October Rock

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The Student Voice of Rock Bridge Since 1973 . Vol. 47 Issue 2 . Oct. 30, 2019

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A&E. . . .9

SPORTS. . . .19

Students explore their relationship with and reaction to horror in popular culture, entertainment and film.

Boys' soccer aspires for its first state championship in RBHS history coming off a 20-4 regular season.

SOPHIE FROESE/ THE ROCK

SOPHIA EATON/ THE ROCK

What's coming up at RBHS? AP test registration due today, Oct. 30

he registration deadline for AdT vanced Placement (AP) testing moved to Nov. 15, according to the

College Board, the non-profit organization administering AP testing.

For RBHS students, however, a $40 deposit per test is due today.

ANA MANZANO/ THE ROCK Students must pay the remaining $54 by April 10. Between Nov. 16 and March, any changes to a student’s registration will incur a $40 fee, Director of School Counseling and AP Coordinator for RBHS Rachel Reed said.

Boone county to offer free flu shots Nov. 8

SARAH MOSTELLER/ THE ROCK

MUSICAL SET PREP: Senior Cato Walls uses a power drill to build a set piece during his 3A theater tech class. Students in that class are constructing set pieces for the upcoming annual musical, "The Drowsy Chaperone." The RBHS theater department will present the show Nov. 7 and 10.

Theater prepares for fall musical T ing sophomore Aidan Ryan, who plays Robert, SARAH DING he theater department will present the annu- are involved in show choir. “[Robert] is a wealthy bachelor who is your al fall musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” typical stock character lead; two dimensional, 7-10 p.m. Thursday Nov. 7 and Sunday overdone acting is key to the role,” Ryan said.

3-6 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Performing Arts Center.

“My character is important to the story because The show, set in the 1920s, follows the story of a Robert is getting married to the leading lady, and man named Robert, who watches and comments what drives the plot is we on his favorite musical of the both can’t see each othsame name.

This is a show that features an er on our wedding day.

Music department director ensemble cast of characters that This leads to a number Mike Pierson described it as a plays to the strengths of our cast of various conundrums “hilarious musical farce.” members." filled with silly gags and “It centers around a die— Mike Pierson, witty banter.” hard theater fan who plays his music department director The cast practiced for favorite Broadway musical more than a month. The cast album for the audience, audition process consisted of short scenes and during which the characters come to life in his song excerpts from the show and a dance combiNew York apartment,” Pierson said. “This is a nation.

Afterwards, directors held call-back audishow that features an ensemble cast of characters tions to narrow down the choice between actors. that plays to the strengths of our cast members.”

“Students selected to the specific roles showed While Columbia Entertainment Company performed the musical in their 2011-12 season, this great preparation of their material, excellent perwill be the first presentation of the show at a high formance during their audition and potential to school in Columbia. Some cast members, includ- portray the specific aspects required for the char-

acter they were chosen for,” Pierson said.

After the directors picked roles, the cast started rehearsals, which take place Monday through Thursday from 6:30-9 p.m. Rehearsals include music, acting and dance, as well as learning to work with the set and props, built by the technical theater class. The three sections of technical theater classes taught by Dee Crosby have been building the set for around two months.

“It’s going really great,” Crosby said. “But truth be told, we are always doing finishing touches on the set the day the show opens. That’s just the nature of the beast.”

With a week before the show, the cast spent time brushing up on details and smoothing out the last kinks. Ryan said the rehearsal process is tiring, but creating an enjoyable performance for the audience provides rewarding experiences.

“I love making laughter,” Ryan said. “I’ve done many musicals in the past, and I’ve learned something from every one of them. The main lesson, though, is that laughter is one of the things that makes both yourself and your audience feel good about themselves.”

he Columbia/Boone County DeT partment of Public Health and Human Services will provide the 2019-20

injectable influenza vaccine free of charge to students from 9 a.m.-noon Nov. 8, in the Performing Arts Center KRIS CHO/ THE ROCK Lobby.

The influenza vaccine is neither mandatory for students nor staff.

Jazz band to perform fall concert Nov. 12

he RBHS Jazz Band and Ensemble T will perform their first jazz concert of the year from 7-8 p.m. Nov. 12 in the

RBHS auditorium. They will perform pieces including “Birdland” by Joseph Zanwinul, “Brazz Machine” by Mark Taylor and “I Just Wanted to MAYA BELL/ THE ROCK Call to Say I Love You” by Stevie Wonder. Jazz band previewed a snippet of the concert Friday, Oct. 25 during 4th block.

ACT to allow CPS switches substitute service, experiences shortage section tests ISAAC YONTZ

MADDIE ORR

B

eginning September of next year, the American College Testing (ACT) standardized test will launch section retesting, superscoring and faster results with online testing, according to act.org, the nonprofit organization administering the test.

Most highly selective schools do not follow the same guidelines and require the highest cumulative score, according to the Compass Education Group.

It is unknown whether or not post-secondary institutions will superscore after the changes. Students will receive their multiple-choice test scores and ACT Composite score as early as two business days after the test.

Currently, scores on the four required sections are averaged into a composite score and graded on a scale of one to 36.

Students test for two hours and 55 minutes in one sitting, or three hours and 30 minutes including breaks, according to The Princeton Review.

Next year, however, the way ACT will coordinate testing and evaluate scores will differ.

“So, my understanding, which is slightly limited at this point, is that they’re going to allow students, first of all, to superscore and then secondly, allow students to just take certain portions of the test at a time, which you technically can do now [after the changes],” RBHS ACT Coordinator Melissa Coil said.

ACT CHANGES CONT. P3

C

olumbia Public Schools (CPS) switched substitute teacher providers from Kelly Services to Edustaff this year after CPS’ two year contract with Kelly Services expired and Edustaff made a higher bid to the district, CPS spokesperson Michelle Baumstark said.

This swap resulted in a substitute teacher shortage because Edustaff only retained 75 percent of hirees from Kelly Services and insufficient substitute applications.

“I think what affected [CPS] the

most was that when we moved to a new sub-company; everybody that had been a part of the old sub-company had to switch over. . . [and] had to apply for this new company,” RBHS principal Jacob Sirna said.

“My understanding is that the actual application [for Edustaff] was a little lengthier than Kelly Services. There were some things that prevented people from conveniently just signing up.”

Sirna said he thinks as the school year progresses and substitutes begin to shift from Kelly Services to Edu-

Requirements for Edustaff substitute teachers - Completed a teacher preparation program or applied for a Content Substitute Teacher Certificate - 60 semester credit hours from an accredited college or university - Background check

SARAH KUHLMAN, AUDREY SNYDER/ THE ROCK

staff, the shortage will resolve itself.

For now, Baumstark said because of sub vacancies, some teacher excused absences are prioritized above others to ensure classrooms have a teacher at all times.

Substitute Deborah Holly moved from Kelly Services to Edustaff after learning about the change in substitute companies.

Edustaff’s application requires substitute teachers to have 60 or more college credit hours, in addition to being certified by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “[Edustaff’s application had] tutoring things. They asked questions and to make sure that you have certain background information,” Holly said. “I don’t remember how long it took, [but it] probably took me two days to do.”

French teacher Kristin Reed said Edustaff did a poor job recruiting.

When Reed requested three sick days earlier this year, she received a fill-in sub for only one day.

“I don’t actually know that I will have a temporary substitute until the day of,” Reed said. “It makes it difficult to create sub plans.”

The student population has begun to notice the lack of substitutes in their classrooms.

Junior Logan Cockrell said there is a lower quality experience in the classroom as a result.

“I have seen more teachers or faculty subbing for classes recently. Sometimes the teacher knows in

advance that they will be gone, and [the class] is still covered by another teacher,” Cockrell said. “It’s hard for [fill-in] substitutes to [keep] our class under control. Temporary substitutes don’t seem to put as much effort in as regular substitutes.”

When a substitute can’t be found, RBHS faculty may have to step in as a temporary substitute for the block.

Cockrell experienced multiple temporary subs for his strength training class and said it was difficult for them to keep the class under control.

Principal’s secretary Denise McGonigle said Edustaff is taking active steps to resolve the problem.

“I think that they are trying to hire new substitutes. Kelly Services is still in service, so they still employ subs in the surrounding districts [Mexico, Ashland, etc.],” McGonigle said. “Edustaff has done their best to reach out to Rock Bridge to tell substitutes to switch to the new company, so we'll just have to wait.”

While the shortage continues to exist at RBHS, Baumstark estimates the only way to fix the problem is with time, as Edustaff will be able to recruit more substitutes as the year goes on.

“We are continuing to [transition to Edustaff],” Baumstark said.

“As you transition with any new [program], doesn't matter what it is, there's going to be a period of time where you have to transition, it does take time for that transition process to take place [and the deficit to fix itself].”

INDEX . . . . . . NEWS 1 . . . . OP-ED 5 . . . . A&E 8 . . . . IN-DEPTH 11 . . . . FEATURES 15. . . . SPORTS 18. . . . COMIC 20

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Climbing for college FAFSA updates may make application process easier

ments (SAVE), a part of the ily’s income is “about in will stress less about it and plete the application in a Department of Homeland the middle,” adding that the spend more time on com- quicker time frame.”

Security, according to nitro- FAFSA application will help pleting their application,” For Polniak and Yoo, the college.com and ifap.ed.gov. her afford college tuition.

Yoo said. “I honestly don’t technological adjustments “I think the new FAFSA think the changes [could] to the error notifications feaThe most significant revision to the FAFSA applica- changes will be really ben- negatively impact anyone.” ture are also very helpful. tion regards the Need Anal- eficial for students,” Polniak Kayla Klein, a Financial The new feature on the ysis Income Threshold for said. “It will create more Aid Advisor at the Universi- form notifies the student an automatic-zero Expected opportunities to fund higher ty of Missouri—Columbia, about incomplete or missing Family Contribution (EFC). education for students that said FAFSA makes updates fields before the student can The EFC is a measure of may have trouble paying every year. Klein, who also move on to the next quesa family’s financial status for college, even if just by a serves as the Early Aware- tion. and strength, which includes small difference.” ness Committee Chair for “Personally, I [often] forPolniak added the devel- the Missouri Association get my password to [many information about a family’s taxed and untaxed income, opments to the website, stu- of Student Financial Aid things],” Polniak said. “So dentaid.ed.gov, have made Personnel, helps RBHS stu- new changes to how [fafsa. assets and benefits.

Having a zero EFC it easy to browse and go dents and their families with gov] responds to errors realmeans a family doesn’t have through. the FAFSA application ev- ly helps me.”

“The [site] looks daunt- ery year. the ability to cover any colWhile the FAFSA applilege costs. ing at first,” Polniak said, She specifically assists cation is a constant work The income threshold “but I think once you ex- students and families find in progress, Klein said the for an automatic zero EFC plore, anyone can find what funds for post-secondary ed- opportunities heavily outincreased from $25,000 to they are looking for quick- ucational costs. weigh the detriments. $26,000 for the 2019-20 ap- ly.”

“I encourage students Klein said the new skip plication.

Fellow senior Shawn Yoo logic on the website is a pos- to complete the FAFSA This change most affects echoed Polniak about the itive for students, making when talking to them, [even students whose family in- improved convenience and the process of completing though] people say they will comes are below or near the detail of the technological the FAFSA easier. not get anything from it,” Missouri poverty level. updates to the website.

“FAFSA updates and Klein said. “The work that For a standard family “I think the mobile app makes changes to the form I and my colleagues [do] of four, the poverty level changes are awesome since every year. Updating the across the state is [meant] is at $25,100 according a lot of students struggle to skip logic based on how you to help families pay for a to aspe.hhs.gov. Senior complete their FAFSA form, answer previous questions is post-secondary education Madi Polniak said the and by making FAFSA important for families and and that includes technical changes are worthmore accessible, students,” Klein said. schools. We all know how a S e n i o r s while and meanstudents “It helps to ensure FAFSA can help to achieve Anushka Jalisatgi ingful.

Polniak that they are not an- that goal and that is why and Jerry Hou both said her famswering questions if we are out helping families said they feel disnot needed. . . [and] it on our campuses and in the heartened by the outallows them to com- communities that we serve.”

M come, yet Jalisatgi said i s she isn’t surprised.

AC so “I mean [it’s] a school T uri’ sc s of lawyers,” Jalisatgi said.

[S or av O U “They’re going to have good e i er RC E: W s a ag lawyers.”

W W .

D Hou said, though, the law20 e ES E.M . suit might not be for nothing. He O. GO V believes Harvard will try to divert ] attention away from the controversy by accepting more Asian-Americans this year. Despite not fully agreeing with the school’s admissions process, he still plans on applying to various Ivy League schools. higher score.”

ACT CHANGES CONT. P1 “The chances are a little more that Coil believes the situation raises both benefits Coil recently visited with a correspondent they will take a little more Asians this and concerns. On one hand, students may now be from ACT to discuss what the new format year,” Hou said. “It’s a good school . . able to qualify for scholarships that require a highwill look like and said the ACT hasn’t quite . [and] their application is like the easer composite ACT score that they wouldn’t have figured out what testing will entail yet but is iest one.” qualified for before; on the other hand, she said excited about the changes. Still, she believes Unlike Hou, Jalisatgi the changes to testing may make college applicait “could be a logistical nightmare.” said she plans to boycott tions “trickier and even more difficult.”

These new options, according to act.org, “ofthe Ivy League, although “[Section retesting] might potentially give fer students more choices, a better experience and she may reevaluate for Princstudents the opportunity to have their brain fogreater confidence that their ACT test scores best eton. While her decision was not cused on one thing,” Coil said. “And, I think it reflect their hard work, overall academic achieveentirely because of the court case, will hopefully increase scores because of that. Not ment and potential for success throughout their she said it “has just left a bad taste” necessarily because the test has become easier, but lives.” Taking the whole test costs $52 without in her mouth. because the testing situation has become easier.” the optional writing section, and $68 with it, ac“I genuinely think [Harvard is] Junior Madison Moller likes the changes becording to “The New York Times.” Taking an overrated,” Jalisatgi said. “I wanted cause she could redo her worst sections, in particindividual section would be cheaper, but ACT to [apply] for the longest time, like I ular the science section, individually in a shorter has not yet decided on a price. knew I wanted to be a lawyer, and I time period than the entire test.

Senior Chloe Morse said the alteration knew Harvard had the best law school.

“The ability to focus for 3 1/2 hours and do to future ACT testing will make the exam And so when I was younger, I was like, well can be difficult, especially with the pressure impractical in showing any academic ‘I’m going to go to Harvard. I’m going to attached to the ACT,” Moller said. “So, the new qualities. work hard. I’m going to go to Harvard,’ but option to retake a section individually will allow “If you retake the same section then when this whole Asian-American thing for sharper focus and lead to better results.” over and over,” Morse said, came out, I was like, ‘Forget it. I’m not going Nobody knows how these changes will affect “the results no longer show to Harvard.’” future high school students and their aspirations what you actually know; Born in California, Jalisatgi is looking toward the after their secondary education. Coil said for next they show what West Coast for college, as she said she misses the year’s graduating seniors, the changes will be you’ve learned area. She’s interested in the various public universi- w h a t “kind of a funky transition.” in order to ties in California such as University of California— t h e i r “A few years down the road, I have a get a Berkeley and San Diego. Additionally, she said she race or feeling it will just be like this is the is considering University of Michigan—Ann Arbor, whatever their new norm and a lot of [colleges] will a large, highly ranked public school. background may probably, hopefully, start using that “There are so many other wonderful schools,” be.” superscore because that’s what ACT Jalisatgi said. “I didn’t want to [go to the Ivy League] McKee said she does not facis going to do,” Coil said. “. . . It’s anyway, so like, why bother?” tor in race when she writes her recomgoing to take a couple of years Both Hou and Jalisatgi have taken the “person- mendation. Still, she said colleges for it to play out before we’ll al rating” to heart when writing their personal es- should take race into account in the really know the impact it’s says and asking for recommendation letters as they admissions process; however, she making.” said Ivy Leagues and other prestigious schools have empathizes with both sides. Jalimade it harder for Asian-Americans to achieve high satgi said instead of considering scores in this category. race, socio-economic status should Guidance counselor Carrie McKee writes rec- be considered. While she does not ommendation letters for students with the last name expect a perfect plan, she starting with A,T-Z. McKee used to be a third grade said it would be less ent of c r e s p 4 25. teacher but became a counselor when she noticed controversial and a tudent s d r a v ar the need for them. McKee said she tries to get to more objective tted H American. i m d a know each of her 200 students by having conver- form of idenian] M are As sations with them and getting on a first-name basis. tification.

CO D. E ER “I really tried to speak to what the student has. We “If we don’t try GH HI E have them fill out [a counseling form], so that way so hard to be cookie D SI .IN we get to know you better,” McKee said. “So I really cutter diverse,” Jalisatgi W W W E: try to speak to the strengths of each student no matter said. “I think it’ll be more natural.”

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he Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application made updates for its 2019-20 application. The adjustments include an increase in the Need Analysis Income Threshold, an update to the online website, a new feature for error notifications and modifications to the third-step verification process for the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitle-

Harvard wins case, affects Asian students ANNA XU

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ACT makes changes for new year

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ov. 1 marks the deadline for early action and early decision to many universities. Among these schools is Harvard University, which offers early action and regular decision on Jan. 1.

Senior Greta McNamee is applying early action to Harvard.

“I love Cambridge. My parents lived there for years, and the town atmosphere is gorgeous,” McNamee said. “Plus, the academic rigor is nearly unmatched, and I am seeking an intellectual challenge in my [post-]secondary schooling.”

Harvard, however, has recently received fire for possible race-based discrimination in their application reviewing process. Despite the controversy, federal judge Allison D. Burroughs ruled in favor of the university Oct. 1. Burroughs’ decision, written in a 130 page document, admits the school is “not perfect;” still, “the court will not dismantle a very fine admissions program that passes constitutional muster, solely because it could do better.” On Oct. 4, the plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), filed an appeal.

Currently, race quotas in universities are unconstitutional, according to the earliest affirmative action Supreme Court case, University of California v. Bakke (1978); still, as reaffirmed by the Harvard lawsuit, race is a fair consideration in the holistic application.

Edward Blum of SFFA initially brought forth the case in November 2014, gaining traction in late 2018 when it went in front of Burroughs, who distinguished herself as one of the first judges to oppose President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

Blum’s career goal is to change college admissions into a race-blind process, something he tried in various lawsuits such as the 2016 Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas, which he lost on a 4-3 decision.

The basis to eliminate race in application, Blum said, is that it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Protection Clause. This clause arose from the Civil Rights Movement stating the government can “not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin.” Blum claims the different standards for admission based on race are inherently unequal.

An analysis commissioned by SFFA, which included 160,000 Harvard student records, found Asian-Americans consistently scored lower on the subjective “personal rating,” a component of holistic review which includes judging character traits such as likability and courage. In contrast, Asian-Americans had the highest test scores, GPA and extracurricular average rating compared to any other race category. SFFA claims Harvard uses the “personal rating” as a way to impose a soft quota as a way to racially balance classes.

Harvard, however, disagrees with the SFFA’s methods of the analysis. It claims statistical analysis does not account for the intricacies of the admissions process. Additionally, the school conducted its own analysis that found Asian-American admission rates grew 29 percent in the last 10 years.

“Harvard does not have any racial quotas,” Burroughs wrote in her ruling. “[The school] provides tips to applicants to help it achieve a diverse class.

Those tips are necessary to achieve a diverse class given the relative paucity of minority applicants that would be admitted without such a tip.”

OU

[S

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OP-ED 5

THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

Bruin bear

Textbook trouble

9th grade

10th grade

Textbooks stink; I just use Wikipedia.

Your work is boring.

Strayer

I hate this textbook.

I don't know. It helps me learn.

You're a terrible student.

11th grade

Your work has too much fluff.

You don't even read my textbook.

12th grade

Kennedy

AP Literature doesn't even have a textbook.

I'm more exciting than Strayer.

Let's agree to disagree.

That's because of all the novels.

SNOWY LI/ THE ROCK

Affirmative action proves vital for diversity D The controversy surrounding affirmative acuring the Civil Rights Movement, President John F. Kennedy signed an exec- tion has persisted for decades. In 2016 the U.S. utive order in 1961 mandating the gov- Supreme Court decided Fischer v. University of ernment to “take affirmative action to ensure Texas (UT), in which Abigail Fischer claimed she was treated unfairthat applicants are ly in the college ademployed and that missions process and employees are treatShould race be considered in UT violated her 14th ed during employcollege applications?

Amendment right of ment without regard equal protection, arguto their race, creed, THE ROCK STAFF VOTED ing the school accepted color, or national orless qualified minority igin.” students ahead of her.

Now, affirmative 15 YES The Supreme Court action attempts to 12 NO ruled in favor of the level the playing field university, upholding and give equal opporaffirmative action. tunities to historically In 2014, the advocacy group Students for disadvantaged minorities in education and in Fair Admissions sued Harvard for discriminathe workforce.

While opponents of affirmative action say tion against Asian applicants. The case made it decreases equity because of higher standards it to the U.S. District Court for the District of put on some racial groups, it is imperative that Massachusetts, where a judge said Harvard had colleges consider race in their admissions to en- not violated the plaintiffs’ rights as the school sure diversity. Race should, however, play a re- did not use unconstitutional race quotas but induced role in acceptance, and instead be a way stead used race as one part of the holistic reto understand an applicant in a holistic context. view.

Diversity in institutes of higher education is incredibly valuable, and the consideration of one’s ethnicity is crucial to protecting this. A campus that represents America’s whole populous better prepares all students for the “real” world.

Additionally, race-conscious admissions allow colleges to counteract inequalities in the K-12 education system. For example, Jay Rosner of the Princeton Review said the SAT is biased toward white students, which admissions officers could consider when comparing applications.

In order for a question to be acceptable for a version of the test, the percentage of students who answer correctly based off of demographics must match historical trends. If high-scoring test-takers⁠—who are historically more likely to be white⁠—answer a question correctly, it’s deemed a good question. But, if not, test-makers throw out the question, entrenching racial bias in the test.

“Race and ethnicity are not considered explicitly,” Rosner wrote, “but racially disparate scores drive question selection, which in turn reproduces racially disparate test results in an

internally reinforcing cycle.”

Schools should be careful not to go too far in their quest for equality and check they don’t unintentionally abuse the policy to set a number of people from any one ethnic group per year.

Although race can be important in understanding the circumstances of one’s background, colleges should not go so far as to admit less qualified students because of their skin color.

Race should not be the sole factor in determining the context of an application. Instead, ethnicity ought to be coupled with socioeconomic standing. Under a purely race-based system, a white or Asian low-income student may not have the circumstances of his or her upbringing accurately represented, which is counterproductive to the purpose of affirmative action.

Colleges should continue to consider race in admissions; however, it should never be the determining factor in whether they admit a student or not. Admissions officers should instead use it as a tool to help fully understand an applicant’s background and to ensure they are not unintentionally discriminating against minority students.

Diminutive desks stifle student learning ISAAC YONTZ

T Readers’ Crossword

Visit rbhs.bearingnews.org to check your answers

Across

1. Where does the boys’ swim and dive team practice?

2. Horror movie that grossed $193 million on a $15 thousand budget 3. According to “The Nation,” one-third of Americans work at least _______ hours or more every week 4. This early summer blockbuster was considered by many critics to be a horror film 8. Routine behaviors that are repeated frequently 10. The second step in the process of military enlistment JARED GEYER/ THE ROCK

The Rock Rock Bridge High School 4303 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203 Vol. 47, Issue 2 October 30, 2019 Population: 2,067 Students, 148 Faculty Circulation: 1,500 Contact information: Phone: (573) 214-3141 Website: rbhs.bearingnews.org

Advertising: $50 — 1/4 Page $100 — 1/2 Page $150 — Full Page $200 — Back page The Journalism Newspaper and Honors Seminar classes produce The Rock and Bearing News.

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lastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association and Quill & Scroll.

The Rock accepts letters to the editor from its readers regarding any possible issues of concern in the publication. If you have a letter to send, email it to contact@bearingnews. org or fill it out online.

Limit entries to 400 words. The Rock reserves the right to reject material based on stan-

surface area with modern seating.

The size of a desk in a studies’ room is 16x24 inches, while the size of Meyer’s AP Psychology textbook is 11x9.5 inches; finally, the size of a laptop is 11x8 inches.

The current desks are too small to support both a textbook and laptop. Students must sacrifice one of their vital educational pieces to fit all of their items on their desks.

By the end of the class, students either scramble to organize their papers or have forfeited the idea of being able to do classwork altogether.

Meanwhile, in the science wing, classrooms are gifted with the luxury of adequate surface area.

Physics and biology classrooms have the leisure of trapezoid desks, leaving more surface area and the ability to pod up and collaborate with others.

It’s time to trash the trash desks and outfit every classroom with the angelic trapezoidal desks of the science classrooms.

The trapezoid is a simple fix to the microscopic desk problem, which solves the infinite problems of square desks. The new desks allow stu-

dards set by the staff.

Staff: Adviser: Robin Stover Editors-In-Chief: Anna Xu Bailey Stover Business Managers: Mason Cohen William Yoo A&E Editor: Anna Xu Art & Design Editor: Sarah Kuhlmann Op-Ed Editor: Will Cover Features Editor:

Maddie Orr In-Depth Editor: Bailey Stover News Editor: Amira McKee Photo Editor: Camryn DeVore Sports Editor: Ryan Choe Staff Writers: Anjali Noel Ramesh, Audrey Novinger, Brandon Kim, Elliot Bachrach, Emily Dearing, Isaac Yontz, Olivia Peters, Sarah Ding Artists: Devin Hall, Lorelei Dohm,

dents to put desks together and create innovative shapes that grant greater surface area, resulting in more of the ever so coveted flat space, in turn bettering their education.

CPS must fund new desks in the studies’ wing. Although there would be a substantial cost associated with this change of furnishings, the district’s primary goal should be to promote quality of education, not keep costs down at the expense of students’ learning.

It’s not fair to the students who want to do classwork but are unable to because they are confined to the small regions of the desks.

For too long students have twiddled their thumbs on the edges of desks that can barely fit a textbook and laptop. It’s time to modernize the high school classroom and reject the antiquated squares. It’s time to accept modernity: the mighty trapezoid.

JARED GEYER/ THE ROCK

5. The last name of Young Democrats’ co-president 6. The main antagonist of the “It” franchise 7. The brain’s release of oxycontin and _________ makes social bonding with peers a source of pleasure and reward 9. Website used by various teachers 11. This classic horror film had Jack Torrance as its antagonist 12. Milk brand ridiculed for its treatment of cattle

Down

he desks in studies’ classrooms are atrocious and unfit to house the basic needs of students in 2019.

The problem begins when class starts and teachers pass out school work; students must simultaneously begin reading chapters out of their textbook and analyze documents in Schoology. This leaves them to spend more time trying to figure out how they can possibly fit all these vital materials on their desk than actually working on their assignment.

In the end, students must juggle keeping the computer, notebook and textbook on their desks like some sort of elaborate magic trick.

On top of classwork, students must also battle whether or not there’s space for a water bottle or if they should just leave it in their backpack to be forgotten, inevitably leading to their dehydration.

There is simply not enough space to fit high schoolers’ belongings on a desk.

When Columbia taxpayers agreed to fund laptops, no one foresaw the physical needs this change to learning materials would incur. Now that we see the cumbersome size of the laptops when balanced on a small student desk, however, it is obvious Columbia Public Schools (CPS) should have asked residents for more funding to grant students the affluence of

Rachel Stevens, Riley Kerns, Snowy Li, Sophie Froese Photographers: Ana Manzano, Audrey Snyder, Sarah Mosteller, Sophie Eaton, Turner DeArmond Multimedia: Maddie Marrero, Jared Geyer, Parker Boone For daily school, local and national news, check out rbhs.bearingnews .org

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n Have at least 95% attendance over the 4 years of high school n Graduate with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 n Perform 50 hours of unpaid tutoring in a CPS school n Maintain good citizenship (fewer than 5 days OSS) and avoid un- lawful use of drugs and alcohol

OP-ED 7

THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

Family values N AMIRA MCKEE

o fewer than twice a week, my peers subject my name to the same patronizing inflection. Usually, after seeing the chaos that is my backpack or learning I postponed homework until right before it’s due, friends or classmates will exasperatedly draw out my name, their disappointment punctuating each judgmental note.

Granted, their words are often well-meant, likely in hopes of spurring me from my apparent sloth.

Nevertheless, their overtones carry a sharper message: If I can do it, why can’t you?

At home, my family calls my name but with a more compassionate cadence. When my brother Mickey shrieks my name at the squeak of my front door announcing my arrival home, I feel relieved. He is a 2-yearold ball of energy with thick brown hair, his locks never seeming to release their hold on whatever snack he had that day, despite my mother’s Sisyphean efforts to scrub it out.

Crawling army-style with as much speed as his pudgy 11-month-old arms can muster, his stomach pressed to the ground, my brother Mack follows Mickey in quick succession.

Nonchalantly, my 6-year-old sister

Home responsibilities give ample opportunities for personal growth

Clara, sitting criss-cross on the couch oblivious to the clamor around her, will call out a greeting, not looking up from her book or tablet.

From tortuously brushing the dreadlocks that form daily in Clara’s thick blond hair to coaxing Mack into one last bite of green pea mush, my siblings are what I dedicate the most time and energy to.

Only after I’ve fulfilled my role as an older sister do I begin my homework for five Advanced Placement classes and prepare for seven extracurriculars all while somehow finding the time to eat and sleep.

Even as I write this, Mickey is

tentatively hitting me with a plastic saucepan. My crime: not giving him enough attention.

I love my family and gladly accept the rewarding tasks that come with being an older sibling, but everyone from my friends to teachers rarely consider the energy it demands. My home life requires significant management and effort, yet my teachers and peers alike compare my work ethic for academics to others’ despite the different circumstances of our lives.

These unfair judgments aren’t unique to students who need to take care of their siblings. By assuming

(1)

SARAH MOSTELLER/ THE ROCK

(2)

(3)

SARAH MOSTELLER/ THE ROCK

SARAH MOSTELLER/ THE ROCK

(1) Junior Amira McKee reads to her younger siblings after she gets home from school Oct. 22. Clara watches on the left and Mack on the right as Amira asked Mickey in the middle to point to the narwhal in the book they were reading. (2) After the bell rings at 4:05 p.m., Amira sits in the East Atrium, writing in her bullet journal before heading home. (3) Amira pushes her younger brother, Mickey, on the swing in their backyard before dinner.

the homogeneity of teenagers’ lives, educators exclude the responsibilities of those who need to work to support themselves or their families, or act as a caretaker for a loved one.

Still, teachers and even colleges hold students with significant home responsibilities to the same standards as those with fewer household obligations.

Within my classes I have noticed students overwhelmed by academics are far quicker to request leniency from teachers than those who feel overburdened by household roles.

I missed various assignments my sophomore year because I was busy assisting my mom in her struggle of wrestling three flailing and exhausted children to their yearly check-up.

I avoided asking for sympathy from teachers even when I felt overextended for fear of their viewing my situation as illegitimate and seeing me as an apologist or, even worse, a “slacker.”

After six years with my siblings, I can attest they provide more opportunities to grow and learn than any of my extracurriculars. I am confident that dedicating time to them, even at the cost of diverting focus from academics, is well worth it.

Just because many family responsibilities are obligatory doesn’t mean they require any less commitment or provide fewer opportunities for development than school extracurriculars. Still, I have seen several scholarships suggest applicants include caring for siblings more as an explanation of circumstance rather than a legitimate representation of strength of character.

As I research colleges and their expectations of applicants, I have noticed a pattern among recommended extracurriculars. Counselors recommend being as involved as possible but focus almost exclusively on activities that don’t pertain to one’s home.

This pigeonholing attitude confines the definition of a good teenager to someone who focuses primarily on growth within academics and leadership, excluding the validity of growth through familial work as a result.

I’m not suggesting family responsibilities become an automatic excuse for my, or anyone’s, procrastination, simply that people in different situations recognize it as a valid and challenging role students may assume.

So the next time you wonder why I am not doing more, I assure you my sister’s hair is free of tangles and my brother is well fed. I wouldn’t trade that time for any academic accolades.

Large families inevitably achieve close bonds EMILY DEARING

D

ec. 8, 2016. It was cold outside my house, and I’m sitting in my room doing eighth grade homework. My dad walked in, and I began to tell him to get out before I saw the look on his face.

He was smiling and happy, but his eyes glinted with a panic I’ve only seen when he is too scared to tell someone a chilling truth. He sat down on my bed and said I was going to have a little brother. A grin cracked across my face. I felt ecstatic, but inside I was terrified.

How did I gain three siblings in six months, and how do I deal with them?

The summer after seventh grade, my parents got a long overdue divorce. Since the need for the split was critical, they both found love soon after they

finalized their separation. My dad met Adrienne in June. She had two little girls with sunshine hair trailing her the first time I saw her: 2-year-old Tegan and 5-year-old Isla.

I walked into my 11-year-old brother Koda’s room the day I met them and sat on his bed. We couldn’t speak to each other. We were used to constant attention. How were we supposed to learn to share that?

Three and a half years later, we’ve figured it out.

I love family dinners in my household. Every day at about 6 p.m., my phone dings with the same text from Adrienne: “Dinner’s ready.” As I walk out of my room, my brother and I meet by the stairs, toss our daily insults to each other, laugh and walk upstairs to the kitchen.

As the door that separates the downstairs from the upstairs opens, chaos ensues. Music blares,

and Beckett, my baby brother, and Tegan zoom by. Isla yells at Tegan for hitting her. My dad stands by the sink, singing along to our Alexa.

Adrienne is making plates and yelling at the girls to sit down before shooting a quick “hi” in my direction. We walk to the dining room, as Beckett and Tegan rush past with Adrienne chasing them in hot pursuit.

We get ourselves situated five minutes later and then sit together for the first time in the day. Beckett shows us new animal noises he learned at daycare, and all of us go into a fit mimicking him for 15 minutes, filling the house with a lion’s roar of laughter. Isla and Tegan rave about school, and Koda talks about what injuries he gave and received at football practice that day, proudly showing off his bruises. After-dinner food covers the table, and the kids race to the television, leaving an exasperated Adrienne to take plates to the sink.

With a huge family, one gets used to a certain level of messiness. The carpet, vacuumed in the morning, somehow has crumbs again; the dishes are back in the dishwasher two hours later. Somehow, you walk through the hallway and always step on a toy. The constant upkeep never stops, and, sometimes, frustrations and tensions rise higher than any of us can handle.

The fighting that comes from these aspects of large families is like a forest fire. It starts with sharp sparking snaps at one another or a blow in someone’s direction. But when the emotions escalate, they explode with no warning. The snapping turns into yelling, and the huffs turn into slammed doors. We isolate ourselves in the farthest corners of the house to try to dim the inferno of our anger.

When the fire is put out and the house is quiet, boredom creeps up our backs as the adrenaline rush dies and we become uncomfortable with the silence. Sitting on our beds fuming

about the dishes, we wonder if the fight is even worth not getting to talk to one another. So, one by one, we end up creeping out of our rooms with apologetic eyes. One by one, we end up back at the same level of loud chaotic energy.

Regardless of initial hesitations about bonding, blended families become close. Too close to not talk to each other for longer than 15 minutes.

It was difficult at first: not knowing if I could sit in a certain seat or awkwardly moving around the kitchen, trying not to bother anyone. Over time, however, a mountain of kids on the couch becomes a norm, and being close to everyone in the kitchen doesn’t feel weird.

I love my big family: the way we pile in our living room on movie nights, the way we help carry kids to bed when they pass out and the way we laugh for hours together. Even if we’re separate in my home, we’re still together. Sometimes I have to be the first one to reach out to them, and sometimes they do, but the love and desire to be near to each other is always there.

JARED GEYER/ THE ROCK

8 A&E

THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

A. What is the name of the character?

Terror Trivia 1.

Fright or flight?

B. What movie is the character from?

Students reflect on relationship with horror

*If there is more than one movie, name the series.

2.

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C. What year did the movie come out?

enior Sarah Keely pulls her sweater above her nose, slightly below her wide, unblinking eyes.

Her hair hoods her ears, but it’s the silence that petrifies her the most. She places her hands delicately on her face, ready at a moment’s notice to shield her eyes. She’s in a fetal position; the attack is coming.

Suddenly, it’s anarchy.

Violins screech in terrible tune, and the closet door slams shut. Demonic eyes consume the little girl in the movie screen as she drops her teddy bear; Keely winces. The film is “Poltergeist” (1982). At 12 years old, it was the first horror movie she ever watched.

Since then, she said she’s seen it countless times.

Keely said most horror films are illogical and terrifying, but that’s why she loves them. In fact the horror film industry raked in $733 million in tickets sales in 2017, according to the website Box Office Mojo. A proud contributor to the market, Keely watches multiple horror movies every month and said the pictures are why October “is so great.” Just recently, she viewed “The Babadook” (2014), an Australian thriller about a frightening picture book, with her friends.

“Whenever [the Babadook is] coming to your room, he’ll make a rumble and then he’ll knock three times, and then he’ll come out. And so you’re watching the movie, and then you’ll hear the rumble, and then you’re like, ‘Oh m y

*If there is more than one movie, recall the first.

Answers in the

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11. Bruce of “Jaws” (1975)

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A&E 9

THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

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God, oh my God, it’s coming,’” Keely said. “You’re grabbing onto your friend, and it’s so much fun.”

Keely described herself as easily scared; however, she said that fact only heightens the thrill of the experience. Still, Keely said she never watches horror films without others, crediting her entertainment to the giggly conversations during and after the movies.

“It’s fun to be scared, but the best part is afterwards when you’re talking to whoever you watched it with, and you’re like, ‘What just happened?’” Keely said.

“You’re trying to figure out [what happened], and you’re making jokes about it.”

What Keely finds amusing, however, junior Mohammed Abu-Salah finds idiotic and purposeless. Watching “It” (2017), a mystery and thriller film starring a clown, and reluctantly sitting through horror commercials solidified his stance because of how contradictory or incomplete he said the plot is.

“It’s not the scary part; I can deal with the scary part,” Abu-Salah said, “but it’s just sitting through the weirdest stuff possible. Like every weird thing that could possibly happen happens, and then you wait to get scared, and then after you get scared, that’s it.”

While Keely acknowledges the impracticality of horror films, she said it’s only possible to enjoy the picture when one doesn’t take it too seriously. Because of her “low attention span,” Keely said she cares for the excitement and adrenaline of horror, not the monotony of a drama.

“I hate watching movies, but I love watching horror movies because I’m into it the whole time,” Keely said, “but you look at the Rotten Tomatoes [score], and it’s like a 20 percent, but I watch it, and I’m like, ‘Yes, that was the best movie I’ve ever seen.’ Like, the plot was terrible, but it was really scary.”

Keely also said sometimes the foolishness of a character enlivens the experience as she can joke about it.

“You cannot end a horror movie without hating one of the characters,” Keely said. “Like the mom in the ‘Shining,’ [based on a Stephen King novel,] you watch it, and then you’re like, ‘Are you stupid?’”

While sophomore Elizabeth Sherwin has never finished a full horror film, she said she avoids them because they are “just too

much.” Despite relishing the thrill of a roller coaster, of arousal and fear, which heightens our sensshe described adrenaline as different than what she ex- es and stimulates us. They tap into our fight periences when watching horror. While the rides elic- or flight responses and create adrenaline in us it “movement” and “a feeling in her stomach,” horror with their simulated danger. While we’re watchmakes her feel “threatened and really scared.” ing something genuinely scary, to say that we’re “My friends always try to convince me to go see enjoying it is an oxymoron.” [horror movies], and I think we started watching half Stagg said he especially admires horror directors of one back in seventh grade. I couldn’t even make it as they must evoke the strongest emotions from their through it,” Sherwin said. “I was like, ‘Turn it off.’ I viewers. In the words of Sir Authur Doyle, who creatcouldn’t even deal with it, and then we watched some ed Sherlock Holmes, “Where there is no imagination, comedy or something.” there is no horror.”

There are varying theories on why some people rev“Personally I love an effective horror movie. It el in the fear horror films ignite while others couldn’t shows just how powerful the medium of filmmakhate them more. A 2010 study from SAGE Journals re- ing is,” Stagg said. “The feelings that you feel while ported individuals with a “higher need for affect,” or watching them aren’t fake, and the filmmakers know extreme feeling, correlated with stronger emotions af- that. They’ve spent months and months trying to craft ter seeing a horror film, and those same people enjoyed the perfectly scary scene, and when it works, I get rethe scare more. Avoiders, however, were more likely to ally happy. It just encourages me to keep writing and evade strong emotion and working hard to become a filmmaker dislike horror. myself one day.”

In contrast to the previBlackburn said the modern day The best part is afterwards ous analysis, another study conversation is centered on the media when you’re talking to whoever

by Journal of Consumer one consumes. He said movies make you watched it with, and you’re Research found different for easy small talk and can build like, ‘What just happened?.’ “ people experienced similar strong relationships as well. Whennegative emotions during a ever Keely and her friends are - Sarah Keely, horror film, but those who bored, they resort to a horror film. senior favored the picture were While Abu-Salah and Sherwin able to feel both positive dislike such movies, Abu-Salah and negative emotions at the same time. As Keely said, said he enjoys action while Sherwin dabbles in “It’s fun to be scared.” Whether one chooses horror or all but horror genres, depending on her mood. some other genre, Pop Culture teacher Neal Blackburn While they may not be invested in the said movies are a pinnacle to American culture today. process as much as Stagg, movies provide His class studies the origins of the horror genre and an opportunity to escape from a regudiscusses the common formula of jump scares and the lar Tuesday evening to anything from a diverging paths some new horror movies are exploring. creepy cemetery to a dysfunctional but He said students should appreciate pop culture and the loving family. history of different movie categories as they directly “It’s just fun to get hyped up pertain to the modern dialogue. because then afterwards, you’re “We think that inevitably [pop culture is] one thing walking out of the movie theater that can tie you together with a number of age groups, and your friends are stumwith a number of different diverse ethnic groups. It’s bling around you like, ‘Oh, kind of that thing that when you’re in the real world, my God. What just hapthat’s what you talk about,” Blackburn said. “People pened,’” Keely said. want to know what you’re listening to, what you’re “It’s so funny, and watching.” then you’re slap Sophomore Luke Stagg has taken a love of movies happy for like to the next level, making it his passion as he spends an hour.” most of his free time watching and analyzing films. He finds beauty in the various genres and, ever since fifth grade, has started writing his own screen plays. Stagg aspires to be a professional screenwriter eventually.

“Horror movies are a very interesting type of film,” Stagg said. “They’re very prirnal in a sense. The sights and sounds of a wellmade horror film often create a feeling

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THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

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THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

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e c n e s e r p e n . i l h c n t o a n c a y f l o g u y t e n u r a a a h e n the b comes wit osts ens ld p r e o r w d n n e a e s s . e t s r e e o n f o i n tw n u i p n o a d n i n s a r s e t n us e m m o c f o

12 IN-DEPTH

Public embarrassment, humiliation detrimental to health, development

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BAILEY STOVER

SHAME, SHAME

IT KNOWS YOUR NAME

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spit it out FIRST AMENDMENT FREEDOMS FACILITATE PROACTIVE CONVERSATIONS, PROGRESS

C

ANJALI NOEL RAMESH

CK RO HE /T HM I DO ELE LOR

hen junior Avory Gilbert was 10, she received her scoliosis diagnosis. She had to wear a back brace in sixth grade, and when that did not work, she underwent surgery. Her condition worsened when she returned to gymnastics, requiring her to go through another procedure June of this year.

During Gilbert’s sophomore year, she said there was an anonymous Instagram page and called “Rock Bridge Confessions,” which she said had more than 500 followers. In the r e l a bio section, the owner wrote anyone could send in information about other people, and he tionships.

After Gilbert’s or she would publish it to the account. While Gilbert said nine out of 10 times the account would use a person’s initials rather than a full name, when a post came out in May of last attempts to have the post year about her, it included her full name. Her friend took a screen shot of the post to show removed failed, she turned to her mother for advice. Her mother her.

“It said, ‘Avory has scoliosis because she messes around with a lot of guys,’” Gilbert told her to “take it lightly,” and Gilsaid. “It made me feel bad ’cause I’ve never actually had a boyfriend before. I never really bert did her best to not let the post affect hang out with guys a lot, and so to think that people would think that about me kind of her. Most people who saw the post thought it was a joke, Gilbert said, and those who comhurt my feelings.”

Instagram’s community guidelines include intellectual property rights and copyright mented stood up for her by calling out the post’s infringement, appropriateness of content, preventing spam, following the law, respecting inaccurate understanding of scoliosis.

“I thought it was kind of funny. I didn’t really other users, avoiding graphic content and not glorifying self-injury. After seeing the post, Gilbert reported it, but Instagram did not take it down. She then tried to convince the ac- think much about it because they had gotten the account reported and taken down within that week, so count owner to remove the confession.

“I messaged them to take it down,” Gilbert said, “and they said, ‘Sorry, I can’t do I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Gilbert said. that. It wasn’t your confession that you sent in. Even though it’s about you, I can’t take it “But it did [make] me feel like people did judge me because of my back and they had assumptions I had down.’”

Dr. Christopher T. Conner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Universi- scoliosis because of another reason, and that’s been ty of Missouri—Columbia, focuses his research on sociological theory, which includes kind of difficult.”

Gilbert said she found the post humorous because of statements about the relationship between the social world and certain facts, as well as an array of other topics. He said what drives one person or a group of people to shame or tar- its wording and because the person who sent it in did not “know how scoliosis works,” a topget another depends on the context and may differ among ic Gilbert is well-versed in. Gilbert said adolescents and adults. she now watches out for accounts target“In countless studies of online behavior, we have seen Labeling theory states that ing others. Whenever she sees a “Rock that individuals often behave in more negative ways and we may conform to the labels Bridge Confessions” page online, she state [their] opinions more openly than we would in pertries to get her friends to report it and son,” Professor Conner said. “The result is a kind of no which others give us. Imagine a takes the content to School Resource consequences mentality towards what we say.” child who is told they will never Officer Keisha Edwards. All cases of When senior Allie Bruns was in seventh grade, she, amount to anything; they may bullying or cyberbullying go through too, became the target of online harassment. She and her internalize that and begin to Columbia Public Schools, Edwards best friend lived across the street from each other and did said, and the process starts at an adbelieve that.” everything together. Bruns said her friend texted her one ministrative level. day about a public Instagram page called “Okay, cool.”

—Dr. Christopher Conner, “This information, because of When Bruns looked at the page, there was a post saying state law, it gets documented on her friend had a crush on another person. After her friend Visiting Assistant Professor of a bullying format, and it gets accused her of creating the page to spread personal inforSociology at the Univesity of investigated by the assistant mation, Bruns said she was in shock, confused how her Missouri—Columbia principal,” Officer Edwards friend could think that about her. said. “The assistant prin“We lost a lot of trust. I never knew if she was telling cipal then interviews and the truth about the Instagram,” Bruns said. “I didn’t know if she had started it to make me look like a bad friend, and I know she thought that I was conducts an investigation of the bully relying about [it]. She thought I started the page, and she thought I was lying, that it was port, and then if said bully report rises to the level of police involvement, then actually me.”

Bruns said the conflict was isolated between her and her friend at first. When the ac- they hand it to the police.”

Even though Gilbert now utilizes count owner began posting about students outside of Bruns’ friend group, other people found out about the page. Content ranged from calling people out for cheating on tests to school officials to help handle situashaming a person if he or she “looked ugly today.” Until posts moved away from her and tions of social media misuse, at the time her friend, however, Bruns said her peers judged her and thought she created the account; the post first came out she did not think they “had a way of finding out who was some stopped talking to her for a while.

“They were like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know she was that kind of person. I guess she must be running the page,” so she chose not to a fake friend that she would do this to someone else,’” Bruns said. “But mostly people say anything.

“I just didn’t want [the account ownwere just really surprised because they know that I’m not the type of person that would er] to post more about people because— do something like that.”

Since she was in middle school at the time, Bruns said the experience was difficult, es- although I thought mine was kind of funny pecially because of the pressure she felt to have friends, be popular and care about others’ ‘cause of the way that they worded it, like everybody knew it was opinions. In the American Psychological Association’s bi-weekly podcast, “Speaking of fake—but there were other posts on there about people, about stuff Psychology,” clinical child and adolescent psychologist Dr. Mitch Prinstein spoke of evo- that people had done in the past or exposing people for mistakes lutionary theory explaining that children entering their teenage years become concerned that they had made in the past,” Gilbert said. “And some of my other with social status. Dr. Prinstein said the brain’s release of oxytocin and dopamine makes friends had been on that page, and they were really upset about it.”

With the country’s origin rooted securely in protest, Professor Consocial bonding with peers a source of pleasure and reward.

Professor Conner said there are countless ways shame, embarrassment and humilia- ner said he thinks cancel culture, a form of boycotting someone if he or tion affect a person’s psychological, social and emotional development, the most stark of she has a questionable opinion or problematic behavior, is a symptom of a much larger issue in American society. He said the American public has which regard long-term health consequences, mental illness and shorter life spans.

“One of the most interesting theories within sociology is labeling theory. Labeling a tendency to avoid “difficult, uncomfortable or complex” issues.

“Social media, because of its focus on individualism, is in fact a very Amertheory states that we may conform to the labels which others give us. Imagine a child who ican thing and exemplifies our focus on the individual instead of the collective. Beis told they will never amount to anything; they may internalize that and begin to believe it,” Professor Conner said. “As adults, this process can also happen, and we may react cause of these two trends, social media tends to orient us towards negative interacback against it in bouts of rage. Moreover, we also may turn away from those who give us tions over positive ones,” Professor Conner said. “The other variable that aids in this is the speed of communication. More than a decade of sociology has taught me that negative attention and seek out those who will praise us.”

The National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice’s 2017 School the social is a very fragile thing, and when we speed up the communication process Crime Supplement indicated about 20 percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 it exposes that fragility.”

Professor Conner said America also has an insular culture where citizens have a experienced bullying nationwide.

Unlike drama, which includes “the everyday difficulties that all teenagers experience,” tendency to blame others for their successes and failures. He said sociology looks bullying comes from a “repeated pattern of harmful or rejecting behavior” for an extended at how “the system” is structured to promote success and failure and how that period of time, according to an article from “HuffPost,” a news website. Bullying comes system affects various groups differently. Professor Conner said people identify in two modes, direct and indirect, with four broader types of categorization: physical, ver- success with “positive personality aspects” and failure with “the consequences bal, relational and damage to property. “When bullying is also harassment, it does break of bad decisions.” For him, social media is merely another expression of such culturally embedded tendencies and views. federal law,” according to stopbullying.gov.

“I think that [my] experience made me a lot stronger just because I stopped Dr. Prinstein said research shows a strong positive correlation between one’s likeability and his or her success later in life, which caring a lot about, ‘This person didn’t like me,’ or ‘This person thought I was can affect one’s happiness, financial the person’ or something,” Bruns said. “So it was definitely hard, but you kind stability, health of realize who your true friends are. And it kind of made me not worry as much about what other people thought of me because my close friends knew who I was, and that’s all I really needed.”

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urrent senior and Co-President of Young Democrats Amanda Kurukulasuriya proudly participated in the first ever Columbia March for Our Lives on March 25, 2017, along with other RBHS students.

The protest was for community members to come together and push for more effective gun control. While the main goal of March for Our Lives is to argue against the loose interpretation of the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, March for Our Lives also promotes several parts of the First Amendment. This includes the freedom of speech and assembly, rights given to every person living in America, whether he or she is the president or a blue-collar worker, teen or adult, citizen or non-citizen.

Kurukulasuriya used her knowledge on political activism to write letters to Sen. Roy Blunt concerning the Green New Deal, a national plan to help the U.S. become better equipped for climate change. She also protested for her cause by standing with signs outside of his office in Columbia. Though only a few local community members came to the rally, Kurukulasuriya said she is proud to fight for change, regardless of whether she can or cannot quantify the difference the demonstrations made.

“It was cool to just have that experience,” Kurukulasuriya said, “because even if no one heard us, we could still say that ‘Hey, we are doing this,’ and then we were actually on the news that night. So just getting out there was worth it.”

In-person, physical movements are not all Kurukulasuriya does to promote change. As an avid social media user, she posts about her experiences with protests to express her thoughts on political issues. After following Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, Kurukulasuriya said she believes social media was a key component of his success.

“Social media just allows people to reach such a wide audience and facilitates the spread of information,” Kurukulasuriya said. “You can talk to a lot more people at once. It gets out there a lot faster. It can be more regular, and it allows for the wider dissemination of information.”

Posting online has its advantages and disadvantages, Kathy Kiely, the Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies for the University of Missouri—Columbia School of Journalism, said. In the past, the most common production of journalism was by the wealthy, who owned printing presses and trucks to send out newspapers, according to the University of Illinois’s library. Now, however, with the global expansion of the smartphone, Kiely said there is a guarantee that anyone with a device can be a publisher. This does not mean the facts printed will be true, however, as not everyone is responsible enough or trained to publish accurate news.

“Because there is a lot more information out there and not all of it is reliable, it has fueled the dislike of the media,” Kiely said. “I think what’s important is for people to understand that not all media is the same and that something you see from your local newspaper is not the same as a Facebook post from somebody you’ve never heard of.”

Kiely said she believes people need to have better tools for evaluating information they receive on the web. As consumers of the media, it is important to be smart and savvy about how and what one absorbs, Kiely said, as people cannot be denied the ability to publish their own views.

“We’re living in a sea of change and in a communication’s revolution, so digital technology has profoundly changed the way that we communicate with each other,” Kiely said. “I think the fact that people can publish anonymously has made people less civil, and that fuels this change in attitude toward the media.”

Still, Kiely said she is a strong advocate for the protection of the First Amendment, no matter the effects of allowing anyone to publish their thoughts and viewpoints. She said the free flow of reliable information to the public depends on the way the U.S. is run.The strength of its democracy derives from how open the American society is to new perspectives. The “marketplace of ideas” threatens to crumble when points of views are blocked, Kiely said.

“I think it’s very, very important that we defend [the rights within the First Amendment], even when it means allowing ugly things to be said and printed,” Kiely said. “I’d rather have ugly voices drowned out than censored.”

As a veteran news reporter, Kiely said the main way the First Amendment is threatened right now is by the financial issues facing the press. Living in the digital revolution, the development from mechanical to analog technology in the late 20th century has changed how and where advertisers place their commercials. They opt to post online rather than buying a space in a print publication so newspapers, TV stations and radio broadcasts now have to find new places to gain revenue to pay for their publications and staff.

The financial burden is not the only difficulty the press faces. A September survey from the Committee to Protect Journalists showed 85 percent of female journalists have felt unsafe while reporting. The cases range from physical harassment to online attacks. Kiely said the First Amendment’s protection is tested through these assaults, but not broken, yet.

“I’ve seen threats to hinder the media, but we haven’t actually seen [the harassment] happening in a way that impacts what people are publishing,” Kiely said. “There are some reporters who have been threatened and harassed, but it hasn’t stopped them from doing their jobs.”

As the world develops digitally, for better and for worse, the role young adults and students play has increased as well, senior Anushka Jalisatgi, Vice President of RBHS Students Demand Action (SDA), said.

Jalisatgi has used both her position of authority and her accounts on social media to create a platform to promote change. She said she believes the spread of information online has helped students her age have a say in the decision-making around the local community.

“Adults might not see things from the lens of a teenager because it seems like it won’t really impact them,” Jalisatgi said. “It’s really cool to see more students get involved in social movements and politics and how they’re using that platform to share their truths.”

Jalisatgi has also participated in March For Our Lives and other SDA events that promote high schoolers using their First Amendment rights. She wants to actively work with the local community and speak to, or even shift the narrative of current conversations.

“We are still young, and most of us can’t even vote yet, so I think our only weapon would be our voice,” Jalisatgi said. “Using our First Amendment rights and our power through social media, we can basically combat the changes that our policy makers made and influence them in that way.”

Greta Thunberg, a focus of recent national news due to her speech at the 2019 United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit Sept. 23, influenced Jalisatgi and Kurukulasuriya’s beliefs.

Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swede, started her journey as a climate activist when discovered by the UN for her protests outside of the Swedish Parliament proclaiming the need for stronger action against global warming.

During her speech at the UN, Thunberg addressed the urgency of climate change, and in doing so also affected people across the U.S. Jalisatgi said she believes Thunberg impacted the attitude toward student activists.

“A lot of youth movements and teens voices gained momentum from Greta [Thunberg] because she was taken so seriously,” Jalisatgi said. “Now a lot of teen groups are gaining speed since people are thinking ‘Oh, maybe these teenagers are on to something.’”

Jalisatgi and Kurukulasuriya both said the key to the spread of opinions is how the younger generation uses its constitutional rights to the fullest. The utilization of freedoms can be through sending messages across social media accounts or by showcasing physical opposition.

Jalisatgi and Kurukulasuriya value the freedoms the First Amendment provides to express their own personal morals as well.

“That part of our culture has made students feel like they can talk,” Kurukulasuriya said, “and it’s allowed us to be a lot more outspoken and let us be more active politically and socially because we are able to say what we want to.”

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Clad in camo, courage

Students interested in joining military after high school explore options

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“You also take the ASVAB [Armed n June 29, senior Cam- Services Vocational Aptitude Batryn Crowe woke just be- tery] there. It’s like an ACT that fore the sun breached the shows what jobs you are eligible for. horizon, much earlier than That test took me three hours.” most teenagers do in the summer.

Recruiters for the military are The Military Entrance Processing hand-selected for their positions afStation (MEPS) required her to be ter going through an application at its location around 5:45 a.m., she process. Their job is to attract and sesaid, which is why the early wake up lect people for military training and call was essential. employment. Some of this recruiting She rolled out of bed, laced up takes place in high schools when repher shoes, grabbed her bag and was resentatives visit these institutions. out the door and on her way to a life There are approximately 9,500 changing, yet equally nerve-rack- soldier and civilian recruiters currenting, experience: joining the National ly working out of more than 1,400 reGuard. cruiting stations across the U.S. and Although Crowe’s recruiter tried overseas, according to the U.S. Army to prepare her for the days ahead, Recruiting Command. Sgt. Bryan Crowe was still unable to sleep the Johnson, a Missouri Army Nationnight before MEPS because of nerves. al Guard recruiter, went through an The exhaustion wasn’t helpful for the extensive amount of interviews and next mornexams to ening since ter into his she had to position.

I have always wanted to be a part of be up at “The first something greater than myself and 4:30 a.m. step [to enhelp people. . .” for physical listing] is —Alisha Choudhry, exams. talking to sophomore MEPS is me about the second opportunistep in the process of military enlist- ties and the initial steps for service,” ment. At one’s nearest facility, either Sgt. Johnson said. “After that, it’s deKansas City or St. Louis for Missou- veloping your career.” rians, military and civilian profesThen, one goes to MEPS: a long, sionals “determine applicants’ physi- arduous experience, which usually cal qualifications, aptitude and moral lasts two days and requires one to standards as set by each branch of stay overnight, according to The Balmilitary service,” according to mil- ance Careers. For Crowe, her time at itary.com, a website that provides MEPS hit a couple of bumps when news and information about benefits she accidentally revealed that she to veterans and their families. was on antibiotics because of strep “The process begins throat, which made the process extra with you [finding a] time consuming. recruiter, and then “You cannot be on any medyou go to MEPS. ication entering the military.

That’s where they So, even though I passed all of check your body my physical and mental exams, out and mentally I had to wait to prove I wasn’t make sure that you on any medication before I could are eligible for swear in,” Crowe said. “MEPS is [the] military,” the most boring place you can ever C r o w e go. . .You get there at 6 a.m., and said. you’re leaving around 2 or 3 p.m., and you just sit there all day. It’s terrible. So, the fact [that] I had to go back twice was so annoying.”

Despite the twists and turns, on July 3, Crowe was sworn in to the Missouri Army National Guard. From there, she chose to be a combat medic, or a 68W in military terms.

To “swear in,” one must pass the ASVAB, a multiple-choice test that helps identify which Army jobs fit the particular individual, according to GoArmy, a website detailing the recruiting process and other information.

One will need to score at least a 31 on the exam to be considered for MADDIE ORR

enlistment in the Army. Then, if one passes the ASVAB, one must endure physical examinations to ensure he or she is in good health. Finally, after passing all required testing, the recruit can swear in to military service.

This summer, Crowe joined the 33.4 million Americans ages 17 to 24 in the Army, according to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, and is only one of the many RBHS students also interested in the same career path, she said.

Senior Will Vradenburg has committed to a similar future in the military, but he found his calling in the United States Marine Corps.

“After high school, I’m shipping off to boot camp on the 29th of June, 2020. From there I’ll undergo boot camp and eventually enter my job, Helicopter Crew Chief, which is a five-year contract,” Vradenburg said.

“After those five years I plan on going to college for forestry.”

He also went to MEPS this past summer to swear in but hasn’t finished the process. Vradenburg said he is “very excited” about the future ahead of him as well as the “great honor” of becoming a U.S. Marine.

“I decided to join after high school because I think that serving your country is important and that it’s a good way to better yourself,” Vradenburg said. “Plus, I didn’t want more school immediately.”

There are more ways to serve others than stepping directly into service after graduation; one can also look into academies such as West Point, a U.S. Military Academy.

The facility’s mission, according to The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, is “to educate, train and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is. . . prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.”

Since she was in eighth grade, sophomore Alisha Choudhry has aspired to attend a military academy, her top choice being West Point.

“I have always wanted to be a part of something greater than myself and help people,” Choudhry said, “and I feel that going to one of [these] academies and being in the military is the best way for me to do that.”

Choudhry said this process is a little different than applying directly to the different military branches. “[For the academies] you have to get a congressional nomination in order to be considered,” Choudhry said. “You also have to be very fit and involved in sports and have various leadership positions in the community. School should also be your priority.”

Military academies, especially West Point, are extremely competitive to get into, according to PrepScholar, an online blog dedicated to helping students prepare for standardized testing and applying to college. West Point itself is a highly selective school; the institution has a 10 percent acceptance rate, according to the same source.

Choudhry said people who are interested in applying to a military academy should begin the application process the summer of their

junior year of high school, which is much earlier than regular applications for United States post-secondary education programs, which often begin during one’s senior year of high school for most applicants, according to PrepScholar.

Both Vradenburg and Choudhry find military paths appealing because of the incentive to serve their country with honor; however, there are other perks to going down this road.

“Students [who swear in to the National Guard] gain 100 percent tuition payment to colleges and technical schools in the state of Missouri,” Sgt. Johnson said. “They also gain leadership skills and future employment opportunities.”

Crowe said she joined partially because of the benefits the National Guard will provide her with, such as tuition aid and housing. Each service branch—Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy—has unique programs that can help with tuition for anything from professional certifications to a graduate degree,

according to Today’s Military.

Tuition Assistance also pays for up to 100 percent of the cost of tuition or expenses. Selected Reserve and National Guard units also offer this program, but benefits may vary.

Incentives provided by the military, such as minimal debt, are attractive to 18-year-old graduates navigating the complex world of student loans and tuition, which is one reason why those like Crowe, Vradenburg and Choudhry have either sworn in or explored the idea of military work after high school.

College applications and life-changing decisions may prove frightening for students, and military programs can steer confused teenagers in a positive direction, an experience Crowe has enjoyed.

“I am excited for the future because the drills for the National Guard [that] I’ve been to so far [are] super fun, and it’s such a great environment,” Crowe said. “And it makes me a lot less scared of having nowhere to go after high school.”

TRADE SCHOOL 29% attend trade schools,

according to study.com.

join the military <1% enlist in the military, according to FiveThirtyEight.

employment 33%

go directly into the work force, according to Brookings.

COLLEGE

69.1% attend four year universities,

according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

GAP YEAR

23% take a gap year, according to Consumer News and Business Channel.

RACHEL STEVENS/ THE ROCK

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Lost in translation

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whatsoever and understandable that hen people stumble [a teacher] wouldn’t get it on their upon senior Yousef first try.”

Binalsheikh’s name Binalsheikh had a physical edu(pronounced bin- cation teacher who took an attempt al-shake), it can ap- at pronouncing his last name, only to pear as an impossible tongue-twister. give up and call him “Bangladesh,” In Binalsheikh’s eyes, cases of other as in the country, for the rest of the people butchering his name represent year. Binalsheikh and his friends in a linguistic and cultural bridge that the class found it “hilarious.” spans from his home country of Saudi Names hold ancestral and historArabia to the United States. ical significance for many minority His first name, Yousef, is com- groups in America, according to an mon in his culture, and his last name article by NEA Today, including forcomes from the word ‘Sheikh,’ which eign immigrants and refugees. Names is an honorable title held by a leader have complex stories, and when stuin the Muslim community. In a liter- dents are forced to adapt to an “Ameral translation, icanized his last name context,” means “son of their stoI used to care how people prothe Sheikh.” ries and “I used identinounced my name, but over the to care how ties are years I’ve become used to people people pros t r i p p ed pronouncing it wrong. . .” nounced my w h e n — Yousef Binalsheikh, name, but these peosenior over the years ple must I’ve become take on used to people n a m e s pronouncing it wrong,” Binalsheikh that are not their own, the article said. “Since I’m not offended, I just states. go with whatever they said [because] English-Language Learner (ELL) it just makes it easier.” teachers Lilia Ben-Ayed and JenniAlthough Binalsheikh grew up in fer Turek said they immediately try the U.S., the pronunciation of his last to approach students and learn the name still brought about stiff interac- exact pronunciation of their names. tions starting in elementary school.

Ben-Ayed, who has been teaching at “It didn’t take long for teachers RBHS for 12 years, and Turek, who to pronounce my first name, as they has taught at RBHS for three years, realize it sounds exactly how it’s agreed it is vital to be aware of the spelled,” Binalsheikh said. “My last multicultural environment at school, name, though, definitely took a bit of since many ELL students are immipractice. The first call of attendance grants, refugees or people who’ve for the year is the hardest when you moved because of their parents’ jobs. see the teacher take the long pause Being a person with a foreign as they try to pronounce it. It’s just a name herself, Ben-Ayed said she unname that’s not common [in the U.S.] derstands how some of the incoming

ELL students feel when they first arrive. Through an empathetic feeling, she tries to establish a welcoming environment for students starting with the correct pronunciation of their names.

“I think a person’s name is an extension of who they are,” Ben-Ayed said. “[It’s] rooted in that person’s language, culture and identity. Pronouncing a person’s name correctly affirms that person and may add to his or her self-worth.”

Binalsheikh said students who have their names mispronounced by peers, teachers and other adults shouldn’t take the mispronunciations as intentional or demeaning.

“The best way to deal with the awkwardness is to place yourself in the teacher’s shoes and realize that they have never seen a name as exotic or hard to pronounce,” Binalsheikh said. “For some [of my] teachers that did get it wrong, they would take an attempt every day until they [got] it right. . . [I’d] just [try] helping them out in pronouncing it a couple of times until they [got] it.”

Whenever Ben-Ayed and Turek meet a new student, they ensure that they learn how to pronounce the student’s name correctly, no matter how long it takes, by repeating the student’s name back to him or her.

“I make sure I ask so I do know how to pronounce [the name],” Turek said. “That’s how I feel like I [learn], but I also encourage [the students] to make sure other people say their name correctly. Some students will choose an American name, [so] I want to make sure they want that American name because they don’t have to have an American name. They can [also] just teach people how to pronounce a name correctly.”

RILEY KERNS/ THE ROCK

RYAN CHOE

A

IT’S PRONOUNCED...

I’D RATHER BE CALLED...

I DON’T SAY IT THAT WAY...

CAN YOU PLEASE CALL ME...

ACTUALLY, I GO BY...

I PREFER THE NAME...

Stress for success

T

ANJALI NOEL RAMESH

Taking breaks improves health

stack of papers. An empty coffee mug. The fluorescent light of a computer screen at 10:30 p.m. While squeezing in breaks during work can be difficult, downtime is crucial to health, according to Mayo Clinic.

Between classes and babysitting, junior Courtney Bach rests to avoid burnout. Bach said she prioritizes downtime over work to regulate her mood, mental health and energy. “[Breaks] are important because I feel like if I don’t take a mental break, I’m not as prepared to come back to school, and if I’m not prepared to be at school then I’m going to have bad work,” Bach said. “And it also reflects on my relationships. If I’m having a hard time, I’m going to be irritable with everybody, and nobody’s going to want to hang out with me.”

During her fourth hour Alternating Unassigned Time, Bach often relaxes at home.

On Saturdays she socializes with friends.

Freshman Michael Polo completes homework prior to breaks to minimize his stress.

He organizes current assignments first and “things that are due in a couple days” next.

Nevertheless, Polo still values downtime.

Polo watches YouTube and plays games on his phone; Bach reads books, spends time with friends or family and takes naps.

Suzanne Norton, a Social Emotional Coach who specializes in child care, said stress-relieving activities include yoga, mindfulness and focused breathing.

Aside from working in settings with

RILEY KERNS/ THE ROCK

Students use nervous habits to cope with pressure

Unplugged AUDREY NOVINGER

Mispronunciation causes insecurity, cultural names often take the blame

teachers and children, Norton owns Mindful Practices, where she teaches yoga, tai chi, meditation and chi quong, an ancient Chinese practice.

Norton said chi quong promotes “longevity and self-healing” through gentle, flowing movements while tai chi, an internal martial art, enhances balance and focus. She said reducing anxiety and improving one’s mental and emotional state can take “as little as 12 minutes.” Norton also said she sees breaks a normal aspect of her life. Without time to recharge, she doesn’t think as clearly and becomes more easily upset.

“If I don’t meditate for a day or two, or if I don’t get enough exercise, I feel a little bit uncomfortable or maybe a little anxious,” Norton said, “so it just helps me handle life better and feel more calm and focused.”

Through “intentionality” Norton makes time to exercise, write and meditate.

Although Bach also prioritizes breaks, she said society often does not.

“It’s almost like we’re told that our mental health is really important,” Bach said, “but then when we say, ‘I need a break. I need to sit down and I need to do something else,’ it’s like, ‘Why? Why are you doing that?’”

While the U.S. offers services for mental health, it remains “one of the few developed industrial nations” without laws promising paid sick leave, according to Culture Trip, a global startup operating in travel, media and entertainment.

“By taking care of ourselves first,” Norton said, “we can do a lot more in the world and help take care of others.”

he quiet tap of a foot on the carpet floor or the quick movements of students shifting in their seats reveals a few ways students release pent-up energy during first hour.

Classroom are buzzing; shuffling feet on the carpet and flipping papers contribute to the hum of background noise.

These motions are not completely aimless, as they pertain to the feeling of minor agitation, also known as nervousness.

Nervous habits are routine behaviors repeated frequently and tend to occur subconsciously; they take place outside of conscious thought, Renee Stucky, a clinical practice professor and psychologist at the University of Missouri—Columbia, said. The aspect of agitation from a habit happens in response to the feelings of anxiety or insecurity that are uncomfortable to people.

“When these emotions transpire, there is an increase in arousal and energy in the body,” Stucky said. “This growth is mitigated by movements such as biting nails, licking lips, twirling hair or sweating, which releases anxiety and results in a feeling of reinforcement for the individual.”

The settling emotion of tranquility people feel afterward is the cause for the repetition of habits, in order to reach the calmness again, Stucky said.

For sophomores Cassie Morse and Kendall Flaherty, nerves kick in before a test they are stressed about. Their habits, however, are not limited to nail biting or sweating palms.

“If it’s before something I’m worried [about] and have really bad anxiety about, I talk a lot,” Morse said, “but usually I take my necklace, and I just twist it and move it up and down.”

This motion has a calming effect on Morse before exams and helps her release nervous energy.

For Morse, public speaking doesn’t have a strong impact on her anxiety levels. Flaherty, however, a musician, feels anxious during public performances, and tapping her foot or picking at her nails are her most common tics.

Stucky said high school is a time of social and academic pressure, since it is during a stage of

increasing independence and responsibility. She said a rise in the growth of habits for teenagers is a result of the quick transition they have into maturity. The development of habits is not limited to young adults; it exists in people of all ages.

Whether or not one’s behavior must change, however, depends on the habit itself, she said.

“Not all ‘nervous habits’ are harmful to your health,” Stucky said. “If a nervous habit is bad for your health, be it emotional, social or your physical well being, it would be best to break the habit.”

The steps to break a harmful habit, Stucky said, begin with recognizing the habit itself and how detrimental it is.

Several toxic habits include smoking, vaping, excessive drinking and slouching, according to Rush University Medical Center. Smoking and vaping can damage heart and lung health and lead to stroke. Excessive long-term drinking contributes to depression and mental health problems, as well as branches of cancer and heart attack, while slouching may lead to spine and neck issues.

It is helpful to understand the “when and what” of the habit, Stucky said: when the habit occurs and what triggers it. She said the easiest way to stop the tendency is to replace the habit with a healthier behavior.

“Instead of an individual biting their fingernails, they may instead replace that with rubbing their fingers together,” Stucky said. “More generally, engaging in activities to promote anxiety management, such as exercise and yoga, can help to break a bad habit.”

Anxiety and developing nervous habits have a positive correlation: the higher one’s anxiety, the more likely he or she is to develop a habit. While it is possible to overcome the practice, there is no time frame for the solution, according to “Time” magazine. There are techniques for those who want to preempt these habits, however.

“If an individual has [already] developed effective ways of coping with anxiety, such as deep breathing, meditation, exercise,” Stucky said, “then they may not be as prone to developing a nervous habit.”

What is a nervous habit you struggle with?

I bite my nails a lot. It used to be really bad when I was little because I would go on car rides, and I’d get super anxious so I’d chew my nails. . . I can never keep my nails painted.”

You’ll see sweat droplets on my forehead. . . I’ll put my hands in my jacket pockets and sometimes I’ll start shaking and my legs give it away.”

—Candace Osborn, junior WILLIAM YOO/ THE ROCK

WILLIAM YOO/ THE ROCK

—Shadid Shakhawat, sophomore

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18 SPORTS

THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

Behind the screens

A

ELLIOT BACHRACH

s senior quarterback Grant Hajicek lines up under center for the 7v7 drill, he calls out a play, signaling with his hands to communicate to the rest of the offense.

The defensive players, who are distinguished by the red skull caps on their golden helmets, call out their own plays, hoping to foil the offense’s scheme.

Hajicek takes the snap, moving back to set up a passing play. He dances from foot to foot, looking for an open receiver until he sees senior wide receiver Brett Mooney wide open. Hajicek steps forward and releases the ball in a perfect spiral, hitting Mooney right in the numbers for a touchdown.

Behind the scenes, senior manager Emily Stelzer is in the press box catching all of the action on an iPad. “[Managing] is a big job,” head football coach Van Vanatta said.

“These guys and girls do a lot of stuff for us that I don’t have to take care of. . . It’s always tough because they catch a lot of heat sometimes when things don’t get done, and then we need them to do [another task]. They’re running around constantly.”

Every practice, a manager records on an iPad utilizing the app Hudl, which allows coaches and players to see practice or game film. Managers must sound a megaphone to display the end of each period, five minute intervals for drills, and control the scoreboard to keep track of them.

On game days their workload intensifies because managers are more involved than during practices in preparing the field. Tasks include setting up all of the field markers, goal post pads and ticket tables. In addition, they must video the game from behind the end zone with a camera, on top of the press box with a camera and an iPad for a sideline view. Coaches utilize the iPad to record in real time to make in-game adjustments.

If managers didn’t provide tape, coaches couldn’t analyze plays accurately to specifically pinpoint areas of adjustment as both sight and memory are easily lost in a high-intensity game. On top of that, quality film requires proper training and knowledge.

Stelzer, who has managed the team all four of her high school years, is dedicated to catching the action. Her managing experience goes back to seventh grade at Jefferson Middle School when her brother played on the school’s football team. Stelzer said she started the job because she had the free time, and her friend, who was already a manager, didn’t want to be alone. Despite her brother quitting football after one season, Stelzer continued to manage. She credits sticking out the first few years to her enjoyment of traveling to different schools and getting out of class. It wasn’t until later that she found a deeper reason to persist.

“I realized I wanted to go into broadcasting [some time] during my sophomore or junior year,” Stelzer said. “I really enjoyed the filming and technology, so I thought if I stuck around with football it would [help] determine if I wanted to major in college for [broadcasting].”

What intrigues Stelzer about Senior offensive and defensive broadcasting is the fun technology linemen Luke Simon, who has had it involves and its spontaneity, as it Stelzer as a manager every year brings new challenges every game. at RBHS, noticed her hard work She said she thrives in unforeseen during the past four years. circumstances, such as the time the “Emily is one of the more faend zone camera stopped working miliar faces of the managers. She’s five minutes before the game start- always around the team, helping ed. Stelzer had to bring the camera out coaches and doing anything down to replug everything back that needs to be done,” Simon said. together.

“She’s a pretty selfless person for Although she still missed film- giving up some of her free time in ing part of the game, she was order to help all of us.” quick-witted, and it ended up Moreover, Simon pointed out working out.

Stelzer’s ability to capture the It is times such as this that game on tape. have made Stelzer a dependable “Emily does a great job hanresource. As a dling the result, she purgame film,” sues a leaderSimon said.

[Managing] is a big job. ship role guid“She’s foThese guys and girls do a ing the greener cused on lot of stuff for us that I don’t managers on the game have to take care of. . . It’s taping, setting at all times always tough because they up equipment and makes catch a lot of heat someand checking sure the to see if everycamera is times when things don’t thing is going pointed in get done, and then we need as planned the right them to do [another task]. for follow direction, They’re running around conthrough. This and starts stantly.” year she is or stops the — Van Vanatta, mentoring camera for more people each play.” head football coach than ever beSimon fore. From her said it is freshman to junior year, there were Stelzer’s devotion to the team that only two managers and a fluctuat- stands out above all, giving props ing amount of injured players to to her for her unfading commithelp out. Now, with 10 managers, ment.

Stelzer said her work is far less “There hasn’t been a road game, strenuous. Even so, the added help no matter how far away it is, that comes with its own challenges.

Emily hasn’t been to,” Simon said. “[The surplus of managers] is “You can always count on her to be more efficient with getting all of helping out the team whether it’s in the other jobs covered,” Stelzer Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City said. “But because there’s so many or wherever.” extra [managers], some people Stelzer may have a remarkable don’t want to come to games or amount of devotion, but the friendpractices. . . So it’s kind of difficult ly atmosphere and cohesion of the to keep everybody together.” team is just as astounding.

Because of her recurring in“About two years ago when I volvement with the team, Stelzer first got my dog, I brought him to stands out from the other manag- practice. I was still filming, and at ers. the time I was the only manager

Team managers bring stability, support to athletic programs, players, coaches

at practice that day,” Stelzer said.

“And one of the coaches came up and started walking my dog around the field, so I could actually finish whatever I needed to film. Most of the players were asking what [the dog’s] name was [and] most players did pet him.”

Although there was an influx of managers this season, Vanatta said there would always be room for more, demonstrating the significance of the role on the team.

“If anybody [is] interested in being a manager, please come talk to me. We’re always looking for managers because we always need help,” Vanatta said. “They’re very vital with any sport because they do a lot of things that we don’t have time to do as coaches.”

The demand for quality managers isn’t limited to RBHS. Just like athletes, managers can advance to a post-high school level.

“There [are] scholarships out there for team managers. . . and if that’s something managers are interested in down the road [it is a possibility],” Vanatta said. “As a matter of fact, I was asked [by the Quincy University football staff] if I had anyone who was graduating that would be interested in being a video person.”

One might think that because the managers aren’t on the roster, they aren’t a member of the team, but Simon said just because they don’t score touchdowns or make big plays on the field doesn’t mean they don’t have a role on the team and pitch in just as much as everyone else.

“If [managers] didn’t do their tasks, that means that the coaches or players would have to do them. . . So we’re lucky we have them so we can just focus on playing football,” Simon said. “We wouldn’t be able to function as well without [managers], and they spend about as much time as we do [on the field]. So they are definitely a part of the team.”

What is one of your most memorable experiences?

The best part was getting to go to all the football games to cheer on the team [even though] I was missing so much school that I would have to catch up on.”

— Ella Kruse, 12

AUDREY SNYDER/THE ROCK

My most memorable experience is helping the team because I love helping people, and [I’ve also] had the chance to learn a few [new] things.”

— Mariana Barreto-Gentry, 11

AUDREY SNYDER/THE ROCK

The most [memorable] experience from being a team manager is definitely just seeing the [football players] win and watching the student section go crazy.”

— Esme Anger, 10

PHOTO COURTESY OF ESME ANGER

AUDREY SNYDER/THE ROCK

HELPING HAND: Senior Emily Stelzer, a manager, reviews plays, videos and statistics of players on an iPad with coach Mac Waley during the varsity football game against Francis Howell High School Friday, Oct. 25. Stelzer will travel to Blue Springs High School Friday with the varsity team.

What’s on deck for athletics?

Volleyball

Oct. 30 vs Hickman Class 4 District 8 Semifinal game

s ng i r ll lue Sp a tb s B ict 2 e o o F v. 1 v istr gam No ss 6 D nal fi Cla arter Qu

Girls’ & Boys’ basketball

Nov. 3 First MSHSAA approved practice

SNOWY LI/THE ROCK

SPORTS 19

THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

Boys’ soccer vies for ultimate prize

A

WILL COVER

gaggle of players congregates by one of the goals. Some rocket shots at the net; some juggle a ball using their feet; two use a ball to play basketball on an invisible hoop.

The boys are preparing for the start of their postseason in the district tournament Saturday.

At 4:30 p.m., boys’ soccer coach Scott Wittenborn stands stoically in the middle of the field as the players begin to officially warm up. Whistles cut through the air in the background as the football team sprints on the track; the soccer players stretch out their quads and hamstrings to warm up and glance over at the runners.

Senior midfielder Matthew Cathro, sidelined by a calf injury, slowly and carefully limps to a chair set up on the field to watch the practice where he bounces a ball on the ground as Wittenborn gives instructions to the team.

Although the team has performed well this year, with a record of 20-4 in the regular season, Wittenborn is consistently trying to up the intensity of practices so the Bruins constantly improve.

“Let’s get this going. Everybody to their cones, on the jog, on the jog. Let’s go.” Wittenborn claps his hands together.

“Ready, go. I don’t want to see any hands on your hips.”

Wittenborn critiques the players for standing flat-footed while passing.

“Everybody stand next to your cone; 50 jumps. Let’s go,” he barks.

Wittenborn claps his hands twice again.

After a handful of missed shots in a 2 v. 2 game, Wittenborn criticizes the players for acting “too fancy.”

“We should’ve won that Monet game

10-1, but we missed this right here eight times, the simple [pass], the cross and then tap [the ball] in [the goal],” Wittenborn said. “Be quicker; we need to be transitioning; we can’t miss the simple ones.”

Throughout the rest of practice, Wittenborn stressed to his players the importance of sticking to the fundamentals of soccer.

Wittenborn said the boys need to take what’s given to them by the other team and play with a more simple mindset.

“When we could make a simple pass, we try to dribble by three people,” Wittenborn said. “We try to make these crazy moves when a simple give and go [a triangular series of passes that allows an offensive player to go around a defender] would work. And so, just really getting us to kind of get back to the basics, pass and move, play strong defense. . . [It] relates directly back to practice when we have a wide-open shot and we kick it 50 feet over the goal.”

Wittenborn highlighted the importance of activeness and communication. He tells his players to “be loud” and requires them to shout their score in a game or else it wouldn’t count.

“Just pass and move; that’s all I care about; pass and move,” Wittenborn said. “I don’t want people just standing.”

At the end of the practice, Wittenborn emphasized the team come out of the gates strong in the Battle game the day after the practice, rather than underestimating its opponents and starting slow.

“For some reason, we also play down.

Let’s come out and assert our dominance,” Wittenborn said to his players. “Screw everybody else; let’s prove to ourselves we can dominate a soccer game.”

Wittenborn hopes to use practice, incen-

tivizing intensity in drills, to iron out this recurring problem.

“We just got to stay focused on trying to get them in the mindset of having a dominant performance no matter who the competition is,” Wittenborn said. “And so just a lot of conversations. A lot of tonight, we worked way harder the day before [a game] than we usually do, just because I don’t want them taking it lightly.”

Cathro attributed the team’s 2-0 loss to Jefferson City to this mindset. The Bruins were coming off of a big win two games prior against Gateway Legacy Christian Academy, one of the top-ranked teams in the nation.

“The loss to Jeff City was a difficult one to take,” Cathro said. “We didn’t play our best, but I think it was an important loss to have. It gave us a reality check and will only make us stronger when we hopefully see them again in districts.”

Junior forward Jeremiah Johnson said the team has grown in resiliency when it gets down in a game or underperforms.

“I think we have evolved in the fact that we are playing more calm even when we get scored on,” Johnson said. “Instead of panicking, we play as we would play if we were winning or tied.”

While there are still skills-based areas Wittenborn said the team needs to improve upon, his primary area of concern is the non-physical part of the game.

“I think with this group, as talented as they are, top to bottom it’s probably the most talented team I’ve ever had,” Wittenborn said. “Sometimes our spacing on the field isn’t great, but I’d say 90 percent of [our problems are] mental right now and being good teammates to each other, being smart players. And what I mean by that is

not letting the other team get under our skin, not letting referees affect our emotions [and] being a little bit mentally strong because we’re going to have our toughest games of the year in the postseason, and we need to be ready to handle them.”

To improve upon this and build consistency, Cathro tries to use practice as a close simulation of a game.

“During practice, I try to act like I’m in a game so that when we get to the bigger games I feel more comfortable under a lot of pressure,” Cathro said.

Although the team stays focused when playing, Johnson said the camaraderie and positivity among the players is crucial to the Bruins’ success.

“In practice we work hard on doing things like movement, off the ball drills, finishing drills and set pieces to ready ourselves for the game, but I think the best way our team prepares for games is having fun,” Johnson said. “We play better when we are laughing and making jokes on the field.”

Although Wittenborn said the players are improving on bringing their in-game intensity to practice, he believes the team still has room to improve in that aspect.

“I still think [high effort in practice is] something we need to be working on every single day. I don’t think we’re quite there yet,” Wittenborn said. “We do a quote of the day every day and just try to have a focus. We’ve been very successful this year, in results-wise. But I don’t know if our process has been as good as other years.

[So we shouldn’t be] satisfied with being 20-4, with being ranked third in the state.

Because that’s not our end goal. Our end goal is to win state or have the best season possible. They’re all in.”

SOPHIA EATON/THE ROCK

KICKING THE LATE NIGHT GRIND: Senior goalkeeper Cooper Deneke extends to block a penalty kick from senior defender Chadly Ben-Ayed in a team practice Sunday, Oct. 20. With a 20-4 record, the Bruins work toward their first state championship. The team will face Hickman in the Class 4 District 9 semifinal game 7 p.m. Saturday at Battle High School.

Boys’ swim and dive overcome obstacles, bond with crosstown foes BRANDON KIM

S

enior Jack Koller begins his day to the sound of his alarm clock at 5 a.m., grabbing a small breakfast and shoving a swimsuit and towel in his backpack before he picks up a teammate who lives nearby.

Koller drives in the dark to the only swimming facility in Columbia Public Schools: the Hickman High School (HHS) pool.

Opening in 1969, the HHS pool has chipped paint and faded pink lane lines that used to be a bright red in years past. Koller said the pool isn’t great, but it’s the only one available. Because of a malfunction with the pool heater, he said the pool temperature was 91 degrees one day.

“It has a cockroach problem, and the heater and the AC don’t work, so it’s not very fun to swim at,” Koller said. “But, it has enough lanes to do short course yards, so we make it work.”

He arrives at the HHS pool at 5:50 a.m. so he can get ready for practice at 6 a.m. After changing, Koller quickly dives into the water and begins a warm-up that involves 400 meters of freestyle, 300 IM (a compilation of all of the strokes) and 200 meters of backstroke.

After the warm-up, the swim team transitions into drills. Sophomore Jackson Veltrop said the types of drills the swimmers do in practice depend on the events the swimmers specialize in and what their coach wants to work on that specific day.

For example, Veltrop prefers the butterfly.

Sometimes he works on pulls, and other times he works on kicks. An example of a drill he

does is four kicks per pull, which gives him the strength to get the timing right in the butterfly and extend his stroke.

“On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we lift in the weight room,” Veltrop said. “On every other day, we swim a lot of sets. Sets are basically a group of distances that you swim repeatedly in a certain time frame, which can get pretty tiring.”

Some Bruins said the early times make it difficult to balance sports and school, but the veterans of the team are used to waking early for practice. Junior Eric Fritschi, who has been on the team since his freshman year, said the most challenging thing to do in swimming is to get up early. Even so, Fritschi said his passion for swimming outweighs this minor inconvenience.

Veltrop, meanwhile, said it’s occasionally hard to get his homework done at night and then have to wake up early the next day.

He said the early start for the daily practices taught him to manage his time better, however.

When Veltrop and the team arrive to practice, they are not alone. All three high school teams share the HHS pool, and they do all of their drills together. Senior Oakley Lorson said there is camaraderie among the different schools that doesn’t exist with other sports.

“I’m friends with people on the Hickman team, and I know them really well,” Lorson said. “I think it’s the fact that we are all practicing together and in the same place that sets the relationship between the different school teams apart from other sports.”

While the pool brings the teams together, their love of swimming strengthens their bonds. Fritschi said he didn’t really like other sports when he played them but always felt at home in the water.

“I. . . like that swimming is before school, which is an opportunity that you don’t get in a lot of other sports,” Fritschi said. “I’ve never really liked land-based sports, but in the water, I feel like I belong more, and it’s a good workout for me.”

Koller said swimming also has numerous benefits compared to dry land sports such as football or volleyball. He said it has a low impact on one’s joints and is a full-body workout.

“I like swimming because it’s harder in

swimming to get injured in the water compared to something like running, where it’s easy to get injured,” Koller said.

Besides practices in the water, a large part of being a team member occurs on land. The Bruins also do team building activities outside of practices, such as paintball and pasta parties.

Koller said these events help to create a supportive and inclusive atmosphere.

“We like to mess around and cheer for everyone at meets,” Koller said. “In practice, we’re pretty relaxed as long as we put the effort [in] when we need to, but at meets it’s more serious because we have to pay attention to our races and perform. But overall, it’s like one big family.”

TURNER DEARMOND/THE ROCK

STROKE BY STROKE: Sophomore Nick Clervi receives a gold medal in the 500 yard freestyle event at the Smith-Cotton Tiger Invitational at the Joseph Arbisi Memorial Pool Oct. 19. The Bruins placed fourth in the overall meet, beating out both Battle and Hickman High School.

20 COMICS

ghost

THE ROCK RBHS.BEARINGNEWS.ORG OCTOBER 30, 2019

As if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d seen a

Students retell haunting tales

ART BY DEVIN HALL

"When I was younger, around seven or eight, my little sister would make me sleep in her room because she got scared. One night I was in there, and I felt pulling on the blanket I was sleeping under."

Michael Ray, freshman, on a story from when he was young.

"I opened my eyes, and my sister was standing there, really scared, tugging on the covers trying to wake me up. At first I was really annoyed, and I just tried to go back to sleep."

"I sat up and asked her what was wrong, but she just pointed at the window. I looked over and I didn't see anything, but then, after I looked away, I heard this tapping, I was too scared to go look . . ."

Maura Roodhouse, sophomore, on a scary story from her dad when she was 10.

". . . but I guess it could have been anything."

"My dad was at one of his friend's apartments, [who] said she saw this recurring figure with a red shirt and blue jeans appear in her doorway."

"He stayed there one time, and he kind of woke up, and he saw the dude. . . standing there in his red shirt and blue jeans. My dad said he was pretty much just transparent."

Amya Carson, junior, on a haunted house she lived in.

No rats here!

"In my last house we had this wall that we would always hear scratching in. We had it checked like four times, and every time they would never find any rats or mice or anything. We had it checked so many times, and after every time we would still hear the scratching."