Volume 85 Issue Four

The Colonel Volume 85. Issue Four. February 2014.

COVER FRONT

The closing of Franklin Elementary School blindsides the community, Page 16

Theodore Roosevelt High School 1400 N. Mantua St. Kent, Ohio

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Contents

2

Editorial

4

Opinion

8

Columns

Community College is Anything but a Cop-Out Obama 2013: His Worst Year Yet? Bull vs. Moose: The Friend Zone A Liberal Dose of Pessimism: Some Pessimistic Predictions for the New Year

Bite the Byte: Amazing Grace The Rap Game: K.Dot

12 Student Life

16

AP: Another Abbreviation for High School Students to Worry About The Torch is Passed To...

Lifestyle Envy Franklin Closing Blindsides Community

19 News

Strange Little Squares With Smaller Squares Inside of Them Edward Snowden: A Review

22 Arts & Culture

Transgender Dysphoria Blues Philip Glass: Artist Spotlight

25 Sports

Wrestlers on the Rise 2014 Winter Olympics Overview

27 Leisure

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Hallway Habitation with Sydnie Barnette Coloring Page Issue Four Crossword STAFF Editors-in-Chief - Sydnie Barnette & Marc Blanc Content Editor - Danylo Lavrentovich Copy Editors - Audra Grimm & Kelsey Raabe Layout & Photo Editor - Maddie Otterdaughter Staff Writers Briann Barton Sydney Cannon Ben Chaykowski Pat Daltorio Logan Schmucker Bull vs. Moose Art Grant Wang Advisor David Massucci

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Editorial

Community College is Anything but a Cop-Out Two-year schools proving to be a smart choice in an injured, college-crazy economy editorial | The Colonel Staff

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hoosing a college: The decision that will carry us to either a comfortable home or a cold, indifferent gutter. Or so we see it as teenagers.

The school that will pave the way for a fulfilled life has to meet some criteria, right? Maybe a beautiful campus, decent dorms, a fair amount of prestige, maybe all three and more. Sadly, through a stigma advanced by counselors, parents and peers, many students believe the only type of school that can meet their standards and keep them from the gutter is the standard four-year university. Many high

of their reputation for generally focusing on more vocational learning than academic as well as the idea that the less expensive a school is, the worse the education must be. The misconceptions surrounding community colleges must be debunked in the name of education and common sense.

While community colleges do offer much technical training and cater to students who also juggle work and family life, almost all of them also offer associate degrees in subjects that one could find at any four-year school. Many capable students attend community college “According to the National Student Clearinghouse, 60 percent to build up their GPA and go on to earn of students who transfer from a community college go on to bachelor’s degrees, as community college gain bachelor’s degrees, same as their peers who went right to credits are generally transferable. a four-year institution after high school.”

According to the National Student Clearinghouse, 60 percent of students who transfer schoolers will not even consider attending a two-year from a community college go on to gain bachelor’s community college because they have been told such degrees, same as their peers who went right to a fourschools are for students who are not intelligent enough year institution after high school. When it comes to for a four-year university, even though community entering the workforce, community college graduates colleges (sometimes called “city colleges”) are making don’t appear to fare any better than four-year students more sense every year. in times of recession. However, most community Public community colleges and private “junior colleges because of their vocational focus can boast colleges” have been unfairly given a bad name because strong connections to technical and hands-on job

Send press releases, guest columns and letters to the editor to:

The Colonel c/o Theodore Roosevelt High School 1400 N. Mantua St. Kent, OH 44240 All published material is protected speech adhering to the legal definitions of libel, obscenity and invasion of privacy.

February 2014

The Colonel Volume 85 Issue Four February 2014

The Colonel is an open forum of student expression. It is not reviewed or censored by school officials prior to publication. Published material does not necessarily reflect the views of the Kent City School District or the publication as a whole.

The Colonel

Editorial

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Cuyahoga Community College is located in Cuyahoga County and is the oldest, largest community college in Ohio. Photo courtesy of Clue Into Cleveland.

employers.

Community colleges serve an even greater purpose in slower economic times, as they cost about half as much as the average four-year school.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the average annual price of tuition, room and board at two-year colleges is $9,180, while four-year schools come out to $22,261. A two-year associate degree can open the door to well-paying careers in fields like nursing, radiation therapy and nuclear technology. Those who pursue a bachelor’s degree after community college can end up paying half of what their counterparts shelled out.

The NCES reports that 40 percent of four-year students drop out of their college, with one of the largest reasons being the difficult transition from twentyperson high school classes to massively populated lecture hall courses where students rarely even get to speak to their teacher. Conversely, community college classrooms average between 25-35 students. Pair this with the huge disparity between prices of two and fouryear schools, and the result is a ton of kids who could have saved thousands by starting out with the more student-focused community college classes. Funny enough, the “less intelligent” community college students have made a smarter decision than many of their fellow collegiates.

standard universities, either. Bestcollegesonline. com publishes a list of the most beautiful city college campuses, including schools that feature dazzling mountains, bucolic hills and brick architecture that should be the visual next to the word “academia” in any dictionary.

We call for each class of high school students, every guidance counselor and more parents to bring an open mind to the college discussion and recognize the benefits of community college. Stop whispering to friends about so-and-so going to a community college because “he wasn’t smart enough to get into a ‘real college,’” because so-and-so’s decision could prove to be brilliant. Stop feeling shame if you are considering a community college, because when thought about logically, shame is the last thing you should be feeling.

After all, you’d be joining the ranks of Tom Hanks, significant journalist Jim Lehrer and Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Gwendolyn Brooks.

Community college has proven to be an equal alternative to four-year programs in education and campus, and is even superior when it comes to countering the student loan crisis breaking the backs of so many Americans. With the number of college students forever piling and the debt-ridden graduates multiplying, the stigma surrounding such a viable alternative needs to end. Quick.

Gorgeous campuses are not exclusive to The Colonel

February 2014

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Opinion

Obama 2013: His Worst Year Yet? Second term woes have already begun

story | Kelsey Raabe

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n American political jargon there is a term known as the “second term curse,” or the tendency of a president’s last term to be mired in scandals and missed opportunities, all coupled with a massive decline in the public’s esteem. Some presidents faced rising tensions at home and elsewhere, such as Lyndon B. Johnson and the extremely unpopular Vietnam War, while others faced huge scandals and even impeachment, such as Bill Clinton. Just one year into his second term as president, has Barack Obama already fallen victim to the purported curse?

After a tedious and hard-fought campaign season in which Obama and his supporters defeated Republican candidate Mitt Romney, 2013 was supposed to be a year of opportunity and progress.

But if anything, it turned out to be quite the opposite.

From the Edward Snowden leaks to the seemingly futile pushes on gun control and immigration to the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, 2013 was definitely not the best year for the president—as his 11-point decline in approval registered by Gallup can attest.

Many issues have contributed to the president’s loss of political clout, but that’s not to say there weren’t some redeeming elements. Here are the good, the bad, and the absolute worst events of Obama’s second term thus far.

THE GOOD:

The shutdown battle: Overshadowing the disastrous health care rollout was the shutdown of the federal government from October 1 to 16. House Republicans insisted on defunding the ACA (also known as “Obamacare”) or else they would shut down the government and/or cause it to default on its debts, essentially holding the government hostage to extremists in the Republican Party (remember Sen. Ted Cruz and his faux-filibuster?) who refused to accept that the ACA is here to stay. Unlike the 2011 fiscal debate, the president and his Democratic allies in Congress held firm, not negotiating with the hostagetakers refusing to pay for things they had already allotted funds for. The end result? A deal that laid the groundwork for a future bipartisan budget deal in January 2014 and a new continuing resolution that barely dented the ACA and raised the debt ceiling—in addition to causing a sizeable (albeit temporary) drop in approval rating for the president’s opponents. In the end, it was a fine compromise for both sides.

Gay rights: 2013 was a remarkable year for the gay rights movement, and 2014 will likely continue this trend, with more and more states legalizing samesex marriage. Earlier, Obama had became the first sitting president to support gay marriage during an interview with ABC News in May 2012. During his historic second inaugural address Obama also called February 2014

for equality for same-sex couples, and perhaps more importantly his administration refused to stand by the Defense of Marriage Act during United States v.

Windsor, which ultimately ended with Section 3 ruled unconstitutional.

The “fiscal cliff ”: As a result of the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations, many mandatory acrossthe-board spending cuts and tax increases were set to come into effect in 2013. Rather than caving to Republican demands that the government only cut spending to avoid the cliff, Obama demanded modest tax increases as part of a new continuing resolution to fund the government. The deal, worked out by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, allowed the Bush Tax Cuts to expire for high-income earners and delayed the sequester, all without a single true spending cut that would undoubtedly be shouldered by the middle class. That is, until the sequester hit.

THE BAD:

The sequester: As a consequence of the fiscal cliff negotiations the sequester was postponed to March. Obama, still riding high approval ratings and believing the political winds were on his side, believed he could force Republicans back to the negotiating table to undo the sequester. Unfortunately this was not the case. When the sequester hit, his political opponents, always eager for a chance to smear the president, hailed it as a victory for conservatism as mandatory cuts were implemented across the board to many programs. Even worse, the effects of the cuts weren’t felt immediately after they began, so Obama received the brunt of the blame and was accused of “crying wolf ”; his approval rating began a steady decline after the sequester began and have not recovered since.

Benghazi & IRS scandals: Since the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, Republicans have made investigating the Obama administration’s “cover-up” of the information regarding the attack their pet issue. In reality there is zero evidence of any intentional cover-up on the part of the State Department, while Republicans themselves have gone to great lengths to reduce embassy security funding in the past, which no doubt contributed to the lax security in Benghazi. However, the right’s obsession with exploiting the tragedy was far less damaging than revelations in May that the IRS had inappropriately targeted conservative groups for flagging. Although Obama himself had nothing to do with the wrongdoing, and evidence later emerged that liberal groups were also targeted, the brief scandal did serious damage to his popularity and helped to revitalize the dying Tea Party, which against all odds clings to the issue even today.

The Colonel

Opinion

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The Syria red line: In 2012 Obama blundered his way into setting a “red line” on Syria when he said their use of chemical weapons would result in U.S. military action. When it became clear that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons against civilians, Obama chose to consult Congress before initiating a strike, and despite support from most Congressional leaders, the plan was left facing impossible odds amidst heightened opposition from both sides of the aisle.

Shortly before the vote, Secretary of State John Kerry made an apparently off-the-cuff remark suggesting a peaceful solution could be reached if Syria were to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile to the international community. The vote was indefinitely postponed, sparing the administration from a huge political defeat in the process, as the proposed solution was sought by the U.S., Russia and the United Nations.

While for all intents and purposes the plan is a success, with Syria currently destroying its chemical weapons, the issue raised serious doubts about Obama’s ability to effectively manage foreign policy.

Immigration reform: One of Obama’s main legislative priorities for his second term which he promised during the 2012 campaign, both he and the Republican National Committee called for a comprehensive immigration bill addressing our nation’s broken immigration system by creating a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants and tightening up the already heavilypatrolled border. The bipartisan “Gang of Eight” unveiled an immigration bill in April, which was passed by a 68-32 vote, but the bill was never taken up by the House of Representatives and remains in limbo, and with it, Obama’s hopes of leaving himself a lasting legacy beyond that of the ACA’s benefits. So far, the only impact Obama has made on immigration policy came in the form of executive orders, such as his administration allowing children of illegal immigrants to remain in the country.

While things have picked up in recent weeks, with enrollment numbers surpassing three million, the damage to Obama’s reputation and political capital was quite severe.

Gun control: After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012, Obama was among the politicians who stood up and called for reforms to U.S. gun laws, chief among them being an improved background check system to ensure criminals and the mentally ill weren’t able to obtain firearms, as well as a renewed assault weapons ban. However, he was noticeably cautious about wading into the sensitive issue, and it took until mid-January before a plan was finally revealed to the public. But by that time it was too little, too late. The NRA and other gun lobbyists had already consolidated their hold on Congress, and expanded background checks were ultimately defeated in the Senate in a floor vote of 54-46 (60 votes were required for the proposal to be adopted). Had Obama

The ACA rollout: Overshadowed by the government shutdown was the official opening of the federal healthcare.gov website and the various state exchanges. For Obama, the rollout of his signature achievement needed to be as smooth and glitch-free as humanly possible, but by nearly all accounts it was a colossal failure. The website had performed horribly in tests mere weeks before the implementation, and it performed no better under the strain of millions of visitors, crashing and glitching at nearly every turn. The inevitable Congressional hearings that followed were an immense source of embarrassment for the administration and the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. Plenty of Congressional Democrats also began speaking out against the president, and for many individuals of the conservative persuasion the botched rollout was evidence of what they had been warning all along: that “Obamacare” was too extensive and unstable of an undertaking for the federal government to manage.

introduced a framework in a more timely manner, when the tragedy of Newtown was still at the forefront of the nation’s collective consciousness, members of Congress would’ve been far more likely to pass the modest reforms.

The NSA leaks: Among the biggest news stories of the year was the leak of a treasure trove of 1.7 million documents by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, revealing the full extent of the government’s data-collection program. The leaks, beginning in June 2013 with the reveal of the PRISM program, put the Obama administration and indeed the entire U.S. government on the defense over the ensuing months, as widespread public outrage over the collection continued to grow throughout the year.

For a president who promised to increase protections for whistleblowers and dial back the war on terrorism, this was extremely damaging, as it ran contrary to his campaign message.

THE UGLY:

The Colonel

2013 was arguably President Obama’s worst year yet.

Photo courtesy of REX.

February 2014

Bull vs. Moose 6 Opinion The Friend Zone: Unfair and Imaginary

Nothing more than a state of mind

stance | Sydney Cannon

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he “friend zone” is a social construct created by boys who have been rejected by women and think they deserve a date or some form of sexual thanks for their advances.Women are also capable to be in the “friend zone.” Many a time, so called “nice guys” will court a girl, be kind and at times, be overly friendly towards the girl and in turn, he will expect her to magically be in love with him. When denied, he immediately goes to saying he’s been “friendzoned” by the girl which makes it seem like he can’t handle rejection.

No one is magically entitled to anything sexual or romantic just because they’ve been nice to someone else or have tried to “earn” someone’s affections, though the “friend zone” begs to differ. When a guy claims to be in the “friend zone,” it was because he was rejected and he thinks he deserves a date or something of the sort. This isn’t right and the idea of “friend zone” should be destroyed. Boys should learn that they do not automatically deserve a date or sex just because they give a girl flowers or write her a poem. Not everyone automatically likes someone just because that person has been nice to them.

The biggest problem is respect.

The “friend zone” is disrespecting boundaries, it’s saying “I was only nice because I wanted to be your boyfriend,” which leaves many people thinking and wondering why their friendship isn’t good enough. No one should feel like they’re only good for a relationship or sex, but the “friend zone” says that. It isn’t a purgatory between February 2014

Rejection doesn’t always have to ruin a friendship. Models sophomore Colin Berger (left) and sophomore Lauren Tarver (right).

Photo by Maddie Otterdaughter.

friendships and relationships, it’s a state of mind that someone gets in. It’s unhealthy for one to think that way; to destroy a friendship just because they didn’t get a romantic relationship is wrong because the “friend zoner” could have cherished that friendship.

Though you mostly hear of boys being in the “friend zone,” there is also the possibility of a girl being in the “friend zone.” When a girl is in the “friend zone” though, she usually thinks that something is wrong with her, whereas when a boy is in the “friend zone,” he thinks something is wrong with the girl. This poses many other problems in social constructs and can be a reason for the many body and self esteem issues a girl deals with.

The “friend zone” is an unhealthy way that people deal with rejection. Instead of accepting a friendship for what it is, they try to push it forward where the other party may not want to. The “friend zone” is not accepting the friendship someone has given and being uncontent with that. Though the “friend zone” doesn’t truly exist, it exists in the form of a mental construct that people get into when they feel that they deserve or should have more than the friendship they have been dealt. No one can control how someone else feels, and no one should try to. That is a right that everyone has as a human being.

The Colonel

Bull vs. Moose

Opinion

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Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party in 1912 after disagreements within the Republican Party.

Roosevelt remarked that he was “fit as a bull moose” to be president, and his party was then nicknamed the Bull Moose Party. The Colonel has named this pair of opposing viewpoints in honor of Roosevelt’s independent faction.

The Friend Zone: Natural and Academically Provable The friend zone is a very real purgatory stance | Logan Schmucker

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he Friend Zone: the Purgatory on Earth for any hopeless romantic, and a popular show airing on MTV. This tortuous path of fire has sent the best of us into fits of the rankest doubt. In a world where relationships can be activated or destroyed by the touch of a button (well, touch screen now, I guess), the friend zone is a very real and dangerous thing. As the courage of Man is second guessed every time the shadow of doubt is cast forth by friendly boundaries, what can we do to stop it?

All of our own thoughts and ideas have gone through much development throughout society’s evolution, and the idea of a forsaken lover has been a major one among them. Love triangles, the parent of the first written forms of the friend zone, are a

“The sciences give proof to the testament that the friend zone is not just a land of delusion, but a behavior of survival (or of cowardice).” solid form of any romantic drama, which stretches its roots back to early writers such as the great William Shakespeare and the French author Alexandre Dumas.

These authors used the romantic tension between characters as dramatic devices to spice up their stories.

The cliche usually includes two people who fall in love while one is secretly seeing another dude or dudette.

It almost always resolves in death, sacrifice, brutal beating, banishment, suicide or countless other violent conclusions. Such romantic stories can now be viewed under tabloid titles such as “She Married Bigfoot!”

Written drama is not the only literal evidence of friend zoning. The sciences, specifically biology and psychology, give proof to the testament that the friend zone is not just a land of delusion, but a behavior of survival (or of cowardice). Human relationships, even after thousands of years of social evolution, are the sharing of peoples’ wants and needs. The balance between the “give” and “take” is crucial to the health of the relationship. If one side gives too much, the healthy, balanced relationship quickly turns into a onesided parasitic relationship, as the “victim” helplessly watches as the partner sucks the life and energy away The Colonel

Bull and moose comics by Grant Wang

from their host. Caring too much is a problem that we all can relate to, and as many spiritual advisors would say, we must release our overly emotional attachment. This does not mean shave your head and join a monastery, it just means to take a chill pill and to not be so dramatic about everything. If you and drama find each other often, try joining a Shakespearean society or a theater group, we have a great one right here in your school!

In a casual relationship, there is always a chance of losing the reality of the situation. A gal can easily perceive body language as romantic signs from a guy, and vice versa. Miscommunication is the root of all social problems, and the blame goes to those who are unable to clearly express themselves. The friend zone is the epitome of misunderstanding, as it showcases how a wink here, a hug there or a friendly gesture next to the drinking fountain can be assumed as a “fire-starter,” or a sign to kindle the fiery pyres of love.

This, in combination with the fact that we culturally aren’t such a touchy feely group anymore, proves how important communication is and how it is losing its meaning.

Blame it on t e c h n o l o g y, blame it on TV shows, blame it on the precedents of our parents’ generation, whatever, but ultimately we decide how we communicate.

The friend zone, as well as any social assumption, can easily be avoided by going old school and talking out problems when they first arise.

February 2014

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Column

A Liberal Dose of Pessimism

2014’s outlook appears quite grim. Photo by Maddie Otterdaughter.

Some Pessimistic Predictions for the New Year

What’s in store for 2014? Mostly misery story | Kelsey Raabe

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013 was another typical year for politics, full of surprises and snafus such as the NSA revelations, the IRS non-scandal and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, in addition to other more predictable things such as the continuing legalization of gay marriage and marijuana. 2014 on the other hand is shaping up to be a typical midterm election year. With that in mind, let’s delve into some of my predictions and the rationale behind them for the new year.

The Elections

With regard to the 2014 midterm elections, the odds of anything status-quo breaking are about 50-50.

The effects of gerrymandering and the whiter, older electorate typical of off-year elections will no doubt ensure the House of Representatives will remain solidly in Republican hands. As things stand the Senate is under Democratic control by a margin of five seats.

Six of them are currently in states Mitt Romney won in 2012, which doesn’t bode well for the party at all.

Barring unforeseen events, there’s a decent chance the GOP will capture the Senate by a razor-thin margin, leaving Obama and his veto pen the last line of defense against unchecked conservative domination, as they will be able to pass anything with a simple majority. So expect plenty of anti-Obamacare bills, anti-abortion legislation, budgets filled with spending cuts to social programs without a tax cut to be found and an February 2014

insurmountable Senate roadblock for the president’s bureaucratic and judicial nominees.

Obamacare

The law, for all its flaws in the beginning, will continue to improve and as it does so, more red states will be compelled to expand Medicaid despite Tea Party objections. Soon the website will be 100 percent bugfree and countless millions more uninsured will gain health care coverage, in addition to the three million people who have already enrolled in the federal and state exchanges. As more people enroll and its popularity increases and more become educated about what the law really means for them, it will effectively become immune to repeal and even the House will become reluctant to touch it. The ACA will be here to stay.

Gay Marriage

Following last year’s trend, gay marriage will continue to be legalized, even in conservative states thanks to changing attitudes and activist judges. Federal courts and voter referendums will be able to ensure state constitutional amendments are overturned and samesex couples are given the rights they deserve. By the end of the year I predict over half of the American public will live in a state where gay marriage is legal (the number of states is currently at 17 plus D.C.–don’t be surprised if this number changes before this article The Colonel

A Liberal Dose of Pessimism is even printed), and that’s being generous. It is, however, very unlikely that Ohio will too barring unforeseen judicial activism, as the state is currently in Republican hands and will stay that way for the next year. With an anti-LGBT governor still in office and likely to win re-election, this issue will not change in the legislature.

Climate Change

More natural disasters such as hurricanes will occur as global warming gets progressively worse and the climate-change deniers in Congress will do nothing despite over 97 percent of scientists agreeing on its existence, according to climate.nasa.gov. There won’t be much meaningful action from Obama either, aside from more EPA regulations.

Income Inequality

Will continue to get worse, and nothing will be done about it. Period. The minimum wage will not be raised regardless of what Obama tells Congress.

Voting Rights

The comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by a bipartisan majority in the Senate will not be signed into law. The plan recently announced by House Republicans is really the best we can hope for, but that isn’t really saying much considering it doesn’t include a direct path to citizenship. If past history is any guide, there is a fair possibility that any negotiations over the bill will collapse in utter failure. And when one takes into account the fact that this is an election year, the likelihood of anything significant happening is rather low.

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Abortion:

More unconstitutional abortion laws will be passed by state Republicans for the purpose of suppressing women. Many will be overturned by the courts.

2016 Presidential Election:

There is little to no chance Hillary Clinton will lose her spot as the front-runner over any other potential Democratic nominees. The Republican field on the other hand is a bit muddled. The most likely nominee at the current time is Chris Christie, but his administration is currently awash in scandal over “Bridgegate” and misuse of Hurricane Sandy relief funds, both of which contribute to his reputation as being a vengeful bully. As the presumptive nominee has changed rapidly over the past year and there’s still a chance a new GOP star will rise, there’s no point in making any predictions about them.

“Income inequality will continue to get worse, and nothing will be done about it. Period.”

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s gutting of Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act, more conservative legislators will pass voter ID laws for the express purpose of suppressing young people, women and minorities who are less likely than the general public to possess the necessary documents needed to vote. In other words, the Democratic base.

As always the excuse will be that “we need to prevent voter fraud,” in spite of there being zero evidence that voter fraud is occurring on a widespread scale. I wouldn’t expect a Voting Rights Act reauthorization either. Expect it to die in the House or suffer a filibuster in the Senate by someone like Sen. Rand Paul.

Immigration Reform

Column

Gun Violence

Thanks to Congress’ disgraceful inability to pass any sort of gun control legislation whatsoever, there will be several mass shootings this year, including at least one or two at schools. In response to some of the more major ones, expect token words of condolence from Congress, after which they will return to the more important priority of protecting fetuses rather than the young victims of gun violence.

Supreme Court

There are two Supreme Court cases to watch out for.

One is McCullen v. Coakley, regarding buffer zones (or how close protestors can be to abortion clinics), and Harris v. Quinn, about whether public employees in unions can be required to pay dues. The Court’s conservative majority will no doubt be eager to strike down a set of laws protecting women’s reproductive rights and deal yet another major blow to labor unions, which will result in worsening income inequality.

All in all, not much in the next year to look forward to. But who am I to say that for sure? These are just predictions.

February 2014

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Column

Bite the Byte

Grace Helbig speaking at VidCon 2012 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore.

Amazing Grace

The YouTube community comes together to support Grace Helbig’s forced fresh start story | Maddie Otterdaughter

“I

think this might be a very unprecedented event … but kind of an amazing opportunity to come together as a YouTube community,” YouTube celebrity Tyler Oakley posted on Tumblr to signal boost Grace Helbig’s fresh start.

Normally, those who leave a YouTube channel to start a new one do so willingly. In Grace Helbig’s case, the situation was complicated.

December 31, 2013 marked the last day of Helbig’s contract with entertainment website and multi-channel network My Damn Channel. After five years of working alongside the corporation, the 28-year-old content creator decided it was time to go her own way with her content and online persona.

However, My Damn Channel claimed the rights to her channel “DailyGrace,” her roughly 2.5 million subscribers and all of the content she created and uploaded to that channel during the contract.

Helbig began her YouTube career on a small channel, “It’sGrace” (formerly known as “GraceHInABox”), where she uploaded daily vlogs and stream of consciousness videos. In 2008 she was a small contributor to My Damn Channel’s YouTube account where the company uploads their comedic sketches and videos. After a short time working for the company, My Damn Channel CEO and founder Rob Barnett discovered Helbig’s personal YouTube channel and recognized her potential. On April 14, 2008 she was offered the chance to host her own video blog on “My Damn Channel,” uploading new episodes every weekday. After its success, this series was launched as its own channel, DailyGrace, on October 11, 2010.

Her channel grew to have an audience of roughly 2.5 million subscribers. On December 26, Helbig uploaded her final DailyGrace episode. Four days later, My Damn Channel released a statement announcing that she had decided not to renew the multi-year contract with the network and that no new content would be created by her for the YouTube channel DailyGrace. Instead, the channel will work as an archive, with old videos made by Helbig being reuploaded, making DailyGrace the first YouTube channel in history to ever have reruns like cable television shows.

However, many people in the YouTube February 2014

community believe that the reruns are just a way to keep what the corporation did to Helbig under wraps.

Tim Helbig, Grace’s brother, expressed his anger with the situation through a tweet. “Thanks to the internet [sic], I now have two sisters!! One is real and the other is a corporate entity.”

With DailyGrace taken from her, Helbig was forced to return to her previous personal channel, It’sGrace. This channel had only about 100,000 subscribers when she returned to it on January 1, a 96 percent drop in subscribers from her previous approximate 2.5 million. For content creators who make money off of video monetization alone, the effect of a decrease in subscribers that large on their paycheck is comparable to a CEO quitting to work minimum wage.

The controversial approach to the termination of My Damn Channel’s contract with Helbig did not go unnoticed. News of Helbig’s loss and fresh start circled the Internet quickly and friends and fans alike came together to make things right. Within the first two and a half weeks of her new beginning on It’sGrace, Helbig had already gained around 1.5 million more subscribers. This brought her current channel’s subscriber count to roughly 1.6 million. The ghost of Grace, DailyGrace, has lost over 250,000 subscribers.

The YouTube community has shown its support and love for Grace Helbig in many ways after her decision to go her separate way from My Damn Channel. Videos, tweets and Tumblr posts circulated the Internet as Helbig’s supporters rallied around her as a creator, telling the story of her fresh start and asking for help to get back everything she once had.

New York Times bestselling author and significant YouTuber John Green took to the Internet to inform people on the situation and to promote the real Grace Helbig. “Many corporations think that by owning YouTube channels, they’ll have something valuable. But the value is not in the channel or in the number of subscribers. On YouTube, despite the corporatization of everything, the value is in people,” he said on Tumblr. “I’m not a DailyGrace fan. I’m a Grace Helbig fan. And at least on YouTube, the individual still has more power than the corporation.”

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The Rap Game

Column

K.Dot

11

The good kid from the mad city story | Pat Daltorio

K

endrick Lamar Duckworth, commonly referred to as simply Kendrick Lamar, is arguably the country’s most renowned modern rapper. For the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, Lamar received a total of seven nominations including Best New Artist and Album of the Year for “good kid, m.A.A.d city.” Having collaborated on his platinum studio album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” with the illustrious rapper and producer Dr. Dre, Lamar earned the title of No. 1 Hottest MC in the Game from MTV in 2012.

Lamar was born in 1987 and raised in the infamous Compton, California. Compton is notorious for its heavy concentration of gangs and gang violence.

In an interview on August 7 with the Internet music blog Montreality, Lamar, when asked about what type of student he was, responded, “I was attentive when I wanted to be,” and continued with, “I was average, I wouldn’t say I was the smartest kid. I could have done better.” As a teenager, home life was difficult for Lamar.

He mentions frequently in his lyrics that he sometimes had to steal in order to feed himself as well as sell copper piping and various other components gathered from home invasions to make ends meet for his family.

In an interview with the Internet sensation Nardwuar,

he admits to sometimes having to take Fruity Pebbles cereal f r o m stores.

After the drop of his fourth mixtape “Overly Dedicated” in 2010, Lamar began to acquire major attention. Shortly after, “Section.80,” his first independent album, was released in 2011 exclusively on iTunes. The album quickly became one of the top digital hip hop releases of the year and was eventually signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), making it his first studio album and marking an end to his independence. A year later his second studio album “good kid, m.A.A.d city” was released under the recording labels TDE and Aftermath Entertainment and was distributed by Interscope Records. “good kid, mA.A.d city” rapidly sprang to number two on the Billboard 200 and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA, meaning the album surpassed 1,000,000 sales.

Lamar is a member of the famous west coast hip hop group Black Hippy. This group includes rappers Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and ScHoolboy Q. Lamar is often mistaken as founder of the group because of his mass appeal compared to the other members.

Growing up in the Compton area, Lamar was influenced by many famous rappers and groups like NWA, Eazy-E, 2Pac and Dr. Dre. This inspired Lamar and is where most of his style of rap originates from.

At around the age of eight, Lamar witnessed on top of his father’s shoulders Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre film the music video for “California Love.”

Lamar’s adverse struggle growing up truly developed most of what he is today. He saw through the unfortunate events and used personal experience to his advantage. His music reflects on this. “Good kid, m.A.A.d city” is not an album, but more of a memoir.

Lamar’s style is similar to that of his influences, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem, 2Pac being his most favorite, as stated by Lamar. He successfully pulls off a modern take on the legendary rap music of Compton in the 1990s. Even his massive critical acclaim and nominations can vouch for this success. He is arguably our generation’s 2Pac.

Kendrick Lamar performs at Hovefestivalen in 2012. Photo courtesy of Tom Øverlie.

February 2014

12 Student Life

Many AP exams are administered in the Board of Education building. Photo

by Maddie Otterdaughter.

AP: Another Abbreviation for High School Students to Worry About Love them or hate them, what you need to know about AP classes story | Danylo Lavrentovich

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his feature is primarily addressed to underclassmen who must think about scheduling classes soon (if they have not already) and the sizable Roosevelt community that is gearing up for Advanced Placement (AP) exams later in May. Experiences certainly vary, but most students who take on the AP challenge lead school years of fast lectures, rigorous homework, stressful tests, painful essays, anxiety-inducing studying in April and excruciating examination(s) in May to hopefully obtain college credit. Nevertheless, students that follow through with AP courses at Roosevelt are celebrated and their names are often immortalized on classroom walls.

Many students welcome the opportunity, including senior Nick Taylor, who says, “I believe I can only succeed when I am challenged. Not enough is asked from me as a student in the regular or advanced classes.”

Advanced Placement exams are sponsored by the College Board, a non-profit organization that administers the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), which many upperclassmen are all too familiar with. The accelerated program’s birth came shortly after World War II, as college and secondary school educators recommended that the two educational levels work together to avoid repetition in coursework and to push talented students to their intellectual maxima.

Following one study from prestigious prep schools and colleges and another from the Committee on Admission with Advanced Standing, a pilot program was launched in 1952 to implement advanced courses February 2014

in high schools that colleges would find challenging enough to award credit. The program was delegated to the College Board in 1955. Since then, the program has steadily expanded to thousands of high schools across the country: Over 3.9 million exams were taken by more than 2.2 million students in 2013, according to the College Board.

Schedule toughness is typically a major component in the college admissions process, and the Advanced Placement program currently serves as one of the most effective tools of comparing applicants across the nation. While the curricula of accelerated, advanced and honors courses vary from school to school, AP courses are essentially taught for the sole intention of succeeding on a standardized exam.

“AP sets the bar really high for high school students,” explains Mr. Benjamin Marquette, Roosevelt’s AP Chemistry teacher. Commenting on the correlation of AP Chemistry with college study, Marquette says that the course “really does reflect a freshman year Chemistry 101 class.”

AP exams cost $89 each (fee waivers are readily available) and are administered in the first two weeks of May. The grueling tests (except for Studio Art, as its examination is a portfolio review) are two to three hours long and feature multiple choice questions and lengthy free response essays. Subsets from the two sections are added, and students receive nothing more than a single number from one to five on their Score Report in July, with no feedback or breakdown of their performance.

A recipient of a five is deemed to be “extremely well qualified” to receive college credit by the College Board. According to the organization, only around ten The Colonel

Student Life

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percent of all AP test-takers obtained the maximum study,” Hibbs adds. score in 2013, while the mean was a 2.89, slightly below The classic benefit of taking AP is preparation the “passing” grade of three. Top scores are usually for college-level work. Junior Sean Boyles says, “I take attainable by getting around 60 percent of multiple AP classes because they teach the most interesting choice points correct and around half of the available things, and they challenge me the most.” free response points. Yes, you read that correctly. AP Senior Seth Sebastian-Lohr showed a similar tests are specifically designed view, stressing that the main to cover excessive topics, and reason he takes AP courses is only around a dozen students “the prospect of getting a few obtain perfect scores each year. college credits out of the way With crafty multiple early, and at a reduced cost.” He choice questions that attempt to went on to say, “I also enjoy the trick test-takers, AP exams “feel subject matter, but that takes a more like IQ tests sometimes,” backseat to the practicality.” according to Marquette. With Class rank also provides regards to AP Chemistry, he significant incentive for taking adds that the test is still “wellthe accelerated courses. Many designed for the curriculum.” schools around the nation In response to give an additional point to criticisms of emphasizing AP courses in calculating a brute memorization and “weighted” GPA (essentially having a “mile wide but inch giving an A in an AP class a thick” curriculum, the College five and an A in a CP class a Board is gradually changing four), while Roosevelt uses many of its popular exams, an unweighted GPA on a four letting in more analytic, “big A list of the Roosevelt AP courses and enrollment for the 2013- point scale. To make up for picture” thinking. AP Biology, 2014 school year. Chart made by Maddie Otterdaughter, informa- the difficulty, RHS AP classes tion provided by Mrs. Deborah Rutzky. for instance, was completely typically feature curves at the overhauled in 2013, effectively cutting twenty chapters teacher’s discretion (such as allowing an A to be 80from roughly 56 in the most widely used textbook.

100 percent), and each AP course yields an additional 2015 will mark a redesigned United States History credit in determining class rank. course (the most popular AP class at Roosevelt), For students with challenging, AP-filled giving instructors more flexibility in going into depth schedules, early May is often home to the most in certain concepts and giving specific learning unwanted stress of the year, with prom festivities close objectives to clarify what students need to master for by and the end of the school year just in sight. After the success on the exam. exams, the hefty task of the instructor is finished, and AP U.S. History instructor Mr. Hibbs is AP courses essentially turn into free periods. supportive of the future changes, expressing excitement “Ideally, I would teach more chemistry after in “having more time to focus on topics and getting to the May exam, but we do cover an entire college-level hear more of my students’ opinions.” course,” Marquette says.

Colleges are free to decide which scores Despite criticisms from educators, parents and translate to college credit, but scores of threes, fours students alike, the Advanced Placement program has and fives typically do equate to bypassing respective a dominant role in modern high school culture. While introductory courses. Nevertheless, students that do the extent to which some courses mimic college-level AP work in high school are better prepared for courses work is a debate among some educators, AP courses at the university level. do indeed provide opportunities to bypass freshman “Students come back to me all the time and tell year courses and save thousands of dollars in class fees. me how beneficial listening to lectures, taking detailed The decision to take AP or not is ultimately left to the notes and writing essays in AP were for college-level student, but the risks and rewards are well-known.

The Colonel

February 2014

14 Student Life

The Torch is Passed To...

Permanent orchestra director unknown in wake of Patterson’s potential retirement

story | Marc Blanc

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he school’s storied orchestra program is in director you grew up with,” junior viola player Claire the midst of a complete rotation, a time of Maxwell said. She assured that there are students who transition and the return of an old structure. find the transition difficult, but acknowledged that “it For the first full year since 1991, Mr. Fred can be nice” to have a new perspective in the orchestra.

Patterson is not directing the orchestra. Additionally Fundamental changes have come with a fresh the two former orchestra groups, Sinfonia and leader, specifically the synthesizing of the two branches Chamber, are combined once of orchestra, Sinfonia and Chamber. again, two years after the initial The orchestra was split in 2011 in split. order to provide more advanced Patterson had been a musicians with challenging pieces constant presence in Roosevelt’s in Sinfonia and the Chamber players halls from his 1992 homecoming with music better matched to their up until last school year, skill level. Sinfonia and Chamber when he missed at least nine remained separated in 2011-2012 weeks due to medical reasons. and 2012-2013, but the Sinfonia Roosevelt band director Dr. players last year decided to unite the John Roebke and a University orchestra for reasons undisclosed. of Akron substitute filled in Stokes, a former Sinfonia player, as orchestra directors, while initially worried that an assimilated Dr. Mary Kay Pieski took over orchestra wouldn’t provide Patterson’s music theory class. challenging enough music, but now The orchestra had not seen such feels Mr. Schulz chose pieces that a rotational year since Patterson are “challenging to everyone.”

by Sydney Cannon. left in the 1970s, and some The combined orchestra also musicians described 2012-2013 had praises sung by junior violinist as a “fallout” and a “chaotic” year in which a number and former Chamber player Dayanara Moore, who of students stopped taking the orchestra seriously. said the new system is “less confusing, especially with Mr. Patterson’s health prompted him to submit Mr. Schulz.” a “potential retirement” (when a professional takes Conversely, erstwhile Sinfonia musician time to contemplate his or her retirement) to the Maxwell remains somewhat reserved about the district at the end of last year, so the district wanted renewed approach, reminiscing that “everyone worked to hire a single, “long-term sub” to direct the orchestra so hard for Sinfonia.” through the 2013-2014 school year. Enter Mr. Mark While the orchestra morphs, Mr. Patterson will Schulz, an accomplished composer and professor of be preparing to either confirm or cancel his retirement music at Malone University in Canton. toward the end of this year, when Principal Klinar says Schulz has a contract that runs to the end of he is required. If he says yes to retirement, Kent City the year, and many say he has done well in his time Schools will search for a new permanent orchestra at Roosevelt so far. His relationship with the orchestra director. Klinar revealed to The Colonel the top has been described as “open” and “warm” by different qualities a candidate needs: proper licensing, expertise student musicians. in stringed instruments, teaching experience and “I think that everyone likes Mr. Schulz and the right contract timeframe. Mr. Schulz would have he gets along with everyone,” senior violinist Natalie the opportunity to apply for the position if Patterson Stokes said. “He’s willing to invest his time to help us retires, but he did not comment to The Colonel about improve.” his future at Roosevelt.

While Principal Klinar also expressed Claire Maxwell only hopes a strong, ambitious satisfaction with Schulz’ job, Patterson’s absence is director takes the reigns long-term. “We need someone certainly felt by the players, many of whom have been to totally change the way the orchestra looks at music instructed by him since elementary school. and its importance,” she said.

“It is a little different than being taught by the February 2014

The Colonel

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Karlie Kloss (top left) and Henry Holland (top middle) share their enviable lifestyle snaps on Instagram.

Lifestyle Envy

The insidious culprit of society’s growing jealousy story | Sydnie Barnette & Audra Grimm

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ifestyle envy is a form of jealousy which is perpetuated by the passel of social media currently available. The detrimental problems that have arisen are due to this insidious culprit that is so commonly and easily blamed. With the increasing popularity of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and particularly Tumblr and Instagram, lifestyle envy has taken on a life of its own. Though lifestyle envy has always been around, these sites offer a plethora of opportunities to delve into other peoples’ lives, friends, acquaintances, celebrities, designers and more, allowing us to see glamorous images of their lives and bodies … and grow envious of them. Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr are major propagators of lifestyle envy, as they are platforms for people to endlessly scroll through images of seemingly marvelous people, places or things, by just searching a simple key word or unintentionally by simply scrolling through the home feed.

It may not be noticeable at first, but while scrolling and admiring the lives of the individuals, jealousy creeps in. Designers post new, updated products and clothing. Celebrity flaunt trips to Venice and Rome, which are salivated over from classroom and office desks. Classmates, not only models, post pictures of thigh gaps and 6-pack abs. All of these idealistic and wonderful things are seen daily by people create questions floating around. “Why can’t I have that?,” “How come I can’t be there?,” “Why don’t I look like him?” and the list goes on.

By succumbing to these forms of social mediainduced jealousy, the problems with which we are faced are created by us and only us, and are not the fault of the poster. Those who indulge in social media are the ones who have an itch to look at peoples’ every move, and are just asking for jealousy to overtake lifestyle enviers in doing so. Lifestyle envy is not just being jealous of one or two things, but the life that is lived by the individual whose profile we scroll through.

The Colonel

The jealousy is of how they live, what they do and who they meet. The feeling of wishing to swap lives with another individual is a sure sign of lifestyle envy.

According to the New York Times article by Alex Williams lifestyle envy affects “Generation X,” the adults born between 1961 and 1981, significantly more than any other generation. Not having been born into the generation with technology available from the moment they began to crawl, these adults are newer to electronics and the websites that generate this jealousy.

Once getting onto sites like Instagram and Pinterest, they’re more likely to submit to the addicting nature of the sites, therefore jealousy is much easier to come by.

Being older and around halfway done with their lives, they’ve accomplished a lot (or not) already. By seeing the lives their counterparts are living, adults become remorseful and develop lifestyle envy.

However, our generation, Generation Y, falls prey to the envy as well. According to a 2012 survey via mediabistro.com, 90% of teens use social media in some form. It becomes difficult not to be jealous when seeing what social media members have that the individual does not. It’s consistent comparison.

Whether it be viewed as bragging or competition, intentional or otherwise, the jealousy always seems to arise.

If social media weren’t as popular as it currently is, lifestyle envy might not even be a concern. Sure, in reading literature and looking at magazines and newspapers in the past people grew green with envy, but never has it been as tangible as it is now. There never has there been a platform for folks to post pictures of their wonderful lives at the touch of a button. While of course nothing is wrong with personal pride or social media as a whole, great things have the tendency to be points of admiration and envy at the same time. Lifestyle envy is the reality that comes with a technology-based society, and at this point, it’s become difficult to escape.

February 2014

16 Student Life Franklin Elementary School will be shut down after the 2013-2014 school year. Photo by Maddie Otterdaughter.

Franklin Decision Blindsides Community story | Audra Grimm

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ranklin Elementary School will be shut down after the 2013-2014 school year.

The decision to close Franklin at the conclusion of the school year was made at a board of education meeting that was open to the public on Tuesday, January 28. A vote was taken, and it was unanimously decided that Franklin was the most logical option to shut down based on enrollment decline and the cost savings.

“This is my sixth year at Franklin, and it’s the first time enrollment has dropped this low since I’ve been here. Before, we would fluctuate around 230-245 and stay consistent with Walls and Holden’s numbers.

Now we’re at around 195 kids with about 30 staff and faculty members,” said Franklin principal Todd Poole on Monday, February 3. Despite being open to the public, attendance was slightly low at the Tuesday, January 28 meeting, according to Poole. It was planned specifically to discuss cost saving measures, and one of the viable options was closing the school.

A unanimous vote was taken by the board members during Tuesday’s meeting, with the decision being approved by the board in order to completely finalize things for the record on Thursday, January 30.

Although the decision was already made, an article in the Record Courier on Thursday, January

February 2014

30 stated that it was determined an elementary school would close in the district, but which building that would be was yet to be decided. Superintendent Joe Giancola was quoted saying that “All buildings are under consideration.” However, the article also noted that other sources indicated that Franklin would close. A Record Courier reporter was not at the board meeting on Tuesday, January 28, the night the decision was made. The rumor of the closing school being Franklin was leaked, although Giancola denied that the board “took action on confidential matters” when asked by the Record Courier. According to this article, Giancola also said that “whatever decision is made, the community will be a part of that discussion.” Parents were confused by this article, seeing as they had found out the night before that the school selected would be Franklin.

Poole notified Franklin staff and faculty through a mass phone call on the night of Wednesday, January 29, and parents received a broadcast right after. “We’re just really surprised, we all feel like we’re a family and a part of this school, so it’s sad,” one teacher said. Thursday, January 30, the Franklin staff and faculty had meetings both before and after school discussing their futures, concerning whether they would have jobs after the current school year or not.

The Colonel

Student Life On Friday, January 31, the Record Courier came out with a clearer article. Along with Franklin closing, it was also said that Central School would close at the end of this school year. The decision to close the two buildings was made specifically at the Tuesday, January 28 BoE meeting. Many Franklin parents expressed their frustration with the way the situation was handled and the information given, as well as their hopes to reopen discussion on closing the school with the board, this time with community involvement. “Why were we not told this was up in the air? It’s become a trust issue,” one Franklin mother commented.

On Monday, February 3, an emergency meeting was held in Franklin’s gymnasium. In attendance was

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could not ask the community to pass another one so much sooner than had been promised. “If a drastic change like closing Franklin needed to happen, it needed to happen quickly, and we felt it best to take a vote,” Kulis said.

Board treasurer Deborah Krutz said that the new levy passed this spring breathed some life into the five year financial forecast, but the next cash deficit is just a few years away. It was anticipated that even with the levy, additional measures would need to be taken to cut costs to keep the district solvent until 2019. State support and funding is unexpectedly not keeping pace with the needs of the district either, and Kent is not getting the same large increases as other districts in Portage County. Unfortunately, there are

Timeline of events regarding the decision to close Franklin Elementary School. Design by Pat Daltorio. the board of education to present their case and reasoning, Poole, the drastic points that district enrollment has dropped, numerous other administrators from other Kent especially in Franklin, and health insurance costs have schools and many Franklin parents and teachers. been raised across the board. So, the revised forecast “The timing was hurtful and frustrating, with the inclusion of the negative impacts states that you staff and community deserved better,” board the district would see a $7.6 million deficit in 2017, chairwoman Rebekah Wright-Kulis said in her growing to $17.7 million by 2018. Franklin has annual opening remarks. According to her, at the meeting on fixed operating costs of $1956.06 per pupil, hundreds Tuesday, January 28, the board reviewed proposals for of dollars more than other elementaries in the district. cost saving measures and saw the newly revised five Enrollment has also seen a decrease in the past 20 year financial forecast, and realized the extent which years, going from 350 in 1994 to 193 in 2013-2014. would be required to meet the newly acknowledged “We take full responsibility for not being clear demands. The recently passed levy would not return in communication with [the Kent community] on the the district to solid footing, and the board knew they matter. We tried our best to be above-ground with

The Colonel

February 2014

18 Student Life communication and planning,” said board member Ryan Ferrara. One might argue that yes, the board publicized what was going on as to keep things “aboveground,” but not nearly well enough. With the board not finding out the most extreme cost saving measures allegedly until the meeting on Tuesday, January 28, nothing was said about a school closing, or two schools for that matter, being up in the air at all, it is to be expected that parents would be thoroughly angry. “If we could take everything that has happened in the past week back and rearrange it, we would,” Ferrara said.

Community Reaction

“You have evoked trauma and fear in my household, and it erases the trust we have with the board. The way this has come about is unacceptable, and we want to work with you now,” one parent directed at the board during the meeting on Monday, February 3. Another woman brought up the fact that parents district wide get a phone call every time a plastic gun is brought to elementary schools, but they cannot get a phone call to tell them an elementary is now in danger of closing before the final decision to

Overall, parents are eager to reopen discussion and figure out alternatives to Franklin closing and brought this up numerous times to the board. The process was sadly started with the community after the unanimous decision to close Franklin was made, before large group discussions could be organized.

Friends of Franklin is a community organization full of parents and any others that has been started in response to the closing of Franklin. According to Franklin mother Jill Fankhauser, they’re there to try to look into other options the board and district may have. They have requested numbers to look at in order to find reasonable alternatives to closing Franklin, and asked the board to postpone their actions in order to keep a dialogue going with the community. When asked about a plan of attack, Fankhauser replied, “We are trying to raise awareness in the community to get people to realize this is a district wide issue, not just a Franklin one.”

An article came out in the Record Courier on Wednesday, February 12 after a meeting the day before that over 300 community members attended to hear the board elaborate on what is happening. This article stated that the decision to close Franklin and Central, and Giancola is quoted saying that this decision is “not being reconsidered at this time.” Before this meeting happened, Fankhauser explained that Friends of Franklin wants the board to postpone their actions in order to work with them, figure out other cost saving alternatives and make sure the board would be saving good money with the closing. “We really are trying to work with them [the board] and we want what’s best for the kids,” she said.

The reality of this issue is that schools are closing, those being Franklin and Central. The problems the community faces now would be happening regardless of what elementary school was chosen. Franklin appears to be the logical choice, and a course of action is being taken. Further information regarding where students will be redirected is yet to come. There is only one thing left to do, and as board member Marlene Dorsey said Monday night, “We must accept it and now move forward together.”

“‘You have evoked trauma and fear in my household, and it erases the trust we have with the board.’” close is actually made. She expressed frustration in the fact that it wasn’t told to the public from the beginning that this was even up an option.

Another major point brought up by numerous parents is the fact that there is staff and faculty to worry about. Assistant Superintendent Tom Larkin maintains that the board will first look at retirement possibilities and attritions to be made, and see if certain contracts will be up soon, so hopefully some teachers would have been retiring in the near future regardless.

Then, the board would begin to look at certifications of teachers district wide. Those teachers with seniority and higher qualifications would then have the option of “bumping” other staff and faculty members who have not been with the school system for as long or are not as highly certified.

February 2014

The Colonel

News

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Strange Little Squares With Smaller Squares Inside of Them The mystery of the QR code story | Pat Daltorio

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hese perplexing little squares seem to be that it would someday replace barcodes all together. everywhere you look. They may not seem DENSO Wave decided to release the specifications like much, but there is more information of the QR code publicly so that anyone could use it contained in them than you would probably freely. QR code eventually became indispensable think. A QR code is a two-dimensional barcode used in the industry. Businesses, marketers and websites in the automotive industry for tracking components soon caught on to the helpful medium and began and vehicles during the assembly process. Several implementing them into merchandising. applications are taking advantage of the ingeniousness QR code can be interpreted even if parts of of the code. However, the continued misuse of them the multi-directional code are missing or damaged is making scanning one an inconvenience and rather through the power of Reed-Solomon code error useless in daily life. correction. Reed-Solomon code is found in many Initially, the Quick Response code, consumer electronics including CDs, DVDs abbreviated simply as QR code, was developed and even data transmission technologies such by a division of the DENSO Corporation, a as DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line. Codes that subsidiary of the Toyota Motor Corporation, have a larger area of modules include more back in 1994. The division, titled DENSO information for tracking and also provide WAVE, a subsidiary that produces automatic extra error correction. The more modules a identification products, originally designed code has, the less likely it is to be corrupted the code for high-speed scanning of vehicle because of the number of times the code is components during the manufacturing able to repeat itself inside the border. process. Its usefulness in the modern world QR code offers a wide variety of uses has only recently been discovered, and Scan this QR code for more informa- because of the speed (Quick Response) in the last few years, its popularity is in at which one can be scanned. QR code, tion about QR codes. decline. because of the use of error correction, The Japanese corporation DENSO can be scanned quickly by almost any smartphone manufactures a wide variety of mostly automotive via a scanner app. Typically, QR codes can be found components. These components are supplied to other on a variety of consumer products, business logos, automotive manufacturers where they are then used as advertisements and even public transportation tickets. parts for new cars. A few of those components are antiQR codes have the ability to be scanned by any form lock braking systems, spark plugs, windshield wipers, of optical device (i.e. scanners, cameras, lasers). fuel pumps and air conditioning units. Components Of course, for more dense versions of the QR code, like these were initially tracked via QR code, making there are industrial scanners developed by DENSO them easily identifiable by the several automatic that can scan even quicker and more accurately robotic systems used by the company. than a smartphone camera for use of businesses. A Information on a QR code is stored in a twoscanning device is needed to view larger high quality, dimensional pattern. Vertical and horizontal placement more populated squares, however these shouldn’t be of smaller squares, called modules, determine the type necessary for use in a daily application as a smartphone and amount of data that is stored on one code. The camera is usually enough to read 33x33 codes with up type and amount of data is dictated by the datatype to 50 characters. (mode or input character set), version and error Although the use of QR code is very beneficial correction level of the code. The three larger cubefor mainly businesses, it is argued that they are like structures serve as an alignment tool provided declining in popularity for personal use. In a 2012 for the scanner. With these dependencies, QR code is article for Forbes, contributor Ilya Pozin claims, capable of storing up to 1,817 Kanji and Kana Japanese “QR codes aren’t used correctly by businesses. When characters, something no other barcode has been able the codes are placed on the side of a moving tractor to accomplish. trailer, are you really reaching your target audience?”

Why are these unusual looking squares In this modern age, people simply do not have the being used in television commercials, websites and time or need to download an app and scan QR codes, advertisements? Well, because the QR code operates especially in strange locations. When QR codes are similar to how a UPC, or Universal Product Code does. misused they are eventually unused because of these UPC is a one-dimensional form of barcode, like the inconveniences.

QR code, mostly found on the bottom of household The trend of having a QR code on everything products. They are what the cashier scans when you is slowly fading away, but there are still several purchase something. Therefore, QR code, being a supportive applications that bring out the spectacular machine-readable optical label, can be used as a type of capabilities of the code. Not to mention the wide uses product identifier. Some popular applications include still available in the automotive world. Any negative advertising, product tracking and website linking. The skepticism against the QR code is not likely to damage original head developer, Masahiro Hara, had great its reputation for personal use, and they should not be confidence in the efficiency of the code, and hoped disappearing completely anytime in the near future.

February 2014

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News

Edward Snowden: A Review

Whether physically in Russia, the United States or elsewhere, he’s the center of attention story | Danylo Lavrentovich

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he future of thirty-year-old Edward Snowden is uncertain, but his actions have made indelible marks on the American political scene. He has diverted attention from pressing political issues and brought on contentious debate around the world over American domestic and foreign surveillance policies.

The former National Security Agency contractor exposed thousands of classified documents

Edward Snowden, pictured here in Russia, will be able to renew his political asylum status in August. Photo courtesy of the WikiLeaks YouTube channel.

highlighting the extent to which the agency could track citizens of the United States (and, evidently, politicians from foreign countries). Notable discoveries include PRISM, an NSA surveillance system that allows the agency to collect electronic Internet data from companies such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft with permission from a secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and XKeyScore, a system that can obtain “nearly everything a typical user does on the February 2014

internet [sic],” according to a presentation leaked by Snowden.

The United States has been clouded with a perpetual war on terrorism ever since September 11, 2001. Some supporters of the disclosed tracking programs point to the near absence of terrorist breaches in the United States since 9/11 aside from the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013.

Snowden was discovered by the public in early June of 2013 after he sent thousands of classified NSA documents to The Guardian and The Washington Post from Hong Kong. He hoped to receive political asylum in Ecuador or Iceland via a flight through Moscow, but the United States revoked his passport while he was in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. After nearly forty days inside the airport’s transit area, Snowden accepted an asylum offer from Russia.

Supporters of Snowden point to the backtracking of the Obama administration’s handling of the situation, bringing up Obama’s 2008 campaign promise of whistleblower protection. The campaign website change.gov outlined the soon-to-be-president’s agenda, which had the following written under its “Ethics” section: “Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled.”

President Obama defended the surveillance programs of the NSA in a lengthy conference on January 17, but called for some reforms. He maintained that the agency has saved countless lives, but that the bulk data on phone call information would best be moved away from the NSA and housed in private telephone companies or in a third-party agency. Viable third parties are not yet known.

Less than a week later, the President’s claims were struck down by a 3-2 decision from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that declared the illegality of the NSA’s phone collection program based on inappropriate interpretation of Section 215 The Colonel

News of the Patriot Act, which allows for the FBI to collect “tangible things” relevant to specific investigations. The NSA, which Snowden revealed was tracking emails, chats, logins and other online data (in addition to the millions of daily phone calls outlined in the PRISM program), was deemed to overreach the language of the Act. In a lengthy report, the board members stressed that they “have not identified a single instance involving a threat to the United States in which the program made a concrete difference in the outcome of a counterterrorism investigation.” The White House disagrees with the ruling and will not be following the board’s recommendation of halting the surveillance programs.

“Some say he’s a criminal, others say he’s a patriot,” Roosevelt social studies teacher Mr. Larry Picicco says.

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trial due to the country’s inadequate whistleblower laws, stressing that they do not cover government contractors.

The leaker is free to renew his status of political asylum in Russia each year until he can obtain citizenship. Snowden is reportedly living comfortably in the country and has a stable technology advising job at a major Russian website. He remains active in the worldwide discussion of his actions and the role of the United States in domestic and foreign mass surveillance, answering questions posed by Twitter users and participating in interviews.

Snowden insists that the NSA has “violated the constitution at least 120 million times under a single program, but failed to discover even a single ‘plot.’”

Picicco chose not to align with an extreme view on Snowden, but admitted that “he could have

A brief timeline of Snowden’s life. Designed by Pat Daltorio.

He adds that Snowden will be incorporated into class discussion as a “modern example of historical events,” such as the Espionage Act of 1917, which federal prosecutors are using to charge Snowden. If he were to return to the United States to a trial, he would face charges of theft of government property, “unauthorized communication of national defense information” and “willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.”

In an interview with The New Yorker on January 21, Snowden revealed that returning to the United States would be “the best resolution for the government, the public, and myself,” but stressed that it would be “impossible” without the chance of a fair The Colonel

handled the situation differently,” referring to the leaks about American foreign surveillance that may affect the security of U.S. military abroad.

While there are many attempts to delineate former NSA contractor Edward Snowden as a clearcut hero or villain, a true patriot or an anti-American plotter (with some allegations of his being a Russian spy), the contractor that was unearthed last June will remain part of the national political sphere and classroom discussion for years to come.

“At least the American public has a seat at the table now,” Snowden revealed in the interview with The New Yorker, adding that if he ends up “disgraced in a ditch somewhere, but it helps the country, it will still be worth it.”

February 2014

22

Arts & Culture

Blues to Bang Your Head To

Against Me!’s “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” not perfect, but seminal moment in punk rock’s civic history

review | Marc Blanc

T

he truth has been told, widely told: Punk music doesn’t command attention like it used to. Bands are making the leap from basement shows to Blossom Music Center less frequently than they did in the alternative ‘90s (save the ones who sell their souls), and politically the genre wields less influence than a secretary for a city councilman.

There was a time (the ‘70s and ‘80s) when the punk subculture shocked and awed the general public with music and images that screamed in the face of naive Baby Boomer ideals. There was a time when punk was important.

With the exception of Russian punks-turnedpolitical prisoners Pussy Riot, no modern band has made tremors felt above the underground quite like Florida quartet Against Me!, who verberated to the front page of CNN in 2012 when singer Laura Jane Grace announced she was a woman fronting a punk band in a man’s body. The first semi-famous transgender punk singer ripped through the rock world’s neocortex, stupefying fans of Against Me! who had known Grace as the snarling Tom Gabel for five albums since 2002. Suddenly, punk was important again. Grace was immediately celebrated as a hero of the blooming transgender movement and a punk rock goddess, and she hadn’t even released any music as a publicized woman.

Punk rockers and transgender activists alike have waited anxiously for twenty months to hear what’s been burning in Grace’s psyche her whole life.

Questions frenzied across the online music media: Will Grace’s hormone therapy affect her voice? Will her band opt for a more mainstream sound with all the attention they’ve been getting? What would it mean for punks and transgendered people if the album sucks?

The answers arrived on January 21, and they are (in order): No. No. It doesn’t suck.

“Transgender Dysphoria Blues” bites listeners by throat and proves femininity has done nothing to Grace’s ferocity; if anything she has become more intense.

Barely anything has changed in Against Me!’s sound since their last full-length, 2010’s “White February 2014

Crosses,” including Grace’s voice.

“It’s just a misconception. Hormone therapy does not change or affect your voice,” Grace clarified to National Public Radio (NPR) on January 19.

On “Transgender,” she arrives on the title track’s bridge half-yelling, half-singing in her familiar range, “You want them to see you like they see any other girl / They just see a f*ggot.” The admittedly predictable

Laura Jane Grace plays at the Against Me! concert at Dour Festival,

themes of the record are set from the opening lines; this album is about the insecurities of coming out as transgender, as well as facing the unknown paired with such a rebirth. Such themes are why this album is important and will always be important. “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” gives a brand new voice, well, more like a roar to transgender individuals everywhere. As The Colonel

Arts & Culture Grace said to NPR, “I do think it’s important to be representative, that my voice is a transgender voice, because that perspective is not something that is common in the media.” The transgender movement does have icons and beaters of the drum, but never has it been able to claim a tortured leader with the scabrous punk rock spirit that fuels Grace.

Her most cutting weapon has always been her astute, political lyrics, and so it remains. The political focus, however, is different on “Transgender.” Instead of railing against capitalism and “the State,” Grace tackles the personal politics, the politics of being accepted in a society that “holds [its] breath not to catch the sick” when she walks in public. Essentially, this album a ten-chapter diary. Had it been published as a novel, it would have been banned, best-selling and belauded.

That isn’t to say every highlight stems from Grace’s writing. Guitarist James Bowman is her vocal soulmate through every harmony while new drummer Atom Willard drives the album relentlessly forward with powerful rhythmic impetus.

Speeding on a punk-and-blues rock screwball, the band runs through the first four tracks in a manner likely to excite a seasoned punk rock listener. These leadoff tracks are also rife with delectable hooks, making them potentially iPod-worthy for people who aren’t normally into the punk music. “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” is a lead-off slugger, “True Trans Soul Rebel” is an improved electric version of an already stellar acoustic song and “Unconditional Love” sounds like a throwback to the syllable-cramming, pseudospoken word punk epitomized by legends like Richard Hell in the ‘70s.

Unfortunately the album cramps up midway on “Osama bin Laden as the Crucified Christ,” a title tragically wasted on a song that sounds like a stale Black Keys knockoff. What should be the meat of the record, tracks five through seven, are actually the weakest pieces here, as they lack the catchiness as well as the empowering bite of the starting songs.

The record never quite matches its opening section until tracks nine and ten, paying special attention to the closing number “Black Me Out,” which is the result of all the emotional paroxysms of “Transgender”: Grace’s final decision to start anew and say her farewell to Tom Gabel.

With the attention given to Against Me! over The Colonel

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the past year and a half, “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” will likely be the highest-selling album of the band’s career, and rightfully so. It is a monumental event in both punk rock and LGBT history, comparable to the stereotype-shattering of the predominantly black 1970s band Bad Brains.

After 25 minutes of self-doubt and destruction, Grace caterwauls on “Black Me Out,” “I don’t want to see the world that way anymore / I don’t want to feel that weak and insecure.” “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” is ultimately an accepting of the self and a definitive decision to take control of the future. Even the word “dysphoria” in the album’s title is the statement of a new era, as the American Psychiatric Association in 2013 used it to officially replace “disorder” in the term “gender identity dysphoria.”

This album could have been a lot of things: groundbreaking, classically feminine, perfect. But it isn’t. However, it is truly Against Me!; familiarly cathartic, catchy and deft … and it is the beginning of a new era of audacity within punk and transgender individuals worldwide. It can be purchased digitally on iTunes and totaltreble.bigcartel.com, and physically at most music stores.

Tracklist: 1. Transgender Dysphoria Blues 2. True Trans Soul Rebel 3. Unconditional Love 4. Drinking With the Jocks 5. Osama Bin Laden as the Crucified Christ 6. F**KMYLIFE666 7. Dead Friend 8. Two Coffins 9. Paralytic States 10. Black Me Out

February 2014

24

Arts & Culture

SHARDS of

contemporary spotlight | Logan Schmucker

GLASS

Who He Is Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1937, Philip Glass is a contemporary composer who not only introduced new ways for us to form music, but evolved the way in which we present music itself. As a composer, he is known for his minimalist style, which consists of the repetition of simple musical strucunique sound, composed of winds, strings and keyboards under a sound mixer.

Education

Photo courtesy of the Pace Gallery.

Painting by Chuck Close.

Glass attended both The Julliard School of Music and The University of Chicago before going to Paris to learn under Nadia Boulanger, who was also a pedagogue of Aaron Copland, the fation in the classical world.

His Work with others already on the way; and 2 concertos for violin, piano, timpani, a saxophone quartet and orchestra.

Glass received a Golden Globe Photo courtesy of LA Opera.

Faction Creative.

As If His Operas Weren’t Enough -

Glass revolutionized the music business by creating the entrepreneur-musician and inspired many musicians to follow the same idea, such as the Knights from The Colonel

February 2014

Sports

25

Wrestling mats. Photo courtesy of Wrestling Camps of America.

Wrestlers on the Rise

Pinning down the facts on the Rider wrestling squad story | Audra Grimm

“B

ut your final reward will be heartache and tears, if you’ve cheated the man in the glass.”

The wrestling team practices every day after school for two hours in a small room in the back hidden corner of Roosevelt’s gym and down a hallway they jokingly call “The Dungeon.”

Competitions this year were set up so there would be a match every Saturday for as much preparation as possible. On the off chance there’s no match, there’s lifting. Each and every wrestler is pushed to his maximum potential by teammates, coaches and most importantly, himself. They are pushed this way, all in order to prevent cheating the man in the glass.

Head wrestling coach Nic Rossiter is in his fourth season at Roosevelt, and twelfth overall.

Alongside him are coaches Wes Murphy and Joe Nichols. Together, these three men help the small but sturdy wrestling team through the wins and losses that come with all sports. What the team lacks in numbers, they make up for in strength and focus.

Twenty boys are rostered for matches, but only around twelve compete due to various reasons. Out of those twelve, the top contenders include senior Marcus Carpenter, junior Andrew Wallace, sophomores Miles Greer and Wesley “Squishy” Neff and freshman Ethan Murphy. For competitions, there are fourteen different weight classes. The range goes from 106 to 285 pounds, and the classes go up by intervals of six pounds.

Co-captain Carpenter covers the 145 area while other captain Wallace has the 126 class, and upand-coming Murphy takes care of 182. Greer and Neff, also notable contenders for their classes, cover 152 and 120, respectively. With only twelve boys to compete against other schools, there isn’t one wrestler for each of the fourteen classes. So, those who wrestle must perform strongly to bring home wins for themselves and the team, as numbers already put the Riders at a small disadvantage.

Like most other Kent teams, wrestling competes in the Portage Trail Conference against Field, Crestwood, Ravenna, Coventry and Norton. The PTC tournament happened January 31 and February 1. As a team, Roosevelt did not place.

Although Kent is in the Metro division, Rootstown, Mogadore, Woodridge, Waterloo and Southeast all compete at the final tournament along with the formerly mentioned schools. When asked February 2014

how he expects the squad to do, Coach Rossiter responded, “We’re going to come to compete just like normal. We’ve seen most of the teams before and know how we match up against them. If we come to compete as usual, we should fare well.”

Roosevelt wrestlers hold bragging rights to individual placing at the PTC tournament. Junior Sean Miller at 220 pounds took sixth, freshman Murphy placed fifth at 182 pounds, senior Carpenter at 145 pounds came in at sixth and junior Wallace placed first in the 126 weight class. Wallace is the school’s first individual PTC champion since 2009, taking gold against Norton senior Alan Beddow. The final score of the tight match was 8-5. “I owe all of this to the support of my parents, teammates and coaches, especially Rossiter,” said Wallace.

Although this year’s squad is relatively small, the team has improved mainly in numbers and initiative.

“The younger kids are really stepping up, that’s where our numbers are now. We had 13 boys last year and now we have 20,” said Rossiter. Carpenter, Wallace, Murphy and Coach Rossiter all share a common hope: to stay healthy to the season’s end. The regular season closed with PTCs, now the goal, Rossiter said, is to get the individual boys to states.

One major obstacle wrestlers must bypass in order to even compete is having to make weight. Before each match, every competitor has to strip down to the lightest amount of clothing they have on and step up to the scale. The moment of truth: you must weigh according to what weight class you are scheduled to wrestle in. Otherwise, you’re out for the day. There are many rumors floating around as to how wrestlers make weight, some a bit wacky.

Common ideas include spitting in a cup on competition day constantly, chewing bubblegum, shaving all the hair on your head off during the season or running. Coach Rossiter explains that one morning the day of a match, he met one of his wrestlers at school at 4:30 AM to workout with him in order for the wrestler to make weight for that day’s competition.

“Never wear socks to weigh in, it’s bad juju,” add Carpenter and Wallace. Wallace and Carpenter also mention that you could sleep really cold to shiver off calories, or sleep really hot in order to sweat them off.

Many may think these measures are extreme, but to wrestlers, they’re a way of life during the season.

The Colonel

26

Sports

Fireworks are seen over the Olympic Park during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Photo courtesy of New York Times photographer Josh Haner.

2014 Winter Olympics Overview

Which athletes to watch and how a controversial Games still manages to unify the world story | Ben Chaykowski

T

here are not many events that the whole world gets to look forward to, but there is an event happening this month that has an incredible amount of people talking. This event is the Winter Olympics, held in Sochi, Russia, started on February 7 and ending on February 23. The Winter Olympics include many different variations of sports such as skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, bobsledding and more.

The sports that the Winter Olympics showcase are completely different from the Summer Olympics.

For instance, the Winter Olympics have roughly 2,800 participants this year and the 2012 Summer Olympics had over 10,000 athletes participating. Also, the Winter Olympic Games have been hosted 22 times compared to the Summer Olympics’ 30. To go along with this, there are 98 events in seven sports in the Winter Olympics and there are 302 events in 26 sports in the Summer Olympics. The Summer Olympic Games are known to be more widely regarded for this reason and also for the fact that the 2012 Summer Olympic Games broke the record for most viewed event in U.S. television history with 219.4 million viewers while there were only 190 million viewers of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. However, the Winter Olympic Games give the sports and athletes they showcase more of a spotlight because there is not as much to cover in terms of the number of sports and athletes involved.

Many talented athletes have a chance to show the whole world what they are capable of and how hard they have worked to be able to represent their country through sports. Also, the Olympics offer all people a chance to come together and enjoy something special regardless of their race or gender. The Olympics can inspire many people to do their best and make the most of their own abilities. Many athletes who are participating in the Olympic Games are buzzing in the news and in all other types of media because of their tremendous talent in each of their own sports. The amount of athletes and events have actually increased these Winter Olympic Games compared to 2010’s Winter Olympic Games. The amount of athletes has

February 2014

increased from about 2,500 to about 2,800, and the amount of events has increased from 86 to 98. Some of the well-known Americans participating in the Winter Olympics include Ted Ligety, Hannah Kearney, Shani Davis and Shaun White. Each of those athletes won gold medals at past Olympic events. There are also plenty of American sportspersons on the rise and trying new individual events who are anticipated to have good showings at the Olympics. These athletes include Gracie Gold, Mikaela Shiffrin, Ashley Wagner, Arielle Gold, Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Max Aaron, Elena Hight, Jamie Anderson, JR Celski, Tim Burke, Noelle Pikus and Sarah Hendrickson. Americans have been known to fare well in the Winter Olympic Games, having the second highest medal count behind Norway with 253 total medals in overall medals earned.

Many people who do not necessarily consider themselves sports lovers still find inspiration and reasons to appreciate the Olympic Games because they are a worldwide celebration of hard work and talent. The games bring all people together because they have citizens who represent their country in a positive manner, and that really is something to take pride in no matter what. The games really make people proud to be a part of the country they are from and that is something truly amazing. The Olympics also help countries understand and become more knowledgeable of each other, and that forms a bond or a mutual respect of sorts. Even if a country does not perform well, they still have given the world a positive image of their citizens because of this. In other words, every country and every person has something to take pride in and has goals to keep striving for. You can see this feeling of togetherness when you see athletes from other countries congratulating each other and hugging regardless of where they finished in their events. Motivation and inspiration of how to live your life can be found in the Olympics. Knowledge of all these talented athletes and the sports can also be drawn from watching the Winter Olympic Games. It is most definitely entertaining and well worth the time.

The Colonel

Leisure

27

Hallway Habitation With Sydnie Barnette What would your rapper name be?

Principal Bob Klinar:

Sophomore Jordyn Kapis:

Junior Andrew Wallace: Swag Money Yolo

Senior Michelle Clark: No Idea

Sophomore Brianna Billock:

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Leisure

Fire codes have been enforced more strictly this year. Be a teacher and decorate roughly twenty percent of the classroom walls and ceiling.

coloring page drawing | Sydnie Barnette

29 Colonel Issue Four Crossword Leisure

compiled by | Danylo Lavrentovich designed by | Maddie Otterdaughter

Note: All answers can be found within the issue.

Across

2. The National Center for ________ Statistics 6. The group that unveiled a bill that was passed by a 68-32 vote in the Senate in April 2013 (three words, no spaces) 7. There are _______-________ different events in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games 8. A system that can obtain ‘nearly everything a typical user does on the internet’ 11. Roosevelt’s first individual PTC wrestling champion since 2009 (two words, no spaces) 13. Children born from the early 1960s to the early 1980s belong to this group, according to some demographers (two words) 15. Interim orchestra director Mark Alan Schulz is a professor at ______ University 16. Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was ruled unconstitutional in United States v. _______ 17. First name of the original head developer of QR codes 18. “______ on the Beach” is a 1975 Philip Glass opera

Down 1. Grandmaster Bobby-K 3. French writer who had a liking for love triangles 4. The Committee on Admission with _________ _________ performed a study that would lead to the creation of the AP program (two words, no spaces) 5. The first YouTube channel in history to have reruns similar to cable television shows 9. Number of states where same sex marriage is legal (excluding Washington D.C.) 10. Guitarist of the band that released the song “Dead Friend” (two words, no spaces) 12. Kent Board of Education chairwoman Rebekah ________-________ (no spaces) 14. Birthplace of Kendrick Lamar Duckworth

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