You SA '10

YREFUGEEUREFUGE The newspaper of the 2010 Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College

S.A. June 24, 2010 Vol. 26, No. 1 www.theranger.org

New tech toys make it easy for teenagers to misbehave Mobile devices create huge opportunities for mistakes

By Jeremy Charo John Jay High School

Now, two years later, Hatita, a former English as a Second Language student, can talk about her experience of dealing with discrimination and problems adapting to American culture.

During the 2009-10 school year, the Northside School District had 732 immigrant students attending elementary, middle and high school, said Pascual Gonzales, executive director of communications.

At Marshall, the school has three full-time ESL teachers and recently hired two more part-time teachers because of the growing number of students.

It’s happening more often. You’re sitting in class chatting with some friends when a hysterical girl comes in crying.

Some guys laugh while the girls snub her or glare. Your phone vibrates in your pocket and, without thinking, you pull it out and see a familiar face.

All the laughter and looks start to make sense: The picture on your cell phone is the hysterical girl. She is smiling — and naked.

Sexting is just one of the many ways teens have found to get themselves into trouble. Aside from the sexting, there have been pictures of incidents of underage drinking being posted on MySpace, and pedophiles posing as teens in social sites.

According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 22 percent of teen girls and 18 percent of teen males sent out nude or seminude pictures or videos of themselves.

Little by little, the sexting trend Dr. Thomas Billimek Psychology Chair is turning into a problem that’s afSan Antonio College fecting teens everywhere, and teens are seeing their peers naked even when they don’t want to.

“I opened my phone and I was like, ‘what the hell, there’s a penis on my phone,’” said Lizette, a John Jay High School junior, who didn’t want her full name used. She talked about how some male classmates sent her nude pictures in hopes that she would send some in return.

According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 44 percent of teens sent provocative pictures because they received one first. Lizette, however, is not one of the 44 percent.

“Just because someone talks to me, it doesn’t mean they can just go off trying to show me their piece,” Lizette said.

However, not every girl has this same thought about sending sexual pictures. Recently at McCollum High School, there was an incident in which a teen girl, who is being kept anonymous for reasons of privacy, texted a picture that made it past one boy’s phone.

Sergio Bargas, a senior at Harlandale High School, said, “I was glad she didn’t take it bad … she didn’t care because she wasn’t ugly.”

Bargas said no one saw the girl’s situation in a negative light.

“Girls were like saying it was a cute pic, and guys were complimenting her,” Bargas said.

Dr. Thomas E. Billimek, chair of the psychology department at San Antonio College, said the reason for her happiness might be the fact that the flattering compliments helped her with insecurity issues.

Although the situation might be embarrassing

See IMMIGRATION, Page 4

See BEHAVIOR, Page 4

‘Every generation has its way of saying, “Hey, here I am.”’

Angelica Casas Buddha Nepal, 18, a Bhutanese refugee and Marshall High graduate, now mentors other immigrant children in a North Side apartment complex.

2 immigrants face challenges from disparate angles

By Brissa M. Robles Holmes High School

A

s Iraqi refugee Sama Hatita walked through the cafeteria line of John Marshall High School, she found more than food, she also found discrimination.

Though she could barely understand what two girls behind her were saying, she knew their comments were directed at her.

Tired of being their entertainment, Hatita decided to end their insults.

“If you don’t stop, I’ll go tell the office,” Hatita said, hoping her words would end the war of scrutiny she was experiencing in her new country.

“Well, you can’t do anything,” one of the girls said. “This is my country!”

Hatita could not hold back her tears.

YOU S.A.

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June 24, 2010

UJW links students to professional news world Teamwork is key to success in intensive two-week curriculum

The staff Alejandra Sol Casas Angelica Casas Jeremy Charo Roxanne Equia Gabrielle Ford Megan Greebon Quiana Nicole McPherson Crystal Pelczar Brissa M. Robles Kristian Rodriguez Taylor Tompkins Ignacio Treviño

By Quiana Nicole McPherson Business Careers High School

Our sponsors

Juan Garcia Students of the 2010 Urban Journalism Workshop toured the San Antonio Express-News June 13.

About the reporter

Dr. Fred and Charlene Blevens n Juan Garcia n Ben Gremillion and Cherie Benoit n Chet Hunt n D.A. James n Alicia Morse n Jennifer Rodriguez and Adrian Zamarron n Dr. Robert Zeigler n Paul Zoeller n Adobe n EZ’s Brick Oven & Grille n Subway n Thai Dee n Association for Women Journalists n Poynter Institute n Friends of Journalism at San Antonio College n San Antonio Association of Black Journalists n San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists n Society of Professional Journalists

Although her ultimate dream life may consist of a re-start button when you die, anime friends and jumping from tall buildings, 17-year-old Quiana Nicole McPherson is perfectly content with her real life in San Antonio.

McPherson is a senior at Business Careers High School. At the age of 8, she received a Nintendo 64 game system as a Christmas gift from her grandfather.

“I knew what it [Nintendo 64] was, I just never expected my grandpa to buy me a video game system,” McPherson said. “It was just one of those gifts you never expect and then get really excited when you see it.”

Tossing her Barbie dolls aside, McPherson traded in plastic fashion toys for a grape-colored box system and a gray controller. Her first two video games: Tigger’s Honey Hunt and Super Mario.

“I was getting more and more video games,” McPherson said. “I would say about two or three new ones a month.

It just became more addicting.”

As time progressed, McPherson’s love of virtual reality grew and so did the challenge of squeezing in playtime each day.

“It would make me do my homework faster so I could play the game,” McPherson said. “Then after dinner, I

would hurry to finish the game, but I’ve never been attached to a game where I didn’t want to go anywhere.”

Aside from playing video games, McPherson shares a passion for music. She plays the flute in her high school band and even practices guitar.

McPherson uses Guitar Hero to combine her two loves.

“I think of Guitar Hero as my other guitar so sometimes I will play that instead of my actual guitar,” McPherson said. “So if I can play the song that I want to play on my video game and not on my real guitar, then why not play it on my video game?”

Video games also allow McPherson to express her imagination through the drawings she produces. She hopes to one day become a video game designer and begin working with graphics and design.

“I started learning more about video game design and it just interested me,” McPherson said. “I love to design, animate things and I like to draw, so it fits into the artsy part of me because I love being creative with everything.

I’m more of a media person, I like doing things on the computer.”

She said she would like people to respect video gamers and their creators. “Gamers are nerdy,” McPherson said. “But they can be really cool to talk to. You just might find something you have in common with them because we don’t just sit and play video games. We have a life, too.” ­— Crystal Pelczar

Students scurry around San Antonio to conduct interviews and prepare for the next big story. The pressure rises each day as deadline approaches.

The Urban Journalism Workshop isn’t like other summer camps. It takes hard work and a dedication to get the job done and is more like a class or boot camp.

“I feel really good about it,” Clemens senior Taylor Tompkins said. “I have a lot of experiences that I wouldn’t get anywhere else.”

The UJW is a workshop for students who share a common interest in journalism at San Antonio College. Professional journalists, college students and journalism faculty from various universities serve as mentors and counselors during the workshop. Some of the mentors were once workshop attendees themselves.

“I love to help the students, and it’s really rewarding as far as being able to have someone ask you questions,” said Cynthia Esparza, who attended the workshop in 1998 and now works as a photojournalist at the San Angelo Standard-Times.

Director Irene Abrego has been in charge of the workshop since 1995.

“I was 26 when I started journalism here (at SAC),” Abrego said. “One of the faculty asked me if I would be a dorm RA for their summer workshop, and I thought that was kind of cool.”

Twenty-four years later, it all comes down to the final product, she said.

In the end the mentors and students develop strong ties.

“It’s hard not to develop strong ties to someone you work with in journalism because you have a shared goal, a shared deadline, and it requires teamwork,” Abrego said.

Workshop students live in newly opened dormitories at the University of the Incarnate Word, just a few miles from the SAC campus.

“It’s nice that we get the new dorms,” Bandera senior Megan Greebon said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all, but I like it.”

San Antonio College students help with stories and dorm life as residence assistants. Zahra Farah, who attended the workshop as a high school student in 2008, is back to help.

“I understand their frustration, if they get upset, or if things don’t happen as planned, so I can relate to them,” she said.

“I try to help them avoid mistakes I have made in the workshop.”

During the workshop, students meet new people and are exposed to new experiences, from ethnic cuisine to miniature golf.

“I got to meet (San Antonio Express-News columnist) Cary Clack, and he’s a great writer,” Marshall senior Ignacio Treviño said. “I think he’s hilarious, and he’s really cool like he remembered my name, which is something I was really psyched about.”

A highlight each year for students is a field trip to the San Antonio Express-News.

“My favorite part was going to the San Antonio Express-News,” Tompkins said. “It was really fun and I learned a lot. Just being in there in that environment was really a learning experience. I met a lot of awesome journalists.”

Each student writes a story during the workshop, developing sources, doing interviews and taking photos.

“I like that it’s challenging,” John Jay senior Jeremy Charo said. “I’ve never been big on writing and that was one of the things I really wanted to learn.”

The workshop helps some students decide if journalism is a viable career.

“It’s taught me a lot about journalism,” Treviño said. “I’m learning about the different kinds of writing styles. It’s actually teaching me a lot about myself as a journalist, and it’s showing me if I can make it or not.”

YOU S.A.

June 24, 2010

3

Going on a binge with benefits New research shows that parents

share much of the blame when their children drink too heavily

By Kristian Rodriguez Tom C. Clark High School When O’Connor High School senior Andrea Guerrero, 17, attended an underage drinking party in a local hotel room in October 2009, she had grown used to the drinking scene.

Guerrero joined teens and young adults between the ages of 15 and 21 with the intent to get drunk and get drunk fast.

But, like many American teens today, Guerrero grew bored of the typical beer served at parties.

She left the hotel and went home to have a shot of José Cuervo with her mother. After her mother left, however, Guerrero took advantage of house rules and could not resist the temptation.

“One shot led to another,” Guerrero said. “It was five, and five then led to 12.”

In an instant, the consequences of binge drinking, in which young adults consume excessive amounts of alcohol in a short period of time, had taken effect. A 2008 study showed that 43.6 percent of enrolled college students binge drink.

When her mother walked in the door, Guerrero started vomiting, and her mother began to panic.

Guerrero became terribly ill. With her daughter on the floor, uncontrollably vomiting, Joan Guerrero, had no other choice than to call her best friend, a doctor, for help.

They put the teen in a cold shower and waited for the effects of alcohol poisoning to wear off.

A single mother, Joan Guerrero believes in teaching her daughter how to drink responsibly by drinking with her, but she never imagined the situation could get so dangerous.

“It was horrible,” she said. “That was the first time I had seen her like that. My first reaction was to take care of her, of course. But it was a very scary moment.”

Alcohol researchers are finding increased significance in the role parents play in their children’s drinking behaviors. In the current issue of Addictive Behaviors, an international scientific journal publishing human research on substance abuse, Caitlin Abar, an alcohol researcher and professor at Pennsylvania State University, found teens whose parents established strict rules on underage drinking are less likely to drink copiously in college.

Abar’s research consisted of a survey of about 300 college freshmen and compared their drinking habits with their parent’s tolerance for underage drinking in high school. Abar suggested that a zero-tolerance policy is the best strategy to protect teens as research showed that parents who objected to underage drinking have children who do not drink heavily in college.

Guerrero said she knew her daughter was going to drink, but she preferred she drank with her and set a limit.

“I don’t know how else to prevent it,” she said.

After Guerrero’s alcohol poisoning, she was grounded for a month, including her cell phone, computer, alcohol, parties and friends. But her mother takes part of the blame.

“I shouldn’t have had parties with me drinking while she was growing up,” she said. “She went way overboard. I’m just glad she was at home. It made her understand how it could have been if she was somewhere else or if she got in the car of someone who was drinking.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an international organization with the intent to stop drunken driving and prevent underage drinking, has conducted studies that suggest parents need to take greater precautions when it comes to their children’s underage drinking habits.

Jennifer Northway, executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving for South Texas, said parents should begin speaking to children about alcohol as early as the fourth grade and set up healthy boundaries.

“You can’t blame the youth solely on the underage drinking problem,” Northway said. “Our kids

Crystal Pelczar photos Andrea Guerrero, 17, senior at O’Connor High School, suffered alcohol poisioning and uses the experience to warn other teens about the dangers of binge drinking. model the behavior that we exhibit. We really want to encourage parents to take a step back and think about how they might be conveying alcohol use in their own home.”

About two years ago, MADD adopted an extension called Power of Parents to provide researchproven strategies to parents for preventing underage drinking at home and in their community. According to MADD, 74 percent of teens and young adults ages 8-17 said their parents are the leadAndrea Guerrero ing influence on their O’Connor senior decision-making concerning alcohol.

“Our kids can’t live up to their fullest potential if we don’t take the tough stand and make sure that they’re safe,” Northway said. “You have to have open dialogue and good communication about the things that they’re experiencing, but at times, you’ve got to stay firm to the boundaries you place on your child and the expectations you place on your child.”

More than a year after her alcohol poisoning, Andrea Guerrero carries a healthier relationship with her mother.

Joan Guerrero said her daughter calls and texts

‘One shot led to another, it was 5, and 5 then led to 12.’

Jennifer Northway of MADD in South Texas says children model their parents’ behavior. her when she’s at parties, respects her curfew, and they talk about alcohol abuse more often.

“As of that day, I let out everything,” Guerrero said. “We’re closer — almost like sisters — so

About the reporter Senior Kristian Rodriguez is a dedicated 17 year old, so dedicated that he left his family visiting in Brownsville to attend the Urban Journalism Workshop.

Rodriguez knew he couldn’t miss the workshop after his Clark High School journalism adviser encouraged him to attend.

“She said it would be excellent for college because you learn to deal with real life situations; you grow as a journalist,” he said.

After the grueling two-week workshop, many young journalists would take a long, well-deserved break but not Rodriguez. Immediately after the workshop, Rodriguez is going to a monthlong graphic design residency program at the Maryland

we gained a new relationship. I’m just more careful now. You’ve got to be careful because one day it could be you, and you never know what you could lose.”

Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

In the fall, Rodriguez will be co-editor of The Chronicle at Clark High School, a position he’ll share with fellow workshopper Crystal Pelczar.

Clark High School’s newspaper was ranked No. 1 in the nation this year in a competition in Washington, D.C. “It was a huge accomplishment that not every single high school in the United States gets to have on their record,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said his goal in life is simple. “I want to be successful but to do something meaningful. I want to be able to help people,” he said.

“If journalism is the way to go about that, then I’ll do that; if not, then that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.”

— Ignacio Treviño

4

YOU S.A.

June 24, 2010

IMMIGRATION: Student experiences, challenges differ Contined from Page 1 Last year, 90 students enrolled in ESL classes at Marshall, according to the school’s academic dean Terri Wroten.

Hatita, 20, was born in Baghdad, Iraq, where she dreamed of getting an education, but after the U.S. invasion of her country, it was too dangerous for her family to stay.

The family moved to Syria, where they spent four years living in a refugee camp, but Hatita’s dream never faded, and she dreamed of returning to Iraq to continue her education.

It wasn’t until danger reached her family, that they finally decided to look for help.

“My sister was kidnapped for several days,” Hatita said. “It wasn’t until we paid the rescue money, that they led her go.”

The risks were far from being over when Hatita’s dad survived a murder attempt by unknown assailants.

Fearing for his family’s safety, Hatita’s father contacted the United Nations, explained the situation and asked for refuge in the U.S. Even though she did not know English, Hatita was determined to get her high school diploma in the U.S. and eventually go to a good university.

She wants to become a pharmacist, but when the administration of her new school noticed her age, Hatita’s path to her dream became obstructed.

“They tried to persuade her to get a GED instead of the high school diploma,” Family Services Association case manager Pamela Espurvoa said.

“This girl has inspired me, because regardless of the dangers she faced in her country, she was determined to get an education,” Espurvoa said.

“You have to consider her background in her culture. They’re used to hearing ‘no’ and immediately accept it. That’s why I came to help.”

Hatita said, “I am taking summer classes because I need to catch up. It’s a lot of work. We do a week’s class work in a day and I feel embarrassed because I’m not as fast as the others.”

On the upside, Hatita admits not everybody is cruel and there are people she identifies with.

She thinks discrimination develops through unexpressed thoughts and teens misunderstanding cultures different from their own.

She doesn’t wear her traditional headpiece much at school any more, but when she does, she favors one with a black cotton fabric covered with white piece signs on it.

The high schools with the most immigrant students are Clark, Marshall and Brandeis. Students also may continue with their ESL classes during the summer, with sessions held at Brandeis high school.

The rapid increase of immigrants also can be seen outside of school. The NISD learning center offers classes for adults interested in learning English or attending GED classes that also are taught in Spanish.

The struggles of immigration can be crucial in a teen refugee’s life, but not all students have difficulties adapting to the dominant culture.

Buddha Nepal, 18, a Bhutanese refugee, con-

Roxanne Eguia Sama Hatita, originally from Iraq, now lives in Northwest San Antonio. She is taking summer courses to earn her high school diploma. firms his experience wasn’t as bad as others he has heard. “[My experience] was good, I never really felt teased or picked on. There was only one time when I heard two girls at math class murmuring things about me, but I always stayed positive and never took it personal,” Buddha said.

A recent Marshall graduate, Buddha, was enrolled in an ESL class for only six months because he learned English in Nepal in a refugee camp.

“In the refugee camps, we had teachers and my schooling started when I was 6 years old,” he said.

“The only thing it was hard for me to adapt to — learn to speak with American tongue,” he said.

“I still have some accent.”

Buddha in contrast with Hatita had no problem graduating, and in two short years, he earned his high school diploma.

“I wanted the toughest chemistry class,” he said. “Back in Nepal, they teach us all sciences in a year, and for me, it was easy to get in chemistry Advanced Placement (classes),” he said.

He plans to go to university to study nuclear engineering.

Buddha also wants to give back to the resettlement community and researched how he can help students aged 18 through 21 attend school. After an incident in which his sister wasn’t allowed to enroll in school because of her age, he helped six

About the reporter Brissa M. Robles, a 17-year-old senior at Holmes High School, works for a cheese company handing out free samples.

A native of Matamoros, Mexico, Robles has become interested in history, especially the Roaring 20s, between World War I and the Great Depression.

“Most people think it’s boring,” Robles said. “Why would anyone care about someone else who lived a hundred years ago?”

Robles learned English near the American border, where she had access to American television networks

other students enroll at Tom C. Clark High School, refusing to leave until administrators admitted them.

He also helps the Catholic Charities of San Antonio Refugee Resettlement Program by teaching

such as MTV with Spanish subtitles.

About four years ago, she moved to Nashville to live with her aunt but only stayed about 10 months because she found the cultural shift hard to adjust to.

She then moved to San Antonio, where she enrolled in English as a second language classes.

She is learning French but also wants to learn how to speak Italian and Portuguese.

She believes being multilingual will open new opportunities as she travels the countries of South America.

For this upcoming year, Robles plans to attend more pep rallies and football games because she wants to live the whole high school experience.

— Alejandra Sol Casas

little kids words in English.

He teaches them their numbers and colors.

And he teaches them how to persevere; regardless of the challenges, they might face in their new country.

BEHAVIOR: Technology can enhance risks behind risqué behavior Contined from Page 1 to most teen girls, Billimek said it has a lot to do with the age of the girl. “One possibility is that they are trying to establish their identities, and there’s a lot of insecurity.”

He said it “could be a way of trying to get recognition, approval perhaps.” The compliments she received only fed her ego and may have temporarily relieved the insecurity.

The need for approval in the digital world also may lead to another pressing problem among teens.

Partying is a hobby that, at some point, can define the line of popularity. However, this hobby also can ruin job opportunities later in life. Companies now have a way to get a peek into their employees’ and prospective employees’ lives.

Facebook and MySpace have provided a possible window into teen’s lives. A recent trend, popular among high school and college students, is posting pictures of themselves drinking even though they’re underage. Billimek said this also could be a cry for attention.

“Every generation has its own way of saying,

‘Hey, here I am,’” Billimek said of teens taking risqué photographs.

In addition to underage drinking pictures, others have put themselves at risk based on the appearance of a default picture.

According to The Daily Telegraph (Australia), earlier this year, Paul Rajendran, 36, posed as a scout for the fashion label La Perla in Sydney, Australia. A woman saw that he was a modeling scout and sent him a friend request. He let her know that he was a looking for some new talent. They exchanged e-mails and met in person.

After a few spiked drinks, the night ended tragically for this woman as Rajendran lured her to his apartment and raped her. He is just one accused of using social networking to take advantage of others.

In 2009, 90,000 sex offenders were reported on MySpace.

Jesse Figueroa, a senior at Harlandale High School, considered what he would tell his sister when she starts using MySpace.

“I will tell her that not everyone is who they seem, and that there are sick people who will try to hurt them.”

About the reporter Jeremy Charo, 17, a senior at John Jay High School, balances pursuing his dreams as a photographer with being a dad and student by listening to the band Muse.

“Falling away with you,” Charo’s favorite song from the band, blasts screaming lyrics, a contrast to Charo’s low-key demeanor.

Charo hasn’t liked too much attention since the seventh grade, when he began abusing drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs. He stayed quiet so no one would notice.

A Spanish teacher he admired

caught him high and looked at him in a way that changed his life forever.

“Her thoughts held a huge weight on me,” Charo said.

He quit drugs, focusing his energy on photography after his journalism adviser, Fernando Serna, noticed his skills and promoted him to lead photographer.

He and girlfriend, Raven Valdez, 17, hope their son, 3-month-old Jeremiah Caleb Charo, will have high goals someday.

“We knew it was gonna be hard, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

So we were like, ‘All right, let’s do this,’” Charo said.

Looking into the future, he said anymore, his life “doesn’t look blurry.” ­­— Roxanne Eguia

June 24, 2010

Overexposed:

YOU S.A.

5

Teen who sacrificed her privacy was stalked by MySpace ‘friends’ About the reporter

Quiana Nicole McPherson photos Nora Manrique, mother of Krystal Rodriguez, stepped in to help her daughter scare away online stalkers.

By Megan Greebon Bandera High School Krystal Rodriguez, 17, a senior at Clark High School, has experienced the dangerous effects of privacy mixed with social media.

Out of boredom, Rodriguez and a friend logged into MySpace and met a couple of guys online.

Rodriguez, then 14, posted her phone number on MySpace and added the two strangers as “friends,” thinking nothing would come of it. “… We spent hours and hours and hours just commenting back and forth, and finally, they were like ‘OK, so can we have your number?’” Rodriguez said. “We were little so we were like ‘Sure, guys want to talk to us! Cool!’”

They had no idea they were flirting with disaster.

Many teens see privacy as a necessity, yet post phone numbers, addresses, pictures and other identifying information in MySpace and Facebook profiles. In doing so, teens like Rodriguez are sacrificing privacy for enhanced social interaction.

Teens may not realize that more than 513 million Facebook and MySpace users can get access to their profiles — whether it be through accepting a stranger’s friend request, hacking or posting personal information.

Intrigued by the guys’ photos, the girls didn’t inquire about personal information.

“We didn’t really know much about them,” Rodriguez said. “We hadn’t asked them where they were from, we didn’t ask them how old they were, we didn’t (ask) anything.

Rodriguez hadn’t considered her loss of privacy in the long run. She didn’t think she had anything to worry about. Being stalked wasn’t a consideration.

“They actually came (to San Antonio) while we had been talking,” Rodriguez said.

The boys wanted to meet the girls while they were in town. Rodriguez and her friend said that was a bad idea. The guys pressured them, but they resisted.

Eventually, their communication waned.

“We stopped calling them and texting them. It got to the point where they were calling my house phone,” Rodriguez said.

They stopped calling Rodriguez’s friend after a week but harassed Rodriguez for two more weeks.

“They were calling my house at two, three o’clock in the morning,” Rodriguez said.

Aware that she would get in trouble for late night calls, she didn’t tell her parents, especially because the boys were strangers.

“I constantly had to have both phones (in my room) over and over again, pressing the end button … They kept calling and calling and calling,” Rodriguez said. “I’d answer and I’d tell them ‘I don’t want anything to do with you. If you don’t

Megan Greebon, a senior at Bandera High School, was a volunteer last summer at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio where she met a special employee.

Warrant Goins joined the Army at a very young age to support his pregnant girlfriend.

“He had been diagnosed with MS as well,” Greebon said. “He never let stuff get him down, which is really inspiring. He’s always laughing and always smiling. He’s just generally a happy person.”

Greebon, who soon will turn 17, is trying to build a community service record impressive enough to get her into San Antonio College, Baylor University or the University of Texas to double major in journalism and photography.

She’s also involved in Art Club, 4-H and National Honor Society.

“I’m looking forward to college,” Greebon said. “I’ve always wanted to go because higher education is so valuable. The experiences are sure to be amazing.”

To save money for college, she babysits a 5-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl.

“The little boy is just learning to read,” she said. “I love being able to witness something like that.

“He reads two books a day, and I can see the gears turning in his head.”

— Taylor Tompkins

Krystal Rodriguez, 17, made the mistake of posting her phone number on MySpace after meeting two boys from Corpus Christi online. stop, I’m gonna tell my mom.’”

The fear and stress brought Rodriguez to tears.

She told her brother, hoping that he could help.

He advised her to tell their mother, but she refused.

The guys started sending Rodriguez disturbing “stalker-like” messages through MySpace, such as “I will find you” and “you will be with me.”

One of the stalkers told her that if she wouldn’t be with him, he would find and hurt her.

Rodriguez, unsure of the boys’ intentions, told her mother.

“Not knowing about these kids — how they were or what their intentions were was scary,” said Norma Manrique, Rodriguez’s mother. “I was worried that something could happen to her or to her friend.”

Manrique answered the next time the stalkers called.

“She told them that she knew everything and if they didn’t stop calling, she was gonna call the police,” Rodriguez said.

The stalkers called a few more times, but that wasn’t the end.

“Two years ago, I got a phone call from them at the house. They still had my phone number,” Rodriguez said.

When they identified themselves, she yelled for her mother. They hung up and haven’t called since.

“When I had put my number on there, I didn’t really think about privacy,” Rodriguez said.

“You don’t really think about it until you have something happen to you.”

Rodriguez believes that teens overexpose Krystal Rodriguez Victim themselves through social media.

“You see little girls … with half-naked pictures and their phone number. I’ve seen one person with their address on there,” Rodriguez said.

Christy Matte, author of “The Teen Guide to MySpace and Online Safety” offers tips for teens involved with social media.

“Never post suggestive pictures or information on your profile. If you wouldn’t show it to

‘I constantly had to have both phones (in my room) over and over again, pressing the end button …

They kept calling and calling and calling. I’d answer and I’d tell them ‘I don’t want anything to do with you.’

your parents or grandparents, it’s not OK to put it online. You may think it’s just for fun, but other people might get the wrong idea.”

In “Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy Loophole,” authors Emily Steel and Jessica E. Vascellaro report that “Facebook, MySpace and several other social-networking sites have been sending data to advertising companies that could be used to find consumers’ names and other personal details, despite promises they don’t share such information without consent.”

Many privacy rights groups like the Electronic Privacy Information Center are constantly at work trying to preserve social media users’ privacy.

EPIC is urging Congress to extend the Children’s Privacy Law to teens and social network services.

EPIC President Marc Rotenberg said the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 “did not anticipate the immersive online experience that a social network service would provide or the extensive data collection of both the trivial and the intimate information that children would share with friends.”

EPIC recently joined seven other privacy rights groups in sending a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to urge his social networking site “demonstrate its commitment to user privacy.”

The letter suggests changes such as not allowing application manufacturers to access users’ data when their friends use the apps, not retaining data about visitors to third-party websites that contain “social plug-ins” and giving users control of all information they share through Facebook.

Those changes would not have prevented Rodriquez’ nightmare, but her real-life experience teaches lessons that can’t be legislated.

“It was a huge mistake … I seriously thought I was gonna get kidnapped or something because of how aggressive they were,” Rodriguez said.

“I keep everything set to private,” Rodriguez said. “Now, if I don’t know you, I don’t add you on MySpace.

“I don’t think if something like that had (not) happened to me, I would’ve been as protective of my privacy as I am now.”

6-7

YOU

Dogged dedication

By Ignacio Treviño Marshall High School

Six dogs bark furiously at unfamiliar guests visiting a small ranch in Schertz. It’s difficult to distinguish the words of 18-year-old Aubrie Dahle, but in the midst of this chaos, she is the conductor of a howling symphony.

With a simple hand gesture and a voice command, the dogs perform feats that some humans can’t, yet there is no cracking of whips. Dogs of various sizes maneuver through an obstacle course and leap to catch tennis balls in midair. They know their reward will be an ear scratching and possibly a small treat.

They are trained dogs, two of them for service, four for agility events.

Dahle received her first dog, a Yorkshire terrier, as a birthday present at age 10, but she started training the family dogs on the agility course when she was just 3.

“I’m not the best,” Dahle said. “I’m good, but I’m not making my own DVDs or anything. I’m just a kid who likes running with my dogs.”

Although Dahle may not be ready to make her own training videos, the American Kennel Club ranks her 36th in the nation in agility. The AKC ranks all ages together, so Dahle is ranked against those who are younger and older.

Aubrie, a Clemens High School graduate, has turned her lifelong passion for animals into plans for the future.

She will attend Texas State University in the fall and major in animal genetics. She would like to find a cure for canine lymphoma.

She said she also plans to continue her work with nonprofit agencies and with dog therapy.

Three times a year, Dahle does agility presentations and lectures about dog owner responsibility at the Humane Society of San Antonio.

Dahle and her family also take their dogs to the Silver Tree Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Schertz to comfort the elderly.

“Having an animal at the nursing home has an interesting effect on the residents,” Dahle said. “There are Alzheimer’s patients that haven’t been in the present for years, but when they see a dog, they snap back to reality, if only for a few moments.”

Tara Walter, a San Antonio dog trainer who competes in agility, has known Dahle since she was 8 years old and is impressed with the teen’s dedication to both agility and public service.

“Service dogs can be used in so many ways, it’s amazing. They can be used to help seizure victims or even alert diabetics about when they need to inject insulin,” Walter said.

Silver Tree Activity Director Shari Bridgeman said she and the staff are very fond of Aubrie.

“We’ve seen her twice a month for the past 3½ years, and we’ve watched her grow up. More teenagers should volunteer. They would appreciate what they have more. She’s an angel,” Bridgeman said.

Earlier this year, Dahle began training two service dogs for a woman with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the same disease that her grandfather has survived for five years.

“Her sister called one day and said, ‘We heard you do dog training, and we were wondering if you could take care of my sister’s border collies,’” Dahle said.

“Then they said she has non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma so then I knew we had to help her because we knew what she was going through.”

While the woman is hospitalized in Pennsylvania, Dahle is fostering her dogs, Tommy and Meg. Dahle is teaching the border collies to work as service dogs to aid their owner. They are learning to pick up the phone and open the refrigerator because their owner is weakened by her illness.

While Dahle loves all of her dogs, training them is a lot of hard work and responsibility.

“You can’t just adopt a dog, you have to take care of it. A free puppy on the side of the road isn’t free,” Dahle said.

However demanding the workload, Dahle never tires of her true passion.

“Some days, you feel too tired to go to a dog show, but when you get there you ask yourself ‘why did I ever consider not doing this?” she said.

Aubrie’s mother, Karen, also competes with dogs in agility and said it seemed natural that her daughter would be a trainer.

“I remember this little girl that wasn’t even 3 feet tall going over the last two jumps yelling, ‘Mommy! I did it!’” Karen said.

Dog trainer Aubrie Dahle runs her dog Charm through the agility competition as part of the River City Cluster of Dog Shows June 17 at the Henry B. Gonzale It is clear that the Dahle family dog-training legacy will not end with Aubrie. Her 10-year-old sister Anneka is making a name for herself in dog training as well. She is nationally ranked in the intermediate level and was even featured in American Girl magazine earlier this year.

“There’s a lot of pressure from my family to do well in competition,” Anneka said.

Anneka spends most of her time in the agility ring training Tucker, an Australian shepherd. She said she plans to continue training and doing public service like her sister.

Dahle plans on one day being a part of the World Team, which is like “the Olympics of dog training.”

Her most recent agility competition was at the River City Cluster of Dog Shows in San Antonio.

Next, she heads to Ouachita Valley Dog Training Club in Louisiana June 24-27 and then Houston Kennel Club July 7.

Dahle used to get frustrated with her dogs if they made mistakes, but she said she now understands that people and dogs are very similar.

“It’s taught me patience, helped me with my people skills,” Dahle said. “If you can be patient with dogs, you can be patient with people.”

Dog trainer Aubrie Dahle sits with Meg, a dog she is caring for while the dog’s owner undergoes cancer treatment. Aubrie took Meg to the dog show to socialize her.

S.A.

n

June 24, 2010

School ends early for the successful

Schertz teen trains dogs for show and public service

By Angelica Casas John Jay High School

Jeremy Charo photos

es Convention Center. Aubrie is nationally ranked in the agility competition.

About the reporter By the end of Day 3 of UJW, everybody had grown to love — or become used to —self-proclaimed class clown Ignacio Treviño.

As a youngster, Treviño developed a charismatic personality, making up games with his cousins.

“We used to play Power Rangers and just make up our own unusual childhood games,” he said.

Treviño, 17, attends Marshall High School, where’s he’s in the Spanish Honor Society. He enjoys writing and watching professional soccer.

His interest in Spain’s national World Cup soccer team inspired Treviño to learn

about his heritage. He is determined to visit Spain.

“I like the culture (in Spain),” Treviño said. “It’s unique and different from Mexico. I want to stay there for a couple of months and get acquainted with the people and maybe learn the dialect Catalan.”

Treviño prides himself in mixed martial arts, a passion sparked by his mother when she bought him the first episodes of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

He has trained at a local gym, the Spartan Pitt, for three months.

Treviño sees the training as a hobby and a positive outlet.

He’s considering Tufts University outside Boston although he is undecided about a major, looking at journalism, archaeology or teaching.

— Kristian Rodriguez

Southside High School seniors Esteban Valdez and Nicole Mueller started their summer vacation two weeks early this year thanks to a program that allows schools to cut 10 days from the calendar as a reward for successful students.

Both met the requirements needed to elongate their summer, including acceptable attendance, passing all their classes, maintaining good discipline and a passing grade on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS test.

Southside is one of 200 school districts statewide to take advantage of legislation passed in 2003 that gives Texas school districts the option of adjusting its academic calendar to allow those students who passed the mandatory TAKS test to deduct 10 days from the school year.

Students who fail the test or fail a grade are required to attend the last 10 days and take remediation courses. The program is available to any school district that submits an application to the Texas Education Agency and meets the federal requirements of a 180-day school year.

After hearing about the Optional Flexible Year Program from other districts, Southside High School Principal Cynthia Treviño proposed the program for her school as a way to improve TAKS scores.

“We had a problem with our 10th grade students not seeing the TAKS test as important,” Treviño said.

Treviño considers the program a success. The high school recently earned the TEA designation of a recognized campus thanks to TAKS scores.

“We haven’t been a recognized school since 2001,” Treviño said.

The school also reduced the number of students who failed to graduate because of TAKS. It dropped from 28 students in 2009 to eight this year.

Of the school’s 1,400 students, about 1,000 were released May 20. The remaining 400 students received more personalized attention as they worked to improve test scores or pass failed classes. Treviño said the student-teacher ratio for the last 10 days was 7-1.

All of the students are given the option of attending through the end of the year. At Southside, about 125 students chose to return for either summer school or a program that provided college and career information.

“We were surprised how many students came back,” Trevino said.

Students Valdez and Mueller took advantage of their early summer differently. Valdez returned to Southside for the enrichment course, which included field trips to San Antonio College and the Bexar County courthouse. Mueller opted to enjoy her free time, visiting amusement parks and going places “without worrying about the crowds.”

In the fall, Treviño will once again implement the program.

According to TEA, most of the 200 schools in the program are from smaller districts, such as Southside and East Central School District, another district in the San Antonio area.

Northside Deputy Superintendent for Administration Brian Woods said that with 80,000 students in the district, he doesn’t think it’s practical.

About the reporter After forming a band called the Jesus Kids, Angelica Casas, 16, and her twin sister, Alejandra, plan to rock the faithful in the church halls.

Casas, a senior and editor of her yearbook at John Jay High School, has been in the band for four months.

“I’ve always wanted to be in a band, because I love music,” said Casas, who plays a keyboard her mother bought her.

Casas’ inspiration comes from people and other artists, especially the

Angelica Casas Southside High School principal Cynthia Treviño believes the flexible year program was a success because the school’s TAKS scores went up.

The district typically has more than a 90 percent passing rate on the TAKS. “The whole idea of letting them out earlier doesn’t seem like a good plan for students in the Northside School District,” Woods said.

Woods said that as a district, Northside feels like it can “remediate students who haven’t passed TAKS without sending the other students home.”

The Bandera School District has used the program for two years. This year, students who passed the TAKS were released May 28, but those who needed remediation remained in school and began their required summer school studies.

Bandera Superintendent Kevin Dyes said that students see the program as “if I take care of business, I’ll get out of school 10 days early.”

The district is considering the program again for 2010-11 but may end only four days early. He said they might decide to use some of the days during the fall and the remaining days in the spring. He said the district would seek community feedback before making the decision.

Dyes said the district credits the program with increasing TAKS scores as well as greater success on AP and SAT tests.

The TEA expects the number of schools taking advantage of the program to increase.

“Some of the districts are not aware that the program is available,” said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokesperson for TEA. As part of the Southside program, the district required high school students to meet certain criteria.

Students remaining in school received instruction based upon their needs, Treviño said. For example, students with discipline problems learned anger management techniques while students who failed a course used the two weeks to make up course work.

Treviño said she views the program as a way to meet the needs of individual students more effectively.

“It’s not about the pass or fail but, most importantly, about them getting the content they lacked,” she said. band Passion Pit. “The Reeling” is her favorite of their songs.

Casas’ band wasn’t originally meant to be called Jesus Kids.

“We were going to use the Second Coming or Stigmata, but we thought nobody would understand,” Casas said.

She and fellow band members plan to write their own songs. They practice three hours every Monday.

Casas also devotes her time to her church youth group. She gives speeches on topics, such as friendship, that are related to their studies.

“The one up there (God) greatly appreciates that,” Casas said. “I love helping people, knowing that someone benefits from what I do. It’s great.” ­— Gabrielle Ford

8

OMG i crasht YOU S.A.

June 24, 2010

Photo illustration by Taylor Tompkins The number of accidents caused by texting is not clear. A study of young drivers shows that 48 percent of them text while driving. More than 300,000 teens are injured in car accidents.

Texts and calls ring up big danger for teens on roadways

By Crystal Pelczar Clark High School His arm burned from the powerful airbag explosion as he reached for the flasher switch.

Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” blasted from the radio and his car filled with smoke as he squirmed to escape.

Before he stepped out of the car, he reached to the floorboard for the item that caused the accident — his cell phone.

Jeff Robillard, 18, is a freshman at Southern Methodist University now, but he was 16 years old when he had his first car accident. He had his license for a month and felt confident enough to text while driving.

“I had a text from my girlfriend,” Robillard said. “Just as I was beginning to respond, I slammed into the back of a stopped white carpet cleaning van that was waiting to turn left.”

In a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 48 percent of young drivers aged 18-24 confirmed that they text behind the wheel, making texting while driving a growing issue.

Russ Rader, director of media relations for the institute, said that while laws may attempt to prevent people from texting while driving, it is hard to enforce.

“It’s unlikely that bans on texting will reduce crashes,” Rader said via e-mail. “The laws are very difficult to enforce. It’s tough for an officer to spot someone texting, especially if the driver is trying to conceal it.”

Instead, education on safety factors may be the solution.

The night of his accident, Robillard hit the van at about 50 mph.

“I was stunned and my ears were ringing from the airbag explosion,” Robillard said. “I looked through my windshield and could see nothing because the hood was completely crunched and smashed up against the windshield.”

Unable to see outside, Robillard tried to start his car. “I tried to put my car in drive,” Robillard said. “But the left rear wheel of the van was wedged completely up into my engine from underneath and my car would not move.”

Robillard called his parents and then stood on the side of the road and cried. “They were there within minutes, and my mom began crying hysterically when she saw the car and realized how bad it

could have been,” he said.

Robillard was lucky to walk away from the crash with only minor injuries.

It is difficult to calculate the number of accidents caused by cell phone usage, Rader said.

“Drivers in crashes don’t often admit that they were at fault because they were distracted,” Rader said. “We can look at overall crash numbers and see if there’s any change over time as laws are passed or cell phone use increases.”

Although 28 states have laws against texting while driving, Texas is not one of those states, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. In Texas, the cities of Austin, El Paso, Galveston and Stephenville have banned texting while driving.

‘Their driving is atrocious when they’re texting.’

Karen Givilancz Roadworthy Driving Academy “We know from decades of experience with highway safety laws that if drivers don’t believe they will be ticketed, they won’t change their behavior,” Rader said.

Rader also acknowledged the many other distractions can cause a person to crash besides texting.

“Distracted driving is bigger than just texting,” Rader said. “Even hands-free phone use carries a significant crash risk and no state has banned handsfree use. Drivers can just as easily be distracted and crash fiddling with their iPods, daydreaming, or scolding their kids at the wrong moment.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 300,000 teens are injured in car crashes each year, about 8,000 are involved in fatal accidents and over 3,500 are killed.

Roadworthy Driving Academy in Schertz uses driving simulators to show their drivers education students the dangers of texting while driving. The room includes 16 simulators and has every function a car would have.

“Different tests are given to them and they have to react,” said Karen Givilancz of Roadworthy Driving Academy.

“They are given a series of exercises as if they

were driving a vehicle. Then they get a score at the end of how well they performed.”

Students take the test twice. At first, the students take the simulator test with no distractions and both hands on the wheel. Then they allow students to pull out their phones and text people.

“Their driving is atrocious when they’re texting,” Givilancz said. “It’s a hands-on way to show them that it’s really not a good idea. So that way they get a feel of that danger.”

Robillard took drivers education from another company and cannot recall a single time when the dangers of texting while driving were emphasized.

He recalls watching several videos on drunken driving but none on the dangers of cell phones.

He believes that more driving schools should incorporate the simulator test.

“While about 15 or 20 percent of my friends may have driven drunk before. I’d say that nearly 100 percent have talked, texted or used their phone in some way while driving,” Robillard said. “It’s scary.”

Recently, the media are publicizing the dangers of texting while driving. AT&T has launched their “Txting & Driving … It can wait” campaign, encouraging people to take a no-texting pledge in an effort to end texting and driving. Oprah Winfrey is also advertising her “Don’t tempt f8, that txt can w8” campaign.

Oprah’s TV special on the risks of texting while driving inspired 17-year-old senior Erica Krueger of Antonian College Preparatory High School.

Once an avid texter in the car, she has stopped using her phone while driving.

“When other organizations started talking about what has happened to people when they were texting while driving, I eventually just stopped altogether,” Krueger said. “No text is worth it.”

Robillard said he hopes that the publicity about texting and driving will help all drivers realize the effects of their deadly habit and how dangerous it is.

“I think the problem is not that they don’t know that it’s dangerous, but instead that they don’t believe that it could happen to them,” Robillard said.

“They don’t realize that one single text has the potential to change their life in the blink of an eye.”

Now if Robillard needs to use his phone while driving, he pulls over to a parking lot.

“If I have someone else in the car with me, it motivates me even more to not use my phone because I know their life is in my hands, too,” he said.

About the reporter The lights flash as the models prepare for the New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

They’re all dressed up in their outfits and getting their hair done, ready to go.

Normally, you would see only professionals at a fashion event like this, but high school senior Crystal Pelczar experienced an opportunity of a lifetime.

“It definitely opened my eyes to the fashion industry,” Pelczar said.

“I went to my first show by myself with one ticket … and it was for fashion designer Tory Burch.”

Tory Burch designs include retro ’70s styles as well as casual wear, shoes and bags.

Celebrities such as Def Jam founder Russell Simmons made the whole show breathtaking to Pelczar.

“I was pretty star-struck for the most part,” Pelczar said. “Sitting right next to me was Russell Simmons, and I’m watching the models on the runway, and I was just in awe because it was so surreal.”

For Pelczar, fashion is an inspiration of art.

“The most interesting thing about fashion to me is that it’s art you can wear,” she said. “I think it’s inspiring to see different designers who are artists.”

— Quiana McPherson

YOU S.A.

June 24, 2010

9

Violent relationship leaves emotional scars Report states that 1 in 5 teens in a committed relationship has been physically or sexually abused

By Gabrielle Ford Clemens High School He pushed her head into the corner of a dresser, then he held her to the bed while he repeatedly slapped her.

Eighteen-year-old Porchia was not the victim of a home invasion or a stranger.

Her 17-year-old boyfriend attacked her.

According to a report from the Journal of the American Medical Association, one in every five teens in a committed relationship has been physically or sexually abused.

In May, a 19-year-old San Antonio male was shot and killed in a lovers’ triangle. The police arrested 19-year-old Alexander Williams Johnson.

He was accused of shooting a brother of a man who was dating the woman he wanted to date.

At a rate nearly triple the national average for such assaults, females ages 16 to 24 are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence.

Porchia, who graduated from John Marshall High School, was a victim of teen dating violence.

She said her boyfriend was severely jealous and his aggressiveness got progressively worse.

“He got so anxious, and so jumpy when I would go for his phone to take a picture of myself, because couples are like, let’s take a picture,” Porchia said. “Why would you have so much of a problem with me going though your phone, but yet you go though my phone?”

According to prevention specialist Jessica Garza, there are signs in a relationship that indicate a relationship could turn violent. They include things like insisting on checking your e-mail, asking for passwords, constant text messaging and looking through your phone.

“There are a couple of different (reasons why violent dating happens) that we see,” Garza said. “Some of it is just lack of education, they’re starting to date early, a family situation, or sometimes, it’s economical to stay with the person even though there’s Jessica Garza abuse.”

Prevention Specialist In Porchia’s relationship however, she did not stay. Earlier on the day of the attack, she had gone to see her boyfriend after he yelled at her for missing his phone call, and she then threatened to call the police. After her boyfriend attacked her, she ran from his house.

“I pushed him (off me), then ran outside, and he was talking and I was like ‘you’ll hear from the police about this,’ and he was just like, ‘Oh, don’t do this. Why are you doing this to me? You know I love you,’” Porchia said.

In many cases of dating and domestic violence, the police don’t often make arrests. In 2005, there were more than 12,000 cases of domestic violence reported in San Antonio, however, only in a little more than 2,000 cases were arrests actually made.

“We have a lot of kids come in who are seeking help but don’t want to go to the extremes,” Garza said. “And then, some kids do go to the extremes and go back, then that’s where there are some problems sometimes.”

Porchia contacted the police and left her boyfriend, but a 2006 research study showed that 86 percent of female high school students would rather confide in a friend compared with the 7 percent who said they would contact the police.

“People would tell me stuff, and I would see stuff against teen dating violence (on TV), and when you hear stuff, you have to open your mind to it and not just think one way,” Porchia said.

Online campaigns such as Stay TV (stayteen. org) and DoSomething.org aim to help teens with issues like dating violence. Garza said the media not only warn against teen dating violence, it can also glorify it.

“Sometimes, they glorify some stuff,” Garza

Megan Greebon photos Porchia, whose former boyfriend was often jealous and aggressive, encourages people to listen when they hear stories of dating violence.

About the reporter

‘For teenagers, we have counseling and we help all types of social services.’

Prevention specialist Jessica Garza has seen some severe cases of dating violence. ‘I had a boy ask to use the phone and he gave permission to his girlfriend to go to the mall with her mom.’ said. “Like my kids seem to see things and they find it as a glorified form of love, and sometimes kids lose that whole reality thing, what’s real and what can be done in real life,” Garza said.

According to statistics, girls more commonly yell, threaten to hurt themselves, pinch, slap, or kick, while boys are more likely to injure girls more severely and frequently.

“I’ve seen some really severe cases,” Garza said. “I had a girl; her boyfriend beat her really, really bad, and she was pregnant and lost the child. I’ve had a boy cut a girl’s hair off, and I had a boy ask to use the phone and he gave permission to his girlfriend to go to the mall with her mom.”

However, females aren’t the only victims of dating violence. Males are also susceptible to dating violence.

“I see males that get beat up all the time be-

cause (the girl) hit him, and they are like, he doesn’t hit back, so they really start hitting and say if you hit me back, I’ll call the cops. Who are they going to believe: you or me?” Garza said.

Though the most common type of abuse in dating violence is physical abuse, emotional abuse is also a common occurrence, she said.

“I had a woman tell me that her husband had never hit her, ‘but he killed me a long time ago emotionally, that I don’t even feel like I’m alive anymore,’” Garza said.

There are different types of help that teens in a violent relationship can seek from places like the Family Violence Prevention Services that offers counseling and legal services.

“For teenagers, we have counseling and we help in all types of social services,” Garza said.

“All the services we offer for adult women, we of-

When Gabrielle “Gabby” Ford was a baby, she lived in Virginia and even Iceland for a short while when her Air Force father was stationed there, but now she is a Texan.

For 14 of her 16 years, she has lived in the Lone Star state.

Although everything is bigger in Texas, Ford found that Samuel Clemens High School is small and unknown to many.

In the fall, she will be a junior and on the staff of the Clemens Correspondent, the school’s newspaper.

She also freelances for the Schertz Tales magazine, a publication of the City of Schertz.

Although she believes herself to be boring, she enjoys listening to the East Coast rock band My Chemical Romance.

Her admiration for the band, especially for front man Gerard Way, began when she was in seventh grade, and since then, she has bought all their music from iTunes.

Ford had hoped to attend a My Chemical Romance concert during a 2007 tour, but the local show date fell during TAKS week so she had to miss it.

Her favorite song is “I’m Not OK,” the first song she ever heard by My Chemical Romance.

Ford said the lyrics speak to her: “Another line without a book, I held you close as we both shook.”

— Angelica Casas fer to our children and we offer the exact same services to men.”

A person will seek help eight to nine times before actually going through the process, she said.

“When people tell you that they’ve been through this, actually listen to them, don’t just think they’re crazy. It’s because they really know what’s going on,” Porchia said. “Go with your gut, do what’s best for you because in the end, you’re the only person that matters. When it goes too far, just stop it because whatever you go through, your family goes through with you.”

10

YOU S.A.

June 24, 2010

What happens when you can’t go back home?

Conflicts with parents and family can drive teens to emancipation or other places to find their independence

By Alejandra Sol Casas Jay High School When a house is no longer a home, some teens turn to emancipation, a legal separation from parents that leads to independence.

Others who have no means of independent support look for housing alternatives with family or friends.

According to the National Data Archive for Child Abuse and Neglect, of the 28,959 children emancipated from foster care in 2007, 1,698 were under the age of 18.

Minnie Jo Gauthier, 34, chose to be emancipated after 16 years of being reared by an alcoholic and schizophrenic mother who owned a bar. She also lived with her brother who was eight years older than her.

A court’s decision to grant emancipation is based primarily on whether teens can support themselves financially. Because their jobs are generally low-income, emancipation is rarely granted.

Gauthier’s brother had been continuously beating and raping her since she was 11 years old. Her brother’s father shot and killed himself when she was 14 because he feared she would tell someone about how he, too, had raped her.

“Everything was always my fault,” Gauthier said.

At the age of 14, she was sent to a state mental hospital after committing assault and attempting to murder her mother’s boyfriend to defend her mom from his constant beatings.

After she was released, she moved to Austin, but was forced to return and help her mother after her grandmother died. Then she started living on her own in an apartment where she became pregnant at the age of 16.

It was because of the baby that she decided to become emancipated from her mom.

She had to get a job under the table and work to support herself and her child. Because of the death of her brother’s father, she was to receive several Social Security checks, but could not sign for them and her mother took them instead.

She found that she could not enroll in the school of her choice, Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, get a real job or sign for anything on her own unless she was legally an adult. To do so, she would have to be an independent legal adult.

“Emancipation gave me the freedom I desperately needed,” Gauthier said, noting that it also was necessary because at her age, “no one ever believed me.”

Gauthier sought help from a child advocacy lawyer who “knew I was running from something,” she said.

When it came time for the hearing, she proved to the judge that she could support herself financially because she was working under the table in San Antonio and attending Brackenridge High School. She was granted emancipation in 1992.

“The courts will work for you in order to help you,” she said.

She is now the mother of three children, a 17-year-old high school senior, a 13-year-old seventh grader and an 8-year-old third grader, all of whom she is extremely proud.

Some teens run away simply because they can’t get along with parents.

Samantha Jo Salinas, 17, said she left her San Antonio home and family when she was 15 because they “couldn’t stand to be in the same room together.”

As a unit, Salinas’ family made the decision that she would go to Houston for a while to stay with family.

She stayed in Houston for about five months, until she realized the distance from home was simply unbearable.

“Why am I this far? Why does it have to be this bad?” she kept asking herself.

Eventually, she moved back.

Things had not improved much with her mother, so she moved in with another family friend that lived in the same apartment complex.

That’s when she began to get into some trouble.

“I got too spoiled and did whatever [I wanted],” she said. “I was hanging out with the wrong people.”

She dropped out of Marshall High School her sophomore year because she claims that no one really cared if she went to school or not. Throughout these constant conflicts with mom, school and bad influences, emancipation did cross her mind, but she never followed through with it because she did not believe she would be able to support herself.

“I only did it out of fun,” she said, noting that moving away gave her (mom and her) “the space we needed to see what we needed to work on” in their relationship.

Salinas eventually moved back with her parents and they now enjoy a healthy family relationship.

“I tell my mom things because I want to now, not because she makes me tell her,” she said. She no longer sees old friends and now works as a hostess at Las Palapas restaurant on Interstate

Ignacio Treviño photos Minnie Gauthier, 34 was emancipated at the age of 16 after she was abused at home and got pregnant.

Highway 10.

“As bad as my relationship was with my parents,” she said, “they do want the best for you.”

Unfortunately, Gauthier did not encounter the same outcome. She admits she still holds resentment toward her mother, even after having moved back from Austin to San Antonio to care for her.

“She was the only family I had,” she said.

Gauthier is now unemployed and on the verge of losing her home because of her inability to find employment.

She said she wishes to be a case manager for the elderly. To do that takes compassion, but compassion is a trait she lacks because of her hard past.

Gauthier said she left her husband for fear of intimacy, and she often is severely depressed.

But she knows her importance to her children.

“I think they look up to me because they know I struggle,” she said.

About the reporter If you had to pick an adjective to describe John Jay High School senior Alejandra Sol Casas, it would be artistic.

Casas, 16, and her twin Angelica started a band three months ago called The Jesus Kids or the JK’s. Casas plays guitar and her sister works the keyboard.

Casas, who has been part of St. Jude’s Catholic Church for two years, started her band after realizing during a youth service, they always listened to the same religious CDs.

Samantha Jo Salinas, 17, a former Marshall student, left home to live with family and friends before moving back home.

Casas had a guitar for decoration in her bedroom, but never thought of playing it until she bought an instructional DVD called Guitar Method. She has been playing for a year and half.

“The idea came as a joke and before we knew, we had a bunch of people waiting in the garage ready for rehearsal,” Casas said. “What I like about being in the band, is bragging about being in the band.”

The band sings in English, and Spanish and performs on Thursdays and Saturdays at church.

Her favorite band is Friendly Fires and her favorite song is “Kiss of Life,” which she describes as good music to sleep and dream to.

— Brissa Robles

June 24, 2010

YOU S.A.

11

Principals of speech Student publications depend on administrators’ opinions

By Roxanne Eguia Stevens High School A parent controls their child’s television watching in the same way a principal sifts through the content available to students.

Different parents raise different children, as they expose them to different ideas. The child’s enlightenment is dependent upon the parent’s final word.

In the Northside School District, the person who has final word on what content will be published in high school newspapers is the principal of individual schools. Principals’ opinions vary and their diverse judgment is apparent across the pages of various Northside publications.

Some newspapers in the district are allowed to cover more complicated issues than others because of final edits issued by their principals. Chris Burt, 19, graduated from John Jay High School in 2009, and noticed this pattern.

Burt, the editor-in-chief of the Jay newspaper, The Statesman, was interested in writing a story about some “graffiti art” that he believed to have “become a respected mural of sorts in the neighborhood.”

He recalled, “They asked that I show them a copy of the story before we sent it to print.

When I showed them the draft, they shut down the story.”

The Statesman journalism adviser, Fernando Serna, explained that the Jay principal decided against publishing the story because it would give the people who had participated in the graffiti publicity.

Burt said, “I reminded him that graffiti — the word itself — originated as writing in public areas to express thought; he reminded me that the meaning has changed.”

The Texas Penal Code defines graffiti as “an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner, the person intentionally or knowingly makes markings, including inscriptions, slogans, drawings or paintings on the tangible property of the owner.”

Later that year, the same wall Burt tried to report on was featured in the John Paul Stevens High School newspaper.

The issues are not necessarily censored because of controversial topics, but rather because of the discussion of “adult issues,” including pregnancy, sex, divorce, drug abuse and crime.

Brian Woods, deputy superintendent for administration for Northside said the district “does not really have anything in the [student] handbook for journalism programs.”

“We really count on the advisers to make appropriate decisions,” Woods said.

Serna said The Statesman, the student publication he advises, has “no blind eye.

We’re just not focusing the light on [negative issues].”

Serna said the final word on content in the publications should be in the hands of the principal and not the student editor because the principal surmounts the student in the area of “life experience and education.”

Woods said principals make their decisions on censorship based on, “what’s ap-

About the reporter Roxanne Eguia, Roxy for short, is a 17-year-old graduate of Stevens High School with a heart of gold.

After her sophomore year, Roxy found an interest in film, making one called “Graveyard Queen,” about a zombie dating show in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. The film shows one side of her unique personality and another side of her is seeing the good in everyone she meets.

“I see qualities in people that I really want to see in myself,” Eguia said.

Eguia said she applies the cultural influence from those she encounters to her life. As a child, her parents influenced her entertainment interests.

“When I was younger, my parents listened to a lot of metal so I grew up surrounded by it.” Her first concert, at the age of 7, was at Sunken Gardens with Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche and Rob Halford.

This music also has swayed her mind about her dream job.

Eguia said she would like to write for Rolling Stone magazine after she attends Texas Christian University.

“It would be awesome to be able to interview people whose lives are drenched in music,” she said.

— Jeremy Charo propriate for their school environment.”

Woods, a former principal at Tom C. Clark High School, said that when he had to edit the newspaper, most of his concern came from the quotes selected, rather than the content. Controversial topics were allowed to be covered, as long as good intent was distinguished.

“Schools reflect society, and as society changes, schools change with it,” Woods said.

Serna said, “Our products are meant for our students.”

Serna said it is important to “focus on the good things that happen in school, but lots of times, student editors want to run stories just because they are controversial.”

Former editor Burt said, “There should be a consensus between editors, advisers and principals from around the district.”

Now a freshman in college, Burt urges “if you do not like censorship, get yourself a blog.”

Photo illustration by Brissa M. Robles

YOU S.A.

12

June 24, 2010

Future darkens for tanning teens Health risks prompt new restrictions and taxes on Texas tanning salons

By Taylor Tompkins Clemens High School Pearly white teeth shine behind 17-year-old Mariel Morales’ vibrant, glowing skin. It just doesn’t bother her when fellow students calls her “orange” or compare her to the cast of MTV’s reality show “Jersey Shore.”

She likes her tan.

“I look better in shorts,” Morales said, with a laugh.

Morales’ tan isn’t natural, but it no longer comes from tanning beds. Like some of her fellow teens, she now spray tans because of the numerous health issues posed by tanning beds.

Under a law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2009, teens younger than 16½ years old are not allowed in tanning beds without a doctor’s note. Enacted last September, the law also prohibits teens between 16½ and 18 years of age to tan without parents or guardians visting the facility and consenting in writing.

The law also requires tanning facilities to retain full records, including any parent or guardian’s permission note, length of time spent tanning, each date and time the customer tanned and any history of skin cancer with the customer or in the customer’s family.

These records must be kept for three years after a customer’s last tanning session.

The law was prompted by potential health risks, said Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, the prime sponsor of the bill in the Texas House.

“You don’t want children using tanning beds and increasing their chances by 400 percent of getting skin cancer,” Solomons said.

In addition, tanning businesses face a new federal tax created by recently passed health care legislation. A 10 percent tax, starting in July, is expected to raise $2.7 billion over the next 10 years.

Steven Armstrong, owner of the salon Tan It Up, said he does not think the government will meet those projections because their figures are based on salons’ overall profits, including spray tans and other services.

The tax, however, will only tax tanning bed services.

“Tanning salons get picked on all Mariel Morales the time,” he said. “Ninety percent of my customers come in to prepare for a vacation or event,” Armstrong said. “I have a handful of people who (are) actually effected. Everyone is paying, so if you want to tan, you will pay it. I personally don’t think it will affect my business at all.”

The laws and taxation on tanning facilities are designed to reduce the number of new melanoma cancer cases, estimated at 68,130 this year alone, according to the National Cancer Institute’s website.

The number of Caucasian women ages 15-39 who had melanoma rose 50 percent from 1980 to 2004. The suspected causes of this increase are more burning and tanning in beds. Studies show children and teens are thought to be more susceptible to these dangers.

Teens are largely at risk for melanoma, but other dangers, such as freckles and sunspots, are also a concern, said Dr. John C. Browning, a pediatric dermatologist at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

“Tanning also leads to a condition in your skin called solar elastosis, which leads to wrinkles. So a tan now means wrinkles later,” Browning said.

Mariel Morales considered these health concerns and, ultimately, were the reason she quit tanning in beds.

“I kept reading up on the health issues and how it could affect me in the long run,” Morales said.

Tanning beds aren’t the only risk when it comes to teens that desire a post-vacation glow. Tanning outside can also cause irreversible skin damage.

Edith Morales, Mariel’s mother, also had concern for her daugh-

‘I kept reading up on the health issues and how it could affect me in the long run.’

Megan Greebon photos Mariel Morales, 17, senior at Clark High School, says she’s not concerned about restrictions because she has turned to spray tanning. Teens 16 1/2 to 18 years of age need parental consent to use tanning beds. ter, but knew her child would use her best judgment.

“She kind of tried it, but she didn’t like it,” Morales said. “I mean, she just said ‘no, I don’t want to do this.’ So she knew, she just had to explore.”

Mary Maloney, a 17-year-old senior at Clark High School, tans

About the reporter

Mariel Morales gave up tanning beds before new federal health care legislation adds a tax on the use of tanning beds in July.

When she’s onstage in the spotlight, 17-year-old senior Taylor Tompkins feels at home.

Before moving from Dallas to Schertz during her eighth grade year, Tompkins would have never set foot onstage.

Counselor Lynda Sinclair from Ray D. Corbett Junior High first introduced Tompkins to theatre arts.

Because she was a new student and had arrived late in the school year, Sinclair signed her up for a class.

“I didn’t know anybody and I was really shy,” Tomp-

outside by her neighborhood pool nearly two hours each day. Asked about the risk, she says she should be worried, but it doesn’t bother her. “(My mom) would rather me not, but to her, it’s better than tanning beds,” Maloney said. kins said. “I had always wanted to do it; it sounded cool to me.”

“The teacher had me read a monologue,” Tompkins said, “[My classmates] all freaked out and said ‘You’re really good!’”

Since that day, Tompkins has remained loyal to theater at Clemens High School, where she has been cast as Robin Hood, an insane Queen Isabella, a comical redneck and a rebellious union organizer.

Tompkins also enjoys working as a waitress parttime at Aw Dang, a Chinese restaurant in Schertz.

Tompkins likes volunteering her time. Last year, she participated in the Walk for Life program and helped organize a Senior Citizens’ dinner.

— Megan Greebon