The Chronicle, 7.4

PAGE 2 | NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

photo by Kris Ogungbemi

Organic vegetables, often purchased in attempts to eat healthier, at Deerfield Towne Centre’s Whole Foods cost significantly more than vegetables at conventional grocery stores.

Costs of nutritious eating rising Kris Ogungbemi | Staff Writer The price of produce is rising faster than inflation while the prices of junk food fall, according to the Reuters Health Group.

Josh DiGirolamo, an employee at Whole Foods in Cincinnati, says that healthy foods are more expensive because the trip from the farm to the store requires an abandonment of dangerous pesticides and herbicides.

“Conventional farmers don’t have to worry as much about issues dealing with pests, herbicides and fertilizers,” DiGirolamo said. “[Conventional farmers] are not certified organic and therefore are able to use any approved pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer or genetically modified plant strain.”

DiGirolamo says that the more thorough and healthful treatment of the organic food results in slightly higher prices. “[These complicated processes translate] to the consumer who pays a slightly higher price for goods made without any conventional materials,” DiGirolamo said.

Senior Cydnee Oglesby has been a vegetarian for three years, and the physical benefits that are reaped help to maintain her healthy eating lifestyle.

“I feel better,” Oglesby said. “I’ve been a vegetarian for three years now. When I first did it, I started losing weight because I’d work out as well. I really started seeing a change and I just wanted to stay that way.”

Specific standards require organic food to be of the utmost quality and ensure that the customers, like Oglesby, receive the label they pay for.

“The best quality products are organic,” DiGirolamo said. “Not only are these products made from only natural ingredients, they also must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients, and this assures the consumer that the product is of the highest quality.”

Oglesby says that though there are higher prices for healthy foods, the sacrifice is worth it.

“My food costs about double the price of the regular food my family eats,” Oglesby said. “But it’s worth it to me.”

According to Oglesby, being healthy requires a change in routine and way of life rather than a quick fix. Oglesby said her desire to avoid diseases common to her family helps her continue to eat healthily.

“For me [healthy eating] is a lifestyle,” Oglesby said. “I just feel that with all the disease that runs in my family, like heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes -- I just [don’t] want to be a part of that.”

OBESITY: School tries to encourage healthy choices continued from page 1 “[It shows] that there is some hope in finding a better way to live your life…to save your life,” Hennig said.

Although Hennig said he admits that some aspects of his story, such as the lives of his friends, were tweaked by the authors so more kids would be able to relate to it, he said he appreciates the accuracy between Winterpock’s weight-loss struggles and his own; he said it gave a “pretty fair description” of his adolescence.

Like Winterpock, Hennig said he was the subject of weight-related bullying in his years at Mason. “[I was bullied] in the locker room constantly [about] my chest and my belly,” Hennig said. “I couldn’t do any chin-ups or pushups at all, and [kids] would always say, ‘Hey, you belong in the other locker room.’”

Hennig also said he cites outof-school soccer practices as grounds for image-based teasing. “[Once, at recreational] soccer practice, we were scrimmaging [and we divided ourselves between shirts and skins],” Hennig said. “I ended up being on the skins team, so I [took] my shirt off, and the kids on my team immediately started giving me stares and pointing. Once I took my shirt off, [friendship] didn’t matter anymore, and kids just openly made fun of me.”

Senior Nikki Kehres said that in-school bullying of overweight students happens as well, but in a more subtle form than outright name-calling.

“Normally, what I see [at] school really makes me mad,” Kehres said. “When someone is a little different or a little unique, there’s normally a group…that will hone in on that person. Every time [the person] talk[s], every time they move, walk into class or open their mouth, there’s always a joke to crack. There’s always something mean to say.”

Kehres said she believes the way to correct this bullying problem lies in the power of the students, not the administrators.

“I think the students need to make a conscious effort if they see something going on; they need to step in and say something,” Kehres said.

But according to Hennig, Mason schools are doing the best they can to prevent bullying, considering the amounts of students.

“Mason has a lot of those kids

who don’t say anything [about bullying], so there’s not as much individual attention,” Hennig said.

“I think Mason has done a good job of identifying the bullying, [given the size of the district, but] it’s just going to take a lot of effort from peers [to stop the teasing].”

Although he said the school didn’t always intervene in his bullying situation, Hennig said the district isn’t at fault for everything -- the snack choices offered in school cafeterias, which, when eaten in excess, can help to lead to overweight students, aren’t something for which the district should be reprimanded. He said he condones the food service’s lunch options, even though they aren’t always nutritionally preferable.

“I think the café offers [healthy] options, but there’s a great temptation to get pizza or tacos every day,” Hennig said. “[The district] needs to implement something that would actually make kids eat a little bit healthily.”

Although Hennig said the district isn’t applying as many nutrition regimens as it should, Health and Independent Living and Wellness teacher Stephanie Brittingham said she thinks the district is making progressive steps to fight obesity at the high school level.

“I feel that Mason High School has always been proactive in fighting obesity, and in recent years [it’s] been a lot more effective,” Brittingham said. “You see even more healthy choices in the cafeteria being offered; it’s not just the fried food anymore. They have all those healthy side dishes and options that are available to you.”

Clark said, however, that the unhealthy options are still present. “[The school’s effectiveness at serving nutritional options is] not great; it’s all right,” Clark said.

“They give the healthy options, but they give just as many unhealthy options.”

According to Assistant Supervisor of Food Service Tamara Earl, who plans the lunch menu, the focus on healthy options in Mason cafeterias will be targeted more in the future. “[There will be a] continued and growing emphasis on whole grains, a consciousness about sodium content and a [stress] on portion control [in upcoming meal plans],” Earl said.

Earl said the Food Service

department has started its trek through conquering these objectives already.

“The [sizes of the] ice cream [portions] have changed dramatically [from large to small],” Earl said. “[And we use the] SnackWise Program [to] analyze a lot of products, only putting things out evaluated by this program.”

The SnackWise Program, a computer system that evaluates the nutritional content of foods, suggests food departments in schools “establish the ratio [of snack options available to students] as 30 percent green (best choice), 55 percent yellow (choose occasionally), and 15 percent red (choose rarely).” But the SnackWise Program isn’t the only deciding factor the school district uses to make nutritional choices for Mason, according to Earl. She said the district also relies on the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which “provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day,” so all students under the plan are given the opportunity to make healthy eating choices. The program was established by President Harry Truman in 1946 under the National School Lunch Act, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service.

According to Reeder, all this food reform can be advantageous to students’ futures, but the unhealthy options offered in school cafeterias can be beneficial to students as well. He said the variety of food options offered to students at Mason is a good thing, because it forces them to make educated choices about what they eat. “[Not all the pressure] should be on the school to force [students] into this fake world of healthful choices,” Reeder said. “[It gives students] the option to say, ‘No,’ [which is something they’ll] need in the real world.”

Reeder said that the online food service, a segment of the district website which allows parents to view what their child has been purchasing, places more responsibility on parents to control their child’s nutrition.

“Parents [can] check to see what their students are buying -the school is trying to get parents involved, so they can check up on their children,” Reeder said.

But according to Earl, the primary focus for the lunch program this year is to offer nutritious

options, not to target obesity or to make sure parents are checking in on their children.

“We are not targeting obesity as much as we’re targeting overall nutrition criteria [we need] to meet,” Earl said.

Brittingham said that this aim to remedy student nutrition is going to result in new courses for the upcoming school year.

“Physical Education is going to change a little bit; instead of doing just general PE classes, we’re going to be doing what’s called Fit for Life,” Brittingham said. “That [is] a PE class that involves being physically active in the gym, but also going and learning how to use weight machines and using the pool and a lot of different resources instead of just staying in the Field House for PE. It also includes a day in the classroom where [students] will be learning about fitness and nutrition.”

Brittingham said that in addition to advocating district choices to encourage healthy student lifestyles, she tries to take steps to subconsciously encourage her students to make better nutritional decisions.

“I’m eating an apple -- I’ll try to do that during class to make [my students] see me eating healthily,” Brittingham said. “I mean, realistically, that’s a challenge for every person to try to be healthy 24/7. Personally…coaching helps me stay active, and I guess that’s something I try to do to educate [my students] -- just show them by my experiences, because I’ve run marathons before and I’ve participated in [other athletic] events.”

Although Brittingham said conquering student obesity is a huge challenge right now, and the Health Department is going to have to take a lot more steps to win that battle, she said she hasn’t seen much image-related bullying in her teaching experience.

“This was the first year that I talked to my students about bullying that goes on in school and what kind of things they see,” Brittingham said. “I got a pretty positive response from students: they said they don’t see a lot of bullying go on. I’m sure bullying [happens] everywhere, but I’m very proud to say that I have not seen much of it here at Mason High School. [That] doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, but I haven’t seen it going on in a classroom.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

NEWS | PAGE 3

New technology implemented to prepare students for future McKinnon has been utilizing Wikispace, an online forum for classroom discussion, in her teaching for In an increasingly high-tech world, being adaptable the past two years. According to McKinnon, Wikito ever-changing technological advances has become space takes away the time pressures of an in-class essential. In order to equip its students with these discussion by allowing students to respond to each skills, Mason High School has been implementing the other’s opinions via an online thread. latest technology in its classrooms.

Senior Angela Ianniello, who is currently taking AP According to MHS Instructional Technology SpecialMulticultural Literature, said she thinks Wikispace is ist Byron Walton, the Mason City School District beneficial to MHS students because it promotes acstrives to be on the cutting-edge of technology in cessibility to a wired generation. education. “[Wikispace is] comfortable for most of us to use, “We have been able to pride ourselves on bebecause technology is how we like to express our ing able to try to be on top of all the technological thoughts,” Ianniello said. “It’s definitely something advances in education over the years,” Walton said. that might interest us more than writing our thoughts “Through continual research from our technology curdown on paper in a traditional form.” riculum coordinator and our integration specialist, we Although Ianniello said she would prefer to speak will continue to examine new, fresh software applicato her classmates in a face-to-face discussion, she tions that are applicable to our curriculum.” recognizes that the inclusion of new technology like In recent years, Walton said MHS has incorporated Wikispace in MHS classrooms will help prepare stumultiple new technologies into its classrooms, includdents for their futures. ing the SMART Board AirLiner, Audacity, the Sanako McKinnon said that in order to teach students the Language Lab, SMART Response clickers and Flip necessary skills for working in a technological world, photo by Rachel Schowalter teachers must learn how to use new technology.

Video digital camcorders. According to Walton, many An abundance of overhead projectors lay dormant in a storage room of Mason High of these new additions are initially challenging for “It’s hard to let go of [traditional teaching pracSchool’s library, evidence of the transition to updated technology. teachers to learn. Despite the troubleshooting that tices],” McKinnon said. “But, if we’re preparing them features of the AirLiner and its note-taking capabilities. In adarises from new equipment, Walton said the introfor a workforce that is technologically savvy, it’s our dition, Venkatesh said the AirLiner is helping students adapt to duction of new technology into the classroom helps teachers responsibility to train them how to use those different skills.” ever-changing technology. focus more on how they teach than grading papers.

AP Physics teacher Diana Messer said she also believes that “If we’re stuck with the old technology, the next generation “Educational technology is really allowing the teacher to be learning how to use new equipment in her classroom will help won’t learn anything new either,” Venkatesh said. “We have to able to teach,” Walton said. “It takes them away from having students become more flexible with technology in the future. go with the flow of what’s happening because it will just keep to spend so much time grading and doing paperwork so they “Everything is changing, so [we] have to be adaptable,” getting better and better.” can focus more on education.”

Messer said. “Learning to incorporate [new technology] into Roach said he is using the latest technology in his classroom Honors Pre-Calculus and Algebra I teacher Greg Roach said my classroom is helping that.” not only to remain up-to-date on technological advances, but the SMART AirLiner, a device he uses in his classroom, is able Messer said that the labs her students perform often use because he believes that it teaches students how to communito benefit both his teaching and his students’ learning. The updated equipment such as probes, motion detectors and magAirLiner, more commonly known as the SMART Board, is a wire- cate well with others. netic field and light sensors. According to Messer, the technol“You can be really smart, but if you can’t say it, write it, less slate that allows teachers to write notes that automatically ogy allows students to become more familiar with new gadgets express it or show it somehow, it doesn’t mean much,” Roach appear on both the computer and projection screen. so they will be well-versed in lab equipment by the time they “The one aspect of the AirLiner that helps the most in student said. “This constant stream of tech into the classroom hopereach their senior year. fully exposes kids to different ways to communicate.” learning is being able to save my notes for the day in .pdf form Walton said that he hopes the technological education MaAP Multicultural Literature teacher Meg McKinnon said the and export them into Edline,” Roach said. “[But], most of the son students receive will not only help them throughout high use of new technology in education is essential to improving real benefit comes actually from the software that goes with school, but also in their higher education and careers. this communication amongst students, which, in the 21st centhe Airliner, [which includes] ready-made graphs and interac“[Technology] is not going away anytime soon,” Walton said. tury, McKinnon said is often in electronic rather than hardcopy tive function transformations.”

“We want to equip you with the knowledge so it does not format.

Freshman Arjun Venkatesh said that he appreciates the swift become a distraction to your education.”

Rachel Schowalter | Associate Editor

Financial Literacy course District awarded for green efforts included for class of 2014 Danni Simms | Staff Writer

Alyssa Howard | Editor in Chief The implementation of a Financial Literacy course, which will take the place of ECA-B, is mandated for next year’s incoming class of 2014, according to the Ohio Department of Education. Known as “the ability to read, analyze, manage and communicate about the personal financial conditions that affect material well-being,” financial literacy is being emphasized as part of the state’s focus on a new technological skill set, according to ECA-B and Speech and Debate teacher Melissa Donahue.

“This is primarily based upon the changes in the State of Ohio and the introduction of all the 21st century skills that they have to incorporate into our curriculum,” Donahue said. “[The Financial Literacy course] is basically going to take the place of the sophomore level, ECA-B. Starting next year, ECA-A will become ECA in general.”

Donahue said that she is currently working with other teachers in the department to consolidate the A and B sections into a course that maintains exposure to the same skills as the two courses traditionally have.

“We are looking at taking some of the current ECA-B presentations and putting them back in ECA-A,” Donahue said. “The hard part is figuring out what to do with two classes that you have to make into one. You’re not going to be able to put all the presentations into it. So, myself, along with the other speech teachers for ECA, we’ve been meeting during curriculum time and department meetings and [we figured out] what this new ECA is going to look like.”

Although the classes are similar in the skills emphasized, Donahue said the process of creating one ECA class has been complicated by the differences in level between the freshman and sophomore year components.

“ECA-B is a class that builds upon the foundational skills; that’s really what it boils down to,” Donahue said. “You learn the basic foundation during ECA-A. You learn all of the basics of giving a presentation….And then going into ECA-B, we talk about that as more of an applications course. We apply what the

students already know with ECA-A, and we go on to bigger and better things with it. That’s where we get into the elaborate ad campaign; we do a full-fledged policy debate.”

Beyond the distinct objectives of the classes, the different academic levels of freshman and sophomore years must also be considered, according to Donahue. As a result of these discrepancies, Donahue said she’s worried that some of the more application-oriented skills will not be able to be included in the new ECA class.

“There’s that progression from freshman year to sophomore year, too, which is important,” Donahue said. “You can’t expect everything in ECA-B to happen on a foundational level. I’m afraid that some of those important skills are going to be lost or will slip through the cracks.”

Among the skills that students glean from ECA-B, Donahue said that she emphasizes the group element of the course as a primary teaching tool.

“I think [students] really take away collaboration skills, working with others, being a team player, being able to pitch in and collaborate on projects to get the job done,” Donahue said. “We’re teaching them that they have to find that balance; not everyone might have the same skills that they have or might not have the same work ethic. It’s figuring out how to work with others in order to make that happen. That’s easily going to happen at the college level as well as at the workplace someday. You have to be able to work with others.

You have to be able to communicate with not only your superiors, but other coworkers.”

As the ECA courses are merged, Donahue said she laments the inability of the course to include all of the enriching components of ECA-B. “Hopefully, [with the new ECA curriculum] we can at least touch on all the different elements that we had before,” Donahue said. “I just don’t think we’re going to be able to go into as much depth with it as we were in ECAB, which to some students, that’s okay. But, I think it could potentially do a disservice to students in some regard.”

just to light up the product,” Lehr said. “To run just the lighting alone it’s $40 per machine per year. So, in this building, that could be hundreds of dollars [saved], maybe even thousands of dollars in the district, just to turn off the lights from the vending machines.”

New methods to be environmentally friendly at the high school include lights in the Z-pod that turn on when motion is detected in the room, as well as the reduction of emergency lighting, which are the lights that stay on after school, according to Lehr.

According to Lehr, another change at the high school that has resulted in significant amounts of saved energy and money is the regulation of the temperature in the school.

Lehr said that if the inside temperature of the building is close to the outside temperature, less money and energy is spent.

Lehr said students will be affected not only by the temperature change, but other new efforts to be green will reach students this year.

“Some homerooms this year [will show] videos to try to help people understand our impact on this earth, to make sure that people [know] how to recycle and are [wanting] to recycle,” Lehr said.

Though some efforts to become green are fairly new, Lehr said that a lot has been accomplished in a small amount of time.

“The Green Team [started] at the end of last year, so we’ve met [only] a few times as a district,” Lehr said. “But a million dollars saved is quite impressive. We’re just trying to create a sustainable school and be responsible with what we use.”

Efforts to become energy efficient have allowed the Mason City School District to save almost a million dollars in one year, according to Mason High School Biology and Environmental Science teacher Charity Lehr.

According to Lehr, one of the larger efforts to conserve energy was made when an innovative refrigeration cooling system was installed in the new wing of the school.

“At night, [the machine] makes a lot of ice,” Lehr said. “When it’s hot outside, instead of having to run the air conditioner all day, a fan blows over the ice that was made at night to help cool the building during the day. It’s offsetting some of the energy that we’re using during peak hours.”

The cooling system resulted in the school district receiving the “Trane Energy Efficiency Leader in Education Award,” due to reduced energy consumption that the refrigeration has caused. According to Trane.com, Trane is a company that, in addition to being a leader in air conditioning systems on a global scale, is dedicated to the advancement of energy efficiency around the world.

The installation of the refrigeration cooling system is due to a district-wide effort to become greener, according to Lehr. At the end of last year, Lehr said that Assistant Principal Tim Keeton asked her if she wanted to join a group called the Green Team. Lehr said that she and Words from the Wild and English III teacher Tim King were approached because she is the adviser for the Go Green Club and King’s classes are responsible for recycling throughout MHS. “Essentially, [the Green Team] is a group of teachers and administrators from the entire district that meets once a month and talks about ideas that people from [each] building have about how [to be] environmentally friendly, energy efficient and cost effective” Lehr said.

Though Keeton, King and Lehr are the only people who work at the high school that attend the district meetings, Lehr said that a lot of teachers and administrators are also a part of the effort.

“I just had a teacher bring to [my] atphoto by Danni Simms tention that [the school] has all of these After closing, the school gets dark: only a few emervending machines and the lighting is purely gency lights stay on in efforts to save energy.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

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THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

NEWS | PAGE 5

Hopeful valedictorians bolster their GPAs Competition escalates in the last months of the second trimester

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honors eighth grade students Amulya Joseph, Austin Harden and Jacob Damge said they haven’t even thought about pursuing a valedictorian rank yet -- it’s too early. Harden said that though the straight-A high school career is a challenge, valedictorians pursue it because of their self-motivational mindset. “[Valedictorians] have a competitive nature and a drive to be the best,” Harden said.

to a

Not just anyone can become valedictorian anymore, according to honors-level teachers at Mason High School. As this annual contest approaches its finish (the last day of second trimester), the love for learning in students competes with the drive to be the best.

The title of valedictorian is synonymous with a speech at graduation, scholarship money and the position as a role model in the student body. But according to students at the top of the class of 2010, the road to the podium is filled with competition, hard work and an intrinsic spur.

According to Margaret Talbot’s 2005 examination of competition between potential high school valedictorians in The New Yorker, seventeenth century education reformer Horace Mann used valedictorians to promote his new education system; a good speech by a valedictorian often meant more audience contributions to the school.

Unlike the valedictorians in Mann’s time who were shown off to increase school funding, Talbot said that the rank today is weighted with heavy competition. She said that it has become more cut-throat because of the vast number of students that work hard, which she said is particularly the case in large community high schools like MHS. Because of this competition, it is necessary to have an outstanding grade point average (GPA) to be valedictorian, according to MHS guidance counselor Marty Zack. He said the formula to determine a GPA is the grade received in the class divided by the length of the class (in credit hours), all added to the weight given to the class, meaning Honors or Advanced Placement (AP) courses. This is why valedictorians must take as many AP and Honors classes as possible -- their GPAs will rise because of the extra points from the weights.

Senior Dennis Tseng, currently one of the three students at the top of the class of 2010, said that because of Mason’s natural competitiveness and the way GPAs are calculated, a rigorous schedule is necessary to becoming valedictorian.

“You need to take the hardest courses [to become valedictorian],” Tseng said. “[At Mason], a B in an Honors course is better than an A in a regular course.”

MHS Class of 2007’s valedictorian and a junior at Yale University, Andrea Sohn, said that achieving valedictorian status requires sacrifice and a strong work ethic. “[Becoming valedictorian takes] a combination of factors -you have to want to take honors/AP classes in a lot of different subjects, even those that might not be the most interesting for you,” Sohn said. “And in order to [give up the interesting classes], you have to work hard.”

MHS Class of 1996’s valedictorian and math teacher Heather Verstreate said she thinks that though the competition was less intense in her high school days, hard work trumps intelligence in many circumstances. “[Becoming valedictorian] wasn’t something we talked about until the end of senior year, [but] the ironic part of [being valedictorian] was [that] I wasn’t the smartest person -- I just worked harder [than my peers],” Verstreate said. “I would never say I was the smartest of the class.”

A Senior Capstone teacher from 2002-2006, currently in her twentieth year of teaching at Mason, Honors English III teacher Ann Helwig said she can see valedictorians’ high amount of effort even during their junior year, but usually can’t detect the actual competition between potential valedictorians.

“I might be able to pick up [who is at the top], but not like [the valedictorian contenders] can,” Helwig said. “It’s like a horse race between the three or four, nose[s] to the line.”

Honors English II teacher Fred Reeder said he can pinpoint the top sophomore students relatively quickly.

“I can tell within the first week or two who the top students are, the ones who are good but not great and the ones that will struggle,” Reeder said. “For some, [I know by] the first day.”

But from the large pool of top students, only one can become valedictorian -- or two, in the case of MHS’ class of 2009 with Peter Chen and Tong Zhan as co-valedictorians. In either case, former Senior Capstone

Zack said that this competition makes the students in the running strive to win, outweighing some of the stresses of the race; it also drives the rest of the class to do its best.

“A lot of kids love competition,” Zack said.

“By having a valedictorian, the whole class gets pushed harder.”

On the other hand, Tseng said that he wishes the valedictorian position wasn’t so revered, because of the negative response it gives to those not in the rank.

“I wish they didn’t put so much emphasis on class rank, [because it’s like saying], ‘I’m better or worse than the other student,’” Tseng said. “I wish that people didn’t care about it so much -- it’s just one factor.”

But the necessity of the academic rigor of the class to increase GPAs can cause some to have to make sacrifices, like LaRue. She said that since she wanted to be valedictorian, some appealing classes and electives were replaced by academics to maintain her high GPA. “[Pursuing the valedictorian position] was not worth it,” LaRue said. “I wish I could have pursued some of my interests, [and] that I would have stopped pursuing [becoming valedictorian] early… [There’s] no reason to take AP Physics if you’re never going to use it in life.”

Rao said that while he is satisfied with his high school career, he thinks that getting a B isn’t the end of the world.

“I think I’ve done a good job, [and] I really do like my classes, [but being valedictorian] isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Rao said. “It’s okay to get a B here or there, as long as you’re involved [in the class].”

Reeder said he thinks that beyond the competition and GPAs, the true internal motivation for valedictorians is the timeless love for learning.

“Natural curiosity [makes a valedictorian] -- [the fact] that you care to learn,” Reeder said. “We all have a level of how much we care. The top students not only care a lot about their success, but then they go out and do something about it.” pho

Beena Raghavendran | Staff Writer

teacher in his twentieth year of teaching and current Honors Pre-Calculus teacher Johnothon Sauer said the reason it is tricky to name valedictorians in advance is not because teachers can’t predict it, but because so many bright students have the potential to achieve the position.

“In teaching an honors course, you have a roomful of kids who, given the right circumstances and the right school, would be the valedictorian -- but [they’re at Mason] in the middle of a bunch of really good kids, so it isn’t quite so easy to pick out,” Sauer said.

According to Zack, the GPA accumulation stops at the end of seniors’ second trimester, which makes grading equal (especially important in a race between many students); this deadline for GPAs makes this the last chance for LaRue, Tseng and senior Rohit Rao. As a result, they have heavily loaded their schedules for this trimester: LaRue and Tseng have three AP and two honors courses each, and Rao is taking four AP classes and one honors course. Because of this intensity, Rao said he often questions why he takes such difficult classes. “[I’m taking] AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP Biology, Honors Senior Capstone [and] AP Multicultural Literature,” Rao said. “Late in the night, [at] 12:30, I say, ‘Why am I killing myself?’”

While this intense atmosphere proves that intelligence doesn’t trump hard work in today’s contest, LaRue said another major factor narrows the competition down further: early preparation. She said she had an early taste of the honors track before moving to Mason by participating in the double honors program as a fifth grader at Sand Creek Intermediate in Fishers, Indiana; according to her, the competition was less prevalent among her peers, mainly because it was between only those who had taken Honors Geometry as eighth graders (double honors math).

“For [Tseng, Rao and me], it wasn’t very competitive, probably because it was just between us, and we knew it,” LaRue said. “[I was in] double honors by fifth grade. I wanted to get advanced in math because I loved math.”

But unlike some who think double honors and serious planning are the only ways to become valedictorian, current double

Paranoia surrounds new H1N1 vaccination Rachel Giesel | Staff Writer

The H1N1 vaccine hysteria is still prevalent for students, with about 200 students registered to receive the shot having refused.

Around 1,300 students received the H1N1 shot on December 16, however, despite the extreme paranoia, according to school nurses Kathy McVey and Christa Nichols.

McVey and Nichols said they heard many excuses from students who tried to refuse the shot. Junior Heidi Palmer said she refused to get the shot at her doctor’s office and at school, because she said she’s scared of contracting strange side effects.

“I just didn’t want it,” Palmer said. “I told [my mom], ‘Absolutely not.’ I would just not let them give it to me. I would shake around or run away [or] something ridiculous.”

Palmer said she’s terrified of receiving the shot, but senior Kristen Eberhard said she wasn’t nervous at all when she had to receive her shot. Eberbard said she has heard numerous rumors about it that have caused all the chaos and confusion.

“I heard rumors that it was going to have

bad effects,” Eberhard said. “I don’t know if [the] rumors of if [are] true, but there’s a lot of stories going around about it.”

But McVey and Nichols said the actual risk of something happening for a Mason High School student is minimal. They said the biggest fear of the students is that the vaccine is new and unfamiliar. However, MHS was supplied with the inactive vaccine (a shot with the killed virus inside of it). A nasal spray is also available, which contains the living virus, according to the Immunization Action Coalition, an organization devoted to increasing immunization rates and preventing diseases.

“We were given the inactive [vaccine], not the live, so the risk was so small,” McVey said.

“Part of [the fear] is the unknown. People are unsure [about the vaccine] because it’s new.”

Palmer said one of the reasons her fear is so huge is because the vaccine has just been created. She said she usually handles medical situations well, but this vaccine makes her nervous.

“I don’t mind getting shots or getting blood taken,” Palmer said. “I guess [I was afraid] because it was something new; I didn’t know

what it would do to me.”

The only fear necessary for someone receiving the vaccine is an egg allergy, according to Nichols.

“If [a student] had an egg allergy, they were more likely to have a reaction [to the vaccine],” Nichols said. “But, out of all the students [who received the shot], not one of them had a reaction.”

McVey and Nichols said they were required to call a parent or guardian of every registered student who refused the vaccine or did not come to get his or her shot. They said if the student refused, the parent or guardian still had the option of going to an evening clinic on December 17 to get the vaccine.

“We try to say, ‘This is what your parent wanted,’ and if [the students] flat out refused, we just say, ‘Okay we’ll call your parents,’” McVey said. “We can’t force them to do it. We made sure we made contact with the parent more than anything. A lot of parents that we called said they had already discussed it and they were aware that [their student] didn’t receive it.”

Sophomore Ryan Mumma said that in spite

of his fear of needles, he received the shot because his mom thought it would be best.

“I didn’t really want to get it, because it’s a shot and I don’t like needles,” Mumma said.

“But I had to. My mom said I had to. My dad’s a doctor and said, ‘No.’ But I know since my mom runs the house I would have to eventually. ” It is recommended for most people to receive the shot, but Nichols said that it is essential for a certain group of people.

“I think for a certain population it’s necessary; it’s not for everyone,” Nichols said. “Ones that fit in the high risk category: pregnant [women], small kids, [people aged] less than 24 [or] greater than 65… the very young and the very old.”

Palmer said she doesn’t think getting the shot is the guaranteed way to stay healthy. She said she believes vaccines are not a requirement to live a healthy life.

“I don’t think people need to take medicine as much as they do,” Palmer said. “As long as you eat healthy and exercise, you should be fine. It wouldn’t be as easy for you to get sick if you live[d] a healthy lifestyle.”

PAGE 6 | EDITORIAL

Views

Chronicle Policy

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

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

The Chronicle is published monthly. Call 398-5025 ext.

30046 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, obscentiy, 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 Journalism Association for Ohio Schools.

Contact Information The Chronicle William Mason High School 6100 S. Mason Montgomery Rd. Mason, Ohio 45040 398-5025

The Chronicle Staff Editor In Chief Alyssa Howard Associate Editor Ellen Duffer Business/Circulation Manager Griffin Frank Technical and Graphic Manager Caleb Schowalter Staff Writers Jami Bechard Jordan Berger Tony DeLotell Rachel Giesel Julia Halpin Ryan Hoffman Ian Howard Janica Kaneshiro Jessica Kantor Trevor Maxim Cady Meece Kris Ogungbemi Beena Raghavendran Carlie Sack Rachel Schowalter Danielle Simms Janie Simonton Samantha Stulen Adviser Mr. Dale Conner

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Round Table

Has the increased availability of free media downloading devalued the worth we place on intellectual property?

photo by Cady Meece

From left to right: Ben Tilley, Tim Miller, Sam Johnson, Eric Nikolaides, Morgan Schneider, Ryan Miller.

The Round Table is a forum-based discussion. The students picked for this edition were selected due to their opinionated natures. To be involved in the Round Table, please contact The Chronicle in room C106.

Ben Tilley Sophomore The growing availability of this costless media, in my opinion, has not in all respects devalued the worth that we place on intellectual property. The majority of contemporary artists seem to be in the business solely for the augmentated salary. It is unfortunate, but it’s reality....The only “devaluation” occurring is that involving money.

Tim Miller Senior From a monetary standpoint, absolutely. Instead of purchasing a song or a novel, any person with an internet connection can go online and obtain them for free....This question really comes down to two things: how much the piece of intellectual property is worth initially, and how much it is being distributed by free media in comparison to how much money the person is “making off of it.”

Sam Johnson Junior I think that the increased availability of media can be a good thing because of our easy access to different medias. But, on the other hand, it is also bad because artists are limited to their creativity level, due to the many avenues they can use to plagiarize and steal from. So, in some respects, yes, it has devalued the worth of intellectual media.

Eric Nikolaides Senior Being a musician, I have had a slightly different perspective on the situation than the average high schooler. Certainly, the monetary worth of intellectual property has been devalued, but, at least from a musician’s perspective, the worth of intellectual property itself has stayed the same, if not increased....[Other musicians’] music is gaining and maintaining respect, where it may otherwise have gone completely unnoticed or gotten lost in the pile of music that’s out there today.

Morgan Schneider Junior Definitely. Most people who use file-sharing sites such as Limewire don’t realize how they’re affecting the entertainment industry as a whole....Just because you can’t hold a tangible iTunes album in your hand doesn’t mean it’s okay to rip it from the internet any more than it’s okay to walk out of a store with a CD without paying for it.

Ryan Miller Junior Not at all, just because somebody downloads a piece of media for free, doesn’t mean that they are appreciating it any less than if they had bought it. When I buy a CD and listen to it, I get the exact same feelings of inspiration, attitude and motivation as I do if I download a CD for free...For every person that’s downloading these for free, there are 10 more actually paying the original source for the same thing.

Compiled by Cady Meece

Staff Editorial

Don’t make carbon-copy New Year’s resolutions Ryan Seacrest is wishing you a happy New Year as the sparkling silver ball reaches the bottom of the pole, signaling the finale of 2009. You cheer and exchange embraces of excitement with friends who are glowing with just as much giddiness.

“What’s your New Year’s resolution?” someone to your right asks as you stand amongst the remains of exploded confetti-makers.

The answer is obvious - to be better, to be improved. New Year’s marks a transition that offers you an excuse to make any alterations necessary to become the character you’ve drawn in your head, and no one enters a fresh era intending to worsen his or her life. So, you craft your self-directed promise after common tips for overall improvement that is guaranteed to lead to an increase in happiness.

Weight loss, attention to nutritional value, a significant other, popularity, more money, a better job -- all to acquire a more fulfilling life through an improved reputation.

We constantly look to change details in our existences, hoping they will result in betterment that is desired because of a lack of happiness. Those that live uncomfortably, harboring a great separation between outer and inner selves, feel the need to devote time to improvement -- to the connection of a desired life to actuality. New Year’s resolutions are a reflection of broken confidence in a portion of life that must be repaired to allow happiness to blossom.

While a more attractive exterior or the attainment of valuable commodities may equal nicer perceptions (and, therefore, a higher self-esteem), such improvements do not constitute the depth of happiness to which you should be dedicating yourself.

Resolutions worthy of your time aren’t used as ad campaigns to reel in desperate customers with money that doesn’t require prying to obtain. Corporations can’t (or shouldn’t be able to) profit from the goals with extraordinary results. They draw your attention and slip your money from your clutches before you realize that you’ve just purchased something that really won’t

make you like yourself that much more. And then they move to the next customer, waiting eagerly in line behind you for a new chance at a ridiculously better life.

We’re quick to accept the suggested New Year’s resolutions before we consider their biased natures. iTunes advertisements for fitness applications boast the message, “New Year. New You.” But Apple doesn’t know what will make you happy.

Creating a personal, premeditated resolution is more likely to produce rewarding results than one crafted to apply to millions of humans with money to spare.

Instead of shelling out a significant amount of your paycheck to join a gym at an inflated rate that benefits corporate salaries more than your health, promise to allot more time in your schedule to living for yourself instead of those around you.

If we focused as intently on what makes our good days so wonderful as we do on the reactions of others to our statements or actions, we could try to replicate the best parts of life to ensure more good days than bad in this new year.

We shouldn’t settle for happiness in one sector of life - mental, physical, emotional, etc. We deserve overall happiness that cannot be achieved with sold advice and assistance. To be appropriately happy, we can only help ourselves.

Consider revising your factory-made New Year’s resolution and replacing it with the one you really want to declare. Recognition is the first step to being the person you are in your mind. Make a promise that will allow you to expand as a human, pursuing those things that intrigue you.

Think about what you really want to accomplish in 2010 -- not the superficial ideas that pop culture blasts into your brain. Then, resolve to do so. Make a reasonable resolution that corresponds with your thoughts. Live 2010 in accordance with your wants instead of how you think you should. Do as you like.

Sports THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

The Press Box Fans often want to have their say. The Press Box is a forum for Comet fans to voice their opinions on the latest in Mason athletics.

Do you think that the Black Hole gives the Comets a home-court advantage?

SPORTS | PAGE 7

What’s next for the women’s golf team?

With two consecutive state championships under its belt, the team looks ahead to the future pursuit of success

“It pumps up our boys while distracting the other team.”

Kaushal Patel Junior

photo contributed

photo contributed

The women’s golf team poses after achieving its 2008 state championship, a breakthrough after being the 2007 state runner-up.

“We have helped frustrate and shut down other teams.”

Matt Radomski Senior

“Yes, we get in the other teams’ heads. We force mistakes. Mason Basketball has an enormous home-court advantage.”

Will Hirst Sophomore

“It’s intense. The intensity of the Black Hole makes opponents crack under pressure.”

Stephen Otto Freshman

Tony DeLotell | Staff Writer After winning two consecutive state championships, the women’s varsity golf team could be considered a dynasty, according to Coach Fred Reeder.

“You could make the case [for calling us a dynasty],” Reeder said. “[We were] runners-up for state in 2007 and then champions in 2008 and 2009, and many are picking us to be the favorite for 2010. If you want to label us that, you could make the argument.”

Despite back-to-back state championships, Reeder said he realizes that the team doesn’t get the notoriety of a major sport. The girls are not bothered by the relative lack of recognition, however, according to Reeder.

“You always want recognition for the good things you do, so I wish our accomplishments could be broadcasted more, but the sport teaches us a lot about ourselves,” Reeder said. “Golf is a solitary sport. You’re out there on your own with no help, and there are no stands of people there cheering you. The girls are aware that there are bigger sports out there.”

Next year, junior Erin Michel will enter her fourth year as a member of the varsity golf team. The team wishes that they received more recognition, but it doesn’t affect their play at all, according to Michel.

“I think part of it is [that] we want to be recognized,” Michel said. “It feels good when someone recognizes you, but the fact that

Along with winning its second consecutive state championship, the team amassed several individual accolades, including junior Emily Wright’s achievement as Southwest Ohio District Player of the Year.

we won is important to us, and whether they recognize it or not, we’re still very excited. It pushes you.”

The Comets have their top three golfers, juniors Emily Wright, Michel and Jessica Zhang, back for next season. Finishing first, second and fourth in the Greater Miami Conference respectively, the girls have their eyes on a third title in 2010, according to Reeder.

“We have our top three back again,” Reeder said. “They’ve been the foundation for the last three years, and they’re back for one more run. We think we’ll be in the mix for another run at the state title; it just depends on how strong we are from top to bottom.”

Reeder said the amount of experience the team has plays a major role in their success.

“They’ve played in so many tournaments,” Reeder said. “They don’t see it as competing against other teams; they’re competing against the course. They’re worried about how well they’re playing the course.”

The team used the experience of the first championship in order to drive them towards the second, according to Reeder.

“We looked at the experience of winning and drew upon that as a positive one,” Reeder said. “We had done it finally, and now instead of hoping we win it, we can expect to win it.”

Michel said that this past year, the team struggled early, losing their first tournament of the year. The team used that experience to bond, according to Michel.

“We pretty much knew that we were going

to have to work a little harder for the second year and that it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, because people expected us to win it,” Michel said. “Then we lost our first tournament.

It scared us, but we knew we had to stick together as a team.”

Reeder said he believes there is room for individual improvement. The girls need to improve individually in order for the team to be a success, according to Reeder.

“I always look at it individually, even though it’s a team sport,” Reeder said. “I want the girls to get better individually. We want each girl to improve. Whether that translates into team success is out of our control.”

Michel said she believes that team bonding is an important aspect of the game, and the team needs to get closer in order to get better.

“As a team we just need to get along a lot better,” Michel said. “Team bonding is really important in golf because if everyone is fighting, it really doesn’t help the emotional stability.”

Michel said that Reeder had a significant impact on the second championship run.

“The first year he let us do whatever because we all worked with different professionals,” Michel said. “But last year he really pushed us to work on our short game as well as the mental aspect. He just supported us in whatever we decided to do.”

-Compiled by Ryan Hoffman

Team Tracker The freshmen boys’ basketball team has maintained a 6-1 record, with major wins against rivals Kings and Middletown. Freshman Austin Zeltwanger said he points to fellow team members freshmen Matt Beebe and Bryan King as key players on the team for their shooting and rebounding abilities. “[We are] playing well as a team; we don’t really have any selfish players,” Zeltwanger said. photo by Trevor Maxim

The academic team has returned with five wins of six matches of the season. Senior Rohit Rao said that he is impressed with the team’s performances in the matches, which have included large margins of victory. “We won most of our matches by a good amount, which has been pretty good, since last year we lost one of our seniors who was a very strong player on our team,” Rao said. “So, it’s good that we’ve still had a pretty strong record, I believe, for competing.”

photo by Trevor Maxim

PAGE 8 | SPORTS

Diving in

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Student divers focus on physical and emotional aspects of the demanding sport

Trevor Maxim | Staff Writer The sport of diving, although it is not well known at Mason, has been a part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Swimming and Diving Championships since 1927, according to OHSAA.org.

Freshman Sean Sargent, a member of the varsity diving team, said that he has noticed the misinformation about the sport among his friends at school. “[People should know that diving] is a separate sport from swimming,” Sargent said. “They’re not intertwined, really, at all. People ask me what event I’m swimming all the time.

I [tell them], ‘No, [I’m] diving.’”

But the most misunderstood part of diving, according to Sargent, is the scoring aspect. He said that the process of scoring the individual dives that the judges go through during meets involves a variety of factors.

“There is a degree of difficulty for each dive, depending on how hard it is to execute,” Sargent said. “And then after you do the dive the judges will give you an aesthetics score, which is how good it looked. And then [the five judges]… take out the highest and lowest scores, and then they multiply by your difficulty, and then that’s your score.”

Senior Taylor Edwards, also a varsity diver, said she agrees that students need to better understand what the athletes go through during their routines.

“I think the scoring about diving is really misunderstood,” Edwards said. “When judges watch us, all they look at is mechanics—if you go in without a splash, if you jump high, and then whatever score they assign for those things is multiplied by how hard the dive is rated to be on a standard scale.”

According to Edwards, the complicated judging criteria, along with the lack of expertise on the sport, often lead to judging controversies in competitions.

“Usually the people that judge high school diving meets are swim officials, and they don’t necessarily know that much about the sport,” Edwards said. “And I mean, any sport [in which] you’re going to have judges is obviously going to be diplomatic at every pool. And you just have to do the best you can and can’t worry about anything else, because it’ll just bring you down.”

Head diving coach Lori Rapp also said that the judging aspect of the sport can lead to misunderstandings, especially at the high school level.

“The scoring is supposed to start at 10, and then [the judges] are supposed to deduct from that, but most high school judges start at zero and reward [the diver],” Rapp said.

Rapp said that beyond the numerical scoring values the judges assign, they also are supposed to consider the dive in its entirety, without overlooking minor details that carry significant meaning within the dives.

“Judges are supposed to judge from the start of the dive -- which means when the diver stands on the board, all the way through their walk, their approach, how high they jump, how close they are to the board, what their form looks like in the air and what they look like going into the water,” Rapp said. “Now, that’s not always how it happens, but that’s how it should happen.”

There are six main types of dives, called “groups,” organized in terms of rotation style, according to USADiving.org.

These groups include forward, backward, reverse, inward, twisting and armstand. Sargent said that the different diving styles can offer challenges to the athletes.

“I don’t really like doing anything reverse, which is where you’re going off the board forwards but flipping backwards,” Sargent said. “[I prefer] anything front, basically…just frontward flipping, normally, and twisting.”

Edwards said that students who are not familiar with the sport may also be surprised by its intensity. She said that diving involves both physical and emotional demands that are rarely seen in other sports.

“I think the biggest things [needed to be a great diver] are patience and mental toughness, because the meets are 11 dives most of the time,” Edwards said. “I’ll go do one dive, and then I might have to wait an hour before I do my next one. And you just have to be mentally prepared enough to know that you’re ready to do it without warming up.”

The difficulty of diving, although not always understood by spectators, is real, according to Rapp.

She said that the finished product seen at the meets is the result of countless hours of work, something that takes a special kind of athlete to accomplish.

“It takes a lot of risk [and] it takes a lot of time to perfect the skill [of diving],” Rapp said. “You can’t just come in as a freshman and practice a couple times and then pick it up. [Diving] takes many years to perfect.”

photo by Trevor Maxim

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

PAGE 9

PAGE 10 | SPORTS

Ch@tRoom The_Chronicle: What does UC’s Sugar Bowl performance mean for the future of its football program?

Freshman_Jeremy_Schneider: Brian Kelly should have stayed; it would have helped them.

Junior_Devon_Blessing: Because of Brian

Kelly’s absence, their performance was dull. Their game plan was not efficient against Florida’s defensive speed.

Keeping Pike in the entire game was their downfall.

Colloras would have bettered their chances. Buck Jones will be a great coach for their future.

Sophomore_Ryan_Watts: The new coach will

have to adapt to the way things used to be run. As much as the coach has to adapt, the players need to as well.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

brian carden

What you won’t find on Facebook

qWeirdest thing you’ve eaten: Deer steak at [junior] Ethan King’s house qFavorite year of high school: Junior year qPreferred form of communication: Cell phone

Junior_Michael_Langen: They need a change of game plan. They didn’t play anyone with the caliber that Florida has during the regular season.

Sophomore_Conner_Noe: The Big East is

a joke. Florida’s offense was overwhelming, and UC’s defense showed up unprepared.

Freshman_Nate_Herrmann: It’s going to kill their morale. They had a favorable schedule, and when they finally played a good team, they got creamed.

qDream job: Music producer qBest dance move: Jigging qNicknames: “They just call me ‘B.’” qIdol: Michael Jackson qPrized Possession: Money

-Compiled by Ryan Hoffman

qAdvice to Tiger Woods: “Just try to come back.” qSecret talent: Singing

TweetingTwits

qBiggest fear: “Dying without success” qIf you could have one million of anything, it would be: Girls

maualuga58: It was a good season for the Bengals! Best believe that we will be back stronger, faster and better next season! I promise! We believe!

qLast text message you sent: “Perfect time to fall asleep”

-- Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga

-As told to Tony DeLotell

-Compiled by Tony DeLotell

SportsRant Tony DeLotell | Staff Writer

Should athletes be treated as role models off the field?

Sports figures lead lives on and off the field. But which should the public eye pay attention to more? Some argue that athletes need to keep their noses clean, and maintain their reputations as role models. Others say that the public has no right in knowing what goes on in the personal lives of professional athletes. The media gets so obsessed with stars that it forgets about the fact that athletes want some privacy.

Just because they did something wrong, doesn’t mean this mistake needs to be exploited.

But at the same time, maybe the public does deserve to know. If sports stars get in trouble, the public will want to know. And there’s no stopping the media from reporting it.

Ryan Hoffman | Staff Writer

Trevor Maxim | Staff Writer

Whether they like it or not, athletes are role models.

Millions of kids will watch in awe every time LeBron James dunks a basketball, every time Albert Pujols hits a home run and every time Peyton Manning throws a touchdown pass. For this reason, all athletes should be expected to act like role models. When people are in the public eye, attention to their conduct, on and off the field, is intensely magnified. Every move they make is being analyzed, broken down and judged by everyone around them. They don’t have to be perfect, but they must stay out of trouble and watch their mouths.

Athletes love making money. The fact of the matter is, if they don’t maintain good moral character, they won’t make as much. Tiger Woods has already lost numerous endorsement deals in light of the scandal in which he is involved. He made a mistake, and now his endorsements are backing out one by one. He has lost respect from many fans and legacy will be tarnished. All athletes should be considered role models. They shouldn’t have to “raise your kids,” but they should be a positive influence both in and out of their respective workplaces.

With the continued controversy over Tiger Woods and his infidelities, I can’t help but remember the words of Charles Barkley in his Nike commercial, circa 1993. His message, “I am not a role model,” was meant to be a statement about all athletes put in positions similar to his. Instead of looking up to basketball players just because they could slam dunk, he urged parents to be the ones who set an example for the children. I see Tiger Woods, among many others, in this same position now. They are put on a pedestal for their athleticism, and I don’t understand why. When athletes cheat on their wives or commit crimes, this shouldn’t shatter our worlds the way it often seems to do. I respect athletes for what they can do in their respective sports, not for what they do outside of them. I don’t support actions like those of Tiger Woods, but when it comes to what really matters, the sport, what difference does it make? Maybe Nike should bring back the commercial from ’93 to remind us all of what it truly means to be a role model. photos by Alyssa Howard

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

THE CHRONICLE | PAGE 13

Life in Technicolor

Students with color vision deficiency cope using various techniques

Ellen Duffer | Associate Editor

reg

Being “colorblind” doesn’t always translate to seeing only black and white; this type of color vision deficiency (CVD), called monochromacy, rarely occurs. Instead, the majority of individuals with CVD (about eight percent of all males and 0.5 percent of all females, according to the National Institutes of Health) have a limited perception of color that does not consistently affect their daily

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Sophomore Ben Tilley, who has a red and blue deficiency, said that when most people refer to someone as colorblind, they actually mean to describe one of several kinds of CVD. “‘Colorblind’ is kind of a misused term,” Tilley said.

“There [are] fancy types, like scientific terms, but I have the red-blue kind. Basically, I get my reds and pinks mixed up, and I get my blues and purples mixed up. Colors that have [red and blue in them] are also mixed up.

For example, I don’t know what orange looks like.”

According to ColorVisionTesting.com, those affected

by CVD generally have a weakness or blindness in one or two hues. Protans, or people with protanomaly or protanopia, have a red weakness or blindness, respectively. Those with deuteranomaly or deuteranopia have a green weakness or blindness, respectively. Tritanopes, or those with tritanomaly or tritanopia, have a blue and yellow weakness or blindness, respectively.

Senior Ben Van Winkle, who has a red and green weakness, said he is interested in a career in medicine, but he recognizes that his color deficiency may limit him to math-based science careers, since doctors must be able to see the different colors of veins in the human body.

Originally, Tilley said he was considering joining the Air Force after high school, but he said he will have to make a different career selection because of his color deficiency.

“I thought the Air Force would be cool, but they don’t accept people who are colorblind, because of all the [col-

ored] indicating lights,” Tilley said. “I kind of agree they shouldn’t.”

Sophomore Teddy Bow, who said he has trouble seeing reds and greens like Van Winkle, said he wanted to be a pilot after being exposed to the potential career at Virginia Beach. Like Tilley, however, he said he understands that this may not be an viable option because of the color-coding implemented in airplane instruments.

Van Winkle said he also sees complications resulting from his color deficiency in his art classes. During his sophomore year, he said, he made the sky purple in one of his pieces; he said this was unintentional, but that his teacher praised him for being so creative in his color choices. Now, Van Winkle said he usually takes more time to plan the colors used in his art to ensure he executes what he intends.

“It’s hard with fast-drying media,” Van Winkle said.

“Black-and-white and shadows are easier.”

Planning and thought is required for Tilley to select his clothes each day, he said, though he usually isn’t ambitious regarding the color choices of what he wears.

“Picking out clothes in the morning [is affected by my color deficiency] -- I wear a lot of bland colors, but when I do wear bright colors, I don’t really care if they match or not,” Tilley said.

Although Tilley said he isn’t greatly affect by having color weaknesses on a daily basis, he said issues arise when he is required to perform color-based tasks.

“When teachers color-code stuff, I’m like, ‘Oh, thanks,’” Tilley said.

Driving can become a problem for individuals with CVD because of the use of basic colors on signs and lights, but Tilley and Van Winkle both said they were still able to drive after being administered a color test as a precaution.

“You have to take an extra test before you get your license, but I can see,” Tilley said. “I have my temps. I know the position of the light, where it is, and I can see the arrow.”

In some situations, having a color deficiency can be advantageous, according to Tilley..

“I think color deficient people are better at telling shades than [people with] normal vision,” Tilley said.

For Van Winkle, blacks and whites are “more vivid,” he said, allowing him to perceive depth possibly better than those with normal color vision.

Tilley said that after years of trying to associate colors with objects, he has taught himself to use comparisons to correctly label colors.

“I’ve gotten used to things; I know what colors things are even though I can’t see them, because I can compare them,” Tilley said. “I’ve learned to do that. I know

the fruit is orange, so when I see something that’s like the fruit orange, I know it’s orange.”

Tilley said these comparisons are necessary because as he gets older, it becomes more important for him to be able to correctly identify colors in an array of objects.

“As a child, it’s not required to know your colors,” Tilley said. “It’s one of those simple things they teach you. But as an adult, you kind of need to know your colors more.”

The discovery of a color deficiency commonly occurs when children are being taught the names of colors, like when Tilley said he was trying to learn the identity of blue. “[I realized I was color deficient] probably [in] preschool, because books [would] say something was blue, and I would point to something that wasn’t blue and say it was,” Tilley said. “[Then,] teachers called my mom.

They were probably like, ‘You’re wrong.’ They probably thought I was really stupid.”

Bow said he took an Ishihara color plate test, comprised of a circle of colored dots that form an image, letter or number, as a child, when he was a child. Eventually, he said, he “grew into” his color deficiency and, like Tilley, learned to make comparisons to objects that have their colors labeled.

Van Winkle said he learned of his color deficiency in first grade when he tried to color the sky purple and his teacher told him to make his picture more realistic. He said an argument ensued, because to him, nothing appeared incorrect in his drawing. “[I wondered,] ‘Why does blue have two names?’” Van Winkle said.

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FEATURE | PAGE 15

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Digital literature replaces traditional books don’t care what you read,” Reeder said.

Junior Chris Flake is another student to which Reeder’s stateAmidst the hundreds of books in Mason High School’s Media ment refers. Flake said that he believes his Kindle has reached Center, Media Specialist Virginia Robinson said she peruses virtual technological perfection. page after page of literature in a different format. According to “The only down part to it is the backlight,” Flake said.

Amazon.com, the Kindle, released in 2007, has rapidly become “There’s no backlight to it, so you can’t read at night.” the site’s bestselling item.

Even this problem has ceased in some other reading devices, “I carry it with me everywhere I go,” Robinson said of her such as the Sony Reader that include a backlight, according to Kindle.

Honors English III teacher, Ann Helwig.

According to Robinson, downloading reading materials is “You can also turn on the little light and read it in the back much more convenient than buying of the car when you’re driving along,” physical books and can result in Helwig said. much more extensive portable Helwig said that she makes many collections. sacrifices with her reading device, but “I probably have around 50 it is worth it. [books] on there,” Robinson said.

“I like the smell of books, but those “It’s much cheaper than buying the of us who are readers, we are used book itself.” to reading things like cereal boxes Despite popular affinity for the and billboards and people’s shirts; we Kindle, English teacher Fred Reeder don’t have a huge preference, we have said he is torn between the good an obsession,” Helwig said. and the bad of the Kindle.

Along with ridding intimacy with “You certainly can replace books the text, according to Helwig, buying with the Kindle, but you really bestsellers on reading devices can be can’t replace the experience of expensive when compared to buying reading the book,” Reeder said. used books.

The Kindle also has users in a “[I use it] mostly for convenience younger crowd. Senior Christina and fun,” Helwig said.

Vuotto said she uses the Kindle so According to Flake, the reading demuch that she no longer purchases vice is more practical in nearly every books. way to the printed text.

“I like technology and I like read“If you read a normal book and you ing, so it seemed like a pretty good read it for an hour straight, then your idea,” Vuotto said. eyes start hurting and they get all waBut when it comes to literary tratery and you want to put it down and dition, Reeder said that he enjoys take a break; for the Kindle you don’t the printed text. have to do that,” Flake said.

“On Sunday morning, I want the Vuotto said she can see the Kindle’s actual newspaper in my hand with practicality beyond casual reading. photo courtesy of Amazon.com my coffee; I don’t want to go on the computer to read the “I think [Kindles] probably will [restories,” Reeder said. place books] in the future,” Vuotto said.

In contrast, Robinson said that she now finds more comfort Vuotto has used the Kindle as a primary reading material in reading from the Kindle than reading actual books. class and she said that it is much easier than using a book.

“I read the whole series of Harry Potter this summer.” Robin“You can find [quotes] -- if you type something in you can find son said. “I had never read that before, and I got very tired of it very easily in any text,” Vuotto said. holding the big book, because [J.K. Rowling] doesn’t let any of Flake also said he enjoyed using the Kindle more than he her books go to e-format.” would a regular book when he read for a summer assignment It is difficult to oppose the Kindle on academic grounds, acin Creative Writing. Reeder said he is skeptical of what effect a cording to Reeder. complete replacement of books with Kindles would have.

“Whatever gets you to read, I don’t care in what form and I “[Kindles] can replace books, you just don’t get the same Ian Howard | Staff Writer

feeling with a Kindle that you do with the actual book,” Reeder said.

Trading all classroom literature for reading devices still would have its positives, according to Helwig.

“Wouldn’t you like that -- not having to lug your books all over the place, especially the big fatty [books],” Helwig said.

Many reading devices have an annotation tool, making them a feasible transition from the physical text in the English classroom.

“I can make notes and highlight, just as if I had an actual book,” Robinson said.

Reeder said that despite the convenience of the Kindle, it is an unnatural incarnation of the text. The physical text has certain timeless capabilities that a Kindle may never possess, according to Reeder.

“I love picking up old books and seeing my thoughts from them 20 years ago,” Reeder said. “With a Kindle, I wouldn’t have that.”

In addition the Kindle lacks many books in its Amazon.com store and other reading devices have similar problems. According to senior Alex Chernyakhovsky, readers should choose between the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Sony Reader based on which online book library they enjoy the most, instead of which has the best features.

The technology of reading devices is no longer a matter of how much a reader can accept the shortage of tradition, according to Helwig: it is a must-have for all readers.

“You have to have one,” Helwig said. “If you’re a reader how can you not get one of these?” photo by Ian Howard

Music mediums progress towards intangible files Samantha Stulen | Staff Writer From vinyl to MP3, the looks and sounds of music have been revolutionized, as well as the convenience of obtaining music.

Senior Jonathan Balmer said having an MP3 player has allowed him to gain access to a multitude of songs. Buying a few albums and being stuck with songs he does not enjoy is no longer routine.

“Before, you had to look up review [for a certain album and buy] maybe one or two albums; now you can pick one single you really like,” Balmer said.

According to Balmer, even the music industry has made adjustments for customers’ music devices.

“My favorite source to use is Amazon MP3, because before you would use iTunes or another service, and you might be tied down to the device you could use because of digital rights management,” Balmer said. “Now, since the music industry has been more open about accepting the digital age, you can now use an MP3 on any device you want.”

Balmer also said that this advantage allows him to listen to music on the music device he has now and in the future.

Balmer said that media is becoming increasingly digitized and gaining music to burn to physical copies will become the norm.

“I know people who cling to their DVDs and books because they like being able to hold physical objects,” Balmer said. “They [think that] if [their] hard drvies crash and something happens and everything’s gone, [they] can keep this physical object. The future would have mostly digital distribution, with people making physical copies burning to a disc, just so they can feel more comfortable, as a backup; [obtaining music] digitailly and making backups is the future.”

Senior Megan Gamm is an owner of the

iPod, but is also a connoisseur of vinyl.

“I feel like [records] bring back the good ol’ days,’” Gamm said. “I imagine myself in [the decade of the record]. Plus some of the stuff I do have on records, I can’t really find [in] digital music.”

Balmer said that the MP3 is customizable and therefore easier, but Gamm said she disagrees.

then it is irreplaceable. “[There is] a lot more history to [record players] than digital music, which also means a lot more [value] to me,” Gamm said. “Let’s say I lost all my music on my iPod. I would be more okay with that than all my records breaking; I can always fix that if it’s digital. [Since] records are disappearing, they mean a lot to me.”

Spanish teacher Debbie Perry said the hard-

photo by Samantha Stulen

Music has transitioned from large records and record players to ultra-portable MP3 players.

“I have thousands of songs on my iPod, and I don’t want to sit there and put my music together,” Gamm said. “When I have it all on one record player, I can just pop that in and go to town.”

The vinyls also have nostalgic appeal, according to Gamm: she said she is more attached to her vinyls than her music files on her iPod. If a person loses music on his or her iPod, it is retrievable. When a record player is damage,

est thing about listening to records when she was younger was the structural fragility of vinyls.

“Storing [vinyls] in your home and scratching them every time you’d use them was a nightmare,” Perry said. “Literally, it was a needle going around in a circle, so if you bumped that, it scratched your whole [record]; it was dead after that. It would never play the same again.”

The portability of records was also difficult,

and the risk of scratching increased, Perry said. “[The] room for messing [vinyls] up is huge,” Perry said. “If you brought them over to a friend’s house or to a party it [meant] bringing a big armful of music. It would get banged around and there it goes -- you may not have a record anymore.”

Since then, the vinyls have been replaced by the 8-track and cassettes, to CDs, to the MP3 player. Perry has gone from records to cassettes to the iPod and has witnessed the accessibility of music change.

“A radio was really it, [as far as music mediums],” Perry said. “When our family got this big stereo, a piece of furniture [that played] records, and then I got my own portable one.”

Perry, as a girl, had a 33” record player: a smaller, plastic record player that had a small record diameter. Perry said she remembers all of the modifications that needed to be in place for her to listen to albums.

“They would sell 33[-inch players], a single,” Perry said. “A record has a hole in the middle.

That record player was based on an album and you would have to modify it for a smaller record, like the 33 would be a single. . . .They were fun, and they were all different colors, and you would have to stick an insert into the 33; they didn’t make 33s with the hole that fit the record player.”

After a 33-inch, Perry said 8-track tapes and cassette players were popular because they were an add-in feature for vehicles.

According to Perry, in the early ‘80s the CDs were something no one had seen or used before, but only on walkmans. “[In the] early 80s they started coming out with these discs, the CDs, and it was like, ‘Wow, how do you play this thing?’” Perry said. “And playing it on a walkman was the new thing. So, that changed from something being either a piece of furniture in your house or [in] your vehicle to [being] portable.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

The Chronicle

is accepting applications for the 2010-2011 school year.

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Applications can be picked up in room C106 or downloaded at MasonComets.org

Deadline is Tuesday, Jan 19 @ 2:30 p.m.

The Fine Print You must be enrolled in Journalism I A, B,C to become a member of The Chronicle staff. Teacher approval is required for enrollment.

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

FEATURE | PAGE 19

Behind-the-scenes showcases vital elements of The Crucible Jessica Kantor | Staff Writer When the curtain is drawn on the opening night of a school play, the actors and actresses on the stage are not the only ones making sure the night is a success.

Senior Gianna Mocilnikar has been involved in Mason High School plays behind the scenes since her freshman year.

“I have been part of theater since I was in fourth grade,” Mocilnikar said. “I was usually in the plays. I was in one play my freshman year here, and then I found out that there was costume crew. I decided that I wanted to do that instead. I joined costume crew, and since then I have been in nine different productions with the school, making costumes.”

Junior David Williams also became involved backstage during

photo by Jessica Kantor

Junior David Williams works on set construction in preparation for The Crucible.

his freshman year.

“I initially took the Intro to Theater class,” Williams said. “The teacher said that he needed some help, so I came after school and really enjoyed it.”

Mocilnikar said that she enjoys her role as a costume designer more than being on stage.

“I do not wish that I played a more obvious role -- it is very in-

tense [to be in the plays],” Mocilnikar said. “During senior year, cilnikar said. “She is my teacher and mentor. She always brings you have to want to pursue theater in order to be in producin candy, gives awards and does many other things [to make us tions. I could do so much more as a seamstress [in my future].” feel appreciated].”

Williams also said he prefers to be behind the scenes.

Williams said he also feels more appreciation from his adult “I enjoy backstage work,” Williams said. “I am not good with role models. lines, so I [choose] being backstage.”

“I feel the gratitude, but do not directly receive it [from my Mocilnikar said that she helps wherever she can in the propeers],” Williams said. “I normally feel it from the teacher. The duction of school plays.

“I am typically a costume designer on costume crew for our school plays,” Mocilnikar said. “I usually help design, construct and sew the pieces for the plays. We sometimes rent the clothes. I help with hair and makeup for the plays, as well.”

Williams also plays multiple roles in the school productions.

“I do a little bit of everything [for the productions],” Williams said. “I do some sound, some lighting and I build a lot.

In the last play, I was the Set Head, so I built all of the sets. I basically help out with whatever I can do.”

Williams said that he enjoys making decisions for the school plays.

“I like feeling the sense that if I am not there, the play will go down,” Williams said. “I like the sense of being depended on. You have a bit of control over the play, once you work your way up. For The Crucible, I am thinking about designing some of the set. I usually design it, get the building started and then build photo by Jessica Kantor some of the more complicated pieces.” Senior Gianna Mocilnikar sews costumes for characters in the upcoming production of The Although Mocilnikar said that although Crucible. she enjoys her role in the school plays, the production routine can become hectic. people that I work with are not the ones to pat you on the “The schedule is all over the place,” Mocilnikar said. “We back. They are more focused on getting the job done and movwork whichever days we are available -- everybody comes ing on to the next one. I have more of a work relationship with in when they can. We also have a tech week before the play them than anything.” where we work all day after school for the entire week in order Mocilnikar said that she appreciates her role and enjoys the to put on the play. That part is the most fun, because everyexperiences she gains. thing comes together. It’s a lot of hours.”

“I love being behind the scenes,” Mocilnikar said. “When During her hours behind the scenes, Mocilnikar said she is no one knows how you are involved, it is interesting to hear guided by Judy Hershner, the costume director for the school feedback. I do talk about it sometimes, but most people do not productions. even know I am involved.”

“Mrs. Hershner is amazing; she is the costume director,” Mo-

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

WeTube Students find ways to showcase projects and creative endeavors Janica Kaneshiro | Staff Writer

Whether trying to become a celebrity or just sharing their videos with the lives of others, now that YouTube is accessible to the average high school student, students at Mason High School, such as senior Jacob Burress, now have the opportunity to show fellow “YouTubers” their talents.

“I believe people should be aware of the talent that we have as high schoolers, and we should express it.” Burress said, “The art classes have art shows; Drama Club has plays and musicals, and us aspiring filmmakers have Youtube.”

Here are some student videos on YouTube to check out:

1. Kit Kat Kate Best way to look it up? Search “Kit Kat Kate” Length: 3:33 Minutes Channel Name: Wicked8DefyGravity When was it made? First trimester for an English II propaganda project What is it? A group of girls taking to the aisles in Wal-Mart and spreading the word that “Kit Kats are so good, they’re jumping off the shelves,” sophomore Shelby Stevenson said -- which is also the slogan of the girls’ campaign. They roam WalMart as Kit Kat Kate does her best to convince shoppers that Kit Kats are the best candy.

Why watch? The girls take an ordinary English project to comical levels as sophomore Shelby Stevenson runs about the candy aisle of Wal-Mart wearing a red box clearly marked with a Kit Kat logo.

Who else is in it? Sophomores Lauren Burt, Jordan Young, and Kristen Rebles. photos courtesy of YouTube

2. Ben Woycke - “Dreaming With a Broken Heart” (Cover) Best way to look it up? Search “Ben Woycke” for his videos Length: 4:16 minutes Channel name: LIVEbytheMIC When was it made? February 2009 What is it? Junior Ben Woycke sings and plays John Mayer’s “Dreaming With a Broken Heart” on piano.

Woycke, a wide receiver for Mason’s varsity football team, said this video shows that when he is not on the football field, he has a softer side.

Why watch? In his first ever video, Ben shows off his vocals, putting an original spin on the John Mayer original.

3. The Real Peter the Great Best way to look it up? Search “The Real Peter the Great” Length: 3:55 minutes Channel name: DJDREX100 When was it made? First trimester for AP European History What is it? An historically accurate rap about Peter the Great, played by junior Britt Prescott. “It’s a parody of ‘The Real Slim Shady’ by Eminem,” junior Phillip Terry, who raps in the video, said.

Why watch? It’s a group of guys putting a creative twist on an ordinary subject of history.

Who else is in it? Junior Tyler Erjavec, sophomores Ashley Erickson and Amy Achberger; made and produced by junior Derek Sisson.

4. Mason High School Basketball Tribute Video Highlights 2008-2009 (Parts 1 and 2) Best way to look it up: Search the Masonblackhole channel Length: 8 minutes Channel name: Masonblackhole When was it made? Last year after Basketball season ended, as a tribute to show at the basketball banquet What is it? A video to highlight the great moments and players of the year, according to senior Nick Angstadt, one of the people who made the video.

Why watch? “It’s a great video with highlights and lots of cool moments from last year, and it has great music.” Angstadt said. “Every time I see the players now, I think of the music we put behind them [on the video].”

5. New Moon trailer Best way to look it up? Search Jacob’s channel Length: 4:42 Minutes Channel name: JtBurress When was it made? Filmed between October 20th through November 16th of 2009 What is it? A spoof of the movie New Moon from the Twilight saga starring senior Livvy Berry as Bella Swan, senior Ben Kleykamp as Edward Cullen, sophomore Elias Magana as Jacob Black, University of Cincinnati freshman Nuri Nelson as Laurent, senior Amanda Adkins as Alice Cullen, senior Nathan Hartshorn as Jasper Cullen, senior Danielle Holste as Jessica Stanlely and Jacob Burress as Emmett Cullen.

Why watch? This group of students poked fun at one of the year’s most anticipated movies, following the layout of the commercial for the actual film, but changing a few elements for comical effect.

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

Training to be a

FEATURE | PAGE 21

Ballerina

Katie Pilone receives on-the-job training to become a professional dancer

Carlie Sack | Staff Writer As a sophomore, Katie Pilone is already training for a career: a career as a professional ballerina.

Pilone said she usually trains about 24 hours each week. In addition, Pilone must balance this highly intense dance schedule with attending school.

“It’s so stressful,” Pilone said. “But I’ve been working through it because I just want to [dance] so badly.”

Pilone said she is a part of the Cincinnati Ballet Academy, where she takes classes focusing on ballet technique and pointe work. Pilone said her main focus is in ballet, but also studies modern ballet and jazz.

But this year, Pilone said she was asked to perform with the Cincinnati Ballet’s professional company in The Nutcracker. “[The company told me to] just come to rehearsals [and] learn in the back [of the room],” Pilone said. “[They said,] ‘We’ll see how you do and maybe you’ll get a performance.’”

Pilone said she watched the professionals’ rehearsals, in addition to attending her own classes. According to Pilone, her hard work was worth it.

“I just worked really hard; I worked my butt off,” Pilone said. “I finally achieved getting a performance, and they asked me to go to Detroit [as a part of the company].”

Pilone said this is her first company role in a performance.

“Normally I play kids’ parts, but the company has asked me and some other students to perform with the

company, as a company role,” Pilone said. “But I’m not in the company, I’m just dancing with them.”

Achieving a company part in The Nutcracker was a dream come true, according to Pilone, but the professional schedule is demanding. “[The director] expects you to be at rehearsals because you are almost a company member, but he doesn’t understand that I have school to go to during the day,” Pilone said.

But Pilone said she is willing to make sacrifices in her schedule for dance, while still making sure her schoolwork stays on track.

“I guess I have time-management skills because I know exactly what I need to get done for school and when I can fit that into my schedule,” Pilone said.

For her recent performance in The Nutcracker, Pilone said she missed school periodically for rehearsals and for a full week

to travel to Detroit for performances.

“You just do what [the company] tells you to do,” Pilone said.

Pilone said her ballet schedule is demanding even without the additional Nutcracker rehearsals.

“Without this whole Nutcracker thing, normally I have classes Monday through Saturday,” Pilone said. “On

But the strain of balancing school, social life and the training of a ballerina is something Pilone said she would never give up.

“When I am performing on stage, I am reminded [of] how much I love [dance],” Pilone said. “I wouldn’t give it up for anything. It’s just a great feeling.”

Along with the reward of performances comes the unique friendships with other dancers, according to Pilone. Pilone said she admires the professional dancers with whom she trains and that they give her something to strive towards.

“You learn a lot from watchphoto contributed ing,” Pilone said. “I’ve imSophomore Katie Pilone performs in The Nutcracker on the center stage of proved a lot since I’ve been in the Arnoff. [professional] rehearsals.”

Although dancing with Tuesdays and Thursdays, I stay later for professionals could be viewed as intimidating, Pilone said she rehearsals at night.” considers it a learning experience.

Although Pilone’s current ballet train“They are all amazingly beautiful dancers,” Pilone said. ing is preparing her for a professional “[Practicing with the professionals is] not as much intimidating dance career, she said she still aspires [as it is a chance for me to] look at what I could work on to get to get a college degree. to that point, so I can hopefully one day be one of them.”

“I plan on going to college,” Pilone Pilone said she made friends with the company members, said. “Most dancers don’t go to coland is able to learn about her possible future career. lege, but I want to.”

Pilone said she is thinking about attending Indiana University because of its esteemed dance program. She said a college degree would always secure her a job, even if she suffers from an injury at any point in her career.

“It’s risky because you are going on your talent; you could break an ankle and you would lose your job,” Pilone said. “That’s why I want to have college to back me up.”

According to Pilone, the chance of getting injured is high in a professional ballerina’s intensive career.

“I’m always careful with what I’m doing,” Pilone said. “I make sure that I don’t do anything when it starts to hurt. I won’t push it, because I don’t want to risk getting injured.”

Injuries, along with aging, can prevent a dancer’s professional career from lasting past middle age, photo contributed according to Pilone.

Pilone dances in “The Waltz of the Flowers” with the Cincinnati “[A] dancer’s career Ballet Company. is so short; maybe it’s [over in] their late thirties,” Pilone said.

“I’ve made a lot of friends in the company,” Pilone said. “It’s Even though a dancer’s career really cool to get to know [the professionals] personally and ask ends when most others’ are just start- them questions.” ing, Pilone said she wants to stay involved with Pilone said that her involvement with dance probably dance. stemmed from the support from her family.

“I guess once my career is over, [I could see “I have a great family all around, [even] my grandparents,” myself] becoming a teacher or a chorePilone said. “They are not telling me that I need to focus on ographer,” Pilone said. school, they think [my ballet training is] a great experience.”

Pilone said she is willing to make the According to Pilone, her mom studied dance during college sacrifices for a career as a ballerina, just as and advises Pilone in her ballet skills. she already sacrifices other parts of her life for “She’s very, very supportive of me,” Pilone said. “I’m very ballet. According to Pilone, her dedication thankful for that.” outside of school often interferes with other Pilone said she also appreciates support from her friends. activities, like social events. “[My school friends] understand completely,” Pilone said.

“It’s just afterschool activities [that I miss],” “I’ve explained to them what I’m doing and they think it’s so Pilone said. “I’d rather go to a Black Hole basketball game cool that I am focusing on my career now -- it’s not what many sometimes, instead of going to a class or rehearsal, but I work kids do.” it out and find a way to do both.”

PAGE 22 | FEATURE

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Students amass t-shirt collections Jami Bechard | Staff Writer Mason students are becoming fanatics about buying t-shirts from every school event, class and group, according to the Comet Zone statistics.

Mason High School’s Comet Zone has sold over 4,300 shirts so far this year, according to Megan Findley, the Comet Zone’s general manager.

Sophomore Taylor Klos said she owns 63 tshirts that she said she can barely stuff into her drawer, so she also scatters them throughout her closet. The majority of Klos’s t-shirts, she said, are from lacrosse, but she also has some from water polo and colleges from around the country, including Texas A&M, where her mother went to school. Yet, Klos said she doesn’t try to collect shirts: they simply come with numerous lacrosse tournaments and other events.

“They just accumulate over time, and I don’t throw them out because they still fit me and I still wear them, so I just keep adding [to the collection],” Klos said. “I don’t go out and buy t-shirts because I love t-shirts, they just come.”

Klos gathers all of her t-shirts and wears them, on average, seven days a week. Her style, she said, is simple. “[I wear] a sweatshirt and jeans, or a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and, of course, a t-shirt,” Klos said.

Klos said she has plenty of t-shirts to wear each day of the week, because she gets more shirts constantly. She said she keeps each shirt until it can’t be worn anymore.

“I still have a shirt from my sixth grade lacrosse team,” Klos said.

Students such as senior Robin Igney keep his shirts for wear rather than for the memories.

He doesn’t buy shirt at school functions just for the sake of having a t-shirt to remember certain events. Igney said his collection of shirts totals 37, including shirts from stores like Target, JC Penny and Hot Topic. His shirts aren’t from school events, but he buys shirts that show his interest in music. According to Igney, as he walks through the mall, he picks the shirts that stand out on the shelf.

“I’m really into various kinds of designs and a lot of music,” Igney said. “I’ll just be looking around a store and I’ll see something that catches my eye. So, if I see something that looks

cool or has a name of a band that I like, I just grab it.”

Igney said each shirt he has shows his interests in a symbolic way instead of blatantly showing his peers the activites in which he is involved, and he doesn’t own any school-related t-shirts except a shirt from AP U.S. History that he got sophomore year. He said he can portray his interests and ideas through his t-shirts. “[My t-shirts] are very symbolic of my interests and my beliefs rather than straight up coming out and saying, ‘I play the guitar,’” Igney said.

While Igney collects his shirts from stores in the mall, senior Sneha Kolli gets her shirts from school events and groups.

Kolli said her closet is filled with 45 t-shirts.

Her t-shirt collection consists of AP class shirts; school event shirts, such as those associated with the Black Hole and class of 2010; and shirts from National Honors Society and Student Government. She said most of her shirts, however, are from out-of-school events, including the Ohio Association of Student Councils events and vacations.

According to Kolli, her collection of t-shirts has grown, because with each event, class or game she attends, there’s a t-shirt available for free or to buy. She said her collection keeps growing as each group in which Kolli is involved wants to have a t-shirt to represent all of its accomplishments.

“A lot of t-shirts are used as group things,” Kolli said. “Like, if it’s an inside joke in a class, you make a t-shirt. Or if you do a charity run, there’s a t-shirt.”

Kolli said she rarely wears her t-shirts on a day-to-day basis: her comfortable but classy style keeps t-shirts out of her school outfits on most days, she said.

“Probably once or twice a week I’ll wear a t-shirt, and then during the weekends, all I wear are t-shirts,” Kolli said. “Most of my clothes that I like to wear to school tend to be more comfortable. I don’t like the [tops from department stores] where I have to worry about pulling [it] up or keeping [it] down [to make it fit].”

One of the t-shirts that Kolli said she wears frequently is a worn-out burgundy shirt from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kolli said the shirt has no significance, but she said it

is her favorite shirt because it fits really well.

“I don’t even want to go to MIT, I just like the shirt,” Kolli said. “We went there to visit once, and my parents were like, ‘Oh! Get a shirt!’ So, we got a shirt.”

Kolli has collected t-shirts from many events and groups for the sake of remembering different trips and activities. She said that each shirt is a reminder of that event.

“If I’m part of something, then I want to remember that I was part of it,” Kolli said.

By keeping shirts from events and groups, Kolli said that her t-shirts could be a fair representation of what she does and who she is.

“They definitely show where I’ve been,” Kolli said. “The [class shirts] show what I’ve done in high school; the group t-shirts show what I did outside of classes. Even the souvenir shirts show you what I enjoy and where I’ve been. They show you what my past is. If you looked through my t-shirts, you can probably tell [aspects of me and who I am].”

Senior Allison Linn said she has also collected an abundance of t-shirts. She said she owns 57 t-shirts mostly from participating in cross country and track. Also, she has shirts from AP classes, vacations, church camps and colleges (like Western Kentucky, the school she will be attending).

With almost 60 t-shirts, Linn said she can wear her shirts to school daily. Yet, like Klos, she said she doesn’t make an effort to collect and buy t-shirts -- she acquires them through numerous events like cross country and track meets.

“It’s not like I purposely go out to buy t-shirts,” Linn said. “I’ll just end up having them from different places.”

But, as Linn receives t-shirts, she said they start to be a misleading representation of her as a person. She said her shirts can show her activities, but they can’t show what she truly enjoys. “[My shirts] would tell you the things I’ve done and where I’m going to college, but [they] wouldn’t say who I am,” Linn said. “I have cross country t-shirts from when I started in the seventh grade. I never liked cross country, but I did it through this year just to stay fit. So, you wouldn’t know that I didn’t like it; you would assume that I did like it, because most of my shirts are cross country shirts.”

Food service experience affects view of tipping Jordan Berger | Staff Writer A ten percent tip sits on the Lone Star Steakhouse table after three hours of fulfilling the party of twenty’s needs, the customers’ meals totaling over 450. Nearby, senior Amara Agomuo, a hostess at Lone Star Steakhouse who receives a portion of the tips, witnesses the lack of generous tipping, which is a common frustration among employees, according to Agomuo.

“People don’t realize how important tips are,” Agomuo said. “Without tips, I probably wouldn’t be getting much money at all.”

According to Agomuo, the lack of customer generosity takes a larger toll on workers than most infer.

“People who give small tips just aren’t grateful, [especially] if you’re working there for eight hours,” Agomuo said.

Failing to provide an adequate tip for a waiter or waitress’s time and efforts affects not simply one waiter or waitress, but rather all employees. According to Agomuo, some customers are served for nearly four hours, when some waiters are only assigned a table or two daily. The issue arises when a tip under ten percent is provided for these services.

“When they leave . . . that’s the only tip [the waiter or waitress] gets,” Agomuo said. “Then, that tip goes into what [hosts] get, so instead of getting a high tip, we get a very low tip, too.”

At some businesses, however, tips are considered additional rather than necessary. These employees feel apathetic about the amount of the tip and focus on if a tip was at least provided, according to Whippy Dip employee, junior Sarah Kolish.

“At restaurants, you kind of have to [tip],” Kolish said.

“But, at places like Whippy Dip, it’s more your choice. A tip is a tip, a lot or a little. Some people don’t tip at all.”

As the end of the meal arrives and the

folded, upside-down bill sits at the end of the paid enough to deal with people like that.” table, customers collect general opinions that Like Romaniw, Agomuo feels the obligation affect which numbers will be written atop the to provide a certain percentage regardless of line labeled “Tip.” unfortunate events during the service.

According to Culver’s employee senior Lind“I tip the fifteen percent, because that’s kind say Romaniw, factors that serve as a basis of what’s required,” Agomuo said. “But then, for the amount to be tipped vary by the based on their performance, it tells me if I individual and personal expectations. should go over it by a little bit or just stay at “I base [how I tip] off of a lot of the normal fifteen percent.” things like how frequently [the waiter] Personal experiences have directly led some check[s] for refills, if [her or she] employees to make changes in their tipping remembers to bring out the extra techniques, according to Romaniw. things I ask for and stuff like that,” “I tip better than most of my friends, Romaniw said. “But I always give because I know what working with food is servers the benefit of the doubt: like,” Romaniw said. “The it’s not always their fault when server does not cook the things go wrong.” food themselves, and When considering a tip, the evpeople just don’t undereryday work employees undergo stand that. Even if your often goes disregarded by some server completely sucks, customers, which adds to the you need to give at least frustration of employees upon 10 percent, because receiving insufficient tips, accordyou’re out to eat with ing to Romaniw. your friends and [the “This old man stuck my finger in waiter or waitress is] in his mashed potatoes to prove to a stinky uniform carrying me that they were cold,” Romaniw trays all night.” said. “That was when I realized that I could never be photos by Jordan Berger

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010

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