The Chronicle, 10.1

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Sept. 28, 2012 | The Chronicle | thecspn.com | Vol. 10, Issue 1 Proudly serving the William Mason High School Community

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Other people . . . don’t understand the labyrinth of marching band . . . it’s its own entity Jen Eidemiller, Mason drum major (Page 16)

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

News

TrendingNow High level math classes incorporate technology into curriculum View these and other stories and galleries at

thecspn.com C Roth’s World

Honors English III and AP Language and Composition teacher Lori Roth has a new monthly video segment on thecpsn.com! Check it out for a laugh!

C Light the Night

The Light the Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost. You can find a photo gallery on thecspn.com

C Blood Drive

The National Honor Society held its first blood drive of the year Thursday in partnership with Hoxworth Blood Center. Get the statistics and the story on the event at thecspn.com.

Teachers introduce students to new teaching method which allows homework to be completed during school Katie Rojas | Staff Writer

Mason High School math teachers have embraced opposite day: students do homework in class, and learn material at home.

The idea of the “flipped classroom” is becoming more widely used in classrooms.

The “flipped classroom” is a new teaching method where students learn concepts at home by watching a video, and then practice the concepts at school.

Math teacher Ty Ignatz started teaching online classes last year and says he mostly sees benefits from the idea of the “flipped classroom.”

“When students are watching these videos they can hit pause, they can rewind, [and] they can make sure that they’re not going to miss anything.

They can get everything they need from the lecture,” Ignatz said.

Ignatz said many things influenced him to start using online lessons.

“There are a couple other organizations that do the online video learning,” Ignatz said. “I got the idea from seeing other people’s videos and online instructions, but I wanted to tailor it more towards the classes I teach and the students

I have.”

Ignatz said that Kahn Academy was one of the organizations that prompted him to start changing the way he taught. Kahn Academy is a free website that has over 30,000 videos. These videos teach students concepts in tenminute segments on YouTube.

“I started doing YouTube videos and I made my own YouTube channel,” said Ignatz.

“I recorded my voice and you can see my handwriting. It is all done through the Smart Board technology here at school.”

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C Spirit Week Pictures

Did you show your Mason High School spirit this homecoming spirit week? Head to thecspn.com to find photos of you and your friends decked out this week!

C Cheerleader Profiles

Homecoming week is a big one for our cheerleaders. Get the profiles of the varsity squad at thecspn.com!

photo by Katie Rojas

compiled by Ashley Calvani

Senior Keaton Reed watches online lecture from a Prezi in Stephen May’s AP statistics class.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

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continued from page 2 Ignatz says he has not had the time to expand his collection of videos to all the classes he teaches and for every lesson, but it is a possibility for the future.

Math teacher Stephen Mays said he uses online lectures for all of his classes.

“The question that I really asked myself was, ‘When do my students need me the most?’” Mays said. “They really don’t need me when I’m lecturing to them; they need me more when they’re trying to apply that material that would have been lectured to them.”

Senior Sree Brahmamdam said Mr. Mays’ online lessons were very beneficial to her.

“I absolutely love the way he taught it just because I’m very forgetful,” Brahmamdam said. “I take notes in class during lectures, but I feel like it was so much easier having it at home, especially when it was time to study for the tests rather than [have to] scramble for notes.”

Senior Rhea Malhotra said Mays’ different method of teaching took some getting used to.

“At first, I was kind of annoyed because I [did not] want to learn an entire new way on how to do things. I was like this is so unnecessary, you can just teach it to us in a normal way,” Malhotra said.

“The more we got into it, the more it rubbed off on me. I started liking the way he presented the materials, and the way he did it online.”

Mays and Ignatz says that the success of online lessons comes down to the accountability and motivation of the students.

“You have to have students that are going to watch the videos,” Ignatz said.

“If you don’t have a motivated student [they aren’t] going to watch the videos [and] then it is going to make it a challenge; those kids are going to fall behind.”

Mays said he sees more teachers using technology to enhance their lessons in the future.

“Colleges and universities want students to

come with problem solving skills. Lectures do not lead to better problem-solving skills,” Mays said.

“Freeing up time in class leads to better activities and projects which gives students better problemsolving skills.”

Mays said that even though he hoped more teachers would use this method, he does not want the “flipped classroom” to replace him because it was important for student interaction.

Malhotra said that she preferred a combination of online teaching and the traditional classroom.

With certain concepts being taught online, Mays and Ignatz said they didn’t have a problem with students using technology, such as smart phones, in class as a resource.

“I wish every single one of my students would come with an iPad or a tablet or a smart phone that they could use,” Mays said, “I encourage it because I have ten computers in the room but sometimes ten computers are not enough. We are carrying around small computers in our hands all the time.”

Senior Griffin Solimini said that smart phones were a resource in many of his current classes.

“My physics and my calculus class [allow you] to have an iPod to go over the slides while [the teacher] is going over them,” Solimini said. “I don’t think it makes much of a difference, but it has been helpful when I have missed notes and I can just go back on the slide.”

Mays said that allowing students to bring in technology was a good resource, but it could also be a distraction. Mays said it was up to the teacher to eliminate that distraction if presented.

Mays said the change in the classroom agenda is happening in the high school right now.

“I know of a lot of teachers in Mason, at the high school right now, that are going that direction,” Mays said. “Maybe not as full go as I have done it, but they are slowly but surely working towards doing more videos online for instruction.”

PAGE 3 Middle school teachers promote iPhone and iPad use in the classroom Katie Rojas | Staff Writer

Mason Middle School students are permitted and highly encouraged to bring their tech devices into the classroom according to Assistant Principal Kasi Jordan.

Jordan says it started out with a pilot in a seventh and eighth grade team.

“We wanted to see [if] we [were] capable of doing that [at the middle school and if] the kids, from a maturity standpoint, [were] able to handle that responsibility,” Jordan said. “From an infrastructure standpoint, can we support all of these devices trying to get online and access the Internet at one time.”

Jordan said that the initiative of allowing kids to bring in their tech devices was very successful.

“The technology has definitely lended itself to the kids’ engagement,” Jordan said. “They are excited, [and] they want to see what the teachers have planned. I think the concept of technology in the classroom is so very different than paper pencil that it almost has them on the ledge.”

“The negatives have been simply more so for the classroom teacher trying to navigate the difference in all of the different machines that have come into the classroom,” Jordan said.

Jordan also said that the time it takes for all technology devices to start up is a negative, but that the positives outweigh the negatives in the end.

“It takes [time] for everything to get booted up and get going,” Jordan said. “But I still believe that the engagement, the participation rate of the kids in the classroom, [and] what they’re able to get out of that, far outweighs us waiting on the laptops or the other devices to load and come up to speed.”

photos by Katie Rojas

Seventh grade students in Laura Tonkin’s math and science classes work on laptop’s, ipads, and iphones in order to access edline and work on online activities.

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Gettin’ in the swing of things

Ohio proves to be an influential state in upcoming election Ashley Calvani | Online Editor

As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.

The commonly used phrase came about because the buckeye state, with its 18 electoral votes, has been a remarkably good predictor of the winner of presidential elections. In every election since 1964, in fact, a nominee has never won without Ohio’s electoral votes. A prime example: the 2004 Election, when Ohio put George W. Bush over the top in a close two percent victory over John Kerry.

Ohio is considered a battleground state, with Democratic strongholds in Cleveland and Columbus balanced by Republican ones in Cincinnati and rural areas. Neither party holds an overwhelming majority amongst the voters any year in Ohio, deeming it one of America’s “swing states,” along with Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Campaign officials from both parties are trying their best to win them over, according to Mason High School AP Government teacher Maria Mueller.

“We’re not predictable,” Mueller said. “We have a fairly evenly split population. The southern part of the state is largely conservative, and in the northern portion there is a more liberal environment. So you end up with the unpredictability, and the independent [voters] become that much more critical.”

Mueller said politicians and their campaign staff have special interest in these independents, and that there will be a lot of polling from now until Election Day to try and gauge their interests. As of August 21, according to a poll from nytimes.com, 50 percent of Ohioans would vote for Obama and 44 percent for Romney. The remaining six percent—independents. The very six percent that could break in or break if for one candidate, the difference between 18 more electoral votes.

“Political parties want to energize the people they already know support them to be really vocal, so that they can try to energize and gain the support of the independents,” Mueller said.

Even at the National Conventions, delegates representing Ohio get front row seats and special treatment.

“It’s all about acknowledging the importance of

the state,” Muller said. “At the Democratic National Convention, each state was casting votes for the nominee--granted in the Democratic Party it was somewhat symbolic because there is only one possible choice--but normally they roll call vote each state and the delegates stand there and announce who they are casting their votes for. They go alphabetically by state name, but when it came to the point where they were about to confirm that Obama was over the number needed to win the nomination, they jumped ahead in the alphabet and shifted to Ohio to recognize our importance. That energizes the people from Ohio.”

Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee, Patrick Gaspard, told Ohio delegates at a breakfast on September 4, the first morning of the Democratic National Convention: “No pressure, Ohio, but it’s all on you.

The fate of the free world is on your shoulders.”

In an interview after the speech, Gaspard said “every election is decided by Ohio, basically” because the state is a “microcosm” of the U.S. In presidential politics, it is “the center of the universe,” he said, as reported by Bloomberg.com.

Senior Brandon Sayers said that for the conservatives, it is crucial for Romney to relate to the voters and assure them he can make progress with the economy.

“It’s easy to paint [Romney] as emotionless because he was a venture capitalist,” Sayers said.

“I think he is starting to dispel that image. Hopefully people look at the issues more [personality]. I’m very focused now on making sure the candidates will stick to their fiscal responsibility.

The conservatives have struggled with that in the past, [and] making sure we stay true to our principals. Shrinking the size of our government and being fiscally solvent [is key]. I think Romney would be great for that.”

According to Sayers, getting all of the information out to voters is no easy task, especially in places like Ohio where the campaigning is so heavy.

“Shrinking the size of our government and being fisically solvent. I think Romney would be great for that.”

“I sort of think that [ads] have been more vicious from the [liberal] side,” Sayers said. “But [Romney] has definitely struck back. He is telling people that liberal policies have failed, and will continue to--not just in Ohio. But Obama said himself that when someone does not have a record to run off of, they will have to resort to attacks, and that is exactly what both [candidates] are doing.”

In an attempt to help out confused voters, junior Jacob Carson interned at the Obama Organizing for America office in Mason this summer. Carson and the other interns used phone banks, door to door canvassing, and parties to get facts out and answer questions.

“For the most part everyone was pretty accepting, even if someone was for Romney,” Carson said. “Most people didn’t know much about the candidates and were inclined to listen to me.

Since I’m a [teenager], I think people were more interested in listening to what I had to say. They thought it was good to see young people involved.”

Especially for those who aren’t as informed as they want to be, voting is a lot of pressure, according to Mueller.

“Understand the importance of voting period first,” Mueller said. “You can’t expect government to meet your needs and be what you want it to be if you don’t participate. Voting is fundamental.

[You] may not sense the presence of government in [your] day to day lives currently, but it’s there, sometimes as a great help and sometimes not.

Whatever you want it to be, it can’t be if you’re not engaged. Some people, I know, they’re turned off, their frustrated, it’s not something they’ve been brought up to consider--I would say still seek information. That’s a choice you have to make. Ask questions, start that way. It takes time to get a full picture.”

Mueller said for an American, this isn’t something to be taken lightly.

“If you value democracy, you have to understand you weaken it when you don’t vote,” Muller said. “The fewer people that vote, the fewer that are in control--that’s not democratic.”

“Since I’m a [teenager], though, I think people were more interested in listening to what I had to say.”

See

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5

for

Electoral Votes Breakdown

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

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Electoral Votes Break Down 185 Solid Obama

52 Leaning Obama 95 Tossup Votes 48 Leaning Romney

158 Solid Romney

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Ohio Tossup State

48 Electoral Votes

Correctly chosen the winning presidential candidates in the last 12 elections

photo art by Erica Boden

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

MyPlate lunch plan replaces the MyPyramid Meal prices increase without a fruit and vegetable side Corinne Hazen | Staff Writer

Students now have to choose between fruits and vegetables or a costly meal.

Mason High School has implemented the United States Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate plan. According to ChooseMyPlate.gov, there should be five food components in a complete meal. These include grains, protein, fruits, vegetables and milk. If a student chooses not to pick a fruit of vegetable, their cost of their meal will increase.

The MyPlate plan as of 2012, has completely taken the place of the previously followed nutrition guide, the MyPyramid, according to Supervisor of the Mason City Schools Office of Child Nutrition Tamara Earl.

“In the MyPyramid, the progression on it was based on the number of servings that you should have,” Earl said. “So on the bottom was the grains, for instance, and what they really found was that people couldn’t relate to it.”

Earl said the purpose is to encourage students to learn to make healthy choices in school and outside of it as well.

“I believe the goal of the new regulations is to model healthy eating in this environment,” Earl said. “Which I hope will help students to make wise food choices not just at school but at home, in restaurants, and in situations when purchasing

and preparing their own food.”

Senior Tori Martin, said that she has consumed enough lunches in the High School cafeteria to experience a lot of the changes from her freshman year to now.

“I appreciate [the changes] because I think it makes people more aware of what they are eating,” Martin said. “[Obesity] is a huge problem in our country but I also think that people are going to eat what they want either way so it’s all adding and subtracting and paying more for things isn’t going to change how they eat.”

Senior Jen Center has her own opinion on the fruits and vegetables and how their visual appeal plays a big role in her deciding whether she chooses to consume them or not.

“I like to eat healthy but, I think...[the cafeteria’s] fruits and vegetables are gross,” Center said.

“They don’t look healthy. They are not organic but like you look at them and you’re like, that’s not a fruit or vegetable--it’s gross.”

Center said she also believes that being forced to choose a healthier option isn’t fair.

“I feel like that’s not their right to do that to us, you should be able to buy whatever you want,” Center said.

Junior Riley Carr said he believes having different choices for the students to choose would

be a more effective way of pushing students to eat healthy during school.

“I think choice is really important to teenagers and kids,” Carr said. “If they are being forced into one option then they’ll refuse it because it’s just the nature of who we are. If they are making us eat healthy then [kids] they are going to be more likely to refuse to eat it and just waste the food but I think if we have a choice more kids might opt for the healthy option because they are learning to make choices for themselves.”

Even a group of students at the Mason Early Childhood Center have begun to advertise the recent changes. Teachers Brenda Ahlers, Dona Mason and Kim Lovett joined together their young classes to create a video called, “Let’s All Go To The Lunch Room.” This video’s purpose is to showcase what the new plan entails.

Earl said her next step in evaluating if the kids are actually eating the fruits and vegetables, is to walk around the cafeteria and observe how many students are throwing away their sides.

“I think [MyPlate] is here to stay for a while,” Earl said. “And I think it is the hope that it will help Americans define how they eat, and it will have a permanency to it.”

Fruits Vegetables

photo by Chloe Knue

School lunch prices increase unless students accompany their meals with a vegetable or fruit with MyPlate.

Dairy Grains

Protein

The MyPlate plan (top) focuses on consuming more fruits and vegetables in diets. To hear more on the story, check out MBC Reporter Anna Fagin’s story (bottom) on thecspn.com.

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Service now worth elective credit

Upperclassman can earn one point of elective credit with 50 hours of service Katie Hibner | Staff Writer

Serving in the community will soon gain students advantages in Mason High School. The Community Service Credit Flex option, introduced by MHS assistant principal William Rice, will debut this school year.

“There are so many students in this school who have committed themselves to serving their communities,” Rice said. “[The administrators] wanted a way to reward them for that service with a high school credit.”

One point of elective credit can be awarded to juniors and seniors with at least fifty hours of service by April 19, 2013. The credit will appear on successful applicants’ transcripts.

Interested students are required to fill out an application with several reflective components, including a checklist for students’ mentors, a visual aide, and a written piece. These components will be presented in a formal proposal on April 26.

The credit does include some limits. It can only be granted once and, according to National Honor Society adviser Barbara Shuba, the fifty hours gained for the credit cannot be used to fulfill NHS duties. “[NHS] bylaws state that kids can’t ‘double-dip’ [their hours],” Shuba said. “They can’t use them for the credit flex and the requirements for NHS.” Community service is considered as an application element to many college admissions officers.

BuildOn adviser Dan Distel said that the credit option gives MHS students an edge in college entry.

“When [students] are trying to get into college, [they] should try to set themselves apart from other candidates,” Distel said. “[The credit] is a great tool to show people that [they are] more than just a number or a test score, and that [they] have passions that lie beyond the classroom.”

The credit option provides opportunities to students involved in service-oriented clubs such as Key Club, but Key Club adviser Joe Hammond said that its benefits reach beyond those who have club membership. “[Key Club] actually [has] a lot of people interested in service in Mason, and I was amazed at how my Key Club just went after it,” Hammond said. “[But] the program’s a really good thing to do and [it] keeps Mason students out of trouble.”

Similar programs are benefitting students

in nearby districts.

According to Rice, the credit’s proposal process will model the one used by Kings High School.

“The way Kings does their [proposals] is that they break off into classrooms, usually with one staff member and one committee member who listen to each presentation and grade it on a five-point rubric,” Rice said.

“We’re not quite sure what that process will look like [for Mason], but it will be similar to photo by Katie Hibner Kings’.”

Senior Kelly Snider particpates in the Paws for Reading program which gives her According to Rice, the community service hours at Mason Public Library. objective of the proposal is for students to focus on the passions they drew Students using the credit to avoid classes won’t from their service experience. always escape learning. According to Reddy, MHS senior Aditha Reddy earned over 240 students will gain knowledge from their service hours of service at Cincinnati Children’s and West experiences outside of the classroom.

Chester Hospital, and she said she plans to use the “Sometimes you start off doing community sercredit in pursuit of her career. vice as something you have to do, but at the end “I want to go into a medicine-related [career], of the day you learn something [from] it,” Reddy so the fact that I’m using my hospital volunteer said. “It becomes a ‘bigger picture’ kind of thing.” hours [for credit] would show college [admissions The “bigger picture” can be ignored when stuofficers] that I’m very serious about what I want dents are focused on college admissions. Distel to do,” Reddy said. said he stresses that students do community serHowever, MHS senior Lauren Huff said that the vice in pursuit of their passions, not to pad their credit may cause admissions officers to view an applications. applicant’s service in a lesser light.

“You shouldn’t be doing your [volunteering] “If I were the college scout viewing someone’s hours just to fulfill a requirement; it should come application [who had the credit flex], I might from an honest desire to do something good for think that they were trying to get out of valuable the people you want to help,” Distel said. “Don’t classes [by doing] the credit flex,” Huff said. just choose [service opportunities] to look good; MHS senior Kelly Snider said that she is interchoose based on what you care about.” ested in taking the opportunity.

Regardless of their motivations, Hammond said According to Snider, the credit may not portray he predicts the program will attract many stuan applicant’s laziness but a desire to get involved. dents. “[The credit] shows the college [admissions offi“I’m expecting this [opportunity] to be gigantic,” cers] that you’re interested in community service,” Hammond said.

Snider said. “Then they might tell you ways to get involved [on campus].”

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Opinion Chronicle Policy

C Editorial Cartoon

The Chronicle is the official student newspaper of William Mason High School.

The Chronicle promises to report the truth and adhere to the journalistic code of ethics through online and print mediums.

The Chronicle is produced by students enrolled in Journalism I, II and III. Editorials reflect the staff ’s opinion but do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the school administration or the Mason City School District.

The Chronicle is published monthly. Call 398-5025 ext. 33106 for information regarding advertising in The Chronicle. The Chronicle reserves the right to refuse advertising we deem inappropriate for a high school publication.

As an open forum for students, letters to the editor are welcome, but are subject to be edited for length, libel, obscenity, clarity and poor taste.

Letters to the editor may be dropped off in room C106 and must be signed.

The Chronicle is a member of The Columbia Scholastic Press Association, The National Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists and the Ohio Scholastic Media Association.

Contact Information The Chronicle William Mason High School 6100 S. Mason Montgomery Rd. Mason, Ohio 45040 (513) 398-5025 The Chronicle Staff Editor-in-Chief Rebekah Barnes Associate Editor Chloe Knue Layout and Design Editor Erica Boden Online Editor Ashley Calvani Sports Editor Katelyn Cain Business Manager Samantha Weaver Editorial Cartoonist Ajay Agrawal Staff Writers Erin Brush Emily Culberson Emily Faas Katherine Hansen Meghan Harris Corinne Hazen Katie Hibner Corynne Hogan Spencer Hogan Nicole Huser Sheila Raghavendran Katie Rojas Ria Shah Taylor Telford Adviser Dale Conner

C Staff Editorial “Eat your vegetables!” “Those shorts are too short!” “It’s time for ‘the talk.’”

While these phrases were coined from our parents, they are now transeferring into the administration and teacher jargon. As parents demand for schools to do more--better nutrition plans, safer schools, more attention--they are forcing teachers to become the surrogate parents of each high school student.

No longer is the responsibility for instilling good morals and life lessons a job for the parents. No longer do they have to tell you to “eat your vegetables” or be the ones for comfort or give the “birds and the bees” talk--the school does it for them. We are now given the MyPlate plan, telling us to grab that extra vegetable or fruit whether we want to or not.

Instead of mom or dad grabbing us out the door before we leave with short shorts, the administration or teachers will track us down instead. We get the sex talk in a normal school day during health class of freshman year.

Parents, trying to get the Board of Education to change the way the schools operate, have handed their offspring over to the staff of MHS to tackle the job themselves. Instead of focusing on specific curriculum and lessons to prepare us for life, teachers have to focus on being hyper-sensitive and trying to get students on the right moral path.

It’s time for teachers to go back to curriculum and parents start picking up the slack on the homefront.

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SEPTEMBER 28,

Opinion C Columns

Waiting for some kind of wonderful

Meet Your Columnists Throughout

the year, if you don’t see a

columnist in print,

see them at thecspn.com

Rebekah Barnes “I love cheerleading and rocking out on The Chronicle. I would love to hang out with Barney Stinson. My goal in life is to eat a hot dog in every state.”

Erica Boden “I’ve ran two half-marathons, and it’s a tradition to eat ice cream the night before. I adore painting my nails and watching the Olympics.”

Meghan Harris “Contrary to popular belief, my name’s Meghan. Not Lauren, Kelsey, or simply Harris; It’s Meghan. I love Jesus and fangirling over Hunter Hayes.”

Ashley Calvani “I think in storybooks, ask too many questions, and value honesty over everything. My favorite thing to do is laugh. A lot. They call me AshCal.”

Katherine Hansen “I love board games, but only when I win. I pride myself on making my bed every day. I’m a professional popcorn seasoner. And I sleep with my socks on.”

“I think it’ll be very effective because people like to follow the rules. If they’re put in place a law then people are going to try and follow that.”

Matt Stewart, junior

“I think the new policy is good, because then teenager drivers don’t feel as distracted. I think people still do text while they’re driving. It helps me, because it’s against the law, and I’m like don’t do anything bad kind of thing, I think people still do text and drive and it’s still really dangerous.”

Ashley Hessin, junior

Katherine Hansen | Staff Writer

I’d like to think it’s common knowledge, it’s become my default ‘interesting fact’ for the sea of first day of school questionnaires: I love the 80’s.

Undeniably, shamelessly, leaning towards proudly, I have got a thing for the 80’s. Some might call it a fancy. But let’s be clear, my fixation is not obsessive. Never do I try to imitate the big hair, the big jewelry or anything supposedly warming my legs and padding my shoulders. I simply admire the culture of the era. U2, A-ha, The Go-Go’s, Paul Simon, R.E.M., Simple Minds, The Cars, Billy Joel, and even a healthy dose of Madonna fill my iPod. My favorite movies all pay homage to the renowned 80’s director that is John Hughes. I put the 80’s on a cultural pedestal, nearly to a point that I have an abnormal nostalgia for it, despite being about six years past the 1989 cutoff date according to my birth certificate.

I ache to know the 80’s aren’t really my era to fawn over. I’ve built up a ridiculous amount of jealously for my parents’ superior experience with the time. I long to find my own cultural haven, a glorious reminder of youth, and to claim ownership of it as the definition of my upbringing.

Between shows like Recess and Rugrats, and toys like the Bop It and my still beloved Beanie Baby, I find some of this haven – a fond, reminiscent sentiment – for my early youth. Yet to let my quiet gratitude foster such a pensive view for my childhood seems, well, childish. My childhood is no 80’s. I have a case of premature nostalgia - although it’s probably not my place to put an age restriction on the romanticism of one’s era. Who am I to question the wise, old minds of teenagers coining the time frame from birth to high school as a crystallized fraction of society’s past culture?

Okay, so I’m one of them. But I still try to resist that urge. That urge to preserve, frame, hang on a grand wall and perchance sugarcoat my childhood. It’s too soon. Admiration for an era can’t be created. It just comes. I long just as anyone to see the dawn and lingering legend of my childhood positioned atop that high pedestal, for better and for worse. I anxiously anticipate a time where generations upon generations will recognize, perhaps praise, and eventually imitate the still evolving culture of my time. I seek for my upbringing to be just as renowned as the mark left behind as the 80’s, yet I know it must come at its own will. As Billy Joel once advised, I’m keeping the faith in the inevitable exaltation of my generation. Oh yes, let the wait begin.

C What You Think How effective do you think the new texting and driving law will be? compiled by Katie Rojas and Ria Shah

“I think the texting and driving law will be pretty effective... because the people that were already texting and driving, those are the ones that probably won’t abide to the law. But maybe the people that are worried about safety, the good kids, are going to abide by the law and make sure they’re not texting and driving.”

Katie Lipps, senior

“I think with the phone’s, it will be good, but with GPS. ...You can’t tell kids not to use it if they do not know where they are going and they get stuck somewhere, it’s not like they’re going to pull over and use it, they’re going to use Sam Hodge, sophomore

“I think the law is bad because it’s kind of hard to find and cops aren’t really going to look for that that often, and I don’t think it’s the best law. They won’t be able to see it.”

Lucas Buddemeyer, Freshman

“I don’t think it’s very effective because I think people still text and drive either way, because I mean it needs to be done sometimes.

But I think it’ll maybe stop it a little bit because people won’t probably do it as much but they’ll probably still do it.”

Seth Buffenbarger, senior

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Send the text, do the time New texting and driving laws enforced in Ohio prohibits phone usage while driving Nicole Huser | Staff Writer

Police are cracking down on Ohio teenagers, banning any technology used while driving as of August 31.

According to the distracted driving law, any person under the age of 18 using their cell phone to text or make calls while driving will be charged a 150 dollar fee as well as a 60 day suspension of their license for a first offense.

The elimination of distractions such as phones should make driving much safer, according to Mason High Schoool resource officer Karli Smith.

“I think the new law will be pretty effective,” Smith said. “Kids seem to be pretty distracted in the car, as well as adults, but teenagers seem to have a big issue with staying focused when they have other things around them, so I think that not being allowed to engage in those things while driving will make a difference.”

The distracted driving law applies to all use of technology, including GPS and ipods.

According to junior Lauren Harris, the new law has the potential to eliminate phone-related crashes.

“I think it could lower the chance of crashes, as long as the Mason Police really enforce it,” Harris said. “But there are a lot of people that do not get caught when they are speeding so they do not really learn a lesson, which could end up being the case for this rule. I think if they really start enforcing it, then it could reduce the number of accidents a lot.”

Some teenagers will continue to text and make calls while driving regardless of the new law, according to senior Lexy Benjamin.

“I feel like not that many teenagers are going to pay attention to the law, because kids are just going to try to find ways to avoid the [police officers] instead of stopping altogether like they should,” Benjamin said. “People are so involved in their social lives, and they think that it’s more important to talk to people and be social than it is to be safe and talk to their friends once they get to their destination.”

Even with some teenagers not regarding the new law, for the most part young drivers are taking the rules seriously, according to Smith.

“I think there’s a little bit of a [mixed reaction]

about the new law,” Smith said. “I think teenagers are taking this law seriously, and once people start getting cited for it they will take it even more seriously. But of course, there will be kids finding ways around the law what with things like the hands free phone and stuff like that.”

Although it is dangerous to text and drive, according to junior Sami Dalhart there are reasons that teenagers use their phones in the car that will not be curbed by the new law.

“I think [the distracted driving law] will affect [phone usage while driving] a little bit, but I don’t know if it will affect it that much because teenagers want to text and drive, even if it’s against the law,” Dalhart said. “They want to be able to tell their friends where they are, even if they’re busy driving.”

According to Harris, a good way to have students stop to think about their actions in the car is to continue watching the AT&T texting video that is played during homeroom once a year.

“I think the [AT&T] video really helped me personally,” Harris said. “The guy in the video’s analogy that closing your eyes for five seconds and sending a text while driving is the same thing helped me because it was weird to think of it that way. Texting while driving can really affect you, and if not you it can affect other people around you in a negative way, like the passenger of the car or another driver.”

The new law has more relaxed repercussions for those over the age of 18, stating that texting and making calls while driving can only be considered a secondary offense.

While the law should be helpful in preventing accidents, the new rules should not be limited to teens, according to Benjamin.

“I think just as many adults cause crashes from calling and texting while driving that teens do I think, because they are so involved in their business and work life so that transfers over into driving,” Benjamin said. “I think that everyone needs to realize that whatever the case, the place to take care of that stuff is not on the road.”

photo by Emily Faas

New law makes texting a primary offense for minors.

Quick Facts 1. First offense for being caught using your phone while driving is a 60 day suspension of license as well as a $150 fine for minors.

2. Repercussions increase with each offense, capping off at a $300 fine and a year-long suspension of license.

3. Using your phone while driving is a primary offense for minors.

4. For adults, using your phone is cause for secondary offense.

5. This law covers all phone usage: texting, calling, emailing, etc.

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Breaking the code

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Middle school and high school take different approaches to dress code policy

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Ria Shah | Staff Writer

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Mason High School Assistant Principal Joycelyn Senter is cracking down on dress code.

Senter said that dress code has taken priority as MHS administration enforces rules on inappropriate clothing.

“The rules haven’t changed, [the administration has] just been enforcing [the dress code] now,” Senter said.

Teachers now have the ability to send emails, even anonymously, to administrators pointing out students seen in class or in hallways. Senter said that even student’s own classmates are reporting trashy clothing. “[I see dress cuts] in a hallway sometimes because we float during transitions,” Senter said, “Teachers have been sending us emails…So it could be anyone. It doesn’t matter if administrators don’t see it. I have [seen students report classmates].”

Senter said that if the student doesn’t have the required clothing change, a Saturday school is given.

“If [students] have a tank top on and have a jacket, then I’m okay with [them changing] because now it’s not an issue,” Senter said.

Senter said that the Saturday Schools are for students who are not prepared with extra clothes.

“For the most part, people are issued Saturday schools because they don’t have [the necessary] change of clothing,” Senter said.

The Mason Middle School recently added a new rule to their dress code. MMS Assitant Principal, Kasi Jordan, said that the school was looking for a way to make guidelines regarding shorts more defined for all students.

“We decided to try to make the process a little more universal,” Jordan said.”...We had a lot of

parents saying, ‘Well my kids legs are long’ Well, but the shorts are really still short too. So we were just trying to standardize that a bit more, so that the rule would be the same regardless if the lady was tall or short, petite or not.

[The shorts have to be] no shorter than 3 inches or more [above the knee].”

Sophomore, Riley Arnold, said that he is opposed towards the addition to the MMS dress code.

“I hope [the MMS dress code addition] never comes to the high school,” Arnold said, “Fashion is at such a place where [for] girls there’s nothing that’s like [longshorts]. [The MMS dress code addition] just doesn’t make any sense.”

Freshman Cara Severson said that she has learned to cooperate with the stricter dress code.

“I like to wear a lot of dresses and I have really long legs so I just don’t wear shorts,” Severson said. “But you can still wear the tops and stuff that you want to wear…I think you can balance [the dress code] within reason.”

Although Severson thinks the code can be balanced, she does not agree with the Saturday school policy.

“I kind of disagree [with Saturday schools] because I feel like if [the administration is] going to enforce that policy, they should tell us to bring extra clothes,” Severson said.

Senter said that she understands the students at MHS. “I understand that that’s just the fashion industry,” Senter said. “It’s hard to find shorts that are longer.” Senter said, “And I understand if you’re heavy into fashion, then of course you’re going to find what’s in…and the mass market is short shorts.”

Balancing the changing fashion world while to maintaining dress code is nothing new to MHS senior Molly Budzik.

“I feel like with the fashion industry they’re never going to have the new trend is you being trashy,” Budzik said. “I usually just have the specific store where I can find the non-trashy shorts…

I understand that they have restrictions on the short shorts and I just feel like it’s important to keep it classy, not trashy.”

Administration specified dress code at each of the 2012 class meetings.

Senter said that it is up to the students to make personal decisions on how they choose to dress themselves.

“When [students are] told these are too short, and I’m telling [them] how to figure out what’s too short, then that’s [their] decision on if to wear it or not.”

Senter said.

Arnold said he would like to see violators of the dress code have replacement apparel available.

“Why can’t they put like extra comet shirts or sweatpants just to have them available so that they are wearing something else?” Arnold said. “A lot of students here just wake up really fast and throw on what they have. Not everyone thinks through the process of ‘Okay, let me put my hands down and see how long these are.’”

Senter took on dress code with hopes of showing students that sometimes what they wear can be taken out of context.

“Perception is others reality,” Mrs. Senter said, “And if [students] see a certain thing and they don’t know you. That’s what they think and it’s hard to change that perception”.

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Feature Little teacher, big school Student teacher intent on getting students to focus on his message not his stature Rebekah Barnes | Editor-in-Chief

photo by Rebekah Barnes

Ken Whitney’s student teacher Jamie Button teaches a freshman history class.

Student teacher Jamie Button teaches freshman history where he stands about half the height of his students.

Button was born with Achondroplasia--a type of dwarfism that hinders the limbs to grow. But he doesn’t let his height hold him back from teaching. Coming from average-sized parents and living in an average-sized house and teaching in an average-sized school, he’s learned to make adjustments.

“I’d say we do make some modifications to the classroom, [like using] step stools,” Button said. “I come from a family of all average sized people--I’m the only little person in my family so I’m pretty used to getting around. I’ve never had a table or a counter top or a sink that’s been… low…so I’m used to…climbing up, pushing chairs around. We make arrangements, but we improvise too.”

Button started teaching through a Jesuit program called “Six Weeks of Jesuit” where he led a classroom over a summer. He said he has found through his teaching experience that addressing his height from the beginning helps raise awareness and get the classroom comfortable.

“One of the things I like to do on the first day or whenever I first meet the students is address my size,” Button said. “[I like to] get that out of the way and tell them about my condition tell them what it’s all about, tell them the world of being a little person. …So I like to…get them comfortable with [my condition] and then they realize…

I’m just a regular guy and so they not constantly thinking about that.”

Button said that the organization that keeps the little people community together is Little People of America. According to Button, the organization helps out those who are little people and parents of little people, like his own. One of the first lessons he teaches his class, he said, is to explain the terminology that is acceptable and unacceptable within the little people community.

“And Little People of America, there’s…three words that people would use [to describe my condition],” Button said. “First, what they prefer is ‘little person’. There’s also ‘dwarf ’, is a preferred term. …The term that they [do not] like to use is ‘midget’, because midget was a word that was used a lot during…the 1900th century for PT Bar-

num’s…circus, and PT Barnum, to get people in [would advertise] to come see our freak show.”

Although Button makes it a goal to raise awareness, he said he still is confronted with the challenges of public association with little people often.

“Unfortunately [‘midget’ is] the word that most people associate with and…I come across that a lot,” Button said. “When I hear people say things about that, you can tell right of the bat if they are trying to be offensive or if they just don’t know. So I… tell them…that’s offensive and I let them know what the truth is, …and I’ve gotten to the point now where I’m a lot older and I don’t really take offense to it. But as a child I did.”

When freshman history teacher Ken Whitney found out Button was going to be his student teacher, he said he leapt at the opportunity to learn from Button and work with him.

“I read all the paperwork [about Button] and…

I’m a pretty open person and pretty diverse, … [and I thought] look what I’ve got,” Whitney said.

“This is a great opportunity for [Button] and…I’ve been teaching for 17-18 years now and it’s refreshing…to have the opportunity to teach with Jamie Button.”

Button and Whitney have taken the opportunity to work together and ran with the opportunity.

Button said that the two were like “an old married couple” helping the dynamic in the classroom.

“Right out of the gate, I’ve had student teachers in the past, but as far as relationship building, … we just clicked from the start,” Whitney said. “As he gets more and more and more comfortable were just going to reverse and I’m going to be his helper and stuff when he needs me to do things.”

Button said that he hopes that he can raise awareness through education to help the next generation of little people--considering some of them may be his own children.

“This is a world that my kids are going to have to grow up in,” Button said. “If I have…‘little people’ children…then I want them to be around people that are aware and they understand [little people] because this is a first generation of people since the Little People of America has been created so I want them to grow up in an environment where their peers are educated about these conditions.”

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Road to the top gets tough Achieving valedictorian status gets harder as years progress Emily Faas | Staff Writer

Times may have changed at Mason High School, but one thing that will always stay constant is the determination that an elite group of MHS students will have when on the pursuit of a valedictorian status.

Mason High School guidance counselor Phyllis Bell said that the road to the valedictorian now can be very taxing, especially when students aren’t taking classes they are passionate about.

“There is still that competition among some students and it can be extremely stressful if [they’re] playing a numbers game and [they’re] choosing courses based on numbers versus interest,” Bell said.

With the addition of Advanced Placement classes to MHS over twenty years ago, in 2004 the grade point average was able to rise above the 4.0 to above a 5.0. “[The GPA] also depends on whether or not [a student is] getting credit in middle school because [they’re] not going to get weighted credit in middle school, but [they] are getting an opportunity to get classes out of the way which affords you an opportunity to take more honors and AP [classes] at the high school,” Bell said. [They’re] pretty much clearing your schedule of a few things.”

In 1993, the MHS valedictorian was Andy Plum. Plum took advantage of the new AP classes added to MHS by taking AP History, AP English and AP Calculus. Plum said that while his year seemed stressful at the time, his personality helped him ease the stress.

“I’m pretty much a self-motivated person, so it was just a goal [for me] to do my best,” Plum said If senior Abhinav Srinath, finishes senior year with all A’s he will have a 5.29 GPA at graduation. Srinath said

that although his junior year schedule was the most challenging, his senior schedule is not much easier.

“This year [my schedule] is decent,” Srinath said. “I don’t think it’s as hard as last year’s schedule was, but AP Physics [and AP Multicultural Literature are] still pretty difficult. Second [trimester] last year, I probably averaged [about] two and a half hours of sleep a night, and it got really stressful.”

2012 valedictorian, Sarah Sohn said that her senior year was the most stressful year of her high school career.

“My final GPA after 11 trimesters was 5.23,” Sohn said. “My senior year, I took four AP classes: [Biology], Physics, [Calculus] BC and [Literature], It was definitely my most challenging schedule in high school.”

Plum said that he did not plan ahead on being valedictorian before entering high school, and did not take any classes to secure his top rank.

“Halfway through high school it became sort of a little bit of a challenge and a joke from my guidance counselor and basketball coach, [Gary Popovich] to continue without getting any B’s and then finishing on top [as valedictorian],” Plum said.

Sohn said that her family history had influenced her motivation to become valedictorian.

“Two years before I entered high school, my older sister [Andrea Sohn] had been the valedictorian of her graduating class, so I always thought that it would be cool to do the same,” Sohn said.

Across the stretch of years from 1993-2012 Bell said she doesn’t believe the types of students receiving the top class rank has

changed.

“I don’t see a lot of difference, really it’s [kids] that [are] normally just really focused, very motivated, very bright, they typically are involved in lots of other things, they’re just very driven and I don’t think that that has changed,” Bell said.

Now attending Harvard University, Sohn said she doesn’t believe her valedictorian status holds much merit now.

“Here at Harvard, no one cares about whether you were the valedictorian of your class or not, so it’s

definitely not a characteristic that followed me after I left high school,” Sohn said Plum, now working for Bayer pharmaceutical company said that MHS has changed academically but the valedictorian status still holds its worth.

“As mason has grown there’s more Advanced Placement opportunities to get those [higher GPA’s] with those honors and AP courses, there’s obviously more offerings [but] achievement is achievement, it’s all great,” Plum said. photo art by Erica Boden

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 | PAGE 17

Breaking down the band

MHS Band functions as a family unit, despite size and differences

Corynne Hogan | Staff Writer

Through demanding practice hours and sharp, pressure-pounding performances, marching band members have composed a harmony that lies outside of the grand staff.

Senior Allen Meyer, a four year MHS marching band member and a tenor drum player and section leader for drum line, said he has found a place of acceptance in marching band.

“You show up [for marching band] and everyone there is nice [and] accepting of anyone,” Meyer said. “No matter who you are, [marchers are] going to be cool to you and it’s pretty sweet. [We’re 274] family members basically.”

According to senior Jen Eidemiller, a four year MHS marching band member and a current drum major, developing unexpected friendships with different types of people is a marching band norm.

“I’m friends with people I never thought I would be friends with,” Eidemiller said. “[I’m friends with] lacrosse players, drum line people, guard girls. …The more you’re in marching band the more you realize social boundaries don’t matter anymore.

We’re just all in this together.”

Eidemiller said the pressure of marching band plays a vital role in helping construct the bonds marchers have with one another.

“You can’t talk to other people in school

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about it because they don’t understand the labyrinth of marching band,” Eidemiller said. “It’s its own entity. You make connections [through] how the heck…you deal with [the stress]. Then, you make study groups, you make brother-sister bonds and…you have [each other’s] backs. Stress bonds you because you have to rely on the other people you cannot physically do marching band by yourself.”

Despite the grueling practices, most marchers continue to come back each year, according to marching band director Robert Bass.

“From a student’s perspective, [marching band is] a lot of time,” Bass said. “[March-

manders) (field com r jo a m Drum ers -4 memb nt leaders ude -Head st band rding -Conduct ands rega m m o c e play -provid what to , h c r a m where to o and temp

ers] complain about it [but then,] someone will say to them ‘Why don’t you quit?’ [and the marcher says] ‘Oh no, I can’t quit.’

It’s just like being a part of a family—you have your good times and your bad times, but… [we’re] still always close.”

Sophomore color guard member Maddie Drabek said the pressure and hard work that’s come with being in color-guard ultimately has helped grow and mature her.

“There’s days where it’s hot out and we’re sweating and [thirsty], but you’ve got to push through,” Drabeck. “[Color guard] has made me tougher because… when I mess up or whenever…I’m not in my dot… my coach [will] critique me [and]…

tell me I’m wrong. [That] helps me know that I’m not always going to be right.”

Drabeck said marching band has given her a community of friends and sense of support.

“We’re just like this big family,” Drabeck said. “Last year was my first year, so I didn’t know anybody then. … [Colorguard] just helped me transition. I knew who I could talk to if I needed help during school or I knew I could talk to someone if I got overwhelmed. …We’re all girls, so everybody has their moments. [But] we’re still a family at the end of the day.”

Along with finding acceptance, Meyer said that he has become a much more ac-

Percus sio -36 m n em - comp bers osed o f (19 m embers drumline ) ensemb and fr ont le (17 m not pi e m b ers, ctured )

cepting individual. “[Marching band has] definitely changed me quite a bit,” Meyer said. “[I’ve become] more accepting of people. I’m not so quick to judge because as I get to know people, a lot of people have misconceptions that aren’t true.”

As a drum major and head leader in marching band, Eidemiller said marching band has helped her gain a more broad perspective on life.

“You go from watching the drum major on the field to [then] being up high and… [getting] to see everything,” Eidemiller said. “I just love watching people grow into their positions and helping mold them into

the person that they would want to be.”

Eidemiller said that being a marching band member has made a significant impact on who she is today. “[Marching band has] shaped me into an incredibly adaptable person,” Eidemiller said. “I was [a] pretty structured, one way person. I was very blind and ignorant to a lot of life things. And [then] you get thrown into so many people [with] an organization you know nothing about. …

There are so many different personality structures and different people that you have to learn to deal with. You can either accept [them] and grow so much or you can reject [them].”

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Imbalance of the sexes Gender proportions skewed throughout MHS classrooms Katherine Hansen | Staff Writer

William Mason High School’s enrollment is four girls short of being perfectly balanced.

MHS teaches 1670 boys and 1666 girls. Yet despite that near perfect strike of gender balance, many students find themselves in classes significantly imbalanced. The Honors or AP English students are anywhere from 60 to 80 percent girls, whereas regular English students are almost 60 percent boys.

According to junior Alex Hatten, who is currently enrolled in an Honors English course, the reason less boys sign up for advanced English classes is because of the stereotypes the class entails.

“People think more girls take Honors English,” Hatten said. “So guys are scared they are going to be the only guys in there.”

Different classes have long been attracting different responses from boys and girls, most commonly in the elective classes. But now a trend of disproportionate gender ratios in the required but advanced courses, such as Honors English, is occurring.

According to Hatten, more girls enroll in advanced English classes because of genuine interest and the increased difficulty.

“Girls care more about the material in English classes,” Hatten said. “There are more girls that enjoy writing and plus they want to be challenged.”

According to Hatten, gender stereotypes associated with classes go beyond English courses.

Computer Aided Design is commonly believed to be a class for boys.

“CAD is more for guys,” Hatten said. “Not to say it can not be for either gender, it’s just very preconceived to be a guy class.”

CAD students are about only 14.6 percent female. Freshman Casey Bayer is part of that minority. According to Bayer, stereotypes of the class push away the minority gender from signing up.

“CAD is more of a masculine class,” Bayer said.

“People think it is always filled with a bunch of guys so that scares the girls.”

CAD is also a very independent class, according to Bayer, so the significant difference in boys compared to girls doesn’t affect the environment of the class too much, yet there is sometimes still a different feeling when she goes to CAD. “Sometimes I feel more awkward,” Bayer said.

“It’s a very different setting than the rest of my day.”

Although a bit foreign, the imbalance of girls and boys in CAD is worth it, according to Bayer.

“I want to be an engineer,” Bayer said. “So I have this career path I want to follow and CAD helps me with it, even with so few girls.”

Senior Griffin Solimini also picked classes that would advance his hope to be an engineer. According to the AP Physics student, engineering is a dominantly male field, so the classes related to it are likewise.

“I want to be an engineer and if you want to be an engineer you take Physics,” Solimini said. “Engineers are typically more male than female.”

According to Solimini, boys are more attracted to classes like AP Physics due to the math used and active environment of the class.

TOP 10 MALE CLASSES CNC Machining – 100% Advanced PE Electives – 86.1% CAD and CAM Classes - 85.4% Computer Programming/Science Classes -84.8% AP Physics MecElMag - 84.4% AP Calculus BC – 83.1% Backstage/Technical Theater Classes - 76.2% Web Design Classes – 67.2% Accounting/Banking Classes - 67.2% Economics - 62%

“Number crunching and hands-on stuff is more of the guy class stereotype,” Solimini said. “So with labs and working with actual things like motion and force, Physics attracts more guys.”

Yet, Solimini said, the class environment of a male dominant class does affect maturity.

“Being in a class of more boys than girls, well, it is definitely a lot more immature than a balanced class,” Solimini said.

Aside from affecting the atmosphere, the amount of girls and boys can sometimes be more of an advantage to the dominant gender of the class than the minority, according to Hatten. “[In Honors English] teachers tend to go and relate to the girls more, when there is not as many boys in the class,” Hatten said. “The boys do not connect as much.”

But ultimately, the minority gender holds the upper hand in an unbalanced class, according to Hatten.

“The minority gender benefits more because they get so much more insight,” Hatten said. “For the dominant gender it’s like hearing the same thing over and over again.”

According to Solimini, minority genders benefit more, simply because they become a rarity for a bell.

“The minority gender gains more from the imbalance,” Solimini said. “They are a commodity for that class.”

TOP 10 FEMALE CLASSES Yearbook – 100% Teachers Academy Classes – 86.4% ASL Classes – 71.3% Acting Classes – 70.7% Creative Writing I and II – 70.6% French Classes – 69% AP Biology – 64.8% Honors/AP English Classes – 64.2% Visual Arts - 62.7% Best Sellers – 61.9%

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Almost there Adwoni pushes beyond barriers in battle with depression Taylor Telford | Staff Writer

photo by Corynne Hogan

Antidepressant commercials often depict adults suffering from depression. As a result, some people might consider depression as a disease afflicting only adults.

Senior Sommer Adwoni knows otherwise.

Adwoni has been bullied for a great deal of her school career.

Beginning in first grade, she was bullied regarding issues within her family as well as her ethnicity. Later, shortly after she entered high school, Adwoni found herself the victim of bullying yet again. Adwoni said that at this point, she first experienced feelings of depression due to the hopelessness of her situation.

“I was always one of those people who thought that I couldn’t talk to anyone,” Adwoni said. “I thought that it was only going to make things worse. I thought I didn’t have anyone to talk to and that nobody cared.”

It was during this time frame that Adwoni was first diagnosed with clinical depression.

In order to be diagnosed with clinical depression, an individual must meet certain criteria and exhibit a specific number of symptoms over a two week period. They must experience either an extremely depressed mood or loss of interest in activities which they ordinarily enjoy. Also, they must showcase 5 or more of the following symptoms: extreme weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, fatigue, diminished concentration, lack of decision making ability, psychomotor agitation or retardation, feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt, or thoughts of death, according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.

According to Dr. Justus Kam, a clinician at the Lindner Center of Hope located in Mason said that the sources of depression can vary from person to person.

“There are some people who have a genetic predisposition for it- if their family has a history of it then there is a higher likelihood that they are going to experience it,” Kam said. “There can also be things in their life that bring them to that place [of depression]. It can be school, family issues, peers a whole lot of things.”

In Adwoni’s case, the cause of her depression was her issues with bullying and conflicts in school. In an attempt to alleviate her depression, Adwoni was medicated, one of many methods to cure depression. However, in Adwoni’s case, the medication became ineffective.

“My body got so used to [the medication] after a while that it wore off,” Adwoni said. “My body saw it coming every time I took it and it was like I wasn’t even taking medicine.”

As the medication began to fail, Adwoni began to feel the effects of her depression beyond hopelessness and sadness- she started to notice changes in her personality.

“I started doing things I never would’ve normally done,” Adwoni said. “I isolated myself a lot and that is something that you don’t want to do. I wouldn’t hang out with anybody and I would say I didn’t have any friends, which isn’t true- I had a million friends but I always felt like I was alone.”

Sommer Adwoni faces depression, overcoming social and mental ostacles every day.

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Dealing with the setbacks from medication and loneliness, Adwoni said that she went to the park during bouts with depression.

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photo by Corynne Hogan

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Feelings of loneliness and isolation are very common in people who suffer from depression. Furthermore, according to Dr. Kam, they also have difficulty retaining any kind of positive mindset.

“If you are depressed and someone else isn’t, it might take twice as much effort for you to feel good than for the other person might because they are not depressed,” Kam said. “It’s kind of like they are working on a different set of variables than everyone else.”

In the midst of her depression, Adwoni said that she saw no possibility for improvement in her life, and had a generally pessimistic outlook.

“I was always one of those people who thought it was never going to get better and I was going to have to live like this my whole life,” Adwoni said.

Issues with depression began to manifest themselves in other ways, particularly in Adwoni’s school performance. Adwoni said she completely lacked motivation in school, which resulted in her missing 28 days in one trimester.

“Most of the time I would be up front about it and flat out say ‘I’m not going to school today’,” Adwoni said. “Some days if I was in school and didn’t feel like I could handle it I would just walk out. I would never do that now, but last year I had all the confidence in the world just to walk out the doors.”

Her issues with truancy, along with her struggles with depression, peaked when Adwoni skipped school without telling anyone where she was going.

“One time I didn’t show up for school at all

and I drove to the park and just sat around there for a while, and at this point I didn’t even know what I was capable of,” Adwoni said. “Then my phone started blowing up and the police were going through all the classrooms looking for me, because I hadn’t told anyone where I was.”

When Adwoni finally returned home, her parents informed her that she was being taken to the Lindner Center of Hope. Adwoni complied, she said, out of fear for her own safety and a recognition that she needed help.

The Lindner Center of Hope is a care center specializing in mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. It offers a range of programs for patients, including in-patient and outpatient options, as well as group and individual therapy.

Adwoni said that while she had trouble adjusting to Lindner, cooperation proved to be the key to making the most of the programs it provided.

However, Adwoni said that most valuable thing she gained from Lindner was getting an opportunity to see other people facing similar issues and ultimately broadening her own perspective.

“I was sitting there with a bunch of other people who had situations way worse than the one that I was in,” Adwoni said. “There was one person who came in [who goes to Mason] who was extremely popular… it made me realize that anyone could be in this kind of state, where they are in need of help and getting bullied or depressed.”

After witnessing the trials of others, Adwoni said that it made her feel like her personal issues

were not as bad- and that she was capable of helping herself.

“I realized I wasn’t as bad off as I thought I was,” Adowni said. “It made me realized that I want to be able to get better and help people get through what they are dealing with.”

After leaving Lindner and beginning her recovery process, Adwoni said that her drive to fix herself stemmed from the negative impact her issues were having on her family.

“One thing that my mom told me that gave me perspective on the whole things was that she didn’t want my situation to rub off on my siblings.

I tried to change because I didn’t want them to turn out how I did.”

One year later, Adwoni said her life has changed for the better. In hindsight, she said she realized that her behavior and depression caused her to miss out on a lot of key elements of growing up and that she had deprived herself of several aspects of high school life. As a result, Adwoni now has much greater appreciation for everything in her life. The key to this, she said, was understanding that her happiness was in her hands.

“You have to want to get better,” Adwoni said. “I just wanted somebody to tell me that I could turn this around.”

To others who are depressed, victims of bullying, or facing any other kind of adversity, Adwoni has one piece of advice, to be remembered above all else.

“It does get better,” Adwoni said. “It really does.”

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Leaving room on the dance floor

MHS students choose to find alternate ways of dancing at Homecoming Emily Culberson | Staff Writer

Senior Sara Honaker is against the grinding at homecoming and her dislike of the atmosphere is to the point that she stays home the night of the dance.

According to The Washington Post, schools across the nation are cracking down on dirty dancing with policies such as proper dancing quizzes that students must pass, student and parent signed consents of rules and very specific and detailed disciplinary procedures on grinding.

Sophomore Tucker Gibson does not think that Mason High School needs to take such harsh measures, but is still against the concept of grinding.

“I know it is a little bit outdated, but [I like] 30’s 40’s and 50’s dancing,” Gibson said. “I find that a lot more entertaining than just grinding the whole dance.”

MHS junior Kendall Heydt is another teen you won’t see grinding. She thinks it is better to have her partner in line of sight while dancing.

“I have more fun dancing when I’m facing the other person,” Heydt said. “It’s more fun to actually dance than to just drop it low on people.”

Senior Carly Cantor chooses to abstain from grinding and instead likes to stay in big groups and wildly dance to the beat with her friends.

“I think [grinding] is awkward,” Cantor said, “There is nothing appealing about it to me.”

Other high school students believe a school dance is not the appropriate place for grinding.

Sean Newport, MHS sophomore, said teens should not grind at school sponsored events.

“You should know when it is appropriate and when it is not,” Newport said. “At a school sponsored event I don’t think so. Just because [the dance is] still related to school.”

Valerie Strauss, a columnist for The Washington Post, has a theory that some high school girls grind just to get attention from the opposite sex which she states in her article School dances: Another baby boomer failure.

“I agree with [Strauss],” Heydt said. “I [don’t] think everyone [grinds] but I think [girls grind] to make the guys happy. They [hope that] if they grind then maybe they can get the guy’s attention after the dance.”

Even though it may seem like everyone in the crowd is dirty dancing, Heydt says she still rather not grind.

“I don’t want to be like everyone else in that way,” Heydt said.

According to Gibson, the school shouldn’t take anti-grinding measures too far.

“I do [think we should have stricter rules] to a point, but not to the point of having to take a test to allow you to go to homecoming,” Gibson said. “That will just take more fun out of dressing up and going.”

Honaker thinks the school should institute stricter policies if that would stop people from grinding. If the dance floor was not full of students and her peers grinding, she said she would most definitely attend the dance.

“Yes [I would go to homecoming if there was no grinding because] I just want to have fun and just dance crazy and things like that,” Honaker said.

Despite her views on grinding, Cantor said she does not judge or discriminate people if they grind. It is not her job to keep students from dancing in the way they choose.

“If people want to grind then that is their thing,” Cantor said. “I’m not going to try and stop other people from grinding if they want to.” photo by Chloe Knue

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photo contributed

Senior Maria Heiselman competes in various roller sports. After starting out in speed skating, she moved into roller figure skating. Pictured above is Heiselman performaning in her 2011-2012 season during her roller dance competition.

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

race on wheels

Roller skating is passion for one high school girl Meghan Harris | Staff Writer

Whether you’re trying to repress the memory of all your middle school years, or look back with fond memories, we all remember the MI skate parties at Skate Town USA. For Mason senior Maria Heiselman, what started out as a simple skate turned into so much more.

“I first started skating because my dad and I were at Skate Town USA, and my dad saw a brochure for speed skating, because that’s what I first started out doing,” Heiselman said. “And then my [speed skating] coach decided to switch to artistic skating, so I switched too.” “[Artistic roller skating] is pretty much just like figure skating, except it’s on quads, which are skates with two wheels in the front and two wheels in the back,” Heiselman said.

Heiselman competes in four different events: Freshman/ Sophomore C, loop, circle loop, figures and dance. According to Heiselman, in all events skaters are judged on how perfectly they skate on the patterns.

“Figures are three circles [Heiselman said], you have to go around them while staying on the line perfectly,” Heiselman said. “Loops are similar. Dance is a set pattern on the floor that you follow as well.”

According to Heiselman, artistic roller skating competitions work just like most competitions, you are judged on how perfectly you perform.

“For competitions, you go in and there are age groups that you compete in,” Heiselman said. “They call your number and you compete, then you’re judged. After they finish judging, they’ll post the scores. The good scores will be in the 70’s or 80’s. So that’s what you’re aiming for.”

Unlike typical team sports, skaters compete in artistic roller skating alone. And according to Heiselman, the absence a solid team is the most stressful part of her sport.

“Actually competing [is the most stressful part]” Heiselman said. “Getting out there, you’re the only one competing. You have no one else to fall back on.”

Although artistic roller skating isn’t a popular sport here at MHS, Heiselman says she has a lot of competition. “[Artistic roller skating] is pretty competitive,” Heiselman said. “It’s split off into different age groups, but my division’s really competitive.”

Because Heiselman competes for Loveland Castles, she does not compete with any other Mason students.

Heiselman said it doesn’t bother her and she has made many close friends through her experience.

“On my old team I made a lot of really close friends,” Heiselman said. “And my new coach and I are really close as well.”

Along with her teammates and coach, Heiselman said her friends are her biggest supporters.

“My friends are very supportive,” Heiselman said.

“They all think it’s really cool.”

Like any sport, artistic roller skating isn’t easy, Heiselman said. According to Heiselman, the hardest thing she’s dealt with in her career has been switching coaches.

“My new coach is the total opposite of my old coach, so that was a hard transition,” Heiselman said.

But the hours of practice have paid off; Heiselman is a three time national champion. Hieselman most recently medalled third in her division at the 2012 USARS National Championship. “[Being nationally ranked] feels amazing,” Heiselman said. “It feels really good. It boosted up my confidence a lot, because I really didn’t think that I was that good, but I’m obviously doing something right.”

Although artistic roller skating is something she enjoys, Heiselman said her classes will be her number one priority while she attends college.

“Yeah, I think I’ll still skate in college,” Heiselman said. “I might have to not skate as much because of classes, but I’ll definitely still skate. I may not compete, but I’ll definitely still skate.”

Heiselman said she’s learned a lot from artistic roller skating, but the biggest lesson she’s taken away is confidence.

“My confidence has gone up a lot,” Heiselman said.

“I’ve really grown into myself, and learned not to care what other people think.”

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Person of Interest Seniors’ efforts go global with Marte Sekse, Senior

‘Charitable Innovations’

Aarti Kumar and Noah Zelkind participate in a non-profit micro-finance corporation Sheila Raghavendran | Staff Writer

She has moved from a school of 800 in Bergen, Norway to come to school at Mason High School.

Quick Facts

Hometown: Bergen, Norway Height: 6’ Favorite Color: Blue Middle Name: Vaagenes Must-See TV Show: One Tree Hill Most prized possesion: Guitar Favorite Sport: Dance Place You’d like to Live: Australia Why did you move here from Norway?

“My traveling agency said I could choose from places and I chose America. My sister went to Wisconsin three years ago and she had the most amazing time in her life. So I was like ‘Oh, I want to do that too!’ Over the last two years I’ve been thinking about [studying in America] and filling out applications. I live with a host family. Technically, it’s a school program. I traveled with AFS, it does everything, including providing me with my host family.”

How is Mason similar and different to Norway?

“Mason is mostly houses and families and living area; there are many workplaces. Where I’m [from] there’s a lot of families and schools everywhere, so in that way, they’re the same.

It’s different because the public transportation here is terrible! In Bergen, I took the bus every day, and I couldn’t get a driver’s license until [age] eighteen. So with the bus you could go downtown and you could be very independent.” compiled by Katie Hibner

Mason High School seniors Noah Zelkind and Aarti Kumar have reached across the globe to lend helping-hands to people in need.

Zelkind and Kumar are part of the nonprofit micro-finance organization, Charitable Innovations, which doubles the usage of every dollar collected.

Throughout its seven months of operation, Charitable Innovations has processed $4,275 worth of loans in twenty-two countries. “[Charitable Innovations] collect[s] money from organizations [planning] to give money to [charities] anyway, and loan[s] it to small-business owners in impoverished countries,” Zelkind said. “Then, they [pay back the loan] and we give [the money] to whatever charity it was intended for.”

Charitable Innovations is different from other organizations because of its world-wide extension, according to Kumar, but it also works closely with Kiva, a large micro-finance organization based in San Francisco. “[Charitable Innovations processes the loans] through Kiva, that way it’s more legitimate,” Zelkind said.

Watching small, low-interest loans make huge positive influences on lives has been an eye-opener, according to Zelkind.

“It’s such a smaller scale [in third-world countries]; the dollar is worth much more money,” Zelkind said.

Zelkind and Kumar said they are trying to popularize the organization to make sure it continues after its current members graduate high school.

“We’re trying to recruit [underclassmen] to keep [the organization active],” Zelkind said.

Kumar said she shares the same goal: she wants people with a vision for Charitable Innovations’ future to join.

“We need [people who have] a motivation to take this organization somewhere,” Kumar said.

Zelkind said students can join through CharitableInnovations.org, or attend one of the organization’s events.

Zelkind said he is encouraged to find people to join because of the effect the organization has

photo art by Erica Boden

on lives.

“Every loan could help a starting business or people out of poverty,” Zelkind said.

While Zelkind and Kumar prepare Charitable Innovations for its future, they are also thinking about their own paths.

“I want to go to [medical] school, but [Charitable Innovations] has veered me [by] pointing out that I am good at networking and communications,” Kumar said.

Zelkind said he is interested in an economics major -- partly influenced by Charitable Innovations.

“The more I get involved with Charitable Innovations, the more I get interested in economics,” Zelkind said.

Subsequent to college, Kumar said she envisions herself with skills shaped by Charitable Innovations.

“I want to start something nonprofit [like Charitable Innovations to] help [people] economically,” Kumar said.

Zelkind said he hopes his experience with Charitable Innovations will help secure a job at the top of the corporate hierarchy.

“It’s my goal to end up [in a high-corporate position at] some point,” Zelkind said. “[Getting] a taste of that now is really cool.”

Not only does Zelkind think Charitable Innovations is cool, he and Kumar said they are part of it to put their handprint on the world. “[I’m helping the world]; that’s why I’m doing this,” Zelkind said. “A little bit at a time, I am [changing the world].”

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

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Sports

FOUL

PLAY

Water polo referees oblivious to underwater violence photo by Corynne Hogan

Erin Brush | Staff Writer

B

lood in the water isn’t an unusual sight for Mason water polo players. Each game the athletes endure kicking, pulling, pinching, and clawing as they battle for the ball. According to head coach Mark Sullivan, what separates water polo from other contact sports is the water element.

“The game is unique because so much of the brutality and fouling is under the surface of the water where the official can’t see it,” Sullivan said.

“On land, your referee can see everything that’s going on, but underwater you can’t. That makes a big difference.”

Focus players such as junior Megan Wolf, who plays “hole”, the center offensive position, typically get hit the hardest. Wolf is constantly battling the opposing defense, and fouling isn’t a rare occurrence.

“Referees miss a lot that happens, especially underwater and that’s what you really have to take

advantage of, the underwater fouling,” Wolf said.

“It’s really hard for the referee to see, a lot of times you have to add the dramatics to make them see that you’re getting pulled on.”

Water polo athletes have learned to use this aspect of the game to their benefit. According to senior Drew Manguiat, the athletes are taught how to manipulate

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C What

you

Missed

Varsity Football On Friday the 21st, the Comets football team defeated Hamilton 35 to 14 at home. Sophomore quarterback Rodney Hutchinson ran for two touchdowns and passed for two touchdowns. Mason will play Colerain tonight at home. According to junior Joey Thomas, “I expect a good game,” Thomas said. “We have been prepping hard all week.”

Boys’ Varsity Soccer Last Saturday the Mason boys’ soccer team beat Milford 6-0. Mason leads the GMC with a 5-0-0 record. Junior Jack Clark, also leads the conference with 13 goals and 8 assists.

C Quick Hitters Girls’ Cross Country Third at Culver Invite The girls’ varsity cross country team placed third at the Culver Invitaional in Culver, IN on September 22. Senior Lauren Wood was first for the team with a time of 18:34.7 and a 14th place finish.

Girls’ Soccer Undeafeated Girls’ varsity soccer is first place in the GMC and undefeated in both conference and overall play with a record of 5-0-0 in the GMC and an overall record of 10-0-0 as of September 22.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Continued from page 27 the referee. If the team needs a foul, they allow themselves to be fouled. If they need the play to continue, they do their best to prevent fouls.

It’s not surprising that all of this fouling inevitably leads to injuries. Most are minor, like bloody noses, scratches, and bruises, but occasionally there are serious injuries.

“The worst kind [of contact] is the accidental stuff. If you’re changing directions and you accidentally catch someone with your foot, it can leave a nasty cut or bruise,” Manguiat said. He has suffered a concussion and fractured ribs from inadvertent contact such as this.

“You don’t mean to do it, but you get elbows to the face a lot,” Wolf said. “I get elbowed a lot in the face, or kicked in the stomach, that’s another bad one because it throws you off for a minute.”

On the other hand, not all nastiness is purely accidental. According to Wolf, some teams in the past have filed their fingernails to a point in order to better claw their opponents. That’s why the womans’ officials now must conduct a “nail check” before each game.

According to Sullivan, the women can be just as violent as the men. Unlike sports such as lacrosse, the rules of contact are the same for both genders in water polo.

“Women aren’t always used to the physical play like the males are, males are used it just by growing up, so the first year they get a little jittery,” Sullivan said. “But the girls have more body. They can be just as aggressive.”

While the Mason teams aren’t the nastiest in the area according to Manguiat and Wolf, they dish out their fair share of aggressive play.

“We push it to the point where it almost crosses unsportsmanlike,” Sullivan said. “I don’t teach brutality, but you have to push the rules to whatever the official photos by Sam Weaver and Corynne Hogan will allow and whatever you think will be allowed.

Under the Surface: Underwater tactics in water polo That’s part of water polo.” include clawing, punching, kicking and pinching.

C The Numbers

646 Sophomore quarterback Rodney Hutchinson, leads the GMC conference in passing yards with a total of 646.

25 Senior girls’ varsity soccer player Jami Pfeifer is second in the GMC with 25 points. Points are a combination of goals and assists.

3 Three of the top ten scorers for boys soccer in the GMC conference are seniors Connor Bauer and Noah Zelkind and junior Jack Clark. Clark leads the league with 10 goals as of September 22.

1

16:12.00

The boys’ and the girls’ golf team are number one in the GMC after winning the GMC championship at Weatherwax golf course.

Junior cross country runner Tom Clark has the fourth fastest time in the GMC conference with a 16:12.00 at the National Trails State Preview meet.

results as of September 22

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Fasting For Faith

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Runner Aminah Baig fasts during a long and hot cross country season

Chloe Knue | Associate Editor

Freshman cross country runner Aminah Baig can- she wanted to continue in cross country while observing fasting during Ramadan. She wanted to not eat or drink the entire day during Ramadan. balance her faith and continue with an activity she “Everyone asks,” Aminah said. “Why am I not enjoys greatly. She wanted to prove to folks around drinking water [at practice]? Why am I not wearing her and most importantly to herself that the hushorts? Why am I wearing pants? Why am I not man body is capable of amazing things. Hunger and eating lunch? People assume that it’s medical and thirst are a state of mind that can be overcome.” that I’m starving myself...”

On top of fasting, Aminah, as a Muslim can only Aminah is Muslim. While celebrating Ramadan participate in cross country if she covers her body. which this year overlapped with cross country That means enduring tough summer conditioning season, she wakes up at four a.m. to eat a big breakin pants. fast. She then goes the whole day without eating or “It is to be modest and cover drinking including while at practice.

“When I am running it can be myself,” Aminah said. “I am protecting myself from harm “I fast because of frustrating,” Aminah said. “I and bad people who might look my religion,” Aminah said. “Ramadan want to push myself harder but and see and get the wrong idea. is a month where I have been instructed not to Not everyone’s mind is clean and pure. On meet day I wear you have to cleanse because I’m fasting.” my jersey with a long sleeve yourself, purify shirt and black, long tights yourself internally under my running shorts.” and externally, so you are not just starving yourself Although Aminah is open about her religion she from food, you are refraining yourself from doing said her uniqueness does not go unnoticed. bad things, like talking behind other peoples backs.

“It can get hard,” Baig said. “I get asked a lot and Ramadan is about doing good deeds.” sometimes people will not drop the subject.”

According to Aminah, not eating does take a Baig said that being Muslim makes participatphysical toll because her early mornings and the ing in cross country more challenging, but her amount of running she does. teammates are always there to pick her up and she “When I am running it can be frustrating,” Amiconsiders her team as a second family. nah said. “I want to push myself harder but I have “The cross country team is amazing,” Baig said. “... been instructed not to because I’m fasting. Some[My teammates] are caring, supportive, and enertimes my body does not want to run because I have no energy. But Ramadan teaches me to control my- getic.”

Aminah said her religion will always come before self and not get angry in life and in [cross country].” cross country, and she said she advises other muslim Even her parents advised Aminah to discontinue her participation in cross country during the month athletes to not falter in their beliefs.

“You have to be strong, stick to your beliefs and of Ramadan according to her father, Saleem Baig. stay true to yourself,” Aminah said.

“She had different ideas,” Saleem said. “She said photo by Erica Boden

Chloe Knue | Associate Editor The Red’s youth is going to keep them from winning the World Series this year. The team is young and inexperienced. The playoffs are a totally different ball game than regular season. Post season comes with more pressure and they’re going to face better pitching every game. We have to keep in mind the Red’s haven’t won anything yet. We also have to ask ourselves if Joey Votto is where he was last year, coming off the injury…I say no.

C Trading Punches After winning the Central Divison, the Cincinnati Reds are the first major league team to clinch a spot in the playoffs, so does this mean this is the Reds’ year?

Or is that speaking too soon?

Katelyn Cain | Sports Editor I’m not just saying this because Cincinnati is my team, but I don’t think it’s speaking too soon to say that this is the Reds’ year. They’ve got one of the best records in baseball and a Central Division Championship under their belt, and although some would say that that doesn’t mean anything going into the post season, I think they can take that momentum forward into the playoffs.

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

In the trenches: the unrecognized warriors of the comet football team are seniors Elijah Nkansah, Adam Quick, Brian Beckstedt, junior Andrew Lucke and sophomore Jordan Fair.

photos by Spencer Hogan

ALL GUTS, NO GLORY Katelyn Cain | Sports Editor

Offensive lineman revel in the in the accomplishment of others

You will never hear an offensive lineman’s name bellowed out over the loudspeaker at Dwire Field.

You will rarely hear a lineman mentioned unless spectators are cursing them for not opening holes for running backs or protecting the quarterback from an onslaught of rushers.

For players on Mason’s offensive line, their glory comes when they see senior running back Darryl Johnson sprinting toward the endzone for a touchdown, or watching sophomore quarterback Rodney Hutchinson come of age as he completes a perfect spiral downfield to an open receiver for six.

After losing an experienced offensive line to graduation, head coach Brian Castner had to turn to a group of players who had never played together.

It was a risky move but now it appears Castner’s gamble is paying off.

The Comets are averaging 20 points a game and are racking up over 300 yards of offense behind the line play of seniors Elijah Nkansah, Adam Quick, Brian Beckstedt, junior Andrew Lucke and sophomore Jordan Fair. After losing all five starters from last year Castner knew it was going to be a challenge to fill their shoes but now at the mid-season mark it appears this group is finally starting to develop some chemistry and consistency. According to Castner, this special group of athletes are willing to pay the price in the trenches even though they don’t get any

headlines or announcements over the loud speaker.

“We knew we were losing five starters [from last year] and we knew that we had to make a very competitive environment to find out who were the five guys who were willing to step up every Friday night to lead our offensive unit,” Castner said. “It’s a big challenge for anybody because you’re in the trenches, you’re fighting, you’re pushing, you’re clawing, you’re doing all of those things and it’s not a high recognized position, but it’s a special posi­tion.”

After struggling to find consistency to begin the season, the Comet line could have easily made excuses, but senior Adam Quick was quick to point out that this group, who had no previous varsity line experience, knew that in order to get the job done for the team they needed to play with confidence. “[This] year we’ve had some young guys on the offensive line but none of us coming into this year [had] ever started [on the offensive line] on Friday nights but at this point…into the season there is no excuse for playing [bad] because of [inexperience],” Quick said. “But now, [to play well] I think it’s just a matter of us executing and having confidence on the line.”

With inexperience comes inconsistency, and according to offensive line coach Paul Barry, the key to fixing this is cohesiveness as a line.

“The [offensive line] has to get on the same page,

work together and be­come one cohesive unit,” Barry said. “One of the things we’re working on is controlling the little things, like [the] first step, angles, eyes and communica­tion. If they continue do those things, the better [they’ll] get at them.”

This past weekend in their 35-14 win over Hamilton that became evident as the line helped pave the way for Johnson to rack up 182 yards on the ground while Hutchinson went for 260 yards in the air.

According to Castner, wins like this with a young offensive line come through perseverance.

“As far as our offensive linemen are concerned, [is for them] to persevere through the hard times so they can continue to get better each day,” Castner said. “A lot of times when [there’s] a young man stepping into a bigger role they get frustrated easier so it’s harder [for them] to stay up with the rest of the team.”

Senior captian Elijah Nkansah said that in order to pursue success with an inex­perienced offensive line, the biggest step is leadership.

“All of the offensive linemen including myself need to be more of a leader in practice and take initiative of [our] performance in games,” Nkansah said.

“That’s how we’re going to get better.”

--Staff Writer Spencer Hogan contributed to this article

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