January 2017
investigator
the
Vol. 26, Issue 3
Cheater, Cheater! see pages 10-13
Green Valley High School Ů 460 N. Arroyo Grande Henderson, NV 89014
Ofelia@Radiant Glo
Go Gators!
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Contents
On The Cover The issue of academic dishonesty in the classroom seems to be at an all-time high.
pages 10-13
Chasing championships page 9
SECTIONS NEWS 4 FEATURES 6 SPORTS 14 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 16 PHOTO ESSAY 20 OPINIONS 25 EDITORIAL 31
FEATURED STORIES 6 Stick to it
Resolutions for 2017 take the spotlight
14 A golden era begins
Las Vegas unveils their new professional hockey team Kiara Thomson
Senior Isabela Cipili hands off the ball to sophomore running back Deborah Grant during pre-game warmups on Jan. 11.
editor's note: Variety is the spice of life, as they say, which is exactly what this issue embodies. From healthy recipes, to Nevada’s legalization of marijuana, to a fellow Gator who does Spartan Races; this issue has been a rollercoaster ride. Our center for this issue has focused in on a very pressing and alarming issue that is running rampant through every school across the nation. Cheating has infiltrated our campusand our kids, and is seemingly more and more common than it was before. Thanks to technology, this spike in cheating has heavily increased, with the easy accessibility phones and computers provide to test and worksheet answers. For this largely sensitive topic, we interviewed several students and teachers on their opinions of this growing issue. We got very mixed opinions, but overall, a lot of teachers and students seemed to correlate in their thinking. In addition, we conducted a school wide survey ranging from grade levels and class placement, where kids were asked several questions in regards to cheating they had done and or observed. Another big story for this issue revolved around the pro/con for the legalization of weed. This buzzing topic raises good questions, concerns, and valid points from both sides, and thus should be taken into consideration when discussing this issue. We hope whoever reads this issue finds a story worth reading, and possibly even sharing. We have delivered a large variety of content which we are proud to present to all our fellow Gators. - Sarah Fernandez and Lena Navarro, co-editors-in-chief
16 The year that was
RIP to the year that made people cry, laugh, and everything in between
22 Eat this, not that
Healthy eating made easy with yummy recipes
28 Blowing smoke
Is Nevada’s legalization of marijana truly beneficial?
livescience
4 NEWS
SLASHING ENERGY PRICES By Taylor Strezlec
The Energy Choice Initiative, number three on the Nevada ballot, has been officially passed after the election day results were tallied. The energy initiative would work to eliminate the NV Energy monopoly and open up several other energy companies. This is intended to drive prices down and create more competition in the energy business. Not only do Nevada citizens get to pick their own energy company now, but they might not want to cringe every time they get their energy bill. Nevadans have high hopes that this will indeed lower energy prices and have a positive effect on our economy. Jonathan Young, a senior who’s very involved with certain aspects of The Energy Choice Initiative, has hope that this can only positively affect Nevada. “I really hope that by breaking up the NV Energy monopoly, it will help to allow
new companies to come in,” Young said. “This will cause a competitive marketplace which will hopefully stop the inflation.” As someone who is well-educated on the topic and has done a significant amount of research on it, he is all for the passing of The Energy Choice Initiative. Senior Kira Champelli shares a similar view on the
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This could mean great things in the use of renewable energy.
- senior Kira Champelli
future state of Nevada’s energy monopoly and changes that will be seen. “I think that the breaking up of the energy monopoly is definitely a big deal,” Champelli said. “Big names such as NV Energy have had too much power over the way that energy is distributed, and I think that this could mean great things in the use of renewable energy.”
Science teacher, Jolie Glaser voted in favor of the Energy Choice Initiative, although she claims to have concerns. This newfound energy initiative has lots of promise to be exactly what Nevada needs. “Being the second sunniest state in America, I think that if we break up those big energy corporations and try to get some more smaller companies that are more focused on renewable energy, it will mean great things for our state,” Champelli said. In the long run, this could end either way. As of now, there’s no guarantee it will help fix all of Nevada’s problems, but there’s also no guarantee it could hurt Nevada. “I think it has the potential to be a good thing for Nevada,” Glaser said. “I think that when you have more companies competing on an open market, then there’s more incentive to lower prices and to serve the consumers how they want, but again, it all depends on how it’s implemented.”
PRINCIPAL VENTURES TO CHINA By Meka’la Parker
Principal Kent Roberts recently travelled overseas to visit the historically rich and educationally esteemed city of Shanghai, China. Every year there is an International Schools China Conference for schools across the world to get together to discuss teaching innovations and share common interests. Most attendees are from international schools, while some are property investors and consultants. Before going straight into the convention, they hold a pre-conference workshop. Here, the attendees and representatives from the various gathered schools learn what it takes to be a successful leader in today’s world. In addition, going to this highly esteemed conference stems from various
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We now have a couple of relationships with schools over there.
- Principal Kent Roberts
motivations and reasons. “For some schools it’s to establish a sister school relationship, which is what we did. We now have a couple of relationships with some schools over there,” Roberts said. Experiencing the conference also aids in shining a light on the differences in Chinese and American education.
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An average school day in China lasts between nine and thirteen hours. Each grade has morning exercise, which is required for all students. Most students take ten classes per day with a two hour lunch break. “Classes at the schools we went to averaged forty minutes long. They also have more time for passing,” Roberts said. While in China, Roberts learned that students take a test in the 6th grade that places them in schools later on in their academic years. For instance, if a student gets a high grade, they would be placed in a higher ranking school, while students with lower grades would go to lower ranked schools and generally have a lower chance of getting into college. “That test pretty much determines your life. If you don’t do well, you literally have no chance at going to college. That’s a lot of pressure on 6th graders,” Roberts said. Roberts asked some students what they thought of American students and how they viewed their education system. “They all said the same thing. Freedom,” Roberts said. “Both of the middle schools I visited have the same exact uniforms.” Most people expect Chinese schools to be outdated and have old features such as a chalkboard and antique textbooks; however, that wasn’t the case. “I was surprised how up to date the schools were. It was a good experience to see how different American education is when compared to the Chinese system,” Roberts said.
Now in dress code
By Kiara Thomson Gator Pants Club, a new club on campus, has sought out to cover up the once unclothed Gator mascot. The club aims to provide new duds for the mascot while it supports athletes at Gator sporting events. “The club meets Mondays after school and it is kids that have fun ideas to provide new stuff to do around campus,” Gator Pants Club advisor, Katherine Davis said.
GATORS DANCE UP A STORM
NEWS 5
By Nora-Jo Paramo The dance team is stronger than ever and ready to step it up for the 2016-17 school year. With upcoming challenges, this year should give them opportunities to strive for greatness. “This year is better because we all know each other well and definitely are more united,” junior Briana Burt said. Along with the returning members, the newcoming dancers are working hard without distractions to make this another remarkable year. As of recently, the dance coach, Nury Diepiazza, has been out due to a knee injury. “Practices are different without our coach there,” Burt said. “The good thing is that we have our captain who is responsible and good at being in charge.” The dancers usually have two hours of practice Monday through Friday. “People may think dance is easy, but it’s really not,” sophomore Jada Isaac said. “Practices are hard, and we typically only get one easy-going day per week. We really train to the best of our ability.” Team members claim practices have definitely been a crucial factor for allowing the team to have plenty of time to get to know one another. “It’s definitely a really good team,”
Brynne Hilton
The Dance Team all cohesively leap in the air during a jazz routine at the Homecoming Assembly on Oct. 7, 2016.
sophomore and co-captain Asia Siv said. “Majority wise, everyone pulls through. We get along pretty well.” The dancers stay motivated throughout all the obsticles they face because each member is passionate about meeting the expectations they have for themselves and for the whole team. “I definitely see myself continuing dancing for our school for the rest of my high school career,” sophomore Kathrinna
A CLUB FOR THE HALF DEAD By Lexi Demoleas
The love of the half-dead runs rampant among the living. This year, students have banded together and made a club especially for their undead loves, creating The Walking Dead club. They talk about their love for the show after every episode the previous day. Every week is a new episode, new meetings, and a whole new experience. All of them get together to bond over their favorite show, The Walking Dead. “We started the club because we love The Walking Dead and it helps us when to understand the episodes when we talk it out,” president and freshman Hanna Davis said. The thrilling scenes and intense plot line keep the meetings lively. “I love the gore and the weapons from the show,” Davis said “It makes it more enticing for the group.” Freshman Vice President, Jaryn Lowe, and Davis are best friends and run the meetings together. “We all care about each other; it’s kind of like being in another family,” Lowe said. The group has bonded in all of their meetings, banding them together, especially as the show has progressed on. While in meetings they have many adventures when watching the new episodes
every week. These episodes have meaning to the club members emotionally. “I think we watch The Walking Dead because we get attached to all the chaos and the characters. We root for the good guys, and sometimes the bad guys too,” Lowe said. “You find a character that’s interesting and as soon as they get in trouble, you get intrigued. You can’t put the show down once you get attached to a character.” Members get so attached to characters that they are even affected by their deaths. “When characters die we all have a group mourning, and if we hated them and they die we are really happy,” Davis said. On the other hand, some deaths have been extremely surprising. “The most disappointing death was Glenn’s. No one really expected it.” Lowe said. “How he died on the show is how he died in the comic book series, but the show usually never went by the comics so it really surprised me.” The club acts like a family and is tightly bound. All of this happened all because of a television show. Although, to them it’s much more than a television show, it’s now a vital part of their lives. “That’s what Walking Dead fans do, we cry, we accept, then we make memes,” Lowe said.
Santos said. “I truly enjoy performing and being a part of the team.” They have to balance their studies and come to rehearsals with their minds and bodies ready to work hard towards their goals. Upcoming events for the team include competitions hosted by local schools and the Sharp Nationals competition, which they have won for the past three years. They hope to make this their fourth consecutive year.
Check out By Hailey Gross Almost every human enjoys fast food as a rare indulgence, whether it be a Big Mac from McDonalds or a large pizza from Dominos. A new addition to the Henderson area will be coming in early 2017. Chick-fil-A has started construction and is one step closer to opening with ten all-new locations. One will be located just around the corner from our campus at 460 N. Stephanie Street. Chick-fil-A offers various styles of chicken, from their famous Classic Chicken Sandwich, to their all new and improved breakfast platter, including chicken, hash browns, and pancakes. “I love Chick-fil-a, and I literally drive to California every three months with my family to get it,” sophomore Esther Dominguez said. “The chicken there is better than Canes or Chicken Shack, you can’t beat that sandwich. The chicken tastes fresh and moist, and it is just a real welcoming place to eat with my family.”
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
6 FEATURE
GOALS for the new year
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By Erinn Veach ith the turning over of a new year, everyone will be looking back at 2016 and forward to a much better 2017. With a not-so-favorable year being left behind for many, it is the perfect time to begin adopting a positive outlook on what is yet to come with a New Year’s resolution. Everyone crams during that last week of December for the perfect resolution. Countless moments dedicated to finding the most inspirational, productive, social media worthy objective. A New Year’s resolution can be fun way to open the year. “I really like the concept of New Year’s resolutions,” senior Selena Krohn said. “Starting the year off on a positive note is great and makes it so you can look forward to what is to come.” This tradition sounds all good, the push to be optimistic in the face of a new year and to innovate a new self, yet the yearly custom may not be all that meets the eye. “Resolutions would be much more worthwhile if they were followed through,” said sophomore Aislinn Farmer. Many people forget their resolution or give up on it a month into the new year. Most do not even remember it at the end
of the year when coming up with a new one. This is because there is no real drive behind the goal. “It is hard to have a long term goal and if you don’t really want to do it and don’t have your mind set to it,” sophomore Jennifer Haberstock said. “You’re not going to accomplish anything if you don’t have the drive to make a change.” Many goals are also generic and broad, so unspecific that it would be hard to reach in the first place. The basic ones are, but not limited to: “go on a diet,” “be happier,” “stress less,” or “exercise more.” These are all great aspirations, yet people are missing the stepping stones to accomplish these. The big, shiny finishing line of the resolution cannot be reached without knowing how to get there. “If you don’t know what you are doing, you’ll never follow through with the resolution,” Krohn said. The main purpose is often given up on because it seems so large and unattainable. To battle the loss of hope, one can find a smaller temporary goal to chase that leads to the ultimate. For example, if the goal is to stress less, take out 15 minutes of the day to relax or to find something enjoyable and make time for it. Add on to the base goal in order to reach the original one.
“If you plan out your goal, you’re going to be able to do it,” Haberstock said. “If you just run head first into it, you’re going to lose sight of what you want. Goals are a great thing when you do it right.” Haberstock is taking her approach to her resolution right, taking individual steps to becoming a better flag football player. Slowly yet surely healing an injured shoulder is part of that goal. “I want to improve my football skills for the upcoming season being on varsity and reach and surpass were I was before I injured my shoulder,” Haberstock said. “I plan on working on my physical therapy exercises first. After I work for a while on those I can begin to practice my throwing so it becomes better.” Many other students, such as Krohn, are working towards their goal in effective ways. Finishing off long term goals are also great subjects of a resolution. “My resolution is to work hard and prepare to be in the Marines,” Krohn said. “I’m finally going to be able to accomplish this goal I’ve wanted for a long time.” “When done right, New Year’s resolutions are great ways to make a better you for the coming of the next year. Take this chance to make a change for 2017 and beyond,” Farmer said.
Erinn Veach
data retrieved from www.statisticbrain.com
Leading both on and off the field
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Kiara Thomson
Senior Isabela Cipili listens to directions from the coaching staff as she prepares for a game vs. Basic on Jan. 11, 2017.
By Kiara Thomson A true tomboy at heart, she was able live out the dream of becoming a princess for a day. Senior Isabela Cipili recently competed in the Miss Teen Nevada pageant on November 13, 2016. It is more than glamorous gowns and makeup for Cipili, though. To be a real winner, it takes more than just looks. Giving back to the community and being a role model to girls is the real prize for her. “I started competing my freshmen year, just to try it, and I ended up really liking it,” Cipili said. “This pageant was my second time competing in Miss Teen Nevada.” Cipili is not one to shy away from competition, as she embraces cleats and a football on the Girls’ Flag Football team. Trading in the cleats for heels, Cipili does admit that the change took a lot of practice to get used to. Stepping outside the
I rarely get the opportunity to dress up, besides homecoming and prom.
- senior Isabela Cipili
box and trying something new is how this athlete turned into a pageant girl. Pageant judges don’t only pay attention to who looks the best, but who has the most confidence. Simple things such as standing up straight with shoulders back was crucial to master before competing. “The most important thing to remember when you are on stage is to present yourself with self-confidence and a smile,” Cipili said. In this year’s Miss Teen Nevada pageant, the idea of girls modeling swimwear was traded for modeling athletic apparel. Many, including Cipili, were extremely ex-
FEATURE 7
cited for this change. “I thought the idea of girls wearing sports bras and yoga pants was cute, but we still had to train to look our best.” Cipili said. “My normal schedule consists of going to the gym after school, but a week or two before the pageant I make sure to cut out carbs and eat healthier.” Physically preparing for the pageant was one thing, but mentally preparing was a whole different ball game. Girls who are selected to compete must first submit a profile about themselves, that included a picture and a biography. Afterwards, these profiles were sent to the judges. The judges would then take each girl competing and have an interview with them. This is an area where many girls lower their chances of winning, not Cipili though, who was awarded “Best Interview.” “My mom and I would be cooking in the kitchen and she would ask me a random question and I would have to answer off of the top of my head. That helped a lot,” Cipili said. Many wonder how she is able to handle all the pressure of doing multiple extracurricular activities. Cipili seems to not only embrace it, but she enjoys being involved. As the quarterback of the flag football team, she is familiar with taking charge and having to lead, with laser focus. Coach David Torez, the head varsity flag football coach, would know this best for he sees the work she does both on and off the field. “Isabela is now looked at as one of the best female quaterbacks in the state. Starting her freshman year with never even throwing a football, to now becoming a team leader on and off the field. You will never see her using foul language or putting girls down. She is a great example to our younger players,” Torez said. Just like the pageant, Cipili took on flag football as an opportunity to try something new. She is one of the few ladies who have been in the flag football program even before teams could officially compete for a state title. Cipili has brought in high numbers and impressive stats throughout the years. “If I had a daughter, I would want her to be similar to Bela. She is dedicated, respectful, and willing to try new things,” Torez said. Besides the busy times, she is constantly reminded that she is a role model to girls in her community and at home. Cipili has a younger sister who hopes to become a future gator and make an impact on the school like Cipili has. Representing our district well, many couldn’t think of anyone better to compete in Miss Teen Nevada than Cipili. A girl that can do it all if she puts her mind to it.
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
The Final March Brynne Hilton
Band director for 26 years, Diane Koutsulis conducts her students during the annual Fine Arts Assembly one final time.
By Deanna Chea
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or years, Gators have celebrated and encouraged the Fine Arts, and band director Diane Koutsulis has been a lead instigator. After 26 years at GV, her final days of conducting are coming to an end, and she leaves a legacy of success behind her. “It’s kind of weird,” Koutsulis said. “I’m trying really hard to make this year not about me, but about my seniors. I’m trying to be distant from the lastness of it.” Koutsulis has earned a collection of accolades throughout her career, being recognized as the 1999 Nevada Teacher of the Year and receiving the 1999 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. She has attained a reputation as a talented conductor and guest clinician and is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, Nevada Music Educators Association, Music Educators National Conference, and National Band Association. Koutsulis has also been inducted into both the CCSD and Nevada State Education Hall of Fame. “I think that it’s really important for
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teachers to learn and grow too,” Koutsulis said. “I hope that I’m a better conductor and a better teacher, and I hope that I’m a better person.” Beginning her career at Las Vegas High School in 1982, Koutsulis maintained the school’s band program for almost a decade before moving to Green Valley. Since the opening of GVHS in 1991, she has remained a dedicated educator and important mem-
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“I remember my first year at Las Vegas because it was the hardest year of my teaching career.” -Band Director, Diane Koutsulis
ber of the Gator staff. Under Koutsulis, the program has blossomed. “I remember my first year at Las Vegas because it was the hardest year of my teaching career,” Koutsulis said. “It was great, and I had great experiences there. I always say that that school taught me how to be a teacher. When I came to Green Valley it was really different because the kids
came from all different programs and everything was run differently.” Under Koutsulis’ baton, the band bleeding blue and green has been named one of the best in the country. She has also led her students to success in that they are the only band from Nevada to play at the Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference. The program has won a plentitude of awards, showcased in the band room. The band has had a history of excellence, winning superior ratings at many competitions, including third place at The Sound Across the Valley Marching Band Competition. The band has also won top scores at their annual NMEA Band Festival. Additionally, in 2002, the Gator music department was awarded the Grammy Signature Schools Gold Award, saved for top tier excellence in music education. “I think what I’ll miss most is the musicmaking,” Koutsulis said. “I won’t miss getting up at five o’clock in the morning, all the paperwork, or the attendance. But I will miss that time I have with the kids making amazing music and continuously getting better. Now I look forward to festival because it’s one of my favorite performances.
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Above - In the past 15 years, the renowned band program has grown tremendously under Koutsulis.
I feel like students know so much about the work and the composer, and these works that we do are so global. They learn so much about something really special, and it comes together in one performance.” The band has played in New York’s Carnegie Hall twice, the Chicago Symphony Hall, and the 2010 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They have even travelled across the world to Spain, China, Rome, England, and Scotland. With each trip, the band has brought its astounding musical
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“I think high school kids are amazing and will rise to occasion. That ability to adapt is really important. -Band Director, Diane Koutsulis
presence to various audiences. The band has also had the privilege of performing at both the 1993 Clinton and 2009 Obama Presidential Inaugural Parades. . “I think there are too many great memories to only pick one that stands out,”
Koutsulis said. “As a band and family, we have made memories that we’ll never forget, and they were just so happy and such a party for everyone. How do you forget London? Paris? Rome? You really don’t, so there’s no way I could say there’s been one favorite trip.” Koutsulis believes in teaching her students not only music but things that will help them throughout their lives, like discipline, respect, and perseverance. She only teaches music with rich backgrounds and substance. “I think that you need to be able to work with other people well and be a team member,” Koutsulis said. “You also need to be hardworking. I think that high school kids are amazing and will rise to occasion. So many of my students take so many difficult classes and have so much homework, yet they’re still here doing band stuff. I think that you need to have that understanding that sometimes you’re going to be really tired, but that you still need to keep working. That ability to adapt is really important.” After four years of working alongside
Koutsulis, Carla Froelich will become the new head director next year. This year, she will accompany Koutsulis and the band to perform in the New York Lincoln Center in April. “I’m grateful for all the wonderful expe-
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“I feel so grateful that Green Valley has always been so supportive of the arts...and I think you need to consistently challenge kids to do better and work harder. -Band Director, Diane Koutsulis
riences,” Koutsulis said. “I feel so grateful that Green Valley has always been so supportive of the arts and still is, and I think you need to consistently challenge kids to do better and work harder. If you give them the space and tools to do it, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. I’m really hopeful for the future at Green Valley High School because I feel like it can be even better than it is. I’m just really, really excited for them.”
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
10 FEATURE
Lena Navarro
Cheating epidemic spirals out of control By Sarah Fernandez & Lena Navarro Pressure, unconfidence, procrastination, and fear, all create the perfect mix for the final dish: cheating. According to a recent anonymous survey on campus, cheating is running rampant in Gator nation. This 2016-2017 school year, 81% of students admitted to some form of academic dishonestly and 48% self-reported cheating on tests. Additionally, 15% of students claimed to have cheated more than ten times within the first semester. Academic cheating, defined as representing someone else’s work as your own, is often considered the biggest epidemic facing high schoolers and their instructors. According to Stanford University, cheating among high school students has risen dramatically during the past several decades and no longer carries the same disapproving stigma that it used to. While about 20% of college students admitted to cheating in
high school during the 1940’s, today between 75 and 98% of college students surveyed each year report having cheated in high school. Along with most high schools across the country, Gators have become notorious cheaters and have figured out new and ingenious ways to cheat. “Before tests, I usually see classmates scribbling answers or equations on their desks to look at during the exam,” sophomore Sammy Wright said. Although students claim cheating on tests to be rather difficult, they have found more strategies to get their way. “When teachers aren’t looking, some kids will slip out their phones under their desks and look up answers on the internet,” junior Tina Ngo said. Interestingly enough, the students are not the only ones who view their fellow peers using clever techniques to cheat. The teachers do as well.
“The most popular ways kids cheat in my class is either writing answers on the desk and then trying to erase them, or students will have a slip of paper or their notes on the floor during a test,” English 9 and 9 honors teacher Roselili Vargas said. Theresa Hayter, an IB Math teacher to upperclassmen, sees several ways in which kids cheat. In fact, these problems largely arise from cellphones, since the answer keys and problems for her tests are all on the internet. “I’ve even had some students go as far as sneaking the test out of the classroom after asking to use the restroom and trying to sneak it back in,” Hayter said. The mischief does not stop here. “Sometimes I mix study guides with the test. So if teachers walk around they just think I have nothing but the test packet out,” said an anonymous student. “I also take pictures of the study guide and make it my lock screen.”
FEATURE 11 As for homework, with the ability to take assignments outside of the classroom, students find it easy to cheat without getting caught in the act. “Kids are able to easily exchange their work and copy it down or take pictures and send them to friends,” Ngo said. These incidences are practiced by a bulk of the school community, however, there is a significant population of students standing up to their peers’ dishonest measures. “When a classmate asks for my work for them to copy, unless they have helped me in the past, I say no,” senior Madi Nelson said. “I spent a long time doing it. I feel like if I should have to go through all that trouble so should they.” Gators may see this act of refusing to hand over answers as rude and unsympathetic. Nonetheless, contrary to popular belief, these strong-willed students may be ultimately helping cheaters. “I usually help my friends with their homework but I don’t let people copy off of me. I feel like that deprives them of learning,” freshman Natalee Amhaz said. Unlike these resistors of the status quo, the cheating majority also utilizes popular cheating strategies such as plagiarizing work from the internet, taking pictures of tests and distributing them, buying and selling completed assignments, and even bringing a permitted graphing calculator into a test. This lack of academic integrity occurs in all different class types and levels. According to not only national statistics, but also campus data, math and science courses are the most popular to cheat in. Additionally, students in advanced classes with more
Lena Navarro
rigorous coursework tend to cheat three times as often as their peers in regular classes. According to the campus survey, 68% of cheating activity comes from honors, AP and IB students. Chemistry teacher, Dale Streigle, has had significant problems with cheating throughout his teaching career and highlights the dishonest tendencies of high achieving students. “The first year I had honors classes, I mentioned to the departmental chair that I noticed more honors students copying from each other’s homework than did regular students,” Streigle said. “His response was ‘grades mean more to the honors students, but they are not willing to work
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In advanced classes, all students can see are the grades they think will dictate their futures.
- Math teacher, Theresa Hayter harder by studying. They just work harder to cheat.’ This seemed rather cynical, but I have found it has rung true throughout the years.” Many educators claim these efforts put into cheating are in attempt to satisfy social pressures from a performance based culture. “In my honors and IB classes, that’s where all the pressure is. Pressure to get the good grades, to have the right class ranking and to get into the right colleges,” Hayter said. “That pressure sometimes makes students feel like they do not know enough and need to cheat in order to get
the grades they desire.” According to Harvard’s Department of Psychology, academically gifted students have the highest incidences of stress, anxiety, and mental disorders. All of which they connected to academic duress and perfectionism. “In advanced classes, all students can see are the grades they think will dictate their futures. And with the competition for admission into universities, students are more willing to do whatever it takes to get near perfect scores,” Hayter said. Former Ivy League admissions officers mention the increased difficulty to get into elite schools in the past decade. In addition to the sheer number of high school seniors applying, the expectations for applicants have expanded. “If I want to get into my dream universities, I have to maintain my high grades as well as my leadership positions. My schedule is so crammed that I pay classmates for answers on busy work,” one anonymous AP student said. “I don’t see this as cheating because I shouldn’t have to spend precious time on assignments I’m not learning anything from.” Additionally, with about 77% of parents checking students’ grades, many educators also consider parental stress as a factor in the cheating equation. “It’s not just students that care about their grades. It’s also their parents that care. I think many kids cheat out of fear. Fear of their parents’ wrath and that they aren’t going to understand why they have a zero or a bad grade for an assignment,’” English teacher Julie Bravo said. “This kind of scrutiny is more likely to breed dis-
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Sarah Fernandez
honesty.” This being said, teachers also blame students for their lazy and procrastinating tendencies. “I think the majority of us have an addiction, more or less, to our phones and social media. So the vast majority of people struggle with procrastination. Through the process of making little bad choices, students end up in a time crunch before due dates, panic and resort to cheating,” Bravo said. Students reveal these explanations regarding their academic dishonesty to be true. However, a majority of students push some of the blame directly onto their educators. For instance, it’s evident that grades, rather than education, creativity or honesty has become the major focus of students. “Our school system is all based on this priority of grades. It only stresses kids out, makes them cheat, and doesn’t actually allow them to learn,” IB senior Kyriacos Demetriou said. Students also perceive teachers’ curriculums to be over reliant on memorization rather than learning, and claim this fuels the cheating crisis in high schools. “I think kids cheat because tests and quizzes test a student’s ability to memorize
The InvestiGator t January 2017
ideas rather than their ability to exercise concepts,” Nelson said. “In a short amount of time, we are expected to learn dense information that does not always apply to anything we experience.” With this widespread belief that the education system tests only memorization, students claim to have fallen into the process of cram, memorize, regurgitate, score well and then forget. “The fact that we’re often tested on how much we can memorize, makes some kids not value the materials and therefore, just resort to cheating. Educators simply look at the grade. They don’t look at how kids got it,” Wright said. Another popular explanation is the lack of connection and support from teachers. “Everything gets so much harder in high school and students feel like they’re on their own,” Amhaz said. “If teachers had more faith in students, genuinely wanted them to succeed and tried connecting with them, students would cheat less often.” Constant threats and sometimes aggressive language from educators have also been claimed to put a wedge between them and their students. “The schools and teachers are constantly putting threats on us to try and prevent cheating and to some extent, have become
disconnected with their students,” Demetriou said. English 10 teacher Julie Bravo, in contrast with a majority of her community of teachers, agrees with students on the ineffectiveness of preventing cheating with the stressing of punishment. “If a kid is scared to do an assignment, but they’re also scared of their parents, you don’t solve the problem by instilling more fear in them,” Bravo said. In fact, the Nevada Department of Education has implemented a Code of Honor, which is present in the official course catalog that explains the implications of cheating and plagiarism. It states that “the learning process requires students to think, process, organize and create their own ideas,” and that therefore cheating and plagiarism go against this mentality and objective. Consequences vary from class to class, department to department, and teacher to teacher, but usually cheating is disciplined with moderate punishment. “Scholastic dishonesty may result in a required parent conference (RPC), serving time in the responsible thinking classroom (in-house) and/or serving an off campus suspension for up to 10 days. Cheating also looks horrible on a student’s academic re-
FEATURE 13
-cord,” dean Raymond Ortiz said. Additionally, teachers have created their own approaches upon discovering the cheating of a student. “Usually, I try to give kids the benefit of the doubt. So during a test, I’ll walk around, and if there’s paper underneath the desk I’ll tell them to put it away rather than accusing them of cheating straight away,” Vargas said. “And if there’s hand writing on a desk, I tell them to erase it, give them a zero, and simply make them retake the test.” In the handling of cheating incidents, programs like IB have higher consequences because of the special diploma. “If IB students are caught cheating, in certain circumstances, they can get kicked out of the program and not get the diploma they’ve been working so hard for,” Hayter said. “A couple years back, we had an IB student plagiarized one of the papers they had to turn into the IB program. They obviously recognized the plagiarism and that student had to drop the program.” Educators stress the punishments of academic cheating, however, they claim the fundamental goal is to prevent the incidents of of academic dishonestly.
“
If I had to give cheaters a reason to not cheat, I’d tell them that by cheating off others, you are cheating yourself
- Chemistry teacher, Dale Streigle
“Part of the way we teachers can decrease the incidents of plagiarism is making sure we have done everything we can to scaffold the kids up to what they need to do, and not just throw out an assignment,” Bravo said. “If we step them through the process, then we’re not going to have many kids who cheat. A lot of it comes from knowing your students and having a relationship with your students where you can actively seek to read them and to where they feel comfortable talking to you.” Most often, teachers utilize their knowledge that students care most about grades, and therefore implement strategies that associate cheating with a decline (rather than the expected incline) in academic achievement. “I will make slightly different versions of homework assignments (same assignment but with numeric values slightly different) to gauge the degree of copying and hopefully deter the copying,” Streigle said. “I would then give the students quizzes over the material covered in the homework. Students who had never attempted to solve the problems would do quite poorly, and would realize their grade would suffer if they decided to copy the worksheets.” At the end of the day, humans are egotistical by nature. Furthermore, with the direct benefit students experience from
Lena Navarro
scholarly dishonesty, they do not plan on ending their cheating tendencies. But as some teachers point out, although this cheating may be helping kids in the short run, it may cause a long term disadvantage. “If I had to give cheaters a reason to not cheat, I’d tell them that by cheating off others, you are cheating yourself,” Streigle said. “Instead of building a strong foundation for future success, you are building a house of cards which will ultimately collapse at some point in your career.” Educators in higher education and even Fortune 500 companies all stress the de-
sire to prevent kids from taking dishonest shortcuts while pursuing academic success. So the next time a student plans on swiping the answers from a friend or browsing for an answer key online, they are advised to weigh the benefits with the consequences; not just the RPCs and detentions, but also the deterrents on personal character. “Cheating demonstrates someone giving up on themself. Admit when you drop the ball and forget to finish a task, accept the responsibility for your actions. I would prefer to fail with honor than win by cheating,” Ortiz said.
January 2017t The InvestiGator
14 SPORTS
Hockey team skates into town
The Vegas Golden Nights recently revealed their logo to the general public in an event at T-Mobile Arena.
O
By Seth Beekman
ne thing many Vegas sports fanatics have always wanted is a professional sports team in their city, and now they officially have one to call their own. On Nov. 22, team owner Bill Foley held an event to reveal the long awaited team name, logo, colors, and other team associated information. The Las Vegas hockey team will be named the Vegas Golden Knights and the logo is a helmet that forms the letter V, standing for Vegas. The team colors will be steel grey, gold, red, and black. The steel grey and gold represents strength and the red comes from the Las Vegas Skyline. The black originates from the mountains around the valley. The Golden Knights will play in the T-Mobile Arena located on Las
The InvestiGator t January 2017
Vegas Boulevard. “I’m really excited for this team to come to Vegas. I’m a huge hockey fanatic and look forward to seeing professional games in Vegas,” sophomore Grant Schenkel said. The team has received outstanding sup-
“
I already purchased my season tickets for the season.
- sophomore Omar Arellano
port from the community. Over 16,000 people had already put down deposits for season tickets before the team was even officially announced by the NHL. “I already purchased my season tickets for the 2017-2018 season, I am personally a Los Angeles Kings fan but I still love to watch the sport I love and I finally got the
opportunity so I jumped on it,” sophomore Omar Arellano said. The Las Vegas community has always wanted a professional sports team but many around the country have questioned whether or not there was enough popularity. After holding preseason and minor league games to see how well it would end up doing, the sport gained popularity to the point where Las Vegas could get its own team. This was the beginning of the Golden Knights. The professional team also plans to impact the community in numerous ways. It will bring jobs to the Valley and bring in a lot of people for tourism. “I think having the team in Vegas will greatly affect the economy and bring plenty of jobs and opportunites to the people of Vegas,” sophomore Scott Gruber said. Many wonder how the team is going to fill out a roster. It will happen through something called an expansion draft. Every NHL team will select five players that they want safe and then the Golden Knights will select one player from each team that is not labeled as safe. When the expansion draft is complete, Vegas will have their 20172018 team. Geroge McPhee was announced as the general manager of the team. McPhee was a former GM for the Washington Capitals and had an exceptional career there. He made the postseason four times and won a divisonal championship. McPhee made it to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals but ended up losing to the New York Rangers. He plans on bringing a winning culture to the team and brings a championship mindset to the table. The Golden Knights will be playing in Vegas in no time and look forward to having the chance to bring the city and people of Las Vegas their first ever major professional sports championship.
Athlete conquers grueling Spartan Races By Casey Li When asked what type of sport you play, most people would say soccer, football or tennis. For sophomore Gwyneth Miller, her preferred activity would be Spartan Races. Spartan Races began in the United States in 2007 and have since grown to encompass 14 other countries like Australia, courtesy of Gwyneth Miller
Sophomore Gwyneth Miller pauses for a quick picture during a recent race.
SPORTS 15
Canada, and South Korea. Spartan Races try to incorporate 20 to 60 obstacles to far distances ranging from 3 to 26 miles. Spartan Races are not meant for the faint of heart, as exemplified by obstacle courses only designed for the military. Not only do contestants need speed and perseverance, but they also need strength and overall power. “When I was doing the longest race that I have done, which was 16 miles, the last part of it was 7 hours long. They were spraying us with fire hoses as we headed across barbed wire,” Miller said. “One of the hardest ones for me, because I am small, is the 16 feet wall you have to climb over.” Not only are Spartan Races physically draining, but mentally as well. “One time I broke down and I told my dad to leave me in the forest,” Miller said. She has been participating in Spartan Race events in California and Nevada for the past two years. Over that course of time, Miller has had a strict exercise schedule. “Make sure you train before you run. You can train by running every day, which is what I am doing, or go to an obstacle course gym.” she said. “I run every day when I get home from school and go to the gym every Saturday and Wednesday.”
Despite its intensity and rigor, Spartan Races are for anyone who feels motivated to become a stronger person. “I like to see how strong I get as I keep doing them,” Miller said. “When you start them you feel like you can’t do it, but when you realize you do it at the end, it is a really satisfying. It’s the ‘I actually did it’ feeling, and it makes you want to do more.” Spartan races can be found nearby in California, Nevada, and Arizona throughout the year.
team and coach. “Before I graduate, I hope I can help the team get better [as a whole] and leave behind a better bowling program. This year I’m going to keep bowling for my senior year and hopefully go to college [on a partial scholarship] for bowling,” Gerencser said. “[I try to demonstrate] commitment to the bowlers so we can fill the whole team this season and have at least 10 bowlers,” McElhaney said. 141 colleges across the country offer bowling scholarships, but full scholarships
to keep the title hopefully forever. “We compete against different schools. I was on JV last year, but Foothill was a big competition. We always want to beat Coronado,” senior Jalen Jones said. “For tournaments, like the quarterfinals, I usually try to practice every day of the week before the actual tournament. Even with all the competitiveness when the season starts, my favorite part is meeting new people,” Gerencser said.
Miller and her family pose together after receiving their medals.
Knocking them down, one pin at a time By Kaeli Britt
2,169 points versus 2,061 points. Senior Joseph Gerencser bowled a 225, 258, and 226 which led to the 9-0 win against Silverado at the Sunrise region quarterfinals last season. This year’s bowling season inches nearer, and the anticipation is rising to see who will take home the title of region and state champions. It’s not every day that one hears about an All-State bowler in comparison to other sports like football, basketball, baseball, or even soccer. “I think bowling is a sport, but it doesn’t bother me when other people say it isn’t,” Gerencser said. While he started to bowl at an early age, Gerencser, like most, didn’t start off as good a bowler as he is now. “I started bowling when I was around five. I went to a birthday party and I thought it was really fun,” Gerencser said. “It took a while, but I just kept practicing.” Gerencser’s talent has also been recognized by his coach, Brandi McElhaney. “Yes, he’s always been good. Joe has been a beast since day one. I remember my students coming up and telling me before he was even in high school saying, ‘This kid’s coming up and is going to be your bowler.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever,’ but then he comes and just blows everyone away,” McElhaney said. Gerencser hopes to make this season the best, last [high school] season with his
“
Even with all the competitiveness, my favorite part is meeting new people.
- senior Joseph Gerencser
are only given out at women’s varsity level. With chances of 1 in 29,105 people receiving a scholarship, partial and full, those odds are higher than other sports, but the limit of these scholarships being handed out is five per school in a single school year. “I’m looking at Wichita State University for college right now. You can’t get full rides for men’s bowling; that’s only for women’s bowling. Men’s bowling isn’t NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association)”, Gerencser said. As the winners of last season’s quarterfinals, this year’s bowling team is prepared
Bethany Casall
Senior Joe Gerenscer bowls down an alley at Sunset Station during practice.
January 2017
t
The InvestiGator
THE TWO PARTIES
The 2016 election was definitely one of the most controversial events to happen last year. Constant media back and forths involving both candidates, along with the arrival of ‘Fake News’, FBI investigations mid-campaign, and Twitter tirades led to what many considered a major upset and ultimately a Donald Trump victory on election night.
Throw Back
on
16 A&E
16 ‘
VICTORY OF THE CENTURY The Chicago Cubs ended 108 years of
futility, finally capturing a World Series title with a thrilling Game 7 victory over the Cleveland Indians. The game began on a Wednesday
20
by Maycee Labo
HANDLING HARAMBE
Many Americans threatened to move to Canada because they thought the Presidential election candidates were that bad. In fact, the Canadian Immigration website shut down due to overuse after the election. This election was unlike any other, because throughout history these two candidates, Clinton and Trump were the least popular in History.
BETTER AS A BLOND
After a much anticipated wait, Frank Ocean released his new album, Blond. Fans have been waiting for his release since 2012 when he released his last album Channel Orange.
Many people thought Frank Ocean ran off the face of the Earth or got lost in the Bermuda Triangle. But after years of waiting the album finally arrived. The number one song on the album is Pink & White, Beyonce’s vocals appear near the end of the track, and it was co-produced by Pharrell and Tyler the Creator. Some of the other popular songs on his album are White Ferrari, Godspeed, Skyline to, and Siegfried.
The InvestiGator t January 2017
Among all the other iconic figures lost in 2016, America lost Harambe. Harambe was a gorilla that was shot and killed in the Cincinnati Zoo when a baby fell into the gorilla enclosure on May 28. Harambe passed at the young age of 17. Soon after the death, enormous amounts of memes began to erupt from people who were distraught. The memes took over Twitter, Instagram, and almost all other social media outlets. They were everywhere, from tip jars, to banners in schools. In fact, the meme went so viral that 1,000 people wrote Harambe on their voting ballots for the 2016 election.
night and carried on into early Thursday morning. After a rain delay in the 9th inning, Chicago pushed two runs across in the top of the 10th inning and held on to win. Once the Cubs won, fans went crazy. One fan in particular held up a sign that said “Now I can die in peace.”
THIRSTY FOR LEMONADE
A SONG AND A DANCE Over the course of the past year, many new dances have come about. The Juju, the Whip, the Naenae, the Dab, the Folks, the Milly Rock, you name it, and it’s probably a dance. The dances gained popularity over twitter, and other social media outlets. The most recent, the Mannequin
Challenge, went viral. Another dance that took off this year was the Yike. This dance was performed to the song Yiken (Certified) where the dancer grabs an object and he/she sways, from left to right. The challenge took off after the Rapper Rae Sremmurd posted a video to his song Black Beatles of the rapper and his friends holding poses while the music played.
Beyonce released her album #LEMONADE. #LEMONADE was no typical album; it was a visual album. This means, that there was a visual aide to go along with each of the songs. Beyonce also has an hour long video to accompany each of the songs on the album. The album featured a variety of genres including pop, blues, reggae, soul, rock, Americana, and more. It also features the voices of The Weeknd, James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, and Jack White. Many critics claimed that it was Beyonce’s biggest and boldest work. To add on to this, it was also her sixth consecutive number one album in the country.
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BRITAIN HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
Brexit was another highlight of 2016. It was when Britain left the European Union. The European Union is an economic and political partnership involving 28 countries. A vote was held and 52% of the population wanted Britain to leave. Since the referendum Britain has
got a new prime minister, Theresa May. The last prime minister, David Cameron, resigned after the votes were in to leave the European Union. The process of leaving is scheduled to begin in March, 2017, which means that it should be out by 2019.
MUSICIANS PLAY LAST NOTE
Unfortunately, over the past year, the deaths of many musical icons have occured. Prince died on April 21, 2016 and David Bowie passed on January 10, 2016. Prince died due to an accidental
drug overdose on opioid fentanyl. After his passing, Prince fans flocked to his memorial at his recording studio to leave paintings, pictures, etc. David Bowie died of liver cancer. Hours before
Bowie passed away a tribute concert was held at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Roots, Cyndi Lauper, The Mountain Goats, Heart’s Ann Wilson, Perry Farrell, and Jacob Dylan were all scheduled to perform at his memorial.
FIGHT FOR EQUALITY
FLIPPING FOR THE GOLD
truly showed how prevalent homophobia still is in society. It also reminded us of the great lengths that people will go to to harm those who are different than them. However, the terrible cricumstances brought the country closer together in the fight for gay rights.
T h e 2 0 1 6 Olympics was one for the books, especially for the U.S. The total medal count for America was 121, with 46 gold, 36 silver, and 37 bronze. The United States came in first, with the most medals over any country.
On June 12, vicious security guard, Omar Mateen, killed 49 people and wounded 53 at a gay nightclub called Pulse in Orlando, Florida. The shooting started at 2 am and lasted until 5 am. It’s considered one of the deadliest terrorist attacks since 9/11. It was also the biggest shooting that our nation has seen in history. This brutal hate crime
ICONIC FIGURES LEAVE THEIR MARK
Muhammad Ali died on June 3, 2016. Due to Septic shock, an organ failure and dangerously low blood pressure. A memorial service was held for Ali after his passing in Louisville, Kentucky, where his wife and many others paid their respects. Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in Star Wars, died on December 27, 2016 at 60 years old.
On a flight from London to Los Angeles, Fisher went into cardiac and was rushed to the nearest hospital to be treated but died later that night. Fisher’s memorial was held on December 29, 2016 privately in her Beverly Hills home which hosted 125 people including her daughter Billie Lourd and Meryl Streep.
What made it even more memorable was that it was Michael Phelps last Olympics, who is the most decorated Olympian of all time, leaving with 28 medals. In addition to this, Simone Biles who is unlike any other gymnast, first Olympics (she won gold), with many more to come. The women’s gymnastics team was on fire this year, providing the U.S. with 9 medals. Although many positive things happened this year in the Olympics, a few negative things happened as well. The one that sticks out the most, is the Ryan Lochte scandal. This year the 32-yearold swimmer lied about being held at gunpoint at a gas station, when in reality, he vandalized it. In consequence he lost major sponsors, was suspended from swimming for 10 months, and was publicly shamed on social media.
January 2017tThe InvestiGator
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Battle of the brews By Kaeli Britt
ea and coffee. Coffee and tea. You either love one or the other. Which is your favorite? 74% of high school students across the country drink coffee daily. 15% drink tea and 11% drink both. 65% of Americans drink their coffee with breakfast while 59% drink tea with theirs. Coffee’s popularity today goes back to the Revolutionary War. John Adams, the second U.S. president, declared that tea was a “traitor’s tea” which led to an unofficial 10 year boycott. During these 10 years, the Colonists had taken a liking to coffee and there was no going back. “I can’t start my day without having coffee. I’m a coffee advocate. I feel like tea is for old people,” senior Reagan Reyes said. Nationwide, few high school students drink tea daily. According to a survey taken conducted at Green Valley, 8 of 10 students prefer coffee which leaves 2 of 10 students that prefer tea when given a choice between the two. “I like a lot of different teas, but I’d choose tea because I don’t need a lot of caffeine,” sophomore Benel Higuchi said. While tea is continuing to gain ground thanks to its health benefits, coffee is still a go-to for many because of its kick that
Caffeine in Coffee (mg)
wakes you up and its different flavors. “It’s hype. You have to go to Starbucks, and Dutch Bros. It’s a must,” Reyes said. Following popular belief, coffee is the most consumed beverage next to water in the US. According to Coffee Review, coffee can be found in almost 83% of all households across the country. “I like coffee to get me moving and going - it wakes me up and that’s what it’s there for. Tea is relaxing, it makes me happy,”
“
I love matcha green tea...or black tea with milk - I love it.
-social studies teacher Kristina Lewis social studies teacher Kristina Lewis said. “I like the variations on tea, like Sleepytime Tea to go to bed at night. Or Chamomile tea - it calms you down.” Of the 80% of students that prefer coffee, half make it at home, 25% buy their coffee at Starbucks, and the rest get coffee from other places like Mothership on Green Valley Parkway and Dutch Bros on Tropicana Avenue. “My favorite drink is the Annihilator from Dutch Bros,” Reyes said. The Annihilator - one of Dutch Bros many unique specialty drinks - is a “chocolate macadamia nut sensation” that can be served hot, iced, or blended.
“There’s this one tea place I love near Pinkbox, it’s called Tea and Whisk,” sophomore Aislinn Farmer said. “You can buy barrels of tea blends, My favorite is the Island Coconut Hibiscus. I love fruity teas.” Although black tea is America’s favorite kind of tea, green tea has had an increasing popularity. Consumers today drink 40% more green tea than in 2000. And with only 50 mg of caffeine per 8 oz cup, it’s perfect for those not wanting the jittery side effects of coffee consumption. “I’m caffeine sensitive so if I down an entire cup of coffee, I’m wired. I usually drink it gradually throughout the day,” Lewis said. “Tea is for the afternoon and night. I love matcha green tea, not the ones from the bag. Or black tea with milk - I love it.” Before green tea became a trend, people drank tea for its taste, caffeine, and health benefits all rolled into one. When consumed daily, tea is proven to boost your metabolism, improve dental health, and can even relieve stress. “Mediterranean teas are really tasty while Chinese ones keep you energized,” Higuchi said. Since both drinks have good reason to be so popular, having to pick only one shouldn’t be the be all or end all. Hopefully, the day when coffee and tea lovers live amongst each other in peace is upcoming .
Caffeine in Tea (mg)
Lena Navarro
A&E 19
By Skylar Jones
Sarah Fernandez
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
20 PHOTO ESSAY
Top- Freshman Boy Band members pose for the crowd while classmates help them wrap up their act. Center right- Senior Michelle Inocencio shakes her hips while performing at the annual Boy Band Assembly. Center left- The dance team performs a lyrical routine at the second session of the Fine Arts Assembly. Bottom left - Sophomores Bryce Avecilla and Grayson Boyce throw their hands up in air as they show off their dance moves.
The InvestiGator t January 2017
Brynne Hilton
PHOTO ESSAY 21
Top- The sophomore class excitedly cheers for their Boy Band performers. Center left- Junior Taylor Coronado plays a jazz solo at the Winter Assembly. Center right- Senior Deanna Chea (left) and sophomore Julia Whiting-Reed carefully play their instruments during the annual Fine Arts Assembly. Left- Freshman cheerleader Amber Lara (left) fires up the crowd before the Boy Band groups take the floor. Brynne Hilton
The InvestiGator t January 2017
22 A&E
Bethany Casall
A&E 23
First Friday Frozen Over
O
By Ava Meade-Scarpitta
n the first Friday night of every month, downtown Las Vegas draws in artists and enthusiasts alike to celebrate local art and culture. These nights are filled with live music, the aroma of fresh paint and good food, gleeful chatter, and art to view in all mediums. Each month brings a new dynamic to the vibrant night. This December, locals braved the winter cold to come together and celebrate fresh Las Vegas art culture. “There’s not as much cultural diversity this December as in previous months, but there is a new kind of artistic diversity,” said senior Tovah Gordon. “I think maybe they just have to give everyone a chance to display their art. This time, they chose to show more, minimalistic, simplistic art whereas other months tend to have bigger picture pieces.” First Friday showcases a little something for everyone. Even with the cold weather keeping a great deal of the vendors, artists, and attendees inside this month, the event maintained a great variety of art and ambiance. “There definitely is an attraction of all the different kinds of artists, not just painters and artists that do sketching and fine arts, but the musicians, food, clothing, and jewelry pieces,” said Gordon. “A bunch of different arts getting together is really appealing because there’s rarely another time where you find so much artistic diversity in one place. It feels like it’s hard to come by, so having this be a monthly thing just makes me feel more validated as another artist. Maybe it’s not all the time, but we do have a place.” Many unique aspects come together to
Ava Meade-Scarpitta
Christmas tree lights set the mood in downtown Las Vegas’ very own Arts District.
make First Friday what it is. Style is an integral part of the event that tends to get overlooked. Whether it is casual or avant garde, people with all different musings come dressed to express. “First Friday December is a bit different than other First Fridays. I mean it’s colder and quieter so the style of people that are here has changed”, said Gordon. “At previous First Fridays, everyone was in a kind of freeform, body styling, but this one seems to be a lot more proper.” It’s important for people to understand that self-expression is limitless. Places like downtown Las Vegas that highly encourage it are inspiring and healthy to visit
whenever possible. First Friday can introduce people to a new kind of liveliness. “It’s a great place to display every single kind of art, and I think that it really needs to have more advertisement. It shouldn’t just be a select artistic, tumblr-esque group of people that belong here, everyone does,” said Gordon. “There was an African American woman selling jewelry that was beautiful and ethnic, and then we’ve got spray paint street artists and the man selling honey. Maybe it could be a little more kid-friendly, but there really is a place here for everyone.” Regardless of where you come from, what you wear, what your interests are, or whatever the weather is that day, keep an open mind and let First Friday show you what Las Vegas really has to offer.
Ava Meade-Scarpitta
First Friday attendees roam through the vendors’ tents shopping for art.
Ava Meade-Scarpitta
Senior Jamie Cordon checks out patches at the Desert Moon pop-up shop.
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
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Serving the Las Vegas Community and Helping Build a Better Tomorrow for our Youth
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Mannequin Craze By Michael Goldstein
The Mannequin Challenge, if you didn’t know, is a time-wasting task that involves one person holding a phone and pressing record. They then walk through a sea of people who are frozen (like mannequins) in different poses while pretending to do important things with their lives. The challenge started when teenagers from Twitter posted these videos to be funny, but it spiraled into a holding-still movement. Different musicians and schools are all doing the challenge and competing to see whose is the best. Some people pretend they’re playing a sport, some people pretend they’re working out, and others just stand there doing nothing. The problem is that they should just stop pretending to do these things and actually go do them.
If you are debating on whether or not to follow the twitter trend, to gather many innocent kids and force them to stand still against their will, then you may want to stop yourself now and save yourself from the pain that is to come from it. If you do decide to go through with it, then you must be prepared for people to be savages and move when they are not supposed to. You must be ready to take hundreds of takes to get the perfect one. You must ready yourself to do lots of editing and revising to get to your final draft. And finally, you must realize and accept the fact that you and many others who have helped you get this far have wasted a valuable part of your lives that you can never get back. All just for a few Twitter likes.
Reel vs. Real Life
OPINION 25
Sometimes when people do the challenge, they just can’t hold still. The viral video of Hillary Clinton and her staff on their plane doing the challenge shows many of them trying to hold still when the turbulence hit. Other times, famous rappers like Lil Uzi Vert and Rae Sremmurd have done the Mannequin Challenge while performing and tried to involve their audience. It might be a good idea to end this newfound fad and save us all from wasting any more of our precious time. After all, I have a Harlem Shuffle video shoot that I’m late for.
By Sydney Lum
High school movies are extremely entertaining, and not to mention, very wrong. They give you a false view of what high school is really like, because obviously none of us are singing We’re all in this together in perfect unison. Before going into high school you see these movies and it makes you so excited to be a high school student, and live the experience, and do all the fun things the kids in the movies do. Grease and High School Musical are examples of high school movies that are musical and perfect. It is hard to find the reality within these two movies, but believe it or not there some! In a perfect world, high school students would break out into song and dance at just the right times, clapping together to form a grand musical mob. Out of all high school movies, these two would never actually happen, unless we have a flash mob musical in the quad, or have a couple to lead us all like Troy and Gabriella or Danny and Sandy. Teen relationship movies are perfectly shown in Can’t Buy Me Love and Sixteen Candles. In both of these movies, you either roll with the popular crowd or you’re a nerd, which could be pretty comprable to actual high school life. Can’t Buy Me Love started with Ronald Miller, a nerd, being obsessed with wanting to be popular. He pays Cindy Mancini, the most popular girl in school, one thousand dollars to go out with him. They end up together because the fake dating turned into real feelings, or maybe she just wanted more money, which nowadays could be comparable to girls scamming guys out of
Some iconic scenes from Grease, The Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles, which are all classic films.
their money. Sixteen Candles had Samantha Baker, an unpopular sophomore, that had a huge crush on senior Jake Ryan, a popular athlete. She becomes friends with a freshman nerd who gets Jake to notice her for once. In the end of the movie, Samantha and Jake end up together celebrating her sixteenth birthday. Now these stories are all roses and daisies in the end but, it gives false hope for teenage relationships in high school. These are great stories, but these are the types of movies that paint a pretty unrealistc picture that doesnt happen to many people. Students causing drama is normal in high school, but not to the extent of Breakfast Club and Mean Girls. Breakfast Club includes students from completely different cliques having to spend their Saturday together in detention. It’s unusual that they all became
friends since they were so unalike, something which can actually happen sometimes in real life. Well wow, if only schools had Saturday detention so we could all become friends! In Mean Girls you have a ton of different cliques, but the Plastics are the clique that everyone praises. The Plastics treat everyone like they are beneath them, but in reality these drama filled girls would not get away with this in real life, whether or not they looked like Barbies. Although you may find some reality in these movies, there are so unrealistic happenings, that its obviously all false. They all have perfect endings which we all know we do not always get. Actually, most of the time, we don’t always get the guy or girl, or end up with five new friends after a bad experience. High school movies are fun to watch, and they sure are entertaining but as for the reality side of things, they’re not too strong.
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
26 OPINION
Before the Flood By Nastasha Koulich As a kid in elementary school, I was an avid, mediocre environmentalist who ran a club shielding a ginormous and shady tree. I was so serious about it that I had a bodyguard protecting it for the duration of recess. The passion I had for this club provoked me to send a letter to President Obama about some of my suggestions on how we can better preserve trees and why every single human being should plant a tree to expiate the guilt of cutting down 15 billion trees each year. To my pubescent surprise, I got a letter of correspondence back from The White House and it went along the lines of, “I am always eager to hear from young Americans like you...through achievement and service, you can achieve your highest dreams.” It is not a big deal now once I reflect
back on it because many people get these types of letters every day, but at the time I thought I was a vital figure in Obama’s life who gave him genius ideas regarding the saving of our planet. Yet all of these factors would make me become consistent with my passion for keeping our Earth uncontaminated into my teenage years. In one of those years, that year being 2016, I watched a recently released documentary that truly enlightened me yet petrified me. It was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and he named it “Before the Flood” because of a painting named The Garden of Earthly Delights by the virtuoso Hieronymus Bosch.
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The fate of the Earth and its possible changes are in the hands of human activity.
It had three foldable panels each depicting the beginning of the biblical Creation. One of the panels show a macabre and burning hell of an Earth due to the consequences of man’s actions, much unlike the two other panels that depict a paradise all around the land. Through the painting, I started wondering why people are not more concerned about the chance of humanity slowly dying off by the middle of the century; why they aren’t so terrified of the future and why people are more worried about petty events like why Angelina Jolie and Brad
Pitt divorced. But petty does not include this. Humanity has entered a new geological epoch, a new distinctive age in history, called the “Anthropocene”. It is an epoch where the fate of Earth and its possible changes are in the hands of human activity. What impacts climate change? Human activity, not natural phenomena and solar activity. One of these impacts is called the greenhouse effect and it’s caused by the four deadly gases of methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2, being the worst of the worst because carbon pollution, has destroyed half of the world’s forests, leaving 1.6 billion people worldwide without a livelihood. At this point, we only have 20% of our forests intact all over the world. This is also known as deforestation, as palm oil, agribusiness, soy, pulp, paper, beef and cattle which are the primary polluters of freshwater. The production of beef is significantly worse than that of any other dairy production because cows release methane into the atmosphere which trap heat 20 times more effectively than any other gas. Methane is regarded as a ticking time bomb due to its chemical makeup. Its signs of explosion are found in Arctic sinkholes that contain CH4 and mile long sheets of methane bubbles formed in the sea around Siberia. In Earth’s history, most life on our planet has died off five times due to deadly temperatures and the methane explosion was what drove it all off of the edge. It was the final straw.
wikipedia.com
OPINION 27
Sarah Fernandez
If you need meat in between your teeth, chicken is much friendlier towards the environment because its raising/production require, less cutting down of wildlife for cropland acreage and reduces the chance of competition between livestock and wildlife. Concerning oceanic life, ¼ of all CO2 pollution emitted is absorbed in the oceans making them more acidic by 30% ruining corals where 25% of all marine species spawn. Not only that, but the rise of acidity in the ocean impacts the marine food chain, in turn providing no fish for fisheries which three billion people worldwide feed off of. A deadly partner of the four deadly gases that account for two thirds of the world’s pollution is fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. Although the burning of coal is slowly being reduced and eliminated, smog still exists and so does mountaintop removal, the use of explosives inside man made holes to literally blow up the top of a mountain for coal extraction. This not only pushes debris and dirt in nearby rivers forever clotting them, but also destroys wildlife. These facts may not apply to you, but if you are in the middle class living in a city, this class making up half of America and one billion around the world, you will be hit the hardest financially. Due to the weather, you will be spending more on housing than luxuries and entertainment. Meaning you won’t get the new IPhone 10,000 because you need to survive. This class enjoys a lot of political influence, but climate change is a threat to its wealth which would in succession endan-
ger global economic stability. But it is obviously not just middle class families around the world that will be impacted, it’s the 3 billion people that survive on less than $2 a day. The average Briton will release as much carbon dioxide in 24 hours as a Kenyan will in an entire year. These people produce less of a carbon im-
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The average Briton will release as much carbon dioxide in 24 hours as a Kenyan will in an entire year.
print but will be hit the hardest. Speaking of things taking our happiness, Trump, the big bad orange wolf is a firm denier of climate change calling it a hoax made by the Chinese government. At one point, he so brilliantly said, “It’s freezing and snowing in New York-we need global warming!” Hopefully he is kidding. Congressmen and Senators who share the same views as Trump, who veto and deny bills for the catalyzation of environmental change, and who are too busy wallowing in their money from big corporations, make up half of the people in office. In fact, senators like Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, and even James Inhofe, Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, are all paid millions by large corporations to block climate change initiatives in legislation. They are a group of powerful people who contribute so much to our potential downfall. With a Republican President-elect and a Republican Congress and Senate, activ-
ists and the public are starting to get worried for the future of the environment. To add onto this, companies with vested interests in dirty power distribute their false rhetoric through a very clever, but horrible system, to the public. Many of these companies will create “fake organisations,” such as ALEC, The Fraser Institute, AEI and the Heritage Foundation to spread the false narrative that global warming is either false, or that the severity of their mother companies aren’t as severe as they are being made to seem. Often times, many climate change deniers who go on air, or write columns are hired by these companies, for their fancy titles and false authority, to distribute a false message. With a bit of attached credibility, their words seem believable, but under the surface they are being funded by these corporations to keep their billions safe. Besides all the horrible things occuring around us, all hope is not lost. The documentary mentions that if we stop or significantly reduce fossil fuel production, that in twenty years, we can stop the warming before it becomes catastrophic. I can not cover everything, but from what you have read I hope I scared you. This really depends on how much you care. Whatever you believe right now, climate change will affect you sooner or later if change is not put forth. If you’re lucky, then maybe not in your lifetime, but it certainly will affect your kid’s and your grandkids and so forth. This isn’t about your politics, it is about your selflessness, compassion, and your willingness to overcome greed.
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
28 PRO/CON
NOVEMEBER ELECTION BRINGS
LEGALIZED M RIJUANA
TO NEVADA
United States of Amerijuana
O
By Cameron McCormick
n November 8, 2016, 54% of Nevada voted yes to legalizing recreational marijuana. As of January 1, 2017, it’s legal for adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of pot. Although cannabis is legal, smoking or consuming it in public remains outlawed. Medical marijuana has been legal in Nevada since 2000. Other states such as Oregon, Washington and Colorado have previously made recreational marijuana legal. Each has expressed their satisfaction with how it’s impacted their communities. In fact, in 2015, Colorado saw $135 million in tax revenue from the marijuana industry. Despite the widespread favoritism for legalized weed, the Drug Enforcement Agency classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, along with heroin, bath salts, and cocaine. Moreover, it’s considered to have high potential for abuse and no medical use. This contradicts studies concluding that marijuana is virtually harmless to most people and almost physically impossible to overdose on. You would have to take about 120,000 puffs of marijuana
January 2017 t The InvestiGator
smoke in less than five minutes for it to be fatal. Since marijuana was legalized in few US states in 2014, Mexican drug cartels and indisual drug dealers have suffered economically, burglaries have decreased on average 9.5% and property crime has decreased by 8.9%, and state economies are saving millions of dollars in law enforcement recources that would’ve been used to enforce marijuana laws. In time, these benefits could also be seen in Nevada. Legalizing weed could also boost tourism. When Colorado legalized marijuana, tourism in Denver increased by one million people. Most of the 40 million tourists coming to Vegas annually are looking for thrill and the full party experience. Entering a dispensary with 100 types of weed and edibles will draw in sales and in turn, benefit the Vegas economy. Additionally, legalization could have a positive effect on Nevada’s economy and education system. The initiative created a 15 percent excise tax on weed, with revenue from the tax being spent on schools. In the first seven years of its legalization,
about 40,000 new jobs will be added to the workforce. Another 6,000 jobs regulating the drug will be added as well. In those first seven years, $7.5 billion in economic activity will be added to the state, $464 million in tax revenue. Some of this money, of course will be put into improving the education system and schools, which are definitely sub-par to the rest of the nation. According to hechingerreport.org, Las Vegas is the worst city in the US for education. Nevada is ranked dead last on the list of best school systems in America. The economic boost for Nevada will have a great positive impact on its schools that need help.
Lena Navarro
PRO/CON 29
Nevada goes up in smoke
By Shila Serafat n a nation where 44 ounce Big Gulps from 7-Eleven were banned in New York while marijuana was legalized in Colorado and Washington only 4 years ago, the 2016 election showed that the majority continued to view marijuana in a positive light. Question two on the 2016 Nevada ballot addressed the legalization of the THC-filled drug, marijuana. After 54% of voters in Nevada were in support of recreational marijuana use for those 21 years and older, marijuana was legalized in the state along with Maine, Massachusetts, Florida, Arkansas, North Dakota, and California. With a 15% excise tax on wholesale sales of marijuana, many have assumed the legalization will bring in a great deal of money into the government, including public schools. Although more money will be added to the school system, revenue coming from a harmful drug is an unethical way to fund schools. We have become so desperate that we have decided to legalize a malicious drug that damages not only the lungs but
I
Lena Navarro
the brain, just to fund schools. Cannabis dispensaries are private companies whose main purpose is to make money without worrying about its products effect on the consumers. When marijuana becomes legalized, more dispensaries will open and there will be more competition. Therefore, these companies will want to advertise. After the school being funded by marijuana, these dispensaries will turn to schools to advertise and thus schools will accept due to desperation in the need for funding. The legalization of marijuana comes down to money. Legalization was only considered and passed because it was an opportunity for more money, ignoring the actual effects it will have on the people’s
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Revenue coming from a harmful drug is an unethical way to fund schools.
physical, mental, and social health. Cannabis has been considered illegal for over a century for a reason. Within only a few minutes of inhaling Cannabis smoke, a person’s heart rate can increase 20 to 50 beats per minute increasing the risk of heart attack within the first hour of smoking. Not only are there mental short-term effects such as hallucinations and paranoia which have led to some individuals not acting as themselves and performing illegal acts, but long-term effects such as lung cancer according to the National Institute
on Drug Abuse. While cigarettes and cannabis are not the same, the effects on the smoker’s lungs are identical and detrimental on one’s health. The American Lung Association stated that due to marijuana smokers holding the smoke in their lungs for longer period compared to cigarette smokers, this leads to “a greater exposure per breath to tar.” Tar accumulation in the lungs leads to chronic bronchitis and lung cancer. Smoker’s social health are also affected by this as the addictive THC drug is active in the substance. When smokers become addicted, the thought of the drug is the only thought that occupies their mind. Whether they are smoking or not, the drug takes control of the user’s mind and wallet. Additionally, many actors known for their cannabis use, such as Seth Rogen and Wiz Khalifa, have popularized marijuana and diminished the harmful effects on the lungs due to smoke and falsely exploiting the intensity of short-term and long-term mind alteration. As 24 million millennials voted in the election, many were influenced by childhood TV shows like Freaks and Geeks and popular fashion trends including cannabis printed socks accustomed young voters into thinking that marijuana is the status quo. With voters voting yes merely because they have been in association with cannabis for a long time, it does not validate their vote as well thought-out and educated. While cannabis was voted for legalization with only a little more than half of the votes, it does not legitimize weed as a safe substance for common recreational use.
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I CHEAT, YOU CHEAT, WE ALL...
EDITORIAL 31
By The InvestiGator Staff It’s not cheating if you don’t get caught. Everybody else does it, so why shouldn’t I? It seems that these are the mantras that many high school students across the country have adopted as they continue to come up with new ways to try to beat the system. Well, shame on us. Excuses run rampant for why we have to cheat in school. The class is too hard. I had other tests that day. The teacher doesn’t teach us. I forgot to study. Whatever. At the end of the day, students are not just learning new skills in the classroom but are developing lifelong habits that they will use no matter where they end up. And to be honest, many of these learned habits will stick with them longer that understanding how to do the quadratic formula will. Although most students and young adults will agree that some of the actual content we are taught in class is irrelevant, the presentations and group projects do have a deeper purpose that is geared to help us as we prepare to enter the “adult” world. While ethics have taught us that cheat-
STUDENT SPEAK
ing is bad, many students still take part in risking their grades by peaking over to look at the paper of the person sitting next to them. Thus, we can all agree that when we do it, cheating establishes a sense of unity and trust between those who cheat together. Rather than resorting to cheating during a quiz or test, make time to get extra help. Whether it be from a teacher, classmate, or a tutor. Ask your teacher to help make you a personal study guide – complete with problems or subjects that you may need extra practice with – if they did not hand one out in class. Or, how about just taking the high road and putting in the effort and time that it takes to do your own work. Do you really not have 20 minutes during the week to do that vocabulary packet? Or 15 minutes a night to actually study those words? Is your character really so low that you feel the need to cheat your way through high school? If our generation feels this way about school, how will it behave when it actually has to enter the job force and work for a living? Seriously.
How can Green Valley High School teachers and administration prevent the ongoing problem of cheating? “We should go back to second grade and put folders around our tests.”
Justin Montgomery, freshman
“Since sending pictures of answers through text is common, teachers should take away everyones phone in the class during a test.”
Maylene Delgado, junior
“Have a mutual understanding that the student is allowed and comfortable enough to go to the teacher for extra help.”
Shae Martin, sophomore
“The root of the problem is that students don’t know the material and therefore fail tests, so teachers should give more study guides vs. sometimes not giving any at all.”
Editors-in-Chief: Sarah Fernandez Lena Navarro Editors: News: Kiara Thomson Features: Erinn Veach Sports: Meka’la Parker A&E: Ava Meade-Scarpitta Opinions: Irie Douville Copy Editor: Deanna Chea Photo Editor: Brynne Hilton Reporters: Seth Beekman Kaeli Britt Bethany Casall Lexi Demoleas Michael Goldstein Hailey Gross Skylar Jones Anastasia Koulich Maycee Labo Casey Li Sydney Lum Cameron McCormick Nora-Jo Paramo Shila Sherafat Taylor Strezlec Business Manager: Lexi Demoleas Staff Managers: Kaeli Britt Hailey Gross Advisor: Eric Johnston The Green Valley High School InvestiGator is a student-run and operated news magazine. All opinions and views expressed within are those of the author and not of the student body or staff of Green Valley High School. Letters to the editors or staff may be delivered to room 825 to Mr. Johnston or emailed to him at emjohnston@interact.ccsd.net.
Jacob Reagan, senior January 2017 t The InvestiGator