The Rock — January 2016

INDEPTHS Investigating effects, issues and addictions of pornography pages B3-B7

FEATURES The man behind the makeup page C1

SPORTS Freshman trio drives bright future for basketball page B2

@rbhsbearingnews Bearing News Bearing News

Rock Bridge High School • 4303 S. Providence Rd. • Columbia MO, 65203 • Vol. 43, Issue 4 • January 28, 2016 • www.bearingnews.org

Bill to fight racial bias in police force skyler froese

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he state of Missouri recently experienced bountiful controversy surrounding racism and injustice.

Between the events in Ferguson in 2015 and the protests on the University of Missouri - Columbia campus in November, the state became a hotbed of unrest.

In response to the chaos, Sen. Maria ChappelleNadal sponsored The Fair and Impartial Policing Act to the Missouri State senate to hopefully stop any unfair profiling of citizens by police.

Senator Jamilah Nasheed is a co-sponsor to the bill, and her legal counselor, Blake Lawrence, highlights the bill’s purpose.

“The act will require law enforcement agencies to track their own statistics about who they stop and who they charge,” Lawrence said.

“The act gives the Attorney General of Missouri the power to withhold photo by Missouri State Senate state funds and to deMissouri State Senator certify law enforcement Jamilah Nasheed (city agencies who consisof St. Louis) co-spon- tently engage in biased sored the bill to im- policing practices.” prove Columbia police Lawrence said the bill officer training. is intended to curb any discriminatory trends found in municipal police forces. He states that data collected since 2000 shows a pattern of officers targeting African Americans in certain parts of the state. Columbia Police Department Public Relations Officer Latisha Stroer shared that the Columbia police force has been undergoing sensitivity training Read more at Bearing News for years.

photo by Devesh Kumar

Armed for action: Student Resource Officer Keisha Edwards talks to a student in the main office Friday, Jan. 15. Edwards plays just one of many important roles in ALICE safety procedures followed by the CPS district.

Protective procedure CPS reviews policies in light of attacks elad gov-ari

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hen a bomb threat shut down the Los Angeles School District, Columbia Public Schools (CPS) administrators realized their current method of protection would need to be used against an array of potential threats.

For the past five years, CPS has practiced Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter

and Evacuate (ALICE) drills as a method of protection. With the ALICE drills covering hypothetical situations ranging from bomb threats to potential shootings, CPS relies on its methods to protect against most in-school threats. CPS does not have a dedicated procedure and thus relies on ALICE, among other drills, to cover all angles.

Emergency management coordinator and assistant principal Dr. Tim Baker de-

fines the parameters of terrorism and how RBHS might respond.

“So far we don’t have any specific procedure in place for a ‘terroristic threat,’” Dr. Baker said. “At a local level, our ALICE procedures are really good at evacuating the building ... but a terroristic threat could be so many different things that our method of handling it would be very circumstantial.”

Continued on A3

Proposal to fight dropouts Gives students more chances to succeed skyler froese

likely focus on skill building in the core areas; teach social or s Douglass High School emotional skill building, conflict nears its 100-year anni- resolution, etcetera.”

The intent of the ‘school versary, CPS considers a new academic experience for within a school,’ Nieuwenhuizen students. While the new plans said, is to reduce the number of are not related to Douglass’ age, dropouts in CPS. In order to acthey do entail new facilities in complish this goal, the alternative eduColumbia cation high schools. program The facilIf we had a ‘school w o u l d ities would within a school’... it f o c u s take on a ‘school withmight benefit stu- primariin a school’ dents who feel like ly on improving structure, they don’t have a s o c i a l according to place. skills of the district administrakelley wittenborn students tors who are civics teacher as well as their considering schoimplementlastic commitment. The proing the program.

“Each building would have gram would also attempt to its own program to serve the decrease the time spent in ISS needs of their own students,” Dr. by these students. The program Lisa Nieuwenhuizen, one of the is geared towards students who administrators who helped cre- have shown the warning signs ate the plan, said. “This is still of dropping out, such as poor in the planning stages but would grades and unsatisfactory com-

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UPCOMING EVENTS In February, RBHS hosts games and performances from student performers and athletes, as well as the annual Courtwarming dance.

INDEX

News • • • • • • A1

mitment to school.

“It might definitely be a slow start but I think that maybe once kids realize this program is available at [RBHS] they might make themselves more known that they are struggling or that they have these risk factors,” Civics teacher Kelley Wittenborn said. “If we had a ‘school within a school’ ... it might benefit students who feel like they don’t have a place.”

For these students, screening has already started in the district. When the students are identified, the schools consider what level of intervention is needed in order to help them get back on track for graduation. If the students are determined to be at high risk of dropping out, they would be deemed eligible for the ‘school within a school’ program. At RBHS, there are currently only 10 students who meet the qualifications for being at high risk for dropping out, according to the plan’s official proposal.

Continued on A3

infographic by Megan Goyette; source: CPS Staff/Student Relations Policy

Teachers talk tech policy jenna liu

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t yesterday’s staff meeting, guidance counselor Betsy Jones reminded teachers to review the district’s policy regarding electronic communication among faculty and students.

The reminder comes after Jones spoke with an attorney regarding the conduct.

While the school last revised the policy in 2012, Rukstad said the district saw the need to emphasize it to CPS staff.

“I would guess that [the policy talk] was

spurred by [human resources] issues. The district realized that maybe not all staff members understood the policy,” Rukstad said. “Mrs. Jones went to this training with the district’s attorney where they focused specifically on this policy and brought it back and we became very aware that we didn’t — that I certainly didn’t know the policy in a practical stance.”

The policy in question is located on the Columbia Public Schools website under the Policies and Regulations tab.

Continued on A3

FEBRUARY RBHS Show Choir performs a Charity Benefit show in the PAC at 7 p.m.

Editorials • • • • • • A6

9

Basketball visits archrival Hickman High School at 6 p.m.

Sports • • • • • •

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B1

Watch “Night of the Living Dead” at RBHS at 3 p.m.

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In-Depths • • • • • • B3

Basketball hosts Battle High School at 6 p.m.

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Features • • • • • • C1

Basketball faces Helias Catholic at 6 p.m. at RBHS

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A&E • • • • • • C4

Courtwarming dance takes place at RBHS from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

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Commentaries • • • • • • C7

A2 news More mental health care to help teens

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

grace dorsey

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eachers across Boone County, including those at RBHS, filled out a checklist throughout the month, answering questions regarding behavioral issues for each of their students to recognize otherwise undetected problems.

The process was part of a broader initiative to increase mental health care in Boone County school districts by the Boone County Schools Mental Health Coalition. Superintendents in the county and researchers from Mizzou made up the group responsible for the changes.

“There will be anything from small groups with guidance staff to some consultation of teachers,” Becca Williams, regional coordinator said. “[There will also be] consultations with families and connecting families if need be with outside resources to help their children.”

Coordinators instructed teachers to score students on a number of mental health concerns to see if the students had any big picture problems. The coalition will use the information to identify concerns on a student level and a schoolwide level, and use techniques to solve problems, according to the coalition’s website, bcschoolsmh.org.

Peter Willett, a math teacher, filled out the survey and agrees it will help RBHS students.

“This wasn’t a way to punish kids,” Willett said. “The hope is we’ll be able to help kids who otherwise would fall through the cracks. I’m optimistic, and I think this is part of a broader push to recognize mental health, not just at the school, district or state level.”

The group received funding earlier this month through the Boone County Children’s Service Fund, which obtained the money from a sales tax.

The coalition’s efforts include prevention, intervention of mental health issues and collaboration with guidance and administration staff all in order to strengthen Boone County school’s mental health program.

Outreach counselor Lesley Thalhuber looks forward to the extra help, particularly the increased funding and improved curriculum.

“I think Boone County is really fortunate that our taxpayers agreed to fund a mental health tax [to] create the Mental Health Coalition,” Thalhuber said. I know that I’ve felt a lot more support in my role as a mental health specialist in the building just from having a coordinator that has access to funds for the curriculum. It’s especially prudent for rural areas of Boone County who don’t have the access that we do.”

Increased help for counselors is just one of the positive outcomes. Williams expects the program will reach out and help everyone involved, especially the students.

“This is the first [school-based mental health program] for Columbia and it helps to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and mental services,” Williams said. “We really hope it encourages students to be unafraid of seeking help for mental health concerns and being comfortable talking to others about them.”

infographic by Stephanie Kang

2016 FAFSA released nicole schroeder

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he majority of college application deadlines have passed, and many seniors have been spending their spare time since the beginning of second semester rushing to fill out various scholarship applications for the 2016-17 school year before their upcoming deadlines.

Along with the community scholarships provided by the RBHS guidance department and various school-specific scholarships, another financial aid opportunity, the 2016 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), is also now available to students across the United States, the application for which was released on the first of the year.

The FAFSA is an opportunity for students to apply for federal funding toward post-graduation schooling, which is provided based on the financial need of the student and the student’s family. Guidance counselor Gretchen Cleppe said the form is an important one for all students to fill out.

“It is for everyone. There is no financial aid cutoff, and some scholarships require you fill it out, like [the A+ scholarship program],” Cleppe said. “They recommend getting the FSA ID right away and get going filling things out for the FAFSA. You will not be able to finish until you have your 2015 taxes completed, [but] you can get going now.”

Some students, like senior Javan Whit- our plate [to have] someone who is experiney-Warner, have already filled out the enced there to walk you through it.”

For those students not going to FAFSA FAFSA application with last year’s tax information and plan to simply update the Frenzy, Whitney-Warner said she recominformation later. Whitney-Warner said mends filling out the application in adany aid the FAFSA provides will help her vance, as certain sections of the application require help from a student’s parents greatly in paying for college next year. “[Filling out the FAFSA] is required or the creation of an electronic signature.

“I don’t think it to receive financial was difficult at all, aid, which is abat least the finansolutely necessary [Filling out the cial part, because it for me going to FAFSA] is required let me skip almost college,” Whitneyall the questions,” Warner said. “I can’t to receive financial W h i t n e y - Wa r n e r receive my scholaraid, which is abso“[The most ship if I don’t fill it lutely necessary for said. difficult part] was out.” me going to college. probably just filling For those students who worry javan whitney-warner in all the other infilling out the FAFsenior formation.”

As for the stuSA may be difficult, dents who will bethe CPS school district will also be hosting FAFSA Frenzy gin filling out college and scholarship events throughout the month of February applications in the coming years, Sparkes at Battle High School, Hickman High said it is important to ask adults for help School, and the Columbia Area Career when you need it. She said they will be Center. Senior Molly Sparkes plans on able to help out with any struggles within waiting to fill out the FAFSA until one of the application process.

“Ask questions. Ask your teachers, parthese events so she fills out the application ents, counselors, college reps,” Sparkes correctly.

“I think FAFSA Frenzy is important said. “Lastly, don’t freak out about this for people like me who don’t know a lot stuff because we’re all in this together, and about money or applications and need if you mess something up, there’s probsomeone to walk me through it,” Sparkes ably hundreds of people who made the said. “It helps take pressure and stress off same mistake, which means there’s probof seniors who already have so much on ably an easy solution.”

CPS safety policies under review

infographic by Joy Park

Continued from A1 In terms of effectiveness, both Dr. Baker and CPS communication director Michelle Baumstark agree that the current drills will protect students from terrorists and all other harms.

“The school district has a comprehensive safety and security plan that addresses everything from natural disasters to medical emergencies to threats or intruders,” Baumstark said. “Any terroristic threats are also addressed in our safety and crisis plans.”

Using a hypothetical bomb threat as an example, Dr. Baker explains one of many general policies practiced at RBHS.

“We have procedures given to us by the FBI as far as how you search a classroom,” Dr. Baker said. “Teachers know what to do, and luckily for us we haven’t had a true bomb threat in a long time.”

Based off the regular drills and practices most students trust CPS’s capabilities to ward off most terroristic threats.

“I feel pretty safe at RBHS [based off] all the drills we have,” sophomore Ashwath Elangovan said. “I think the school is well equipped to handle any threats. At the very least, the drills help make students think of certain issues and what [to do].”

Disagreeing with Elangovan, Dr. Baker said RBHS and CPS as a whole should

practice and go over the drills more often to prevent future tragedies, as twice a year isn’t sufficient.

“I don’t think we practice enough. I think we’ve got really good procedures,” Dr. Baker said. “My problem with it is we are mandated to do 10 fire drills a year, but there hasn’t been a death by fire [in a school] for over 50 years, so we practice something 10 times a year that hasn’t been too big of an issue for quite a while, but there were over 400 people killed in school shootings in the last decade, yet we only practice that twice a year. [That makes me] think ... we are not well prepared despite having great procedures.”

news

1.28.16 • www.bearingnews.org • therock

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State reduces CPS budget I alice yu

n an effort to better represent underfunded programs in public schools and provide for increasing student populations, the Missouri legislature amended funding distribution.

This will leave the Columbia Public School district with less state revenue than in previous years.

Currently, Missouri uses a weighted Average Daily Attendance (ADA) to ensure schools with high percentages of high-needs students — such as free and reduced lunch, English language learner (ELL), and special education (SPED) students — can receive additional funding. The legislature now requires a higher percentage of high-needs students to qualify for additional funding.

Along with a higher requirement of ADA students for additional funding, the legislature is also lowering the state adequacy target, which translates to less funding per student from the state.

“We’ll now be receiving less money from the state legislature, which shows two things,” CPS superintendent Dr. Peter Stiepleman said.

“The state is having a hard time gathering funds to give to schools, and Columbia’s public schooling will be hit hard.”

While CPS saw two increases in local revenue from a final assessed evaluation and county stock insurance amounting to $1 million, CPS will still be deficit spending $1 million. Additional state funding would have contributed to paying off more of the original $2 million deficit spending.

“We’re handling the situation as best we can,” special needs educator Nita Cummings said. “Our job is tough, but it’s extremely important, so less money does mean a lot no matter what the situation is. We have to be able to give these kids an easier learning environment.”

More than 60 percent of CPS’ funding comes from taxpayers, and the Board of Education will once again ask the community for financial support.

Voters in the upcoming election on April 5 will decide whether or not to adopt a 65 cent levy increase for continuing the long-range facilities and bond plan, as well as a no-tax increase bond for $30 million.

“That’s one of the things we’re talking to our community about, to think about investing in our schools and what we need to maintain

infographic by Stephanie Kang; source: Missouri School Board’s Association FutureBuilders Foundation Formula report

our current operations and to continue to recruit and retain high-quality employees, as well as to address some of our programmatic needs.

We see growing populations of ELL students and we see students with higher percentages of free-and-reduced lunch,” CPS communications director Michelle Baumstark said. “We have a lot of things going on in our school district and we want to be able to continue to be a great district, to continue to invest in our schools and maintain the excellence that we’ve had over the last many years, and to do that, it requires an

investment from our community.”

With a $1 million deficit and a decrease in state funding for the school district, maintaining the standard of education CPS strives for will call for cuts in multiple areas. In any circumstance, Stiepleman said these cuts will call for patience from any of the students and faculty it effects.

“There will have to be cuts, and we don’t know where those cuts will come from,” Dr. Stiepleman said. “It’s up to our faculty and students to make the best of the situation.”

District terminates texts from teachers

photo by Jaehyung Rhee

All work and no play: Junior Ethan Howard tutors preschoolers for the A+ program Tuesday. A recent decision requires international students to pay a fee despite involvement with the program.

A+ program ends for non-U.S. students caylea ray

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nternational students may soon find themselves paying $217 per credit hour to attend classes at a two-year school despite participating in the A+ program.

Recently the program has clarified that if a student does not have U.S. citizenship, he or she must pay the international fee. Even after a student has already attended a two-year school on the A+ scholarship, his or her scholarship will be dismissed.

“My students are devastated,” ELL teacher Lila Ben Ayed said. “Many of my students have been working towards fulfilling requirements in order to earn their A+ scholarships. Now their dreams are going to be ... more difficult to realize.”

The A+ program has been around for more than 10 years at RBHS, offering students the chance to receive two free years at a community college by having good attendance, a 2.5 GPA and 50 hours of unpaid tutoring. International students with the A+ scholarship go from paying nothing for a two year school to paying the international fee.

“Statistically, education is the primary factor in breaking the cycle of poverty. Not all of my international students are living in poverty, but many of their families face financial challenges

as they integrate into a new culture,” Ben Ayed said. “The opportunities for advanced education that the A+ scholarships provided was invaluable to many of my students. Without those scholarships, attending college is not going to be a possibility.”

The A+ program has given students the opportunity to receive two years free at a community college but there have always been requirements. One requirement was that the student had to be a Missouri resident.

Kip Kendrick, Missouri representative, said the president issued the executive order to create the Deferred Action Childhood Arrival Status (DACAS) for the dreamer generation, and the status gave the A+ Scholarship Program the ability to open it up to arrival students entering America. This act allowed the DACAS students to no longer be classified as illegal immigrants and permitted the council in the Missouri Department of Education to open up access which upset people who wanted to close that option off.

“When they closed it, the bill not only contained language that would bar the docked students from accessing A+, but required the public universities to charge international or out-of-state tuition,” Kendrick said. “That was never implemented prior to [the bill], so not only are students barred from the

A+ Scholarship, but you also charge a higher rate of tuition.”

Many students of University of Missouri-St. Louis and University of Missouri completed the A+ program prior to attending a four-year university were affected by this change. Still, A+ coordinator Dr. Jordan Alexander is encouraging international students to stay in the program and gain citizenship. Since the change was added onto the A+ program requirements, RBHS has not had any international students quit the program.

“Students can apply to A+ and then work on receiving citizenship status.

We often have students who are not citizens but are wanting to become naturalized and they can work with resources here in town,” Dr. Alexander said. “By the time they are ready to graduate, it is possible they could have citizenship status [and] have access to the A+ funds.”

Unlike students who have citizenship, international students are not eligible for financial help from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. “International students can’t qualify for any state loans or grants, and at this point are really just applying for private scholarships and private grants,” Kendrick said. “So my biggest concern is that it’ll just cut off higher access education for a lot of people.”

Continued from A1 Titled Staff/Student Relations, the policy file outlines a range of electronic behaviors that the district classifies as inappropriate. “[It’s] a long policy all about student-staff relations,” Rukstad said. “The specifics of the policy are all right there. The policy is as is, but then you have interpretation.”

Some of the district’s expectations are that staff use districtprovided devices or accounts when communicating with students, and staff members should seek approval from supervisors to use personal contact information.

While these regulations have been in place for some time, teachers like Neal Blackburn, also the cross country and track and field coach, have used personal phone numbers and social media accounts to communicate with students.

“My athletes do have my number, and most of the time any communication is usually in season,” Blackburn said. “If there is a way to do a blanket contact where everybody is going to get in on that, like if it is [RBHS] cross country or [RBHS] track and field, like a Twitter account, I can push things out that way.”

The policy’s strict language states that staff members are discouraged from contacting their students for non-educational reasons.

This poses challenges for teachers like Blackburn who double as coaches. Senior Bria Trent, who dances on the Bruin Girls team, said she would favor greater electronic communication leeway for teachers who are also coaches.

“I think that if there’s going to be a rule that teachers can’t talk to their students outside of the

classroom online, there should be an exception for coaches, because I know a lot of times they have to do scheduling stuff online,” Trent said.

Although the policy introduces inconveniences into his duties as a coach, Blackburn still realizes why the policy is in place.

“I can absolutely see the importance and significance of having a policy like that. It is also just difficult to communicate certain things, especially with the amount of kids you have involved in the different activities,” Blackburn said. “Sometimes, it is easier just to be able to communicate in that particular way.

You kind of wonder what to do to keep it so that fine line exists.

You want to make sure that you use it for its intended purpose and you also understand why it is there to begin with.”

Despite students and teachers’ varying opinions on communication, Rukstad said the purpose of putting the issue on the meeting’s agenda was not to ignite debate.

Individual schools play no part in the formulation of such policies, and changes would undergo a lengthy process before materializing. For now, she is just trying to make sure people are aware of where the line should be.

“I don’t have an opinion about the policy,” Rukstad said. “There was nothing [in the policy] that I didn’t expect, but I don’t think that teachers or staff in general always consider where the line is with student-staff relations, especially in electronics. We pride ourselves in good relations with students, but we have to be careful that we’re not crossing that line, especially outside of the school day, [but] you can’t follow the law if you don’t know the law.”

Alternative high school proposed to exist within RBHS Continued from A1 “I feel like if there was extra attention funneled to them in those aspects, those ten people would be able to have the help they need without trying to funnel all of these resources into something that wouldn’t be all that effective,” junior Ian Koopman said. “It could be a lot more effective for students who are getting into ISS all of the time instead of taking them out of the classroom.”

Koopman sees that the program could be helpful for some RBHS students, and he agrees with Wittenborn that the alternative school could be a useful niche for some students.

Koopman noted that this would especially be useful for lower achieving students in the competitive academic atmosphere that is offered at RBHS. To create this safe haven, the program needs more than administrators: it needs its teachers,

Wittenborn said. These teachers would need training above and beyond the norm.

“So much of what you teach in a ‘regular’ classroom it, isn’t really applicable or isn’t desired for some of these students that are at a high risk for dropout,” Wittenborn said. “I think a lot of teachers would just need more training and support from administration and encouragement. We would definitely have to diversify and how they look and how they operate.”

photo by Jaehyung Rhee; source: Washington Post

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Water bottle fountains too costly to add caylea ray

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n an effort to bring convenience to students filling up their water bottles, RBHS added a water bottle feature in the foreign language wing and near the gym.

The new feature has a counter on it to keep track of the number of plastic water bottles saved. The change to the school fountains is more convenient for students with water bottles by putting the bottle under the faucet instead of holding the bottle to the fountain. Students have since been left wondering if RBHS will receive more.

Assistant Principal Brian Gaub, who is also in charge of building maintenance, hopes to add more of these fountains to RBHS in the near future. RBHS has two of these fountains at the moment because of the cost along with the fact that they only work on certain fountains.

“They’re a little bit over $400, and then we still have to have a district person install them,” Gaub said. “They’re a kit, and there are certain fountains the kit will work on; they have to have that curved shape on the front for example, like the ones in the commons. The ones that are square the kit won’t fit on.”

In order for RBHS to get more of these fountains, Gaub said those already in the school would have to be replaced entirely. RBHS would have to spend several hundred dollars, because of the structure of the current fountains, since some do not fit with the kit.

“The counter shows that the fountains have been used thousands of times,” Gaub said. “I’ve had students and staff say they appreciate them, and we will be adding more of them eventually; it’s just the cost and the plumbing limitations.”

The limiting factor is the shape of the current fountains since they were not made to be added onto. In the RBHS math wing, the fountains would have to be completely replaced in order to have the water bottle feature.

Michelle Ebberts, a math teacher, believes the new feature is helpful but struggles to use them.

“If we had one of those bottle fountains in the basement, I would for sure use it. I actually don’t use it very much, since it’s over by the gym,” Ebberts said. “I don’t make it to those parts of the school very often, since I stick to the basement, so I actually prefer the bathroom sink for now.”

While the water bottle feature is meant to be more convenient for student and staff use, senior Cameron Dorth does not believe RBHS needs them at all.

“RBHS could use that money to invest in something that benefits students and faculty more directly than new water fountains,” Dorth said. “That money could go towards maybe a department or sport that doesn’t typically get much attention or funds from the school.”

Dorth said students would appreciate it if the money that went towards the new water fountain feature went towards clubs or other school activities rather than the students who choose to bring a water bottle.

“I think that would mean a lot to the students involved in those activities as well as to the teachers or sponsors of those things,” Dorth said. “It would be cool to give back some of that money to people that work really hard instead of replacing something that doesn’t need to be replaced, and ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ kinda thing.”

While the water bottle fountains are not helpful for Ebberts, she believes they encourage students to use and refill water bottles rather than just buy plastic water bottles.

“Any student that has had me knows my motto, ‘Hydration is key,’ and that I think the cure to most things— head ache, stomach ache, tiredness, not wanting to do math— is water,” Ebberts said. “I don’t think it would be a bad idea to invest in a couple of more. We have a water fountain that doesn’t work in the basement, so I would not mind at all if that was switched out for a water bottle fountain.”

feature photo by Abby Kempf

infographic by Joy Park; source: USA Today

States control schools

ESSA act introduces new academic goals

jenna liu

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fter President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in December, state governments have been preparing for the long process of implementing the law, expected to take full effect in Fall 2017.

Lawmakers called ESSA an improvement over its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, that still maintains many of the educational goals established with NCLB. Among the changes are more flexibility in standardized testing schedules, less stringent accountability guidelines and more state control over educational standards.

For teachers such as AP World History instructor Greg Irwin, ESSA provides a change from the “one size fits all” mind set NCLB put forth. A core principle of NCLB was that every student had to progress during the school year. This required schools to break down test data into subgroups in order to gauge the performance of students and ensure that all were meeting certain benchmarks, which many schools found unrealistic. Irwin sees ESSA as being more aligned with his teaching philosophy.

“The education that kids in Columbia get is different from the education in Hallsville, St. Louis or Kansas City. To pretend that everyone is the same—that’s just not reality,” Irwin said. “What I do like about [ESSA] is that you have a baseline of where every student is at the beginning

of the year and your goal is to help them improve by one grade level. To me, that’s the ideal; if you can tailor a kid’s progress to where they are.”

While junior Amy Gu agreed that ESSA’s more individualized approach is beneficial, she questioned how the new law would ensure that students in every state met certain standards, given that the act allocates more control to local governments.

“I think providing that kind of flexibility would be more helpful for the good of students,” Gu said. “But it is the responsibility of states, so that means there won’t be a uniform standard, so not every state will be standing on the same spot.”

Specifically, ESSA will greatly minimize federal control over curriculum structures, academic assessments and standards and administrator evaluations. Like Gu, greater state power does not sit well with Irwin, but for slightly different reasons.

“I’m not a huge fan of the Missouri state legislature, so I don’t trust their finger on knowing about education as much as I trust the national government,” Irwin said. “U.S. representatives are at a level of knowledge and competency that a state representative is just not.”

ESSA’s impacts may not materialize at RBHS for several more years, Principal Dr. Jennifer Rukstad said. She believes state departments are taking the time to assess the law’s fine print and how its language applies to their schools.

“I won’t learn much about the impact of [ESSA] on [RBHS] for a while, be-

cause the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education right now is probably scrambling to figure out what the law says about how we have to govern schools in Missouri,” Dr. Rukstad said. “We would see the impact, more than likely, in assessments.”

From there, the schools in each state could see varying degrees of ESSA’s influence. This disparity results from the fluidity of local governments, as opposed to the federal government, can interpret the law and decide how it should impact schools.

“The Department of Education doesn’t govern schools; they govern states,” Dr. Rukstad said. “Then it’s up to the states to make sure the law is followed in their state, which is why you see what seems like vastly different systems in every state.”

Though only time will tell, ESSA’s classification as a success or failure will come down to its effect on students. While Gu will likely graduate before ESSA goes into effect in Missouri, her kindergarten-aged little brother will be among the first wave of students to experience a new era in education. For him, she hopes the changes usher in more creativity and individuality in what can often seem like a ‘cookie cutter’ system.

“I wish that the [educational experience] would be a little more relevant to everyday uses and practices,” Gu said. “Not necessarily looking for a certain answer to a question, but more open-ended, to demonstrate more the strengths and weaknesses of an individual.”

Less phone use incentivized rochita ghosh

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ell phones plague the classrooms of RBHS, posing as a distraction to the school’s students. In order to address this problem, school faculty considered utilizing Pocket Points, an app that motivates students to lower their phone usage, at the faculty meeting yesterday.

RBHS Principal Dr. Jennifer Rukstad first heard of the program when University of Missouri-Columbia senior Jeremy Terman, who works for the app, contacted her with the proposition. She had not searched for a solution previously, but wouldn’t turn down an opportunity when one rose.

“I wasn’t really looking for a solution, because I was kind of like, ‘We’re just gonna have to live with it,’” Dr. Rukstad said.

“I don’t know, we’ll see what the teachers have to say. It was intriguing enough to me when he met with me that I thought, ‘Hmm, let’s talk about this.’”

The app costs $1 per student and works with a geofence field, which is a virtual barrier placed around an area, Dr. Rukstad said. When a phone is within the field, it enables the ability to track what occurs on

the device.

AP World History teacher Katherine Sasser believes while the concept is a good idea, it will only work if the students comply.

“If students hear about it, and the majority of students start using it because the benefits are greater than keeping their cell phone out, then I definitely think it will help,” Sasser said. “But it would have to be the majority of students subscribing to the program for it to work well.”

Senior Brendan Fish often uses his phone in class for social media and thinks the effort to curb phone usage is made with good intentions, yet the

problem lies with more than just cellular phones.

“I think cell phone usage right now is almost as big of a distraction as iPad use because the iPads have almost become a second cell phone for people in class,” Fish said. “The two kind of work together because, overall, people are playing games in class, and it’s kind of a big distraction depending on what class you’re in.”

Sasser said that people play smart phone games because of the transition periods that occur during class, which drives students to find something to occupy their time with.

“People are conditioned to pick up their phones when they

aren’t doing anything, and that happens in class,” Sasser said.

“So when there is a down moment or even when they are waiting for instructions they will get on their phones and it is difficult sometimes to get them out of cell phone mode.”

Despite this, Rukstad said working toward eliminating phones completely could never work and so the school has to consider other methods.

“I see them kind of like the digital watch — you can’t really ban them, there are teachers who wish we would and we would not be able to do that,” Dr. Rukstad said. “They are too much into the fabric of our [community’s] culture.”

infographic by Joy Park; source: TechTarget

A6 editorials

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

Don’t let politicians hurt RBHS New state funding system is unfair to mid-sized schools

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o no one’s surprise, politics in Missouri are once again hurting public schools.

Our fair state is changing the way it hands out money, which will in turn create a smaller budget for CPS. This comes right after the news that CPS will also be losing a large, state-mandated grant because of fewer schools being accepted into their grant program.

Now, RBHS, and the schools around it in CPS, will all be facing the exact same problem: Budget cuts. Sadly, it has become an all too common problem for Columbia’s high schools, where state grant cuts and fiscal limitations are expected yearly. The state has to cut the budget, and somehow the public school system is now the scapegoat.

This time around, however, the state isn’t just giving the public school system less money; they’re changing the way the money is given out. The new system is meant to favor schools that have the largest amounts of students in programs like English Language Learners (ELL), mental disability support, and free and reduced lunch.

This might seem like a sincere step toward bettering the lives of students put into extremely tough situations, but didn’t the program before work just fine?

CPS and other public school systems used to receive money based upon the percentage of students who attended school each day. The new system does essentially the same job as the previous one, but has far more detrimental effects.

On average, the schools with the most students in the state also have the largest number of ELL and special-needs students.

Changing the system has only allowed these schools to receive more money than smaller schools that could need the money even more, particularly for systems like the free and reduced lunch program.

There’s no doubt that ELL, special-education and free and reduced lunch programs are in need of more funding, but that support should not come at the expense of other schools.

CPS and school systems like it are slowly but surely becoming a rainy day fund for state lawmakers to take from whenever they feel like it.

It really doesn’t matter who Missouri legislators think they’re helping with this move because in the end it’s already a failed test.

They’ve shown consistently that they don’t know what’s going on in Missouri public schools right now, so why is it that they’re allowed to continue making changes?

In a way, the system targets mid-sized school systems such as CPS by forcing already struggling programs into an even tougher financial situation.

The system works even worse for the smallest schools in the state that don’t have large groups of ELL and special needs students, but may need funding just as much or even more than the larger schools. Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time that public schools saw changes to their money distribution, but this didn’t

happen in Missouri.

Right before the state of Kansas went completely broke in 2013, it began cutting funding to their public schools by raising the number of students needed for schools to qualify for certain programs.

Kansas’ new way of divvying up the money oddly resembles Missouri’s new plan. In Kansas, the cuts resulted in a crushing loss of $51 million. These extreme cutbacks caused two Kansas school districts to end the school year a few weeks early because the school couldn’t afford to operate any longer that year.

In those few weeks, those students missed out on precious learning and experience, and for what? Bureaucratic budget cuts, that’s what.

Whether Missouri’s resemblance to the early stages of Kansas’s undoing is just some odd coincidence, or actually the foretelling of something much worse coming Missouri’s way, it really serves no purpose other than to stop giving Missouri students the education they need, and no one will feel that more than RBHS, HHS, and BHS. If programs such as ELL and special-education need more funding, increase allocation of funds to schools, but don’t take from already hurting

Should schools receive more funding if they have a greater proportion of special groups?

The Rock staff voted:

Yes 6

No 12

institutions.

If Gov. Jay Nixon is willing to fight for the building of a billion dollar stadium for the Rams in St. Louis and not willing to fight for his state’s students, then he and the rest of the Missouri legislature have some serious thinking to do.

We have a struggling free and reduced lunch program because of budget cuts, so how is it that the system set up to support this integral piece of public schooling is backfiring and hurting free and reduced lunch students? Missouri politicians have somehow lost their minds, and seemingly lost millions of dollars too, because where are the millions promised by the Missouri education lottery?

If the Missouri Lottery numbers are correct, it earned state educators a little more than $260 million, a $10 million increase since 2014. So if the state is raising revenue through its ticket sales, where is that money moving? It’s obviously not going toward education.

The state legislature needs a push from its students to force change. No longer can they shove around small school districts in favor of saving a buck.

We need constituents to write letters and emails to members of the state board of education to remind them that small school districts aren’t going anywhere.

If you’ve never cared for politics before, or even for the great gift of education that we have in this country, then now is your time to be a part of the solution.

art by Erin Barchet

Black History Month is here to stay abby kempf

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ox News loves a controversy, and that is exactly what the company got with regular contributor and politically charged commentator, actress Stacey Dash.

Dash told a “Fox & Friends” reporter that Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s boycott of the Oscars was “ridiculous,” saying that black directors and actors were not ignored in the nominee selection process, even though none of the major categories had black nominees despite the presence of movies such as Concussion, starring Will Smith, and Chi-Raq, directed masterfully

by Spike Lee — not to mention the wonderful black actors and actresses

in his film.

But she didn’t stop there. Dash went on to say that Black Entertainment Television (BET) should be eradicated, along with the Image awards given by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to recognize outstanding people of color in film, television, music and literature.

In addition, Dash called for an end to Black History Month, calling it a form of “segregation.”

Clearly, Dash does not understand the definition of segregation (the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community or establishment.) Creating a television network that portrays black people as complex heroes and heroines of

their own stories instead of simply the ‘token black friend,’ is not segregation. Allowing a television program to feature more than one black actor on one show, without their race playing a large part of the plot, is not segregation.

Honoring a group of people who have overcome stereotypes, racism and financial hardships to grow into leadership roles and create cuttingedge products is not segregation.

Celebrating the history of a minority that has been left out of the text books for so many years is not segregation.

It took hundreds of years for white Americans to finally enact integration after countless pleas from the black community and to accept

art by Erin Barchet

people of all colors. It may seem that slavery is far removed, but RBHS students have parents and grandparents who were alive during the civil rights movement. The wounds of torture, imprisonment and dehumanization don’t close overnight.

During this continued period of healing, events such as Black History Month seek to remind humanity of where we have been and project an idea of where we still need to go.

BET educates society of the shortcomings of most regular television programs by shining a light on the capabilities of black actors and actresses who might otherwise be neglected because there was already one black person in the cast.

The NAACP Image awards seek to recognize and encourage black excellence in the face of confusing and degrading messages that are so often circulated about the black community.

These concepts are visible at RBHS, with the Multicultural Achievement Committee (MAC Scholars) working to ensure that minority students reach their potential, in spite of stereotypes and other limiting factors. This program is not segregating students from the rest of the population, but rather encouraging black students to realize that they are capable and worthy of everything a white student is.

Segregation is finished, no thanks to people like Dash, but that doesn’t mean the equality gap has been closed. The economic implications of hundreds of years of slavery do not disappear quickly. It will be years before slavery truly is a thing of the past. In the meantime, society must not forget the importance of celebrating diversity, lest racial division rise from its terrible grave.

If someone says that Black History Month isn’t needed, remind them that their grandparents still remember a time when Black History Month would not have even been permitted, much less celebrated.

The Rock Rock Bridge High School 4303 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203 Vol. 43, Issue 5 January 28 , 2016 Population: 1,884 Students, 170 Faculty Circulation: 1,500 Contact Information: Phone: 573-214-3141 Contact us at bearingnews.org Advertising: $50 - -1/4 Page $100 - - 1/2 Page $150 - - Full Page $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.

Adviser: Robin Stover Editors-in-Chief: Abby Kempf, Jenna Liu, Alice Yu Production Manager: Alice Yu Art Editor: Stephanie Kang Design Editor: Neil Cathro Business Manager: Abby Kempf Photo Editor: Devesh Kumar News Editor: Ji-Ho Lee Features Editor: Grace Vance Editorials Editor: Jenna Liu Commentary Editor: Ashley Tanner In-Depths Editor: Abby Kempf A&E Editor: Katharine Sarafianos Sports Editor: John Flanegin Staff Writers: Grace Dorsey, Ronel Ghidey, Rochita Ghosh, Elad Gov-Ari, Skyler Froese, Cameron Fuller, Faaris Khan, Joy Park, Nicole Schroeder, Nikol Slatinska, Caylea Ray Artists: Erin Barchet, Neil Cathro, Megan Goyette, Ana Ramirez, Shelby Yount Photographers: Tyson Jamieson, Jaehyung Rhee, Cassidy Viox, Caylea Ray

editorials

1.28.16 • www.bearingnews.org • therock

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College journalists censored by courts ji-ho lee

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t is both unfortunate and tragic that the First Amendment no longer holds the influence it once did. When the Founding Fathers penned the Constitution 300 years ago, they would not have expected that those inalienable rights of speech and press would no longer hold their worth. Lamentably, this is the case.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently slashed into the First Amendment by restricting college journalists.

In December of last year, one of those journalists, a student at the University of Hawaii made remarks suggesting a certain professor was unfit to be a teacher. The student wrote that sex with minors should be legalized and that most specialeducation students are “fakers.”

It is clear that what this student wrote is not correct, nor professional nor ethical. That, however, is not the issue. The First Amendment states that there may be no prohibition or abridgement of speech and press. The Ninth Circuit Court and the federal court that upheld the decision, are ignoring one of the most iconic and important texts in this country.

If every author who wrote a piece that was controversial and disliked were censored or disallowed to state their thoughts, no editorialist on the planet would still have a job. The U.S. Constitution provides speakers, authors, writers and common citizens the incredible ability to say what they wish. Unfortunately, journalists in the western states of the Ninth District will have to battle against the ignorance of a legally incorrect decision.

With the decision, the judges on the Ninth Circuit have failed to recognize their place in society. Instead of looking at legislation and precedent to make an informed decision, the Court decided that unprofessionalism had a greater influence in the courtroom. Many may agree with the court and think the student had no right to say what he said and to write what he wrote. But, as citizens of the United States of America, and as students, journalists, politicians and civilians, we are protected by the First Amendment.

This means that regardless of how unethical, unprofessional, unkind or incorrect a statement is, that person has the right to say it.

Many people fail to recognize how great of a privilege the First Amendment is and have taken the valuable rights for granted. At a minimum, if organizations like the Westboro Baptist Church and the Ku Klux Klan have the ability to say the derogatory, offensive and racist things that they do, journalists should be awarded similar protection under the First Amendment. Courts and law enforcement officials must realize that their role in society is extraordinarily vital, but can be just as detrimental if completed improperly. Their role is to make knowledgeable decisions based on the law, not based on opinion or professionalism.

The University of Hawaii student was in the wrong for publishing his article, but he had the right to say and write what he wished, under the First Amendment. It is sad that the Ninth Circuit Court stripped journalists of those inalienable rights after one uneducated decision. Citizens must use the First Amendment to dispute the decision. With letters to politicians, we can do something to ensure the continued strength of the First Amendment.

art by Erin Barchet

Scholarship program hurts immigrants ronel ghidey

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s of last year, nearly 1.7 million immigrants, legal and illegal, came into the United States, making their total population nearly 42.1 million. After a recent increase in the population of American immigrants, these travelers now constitute more than 13 percent of the U.S. population. This increase makes U.S. citizens not only question the status of all immigrants, but also takes away some of the opportunities that gave them a reason to come to this country. Missouri is no exception to that.

Last August, the Senate overrode Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto and passed SB224, which requires all students that receive any reimbursements from the A+ Scholarship program to be United States citizens. The repercussions of this law are severe.

Before this bill was passed, students had to have at least a 95 percent attendance record throughout their high school career, graduate with a GPA of 2.5 or higher, maintain a good public record and avoid the unlawful use of drugs and alcohol to be eligible for the program.

They also had to do 50 hours of unpaid tutoring, and enter into a written agreement with their school prior to graduation. But starting this year, students also have to be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. This new law indicates that those in high school who may have been eligible last year, who have obtained the grades, done the extracurriculars needed and have looked forward to furthering their education through the aid of the A+ Scholarship program, must pay international rates.

These rates are a significant increase in cost that most people who choose to use the A+ Scholarship program can’t afford. Students who have applied themselves throughout high school and were once promised an affordable education now face a financial obstacle many may not be able to overcome.

The majority of people the bill effects are the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) students. DACA students are children brought to the United States by undocumented parents and have legal permission to stay in the country under the immigration policy.

On KY3, a news outlet in the

Springfield area, Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick said this bill aims to prevent money from the already financially strapped A+ Scholarship program from going to immigrants living in the state illegally.

This isn’t fair to the DACA students, who will be affected by this the most. These are children taken from their home country by their parents who entered in the country undocumented and had no say in the matter. How is it fair for them to be left with one less option on how to get the education their parents dreamed for them to attain?

But that isn’t even the worst part.

This bill also applies to those who are already in the A+ program. So for the hundreds of students across the state who are in the middle of attaining their degrees and are meeting the requirements to maintain their scholarship are having their scholarships revoked while they’re in college and now have to pay the international fees. Take Moberly Area Community College (MACC), for example.

According to MACC’s website, the district resident’s fee is roughly $102 per credit hour, which excludes

any type of scholarship one could obtain from the state of government.

For international students, the cost is $217 per credit hour, making these students who have paid the resident’s fee pay more than double per credit hour.

Also, this law means that international students also cannot obtain any type of state or federal aid, only private grants and scholarships.

This shows that some students went from attending college for free to having to pay double the amount their neighbor may pay because of uncontrollable circumstances.

It’s unfair that people are denied the opportunity to receive an affordable education or have their affordable education taken away from them because of their background.

These students shouldn’t have to settle because of the lack of funds for a program. People come to this country looking for a better life and by taking away their option to get an affordable education gets in the way of that.

Oppose it by protesting against decisions. Our government is one for the people, so the government should change for the people.

No final, no problem alice yu

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The Rock polled 190 people, 10 percent of the student population, asking whether students with an A should have to take a final.

infographic by Megan Goyette; source: Western Oregon University

he crushing stress and terror surrounding students during finals week isn’t a novel concept. From instigating all-night study sessions to releasing an explosion of finals week memes on the internet, semester-end exams are practically a nightmarish rite of passage for high school and higher education students across the world.

Maryland’s Montgomery County’s Board of Education started the 2015-16 school year by putting an end to something that plays a hand in the chronic stress 50 percent of high schoolers feel: semester-end exams. The district voted unanimously to eliminate finals and replace their usual two-hour exams with shorter tests, projects or portfolios throughout the semester, focusing more on learning than testing.

While a majority of teachers at RBHS still administer paper-and-pencil finals, students who have an ‘A’ in personal finance are exempt from their semester-end final, as they should be.

If the purpose of a final is to test comprehension,

the unit tests students take during the semester should take care of that department. Ensuring students still retain information learned during a semester or two does not guarantee they’ll always remember the quadratic formula or how long the Hundred Years’ War actually lasted.

Subjecting students to the stress of memorizing facts just to forget those facts hardly establishes an educated pool of young adults. Rather, the pressure to become a walking computer misdirects the focus of education away from learning and deeper into testing.

In a research report published by Audrey L. Amrein and David C. Berliner, schools that implemented high-stakes testing policies did not yield higher SAT, ACT or Advanced Placement test scores. Based on the current scheduling of finals and when grade reports are due, these semester exams don’t help students learn.

While the final exam offers little chance to improve and learn, the pressure of finals can be beneficial and used as a training experience for only a few select courses. For Ad-

vanced Placement classes, administering a final structured in a similar fashion to the AP exam gives students a chance to practice testing in the time constraints of the actual AP exam. Unfortunately, a mere 90 minutes isn’t enough testing time to simulate most of the AP exams.

For the sake of education and sanity, students should advocate for a stipulation that excuses students with an ‘A’ from taking the semester final. If students still would like to test themselves, they still get the chance, but they have the option to opt out. As of right now, department chairs are the ones who decide the future of finals and almost all of the department chairs decide to administer a semester final.

Putting this policy in place will no doubt call for countless meetings with faculty, but the students have the power to change finals week. From creating the current grading scale and phone policy, students have implemented change for years through Student Coalition.

Don’t be afraid to attend their meetings to make a more learning-friendly policy in the future.

A8 advertisements

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

sports therock 1.28.16

photo by: Cassi Viox

Practice makes perfect: Junior Ellie Flanagan swims freestyle laps in the Hickman pool during morning swimming practice in preperations for upcoming competitions.

Girls’ swimming takes yet another victory skyler froese

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he girls’ swim team took home its second consecutive piece of first place hardware Saturday, at the City of Roses Invitational in Cape Girardeau.

Their pool mates, the Hickman Kewpies, took second behind them, this time trailing by 16 points. RBHS secured 10 top-eight finishes in the meet. “[RBHS] has a lot of talent; we have some new people that are swimming for [RBHS] that scored pretty well,” head coach Laura Wacker said. “[Freshman] Piper Osman is doing well. Lexi Peery, she’s not new. She’s

a senior, but she’s coming around, too.”

Even with their abundance of talent, the team faced its fair share of challenges throughout. Peery said the air quality at the Central Municipal Pool was poorer than the team was used to.

She stated that this was especially hard on swimmers with asthma and other breathing complications, but it didn’t slow down the team enough to take first place from them.

“As a team, it represents us improving our swimming and being able to overcome anything that’s in our way,” Peery said. “I think that we’ll keep improving through the rest of the

season.”

Peery also noted the challenges coming from competition. The meet hosted 26 schools and up to 120 swimmers in each event, with only the top 16 places earning points.

Wacker also spoke of the stiff competition, most notably from Poplar Bluff and Eureka, both of whom wore specialized, fast knee-length suits while her swimmers did not. Peery and her sophomore teammate Trisha Carver-Horner both saw some of their fiercest competition in the meet’s relays.

“The relays are really fun because I feel like everyone went their best time in the relays so I feel really good

about that,” Carver-Horner said. “We maybe could have done a little better, but [RBHS] ended up winning, so that was pretty good.”

With only three meets left until state championships, the team hopes to continue their winning streak. The boys’ team won their meet in Cape Girardeau, as well as their CoMo invitational, before proceeding to bring home a state title. Wacker hopes the girls’ string of wins will mirror their male counterparts when the weekend of Feb. 20 arrives.

As of Sunday, the Lady Bruins had at least one swimmer ranked in the top five across the state for each event. The team also currently boasts eight indi-

vidual state qualifiers, one of which, senior Kelley Tackett, has qualified for every available event since her freshman year. Other qualifiers include defending medalists from 2015 State Championships. These statistics, and the teams consecutive wins, have bolstered Peery’s confidence for the last four weeks of the season and for their next meet on Saturday Jan. 30.

“I feel like we’re set up pretty good,” Peery said, “There are teams that are scared of us and they don’t know really what to expect and they should expect us to get first, but I can’t make any promises about that.”

Editor’s note: The author is a member of the girls’ swimming team.

Athletes to watch john flanegin

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hile many of RBHS’s underclassmen may be a decade and a half or so older than 2016, they resemble each other in more ways than one, youthful, full of promise, and with plenty of time to show their worth, here are just a few of the most successful underclassmen to exhibit their abilities this winter.

Wrestling - Don Hammers, 10

While only in his second year on the mat, Hammers has proven to be one of the brightest stars on a the Bruins wrestling team. Equipped with exceptional strength and deceivingly quick feet, the sophomore has been consistently winning in photo by Cassi Viox the 220 pound weight class, earning a second place finish at the Marshall Tournament held on Jan. 16. Hammers has also earned himself his fair share of impressive victories, including a 7-4 decision over Hickman’s Elijah Crum, who is currently ranked sixth in the state for Class 4, according to missouriwrestling.com. Although nursing a minor tear to his posterior cruciate ligament, Hammers will be a possible state qualifier when the Class 4 District 3 Tournament begins at Nixa High School Feb. 12.

Girls’ Basketball - Katey Klucking, 10

It didn’t take long for the 5’8” guard to prove that she had a knack for scoring as she dropped 18 points and led all scorers against Kickapoo on Dec. 4 in the Norm Stewart Classic early in the Lady Bruins’ season.

Since then, Klucking has remained Photo by Devesh Kumar a steadfast option for the squad when they need a bucket, often finishing as one of the Lady Bruins’ top scorers.

Klucking, however, is most notably known for her physical presence on defense, constantly diving for loose balls and putting her body on the line when the Lady Bruins are looking for a much needed stop. And with the graduation of senior guard Bri Ellis right around the corner, Klucking’s ability to score at will and play lockdown defense will play an even bigger part in RBHS’s overall makeup in the 2016-17 season.

Swimming - Bettie Logan, 10

It was quite the freshman season for Logan, who as part of the 200-yard medley relay team, helped buoy the RBHS girls’ swim team to their second state title in school history and showed her worth individually in the 50-yard freestyle where she placed sixth.

This year, Logan has fared just as crucial, if not more so for the Lady Bruins in competition, and has qualified for state in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke Photo by Caitlynn Noltie as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay. The sophomore, however, will be most keen at capturing a title in the 50 free, an event where she was ranked sixth in the whole of the nation in the 14-year-old age group two years ago by USA Swimming.

photo by Sierra Baldwin

In it to win it: Sophomore Drew Boswell (44) looks for an open teammate in a game against Battle on Dec. 22. The Bruins picked up a 50-34 victory over the Spartans. RBHS won five of their last eight and proved they are only improving in this past weekend’s North Kansas City tournament.

Basketball brings home hardware cassi viox

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he boys’ basketball team dominated the North Kansas City Invitational this weekend, tacking on three wins to improve their record to 11-5.

The Bruins’ opening game against the Winnetonka Griffins would be a sign of good things to come.

With a well built 41-26 lead at halftime, junior guard Jack Cooper, who had nine points at the break, was confident RBHS could cage the Griffins.

In the fourth quarter, WHS racked up 21 points, but the Bruins put up 12 points of their own and pulled out a 73-58 victory to head to the semifinals.

“We knew we were going to beat them because we outsized our opponent,” Cooper said. “We made 11 threes that game. Defensively, we pressed the whole game to speed them up and force turnovers. We were confident both defensively and offensively coming into the game.”

Junior forward Eysan Wiley led the team with 22 points. There’s been little doubt that the Jefferson City transfer has been a essential addition to the Bruins.

“I feel like I am a great fit for the team,” Wiley said. “My teammates always set me up in good places to put the ball in the basket. All I have to do is continue to take good shots.”

The second game of the North and rebounded well.”

Kansas City Invitational was just as The championship game of the successful as the first for the Bru- tournament wasn’t as effortless as ins. The 67-53 win over the Truman the other games, though. The RayPatriots paved the team’s path to an more- Peculiar Panthers were in overall victory. postseason form and pushed RBHS “Truman was a good team. They until the end. The Bruins didn’t were full of seniors,” Cooper said. let the close score hold them back, “We are a young team so everybody though. had to contribute in order to win the “I felt the freshmen really stepped game.” up this tournament,” Cooper said.

The back “We are movand forth game ing in the right didn’t allow direction for We knew we were either team to the rest of the going to beat them get more than season.” an eight point In a breakbecause we outsized lead until the out game, our opponent. We freshman Ben fourth quarter, made 11 threes that Cooper scored when RBHS game.

15 points, inwas able to pull away and Jack Cooper cluding three bury the Patrijunior three-pointers, ots and punch ending the their ticket to tournament the tournament final. with another solid effort, boosting Wiley led the team with 19 the team to a 54-47 win with Wipoints. He stressed the importance ley again leading the team with 16 of the team working together offen- points and 10 rebounds. sively and defensively. “[The game] felt good and it was “We just played good defense pretty exciting,” said Ben Cooper. like getting stops and holding them “I hope it carries on the rest of the to one shot and out. On the of- season. I just shot the ball with confensive end, we continued to take fidence and good things happened.”

The Bruins will travel to Union good shots,” Wiley said. “I felt that I played pretty good, as well. I was to compete in the Union Tournament loose with the ball a bit in the game, next weekend for the last tournabut I felt like I knocked down shots ment of the season.

B2 sports

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

feature photo by Cassi Viox

Ahead of their time: Freshmen guards (from left) Dajuan Harris, Isiaih Mosley and Ben Cooper have supplied a jolt of youth into a talented RBHS basketball team in their first season, showcasing their knack for scoring and ability to play at a high level despite their age.

New team, familiar faces

Trio of freshmen bring exciting play to varsity roster faaris khan

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reshmen Ben Cooper, Dajuan Harris and Isiaih Mosley entered the doors of RBHS on the morning of Nov. 2, 2015, nervous of what the ensuing hours would bring them.

Countless days of hard work and preparation had led them to this quiet morning. The athletes were unsure of the final outcome they would receive when they set foot in the Auxiliary Gym, ready for their first high school basketball tryout.

After undertaking a series of shooting, passing and teamwork drills in the tryout sessions, which included bigger, stronger and better players, they still left achieving the dream of several fellow freshmen: a spot on the RBHS varsity boys’ basketball team’s lineup.

Ever since, the trio hasn’t failed to exceed expectations for competing in the toughest level of high school basketball. Effectively striking their competition with powerful offensive weapons and boasting several games with double-figure scoring, the three freshmen guards have managed to carve vital roles in RBHS’s stacked

tion, but also their longstanding lineup despite their youth.

“I’ve always noticed their passion friendship.

“To me, our relationship is like for the game and desire to be good,” brothers,” Harris said. “We have head coach Jim Scanlon said.

The three freshmen have also dis- known each other for a long time and played a rare on-court connection, a we know what we’re capable of dotrait usually not present in younger ing on the court. Not only that, but players. This is attributed to their coaches have been making us better every practice.” thorough expeMuch of rience playing their experience with each other, We have known in organized which goes as far back as eleeach other for a basketball, howmentary school. long time and we ever, roots from Mokan Elite, Harris claims know what we’re a renowned that the three capable of doing youth basketball of them are like organization brothers. on the court. based in Kansas “Dajuan dajuan harris and Isiaih are freshman City, Mo. The trio participated two of my best together in the friends,” 6 foot guard Cooper said. “I’ve been play- league’s Amateur Athletic Union ing basketball with them for four (AAU) teams prior to entering high years now. We are really close with school, providing them a valuable each other and know each other’s development of skill and experience game pretty well. We have great which has translated into their current chemistry and work well together play.

“I played with a Mokan Elite while we are on the court.”

Harris, a 6-foot-1 guard, agrees, team, and they really helped me do pointing out that not only did past better things and get more out there,” coaches help develop their connec- Mosley, a 6-foot-4 guard, said. “Also,

Ben Cooper’s dad coached me and I like him a lot. Their family did great things for me and also helped me with post moves and ball handling.”

While Cooper, Harris and Mosley have all displayed an outstanding ability to play the game in the uppermost echelon of high school basketball, competing at the varsity level has posed some temporary challenges. Playing against highly skilled opponents who in many cases are much more physically dominant is likely one of the toughest aspects of varsity, Cooper said.

Despite the disadvantages they face as freshmen, Cooper is very optimistic that they will soon overcome such hindrances and establish their dominance in the sport.

“I’m just planning on getting bigger, stronger and faster,” Cooper said.

“Playing against older guys means they are more mature physically so getting stronger is something I’m really concentrating on. It will help with my defense.”

Like fellow freshman Harris, Mosley hopes to help bring home RBHS’s first state championship. While acknowledging that he has room to improve, winning a MSHAA State

Championship would cement them as giants in the lore of Bruin basketball.

“I think in the years coming we can give coach his first big championship,” Mosley said. “It’s not going to be easy, but I think that Ben, Dajuan and I can make it through. We’ve just got to keep working harder and harder each day.”

Their first shot at the trophy will hopefully begin Feb. 29 at Smith-Cotton High School, which will be one of several competitive games on the path to the championship.

With the departure of the team’s four highly skilled seniors in Trey Smith, Karson Ringdahl, Carson England and Tre Williams set after this season, the roles of the three talented Bruins will increase heavily in the coming seasons. Despite this eventual responsibility each will need to carry, Scanlon is confident that the next few years will be of great success and triumph for RBHS basketball.

“They have been playing very well at the varsity level and have been competing at a high level,” Scanlon said. “Their potential is unlimited and the sky’s the limit. The future looks extremely bright for RBHS basketball.”

Targeting precautions continue to miss their mark opinion ji-ho lee

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ead injuries in football are an increasingly common topic of debate. Undoubtedly, head and neck injuries, especially concussions, are both dangerous and scary. But, the actions made by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Football League (NFL) were not measures that drastically improved this issue.

Instead, the new policies offer a false sense of security while hurting teams more than helping them.

In the 2015 season, the NCAA introduced the targeting penalty. The rule was simple: any play involving the use of the crown (top) of the helmet was illegal, as was contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent.

The penalty for such an action was a 15-yard penalty against the team, and the ejection of the player.

At its surface, the rule seems to improve the safety of players. This simply isn’t the case. In fact, there were 23 more concussions reported in 2015 than 2014, meaning that the addition of the rule did not decrease the number of head injuries in college football.

Instead of improving player safety, which obviously did not happen after the addition of the rule, the new penalty actually hurt teams and players rather than accomplishing its actual purpose. Two glaring instances come to mind.

Joey Bosa for Ohio State University and Terry Beckner Jr. for the University of Missouri are two premier defensive players in the country. Both were ejected from games because of this rule even though neither inflicted harm to the player nor displayed any malicious intent.

Bosa tackled a player in the chest, nowhere close to the head. But, because he led with the crown of the helmet, he was ejected. In Beckner Jr’s. hit, very similar to Nebraska’s Nate Gerry, his helmet barely grazed the quarterback’s facemask.

Again, there was never a risk for injury or malicious intent. In another occasion, Joe Bolden of Michigan State made “illegal” contact with an offensive player because that player was sliding. Bolden’s tackle would have been legal and executed properly, but, because the height of the offensive player rapidly changed, the tackle drew a penalty.

While these penalties cost teams a valuable 15 yards while also ejecting players from games, other players are victims of violent and brutal head injuries, but there is no punishment.

For example, Dominique Reed of Arkansas was viciously tackled, but because he was not “defenseless” there was no penalty. It could not be more obvious that the defensive player was leading with his head and force head-tohead contact, meaning the helmet of the instigating player hits the helmet of the opposing player, a common cause for concussions and neck injuries.

Why are players and teams being penalized for doing nothing truly harmful, yet this player received no punishment?

The NFL has had a targeting rule similar to its collegiate counterpart, for the past three seasons, but its enforcement was inconsistent and controversial. The league attempted to reclarify the rule and further protect players by introducing an “unnecessary roughness” element to the rule.

As its namesake might suggest, the unnecesaary roughness rule penalizes players who use the crown of the helmet to make a tackle, or make helmet-to-helmet contact.

photo by Sierra Baldwin

Headed for trouble: a group of Bruins tackle a Rochurst player Aug. 24. Faurot Field in a 26-7 loss. Although targeting isn’t a factor in high school football, it has been a hot-button issue in both the college and professional ranks.

At the surface, the rule seems beneficial, but referees have no idea how to enforce it.

In the American Football Conference (AFC) championship game, Denver Broncos safety Shiloh Keo properly tackled New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman. As Edelman made the catch, however, his headlevel lowered, which led to an incidental helmet-to-helmet situation.

Keo was penalized costing his team 15 valuable yards.The week before, in an AFC divisional game, Patriots wide-receiver Danny Amendola viciously hit Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Jamell Fleming.

Fleming was, in every sense of the word, defenseless. Amendola was penalized but not ejected despite making an obvious attempt to make a helmet-to-helmet hit.

By rule, Keo’s tackle was rightfully penal-

ized. But similar to the collegiate situation, there was no intent to harm and no chance of injury.

On the other hand, Amendola should have been ejected. His hit was a pitcuresque example of the targeting rule. To make matters worse, the Patriots were penalized only two yards because of the location of the penalty on the field.

Amendola could have induced a tragic concussion on an opposing player, and as punishment, the team took five whole steps back.

Man, you guys really showed them there, NFL. If the NCAA and NFL care about player safety and health, they should probably start making some rules that actually decrease the number of head injuries, rather than penalizing the innocent and continuing to watch head and neck injuries occur on its watch.

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therock therock• •www.bearingnews.org www.bearingnews.org• •12.10.15 1.28.16

Dawn of technology brings explosion of pornography More and more men are consuming pornography with ease of access, but what does it mean for health? abby kempf

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learasil’s newest commercial declares “Acne won’t last forever. Just like your mom won’t walk in on you forever.”

Next a young boy is shown at his laptop.

His mom enters the room, gasps; he slams his computer shut, and she yells, “Stephen!” with a horrified look on her face.

Last year pornography and masturbation had become so normalized that they landed themselves in a televised commercial.

The idea of fixation on the sexual features of women isn’t new, of course. Deep-seeded beliefs that women are objects to be enjoyed by men, mainly in sexual and domestic terms, have been present throughout history, sociology teacher Joshua Nothom said.

“We live in a patriarchal society, meaning our society has a disproportionate amount of men in positions of power. Throughout history, women have been objectified and assigned a certain role in society,” Nothom said.

“Although societal norms are slowly changing, Americans are still being socialized to focus on a woman’s sexuality, rather than a woman’s holistic offering to society.

Sexual socialization starts at a young age through cartoons and advertising – and many Americans are oblivious to it.”

So while sexualizing the female form isn’t new, people are now beginning to accept sexuality and are willing to talk about many different features of it.

Senior Clayton Warder attributes this to today’s social climate, saying that viewing pornography “is getting less taboo as society gets more and more sexual and open.”

Pornography is certainly being viewed by the masses; in 2006 the world pornography revenue was $97 billion, more than Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix put together. Young men specifically are highly likely to use porn. About 68 percent of teenage boys watch pornography at least once a week.

But the accessibility and acceptance of pornography didn’t always exist. Sexuality and how people define it has ebbed and flowed throughout time, with some cultures embracing and others shaming nudity and sex.

“Historically, sexuality has run a fine line between deviant and acceptable, and it changes from generation to generation, from culture to culture. If we flash back to the days of the Roman empire, what would be considered pornography today, was proliferating throughout high society. In fact, recent archeological discoveries have unearthed depictions of human sexuality in the preserved locations of Herculaneum

art, photo illustration and infographics by Neil Cathro

and Pompeii,” Nothom said. “However, in American society, strict restrictions are placed upon viewing what are considered to be pornographic images. In the 1990s, Mayor Giuliani ‘cleaned up’ Times Square in New York City. Times Square was once the home of several adult theaters, adult stores, peep shows, those kinds of things, definitely not the family friendly vibe that it has 20 years later.”

The age of conservatism, spearheaded by President Ronald Reagan, brought about change like the kind Nothom spoke of in New York City, in what was accepted and what was considered too obscene.

The Supreme Court case Miller v. California (1973) exemplifies the era and its feelings towards pornography and

sexuality.

Because of the outcome of Miller v. California, immediately before the dawn of the age of technology, men who wanted to sneak a peek were limited to magazines, namely Playboy. The pool of available pornography was also extremely narrow, displaying softcore, vanilla scenes.

“When I did my dissertation it was on some guys who grew up in the ’80s. It was just the transition from magazines to VHS. I think in the past it was much harder to gain access. What was available was somewhat limited and in some sense tame compared to what is available now,” Dr. Mark Adams, a licensed psychologist in Austin, said.

“It has changed where relatively quickly you can access a whole spectrum, including really complicated and awful child pornography and bestiality. I think it has dramatically changed the landscape of what is available and [what is out there] is so broad compared to historically where it was just discovering dad’s Playboy. Now you can get on the web at any age and access all of these kinds of images and videos

that are much more complicated than the images in Playboy and Penthouse.”

For his PhD dissertation, Dr. Adams worked with men and dove into their pornographic history, helping both him and his patients to learn the impacts of pornography on their lives, relationships and sexual drives. Many men tended to have compulsions to view pornography that sometimes became uncontrollable, bordering on addiction.

Dr. Adams has created an operational definition of addiction to use in his practice. This helps him assess when a compulsion has gone too far and should be labeled as something more serious.

“My working definition of addiction comes from just my own reading, but two things seem to happen. One, there are repeated efforts to stop the behavior and you can’t or you have limited episodes of sobriety,” Dr. Adams said. “The second one is that you continue to use despite negative consequences. In my practice, sometimes the girlfriend or partner may discover it and creates an ultimatum or a crisis and they may stop for a short period time and then start up again.”

With 35 percent of teenage boys saying they have viewed pornography too many times to count, according to CovenantEyes, talking openly about viewing porn and masturbating is common. But is addiction also becoming more talked about and prevalent?

Warder has noticed the influx of discussion surrounding pornography and sees the possibility of addiction as a risk factor that comes with any habit.

“I think simply as more people access the internet, and it becomes more available, there is bound to be an increase in watching porn,” Warder said. “Just as there is a concern for addiction with everything, there is a concern with porn addiction.”

Whether addiction to pornography was under-reported in the past, or whether it’s on an upward trend, Dr. Adams attributes this growing number to society’s relatively new acceptance of consuming pornography. The question that remains is who gets addicted to porn, and Dr. Adams isn’t sure he has an answer.

“There is a normalization now that everyone gets exposed to pornography because of the internet and because of its accessibility. Why does it continue for some people in more compulsive ways? I am not sure what my own answer to that would be,” Dr. Adams said. “I think maybe certain vulnerabilities. It could be social awkwardness or avoidance, but at the same time I have seen people who are in relationships or marriages and they have that and they still continue to use porn. So I don’t know entirely why it is that some people seem to develop a more addictive approach to it.”

12.10.15• •www.bearingnews.org 1.28.16 www.bearingnews.org• •therock therock

All controversy aside, science does tout a series of negative effects caused by sex and pornography addiction. Mayo Clinic’s site states, “Cellular adaptations in the [pornography] addict’s prefrontal cortex result in increased salience of drug-associated stimuli, decreased salience of non-drug stimuli and decreased interest in pursuing goal-directed activities central to survival.”

This means that those addicted to pornography are at a higher risk of becoming drug addicts or alcoholics and may become depressed, causing a slew of other harmful symptoms.

Besides this, Mayo Clinic notes those with what it calls “compulsive sexual behavior,” which includes those addicted to pornography and those addicted to sex, may lose their focus at work, struggle with feelings of shame and guilt, develop anxiety or extreme stress, destroy relationships with their family or partner because of lying about the activity and accumulate financial debt by buying excessive amounts of pornography or sexual services.

There are several warning signs of pornography addiction, according to CovenantEyes, including the loss of interest in sex, a change in sexual interests, spending an excessive amount of time on the internet and becoming antisocial, withdrawn or evasive.

In his practice, Dr. Adams often works with men who identify as pornography addicts or as a consumer of porn who wants to lessen his draw to it.

“Usually they are interested in looking at their consumption critically,” Dr. Adams said. “Maybe they are recognizing that it is affecting their relationship or that it is creating problems or they are siphoning off sexual energy from this relationship into this other behavior in secret.”

After they have admitted and recognized the problem, Dr. Adams takes a variety of approaches to address the behavior and work on reducing or eliminating it. But first, the patient and he have to identify what they want to accomplish in their sessions.

“Usually there are three things I do. One is collaborate with them about the behavior. Do they want to eliminate it or reduce it? Do they want to gain more understanding of why it is there or how it developed? I have seen it develop in times of stress as a stress coping strategy and it is used to take care of themselves if they are frustrated or bored. It becomes a habit that they are not really mindful of and it seems to get out of hand. The second part is how can we understand how this developed? So I will often do a porn history. How did they first encounter it? Why has it continued to be compelling for them? Lastly is developing other ways of taking care of themselves. If they have the impulse, what could they do instead? That could be anything from exercise, to mediation, to take a walk, or to even talk with somebody, including their partner.”

But many other pornography consumers do not feel a compulsion to view pornography; they simply view at their leisure. So that is OK, right? Well, the answer to that question isn’t black and white.

Nothom sees positives and negatives, acknowledging that either condemning or glorifying is a question of values and beliefs guided by a moral compass that points different directions for everyone.

“I think safe, personal expression of human sexuality could be a positive aspect of the culture of pornography, assuming it’s between two consenting adults. There are also positive economic impacts to those involved as well,” Nothom said. “I think negative aspects could be the continued objectification of women, threat of disease and exploitation if regulations are not followed, and of course the wide availability to minors because of the internet.”

Warder acknowledges several problems with pornography, as well, from objectification to skewing thoughts regarding sexual relationships.

“I think if you ever reduce someone down to just physical attributes, which is all porn is, it can be dangerous,” Warder said. “I believe that it can affect people’s thoughts and give unrealistic expectations of what their significant other wants. If someone watches porn and thinks that’s how everything should be, I think that is dangerous.”

Dr. Adams has honed in on Warder’s critique of pornography and relationships in his research. He believes if men are used to getting aroused by images and videos, it can be hard for them to adjust to dealing with the emotions and thoughts of a real person in a sexual relationship.

“They are conditioning their body to get turned on in certain ways with the use of images as opposed to a real person. I think what I have found is that it creates complications with dealing with the whole spectrum of a sexual relationship and the subjectivity of another person, let alone all the other kind of aspects of being involved with someone,” Dr. Adams said. “Whereas pornography, you use the image, get off and then you put the image away. You don’t have to deal with another person. It may affect the ability to be present in a sexual relationship.”

Besides impacting the dynamics of a relationship and the way a man treats his partner, violent pornography also changes the way a man may treat his partner sexually.

While Dr. Adams can’t say pornography displaying physical violence causes definite aggressivity issues, he is concerned about its possible implications on the psyche of its viewers.

“Violent pornography can be tricky in terms of the old-school [radical feminist and writer] Andrea Dworkin’s quote ‘Porn is the theory; rape is the practice,’ but I think that violent pornography can lead to behaviors. The tricky part is that I do have a belief in fantasy, and I think that sometimes people do have fantasies that they don’t necessarily enact, but pornography gives them the space to explore that. I do think it is risky,” Dr. Adams said. “Violent pornography is very complicated, but my own take is that it is pretty problematic in terms of its effect and impact. Again, if you are socializing and arousing your body to these images, the question is how you might be vulnerable if you are actually with someone and actually enact some of that.”

Like Warder and Nothom, Dr. Adams has tried to tackle the question of pornography’s virtue and vice. He regularly works with the negatives, but in his research he has come across positives, as well. Unfortunately, he believes the detriments largely outweigh the potential benefits.

“The positives may be that sometimes pornography may give someone the opportunity to experiment and explore sexual feelings. It may be more important for a gay or lesbian person who may not have access to images of how gay sex works,” Dr. Adams said. “I think sometimes it might be useful, but I think by and large it is a problematic cultural form. I look at it the same way that I look at fast food or McDonald’s. In moderation it might be OK, but overall I think it is a bad product, even when done well.”

Dr. Adams doesn’t merely want to write off pornography as bad, he wants to encourage “a spirit of questioning” and encourage men to think critically about this sometimes mindless and possibly dangerous part of their lives. He thinks it is important for men themselves to evaluate pornography, which is the main reason he chose to delve into the topic throughout his graduate education.

“The reason that I got into it was because in graduate school and in college all the people that were talking about pornography were women. It was this interesting turn because historically, women have criticized men speaking for them, but in this topic, women were doing the speaking for men,” Dr. Adams said. “In my own perspective, I think for change to happen, men have to start to talk about and look at this critically.

They are not going to necessarily listen to women’s perspectives on what pornography does or doesn’t do, unless there is a crisis in a marriage.”

His hope is that men begin to start conversations about pornography from the production, those involved, those viewing, to even themselves and their own consumption instead of hiding this part of their lives from others.

“My own thought is that we need to develop men to think more critically. In my perspective a lot of men don’t. They’d rather not talk about it. Even though it has become more mainstream, it still has the little tinge of controversy or it is done in secret. It may not be talked about directly or talked about it in any meaningful way,” Dr. Adams said. “I do think it is important for boys and men to have conversations about what is this thing that we are using and what impacts does it have? Is it really good for us, good for our culture and good for our relationships?”

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therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

When consensual doesn’t mean legal joy park

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ost high school students worry about getting good grades in their classes or receiving enough sleep.

Some stress over relationship troubles or wonder if they can drive their parent’s car that day.

In March of last year, 50 to 60 girls had something else to worry about. More than 300 explicit photos of them were uploaded onto Dropbox, a third party cloud storage website, and sorted by first and last name of each person. Select RBHS students, mainly males, gained access, yet many of the girls, such as sophomore Gracie Avery, had not expected the recipient of their photos to share them online.

“All I really remember from last year was coming to school that day and somehow everyone had already seen [the pictures] because someone had decided to share the password to their Dropbox with others,” Avery said. “Not only was it saved on the Dropbox, but people were able to screenshot and save it and send it to other people.”

No one knows how many RBHS students had access to the images in that Dropbox. Worldwide, 42.7 percent of internet users engage in pornography, according to TechAddiction, a treatment center for internet addiction. More than 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites, with 72 percent of them men. America produces roughly 89 percent of all pornographic websites, generating anywhere between $10 to $12 billion for the U.S. porn industry.

That’s a whole lot of naked numbers.

Pornography contains a variety of different subcategories, with a popular — and illegal — one being child pornography. Missouri Statute Chapter 573, Section 573.037.2 states that the offense of child pornography is committed if any persons involved are younger than 18. In the state of Missouri, persons 17 years and older are considered adults and any court of law will try them as such, according to the Missouri Bar. However, persons 17 years or younger have the possibility of facing adult consequences depending on the degree of offense, child pornography included.

“If you’re 15 or 16, you’re still a juvenile, but the problem is when you violate child pornography laws in the state of Missouri and you’re a juvenile, sometimes you can be certified as an adult and have to face adult consequences,” lawyer Jim Rutter of Rutter and Sleeth Law Offices said.

“You can also be put on the sex registry. So while you may never have an adult conviction, you can still be on the sex registry for the rest of your life.”

In Missouri if a person possesses one still image of child pornography, it is classified as a class C felony, indicating that such a person would receive a maximum of seven years in prison, or a year in prison and a fine up to $5,000. If one possesses 20 still images of child pornography, or a single moving image, it is classified as a class B felony and they may receive between five to 15 years in jail, according to Nolo, a publisher of self-help legal books.

Probation is also sometimes given as a punishment in child pornography court cases. Earlier this year, a man in Columbia received a suspended five-year prison sentence and five years of probation when investigators found more than 25,000 explicit images on his computer, as reported by the Columbia Tribune.

However, this sentencing differs from that of federal courts, Rutter said.

“For one thing, in sentencing in federal law, there’s really no such thing as probation,” Rutter said. “If you get 10 years, you do practically 10 years. Statewide, it’s not that way. A lot of times, you’ll find police agencies lobbying for federal treatment of child pornography and child-related sex offenses in federal court to get a huge big boost in punishment. The [legal system] has become, generally speaking, more harsh, and it’s become much easier to catch the people that are looking at it and distributing it because of the internet. It’s also been much easier to access it as well.”

For instance, if one were to send a friend an illicit photo tion.” of a 17-year-old via text messaging, the law would consider Her parents thought otherwise, and so did her classmates; it child pornography simply because they would be in pos- both affected her opinion of her decision the most. session of the photo.

“I think that the law influencing my decision on whether “If electronics are involved, a forensic examination must or not to send out nudes wasn’t really a big part,” Avery be completed on the devices used for evidentiary purpose,” said. “I got judged by classmates and I think that ultimateDetective Tracy Perkins, Cyber Crimes Task Force Coordi- ly made my decision that I shouldn’t send anything along nator at the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, said. “If those lines.” an exam needs to be completed, then either I get a written In the past, spreading pornographic images required consent or will need to apply for a search warrant through more effort than it took to disperse Avery and other females’ the courts.” pictures into the Dropbox. The internet, as it stands today, If a case involving child pornography laws occurred at makes this task much easier, Perkins said.

RBHS, the response relies on the severity of the offense, “Child pornography as a whole has evolved over the past assistant principal Dr. Tim Baker said. decade because of the internet,” Perkins said. “It truly is an “It depends on where the [pornography] came from and epidemic. The internet is the source of the problem and with if it was distributed,” Dr. Baker said. “For instance, if it’s the magnitude of the amount of people using the internet, downloading in the media center, that’s a relatively minor this kind of behavior will never stop.” pornographic thing, if it’s just downloading pictures for While the internet facilitates a greater contribution to themselves. We would take away their computer privileges, child pornography, it often leads to the downfall of those contact parents, things like involved in the distribution. that.”

“That’s how [perpetrators] However, the more seriget caught. What they do is ous an incident is, the greatthey go on these file-sharing er action needed. programs and they look for “Unfortunately, [the sitpornography, and at the same If the [perpetrator] uation] could be something time police officers are sitting knowingly possesses, like people getting picin front of computer screens,” promotes or produces tures of kids at school and Rutter said. “They look for distributing it,” Dr. Baker child pornography and downthe images that desaid. “If it’s a juvenile, it’s load it, and what the police do pict sexual content or our policy to get the police is they locate computers that obscene material, that involved because of child have child pornography on it amounts to child porpornography laws.” and backtrack it to the originography.

When RBHS administranal location and arrest those tors discovered the images people.” tracy perkins Avery found in Dropbox, According to a 2010 detective the parents of students insurvey by the Kaiser Famvolved, including Avery’s, ily Foundation, 85 percent were immediately conof teenagers aged 14 to 17 tacted. Her parents went to owned cell phones as do 69 RBHS the next day to discuss how the incident should be percent of 11 to 14-year-olds. Whether consciously or unhandled, as it did not occur on school grounds. consciously, parents are giving their children an immense Perkins has dealt with numerous instances in which she amount of virtual power. This puts adolescents at a higher arrested juveniles for the act of promoting or possessing risk of being exposed and/or involved with child pornograchild pornography. The process of investigating child por- phy. In fact, according to Focus on the Family, the average nography is fairly straightforward, Perkins said. Authorities age of exposure to pornography is eight years old. label an instance of child pornography by compiling eviPerkins and her task force aim to educate the young gendence of images and videos and by confirming the age of the eration on this matter by offering presentations to schools, individuals in the pictures. However, like every other crimi- organizations or businesses. In 2015, the Task Force prenal case in society, each case is different. The severity of the sented various topics, such as sexting to cyberbullying, to sexting case depends solely on the individual case at hand. more than 2,700 individuals.

“If the [perpetrator] knowingly possesses, promotes or “I believe every person who gives their child a cell phone produces the images that depict sexual content or obscene or any type of device that connects to the internet should material, that amounts to child pornography,” Perkins said. have rules and boundaries in place,” Perkins said. “Most “If I dealt with a case where two individuals younger than people know it’s dangerous to talk to people we don’t know 18 were transferring pictures, my job is not to turn my head on the internet or send nude images of ourselves, but to and say, ‘Kids will be kids,’” Perkins said. “My job is to stop completely understand the long-term effects and the felony the act and get parents and/or the juvenile office involved.” offenses being committed is another story.”

Avery felt dissatisfied with the actions that the police The internet contributes to a variety of factors that afmade, believing more could have been done. fect behavior, according to a report written by psycholo“My experience with the law wasn’t really all that great. gist John Suler at Rider University. One certain behavior I waited at least three hours to file a police report, and by of those mentioned is that of dissociative anonymity, which the time we actually got in the room with a detective, he is the idea that the internet fosters a sense of a hidden and kind of blew the situation off,” Avery said. “He assured us false identity, influencing people to act differently because that there would be consequences for the people involved in the actions cannot be traced back to them. Gradually, these the Dropbox [incident] and for those responsible of being in perpetrators begin to lose sense of how their actions influpossession of the nudes.” ence others, holding dire long-term consequences for those Yet, she never saw anything result from the police inves- affected, the report says. tigation.

For Avery, it included a loss of faith in society.

“We went back once and called a few times and never “Looking back on it now, I should’ve known that no heard anything until I had to come back for more questions,” matter how many times someone says, ‘I won’t save it,’ ‘I Avery said. “There hasn’t been any consequences at all, and won’t show anyone else,’ people can’t be trusted at all,” AvI truly feel like it was completely brushed under the rug.” ery said.

Instead, Avery was simply named a “victim of manipulaAdditional reporting by Rochita Ghosh

infographic by Neil Cathro; photos by Devesh Kumar

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source: 18 U.S. code § 225

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infographic by Neil Cathro; source: dosomething.org, statisticbrain.com and teensafe.com

Age of sexting ushers in age of harassment From receiving unsolicited nudes to saving an intimate photo, sexting proves dangerous nikol slatinska

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hree summers ago, sophomore Amber Jones* started Snapchatting a boy she had a crush on. One night they were talking when the boy suggested they exchange nude photos.

“He told me he just wanted to do it this one time with no strings attached, and I repeatedly told him that I wasn’t comfortable with that and that I wasn’t going to do it,” Jones said. “He was gently trying to persuade me, and when I say gently I mean he was being passive aggressive. He was like, ‘It’s only for one night. Come on; just do it,’ so I felt like I had to do it because he was pressuring me.”

It is not uncommon for teens to face such suggestions; 40 percent admitted to taking a sexual image of themselves, and a quarter of them said they sent that image to someone else, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Both genders believe girls experience more pressure to send and exchange nude photos from boyfriends or strangers, a study conducted by the University of Melbourne revealed. Another study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy disclosed that 51 percent of teenage girls that sent sexts blamed the act on pressure from a boy, while only 18 percent of teen boys attributed it to pressure from girls.

Sexting makes women feel much more vulnerable than men, a study at the University of Utah showed. Equal numbers of the men and women in the study said they had sent a sext, but 47.1 percent of males said they had received a sext while only 32.1 percent of females had.

Jones never sent the boy nude photos of herself despite his telling her it would only happen that one time. She knew if she did,

he would eventually want to do it again. Af- fact that anyone can still take a screenshot ter multiple refusals, the boy told her he was of any snap, according to the app’s policy. going to send some photos of himself to get The app’s policy even states that there is no guarantee the message’s contents get deleted her to loosen up.

His unwanted snapshots did just the op- every time.

“If smartphones were around 100 years posite.

“When I saw the nudes, I felt like throw- ago or 1,000 years ago, my guess is that we ing up. I was really weirded out,” Jones said. would see similar rates of sexting,” Temple “I was like, ‘Why? What are you doing? You said. “In other words, nothing is new about this behavior, except for the means by which just ruined everything!’”

Psychologist Dr. Jeff Temple conducted a people share.”

Senior Amelia Hauck agrees that smartstudy that found sexting can lead to sex, and the more people who send explicit images, phones and the apps available through them the less harmful it seems. Temple believes have caused a growth in the exchanging of nudes among the potential rise teens, thus in sexting among making the teens is a reaction seem sult of increased almost ordismartphone use.

He told me he just nary. Teens “I think huwanted to do it this mans — and often freely one time with no especially teens send and restrings attached, and ceive these at this critically images withimportant deI repeatedly told him out thinking velopmental age that I wasn’t comforttwice.

— have always able with that.

However, been interested in amber jones that doesn’t sex and explorsophomore make this ing their idennew trend tity and sexualany better, ity,” Dr. Temple said Hauck said. “Apps like who noticed Snapchat likely provide users with a false sense of security that people who are asked for nude photos and potentially increase their likelihood of are not taken seriously.

“To me, it feels like a game for those who sexting.”

Snapchat, which enables users to select ask for the pictures,” Hauck said. “I feel like how long the receiver of their message is they use the pictures, in a way, to make fun able to view it, may seem like a safer al- of the person who sent them.”

She thinks the only acceptable circumternative than sending sexts through mobile messaging. After the recipient views a stance for exchanging nude photos is bemessage, the person cannot look at it again. tween two people in a consensual relationThis dangerous misconception ignores the ship, but even then she feels it’s better not to

engage in the activity. People shouldn’t capture their bodies on camera and then share the photos with anyone, she said, because there’s no guarantee that the intended recipient won’t send them onto others. Hauck views nudity as an intimate and sacred thing, adding that the camera doesn’t do anyone’s body justice.

Even after the first time the boy sent Jones naked pictures of himself, she said she tried to make excuses for him, telling herself that everyone makes mistakes and kept trying to pursue a relationship with him even though he had purposely gone against her wishes.

His reply to her requests to stop pressuring her to send illicit photos was that he wasn’t trying to force her to do anything that she didn’t want to do, but Jones decided he was trying to take advantage of her to satisfy his desperate needs.

“If he tried to do that now, I would be like, ‘Hell, no, go away.’ But I really liked him at the time,” Jones said. “I wasn’t mad, but I felt used because even when I told him that I was uncomfortable with it, he still did it and was really selfish about it. I was stupid.

I wish I could go back in time and slap myself in the face.”

Temple’s advice for students who have sent sexual messages to others or at least thought about it is the same advice teens have heard for years but just can’t seem to wrap their minds around.

“I would suggest not sexting to begin with, or not sexting again. While the likelihood of something horrible happening is slim, it is possible and scary,” Temple said.

“The chance of the picture being spread around, the possibility of the picture winding up on your parent or teacher screens, or even the risk of legal troubles should be enough to prevent you from sexting.” *Name withheld upon request

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therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

features therock 1.28.16

makeup. Modern. Men.

photo by Tyson Jamieson

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— Logan Widhalm, junior

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“I maybe wear makeup like twice a year,” Lee said. “I don’t do it very often, because in America it’s not accepted, really.”

Forte recounted his experience wearing dramatic eyeliner and eyeshadow to school for an Egyptian god costume on Halloween.

While his friends loved the ensemble, not everyone was as enthusiastic.

“Even though by it was Hallowoto “Turbulent,” L’Oreal Paris h p een and even though it was “I like it because a costume, it’s long lasting, and people were giving me it gives the perfect double glancshine on my lips.” es,” Forte said.

— Divya Divya, junior “A lot of people thought it was really cool and gave me compliments, but some people were just giving me little sideways looks.”

Whether he receives a universally positive reception or not, Forte still maintains his newfound appreciation for the art of makeup. He does not consider makeup to be a tool of femininity, but rather a vehicle for self-expression.

“I enjoy makeup because I get to see what people will notice in positive ways,” Forte said.

“I think if guys were to wear makeup, it would [need] a different feel to it. Makeup for guys, even in shows, is just different than for girls. I think “Translucent,” Maybelline New York it’s less trying to look like a girl, and more just trying to artisti“I like it because it cally display what we have to provide.” makes my face nice and ev es

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enior Ethan Forte would say his favorite makeup brand is Mary Kay, the business his mother sells for. That’s not to say he eschews all other labels; he also has a fondness for eyeliner from L’Oreal, as well as for e.l.f. products, which he described as “cheap and decent.”

For these makeup companies, Forte represents a relatively untapped marketing target: the American male.

While makeup and men may seem to be an unlikely pair, research has shown that men are feeling greater pres“Lancôme,” 100 Taupe Craze sure to use cosmetics. J. Wal“I like it because the ter Thompson Wo r l d w i d e , colors are pretty and a marketing it’s shimmery.” communications com— Emily Getzoff, senior pany, surveyed 1,000 men in the United States and United Kingdom for a 2013 report titled “The State of Men;” among respondents, 54 percent used skincare products, 29 percent enjoyed manicures and 9 percent wore foundation.

Noticeably absent were items that are more typical of women, such as mascara and lipstick. Forte himself did not explore any kind of makeup until he began show choir and school musical performances, which both required stage makeup.

“I learned from the girls and some of the guys who did stage makeup. I also taught myself several things just watching Youtube tutorials and stuff.

My mom gave me a few basics, too,” Forte said.

“She helped me get all my stage makeup together, and when it came time for competitions and stuff, I started doing my own makeup and people started giving me a lot of compliments and telling me it

looked really good.”

In contrast to the intense color and bold lines of show makeup, Forte prefers a more subtle approach in his everyday look. He sees makeup as a method to accentuate an individual’s natural features or to cover up blemishes.

“For me as a guy, especially in today’s society, I don’t really want to go around wearing lipstick or lots of pink blush,” Forte said. “What I would do sometimes is maybe use concealer or highlighter to cover up dark spots under my eyes; if I ever had any pimples, I might use some concealer. Sometimes I would use some brown mascara to make my eyelashes look longer or some eyeliner if I [wanted] to be creative or fun.”

Forte is not the only RBHS male student to enter the world of makeup. Junior Chunghyun Lee dabbles in cosmetics, occasionally using foundation or makeup base. In South Korea, where Lee was born, the sight of men wearing makeup is quite common. According to CNN, South Korean men are the world’s largest per-capita consumer of skincare products.

“I just wear foundation base and foundation on special occasions. I started wearing makeup about a year ago. It’s a trend in Korea,” Lee said. “Korean guys wear makeup much more often that I do, though. Not many people notice. The ones that notice are just girls and they just say nice things.”

While South Korea has a hold on the rapidly expanding market for male cosmetics, the rest of the world is not far behind. Euromonitor International reported in 2014 that the U.S. men’s grooming market grew 3 percent to $6.3 billion.

Kelsey Mahoney, an employee for the cosmetics and skincare brand Ulta Beauty, said that she has witnessed men purchasing products at Ulta, a store usually considered to be in the female domain.

“We have a lot of customers that are men, whether they’re buying cologne or makeup,” Mahoney said. “They do make up a good percentage of our customers. We’ve sold a lot of skincare [products], like foundation and concealer and stuff, mostly.”

In addition to serving male customers, Mahoney said that the Ulta location in Columbia also employs a man who wears makeup daily; the store also has a large ‘Ulta Men’ section. Despite the increasing prevalence and acceptance of male beauty products, both Forte and Lee said a stigma against men who wear makeup still exists.

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photos by Caylea Ray

“I just like to do winged eyeliner because I feel like it sets my makeup apart from other people and kind of has a ‘50s glam look.”

— Kelsey Lyman, senior

photos by Caylea Ray

“Because of the way my eyes are set, it doesn’t make it look like I’m wearing too much, but it gives a little pop; a little something fun.”

— Selma Zweifel, senior

C2 features

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

Shattering stereotypes

Women march into military service Sgt. Joshua Rainwater, a U.S. Army recruiter and soldier, has seen soldiers of both genders fail and suctrength, courage, bravery, honor — these are ceed in their military goals. Between Sgt. Rainwater’s common virtues and values people associate two deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, he believes with soldiers in the military. Since U.S. De- perseverance is what makes someone fit for service.

“From what I have seen, there have been both fense Secretary Ashton B. Carter announced men and women that were not willing to work hard that combat positions would be available to women in enough to meet the demands. I have seen soldiers lose 2015, a new meaning to these words arise.

For senior Darcie Kinnison, this proclamation 20 pounds in two weeks because he [is] overweight. serves as a beacon of opportunity. Even though she Yet a different soldier only lost two to four pounds in plans to go into the Army as a medic or programmer, two weeks,” Rainwater said. “What’s the difference she said the news proves women’s abilities to fight, no between them? One was willing to work hard for their goal. The other was not. The ability to work hard does matter what stereotypes hold them down.

“Women are just as strong and mentally sound as not discriminate by gender.”

Though the military recently opened up all roles to men. In the civilian world, our generation stresses that women are emotional and kind of crazy over petty women, Sgt. Rainwater said women previously could things, but when you step into the military world, to not work in the infantry, armor and special forces.

As a recruiter, he talks with students about the milme at least, it seems completely different,” Kinnison itary’s numerous opportunities. Among these options said. “Women walk just as tall as the men; they train he said the military can help to pay for soldiers’ coljust as hard. Being male or female has nothing to do lege and has numerous military job sectors that range with how you handle the emotional and physical stress from programming to fighting in that being in the military puts the front lines. on you. It’s all about how These, among other ambitions, you as a person decides to It’s scary but there are reasons why Kinnison decided handle the situations.”

Kinnison became curious are also many great to join.

“I chose it because it’s a helpful about joining the military in opportunities that alternative to pay for college while the summer of 2015 where come with the mil- doing something great for our the sight of uniformed solcountry. It’s something that I would itary as well. diers inspired her. Although benefit from — new sets of skills she had never considered the military before, it was her darcie kinnison and experiences, and you get paid,” drive to prove herself that senior Kinnison said. “It’s dangerous, yes, especially with what is going on made her enlist. within our world today, but I’m not “I didn’t think about it too afraid.

Maybe it’s because I’m young, and maybe it’s much until the middle of this past summer. I was flyjust how I’m wired.” ing out for something and saw some soldiers in uniEven with her mother’s background as a Navy hosform. It interested me [so] I did a little research about pital corpsman, Kinnison said her family still took it it,” Kinnison said. “I was afraid no one would take me seriously since I am so short and small and pretty hard when she told them about joining the military. girly. I got nervous and never spoke up about it until I With more than 1,800 hostile deaths and about 20,000 saw some recruiters at a job fair and took the chance wounded-in-action incidents among U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan recorded through Nov. 2014, to learn more.”

Alumna Graham Ratermann, who graduated May according to a report from the Congressional Budget 24, 2015, is now a cadet private in the U.S. Army. Office, the imminent threat of death is daunting.

“When you go into the military you have to take Even though he has only been in training for seven into consideration that you could die. You could get months now, he said the women he has worked with thus far have stood parallel to men. However, just as bombed or shot or captured,” Kinnison said. “It’s every man who enlists in the military might not be fit scary but there are also many great opportunities that come with the military as well. It takes a special kind for service, he believes the same goes for women.

“I have very limited military experience, but dur- of person, man or female, to make the commitment to ing cadet basic training, there were two female mem- the military.”

Similar to Kinnison, Sgt. Rainwater believes it’s bers of my squad who were hammers and met every the drive and mental ability to prove whether a soldier standard set in front of them, so yes, there are women is ready for their service in the military. who are just as capable as men,” Ratermann said.

“It’s not a matter of gender, but a matter of physi“Personally, I don’t think women should be allowed into the infantry or special operations communities. cal and mental capabilities. That is why we have basic The average fighting load in Afghanistan is 65 pounds training to weed out those that cannot make it,” Rainwithout a ruck, and with a ruck that number bumps to water said. “If we do not let people try then how will [around] 130 pounds. Women tend to have an increase we know if they can? We will continue to seek out in injuries compared to men when dealing with that the most qualified people for the Army, regardless of gender.” kind of weight.”

grace vance

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infographic by Shelby Yount; sources: npr.org, nation.time.,com, journalistsresource.org

When healthy living turns harmful Orthorexia emerges as a result of strict, obsessive clean eating nikol slatinska

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he idea of eating clean sounds like a safe way to rid the body of toxins from unhealthy foods.

What could go wrong in eliminating certain ingredients like sugar, gluten or meat from one’s diet and replacing them with more nutrient-packed meals?

Eating disorder specialist Angela Schaffner from the Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders defines clean eating as the attempt to eliminate processed foods and generally aim for better overall health by decreasing excess sugars, fats and other seemingly unhealthy components.

“One major problem I see with it is the name ‘clean’ eating, which implies that eating other ways are somehow ‘dirty or bad,’” Schaffner said.

“I think it’s a setup as is any other restrictive diet for an experience of shame if the person deviates from the

prescribed plan.”

Meade Fields, a colleague of Schaffner’s and psychotherapist at the same clinic, listed ways to identify whether or not a new diet is developing into a potential eating disorder.

Some red flags include withdrawing from social activities, seeming depressed or anxious and being obsessed with weight and exercise.

Some obvious warning signals are if the person becomes underweight or starts bingeing.

In order to prevent clean eating from evolving into a restrictive habit, Schaffner thinks it’s important for the consumer to approach the diet with an open mind that doesn’t shame or encourage the austerity of any specific food. Instead, Schaffner promotes an intuitive way of eating where the individual observes how their diet makes their body feel and is not confined to an external set of rules.

Senior Jessica Chapdelaine has

known about her allergy to gluten since she was in the fourth grade. Although it was hard for her to get accustomed to her immediate new diet at first, her current relationship with food is arguably the healthiest it has ever been.

“When I was first starting out eating gluten free as a kid, other kids would bring in birthday cupcakes and I was just so upset that I couldn’t eat them,” Chapdelaine said. “It was just hard to watch everyone around me eat something that I knew I couldn’t eat.“ Other struggles of her diet includes the expenses of purchasing gluten free food. For example, Chapdelaine said a good gluten free cake mix costs around twelve dollars, while a regular one costs up to three dollars.

Besides the cost, Chapdelaine’s strife is self control. That’s pretty easy at home, where she has a pantry stocked full of tolerable food, but it can get

awkward in social situations when her friends choose to eat something like pizza.

“It takes a lot of self control for me to say, ‘No, I can’t eat that donut, I know it’s going to be bad for my body,’” Chapdelaine said. “I think it’s easy to control myself because I’ve been doing it for so long.”

For people who are considering trying out a new diet, Chapdelaine recommends researching it beforehand and coming to terms with the amount of discipline it will take. In spite of that, common eating disorder habits have shown that too much discipline can also be a problem.

Too many rules can lead to orthorexia, an eating disorder that is not recognized as a clinical diagnosis but still affects many people. The main factor associated with orthorexia is the drive for purity and the disorder is also defined as an obsession with eating only healthy foods as stated

Are you a clean eater?

Take the test. by dietician Eileen Shaw from the Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders.

Fields expressed that many of her eating disorder patients said their disorders started out as attempts to get healthy. However, this regimen soon became a way for them to keep eliminating foods from their diets until their relationship with food was fearbased and extreme.

“It is kind of the same idea as addiction — if a little is good then more will be better — if I keep making my diet cleaner and cleaner then I will be healthier,” Fields said. “I also think it takes on a moral component, too — if I deviate from foods that are ‘clean,’ then does that make me dirty or bad?”

infographic by Stephanie Kang; source: myplate.gov

features

1.28.16 • www.bearingnews.org • therock

C3

art by Erin Barchet

Taking things slow speeds up success alice yu

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atience may be a virtue, but it’s getting lost in today’s society where buying clothes only requires a few clicks on a keyboard.

Instant gratification now reaches far past finance and into all aspects of life, from waiting for content to load on the internet to receiving the grade from today’s test.

“We fall victim to it a lot, and in a lot of ways it’s hurting us. Like we eat unhealthy and then start habits like that,” sophomore Dalton Nunamaker said. “Instant gratification can be used for some good things, but it’s also very dangerous because it can lead to bad situations. We’re so caught up in this instant gratification where we want everything right now and we’re not really focusing on healthy and positive lifestyles.”

After examining the video viewing habits of 6.7 million internet us-

ers, Ramesh Sitaraman, a computer science professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst, found that on average, subjects were only willing to wait two seconds for a video to load before abandoning the video. For every additional second, the abandonment rate increased by roughly 5.8 percent.

From fitness to finance, the results of instant gratification sometimes sound too sweet to pass up. In her sophomore year of college, personal finance instructor Susan Lidholm came close to trading in perseverance for defeat when weighing the benefits of taking on student loans to earn her college degree.

“In the long run, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my desire if I wouldn’t have had that college degree. It was something very well worth waiting for because I got to go into a career that I truly love,” Lidholm said. “When it comes to instant

gratification, I have to take a moment you do, how it affects things in the and say, ‘All good things come in future,” Schnake said. “My mom altime.’” ways told me, ‘Tylee, I know you like The urge to to relax, but you forgo the gruelcan relax later.’ ing hard work You can’t always When it comes was something just think of ‘in junior Tylee the now.’” to instant gratifiStudies show Schnake battled cation, I have to those without with during midtake a moment the ability to dedle school. The and say, ‘All good lay gratification end of the school things come in had higher incarday signals play time.’” ceration rates and time on iPhones susan lidholm and school-ispersonal finance were more likely sued iPads rather teacher to struggle with drug and alcohol than afternoons addiction. completing In his 1970 study, psychologist homework. With an abundance of distractions, delayed gratification is Walter Mischel placed a cookie in easily pushed to the back of the mind front children and told each child it had two choices: they could either eat and forgotten.

“Typically people are like, ‘You the cookie immediately, or they could have to think about it in the moment,’ wait until he returned from running a but you also have to think about what brief errand and receive an additional

feature photo by Abby Kempf

Political perplexity Pondering conflicting party positions ji-ho lee

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s political characters like Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders steal the attention of the media, students react with blazing support or burning despise.

These students agree or disagree with the politicians’ ideologies and find themselves directly aligned to a party and its views. But a few find themselves expanding beyond traditional boundaries.

Senior Addison Horsey has no difficulty in determining her political party or views. As the president of Young Democrats, her opinions are fairly transparent.

“Ever since I was probably eight or nine, I was really interested in politics,” Horsey said. “As I grew older, I saw both sides of an argument, and I seemed to always side with the liberal view.”

While many students confidently side with a specific party and its views, fewer students know where they developed their opinions.

Justin Dyer, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, investigates how a person receives his or her political ideology.

“It is mostly shaped by so-

cial interactions of which the family is the most important,” Dyer said. “Friends and social groups are less influential but still matter. Life experiences also have some influences.”

Senior Luke Chval, however, developed his political ideology mostly through his own research and interest in world news, rather than influence from his parents.

“My father is a Republican, and my mother is a moderate, [and] both pay attention to politics,” Chval said. “But I wouldn’t say that I was influenced by them so much in my view.”

Neither of Chval’s parents were very invested in politics, leading to a personal development of political ideas. Chval fits the uncommon category of students who do not perfectly align with a single party.

“This is less common now than in the past,” Dyer said about those whose ideologies are not parallel with a party.

“Party and ideological orientation are most consistent than previously.”

Although Chval does not personally identify with an exact party, he does pick a side when it comes to elephants and donkeys.

“If I had to associate with one party over the other, I

would say Republican because I think that limiting the size of government is important,” Chval said. “But I hold a liberal view on most social matters.

For example, I am pro gay marriage and think that the [United States] should be relatively isolationist.”

Chval’s views are typically placed under the Libertarian party. But, especially in today’s political environment, third party views are often washed by the wayside.

Gallup.com noted that 44 percent of Americans lean towards the Republican party, while 45 percent align with the Democratic party, leaving only 11 percent to be involved with a third party.

Although a handful of RBHS students hold libertarian views, enough to make a new club, Horsey feels that political parties and views are more of a ‘pick a side’ type of discussion.

“I don’t think people can be liberal Republicans or conservative Democrats, because they’re two different viewpoints,” Horsey said. “I feel like if you’re a liberal republican or a conservative democrat you might just want to consider yourself moderate, if you have opinions that are on both sides of the spectrum.”

cookie. The children who chose the second option scored an average of 210 points higher on the SAT and earned higher incomes.

For Nunamaker, his cross country and track practice schedule motivates him to forget instant gratification, stick to healthy diet and keep consistent workouts.

“It makes you focus on the greater goal, especially with a team like that,” Nunamaker said. “You know you have people you’re supposed to be supporting and you’re working for them too.”

Psychology supports the concept that practicing patience pays off in the end, from better figures in a savings account to a more fulfilling life.

“There’s so many places where [instant gratification] can go, from a marriage to finance to how you work as a student,” Lidholm said. “It’s endurance, and life is about endurance.

It’s not instant.”

C4 arts & entertainment opinion

therock • www.bearingnews.org • 1.28.16

art by Ana Ramirez

Robert De Niro, the silver fox of the big screen

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eeting Robert De Niro for the first time was one of the most shocking, yet formative, experiences of my life.

Nearly a decade ago, I found a VHS copy of Martin Scorsese’s 1976 film “Taxi Driver,” in my family’s garage, assuming it couldn’t be much different from the beloved television sitcom “Taxi.” I popped it into my TV and Robert De Niro’s performance blew my mind for the proceeding two hours.

Robert De Niro did something that my sevenyear-old eyes had never seen; he made the dirty, filthy, rough and gritty look absolutely clear and beautiful.

Robert De Niro started his career in the late 1960s, an age where the independent film industry recently found success. With pictures like John Cassavetes’ “Faces,” and Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider” gaining relative success and definite traction in the film industry, independent film was finding its niche. In this new age of independence in filmmaking, De Niro slid into the world of film seamlessly.

Robert De Niro’s first successful feature films were “Bang the Drum Slowly” and “Mean Streets.”

He starred as top-billing cast members in both.

These movies put De Niro on the map. His next film was a little ditty called “The Godfather Part II,” and he played the patriarch of the franchise, Vito Corleone. In years following, Robbie D starred in various neo-noir films.

Most memorable are his appearances in Martin Scorsese films: the aforementioned “Taxi Driver,” as well as “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” and “Casino.”

De Niro’s track record is more extensive than I’m photo by Cassi Viox giving him credit for. He has appeared in over 90 films, including dramas, comedies, and even horror. Not only is De Niro’s filmography extensive, it’s extremely influential.

According to Robert K. Elder’s book,”The Film That Changed My Life,” many of the big names in filmmaking today were inspired by De Niro’s films. John Woo, director of “Face/Off,” and “Mission: Impossible II” was inspired by the film “Mean Streets.” Elder reported that Richard Linklater, director of films such as “Dazed and Confused,” “School of Rock” and “Boyhood,” is often quoted as saying that “Raging Bull” was the film that inspired him to make films himself.

Despite his gradual decrease in popularity in the last 15 years (since Scorsese took Leonardo DiCaprio under his wing), De Niro continues to act in films and does so successfully. With his role in the “Meet the Parents,” franchise, as well as appearances in more serious films like “Silver Linings Playbook”— which got him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor — Robert De Niro has not ceased to play a significant role in the film industry.

De Niro even won the American Film Institute’s lifetime achievement award, and the Golden Globes’ Cecil B DeMille award for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.

This man is undeniably one of the most successful, influential and unparalleled actors of all time.

He has an amazing capability to bring an energy to the screen that no actor has ever emulated, be it through crying to a therapist or swearing at a loan shark. De Niro’s presence and resilience in film is so powerful that it makes all of the mean streets look a little bit brighter.

Written by guest writer Roman Wolfe

How much for an Oscar?

art by Ana Ramirez

Oscars are no longer objective critiques of great films but cash bonuses for studios willing to pay. kat sarafianos

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scar snubs are nothing new to film geeks, but that never makes it hurt any less. When a movie or actor performs beyond expectations and they don’t even get a nomination at a ceremony meant to honor cinematic achievements, it’s a gut punch for sure.

However, when analyzing the way the Academy Awards, aka the Oscars, nominates and selects films and how studios act during awards season, it’s fair to say not all films are given a fighting chance.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, or just the Academy, is a group of qualified members of the film community who select Oscar winners and nominees.

Membership is by invitation only and extremely selective.

In terms of an actor or film receiving a nomination, each branch in the Academy has members vote for the awards; for the ‘Actors’ branch, members of that branch vote to nominate the nominees in all four acting awards, while the directors vote for ‘Best Director’ nominees, and so on. The number of votes needed to secure a nomination depends on the size of the voting branch.

After the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers weighs the results from each branch and narrows each category to include only five nominees, all members vote again for the winner across all categories, and the nominee with the most votes wins.

While there are all sorts of implications for how it may be easier for some actors to join than for others based on race, gender, studio connections, etc. (according to a 2012 study conducted by the Los Angeles Times the Academy was 94% white and 77% male),

what rouses the most suspicion on whether these Oscar selections are unbiased is the actual campaigning studios perpetrate during awards season.

Film studios try their hardest to influence voters in favor of their films, and the richer a studio, the more money they have to work with. Studios do this by increasing select showings for the Academy audience, and advertising in publications, billboards and industry websites.

But the most notable tactic studios use to sway Academy members are late release dates. Most people will notice that ‘Oscarfriendly’ films tend to come out late in the year and it’s this strategic releasing that makes the films ‘fresh’ in the Academy voters minds as they are still featured in the press when it’s time to cast votes.

But why would these studios spend extra money just to ensure a trophy? Because that trophy brings in much more revenue.

Ira Kalb, a professor of marketing at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, has done research into how big the Oscar payoff could be for a victorious film.

When a film is Oscar nominated or wins, studios use that achievement in marketing campaigns as a validation stamp to consumers and it increases their desire to see the films and the talent honored. Kalb said it also keeps the movies in theaters longer, boosting box office receipts, and it substantially increases DVD, streaming, download, and cable TV revenues.

A prime example of all this is Leonardo Dicaprio’s Oscar campaign. Aside from “The Revenant’s” late release, the studio has done an amazing job of glorifying Dicaprio’s hardships as an actor in this film.

By describing the awful conditions Dicaprio filmed “The Revenant,” in and just how far he took his role as a method actor, the studio humanized Dicaprio and made him appealable on an emotional level.

It was more than just his talent that got him an Oscar nomination and maybe even a win. It was his image.

The idea of a hard working actor trying to catch a break and get recognition for his long film career is one that hits home with fellow artists who have felt that same struggle.

And it’s not just Leo; when Natalie Portman was nominated for best actress in a drama for “Black Swan,” in 2010, Fox Searchlight Studios put out every interview they could advertising that Portman had trained for months so that she could do most of the pointe work herself.

However, controversy arose when her dancing double, Sarah Lane, talked about her own lack of recognition for her dancing in the movie and talked about how little dancing Portman actually did. “They were trying to create this façade that [Portman] had become a ballerina in a year and a half,” Lane said in an interview with Wendy Perron. “So I knew they didn’t want to publicize anything about me.”

While these films were worthy of their respective nominations, it’s important to wonder if the movies got their wins from an objective critique or from a sentimental, heartfelt image that a studio executive painted about the actors.

In light of these campaigns, it’s important to understand that these endeavors make it harder for underfunded movies and talents to be recognized. In the end, the Academy isn’t the one to determine how great a movie is; that’s a personal choice.

infographic by Erin Barchet

arts & entertainment

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feature photo by Abby Kempf

Orchestrated in perfect harmony

Students appreciate the beauty and benefits of playing instruments abby kempf

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earning to play an instrument is not easy. It takes hours of determination, practice and sometimes tears.

So why do students continue to slave over their violin for hours? It is all the things that come with the work, junior Alli Foster said.

“Playing the cello, or really playing any instrument, has a lot of benefits. Music isn’t just the act of playing an instrument, but it is also a community. Being involved in the school orchestra has given me a group of people who all share a common interest,” Foster said. “Music is also a very versatile hobby. Playing the cello is something that I will always be able to do. I can continue playing in orchestras in high school, college and in my community. I can play in small ensembles for events, competitions or just for fun. I can use music

to get scholarships for college.”

Senior violinist Danielle Wu agrees with Foster’s sentiments, saying that the teamwork aspect of playing in ensembles has given her an insight into job environments that require open communication and indepth collaboration.

“You work together to make the whole piece sound harmonious, therefore you have to give and take,” Wu said. “Your teammates sometimes have to critique you, and therefore I have learned how to be part of a team through taking others’ advice and also critiquing others.”

Foster has cherished her time in the RBHS orchestra, playing in the Chamber Orchestra, the advanced, audition-only group. She has also been in MOSS (Missouri Symphony Society) an elite orchestra for high schoolers.

“My favorite part of being in orchestra is playing. It is one thing

to play my cello on my own in my room, but a whole other thing to play with seven other cellos, as well as violins, violas and basses,” Foster said.

“Playing in an orchestra is amazing.

It is one of the coolest things in the world to be able to turn a bunch of boring sheet music into real music.”

Besides the obvious benefits, music also develops the brain in unique ways. Music education helps students to succeed in core curriculum, as well. It improves recall and retention of verbal information, boosts math achievement, strengthens reading and English skills and improves SAT scores, according to Arts Education Partnership. Additionally, the organization reports that receiving music education in youth raises students’ self-esteem and strengthens their perseverance, as they learn to tackle hard pieces.

“Music is proven to be one of the only activities that trains both sides

of the brain. I have benefited from music not only in orchestra but in other classes as well,” Wu said. “By training my brain, music has made me more focused and determined to excel in other areas of my life.”

Band director Steve Mathews agrees with Wu, noting that his students excel in school holistically as well as in band.

“Three or four of the seniors that graduated valedictorian last year were band kids and we only had 29 seniors last year in band,” Mathews said.

Mathews also said that his students have an advantage when applying for future jobs because musical abilities, along with playing in a band, signal to employers that these candidates know how to work as a team.

“Companies look to hire people that have music degrees because they know that these people can work well with others,” Mathews said. “If a per-

son fails in math, it just hurts them, but if a person doesn’t put in effort in band, it hurts the entire band.”

While neither Foster nor Wu are interested in music as a full-time career, both are sure that this valuable hobby will not leave their lives, nor the positive impacts of the productive pastime.

“Even if I don’t plan on pursuing music as a career, my musical ability is something I will always have.

Not to mention, I think I picked one of the best instruments. The cello is amazing. When I play the cello, I basically sit with my body wrapped around the instrument, so when I play I can actually feel the vibrations the strings make. It feels like I am sitting inside the music,” Foster said. “I love the cello, and I love all of the opportunities that it has given me for the future, as well as the enjoyment I get from the cello everytime I sit down to play.”

A tradition tipped over nicole schroeder

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he annual lip-sync and dance competition, Golden Cow, has been cancelled in the 2015-16 school year for the first time since it’s creation in 1993. With only three groups signed up this year to compete in the event, the RBHS Student Council voted to cancel Golden Cow for the sake of student time and interest.

Senior Hannah Pohl, a member of Student Council, said while the decision was disappointing, there simply weren’t enough competitors enrolled to allow the competition to happen.

“The unfortunate truth is we only had three teams sign up, and it’s difficult to put together a show like Golden Cow with just three teams,” Pohl said. “We didn’t have a lot of interest specifically from the underclassmen, and I’m personally upset by that because I think Golden Cow is a wonderful event and a great tradition that I hope lives on after this year.”

For the three groups that had previously signed up to compete in Golden Cow, Student Council is offering them an opportunity to perform at the Courtwarming assembly. Still, senior Clayton Warder, who planned to compete in a Golden Cow group known as “The Calf Strators,” is disheartened at the prospect of not being able to compete in Golden Cow. “We’re disappointed. We fully understand that it is a lot to put on and ask people to pay for when there would only be three acts,” Warder said. “I wish they had really gotten the word out [or] made it so more people knew about it.”

Competitors aren’t the only ones affected by the cancellation. In the past, the event has served as a fundraiser for local charities,

and was first formed to help raise money for Rockin’ Against Multiple Sclerosis (RAMS), a movement at the University of Missouri-Columbia and in conjunction with Hickman High School.

This year, the proceeds from the event were to be donated to the True Life Fund through the True/False Film festival. However, Civics Studies teacher Kelley Wittenborn, who was helping to organize this year’s Golden Cow, said no other fundraiser has been planned despite the event’s cancellation.

“That was the main difficulty for us in cancelling — the loss of an opportunity to donate to a charity,” Wittenborn said. “Because of this, we are planning on having much of the proceeds from Courtwarming ... go to a charity that the King nominees will select.”

Pohl said the largest problem the school faces with Golden Cow’s cancellation, however, is the continuation of such a tradition at RBHS. “Usually it’s a really popular event, so [Student Council] was kind of surprised when so few teams signed up,” Pohl said. “I hope that the tradition lives on for future years. The underclassmen on Student Council will definitely work to keep the tradition up and running.”

Though Wittenborn was upset at the cancellation, she understands why Student Council made the decision. She said she hopes it doesn’t deter students from participating in the event in the future.

“Cancelling traditioned events at RBHS is not something we take lightly, but ultimately it was decided that ... there was a lack of interest this year,” Wittenborn said. “I am hoping next year we can get some ideas going on how to breathe new life into Golden Cow and make it something the students really look forward to.”

photo by Bruce Wilson

infographic by Shelby Yount; Source: Dr. Jennifer Rukstad, Principal

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commentaries

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Teachers leave more than just an education nicole schroeder

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Take a breather

skyler froese

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hat makes drowning frightening isn’t the feeling of not breathing or sinking; the scary part is not knowing if you will ever come back up. I came face-to-face with this fear for the first time when I was four-years-old at a waterpark, stuck under a hoard of vacationers in a wave pool.

I met this fear for the second time this past semester. A whirlpool of vacationers became a swift current of classes and extracurriculars that swept me out in a sea of loneliness and anxiety.

I dropped my AUT and enrolled in challenging, time-consuming classes. Obviously this would be more than enough for a normal person, so it makes sense to play the sport with 5:30 a.m. practices and take on additional extracurriculars. I can’t claim that I had no idea that this would be a concoction for disaster, but I did my best to justify it. “If I can get through life not being fun right now, it will be worth it later.”

To achieve highly, I need to be a little selfish; it is MY success after all.

The pursuit of a jacked resume was blinding. I woke up before the sun for swimming, thus walking downstairs to go to practice and finding my dad awake making coffee was bewildering,

to say the least.

“I just wanted to spend some time with you, stranger.”

I started to add up the hours in my head. I go to practice before they wake up, and I’m usually at home around five p.m. I try to be in bed around 10, so that’s five hours at home. Of those five hours, three hours are usually spent at my desk trying to chip at the mountain of homework in front of me.

Two hours. That’s it. Just two hours a day with my family.

I wanted to believe that this was just a side effect of hard work and that it would go away as the semester went on. But seeing my dad up at this hour just so he could say ‘hi’ to his eldest child broke my heart. Resent for my busy schedule set in, as did irritation for myself making this mess.

The resentment wasn’t red hot anger. It was freezing. It nipped at my heart and my mind, and its frost started to cover everything I touched. I stopped eating and my exhaustion and stress replaced my appetite. It chipped away at even more of my precious hours of sleep.

The people around me saw the change. It wasn’t lunch if at least one friend didn’t say to me that they were worried about me. Even my teachers remarked on how tired I looked. These comments were only met with scorn and dismissal, but then, like a crack of

lightning, came my realization of their validity.

From the start of school to the Thursday of finals week I did everything in my power to always operate at 110 percent. As I worked silently on homework in the wee hours of the morning, a single tear rolled down my cheek. It was perplexing but they just kept coming. From my prior experience, I thought you should know why you’re sad before you start crying.

A good five minutes passed, and I realized something. I was miserable. I had spent the last few months miserable. In that single moment I realized that happiness and health right now isn’t worthless, I could die at anytime.

My schoolwork isn’t what makes me worthy. I’ll graduate, go to college, get a job and a precalc quiz won’t be what follows me through those next few decades; it’ll be my friends and family.

It has been my recent mission to take a step back and spend more time with my family. This isn’t to say I have disregarded my grades; I still care about them, they just aren’t my sole focus.

School is important, and you should give it your best. But it’s not more important than your health or happiness.

As we create our schedules for the next year, remember this; it isn’t worth lopping off an AUT and signing up for AP classes if we just drown in them.

art by Shelby Yount

o matter how much I try to convince myself I’m a senior this year, it’s hard to imagine I’m reaching the end of my thirteen-year journey through grade school, much less what my future holds afterward. The move to college next year will bring new friends, new classes and new teachers.

Of course, every school year has some form of this adjustment. Even in middle school, I remember eagerly awaiting the chance to see which friends I shared classes with.

Yet, at a time when I was more concerned with when my friends had lunch than with the classes I was taking, I never realized the impact some of that year’s teachers might later have on my life, from their unique lessons or their eagerness to listen to my own aspirations and help me pursue them.

Mrs. Lewis in second grade created a “snowflake factory,” teaching us about opportunity cost with the pipe-cleaner ornaments we made for our family and friends.

In fourth grade, Ms. Neyens — now Mrs. McCarty, though I’ve never quite been able to convince myself to use her new name — fostered my love of reading with her kind, perky personality.

Even in ninth grade, my English teacher, Mr. Konieczny, took interest in my passions and encouraged me throughout the year to pursue them further, whether that meant reading over work I sent him on winter break or sending messages on the educational social media site, Edmodo, during the summer to see how things were going.

Some of the influential teachers in my life weren’t even my teachers to begin with. During the two years I spent at Jefferson Junior High School (JJHS), I spent time as an office runner and managed to befriend many of the teachers at the school during the course of those two years. Despite seeing them for only a few minutes every week, they still managed to leave a lasting impact on me. I quickly found them to be adults I could go to when I needed help with an issue or simply as people who would offer a kind smile in the halls.

It was this group of teachers, unfortunately, that was easiest to forget to thank when it came to the end of the semester and, later, the school year. Looking back, I wish I would’ve taken the time to tell them how influential they had been in making JJHS my favorite school and in being some of my favorite teachers in my school career up to that point.

Now, as I prepare to move off to yet another school next year, I recognize the move I am preparing to make is so much more final than any previous transition. Yet while I face such a change, large in its own right, I hope I am able to keep in mind the changes I have faced to get to this point and remember those teachers that have helped lead me to where I am today.

Without those teachers at JJHS, I never would’ve come to enjoy my two years there as much as I did. Without Mr. Konieczny, I never would’ve developed my love for writing, nor would I have considered taking journalism in high school, the path that I now plan to declare my major.

Without Mrs. Lewis or Ms. Neyens, I wouldn’t have ever known how much fun learning could be, as long as I found the things I was passionate about. Without amazing teachers throughout grade school, I never would’ve become the person I am today.

While so many others, like me, are getting ready to say goodbye to their friends and classmates, I hope we all remember to thank our teachers. It is that group of educators that have been there for us, helping us pursue our passions and further chase our ambitions with every lesson they give and test they grade. And, when we look back on our time in grade school, it will be those teachers who have made the biggest impact on our lives, even if it might be in the smallest ways.

New experiences could revolutionize your life abby kempf

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y the time I was in fourth grade, I had decided that I would become a stage actress. Something was exhilarating about being on stage and hearing the audience react.

I took classes at a local youth theatre company and acted in many of their productions. When it came time for me to pick classes in middle school and high school, Performing Arts and Musical Productions topped my course request lists.

My sophomore year I was in biology, the required science class that year. My teacher, Mrs. Graham, conferenced with me asking what science class I was going to take the next year. I replied that I was going to take chemistry and be done. She gave me the stink eye.

She strongly suggested that I take AP Biology to get it out of the way, as many colleges require it at some point. Her advice, bordering on praise as she said I was excelling in Honors Biology and that I could do the same in AP Biology, put me on the edge. Should I take it? At the last second as I was filling out my sheet, I jotted down AP Bio in the small box.

Throughout the next year, my life truly changed. I stopped doing shows all year long and dedicated time to USA Biology Olympiad, studying for AP Biology exams and eventually applying for the Uni-

versity of Missouri Mini Medical School.

With a letter of recommendation from Graham, I was accepted to the camp.

At the camp I was immersed in the world of medicine, and I fell completely in love.

From suturing a pig’s foot to giving a pregnant woman an ultrasound, I was fascinated. I emerged from the camp with a sense of self and of my future; I left determined to become a surgeon after I completed a microsurgery test designed for fourth-year surgical residents at the University of Missouri Hospital on my first try. I felt I had a real talent for something meaningful for the first time.

Later that summer I had a very different medical experience; this time I was the one in the patient bed. Because I had severe scoliosis, I needed a spinal fusion surgery. I met Dr. Hoernschemeyer, the orthopedic surgeon who would perform the surgery.

At first I hated him, as he was a symbol of the unhappiness being inflicted upon me. When it was time for the surgery, I felt my anger melt to panic, though. There were major risks: such as paralysis and even death. I was trusting so much to a despised stranger.

However, waking up several hours later that day, even though I was overcome with pain and could barely wiggle my toes, I felt relief. When Dr. Hoern-

schemeyer told me to squeeze his hands, a weak smile crept on my face.

I learned the importance of patient care and discovered surgeons don’t always work on sedated patients. They have to break hard news. They have to deal with an array of emotions, even unreasonable ones. Surgeons have to calm people and convince them that despite the risks, they can help people live better lives.

By opening myself up and agreeing to do something different than what I had originally planned, I was able to tap into a part of myself that I may have never realized otherwise. Now, I am set to double major in biology and neuroscience while following the pre-medical coursework and requirements, a plan that I would never have pursued had I not agreed to try out AP Biology.

When I had to have surgery, I allowed myself to put my anger aside and notice all the lessons that this world-class surgeon in front of me had to offer and what insights I could get into my intended career.

As a high schooler, it is impossible to know what you are going to be doing or where you are going to be in ten years (so parents, family and friends, please stop asking) and that is OK. Embrace obstacles because while you are on a detour around them you might find an even better path.

feature photo of author at the UM-C’s Mini Medical School (author on right)

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