The Shield: Volume 64, Number 2 (11-18-16) by The Shield

the

shield

McCallum High School / 5600 Sunshine / Austin, TX 78756 / Nov. 18, 2016 Issue 2 / Volume 64

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S INSIDE

WHAT NOW?

Retracing the 18 months of 2016 election odyssey page 4 Students describe their experience attending an anti-Trump rally page 11 Mandatory pledges of patriotism un-American page 25

President Elect Donald J. Trump

03 04 11

13 14 save

nov./dec.

the date

18 21

Area playoff game versus Victoria East, Eschenburg Field, Floresville @ 7:30 p.m.

Thanksgiving break begins

1 2 5

Band holiday concert in MAC @ 7 p.m.

Opening night of Moon Over Buffalo in FABT @ 7 p.m.

13 20 21

Orchestra Instrumental Class Concert in FABT @ 7 p.m.

Late start

Dance show in the MAC @ 7 p.m.

End of third six weeks No school, winter break begins.

Above: On the soccer field, this blantant hand ball by Sacco Fernandez and Matteo Sarmiento would have resulted in a free kick. But during Pink Week, it results instead in a cold shower. Photo by Gregory James. Right: The Knights run into the playoffs before beating the Kerrville Tivy Antlers 17-14 for the Knights’ first playoff win since 2013. “All the work we’ve put in, it’s all come down to this,” J.B. Faught told the Shield. “I’m glad we could bring this one back for our school and for the people who support us.” Photo by Gregory James. Cover photo by Gage Skidmore, Flickr.com Creative Commons. Cover design by Julie Robertson.

the issue

inside

news

What’s it like to work with a family member? We found out by asking sisters and colleagues, Ms. Summerville and Ms. Peterson. The outcome would have been historic no matter who won. But before it was offically historic, the 2016 election was hysteric. McCallum students describe what it’s like to be immersed in an anti-Trump rally and what really occours there.

a&e

Theatre department opens its 2016-2017 season with first-ever high school performance of Cyrano: The Musical. Noticing any trends in movies lately? Critics lament that too many movies focus on white, male protagonists and storylines.

sports

20 22

Meet Zach Steiner, an avid rock climber. He competes often for his sport as well as climbing for fun multiple times a week. Awareness of concussions is increasing in every league of football. Preventing them should become the sport’s No. 1 priority.

the

shield

Sister, Sister Ms. Petersen, Ms. Summerville share what it’s like to be siblings, colleagues ANNA ADDISON

What is your favorite part about teaching?

staff reporter

P: “I like the interactions with kids when things finally click, especially in a subject like math where it can feel like you’re not understanding something and then you hear a kid go, ‘Oh I get it!’ That moment’s really wonderful for any teacher.”

What is the best thing about working together? Summerville: “Teaching can be isolating because you’re in the classroom, and you’re with students, but you’re never with coworkers and your experience is not one that you can necessarily share with others because it’s so unique, so having someone who gets what it’s like to spend all day in a classroom helps. Early on in our careers, for processing the day, it was nice to have someone who could relate.” Petersen: “I would agree completely. It’s really nice to have someone who not only knows what it’s like to teach, which is rare to find among my peers, but also knows what it’s like to teach at this campus. We can understand each other with just a few words and that helps to, like she said, process your day.”

Has teaching strengthened your sibling bond? P: “I always thought our bond as siblings was pretty strong, but I can’t imagine that if worked in different fields or even different schools that it would be quite the same.” S: “Yeah because I don’t share my day with other people. Not my parents, my friends; I only share it with someone who also teaches.”

18 Nov. 2016

S: “I love the moments in the classroom when kids are asking questions or talking to each other, and I can tell that it’s on topic and engaged. I like class time far above grading...or planning...or meetings!”

Sisters Julie Petersen and Erin Summerville pose for a photo. Ms. Petersen has been teaching math at McCallum for five years and Ms. Summerville has been teaching government at McCallum for nine years. Photo by Anna Addison.

If you weren’t teachers, what would you be? P: “I can’t imagine a career I’d enjoy more than teaching. If I were to do something else, it wouldn’t be because I would enjoy it more.” S: “I don’t think I could give anything specific, but I’m fairly certain that I would still be in the public sector.”

Do you make an effort to see each other during the day? S: “Sometimes on the way out the door we’ll have a soda water as I walk past her portable on the way to my car.” P: “Or maybe in the beginning of the day, [she’ll] stop in.” S: “So it’s maybe 20 minutes at the beginning of the day, 20 minutes at the end of the day.” P: “Yeah about once or twice a week so not as much as we’d like. We’d love to be able to sit around and talk more but there’s always stuff to do.” S: “Sometimes...we send each other humorous clips to watch at lunch if we know that the other one is having a rough day.”

Do you think that it’s easy to tell that you two are sisters? S: “It’s bizarre! On one hand, you have people who can’t tell us apart, and on the other hand, there’s people who can’t see the resemblance; they can’t hear the resemblance.” P: “The disparity is crazy. I have some people who ask if we’re twins and then other people who can’t see it. I think that what I hear most in the classroom is that we sound alike.”

Have you experienced any difficulties being coworkers? P: “Only when someone recognizes you as the wrong person and starts a conversation! But other than that, I have nothing but positive things to say about it. I think it helps students remember that teachers are people too and that we have families and friends and lives outside of teaching. I think it helps us appear human.”

people 03

the

shield

BEFORE IT WAS HISTORIC, THE CHARLIE HOLDEN assistant editor

n April 12, 2015 Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for president of the United States. Sixty-five days later Donald J. Trump followed suit. An unpredictable and often unprecedented election season had begun, and its characters would continue to shock and divide the American people for nearly a year and a half. Ten days ago, history was made as the first female presidential nominee lost to the first president with no previous political or military experience. Here’s a look back on some of the events that made this election one for the history books.

THE CONTENDERS

he race for the Republican nomination started with more than a dozen candidates, resulting in chaotic debates and divided voters. Donald Trump, the eventual Republican nominee, stood out from the crowd with a large stature, a loud voice and many contentious policy proposals. A businessman and reality TV star, Trump tapped into the animosity held by many voters against career politicians and other perceived agents of “the establishment.” The Democratic hopefuls were less plentiful. Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee dropped out quickly and were widely disregarded. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, however, fought hard throughout the primary season. A selfdeclared Democratic socialist, Sanders captured the hearts of many Democrats hungry for a political revolution, but Clinton was able to secure the nomination as a moderate who embraced many aspects of the Obama administration.

CAT FIGHTS

he Republican candidates quickly became embroiled in, to put it lightly, a mud slinging contest. Trump, or “The Donald,” sent out tweets nicknaming his strongest opponents, dubbing Rubio as “Little Marco,” Cruz as “Lyin’ Ted” and most famously,

04 news

Clinton as “Crooked Hillary.” Debate topics shifted from issues of national security and the economy to the size of Trump’s hands, the appearance of Cruz’s wife and how much Rubio would sweat. Opponents were quick to criticize Trump’s inflammatory remarks, but that didn’t slow him down—if anything, the rebukes backfired. During the ninth Republican debate on Dec. 15, Jeb Bush called the businessman out on his “lack of seriousness” regarding the election. “Donald, you’re not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency; you’re not,” Bush said. “Leadership is not about attacking people and disparaging people; leadership is about creating a serious strategy to deal with the threat of our time.” Trump dismissed Bush’s point by attacking his character, an emerging theme in his campaign: “With Jeb’s attitude, we will never be great again; that I can tell you.” The audience at the debate went wild.

HILLARY ON THE HOT SEAT

t the first Democratic primary debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders made a bold statement regarding his opponent that quickly became the highlight of the night: “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!” Clinton, who obviously agreed with Sanders, laughed and immediately shook his hand on the debate stage. That was Oct. 13, 2015, and we still haven’t stopped hearing about those infamous emails. Staunch Republicans, many of whom supported Donald Trump, began to spread their new favorite slogan, printing it on hats, T-shirts, banners and even coffee mugs: Hillary for Prison. The FBI, which lead the email investigation, concluded that although Clinton and her staff were “extremely careless,” they were not in violation of the law, and no charges would be brought against them as a result. While this verdict took much of the pressure off Clinton and her campaign, many voters still had their doubts. Others called the entire investigation a hoax, convinced that Hillary was indeed a criminal who should be jailed. Trump embraced this position during the second presidential debate: “If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into [Clinton’s missing email] situation.” Clinton responded

by saying it was a good thing that someone like Trump was not in charge of the laws of the country, to which Trump interjected, “because you’d be in jail.” Days before the election, the FBI reopened the case against Clinton, after the discovery of more possible evidence on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of the vice chairwoman of the Clinton campaign. These events further fueled voter distrust, which was one of the main obstacles for the Clinton campaign. On Nov. 6, the email case was closed for a second time, as FBI Director James Comey announced that “based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton.” This reopening of Clinton’s email investigation was a major setback for her campaign at a crucial time in the election cycle.

TRUMP RIOTS

ike a moth to a big orange flame, controversy surrounds Donald J. Trump. Clinton attempted to sum up such controversies in early September with an attack on Trump voters: “You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic—you name it.” Many have called this assessment of a large portion of the American people an unfair generalization. Others have agreed with Secretary Clinton’s position, pointing to Trump’s past as proof that those who support him condone his discriminatory behavior. In addition to his devout supporters, Trump’s rallies attracted many protestors unhappy with the inflammatory remarks he made throughout the campaign. The first group Trump offended was Mexicans. In the same speech where he announced his presidential aspirations Trump said that “[Illegal Mexican immigrants] are bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Comments such as these, coupled with his promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, resulted in a meager amount of Hispanic support for the Republican nominee. In December of 2015, Trump’s campaign released a statement declaring that “Donald

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

2016 ELECTION WAS HYSTERIC

J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” Trump has since modified this policy, but for many of his critics, the political damage was done. Trump has long been accused of misogyny, and the clearest evidence for that argument surfaced in early October in the form of an Access Hollywood video from 2005. Trump’s now infamous conversation with television personality Billy Bush included vulgar language and suggestions of sexual assault. Since the video’s release, multiple women came forward with allegations of assault against Trump. The Trump campaign denied all of the accusations, but no evidence to confirm or discredit the claims materialized. Trump’s controversies were not limited to the election cycle. In 1973, the Justice Department sued the businessman for racial discrimination in his New York apartments. The suit alleged that black applicants were told that no apartment units were open when there were, in fact, apartments available for rent. The suit was settled without admission of guilt by Donald Trump or Trump Management. At a rally in August, Trump asked for the votes of black America, asking, “What the hell do you have to lose?”

BERNIE OR BUST

ernie Sanders amassed a large and very passionate following during his time as a presidential hopeful, and his followers couldn’t quite let go once the senator conceded to Clinton by endorsing her campaign in early July. Many Americans who had been “feeling the Bern” for months were left with a candidate who they viewed as the antithesis of Bernie’s political revolution. Clinton was, however, influenced by Sanders’ policies and shifted her platform further left on many issues as a result. This concession wasn’t enough for some former Sanders supporters, though, and caused an elevated interest in third-party candidates.

AN... INTENSE RNC

onald Trump officially became the Republican nominee at a contentious convention in July. The turmoil of the Republican primaries ended as divided

18 nov. 2016

as they began: Ted Cruz, Trump’s main opponent, was booed off the stage for refusing to endorse Trump as the nominee. Melania Trump’s speech was received well—almost as well as Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. This would make sense considering the two speeches were in many places nearly identical. Melania’s speech writers and the Trump campaign denied allegations of plagiarism, but the presidential nominee’s third wife withdrew from the public spotlight nevertheless.

A HISTORICAL DNC

ays after the end of the RNC, the Democratic National Convention began in Philadelphia. Bernie Sanders broke normal protocol and nominated Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee himself. This movement was accepted, making Clinton the first female presidential nominee for a major political party in history.

THIRD PARTY GAINS

ccording to the Pew Research Center, “overall satisfaction with the choice of candidates is at its lowest point in two decades.” As further evidence of this dissatisfaction, Google reported that searches for the phrase “third party candidate” were higher the past few months than ever before in the search engine’s history. The most notable of those candidates were Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. Neither one polled well enough to entertain the thought of winning the election, but both candidates earned more votes than the final margin between Clinton and Trump. Johnson called the vote between Clinton and Trump the vote between “a lesser of two evils,” an attitude that was clearly shared by many voters.

DEBATE NIGHT IN AMERICA

he first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump broke records and became the most-watched American presidential debate in history. An estimated 84 million people tuned into one of the 13 channels airing the debate. After many rounds

of attacks by both sides, Clinton said, “I have a feeling that by the end of this evening I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened.” Trump responded, “Why not?” Both campaigns claimed victory at the end of the night despite a clear majority of polls declaring Clinton the winner. After the first debate, Trump threatened many times to bring up past allegations against Clinton’s husband Bill Clinton at the second debate. Trump did not slander the former president as much as he had promised, however, and chose instead to stay on the defensive for the better part of the night. CNN and other media outlets had fact checking reports coming out in real time, and while neither candidate received perfect marks from the fact checkers, Trump’s statements received more ratings of “false” than Clinton’s. When asked at the third presidential debate if he would accept the results of the election, Trump said simply, “I will look at it at the time.” In shock, the moderator asked Trump to clarify his statement. Trump replied, “I will keep you in suspense.” Clinton immediately shot back with a response: “That’s horrifying.” Many Trump supporters saw nothing wrong with their candidate’s position and instead became more vocal about the possibility of a rigged election.

ELECTION DAY

n the morning of Nov. 9, students arrived at school in a state of disbelief. Only hours before, Donald J. Trump had been elected as the next president of the United States. Supporters of the businessman rejoiced, confident that America was finally going to be made great again. Opponents of the president elect, however, took to social media and the streets of the country’s largest cities in protest. Chants of “not my president” rang out from New York City to Portland, Ore., to right here in Austin. The future under a Trump presidency is uncertain, but the nation’s top leaders are calling for unity in the face of a daunting unknown. To quote Hillary Clinton’s concession speech: “We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought, but I still believe in America, and I always will.”

news 05

the

shield

Stepping out on their own Students form new Christian group ‘where any student can learn more about their faith’ SOPHIE RYLAND staff reporter

The student group that met last year as the McCallum branch of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has a new name: the McCallum Christian Community. The name change came after the group decided to break from FCA and form their own organization. Senior Terin Dailey, who has been a member of the club for two years, recently applied to become a student leader. Along with the other student applicants, he was initially accepted. But as he was planning to give his talk to the rest of the group, a requirement of all FCA leaders, Dailey mentioned that he was planning to speak about his experience as a gay Christian. At that point, Dailey said, he was told that FCA rules do not allow gay students to be student leaders. He could continue as a member but not as a leader. When the other FCA students learned of this policy, they met and decided to step away from the Fellowship entirely. “While we understand the need for these regulations and respect their responsibility to uphold them as an organization, we just didn’t feel like it enabled us to be what we wanted, which is an inclusive, loving club here on McCallum’s campus where any student can come and talk about or learn more about their faith,” student leader Emily Goulet said. “I was really hurt that I was excluded from something that I passionately care about because of my sexual orientation, but I was so honored that students, staff and teachers here at McCallum stood up for me,” Dailey said. According to the FCA website, the group’s mission is “to present to coaches and athletes, and all whom they influence, the challenge and adventure of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, serving Him in their relationships and in the fellowship of the church.” The club meets every other Thursday, where they eat lunch, play games and listen to student leaders and other guest speakers explain what their faith means to them. Any member wishing to become a student leader must fill out an application, which includes signing a “Sexual Purity Statement,” which reads: “Neither heterosexual sex outside of marriage nor any homosexual act constitute an alternative

06 news

Dailey said that being a student leader has helped him be more courageous and outspoken. Photo by Dave Winter.

MCC students join Spectrum students for breakfast in Mr. Bjerke’s room. “The McCallum Christian Community wants everyone to feel like they have a safe space at this school,” MCC student leader Annie Lott said. Photo by Madison Olsen.

lifestyle acceptable to God. … FCA’s desire is to encourage individuals to trust in Jesus and turn away from any impure lifestyle.” Once they had decided to split, the student leaders needed to establish the identity that they wanted their Christian club to uphold. “All of our student leaders sat down and talked about what they would want to change the name to,” MCC co-sponsor Stephanie Stanley said. “They decided on MCC because they wanted to focus on community. FCA really emphasizes ‘Christian’ and ‘athlete’; they liked ‘community’ because it’s less about ‘Oh, do I fit this role?’” After they had finalized the changes they wanted to make, they filled out the paperwork to create a new club. Dailey said that after the club had decided to break from FCA, he was told that the contract had been amended to allow gay students to be leaders. By then, however, the McCallum students had already determined a new course for their group. The local FCA representatives praised McCallum student leaders for the manner in which they deliberated the matter. “I am aware that several McCallum Christian student leaders have decided to start a new organization, and discontinue

meeting as an FCA student led organization on campus,” said FCA representative Steve Vittorini. “We celebrate and appreciate the prayerful way they went about discerning what was best for them and McCallum, and we celebrate the continued unity we have in following Jesus Christ.” Vittorini declined to answer questions beyond the prepared statement. McCallum isn’t the first school in the U.S. to struggle with FCA’s conservative social policies. A Google search for “FCA homophobia” yields several instances of gay students who were made to feel unwelcome in FCA activities. The leaders of the McCallum Christian Community interviewed for this story all said that they believed that their choice was the correct one, but they added that it caused some negative consequences for the group. “We will have to do some fundraising to pay for lunch at our meetings, and it will put a lot more of the responsibility on us as leaders to decide on some new bylaws and a mission statement that better represents us, but we are ready to do that if it means that we can make everyone feel like they’re welcome to step through the door of Room 115 every other Thursday and be themselves and hear

about Jesus,” Goulet said. After the club decided to rebrand themselves the MCC, McCallum’s Spectrum Club, which is a meeting place for students of various sexualities and gender identities, reached out to support their decision. “I’ve never seen a group who is so caring and fought so hard; it was really moving ...,” Spectrum sponsor Timothy Bjerke said. “I try to protect my Spectrum students from being judged, so I have always felt like I would not let religion enter into our realm of trying to support each other. But just because Christians of any group in this country are discriminating doesn’t mean everyone’s the same. … I have realized that I have students that get support and community from that group as well. There’s nothing bad about that; that’s great.” The process of decision-making and actual separation was almost exclusively handled by the student advocates. “I’m just impressed in our student leaders,” Stanley said. “They took a lot of initiative and made some hard decisions. It’s just really impressive to see teenagers who are like, ‘I really believe in this thing enough to try and do it myself.””

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

News in a FLASH

Yearbook editors win national journalism awards The journalism department won big at the NSPA/JEA Fall National High School Journalism Convention this past weekend in Indianapolis. Senior Samantha Harwood won third place in the NSPA Design of the Year competition for her 2016 infograph, which offered student takes on the books they are required to read at McCallum. “I wasn’t expecting to do as well as I did because I was the only yearbook spread in the category, and everything else was newspaper spreads,” Harwood said. Harwood wasn’t the only one to win an award at the event. Senior Alana Raper won fourth place in the NSPA Photo of the Year competition for a news photo from last year’s yearbook. “[The photo] was from National Women’s Week and was a giant poster in the main hallway where people could write names and descriptions of notable women in their lives,” Raper said. “All the kids in the photo were PALS, who put on the event.”

18 nov. 2016

Alana Raper and Samantha Harwood poses with their winning entries. Raper only found out the good news on Monday. “None of us even knew I was a finalist,” Raper said. “Mr. Winter didn’t even find out I was a finalist until he was scrolling through the winning photos

and saw my photo,” Raper said. At the same convention, former McCallum journalism adviser Rhonda Moore received a JEA Lifetime Achievement Award.

-Zoë Hocker

Current events team takes home first place

On Saturday Nov. 5, McCallum’s current events team captured first place in the Pflugerville’s Pfall Pfling invitational meet. Schools attend the meet in order to prepare for the official UIL competition in the spring. The current events team included junior Charlie Holden, and seniors Miles Johnson, Alex Tzaperas and Sam Hearne. Tzaperas took first in the individual event, and Hearne got fourth. McCallum competed against schools outside of the district, which increased the level of competition, Hearne said. “I can’t speak for the rest of the team,” Hearne said, “but I was just hoping for top three.” Stony Point, a 6-A school with an established current events team, placed second. The teams were tested with 40 multiple choice questions on current events and then they had to write an essay that would be used in case of a tie. “The competition was really tough, both in terms of the teams we competed with and the material we were tested on,” Hearne said. “The essay portion of the test had easily the most difficult prompt I’ve seen so far, and I think the fact that we only got first by a point shows how stiff our competition was.”

-Zoë Hocker

news 07

the

shield

The Nutty Professor

One of MAC’s newest teachers is a favorite of students and wildlife MILES HANSEN staff reporter

Years from now, when Amy Shin thinks back on her first year of teaching, she will undoubtedly remember the October day when one of her students showed up gingerly holding an unidentified object in a blanket. “We were in aquatic science, and one of my third-period biology students brought in a squirrel because earlier that year we had discussed classroom pets,” Shin said. “I think she brought it to me because my class has a lot of empty terrariums where it could stay safe.” McCallum student could say the same. Although she has not been here long, Shin has already left her mark on the campus. Only a year after graduating from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in science and biology teaching, Shin has gotten very involved in the campus despite being one of the youngest teachers at the school. “So far, I am a sponsor for both Key Club, and the Creative Learning Initiative,” Shin said. The non-teaching responsi-

bilities have “helped me learn more about McCallum and all the awesome opportunities available to the students and faculty,” Shin said. Shin teaches aquatic science and AP Biology. In aquatic science, students are taken through the anatomy and lives of fish and many other marine animals. In AP Biology, student delve into evolution and changing animal characteristics and complete labs that contain living plants and animals. “My favorite class to teach is aquatic science,” Shin said. “Seeing the students have fun while learning hands-on with the fish, and getting to create our own fish tank as a class is really exciting.” Senior Griffin Garbutt said that he enjoys Shin’s biology labs because they make the class more interesting. “Ms Shin’s biology class is so much fun,” Garbutt said. “We have done several labs so far this year ... but by far my favorite was we collected rolly pollies, created an experiment, and then conducted it. It’s just really fun to learn about science when the experiments are so interactive.”

Teacher Amy Shin cradles a baby squirrel that one of her students brought to class last month. Photo by Alana Raper.

Located at: 1108 W. Koenig Lane Austin, Texas 78756 512-524-1484 08 people

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

Hayden Price: Fire and Ice 2016 graduate uses gap year to find himself, help others ZOË HOCKER

assitant editor

When they arrived on the scene, the woman was already dead. It was 3 a.m. in North Pole, Alaska, at an old woman’s house. Paramedics were already there and performing CPR when McCallum alumnus Hayden Price and the other firefighters with him pulled up to assist them. “Another firefighter was finishing his CPR and looked up at me and asked me if I knew CPR, and when I said yes he said, ‘Get ready, you’re up next,’ so I got down on my knees next to him and got ready to take over compressions,” Price said. “When it was my turn, I began compressions and looked over at her face, no doubt she was dead.” The doctor called off attempts to revive the woman after two rounds of CPR and Price took his hands off of her. “I was the last person who tried to revive her,” Price said. “It was a stressed feeling.” This memorable day was just one of many that the class of 2016 graduate has experienced during his two months this summer working as a volunteer firefighter in North Pole, Alaska. Firefighting has always been an ambition for Price, but it wasn’t until he actually became a volunteer firefighter that he found his love for it.

Hayden Price stands at the top of a peak at Denali National Park in Alaska. Photo courtesy of Hayden Price.

18 nov. 2016

“I loved the bond between all the firefighters,” Price said. “It was like a big family. It was not how I expected it to be, but not in a negative way, I just don’t think that you’ll ever know what anything will be like until you experience it firsthand.” From what Price had heard and seen in movies, he had a different image in his head of what firefighting would be like before he started actually doing it. “I gathered that there was a lot of down time to spend with your fellow firefighters as family when you weren’t going out on calls, but it’s not quite that simple,” Price said. “There is free time at the end of the day and during lunch, but other than that, you’re busy all the time. Things need to be done around the firehouse in preparation for fires so that when we need tools they’ll be in service and ready to use, which is important since our lives are on the line; we can’t have a tool fail while trying to open a door to get to a trapped person.” Price learned this truth through experience on fire service calls, where he learned to love firefighting. “My favorite part is going into people’s houses to help them and seeing how different people live, their sort of culture, how they decorate their houses, and I just love helping others,” Price said. Before he can get a full-time job as a

firefighter, he must complete a series of classes to become certified. “There is a fire department [in Alaska] that has a scholarship program which I might apply to if I still have the desire to become a firefighter at the end of my travels,” Price said. “If I get in they will give me a full ride to University of Alaska Fairbanks for four years, a bed to sleep in for no cost at the fire station, and a stipend to pay for food so I don’t need a part-time job, all in exchange for my volunteering at the station for those four years.” In the meantime, Price has big plans for upcoming travel to places all over the world, including stops in Costa Rica, New Zealand, Brazil and the east coast before he travels to Europe in the spring. He has already had some memorable experiences traveling this summer, from hitchhiking from Vancouver to Fairbanks and camping above the Arctic Circle, to seeing the Northern Lights and visiting Crater Lake, Redwoods and Denali National Park. “I’ve learned a lot about people and their interactions with strangers, how important it is to travel and immerse yourself in different cultures in order to learn about where other people come from so that you have a better understanding of the world and how you can bring people together by understanding why they think how they do,” Price said. Although Price enjoys Alaska, he said that he doesn’t think that he can live there permanently. “In all honesty, the thing I have struggled with most, and maybe the No. 1 reason I can’t live up here, is the abuse of the environment and neglect of recycling,” Price said. “While most people who live here love Alaska for the wilderness, they refuse to put tax dollars into a fund for creating a recycling plant that will reduce the amount of trash in the landfills and the negative effects on the environment, and they love the oil companies who destroy the Arctic.” He knows Alaska won’t be his final landing spot, but he’s not really looking to

Price prepares to go on a call during his time volunteering at a fire station in North Pole, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Hayden Price. settle down anywhere any time soon. Price plans on travelling for a while and exploring different parts of the world. “Every place I’ve been I’ve learned about the local culture and that opens my eyes to new ways of getting along with others that I might not have otherwise been able to understand and fully appreciate.”

people 09

the

shield

A matter of death and life

Students participate in annual Dia de los Muertos parade in downtown Austin SOPHIE RYLAND staff reporter

Around 20 McCallum students, accompanied by Spanish teacher Juana Gun, joined a Dia de los Muertos parade in downtown Austin on Oct. 29. The parade was part of the 33rd annual Viva La Vida Festival and proceeded from East Austin to downtown along Sixth Street, ending at Congress Avenue; it included floats, low riders, art displays and performances from local musicians and dancers. The students met at McCallum at 8 a.m. where they enjoyed breakfast tacos and had their faces painted by the art students of Mr. Seckar-Martinez and Mrs. Ghazi. “[We were] trying to get the effect of candy skulls: half face representing life and death, which is inevitable for everybody, not to be grim but to celebrate people’s lives,” Gun said. “It’s a holiday where you celebrate those who have passed on.” The parade itself is organized by costume, including groupings of people dressed to commemorate different subjects from the Mexican Revolution and the Aztec Indians to the Keep Austin Weird movement. This year’s parade was dedicated to Juan Gabriel, the Latin music icon who died on Aug. 28 just hours before he was to perform a concert in El Paso. He was honored with his own themed section in the parade. McCallum students, after dressing up and getting their faces painted, marched for around two miles with decorative skulls on tall wooden poles, provided by the Mexic-Arte Museum. The next day, a picture of the McCallum students was featured in the Austin American-Statesman. “It’s my pride and joy whenever McCallum Knights are caught doing the wonderful things they do,” Gun said. “I love this campus because the kids are so fun. So they came because I asked them: they wanted extra credit, they wanted to have a good time, [or] they wanted to experience something different; I just hope that they come with me again or that later in life they take their families to see the parade.”

ABOVE: Sophomores Gissello Regino and Cecilia Castro (and Castro’s sister) show off their festive Jalisco dresses at the parade. FAR RIGHT: Spanish teacher Juana Gun poses with a giant decorative skull. “The City of Austin has done this for a long, long time, “ Gun said. “It’s a fun morning... It’s really family-oriented, with beautiful art displays in and out of the parade.” RIGHT: Mr. Secckar-Martinez and Mrs. Ghazi’s art students helped to create and paint traditional candy skull designs on students’ faces such as junior Max Stein’s shown here. All photos by Juana Gun.

10 people

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

Witnesses to post-election history

Two students learn that anti-Trump protesters agree on one thing but not everything guys should cover your face because they might gas us.” And at that point, we were like, OK, we need to leave.

CHARLIE HOLDEN assistant editor

On Nov. 10 juniors Ruby Dietz and Io Hickman marched in an anti-Trump rally downtown. Such protests have swept the nation since Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 8 after securing 290 electoral votes (At press time, the presidential vote in Michigan was still undetermined).

RD: It was a very stressful ending [to the rally].

The Shield: Why did you guys go to the rally?

RD: I would, but I would just be more careful. In the days after the election I was so devoid of hope, and I was so miserable about the outcome that I was just ready to do anything. I would have thrown myself into any situation if I thought that it might help, so I didn’t really take the time to think about what I could be getting myself into. But I would go protest again, for sure. I would just come more prepared and with the knowledge of what we went through.The majority of the rally was really powerful—

IH: I think that it just shows the effect [Donald Trump] has. The rally started off as a united thing, and it just got taken over. TS: So would you go to anything like this again?

Ruby Dietz: I chose to go because I disagreed with the nation’s choice of a president. I’m very frustrated that I couldn’t vote in this election because I’m 17, so I wanted to find some way to show my voice. Io Hickman: I went because I have absolutely no respect for Donald Trump at all. Hillary won the popular vote, but it doesn’t matter at all because the electoral college decided that Trump is the winner. TS: What was the rally like when you arrived?

Hundreds march on the Capitol on Nov. 10 to protest Trump’s electoral victory. The Statesman reported that police detained two men during the rally. Photo by Io Hickman. TS: How did the rally change over the course of the night?

camera and smashed it. We couldn’t see it from where we were, we could only hear it.

IH: We got to the Congress Bridge and the atmosphere immediately changed.

RD: It sounded like a gunshot.

RD: I was a little bit apprehensive because I didn’t know what to expect. I slowly got more comfortable, and then I really started to appreciate being in a situation where I agreed with everyone around me and where we were supporting the same cause. After that, it just got really fun.

RD: We stopped walking, and we circled up.

IH: People started panicking and running all over the place.

IH: Some people got into the middle of [the circle] and they were saying some stuff that didn’t really seem like what we had gone there for. They were like social anarchists.

RD: I turned around, and I saw two police cars and two people getting arrested and a mob of people fighting. It got really hectic because no one knew what was happening.

IH: I went with one of my closest friends who had been to a protest the night before. He had livestreamed it on Facebook, and I was extremely inspired by the fact that he had gone [to the rally]. I was like, “I’ve got to go to one of these now.” Since we couldn’t vote, it was really difficult to just sit back and watch, so this was a way for me to actually do something more than write a post on Facebook or share something. I actually got to go out and do something.

RD: They were pushing their own personal social agendas. Like everyone there was very comfortable saying, “F--- Donald Trump,” but not everybody there was comfortable saying, “I don’t want there to be a political system.” We were all like, “not my president,” and this one guy was like, “no more presidents!”

IH: There were cops coming in on horses.

RD: Participating and fighting back might not seem like something that is immediately going to fix the problem, but it’s about coming together and showing that there’s still support for what you believe in. IH: And if enough people are doing it then you can’t ignore that.

18 nov. 2016

IH: It drastically changed when we got back to the Capitol. The original plan was to go back to the Capitol and then group up again on the lawn and have people share why they personally don’t want to live in a nation where Trump is in the White House, but instead this guy got up on something and said, “Why stop here? Let’s keep going!” And so we started walking. Somebody ran to the front of the march and grabbed this guy’s

RD: Half the people were saying, “F--- the police,” and the other half of the people were like, “This is a peaceful protest.” It basically fell apart when everybody wanted something different. IH: It was just hard to watch. You see the videos of that kind of stuff, but you don’t really expect to see it in real life, especially because people think of Austin as such a liberal and peaceful place, but it can happen wherever. And this was not even anything compared to some of the other stuff that has been happening [across the country]. I saw this girl get slammed against a police car, which was terrifying. This lady with a bandana around her face came up to us and she was like, “You

IH: And beautiful. RD: But the way that it ended was not what I wanted my experience to be like. TS: Did you hear any viewpoints that made you rethink what you had thought previously about this election or the president elect or any other politics of the nation? IH: If anything, it just made me disrespect [Donald Trump] more because I could see how many people do not like him. There’s got to be a really big reason for that, because this kind of thing doesn’t happen very often when presidents are elected. RD: I didn’t think [the rally] would change my mind. I’m very sure in my beliefs. But the rally did make me glad that there are communities out there that I can turn to if I need help. But I didn’t walk away thinking, “Maybe this will all be OK.” I still have lots of worries. Have a different take on the election? We’d love to hear it. Submit your opinion columns to contact.macshield@gmail.com

people 11

the

shield Story by Julie Robertson

This month: November AUSTIN SPOT

INSTAGRAM

If you have never walked the boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake, make that your priority for an upcoming weekend. The boardwalk which hovers above Lady Bird Lake and stretches for a couple miles is the perfect place for running or walking. The views of the skyline are amazing, but also there is a lot of beautiful scenery along the shoreline. The best entrance spot I’ve found for the weekends is to park at the Austin American-Statesman parking lot, which is located at 305 S. Congress Ave. From there, just walk to the hike-and-bike trail and turn right. Walk a short ways until you emerge onto the boardwalk.

If you have never heard of this account before, then you are definitely missing out. The Instagram account @zilkerbark posts pictures daily of adorable dogs found all around Austin but most specifically in Zilker Park. Each caption also gives descriptions of the dogs such as their name, age and breed. The pictures are super high quality, and everyone I know says that seeing the pictures truly makes their days brighter. They also have a great Snapchat that everyone should also be following because it ends my day on a great note when I watch their stories. Check that out on @zilkerbark.

A look at one of the menu items from La Barbeque.

EATERY

The Lady Bird Lake boardwalk is the perfect place for a walk or run on the weekend. Photo by Julie Robertson.

12 a&e

La Barbeque is the best BBQ you can get in Austin, hands down. I’ve gone here with family, and everyone that we take is automatically in love with the tender brisket, perfectly cooked ribs, amazing sausage and freshly sliced turkey. The “La” in La Barbeque does not stand for what you think it stands for. It actually stands for the person that the restaurant was named after, LeAnne Mueller. The joint was established in 2012 by the Mueller family and has been an Austin favorite ever since opening. Louie Mueller, part owner of the restaurant, has been working with the meats for a very long time. He was a chef at Franklin’s BBQ, another Austin restaurant icon, so he is not messing around when it comes to this genre of cooking. The delicious joint is open Wednesday-Sunday 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. or until it sells out, so I would get there as soon as you can. Check them out at the Aztec Food Park located on 1906 E. Cesar Chavez St.

Featured dogs on @ zilkerbark’s Instagram. High quality photos are posted every day.

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

Cyra-YES!

McCallum becomes first high school to perform Cyrano: The Musical ANNA ADDISON

staff reporter

Originally written in Dutch, Cyrano: The Musical premiered in 1992 at the Stadsschouberg Theatre in Amsterdam. One year later, it came to Broadway translated into English. Last month it hit another landmark with McCallum becoming the first high school to perform it. Based on the 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, the musical is an immortal love story between an ill-fated trio: the witty, poetic Cyrano, the beautiful Roxane and the title character’s obnoxious nose. Just kidding. As anyone who nose the story well will tell you, the third person involved in the love triangle is Christian de Neuvillette, a handsome but naive cadet in the French army (Owen Scales). It is he that Roxane (Miranda Vandenberg, Ellie Zambarano), the most beautiful and sought-after woman in all of Paris, falls for. Roxane’s infatuation with Christian torments Cyrano de Bergerac (Max Corney), a gifted poet and Roxane’s (hopefully very) distant cousin, for he too is in love with her. Because of his facial affliction, however, Cyrano considers himself to be too ugly to deserve Roxane’s affection. Wanting to profess his love to her but not confident enough to do it directly, Cyrano offers to ghostwrite Christian’s love letters to Roxane, as the young man’s own skills for the written word are severely lacking. In one standout scene, while Christian stands on Roxane’s balcony a la Juliet (definite foreshadowing for what is to come for the young lovers), Cyrano stands in the shadows and feeds Christian romantic lines to shout up to Roxane. Christian and Cyrano’s regiment is called into battle and Christian is killed. Roxane, in her grief, retreats to a nunnery to mourn her beloved. There, years later, Cyrano finally professes his true love for her, knowing that Roxane fell not in love with Christian but with the person who wrote the letters. For freshman Owen Scales, who played the role of Christian, Cyrano was his first McCallum musical. Scales described the experience as “exhilarating ... long ... but awesome.” As for being a freshman and having a starring role, he says that the experience

18 nov. 2016

1. was “exciting but pretty scary because I didn’t know what to do, but I think I figured it out along the way. I loved it.” Junior Tristan Tierney, who played the baker Raggueneau and Viscount Valvert, said that his favorite part about doing the musical was working to make it a reality. “We created this really amazing thing from what we thought at the beginning was nothing,” Tierney said. Putting on this musical was no easy feat. There’s the typical long rehearsal hours that all McCallum musicals necessitate, but because this musical is so unknown, there are no recordings of the songs in English, and the script came to theatre department handwritten. According to Scales, he had to learn the score by playing the notes he was supposed to sing on the piano. Overcoming the unusual challenges of performing a lesser known musical makes the learning experience richer for the students and ultimately makes McCallum Theatre stand out. “I knew it was going to be a new experience and I’m thankful for every show I do because I learn something from it, and I definitely learned something from being in this show,” Tierney said. “And when I apply for college next year, the other applicants won’t have Cyrano: The Musical on their resumes, will they?”

1. Senior Miranda Vandenberg performs as Roxane. Photo by Dave Winter. 2. Senior Max Corney plays the musical’s title character, Cyrano. Photo by Dave Winter. 3. Junior Tristan Tierney and the chorus perform “Ragueneau’s Patisserie.” Photo by Miriam Ballard.

a&e 13

the

shield

The great white hype Social media complaints over casting Matt Damon as lead for film set in Medieval China reinvigorates debate over white male dominance in film RACHEL WOLLEBEN editor in chief

On Oct. 8 the second trailer for an action-packed historical fiction film titled The Great Wall was released for audiences worldwide. Since the first trailer for the film premiered over three months ago, however, The Great Wall has faced a wave of controversy regarding its lead actor—Matt Damon. Thousands of tweets, and opinion articles have been posted on the web attacking the choice of casting Damon, a rather famous white actor, as the main hero for a story about defending medieval China from

monsters trying to breach the Great Wall. Most of these complaints accuse the film of continuing a racist Hollywood trend of using white actors to play roles that should be given to people of color, a trend called whitewashing. Damon himself has made attempts to ease the tension surrounding The Great Wall when asked about his opinion of these accusations at the New York Comic Con on Oct. 9: “I watched that teaser a number of times to try and understand the criticism. Ultimately where I came down to was if people see this movie and there is somehow whitewashing involved in a creature feature that we made up then I will listen to that with my whole heart. ... I will be surprised if people see this movie and have that reac-

tion. ... I think you are undermining your own credibility when you attack something without seeing it.” In the past decade the discussion surrounding whitewashing, sexism, and racism found in Hollywood films has become more prominent than ever, with minority groups demanding that moviemakers catch up with the rest of American society’s progressivism. As diverse as these complaints may be, one common observation made in all of them is the dominance of white men in film. This guide presents a sampling of the recent Hollywood films that have come under fire for alleged racial imbalance and considers the different forms that the racial imbalance can take.

The Last Samurai (2003) • Studio: Warner Bros. • Plot: “An American military adviser embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle.” (IMDb) • Protagonist: Nathan Algren (played by Tom Cruise)

All of these films feature a white male protagonist taking the lead in an adventure set in Middle Eastern and African countries. The main white actors in each of them are specifically playing people of color.

14 a & e

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) • Studio: Disney • Plot: “A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time.” (IMDb) • Protagonist: Dastan (played by Jake Gyllenhaal)

Instead of casting white actors to play people of color, these films take stories centered around people of color and make the lead role a white male character charged with saving all those around him.

The Great Wall (2017) • Studio: Universal Studios • Plot: “In the battle for humanity, an elite force makes a heroic stand atop the Great Wall of China to combat an army of monsters.” (Wikipedia) • Protagonist: William Garin (played by Matt Damon)

The Male-Dominance Trend

The Whitewashing Trend Gods of Egypt (2016) • Studio: Summit Entertainment • Plot: “Mortal hero Bek teams with the god Horus in an alliance against Set, the merciless god of darkness, who has usurped Egypt’s throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict.” (IMDb) • Protagonist: Bek (played Brenton Thwaites)

The White-Male Savior Trend

Avatar (2009) • Studio: 20th Century Fox • Plot: “A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.” (IMDb) • Protagonist: Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington)

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) • Studio: 20th Century Fox • Plot: “The defiant leader Moses rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.” (IMDb) • Protagonist: Moses (played by Christian Bale)

The Princess Bride (1987) • Studio: 20th Century Fox • Plot: “While home sick in All of the films listed here failed the Bechdel test—a popular measure of gender bed, a young boy’s grandfather equality in any movie. To pass the Bechdel test, a film must feature at least two reads him a story called The Princess Bride.” (IMDb) women, who talk to each other about something other than a man. • Protagonist: Buttercup (played by Robin Wright), and Westley (played by Cary Elwes) Jane Got A Gun (2016) • Studio: Lions Gate Entertainment • Plot: “A woman asks her exlover for help in order to save her outlaw husband from a gang out to kill him.” (IMDb) • Protagonist: Jane Hammond (played by Natalie Portman)

18 nov. 2016

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) • Studio: Paramount Pictures • Plot: “Video game adventuress Lara Croft comes to life in a movie where she races against time and villains to recover powerful ancient artifacts.” (IMDb) • Protagonist: Lara Croft (played by Angelina Jolie)

While those accusing Hollywood filmmakers of enforcing a dominance of white men over movies can use these movies as evidence for their complaints, their issue is not disappearing any time soon. The failure of the Silver Screen to keep up with our culture in terms of proper representation will be an issue that won’t fade to black anytime soon.

a & e 15

the

shield

The great white hype Social media complaints over casting Matt Damon as lead for film set in Medieval China reinvigorates debate over white male dominance in film RACHEL WOLLEBEN editor in chief

14 a & e

The Male-Dominance Trend

The White-Male Savior Trend

18 nov. 2016

a & e 15

the

shield

by Maddie Doran and Charlie Holden

16 news

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

Artistically speaking: Josh Tsang Junior visual arts major excels in photography, architecture and pushing boundaries JT: It was this social project as well as a foreign aid project where we sent cameras to Third World countries. We sent some to Kenya and to Colombia, and we partnered with some organizations that took care of youth and we gave them cameras to take pictures.

CHARLIE HOLDEN assistant editor

The Shield: Which visual art is your favorite? Josh Tsang: I’d have to say photography.

Our goal was to document the poverty out there as well as the beauty. Since we had children take the photos, it was a lot more raw and personal than if a National Geographic photographer took them. That’s what we did, and then we held a gallery show at a local gallery called SprATX.

TS: What other mediums do you work with? JT: I do printmaking, and I try to paint sometimes, but not super often. TS: How do they all compare to each other? JT: I’d say painting is on the more tedious side and printmaking is just a really different process. I really like photography because it’s a lot more instant, compared to drawing a big portrait or something. TS: What got you into photography? JT: My dad and Instagram. My dad has always been into photography and then when I got my first phone, I started taking pictures, and that’s how it started. TS: Why did you choose to major in the visual arts? JT: I was originally going to go to LBJ/LASA and then I just decided to do visual arts here because I thought that would be a lot more interesting. I got into [the Fine Arts Academy] sophomore year, so I wasn’t in the freshman class. TS: OK. Do you want to pursue the fine arts as a career after high school? JT: It’s a possibility. It’s about 50/50 between [art] and maybe architecture. TS: How can your apply your experience in art to architecture? JT: There’s more creativity in art than architecture. I’d like to make more interesting buildings. I’d like to make buildings that interact with the unique environment around them using the design aspect of art.

18 nov. 2016

TS: Do you think that’s something you would like to continue?

Above: Juniors Andrea Barrera-Castro and Emelia Whiteside model in a photo by Josh Tsang. Photo orginially in color. TS: Has being in the Fine Arts Academy changed how you view the arts? JT: It has kind of trained my eye so I can apply critical thinking to the fine arts. Rather than just seeing art that is cool you can actually explain why it’s cool and react in a bunch of different ways. TS: Have you faced any challenges as an art major? JT: Yeah, for sure. For one, trying to meet deadlines and criteria while trying make something interesting to me. I’ve definitely done a lot of projects where it’s just been about [making art] rather than enjoying it. I definitely haven’t really had any formal training other than McCallum, so I feel like compared to a lot of other people the learning curve was a lot bigger, to learn how to paint and things like that. TS: How do you think your high school experience would be different if you weren’t in

the fine arts? JT: I was going to go to LASA, so I would probably end up going there and working my butt off doing math and stuff. TS: So are you glad you ended up choosing McCallum? JT: Yeah, for sure. When I’m talking to all of my friends at LASA, everyone hates it there. They say it’s just like super hard and my friends are taking all these electives that are just like math classes, and I would much rather do art classes here than weird classes there. TS: Do you have any outside of school projects involving the visual arts? JT: This weekend I did a photography project with a friend on the east side. We went there and just walked 11th Street taking photos. I’m also working on doing more functional art on jean jackets and ... stuff other than just a canvas. TS: You were involved in a project last year with sending cameras abroad, can you explain what that is?

JT: It was definitely an interesting project, but I don’t really see myself doing stuff like that in the future, but it’s definitely a possibility. TS: Do you have a piece that you’re most proud of? JT: In terms of photography, I have a lot of band photography that I like, and I’m really proud of those. I’m still waiting for a piece, I think it will come soon, that will be a lot more like, “Wow, I’m proud of this.” TS: What is your process for taking photos? JT: I usually try to come up with sort of a central theme. I really like photographing strangers out in the street, so instead of booking a session with a person you just go out in the street and try to take cool pictures. TS: How do the strangers usually respond to that? JT: Usually they’re really inviting. A lot of people like having their pictures taken. TS: Do you have any interesting stories of people that you have taken pictures of? JT: I was photographing at Castle Hill [and] I met this one street artist named Truth, or Mike Johnson, and we were chatting and he was super optimistic, like he said, “You’re the future of Austin right here, nice to meet you.”

people 17

the

shield

Falling for prime time

GREY’S ANATOMY

(8 p.m, Thursdays on ABC)

As summer fades to fall, many TV shows return with new seasons

ANNA COMPTON staff reporter There are plenty of fall TV previews out there whose aim is to get you to watch the latest and next big thing on television. Forget that. I want to focus on the shows you should have started watching a long time ago. It’s not too late to catch up on what you’ve been missing.

GREY’S ANATOMY

When I was younger my mom always watched this show. I would sit in the back of the room acting like I wasn’t paying attention because my mom thought it was not “age appropriate” for me, but little did she know I was watching it intently. At first, the show scared me at times, but when I got older I really started watching the entire show. I have watched all 12 seasons twice. That’s how much I love this show. Each episode has a new exciting plot that leaves you nearly in tears at the end of the episode, and it always makes you want to come back for more. I have been watching this show for so long, I know everything about the characters; it’s almost like they’re my family. The show starts its 13th and final season on ABC this fall, and it’s also available on

18 a&e

Hulu. With life-or-death situations thrown at the characters every day, the show is never boring. Though it’s set in a hospital, the show isn’t really about medicine: it’s about people. While their drama-filled lives are extremely entertaining, what happens inside the hospital is also entertaining. From bomb explosions to plane crashes, we see the characters endure traumatic times.

MODERN FAMILY

I love this show. The title Modern Family says it all. This show displays the realities of an extended family who, despite their differences, blend as a whole. Together, these families show us honest relationships and also the hilarious and dysfunctional times they share. This series has been out for so long: the show and I have almost grown up together. I have a very large, discombobulated family, and we can relate to this show. With every episode comes a new funny setting and story, just like every day for my family. I love to watch this show just before I go to bed for a good laugh.

AMERICAN HORROR STORY

I have never been able to watch horror shows or movies because I get way too

MODERN FAMILY (8 p.m., Tuesdays on ABC)

scared. But there is something about this show that makes me come back and watch every season. With the release of the sixth season just a couple weeks ago, now is a perfect time to watch this show. Each season is different than the previous one, yet the show always keeps me on the edge of my seat. The first season was definitely my favor-

AMERICAN HORROR STORY

(10 p.m., Wednesdays on FX)

ite. My favorite character, played by Evan Peters, brought me to this show. It was scary like a haunted house, which I could handle. Then came the second season, which was based in an asylum. This one really freaked me out. Each season gets creepier and more disturbing. I like how they switch up the cast but still keep some of the main people.

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

For visiting professor, Mac is the subject German observer sees plusses, minuses in homogenous schools D’AZHANE YANCEY staff reporter Students at McCallum study just about everything in the world, but what if someone came to study McCallum? That’s what Prof. Marlene Kowalski, a German professor studying at the University of Texas, is doing when she visits world language classes here this semester. “I like McCallum,” Kowalski said, adding that the school is much more social than schools are back in Germany. Prof. Kowalski has visited McCallum several times in order to understand the outlook of McCallum teachers and to see how the teacher-student relationship works here. The observations are part of her graduate work in education. “In Germany you have to have your master’s degree in order to become a teacher rather than here [where] you only have to have your bachelor’s degree, which means in Germany you have to be in school longer to become a teacher,” Kowalski said. While the mix of students and subjects creates a great social environment, Kowalski also noticed the academic challenges created by the homogenous grouping of students. In Germany, Kowalski said, where you go to school depends on your grades and passion

“

In Germany your school is based on your grades, passion and ability to learn. Getting into college isn’t about community service and other things like it is here in America.” -Marlene Kowalski to learn. You don’t go to school based off of where you live, your choice or your parents’ choice. The school you go to is based on your knowledge. The same difference applies to the college application process. “In Germany, getting into college isn’t about community service and other things like here,” Kowalski said. “You go to college based on your grades and passion to learn. Learning in a homogenous environment,

German professor Marlene Kowalski poses outside the front entrance of the school. Kowalksi has been observing American schools in order to understand better how they work. Photo by D’azhane Yancey. Prof. Kowalski has seen, is often challenging. She feels like if there are kids who are faster at completing work than others they should be given a challenge. Kowalski said that if some students are constantly finishing their assignments before others, then they will not have anything to do, then they will pull out their phones and feel like the class isn’t important because they aren’t getting a challenge, and there is nothing

being put into their brains. In Germany if you are completing work faster than others you’re moved up to a higher school and if you don’t understand the material you’re given in school you’re sent to a lower level school, Kowalski said. Prof. Kowalski feels like here at McCallum you have some students who don’t want to be at school but are here because they are forced to be here, which causes early dropouts mixed with the ones who actually want to be here and graduate, which causes a distraction. In Germany, you have a school with all kids that want to be at school and graduate and then a separate school for those that don’t really want to be at school. Prof. Kowalski also noted that the 90-minute class period is longer than the traditional class in Germany and that it may be too long a time for many students to sit without breaks and read out of a book. She said that students should be given a time during the 90-minute break period to stretch and move around. The break would allow students to focus more because if they are sitting for a long time without movement it gives you bad posture, and some students have a hard time focusing. Kowalski also feels that students at McCallum should also be encouraged to take multiple world language classes instead of selecting only one primary language for study. “Here, you only learn one language, and I feel like you should be able to learn more than one foreign language,” said Kowalski, who added that studying more languages would create more opportunities to do things and more knowledge of places and cultures other than your own. Just by being at McCallum, Kowalski is doing exactly that as part of her own education.

Questions about College? Go 1-on-1 with ACC today! ACC advisors are here to help with your college and career planning. 1-on-1 assistance is just a visit, call, or click away!

austincc.edu/startnow

18 nov. 2016

people 19

the

shield

cCallum freshman Zachary Steiner said that rock climbing is in his nature. Growing up, his parents were always rock climbing, so he started climbing about the time he started crawling. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, however, that he really started focusing on it. Steiner placed first at a rock climbing competition at the New Orleans Boulder Lounge on Oct. 8. “My parents have been rock climbers for many years, so I’ve been climbing all my life,” Steiner said. “Competitively, I’ve been rock climbing for two years.” Though his parents have influenced his rock climbing, it wasn’t until he tried it at one of his cross-fit training sessioins that he really started to enjoy it. It was the experience that led him to begin competitive climbing, and he’s been driven to climb ever since. Steiner said he mostly sticks to indoor climbing. He would like to get outside a lot more, but there just aren’t as many opportunities for him to climb outdoors. “It’s a lot easier to go to a gym and train there, but I do want to get outside a lot more.” Through his team ATX, his coach, John Meyrick, told him of this climbing competition. Just like any other sport, climbers win by scoring the most points. Climbers earn points if they get to the top of the climb, and finish the route. The competitions have multiple routes set up in the gym, and climbers have three hours to solve as many climbing challenges as they can. Steiner said there are harder climbs and softer climbs. The harder climbs are worth more points, and the softer climbs are worth fewer points. “Your top five climbs get the most points,” Steiner said. “Then those points are tallied up and are added to your complete score, and that’s your overall score for the end. Then the winners are determined by who has the most points at the end of the day.” Steiner said he mostly stuck to the harder climbs set up in the gym. The harder climbs can be longer and have harder holds that are farther apart. Though the hard climbs may take longer than the softer climbs, the point values are much higher. At the end of the day, Steiner had the most points of any climber at the New Orleans Boulder Lounge Competition. “I was really, really excited because it was the first competition I’ve won,” said Steiner. “The first two competitions that I’ve competed in I got fourth and third, but this one was extra exciting because I was aiming for first place, and I got it.” Though it’s hard to beat this memorable moment, Steiner said it was not his favorite moment as a rock climber. Steiner most cherishes a time when he and his parents went Alpine climbing in the Wind River Range. “It was in the Wind River Range on this big mountain called Hay Stack. My family and I hiked back nine miles, and stayed in the area for seven days. One day we decided to go climbing on the north face of this mountain. It was a really, really long climb, and really cool getting to the top of it. It was stressful being up so high, but there was a level place that you could stand and look out. And you could see all the lakes and mountains around and it was really beautiful.”

20 sports

Climbing to the top Freshman wins rock climbing competition

A lifetime climber, Steiner won his first climbing competition last month. Photo by Anna Compton.

Photo and story By Anna Compton

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

Winter warriors take to mat, court Boortz, Zamora credit their older siblings with getting them hooked on the sport they play The Shield: What got you into wrestling and why? Adrianna Boortz: I started wrestling freshman year. My sister actually put me into wrestling without me knowing. My summer going into freshman year she saw that I was 97 pounds; there is a 95-pound weight class, so she told Coach Amaro I would wrestle. I didn’t know I was going to do it; she just kinda forced me, I guess. TS: What is a normal week like during wrestling season? AB: It’s two days of after-school practice, then sometimes people go to other people’s house and wrestle, then go to the gym because you have to cut weight. TS: How do the weight classes work in wrestling? AB: The weight classes for girls range from 95 to 215 and are usually about 10 pounds apart, maybe even 15 or 20. For boys it’s 106 to 285, so basically anyone can wrestle if they want to; they just have to put their heart and mind into it. TS: How do weigh-ins happen? AB: Since I’m in the 102, I have to be 102.0 pounds to be able to wrestle in the 102 weight class. You can’t be 95 though because that’s a different w e i g h t class. If you’re

overweight at a tournament, then you can’t wrestle at all because you busted weight,so that’s why it’s so important to manage your weight and eat right. TS: Have you ever been just a little bit over your weight class? AB: Yeah, I’ve been 0.8 ounces over, and I mean this isn’t the healthiest, but I ran laps in five layers of sweats, it really sucks, but you learn to love the sport, and you want to wrestle even if you feel like crap after you wrestle. TS: How do you feel about the stereotype of girls wrestling? AB: I feel like everyone thinks that you are super intimidating, and that you aren’t seen as that feminine, I don’t know. I feel like I can be a girly girl, too. TS: What are some of your wrestling accomplishments? AB: I’ve been a district champ for two years in a row. I went to state. TS: How has this season been? AB: It’s pretty good. The team is full of rookies, so I think it should be interesting. The veterans on the team are really good, so I think we are going to be a strong team. TS: How do wrestling meets go? AB: They usually start around 7:30. Usually 30 minutes before, we get everyone together and we all go weigh in. If it’s a home meet, we put out all the mats, then clean them, and we tape them down. Then we set up the tables for the refs and officials to monitor the match. Usually, the boys teams wrestle first, then the girls teams. It goes by pretty fast because people will forfeit, but matches can last six to eight minutes if they go into overtime. It just varies. TS: what are some illegal moves in wrestling? AB: Purposely hurting someone, you have to fall with them if you are picking them up and dropping them. There are certain moves you can do so you don’t break their bones.

Adrianna Boortz

18 nov. 2016

TS: When and and why did you start playing basketball? Roman Zamora: I’ve been playing basketball for as long as I can remember,. I started playing becasue I used to go watch my older brothers play. I guess that’s what got me interested, just watching them play. TS: What is the difference between junior varsity and varsity at McCallum? RZ: Varsity is super competitive and everyone is fighting for a

spot during tryouts, while JV is not as competitive. TS: How were tryouts and how were teams announced? RZ: The teams were made and announced the day after tryouts on papers posted in the gym. TS: How is the team different from last years team? RZ: This year we have a lot more guards and less bigs, so we have to get out in transition more compared to last year’s varsity team. TS: Can you explain the comradery with you and your teammates? RZ: The team is like a family. We’re all in this together and get along really well, which helps us play more as one. TS: What is it like being a team captain? RZ: You have to push everyone to get better every day and help them whenever they need help on and off the court. When you’re not a captain, you don’t have to boost the team up as much, I guess. TS: Do you ever get nervous before you play? RZ: Yes, I always get nervous but I just listen to music and relax to calm my nerves. —Maddie Doran

Roman Zamora

PLAYER BREAKDOWN:

HEIGHT: 5-foot-10 PLAYS: Baseball and Basketball Points scored in season opener at Del Valle: 13 Assists: 1 Steals: 2 2015 Highlight: 15 points, 4-5 3-point shooting at Travis on Feb. 5 NEXT GAMES: Today and Saturday at Hays Rebel Classic

PLAYER BREAKDOWN:

HEIGHT: 5-foot-1 SPORT: Wrestling WEIGHT CLASS: 102 2015 Highlights: 2-Time District Champion, Third in Region, State Qualifier NEXT MEET: Today and Saturday at Capitol City Classic at Delco Center

sports 21

the

shield

Get your head out of the game Football execs at all levels need to prevent players from reentering the game once head-on contact occurs JULIE ROBERTSON editor in-chief I’ve heard a lot of hard hits this football season. Since I have been a sideline reporter on the field for most games, I often see up-close head-on collisions between players that cause my jaw to drop. I always think, “If I were to be playing right now, and I got hit like that, I would die.” It is so scary to think that when you get hit in the head that hard, your brain is physically being pounded against your skull so hard that it begins to bleed. My friend Ben, and former Shield colleague would joke about it last year calling it, “scrambled brains.” Ouch. I am definitely not one of those people who thinks football, baseball, soccer and many other head-to-ball/ head-to-other-head contact sports should be outlawed. My family is so into sports that our TV automatically goes to ESPN when it’s powered on. Everyone in my family is into football, baseball and basketball, so we watch it avidly throughout the entire year. Football practically owns the TV on fall Sundays in our home, and it has been an American tradition for decades for us to sit down and watch the Texans versus the Broncos, or the Patriots versus the Steelers, over dinner. We thrive on the sports we watch. We make room in our schedule so that we can go to the games or be home in time to watch them on TV. But at what point do the serious hits to the head become unacceptable? I get it

22 sports

Photo by Adrian Peña that advances in protective gear, such as technologically advanced helmets, are expensive, but money spent on prevention against concussions would save money in the long term, eliminating expensive lawsuits that a school or corporation will face for keeping a player in a game after a serious hit. It is also less expensive to sight the symptoms right away and take that player out of the game as soon as a trainer thinks something might be up. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell knows the league is not doing enough to prevent the long-term trauma of concussions. The commissioner wrote a letter to his fans earlier this year explaining how the league was not doing everything that it could to prevent the long-term damage of head injuries. So, thanks Mr. Goodell for that, but what’s the game plan now? To cut down on injuries? So many young football players look up to the older NFL players because they are an inspiration. To me, the real inspiration would be to try to find a way to stop these concussions from happening so severely every time. Texas UIL rules state that most of the symptoms associated with head-on contact should be evaluated right away and that the player should be taken out of game immediately. NFL concussion protocol is similar, the key difference being the NFL has more resources it can deploy to treat concussion symptoms. For one thing, an on-site neurotrauma expert at each game to help make sure that everything is diagnosed correctly and that the player is taken off the field as soon as head trauma is evident. But do teams always follow this protocol? Nope. On Sept. 8, in the NFL’s season opener between Denver and Carolina, Cam Newton suffered head-on-head contact at least four

times throughout the game, yet no penalty was called. On the next concussive hit, he rose slowly off the field; again, there was no call. And what’s worse: he stayed in the game. How is he supposed to make the decision to leave the game himself if he can’t even remember what happened five minutes ago. If the National Football League with its unlimited resources, can’t deal effectively with concussions, then who can? During several of the McCallum games earlier this season, I saw multiple times players being hit so hard that their helmets came off. This didn’t just happen in one game; I saw it happen for about three games in a row. These are kids we’re talking about, not 30-yearold men who are doing this to make a living. The harsh reality of high school football is that right now there are about 1 million high school football players across the country. Of that million, only about 73,000 will go on to play in the NCAA, and an even smaller fraction of that, about 2 percent, actually will play for D1 schools. We’re talking about these high school students’ futures here, and their future most likely isn’t at a D1 college playing college football. In the NFL, if a player is diagnosed with a concussion he doesn’t have classes to go back to on Monday morning. If a high school football player gets a concussion, he’s most likely to be out for at least a week, if not more. He must stay home, no electronics, no reading, no brain stimulation. Maybe this could’ve been avoided if the right resources were given to the schools or if they were taken out of the game right when the signs of a concussion were noticeable. All I'm saying, corporations, coaches and players: it’s just a game.

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

MAC sports roundup Playing four on five, Knight bowlers still win opener The bowling team won a hard-fought match over the Leander Lions, 19 -10, on Friday. Even though the Knights were down a bowler, they were able to win in a 5-on-4 match. “The team of Noah Powell, Anthony Bourda, Gordon Bolton, and Max Cioci were able to exhibit determination, teamwork, and pride,” Coach Randy Cannon said. “In match play the team was able to win both matches with a score of 5 - 2 in each match.” The team’s performance in the Baker format portion of the match was particularly impressive. In Baker format, each member of the team bowls two frames in the game Since the Knights only had four players, they had to take a zero for two frames for the missing player’s turn. “The Knights were able to shoot an impressive 165 first game,” Cannon said. “After winning the first and losing the second [Baker game], they were able to make key shots in the final frame of the last two games to manage a tie in each.” Cannon expressed pride in his team. “Starting the night off being down a player down is a tough assignment, but these athletes knew what was needed and came together, and got the job done, ”Cannon said. The Knights next match is tonight at Mel’s Bowling Center in Georgetown. “Admission is free and the experience and excitement is priceless,” Cannon said. -Maddie Doran

Lady Knights hope to earn first win at Crockett tourney The Lady Knights basketball team started off their season with three losses, in part because the team has many new varsity players on the roster this year. Despite their 0-3 record, they are hopeful they can earn their first win soon. The loss to Hyde Park was a narrow one as the Knights lost by one point, 58-57. “We are doing well but there is always room for improvement,” Captain Micaela Ramaccoitti said. The Lady Knights have a tournament at Crockett that began yesterday and continued through today and Saturday. “ I would love to win but it all depends on if we go in with a positive and winning midset and play our hardest,” Ramaccoitti said. -Maddie Doran

18 nov. 2016

Knights win first playoff game since the 2013 season The varsity football team beat Kerrville Tivy 17-14 on Friday night to win the bi-district title. The 10-1 Knights advance to play Victoria East in the area playoffs at 7:30 p.m at Eschenburg Field in Floresville. “It feels great to be bi-district champs,” linebacker JB Faught said. “It’s so gratifying because we put in so much work since the end of last season. All through off season, all through spring football, all through this season is built up to win a playoff game.” Faught credited the coaches with preparing the defense Prince Tyler rushes against Tivy player to play well against Tivy. “The coaches showedKarson us videos of the running back from Tivy, and we would yell his name all through practice, so I was just thinking about how to get him, and then I made it happen.” So did Faught’s teammates. Running back Andre Blakemore rushed 62 yards for a score, and d-lineman Prince Tyler returned a fumble 70 yards for another score. Luke Whitefield added a 33-yard field goal, and defensive back Tyrell Washington sealed the win with a late interception. The defense held the Antlers to a touchdown in each half, a performance which inspires confidence. “I feel pretty confident about our upcoming game,” Faught said. “Every team from here on out is going to be better than the last, but they are all beatable.” The Knights have been prepping for this game all week and trying to improve. “Victoria East has a really well rounded offense, they can

Prince Tyler, Kevon Walton and J.B. Faught pursue Kerville Tivy quarterback Karson Valverde during the Knights 17-14 playoff win over the Antlers. Photo by Tony Lavorgna. do everything,” Faught said. “They have a good offense, a good running back and a good running quaterback. They can run the ball really well and have a D-1 receiver.” This could be the end of the season for the knights if they lose the game on Friday. “We still have goals ahead of us, we don’t feel done, we don’t feel accomplished yet, its’ not good enough,” Faught said. -Maddie Doran

Swim team competes well at AISD Invitational

Wrestlers open season with dual meet against Akins

The swim team competed last Friday at the AISD Invitational meet. The boys 200 freestyle relay team set a new team record and came in first while the girls came in third in the 200 free relay. “I swam the 100 back, the medley relay and the 200 free relay,” Ramirez said. “For the medley we did OK and in the free we did really well; we beat LBJ’s best team, so that was pretty good.” Ramirez thinks the team has been getting better as the season goes on due to Coach Jeff Rudy pushing them. “We’re working really hard in practice,” Ramirez said. “Coach Rudy is challenging us in our sets, and he is pushing us to work hard.” The swim team’s next meet takes place Dec. 2 at Circle C. Ranch. -Zoë Hocker

The wrestling team has only had one match so far, but they are off good start. The team wrestled Akins on Wednesday November 9th. However, Akins is part of the 6A district and McCallum is part of the 5A district. “The girls did real well, the boys not so much,” Assistant Coach, Richard Salazar said. “A lot of them were wrestling up a weight class so that had a lot to do with it.” Coach Salazar has been coaching for 5 years and enjoys helping out the wrestling team. “ I coach the boys and girls, I just kind of help out, and coach Amaro does the main coaching,” Salazar said. “I help with paperwork and make sure everyone is ready to go so that he can spend more time coaching techniques and moves.” The team wrestled Anderson on Wednesday the 16th at McCallum. The results of this match were unavailable at press time. -Maddie Doran

sports 23

the

shield

Places to visit before they’re gone Climate change is destroying some of the world’s most treasured spots

MADISON OLSEN staff reporter

Scientists are confident that the Globe’s temperature will continue to rise and affect everything from melting glaciers and rising sea levels to trees flowering way sooner than normal. Experts at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts a global increase of 2.5 to 10 degrees in the next century. You may think it won’t have a big effect on your life, but the human activities producing the greenhouse gases that are causing this warming shouldn’t be ignored. Scientists are trying to find ways to preserve places that are most affected by climate change, but you should still visit them just in case, since their demise is inevitable

Glacier National Park. Photo by Madison Olsen. 1. Glacier National Park Glacier National Park in the 1800s was populated with around 150 glaciers, but only 27 remain. By 2030 they could all be gone. Scientists estimate that the temperature in Glacier is increasing by 1.6 degrees annually, three times the global increase. This warming affects everything from the snow melting in the spring two weeks earlier than normal to the increase in the density of forests. You would think that more trees would be a good thing, but actually many high elevation tree species are invading lower areas. This is bad because it depletes nutrients from the ground so lower level plants can’t grow. In addition, the dry soil causes forests to burn easier and more severely. Farmers in the area who used to depend on the nutrient-rich streams in the summer aren’t sure that there will be enough water to sustain agriculture. 2. The Magdalen Islands, Quebec This archipelago of 12 islands faces harsher storms, warmer winters, and the slow sinking of the islands, something that worries the 13,000 people that call these islands home. The sandstone cliffs are vulnerable to gelifraction, or frost shattering. On average, the coast is receding by 10 to 110 centimeters annually, but severe storms have taken as much as 10 meters off of some cliffs. Ocean storms are normal

24 opinion

around these islands, but the ice structures that block storm waves, that would otherwise destroy dunes that people live on, are melting. According to recent studies, by sometime between 2050 and 2090, there won’t any ice formations to protect the gulf during storms. Without 2 1 the ice, the sandstone cliffs will be exposed to erosion and the oceans storms that frequent the area.

3 3. The Amazon Rainforest The Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, covering 550 million hectares across South America. But over the past 20 years, trees in the Amazon have been losing the ability to soak up carbon dioxide. The Amazon rainforest absorbs one fourth of the 2.4 million tons of carbon in the world, so it’s health plays a vital role in climate change. In theory, climate change should help forests by producing a warm environment and increasing amounts of carbon dioxide for plants. According to a study done by scientists at the University of Leeds, the growth rate of trees in the jungle remains uniform, but the amount of trees dying per year is increasing. Escalating amounts of carbon dioxide in the air is causing trees to grow more quickly, something that sounds good but isn’t. Trees that grow fast store less energy to prevent diseases and produce wood that’s less dense, which together cause the trees to die at a younger age. As a result, the Amazon is playing an increasingly smaller role in counteracting the carbon emissions that humans create. 4. Venice, Italy The “sinking” of Venice is due to a combination of land subsidence and rising sea level. Experts at the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, in charge of protecting Venice from sinking, says that Venice is sinking about 1.5 inches per century. A more recent study from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography showed the city appears to be sinking a rate of .08 inches per year, five times faster than previously calculated. In addition, the city is moving about 1.5 millimeters east every year. With not much being done to protect the city, tourists have flocked to the area to see it before it’s gone forever. 5. The Dead Sea The Dead Sea is a lake with great religious significance located on the border of Israel and Jordan. But according to the Atlantic.com, the lake has dropped 4.9 feet in the last year alone, which is alarming when compared to the oceans levels, which have risen 4-8 inches in the last century. Industries such as Israel Chemicals Ltd. and Jordan’s Arab Potash Co. are to blame

for the rapidly draining lake. The water in the Dead Sea is 10 times more salty than, which makes it perfect for manufacturing potash, a form of salt containing potassium. 6. Seychelles The 115 is4 lands off the 5 coast of Kenya that make up Seychelles are so beautiful they have been compared 7 to the Garden of 6 Eden, but 8 face annihilation within the next 50 to 100 years due to what some consider the world’s worst coral die off. First of all, they are the home to many species of deep water fish, that wouldn’t exist without these corals. Corals also provide a natural barrier against waves that prevents the shores from eroding. Ninety percent of the reefs near Seychelles were affected by a spike in ocean temperature in 1998, but because the reefs are so isolated, they haven’t been able to recover like other reefs have. In addition to problems due to the reefs, the sea level is rising and the amount of land above water is diminishing. Seychelles is facing problems due to the increasing temperature of the Indian ocean and climate change larger nations cause. 7. Maldives The residents of 16 of the 200 inhabited isles that form the Maldives have been forced to evacuate due to the rapidly rising sea level. At the current rate, there will be no living coral in the Maldives within 30 years, and the Maldives themselves, will be eliminated by the end of the century. But something is being done to help. According to the President of the Maldives, the country is planning to be entirely reliant on alternative energy by 2019 by decreasing tourism in the area to leave a smaller carbon footprint. 8. The Great Barrier Reef On Oct. 12, Outside Magazine published an obituary for the Great Barrier Reef, and received many panicked responses over social media. Many correctly called out the magazine for giving up on the reef, which isn’t dead yet. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies says 93 percent of the reef is affected by bleaching. This is when coral is put under stress by changes in temperature, light or nutrients, and sheds the symbiotic tissue that gives it colors. The Australian and Queensland governments released a Reef 2050 plan and invested $2 billion to preserve the reef. So although it sounds bad, we can’t give up on the reef.

18 nov. 2016

the

shield

Liberty and justice for some? Forced expressions of patriotism are just plain un-American GRACE SCHMIDHAUSER staff reporter

We’ve all seen the front page stories regarding athletes taking a knee during the Star Spangled Banner, a trend which has become a phenomenon that has elicited both support and outrage. Many see taking a knee as a way to take a stand against police brutality and the failure of the government to protect citizens equally. The refusal to participate in the national anthem is a way to say the nation must do more to protect all of its citizens before athletes and others will literally sing its praises. When taken out of the national context and zoomed into the dot on the map that is McCallum High School, a similar dilemma is at hand—what is the place of The Pledge of Allegiance in public school? The five-minute period of announcements at the end of first period brings about a familiar image to most students, most often a room filled with talking teenagers, with a muffled “I pledge of allegiance to thee…” far in the background, if at all discernible. Occasionally, you may witness a classmate or two standing proudly with a hand on their heart, reciting the pledge diligently. In other classrooms, some teachers enforce that every student at least stand to show respect for the pledge. Some students and teachers have strong opinions regarding the issue. Some feel it’s unforgivable and disrespectful not to honor the pledge. Others feel it’s entirely appropriate, courageous even, to refuse to participate in a forced chant representing pride in a nation that they feel needs to do more. In between these strong and opposed views, I suspect that most of us confront the daily pledge not with fervor but with apathy. And in some ways that’s a shame.

18 nov. 2016

There are many things to be proud of regarding this country, and our right to freely express our ideas and opinions is what allows me to even write an opinion piece in my high school’s newspaper. My mother grew up under Communist rule in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s, and the fact that her family would be put in serious danger for expressing an opinion that contradicted Communist rulers reminds me to put things in perspective, and I deeply appreciate the privileges that I’ve been given as a result of growing up as an American. But while patriotism is a valid thing to express, I am not sure that a mandatory pledge or anthem is the best way to show you appreciate your freedom. The problem is that The Pledge of Allegiance is not an accurate representation of American pride if it’s it being forced upon students (just like the anthem is required of players and fans at a sporting event).

Mandatory expressions of patriotism contradict everything that we stand for as Americans. There is so much more to being an American than just reciting 24 words that were written 200 years ago, before women and people of color were even allowed to vote or have a voice in this country. How could this be an accurate representation of what it is to be American? What makes us Americans is participating in society, doing community service, using our voices and fighting for our rights. Thinking that saying the pledge automatically makes you a “patriot” is ridiculous, and it doesn’t require the action, effort, or individual voice that is actually vital in being a true citizen and utilizing all of the opportunities that living in this country gives us. Though many teachers allow that the pledge be up to an individual’s discretion, there is technically a district law

in place that requires for every single student to recite the pledge unless their parents explicitly give written permission for their child to refrain from saying it. The fact that this law is even in place is incredibly unfortunate. If this policy were enforced, the many students who may greatly disagree with their parent’s political views are being forced to take part in something that represents ideals that they oppose. I support protests of these recitations of American pride and also respect defenders of its honor, but the deeper root of the problem is reassessing if these symbols of patriotism are outdated or legitimate representatives of the values for which the United States of America stands. Forcing people to recite an oath restricts their freedom and contradicts the very ideals upon which this nation was founded.

opinion 25

the

shield

Now is no time to disengage We all need to rededicate ourselves to fighting for equality, being kind to one another There is now officially no way around it. On that he fully believed in the shocking plans he made Election Tuesday, reality TV star and businessman during his campaign, or if he was just clever enough to Donald Trump was elected President of the United say only what would get him votes. Only time will tell if States. Great move, America. The day after the he intends to change his entire platform once his term election, dozens of students were seen crying in begins. Already, in a recent 60 Minutes interview, the classrooms at McCallum, and for a very good reason. president elect outlined several changes to his infamous Yet we know there are conservative students and proposals, like building a border wall, that leaned away teachers at this school who supported Trump for a from his previously extreme ideas. We now have no clear variety of reasons. This editorial is not meant to be idea of what the president-elect will actually do with the an attack on them, or their beliefs. There are valid power he is given. reasons why people supported Trump, but the simple Yet as heavy as these thoughts may be for students truth is that most of this liberal campus is in a state of and staff, everyone at McCallum must remember that the almost mourning about the election results. A school president is not some all-powerful god. No matter what that prides itself on creating an environment where all Trump’s administration may try to accomplish, there students feel welcome is at odds with a president elect will always be checks and balances that can counteract who spent 18 months spreading prejudice against the illogical. No matter what offensive thing Trump or Students in Ms. Northcutt’s first period English class watch anyone who works for him says in the future, you have entire segments of the U.S. population. The fact that there are millions of Americans who Hillary Clinton’s concession speech to analyze it for rhetori- the choice to rise above it. The next couple of years may overlooked the ignorant, offensive and terrifying cal analysis, with some of them tearing up. Photo by Madison seem tough, but they will not have an everlasting and things that Trump has said and voted for him anyway apocalyptic effect on the future. The fact that Trump has altered many of his previously is hard for us to accept. It means that the American Having Donald Trump as our president is scary, but it people chose as their leader a person who has bragged strong platform points since being elected is more cause is not the end of the world or an excuse for us to stop being about sexually assaulting women; who has accused an for alarm. The terror that comes with Trump’s rise to committed to our country and the values for which is was entire race of people of being criminals and rapists; who is power may have less to do with his objectionable expressed founded. Rather, we should rededicate ourselves to hoping willing to put our country into billions of dollars in debt in opinions and more to do with his complete unpredictability. and fighting for a better future and—most of all—being No one knows if Trump is so uninformed about politics kind to one another. order to build a wall that will not achieve anything.

A.N. McCallum High School 5600 Sunshine Drive Austin, TX 78756 (512) 414-7539 fax (512) 453-2599 contact.macshield@gmail.om

shieldstaff

the

editors-in-chief JULIE ROBERTSON AND RACHEL WOLLEBEN assistant editors MADDIE DORAN

adviser ZOE HOCKER

CHARLIE HOLDEN

DAVE WINTER

reporters ANNA ADDISON, JOSEPH CARDENAS, ANNA COMPTON, MILES HANSEN, MADISON OLSEN, SOPHIE RYLAND, GRACE SCHMIDHAUSER, D’AZHANE YANCEY The Shield is published by journalism students in the newspaper production class. Although students work under the guidance of a professional faculty member, the student staff ultimately determines the content. Students may not publish material that is obscene, libelous or that which will cause a “substantial disruption to the

26 opinion

educational process.” Content that may stimulate heated debate is not included in this definition. The Shield operates as an open forum for exchange of ideas. Opinions expressed in editorials are the ideas of the staff. Opinions expressed in the columns are that of the writer’s alone. Letters to the editor are encouraged

and must be signed. Positive identification may be required when a letter is submitted. Letters may be edited. Letters that are critical of the newspaper staff’s coverage of events or that present information that may stimulate heated debate will be published. Letters that contain malicious attacks on individual reporters, the adviser or the

principal will be rejected. Anyone interested in purchasing an ad should contact adviser Dave Winter at (512) 414-7539. The Shield is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, the National Scholastic Press Association the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association.

18 nov. 2016

the

shield 4

whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new

Shield staff nabs 8 Gold Circle Awards Mac feasts on Tivy turnovers to win first playoff game since 2013

Nine MAC photographers win ATPI awards

check out

macshieldonline.com

share the shield

1: Photo by senior Henry Pitre 2, 5, 7: Photos by Dave Winter 3: Photo by junior Jimmy Sahn

4: Photo by sophomore Graham Shearer 6: Photo by Gregory James

Like us on facebook.com/ MacJournalism Follow us on Twitter: @macstudentmedia Follow: @macjournalism on Instagram

18 nov. 2016

preview 27

the

shield

SITTING PRETTY IN PINK 1

Cheer, PALS combine fundraising forces to raise $1,200 for breast-cancer research

3 6

28 photo essay

1. Journalism teacher Dave Winter is pied by Shield co-editorin-chief Rachel Wolloben on Friday. “Three of my favorite people on the campus pied me, and Pink Week is one of my favorite weeks of the school year, so it was awesome.” Winter said. Photo by Madison Olsen. 2. At the football game on Friday night, Alex Julian rushed for three of the 10 touchdowns that the Knights scored as they cruised to a 70-0 win over Lanier. Photo by Adrian Peña. 3. At the Pink Week pep rally, Principal Mike Garrison receives a pie to the face from Alana Raper and Sacco Fernandez. “I loved getting to pie Mr. Garrison because he has such a good relationship with students,” Fernandez said. “It was more like hitting your friend with a pie rather than the principal.” Photo by Greg James. 4. Football players Nathan Reed and Andre Blakemore talk pregame with Bryn Lewis and Coach Kevin Schneider. Photo by Amurri Davis. 5. PALS adviser Richard Cowles holds PAL Eric Laware still as they are both pegged by water balloons to raise money for breast cancer. Photo by Madison Olsen. 6. Officer Mike Reilly dumps a bucket of water on Officer Tony Andrew Friday during the shooting PAL-lery. “People got really into it because everyone wants be involved in pink week,” Senior Ta’tyana Jammer said. “A lot of money was raised because of that.” Photo by Madison Olsen.

18 nov. 2016