Tiger Times - April 2019

TIGER TIMES

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL TEXARKANA, TEXAS VOL. 58, ISSUE 5 APRIL 17, 2019

the

trashy TRUTH

about food & fashion photo illustration by h. rainwater

page 12

2 NEWS

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

Eye

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inside scoop SEEING RED photo by h. rainwater

Highsteppers’ Spring Show to be held April 26-27

These boots are made for rockin’

BY ADDISON CROSS news editor The Highsteppers’ annual Spring Show will be held April 26 and 27 at 6 p.m. in the Sullivan Performing Arts Center. The theme is “Rock of Ages,” featuring rock songs from the late 20th century.

The team works for months in advance on the dances for the show.

“All of the dances we take to competition are also performed in Spring Show, so technically we begin learning dances in November,” coach Amber Reynolds said. “We start learning all of the other dances

in February/March with a goal to have all choreography taught before April.”

Despite the work required, the team enjoys spending a last hoorah together at the end of the year.

“While the year may seem long with very few breaks, they all realize that this is their final time to perform as a team and that encourages them to push even further,” Reynolds said. “It’s a lot of work, but in the end it’s completely worth it to recognize the team and the seniors one last time.”

For captain Sarah Grace Boudreaux, Spring Show means the

upcoming dates in A

end of an era.

“This year I get to experience [my last Spring Show] and I truly feel like this is one of my last performances is dancing,” Boudreaux said. “I want to push my team to do the best that they possibly can.”

Tickets are $5 and the event will also feature a silent auction starting at 6 p.m. before both shows.

Winners will be decided during intermission of Saturday’s show and proceeds from the auction will go to the Highstepper Booster Club and funding next year’s costumes, contest and choreographers. addisoncross@tigertimesonline.com

PRIL

17 19 24 26 29 Honor Society induction held at 6 p.m. in the PAC

Bad weather day

Teenage Republicans tour of the Texas Capitol

Senior Honor Society trip to Dallas

THS Athletics end of year ceremony will be held in the PAC at 6 p.m.

PAGE 7

Top five struggles only redheads face

JENNA & KATE WOODARD

PAGE 15

Sophomore twins might look identical, but they don’t act that way

ROUNDING THE BASES

PAGE 17

Baseball and softball teams look to finish season strong

MONSTERS AND BANGS

PAGE 20

Unspoken horrors of energy drinks

NEWS

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

3

photo by r. edwards

make

plans to educate the

IN MOTION

Seniors Carl Oliver and Morgan Guyton discuss the Teach TISD program during a meeting with assistant principal Angie Raney. The students discussed specific teaching skills and going to Texas Middle School and several elementary schools.

Teach TISD is a program to encourage students to pursue a bachelor’s degree in education.

FUTURE

Program hopes to promote teaching profession

BY ASHLYN WINTERS staff writer Teachers across the world work day and night to educate students. Although education in some areas has dropped, programs such as Teach TISD strive to raise future teachers who will open doors for the future. This program molds students who wish to dedicate their lives toward educating children who will grow up to manage the country.

Although Teach TISD was officially created midway through last year, this is the first full year for the program for students who are interested in choosing teaching as a possible career.

The program is organized by assistant principal Angie Raney, who taught high school computer business classes for more than 10 years.

“We’re looking for students who share certain characteristics that a teacher would have, such as working with others or being patient,” Raney said. “We try to identify those students and then they are nominated by their teachers. We have people at each campus who work with those students on deciding possible career goals in teaching. At the high school, I take each of those students and talk to them about college choices and information about teaching in general.”

Raney plans to take a group of students to other elementary and middle schools in the TISD school district to allow the students to observe the classrooms and to learn more about the aspects of teaching.

Raney also serves as a support guide for the students who have any questions about teaching or students who may need advice.

“The whole idea behind the program was the model of growing your own

In Texas:

At least 220 teachers have left their jobs mid school year 1/10 teachers resign from school after their first year Number of teachers breaching contract is 68% higher than the previous year

graphic by a. golden

teachers because there is a teacher shortage around the United States,” Raney said. “More people aren’t getting into teaching anymore, or if they are, they are just entering for a little while. I think one of the initial reasons is that the pay isn’t as much as it should be. However, with the amount of contracted days, it really does turn out to be a good salary.”

The Teach TISD program was created in order to help increase the teaching rates within the TISD district. The program allows a student interested in teaching, to go to college and then come back to TISD for a job interview.

“I feel like I have had a really positive teaching career, and I would like to pass that down onto others through teach TISD,” Raney said. “I feel like it is a very rewarding career to support and teach our future. And that’s why I am proud to be a part of this program.”

source: chron.com

Although the program is starting small with only 17 students, Rainey hopes to expand the program and spread her love of teaching to other students across the school.

TISD deputy superintendent Autumn Thomas sees the need for such a program as Teach TISD. “In the past several years, we have seen a decrease in the number of students at the universities selecting education as a major for their bachelor’s degree,” Thomas said. “Through Teach TISD, we are trying to encourage and inform students about following their passion, and if they have an interest in teaching, we want to mentor them and to encourage this career path as they plan for college after graduation.”

Part of Teach TISD is to help students seek out scholarships for obtaining their teaching certification. Thomas and other

coordinators of the program are hoping to obtain funding for scholarships in the future and even for part-time paid internships for the students who attend college locally.

Junior Breanna Flatt and senior Morgan Guyton take part in the program.

The students all range from different grade levels in the program.

“I’m going for teaching English abroad,” Flatt said. “My goals are to get some experience and to get an idea into my career goal. I also want to start earlier so that I can get more experience with dealing with different age groups properly.”

The career interests vary amongst each student. For instance, some students want to teach elementary school, high school, special needs or coach sports.

“I’m not exactly sure what kind of teacher I want to be yet,” Guyton said. “I know that I want to be a middle school teacher, but I haven’t decided what subject I want to each yet. I prefer to work with older kids versus younger kids, so I think working with middle school kids would be perfect for me. I prefer older kids because they are mature and can focus more.”

The district hopes the program will continue to grow and possibly even allow the students to teach in classrooms in other schools.

“With the Teach TISD Program, I want to see if teaching is really for me and is something that I actually want to pursue,” Guyton said. “Ever since I was little, I have wanted to be a teacher. In some of the classes that I take, I get a feel of teaching and even get some hands-on experience.” ashylyn.winters@tigertimesonline.com

4 NEWS

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

GENETIC GAMBLING GMOs may pose long-term health risks

T H E FA C T S

1 2 3

T H E I N F O R M AT I O N

BY NATHAN MORRISS staff writer

92% of U.S.

corn is genetically engineered

80%

More than of all genetically modified crops grown worldwide have been engineered for herbicide tolerance

18 million

Approximately farmers grow GMO crops around the world, most of them in developing countries

Sources: nongmoproject.org, selfry.com, centerforfoodsafety.org

GMOs are defined by the Non-GMO Project, a non-profit organization focused on spreading awareness about GMOs, as “living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering.” These varieties of plants and bacteria do not occur naturally or through traditional breeding methods.

Seen as beneficial by some and uncredited by others, GMOs are increasingly becoming more prevalent in today’s food industry. Given the fact that there are few credible studies regarding GMOs, due to the relatively newness of them, the safety of GMOs is unknown.

“Big businesses always want to make a better product that will grow faster with less resources,” horticulture teacher Kimberly Spaulding said. “You can make a bigger watermelon in less time using less feed, fertilizer and water. You can get it to the market faster [and] make more money out of it.”

The majority of corn, soy, canola, sugar beet and yellow squash in North America are genetically modified. A combination of these crops is found in almost all processed foods today, whether a direct ingredient or in trace amounts. Products such as carbonated soft drinks, milk, meat, cereals and frozen foods are just some of the items that GMOs are found in. “[Scientists] have gone in and manipulated a bit, genetically modified, and changed it where [GMOs] are resistant to a lot of droughts and diseases and things of that nature,” Spaulding said.

GMOs have the ability to indirectly impact the environment in a negative way because of their resistance to herbicides. Consumer science teacher Amber Pipes said to be aware of farmer choices regarding these practices.

“Are they using pesticides that are healthy?” Pipes said. “Our Earth is just a big watershed, so as it rains and the crops get watered, what’s left is running down to the nearest river or stream and ends up in the ocean.”

Another controversy surrounding GMOs is their effectiveness. The Union of Concerned Scientists, an organization focused on solving the world’s most pressing problems, reported that “soybeans and corn have not increased yields any more than conventional methods that rely on commonly available herbicides.” Practices like intensive subsistence agriculture have vastly improved yields of crops, where areas GMOs have only increased food production 3-4% in the last 20 years.

“There is not a lot of long term research data at this point,” Spaulding said. “That’s why there’s so much concern in certain areas; people want to get more research before we start turning out [genetically modified products] to the public.”

The safety of GMOs may be discovered in the future, but by then GMOs will be so widespread possible danger is inevitable. What can be controlled is how one chooses to approach GMOs - blind and uncaring or with caution.

“I’ve got my eyes on it. I don’t know that it’s going to be the be-allend-all savior for everything, but I don’t know that it’s going to be the end of the world as we know it,” Spaulding said. “Anytime you see something getter bigger, better, or someone getting richer, there’s probably a corner getting cut. You might need to be a little suspicious of what’s going on.” nathan.morriss@tigertimesonline.com

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

COMMUNITY

5

6 EDITORIAL

Texas High School 4001 Summerhill Rd. Texarkana, TX (903) 794-3891 Fax (903) 792-8971 The Tiger Times is a student-run publication. The contents and view are produced solely by the staff and do not represent the opinions of the faculty, administration or TISD board of directors.

editors in chief-print Lindsey Egger, Jhovany Perez editors in chief-online Joseph Rodgers, Victoria Van managing editors Madison Brown, Craig Crawford news editors Addison Cross, Autumn Golden viewpoint editors April Alvarado, Maddie Anderson feature editors Audrey Haskins, Molly Kyles sports editors John Morgan, TJ Wall entertainment editors Margaret Debenport, Grey Johnson spotlight editors Craig Crawford, Anna Grace Jones, Misty Lopez advertising Jenna Williamson business manager Madison Bowers copy editors Paisley Allen, Greylyn Tidwell photo editor Kaitlyn Gordon video editor Taimoor Malik staff writers Raelyn Albert, Joseph Asher, Logan Diggs, Montevnah Glasgow, Kaitlyn Gordon, Charli Hueter, Zane Johnston, Salem Karr, Maryam Kulaib, Andrea Loredo, Kate Morgan, Nathan Morriss, Cameron Murry, Jonathan Naples, Connor Powell, Caden Rainwater, Peyton Sims, Sophie Spakes, Cate Rounds, Ashlyn Winters photographers Margaret Debenport, Rivers Edwards, Kaitlyn Gordon, Alyssa Higgins, Grace McGuire, Cameron Murry, Holland Rainwater, Kaitlyn Rogers, Alexis Runnels, Merideth Stanfill, Jasmine Stark, Oren Smith videographers Cameron Alcorn, Logan Diggs, Kara Jefferies, Misty Lopez, Assad Malik, Oren Smith, Abagail Deleon advisers Rebecca Potter, Clint Smith principal Carla Dupree members ILPC, CSPA, NSPA

CLEAR views

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

Teens should support businesses that show transparency in production

There comes a time at which every person is required to endure one of the most overwhelming, debilitating and difficult parts of life: grocery shopping. Shopping in general can be a stressful endeavour for some, and as a result, many people pay little attention as they fly down the frozen foods aisle, desperately trying to locate the pizza rolls and reach the golden gates of the self-checkout. For most students picking up their favorite ice cream or a new pair of shoes, the last thought on their minds is to ask where that product came from.

Transparent businesses give consumers the ability to track the manufacturing of their products, from material sourcing to retailers. In an age dominated by social media, consumers possess an unprecedented amount of control over the success of a company via perception and response to a product. This means that anyone with a phone or a wallet has the ability to influence a business’s production practices, and should thus make a conscious effort to support retailers who are transparent.

With an increase in global connectivity and mass production of goods, a society has been created where convenience overpowers the health of our planet, ourselves and the safety of workers. We care more about cheap clothes and good-tasting foods than we do their source or production. Transparent businesses openly share information about their company, like their production techniques and sourcing of goods.

There are around 75 million people working to make our

clothes. That is 75 million subjected to work in sweatshops for money that cannot even pay for the next meal. The majority of these workers live in poverty and are victims of exploitation by companies, where they endure physical and verbal abuse and receive nothing in return. Business transparency works to end such practices and promote a more honest work environment as well as the goods produced.

Not only is it the people that we need to be concerned about, but also companies’ detrimental effects on the environment. The earth is currently going through its sixth mass extinction — the first one to ever be caused by humans. The U.S. sends approximately 21 billion pounds of textile waste to landfills yearly. Combined with products such as coffee and palm oil, destruction of rainforest habitats and displacement of endangered species has accelerated exponentially. This reveals the information that businesses are hiding, and it is devastating.

We never really think about the long term effects of what these practices and products have on our bodies. If we stop to look into what we are eating now, we would see future health issues caused by harmful products made by these penny-pinching companies. It takes the Center for Disease Control, or CDC, three weeks to figure out where diseases to our food originate, as seen in the recent salmonella outbreak. If businesses recorded their history of transactions and take responsibility for the quality of products distributed to the public, the CDC could cut

illustration by m. anderson

the investigation time down to seconds, thus improving the time to treat and inform consumers.

Many argue that products made organically or through good ethical practices tend to be more expensive. However, these products are not only better for your health, the safety of others and the environment, but they last much longer. Brands like Patagonia or Gap may be more expensive, but their products will last years longer than a quicklymade top or jacket. Clothing made from transparent businesses can even be found in Old Navy, thus proving that there is no excuse to shop at places that neglect the wellbeing of yourself and others.

Convenience should not come in between consumers and ethics. The companies that do provide this transparency are the

companies who are leading society in the right direction, with their consumers always in mind. There are ways to put pressure on these companies with harmful ethics through social media or emailing the companies. With enough people, these companies will listen. Do not support businesses that put the health of you, workers or our planet at risk just for a profit.

It has been said countless times that students are the future. There is not a better group of people to start a change than those about to enter adulthood. Students should be concerned about where their products come from, not only to benefit themselves, but to ensure they are ensuring the continuation of the subjection of people and the earth to inhumane business practices.

OPINION

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

7

When life doesn’t go as planned, MOVE ON

“

BY GREYLYN TIDWELL copy editor It is easy to go through high school and just assume that everything will happen the exact way you planned.

You go throughout the years making the grades you need, become involved in organizations that you love and find friends that you tell yourself are going to be with you forever. Your hopes are so high for the future that you don’t even stop to think about the fact that things may change.

I was guilty of following this way of life, and in the end, all of my plans fell through, leaving me with confusion, questions and doubts.

Since my freshman year, I told myself that I was going to go to my dream school, graduate at the top of that class and go to medical school. After that, it was all going to be OK, and I would live out the rest of my successful life.

Then my senior year came around, and everything went just as I expected. I got my recommendation letters, listed a long list of community service and had an amazing interview to get into the school I was applying to. I knew that there was a 12 percent acceptance rate for the school, but it didn’t bother me. I knew that I was going to get in. I just had to.

I came home one Friday, having been expecting an admissions decision in the mail any day now, and found a letter waiting for me from the college. It was small, but I just assumed it was going to give me a password to my

“

My life plans were ruined. I thought I was ruined. The rest of that day was spent in tears and tissues, but I knew that I couldn’t be like this forever.”

account for the college to learn more information about attending the school. Instead, I got rejected from my dream college.

I didn’t think that I would be able to move on after that. My life plans were ruined. I thought I was ruined.

The rest of that day was spent in tears and tissues, but I knew that I couldn’t be like this forever.

I still had to continue on with life the next day; otherwise, I wouldn’t go anywhere. So that is exactly what happened — I stood tall and moved on. I applied to more than five more colleges that day and a few scholarships. I looked up travel, costs, surrounding areas and future activities to be involved in. Immersing yourself in a new future is the best way to get over a past

Ginger.

You quickly grow tired of being referred to as the world’s

worst

root vegetable.”

SEEING RED Top 5 struggles only redheads face

one because it gives you something that can get you through anything: hope.

That is how you move on, you acknowledge the failure and the rough times for a while, come to accept your new situation and then begin a new path.

Give yourself a day— no more, no less. Have that time to feel what you need to feel, but when tomorrow comes, you need to start moving forward. Whether you move at a run or a crawl, just start moving, and eventually, you will find yourself in a different place from where you started. You will be in a place of happiness and hope. You will be new and restored. You will have moved on. greylyntidwell@tigertimesonline.com

BY ZANE JOHNSTON staff writer What is it called when a redhead gets mad?

Gingersnaps. What would you call a baker with red hair? A gingerbread man. What is the only thing redheads drink? Ginger ale.

Every redhead has heard these jokes and dozens others countless times, and this is only one of many problems that only redheads have to deal with. As redheads, we face struggles that blond or brown-haired people will simply never experience.

1 2

I am never called by my actual name. As a redhead, I am solely to be referred to as “Ginger” or “Red.” While this may seem fun or endearing, you quickly grow tired of being referred to as the world’s worst root vegetable.

What do Ed Sheeran, Ron Weasely and I have in common? We all look identical. While facial, height or body type differences may allow people to differentiate between brunets, the same cannot be said for redheads. Perhaps because they are so uncommon, any redheads of the same gender are perceived to be indistinguishable.

The number of times I have been told that I look just like another redhead that’s much taller than me, has a completely different hairstyle and different eye color is ridiculous. At first, I was offended when people told me that, but now I just can’t help but laugh at them.

3

Red hair is a personality trait. Not only that, it’s an incredibly defining personality trait. When describing a

friend to someone, they’ll usually describe them as funny, nice or other similar things.

However, this does not apply to redheads. When describing a redhead to a friend, you need only say one sentence: “They have red hair.”

Clearly, all redheads share a personality: we are fiery, short-tempered and certifiably insane.

This has always been really funny to me because I am one of the least fiery people that I know, and I almost never get mad. And while I may be crazy, this has nothing to do with my hair color.

4

Perhaps most importantly, our hair isn’t even red. This bothered me much more when I was younger, as I refused to speak to anyone who claimed my hair was anything but orange, but it still baffles me to this day.

“Orange-head” clearly doesn’t roll off the tongue, but surely, someone could have thought of a more accurate label.

5

Who could forget the greatest redhead struggle of all: my complete lack of a soul.

This belief is hilarious to me, especially because there is no real reasoning behind it, yet every redhead has heard it countless times.

The funniest aspect of this rumor is that there is no way to prove it true or false, so many will continue believing that I don’t have a soul, and I will have no idea whether they are right.

Despite the struggles that go along with it, I love being a redhead. It makes me unique and stick out in any crowd. Most importantly, it gives me a kinship to those who also relate to these redhead struggles. zane.johnston@tigertimesonline.com

8 OPINION

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

Y R O T S

N OW

I H IN

D

S U r e Form

BY MADDIE ANDERSON opinion editor

1

James Buchanan (1857-1861)

James Buchanan served as the 15th president of the United States, serving immediately prior to the American Civil War. Following his election, Buchanan, a staunch supporter of slavery, lobbied for the Supreme Court to uphold the Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling, one that maintained slaves as noncitizens and property. He continued to uphold efforts that encouraged the spread of slavery, such as endorsing the Lecompton Constitution, an attempt to admit Kansas as a slave state to the Union.

As he passively watched the ever-growing sectional crisis between the North and South, the Panic of 1857 marked another black mark on his presidency.

An economic recession and increasing tensions created the perfect storm that would culminate in the Civil War. And Buchanan made no efforts to prevent it either.

A racist and noncommittal leader, Buchanan exemplified the hypocrisy and division of the nation.

His failure to address slavery and secession of southern states allowed for the Civil War to occur.

2

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

Andrew Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and later as a presidential representative of the “common man.”

During his lengthy time in the military, he purchased property and became a wealthy, slave-owning planter.

It is reported that Jackson personally possessed over 300 slaves, all subjected to horrible treatment and even worse punishments.

Jackson’s presidency marked the beginning of the “spoils system,” or political nepotism. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, in which Native Americans were forcibly and illegally removed from their property. To top off the illegal seizure of land and subjection of unwilling participants, Indigenous people were forced along the Trail of

f d e t ts lis

n e d i s pre

Tears, which led to the death of 4,000 natives.

One of the most controversial presidents, Jackson was divisive, with many enemies and supporters.

While praised for being the “common man,” he lived a lavish lifestyle, made possible by the forced labor of the slaves. His treatment of Indians and overextension of power of the executive shows Jackson’s lack of concern for rules or people’s lives.

3

Warren G. Harding (1921 - 1923)

During his administration, Harding was considered quite popular. It was only after his death and the exposure of the scandals that took place that his reputation eroded. Harding appointed many notable members to his cabinet, including Andrew Mellon and Herbert Hoover (who will also make an appearance on this list), and the infamous Albert Fall.

Harding’s extramarital affair did nothing to help his popularity. A known womanizer, his affair with Nan Britton didn’t phase anyone. However, their illegitimate child did. In her book, “The President’s Daughter,” Britton claimed her daughter, Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, had been fathered by Harding. Her salacious book sold tremendously, as Britton revealed all the scandalous details of Harding’s sex life, which often took priority over presidential affairs.

No scandal was as detrimental to Harding’s career than the Teapot Dome Scandal. This land was set aside by the U.S. Navy in the event that if the U.S. went to war, enough oil would be available to power the ships. In 1922, Fall leased exclusive oil-drilling rights on the Teapot Dome and other sites to the Mammoth Oil Company, owned by a personal friend of Fall. Soon after investigations, Fall became the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison, and Harding became synonymous with a corrupt and failed administration.

4

d a b rom

Franklin Pierce (1853 - 1857)

As the 14th president, Pierce served almost immediately prior to the Civil War. A northern

t s r o to w

Democrat, he saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to the sovereignty of the U.S., and thus vehemently pursued southern, pro-slavery initiatives.

Part of these interests included rampant expansionism, including the endorsement of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which nullified the northernapproved Missouri Compromise but garnered him southern support. Such passage led to violent conflict, colloquially known as Bleeding Kansas, years of electoral fraud, raids, assaults and retributive murders. Pierce further antagonized free-soiler Americans with his insistence to maintain slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act, which forced free states to enforce the capture and return of fugitive slaves.

Following the success of this expansionist policy, or utter lack thereof, Pierce continued to damage his reputation when he issued the Ostend Manifesto, calling for the annexation of Cuba. During his bid for presidential re-election in 1856, Pierce was surprised to find that his party and the majority of the country had abandoned him. After his failure to reclaim the presidency, Pierce floated into obscurity, eventually meeting his end at the bottom of a bottle.

5

Herbert Hoover (1929 - 1933)

Probably one of the most politically inept presidents, Hoover is regarded as highly unpopular.

His belief in voluntarism and cooperation as the solution to the Great Depression shows Hoover’s inability to understand the severity of the economic crisis in the U.S. and the power of the federal government to accurately address it.

Furthermore, his adamant refusal to give federal aid to uplift the economy deeply alienated the voting public and probably worked to sustain the depression rather than solve it. Hoover was, and is, seen to be an overly-conservative and insensitive president that subjected millions of Americans to economic suffering. maddieanderson@tigertimesonline.com

FEATURE

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

Texarkana Paranormal Society tames the unnatural

BY GREY JOHNSON & ADDISON CROSS entertainment editor & news editor A knock in the night, a voice calling out.

You hear the subtle noises and get the eerie feelings that accompany you while you walk down the hallway of your near silent house. You decide to look into it, but do not know where to begin. After a little research, you come across a local group that can provide you with the answers you seek: the Texarkana Paranormal Research Society.

Deep in the Bible Belt of America, an organization centered around observing, tracking and hunting demons and spirits sounds unarguably taboo. However, a group of people hoping to rid Texarkana and the surrounding area of unwanted bumps in the night and spooky noises in closets not only exists, but it is alive and well.

The Texarkana Paranormal Research Society, led by founder Sergio Guillen, has a mission to seek out ghosts in the area and help families with their poltergeist problems.

“We’ve been doing this for almost 10 years. We’re just people that are open-minded and we just try to see what’s beyond the regular life,” Guillen said. “[For some of these people, they] have some knowledge of the paranormal [while] others just want to experience what is paranormal.”

The society works to bring a bright light to families facing possible hauntings by investigating requests in homes. When residents fear what might be secretly dwelling in their house with them, the society is there to ease them.

“What we do is basically try to help families. We like to help people because [sometimes] you have a family with kids that go days and months with a problem in their home and they’re always scared, they don’t want to sleep and everybody [is in] the living room for months because they’re scared of something,” Guillen said. “Sometimes we realize that it’s not really paranormal [but] it’s more like [a] mental situation, mostly with [kids].”

The society is a group of volunteers working to help the community free of charge, operating under the idea that the main goal is to help people.

Residents in the Texarkana area can reach out to the Texarkana Paranormal Research Society through their Facebook page, providing the paranormal help they need.

“Everything is free,” Guillen said. “This is something that we do as volunteering, something to help people. I guess my call is to help people, so we never charge anything.”

The moving of people swells the membership of the society, but overall, it is made of a small group volunteers.

“Right now we have about eight people there,” Guillen said. “Sometimes they come and go. Some are from here [for a while] some others [are] just

passing by.”

In addition to skeptics, Guillen believes that being in the Bible Belt gives people misconceptions about the society’s mission and work.

“Texarkana is a church field, so you have a lot of people who think [that the] paranormal always has to be in the evil form,” Guillen said. “They don’t think on the good part, and the good part is [that] we help people.”

Despite this difference, Guillen and the society consider that they share many of the same views with disapproving religious communities on the subject of spirits and the paranormal.

“We believe that something else is out there, [and other religious people] believe [that] too because it’s the afterlife. I call [paranormal beings] entities, but they call them spirits,” Guillen said. “We’re on the same level. They just see a different perspective because the Bible says don’t use anything to read the future or [perform] magic or things like that.”

While the two communities have some overlapping beliefs, the society implements more scientific reasoning and instruments in their quest to detect paranormal activity.

“We are more like a scientific group because we use equipment to verify and confirm the paranormal,” Guillen said. “We don’t use any magic, candles, any[thing] special [or] magic potions. We use scientific instruments like a recording machine for the electronic voice phenomena (EVPs), a video camera to record any evidence [and] infrared to see the differences between the colors on hot and cold.”

The Paranormal Society has spent many years doing this, and certainly does not want untrained people with no knowledge of the paranormal to attempt the things they do.

“I don’t recommend it at all. It’s not a fun thing to do. It’s not a toy, and it’s not a game,” Guillen said.

“This is something serious, and this is something that if you don’t do it properly, or you don’t do it right, you can harm yourself or others.”

There are many ways to disrespect the practice of seeking the paranormal, but above others, the Ouija board, due to its popularity, can be passed off as a toy. According to the Paranormal Society, this can lead to dangerous scenarios.

“This is like the Ouija board. That is completely wrong to sell as a toy; it is no toy, and people that play with it and make fun of it. There is a proper way to handle that tool,” Guillen said. “I have seen, personally, a family member get hurt because it sounded like a game, and all of the sudden, they got possessed by a spirit. It’s not really a game when you start getting the answers you ask it for, and then all of the sudden, you can’t live your life because you want to ask everything.”

Guillen believes that the Ouija board is not untamable, but rather stems from innocent

curiosity. Through usage of the board, you can open yourself to being vulnerable to being manipulated by something more sinister.

“You can’t have a normal life because you want to know everything and in the future what’s going to happen,” Guillen said. “You don’t know that spirit there or that entity there. It could be a demon, and they are just playing with your life and your soul.”

The demons that utilize the Ouija board against an addicted user are out to do more than just harm.

“They want to take your soul,” Guillen said. “Your soul is basically your main source of energy, and that’s what they want to take.”

However, the Paranormal Society claims that demons do not harm their target right away.

Instead, they choose to gain their target’s trust and slowly manipulate them into their own destruction.

One gateway to manipulation is the Ouija board.

“This girl lost her engagement ring, and she asked the Ouija board where [she] could find [her] ring,” Guillen said. “The demon told her where the ring was, and she found it and she got attracted to it because she found the ring. That’s how she came up with more questions and then it goes from there.”

Despite not being an official religious group, in order to protect themselves while investigating, they will pray to keep bad spirits at bay.

“When you go to a paranormal investigation, we do pray special prayers of protection,” Guillen said. “After we are done, we do another prayer. And even before I go home, before I enter my home, I do another prayer because you don’t want to bring [home] any energy or anything that was around.”

Even though both bad spirits and demons seek to do harm to a person’s life, they are different. While spirits seek direct possession of a person, a demon’s method of choice is manipulation of the victim. “[When] you open your soul and you open your chakra, the spirit gets you from there because that’s their final game. A demon is different,” Guillen said. “They are very playful. They act like they are your friends, [and] they want to be here to help you and they manipulate you. That is their game, they want to destroy you.”

The Paranormal Society has been mostly idle in dealing with demons, which Guillen says is a good thing. “[In] Texarkana, we have seen no possessions at all,” Guillen said. “The two big demons we’ve got in Texarkana have done harm in people, but not to the point to get possessed, which is good.”

In the end, the members are just normal people with a desire to help and a passion for the paranormal.

“It’s just a group that gets together for the weekends to do something that we like to do,” Guillen said. “It’s just like any other hobby.” greyjohnson@tigertimesonline.com addisoncross@tigertimesonline.com

9

10 FEATURE

behind bars

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

Unspoken victims of incarceration – children – must pick up the pieces after a parent is imprisoned

BY MOLLY KYLES feature editor

W

hen a person is caught committing a crime, it’s not just the criminal who suffers the consequences.

When the red and blue lights of a cop car pull up, it’s not just the one in handcuffs being put away.

When a parent is sentenced to a life behind bars, a life of solitude and judgment, their kids are too.

Students like seniors Makela McDowell and Akyra Nettles deal with the everyday harsh reality of parents being in prison.

“The first time I remember [my mom] going to prison, I was 6,” McDowell said. “They just told me she was gone. I cried, but after a while, you get numb to certain stuff, and this is one of the things I learned to just be numb about.”

Numbness isn’t a choice, it’s a method of survival. The years of instability have produced one constant: a thick skin. But it wasn’t always like this. Before the crying and the leaving, the shame and the solitude, there was a childhood. “[Home life was] busy,” McDowell said. “It was fun. My mom did everything she could to take care of her six kids, so we didn’t want for anything. She did her job. She was a good mom.

She was never bad to us.”

The prison system may see convicts as just convicts, but to their children, they are moms and dads. Before they are incarcerated, they are just parents, the people that children look up to, depend on and their earliest memories.

“My uncles used to always try to terrorize me,” Nettles said. “My mom trying to save me is probably the earliest memory I have. I wouldn’t say we’ve always been close, but she’s always been around.”

In a day, in even a single moment, a parent that’s always there can leave for months or even years. Blindsided sons and daughters are left with an empty role in their lives and a lot of questions. “[My mom] had just had a baby,” Nettles said. “She was breastfeeding, and she wasn’t producing enough milk and needed formula.

Instead of asking for somebody to get it for her, she went and tried to go [steal it]. I was mad.

That’s the first thing I felt. I was mad. [She] just had this baby, and [she’s] gone.”

Transitioning from a constant presence to an empty room. Replacing conversations with Mom with two-minute phone calls. These actions seem unthinkable, but for many, they are not a choice. This adjustment is hard, and sometimes, denial is the only way to deal with it.

“I would forget that she wasn’t there,” Nettles said. “A couple days after she went, I tried to call her, and her phone [started] ringing in the living room. I’m so used to [calling] her anytime to talk about anything. [It was hard] not being able to call and talk to her when I wanted to.”

Visiting may numb the pain of knowing a parent is gone, but it’s not a permanent solution.

The regulations and stipulations that come with prison visitation often cause more distant and longing interactions than hopeful reunions.

“It makes me emotional when I go to see her,” McDowell said. “It’ll faze me for the next few days and make me feel some type of way, so I don’t visit her a lot. When I’m [visiting my mom] I’m all smiles and happy because I get to see her, but when I get home the reality just comes back like, ‘Your mom’s not here.’ The first time I remember visiting her, I was 10. I was just sad because I couldn’t give her a hug. I just had to talk to her through the little computer monitor.”

Even when visitation is face-to-face, the child of a prisoner may find themselves face-to-face with a stranger. When Akyra Nettles visited her father in prison for the first time, she found that prison had left him looking like another person. “[My dad] looked so different. When he came out, he had on this orange jumpsuit, and it made him look smaller,” Nettles said. “Before he had really long hair. He would always have his hair braided in a ponytail, and it came down to his waist. I guess, being in prison, they cut it. I didn’t know that I was looking at my daddy until he started talking to me.”

Children whose parents are incarcerated are vulnerable, and it takes a support system to give them the stability kids need. Luckily for Nettles, her family stepped up.

“Everybody [in my family] picked up

up fast. “ IIjustdidn’thadreallyto grow get to have a childhood because I had to watch my brothers and sisters and take care of them and take care of myself.

”

- Makela McDowell, 12

anywhere I was lacking,” Nettles said. “I had somebody there to kind of pick up the slack or make sure I was doing good.”

Sadly, not every child has access to a support group, and some childhoods are cut short.

Kids are forced into self-sufficiency. Makela McDowell is one of those kids, and has been living by herself since last March.

“I just had to grow up fast. I didn’t really get to have a childhood because I had to watch my brothers and sisters and take care of them and take care of myself,” McDowell said. “I’m by myself, but I can deal with [it] because I know how to shut my emotions out. I know how to numb certain areas of my life because I’ve been dealing with it for so long.”

Numbness and questions can lead to anger in children, even if it’s misplaced. A parent leaving because of incarceration can leave a big mark in a child’s life and is even considered an ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience).

“I have to do a lot by myself, and it just makes me think, ‘[She] went to college; [she] could have done something better,’” McDowell said.

“When I was smaller, [people made comments about my mom being in prison], but now that I’m in high school, nobody brings it up. It made me mad. I got in a lot of fights when I went to Arkansas because I don’t like when anyone talks about her.”

The children aren’t the only ones emotionally affected. While children of incarcerated parents may feel robbed, the incarcerated parents feel equally as robbed of their children.

“It affects my mom too. She cries because she can’t be there for her kids. She cries a lot.

Everytime I see her, everytime I talk to her, she cries. She’s just sad that she’s missing her kids’ [lives],” McDowell said. “She didn’t get to see my sister go through her middle school years or her first day of high school. She doesn’t get to see anything, and it makes her so sad, but she knows it’s her fault.”

In the pain and darkness caused by incarceration, there is a glimmer of hope. From the solitude and self-sufficiency, there is a lesson to be learned, and Makela McDowell has found a way to adapt to her situation and refuse to let it define her.

“I haven’t had a mom. I look around, and I see everybody with their moms and doing stuff with their mom and dad, and I can’t do that.

And it upsets me and makes me feel some type of way,” McDowell said. “But it really just kind of motivates me not to be like her and to do better with myself.” mollykyles@tigertimesonline.com

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

COMMUNITY

11

12

IN-DEPTH

UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES IN FOOD, FASHION INDUSTRIES HURT CONSUMERS

BY ANNA GRACE JONES, CRAIG CRAWFORD & HOLLAND RAINWATER

in-depth editors, photo editor As long as people have engaged in bartering, buying and selling, or commerce, there has been a certain expectation that people want to know where their goods are coming from. However, as society has transcended into a modern, materialistic realm, Americans have placed more prominence on lower prices and availability rather than quality and ethics.

The American economy runs largely on the assumption that convenience is more important to a consumer than the quality and ethic of the product.

Nontransparent businesses exploit lower socioeconomic communities by mass producing unhealthy and unethically made commodities. But the cost of business transparency can be reflected in the price, especially in the food and fashion industries where products are cheaper when less is known of their background.

The mechanization and modernization of society has drastically altered the way that products are made and food is grown and harvested. Fleeting are the days of handwoven blankets and family farms. Now are the days of outsourcing and genetically modified foods.

However, consumers disregard the negative aspects of this transition, opting instead for cheaper garments and processed foods.

Teacher Amber Pipes majored in agriculture and maintains that large scale farmers are discreet about their business practices to protect their public reputation.

A lot of these hidden practices are unethical. For instance, steroids and hormones are employed in the development of cattle as a means to produce bigger cows and to produce more meat. But the vast lack of public knowledge on the topic of food production is a cornerstone of bad business.

Business transparency can have a tangible effect on your health, especially in relation to the food you consume. Produce that is genetically modified often contains dangerous chemicals, like carcinogens and pesticides, perpetuating undisclosed consequences for consumers.

“Most farmers that want to meet the organic standard or have a better fruit, but have a better name, will hide the fact that they use GMO seeds instead of heritage seeds because heritage fruit takes longer to mature,” Pipes said.

Large distributors in the agricultural industry, like

SEEING

Monsanto, do not disclose their business practices to the public. The larger the business is, the greater its ability to reduce production costs and maximize profit, and businesses that make cheap, low-quality products have a habit of keeping their hidden agendas out of sight.

“Food starts at the farm, and you need to know what kind of farmer is producing your food,” Pipes said.

“There are some farms that do whatever it takes to get the job done. They use genetically modified seeds or high content of pesticides.”

Some businesses count on consumers to choose the “convenient” option when it comes to all the products that can be purchased at a grocery store, which often perpetuates the social inequalities felt by lower socioeconomic communities. Buying patterns in impoverished communities are relegated to price and familiarity, where personal health is a lower priority.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, consumers of low-education households shop at low-price supermarkets and are more likely to make unhealthier purchases than higher education households. This buying pattern of cost priority in low-education communities sustains businesses that produce low-cost, low-quality goods, which limits the ability of low-education consumers to find healthier products in the supermarkets in which they shop.

Smaller businesses and local businesses, like Sullifarm and Kitchen, generally produce healthier products at a higher price because they do not have the ability to employ more expensive and unethical business practices. However, businesses that produce ethically sensible products can market to consumers who prioritize health and quality as opposed to costeffectiveness.

In a study in the U.S. National Library of Medicine, economists found that positive attitudes toward healthier food indicated higher quality diets at all ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. This can also affect students in high school and college. Students that are strapped for cash are likely to binge unhealthy foods like microwave dinners and ramen noodles.

Transparent business show interest in the eating habits of financially disadvantaged populations but without the support of consumers, large businesses will continue to exploit and misinform their patrons.

Business transparency is not just a part of food.

Large businesses exploit more than just the agricultural industry. Though business transparency in the food industry concerns an individual consumer’s health, business transparency in other industries, specifically fashion and clothing, have unprecedented consequences for global communities and the environment.

Clothing garments and accessories are commonplace in the daily life of every American, but the degree of knowledge most people have about their merchandise

THROUGH IT

94% BRAND LOYALTY

94 percent of respondents say they are likely to be more loyal to a brand that offers complete transparency.

97%

PRODUCT TRANSPARENCY 97 percent said transparency is very important or somewhat important for dairy products.

73%

CHANGES IN PRICE 73 percent would be willing to pay more for a product that offers complete transparency

56%

GENERATING TRUST

56 percent say additional information about how food is produced, handled or sourced would make them trust a brand more.

91% VERIFICATION

91 percent of consumers verify information for themselves when a brand claims to be “healthy” or “nutritious.”

81%

CONSUMER TRENDS

81 percent say they would consider a brand’s entire portfolio of products if they switched to that brand as a result of increased transparency.

Source: fashion transparency index

0-10% Brands scoring in this range are disclosing nothing at all or very limited amounts of information.

No brands scored above a 60%

11-20% In this scoring range, producers are likely to be publishing many policies, some procedures and some information.

is low compared to other commodities. Most people do not take a moment to consider where their clothes come from or how they are made. Little concern is given to the source of the dye, the resources that are woven to create the material, or even the thread that holds a garment together. While your tag might say “Made in Bangladesh,” that does not begin to cover the true origin behind your outfit.

The top priority for so many consumers is obtaining a garment as opposed to knowing it was produced through environmentally friendly and ethical measures. This is the driving force behind the growth of the retail market and the decline of homemade products.

While societal norms push people to mindlessly buy whatever is on trend and trust large companies, the environment, workers, and even consumers receive the backlash.

This exploitation comes from a business model that has emerged within the last 30 years referred to as “fast fashion.” Fast fashion is “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers.” As soon as a new style walks the runway, the race is on for fast fashion companies to get the most ‘on-trend’ product line out for the lowest price. To counter the decreasing time frame and increasing production quotas, the U.S. has outsourced its manufacturing, decreasing the amount of domestically produced garments from 95% in the 1960s to 3% in recent years.

Many people oppose this approach to fashion and business and advocate against it through their support of thrift and consignment stores.

Chelsea Marquez, cofounder of Ecologie Consignment and Vintage in Atlanta, Georgia is very open about why she and her colleagues do not support the fast fashion industry.

“Modern fashion is something that you

Popular Brands’ Transparency Scores

21-30% Producers ranked here 31-40% publish information about their policies Companies are seen and procedures, publishing more but do not disclose detailed information or suggest social about their policies, motivations or procedures, social and environmental goals. enviromental goals.

41-50% These producers are seen publishing more detailed supplier lists, and some publish processing facilities as well as manufacturers.

51-60%

In this range, brands will be publishing the vast majority of policies, procedures and future goals.

Source: fashion transparency index

can’t get away from. We all love fashion and clothing,” Marquez said “The heartbreaking part of it is that you don’t know exactly how things are produced, where they’re produced or the exact impact that it can have on today’s Earth and economy.

“If we had a factory here in the United States that was employing children or young women and paying cents on the dollar for hours and hours [of labor while] working in very unsafe conditions, people wouldn’t stand for it.”

On April 14, 2013, Rana Plaza, a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that sourced brands such as Children’s Place, Walmart, and DressBarn, collapsed killing 1,132 people and injuring nearly 2,500, most of whom were women and children. This is was not a one-time occurence, and similar tragedies have occurred in other factories in less developed countries.

Some make the argument that garment factories create an alternative to more dangerous jobs for workers in developing countries attempting to justify it on the grounds that it may be a safer option than mining and oil rigging, but there is no justification unrelated to corporate greed. There is a debate that presenting economic opportunity for citizens of these places outweighs its negative circumstances and consequences.

“Clothing today is definitely made with worse quality. There’s a reason why your clothing from Forever 21 and H&M lasts only two or three washes,” Marquez said. “It’s because it’s just made from poor quality material, and they make it that way so you’re like, ‘My shirt’s ruined. It doesn’t fit anymore. I need to go and buy something new.’ Even if you try and take care of it the best way that you can the quality is just bad.”

According to the Economist, companies that are trying to combat this waste are Patagonia, Rent the Runway and People Tree. People Tree

6%

Urban Outfitters

15% American Eagle

25% Walmart

is a fair trade U.S. based clothing company.

They describe their business model as “a partnership between producers and traders which aims at sustainable development for excluded and economically disadvantaged people in developing countries.” Patagonia is one of the few mainstream American fair trade companies persistently advocating for change in the mentality around clothing consumption.

Sadly, the most prevalent brands sold in the U.S. do not share the same attitudes.

Katie Perez, manager at Plato’s Closet Texarkana location, said her experience in the resale industry says a lot about how the current fashion industry operates.

“I see people bring clothes in, bags and boxes of stuff, that they purchased and never even wore,” Perez said. “There’s way more clothes being made and purchased than are actually being used. It’s made me [less likely to] buy anything new.”

Thanks to companies like Plato’s Closet, Salvation Army and Goodwill people are becoming more conscious on how they buy their clothes.

“There’s a lot of major retailers that really struggled with their sales last year, whereas the resale market is doing exceptionally well,” Perez said. “With the presence of media, social media and news everywhere all the time, people are more aware of sweatshops and the amount of money that the fashion industry secretes waste.”

Transparency is often disregarded by corporations as unnecessary. Although if consumers were aware of the detrimental impact of their purchases, the priorities of society could be drastically different. Who we decide to give our money to is who we support whether we intend to or not. annagracejones@tigertimesonline.com craigcrawford@tigertimesonline.com hollandrainwater@tigertimesonline.com

38%

Calvin Klein

47%

Levis Strauss Co.

58% Adidas

13

breaking it down

TRANSPARENCY EXPLAINED

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

14 COMMUNITY

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

FEATURE

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

15

JENNA & KATE

WOODARD

BY SALEM KARR staff writer

IN A NUTSHELL Sophomore twins Jenna and Kate Woodard might look identical, but they don’t act that way. Kate takes a light-hearted approach to everything, while Jenna faces things head on. Both girls enjoy many aspects of band and the company of each other. They sit high above the rest when it comes to academics. Thankfully, they have each other to keep company. They are on their way to promising careers and futures.

Q&A

DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN 3 WORDS JENNA - Leader, Confident, Determined KATE - Kind, Sarcastic, Intelligent

Q: Who/What inspires you?

J: “My parents because they work really hard and are

dedicated to what they do. I hope to be as dedicated as they are.”

K: “I’m inspired a lot by reading. Books are amazing, and they influence a lot of my decisions.”

Q: What do people assume about you because you’re a twin?

J: “A lot of people ask if we can feel each other’s pain, which we can’t. They also assume that we are the same person, but we’re still really different, so it’s weird.”

K: “My name. People get my name wrong all the

KATE WOODARD

K: “I enjoy marching band, winter drumline and TigerVision.”

Q: How do you think being a twin has affected your life?

Q: What do you think makes the two of you different?

Q: What do you plan on doing after graduation?

J: “I’m not sure. I’m thinking about going into engineering, but

J: “II think that most of the time our outlook is different. Kate is much more relaxed, and I am more uptight about a lot of things.”

that’s not definite.”

J: “It’s kind of like having a sibling a year away from you, but you’re a lot closer because you’re in the same grade and classes. It’s kind of like having a built in best friend. It’s kind of cheesy, but I always have someone who has my back.”

K: “I’m thinking about doing something with biology or

K: “I’m really worried about getting someone’s name wrong. I

Q: What is your favorite thing about high school?

J: “I’m in drumline, which is fun. We had a blast, and it has a

lot of hard work and dedication, but it really pays off.”

engineering. Possibly something in medicine.”

time. They also think that I have twin telepathy.”

JENNA WOODARD

K: “Jenna is more serious and driven. I think that I’m a bit more playful.”

also always have a friend around.”

LOOKING AHEAD The Woodard twins still have two years to decide where they want to go in life. They will have to make the decision to stay together or part ways when college comes around. They are both considering Texas A&M College Station, but going to the same college isn’t crucial. The only thing that is certain is that they will always have each other. salem.karr@tigertimesonline.com/photo by j.stark

16 SPORTS

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

m. debenport

ON TRACK Area competition begins today The varsity track team will head to their area meet today after claiming district championships for the boys and girls earlier this month.

“The season’s been really good so far. There’s been a lot of progression and a lot of us have been getting faster every meet,” senior Nabil Kalam said. “For us distance runners, we alternate between having long runs and speed workouts throughout the week to get ready for meets.”

The girls team won district with 172 over Sulphur Springs’ 151 points. The boys won with 133 over Sulphur Springs’ 129 points. “[The] season’s gone great so far,” senior Alex Cannon said. “We’ve done a lot of intense speed work on the track with some milage days scattered in between. From the team moving forward, there should be several of us going to area, regionals and a few even to state.”

Despite the team’s optimism, the runners

“Expect us to be district champion contenders every year with runners going to regionals and beyond.”

a. higgins

BY CHARLI HUETER staff writer

AHEAD OF THE REST Junior Owen Likins leads the rest of the runners during the Watty Myers track meet. Likins placed first at district in the 3200-meter run, 1600-meter run and 800-meter run.

THROW THE DISTANCE In her favorite event at the meet, junior Tramecia Batton throws shot put at her third meet of the season. Batton placed second in shot put at the district meet. She will compete in the area competition that begins today.

know they need to keep their feet on the ground. It is important to make steady progress, one race at a time.

“We’ve been doing a lot of stretching to prevent injuries and be the most ready for our races,” senior Kendall Reid said. “We’ll see what happens moving forward.”

Although many seniors are graduating and moving on from the team, the future looks bright for the teams. Record-shattering runners such as junior Owen Likins bring hope to the team and success stories to rally around. Likins recently broke a school record by running the mile in 4 minutes and 16 seconds.

Likins placed first in the 3200-meter run, 1600-meter run and 800-meter run.

Individuals advancing to the area meet are Valeria Perez and Fezeka Barnes in the 800-meter run; Bobbie Hatchett and Cashlin Gooden in the 100-meter run; Caden Miller in the 110-meter hurdles; Kiasyia Morrison and Kelvin Jackson in the 100-meter dash; Barnes, Emerald King and Kendall Reid in the 400-meter dash; Gooden and Trakeci Cooper in the 300-meter hurdles; Kahliyah Anderson, Quartney Walker and Kobe Webster in the 200-meter dash; Mariza Paez in the discus throw; Anderson, Jaycee Kennedy, Kobe Webster and Marquavius Fisher in the high

jump; Gooden in the long jump; Tramecia Batton in the shot put; and Gooden and Ashlyn Stiger in the triple jump.

The following relay teams also advanced to area: girls and boys 4x100, girls and boys 4x200, and the girls and boys 4x400.

“There’s a lot of promising talent coming from the future, so the team has a bright future,” Kalam said. “Expect us to be district champion contenders every year with runners going to regionals and beyond.” charli.hueter@tigertimesonline.com

SPORTS

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

17

ROUNDING THE BASES Baseball, softball teams look to finish strong, make postseason runs

Vanessa Perez Michael Sikorski Lauren Allred

Rian Cellers Lindsey Egger

Staff Reports With the school year coming to an end, both baseball and softball teams are not letting down.

“We have a lot of raw talent, but when we come to play, it doesn’t really show on the field,” junior Bailey Groom said. “We have a lot of inexperienced players that haven’t faced all the pressure yet, so I feel it’s kind of getting to them. When we started our second round of district, everyone really wasn’t playing to their full potential. But last night, we beat a team that we didn’t think we would beat. We just need to stay calm and play to the best of our ability.”

The Lady Tigers defeated Mt. Pleasant April 9, 2-1, after an earlier loss to the team.

“We started the second round very well, beating the first seed team in our district because we communicated really well, and

Chris Sutton

everyone focused on doing their job,” senior Kaitlyn Cross said. “This year is different because there isn’t one or two schools dominating our district, so we have no idea where every team will fall in the end. We need to play our best game regardless of who we are playing and we will finish strong.”

Communication is key for the girls team.

“Right now in the season, we have a couple

of games left with a good record, but I think we need to communicate more for these next three games to come out with a win and play as a team and motivate one another to get the results we want,” sophomore Korie Hamilton said.

With only one loss, the boys hope to maintain their momentum.

“The season is going great so far,” senior Connor Allred said. “We’re 9-1 right now, and our team has some real good chemistry, which I think plays a big part in helping us win.”

“We just have to keep the ball rolling,” senior Chris Sutton said. “We need to finish district off strong in order to start playoffs off on the right foot and continue playing good team ball and get the bats hot.”

The boys will face Lindale on Thursday at Tiger Field, and the girls will be at home Thursday in their final district game against Sulphur Springs.

18 COMMUNITY

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

19

CHAMPION of the chicken chains CULTURE

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

A survey of over 200 students determined the school’s favorite fried chicken

BY MOLLY KYLES feature editor

1

“They have the best breading.

You can get chicken tossed in the dipping sauce!”

#

-Rachel Johnson, 12

#

-Audrey Mohon, 12

“The chicken is juicy and the breading is crunchy.

They also have the best nuggets. [Chick-fil-a’s] chicken is just very tasty.”

-Adrian Tran, 12

5

#

3

#

“Golden Chick’s tenders are juicy and light on the breading, so you can really taste the chicken. They never sell you short on how much they give you.”

-Grant Rommel, 12

“I used to live right in front of [Church’s]. It’s cheap, it’s hot and it never lets me down.”

-Breoski Finley-Warren, 9

4

#

“It’s got a certain taste to it; it’s got more flavor to it.

For me, KFC is too crunchy, but Chicken Express is just smooth and well cooked.”

-Kentrell Jones, 11

“Down where I was raised in Louisiana, [Popeyes] was all you had. [Other chicken] doesn’t have the kick or the juicy tenderness that Popeyes has.”

-Corbin Gulledge, 11

7

#

2

“The chicken itself is so crispy and so good, salted perfectly; it makes my mouth water just talking about it. Dipped into some Cane’s sauce, it’s just the best thing that could happen.”

8

#

6

#

“KFC makes the best chicken.

The meat is juicy. Other places it’s dry, and you have to use a lot of sauce, but [with KFC], you don’t have to use a lot of sauce.”

-Joshua Jefferies, 9

20

CULTURE

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

300 mg.

240 mg.

160 mg.

160 mg.

83 mg.

MONSTERS & BANGS The horrifying reality of energy drinks

BY CHARLI HUETER staff writer “Caution: This product contains caffeine and should not be used with any other caffeine products.” You shrug the warning off, despite the red flags it plants in the depths of your mind. This morning has been rocky and, to be honest, the average cup of joe won’t be able to handle the loads of fatigue you’re dealing with.

After all, you’ve got yourself six cups of coffee in a single pint. Sounds perfectly harmless, doesn’t it?

Fifty-one percent of college students consume energy drinks under the impression that they will be boosting their stamina and attentiveness. From 50 to a whopping 505 mg. of caffeine in one serving, these beverages far surpass

the Food and Drug Administration’s limit of 71 mg. In fact, most brands bypass this stipulation by registering as a supplement, which leaves them with absolutely no restriction on caffeine levels.

Such high doses of caffeine can lead to many unhealthy disorders. Insomnia is the first logical conclusion, but others that are less well-known include intoxication, caffeine-withdrawal, headaches, anxiety and tachycardia (increased heart rate). Exposure can also lead to future susceptibility to drugs and drug-dependence. In the end, these so-called “energy” drinks can induce 3.6 times greater odds of sleeping problems and 4.6 times greater odds of headaches.

Approximately one-third of all adolescents (12 to 18 year-olds) consume

energy drinks regularly. For adults, caffeine toxicity is believed to occur at just over 300 mg. of caffeine in a span of 24 hours. For adolescents, this number is decreased to 100 mg. According to scientists Reissig, Strain, and Griffiths, “it is believed that the potential for caffeine toxicity from [energy drinks] is greater than other caffeine sources such as coffee or tea due to inadequate labeling and greater volume of consumption driven by heavy advertising promoting ‘more is better,’ especially among children and youth”.

The slogans are well-known: “Unleash the beast,” “Party like a rockstar,” “Red Bull gives you wings.” Advertising has been a pivotal contributor to the rapid growth of the energy drink market.

Competition is fierce, but these brands

have a trick up their sleeve: aim for the young ones. According to research conducted on the effects of advertisement on teenagers, “adolescents lack maturity in key areas of the brain, are biologically predisposed to have poor impulse control, and are more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior.”

Consumers are becoming increasingly less aware of what they are buying.

Products with potential risks to one’s health are no longer rare revelations that appear once a month in the local newspaper. Energy drinks are yet another example of the exploitation of financial and nutritional loopholes. The best we can do is pay attention to the labels and stay within our mortal limits. charli.hueter@tigertimesonline.com photo by m. debenport

CULTURE

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

21

Tidying up TIPS ON

USING THE KONMARI METHOD

The KonMari Method encourages tidying by category and keeping items that “spark joy.” It was developed by Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo. She has written a book on the method, “Spark Joy,” and now has a new Netflix show called “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.”

1 2 3

THANK YOUR HOUSE Kondo believes the first step to tidying is thanking your house for protecting you and helping you live a productive life. It’s a way to relax before starting the tidying process.

CLEAN BY CATEGORY Instead of cleaning room by room, go by Kondo’s preferred categories. Start with clothes, then books, documents, komono (miscellaneous items) and sentimental items.

DOES IT “SPARK JOY?” When holding an item in your hand, if it does not make you happy, or “spark joy”, thank it and get rid of it. This is the most notable step of the KonMari Method.

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photos by a. runnels

EASY TO SEE Storing things from an angle easy to see helps one visualize how much stuff they really have.

Store clothes folded and standing upright, and use boxes to organize other items.

KON-MARI FOLDING Lay clothing out flat.

Fold sleeve in a lttle bit past the collar.

Fold sleeve to where it reaches the end of the shirt.

ALL IN ONE GO Instead of tidying little by little, do everything in one go. If you take breaks in between tidying, things will quickly begin to clutter up again.

NETFLIX

“Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” currently has one season on Netflix with eight episodes. She helps married couples organize their lives to help their relationship. Netflix has not confirmed a second season yet.

Repeat on the other side.

Fold top of shirt down a little more than halfway.

Fold top again to meet halfway of the first fold.

Fold top to meet the end of shirt. It shoudl stand up on its own.

22 COMMUNITY

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

PHOTO ESSAY

APRIL 17, 2019 • TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM

23

ALL SMILES Junior Maria Levya laughs with fellow teammate freshman Maddie Frost during morning practice. Practices will temporarily take place at St. Michael’s Health & Fitness outdoor pool.

BLOW OFF STEAM During a cool morning, steam from the heated pool rises in the air. The swim team began having practice outdoors on March 18.

TAKE A BREAK Sophomore Fezeka Barnes rests after timing a 500-meter freestyle session during swim practice at St. Michael’s Heath & Fitness facility.

JUST KEEP

SWIMMING

BY KATE MORGAN & ASHLYN WINTERS staff writers

As the Tigersharks loaded a bus on Feb. 14 headed to the state meet, the Pinkerton Fitness Center at Texarkana College began to undergo renovations. Since returning from spring break, the swim team has been transferred to the outdoor pool at Christus St. Michael Health & Fitness Center.

“The goal of the new pool is to give us a much better pool for practice and competition that meets the standards for the Texas High Athletics department and is safer for our swimmers,” assistant coach Jennifer Radomski said.

The team is hoping for their new facility to be completed by the end of summer. In the meantime, swimmers are practicing outdoors. While the divers, who practice in the afternoon, are able to enjoy the beautiful weather, the swimmers who rush to practice at 6 a.m. are challenged by the low temperatures and change of scenery.

“I like the new pool we’re swimming at because it is cleaner than our old pool, but it’s very cold,” junior Maria Levya said.

“The other pool was a lot warmer than the one we swim in now, and it has showers. Not having showers at this pool has been a lot harder.”

Each morning after practice, swimmers who do not go home to get ready after practice must get ready in the tent on the pool deck or use the locker rooms at the high school to shower and change before they have to come to school at 9:47 a.m.

“Swimming outdoors is very challenging, definitely something new to everyone,” freshman Maddie Frost said.

“Some days we aren’t able to practice because of the outside temperature, but this will all be worth it once the new pool is done for us to start off our new season in.”

Regardless of any setbacks, the Tigersharks remain in high spirits and look forward to the completion of the new facility.

“I’m looking forward to the new pool. This whole change is definitely going to lift the entire team’s confidence,” Frost said.

“I’m really excited for next season.” kate.morgan@tigertimesonline.com ashlyn.winters@tigertimesonline.com CLEAN UP Construction workers sweep out the pool at the Texas High Aquatic Center. The pool was last drained in the ‘70s. Renovations to the pool are expected to be completed by the end of summer. In the meantime, swimmers and divers practice at St. Michael Health & Fitness Center’s outdoor pool.

24 COMMUNITY

TIGERTIMESONLINE.COM • APRIL 17, 2019

SEE TC FOR YOURSELF! Schedule your campus tour at texarkanacollege.edu/tour

It’s time for area high school seniors to apply for the

Texarkana College Presidential Scholarship This scholarship covers the full cost of

tuition

fees

books

for up to two years!

OT H E R B E N E F I T S I N C LU D E

Admission to the TC Honors College Exclusive networking & leadership opportunities Priority registration First two years of college debt-free

LEARN MORE AT TEXARKANACOLLEGE.EDU/PRESIDENTIAL APPLICATION DEADLINE // APRIL 5, 2019

#1 graduation rate refers to Texarkana College’s 3-year graduation rate for the 2015 cohort and is based on data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. TC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs or activities.

The following person is designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Human Resources Director, 2500 N. Robison Rd., Texarkana, TX, 75599 or (903) 823-3017 human.resources@texarkanacollege.edu