You S.A. 2013

S.A.

The Spurs came close to a fifth title, but now face some tough questions. We bounced a poll around and asked ...

Now what?

Responses on Page 9

The newspaper of the Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College June 27, 2013 Vol. 29, No. 1 www.theranger.org

Heat fells band student

Andrea Quiroga, freshman band student at Clark High School, passed out after locking her knees during band practice. She received assistance from drum major Bryan Hutzler and a fellow band member before being taken to the sideline and given medical attention. See story on Page 11. Jacey Yarbrough/MacArthur High School

Young men show off their body of work

New UIL rule brings wave of cheers

By Katherine Sotelo Robert E. Lee High School

By Angel Lozano Tom C. Clark High School

Two days after graduating from Canyon Lake High School, Eric Ogden, then 18, threw two bags of clothes into his white 2000 Dodge 2500 Quad Cab and drove to his brother Buddy Ray’s house an hour away.

During the trip, the truck just quit; it wouldn’t run again for three months.

He was broke with no way to raise a dime.

Now 20, he makes upward of $700 each night working as a male stripper at HardBodies Ladies Club, the only major female entertainment venue in San Antonio.

“All through high school, I heard about it,” Eric Ogden said, noting that his brother, Buddy Ray Ogden, had been dancing there for years.

With an estimated 30 to 40 bachelorette parties scheduled each weekend, HardBodies employs male entertainers from across the state. And at 18, fresh out of high school, Eric Ogden signed on as the stage manager.

The brothers’ status among the club’s top five dancers opens doors to private parties, road shows and strip offs. The ex-high school athletes don’t dance alone; 20 male entertainers put on a Vegas-style show, beginning on a side stage and moving to the front pole.

Mariah Paccione never quit cheerleading. Even after she fell 8 feet while performing a stunt. Even after she was airlifted to University Hospital. Even after half her body went numb. Even after suffering her third concussion.

“My first concussion was in July 2012 during summer camp,” the 2013 Jefferson High School graduate said, recalling the painful event that required an air ambulance ride to University Hospital.

“I was just waiting, paralyzed. I knew I needed to get better and push through the pain. My pain tolerance got higher.”

Paccione spent the remainder of the summer recovering from her injuries, but in August, she returned to the cheer squad.

Under a new UIL regulation, student athletes such as Paccione will be kept out of strenuous activities and sports in the case of a concussion for as long as the student’s physician deems necessary for recovery.

“We want every child who sustains a concussion to be seen by a health care professional,” said Dr. Lillian Liao, medical director of pediatric trauma at University Hospital.

“What you can’t see is that a lot of people can pass out but be very normal for the next few hours or even days, but they had an underlying brain injury that’s more severe than what you think. Unless you CT

See STRIPPERS, Page 6

High school cheerleaders will adhere to new regulations on treatment of brain injuries

Dr. Lillian F. Liao, medical director of pediatric trauma at University Hospital, says most people are not aware of the true danger of concussions and severe brain trauma.

Andrea Garcia/Lanier High School

scan them or evaluate them in the emergency room and decide whether or not you need to get further imaging of the brain, you won’t know it.”

In June, UIL placed high school cheerleaders under the same concussion regulations that govern football players, the Texas Education Code Chapter 38 Subchapter D. Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams has signed the new UIL regulation, which will be effective Aug. 1, according to DeEtta Culbertson, a TEA spokesperson.

The regulation requires that, in the case of a concussion, cheerleaders must be

kept out of practice and performance until cleared by a physician.

As a pediatric trauma expert, Liao said she prefers to refer to concussions as “mild traumatic brain injuries” because that is a more accurate description of what happens to the brain during a concussion. Repeated injury to the brain can inflict permanent damage, Liao said.

“The reason why concussions are bad is because it’s not the first one that’s bad; it’s the subsequent risk of having another concussion after the first, adding onto the See CHEERLEADING, Page 3

YOU S.A.

2

June 27, 2013

Students tour newsroom, gain insight

Kathya Anguiano Jose Arredondo Anthony Estolano Andrea Garcia Angel Lozano Aaron Martinez Jasmine A. Mendiola Kayanna Reid Katherine Sotelo Jacey Yarbrough

Workshop participants get hands-on journalism experience.

By Katherine Sotelo Robert E. Lee High School Moving from one waist-high cubicle to another June 21, the 10 students of the 29th annual Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College toured the San Antonio Express-News newsroom.

Students were selected for the workshop based on their interest in journalism, work experience, instructor recommendations, interview performance and persuasive writing session the first Sunday in March.

“The program was established to increase diversity in the newspaper industry,” UJW Director Irene Abrego, 52, said, “at the same time, developing an appreciation for the First Amendment, an appreciation for the workings of journalism and journalism’s role in a democracy.”

She said the workshop can expand the students’ skills, which they can take back to their high schools and pass along to their colleagues.

In addition to the original goal of enticing young people of color to consider a career in news, the workshop facilitates a network of mentors and mentees with high school students, college students and professionals.

“We are also trying to create news readers, if not newspaper readers,” Abrego said.

The students, from schools across San Antonio, travelled from dorms at the University of the Incarnate Word to San Antonio College each morning for writing, photography and news research classes along with researching, reporting and writing a story.

After touring the ExpressNews, students broke into small groups to shadow staff reporters.

“Students need to see what the job really consists of,” Abrego said. “Following a reporter for a few hours is going to give them insights that they could never get from a book or from a teacher talking about it.”

In the newspaper’s photo studio, workshoppers Jose Arredondo, 18, Andrea Garcia, 18, Jasmine Mendiola, 17, and Angel Lozano, 16, joined Michael Quintanilla, fashion and pop culture writer.

“He started telling us how he got into the business and how he used to work at the Los Angeles Times,” Mendiola said. “He told us about what he did, how he started on the crime beat, and how he got into fashion and all the details of his job.

“He really gave me the insight that you really need to look out of the box when you’re writing stories, especially on breaking news because a lot of the stories are going to be the same,” she said. “I gained a lot from that.”

Inside the newsroom, Anthony Estolano, 17, and Kathya Anguiano, 17, shadowed Michelle Mon-

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Urban Journalism Workshop 2013 participants toured the San Antonio Express-News. Tricia Buchhorn

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“What Michelle Mondo told me was to make it big in this industry, or field, you have to make connections,” Estolano said.

“Make connections everywhere you go and you’ll find yourself in new places.”

On the other side of the quiet newsroom, Jacey Yarbrough, 17, and Kayanna Reid, 17, spoke with Marissa Villa, a writer for the bilingual weekly Conexión, Conexión editor Melissa Renteria, and environmental systems writer Colin McDonald.

“He liked that we were really interested in what he was doing and hoped that we would pursue environmental writing or go into the field of environmental conservation,” Yarbrough said.

Next, the two teens visited

Conexión where Renteria explained the layout process. “How she decides what goes where and the difficulty of choosing stories that have a long period of relevance,” Yarbrough said.

Tucked into a corner of the newsroom, Aaron Martinez, 17, and Katherine Sotelo, 17, sat down with general assignments writer John MacCormack.

“We basically talked to him and I liked his journalism and his style of writing because he shined a light on stuff that nobody knows about and stuff that really goes under the radar,” Martinez said.

“He was really detailed with his writing and you can tell he puts a lot of his emotion and heart into it because he’s just that good of a writer.”

Afterward, walking through

the streets of downtown, Martinez and Sotelo trailed education intern Daniella Diaz as they searched for a political protest of a new immigration bill.

“She was really awesome and she had a lot of energy,” Martinez said. “We went with her to cover a protest, but even though we didn’t get to go to the protest, it was still a lot of fun to actually see an intern working and how determined she was about it.”

At the end of the shadow field trip, workshop participants rode the elevator to a conference room on the 8th floor for a pizza lunch with Express-News editor Mike Leary and managing editor Jamie Stockwell.

“It kind of put a face on the Express-News for me,” Lozano said.

“How high school students can aspire to be in a big position at a newspaper like that.”

Leaving the Express-News and shadow experience, the students took along a sample of the job of a reporter, intern and editor in a professional journalistic setting.

“It gives them a window to a career they possibly wish to pursue,” staff writer Vincent Davis said. “It debunks any myths they

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All it takes is hard work and determination.”

June 27, 2013

YOU S.A.

3

AP tests prove costly to some schools Each high school finds a different way to subsidize placement exam fees.

By Anthony Estolano John Paul Stevens High School In the 2011 legislative session, public school funding was cut by $5.4 billion, leaving schools statewide scrambling to rearrange their budget priorities.

Despite the Texas Senate Finance Committee adding $1.5 billion back into the budget this February, public schools are still coping with shortfalls.

Amid hiring freezes, induced retirements and slashed operating funds, cuts also have forced school districts to decide how much money to spend on subsidies, such as paying for Advanced Placement exams that allow students to earn credit for college-level courses.

The College Board, the company that builds and sells the tests, charges $89 for each exam a student takes.

Students can take multiple exams per year, depending on how many AP classes the student has enrolled in.

Kevin Brown, Alamo Heights ISD superintendent, said a few students take and pass enough AP tests to enter college as juniors.

That is the equivalency of earning 60 college credits, or testing out of 20 courses.

The testing cost for a 60-credit student would be $2,136, but many students do not have to pay the entire cost for the exams.

Prior to 2011, the state provided a $30 subsidy for each student. Since then, the subsidy has only been provided to economically disadvantaged students.

In addition, the College Board pays $26 dollars of the cost of each test taken by economically disadvantaged students and waives an $8 site fee which districts cannot charge low-income students.

In addition, the Texas Education Agency has applied for a federal grant, which will further subsidize the tests for economically disadvantaged students, bringing the total cost to $9 per test for low-income students attending public schools.

After these cost-saving measures, San Antonio school districts reach into their own budgets to further lower costs, but they do so in different ways.

Alamo Heights, for example, provides subsidies on a case-by-case basis. Prior to the exam, the district informs all students they can get help with the costs if they need it.

“A low-income student might pay $10 to take the exam,” Brown said. “We want them to pay a little bit just so they have ownership in it. But we also do not want the cost to prevent them from getting college credit.”

The local money in Alamo Heights ISD, therefore, is potentially given to students who are classified as economically disadvantaged and some who are not.

“Unfortunately, we have been cut so much, we don’t have many local funds, so everything is a stretch,” Brown said. “That is one reason we decided not to just do a blanket incentive for everybody.”

In the San Antonio, Harlandale and Edgewood Independent School Districts, all students enrolled in an AP class take the test at no cost if they are on the free or reduced lunch program.

The local money in these districts is going to students who are economically disadvantaged, and with 92.2 percent low-income students in SAISD, and 100 percent of the students at Harlandale and Edgewood qualifying for the lunch program, nearly all students who take the test fall into this category.

And that subsidy takes a large bite out of

Kevin Brown, Alamo Heights ISD superintendent, says all students should pay something for AP tests to ensure that students have ownership. Anthony Estolano/Stevens High School the budget.

SAISD set aside about $115,000 this past year for AP testing, said Nancy Rodriguez, SAISD’s senior coordinator of advanced academics.

Travis Early College High School, a partnership of SAISD and San Antonio College, has about 85 to 90 percent of its students taking AP exams.

Principal Orlando Vera said SAISD subsidizes all the AP exams and schools are only accountable for the cost when students do not show for an exam.

He said the most Travis High School has had to pay for AP testing on one occasion is $26, when two students skipped a scheduled exam.

“I don’t think they would take it if it was up to them, fully, without the district helping,” Vera said. “Money plays a big part.

With the era changing, budget cuts, I think the economic disadvantage does make a difference.”

But he said he understands larger districts might have more problems ensuring students take the AP exam for which they are registered.

Travis High School has an enrollment of 355 students, so he said it’s easier to monitor students’ progress.

Rodriguez stresses the importance of students taking the AP exam.

“We want to give every student the opportunity to take the test if they are currently enrolled in an AP course,” Rodriguez said.

“Of course, that will give them the opportunity to earn college credit if indeed they do pass the test.”

Northside ISD does not further subsidize economically disadvantaged students but provides a subsidy to students not on that list that lowers the cost from $89 to $19 for each exam.

Northeast ISD provides a subsidy for both economically disadvantaged students and the rest of the students as well. Students on the free or reduced lunch program pay $8 per exam instead of $9, and the rest

Behind the byline Anthony Estolano is a “sponge” always thirsty for knowledge. He is in band at Stevens High School, playing the trumpet and French horn.

Estolano is passionate about journalism, so passionate that he’s willing to devote his free time to serve on the school’s yearbook.

“I have stayed until 1 a.m. in school just doing the yearbook,” Estolano said.

His passion, knowledge and hard work have led him to be the editor-in-chief of the yearbook for two years. He has also participated in UIL competitions in journalism and social studies.

At 17, Estolano is not only an outstanding student, but he also makes time for his own choreography and photography business.

Estolano wants to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock to major in journalism.

His mom has inspired him to pursue a career because as a college graduate from Mexico with a medical laboratory technician degree, she did not have the opportunity to practice her profession in Texas.

“I know she wants the best for me, and I want to make her proud,” he said.

Estolano’s favorite sport is soccer, but he is also a dedicated San Antonio Spurs fan.

When it comes to music, Estolano is willing to listen to everything. Though he does not have a favorite artist, he appreciates all genres. During his spare time, he likes to dance and go out with friends.

— Andrea Garcia pay $17.

“We have been very fortunate, we have not had to increase the price to the students yet, but because of some of the limits we have and because of the strict budget,

‘I don’t think they would take it if it was up to them, fully, without the district helping. Money plays a big part. With the era changing, budget cuts, I think the economic disadvantage does make a difference.’

Orlando Vera

Travis Early College High School Principal

there is always a conversation about either charging more for the test or limiting the number of tests students can take,” said Mary Reihner, a counselor at International School of the Americas, a magnet school at Robert E. Lee High School.

“There’s also always an argument, kind of a fine line, a philosophical argument – how much do you subsidize for a test to make it both accessible for a student, but also make it worth their while to take the test?

Research will show if you make a test too cheap, a student may be more likely not to take a test.”

She said students who pay nothing or very little for an exam might not be as invested in taking it as those who pay a more expensive, subsidized price.

YOU S.A.

4

June 27, 2013

Story in the stats

Infographic by Katherine Sotelo/Lee High School

New approach to young victims of sex trafficking Law removes ‘prostitute’ designation for minors lured or forced into sordid crime.

analyst, said the senator became interested in ways to better deal with trafficking victims while serving as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Human Trafficking.

According to a report by the Texas TrafBy Jose Arredondo ficking Task Force submitted to the Texas Theodore Roosevelt High School Legislature in 2011, the scope of human trafficking in Texas is difficult to estimate.

Recent legislation aims to provide a re- But two Texas-based Innocence Lost task habilitative pathway for teen victims of hu- forces that track information on these vicman sex trafficking. tims identified and rescued 109 child vicVictims are often called ‘child prostitutes,’ tims in 2009. but many in the legal and social welfare The report also states that the U.S. Desystem say that label is highly inaccurate. partment of Health and Human Services “That term, ‘child prostitute’? How can estimates that children who leave or lose that be a thing?” asked Natalia Holik, a their homes are likely to be approached by counselor at the San Antonio Rape Crisis a trafficker within 48 hours, and in Texas in Center who works with sexually trafficked 2009, 11,942 juveniles (16 or younger) were domestic minors. arrested as runaways.

She said minors cannot consent to sex in Parker said the victims she sees in her exchange for any form of compensation, so court tend to be girls who, for one reaany minor involved in sex trade should be son or another, leave home and are living considered a human trafficking victim. on the street. A stranger approaches them Juvenile Court Judge Laura Parker, who is and offers them “help” — a place to stay, involved in the development of a program something to eat — and commiserates with to serve these victims, agrees, saying, “For a them about their home situation. long time, we’ve recognized that the inabilThe runaways are often given drugs to ity to consent means that they shouldn’t be increase compliance. picked up for prostitution.”

Runaways can become reliant on these Parker said that, generally, minors who predators who then threaten to sever the are being trafficked end up being picked up relationship if the girls do not meet their for other charges such as truancy or curfew demands. violations.

Parker said that when police pick up Senate Bill 92, authored by state Sen. Leti- these girls, they are not charged with proscia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, designates titution, but instead with one of a number these minors as victims of exploitation and of “status offenses,” a category reserved for sets up a framejuveniles. work within the These ofjuvenile court fenses place the system geared child under the toward rehabiliumbrella of a tation of victims “child in need rather than peof supervision,” nalizing them which brings Rene Ochoa for activities that them into the Bexar County Deputy Sheriff are either the dilegal system. rect result of, or Holik hears the related to, their same type of exploitation. stories from the minors she counsels and The legislation encourages the use of says that eventually the stranger or ‘boydiversionary programs that provide assis- friend’ says, “I’ve done all this for you, now tance, treatment and rehabilitation along you owe me.” with options for deferred adjudication or One of the difficulties faced by those the sealing of records based on successful working with these minors is that while completion of the program. the justice system is moving to frame them Servando Esparza, Van de Putte’s policy more clearly as victims, they do not see

‘The hardest thing that we have to do is tell the victims that they are victims.’

n Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world and is the second largest criminal enterprise after drugs. n The global market of child trafficking grosses over $12 billion a year with more than 1.2 million child victims. n As many as 2.8 million children run away each year in the U.S. Within 48 hours, one-third of these children are recruited into prostitution and pornography. n The average age of children entering the sex trade is 12. n Approximately 80% of human trafficking victims are women and up to 50% are minors. n 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk every year for commercial sexual exploitation. n 600,000-800,000 people are bought and sold across international borders each year.

50% are children, most are female. The majority are forced into the sex trade. n An estimated 14,500-17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the U.S. each year.

The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country is even higher. n An estimated 200,000 U.S. children are at risk for trafficking. n An average serial child molester may have as many as 400 victims in a lifetime. n For more information, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888373-7888.

Behind the byline Jose Arredondo, 18, has met every current Spurs basketball player except Tim Duncan. He credits the game of basketball for keeping him out of trouble as he grew up on San Antonio’s West Side.

At the end of his freshman year, Arredondo’s mother died, so he transferred from Burbank High School to Lee High School and moved in with his sister for his sophomore year. A year later, finances led Arredondo to move in with an aunt and uncle, and he graduated from Roosevelt High School.

While at Roosevelt, Arredondo ran the 200 and 400-meter sprint and the 4-x-400 relay on the track team. Both years he attended the school, he made it to regional competition.

Arredondo wears a silver necklace, the No. 5 dangling from its chain, a reminder of the basketball jersey number he wore from seventh grade to graduation.

“I didn’t choose the number five,” he said.

“The number five chose me.”

Aside from sports, Arredondo took journalism classes, drawn to the field when his uncle suggested taking a journalism class in eighth grade to combine his passion for sports and writing.

Until attending the Urban Journalism Workshop, Arredondo planned on attending the University of the Incarnate Word in the fall, but is now considering San Antonio College.

He hopes to pursue a major in journalism to become a sports writer.

— Katherine Sotelo

Source: www.sctnow.org themselves as such.

“They are trained into believing that they were the ones who chose this life and don’t recognize that they were exploited,” Holik said.

Rene Ochoa, a Bexar County Deputy Sherriff on the Human Trafficking Task Force, said that if traffickers have a lot of girls working for them, they let the minors keep what seems to them to be a good amount of money and the girls don’t want to leave.

“The hardest thing that we have to do is tell the victims that they are victims,” Ochoa said. “Once the victim gets out of control of the trafficker, they begin to realize that they were victims.”

That was the case for Linda Caswell, who didn’t realize that she was a victim until years after her exploitation ended.

Caswell, the founder of the All Things New Home, a faith-based, two-year program that provides shelter and counseling for trafficked women and emancipated minors, was in her late 20s when she was lured into prostitution. But her story is not that dissimilar to those of juvenile victims.

Caswell was living on her own, working in a restaurant in New Orleans and trying to support herself and her 4-year-old daughter. Because of her financial straits, a man was able to lure her into prostitution.

Though Caswell wanted to get out, the threat of having her prior activities exposed trapped her in the industry.

This situation lasted for about a year until a new worker in the restaurant, recognizing her precarious position, drove Caswell and her daughter out of town in the middle of the night.

“I escaped with my daughter to Kansas,” Caswell said.

YOU S.A.

June 27, 2013

5

Turkish students weigh in on protest back home Texas State student joins protesters in Istanbul.

Behind the byline

By Aaron Martinez John Paul Stevens High School As anti-government protests worsen in Turkey, students from that Middle Eastern country are emotionally and economically affected by the unrest in their country.

While Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in his third term, some Turkish students have mixed emotions about the way Erdogan is using his power.

Arda Onkol, 20, is majoring in industrial engineering at Texas State University and grew up in Ankara, Turkey. He is in Turkey this summer to spend time with his family and participate in the protest.

“People want freedom,” Onkol said in an interview via Skype.

He said protesters do not want Erdogan to think he is a dictator because he has been elected three times and has power over the country.

Onkol said protesters are voicing a number of complaints, including concerns over new religious-based laws, government restrictions on personal freedom and the building of a shopping mall over Gezi Park, a 9-acre, green space in crowded Istanbul.

Onkol, with his family and people from their neighborhood, go out at 9 p.m. carrying forks, spoons, pots and pans as noisemakers in a peaceful protest.

“We usually walk for an hour, an hour and a half, and come back to our houses, just making noises so we could give our message,” he said. “We do that so everybody could join us, and it’s a huge crowd from every neighborhood walking for an hour just making noise.”

Besides participating in peaceful neighborhood protests, Onkol has been on the frontlines of the protest while being faceto-face with police officers as they use pepper spray, throw gas and shoot rubber bullets at protestors.

“I didn’t go to the hospital, but a lot of people got very sick by the gas and got injured badly and had to go the hospital,” he said.

Canera Enbatan, 20, is a Turkish student majoring in software engineering at San Antonio College. He was born in Istanbul, went to junior high in Bursa, Turkey, and then completed high school in Kocaeli, Turkey.

In San Antonio, Enbatan has followed the protest through his roommates, television and family in Turkey.

“The protest, they don’t have any reason,” Enbatan said.

While supporting Erdogan’s style of government, Enbatan said he feels Erdogan is not what protestors and media portray him to be.

“I feel bad because I like Prime Minister Tayyip, and they just don’t want Tayyip to improve Turkey,” Enbatan said.

The protests also have hurt Enbatan financially. He holds stock in Turkish companies that have suffered during the unrest.

“I’ve lost a lot of money because of the protest, but I hope things will return back to normal soon,” Enbatan said.

Having mixed emotions on Erdogan’s power, Enbatan said he likes Erdogan’s economic changes to Turkey but does not like the way he uses his power.

“His plan is really good for Turkey, but he doesn’t explain why,” Enbatan said.

He said Erdogan also does not ask the people for their opinions.

Canera Enbatan, a software engineering student at San Antonio College, talks about how different life in Turkey is compared to life in America. Andrea Garcia/Lanier High School On May 28, upon the announcement to demolish Istanbul’s Gezi Park to construct a shopping center, protesters gathered to contest the altering of the national landmark as police fired tear gas into the crowd.

Leading up to the protest, the government has restricted personal freedom by restricting the sale of alcohol between 10 p.m.-6 a.m. because of new faith-based laws. Turkish citizens have been told what to wear and how many children to have.

Kissing in public also has been banned.

Onkol said he will continue to protest against the prime minister.

“He is intimidated of us and he is scared to tell himself,” Onkol said. “His ego is too big.”

Born in San Antonio, 17-year-old Aaron Martinez has a profound passion for observing the world, sharing his discoveries with others through journalism and dressing in a suave manner.

“I was born in San Antonio, but I have a strong love for Chicago,” Martinez said. “I call Chicago ‘Chiraq’ because of all the gang violence, but regardless, I love it there. My aunt lives there, and I visit as much as I can.”

Martinez grew to love music as a selftaught drummer, guitarist and ukuleleist. He is in the drum line of the Stevens High School band and enjoys listening to an array of music genres, but prefers indie music. However, his passion for politics and journalism is greater than that of his musical hobbies.

“I want to enlighten people on the culture and governments of others,” Martinez said.

“I find interest mainly in the Middle East because they’re not fully developed. These countries normally have (governments) that act as tyrannies or dictatorships that treat their people terribly.”

Martinez aspires to be an international journalist. His passion for writing has stemmed from an interest in Allen Ginsberg’s poetry from the Beat Generation in the 1950s.

“The Beat Generation poets wrote about social issues no one wanted to pay attention to,” Martinez said. “The community knew the issues were there, but they turned away from them. The Beat Generation poets were enlightening.”

Martinez will be the first in his family to graduate from high school and wants to attend DePaul University in Chicago. There, Martinez plans to major in journalism and minor in political science.

“As an international journalist, I aspire to enlighten people,” Martinez said. “Instead of stereotyping other countries, I want to give people the truth and be on the frontlines of any important situation. Personally, I’ve always wanted the truth.”

— Angel Lozano

‘People want freedom.’

Ardna Onkol

Ardna Onkol, an industrial engineering student at Texas State University, speaks via Skype about nonviolent street protests. Onkol went home to Turkey for the summer to visit family and participated in the protests.

industrial engineering student Texas State University

Istanbul

Bursa Ankara

Izmir

Antalya

Turkey Mersin

Infographic by Aaron Martinez/Stevens High School

6-7

BOYS ON THE POLES

YOU S.A.

STRIPPERS: From high school to

stage, young men shake it for cash

Continued from Page 1

Together, they chased the money that has bought them houses, cars and the flat screen televisions in their red lockers above the club.

At a time in their lives when college tuition, student loans and book prices usually worry people their ages, cash thrown on the stage has provided comfort and stability.

Despite his new employment earning him $400 a night, his family was pressuring their younger son to stay in college.

“Everyone wanted me to go to school so I jumped into school right away,” he said. “I had to pay for that by myself, so I just needed money really. I got really good at dancing and taking care of my body. From there, I pretty much learned how to do things that they did and, by 19, I was dancing.”

Hesitant to let his brother share the stage as an exotic dancer, Buddy Ray Ogden, 26, encouraged Eric to continue his studies at San Antonio College.

“He was so young, and I didn’t want him to get so easily persuaded by the money that he wouldn’t focus on his education,” he said as a protective big brother, who had danced his way to a degree in business at the University of the Incarnate Word.

“The whole time I was in school, I danced,” said Buddy Ray Ogden, who has danced at HardBodies for five years. “I still graduated with a 3.25 GPA and school was never an issue. I never had a problem with going to school, going to the gym and being here every night.”

His little brother, however, did not like that routine.

“My class schedule was from 11 to 3,” Eric Ogden said. “I hit the gym every day and would try to get that in before work. It worked for a while, but I really just didn’t like school.”

Eric Ogden made the decision to not return for his sophomore year.

According to a scholarly study examining male and female dancers in one urban area, his one year of college was at the mean of dancers in a range from 11 and 20 years of schooling.

The study, published in the Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, reported that the median age of a dancer Shane Samples is 24 and ranges from 19 to 40.

Eric Ogden began dancing at the youngest reported age, posing an experience far different from dancers who began later in life.

HardBodies founder and owner Joseph Griffin said youth can be problematic for male dancers.

“It’s harder for them because they look so young,” he said. “Some women don’t like it when an entertainer looks young, and Eric had a hard time with that when he first started.”

Even with that disadvantage, the money was just too good.

Waiting in line at a movie theater, 19-yearold Shane Samples, now the top-grossing dancer at HardBodies, was approached about dancing. Now 28, he brings in upward of $2,000 in a 22-hour workweek.

Samples said he had been told that he should strip when he turned 18 or 19.

“It didn’t really start to stick until I realized here I am working to buy supplements and body build and go through this rat race daily routine, something I’m not happy with,” he said. “When I can work out, look good and get paid to do so. That’s what changed my entire understanding.”

For the Ogden brothers and Shane Samples, all beginning at young ages, a lavish lifestyle and “rock star mentality” provided an escape.

June 27, 2013

‘Breastaurants’ expose a wilder side of work Teen girls serve as hostesses in skimpy, provocative outfits.

By Jacey Yarbrough Douglas MacArthur High School

Eric Ogden, 20, also known as Koda James, started working at HardBodies as stage manager when he was 18. At 19, he began dancing and his stage repertoire includes cowboy and military personas. Early on, Ogden struggled because of his young appearance, but now is one the club’s top five performers. Jacey Yarbrough photos/MacArthur High School

Behind the byline Katherine Sotelo, 17, attends the International School of the Americas at Robert E. Lee High School, where she is the editor-inchief at her school yearbook, The Traveler.

Sotelo says she is a weak headline writer, but she still made it to the Regional UIL Competition in that category.

Sotelo is from Pharr, but moved to San Antonio when she was five months old. She has an ability to find things out and analyze and see the bigger picture. Sotelo discovered her interest in journalism in seventh grade while attending Walter Krueger Middle School.

The person Sotelo admires the most is her older sister, Katrina Gutierrez, who is a photojournalist at WFAA in Dallas. Sotelo enjoys the work in developing her journalistic skills.

“I love to be busy,” Sotelo said.

Sotelo currently works at Green Vegetarian Cuisine, which is a plus because she is a vegetarian herself.

Sotelo enjoys 80s music and early 2000s music, and her favorite band is The All American Rejects. She hikes, rides her bike for 10 miles on Sundays and is an artist.

One of Sotelo’s most embarrassing habits is that she falls asleep during action movies.

— Jose Arredondo Eric Ogden quit school while his brother and Samples quit working 9-5.

“When I graduated, I took a job making six figures a year working as a field engineer and it paid ridiculously amazing, especially right out of college,” Buddy Ray Ogden said.

“But I wasn’t happy.”

What he really wanted was the black wooden stage, the pumping hip-hop music and the spotlights that separate the strip club from a traditional job or college classroom.

Eric Ogden, still too young to legally drink from the club’s bar, performs about 22 hours a week.

He said the money is worth the daily twohour gym workout, a serving of AfterShock muscle recovery and a diet he cooks for himself.

“I never got into this job because I wanted it to provide a lifestyle as far as girls and popularity,” Buddy Ray Ogden said. “All I ever saw here was dollar signs. Now me and my brother are dream chasers and we’re chasing our own dream, not anyone else’s, and our dream doesn’t start or stop in this club. This is just what we do for money.”

Away from dancing, Buddy Ray Ogden works at Nutrition FX, a vitamin and supplement company, where he’d like to represent as its spokesperson.

In the future, Samples, who also dropped out of college as a sophomore, said he might seek entertainment work that doesn’t involve taking his clothes off.

Eric Ogden’s interest of constantly bettering his physical appearance might lead to a job as a personal trainer.

For now, the boys who began in the adult entertainment industry before they could legally gamble continue to work five nights a week in the black-walled nightclub.

Together, the boys became men.

“A lot of the guys that excel here were at one time high school athletes,” Buddy Ray Ogden said. “This is very much like another stadium for us. We don’t have Friday night lights anymore, but we have lights five nights a week.

“We’re still putting on a show as a team and we rely on each other as a team.”

Clockwise from above: Brothers Eric Ogden and Buddy Ray Ogden both work together as entertainers at HardBodies Ladies Club. Eric Ogden prepares for his performance in the upstairs dressing room.

‘When I graduated, I took a job making six figures a year working as a field engineer and it paid ridiculously amazing, especially right out of college. But I wasn’t happy.’

Buddy Ray Ogden

entertainer at HardBodies Ladies Club

High school girls, 16 through 18, are taking jobs at local “breastaurants,” exposing themselves to the reality of sexually commercialized businesses.

Chains such as Hooters, Twin Peaks, Tilted Kilt and Bikinis qualify under this booming restaurant sector, where intense competition prompted Bikinis owner Doug Guller to trademark the term “breastaurant” and purchase a ghost town near Luckenbach and rename it Bikinis, Texas.

The brand strategy includes hiring high school girls to dress in scantily clad outfits with an attentive smile to host customers hungry for food and alcohol.

An attractive, friendly face and a body that fits the uniform are universal requirements for these teen greeters.

“I am very comfortable with my body, so I am very comfortable in this uniform,” said 17-year-old Tilted Kilt hostess Francesca Fillippone. The Tilted Kilt “uniform” is a minikilt with a low-cut, bra-like top that exposes a lengthy midrift.

“Looks are about 60 percent of this job, considering we are kilt girls and we are hired to be almost as entertainers in this industry and in this restaurant.”

These teen hostesses don’t have the contact with the customers that waitresses do, but they still experience the ogling eyes and witness the slurred comments from pushy, drunken customers.

The “breastaurant” concept was introduced long ago by Hooters, the popular chain of eateries that feature provocatively dressed waitresses and hostesses.

Kendall Call, a Lee High School graduate, once worked at a local Hooters while attending school.

“I feel bad about how the Hooters girls are treated,” Call said. “They go through a lot of harassment. Big risks at the job include stalking the girls. Some men in the later hours get rowdy and try to stalk the Hooters girls.”

“Breastaurants” know the risks. Both Hooters and Tilted Kilt claim to have strong security and management systems and females who work in these facilities say they feel safe if they encounter a rowdy customer.

“Homeless men would walk in and order some water and will be rude and talk dirty to the server girls and the manager will have to take care of the situation and ask them to leave,” Call said. “We knew the manager would take care of it if we were ever uncomfortable.”

Even so, feminist advocate and political science Professor Christy WoodwardKaupert said the “breastaurant” teens’ lack of experience makes it less likely they will handle situations properly.

“It’s not an appropriate environment,” Kaupert said. “There are drunken men in a place where immature young girls are sexualized.”

For Kaupert, the overly sexualized world is changing the image of beauty in a young girl’s mind and the bombardment of sexual media is putting a larger emphasis on body image.

She contends that young girls take these jobs not for the paycheck but for the responses they get from men.

“Everything is commercially sexualized,” Kaupert said. “The flow of attention from men to these girls is just as important as the flow of money.”

For $8 an hour, a Tilted Kilt hostess must meet some standards that aren’t required in many teen work places.

“Our work specifications are that we have to wear the costume and you have to fit into the costume,” Fillippone said. “We have heavier-set girls and big-boned girls and girls that are more skinny; we have all differ-

Alexis Castillo, 17, jokes with fellow hostess Franchesca Fillippone, 17, at the Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery.

Katherine Sotelo photos/Lee High School

Behind the byline

Fillippone, a student at MacArthur High School, earns $8 an hour at the Tilted Kilt. ent physiques here; its like a sorority with all these girls.”

Looks definitely are a key point at the Tilted Kilt, but other “breastaurants” take the physical aspect of the job even more seriously.

Fillippone said women who work at Twin Peaks, another chain, are charted by weight and looks, a ranking system that rewards the best-looking women with preferred customers in the best seats in the house.

“We don’t have that here (Tilted Kilt),” Fillippone said. “Everyone is equal. We appreciate the equality. Being in that position, I would be very upset if someone was lower than me, I would feel very uncomfortable. I would probably not work there.”

The underage factor does not seem to faze Tilted Kilt girls.

“I don’t wear my age on my forehead.

Looking at all these girls you wouldn’t be able to guess our ages,” Fillippone said. “A few teachers from school have come in, but school and work are completely different. It’s not awkward. I take this job very professionally. I treat them as if I don’t know them so it really isn’t awkward.”

The young female workers see age as just a number, and their parents seem to be quite tolerant when their daughters tell them they are working as an eye-candy hostess.

“My parents didn’t care much,” Call said.

“My sister was a Hooters waitress and a lot of my family, at one point, worked at Hooters so it wasn’t a big deal.”

Before letting their daughter apply at Tilted Kilt, Fillippone’s parents spoke with the manager about safety. Other than a few questions, “it really wasn’t an issue,” she said, because of the “trust” they share with their daughter.

That opinion differs dramatically from Kaupert’s.

“If I had a hypothetical daughter, her working in one of these establishments would be a big no,” Kaupert said. “There are other ways of receiving income as a teenager other than that. It’s just too inappropriate for a high

Jacey Yarbrough, 17, is in charge of all news and feature editing at MacArthur High School’s newspaper, “Brahmatales.”

But none of that would have happened if the school got their scheduling right.

“I was supposed to have tennis, but scheduling got messed up, and I got Journalism instead. The teacher convinced me to stay, and I ended up falling in love with the class,” Yarbrough said.

Yarbrough once encountered censorship by her principal for attempting to publish a story that opposed gun control.

Yarbrough also plays the French horn in the MacArthur marching band, where she serves as a section leader and officer.

“I love music,” she said. “It’s a big part of my life.”

When not on the field or writing, Yarbrough fishes, hunts or volunteers at the Animal Defense League, where she walks, bathes, feeds and plays with the dogs.

“Coast fishing is my favorite,” she said. “I like the feeling of having something on the other side of my line.”

— Jasmine Mendiola school girl.”

Fillippone disagrees, noting that her job corresponds to her previous experiences.

“I am comfortable showing my body to men because I have done modeling in the past, so doing that is not a challenge,” Fillippone said.

For high school students, a job provides income and work experience, but jobs for teen girls at “breastaurants” don’t seem to last.

Perhaps the environment takes its toll or the thrill of working as a Kilt or Hooters girl fades. Long-term careers at the restaurant chains don’t appeal to the teens, and halftime jobs only seem to last a few months to a year.

“I just put my two weeks in,” Fillippone said, adding that her stay at Tilted Kilt was for only six months. “I want to take a break and, as far as of right now, I don’t know if I’ll come back. When school starts, it might be a different story, but I will definitely consider this place again.”

In a culture where sex is the largest franchise, “breastaurants” have taken advantage of a growing restaurant sector heavily geared toward men. As the Tilted Kilt slogan says, “A cold beer never looked so good.”

“Breastaurants” and tolerant parents are allowing high school girls, who cannot consume or serve alcohol, to be thrown into the mix.

“It’s just another job,” Fillippone said. “Just like wearing black slacks, wearing a kilt uniform is no different.”

YOU S.A.

8

June 27, 2013

A route to college with exotic twists, turns and kinks Former dancer-dominatrix looks to clean up her act.

By Jasmine Mendiola John Jay Science and Engineering Academy Usually when going to mommy’s work place, youngsters meet professionals, not co-workers wearing G-strings.

But for “Vanessa,” a stripper-turneddominatrix-turned-student, life never has been much about tradition.

Using her stage name to protect her identity, Vanessa’s parents were bikers, and her mom was, for a short time, an exotic dancer. So when Vanessa became a dancer at 21 at Silky’s, a strip club in Pittsburgh, Penn., her parents didn’t see the stigmas society places on exotic dancing.

Vanessa started dancing because she saw her older friends making a lot of money in the business.

“I watched them do great, get a career, with no job,” Vanessa said. She thinks she learned valuable skills along with cash.

“The most important skill is relating to people, understanding them, identifying with them, cohabitating with them and having enough charisma to make them give you a chance in the first place,” she said. “I learned all that from dancing.”

Some days were better than others.

“A bad day is when everyone is trying to grab your a-- crack, and you only get out of there with $150 bucks, and a great day is when I sat with some old man talking about his pet dog while he pays you $350 bucks to be topless and smiley,” she said.

Vanessa worked at Silky’s from 2002 to 2009, when she moved to San Antonio to

Behind the byline Jasmine Mendiola, 17, is a San Antonio native and an incoming senior at John Jay High School’s science and engineering academy.

When she graduates, she plans to attend San Antonio College for two years and then transfer to Texas State University to major in journalism.

The constant streaming of ESPN on her childhood living room television sparked an interest in reporting and was the start of a love for journalism.

Mendiola’s junior year, she took journalism and photojournalism classes and became a staff member of the Statesmen, the John Jay newspaper.

“I now love sports writing and I really want to work for ESPN as a reporter to interview my favorite players like Tim Duncan,” she said.

“As I watch ESPN and sports games, I notice there are not many women in the field, and I really want to change that.”

She lives with her grandmother and shares the daily task of caring for six children, all cousins. She said she likes to “tell it like it is.”

— Jacey Yarbrough escape a stalker she had met on the street.

“Let’s face it, in the club, I’m a lot safer than on the street,” Vanessa said. “In fact, the reason I moved here was because I had a stalker — nothing related to my career.”

The stalker struck up a short conversa-

tion with her. The conversation ended quickly and Vanessa thought that was the end of it, but the stalker eventually snuck into her house.

While she and her roommate were in the living room one night, Vanessa had a feeling that something was not right and realized the stalker was in the kitchen. The two roommates chased the stalker out of the house, yelling to scare him away.

Two weeks later, he stole all Vanessa’s mail, including her birthday cards. “So that was creepy,” she said.

She decided to move to San Antonio with some friends and began working at the strip club All-Stars, but she quit after about a year, in part, because of the social attitudes toward strippers.

“Due to that freak’n stereotypical attitude, that stigma attached, that everyone would look at me and go, ‘You’re so smart, I just can’t believe you’re a stripper,’ and guess what? I love the fact that you can’t believe it because you don’t realize that I’m manipulating you while I’m doing it,” Vanessa said.

Vanessa also saw a change in the clubs that made her consider other employment.

“The dancing industry now is becoming corrupt, in lots of ways. The bosses are pretty much trying to use the women, and you have to pay out money, even if you don’t make money,” she said. “People (customers) don’t want to give you money unless they can break rules, and you can’t break rules because then you lose your job.

“If you get fired from stripping, what the f--- you got left?”

Vanessa tried applying at Hooters while she was still working as a stripper, but didn’t get the job because, at 27, she was too old.

Then she met an older man at the club

along with a new job opportunity.

Vanessa quit stripping and became a fulltime dominatrix for him, working two or three days a week in exchange for paying for her groceries, monthly bills, and other expenses — such as her textbooks when she enrolled at San Antonio College.

“I pretty much would take care of him, y’know. I would tell him what to eat, make him exercise. It’s like having a pet,” she said.

When Vanessa would meet with her client, she would talk to him, run errands with him, tell him how to wash himself, and give him a few spanks.

“It’s to the discretion of the client. There are some people, they want to be beat to the point they are bloody pulp, and some people, they want a light spanking,” she said.

After about a year, however, Vanessa began to grow tired of the constant phone calls and texts her client had begun sending all day, and passed the client to another dominatrix.

Vanessa, who is working on completing her basics to get into a nursing program, sees no problem with young girls being dancers.

Vanessa said people think strippers must use drugs because they couldn’t possibly function sober. Working sober was no problem for Vanessa, who said she never used drugs.

But she recognizes that working in the industry can lead to riskier activities for young women.

“I think they need to know what the hell they’re doing,” Vanessa said, “and I think they need to have an older dancer friend who makes sure they don’t f--- up because, y’know, there’s drugs, there’s prostitution, there’s as much temptation as you can imagine in this field.”

Area districts unlikely to barrel into arming teachers Law permits teachers, some staff to carry guns on campus.

Kathya Anguiano Theodore Roosevelt High School In June, Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill into law that allows teachers and other school staff to be trained as marshals, but San Antonio school districts are unlikely to take up arms.

“I do not believe that the answer to violence in the school is to arm teachers,” said communications Executive Director Pascual Gonzalez of Northside Independent School District.

“Our district already has over 100 police officers whose duty it is to maintain safety and security for all students and staff as well as to protect school property, so we do not need anybody else with a gun on campus unless it’s a police officer.”

Most school districts in San Antonio have their own police departments and see little need for the new law.

“I don’t feel that is something we would want to take part in,” Aubrey Chancellor, North East Independent School District spokesperson, said.“We have our own armed police force at our high schools and middle schools and patrol officers who do random routine visits at elementary schools.”

According to the law, school marshals will be employees already on the district’s payroll and will have to go through the same background checks and training as police officers.

“The word has gotten out, and we’ve heard about it, but we are not interested in doing that,” said Peggy West, administrative assistant to the superintendent at Harlandale School District. “Our district is a gunfree environment and the high schools do have officers. They’re not armed, but we don’t need police officers shooting students or a kid taking off with the guns.”

San Antonio Independent School District officials said they expect each school district will decide whether this law will be useful.

“At SAISD, we have a well-trained and armed district police department, along with other safety and security measures in place,” said Leslie Price, executive director of communications & printing services. “We have no plans to arm other staff members.”

Under the new law, school marshals will be limited to the use of a handgun in the event of an armed attacker or active shooter entering the school campus. Guns will be locked in a secure safe in the marshal’s primary work area, such as a classroom. Guns must be loaded with frangible, brittle or “soft” ammunition, which is designed not to pass through walls.

The legislation, which was drafted by state Rep. Jason Villalba, is not aimed at all school districts in Texas.

“I believe the law would benefit schools in rural areas who don’t have their own police force,” Villalba’s Chief of Staff Brittany Eck said.

Villalba, a Republican from Dallas, proposed the new law in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December in Connecticut. Eight adults and 20 first-graders were killed.

“I have two little girls in public school, and after I saw the Sandy Hook shooting on TV, I was quite concerned at how safe public school systems were,” Villalba said. “I had just dropped off my little girl at kinder that morning at 8 a.m. and by 10 a.m. the Sandy Hook reporting was on air, so I knew I had to do something and by 3 p.m. that same day I had already drafted the bill.”

Known as the “Protection Of Texas Children Act,” HB 1009 allows a school district or open charter school to appoint school marshals to prevent an offense or lifethreatening situation that may occur on school campuses.

Under the law, marshals are required to complete a rigorous training course administered by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, previously know as the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

“If they are going through training with TCLEOSE then I believe this new bill will be fine because it is very well thought out,” said law enforcement instructor David Busch, who teaches at the Continuing Education Law Enforcement Academy at San Antonio College. “I believe it will help ease the mind for parents if the marshals are placed in schools. It will for me because I have an eighth-grade daughter in Cibolo, and it’s scary because my job is over here and her and her mom are over there.”

Busch said passing the same training course police officers complete makes the marshal a certified peace officer.

“The big problem with safety is most people who do the shootings are mentally ill, so we don’t know what they will do. People don’t know what to do in order to prevent things and you can’t change someone’s behavior so I believe this is a good outtake and idea. I don’t think it will help stop incidents from happening but certainly reduce the casualties,” Busch said.

School marshals will not be allowed to search lockers, ticket for speeding, arrest bullies or have any police officer authority.

The only thing they are trained for is to fire the weapon if an “active shooter” is on campus and lives are in danger.

Current employees who already have a concealed handgun license may pay to take the 80-hour special training along with the tests and background checks and will be identified as the school marshal only to the police chief.

Details of the training and associated costs have not yet been determined, said Laura Le Blanc, custodian of records and

Behind the byline Kathya Anguiano, 17, has always been interested in journalism. She says it’s important to spread the news of the economy, world relations and natural disasters.

Anguiano was a strong force in bringing the Roosevelt High School newspaper back to life in print.

She not only gathered enough sponsors to pay for a print edition but also hosted a contest with the prize of a free lunch to boost online ratings.

“The winner came out on the morning announcements devouring his Whataburger.

People became much more supportive,” said Anguiano, who graduated from Roosevelt in June.

When she isn’t at school, she sells kitchen cutlery and accessories and works as a cashier at Jack in the Box and at Amazing Jump, a trampoline park. In her spare time, she enjoys reading mostly nonfiction books.

Though she has earned a scholarship to the University of the Incarnate Word, Anguiano might attend San Antonio College to take advantage of its journalism program.

— Kayanna Reid public information at the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

“At this time, the school marshal bill has not gone into effect,” Le Blanc said in an email. “TCOLE is currently developing rules, course guidelines and application programs, which will be determined and effective on Sept. 1. Currently, I am not aware of any costs or fees that will be associated at this time.”

YOU S.A.

June 27, 2013

9

What now for Spurs?

The Spurs came close to a fifth title but now face some tough decisions. We posed some of the more pressing questions online. Here are the responses.

The Spurs should try to retain Manu Ginóbili.

Agree 36

Strongly Agree 34 Agree 36 Don’t Know 12 Disagree 13 Strongly Disagree 6

Tim Duncan should retire from basketball.

Strongly Disagree 62

Strongly Agree 3 Agree 2 Don’t Know 5 Disagree 29 Strongly Disagree 62

Coach Gregg Popovich should retire.

Strongly Agree 3 Agree 0 Don’t Know 3 Disagree 15 Strongly Disagree 79

The Spurs should seek a new franchise player to replace Tim Duncan.

Strongly Agree 11 Agree 31 Don’t Know 10 Disagree 27 Strongly Disagree 22

Strongly Disagree 79

Don’t Know 37

Agree 31 Strongly Agree 43

The Spurs should trade Matt Bonner.

Strongly Agree 12 Agree 18 Don’t Know 37 Disagree 24 Strongly Disagree 9

The Spurs will win the Western Conference again next year.

Strongly Agree 43 Agree 24 Don’t Know 19 Disagree 11 Strongly Disagree 3

The Spurs should negotiate a superstar contract with Kawhi Leonard.

Strongly Agree 22 Agree 29 Don’t Know 27 Disagree 15 Strongly Disagree 9

Agree 29 Female 47

Male 53

What is your gender?

Female 47 Male 53

YOU S.A.

10

June 27, 2013

Behind the byline Fascinated by pythons, journalism, meditation and Buddhism, 16-year-old Angel Lozano is an incoming junior at Clark High School.

Though Lozano initially disliked her Journalism 1 class, she discovered a strong love for newspaper and decided to stick with the program throughout her sophomore year. Journalism became her main interest after becoming a news co-editor for the Clark Chronicle.

Lozano also discovered she was interested in pythons when she attended the Texas Reptile Expo at Live Oak Civic Center in 2011. She held a 7-foot albino Burmese python and fell in love with the animal. At Christmas, her father gave her a ball python, which she named Yuri. She enjoys the comfort Yuri provides.

Apart from journalism and owning a python, her sophomore year, Lozano was a member of the band‘s color guard.

Though Lozano has decided to quit band, she will continue to work on the Chronicle and serve as entertainment editor.

Once she graduates high school, she plans to major in psychology and minor in journalism. She intends to leave Texas for college, but is undecided on a college.

Among her favorite reading material in seventh grade, Lozano discovered the essay “The Relativity of Wrong” by Isaac Asimov and admired his philosophy because he stressed the possibility of multiple solutions to situations and she liked his idea of varying degrees of wrongness.

— Aaron Martinez

UIL adopts new cheerleading safety guidelines Changes in UIL regulations require cheerleaders to comply with Chapter 38, Subchapter D of the Texas Education Code, a rule that requires student athletes to be excluded from practice or competition in the event of a concussion. They cannot return until a physician clears them.

Statistics from 2001-09: ■ 3,319 nonfatal traumatic brain injuries made up 4.7% of 71,248 ER visits for sportsrelated injuries in gymnastics.* ■ Gymnastics is the third most-common activity associated with ER visits for nonfatal traumatic brain injuries for females between the ages of 15-19.

■ Females between the ages of 15-19 with nonfatal traumatic brain injuries represent 9.1%, or 1,513 of 16,709 ER visits. *Includes cheerleading and dancing.

Know the symptoms of a concussion: ■ Concentration or memory problems ■ Sensitivity to light or noise ■ Blurry or double vision ■ Nausea or vomiting ■ Dizziness or problems balancing ■ Confusion ■ Headache ■ Feeling sluggish or groggy Education Code: ■ A student will be immediately removed from practice or competition if a parent or guardian, coach, physician or other licensed health care professional believes the student has sustained a concussion.

■ A student will be allowed to return to practice or competition after a physician of the student’s or parent’s choosing has evaluated the student and has provided a written statement saying the student is able to return to play.

■ An athletic coach does not have the authority to permit a student to return to play. That must come from a physician.

Resources: www.cdc.gov/concussion Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas Education Code

CHEERLEADING: Regulations shed light on severity of concussions Continued from Page 1 previous injury,” Liao said. “That’s the reason why I think there is a national push for really monitoring players in the sports arena and how they’re allowed to come back to play after they have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury.”

It isn’t fair to put students who sustain a Mariah traumatic brain injury Paccione back into school and expect them to perform at the level prior to the injury, Liao said.

“The subtle difference is when you get an ‘A’ athlete who’s sustained multiple concussions and becomes a ‘B’ student,” Liao said. “You’re not really going to notice the difference. Those things are subtle and difficult to pick up, but if you don’t look for it, you’re not ever going to pick it up.”

Cheerleaders in Northside Independent School District have been subject to the concussion regulations for several years, ever since UIL rules changed for football players, according to NISD Assistant Superintendent Stephen Daniel. The cheerleading sponsors or coaches are certified and trained and athletic trainers are in place at every high school as a resource, he said.

“If the cheerleaders get hurt, we take it seriously,” Daniel said. “In the case of a concussion, we have them follow the protocol, and they have to be seen by a doctor and we then have the doctor fill out forms provided by the school.”

Dominique Muñoz was a cheerleader at Stevens High School in Northside and graduated in June. She took a fall in her sophomore year before the concussion rules were in place.

“My sophomore year, I had a contusion,

and my senior year, I tore my meniscus,” Muñoz said. “I fell from a stunt and nobody caught me, so I fell on the mat.”

Muñoz fell onto the thin, hard mat that many high schools use for cheerleading.

Upon impact, Muñoz was unable to alert her coach. She was later checked by a physician to evaluate her injury.

“When I fell, my coach was in her office,” Muñoz said. “I couldn’t breathe or talk so I couldn’t tell them that my head hurt. When my coach found out, she called the football trainer to check me.”

Under the new rules, Muñoz would have been prevented from participating in athletic activity for 24 hours or more, depending on a physician’s orders.

“I think that it’s a good starting point, to have some regulation on injury prevention,” Liao said. “However, I was told once that you can’t put kids in a bubble … .

Starting with regulation is good, obviously, if it’s high-risk activities and you really can’t stop people from participating in that.

I think all you can do is have appropriate mechanisms. You can’t put a cheerleader in a helmet.”

Paccione suffered her second concussion as a senior at Jefferson High School in December, within five months of her first concussion at cheer camp. A month later, in January, she suffered a third concussion.

“My second concussion happened when we were having morning practice during competition season,” Paccione said. “Again, I was jumping from a stunt and fell, but this concussion wasn’t as crazy as the first. It was just a minor concussion. My third concussion, I was practicing at the private gym that I cheer at. We were stunting, and I was doing baskets, and I was hit on my shoulder and my temple and passed out.”

Paccione’s mother, Debby Perales, is in

favor of the new regulation. She said the rule could provide a way to remove the blame that could be directed toward a parent for stopping their children from performing.

“Looking back, I wish I would have put my foot down more,” Perales said. “I think it is safer because she won’t have to listen to me, but to the school. Also, the medical bills and cheer program fee are very expensive. When Mariah had her first concussion, she was in New Braunfels and was being airlifted to University Hospital. I was worried, scared and anxious to see her. At that moment, it felt like I was across the world.”

Paccione still suffers from back pain and headaches as a result of her injuries, but she remains undaunted by the risks of cheerleading.

“I have headaches and minor memory loss,” Paccione said. “If my injuries were to keep me out, I would be really mad. I would finish competition season. It helped me keep my grades up. In cheer, you compete more and it’s more of a team effort.

I want to improve my skills and own my own cheerleading gym. I’ve always loved performing and it’s my passion to keep doing it.”

YOU S.A.

June 27, 2013

11

High school marching bands get no reprieve from heat

By Andrea Garcia Sidney Lanier High School Band students give up a chunk of summer to practice, some up to 9 ½ hours a day, because UIL places few restrictions on band during the summer.

Marching bands practice after school during the year, but sometimes, that time isn’t enough for them to learn and refine their shows. Summer is when the real work begins.

“We practice four hours outside and four hours inside,” said Alex Goodman, MacArthur High School drum major. “It is hard work, but most of my friends are in band so there’s fun in it, too.”

The University Interscholastic League limits the number of hours marching bands can practice to eight hours a week during the school year. From the end of the school year until Aug. 1, students can practice for a total of only 10 hours.

But on Aug. 1, it’s time to pick up the instruments and start marching.

“During marching season, you don’t have a life,” said MacArthur sophomore Robert Goodman, Alex’s brother.

UIL recently restricted the number of hours a football team can practice during summer, or preseason. No more backto-back, two-a-days. Football teams can practice three hours a day on days with a single practice or five total hours during two-a-day practices, according to the new UIL rules.

Summer football practice starts Aug. 5 with a mandated 4-day acclimation period before the pads go on Aug. 9, according to the latest UIL calendar.

By then, the marching bands have been at work for at least a week. Marching bands are permitted to start learning their visual routine Aug. 1, according to UIL rules. The length of band practice is left to each school.

Summer practice times range from 4 ½ hours a day for Taft High School to 9 ½ a day at Harlandale High School. Alex Goodman will keep her MacArthur band marching about 8 hours a day.

“It’s nice in a way that we don’t get as restricted as football because we have to learn and practice not only the physical, but the musical aspect, too,” he said.

The football team also gets its own field to practice on, along with trainers, while the band has to either practice on the football field when the football team isn’t practicing or find another lot.

Band parents often provide the band’s only support.

“In football, if you get a sprained ankle, you have five trainers to help you. In band, you only have the band parents,” David Rico, a band parent at Stevens High School, said.

Alex’s mom, Jennifer Goodman, said she is not scared of her children suffering from any illness while in marching band because she taught them how to rest and stay hydrated.

“They don’t practice as much as other schools,” Mrs. Goodman said of MacArthur. “From my perspective, I felt like their practices were reasonable.”

Kevin Russell, director of bands at Clark High School, said band members sometimes pass out during the first day of practice, but it’s generally not because of the heat, but because of lack of conditioning.

“Students sit in the air conditioning all summer, so they are not ready,” he said.

“Another thing is stress, they think, ‘Hey, I’m new.’”

On the first day of Clark’s three-day band camp, which ran from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. in June, freshman Andrea Quiroga passed out because she locked her knees.

“I locked my knees and fainted,” Quiroga said. “I couldn’t see or hear anything.”

Jessica Rocha, marching tech, assists Andrea Quiroga, who passed out after locking her knees. Quiroga was treated for scratches and encouraged to drink water. Jacey Yarbrough/ MacArthur High School

Behind the byline With her mother’s spontaneous decision to move to the United States, Andrea Garcia soon found herself learning English as a freshman at Sidney Lanier High School.

“My mom was watching ‘House Hunters,’ when she decided for us to move to the United States,” Garcia said.

Garcia, born and reared in Monterrey, Mexico, loves to compete in swimming and water polo and is No. 1 in San Antonio Independent School District for backstroke.

The senior is a staff member of the campus yearbook. Garcia learned the basics of English in just a few months and has become fluent over the past three years. Garcia loves to read, and her favorite book series is Harry Potter.

She has been a volunteer for the Red Cross, where she helped collect money for victims of the 2011 Japan earthquake. She likes all kinds of music, but her favorite artist is Taylor Swift.

When it comes to academics, Garcia says her favorite subject is history, and she especially loves learning African-American history.

Garcia has not selected a college or major, but she aspires to attend college because of her sister.

“My sister inspires me because she went to college and now she has a good career while maintaining her family,” Garcia said.

— Anthony Estolano The saxophone player recovered quickly but sat out of practice for a time. Despite the rocky start to her freshman year, she said she enjoys band and hopes to play throughout her high school career.

Russell said that although fainting happens, it is uncommon. “It’s been two years since we had someone pass out,” he said.

Russell said marchers are encouraged to eat a good breakfast and lunch and take water breaks when needed.

He said the students often push themselves to the limit because they want to exceed expectations.

Russell says a lot of it is self-imposed, “They want to be great and improve themselves.”

Clark’s band’s outdoor practice is on an asphalt parking lot painted with the lines, numbers and Cougars logo of a football field.

The Clark High School band practices marching skills at the Clark band practice field. They practice three hours outdoors and three hours inside. Jacey Yarbrough/MacArthur High School

Above, band members take a break in the shade after practicing marching skills on the asphalt. Jacey Yarbrough/MacArthur High School At left, Alex Goodman, a senior at MacArthur High School, and is one of the band’s drum majors. Aaron Martinez/ Stevens High School Once August practice begins, the Clark band will practice 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Jarrett Lipman, director of bands at Johnson High School, said his band has water training several days prior to the camp, which includes beginning to hydrate, drinking Gatorade in the evenings to recover lost electrolytes, and learning which foods to avoid heading into camp.

But when it’s too hot, his band rehearses inside a full day if facilities allow.

“We will rehearse from Aug. 1-Aug. 27, mixing up the two-a-day and three-a-day rehearsals,” Lipman said in an email.

At Johnson, two-a-days equal six hours of rehearsal and three-a-days equal nine hours of rehearsal.

James Miculka, fine arts director for the Northside Independent School District,

said outside practices depend on the day’s air quality. When the air quality is rated yellow, or moderate, the students who suffer from asthma are allowed to stay inside.

“We have a lot of asthmatic kids in band, so we keep up with the color action days. On a red day, which is when we are over the pollution standard, no one goes outside to practice, and it’s not up for discussion,” he said.

Miculka said NISD follows the heat stress policy, which helps prevent heat-related illness by making it a rule to take water breaks every 15 minutes and to have stretching and balance sessions before practice.

Band uniforms are now being made with ultra light materials, which breathes much better.

“You don’t even know you have them on,” Miculka said.

YOU S.A.

12

June 27, 2013

Students from ages 8-18 practice at the University of the Incarnate Word for Contact Football Camp. Kathya Anguiano photos/Roosevelt High School

90-minute drill

Limited contact rule among steps to protect players from brain injuries

By Kayanna Reid Douglas MacArthur High School “Out of bounds, out of bounds!” A gruff voice shouts over the shriek of a whistle, addressing the heap of bodies piled on the turf. They restart, a narrow lane of space teeming with clashing helmets and shoving shoulders, finally landing in another heap with their victim, the football, tottering to a stop a few feet away.

Watching the melee is football mom Gina Shuler, an advocate for contact football. She doesn’t shy away from possible injury, as long as her son Brandon is in the hands of good trainers.

“I think it’s good for them. I think it builds character, it helps them be more aggressive, you know, in a good way,” Shuler said.

She travels from Corpus Christi to San Antonio every summer for her son to participate in Contact Football Camp at the University of the Incarnate Word. The camp is sponsored by the United States Sports Association every summer for football players ages 8-18, and gradually progresses from noncontact drills to full contact.

The new UIL regulation, passed in the interest of student safety, demands that high school football players restrict the amount of time they spend practicing full contact (game-speed tackling and taking to the ground) to 90 minutes per week during the fall. It doesn’t apply to pre-season and spring training. Michael L. Williams, the Texas Commissioner of Education, signed the ruling which takes affect Aug. 1.

Jennifer Jones, another mom, comments on the restrictions as she points out her son Randy, distinguishable from the sea of young men only by his bright purple pants.

“They practice and they practice and it shows on the field in the games,” Jones said.

“As far as the UIL stuff, I’m just worried if they’re going to go after other sports.”

Dr. Lillian Liao, director of pediatric trauma at University Hospital, explains that repeated concussions, whether received from playing football or falling off of a bike, can affect a young adult’s ability to preform in both sports and school.

Liao said many student athletes don’t

Behind the byline

Above, players go through drills at Contact Football Camp.

At right, Brandon Fuentes, 14, a student at Hallsville High School in Longview, practices at Contact Football Camp. He has been playing football since the first grade. seek help from a physician, whether for lack of education or dedication to the sport.

“If you just say ‘I had a concussion’, it doesn’t sound as bad as if I said, ‘I had a mild traumatic brain injury,’ ” Liao said.

“It’s not fair to put a child who sustained a traumatic brain injury back in school and expect them to perform at the level they were doing before the brain injury.”

Concussions are not the only concern, she said, as injuries from contact sports such as football are not always visible. Liao said students have shown up with injured kidneys, spleens, and livers, fractured arms, legs, and shoulders.

However, even doctors are aware that there are some things that won’t change.

“I was once told, ‘you can’t put kids in a bubble,’” Liao said, with a shrug and a sigh.

“If you could, you would.”

Andrew Baker, a Houston high school coach and trainer at the football camp said he doesn’t think the regulation will affect the players.

“I would suspect most teams in the state are already within regulation,” Baker said.

“It’s really to catch those who aren’t complying with the rules.”

Gilbert Salazar, a senior linebacker for

Lanier High School, doesn’t object to the new rule.

“If anything, some kids should feel relieved; Texas is really hot,” he said, recalling team members who displayed signs of heat exhaustion and had to sit out.

Long before the signing of the 90-minute regulation, he said his coaches had worked with students to become more informed about health and safety.

Salazar said full contact could be “good or bad, depending on the team.” He said his team runs low on injuries, all of which have occurred during games.

“Never in practice,” Salazar said. “In practice, the coaches kind of keep a tight watch on us.”

At 17, he’s been playing football for five years and sustained one concussion.

Before being put on bed rest, he was given a test for cognitive function, involving a memory test, which is standard procedure after a suspected concussion.

Kayanna Reid, 17, wants her work to make a change. Her main interest for journalism is her belief that today’s news fails to portray real world issues.

Although the MacArthur High School senior does not watch sports, she participates in a number of activities, including swimming, weightlifting and taekwondo, which people told her isn’t a sport for girls. She said she likes to fight.

After a grand mal seizure while swimming kept her out of the pool for a time, she checked out a nearby taekwondo academy, and ended up loving it. Reid has participated in competitive swimming for eight years and enjoys it because there are no teams.

Born in Virginia, she has lived in Tennessee and North Carolina because of her family military service. Her mom is stationed at Fort Sam Houston.

Reid likes writing and reading a variety of styles and symbolism. She has a black cougar tattoo on her upper right arm and plans a white tiger next to portray perseverance and the ability to overcome obstacles.

“A cougar portrays strength and individuality, and that’s where I got the idea for my tattoo,” Reid said.

Outside of journalism, she has accrued 92 hours as a volunteer at a local library, and would like to volunteer at the San Antonio Humane Society and as a lifeguard.

Reid just completed her first year in journalism and will join her school’s newspaper staff in the fall.

Although she is unsure of a major, Reid is eyeing Texas State University.

— Kathya Anguiano “Obviously, the coach cares about our brains, but he doesn’t want us sitting out for something that isn’t there,” Salazar said.

For Athletic Director Stan Laing of Northside Independent School District, the ruling is a formality.

He said he trusts his people to do their jobs.

“We agree with the rule,” Laing said, “but we’ve already been doing it.”