Mccallums HS Shield, Volume issuu 3 (Feb 9 2018) by The Shield

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shield McCallum High School / 5600 Sunshine / Austin, TX 78756 Volume 65 / Issue 3 / Feb. 9, 2018

IN FEATURES McCallum alumnus, a Rio Grande River guide, featured in documentary about how a border wall would destroy wildlife along Texas-Mexico border pages 14-15

IN OPINION Trump’s border wall is just one example of his constant disregard for the state our nation’s natural resources page 26

THE RIVER AND THE WALL

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COVER: Image of the Rio Grande River, the subject of the documentary The River and the Wall. McCallum alum Austin Alvarado is one of five members of the documentary team. According to The River and the Wall’s Facebook page,“The purpose of the trip and film is to thoroughly document the borderlands before further wall construction and to learn how a physical border wall would impact immigration, water access, wildlife dispersals, landowner rights, public lands, international relations and border culture.” Photo published with permission from producer Hillary Pierce.

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Austinites marched from UT to HT in the annual MLK Day rally to celebrate King’s message, legacy. Pro-life, pro-choice rallies held a week apart at the Capitol attract thousands, express diametrically different views

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Staffers recommend local restaurant, vintage clothing store, and the new downtown public library in monthly column. After opening night on Thursday, West Side Story sold out its remaining seven shows—and with good reason.

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McCallum alum travels the length of the Rio Grande for upcoming documentary on Trump’s border wall. History, psychology teacher Clifford Stanchos answers a modified version of the Proust Questionnaire.

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Senior swim captain Bianca Ramirez reflects on her experiences over the past four years on the team. Boys soccer boasts a diverse lineup of players from Nicaragua and Germany, to name a few.

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To keep LBJ as a district foe, McCallum will play up to 5A, Division 1. It was absolutely the right move for the Knights. Staffer weighs in on a phenomenon known as ‘mansplaining’ and how it affects classroom and workplace environments.

RIGHT: Senior Anna McGuire, then a sophomore, performs in Sondheim in Sondheim. McGuire is serving as an assistant choreographer in the runaway success, West Side Story. McGuire said she will miss the people in MacTheatre when she graduates. “A lot of the people that I’ve met have become lifelong friends just because the rehearsal schedules are so long that you’re around people for so long that you develop really deep connections.” Photo by Ashley Chamberlain.

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TOP: Senior Leela Boyer models for junior Skel Gracie’s fashion line, inspired by Dolly Parton, during McCallum’s annual benefit fashion show at the AISD Performing Arts Center on Jan. 13. Photo by Charlie Holden.

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Boys Basketball vs. LBJ @ Mac 8 p.m. (Senior Night)

Boys soccer vs. Lanier @ Noack @ 10:45 a.m.

Boys basketball vs. Austin High @ Austin 8 p.m.

Girls soccer vs. Ann Richards @ Burger 7:45 p.m.

UIL State Swim meet @ UT Swim Center

Mr. McCallum Competition in MAC @ 7 p.m.

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President’s Day- no school

Boys soccer vs. Travis @ House Park 7:45 p.m.

West Side Story in MAC @ 7 p.m.

Band Solo & Ensemble Contest @ Bowie HS

Girl’s soccer vs. LBJ House Park @ 7:45 p.m.

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A King’s legacy remembered Austinites march to honor the memory of civil rights leader, celebrate strides in equality KELSEY TASCH staff reporter

As Jan. 15, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 89th birthday, approached, Austin was reminded of his legacy, fighting for the rights of African Americans all across the United States, as well as its own past history of segregation, including the controversial decision to shut down the original Anderson High School. Austin has worked hard to transform itself into an accepting place, but its past struggles with segregation still linger in the shadows. According to NBC News, the Austin MLK March is one of the largest in the nation, attracting large crowds of all ages and backgrounds. The march embraces multiculturalism, uplifts diversity and celebrates Dr. King’s vision. Marchers gathered early on Jan. 15, walking from the University of Texas’s statue of King to the Capitol and then to Huston-Tillotson University. Marchers gathered early in the morning to kick off the annual celebration, and with each stop, marchers took a short break and enjoyed programs celebrating Dr. King’s life and legacy. Hundreds of people attended, toting signs with quotes from Dr. King and supporting current causes like Black Lives Matter. After the march, the festival was lined with booths selling jewelry, artwork, clothing and food as well as nongovernmental organizations, or NGO’s, and activist organizations seeking signatures, support and hoping to spread awareness. For more than 700 feet of their march, demonstrators walked along East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which endured a long and contentious fight over its name. The street and the battle to name it are a symbol of the struggle to earn public recognition for King’s monumental strides in civil rights. Austin is a blue oasis in the Texas sea of red, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t faced its share of struggles. In April of 1975, seven years after Dr. King’s assassination, city leaders proposed changing what previously was West 19th Street into Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard because they wanted to honor Dr. King’s achievements. Many people resisted, arguing that it would be expensive to change signs, letterheads and promotions and that it would misrepresent the history of the city. Those against renaming the street pointed to the project’s cost. According to a report from The Austin American-Statesman, they estimated the cost of new Interstate exit signs to be $40,000 to $200,000 because of the length of King’s full name. Nonetheless, the city council voted in favor of renaming the street. Quickly after the decision, the exit signs east of the Interstate were changed, yet the signs to the west stayed the same. It remained West 19th Street into May, and with the formation of the “West 19th Street Association,” there seemed to be no hope for any change in the future. The association opposed the renaming any street names in Austin without the permission of the

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“A lot of the speakers there ... had these amazing backgrounds that would take lifetimes for someone like me to achieve. It felt really humbling to hear them talk.”

—sophomore Kien Johnson

property owners, and tried to invoke a law from 1929 to justify the position that property owners held the sole rights to determine street names. In November, the Austin Black Assembly denounced the West 19th Street Association, saying their tactics would not work. In the end, the Austin Black Assembly was right—all signage was changed to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Sophomores Steven Shearer and Kien Johnson were among the McCallum students who joined in on the MLK Day festivities. Both students walked from the University of Texas to the Capitol. At both locations, there were speakers who recited

speeches by Dr. King and related personal stories. “A lot of the speakers there were incredibly inspiring,” Johnson said. “[They] just had these amazing backgrounds that would take lifetimes for someone like me to achieve. It felt really humbling to hear them talk. It made me realize how much impact I can make while at the same time letting me know how little I am, how I really haven’t done that much.” While Johnson has been attending the annual MLK march since 2010, this was Shearer’s first year to attend. When asked about how the event has grown or changed,

Top left: Members of the Young People and Children’s Division at the African Methodist Episcopal Church pose with their signs. Photo by Kesley Tasch. Bottom left: Angela Pires holds the sign she made with a quote from MLK on it. The quote is from his final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Photo by Kelsey Tasch. Right: Marchers finish the first half of the march at the Capitol. Photos by Kien Johnson. Johnson said that the overall premise remained. “The primary thought was unity—not division— of African Americans across Austin,” Johnson said. “[There] was a lot of acceptance and a lot of honoring of other ethnic backgrounds ... for showing up and showing their support although they made it very clear that the main thing on their agenda today or issue was Black Rights and Black lives.”

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Debating the need for net neutrality FCC repeals government restrictions on service providers, prompting concern, indifference MADISON OLSEN photo editor

The Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality on Dec. 14 caused waves of shock and anger that rippled across the country. Net neutrality is a set of rules that prohibited broadband providers from charging customers for a higher quality internet service. Now, the federal government will no longer be able to regulate internet delivery as if it were a utility. This decision reversed a 2015 Obama administration policy that allowed the federal government to have greater oversight of broadband providers. Multiple sources reported that without net neutrality, internet service providers, or ISPs, will be allowed to charge extra fees for access to certain websites or to block them entirely. The net neutrality rules established by the Obama administration prevented the following three actions that are now permissible with net neutrality’s repeal: (1) Blocking: In the past, internet providers were not allowed to discriminate against any lawful content by blocking websites. (2) Throttling: Service providers were not allowed to “throttle” or slow the transmission of data based on a site’s content, as long as the content was legal. (3) Paid Prioritization: Companies were not allowed to provide faster access for paid premium users and direct those who aren’t willing or able to pay extra to slower lanes of access. One of the biggest arguments in favor of net neutrality is that it protects freedom of speech on the internet. “I’m for net neutrality on principle,” senior Luke Brown said. “One of the fundamental tenets of [net neutrality] is that the free flow of information ought to be protected. The internet is much more than another commodity; it’s a defining factor of

our society and access to it, and the information therein theoretically allows people to accrue expertise previously relegated to only the most devoted Ph. D’s. The power of such a thing can’t be underestimated, and neither can the danger of limiting access thereof and access to content contained therein along socioeconomic lines.” Critics of the Restoring Internet Freedom Act are most concerned that ISPs will divide internet access into packages and charge extra for those packages. For example, providers could charge an extra $10 per month for any music streaming services in addition to the monthly cost already paid for cellular data. The fear of a la carte Internet pricing, stoked by a widely distributed image of a Portuguese internet provider (see below) sparked online rage against the repeal of net neutrality. Thus far, however, no ISP’s have split their service into pricing plans. “I was relatively indifferent [because] in Austin there is a competitive market of service providers,” Brown said, “including those like Grande Communications and Google Fiber, who advertise that they will essentially follow net neutrality guidelines even in the absence [of net neutrality laws]. It is worth noting that ISPs are still accountable to consumers, and as a result of that, it’s unlikely they’ll begin offering a product so inferior as to be cataclysmic; that sets them up to lose a lot of money.” Another McCallum student, freshman Luke Lozono, was indifferent to the repeal since the very beginning. “If ISPs start to charge money for certain parts of the internet, there will be one company that will not charge people extra money for different parts of the Internet,” Lozano said. “In my opinion net neutrality laws are pointless, but they’re not harmful. So, in my opinion, it didn’t matter if it was repealed or not because the Internet wouldn’t change.” Other students are more worried about what

the repeal of net neutrality might mean for technology users in rural communities. “I was disappointed in the FCC’s decision,” senior Atticus Tait said. “Honestly, it doesn’t have a big impact on me now living in a big area, but for people who are out in rural areas, who only have access to Comcast and Verizon, it’s going to affect them.” Texas senator John Cornyn is one of the many government officials who is against net neutrality. “I believe in an open and free internet and that we need policies to meet the evolving challenges of technological advancement,” Cornyn said in an email to The Shield, “However, government regulations move slower than technology, and we must ensure the laws we pass do not stifle innovation. A top-down regulatory approach can unnecessarily constrain an industry’s ability to create and deliver new products and services to consumers. In the Senate, I have supported legislation that facilitates innovation and opposed policies that threaten it.” Critics of the senator fear believe that he may support ISP’s not on principle but because they donate to his campaign. According to The San Antonio Current, Cornyn had racked up $160,000 since 2012 in political contributions from top internet providers. In addition, Texan senator Ted Cruz has taken in more than $115,000. AT&T alone has given the pair a combined $107,000. Cornyn insists, however, that deregulation is good for the consumer. “I support the FCC’s transparent approach to reduce burdensome regulation and improve internet access and services,” Cornyn said. “I am also proud to cosponsor the Restoring Internet Freedom Act. ... This legislation would nullify the former net neutrality rule, ensure Congress maintains its primary authority to reshape communications policy, and restore the competitive freedom that has characterized the Internet.”

Portuguese internet provider MEO offers a variety of base packages with monthly data limits and then charges additional fees for particular data services. Some fear that the same ad hoc pricing will come to the States with the repeal of net neutrality. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

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Infograph by Sophie Ryland.

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Same agenda, second verse

Austinites march from City Hall to the Capitol to support impeaching Trump, women’s rights EMMA BAUMGARDNER & MADISON OLSEN

staff reporter & photo editor Ask Glinda Tansey to describe herself, and in no uncertain terms, she’ll tell you that she’s a “pissed-off grandma.” What could have made this local grandmother so angry? “I’m pissed off about immigration policies especially,” Tansey said. “What [the Trump administration] has done [to] the ‘Dreamers,’ I could just go on and on and on about all the stupid misunderstandings that they’re causing about human beings; we need a safe place.” Tansey was one of thousands of protesters in Austin and in other cities all across the country Jan. 20. Men, women and children gathered to rally against President Donald Trump, whose inauguration occurred exactly one year before the day of the march. Marchers also observed the anniversary of the Women’s March, the largest single-day protest in U.S. history on Jan. 21 of last year. The full day of protests started with the Impeachment Rally at 10 a.m. at Austin City Hall with speakers who shared personal stories about how legislation under Trump has influenced their lives and what citizens could do to create the change they wanted to see in the White House. The marchers were greeted by a smaller group of Trump supporters who interacted with the marchers without significant confrontation. The crowd began the march to the Capitol up Congress Avenue following a group called the Texas Handmaids, women clad in red robes to emulate the characters in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. After the procession reached the Capitol, the event concluded with the annual Roe v. Wade Rally. The Resistance Choir marched among the procession, sheet music in hand, performing the MILCK song, “Quiet.” The song was popularized during the Women’s March that took place in Washington a year ago. Speakers at this year’s event included politicians working in the Texas Senate and House to pass bills protecting women’s right to abortion. Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, stressed to the crowd that women’s health policy must change. “Right now we’re one of only two states that have young people that do not have access to contraceptives and unfortunately find themselves in a position where they have an unplanned pregnancy and then have no resources to deal with that,” Howard said in an exclusive Shield interview. Howard also has shifted focus towards the problem of sexual harassment in the public school system. According to the American Association of University Women, nearly half of students surveyed experienced some form of sexual harassment during their middle and high school years. “I think most of us have focused on teacher or adult on student issues when in fact I’ve found from my preliminary research that it’s seven times greater that it’s student-on-student assaults.” Howard said. “It’s astounding to me to know that this is right under our noses, and we need to be seriously addressing this and

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Rally attendees surround counter-protesters, blocking out a pro-Trump flag with a flag of their own. Photo by Kien Johnson. figure out what we need to do to create a safe environment there as well.” Another speaker, 2014 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis became a prominent political figure among Texas Democrats in 2013 after her 11-hour filibuster against Senate Bill 5, which passed about a month later and significantly reduced access to abortion across the state. “We’ve been through a really tough year, and I know a lot of people are feeling simultaneously hopeful and discouraged about some of the things that have happened,” Davis told The Shield. “We have to be resilient in the face of challenge. ... As long as we don’t give up, we will see the change that we all hope to see.” Davis also founded the nonprofit organization Deeds Not Words, an organization of selfproclaimed change makers aimed at improving the lives of women through action. “It’s centered around the idea that, while it’s important for us to talk about things that matter to us, it’s also important for us to commit ourselves to action,” Davis said. “Deeds Not Words is specifically focused on young women ... to help give [them] a path to use [their] action in a productive and powerful way.” The topic of immigration was at the forefront of the rally, with the issue of funding for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, being brought to national attention after the government shutdown. The immigration policy DACA grants children, known as “Dreamers,” who entered the country illegally as minors, a renewable two-year period of deferred action—rather than deportation— and a work permit. The DACA policy was rescinded by the Trump administration last September via executive action, but the action to rescind the policy was delayed six months to allow Congress to devise a solution for the population DACA no longer protects. Protesters at City Hall were met with a heavy police presence and a small force of counterprotesters, some holding Trump flags and megaphones. Many of the counter-protesters actively engaged in discussions with the marchers, wanting to hear some arguments from the opposing side. “We may not always agree politically, but we can find a middle ground,” said a counterprotester who identified herself as Gina Williams. “When we get out here and have these interactions, we’re able to meet people and bridge the gaps and open the door to communication and maybe find a common ground. If we don’t open up the door to conversation, then history’s doomed to repeat itself.” For some counter-protesters, the rally served as a way to hear opinions on the Trump administration from the opposite end of the political spectrum. “You watch the news, and it will tell you about what people who have different views

“While it’s important for us to TALK about things that matter to us, it’s also important for us to COMMIT ourselves to ACTION,” Wendy Davis “I don’t feel like we’ve been FAIRLY represented. I SUPPORT freedom of speech, but I do hope more people can UNDERSTAND us,” Colin, a counter-protester than you think, and it’s not always accurate,” Robert Young said. “I’d rather hear from real people because that’s the only way you can find out that you may have more in common than you think. If all we ever do is yell at each other, we’re going to be doing this 30 years from now. You got to come down and find out what you can do together, then you can actually improve situations.” Even though many counter-protesters said they hoped to create a channel for open dialogue, there was still conflict at the Impeachment rally. At the beginning of the rally, a woman who identified herself as Vicky Williams ran through the crowd with a Trump flag and had it almost forcibly taken from her by a protester. Then Jon Colgin, a counter-protester wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, ran across the stage blaring an air horn. A protester, later identified as Alexei Wood, came running towards him, took the hat from his head and ran in the opposite direction. Wood was chased into the crowd by Colgin, and both were detained shortly after the incident. According to The San Antonio Current, Colgin was originally held in handcuffs but was later released without charges. Wood was arrested on the charge of theft. “I have fellow patriots that are out here,” said

a Trump supporter who would only share his first name, Colin. “There have been times when they have been violently attacked, so [I’m here] to stand with them, even if we’re outnumbered. I don’t feel like we’ve been fairly represented. I support freedom of speech, but I do hope more people can understand us.” One of the McCallum students who attended the rally, senior Ruby Dietz, volunteered at the Planned Parenthood booth during the first few hours of the rally. “I’ve been a volunteer with Planned Parenthood for a year now,” Dietz said. “When you volunteer [for] something that you love, you never stop learning about it, and you never stop growing more and more passionate. At first, I started volunteering really just because I was so frustrated with the amount of people I’d met who didn’t understand what Planned Parenthood is really about. I fight for women’s reproductive rights to set those [records] straight. I just want people to be aware that Planned Parenthood is doing actual good.” At the Capitol, booths from various organizations shared information on how to get involved in the women’s rights movement, and women spoke on the steps of the Capitol to galvanize the crowd.

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Two Saturdays in January

Held a week apart, pro-choice, pro-life rallies draw crowds from across Texas EMMA BAUMGARDNER staff reporter

As the discussion over women’s rights dominates politics throughout the state and country, Texans continue to remember a landmark decision in the women’s rights movement. In 1973, the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade made headlines throughout America as abortion was legalized in a 7-2 decision. At the time, the court comprised nine male judges. This year, marks the 45th anniversary of the decision, which continues to impact politics on a state and national level. To both celebrate and contest the decision, separate pro-choice and pro-life rallies were held on Capitol grounds in Austin just seven days apart from each other. Texans in particular tend to follow the issue closely, with politicians on both sides of the aisle fighting to pass legislation that supports their ideology. For those who contest the Roe v. Wade decision, access to abortion isn’t an issue of women’s rights, it’s an issue of human rights in general. Organizations such as the Texas Alliance for Life work to spread this belief through public outreach and by helping pass legislation that limits access to abortion. Deirdre Cooper works for the Texas Alliance for Life, or TAL, as a public policy analyst. She helped to promote the Texas Rally for Life, a TAL event held on Jan. 27. “Abortion has nothing to do with women’s rights because abortion is a violation of the most basic human right: the right to life,” Cooper said in an email to The Shield. “Women, and men, have the right to life, regardless of size, age or location. That includes within the womb. Many women have abortions precisely because they feel they have no freedom and no other choice. Women’s rights advocates should care enough about women that they want to help them to truly have a choice: to support them in their choice for life, to parent or to place for adoption, to come alongside women in

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difficult situations and say, ‘You can do this! We believe in you and we will help you!’ That would be true empowerment for women.” According to Cooper, the goal of the Jan. 27 rally was to reaffirm Texas’s pro-life leaning. The rally has been put on by the Texas Alliance for Life annually since the late ’80s in order to remember and contest the Roe v. Wade decision. Even though stances on abortion are used to support specific party platforms in the public sphere, those who advocate both sides are not necessarily affiliated with a political party. “TAL is a nonpartisan organization,” Cooper said. “We are happy to work with anyone who wants to work with us to pass strong pro-life laws. There are still several pro-life Democrats in Texas, and we are happy to work with them. Abortion should not be a partisan issue, it is a human rights issue, and we hope for a day when every elected official, regardless of party, is pro-life.” The rally began off of 17th Street and Congress Avenue. There, people arrived from all across Texas. Youth church groups and religiously affiliated schools bussed in kids from as far away as Corpus Christi. Aaron Garcia, a high school student, could be seen walking around the rally holding a life-size cardboard cutout of the Pope. “I came here with my school just to really support my school,” Garcia said. “St. John Paul Second High School from Corpus Christi has been doing this for several years already, and we’ve been leading it, so it’s just real nice to keep it going.” Those attending the rally had varying opinions on whether there are exceptions where

abortions should be allowed. While many held the idea that abortion should be allowed in situations of rape and incest, others held signs calling for the immediate eradication of the law, regardless of a pregnancy’s circumstances. Sheryl, who attended the rally with her family, supports a more complete abortion ban. “We’re here today to advocate for the abolition of abortion,” Sheryl said. “Our antiabortion laws don’t work in stopping abortions; they actually only stop less than 1.8 percent of the abortions, so the pro-life movement hasn’t been effective in ending abortions. For over 40 years, they’ve allowed over 65 million children to be murdered through incremental legislation. So, we’re for the immediate illegalization and criminalization of abortion. “Throughout the pro-life movement, there’s a refusal to call abortion a sin and a refusal to call it murder. We believe that it is the intentional, premeditated killing of a human being, and that the mother is a perpetrator rather than a victim, and we think that they should be prosecuted as such, all parties involved.” Some marchers wore Trump hats and shirts, showing their support for the current administration. One man, who wished to remain anonymous, carried a black-andwhite American flag with a lone blue stripe, which is a symbol of support for the Blue Lives Matter movement. “I’m here to stand in solidarity with the fetuses that can’t speak,” he said. The rally began with a march to the Capitol, in

“If you don’t [march] then history’s going to pass you by. People take for granted the freedom that we have to affect change and to be heard. Not everybody has that, and we need to use it.” —Lisa, a pro-choice marcher

Handmaids stand in silent protest at the pro-life rally on Jan. 27. Stephanie Martin, the organizer for the Texas Handmaids, coordinated the protest. “When we protest, we do so silently to reflect the fact that our voices aren’t heard or valued in the seats of power,” she said. “We prefer to show them the reality of what they are aiming for and silently haunt them. The robes and our stoic faces are louder than a scream.” Photo by Emma Baumgardner. which women pushed strollers down the streets, and preachers led sermons in the crowd. At the Capitol, a small group of protesters waved signs voicing support for the pro-choice movement. The Texas Handmaids, a volunteer group of women dressed in the robes similar to women in the book The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, stood in silent protest at the south entrance to the Capitol. Marchers yelled back and forth while a line of policemen separated the two groups. Steve Sanchez, a pastor from Johnson City, stood behind the crowd, yelling to address the protesters. “And whosoever believes it shall not perish without everlasting life,” Sanchez said. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We urge you, we beg you, we plead with you in the name of Jesus and in love.” Speakers at the rally included Texas governor Greg Abbott, who talked about declaring Jan. 22 as a “sanctity of life day.” “We cannot get complacent,” Abbott said in a speech to the crowd. “Together we will stand our ground, and we will not let that happen. We will continue to give voice to the voiceless.” The Texas March for Life was held only seven days after the pro-choice Roe v. Wade Rally. The Roe v. Wade Rally attracted more Austin residents and fewer visitors and was a continuation of the Women’s March that took place a year ago. Sarah Richardson and her daughter Tula marched to show their support for the women’s rights movement. “We wanted to honor the memory of the march

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last year, which was one of the most moving experiences of our lives,” Sara Richardson said. “One year later, and we’re still here.” Another rally attendee, who identified herself only as Lisa, took part in the march in order to exercise her right to stand up for her beliefs. “If you don’t, [march] then history’s going to pass you by. People take for granted the freedom that we have to effect change and to be heard. Not everybody has that, and we need to use it. Use it or lose it, you know?” The rally and march were put on by the Texas Reproductive Rights Rally, or TRRR. Andrea Hughes, the group’s president, was inspired to start the organization after attending Wendy Davis’s 2013 filibuster of pro-life Senate Bill 5.

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Hughes listened arguments made on the Senate floor, eventually forming an opinion based on the testimonies given by both sides. “The thing that really struck me is that there was consistently one side that resorted to fear, and there was one side that resorted to truth,” Hughes said in an interview with The Shield. “I’m always going to end up siding with truth.” Hughes aims to mobilize the public to engage the political process and to speak up for the issues they care about. “What I’m hoping to do with Texas Reproductive Rights Rally is to connect people and to empower people to get across the message that anyone can enter the world of activism and make a difference,” Hughes said.

“I think that my main interest is in mobilizing the voter base at a grassroots level and getting people impassioned about the things they care about, showing them that you can literally just walk into the Texas Capitol, talk to a politician, and make an impact.” At the rally, speakers stood on the front steps of the Capitol, sharing their stories and their contributions to the movement in state government. Speakers at the rally included state representative Donna Howard and women’s rights activist Wendy Davis. “Unless and until we can control our bodies and decisions that are made about them, we won’t ever be able to fully achieve the equal opportunities that should be available for each and every one of us,” Davis said. “It’s something that we all have a vested interest in. Where women are successful, we’re all successful, and we should be standing alongside each other and fighting for that equality of opportunity just as we would any other person in this country. No matter the resistance we meet in fighting for our reproductive rights and so many of the other things that we care about, if we can just own the power of our own voice, we will be a part of creating the kind of movement that is ultimately going to overwhelm that opposition and is going to realize change.” Behind the speakers, Peace Costanzo, known for standing in front of the Capitol throughout the year dressed as Lady Liberty, proudly held a pro-life sign for all to see. “I believe in the sanctity of life,” Costanzo said. “I remember being in my mother’s womb, and I believe that there are more viable options than abortion. You have to take particular steps to protect yourself.” Even though her ideology differed from the crowd surrounding her, marchers stopped to

pose for pictures with her and listen to her story. She addressed others with the same formality as the costume she wore, holding her head dignified in silent protest.

TOP LEFT: Children walk with their school in the pro-life march to the Capitol on Jan. 27. Most of them carried signs handed out at the beginning of the rally calling to defund Planned Parenthood. In addition to school groups, many parents also attended the rally with their children. BOTTOM LEFT: Pro-choice activists listen to speakers in front of the Capitol on Jan. 20. According to organizer Andrea Hughes, one of the main focuses of the rally was to diversify the resistance movement. “Unfortunately, a lot of higher level activists are economically privileged in one way or another and that’s what allows them the time and the energy to do all these things,” Hughes said. “It’s very important to me to make sure we’re giving other people the opportunity to be heard.” TOP RIGHT: Sarah Richardson and her daughter Tula pose with their signs. After attending the Women’s March last year, they remain supporters and contributors to the fight for women’s rights. BOTTOM RIGHT: Peace Costanzo stands in front of the Capitol, silently protesting the prochoice rally. Her striking appearance attracted the attention of many, giving her the chance to explain her position to rally attendees. Photo by Emma Baumgardner.

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Newspaper, yearbook adviser named teacher of the year The faculty voted journalism teacher Dave Winter the 2018 Teacher of the Year. Winter received more votes than fellow finalists history teacher Katie Carrasco and AVID teacher Elida Bonet. The outcome was announced in an after-school ceremony in the library on Jan. 29. Beginning at McCallum in 2015, Winter has been advising the newspaper and yearbook for three years. Senior Elena Henderson, the co-head editor-in-chief for the 2018 Knight and has worked with Winter in yearbook since he arrived on campus. “I think it’s a great thing for him,” Henderson said. “He’s such a perfectionist and cares so much about everyone that he teaches and works with. He spends countless hours that most people don’t know about to make the publications as great as they are, and he deserves to win.” Winter was not expecting to take the win this year, considering he is still in his first three years at McCallum. “I just thought that the other two people were so deserving that they would win,” Winter said. “Last year Ms. Northcutt said that she felt like she hadn’t been here long enough to win it

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because she didn’t feel like a veteran teacher and that she was still learning from everybody else in the building, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that!’ I felt all of that. I didn’t expect to win.” Senior Kennedy Schuelke, the other co-editor-in-chief for the yearbook, also said she feels that Winter deserved the award. “I think he deserves it more than anyone,” Schuelke said. “He has put in countless hours, and I feel like he does a lot of work that people don’t hear about. He’s been [at McCallum] until midnight on so many nights, and he does so much for everyone.” Winter has been teaching since the fall of 1991 but never won Teacher of the Year at any of the places at which he has taught. “There are so many great teachers and programs here,” Winter said. “It’s a huge honor to be Teacher of the Year here. I was already amazed to be a finalist. I just didn’t think I was gonna win. I’ve been teaching 28 years, and I’ve never won Teacher of the Year.” The week before the announcement teachers were given the choice to nominate whoever they wished. The three teachers with the most nominations were named finalists, and teachers were given the chance to cast a vote for one of the finalists. —Zoe Hocker

Photo by Julie Robertson.

Famed graffiti park to be archived, demolished, relocated The HOPE Outdoor Gallery, informally known as Castle Hill, has been a tourist destination in Austin since it launched in 2011. The space has hosted thousands of people with spray cans over the past seven years and has been the location of marriage proposals, murals and, of course, a lot of photos. But on Jan. 29, the Historical Landmark Commission voted to approve a permit for the demolition of the gallery. The Historical Commission decided to allow the demolition so long as the gallery is preserved in photographs to be housed at the Austin History Center. McCallum senior Nickie Cohen, however, says the demolition of the gallery is still upsetting: “HOPE is an awesome place to go with your friends and take pictures,” Cohen said. “There are always all sorts of people there, and the views of the skyline really make it a unique spot. It holds a special place in my heart, because when I first moved to Austin my freshman year, it was one of the first places my mom and I visited to check out the city.” Senior Lily McCormick also has good memories of visiting Castle Hill over the years and is upset about the relocation. “It feels like it’s something that’s been taken away from me that I’ve had since I was little,” McCormick said. “It’s something that I’ve always been able to see as kind of a staple of Austinite culture. It’s not something that ever needed to be there, but it happened anyway, and I feel like that sort of fluidity and spontaneity is something that’s a

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part of Austin. It’s what we’re about, and to see that go away, it’s like losing an old friend.” The gallery will be relocating and expanding with the creation of a new six-acre project launching at the Carson Creek Ranch in southeast Austin. This expanded location may allow for growing crowds by including more wall space, a parking lot and art classes for children and adults. “Some of the really beautiful murals there were being spray painted over by profanity, and people were just littering everywhere,” Cohen said. “It will be nice for there to be a fresh start at the new location.” On the other hand, McCormick feels the location change will defeat the original purpose of the outdoor gallery. “[The opening of HOPE] was so spontaneous, and it wasn’t something that was ever planned,” McCormick said. “So having it rebuilt kind of defeats the purpose. I think it will only become a tourist attraction rather than people actually going there and trying out new things or trying to make art that they want people to see; even if it’ll be covered up in a couple of days, I feel like it will kind of defeat the purpose.” Once the photo-documentation process is complete, the permit allows crews to demolish the structure; however, the project won’t be officially done until June. —Julie Robertson

Journalism adviser Dave Winter reacts as assistant principal Andrew Baxa announces that the faculty had voted him its 2018 Teacher of the Year. Photo by Liam Wilson.

Newspaper earns All-Southern rating for 2017-2018 issues On Feb. 6, The Shield received an All-Southern rating, the highest possible rating, from the Southern Interscholastic Press Association, a regional scholastic press association. Senior and assistant editor Maddie Doran said that the good news from the critique was a breath of fresh air. “I was really excited to see that we already had gotten a critique of this year’s issues,” Doran said. “It was even better that it was so positive.” This is the first evaluation the publication has received this year. In all the categories—advertising, features, news, opinion, sports, photography and design—The Shield was rated “All-Southern,” the highest possible evaluation rating. “It’s nice to see that all the hard work that we have put in, just this year, has paid off,” Doran said. “ Even though it is a lot of work to get the paper out, everyone works really hard, and we all get along so well.” In her summary critique, the evaluator wrote to The Shield that “[the judges] were to try to find at least five points which you could work on and at least five aspects that were strong— but I had a difficult time finding too much to suggest to you.” The judge also said, “This is a strong publication—one of the best I have ever reviewed.” —Anna Compton

Co-editors-in-chief of The Shield, seniors Julie Robertson and Charlie Holden, pose with the second issue of the paper. Photo by Dave Winter.

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shield View from the garden deck of the Central Library in downtown Austin. MIDDLE LEFT: Try Haymaker, and American restaurant in East Austin. The BLAT (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato sandwich was a real show-stopper. BOTTOM LEFT: The spiral staircase leading up to the different themed floors at the Central Library. Photos by Julie Robertson.

This month: February Location: 2310 Manor Road, Austin, TX 78722

Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday-Monday

Eat out: Haymaker Haymaker is a cozy restaurant in Cherrywood, specializing in “regionally inspired comfort sandwiches.” One such sandwich is the Louisville Slugger, which is thinly sliced oven-roasted turkey breast, peppered bacon, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese on two open-faced sliced of Texas toast. All of this scrumptuousness is covered in a thick and rich cheese sauce, or Guerye sauce, that can be found on a good amount of the menu items. If you’re looking for a lighter fare, they also have grilled sandwiches like the BLT CA, which is a spicy twist on the classic BLT. It has peppered bacon, mixed greens, tomatoes, avocado, cheddar cheese and jalapeño ranch. The atmosphere of Haymaker is relaxed and the wait staff are friendly and helpful. The food and its presentation rivals that of higher-priced restaurants in Austin serving the same fare. This familyowned restaurant should be your go-to spot for a night out with friends or a lunch any day of the week. And of course we can’t recommend Haymaker without mentioning their poutine. Poutine is a popular Canadian dish consisting of fresh fries covered in brown gravy and cheese curds, and Haymaker has made it their signature--some wait staff even wear shirts that simply say “poutine.” It’s strange sounding, and even stranger looking, but it’s definitely worth a try. Order your poutine “southern style” and replace the brown gravy with peppery white gravy or, for the more adventurous soul, add bacon.

Change up your shopping: Stax Vintage Started by a McCallum alumnus, Stax Austin is a clothing store in the North Loop neighborhood. It boasts shirts, sweatshirts, shoes and other uncommon clothing items from brands such as Supreme and Air Jordans, to name a few. Stax was recently featured in the annual McCallum fashion show with their own line of eight outfits modeled by the male student models. You can either head to their location (pictured below) and see the newest selection of clothing or visit their website and order certain pieces of clothing online. The store is open MondaySaturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays noon to 6 p.m. They’re located at 701 E. 53rd St., Austin, 78751.

Sophomore Louis Lor models an outfit put together by Stax Vintage during the McCallum fashion show. Lor was one of eight models for Stax’s line. Photo by Bella Russo.

Things to do in Austin: Study at the Central Library If you’re needing a new place to tap into your creative juices and get inspired to study and get homework done, look no further than the new Central Library in downtown Austin. With multiple floors each catering to a different crowd, you are sure to find a floor to study and crank our hours of work. You can check out laptops, tablets, virtual-reality headsets, and of course, books. If you’re coming with a group to work on a project, you can head to the library’s website and book a private room that is equipped with a flat screen TV, a large table, and rolly chairs. You can hook up your tablets and laptops up to TV to be able to project powerpoints or videos. A pro-tip is to not go on Sunday afternoons because the library will usually be packed, and it will be hard to find parking. The library is usually a lot less crowded on weekdays. You can park either in the parking garage at the library or the Trader Joe’s parking garage a couple of blocks away. The library is open 10 a.m.-9p.m. Monday through Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sundays noon-6 p.m. Photo by Julie Robertson.

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Three ‘iconic’ winners

Freshman takes home first place; seniors claim second and third at annual Benefit Fashion Show, but the real winners at the Jan. 13 event were the McCallum visual arts program and OutYouth MODEL AND DESIGNER: Bethany Raup

MODEL: Senior Josue Zepeda-Sanic DESIGNER: Veronica Crist

MODEL: Senior Epiphany Mitchell DESIGNER: Genevieve Temple

Photos by Bella Russo

Veronica Crist

Bethany Raup

Genevieve Temple

“I chose Zendaya because of her outgoing and vibrant personality. She has the audacity to stand up for what she believes in, [and] she has a very bold fashion aspect that shows who she is and who she’s going to be, and I admire that. My designs where inspired by her because each outfit I made [was inspired by] different aspects of her like going from a kid-like dress from her days when she acted in Shake it Up, all the way to a fashion forward romper for guys (a RompHim). I truly believe the way she continues her career she will be the face of our generation. “I was not expecting to win. When I had won, I was honestly surprised. I have been sewing since sixth grade, and I decided to join the fashion show because I want to show my skills in a more public way, and this will really help build a profile when applying for fashion colleges. I am [planning on] continuing fashion a career, whether it be in fashion management or fashion design. “I think the experience of the show will prep me by showing me the techniques of tailoring clothes along with the basics of a behind-the-scenes fashion show. I was nervous about how the crowd would react. It was very exciting, seeing all the smiles and seeing some of my classmates in shock that I was the designer.”

“I chose my favorite musician [as my icon] since, already [being] a visual arts major, his music has inspired a lot of my drawings and paintings, so it was a similar way of thinking when making 2D art, just changing the media type. I [was trying] to create a certain vibe with the clothing and styling that I felt matched the character of the music in my eyes, especially considering the colorfulness of my clothes in comparison to the colorfulness and boldness of the music. To be honest, I wasn’t that stressed preparing for the show. I had been wanting to design for the fashion show every year that I had come to McCallum, but because I never knew how to sew, I never signed up. But this year was my last opportunity and I wanted to enjoy the experience. I was able to work steadily on my clothes, and despite adding completely new outfits even the day before the show, I was never stressed over it. I was really proud of my pieces and went way beyond my expectations from when I first signed up. Seeing it all walk together in front of an audience with the music and everything was a really nice feeling. The attention [to my work] is always appreciated after knowing how long and hard you’ve worked on something. I really just liked getting to see the behind the scenes of the other designers, who their inspirations were and seeing their thought process and style and comparing it to my own.”

“My icon was Jane Birkin, a European actress and model, and she was also a philanthropist when she got older. I chose her because she was mostly famous in the ’70s, and I really like ’70s style. She’s not French, but she really loved French culture. She was a musician and she really liked this one kind of music called Yé Yé music, [which] is like cutesy French music. “I tried to make my collection like French ’70s inspired by Yé Yé music. I looked at a lot of pictures of her, and I chose fabrics that I thought I could see her wearing. It was really cool seeing every [piece] done, not necessarily walking down the runway, just seeing all the finished pieces next to each other. I put a lot of work into making sure all the pieces were cohesive. It was pretty satisfying to see all of them together and how they went with one another. “I’m a really big procrastinator, so honestly the most stressful part was just getting everything done in time. I think [it took] three months [to sew the line]. Also, making sure the whole collection was cohesive [was difficult]. Picking the right pattern and color for the fabric so that everything looked like it was part of the same collection was pretty overwhelming.”

First place Icon: Zendaya

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Second place Icon: Kwon Jiyong

Third place Icon: Jane Birkin

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Model: Lilly Ponce. Designer: Nola Hammer. Icon: Bubbles. Photo by Elena Henderson.

Models: Anna Marceau and Chanyn James. Designer: Gaby Fagelman. Icon: Vincent Van Gogh. Photo by Bella Russo.

Model: Sophie Knifton. Designer: Christine Hurd. Icon: Grimes. Photo by Bella Russo.

Model: Daejha Taylor. Designer: Ella Cheesar. Icon: Rihanna. Photo by Bella Russo.

Model: Roxy Smith. Designer: Cori Crowe. Icon: T Boss. Photo by Julie Robertson.

Models: Vivica Griffin and Will Loewen. Designers: Isabelle Habegger and Jessie Griffith. Icon: Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco. Photo by Bella Russo.

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Model: Jalia Crenshaw. Designer: Skel Gracie. Icon: Dolly Parton. Photo by Bella Russo.

Model: Till Simon. Designer: Kit Corney. Icon: June Takashi. Photo by Bella Russo.

Model: Eva Nobels. Designer: Io Hickman. Icon: Quentin Tarantino. Photo by Bella Russo.

Model: Leela Boyer. Designer: Caitlin Rodriguez. Icon: T Boss. Photo by Bella Russo.

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Artistically Speaking: Anna McGuire An onstage star since first grade, senior theatre major now finds joy teaching dance to others The Shield: Have you always been interested in musical theatre?

TS: Have you tried out for every single production at McCallum?

Anna McGuire: I actually haven’t. For a really long time I was into ice skating, like I would ice skate a lot, and I would compete. But with ice skating you have to take ballet class, so I was in ballet class, and I liked performing on the ground more than performing on ice, so ballet kind of led to me performing and then acting and then singing. It all kind of just happened.

AM: I wanted to audition for every show, but it just wasn’t possible. This last year, the fall musical, I decided not to audition for it because I wanted to audition for a professional show. I was like, “I hope this works out because if not I’m going to be sad that I’m not in a show. “And luckily I got cast in the professional show. But there have been some shows that I haven’t auditioned for just because of conflicts. But for the most part I try to take advantage of every show that we do here because I’m only here for four years.

TS: What made you decide to become a major? AM: I just wanted to be in a creative place because [at] the other options I had for high school there weren’t as many resources to be creative. There were more options for different mediums of theatre here. We do two musicals a year and two plays a year, and we can direct and choreograph and write plays and musicals, so there’s so many more options for [theatre]. And the community here is a lot better than most places. TS: How long have you been acting? AM: I think the first time I actually auditioned for something and got in was in first grade. So it’s been a while. But up until I was in eighth grade, it was all for fun. I didn’t really know I wanted to do it seriously because it was so enjoyable that I didn’t think that it was actually something that you could do for a living. TS: Do you participate in outside-of-school theatre? AM: Yeah. I’m a part of the program that I’ve been in for years outside of school at Zach [Scott Theatre]. But in high school, I gear more towards in-school theatre because the resources we have here are so good that I wanted to make use of it. TS: What kind of careers in the arts are you looking into? AM: I am looking into musical theatre and performing as well as choreography. Last year I helped write a musical, and it was really interesting. So I think for right now I want to focus on training for theatre, like performance-wise, but then go into choreography and directing and the creative part of it. TS: How do you think being a major has affected your time at McCallum? AM: It definitely has made me learn time management. It has taught me the value of community. It’s a really big time commitment, so it’s learning how to deal with that because after we end one show, we audition for the next show the week after usually, or two weeks afterwards, so there’s not really a lot of breaks. I don’t remember the last time I went home right after school, so there’s always just something to do, which is great, but sometimes it’s exhausting to always be doing something.

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TS: So how many professional shows have you been in? AM: I’ve been in four. They’ve all been at Zach, though, so it’s kind of always been like a home to me. I need to learn how to branch out to other theaters because Zach has always been like a safe place for me. [Professional theatre is] where I learn the most because you’re just kind of expected to know what’s going on and know everything and be accountable for yourself. TS: Have you been in any leadership positions within the academy? AM: I have, Academy Ambassadors! As an Academy Ambassador I’ve had to talk about my major and know a lot about my major and talk to prospective students about it. Another leadership position that I’ve been in—this semester I’m helping with the choreography for West Side Story, so I’m like an assistant choreographer to the choreographer, Natalie Uehara, and she trusts me to be able to teach people who weren’t there to learn it, or if she’s out I have to lead a rehearsal, and I have to answer questions and know all of the choreography and be accountable for that, so that h a s been a challenging leadership position. TS: What are you going to miss the least about McCallum theatre?

During her junior year, Anna McGuire performs as Rosalind Hay in Moon Over Buffalo. Photo by Dave Winter.

AM: The old theater’s rats are like—you can just feel that they’re there all the time. And the rehearsal schedules. It’s so tedious. Most rehearsals for professional shows are like three weeks and then you start performing, but we rehearse for like three months for two hours every day usually, so it can feel kind of tedious, and it can feel like it never ends. Sometimes it feels like it’s almost not productive. I know it is, but it’s just too much. TS: What are you going to miss the most about McCallum theatre? AM: I’m going to miss the people that I’ve met here. A lot of the people that I’ve met have become lifelong friends just because of what I said: the rehearsal schedules are so long that you develop really deep connections. I’m going to miss the teachers a lot. I really like Denning. A lot of people put a lot of pressure on him to be perfect, and he’s just one person heading a huge department. It’s a really big responsibility. I think that a lot of people put a lot of pressure on him to pick the right shows and to pick the right people and to cast

correctly— there’s just no real right way to do it. I’m also going to miss the musical theatre teacher, Ms. Hersh-Mainwaring, and the dance teacher, Natalie Uehara. They all just really want all their students to succeed.

McGuire per forms a dance number as Sally Smith in Me and My Girl. Photo by Madison Olsen.

TS: What has been your biggest challenge as an actress?

AM: I think [my biggest challenge has been] to not become discouraged, because there’s always going to be someone who’s better than you—and that’s true for everything. There’s only one person like you in the world. You have to realize that. I think the biggest challenge has been to not compare myself to other people and not compare my process to other people’s. Just because I’m not in the place that I want to be dance-wise or singing-wise as someone else, that doesn’t mean I have any less value than them; it’s just everybody’s on a different path. So I think not comparing myself to other people and giving myself room to grow [has been my biggest challenge]. TS: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment in theatre? AM: I think being a dance captain for West Side Story [and] developing patience as a teacher, because that’s basically what I’ve had to be, is a teacher. Whenever I see someone understand a dance or be proud of themselves for doing a dance that I was able to teach them—it’s the most gratifying thing. The fact that they can enjoy what they’ve done is my favorite part about it. Read the full interview at macshieldonline.com

As a freshman, McGuire played opposite senior Jacob Roberts-Miller as a young couple in You Can’t Take it With You. Photo by Christina Beck.

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Tony and Maria, played by juniors Till Simon and Hannah Hufford, sing “Tonight, Tonight” during the balcony scene in Friday night’s performance at the MAC. Photo by Gregory James.

‘Something’s coming’ Spring musical West Side Story sets all-time MacTheatre box-office record for ticket sales ZOE HOCKER

assistant editor As February starts, the curtains have opened on MacTheatre’s spring musical production: West Side Story. This 1957 Broadway classic showcases a forbidden Romeo and Juliet-style love in the middle of a rivalry between two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, in 1950s New York City. Maria, played on alternate nights by junior Hannah Hufford and senior Hannah Young, is the younger sister of the Sharks’ gang leader Bernardo but falls in love with ex-Jet member Tony. This show is Hufford’s first time in a lead role. “It’s been very different because I’ve never had to memorize lines or have so many solo songs in a McCallum show,” Hufford said. “It’s a lot more at-home preparation and working every day after rehearsal rather than doing stuff at rehearsal.” After starting work in December, the cast and crew have all been preparing for the show’s opening every night. There are approximately 42 crew and 80 cast members, so the sheer number of members has been a challenge on its own according to scenic production head and sophomore Stella Shenkmen. “This is definitely one of the biggest crews I’ve been a part of,” Shenkmen said. “There’s around 50 of us, and there are so many different projects going on. The sets are on wheels, and people are painting them, and you have to make sure no one is about to get run over by something.” While the crew created of moving set pieces, the cast learned the original dance choreography from the Broadway version of the show. “This show has the dances really integrated into the plot, and [they] help the story more so than usual,” director Joshua Denning said. “So we actually licensed and paid for the original choreography, and it came with the manual with all of these reference images and Jerome Robbins’ original notes. ... We had to adapt it in a few areas, not many, but just a few that were too technically challenging for our skill level; there were some really hard moments that we changed. In terms of the scenes, those were our own creation, because they are based on our actors and our set, which is not the Broadway set.” Sophomore Owen Scales, who plays Pepe and is a male soloist, had to learn the choreography and

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Above: Tony (senior Tristan Tierney) tells Doc (freshman Conrad Finos), the owner of the local restaurant that functions as a frequent meet-up spot for the Jets, that he is in love. Photo by Dave Winter. Left: Anita, played by freshman Helena Lang, sings a duet with Maria, played by senior Hannah Young, during scene three of Act II. Photo by Madison Olsen. faced some challenges with the dances. “Everything has to be very sharp and obvious or else it looks super sloppy,” Scales said. “It has a really jazzy feel to it, and it’s not very technique based, but more emotionally based, so crossing the actions of these gangs into a dance has been the most fun but also very confusing for me.” Senior Tristan Tierney plays Tony for half of the shows, while junior Till Simon acts in the other half. Tierney says he also faced challenges in this show compared to others when it came to his character. “[Tony is] more of a leading man type, and that’s really different from Bill or Hanratty from Catch Me If You Can and Me and My Girl,” Tierney said. “It has been a challenge because it’s new territory in types of roles I’ve played. For me personally, I deal with body image stuff sometimes, and that was really hard to get past and be like, ‘I’m a leading man type’ even though I’m 5’8” and I’m not super muscular or tall or anything. So that was really difficult accepting that my Tony was enough to be Tony and not that I needed to live up to a certain standard that other people have set.” Even though West Side Story is considered a

classic musical, the quality of the production will surprise the audience, according to sophomore Miles Perkins, who plays a Shark gang member. “I think the entire musical is pretty shocking,” Perkins said. “The audience is going to be shocked that most of the cast are freshmen and sophomores who are brand new to theatre here.” Denning says the amount of freshmen and sophomores in the show has been exciting for him as well. “It’s really been a joy,” Denning said. “I feel like they’re here because they’ve heard about McCallum and the program, and they want to be a part of it, and so it’s nice to have such fresh enthusiasm, openness and commitment to work with, whereas, juniors and seniors are starting to think about life after high school—which is —exactly what they should be thinking about, and their focus becomes a little split. They’ve got one foot here and one foot out the door, and that’s all fine and good, and I support that; it’s just different.” The challenge of the somewhat-rookie cast and the contents of the show, however, haven’t stopped the actors from becoming close with one

another during the rehearsal process. The Shark gang even has their own handshake, according to sophomore Shark girl Lucy Abramowitz. “We’re a really tight-knit group, which I think is really nice,” Abramowitz said. “We are all really supportive of each other. We have a meeting every day before a rehearsal or show, and we go out in the hallway, and we all just hold hands and say, ‘You’re all amazing, and bring the energy,’ and it’s just really nice to be a part of that.” The show opened on Feb. 1 and hosted its only non-sold-out show out of the weekend. The cast, crew and directors learned on Tuesday that the second weekend of the show has sold out completely before even opening. “I have been [surprised at the ticket sales],” Denning said. “I mean, it’s kind of the goal. You want the community to see how hard everyone has worked and to experience this art so I feel really good that we achieved our goal and did something that people care about.” To see more photos from the first week of performances and a full interview with Denning, please visit our website at macshieldonline.com.

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“The Rio Grande is a river before it is a border.” — Paul McDonald “It may or may not have an affect on immigration, but it would undeniably change those landscapes forever.” —director Ben Masters

“One of my biggest fears is that we will ruin the opportunity for future generations to be passionate about the outdoors by destroying the land we have with political garbage.” — Bass Fishing Club sponsor Christopher Watson

“If you want to talk about adventure, and wilderness, and the last frontier of not just Texas, but the U.S. it is the Rio Grande,” —River guide, McCallum alumnus Austin Alvarado

SOPHIE RYLAND assistant editor

McCallum graduate Austin Alvarado returned to his alma mater last November as a speaker on behalf of the school’s Bass Fishing Club. A river guide, Alvarado is not used to interviews or publicity tours, but this presentation is one of many appearances he’s had to make in recent months, as he is one of five characters in a featurelength documentary film, The River and the Wall. The documentary, produced by Jay Kleberg and Hillary Pierce, explores how building a border wall along the Mexican border would affect the flora and fauna of Texas. It centers on five principal characters, including filmmaker Ben Masters, Kleberg, National Geographic host Filipe DeAndrade, river guide and McCallum graduate Alvarado, and wildlife biologist Heather Mackey. Masters joined Alvarado in the library during the campus visit on Nov. 15. “You can’t separate wildlife and habitat and conservation in 2017 without looking at the human element, and a 30-foot-high continuous wall going from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean is just going to have so many long-term consequences for wildlife, for water sheds, for animal dispersal, for migration, for everything, and it may or may not even affect our immigration system,” Masters said. “I think it’s incredibly short-sighted, and I think people, before they support an actual physical wall, they need to know what it would do to those landscapes and everything else that lives there.” The area along the border includes about 25 million acres of public land. These national parks, including wildlife and Native-American sanctuaries, have a profound significance in the lives of the people, animals and plants near the border. “It’s a long desert, a very broad, diverse desert, that stretches into Mexico and into Texas and some other parts of the country,” Alvarado said. “Within [the desert, however,] we have some of the largest migratory birds back and forth from

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McCallum alumnus Austin Alvarado, a river guide for the Rio Grande, will feature in upcoming documentary film The River and the Wall.

north to south and south to north, but we also have black bears, mountain lions, javelina, bighorn sheep... we have a lot more to the desert than people realize.” Alvarado graduated from McCallum in 2010; during his time as a Knight he was involved in PALS, AVID, football and soccer. He then went to Texas A&M, as did Masters, where he graduated in 2014 with a degree in recreation, parks and tourism science. While in college he spent his summers working on cruise ships in the Mediterranean. He now has worked as a river guide on the Rio Grande for five years and is the activities and river manager for Far Flung Outdoor Center in the Big Bend area. “There’s this guy name[d] Paul McDonald; he did a trip through the entire Rio Grande,” Alvarado said. “And he beautifully put what I’ve been feeling for a long time into words: ‘The Rio Grande is a river before it is a border.’ If that is exemplified through the documentary, [and] that’s all people get out of this, then I’m OK; I’ve done enough. The Rio Grande is a special place; it’s the lifeline for a lot of things out there, and that’s what’s important for me in all of this.” Masters is best known for his documentary Unbranded on Netflix, in which he and three other people rode 12 wild mustangs from the Mexican border to the Canadian border to explore the world of mustang management. He has also has had films, essays and photography featured in National Geographic Wild. “The big gap that I saw between the sciences and research was the ability to tell those stories in a manner that was consumable by the general public because the general public is not just going to pick up a scientific publication and spend 35 minutes reading about the intermediate disturbance hypothesis or the central place foraging theorem, because they don’t care,” Masters said. “It doesn’t affect them in their lives. So I started making films to try to take different wildlife research and different conservation efforts and tell the story so that people watch it and then they learn something about wildlife, but then they also care

about it too, and instead of a hundred people reading your wildlife research pub, I’ve had videos that have had 5 million views. But I didn’t study film, I just went and bought a camera.” The filmmakers say they are attempting to document the environment for posterity, in case a border wall changes the ecology of it forever, and explore the ways the wall would affect immigration, the wildlife and those inhabiting the area. “Texas does a pretty bad job with public land to begin with. … Again, going back to the Rio Grande, if we could make it a point to say, ‘Hey, this is a recreational area that deserves respect, that deserves a degree of availability to everybody,’ … we’ve done a good job, at least as far as hitting the points on conservation [for] public land,” Alvarado said. “If this border wall is built, a lot of those sanctuaries [by the Rio Grande] are out, which is depressing beyond words.” The film is, in part, funded by donations, and prior to Masters and Alvarado’s visit, the Bass Fishing Club raised around $600 to give to them. Christopher Watson, the teacher sponsor for the club, said that when he saw that his former classmate Alvarado was in the film, he immediately asked him to come give a presentation. “I felt like The River and the Wall has something for everyone,” Watson said. “Immigration policy, specifically ‘the wall,’ is a really sensitive and controversial subject right now, and I thought that this project explores the conversation in a new way that may be able to highlight so many more complexities of building a wall than we hear on the news.” The club hosted Masters and Alvarado on Nov. 15, 16 days from the beginning of their journey. They began the trip on Dec. 1 and will finish it tomorrow, Feb. 10. The 1,200-mile trek began at the segment of the Rio Grande where Texas, Mexico and New Mexico intersect. They traveled past El Paso on mountain bikes through the Forgotten Reach, a 100-mile stretch where the river is completely dried up. When they arrived in Presidio, Texas,

they traded their bikes for mustangs to travel for 200 miles across Big Bend. Finally, they are canoeing from the small border town of La Linda through the Lower Canyons of the River Grande and Lake Amistad to finish their journey at the Gulf of Mexico. Over the duration of their trip they have met with politicians, scientists, ranchers, Border Patrol agents, and locals — Texan and Mexican alike. “One of the great things about making a film is that you have the ability to ask hard questions to people, and you have the ability to really do deep research and to personally see the border, and then to talk to these people first-hand,” Masters said. “Then to make a film that will hopefully allow other people to, one, have a really good time watching, and then to allow them to make a more informed opinion on whether or not they believe that an actual physical wall is the appropriate way to address our immigration system because it may or may not have an affect on immigration, but it would undeniably change those landscapes forever. That’s not a bipartisan issue.” Watson said he hopes that the students in his club learned from both the message of the film and Masters and Alvarado’s achievements. “One of my biggest fears is that we will ruin the opportunity for future generations to be passionate about the outdoors by destroying the land we have with political garbage,” Watson said. “I firmly believe that we are all called to be good stewards of the land we have, so it was amazing hearing about Ben and Austin’s fight to preserve, and even grow, the amount of land and wildlife there is to visit, enjoy and learn from. I think the club was also inspired to pursue the things they are passionate about. Austin and Ben are both normal everyday people who simply followed their passions after high school and took advantage of the opportunities they were given. ... I hope everyone was inspired to get up and go do the things they love and pursue amazing opportunities, no matter how crazy they sound.” Senior and member of McCallum’s Bass Fishing club member Reace Lane said that the presentation

gave a new dimension to his perspective on the issue of the border wall. “I think that it brought a whole new argument to the table about why the wall between us and Mexico shouldn’t go up [because of] wildlife and how it affects their home and natural habitat,” Lane said. “It’s something that a lot of people, including myself, hadn’t even thought of until they did the presentation.” Alvarado explained that while most rivers are either designated as wild or scenic by the government, the Rio Grande is among the less than 1 percent of rivers that are designated as both wild and scenic. “If you want to talk about adventure, and wilderness, and the last frontier of not just Texas, but the U.S.; it is the Rio Grande,” Alvarado said. “I don’t care who you are, what you’ve done, where you’ve gone, the Rio Grande will compete with any other back-country in this country and around the world. It is absolutely beautiful, and I’m really excited for people to see what these canyons in Texas are like, what the mountains of Texas are like. We got mountains, we got canyons, we got rivers, we got all these amazing wildlife, and if you get to see it on this film and say, ‘Man, there’s a lot of cool things out there,’ then we’ve done all right.” Both Masters and Alvarado are proponents of a solution that would make the area around the Rio Grande into a bi-national park, incorporating public land from both America and Mexico. The idea has been around for decades and takes inspiration from the Waterton-Glacier International Park, which combines land from the United States and Canada. “I mean, it’s hard to even imagine a million acres of public land, but to imagine millions of acres... it’s monumental,” Alvarado said. “It’s a big, big deal. That is an honor.” Masters says that he believes that going forward, the trend in wildlife conservation will be more local efforts rather than large federal ones. “I think that the days of the big public land designations, like the Antiquities Act, the formation of national parks, the formation of

really massive public lands; I think that ship has sailed, but I think the future of conservation is going to be more localized,” Masters said. “I think that there is going to be a lot of examples of that playing out over our lifetimes of communities, of counties, local governments, state governments, saying, ‘Hey, we care about this particular area, and as a community we’re going to vote to put our money and our resources to make the decision that we value wildlife, that we value clean water, and all the ecosystem services that they provide.’ There’s a lot of challenges, but also a lot of really great things that are happening.” According to Masters, the exact release date of their documentary will depend on when the political climate necessitates it, though it will be released sometime in 2019. Masters is no stranger to controversy; his previous film, Unbranded, explored issues in the world of Bureau of Land Management’s involvement in mustang management, eliciting strong responses in that community. “What I found is that a lot of people have strong feelings of one way or another and sometimes don’t look at other viewpoints, and I think that film is a great way for people to see other people’s viewpoints and to realize that the world is full of nuance and complexity,” Masters said. “The River and the Wall is definitely a controversial one, but… I’m excited for it. I’m not scared of the controversy.” Alvarado says that he hopes that, in addition to enjoying the adventure aspect of the film, people look beyond the politics of the situation and support the conservation of Texas’s environment and wildlife. “For me personally, the Rio Grande is a very special place and something that should be cherished by a lot of people, and the wall is, in my opinion, an excuse to a [question] that is more complicated than a structure, that will have so many underlying effects to more than just immigration,” Alvarado said. “If the Rio Grande can be protected and saved, and people can have more respect for it, then I think we’ve done an alright job.”

McCallum alumnus Austin Alvarado speaks to students in November about The River and the Wall, a documentary he has been helping to film for the past several months. Photo by Emma Baumgardner.

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Top: Alvarado, Masters and the rest of their team pose in front of their canoes before heading into the Lower Canyons. Photo courtesy of producer Hillary Pierce. Used with permission. Center: Big Bend National Park is among the lands threatened by the possibility of a border wall. Photo by Dave Winter. Bottom: Alvarado paddles across Lake Amistad, where the Rio Grande River, the Devils River and the Pecos River meet. Photo courtesy of producer Hillary Pierce. Used with permission.

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“If you want to talk about adventure, and wilderness, and the last frontier of not just Texas, but the U.S. it is the Rio Grande,” —River guide, McCallum alumnus Austin Alvarado

SOPHIE RYLAND assistant editor

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McCallum alumnus Austin Alvarado, a river guide for the Rio Grande, will feature in upcoming documentary film The River and the Wall.

McCallum alumnus Austin Alvarado speaks to students in November about The River and the Wall, a documentary he has been helping to film for the past several months. Photo by Emma Baumgardner.

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Proust Questionnaire: Clifford Stanchos History teacher reflects on love, climate change, teaching and the great outdoors The Shield: What is your idea of perfect happiness? Clifford Stanchos: My idea of perfect happiness would be being free from want. If you look to psychology for that, it would be Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I’m well accommodated when it comes to food, shelter and water. The question is do I get to that top tier of selfactualization outlined by Maslow? Do you feel you are fulfilling a purpose in life? Free from want could mean any materialistic things, and I think I have everything I need. The ultimate way to happiness is to be satisfied with your role in life and your contribution. TS: What is your greatest fear? CS: Getting a phone call and finding out my wife is dead. It really would be a fear of mine to have anyone close to me die, but my wife is the closest to me. Just not being present and being able to stop it. It would also be tragic to s e e m y

ABOVE: AP U.S. History teacher Clifford Stanchos poses on Decades Day during Spirit Week last semester. Photo by Joseph Cardenas. BOTTOM: Clifford Stanchos and his wife Madeline recently visited Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Photo courtesy of Stanchos.

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wife die, but I would rather see it happen then have to hear it after the fact. TS: What is your greatest extravagance? CS: Travel. I love to travel. If it’s weekend trips, spring break, fall break, winter break and especially summer break, my wife and I love to travel. Whether it’s to Europe or the National Parks we’re going to go somewhere. It’s a tradeoff; I could spend more time with my family in small town Texas, where I grew up. But I choose to travel the world and see France, Germany, Portugal, etc. We just booked our tickets to go to Canada. We’re going to Calgary and Banff. TS: What is your current state of mind? CS: It is influenced by my profession of education. It varies based on the semester. My current state of mind is restless. Politically I feel there are issues that America faces currently, and I just wonder if I’ve done enough to help in that regard. I feel that there are changes that I can make as a teacher, but when you get into the second semester you’re kind of set in your ways. So I’d say I’m restless, because I wonder if I’m doing everything I can do. TS: What do you consider the most overrated virtue? CS: Loyalty is my most overrated virtue because it comes up a lot. Often times we need someone to question us. That’s why I like my wife; we talk a lot. I like to state my opinion politically, and my wife is not afraid to question what I say. Sometimes loyalty can lead you into a group think, where you haven’t considered e n o u g h options. It’s especially overrated when you consider it

in political settings, how bureaucracy works or other institutions beyond government. TS: On what occasion do you lie? CS: Lying is OK when it does no harm, and at the same time it alleviates some kind of harm, such as a white lie. For example, when somebody asks you what you’re thinking and what you’re thinking is in no way reasoned but rather a knee-jerk reaction, you might want to give somebody an answer that’s not fully your opinion. If somebody needs you to tell them something to better their emotional state, then you can tell them what they want to hear. If it does not do any harm to the person, then it is OK to lie. TS: What character trait do you value in a student? CS: I value grit in a student. Grit is hard to describe, but you know what it is when you see it. It’s the ability to never give up. Students might think that what they’ve done is enough. It’s never enough, and the apex of self-actualization is some university or career. Just because you’ve shown some proficiency in some high school class is not enough to show you’ll make it in the real world. It’s hard to judge a student that does well with their grades because they might face hardship when they reach the university level. These students believed that they knew what they were doing, but they were never met with a hardship that made them rethink their strategies. I like to see students that have to do that, so I try to design a course that will do that for students. I want to keep the bar high and see if the students will rise to the occasion. It’s not about who knows the most; it’s about who works the hardest. That is discussed in Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, and he looks at the military, and this a thing educators deal with as well. Duhigg shows that the military found you don’t tell people, “Good job,” or “You’re really smart”; you tell them, “Good job; I could tell you worked hard on that.” If you think that what you’ve done is because you’re smart, you’re not going to keep working. Really, so many people that are “smart” really had to work hard to get there, and we have recognize that. TS: Where would you most like to live? CS: My wife and her family are from Alaska, and we went to Fairbanks to visit her uncle one time. Anywhere you can have large tracts of pristine landscape and be able to explore that, I would like to live there. We asked this question in a department meeting recently; everyone in the social studies department was able to put a pin where they wanted to retire. I chose Alaska, and people asked why I chose Alaska because it’s cold. I said, “Alaska won’t be cold in 30 years when I retire.” Unfortunately, due to global warming, Alaska will be the prime place to live as far as climate, with longer and longer summers. I might be wrong, and climate change might affect the climate there negatively. Alaska is beautiful. TS: What is your favorite occupation? CS: I really do enjoy teaching, not just for the time off, but the people I get to meet, the students I get to interact with, and the freedom I have designing lesson plans, [and] the growth

I get to see in people. An occupation I would like to have is working as a park ranger because I love the outdoors, and it would be great to know as much as I can about an area and be able to share my knowledge with others so they can appreciate that area too. TS: Who are your favorite writers? CS: My favorite writer is Bill Bryson; he’s a British author whose breakout novel was A Walk in the Woods (1997). He’s a humorous writer who incorporates a lot of research into his work. He’s a nonfiction writer who writes like a fiction writer. One of my favorite books by him is A Short History of Nearly Everything, where here he goes on a year-long journey to explain everything in the universe in layman’s terms, with anecdotes, stories about discoveries and humor. It reads very well. I also read a lot of graphic novels. The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman is really great. Alan Moore is one of my other favorite graphic novelists. He wrote V for Vendetta, as well as The Watchmen and From Hell—two great graphic novels. TS: What are your favorite names? CS: I like to gravitate towards obscure names. My name is Clifford, so that led to any number of childhood dilemmas. My wife’s name being Madeline, we’re both named after children’s books. As a tour guide at the Capitol, I read up on a lot of Texas history, and there was this guy named Erastus “Deaf” Smith. He was deaf in one ear, and he played a pivotal role in the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. I kind of like the name Erastus because if you think about it, that would make my son’s name Erastus Stanchos. I really like the way that sounds, even though it sounds ridiculous, especially to my wife. I also like the name Thaddeus; I had a student once named Thaddeus. There was a famous radical Republican named Thaddeus Stevens that was in Congress after the Civil War under Andrew Johnson’s presidency (after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln). Just for the love of my cats, I like the name Neko. We named one of our cats Neko after the musician Neko Case. Our other cat’s name is Gonzo. He was named after the town my wife and I found him in, Gonzales, Texas. In general, I like names that are unique. I tend to steer clear of the common biblical canon of Luke, Michael, John. TS: What is your motto? CS: Laugh as much as you can, smile as much as you can, and enjoy life as it comes to you. Look at things on the lighter side; don’t get too stressed about things. Not to say that you should be free from worry, but the more you can look at things and maintain a sense of humor, the longer you’ll live and the happier you’ll be. Go with the flow. —interview by Gregory James

This interview is based on a modified version of the Proust Questionnaire, a series of 35 questions meant to gauge the personality and values of the answerer. This page offers an excerpt from our full interview with Mr. Stanchos. To read the complete conversation, please visit macshieldonline.com

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A decade of developments Virtual reality—then and now

Cameras—then and now

When using VR, you can look around, move around and interact with the virtual-reality world. Sometimes, to get the true effect of the simulation, some people may include props and sounds through the game controller and headphones. Looking at how the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 turned out it is possible to predict how VR will affect the world of technology in the coming years. Apple has shifted its focus from its line of iPods to Apple Music, a streaming service not unlike Spotify that is available on iPhones.

iPhone—then and now In 2017, the iPhone X and iPhone 8 made technological breakthroughs. The iPhone X has all rounded corners, a high resolution camera, durable glass on the front and back, along with water and dust resistance. The phones also have a new Face ID feature that allows your face to be your new password. The glass back allows wireless charging via an AirPowermat and the new camera allows for a more dramatic studio lighting effect in portrait mode. None of these features were available 10 years ago on the iPhone 4.

Back in 2008, hand-held cameras were extremely popular because of the high quality that was only attainable by purchasing one. It was also a big breakthrough year for cameras: Sony brought full-frame stabilization to some of its most popular cameras, Nikon introduced the first DSLR that could film high resolution video and Canon blended high-definition video with stereo sound. Now in 2018, all of these features are standard on any entry-level DSLR and many smart phones have these features. —Abigail Salazar

Music—then and now Virtual reality is now just that— virtual. In 2008, the View-Master (above) was the state-of-the-art VR device.

In October of 2001, the first iPod was released. It showed off the ability to hold up to 1,000 CD-quality songs with a 5-gigabyte thin hard drive. Now, every Apple device is equiped with Apple Music, enabling streaming of any and every song imaginable just by paying a monthly fee of $9.99.

You used to have to rely on large, expensive cameras to get high-quality pictures, but in 2018, photography is just a click on a touchscreen away.

knmanagement.com/careers

knmanagement.com/careers 09 feb. 2018

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He’s really catching on

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Charlie Joe Owen one of two freshmen to make varsity baseball The Shield: How long have you been playing baseball? Charlie Joe Owen: Pretty much all my life, honestly, since I was about 4. TS: Where did you play? CJO: I’ve played for Northwest Little League and a few other select teams. TS: What were the baseball tryouts like this year? CJO: We basically had two days to tryout, a Friday and Saturday. TS: How did you feel when you found out that you made varsity this year? CJO: I was really happy. TS: Were you expecting to make varsity?

CJO: I don’t really know what I was expecting, but I was really hoping that I would be able to. TS: How did you find out? CJO: Coach told everyone what teams they made a few days after tryouts. TS: What do you think it’s going to be like being a freshman on varsity? CJO: I’m going to try to treat the games as just any other game, but I think it’s going to be higher level. TS: What position do you want to play? CJO: I really like playing catcher. TS: What is the hardest part of that? CJO: I think the hardest thing for me is probably blocking; yeah, definitely blocking.

Vandament commits to St. Edwards Senior Koehler Vandament committed to St. Edwards on Feb. 3. “I have wanted to go to St. Edwards all of high school,” Vandament said. “I first learned about the school my freshman year when I met a parent of one of my sister’s classmates at Gullett Elementary.” Vandaments’ teammates, senior Mason Bryant, senior Reace Lane and senior Eric Worden have also committed to play at different universities next fall. “In college you eat, sleep and breathe baseball with morning workouts, the classes and then

four-to-five hour-long practices every day,” Vandament said. “Everyone in college can play ball; no one is there by mistake.” However, the players have to push through this season before moving on. The varsity Knights baseball team had their first scrimmage on Tuesday, Feb. 6. “As I team, I would like to go deep in playoffs; if we can come together and everyone does their job, I think we will,” Vandament said. “I can see us competing with every team in the state.” —Maddie Doran

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

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Owen and his teammates open the 2018 season on Mar. 6 with a game against LBJ. Photo by Madison Olsen.

Questions about College? Go 1-on-1 with ACC today!

austincc.edu/startnow

TS: Is there a specific person that you catch for? CJO: I guess I catch for almost anyone. I’ve caught fast pitchers before, but now in high school the pitchers are a lot faster. I think I can just catch for anyone. TS: How has the team been getting along so far? CJO: Pretty good. I really like a lot of the older guys; they seem really nice.

2018

Varsity baseball lineup

Alec Worden

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Charlie Joe Owen

Davis Roe

#12

Abraham Dietz

Alex Baylor

#14

Trinidad De La Garza

Caleb Herpin

#17

Anthony Fassiotto

Cole Ross

#18

Dillon Salinas

Koehler Vandament

#21

Eric Worden

Reace Lane

#23

Noah Cooley

#10

Mason Bryant

Infographic by Maddie Doran. 09 feb. 2018

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Spring sports round-up Julian, Perez, Masters and Copeland commit to play at next level

Alexander Julian and Ian Carson teamed up to score a touchdown and field goal as the Knights opened up a 10-0 over Calallen after one quarter in the 5A Division 2 Region 4 Final. The Knights went on to win the game and reach the 5A D2 Final Four. Photo by Charlie Holden.

All-State running back and senior Alex Julian has verbally committed to Navarro College in Corsicana. According to Coach Schneider, Julian rushed for 2,469 yards in 2017, the fourth rushing highest total for any high school running back in Texas. The total is also the most yards gained in a single season by any running back in AISD history. “It feels great to have a chance to keep doing what I love,” Julian said. “But I know it’s a lot more work to put in to be where I truly want to get to.” Julian says that something he is most looking forward to is showing off the talent he has crafted over the years. “I’m excited to show everyone that McCallum football does have talent,” Julian said. “I can prove all the colleges wrong who passed me up and didn’t give me a chance.” Teammate and Senior Max Perez verbally committed to West Texas A&M. Perez was named the Statesman Centex 25-5A Offensive Most Valuable Player after a senior season that saw him rush for 1,406 yards and 29 touchdowns while throwing for another 1,147 yards with 15 TD passes. “[The coaches] told me they offered me the full amount they could offer incoming freshman which really showed me how much they wanted me to come play for them,” Perez said. “I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.” Senior Jackson Masters verbally committed as a preferred walk on at Texas State next fall. Fellow knight, Judah Copeland also committed to play at Harding University. “Honestly, I wish I could start practicing tomorrow,” Perez said. “It’s just a blessing to continue at any level.”

Martinez nets game winner as Knights nip Cougars, 2-1

Knights to play Austin in do-or-die final game

The McCallum Knights varsity boys edged the Crockett Cougars this past Saturday to earn their first win of the season, 2-1. Crockett scored in the first half to make the score 1-0. After receiving a pass from Martinez, sophomore Ezekiel Sengiyunva scored the equalizer, sneaking the ball just inside the post after a nice run to even the score at halftime. Junior Adrian Martinez broke the tie with a late goal. To cap off the successful game, the Knights defense stood firm and held off the persistent attack from the Crockett offense till the end of the game. Prior to the varsity game, the JV won by the same score with goals by Anthony Bataille and Reed Johnson. —Joseph Cardenas

The varsity Knights lost at home on Tuesday to the Reagan Raiders, 73-65. The Knights entered the night tied with Austin High for the fourth and final playoff spot in District 25-5A. The Maroons lost at last-place Travis, 60-58. The Knights face LBJ at home today then finish district play with what promises to be a do-or-die showdown at Austin High on Feb. 13. “This year could’ve been better,” senior Marc Lopez said. “We just gotta play with what we got now. It’s been good.” Today’s game will be preceded by Senior Night ceremonies in the McCallum gym at 8 p.m.

Lady Knights finish season

Marcel Lopez-Reed steals the ball during the Knights victory over the Crockett Cougars Saturday at House Park. Photo by Aidan Golliher.

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The varsity and JV Lady Knights basketball teams finished off the season strong Tuesday night by defeating the host Reagan Raiders, 35-17 and 34-8. “I feel like we did a lot better than last year’s season,” junior power forward Maddy Stine said. “I think that next year we at least need to make it to playoffs.” The Knights finished with an overall record of 4-8 in district and 6-18 overall. “My favorite game was LBJ,” Stine said, “because usually they beat us, and they are a really good team, but this year we went into overtime and won by three points. It was a really fun game for all of us, we all played hard to win.” —Maddie Doran

MCCALLUM 2018 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Seguin vs. McCallum Leander Glenn vs. McCallum

Dripping Springs vs. McCallum Crockett vs. McCallum

Anderson vs. McCallum

Week 2

Week 1

Week 4

Week 3

O P E N

Week 7

Week 6

Week 11

Week 9

Week 8

Week 10

Lehman vs. McCallum Travis vs. McCallum

Lanier vs. McCallum

LBJ vs. McCallum Reagan vs. McCallum

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Senior Bianca Ramirez swims as the anchor in the 400 freestyle relay at the district meet on Jan. 27. Photo by Ellen Fox.

Swimming not all about winning Senior captain Ramirez enjoying role as a team player and a mentor to younger teammates ANNA COMPTON assistant editor

Swimming a 1:00.56 100-meter freestyle, a 27-second 50-meter freestyle and a 1:10 100-meter backstroke, senior Bianca Ramirez has earned her job as the captain of the swim team. “Being available to lead a workout, count laps or listen is an important part of being a teammate,” Ramirez said. “I am thrilled to be a part of the MAC swim team because it is filled with hard-working, fun and goal-reaching teammates that I am pleased to call my friends.” Ramirez joined the swim team freshman year in hopes of making friends and improving as a swimmer. “It was a good way to meet new friends since I didn’t know many people coming into high school,” Ramirez said. “Freshman year I was really into the sport of swimming, so my mind was set on swimming in college, but now I just do it for fun with my friends.” Ramirez swam for a club team outside of school from age 9 to the end of her junior year. “Swimming on my high school team and club team was very different,” Ramirez said. “The sets and the mentality of what to expect from your team members were very different. Club was more serious, and with high school I could just take a step back and just enjoy the experience and have fun with my friends.” Ramirez said that each year she’s been on the swim team she’s had a different experience. “As a senior on the team you start to know every class and your relationship starts to build stronger with everyone, which I feel pulls you together as a team more,” Ramirez said. “And as a senior, I feel like it’s kind of our job to pull everyone together as a team. And it’s just more fun by senior year compared to freshman year.” Freshman year through junior year, Ramirez typically swam the 500-meter freestyle. This year, she swims whatever event the team needs her to swim. As a result, she has competed in a lot of different events throughout the year. “My least favorite thing to swim is the 200

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IM, and my favorite is the 100 backstroke, but normally the coaches just put me in wherever they need me,” Ramirez said. At the end of her junior year, swim team coach Jeffrey Rudy, discussed the role Bianca would play as a captain for the upcoming year. “Being a captain is a big responsibility,” Ramirez said. “I have been a swimmer for so many years that I am pleased to share my experience and knowledge about the sport. Hard practices and bad days can be challenging, and I hope that my energy and enthusiasm for the sport as well as my positive attitude and support helps to keep everyone’s spirits high.” Ramirez has been thankful for the experiences the coaches have provided her and her teammates with over the years. “Coach Rudy and Coach Long have been great coaches,” Ramirez said. “They have put in many hours of work to get the team where we are this season and continually provide us with encouragement, guidance and motivation at every practice and swim meet and are at every practice making sure we’re challenging ourselves.” Looking back at all of her memories and stories she’s shared with her teammates, Ramirez cherishes the fun times she’s had at overnight swim meets and the meet where she got her fastest time in her favorite event. “At our meet in Corpus Christi I placed eighth in finals for my 100 backstroke and dropped three seconds from my original time,” Ramirez said. “I was really proud and amazed of myself because I haven’t been able to go that time since I quit club at the end of last year.” After four years on the swim team, Ramirez hopes to leave the team’s spirits high and will miss all her friends and coaches that she’s grown close to over the years. “I will miss my teammates and the fun memories we shared at away meets,” Ramirez said. “I have enjoyed my four years of swimming with the team, and it has been exciting to watch the team get better and progress from season to season and year to year. I hope that the team will remember that even though swimming can get really intense and competitive, you need to remember to just let loose and have fun.”

Sophomore Claire Greenburg, junior Claire Rudy, Ramirez and freshman Maddy Baylor place fifth in the 400 meter freestyle relay at the district meet on Jan. 27. Photo by Ellen Fox.

How far do they swim? Common swimming lengths are 50, 100, and 500 meters... but just how long is that?

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Senior Molly Blankenship passes the ball during McCallum’s loss to Austin High at Nelson Field on Jan. 29. Since the loss, the team has won back-to-back games over Travis and Crockett. Photo by Madison Olsen.

Kickin’ it with Molly

Senior co-captain reflects on four years on the McCallum pitch The Shield: How long have you been playing soccer? Molly Blankenship: Well I’ve been playing since I was 4, so about 14 years now. TS: Was there ever a time that you wanted to quit? MB: Not that I remember, but my mom said that she had to come kick the ball with me because I wouldn’t want to do it by myself. But since then, I’ve just always liked it. TS: Since you have been at McCallum, what has your soccer journey been like? MB: Freshman year, I made varsity, and I was a starter. That was a pretty big deal for me because I think that I was the only freshman starter that year. It was also kind of cool because there were only three freshmen on varsity that year. I was outside mid, then sophomore year, I got injured, so I didn’t really have a big role. Then junior year, I came back and I was a starter, and I shifted towards center. In the center you can see a lot more, so I have to communicate more with the team. I’m kind of the main communicator between defense and offense. This year I am captain so I have an even bigger role in communicating with the team, so I have kind of gained a leadership role on the team I guess throughout the years. TS: What are some of your responsibilities as captain? MB: Izzy [Gillespie] and I lead every practice and every game, and I am also the main communicator because [Coach Stephanie Watson] will text me and tell me where we need to go, and I’ll tell the girls. Before games, we get everyone pumped up and ready to play and make sure everyone knows that for the next two hours that is what were focused on. We

start the drills and stuff like that. TS: What will you miss most about McCallum soccer? MB: Definitely just the friendships that I have made. It’s fun to play and to win, but I’ve gotten really close with some of the girls. It’ll be really hard to leave them. TS: What is your favorite memory of soccer? MB: Freshman year was just really fun because me, Ellie Owen and Izzy just did our own little thing. But there was one thing in particular that was so fun. It was super muddy outside, like there was no grass, just dirt. The last 10 minutes of practice, we would get the dirt stuck to the bottom of our cleats then we kept flinging it out at whoever. TS: How has the change in coaches changed things this year? MB: Well [Coach Nancy Honeycutt-Searle] is a lot more chill this year. [Watson] communicates with the players more, but there hasn’t been that big of a change. TS: How do you balance school and soccer? MB: Whenever it’s soccer season, I have to make sure that I go in for tutoring more often than the offseason so I can fully comprehend the subjects we’re learning. I make sure that whenever I have free time, like during lunch or my off periods, I get as much homework done as possible because I know I’ll have soccer after school. [Watson] has been super good with letting us talk to teachers or make up work during soccer class to make sure we’re passing and can then have practice after school. I also try to get my work done the day it’s given to me so I can stay on top of it as much as possible.

Lady Knights soccer shuts out Crockett, 2-0

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The Lady Knights shut out the Crockett Cougars Tuesday at House Park. Junior Emily Matkin scored the first goal of the game, and Avery Miller scored the second goal with an assist from junior Delaney Carter. “I think we didn’t play our best, but we went out there and did what we needed it do,” Carter said. “It was freezing and raining the entire game. I’m just proud of everyone who stepped up.” Despite less than desirable playing conditions, the defense pulled through and allowed no goals for Crockett. “Our season is going really well, but we have had to adapt to losing so many players” to graduation, Carter said. “All the girls that have come onto the team this year, there’s six or seven, they kind of just fit right in and have really adapted to our playing style.” The Lady Knights will take on the Lanier Vikings tomorrow morning at 10:45 a.m. at House Park.

Upcoming Schedule

The Lady Knights celebrate a goal made by Izzy Gillespie during the Akins game on Jan. 5 at Burger. Photo by Madison Olsen.

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Lanier @ House Park 10:45 a.m

Ann Richards @ Burger Annex 7:45 p.m.

Reagan @ Nelson Field 7:45 p.m.

LBJ @ House Park 7:45 p.m.

Austin High @ Burger Annex 7:45 p.m.

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League of Nations

McCallum boys soccer rosters include players with ties to Europe, Africa and Latin America

GREGORY JAMES staff reporter

It would be an understatement to say the McCallum soccer team is diverse. The team has players with Nigerian, English, Mexican and Nicaraguan heritages, and has also welcomed three exchange students from Europe this season—but this is not a new phenomenon. “We’re unique in soccer because we get students from all over the world every year,” Coach Nicholas Martin said. “You generally don’t get that in many other sports. It’s really fun to get people from all around the world and see how other countries play the game.” Junior Tomasso Gaddi is one of these exchange students. Gaddi is originally from Milan, Italy, and is on the JV team. Because he is part of a UIL-accredited foreign-exchange program, Gaddi is eligible to play varsity soccer, but he chose to play at the junior-varsity level because he is concurrently completing Italian and American coursework. Managing double the courses hasn’t been Gaddi’s only adjustment, though. “In America a game has three referees, one that runs the field [and] two on the sidelines, but in Italy we have only one referee who runs the whole field,” Gaddi said. “In Italy we shake hands with our opponent before the game but in America, the teams shake hands after the game. In my first game I was expecting to shake hands at the beginning of the match, so that was something new for me to shake afterwards.” Another exchange student in his second year in America, sophomore Jonathan Janzen, said there were some other key differences in the game.

Junior Tomasso Gaddi dribbles past Austin High defenders during the JV soccer game on Jan. 27. The Knights shut out the Maroons, with Gaddi scoring both goals. Photo by Isaias Cruz. “We work out more here,” Janzen said. “Lifting weights is something we don’t do in German soccer practices.” Janzen is living with a host family here in Austin and is accompanied by his uncle. Being an international player comes with certain expectations, according to Janzen. “People think that [I] must be good because

I’m from Germany and my friend is from France; Europe is the center of soccer, so they expect you to be good,” Janzen said. “You have to fulfill that expectation, but it’s nice, and it’s kind of special.” Another international student is sophomore Antony de Bataille II from France, who is ineligible from being a part of the varsity team, because he is not with an accredited UIL foreign- exchange

program. He is here with family, not as an exchange student. The biggest change for Bataille was the role of soccer in the world of American sports. “In France, soccer is the main sport, so everyone plays it, but in the U.S. it comes fourth to football, basketball and baseball,” Bataille said. “Soccer is smaller here.” One of the jobs of the soccer team each year, according to Coach Martin, is to incorporate all the different styles that international players bring and turn them into one style of play. “We have a fun time trying to do that job,” Martin said. The team also has American players with international parents. One such student is junior Adrian Martinez, whose father is from Mexico and mother is from El Salvador, both Latin American countries where soccer is the national sport. Martinez has been playing soccer since the age of four for teams like Lonestar FC and the YMCA. Martinez’s interest in soccer began with his family. “I copied what my brother did,” Martinez said. “I started enjoying soccer from watching him play.” Sophomore Yonathan Southwick is another international player. Coming from Ethiopia, Yonathan has been in America a year-and-a-half. He plans to join his family in Ethiopia again soon, but said he has enjoyed his time at McCallum. “I like how the team has international backgrounds,” Southwick said. “Some of the players are born in America but have parents from Europe, Mexico, Africa and other continents. That’s why I like playing on the McCallum varsity team.” The team is optimistic that they can bring all their international styles of play to make two great McCallum teams.

Basketball team fights for last playoff spot Hall, Boyd two reasons why varsity Knights are having a better season STEVEN TIBBETTS staff reporter

The McCallum varsity boys basketball team has a record of 11-12 with two games left in the regular season. After losing its first two games of the year, including a close 62-60 overtime loss against St. Andrews, the team bounced back to win eight of their next 11 games. Four of those 11 games happened during the Marble Falls Subway Classic, a tournament in which Knights went 3-1, including an uplifting 69-63 win over Hendrickson. “[Hendrickson is] a big 6A school, and everybody [there] doubted us,” senior point guard Kenneth Hall said. “They thought we would lose.” Head coach Daniel Fuentes believes the Knights’ 56-54 win over Dripping Springs in the Hays Rebels Classic was another important win for the team this season.

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“We beat some great teams,” Fuentes said. “We beat Hendrickson at a tournament. We also beat Dripping Springs, which was a team that went five rounds in the playoffs [last year]. Those have been two of our biggest wins this year.” The start of January, however, brought a fivegame losing streak for the Knights. “I think we performed pretty good throughout the first [part of the season] and the second [part] we [came] out a little slow and sluggish, and it’s kind of [caused] us to lose [more] games,” Hall said. Since that five-game skid, the Knights have gone 3-2 in their last five games, putting them at 11-12 for the season. The Knights next game is against LBJ on Friday, followed by their last game of the season on Feb. 13 at Austin High. That game against Austin High will most likely determine which team will get fourth place and earn the final spot in the playoffs. No matter how the Knights finish the year off, the team has shown it has improved a lot since last season when they went 5-26. Coach Fuentes gives a couple of the players who weren’t on the team last year some of the credit for the improvement. “[Hall] wasn’t here last year, so it’s nice to have him as a point guard,” Fuentes said. “He

makes life easier for everybody else. Norman Boyd is a leading scorer this year. I don’t know if anybody would have guessed that, but he’s definitely shown that he can play at the varsity level. And then just a combination of all those guys contributing, whether they’re starters or coming off the bench. Hopefully they have bought into the mentality that it doesn’t matter who the leading scorer is as long as we get the result at the end of the day.” Fuentes also believes better teamwork has helped the team improve this season. “I think the chemistry, the group of seniors that we have, they really get along,” Fuentes said. “Their confidence has started to come around, and their trust is starting to come around. It’s not one guy’s team or two, it’s a collection of everybody together, so I think that’s contributed to us having a better year so far.” The Knights will try to continue improving next year as well, but it may be a much more difficult task given the large amount of seniors who are currently playing their last season. “I only have two guys returning,” Fuentes said. “I have Norman [Boyd] returning, and I have Sam [Werkenthin]. That’s it. So it’s going to be a combination of those two juniors and probably a bunch of sophomores.” Sophomore guard Sam Werkenthin is still

Senior point guard Kenney Hall drives past a Reagan defender. The Knights lost on Feb. 6, 73-65. Photo by Joseph Cardenas. optimistic for an even better season next year, though. “It will definitely be different, because there [will be] a lot more new people coming up to varsity,” Werkenthin said, “but I think it will be different in a good way,”

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It’s time to step it up LBJ, McCallum decide to keep rivalry alive for good reason McCallum squared off against LBJ on Sept. 29 and came away with the 38-33 win. In 2018, McCallum will still have its district rivalry with LBJ but will be also face Dripping Springs and Seguin in district play. Photo by Ian Clennan.

JULIE ROBERTSON editor in-chief

It’s Sept. 29, the morning of the of the LBJ game. There’s a certain buzz in the air on the McCallum campus. The football team has a perfect record through four nondistrict games. Slashing through Anderson, Lehman Seguin and Akins, the Knights arrive at the LBJ game a perfect 4-0. There is talk in the hallways all day about the strengths that LBJ brings to the table, but then someone counters that we have Alexander Julian, our unstoppable running back, or Max Perez, our golden-armed quarterback, who has been completing pass after pass so far this season to receivers such as Mason Bryant, Deron Gage or Davis Roe. You read tweets throughout the day coming from LASA students insulting Mac students and players. A LASA student even drops a diss-track laying out all these insults in one place. McCallum drops one right back, spitting lyrics about the rumored separation between LASA and LBJ. I listen to this track as my best friend and I head to our usual game-day lunch spot, Thundercloud. We go back to school and head to the pep rally. The gym is loud and filled with screaming students, band songs playing overhead, cheerleaders and Blue Brigade members dancing and a general buzz of excitement. Coach Taylor comes over the microphone and tells us how hard they’re going to work to beat LBJ tonight. We all believe him. 7:30 finally arrives, and Nelson Field is packed with students, from both LBJ/LASA and McCallum. I stand on the sidelines ready to capture all of the big plays on video and to soak it all in. My last LBJ game. The game begins, and both sides are playing well. Before halftime, Gage pads the McCallum lead with a touchdown making the score 21-13. By the end of the game, however, things get awfully tight. In the final seconds of the game, Mac leads by five points, but LBJ is at the Mac 10-yard line threatening to score what would be the winning touchdown. But the McCallum defense repels the Jags as Tyrell Washington makes a game-saving tackle on the 3-yard line on fourth down and goal. The game is over, and McCallum wins 38-33. Coach Taylor and the team’s 22 seniors said at the year-end banquet on Jan. 28 that the team’s victory over LBJ was the moment when the team truly started believing that they were destined to have a special season. So, the LBJ game is much more than a rivalry.

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Head coach Charles Taylor speaks to his team after it defeated LBJ. Taylor and several players said last week at the year-end banquet that defeating LBJ showed them that they were destined to have a special season, one that saw the Knights finish 14-1 after advancing to the 5A Division 2 semifinals Photo by Ian Clennan.

Many middle schools send their students to either McCallum or to LASA/LBJ, so when these games happen, you’re seeing friends you haven’t seen in months along with some great Texas football. But last week, UIL district realignment, which happens every two years, threatened to end the rivalry because LBJ/LASA will be classified as a 255A Division 1 school while McCallum and most of the other AISD high schools are smaller and will be classified as 5A Division 2. But the school district decided not to keep the rivalry alive. Instead of the McCallum-LBJ game dissolving because of LBJ moving to DI, McCallum and the other District 25-5A schools (with the exception of Austin High which is moving up to 6A) opted to move up with it, changing potential match-up games completely. Instead of us working against LBJ on the defensive line, we will be working with them to keep the rivalry alive for at least two more years. McCallum’s move to DI is clearly the correct next step. The rivalry is not just good for the players, but it is good for the community. If only LBJ were to move to DI, leaving McCallum behind, that would throw them into unknown territory, having to compete against suburban schools such as Cedar Creek and Pflugerville. When it comes to football, those schools are established powerhouses: they have team rosters

with more than 90 players while McCallum’s roster this season hovered around 39 varsity players. With realignment this year, the Austin High rivalry that was first re-introduced last year will come to an end as Austin High moves back to 6A, playing teams such as Westlake and Bowie. To me, that forced move is ridiculous. I understand that realignment is judged on student population, not talent, but our “inner city” school beat Austin High handily two years in a row. Then we went on to beat out four playoff opponents even when it seemed that their entire towns had come out to support their teams. The Knights even beat legendary power Calallen, even though every single prediction bracket for 5A DII had us losing and Calallen going on to win the state championship. If we are judging on pure talent, the only school that should be moving up to 6A is McCallum, but as an “inner city” school on Sunshine Drive, we will be holding down the 5A DI fort so we can keep most of our AISD neighbors as district foes. Moving with LBJ to DI not only keeps the rivalry alive, but it also challenges McCallum when playoffs come around. It can be argued that the reason why we breezed through the first three rounds of playoffs this past season is because we were in the DII bracket, giving us opponents who were not as competitive as the DI

bracket that LBJ faced. In order for our school’s football program to improve, we must challenge ourselves. This can only be done by playing more difficult schools that make us hone in on our skills and show our weaknesses and what needs to be improved upon. This can be compared to people who do the same workout over and over again: they will never improve or strengthen other muscles. You need to switch it up in order to improve, just like the football program needs to play against harder opponents in order to build a stronger, more competitive program. Some Knights fans understandably believe this is the wrong move for the school. McCallum staying in DII does guarantee a much easier playoff schedule. Going to DI for the 2018-19 season is risky, because of the 2017-18 team taking with it 22 seniors, leaving many underclassmen to pick up the slack. A less experienced team will have to really step it up not only for playoffs but for district play as well, which we might find out in the fall, may be a big ask. In the grand scheme of things, this move will benefit both sides more than will hurt them. Our team will have the chance to flex its muscles at the DI level, making us competitive with those large suburban high schools. It will show if we are really able to bark with the big dogs, and if moving to the more competitive division is something we would be able to handle. Even though the LBJ rivalry may end in the next five years because of the eminent LASA/LBJ split to different campuses that was decided in the billion dollar bond this fall, we can at least savor a few more LBJ vs. McCallum rivalry games before the two schools will be split into separate 4A schools—making the LBJ rivalry nothing more than history.

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Bridging the gap ABIGAIL SALAZAR staff reporter

Career and technical education, or CTE, classes suffer from a significant gender imbalance. There are few females who take these courses. It is not fair that there are more males than females in these classes because some females are passionate in these fields, but they don’t pursue their passion because of the inequality in the classes. Another reason some females may chose not to take these courses is because most of the CTE classes are in fields that are considered a “male profession,” and society does not encourage women to work in them. I have experienced this gender imbalance in my classes throughout my McCallum career. My freshman year, I was in a video game design class, in which there were a total of 19 students. Only three were female. At the time, it occurred to me that there weren’t many females in the class, but I didn’t see it as a systemic pattern. Four years later, I understand that this imbalance is an ignored issue that needs to be addressed. After that class, I became more interested in computers and decided to join an engineering class and saw that once again there were only a few females in the class.

Gender imbalance in Career Technology Education classes stifles innovation, limits opportunities

I was never really bothered by the male majority in my classes, but the more I wanted to pursue career and technical education classes, and talked about the imbalance of genders, I started to hear things like “prove them boys wrong” or “if you keep up the good work, you are going to show everyone that a girl can do what a boy does.” Now that I’m getting close to the end of high school, I’ve started to look at colleges and have seen more balance between the genders at the next level. Walking around tables at college fairs, and looking at colleges online, I’ve seen pictures of students’ projects and have seen a few different girls in the pictures. When looking at them, I’ve gotten told “Wow you must have to be really good at what you do because I don’t see many girls in those classes.”

As I’ve gotten closer to the adult world, I’ve seen the same imbalance of genders that I’ve seen in high school, which makes me have low expectations for the future. It is unfair that females are outnumbered by males in career and technical education classes, and it’s also not right that people do not expect women to be great at what males do or that females would want to take part in anything

Mansplaining

Cartoon by Charlie Holden

It’s not really new, but it’s getting really old JULIE ROBERTSON co-editor-in-chief I sit in one of my classes at school debating whether I should participate in the discussion. It’s my freshman year, so I am nervous about speaking up in my classes after coming from a private school where the class sizes were smaller and not intimidating in any way. There are a lot of guys and very few girls in the classroom. I raise my hand and start to say something, as we are all taught to do. Words start coming out of my mouth, but then I am cut off. I have been interrupted by a guy. This experience is all too common for women in school, in the workplace, or anywhere else for that matter: interruption. Over winter break, my family had a discussion over dinner about men talking over women, and it got heated. It was interesting to me because as the discussion went on, the men in my family kept talking over the women. Ironic, since the men pride themselves on being progressive feminists. Don’t get me wrong, I love my uncle and my dad, and they boast being very liberal, and they are, but as white men, they grew up in a culture where they were able to talk over women without repercussions. That’s the problem our country faces: men do not realize that they are interrupting women who may

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have great ideas to bring to the table. My cousin is in her first year working in the workplace, and she shared the experiences she has had. She talked about how she will be in a meeting and some of her male co-workers will talk over the female workers constantly, creating a very uneven dynamic in the room. This uneven dialogue negatively affects the women in several important ways. For one thing, women feel much more intimidated when the norm in the work space is for men to dominate the conversations about how work is to be done. Another problem with the men on staff constantly interrupting and talking over women is that they are more likely to get favorable performance reviews by senior executives to determine pay raises and promotions because they are more successful in getting their voices heard. But it is not like this dynamic just starts when a man starts working in his first job. In the United States, white males have been brought up in a society where men suffer no penalty for talking over women. Feminist writers Lily Rothman and Rebecca Solnit have even coined a phrase for this phenomenon: “mansplaining.” Mansplaining is defined as when a man commonly explains something to someone, typically a woman, in a manner that can be regarded as condescending or patronizing. Where I stand on this issue is that we need to look at what year it is. It’s 2018, and women are becoming more and more

that males do. In order for this issue to get resolved, I think that everyone should be more open-minded when it comes to women being in CTE courses, both in high school and in the adult world. Females are capable of doing what males can do and vice versa, so people should not limit or think that one gender is not capable of doing the same job as the other. I also think that females should pursue their passion in CTE classes regardless of what other people say or think.

prominent in social justice movements around the world. For starters, in September 2017, women were granted to right to drive in Saudi Arabia, ending one of the key symbols of oppression for women in the world. Back in the States, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election. In 2017, a female professor of anatomy at the University of California San Francisco developed strategies targeting the lysosome that could reverse the progression of pancreatic cancer. In 2013 Sen. Wendy Davis filibustered the Texas senate for 12 hours to block a vote on what eventually led to one of the most restrictive abortion laws in history. Davis went without breaks and water for the entire 12 hours. In late 2017, the “Me Too” movement sparked a national conversation about sexual harassment, exposing hundreds of prominent men in the workplace as perpetrators of sexual abuse. Then, on Jan. 7, at the Golden Globe Awards, attendees wore all black joining in the “Time’s Up” movement against sexual harassment in the workplace. On Jan. 21 of last year, women filled the streets of Austin and broke records for the biggest march in Texas and in U.S. history. All of these women have made real change in their workplace. So why are women all over the country right now still sitting in meetings being interrupted by men? One simple answer. Men are scared. They rightfully should be. At this point in

history, we are at a crossroads. It’s up in the air whether, come the 2020 elections, a man will once again sit in the Oval Office. This country that prides itself on equal opportunity for all, is finally realizing that this creed applies to women as well as to men. Men are desperately trying to grab what they still can, holding on to the scaffolding of a building, our country, that is about to be re-constructed by women. It is only a matter of time when these corporate meetings are going to be dominated by strong, successful women who worked hard and got to the top. They will have gone through years and years of school to get there. They will know that they deserve to be in charge, and for that reason they will speak up. They’re going to speak loud and clear over these men, with fresh, new, progressive, modern ideas that this country desperately needs. My hope is that by the time I am in the professional work force after graduating from college, I will sit in meetings feeling free to express my ideas, without thinking twice about some man talking over me, or reiterating my own ideas in a different context, making them sound like his original ideas. I hope to come back and visit my school and see a freshman class filled with equal amounts of boys and girls, and the girls leading the discussion, raising their hands, as they were taught to do, but not having to think twice about someone interrupting their new, well-thought-out ideas.

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dialogues

Does social media divide or unite our communities? MADDIE DORAN assistant editor

First-graders Amira Sahba and Maddie Doran in 2007. Photo courtesy of Doran. Robert E. Lee Elementary photo courtesy of The Living New Deal website. Russell Lee Elementary photo by Qiling Wang/The Texas Tribune.

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Every day was basically the same, but I didn’t mind—I liked predictability. My alarm would wake me up, I would eat Special K with fresh-cut strawberries and sugar sprinkled on top, I would go to school, play with my friends, go to aftercare, my parents would pick me up, we would eat dinner, then I would begrudgingly go to bed just to wake up and do the same thing again the next day. My favorite part of the day was always recess. I loved to crystal hunt with my friends, jump off the swings and play tag. Every day was just another day at Lee Elementary. On Monday, March 28, 2016, the AISD school board voted that Robert E. Lee Elementary’s name would be changed to Russell Lee Elementary. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the name change was necessary, but still, it was something new. Honestly, I don’t think that my 8-year-old self had ever called it “Robert E. Lee,” it was just “Lee” to our community. Many news sources began to weigh in on this issue. I read dozens of articles online that week, all of them shared both sides of the story, but to me, they all seemed to be missing just one thing: the fact that in our little Hyde Park community, no one called it “Robert E. Lee.” My school had always seemed pretty tight-knit to me. Every morning the halls were filled with parents talking and kids running to avoid tardy slips. That’s what these articles were missing. They were missing that this was still a community. After the name change, however, our community didn’t seem as coherent. I don’t know if it’s because I am older or if something had happened, but when I was in elementary school it seemed like there weren’t many disagreements among the parents. Had something changed? Did I just pay more attention now? While I am now much more aware of these issues, I watch my brothers that are in kindergarten and fourth grade at Lee, and they seem to have no clue. I began to ask my parents, who are extremely active in the Lee community and discovered that the normally calm PTA meetings that went on when I was there had begun to get a lot more rowdy. More people had begun to share their opinions on issues that hadn’t been talked about for years. Not that this was a bad thing, but the more opinions that were shared, the more there was to disagree about. Before the name change was the topic of choice, it was all about the Spanish program. As a former student, I knew that having 30 minutes of Spanish a week taught me nothing except maybe the numbers one through 10 and a few colors. Parents began to push for a more immersive Spanish program. After much debate, and many months of meetings, it was decided that there would be an outside-of-school immersion program. To me, it seemed like this could be a disagreement that adults should be able to solve easily. After all, our parents had always taught us to compromise, right? Ever since the name has changed, I typically overhear my parents talking about other issues that have come up about once a week. The more I ask about it, the more I see that it all stems back to the school’s Facebook page. While some helpful information is shared on the page, there have been many posts that seem to be posted just to stir the pot. If anything, this page should promote togetherness within our community. The things people are posting are controversial and have begun to tear our little neighborhood elementary school apart. I think that the rise of social media has helped give people a platform to share their opinions. While some use their social media to spread positive ideas, not everyone does. It is extremely important to share your opinion, yet I also think it is important to know how to do that respectfully and when it is appropriate to do so. Many people feel some sort of safety sitting behind a device. They feel like they can post whatever they want. The PTA monitors the page, but there are no set rules around what can and cannot be posted. There needs to be set rules about what can be posted and about what can be taken down in order to begin to solve this problem. Through all of this, I think about how ironic this whole thing is. Parents always teach their children that it is necessary to be respectful and compromise; so why can’t these issues be solved in a more orderly fashion? Bottom line: don’t post anything you wouldn’t say to someone in person. If everyone did this, so many painful outcomes could be avoided.

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Trump’s assault on Mother Earth

Add the environment to list of things our president disrespects Since his campaign was first launched in the summer of 2015, Donald Trump has boasted about his idea for a massive wall that he wants to build along the U.S. Mexico border. According to Fortune, Congressional Republicans expect the wall to cost between $12 billion and $15 billion, not including the cost of acquiring land. The monetary cost of the wall is staggering, but money is hardly the only thing at stake—the very land itself is endangered, but Trump doesn’t seem to care. President Trump’s ignorance to the ecological and historical cost of building a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico is a testament to his blatant disregard for environmental issues. In a world where concerns about the climate and the environment should be growing, Trump has consistently undermined the efforts of scientists and conservationists alike to improve the health and preserve the beauty of this country. From 2008 to 2016, President Barack Obama used executive action to establish much-needed regulations to protect the environment from the rapidly increasing amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere each year. Over the past 13 months, President Trump has overturned at least 15 rules and regulations put in place by the Obama administration and beyond, ranging from the use of fracking on public land to the dumping of harmful mining waste into streams. One of the most politicized of these reversals was Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation in June of 2017. His reasoning for this decision— that it would negatively impact the U.S. economy—comes from his ignorance of the economic realities confronting the decaying coal and fossil fuels industry as a whole. The Americans who make up Trump’s voter base include many rural Americans who are employed in shrinking industries like mining. These Americans face a greater risk of losing their jobs as our economy moves away from the industrial foundations of the past. By overturning environmental regulations, Trump is ignoring the fact that the economy is rapidly using clean energy in the place of the fossil fuels and coal. This imminent shift

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from Cartoon by Charlie Holden 1.35 million acres to roughly 15 percent of its original size (201,876 acres). Around the nation, protests were heard from conservationists and Native American Tribal coalitions. The order caused thousands of acres of land full of puebloan artifacts and dwellings to become unprotected from public looting as well as open for drilling and mining operations. Regulations placed on national monuments are there for a reason: to preserve areas of historical, scientific and archaeological significance so they can be accessible to future generations. Big Bend National Park, which was designated in the ‘40s, continues to be one of America’s most valued natural wonders, and will remain close to the hearts of Texans for years to come. Trump’s plans to build a wall through the vast desert landscape threatens not only a beautiful part of this state and nation but also our duty to protect the environment for the generations that will inherit the environment we leave behind.

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

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will adversely affect Americans whose jobs have been revitalized, but only temporarily, by Trump’s efforts to bolster a industry that has been naturally declining for years. Instead of finding ways to bring these industries up to code with regulations that require them be sustainable in the modern era, Trump is only prolonging the inevitability of Americans losing their jobs while providing no alternatives for them to earn a viable income. While the economic harms of Trump’s efforts to dismantle environmental regulation are huge, the historical and ecological impacts of his decisions are even more disastrous. Trump’s appointees to head the Environmental Protection Agency (Scott Pruitt) and the Department of the Interior (Ryan Zinke) have been an embarrassment to those truly dedicated to preserving our country’s environment and its historical legacy. Pruitt’s position as the administrator to the agency responsible for protecting the health of America’s citizens and environment is laughable. Before his appointment as head of the EPA, Pruitt served as Oklahoma’s attorney general and fought hard against the agency’s regulations, even suing the EPA a grand total of 13 times. It is obvious why Trump selected Pruitt to run the EPA—to cause irreparable harm to the agency’s purpose as a purveyor of science and environmental accountability. Zinke isn’t any better. Via executive order in April 2017, Trump called on his Secretary of the Interior to review the size of 40 national monuments in order to explore redefining their boundaries. Zinke’s review, which found its way to the president’s desk last August, prompted one of the most radical reductions of public land in American history. Bears Ears National Monument, located in southeastern Utah, was reduced

editors-in-chief CHARLIE HOLDEN AND JULIE ROBERTSON assistant editors ANNA COMPTON

MADDIE DORAN

ZOE HOCKER

MADISON OLSEN

SOPHIE RYLAND

adviser DAVE WINTER

reporters EMMA BAUMGARDNER, JOSEPH CARDENAS, GREGORY JAMES, MAX RHODES, ABIGAIL SALAZAR, KELSEY TASCH, STEVEN TIBBETTS 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 prin-

cipal 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.

09 feb. 2018

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Revisit the opening week of West Side Story by checking out our latest #TuesdayTop10. Photo by Madison Olsen.

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Check out out Top 14 moments rom last week’s football banquet. Photo by Dave Winter.

Take a virtual visit to Fredericksburg and Waco by reading our new travel blog Marble Falls residents fight proposed rock quarry just outside city’s limits UIL realignment brings Dripping Springs into McCallum’s district 09 feb. 2018

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Visual artists set gold standard

22 Mac submissions earn regional Gold Keys, qualify for national competition in New York 1

The following seniors were among McCallums’ 21 regional 2018 Scholastic Gold Key winners, the most of any Austin area school. The winners now advance to the national competition in New York City. (1) Madison Olsen, “The Old Man and the Sea,” photograph. (2) Avery Johnson, “Speak,” ceramics piece. (3) Caitlin Middleton, “CMM,” mixed media piece. (4) Liliana Aleman, “#Timesup,” photography piece. (5) Maribel Alverson, “Scars,” sculpture. (6) Charlie Holden, “Prickly Pair,” sculpture. (7) Erin Ray with mixed media piece “Out of the Jungle.”

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09 feb. 2018