The Panther 2016-2017 Issue 2: September 2016

PANTHER

the

V 59 N 2

Miami Palmetto Senior High School

7460 SW 118 Steet, Miami, FL 33156

Friday 23 September 2016

MIND OVER MATTER

THE PANTHER STAFF

5

10

eDITOR-IN-CHIEF REMY FARKAS

PRINT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF cHRYSTAL PETERSON

ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF THOMAS MARTINEZ

MANAGING ALEC LANZAS

SENIOR DESIGN

15

ROBERTA NICASTRO

SENIOR COPY CARMELLA JIMENEZ

BUSINESS MANAGER BLAKE RUBENSTEIN

feature editor marlowe starling

news editor

jack cruz-alvarez kalia richardson

life editor

sydney sancho antonella maneiro

insight editor cami myers

sports editor ben spiegelman

20

25

video editor

maxwelL landy olympia rodriguez

copy team

natalie askowitz morgan elmslie susan aghedo

design team

katharine hsiao jenna bondy mia zaldivar anastasiya dudaryk

photographer sofIA BRAND brianne guanaga

staff writer

alexandra pedroso attila dos santos allessandra inzinna annette gonzalez inez laborn

adviser

LAURA AVILES

5 blinding technology TABLE OF NEWS CONTENTS LIFE 10 personality of a backpack AUGUST FEATURE 15 students in wonderland 2016 SPORTS 20 off season, off limits INSIGHT 25 truth behind dress code

EDITOR’S NOTE

I

t is still the beginning. Only a five weeks into school there is so much more to explore. Everyone has settled in, the homework has piled up and the stress is building. We, The Panther, have also settled in. Our new teacher and new staff has made themselves at home in room 911B. After five weeks, everyone knows the routine. The production of this issue has challenged all members of The Panther. Thirty-two pages in two weeks is challenge for any new staff. Staff writers, designers, copy editors, even Leadership are still learning their duties and how to work together.

The first issue with an entire staff was difficult; thirty people, two weeks, one paper. This issue has taught The Panther Staff teamwork, communication and dedication. Production has taught us about each other. Long hours before school, after school, during lunch and during class brought us closer as a staff.

But then again, it is still just the beginning. We have seven months of school left, six more issues to produce and hundreds of more stories to publish online. Improvements will be made to the function of the staff and the quality of our publication. By May, our staff will be inseparable and The Panther will be unbeatable.

76

shows to leave netFLIX AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2016. more than

#BLM 1,030

protest actions held since black lives matter since 2014.

REMY FARKAS NEW TREND: NO HOMEWORK

EMMYS RECAP

eLECTORAL KILLINGS IN AFRICA

One Miami-Dade County school is attempting to end homework.

Homework is a commonly dreaded portion of school. Students stay up until the early hours of the morning doing homework only to wake up just hours later to go to school. At Henry S. West Laboratory School in Coral Gables, homework will not be mandatory. Students will not be graded nor penalized on the completion of homework. So no late night essays or one-hundred problem math worksheets to work on. Students are often occupied with an abundance of after school extracurriculars from sports to clubs and community service, they might not even get home until eight o’clock and by the time they eat dinner and shower it is already nine and the homework has not even begun. While this is being tested at an elementary and middle school level, the next step might be a homework-free high school.

“The People vs. O.J. Simpson” took home the most wins at Sunday night’s 68th Emmy Awards. Jimmy Kimmel hosted Sunday’s award show. He later included a fair share of jokes about the upcoming election with a guest appearance from former Republican Presidential Candidate Jeb Bush in his opening skit. Kimmel recognized the creator of “Celebrity Apprentice,” calling him the reason behind Donald Trump’s candidacy. Julia Louis-Dreyfus took home her fifth consecutive Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series for her work on the HBO show “Veep.”

The best drama award went to “Game of Thrones,” which received 11 other Emmy Awards. Dame Maggie Smith won outstanding supporting actress in a drama award beating three “Game of Thrones” nominees. The show also included a tribute to the late Garry Marshall, the acclaimed writer, actor and director who passed away in July.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, seventeen people are dead following protests on Monday calling for President Joseph Kabila to step down. The electoral commission for the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa was set to announce the date of its presidential elections for November.

However, it said that it will be unable to do so. In the DR Congo, presidents have a two term limit. According to opposition, the president is delaying the elections in to remain in power past the two-term limit. President Kabila’s term is set to end on December 20 and the attempt to solve the crisis and cultivate a “national dialogue” has been boycotted by many political parties. In the last 55 years, the country has not had a smooth transition of power and the protests this year have continued keeping schools and businesses closed in the main city of Kinshasa.

STAYCONNECTED COLLEGE EDITION

700 member schools

754,545 3.3 unique applicants in 2013

Application Dictionary

Helps you understand all the terminologies used on the Common Application Website.

Requirements Grid/Tracker

College Search

Virtual College Counselor

Log into your account and search colleges based on name, location, distance from where you live or application deadline.

These tools help you make sure every requirement is submitted by the deadline.

An expert helps you figure out which schools are right for you and answers all your questions.

MILLION Common applications submitted in 2013-2014 school year.

COALITION for ACCESS, AFFORDABILITY and SUCCESS

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member schools Students

You create your student account, find the essay prompts, the fee waiver and how it works.

Counselors, Teachers, Mentors and CBOs

Counselors, teachers and community-based organizations offer help in finding a college that fit you and your needs. This tab also includes frequently asked questions and how to find these resources to help you.

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Schools are accepting the Coalition Application this fall.

Virtual Locker

Allows students to start collecting their work in 9th grade.

For more information join the Edmodo code: bfd294 or see Mr. Nerenberg INFORMAITON COURTESY OF COMMONAPP.ORG & COALITIONFORCOLLEGEACCESS.ORG

INFORMAITON COMPILED BY BLAKE RUBENSTEIN

NEWS5

OUT OF THE BLUE Scrolling through social media, texting friends and binge watching a favorite show on an electronic device may all be entertaining at first until pains start to arise while doing these activities. Eyes process light and create a visual perception through the different layers it contains, such as the cornea and retina.

Light travels through different wavelengths and is categorized into gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet rays, visible light, infrared light or radio waves, all of which represent different colors and makes up the electromagnetic spectrum. Out of all the wavelengths in the spectrum, the human eye is sensitive to visible light (colors blue, green, red, yellow, orange, violet) especially blue light because it has a short wavelength which generates more energy that can cause harm to eyes.

Blue light either comes from natural sources such as the sun or artificial sources that include tablets, smartphones, televisions, computers, LED lights and fluorescent lights.

Modern technology companies compete to have the next big product on the market with clearer images and adjusted brightness for their customers; however, behind the screen of those high definition images are LED lights that can harm the retina after long periods of time. Exposure to LEDs for more than two hours can cause digital eyestrain or symptoms such as blurry vision, headaches, dry and irritated eyes, fatigue and pain in the back or neck due to the posture people have while using electronics. If people continue to use their electronics for an excessive amount of time, gradually the cells in the retina will be destroyed and vision loss will occur.

“Whenever I sit close to the screen for like

10 hours then my eyesight gets blurry,” junior Bryan Segura said.

Today, children, teens and adults spend a large quantity of their time on digital devices causing concerns for physicians that in the future vision problems will be more prevalent.

This fear is specifically directed to children who are starting to hold their parents’ phones and tablets at an earlier age than before. “[My little brother] can never get through a car ride without using someone’s phone,” senior Daniel Pita said.

For teens, schools are trying to become more technologically savvy by reducing the use of paper textbooks for tablets, making them more susceptible to blue lights. Research done by the Vision Council found that the use of phones before going to sleep disrupts the sleep patterns and melatonin produced making it difficult to fall asleep and then losing sleep.

It is understandable that getting rid of technology is unfeasible because it is used for the majority of the day for diverse reasons. That is why researchers and physicians recommend placing screen protectors that filter blue light on gadgets and to follow the 20-20-20 rule: take a 20-second break to view something 20 feet away every 20 minutes. Apple has also been aware of the effects of blue light especially before going to bed. In the iOS 9.3 update Apple created a new setting on their products called Night Shift. When turned on, Night Shift changes the the color of the display making yellow lights empower blue lights.

Sofia Brand Photographer

s.brand.thepanther@gmail.com

90%

of Americans use digital devices for at least 2 hours every day.

Nine of ten young adults use two or more devices at a time.

7 6 % of

Americans look at

at their devices an hour before bed.

INFOGRAPHIC BY KATHARINE HSIAO COURTESY OF THEVISIONCOUNCIL.ORG

NEWS6

BY THE BOOKS: PAGES BY THE PIXELS In order to get a format that fits the screen and to make the textbooks more appealing, they are lowering the quality and the depth of the material.

PHOTO BY BRIANNE GUANAGA

LILA DE-PUCH MARSEE (SPANISH TEACHER)

Modern education has relied on textbooks to help teachers and students alike in the educational delivery of information. Although the presentation of the textbook has changed throughout the years, the main goal remains the same: to provide information through an accessible platform for those who wish to expand their knowledge.

With the expansion of technology, traditional textbooks are being replaced by online alternatives, but this transition has caused controversy among students at Palmetto High School. While some may prefer having a textbook on a small device rather than a heavy textbook, others still prefer a physical book for the ability to annotate within the book for notes and easily flip through the pages.

“I prefer physical textbooks because they remind me more of the school environment than an online book,” junior Sam Ouertani said. “I follow along better and feel more motivated when I am reading a physical book.”

The Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Education and chief executive officers from the digital education ecosystem, such as Apple and McGraw-Hill, announced the beginning stages of transferring from paperback to digital textbooks in 2012.

The Leading Education by Advancing Digital Commission developed blueprints for grades K-12 schools to begin using technology as their main education platform. The change would take advantage of the latest technological methods of delivering academic subjects as

a catalyst to transform and improve state education.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, having digital textbooks saves the school systems thousands of dollars and technology-based instruction can reduce the time students take to reach a learning objective by 80 percent. Some teachers also believe that technology enhances learning; a Public Broadcasting Service reported that 93 percent of teachers believe that interactive whiteboards enrich classroom education and 81 percent feel the same about tablets.

“With online textbooks I do not like having to look at the screen the whole time, but with the physical textbook, just to have it next to you, it just helps me concentrate more,” senior Kayla Edouard said.

Over the past decade computer use among teens has grown more prevalent to point that there is growing concern over its negative effects. Online textbooks on cellphones or tablets may cause students to get distracted more easily because of the accessibility to other applications and notifications coming in.

“Online textbooks are wonderful if you have access to a tablet but if you’re constantly scrolling up and down and staring at a screen, it is difficult to focus,” science teacher Wendi Werther said. “Personally I like regular textbooks better to teach and use.”

Some families also may not be able to afford internet service at home, which would cause a disadvantage to a student’s ability to access

study material. Even some teachers feel that teaching the “old-school” way helps students in the long run to learn more.

“In order to get a format that fits the screen and to make the textbooks more appealing, they are lowering the quality and the depth of the material,” Spanish teacher Lila De-Puch Marsee said. “I have been teaching for 25 years and I have seen the deterioration of the texts.”

In 2014 the school board issued personal tablets for freshman and sophomore students in lieu of textbooks. The new technology raised concern for students’ well-being.

Looking at a computer screen so often causes stress on the eyes, which concerns parents and eye doctors alike, who believe that it is a cause of myopia (near-sightedness) developing early in so many teens and young adults.

“I do not like staring at the screen for so long and I feel like online textbooks are really complicated and you pretty much have to start all over again and learn the ins and outs of it,” freshman Samantha Mesa said. “I do not like how this generation is moving more towards technology. Physical textbooks or just any physical form is always better.”

Palmetto students and faculty have voiced their opinions on the topic of textbooks, leaning more towards physical textbooks.

Brianne Guanaga Photographer

b.guanaga.thepanther@gmail.com

NEWS 7

HURRICANE DROUGHT When a hurricane is very destructive, the name of the storm is retired.

Hurricane Katrina COST $100 BILLION in rebuilding New Orleans.

40% of hurricanes that occur in the United States hit Florida.

2016 HURRICANE

NAMES

ALEX: hit the Azores and Bermuda in January

Hurricanes winds CAN REACH up to 160 miles per hour.

Hurricane Andrew cost $21 billion in damage.

When a hurricane is very destructive, the name of the storm is retired.

LO HEL e is am my n

EARL: hit the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America in early August GASTON: occurred in the Atlantic in late August HERMINE: hit the Caribbean and the eastern coast of the U.S. in September

INFORMATION COURTESY OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFOGRAPHIC BY KATHARINE HSIAO AND OLYMPIA RODRIGUEZ

Miami is currently going through a 10-year hurricane drought with no hurricanes making landfall. This begs the question, why has the city of Miami not been getting hit? Miami has gone through extreme weather in the past.

In 1992, a category five storm hit Miami, causing massive destruction.

Science teacher Cullen Bullock taught at Palmetto when Hurricane Andrew hit.

“After the hurricane made impact, a few rooms were damaged and the majority of the school had been damaged by flooding,” Bullock said.

A large effect of hurricane Andrew was a drop in school attendance. Before the storm hit, 3,000 students were enrolled, but only 1,700 returned to school following the storm. Schools shut down for a month with no electricity. Many homes were destroyed, forcing students and their families to move to other counties.

Although Andrew caused massive amounts

of destruction to South Florida, it helped the region prepare for the future. Andrew showed the fatal aftermath of hurricanes and proved that Florida was unprepared. The result of Andrew caused a rebuild of parts of the school and helped Miami become more prepared for storms to come.

Even though Florida has been on the forefront when it comes to hurricanes, Miami has not been hit with a hurricane since 2005.

Some have argued that this is due to climate change and shifting wind patterns, but, others believe this is just a normal occurrence.

“This drought is mainly caused by climate change,” science teacher Ms.Pamela Shlachtman said. “Hurricanes are moving north due to the shifting of coastal currents.”

Even though Miami has not been hit in 10 years, it is important to always be prepared and ready. A hurricane could come at any time during the season, so it is imperative that you take the necessary precautions to prepare.

The National Hurricane Center recommends that South Florida always prepare itself for the worst when a hurricane warning is issued. Make sure that houses are supplied with water, food that will not easily spoil, flashlights, batteries and a first aid kit; and applying shutters will make a disaster plan more effective.

Hurricanes are unavoidable natural disasters and all people need to take action early. One mistake that is commonly made is doubting a hurricane’s strength. Be prepared to take shelter and take information from organizations like The National Hurricane Center seriously.

Ben Spigelman Sports Editor

b.spigelman.thepanther@gmail.com

NEWS 8

EMERGING CLUBS IN PALMETTO

PSYCHOLOGY Sponsor: Schoolar -Field Trip to the Switch Board -Lecture series -Purpose: Teach students how to analyze situations psychologically -First Meeting: September 16

FIA

Sponsor: Hayduk -Purpose: Show students the basics of forensics and investigative techniques -Field Trips to FBI headquarters -First Meeting: TBA

Inside the decorated blue gymnasium, tables were placed side to side with posters reflecting the number of student clubs offered at Miami Palmetto Senior High. Club officers stood next to their tables anxious for the first wave of students ready to answer questions about their club.

This year’s Activities Fair changed from being an event only offered during both lunches to becoming an all day event. Not only has the schedule changed but also the name, previously called Club Fair. Now students in ninth and tenth grade visit the Activities Fair during their English classes.

The change in schedule is an attempt to prevent students from becoming overwhelmed during the short 30 minute lunch period.

In previous years, the doorways into the gymnasium were blocked by the long line extending out into the gates making it difficult for students to enter the building. Student lunch breaks become shortened due to this becoming a discouraging factor from attending the event. The new improvement hoped to allow every student to attend and be actively involved in school activities by joining different clubs at the Activities Fair.

The Forensic Investigative Academy is a new club developed this year with a correlating Forensic class taught

by John Hayduk. The FIA is a magnet program where club members are required to take a forensics class in order to join. During each meeting, a case would be presented to the members by personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The goal is to solve the case as a group and conduct a presentation at the end of the year for the FBI. A crime scene is also simulated for students to solve during meetings. The club seeks to raise enough money throughout the year to take club members on a field trip to the FBI headquarters in Virginia.

The FIA hopes to give students a wider knowledge in the investigative field and does so by providing students the access to a forensics class and club.

“Give people more of a range. It was never an option to be [in] forensics and now we have a class. It spreads FBI more as a career” sophomore president of the FIA Nicole Iacoviello said.

Another new club this year is Psychology Club, sponsored by Gwendolyn Schoolar. The club hosts a lecture series inviting different speakers to discuss psychological issues. The lectures are open to the entire school and held after school in the auditorium. The first lecture discussed the topic of suicide, an issue many people avoid discussing.

Some field trip possibilities they hope to carry out are going to the Switchboard of Miami, where students can intern to answer for the suicide prevention hotline, and to a sleep lab.

“Our goal as a club is to really enhance the love of psychology and interact with the science in a fun way for anyone who doesn’t know about psychology [from] any range of students” senior resident of Psychology Madison Heron said.

Katharine Hsiao Design Editor

k.hsiao.thepanther@gmail.com PHOTOS BY THE PALMECHO

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LIFE/10

BACKPACK TO BACKPACK

“

Senior Morgan Latta proudly demonstrates her support of environmental and animal protection. She has patches of a globe and a fox on that comes with a quote that states “fur for the animals, not rich idiots.” Latta finds the concept of creating luxurious fur clothing at the expense of an animal’s skin and life disgusting. Alongside these messages, Morgan conveys positive thoughts through her little turtle patch that represents the strong bond between her and her little sister, sophomore Nicole Boulenger, who has the same patch on her own bag.

Sophomore Lucian Pita’s Westpoint United States Military Academy represents his aspiration of becoming a part of America’s military intelligence. His cousin went there and he wishes to follow his steps and attend the academy as well. His favorite element of the bag being its Westpoint logo, it truly point

Morgan Latta (12)

originally casual Jansport bag. She added her personal touch to it because she found it boring and plain. She drew a sunset inspired by a picture from the internet because she not only does she like sunsets, but also because incorporates all of her favorite colors like blue and purple. She expresses herself through her backpack as it is something people will see when she walks down the hallways of Palmetto.

out his ambition.

I want to join the military intelligence and then join the Jag We used to have Corps maybe. a pet turtle Lucian Pita (10) when we first became stepsisters, and Sophomore and artist turtles make me Allison Jon made a painting think of her. out of the front packet of her

Freshman Michael Milian’s backpack, a gift from his grandmother, is no ordinary Jansport backpack. His stands out as a unique collector’s item.

He likes his bag for its “Jansport Adventure” logo and its out of the ordinary furry texture. His grandmother compiles many vintage items, and Milian was lucky enough to get one that suits his personality.

It is a reflection of my personality because it is not boring and it is not like anything else. michael Milian (9)

I thought my backpack was boring and plain, so I just painted something I like.

Allison Jon (10)

PHOTOS BY CHRYSTAL PETERSON

Attila Dos Santos Staff Writer

a.dossantos.thepanther@gmail.com

LIFE/ 11

GPA CRISIS MANUAL

10%

OF THE SENIOR CLASS DOES NOT GRADUATE.

OF THAT 10 PERCENT

4%

is because of pending credits or low GPA.

ALL REQUIREMENTS

must be met to graduate.

Students may still walk at graduation, but not receive a diploma; they will receive a certificate for completing high school but will not actually graduate.

WAYS TO BOOST YOUR GPA - Take classes on Florida Virtual School.

Note: Nonhonors or AP courses may hurt your GPA

- Take dual enrollment classes at Miami Dade Community College.

- FOCUS ON SECURING A’S IN MOST OF YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES. INFORMATION COURTESY OF AMANDA PINERO-TROMBLY

HARRY Nerenberg

School College Counselor “I call the new GPA system the unattainable 6.9 because the moment you take an honors class, it goes down. The key, as Bo You said, is 60% perspiration, 30% inspiration and 10% pure luck. Your GPA will not go up if you don’t study hard enough, even if you take an FLVS class or dual enrollment.

More is not better. Better is better.”

Victoria noisom

Took Jazz at miami dade college took ap macroeconomics on flvs “I took both a class at Dade and an AP on FLVS. I learned that online classes only boost your weighted GPA if they are honors or AP and since you can’t take any APs online that are offered in school, you’re are limited to only taking AP Microeconomics but dual enrollment gives you many options.”

daniel ajabshir

TOOK OCEANOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS AT MIAMI DADE COLLEGE “I took two classes at Dade and had classes three hours a night on Monday’s through Thursdays. It’s much different than high school and you have a lot more freedom so for me it was easy, took less time, and I had better chance of getting an A.”

LIFE/12 BED TIMES

M O

8

FR

NUMBER OF STUDENTS SUMMER sCHOOL

3

3

SUMMER

sCHOOL

SUMMER

sCHOOL

SUMMER

sCHOOL

SUMMER

sCHOOL

p.M

9

6

p.M

TO

A’s From 2 a.m. summer nights to 6 a.m. wake ups, the transition back to school is difficult for many teenagers. The drastic changes in day to day schedules stress teens out, making them struggle to keep up in class. During the summer, some teeangers may become accustomed to having no responsibilities and being able to do whatever they want. The contrast of this loose schedule versus the workload of school can feel especially difficult during the first few weeks. The workload may feel so overwhelming that students start off the school year already stressed, setting the tone for the rest of the year. So what can students do to make going back to school as stress free as possible?

“Come back from vacation two to three days before it starts in order to adjust your sleep schedule,” science teacher Hermann Amador said.

The National Sleep Foundation says it is ideal to get eight to ten hours of sleep per night, yet a study found that only 15 percent of students actually do. The most important thing is for students to be well rested, even on weekends. Teenagers need sleep for their brains to function properly, and without it, they will not remember or process what they have learned. Starting to go to bed and waking up earlier a week before school starts will help get into the habit of doing it for school.

Most Palmetto teenagers admit to going to bed at 2 to 3 a.m. during the summer and on

10

7

p.M

11

p.M

12

a.M

the weekends, while on a school night they go to bed at 11 p.m. The NSF also states that varying bedtimes during the school week and weekend can affect a student’s ability to get a good night’s rest, regardless what time they go to bed. To ensure a regular, healthy sleep schedule, students should have a set bedtime for everyday of the week.

Good time management skills also allow students to ease back into the school year.

Having a loose schedule of what their day will look like is a good idea for students to stay focused and on task. According to a survey by the Los Angeles Times, high school students, on average, receive three and a half hours of homework each night. This leaves students with little time for themselves and relaxation after extracurriculars and personal obligations.

To limit distractions and get homework done faster, students should put away their cell phones. When putting their cell phones somewhere they cannot be tempted and are less likely to check them, allowing them to finish their work as efficiently as possible.

“I feel that my stress comes from the homework because if I have too much work,” freshman Evan Golinsky said. “I worry that I’m not going to learn it and get a bad grade on the assignments.”

If students dedicate a specific time to homework, they have a window of opportunity to get their work done, all while being motivated to reach their goals. Limiting the

30

118

21

78

118 30

amount of time spent procrastinating when students get home from school keeps them in the school mindset.

Students should try and rest after all their homework is done instead of resting before they have even started. Another way to limit the time spent doing homework is by doing it whenever possible. If students finish an assignment early in class, they should start their homework right away. That way, they have less homework to do when they get home.

Staying organized is by far one of the most important ways for students to stay calm as the school year begins again. By maintaining an organized workspace, backpack and desk, students keep their mind in order and limit the stress of feeling overwhelmed. Parents play a crucial role in helping their children stay organized as well. The American School Counselor Association states that students are more likely to be organized if their parents set the example. Students must be organized before they are able to comprehend what they have learned. Before the beginning of the school year, students should spend time organizing themselves both mentally and physically, leading to a better school year all around.

Camila Myers Insight Editor

c.myers.thepanther@gmail.com

BUY YOUR Y$40.

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LIFE/14

HABITS: MAKE IT OR BREAK IT

creating it

If you feel as though coffee is the only way to survive the day, it has begun. Addiction to caffeine is easy and can also cost more than expected. Although coffee may feel energizing, the crash hits later and it is time for a refill; hence the name, coffee break. By refilling your energy level with multiple cups of coffee throughout the day, your body becomes immune to the coffee rush and you begin to lose your natural energy depletion.

BREAKING it

There are many ways to enhance your natural energy. If a beverage is your way to go, then matcha green tea can be your new coffee.

It is full of vitamins and antioxidants that give you natural energy to help you boost the energy needed for the day. Another thing you can do is work out. Working out helps increase energy levels and is also a good way to keep your body in shape. Though sleep is rare in high school, the best way to enhance your energy is to go to bed early and catch up the hours missed. This can also help you fix your sleep cycle which then leads to more energy overall.

PHOTOS BY CHRYSTAL PETERSON

creating it

When setting your alarm clock on your phone the list of alarms might look: 6:00 a.m., 6:15 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 6:45 a.m. and so on. Waking up in the morning can be easily avoided by just clicking snooze, until it is down to the last snooze and now you are late for school. Amongst the population of Palmetto students, clicking the snooze button is one of the most common habits each student holds. Not to mention, making mom or dad a personal alarm clock every morning won’t help you in the future. Doing so makes a student comfortable with the feeling of not having to worry when getting up in the morning, which then grows into an unhealthy habit of avoiding personal responsibility.

BREAKING it

Motivation and responsibility-- the only cure to this habit. When the alarm clock sounds in the morning, force yourself to sit up; the mind is a powerful tool. If that does not help, try placing your phone away from reach to force yourself to get up in order to turn the alarm off. The hardest part is pushing yourself out of bed, but once your body gets up and starts moving, you will be fine.

creating it

Of course Chipotle turns into an easy habit. The franchise sits next door to Palmetto and feeds multitudes of Palmetto students everyday. Once the bell rings at 2:20 p.m., hungry stomachs race to the Mexican cuisine joint to avoid the well-known long line. A meal consisting of a steak burrito, guacamole, small drink and chips average out to around $12.55. The price sounds cheap, but if a student spent $12.55 a day for the school week, the total would be around $62.75. Spending $62 in a week just on a fast food meal can make money tight when it does not need to.

BREAKING it

Cheap restaurants exist that taste just as good. Moes, Taco Rico, Chicken Kitchen, Pollo Tropical, Daily Bread, etc., all serve quality tasting food that cost less than an average meal at Chipotle. Cooking food at home is also a healthier and more cost-effective option.

Chrystal Peterson Print Editor-In-Chief

c.peterson.thepanther@gmail.com

FEATURE/15

A Figment of a Student's

Imagination.

Students fight the urge to daydream on a daily basis as they sit through lectures and allow their minds to float into the realm of imagination. Our brain allows us to visualize idealistic futures or reimagine haunting memories, many of them ingrained in the subconscious mind. Whether it is an encounter with your favorite celebrity or your experiences as an undercover spy, all of these thoughts have an underlying meaning.

FEATURE/16

Students in

Wonderland Brains are funny organs. They may not have feet, but they travel across universes to exotic destinations every day.

They may not have hands, but they grasp intangible concepts and shape them into new creations. They may not have skin, but they can memorize the lines on a hot basketball against sweating fingers or the icy rush that young love excites at first sight. What goes on inside Palmetto students when they are not applying strength through knowledge? Where do their thoughts go when they escape the classroom?

“I love sprinting. You can just feel the wind,” freshman Aristotle Lennon said. “It just feels like all my worries, everything bad just goes away when I’m running track.”

Lennon daydreams about running in Jamaica, where he lived with his family for a year before returning to the U.S. in June. A doctor eventually told Lennon that fluid was building up in his knees after running on concrete so often, which cut his involvement in the sport short. Other students mentally exit their classrooms by channeling into their own worries.

Sophomore Leo Adams normally dozes off in his Geometry class, wondering how he will earn a passing grade in a subject he has struggled with for years. He can withdraw, feeling discouraged under the pressure of the class.

“I think about ‘Why so many numbers I gotta think of? Why this teacher talking still? Why does she sound slow?’” Adams said. “I can easily shut down.”

The buzzing mind of Larissa Wallin, two grades above Adams, dwells on different worries. Wallin moved to the United States from Peru at age 7. Her mom works in

marketing at Grupo Expansion de Mexico to provide for her two daughters. She wonders how she will pay for her education. “[I think about] all the worries-- how I’m going to pay for college; will I get accepted?” Wallin said. “My mom is a single parent and it’s hard to pay for college for two daughters.”

Dr. Eugenio Rothe, Professor of Psychiatry at Florida International University, differentiated daydreaming from other cognitive functions like worrying, calculating, planning or remembering. Daydreaming disengages the frontal lobe, the seed of common sense.

“It’s called free association of ideas. The frontal lobe is not turned on, so other parts of the brain are associating to one another,” Rothe said. “You’re creating new combinations of ideas when you daydream. It can be very healthy to daydream when you have free time.”

Besides boosting creativity, mind-wandering (thinking freely without a specific focus) and daydreaming are linked to enhanced memory capacities. One study conducted by the University of Wisconsin and the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science suggested a correlation between frequent mind-wandering and better working memory.

The experiment gave participants simple tasks that could prompt their minds to wander like tapping their finger in time with their breath or pressing a button after a letter appeared on a screen.

Subjects who did not completely focus during those

FEATURE/17 activities performed better than other subjects after when given a set of easy math problems to solve.

Another study by a New York University neuroscientist published in the journal “Neuron” showed that mind wandering supplemented memory formation. Participants were asked to look at pairs of images, take a break by thinking about whatever they wanted and then reconstruct the images.

Scientists noted the importance of resting the brain and using both parts of hippocampus cortical regions.

Rothe discourages daydreaming within school or during situations when success requires concentration, or use of the frontal lobe. Fantasizing about sipping pina coladas in Hawaii during an eight-grade American History test could lead to lowered or zero productivity.

“You can also daydream to escape reality. You’re trying to disconnect from what’s in front of you,” Rothe said. “What you’re doing is wasting time.”

Some believe that wasted time is not the only negative side of daydreaming. According to Psychology Today, the kinds of daydreams people have are correlated with their life satisfaction. Men reported lower life satisfaction the more frequently they daydreamed, and women did the more vividly their daydreams were.

The same study by York University psychologist Raymond Mar and associates in 2012 stated that those who fantasized about fictional characters, strangers and romantic partners they did not have were lonelier than those who daydreamed about family and friends.

Junior Claudia Santiago envisions “Naruto”anime during her class time to escape boredom, immersing herself in an emotional scene where one character sacrifices his life for another.

“One of [Hinata’s] cousins jumps in front of her to save her and he dies. It’s really heartbreaking. And I’m like aww,” Santiago said. “I’m just feeling emotional because he died.”

Besides fictional characters, sometimes Santiago will think about her

crush, someone she describes as a positive influence in her life.

She mentally flips through memories of her friends in school, one of her favorites being when she scared her aforementioned crush by bringing a lit sparkler indoors.

He first picked up a chair to shield himself from the firework, loudly protesting, and then receded beneath some bedding with another friend to escape. The crush then darted out of the room after yelling “Get it away!” multiple times, all throughout the filmed incident, which included Santiago’s laughter in the background.

Freshman Kyle Bedwell dreams about his future plans of playing in the NBA as a shooting guard for the Heat, rather than drawing from the past. He imagines playing basketball whenever he tunes out his world history class.

“It’s usually me making a point or either shooting a three [pointer] or just dunking in general or even just like in the future to practice dunking,” Bedwell said. “I have a little smaller room at my house and I like to practice dunking and so in the future, I want to be able to be a professional dunker.”

Some young men have “power fantasies” of what being a superhero would be like. Psychologist Peter Delaney of the University of North Carolina pointed out that daydreaming closely relates to anticipations about the future. National Geographic also noted the frequency of daydreaming decreases with age. Perhaps dreams, musings, hopes shrink with lifespans. While Bedwell looks forward for his one to two hours of dunking practice every day, his distraction reflects his greatest concentration for the future.

Our minds can go anywhere and be anything, even when we we are not are able to do that in reality. No matter what the future holds, our daydreams will remain limitless.

Carmella Jimenez Senior Copy Editor

c.jimenez.thepanther@gmail.com

FEATURE/18

PHOTOS BY SOFIA BRAND

students who daydream about faraway faraway places seem to have poorer MEmory than those whose daydream stay closer closer to to reality. reality.

HOW it works

About

A network links parts of the frontal cortex, the limbic system and several other cortical areas involved in sensory experiences. the network turns itself on and generates its own stimulation.

96%

FEATURE/19

IN A STUDY People felT happy about 56% of the time they spent daydreaming.

They reported feeling happy 66% of the time when they focused on the present.

People who Mind-wander perform better at creative problem solving than others.

of people fantasize at least once a day.

INFOGRAPHIC BY ROBERTA NICASTRO INFORMATION COURTESY OF PSYCHOLOGY TODAY AND TED TALKS

SPORTS/20

NO PRACTICE

ALLOWED

As the first athletics season begins, only Palmetto’s fall athletes attend tryouts and practices to prepare for their next game or meet. Spring and summer athletes must wait to start practice in their own season because of Florida High School Athletics Association Policy 6.1.1. Athletes and coaches claim this policy inhibits their athletic performance.

The FHSAA decides when each sport can begin official practices and tryouts. Any school caught practicing before the designated time period may be penalized. The policy affects athletes and coaches that want to practice as much as possible before their season.

“When you’re practicing during a season, you only get a limited time to play,” junior soccer player Audrey Paz said. “If we’re not allowed to practice outside of our season, we won’t be as good of a team.”

Team-building is a main issue with the policy.

Players are concerned their teams will not be able to bond well in a limited amount of time.

“When you’re playing a team sport, you need to get really good communication skills with everyone and learn how your team functions,” junior lacrosse

player Anna Marchus said. “If we had year round to get people to play lacrosse I think team-building would work much better.”

Nonetheless, the FHSAA has reasons for implementing the policy. The scheduling helps multi-sport athletes make time to participate in all their sports.

“The policy exists to avoid conflict between sports,” athletic director Steve Batten said. “We want kids to be able to play any sport they want to.”

The policy also gives students time to focus on other activities.

“It’s a good thing that we’re not playing lacrosse after school every day all year long because that could seriously impact our academics,” Marchus said.

The policy does allow conditioning for a sport out of season as well.

“Conditioning is really useful.The team gets to know one another and it helps you get in shape,” junior lacrosse player Gil Fitzgerald said.

“-Conditioning and practice are equally important.”

Jack Cruz-Alvarez Report Editor

j.cruz-alvarez.thepanther@gmail.com

“If we’re not allowed to practice outside of our season, we won’t be as good of a team.”

Audrey Paz(11)

PHOTO BY ANNA MARCHUS PHOTO BY KALIA RICHARDSON

SPORTS/ 21

REFINING GOLD ON A tumultuous ROAD TO RECOVERY

A few weeks ago, Bari Gold was diagnosed with a sprained ligament in her ankle and hairline fractured in her talus, an injury that forces the aspiring athlete to take a seat on the bench for a change. For many student athletes, the news of a career-ending injury is devastating. This is not the case with junior Bari Gold.

With passionate aspirations of becoming a college soccer player, Gold has no time to lick her wounds as the recruitment process increases with rigor.

At the age of four Bari Gold started playing soccer-- an element that has grown into her identity ever since. She has been a part of the travel team, Pinecrest Premier, for nine straight years where she developed her dedication for the sport.

“When you’ve stuck to something for virtually your whole life, it falls into your routine and you don’t feel the same without it,” junior Bari Gold said. “I couldn’t imagine myself without my sport. It’s almost a necessity to me so I know I want to continue for at least another four years collegiately.”

After a stellar performance at a national soccer tournament, Gold felt that necessity take form. The feeling of pure satisfaction gained from an important win, the sense of power by defeating the competition she could only describe as euphoria. From that moment on, Gold has spent endless hours on the field with coaches to improve her endurance, speed and technique.

The hard work is only getting started. Being scouted for college teams is known for being both physically and mentally challenging.

National tournaments and attendance of ID camps-- a period in kwhich athletes get a taste of collegiate soccer-- are crucial to coach recognition, not to mention the enormous amount of competition on the other end.

PHOTO BY SOFIA BRAND

“It’s so intimidating, like you have to make a connection with a coach you’ve never met and hope that they like you and there’s tons of other girls just like you doing the same thing,” Gold said.

The ID camps usually last from one to three days where players across the nation have the ability to improve their form while also getting the attention of potential recruiters. Athletes need to show an attitude of resilience while also demonstrating skill that could prove valuable to a team.

Gold began to feel discomfort in her ankle after a demanding soccer tournament held in Orlando. She is used to fighting through minor pain in matches but she knew something was wrong after the pain refused to subside.

One would assume that an injury so close to soccer season and in the midst of college recruitment would shake the confidence of such any athlete, but Gold sees no way of stopping.

“This injury, although it is a setback because I’ll have to work a little harder for a few weeks when I get cleared to play, does not waver my confidence whatsoever,” Gold said.

Years of mental conditioning has trained Gold to look past challenges that might temporarily pause her development. She knows that injuries go hand in hand with the immense physical strain and refuses to let that affect her game. Gold has a history of ankle injuries with breaks and sprains acquired on her left and right sides.

“My coach last season stressed a growth mindset, which is the mentality that there is always room for improvement and you’re always looking to work harder,” Gold said. “It’s about resilience- knowing you’ve been set back but instead of giving up, working harder to get back to where you want to be.”

Anastasiya Dudaryk Design Editor

a.dudaryk.thepanther@gmail.com

PHOTO BY THE PALMECHO

CONVERGENCE PAST MEETS PRESENT THROUGH COMPETITION

Kevin Pedersen lives each day with his past in mind.

He graduated from West Point, served in the military and became the highest awardwining Drug Enforcement Agency agent in history, but before that he was a student and wrestler at Palmetto Senior High.

Pederson wrestled for Coach Barry Zimbler at Palmetto from 1974-76 with his close friend Alex DeCubas.

“Wrestling was the center of our friendship,” Pedersen said.

They won the State Championships in 1974 and 1976. The craving for competition helped both Alex and Kevin overcome the

adversity they faced in their lives.

“You learn from wrestling to get back up and keep pressing on and take what you learn and get better,” Mike Pedersen, Kevin’s older brother and former Palmetto wrestler, said. “Kevin decided the heck with this, I’m going to get better and go on with life.”

During his first marriage, marred by his ex-wife’s addiction to cocaine, Kevin considered suicide before something stopped him from ending his life.

“I gave my life to Christ at that moment, and I realized that the gun ended up on the other side of the room by some force other than my own,” Pederson said. “God made it real clear to me that I would go into law enforcement.”

As Kevin collected awards for his service with the DEA, Alex collected cash dealing Colombian cocaine and frequented mostwanted lists in the U.S. The DEA eventually caught and arrested DeCubas; he was freed from prison in 2012.

Pedersen stayed in touch with DeCubas throughout his jail sentence, and brought him back to wrestling after his release.

“I was concerned about his mental state, his emotions and his view on the world,” Pedersen said. “The best way to [fix] that is to help others, and one way to give to others is to coach.”

With the consent of the parents and administration at Westminister Christian School, where Kevin began coaching the wrestling team four years ago, Alex became Kevin’s assistant coach in 2015.

“That was the perfect place for Alex to come,” he said. “There’s a lot of... people there who understand forgiveness.”

Pedersen knows he made the right decision despite the controversy it caused.

“It’s a story of redemption, second chances, and relationships that obviously go all the way back to middle school and high school, and what can you do with them 40 years later,” he said. “We trust each other, we’re honest with each other, we have wrestling in our competitive nature, and [we have] great desire to win at anything.”

Marlowe Starling Feature Editor

m.starling.thepanther@gmail.com

SPORTS/23

ATHLETES TO LOOK OUT FOR MARGARET PURSER

lYLIA JIANG

TREY FLOWERS

PHOTO BY THE PALMECHO

PHOTO BY KALIA RICHARDSON

PHOTO BY TREY FLOWERS

Margaret “Meghan” Purser, a senior --standing at 6’2”--alternates between right side and middle blocker position for Palmetto’s girls volleyball team.

Freshmen year, Purser entered the sport at her mother’s urging. She recalls her mom insisting she join, and ever since then developed a passion for it. Now she holds a vital role on Palmetto’s varsity team, with her interdependent team.

“Teamwork, honestly, makes the dreamwork. You can’t do anything without a full functioning team that fully trusts each other,” Purser said.

Purser is set on pursuing volleyball in college and those that recognize potential within her include Simmons College (Boston), Loyola University (New Orleans) and Northwestern State University (Louisiana). Her quest for playing college volleyball was only possible by overcoming her feelings of discouragement through guidance from Coach Mo. “I just don’t get caught up in the negativity. The next point is my point,” Purser said. “Fix your mistake and move on.”

Senior and 4-year cross country runner, Lylia Jiang, saves wiggle room for a 5K in her schedule of five APs. Since eighth grade at Southwood, she is immune to strenuous training because of her coach Mr. Carson “He didn’t let us drink water during practice,” Jiang said. “He set up the basis and foundation for me.”

This improved her performance in the heat and paid off sophomore year when she won her first medal at the Viper invitational at Michael Krop High.

“Running gave me so many opportunities. I made so many new friends and I was able to go through high school comfortably,” Jiang said. “Knowing that you gave it everything you had and that you were able to contribute to the other girls on your team [was my priority].”

Jiang learned the value of perseverance from her past struggles.

“If you have to walk the rest just finish, even though we strive to be fast it really doesn’t matter as long as you’re giving it [all] that you can possibly give,” Jiang said.

Trey Flowers, a junior and Palmetto Panthers running back looks to the NFL draft. Flowers already has three possible full paid scholarships and still awaits more.

His journey began early at the age of 7, driven by his mother’s hard work.

“One day she said she was tired of working so I decided that I wanted to be the one who stops that,” Flowers said. “It’s the number one thing in my life right now.”

In 2012, Flowers won a National Championship for Palmetto Bay at Coral Reef Park where it aired on ESPN Wide World of Sports. Flowers usually wins, but the few times his team can’t take the heat, he seizes the responsibility for enlightening them with his football wisdom and humor.

With a current 3.9 weighted GPA, Flowers tackles not only other players but college classes as well for next year.

“Every class is going to be AP, even breakfast and lunch,” Flowers said.

Kalia Richardson Report Editor

k.richardson.thepanther@gmail.com

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INSIGHT/25

THE TRUTH BEHIND DRESS CODE Since the 1980s, Miami-Dade with punishing women for disobeying County Public Schools enforced a their dress codes. Everyday, girls are uniform policy upon its students. In the sent home from school.

21st century, the mandatory trip to any Males never have to deal with school uniform distributor reinforced this issue. Due to this, many ask, is it the true ending of summer. In reality, because men are above the problem? what are the purposes of the classic The answer: men who objectify women polo and khaki shorts look? Students are the problem. The visualization that lose not only their creative freedoms women are objects would not exist if when confined to four colors, but not for the attitudes of men. the ability to be comfortable in their Miami-Dade County Public Schools everyday environments. states that uniforms are not gender Men slide by with more freedom in specific, but they enforce this belief. their clothing options than their female The largest consequence of Palmetto’s counterparts. Distracting clothing in the dress code is not only a woman’s class environment, such a shirts with diminishing self confidence, but girls profane messages, make up their light missing class. This occurs because restrictions. Wearing tank tops and short their clothing is “too distracting” for the shorts is also prohibited. Dade County school environment. MDCPS should mandates that clothes be clean and up focus more on educating students rather to par with the regulations. than forcing individuals to conform Women are subject to a much to social normalcies. Dress code stricter dress code. No shoulders. forces women to adversely objectify No leggings. No ripped jeans. No themselves in a manner destructive to a activewear. No low-hanging shirts. woman’s confidence.

Society, and men more specifically, Even though the dress code is must ask some questions. Are we really enforced by female faculty members, distracted by shoulders and yoga pants? there is a notion that men are Does forcing less revealing clothes responsible for the dress code ideology. on women solve the problem at hand?

Women are usually undistracted by This is whether or not uniform can male clothing, so why should men be really distract students from absorbing distracted by female clothing? Men knowledge in the classroom. How must learn to treat women maturely, does this affect the demeanor of female whether or not they are wearing a lowstudents throughout the school? cut shirt or tight leggings.

The school board needs to rise above the stereotypes of the past. MiamiDade County must no longer objectify Maxwell Landy women for their bodies. The school Video Editor reinforces their belief in objectification m.landy.thepanther@gmail.com

VS

PHOTOS BY SOFIA BRAND

INSIGHT/26

WE HAVE NOT YET

WON From 1777, when the original 13 states passed laws prohibiting women to vote, to 2016, where a woman is leading the polls in the 45th presidential election, it may appear as though the fight for women’s rights is over; but it is far from it.

We have transformed from voiceless housewives to leaders of our country. We have gone from only being educated to be fit wives, to presidents of honor societies, captains of sports teams and valedictorians of our classes.

The progress in America over the past 239 years is not only evident, but remarkable. But the timer has not stopped.

The war has not ended.

We have the right to vote, the right to work and the ability to not just break, but shatter, any glass ceiling in our way. But where is our amendment stating “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex”? Oh, right. It has not been passed...in over 90 years.

In 1923, three years after women were granted the right to vote, Alice Paul proposed the Equal Rights Amendment.

Congress finally passed it in 1972 and sent it to the states for ratification. To pass an amendment, three-fourths of the states need to ratify it. The ERA received only 35 votes, three short of the amount needed, and even though the deadline extended three years, it was still not passed and the

GRAPHIC BY MIA ZALDIVAR

amendment died.

And guess what? Florida is one of the 15 states that did not ratify the ERA. So, where does that leave us, the women of Florida? Legally inferior to men.

Even with the passing of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, the pay gap in salaries between men and women holds a continuous presence today. According to the American Association of University Women, white women only earn 79 percent of a white man’s salary, working the same job, with the same hours and with the same educational background. It only gets worse for black women, who earn 63 percent of a white man’s salary, and Hispanic or Latina women earn a mere 54 percent of a white man’s salary. The pay gap shrunk over the last 40 years by 20 percent, but, it is not expected to close for more than 100 years. The solution does not lie within higher education; at any level of education or degree, women’s average earnings are remarkably less than men’s average earnings, and the gap often increases with the higher levels of education.

Title IX of the Education Amendment, The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, The Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the signings of many acts against discrimination have all been passed. Yet, the ERA died after ten years because it fell short three votes of ratification.

Without legal equality, what can we

do other than deem our bullies mean and distasteful? We cannot enforce nor stand behind a law that does not exist. Our rights are up in the air daily because equality is too seemingly unimportant to our state.

We have been handed the torch from the generations of women our senior. With their strengths, we have moved mountains.

But we need to move more. We cannot simply pat ourselves on the back for how far we have come...we have to keep on.

For centuries, our voices were hushed, our rights were nonexistent and our chromosomes entailed a life of struggle.

We will not be quiet because they do not want to hear it. With our voices raised, demanding change, our generation of women will be the ones who finally get to say, “we did it. We made the world change.”

I refuse to let the future generations of women take on the battle we should have already won. I will not put my gloves down until the fight of feminism is only alive in history textbooks. I will spend everyday of my life forcing the world to change, because women do not deserve a man’s rights, but human rights.

Morgan Elmslie Copy Editor

m.elmslie.thepanther@gmail.com

INSIGHT/27 THE DEBATE OVER TRANSGENDER BATHROOMS As a May 2016 directive by the Obama Administration, public schools must allow students access to the bathroom that coincides with their gender identity. Almost immediately, several public school districts filed lawsuits in retaliation, claiming that the directive was not based on law, and intrudes on the wants of communities who may want students to use the bathrooms of their biological sex. Except there is a basis in law: antidiscrimination.

The debate over who can use which bathroom goes far beyond gender identity. In the 1960s, the debate was over racial integration of bathrooms.

Many wanted signs separating “colored” and “white” to continue to distinguish bathrooms, but the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown vs.

Board of Education stated that public schools had to be integrated. People claimed this would result in the sexual assault of white women at the hands of black men. It is evident that the correlation between these two events is nonexistent.

Today, people claim that allowing transgender women into female bathrooms will entail negative consequences. Some individuals believe that cisgender--those who identify with the gender given at birth--men dressed as women will sexually assault cisgender women in bathrooms. Both claims are based not on fact but on stereotypes and the demonization of marginalized groups that simply want equality.

Transgender women have been using public bathrooms for ages. A group of over 200 organizations that deal with victims of sexual assault and domestic violence are fighting to debunk the belief that allowing transgender women to use the female bathroom will bring sexual predators. Twenty-three school districts as well as four universities allow students to use facilities that identify with their gender identity, with no incidents, according to Media Matters’ website. Miami-Dade County passed a 2014 ordinance banning discrimination against the LGBT community, which included allowing individuals to access bathrooms of their gender identity. Mayor Carlos Gimenez found that sexual assault did not rise in response to this ordinance.

According to the Anti-Violence Project, transgender women are actually 1.8 times more likely to be the victims of sexual assault than any GRAPHIC BY MIA ZALDIVAR

other demographic, and seven times more likely to receive physical violence from law enforcement.

Transgender individuals, specifically transgender women, must deal with false claims that they bring sexual predators with them, or that they themselves are sexual predators. Acting on these claims, North Carolina’s General Assembly passed House Bill 2, or the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, in March. The bill intends to make people enter bathrooms that correspond with the sex on their birth certificate. Many cried discrimination, and various celebrities including Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam have cancelled shows in the state. Apple, LinkedIn, Microsoft, NIKE and over 60 other companies stood against the bill, as did fifty percent of North Carolinians. Regardless of the lack of support, this bill cannot feasibly be enforced.

Would there be someone in front of public bathrooms checking the birth certificates of everyone who enters?

No one bothers transgender individuals who pass as cisgender when they enter the bathroom. Also, if the issue was sexual assault, then registered sex offenders would not be allowed in public restrooms, but they are. After all, women are not the only victims of sexual assault, and men are not the only perpetrators. But just as in the 1960s, the issue is not sexual assault; it is the idea of cultural norms that allow for discrimination against and mistreatment of those who are deemed unusual. It was not too long ago when being transgender was considered a mental disorder, much as being homosexual once was.

The argument of gay people sexually assaulting children was also used in order to vilify them.

At the end of the day, transgender people just want to relieve themselves, like everyone else. The world is moving forward and becoming more inclusive of different types of people who were once oppressed and cast into the shadows. The idea of protecting women from sexual assault has been trumpeted as a necessary cause. In order to do this, we need to protect transgender women too.

Susan Aghedo Copy Editor

s.aghedo.thepanther@gmail.com

INSIGHT/28

WHEN DOES THE CRAYON QUIT? It was overwhelming for all of us. As soon as we entered the halls of this school on the first day of freshman year, it was clear. The rigors of high school hit us at once. The crayon quit. Middle school offered some challenges, but that did not prepare anyone for high school. Not only was the stress thrust onto your unprepared shoulders at a greater level, but so was the magnitude of your actions, which will exclusively determine your immediate future following graduation.

Before ninth grade, the greatest fear that school could possibly produce came as a result of a C in conduct, a 2 in effort and the worst: having your parents sign a test you failed. Now, the pressure is real. GPAs can determine who makes a varsity sport that many invest every afternoon into and who is accepted into their dream school.

But more than that, flawless performance in the classroom is now so imperative that grades determine the moods and ethics of many students. Feeling desperate, many resort to acts they will later regret like cheating, just because there is no way that they can finish with a B. Unfortunately, the days of coloring books and word searches are long gone.

There will be times in high school that will leave you feeling hopeless. Whether it is when you finish with a C in a class that you studied for on a daily basis or when you cannot seem to improve your SAT and

ACT scores and continue to lag behind your friends, you must somehow remind yourself that this experience is worth powering through. The most effective way, in which one can make the transition from middle school to high school is to trust their ability to adapt. The truth is that in this world, you either adapt or you fall behind.

If you treat high school like middle school and this year’s labor-intensive class like last years slack class, you will not survive.

Fortunately, you are not alone in this transition and the best years of your life are still ahead. Our childhood is supposed to serve as an experience in which we can freely express and explore our emotions and coping methods; now is the time to test our mental endurance and limits.

Most students become overwhelmed due to a constant flow of assignments and responsibilities, and often find it difficult to adjust their mindset to the constantly changing task at hand. Studying for five tests after getting home late due to extracurricular activities seems impossible and unfair to many. That is, until you realize that nearly 3,000 students at MPSH and over 15 million high school students across the country consistently find themselves in similar situations.

You have known many of your classmates since the days of pre-K. If you are having trouble, whether it is with grades, studying for your first AP exam

or emotionally due to stress, reach out.

Networking can ease this transition in your life; the more people you know, the more opportunities you will have in the future. It is nearly impossible to survive seven-hour school days on a weekly basis without the support of your friends.

The crayon quits when the innocence of elementary and middle school become a distant memory and the harsh competitiveness of high school becomes your reality. The key, as like all things in life, is to measure your performance by your capabilities and not in comparison to others. In trying to one-up someone, not only are you providing yourself with an inaccurate measure of success, but you are losing sight of of your individual standards.

High school is a demanding period in our young lives, and college will most likely be even more strenuous and full of obstacles but the way in which he handle adversity will blatantly determine our success. As we age, our actions have a larger effect and the margin for error shrinks. When the crayon quits, find a pencil and do not risk making the same mistakes because soon enough, you will be writing in permanent ink.

Thomas Martinez

Online Editor-In-Chief

t.martinez.thepanther@gmail.com

INSIGHT/29

FACE OFF right to stand

In a nation where violence is at its peak, a silent, powerful and mature protest should be respected, not looked down on. Recently notable professional athletes have chosen to take a stand by sitting through the pledge of allegiance and national anthem. Their actions have been deemed unpatriotic, disgusting or disrespectful; they are actually handling their opinions in a mature and rational way.

The pledge of allegiance itself states, “one nation under God.” In a country of free religion, this is bound to raise controversy. Atheists and many others have shed light on the blatantly religious statement in the pledge of allegiance and, therefore, refused to stand in protest of their religious beliefs.

The First Amendment “guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely.” The Constitution does not require Americans to stand during the pledge of allegiance or

Throughout history, both the design of our flag and pledge of allegiance have changed dramatically. Despite the changes, the symbolic meaning rooted behind both remained untouched.

Our country was founded under the same principles it stands for today; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Within those constitutionally granted rights, anyone can refuse to stand for the pledge of allegiance- that is not the issue.

The issue lies within the reasoning behind the disrespect. The significance of our respect has dwindled and the pledge has been neglected both inside and outside of the classroom. Some teachers would rather squeeze in one more minute of teaching than have their class stand.

Recently professional athletes have deliberately refused to stand for the pledge, for more reasons than slight inconvenience. Their reasonings supposedly call attention to racial injustices and gender discrimination.

the national anthem.

Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, exercised his First Amendment right by refusing to partake in the national anthem. Fed up with the mistreatment of black Americans in the United States, Kaepernick purposefully sat out to convey his message. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if this was the course of action Kaepernick believed he had to take to bring up a fight for change, then he was willing to suffer the consequences.

Ever since the war of 1812, when Francis Scott Key engraved the words of the Star Spangled Banner into the minds of Americans, this seemingly holy anthem has represented the “land of the free”; however, Kaepernick does not believe that what the flag is supposed to represent is true at the moment.

Alec Lanzas

Business Manager

a.lanzas.thepanther@gmail.com

Yet they still accept their paychecks, well into six figures, despite unequal pay among both races and sexes. But it is not the flag that is being disrespected.

It is the men and women who died for our country; the sons and daughters who buried parents with our flag draped over their caskets; the veterans suffering from PTSD; the prisoners of war who have spent restless nights starving and alone.

The moment of silence is observed to honor them.

Our flag is more than 13 stripes and 50 stars. Our pledge is more than 31 words and a moment of silence. They are symbols of our country that deserve more than our hands over our hearts; you can sit through the pledge of allegiance only because of those who risked their lives to give you that right.

Morgan Elmslie Copy Editor

m.elmslie.thepanther@gmail.com

YOUR CHOICE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF cHILDREN OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

The year can seem long when making purchases and answering school surveys pose a threat to your identity. Goals can barely seem within reach when the country you live in views your parents as unwanted intruders incapable of forming a new life for their families. The children of undocumented immigrants have as much ambition as any other U.S. citizen, and the country’s views toward their parents should not hinder their abilities to be successful.

With increased media attention drawn to the negative aspects of immigration, undocumented immigrants face new threats to their future the worst case scenario being forced out of the country. In a Pew Research Center survey, 66 percent of registered voters who support Trump claimed immigration was one of the most pressing issues in the country today. Among his supporters, 79 percent support his plan to build a wall along the Mexican border, a notion that seemed like a joke months ago and now presents a genuine concern. The candidate recently presented the idea of revoking these Americanborn citizens of their citizenship - only because their parents were born in another country and never obtained citizenship for themselves.

Amendment 14 of the Constitution explicitly states that these children are legal citizens of this country if they were born here. Until they turn 18 and become independent adults, they are left unable to surpass the restraints placed on their legal guardians and make a life for themselves.

The should not have to suffer for the decisions of their parents, let alone decisions made to provide a better quality of life for them.

A recent Center of Migration Studies estimated 10.9 million illegal immigrants currently reside in the U.S., the lowest since 2003. The reports point toward smaller family sizes, as the average undocumented immigrant in the U.S. is at least 35 years old and has lived in the U.S. for over a decade. If families have already established themselves here and paved a way for their children’s future, why treat them as foreigners?

For the children of undocumented immigrants, do not feel deterred. Feel free to pursue your dreams; we are all no different from each other.

BY MARLOWE STARLING

STAFF EDITORIAL Some news networks frequently build reputations of leaning to one side for certain issues. CNN is more liberal. FOX is more conservative.

The Huffington Post openly despises Donald Trump (even though many others do too). The effect of habitually organizing readers and viewers into groups that only acknowledge their own ideas leads to narrower ideas and less acknowledgement for opposing views.

When a news network covers one side of an issue, none of their viewers acknowledge new opinions and comfortably occupy a cycle of blind resolve. The issue is not the news networks being subjective, they may be presenting factual, unbiased information. But, they may only show viewers one sided stories. Hence looping and strengthening the opinions of already set-in-stone mindsets. People fall through the cracks when the kind of stories covered are tailored to tickle the ears of viewers instead of objectively inform. Ideally, media outlets should not market our values; but listening to what makes us feel right is more important than what makes us feel for others. Without both complete sides of the story, news networks draw in specific audiences and tailor their information to please their viewers.

Readers miss out on databases of helpful information to mold their understanding and stay informed for their own personal benefit, without even considering the misunderstanding this kind of selective awareness can bring. Why would a white Republican want to hear the story of a black Democrat being manhandled by police if their preferred media already does not value such experiences as news? Why would a gay person want to listen to the values of someone opposed to LGBT rights if they already believe that person is judgemental and ignorant?

The day we devalue our stories is the day we devalue each other.

LETTERS TO the EDITOR dear editor,

*Letters submitted may be edited for length, grammar and clarity. Letters can be submitted to Room 911B or thepanthermpsh@gmail.com

Palmetto is a great school and I like everything so far. I love the fact that my teachers actually listen to me and help me. I love the pep rally’s. But I wish that they would add something more. They always do the same thing at the mini pep rally’s during lunch.

SINCERELY

Destiny Martinez (10)

dear editor,

The article “Junior class plans trip to Animal Kingdom,”updates the school on the first ever junior field trip. There is a twist as to how students will be able to obtain tickets: the juniors will have to participate in a magazine drive. This article is great for juniors who still haven’t heard about their end of the school year class trip.

SINCERELY

Sabrina Catalan (11)

MISSION STATEMENT

The Panther staff aims to inform fellow students and parents about school-wide, local, national, and international news. The Panther’s content aims to represent the student body. Editorials feature the opinions of staffers. Features of other students, teachers and clubs further promote the spirit, culture and personality of Miami Palmetto Senior High School.

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Panther is a monthly publication of Miami Palmetto Senior High located at 7460 S.W. 118th Street Miami, FL 33156, (305) 235-1360 ext. 2337. The views expressed are solely those of The Panther staff. Students who wish to respond to an article in this publication or discuss another issue may write letters to the editor and submit them to room 911B or e-mail us at thepanthermpsh@gmail.com. The Panther has professional membership in NSPA and CSPA. The Panther prints 3,000 copies per issue for distribution. The Panther is distributed for free to all students in school. Subscriptions (for cost) are also available. Please visit our paper online at thepalmettopanther.com.

Byline Policy: All creative work (such as illustrations, graphics, photos and writing) excluding staff editorials and staff member pictures will include byline credits.

CORRECTION Policy: Any errors in print will be acknowledged in the next print issue in a correction box. Any errors online will be acknowledged immediately. Errors include facts, figures, misquoting and name misspellings.

ADVERTISING Policy: Ads will be designed by the advertiser and include all information the advertiser wants included.

If the advertiser asks the staff to design the ad, the individual who sold the ad will design the ad or the Ads Manager will. Ads will be approved by EICs, the Advisor and the Ads Manager. If an ad produced is illegible, contains false information, or the advertiser does not like it, they will receive a free ad in the next issue. If you would like to advertise, please contact us.

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ANTIANTI -DISCRIMINATION POLICY

The School Board shall comply with all Federal Laws and regulations prohibiting discrimination and all requirements and regulations of the U.S. Department of Education. The Board will enforce its prohibition against discrimination/ harassment based on sex, race, color, ethnic, or national origin, religion, marital status, disability, age, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender, gender identification, social and family background, linguistic preference, pregnancy and any other basis prohibited by law. The Board shall maintain an educational and work environment free from all forms of discrimination/harassment, which includes Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct such as unwelcome touching, graphic verbal comments, sexual jokes, slurs, gestures or pictures. All students, administrators, teachers, staff, and all other school personnel share responsibility for avoiding, discouraging, and reporting any form of prohibited discrimination or harassment against students by employees, other students and their parents or guardians, or third parties. This policy prohibits discrimination and harassment at all School District operations, programs, and activities on school property, or at another location if it occurs during an activity sponsored by the Board.

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