The Chronicle, 7.6

News: Family-owned Yost Pharmacy adapts to changes of ever-growing city

Chronicle Sports: Spring sports teams hone strategies and training for upcoming season

The William Mason High School

Volume 7

NEWS BRIEF

Mason student is accepted to National honors band

Sophomore Andrew Bass was selected as Ohio’s only representative for this year’s Music for All’s 2010 Honor Band of America, which took place on Saturday, March 6, 2010.

Bass said that the tryout process was difficult. According to the website for National Honor Band, an application and audition tapes are considered.

Bass said he had a one-of-a-kind experience and played with band students from various parts of the United States.

“It was a cool experience,” Bass said. “You play with kids from all over the country that are really awesome at playing. I was shy going there at first, and I really came out of my shell.”

Bass said his interest in the program began when he attended a festival where the band was playing last year.

“I went to the National Concert Band Festival which is where they held the event last year,” Bass said. “I saw [a] band and H. Robert Reynolds, who is one of the best music teachers in the world right now, was conducting [it]. I really wanted to [play] under him and learn from him.”

Bass said he has also learned from both of his parents, who have created careers out of their love for music. His mother, Susan Bass, has been the band director at Mason Middle School for ten years, while his father, Bob Bass has served as the band director at MHS for 11 years.

“My parents kind of forced [my love of music] on me,” Bass said. “I went to my first Grand Nationals when I was about four months old and have been every year since.”

TODAY

Blow off some OGT stress today The OGT Carnival for sophomores who have completed the OGT test will be held during fifth bell today in the new gym, Small Commons, team room (F111) and Field House. The carnival will consist of several games and activities including karaoke, a DJ, a room to watch March Madness and Guitar Hero competitions. The carnival is hosted in conjunction with the Mason High School Administration and Sibs.

The Chronicle William Mason High School 6100 S. Mason Montgomery Road Mason, Ohio 45040

March 19, 2010

Issue 6

The Marshall Plan

After serving time in jail, former MHS state champion finds his road to redemption leads to obscure Kentucky college Tony DeLotell | Staff Writer In 2005, Mason High School graduate Zach Marshall won the state championship in wrestling and achieved a record that he will never forget. Three years later, he said he was convicted of trespassing in an occupied space, sentenced to 60 days in jail and stamped with a blemish on his record that he would love nothing more than to forget.

Since completing his sentence, Marshall has enrolled at Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky where he wrestles and plays football.

Mason High School history teacher Jerry Schrock taught Marshall when he was in eighth grade and was also his wrestling coach in high school. Schrock said he remembers Marshall as being well-liked and friendly in high school.

to Schrock.

“I didn’t see an arrogance or an ‘I’m the big fish here,’ entitlement,” Schrock said.

“Sometimes with athletes that go through that whole recruiting process, I’ve seen [them] become almost entitled, and I think [Zach didn’t] because he had a wonderful mother that kept him close to the ground.”

On May 21, 2008, after a night of partying with friends, Marshall entered what he thought was his dorm and laid down on the bed to go to sleep.

“I kind of was a little lost as

“Zach, through his own actions, from here on out can become an example that everybody can benefit from and say, ‘[You can’t go back on] a bad decision.’”

- History teacher and former coach Jerry Schrock “When I think of Zach, I always think of the words ‘gentle giant,’” Schrock said. “You never thought of him of hurting a flea.

He was the kind of guy that was everybody’s friend.”

After Marshall won state, Schrock said he never sensed any of the arrogance that is sometimes associated with recruited athletes. Marshall’s mother, Beth Marshall, was a major factor in keeping him grounded, according

to where my room was, so...

I entered [the room] I thought was mine,” Marshall said. “It was dark and I was exhausted, so I was planning on just lying in bed and going to sleep. When I [laid down], there was a young lady in the bed. I scared her and she scared me, too. I didn’t really say anything and I just got out of there. That’s when all this unfolded.”

The original charges brought

From top: photo by Griffin Frank; photo contributed

by WCPO. com; photo

by Tony DeLotell

against Marshall included burglary, assault and attempted rape.

Marshall was only convicted of trespassing in an occupied space and sentenced to 60 days in the Butler County Jail, as well as 120 days of house arrest, four years of general probation and 200 hours of community service, according to the Middletown Journal. Schrock said when he first heard about the charges for attempted rape, he dismissed them immediately.

“When I first heard [that] attempted rape was [one of] the charges, I just said, ‘I don’t believe it; I don’t believe it for a second,’” Schrock said. “I can tell you honestly that I looked at Zach in the eye and said, ‘You made a bad choice.’ This wasn’t an attempted rape, and this wasn’t a burglary. This was a kid who got too drunk and deserves to be

punished for it and needs to learn. [Everyone] needs to know that this stuff happens when you make stupid choices like that, and that was a stupid choice.”

When the decision was read, Marshall said he was shocked with the verdict.

“I was actually hopeful that [the decision] would come back not guilty because originally it came back a split decision,” Marshall said. “But the way the law was written, they really had no choice but to convict me. When I heard the verdict, I was kind of crushed and still kind of shocked.”

Marshall said that the time he spent in jail was the slowest period of his life. see MARSHALL on page 2

PAGE 2 | NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Mason business still thrives after 65 years Carlie Sack | Staff Writer

photo by Carlie Sack

said. “We have a number of customers who come in for the community feel or simply because they can’t find a certain brand of a product [that we have because one customer asked for it].”

Jane said Yost’s most unique aspects are related to its satisfactory personal service, like immediately delivering emergency prescriptions to customers in need. “[The main appeal of Yost is] our personal service, that we will go the extra mile,” Jane said. “I can remember a Christmas where we got a phone call [for an emergency prescription] because somebody’s child was sick or [on a] Thanksgiving [when we] got a call as soon as we sat down to dinner. And chain stores can’t do that.”

Although Jane said the ever-changing business atmosphere of Mason causes some intensified competition between small family businesses, like Yost and larger chain stores, Yost is open to the challenges of the contemporary business world.

“Competition is good for every business,” Jane said. “It makes everybody sharper.”

According to Dick, this competition for customers’ business has changed since Yost’s start when Mason

After about 65 years, family-owned and operated Yost Pharmacy is continuing to serve Mason.

The vast population changes that have taken place in Mason since 1945, causing an increasingly fastpaced business atmosphere, have affected Yost Pharmacy, according to the pharmacy’s president and owner Dick Yost. Dick has served the community through his business, as he watched Mason transform from a small rural town to an upbeat suburban city.

“There is no way [for Mason] to be as close-knit [as it was],” Dick said.

“But, you don’t lose all perspective [of the community it used to be]. ...There [are] still some of the remnants of the original [community of Mason].”

But Yost Pharmacy Manager and Treasurer Jane Yost, Dick’s wife, said that although the population change in Mason has caused a change in the business atmosphere, it has ultimately been beneficial to Yost.

“I think the population changes in Mason are one of the reasons we are able to remain successful,” Jane said. “The growth in Mason has been good for our business. But, if photo contributed by Mason Historical Society Mason wouldn’t have Yost Pharmacy founder Val Yost (right) and another Yost pharmacist grown, we wouldn’t worked in the store together during the mid-1950s or mid-1960s. have had [the competition from] all these chain [stores].” consisted of “very much country [with] less than According to Dick, the transient a thousand people in town.” Dick said this counpopulation of Mason has changed try charm is the factor that caused Dick’s father, consumers’ reception of a small Valentine “Val” Yost, to move to Mason and found family business, depending on the Yost in 1945. customers’ previous community “[Val] was a pharmacist at Christ Hospital in Cinbackgrounds. cinnati, [before coming to Mason],” Dick said. “[He] But Pharmacist Sarah Yost Mcwanted to get out into a little more of the counClain, daughter of Dick and Jane tryside and Mason, at that time, was. [Yost] was a Yost, said while the population of small store at the corner. We, as you did many years Mason has drastically increased, ago, lived above the shop: an apartment above the residents are still able to enjoy a store.” small-town feeling throughout the According to Dick, this familiarity with Yost at a community, partly because of small family young age caused him to pursue the family business businesses like Yost. in the future.

“Some of [our customers] are “I think you kind of grew up in it and enjoyed it,” here every day,” McClain said.

Dick said. “[So,] it ended up the field that I fol“Some of them are here every lowed.” week. Some customers want to Jane said she and Dick took over Yost in 1972, and know you and want you to know since then, many changes have been made. Among them. When you answer the those changes, Yost has added a compounding lab, phone, [some customers] don’t where some prescriptions are made by the Yost say their names -- you know them pharmacists, instead of being purchased from a by their voices.” pharmaceutical company.

This loyal customer base is the “It is no longer just a pharmacy: we [provide] all of one of the reasons that Yost’s the durable medical equipment,” Jane said. “Now, business is able to flourish, ac[our son, pharmacist David Yost] has the compoundcording to McClain. ing lab. It’s just grown.”

“Most of the things we offer, the Besides many changes and adaptations over the chain [stores] can’t offer,” McClain years, Dick said Yost is still loyal to its basis as a family-owned and operated business.

Yost children were not necessarily expected to continue working at Yost as adults, however, according to Dick. “[All four of our children] worked in here at one time or another when they were in school,” Jane said. “I remember once when my youngest son was ten years old, I made him put on a shirt and tie and work the register. ...[But,] it was entirely up to them [to continue working at Yost as adults]. ...Two [of my children] chose to take different directions. ...and two of them are here.”

Jane said Yost plans to continue this tradition of operating as a family business in the future.

“I believe Dick and I will start taking a less active role over the next few years as we try to pass it on to the kids, teach them what we know and build a staff that will be able to aid them,” Jane said. “I have no doubt that our kids can continue the business.”

McClain said she feels confident that the future of Yost will continue to offer its customers outstanding personal service as a small family business.

“Hopefully, we will continue to grow and be strong into the next generations,” McClain said.

MARSHALL:

Former MHS student seeks fresh start following jail time continued from page 1 “My first night in jail was really lonely, really kind of [a] scary place, not a place that I would ever want to go back again,” Marshall said. “It hurt knowing that I couldn’t leave this place and go see them. It was a rough two months.”

After being released, the first step to getting back on track was finding a job so he could make money to pay off fines and court costs, according to Marshall.

Marshall was on house arrest, so the only way he could leave the house was if he had a job. During those four months, Marshall began researching colleges that he could potentially attend when he stumbled upon a link to Lindsey Wilson College’s wrestling program.

“I was looking at wrestling forums around Cincinnati, and...[I found] a new wrestling program at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky,” Marshall said. “I sent out an athletic questionnaire, and ten minutes later the coach had called me and was asking me questions, and wanted me to come down and visit.”

According to Marshall, Lindsey Wilson College was a good choice for him because of the connection the college has with the Methodist religion. LWC is in the middle of a dry county, or a part of the state that doesn’t permit the sale of alcohol. Marshall said that because of this, his temptations are suppressed more easily.

“I don’t drink,” Marshall said. “I learned my lesson and got all that out of my system. I think a lot of people don’t realize the impact of how drinking can affect your decisions and really mess up your life. ...I chose a school that doesn’t have a party atmosphere. It’s in the middle of a dry county, so just in case I have that temptation, I’m not able to [drink].”

According to Schrock, Marshall does have a chance to come back from his situation and make it right.

“It’s a horrible event to see a kid you care about go to jail, but in Zach’s case, he has a chance to make it right,” Schrock said. “[His] life can mean something. ...Zach, through his own actions, from here on out can become an example that everybody can benefit from and say, ‘[You can’t go back on] a bad decision.’”

Despite being sorry for his actions, Marshall cannot reconcile with the woman that brought the charges against him because of a no contact rule made by the court.

“I am not able to make amends with the girl that was affected because of a no contact rule that my court ordered,” Marshall said. “My family has supported me throughout this whole thing and they [all] want me to get my degree and continue to do the right thing.”

Marshall said he has learned a lot from his situation and wishes to inform students that they are accountable for their actions.

“People enjoy having a good time, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it,” Marshall said. “You need to make the right choices. I’ve always been the kind of guy that has learned things the hard way and I kind of wish I didn’t learn this experience the hard way because it’s really affected my life.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

NEWS | PAGE 3

Pasta for Pennies food fundraisers make adaptations to follow health codes Samantha Stulen | Staff Writer The food sales that generated money for Pasta for Pennies will have stricter guidelines next year to ensure safety.

Student Activities Director Lorri Fox-Allen said that guidelines for student food sales have always existed to ensure that food is properly prepared, but are not well known to teachers who aren’t club advisers.

“There have always been those guidelines [for food preparation],” Fox-Allen said. “Usually, the only people that know about those guidelines are the advisers of clubs, because they do sales frequently [and are very aware of the rules].”

Supervisor of Food Service Darlene Hicks said that the student food sales, if found to be a serious violation of the health code, could result in the removal of the school’s participation in the National School Lunch Program.

The National School Lunch Program is a program that allows the cafeteria to offer free and reduced price lunches for students who are qualified financially. Hicks said that a reducedprice lunch is forty cents and the government pays back the school $2.28. For a free lunch, the government reimburses the school $2.68 due to national averages of school lunches being higher than Mason’s lunch price at $2.45.

Hicks said that if an inspector deemed the cafeteria meeting criteria, but saw the food sales in the halls, he or she could shut down both the cafeteria and the food sales.

To prevent this, National Honor Society (NHS) Adviser Barb Shuba said that food safety guidelines will be sent to all students at the beginning of the NHS Pasta for Pennies food drive for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society next year.

“We’re going to set up some guidelines [next year],” Shuba said. “If you want do food sales [and] you’re doing pre-packaged stuff, [that’s fine]: it’s already a done deal. If you’re doing hot dogs or anything, here are some guidelines you have to follow: hair nets, gloves [and] how you’re preparing the food.”

The installation of these guidelines for next year, according to Shuba and Fox-Allen, is not meant to suppress the support that the drive receives from food sales.

“I hope it won’t hinder people from doing [food sales for Pasta for Pennies],” Shuba said. “[Doing food sales - is] definitely is the attitude [to have], instead of people [saying], ‘Hey bring me your money.’ You have to applaud those people that said, ‘Hey, let’s go about this a different way. Let’s generate.’”

Shuba said that next year, student food sales are expected to continue, but the guidelines will try to prevent any chances of food contamination.

“We were excited so many people were getting behind [the food sales to raise money],” Fox-Allen said. “There’s a fine line [of], ‘Let’s not squelch the excitement and the amount of money that we raise: let’s do it right.’”

According to Fox-Allen, the best way to sell food is when it’s prepackaged or from a direct source, such as donuts from Busken Bakery, to which the administration can refer back if someone in school gets sick.

“We know where [the donuts] were made and we have somebody else that we can go back to if people are getting sick,” Fox-Allen said. “Restaurants have to cook things at proper temperatures and are run by the Board of Health, [like] our Commons. From what I understand from Food Service, the Health Department could come in here and shut everything down [if food protocol is not run to its standards].”

The Ohio Uniform Safety Code that the Health Department uses to regulate said in Section 3717-1-03.1 that “food prepared in a private home may not be used or offered for human consumption in a food service operation or retail food establishment.”

Food prepared at home, according to the code, cannot be sold by students for Pasta for Pennies in the halls, as well food prepared by equipment from home, Hicks said.

Fox-Allen said that she had to check that the food being sold in hallways was being kept at the right temperature in the weeks of food sales.

“If we’re selling hot items, it has to be kept at the temperature that the Health Department deems [healthy],” Fox-Allen.

“I was calling [to find] out what the right temperature was for hot dogs and [making sure] everybody [had] hair nets and gloves, because of sanitary reasons.”

The e-mail that will be sent out by NHS will entail that students have to sign up for locations and follow a guideline. “[The e-mail will] say you can only sell in [certain pods],” FoxAllen said. “‘This is where you can sell [your classroom’s food].

This is what you can sell. If you sell this [certain food item] you have to wear nets and gloves, [that food item] has to be kept at a certain temperature.’”

Fox-Allen said that the administration will allow two groups of food sales at a time for a period of days within the duration of Pasta for Pennies to ensure everyone has an equal chance.

“We would try to find some additional locations within the school so there’s more [opportunities],” Fox-Allen said. “The best thing would be for everyone to send in their requests right [so] we can organize and schedule everybody equally and fairly.”

photo by Samantha Stulen

The sale of various candies, baked goods and foods (including pancakes and hot dogs) at the peak of the Pasta for Pennies fundraising event could be putting Mason’s food services in jeopardy.

Freshman “Diversity Week” revamped Ellen Duffer | Associate Editor The refurbished schedule for the freshmen’s mornings of OGT week is a product of brainstorming and communication, according to Assistant Principal William Rice. Freshman homerooms participated in various activities aimed at raising awareness for societal issues during the administration of the OGT each morning this week, led by junior and senior Sibs, he said. In the past, the week focused on discussing diversity, but Rice said after he spoke with students who had previously been involved in executing the plans, he and a committee of Mason High School staff members decided to broaden Freshman Activity Week’s goals.

Initially, Rice said he was approached by Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart to lead the redesign of the week that, in years before, had been planned by MHS psychologist Jeff Schlaeger and multiple teachers.

“Mrs. McCarty-Stewart asked me two or three months ago to look at what was called ‘Diversity Week’ and figure out where we wanted to go,” Rice said. “In previous years, it wasn’t really administrative-led: it was a committee of teachers and Mr. Schlaeger, the school psychologist really was kind of the main facilitator on that. For a number of reasons, he had to step away from that position, this year.”

English teacher and Sibs adviser Betsy Carras said Rice then asked her for help garnering feedback from students who had been involved in assisting with the activities in the past.

“I had not been really involved in it in the past except for getting the Sibs involved in it,” Carras said. “I just kind of ran with what they wanted us to do. The kids were really involved a lot last year and the year before. So, this year, Mr. Rice came to me and said, ‘I know the students were involved and I just need to know more about it,’ because he was new.

He decided he wanted to talk to some people about…all that stuff that they had done in the past, and I gave him about 10 or 15 names of students that I knew would be willing to open up and tell how they felt.”

After learning what students felt had been valuable from previous Diversity Weeks, Carras said a committee of MHS staff members, assembled by Rice, discussed what to salvage of the past activities and what to replace.

“As a committee, we were all talking about different things we thought our students could benefit from and figured out what we can do to change it up and keep what the students thought was good,” Carras said. “That’s kind of how it evolved. We went through a whole brainstorming of different topics.”

The committee originally considered organizing a mass community service project to be completed by the freshmen in MHS’ Field House, according to Rice, who said he stressed the importance of a service learning project after meeting with individuals from YouGive. org, an organization devoted to community service. Ideas were discussed that would have necessitated a larger group effort, but Carras said the difficulties in such tentative plans were recognized.

“We had bigger goals set, and we just thought [it] was so hard with our numbers,” Carras said. “We wanted to do a service project where the kids were actually working, [but] it just couldn’t work with our numbers.

We wanted to do stuff with the special needs kids in the school, but we just couldn’t do that with our numbers. So, there [were] a lot of challenges that we had to overcome to make it work.”

Carras said the committee was limited in its community service plans because of the size of the class of 2014: the service learning project, she said, could not realistically have been collectively active, working simultaneously as one group. Instead, according to Carras, the committee decided to compile Personal Care Kits for patients at Grace Children’s Hospital throughout the week, stocking Ziploc baggies with items in individual homerooms.

The service project, Carras said, is a tangible product of a successfully orchestrated week of a myriad of activities.

“We have lots of good things [that] happen[ed], a lot of speakers [that came] in,” Carras said. “There [were] a lot of people who had great ideas that were part of it.”

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FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

NEWS | PAGE 5

Skype becoming a new method of professional communication Rachel Giesel | Staff Writer Video-calling is steadily gaining interest in Mason High School. But the act of video-calling through webcams has progressed to use in more professional instances such as college interviews, communicating with loved ones overseas and tutoring. A common way to enact video-calling is through a free downloadable program called Skype with which users are able to hear and see the person with whom they are conversing.

Senior Morgan Russell said she used Skype for the first time when she conducted her admissions interview with her firstchoice college, Wake Forest University.

“It was my first time using it, which was kind of scary, because I had no idea how it worked,” Russell said. “[But], it’s really easy. I requested to talk with [the interviewer], and I introduced myself via webcam and the interview started.”

Russell said that although Skype eliminates the need to travel, she said she prefers face-to-face communication and feels her interview may have been more relaxed in person.

“I feel like I almost had a disadvantage,” Russell said. “I think anything over technology makes people feel different. I think the interviewers would be more slack in person, but on Skype they’re more tough and gave me really critical questions. I think the interview would have been easier if I was actually there.”

But Russell said participating in a video-call rather than an in-person interview can also be advantageous: the use of Skype prevents both people from seeing the entire scene of the other’s environment. Russell said she used this to her benefit by preparing notes she could keep on her desk during the interview.

“You could be kind of cheating,” Russell said. “I

had notes taken and [had] practiced interviews with my dad. I didn’t make it obvious I was looking at my desk, but I had stuff there, so it helped me out.”

Freshman Nick Hoffman said he used Skype to converse with his stepdad while he was stationed in Iraq. He said the prolonged period of time his stepdad was required to stay overseas made Facebook and AIM not enough, so Skype was an excellent answer to their communication dilemma.

“When [my stepdad] was [in Iraq], we usually talked to him four or five times a week on Skype,” Hoffman said. “He was there for over a year -- 400 days -- and he only got to come back once. [We] used Skype so [we] could actually see each other and hear each other’s voice.”

Although he said the use of video-calls is growing, Hoffman

photo art by Caleb Schowalter

Jarod’s Law revoked Jessica Kantor | Staff Writer Jarod’s Law is being withdrawn from Ohio Law. Jarod’s parents originally wanted to form the law, which was created after Lebanon first-grader Jarod Bennett was crushed to death under a folding cafeteria table six days before Christmas in 2003. The law regulated chemicals and supplies in classrooms. Jarod’s parents said on their website that they were concerned after learning that Ohio was not regulating the school safety precautions for schools K-12.

“Although the dangers of the cafeteria table design which killed Jarod had been made public for over 10 years by the federal government’s Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), effective awareness and remediation had not occurred,” the Bennetts said on their website.

“Although the emotional pain of losing Jarod is significant and life-long, it would be even worse if we heard of another preventable injury or death in our schools, and we had chosen to do nothing as a result of Jarod’s death.”

At Mason High School, the law was immediately enforced in all classrooms in order to protect students against safety hazards. Barb Shuba, Mason High School’s Science Department Chair who has had experience for several years with maintaining safety precautions in the science classroom, said that the main reason the law was revoked was because of the high expenses for its regulation.

“It was cost-consuming in terms of paying inspectors to come around from building to building,” Shuba said. “In the long run, it was too expensive to uphold.”

Aside from being costly, Jarod’s Law determined very

specific rules for classroom safety. Shuba said that this can be attributed to the fact that laws such as Jarod’s Law are created based on individual situations and are instituted because of their impact on a specific, often small, group of people.

“From the start, Jarod’s Law was a law of passion,” Shuba said. “But [Jarod’s Law resulted from a] child getting hurt: it wasn’t because people have dry erase markers in a classroom.”

According to Shuba, the precise regulations from Jarod’s Law transferred more easily than expected into the classroom: it did not have as big of an impact on science classrooms as expected. “[The law included preexisting] science standards: Jarod’s Law already basically applied to all science classrooms,” Shuba said.

“It was just extending it to every classroom and taking it to a [higher] degree. These things should have been in place, and they already were in science classrooms. The standards, [with Jarod’s Law], were more labeled. Administration already knew where we kept MSDS sheets; they existed before the law.”

Shuba said that the classroom procedures and precautions that are in place are necessary and obvious in some cases. Elementary school classrooms, where all subjects, including science, are taught in one place, already incorporated these standards.

“I would have hoped that Jarod’s Law standards were already in effect in science classrooms,” Shuba said. “[The standards are] normal safety precautions that people should already have.”

According to Shuba, Mason has always had plans in place that keep kids safe from hazards in the classroom.

said has only used Skype for this purpose while others may use it for casual conversations between friends.

“A lot of people have started to use it to talk to their friends,” Hoffman said. “It’s becoming more popular. But I don’t use it, [except to talk to my stepdad].”

Math teacher and basketball coach Jere Clark said she uses Skype once a week to tutor former players or math students who have recently moved to college. Clark said she enjoys using Skype for this purpose because it allows her to show her students the appropriate way to solve the questions they may ask. “[Teaching on Skype is] more show and tell,” Clark said. “It’s impossible explain [math] without showing it.”

But even though Clark said Skype is “fast and reliable,” she said she agrees with Hoffman that there are some difficulties with it.

“The whole webcam idea is [used] because I can’t go face-to-face,” Clark said. “It would be easier to sit there and watch what [the student] is doing so I can go, ‘Oh, okay. This needs to be fixed.’ [It can be] hard to see what they’re doing, so it’s not that easy, but it’s definitely better than talking on the phone. [Webcams] allow us to answer quick questions -- maybe something basic that could help push them in the right direction.”

Clark also said that she saw Skype being used for a professional news source recently.

“I was watching CNN and they were doing the whole thing about the hurricane and tsunamis in Hawaii,” Clark said. “They actually had a reporter on Skype. So, instead of taking a camera crew [there] and paying for [the travel of] two or three extra people, they’re going to send one reporter and take a computer and [report through Skype].”

She said that Mason’s plan of action in response to the revoked law will not be drastic or very different at all from the standards that have been in place. Mason’s chemical hygiene plan, which protects students against dangerous or corrosive materials, included most imposed standards from Jarod’s Law already.

“In terms of Mason, we had already incorporated all of Jarod’s Law into our chemical hygiene plan,” Shuba said. “So even though Jarod’s Law was revoked in the state, nothing changed for Mason High School, because [the standards] were already a part of our plan.

We amended [our own plan] in some ways, but the basic safety features of needing MSDS sheets, no food in science classrooms and no exposed cords [were already in place].”

With the law’s revocation, most of its requirements will remain in place, but the enforcement of them will be in the hands of each school, according to Shuba. She said that the main difference now that Jarod’s Law has been removed is that school districts are independently responsible for safety precautions in schools.

“We will no longer have [state-organized] inspections: the inspections now are up to the individual school,” Shuba said.

Shuba said that while the law may have been overbearing at times, it did provide important information for the school district.

“It should not have been a good wake-up call, but it was,” Shuba said. “It was a check as to what we were doing correctly. In terms of what chemicals are appropriate for a high school classroom, it was a big wake-up call.”

End-of-course exams may prepare students for ACT Jami Bechard | Staff Writer End-of-course exams could be preparing Mason High School students for the ACT, according to Assistant Principal Antonio Shelton. MHS is currently participating in a pilot, testing the efficiency of these exams in helping students score well on the ACT. According to Shelton, Battelle for Kids, a non-profit organization that provides new solutions for improving education in the United States, is running Ohio’s pilot for the exams, to test the efficiency of the exams in preparing students for and increasing scores on the ACT. Right now, these exams can show the teachers in what areas they are excelling or need improvement. The curriculum taught in classes should match what is included on the ACT, so these exams can show whether or not Mason teachers are covering all aspects of the curriculum students will need to know for the ACT, according to Shelton. “[Eventually, end-ofcourse exams] can help show the progress that a student is making and where their dips or deficits [are],” Shelton said. “[Then, we can we can figure out] how to fix those deficits for the kid, because the teacher gets back a printout of all of the strengths, weaknesses, points that are necessary for growth and how they can help [students].”

These exams could help teachers and students in the English, Math and Science Departments, according to Shelton, as exams are being taken in all of the second sections of English I, II and III, Algebra I and II, PreCalculus, Geometry, Biology and Chemistry courses. According to Shelton, end-ofcourse exams will not appear in social studies courses, because it is not a subject that is emphasized in global business.

End-of-course exams could phase out if they result in improved ACT scores: if Ohio schools see an increase in scores, the state might alter its curriculum to match an ACT-sponsored set of standards (the Quality Core standards), according to Shelton. The Quality Core standards are the national standards and curriculum that go with the information found within the ACT and tests like the end-of-course exams and the EXPLORE and PLAN tests which are supposed to test students over the Quality Core curriculum; the end-of-course exams are a part of the Quality Core curriculum like

the OGT is a part of the Ohio curriculum.

Shelton said that teaching the Quality Core curriculum makes more sense since it coincides with the ACT, which helps students attend college. The OGT, he said, only helps students graduate high school. Because of this, the OGT could be eliminated in the next four years.

“The state is considering, in the next four years, phasing out the OGT and replacing it with [end-of-course exams],” Shelton said. “[This] makes sense, because [endof-course exams help you prepare for the ACT], which helps you go to college, whereas, [the] OGT doesn’t.”

But, switching curriculums requires a lot of effort and is expensive, Shelton said.

“Some of [the Quality Core] standards are covered in the Ohio Department of Education curriculum, but not all of them,” Shelton said. “Yet, [Mason is] still excelling.

We don’t want to transition and do the Quality Core standards right now, because if we go by national standards, or Quality Core standards, and the state decides that’s not the route we’re going to go, then we would be wasting money.”

Biology teacher Maggie Long agrees that the end-of-course of exams can help her improve as well as her students.

“It helps me as a pacing guide of where I need to be to ensure that [students] are successful on the end-of-course exam,” Long said. “I will look back at some of the questions and dissect the questions to see what types of things they are asking so that I can incorporate that into the classroom to help [students] better answer questions.”

Shelton said that with teachers able to reflect on their skills as educators, students will hopefully make the transition from high school to college. He said that these exams can give students an opportunity to get into college, while the OGT cannot.

“That’s the key: the bridge to somewhere [or the bridge to college], because the OGT is a bridge to really nowhere,” Shelton said.

“So, [end-of-course exams] are a bridge to somewhere. Battelle for Kids saw a need to bridge the gap between high school and college, and with that, made a proposal to the state of Ohio to operate a pilot. And through this pilot, they work with ACT to develop the end-of-course exams and the Quality Core standards.”

PAGE 6 | EDITORIAL

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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, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Round Table

Which movie do you think best describes life after high school?

photo by Danni Simms

From left to right: Angie Riffle, Kelly Abbot, Jillian Richardson, Anthony Parks, Darien Jackson and Eli Hujo.

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.

Angie Riffle Freshman “The movie I think best represents life after high school would have to be Finding Nemo. You know you’re going somewhere and looking for something; you’re just not entirely sure where to go. On the other hand, you’re also gaining independence, learning how to swim on your own. You have to learn how to live without your parents and old friends in a totally new environment. You’re venturing out into the unknown [and] not sure where to start, let alone where you’re going to end up.”

Kelly Abbot Sophomore “I don’t know that there is a movie that really shows what life would be like out of high school. I mean, I think we all have our favorite Hollywood scenario that we play out in our head of what we want our lives to be like, but I don’t know anyone gets that in the real world. ...Movies aren’t made to show what life is expected to be or what will probably happen; they tend to show exceptions or unexpected happenings that aren’t ‘the norm’ for us people living off the screen.”

Jillian Richardson Sophomore “I would have to say Post Grad best represents what life after high school will be like.

People think going out into the real world will be fun and easy, but it doesn’t always turn out that way. The girl in this movie thinks that she’s going to graduate and then go straight into a great life, but that doesn’t really work out as planned. I think that many people in life will go through this. People will have to put forth a lot of hard work before they achieve the life of their dreams!”

Anthony Parks Junior “The movie I think best describes life after high school would have to be Weird Science. You’re excited and you know what’s coming. But, [you’re] nervous and not sure what to do when it gets there. On the other hand, you’re ready; you’ve been preparing for this moment, learning how to be independent and make big decisions. ...Overall, you’re just trying to find a way to make it through life all alone with a lot of distractions, but also learn from them.”

Darien Jackson Junior “I would choose the movie Be Cool because Christina Milian had a dream to be a singer, and with the support from her manager, she was able to stay motivated and eventually [become very famous].

This inspires me because I believe that anyone has a chance if they don’t give up on what they believe. Everyone has a dream, and most people need support. Young adults need support to make it through college. ...With the right support, one can stay motivated.”

Eli Hujo Senior “I would choose the movie the [The] Blind Side because everybody needs help getting through life, and there are always people behind them no matter what has happened in their lives. And in the end, everybody remembers [the main character] for all of his hard work. People started to believe in him, and that gave him hope. ...This is like parents and friends; they help you get through school, so you can go on to bigger and better things.”

-Compiled by Danni Simms

Staff Editorial

Sense of entitlement too present in current generation’s attitude We are called the entitled generation; in other words, we are demanding and disrespectful, arrogant and spoiled. We are said to expect immediate reward for our skills in the workplace and classroom, while previous generations have persevered for years to reach their positions. A recent Boston Globe article, “The New Me Generation” by Jake Halpern, even states that our generation refuses to report to or acknowledge superiors (like bosses or teachers) and instead demands to operate individually.

Our sense of entitlement could partly be caused by our proficiency with technology and computers. The job market is becoming increasingly technological; so we are able to (and expect to) enter the workplace at a high level. Maybe we see elders as less of a threat because we immediately dismiss them as incompetent due to their unfamiliarity with technology.

Nonetheless, members of our generations have lost more jobs than members of previous generations in the recent recession, according to the NewsWeek.com article “The Real Generation Gap” by Robert J. Samuelson. Members of older generations refuse to let arrogant kids take their positions that they have worked so hard to obtain.

Businesses prefer employees who work hard in order to be rewarded, rather than those who simply expect to be rewarded.

But, of course our generation feels entitled when our parents and grandparents have filled

our childhoods with tales of their hardships, concluding that we deserve a better life than theirs.

Our families provided everything for us so that we will have that better life. With everything provided for us in our pasts, we continue to expect this in our futures. Our parents told us that we deserve better lives, so, naturally, we think we deserve everything -- without entirely earning it. From playing with princess toys as children to the creation self-centered profiles on Facebook, we expect to be rewarded.

However, these causes of entitlement are no excuse for our generation’s general disrespect for previous generations’ ways of life. We don’t understand the struggles that immigrants, soldiers, farmers or housewives faced in the past; we dismiss hardship as something that could never come upon us.

But it could. We are the future of our country, and if we persist with our attitudes and expectations that everything to be given to us, there is no doubt that we will come upon hardships of our own. So, perhaps we should start learning and respecting the difficulties of the past generations now, in order to prepare for our own futures.

Instead of learning about the past, our generation mostly focuses on the present goals in our lives, like obtaining an education. We expect an education; our generation often brands our educational system as a pesky requirement, not a privilege. We feel entitled to teachers’ time; if

we don’t grasp a subject, we blame our teachers.

Another NewsWeek.com article, “Generation Me”

by Raina Kelley, shows that 30 percent of current college students of our generation expect to deserve a high grade in a course simply because they showed up to class. This feeling of entitlement to an education frequently leads to disrespect of our teachers.

In preparation for our own individual futures, we are assertive and confident in our career and educational goals. Some may argue that this boldness is a perfectly healthy way to get ahead, but it will eventually cause us to realize that we cannot reach these ambitious goals as easily as we thought we could. In the real workplace, employers will not easily hand out promotions or praise.

Although motivation and goals are beneficial, we should not be so assertive to the point that we are fooling ourselves about what we can accomplish.

Despite all of this, it may be unfair to generalize every person of our age range as a member of the entitled generation. Some of us recognize that we can only achieve when we persist and endure through struggles and some of us properly respect our elders and superiors, but it can be agreed upon that a large majority of our age group does, in fact, expect far more out of life than they are willing to put in. We feel entitled to what isn’t even ours.

Sports THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 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.

Which spring sport would be the best spectator athletic event?

“Baseball, because its America’s pastime, and I’ve always enjoyed it since I was little.”

Cody Schrand Sophomore

“Track, because you get to be outside, and you see your friends.”

Marti Sumrall Freshman

“Lacrosse, because it’s more of a contact sport.”

Seth Allen Junior

“Volleyball, because it’s fun watching people dive for the ball.”

Haylee Todd Junior

SPORTS | PAGE 7

Playing for the number on back Student athletes loyal to jersey numbers

Danni Simms | Staff Writer Every athlete gets a jersey, but to some athletes, the number they wear for each game has critical importance, according to senior softball player Danielle Engelman.

“I feel like the number [23] follows me everywhere in my life,” Engelman said. “I don’t know why; I just feel like everywhere I look the number 23 haunts me.”

Engelman has played on Mason’s varsity girls’ softball team since her freshmen year.

Instead of playing under 23 -- the number that she has had for over eight years -- she plays as the number 17.

“The [school] didn’t have the number 23, so I had to pick a new number,” Engelman said. “I didn’t really have an attachment to the number 17 at all [when I got it].”

Though she doesn’t get to wear the number for the school, Engelman said she sports her number 23 during several other occasions. “[I wear it to] everything outside of school ball, [including] summer ball and recreational leagues,” Engelman said.

According to Engelman, her family is a large part of why she feels attached to the number 23.

“When my dad played high school baseball he was number 23,” Engelman said. “Also, when my mom played soccer she was 23. [My family’s] favorite Yankee baseball player’s number is also 23, [so] we named our dog after him.”

Junior Brian Carden played on the varsity boys’ basketball team this season, and he also likes the number 23.

“I wore 23 all my life [until] this year because the [number] was not available,” Carden said. “[I used it] because my favorite basketball player is Lebron James, [and] he has that number, and [Michael] Jordan had that number also.”

Senior Colleen Raga said that she also had a

special reason for choosing the jersey that she wore while playing varsity volleyball for Mason during the fall season.

“Cara Baarendse, one of my really good friends, asked me to wear her number 12 jersey number this year for our varsity season,” Raga said. “Cara was a really large part of the team [last year before she graduated]; the fact that she asked me to wear her number meant a lot.”

According to Raga, she was the first person to have the number 12 jersey handed down to her, but next year the tradition will continue.

“This season, at the end of the season, I asked one of my really good friends who I’ve been playing volleyball with [to have the jersey],” Raga said. “I just kind of felt like we were really close and I really respect the way she plays.”

Junior Brenna Hallum runs track and cross country and said that she found the number that she is attached to by chance.

“I originally was going to go with 9/11, and then I realized that seemed creepy,” Hallum said. “[Since] 9/10 is close to [9/11], I went with that [freshman] year.”

After a year with the number 9/10, Hallum said that she had to switch jerseys and she chose the number 8/10 because the 10 matched with her first jersey.

Though Hallum said that she did not choose the number because of its meaning, as a result of having it through tough meets she appreciates the jersey now.

“I’ve been through a lot with the jersey which is why [I feel attached],” Hallum said.

A preference for a certain jersey number can also affect other events in an athlete’s life according to Engelman. “[I chose] 23 as my first lottery ticket,” Engelman said. “Also, in sixth grade there was a drawing of all of the kids in the class and I was number 23. I won the drawing, and I’d never won anything in my life.”

-Compiled by Tony DeLotell

Team Tracker

photo by Tony DeLotell

The boys’ varsity swimming team had a 400-yard freestyle relay qualify for the state tournament this year, comprised of sophomore Brad Lebling, senior Patrick Knapp, junior Brian Wunderle and freshman Eric Chen.

Lebling said the relay team was not expected to perform as well as they did and that these expectations added to their accomplishment.

“We proved people wrong and proved that we could do pretty [well],” Lebling said.

The varsity gymnastics team qualified for state this season for the first time in the team’s history.

“It was really exciting -- not just for me, but for the whole team,” senior gymnast Sarah Taylor said. “I know everyone was excited.”

Taylor said that while the gymnastics team has succeeded in recent years, this year marked its best performance.

“We were city champions for the past two years, but this is the best thing,” Taylor said.

photo by Alyssa Howard

photo contributed

PAGE 8 | SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Sneak peek into Ian Howard | Staff Writer Trevor Maxim | Staff Writer

Varsity Boys’ Tennis

8Head Coach: Linda Kirtley 8Last Year’s GMC Finish: Third place 8Coach’s Comment: “This year we don’t have any established doubles teams. So, we’re going to have to see which two players will pair up both skill-wise and mentally to come up with really good doubles combos.”

The boys’ varsity tennis team has high hopes this season, according to Varsity Head Coach Linda Kirtley.

“Our goals for this tennis season are to win the [Greater Miami Conference] and to actually go far in the state team tournament,” Kirtley said.

Although it is only the team’s second year in the GMC, they earned third place. According to Kirtley, the competition in the GMC is numerous.

“In the GMC, Lakota West, Lakota East and Sycamore are the top three teams that we’d have to beat,” Kirtley said.

While many the team will face multiple competitors, there are still internal problems within the team, according to Kirtley. About half of its varsity A team graduated last year and, according to Kirtley; this will hurt the team in aspects of gameplay.

To offset this loss, according to Kirtley, a large new freshmen class is trying out. Kirtley said she is also enacting new workout programs to aid the team.

“Our warm-up will be more aerobic, [and] we have some new drills that we are going to incorporate into our team practices,” Kirtley said. “And we’re also going to be working on second serves.”

Varsity Boys’ Lacrosse photo by Trevor Maxim

8Head Coach: Randy Hubbard 8Last Year’s Record: 12 - 5 8Coach’s Comment: “We think we can get out of our region and possibly make something happen at the state tournament.”

The boys’ varsity lacrosse team has clear goals for the 2010 season, according to Head Coach Randy Hubbard. He said there are certain teams that the players are determined to beat for the first time.

“The guys have set up goals that they want to defeat some of the other teams in the city that we haven’t beaten yet, like Indian Hill and St. Xavier,” Hubbard said. “We’ve progressively beaten one or two of [the teams] that we didn’t beat before each year and those are kind of the only two left.”

Hubbard said beyond these goals, the team has its sights set on a post-season run.

Some of the returning seniors this year include Shannon Slattery, Andrew Roussos and Scott Spencer, whom Hubbard said he expects to be leaders on the field. Hubbard said that other key junior players include Eric Hust, Jacob Lucky and Gabe Shreve.

According to Hubbard, the players are talented, but need to have the right attitude in order to succeed.

“I think [the players] have just got to make sure they don’t become complacent,” Hubbard said. “They are pretty good and they are athletic, but sometimes just going out and going through the motions isn’t going to win you games.”

Spring sports

Varsity Softball photo by Tony DeLotell

8Head Coach: Brian Castner 8Last Year’s GMC Finish: Third place 8Coach’s Comment: “[Our goal is] to get better each day. We want to get better each day and hopefully put ourselves in a place to be successful at the end of the year.”

Varsity Softball Head Coach Brian Castner said he is excited to finish his softball coaching career with a strong 2010 season. Castner said, however, that he is not going to let the finality of the season distract him. “[This season] is not going to be any different for me,” Castner said. “I’m going to coach them just as hard, if not harder. So, we’re going to go day-to-day; nothing’s going to change.”

Castner said that the graduating seniors this year are an exciting group that he looks forward to having on the team, with seven senior girls returning from the varsity team in 2009. According to Castner, the team is focusing this season on improving, allowing the results to come on their own.

Castner said the girls need to be able to perform at the highest level, even amidst the problems that they encounter during the season.

“We’ve got to make sure that we stick together,” Castner said. “We’ve got to make sure we have great team chemistry, through the high and low times, the ups and downs.”

Varsity Boys’ Volleyball

8Head Coach: Paul Melnick 8Last Year’s GMC Finish: Sixth place 8Player’s Comment: “[When we first entered the GMC] we were about the [middle] of the pack to the bottom half. In the last two years, we’ve moved up more towards the top of the pack.”

As varsity boys’ volleyball players chalk their hands this season, their biggest focus will be on volleyball technique, according to senior varsity player Ryan O’Shaughnessey.

“We’re really good athletes; it’s just in volleyball skills, we’re not there,” O’Shaughnessey said.

To achieve the team’s goal of an improved record, O’Shaughnessey said the team will maintain many of the same exercises from last year. “[Melnick] is doing the same things, it’s just that we have to practice it and keep doing the same thing,” O’Shaughnessey said.

The team will have two main athletic events to showcase their talent, according to O’Shaughnessey.

“There’s the GMC championship that’s just based on the regular season play and then there’s the state tournament, and we just want to do the best we can in both,” O’Shaughnessey said.

The fact that the team has not reached its full potential is a result of the athletic diversity of its players, according to O’Shaughnessey.

“We’ve got a lot of athletes like basketball kids and football kids,” O’Shaughnessey said.

“We just [have] to get it all together.”

Varsity Varsity Girls’ Lacrosse Girls’ Track 8Head Coach: Paul Limpert 8Last Year’s Record: Not available 8Coach’s Comment: “Our goal is always to get to the state final, and that doesn’t change this year.”

The girls’ lacrosse program is expectant of a state championship, according to Varsity Head Coach Paul Limpert.

“Each year we’ve taken one little baby step [toward] getting there,” Limpert said. “Last year we finished a little short of getting to the regional finals and lost to Upper Arlington by a couple goals had we won that game we [would have been] in the state final four.”

According to Limpert, this season marks the maturity of Mason’s program, as the freshmen players are the first to have played since the sixth grade. Along with this Limpert said that the team did not lose many players from graduating seniors.

“We only lost three seniors,” Limpert said.

“But it’s only three out of 12 starters.”

In order to achieve the state championship, Limpert said he suggests a new outlook.

“Our focus is going to be to continue to master what we do on offense,” Limpert said.

According to Limpert, the team is assured in the fact that their relatively infantile program can only get better as the years progress. “[The Mason lacrosse team] is going to be one year more experienced than last year,” Limpert said.

Despite this, many teams in the Cincinnati area are very strong, according to Limpert. He said that some of the girls in Upper Arlington and Sycamore have been playing since the third grade.

“Upper Arlington has always been a problem for us because they have a very mature lacrosse program,” Limpert said. “By the time they get to high school they’ve been playing since third grade.”

Varsity Boys’ Track photo by Trevor Maxim

8Head Coach: Chip Dobson 8Last Year’s GMC Finish: First place 8Coach’s Comment: “I’m looking forward to the chance for our guys to go to levels they’ve never been at before.”

The varsity boys’ track team expects positive results across multiple events this season, according to Head Coach Chip Dobson. He said the team’s goal is to capture championships at the Greater Miami Conference, district and regional levels.

Dobson said junior Zach Wills carries high expectations for the 2010 season. Wills was the 2009 state champion in the 3200-meter event and the runner-up in the two-mile event at the 2009 Nike Outdoor National competition.

Other athletes that Dobson said should perform well this season include senior hurdler Taylor Celestin, senior 400-meter runner Chris Lehman, senior high jumper Alex Hamm and senior discus thrower Tom Grant.

Dobson said this variety of will contribute to widespread success for the team.

“I think we’ll be strong in the two-mile; we’ll be strong in the mile,” Dobson said. “I think we’re going to be strong in the 400, and high jump, and discus,” Dobson said.

photo by Trevor Maxim

8Head Coach: Tony Affatato 8Last Year’s GMC Finish: First place 8Coach’s Comment: “I think the one big goal is going to be to win the GMC for the third straight year in a row. That’s first and foremost, and then whatever happens after that happens.”

The varsity girls’ track team has a lasting tradition to uphold this season, according to Head Coach Tony Affatato. This tradition includes eight straight conference championships, in both the Fort Ancient Valley Conference and Greater Miami Conference, eight straight district championships, and six out of the last eight regional titles.

Affatato said that one of the important qualities for the team to have will be diversity among the different events, in both track and field.

“The other key piece to being successful and winning the GMC is being well-rounded in all the events that we’re participating in,” Affatato said. “You know, [we need to] have pole vaulters, have high jumpers have good long jumpers; [we should] be good in the distance events.”

The girls track program this year will have between 140 and 145 total participants, according to Affatato, and the large size serves to benefit the team.

Affatato said the abundance of younger athletes will require cooperation between them and the older athletes, which he said has already started to happen.

“We’re going to have a lot of young kids on our team, so one thing that’s going to have to happen is the meshing of the older kids and the younger kids,” Affatato said. “I think that’s a really important piece to the puzzle.”

Varsity Baseball

8Head Coach: Ken Grays 8Last Year’s GMC Finish: Third place 8Coach’s Comment: “As a team, we have just one primary goal, and that is to win the GMC.” Coming from a history of excellence, the varsity baseball team expects Greater Miami Conference domination this season, according to Varsity Baseball Assistant Coach Curt Bly. In recent seasons, Bly said that varsity baseball has done very well in the GMC. “We have finished second in the last two seasons -- those were our first two years in the league,” Bly said.

The team is aided by senior Scott Klever in this area, who is a First Team All League Player, according to Bly. “[Klever] is the pitcher with by far the most experience, so we’re going to need big things from him,” Bly said.

Bly said that there are a few other returning senior varsity starters such as Rhett Durbin and Preston Carr. Despite Klever, Durbin and Carr’s help, Bly said that varsity baseball, a traditionally senior-weighted sport, is greatly lacking in its chief resource after graduating 14 seniors last year.

“So, we’re definitely going to need younger guys to step in,” Bly said. “There are going to be some opportunities for juniors as well as sophomores.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

PAGE 9

PAGE 10 | SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Dan Matthias

Ch@tRoom

What you won’t find on Facebook

The_Chronicle: How do you determine how to choose your March Madness bracket?

q If you could be sponsored by any fast food chain, it would be... Chick-Fil-A

Freshman_Jacob_Finley: I go with the higher seed to win the most. I base my picks on the team’s overall skill.

qLast picture someone took of you: Senior pictures—that was a long time ago too

Junior_Brad_Lebling: I use ESPN.com and look at team rankings and the team’s records.

Sophomore_Alex_Rabah: I guess because

qWho should be prom king this year: Dan Pierson

Junior_David_Mintz: As I’m an avid col-

q Mechanical or old-fashioned pencil: Old-fashioned, Ticonderoga Black

I don’t know a lot, I usually choose the underdog and hopefully I win.

lege basketball fan, but come tournament time it doesn’t matter because there is always going to be some upsets.

q Favorite Jonas Brother: “Joe: he’s the only one I know.”

Freshman_Chase_Lovett: I use common knowledge. I also research the team’s history, record, and conference play.

qWhen you look in the mirror you see: Straight awesomeness

Junior_Daron_Prater: I base it on my gut and I watch ESPN a lot.

q Most visited website: “Yahoo: it’s my homepage.”

Sophomore_Brad Denzel: I look at the numbers and the statistics really. Then I make an educated guess on who I think would win.

q If you were a pair of shoes, you would be: Nikes qIn the yearbook this year, you should be voted: Best-looking

-Compiled by Ryan Hoffman

TweetingTwits

qPerfect spring break: “[That would be] actually going on a spring break trip because I’m poor and I have no money.”

OGOchocinco: Being able to tweet and go 180 is a double no no but its working, VROOOM

q Next meal you plan on eating: Burger King q Favorite reality TV show: “The Biggest Loser, because it makes me feel like a winner.” q This volleyball season, you’re most excited about: “Actually winning games; we went 5-17 last year, so we want to win.” q Your superhero name: Diesel -As told to Trevor Maxim

-Compiled by Tony DeLotell

SportsRant

Tony DeLotell | Staff Writer

How should March Madness brackets ideally be chosen?

The most important part of filling out an NCAA March Madness bracket is playing it safe.

It is only common sense that if one team beats another team in a regular season game, then the same will probably happen on the courts this March. People can talk about the feeling they get from a team, maybe that UC-Santa Barbara is going to go all the way this year or that Duke will not score a single basket in the second round, but in reality there are far fewer upsets than there are predictable games. The fact is that choosing brackets for arbitrary reasons does not make sense when you can have your own cheat sheet of what happened in league games. Why would you go off something that you felt was right when you could know it was right by looking at the past record of a team? I guess it makes sense, though: if there were no people that filled out brackets without regard to league rankings, then Ian Howard | Staff Writer there would be no losers.

The saying “knowledge is power” does not hold true when it comes to constructing a successful bracket for March Madness.

Just look at who ends up winning most often. We’ve all seen the scenario play out -- the girl who knows nothing about basketball makes her selections based on how much she likes the team mascots and miraculously ends up winning the entire pool. Flip a coin, roll a die, pick numbers out of a hat; you can use any form of randomization you like, because it is useless to spend hours contemplating seedings and upsets and sleepers. While these factors might seem to make sense of the mess that is March Madness, there is only one perfect combination of them. Ideally, the one-seeds should meet in the Final Four, but we know they probably will not. It’s possible that a lower-seeded team will pull off a Cinderella story upset over a top team, but then again that is just as unlikely. Don’t waste your time going back and forth endlessly like this, because trust me, it will go on endlessly. It might be a better idea to start studying up on team mascots instead. photos by Alyssa Howard Trevor Maxim | Staff Writer

Every year shortly after selection Sunday, there are thousands of articles, TV shows and blogs all claiming to know the best way to fill out your March Madness bracket. Some will tell you to go with your gut, and others will argue to pay attention to the seeds, but in reality, it’s a simple science. There are really only a few things you need to keep in mind when making your picks. First off, write in your one and two seeds to the next round. A oneseed has never lost in round one, and two-seeds rarely lose.

Secondly, pick one of your 12 seeded teams to win in the first round. One of them is always able to sneak by. Don’t get discouraged if you find yourself picking many more topseeded teams to win. While upsets will happen, the seed of a team is usually a pretty good gauge of how good they are. At the same time, though, don’t go crazy and select of bunch of improbable upsets. They happen, but don’t expect another final four appearance out of an 11-seeded team like George Mason’s in 2006. Finally, pull out your finished bracket on day one of the tournament, sit back and watch the most exciting kind of play-off that there is in sports.

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

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PAGE 12 | THE CHRONICLE

Rachel Schowalter | Staff Writer

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

POST SECRET

Mason High School is filled with almost 3,000 teenagers, each of whom possesses a multitude of secrets waiting to be exposed. The Chronicle’s version of PostSecret has collected a variety of student secrets, revealing the eccentricities, joys, sorrows and dreams that dwell inside the teenagers of MHS. Nearly 45 postcards written and decorated with secrets were submitted anonymously to The Chronicle by MHS students. The two-week event in February was inspired by Frank Warren’s blog, PostSecret, which he updates weekly with scanned images of secrets on homemade postcards he receives in the mail.

Note: Additional responses are posted on The Chronicle Online.

Postcards inappropriate for publication were discarded.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

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FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Students experiment in the culinary arts Cady Meece | Staff Writer

Masters of marinade and capers of cakes, several students at Mason High School spend their free time baking and perfecting their recipes and creations.

Senior Megan Cooper, a frequent baker, said that even at age 10, her love of cooking was evident.

“I started cooking when I was about 10 years old,” Cooper said. “I started mostly helping with dinner and helping my mom bake sometimes. I loved it right away.”

Senior Jenna Bookman said that her love of cooking started after many years of assisting in the kitchen.

“I just recently started baking in the past two to three years,” Bookman said. “I started baking cakes for my friends’ birthdays, other holidays and things like that.”

Senior Josh Levine said that his interest in cooking arose at random but continued due to his passion and love for food.

“My interest in cooking just started happening,” Levine said. “At first, my dad forced me to help him but after a while, I really began to like it. If I had to guess, it started maybe three years ago. I think I keep cooking because of my love of food.”

Cooper said her interest picked up after receiving a book with many unique cupcake designs which inspired her to start baking more often.

“I recently got a book called Hello, Cupcake,” Cooper said. “It has a ton of cool cupcake designs that I like to experiment with and try to perfect. I cook more often now, because I have a whole book to get through.”

According to Bookman, most of her cake inspirations come from television shows such as Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes.

“I get a lot of my ideas from cake shows, like Cake Boss,” Bookman said. “I also recently took a cake class at Joann’s Fabrics.”

Levine said that his ideas are usually a mix between recipes which he finds from the internet and his own concoctions.

“Most of my ideas either come from the internet or I create my own,” Levine said.

“It’s usually a mixture of both.”

Cooper said with the help of her parents as well as her own funds, she is able to cover the expenses of her hobby to experiment with the inspirations she stumbled upon more often.

“Cooking is not as expensive as you would think, but it’s also not cheap,” Cooper said. “I pay for it with my own money, or occasionally, my parents help me.”

According to Levine, cooking is cheaper than dining out, especially if you get your ingredients at a low cost.

“Cooking surprisingly isn’t that expensive,” Levine said. “I usually just go to any normal supermarket for my ingredients. It might not be best quality, but it’s good enough. If you do it for a date, it’s actually cheaper than going out to eat.”

Buying ingredients is worth the cost, according to Cooper, because she said baking helps her better cope with stress while providing her with a source of enter-

tainment.

“I usually cook in my free time or when I’m stressed out,” Cooper said. “It calms me down and it is fun at the same time.”

Even though she bakes at least once a week, according to Bookman, she is not a consumer of her cakes.

“The interesting part [about my baking] is that I don’t even like cake,” Bookman said. “Most times that I do bake, I give [the finished product] away to other people. Most times, my friends will ask me to make something for an event or something, and some pay me, so it works out.”

According to Levine, he enjoys cooking rather than baking because of the limitations of recipes that must be implemented while baking “I hate to bake,” Levine said. “Baking is just following recipes, and I hate to make desserts.”

In addition to free time, Cooper, who prefers baking to cooking, said that having patience is also a crucial trait to have while waiting for her creations to finish.

“The hardest part of cooking is having to wait for your creations to be finished,” Cooper said. “I am such an impatient person.”

Bookman said that it is sometimes hard to make sure her original ideas are properly portrayed with the finished product.

“The hardest part about baking is getting your cakes to look like you picture them,” Bookman said. “It’s a great feeling to be able to see your creations come out how you pictured them in your head.”

Although there are many designs to choose from, according to Cooper, she has certain ones from the book that she likes to make the most.

“My favorite thing to make is spaghetti-and-meatball cupcakes because they look real and they are easy to make,” Cooper said. “I also like to make the corn-on-the-cob cupcakes because all I have to do is put jellybeans on them, and they look realistic.”

According to Bookman, her favorite cake to make is one that resembles an everyday food.

“My favorite cake that I have made so far is a cake that looked like a hamburger,” Bookman said. “It looked so cool and I made it for my friend’s birthday so everyone really enjoyed it.”

According to Bookman, she hopes to keep baking in mind as a possible career path.

“In the future, I hope to continue baking through college,” Bookman said. “I am majoring in business but I hope to take culinary classes on the side so that I can hopefully own my own bakery someday.”

Although only cooking as a hobby for now, according to Cooper, she hopes that cooking will always be a hobby of hers.

“I don’t know what I will end up doing with my cooking but I plan to minor in culinary in college,” Cooper said. “But, I know I will always be cooking no matter what.” photos by Cady Meece

Senior Megan Cooper created the above cupcakes resembling an owl, corn-on-the-cob and a plate of spaghetti and meatballs based on examples shown in the the book Hello, Cupcake.

Clashing opinions determine water bottle ratings Janie Simonton | Staff Writer In addition to textbooks and pencils, students and teachers are carrying a new accessory to classes these days: water bottles. Whether it’s for fashion or just to keep hydrated, each Mason High School resident has different feelings about which water bottle reigns supreme in the hierarchy of water bottles.

Aluminum Water Bottles

Plastic Water Bottles

Senior Chelsea Hoffmaster said the convenience of plastic water bottles is one of the main reasons she carries one.

“When I get tired of [the water bottle] or the water starts tasting bad, I just throw it away, [and] I don’t really care,” Hoffmaster said. “I don’t have to keep it and…put it in the dishwasher, so my little brother doesn’t get mad about having to do more dishes.”

Senior Matt Kahl said that time advantages are a reason he uses plastic water bottles.

“I don’t have to fill it up,” Kahl said. “I can just grab it and go in the mornings.”

As cross country and track runners, Hoffmaster and Kahl said the plastic water bottles come in handy on race day. “[I] can just put [plastic water bottles] in [my] bag, and then I have three water bottles ready, and when I drink them all, I can just refill them,” Hoffmaster said. “I don’t have to go to the drinking fountain every two seconds when it’s hot and dry. When you drink at the drinking fountain, there are always other people and you feel bad if you drink too much water, but then you can just chug away at your water bottle.”

Kahl said the convenience of his water bottles helps him on race day as well.

“I can have four water bottles, so I’m never [in a position where] I’m out of one and there’s nowhere to fill it up,” Kahl said. “I mean, I don’t want to go to a creek or anything.” photos by Janie Simonton

A thirty-two ounce water bottle filled up three times a day is just what junior Brittani Campbell said she needs to get her daily amount of water.

“I can just [carry my water bottle] all the time and keep refilling it,” Campbell said.

Senior Grace Eichler said that she likes her water bottle because it’s easy to pick out of a crowd.

“You can always know which one is yours, because you have your own,” Eichler said. “It’s not like everyone has the same Kroger [brand] water bottle.”

Campbell said that although the water bottle was slightly expensive, the little things make the cost worth it.

“I think the price was decent because it keeps [drinks] cold all the time,” Campbell said. “I was sick of carrying around those little water bottles that you buy at the store.”

Eichler said that her metal water bottle ranks number one because of its durability.

“I have dropped it, and there are so many dents and scratches in it, but it is still a phenomenal water bottle,” Eichler said.

Nalgenes

A water bottle dropped several times over the last four or five years certainly qualifies as durable, according to Spanish teacher Erica Minner.

“I’ve dropped it a million times, [and it] still works,” Minner said. “I’ve taken it camping [and it] still works.”

Senior Lindsay Kappa said that her water bottle is convenient because of its size, in addition to its durability. “[My water bottle is] bigger,” Kappa said. “It holds more water.”

Minner said that she can refill the 32 ounces her Nalgene brand water bottle holds without worrying about funny tastes that plastic water bottles sometimes give.

“I feel that plastic water bottles sometimes get a weird taste,” Minner said. “[They get] an old, musty taste, whereas mine doesn’t really do that.”

Contigos

Junior Shriya Ruparel said she would rate her Contigo water bottle “at number one.”

“It’s the best,” Ruparel said. “It doesn’t leak, it’s fashionable [and] it’s purple. It holds a lot of water and it’s easier to carry around.”

Ruparel said that the monetary advantages of the Contigo were also a factor in her decision to purchase one.

“It came in a three-pack at Costco,” Ruparel said. “My mom [was able to give] me one, she took one and my dad took one.”

According to junior Gulshan Chowdhery, another advantage of the Contigo is its hands-free clip.

“When I walk around, it’s nice to have on my bag,” Chowdhery said. “I don’t have to hold it in one hand; I [can] be carrying something else [instead].”

Camelbacks

According to senior Joey Starnes, Camelback water bottles -- commonly nicknamed as “Nips” around the school -- are “definitely at the top of the list.”

Sophomore Meredith Touby said she agrees with Starnes.

“You can get patterns, and I know they’re expensive, but they’re top-of-the-line,” Touby said.

Starnes said that the Camelback has several advantages over its competitors.

“It doesn’t spill. ...It’s solid aluminum; it doesn’t break,” Starnes said. “It [also] keeps water pretty cold. [That’s] solid stuff.”

Touby said that she was one of the ones who started the MHS nickname for Camelbacks.

“I got [the name] from my neighbor, but then I told [my friends that’s what I call it],” Touby said. “[Now] I see everyone carrying one and they’re calling it a Nip, and I’m like, ‘I started that.’”

Starnes said he likes his Camelback so much that he replaced it immediately after he lost it.

“I lost [my Camelback] on the second day I had it, so I had to go buy another one to replace it,” Starnes said.

Starnes also said that his water bottle is, in a way, saving the planet.

“For a long time, I used a plastic water bottle, [but] I found myself throwing it away every day,” Starnes said. “[And that] is kind of dumb…in this era with the whole environmental issue.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

PAGE 17

TURBO CHARGED Energy, excitement and excellence in research and high tech engineering education — UC’s newest college has it all! www.ceas.uc.edu

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PAGE 18 | FEATURE

FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

Crossing the line

Humor often revolves around taboo subjects Jordan Berger | Staff Writer As students fall into the repetition of the tedious school day and drown in teachers’ voices during class, they crave an escape, according to senior Jonathan Balmer. “[Humor] is something you need throughout your day just to keep yourself sane,” Balmer said. “Without it...the repetition of the tests, the class, the homework, everything we do day-in and day-out would just become so crushing that if you don’t take time to notice things in an unusual way, or poke fun at the system, other people or yourself, then it just doesn’t become worth it.”

Humor within society that translates to high school students however, has become more risqué. The line between amusing and offensive jokes has been blurred, sometimes unknowingly, according to junior Jenny Lu. “I feel like I hear people say [offensive] things in the hallways all the time,” Lu said. “It’s very extreme. I think it’s everywhere.”

Lu said she attributes the majority of these racist, sexist and other potentially offensive jokes to the technology accessed daily by students.

“People watch television and

are on the internet all the time,” Lu said. “A big part of [offensive jokes] goes to the media showing us that it’s okay to do these things, to say potentially funny things that could hurt people.”

According to Assistant Principal George Coates, the media’s role in day-to-day life fuels offensive humor and personal attacks based on race, color or sex within the high school. “[Students] see it often and they want to portray, want to act like those people, those comedians,” Coates said.

Comedian Dave Chapelle of Chapelle’s Show, one of the comedians that pushes the envelope, recently had conversations with people that caused him to rethink his jokes on his show, according to Coates. “[Chapelle] gave up a 50 million dollar-contract and [the continuation] of Chapelle’s Show because of others’ reactions about his jokes,” Coates said. “[Chapelle thought is the audience] laughing at his jokes or laughing [because] they think what he is saying is truthful?”

The Mason school district has been dealing with issues such as crude humor for a number of years now, according to Coates, and is taking action to soften racial relations.

“We’ve been a part of an equity consortium, meeting with

other districts [to talk] about race relations and how we’re to deal with these things,” Coates said. “There is a diversity team in each building in our district that meets regularly to talk about these issues, [and] our next step is actually involving the students.”

The undefined line of humor can be determined by groups that are targeted and if the jokes involve individual or group attacks, according to Lu. “When one race or one aspect of somebody is targeted just because it is different, that’s when the line should be drawn,” Lu said.

According to Balmer, comedy must always be considered intellectually, rather than processing it emotionally.

“When you use humor, you want to point out flaws of society without becoming what is bad about society,” Balmer said. “For example, you could make fun of racism or have a sense of irony about something, but if it’s not clear you are creating a piece of satire, it could easily be misconstrued [that] you are being racist or that you’re a bigot.”

A lack of clarity often leads to comical jokes becoming offensive, according to Balmer.

“You don’t want to cross that line because it’s totally defeating the purpose of humor, which is not to become a part of that thing [you are poking fun at], but to elevate yourself above that thing intellectually,” Balmer said.

Like Lu, Balmer said he has witnessed this over the line humor at multiple locations within the high school.

“My [lunch] table has only three girls sitting at it, and the guys will go back and forth with dark humor and a lot of times it crosses the line,” Balmer said.

“I

think one girl at our table gets very angry and very concerned with us because she doesn’t know when we’re joking and when we’re serious. Sometimes that’s where she gets offended and sometimes rightly. She should be offended at some of the things someone says about women when it’s not completely clear if they’re serious or not.”

While some use humor in a malicious manner, borderline offensive humor can also be identified as dark humor, a type of comedy which “takes on controversial subject matters in a deliberately humorous way, using [sarcasm] in order to remove some of the audience’s preconceived notions about the proper treatment of a taboo subject,” according to Michael Pollick, a writer for WiseGeek.com.

Dark humor, or black comedy, can be found in popular media to bring about controversial issues in a unique manner, such as the movie Borat, where the main character places himself in situations to provoke others’ honest reactions and make a point, according to Balmer.

“In Borat, [Sacha Baron Cohen] walks into a gun shop and says [he] needs a gun that can kill a Jew; the [shop owner] doesn’t even bat an eye and starts talking about the guns that could easily kill a Jew,” Balmer said. “That points out something really awful about our society.”

Whether a dark comedian crosses the humor line depends on comedians’ motives, according to Balmer.

“I think where Borat sometimes crosses the line is where he gets so sexual or so perverted or so racist that you’re not sure if he’s joking anymore,” Balmer said. “Are you doing it to [make] a point or are you doing it to shock people? That’s the question.”

The shock-factor’s level can also be affected by how each individual in the audience relates to certain issues personally, according to Balmer.

“The further you are removed from the situation described, the easier it is to enjoy it because you’re not feeling it; you’re just thinking about it,” Balmer said. “When you’ve experienced something very close to it, I think you can say, ‘Yes, I’ve been through that, but I can laugh about that now,’ or ‘That’s just too much because I know how that feels being in that situation.’”

Dark humor is effective because it requires the discussion of issues without simply using a PowerPoint presentation to inform the audience, according to Balmer.

“You want to capture the attention of the audience [to which] you are speaking,” Balmer said. “Humor can do that; you just also have to be morally conscious at the same time.”

Although dark humor creates a point about society through the willingness to mix comedy with tragedy, according to Balmer, the recent boldness of humor has raised questions regarding the humor line and its location. This undefined line continues to be an issue of concern with the student body, according to Coates.

“There’s got

to be a change in how we as a community think about situations like this,” Coates said. “Until that happens, there’s always going to be issues.” photo art by Ellen Duffer

Students return to their families’ roots across the country Alyssa Howard | Editor in Chief While many at Mason take only a relatively brief car ride to visit relatives, some students must take extensive plane trips to reconnect with family members and hometowns in different parts of the world. Senior Shaista Mallik, who moved to the United States from Dubai at age four, said that her family first revisited Dubai the summer after her seventh grade year. Mallik said that while the trips are planned so they can spend time with relatives, she is also able to participate in various facets of Arabic culture when in Dubai.

“It’s more of a family bonding period than going out and doing this or that,” Mallik said. “[But,] especially in Dubai, there’s a heavy emphasis on Arabic culture, and we go on safaris.

It’s kind of like a tourist attraction. At the end of the safari we get to ride on a camel.”

Beyond the ability to gain greater familiarity with Arabic culture, Mallik said that her trips allow her to be more involved with Islam, the religion that she follows.

“There’s a mosque right near our [relative’s] house there,” Mallik said. “In Islam, there are prayer calls five times a day that come from the mosque. In Arabic, it’s a call to prayer.”

Senior Sri Rajamouli, whose parents came to America from India in 1990, said that trips to visit her extended family facilitate her interaction with Indian culture.

“When I go back [to India] it definitely improves how well I speak [Telugu],” Rajamouli said. “I watch more [Indian] movies, and I learn so much more about the culture.”

Visiting extended family also lets her to play a more active role in practicing Hinduism, according to Rajamouli. “[My relatives] go to a lot of temple, which I wouldn’t do as much if I was here,” Rajamouli said. “So, I definitely pick up more in regards to religion.”

In addition, Rajamouli said that trips to her parents’ hometowns of Warangal and Hyderabad allow her to better understand her mother and father’s backgrounds.

“I [visited] AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), where my dad went to college, and he showed me how college life was in India,” Rajamouli said. “So, I definitely get a feel for how they were brought up. It shows me how fortunate I am to be here [in the United States].”

Receiving this information, Rajamouli said that she possesses a different perspective on her parents’ emphasis on the importance of education.

“I think the only reason they came here is so I can get a better education,” Rajamouli said.

“They’re always planning. They’re like, ‘We want the best for you.’ They want me to have an easier life than they had….My parents think education is number one. They’re going to put

everything into my education.” ing opportunity for her to learn more about Senior Sso-Rha Kang, who originally hails Korean culture, according to Kang. from Seoul, South Korea, is traveling to Seoul “When I go back, I don’t know how it’s this spring after completing high school early, going to be, because I’ve never been there,” at the end of second trimester.

Kang said. “But, my aunt told me that I don’t “My mom’s side of the family all live there, look like the people there. She says I’m a lot and my aunt, who’s really close to me, bought tanner, so I’m going to stand out. Hopefully, I my plane ticket and everything, so I’m going just learn more about it because I don’t know back just to revisit,” Kang said. “She’s going to anything about it.” take me to where I used to live and stuff just to see it. I knew I was going to go back sometime; I just didn’t know when.”

Kang said that although she has stayed in touch with her culture through speaking Korean with her mother at home and attending a Korean church, she will be taking college courses in Korea to hone her reading and writing skills.

“My aunt enrolled me in some college courses for Korean,” Kang said. “I can speak it and everything. [It’s just to] learn how to read and write better. I had to teach myself how to read and write; I already knew photo contributed how to speak.”

Senior Shaista Mallik held the national bird of the United Arab The trip will be an excitEmirates during one of her visits to Dubai.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

23 things you didn’t know about Mason High School

243

3.25

cell phone violations

1405.5

hours total spent in Saturday Schools this year

359 early dismissal students this year

A 705600

Lunch: the biggest of the three hours spent saying the pledge in four years of high school

average MHS GPA

seconds spent in four years of high school

Kris Ogungbemi | Staff Writer It’s nearly impossible to know everything about Mason High School. With over 3,000 students and a vast campus, there are always many things to discover. Below are 23 things you probably didn’t know about Mason High School: 1. 46,000: number of Otis Spunkmeyer Jumbo cookies sold year to date 2. 18,849: number of items in the library 3. 4 hours and 24 minutes: time spent saying the pledge over four years

4. 3.25: mean grade point average 5. $65, 050: total sales of the Comet Zone this year 6. 5.0: AP test average for Art, A Computer Science and A/B Computer Science 7. 6,047: number of student visits to the nurse 8. 453: number of open accounts with Comet Savings & Loan 9. 174: number of certified staff members, 69 percent with Master’s degrees or more 10. 18,000+: number of regular-sized cookies sold this year 11. 876: number of students with A lunch, which is the most populous

12. 1,405.5: total number of hours spent in Saturday Schools this year 13. 340: number of in-school suspensions last school year; there have been 50 this year.* 14. 896: number of parking spaces in use, 300 of which are not on campus 15. $71,552.65: amount of current deposits on hand at Comet Savings & Loan 16. September: month with the most dress cuts at a total of 23 17. 90 percent: proportion of students who passed all five sections of the Ohio Graduation Test on the first attempt 18. 161: number of courses available for

4.4

2009-2010 school year 19. 23.9: average number of transactions per day with Comet Savings & Loan 20. 243: number of cell phone violations this year 21. 359: number of early dismissal students 22. 705,600: number of seconds spent in four years of high school 23. 446: number of students in 2009 who took 716 AP exams, 90 percent scoring a 3 or higher *Discipline for skipping Saturday School was changed from in-school suspensions to out-of-school suspensions, bringing the numbers down. ** Statistics are as of Monday, March 1, 2010.

Fast food chain preferences dictate dining habits Ian Howard | Staff Writer

photos by Ian Howard

Students frequent specific fast food establishments for various reasons. Many students, like senior Austin Rabah, eat at restaurants that correspond to the tops of their lists of personal chain rankings. Rabah said that he is not invulnerable to partiality when it comes to what he eats.

“McDonald’s [is the best fast food chain], because it has the best Dollar Menu, and I really like the McDouble,” Rabah said.

Rabah said that his attachment to McDonald’s, however, has not been with him throughout the entirety of his life. “[I realized it was my favorite] over the summer: it was cheap, and it tasted good,” Rabah said.

Mason has yet another McDonald’s fanatic in junior Matt Benton who said that the restaurant became his favorite years before.

“It started so long ago,” Benton said. “I can’t even remember.”

Sophomore Bilal Muhammad said his conversion experience was more immediate than Benton and Rabah’s.

“The first time I ate a Burger King burger, I knew that [it] was the best so far,” Muhammad said.

Muhammad said that aside from burgers, burritos and tacos also comprise his favorite fast foods, which affect his rankings of fast food chains.

“I like Taco Bell, because [it has] a lot of variety, and if you go there, you can eat a lot of different things,” Muhammad said. “[Taco Bell] also has the best value, because its

food is cheap, but it’s not bad.”

Rabah, on the other hand, said that Taco Bell is his least favorite fast food chain.

“I don’t really like anything spicy,” Rabah said.

Muhammad said, however, that zest or spice is an important attribute of great food. Condiments make up the difference between good food and great food, he said. “[Burger King’s] food is good, but also it offers a lot of sauces,” Muhammad said. “It’s not ketchup if you go there -- you can get Buffalo sauce or Zesty sauce.”

While Muhammad and Rabah said that they like different restaurants, they are united in their belief that familiarity determines preference.

“If you’re really used to eating burgers and you eat a taco, no matter how good the taco is you’re not going to like it as much as a burger,” Muhammad said.

According to senior Mike Hagle, some studentshimself included) enjoy much more impulsive fast food eating habits.

“I have White Castle challenges,” Hagle said. “I challenge my buddies to eat more White Castle [burgers] than me.”

While Hagle said White Castle does not fit into his top three fast food eateries, he said that he enjoys his challenges. Hagle said, however, that Five Guys is his favorite fast food establishment. Benton, on the other hand, said that his favorite menu items are developed over a long period of time.

“Usually when I go to McDonald’s, I get an Angus burger, but it’s not every time and I don’t go every day,” Benton said.

Senior Brooke Mason said she does not have clear-cut favorites or polarizing views on how good fast food chains are. While Mason said her favorite fast food chain is Chik-fil-A, she said there are virtually no restaurants that she dislikes.

“It’s so hard [to pick my least-favorite] because I like them all,” Mason said. “I guess [it’s] Taco Bell, but I eat it. It is just the worst for you.”

Mason said that she takes into account the restaurants at which not many people eat, when ranking her least-favorite fast food chains. Unlike Mason and other fast food goers, freshman Evan Mueller said that he did not rank his favorite fast food chain after becoming comfortable with going to the restaurant.

“In the beginning, I found Chipotle [appealing] because they advertised everything,” Mueller said.

In this way, Mason said she is akin to Mueller: she said that she weighs advertisements and familiarity as equals in determining her ranking of fast food chains. Benton said he did not acquire his favoritism for McDonald’s, however, with the help of advertisements.

“I don’t really pay attention to advertisements,” Benton said.

While Benton is not influenced by advertisements, he said that he is a bigger fast food fanatic than most people.

“I probably eat [fast food] more than I should,” Benton said. “I guess you could say I’m addicted to it.”

THE CHRONICLE | FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

FEATURE | PAGE 21

S t r e e t r ac i n g dang erous pa s t i m e pa r t o f t e e n c u lt u re Julia Halpin | Staff Writer Street racing, defined by Ohio Law as the operation of two or more vehicles in a competitive attempt to out-distance each other, has become one of today’s new pastimes for

teenagers. As a result, it is viewed as a serious offense, according to Mason High School Resource Officer Troy Nelson.

“If [the street racer is] under 18, then there [are] a lot stricter penalties because they stand to lose their licenses or [go to] juvenile court for a first time offense,” Nelson said.

“Especially if there’s any type of drag or street racing going on, they’re going to lose their license. They can be charged with reckless operation, which carries for an 18 year old like a $250 fine.”

According to senior Taylor Jones, who recently lost his license due to street racing, the penalties people can face due to this activity are well-known among street racers.

“You have to worry about breaking your car and, of course, getting caught,” Jones said. “The biggest fear is hurting someone.

That’s why whenever I [used to] race, I [would] never have anybody in the car with me.”

Even though the consequences are high, the thrill of street racing is still something extremely attractive from the perspective of teenagers, Jones said. It’s this excitement that causes drivers to take the dangerous risk of street racing.

“When you’re street racing you’re breaking the law, but it’s also something you build your car to do,” Jones said. “It’s a feeling you get [when you are able to] beat that person, because it’s something that you built.”

Senior Dan Pierson, whose license was recently revoked due to street racing, said that the adrenaline rush that street racing provides is very attractive for high school students. “[It’s] the adrenaline rush,” Pierson said. “If

you have the power behind your car, then you might as well put some [effort] into it.”

According to Jones, increasing a car’s power for street racing requires much work on the car’s internal systems. “[People use] Nitrous [to make their cars go faster],” Jones said, “Also, people [use] turbos and superchargers.”

Pierson said that being in high school requires street racers to have to resort to the fundamentals for improving their cars.

“Usually [racers] want better tires,” Pierson said. “Basic stuff for high school students is going to be intake and exhaust.”

In order to figure out when to stop in a street race, Jones said, it usually depends on the driver and their fear of speed.

“It’s just the driver [that causes the stop],” Jones said. “He’s [usually] too scared to go over a certain miles per hour.”

According to Pierson, no matter how fast a driver is going, street racing is always an exciting but scary experience.

“If [one driver] start[s] acting aggressive, then [the other driver] can either just go from there, [or] drop it into third [gear],” Pierson said. “When the race starts, that’s the craziest [moment] because both cars are right next to each other generally. It’s [also] the scariest moment, other than the top-speed part. After that it’s just fun, [the drivers are] weaving and people are honking at [them].”

No matter where you’re racing, Nelson said, the dangers of street racing are always relevant and should be deeply considered by young drivers who are looking for a thrill.

“Usually, kids are inexperienced drivers, so it’s really easy to lose control of [their] cars and hurt themselves or somebody else on the road,“ Nelson said.

photo art by Jami Bechard and Caleb Schowalter

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FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010 | THE CHRONICLE

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