“taking, sharing or keeping nude photographs” “fear of being accused of sexual harassment” “system sets the scenario for the accusers to be vulnerable” “in a very different media and cultural environment” “life even harder for women”
“changes can be subtle but insidious” “had raped her when he was a doctoral candidate” “making public a long and sordid history of transgressions” “expose persistent sexual harassment in their industry”
HANDS OFF WEST
The talk over sexual harassment goes on in a changing world
ALBANY DECEMBER 2018 / ISSUE 2
HOLIDAYS How the WAHS community spends this season
THE TALK
The obligations parents have to their kids regarding sex education
RUNNERS UP The journey to varsity starts early for some, while others struggle
A COOK’S AMBITION Story on page 31
CONTENTS News
Sports
4-5
20-21
EDUCATION
The problem with school absences
6
FLU VACCINE+ DEMOGRAPHICS
Is the flu vacine effective? The lack of diversity at West
Albany
7
RECURRING
Wildfires, the flu, the tradition of the Sharing Tree
16-17
SPECIAL
THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID
17 T H E
LEGAL SIDE
Terms and how they are applied
The legal definitions of sexual asault terms and how they are applied
18 H E
18 A R T I F I C A L
SAID HE SAID
What does consent and sexual assault mean to male students
ENTERTAINMENT
The effects of pornography on youth
“We’ve dedicated so much time and effort into the program to better ourselves and have the potential to pursue what we CAEDEN ZAMORA wanted to accomplish.” SOPHOMORE page 20
The Whirlwind would like to thank to following 2018-2019 sponsors BULLDOG LEVEL
Baldwin General Contracting Danielle Budlong Dick Olsen
GOLD LEVEL
Anonymous Charlotte and Frank Cline Eclectic Zebra Elton & Kara Strametz
Heidi Litchfield M&M
BLUE LEVEL
Al Serverson Amber Ferguson Christopher Bright Jane Marshall Maestro Beiser
2 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
RUNNERS UP
About those who dont play in varsity games based on age
22 S P O R T S INJURIES
The mental block that comes with injuries
23
SWIM SIBS
The story of two pairs of siblings on one team
8-9
HOLIDAY TRADITIONS
24-25
How different members of the WAHS community spend this season
How sports have changed ver time and how they are different from other schools
Opinion
Entertainment
10
THE TALK
27
11
SATIRE
The absence of “the talk” creating a climate for sexual assuait
SPORTS OVER TIME
YOUTUBE
Students produce and consume content on YouTube
28 -29
HOLIDAY SEASON
How ironic teen depression leaves those truly suffering behind
Holiday traditions and activities in and around the WAHS community
12-13
30 D U N G E O N S AND DRAGONS
HATE CRIMES
How soical media influences hate crimes
14
AP STUDENTS
How AP students are juggling their classes and extra cirriculars
Correction from Oct Issue The statistics used in “The Narcotic Generation” were collected using biased methods.
Advertisement Contact your audience by advertising in our magazine. We reach thousands of WAHS students, faculty members, and community members with six magazines a year.
All about one of our school’s lesser known clubs
31
BISTRO
How one student found a passion in cooking THE WHIRLWIND is a dedicated student forum. Content and editorial decisions are made by student staff members exercising their rights as protected by the First Amendment and the Oregon Student Free Expression Law (Ore. Rev. Stat. sec. 336.477 (2007)). Opinions are those of The Whirlwind staff and not West Albany High School or the Greater Albany Public School District.
d t s f r t n w 7 f t r c
WHIRLWIND STAFF
New Season New News
Although, there may not be any snow falling Winter Talent Show, the winter season is quite from the sky, the winter season is upon us. Fall busy here at West. sports have come to a close, and winter sports, Even though it’s great to be joyful during such as swimming, basketball, and wrestling, the happiest time of the year, it is also important are starting up. In this issue, the sports section to stay conscious of the real issues in the world touches up on varsity athletes, and what they surrounding us. The special report in this maghave overcome in order to better themselves, azine explores sexual harassment and the comwhile also highlighting sibling relaplex and sensitive details of the topic. L E T T E R F R O M We hope you enjoy this copy of the tionships on the swim team. With the holiday season right T H E E D I T O R S Whirlwind, and remember, although around the corner, we examine some students’ we address some truly uncomfortable things, at family traditions for the holidays, while also giv- the end of the day, we hope the special report ing you the top student-rated Christmas songs and the rest of the sections make a compelling for your enjoyment. While the holidays are great and thought-provoking magazine to read. to enjoy outside school, WAHS has a lot to offer We hope you enjoy your winter break. Happy this season. Between the Sharing Tree and the Holidays and Happy New Year! CONTACT US
FIND US ONLINE
Correct i on s and L etter s to the Editor s
Pl ease send co r r e ct i o n s o r co m m e n t s o n thi s i ssu e to: wa hs whi r l wi nd @ g m a i l . com Stories from other issues and exclusive online content avaliable at W A H S W H I R L W I N D . C O M
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Megan Carroll Braxton Reece MANAGING EDITORS Hayley-Mae Harlan Patrick Spence COPY EDITORS Emily Haarstad Mattea Hellman BUSINESS MANAGER Preet Dhaliwal ART DIRECTOR Maggie Bedrin SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Alizah Bueno PHOTO/MULTIMEDIA Jakob Jones Karissa Lamonte NEWS Malachi Murphy Amber Stefan OPINION Jonathan Perkins Kailee Young SPORTS Jordan Andreas Gabrielle Budlong ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Kaden Strametz Jenna Thomas SPECIAL Sydney Morgan Jaden Rodriguez STAFF Aisling Malone Grey Nazarian Lajla Raske Dezmond Remington Cheyenne Such Corbin Ulibarri Emmalynn Weible Abigail Winter Isabel Zerr ADVISERS Michelle Balmeo Dena Minato
Hours
Tuesday - Saturday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sunday - Monday Closed
Contact Information (541) 704-1128
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thefirstburger.com 210 1st Ave W, Albany, Oregon 97321 DECEMBER 2018 / THE WHIRLWIND 3
TItLE
NEWS
REPORT CARD
Oregon schools have a history of poor graduation rates, test performance. Where does WAHS stand and what is the path forward?
O
BY Patrick Spence
E V E R Y Y E A R , O R E G O N releases an assessment of each school’s educational performance. For decades, Oregon has long been criticized for its education system, which has had graduation rates chronically below almost every other state in the nation. Our graduation rates, long stuck below 80 percent, have barely budged upward despite continual pledges on the state and local level to do so. Student proficiency in language arts and mathematics remain consistently low. Oregon has some of the nation’s shortest school years and largest class sizes; correspondingly, the results are, according to State Representative Dan Rayfield, “clearly bad for students.” The state government has made strides to counteract this, dedicating the needed funds toward education. Nevertheless, while the state government’s budget over the past year increased funding to education statewide, a smaller amount remained per student once accounting for increased overhead, which came predominantly in the form of increased pensions-an expenditure which Rayfield expects to remain high for the next several years. Granted, it is important to not view Oregon in a vacuum. Unskewing the data shows Oregon is not such a bad performer--or rather, the rest of the country is worse than otherwise thought in relation to Oregon. Rayfield suggested help is on the way. Oregon Governor Kate Brown has released her proposed budget, which will raise spending on public education to around half the statewide budget. This would mirror actions taken by Georgia, which has risen to be one of the nation’s top performing states when it comes to student educational outcomes. This could reduce class sizes, expand public preschool, and give students more opportunities, in and out of school, to specialize in dozens of fields. Kim Butzner, member of the Greater Albany Public Schools school board, noted “nobody really knows why Oregon chronically underperforms other states ed4 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
Going forward, the governor’s proposed ucationally. It’s truly systemic.” According to the most recent statewide school report budget dedicates funds toward reducing card, issued this month, Albany schools class sizes, gets more support staff into have been out performing statewide schools, and adds more extracurricular benchmarks. However, last year, Albany programs. Nevertheless, future education did worse in many areas than in the sever- reform is going to take a lot to bring all al years prior. Middle schools in particular Oregon schools to where they must be for have underperformed, leaving incoming better student outcomes. high schoolers unprepared academically. Over the past several years, many students have entered high school unprepared for the course load and expectations, and have begun failing their classes at very high rates. Compounding all this is a wave of behavior issues in lower grades which may affect school performance for years to come, as they divert attention and resources from academic performance. Statewide data provided by WHY ARE STUDENTS MOST LIKELY TO MISS SCHOOL? WA H S adminis43% 15% 22% 20% tration shows ILLNESS ACTIVITIES APPOINTMENTS NOT WANTING TO GO o u r school WHAT WOULD MAKE STUDENTS ATTEND SCHOOL MORE? r o u tinely p e r 14% 20% 18% 10% 22% 18% forms amongst START TIME SOCIAL TEACHERS FACILITIES WORKLOAD OFFERINGS the top According to data taken from The Whirlwind’s survey dozen large of 112 WAHS students, most students who miss school do schools in so because of illness or appointments. However, a full Oregon. Not 20 percent of students say they would be most likely to only do we miss school because they do not feel like coming, a high have top-tier number which lines up with closely corresponds with the graduation rates, 23percent of students who are chronically absent. but our students are Students gave varying answers as to what more prepared than would make them attend school more often, most when leaving high but they can be broken down into the categoschool. The vast majority ries shown above. The most frequently requested individual change was to move to a later of students leaving school start time, followed by having more engaging going to university, a commuclasses and having better food served in the nity college, or a trade school. cafeteria.
i m y s b 2
o n l m
a s n
O
?
y o l o h e
ON THE CLOCK
Many students regularly miss school. How does this occur and why does it matter?
BY Emmalynn Weible
CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM is a problem all schools face. If a student misses more than 10 percent of the school year, they are considered chronically absent. WAHS has 23 percent of its students being chronically absent: approximately 293 students. Carla Wade, an Oregon Department of Education official, claims communities need to look deeper into what is causing low attendance rates in order to help get more kids to school. “Reducing chronic absenteeism requires all of us to do our part,” said Wade as she suggests a probable solution. “Schools need to make sure students are welcomed and engaged, families need to recognize the importance of attendance, and every community needs to look at local barriers that can impact a student attendance.” Wade’s comments parallel those from Student Body President Conner Rice. When asked about the severity of chronic absenteeism at WAHS specifically, Rice believes “it could be a large issue, [but] it depends on how you look at it.” He further mentioned advertising the consequences could spark improvement with attendance, and WAHS has sufficient staff to support students struggling with maintaining good attendance. Rice touched up on extracurriculars in relation to student-driven success. Getting involved with
clubs, sports, or classes that include extracurricular activity can encourage students to come to school. According to junior Counselor Ryan Graham, demographics such as income, marital status, and average family size can play a role in attendance issues. Commenting on West Albany’s stance on demographics, Graham said, “Anything that is a distraction is something we will battle against.” Graham explained demographics definitely play a part in attendance, but WAHS does have a program to help prioritize student success and attendance. FACT is a program created in 2002 to help students with mental health issues and disabilities, according to their website. Stated by Graham, a few students have gotten public bus passes to be able to get to school on time. Getting kids to school and engaged, as Rice mentioned earlier, is a priority. Graham agrees: “Kids who are more invested in school have higher attendance rates.” Wade, Rice, and Graham all agree: investment in school, support from and for families, and recognition of specific barriers are all a part of the answer to improve attendance.
WHITE WASHED
Minority student performance, satisfaction remains relatively high despite small numbers BY Malachi Murphy
Y O U R L I F E , S I M I L A R A T S C H O O L and at home, following the same customs at each, and having parents and a community that understands the problems at both can be a luxury most don’t understand. However, West Albay’s report isn’t as gloomy, as many faculty and ex students agree upon a culture of acceptance. Elvia Cortes, an ex student of West and current enrollee of South feels that although South may have better cultural programs, West, as she describes, has “a lot more school spirit,” which she feels is more appealing to her. West Albany, although full of school spirit, is a predominantly white school, and has stayed within a margin of four percent change since 2015. State report cards cite West Albany’s student population as being 81 percent white in 2015, 79 percent in 2016, and 78 percent currently. Although there was a very small drop in the white population, populations of Hispanic and Latino students have only grown one percent total in the past three years; other demographics such as African American and Asian populations stayed constant at one percent. Only multi-racial demographics at our school have grown constantly, with one percent every year since 2015. In 2015, the amount of languages spoken at West Albany was nine, jumping to 12 in the 2016-2017 school year, and staying the same up to last year, 2018; also seen on the state report cards for West. Similarly, our “Ever-English Learners,” those who are learning English as a secondary language, jumped from less than five percent to five percent the same year as the number of languages spoken at West increased to 12. Ever-English Learner populations have stayed constant since 2016-2017 as well. Teachers at West are even more disproportionately white as well, according to our school’s state report card. Our teachers are 96 percent white, three percent multiracial and one percent Hispanic/Latino. Anyone can access this information through the WAHS website, under students and parents, with the only year that teacher demographic data is available is the 2017-2018 year. Psychology teacher Kyle Hall confirms that students could feel ostracized for their culture if they are not surrounded by like-minded people. “If you don’t feel like you belong; we as humans are always searching for groups to associate with [...] if not, then yeah, it could probably be a bad thing.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
NEWS / THE WHIRLWIND 5
Dis-eased Is the flu vaccine safe? BY Dezmond Remington
T H E S A F E T Y of the flu vaccine has been a highly debated topic. From it being a health necessity to causing autism, all avenues have been explored. However, for most people, “The flu vaccine is safe,” said West Albany graduate and dermatologist Dr. Patricia O’Hare. Due to the fear revolving around getting a vaccine, many people have chosen to not get the vaccine. However, according to O’Hare, “For society in general it’s good, because then you are protecting the people who are weaker from getting sick,” but also “It’s important for the individual health so that you don’t get the flu, and, if you do, it reduces the [statistical severeness] by 60 percent.” The flu is “not a fun disease,” according to Dr. O’Hare. Although many people disregard its harmfulness, it can be deadly. O’Hare explained the symptoms. “It can take weeks to get better. If you are not lucky, you can get hospitalized, pneumonia, encephalitis around the brain, your muscle can break down, you can die.” However, for some people, the vaccine is not a viable option. Many people have allergies that prevent them from getting the vaccine, such as an egg allergy. “If you have a severe egg allergy, you shouldn’t get it; if your immune system is compromised you shouldn’t get it… children under six months of age shouldn’t get it,” said Dr. O’Hare. Although many people do not get the vaccine for health reasons, quite a few people, because of their fear of needles do not get the vaccine. In fact, so many people have this fear that alternatives to using needles have been developed. Such as “A FluMist that they can spray up the nose that
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
However, Hall believes that this should not affect students here. “I think, for the most part, we’re pretty inclusive of everybody.” “I feel like in our school, [...] it’s [not] as big of a deal. I feel like people are, for the 6 THE WHIRLWIND / December 2017
does not have a needle.” Although only certain age ranges can get it, “The majority of high school students would be eligible for that,” explained O’Hare. There are adverse effects for some people without these phobias or allergies, however. The flu shot can “give you a little bit of tenderness in the arm right then,” says O’Hare, and “sometimes you can get a low-grade fever.” In extremely rare cases, the person getting the vaccine can get a condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is where the immune system begins attacking the nerves in the body, causing weakness and paralysis, “But that’s really rare,” she said. For many people in other regions the flu vaccine is not easily obtained for many reasons, including poverty and lack of said HISTORY OF THE VACCINE
1600s
China; inoculation against smallpox begins.
1800s; Louis
Pasteur invents the vaccines for anthrax and chicken cholera.
1798
; first vaccine used in England, by Edward Jenner.
1938
, the In first flu vaccine was developed.
1979
In , the smallpox is eradicated.
All timeline information from immune.org.nz
most part, more progressive, and they’re more open to accepting people for who they are,” he added. In case someone felt like transferring to South Albany, Hall says he feels there are a variety of programs for Hispanic and Latino populations, as to assure their comfort
vaccine. In the United States, the flu vaccine is, for most people, “readily accessible,” according to O’Hare. “If you can’t get it through your family health care, you can go to a pharmacy without a prescription and get one, and most insurances cover it 100 percent.” Even with the accessibility, alternative options, and incentive against death, many people do not get the flu vaccine. Most do not get it “for personal reasons,” noted Dr. O’ Hare. “Some people may say they’re afraid of needles, they may say the flu shot will give me the flu.” As safe as the flu vaccine is, they “May not know how easy [the flu] is to get,” Dr. O’Hare observed. West Albany sophomore Bobae Kim believes that people should get the vaccine. “I’ve always gotten the flu vaccine,” Kim said. “I’ve gotten it since I was a kid.” In an era where many people believe vaccines cause autism, not vaccinating a child is “stupid,” said Kim. He continued, elaborating about the relative risks of the flu shot. “If I was an adult, and my kid is born, I would rather him live more than five years and get a flu shot, with a 0.000001 percent chance of getting autism, than die at age three.” Not just the students at West Albany, however, believe the flu vaccine is a necessity. “I believe in vaccines,” said choir teacher Cate Caffarella. “I think the research is pretty clear.” Although Caffarella said that not only does the vaccine “Keep the student health up,” it also benefits the staff. “When a teacher has a student who is missing class, it is the teacher’s responsibility to get the content the student has missed to the student. [The teacher] has to take their own time to bring the student up to speed.” Moreover, the vaccine helps the school in general, according to Caffarella. The school is “Reliant on the group. When [people] miss, it impacts everyone around them.”
in their school environment. Hall references Marshall’s latino club as a possibility for students who need help fitting in. “I would make sure that they have tried things and got connected to Jane Marshall who has created a Latino Club and has definitely created like a home base for those kids.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Average deaths caused by the flu BY Grey Nazarian
With the new flu season upon us, many people are contracting the illness. However, the number of influenza-related deaths this season has dropped dramatically since last year. According to the Center for Disease Control, the 2017-2018 flu season had 80,000 deaths caused by influenza, which was the most fatal since 1976. Each year, the flu vaccine is changed in an attempt to be more effective, but according to Time magazine, the 20172018 flu season vaccine was only effective on 30 percent of viruses.
WHAT’S NEXT?
FLASHBACK
SAFETY FIRST
Whether it be campfires, fireworks, or simply discarding a lit cigarette, National Geographic says over 95 percent of all wildfires are caused by people. Simple human actions can quickly build into severe and destructive wildfires, such as the recent California Thomas fires in Ventura and Santa
NPS/ROSS WILMORE
Barbara. To prevent future wildfires, one should completely extinguish cigarettes, avoid backyard burning when there is wind, never leave a fire unattended, and keep caution
STILL SHARING, 30 YEARS LATER This holiday season, WAHS continues their annual tradition of the “Sharing Tree.” With the spirit of the winter holidays comes support for those nearest to the community. This school tradition has been carried on for generations--benefiting those in the community. Back in a 1988 Whirlwind article, the Sharing Tree was featured and still shown as a strong tradition for those at WAHS. The same tradition continues today as many get the opportunity to share holiday spirit.
in mind while handling anything flammable. NEWS / THE WHIRLWIND 7
Winter at West
Christmas isn’t the only holiday celebrated by students; there are a variety of others to explore.
BY Alizah Bueno and Amber Stefan
T H E S U N W A S S L O W L Y starting to set. The sun’s light that once shined over the energetic and festive city was leaving its post and handing that responsibility over to the moon. After the moon rose, its light started to broaden its reach to cover the whole night sky. A single girl stared out the living room window hoping to spot the first star that takes its place on the black canvas. The first star signals the start of the annual Christmas Eve dinner. Her family waits for the star to honor it when it guided the three kings to the newborn baby Jesus. Zuzanna Karwaninska was this young girl who waited for the start of the late holiday. Karwaninska is a Roman Catholic, and she still celebrates the Christmas that people in America celebrate today, but it’s just a little but different. The Christmas that many celebrate in America is different than the one celebrated in Poland. The Polish way of Christmas lasts a total of three days. The table where the family eats has a tablecloth that will usually cover the whole surface. Under that table cloth will lie hay that symbolizes the manger baby Jesus once lay on. Her family will make a total of 12 dishes that honor the disciples that would help Jesus in his teachings of God. Usually someone will make a kind of dumplings and one of those dumplings would hold a small pepper inside. Once that pepper is served, the person who gets it is rewarded with the 8 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
luck of marriage in the next year. Another holiday celebrated is Chanukah, the non-anglicized version of Hanukkah. Emily Molinar describes the holiday
“Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu l’hadlik ner shel Chanukah”
Emily Molinar Senior
as “the miracle of our history.” This miracle is from the Maccabees recovery of their temple where they found a day’s worth of oil that lasted for eight nights. Like Hanukkah, the holiday lasts for eight days. During these eight days, Emily says her family “is entirely kosher.” To be considered kosher, a food must be deemed as “pure,” so, Emily and her family are a little more limited on their meals. The “pure” foods can include fish (that have fins and scales), mammals that chew their cud and are cloven-hoofed, and specific poultry, such as chicken or duck. Chanukah began on Dec. 2 and continued through Dec. 10. On the first night,
the first two candles on the menorah are lit. The first candle is the shamash, or servant candle, which is used to light the rest of the candles over the holiday. After lighting each candle, Emily and her family would recite a Hebrew blessing. The blessing for the first night roughly translates to “Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to kindle the Chanukah lights.” There are different blessings for each day as the holiday continues. Jane Marshall, a study skills teacher, celebrates the holiday Epiphany. Epiphany is a Greek Orthodox holiday and is celebrated on Jan. 6. The holiday commemorates the day the three wise men, or kings, arrive to see baby Jesus. According to tradition, a person isn’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays for two months before the holiday. During this holiday, Marshall buys the “King’s cake” to introduce students to this holiday. Somewhere in the cake, there is a tiny baby figurine. The person who gets the slice with the figurine traditionally must make a feast for everyone before Easter. The students will come in during lunch and each one can get a piece of the “King’s Cake.” The holiday is not a replacement of Christmas; it is just an additional holiday which follows Christmas. Although Christmas is the most widely celebrated holiday, but there are other holidays celebrated by students.
.
g d
Photo Credit: Emily Molinar
Photo Credit:
Emily Molinar Senior
Emily Molinar celebrates the non-anglicized version of Hanukkah, Chanukah. It celebrates the miracle of the Maccabees’ recovery of their temple where they found a day’s worth of oil that lasted for 7-8 nights. Each night they recite a Hebrew Prayer. “Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu l’hadlik ner shel Chanukah.”
Zuzanna Karwaninska
Zuzanna Karwaninska Junior
Zuzanna Karwaninska celebrates Christmas. However, she celebrates a different form of Christmas. This holiday lasts for three days starting on the 24th of December when they see the first star.
STUDENT TRADITIONS
-
”
“Dinner, Baking, Zoolights”
“Decorating the tree”
Photo Credit: Jane Marshall
Marisol Hernandez-Donato Senior
Jane Marshall, a study skills teacher, celebrates a lesser known holiday of Epiphany. During this holiday Marshall buys this cake to expose students to this holiday. In the cake, a tiny baby figurine is somewhere in the cake. The person that gets the slice with the figurine traditionally must make a feast for everyone before Easter.
ACCORDING TO A SURVEY OF 74 STUDENTS CONDUCTED BY THE WHIRLWIND STAFF THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS THAT CELEBRATE... CHRISTMAS:
-
BODHISTTVA:
s e a -
e s a s t .
y -
y
59
(A Roman Catholic/Christian holiday) (82 percent)
“Christmas morning present opening and breakfast” “German Pickle”
HANAKKUH: “Midnight Mass”
(A Jewish holiday) (0.01 pecent)
1
OTHER HOLIDAYS:
“Homemade Christmas ornaments”
“Getting PJs on Christmas Eve”
1
(A Buddhist holiday) (0.01 percent)
9
(11 percent)
“Elf on a shelf”
NOTHING: (0.5 percent)
4
NEWS / THE WHIRLWIND 9
dri Be ie gg Ma
Let’s Have
THE TALK.
Maggie Bedrin
n
OPINION
The absence of the talk with parents, in schools, and in entertainment is affecting how people perceive sexual relationships “WHY DIDN’T YOU WRITE me,” Allie yells at Duke through the rain. “It wasn’t over for me,” she states, almost about to cry. When it seems they are about to call it off for good, Duke screams back, “I did write you,” and then he grabs her by the waist and pulls her in for a kiss. No talk of consent, no asking first. This is how many movies and TV shows in today’s climate show any kind of romantic relationship. However, in the real world, the kiss, the advance, the push onto the bed might be unwanted and could be seen as sexual assault. There needs to be a change among parents, schools and in Hollywood’s movies and TV shows to teach people of consent. Consent is the only reliable way to know if the sexual contact is unwanted. Consent, is the act of asking for permission to do something, and it is the difference between thinking that someone is not sexually assaulting another person and knowing they are not. The lack of talking about what consent is and what it actually means, mixed with Hollywood’s twisted idea of romance has created a perfect climate for sexual assault to occur. According to a poll done by Planned Parenthood, about 82 percent of parents have had a sex talk with their child. However only 74 percent of parents talk about how to say no, and only 60 percent are talking about forms of protection. Fifty four percent of parents said they are
uncomfortable talking about sex to their young adults. This leaves a majority of young adults with no talk of consent, as a majority of states do not require it in sex education, according to the Center for America . Parents need to talk to their young adults about consent- about what it means and how to properly get consent. They EDITORIAL The opinion of The Whirlwind editorial board
need to discuss with their children about how to talk with their partner before sex and what exactly should be talked about. In the United States, only 24 states and the District of Columbia mandate that young adults have sex education. According to the Center for American progress only 10 of these states require teaching about consent. Covering consent in school is an important step because some young adults may not fully understand what their parents are talking about, and putting it in a new perspective can help them fully understand the idea of consent. We need to put proper sex education in schools because, let’s face it, not every school has a Bornheimer who can still effectively teach sexual education with all of the states requirements and restrictions.
Parents and schools working together to teach young adults about consent can help lessen the threat of sexual assault, but the idea of what sex should look like is left up to the impression set by Hollywood. Movies and TV shows need to show how the talks of consent and protection should be done. Instead of leaving this part off screen, showing the talk will help influence viewers to also talk to their partners before sex. Before the characters are shown kissing, touching, and pushing each other into walls there needs to be some kind of talk between the two. While it doesn’t seem like a lot can be done to change what Hollywood produces, in the last year a big change has already been made in response to consumer pressure. An example of a change made by consumers is when pressure was put on Hollywood about its representation of minorities. Many movie makers are now bringing in more minorities to the script, and big strides have been made to not depict minorities in a negative light. Consumers could apply this same pressure to Hollywood now to make them become more aware of the message that their sex scenes have on young adults. As a society we can no longer allow people to be sexually assaulted. We need to change the way sex and romantic relationships are shown on screen. We must offer better sex education in our schools and parents need to actually talk to their young ones about sex. This is what will make a change.
How do you feel about the way sex is protrayed in movies and TV shows? “It doesn’t talk about [consent], it just gets to it. There is no love involved, it’s just sex.” Sophomore
Brenden Harding
10 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
“I feel like it focuses more on the guy instead of the girl. Men finish quickly and then that’s it, it’s done. It’s not romantic.” Junior
Serena Estep
“I feel like it is really women centered. They show a lot of women genitalia and I take offense to that. It doesn’t even add to the plot.” Senior
Emma Crushing
Wall of Illusion
Kids are making it a trend to be depressed, leaving those actually depressed behind By Jonathan Perkins
nuclear bombing in Hiroshima? Teens being depressed. It’s disgusting how this has not been addressed. It’s more of a M a g g i e B e d r i n relevant joke than an actual matter. A lot of people act like it’s a broken foot, when in reality it’s a stubbed toe. Still hurts, but there’s no reason to scream.All jokes aside, this is currently the biggest problem in the U.S— if not the world. Since no one is trying to solve this issue, I, a simple, humble man, will solve the world’s biggest problem. Thank me later. There is an easy solution to fix a world of depressed people: get rid of them all. There can’t be depression if no one is alive. I will invent a device that can detect depression. This device will also be able to detect if babies will grow into a depressed state when they mature. I will issue a law that babies destined to be depressed will be thrown away, disappear, cease to exist, vanish, and or no longer be of importance. The
parents will be given a five dollar bill in return for their pain and suffering for the loss of their child; this way, we can stop any oncoming generation of newly depressed children. Yet, this would still leave a massive part of the population left needing to be fixed. Next, I will attack the school education system. Every teen in school—whether it’s homeschooling, private schools, public schools, or any other sort of schooling—starting when the child turns 12, must go through a depression scanning. If the child is deemed depressed, they will go through a series of torture till proven happy. They have 12 weeks for change, otherwise, a fiery death awaits them. Don’t worry, they will be asleep when this happens. Dealing with the adults will be challenging, to say the least. In order to group them, I will send them to an island in the middle of nowhere. I will enforce a depression police force who have the right to scan anyone they find suspicious with the device I invented. If they are guilty, they are sent away immediately: no say, no
rights, nothing. On this island, there will be extremely dangerous and venomous snakes we set all over the island thriving off the mass population of humans—their main food supply. We treat our happy snakes well. The elderly we leave to die. Their time is already up on this earth. We just wait till their final destination is the ground on which we walk on. Of course, comments are open to suggestion from extreme intellectuals such as me. My suggestion to others, a slap of reality. Everyone is depressed somehow; there are lots of self-diagnoses and “poor me.” It’s trending to be depressed, leaving those with actual depression to be blocked out by everyone else claiming to be depressed. The cruelest way to get rid someone is drown their voice out, having their depression masked in a sea of everyone else complaining about their depression. Never giving them a chance to be taken seriously and turning their life into a joke.
MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER
GENETIC VULNERABILITY
WHAT’S WORSE T H A N the
OPINION / THE WHIRLWIND 11
By connecting like-minded people the internet allows hate to spread BY Maggie Bedrin and Karissa Lamonte
Negativity on the internet feeds people’s hateful thoughts, sometimes leading to actions. Consumed in their emotions, people may commit dreadful actions when provoked from their social media life and the people they surround themselves with. With social media having endless opportunities and purposes, how does it play a part in the spread of hate? With several types of communication, written being used more often than not on social media, lots of people find not having to be face-to-face with someone is much easier. Not having to actually speak to someone in person can build up more confidence and can cause people to be a
little more brave with their words. Pew Research Center says “72 percent of internet users say digital technologies have improved their ability to share their ideas and creations with others.” While being able to share ideas and creations confidently is good, hate can easily be one of the ideas being shared. Hateful actions often occur on social media because the consequences are less apparent, with a screen being between those who target and those who are being targeted. Hate on the web is much easier to get away with than in person due to lack of authority. As Americans, we all possess constitutional rights which both protect and
Behind the score
Why and how West has such high rankings in Oregon By Abigail Winter
WEST ALBANY IS KNOWN for its performance in sports, its excellence in the arts, and its sense of community, but its most renowned excellence is seen in test performance and graduation rates. According to The Oregonian, in 2017, the school was in the tenth percentile for overall academic achievement and graduation rates for the state, which means the school is doing better in some regards than most of Oregon’s high schools. Though some students might 12 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
underestimate West Albany’s ability to perform so highly, there are many reasons as to why the school has such a high ranking. Since last year, the school has been on track to meet the state’s goal of having no dropouts by the year 2025. Considering the school’s graduating student growth ratings, which indicate a student’s overall progress from the year 2014 to 2015, West Albany placed around the 78th percentile in the state. West Albany was also rated above average for test performance. This year, the school is ranked 33rd best high school amid other schools in Oregon,
control our actions to some degree. Opinionated people take to Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks to express their opinions, some using threats and hate speech. Such people provoke violence with their words and let their words carry out into actions later on. The Constitution states, “To incite actions that would harm others,” therefore stating we cannot perform harm upon others. We are constantly held to this rule, but some people choose to throw it aside when it comes to social media, proceeding with their actions however they so desire. Due to the shield of the phone/computer screen, people are more likely to share their thoughts because they don’t have to face direct confrontation. Less likely to face rejection they can just block comments and direct messages, leading them to believe they are safe to share what they are feeling. Many people have voiced their opinions before pursuing their actions, such as “alleged mail bomber”, Cesar Sayoc, who made threats over twitter and then later
“72% of internet users say digital technologies have improved their ability to share their ideas and creations with others.” was a suspect in the Pittsburgh shooting. While the law is clearly stated, at the end
according to USNews.com’s analysis of high schools in every state in the country. West Albany’s teachers play a huge role ACCORDING TO USNEWS, WEST ALBANY IS RANKED
33
AMID OVER 1,000 HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF OREGON
in motivating students to perform well academically and finish high school. In the Greater Albany Public School District, teachers have an “A-” ranking according to research company Niche. In general, teachers at the school are very helpful, positive, and resourceful. Some may think that teachers can be a little too forceful
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of the day people will do what they want. After logging into a device, people tend to gravitate toward others they can agree with, which reinforces their beliefs. With repetition of reassurance on their ideas, they may never change their views. ImpossibleHQ News states that it is easy to “accept that something is true because enough of the people around you say it’s true.” When people place themselves in groups of people similar to them, their morals, ideas, and thoughts may never change with the consistent lack of diversity in personalities. For example, in school people have an opinion based on the information they are given, but students are constantly receiving new information which will either change or reinforce their ideas. When people are not exposed to diversity of opinion and culture they will lack knowledge that may influence their mind set. According to the Oxford Dictionary, to radicalize is to “cause someone to adopt radical positions on political or social issues.” The radicalization process is used to get people to adopt radical positions on social issues, such as joining a specific group and getting involved. With social media evolving every day, things including radicalization are starting to show up on the internet more. People may begin to believe that violence against others or maybe oneself is okay in defense of their own group, being the result of radicalization. This plays a part in hate being spread throughout the internet because social media allows people to spread their radical positions on social and political issues at
the tip of their fingers. With people being able to spread their hateful, or considered to be, morally wrong positions on social and political topics, people are able to listen to what they’re spreading, and possibly adopt those radical positions. Social media allows hateful people to come together and converse with one another about hateful things. But this spread of hate also causes those who oppose hateful thoughts and ideas come together and try to eliminate it from being spread, which could be considered online activism. With hateful groups being able to easily stay in contact through social media, this allows them to become increasingly more socially and emotionally attached to their group all in the comfort of their own home. Overtime, people tend to become more passionate and involved with what they believe in, and as history shows, with problems and passion comes activism. While people may not change their views, they should be encouraged to explore different cultures, opinions, and diversity, of course without somehow gravitating toward hate in the process. Before people of any age have a set view on a subject they should try and learn about all the angles of a story. It’s best to keep in mind that though the consequences on social media are not too harsh, people still need to be a little more sympathetic of others. People in close knit groups may find it more convenient to believe ideas from their close friends, continuing with their beliefs without outside knowledge. Jenna Thomas
when it comes to making sure that students do their homework and study. But most teachers do so because they want their students to succeed and score well on tests, which results in the school achieving such high academic rankings. Despite how much West Albany’s students may bash their teachers overall the school is doing great among other high schools in Oregon. The school is ranked in some of the highest percentiles across a wide array of websites, companies, and other research facilities. High school students are their school’s worst critics, but that’s only because they don’t truly know what their school was and still is capable of academically.
“I just feel we can do better when [kids] fail a test or want to retake it to help themselves out.” Junior Kendra Jones
Karissa LaMonte
OPINION / THE WHIRLWIND 13
Weight on their shoulders An introduction into the life of senior AP students who have been taking AP classes since freshman year BY Megan Carroll
S H E S I T S I N T H E Little Theater, curling her hair to get ready for an extra production of the play “Radium Girls.” As she curls her hair, other students flow in with notes from teachers allowing them to miss parts of class. For many of these students, the sacrifice is not much, but for an AP student with a lot on her plate, senior Rebekah Kenney must prioritize her time to balance passion and schoolwork. Between Drama Club, Improv Club, Key Club, Model United Nations, National Honors Society, Albany Civic Theater, church, and five AP classes, Kenney has a lot to juggle. This isn’t just the busy life of Kenney. Being a 4-year AP student has its pros, but it isn’t hard to see how being an overachiever poorly affects students. Se-
“Everyone’s going trick-ortreating, and I’m at home doing an AP Bio lab.” Skylar Kim Senior
nior Megan Cox says she’s “in a constant state of panic” with school work and clubs. Why do they do this? As an AP student myself, striving for Valedictorian, I can tell you we do it because we are hopeful the hard work pays off with success. However, the stress of being an AP student is often overlooked. The number of sacrifices AP students make is absolutely ridiculous, and these sacrifices only make life more difficult, and in some ways unhealthy, for AP students. There are many times I have had to make a choice to miss out on a school event because I had too much homework; not to mention how often I find myself forgetting to do things like eat, shower, or sleep. This isn’t just a personal problem, however. “I went to a soccer game [this year] and that was the first sporting event that I’ve been to that I wasn’t participating in since before school started freshman year,” Cox said. “I’ve gone to maybe three school dances, and they’re some of the highlights 14 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
of my high school career, they were so much fun, but just finding the time on a Saturday to be able to participate in that over your schoolwork is just incoherent.” Senior Skylar Kim, whose schedule includes Calculus AB, AP Literature, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry, said, “Everyone’s going trick-or-treating, and I’m at home doing an AP Bio lab.” All in all, those who have taken what seems to be an insane amount of AP classes—for Kenney, a total of 9; Cox, a total of 11; Kim, a total of 10; and me, a total of 7—make huge sacrifices for school and miss out on what can be some of the most memorable events of high school. However, Kim, Kenney, Cox, and I all feel like the work we put in now, although it causes unnecessary anxiety and unhealthy self-care habits, is important in the big scheme of things. The saddest part of the AP student life is not the homework, but the lack of self care that comes with it. Kim said he often forgets to eat lunch because he’s too busy studying for a class. Kenney said she forgets to spend time with family. Cox said she couldn’t remember the last time someone sincerely asked her if she was okay. Although it may seem as though we have all our you-know-what together, AP students are just as lost as the rest of high schoolers; we still are figuring out who we want to be, what we want to do, and how to balance life. As USF College of Education Associate Professor Elizabeth S h a u -
JENNA THOMAS
nessy-Dedrick Ph.D said to the USF College of Education Newspaper, “There’s an assumption since these [AP] kids are doing so well in school, they don’t need a whole lot of extra support. “There’s a misunderstanding of what the needs of these kids are.” Shaunessy-Dedrick and Professor Shannon Suldo Ph.D. received a four-year grant in 2015 to study the effect of stress on AP students. Their research shows the academic pressure placed on AP students caused significantly increased levels of stress, mental health issues, and disengagement from school--while also reducing happiness and number of friendships these students have. There is a pattern among these senior AP students: if they go to do something other than school work, someone feels as though they aren’t being productive enough. The stress of being an AP student can be very damaging mentally. Cox pointed out AP students run high anxiety, lack sleep, and have poor eating habits to balance schoolwork. As Kenney said, “[AP students are] like this because we need to be validated.” So, even if that one smart kid in your class looks like they have it all together, ask them if they are okay, and just check in. Be a friend. You never know how badly they might need it.
The Academic Features
What are some of the things that could be done to help oregon’s education performance?
BY Lajla Raske
“In our district and probably the state as well… We need a more streamlined plan for k-12 in math to insure that every kid is able to have access to the same curriculum and in the districts we need to work on how we address kids that are below grade level and what we can do to pull them up.” Test coordinator
Oregon’s education performance needs improvement IF YOU LIVE IN OREGON, then you might know about the state’s low education performance. According to the Oregon Department of Education, Oregon’s high school graduation rate was only 76.7 percent in the 2016-17 school year, a minimal increase over the prior year. Oregon still needs improvement considering this rate. Graduation rates, state testing scores and length of school year are important variables that impact education performance. While most states require 175-180 school days, Oregon only has about 165, nearly 40 l fewer days. Due to fewer school days, teachers have less time to work with students and cover the curriculum. If Oregon wants to meet the goal of having 100 percent of students graduate in 2025, students need to be closer to a level three on state assesments, meaning they are more likely to graduate. By extending the amount of school days to what most of the other states are at, there is a higher chance of graduation due to not missing out on extra school days. “Oregon is known for having one of the shortest [number of school days] in the country,” English teacher Blain Willard said. “Students attend school fewer days. By the time they graduate high school, students have lost several months of instructional time.” According to the Oregon Department of Education’s 2016-2017 statewide report card, only 34 percent of high school students who took the state mathematics as-
sessment met or succeeded at level three-four, and those who took the science state test had an average of 54 percent for level three-four. While this is an average level in test taking, not every student met this level. Even though graduating only requires a level two, the more students who come closer to level three-four, the more who graduate. Students can better prepare for state testing by taking teachers’ advice on how to study, and by using online practice tests. “The test shows what percentage of juniors are on track to go to a four-year college,” Marcie McArthur, a math teacher and testing site coordinator explained. “When the public hears 30 percent, it sounds like we are failing. [only] 34 percent of our juniors are prepared to go to a four-year college. If we could get through curriculum, [students would] be prepared. There are certain parts of the test they are not going to be as prepared for.” While Oregon’s graduation requirements may be more complicated than other states, there is much to improve. Both students and teachers can help raise the state testing percentages and graduation rates. Students can better prepare for state testing to guarantee they graduate on time because by better preparing for those tests, they have a higher chance of getting a passing score. Teachers and Oregon as a whole can make sure students have access to practice tests and other helpful materials to ensure they are as prepared as possible. Schools, can be sure to stick to a specific plan to help them succeed in bringing up graduation rates and testing scores.
COMPLAINT FILE: HEATER PROBLEM When students get ready for their class and enter their classrooms, they notice the temperature of the room is either reaching over 75 degrees or falling to around 60 degrees. It doesn’t matter which classroom you go into or what time of day it is, and the heat problem in the school isn’t just something that happens every once in a while: it is happening every day. Teachers might get complaints from their students, but there isn’t much they can do about it
except open windows, if they even have any, on those extra toasty days. When it’s too chilly, students and teachers just have to sit there, teeth chattering, until the end of the day. Since this is an ongoing issue, teachers should talk to maintenance. While the current budget may not allow a complete fix, the district maintenance team should look into a solution to the problem or find a way to make it comfortable for most everyone, even if that includes fans in rooms or space heaters.
Marcie McArthur
“In this district when we have a budget shortcut, we have fewer teachers, which could mean increased class sizes. The flow of smaller and larger classes has changed it’s graduation requirement multiple times and more specifically the test that determines whether or not students can graduate.” English Teacher
Blain Willard
“We need to make sure we do everything we can to help every student. We have low math scores right now. Making sure we are teaching math from the common core that is on the Smarter Balanced test and reviewing them [is important].” Principal
Susie Orsborn
OPINION / THE WHIRLWIND 15
THAT'S WHAT
SHE SAID. BY Mattea Hellman and Emily Haarstad
What sexual assault really is, and where the line of consent is drawn, especially as adolescents.
W O M E N A R E constantly told what to do in situations where they feel threatened: walk confidently and don’t draw attention. Wear dull and unattractive clothing, nothing too suggestive. Pull your coat closer around you and hold your bag in even closer. Hold your keys in one hand, ready to spread them between your knuckles. Make sure you’re always out with a friend and never go into an unlit area. Don’t be easy prey. Get in a car or residence quickly and safely. Check the locks twice. Some individuals are forced to learn the consequences of other’s nonconsensual actions even before adolescence. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in four women will be sexually abused before she turns 18, and 30 percent of women who have been raped were between 11 and 17 at the time. Sexual assault in the eyes of WAHS administration is “Any unsolicited advancement.” In addition it was stated, “It’s not about what the intent is it’s how it’s perceived. Principal Susie Orsborn believes that sexual assault isn’t just a problem locally, “I don’t think it’s a West Albany High School issue, I think it’s a societal issue.”
16 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
The lived experience of people who have been sexually assaulted, however, is truly traumatising. A junior girl, who wished to remain anonymous, explained her experience. “I don’t trust people now. Even just little things. People talking about it triggers me. People who make rape jokes, it puts me in a state of panic, makes me feel less valid, makes me feel like the one at fault.” The effects of sexual assault aren’t fleeting, it leaves long-lasting mental scars, along with the potential physical ones that fade. These assaults have detrimental effects on a person; RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, says that 94 percent of women who are raped or sexually assaulted experience symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during the two weeks following the incident. Acts that have consequences such as these are widely expected to be clear, explicit. However, many people, adolescent or not, are ignorant to the nuances that can move something from consensual sex to rape. When sexual assault is referenced, it is commonly thought to mean only rape. However, the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services defines sexual assault as “[...] any type of sexual activity or contact that you do not consent to.” Admin of West Albany stated that sharing, posting, and taking nude pictures or videos of individuals can also be considered a form of sexual harassment. According to the U.S Department of Justice,
35.8% OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS OCCUR WHEN THE VICTIM IS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 12 AND 17.
“Harassment by definition is the perception that somebody has” stated Assistant Principal Rich Engel. “If they don’t know it’s happening then, yes, I think it probably would be considered sexual harassment.” Jane Allen, a local psychologist, shares her insight on the common misconceptions about consent, “Sexual assault is an
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NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT HOTLINE: 1-800-656-4673 LINN-BENTON CRISIS HOTLINE: 541-754-0110 SECTION PHOTOS BY MATTEA HELLMAN
act in which a person intentionally sexually touches another person without that person’s consent, or coerces, and it can be physical, or emotional intimidation, [to make] another person engage in a sexual act against their will.” According to Allen, force, in the form of sexual assault, doesn’t have to be just physical. Persuading someone to the point of saying yes, though they originally, and persistently, said no, does not grant consent. Emotional boundaries vary from person to person, so a clear conversation needs to be had so both parties are clear of what they can and cannot do. While the actions themselves are rather black and white, the aspect of these cases that leads to the ‘he said, she said’ debate, is the concept of consent. The expression of such is what moves a legal act to a criminal one. “Consent is a clear “yes” to sexual activity. Not saying ‘no’ does not mean you have given consent,” states the United States Office of Women’s Health. “Sexual contact without consent is sexual assault or rape. [...] Your consent means you know and understand what is going on (you are not unconscious, blacked out, asleep, underage, or have an intellectual disability).”
Victims of sexual assault, although suffering from the emotional trauma, will commonly never report the crimes, or even realize it was not their own fault. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center reports that rape is the most under-reported crime, citing that 63 percent of sexual assaults are never reported. RAINN also reports that out of 1000 rapes, 995 perpetrators will walk free. A possible reason why so many victims choose to not report their crime is the prevalence the media gives to false accusations. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center shares stats of false accusations, and that false reporting only occurs in 2-10 percent in crimes that were reported. Although it is debatable what the direct causation of underreporting of crimes such as these is, the National Institute of Justice cites the most seen reasons as being, “Self-blame or guilt, shame, embarrassment, or desire to keep the assault a private matter, humiliation or fear of the perpetrator or other individual’s perceptions, fear of not being believed or of being accused of playing a role in the crime, or lack of trust in the criminal justice system.” Dropping stigmas around sexual assault
and its victims, which aren’t just women, would increase the number of cases reported, “Don’t try to make people feel invalid. Their experiences were valid. Don’t try to one-up people, every experience is something that happened. All your experiences are valid,” the anonymous source disclosed, “Every experience, no matter how minimal it was, was sexual assault.” The WAHS staff is looking for a new approach in educating its students on sex, and everything involved with it. Orsborn uses her past experience to explain her reasoning for this switch, “It wasn’t so talked about [when she was in high school]... which I don’t think it has as much to do with social media as education.” When asked if she would change anything about the sexual education we offer, Orsborn responded with something new that will be affecting the current underclassmen, “We moved Health 1 and Health 2 to sophomore and junior year, because we were feeling [...] that we were teaching health in the freshmen and sophomore year, then nothing in the junior or senior year. We were hoping by moving it that we’ll have a greater impact on student behaviors and education.” SPECIAL / THE WHIRLWIND 17
ARTIFICIAL ENTERTAINMENT
How pornography and explicit content within the largely ingested media has affected the normalization of sexual behavior and the reprecussions that follow it BY Jaden Rodriguez
ACCORDING TO PEW Research Center, 75% of teens have access to a cellular device. With the access to cellular devices comes the access of pornography, nudity, and more. So, the controversial topic is always whether or not exposure to porn and nudity is harmful to teens? Local psychologist Jane Allen works with teens who have been exposed to the internet’s wide range of content. Allen believes that porn can harm a teen’s mind, but only if it reaches a point of addiction.
“If it’s infrequent, I wouldn’t be the one to say that’s really bad,” Allen explained. “If someone is using porn on a regular basis, and begins to believe that this is what sex is like, that this is what real women and real men do, they then have an artificial idea about relationships and sexual behavior.” In a 2013 survey of heterosexual couples, researchers found the relationship aspect of someone’s life can be harmed by the excessive use of pornography. “When one partner uses porn at a high frequency—typically the men in the heterosexual
THE LEGAL SIDE 1ST DEGREE SEXUAL CRIMES IN OREGON INCLUDE: RAPE: Engaging in sexual intercourse with another person if they are forced into the act, the person is under 12 years old, under 16 years old and related to the perpatrator, or is incapable of consent.
UNLAWFUL SEXUAL PENETRATION: Penetration of the vagina, anus or penis of another with any object other than the penis or mouth of the actor and they forced into the act, the person is under 12 years old, or is incapable of consent.
SEXUAL ABUSE: Subjecting another person to sexual contact and they are under 14, they are forced, they are incapable of consent.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT: Engaging in sexual intercourse or oral or anal sexual intercourse with an unmarried person under 18 years of age. 18 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
couples,” Ana Bridges, PhD, told the American Psychological Association in a 2014 article, ”there can be a tendency to withdraw emotionally from the relationship.” Teens may interpret pornography’s portrayal of relationships and perceive it as a normal aspect of a relationship. “I’m not sure if it’s toxic...but it’s seeing kids growing up too fast,” Assistant Principal Jessica Smith said. But while most agree pornography is not all bad, Allen compared porn to a video game. “In the same way there are individuals who love stimulating, exciting video games, porn is addicting in the same way.” Assistant Principal Rich Engel also compared pornography and sexualization in movies to video games, stating, “It’s the same thing you see in video games with shooting and guns. You just become desensitized.” Engel notes that he’s seen the change happen over time, as movies today push boundaries they could not have in the past. “What is in movies now, you couldn’t put in movies before.” Pornography and the internet in a wider perspective provides a source of sexual education to teens who may lack the accessibility of it in their schools and homes. But, Allens main concern of pornography centered around the idea of attenuation. “Attenuation: you do something so much it becomes nothing...it becomes your norm.” It’s not the deemed inappropriate nature of pornography that can get into someone’s mind, but more of the normalization and self-inflicted attenuation of no longer seeing sex as something special.
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WW: How would you define sexual assault? HW- Any sort of sexual contact or words that is not wanted by the other party and is clearly stated that they’re not into it.
WW: What do you consider consent?
LG: Any way of expressing clearly that you want something to happen and that you’re okay with something happening, no matter what sexual act it is. It has to be something that both parties are gonna be alright with. Making sure both parties are on the same page with it. MH: It’s a ladder, you climb up it and if at any point there’s a missing rung you don’t keep climbing. You work your way up and if it’s all good to go you keep going until otherwise stated.
WW: How do you feel about false accusations of sexual assault?
HW - The media portrays it as it happens way more often than it probably does. But I also think that the person that makes the false accusation should be punished because a false rape or sexual assault accusation could ruin someone’s career. BH - It can ruin a person’s life but it does happen way less than actual rape or sexual assault.
WW: Are you afraid of being falsely accused?
All-shake head and say “no” HW - When it comes to stuff like that I’m usually pretty good at like establishing consent but at the same time I’ve also seen people say stuff about my friends that haven’t even happened period and so just cause they didn’t like them so like it could happen to him it could happen to me. LG - And I mean if you think about how rumours can spread so quick and people, even if they turn out to be false and people know they are false, that stigma and the rumour is still attached to that person in the minds of a lot of people.
WW: Why do you think men don’t report sexual assault very often?
LG - I think primarily it’s when you look between men and women the amount of support for women has been increasing and it has become more of a social issue to look at. I think a lot of men that are victims of sexual assault don’t report it because they have to view themselves as being strong and independent and they think that by reporting it they are opening themselves up to being viewed as a victim and I think that’s something that a lot of guys don’t wanna be viewed as. IB - There’s just a huge stigmatism against guys, and I think it was Terry Crews that came out as sexual assault victim and then there was a lot of
HE SAID,
HE SAID.
Have recent allegations led teens to change the way they view sexual interactions? We asked five male students to discuss their opinions. Here’s what they said.
This forum has been edited for length and clarity. Boys - Senior Lane Gibony, Junior Britton Hellman, Senior Matthew Hast, Senior Hayden Walters, Junior Isaac Benfield
memes of that. The result that it got wasn’t very positive which probably discourages men. HW - And Terry Crews is a big guy so if it can happen to him it can happen to anyone.
WW: If a girl was drinking or wearing “scandalous” clothes do you think that should be handled differently from a legal standpoint?
LG - It has to be taken with a grain of salt whenever alcohol is involved and that goes for anything in any case because that just throws a wrench in it. I think if its a realistic claim it should be taken seriously but the problem with that is I mean especially when you look at like the Brett Kavana-
ugh case the fact that that whole case revolved around everyone that was really too drunk to remember much of anything. I think alcohol doesn’t change much but it makes it harder to establish validity of a claim. HW - It shouldn’t be the deciding factor when it comes to stuff like that but like if you’re out drinking and people are feeling good when they’re drunk and then they see a girl in scandalous clothes like they’re not gonna be fully aware of what they’re doing and im not defending it at all but I’m just saying it could be not really a safe environment to be in I guess. I don’t think it should be like that at all, I just think that’s how it is.
SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MEDIA: A TIMELINE MovieWeb.com
WOODY ALLEN (DIRECTOR)
Heavy.com
TEKASHI 6IX9INE (MUSIC ARTIST)
TheMarrySue.
L O U I S C.K. (Comedian)
ACCUSED OF: SEXUALLY ASAULT ACCUSED OF: SEX CRIME INVOLVING A MINOR ACCUSED OF: SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 5 AGAINST HIS STEP DAUGHTER WOMEN RESULT:PLEAD GUILTY OCTOBER 20, 2015 RESULT:DENIED ACCUSATIONS NOVEMRESULT: ADMITTED NOVEMBER 2017 SENTENCE: 4 YEARS PROBATION, BER 22, 1992 SENTENCE: NOT BROUGHT TO TRIAL COMMUNITY SERVICE SENTENCE; TRIAL DROPPED TIME SERVED: NONE TIME SERVED: NONE TIME SERVED: NONE SPECIAL / THE WHIRLWIND 19
What drives you to play your sport?
RUNNERS
UP
YEARS OF SWEAT, tears, and frustration just to be stuck in the shadows. Struggling to prove that your age or build does not indicate your skills, talent, and absolute passion for your sport. This is the process many athletes go through before they finally feel at home on a team. Most football players play two years on JV before they get onto varsity. However, some TJ ZIMMERMANN overachieving underSOPHOMORE “I just really enjoy it. My dad plays, classman manage to I look up to so many people who find a spot on the varplay, and just playing brings me sity team earlier than joy.” others. Take sophomore Caeden Zamora for example, who has played football for five years. Who managed to balance both JV and varsity football this year. “Getting the opportunity I couldn’t have been more thankful for,” Zamora explained, “I got a chance to show off my talent in my first varsity start halfway through the playoffs.” Instead of feeling like making his way up to varsity was competitive, Zamora feels more CAEDEN ZAMORA connected to his team through SOPHOMORE his hard work. While of course “I believe [my team] can do it was a challenge, he’s proud bright things in the future. of the group and what they’ve I can’t wait to make more accomplished together. memories with the current “I really feel together as a teammates I’ve played with team,” Zamora said, “we’ve and the new ones to come.” dedicated so much time and effort into the program to better ourselves and have the potential to pursue what we wanted to accomplish.” Junior Seth Jackson started playing football in the sixth
grade, and played for both varsity and JV his sophomore year, much like Zamora. Sophomore TJ Zimmermann is also in a situation similar to Zamora’s. Zimmermann has been playing basketball
“Everyone on the team started putting work in super early in the off season, which I think created a bond that most teams don’t have.”
MAGGIE BEDRIN
20 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
BRANDON DOWELL SENIOR
since he was in kindergarten and has been playing with older kids his whole life. “To be honest, sometimes I even play better with or against older kids than I do with kids my own age,” Zimmermann stated. Zimmermann, of course, had to prove he should be playing with older athletes over time through his hard work and consistency. “I had to work pretty hard,” Zimmermann said. “Practicing almost everyday and working on my fundamentals and skills because, naturally, the older kids were more athletic, bigger, and stronger.” Football is obviously a contact sport, and while hard work will get athletes far, other elements outside the player’s control also come into play. “I struggled, and it was pretty
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SPORTS Athletes fight for their spot on varsity despite their age, build, or height BY Gabrielle Budlong
difficult because of my size and the people in front of and older than me, but I just worked hard and it worked out in the end,” said Crosswhite. Senior Hunter Crosswhite felt underestimated throughout all four years of high school football. Crosswhite is 5 feet 6.5 inches tall. Naturally, this would be a setback for football players. Crosswhite, however, took this as a challenge. Crosswhite has been playing football since he was seven years old. He played freshman football, two years for JV, and was on varsity his senior year. In order to make it onto varsity his final year, Crosswhite had to work especially hard to prove he deserved a spot. “For example, in the weight room I really pushed myself so what I lacked in height, I could make up for in strength,” said Crosswhite. Senior Brandon Dowell has
favorite year by far. Similar to Zamora’s experience, Dowell feels more connected to his team through all their hard work and progress together. “Everyone on the team started putting work in super early in the off-season, which I think created a bond that most teams don’t have,” Dowell said. “Once the season started, we were winning games. All our work payed off, and our team grew closer as the season went on.” While Dowell can see there may be some players that get more recognition than others, everyone on the team plays an important role. Dowell said everyone had to work hard for their spot on varsity with the incredible amount of talent on the team. “Another thing that made this year so great was all the students that came to our game and cheered us on,” Dowell added. Fighting through teams of high schoolers, anxious to get a spot on varsity, would be a challenge for anyone -- especially with factors athletes have no control over such as age, height, and body build. However, despite this natural comCAEDEN ZAMORA petition within their SOPHOMORE own team, the athletes at West Albany manage to join together and played football since he was in put in the work necessary to first grade: he played two years pull through. for JV, and one for varsity. He says this last year has been his
“Getting the opportunity I couldn’t have been more thankful for. I got a chance to show off my talent in my first varsity start halfway through the playoffs.”
maggie bedrin
HUNTER CROSSWHITE SENIOR
“I play for my family and myself … also the brotherhood that comes with it. I’ve been playing football with my best friends for so long, we’ve always talked about how cool it was going to be to play varsity football for West Albany.”
BRANDON DOWELL SENIOR
“There’s no better feeling than being on the football field playing with all my closest friends.”
What drives you to play your sport?
y SPORTS / THE WHIRLWIND 21
RICE
RICE is the term that doctors and athletic trainers use to describe the four main things to do to heal an injury. As told by Amy Larrabee.
To fix a broken mind
Sports injuries impact athletes both physically, mentally By Aisling Malone
REST
R
“This kind of happens automatically when you get an injury, it’s rest. You cease that activity. It doesn’t mean you cease that everyday activity. You allow whatever body part or injured to rest.”
ICE
I
“Our rule of thumb is 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off. You need to allow for your body to reheat in between the time.”
COMPRESS
C
“There’s compression when you wrap the ice on but when you are up and walking around, in order for the blood not to pool into the injury site, you put on an ACE bandage or something.”
ELEVATE
E
“It’s always much better on the body parts and easier for the body to flush out [the] inflammation, if it’s above your heart.”
22 THE WHIRLWIND / December 2018
A S S O O N A S athletic trainer Amy portunities.” Having an injury makes athLarrabee unlocks the trainer’s room, the letes take time off of their sport. Preventherd of boys waiting outside the door ing this injury and doing the right things to walk in. They put their names on the near- prevent an injury is important. Linden Loren is not only an Anatomy ly full sign-in sheet, then hop up on the table for help wrapping ankles, wrists, and and Physiology teacher, but he also helps foam casts. Larrabee goes through any- the sports teams with strengthening and where from seven to 11 rolls of pre-wrap conditioning. “I would say you can’t realand athletic tape a day, helping athletes ly control what happens in sports.” Loren protect and prevent injuries. Every time admits that preventing an injury is difficult and says that that there she tries to sit down, anothare ways to prevent er person walks in askthem. “I’d say in ing for help. With all general, just these injuries, what strengthening makes athletes and mobilizwant to push ing the right themselves to tissues. So get back out making sure there? certain tissues After a are flexible, and traumatic injuthen certain ones are ry which restricts strong can then put someone from continuyou in a pretty good ing their sport, after they position with what you have healed they may be do.” physically fine, but menLarrabee says that tally it can be a setback. the best way to prevent Taking time off of a sport an injury is proper trainsets back an athlete. ing, hydration, and strength “We practice about 20 training. hours a week, and it’s so much MAGGIE BEDRIN Preventing an repetition,” sophoinjury is the best more Aspen Prucha, way to go, but if a gymnast, said. someone does end ”Breaking that patup with an injury, tern is going to throw taking advantage of me off a little.” the break to learn Prucha suffered and adjust into a a strain in her mepositive mindset niscus while doing is one of the most a dismount on the important strateuneven bars, makSOPHOMORE ASPEN PRUCHA gies to get better. ing her take a week “I feel like I get off of gymnastics really inspired and practice. Prucha said the worst part about not being able to do look at what other people think about gymnastics is “watching everyone else do when I come back and I’m going to be stuff and [...] going to the gym and seeing positive and stay focused,” Prucha said. everyone and seeing people not take op-
“I feel like I get really inspired and look at other people and think about when I come back and I’m going to be positive and stay focused.”
Siblings work together to improve their skills on the swim team BY Hayley-Mae Harlan
THE
SWIM
TEAM
IS
like one big family, literally. There are three sets of siblings: coach Bryce Dickerson and senior Bailey Dickerson, coach Makenzie Settelmeyer and sophomore Natalie Baas, and junior Dylan Hayes and freshman Luke Hayes. They’re all close with one another, and in such a competitive sport, these brothers and sisters seem to be thriving when they work together. “I swam all four years in high school, and then I actually swam for 10 years in club. Natalie’s about the same. We started when we were like, eight,” Settelmeyer said. She graduated in 2015, and has been coaching for five years between the WAHS swim team and Albany Aquatics.
Her younger sister now swims the same strokes as her. The two are very close, but Settelmeyer said that Baas does feel some internal pressure to reach the same ability as her. Settelmeyer and her family try to take that pressure off of her by giving her support and being sure not to compare the two. She shows a lot of sympathy for the hardships of her sister. She believes that Baas’ medical issues from last year are a challenge now because she’s afraid it will happen again. “That pressure...I think that is
probably really hard for her. Last year she had a lot of medical problems and she wasn’t able to swim to her full potential, and I think a lot of people don’t know behind closed doors what she’s going through. This year she’s overcome a lot of that. I think that she’s doing awesome.” Settelmeyer believes that Baas’ medical issues from last year are a challenge now because she’s afraid it will happen again. Bryce graduated from South in 2016, so coaching for West is different for him. Bailey says that there was rivalry between the two when they were both in high school, but the tension has lowered now that they’re with the same team. Both say they share a competitive and stubborn nature, but Bailey feels she takes criticism better. “She’s killing it right now,” said Bryce. “She’s doing really good. I’m proud of her.” His sister was this year’s state MVP in water polo and is hoping to break some personal records this season.
All Clubs start @ 7:14pm unless noted otherwise
Mon. Oct 29 6:14 - 8:14pm West & South
Bose Family Farm Meet @All Star Staffing
Mon. Nov 5 West & South
Pumpkin Bash @All Star Staffing
Mon. Nov 19 WAHS Club
@All Star Staffing
Mon. Dec 10 West & South Mr. Christmas Tree
@Neighborhood Church
www.albanyyounglife.com
@abanyyounglife SPORTS / THE WHIRLWIND 23
THE
SHIFTING
BY Jordan Andreas
NEW
B O D I E S A R E B E I N G P I N N E D T O T H E M A T S , referees are pacing around, whistles are being blown and echoing throughout the gym. The number of girls participating in wrestling has noticeably increased this year. WAHS has always had a girls wrestling option, but not many females participated. With that number surely rising, WAHS is now able to have a co-ed wrestling team this winter. There is a process that goes into adopting a sport, although it seems short. Athletic director, Pat Richards said, “For [a sport] to be adopted by the OSAA there has to be a majority of schools that offer it throughout the state.” This year, the wrestling girls started weighing in after thanksgiving week. The weekend after thanksgiving break, the wrestling team had their first meet with the girls to start off the 2018-2019 season. Water polo, lacrosse and rugby are all sports that started out as clubs but have been adopted by the OSAA. The lady lions rugby team consists mainly of WAHS girls, yet the lady lions cannot be adopted by the OSAA because there are not enough teams in the state to compete against. To support their team, the rugby team has been allowed to practice on the WAHS football field. Another activity that started last year in the spring is the clay target team. Their goal is to shoot at clay targets in the air and tally up their scores. Last year, around 10-12 co-ed students participated in this activity. Pat says, “The clay target team is organized nationally through competitions and everybody goes to the gun club in Albany, and they mail in their scores to compete.” On the other side, there isn’t much of a process to getting rid of a sport. The circumstances in which a sport stays in the program has to do with participation. Participation is the main thing that keeps a sport in the WAHS program. The number of participating students in a sport greatly affects whether the said sport stays in the program. They can also be taken out of the program because of safety reasons. The fluctuation of sports also has an affect on coaching staff. Although, some sports may become less popular, the athletic department tries to keep as much of their staff as they can. The football team had to cut the freshman team this year because of the lack of participation, but they just moved coaches back and forth between teams. Last year, the basketball team was not able to have three full teams for the girls, so they cut it down to two and had an extra coach for the JV team. But, this year they are able to have three separate teams and they were able to shift the coaches back to their regular teams. The WAHS athletic program is always about participation and about supporting the students. “They’re our kids. They go to this school and that is part of what we want, we want kids involved with lots of things going on in the school whether it be The Whirlwind or the basketball team. It is something that ties you to the school and makes for a better, more vibrant school community.” 24 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
Old WAHS sports that are no longer offered pictured in previous annuals include, skiing and gymnastics. Another sport pictured in the annuals is the powderpuff team.
G
e s e
OF
SPORTS
As new sports like girls wrestling become available, old sports become less popular. Take a look at what is new, what is old and what is elsewhere.
OLD QUIDDITCH Quidditch, a game created by J.K. Rowling for the Harry Potter books, is now played in real life in countries like England and Ireland. Quidditch teams are even offered at US colleges like Ohio State and university of Miami. Although the players can’t fly like in the books and movies, the rules are extremely similar.
FENCING Fencing is a combat sport similar to sword fighting. Contact with the opponent earns you a point. West Salem High School offers a fencing club, and the sport has appeared at all modern Olympic games.
BROOMBALL Michigan Tech offers broomball, a winter sport played on the ice. Many describe it as a cross between hockey and soccer. It originated in Canada and each team has six players, one of which plays goalkeeper.
SPORTS / THE WHIRLWIND 25
A LOOK INSIDE THE BAG OF WRESTLER BODEN LINDBERG
WHAT’S IN MY BAG?
Headgear
INSPIRED BY
FRESHMAN
Juice boxes
LAUREN THOMPSON is inspired by
Mints
Comb
Drawstring bag
“Shelbylinn, she works really hard and is really positive and supportive.”
granola bars
Bottle caps Insulin products Coins
SOPHOMORE
Handsanitizer Key
Wallet
Lunch bag
Wrestling shoes
by MATTEA HELLMAN
Freshmen Boden Lindberg has been wrestling since kindergarten. Lindberg has diabetes that affects his wrestling. The physical activity drives down his blood sugar levels and he has to sit out for 20-30 minutes. His mother made his wallet when he was in fifth grade, and Coca Cola is his favorite soda IF I’M NOT THEN I’M
,
SHELBYLINN CONNELL is inspired by
“Jasmine Kimball. She was always smiling and even when she messes up, she pulled through and stayed strong! I try to bring her attitude to the JV team by smiling and encouraging everyone, even when things aren’t going well. I think that this does affect the team in a positive way because we are only as strong as our weakest teammate. Even the slightest amount of positivity and a smile can help us pull through a rough practice.”
MEMORABLE MOMENT SENIOR
Junior Zachary Reese plays for the varsity basketball team, but when
he’s not busy with that, he also plays on the soccer team. Reese has been playing basketball since he was four, and soccer since he was two. This can cause problems because often his soccer and basketball practices run at the same time. Reese favors soccer over basketball and sees himself more likely to pursue the former. 26 THE WHIRLWIND / December 2018
Sophomore, Megan Adamec’s most memorable moment was the
varsity girls soccer quarterfinals against Silverton. WAHS won by 3-2, but according to her, that wasn’t the best part. After the second goal, Adamec says, “Ihde was so happy that he jumped and stepped on Ahni Washburn’s hydro flask and dented it.” After this Washburn did received a custom engraved water bottle as an apology.
JASMINE KIMBALL is inspired by
“I admire my whole team. I wouldn’t be able to get through any practice without them … They’ve made me feel like a better person.”
ENTERTAINMENT
37%
40%
HOW DO
of students put something on the internet hoping it would be widely viewed and shared
of students watch 10 or more hours of YouTube per week
Jenna Thomas
Student insight into why the creators create and the consumers consume BY Jenna Thomas
CREATORS SENIOR JAYCEE SMITH
CONSUMERS SENIOR BIANCA COMPTON
Q: Why did you start making YouTube videos? Q: Why do you watch YouTube? A: I was really bored [during] spring break, and I watched Emma A: Youtube is [Jaycee’s and my] life pretty much. I definitely go
Chamberlain’s videos twice from the beginning to the very end...I was just watching YouTube the whole time, and it made me happy; so I wanted to start my own channel. What do you use to film your videos? A: I just use my phone. If I want to do more of an adventure type video, I’ll use my back camera, but if I’m just vlogging, I’ll use the front. What type of videos do you like making? Definitely montages. I’ll have this idea in my head, so I’ll film it and I’ll be like, “Okay this can go with this music and this is how I want this to look.” Do you plan on trying to make a future out of this? It’d be cool if something came out of it, but right now I really don’t think anything will. But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop making [videos] because that’s not my intent--to get YouTube famous. I make them for myself and my friends to watch.
Q: Q: A: Q: A:
on YouTube more than anything else What do you watch more: YouTube or TV? I watch YouTube more than TV. It’s taken over I feel like. It’s a lot more entertaining actually getting to know someone [through YouTube]... it’s a happier outlet.
Q: A:
FRESHMAN RYAN FEIGENSPAN
Q: What videos would you want to make? A: I watch all the time and I really want to do a gaming channel,
mostly on the Xbox. Who are your favorite creators to watch? My favorite youtubers are family friendly ones—youtubers that have good content that play a bunch of different games. Why do you like YouTube? I like YouTube a lot because the amount of content and how many choices you have for things. It’s easier to access because it’s free.
Q: A: Q: A:
ENTERTAINMENT / THE WHIRLWIND 27
Experience this holiday through festive food, decorations, and festivals BY Kaden Strametz and Jakob Jones
LET’S BAKE THIS BREAD! Senior Rachel Burdick has a traditional family food. “It’s called artisan bread,” stated Burdick. “There is only four ingredients.” Even though it is so simple, the recipe can be used to make many different types of dough. Burdick explained how you can make a variety of bread foods including a contra dough, an Italian ricotta flatbread, general flatbread, and even Navajo tacos.
“6, 3, 3, 13.”
Rachel Burdick SENIOR
SHOWING OFF FESTIVITY?
“My dad had started it so it’s not a really long tradition,” stated Burdick. “[As a kid] they had to make their own food and breads really cheap [...] so he would make the bread for the family.” Growing up, Burdick recalls her father making batches of dough to store and eat throughout the week. Burdick remembered, “Every day [he’d] just make a new loaf fresh bread.” The bread tradition was passed from father to daughter. Burdick was only seven years old when she learned this recipe. Her father had taught her to use the “6, 3, 3, 13” ratio as an easy way to always remember the ingredients. Burdick’s family loves this bread so much.“We’ve had it for every Christmas meal,” stated Burdick. For Burdick, this is her favorite holiday bread recipe.
Ingredients & Directions 6 cups of warm water 3 tablespoons of salt 3 tablespoons of yeast 13 cups of flour Put yeast into the six cups of warm water. Make sure the water is not too hot or the yeast will die. Next, add three tablespoons of salt Then, add half of the flour, mix it up, then add in the other half, mix again. Let the bread sit out for two hours on the counter then put in the fridge for up to two weeks. This helps to preserve the bread. Bake at 375° - 435°F until it looks golden.
in Ames. “Honestly, it’s really for fun,” said Ames. “I enjoy drawing cartoon candy canes, which I hope to turn into buttons soon.” Ames is currently taking requests for her holiday creations.
Senior Jacie Ames has been creating special buttons and felt ornaments for the upcoming holiday season. Using the new button maker in art teacher Babette Grunwald’s classroom, Ames fashions these buttons out of custom drawings, applies a protective layer making pieces of art every chance she and then presses them over a button. gets. However, the holidays have also Contact Jacie Ames at: Ames has always been a creator, instilled a type of festive inspiration james19@student.albany.k12.or.us
R 28 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
FESTIVALS FOR THE FAMILY
The Grotto’s Christmas Festival of Lights is one of the biggest light festivals in the world. The festival’s website prides itself on being the “largest Christmas choral events in the world with more than 190 indoor holiday concerts performed by many of the region’s finest school, church, and civic choirs. ” The family entertainment ranges from light shots, music, caroling, puppet shows, and even a live petting zoo. Now - Dec. 30 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Festival grounds close at 10 p.m. 8501 NE Skidmore St Portland, OR 97220
The Oregon Garden is a charming European-inspired, outdoor event featuring ice skating, snowless tubing, an artisan vendor market, photos with Santa, fire pits, live music and more, all in The Oregon Garden in historic Silverton. Now - Dec. 31 Closed on Dec. 24 & 25 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. 879 W. Main St. Silverton OR 97381
Zoo Lights are an amazing display of lights all over the zoo. Enjoy the experience with a million and a half lights while seeing your favorite animals and other various attractions. The Zoo Lights event plunges the whole wildlife park into a festive mood. Now - Jan. 5 Closed on Dec. 24 & 25 4001 Southwest Canyon Road Portland, OR 97221 Rachel Burdick poses with her home-made artisan bread.
Jakob Jones
ENTERTAINMENT / THE WHIRLWIND 29
R E A D Y T O P L A Y : Seniors Calvin Prucha, Grant Farley, and grayson Alley, along With their advisor Chris Martin, line up with their Dungeons and Dragons gear in Room C-3. Along with the rest of their club, they meet twice a week after school for a fun game together.
Dungeons and Dragons All about one of WAHS’s lesser known clubs BY Braxton Reece
T W I C E A W E E K , the mages, rouges, bards, clerics, and rock people of West Albany meet in room C3 after school to take on fearsome creatures and escape the real world. This small club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and plays for about two hours each session. The club is led by their advisor, English teacher Chris Martin. He sums up the game as, “just a bunch of us playing make believe [with] some dice that determine some outcomes.” The club consists of six students, all of them seniors: Grayson Alley, Grant Farley, Katie Hughes, Alex Neil, Calvin Prucha, and Mike Richards. The group is fairly new with only a few sessions held so far this year. Alley explains his entry into the group saying, “I saw [Martin] in here with his books one day and I was like, ‘Hey
you play Dungeons and Dragons?’ and he offered to teach us a bit”. As the group is fairly new, it is not quite where Martin wants it to be someday. “The club is not at a tops,” Martin said. “It would be a cool goal to have multiple groups being run at a time.” In Dungeons and Dragons each player creates a character which they embody throughout the story they play in. The characters can get quite in depth and require a great amount of imagination. Prucha describes his character as a half human half angel who believes that if he dies a glorious death in battle he will ascend to godhood. He tells a long story of how he tried to get a band of goblins to worship him, which ended terribly, resulting in the death of a few player’s characters.
A character’s backstory or personality may impact how they play in the game. For example, Alley explains about his character, “I have a bard, Randy the bard, a bard is like a musical dude… I’m proficient in a ton of different stuff, so I don’t do a ton of combat stuff, but I help my friends. I do really well, like, talking and sneaking around.” That’s what makes Dungeons and Dragons so different from other games. “It was really weird at first because every game you play has so many rules, and this one has a book of everything you can or can’t do,” Farley explained. “Those are just guidelines. If you roll good, you can do anything.” Alley adds, “I like how many choices I can make, and how there’s so many opportunities to be like immersed, you can either act like this is a game, or you can act like what would randy do, and so that what i usually think when I try and do stuff ”. “That’s why I love playing, because you can really do what you want. You can be who you want. You can shed the real you for a while… and be able to do whatever you want,” Martin said. Pruch agrees, “I get to leave that Algebra 2 test behind and just be my character for a bit,” There is no question that a game like this comes with a nerdy reputation. Many “macho” celebrities such as Vin Diesel and Terry Crews openly advocating for D&D, are part of why Martin thinks that this game is making a comeback. “This idea of nerd, it’s the new cool, and I think that’s why D&D is becoming so popular again,” Martin said. “In high school, this would not have been something I gravitated to… and now in my English teacher phase of my life, this is it. I get to extend the story telling outside of the classroom and into this game.”
HASTY FREEZ
Burgers & Ice Cream WHEN IT’S TIME FOR A TRIM... Contact Us 838 Pacific Blvd SE, Albany (541) 928-0811 thecuttingroom@gmail.com
Hours: Closed Mon + Sun Tue-Fri 9am-6pm Sat 9am-4pm
30 THE WHIRLWIND / DECEMBER 2018
655 SE Lyon St, Albany HOURS: Everyday 10am-10pm Phone: (541) 926-2144
Hungry? In a hurry? Hasty Freez is the stop for you!
A cook’s ambition
Bistro student senior Josh Richardson expresses his passion for cooking and how it has impacted his life By Corbin Ulibarri
C O O K I N G C A N B R I N G out the best in a person; it can build bonds that last forever. The amount of energy and creativity many cooks put into their food shows their true passion for the art and how much they’ve accomplished. At least this is how Senior Josh Richardson views this way of life. “I started cooking around the age of nine or ten,” remembers Richardson. “It was simple things like beans or rice, but I learned how to make more complex dishes after a while.” By the time Richardson reached high school, he saw the culinary classes at West Albany as a great way to continue his cooking. “I’ve been in culinary since sophomore year. I started as soon as I could,” he said. Even as a student in Culinary One, the introductory culinary class, Richardson enjoyed putting his own thoughts into the meals he cooked. “I like things with bold flavors. I enjoy messing with spice and basically making my own recipes,” said Richardson. “There’s always additions you can do to make recipes better: even mac and cheese. You can add spice and make it so much better.” According to Richardson, culinary teacher Dolly Victorine starts looking for potential students to put into Bistro, the most advanced Culinary class offered, by Culinary Two, and Richardson was one of many students to show his passion for cooking while in the earlier culinary class-
es. “[Victorine] had came and talked to me about Bistro and what it was all about, and that kind of planted the idea in my head; and from Culinary Two onward, I really wanted to get in,” Richardson recalls. Richardson currently works at Sam City, an Asian-style restaurant, located on Pacific Boulevard in Albany, as a dishwasher in order to pursue a career in cooking.
“It honestly came out of the blue. I knew I wanted to work at a restaurant for my first job and I had a friend who was able to get me a job,” said Richardson. “I started working there as a dishwasher.” Not too long ago, Richardson told his boss about how he was in Bistro and had an interest of pursuing some sort of career in cooking or culinary. “She said she [would] love to start teaching me things if I wanted to become a cook. So that was super awesome,” said Richardson. “It kind of shows how good of an opportunity being in Bistro is and how you learn a ton from it.” After high school, Josh plans on going into a culinary school and pursuing a full career in cooking. “I think at least of becoming a cook. And that’s the thing I like about cooking too, I mean, you need food to survive, so why not make it taste better?” Richardson sees cooking as something more than just food or recipes; he sees it as a way to express himself and impact others around him. Jakob Jones “Cooking is honestly everything. It’s one of those things where you can gain bonds from people, like I have some of my best friends in Bistro. Cooking together is one of those things where you can do it with anybody no matter your skill level; you can always help each other out, and it’s kind of that relationship of helping each other versus learning from each other. It’s actually a really cool experience.” ENTERTAINMENT / THE WHIRLWIND 31
SP
MY BEST WORK BY Preet Dhaliwal
On the right side of photography teacher Matt Boase’s room, you’ll see on the top shelf an array of wacky objects and toys, dubbed “The Wall of Weird.”
These mugs are designed, made, sold by students in the Applied Business Class, which is a part of the marketing program. All are available for customization and are made from special paper, ink, and heat pressed onto the mug using a process called sublimation. The mugs will also be sold at the student store.
The first mug made by senior Ryn Burchard. Burchard has been in the marketing program for three years as well. The mug has a bulldog Christmas scene, and is an original digital watercolor piece.
ENGLISH TEACHER AMBER FERGUSON
“So well written,interesting about history of another culture... the glimpse of another culture and seeing how differently she was raised.”
On the left side of English teacher Jodi Howell’s room, you can see multiple posters of famous activsts and scientists, “The Wall of Wishes.”
The second and third mugs pictured above are made by senior Grayson Alley. Alley has been in the marketing program for three years.
Around math teacher Ian Condron’s room is a flurry of photographs and memorabilia from Ireland. The, “White” Wall as its called by some students, is updated everytime Max White has come to sub for Condron.
HEAD 2 HEAD
“Storyteller’s Secret” Sejal Badani 2018
TTED
“The Red Queen” Victoria Aveyard 2015
“‘Dystopian, younger themes,if you liked “Hunger Games” you’ll like this”
VS
LIBRARIAN JEAN GRITTER “Homegoing” Yaa Gyasi 2016
“Fascinating how its written, learn about their migration, well written.”
“Educated” Tara Westover 2018 “I thought it was good because it wasn’t super scary, but it made me think a little bit, and it was low budget. It had a weird feel to it I kind of liked.”
Entertainment / THE WHIRLWIND 32