is equally amazing, as it gives you enough that you are satisfied, yet you crave more. Her plots also tend to twist and turn, throwing you off of what you think might happen next. Because just as you think you know what will occur next, she throws you a curve ball. The fact that there is sci-fi intertwined makes it that much more interesting, because there are really cool creatures, technology, and cities. I am sure that anyone who picks up this book will enjoy the novel, just as I have come to love it.
Matched by Ally Condie Matched is the first book of a dystopian young adult trilogy. At the age of 17, like every other teen in her society, Cassia Reyes is “matched” with her husband-to-be. Cassia is told who her match is by watching a tv screen and two faces flash across the screen. One of the faces is her childhood friend. Cassia is conflicted over whether or not her match with the unfamiliar boy is right, or if she is really meant to be with her friend, Ky Markham. Cassia finds herself breaking away from society and faced with the decision of leaving her home to be with Ky and never seeing her family again, or she could stay and marry the other man, who could help her have her old life back.
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Looking for a good book? These book lovers have suggestions that will make you want to read over Spring Break.
suggested by
Olivia Hamby, Senior
suggested by Kaitlyn Astrahan, Sophomore
Who Done It?! by Various Authors Who Done it?! is an anthology of short stories by various authors in which their editor has been murdered. The catch? Every author has a reason to want their editor dead, and they’re all notorious liars. Each of the authors must write their alibi for suggested by why they didn’t, wouldn’t, Claire Jones, Sophomore or couldn’t murder the worst man/editor in the world. The alibis range from plausibe to downright outrageous, and you’re always guessing who the murderer could be. This book is hilarious as the alibis range from short stories, tweets, slam poetry, and pictures.
Lunch
Buddies Where every student is treated like a regular kid JEMMA KIM// editor in chief
Lunch may be a time to socialize and take a break from classes for some. However, isolated from the rest of the student body, many students sit by themselves with no one to talk to at lunch. Brett Hensely, junior, sits with David Bae, sophomore, during sixth period lunch as part of the Jenna Cataldi and Matthew Mila- Lunch Buddies program. The program was started to integrate Life Skills students with athletes. zzo, Special Education teachers started the Lunch Buddies program to stop this another Life Skills student, according to isolation. All athletic teams volunteer to sit Milazzo. “You can just tell how genuine and eat lunch with special education kids the students are who volunteer for this prothroughout second semester. gram and how they want to be here for the “There’s a big difference between being kids with special needs,” Cataldi said. “It has accepting of people and including them.” been really wonderful and I am so impressed Milazzo said. “There is that next step, for with the staff and the students especially, on example, how you start to form the bonds a how they have just been really accepting the little bit at a time, so they have the life long students and made the transition for these friendships. They have those opportunities kids so smooth here.” to meet the person that they might go to Even though Milazzo believes that stuthe game and see and be able to have that dents are generally accepting of their peers, relationship built.” he thinks that Lunch Buddies can help Grace Kinsey, sophomore, sits with Kennedy The program allows Life Skills students, take friendships and relationships to the Schaefges, senior. Kinsey is on the Girls’ Baswho have a variety of mental and physical next level. Milazzo also believes that Lunch ketball team and sits with Kennedy every disabilities to push those differences aside Buddies provides a memorable experience Wednesday during her lunch. and to have lunch like any other regular for both the students and athletes. high school kid. Teams such as softball, “I think it’s really important to get to LZHS students football, and girls’ soccer have athletes that know all different types of students at Lake regularly volunteer every week to sit and eat Zurich High School, not just the people students that eat lunch with the Life Skills students. that I sit with every single day,” Kinsey lunch at LZHS “Before this program, I would see them said. “I would’ve never gotten this experiin the hall and “You have to be nice to them” ence without the Lunch Buddies Program. special education/ was my mental mindset, but I would never I wouldn’t even know half of their names. Transition students really talk to them,” Grace Kinsey, sopho- Its nice to reach out a little more. After getparticipating varsity more basketball player said. ting to know them a little bit better, at the teams Kinsey is one of the many athletes that beginning of the day, Logan will come up volunteer to sit with the students during and I’ll get to talk to him for a little bit, just students that lunch. True friendships are seen when an getting to know them as people and not just participate in Lunch athlete simply sits down to eat lunch with as the “special needs kid.” Buddies
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Sports 15
Hockey with
Heart
Josselin Juras, senior hockey player
JULIA KETCHAM // business manager
She quit track. She quit cross country. The passion for hockey took over her heart when she began playing her sophomore year, Josselin Juras, senior varsity hockey player. “I went straight into being a goalie,” Juras said. “I was different than everyone else because they had all played since they were little and I just started. I grew to really love the sport because of the team work and the environment and just the game.” As Juras learned to play, she became friends with Marybeth Stone, senior from Mundelein high school, and being the only girls in a boys league, the girls had to demonstrate their worth, according to Juras. “As a girl you have to prove yourself,” Juras said, “Especially to the guys, that you’re good enough to play and that you can actually play well. It’s not that weird [being one of the only girls on the team], we don’t change in the same locker room, so we don’t have the locker room environment with all the other guys and have the same bonding experience. But at the end of the day we all play the same game and we play for the same team, so we are all equal on the ice.” But proving herself and becoming equal on the ice took a lot of practice on and off the rink, according to Stone. “I have noticed her take more responsibility to get better and being one of the only girls is fun because our boys are hilarious and it’s always a good time to be around them,” Stone said. According to Stone, both of the girls feel equal on the ice. The coach treats the girls the same way as the boys, because they can keep up with the other boys on the team. “She definitely has become more independent over the past four years,” Caroline Winiarski, senior friend of Juras, said. “She started off with running, a sport that her friends and her brother did, and finally decided that she was going to try something new. Sophomore year she decided to join the hockey team and become a goalie, even though she didn’t know anyone and she had never played on an actual team before. Now she is one of the best on the team and is completely dedicated to it. She’s definitely going places and she takes initiative, she is determined and stops at nothing to achieve her goals. She knows exactly what she wants and she’ll be successful in whatever she decides to do.”
16 Sports
Josselin Juras, senior hockey player, prepares for an shot from the other team as she guards the goal during a game. Her season record is 7-1-2. Photo permission by Josselin Juras
Photo permission by Megan Groeller
There’s no “I” in team... but there is in DIVE
DOMINIQUE GERTIE // staff writer
In a school of more than 2000 students, it is hard to believe that one of our teams has only one athlete. “Originally I taught myself how to dive because there was no program,” Megan Groeller, junior, said proudly. “Now I’ve been diving since 6th grade.” After becoming interested in diving, Groeller proceeded to teach herself how to dive before joining a club diving team and eventually the school diving team. But not only did she join the diving team, she became the diving team. Before Groeller became a diver, she was constantly jumping, flipping, and twisting as a cheerleader, but that did not necessarily help her when she began diving. The movements were very different, and she had to completely relearn them. “I was a cheerleader, so I did a lot of backwards things and twisters. I also watched a lot of Olympic diving videos,”
Groeller said. “I thought [cheerleading] would make it a lot easier to learn to dive but it didn’t. The twisting is all different so I had to change how I twisted. Also, in cheerleading, you are on a flat surface and in diving you’re jumping off a board and then you’re in the weather and there’s a lot happening really quick, and a lot can go wrong. It’s a lot to re-learn.” Groeller does not think that swimmers and divers get the recognition that they deserve. While not many people know about the swim team, even less people are aware that of the diving team. “It kinda stinks [not to get publicity from the school],” Groeller said. “If I tell someone that I’m the only diver they’re like, ‘oh I didn’t know we had a swim team,’ and some people may know we have swimming but they really don’t know about diving.” However, that does not stop her from diving. She continues doing what she loves
and is constantly practicing to improve her skills for competitions. “When you’re learning to dive, one of the first things they teach you is how to walk off the board. You also learn the safe distance that you have to be from the board, which is about one arm’s length,” Groeller said. “[You] definitely have to know how to not hit your head on the diving board. I haven’t yet, but I have seen other people do it and it’s incredibly scary. I’ve hit my hands or feet on the board and that actually really hurts.” Although swimmers and divers practice adn compete together, the two sports are very different. The athletes for both sports practice and compete differently. “A lot of people think that diving is really similar to swimming, but it’s not,” Groeller said. “You don’t need to know how to swim to dive, or how to dive to swim,“there’s not a lot of people who do both.”
r
Sports 17
1.
State Coverage This month, we celebrate those sports who, as of March 10, qualified for State Finals. Photo permission from all coaches and athletes.
2.
1. Boys Bowling The team won Regionals and finished 3rd at Sectionals, also qualifying to State. Their top bowler, Trevor Madura, freshman, bowled a total of 1,269 points over six games. They finished 19th at state. 2. Poms The team finished 2nd at State, behind Geneva. They also finished 7th at Nationals. The team was led by Michaella Anderson, senior captain and Abby Theis and Isabel Young, senior co-captains, who choreographed the hip hop routine. 3. Cheerleading The team finished 2nd at Conference and were Sectional Champions. The team also finished 7th at State with 89.20 points.
18 Sports
3.
5.
6.
4.
4. Girls Bowling The team finished 4th at Conference with Amanda Tarlos, junior, finishing 1st and Becky Minchowicz, sophomore, finishing 22nd. The team also finished 3rd at Regionals and 9th at Sectionals, with Tarlos qualifying to State as an individual. Tarlos placed 81st at State. 5. Girls Cross Country The team finished 6th at Conference, 4th at Regionals, and 8th at Sectionals. Caitlin Shepard, senior captain, qualified individually to State with a runner-up finish with a time of 17:56 minutes. She was also an All-State medalist, at 9th place with a time of 16:52 minutes. 6. Boys Wrestling Josh Dyer, junior, was the only individual competitor to qualify to State. Dyer finished in the top 20 at State and his season record was 33-9. The team finished 7th at Conference and had a season record of 15-7. 7. Boys Cross Country The team won Conference, Regionals, Sectionals and finished 5th at State with a total of 207 points. This is the 8th year in a row that the team has qualified to State. All State medalists were juniors Matt Pereira, Brian and Kyle Griffith, finishing 5th, 7th and 21st, respectively.
7. Sports 19
Out of school
Sports JANIE HUELS // staff writer
Although a lot of students play sports for their high school, some students play sports that are not offered at school. There are many sports people can play that are not offered at school and most people do not know about. These sports all have their benefits and disadvantages that most people would never think twice about.
Photo permission by Cooper Giles
Cooper Giles, freshman gymnast “For gymnastics, it’s more competitive and serious if you play outside the school,” Cooper Giles, freshman gymnast, said. Even though only 16 colleges offer gymnastics scholarships, Giles wants to keep doing gymnastics in college. His options on where he wants to go are limited, according to Giles. “[Gymnastics] takes a big toll on your body,” Giles said. “You come home every day with everything hurting and sore.” Photo permission by Madiha Molani
Madiha Molani, senior squash player Madiha Molani, senior squash player, says she likes playing squash because it keeps her fit, and it got her into a good college. However, she said there are some drawbacks to playing an out of school sport. “Squash is not very popular in the Midwest, so it is not offered as a sport in most schools around here; [however,] on the east coast, squash is very popular and it is offered at most schools [on the east coast],” Molani said. Molani said since squash
20 Sports
is not offered at LZHS or anywhere in LZ, she has to go train at a Lifetime Athletic in Vernon Hills, which is very out of the way and would be easier if it were closer. “One of the biggest problems with playing an out of school sport is the fact that you don’t get a PE exemption,” Molani said. “It’s hard to have to do PE every day and then go to practice for two hours after school when I could be taking a study hall so I don’t have so much homework after school.”
Photo by Megan Monoson
Ragini Rangan, sophomore boxer “Besides running cross country, boxing, muay thai, and kickboxing are my favorite sports to play,” Ragini Rangan, sophomore, said. Rangan likes these sports because she grew up training in martial arts, and she loves doing it. “You basically train to stay alive in the ring,” Rangan said. From experience, Rangan thinks out of school sports push kids harder than school sports. “The difference between [school sports and out of school sports] is where you’re actually training and how hard the coaches push you,” Rangan said. “It strengthens you mentally and physically.”
Know you
r Rights
Everyone h as rights, b ut people always kn do not ow what those are people ar . When e not awa re of thei those righ r rights, ts can be easily viola taken awa ted and y. Bear F acts inves five cases tigates that are re l evant to st at LZHS in udents order to sh ed some l how our ri ight on ghts affec t our lives. photo from
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Spotlight 21
None of the Above: BRIANNE SAAB //secretary
When “Boy” or “Girl” Doesn’t Fit
“People say, if you’re born male, you’re male. But you’re in chains of that stereotype. As you start understanding who you are, that chain starts breaking. You’re let free to a world of who you are and who you might be and who you want to be.” Stevie is a freshman who felt caught up in the chains of the wrong gender, not male or female, but finally felt the chains break with another option: nonbinary. Stevie does not use traditional “she” or “he” pronouns, but a more gender-neutral “they.” “I was [assigned female at birth], but I don’t identify as female,” Stevie said. “I was tied down in that chain, saying, ‘I’m female, I have to act female, think female, be female,’ and so on. But slowly that chain broke, and I felt infinite, like I can do what I want. I am who I am. I am not female, I am
22 Spotlight
not male, I am not a gender. I am nonbinary, and I don’t want to be tied down by a chain.” Stevie had to transition from female to nonbinary, which means they had to change how the world viewed them. They went through gradual stages like a haircut and a name change to portray their true self. “A lot of people have been asking, ‘Why did you change your name to Stevie?’” they said. “It gets irritating, honestly. There are a lot of people who would walk up to me and ask ‘Are you male or female?’ And I would just say neither. It gets annoying, but after a while, people don’t know what’s best, and sometimes they don’t really care.” Many transgender and nonbinary people change their names as part of their transition process. The birth name is referred to as a dead name, and they live with their new
name. People often invoke the first amendment to protect the right to self expression as an extension of freedom of speech, which would include preferred names. However, nonbinary kids can struggle to have people call them by their chosen name. “If I go to a teacher who has been calling me by my dead name and tell them to call me my preferred name, it’s a lot harder for them,” Kaeyden Mayer, nonbinary senior, said. “Even some of my friends had a lot of trouble going by my preferred name after I first [said] to start calling me ‘them.’ It’s difficult for [people] because they see me and think my dead name, because that’s what they’ve known me by.” A generally upheld social right is for people to express themselves however makes them most comfortable. That can
“What’s in Your Pants?” Sometimes, when someone sees something they do not expect, they can forget their manners. While no ill will is intended, the things people say can be rather rude. Here are some helpful phrases to avoid when interacting with nonbinary people, why and what people should say or do instead. “OK, nonbinary, but what are you really?”
“What name did your parents give you?”
“He/Him/His” or “She/ Her/Hers” Pronouns
“It/Itself” or “He-she” or anything of the sort
“I can’t use ‘they;’ it’s not a singular pronoun.”
This is just a question about their genitals. The asker wonders what is in the nonbinary person’s pants. Instead, ask “What’s your gender?” They would know better than anyone else would.
A birth name is personal information that someone might choose to share, or might not. Instead, respect and use the name they introduce themself as - which is their real name, anyway.
You might be misgendering, or incorrectly labeling someone’s gender, when you assume pronouns like that. Instead, ask “What are your pronouns?” and use whatever they say are the correct pronouns.
Both phrases are dehumanizing to trans and nonbinary people, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD. Instead, be polite and use “they/ them/theirs.”
That is rude because it values grammar over a person’s comfort. It is also incorrect, according to the American Dialect Society, who named singular ‘they’ as the Society’s word of the year.
mean changing their name or pronouns or appearance in order to be their truest self. Moreover, the right to freedom from harassment applies in these cases too, but with a gender beyond the accepted ‘boy’ or ‘girl,’ it can be difficult to avoid. “Sometimes I’ll be in one of those moods, like, ‘Yeah I’m this, and I’m proud to be this! I know what I am,’” Mayer said. “Then I have people messaging me telling me, ‘Oh, you’re too young to know. You can only be male or female, you can’t be anything in between.’ But yes you can!” That sort of online opposition can become even stronger in real life when nonbinary people try to come out. Since nonbinary genders are not yet widely recognized, other people have varying reactions that can make life difficult. Often, people like Mayer and Stevie come out in stages. Both are out to friends and teachers, but neither are out to their parents. “I keep this away from my family,” Stevie said. “There are people who are accepting and then there are people who are not accepting. My parents are those who don’t accept it at all. They would be making fun of [gay] couples, those who think there are more than two genders… I’d rather not be made fun of by them.” Anti-discrimination laws protect the right to freedom from harassment, but the
law is not designed for a family environment. Yet family can be most difficult to find acceptance with. Mayer avoids coming out less for fear of harassment, but rather reluctance to deal with the struggles that come with sharing that part of an identity. “I have a friend who is trans, and they go by ‘they’ or ‘he’ [pronouns],” Mayer said. “My dad assumed when I was first talking about them that they were female, and they’re not - they’re [nonbinary]. I had to say ‘him’ because my dad doesn’t realize that ‘they/them’ are pronouns that people use.” This trouble comes more from ignorance than ill-will, but there are still some things at home that Mayer would rather not deal with coming out, they said. “[My parents] have asked me, ‘Were they born this gender and they’re this gender?’, and it just made me really uncomfortable,” Mayer said. “I don’t want them to say ‘OK, no, you were born this, you need to identify as this.’ That’s mainly what I’m afraid of.” While acceptance at home is important, another often unconsidered, socially-accepted right is the right to use the bathroom. Gender neutral bathrooms are few and rare, and to use the bathroom of improper gender can be uncomfortable or even dangerous for trans and nonbinary people. The GayStraight Alliance has advocated for more gender neutral bathrooms at LZHS.
“Students as well as adults have rights,” Brian Agustin, Gay-Straight Alliance sponsor, said. “They should be able to go to whatever washroom they feel that they should go to. Nonbinary bathrooms are difficult because boys and girls can go to the same washroom, and so that’s a totally different facet of breaking tradition.” With more awareness about trans rights, schools have been adding gender neutral bathrooms for inclusivity, like District 214, who had a recent dispute over whether to let a transgender girl use the girl’s locker room. While mostly set up as a compromise for trans boys and girls, these bathrooms also benefit nonbinary students because then they will not be forced to go to the bathroom of a gender they are not. Currently, there is only one genderneutral bathroom, by the gym next to the maintenance office. Adding a bathroom is no small feat. Ryan Rubenstein, assistant principal of facilities and student activities, said the school does not plan to add more. Gender-neutral bathrooms are one way to raise awareness in a world set on the idea of only male or female. Sometimes people unaffected by this issue do not know about it, but other times, they do not care. “Honestly I feel like people should care,” Stevie said. “This is how people want to express themselves. They are who they are.”
Spotlight 23
AFTER the permanent A common first word is a simple two letter mantra: no. It is something that is engrained in a child’s vocabulary from the very beginning of life, but at some point while growing up, the word can lose its meaning, and even more importantly, its power. Ria Talukder, sophomore, experiences this problem more frequently than most. She constantly receives unwanted catcalls when she goes downtown, and had a very close run-in with an offender at the music festival Riot Fest this past summer. “This guy had approached me [after the festival] and I kept telling him to leave me alone. As I walked away he followed me, and at that point I was scared for my life because I was all alone. I was a 15 year old girl on the south side of Chicago, and I couldn’t do anything to protect myself,” Talukder said. “If one thing had gone wrong, I wouldn’t have made it home and I’m not sure if I would be alive.” Talukder managed to catch a train before things got out of hand, but in many cases girls are not as lucky. As of 2014, each year approximately 293,066 people over the age of 12 are sexually assaulted to rainn.org. “I know I’m not the only one who’s gone through this because I would talk to my friends at lunch and they’d be like, ‘Oh that’s happened to me before’, or ‘That happens to me all the time and I hate it,’” Talukder said. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, a lot of girls go through this, and someone needs to talk
24
Spot-
*Models are not associated with story
The ATTACK mental scars of sexual assault
MADISON HART // print director
about it.’ It really is a problem that everyone needs to be aware of.” Talukder’s friends are not the only students who have experienced unwanted sexual advances. For Kim, LZHS grad whose name has been changed to keep her identity private, consent has been a problem for as long as she can remember and something she continues to deal with. “When I was first assaulted, I was in between my fourth and fifth grade year. He tried to become my friend, and I was very naive and thought ‘Okay, sure, why not?’” Kim said. “He sat next to me on the bus for the entire summer on the way to summer school. From there, things got progressively more out of hand from him calling me ‘beautiful’ to the point where I went home crying one day, and that’s when my parents found out.” Childhood experiences like Kim’s can cause other emotional obstacles, especially if the person has held in the situation for a long time, according to Sheila Tanner, social worker. “The biggest [effect] is how victims handle future relationships and feelings about themselves. If it’s not addressed and they have kept to themselves, there are a lot of feelings of shame and guilt. It can lead to self injury, eating disorders, and other things that are caused from holding too much in and not telling someone,” Tanner said. “If something were to occur at this age, there could be effects in all those areas, but things like shutting down
and pushing people away as well as isolating oneself are also possible.” While Kim has learned to no longer feel guilty, she says that she continues to struggle with building relationships or being in situations with new people. “When it comes to things like dating, whenever someone gets too affectionate, I tend to back away and not want to be around that person,” Kim said. “If it gets to a point where it’s any physical contact past hugging, I get really nervous. I get these internal flashbacks and just go ‘Nope nope not dealing with that right now’. It makes life so much harder because I want to be in a relationship that’s far more than just hugging and backing off when things are no longer good for me. It’s really holding me as a person back and it hurts a lot of the people I am around.” Talukder also emphasizes the pain caused to the people who are close to the victim and wants people to consider the ripple effect of their actions. “‘No means no’ applies to you, it applies to your sister, your mom, even your brother or dad. If you heard about someone that you know saying, ‘No, I don’t want you to hurt me,’ and someone went ahead and did it anyway, you would be furious, right? So you wouldn’t want to do the same thing to someone else?” Talukder said. “If someone says no, then you need to respect them as a person and you need to respect what they’re saying.” One of the biggest reasons that sexual
harassment and assault is so frequent directly correlates with the lack of respect that men give to women, according to both Talukder and Kim. Each agrees that pushing people’s boundaries has less to do with the victim being “easy”, and much more to do with a lack of empathy. “I feel like people who take advantage of people who can’t fight back are cowards that use weaker people to get what they want. Rape mentally weakens you. It makes you feel like you’re worthless,” Kim said. “Nobody deserves to be hurt [that way]. It can be physically and mentally scarring, no matter how old you are when it happens. People see what they want to see for one reason only: If it doesn’t directly affect them, they don’t care.” However, Talukder believes there are ways to fix the problem of sexual assault before it begins. In fact, she argues that the aggressive mentality can be stopped when kids are still in preschool. “We always tell younger girls that when a guy is being mean to you, it’s because he likes you, or if a boy pushes a girl down, it’s just boys being boys. We normalize violence amongst boys towards girls and we treat it as a normal thing as kids, and as they grow up, they think it’s the same thing,” Talukder said. “They think hitting girls or abusing them or being mean to them is okay because they love them or because they like them. So I think to stop promoting rape culture and assault and jokes about it, then we need to
Spotlight 25
By the Numbers 107
Average number of seconds between sexual assaults in the United States
800
Number of reported rapes or attempted rapes that occured in public schools nationwide during 2011
raise boys and girls the same way. We need to teach them the difference between yes and no as children.” Thankfully, a program similar to what Talukder describes is starting to be implemented in schools for children as young as five years old, according to Tanner. “A girl named Erin Merryn went through [sexual abuse situations] when she was young, and it affected her so much that it is her mission now to get [Erin’s] law passed in all states,” Tanner said. “The law says schools from ages kindergarten through twelfth grade need to include an educational component for students of those ages to help teach them about what is sexual abuse and what is sexual assault, what it means for good touch and bad touch; safe people and unsafe people. The lessons vary for different ages so that child or that teenager can understand and work with it.” While children in today’s kindergartens will start learning the right ways to treat each other and find respect for others, students still make sexual assault jokes that are nowhere near funny, according to Talukder. “When people make jokes like ‘No means yes,’ that’s the kind of culture that makes rape seem like a thing that can just slide by and isn’t a big deal. If you’re making a joke about something like that, you’re saying it’s okay or it’ something that’s normal, and that it’s humorous,” Talukder said. Despite the jokes, Talukder says that LZHS is not as bad as other schools or urban areas where sexual assault is a common problem. However, the only self defense
26 Spotlight
(
Sources: whitehouse. gov, icasa.org, rainn.org
17,531
)
Number of people served by the sexual assault crisis centers and hotlines of ICASA in 2014
4 of 5
Sexual assaults that are committed by someone who knows the victim
program the district provides is in middle school, leading Talukder and others to believe there is still room for improvement on consent education. “A lot of stuff they taught us in self defense class was like a type of jiu jitsu, but in that situation you can’t apply it, because you’re so terrified and the first thing you think of is not ‘My eighth grade PE teacher taught me how to back hand slap someone when this happens,’” Talukder said. “In middle school they really taught us a lot of things we would never use, so I think there should be a class with both guys and girls where they teach kids about assaults and show them how to stop it when they see it, and how to not assault people by respecting girls and not perpetuating a culture that blames girls for assault and not guys.” The school is currently working on more ways to educate students on sexual assault and how to prevent it, and Tanner and the other social workers plan to expand the awareness even more than before. “The social workers are going in to classes and FAME trying to bring out the message of ‘Tell, please tell someone, we are here for you’,” Tanner said “Learning about these different laws and rights and safety precautions from more than one person in more than one way is helpful, so I would like to see it grow. I’d like to see it widespread where each grade level has two to three days of training in different ways; that would be my dream program.” Though their has been a push to educate students more on sexual abuse, Talukder
60
Maximum number of years that a predatory sexual offendor can be imprisoned in Illinois
says the new lessons may prevent future issues from happening, but nothing can erase her memories. While dealing with cat calls and verbal harassment has been a challenge for her, she says she tries her best to focus on the positive lessons that she has gained through her experiences “This sounds so cheesy, but experiences like that one have made me so much stronger. I feel like if I dealt with that and had the courage to go to the cops, I became much more independent,” Talukder said. “It’s also helped me learn to say no in situations outside of sexual assault but really any aspect of my life. It’s helped me be more assertive and let people know if I’m not comfortable doing something, I’m not going to do it.” Talukder knows how difficult it can be to say no while in danger, but she says that while it can be scary, it is definitely worth it. “Sometimes it’s really hard to say no in the situation and obviously you should try to, but if it ever gets to the point where you said no and it wasn’t effective and no one listened to you, then you need to find someone who will listen to you, realize that you truly mean no, and fight for you. I think it’s all just about building confidence and knowing that you are allowed to say no. You’re not being a bad person or being mean by not giving them what they want, you’re just serving your own interests. And that is not a bad thing,” Talukder said. “Standing up for myself is not something I regret. So if you are reading this and in a similar situation, you should stick up for what you believe in. Do not let a guy change what you stand for.”
Finding THE BLIND SPOT Steering students to knowing their rights
DAYNA MORGA // staff writer
Ignoring rules of the road can get many teens riding in the back of a cop car. Only some of those teens are aware of their rights before they buckle up and hit the streets. For Mark Frey, school resource officer, seeing not paying attention to traffic regulations is something he says he deals with several times a week. However, many teens are unaware of the rights they have when they’re pulled over, according to Frey. “A lot of [the laws] turn into Telephone. It starts off with one of their friends saying something, and then another friend goes off of that and it just turns into mush. Depending on who you ask, it might change a little bit,” Frey said. “I hear kids in the hall saying things that are not [very] accurate, so I try to correct [them] when I can or clarify.” Frey hears students repeat phrases from movie scenes, such as the ‘license and registration, please’, line or talking about having their car searched. Simple misunderstandings are also culprits to students becoming confused and fearful of their legal right as drivers, according to Frey and Brittany Schauer, 2016 graduate and Police Explorer. “I’ve noticed that so many kids freak out [when they get pulled over]. Some of them even cry,” Schauer said. “A lot of them question what they did wrong and [become] super scared. Kids see TV shows and a lot of the shows portray a ‘Hey, can you step out of your vehicle?’, a ‘I’m going to search your car’ type-of-situation. That’s not close to how it is. We can’t just search your vehicle unless we have a probable cause.” Although most legal driving laws and rights are briefly taught in required driver’s education courses, according to Frey, most
students don’t value their rights until they’re pulled over and asked to pull out their license and car insurance. “I didn’t even know how to react once the [officer] was knocking on my window,” Vince OBrill, sophomore and teen driver, said. “I started panicking because I didn’t know what to do or what to say to the officer. It was kind of embarrassing.” OBrill was pulled over and questioned by an officer after being hit from behind while driving on the highway. “It was my first car accident, so I was shocked about what [happened],” OBrill said. “I knew I didn’t do anything wrong because the other driver hit me, but once the cop started telling me my own rights, I felt like he was talking a different language.” Although he took all required classes before getting his license, OBrill says nothing could prepare him for that moment. “The officer just kept talking and talking, and I could only understand half of what he was saying,” OBrill said. “Some of the rights he read me kind of rung a bell and the others, I had no idea what he was talking about. I was worried something was going to happen and I wouldn’t know my rights to defend myself.” Students drivers like OBrill may be required to know their rights for driver’s education classes, however, that does not mean they must know the laws verbatim to be an educated driver, according to Frey. “If you have an awareness of the process, then are put into the situation, you know what you can and can’t do as a driver,” Frey said. “You can’t know all your rights but at least try to get a gist of it.”
Photo by Dayna Morga
Spotlight 27
under surveillance: MEGGIE FURLONG // staff writer
You are being watched. Schools & Privacy There are records for every Your school issued iPad is completely in every way through the phone calls you make. De- examined Mobile Device Management system, or leted texts can be recovered MDM, according to Melissa Gray, from your phone, tweets are District 95 systems engineer. “The management system is what automatically filed in the Li- controls the iPad. It is what helps us put it brary of Congress the second on the network, it’s what helps us provide guys with support for the iPad, but you post them. Nothing is you what it can also do is read what’s on the confidential in the digital age. iPad in terms of what apps are installed and things like that,” Gray said.
Konnor Kininmonth, sophomore, shows one of the ways the device management system works. The MDM filters the internet on all school computers and devices.
28 Spotlight
Students do not have the right to any privacy when they are given a school-issued device, says Gray. “It is the expectations of your privacy [to remember]. If work gives me a computer, I don’t expect everything on that to be private. But my cellphone, that’s mine, I would expect to be private. Privacy is a huge thing that you can’t just nail down into one sentence,” Gray said. However, the same management by the district is used if personal devices are connected to school Wi-Fi. The devices are observed by an internet filtering system, according to Crystal Steker, District 95 director of Technology. “We can see any network traffic from any device on our network at any time. Now, you can imagine that we would never go looking for that, but if there was an issue, which a lot of times it is that ‘I can’t get to this website that I need for my class’. Sometimes we block games that student may want to go to, but they’re not educational. At all times, we know what network traffic that is on our network,” Steker said. This supervision of network traffic happens anytime a device is connected to the school managed Wi-Fi. Konnor Kinimonth, sophomore, knows personally how this process works. I got called down the dean’s [office] and they told me to take out my iPad. My own iPad, not the school one. I don’t know how they knew I had [the VPN] Probably over the Wi-Fi. They deleted it and gave it back though,” Kininmonth said.
students’ rights to online privacy Cyberbullying & Privacy
The school district are not the only ones who have the power to invade a student’s privacy. Grant Austin, junior who says he’s a victim of cyberbullying, knows first hand what it’s like to have classmates harass him on social media. “It was very uncomfortable for me, [the first time I received a hateful comment]. It progressed from there, derogatory terms, mostly. People just want me to have a reaction,” Austin said. Since Austin is a YouTube content creator and has 17,000 followers on twitter, he receives a lot of hatred from cyberbullies online. Some of these bullies are classmates and some people he does not know personally. He often has his phone number posted on social platforms, like Twitter, and receives prank calls frequently. “I’d have a question for people who don’t know me, but who attack me online is ‘why?’. ‘Why would you hate on someone that you don’t know personally?’ You can’t just disrespect someone because of what you see online,” Austin said. While these cyberbullies are exercising their right to free speech, they are hurting someone in the process. The malicious words that they write now can always be found somehow by the police, and could be used against them if their victim takes action, according to Jennifer Paulus, Hawthorn Woods Chief of Police. “There’s a few different misdemeanors [for cyberbullying]. The most serious is when you bully someone to the point where
they hurt themselves or others, because it becomes a criminal aspect, not just a civil aspect. Like if a teenager is bullied to the point where the commit suicide, and all the evidence is there, there are criminal offenses,” Paulus said. Even if the bullies delete the tweets or emails they write, the phone calls they made, or the texts and pictures they send, it can still come back to haunt them, according to Paulus. “Everything you put is out there. Just because you deleted it or took it down or whatever doesn’t mean its not out there and it can be used against you,” Paulus said. “Just for an example, people think that if they delete text messages off their phone, but depending on the service provider and [phone] they have, that stuff is still out there. If the police or the forensic experts want that information, generally there’s a way to find it.” Future employers, college admissions departments, and even concerned parents can see everything you have put online, according to Tiffany Reagan, dean of the students in the school. “Often we are all naïve in thinking what we post will not affect us or be summed up as describing who we are,” Reagan said. “But we keep hearing media cases of people losing their dream jobs, opportunities, legal issues, excetera. [What you say now] is a snapshot of you, in a moment of emotion which could linger for the rest of your life, regardless of how much you may have grown or changed.”
Spotlight 29
Testing MEGAN MONOSON // staff writer
Unfair consequences due to false-positive tests and possible invasions of privacy are just some concerns District 95 raised when a random drug testing program was possibly going to be implemented at the high school. With drug testing becoming a more common procedure in high schools, these programs raise more questions among students and parents. Although 18 percent of public schools have drug testing programs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people continue to misunderstand public schools’ rights to test students. “The school right now can test you for drugs. They just need probable cause. If the school has a reasonable belief that you might be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you can be tested. [They would test you] right then,” said Dan Fewkes, a District 95 parent who fought against implementing a drug testing program and Senior Legal Counsel for CVS Health in Northbrook. A 2013 survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, (SAMHSA) found an increase in student drug use compared to past results. Two years prior to these results, District 95 was already taking action. “There was a survey from the school district to the parents that asked a rather innocuous question about drug testing. I think a lot of people, like myself, not knowing whether or not the district was really wanting to implement the drug testing [program, thought] that’s a good idea,” said Fewkes, who originally supported random drug testing. During the fall of 2011, the school board held meetings with the parents, faculty, and some students to discuss the topic. They found out that, according to law, public schools cannot regularly test all students. Fewkes found this to be unjust. “You can only test students that are participating in extracurricular activities. The program that the school [put forward tested] athletes, people who were
Photo illustration by: Megan Monoson
30 Spotlight
“If it’s [a] first time offence [for you], then you’ll miss 50% of your performances or contests [for clubs and sports] . [You will also have] two months of social probation.” (Rolly Vazquez, athletic director)
fails test: involved in other extracurricular activities, like clubs, and people who had [driving permits to park at the school]. That ended up being about half of the kids,” Fewkes said. Having concerns about invading the student’s privacy, Fewkes began to believe that the program’s plan to grab students directly from their classes was not right either. “The children were going to be gathered by having someone come get them from their class. They talked about it being a confidential process. There is no confidentiality to that,” Fewkes said. With this knowledge, Fewkes reinforced his viewpoint on the topic. “The research on drug testing programs in high schools clearly showed they don’t stop kids from doing drugs,” Fewkes said. Although Fewkes believes the program would not stop kids from doing drugs, the school thinks differently . “Right now our code is if it’s your first offence then you’ll miss 50 percent of your performances or contests [for clubs and sports],” Rolly Vazquez, athletic director, said. “You can still practice and get ready, but you cannot perform in competitions. [You will also have] two months of social probation where you can’t go to dances and games but if you attend [a] program run by Ms. Belke, our SAP coordinator, then you can get 50 percent knocked down to 25.” According to research by the National Institute on Drug Use, drug testing is mostly accurate, but false-positive tests are possible. That was one issue brought up during school board meetings and Fewkes believed it would be wrong to punish students who may have not done drugs.
after the drug test verdict
“If a child in school doesn’t have the right to their own body, what are we teaching?” Fewkes said. “It ended up, for me, being something that had much less to do with drugs than it had to do with process and rights and freedoms.” Still not convinced that the program would have a positive outcome like the school strived for, Fewkes researched more. “I found some things that were very concerning to me on the issue of drug testing in high schools, and I took the position that I was not in favor of implementing the program,” Fewkes said. “This program, in my opinion, was trying to substitute randomness for a reason. I don’t believe randomness is a substitute for having a reason.” Eventually, another survey was put out with information covering the program. “My understanding is that the first survey had results that were about seventy percent in favor of drug testing and the follow-up survey had results that were about seventy percent against drug testing [and implementing the program].” Fewkes said. With more information going out to the people of District 95 through another survey, by this time the students were becoming concerned, and so were adults. “Every athlete has to sign a pledge card saying that they won’t use drugs or alcohol. I think it would be unfair if certain people were chosen in certain sports, because it’s everyone’s responsibility [to follow rules],” said Josh Dyer, junior, who supports school-wide random drug testing. Though Dyer is for drug testing, other students like Elizabeth Ossmann, junior and one that is against the program, be-
Student-athletes in the high school at IHSA memberschools are subject to random selection for performance-enhancing substance testing. (ihsa.org)
lieving that it is the student’s responsibility when it comes to handling drugs, believes drug testing students could invade their personal privacy. “I would feel singled out. I would feel awkward and embarrassed. Most of the time, people don’t care [when someone is called from class]. I mean kids are called out of the room all the time. I never really think twice about it. People are going to start wondering what’s going on and start asking questions. There’s [no] easy way to get the kid out of the[class],” Ossmann said. An additional concern Ossmann and Fewkes share is how and what exactly the program would be testing. “If they were testing urine, then they would do that by taking a child alone into a bathroom with a teacher. The child would have to stay there until they had produced a urine sample, even if they were missing classes,” Fewkes said. “If you were doing a hair test then it would tell whether someone had done drugs for a much longer period of time: 30 days or more,” Fewkes said. Feeling that this could potentially invade students’ privacy, he wrote about these concerns and published his opinions in the Lake Zurich Courier on the program. “I ended up writing an Op-Ed piece for the newspaper on the idea ‘What are we teaching our kids?’ One of the things that we are teaching is about liberty and freedom and the right to privacy,” Fewkes said. Considering himself “as against drugs as anyone you will ever find,” Fewkes still believes that there are better ways to deal with this issue, in fairer ways that would not interfere with invading student’s rights. In reasonable suspicion or cause testing, a student can be asked to provide a urine sample, if the school suspects or has evidence the student is using drugs, alcohol, or illegal substances. (cognitiveliberty.org, cdcschools.org)
Spotlight 31
Be responsible for your rights Only one-third of Americans can identify the Bill of Rights and only 1 out of 10 know they were created to protect against the Federal Government, according to a New York Times poll. This is not enough. The Bear Facts Staff believes... Students can scream “we know our rights,” but may not know their limitations. We need to realize the First Amendment only protects students from the government. When students complain about their rights being violated they do not fully understand the full extent of their rights, only components that could potentially benefit them. “Students don’t have the same rights as they would if they were off campus. Schools are a special place,” Terry Geoghegan, Government teacher, said. “The Bill of Rights is only meant to protect us from the federal government, which means you don’t have the right to say anything you want anywhere you want.” The Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Tinker v. Des Moines, involving students expelled for wearing black armbands in a peaceful protest against the Vietnam war, saying students have the right on or
“Do you think students know their rights and limitations?”
32 Perspectives
off school to express political and social views. This is the only exception the Supreme Court has ruled for students and their First Amendment rights in school. The First Amendment contains limitations outlined in the nine categories of unprotected speech. We cannot use the First Amendment to protect us from being held accountable for our actions when the actions violate the First Amendment. Although the First Amendment protects freedom of speech, we may not use fighting words against another individual. A popular misconception is that fighting words always involve swearing, but according to the Cornell University Law School, fighting words are just words that would likely make the person whom they are addressed to commit an act of violence. Schools may have their own rules against swearing, but the reason for these rules cannot be backed up by the fighting
Griffin Brown, freshman
Lexi Halinski, sophomore
“I feel like people do know their rights for the most part, but they need to know the limitations to their rights as well. They know the basics of their rights but they should also learn the specifics.”
“I don’t think everyone knows all their rights but they do know the rights that matter most to them. They know their basic rights but they don’t know little ones that don’t apply to them specifically.”
BEAR FACTS STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
jemma kim
PRINT DIRECTOR
madison hart
DIGITAL DIRECTOR
danna tabachnik SECRETARY
brianne saab
BUSINESS MANAGER
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STAFF WRITERS
All images used with the permission of: en.wikipedia.org
words limitation which can be a possible misunderstanding with students. A prominent method for defamation - untruthful gossip, the sharing of private information, or any lies said or spread - occurs more frequently with the invention of social media. This outlet has given us the ability to defame with little fear of any consequences. However, many of us are unaware that lies we may be spreading are a limitation to our First Amendment rights. We are taught our rights in school, but it is our job to remember them. “It’s a person’s responsibility to know their rights and limitations,” Geoghegan said. “If you want to know your rights, you should know them. You have to educate yourself. That’s what a democracy is.” Some of us may waltz onto the streets with signs held high screaming our opinions as loud as we desire
to and be under the impression that this is our right to peaceably assemble; however, it is not that simple. The right to peaceably assemble is not absolute in the sense that although the government cannot simply prevent a group of people from peaceably assembling, they can put restrictions on the time, place, and manner of how it is done. So for a group of people to act like they can protest at their own whims would be an incorrect use of their rights. Some of us act like our rights are only there when it benefits us, but they were not made to just be used when convenient and to go away when not. We tend to use and misuse our rights as a safety net for our wrongdoings when using them. We need to realize it is a privilege to have these freedoms. We are responsible for knowing our rights and limitations and it is important that we understand and use them properly.
rachel brauer chloe faris meggie furlong dominique gertie janie huels madi klein megan monoson dayna morga ian noronha camille shim melanie villarmarzo gabby vitale jim weimer ADVISER
carolyn wagner BEAR FACTS STUDENT MEDIA
Lake Zurich High School 300 Church Street Lake Zurich, IL 60047 (847) 540-4642
AMERICAN LITHO PRINTING
Derrick Juarez, junior “More familiar amendments that have a greater influence on some people and are frequently spoken of in the classroom. [Many] people know the first ten, but [maybe not] the other 17.”
Caitlin Wessel, senior “I don’t think people fully understand their rights. Knowing your rights is more than being able to do whatever you want. I think people often get confused with that concept.”
Terry Geoghegan, Government teacher “From what I’ve seen, students in the classroom might know some of their rights and might understand a portion of the complexity of the protections of those rights.”
530 North 22nd St. Milwaukee, WI 53233
Clarifications: On page 15, the picture was uncredited. Ethan Lane, junior, edited the photo illustraion.
Perspectives 33
Standardized Testing: Are We Prepared? JIM WEIMER // staff writer
The ACT and other tests are immensely important to juniors, yet the school does not focus on helping students with the tests. Whether it be the ACT or SAT, standardized tests are used to gather data about all students. Teachers look to see how students are improving, department chairs look to see if their curriculum is working, and colleges look to decide whether or not to admit students. “I feel like the school places a lot of emphasis on the ACT,” Christian Schumacher, junior, said. “If you don’t get the wake-up call to do [well], then you will end up with a bad score and in a bad college.” These tests are undoubtedly important, because millennials with a college degree make $17,500 more than high school graduates on average, according to US News. However, the school is not adequately preparing students to take these important tests, according to Schumacher, who added that he felt unprepared for the writing and mathematics portions of the test.
34 Perspectives
]
“I feel it isn’t a good picture of a person’s capabilities because it is just one snapshot of somebody. Someone could do really good on the ACT for math, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they are smarter than someone who got a lower score.”
“Our curriculum is designed towards the goals and skills you will be able to use during standardized tests, but we don’t teach to a test,” Eric Hamilton, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction, said. “We will teach skills like comparing and contrasting, or analyzing written work to form an answer.” The school offers an after-school ACT prep class to help juniors, but this class costs money. The school used to do a lot more to help prepare students for this important test, according to Schumacher. “Historically at ACT time, we have done things building-wide to help [the students] with the test,” Jeff Bivin, math department chair, said. “We used to take a week to take juniors out of a class each day and look at test taking strategies. For example, say Tuesday was math, Wednesday was English, Thursday was science, and so on.” While the after school class can help some students learn about the test, taking juniors out of class one period a day for an entire week would be a lot more helpful, according to Schumacher. “I feel like the program the school used to use was far better than their current after school class,” Schumacher said. “Instead of having students pay to sign up for an after school program that happens about once every two weeks, having it during school would make sure everyone is there and everyone learns it.” Though these tests are important, students still have problems with them.
-Christian Schumacher, junior
]
According to Schumacher, colleges should look more at what the students achieve, and not judge people on a simple number. “The ACT cannot accurately portray a student’s full capability and potential,” Schumacher said. “Say there is a student who is terrible at math and is a slow reader, but he is an amazing athlete. The test only shows colleges that the student is bad at math and reading.” However, standardized tests are the best way of testing many different students from various places and being able to compare them evenly, according to Columbia University. Without these tests, it would be nearly impossible for colleges to compare so many students on an even playing field. While students may not like these tests, they are necessary to help colleges compare students. Because these tests are necessary, the school needs to do more to help students prepare for them. “Is the ACT something that’s important? Well, the colleges have dictated that it is,” Hamilton said. “You and your family have decided that it is if you want to go to college, therefore, it needs to be important to us.” The ACT and SAT are important tests for students, yet the school does not help prepare students for it unless they pay for the after school class. The school needs to do more to help prepare students for standardized tests, because according to the District 95 mission statement, they want to prepare students to achieve their goals.
]P.O.V.] Why I believe in...
trying to find a balance
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Photo permission from Sophia Goushchina, Allie Mitchell, Karenna Savage, and others by Bear Facts Staff.
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