Issue #1: 9-21-18

Volume 109, Issue 1

Friday, September 21, 2018

In memoriam: Alexis Shapiro ‘16, 1998-2018 Family hopes to raise awareness, help others amidst opioid-overdose epidemic

sort of issues internally.”

Throughout high school, Alexis was a very involved student and surrounded herself with people she loved, Peter said.

“She was confident, social, happy, always wanted to make other people

by Harper Hill and Grace DeKoker happy, cared about other people’s feelings, and just generally liked to have @harpss42 and @grace_dekoker fun,” Peter said. “Her favorite things were bike riding and walking the The LT community is more than just the current student body: it in- dogs and being with her friends. She just enjoyed herself and enjoyed life, cludes all alumni. The entire community is grieving after the death of for- until things started to change.” mer LT student Alexis Shapiro ‘16. Her death According to the CDC, 105 people die each resonates with many, and through the tragic day due to drug overdose. In 2017, there were event, her family hopes her story will save a life.

2,775 reported deaths due to opioid overdoses Alexis died from a drug-induced heart attack in Ill. alone. The nation is currently facing an on Aug. 11, 2018. Laced drugs in her system opioid epidemic unlike any other; it is becoming combined with the medications given to her by easier and easier to access prescription medicamedical professionals to counteract the effects of tions, and even more dangerously, it is becoman overdose were simply too much for her heart ing easier to enhance them. to handle, her father Peter Shapiro said.

While any drug in itself poses a potential “The most important reason to raise awaredanger, laced drugs significantly increase the ness regarding drug addiction is to save lives,” risks of serious complications and overdose, acNC social worker Joan Cushing said. “Part of cording to the National Institute for Drug Abuse the education [surrounding drugs] should also (NIDA). Fentanyl-laced opioids are on the rise, involve detailing the toll drug use and addiction because they exaggerate the effects typical opitakes on children [and] families. In addition to oids would have on the nervous system. The making people aware of the dangers of drugs, drug can be 100 times as potent as morphine, it is also very important that information about and the NIDA reported that the “high potency how to get help for yourself or someone else be of fentanyl greatly increases risk of overdose, provided.” especially if a person who uses drugs is unaware Turning to the use of illicit substances can that a powder or pill contains fentanyl.” often be a result of mental illness, according to Though it can be used as a strong pain killer the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Due to a with prescription, fentanyl has been sold and loss of self-esteem and self-confidence, Alexis used illicitly for decades, according to Substance began struggling with a narcissistic personality Abuse and Mental Health Services Administradisorder known as hypomania, Peter said. Her Alexis Shapiro ‘16 stands with her sister Mia Shapiro tion. It is often used as an enhancer for heroin, mental illness is a main reason she began to turn ‘17 and brother Marc Shaprio ‘19 (Marc Shapiro). which is why it is so deadly; heroin users are eito opioids and other addictive substances. ther unaware of fentanyl potency or of its pres“It started out as something to do for fun, with the drinking and mar- ence altogether. The combined power leads down two roads: overdose or ijuana usage,” Peter said. “Kids do it because they want to party. But [for an addiction that is harder to kick because of the increased “high” it gives.

Alexis], it was definitely a self-medication to overcompensate for some Continued on page 6

Dare2Tri to become club

Village of La Grange has marijuana debate

by Pilar Valdes @pilarvaldes55

by Mary Okkema @MaryOkkema

Dare2Tri, an organization based in Chicago that provides equipment and training to physically disabled athletes so that they can complete a triathlon, is submitting a proposal to become a club at LT next month.

Dare2Tri has collaborated with LT in the past by providing equipment for disabled students to complete the sophomore triathlon, club sponsor Cassie Niego said.

The first triathlon that Dare2Tri provided specialized equipment for was two years ago, when founder of the Dare2Tri chapter at LT Emma Korzyniewski ‘19 was a sophomore. She helped another student complete the triathlon and was inspired. She emailed the co-founder of the organization, Keri Serota, to tell her about the impact that Dare2Tri and its mission had on her. Korzyniewski began to get more involved with Dare2Tri and worked with Neigo to get LT students to volunteer at the Dare2Tri kids camp this “Those kids fell summer, she said.

“Those kids fell in in love, and we love, and we decided decided that this that this needed to be something bigger,” needed to be someKorzyniewski said. thing bigger.”

So, Korzyniewski, -Emma Koryzniewski ‘19 with the help of Neigo and Serota, began working on creating a plan for the club at LT. The Dare2Tri club will have three main focuses, Korzyniewski said. The first and main focus is volunteering.

“Dare2Tri has events all year, and they always need volunteers, especially teen ones,” she said.

Second, the club will have fundraisers, where the money raised will go to Dare2Tri directly, Korzyniewski said. Lastly, Korzyniewski wants to get the whole community more involved to end some stigma that may exist surrounding those with physical disabilities, she said.

The legalization of marijuana has been a trending topic in the U.S. for the past decade.

So far, nine states and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational use of marijuana, and 31 have legalized medical marijuana. The debate recently became local.

“The Great Marijuana Debate” was held on Aug. 28, 2018, at the LaGrange Town Hall auditorium at 7 p.m. The Debate was organized by the League of Women Voters of the LaGrange Area and The Coalition for Drug Free Lyons Township.

“Our goal was to get information that was accurate and up to date to citizens so they can make up their own mind,” President of the Coalition for Drug Free LT Cindy Frymark said. “I think we accomplished that goal.”

The panel was evenly split between three anti-legalization and three pro-legalization advocates. The anti-legalization side consisted of Will Jones, the Communication and Outreach Associate of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), Illinois Representative Jim Durkin, and Dr. Aaron Weiner, a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Director of Addiction Services at Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Illinois. The pro-legalization panelists consisted of Senator Heather A. Steans, Reverend Al Sharp, Executive Director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy, and Chelsea Laliberte, founder and executive director of Live4Lali.

At the beginning of the debate, each member gave a brief introduction about themselves and their position on the legalization of recreational marijuana in Illinois. Volunteers then collected questions from the audience and the moderator Thom Sanders presented the questions to the panel.

Organization pairs up with student

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Continued on page 3

North Campus

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Groups work to educate citizens about marijuana legalization Marijuana Facts compiled by Greg Smith

10

The number of states (and D.C.) that have legalized commerical recreational marijuana.

The number of states (and D.C.) in which marijuana is legal for medical purposes.

31

Nov. 6

PH

aper ighlights

Advisory referendum: voting on legalization of recreational marijuana in Illinois

Look here for some quick reads on this issue’s features.

Page 2: Due to concerns involving vaping, SC bathrooms were closed last spring. They officially reopened. Read about this new situation on Page 2.

Page 3: Recent stingray deaths at the Brookfield Zoo has led to a lawsuit.

Want to know why? Turn to Page 3 for the full scoop.

Page 4: The new school year brings new adminitrators. Learn about their intentions for the 2018-19 year on Page 4.

Page 5: Construction is happening all around the community. Check it out on Page 5.

Page 6: Introducing People of LT. Flip to Page 6 to see what it’s all about.

Page 7: The grid is looking strong for first issue. See Page 7.

Page 8: Learn about two different views on the heated debate between socialism and capitalism on Page 8.

Page 9: Sept. is sucicide awareness month. Read our opinions on raising awareness on Page 9.

Page 10: Girls cross country looks forward to a strong season after a third place finish in last year’s state meet. An exciting season awaits this team and Page 10 covers it.

Page 11: Have opinions about the NBA being more popular than the NFL? Check out Page 11 to see our Sports Editor’s thoughts.

Page 12: Who’s our first Athlete of the Month? Find out by turning to Page 12.

Page 13:

Sources: Business Insider and Belleville News-Democrat

“This is such a relevant topic of discussion, it was important for those who went because they got more insight on what the debate was really about and how legalization can change a lot,” Fiona Sullivan ‘21, a student that attended the debate, said.

The debate overall steered toward two main topics legalization and commercialization of recreational marijuana. The two hour discussion revolved around debating the bill that Illinois senate is drawing up. An advisory referendum on the legalization of recreational marijuana for people 21 and older will be on November’s ballot.

Jones and the organization SAM believe that marijuana should be decriminalized, but oppose the commercialization of the industry

100 S. Brainard Ave. LaGrange, Ill. 60525 South Campus

Page 14-15: Curious about the risks and consequences around JUULing? Page 14-15 has the facts.

Page 16: Ramen restaurants are popping up all around us. Find out if they are any good on Page 16.

Continued on page 3

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4900 Willow Springs Rd. Western Springs, Ill. 60558

NEWS

Page 2

Friday, September 21, 2018

Vape issue causes closures at SC Bathrooms closed during day due to vape use last year

by Hayden Claesson @_wizard_of_soz

As spring of 2018 rolled around, LT students began to see the end of the school year just around the corner. Around this time, most SC students’ challenges are simply to prevent their GPA from tanking; however, another problem students faced last year was something that should not have been an issue at all: using the bathroom.

At certain hours of the day, all bathrooms except one per gender would be closed due to the excessive vaping done in the restrooms during passing periods. The closures were the administration’s attempt to deter students from vaping at school.

“It’s a hard decision for us because it is basically punishing a group of people that have not done anything wrong,” LT’s Head of Security Gary Morrill said. “In the long run, the message got out that ‘We are not going to tolerate this’ because that’s not what the bathrooms are for.”

The decision to close certain bathrooms came during the end of the 2017-2018 school year. Over 50 students at SC alone were caught using electronic cigarettes or e-cigs, Western Springs Police Chief Brian Budds

The “Xs” denote the bathrooms that were closed at SC on the first floor, while the “star” shows the only bathroom open to students during the day. (Claesson/ LION)

said. This amount is significantly larger than it was in prior years at LT. The rise in use of nicotine products can be mainly attributed to the rise of cheap and small e-cigs like JUUL and Suorin that can be easily hidden and leave behind little trace of smell. These two factors make it easy for students to use them in restrooms and walk out unnoticed.

Certain smaller, less centrally located bathrooms were closed before and after school and during lunch periods where there was typically high vaping activity in

restrooms, Assistant Principal Kelly Dostal said. This ultimately left only two bathrooms open, one boys and one girls, during the busiest times of the day for about 2,000 students to use.

“It was pretty annoying,” Aidan Walls said. “If you wanted to go before class, you would try to go to the nearest bathroom only to find it be closed and you would have to walk across the school in order to find a bathroom that was open.”

The staff decided to close the bathrooms

after they received numerous complaints from other students who were concerned about using the bathrooms in fear that they would either get in trouble for being associated with other students vaping, or they simply didn’t feel comfortable being around other students who were using e-cigs.

After bathrooms were closed, the amount of students caught vaping decreased significantly. While this strategy was used often last year, it has not yet been used during the 2018-2019 school year; however, if more complaints happen this year the staff will take action and close bathrooms, Dostal said.

“If a security guard walks in and you are just standing around waiting to use the bathroom, then you have nothing to worry about,” Morrill said. “It’s when students are standing in a group and one of them has a vape that we have to take action and take them down to the office.”

If a student is caught vaping at LT, the first offense results in a two-hour Saturday detention, as well as paying a fine of about $35, if the student caught is under 18 years old, Morrill said. Even though some students at LT are 18 years old, they still receive punishment through school. Each incident after the first offense has punishments with increasing consequences each time, eventually leading to in-school suspensions.

LT makes switch from Microsoft to G-Suite Despite privacy concerns, G-Suite will improve educational collaboration

by Taylor Schmitt @TaylorSchmitt15

LT students returned this year to a new school-sponsored Google G-Suite account that replaces the old Microsoft Outlook service. The account is now the official way for all students to communicate with teachers. The Microsoft 365 accounts are still active and available to students, but will no longer receive school announcements.

“What we want to do is make the most of the tools’ features and utilities, the programs that facilitate the collaboration and the use of Canvas that our teachers are looking to use more with the students,” Ed Tennant, Director of Technology Services, said. “That sort of collaboration was the weak element of our prior setup and the Google G-Suite products facilitate that collaboration through Canvas in a way that we didn’t have before.”

The G-Suite includes Google Drive, Gmail, Sheets, Slides, Calendar and allows sharing with Canvas, Tennant said.

While Microsoft 365 had many of the same program offerings, the difference is the Canvas connectivity and the use of Google’s tools in LT’s feeder schools.

“We knew during last school year that we were likely going to switch over the summer,” Tennant said. “It crystalized further as we used Canvas more, and as our TEC coaches had the opportunity to interact with other professionals that use Canvas in other districts and see what you can do differently, what would work better if we were using the Google Tools.”

These are some examples of the tools Google Suite offers.

The switch occurred as Google’s location tracking and privacy policies were called into question. An Associated Press investigation found that Google’s services tracked users’ locations even when the setting was disabled. The investigation sparked a lawsuit against Google for misrepresenting the privacy setting. It happened shortly before the beginning of the school year, after the decision had been made to switch.

“Anything that will affect Google will affect us,” Tennant said. “If we are using Google tools, we can’t ever expect to be immune from the things they face, but we’re always looking to mitigate risks and protect our data and our students. We do have filtering in place, but that is always one of the concerns we have when we’re looking at any type of cloud or web services.”

LT still has services in place to filter content for students, but it is ultimately up to them to take control of privacy settings in programs that offer such controls, Tennant said.

“That’s where efforts to bring in some education about digital citizenry come into play and getting some understanding about how to control privacy settings,” Tennant said. “It’s not just the school’s controls and it’s not Google specific – it’s important with any of the social media tools, too. They all have privacy settings and your ability to control that is equally important. I think there’s some natural inclination for your generation to share essentially everything. You live online and you need to understand what the ramifications of that are; that nothing you share across the internet is ever truly private.”

Despite the privacy concerns, some clubs have already begun taking advantage of the collaborative opportunities offered by the G-Suite, including Theatre Board. The club created a team drive to organize tech for the first scripted production of the year, “House of Blue Leaves.” The drive allows students to upload documents and share them with the whole crew, Laura Moore, Auditorium Tech Director, said.

The system allows the club to organize backstage coordination in a more similar way to a professional model.

“That’s always been my goal, and it’s certainly happened in small ways,” Moore said. “What can we do that is more like professional theatre than what we have done? That doesn’t mean that we can do everything like professional theatre.

But, I personally think that professionals do things a certain way for a reason for the most part. That is almost always the most efficient model, so it saves us some heartache and time if we can communicate more like professionals do. I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to help our communication a lot. But, I’m always worried with new technology because it’s only as good as how you use it.”

New security installed over summer vacation Police notification system, NC School Resource Officer implemented at LT

by Lars Lonnroth @larslonnroth

Over the summer, the LT administration took a series of steps to help bolster school security during a time in which gun violence is increasingly discussed in schools across the nation.

“In all the unfortunate shootings that we have had in schools, the one thing that we’ve learned is that the quicker the response time by the police, the fewer the casualties,” Assistant Principal Kris Costopoulos said.

“We are blessed our police department is only half a mile away, but still, every second counts.”

In the wake of the high profile school shooting in Parkland, Fla., the administration has had to think about how to best prepare for the possibility of a school shooting in the LT community, Costopoulos said.

Those discussions have manifested themselves in two visible changes to the security of LT upon the start of this school year: the new school resource officer at NC and the Bluepoint Security System, blue devices in the style of the red pull-down fire alarms already in place at LT. “Before we had Blue Point, our whole building would rely on a small number of people who had access to the PA system for

something to happen,” Principal Brian Waterman said. “We want to make sure that when something happens, we can provide instant notification to everyone on campus that something is occurring.”

When activated, a pre-recorded PA announcement by Waterman places both LT campuses on lockdown while simultaneously notifying local law enforcement and community members.

While being a physical representation of the increased awareness of school shootings in America, the administration also considered whether the new measures would impact the positive nature of the LT environment, Waterman said.

“We’re always considering ‘does this keep our school safe, but at the same time does it take away from our welcoming environment and the positive culture we have here,’” Waterman said. “We feel this is a great upgrade in terms of our communication and notification, but we feel it doesn’t take away from our welcoming, positive culture we have here.”

But for some students, they think it does the opposite.

“When I see those [new police alarms] and I see the police walking around with guns, I go into a state of panic—a state of terror—every single time,” Molly Davies ‘20 said. “Every time I see one, I can feel my stomach just tense up. It is only making our environment more tense.”

Even Costopoulos said that seeing the

new alarms, while a necessary addition to the school’s safety apparatus, is striking.

“The first time I saw them in the building and on the wall it was a little jarring,” Costopoulos said. “It is a visible reminder of where we are at in our society, but I know they are here to keep students safe.”

Costopoulos added: “Our school is going to be as safe as our students want it to be. If you want our school to be safe, we need our kids to step up and report things when they know they’re not right.”

Davies and Ella Finnegan ‘20 are the co-founders of the new LT SAVE Club, a pilot club at LT that seeks to create a positive school atmosphere while addressing the root causes of violence at schools.

While Davies finds the alarms and increased security disconcerting, Finnegan feels that the alarms are overall a positive addition to LT. “Our club’s goal is to get to the point where we don’t need those blue light systems, but I don’t think we can simply get rid of them,” Finnegan said.

While the school hired new security guards to replace staffers who left the position this year, there was no net increase to the number of guards employed by LT. However, the new NC School Resource Officer (SRO), Tim Andries, was assigned to LT—something the administration has wanted for years at NC. SC has had an SRO for over 20 years.

“The beauty of this being a full time po-

The new alarm systems are located in LT NC, SC hallways. (Lonnroth/ LION)

sition [is that] I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with students,” Andries said. “If anyone has any kind of question, I am available and am here for them.”

In terms of the price of these measures, the school and the Village of LaGrange are splitting the cost of the SRO. The new Blue Point system is estimated by the district business office to cost $200,000, with an annual monitoring fee of $3,500.

NEWS

Friday, September 21, 2018

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Stingray deaths prompt PETA lawsuit against Brookfield Zoo

Litigation ensues over advocacy for Zoo documents, next hearing Nov. 6

by Georgia Dougherty @georgiadoc6

The Brookfield Zoo is in the middle of a legal battle right now, three years after all of their stingrays died, causing Stingray Bay to shut down.

On July 10, 2015, a malfunction in the life support system of the exhibit caused depleted oxygen levels, ultimately resulting in the death of all 54 stingray inhabitants, according to the Chicago Zoological Society statement sent by Director of Public Relations Sondra Katzen.

On his second day working as a green screen photographer, LT alumnus Kip Andreoni ‘15 witnessed the water filter that transferred the oxygen to the tank malfunction.

“I was working at the green screen for Tropic World, the gorilla exhibit, and they were transferring me to the Stingray Bay post,” Andreoni said. “I was left alone and not 10 minutes later did animal paramedics start showing up to resuscitate the dying stingrays. Veterinarians were in the water moving the stingrays around to keep them from suffocating.

I was let off early that day.”

The lawsuit that followed was issued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (District), “for failure to produce, or make available for inspection or copying, certain public records, in violation of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act,” as claimed in PETA’s Complaint (the document that began the lawsuit) sent by Correspondence Coordinator Melissa White.

PETA seeks the production of records and documents

Children enjoy the stingray exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo three years after the exhibit incident (Tribune News Service).

pertaining to SeaWorld and the Zoo’s stingray exhibit following the deaths of the stingrays, as the stingrays were provided to the Zoo by SeaWorld. The Society “decided not to provide documents voluntarily because PETA was seeking information for use in its ongoing advocacy against SeaWorld,” the statement said.

The refusal was upheld by the Illinois Attorney General because the Society was not considered a public body. PETA responded by issuing a second request to the District, which was upheld by the Attorney General “because [the Society] was performing a government function on behalf of the [District],” therefore the lawsuit is directed against the District.

In the Complaint, PETA argues that “all public records of a public body are presumed to be open to inspection or copying, and any public body that asserts a record is exempt from

disclosure bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the record is exempt.”

The District’s reasoning for refusing to disclose any records concerning SeaWorld or the Zoo’s exhibit, according to the Complaint, was that the “District does not have any involvement with the Zoo or the Chicago Zoological Society’s operation of SeaWorld or any other marine mammal exhibit,” and that “[t]he operation of marine mammal exhibits does not involve a governmental function under the purview of the District.”

The Zoo opened Stingray Bay in 2007, allowing visitors to touch and feed the stingrays in an enclosure. The exhibit held 50 cownose rays and four southern stingrays. The Zoo announced the deaths on July 12, 2015, and closed the bay for the rest of the season. Upon PETA’s information and belief, according to the Complaint, “the Zoo never publicly disclosed the ultimate cause of the malfunction,” insinuating a cover-up.

The Zoo’s response to this in the Society’s statement states that “[PETA’s] allegations of a cover-up are false and hurtful.”

The Zoo had to pay a fine to the company that they rented the stingrays from, Andreoni said.

“I would constantly be asked by Zoo patrons what happened to the stingray exhibit, and I was instructed by the Zoo to tell the guests that the stingrays had gone away for the season,” Andreoni said. “It was difficult on the day it happened because children would ask what happened and I had nothing prepared to say.”

As of the date of the Complaint filing, July 9, 2018, PETA has not received any records responsive to its request from either the District or the Society. The hearing will take place Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. at District 1 Court Cook County.

Western Springs votes Fashion-passion comes to raise minimum wage to LT through new club Village Board grants $2.75 increase after long deliberation

Fashion, design club begins its pilot year at LT

by Grace Kulat @gracekulat

by Isabella Sorice @isabella.sorice

sides of the debate and came to their own conclusion and reasons for voting the way that they did.”

Many village members were vocal about their opinions on the decision to up wages, and both sides of the argument contacted the board and their views toward the outcome.

“The minimum wage and sick leaves topics have generated the most direct feedback from residents that I have ever seen, with the possible exception of water,” Tymick said.

The County Ordinance does not include employees who are less than 18 years old, who are paid at least $7.75 per hour. When employees turn 18 years old in Western Springs, their pay will increase. Employers in Western Springs believe that this will bring in more potential employees.

“As minimum wage increases here in Western Springs I absolutely believe kids from other towns will seek jobs here, I believe as those other towns lose their employees, due to low wages, those towns will follow our footsteps, and increase to match ours,” Western Springs pool manager Kelsey Sopran said.

This past summer, the Western Springs Village Board voted to raise the minimum wage from $8.25 to $11 an hour. The minimum wage is expected to increase again by 2020, this time to $13 . The Board opted out of the Cook County minimum wage last year and sick leave ordinances in May of 2011, when they were first passed by the county.

“Western Springs’ decision [to back out] was based on the fact that we were about to have three new trustees and a new village president,” Board Trustee Ed Tymick said.

“Because of the potential impact to our town and businesses, we thought it would be best to delay the decision until the new board was in office.”

The board also considered theWestern Springs residents’ opinions on the decision.

“The Western Springs Business Association (WSBA) met with the board members multiple times to explain their position and so did pro-minimum wage residents,” Tymick said. “Each trustee listened to both

Western Springs minimum wage projections $8.25: Before July 1, 2018 $11: Effective July 1, 2018

$12: Effective July 1, 2019 $13 Efective July 1, 2020

Marijuana legalization

Continued from Page 1

based on the effects it will have on many different communities.

“Legalization and introducing an industry that is going to profit disproportionately off of communities [of] color is not the answer for marijuana policy moving forward,” Jones said.

Weiner provided data that stated that marijuana affects different people different ways because it affects the brain, unlike alcohol that goes through a standard digestive process.

“There is no effective .08 for marijuana [like there is for alcohol],” Weiner said.

“There are studies coming out that show any THC in the blood even 24 hours afterward can impair driving.”

The main arguments for the pro-side revolved around the idea that legalization would lead to better regulation of the marijuana, and that it would bring in revenue for the state.

Both sides agreed that recreational marijuana should not be available for minors.

“I think [the legalization of recreational

marijuana] is the right sound public policy,” Steans said. “I did a lot of research and spoke to a lot of folks, and I have very much come to the belief that prohibition simply does not work.”

Possession of marijuana has already been decriminalized in Illinois since June 2017, Durkin said. A person will not be prosecuted if caught with small amounts marijuana.

The youth task force of The Coalition for Drug Free Lyons Township is hoping to plan a similar debate for LT, Frymark said. The plans are still in the early stages.

“I think that drug use is becoming more normalized for students at LT,” Julie BryarSmith, history teacher and member of the Coalition for Drug Free Lyons Township, said.

“I think that students need to see data about the consequences of substance misuse.This issue has very real consequences for their lives and for their futures here in Illinois. They are going to be voting on this. The more informed students are with real data the better their vote will be because it won’t just be on emotions and what sounds good at the moment.”

are starting to pay attention to trends because of the internet.”

Among other club activities, planning Because of an increased interest in fash- for a new kind of fashion show is in its early ion and design at LT, the school recently ac- stages, Stillo said. It would take place in the cepted a proposal from Skyla Stillo ‘19 to spring, around the same time that the annual fashion show is presented. start a fashion club this school year.

“I want a fashion show where ev“I want fashion club to bring togetheryone participating is comfortable er a group that wants to create and exin their own clothes, [and want] to press themselves through fashion,” show off their style in the spotlight,” Stillo said.

Stillo said.

The first meeting will be Ever since her sophomore year, Stillo Sept. 24, in room 124 of has had the idea to create a fashion club NC, after school. Fashfor students who were interested in fashion club will meet ion, either for fun twice each month, or as potential caon the first and reer options. last Monday of “Planning and the month, Stillo coming up with said. Stillo will be ideas for every assisted by Lauren Engelhardt, Fashion club founder Skyla Stilllo ‘19 sketches meeting is difficult,” Stillo said. “It was as both the club’s new outfit designs for her club (Sorice/LION). tough as a sophomore sponsor and a fashion teacher at LT. Both upper and under to take control of a club.”

With a strong start to the new school classmen are welcome to come, Stillo said.

During the meeting, a variety of activities year, Stillo is ready and excited for her can be expected, including creating dream- dream of a fashion club at LT to become a boards, style guidance, and guest speakers reality, she said.

“Everyone that loves fashion can come who have careers in fashion, Stillo said.

“Fashion club will likely be very suc- and meet new people,” Stillo said. “There arcessful,” Activities Director Peter Geddeis en’t rules for fashion, so everyone can show said. “Students are more hip to fashion, kids their true beauty through it.”

LT begins to offer options to all triathletes Continued from Page 1

“Volunteers are getting physically ac“I feel like some kids, and society as tive and it alsoallows for the physically a whole, seem nervous around people disabled to get active as well, so everybody with disabilities, which is unfortunate,” wins,” Niego said.

Korzyniewski said. “We are all together, Overall, the club will unite able bodied and we can work together.” students and athletes with disabled ones to Neigo echoed work together to Korzyniewski’s achieve a common goals, and stressed goal, Korzyniewsthe importance ki said. Dare2Tri’s of physical activmission is to show Many students at LT have assisted in the ity in breaking that disablilites are down the barriers paratrialtholon during sohpomore year. not as debilitating that exist between as they may seem. able-bodied and disabled students.

“There are so many people out there that “The physical activity breaks down so are just as able as you are,” Korzyniewski many barriers,” Niego said. “Our volun- said. “Even though these people are physteers forget that they are working with ically disabled, they can outrun and outsomeone with a disability.” swim you.”

The long term goal of the club is to not The club proposal will be brought to only have volunteers for outside Dare2Tri the stipend commitee in October. If theevents, but also potentially have a triathlon proposal is approved, meetings will then and paratriathlon at LT, Niego said. begin in December.

NEws

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Friday, September 21, 2018

With a new year upon us, Lyons Township has instituted many significant changes, all with hopes to improve the school and create a better environment for the LT community.

New principals discuss goals for school New SC administrators hope to foster relationships, collaborate for success

by Isabel Tuisl @isabeltuisl With the arrival of the new 2018 school year, there comes an influx of new teachers and administrators; specifically SC’s recent additions of the class of 2022 Assistant Principal, Bryan Radavich, as well as the Associate Principal, Shanna Lewis.

SC knew the position of the Associate Principal would be vacant because of Therese Nelson’s retirement last year, Principal Brian Waterman said.

Lewis, the Assistant Principal for the class of 2018, will transition to SC Associate Principal, Waterman said. That opened up the position for the Assistant Principal, which is now Radavich’s position.

The APs meet on a weekly basis to collaborate about ways to better serve the students at SC, Radavich said.

“Lewis was an Assistant Principal last year, and has been able to guide me along with the other APs as I learn the procedures that are new to me here at LT,” Radavich said.

Radavich’s main goals are simple.

“I want to build relationships with as many staff members, students, and families that I can,” he said. “I also want to lead my Student Support Team to provide assistance for

SC Assistant Principal Brian Radavich and SC Associate Principal Shanna Lewis prepare for new opportunities (Tuisl/LION).

any freshman students that may be struggling with their transition to LT and help them to be successful.”

Lewis has similar goals—to keep kids safe and get both teachers and students all of the resources they need in order to be successful.

“We have already made some steps to improve our security and I want to continue working on that. I am focusing on meeting all the new people and beginning to establish

relationships with the staff and students,” Lewis said.

Along with Radavich, Lewis meets with the APs informally throughout the day and formally once a week, keeping open lines of communication with the staff, she said.

“I am fortunate to be on many teams, and the goal of all of them is to do our best work for kids,” Lewis said.

Prior to coming to LT, Lewis served as a dean at Naperville Central High School.

Radavich also has already had previous experiences as part of an administrative staff. He was a dean of students for the past three years at Plainfield South High School, and in that position he had similar responsibilities that included discipline, attendance, and supervision of school events.

Waterman is confident both will make valuable contributions to LT. “My work with the Assistant and Associate Principals is related to student services, so our goal as a team is to positively impact the school climate using a variety of resources,” he said.

Waterman is most excited for the principals to continue their learning process as they familiarize themselves with SC, he said.

“We are fortunate enough to have a wonderful school climate and great relationships with our students, so I’m looking forward to them continuing that tradition and set our students up for success,” Waterman said.

Marching band members Student council institutes are granted athletic study changes for Homecoming Band members are eligible for study hall in lieu of gym

by Diane Makovic @dmakovic8

For the first time, marching band students at LT are receiving an athletic study hall. It began this semester and will last until the final home football game against Hinsdale Central on Friday, Oct. 12.

“It was something that was brought to our attention last year that we weren’t doing,” Scott Eggerding, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, said. “We looked into it and saw that it was permissible, so we brought it to the board.”

The Illinois School Code allows school districts to give athletic study hall to marching band members, Band Director Mark Dahl said.

The parents of students in marching band have been asking the band directors for an athletic study hall for their children for a long time, Eggerding said. The administrators and teachers did research on the topic, and more than 50 percent of high schools in Illinois were giving athletic study hall to their band members.

“Every school does things a little differently, and some schools allow students who are in the band to take a class in place of

PE, some don’t have anything or some are just out during the season,” Eggerding said.

“I think our students knew kids at Hinsdale, in particular, who had the opportunity, and we didn’t, so they just naturally asked.”

LT’s marching band practices during band classes in school, but also has threehour practices on Wednesday nights from 6:30-9:30 p.m. In addition, the drumline has extra practices on Mondays from 6-8 p.m. and Wednesdays from 5:30-6:30 p.m. before the whole band practices. The number of hours that students are in marching band practice exceeds the hours required for one semester of PE, Emma Dahl ‘19 said.

“Kids are busy, and as adults we want to help make things easier for them,” Mark Dahl said. “I think it was a common sense solution by the school district to implement the waiver.”

The mandatory marching band season ends after the football season ends, but band members voluntarily play at basketball games and march in local parades, Aman Penmetcha ‘20 said. Out of the 50 performances the band students give each year, over 20 of them directly support athletics and represent the school in parades, Mark Dahl said.

“I am proud of the significant amount of time the band students give to support the school and community,” he said.

Decisions are implemented to increase attendance, spirit

by Mia Bonfiglio @miabonfiglio

Student Council is making changes to this year’s Homecoming dance in attempts to fund an all-around bigger production by increasing both school spirit and upperclassman participation.

The new changes will include an increase in ticket price, from $15 to $20, creative spirit day themes, more decorations to go along with the disco theme, and a larger production, Student Council Advisor Peter Geddeis said.

“I want everyone to have fun and increase school spirit,” Student Council President Pilar Valdes said. “Events like the pep rally and spirit days only happen once a year and not a lot of people participate, especially at North Campus. My biggest goal is to get school spirit up.”

This year, Student Council’s main focus is to get everyone involved. They are hoping the new spirit day themes, including meme and denim day, will attract more upperclassmen participation. They picked a theme that would hopefully appeal to all grade levels.

“The extra money will help bring more

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to the homecoming dance itself and it also should enable Student Council to do some things that they wanted to do that they were not able to do in the past,” Geddeis said. “For example they are going to try and get more clubs and classes involved in making the hallways more festive during homecoming week.”

The Homecoming dance will take place tomorrow, Sept. 22, in the SC fieldhouse from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. The five extra dollars spent on a ticket will be put towards the elaborate production and decorations, Geddeis said. Students can expect a collaborative playlist created by the DJ and Student Council, along with bright decorations and disco balls.

“All of the costs that go into everything Student Council does have increased,” Geddeis said. “Student council does not receive any money from the school for everything they do. Homecoming is the primary funding source for that.”

Student Council has collaborated with Art Club to decorate windows at SC, as well as trying to include as many fall sports as possible in the Pep Rally. This is in hopes of increasing involvement, Valdes said.

“The goal of homecoming in general is to increase school spirit, and I think Student Council has been lacking in that regards,” Valdes said. “This year will be different.”

IMpact

Friday, September 21, 2018

Page 5

Over the summer, many of the communities neighboring LT were under construction. The stories below summarize the purpose and progress of a few of the bigger projects.

I-294 widening affects train, park Tollway construction will affect Spring Rock Park, train tracks

by Tessa Voytovich @tessavoytovich

LT sports teams such as tennis and cross country use Spring Rock Park for practices after school. However, this may change. Even the Burlington-Northern Santa Fe train tracks must be rerouted for the impending construction project on the I-294 Tollway. Here’s the catch: it limits access to the park.

“We, as a municipality, simply don’t have the power to stop the $4 billion project,” Western Springs Village Manager Ingrid Velkme said. “But we will do our best to make sure it affects our residents as little as possible and that we are made whole once the project is finished.”

A temporary “shoofly bridge” will maintain railway traffic during the project, Western Springs officials said. The bridge connects Western Springs and Hinsdale over the Tollway, and about 104 Metra and Amtrak trains use these tracks dai-

Sign that expresses residents’ unhappiness with the impact the construction will have on Spring Rock Park (Voytovich/LION).

ly. Work on the Tollway is estimated to last until 2025, while the non-permanent bridge will be in use until 2022.

Most work will occur on the south side of the tracks

because Hillgrove is the main avenue for Western Springs public works, the recreation center and swimming pool. The main area in Western Springs that will be impacted is Burlington Avenue near where Spring Rock is located, Velkme said.

“We do know that there is a three to four year infringement on the use of the park.” Western Springs Park District Executive Director Walter Knake said. “It could be very detrimental to the peaceful enjoyment that our residents have come to expect there.”

Trucks will have to enter through the park from the Tollway, since officials do not want traffic coming through downtown. Girls cross country runs around this same area weekly, and has done so for a long time.

“If we can’t use the park anymore, it’s going to be pretty inconvenient,” cross country runner Emily Dickett ‘19 said.

Construction has only just began, Velkme said, and is starting on the tollway itself.

“It’s going to be noisy and dusty, but that’s just part of a construction project,” Velkme said.

Renovations continue Western Springs fixes, at LaGrange Library beautifies major roads Library adds 700 square feet of usable space

Constructions on roads will continue into winter months

by Anna McCormick @annakmccormick

by Nicole Klein @nicoleklein1

Due to wear and tear on the LaGrange Public Library, and the community suggesting changes, library officials decided to renovate the facility.

“The project will benefit the library by providing a user friendly environment with more space, more glass, giving it an open appeal and a new Internet Cafe,” president of Landmark Construction, Jay Bradarich, said.

The renovation started on June 11, 2018, and is making multiple changes to the library, Arcadia McCauley, community engagement coordinator at the Lagrange Public Library, said. The current vestibule and lobby are adding a cafe with more convenient grab and go books, seating, charging stations and a coffee machine with compostable K-cups.

“I’m so excited to see how the library has changed and [to] use the new cafe,” Molly Buzzelli ‘20 said.

Glass will be added in between the lobby and children’s area, Arcadia said. The children’s area will undergo changes to have more early play based learning.

“We want to bring in more young adults as well as parents, and we want to benefit

A sign directing visitors of LaGrange Public Library to a temporary entrance (Klein/LION).

children,” Arcadia said. “We really think that the renovation has something for everyone.”

The overall estimate is just over $1 million, McCauley said. The renovation will not require additional taxpayer dollars because the board has been putting money aside for 10 years for such an endeavor.

“We plan to be completed in middle to late December, and [the renovation] has been running a few weeks behind schedule,” McCauley said.

Part of the lobby is closed off with temporary walls, but the rest of the library has remained open because things were moved around, McCauley said. The street was not impacted, but part of the Cossitt Avenue sidewalk is fenced off.

The Village of Western Springs recently sent out letters to all residents and businesses on streets undergoing construction, warning of increased travel times that could impact people’s everday routines.

The biggest road projects are on Lawn Avenue and Johnson Avenue. The construction that began on Aug. 3 is predicted to continue until after Thanksgiving break.

“So far everything is moving quickly,” the Western Springs Municipal Services Coordinator Casey Biernacki, said. “We are happy to see the contractor has stayed on track.”

The reason behind the construction has to do with the Modified Condition Pavement Index (MPCI), Biernacki, said. This report outlines the worst rated streets in town based upon deficiencies, underground infrastructure, and streetscapes. Work is then done on the roads with the worst ratings.

On Johnson Avenue and Lawn Avenue, sewer and underground work is needed as well as new pavement.

Letters from the Village of Western Springs were sent in April to all residents and business owners who would be affected by the construction, Biernacki said.

Construction sign on Burlington redirecting traffic due to closed road (McCormick/LION).

The letters included solutions to many questions that may have arisen. To businesses on or off of Lawn Ave, such as Oberweis, specific fliers were sent that included where delivery trucks would park, and what should be expected, the manager of Oberweis Dakoda McGoldrick, said.

In response, the village has gotten positive reactions from both residents and businesses, Biernacki said.

“I am thankful to work in a town where they care about the beauty [of] the community,” McGoldrick said.

For questions not answered or further concerns, residents and businesses can look at the Village of Western Springs website to get more clarification on the construction, Biernacki said.

Hinsdale’s infrastruture project closes roads Project works to repair 9.2 miles of roads over seven months

by Dani Almase @AlmaseDani Multiple roads in Hinsdale, along with main streets around the Chicago suburbs, are being repaired due to the 2018 Infrastructure Project. The project impacted the commute time of LT English teacher and former Hinsdale resident Virginia Condon.

“The construction doubled the time it took me to get anywhere,” Condon said. “I couldn’t get to many locations in town swiftly due to a multitude of closed roads – frustrating to say the least. However, I know that the construction will be worth it for the community and travelers into the town from other areas.”

The 2018 Infrastructure Project is a construction plan to improve the roads in the Hinsdale area. The plan was started in April 2018 and has been in action for five months, Director of Hinsdale Public Services George Peluso said. It

will approximately repair 9.2 miles of roads. Construction was separated into two contracts to accomplish the project: North and South. The North contract will be mostly complete by Oct. 1, and the South contract will be substantially complete in early November.

The main roads being redone include Chicago Avenue, Hinsdale Avenue, County Line Road and The Lane, Peluso said. As a result of the Chicago Avenue redevelopment from Garfield to County Line Road, Hinsdale Hospital has had to accommodate with the Village regarding traffic detours, Julie Busch, Associate Vice President of Internal Communications at AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center Hinsdale, said.

“Chicago Avenue is the street that impacted us the most,” Busch said. “The Village has handled this project similar to the Oak Street bridge project, which minimized the disruption to the hospital. That project was a success, and we knew this project would be handled equally well. As a community partner, we support anything the village would do to make A sign maps out the Chicago Avenue detour that is part of the 2018 Infrastructure Project in Hinsdale (Almase/LION). our streets and roadways better.”

NEWS

Page 6

Friday, September 21, 2018

With a school as large as 4,000 people, the LION Newspaper does not always represent every student. Now, we are sharing the stories of a few, in hopes of making something so big seem a little bit smaller. Read below to learn about people of LT. compiled by Camilla Breen

Lizzo Cremins ‘19

“I have no idea what my passion is; I’ve been all over the place.

Right now, it’s baking, but it’s changed a lot since I was a kid.

I’m not in any rush to find out what my passion will be later because I know I have lots of time to figure it out. It’s baking right now just because I just wanted to try something new a couple of summers ago, and I ended up loving it. I made a cake and it turned out super nice; I’m still shook that it turned out that well. It didn’t hurt that I learned fast and gained lots of skill quickly. I can’t even remember a specific interest I’ve had in the past, that’s how often it’s changed. I think it changes so often because I’m so indecisive and I really just want to try everything that catches my eye. I’ve been indecisive since I was little. My parents have been supportive and pretty chill about all my hobbies. They love the baking hobby because they usually get to eat whatever I make, so everyone wins.”

Thomas Peterson ‘21

“I doubt myself a lot. I’ve done it my whole life. I’m the youngest child, so a lot of times I’m wrong, according to my older sisters. I don’t really get along with them all the time, so that contributes to it. I think I can be a bit much, so I try to tone it down. I just talk a bunch and im aware of it. In middle school, I had some shaky friendships so it was hard to be confident in my friends and myself and just do things by myself. However, I haven’t really been nervous about freshman year yet, and even though it’s only been [five] weeks, I’m coming into my own [skin] and I’ve been able to just walk up to people and start conversations because it’s a different atmosphere. I’ve known people in all my classes so it hasn’t been that bad. I was a little scared after my first day, because it hadn’t hit me that I was in a new school until that day. I think I’m becoming less doubtful because I’m adjusting much better to SC. I like learning, so I don’t really doubt myself in a educational setting, it’s more about adjusting to the new environment.”

Remembering Alexis Shapiro Continued from Page 1

Addiction is a horrific disease, but just as with any other illness, there are treatments and ways to get to recovery.

For Alexis, who had struggled with mental illness, seeing a therapist was the first step for her, Peter said.

“Therapy is definitely a large factor [in the recovery process], because the person needs to figure out who they are and how they can overcome [their struggles],” Peter said.

“If they have any issues internally, then that’s going to be in the way, so they need to figure out what their issues are so they can be honest with themselves and work through it.”

Therapy can be just as important for the family as it is for the patient, Peter said. It is essential for the family to stay informed and understand how addiction affects the body and mind.

“We would get frustrated thinking ‘why is she doing this to us,’ and then we realized it’s the disease,” Peter said. “It takes over their minds and their bodies. They do things be-

“I play badminton. I went to state last year for it. I’m pretty good; I started playing in middle school gym class, and it was fun at that time because it wasn’t so competitive; it wasn’t to the point where the only reason I was doing it was to win tournaments for my team. At this point, I play because I’m good at it, and I’ll continue to do it because of that. Once you join a sport or club, you can’t quit regardless of how much you dislike it. You can if you want to, but it really feels like you can’t. Like choir; I love singing, but that passion has faded over time. You have to do everything right and it has to be purposeful, we can’t just do something for enjoyment anymore. Choir isn’t my favorite thing anymore because of that mentality. Once you join something, there’s so much pressure to stay with it. Same with badminton. There’s so much pressure to be good that I work myself to the point that I don’t want to play anymore. Of course, there’s still times where I love what I’m doing and I’m happy to be involved, but once you play something so much, it’s like why am I still doing this? I’m literally just hitting the same shot thousands of times, why am I still trying?”

Alex Torres ‘20

“This year I’m going to be on Snowball staff and Best Buddies. I kind of wanted to be one of those guys that mentor the new incoming freshmen, especially the boys. For me, when I started freshman year, not many guys that I knew did Snowball, so I wanted to be the person that helps guys get through stuff if they have questions. I just want to be there for them.

For boys, it’s hard to talk about ‘deep’ stuff. On Snowball, I was in a group with only three guys and a bunch of girls. I was always bringing up that it was hard for me to talk about my feelings or ‘girly stuff’ with my friends. I still don’t tell my guy friends much; it’s hard and it’s just a topic guys don’t really talk about. Boys will joke around and stuff, but you never know if they’re just kidding. When I was younger, I kind of shied away from helping people, but I realized that I needed to change, so during freshman year I became much nicer and reached out to more people. When I went on fall Snowball, it changed my life. It wasn’t like I was a mean person before, but I wanted to help people the way Snowball helped me.”

Maeve Seyer ‘22

cause of the chemical dependency—they have this need for it in their bodies.”

The process definitely isn’t easy, Peter said. Finding a therapist, psychiatrist, or treatment center that is a good fit for the patient and their family can take multiple tries.

“You see breakthroughs,” Peter said. “Unfortunately with the addiction and the mental side of it, you take two steps forwards, but sometimes you take three steps back.

Even Alexis, the first couple of times [she went to rehabilitation centers], we felt like she was only there because we made her go, not because she wanted it, and that makes a big difference in actually succeeding. You need to want it for yourself.”

Relapse is part of the recovery process, as frustrating and discouraging as it may be. According to Psych Reg, 40 to 60-percent of patients suffering with substance abuse will relapse within the first year of treatment. When individuals are exposed to certain environmental, social or emotional triggers, the symptoms of withdrawal can become too over-

whelming to resist.

“You always have to remember that it’s easy to be angry at them, but sometimes the way that you act is not helping them, and it just makes it worse,” Alexis’s brother Marc Shapiro ‘19 said.

It is important to recognize the signs of someone who may be turning to drug use, including a change in personality and loss of interest in activities they were once passionate about, Peter said. Parents should be open to reaching out for support and avoid shaming their child, which could only lead them to steer away from their family more and increase their drug usage.

“A lot of people, if they don’t know someone, they just hear ‘drug addict,’ and they think it’s someone who’s choosing to do [drugs],” Marc said. “When it’s someone in your family you realize it’s more of a disease, and they’re not choosing to do it. You see how much it hurts them to do it, because they can see how much it hurts you, but they just can’t control themselves.”

Friday, September 21, 2018

opiniOns PageSevenPhotoGrid

Page 7

GuestColumn

Women’s Health is World Health

Women are facing a health crisis across the globe. I’m Grace DeKoker scared for the future: not just myself, but for all women If you could only make and what healthcare will be If you could get one statistic You just got asked to DJ Pick a teacher and a song one animal noise for the available at what cost. about your life, what would homecoming- what is your to sing a duet with. rest of your life, what Under the Trump adminit be?

DJ name? would it be? istration, women’s healthcare is under fire like never before.

Conservatives want to defund and drive resources away from Number of times I’ve women’s healthcare services, My own voice because I’M walked up one flight of Mr. Brod, “Take Me particularly Planned ParentDJ J-Nevs AN ANIMAL stairs at NC and felt like I Home, Country Roads” hood. Many fail to see the benjust ran a marathon efits PP has to offer; instead, they solely focus on abortion.

Jacob Nevis ‘19 What lacks media coverage is the HPV vaccines, STD testing and treatment, birth control, well-woman exams, cancer screening and prevenNumber of times I disloOoh-ooh ah-ah DJ HotAsFire Señor B., “Bailando” tion, hormone therapy, infertilcated my kneecap- eight ity services and general health care-- and yes, abortions. These are not services we want to Mya Jackson ‘20 lose. I shouldn’t have to explain why. Not every woman can afford cancer screening, or contraceptives, or hormone Mrs. Niedig “Let A cow, so I could annoy treatment, and PP determines Percent baddie I am DJ Foodmaster It Grow” from “The charge by a need-based system. people (claims to be 100%) Lorax” In America, PP as a whole is at risk for being defunded, which could leave women Sean Dolliff ‘21 without viable options for affordable healthcare. If PP loses funding or is forced to shut down, Federally QualiAnything about my future Mr. Stormont and A fish because they don’t fied Health Centers (federally job/life so that I could plan Tuerkster “Unwritten” by Natamake noise funded wellness clinics) may be for it sha Bedingfeild expected to fill the gap. These centers may not have the same access to all the programs PP Imogene Tuerk ‘22 provides; for example, contraDefinitely not my death. I ceptives, specialty doctors and That’s easy! We’ve Probably a hiss. I think would love to know what it diagnostic equipment. The curalready done it! Jess I could keep that pretty rently existing centers would will feel like when I leave Roessler, the song consistent now that all DJ Sleighty Stanza not be able to readily pick up LT for the last time, having “Falling Slowly” from three of my kids are “Harry the influx of clients from PP. spent 39 years of my life the movie “Once.”

According to the GuttmachPotter”-ing. here. er Institute, only 60 percent of Frank Alletto, English Teacher compiled by Grace DeKoker and Greg Smith FQHCs in 2015 reported that they aided 10 or more women in contraceptive care over the course of one year. That means they helped less than one The LION staff strongly supports the First Amendwoman per month who sought Did you hear that? Here, the Random Chatter Box, information about or access ment rights to preedom of expression and opposes LION compiles some of the funniest, wierdest, and to contraceptives. FQHCs can censorship in any form. only serve 10 percent of the most random comments we hear in the halls of LT. LION is a newsroom for journalism students designed to serve the community clientele that PP sees daily, of Lyons Township. meaning many states would It is LION’s responsibility to cover the events and issues that may have relehave to double or even triple vance to the readership in the community. the number of FQHCs to meet “Tell the nurse to let you aux so you can jam LION will attempt to cover all aspects of the school; however, coverage will the demand. If the nation had out to ‘Oh What a Night.’” -Maggie Vear ‘20 greatly depend on the item’s news value. News value is determined by timeliness to rely solely on FQHCs, I and how relevant the item is to the majority of the newspaper’s readership. LION doubt they could adequately editors reserve the right to determine the news value of content. provide the same level of care LION will clearly identify sources of news, except in cases when it is clearly that PP is currently doing. necessary to protect the source’s identity.

Even more alarming is the “I just want to keep it warm and toasty.”

LION will avoid sensationalizing the news. LION does not invade the personal proposal to eliminate Title X. -Edward Kruszynski ‘19 privacy of sources.

Title X is the only federal grant Each issue of the paper will feature staff editorials. Although they are written program dedicated to providing by individuals, they reflect the viewpoints of the student staff. individuals with comprehenLION is written primarily for LT students and faculty. sive family planning. Hospitals, LION makes every possible effort to correctly spell the names of sources.

“Limits are very Zen. It’s not all about the clinics, and PP benefit from the All facts must be checked for accuracy by the writer. Any unverified informafunding that is given to them destination for them, it’s about the journey.” tion will not be printed in LION. through Title X, allowing them -Rebecca Rivan, Calculus Teacher Most of what is published is the work of individuals. The writer’s name will be to help over 3 million women. printed by every story, except for the editorials. The entire staff is responsible for Without it, centers would close all content that is published. Administrators have a non-review role and do not down, and hospitals would lose control the content prior to publication. the funding that aid women “Today is a great day, because I have the best LION strives for the highest standards of accuracy in its presentation of matein family planning and other rial that time allows. The staff accepts responsibility for the accuracy of these facts.

Expo marker ever.” gynecological care. Ideally, the Rumor, gossip and innuendo are not included in a story appearing in LION. Title X funds would go into -Bruce Falli, Chemistry Teacher Sources interviewed for a story will be given the opportunity to look through FQHCs, but again, the country their interview notes and verify their quotes prior to the printer’s deadlines. is not ready to make such a Every reporter and other member of the staff will face the ramifications for shift. Fourteen states would any inaccuracies presented in his or her story. have to double the amount of FQHCs, and 27 would have to triple their current number.

Taking federal funds away Have an opinion on a story? Are you passionate about something in the world from Title X and/or PP would or school? Any opinions? Want some clarification? Anything you want to tell us? be an atrocity in American Write us a letter! Simply bring a letter, of any length, to NC Room 220, put it in healthcare. Not only would Mr. Scales’s mailbox, or email the letter to Greg Smith at smi504661@d204.lths.net it throw the country’s health and you may see it in the next issue! centers, clinics, and hospitals Make sure the content of the letter is appropriate, sign your letter with your into financial mayhem, but it name and make sure to put down your email! would leave millions of women LION reserves the right to edit all submitted letters, and not all letters will be unable to access the care they published. need and deserve.

Welcome to the Page Seven Grid, which some of you may know as the only page in the paper. This is where we can watch people (attempt to) be funny. Your classmates are asked a series of questions, to which they respond with the most humorous answers! If you have a funny or unique question, bring it to Room 220 and maybe you’ll see it in here next issue!

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Opinions

Page 8

Friday, September 21, 2018

Socialism: Tyranny or Paradise?

PawsUp

n To spirit days—thank you, Dwayne Johnson, for making my Monday just that much brighter. n To Noah Centineo—for filling our hearts (and VSCO feeds) with love. n To Necktober—only a few days until the best month of the year. #getnekt n To syllabi—getting them signed is the only homework I’ll complete all year. n To wingdings—Tab sucks

n To people that poop in school bathrooms— you are as brave as the Marines. n To Josie Dunne— you’re the new Hasselhoff of LT, and you actually record WLTL promos #winning. n To September by Earth, Wind and Fire—the only way to celebrate Issue 1 coming out on Sept. 21. n To the NC Cafeteria— the cookies make up for the lack of cell reception. n To hoco proposals— promposal’s younger, less obnoxious sibling. n To vegetarians— we support you in spirit. [ed. note: this section editor has no qualified support for vegetarianism] n To teachers not assigning homework because of homecoming—not legit, but appreciated.

PawsDown

n To people who didn’t take a newspaper this morning—good luck escaping us Issue 2. n To test running ads on Netflix—thanks for undermiming the exact reason I use it. n To stingrays—that’s what you get for killing Steve Irwin. n To people who say they don’t pee in the shower—we know you’re lying. n To teachers who jump into learning new material right after tests— I need at least 10 business days to get my brain back from last unit. n To road construction— like I needed my morning commute to be any longer. n To webdings—and we all know it n To Netflix—you give us “Sierra Burgess is a Loser” but not any old Disney shows? Hulu, here we come. n To not implementing new Starbucks lids until 2020—do you even care about the turtles? n To Hurricane Florence—catastrophic natural disaster or angry grandma in a Wal-mart parking lot?

McCain’sLegacy

Last month, Arizona Senator LION surveyed 222 students about their opinions on socialism.

John McCain was buried.

Whatever Greg Smith your political believed the standing is, government can of respondents said McCain was an American hero. justly intervene in the economy by they believe the role owning the means of production He served with distinction of government should “more often than not” or all in the Vietnam War. He was include providing certain

the time. 26% non-essential goods such captured and held in a hellhole

were unsure. of respondents said they consider as higher education, while themselves socialists in some way. of a North Vietnamese prison 21% said they were unsure. camp, where he endured five long years of gruesome torture that left him physically disfigured and disabled for the rest of Wow, socialism sounds awesome! Except poverty, but things got even better as capitalist principles his life. When offered an early that it doesn’t work. and individual entrepreneurship were embraced in pop- release designed to embarrass It’s no secret all people are motivated, at ulous south Asia (including India) and east Asia (China— his father, who was a fourleast to some degree, by their own self-inyes, that China). So by 2011, that rate had fallen to 17% star admiral in the Navy, he terest. Some describe that self-interest as of the world’s population. According to Ben Southwood declined and endured two more of the Adam Smith Institute, during roughly the same years of imprisonment.

Greg Smith “greed,” which is something of a dirty word, because it suggests that anything we obtain period of growth (between 1988 and 2008), those in the John McCain, although is made off of the backs of others. If you got more, I got less. lower and middle-income brackets enjoyed an approximperfect, embodied certain Socialists say we need to take from those with more and imate 40% increase in real, inflation-adjusted income. uniquely American characterisredistribute the wealth so that we will all be equal. This is Yes, there is still poverty and we have a way to go, but tics that are becoming increasbunk and breeds class resentment. the statistics suggest that we need more free markets and ingly rare today, one of which But this is not the way the economy or the world works. economic liberty, not less. This means more capitalism. is a profound sense of gratitude.

Self-interest is basically a motivation to gain value (usually Yes, it’s true that as an economy grows, geometric McCain reflected on various money) by working to provide things or skills, for which growth of incomes can result in a greater “wage gap,” events in his life—crashed other people are willing to pay money. This is rational. If measured as the difference, in real dollars, between the airplanes, being a conduct case there is a need for lawyers, college graduates will be motihighest and lowest incomes. But that occurs in virtually at the Naval Academy, being vated to acquire the necessary skills by every booming economy as all wages nearly killed in a terrible shipattending law school and eventually get Milton Friedman once said to increase. Typically, the “wage gap” gets board fire, being shot down paid for their work as a lawyer. Individ- “treat your fellow man not as narrow only in an economic depresand tortured for years, and uals voluntarily engage in mutually ben- an object to be manipulated sion, as all wages fall and the economic being attacked unfairly in the eficial trade of their labor or property to press when he ran for President for your purpose, but as a pie shrinks for everyone. serve their rational self-interests. When person with his own values By all means, our society needs to against Barack Obama. After this happens in free markets, it’s called have certain social “safety nets,” like all of this, he said “I do not and rights, to be persuaded, capitalism. welfare, social security, and Medicaid. know anyone alive — I’ve never not coerced, not forced.” But the point of a social safety net Now here’s the important part: by heard of anyone — who is as acting within this system and by engaging in mutually benshould be to help people regain their independence and lucky as I am.” Notwithstandeficial trade that is motivated by self- interest, people can not to turn them into dependents. ing a difficult and painful life, actually increase the size of the pie and make the economy A socialist system that breeds and is based on class McCain consistently pushed bigger. I can grow more corn if I am free to grow only corn, resentment is not the answer. While “free stuff” sounds grievance aside and expressed and then trade with others who make, say, clothing. If I great—free health care, free food, and a free iPhone you gratitude for his life, for those have to do both, I will produce less of each. But if I am free can take to free college—socialists are slow to provide around him, and for our counto make my own choices and pursue my own interests, I details on exactly who will pay for all that free stuff. try. That outlook led him to can be more productive. This unleashes enormous creative (Economists predict that Bernie Sanders’s proposed stand up for the things that potential on a world-wide scale. Tapping into the creative “medicare for all” will cost over $32 trillion over one make our country great when potential of rational self-interest, Henry Ford revolutiondecade. Yikes!). As Margaret Thatcher observed “The he felt they were under attack. ized automobile production. Medical technology has made trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of Gratitude is a focus on things huge advances. Steve Jobs grew Apple. other people’s money.” that go right in life and feelings Capitalism makes the world better. As Milton FriedSocialist systems bring higher taxes and poor ecoof gratitude are highly corman pointed out, free-market capitalism has done more to nomic performance while they destroy incentives for related with high levels of haperadicate grinding human poverty than any other economic productivity and creativity. Venezuela, one of the most piness. Expressing our gratitude system or government program, period. And it is not even oil-rich nations on earth, has a dumpster-fire economy for others makes us become close. According to Oxford University’s Martin Roeser, in and stands as a tragic example of socialism’s true poteneven happier.

1820, the worldwide rate of persons living in extreme povtial. Human beings should be permitted to pursue their Why do we so love that erty (less than one dollar per day) was a staggering 94%. But individual interests and to enjoy, to as full a degree as uniquely American holiday of as free trade and capitalist principles expanded (along with possible, the fruits of their labors. If this doesn’t make Thanksgiving? Maybe the great human liberty and the eradication of slavery in the west), perfect sense, go to your counselor, now, and ask to be food, the football, or time spent that rate fell to 53% by 1981. That was a remarkable fall in placed into every economics course LT has to offer. with family. But it could also be that we have a national holiday dedicated to reflecting upon our In the 2016 Olympics, American explicitly stated in the Constitution, but our good friend good fortune—that we focus, runner Abbey D’Agostino fell during Thomas Jefferson made it very clear that everyone has for one day, on all that has gone the 5000 meter heat and New Zealand’s the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” right in our individual and colNikki Hamblin stopped to help her up in the Declaration of Independence. How can someone lective lives and that we express and finish the race together. Hamblin have a fulfilled life if their healthcare bills are so outour gratitude to each other and threw away her chances of Olympic glory rageously high that they can’t pay for them? How can to our Creator. Can we bring Pilar Valdes to help another runner; one who wasn’t someone pursue happiness if they can’t pay for college some of this to the other 364 even on her team. This is essentially what socialism is in a and can’t find a job that will hire them with only a high days of our year? nutshell. Socialism is putting your needs aside to come to school diploma? By not providing these services to its Where to begin? Yale prothe aid of someone who is down, and knowing that if you people, the government is taking away the American fessor Laurie Santos teaches were in their shoes, they would do the same for you. This is people’s basic rights, which also, according to Jefferson, a course called “Psychology a system that needs to be implemented in the U.S. allows us the right to rebel and put a government in and the Good Life,” which has Before I get into the nitty gritty of this argument let’s place that does provide these rights. become the most popular course take a trip back to seventh grade history class and recap the The most frustrating part about the American peoin Yale history. Santos has some difference between socialism and communism. The two ple’s reluctance to move towards a more socialist form helpful suggestions on practicare confused because of their focus on of government is the argument that is ing our gratitude and becoming “The fact of the matter is that brought up time and time again: that social equality. Communism advocates a happier person. First, pay for a complete class overthrow so that the the system of capitalism that socialism will result in higher taxes. attention. We should notice the people can own the means of production. exists in America today isn’t This is true. But, as Benjamin Frank- good—a good meal, a kind deed Socialism differs in that the government working. The rich are getting lin once said: “only two things in life from a stranger, or a moment of owns the means of production. peace. This helps us block “feelricher. The poor are getting are inevitable: death and taxes.” Yes, Next I will tell you that, yes, socialism our taxes would be higher, but its for ings of victimhood.” Second, poorer. Our environment is in its purest form does not work. But I a good reason. And realistically, the we should consider taking an being ruined.” am not advocating for socialism in its government could reduce spending inventory of these good things, purest form, I am an advocating for democratic socialism, on the military and increase spending on healthcare and maybe by writing them down, where the government does not own the means of produceducation. There are ways to make this system work, but as my English teacher has tion, but rather provides basic rights and necessities to its the only way it will work is if the mindset of the Ameri- us do every day (thanks Ms. constituents. This is a system that works, and it works much can people switches from a selfish one based on personal Gallicchio!). This process of better than capitalism. interest to one where you care about others and their “gratitude journaling” helps us The fact of the matter is that the system of capitalism well being. Democratic socialism isn’t twisted or wrong, understand and appreciate the that exists in America today isn’t working. The rich are getunless you consider helping a child whose family can’t sources of our gifts. Finally, we ting richer. The poor are getting poorer. Our environment pay for his cancer treatment twisted and wrong. should express our gratitude, is being ruined.

Ferris Bueller once said “ A person should not to our parents, our siblings, our Capitalism and classical liberalism both advocate for a believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself.” I agree friends, our coaches, and our free market. Let me say that again: a free market. Capitalism with the great philosopher that is Matthew Broderick teachers. Maybe say a prayer. is not a form of government: it is a system of economics, and iconic 80s movies. Because socialism is more than an Did someone make a difference that’s why it isn’t working. Treating the United States as a “-ism;” it is a mentality. We need to change our mental- for you? Helped, pushed, or corbusiness rather than what it really is, a country of people ity. Socialism is a state of mind where the needs of others rected you? Tell them. with basic needs and rights, is toxic in a myriad of ways, come before our own, this state of mind allows opportuNo one wants to experience mainly being that it is ignoring the fact that there is more to nities for those who under a capitalist system would be the hardships and hazards that a person’s value and life than money. left to the wayside to fend for themselves. It is a system John McCain faced. But if we I’ve been saying the phrase basic rights and needs a lot; that no matter how you spin it, is morally right. At the learn to feel and express some let me clarify what that means. You have the right to an end of the day, I’d rather know I lived life as a good measure of gratitude like he did, education. You have the right to healthcare. This is never person than made money at the expense of others. we may be happier.

33%

52%

25%

An idea whose time has come and gone

The little -ism that could

Opinions

Friday, September 21, 2018

Page 9

AnotherView

StaffEditorials

Year-round prevention can control how someone deals with bullying or According to the Centers for Disease Control thoughts of suicide. Anti-bullying campaigns are and Prevention (CDC), in 2016 over 45,000 people created to fight against bullying, but they do not died from suicide, making it the second leading always garner the intended effect. cause of death in those aged 10-34 and the 10th “In an analysis of 7,000 students from 50 leading cause for all ages. Suicide kills more people states, researchers from the University of Texas than homicide does, and the conversation around at Arlington found that students at schools with suicide and suicidal ideations should reflect that. anti-bullying initiatives may be more likely to One of the reasons we do not address suicide become a victim of bullying,” according to CBS is because we do not know how. The idea of News. attempting suicide for many people is very foreign Some of the reasons the programs do not and puzzling. One of the first steps we can take always work is because they are only targeting the in trying to understand those who are struggling surface. The programs are just teaching the bullies with these thoughts is realizing that they do not how to be efficient bullies. However, there are want to die; they want to stop their troubles. proposed solutions that might work.

People are most driven to suicide when they “[We should] empower view their current situation as being completely hopeless Our position: Nearing the end youth by providing concrete, and feel as if they have no of September, which is suicide positive, and proactive ways they can influence the social way to change things for the prevention month, it is import- norms of their peer group better, according to Mental ant to realize that to lessen the so that bullying is seen as an Health Daily. Oftentimes they see no other solution to problem of suicide in the world, uncool behavior,” according their problems. we need to focus on suicide pre- to the CDC. “Youth who act out through bullying others There are many reasons vention year-round. may be trying to fit in and/ people commit suicide, or reacting to stress, abuse, including mental illness, or other issues at home or school. Bullying behavtraumatic experiences, and bullying, according to ior is an important signal that they need mental Healthline. These issues happen throughout the health services and additional support. We must year, so why should they only be brought up in move beyond punishment and blame to set the September? tone for lasting prevention.”

A positive way to create change in the minds of There is no surefire way to eliminate either those who struggle with these problems is to disbullying or suicide, but we must try. cuss the situations that lead up to these emotions.

“The focus should instead be on comprehenOne of the causes of suicide is bullying. If we sively reforming the school’s overall culture,” really want to prevent suicide, the causes behind Stuart Twemlow, author of “Preventing Bullying suicide must be addressed. and School Violence,” said. “Bullies are not the “Youth who report both being bullied and cause of the problem. They’re the result of the bullying others have the highest rates of negative problem. The problem is in the climate of the mental health outcomes, including depression, school.” anxiety, and suicide ideation,” according to the Suicide is an extremely deep issue and placing CDC. blame on just one person will not change anySince there is a correlation between bullies thing. A more proactive way to prevent suicide and their victims of being at risk, the discussion focuses in on the roots of the problems that lead of suicide prevention should include a focus on up to the suicide. bullying. Bullying is not the direct cause of someIf you or someone you know is suicidal, one committing suicide. Low self-esteem, home or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline school environments that are not supportive, poor at: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). coping skills, depression and many other factors

Illustration by Tommy Layden

ComicStrips

Staff vote: 24-0

Rank is right Four years ago, LT stopped calculating class in making decisions based on class rank, students rank. Arguments against a system of class rank primarily aimed for a certain percentile or group, were made primarily on the basis of utilitariannot necessarily for a specific number. The students ism. Opponents of ranking students claimed that who the elimination of class rank was supposed in order to do the greatest good for the greatest to help were not the ones jockeying for minute number of students, class rank should be elimboosts to their GPA. inated. The line of thought held that class rank Regardless of whether class rank is good for created an unhealthy and over-competitive atmoeveryone, class rank is certainly fair to everyone. sphere and incentivized less-than-optimal choices Utilitarianism can sometimes be justified, and it that were based on increasing weighted GPA was indeed noble of LT to seek the greatest good rather than seeking a wellfor as many of its students as it rounded education. A report can. This is what the adminisOur position: In order to submitted to the Board of Edutration should seek to do in all recognize the individual cation by the Class Rank Task achievement of LT students, areas, and it does so very well Force suggested that class rank in places that are, admittedly, LT should calculate and primarily benefited those at far more important than class report class rank. the top to the detriment of the rank. majority of LT students. AddiBut it becomes much harder tionally, factors like “demonstrated interest” were to justify a utilitarian approach when it is based becoming increasingly important to colleges for on altering results that were created directly by admissions and class rank was declining in imporactions that students took and choices students tance. So rankings were eliminated. made. Every student is different, and all students The LION staff believes that a system that are able to handle different amounts of academic pushes students to take challenging classes and pressure. Academic achievement should be earn good grades is a positive force in any acaacknowledged, and precise information should demic environment. This would also reinforce the be shared with colleges. Class rank allows this to administration’s goal to increase AP class enrollhappen. ment, bringing about a system where students Although class rank definitely has winners, have an incentive to pursue the hefty weighted those winners are not picked at random. They are GPA boost that good grades in AP classes afford. determined by actions that students take, and it is It’s fine if that system is based on competition, okay for people to see the rewards and results of which is, for better or for worse, a real factor in their actions. For over a century, freshmen started careers, higher education, sports, and virtually at LT with a blank page for a transcript, and gradevery other real-world pursuit. Students should be uated having determined their own standing by taught to set themselves apart from their peers for their own performance. Reinstating class rank professional life by working well, individually and would encourage students to take interesting and in teams, and being good at their work. challenging AP classes to improve weighted GPA Although some students “gamed” the system by as well as allow students to be rewarded for acatrying to add fractions of points to their weighted demic achievement. That move away from class GPA, they were, by far, in the minority, because rank should be reconsidered.

Staff vote: 13-11 C ontact

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sports

Page 10

Friday, September 21, 2018

Girls swim and dive race into new season hoping to place in state After placing sixth in state last year, team prepares mentally, physically

by Grace Kulat @gracekulat

Girls swim and dive season has officially begun and the girls are looking forward to another strong season after coming in sixth at state last year. The top finishers were: Callahan Dunn ‘20 placed second in the girls 500 yard freestyle, Grace Prendergast ‘19 came in fifth in the girls 100 yard backstroke, and the girls 200 freestyle relay including Eleanor Mcmeen ‘21, Mary Kate Gannon ‘19, Eleanor Tuerk ‘20 and Dunn placed fourth.

“The team has a great chance of winning conference, sectionals and a very realistic chance of finishing in the top three at the state level,” head coach Kurt Johns said.

He added that the girls swim and dive team hasn’t placed in the top three at state since 1995 and has very high hopes for the upcoming season.

“It would be amazing to win state this year. All of our hard work would pay off,” Megan Mitchell ‘20 said.

With six to seven new girls on varsity the team is all about preparing, both mentally and physically.

“The team sets goals every year. About a week into the season the girls create individual goals and talk about how they can lead to team success,” Johns said.

Callahan Dunn ‘20 prepares to anchor one of the relay sat LT’s relay invite (Kulat/LION).

The team practices twice a day on every weekday with the exception of Wednesdays.

Practicing multiple times a day consumes a great deal of the girls’ time.

“It’s really hard to have to try to focus on swim when I’m taking AP classes and want to have a social life too,” Kerry Conneely ‘20 said.

The team’s biggest weakness is balancing the time commitment of both school and

the sport. Swimming tends to get more difficult further into the season because of the increased workload and the assignments for which the girls have to stay after school.

“The girls have to make some sacrifices socially and academically to be able to make it work,” Johns said. “It’s tough when you swim or dive and then you come home and do your homework and know you have to go to bed because you have to get up in the

The girls cheer for their team (Kulat/LION).

morning for practice.”

With all of this work as well as the new additions to the varsity level, the team hopes to have great outcomes this season.

The team competes with the best teams in the state including longtime rivals New Trier, Neuqua Valley, Saint Charles North, Hinsdale Central and Rosary High School who have won state consecutively the past three years.

LT boys XC to have strong Girls XC prepares for season after losing Kilrea successful season Boys XC looks for new top runners to lead team in place of Danny Kilrea ‘18, hopes for strong season without him

Team focuses on strong dynamic and positive atmosphere for upcoming season, focusing on team bond, connections

by Tommy Layden @layden_tommy

by Liz Gremer @lizgremer

At the end of last year, essential boys cross country runner Danny Kilrea ‘18 graduated, leaving a void in the team coming into this season. Assistant Coach Jake Discipio is now looking to runners throughout all levels of the program to fill in his place this season.

“We are looking for athletes to step up in regards to leadership and holding one another accountable,” Discipio said. “We have many young athletes training in our top group.”

The team’s first meet of the season--the Mike Kuharic invitational, which was supposed to be hosted at LT on Sept. 1-- was cancelled due to lightning in the surrounding area. Given the weather conditions, all 1600 runners went home empty handed. This meet would have been the first opportunity for the younger runners to step up and fill the shoes of Kilrea, but now they will have to wait for the next invitational at Culver Academy on Saturday, Sept. 22.

In order to preserve a competitive environment, the team plans on observing tradition and staying

TOP FINISHES: Third at Footlocker Nationals Fifth at Nike Cross Nationals

disciplined, Discipio said. Taking care of things one day at a time will ultimately lead to success.

“Right now we don’t really know how the younger runners will perform but for us to win we have to work on running as a pack, because when we do so we have better results,” runner Jack Elert ‘20 said.

To prepare for their meet, the team is running 8 miles each day and 12 to 13 miles on Saturdays, a rigorous but necessary training regimine for the team to compete at a top lev el. “ I think in meets we will do very well; we are on the younger side, but we are ready to do as good or better than last year,” runner Sean McDermott ‘19 said.

For the time being, LT’s cross country team is untested but ready to compete in the upcoming meets and has a main goal to continue the success.

“All we have to do to win is harness our dragon energy, and continue to breed fast freshman to fill the shoes of the seniors who graduated,” runner Will Hess ‘19 said.

After finishing third at state last year, the girls’ cross-country team is training and preparing for another successful season. The team’s goal is to take each meet one at a time and focus on the overall team dynamic, varsity-runner Maddie Cranny ’20 said.

“Third at state was very exciting last year, but our team isn’t obsessing over state finishes this year,” Cranny said. “We are focused on building a strong team dynamic with good connections between all the girls.”

Instead of focusing on statistics, the team strives to follow team pillars, such as acceptance, vulnerability and empathy, to unite the entire team, varsity coach Alex Lyons said.

“We make team pillars about values and cultural elements that are important to us,” Lyons said. “We ask the athletes to think about these ideas every couple weeks, just as a reminder that this team is not about a key runner. Every single person is a key kid.”

The team’s approach this year is to take it one meet at a time, and making changes

following meets, on an individual and team basis, varsity-runner, Ally Sarussi ’20 said.

“After every meet, our coach asks us to think about how we ran overall, and to evaluate what changes we can make to improve, and actually implementing the changes,” Sarussi said.

Despite losing three runners, Cara Paliakas ’18, Kirsten Meyer ’18, and Lily Kedzuch ’18, from last year’s varsity lineup, the upperclassmen have stepped into new leadership roles, Cranny said.

“The new seniors are stepping up as amazing leaders by teaching the younger girls about the sport and being great role models for us all,” Cranny said. “As an upperclassman myself, I am working on being a good role model to the younger girls.”

Runners on the team have strengthened bonds and expect to have just as good of a season as last year.

“I am excited to race side by side with my best friends and see what we can do,” Cranny said.

The next race is the Palatine-Deer Grove East meet tomorrow, Sept. 22.

compiled by Tommy Layden

PERSONAL RECORDS: 3 miles - 14:02

Fourth at Great Edinburgh Internationals

2 miles - 8:56

IL XC State Champion

1 mile - 4:11

Varsity girls warming up prior to a race in Peoria. (From left to right) Maureen Patrick ‘22, Maeve Rice ‘20, Mary Grace Lansing ‘21, Mariah Bonfiglio ‘21, Kate Ferrell ‘21, Madeleine Ryan ‘21, Ally Sarussi ‘20 (Photo Courtisey of Maddie Ohm ‘21)

sports

Friday, September 21, 2018

About nine months ago, NBA legend Kareem Adbul-Jabbar wrote a piece for “The Guardian” titled “The NBA, not the NFL, is the league Hayden Claesson of America’s future” in which he stated that in five to 10 years, viewership of professional basketball will surpass that of professional gridiron football.

There is a serious argument to be made for the NBA surpassing the NFL in popularity. One could cite the enormous drop in NFL ratings this past season-with 10-percent fewer people watching per game. This translates to the amount of people watching regular season NFL games is down about 2 million viewers per game in the past two years.

While the opposite is happening in pro-basketball: as of December 2017 NBA viewership was experiencing a 32-percent increase in ratings from the previous year.

A big reason for why the NFL ratings are dropping is because of the new research being conducted on how football affects the body, including a study by ESPN that shows that 96 percent (you read that right) of NFL players show signs of significant brain damage. People just don’t want to support a sport that causes serious harm to others.

This exact reason is why the downfall of professional boxing has happened; some people didn’t like being a part of something that led to serious injuries as well as even some deaths that have occured in the ring.

These injuries have also resulted in a decline of children participating in youth football. In 2012 Pop Warner, the largest youth football league in the U.S, saw a 10-percent drop in participation.

This is largely due to injuries involved in the sport.

While not every pee-wee football player will make it to the NFL, with less kids who love the game of football certainly will not help viewership in the future.

While the NFL is struggling, the NBA is booming. The ratings and viewership of the average regular season game increased by 18-percent compared to the season prior, according to ESPN. Part of the reason why NBA ratings are increasing so much is the massive amount of young fans of the sport. According to Nielsen, the amount of people aged 18-34 that watch NBA games in 2018 increased by 20-percent, and viewers aged 18-49 increased by increased by 27-percent.

Despite all of this, the NFL still leads the NBA by a large margin when it comes to veiwers per game, with the average NBA game in 2016 amassing between 1.3 to 1.6 million viewers. This number gets killed by the NFL when, despite ratings being down, still pulls in 16 million viewers per game. The counter arguement for this is that the NBA has 82 game season compared to the 16 in the NFL. While this gap is still enormous and likely won’t close for many years, the NBA is still finding ways to best the NFL outside of simply the broadcast booth.

One of my own personal theories as to why there is such high NBA viewership is the appeal to children on social media vs the appeal to NFL on social media through highlights.

To understand what I am trying to say here, think of a game through the eyes of a six year old kid. A 6-year-old doesn’t understand just how difficult it is to make some of the highlight reel catches made by receivers like Odell Beckham Jr., or how fast punt returners like Tyreek Hill are; what a 6-year-old does think is impossible is that a human like Blake Griffin can jump through the air and throw the ball down through the net. These kids are the future viewers of sports in America, and to them watching someone dunk a ball is a lot cooler than catching one, which most 8 year olds can do.

The NBA has already surpassed the NFL in terms of social media. The most followed NFL player on Instagram is Beckham with 11 million followers, however he is the only player with more than 10 million, and the next closest is Tom Brady with 4.6 million. While this is a lot of followers, these numbers are dwarfed by the amount of followers NBA players have. LeBron James is the most followed NBA player with a whopping 41.5 million followers, followed by Steph Curry with 21.6 million, almost double Beckham’s amount.

Even the Leagues themselves show a massive disparity of followers. On Instagram, the NBA has 30 million followers while the NFL has only 11.9 million in comparison.

Famous commentators like Jalen Rose have used this logic to say that the NBA has already surpassed the NFL. While I don’t think that pro basketball has quite surpassed pro football just yet, I’m sure that in the future the transition from football to basketball will happen just like how America switched from baseball to football in the ‘90s.

It’s just a matter of time until it happens.

Page 11

LT football prepares to play against Leyden HS

Team practices diligently in hopes of gaining victory in big homecoming game

by Maggie Kahn @kahn_maggie

film to look for weaknesses and strengths [Leyden] has on both sides of the ball,” linebacker/fullback Sean Rickman ’19 said.

Although the team persistently trains in preparation for each As homecoming festivities creep up and the game against game, it’s important for them to take it one game at a time, and Leyden approaches, there is one concern that stands out to LT’s not put too much emphasis on the homecoming pressures, head quarterback J.J. Dutton ’19. coach Kurt Weinberg said.

“A weakness going into this game would be the size [of the “Honestly, for me, I view it as just another home game to team],” Dutton said. “We aren’t that big but we can definitely stay out of my head and not use our speed for the advantage.” cause any nerves about the The varsity football team will magnitude of the game,” Rickplay the West Leyden Eagles on man said. “I know some of the Bennett field tomorrow, Sept. 22 other guys use the fact that it’s at 1:30 p.m. homecoming to hype themDue to an injury suffered selves up.” during practice on Monday, Sept.

The homecoming game 3, Dutton will not be quarterback holds value not just for current for a while, and potentially for students and faculty, but for the rest of the season depending alumni as well, Weinberg said. on what the doctor says, Dutton “It’s always nice for the said. alumni to come back and see “I fell on [my thumb] awka victory and see that the team wardly,” Dutton said. “I’m startis doing well,” Weinberg said. ing on defense at safety, so I’m “It’s a fun event for everystill playing.” body.”

During practices the team will The team is ready to use be trying out different players their energy for motivation, to fill the quarterback position, but still needs the spirit of the Dutton said. student body, Matkovic said.

“I am excited about the “It is one of the few times upcoming home game,” wide throughout the year that the receiver Aki Matkovic ’19 said. whole school gets excited “It’s a great opportunity to show about one sporting event, the community what LT football Jack Denning ‘19 and JJ Dutton ‘19 prepare on sideline prior and at a school as big as LT is all about.” to game against Carl Sandburg High School (Sorice/LION). these moments are few and far The team has been practicing between,” Rickman said. diligently for three hours each day, Monday through ThursWhile the team always does its best to win each game, this day normally, with the occasional Friday night game, and then game carries more meaning.

Friday practices if they have a game on Saturday, Matkovic said.

“We deserve to win on our senior homecoming because of “We’ve been grinding all summer to prepare for this game all the work and preparation we have put in all year for it,” and once [homecoming] week rolls in I’ll spend hours watching

Boys soccer starts season strong After early season losses, LT boys varsity soccer prepares for Homecoming game

by Tommy Layden @layden_tommy

LT boys varsity soccer played Naperville North on Aug. 23, and two days later played Libertyville: the number one and two ranked teams in Illinois. LT lost 2-0 and 4-1, respectively. Despite these results, Head Coach Paul Labbato and Assistant Coach Kelly Neidig remain optimistic.

“It is early, and we have a team that is willing to grow throughout the year,” Neidig said. “The real strength of this year’s team is that we have great chemistry and I strongly believe these players like and respect one another,” Neidig said.

“We can use games against better opponents like Libertyville or Naperville North as a measuring stick to gauge what level we need to be playing at by the end of the year to make ourselves a top team,” varsity forward Ty Williams ‘19 said.

In these early losses, LT has let opponents score on corner kicks, free kicks and long throw-ins.

“Due to our lack of physicality we are prone to getting beat on set pieces,” Labbato said.

LT faces Reavis at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 at Bennett field. At the end of last season Reavis was ranked 48 in the state. The biggest challenge for this game isn’t the

Left: Teddy Atseff ‘19 tries to steal a ball from a player from Grayslake Central High School (Dekoker/LION). Right: Skip Locke ‘19 tries to get past a defender (Dekoker/LION).

team they are facing but the emotions they are feeling.

“I’m just hoping that we will stay focused because we will have just played the night before,” Labbato said. “Meaning we will play a back to back with homecoming and the Silver Brick game; our biggest game of the year.”

The team will have to overcome defensive problems in terms of physicality and their ability to guard players on set pieces. “[In order to win, the team will have to] come out and control the game on the defensive side,” Labbato said.

In addition to these obstacles, this will be the last homecoming game for several players, creating a whole new aspect of distrac-

tion for those who will graduate in 2019.

“If we play as a team and ignore the selfish [inclinations] we may have on senior night, we can come out on top,” varsity forward Skip Locke ‘19 said.

LT boys varsity soccer finished the 2017-18 with an impressive 18-3-1 record. The majority of the 22 players on varsity are on the team for their first year causing many to believe they will not have a year as successful as their predecessors.

“Our overall goal this season is to prove everyone wrong, get a record like last year or better and go deep in the playoffs because we are a new team,” Williams said.

We joined forces with WLTL sports director Jacob Nevis to make a preseason NFL podcast.

While some of the highlights are here, you can listen to the full podcast on visit www.lionnewspaper.com. For more sports coverage listen to the WLTL sports show on Thurdays on 88.1

Jacob Nevis ‘19 WLTL Sports Director

Hayden Claesson ‘19 LION Sports Editor

Tommy Layden ‘20 LION Reporter

“Let’s talk about the Bear’s free agency before we talk about bloody Sunday against the Packers” -Hayden “That’s why they call Joe Flacco, Joe Fluke-o” -Jacob “Rob Gronkowski needs reconstructive body surgery” -Tommy

Page 12

SPORTS

Student led cheering section looks to bring excitement to LT athletics through eccentric school spirit, energy

by Hayden Claesson @_wizard_of_soz

The lights were bright at Bennett Field during the opening quarter of senior night against Carl Sandburg on Aug 24. Starting quarterback J.J. Dutton ‘19 hiked the ball and then began pedaling downfield as the crowd turned chaotic.

Normally, a student cheering section would simply have been screaming and cheering for its team respectfully. This is no typical student section, however; these are the LT Weirdos. The crowd ascended into chaos, Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba” was blaring through a bluetooth speaker, giant cardboard heads of players dotted the bleachers.

Everybody was focused on two tasks: having fun and being weird.

“We all have an inner weirdness inside of us,” Charlie Pigatto ‘19, a senior leader for the Weirdos, said. “The job of the Weirdos is to harness that weirdness and focus it into cheering for our team.”

That is the spirit that the cheering section embodies: get together an army of students then simply just get weird enough to the point where they are in the opponent’s head. In order to achieve this goal they plan on using a variety of tactics, ranging from toga nights for football games to Hawaiian themed basketball games complete with inflatable palm trees for good measure.

“We are the Weirdos so we want you to get weird,” leader Charlie Brizz ‘19 said.

“We want to get people together to get cra-

zy and just do stupid stuff that you would never do in public otherwise.”

The Weirdos have one main goal when it comes to cheering: make it hard for the other team. Tactics like cheering and being as weird as possible are implemented in order to try to “break” the other players to the point where they underperform.

“We will be so deep in their heads that they won’t even realize that we are in there,” leader Harry McLawhorn ‘19 said. “If they don’t go into the locker room emotionally broken and ruined

Dallas Mavericks Jalen Brunson. Brunson always had the image of a calm and collected player both on and off the court, claiming his mentality has always been his biggest strength. However, that night in November was just too much for him, as the crowd became more rowdy, they got into Brunson’s head to the point where he snapped and yelled at students after the game.

“We like to call it psychological warfare waged onto the other team,” leader Ben Kidder ‘19 said. “All of the other senior leaders of Weirdos are athletes and we know that if you are playing against another team with a big cheering section, it messes with you in the head. Our goal is to make sure that we can mess with the other team’s heads.”

The Weirdos began as a student

on the inside, then we feel like we have failed.”

The most famous incident of the Weirdos shenanigans was at a basketball game in 2014 against Stevenson, a team led by the 2018 Wooden Award winner and current NBA point guard for the Harry McLawhorn ‘19 leads Lion’s Den at the Aug. 24 game (Murino/TAB).

led cheering section that is part of the Lions Den, an LT sponsored cheering section for football games.

Despite the Lions Den being an integral part at Bennett, the Weirdos focus was always on basketball games, which helped contribute to the large attendance of the

Friday, September 21, 2018

blackout games. This year the cheering section is trying to expand to all sports programs at LT. “A lot of sports, like gymnastics and swimming, don’t get large cheering sections and most of the people cheering are probably parents,” Brizz said. “One of our goals is to try to get a big group of people to at least two competitions per sport. We know it won’t happen for every sport but we will try to do our best.”

This year the Weirdos are trying to grow and expand using a powerful tool: social media. More than one thousand students follow @lthsweirdos on instagram, an account that hasn’t posted anything since February of 2017 prior to this fall.

The goal in mind is to use social media as a tool for getting as many people go to games as possible.

“It’s hard for us because we aren’t sanctioned by the school so we really can’t make announcements or put up posters at south campus,” Kidder said. “If we use Instagram and Twitter to promote the games, then our student section can be a lot bigger and have a lot more freshman and sophomores.”

Because the Weirdos aren’t a school sponsored club, they don’t get funding from LT. In order to raise money to buy things like props, costumes, jerseys and big heads.

The team of Kidder, McLawhorn, Brizz, Pigatto, and Justin Malpede ‘19 have decided to make and sell T-shirts for $10 that both promote the Weirdos and raise money.

Another hefty goal is to break the LT record for attendance at a basketball game at the 2019 Blackout Game.

“The original record was a sold out 4,300,” Brizz said. “Our goal is to find some way to break that, and if we can, double it.”

Students cheer on the football team during the Salute to Service game on Sept. 7 (Breen/LION).

by Isabella Sorice @isabella.sorice

After facing many obstacles, varsity runner Sarah Barcelona ‘19 has finally returned to LT cross country for her senior year. Before her junior year, Barcelona had two stress fractures that kept her from running. In addition to missing a crucial year, her style of running changed dramatically, Barcelona said.

“It was a big setback, missing out on junior year,” Barcelona said. “It was a good physical and mental break, but I’m now ready to compete.”

On Aug. 11, Barcelona placed fifth in the time trial competition to start off this year’s season.

“I tried very hard during the race, and it felt much better to be back out with the team,” Barcelona said.

Varsity girls coach Alex Lyons has noticed her become a better runner while on the team.

“Sarah is very race savvy, and is ready to work this season,” Lyons said.

As a freshman, Barcelona established herself as a strong runner. Placing 18th, with a time of 16:58 at the state meet, she surprised herself, she said.

“If you told me that I would be at state that season I would have been shocked,” Barcelona said. “It was really cool to be able to see a success that I wasn’t expecting and to be surrounded by people that pushed me to be better all of the time.”

After a traditional first two years of running, then major injuries, her training has changed, Barcelona said. She went from running seven days a week to four, as well as integrating heavy cross training.

“It was really hard for me to adjust to this schedule at first because I didn’t really like the idea of cross training,” Barcelona said. “However, I have found that it keeps me in shape and healthy, so I plan to stick with it.”

Through her new training style, Barcelona has learned how to handle a tough recovery, Lyons said.

“She understands that improvement takes time,” Lyons said. “She is now a better viewer of the big picture.”

Lyons has also seen her grow as a leader for the team members, he said.

“She is a great athlete, and is a great leader to the younger girls,” Lyons said. “Teammates look to her for advice and real-talk. She highly motivates them.”

Another teammate of Barcelona, Nora Whelton ‘19, has seen her through her recovery, and is excited to watch Barcelona this season.

“Sarah is very diligent, she has a better appreciation for running after her injury,” Whelton said.

Before cross country running, Barcelona was a competitive swimmer.

Her friends wanted her to join them on the cross country team, she said.

“I started running in a track group and found that I enjoyed it more than swimming,” Barcelona said. “So I decided to start running full time instead of swimming.”

Other than the physical part of cross country, mental aspects have also been a factor in running this year, Barcelona said.

“It’s going to take some work getting back my confidence. I get super nervous before a race,” Barcelona said. “I usually try not to think about it until a few days before. I can get anxiety prone if I think about a race a lot.”

As the current season pushes on, Barcelona has a new way of thinking about future races.

“I have no expectations,” she said. “ Once the races begin, I will know to prepare better for each one.”

Barcelona competes at a meet in Peoria (photo courtesy of Maddie Ohm ‘21)

Page 14

JUULing

Friday, September 21, 2018

Volume 109, Issue 1

Page 15

Danger behind the clouds

LION surveyed 379 LT students regarding their knowledge, use of JUULs.

Lack of scientific data allows for uncertainty, potential danger for JUUL users

1. Whether you vape or not, how much nicotine do you think is in one JUUL pod?

Two packs of cigarettes 13%

by Grace DeKoker @grace_dekoker

One cigarette 4% Five cigarettes 17%

One pack of cigarettes 66%

Answer: One pod is equal to one pack of cigarettes Circa 1966

3. If yes, why do you vape?

2. Do you use a JUUL or other e-cig products?

Yes, JUUL 29% No 66%

I do it for the tricks 8%

I like the smell/taste 8% I use it as an alternative to smoking 1%

In recent years, JUULing has become a nationwide epidemic. Created as an alternative to smoking, JUULs have instead been abused by teenagers for a variety of reasons. Whether you use vape products or not, it is hard to deny the immense increase of the product in the LT community. Read below to learn more.

Circa 2018

Thoughts from the AP office: NC Assistant Principal Kris Costopoulos answers questions regarding increasing JUUL use and the possible consequences

by Camilla Breen @c_breen125

I do it because my friends do 18%

How have you seen vaping increase at LT? I do it for the buzz 65%

4. If yes, then how often?

Once a week 15%

Yes, other 5%

“There has been a 263 percent increase in JUUL usage, measured by consequences of students that were caught. Now ‘caught’ is probably just a drop in the ocean compared to everything that’s going on. It’s heavier at SC, but there’s been a substantial increase overall.”

What happens after the first offense?

“With a nicotine violation, students will get a Saturday detention a ticket from the township for $35. After 10 days, the fines go up to $60. If it is a drug violation, they would also get a ticket for $50 to $100 depending on what it is. For the second nicotine offense, the ticket price goes up to $100 and the consequence then goes from a Saturday detention to an in-school suspension. After, students lose their exemption and they start feeling the pressure in a different way from the pressure of the first offense.

Do the consequences differ for students that are 18 vs. students that are younger?

“It’s legal for 18 year olds to smoke, but it is still illegal on school grounds. As a student, even if you’re 18, you can’t be in possession of one. So

Opinion: JUUL targets teens Nationwide JUUL epidemic caused by teen-targeted marketing tactics, draws teens in with flavors, advertising

by Pilar Valdes @pilarvaldes55

I’m not even going to bother starting this article off by explaining what a JUUL is. This is a high school newspaper, with high school readers; you know what a JUUL is. That’s what’s so worrisome about the phenomenon that is JUULing; it’s not always used by adult smokers who are trying to quit smoking. Instead, it’s used by teenagers, because they are marketed towards teenagers.

I know what you’re thinking as you read this page: that the LION is going to regurgitate the same thing that you have read in other newspapers; JUULing is bad for you, you are becoming addicted to nicotine, and you are harming your brain by JUULing. All of which is true, but that’s not the point of this article. The point of this article is that you, as a teenager, are being used as a pawn for a corporation to make money off of your vulnerability and susceptibility to their advertising techniques.

The makers and owners of JUUL Labs, the company behind the now infamous JUUL, are now facing multiple lawsuits and a federal investigation for targeting teenagers with their product. They claim that their product was only ever intended to be used by adults who were looking to an alternative to smoking cigarettes, but evidence proves otherwise.

When the JUUL was first released, all of the ads featured young people, over 18, but still young, using the product.

The New York Times describes the ads as featuring “hip young people, posed flirtatiously holding JUULs.” By using young people in their ads, teenagers are seeing their peers JUULing, which instills a pressure on teenagers to do the

same because of their close proximity in age to the models.

Whether you think you fall victim to peer pressure or not, you do. JUUL Labs have now made a concerted effort to only show recovering cigarette addicts using their products in their advertisements, but this was after their company went from an estimated value of $1.2 billion to almost $16 billion. The damage has already been done.

JUUL also incites teenagers with pods that have flavors like cool cucumber, mango and mint. The idea is to get a nicotine buzz without the bad taste of a cigarette. JUUL Labs knows that smoking cigarettes is no longer cool, so they make money off giving kids the same feeling as a cigarette with seemingly none of the drawbacks. It has been drilled into our minds for as long as we can remember that cigarettes are bad; however, the pods and flavorings of a JUUL make it seem attractive to young people. JUUL Labs recognized that this could potentially seen as targeting teenagers, and result in a lawsuit. So, they changed the name of some of their flavors. Cool cucumber is now just cucumber, creme brulee is now just creme: this was their weak attempt of making the flavors seem less appealing to teenagers, but these countermeasures are all too little too late. Teens have already tasted these pods, they know that there isn’t a difference and they’re still going to buy them.

The fact of the matter is that teens are already addicted, and that JUUL Labs—and other companies—are making a profit off of this. No matter what their ad campaigns try to do now, their products already have teens hooked.

““Noad campaigns matter what their try to

do now, their products already have teens hooked. ”

Everyday 33%

Only in social settings 52%

the one difference would be that 18 year olds would not get the ticket from LaGrange. They would get the school consequence for having it, but because they are of legal age to own it, the police can’t ticket them. They get in trouble for simply possessing it.”

There has been a ‘no vaping’ addition to the PE policy video. Can you explain the addition?

“We had them add it because we wanted to stress that you really can’t do it in school. No one is allowed to smoke on school grounds. It’s against state law; it doesn’t matter if it’s you or your teachers. LT is a no smoking zone. And of course for students, the fact that it’s illegal and unhealthy for you is another reason to remind you. Smoking affects your developing brain and we want you to go through life with all the tools in your toolbox.

We don’t want you to have destroyed some of that along the way.”

Why do you think it’s become so popular among students?

“I really don’t know. We [society] did such a good job in conveying that cigarette smoking was not good for you, that smoking cigarettes was not cool. If you bought cigarettes now, your friends would shame you. But with these [JUULS], no one thinks twice about doing it. The fact that it’s become a popular thing now is so counteractive to how society has been. They still smell and they’re still bad for you. You’re getting the same nicotine, only more of it. The only thing they aren’t getting is the tar. I had a parent tell me once that her son vaped ‘for the flavor of water it was,’ and I had to tell her ‘no ma’am your son is smoking it for the nicotine. If he just wanted flavor, he could chew gum.’”

How can students help to combat vaping in school?

“You guys are two thousand sets of eyes. We have, what, 10 security guards? We don’t see everything but you do. We count on that and we need that. You outnumber us. So we need you to take ownership of the school. We’re all in this place together and we have to look out for each other.

You shouldn’t have to breathe it, smell like it, or see it happening. If you let us know through the Speak Up line (708-588-7326) that your friend is in trouble, we will follow up. The Speak Up line is rarely wrong. Because your friends usually know what’s going on way before your parents do.

There’s only ever been one year where there were lots of prank calls into it. Other than that time, every other one has been honest. That’s what we count on. If the Speak Up line tells us who’s vaping and where, we call them down and do our best. Use the Speak Up line, tell a student, tell an SA in the hall, stop by here, email us, however. Just let us know. We can really put a stop to this if we work together.”

Number of vaping infractions per year This graph includes the combined infractions of students caught vaping at school from all four grade levels over the past three years. There has been a 263 percent increase in offenses from 2016 to 2018.

Source: Assistant Principal Kris Costopoulos

127

11 35

2015-2016 school year

2016-2017 school year

2017-2018 school year

Teenagers have been taught since childhood that cigarettes are a leading cause of lung cancer.

The tobacco, tar, and noxious chemicals combined with nicotine creates a highly addictive stimulant that can cause lifelong damage. A popular alternative to smoking that has been on the rise is the use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping. An e-cigarette consists of a metal or plastic chamber, with a battery to heat up liquid into vapor that will be inhaled. A new market of smoking-alternatives and cigarettes has exploded, one of the most popular has been the JUUL. E-cigs and JUULs are certainly not traditional cigarettes, but that does not mean there are no risks to the users.

JUULs pose an exceptionally high danger to adolescents, particularly those who are not using them for the intended purpose of quitting smoking. One JUUL pod has the equivalent nicotine to a full pack of cigarettes, according to the Truth Initiative, and 63 percent of JUUL users were unaware that the product is always made with nicotine. Teens are ingesting concentrated nicotine and not even realizing it. While nicotine itself isn’t classified as a carcinogen, studies from the National Center for Biotechnology Information show that it can speed up the rate of tumor cell growth in the lungs, colon, and breast, and can lower the effectiveness of broad treatments these types of cancer as well as many others, according to a Harvard study from 2017.

There also are links to insulin resistance, which is a direct route to increased risk of Type 2 Diabetes, and it can impair the development of adolescent brains, according to NCBI. Some teenagers who would steer clear of cigarettes choose to vape instead, not understanding the addictive nature of nicotine or the potential repercussions of nicotine ingestion. The University of Pittsburgh conducted a study that adds to the growing list of risks associated with vaping: they found that young adults who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely than their non-vaping peers to begin smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes within 18 months of their first time using e-cigarettes. It can be a gateway into smoking cigarettes, or even into further drug use, which can have incredibly dangerous and even fatal effects. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, ranking below heroin but above alcohol and prescription medications.

The long-term effects may not only cause serious health problems, it may even inhibit one’s ability to accept treatment for them.

A lesser known danger lies in the uncertainty surrounding e-cigarettes: most of the data gathered about the negative effects of cigarettes was culminated over decades of study and research.

Vaping has surged in popularity over the past five years, and there simply is not enough data collected for healthcare professionals to come to an accurate conclusion about the effects of vaping on youth. Furthermore, JUUL Labs will not be submitting their product for official review from the FDA until 2022, meaning that some ingredients may be unsafe for consumption. Such ingredients include diacetyl, propylene glycol, and formaldehyde: diacetyl can cause scarring in lung tissue, as well as lung condition nicknamed ‘popcorn lung’ is caused by excess diacetyl, and the lungs of those affected may never return to normal. Formaldehyde as well as propylene glycol are a known carcinogens. All three have been found in trace amounts of JUUL vapor.

The FDA has grown increasingly wary of e-cigs and teen use: they are allowing JUUL Labs and other vape-product companies 60 days to stop selling products to minors. If they cannot, then the FDA reserves the right to pull products off the shelves, according to the New York Times.

The bottom line remains that not enough is known about JUULs and vape products, and that information may not come for years or even decades. What is known is that dangerous nicotine addictions can occur in teens who otherwise would have had no exposure to the nicotine, and that the popularity of JUULs is sweeping the nation, and harming teenagers who simply don’t realize what they’re inhaling.

“

GET OUT

Page 16

Friday, September 21, 2018

For this edition, we mixed things up a little. We sent our reviewers to try out two new ramen restaurants in Downtown LaGrange (DTLG) to find some similarities and differences between the two. We hope this information will help you decide where to spend your ramen-filled Friday night. May the best noodle win!

Aside from atmosphere, “Forbidden Noodles” makes a notable impression

New Asian fusion restaurant Aodake serves up variety of ramen in casual environment

by Isabel Tuisl @isabeltuisl

by Liz Gremer @lizgremer

When eyeing the Asian fusion restaurant, “Forbidden Noodles” in DTLG from the outside, I expected it to be authentic, modern and lively. It was definitely modernized—granite countertops, some contemporary art pieces on the walls and beautiful wooden accents along the ceiling created a trendy first impression.

Despite these favorable elements, I was hoping for a cozier feel to the eatery. With fall and winter coming up, it would be a welcoming and convenient space to have a comfortable place to sit down and eat a hot bowl of noodles, especially in such close proximity to the hub of DTLG at 50 S. La Grange Rd., Suite A. My surroundings seemed unfriendly and rushed. It just did not seem like the type of restaurant where my friends and I could sit back and enjoy a nice, relaxed meal. The bare walls aside from a few paintings made the space feel incomplete.

However, the waiters and employees were extremely patient, helpful and kind with Liz and me. They recommended their favorite menu options when I was ordering, such as the pork tonkotsu. At the table next to me, there was a family eating lunch; it concerned me that the young girls were staring at the TV above me, considering there was a Fortnite livestream with shooting being displayed, which was out of context for the setting.

Despite the atmosphere, the food was appetizing and satisfying. I had the chicken miso for $9.99.

Overall, the menu’s pricing is pretty fair for all ages. The bowl of soup was not your typical miso—it was a larger bowl filled with a variety of ingredients, which were all unfamiliar but enjoyable. The center of the soup - the broth - was the best part. It had the most flavor of all the ingredients, and worked well with the toppings to balance out the meal. My entreé came with a very large spoon, almost a ladle. I opted for a smaller spoon and chopsticks that were offered on the counter.

Although the decor and atmosphere leave something to be desired, the food was quite good. I would advise popping in for takeout over sitting down at the restaurant to eat. For these reasons I rate Forbidden Noodles three out of five paws.

Over the summer, Aodake opened its doors at 21 W. Calendar Ave., becoming one of two new ramen restaurants in DTLG. Offering a range of Asian fusion dishes, it has the potential to become a new dining option for students because of its affordable prices and tasty food.

Located next door to Thipi Thai, their bright red sign and logo drew me in. The large windows at the front of the restaurant were welcoming and allowed a view of the equally inviting interior.

Between the cozy setting and semi-natural lighting, I felt welcomed by not only the staff, but the also the environment.

After eating a large bowl of ramen at Forbidden Noodles, Isabel and I split an order of gyoza. Within five minutes of ordering, both dishes came to us, which while impressive, made me wonder how they prepare their food so fast.

The gyoza consisted of six pork and vegetable dumplings, paired with a side of Aodake’s ponzu sauce. The pork-veggie mix paired well together, with the pork acting as the focus of the inside of the dumpling. The ponzu sauce made my dumpling somewhat soggy, leading me to not use it again after the first try. My favorite part of the dumpling was the outside layer, which was soft and complimented the pork and veggies very well.

For dessert, we ordered the strawberry mochi, a classic Japanese dish. In addition to strawberry, the restaurant also offers green tea, red bean, mango, coffee, chocolate and vanilla. There were three pieces of mochi, cut into six smaller pieces. This made it easier to share. The cold ice cream complimented the stickiness of the outer layer. Also, the restaurants’ choice to pair it with chocolate sauce and whipped cream allowed us to add extra flavor.

After finishing the meal, I was promptly given the check, and saw that both dishes were under $11 total, before adding a tip. For the quality of the food, as well as the service, I thought the price was very reasonable.

Although I didn’t see many other diners, the causal environment that is appealing to both teenager and families, along with the flavorful, appropriately priced dishes leads me to give Aodake four out of five paws.

4/5

3/5 1.) sweetener by Ariana Grande 2.) Psychopath by Charlotte Lawrence, Nina Nesbitt and Sasha Sloan 3.) Dance Yrself Clean by LCD Soundsystem 4.) Not A Love Song by bülow Art Director Pilar Valdes ‘19

5.) motherlove by Bea Miller

6.) Gives You Hell by All-American Rejects

11.) Forgetting All About You feat. Blackbear by Pheobe Ryan

7.) Sunflower Seeds by Bryce Vine

12.) Sunshine by POWERS

8.) Hericane by LANY

13.) Truth Hurts by Lizzo

9.) ***Flawless by Beyoncé and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

14.) Dreams- 2004 Remastered Edition by Fleetwood Mac

10.) If I Could Change Your Mind by HAIM

15.) Lose It by SWMRS

Type of Pet: Chameleon Want your pet to be featured in the LION? Send a photo of Age: 3 years old your pet with a short bio to Weight: 9 grams val505305@d204.lths.net for a chance to win!

Owner: Claire McNicholas ‘19 Hobbies: Ridin’ dirty Fun Fact: He’s like Pascal from ‘Tangled’... but better Editor’s Rate: 12/10, not as cuddly as I prefer, but still looks like a good pal.

North Campus

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100 S. Brainard Ave. LaGrange, Ill. 60525

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South Campus

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compiled by Pilar Valdes 4900 Willow Springs Rd. Western Springs, Ill. 60558