Spotlight May 2017 Print Edition

Southern Lehigh High School 5800 Main Street, Center Valley, PA 18034 Volume 60 Issue 5

Solehi Students Seek Adventure in Spain Experience the trip on pages 4 and 5 Photo Credit: Bridgette Lang In this

Issue: Get to know junior Tanner Colley and sophomore Justin McGill, two Solehi students who are also sea cadets, on pages 4 and 5.

Prom season has come and gone, but the memories will last forever. Check out these promposals on pages 8 and 9.

Looking for a new favorite restaurant? Check out Clove Fine Indian Cuisine on pages 12 and 13.

Page 2

The Spotlight

News

Students Showcase Chinese Skills in Competition

by Sarah Jacobson

Every student received a certificate for participating in the competition. Photo credit: Ms. Wen Dong

“It was like any other day, getting to school and going to class,” sophomore Alysia Lee said, “except I was quite nervous.”

About 50-70 students from both the high school and middle school attended Southern Lehigh’s Chinese Language Competition on Monday, April 10. The competition took place from the start of second block until second lunch in the high school auditorium. Chinese teacher Ms. Wen Dong came up with the competition and organized the event. “[The idea] happened kind of by chance. It was last November when I went to Reading to visit my friends there. We mentioned the Foreign Language Speaking Competition and ‘Chinese Bridge’ Speaking Competition when we were chatting,” Ms. Dong said. “In China, the ‘Chinese Bridge’ Speaking Competition is actually a rather famous international competition for competitors who learn Chinese. I thought why can’t we have one here in SLHS? After I came back, I talked to some teachers and I heard that some other Chinese guest teachers did do this before. So I set up my mind to do this.”

Sophomore Kullen Yurchak and senior Georgian Fan hosted the competition. Yurchak introduced all of the activities and the students in their Chinese class levels, while Fan translated

everything in Chinese.

There was a plethora of activities for students before they presented their speeches. Students participated in a trivia section, where they answered questions about Chinese culture and history. Throughout breaks during the competition, students were able to perform Chinese songs of their choosing. They also enjoyed Chinese Charades and a game of musical chairs before stepping up to the podium.

“I think my favorite part was either just getting to see the Chinese speaking talents of everyone in the district or arranging the musical chairs game,” Fan said. “It was nice to see everyone having so much fun.”

All the students that competed in the final competition spent a lot of time preparing.

Students were able to ask for help when writing their speeches and ask questions during a Spartan period created by Ms. Dong, which was specifically created for competition preparation.

“The speakers wrote an English and Chinese version of their speech,” Ms. Dong said. “Teachers helped the level one students with their scripts.

I also had a lot of materials in Google Classroom for the students to learn by themselves, and if they had any questions, they could ask during Spartan period.”

Each student that participated in the final competition wrote and presented their own speech about why they began taking Chinese and how they felt about it now that they were learning it. The speaker read their speech in Chinese while the English version was projected behind them.

Four students competed in Chinese III, and one student in Chinese IV teamed up with four other students from AP Chinese. There was one Chinese II student and six Chinese I students from the middle school who competed as well.

Ms. Dong and middle school Chinese teacher Ms. Che Laoshi, judged the speeches along with Ms. Kun Xiao and Ms. Yilin Zhang, who are both Chinese teachers from BCIU, a company for Foreign Language Teaching.

“I’m not nervous on stage in general. The lights were blinding, so I couldn’t really see the judges. But they were really supportive,” sophomore Sarah Jacobson said. “They seemed like they wanted to be there, which made me glad I did the competition. I would definitely do it again next year.”

In the middle school, three students won from Chinese I. In Chinese III, sophomore Alyssa Kovacs placed first, followed closely behind by sophomores Sarah Jacobson in second, and Alysia Lee in third. In Chinese IV and AP, senior Sarah Yanega placed first, with senior Allyson Yanega in second, and junior Kara DeWeese in third.

Every student walked away with a certificate for their participation, and if they placed in the overall competition, they received a certificate for that as well. Students that placed first in the competition received a picture dictionary. Second place winners earned a board game with questions about Chinese culture and history. Participants who got third place received a resource book about language, culture, and travel tips.

“I was a bit surprised that I won, but from talking to the others in my level, I apparently practiced the most,” Kovacs said. “It was between me and one other person for first place, and our scores for the speech were similar, but I did a bit better in the other sections.”

Within this competition, students were able to get a taste of the Chinese culture and gain a greater knowledge about the language. Every student who attended the competition left school with a new experience and a better understanding of what it means to learn Chinese.

Southern Lehigh Bands Perform at Spring Concert

by Ben Baca and Spotlight editorial staff

Southern Lehigh band will play next at Southern Lehigh’s upcoming graduation. Photo credit: Ben Baca

On April 25, 2017, The Southern Lehigh High School bands held their annual spring concert.

The jazz first band performed first, followed by the concert band.

The concert band performed songs including “Amazing Grace,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and music from “The Incredibles.”

“My favorite piece that we performed last night is ‘Children’s March.’ That’s been one of my favorite songs to perform at high school, college, and professional wind bands,” band and orchestra director Mr. Larry Fisher said. “It’s a challenging piece that has many subtleties that make it difficult and challenging to perform. The

composer, Percy Granger, is probably my favorite composer.”

In the months leading up to the concert, the students rehearsed in class and practiced at home, recording the songs they were going to perform during their big night.

“I didn’t feel that nervous,” freshman flute player Alyssa Milan said. “I was just focused on playing a difficult performance.”

The members of the jazz and concert bands take their performance seriously.

“I didn’t want to mess up at all and make a mistake,” junior percussionist Garrett Boyd said. “I needed to play the notes and follow Mr. Fisher’s tempo so the band won’t slow down. As a drummer, we keep the band in its tempo in all.”

Now that the spring concert has ended, the members of the band will prepare to play at graduation.

May 2017

News

Page 3

AP Biology Students Compete in Biology Olympics

by Ashley Jann

From left to right: Seniors Barry Sirard and Andrew Rochon, and juniors Caitlin Farnsworth, Holland Mittl, and Elisabeth Belanger. Photo credit: Mr. Edward Sinkler

On Friday, April 28, five AP Biology students competed in the Biology Olympics at Cedar Crest College. Juniors Elizabeth Belanger, Caitlin Farnsworth, and Holland Mittl, along with seniors Barry Sirard and Andrew Rochon, were selected to participate in the event. The rounds consisted

of various matches, such as a team competitive question event, scavenger hunt, and individual subject tests.

“I selected these particular students because of their interest in biology and their involvement in the AP bio class,” science teacher Mr. Edward

Sinkler said.

The Southern Lehigh team competed against 14 other schools from around the local area.

The team placed top three in several individual subjects tests, with Belanger taking second place on the “cells and neurons” test and Mittl placing third on the “molecular biology and classical genetics” test. Southern Lehigh has previously won two third-place trophies and one second-place trophy.

“I felt that I was well-prepared,” Belanger said. “I did study for a bit to get ready.”

Southern Lehigh has attended the Biology Olympics since the competition began 35 years ago. The event is held at Cedar Crest College, and it is supported by the Department of Biological Sciences. The focus is not only on testing competitions, but also includes a presentation to advise underclassmen on college-focused decisions.

For the students who attended the event, it was an entertaining way to get out of school and put their knowledge to the test.

“I loved the food and the competitions were fun,” Sirard said. “It was cool meeting other science students from different schools.”

Mr. Sinkler plans to continue attending the Biology Olympics with the hope of taking home even more trophies.

Students Raise Awareness with Silence

by Nicole Schroy

The Day of Silence occurs annually. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Silence.

Sometimes it speaks volumes.

Southern Lehigh High School observed the annual Day of Silence on Friday April 21, 2017.

That’s right, a whole day that revolves around the lack of one of the most important things in our everyday lives: communication.

Sponsored by the Southern Lehigh GayStraight Alliance (GSA), students spent the entire day silently spreading awareness about

the harms of bullying and harassment of LGBTQ students.

“I have close friends who are members of the community and for me, it’s a day representing them and representing what they believe,” senior Georgian Fan said. “It’s all about representing the cause and not to mention, the fight for equality.”

Forty students participated in this event.

Each individual made a huge statement by, well, not verbally stating anything all day.

Students who participated in this event were given “speaking cards” which explained why they would not be speaking: “Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies in schools.

My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, discrimination, and prejudice. I believe that ending the silence is the first step towards fighting these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today. What are you doing to end the silence?”

The message behind the silence is a strong one, one that looks to prevent harassment of the LGBTQ community.

“I feel like it’s still a serious issue, it’s something that’s still happening. People still stay silent because they feel too scared to stand up for themselves. Day of Silence raises awareness,” junior GSA vice-president Hannah Corrado said.

“It’s really about power of numbers; it would be better if a lot of people did it. A lot of people did it last year and you could really hear the silence.”

In taking steps forward to really solidify the embracement of equality, there are plenty of things you can do to ease the process. This includes asking questions and getting educated about the LGBT community.

“A huge thank you to students who participated, it’s not easy to take those kinds of stands so publicly and I really appreciate their bravery,” GSA co-advisor Mrs. Lauren Tocci said.

“And thank you to those who were respectful to the students who felt compelled to take part in something like this. Respecting someone who wants to champion a cause is always appreciated.”

Page 4

Features

The Spotlight

Spanish Students Explore the Sights of Spain

by Bridgette Lang

Paella, flamenco dancing, and new language skills were just a few of the things Southern Lehigh High School students tried on their trip to Spain this past April. From April 5 to 15, they traveled with Education First (EF) Tours on the “Experience Spain” trip to learn more about the language, culture, and the arts of Spain.

Students from Spanish III through AP Spanish filled up two buses for a unique adventure.

During the nine day tour, they were also accompanied by a small number of students from the Special Music School in New York in order to fill both buses completely.

“Watching the students’ experiences is always my favorite part of [the trip],” Spanish teacher and chaperone Sra. Joan Imms said. “It was really neat to see how [they] reacted to different circumstances and situations.”

Students visited Granada, Seville, Madrid, and Barcelona. Their first stop in Granada was unique from all the other cities because of the cultural influence from the Moors, who were the Muslim inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula and other parts of Europe. Students visited a Moroccan market, drank tea at a Moroccan tea house, and visited the Alhambra.

“Luis, the tour director, was very knowledgeable about history,” Spanish teacher and tour leader Srta. Jessica Swartz said. “I learned a lot because he made it so interesting, and that really helped me to understand even more. He was informative, especially about Granada and the different influences in Spain.”

Seville, or Sevilla, offered a completely different experience, as it was heavily influenced

by Catholic culture as Semana Santa emerged.

Semana Santa, which translates to “Holy Week”

in English, is the week leading up to Easter that Christians celebrate. Religious processions are typically held in the streets with floats and candles. People are very solemn and respectful during the processions to commemorate the death of Jesus.

In Madrid, the capital of Spain, students visited the Royal Palace. It is no longer in daily use, but sometimes it is used for special celebrations. Later in the day, the students met in the park with Spanish college students to complete a fun scavenger hunt that encouraged them to exchange cultures with one another.

“My favorite part of the Spain trip was going to the Prado [art museum in Madrid] because I got to see Francisco Goya and his ‘pinturas negras,’” junior Sydney Dunbar said. “We learned about them in Spanish IV. It was really fascinating, I got see something in the classroom in real life.”

The last stop was Barcelona. On the last days of the trip, the students visited Parque Güell, which was originally built in 1900 to be a neighborhood, but it didn’t meet the commissioner’s standards. It is now a park with mosaics intertwined with all the buildings and infrastructure.

The students spent their time bike riding, visiting the beach, and touring the Sagrada Familia church.

“I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful architecture and spending the evening on the beach in Barcelona,” sophomore Katelyn Adams said.

“Also, the food was really great.”

The culture of Spain is extremely different than that of America, largely due to different societal norms. For example, a kiss on the cheek is a typical greeting in Spain, but in America,

someone could easily take offense to such an action. Exploring a new set of customs, a new language, new food, new people, and a new landscape, opened up the Southern Lehigh students to numerous influential moments and learning opportunities.

“To me, travel has always provided me [with] an opportunity to get to know myself. [It] gives me a better sense of limits and how far I can push myself,” Sra. Imms said. “Traveling reveals what you can tolerate. You’re taken out of everything normal that makes you comfortable and forced to confront your fears.”

Aside from gaining new experiences, the students were given the chance to improve their language skills. Listening to native speakers helps students become more familiar with accents and pronunciation that they may not hear in the classroom. In Spain, the pronunciation of certain sounds is a lot different from the pronunciation heard in Latin America. When talking to a native Spaniard, you can typically hear a slight lisp, called a Castilian lisp. People from northern Spain mostly speak like this. “[EF Tours] makes learning seem like vacation,” sophomore Dean Pellegrino. “I learned a lot of slang and just general terminology that they use in Spain.”

Alongside learning, the students on the trip had the opportunity to forge new friendships and strengthen old ones as they embarked on the journey of a lifetime.

“I really enjoyed exploring the four beautiful cities with some of my closest friends,” sophomore Kassy Donohoe said.

Sevilla

Madrid

Barcelona

Photo credit: Bridgette Lang Picture layout credit: Talia Trackim

Features

May 2017

Page 5

McGill, Colley Build Leadership and Careers as Sea Cadets

by Talia Trackim

When it comes to preparing for life after high school, most students take classes in their fields of interest, hunt for internships, and participate in extracurriculars to expose themselves to different environments, tasks, and interests. Junior Tanner Colley and sophomore Justin McGill are taking their post-high school planning one step further and working toward their future careers through their involvement in the Naval Sea Cadet Corps (NSCC).

“For most of my childhood, I knew military was a thing I wanted to do,” Colley said, “so I knew when I joined [NSCC] that it was something I wanted to do for my career.”

The NSCC is sponsored by the Navy League of the United States and is supported by both the United States Navy and the Coast Guard. The program was established in 1958 as a means to expose American youth to public service, military training, and good citizenship. The program is open to teens between the ages of 13 and 17. Today, the program is comprised of over 380 units and 9,000 cadets from all over the country.

Colley joined the program when she was 13. Since then, she has worked her way up to the highest rank, Chief Petty Officer. She spends much of her time in the program teaching and leading lower ranking members.

“Your first taste of leadership is Petty Officer Third Class, and when I look back [on that time] I was so different [than I am now],” Colley said. “I didn’t have that experience of leading kids, making mistakes, getting yelled at. All the mistakes that I’ve made have helped me gain that experience, which turns into the confidence to get up in front of a whole battalion of kids and be able to lead them.”

McGill joined the NSCC during his freshman year after finding out about the program from Colley. He now holds the rank of Petty Officer Third Class. “[Justin] definitely has a lot of leadership qualities. He’s so dedicated and has worked so hard throughout the program that his leadership qualities have come out even more since he’s started,” Justin’s sister and junior Megan McGill said. “He’s a good kid all around and cares about the people that he’s in charge of and will do anything to make sure that they’re okay.”

Colley was the one who introduced the Sea Cadets to McGill. Left Photo credit: Justin McGill Right Photo credit: Tanner Colley

When prospective cadets join the NSCC, they are first required to attend a two-week recruit training camp, which is modeled after the Navy’s actual recruit training program. After they complete the camp, they become eligible to participate in advanced training sessions located all over the country. In addition to the training sessions, Colley and McGill participate in monthly drills at the Naval Operational Support Center Lehigh Valley.

In her time in the NSCC, Colley has participated in emergency medicine training, the Petty Officer Leadership Academy, and medical and field operations. In addition, she has staffed several recruit trainings and will staff the Petty Officer Leadership Academy this summer. Justin McGill has also participated in the Petty Officer Leadership Academy. This summer he will travel to Iowa for a field operations training session.

“Going on advanced training [is] really fun because you meet really cool people from all over,” McGill said. “Just seeing how they come from different units but still have that ingrained sense of, ‘I want to do something good for my country and I want to make an impact.’”

In the future, both Colley and McGill plan to use the training in their careers. Colley aims to get a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship and attend Virginia Tech, where she will join the Corps of Cadets. After that, she would like to go to Infantry Officer school in the

Army. “[Tanner] takes initiative and enjoys overcoming challenging situations both mentally and physically and stepping outside her comfort zone,” guidance counselor Ms. Christina Piascik said. “The program is a wonderful opportunity for students to gain exposure to the values of seamanship. Students grow as individuals and learn the importance of working in a team environment. The program also provides students with the motivation and encouragement to pursue their goals, as well as assistance in achieving them.”

McGill plans to go to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, or attend a NROTC program at a four-year college.

“I want to fly planes,” McGill said. “That’s my dream goal.”

Both Colley and McGill agree that the program has played a big part in their development as leaders and individuals, and in forming their future goals.

“Military professionals teach the trainings, and hearing what they have to say is really cool,” Colley said. “There’s one mentor I have, she’s a chief of the Navy, and she’s taught me everything I know about leadership. I find myself thinking, ‘I wonder what she would do,’ when I’m in certain situations, whether it’s in school or in a social setting.”

bringing in a lung.

“I was worried that our college course was going to be really hard, but it wasn’t as hard as I was expecting,” senior EHP student Sam Quilty said. “I also learned to study a lot more than I did in high school. Most kids that get into EHP really don’t have to study in high school, but in this class you definitely have to study.”

These EHP classes are composed not only of students from Southern Lehigh, but also of students from other area schools. This gives students the opportunity to make connections with speakers, other students, and different hospitals. ”I got to see a baby be born in neo-natal care at Lehigh valley hospital, and that was probably my most memorable moment,” Quilty said.

By participating in the program, the EHP students get exposure to numerous experiences, from becoming CPR certified to going on a blindfolded hike. Like any program, however, EHP does have its downsides. For example, students in the program spend lots of time driving; therefore, they spend lots of money on gas.

Some students also thought they would be able to “breeze through high school,” but ended up getting double the work.

“I can just say don’t be disappointed when

you and your friends might shadow in the same unit and they see a bunch of stuff and you don’t,” senior EHP student Taylor Marouchoc said.

In addition, being at the high school for only half a day prevents EHP students from joining clubs, taking advantage of Spartan Periods, and participating in other senior activities, such as the class picture. ”I wish I knew that I’d be missing out on a lot of stuff going on here,” Quilty said. “It’s hard to be in clubs when they only meet in Spartan and we’re not here for Spartan periods.”

Overall, the EHP program is a great opportunity for students to gain experience in the medical field. EHP students get to walk away with shadowing hours needed for college, a CPR certification, and a wider view of the medical field.

“I think the biggest thing is that it [EHP] shows you all the different jobs available and also the pros and cons of being in the medical field altogether,” Heurich said. “I know that some people from the class did a lot of shadowing and decided that the medical field wasn’t for them at all, and others found new jobs that they never even thought of before.”

Emerging Health Graduates Reflect on Program

by Allison Borelli

It’s often said that where one journey ends, another begins. That’s true not only for stories, but also for day-to-day student life. One such example is the Emerging Health Program (EHP), where eight seniors will be graduating on May 23rd and taking the next step into their health career, leaving behind advice for juniors planning on entering the program in the fall. “[EHP] helps me a lot for planning my future,” senior EHP member Allyssa Heurich said. “You don’t realize how many different careers there are in the medical field and you also start to realize the kind of environment you want to work in verses what you wouldn’t want to work in.”

A normal week in the EHP program is split between several locations. The students spend two days a week at Penn State Lehigh Valley taking anatomy and physiology. They spend one day at LCTI taking the Emerging Health class, learning about different jobs in the medical field and how to be any kind of medical assistant. And they spend another day shadowing at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Good Shepherd, St. Luke’s, or any other place that can provide them comparable experience. On the final day of the week, the students hear from a speaker in the medical field, who talks about anything from “street medicine” to

Page 6 Opinion

The Spotlight

Staff Editorial: Give Summer Jobs and Volunteering a Chance Southern Lehigh High School 5800 Main Street Center Valley, PA 18034 (610) 282-1421 x7122 slsdspotlight@gmail.com Twitter: @SLSDspotlight Facebook: Southern Lehigh Spotlight The Spotlight is published six times annually by the student members of its staff. Its purpose is to present news concerning Southern Lehigh High School and the Southern Lehigh School District, as well as to provide a forum for student opinion. Editorial content of The Spotlight expresses the view of the paper and not necessarily that of the Board of Education, Administration, or faculty of the Southern Lehigh School District. Bylined editorial content and letters to the editor represent the opinion of the writer only. All contents are copyrighted by The Spotlight. Advertising and subscription rates are furnished upon request.

As the school year comes to a close, teenagers start to look for activities to fill the summer months. While fun with friends and family may top the to-do list, it is also important that high school students consider other options such as attending a camp, volunteering for the benefit of the Southern Lehigh Community, or earning money through a summer job.

Job Benefits Part-time summer employment promises many rewards as long as you’re willing to put in the time. Any work experience is helpful when applying to future jobs, or even college, because of the skills you gain while working. Most part-time jobs require teamwork, and in order for a group to function well, communication is important.

While some of your first jobs might seem silly, like selling tickets or preparing food, they actually build up your skills for your future employment.

Volunteer Benefits If you are looking for a temporary or nonmonetary activity to occupy your time, volunteering offers both satisfaction and an opportunity to meet new people. There are always people in need, and the demand to make the community a better place is constantly growing. Helping

to run summer camps or working at the same non-profit organization on a regular basis can help fight boredom if you aren’t up to working everyday. Volunteering helps to build up your resume for further volunteering experience, your next job, and college applications. It also helps to add to your hours for clubs like Key Club or National Honor Society.

Summer Camp Benefits

Instead of lethargically sitting inside all summer, getting outside to a summer camp is a fantastic way to occupy your free time. Not only will you continue to develop friendships, but you can practice valuable life skills like communication and resiliency. As high schoolers, most of us will soon be sent off to college where we will have to fend for ourselves. Traveling to summer camps can give you a great opportunity to develop the independence that you will soon need when you begin college or or your career.

Picking up a job or volunteer position can help you gain important skills that will help you later in life through college and beyond. Make sure to get out into the world this summer and look for opportunities to make your summer the best that it can be.

Transgender Actors Struggle with Misrepresentation in Television and Film

by Sarah Jacobson

Faculty Adviser Mrs. Marlo Spritzer

Editor-in-Chief Talia Trackim

Multimedia Editor Nicole Schroy

News Editor Izza Choudhry

Features Editor Allison Borelli

Center Spread Editor Danielle Alpert

Opinion Editors

Caitlin Roth and Rachael Borelli

Our World Editor Sarah Trebicka

Entertainment Editor Jamie Kish

Sports Editor

Townsend Colley

Staff Members Ben Baca Aries Baringer Sarah Jacobson Ashley Jann Maggie Moerder Quinn Schmidt Sarah Walters

Pennsylvania School Press Association 2016 Gold Rating 2015 Gold Rating 2014 Gold Rating 2013 Silver Rating National School Press Association 2016 First Class Rating 2015 First Class Rating

While it may seem harmless to cast a cisgender person in the role of a transgender person, there are vast repercussions that go unnoticed by many.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a cisgender person is someone who identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth, while the same source defines transgender as someone whose gender identity differs from their sex or gender assigned at birth. Given these plain and simple definitions, it’s easy to see that there is a difference between cisgender and transgender people, but many filmmakers don’t place an importance on this difference.

“Transgender actors already don’t get a lot of movie parts, so by a cisgender person taking that role they’re like taking away the one thing a transgender actor can do,” non-binary sophomore Kendall Chenault said.

Many movies throughout the film history have featured cisgender actors in transgender roles. In 2015, Eddie Redmayne played Einar Wegener, the first transgender woman to receive gender reassignment surgery, in the movie “The Danish Girl.” Many praised Redmayne’s bravery for portraying a transgender woman, but these critics failed to recognize the bravery of everyday transgender people, who don’t get to take off a costume and go about their daily lives as Redmayne does. When cisgender people portray transgender characters, the very real struggle of transgender people can get reduced to nothing more than a fictional drama.

The Netflix Original series “Sense8” features a transgender lead, actress Jamie Clayton. The show, created by transgender sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski, features an accurate portrayal of what it means to be transgender, even going as far as showing Clayton’s character injecting estrogen, a female hormone used by many people transitioning from male to female. “ I think [casting cisgender people in transgender roles] puts trans people in that negative light. I think it furthers that stereotype of transgender people being crossdressers,” sophomore transgender student Ben Boyer said. “It puts [transgender] people out of work when [filmmakers] rely on cis[gender] actors when there’s plenty of trans[gender] actors willing to fill those roles.”

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a 30-year-old organization that monitors LGBTQ+ representation in media. Out of over 102 TV shows and all movies that have come into theatres for the past

15 years, GLAAD reports that only 12 percent of transgender acting roles have been considered accurate and/or groundbreaking.

This means that consumers of these shows and movies are viewing portrayals of transgender people and their experiences that may be offensive or inaccurate. Cisgender people don’t share the same experiences as transgender people; therefore, they won’t be able to catch inaccuracies in scripts that can depict incorrect or offensive experiences. Misinformation can cause individuals to discriminate against transgender people, view them in a negative light, or, simply, not have the right information regarding transgender issues and experiences.

“I can’t speak deliberately to the math of how that is affecting the employment rate of transgender actors; however, it’s easy to see that the correlation [of unemployment] would be high if cisgender actors are being put into transgender roles,” Gay-Straight Alliance co-advisor Mrs. Lauren Tocci said. “It’s only eliminating further roles for transgender actors.”

The National Center for Transgender Equality released a study in 2011 in which they found the unemployment rate among transgender individuals to be 14 percent. For perspective, the National Conference for State Legislators shows current unemployment rate of the general population to be 4.5 percent.

Casting cisgender actors in transgender roles does nothing to aid this high unemployment rate, and it makes it extremely difficult for transgender actors to break into the field. “[We need] more [transgender representation]. We should show the public that it’s okay to be transgender and [that] there are transgender people out there,” junior Kara DeWeese said. “Sometimes [transgender people] get a really bad representation and I think if we use mass media to show it’s okay to be transgender it could affect people [positively].”

By choosing to cast transgender actors in transgender roles, they are provided with job opportunities, which helps lower the unemployment rate among transgender people. It is also less likely that a role will be portrayed as offensive or inaccurate, as a transgender person will be able to provide useful feedback on scripts. By not casting transgender actors, filmmakers are doing everyone a disservice.

April 2017

Opinion

Page 7

National Medical Community Falls Short of Legal Change

by Izza Choudhry

Only 8 states have legalized recreational marijuana while 28 states and the district of columbia have legalized medical marijuana Photo credit: Thomas Hawk

It is no secret: many people do drugs. However, many other people and organizations choose to ignore that fact. The medical world is still generally rejecting marijuana use and refraining from progressing with the rest of the country as more and more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana.

19-year old Riley Hancey was hospitalized late last year at University of Utah Hospital because he had contracted a severe form of pneumonia. He was in dire need of a double-lung transplant in order to survive. However, after being on life support for 30 days, Hancey was denied a spot on the University of Utah Hospital’s transplant list due to testing positive for THC, the chief intoxicant in marijuana. According to Riley’s father, Mark Hancey, Riley smoked marijuana on Thanksgiving, but previous to that, he was drugfree for a year.

“It sounds to me like the people denying others’ organs because they like to get a little high are the criminals, not the innocent potheads,” junior Brandon Cassavaugh said. “You can’t deny someone the right to live because they tested positive for THC.” In 2016, Pennsylvania became the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana. The University of Pennsylvania hospital agreed to perform the double-lung transplant, and Hancey is currently in recovery in Philadelphia. He was transported from Utah to Pennsylvania via plane. This young man, on the verge of death and in desperate need of a double-lung transplant to survive, was forced to endure a 4 hour and 20 minute long flight since the state of Utah is not progressing with the rest of the country.

“We do not transplant organs in patients with active alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drug use or dependencies until these issues are addressed.”

University of Utah Hospital said in a public statement.

In this case, the hospital did not even address the issue. They refused to give Hansen an organ transplant, and he needed to fly to a different state just to survive. This is immoral and unreasonable.

Sadly enough, this is not the first time an incident similar to Hancey’s has occurred. In 2010, 32-year old Maine resident Garry Godfrey was re-

moved from an organ transplant waiting list due to a health risk associated with his use of medical marijuana. Godfrey had been waiting for nearly a decade for a kidney transplant. He uses medical marijuana to relieve pain and other symptoms he suffers from Alport syndrome, a genetic condition characterized by progressive loss of kidney function.

Now, Godfrey is speaking out in support of a bill in Maine which would prohibit hospitals from determining a patient’s suitability for an organ transplant based on the use of medical marijuana. Similar legislation has been passed in the states of California, Washington, Illinois, Arizona, Delaware, and New Hampshire.

“I should have never had to choose between a life saving organ transplant and a life saving medicine,” Godfrey said while testifying to lawmakers.

Maine legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over five months prior to Godfrey introducing the bill. Where is the logic in legalizing recreational marijuana, but denying patients who utilize medical marijuana for the sake of their own health a needed, long-waited organ transplant?

“Most of the time, patients are given pills which have awful side affects, which they are then prescribed another pill for, and the process goes on until the pharmaceutical company has all of the patient’s money and the patient is severely addicted to their drugs,” Cassavaugh said. “This is why we need medical marijuana. Instead of the pills, they would be given a medical marijuana card and they could get instant relief from [pain].

Even if the patient doesn’t like smoking, which no lie is not healthy, they could get alternatives such as CBD oil, edibles, lotions, capsules and so on that will give the same effect without the health risks of smoking.”

Aspergillosis, a fungal infection, is a health concern for high-risk patients with compromised immune systems or a history of taking prescribed or recreational marijuana. This fungal infection is the best known health risk for organ transplants for someone who has tested positive for THC, and according to CNN, other than aspergillosis “researchers are desperately trying to better understand the potential health risk that may be associated with marijuana use and organ trans-

plantation.”

Keep in mind that Aspergillosis is only a potential health risk, and no other potential health risks for patients with THC in their system receiving organ transplants have been discovered.

While aspergillosis is deadly, it is not a guaranteed side effect. Is the risk for a potential health side effect worth rejecting someone a life-saving organ transplant?

“As long as the recent changes in the government do not affect it, medical marijuana will be widely recognized as the future of medicine,” Cassavaugh said.

While drug use does prohibit you from receiving an organ transplant, in some situations, it can be important to inform doctors about drug use. Any information of illegal drug use remains confidential.

“There are privacy rules. If a teenager says they’re using drugs, we’re not allowed to tell their parents by law,” St. Luke’s Health Network pediatrician Dr. Elizabeth Gibson said. “We don’t tell police unless they’re hurting someone or using and driving. We don’t get family involved unless I feel someone is addicted and it is affecting their ability to function or they are hurting themselves. We encourage them to be open with family and be honest with their doctor about anything.”

Before surgery, it is strongly suggested that a patient quits smoking all substances, including marijuana, which can have the same detrimental effects on surgery as nicotine. It has the potential to make patients more or less susceptible to anesthetics. Carbon monoxide, found in any kind of smoke, affects blood pressure, making it increasingly difficult for the blood to carry oxygen. As a patient, It is crucial to inform anesthesiologists of any substance use before surgery, as it will most definitely impact the dosage amount of anesthesia.

“Discussing your drug use with your doctor is never a crime,” Dr. Gibson said. “We want people to be honest so we can screen them for signs of addiction and help them. Involving the police could result in a doctor losing their medical license. It is a violation of doctor-patient privilege, so patients should trust their doctors.”

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The Spotlight

Southern Lehigh’s Award

Most ted

talen

“We hid behind a bush for like five minutes and that is where we made our plan. It was completely unorganized. I had the four of them line up in the line. When she came out they starting singing and I slowly came up from behind the bush. It was the best promposal ever! I was like, ‘OMG OMG, I’m asking her to prom OMG OMG!’” junior Will Schell said.

“Well! My mom told me that my neighbors had a package which it was mine but was delivered to their house on accident! And I actually believed because I was expecting a package that I bought online! But when I came out I saw four boys singing and I was confused and then I saw Will peeping out of the bushes jumping around! I was confused first but the I turned really happy and I blushed!” senior Megan James said.

“I was planning on bringing in my keyboard and keep it in Ms. Touma’s room because Yemme and I have Spartan period there. I realized that there was no power cord, so I couldn’t play. All the teachers and aids in the room were freaking out, so we called Mr. Wehr. He had a piano. We ended up doing it down there. As she walked in, she started to sing and was a little embarrassed. I picked that song because it’s ‘our song.’

We jam out to that song in the car,” junior Luke Strauss said.

“My teacher took me out of my Spartan period and walked me down to the choir room. I had no idea what was going on, and I heard “Brown Eyed Girl” playing. I didn’t really know HOW he was going to ask me, but when I saw him I almost started crying because I really love that song.” senior Yemme Fitzmaurice said.

g n i m r a W t Most Hear

wvw

May 2017

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Winning Promposals “How Giuliana asked was an inside joke between us. She has a YouTube video she posted when she was younger, singing a Frank Sinatra song for school. She kind of looks like a little boy in it so we call her ‘Baby Boy G’. Giuliana decided to ask me in front of the whole cafeteria during lunch. She sang the Sinatra song and then held up a sign asking me to prom. I was definitely embarrassed but felt loved at the same time,” senior Eric Probasco said.

“I went up to the microphone and I hid in the supply closet for a good minute because I was very nervous and then sang my song.

I was so nervous and I am never nervous,” senior Giuliana Augello said.

y s t t Gu

Mos

“Ashley convinced me that our school had a secret society, like some colleges do. A secret club for whatever. I’m just really gullible. She told the whole senior class. I went up to anyone, and they would go along with it. Brian Smith, who was a member of the ‘gang,’ asked if I could leave the room with him for an initiation. I thought, ‘This is it.’ I didn’t care what they were doing; I just wanted to be a part of the society. He walked me around blindfolded and with earbuds for like 30 minutes. When I sat down in the auditorium, I couldn’t see anything because of the spotlight. Then it pointed to Ashley, and she had a sign,” senior Zach Cooper said.

Most Elabora te

“During first block, I got my friend, Brian Smith, to come into the photography class, where Zach and I are usually.

A week before, I convinced [Zach] about a secret society in our school. Brian comes in the classroom, then blindfolds Zach and walks with him around the hallways for a few minutes. Brian takes Zach into the auditorium. The lights were off, and Brian took Zach on stage. All he could see was the spotlight because it was pointed towards him. Brian asked him questions.

We would ask questions like, “Whats your favorite breakfast cereal or your favorite band?” Then the spotlight turned to me, and I was holding the sign. He definitely didn’t understand what was happening. He wanted to be a part of the secret society, but it’s okay because I got him donuts.,” senior Ashley Lee said.

Page 10

Our World

The Spotlight

Lehigh Valley Organizations Raise Awareness For Local Sex Trafficking

by Sarah Trebicka

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines sex trafficking as a “modern day form of slavery involving the illegal trade of people Truth for Women is a confidential, secure for exploitation or emotional gain.”

While many people know that young safe house for trafficking victims in the Lehigh Valley. Photo credit: Truth for Women women across the country in large worked with, her trafficker’s family cities face sexual exploitation and business was trafficking,” Checkeye trafficking, Lehigh Valley residents said. “Since he was a little boy, he might be surprised to hear that it’s was trained how to be a trafficker; happening right here in their own he watched pornography, he was backyards. taught how to manipulate and abuse a woman, he knew what to look for. You could put him in a room of 300 women, and he would be able to pick out one who was sexually abused.”

Women who suffered sexual abuse during childhood, homeless Valley Against Sex Trafficking (VAST) is a local organization that works to help sex women, and runaways are among trafficking victims and raise awareness the most vulnerable targets. But, about sex trafficking. Photo credit: VAST says Checkeye, it could be anyone, even any girl at Southern Lehigh.

Does sex trafficking really How do traffickers do it? happen in the Lehigh Valley?

One of the ways that traffickers In January, authorities arrested connect with women is through so19 people in a large-scale prostitucial media.

They may begin to build tion sting at a hotel in Stroudsburg, a relationship with their victim and Monroe County, who faced charges slowly begin to manipulate her. related to human sex trafficking, “A trafficker uses kindness, trust, prostitution, and the sale of heroin. protection, affection, gifts, promTwo women were identified as ises to lure, deceive and ensnare a victims. In February 2016, an Allentown man was found guilty of sex vulnerable individual,” Evans said.

“They make promises to protect trafficking in city motels. them, take care of them. They tell Local organizations like Truth them that no one else can love them for Women (a confidential, secure the way they do. They eventually safe house for trafficking victims) have sex with them. At some point, and Valley Against Sex Trafficking they force them to work as a pros(VAST) are fervently working to titute, a porn star, or a stripper or raise awareness; help victims redancer.” cover from emotional and physical “He’s very persistent, and he’s trauma; and provide victims with very patient, because he knows that psychiatric rehabilitation, drug or the price tag on her head is huge,” alcohol detox and rehabilitation, a Checkeye said. proper education, support groups, Additionally, gangs view sex traftrauma therapy, and education on ficking as a lucrative business. basic life and job skills.

“If you’re selling guns or you’re According to executive direcselling drugs, you can sell them only tor of Truth for Women and former one time,” Checkeye said, “however, Southern Lehigh girls’ lacrosse if you’re selling a woman or a little coach Kim Checkeye, sex trafficking girl, you can sell them multiple in the Lehigh Valley occurs mostly times.” on readily accessible advertising Nevertheless, trafficking can be websites and in hotels.

“It’s so well hidden here,” Check- unpredictable. Checkeye also recalls meeting women who were sold at eye said. “There’s really no way the ages of two, four, or five to pedopeople would think that it could philes and pimps by their families happen in our little area.” for drugs or alcohol. “[The Lehigh Valley] has easy What are some warning signs access to major highways. In addiof sex trafficking? tion, many sex buyers come from “If someone is being sexually the suburbs,” co-founder of VAST trafficked, you may notice changes and licensed clinical social worker in behavior that show some form of Heather Evans said. “They have the control by another individual,” Evmoney to pay for sex, because they ans said. “For a high school student, may have higher education or higher paying jobs. Anywhere that there you may notice changes in behavior is a demand for sex, there will be sex or friend association, decrease in school attendance or participation trafficking. It knows no bounds.”

Who do sex traffickers target? in after-school activities, extreme “They’re looking for women who changes in dress, or having name brand items, hair, nails, and makehave low self esteem and women up.” who have been abused. It’s almost According to Checkeye, some like they have a sixth sense. One of indicators of a brothel may include the first trafficking victims that I seeing a car pull up somewhere

with multiple women and leave with multiple women, seeing used mattresses in dumpsters nearby, or seeing only men come in and out of a “spa” or “massage parlor.”

“The hardest part is that there are trafficking victims all around us, and we will have no idea because they look like everyone else. So many times we think a prostitute is the short skirt, the red lipstick, the sleazy-looking shirt, and the high heels, and that’s really not the case,” Checkeye said. “When she meets up with a guy who’s paying for sex, she knows she has to figure out whether he’s a cop or not. Her showing up in some scanty outfits won’t be good, so she’s coming in a normal pair of jeans and a tee shirt. She’s not dressed the way that we think she’d be dressed; she looks like every other woman.”

“The hardest part is that there are trafficking victims all around us, and we will have no idea because they look like everyone else.”

What happens to the people involved after a victim is identified?

“If the women are willing to testify against [the trafficker], then a case is put against him, he goes before a jury, and he goes to jail,” Checkeye said. “However, often times they won’t [testify] because of the trauma bond [a deep emotional attachment to one’s abuser due to manipulation and a normalized, repetitive cycle of abuse] that they have, and or because they can’t face that trafficker in court after all they’ve been through.”

According to Checkeye, it is extremely difficult for the police to build a case against the actual trafficker, and when they do, it often takes one, two, even three years to fully develop. The traffickers know how to cover their tracks and manipulate the women into protecting them.

“They have the girls call them ‘Daddy,’ so they train them that you don’t get ‘Daddy’ in trouble. When [the girls] are arrested, most of the time the traffickers won’t even post bond because they don’t wanna get on [the police’s] radar,” Checkeye said. “Also, a lot of times they have an older prostitute who they’ve have had for many years control all the other women and act as the ‘pimp,’ so if they get caught, he can say, ‘I had no idea she was doing that.’”

As for the men who pay for the sex (referred to as “johns”), there is no jail time. In Pennsylvania specifically, punishment may include fines,

auto seizure, community service, or attending an educational program called “john school” that addresses the harsh realities of prostitution and sex trafficking. However, failure to sentence johns to prison can be a problem, as a promise of jail time for sex buyers may deter potential buyers from seeking out prostitutes.

This, in turn, would eliminate the market for commercial sex, thus eliminating sex trafficking.

“This is a major issue. We have a crime where a victim may actually be punished more severely than the buyer of that victim,” Evans said.

“Our Pennsylvania law on sex trafficking, Act 105, actually defines a buyer of sex trafficking as a trafficker because they are participating in the trafficking. We have more work to do in education and advocacy to utilize the strength of this law, in hopes that it will further deter buying sex.”

How can the community help raise awareness and stay safe?

“If I could say anything to teenage girls, it would be, please be careful on social media,” Checkeye said. “Not everybody is who they say they are.”

“I would say the best thing women can do to protect themselves is to be educated about the ways traffickers work. A lot of the time women are being trafficked by men they know, so if you ever feel like something doesn’t sound right or feel right, trust your instincts,” Checkeye’s daughter, senior Hannah Checkeye said.

According to VAST, 76 percent of underage victims of sex trafficking were recruited online. Stay safe when using social media. It is important to remain cautious and maximize privacy.

“This crime exists because we are a culture that tolerates it. Speak out against aspects of our sexualized culture that are like fuel for sex trafficking, including pornography,” Evans said. “As long as there is a demand for sex, there will be victims of sex trafficking. Explain the exploitation that is involved with girls and women in strip clubs, massage parlors, pornography or prostitution.

Speak out against the glamorization of pimps in our culture.”

“People need to become more aware and spread the message.

Realize that it’s happening in the Lehigh Valley, and that it’s not just like, ‘Oh, this doesn’t happen here,’” Checkeye’s younger daughter, sophomore Lizzie Checkeye said.

If you suspect a possible trafficking situation, call the National Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-3737888 or text befree. For volunteering opportunities and more information about sex trafficking in the Lehigh Valley, visit vast.ngo or truthforwomen.org.

May 2017

Our World Page 11

Where are They Now? Solehi Alumni: Above the Mendoza

by Danielle Alpert

Chechen Authorities Abduct 100 Gay Men in Surprise Round-Up

by Rachael Borelli

Above the Mendoza, from left to right: Tyler Fernandez, Pete Long, Kevin Irvine, Aaron Long, and Brian Horn. Photo credit: Dan Denkovic

Southern Lehigh may be familiar with Above the Mendoza, the band that delivered exhilarating performances at Mini-THON on March 25 and at prom on May 13, but some may not know that three of the five band members actually graduated from Southern Lehigh in 2010 and 2014. Above the Mendoza consists of brothers Pete and Aaron Long, Tyler Fernandez, Kevin Irvine, and Brian Horn.

Peter Long, Aaron Long, and Horn are Southern Lehigh alumni.

Recently, Radio 104.5 played one of Above the Mendoza’s original songs, “House Special 2,” on their new music discovery show.

The band revealed that the song is actually about the Coopersburg Diner, and its title refers to a meal that can be ordered there.

“It’s hard to put into words what I’m feeling and thinking, but if I had to, I would describe it as surreal,” Aaron Long said. “It’s very exciting to hear a song that started in my basement played on a real radio station.”

Pete Long Pete Long has loved music ever since he was little, and he always wanted to be in a band. Ever since he went to his first Warped Tour in fourth grade, he knew music was what he wanted to do.

In high school, Pete Long pitched for the Southern Lehigh baseball team for four years and played on the basketball team for three years. He proved to be both athletically and musically talented, and played in a different band with his brother, Aaron Long, Horn, and another student.

“I remember Pete was always laid back and in a good mood.

He always seemed like he was comfortable just being himself,” social studies teacher Mr. Thomas Beaupre said. “I also remember being so impressed when I found how talented he was as a musician and how much of a showman he was on stage, because as a student he was generally pretty quiet.

Until I saw him play with his band for Jamalot the first year, I just never would have thought of him in that role. It was quite a pleasant surprise.”

Aaron Long “I’ve always had a passion for music. I’ve been playing music since fourth grade,” Aaron Long said. “But I have to say, when I heard Green Day and Blink 182 for the first time, you couldn’t talk me out of it. I thought, and still think, that they are the coolest dudes in the world, and I want to be just like them.”

Like his brother, Aaron Long was on the baseball team for all four years of high school. He also played the trumpet in band and orchestra, and he took part in the musical junior and senior year.

Throughout his music career, Aaron Long has figured out one of the hardest lessons in life, which is to not let others dictate your life.

“People are always going to be in your ear about decisions you make, how you choose to spend your time, and what they think you should be doing with your life,” he said. “Don’t let that get in the way of your vision and your dreams.”

Brian Horn Along with being in a band with the Longs while in high school, Horn was also a part of band, marching band, orchestra, and theater, and a manager for the girls’ lacrosse team.

“Brian was usually good for a laugh, or several, in class. He was extremely energetic and engaging,” Spanish teacher Joan Imms said. “He was also really easy to get along with and loved to talk about music. Even then, he was really dedicated to playing music and it was a definite priority in his life.”

Horn loves spending time with his band mates, especially when they are writing and performing music.

“We form a brotherly relationship with each other since we are all a bunch of clowns,” he said.

“Almost everything we do is filled with laughter.”

Future Plans Above the Mendoza aims to continue playing music and touring, and they hope to get signed so they can make music for a living.

On August 31, 2013, around 5,000 people came together in Berlin to protest homophobia and anti-gay laws in Russia. Photo credit: Marco Fieber

Talk of concentration camps and genocide are usually coupled with World War II: events that should have no place in the twenty-first century.

However, in Chechnya, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that 100 men suspected of being gay were rounded up by Chechen authorities “in connection with their nontraditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such.” At least three men have been killed.

“I think it’s really sick for innocent people to be put through such hardships just because of their sexuality or how they identify,” senior Skylar Helmstetter said. “It says a lot about our world right now and how far away we are from equality.”

Victims have been held in informal detention centers, tortured, and beaten in order to get them to reveal other contacts that might also be gay.

Sometimes the men are returned to their families after a couple of weeks or days. Authorities humiliate their victims by outing them to their families, and they encourage the family to take whatever action they think is needed to deal with the victim.

“It’s completely wrong,” junior Alexandra Jameson said. “It’s inhumane to put people in these environments for who they love, no matter what you believe in.”

Rachel Denber, a Human Rights Watch deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division, explained that ultra-conservative Chechen authorities are saying this to provide the rationale for honor killing, implying that the victim is “staining” their family’s honor by being gay.

The spokesman for the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Alvi Karimov, claimed the story is false because “you can’t arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic,” and, “if such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return.”

The round-up started around the last week of March and the beginning of April, and it was most likely triggered by GayRussia’s attempt to organize an LGBTQ pride march in Chechnya. Unfortunately, these round-ups aren’t new to conservative Muslim Chechnya. While the recent waves of round-ups represent a spike in activity, similar round-ups have been going on for years.

Filing a complaint and having the guilty party brought to court, as a spokesperson for Putin has advised, would realistically be a dangerous move in Chechnya. Such actions would leave one extremely vulnerable to retaliation by local authorities.

“I believe we should step into the situation somehow. It’s terrible that people are being tortured and killed, and we are still in talks with Putin about multiple subjects, but not [about] the problem in Chechnya,” Helmstetter said. “Our President should at least bring it up in a statement, but he probably will not.”

To take action against the Chechnya concentration camps, follow Elton John’s lead by speaking out against the issue and advising people to sign a petition by Amnesty International to stop the killing and abduction of gay and bisexual men in Chechnya. Stay informed about the issue, and share information.

OutRight Action International has suggested that people tag Chechnya’s president on Instagram, @ kadyrov_95, on pictures of the concentration camps expressing their disapproval and outrage. On social media, people are using #Chechnya and #CloseTheCamps to discuss and spread the word about this topic.

Donating money to organizations that can help the community directly, like the Russian LGBT Network, is also another way to help, or contacting your state representative via telephone, email, or post and urging them to speak out about this issue.

Page 12 Arts and Entertainment

The Spotlight

‘The Room’: My Final Love Letter to Cinema

by Caitlin Roth

Photo credit: Wiseau Films

A wise man once said, “All good things must come to an end,” and unfortunately, I must say that this is my last movie review for the Spotlight. However, I wish to make this last one very special, and share a film experience very close to my heart: the magic, the mystery, and the beauty of midnight cult cinema in Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room.”

The 2003 film is somewhat of a cinematic oddity. Tommy Wiseau, a strange looking man with an indistinguishable foreign accent, put up six million dollars of his own money (possibly through illegal methods) to fund his little passion project, “The Room.”

The story is about a banker named Johnny, (played by the man himself, Tommy Wiseau), and his “future wife” Lisa. Bored with her mundane lifestyle with Johnny, Lisa decides to have an affair with her husband’s best friend, Mark.

What happens next is the most bizarre collection of scenes to ever be conceived in cinematic history. Featuring drug dealers, a subplot about a character with breast cancer that is never brought up again, a ridiculous number of framed pictures of spoons, and random characters show-

ing up unexpectedly throughout the movie, the sheer inconsistency of the film is what makes it all the more hysterical.

While critics initially gave scathing reviews of the film, “The Room” proved to be so entertaining that a fan base emerged. Years later, it is still widely loved and referred to as “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.”

Since its introduction to the midnight movie circuit, “The Room” has taken on a cult following somewhat in the style of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Select cinemas all over the world show monthly screenings to hoards of eager fans at exactly 12 a.m. At these screenings, attendees dress up as their favorite characters, make jokes out loud during the movie, throw spoons at the screen, and participate in audience “callbacks.”

Luckily, I had the opportunity to experience one of these screenings in Philadelphia on April 14, and it was everything I expected it to be.

Armed with over 100 spoons, fellow Spotlight staff member Jamie Kish and I were the first in line at 9:30. After we acquainted ourselves with those around us for about an hour, Tommy Wiseau appeared like an angel from heaven around the street corner. He came over and shook both of our hands.

“Nice to see you guys, thank you for coming out. I’ll see you again later,” he said in his strange accent. But we were too busy internally screaming to even process what was happening. Like a thief in the night, Wiseau disappeared once again.

At around 11 p.m. the doors finally opened, and we rushed down the stairs into the theater.

Jamie and I had the opportunity to meet Wiseau again, and we gladly obliged. We asked for his autograph and got our picture taken together.

Wiseau drew hearts all over Jamie’s paper and quoted one of his favorite lines: “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!” but replaced “Lisa” with his name. Needless to say, he really liked Jamie.

After a bizarre Q and A session with Wiseau that actually left us with more questions than answers, and a sneak peek trailer for his new movie “Best F[r]iends,” the movie finally started.

While the movie itself is enjoyable, I now

firmly believe you have not truly seen “The Room” unless you are in a theater with hundreds of strangers. The sharp wit and humor of the audience really enhances the experience. Not to mention the sheer joy in throwing spoons every time the previously mentioned framed spoon pictures appear. Remember how I said we brought 100 spoons? That supply did not even last us halfway through the movie, and we had to resort to grabbing spoons off the floor.

By the end of the night my voice was almost completely gone and my throat was sore from laughing so much, but I didn’t regret it one bit.

I’ve never experienced such a sense of community, bliss, and pure happiness before, all over this cheesy little movie. For an hour and a half, all that mattered in the world was this small room, this small group of people, and this one movie.

While some people may look at this movie and think it may be the most ridiculous thing (and trust me, it is) sometimes it is not so much about the film itself, but the experience. If this one man, Tommy Wiseau, can bring together a crowd of people from all walks of life and ages to have a genuinely good time, why does it matter if the film is good or not?

In all honesty, I deeply respect Wiseau. This man put his heart and soul into what he thought was going to be a masterpiece of a film. It just didn’t work out the way he wanted, yet he is able to be a great sport about it. He ultimately created something even better than he originally intended.

That’s the unique thing about cinema. Each movie means something different to everyone.

To someone, even a bad movie may be great. For those of you who are die-hard fans of the 2016 remake of “Point Break,” or the kids at heart with “Monster Trucks,” or the small percentage of you that actually enjoy “The Belko Experiment,” or even cinema snobs like me, the movies have everything to offer. You just have to keep exploring.

So for my farewell wish for you, I encourage you to sit back, dim the lights, grab your popcorn, and enjoy the show.

Embark On A Visual Adventure With ‘Night in the Woods’

by Jamie Kish

It seems like it’s not too often that I find an indie game that strikes a chord with me and has both pleasing visual aesthetics and a compelling story. Pittsburgh/Manitoba-based indie developers Infinite Fall’s “Night in the Woods” is one of those games.

“Night in the Woods” is a 2D adventure game that tells the story of an anthropomorphic cat named Mae, who has recently dropped out of college and returned to her hometown of Possum Springs. After the strange disappearance of her childhood friend Casey, Mae and her friends Bea, Gregg, and Angus, begin discovering some of their town’s dark secrets. While the game mainly deals with themes of millennial social issues, mental illness, and the decline of rural smalltown America, there is also lots of suspense that lingers and builds up throughout the course of the game.

The interesting history of “Night in the Woods” began when the developers announced the game in 2013 and the subsequently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the its development. The Kickstarter campaign reached its initial goal of $50,000 within only 26 hours, and by the end of the campaign they had earned

around $200,000 in crowdfunding. Throughout 2013 and 2014, Infinite Fall released “Night in the Woods’” first and second supplements (sort of like mini-games that go along with the main game), “Longest Night” and “A Lost Constellation.”

One aspect of the game that I think was my favorite was its distinct art style, championed by the game’s main animator and designer, Scott Benson. Although I played the game on a frankly poorly-optimised laptop PC, I had no real problems with the controls or performance, although controls aren’t necessarily a make-or-break deal for particularly story-based games like “Night in the Woods.” Unlike other popular indie games that have been labeled by some critics as “walking simulators’ for their overly simplistic and sometimes bland game mechanics,” the minimalistic but captivating artistry of “Night in the Woods” is enough to captivate players even if there are low points in the plot.

Another part of the game that I found really enticing was the dialogue and interaction between characters. A lot of dialogue in “Night in the Woods” is bizarre and humorous in nature, but it feels human. While playing, I felt as if I could personally relate to the characters. The

Photo credit: Infinite Fall

game’s mood and tone is also very well-balanced.

Contrasting the surrealist tones of much of the plot, there is effective comic relief throughout the game, especially from Mae’s friend, a fox named Gregg.

Some could interpret the game as being “too artsy,” and I’d definitely say that “Night in the Woods” is not every gamer’s cup of tea. But those who enjoy visual style, dialogue, and interesting storylines in indie games will definitely love this game.

“Night in the Woods” is available to purchase on Steam and on the Playstation Store for the PS4.

May 2017

Arts and Entertainment

Page 13

Clove Fine Indian Cuisine Delivers Quality Food and Service

by Sarah Jacobson

Throughout our lives, we are required to do several basic, and sometimes cumbersome things, one of which is to eat. Many believe that if eating must happen, then the food might as well be good. This belief is strongly followed by the staff at Clove Fine Indian Cuisine.

This Indian restaurant is located a little out of the way for Southern Lehigh Students in Allentown along Union Boulevard, near the Iron Pigs Baseball Stadium. Clove Fine Indian Cuisine is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch, and again from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for dinner service.

When I first sat down, I got the sense that the restaurant more upscale. The napkins were fabric, and there were small water glasses in addition to any other drinks ordered, so this wasn’t your run of the mill Friday night eatery. Because of this classy set up, the prices were a little higher, as the total cost for three fell at $45.37, and we did order some of the cheaper meals available.

Our waiter was very polite but didn’t make much conversation, which, in my introverted opinion, is a plus. I ordered Chicken Vindaloo, one of my favorite Indian dishes, and my partners in crime on this culinary adventure, my brother

and father, ordered chicken tikka masala and chicken vindaloo, respectively.

Now, shortly after ordering, the best thing in the world happened; we received a complimentary appetizer. The dish was called pakora, and it was absolutely amazing. The sauce served with it was sweet and salty, and the pakora was crunchy, but not greasy. All in all, an amazing appetizer experience.

The wait wasn’t all that long before I recieved my main dish. The food was served almost family style. I say this because each of us received a bowl with the dish we ordered, but we were given individual plates and the rice was heaped onto only one platter.

One thing I will say is that Indian food is best served as spicy as you can handle. That being said, my brother can not handle even the weakest spice, and he was fine with his mildly spiced chicken tikka masala.

The food was cooked to perfection, and I can honestly say I’ve never had a better chicken vindaloo. The chicken was perfect, the sauce spicy, and the naan bread we ordered was perfectly toasted. My whole family, with the exception of my brother, are all avid lovers of Indian

Photo credit: Sarah Jacobson

food, but no vindaloo we’ve ever made could match the flavor of the one I ordered.

The food, while on the pricer side, was well worth the cost. Our server was polite, and the overall atmosphere of the restaurant was friendly. I would definitely go again, and I highly recommend it to anyone searching for somewhere that’s classier than your typical place of eating and if you have a fair amount to spend.

‘Thirteen Reasons Why’ Misrepresents Serious Issues

by Sarah Walters

Photo credit: Netflix

“Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here.

Live and in stereo. No return engagements. No encore. And this time, absolutely no requests. I hope you’re ready, because I’m about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.”

These haunting lines are the first glimpse viewers have into the psyche of Hannah Baker in Netflix’s new original series, “Thirteen Reasons Why.” Based on the 2007 novel of the same name

by Jay Asher, each episode of the television show

features one of Baker’s thirteen recorded cassette tapes that explain the reasons why she committed suicide. Everyone on these tapes know what each other has done: their names, their stories, their lies, and their contributions to her death.

Starting this series I was full of mixed emotions. I had not read the book prior to watching the series, and I had only the description on Netflix and the opinions of others to go by.

The first episode reveals the contents of the first tape, detailing Hannah’s relationship with a boy named Justin, and how the truth about what happened between the two of them spiraled out of control. As Hannah records her thoughts she tells her truth. However, when confronted, Justin’s truth falls short of what actually happened.

Justin is a handsome and athletic character, and is portrayed as selfish and mind numbing.

Later on in the tapes, you find out how he covers up something that happens to his girlfriend, Jessica. Worst boyfriend in history.

The second tape focuses on another classmate, Jessica. Hannah and Jessica form a friendship with a boy, Alex. Jessica’s tape entails how their friendship was, least to say, disappointing.

The third tape goes on to focus on Alex, a boy who would rather conform then be singled out, abandoning Hannah and wedging himself into a group of hotheaded guys.

The tapes continue on like this for the rest of the series, each detailing a different person that contributed to her suicide, from a boy who tried to take advantage of her on a date, to a girl that she got into an accident with, accidentally resulting in the death of a classmate. The viewers learn that everyone lies, except Hannah.

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The episodes bring attention to suicide and depression in school, which agitates the main character, Clay Jensen. Clay is an introvert, antisocial high schooler that Hannah has a particularly strong connection with. While he was head over heels for her, she tried to mask her feelings for him. After listening to every tape, he feels he must have some sort of revenge for the pain his classmates caused Hannah. But Clay’s tape is different.

Dealing with topics such as sexual abuse, drug use, and bullying, the characters fulfilled their roles well. However, the series glorified suicide with the final scene, which shows Hannah ending her life in a very graphic way. It shows the false illusion that suicide is easy, short, and in reach, but in actuality, it is far from that.

Throughout the show, there wasn’t much awareness brought to mental illness. Many say the graphic suicide scene causes pain to those who have experienced thoughts of ending their own lives. I had wish there was more attention brought to how people could have spotted her mental illness.

I wouldn’t recommend this series to viewers struggle with mental illness. Instead, if “Thirteen Reasons Why” intrigues anyone, I recommend reading the book, which brings more awareness to mental health, listing recognizable signs of someone suffering from depression and how that someone might act if they were facing the question of taking their life.

Seeing through the eyes of Hannah, I must say the insight was quite vague. The television show didn’t bring as much light to depression that is necessary. The topic should have been shown with more realistic consideration.

See Comedy-Horror At Its Finest In ‘Get Out’

by Ben Baca

Use the QR code to read more at slspotlight.com!

Page 14

Sports

The Spotlight

Garrison Piel Shines Through for Spartan Tennis

by Townsend Colley Throughout the year, different sports come and go. Championships are

won and all-conference teams are announced as the stars of each season are laden with awards, and role-players are left in our memories. However, some of the stars of Southern Lehigh still remain overlooked despite their success. Garrison Piel is one of these athletes.

For the last couple of years, Southern Lehigh boys tennis has struggled to regain its footing after being perpetually stuck in the murky depths of mediocrity. But the sun can still shine through even the dirtiest of swamps.

For the tennis team, Garrison Piel is one of the rays of sunshine. However, coming in during freshman year, he did not start this way.

Nervous and shy are the two words that Piel conjures to describe his first year on the team. If Piel’s feelings during his freshman year were a piece of art, they would be a stock photo on Google of “how freshmen always feel.” Nervous about the older players, having to live up to the expectations of a tennis-playing father, and living in the shadow of his older brother, who was a senior on the team at the time, Piel didn’t appear to be set up early on for success.

“I was pretty shy, but I found everyone, even the seniors and top tier players. It was really inviting.” Piel said. “It wasn’t very cliquey, everyone was just kind of a big group. It wasn’t this group of friends and that group of friends. Everyone was kind of just one uniform team.”

In this welcoming environment, he would be able to hone his craft over the course of his freshman year, and Piel had no lack of motivation when it came to doing so. Piel was driven by the goal of one day being able to hold his own against his father and brother. This desire for intense competition against his own family would soon evolve into a desire to become a more competitive force in the Colonial League tennis scene.

“Through all of the practices and stuff I slowly learned how to control, then how to add power, then how to add spin, and suddenly you’re playing games of tennis in singles,” Piel said. “It's just fun.”

Heading into Piel’s sophomore season, his skills had rapidly progressed to the point where he was named a starter on the second doubles team -the lowest starting spot, but a starter nonetheless. He was the only sophomore, and the only non-senior besides then-junior Karl Finkbeiner, to start that season. While Piel had earned a milestone in his tennis career, the team as a whole regressed. After losing two of the top singles players from the previous season, they were left with inexperienced players to fill the holes in the starting lineup. Southern Lehigh finished the 2015 season with a record of 3-10, and the team’s struggles continued as attrition through graduation continued, and not enough younger players were joining the team.

“It was really hard to recover because teams were getting better, getting new people in,” Piel said. “We were consistently losing all our people.”

Once Piel’s junior season came, he returned as one of only two experienced starters, both of whom had struggled for success in lower tier starting positions. While the final box score was not a particularly appealing result for the Spartans, the young team, lead by Piel and Finkbeiner, was able to hold their own in most of their matches and only lost matches by an

Garrison Piel and the tennis team lineup before a match on seniuor night. Photo credit: Chad Remaly

average margin of defeat, slightly over 2.5. Following a junior season where the tennis team would once again scratch and claw their way to a 3-10 record, Piel was named a captain for his senior year on the team.

“He’s one of the players with the most experience on the team; he’s just a good reliable person,” boys tennis head coach Andraea Drabenstott said.

“He definitely exhibits leadership skills. He takes charge.”

As a senior captain, Piel was tasked with leading yet another young team to success. However, the situation seemed much more promising. The team had so many players try out for the team this past season that they had to cut half of those that tried out. This influx of so many new players allowed the Spartans to grow together as a unit and set them up for future success. Finishing with a record of 3-10 yet again may not seem like an improvement, but it is a step forward for a middling team.

The development of the team is noticeable. For example, for the first time in over three years, the team finished with an all-Colonial league selection with junior Ben Forster and freshman Krishna Annambhotla named as honorable mentions.

While Piel may not be able to share the success that may come in the future for the boys tennis team, he will be remembered as one of the driving forces that pushed the team through some of the rougher years.

“Even when we're losing really bad,” sophomore tennis player Sam Wetzel said, “he manages to keep morale up, which is good for the team.”

SL Baseball and Lacrosse Play for a Cause

Photo credit: Chad Remaly

Photo credit: Chad Remaly

- Southern Lehigh Baseball Miracle League Event - The Spartans beat Quakertown in a night game 9-1 at Limeport Stadium - The event raised $7,000 for the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley - Four All-Colonial League players

- Southern Lehigh lacrosse played Emmaus High School in a game to support the Headstrong Foundation and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network -Emmaus defeated the Spartans 8-5.

- Kyle Hoff scored four of the Spartan’s five goals.

- Advanced to the State Quarterfinals - Four All-Colonial League players

May 2017

Sports

Page 15

Southern Lehigh Softball Fields a Memorable Season

by Quinn Schmidt

A view of the Southern Lehigh dugout during Coach Neefe’s 1000th game. Photo credit: Quinn Schmidt

Southern Lehigh softball has been a legendary program under current head Coach Brian Neefe for the past 46 years. The most successful softball coach in Pennsylvania with 775 wins, Neefe has brought Southern Lehigh to the top of the Colonial League with his emphasis on exceptional baserunning and bunting. He just recently coached his 1,000th game as a Spartan and has won 27 titles over that span. The distinguished coach has won more league championships than all of the other schools in the Colonial League combined, and this season he expects another one.

“I think our weakness in some positions is lack of experience. We’re not in the right place sometimes,” Neefe said. “Physical errors are one thing, that’s not a lack of experience. It’s mental errors when we throw to the wrong base and do things like that, that’s lack of experience.”

Despite having no seniors on the roster, Neefe has led the Spartans into the “Top 10 Teams to Watch in the Valley” according to Lehigh Valley Live. The young pitching staff has fallen just short of perfection, led by sophomore Rachel Bassler. She has tossed four wins so far, her best performance being a three-hitter in a 1-0 victory over secondranked Northern Lehigh early in the season.

Behind her, their youthful infield has proved to be their strongest asset, with junior Danielle Barnes leading the charge. As a freshman, Barnes

was able to put up unreal numbers in the circle.

She was the winning pitcher of 18 games, and she managed a 1.4 earned run average with 149 strikeouts in 139 innings. However, her sophomore year was cursed with injuries that kept her on and off the field for most of the season. So at the start of her junior year she approached Coach Neefe with a different option.

“I didn’t pitch this year because I knew there were more people capable of doing it,” Barnes said.

“I told Mr. Neefe I wanted to play shortstop because I knew we needed that spot filled from last year.”

Barnes has filled the position beautifully. She has bounced back from last season and become a leader for the Spartans at shortstop as well as at the plate. In her first four games, she racked up seven RBI’s while batting an incredible .728 average and becoming the Morning Call’s Player of the Week.

Other key roles are being occupied by underclassmen as well. Sophomore Sydney Stine has meshed flawlessly with her infield comrades, and fellow sophomore Lia Boyd has been seamlessly leading the outfield along with junior left fielder Chloe McNulty. Behind the plate, junior Maddy Binder has bonded with Bassler to form a nearly unstoppable pitcher-catcher duo.

The Spartans are currently 10-3, but they have goals of going farther than any Colonial League

team has ever gone.

“We have a lot of kids on the team who have lofty goals,” said Neefe. “Most of the kids aren't happy with just getting to the league tournament, the district tournament, the state tournament. We have a lot of kids this year with aspirations of getting there and winning.”

Special markings on the field to commemorate Coach Neefe’s one-thousandth game. Over his 46-year career, Coach Neefe boasts 775 wins and 27 titles. He is the most successful softball coach in Pennsylvania. Photo credit: Chad Remaly

The Power of Two Leads Spartan Track to the Top

by Quinn Schmidt

Allyson and Sarah Yanega were part of the 2017 Colonial League championship girls track team. Photo credit: Quinn Schmidt

The Yanega sisters have been competing with each other since they were born. Seniors Allyson and Sarah are each other's biggest rivals, whether the competition is on the track or in the classroom. They are constantly searching for ways to push each other to the limit, academically and athletically. But in seventh grade, the pair realized they had something special on the track, and the dynamic duo has been terrorizing opposing Colonial League teams ever since.

“I would say we push each other to do better sports-wise and academically because we know we need to keep the grades up and times down to get to where we want to go,” Sarah said.

Once high school rolled around, the twins began to push themselves to a new level. As a sophomore, Allyson was able to qualify for the state championship meet in the 1600-meter race. Junior year brought in more accomplishments, with Sarah earning runner-up honors in the 800-meter contest in the Colonial League, and Allyson becoming the Colonial League champion in the 1600-meter race. The pair has led the girls track team to back-to-back undefeated seasons, and two Colonial League championships.

“My favorite part about competing with my sister would be the friendly competition,” Allyson said, “We always want to beat each other, but we are happy with how we both do.”

Ironically enough, the pair joined forces with another set of twins to form a phenomenal 4x800 meter relay team. Paired with Alissa and Brianna VandeBunte, the foursome has accomplished remarkable feats. Over the winter, they qualified for states in indoor track. The spring 4x400 meter team, consisting of the Yanega twins, Brianna VandeBunte, and Megan McGill, was able to set a personal record at the Penn Relays, finishing the race in four minutes and eight seconds.

In their senior year and beyond, the Yanegas have big things planned. Both are hoping to qualify for states after being crowned the District XI champions in their individual events as well as on their relay teams. They have also elected to attend Dickinson College to continue their academic and athletic careers. But at the end of the day, it could be the connection the twins share that will give them the advantage over their competition.

Page 16 Odds and Ends

The Spotlight

May 2017

Teachers Share Their Most

Embarassing Moments “This happened when I had lost a bit of weight after a surgery, so my pants kept on falling down. I was demonstrating a ‘scoop’ in lacrosse for class one day. I went down, and heard a ripping sound. It turned out to be my pants, which were completely unwearable. It was during first period, so I had Ms. Gross sew them up for me so that I could have something to wear the rest of the day. The kids in my class actually thought that I actually passed some gas while demonstrating, which I think is even worse than ripping my pants.”

- Mr. Stephen Schrader, physical education teacher

“It was the first or second year of PSSA testing, and the whole cafeteria was filled with kids taking the test. It was kind of towards the end of the test. They have the really funny shaped chairs in the cafeteria. I accidently caught my foot on the bottom of one. And I did a forwards rolls or a somersault, but I took a bow. The whole room was clapping.

The key to that was to always come clean at the end.”

- Mr. Jeffrey Hershey, English teacher

“It was embarrassing for my daughter.

This was when I was teaching, and I had both my daughters in class. With my oldest daughter, when I had her in class, she was a 10th grader. It was around this time of year, in May. The kids were bugging me for extra credit, but I didn’t do extra credit. When they asked me in class one day, I said, ‘Rachel doesn’t haven’t a date from prom.’ She started crying. I embarrassed her, and in turn, embarrassed myself. Word got around the school, and eventually the principal called me. It was a bad mom moment and a bad teacher moment. She didn’t speak to me for two weeks. Now, she’s 25, and she still brings it up 10 years later.”

- Mrs. Beth Guarriello, Assistant Principal

“I was at Quakertown for a year, and there was a fight out in the hallway between classes. I was a new teacher, so I was also being kind of naive. As people are getting into class, I was asking everyone what happened. No one would say anything to me as they entered the room, but I wanted to figure it out. I said, ‘You guys won’t say s*** to me.’ The assistant principal was waiting in my room for an observation that day, heard me, and said, ‘Apparently that upset you a little bit.’”

- Mr. David Long, physics teacher

“I used to teach ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to my honors students. I would do a lesson on the battle between Tybalt and Mercutio, where we would always do a sword fight. When I was fighting one of the boys in my class, I spun around and he cracked me right on the face. I was kind of crying when it happened because it hurt so bad, but I just pretended to laugh, so he wouldn’t feel bad. I had this really horrible bruise that lasted like a week all over my face: blue and purple. For the rest of that day and the week, I iced my face and wore these huge sunglasses to cover it up. The kids never forgot and he even apologized during graduation for something that happened his freshman year.”

- Mrs. Lauren Tocci, English teacher

“To me, the funniest was when I was pregnant with my son. I was 9 months pregnant. My doctor said said to me that I need to get off my feet more, and I needed to sit down a couple times during class. I was rolling around my in chair to check homework [instead of walking]. A student called me from the other side of the room because he had a question. So, I pushed, and I went to go, [but] the chair didn’t roll. And it probably took me 10 seconds for me to fall, and it was the slowest fall ever. Because I was pregnant, I didn’t have my abs to catch myself because of the baby. I fell back, still in the chair, and landed like a bug [with legs still up].

The kids had no idea what to do, but when I got up, one boy said to me, ‘I thought the baby was going to pop out.’”

- Señora Joan Imms-Geiser, Spanish teacher

Photo and Interview Credits: Bridgette Lang