The C&G | Volume VII | Issue 3 | Spring Edition

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Volume VII, Issue 3, Spring Edition

March 2019

18 UNDER 18

STAFF

LIFESTYLE | 4

PEOPLE | 30

90s Trends | 4

A Tale of Two Seniors: Part III | 30

Managing Editors Jaylee Davis Miller Reid

From the Editor’s Desk | 5

18 Under 18: Spring | 32

BMW Driving School | 6

The One and Only Mister Milner | 38

Production Editor Matthew Raeside

Ramen Around | 8

Editors-in Chief Olivia Martin Ethan Mullen

Associate Editors Tiana Momon Shea Fleming Columnist Annie Sager Feature Writers Maggie Belenky Omari Foote Grace Kelly Katie Little Maddie Poch Staff Writers Mikey Bennett Zak Kerr Isabelle Skid Advisor Danielle Elms Contributing Tara Varzi Photographer

NEWS | 10

OPINION | 40 Let’s Talk | 40

News Briefs | 10

What is Church to You? | 42

Sports Briefs | 11

21 Days of Bullet Journaling | 44

FEATURES | 12 Partial Shutdown, Total Turmoil | 12 The Rise and Fall of Facebook | 16 When Will Enough be Enough? | 22 Detrimentally Progressive | 28

The Commons: A Satire | 46

MISSION STATEMENT

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

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t’s always important to remember that we’re living in a period of change—the political and social movements of today will be found history textbooks in the years to come. This year’s Spring issue of the C&G highlights some movements and events that will make a historical mark. Namely, the pieces When Will Enough be Enough? (page 22) and Partial Shutdown, Total Turmoil (page 12) look at the political climate of the United States today.

That being said, we are also proud to highlight some of the issues that face people in our community, like gentrification of the Atlanta community, which can be found in Detrimentally Progressive (page 28).

For fun, look to page 46 to find the C&G’s first-ever satire, The Commons: A Satire, or to page 32 to learn about some of the unique interests and talents that HIES students across all divisions have in 18 Under 18.

We hope you enjoy our spring issue!

Ethan Mullen Olivia Martin Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief

The C&G staff aims to be honest, accurate and accountable as they convey news, ideas, events and opinions that are relevant to the Holy Innocents’ community, including but not limited to students, faculty, staff, parents, administrators, and prospective families. C&G aspires to publish complete and accurate coverage through journalistically responsible, ethically reported and edited content that values diversity of perspectives.

EDITORIAL POLICY The C&G is a student-run, quarterly magazine published by the Crimson and Gold journalism staff at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School of Atlanta. All opinions expressed in this publication are those of the individual author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the entire staff or those of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. The magazine is written and designed as part of the journalism curriculum, and contributing writers can be included. The C&G values inclusivity and would appreciate any feedback or contribution. The staff strives to publish a diverse set of writing and perspectives while maintaining a standard of excellence. Please contact thecrimsonandgold@gmail.com for more information. The advisor and the editors have the ultimate say on content and have permission to edit contributions for grammar and taste. The staff will only publish legally protected material and keeps the privacy of individuals included in mind.

AFFILIATIONS CSPA // GSPA // JEA // NSPA

Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School 805 Mt. Vernon HWY Atlanta, GA 30327 *Katie Little not pictured

4 LIFESTYLE

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lack combat boots, specifically Doc Martens, were the shoe to wear in the 90s, often complementing skull caps and flannel as they first became popularized by the grunge scene of the decade. There are many different styles to accentuate a modern look the shoe is offered in playful color and vibrant print. Yet, the combat boot reigns a timeless classic.

irst introduced in 1982, the Nike Air Force Ones (AF1) immediately stole the spotlight as sports and lifestyle sneakers. Although, the Air Force Ones have retained their 1982 appearance, they easily fit into a 2019 athleisure aesthetic. While they are no longer as prominent within sports, to the delight of sneakerheads nationwide, they have made an everlasting mark on the fashionable sneaker revival.

crunchies first gained popularity in the 80s and lasted throughout the 90s, but slowly declined in the early 2000s. Due to their long-lasting comfort and ability to match any outfit effortlessly, scrunchies have been slowly materializing atop the ponytails of the insta-famous. Even trendy stores like Lululemon Athletica and Urban Outfitters have added their own artistic flair, such as glitter and sequins, adding a trendy twist to the iconic hairband. urt Cobain’s classic oval sunglasses have made a comeback in the form of “Clout Goggles.” Repopularized by the likes of rapper Playboi Carti, these statement shades have become increasingly chic and instagrammable go-to for eyewear. Aside from these “Clout Goggles,” colorful, small glasses have begun to make a comeback not only with rappers but on the runway as well, as they’ve been adopted by notable fashion models.

he “Graphic Tee” is a wide-ranging staple in teenage fashion. From Led Zeppelin to the Lakers, graphic tees can feature just about anything and go with just about everything. Although there are a variety of new designs to represent 2019 culture, vintage tees are just as popular.

bviously, socks have been a consistent component of any outfit for as long as most can remember, yet they often go unnoticed, hidden underneath the cuffs of pants. In the past, a popular trend was to wear striped athletic-style socks with lifestyle shoes. These socks have popped back on the radar as stores like Free People, Topshop, and Urban Outfitters have released their own takes on these everyday necessities.

Trends from the 1990s are coming back into style.

FASHION

GRACE KELLY, feature writer ISABELLE SKID, staff writer

From The

BIRD BOX EDITOR’S DESK

Matthew, Having Read the Book First

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ird Box the book was better than Bird Box the movie. Hands down.

Having read the book prior to watching the movie, the movie feels rushed and incomplete as the plot rapidly comes to a close instead of a gradual climax and satisfying end. The book offers commentary on the difficulties of living and collaborating with such diverse personalities within a space confined to a small home, while the movie only briefly scratches the surface.

Additionally, the movie misses out on multiple opportunities for thoughtful character development, discarding minor characters when they are no longer necessary. Because of this, I struggle to empathize with the minor characters as I did in Bird Box the book. Yet this is understandable, as it is difficult to squeeze a 260 page book into a two hour Netflix original.

The movie follows the identical narrative style of the book, switching between past and present timelines in order to form an interesting contrast of Malorie’s journey along the river and her trials within the home with other survivors. Throughout these timelines, the fear of what is unknown is crucial to the thriller element of the film, yet was often undercut at poor attempts at humor to lessen the tension that never existed.

Furthermore, the soundtrack was unremarkable, and I cannot remember it as I write this review. Yet the movie’s saving grace may be its cast. Sandra Bullock plays the lead role of Malorie, and she exemplifies the independence, confidence, and perseverance associated with a single mother surviving in a postapocalyptic world.

Malorie’s trip down the river seems curt to audiences, and fails to display the true peril of

JAYLEE DAVIS, managing editor MATTHEW RAESIDE, production editor

rowing blindfolded down a river of rapids. Instead, the book aptly mentions the extreme fatigue and suffering, both physical and emotional, that Malorie experiences along the journey.

The movie did have some merits though, as it introduces multiple new plot elements that could have strengthened the book, such as a romance between Malorie and another housemate, Tom, and a cult of survivors focused removing others’ blindfolds.

Additionally, the movie brought forth a new ridiculous, yet comedic internet craze: the Bird Box challenge, in which participants walk (or drive) blindfolded as do characters in the book and movie.

Yet once again, the cliche holds true: the book is better than the movie.

Jaylee, Having Watched the Movie First

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ird Box, the movie was average at best — an overused dystopian trope that I predicted up until the very last scene.

I was hopeful, however, that the book would have more merit. As I turned the pages and submerged myself in Josh Malerman’s world, my hopes were confirmed. I thoroughly enjoyed the female protagonist, Malorie, which is nearly impossible to find in this sub-genre of novels, Katniss of The Hunger Games and Beatrice of Divergent, being the only few in popular culture that I can name. The book, because it has no overtly visual elements, was more unsettling. The whole concept of the novel

is that you cannot see what is scary. Needless to say, trying to represent things you cannot see on screen makes for an unengaging, unsurprising movie. The book also better captures Malorie’s strength, perseverance, and a general raw sense of desperation that pervaded through all the characters of Malerman’s creation.

Malerman had further developed the relationship between Tom and Malorie romantically.

What I didn’t enjoy about Bird Box was its lack of diversity. The movie definitely made a few upgrades in that respect, because all of the descriptions of the characters in the book were practically fair-skinned, blonde haired, and blue eyed. I guess people of color don’t exist in the apocalypse. Also, I wish that

But you’ve got to ask yourself, is a book really good unless it has a romantic subplot?

I loved the sort of “the world is ending, what have we got to lose?” attitude in the movie that blossomed into a romance and ended in tragedy. I guess that’s my special bias.

Overall, the book was decent, but not good. I especially recommend it to those who were hyped for the movie yet were left unsatisfied.

BMW DRIVING ZAK KERR, staff writer

ultimate driving experience

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ocated only two and a half-hours away from Atlanta in Spartanburg, South Carolina, rests a fleet of pristine, current model year, brand new Ultimate Driving Machines (BMW’s) waiting for you to turn their traction control off and use up every pony its engine has to offer.

In addition to your personal 400 + horsepower feat of German engineering, a staff consisting of some of the world’s best race car drivers who have driven in elite races such as the Les Mans are prepared to teach you how to drift like James Bond and change lanes at speeds exceeding 75 miles per hour like Jason Bourne. Throughout the duration of the two-day course (each day lasting from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM), you will spend the majority of the time behind the wheel of a BMW 3 Series with the M Sport Package completing advanced defensive driving modules on BMW’s Performance Track. In between each lesson, the best-of-the-best teachers will present to you the objectives of the lesson and teach you technique.

Day 1 of 2

ONE-DAY TEEN SCHOOL - $849

The first day, you’re taught about the features of the car and their capabilities via an agility course. You’re then greeted by the blasting water cannons on the drift pad where you’re actively taught how to fix understeer in torrential conditions.

Warm-up Slalom: Getting students comfortable behind the wheel.

After a delicious lunch prepared by the superb culinary staff at the track, you make a brief stop at the classroom and head back out to your beautiful BMW, whose plush leather seats and responsive pedals are waiting on you.

You then begin the emergency breaking module which starts at speeds of 55 mph and works its way up to 70 mph on day two. Later, it is time for the handling course (my personal favorite) where you apply the agility and control techniques you learned throughout the prior lessons to a mini-grand pre like course.

Finally, at the very end of the first day, it is time for the comprehensive challenge course. While you approach the start line, you’re heart beats in sync with the sound of your engine revving while you seem to involuntarily hear Europe’s Final Countdown play somewhere in the distance. You then hear the beep of the walkie talkie and the voice of your teacher who is ready to score your performance. At the word go, the car jolts forward while you operate the paddles. As you engage and, eventually, complete the course, you can’t help but feel truly confident and impressed with your performance.

Panic Braking: ABS braking in a straight line and while cornering at speeds up to 55 mph.

Skid Pad Training: Understanding Dynamic Stability Control and how it intervenes.

Emergency Lane Change: Emphasizing vision and control at the handling limit.

Handling Course: Lapping to develop a feel for the limit of traction while accelerating, braking and cornering.

Water Walls: Avoid obstacles while driving distracted.

Teen Challenge Course: Obstacle course including braking, lane change slalom, wet and dry track surfaces.

SCHOOL

LIFESTYLE 7

Day 2 of 2

TWO-DAY TEEN SCHOOL - $1699

Back at the track, for day two, you complete all the lessons you completed the day before; however, the difficulty is increased, and you’re introduced to a few new exercises. This time, the cones are continually being moved during the agility course, the water cannons blast more furiously, and instead of completing emergency lane changes at 50 mph, you’re now going 75 mph.

The following activities are included in Two-Day Teen School in addition to the first day’s activities.

After another nourishing meal, you’re back out on the track. This time, you get to whip around a broader selection of other BMW’s (including the beast 5 Series M Sport, exhilarating 2 Series M Sport and X1 Sport) around a larger handling course.

After a brief break, you head over to the off-road course where you get your own 2019 BMW X5. During this exercise, you learn how to drive through a trough of water, over hills, up mini-mountains and how to use some of the state-ofthe-art features your own fully-loaded baked potato of an SUV has to offer its lucky beholder.

Double Lane Change: Executing two opposite-direction lane changes.

Skid Pad Training: Utilizing both directions on wet and dry skid pad.

Interstate Braking: ABS braking at speeds up to 70 mph.

Off-road Course: Drive X vehicles off-road.

Performance Drive: Drive various BMW models, where drivers must adapt to different vehicles on our handling course.

As the clock strikes 3:00 and you’re left with only an hour on the clock, you head back over to the challenge course, however, this time it is more difficult. As you crush your original score and impress your parents with your new defensive driving skills, you can’t help but smile and laugh so much you imprint dimples on your cheeks. Before you leave the course, your teachers present awards, share a laugh, reflect on your progress and hand you a bag that contains BMW memorabilia and a certificate that also serves as an insurance deduction (winkwink parents).

Ultimate driving student

According to the AJC, over 1,400 people died in car accidents in Georgia in 2018 After completing the BMW Performance Driving School, I have the confidence and skills, God forbid an emergency on the road, to save my life and the lives of my passengers. In addition to my experience being potentially life-saving, it was some of the most fun I have had in my life.

The strategies taught by the world class instructors, accompanied by physical application, yields a truly educational experience that developed a lifelong skill set. After returning home, I immediately noticed improvement in my driving and awareness as a result of the course.

While it is expensive, the program has the ability to provide you with the knowledge necessary to remain safe on the increasingly dangerous roads of Atlanta and beyond.

8 LIFESTYLE

Taiyo Ramen L 130 Clairemont Ave Suite 100

ocated in a nondescript Courtyard by Marriot in downtown Decatur, Taiyo Ramen is full of surprises; you would never guess that you were eating at a hotel restaurant. As soon as you step out of the lobby and into the restaurant, you are transported into an industrial chic Japanese eatery with gongs and paintings all around. This hidden gem is not only stylish, but also delicious. I ordered the most popular ramen, the Tonkatsu, which consists of a 48-hour creamy pork bone broth, rolled sliced pork belly, a poached egg, bamboo shoots, scallions, black garlic oil, and sesame seeds. Cooking pork for 48 hours results in a mouthwatering, hearty, creamy broth in which you can taste delectable bone marrow, a new craze in the food world. Presented in an oversized bowl covered with intricate designs, the ingredients are arranged in an appealing way. As a dish, this ramen was fairly traditional, but the broth was really the factor that set it apart from others. If you aren’t too hungry or don’t want to eat an entire bowl, there is an option on the menu for splitting the ramen with no extra cost. There also are many toppings that you can add to your ramen, such as flavor bombs to add more spices or kimchi. Overall, the milky bone broth and cool atmosphere make Taiyo Ramen worth the drive to Decatur.

Overall Score: 3/5

m a R

A look into Atlanta’s m

5394 Peachtree Road

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here the train tracks run through Chamblee, you’ll find Southbound – a creative, southern comfort food restaurant. It would be perfect for taking some fun Instagram pictures and enjoying traditional southern dishes with a twist. The atmosphere is rustic, cool, and casual, with exposed brick and salvaged wood beams. Southbound is not a ramen restaurant, but I chose to review it because they do have a ramen dish on the menu, however not a traditional one. Their popular Southern Ramen contains smoked pork, collards, chow-chow, black-eyed pea relish, and a deviled egg, so it’s not your average ramen. When presented with this piping hot dish with each ingredient perfectly placed, I couldn’t wait to dive in. It kind of reminded me of New Year’s Day, since all of your lucky foods are together in one bowl. Each individual element was great, but when put together, it was hard to eat.

I don’t think I could have finished this on my own, since it was so heavy.

There was barely any broth, and I would have liked to have had a little more.

Southbound definitely gets an A+ for creativity. I will go back for the other Southern comfort food on the menu, but I may not order the ramen next time.

Overall Score: 2/5

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Southbound

Lifting Noodles 477 Flat Shoals Avenue SE

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must admit that when I went to Lifting Noodles, located in the heart of East Atlanta, I was pretty tired of ramen, since it was my fourth stop in five days. I wasn’t even sure I liked ramen anymore, but the first bite instantly changed my mind. Lifting Noodles is not your average restaurant. Honestly, I wouldn’t even call this place a restaurant. It’s a counter in a collective of several food stalls in a slightly rundown windowless hall with wooden picnic tables, counter service, and a station to bus your own table. I ordered the Angry Zuko Bowl, which includes spicy tonkotsu broth, pork belly, bean sprouts, black mushrooms, sweet corn, bamboo shoots, pickled ginger, scallions, sesame seeds, and a marinated egg. The broth was creamy and spicy, and the whole dish was fresh and delicious. So many flavors come at you at once, but it all just makes sense. I wanted to savor every bite, because it was that good. It’s easy to miss Lifting Noodles, since it’s completely hidden, but that would be a mistake. This place is essential eating for anyone who enjoys a good bowl of ramen.

Overall Score: 5/5

most unique ramen.

MAGGIE BELENKY, feature writer

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Hopstix 2444, 3404 Pierce Dr

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ituated in the hub of blossoming downtown Chamblee, Hopstix, an Asian brewpub from award-winning homebrewer Andy Tan, combines elements of a sushi bar and a brewery with the atmosphere and service of a chef-driven restaurant. The restaurant has a contemporary open dining room accentuated with brick, rustic wood, and polished concrete elements, and a stainless steel exhibition kitchen. Outdoor seating with picnic tables and festive string lights is also available. Their top notch service adds to the experience, as our server was friendly and helpful yet unobtrusive.

Hopstix only has one ramen dish on the menu, the Miso Ramen, which includes cloudy broth, robata grilled pork belly, soft boiled egg, scallion, seaweed, and pickled ginger.

Robata is a Japanese method of grilling, in which meats and vegetables are cooked at varying speeds over hot charcoal. Fresh and exotic flavors jump out from the first bite.[MB1] Crisp ginger and scallions provide a nice contrast to the fattiness of the pork belly. This dish was leaner and less greasy than some of the other ramen I sampled. Overall Hopstix was definitely one of my favorite places I explored.

Overall Score: 4/5

10 NEWS

News BRIEFS

What’s going on in the HIES Community CODING FOR ART MILLER REID, managing editor

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ondering about the bright art installation in the 700 hallway? Coding for Art, a new class at HIES this year, collaborated with artist Jordan Graves to design and program the sleek piece made of laser-cut plywood and acrylic and 4500 LED lights.

The class provides opportunities to explore art creation through coding and computer science. Each student in Coding for Art “adapt[ed] different codes to basically make it interactive and unique to each one of us [and] how we think people would like to

“The physical installation functions as a gallery, the subtle materials become part of the wall, providing a blank canvas that students can use to express themselves through computer code. Using mirrors and cameras, I wanted the work to reflect the Offering a distinctive experience, “you have student population. The LEDs can continually be computer science which is very left-brain heavy and reprogrammed, allowing the installation to grow and then art which is right-brain, and you just smush change with the community” said Graves. them together and it just seem[s] like a really unique combo; you don’t really see that in one class, Any students interested in coding, art, and anything such a diverse range of activities” said HIES senior in between should keep Coding for Art on their radar for next year.

Robby Sammataro. interact” said HIES sophomore Amanda Hausmann.

Accessible to almost every student, the class only requires enrollment in Algebra II or higher as a prerequisite.

2020 SCHEDULE CHANGES: EXPLAINED GRACE KELLY, feature writer

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n his first year at HIES, it became apparent to Upper School Principal Manning Weir that a schedule adjustment had to be made. “Over and over again, teachers were saying ‘we have got to change the schedule,’ because they want more time with you,” Weir said.

Due to a lack of class time, a schedule change was needed. “The CollegeBoard recommends that AP (Advanced Placement) Chemistry students are in class over 10,000 minutes. We counted how many minutes our AP Chemistry students are in class, and it’s less than 6,000,” said Weir. Although the recommended time is extreme, Weir said that he “would imagine there are few schools that actually get to ten-thousand minutes.” The new schedule is intended to help bridge the 4,000 minute gap.

After extensive research from administration and

faculty, HIES administration made the decision to run an eight-day trial schedule from February 11 to 21, because “we didn’t just want to commit to a schedule without seeing if ‘oh, this didn’t work at all,’” Weir said. Instead of four 70 minute classes per day with a 40 minute advisory time and a 50 minute lunch, students had five 55 minute classes per day with a 30 minute flex time, 35 minute lunch, and subsequently a 45 minute school-wide study hall.

The changes that students should anticipate for next year’s schedule are as follows: students will no longer have a study hall block and the rotation will be seven days instead of eight. At the end of the rotation, the schedule will feature two block days, Crimson and Gold, which are also intended for timeconsuming events. “The reason we’re not calling those days eight and nine is because sometimes we may actually stick them in different places based on

other things that are going on; for example, the day when Bishop Curry came,” said Weir. They will also be used for teachers who need more instructional time: “science teachers could do a lab, sometimes AP teachers could do test days.”

Another difference is the introduction of “Bear” days, where every class will meet once. Weir said these will be used “if it’s the last day before exams,” or “so that field trips aren’t quite as disruptive,” so the impact is felt on all classes. When reflecting on the reasons for the schedule change, Weir commented that “ultimately, we can harm students by not giving them enough instruction.”

NEWS 11

Sports BRIEFS

WINTER SPORTS RECAP

MICHAEL BENNETT, staff writer

WRESTLING

BASKETBALL

SWIM & DIVE

The wrestling team had a stellar season, with strong members in each weight class. At February’s state meet, freshman Jake Swink placed first, junior Michael Cox placed second, and freshman Art Martinez placed fourth in their respective weight classes. Swink became the first ever HIES freshman to claim an individual state title.

The girls’ basketball team has again maintained their legacy, claiming a region title, entering the playoffs with momentum. Some of their key contributors include junior Jada Farrell, sophomore Jillian Hollingshead, freshman Marya Hudgins, sophomore Rachel Suttle, and sophomore Cierra Foster. Led by sophomore Chance Moore, sophomore Garrison Powell, and freshman Devin Farrell, the boys’ basketball team made it to the sweet sixteen round of the state playoffs. Improved defense and teamwork made this season a triumph.

Wrapping up the 2018-2019 Swim and Dive season at the GHSA State Championships in February, the Aqua Bears had a successful showing. Diver Spencer Pearson, a sophomore, placed first in Class A through AAA at the meet. Members of the girls’ swim team competed as well, led by junior Abby Pilkenton and senior Olivia Martin, with defending champion Pilkenton taking gold in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events.

SPRING PREVIEW BASEBALL

GOLF

SOCCER

After a third straight final four appearance last year, the baseball team is looking to win appear in yet another playoff run. Standout players like senior Guillermo Granier, senior Harrison Padgett, and junior Caleb Ketchup hope to hang a banner in the Bears’ Den. Their approach this season is to spread the workload in their bullpen in order to make sure everyone is at full strength come the playoffs.

The golf team is as strong as ever, ready to repeat another state title behind the efforts of seniors Bailey Means, Owen Malcolm, and Jeff Klopfenstein, just to name a few of the golfers that make this roster shine. This team has only reloaded with talent since last season, marking themselves as the team to beat in Class A Private, one of the toughest divisions in the state.

The girls’ soccer team looks to go far this year with a high-octane offense powered by sophomores Caroline Belisle and Ann Riley Huber. They are still a dominating force and have only refocused their efforts. The boys’ soccer team is looking to do just as well as the girls’ this year, with senior Brandt Olson, junior Blake Dobbs, senior Liam Love, and senior goalie Will Schlatterer as key contributors.

The experience gained by the previously young team will be important if they want to flourish this season.

TENNIS

TRACK & FIELD

LACROSSE

Both tennis teams are set to succeed this season as they are loaded with plenty of experienced talent. On the boys’ side, senior Garrett Johns looks to excel another season, only having one loss. The doubles team of seniors Ryan Wood and Richard Johnston is also highly competitive, giving our boys a fair chance to go far this year. On the girls’ team, senior Morgan Jabaley and junior Dara Grocer are both important pieces on the singles side of the spectrum. The duo of sophomores Anna Dolive and Hayden Puett are strong competitors for doubles.

Our track and field athletes are ready to compete this season as they rally behind the efforts of the cross-country team, led by senior Jackie Addy who is in the hunt for a few more state titles, senior Bennett Baugas a thrower with a strong arm, and junior Jada Farrell who seeks to top her previous second place state performance last year.

The lacrosse teams are looking to perform well again this season, as they have been teetering the cusp of the playoffs for the last few years. The boys’ team is spearheaded by senior Ryan Blasberg, senior Graham Collins, senior Will Harrell, senior Will Ventulett, senior Will Schoen, and junior Hunter Hawk. Also in a position to do well, the girls’ lacrosse team is led by senior Brooke Lindner, junior Holland Mowry, senior Abigail Pagano, sophomore Annie Parker, and senior Kate Waters.

12 NEWS

partial shutdown How government employees survived the longest shutdown in American history

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or 16 years, Christine Vitel has worked diligently as a TSA agent at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Friday, December 21, 2018, was O’Hare’s busiest day of the year, with the projected highest number of passengers, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Like any other day, Vitel hoisted luggage onto the baggage carousel, put on a convincing smile for impolite flyers, and fielded questions from panicked travelers for the entirety of an eight-hour shift.

It was also the last day TSA workers would be paid.

At 11:59 PM, funding for about a quarter of all government programs was exhausted, and a partial government shutdown began. Nine government departments, including the Departments of Agriculture, Justice, Transportation, Treasury, and Housing, were affected.

About 800,000 federal employees of those branches who were not considered essential could not be paid. Some of them had to cope with the unfairness of working without a paycheck, and all had to tighten their belts and dig into their savings to pay their bills without their biweekly income.

All TSA agents are considered excepted employees. Because their positions involve the safety of human life and the protection of property, they continued to report to work, even though they could not be paid. Vitel worked in baggage throughout the duration of the shutdown, but a month without a paycheck severely wounded her and her co-workers’ morale.

“We’re on our own separate little island. We’re hurting,” Vitel said. “We have to work, we have to pay our bills.”

Before the shutdown’s temporary end on January 25, federal employees missed

two paychecks. Though they are guaranteed back pay, many workers strained to make ends meet in their day-to-day activities. The average TSA worker earns $40 thousand per year, and many of these employees had minimal savings to offset their lack of income.

“Our agency is the lowest paid agency in the federal government,” Vitel said.

To put food on the table, Vitel relied on the support of her family, friends, and local food bank.

“My dad sent me a couple hundred dollars,” Vitel said. ”But it’s not paying my rent or my electricity or my car payments… [My son] helped me pay the little bills that accumulated, like my cell phone bill.”

Nearly four out of five US workers live paycheck to paycheck, and Vitel is no exception. More than a month without a paycheck put significant stress on her budget, and the delay in receiving her pay has not made matters better.

“Without that paycheck for one week, I’m in the negative,” Vitel said. “I haven’t received it yet, so I guess you can say I’m so in the negative.”

Vitel is a proud owner of her mobile home. Prior to the shutdown, she was never late paying the rent for her lot. Now, she risks losing her house because she has been set back in paying her bills.

“I worked hard to get what I have. I’m so happy to have [a house] to call my own,” Vitel said. “If I don’t pay [the lot rent], I’m going to get evicted, and then they’re going to try and steal my home.”

Though she did not receive a paycheck, Vitel did her job as normally as possible during the shutdown. She noted frustration in her coworkers, but Vitel stated

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Total Turmoil

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MADDIE POCH, feature writer

that most employees continued to report to work.

“We all did go to work,” Vitel said. “The only way we didn’t go to work is if we really couldn’t make it.”

Furloughed For Now Daniel Cline, an employee of the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, also did not see a paycheck for the entirety of the shutdown’s 35-day duration. Because his position is considered non-excepted, Cline was not permitted to work, unlike Vitel. Cline is responsible for administering federal domestic nutrition assistance, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

Prior to working for the USDA, Cline volunteered in the Peace Corps teaching English in Ukraine until he was evacuated with the invasion of Crimea in 2014.

When he returned to the United States, Cline knew only that he wanted to work for the federal government. Though he originally thought his career would involve more foreign policy, he finds his position within the USDA immensely satisfying, and he feels his work benefits many Americans. Despite this, Cline’s job was not considered as essential as Vitel’s.

“It doesn’t feel good for someone to tell you that your job isn’t essential when you feel like what you’re doing is very important,” Cline said. “I find [my job] fascinating, and I learn a lot from my job. I feel like I’m able to contribute to the country in some meaningful ways.”

Nonetheless, Cline tried to maintain a sense of normalcy throughout the duration of the shutdown. As a new homeowner, he had to be creative in order to pay his mortgage.

“In the immediate term, I basically cut my spending dramatically,” Cline said. “As it dragged on, that’s when I applied to drive for Lyft because I was getting worried about this month’s mortgage payment and where that was going to come from.”

replacement for Research While Cline attempted to maintain his routine without work in Alexandria, Virginia, Margaret Knuth tried to focus on her job––in sub-zero temperatures. As Operations Manager of the US Antarctic Program, Knuth manages the day-today operations of three research stations in Antarctica for periods of six to eight weeks. Knuth had to work in Antarctica without receiving a paycheck.

“You don’t think it’s a big deal because you didn’t think you could have a shutdown that would last that long,” Knuth said.

Knuth had to face the possibility of remaining in Antarctica past her two-month period until the shutdown’s end. In past shutdowns, replacements were not permitted to take the place of a manager stationed in Antarctica. About 10 days into the shutdown, Knuth learned of the government’s plan to make an exception to bring her back home.

“This year, because I’d already been there for almost two months, they allowed me to have a replacement. The National Science Foundation said, ‘OK, we can turn another person on and make them excepted, and then they can come to Antarctica, and when they get there, you can go home,’” Knuth said.

Though promised a substitute allowing her to return home, Knuth’s responsibilities in Antarctica were made more difficult. Knuth relies on coworkers in the U.S. for advice in their areas of expertise, and she typically contacts them via telephone.

Many of these workers were furloughed, so Knuth could not ask them questions.

14 NEWS

Faces Shutdown of the

Christine Vitel Transportation Security Officer, O’Hare International Airport Age: 49 Current Residence: Chicago, Illinois Employment Status: Excepted

“When they can’t be at work, you can’t pick up the phone and call them and say, ‘Hey, what about this thing?’” Knuth said. “You have to make all the decisions on your own, and that is the most stressful part.”

In Search of Other Careers This shutdown is the third in two years, and some government employees worry about the reliability of their jobs. Many of Vitel’s co-workers decided to pursue other careers because of the misfortune this shutdown has caused, as well as the possibility of more shutdowns in the future.

“We’ve lost some really good officers due to this,” Vitel said.

Although Vitel acknowledges that there are other organizations that would compensate her more as an employee of 16 years, she plans on continuing to work for TSA. She has worked there since she was 32 years old, and she cannot imagine seeking employment elsewhere.

“Where can I go to get a job making that pay and being able to survive?” Vitel asked.

Cline has also noted that his coworkers have a similar interest in seeking out other job opportunities, but he feels called to continue to help people through his role at the USDA. His belief in the good he can bring about through his job outweighs his fear of his job’s security.

daniel Cline Program Analyst, US Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service

“I’m not going to walk away from working for the federal government because of this,” Cline said. “I think it’s unfortunate that some people feel that way, but I understand it.”

Age: 32 Current Residence: Alexandria, Virginia Employment Status: Non-excepted

Cline’s work entails many long-term projects and contracts, and he has meticulously planned timelines to map out the completion of each stage until the year 2022. For every week the government was shut down, Cline estimates that each of his projects was set back at least a month.

Margaret Knuth Operations Manager, US Antarctic Program Age: 38 Current Residence: Alexandria, Virginia Employment Status: Excepted

To Pay or not to Pay? employees worked normally during the Exempt Exempt shutdown, and they continued to receive their paychecks. The President, presidential appointees, and members of Congress were exempt from the furlough. employees were not paid during Excepted Excepted the shutdown, but they were required to come to work because their jobs are considered essential. Their work involves the safety of human life and the protection of property. employees were Non-Excepted Non-excepted put on unpaid furlough during the shutdown, and they were not permitted to do any kind of work until its end.

“There is a mountain of work to dig up from under,” Cline said.

D.C. Devastated Trevon Stull saw how the government shutdown created financial stress for his clients. During the shutdown, he worked for Transportation Federal Credit Union. Their membership, the Department of Transportation, was affected by the lapse in government funding. As a member service representative, Stull was responsible for approving and denying auto and car loans for his clients, and he developed personal relationships with many of them.

“Members were just kind of freaking out,” Stull said of the panic his clients experienced. “A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck, so they’re wondering how they’re going to pay their rent, how they’re going to pay their phone bill, how they’re going to pay their credit cards, their auto loans, everything.”

Stull also saw dramatic shifts in the ways his clients approached their savings. “[One member] never touches her savings, and any time she comes in it’s always a deposit into the savings, always, always, always,” Stull said. “She came in [during the shutdown], and she had to get a cashier’s check out of her savings account to pay her rent.”

Another furloughed client found herself in the hospital, and she came into the credit union seeking assistance in paying for her medical bills.

NEWS 15

“We’re on our own separate little island.

We’re hurting.” christine vitel

“We had to sit down in an office because she was very... weak from what she was having to go through,” Stull said. “It was just very emotional with her because it showed me that this shutdown really was affecting people, and not just like ‘I can’t pay my rent, I can’t pay my phone bill,’ kind of way. It was affecting them and their health.”

The Federal Transportation Credit Union offered special furlough loans with low interest rates for federal employees who were not receiving their paychecks, and this helped workers in the short-term. Outside of the financial support these employees received from banks and credit unions, entire communities came together to help government workers during their time of need.

tourists, they’re just kind of throwing their stuff around, and nobody’s around to pick it up.”

Looking Forward The shutdown’s end on January 25, 2019 was only temporary. President Donald Trump avoided another shutdown on Friday, February 15 by signing the 2019 spending bill to fund the federal government through September 30, 2019. On average, government workers are guaranteed a 1.9 percent pay increase from the bill, effectively ending the pay freeze for two million federal workers.

“If you were affected by the government furlough, it was different with every place,” Stull said. “You show your government I.D. in some places and you get 50 percent off of your meal. Some places have free meals on certain days.”

Though government employees undoubtedly will benefit from their raises in the 2019 fiscal year, Vitel seeks further improvements for TSA workers. Vitel is a legislative political coordinator of TSA’s union, and she attended the 2019 Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. from February 10 to February 13.

Cline recalls the thankfulness of grantees and employees from other companies he interacted with when he returned from the shutdown.

“We booked tons of appointments with congressmen in our state and other states,” Vitel said.

“I think that the shutdown had the ironic effect of making a lot of Americans appreciate what the federal government does because you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” Cline said. “A lot of what the bureaucrats do is invisible... you can go about your day and not think about things like ‘Is this meat in supermarket safe to eat?’ Or ‘Is this water in my town safe to drink?’ and just live your life.”

Through these meetings, Vitel, along with her coworkers, hoped to secure more rights for TSA workers.

When Cline returned to work, he saw that his building’s cleaning crew was also affected by the shutdown. Federal contractors, like the cleaners of Cline’s building, were furloughed without back pay.

“I have reached out to some colleagues, and we’re looking to do a fundraising drive or something of that nature to try to give something to the cleaning crew that operate in our building,” Cline said.

The D.C. area was affected visibly by the shutdown. The Metro, D.C.’s transit service, was devoid of its usual hustle and bustle while it accumulated filth.

“It wasn’t just dead, but it was dirty,” Stull said. “The people that are visiting, the

“[We] presented them with information about why we deserve Title 5,” Vitel said.

“With the shutdown, they could see that TSA was the first line of defense.”

Giving TSA workers Title 5 rights would allow them to have full collective bargaining rights and grant them fair pay through the General Schedule (GS) pay system. Most federal employees are already under the GS pay scale, and TSA workers would receive more opportunities for raises under this system.

Compared to her experiences attending previous legislative conferences, Vitel noted that TSA workers received more attention in the 2019 convention because of the recent shutdown. Since 2007, she has been pushing for TSA workers to have Title 5 rights, and she is optimistic that congressmen are now aware of the workers’ struggles and will enact change soon.

“I think they see how important we really are,” Vitel said. “People are dedicated, and it’s about dedication.”

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RISE FALL JAYLEE DAVIS, managing editor

T

he storybook tale goes as follows: a young college student creates a company that comes to rock the foundation of our social climate, reaching new heights of intimacy and knowledge about you — what you like, what you hate, where you go, what you listen to, who your friends are, who your friends’ friends are, creating a social empire based on

THE RISE “When I started Facebook from my dorm room in 2004, the idea that my roommates and I talked about all the time was a world that was more open.”

This is the story of Facebook.

With two billion users worldwide, Facebook and its sister-sites, Instagram and WhatsApp, embody a digital catalogue of who we are, who and what we are talking about and the direction of our digital culture. These applications are included within every sector of our lives — work, play, study, even sleep — to what we feel is to our benefit and free of cost.

The common saying within the tech community is, “If it’s free, then you are the product,” but recently, it seems as if Facebook has taken your vulnerability to a new height.

Facebook’s negligence has sparked backlash from citizens and the US government alike. Between accusations that Russian trolls manipulated Facebook accounts to influence 2016 election voters and other security breaches, Facebook has found itself in political crosshairs.

It was wedged between national and international affairs — by being a weapon of mass disinformation, influencing the majority opinion. This influence, and Facebook’s lack of attention to the issue has not gone unnoticed.

But what is the story of Facebook? And how has it, from its humble beginnings, amassed so much control over the public to sway elections and other critical decisions about the future of our country? How much do you know about the company that knows so much about you?

Founded in his dorm room with aims to connect people on Harvard University’s campus, The Facebook, as it was called in 2004, was psychology major Mark Zuckerberg’s project. This project soon spread to other campuses: Yale, Stanford, and Columbia. Zuckerberg then brought in several of his classmates, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes, to co-found the now largest social networking site in existence. These seminal figures, whose names now are unrecognizable to the average Facebook user, eventually helped to mold the company into the tech monolith it is today.

Since its idealistic start, Facebook has encountered several bumps in the road. Divya Narenda and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, founders of another student connection site, ConnectU, were among its first setbacks. In a suit filed in 2004, the ConnectU trio accused

Zuckerberg of stealing their ideas in order to found Facebook, but eventually found no grounds on which to sue. Saverin, an early Facebook co-founder, sued Facebook, claiming Zuckerberg used his money for personal means. Facebook sued back, but both parties eventually settled. Internal drama has transformed into external outcry as the site has evolved and grown at meteoric proportions.

All concern stems from one major issue: privacy.

MOVE FAST, BREAK THINGS “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”

The first sign of trouble on the privacy front reared its head in 2006, only two years after the company started. The cause of controversy was something that is familiar to the modern Facebook user, but in 2006, inspired protest: the News Feed. Student groups, who had been crowned the title of “Generation Facebook” rallied against the new then, now almost ubiquitous feature, using Facebook.

Tracy Samantha Schmidt for TIME reported, “By its nature, News Feed is intrusive, and that’s what upsets students. It’s one thing to casually check out a friend’s updated profile between classes.

It’s another to be unwillingly inundated with each friend’s latest Facebook antics.” Several college newspapers also picked up the story this morning. Headlines include “Facebook is watching you,” “Furious with Facebook” and “Facebook fumbles with changes.”

Zuckerberg replied with a “Calm Down. Breathe. We Hear You” post on the official Facebook blog, yet never took action. The Facebook News Feed continues to be one of the defining characteristics of the media site along with the added option to hide posts from the Feed.

This first stutter amongst the Facebook population was nothing compared to the next major public fail in Facebook’s downward spiral mishaps of privacy and trust.

Beacon, Facebook’s advertising mechanism installed in 2007, used data from participating external websites to target ads to users in their feeds. Users were even more incensed, which caused a more prompt reaction from Facebook who made the service optional and forcing the company to dish out 9.5 million dollars in response to a class action lawsuit. The fierceness of consumer backlash jumpstarted Facebook’s campaign to protect user privacy. The 9.5 million settlement went toward building a foundation to secure privacy for Facebook users.

Barry Schnitt, a representative for Facebook at the time, said in response to the settlement, “We look forward to the creation of the foundation and its work to educate Internet users on how best to

control their privacy; engage in safe social networking practices; and, generally, enjoy themselves more online by having knowledge that gives them a greater sense of control.”

Yet the same problem recurred, under the guise of third-party apps. In 2011, Facebook was challenged by the Federal Trade Commission on the grounds that the company mislead users into believing their data and information was private, while exploiting their information to undisclosed and unknown parties of Facebookunrelated companies.

“The social networking service Facebook has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public,” the release read, along with accusing Facebook of allowing content to be accessed from deactivated accounts and disavowing the U.S.EU Safe Harbor Framework which allows smooth data transfer between the US and the European Union.

To compensate for this mistake, Facebook was charged to undergo privacy audits for the following 20 years.

Despite this outside intervention by a government organization, Facebook has still struggled with meeting their goal of connection, revenue and user privacy; their missteps include a June 2016 glitch which made private accounts publicly viewable and the condoning of an ethically-questionable 2014 experiment which manipulated content of users News Feeds in order to influence their emotional states.

In January 2012, the content of 689,003 users was altered to display more positive or more negative messaging. The experiment found that positive messages affected the moods of users positively as shown by their status updates. Similarly negative messaging had an adverse affect on users’ moods.

Although all Facebook users agree to experiments like this before they create an account, explicit consent was not granted before the survey was conducted causing internet outrage.

“I wonder if Facebook KILLED anyone with their emotion manipulation stunt. At their scale and with depressed people out there, it’s possible,” Lauren Weinstein, a privacy advocate, tweeted.

Facebook responded to this with increasing demand for privacy with multiplying promises to protect it. As far as progress goes, and according to users, and the government, these promises were left unfulfilled.

THE FALL “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. And it was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

The turbulence of Facebook’s infancy has transcended into its adolescence. In early 2018, Facebook was hammered by Belgian courts for tracking the actions of its citizens through cookies and pixels third party sites. The courts claimed that not only did Facebook collect data from Facebook users without consent, but also citizens unrelated with the site. Charging Facebook to cease data collection from its citizens and to delete formerly collected data, Belgium threatened to fine Facebook 250,000 euros a day, up to 100 million euros.

Facebook repeated its same pledge, and promised to protect user rights to privacy.

“We’ll comply with this new law, just as we’ve complied with existing data protection law in Europe,” said Richard Allan, the company’s Vice President of Public Policy for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In reaction, European Union then passed a data protection law requiring tech companies to safeguard the data of residents, including names, photos, email addresses, IP addresses, and other sensitive information.

Yet the issue persisted. In fact, only months later, Facebook encountered criticism from not Europe, but at Facebook’s origin in the United States.

In March of 2018, a security breach of a higher caliber than before was reported. It had been confirmed that Facebook was working in alliance with Cambridge Analytica, a Republican-backed voterprofiling company, shelling out the data of 50 million users in the form of a “personality quiz.”

According to the New York Times exclusive investigation, the type of data collected by the company included details on users’ identities, friend networks and “likes” in order to target them with political ads. Around only 270,000 users, say the NYT were informed that their data was being collected. They were told it was for academic purposes.

This data manipulation sparked the Federal Trade Commission investigation, which eventually was picked up by the Senate Intelligence Committee at the demand of both Republican and Democrat senators, and ended in Zuckerberg apologizing in front of the congressional body. Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, came out recently exposing that lie, admitting that the data used charted the direction of the Trump campaign.

Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica, came out recently exposing that lie, admitting that the data used charted the direction of the Trump campaign.

whether these measures taken by any tech company will make any substantive change in the damage that has wreaked on our personal privacy and the greater socialsphere.

This data manipulation sparked the Federal Trade Commission investigation, which eventually was picked up by the Senate Intelligence Committee at the demand of both Republican and Democratic senators, and ended in Zuckerberg apologizing in front of the congressional body.

Roger McNamee, an early investor in the company and the recent author of “Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe,” wrote in a Op-Ed for TIME, “Facebook has leveraged our trust of family and friends to build one of the most valuable businesses in the world, but in the process, it has been careless with user data and aggravated the flaws in our democracy while leaving citizens ever less capable of thinking for themselves, knowing whom to trust or acting in their own interest.”

For the investigation, two companies were commissioned to glean data from the big three tech companies, Facebook, Google, and Twitter to determine not only if they distributed user data without consent, but also whether Russian influence on these platforms interfered with the 2016 election.

It was revealed that a Russian disinformation group, Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA), used Facebook to polarize the American voter base, disseminating and circulating news from the extremes of the political spectrum, starting in 2014. The agency paid for posts on Facebook and Instagram, targeted heavily towards minorities — African Americans, LGBT+ and youth, MexicanAmericans and Muslim Americans.

“This newly released data demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions,” said Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, Republican from North Carolina.

The final conclusion of the hearing and investigation is this: Facebook’s irresponsibility with the third party-programs that comprise its adspace has misinformed the American public, mistreated the data of American citizens, and slanted an election in one candidate’s favor through foreign-orchestrated news wars.

And all Facebook had to say for itself was sorry.

“CONNECTED” “Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission - to make the world more open and connected.”

Facebook has been objectively slow and reluctant to address matters of privacy, experts, however, had long sensed trouble on the horizon.

Zuckerberg has apologized repeatedly for his “big mistake.”

“We’re now conducting a full investigation into every single app that had a – access to a large amount of information, before we locked down platform to prevent developers from accessing this information around 2014... Going forward, we’re going to take a more proactive position on this and do much more regular stock checks on apps, as well as increasing the amount of audits we do,” Zuckerberg told the committee.

Yet it is uncertain, as Facebook stock, steadily plunging since the scandal, who is willing to forgive. More importantly, it is unclear

“In a certain sense, it’s not surprising that a technology as pervasive and disruptive as social media would have unintended negative consequences along with the intended positive ones,” said Jay Bolter, professor of New Media at Georgia Tech.

Bolter specializes in the evolution of technology and media, specifically how technology has come to influence human life and behavior. Social media, beginning with the proliferation with the World Wide Web and web browsers in the 90’s started with “a great deal of optimism about what the world wide web itself could do, in terms of our social, cultural, and political life,” according to Bolter.

“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. And it was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

- Mark Zuckerberg, Senate Hearing on Data Privacy and Protection April 10, 2018

The glass ceiling that limited the distribution of thoughts and ideas had been breached. In comparison to old media‚ books, radio, television — the availability and speed of information had increased its range.

“In particular there was a notion that this was a great source of democracy, democratization. Because if you think about media in the past, printed book or television … They were in the hands of a relatively few people who had the power to determine information that was sent out to millions of readers or viewers. Anybody can create their own website, and publish their own ideas and make them available to, potentially millions of users…”

If the internet breached the glass ceiling, then social media demolished it. Although, “making a website isn’t rocket science,” said Bolter, it requires “more skill, more effort and time than most people were willing to devote.” With social media, however, all that the skill, effort and time that is required is that needed to create and account and hit post.

The dreams of democratization proposed by the first generation of internet technology, was then fulfilled by what Bolter calls the second decade, the 2000s. The limited amount of expertise of the new generation in the form of Myspace and other proto-social media types is what truly democratized internet media.

“Here it was, it seems to be truer that individuals had the ability to distribute their ideas, and images, and thoughts more easily. This was really participatory user-contributed content,” said Bolter.

But disruptive technology is bound to have unintended negative consequences, “It didn’t turn out to be what we all — what many people hoped,” Bolter said, as ironically, the same dream of democratization of media still touted by Facebook and other media companies has hindered democracy, demonstrated by the revelations of the investigation.

As technologies like Facebook and Google infiltrate our personal lives, the unprecedented problems are piling up and there is solution in sight. It is unclear whether our social climate can ever be rectified.

“The challenge that this new wave of media poses to our political culture is so great, that I am not sure that we are in a position yet to assess it. I think it might turn out to be a real watershed in our political life and our social life so that the world afterwards won’t be working on the same principles that we were before,” said Bolter.

WHAT’S NEXT? “Facebook is in a very different place than Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and Microsoft. We are trying to build a community.”

With all of its repeated offenses and responding negligence, Facebook has broken the public trust. To make reparations for its mistakes, Facebook claims to have changed its policy and become more transparent. Yet again, more trouble for Facebook seems to be brewing.

Recently, the UK seems to have come to a similar reckoning with the power of Facebook, after the conclusion of an 18-month investigation revealing how far Facebook-fueled misinformation has spread. The Federal Trade Commission has also exposed the vulnerability of Facebook Groups, a function on the site where small internet communities form around shared interests, to what is calls “life-threatening privacy violations.”

Additionally, tests by the Wall Street Journal have revealed that sensitive health data from popular iPhone and Android apps, such as Instant Heart Rate: HR Monitor by Azumi and The Flo Period and Ovulation Tracker, is shared with Facebook almost instantly regardless of whether the user has a Facebook account or not.

Will these scandals continue coming? What will it take for Facebook to make up for its actions? If a single social media company can alter the course of a United States election, what other harm can it wage on society?

Is this simply the price we pay for a more connected world?

WHEN WILL E N O U G H E N O U G H ?:

THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARJORY S SHOOTING, THE AFTERMATH, AND WHAT HAS HAP

L H BE :

Making America Safe Again

Y STONEMAN DOUGLAS APPENED SINCE...

ISABELLE SKID, staff writer

6:30 a.m., Wednesday, February 14, 2018.

Your dreadful alarm just went off and suddenly you remember it’s Valentine’s Day, a day filled with love and dedicated to the people whom you care about most.

You reluctantly get out of bed, brush your teeth, get dressed, and then get ready for school. As you are about to leave your house to walk towards the bus stop, you hug your parents goodbye, telling them how much you love them. You hear them say, “I love you too, kiddo.”

On your way to school, you think about the excitement today brings, as Valentine’s Day puts everyone in an uplifting mood. Once you arrive, you quickly walk to your geometry class because you are running slightly late and want to make sure you get a seat by your best friend.

Seeing your friend, you slide into your desk across from each other to catch up on each other’s lives. You are smiling; everyone around you is happy. Today is going to be a good day.

As the day progresses, you go through your normal schedule, however there happens to be a fire drill in the morning that takes some time out of your AP World History class... no big deal, as it is not anything too out of the ordinary.

Once you’ve finally made it to the last class of the day, your favorite class, English, in the 1200 Building, known to all as the Freshman Building, you hear the fire alarm go off again. You’re confused. There was a fire drill earlier this morning.

The alarm happened to have gone off while you are in the middle of taking a quiz, so you and your surrounding classmates continue to take the vocabulary quiz as if nothing had happened, thinking nothing of the drill.

2:12 p.m. The next sound changes your life forever.

24 FEATURES

That sound does not come from firecrackers, which was your original thought, as you had assumed it was some sort of Valentine’s Day prank.

The sound was a gunshot.

rushed out of the school into your mom’s arms.

You watch your terror-filled classmates’ faces as they are instructed to leave the campus towards safety. You see the police and SWAT team walking in with massive machine guns.

You hear kids screaming. Another gunshot goes off, with more to follow.

Your heart drops immediately, and you freeze in your seat out of pure panic.

You, along with all of the other students in your class, rush into the back corner of the room, just like you have done before during lockdown drills.

It’s silent. The only sound you hear is the heavy thumps of your heart.

Scrambling to text while still huddled under your teacher’s desk, you manage to send a sentence to your parents. Mom… Dad, I just wanted to let you know that I love you beyond what words can describe. You put your phone down and wait.

Two minutes later. A gunshot. Even louder this time.

You see the glass window on your classroom door burst into pieces. You shake.

You feel the hot tears rain down your face as you hear your friends scream in terror. You hold your best friend’s hand.

Next thing you know, another shot.

But this time, it takes a life. The life of your best friend. The person you knew better than anybody else in the school.

The one you wanted to go through the rest of high school with always by your side, the one that made you smile like nobody else. They lay there, and you sit in shock.

You cannot believe that you are living in your worst nightmare. Is this some sort of dream? Is this a false reality?

As 17 other innocent angels with whom you grew up with are killed, you are

All you hear are screams in your head. You remember that you’ll never see your best friend again. You’ll never get to catch up on all the latest gossip with them, watch your favorite movies together, or even say a single word to them again. You experienced an event that everyone told you would most likely never happen.

The saddest part of this story is that on Valentine’s Day in 2018, this was someone’s reality.

NIKOLAS CRUZ: THE GUNMAN Just months after his 18th birthday, the author of Valentine’s Day’s suffering in Parkland, Florida, went to a gun store. He was too young to buy a handgun; under federal law he would have to wait until he was 21. But at 18, he was just the right age to buy a rifle. He selected a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle, which he used to carry out the deadliest high school shooting in United States history, surpassing the infamous massacre at Columbine High School.

That “he” is Nikolas Cruz. The teenager who carried out the February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Upon arriving to the Florida high school that Wednesday afternoon, Nikolas Cruz lured hundreds of students out of their classrooms by setting off the fire alarm, in hopes to open fire with his AR-15 assault rifle.

In six minutes and 20 seconds, he took 17 lives and injured another 17.

Prior to the shooting, the Broward County sheriff’s office received a number of warnings in 2016 and 2017 about Cruz’s threats to carry out a school shooting.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) learned that a YouTube user with the

FEATURES 25

username “nikolas cruz” posted a message in September 2017 about wanting to become a school shooter, but the agency could not identify the user. In January 2018, someone contacted the FBI tip line with a direct link to Cruz, as he had made a death threat, but the complaint was not forwarded to the local FBI office, making a follow up investigation impossible.

Cruz had behavioral issues starting in middle school, but a Washington Post writer said he was “entrenched in the process for getting students help rather than referring them to law enforcement,” and he was transferred between schools six times in three years to deal with these problems.

In 2014, he was transferred to a school for children with emotional and learning disabilities. There were reports that he made threats against other students.

He returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School two years later, only to be expelled from the school in 2017 for disciplinary reasons. An email from the school administration had circulated among teachers, warning that he had made threats against other students. This led the school to ban him from wearing a backpack on campus.

Psychiatrists recommended an involuntary admission of Cruz to a residential treatment facility starting in 2013. The Florida Department of Children and Families investigated him in September 2016 for Snapchat posts in which he cut both his arms and said he planned to buy a gun. Upon hearing this, a school resource officer suggested to have him undergo an involuntary psychiatric examination under the provisions of the Baker Act. Two guidance counselors agreed, but a mental institution did not.

State investigators reported he had depression, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In their assessment, they concluded he “was at low risk of harming himself or others”. He had previously received mental health treatment, but had not received treatment in the year leading up to the shooting.

A former classmate said Cruz had anger management issues and often joked about guns and gun violence, which included threats of opening fire in establishments. The brother of a 2016 graduate described him as “super stressed out all the time and talked about guns a lot and tried to hide his face.” A student who was enrolled at the school at the time of the shooting said, “I think

everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him.”

A classmate who was assigned to work with him in sophomore year said, “He told me how he got kicked out of two private schools. He was held back twice. He had aspirations to join the military. He enjoyed hunting.” A student’s mother said that he also bragged about killing animals. A neighbor said his mother would call the police over to the house to try to talk some sense into him.

Items recovered by police at Cruz’s home included gun magazines with swastikas carved in them. One student reported that Cruz had drawn a swastika and racist slurs on his backpack. CNN reported that he was in a private Instagram group chat where he expressed racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, and xenophobic views. He said he wanted to kill gay people and Mexicans, and talked about keeping black people in chains. He said he hated black people “simply because they were black,” and Jewish people because he believed “they wanted to destroy the world.” He also referred to white women who engaged in interracial relationships as traitors.

After the shooting, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office was nationally criticized for its response, with much of the criticism being directed at Sheriff Scott Israel for not addressing loopholes that allowed Cruz to purchase a firearm despite his lengthy record of threatening behavior. Israel’s deputies that stayed outside of the school and did not attempt to confront Cruz while the shooting occurred were also met with criticism.

Even though Cruz passed a background check in February 2017 upon his purchase of the AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle from a Coral Springs gun store, at the time of the shooting, just one year later, he was clearly in a different mental state than at the time of the purchase.

AFTERMATH AT MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS On Sunday, February 27, just thirteen days after the shooting, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School returned to school for a welcoming and comforting reunion. “It was almost as if the faculty and school administration

26 FEATURES wanted us to regain a sense of our community, [and] why we are #MSDStrong,” recalled Jason Halpern, a current sophomore at the school. “The orientation was heartbreaking, yet also bonding for us [in some ways], as the last time we were on campus was on [the day of the shooting].”

Standing alongside their peers from across the country, Parkland students criticized journalists for mobilizing to cover mass shootings while devoting relatively little attention to gun violence that exposes children in some city neighborhoods to danger every day.

The following day, exactly two weeks after the shooting, Stoneman Douglas reopened to students, albeit with a heavy police presence to ensure absolute safety. The high school principal, Ty Thompson, emphasized that the first week back would be focused on healing, with classes ending at 11:40 am through March 2. He tweeted, “... Remember our focus is on emotional readiness and comfort not curriculum: so there is no need for backpacks. Come ready to start the healing process and #RECLAIMTHENEST.”

The students’ frustration led to the founding of Never Again MSD, an organization formed by survivors and students of the shooting to demand legislative action on gun violence.

“Our first two days back, we were not allowed to bring any sort of bags, only our phones. Then, on the third day, we were allowed to bring our backpacks, yet the administration then changed the rules by handing out clear backpacks to all of the students, which we continued to use for a couple of weeks” said Halpern, who even mentioned that he personalized his clear bag with Supreme stickers.

During those first few weeks and the rest of the school year, the students and teachers at MSD focused on finding comfort in the return to an environment that many of them feared, rather than being extremely academically driven. The school slowly eased academics back into each classroom.

STUDENT ACTION: MARCH FOR OUR LIVES Following the shooting at MSD, student survivors emerged with a blunt message for the adults of America: “You are failing us”.

Their frustration was initially and primarily directed at elected officials in Washington D.C. and state capitals around the country with their anger stemming from perceived inaction of the Republican-dominated legislature on the issue of mass shootings.

Never Again MSD is an American student-led political action committee for gun control that advocates for tighter regulations to prevent gun violence. The organization, known by the Twitter hashtags #NeverAgain, and #EnoughIsEnough, was formed by a group of twenty students who seeked action. The organization started on social media as a movement “for survivors of the Stoneman Douglas Shooting, by survivors of the Stoneman Douglas Shooting” using the hashtag #NeverAgain.

A main goal of the group was to influence the 2018 US elections, and they embarked on a multi-city bus tour in June 2018 to encourage young people to register to vote.

The organization staged protests demanding legislative action to be taken to prevent shootings in the future and has condemned U.S. lawmakers who have received political contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA). It was credited in the Washington Post as winning a “stunning victory” against the NRA in the Florida legislature in March 2018 when both houses voted for various gun control measures. The law increased funding for school security and raised the required age to buy a gun from 18 to 21.

Among the organization’s most prominent members are Alfonso Calderon, Sarah Chadwick, Jaclyn Corin, Ryan Deitsch, Emma González, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, and Alex Wind. Corin, González, Hogg, Kasky, and Wind were featured on a cover of Time in March 2018. Then, in December 2018, it was announced that the March for Our Lives activists made the shortlist for Time’s Person of the Year at number four.

ARTIST STATEMENT FROM TARA VARZI, contributing photographer Life vs Death, not Left vs Right.

A few weeks ago, I was on a 12-hour bus ride to Washington, DC to attend the March for Our Lives rally along with some of my classmates and teachers to fight for stricter gun control.

I have never been a political person, but this was more than just a fight between Democrats and Republicans, –– this was history in the making.

sure does not prevent me from standing up for what I believe in.

On March 24th, the people from my generation came together to try to end the injustice of gun violence. I stood with the kids from Parkland, as well as the people who deal with gun violence on an everyday basis.

I went into the march with just myself, my camera, and the intent of capturing a moment of pure, genuine passion and emotion.

I was most excited to unite with people of all ages from all over the country, to bring about a change that I was most passionate about as well as getting the opportunity to have my voice heard.

My photos demonstrate how spreading love and peace will always win over hate.

Being only 16 years old may not allow me to vote just yet, but it

How many more deaths caused by gun violence does our country need to have before enough is enough?

FEATURES 27 The group held their first rally on February 17 in Fort Lauderdale, and since then, several more rallies have been planned to take place with the focus on legislative action. The Women’s March Network organized a 17-minute school walkout that took place on March 14. A series of demonstrations called “March for Our Lives” on March 24 included a march in Washington, D.C. On April 20, the anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, all-day walkouts were planned for teacher groups by educators Diane Ravitch and David Berliner, as well as student groups.

Clearly, the leading March for Our Lives activists have a mission to accomplish, for the United States to no longer be failing us and for no student to feel in danger of their very own life.

THE VICTIMS February 14th, 2018 was many things. It was not the day students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School thought would be their last. The day many from the school had to witness their own friends encounter death. The day their whole community’s lives will be forever altered by. While tragic pain and sorrow was endured, the entire Parkland community came out stronger than ever, as they are committed to making sure this will never happen again because #EnoughisEnough .

“Never forget about the unimaginable tragedy that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School went through on February 14th. Please never stop fighting for a change. Please never stop standing with the Parkland community and thank you to so many of you for standing with them today. It is your support that gives them so much needed strength. We will soar again. We are #MSDStrong.”

-- Current sophomore at MSD, Jason Halpern When the unimaginable happens, it oftentimes brings about an imperative need to explain the reasoning behind something that has no answer. In this case for the students and faculty of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, they took charge through means of speaking up and stating their voice.

To put it simply, the people of my generation will be the change in our future, and WE will continue to put in the work to fight for stricter gun regulations in order to save the lives of innocent people.

Never in my life have I felt so much empowerment and energy in one place before.

As life changing as this experience was for me, I hope that day truly marked the beginning of change in our nation thanks to my generation.

Hate cannot drive out hate, only love and peace can.

THE BELOVED 17 ALYSSA ALHADEFF, 14 SCOTT BEIGEL, 35 MARTIN DUQUE, 14 NICOLAS DWORET, 17 AARON FEIS, 37 JAIME GUTTENBERG, 14 CHRIS HIXON, 49 LUKE HOYER, 15 CARA LOUGHRAN, 14 JOAQUIN OLIVER, 17 ALANIA PETTY, 14 MEADOW POLLACK, 18 HELENA RAMSAY, 17 ALEX SCHACHTER, 14 CARMEN SCHENTRUP, 16 PETER WANG, 15

*Photo from WSB TV

DETRIMENTALLY

PROGRESSIVE

Is the new growth of Atlanta and the influence of gentrification improving the Westside, or harming the residents in the long run?

TIANA MOMON, associate editor

A

A once downtrodden concrete jungle is transformed into a haven for young adults and hipsters. Walls laced with graffiti now make edgy backgrounds for photoshoots. Starbucks and Arden Gardens strategically placed around the city blocks accent the shifts that have occurred throughout the area. This area has been gentrified, much like many other cities throughout Atlanta and Metro-Atlanta.

Since the 1970s, gentrification has helped bring seemingly positive neighborhood changes like farmers markets, more foot traffic, and an overall more inviting community. However, gentrification can also cause rises in housing prices and taxes that displace long-time, and often low-income residents. Though gentrification increases the economic opportunities in Atlanta neighborhoods,

many minorities who have lived in the communities are pushed out while the culture they cultivated still remains, and used for a profit for the new residents and developers.

Drastic changes have occurred throughout metro Atlanta. According to the 1990 US census, Atlanta was 67 percent black, 31 percent white, and 1.7 percent Hispanic. As of 2018, however, these numbers changed significantly with the percent of the black population decreasing to 54 percent while the white population rose to 38 percent, and Hispanic population rose to 5 percent.

In neighborhoods such as Kirkwood, houses that once sold for $100,000 have now tripled in price. These changes can be accredited to gentrification. While there is economic growth, it comes at the cost of many displaced families and

minorities.

So the question is: does gentrification help the community grow, or is it legalized discrimination?

Instead of allowing minorities to be displaced for the sake of economic growth, the Westside of Atlanta is attempting new solutions to handle the negative effects of gentrification with affordable housing and tax cuts for longtime residents. Though gentrification is on the rise in this area compared to areas such as east Atlanta and midtown, where the Beltline infrastructure was started, it has happened at a much slower pace.

“When I first moved here I knew nothing about gentrification, so I came in blind. In that sense I am considered a gentrifier.”

Sherry Bailey Recently, due to the construction of the Mercedes Benz Stadium, house prices have risen and resulted in an influx of 38 percent in the white population living in the Westside, continuing the same cycle of displacement. Seeing the effects of gentrification on the residents in other areas, current residents of the Westside are beginning to speak out.

“When I first moved here I knew nothing about gentrification, so I came in blind.

In that sense I am considered a gentrifier,” said 10 year Westside resident and realtor Sherry Bailey, who flips and sells houses in the area.

Bailey, having lived in the Westside since the brink of it’s gentrification, has seen how it changes a city. Looking around Koininia Coffee shop inside the Westview Corner Grocery, she said, “This, when I first moved here, used to not be a grocery store. It was kind of a corner store, a hangout place. A lot of these business along here were not used. The housing stock when I first moved here was definitely at least 50 percent vacant. There were just a lot of changes. Not as much prostitution. Not as much drug trafficking. Ten years ago, this was a very different neighborhood.”

Now, higher priced foods stock the shelves of the store and places, such as Vegan Cookie, line the street.

In order to curb the negative outcomes of gentrification, residents are looking towards affordable housing to fix the problem. However, a lack of acknowledgment of the effect gentrification has on the residents still occurs.

“There needs to be more mixed housing and rent control before gentrification, in the way we see it, in Atlanta can ever be beneficial.” Bailey said while shaking her head, “In the beginning of gentrification people would go door to door and say, ‘I’ll give you cash for your house’. They are giving 50 cents to the dollar, but it is more cash then most of these people had seen in their lives.”

Sherry Bailey is just one of the many, as she calls, “pioneers”, who began the

gentrification process. She is one of few who recognizes the true negative impact it has on older residents.

“We’ve hit that point now where the people with money are beginning to pour in and it’s changing the fabric of the neighborhood,” Bailey observes, “they don’t know the older residents and they don’t try to get to know the older residents, and they want to change the rules for how things are done because they don’t understand the rules for how things have been done. They don’t even bother to ask.”

Having a completely different perspective than Bailey, Colette Haywood, a longtime resident, mother, and community advocate, has seen “everything just change” in Atlanta.

Living in the Westside of Atlanta since 1982, Haywood moved up here to start her own business on “Martin’s row,” She recalls, “one of the things that made Atlanta, Atlanta is how well blacks did in the city or the political clout that we have here, [blacks] don’t necessarily have that in other parts of the country.”

Though Atlanta has been known as “the black mecca” Haywood believes, “as gentrification occurs black success in Atlanta is no longer a given.”

Haywood herself hasn’t been displaced. However, over the years she has seen countless neighbors have to move because of housing and tax price increases.

“Lower income people in particular are locked out of the success of [Atlanta],” she said.

Atlanta, despite the fact that it is progressive, still has issues with disparities among the gentrification of neighborhoods. According to a study conducted by Georgia State University, the majority of people being displaced by gentrification are black.

“I’m fostering two kids whose mother lost her apartment,” Haywood said, attempting to talk over kids in the background. “She lost that because of gentrification and there’s a lot of stories like that in our community.”

“I’m fostering two kids whose mother lost her apartment because of gentrification.”

Collette Haywood

Haywood, much like Sherry Bailey, sees the solution of gentrification in the manipulation of housing prices. “Housing affordability,” she discerns, “That could be accomplished if there is give and take on both sides. I think we need to address it with selling issues, to make it more affordable for developers. I also think that as citizens we have to come to the understanding that we have to live smaller.”

Bailey and Haywood are two of many Atlanta residents whose lives involve gentrification. As such an integral part of the progressive nature of Atlanta, the wave of gentrification now cannot be stopped. However, is it possible that the progress of Atlanta will bring positive changes across all demographics, not only to the white or wealthy?

ALMOST OLIVIA MARTIN, co-editor-in-chief

third installment of “A Tale of Two Seniors” explores both Katie Leonard and *The Bennett Baugus’s journeys through the ups and downs of second semester senior year—the senioritis, nostalgia, and, of course, college decisions.

She knows exactly where she’s going.

K

atie Leonard is “determined to remain immune” to senioritis. Her schedule is packed with five AP classes, learning AP Macroeconomics outside of class, leading clubs, and working on scholarship applications.

She has a lot going on even though she is done with the college search.

Leonard has been accepted to the University of Georgia, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC), and the University of Virginia (UVA). Someone who applied to only five schools, she has plenty of options to choose from even before she hears back from the fifth, Davidson College.

Initially, her interest was split between three places: Davidson, UNC, and UVA. But, she has since crossed Davidson off the list. When Davidson decisions come out on April 1, Leonard will not be receiving hers.

“I’m not going to hear from them because I’m going to decide between UVA and UNC before then,” she said. Once a student commits to a college, they must pull their applications from any other schools where they may have applied.

Spending a weekend to find where she gets the feeling of belongingness so closely associated with finding the “perfect fit” in a school, Leonard held off on making her final decision.

“Honestly [UNC and UVA] are both like amazing so I cannot believe I got in,” she said. “So I mean a lot will come down to the feeling.”

But it did not actually come down to just the feeling. After a weekend trip to see both schools, Leonard returned with a decision: UNC, a change from what she had previously thought, would be her decision.

“Though I never got ‘the feeling’ of ‘this has to be it’ at either school, I had a much easier time with the idea of saying ‘no’ to UVA than UNC,” she said.

Her decision was guided by the strength and appeal of UNC’s English department, since she wants to study writing and go on to work in the field.

“As the creative writing department head explained what UNC’s program involved, I knew that it was exactly what I was looking for,” Leonard said. “Besides that, a small but quite notable publishing house was ten minutes away from campus, which is perfect for internship opportunities for someone wanting to be a book editor and author.”

UNC set the bar high—and Leonard found that UVA did not quite meet it for her.

“UNC just demonstrated an atmosphere I seemed to fit in with more, faculty I could see myself becoming close with, and a creative writing program better suited for my aspirations,” she said.

As a second semester senior, Leonard might seem to be all done at HIES—after all, she is already committed to college at one of the more sought after schools in the southeast. However, she is warding off a serious case of nostalgia for her time at HIES. “The most special parts of high school have been in those hilarious club meetings, joking in and out of class with friends, and talking with the best teachers ever after school,” she said. “I’m going to miss it so much, and, like I tell everyone I know almost every week, ‘I may not ever cry, but I’m going to lose it at graduation.’”

“I’m going to miss [high school] so much...I may not ever cry, but I’m going to lose it at graduation.”

- Katie Leonard

T THERE

a tale of two seniors part III*

He’s figuring it out.

B

ennett Baugus provides an all-encompassing definition of the “senioritis” that sets in during a senior’s final semester. “It’s caring a lot about what’s happening but at the same time not caring at all,” he said. When asked if he was afflicted, he nodded, chuckling. “Definitely. 100 percent.”

on the college process. While he is still looking at some of the same schools from before, he has added many schools to his list. “I found five, six colleges that I never even looked at,” he said. “And then I visited. And I like them a lot more than App State.”

As a second-semester senior, Baugus has relished the opportunity to step back from academics which he focused on last semester. Now, he has shifted to his extracurriculars.

Though Baugus does not yet know where he will end up, his applications are in, and some schools that he remains interested in include North Carolina State University and the University of Colorado-Boulder. He will hear back from them in the coming months, and like all seniors, his deadline to choose and commit to a school is the first day of May.

“The last kind of thing [colleges] look at is first semester senior year,” he said.

“So, I think I’m focusing a lot more on like extracurricular stuff whether that’s the band or debate team or just getting involved in other places.”

Baugus’s focus has moved from college applications and classwork to things like his band and the debate team. Just in the past few months, No Can Do has performed at three school events, including performances during the Winterfest week and at the NHS talent show. The members also write original songs, practice together frequently, and play various gigs around the Atlanta area.

His journey with colleges is not done, though. Applying early to Appalachian State University, he was hoping to get in and go there. But, the stars did not align in his favor, and he was denied admission.

In the midst of athletes signing to continue their careers in college and seniors making decisions about where they will go, Baugus is unworried about the fact that he has to wait to know where he will end up. To him, it will work out in the end.

“I’m a person who believes everything happens for a reason and stuff. So, watching all my friends getting into college...there’s no jealousy there,” he said.

“It’s just kind of me being happy for them and then knowing that if I’m happy for them they’re gonna be happy for me when I get into the college I want to get into....I think you just have to look at it at it from a new angle and try not to be jealous or selfish about it.”

“I kind of put all my eggs (sic.) in one basket with Appalachian State, and then I got the decision back, and I didn’t get in,” Baugus said. “So, then that was kind of an eye opening realization because I realized it kind of goes with anything in life: you can’t just put all your hope in one place.”

His denial from Appalachian State has affected his future plans and his thoughts

“[Senioritis] is caring a lot about what’s happening but at the same time not caring at all.”

- Bennett Baugus

32 PEOPLE

18 UND

PART T

PEOPLE 33

DER 18 THREE

KATIE LITTLE, feature writer SHEA FLEMING, associate editor

34 PEOPLE

We’ve all heard or felt the effects of negative peer pressure.

But what about positive peer pressure?

In 18 under 18, The C&G has showcased students pursuing their passions, talents, and hobbies at a young age. Instead of merely shouting out these accomplishments, this continued feature served as a call to action for the HIES community. When we read about our peers that sit next to us in class or pass us in the hallways, we feel an invisible push to reach outside of our limits and make new discoveries about ourselves.

Let’s continue to celebrate our community’s diverse talents.

PEOPLE 35

JAMES FRANKE

ACCOMPLISHING EXCITING ENERGETIC

W

hen James Franke isn’t casually walking the HIES halls, chances are he is in the ring at Firehouse with a coach or another kid his age, throwing punch after punch. This unassuming freshman student has trained as an amateur boxer for three years, saying, “I was watching the Rocky movies back in sixth grade and I took a [boxing] class just to get in shape and I started to fall in love with it.”

Instead of simply taking workout classes to cultivate his interest in boxing, Franke practices every day after school to be ready to compete. Although he currently boxes in the amateur division - his aspirations do not stop there. Daily, Franke watches his role models in the ring, as his biggest inspirations also practice honing their craft “I look up to some of the fighters in the gym, like some of the professionals, because of their work ethic,” he said.

Though boxing may seem like an unwelcoming sport to some, Franke thrives in the environment that he finds as safe place to blow off steam. “My favorite thing is you can take out your anger that you’ve had through that day,” Franke said. He admits, though, that it can get rough in the ring from time to time.

“If you get hit with a shot where you’re not blocking anything, it can be painful.” he said. However, Franke always retaliates with his treasured right hook as his dad supports him on the sidelines. Franke said, “even though it might not be the first thing that my dad wanted me to do, he still supports me through it.”

ANSLEY WILLIAMS

ENCOMPASSING PERSONAL CREATIVE

I

’ve been singing basically since I came out of the womb. For real,” Ansley Williams said. Sitting at her keyboard late at night as a singer and songwriter, she finds clarity and can put her feelings into words.

Despite her strong connection with music, Williams wanted to give up on her music career during her freshman year,. “If people don’t like your songs they’re going to tell you, and they’re going to make you feel bad,” she said. “There was a point where I didn’t want to do music anymore.” However, with her mom, manager, and vocal coaches as her biggest supporters, she stuck with it.

Williams draws inspiration from her personal experiences. When her parents were getting a divorce, she was in third grade. Sitting at dinner, “I was thinking about it and I wrote the song ‘Ghost’ on a dinner napkin,” she said. Her personal experiences inspired her, and the songs go on to then inspire others.

Currently, Williams is working to be an independent artist. The Bert Show, a radio station, has a “Big Break” segment where they reach out to local artist to give them exposure. Williams applied, was selected, and had an interview with the radio personality. During her interview Williams said, “We basically where going back and forth laughing about how I write songs about boys and saying ‘the new Taylor Swift.’” Now they are playing her songs like “Ghost” and “Goodbye” on the radio and helping push her career forward. She hopes to continue to connect with people in the industry and give her music exposure.

36 PEOPLE

ABIGAIL ARNOLD

ENTERTAINING CREATIVE RELAXING

S

crolling through Abigail Arnold’s Instagram account, what meets the eye far surpasses her simple bio, “thirteen year-old based mainly in illustrations.”

Her artworks, popping with color and abstract patterns, often depict women, a source of inspiration for her craft.

As of February 2019, over 2000 users are following @abigailarnoldart. Although she has attracted a larger audience today, Arnold started small, doodling in pre-k to entertain herself in class.

“I started drawing then, and I haven’t stopped since,” she said. Along with providing a sense of entertainment, drawing gives Arnold a way to relax. “I really like how it makes me feel less stressed.”

Though her passion has remained the same, her subject matter and style has not. “I started off and the only thing I would draw when I was very little was dogs.

Then, I shifted to people, and I would draw these really dynamic pictures of girls with their head slightly tilted,” Arnold stated. Her art has grown more complex since her humble beginnings, and she now adds patterns and everyday objects.

A lover of surrealist art, Arnold employs some of the style’s techniques in her own work. “I’d say my style is realistic with a bit of surrealism because I really like that,” she said. “I also add some patterns, colors, and stuff to my drawings to make them look a bit more abstract, but it’s not fully abstract art. My art is just in between realism and abstractionism.”

JAY MCKOWN RELAXING FAST SMOOTH

J

ay McKown is just your average fifth grader, except for the fact that he is a nationally ranked tennis player. McKown was inspired to play tennis at the age of three. “I saw my sister playing and I thought it looked really fun,” he said.

He started on a mini net just hitting the ball as hard as he possibly could, not caring where it went. However, his competitive nature eventually started to kick in. “I always wanted to get better because I always wanted to be better than my sister. Then once I got to the point where I was better than her, I didn’t want to lose to her [in a pick up game],” McKown said.

“My favorite thing about playing tennis is probably the social part of it. Every time [I play a match] I meet someone new. Every match you play someone different.”

McKown said. He doesn’t let his friendly nature get in the way of his winning mindset. “I love to win and when I lose, I definitely get mad,” McKown said.

Being one of the top players in the country has its perks. McKown travels the country and meets some of the most famous tennis players, such as Rafael Nadal. However, he hasn’t met his favorite tennis player, Gaël Monfils, yet. “I look up to Gaël Monfils because he’s just an overall happy dude, and he goes onto the court and does a lot of tricks,” McKown said.

PEOPLE 37

ERIC FRANCIS

COMPETITIVE INSPIRING AMBITIOUS

T

he crowd roars. As the seconds dwindle on the clock, all he sees is the net. Swoosh. It seems like the average basketball game. Except there is one major, extraordinary difference. All the athletes are wheelchair-bound.

HIES sophomore Eric Francis is in year six of his career in wheelchair basketball.

“My cousin worked for the organization, [Blaze Sports], that I play for now. She took me one Saturday, and I just fell in love with it” Francis said.

Not only did Francis fall in love with the sport, but he also fell in love with the people. “My favorite thing is the camaraderie and the teamwork,” Francis said.

He loves to work with his team, bond, and win. “With my team, I have won three national championship and we are playing to win another one this year” he said.

“You just have got to work. It never stops. You can’t be stuck at a plateau you have to keep going up.” Francis said. This work ethic is partly inspired by one of his favorite athletes, Tatyana McFadden. “I look up to her because she is a Paralympic in track and field, and she has the same disability that I have. She’s a role model to me.”

Both Francis’ work ethic and future is inspired by McFadden.“I see myself playing in college and then I want to try out for the Paralympic team,” Francis said. He knows that he can’t be young forever on the court and hopes when it’s time for him to step back, he can head back to his beginnings. “I would like to come back and work with Blaze Sports and keep working with the kids here.”

MATTHEW KEAGLE HAPPY PROUD EXCITING

M

atthew Keagle has been a passionate environmentalist since he was eight years old. His conservation project at Mountain Way Common Park works to clear invasive species, limit soil erosion, plant trees and test the water quality of the park. His interest in the environment blossomed at a young age when he spent his childhood days outdoors playing. Keagle continued to love the outdoors as he grew up and included the park in his Eagle Scout Project.

Even now that the project is over, he still enjoys working in the park. “I didn’t want to stop once the Eagle Project was over so I kept on doing it,” Keagle said.

One of the most important reasons that he continues working at Mountain Way is because of noticeable results: “I really like seeing the change in the area.

Just looking at the before and after pictures and seeing how much it’s really changed,” Keagle said. Yet, as much as he enjoys seeing his progress, he says he is also “excited for what the park as in store.”

Organizations like Trees Atlanta, as well as the leaders of the Mountain Way Common Park, reached out to assist Keagle with his conservation project, and were able to provide Keagle tools he needed. “They also knew when to...just let me work,” Keagle said. “It’s a really cool thing”.

Being gifted with the opportunity to shape his community, Keagle learns to take initiative and explore different niches. He hopes other people can be inspired to lend a hand in their local parks and be discover their own passions.

38 PEOPLE to reflect and responded, “She raised four kids! She was the backbone of the driving school and has been a big part of everything, a really tough woman.”

Later, when asked about his father, who initially served in the Marines and later became a police officer, Milner enthusiastically recalled his earliest memories of his dad when he would come home dressed in his police uniform. “I would look up at him [as a little child], he had that big gun on his side, and I said ‘oh my goodness,’ I was so impressed.”

ZAK KERR, staff writer

C

THE ONE AND ONLY MISTER MILNER

hances are, if you’re a student at HIES, you have either met or heard of Kent Milner Jr., known for his immensely colorful personality, captivating drivers’ education course, comprehensive instruction and occasional, “God bless America!” Mr. Milner and his driving school have become an important facet of HIES Upper School life.

As you might expect, with such a personality comes a fascinating and evermore entertaining life’s story.

A story that cannot be summed up in one article or mere photographs. It is the people, such as Mr. Milner, who will never be forgotten.

As I entered the Milner Driving School located in Sandy Springs, I was greeted by an energized Mr. Milner who was excited about a new discovery he made on the iPhone.

“Everybody with all this texting and stuff. I don’t text.

I discovered you can talk and it will text what you will say! I showed my wife this; I told her ‘you don’t know about this, and I bet no one else knows about this” Milner said. “She said ‘everybody knows about that’...I thought I was the smartest person in the world!”

After his epiphany of the dictation feature on the iPhone, Milner and I sat down and began our interview.

Born in 1963 in Decatur, Georgia at Dekalb General Hospital, Kent Milner Jr. began his life’s journey alongside three other siblings. Milner Jr.’s mother was born in Savannah and his father was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi - a place, according to Milner, unknown to many people.

When asked about his mother, Milner took a moment

Milner continued with an explosion of enthusiastic recollection, “He would put me on his motorcycle and ride me up and down the street. It was just unbelievable... My dad was the one who taught me how to drive.”

Often, Milner’s father was the first responder to major car collisions in which he witnessed many accidents, “While my Dad was with the Dekalb police department, he saw a lot of difficult things.

I remember stories [of disturbing collisions]...

After a while, he left law enforcement and devoted everything to the driving school. He worked hard, always has been a hard worker. He and my mom worked all the way up to their eighties.”

Milner’s two sisters work with him at the driving school, which has truly become a family endeavour.

When looking back onto his childhood at his relationship with his siblings, Milner comically said, “They were okay! I was the troublemaker... I’d play pranks on my older sister constantly and I would scare my little brother and sister to death all the time... I was a little rambunctious!”

As we continued our discussion about his childhood, I asked Milner if he had any nicknames growing up. As you might expect, he has “been called a lot of different things,” which he said with a sarcastic laugh. However, when he was in High School, his football teammates referred to him as, “Bonzai” because of his tendency to, “rush the line” with tenacity.

Milner started school earlier than most people, so he was a year younger than his peers. What he referred to as, “the good times” of school were his teachers. I was taken aback at how vividly Milner was able to remember and describe some of his teachers, three of which were World War II veterans.

The first teacher, Mr. Shirey who taught Chemistry, flew bombers over Germany as a machine gunner.

Milner then recalled Mr. Jocobas, who taught him Geography. He served in North Africa and incurred an injury that caused shrapnel to lodge in his leg.

The last teacher Milner recalled was Mr. McIntire who taught health class and fought in the Pacific.

PEOPLE 39 Milner remembered him as, “the old guy would stand on his head and do all kinds of antics.”

Our conversation then shifted to Milner’s time in the military. “A couple of weeks after high school, I was in basic training at the United States Military Academy at West Point. I was 17 and a half.” After four years of training, Milner was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry, serving in the 101st Airborne Division.

Thereafter, Milner moved to the Army Transportation Corps where he learned, “more practical skills” that he could apply to civilian life.

Following the end of the Cold War, Milner described the state of the world as changing. “Countries that had been closed to the United States, who had been our enemy for years and years, began to open up.

China also began to open up and I thought, wow, that’s interesting. So I left the military to go teach English in China where I taught in the Sichuan province at an agricultural university... I was teaching everybody! I had an open class that I taught twice a week at night, and I had over 100 people come in. I had no idea what I was talking about but they were all there!” Milner said.

Continuing to discuss China, Milner mentioned communism.

“One of the books that changed my life in high school was the Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It talked about the slave labor system in communist Russia. I was a big anti-communist in High School. I thought it was terrible! So here I saw a communist country [China] opening up and saying, come here! Come to my country and we can interact. So here I came to interact!”

Milner said he learned a lot in China and discovered that his preconceptions were much different than reality. However, his time in China was difficult, as he was constantly surveilled by the government, “My apartment was bugged and people were watching me all the time! I didn’t like that, it was obviously horrible...Today, we are encountering this issue of privacy but back then, when you’re confronted with something like that, it is really troubling. Now, people have grown accepting of it or are used to it which I find really frightening.”

Milner continued, “I was there to teach but learned a lot myself. They didn’t convert me to communism, don’t worry about that! It was a wonderful thing to observe how China gradually began to give up some of its communist ideals and began experimenting with a free market economy.”

He then transcended in thought and began to talk

about the culture of China and how he met his wife who is from China, “Seeing firsthand a culture, you adapt and absorb their culture. I actually met my wife while I was there. She worked in the same city I worked in and we met. After I finished my job there, we got married (we have been married for 26 years).

I’m really almost Asian because I have absorbed so much of the culture!”

Back to the subject of communism, Milner talked about how his wife’s difficult experience in a communist country reinforced his beliefs about it.

Milner has not been back to China in four years as he is currently “too busy teaching all of [his] wonderful students driving.”

Out of curiosity, I asked him what changes he has observed in China over the course of his visits.

According to Milner, he was amazed by the rapid increase in infrastructure, economic growth and China’s now “wall to wall” population.

Quite fitting to his job as a driving instructor, the former absence of cars in China struck Milner by surprise, “When I was there, most people didn’t own cars...people rode bikes and used public transportation, they took buses and I very rarely took the bus.”

I’m trying to push my students across the line to where they can accomplish the mission. If I can do that, it’s a huge reward.”

On the topic of driving, I asked Milner what his number one piece of advice would be to new drivers.

He responded by simply saying, “Drive a lot. The more you drive, the better you’ll be. To add to that, don’t be sloppy.”

Finally, to conclude the interview, Milner expressed enthusiasm and pride for his most recent class.

“I had a bunch of your compatriots in here recently, and they all passed. So you give them a shout out that I am very proud of them for doing,” Milner paused, “fairly well.”

Milner added, “They did get into it with a few of the Walton kids, that was interesting, they got a little rivalry going on, but they’re all good natured, so you just tell them I said hi.”

In conclusion, it is Milner’s highly valuable and genuinely skilled instruction that has saved lives and ensured that his students, “drive to survive and arrive home alive.”

Milner continued with a comical story about the bus queue system in China, “The thing about China is that people don’t queue up. The bus would come and you had everyone waiting. The bus driver would then slow down. People would fight to get on the bus. So as the bus slows down, they were all like ‘okay, here we go.’ [The driver] would floor it and everyone would start running...The bus driver would stop a hundred yards further up...The fast people got on the bus first and the slower ones got on last.

Compared to most Chinese people, I’m bigger than they are so I was afraid that if I tried to take the bus, I would cause an international incident fighting my way onto the bus. So I usually walked.”

After Milner returned from China, his father needed help with the driving school, so he temporarily ceased his travels and began his time as Atlanta’s premier driving instructor. However, he did not cut off ties with China completely. He and his wife ran a commodity trading company with China in which they traded pipes and building materials.

When I asked what motivated Milner to persist with his instruction, he told me that a lot of it stemmed from his training in the military.

“In the military, it’s the mission. It’s about making soldiers capable of accomplishing the mission and surviving. My mission is to train students to survive.

“Compared to most Chinese people, I’m bigger than they are so I was afraid that if I tried to take the bus, I would cause an international incident fighting my way onto the bus. So I usually walked.”

- Milner, recalling his time in China

40 OPINION

LET’S TALK:

The Violation of Human Rights in the Refugee Crisis ANNIE SAGER, columnist

I

mmigration is a touchy subject, but the politics of it often overshadows something that needs to be talked about civilly: the refugee crisis. At a time when displaced persons are at a record high all over the world, the number of refugees being resettled lies at a record low. No headway is being made, and I blame politicians. The political climate of today is hard to navigate. Everyone is talking over one another and, instead of listening, we’re only thinking about our rebuttals. These days, people talk about immigration like our political stance represents who we are as people. I don’t think that’s true. Ask someone why they think what they do, have a conversation— not everything is so black and white.

Refugee Survey Quarterly:

Moving on, politics are not what this conversation is about. It’s about the morals we say we hold, what we believe is right and wrong, and upholding those values as a global community. After the world wars, international powers got together to create the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a following United Nations Refugees Convention, extending article 14 of the former: “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

“Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

This is where human rights are failing to be upheld in refugee process. Wanting to build a giant concrete wall across U.S. borders is one thing, but preventing people from immigrating or seeking asylum based on where they’re from is another. It violates a set of laws that had to be written out for a reason. When thinking about human rights, I always find myself thinking of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be that moment after WWII when Earth looked in the mirror and was like, “WOAH! GUYS! Come on! Okay, apparently we’re in need

There are some questions, ironically, as to who qualifies as “everyone”. Worry not, it was clarified during the Refugee Convention in 1951. Everyone means everyone (in regards to the right to seek asylum) so long as they are not, according to the

“Persons responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace; common law criminals subject to treaties of extradition; and persons responsible for crimes which violated the basic precepts underpinning the newly established United Nations.”

If one does not fall under any of these categories, then it’s safe to assume Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights still applies:

OPINION 41 of some clarification and have to make a list of what qualifies as human rights.

Here’s your list; let’s try to stick with that from now on.” And now, it’s as though the earth has been placed in the classic car scenario you see with family road trips. All the nations are the kids, just sitting in the backseat of the car, testing what the boundaries of the seats and at what point the world actually makes good on their threat to “turn this car around.”

Nations, stop being children. You do not get to pick and choose human rights to further your own self-interests. Bad. I swear, I’m going to have to get a squirt bottle.

If the world doesn’t put weight to its universal declarations then a: They become meaningless, or b: The world forgets.

It is so easy to forget that other people are people too. If they’re not present with us, they’re not present in our thoughts. If something doesn’t affect us directly, then we are granted the luxury known as “peace of mind.”

During the time leading up to the Holocaust, when the Nazi regime increased its prejudice toward Jews and more and more were attempting to flee as refugees, did the United States wanted to help? No. The world was in an economic depression. In May of 1938, only 23 percent of responding Americans were in favor of an increase in the immigration of German refugees. The cap for Germans was significantly lowered a few years before; it was a quota the United States did not feel the need to meet. The Holocaust Encyclopedia provides that between the years of 1933 and 1941, 118,000 German slots went unfilled.

Just one of those 118,000 is the equivalent to a life; I feel like we all tend to forget that, blindsighted by the magnanimity of the number.

America and the rest of the world were preoccupied with domestic matters at the time, but that’s why we have the resulting human rights laws. So that, even when the world is preoccupied, a clear list and value for human rights perpetuates. I’ve recently had the privilege of speaking to Emory professor and independent filmmaker/journalist Dr. Isabella Alexander on the subject, and she said: “We’ve worked really hard as a global community to get to the point where we can protect every individual’s basic human rights. And we we’re starting to

degrade our immigration and asylum laws. What we’re really doing is stripping individuals of human rights based on the country that they were born into.”

Dr. Alexander focuses her work on spreading awareness towards the prejudice the EU projects against African refugees have to face. In Africa, which holds the largest population of migrants, asylum seekers are simply trying to reach a country where they can file for asylum. In many cases, that means attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Every day, twenty people die trying to do just that.

After hearing something like that, it’s not surprising that the pool of those who finish the journey, just to apply for asylum status, is miniscule. Even after that, the rejection rate is ninety-two percent. If it is considered our right to seek asylum — and, it is — then the application to file for asylum status should not be virtually unobtainable. It’s not only the EU, however.

In 2016, Trump issued the original travel barring people from seven different countries, halting refugee resettlement for 120 days, and banning Syrian refugees indefinitely. It was blocked by the federal courts for reasons which you, if you’ve read until this point in the column, are at least aware of in theory. Nevertheless, there is the saying “if at first you do not succeed, try, try again.” and so it was revised, then blocked and then revised again. I suppose third time’s the charm since our nation’s current travel ban made it through the Supreme Court. The incumbent ban still barrs people from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan Libya, North Korea, Chad, and Venezuela from entering this country (Iraq was removed after agreeing to boost cooperation with US). This is where the confusion for what qualifies as everyone shows up. Just to clarify, everyone mean everyone, regardless of nationality.

The quota for asylum seekers has been lowered significantly in the US to a number that, even when the number of displaced people is higher than ever, is still not being met. It’s also affecting the demographic of the refugees being resettled.

About 2 months ago, I attended a volunteer orientation at a resettlement agency; looking at the numbers, this ban is holding a monumentally effect. Syria has among the highest populations of asylum seekers and yet, in the year 2018, only twenty-two Syrian refugees were resettled across the entire United States!

There comes a time when we should all ask ourselves what we say we stand for and if that is really who we are as a nation. For the 147 nations who signed the Universal Declaration of Human Right,; it is a right to seek asylum and it is a right not to be discriminated against.

42 OPINION

WHAT IS CHURCH TO YOU?

I

t is often said in my family that I was born in the church. It was where I took my first steps, made my first friends, and learned lessons for a lifetime. Even now, I attend church every Sunday and find it necessary each week. Perhaps, my need for church comes its provided comfort. Nonetheless, it seems that I am one of the few Sunday school students with this desire.

Throughout the years, my Sunday school class has gone from a multitude of students to three. According to Pew Research, this is not an anomaly, with only 28 percent of young adults attending weekly services. This assured me that my church wasn’t alone, but it also piqued my interest. Is the class boring? Did they switch religions? Maybe their car broke down?

Despite these various questions, I always seemed to go back to the root of it all –– church. With some more research, I discovered that people were most typically leaving their own church for another religion and that 41 percent of young adults still had belief in a deity. Further, in another demographic study conducted by Pew, researchers found “as collective worries about day-to-day survival become less pervasive and tragic events become less frequent” people inevitably became less religious. In a country that is steadily moving away from religious practice, what is church and who is doing it right?

Kimberly Desormaux, a member of the Church of Scientology began her journey through becoming a Scientologist began 20 years ago. Much like many other people: she had a problem and desperately needed a solution. Prior to her transition to Scientology, she was a collegiate dancer, who had plans of furthering her career. Suddenly, one day, everything drastically started to change.

“You expect a certain amount of emotionalism with artists, but mine had crossed the line,” she said. “I really started to think I was crazy.”

Desormaux suffered from a breakdown, which she attributed to bipolar disorder.

A disorder that is most commonly discovered in young adults around age 25.

During this dark time, she came across a book entitled Dianetics, written by the Father of Scientology, Ron Hubbard. Upon reading the book, she recognized she could completely turn around her life, and she joined the church. Now, almost 30 years later, she and her children are dedicated members of the church.

Scientology is “spiritual pursuit for one’s self. For some higher level of understanding and being”. She pointed to three tenets of Scientology that govern followers’ belief system: The Way to Happiness, Drug Free World, and Human Rights. She described these are centered on tolerance and working together to achieve the various goals pushed by each initiative. Whether it be sending Hurricane Harvey relief teams, or passing out informational drug pamphlets at the Super Bowl, their goal is to put action behind words.

While Desormaux finds peace in a stricter setting, others define church more loosely. The owner of Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room And Ping Pong Emporium, opened the bar to make people feel safe and at home.

The tourist attraction, located in the heart of Atlanta, houses various quotes and photos that remind you of a bar, but somehow still feels like church. Along the walls you find phrases like “Jesus loves lamb chops” ironically captioning a vintage painting of Jesus.

The owner, Grant Henry, wanted to give customers an experience he did not get in Seminary school. According to Pew, Henry represents the most common group of non-churchgoers. 37 percent of Americans who do not attend traditional church practice faith in other ways.

Surprisingly, over two decades ago Henry was an avid church-goer. In the eighties, he studied to become a priest, but as he finished he couldn’t get past the last step –– admitting that Jesus was the way to salvation.

“I knew many people from other countries and other religions who felt enlightened, or saved, and they never heard of Jesus Christ,” he said.

As various people urged him to simply repeat the phrase, he began to realize that though he admired Jesus, he did not believe. Upon this realization, he left and has had a “wonderful life” ever since.

“Churches would do themselves a favor by wrapping their arms around everyone,” he said, “as opposed to judging anyone.”

Unlike Grant Henry, Chris Boynton knew who God was at the tender age of four.

After attending his grandfather’s funeral, he believed without doubt that his grandfather was in Heaven. Since then, Boynton has made some mistakes and fallen short, but to him that is the epitome of being a Christian.

These days, Boynton attends Passion City Church. Its dull, strip-mall building, belies a vibrant interior design. Upon entrance, there’s a story-foot Jesus sign covered in lights; a new light goes on every time someone gets dedicates their life to Christ. Passion T-shirts and books are for sale, along with many greeters to guide you. During the service, a band plays for a standing crowd, lights flash, and worshippers jump, electrified by the music.

The mega church opened in 2009 based upon the very popular Passion Conference, a gathering held yearly for young adults ages 18 to 25. Consequently, the church became known for serving youth. However, their fast growth is not all the church is known for.

“The music attracts people,” he said in reference to the concert-like services, although he believes that the congregation appreciates having the ability to worship a God that works and that is what keeps people coming back. “That’s what sticks,” he said.

Within the Christian church, there are over 43,000 denominations. However, Passion does not subscribe to one, a feature that defines the church. Instead, members simply define Passion as a “Jesus church.” Much like its millennial audience, the church does not want to conform to custom, because in the end, it is “all about Jesus.”

After speaking with these various people, I have found that there is no true definition for church. Whether it be through ping pong or praise concerts, the rush that you get surrounded by like minded people will never fade, no matter the building. These different ideologies, though so different, are still a home of believers in something. So, maybe the question isn’t what is church, perhaps the question should be; what are you willing to make it for your healing and experience?

OPINION 43

44 OPINION

ETHAN MULLEN, co-editor-in-chief s a second-semester senior, I have all my college applications turned in, and I’m mentally and emotionally preparing myself to leave high school behind. With all this being said, to assume that high school is slowing down is wrong, and in fact, academic, extracurricular, and social life is revving up more than ever.

I have always considered myself an organized person, and I would be in shock if I missed an assignment or event due to shear naivete and oblivion. However, through scrolling on Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube, i learned about a new system. This system called bullet

Investing in materials is worth it

journaling includes a calendar, planner, and list into one aesthetically-pleasing notebook. In the past, I have used a complicated electronic system including the calendar app, stickes, notes, reminders, and even Canvas.

In looking at these beautiful examples of what bullet journaling could be, I dreamed of what could be if I took the time to see what this mythical method of organizing my life could do for me. In preparation, I watched countless bullet journal setups and flip-throughs on Youtube, and decided to try the bullet journal for myself. Here’s what I learned:

Consistency is key What differentiates a bullet journal from a normal planner is that the user has the flexibility to do whatever they want with the spreads. Need a calendar? Draw boxes! Have a list of stuff you need to remember? Write a bulleted list? Specifically, the bullet journal method recommends rapid logging, which is a system where you write whatever you need to remember and move it to a designated place later.

The method calls this process migration, which takes place during regular reflections. By being on top of rapid logging and writing everything down when you need to remember it, nothing slips by.

In my initial research, I came across the same supplies that would turn a drab notebook into the Pinterest-inspired art piece of my dreams.

Of the common journals used by bullet journalers, the Leuchtturm 1917 is a favorite due to its numbered pages, durability, and dotted notebook style that serves as a guide without being overbearing. In addition, many journalers use brush pens, which allow users to write in different thicknesses, depending on the pressure used. Though these materials were an investment, they allowed me to create a journal where I could actually make aesthetically pleasing spreads.

OPINION 45

You’ll make mistakes This spread was really difficult because it required me to be meticulous in writing each day of the month in this overview form.

Though I messed up on the days a few times, no mistake couldn’t be fixed with white-out. In addition, I didn’t realize that one of my pens smudged, and when I finished writing out my January overview, I was disappointed to see a giant smudge across the space where I was planning on writing my events for each month. Though this smudge broke my dreams of becoming a bullet journaling guru, this journal is for my own personal use, and I had to realize that not every spread would be picture perfect.

And not every spread will be your favorite The bullet journal uses this spread style to model the monthly log. This simplistic calendar provides a birds-eye view to record important events for the future, or after they happen. On the other page lies a monthly tasks, which lets journalers keep a mental inventory. However, this spread didn’t work well for me because I wanted to use bullet points for my monthly calendar, and I prefer to tackle tasks weekly instead of monthly.

But you’ll find something that works for you This spread was my favorite. I wanted a way to organize my classwork as well as keep a daily to-do list in the rapid logging style of the traditional bullet journaling method. To do this, I put wrote down each class I had for each day in the correct order.

This let me stay on top of my daily schedule as well as any assignments I had for each day. Beyond the efficacy, I enjoyed learning how to write letters in the serif hand-lettering style. It was a busy week, especially with the snow day that made me completely scratch out what I had already written. Though this was disappointing, I was still extremely satisfied with the result.

W

The commons: A satire 46 OPINION

MATTHEW RAESIDE, production editor

Dean uses invisibility cloak to obscure commons

A

fter returning to her office from the junior commons with high heels dripping in lukewarm chocolate ice cream novelties, Dean of 11th Grade Students, Adrienne Rowe, snapped and turned to Costco to seek revenge against the junior class. At the store, she managed to purchase an extraextra-extra-large invisibility cloak. With the help of certain members of the maintenance staff, the dean was able to drape the cloak over the entirety of the junior commons and completely obscure it from the wandering eyes of junior students. “I’ve never seen that look in a person’s eyes before,” said one member of the maintenance staff. The gaping hole in the right-hand wall of the junior hallway stands as a reminder of the commons, which has been missing for nearly three weeks. Due to this unexpected disappearance, juniors are now forced to line the hallways, posing as innocent refugees of an unintentional war.

While sitting along the carpeted corridor, their raised knees prove challenging to navigate for even the most agile. The Olympic Committee is currently considering the formation of a new Olympic event, which takes inspiration from the current junior crisis. In the event, participants are required to rapidly overcome elevated peaks along a narrow footpath. Progress has stalled though, as many teachers attempting the event develop moderate to severe cases of Plantar fasciitis.

Mold colony in junior commons happens to be portal to upside down

I

n the left-hand upper corner of the Junior Commons, many students have been monitoring the rapid development of a large aspergillus mold colony. Students now frequently disappear during their free periods, causing much concern for others hoping to finish their 15-page essays 20 minutes prior to class. Following a student’s claim to have witnessed a Demogorgon climb its way from the musty abyss, the junior student council members organized a town hall meeting to determine their next actions in halting the mold’s progression. Quickly reaching a consensus, juniors decided to send in a senior who had been lurking around the commons for quite some time. Having taken two walkie-talkies from the maintenance golf cart, the senior pushed his way through the aspergillus. To all’s surprise, the junior commons within the Upside Down remained relatively unchanged, with only the addition of a functioning printer and standing tables.

After discovering the improved condition of the modified commons, many students have decided to complete their free period studies within the confines of the upside down.

OPINION 47

Broken table contains treasure map to holy grail

S

General electric purchases 3d bagel printer from junior class innovator

ome claiming it an act of ingenuity, others claiming it an act of stupidity, junior peers have accidentally fractured a table to discover a map neatly rolled up within the hollowed steel leg of the table. A surprising find in such a non-glamorous setting, many agree the junior commons to be the most inauspicious location for a map. The map, perhaps dating from the Middle Ages according to HIES history teachers, points to the location of the Holy Grail that has been sought after in so many adventure films. “Hey y’all, so this is amazing, right?” said one teacher. “I think it’s DBQ material.” Following this lead, many seniors have chosen to instead take gap years to pursue the goblet of eternal youth, happiness, and abundance. Those seniors are truly traveling “into the jungle.” Following the find, juniors subsequently began disassembling other tables within the commons hoping to find other treasures. Yet, to no avail. Rather than land upon unimaginable wealth, the juniors are now left only to complete their homework on the floor.

L

eaked by a certain eleventh grade snitch, the C&G was informed of the much anticipated release of a 3D bagel printer, the Legab 1000, which prints lightly toasted bagels. It offers flavors including sesame, everything, and plain. The Legab 1000 will be housed within the stain-splattered walls of the junior commons and takes the place of the outdated Epson 2800 paper printer.

The innovator behind the project, a student who leads the HIES’ engineering department, was able to share a few words over a freshly printed bagel.

What inspired this project?

“In early December, as I attempted to print an essay two minutes prior to class, I discovered throngs of peers crowded around the junior commons’ printer.

Shoved in its paper tray was a damp bagel and numerous frayed wires from its interior. Realizing a deficiency in bagel-printing capabilities, I took to the engineering room for weeks until the completion of the Legab 1000; patent pending.”

Has it been successful?

“Yes, very. The junior commons’ bagels undercut the prices of the Campus Shop, so the Junior class has come upon a steady source of income used to pay for pre-written essays.”

What lies in the future?

“Currently, General Electric is considering purchasing the Legab 1000, as it tests well among very specific focus groups of ages 16 to 17. Its sales are projected to rival the FunCooker, a popular microwave choice for suburban families.

Additionally, I plan to manufacture a line of schmears.”

The junior commons streaming now on netflix

“

The Junior Commons” is a highly popular show now streaming on Netflix, with over 20 million views. The reality television series, which producers claim was influenced by “The Office”, has twelve 25-minute episodes in its first season.

An easy and fun watch for mature audiences, the series revolves around the lives of junior students at HIES. Although cameramen often follow behind the bookbags of students on their way to class, the crew has cleverly hidden small cameras throughout the commons inside the hanging koalas per the dean’s permission. The series explores the not-so-traditional antics of the commons, from aspergillus mold colonies to the Holy Grail. Producers say they first heard word of the Junior Commons following the bagel printer innovator’s interview with Forbes for 30 Under 30. To much surprise, the series was given a poor rating on Rotten Tomatoes for using predictable clichés and lack of character development among student actors. The series plans to change direction for next season by instead focusing on the sophomore and freshman commons.