The Rock — December 2016

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The Student Voice of Rock Bridge High School Since 1973 • 4303 S. Providence Rd. Columbia MO, 65203 • Vol. 44 Issue 3 • December 15, 2016

Cassidy viox / the rock

not a distraction: Freshman Amanda Kurukulasuriya and sophomore Piper Page discuss the issues of RBHS’s dress code during an interview for a college student’s final exam.

Students aim to change dress code Rochita Ghosh

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ressed in a crop top and sweatpants, junior Roz Eggener said she was heading to her next class when an administrator pulled her aside and said she was showing “too much skin” and needed to cover up. Eggener said this incident was only one of many instances. Teachers and administrators have confronted Eggener about her outfits too many times, and she said enough was enough.

Supported by more than 50 students and teachers, she has organized a committee that aims to either make the guidelines of the dress code more clear or to remove it

altogether.

“I’ve gathered a lot of people who are interested in the issue and who would like to make it known that girls’ bodies are not a distraction,” Eggener said. “The RBHS dress code is very loosely worded, which leaves it up for interpretation and can be very biased and inconsistent and sexist.

We are aiming to either get a strict set of rules for the dress code so we know when we’re breaking it and so that it can be less inconsistent or to stop dress coding people altogether because it’s unfair and disrespectful.”

The student handbook for the secondary schools of Columbia Public Schools states

that “extremes in dress and/or grooming, which may be health or safety hazards or detract from a desirable educational setting, are inappropriate for school … Dress or grooming, which interferes or disrupts the educational process, will be subject to disciplinary action. Each school may have specific language regarding the dress for that building.”

It’s the power of interpretation given to administrators that irks Eggener. Assistant principal Deborah Greene acknowledges the concerns but says the school’s highest priority is to keep a standard of excellent education, not to police fashion choices.

See DRESS, A3

kristine cho / the rock

unzipping the rules: Core members of the movement senior Ian Koopman, junior Roz Eggener and freshman Keegan Adkins stand in defiance to the dress code.

Holiday spirit motivates people to help charities Katherine Sarafianos

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s the weather becomes colder, the season of giving reminds people to give back and help local charities. Rock Bridge Reaches Out (RBRO) president and senior Catherine Ryberg said the holiday season is an opportune time for volunteering and community giving.

“I think the holidays make us feel especially grateful for all that we have. They make us think more about those who don’t have food, a warm home and a family,” Ryberg said. “We feel empathetic. That sense of empathy is what inspires many people to feel the desire to give.”

This sense of empathy can also lead to the betterment of an individual and a community. Volunteering with the Rainbow

joy park / the rock surveyed 10 percent of the student body

Group aspires to put marijuana on ballot Ji-Ho Lee

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sers and supporters of marijuana have long been condemned for their approval of a drug that is labeled as taboo by society.

Dan Viets, the coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in the state of Missouri, said the negative connotations associated with cannabis and its users are misplaced, and he wishes to transform the negative image that society currently pairs with marijuana users.

“Stop treating people who are using marijuana respon-

sibly as if they were terrible criminals,” Viets, who represents individuals charged with marijuana use in court said, outlining his personal goal.

“A horrible thing is to treat marijuana users, growers and sellers as if they were horrible people. My clients have harmed no one and threatened no one treated exactly like people who have committed horrible crimes like assault, murder and theft.”

In order to mobilize his argument and turn his opinion to reality, Viets seeks to place a marijuana-related vote on the next ballot.

See MARIJUANA, A3

joy park / source: charity navigator

INDEX News • • • • • • • • A1

Grace Vance

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anguage arts teacher Nicole Clemens’ classroom greets students with colorful decor, collages of pictures and educational posters. A couch for student leisure sits in the corner, and the stack of extra pens, pencils and highlighters that were once plentiful have dwindled down as students have used them.

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See CHARITIES, A2

Teachers pay out of pocket for students While paper, pens and pencils are vital, Clemens bought those supplies — along with the couch and decor — with her own money. She said she doesn’t mind the extra expense and it’s normal for her to use money from her personal budget for class projects. Department chairs purchase materials to supply teachers at the start of the year in a room the studies department calls the LASSO.

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House this year made RBRO core leader of ROY G BIV and senior Erica Garrison more aware about the problems impacting her community.

“I think it is important for students to become involved in volunteer organizations because it allows you to become apart of your community. Working with the Rainbow House allows me to be a part of something more important than me and help others within my own community,” Garrison said.

“When I started volunteering with the Rainbow House I didn’t really understand how big of a problem child abuse and neglect was in Columbia. The Rainbow House shines a light on this subject and does a lot to be there for the children and families in our community.”

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“The giant Post-It poster paper — which is stupid expensive, it’s just paper — I buy that,” Clemens said. “[I purchase] all of the weird stuff that makes the classroom not feel like a prison, like the ottomans and the stuff I have on the walls. It isn’t vital to teaching, but it really does make it less awful to be here for a lot of kids.”

See MONEY, A2

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Students help community CHARITIES, A1

Communications coordinator for the Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, Janese Silvey said student volunteers are critical to making their operations possible and aiding all the people in need. The association appreciates

canned food drives because of the overwhelming support from members of the community.

Volunteers are especially valuable during the holidays as many underprivileged families need a lot more support such as food for holiday dinners and presents. It’s during these times

that the Food Bank relies heavily on volunteers to repackage food, which saves the organization about $2 million a year in labor costs, allowing them to use their resources more efficiently.

“Students bring a wonderful sense of energy into our volunteer room. The Food Bank serves,

CASSIDY VIOX / THE ROCK

CALORIES THAT COUNT: Senior Isaac Lage donates a box of pasta to the National Honors Society (NHS) food barrel during the annual food drive from Nov. 14 to Nov. 21. NHS will give the proceeds to the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri for the holiday season.

on average, 104,000 people every month in our 32-county service area,” Silvey said. “While the holidays serve as a great reminder of the needy, many of these individuals face food insecurity year-round. We also provide food to about 7,500 students every week through our Buddy Pack program and school pantries.”

In addition to the Food Bank, students can help out in the schoolwide RBRO events that individual cores are arranging to benefit their respective local organizations. The core ROY G BIV plans to use the money made at their last fundraiser to make child friendly pillow cases for the children at the Rainbow House and buy something on their wish list.

“To help this season, students could donate money so we can purchase the pillowcases,” Garrison said. “[We want to] buy more expensive items on the [children from the Rainbow Houses’] wish list that other people may not be able to donate, or [students] can help out with making the pillow cases.”

Ryberg says that help from students is appreciated and there is always more room in the club for students who want to volunteer their time. The school organization supports local charities and offers many different cores for students to help out with. The club also provides easy access to information and times for events.

“The best way for students to help RBRO cores this season is to join RBRO. Students who want to give their service to others this holiday season will have no problem finding opportunities to do so once joining RBRO,” Ryberg said.

“Even if you aren’t interested in joining RBRO, students should keep their eyes open for flyers and posts in the InfoBruin advertising service opportunities that we have going on, such as holiday supply drives.”

District allocates money MONEY, A1

support the band and marching program.

“Right now the district is forcing To compensate for personal spending, the state provides $250 tax write offs for boosters to pay for things like uniforms, all educators, principal Dr. Jennifer Ruks- instruments, instrument repairs, competitad said. Clemens said she spends at least tion entrance fees [and] travel costs to and that much every year on supplies, as she from competitions. We even have to pay for the extra instructors,” Dampier said. “always exceeds” that amount.

While the Columbia Public Schools “[We are using] bare bones costs to run (CPS) business office ensures schools the program — we have no frills or extras. don’t go over budget, departments such If it weren’t for boosters, our marching as band struggle to get enough money for program wouldn’t exist.”

Band director Steve Mathews said the their needs. Band uses all its $35,000 budget for materials like stands, instruments fine arts coordinator James Maltin decides and music. Sophomore trumpet player band’s department budget. Mathews said Jackson Dampier believes their budget is the department uses its budget money for expenses involved in transportation to and insufficient. from competi“Certain intions, sheet struments are music and decades old and The small budget that we do get any other supfalling apart and plies they may nowhere near is not enough to sustain the fine need. close to being arts ... without having to rely on “Anybody replaced since donations and fundraisers. will always several other in— Jackson Dampier, sophomore ask for more struments need [money], to be replaced as well. That, along with brand new instru- but we have a very strong booster group ments being very expensive, makes the which is independent and they do a lot of replacement process very long,” Dampier fundraising and help to supplement our said. “With band being a naturally expen- needs,” Mathews said. “[Our budget is] sive activity, the small budget that we do adequate. It could always be a little more, get is not enough to sustain the fine arts but I’m lucky to have boosters that supat RBHS without having to rely on dona- plement what we [can’t pay for].”

Mathews said band also receives funds tions and fundraisers.”

The band department’s booster club from donations as well as his Extracurtreasurer, Kim Dampier, said the only two ricular Activities Account (ECA).

Dr. Rukstad said she deals with the revenue-producing fields are band’s Conbuilding instruction and principal’s budcert Series book that they get advertising get and that it’s up to specific departments money from, along with “A Sweet Night to cover their costs. The money RBHS of Jazz,” which costs $9 for admission.

This, along with donations from parents, utilizes comes from property tax money, adds up to $25,000 in additional funds to state allocations and federal money from

CPS, which Dr. Rukstad filters into budgets that need it most.

“As a school, I can request that budget allocations are done in a certain way.

I have the control of, ‘If we’re going to have X number of dollars,’ I can say which accounts they should be in, but they can always be changed within the year,” Dr. Rukstad said. “It’s our job to figure out how to spend it wisely, but we also have to spend it within the boundary of the law because it is public money.”

So far, Dr. Rukstad said she is content with this year’s budget but has allocated more funds toward the principal’s budget than last year. Dr. Rukstad said she needed this additional money to offer teachers breakfast every faculty meeting and the new commodity of free coffee for faculty. “[The district] wants to have everything either spent down or planned to spend down — when I say ‘plan’ that means we have a purchase order on the system — by the end of April,” Rukstad said. “I’m more aware in March [with] how I want to think about things differently as we start to close out the year.”

While giving more money to the principal’s budget has proven beneficial to faculty, Clemens doesn’t believe the language arts department should do anything different; rather, she said spending her own money on materials is unavoidable.

“I think the way the department does it is great ... It’s a better community if I can say, ‘Oh, just keep that pencil, no big deal’ to that kid who really can’t remember to bring his pencil ever or whose mom wasn’t able to go school shopping,” Clemens said. “So, yeah, it’s kind of annoying, but I personally don’t feel like it’s a make-or-break part of what I do.”

JOY PARK / SOURCE: COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

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Interpreting the dress code Clothing limits stir turmoil among students

Dress, A1

her right to wear what she wants. Eggener “[The dress code does] allow for interpre- disagrees with both Greene and Reed, artation; I do understand that, and again what guing that the clothes that people choose might look appropriate to me might not to to wear have no impact on who they are as someone else. But I think we all adminis- a person and what they are able to accomtrators think alike,” Greene said. “We’ll see plish.

“You can be a responsible student no matsomeone walk by, and we’ll give each other ter what you’re choosing to wear,” Eggener a look like ‘really?’ and one of us goes up said.

“It is part of my freedom as a human and goes ‘Hey! Why don’t you come into and as a student to be able to wear the clothes my office.’ We just try and teach that [the that make me comfortable, and if other stuschool] is a learning environment and there dents are distracted by that — which I’ve are some things you wear and some things had no experience in a student telling me you don’t.” that they were Senior Will distracted — but Reed agrees with if that were [to Greene, saying a happen], that’s It is part of my freedom as a school setting is not my responsihuman and as a student to be a place for learnbility to take care able to wear the clothes that ing, not a place of.” for improper attire make me comfortable.”

Eggener fursuch as revealing — Roz Eggener, junior ther claims that clothing or apparel for RBHS, which showing crude lanprides itself on being a school of individualguage or expressions. He said such clothing ity and entrusting students with privileges would distract from the learning.

“I like the dress code because I don’t like leaving campus during off periods, the think it is good for people to wear inappro- dress code becomes counterintuitive to that priate clothing or profane language,” Reed vision.

“In terms of ‘freedom with responsibilisaid. “It can be distracting to other students, ty,’ I don’t think clothes and dress code have and it can hinder an environment that is anything to do with your freedoms and your meant to be healthy and educational.” responsibilities as a student,” Eggener said.

While RBHS gives many freedoms to “I think that has a lot more to do with hustudents, Eggener believes clothing choice man rights and body confidence, and that’s should not be questioned at school, as it is

not something that the school should be able to decide for you.”

In addition, Eggener said the dress code accomplished the exact opposite of what it intended for her — instead of ensuring a positive and encouraging learning environment, Eggener said the dress code exemplified sexism and treated her as simply a physical object, reducing her motivation as a student.

“I’ve felt as though I’m being objectified by the dress code and that my body is purely a sexual thing. I am so much more than that as a person,” Eggener said. “I have worked a long time to become comfortable with my body. I know a lot of people have and if I feel safe and confident enough to show it off, then I should be able to do that. Even if my goal isn’t to show it off, per se, if I’m just hot, if I’m in a P.E. class, if it’s August, and it’s 110 degrees Fahrenheit, I should be able to wear a crop top for my comfort, be it physical or mental.”

Greene understands the reasons for wearing clothing that was questionable under the dress code. Any other such clothing would distract people from the true purpose of school: to learn.

“Young girls want to be fashionable, but there’s a line where what [you wear] for school is different than what you wear to the nightclub,” Greene said. “It can’t be whatever someone has on a distraction to the learning environment.”

dzung nguyen

Fees drop for student drivers Ji-Ho Lee

W Source: publicdomainpictures.net, public domain

Missouri ballot initiative seeks cannabis vote BALLOT, A1

“We are going to start gathering signatures for an initiative petition shortly after the new year and we’re going to see how many volunteer signatures we can gather throughout the state during the first eight or nine months of the year,” Viets said. “Once we get a chance to see how that is going, we will begin to pay people to gather signatures. We have to submit the signatures by May of 2018 in order to be on the ballot in November of 2018.”

Some students agree with Viets and the positive consequences that may emerge from legalizing marijuana.

“We pay for too many people to go to jail, and you can sell [marijuana] so businesses would make a profit and the state would save money if weed was legalized,” sophomore Jack Flink said. “There are some health issues that are related to weed, but it is a personal decision, and I think people should have the opportunity to make that decision on their own.”

Meanwhile, others believe the consequences relating to marijuana use outweigh the potential positive outcomes.

“Marijuana is illegal, and there are reasons for why it is illegal, and those reasons are verified,” junior Addie Logsdon said. “It is, after all, a drug and it is easy to use irresponsibly, which could have negative impacts on you and the people around you.”

Scott Chipman, the southern California chair of Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, agrees with Logsdon, explaining that the negative health and social impacts of marijuana should disallow the contraband from being legalized — a decision that the government, not constituents, should make, Chipman explained.

“Marijuana is a serious psychotropic and addictive drug that impacts the brain, the lungs, the heart, the reproductive system and more,” Chipman said. “The public should not vote on what is or is not medicine.

Science and the FDA process should be used for that.

If a state citizenry wants to legalize marijuana, they should be able to vote on that but the federal government should also deny that state federal public safety and health care dollars because legalization negatively impacts public health and safety.”

Chipman further explained that more proponents of initiatives oftentimes use their economic resources to buy votes, despite the process being one for citizens.

For Viets, however, the issue is not one that is focused on the law, but on the people making that decision instead.

“I think it is important for the general public to understand that using marijuana does not make a person a criminal. It does not make people commit real crimes,” Viets said. “I think a lot of people assume that if you smoke marijuana you’re a danger to society, but that is not the truth.”

hile current students battle with the frustrations and inconveniences of school parking lots, students from decades ago parked their vehicles in much smaller venues.

From 1992 to 2002, some of the most significant changes to the school took place.

“When we opened the Performing Arts Center (PAC) in 1992, we also expanded the south parking lot and added the access to Southampton from the south parking lot,” principal Dr. Jennifer Rukstad said. “When the expansion of the building came, the big expansion in 2000 to 2001 doubled our floor space.

We expanded the north lot significantly, so the north lot got wider to the west quite a bit.”

Furthermore, the Columbia Area Career Center (CACC) had continued to expand to the west, which further enlarged the north parking lot, eventually creating the large blacktop that students see today.

In total, RBHS offers more than 750 parking spots to its students, parking attendant Darryl Heaton said. Junior Hannah Pate believes the large number of spots provides great benefits to students.

“I like the parking lots and the general parking system,” Pate said. “There are always spots available to students, even if they are far from the school.

The parking lot and the system gives everybody an opportunity to park, and that is a good thing.”

Administrators implemented new policies with the large con-

struction projects. For example, sophomores were able to park in the school’s parking lot.

“In the 2014 to 2015 school year, [the school] completely opened [the parking lot] to sophomores,” Heaton said. “The reason we did that was, number one, for student safety. We had plenty of parking, anyways, so it made sense to have as many people park in our parking lot.”

The extra parking space was created along with the addition of freshmen. While increasing the school’s population, the individual class sizes decreased by over 100 students, equating to significantly less student drivers, Dr. Rukstad said.

While sophomores using the parking lot doesn’t bother senior JP Schneider, he does think more spots should be made available to students.

joy park / SOURCE: RBHS website

“I feel there are too many parking spots for teachers and too many visitors spots,” Schneider said. “I feel like we don’t have as many visitors as the spots that are given, especially in the north lot. I’m not sure about how many teachers there are compared to how many faculty parking spots there are, but I feel like there could be more parking spots for students in general.”

The parking spots designated for visitors have always existed, but extra spots were recently added because of the inconveniences that were for created for the visitors by the buses before or after school, assistant principal Brian Gaub said.

Other systems that have been proposed and attempted in regard to parking have been tested, but were unsuccessful.

“We tried doing numbered spots for a few years, and it didn’t really work,” Dr. Rukstad said. “First of all if someone parks in your spot, you have nowhere to go, so it creates this domino effect that creates this really ill-will between kids.”

There were also some prospects of reverting to the initial system in which students parked in the north parking lot, and the south parking lot was designated for faculty, a plan which failed to come to fruition.

“Our building is so large, and our programs have very location-specific things. So if you are a band student and you have to park in the north lot, that doesn’t work for you,” Dr. Rukstad said. “We decided to try to spread the wealth so people can be close to where they do their jobs and where they go to school.”

Another program that is familiar to current RBHS students are the $50 parking permits, a fee that was decided upon by the school’s administration, most of which goes to covering Heaton’s salary, Dr. Rukstad said.

For students who fail to purchase a permit or park in the visitors or faculty areas, Heaton may place the infamous orange stickers on a vehicle. Generally, however, students and staff properly adhere to the guidelines of the parking lots.

“All of our faculty and students do an excellent job,” Heaton said. “The students are really good about parking where they are supposed to and telling me [if something’s wrong]. Our student body does an excellent job of being good citizens so we are grateful for that.”

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editorials | a5

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Captured on camera, good and bad shots

Pot for the people

joanna yu

Constituents should have right to vote

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ights are the foundation of the United States of America. The right to vote, the right to free speech and the right to bear arms are all essential components in both the identity of the individual American and of the nation.

When there is an issue, the people simply must have a say, and for citizens of Missouri, the right to vote on marijuana legalization is not an exception. The problem isn’t even if marijuana should be legalized. Rather, the problem is giving voters at least a choice through the ballot.

Eight states — Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington — allow for the controlled use of recreational marijuana.

Another 18 states allow for other marijuana use, usually for medicinal purposes. Missouri has addressed the subject but only through the lens of reducing pos-

session sentences. Those decriminalizing measures state that a first offense isn’t punishable through jail time. Officials will only begin to implement the new standards in January of next year if passed.

Advocates, however, continue to work for a larger cause; a cause to allow law-abiding citizens to make their own decisions regarding cannabis. If proponents are able collect enough signatures, the legalization of medicinal marijuana will be added to the next ballot. In fact, the promoters were working right up until the ballot cutoff. Then, unfortunately, after months of unceasing effort, they missed by just 23 inscriptions.

With such a close margin, it is necessary to sign the next petition and ensure success. The chance to voice one’s opinion on this topic simply shouldn’t be ignored or dismissed. If society doesn’t even try to test the waters on this debate, then the possibility of progression is severely limited.

Furthermore, by getting this subject on the ballot, the opportunities and obstacles of marijuana legalization will have a reason for discussion. Citizens will be spurred to educate themselves be-

yond the half-truths and rumors come Republican dominated. This that have long-prevailed. means for liberal voters, a ballot Clearly, the ban on marijuana is the only prime opportunity to isn’t strictly because of medical influence legislation. Additionconcerns. Just look at cigarettes ally, by leaving it to the state of and alcohol; it’s the association Missouri and not just the federal with laziness that keeps it off the government, residents of the state ballot and alarms those who dread will have a stronger impact on the even the possibility of marijuana outcome, a stronger pull one way legalization. Fear shouldn’t hold or the other.

In conclusion, voters need to back the right to the people’s influence on legislation. If adults remember that just like the recent ballot are remeasponsible Is the legalization of marijuana a s u r e s o r enough topic that Missouri citizens should frequirby the be able to vote for? i n g govvoter e r n The Rock staff voted idenment’s tificastantion, dards raising t o t h e handle cigadriving rette cars, p a y t a x ing the bills and drinking alcohol, and for limiting campaign conthen what sets marijuana apart? tributions, the people of Missouri Another element that citizens have a right to a say, a choice, an should take into consideration is influence. So, for the love of freethe result of the 2016 election, dom, go out and sign the petition which has caused the entirety of to put the legalization of marijuathe Missouri government to be- na to a vote.

Yes - 30 NO - 1

Trump tweets irony Skyler Froese

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resident-elect Donald Trump, in his usual fashion, issued yet another controversial tweet a couple of weeks back.

The tweet demanded the burning of American flags be criminalized and the punishment should be the loss of American citizenship or jail time. Ironically, Trump stomps on the First Amendment, the very legislation that allows him to express his provocative opinions.

Burning American flags is the right of every citizen. It is protected as symbolic expression by the first amendment, even though it has created controversy. Conservative critics have called flag burning into question before, but it was upheld in the cases Texas v. Johnson and U.S. v. Eichman. It is a symbol of protest and resistance throughout American history.

Trump’s desire for censorship is bizarre.

Through the election, he prided himself on his candidness and his refusal to be politically correct. If there is any expert on controversial speech and behavior in the U.S. government, it is Trump. His intended punishment for this act is even stranger. A year of jail time is no small punishment, but the loss of citizenship is an astronomical price to pay. This punishment is unheard of for crimes except for treason.

What makes this proposal worse is the criminal system would equate flag burning to treason. There are murderers, rapists and thieves who are allowed to live in the United States The Rock Rock Bridge High School 4303 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203 Vol. 44, Issue 3 December 15, 2016 Population: 1,962 Students, 148 Faculty Circulation: 1,500 Contact Information: Phone: 573-214-3141 Website: bearingnews.org Advertising: $50 – 1/4 Page $100 – 1/2 Page $150 – Full Page

Joy Park, Yousuf El-Jayyousi / The Rock

and see their families, albeit as prisoners. This law implies that free speech is a higher offense than most felonies and the dignity of an object is more important than personal liberty.

America stands for the rights of individuals. Citizens have protected rights to protest and express themselves, even when it may seem unpatriotic, such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington or protests against the Vietnam War. These expressions are part of living in a free society.

As much as Trump says he supports the real American public, he seems to have little interest in protecting their liberties. Between this demand and his many complaints of libel from major news publications, he is picky about who can criticize what.

Censoring is dangerous. To have a country made out of yes men will make America less democratic. Having diverse opinions allows for justice for all people, as shown by women’s suffrage or civil rights movements, not just those who agree with the government. Actions such as flag burning are almost always a part of bigger conversations on national issues.

Such a powerful statement opens the door to talk about things such as international policy, race relations and economic equality.

What Trump wants is to mute protests and turn public attention away from real issues to instead focus on the burning of an inanimate object. If Trump is leading the country, he has to be a part of these conversations, even when

$200 – Backpage The Journalism Newspaper and Honors Seminar classes produce The Rock, Bearing News and Southpaw.

The paper’s purpose is to accurately inform, educate and enlighten readers in an open forum.

The Rock is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association and Quill & Scroll.

Advisor: Robin Stover Editors-In-Chief: Ji-Ho Lee, Katherine Sarafianos,

Cassidy Viox / The Rock

Grand Old Flag: On Nov. 29, Donald Trump tweeted that American citizens who burn the flag should be arrested or stripped of their citizenship.

they are controversial. By listening to every voice, government can serve every citizen.

Sadly, history has proven that Trump is not easy to sway. Even though he is the presidentelect, not every person has to agree with this radical view. Though it’s not every person’s duty to burn flags, it is every person’s right and responsibility to use their right to free speech.

Citizens should not become intimidated by Trump’s hypocrisy, and instead be encouraged to express their opinions and exercise the first amendment.

It is, simply put, part of being an American.

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Uniforms lead to efficiency Kat Sarafianos

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ith television shows such as “Gossip Girl” at the American pop culture forefront, a Hollywood-like haze of snotty, private school kids who receive Mercedes-Benzes as birthday presents place an incorrect stereotype on school uniforms.

The reality is that school uniforms serve a much higher purpose than a preppy image and an Upper East Side aesthetic.

Uniforms facilitate an environment where kids focus more on their academics because the social stress of what they wear to school is gone.

Having a required outfit every day means kids no longer have to spend time thinking about what to wear; they put on their polos and khakis and leave.

With focus and time no longer wasted on how they look, kids can apply those lost resources to school.

Aside from quickening the process of dressing for school, school uniforms can also potentially provide extra time for sleeping or studying. According to Kyle Alspach’s piece in the Boston Globe, “Measured Look at Uniforms: Alternative to Dress Code,” seniors claimed “for some people it takes hours to get dressed. If we had a uniform it would take three minutes.”

Kids also would no longer

have to worry about wearing the “right” shoes, buying brand name items or scanning for trendsetting outfits in search of their peers’ approval.

Bullying and social divides are created as a result of kids creating a hierarchy based on outfits and appearances.

These divisions establishing who’s who based on what students wear would be diminished significantly.

In a 2013 survey by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and uniform manufacturer Lands’ End, 86 percent of school administrators said school coordinated outfits make “a significant, positive impact on peer pressure.”

Uniforms solve this social gap created by surges of materialism and hopes for higher social status.

In fact, by

mandating uniforms, schools would be creating a stron-

ger sense of community for their students. Having a unifying commonality between

Joanna Yu

Unfamiliar, not incorrect Unfair prejudice, criticism planted behind speech of unconventional dialects Skyler Froese

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rejudice is hard to track down. There are some obvious ways that it is manifested, such as violence, discrimination or racially charged remarks. But in day-to-day life, it is far more nuanced. Discrimination comes in sideways glances or in small judgements. These judgments are based on what people wear, what they eat and even what they say and not even from inherently inflammatory speech. But something as simple as the use of the habitual “be” can send a judgemental language purist over the edge.

Many English speakers are quick to decide what English is correct or isn’t. The “right” way to speak English is what is taught in schools and what appears in literature. Some see the use of language that differs with the rules of conventional English as inappropriate at best, and idiotic at worst.

There is nothing stupid about any non-standardized English dialect. African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) faces a mountain of intolerance, even though the consensus among linguists is that it is standardized dialect. AAVE follows its own distinct rules of grammar and carries its own illustrious history. Other widely used and standardized languages such as Russian, Arabic, and Mandarin use features like an omitted copula and double negatives as an intensifier. No one would call the entire language of Mandarin Chinese incorrect, so why is AAVE considered so deplorable by some English speakers?

Sadly, it goes back to racism. Some assume that

if others do not boast the same educational and cultural background as themselves, their differences must make them less intelligent, and when people of different skin color speak in a seemingly uneducated manner, they become easier to judge. England and America, the greatest strongholds of English, hold a past marred by racism and colonialism.

The intrinsic abuse of minorities has permeated the world as deeply as language conventions. It has bred judgment on English speakers at home and abroad, causing the public to forget many important voices, like that of Ernest Everett Just, who conducted revolutionary biological research.

But native speakers even scorn those who have chosen to learn another language. When a person takes up English as a second language, it is no easy task. The gap between two structurally different languages, like Korean and English, is bridged with something called a pidgin language. Like AAVE, the rules of these languages are consistent. They’re just different from standard English. Despite how hard non-native English speakers work to learn the language, they are still criticized for broken speech.

These judgments do no good for any English speaker. They do not maintain any language “purity.”

English itself is a tongue from many unrelated backgrounds. If someone were to only want to use words of Anglo-Saxon or Latin origin, their vocabulary would be cut in half. Thus, it must be acknowledged that the hate that nonstandard dialects face is just plain discrimination against the people who speak them.

This discrimination stops the spread of ideas. Every person has something to add to a greater global conversation, and it doesn’t matter how they say it.

For the English speaking world to continue to prosper, the idea of grammar purity must be discarded.

When all English is appreciated, all speakers can flourish.

Dzung nguyen

students like identical dress would make kids feel like they belong.

Some disagree with this claim of an allied front and find that uniforms separate more than anything. Teen development specialist Robyn Silverman on NBC News’ Today said students, especially girls, will compare how they look in uniforms and can decrease self esteem and have a detrimental effect on self image.

“As a body image expert, I hear from students all the time that they feel [uniform policies] allow for a lot of comparison,” Silverman said.

“So if you have a body that’s a plus-size body, a curvier body, a very tall body, a very short body, those girls often feel that they don’t look their best.”

W h i l e some might say unif o r -

mity deprives kids of a sense of self, they fail to see that at places as socially dividing as high schools, a sense of unity would be a stress relieving blessing to many kids.

Most everyone can agree that the last thing a school wants to do is hurt a student’s self-image and self-esteem, and that’s where technical intervention steps in. Schools should make sure that there are a wide variety of sizes and fits before picking a uniform.

Many schools actually allow different choices for students, like offering pants and skirts, polos and button ups. By providing kids variance in the fit of their uniform, schools still promote community involvement and unification, but don’t allow students to feel uncomfortable about their own differences.

School uniforms are not meant to ostracize or make kids feel bad. They are not a tool schools use to suck the life and creativity out of students, nor are they meant to be social class markers. They are put in place to established and cultivate a more academiccentered environment, which allows for an even playing field for all, not just for kids who can afford expensive clothes or those who fit a style better. Our differences make us unique, and uniforms can bring those individualities together into a cohesive environment.

joy park / the rock surveyed 200 students, 10 percent of the student body

Teachers subject to inaccurate criticism Faaris Khan

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t is unfortunate to see that education has become somewhat of a farce in today’s world. Jokes and complaints about school seem to be all the more prevalent nowadays.

One problem amongst certain high school teenagers is attributing unsatisfactory academic performance to a teacher. Not only is it unnecessary, it also harms students.

Blaming teachers is not a valid excuse, and students shouldn’t criticize a teacher for their own lack of academic success. An instructor’s job is to provide students an education on a specific curriculum; how students take advantage of such an opportunity is the deciding factor of one’s educational achievement.

Some students also accuse a specific teaching style, claiming such a method is ineffective in helping students learn.

A teacher might have a mundane way of teaching. Obviously, however, a teacher’s natural teaching style isn’t going to satisfy everyone. However, this type of complaining is especially prevalent in high school classes. Students who have reached this level of maturity should be able to adapt to different educational environments and still succeed. It is truly up to a student on whether they want to succeed, and not vice-versa.

Students have the opportunity to learn from a trained professional, and ultimately, whining and complaining will do nothing to fulfill such an excellent op-

portunity. Realistically, students should be more grateful for having someone knowledgeable in a specific subject teach them, which many less fortunate people are not able to access.

Some might argue that it actually is a teacher’s obligation to meet each student’s academic needs. Teachers are paid to do their job, and are, therefore, expected to do it well. But, how does this ultimately prepare students for higher levels of education, and even life in general?

Justifying complaints of teachers will not accomplish anything; it might even harm educational preparation of students. In college, professors must teach classes of sometimes more than 100 students. College students are thus expected to be able to adapt to any legitimate teaching style and still be able to succeed. Pampering is no longer an option.

In the real world, nobody will give anything on a silver platter. Everything must be earned, and that certainly holds true for attaining success in higher levels of education. If a student really wants to succeed, it is up to that student, not anybody else.

Before criticizing a teacher about unsatisfactory grades or a bad teaching style, take a moment to realize just how blessed students at RBHS are to be receiving an education. Instead of putting it off as a joke and blaming teachers for unsatisfactory performance, take this as a phenomenal opportunity; it might not come back.

editorials | a7

The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

Old system needs revision

joanna yu

Katie Whaley

T

he United States offers it’s citizens immense power and privilege, exemplified by the rights and liberties that individuals have. Unfortunately, this power becomes restricted when selecting the president because of the Electoral College.

In the Electoral College, each state has a set number of votes equal to the number of combined U.S. senators and representatives of the state.

For a candidate to win the Electoral College and, consequently, the presidential election, he or she needs to receive the majority of the country’s electoral votes. This structure ignores the popular vote of the citizens — the candidate that the citizens themselves truly vote for.

The Founding Fathers first established the Electoral College because politicians were wary of leaving the election purely in the hands of potentially uneducated people. The founders also objected to giving Congress the power to select the president, as they were afraid of big government control, and wanted to give more power to smaller states who feared their voices would be unheard.

Though the Electoral College worked during the conception of the country, it requires an update so that the voice of the citizens will be heard.

One of the main problems with the Electoral College is a system without compromise, where all the electoral votes from each state go to a single candidate, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine, whose votes are representative of their local counties.

The all or nothing system fails to represent the minority parties in states, as citizens who represent third parties may not feel obligated to vote because they don’t believe they could

make a difference. The unyielding system decreases voter turnout and indirectly promotes the two majority parties.

Furthermore, come Election Day, the votes of the electorate does not always represent the votes of the people. The Electoral College provides legislators the power to elect the president as “representatives of the people.” In reality, the popular vote merely becomes a footnote, and the president isn’t elected by the people, but by a complicated system that does not depict the wants of U.S. citizens.

Despite these concerns, the Electoral College has been in place for a long time and has concurred with the

Students Speak Isn’t everyone biased?

I mainly look for stuff that’s biased towards what I’m biased to. I’m liberal so I usually look at liberal media. Fox News is known to be real biased, but on the opposite end of that spectrum so I’m not one to listen to that.”

— Amanda Andrews, junior

tyson jamieson / the rock

Some news is biased, yeah. When I was watching the coverage of the election, the anchor was saying how there was still a chance for Hillary to win, and you could tell that he really wanted her to win. ” — Aryan Fotoohigiam, senior tyson jamieson / the rock

I think there is bias in today’s news with all the political talk that’s going around.

There definitely is a sense of opinionism in today’s news.”

— Kaitlyn Smith, junior tyson jamieson / the rock

popular vote of the people. Now the question becomes why should it be challenged if it has worked for elections in the past?

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and one of Donald Trump’s top surrogates, proposed changing the Electoral College system in 2014. Gingrich sent a letter to National Popular Vote, a nonpartisan group that promotes legislation to give the presidency to the candidate who wins the popular vote. In this letter, he described the United States as one of the most diverse nations in the world and, as a result, a nation whose leader represents all of the people.

He added that the Electoral College

failed to reflect the country’s tremendous diversity and prevented a vote that was representative of the population. Picking a president by the popular vote instead of through the Electoral College, he asserted, would be more in sync with fundamental democratic principles. If a former Speaker of the House is questioning the system that elects the most powerful and influential person of the United States because of a lack of equity, then shouldn’t we reconsider how we elect the president?

The Electoral College should not decide the next president of the United States, the popular vote should.

The popular vote system would allow

moy zhong

the citizens to truly elect the president of the United States. Logically and intuitively, the popular vote simply makes sense.

Unfortunately, individual citizens are unable to have significant impacts on changing the American political process. If each constituent, however, becomes educated on current issues and informed about the politics of the country, the nation will progress.

Rather than becoming frustrated or disappointed with the system, American citizens should take full advantage of the opportunities and privileges to express their opinions and vote for local legislators by continuing to vote each election.

Current news displays unfair bias Elad Gov-Ari

E

verybody has a reputation. It may be well-deserved or falsely placed, but everybody carries a certain stigma. The recent presidential elections proved an unfortunate reputation to be explicitly true, as American citizens recognized the blatant bias exhibited by news corporations toward either candidate, depending on the station.

This bias is a relatively new phenomena. It was only fairly recently that citizens had to search multiple different news sources to gather the full story, according to Fortune.com. With corporations such as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC obviously swayed toward a p o l i t i c a l agenda, receiving information from solely one of these sites can be detrimental to a person’s view of world events by believing propaganda that holds little truth.

Unfortunately, the root of these problems comes from the capitalist foundation of the coun-

try making it quite the hard fix itself. With so many local, national and global news companies, each station needs to survive and, thus, get more ratings, views — and ultimately money.

In turn, the American media which was once a source of reliable news has started tailoring political opinions of a certain ideology onto what is suppose to be coverage of factual, accurate events.

Fox News, for example, has taken its conservative agenda to such heights that it has begun to lose its credibility.

A report b y

PunditFacts, an online news site, shows that over 80 percent of people polled find Fox to be unreliable and untrustworthy in daily delivery and political news.

As the majority of people reading, watching or listening to news do little to question the validity of the information they’re hearing, they often regurgitate the inaccurate news that they consume. Companies such as Fox get away with false, libelous and skewed information that passes as news.

By reading into one story, a news consumer can be fed a

clear bias and sent into a narrow-minded, uninformed tunnel that supports their one way of thinking, which constricts individual thought and ideas.

Taking bias a step forward, it has been confirmed by, fakenewswatch.com that a large majority of ‘news’ found online is fake in reality.

Despite the clear news bias, consumers have been unable to differentiate reliable news from personal opinion, as Variety reports that news companies boast some of the highest ratings they have ever seen. In fact, up to 85 percent of people consume their news through only one or two of these organizations.

As an educated consumer, it is a societal duty to keep up to date on global current events in order to add to discussions and debates, or form logical opinions in regards to both local and national topics.

In order to fulfill this duty, it is crucial to research a topic by exploring different mediums and several n e w s sources.

Joanna Yu

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | december 15, 2016

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a closer look Teachers recall times that made them question whether or not to keep pursuing their dreams, B2

Conspiracy theories rise

People question validity of certain events Nikol Slatinska

W

hat is reality? On the surface it seems simple: physical objects visible to the naked eye, memories and what science has proven to be true.

For many conspiracy theory believers, however, conjecture can obscure the perception of what’s real and what isn’t.

For instance, some of the top conspiracy theories, according to livescience. com, speculate that British intelligence agencies planned Princess Diana’s car accident, the 1969 moon landing hoax and pharmaceutical companies conspire to make people sick to make profits.

Whether these beliefs are true or not, exploring theories opens a new world with alternative perspectives, which is why James Broderick, co-author of Web Conspiracy: A Guide to Conspiracy Theory Sites on the Internet and New Jersey City University assistant professor, encourages people to look into them.

“Questioning the ‘official’ story can often be a healthy, and necessary, use of the right of free speech. Many journalists and historians have uncovered uncomfortable truths about the world that powerful people did not want them to discover, so questioning things is often useful,” Broderick said. “But one must also remain skeptical at all times and not jump to conclusions based on slickly produced YouTube videos or conspiracy websites filled with half-truths.”

YouTube is where junior Kevin Kiehne came across the Mandela Effect theory, which he believes in. The phenomenon is the result of many people remembering things that are actually false. For example, according to mandelaeffect.com, people remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison prior to his actual 2013 death, hence the name of the effect. Kiehne’s interest peaked after hearing about popular examples, such as how the product White-Out is actually spelled Wite-Out. “That doesn’t even make sense; why wouldn’t Wite-Out be spelled like the color white? And the Monopoly man doesn’t have a monocle. That’s so weird because everyone who dresses up like him thinks he has a monocle,” Kiehne said. “Also, KitKat doesn’t have a dash, so that’s also kind of crazy.”

Believers of the Mandela Effect have come up with possible explanations, like the idea that there are parallel universes that people switch between, and what is real in one universe and isn’t real in the other. Despite the speculations behind the effect, none of them seem concrete enough to Kiehne.

“I don’t really know which explanation I believe in for what causes the Mandela Effect because none of them seem fully thought-out enough. If anything, I think the reason behind [it] would be some sort of [scientific] explanation, like time travel,” Kiehne said. “But time travel wouldn’t work because over time

we become immune to different diseases. sion is someone else’s passion. He menSo you could be carrying a disease, and tioned that Albert Einstein was consumed if you went back in time it would kill ev- by the theory of relativity until he arrived eryone. That’s the problem with that. I at his conclusion; Thomas Edison spent believe in the effect itself, just not in how years on how to create the light bulb, and novelists spend years preoccupied over the effect is supposedly caused.”

Like Kiehne, junior Avery Brooks be- the books’ plots. He draws the line of lieves in certain conspiracies but not the what isn’t healthy over negative thoughts. explanations behind them. One example He believes any time someone closes his is the false flag theory concerning the or her mind to the possibility of new inPulse Nightclub shooting that occurred formation is harmful.

“Questioning aspects of reality is raththis past June. “False flag” refers to an event made to look like it was carried out er fruitless: the earth revolves around the by a group other than the one that planned sun; the laws of physics are real; people it. In the case of the shooting, many be- are not holographic projections, etc.,” lieve the government planned the mas- Broderick said. “To question such reality seems delusionsacre to bring atal. But in terms tention to gun of conspiracy violence.

Questioning the ‘official’ story theories, I think “A lot of stuff can often be a healthy, and one could argue about the shootnecessary, use of the right of that keeping an ing didn’t make free speech.” open mind to sense.

Videos the possibility of it were going — James Broderick, of a different inaround Faceassistant professor terpretation of book, and a lot of the people in them didn’t seem right. The events is not necessarily a sign of deluded fact that just normal people were carry- thinking and might actually be healthy, ing body bags towards the nightclub was for the individual and the society.”

For Kiehne, theories are usually just weird,” Brooks said. “Also, the shooter had been interviewed by the FBI twice. interesting ideas, although they often lead He worked for a private security company to more serious thoughts.

“I start thinking, like, what other things and was reported as being someone who could potentially abuse weapons and act have I been thinking are real all this time that really aren’t?” Kiehne said. “The violently, so that seemed funny to me.”

Brooks also has an interest in the de- Mandela Effect is just a little thing that struction of Building 7, the skyscraper lo- is fun to think about, but it does make me cated near the World Trade Center. It col- open to think about other conspiracy thelapsed despite not being struck by a plane ories because if I thought a certain thing on Sept. 11, which caused him to question was one way all along, then there could be the government’s claims. Though people other things that aren’t really true.”

Theories that Kiehne can believe typihave disregarded his beliefs, Brooks thinks it’s important to question theories cally have small implications like the idea that Marilyn Monroe’s death was staged. as it can lead to in-depth thinking.

“I can’t remember all the questions I’ve As for the illuminati, a fake moon landing asked myself while thinking about those and the planning of the Sept. 11 attacks, things, but I get a lot of thoughts about those theories are either too scary or riwhat my duty is,” Brooks said. “Also, diculous for Kiehne to accept.

Although Kiehne’s beliefs can seem what does this say about my country? My country is supposed to represent me, so mundane compared to those of others, his perception of reality has definitely been does this say something about me?”

Many believers question the facts relat- altered.

Even though Broderick encourages ed to theories, which is why Dr. Stephan Lewandowsky, the chair of the cognitive people to investigate different theories, he psychology program at the University of warns against doing so without researchBristol School of Experimental Psychol- ing all accessible evidence.

“There is simply no way to generalogy, believes conspiracy theories are genize about individual belief in conspiracy erally not something to get involved in.

“Constantly questioning aspects of theories. Public opinion polls show that reality is not healthy. Nobody would get many people believe President Kennedy’s on an airplane designed by someone who killing was the result of a conspiracy. thinks aerospace engineering is a Commu- Other polls have shown that many people nist conspiracy, and who’s replaced real believe the government is covering up physics with their imaginary conspiracy,” evidence of extraterrestrial visits,” BrodDr. Lewandowsky said. “[The effects of erick said. “It would be hard to prove [if] conspiracy theories] are generally nega- these beliefs have negative or positive tive, as they probably alienate [believers] effects on the people who believe them. from many others around them. However, But I would repeat my notion that anyone it’s hard to say because there can be posi- who has decided to believe a theory — tives, too, since a conspiracy theory can whether an official government theory or a conspiracy theory — in disregard of all give meaning to someone’s life.”

Broderick believes the effects of theo- the available facts is probably not acting ries vary, as someone’s unhealthy obses- in his or her own best interest.”

photo courtesy of John f. kennedy presidential library and museum and cassidy viox

B2 | features

The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

‘Treating yourself’ diverts obligations Ann Fitzmaurice

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rriving home from school around 6:15 p.m., sophomore Piper Page sits down and takes out her homework. Immediately, she fights the desire to set her assignments aside and call it a night. She flips through pages of her history textbook, zoning out.

Finally, she decides a break is necessary and takes out her phone.

This break occurs less than 10 minutes into homework time.

Page said her homework takes hours to complete because of the interruptions. Nicole Torres of Harvard Business Review said just hearing a phone notification can distract from learning because simply knowing the alert is there can be tempting.

Page’s breaks also cause her to take longer to comprehend what she’s reading. With the 30-40 textbook pages she has to read each week, treating herself to these recesses with the thoroughness and pace of her working habits can be detrimental.

“I feel helpless and like I’ve failed if I don’t get [my work] done,” Page said. “My goal is to have all A’s and be a good student, but there are times where I realize that may not be possible with the pace I learn at in comparison to the classes I want to take.”

With all honors and advanced placement (AP) classes as well as participating in show choir, Page finds it difficult to manage her time and excel in everything she wants to. Allowing herself these small intermissions is needed but makes her feel helpless.

“If I could just keep going without taking any breaks, I could get everything done,” Page said. “Unfor-

mOY ZHONG

tunately, that only seems possible for machines. I treat myself because I do work hard; I can’t go non-stop.”

Page isn’t the only one who takes well-needed pauses while studying.

In fact, professor Gary G. Johnson of Southeast Missouri State University recommends the average high school student takes a 10 minute break after studying for 40 to 90 minutes.

Of course, it’s easier said than done.

“Students need breaks, especially with the workload they’re given in this day and age,” time management specialist and career therapist Kimberly Stanton said. “They deserve the

breaks after they do significant learning, like when they finish a chapter in a textbook. It’s up to their own judgement; there is no formula.”

Freshman Sami Alexander tries to follow her own judgment in order to do well in school. She is an exemplary student, but even she convinces herself to treat herself for what she does. As a member of the RBHS volleyball team and another club team, Alexander uses the sport as an outlet to let off steam and take a break from academics.

“If I didn’t have volleyball, I’d probably go crazy,” Alexander said.

“I need something that makes me

happy because school just doesn’t cut it. With the workload I’m given, I don’t see a way school could make me as happy as volleyball does.”

When it comes to putting health and happiness over school, only 29 percent of students get the adequate amount of sleep needed during the school year, according to Dr. Christine Carter of Greater Good, the Science of a Meaningful Life. Treating themselves to a sport or time off, Page and Alexander try to sneak some aspect of relief into their lives.

“Even with the breaks, schoolwork always comes first,” Page said.

“I’ll take care of myself some other

time.”

Although striving for a high GPA over health is a bad idea, the workload students receive persuades them to push seemingly lazy and selfish thoughts aside. Despite due dates just around the corner, the call of relaxation is too loud to ignore.

“I convince myself I work hard enough to deserve an extra hour of sleep. I usually fall asleep doing homework and then rush to get it done 20 minutes before class starts,” Page said. “Of course, this stress would go away for the most part if I didn’t take as many breaks, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop.”

Meaning of the season Holiday season initiates altruism Skyler Froese

T

he day after Thanksgiving, freshman Riley Kerns rose at dawn. She did not get up for Black Friday deals but to decorate her entire home with Christmas furnishings.

Kerns loves Christmas. The music, the food and merriment all delight her.

“This time during the year it always seems that people can be a little happier and have a little more hope than the rest of the year,” Kerns said. “It expresses a time of giving, which is what people say is the true meaning of Christmas.”

Beyond the cookies and twinkling lights, Kerns finds pleasure in giving back to the community this season. Her family donates to her church’s ‘Tree of Hope,’ which contributes clothes and toys to families in need. Even outside of her church, charity seems to be in the air.

“You always see a bell ringer in front of department stores or grocery stores,” Kerns said. “Whether or not you’ve ever donated before, they are always outside in the cold with their red buckets. When you haven’t even seen them yet, but hear a bell ringing, you know who it is. Kind of like a Christmas carol that you know once you hear the first note.”

These chimes come from the Salvation Army’s red kettle program.

mOY ZHONG

This increase in giving accomSince its inception in 1891, the project has been an iconic part of the panies the holiday spirit. People holiday season. These buckets and want to see their community benefit. bells appear on television, movie Chapman believes citizens are inscreens and nearly every grocery vested in giving back to their comstore in the country. Kerns admires munity. She said there is a special the volunteers for this program, as joy in helping someone get back on they are helping their community for their feet. “[People] know that the Salvation the entire year, not just Christmas.

“The proceeds of the sales at the Army is a trusted organization [and] thrift stores go back into this com- is doing the most good in our community to keep our programs go- munity…” Chapman said. “People ing, particularly our Salvation Army know Salvation Army is about helpHarbor House,” Salvation Army ing people who need help. They see that as the regional dinatural exrector of detension of velopment their desire Cynthia This time during the year it alto be part Chapman ways seems that people can of that givsaid. “That be a little happier and have a ing back to is a 61 bed, little more hope than the rest full service the commuof the year.” homeless nity.”

— Riley Kerns, freshman shelter, the This alonly one like it in the area because truism has become a tradition in it serves not only parents with chil- all senses. Giving every year is redren but also single adults including peated not just by individuals, but by families for generations. seniors and veterans.”

“We see parents trying to teach The money also goes back to the Salvation Army’s thrift stores and their children,” Chapman said. to providing case management for “They’ll give their children money those in need. Contributions to the to go out in a red kettle or they’ll red kettle campaign goes toward have their children right there, and the $413,000 yearly budget. These they’ll make an effort to have their funds also come from other places, children see what they’re doing.”

One student who enjoys belike charitable donations, but the Christmas season is the most con- ing generous during the holidays is sophomore Reagan Allen. Before centrated effort for fundraising.

Christmas for the past two years, Allen and her family go to Kansas City, Mo. and hand out care packages to the homeless. The packages include necessities, such as toothbrushes, gloves and even cash.

Allen believes that because she has such a happy holiday season, it is her duty to spread that joy to other people who are less fortunate. She sees that joy being spread when she lights up the faces of those she helps.

“I think it has always been sad to my family,” Allen said. “While we are all happy celebrating and getting and giving gifts, there are people that are all alone and any little something we can give them can hopefully make them a little happier.”

Kerns agrees with Allen. She knows that volunteering is noble all year long, but as with most things for Kerns, it’s only made better by the Christmas spirit.

“Holidays are a time where people remember to care for those who haven’t had the easiest life,” Kerns said. “Everyone should have the opportunity to be happy during the most wonderful time of the year. If you have the chance to help someone that might not have had a warm place to stay, or enough food, or simply the gift of love, it is important to volunteer during the holidays.

It may not be a big deal to you but it can be everything to the people you help.”

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | december 15, 2016

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Duty drives people further, keeps them in line and can even push them to the breaking point...

dzung nguyen

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TheRock Rock||www.bearingnews.org www.bearingnews.org||December December15, 15,2016 2016 The

Culture sways expectations Ji-Ho Lee

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alal El-Jayyousi was born in Kuwait and raised in a Palestinian Muslim culture. An emphasis on future economic success as well as geographic and historic awareness is evident in his own culture, one that has definite impacts on teenagers and high school students.

“My culture places a high value on family, deemphasizes individualism and offers a strong support system,” ElJayyousi, an environmental engineer, said. “While this provides resources for success and a safety net for teenagers and adults alike, it also places pressure on the individual to live up to family and societal expectations and may limit the individual’s ability to explore opportunities and ideas that may appear foreign or not in the best interest of the family as a whole.”

Lilia Ben Ayed, who teaches English Language Learning (ELL) classes, primarily composed of foreign exchange students, recognizes and appreciates the value of culture.

“I think culture is everything. It pertains to behavior, the way we act and the way we live,” Ben Ayed said. “I have seven students and they come from seven different countries and I see their different behaviors. The way they sit, the way they interact with each other — you can see these actions are based on the values and cultures that they have.”

Korean culture has impacted freshman Eric Kwon, though born and raised in the United States. He says the culture is defined by a “passionate drive for success.” He also recognizes the impacts of the responsibilities that have been placed on him and other students by the Korean culture.

“I think the drive of success brought me to a higher point than my friends and peers in my life,” Kwon said.

“For most people, high school is the starting point of thinking of their future. But, you are responsible for your actions and your future, and that is what my culture implements into daily life. To succeed, you always have to find a way to be creative, wise and stand out to others in various ways.”

Kwon cites his difficult classes, advanced management skills and studying abilities as signals of his culture’s impact. These responsibilities that promote academic success feed into the common stereotype placed on Asian-Americans. Kwon acknowledges the existence of stereotypes, but individuals within cultures are unique from each other.

“I believe that this [stereotype] generalizes the many people that live in our community and world today. Every parent and student has their own goals for their future, and some just have higher expectations than others,” Kwon said. “I also think the stereotypes of my culture can affect a person in both a positive and negative way. If you are above the status quo, I believe that these stereotypes can help you seem better and smarter than others. But, on the other hand, if you are not as successful in academics, then it can influence your impressions on others in a negative way, implying that you are not as intelligent as others.”

Placing certain cultures into a certain mold is not unfamiliar to the United States. A survey from Servelum cited that 86 percent of Americans believe stereotypes exist.

These stereotypes, however, may be in some ways necessary.

“As a minority you are likely to be at a disadvantage.

As a result, working harder and excelling in school become more critical for your success, and may be your passport for social acceptance,” El-Jayyousi said. “Having said that, I believe it is very important to offer teenagers ample opportunities for social engagement and extracurricular activities. Career and life success does not depend only on excellence in academics.”

Other cultures place less importance on academics.

Sophomore Valeria Velasquez finds her Nicaraguan family places little significance on school — a part of her culture she disagrees with — focusing on aspects outside of the classroom.

“Most of my culture centers around home life. My parents put an emphasis on family and the importance of me sticking to my Nicaraguan roots,” Velasquez said. “Overall, I feel like Hispanic culture has a big emphasis on politeness to parents and tight submission to parents’ commands and a lot of dedication towards housework and chores.”

El-Jayyousi also believes family is an important aspect of his culture and a responsibility that is emphasized to students; it is also an aspect that is absent in American culture. “[The] family is central to social life in my culture.

Maintaining strong family ties and fulfilling social obligations towards relatives can be a source of joy and support as well as a source of stress at times,” El-Jayyousi said.

“This is an aspect that I find missing in American culture.

In addition, I feel that peer pressure is more pronounced among American teenagers, placing a great strain on the mental health of non-conforming teenagers.”

The Pew Research Center contested the lack of familial focus in America was a result of fewer two-parent families; that absence atoned for by a focus on extracurricular activities, an insignificant aspect of El-Jayyousi’s culture.

“What [my culture] lacked … were opportunities for meaningful extracurricular activities and hands on learning opportunities — a hallmark of American culture in my opinion and a key factor in America’s success,” El-Jayyousi said. “Extracurricular activities tend also to provide opportunities for social interaction in a structured and healthy environment.”

While Velasquez believes her culture is neutral toward extracurriculars, strictness is placed on a teen’s social life.

Counseling Latinos and La Familia, a parenting guide for Hispanic parents, cited “control, high level of supervision, and strict standards” as the characteristics of parenthood.

“I know plenty of girls my age who aren’t allowed to even go to movies with their friends or have to tell their parents the smallest of details about who they’re hanging out with. American culture, due to its striking emphasis on individuality, seems to put importance on the social experimentation of young people,” Velasquez said. “American parents, from my distinct perspective, seem to give their children more freedom. While I don’t judge, there have been plenty of times where people tell me about things they did over the weekend, and I find myself thinking that my parents would never let me do what they did.”

Some students may look at a culture’s responsibilities and become judgmental. Ben Ayed encourages kids to learn about different impacts that are placed on students.

“A lot of people do not know about cultures, and are not open or do not even have the chance to understand different cultures,” Ben Ayed said. “Sometimes you see things on television or in the media and people can assume things … I encourage everyone to open up to the body of the students [at RBHS]. Come meet our students. Open up more, learn about countries, read, ask questions and participate in school cultural events.”

While these cultures may be unfamiliar to some citizens, emphasizing different aspects and placing unique responsibilities on high schoolers, El-Jayyousi believes criticism directed toward these cultures is incorrect.

“I do not believe it is right to judge a culture, as a whole, of being right or wrong,” El-Jayyousi said. “Every culture is a product of its own unique environment and collective memory. Accordingly, what is right for one culture may not necessarily be right for another.”

Excuses Siena Juhlin

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veryone's heard the saying “the dog homework,” but sophomore Kiren Ma a similar, truthful story. During the thi Macleod worked hard on a paper one set it next to his bag, only to return to it the next destroyed. Macleod found cat vomit all over his w essay and was devastated. He took a picture and his teacher who, in the end, allowed his excuse.

Excuses. Whether they’re aware of it or not, makes them. Although they’re a part of life, the many reasons for making them.

In academic scenarios, students such as sophom Adelstein make excuses sometimes to defend t choices. Adelstein remembers a time when she p assignment for almost the entire year and used along the way.

“There was this one project I had to do, and it w the first month of the semester but because my tea she would accept late work for full credit, I waited last few weeks of school to do it,” Adelstein said telling myself I had more time to do it, but befor it months had passed. and I just made excuses to with it.”

Students such as Adelstein put off things as lon sible, but some choose not to own up to their actio “I just usually use excuses when I don’t want to thing or when I regret doing something,” Adelstei think students use them [academically] because them feel more secure and basically tricks them lieving that they have their life together but they don’t.”

Adelstein assumes that students don’t like to o their decisions because they don’t want to be seen ure. An article written by Head Space, a website tha people about different physiologic issues, claim serve as a distraction that prevents people from the task. But a lack of ownership for actions stem deeper, unconscious desire to protect people again and shame.

Counselor Dr. Jordan Alexander agrees with search and Adelstein with their ideas about the ps behind the excuse making.

“I think most people want to come off as som is making good choices. Rather than [someone] ju honest and [saying] they didn’t want to do the ass or ‘I screwed up,’ they come up with something th … socially appropriate,” Dr. Alexander said. “It shifts the blame or the responsibility to an outsi rather than something that they were responsible f Like Dr. Alexander, some teachers think it’s

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hen people hear the word “teenager,” clichés such as “nerd,” “geek” and “jock,” may come to mind, or just an adolescent with a rebellious attitude. Whatever comes to mind, “responsible” is usually not at the top of the list. The amount of responsibility a teenager has can vary, but that doesn’t mean that students are not responsible.

High schoolers are close to reaching adulthood, and although their responsibilities are not the same as adults, they still bear the same weight.

According to a study published in the journal Child Development, the eldest child will conform to their parents’ expectations more than his siblings.

Eldest children want to please parents, and therefore are the most responsible.

As the eldest of her family, senior Jordan Banker has always had a sense of authority over her siblings. She takes care of her two younger sisters, junior Morgan and freshman Logan, by driving them to school. This might seem simple, but when one of the siblings wakes up late or has a slow morning, it can be difficult to get out of the house on time.

“I have to make sure we don’t leave anyone when we leave for school because we’ve done that almost before, so now it’s kind of my job to make sure Logan gets in the car with us,” Banker said. “Then it’s usually my responsibility to get some sort of snack or dinner if that’s not already going when we get home.”

If younger siblings do of, and instead sports is must have good time man their life of athletics and player Allie Pigg believes take control and responsib “My daily responsibili of school work, staying in it’s the offseason and ge places because I can driv own responsibilities,” Pi sponsibilities because I’m school work, as I believe will decide how much o tained. My sports respons about keeping myself hea allows me to enjoy the sp Even if some believe m by technology, they are st obligations a student sho individual. Principal Dr. students having responsib ing adulthood. Things a s on Advanced Placement job, are just some ways to “In my opinion, it is to have the responsibiliti a job and taking [AP] cl close to being adults, in w bilities will come,” Dr. Ru that developmentally, ha

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students and everyone in general just to own up to their mistakes because they ought to take ownership of what they have and haven’t done. World history teacher Alex Worman said he is disappointed in students when they make excuses for what they done and what they have neglected to do.

“I think excuses mostly come from laziness,” Worman said. “But, [in their future], I think it depends if the excuses are met by people allowing the excuses or not allowing the excuses. If they’re able to make excuses their entire life, then they’re never asked to do anything so they never learn anything.”

Although some students make excuses for their behavior in and out of school, Dr. Alexander believes this will affect their future in school and work, like Worman. RBHS tries to enforce responsibility to help benefit the future of students.

“We are trying to help students become responsible citizens as they leave RBHS and enter higher education or the work force. So, students who have developed poor time management skills are probably in for a rude awakening,” Dr. Alexander said. “The excuses that may initially work, in terms of extending deadlines and such in a high school setting, are often times not appropriate at all in a workplace or higher education setting. I think students are in for a rude awakening if they believe those same excuses are going to work for them in the real world.”

Like Dr. Alexander, PHYblog, a website filled with psychological theories, states students will come to terms with reality after high school. The problem with self-handicapping, or making excuses, is people don’t give themselves the best chance to succeed, so they don’t get the best result possible. Sure enough, self-handicapping behaviors are associated with lower motivation, less persistence at difficult tasks, reduced self-guided learning and lower performance in general.

This theory is true, according to Psychology Today, which claims that “how children perceive their personal power determines how much effort they will expend to control their lives.” Although this idea may be true, Worman thinks that sometimes getting away with excuses depends on the circumstances. “[I think the real world] sometimes allows for excuses,” Worman said. “But it depends on how serious the excuse is and if it’s an actual excuse.”

Despite some thinking the excuses are dependant on the specific situation, RBHS is trying to eliminate academic justification for mistakes. Ever since RBHS was established, the departments strive to make students responsible for their actions.

“In terms of school work accountability, there is a variety of things that different departments use. One is to be very clear about their late policy and deadlines and points,” Dr. Alexander said. “Each department does that a little differ-

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ently, but most departments try to hold students accountable to getting work completed on time and if that's not the case, then only certain excuses such as medical or mental health are verifiable situations.”

In the end, making excuses can happen consciously and subconsciously, but the important part is whether they are reasonable excuses and if they affect the person's mind set.

While Adelstein makes her excuses because she has put off an assignment, it may affect her mindset on accomplishing tasks, although she believes it may not affect her actions in the future.

“I also believe a lot of students understand that what works, or what appears to be working for them in high school, may not work at the next level,” Dr. Alexander said. “I think students understand that there is a higher level of accountability and hopefully they rise up to that when they get to those situations.”

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using the skills associated, like reasoning, problem solving, time management, organization and emotional control is important in building the capacity for greater responsibility as individuals mature.”

Part of growing up means having more obligations. Having a job in high school can teach responsibility, but for some it can do damage. Out of 600,000 10th to 12th graders, those who worked more than 15 hours a week had lower grades and higher use of cigarettes, alcohol and other illicit drugs, according to a study conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

Working at Old Navy, senior Ellen Dill-Hirsch has to handle this extra responsibility with school work. She works one or two shifts a week so that she can keep up with school while making some money.

“The best way to handle the responsibility is to know exactly what you want out of the job and making sure your job knows how many hours you expect to work so they don’t over schedule you,” Dill-Hirsch said.

Teens can have other responsibilities besides a job, such as school work, taking care of younger siblings or athletics. According to Raising Children Network, an organization that gives information to parents, a child without responsibility doesn’t have the opportunity to make decisions through experience. But when a student takes on too much, it can lead to lost confidence and poor decision making.

“It is really important that kids have responsibilities that are age appropriate starting even as early as

preschool. Of course, the appropriate responsibilities change and increase as the child grows,” counselor Tiffany Borst said. “As a teen, being responsible for schoolwork, household chores, leadership positions at school and maybe even an after school job are all very positive. Having appropriate responsibility builds positive selfesteem. We feel good about ourselves when we follow through on responsibility.”

Dr. Robert Epstein, a psychologist, believes teens should be treated more like adults. In an interview with Empowering Parents, he said kids should have responsibilities other than mindless chores. He thinks if kids help parents do real work, such as his kid who helps edit audio files for him, then adolescents will have experience that is more valuable than extracurriculars.

Appropriate responsibilities for teenagers depend on the circumstance. What responsibilities one person has may not apply to someone else.

But having responsibility as a teenager can help shape a person for future hardships.

“I think for some people [taking AP classes, or having jobs as responsibilities] works. But people who can’t manage their time well don’t do well with that,” Banker said. “It’s hard to juggle so many things like if someone is already in AP classes and a student-athlete. It may be hard for them to hold down a job and keep their grades up, so it kind of depends on the person and the situation.”

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or the multiple responsibilities high schoolers find themselves assigned to, overwhelming tasks like school work and extracurriculars can take a toll on any teenager. In the case of sophomore Daniel Schroeder, these responsibilities come from school, particularly his AP World History class. Staying up late to complete lengthy chapter notes, Schroeder finds this work a constant source of sleep deprivation.

“Every week is like a marathon,” Schroeder said.

“I barely make it across the finish line come Friday.”

For teenagers taking on rigorous classes and extracurricular activities, responsibilities can get tough to manage. Psychologist Dr. Tara Vossenkemper, who runs the website www.thecounselinghub. com, said what most don’t understand is where to draw the line.

“There’s a zone. What typically happens is that people find the zone, but when they reach too much, everything falls to pieces,” Dr.Vossenkemper said.

“Then, those people end up thinking that the straw is the fine line when the reality is that they were thriving with the right amount, but they just didn’t realize that it was the right amount.”

Similar to Schroeder, sophomore Maddie Murphy can attest to how finding the “zone” is no easy task, especially when Murphy struggles to find a balance of her own responsibilities versus someone else’s. Often she finds herself in a place where she has taken more than she can handle.

“Sometimes I feel like things are my responsibility when they aren’t,” Murphy said. “I like to be super involved, but sometimes I don’t have time for myself. I’m really bad at saying no when people ask me to do something so I sometimes take on too much. Anxiety is definitely something I’ve experienced a lot this past year and it’s mainly due to being involved in problems that I shouldn’t be involved in or over involving myself in activities.”

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, affecting 40 million adults in the U.S. Though senior Jessica Clark is aware of these symptoms, she knows when they hit and how to handle them.

Realizing the consequences and exhaustion they will feel in the end, however, is almost harder to recognize at the beginning, then keeping up with the responsibility itself.

“When we initially take things on, we feel fine,” Dr. Vossenkemper said. “We feel neither tired nor overwhelmed. However, when we carry that thing without taking a break or thinking about the longterm outcomes, we risk feeling completely overwhelmed and confused about how it happened.”

Clark must reassure herself that the exhaustion is necessary for future success. Although Clark sometimes finds herself pushing in hopes of a beneficial outcome, she must also note when she has crossed the line.

“It can definitely be overwhelming at times, but I know it’s important to have balance and everything will pay off,” Clark said. “If I don’t have time for family and friends and I’m not getting enough sleep, then I have to start saying no. Sometimes I can get really overwhelmed and emotional and then I can’t focus on anything.”

Like Clark, Schroeder knows when the conse-

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quences of stepping over the “zone” become detrimental to a student. For Schroeder, it comes in the form of constantly having catch up after a week full of responsibilities.

“I haven’t ever been one to enroll in a lot of clubs though I’m a full honors and AP student,” Schroeder said. “It’s a lot of work; I’m sometimes up until one or two in the morning trying to get it all done... It’s exhausting. By the end of the week I sleep 12-14 hours straight to try and regain all that I had originally lost.”

Despite having to catch up on lost energy, Schroeder believes it’s the teens themselves who don’t know when they are setting themselves up for a breakdown.

“In some cases, I think teens are unaware of the workload they sign themselves up for,” Schroeder said. “[Especially in regard to] required classes that can range from regular to AP and electives that have varying levels of work, plus the plethora of clubs some kids take.”

The National Institute of Mental Health reports that between the ages of 13 to 18, a lifetime prevalence of an anxiety disorder is at 25.1 percent. This anxiety can bring negative effects on a day to day basis. Dr. Vossenkemper is very familiar with mental breakdowns teenagers get when they don’t know when to draw the line.

“If you’re feeling exceptionally irritable, crying easily, having trouble falling asleep, not feeling rested when you wake up, eating poorly, or even having panic attacks, these may all be signs that you’re taking on too much,” Dr. Vossenkemper said. “[This means] the pressure of your responsibilities are a little bit too heavy for you.”

Dr. Vossenkemper is aware of how excessive responsibilities may result in panic attacks. Luckily, she knows tricks to reverse them, too.

“This can be prevented through intention and self-awareness. It is a way to ensure that you’re getting a break,” Dr. Vossenkemper said. “Our physical health is directly related to our mental health. When we feel overly stressed, our immune systems go into overdrive. This results in it being less efficient when we actually get sick because it’s exhausted from working so hard.”

For teens bound by responsibilities, Dr. Vossenkemper suggests reconsidering priorities.

“I’ve worked with teenagers and instead of dropping anything for their own mental or physical health, they keep plugging along and end up having panic attacks,” Dr. Vossenkemper said. “My first inclination is to tell people to drop the least important thing, or to reorganize the amount of time spent on activities.”

In Murphy’s case, she has her own remedies and fallbacks she knows are bound to work under stressful times.

“I have a few things I say to myself that usually calm me down,” Murphy said. “If I get really anxious, I like to turn down the lights and listen to music or songs. It’s something I’ve always loved doing.”

Though these adjustments can only be hoped to calm the stress, Dr. Vossenkemper knows that symptoms of these excessive responsibilities are sure to come back one way or another.

“These changes aren’t magical pills. They take time and energy, but the time and energy spent on them is like paying yourself,” Dr. Vossenkemper said. “The result is more energy and more efficiency in what you’re doing, rather than less.”

features | b7

The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

Sleep paralysis stops peaceful slumber Faaris Khan

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ophomore Sarah Emerson opened her eyes, looking around in fear. She tried for what seemed like an eternity to find an escape from the darkly-lit room but was unable to even move her muscles.

She felt the room bearing its weight down on her, pressurizing her to a completely dormant state.

Then, she saw him.

“One Saturday morning I woke up, and when I looked out my window there was a guy peering into my room, just standing there watching me,” Emerson said. “I started freaking out and struggling as the guy started to tap on my window then pound a fist on it. And right before it ended, he smiled at me and said, ‘I’ll be back’ and ran away.”

While this might seem like a scene from a horror movie, it is actually a sleep disorder known as sleep paralysis (SP). The man who Emerson saw was a hallucination, a common sight for victims of the condition. For those who experience the phenomenon, it can be a very frightening experience.

“Sleep paralysis is a state in which the physiology of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep intrudes into wakefulness. The major physiological element is a limp paralysis – loss of muscle tone,” David Hufford, sleep paralysis expert and author of The Terror That Comes in the Night:

An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions, said. “In REM, that prevents you from waking yourself up by acting out your dreams. There are several factors that make SP more likely, e.g. lack of sleep, especially lack of dreaming, makes the cycle stronger because we need REM sleep.”

Three million people in the United States experience the condition each year, according to a report from Mayo Clinic. While a percentage of people are simply unable to move or speak in episodes, many, including Emerson, report accompanying hallucinations, whether it be a horrifying creature or even a deceased relative.

“It’s a very terrifying experience, and what seems like agonizing hours is mere minutes. All you can do is sit there and wait,” Emerson said. “I remember the first time just trying to thrash and every time, I’d hear loud cracks or banging. All I could think was that it would never end and I’d be trapped in my own body.”

While some victims can realize soon enough that they are only experiencing an episode, accompanying hallucinations can sometimes seem terrifyingly real. For junior Griffin Strong, his episodes can even get physical, reaching an apex of disturbing hallucinations.

“The scariest story [I have] is when I woke up, couldn’t move and felt someone running their hand over

my back,” Strong said. “Finally, I was able to move. [When] I turned around, my room was empty.”

Although sleep paralysis has no true cure, victims are able to take several steps to cope with the resulting trauma. Hufford explained some of these methods.

“Most cultures have spiritual remedies because for most people it seems like a frightening spiritual experience, and it often includes the sense of an evil presence in the

room,” Hufford said. “Non-spiritual things include getting adequate sleep and not sleeping on your back.”

For Emerson, social support is the best way to deal with the condition.

She was fortunate to have a friend help her with post-traumatic stress.

“Over the summer it got bad, so [my friend] started calling me at night so I wouldn’t feel alone,” Emerson said. “It’s nice to have someone there if it does happen.”

Despite the struggles Emerson

CASSIDY VIOX / THE ROCK

faced with her sleep paralysis experiences, she believes it has helped her learn valuable lessons on patience and maintaining a calm mindset in a stressful situation.

“There’s not a way to stop sleep paralysis; you just have to wait it out.

Knowing what it is keeps me more calm now,” Emerson said. “Personally, I only hear things when I struggle, so keeping calm is important. It makes things easier for me if I just breathe and don’t try to fight it.”

Tyson Jamieson / THE ROCK

Fear of failure deters passions Ann Fitzmaurice

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haking under the lights of the 2015 Capers talent show, thensophomore Amanda Andrews read her heartfelt poem to more than 500 students. Afraid of being cliché and pretentious, she clutched her poetry in her right hand and read her emotions to all in a 36-line composition.

“It was the first time people I knew didn’t see me as the obnoxious, funny girl and as someone who has feelings and anger,” Andrews said. “It felt good to be honest for once.”

Prior to Capers, Andrews had always written short poems. In the beginning, she submitted them into contests and got published into many poetry books, motivating her to audition for the talent show. The feeling of being on stage and people telling her how much they related to her writing made something click.

“It made me feel like I’d finally found my destiny and that I needed to make people this emotional for the rest of my life,” Andrews said.

Her parents, however, had another idea for their daughter’s destiny: not pursuing the arts at all. They looked at medical schools for Andrews to go to,

she said, and yanked her back down to reality with “practical” careers.

“When I first started entering my poetry into contests and performing it, I was the happiest I’ve ever been,” Andrews said. “I think the risk of poetry is why I love it. If I had the full support of my parents, I would waste no time in making a career out of [it].”

With the looming disapproval of her parents, Andrews doesn’t think she’ll be able to follow her passion, and she is not alone. A 2013 study by Gallup showed that approximately 70 percent of adults don’t enjoy their jobs, opting for a paycheck rather than workplace happiness. Furthermore, someone pursuing singing as a career gets paid $46,571 on average. Rounded up to $50,000 a year, this wage could barely pay for a family of four to survive in today’s economy.

These statistics have driven those, such as sophomore Harper Dailey, thinking about pursuing a passion such as a singing career away.

In the seventh grade, Dailey was in a choir of about seven people. They joined up with Gentry Middle School’s choir and combined for performances as the choirs shared a teacher. At some performances her singing went flawlessly, but at others, the vocals fell. Ev-

ery time Dailey went on stage, her anxiety skyrocketed. She pushed through, however, and was successful. But even the positive result of her public singing performances couldn’t convince her to follow her passion with confidence.

“I don’t think I could pursue [singing] as a career,” Dailey said. “I’m not that good, and it’s hard to be successful in the music business without being rich.”

Although her friends pushed her to follow her passion for singing, Dailey had little optimism. During freshman year, she wasn’t accepted into choir like she wanted to be. This made her believe she could never really be successful in her dream field.

“If I wasn’t even put in choir, how could I make it? My friends may like my voice, but I know I could never make it,” Dailey said.

Unable to believe she’ll ever make it as a singer, Dailey scratched the idea altogether. Instead, she has settled for microbiology or genetics. So far, Dailey has been taking the mandatory class of biology to see if she’s still interested in the field.

“I may enjoy microbiology, but it will never be equal to my passion for singing,” Dailey said. “If not that, it’ll pay the bills.”

Although Dailey found a practical career she might enjoy, career specialist Jane Lymph said happiness and careers go hand-in-hand, setting a detrimental path for those who choose their paycheck over their passion.

“We spend upwards of 30 years of our lives working,” Lymph said. “If we’re specializing in a job we enjoy, those years will be incredible. There is no point of coming home to a mansion if one third of our lives are spent in misery with a hated job.”

Lymph believes with one life, there is no point in spending it with dread of going to work every day. Even with this knowledge, 60 percent of people chose to ditch their passions for fear of not having enough money to be secure.

Afraid of failing both in skill and finances, Dailey chose to shove her passion under the rug. In fact, only six percent of Americans achieve their childhood dreams, according to entrepreneur and business guide John Haltiwanger. Everyone else cut off what makes them happiest in order to please family members or their own wallet.

“One day, I hope to write as much as I can as either a hobby or as a full time job,” Andrews said. “But for now, I’ll do what I need to do in order to keep moving towards my passion.”

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

SPORTS

college bound

Strong swimmers

Adjusting to collegiate level after RBHS, C1

Girls’ swimming starts off season with successes, C2

MSHSAA rejects home-schooled student-athletes Ji-Sung Lee

kristine cho / the rock

practice makes perfect: Sophomore Dajuan Harris (left) guards senior Justin Hajicek (right) while perfecting routine plays at practice on Dec. 1 before their season opening game.

hoop it up: Junior Payton McCallister drives the ball down the court at the Waynesville game during the Norm Stewart Classic. The Bruins are currently 4-1 for the year (as of print date) and will face Fayetteville in Webb City on Dec. 17.

Bruins dribble into action Tyson jamieson / the rock

Ji-Ho Lee

Bruins Face Spartans

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efore the first shot, dribble or pass, the boys’ basketball season was highly anticipated. Entering the year as the second ranked team in the state, the young but talented group had lots of expectations.

“I was happy for the guys, but it doesn’t mean a thing,” head coach Jim Scanlon said about the preseason ranking. “It doesn’t win us any games and it doesn’t make us any better. We have a lot of work to do. The guys know they have a lot of work to do, but there’s no pressure on us. We just have to get out everyday and practice and get better.”

The Bruins tipped off the season in the Troy Tournament, cruising to the championship game by defeating Hannibal and Troy-Buchanan, 76-37 and 81-51, respectively. The Bruins then beat Francis Howell, 67-52, to win the championship.

Defense propelled the Bruins to success early in the season.

“I think we’ve been pretty good defensively so far,” senior guard Justin Hajicek said. “There’s plenty of room to improve, but we’ve done

a good job so far of pressing and RBHS seeks districts forcing other teams to play at a pace he girls’ basketball team has that is faster than what they’re comestablished itself as a competifortable with playing. We’re also tive team in the state of Mispretty deep, which allows us to play souri, winning four consecutive like that.”

The following game, however, state championships from 2011 to RBHS fell to Christian Brothers 2015. The team hopes to return to that level of success this season.

College (CBC), 60-53.

The team went 1-1 in its first “The CBC game was a really competitive game,” sophomore weekend, dropping the season openguard Ja’Monta Black said. “They er to Kirkwood, 55-45, and defeatgot the best of us because they ing St. Joseph’s Academy, 57-51.

The Lady Bruins handily defeated played betWa y n e s ter defense. ville in their But now we followjust have to We set goals that are specific ing game, move past to games as well as season74-51, in that loss, long so that way we can stay the Norm soak it in, Stewart clean up on track during a game...”

Classic. our mis— Jill Nagel, girls’ head coach T h e takes and take out our anger on the next team.” team went on to go 2-0 in their After losses against Miller Ca- next two games with two dominatreer Academy and Booker T. Wash- ing victories. Senior point guard ington (Okla.), 60-59 and 69-62 res- and University of Missouri commit spectively, the Bruins are prepared Elle Brown attributed much of the team’s success, led by head coach to overcome their current troubles.

“Our biggest focus is execut- Jill Nagel and the rest of the staff, to ing on both ends of the floor,” Ha- the strong chemistry.

“This team is crazy awesome … jicek said. “DeSmet is a solid team, but once we get the little things I feel like we’re always together,” smoothed out, I like our chances to Brown, who transferred from Johnston High School in Iowa, said. be successful.”

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“That bond helps on the floor too.

We are all starting to pick up on each other’s tendencies and it looks really good. And we are a pretty quick team, so whenever we push the ball up the floor we typically can score off the fast break and it’s exciting.”

Junior guard Katey Klucking agrees with her frontcourt counterpart, citing the team’s chemistry, as well as shooting and strong defense, as an important strength. Nevertheless, Klucking believes the team can still improve.

“We have to practice with the intensity that we would have in a game, and just continue to show up to practice with the goal and mindset of getting better,” Klucking said.

“We know that if we keep working hard, the results will come.”

For Nagel, those results are grounded in the team’s success, both in the near and distant future.

“We set goals that are specific to games as well as season-long so that way we can stay on track during a game as well as throughout the season,” Nagel said. “Probably the biggest long-term [goal] is to win districts since we didn’t do that last year, and we are going to set smaller goals to help us get to that district goal.”

Athletic transition proves challenging Nikol Slatinska

W

hether they have dreams of competing professionally or just participating for fun, high school sports offer many opportunities for all kinds of students. The world of college sports is vastly different, however, and transitioning to it can be a challenge.

Only 480,000 out of eight million, or six percent, of high school athletes move on to play college sports, according to a report by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Premier Sports Psychology consultant Dr. Justin Anderson said the biggest difference between high school and college sports is that in college, standards concerning time, energy and skill levels are often more difficult to manage. Much of what adds to all of this is the increase in pressure from outside forces like coaches and administrators.

“For a lot of athletes, [the transition] is overwhelming. The NCAA came out with some research that shows the prevalence of anxiety and depression among college student athletes, and they were surprised at the numbers,” Dr. Anderson said. “It’s overwhelming for a number of reasons. College sports are much more demanding and social support is gone. The level of competition is much higher; it often surprises student athletes. The stress of academics is also much harder than high school.”

Love for his sport is what convinced senior baseball player Jordan Smith to continue with it in college. He said the experiences he has gotten from playing RBHS baseball have definitely prepared him for the next level, which goes for both academics and the sport itself. “[Playing baseball] has helped me learn a lot about the game and what to do in certain situations. [Academics] has always been a big part to the coaches and to the team; you can ask any of the guys on the team that aca-

A

s a home-schooled student, senior Grace Kallenbach finds no problem in her ineligibility to participate in Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) activities. For her, it’s a given, that being home-schooled comes with a price.

“Home-schooled students shouldn’t be able to participate, not in a town like Columbia where there are more than enough programs that suffice in place of band, sports and theater,” Kallenbach said. “It’s not fair to reject the public school system while still gleaning on the good stuff you want.”

While MSHSAA is composed of approximately 750 private and public schools, the several home-schooled students in Columbia are not included in the sports and activities.

“You must be a fully enrolled student at the school you wish to represent,” MSHSAA assistant executive director Kevin Garner said. “This is the bylaw the member schools have put in place.”

These bylaws have been put in place to benefit people with certain requirements that they need. The only situation in which the laws may be avoided is when a school has more rules than MSHSAA. “A local school may have more stringent requirements,” Communications Director Jason West said.

“The MSHSAA bylaws have been put into place by the membership to help all members with a baseline of requirements so that all members at least start on the same level. ” While Kallenbach accepts MSHSAA ineligibility, RBHS freshman Alexis Walker sees no issues with allowing more students to join a program that enables them to participate in an activity they enjoy. She also sees it as the best way for home-schoolers to meet new kids since they don’t have the same chances to socialize.

“Home-schooled kids should get involved with other kids so they can create social skills,” Walker said.

“Then they can also do what they love.”

Athletes Speak It’ll be more competitive in how we play and everything. We’re gonna have a lot more kids there to push us even harder and make us better.”

— Marcus Manuel, sophomore Tyson Jamieson / the rock

I think that it will still be a lot of fun but it is at a higher level.

The collegiate level might become more intense than high school.”

—Blake Metz, senior

Kristine cho / source: ncaa.org, mutigers.com, mshsaa.org

demics are very important,” Smith said. “I feel that being a student athlete here in high school and being held to a high expectation by my coaches, family and teachers has really helped me. ” Although the pressure of balancing schoolwork and managing her busy schedule was always prevalent throughout alumna Kelley Tackett’s RBHS swimming career, she feels excited to be a freshman swimmer at Brown University.

“Swimming in high school was a tremendous amount of fun though a huge time commitment. Being part of a team is like having an extended family, and having that support through high school was an incredible advantage,” Tackett said. “It also allows for greater opportunities within the athletic

world, and being a college athlete earns a lot of respect among your peers.”

Dr. Troy Moles, a colleague of Dr. Anderson’s, believes it is not his job to give advice. Instead, he aims to help people understand their own decisions for pursuing college athletics as he believes it to be one of the most important decisions an athlete can make.

“I would encourage him or her to think about their values and how they align with their reasons for playing a sport in college,” said Dr. Moles, a sports psychologist. “I might encourage an athlete to utilize the services and supports available for him or her once at a university, such as coaches, mentors, tutors, athletic trainers, sport psychologists ... and other counseling [services].”

Tyson Jamieson / the rock

There’ll be a lot more competition and the strength training program is probably going to be a lot more intense, along with conditioning.”

— Logan Wright, senior Tyson Jamieson / the rock

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

Athletes allocate breaks for sports Emily Oba

C kristine cho / the rock

ready to go: From right, junior Nicole Williams, senior Ellie Flanagan and junior Ellie Zweifel stand with confidence. Being some of RBHS’s best swimmers, they intend to help lead RBHS at the Independence Invite Dec. 16-17.

Strokes of triumph Lady Bruins to compete at Independence Invite Skyler Froese

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fter several high-impact seniors graduated, the girls’ swim team has been largely left to juniors.

These girls will have to prove their leadership and mettle in their first individual meet Dec. 16 to 17 in Independence, Missouri, facing powerhouse rivals such as Lafayette High School. There, the Lady Bruins will attempt to show that they have preserved last year’s skill.

“RBHS typically treats the Independence Invitational as their first competition that is set up to collect state-qualifying times,” head coach Zach Mertens said. “Usually, the team finishes the meet with a large number of cuts and hopefully a trophy to bring home.”

Junior Nicole Williams looks forward to a new team. Both she and junior Ellie Zweifel have competed in multiple state finals but will need to step up and lead the team’s greenest members.

“A lot of the girls on the team haven’t swam before and this is their first season, so I’m more excited for a fun atmosphere and to travel as a full team,” Williams said.

Williams doesn’t particularly worry about the results of this meet, but she knows it can set the team on the right

path. Mertens agrees, saying it can start writing the itinerary for the year.

“Independence dictates much of our winter training schedule and it creates a ‘to-do’ list for the latter part of the season,” Mertens said. “Expectation wise, RBHS hopes to establish itself as one of the top teams in the state, both in number of state qualifying times, depth and number of swimmers and divers ranked within the top spots of the state.”

The team has only competed once this season at Marquette on Dec. 3. While they broke two meet records there, they only placed ninth. Williams attributes this to missing members during the meet.

Even with that lackluster start, the team is still hoping for future success.

Five school record holders are still competing for RBHS, and there are already three freshmen under state championship qualifying times.

“We tend to dominate relays because we have swimmers who specialize in each stroke,” Zweifel said.

Though the girls will put forth their best swims in Independence, they acknowledge the need to focus on the season’s long game rather than small victories.

“We all know there’s a lot of work to be done and still have our eyes set on winning state,” Williams said. “Everyone is going to have to do their part, but I don’t think this meet will reflect how the season is going to go.”

onsidered one of the best NBA players of all time, Kobe Bryant’s determination to win was seen throughout the world. He would workout before his teammates woke up, and arrived to practice even when injured.

Although high school is not the same as professional athletics, students are still not only dedicated, they too make sacrifices. Rather than going on a relaxing vacation in the sun or chilling during breaks, many athletes instead prepare for their next event.

Instead of dreading offtime practice, however, some athletes take advantage of it. The girls’ swim team, for instance, practices during winter break in preparation for January, when they compete weekly.

“I don’t mind practicing during winter break,” junior Bettie Logan said. “I know I can get better each time I get into the pool, so those extra practices help make us the best we can be.”

On average, Pac-12 athletes spend 50 hours a week for their sport, according to the Pac-12’s Student Athlete Time Demands report. The report also found that 54 percent of 409 of these athletes didn’t have enough time to study. Although some practices during break are optional, 73 percent of these athletes reported they felt that voluntary practices and moy zhong events were mandated by coaches.

Such sacrifices don’t only apply to athletes but to ball but we love the sport enough to sacrifice that.”

The boys’ tennis team usually doesn’t practice coaches, as well. By coaching the baseball team durduring spring break until the end of spring break, but ing spring break, Justin Towe also makes sacrifices. they do have to play a tournament the first weekend During winter break, Towe offers optional workouts. Along with the winter, Towe coaches during of break. Last year, the team was undefeated in all four matches in the state tournament. spring break to spur growth as well.

Even though head coach Ben “We don’t see it as Loeb does not mandate pracsacrificing anything,” tice until later, his players show Towe said. “As coaches, desire to succeed by practicing we already know there I know I can get better each on their own. Junior Ashwath will be sacrifices. This time I get into the pool, so Elangovan sacrifices part of his goes for the players, as those extra practices help break by practicing during his well.” make us the best we can be.” time off.

The baseball team “Whoever is still in town can — Bettie Logan, junior competes during and imget together and hit,” Elangovan mediately after break. said. “I like practicing during There is no choice but to practice in order for athletes to be ready, Towe said. spring break, but it’s also nice to take a break someThe team has a Perfect Game Showdown on Mar. 26 times.”

Loeb is aware of his team’s dedication, so he where they travel to Cartersville, Ga. Senior baseball player Jake Walters believes taking a break would be moved a tournament to the last weekend of spring break to give his team time off. detrimental.

“I’d prefer they practice, but I allow them flex“To take a week off right at the beginning can set the team back in many ways,” Walters said. “I don’t ibility to decide how much,” Loeb said. “Rest and think anyone enjoys missing spring break for base- recovery is part of the process.”

NBA lacks zeal, team loyalty Opinion

Ji-Ho Lee

W

hen Rajai Davis smashed a game-tying home run, when Ben Zobrist drove in the go-ahead run and when Kris Bryant threw out Michael Martinez in Game 7 of the World Series, the world of sports became captivated.

The series displayed the two best teams in the game playing in a series and ultimately a single game that defined the season. It is unfortunate, however, that this type of atmosphere that dazzles a nation fails to exist in other professional sports.

Compare the last Fall Classic to the last NBA Championship series. The two were similar, but the World Series was, simply put, much better. The

last seven games of the professional baseball and basketball seasons exposed a difference between the two, an underlying culture that will push basketball on the wrong trajectory.

The NBA is a money-guzzling industry. This isn’t to say that revenue isn’t important to baseball, but professional baseball is not dependent on its income. Meanwhile, without the sponsorships and money that stream into the pockets of the players and league, the NBA would dissipate; a truth proved by none other than the fans.

Fans of the NBA don’t root for teams; they root for players. They root for the athletes that they see on billboards and television commercials, not the players in their own backyard. For example, when teams such as the Golden State War-

riors travel to play teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, herds of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry jerseys flood through the doors. Some of those Golden State “fans,” however, did not support the team four years ago, but were drawn to the novelty of the team’s success, attention and money.

Of course, baseball teams have bandwagon followings as well, but they aren’t hinged on individual athletes. Take the St. Louis Cardinals. Albert Pujols was the face of the franchise for 10 seasons, but when he left to play for Los Angeles Angels, a herd of fans didn’t follow him to Anaheim.

The sport of baseball has developed a relationship and a sense of community with their fans, one that can’t be dislodged by success, time or geography.

Fans stay loyal to their teams regardless of that teams success. That’s why rivalries are more than superficial pregame trash talk, and why in-game scuffles are more than a few multi-millionaires defending their egos.

Basketball’s problem is one that can be fixed, but it won’t be easy. The infrastructure of the sport has been damaged, becoming a very selfish game.

Players care more about the personal spotlight than the success of their team, and fans are rooting for those players, not the teams. This is not to say selfless players and loyal fanbases are obsolete in the NBA, but Commissioner Adam Silver and the rest of the league has a monumental challenge ahead if they wish to see progress in the NBA, as a sport. tyson jamieson / the rock

kristine cho

The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

Finding peace with independence Ann Fitzmaurice

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n the movie Mean Girls, there are three central antagonists. With their group name, the plastics, these girls terrorize everyone at their high school, giving fake compliments, insulting clothing and excluding everyone who isn’t in their clique. The protagonist joins the clique and takes it down from the inside out without knowing she is changing to be one of them.

The movie ends (spoiler alert) with the main antagonist of the three, Regina George, getting hit by a bus. After she recovers, the movie resolves and peace flows through their school once more.

Mean Girls was a fictional comedy, but it is all too real.

Although I never got hit by a bus, I might as well have with the way I felt from February to May of 2016. I was the Regina George of my friend group, and while I was on holiday in February, I got a taste of my own medicine. I learned about a week after I returned that my friends sat in a circle and discussed my flaws.

Believe me, it did not feel nice.

The knowledge I learned from the distrust is what pushed me to become independent. At the time I was in remorse. I realized a good chunk of my flaws were my fault, and I decided I was going to fix them. This was easier said than done, however. I withdrew altogether instead

of trying to move forward, and decided the one else thought I was alone as long as I way to fix what troubles I had with myself knew I was happy.

Another instance where I relied solely on and others was to spend time alone and start other people was when I picked out everyfrom the source.

Before I spent time alone, I was the epito- thing I was going to do depending on who me of dependent. I got anxious when I wasn’t else was going to be there. I didn’t join any around my friends because I thought I was clubs my freshman year because I didn’t missing out on something important, like a know anyone there and wasn’t comfortable new inside joke or event. I couldn’t go four without any of my right hand men. I only days without missing my friends and wanting hung out with the friends I’d known for years and barely expanded my barriers to that sense of safety. new people.

The safeNow I’ve dropped ty was a lie. those walls I created I forced my The safety was a lie. I forced my around my close friend group friend group to stay together; friends and I have to stay toexpanded to all gether; they they rarely enjoyed my compapeople. I got more rarely enny as much as I enjoyed theirs.” involved in the joyed my company as much as I enjoyed theirs. Every- band program, which I’m passionthing I did was extra, and only did I realize ate about. I made new friends in after I withdrew that my actions were toxic. that same program, and they’re Becoming independent was the best decision some of the best people I’ve for me and my friends, although at the time I ever met.

If I hadn’t become inthought being alone was the end of the world.

Before I decided to spend time on myself, dependent after what everything I did was different. The moment I I thought was tragwithdrew was a distinct line in my history, my edy struck in my life, I would have never own version of BC and AD. For example, I refused to shop alone. I’d been able to be comask my friends to come with me and abstained fortable with myself from going if no one was able to. I felt like and only myself.

I learned how to be people stared at me, wondering if I had any friends. I was so self-conscious about people strong without a supthinking I was lonely that I decided to give up port system so I can going out at all. Now, though, I happily spend hold myself up without time shopping alone and don’t give a second anyone around.

Without the time thought to anyone around me.

On the busiest shopping night of the year, I took to learn myself Black Friday, I shopped alone in the crowds before continuing on, I of people. I didn’t have to wait for anyone wouldn’t be the happiest and got to decide what to do and where to go I’ve been in a long time. without anyone else’s input. What brought And to the person I was this ability out was simply knowing myself 11 months ago, I’d say, “She well enough to realize it didn’t matter if any- doesn’t even go here.”

Photo illustration by yousuf el-jayyousi and joanna yu / the rock

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

Dashing through the worst season Ann Fitzmaurice

A ÉlÉa-marie gilles

Sincerely, your guardian sister

Kat Sarafianos

D

ear Theo (and all other incoming freshmen), As the soul sucking processes that are college applications continue to absorb any form of life, I reminisce about a much simpler time: freshman year.

Ahh, back to the time when I thought writing a one page paper was the worst thing high school could throw at me.

Now that I’ve begun the end of my high school career, I’m reminded that you and 400 other 13-year-olds are close to starting your first year at RBHS. As someone who was a freshman not too long ago — or what at least seems like not too long ago — I can sympathize how you may be feeling. Your only exposure to high school are dramatized TV shows or my constant complaints about the stress of college and Advanced Placement (AP) classes. I thought I would take this time to give you a few pieces of advice on how to master the halls of RBHS. My first piece of advice is to not be annoying. As a freshman, it will be hard to navigate the halls of RBHS and you’ll find comfort in friends, but don’t be the freshman who pops their gum, straightens his Nike Elites every couple of minutes and talks way too loudly about the new Xbox he wants.

I’m just kidding (I’m serious about the gum though). High school, despite what Pretty in Pink depicts, is a just a bigger, more stressful version of middle school.

Everyone goes to class and hangs out on the weekends, but the classes are AP and no one looks like Molly Ringwald.

My first real piece of advice is to not worry. Don’t be someone you’re not in an attempt to fit in. There are 500 freshman just like you trying to find their way in this school, and 500 last year who made it to sophomore year. If you’re not rude, mean or obnoxious, the upperclassmen won’t be rude. No one is going to give you a swirly.

The second thing to remember is to challenge yourself. AP classes and extracurriculars may seem like monsters that crush sleep and time, but the reality is far less scary. Taking hard classes on top of being very involved is not only manageable, but it’s good for you.

Colleges will look for hard classes in your work load but taking harder classes is also a step toward self-improvement.

AP and honors classes teach you to be a smarter thinker, be more organized and prepares you for the next step after high school. When the opportunity comes, take advanced or high paced classes.

That being said, the third piece of advice is manage your time well. As important as it is to be involved and to challenge yourself academically, you won’t succeed in either aspect if you can’t manage them.

Don’t overload on classes and/or commit to too many activities, but also don’t understimate yourself. You will regret it if you don’t take that extra AP class when you see your friends managing it later in the semester.

My fourth and final piece of advice is to enjoy it all. As I approach college, I’m not spending my senior year how I envisioned.

The plaguing thoughts of money I don’t have, careers I don’t want and colleges I can’t get in to take up most of my time.

While a lot of this is just a given side effect of this huge decision making process, it reminds me of the overly serious attitude so many kids approach high school with.

Being able to look back on the “big” picture makes me realize that while challenging myself was important, the benefits of those challenges were often lost in the stress I felt. I survived even if I didn’t finish all my homework or get perfect grades on all my tests. I spent so much time stressing over these small, miniscule grades when the reality of the situation was so much less stressful than what I perceived it as at the time.

These four years are ones where you come into a sense of independence and responsibility that you can do so much with.

I beg that you take high school for all it’s worth; try as many subjects as you like, test out all the clubs you can and that once you find a passion, delve into it and explore.

Learn to love your education, not stress about it.

Love your older sister (and a concerned upperclassman), Kat

yousuf el-jayyousi / the rock

Dissolving friendships

Failing relationships lead to opportunity Grace Dorsey

After two mostly great years with a strong support system, the time to move back to Ameriosing friends, whether it’s a slow drift ca had come. Upon arrival I decided to live with apart or a sudden separation, is hard. Ev- my grandmother in Illinois for five months to eryone has some type of an experience finish up eighth grade. I distinctly remember my with breaking ties; it might be scrolling first day. I was so anxious that I broke down and through social media, seeing a post and thinking cried at my locker. I desperately wanted the comto yourself, “I don’t know this person anymore.” fort of a tight knit friend group back, a comfort Sometimes it’s a particularly intense argu- I had left behind in New Zealand. Eventually, ment, a fight that either hurt both people too though, I made friends. much or made them realize that the friendship Then it was time to rejoin my family right wasn’t worth saving. here in Columbia. I started at RBHS, took in the I’ve been through it all. Relocating several atmosphere and ate lunch alone for the first two times, middle school drama and perhaps not weeks because I was too nervous to ask anyone picking the best people to befriend has made me if I could sit with them. Eventually, though, I an expert at moving on. made friends.

In the summer after third grade, I migrated I thought I had finally made it. My new across the world from Columbia, Mo. to Dune- friends and I hung out together every day, we din, New Zealand. I had inside jokes; it was said goodbye to my best terrific. Gradually, howfriends, my neighbor ever, mistrust and misand everyone who had understandings eroded Every day I would reminisbeen a part of my life those bonds. Then, one cence about my old life and except my immediate December day, everywish to have that sense of family. thing came crashing friendship again. I think we My classmates made down, and I was in the often idealize our previous expromises to email, yet same situation as the periences.” they never replied back. beginning of the year Meanwhile, I struggled except it was worse beto fit in with the new culture. Every day I would cause everyone already had their cliques. I sat reminisce about my old life and wish to have that alone in the media center, putting all my energy sense of friendship again. into my school work and developing a work ethI think we often idealize our previous experi- ic that would carry me through sophomore year. ences. I believe, for me at least, holding onto the Eventually, though, I made friends. past like that hindered my acclimation to the new Now there are signs of change all around me. environment. The first months were indeed incred- My senior friends are putting all their focus into ibly lonely and being such an outsider didn’t help. college essays, letters of recommendation and Eventually though, I made friends. transcripts.

Another change, starting in middle school, Though it feels far away, I know that soon came with the familiar sensation of loneliness. enough I’ll have to say goodbye. I’ll have to get It was an incredibly awkward situation because used to walking the halls without them. But I’ve I was completely clueless as to why my old learned that it will be okay, for them and for me. friends had suddenly decided to hate me. I spent And in the fall of 2018, as I walk onto my future hours agonizing over my actions and made plans college campus, I’ll know that I don’t have to to try and fix things. For them, it was simple: the cry, I don’t have to idealize the past, I don’t have friendship was just done. Eventually though, I to worry at all because, eventually, I’ll make made friends. friends.

L

s I drove home in the darkness of 5 p.m., twinkling lights danced on rooftops and inflatable Santas stood tall. I flipped through radio stations, finally landing on one with sleigh bells cutting through the instrumentals.The cheery music drifted through my car speakers with grace.

I lingered on the station for a few seconds and took in the joyful music. Just as soon as the station came on, I turned it off and felt an overwhelming rush of — As soon as the clock hit 3 a.m., my father burst into my room and woke me to go Black Friday shopping. We rushed to Walmart to get my 2008 Christmas present: a Nintendo DS in pink. We waited in line with tons of other people buying gifts for their loved ones. My dad handed over the cash for my gift and although I was excited, the thought of knowing exactly what will be under the wrapping paper with no surprise left me in — Disgust.

The holiday season annoys me. The constant happiness of people neglecting the thought of anyone who might be struggling and the ignorance of those who don’t even celebrate the holiday makes me resent everything after Oct. 31 and before Dec. 26.

I can’t help but play devil’s advocate when people discuss their love for the season. Everyone should feel welcome in the environment they’re in, and Christmas traditions thrust upon those who don’t celebrate it or enjoy it is not OK. Ten to 20 percent of people have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), according to American Family Physician. These people have an increased difficulty experiencing positive emotions around the holidays and are often forgotten amidst the holiday spirit.

Remembering the people who aren’t as eager to wake up on Christmas day is what’s needed, not a new family Christmas card.

I am pessimistic toward everything surrounding December because I don’t experience the same joy as others and my negativity isn’t helping solve any problems.

Loneliness and stress follow the calendar, increasing in intensity as the dreaded date nears. Because of these emotions, I associate the source of my negativity in the positivity of others.

Of course there would be a lot less negativity from me if others would just relax with the tinsel and Christmas carols. I see families smiling in matching sweaters everywhere, bundling up to go outside and skip down the street in the glee of the season. I stay inside and sip black coffee wearing a sweatshirt to match.

Before I turned eight, I loved Christmas and it’s colored sweaters. It was a magical time filled with family, good food and cheer.

I looked forward to it until everything that made it special drifted away. My family members got cut off, distanced themselves or passed away. All of this happened in the time span of four years. The only thing keeping us together was the idea that Christmas was meant to be spent with family.

It feels forced now, however. For one reason or another, no one seems to enjoy getting together. My family asks the same questions and gets the same answers, halfheartedly catching up. I wonder how others can do this and look forward to it, or if they do it differently than I do.

Either way, everything surrounding the wretched holiday seems fake. Families getting together without gossiping about each other behind closed doors, passing around gifts while singing carols. Christmas is exactly like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” but I’m not going to be dancing around a lavish tree with a changed heart, and I don’t want to. I will, however, keep my negative views to myself, and I suggest those with positive views do as well, for the sake of those who might not share the same views as the people they’re exposed to.

ÉlÉa-marie gilles

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016

Rockin’ ‘round the COMO scene

Seasonal songs bolster feelings of holidays, studies show Kat Sarafianos ith the holidays here, Christmas jingles have taken their rightful seasonal place in people’s brain on the radio and on party playlists as cheerful reminders of what’s to come.

“Christmas starts the day after Halloween for me. I put my Christmas tree up after Halloween and that means Christmas is here. I put up all the good smelling cinnamon [scents] and I play Christmas music 24/7 in my house,” senior Alexis Davis said. “I love all things Christmas, especially the music.

[Christmas] makes me feel so happy because it is the perfect time of year.”

D a vis is not alone in her love of seasonal music and certainly not in her reasoning. According to David Myers’ Psychology for AP textbook, the implicit memories, memories people form and use unconsciously, are emotional and can provoke an emotion they have associ-

ated with a song or moment.

This can be the case for holiday music. Since American culture portrays Christmas as a beautiful, cheerful time, many people may positively associate the Christmas jingles played at this time of year with positive feelings.

“Music’s command of emotion helps it drive deep, powerful memories. There are superhighway brain structures that link hubs of emotion and memory processing. This explains why we may struggle to remember this time last week, but can clearly recall emotional memories from decades past,” Dr. Vicky Williamson, University of Sheffield music, psy-

chologist said. “Musical memories are no exception; those with emotional traits are often the strongest and the longest lasting. Because of the emotional character of so much of our music, this means musical memories are more likely than most other forms of memory to be strong.”

It’s not just positive associations between memories and the holiday times that influence how people feel during the Christmas season and their general mood.

In her paper, ‘Trying to Be Happier Really Can Work: Two Experimental Studies’, Truman State University assistant

professor of psychology Dr. Yuna Ferguson showed that when individuals focus on being happy and enjoying the moments they are in when they listen to music, they can improve their mood.

“Based on the results of the research, it seems that when people try feeling better, [it helps improve] their positive emotions as long as they are engaged in an activity that typically improves positive feelings,” Dr. Ferguson said. “This means that it is less likely to be helpful to try to feel good if people are doing something that doesn’t typically work or if they don’t believe that it would w o r k for

them.”

For example, assuming people like listening to music and consider it an enjoyable activity, if people focus on being happy while listening to said music, they are more likely to be happy regardless of the song, according to Dr. Ferguson.

While people readily associate music with various emotions — happiness, sadness, anger — trying to actively to feel better when listening to music makes it easier to be happy.

“I find that [when I focus on listening to music that makes me happy] I feel better. If I’m having a bad day, I listen to Celine Dion because she [makes me feel better] even though the songs are sad,” Davis said. “I love all things Christmas, especially the music. [It makes me feel] jolly and exhilarated.

[My favorite] is Ceelo Green’s Christmas album; it is the greatest thing in the entire world.

It’s something you can dance to and sing at the top of your lungs.”

This is your BRAIN on music

moy zhong

Top album picks of 2016: students cite their favorites We got it from here ... Thank you 4 your service, a testament to rap Elad Gov-Ari

T

he past year can been cited as one of loss by many in the music industry with some of the generation’s biggest names, such as Prince and David Bowie, departing from us. With such a heavy negative at hand,

it’s easy to look past some of the year’s great releases. The music industry continually rolls onward with force through loss and triumph of its writers, producers and performers. With that in mind, we can source one enormous triumph to undoubtedly be the best album of the year, arriving as a comeback off of an 18-year hiatus from 90’s rap group, A Tribe Called Quest.

We Got It from Here ... Thank You 4 Your Service is a drop of water in a state of dehydration. It looks back and refers to some of the strongest roots of ‘90’s hip-hop in terms of structure, beats, flow and message.

With many of the great rap groups disbanding, Tribe has reminded us and allowed us to reminisce in what we loved so much: great music with a powerful message.

As a tribute to their deceased member, Malik Izaak Taylor, better known as Phife Dawg, We Got It from Here ... Thank You 4 Your Service offers its listeners hard-hitting,

thought-provoking content. Each track is interlaced with catchy, rhythmic instrumentals that take listeners back to the ‘90’s and leaves them thinking — a rare commodity in the year’s recent releases.

Structurally, rap has always been about preaching a message. Through the years these messages have changed, adapted and conformed to the world’s events, attempting to capture the feelings and spirit of the events, laced with the rapper’s opinion.

With this album, the presidential elections, Black Lives Matter and other social issues get hit hard and hit fast. It’s easy to miss the subtle hint on Donald Trump or police violence toward African Americans on the fastflowing verses.

With each word thought out and matched to a beat, A Tribe Called Quest produced one of the best rap albums for many years to come, capturing frustrations, concerns and love, all in 40 minutes of beats and rhymes.

‘Lil Uzi Vert vs.

The World’ because I love the beat of each and every song.”

—JP Schneider, senior abby blitz / the rock

abby blitz / the rock

Sturgill Simpson’s A sailor’s guide to Earth thrills country lovers Cam Fuller

S

turgill Simpson’s concept album addressed to his own son and wife might sound corny, but the result is a beautiful and earnest record that flips the defeatist sub-

text of ‘alt-country” on its head. The moods on A Sailor’s Guide to Earth are brighter than most country, and the instrumentation on songs like “Keep It Between the Lines” is denser, bolder and more rhythmic than anything Simpson has created previously.

At the climax of side A, Simpson tosses in a countrypolitan Nirvana cover; one of the LP’s more jarring moments occur when Simpson sings “Sell the kids for food” on an album addressed to his son.

To watch Simpson stretch (and succeed) is thrilling.

The back half of the album is less audacious, making room for more contemplative moments like the tender ballad “Oh Sarah.”

Simpson holds onto the sneaky cleverness that distinguished Metamodern — “Get high, play a little GoldenEye/ That old ‘64!” Simpson shouts on “Sea Stories,” like he’s fondly remembering an old Cadillac — while taking a completely different journey. If alt-country were Waylon Jennings eating tabs of acid on

a Tennessee back porch, A Sailor’s Guide is something like the musical combination of Moby Dick and Elvis.

A Sailor’s Guide to Earth plants Simpson at the forefront of the current crop of artists living beneath the always contentious country banner.

But what’s most striking is how he has completely redefined the country genre itself by doing what few other artists in country even dare attempt: exploration.

Country music has became the subject of trend pieces, where critics and fans alike willingly read into the drugs-and-darkness subtext that Simpson has himself been reluctant to endorse.

A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is such a rearrangement of music as a whole that labels do not do it justice.

The album takes a trip somewhere entirely different and life-affirming, showing that in the darkest times artists create the greatest art their field has ever seen.

abby blitz / the rock

‘Blonde’ by Frank Ocean. I’ve been listening to Channel Orange for four years and it was nice to have something new.”

— Billie Huang, Junior ‘Coloring Book’

by Chance the Rapper because he’s different from all the other rappers.”

— Sara Kacem, sophomore ‘Starboy’ by the Weeknd. He gives good vibes and my friends like his music too.”

— WIll Linder, freshman

abby blitz / the rock

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The Rock | www.bearingnews.org | December 15, 2016