PAID
MERCER IS SCHOOL DIST 400
December 1, 2017
mihsislander.org
NextDoor and Fake News
The social media platform is a microcosm of our current media climate Features > 4
Volume VII, Edition 3
Pronoun use in the classroom
A holiday tradition
A call for MI staff and students to be more inclusive by asking for preferred pronouns Opinions > 8
"The Nutcracker": Island Youth Ballet's rehearsal process for the annual performance A&E > 11
Mercer Island needs to talk about race Maya Virdell online editor
“When I first started going to school here, no one — not even a teacher or staff member — had the same complexion as me,� said Channing Martin, a junior and the President of the Black Student Union. High school is difficult, especially for a minority in a predominantly wealthy and caucasian school. Juggling rigorous academic requirements, social status, and self-discovery can be arduous for students who feel pressured to conceal aspects of themselves. High school is meant to be a time of developing individuality, but it can be difficult to discover oneself in the high-strung, gradeobsessed atmosphere of Mercer Island. “Currently, I can walk downtown or just walk down the hallways of the
high school and see multiple people [of color] — which is absolutely amazing! And as of now, I currently hold the position as Black Student Union President, and I have learned that a majority of minorities have struggles in this environment especially if you were not raised on the island.� said Martin. “Everyone was born ‘neighbors,’ meaning everyone has known each other from birth and will probably know each other for the
rest of their lives.� “It is hard to have confidence in an environment like this, and to be a minority it is really difficult,� Kelly John-Lewis, security staff, said. “You don’t have an identity being a black person in this community.� The primary identity is white, which, in a high school setting where people strive to fit in, may cause them to conceal their own identities because of the associated scrutiny. (continued on back)
Perspective: MI’s lack of diversity Jake D’Souza
business manager
Mercer Island is largely white and wealthy; shielded from poverty and the struggles of the rest of the state, we have a moral obligation to understand and help those not in our place. According to the 2010 Census, Mercer Island is about 78 percent white and 1 percent African American,
High school protests: know your rights Hannah Whobrey
co-editor in chief
Garfield High School students gather to protest the repeal of DACA.
Hazelwood permits schools to regulate schoolsponsored speech (such as school newspapers and class Facebook pages) if they feel the content does not represent the school’s policies and values. As a result, protests that occur on school campus must adhere to certain standards. The American Civil Liberties Union offers guidelines for students considering taking action on campus. “The school may require you to
observe reasonable time, place and manner regulations,� their website states. “[However] as long as your words don’t directly incite violence or law-breaking, you cannot be held responsible for the way that counter demonstrators or your own supporters react.� For safety, schools are also prohibited from locking students inside classrooms or on campus to prevent a walkout. “The school can’t punish
Photo courtesy The Stranger
you for your views,� ACLU says. Schools can, however, punish students for taking things too far, or being "legally obscene." “One of the reasons why we haven’t [really] considered [protesting is that] we want a really concrete issue that walking out would do something about,� Katy Spencer, co-president of Mercer Island’s ACLU Club, said. (continued on page 2)
land. Renton’s median yearly household income stands around $64,500, making the average Mercer Island resident more than twice as wealthy as Renton. A Renton resident’s chances of being a victim of a violent crime are 1 in 334. Comparing these statistics, it is clearly unlikely that a lifelong Islander will have the same experiences as a lifelong Renton resident. (continued on page 9)
The art of rĂŠsumĂŠ padding Grady Short
staff writer
Over the past year, protesting — and the right to do so — has become an important concern for many Americans. Although citizens are allowed, and encouraged, to stand up for their beliefs, high schoolers must follow school policy if they wish to act upon this right on school grounds. Thanks to the First Amendment, teenagers usually have the right to free speech. However, these rights are slightly different on school campuses, because of the results of landmark Supreme Court cases such as Tinker, Bethel, and Hazelwood. While Tinker protects students’ freedom of expression, Hazelwood and Bethel establish boundaries for what students may do at school. Bethel, for example, determines that schools may prohibit vulgar and inappropriate behavior in educational spaces. In the case itself, this meant that the school had the right to discipline a student for giving a suggestive speech at a student assembly, and did not violate the student’s right to free speech.
with a median yearly income of a family being around $154,000. On Mercer Island, one’s chances of being a victim of a violent crime are 1 in 5008 according to Washington law enforcement agencies. Our neighbor across the lake, Renton, has very different numbers: around 55% of the population is white and 11% African American, making the city significantly more diverse than Mercer Is-
Every year the college admissions process gets harder. Acceptance rates drop, expectations go up, and students compete more fiercely than ever in their academic and extracurricular pursuits — an issue that MIHS’s culture of fierce competition only exacerbates. It comes as no surprise, then, that some students attempt to take shortcuts when trying to look their best for admissions departments. Perhaps the most common method is to obtain a leadership position in a club or organization without actually following through with the required responsibilities. Take, for instance, the Junior Statesmen of America (JSA), a club which barely met at all during the past school year. Running and organizing this club took little to no effort, but the students who led it still got to put down this impressive-sounding position in their college applications. Since most applications and admissions departments do not require
any form of verification for extracurricular activities, students have the ability to lie or stretch the truth with relative ease. And it’s not just the JSA, which is now being built up into a more legitimate club according to president Mary Rose Vu. In a particularly striking case, one of the school’s largest organizations, the National Honor Society (NHS), requires little effort from its members despite the high standards suggested by its name. (continued on page 3)
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