The Rock October 2014

THE

ROCK

photo by Devesh Kumar

Volleyball puts away Smith-Cotton to win district tournament READ STORY ON C3

Rock Bridge High School • 4303 S. Providence Rd. • Columbia Mo, 65203 • Vol. 42, Issue 2 • October 30, 2014

Amendment 3 to be on Tuesday’s ballot J enna L iu

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photo by Alice Yu

Be prepared: Students rush out of the school during an intruder drill Oct. 23. These drills are in response to school shootings in the United States.

RBHS simulates intruder drill to gain experience L uke C hval

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fter a slew of school attacks led by crazed shooters in the last decade, two years ago CPS decided to change its policy regarding intruders to the ALICE system. ALICE, an acronym for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate instructs students to flee the school if possible, barricade classrooms and arm themselves with possible weapons in the case of an intruder.

“Before, students were instructed to stay in their classrooms and hide under their desks. But, then, people realized that this was actually more dangerous because the students were sitting ducks,” RBHS resource officer Keisha Edwards said. “Now, we instruct students to try and leave the building if they can. Otherwise, students should barricade the door so the intruder can’t come in, and fight if he does.”

Administrators implemented this policy even further when they initi-

ated an intruder drill using ALICE routines and a fake intruder roaming the school Oct. 23. Students and teachers were directed over the announcement system about the intruder’s whereabouts so that they could enact ALICE routines.

“The assistant director of safety and Security for the school district portrayed the intruder,” Assistant Principal Dr. Tim Baker said. “The head safety and security director was out ill today, so the assistant director was the ‘bad guy’.”

Both Baker and Edwards characterized the students’ reaction to the drill as “taking it seriously,” however studies teacher Chris Fischer raised several concerns about how relaxed the execution of the drill was, hindering the purpose of the drill.

“At some point it was alarming,” Fischer said. “I think that if it would have been a real intruder I think we had disorganization, and I think we need to reinforce to the kids that you have to get away from where the intruder is at; there is never a

time where you stand in line and wait for people.”

Although some students may have been surprised and walked out of the building slowly and indifferently, senior Madeline Kuligowski had a different experience trying to leave the building during the drill.

“Well we heard the announcement over the intercom,” Kuligowski said. “And then we just all kind of sprinted out of the building as fast as we could.”

Kuligowski voiced her own concerns about the intruder drill, that the school only accounted for students who were in the classroom, which was an ideal scenario.

“I think that they need to simulate what would happen if students were to be at lunch or leaving for their AUT or walking to the Career Center,” Kuligowski said. “Any time when they’re not in a classroom setting because I feel like those are very probable situations and they need to be covered.”

Baker stressed this first drill was a test run, and there will be more

to come. Such new drills could include solutions to the problems Fischer and Kuligowski noted.

“In my opinion it was a large success because we found a ton of areas of efficiency, but there were a lot of mistakes,” Baker said. “That’s okay; that’s the only way we’re going to learn. So in my mind it was a huge success in that we know exactly what we need to fix, and there’s a lot to fix. We are going to be doing it...in the next two weeks.”

Whether or not they cover all the bases needed for an adequate intruder policy, the drills are an important foundation for such a policy so that repetition and constant preparedness bode well for RBHS. “We need to wake up a little bit from the ‘It’s not going to happen here’ mentality,” Baker said. “I think it’s dangerous, and if it does happen here I want us to be 100 percent prepared. And you know what, who says it can’t happen here? So I think the reason we need to do it is because we’ve kind of ignored it as a possibility for too long.”

n Tuesday, some seniors will vote for the first time. As they file into their polling places, they may keep in mind one issue that will affect their younger classmates and their teachers.

The ballot features proposed Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3, which would implement performance evaluations of teachers that would be used to determine whether or not a teacher should be dismissed, retained, demoted or promoted.

Supporters of the amendment tout its ability to reward teachers for their hard work, which would ultimately result in better student performance. Teachgreat. org, backed by Rex Sinquefield, a Missouri businessman, supports the amendment, which would lessen tenure and tie teacher evaluations to student performance.

“Many of the good [teachers] leave and go onto something else, and the bad ones stay,” Sinquefield said at Lindenwood University two months ago.

Jennifer Black Cone, who is the chair of the Working Conditions committee for the Columbia affiliate of Missouri National Educators, said while some parts of the public school system need reworking, Missouri voters should aid in reform by demanding smaller classes, paying teachers better and fully funding the Foundation Formula — a piece of 2005 state legislation that was intended to close the gap between rich and poor school districts.

At the start of September, Teachgreat. org rethought its support of the amendment and withdrew its active campaigning and financial backing, citing a lack of public support as the reason.

However, teachers such as Cone will still fight against the chance, although slim, that voters will vote in favor of the amendment come Nov. 4. Cone, an English teacher, is against the idea of using standardized test results to determine teacher pay, saying teachers and local school districts will lose control of education and teach to a test.

“I am adamantly against [Amendment 3,]” Cone said. “They [teachers] Story continued on page A2

All juniors to take ACT at no cost during school day in April D erek W ang

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very year, juniors and seniors take the ACT many times over the year, spending $38-$54.50 each time, depending on whether or not they take the writing portion as well.

On April 28, RBHS will have the chance to take the ACT for free. The state passed the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) 5 last year, enacting the second part of it this year. MSIP 5 measures school effectiveness and focuses on college and career readiness.

One aspect of this plan is to offer the ACT to all juniors for free. Director of Guidance Betsy Jones said that the state

is now funding for all schools to administer the ACT to all juniors.

“Since the state is funding it, it is now possible for the school district to offer it,” Jones said. “[The state] is looking for students who have taken a college entrance exam, whether that is ASVAB, Compass, SAT or ACT, and have scored over the state and national average.”

Because of the legal mandate for schools to serve lunch, the testing will have to be interrupted. This, along with our late start time, forces RBHS to apply to the ACT officials in order to have special permission to have extended breaks and start the test after 8 a.m.,

the time the ACT usually starts.

“The only problem is how we are going to fit it in during the school day,” Jones said.

“We are offering the full ACT including the writing portion, so taking into account the socio-demographic stuff that happens at the beginning and the natural breaks that you have in between the testing, the total test time will be about five hours and 15 minutes. We are still working out the details on how we are going to include lunch and still finish before school ends.”

Jones said she is glad RBHS is able to offer every junior the chance to take the ACT. She believes it is a great opportunity for them to

measure their college readiness. Junior Catherine Maring agrees with Jones, saying taking the test will allow juniors to judge how much they need to study for the ACT. “I think it’s definitely a helpful thing,” Maring said.

“Some families that might be monetarily strained would definitely be helped out by this, and it could help others make a goal that they could study for.”

AP World Studies teacher Greg Irwin believes that every student should take the ACT. Irwin thinks the ACT is one of the best ways to measure college readiness. Irwin said he believes the test will also increase in importance to students now that the state is

photo by Sury Rawat

emphasizing it more.

“I think this will be very helpful to juniors,” Irwin said. “I think just the potential for what happens on Friday nights, culturally, differs enough from what happens on, say, a Tuesday night that

they’re more likely to get a good night’s sleep and do the things that prepare your mind best for testing. I think you have the potential to see an increase in scores across the state of Missouri, and certainly here at Rock Bridge.”

FEATURES

IN-DEPTHS

STEM female participation fails to grow

A multitude of fragments

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rowing up in St. Louis, senior Michelle Yang had always held the dubious honor of being one of the only girls in her math classes.

The self-described “Hermione Granger, but 10 times worse” had always been surrounded by strong, intelligent females...

Read the story on page B1

ISSUE inside this

News • • • • • • • • • A1 Foreign Affairs • • • • • A4 Editorials • • • • • • • A5 Commentary • • • • • • • A7 Features • • • • • • • • B1

photo by Caylea Erickson

In-Depths • • • • • • A&E • • • • • • • Sports • • • • • • • • S&T • • • • • • • • • H&W • • • • • • • •

veryone has a passion, and senior Sarah Freyermuth’s passion is for people. As an extrovert, she gets her energy from being around others; she loves listening to their stories, hearing their problems and being emotionally and physically available to her friends at all times...

Read the story on page B4

B3 B7 C1 C5 C6

BEARING NEWS For more constant, accurate coverage of Rock Bridge High School news, sports and other content, visit bearingnews.org

A2 NEWS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Teacher related amendment to be voted upon Story continued from page A1 will be penalized by pay or job security.”

Debra Perry, an Advanced Placement government and freshman Civics teacher, said she also does not support the amendment.

Nevertheless, she believes it would not change her interaction with students in the classroom because she tries to create engaging lessons where students actively participate.

“It’s a paper and pencil exam because that’s fast and cheap and you do active learning in the classroom to promote thinking and Socratic discussion and all that but now we’re going to ask you to show that on a multiple choice or even constructed response that somehow there is a disconnect between the two to me,” Perry, who has taught in Texas schools, said. “If they could come up with a standard that actually evaluated that and showed progress, then that would be different, but I think that at the end of the day I have to ... ask, ’What is good teaching? What does learning look like?’ and then that’s what you have to try to bring every day.”

Senior Brianne Arnett said that she does not anticipate any major modifications in the way her classes

photo by Madelyn Stewart

Overpassing the representatives: ThinkGreat.org, an educational organization, initiated the amendment through a petition with signatures. Committees in the Missouri legislature in recent years have dismissed most of the ideas posited in the amendment. Amendment 3 will be on the ballot Tuesday, Nov. 4. are taught if the amendment manages to pass.

“Teachers already do a good job of teaching, and like, I don’t think this will change much,” Arnett said.

Arnett, who is 18 and eli-

gible to vote next Tuesday, believes one standardized test is not an accurate measurement of a teacher’s ability to do his or her job.

“Some people just aren’t the best at taking tests and

some people just don’t try on standardized tests, even if the teacher taught them the information,” Arnett said.

“That shouldn’t reflect upon the teacher.”

Ultimately, using one as-

sessment to configure an evaluation of a teacher’s skill is not reasonable, Perry said.

“We’re not creating widgets here,” Perry said. “It’s complex. People come with

different experiences and backgrounds and needs and so how is this one thing the measure of that? It doesn’t take into account the complexity of what education is about.”

Bill gives teachers ability to carry guns L uke C hval

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infographic by Claire Simon

ince the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, multiple politicians have advocated for an administrator or teacher in each school to carry a gun.

Teachers in Missouri are able to carry guns in schools if the city permits open carry of weapons and the school district allows it.

Columbia currently permits open carry; however, CPS prohibits weapons on school premises.

Missouri Senate Bill 656 would give permission to districts to choose one designated gun carrier within the school, something the districts already can do.

However, the bill has several stipulations; for instance, the designated carrier must go through rigorous training and the school board must hold a public forum about the topic, districts aren’t compelled to assign a carrier.

The bill also lowers the

age of concealed carry of a weapon from 21 to 19.

Some members of CPS are concerned about the ramifications of teachers carrying guns in a classroom environment.

“Teachers are teachers,” CPS Superintendent Peter Stiepleman said. “That’s their job. Law enforcement are the only ones who should carry firearms.”

RBHS is unlikely to have a teacher or administrator carry a gun in the future, most likely because it has a school resource officer, Keisha Edwards, who is a Columbia Police Officer and therefore is a gun carrier within the school.

“I know RBHS already has an officer that’s armed,” junior Wendy Zhang said.

“And I think if school administrators are trained properly then it could be good for safety, but I’d prefer for the armed adult to be professionally filling a specialized position.”

Assistant Principal of Operations Brian Gaub be-

lieves the policy would be For those responsible for unnecessary for RBHS be- school safety, most school cause of the quick arrival shootings have only one or time of police to the school two shooters, with the Sanand the resource officer al- dy Hook shooting having ready stationed in the build- one while the 1999 Columing. However, in schools far bine High School massacre from law enforcement, the had two shooters, meaning policy may be beneficial as Edwards would unlikely be school shootings can occur outnumbered during an atin a slim period of time; the tack at RBHS. Sandy Hook shooting had Another carrier could unpolice arrive more than five doubtedly provide extra supminutes after it started. port against such a shooter; “When I think about however, the addition of the entire state, I can envi- guns to a school would not sion areas where an armed necessarily be beneficial. teacher/ “The administraposiTeachers are teachers. tor would tives of That’s their job. Law be a conthis bill enforcement are the sideration,” are that only ones who should Gaub said. it could carry firearms.

“There are stop a Peter Stiepleman schools in p o s CPS Superintendent Missouri sible where there intruder is no local law enforce- in the event of an emerment. Since those schools gency,” freshman Hannah are faced with long response Potter said. “But if the gun times from county or state was not properly stored, a police, their local board student could get a hold of it may want to consider the and harm other people or if option.” the administrator did not use

the gun properly, it could harm a student.”

Despite this, if the policy were enacted at CPS, the most likely candidates as gun carriers would be the two security directors for the district. The assistant director of safety and security for CPS acted as a false intruder during a drill, Oct. 23.

“People in our district continue to discuss if our two security coordinators, both retired police officers, should be allowed to carry firearms,” Gaub said.

“There are plenty of details or protocols districts will need to address if they are going to allow plainclothes individuals to be armed.

Law enforcement personnel responding to an active crime scene are required to quickly make very serious decisions. I believe any armed plainclothes individuals who may be responding to a crime scene should be well known to local law enforcement and the staff of the schools.”

NEWS A3

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Phone theft increases, causes unease in students G race V ance

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uring art class last year, sophomore Julia Bower set her iPhone 4 down on the table and walked to the lightbox across the room. She had been working on her project for around a week and was just about to finish.

When she returned to the table where she sat, her phone was missing, with only her tablemates to look to for explanation. They told her someone from another class had come in and taken it. Bower did not know what to say. Her phone was gone.

About two to four phones are reported stolen at RBHS every day, assistant principal Dr. Lisa Nieuwenhuizen said. These numbers do not include items stolen that were not reported, but rather reflect a high level of theft within the school even before recorded instances are held into account.

Last year, there were seven recorded thefts; however, the school cannot identify how many of those incidents involved phones.

Although Dr. Deborah Greene has not been assistant principal at RBHS for long, since her arrival two school years ago, she has seen a growing number of thefts. Along with phones, she said unattended backpacks and calculators have become common things thieves target, but these are not the only items they look out for.

“People want new phones and expensive tennis shoes, [which] are the most common items [people steal],” Greene said. “Theft is pretty common lately.”

Many of these reports are not recorded, as it is often difficult to track down who stole the phone. So far this year there have been zero recorded theft reports, further supporting the idea of how difficult it is to find the thief. In Bower’s case, she ended up finding out who stole it from assistant principal Tim Baker.

“I talked to Dr. [Tim] Baker, and he figured out the person [who stole it] and got it back, but they had stolen my SIM card, so my phone was completely reset,” Bower said. “I ended up getting it back, but all the data was erased from it, so I lost pictures, contacts [and] music.”

The thought that someone could steal her phone had never come to mind before, and the theft left her feeling sad and shocked. Nevertheless, Bower was lucky. The iPhone was back in her hands within an hour from the time she realized it was gone. For most cases, people don’t get their phone back quickly or at all, according to a survey from Consumer Reports.

The survey also found that 1.4 million smartphones were lost and never recovered in 2013.

“It is difficult to locate items once they are stolen,” Greene said. “Students can help by put-

ting pass codes on cellphones as well as any an- niors who’ve never had anything taken from ti-theft apps like ‘Find my iPhone’. People will them a day in their life,” Edwards said. “It’s pick up any item that looks to be unattended; kind of a hard lesson to learn.” [the school] could probably benefit from antiCertain places have activity that make it more likely for theft to occur. A place like the theft informational meetings.”

According to a survey conducted by Look- locker room is prone to theft, Edwards said, beout Security Firm, 44 percent of smartphones cause students have to take their phone off and were stolen because the owner left it in a public set it somewhere “like their locker” while they place. The survey also found that it wasn’t the get ready for class.

Another area is the main commons where physical device that was valuable to the theft victims; it was the data stored on them. people sit and eat lunch. Students often set their phone down and forget about With the SIM card that held important pictures it, she said. Both places in the and contacts forever gone, Students can help by school are populated during Bower got an iPhone 5. putting pass codes on most of the school day which Since the incident, she said cellphones as well as is why there are so many thefts in those areas. she feels more protective any anti-theft apps...

“It’s a situation where some over her things, now using Deborah Green of it is irresponsibility,” Eda passcode to secure her RBHS assistant principal wards said. “Some of it is just phone. people creating some sort of Having worked as a student resource officer here for four school years, damage to break into something. They’ve broKeisha Edwards has had a lot of involvement in ken into lockers before [and] bent them back. dealing with theft at RBHS. Although she disci- I've seen both sides of it, but either way it goes, plines the students behind many theft cases, she it's still theft, no matter how you look at it.”

The school has taken precautions, like postsaid her level of involvement depends on the situation. The assistant principals only handle ing surveillance cameras. In some cases assiscertain things; other times, if students imme- tant principals and Edwards watch the recorddiately realize their device is stolen, as Bower ing in attempt to catch the thief, but this does did, they will ask her if anybody has turned in not mean whoever enters and exits the cited area is the person who did it. a phone.

“This is high school, so a lot of kids talk,” Edwards said she has seen many instances where students, especially lower classmen, will Edwards said, “and so if you normally wait a leave their device out without realizing that little bit, somehow the story will come back around in regards to if someone saw anything someone could take it.

“I’ve seen that a lot with my freshmen and or heard anything."

According to the handbook, the school is not sophomore class and sometimes even my se-

feature photo by Sury Rawat

Eye on the prize: Expensive phones such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy are common targets for phone thieves. After acquiring the phone, the burglar will often extract and delete personal data including contacts, photos and music— decreasing the value of the device for the owner.

responsible for electronic items, which might discourage students from carrying them.

“So the school’s taking the position [of if] you bring the cell phone to school or some sort of electrical product like an iPad or an iPod,” Edwards said. “That they’re not responsible for it because they want the ownership to be on you guys.”

The district has recently installed restorative practices for disciplinary action, which involves a conference with the troubled student. Green said these meetings focus on how their actions affect others. The goal of this practice, she said, is to bring restoration to the damaged relationship of the students’ involved in the situation.

If students return an item they stole, Green said there may be a small disciplinary action, like a Saturday Detention or community service, but, she said “it is often difficult to find the culprit in many cases.”

If the thief is found, the victim of the crime can choose to press charges. Normally, Edwards said, it’s the parents who press charges.

Most parents who pay the bill hold the position as owner of the phone, rather than the student who is the user of the phone.

One in 10 smartphone owners become victim to phone theft, according to Lookout Security Firm. Two in five victims have their phones stolen from personal belongings, such as messenger bags. To reduce this number at RBHS, Greene said administrators remind students to “take care of their personal items” and encourage kids to be aware of their surroundings. “[To reduce theft students can keep] an eye on their things, keeping things locked up properly,” Greene said. “Not allowing others to borrow personal items which can then be taken by someone else.”

Since senior April Muench recently upgraded her old keyboard slider phone to a Samsung Galaxy Alpha, she has become increasingly wary of the potential of theft. According to Micro-Trax, In the United States 133 phones are stolen a minute. Now that Muench owns a smartphone, she makes sure to keep track of her device.

“I’m always a little bit worried because smart phones have become so popular these days [and] now that I have a smartphone it’s more likely to get stolen,” Muench said. “I wasn’t really worried about anyone stealing [my old phone,] but now that I have a nicer phone, if I left it around somewhere it will definitely get stolen. I think [phone theft] partly has to do with the quality of the phone — [people can] resell those phones for money — part of it is people just not being responsible. If you leave your phone out somewhere, it’s likely to get stolen.”

Year-round schedule may come in future L uke C hval

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ear-round scheduling, a system that excludes a three month long summer break, could become a reality for Columbia Public Schools in the distant future.

CPS Superintendent, Peter Stiepleman, is a supporter of the year-round schedule, believing that a long summer break is detrimental to student’s academic abilities.

“As a superintendent, it is my responsibility to respond to community needs. Sometimes they are feasible and sometimes they are not,” Dr. Stiepleman said. “With yearround schools, I am a supporter of a modified school calendar that eliminates long breaks.

Summer loss of knowledge is a major influence in drops in achievement for students.”

The potential schedule has several variations, with a prevailing one in many year-round schools across the country being nine weeks of school, then three weeks of vacation, which includes the same holiday breaks CPS has now, such as Thanksgiving break and winter break.

Districts across the country offer this type of scheduling, mostly at the elementary level. Jefferson County Public Schools, located in the Louisville Metropolitan Area in Kentucky, has seven yearround schools. Six of them are elementary schools and one is an alternative style high school.

Dr. Stiepleman and Dr. Tim Majerus, principal of Alpha Hart Elementary School, created a schedule plan five years ago in the event CPS decided

to adopt a year-round schedule.

Teachers such as Amanda Dablemont agree with Stiepleman, saying students’ learning has a negative reaction to a three month long break.

Dablemont believes yearround school can also help to facilitate teachers’ work.

“We could use days to grade tests together. We could use time to talk about best practices before the test,” Dablemont, a math teacher, said. “Ultimately, when summer hits, teachers don’t want to do anything. If we were paid to work all but two weeks of the year like most yearly workers, then we would be more motivated to work collectively, collaborating during those break times.”

Although some may believe year-round scheduling would be amazingly helpful to students and faculty, there is a strong possibility that it could interfere with athletics and extracurricular competitions.

“The current scheduling is inefficient and causes students to forget a lot,” junior Jesseca Alexander said. “It would be really hard to have a three week break in the middle of your season. We would still have practices probably, but you wouldn’t be able to play games during that time.”

Because the schedule of high school athletics is determined by MSHSAA, RBHS’ athletic seasons would not change because of a yearround schedule, meaning that athletes would most likely practice during breaks more often than they currently do, making it harder for them to take trips during breaks.

photo by Sury Rawat

Feeling the rush: Students flood the main entrance on Wednesday, Oct. 29 as a new school day begins. Currently, the school year only lasts nine months with a three month summer break in between, acting as a transition from one grade to the next.

“We would probably still just operate as we always have,” athletic director David Egan said. “Fall sports will start the first week of August and run through October, into November. Winter sports will start the first week of November and run into March, and spring sports will start the first week of March and run into late May, early June just as they currently do.”

Additionally, the change would create a necessity to pay teachers more who would be working more days out of the year, which is another impediment this idea is facing within Columbia.

“Part of it is financial. We are compensated by the state for a 174-day school year.

We get a different amount for summer school,” Stiepleman said. “But there may be op-

portunities to lobby a change.

North Kansas City started a year-round school this year, so we know it’s possible.”

Despite this economic obstacle, there is a benefit from the year-round schedule.

At-risk students who live in unstable homes or depend on school for meals would take a great advantage from shorter breaks and the possibility of more days in the school year.

“There are a lot of children who rely on school for breakfast and lunch,” Dablemont said. “This would definitely keep them fed a little more throughout the year and also keeps tabs on those kids when most of them do not have a stable environment to go home to for a summer. They wouldn’t go for 12 weeks without having someone check with them about their needs.”

A4 FOREIGN AFFAIRS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

KEY

received monetary aid

photo by Caylea Erickson

under US sanctions boots on the ground

I’m not exactly for United States sending arms to foreign bodies that are fighting against people who are considered our enemies, because those people usually tend to be our enemies as well.

Mickey Jamieson Junior

The Superpower in the World

The scope of the U.S. foreign involvement is very widereaching. In the last ten years, the United States aided almost all of Asia, Africa, South America and all of Central America.

Is America too involved in the world?

B rett S tover

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s one of the world’s most influential countries, the United States of America has a great deal of power in the sphere of international relations. One of the nation’s representatives sits on the United Nations Security Council. GlobalFirePower. com ranks the U.S. No. 1 in terms of overall military strength, ahead of Russia and China.

However, with the near-constant state of terroristic conflict abroad, some wonder whether or not the United States has the responsibility to help.

Dr. Paul Wallace, who has a Ph.D. from the University of CaliforniaBerkeley, and is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Missouri, is an expert on terrorism and foreign affairs. Among many other accomplishments, Wallace was an expert witness in the 2003 Air India trial and has edited many pieces regarding terrorism. Dr. Wallace thinks in recent history, the nation as a whole has favored increased U.S. military intervention.

“The overall trend line clearly has been [pro-]foreign intervention for the past few decades whether clearly justified, questionable or clearly wrong,” Wallace said. “The first Gulf

War under George [H. W.] Bush— Bush I—clearly is justified as a response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and [the threat he posed] to other key oil states in the Middle East. So is the invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11 and the refusal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to turn over Osama Bin Laden.”

While he believes many interventions like those are justified because of the obvious threats to U.S. interests, Wallace disapproves of other conflicts. For example, he thinks that the other half of the War on Terror, the invasion of Iraq, was more misguided.

“After deposing of the Taliban, the U.S. invasion of Iraq [was] based on false conclusions about [weapons of mass destruction] clearly was wrong and poorly implemented,” Wallace said. “It left a [power] vacuum in Iraq leading to Al Qaeda terrorism and [the current issue of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s] domination of almost a third of [Iraq] and part of Syria. The Iraq debacle also left an unsettled situation in Afghanistan.

In clear language, we didn’t finish the Taliban nor did we engage sufficiently so as to help provide a stable Afghan regime.”

Wallace thinks that although there are external threats like Islamic extremism which threaten the United

States in the Middle East, the big- has revolutionized warfare, but it gest issue facing the nation’s foreign has also caused a fervent debate. As interests is internal gridlock, which of last year, more than 2,200 people prevents the government from gov- have been killed by drone strikes, according to the Huffington Post. erning effectively.

“Realistically, [a drone] is another “Nonetheless, the biggest foreign threat to the U.S., in my opinion, is weapon that has entered military arthe stubborn refusal of the Tea Party senals,” Wallace said. “International Republicans to cooperate with the agreements will have to be reached President,” Wallace said. “At this in the manner of Geneva Agreements point in time, neither the Congressio- as to its proper use. Big questions renal Republicans, including those in main as to its use in a country where the Senate, nor the White House are you ostensibly are in peaceful, even communicating effectively with each supportive relations like Pakistan and Yemen. It carries other.

Political all the questions gridlock weakens A strong U.S. the U.S. so that it economically, militarily related to missiles, barrel bombs and is difficult to deal and politically is uranium with a range of foressential. Without these depleted in terms of indiseign threats.” ... the U.S. will continue criminate destrucAll these interto lurch from crisis to tive potential. It nal struggles, Walcrisis... also has the advanlace conjectures, Dr. Paul Wallace tages of pin-point have handicapped professor emeritus accuracy and close the United States intelligence gathwhen it comes to dealing with ISIS, the terroristic or- ering without threatening a pilot.”

Another similarly controversial ganization that he thinks is the most pressing foreign issue the country method of intervention is arms distribution. For decades, the United States faces.

In order to face the various non- has armed those in conflict with nagovernmental threats the United tions or other groups that it views States faces in the 21st century, the as threats. Examples of arms deals military has devised various new — gone wrong include the Iran-Contra and old — strategies to achieve the scandal under President Reagan and, upper hand. New drone technology more recently, arms intended for

Baseball star tragically dies

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t. Louis Cardinals’ Oscar Taveras passed away after a fatal car accident in the Dominican Republic on Oct. 26. Driving with his 18-year-old girlfriend, the 22-year-old baseball player lost control of his car and spiraled off the road, leading to both his and his girlfriend’s death.

The roads at the time of the crash were wet due to heavy rain. The Associated Press reported that he was driving at a “very high speed.”

Oct 26

Libyan rebels in 2012 falling into the wrong hands, according to the New York Times. Earlier this month, the Times discovered that even some of ISIS’ weapons and ammunition were of U.S. origin. Wallace views arms dealing as a potentially helpful strategy that could easily backfire.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend…except when that friend also is my enemy,” Wallace said. “So, we cooperate with Iran in Iraq against ISIS, but oppose Iran in Syria as it support our enemy Bashar Assad.

Similarly, with Russia we cooperate with Russia and vice versa in nuclear talks with Iran, but oppose Russia in the Ukrainian conflict. So, the complications regarding friends and foes as well as providing arms is situational and has to be done cautiously.

Sides can change, and so can ours arms be sold to our enemies as in Iraq and probably Afghanistan.”

Overall, Dr. Wallace believes the best way to prepare for any foreign threats is to have internal stability.

“A strong U.S., economically, militarily and politically is essential,” Wallace said. “Without these three pillars, the U.S. will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis without being capable of marshalling international support so as to deal with root problems before they blow up to ISIS proportions.”

It’s a tragedy. Cardinal fans and fans of all teams alike are devastated at the premature death of this promising young player.

Matt Orf senior NASA cargo rocket explodes

A

THIS MONTH IN NUMBERS People who attended the People’s Climate March in New York City Sept. 21. source: HuffingtonPost.com

8

400,000

Approximate number of days Congress will be in session between the end of July and the beginning of November. This is to allow congressmen to campaign before the Nov. 6 election. source: www.thewire.com

Approximate number of tortoises living today. Five decades ago, only 15 were alive. source: Reuters.com

61

1000

Age of Elizabeth Norment, an actress most known for her role as Frank Underwood’s secretary in the Netflix original series ‘House of Cards.’ She passed away on Oct. 28. source: LAtimes.com

n unmanned NASA rocket delivering over five tons of supplies to the International Space Station on the night of Oct. 27 exploded six seconds after takeoff. Set to leave Earth at 6:44 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island in Virginia, the NASA rocket inexplicably blew up.

The project cost approximately $1.9 billion, and since it was an unmanned aircraft, no one was hurt. The rocket held 15 percent more resources compared to previous missions, but was also outfitted with a more powerful engine.

An investigation will start to figure out how and why the rocket exploded, hoping to prevent this from happening in the future.

Oct 27

This Oct. 12, 2014 file photo shows St. Louis Cardinals’ Oscar Taveras hitting a home run during the seventh inning of Game 2 of the National League baseball championship series against the San Francisco Giants in St. Louis. Authorities say, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, Taveras has died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Statue of Liberty still stands

T

he Statue of Liberty celebrated its 128th birthday on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Almost a century and a half ago, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi began work on the statue with funding from France and the United States. Today, it stands as a national monument and a symbol of the Free World.

More than one million people gathered on Oct. 28, 1886 in Manhattan to watch in awe as the statue was lifted and put into place.

Oct 28

Stories by Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Kafi Sources: USA Today, thedailybeast.com, dailymail.co.uk

Follow this code to Bearing News

OP/ED A5

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Standardized tests do not test ability of teachers

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Art by Maddy Mueller

arly one Saturday morning, a high school senior sits down to the last of his standardized tests.

How he scores supposedly represents his intelligence and potential for college. However, his results are inconsistent and poorly reflect his competence.

He could take the test one week and do poorly, but the next week he could ace it.

In 2001 a study published by the Brookings Institution found 50-80 percent of score improvements from year to year were only temporary and had no connection to long-term learning changes, according to standardizedtestscores.procon.org. Because of the inaccuracy of the results, standardized testing cannot accurately measure a student’s abilities.

If exams fail to reflect what students are capable of, there is no way that they can reflect the abilities of their teachers.

Without a proper illustration of a teacher’s teaching abilities, it is impossible to logically determine a teacher’s abilities through the results. While there should be a way to measure teacher competency, standardized tests are not the answer for Missouri’s schools.

Incorporating Amendment 3 exams will raise the total number of tests students must take

between kindergarten and 12 grade from 27 to 290, according to examiner.net. This increased number will proportionally raise the demand on teachers to teach the test, a pressure that already encourages teachers to “drill and kill,” which leads to a decline in the amount of time used for complex assignments and highcognitive content, according to standardizedtestscores.procon. org. Additionally, in a 2007 survey by the Center for Educational Policy, 44 percent of school districts reported shortened curricular time spent on science, social studies and the arts by an average of 145 minutes per week with 75 percent of schools citing standardized tests as the reason.

Not only will students lose valuable curriculum in place of rote memorization for the endless examination required of them, they will lose interest in the tests themselves. In CPS, Common Core tests are often not included in students’ grades. In 2004, an English teacher at New Mexico’s Valley High School said many juniors didn’t take testing seriously, instead doodling on the test because it did not affect their grade, according to standardizedtestscores.procon.org. If students don’t see the value in the results, forcing them to take exams will lead to even worse representations of their

Country, media ignore school shootings as they become more common, normal B rett S tover

L

ast Friday, Jaylen Fryberg shot five students at his high school in Marysville, Washington and then turned the gun on himself.

Fryberg, a freshman, texted his victims to come to his lunch table, according to CNN. Zoe Galasso died shortly after, as did Fryberg. Gia Soriano died on Sunday due to her severe injuries. The three other victims are currently hospitalized.

The news of the shooting trended on Twitter for a few hours Friday afternoon.

Likewise, there were a few stories on news sites like Fox News and NBC. But, besides local media networks, relatively few articles have been written about the tragedy.

President Obama issued a short statement.

Really, there hasn’t been much reported.

What one can find on essentially every media network and on the tongue of every politician, however, is talk of Ebola. People are quarantined on suspicion of being infected. Those returning from Ebola hotspots overseas, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, are also automatically quarantined in states like New York and New Jersey.

All this hysteria is based off of three con-

firmed cases in the United States. Of those quarantines with those who could commit three, only one patient, who arrived from these crimes? Where is the public outrage?

It is as though we are numb to these horLiberia, has died.

Certainly, the reactions aren’t baseless; rors because they have became so commonthere is a reason to be cautious. The disease place.

Some will say that it’s too soon to talk has affected more than 10,000 people so far, according to the World Health Organiza- about this awful tragedy, that it’s disrespectfully to the families of those who died, that tion, resulting in around 4,500 deaths. we need to let time pass That’s an epidembefore we seek to address ic.

It is as though we this. Maybe those people There have been are numb to these are right, but every day we more than 41,000 horrors because they wait for it to not be too soon incidents of gun viohave become so is a day too late to save anlence this year. At commonplace. other parent’s child. To not least 10,000 people strive for a cure to this epihave died. There have demic of gun violence is to been 50 incidents of gun violence at U.S. high schools and admit defeat, to accept the mounting deaths colleges this year alone, and 87 since the of innocent children.

I’m not here to promote a political ideinfamous Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, according to everytown.org, a gun safety ology. I’m not here to tell you how to fix campaign; 24 of those during roughly the it, though I bet that having less people past two years have resulted in victims dy- with guns might be a good place to start. I ing. Of those shootings, 13 of the shooters just want the people of America to not be committed suicide. According to the Har- okay with it anymore, to not say that it’s a vard School of Public Health, the rate of thing that happens. I want people to want to change it, and to work together to change mass shootings has tripled since 2011. our attitude of apathy, because until that That’s an epidemic.

Where are the politicians calling for happens it’s not going to get any better.

Ebola vs. Guns 9,176 5,481 Approximate number of laboratory confirmed cases of Ebola in the world since the start of this last epidemic.

Approximate number dead as a result of Ebola epidemic in the world.

A p p r ox i m a t e number of people in America shot by guns in October.

2,946 2,728

Approximate number of people in America killed by guns in October.

54% DEATH RATE 30% sources: www.cdc.gov , www.bradycampaign.org

infographic by Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Kafi

competence, and therefore the competence of their teachers.

One way to reverse student effort would be to incorporate the results into the students’ grades; however, doing this would further deteriorate any efforts by teachers to refrain from teaching the tests. If students worried over their ability to perform, their attention would stray from curriculum irrelevant to their success, even if that curriculum better prepared them for higher education and success as adults.

In both situations, someone is cheated of what they deserve.

Students deserve a quality, well rounded education that prepares them to be successful, intelligent adults with skills necessary to find a career, keep a steady income and lead lives as positive citizens.

Teachers deserve the opportunity to do what they love — shape the lives of today’s learners and prepare them for lives in the real world. As employees, teachers deserve what every employee deserves: security, equity and due process.

Voting yes on Amendment 3 is a vote for an increased number of exams for students, which could cost over one billion dollars according to semissourian. com. It is a vote for non-local control of schools and an unforgiving system of punishment

THE ROCK Rock Bridge High School 4303 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, Mo. 65203 Vol. 42, Issue 2 October 30, 2014 Population: 1884 Students, 187 Faculty Circulation: 1500 Contact: 573-214-3141 contactus@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 Rock purchased a subscription to Associated Press Photos and all AP photos are used with permission from AP. 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.

Staff Editorials are the only articles in the Rock which will appear without a byline, but the author will appear on the bottom of the story each issue. **DISCLAIMER: Staff Editorial are positions on particular issues that portray the opinions of the entire staff. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the

If put into law, the proposed Amendment 3 would allow the state to decrease salaries, promote, or fire teachers based how their students scored on a new standardized test. Is this a good idea for Missouri?

“The Rock” staff voted

NO - 14 ABSTAINED - 1 YES - 1 for teachers. Even more, a vote for Amendment 3 is a vote for a standardized, one size fits all public education that school districts work so hard to avoid, especially CPS. One of RBHS’ goals is to Maintain a safe, student-centered learning environment, according to the RBHS website. Standardizing education will only detract from the student-centered environment that RBHS faculty aspires to continue.

Students, families and educators who value the individual success of students must consider the implications of Amendment 3 before they check yes on the ballot that promises “better teachers” for the community. This is a hasty and expensive solution that will cause long lasting negative effects on the youth of our state. individual authors who write them.** Error: Any noteworthy factual misinformation made in The Rock will be corrected in the succeeding issue and on Bearing News upon written or verbal request and verification.

Adviser: Robin Stover Editors-in-Chief: Brett Stover, Renata Williams Production Manager: Emily Franke Arts and Entertainment Editor: Ashley Tanner Art Editor: Maddy Mueller Commentary Editor: Derek Wang News & Community Editor: Luke Chval Features Editor: Jenna Liu Editorials & Foreign Affairs Editor: Abdul-Rahman AbdulKafi Health & Wellness Editor: Alice Yu Science & Technology Editor: Alice Yu In-Depths Editor: Abby Kempf Sports Editors: Harsh Singh, Graham Ratermann Staff Writers: Emily Unterschutz, Caylea Erickson, Grace Vance, Humera Lodhi, John Flanegin, Nicole Schroeder Artists: Claire Simon, Ellie Stitzer Photographers: Caylea Erickson, Devesh Kumar, Madelyn Stewart, Suryanshi Rawat Videographer: Renata Williams

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A6 OP/ED

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • Obtober 30, 2014

‘Terrorist’ is a bad word A bdul - rahman A bdul - kafi

A

man identified as Alton Nolen ran into his workplace Sept. 25 in Moore, Okla. He killed a 54-year-old woman, beheading her using a knife. This horrific act of violence was continually covered by the media for more than two weeks.

According to the New York Times, “He recently started trying to convert some of his co-workers to the Muslim religion.” This one statement changes the story entirely.

Now, we think of him as a terrorist who killed a woman and injured another man because he is Muslim.

We don’t think of him as a troubled being who had been fired from the company and then committed a heinous crime.

Since 9/11, if any Muslim commits any act of violence at all, the press reports it in a way that ties the violence to Islam whether it is related to religion or not.

Anyone who reads the news every few days would know about this Oklahoma man, but almost no one knows about what happened just three weeks before in Britain. On Sept. 4 a 25-year-old man beheaded an 82-year-old woman in London. The event was covered for just a few hours and then the media went silent about it.

In fact, not even the name of the man who committed this act of violence was released. A BBC article published on the same day quoted John Sandlin, detective chief inspector, saying, “Whilst it is too early to speculate on what the motive behind this attack was, I am confident, based on the information currently available to me, that it is not terrorist related.”

Of course he isn’t a terrorist. He isn’t Muslim.

But when Nolen committed the same crime, the media immediately pointed fingers at Islam, trying to put the blame on the religion of the man and not on the man himself. It was not only the media that tried to tie Nolan to “Islamic” terrorist organizations in the Middle East.

Our very own FBI was immediately on the case, attempting to find a tie between Nolen and Islamic State.

No one even attempted to find a relationship between the 25-year-old British man and IS because doing so is ridiculous. People commit violence; and most who kill do not do so because they are part of a terrorist organization. Murder existed before Al-Qaeda and IS and will continue to exist after they are gone.

How about the case of Frazier Glenn Cross, the man who attempted to kill Jewish people in a Jewish Community Center in Kansas City and instead killed two Christian men, a 14-year-old and his grandfather. His motives were clearly based on the way he interprets his religion, Christianity.

However, the Anti-Defamation League released a statement about the incident, saying, “It is too early to label these shootings as a hate crime.”

According to the New York Times, “The police said it was too early in the investigation to determine whether the attacks were a hate crime.”

After the shooting, he yelled the phrase, “Heil Hitler,” but it is still not a hate crime according to the police.

In Nolan’s case, people immediately began saying he is part of IS and is a Muslim extremist. When it came to Cross, people began defending him by saying that he did not commit a hate crime. With the British man who was never named, people just stopped talking about him.

This double standard is unacceptable.

Cross’s hate of Jewish people and his rampant white supremacy motivated his violence, so he committed an act of terror. On the other hand, as the facts stand now, it was not religion but that he had recently been fired which motivated Nolan.

Cross actually commmited an act of terror, while Nolan did not.

Before making blanket statements about acts of terrorism, one must read the case and look up the facts to see what happened and whether or not the person was motivated by a bigger cause.

Only then can we truly be a just nation.

art by Maddy Mueller

Sexualizing students based on clothing is unethical A bby K empf

A

few weeks ago, I witnessed an event I never thought I would see at a “progressive” school like RBHS. Before school one day, I overheard a teacher berating a student, telling her she needed to “call her parents to bring her some different clothes.”

Of course, I glanced to see what she was wearing to offend the teacher so much that the outfit had to be changed right then. The girl had on a crop top and a full length black maxi skirt. A section of her midriff was exposed; maybe about two or three inches of skin was visible.

She wasn’t wearing a shirt with offensive language or subject matter too vulgar for school. She simply had her bellybutton on display.

Last year when I first arrived at RBHS, I was delighted to find the administrators and teachers did not criticize girls’ clothing like they did at West Junior High School, my previous school. Girls would be scolded for having bare shoulders, visible

cleavage or, God forbid, too much leg exposed.

The adults these young girls look up told the 13-15 year old girls that they were dressed too “sexy” for school. Administrators and teachers alike sexualized these girls before they were even old enough to drive a car. It was, frankly, sickening.

Schools all over the country have dress codes that sexualize girls’ bodies by telling them that their cleavage or legs are too appealing to their male peers to be shown in public. These codes blame the girls for the actions of their male classmates. By telling a girl that she must dress in a way that will not “distract” boys, schools are in effect telling her that she is responsible for the level of self-control demonstrated by her peers. When a girl is pulled out of the classroom to change her clothes, she is being told that her education is less important than the education of her male counterparts.

While RBHS has a fairly lenient dress code, this policy is not guaranteed. As I have witnessed, some faculty members at RBHS do com-

mit sexist micro aggressions towards grow.

We cannot stay silent while our females by scolding them for their clothing choices, as seen in this in- classmates’ rights are being violated.

In the Supreme Court case Tinker cident.

Our school cannot simply be com- V. Des Moines Independent Complacent as battalions of sexism en- munity School District 1969, the judges ruled that a dress code can croach on our “safe haven.”

If we do not speak out against only prohibit students from wearing garments that the dress codes school predicts will and the She wasn’t wearing a shirt cause a disturbance or subsequent shaming of with offensive language or have already caused the female subject matter too vulgar a disturbance, or that supports inappropribody now, for a school setting. She material for school even when simply had her bellybutton ate settings, such as vulit is not on display. gar language or clothhappening that is affiliated ing to us personally, with gangs. This court these dress case set the precedent codes will become commonplace on dress codes, and it is apparent that in our society as proponents of sex- the Supreme Court meant to liberism work as generals, commanding ate these students, not bind them to their troops to promote the sexualiza- strict, unfair dress codes. tion, and preceding subordination of Nowhere in the case did the Juswomen. tices state that a girl with cleavage I wish I had spoken out when I could be told that her body is not saw that incident. By not speaking school appropriate and if someone out against the sexism, I became a tries to make the argument that cleavbystander who enabled the fire to age can cause a disturbance, they are

plainly and simply over sexualizing the female body. It is not a crime to have a body.

It certainly is accepted when a male dons revealing clothing for a school theme day. When the cross country boys held beach day, one came to school without a shirt on.

Everyone considered this humorous. Teachers laughed, and no one said a word implying that the boy was dressed for a school environment.

However, if a girl came to school in a bikini top for a beach theme day then students would remark she was a slut and she would have to make a call home to her parents to bring her a change of clothes before the day was done, all because she has breasts.

To foster true change of these horrid commonplaces, society must decide to not allow females to fall prey to these sexist ideals. Bystanders cannot stay silent as yet another sexist micro aggression occurs. Instead, society must fight back against the army of sexism that is marching ever-closer, so that no female will be stripped of her rights.

OP/ED A7

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

art by Ellie Stitzer

Halloween leaves childhood behind J ohn F lanegin

H

alloween has always been much more than just another holiday. Every Oct. 31, the memories come back of the smell of brisk, chilly air and the crunch of leaves underneath my shoes as I walked from house to house, collecting my bag of heavenly morsels.

Laughs and screams alike filled the dark rooms of haunted houses and streets all across America, while parents once again got to create an alias for just one night. Jack-o’-lanterns light up the porches and yards of every residence, flickering and dancing with the wind.

Kids stay up to watch movies that haunt their sleep for months at a time and teens stay out late playing pranks they’ll regret the next day.

Autumn has always been my favorite season for a multitude of reasons; the weather is great, football begins its reign over the Flanegin household, baseball playoffs are in full swing and the holiday that allows you to be a completely different being, Halloween, rolls around.

The anticipation of making more of these fantastically frightening memories consumed my dreams and frequented my thoughts as soon as the days grew shorter and the air turned cooler.

Visits to pop-up stores

bearing the name “Halloween City” or “Fright Night” would last up to three hours as I pondered about which costume would fit me just perfectly and make the most waves amongst my friends and neighbors. Pirate, Ninja or Skeleton? There were so many options that often times my mom would just choose my costume for me because it took way too long to make up my mind.

When the last day of October finally arrived, I would leap out of bed, put on my costume and eagerly head to school.

Hours began to seem like days as I strenuously waited for the yearly Halloween party. Wax lips similar to those of Angelina Jolie’s adorned our faces and snacks made to look like eyeballs and blood lined the tables, but the real party had yet to begin.

I would stare out the front door peering onto the sidewalk in anticipation of watching another trick or treater begin to make their nightly rounds.

When I was finally released from my shackles after listening to a 30-minute speech from my parents about what and what not to do when on my expedition to get candy, I would round up my fellow compadres and head for the mighty sea of confectionery concoctions that laid ahead.

Door to door we went with our pillow cases, plastic pumpkins, and for the more resourceful, trash bags, cheering

after receiving Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and moaning in pain after getting the dreaded “Halloween Pretzels.” At the end of the night we would return to our homes and douse our carpets and floors with our golden wares and eat chocolate until our tongues turned brown.

Nowadays, such memories seem like faint and faded pictures, and those of us who once spent days upon weeks finding the best candy route have turned into those handing it out. Our once harmless costumes consisting of cute princesses and witches have changed to sexy nurses and erotic electricians. Cats with copious amounts of cleavage line the walls of the stores we once adored going to.

Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with these drastic changes, and I’ve become cynical and unaware of what Halloween is all about for teenagers in the 21st century.

It’s been hard adjusting from a holiday that used to consist of bobbing for apples and scaring my best friends to sitting at home handing out candy or attending a party and watching a stranger get blackout drunk. If I could achieve one thing this Halloween, it would be to remember what these memories were like and try to make it just as great, if not better, for the three foot vampire or princess coming to my door this very Oct. 31.

art by Claire Simon

Bruin Block needs modification Common interest groups could boost engagement A bby K empf

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alking through the hallways of RBHS, it would be hard not to run into a group of students gossiping about how much they hate their Bruin Block class. Admittedly, I also have hard feelings when it comes to Bruin Block. I am in a class full of people who are frankly nothing like me and are not my friends. They are not bad people. We just have very different mindsets.

Also, the goals of the class do not pertain to me in the slightest. I am a prepared student who does not need any help in setting goals for my school career or in maintaining my grades, which are some of the disjointed and clunky goals of Bruin Block.

But just because Bruin Block is a source of anger right now doesn’t mean that it couldn’t work if structured differently. The concept of Bruin Block is not a complete dud. It has simply been executed before it was fully baked.

To begin, the method of sortRecently, under the current setup ing students into Bruin Block must of Bruin Block, each student has change. Much like the sorting hat in been placed in a group with two of the Harry Potter series, the Univer- their peers. Our group is now exsity of Missouri implements a pro- pected to conference with our teacher gram called FIGS, which stands for and discuss our goals and where we Freshmen Interest Groups. Students feel we need to grow as individuals. enrolled in the program are placed I have never said a word to either of in residential halls with students who the students that are in my group, and have the same majors and areas of now we are supposed to open up to study. They are then placed in the each other about our personal topics. same core classes and have similar I don’t know what could be more schedules so they excruciatingly uncomfortable than have the opportuThe concept of Bruin with two nity to bond with Block is not a complete talking boys that I do not like-minded studud. It has simply been have a any sort of dents. executed before it was personal relationIf students at fully baked.

RBHS were sorted ship with, about into a Bruin Block the area where I based on classes feel like I am lackthey enrolled in or maybe a career ing. But in a group of my friends, I quiz that expressed interest in certain would willingly discuss things like careers, students would be able to this and feel supported by those who learn from similar students that share surrounded me, instead of feeling similar goals. Students are happiest awkward and embarrassed.

Secondly, the curriculum in Bruin when in environments in which they Block needs to change and become feel comfortable and accepted.

art by Maddy Mueller

pertinent to our individual lives, something the sorting process would allow.

Students who are in a Bruin Block full of future doctors could have a curriculum based upon studying for the ACT and SAT so they are accepted into their desired colleges and learning about different medical professions so they could discover what type of physician they wish to be. The teacher of their Bruin Block could be a science teacher who could insure the students excel in their science classes.

If more students presented constructive ideas for the future bet-

terment of Bruin Block instead of simply complaining, enriching and positive change could actually occur. As my former EEE teacher Matt Leuchtmann always says: “People are really good at finding problems, but not so good at coming up with solutions to these problems.”

I see the issues with Bruin Block, but I also see solutions. If the student body would stop complaining and being totally uncooperative in their Bruin Block classes and instead decide to suggest modifications through student voice groups, such as Student Coalition, Bruin Block might not be the worst part of the school day.

A8 ADS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

FEATURES

Rock Bridge High School • 4303 S. Providence Rd. • Columbia Mo, 65203 • Vol. 42, Issue 2 • October 30, 2014

Peeling back all the layers

Students, instructors uncover what makes a good teacher tion.

“To me, that is what makes a good teacher,” Foster said. “The ability to take a subophomore Alli Foster never liked ject that most students hate and turn it into a social studies. Her dislike toward subject that students love.” her classes was because of the Another teacher who taught Foster to poor teaching style of her instruc- love a subject she hadn’t previously was tor, she said, rather than disinterest in learn- physics teacher Travis Gabel. What made ing. him stand apart was his knowledge about Foster had never had a studies teacher science and the effectiveness of his teaching she enjoyed until she got to style.

Austin Reed’s social studies Before teachclass. ing for five years “I’m not even sure I can at Jefferson Junior accurately convey the exHigh School and treme difference between two years at RBHS, his class and what I was Gabel was inspired used to in social studies,” by his past teachers Foster said. “In his class, sowho profoundly imcial studies wasn’t a boring pacted his life in a topic. It was something that positive way. These we could think about and reteachers showed ally get into.” that they truly cared There are always two sides A textbook was no lonabout students to every story. Find out more ger the singular learning through their pasabout what it means to be a tool; instead, Reed encoursionate teaching. perfect student. aged students to get out of This is a philosophy their seats and talk to peothat Gabel tries to ple. This enabled students to achieve every day answer their own questions rather than hav- when the bell rings. ing the teacher tell them.

“I shake every student’s hand every sinIn previous classes, Foster said teachers gle day as a way to build relationships, talk lacked in providing motivation for students to every student personally [each] day and to care about the subject, which left her with to teach the importance of a proper greetno more knowledge on the topic than before. ing,” Gabel said.

The opposite was true with Reed’s class.

Although he realizes how he starts each “In his class, I couldn’t wait to learn,” class is different from how other teachers Foster said. “I loved the history that we begin, he said it is a way to bring students studied and the facts about government, but closer to the goal of the class: helping “evmost of all I loved how Mr. Reed found a ery student reach their fullest potential.” way to relate the things we were learning in One thing that denies students of this opclass to our lives outside of school.” portunity to learn is the use of phones during Effective learning involves studying the class, which Gabel said is the most challengmaterial in multiple ways and teaching it to ing part of teaching. To get these unmotivatothers, according to psychology.about.com. ed students involved in class, Gabel believes This includes applying curriculum outside active lessons, like labs, help them refocus of school and talking to others about newly on science. learned topics in class, promoting new ideas “Variety is important in any class,” which helps the brain to solidify informa- Gabel said. “So, I like changing things up

G race Vance

S

quite often so students experience a variety of different learning styles.”

While students like Foster have praised Gabel for his teaching style and abilities, he also has his own idea of what makes a teacher great. One characteristic is motivating students and allowing them redemption until their goals are met.

“A good teacher, with a lot of effort, can teach just about any content,” Gabel said.

“So focusing on the action of good teaching and helping students achieve a desired goal is extremely important.”

For each student there seems to be a different definition for what a good teacher is. Junior Jesseca Alexander said teachers should be able to communicate and connect with kids while also having an extensive knowledge of their subject.

“I think to be a good teacher means to effectively portray [all] the ideas to teach your kids the curriculum and do it in a fun and enthusiastic way that everyone learns by,” Alexander said.

Last year she had Marla Clowe as her Algebra 2 teacher, who was “by far the best math teacher” she’s ever had. Similar to Foster, her previous math teachers did not interest her in the subject. Alexander thought of math as the dreaded component of each school year, and not until having Clowe’s math class did she begin to see the subject differently.

“I didn’t think math was my favorite subject, but Mrs. Clowe really brought a lot of energy to the classroom, and showed how it could be an investigation,” Alexander said. “It wasn’t just boring, it had applications and it actually meant something in the world.”

Alexander went into her classroom before school about once a week for extra help. One way Clowe helped her, she said, was by presenting a problem in a new way.

Clowe, entering her seventh year at RBHS, after 18 years of working at Jeff Middle School, was driven to pursue teaching because of her passion for kids.

At the University of Missouri, where she

was a student, she said one of the most important words of advice she got was from now-retired department chair Evelyn Aubrant, who told her that every minute counts in teaching.

One way Clowe does this is by coming into class with a positive mind-set to maximize the students’ experience.

“I think it’s just about coming in and understanding that everyone’s coming from a different place, and trying to be aware of everybody’s situations,” Clowe said. “And just working as hard as you expect your students to work.”

To motivate students during the long class period she tries to empathize with them.

“The most important part of my job is wanting students to enjoy math,” Clowe said. “But I also hope to give them opportunities for their future by not closing doors.”

Enthusiasm is another vital characteristic effective teachers should have, according to natcom. org.

“You can teach something the same way 20 times and I won’t learn it,” Alexander said. “But it’s when you’re enthusiastic and y o u g e t me involved in it a n d show me how interesting it is, then I’ll really start to learn.”

photo by Suryanshi Rawat

STEM fields see little growth in female representation J enna L iu

The underrepresentation of women is also prevalent in many other STEM fields such as rowing up in St. Louis, senior Michelle engineering, but curiously fails to exist in caYang had always held the dubious reer areas such as the life sciences, where the honor of being one of the only girls in majority are women.

RBHS honors biology teacher Kaitlin Rulon her math classes. The self-described “Hermione said this shift is a result of a conglomeration Granger, but 10 times worse” had always been surrounded by strong, intelligent females, and of things, one being the general tendency of nobody had ever told her that she could not do women to gravitate towards fields that involve caring for others. something because of her gender.

“In general, women kind of have more of a This changed in her fifth grade pre-algebra class when a male classmate leaned over and disposition towards caring and things like that,” informed her that Yang could not be as good as Rulon said. “So with the life sciences women seem to fit more because there’s more of a permath as him because she was a girl.

“That stuck out and I was sad about that, but sonal connection involved.”

However, Rulon said the greater numbers of then I got better grades than him,” Yang said. “I women involved in the biological fields, where was mainly angry when he said that.”

This incident only strengthened Yang’s goal more than 60 percent of undergraduate majors of going into a science field, which she has pre- are female according to a study published in pared for by taking AP Chemistry, AP biology the scientific journal Cell Biology Education, may also be a result of increased efforts on the and computer science classes.

Throughout her scholastic career, Yang has parts of life sciences educators to expose young consistently been one of few females in her women to these subject areas.

“I think there’s been a better push from elescience, technology, engineering and math mentary and secondary ed(STEM) classes, particularucation to encourage womly in her computer science I think growing up be- en to go into science related course that she took in St. ing told I was smart and fields, where before I don’t Louis. that I could be whatever think that was true,” Ru“My classmates were reI want has freed me to lon said. “So I think there ally surprised I was there, make those decisions for are just more women who and at the time I was playing myself. have realized their passion tennis and had really preppy Sydney Tyler or their interests in science friends and they couldn’t junior from an earlier age.” reconcile that,” Yang said.

Here in Columbia, ef“They could accept a girl, but she had to be nerdy and quiet, and I was forts to increase the exposure of engineering and programming at a young age already exist. not. I was loud and distinctly feminine.”

Graham said Russell Elementary has impleToday, women make up 12 percent of commented a program that introduces girls and puter science graduates, a decrease from a high of 37 percent in 1984, according to a 2010-2011 boys to such principles at the elementary level, where the gender divide in general science Computing Research Association survey.

At the Columbia Area Career Center, girls classes is a fairly even 50/50 split.

“There are classes that have recreated Comake up around 10 percent of the computer science classes, teacher Nathaniel Graham said. lumbia during different historical periods using Graham works in the computer science depart- Minecraft,” Graham said. “Right there we’re inment at the CACC, and said this dearth stems troducing everyone into architecture and building, and later on you can create logic blocks out from gender-specific cultural influences.

“Women are conditioned out of science of the blocks that Minecraft’s all about, which fields by the way we just treat young boys and introduces programming concepts.”

Graham said efforts like this to provide inyoung girls as children,” Graham said. “Let’s say a family has multiple children, male and fe- creased opportunities to young women are immale, often the computer will end up in a spot portant to combat the problems that persist in that is favorable for the adult male or the male the field itself.

“Engineering has a problem where it’s a child.”

G

photo by Caylea Erickson

Deeply involved: Junior Catherine Maring writes in her notebook for her 21st Century Life Sciences class. bunch of people like me, [a] generic white guy, and we have, generally speaking, the same cultural backgrounds and perspectives,” Graham said. “We view the world the same, we view problems the same, and that’s a huge issue when your job is to solve problems.”

However, junior Sydney Tyler say that while attempts to increase female representation are important, sometimes they can go too far.

“I do believe that if women are given awards, or positions or tenure on the basis of their gender it takes away from their accomplishments,” Tyler said.

Tyler has seen firsthand the realities of women in science, as her mother is the associate dean of graduate studies at the University of Missouri veterinary school, while she herself plans to go into the medical field as a physician. She said that if endeavors undertaken to increase representation of women in STEM fields, they should not be policy-oriented, but rather organic in nature.

“I don’t think that policy is an appropriate response, but an effort must be made,” Tyler said. “It needs to be a collective movement to encourage women to take part in STEM. I think growing up being told I was smart and that I could be whatever I want has freed me to make those decisions for myself.”

Junior Michael Pennella, a computer programming student at the CACC, concurred. He

said that while female representation is important, policies such as quotas are misguided and ineffective.

“I think it’s a fine line between trying to increase representation and trying to force it,” Pennella said. “I think it’s great to increase the amount of opportunities marginalized groups can have, but I don’t believe that things like quotas accomplish that.”

Nevertheless, Pennella said that equal representation in STEM fields is still an essential goal that would be accomplished better through grass-roots movements.

“I think it’s one of the core principles of education to provide representation for all members of society, for all sexes, in these fields,” Pennella said. “I think that any change regarding this has to come from the ground up.”

Graham has already made efforts to do this through methods such as recruiting young girls into joining the computer science program at educational fairs, but said his endeavors alone will not do much to change the problem, which has its roots in decades of social conditioning.

“It’s a much larger issue than what one classroom can do,” Graham said. “It’s a cultural thing. Until we view Lego as a kid’s toy rather than a boy’s toy, until we say that everyone should learn to cook and sew, instead of regulating it to one half of the sexes, the issue can’t be resolved.”

B2 ADS

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IN-DEPTHS B3

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

a

multitude of

ents

fragm E

veryone lies. Whether they admit it or not, people bend the truth, lie by omission or fib to save someone’s feelings. While society mostly dismisses these small lies, if lying takes control of a person’s life, his or her mental health dips.

According to University of Notre Dame psychology professor Anita Kelley, living a life that is not real has serious consequences. Be it self-hate because of denial of a undesirable, personal quirk or suppression of a grave problem, keeping secrets can be majorly damaging to one’s self esteem. RBHS students have had experiences with the misconstrued truth they created as they tried to avoid being placed in an unwanted situation. photo by Sury Rawat

B4 IN-DEPTHS

Deception leads to life of av www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Choosing truth for the good of others, if not on E mily Franke

Facing the problem

E

veryone has a passion, and senior Sarah Freyermuth’s passion is for people. As an extrovert, she gets her energy from being around others; she loves listening to their stories, hearing their problems and being emotionally and physically available to her friends at all times.

“I want to spend my life working with people and being with people and studying people,” Freyermuth said. “I’ve always been passionate about spending time with people, listening to their problems and just trying to be very present in all of my friends’ lives.

Their friendships are all extremely important to me and people in general are extremely important to me.”

However, as she entered her junior year of high school, Freyermuth grew away from the people she so loved being with. A health scare sent her father to the hospital with high blood pressure. Following his hospitalization, Freyermuth’s family shifted to a healthier diet to help control his blood pressure.

Combined with the building stress of her junior year, what started out as a healthier diet became something much more serious. By October, Freyermuth had developed the early stages of anorexia nervosa.

“I think I just felt like a lot of things were out of control in my life. There was a lot of things that my dad wasn’t in control of with his health, and his doctor helped him to control it through diet,” Freyermuth said. “I think subconsciously I kind of latched on to that.

It started out as simple little things; I started exercising a lot more and eating slightly less.

It was not a big deal at all at the beginning, but then it started escalating from there. Soon it became a coping mechanism and then an obsession. It quickly stopped being about the weight and became just about the control that I felt like it gave me over my life.”

Anorexia nervosa, defined by Dr. Aneesh Tosh, University of Missouri Pediatric Specialty Clinic, is characterized by significant weight loss, obsessive fear of weight gain, abnormal body image and the restriction of food often in the context of overexercise. Dr. Tosh, who has 10 years of experience working with patients with eating disorders at the University, said most of his patients are adolescents who may not realize they have a problem and often rationalize their behavior as just being healthy.

Someone with anorexia could be diagnosed with normal anorexia or anorexia purging type, Mind Body Connections therapist Beth Parker said. In both cases, Parker said there may be symptoms besides weight loss, such as depression and anxiety. According to Parker, there is almost always a foundation of low self esteem, lack of confidence or feeling out of control.

After losing 10 pounds, then 20 within a few months, Freyermuth’s doctor remained unconcerned. This only propelled Freyermuth to eat even less and over-exercise, leading to a total loss of 30 pounds by January, the final 10 of which were lost in less than a month. The effects of her new regimen pulled her even more from the people she cared about.

“I kind of ceased to exist except for doing my school work. I tried to be there for my friends, but the thing was I spent almost all of my time exercising, measuring out my food, or sleeping,” Freyermuth said. “I kind of felt like I was going brain dead. It would get to the point where I really wanted to spend time with my friends but I just didn’t even have the energy to get out of bed. The other thing too is that you’re kind of ashamed of what you’re going through because of the stigma surrounding eating disorders. Because of that I grew apart from those that I used to spend all my time with because I was suddenly scared of what they would think if they knew.”

Often, individuals who struggle with eating disorders experience anosognosia, or an inability to see that they have a problem, according to feast-ed.org. This was not the case for Freyermuth. She knew she was struggling with anorexia; however, she felt separate from the disease.

“I knew there was something wrong, which is a little different,” Freyermuth said.

“It wasn’t sinking in whatsoever. I knew in my head, ‘Yes, I have anorexia.’ I knew that I was starving myself; I knew that I was exercising way more than was healthy, but I guess I didn’t connect my tiredness and exhaustion to the reality which is heart failure and death.”

Without food, Freyermuth lacked not only physical energy but mental strength as well.

On top of sleeping roughly three hours a night, feeling cold all the time and becoming paler than normal, Freyermuth found she began to spend more and more time alone. The more time she spent alone, the less time she

spent with her friends, leading to a deterioration of the relationships she valued so much.

When she saw her friendships suffering, she didn’t initially see her eating behaviors as the problem.

“I’ve always been a really determined, stubborn person so when I started growing apart from friends because of my nonexistent energy I was like ‘Oh I just have to work harder,’” Freyermuth said. “I guess ... I knew what was going on, but I was kind of in denial about what it was doing to me. If I had seen a friend having this problem, I would be horrified, and I would want them to get help. But because it was happening to me, it was harder to admit to others what was going on in order to get the help I needed.”

A turning point for Freyermuth was when a friend, who is normally reserved and cautious when offering advice, said, ‘No, this is a problem.’ At this point, she realized her disorder affected more than just herself.

“It kind of hits you. When [that friend] said, ‘You’re not the same person at all anymore; you’re a completely different Sarah,’ that really, really hit me,” Freyermuth said.

“That made me realize I couldn’t keep living like this. However, when I tried to make changes, I realized it wasn’t that easy; my way of living had become more than a habit, [it was] an obsession and a disorder. I think that’s kind of when I also realized that I couldn’t fix my anorexia by myself and so I needed to get help.”

vation can be reversed with proper medical treatment, Tosh said. Many times, he said, the medical and nutritional aspects are overcome sooner than the behavioral component, and it is important for patients to continue to work with their team until their care providers feel that they are in recovery, which can take several years with the possibility of a relapse, especially in the first two years of treatment.

“The effects are reversed with appropriate, medically monitored nutrition with the goal of restoring patients to a healthy body weight in addition to therapy to treat the underlying behavioral causes that led to the eating disorder,” Tosh said. “The earlier the patient is diagnosed and receives treatment, the better the prognosis. If [someone has] a friend whom they are concerned may have an eating disorder, they should mention their concerns to their friend that they should seek help. Many times, patients are much more responsive to a peer’s concern than from an adult. Appropriate adults to contact would be the friend’s parents, teachers or the school guidance counselor, nurse, coach or principal who can then assist with getting them to appropriate care.”

Visiting her doctor once every couple of days and her counselor once a week, she missed almost the entire month of February her junior year.

“The only thing that really kept me going through those days ... was knowing I had to get better for my family and my friends — specifically for my mom because I knew how much I was upsetting her,” Freyermuth said.

“Most people think ‘I need to eat to keep myself healthy for me.’ I didn’t start thinking like As Freyermuth struggled with disordered that until two months or three months down eating, she kept it to herself, hiding what was the road after [getting healthy]. The thing is happening so her family and friends couldn’t with anorexia ... is that your brain is starved see. Although she suppressed her internal tur... A lot of people think that if an anorexic moil, those around her could easily see the person realizes the severity of their situation effect anorexia had on Freyermuth’s body. you can change their thought process and get Freyermuth said her friends and family were them to eat. At least for me, my brain wasn’t not surprised when she admitted her problem. functioning enough to realize how severe the “With me and my mom, it hadn’t ever situation was. I had to start eating before my been a conversation of ‘What’s going on?’ thought process could really change.”

It was more a conversation of me trying to Initially, Freyermuth’s recovery relied on convince her my anorexia wasn’t a problem. external change rather than internal change.

Fortunately, in this case I’m so, so bad at lyShe said a lot of people think change has to be ing to my mom. She would know if I wasn’t internal; a person must know what they want eating or something like that,” Freyermuth to change and have the willpower to change said. “After I realized what was going on was it. Parker said she believes the eating disorder actually a problem and I had my moment of does not go away, but rather “you have to go clarity I went up and told her, ‘You need to away from it.” get me help ... if you ask me in five minutes, She said she tells people that they have to I’m going to say I don’t need help, so you learn to manage eating-disordered thoughts need to go right now.’” along with the anxiety, and they have to have Getting help, it turned out, took several the presence of mind to make good choices. doctors and a long process of restoring health Over time, she said, the thoughts will dissito her body and mind. The first doctor she pate, but they may never go away. went to remained unworried when her weight When Freyermuth saw her behavior was loss increased from 10 to 20 pounds. Her secupsetting her family and destroying her ond doctor, who did seem concerned, was not friendships, she persevered through the first well equipped to work with a patient dealing stages of recovery just for them. It wasn’t unwith an eating disorder, Freyermuth said. Fitil about a month after she had returned to a nally, Freyermuth and normal weight that she her mom found a docThe only thing that kept started realizing that she tor they believe to be me going through those deserved to eat food and competent, Dr. Tosh, be healthy for herself, days... was knowing I and Freyermuth startnot just for other people. ed a program to gain had to get better for my “I kind of liken [eatback weight, which family and my friends. ing disorders] to a virus consisted of eating as ... it can go into remisSarah Freyermuth much as three times sion, like if you have a senior the amount of food a cold sore virus. You get normal person must stressed out and you eat to gain weight. have an outbreak and “My focus is the medical well-being of my then it goes away for months, years, whatevpatients,” Tosh said. “We do a medical hiser,” Parker said. “It is said ... that an average tory, physical examination and recommend recovery time can be five to eight years and I appropriate testing, medications and referrals think with some people it could be better in to a dietician and therapist. The first appointthe beginning stages; it could be one year and ment is a long one, typically 60 minutes, as some people have it the rest of their life ... we like to talk with our patients alone and At various times in one’s life it can resometimes need to talk to the parents alone. emerge, but I don’t think it’s ever We do a detailed medical history and physical cured, per se.” examination. The patient will also meet with Stability, Parker said, is the our dietician and typically will need blood return of a patient to a nordrawn to look for medical problems.” mal, healthy weight and Following the first appointment, Tosh said, the absence of restricthere are three important aspects to a patient’s tion, along with the recovery: medical, nutritional and behavioral. return of a female’s Therefore, patients need to see a physician, a period.

Also, dietician, and a therapist. she said, sta“I use the analogy of a car running out bility can of gas. It can appear to everyone else that be meathey are performing at a high level until the sured fuel runs out, then the body shuts down very b y quickly. The heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature all slow down — these are signs of starvation as the body is essentially trying to hibernate to save energy,” Tosh said.

“Most of the time, patients appear in a fog or a haze, as the brain is struggling to survive with limited energy. Many parents tell me that their child’s personality and sense of humor disappear. For women who have stopped having periods, they have a significant risk of bone loss — osteopenia or osteoporosis — as well.”

However, these devastating effects of star-

Road to recovery

the ability to relate to others and a return from isolation. For Freyermuth, recovering included reconnecting with her friends who she had grown away from.

“Often what you see is someone who previously was outgoing and very sociable and had bunches of friends will start spending more time alone ... so isolation, along with other things, could be definitely a factor,” Parker said. “With anorexia you often see more rigidity, more anxiety [and] sometimes more obsessive compulsiveness. Getting back in your life is really important so that you can get that support.”

A lot of people will ask what they should say to their friends and family after treatment, Parker said, and she tells them to tell people they trust about their disorder. She often sees hesitancy among high school students to return to school immediately.

Although she said it is important for kids to get back into their settings, she also feels that returning to an environment where people don’t generally know about eating disorders can be more difficult than returning to a school that is more well-informed.

Because anorexia is such a visible disease, Freyermuth said, her friends had somewhat known what was happening the entire time, but she found acceptance and understanding when she told them what had happened. She said they seemed happy that she was willing to admit what was going on and they were supportive of her recovery.

“When I started getting better, all I wanted to do was spend time with people because I had missed out on so much of that,” Freyermuth said. “I remember one week I ended up hanging out with a different friend every single night, and I was so overwhelmed and exhausted by the end of the week because I realized I didn’t have the energy to do that anymore. Anorexia can take months or even years to recover fully from ... I had to work my way back up to that.”

In retrospect, Freyermuth said society’s stigma on eating disorders slowed down her recovery and increased her sense of isolation. As a lifetime perfectionist, she said she was afraid to admit that something was wrong. While she initially found it easy to talk about her eating disorder, she said she also felt separate from that part of her life, so admitting it was like admitting someone else had a problem. Even with such support from her friends, it became harder to tell people what she had been through as she started connecting herself to her eating disorder.

No matter what career Freyermuth chooses, she said she wants to use her skills to work with mental health advocacy.

“I’m sure I had people that judged me, and I’m sure that people reading this article are going to judge me, too, because so many view anorexia as an ‘attention-getting disease.’ That is not what it is at all. Some people may think, ‘Oh, that’s not a real thing. She’s just making crap up,’ and the thing is that I’m OK with having people say that about

me if I know that me to help at least one oth going through an eating comfortable admitting ermuth said. “If you hid whole life from someth that happened to you be cause one or two people don’t respect it then you can’t help the other people that are going through it.”

IN-DEPTHS B5

voidance, lies and loneliness

neself

doing this is going her person who’s g disorder feel it,” Freyde your hing e-

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

“My way of living had become more than a habit, [it was] an

obsession and a

disorder.”

—Sarah Freyermuth

Read more on BearingNews.org

photo by Sury Rawat

B6 IN-DEPTHS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

locking

out your inner self photo by Sury Rawat

Self deception places burden on teenagers

T

J enna L iu

he psychology of the lie is one that many great figures in science have carefully decoded but have yet to understand.

Despite the existence of research detailing psychoanalysis of the deceptive identity, attempting to unravel the motivations for dishonesty can be an exhausting feat — even more so when the mind is trying to deceive itself.

With some, this dishonesty may come from a place of want, or perhaps one of fear. For senior Zachary Jimenez, the lies fed from both.

“Your sexuality is something that you’re constantly being reminded of, so I thought about it every single day,” Jimenez said.

“When you’re in the closet, it is one of the worst feelings in the world. You lie to yourself; you lie to your family. You make up all this stuff to try and fool yourself.”

For 18 years of his life, Jimenez carefully constructed a persona that could not be characterized as ‘straight’, but definitely gave no hint that the Columbia native was attracted to the same gender. In middle school, when others were just beginning to discover and explore their newfound sexuality, Jimenez was desperately trying to avoid his own.

“It wasn’t really me pretending I was straight. It was more of me just ignoring it,” Jimenez said. “When people would talk about relationships with girls, I would just try to get off the subject because it made me uncomfortable because I knew inside what I felt.”

The lie that grew into the narrative of Jimenez’s life firmly corked his bottled emotions, preventing the teenager from interacting with others, due to a lack of depth of self-acceptance. Jimenez said he felt as if he was wearing a mask that everyone else liked but him, which only furthered the divide between his true identity, his outward projection and his relationships with peers.

“I never connected with people much when I was in the closet, because I didn’t really love myself,” Jimenez said. “When you don’t love yourself, you can’t love other people.”

Dr. Clancy Martin is a professor of philosophy at the University of Missouri —Kansas City who specializes in moral psychology, particularly in the area of selfdeception. According to him, Jimenez’s turmoil with regards to forming personal connections is a common reaction that arises from the inadvertent barriers born from self-dishonesty.

“There’s a poet and philosopher by the name of Adrienne Rich, and she said, ‘The liar leads a life of unutterable loneliness,’” Martin said. “There’s a sense of sharedness from trying to tell the truth about ourselves to other people, and we get just the opposite of that when we use our selfdeceptions to manipulate their perception of us.”

However, there are some forms of selfdishonesty that may not necessarily have the same emotional and social implications. Martin said lying covers a wide spectrum, with the characteristics of each end manifesting in different ways.

“Just as there are many types of ways of lying to someone, there are many different ways of deceiving yourself,” Martin

said. “Procrastinating, distracting yourself, reinterpreting something so you look at it in a different light.”

Freshman Grace Kirk has had plenty of experience with the first. For months now, she said she has been slightly lacking in her commitment to piano, often rationalizing not practicing as often.

“Sometimes when I don’t play, I say it doesn’t matter,” Kirk said. “When I’m going to a football game or something with my friend, I’ll think I can just do it tomorrow, or the next day.”

Martin said these small rationalizations are a more common form of self-deception than outright denials and that they are not in context particularly damaging to an individual’s psyche.

“Strategic self-deception, when you’re doing it and you know that you’re doing it, I think that kind is actually rare. I think the most common kind is when you sort of know you’re lying to yourself but you also half-know,” Martin said. “I think there are relatively harmless lies to yourself and very damaging lies to yourself, and in that instance, you kind of have to look at what the value of the truth is.”

However, Jimenez said he was not unaware of the steps he was taking to conceal his sexual identity, as he was sharply conscious of the lies he was telling both himself and the people around him.

“I was very aware of suppressing those feelings and putting up those barriers,” Jimenez said. “I knew what I was doing.”

Martin said in cases where an individual is struggling with his own sexual orientation, bald-face lies tend to be less standard than a combination of inner and outer justification of what they are feeling.

“I think those extreme cases are less common and tend to be more damaging,” Martin said. “ I think the vast majority of cases lie somewhere in the middle; they probably tend to be less harmful but also are kind of insidious and have a tendency to build up and become very damaging.”

Kirk said oftentimes when she tells herself one of these “neutral” lies, she is drawing from feelings of yearning, from trying to make reality fit a desire. With her piano, she has developed a dislike for playing, which affects how frequently she practices.

“Usually when I look at my piano, I just dread sitting down and playing, so when I say it doesn’t matter if I play piano or not, I feel like I want that to be true,” Kirk said.

Similarly, Jimenez said his younger self often tried to coerce his sexual orientation into being what it was not, which prolonged the duration of his many years concealing who he truly was.

“I wanted to be like everyone else [and be] in a relationship with a girl. I thought that was what I wanted because I thought that was normal,” Jimenez said. “Sometimes I could just fake it. I would think that it would just go away as long as I just kept believing that I wasn’t gay, that someday it would be true.”

This is a common motivator for self deception, Martin said. Humans often try to manipulate life to adhere to a certain goal in a quasi “wish fulfillment” situation.

“We say reality isn’t behaving the way we want it to behave so we’re just going to make it do this,” Martin said. “We lie to ourselves about how reality is. It’s particularly easy to do when it comes to our emotional state and beliefs.”

Martin said the human tendency to self-deceive is both unavoidable and beneficial, even though this reasoning might seem counter-intuitive. However, he also cautioned that emotional distress can of-

ten result from two differing convictions clashing.

“If all of our beliefs were in perfect coherence with each other and we sincerely believed all of those beliefs to be true, we couldn’t function. The world is just too complicated and human relationships are just too complicated,” Martin said. “Of course, when we’re in situations where two contradictory beliefs are brought into direct conflict, we can experience anxiety that goes with this.”

Known as cognitive dissonance, this distress is where an individual experiences some kind of discomfort from holding conflicting opinions. Martin said the first step toward resolving this is examining one’s own beliefs and thinking about what one genuinely believes to be true, and used his own past struggles with alcoholism as an example of how difficult this task can be.

“I know it’s always a bad idea for me to take a drink,” Martin said. “Now I haven’t taken a drink in a long time, but I don’t know if I sat down with a drink in front of me, if I would necessarily decide not to drink it even though I know it’s bad.”

This first step towards reconciling cognitive dissonance is one that many teens have had to face, Jimenez said. As a gay high schooler who was an intimate witness to the effects of such lies, he said the selfdishonesty that many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer community experience eventually reaches a tipping point where it—or they—cannot continue.

“People come to a crossroads where you accept it or you don’t, because eventually it’s too much,” Jimenez said. “You either find happiness you’ve always been looking for, or you just give up altogether.”

For Jimenez, this realization occurred just months ago, after years of denial. He said there was no buildup or planning involved; he went to sleep as someone entrenched in the closet and got out of bed the next morning as a publicly gay man.

“It was a dream I had a week before my 18th birthday that I fell in love with this guy, that I was happy in a relationship that wasn’t with a girl,” Jimenez said. “I woke up from this dream knowing... that was what If you hate yourself I always really wanted, and I was almost in tears for most of your entire because I was so happy.” life and then all of the While thousands of sudden you don’t, it’s teens remain silent to the best feeling ever. both themselves and othZachary Jimenez ers about their sexuality, Jimenez said that acceptsenior ing the truth is a difficult and emotional process, but is also one that leads to a better existence. For him, letting go of the lies was a relief that helped him reclaim his own perceptions of himself.

“It started a new life for me, it completely changed how I saw myself,” Jimenez said. ”I didn’t hate myself anymore. If you hate yourself for most of your entire life and then all of the sudden you don’t, and you’re not ashamed and you’re happy... it’s the best feeling ever.”

Martin said as a general principle, honesty is the best policy. Though lifting those barriers and inviting vulnerability may seem like an extremely daunting task, Martin believes the end result is always worthwhile.

“I also think it’s important that we all have a goal to be more honest of ourselves,” Martin said. “At the end of the day, even though you might not want to always be truthful, I think that the tough job of being honest with yourself and others leads you to a better and happier life.”

B8 ADS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

SPORTS

ALSO INSIDE Senior lineman serve as offensive catalyst

Rock Bridge High School • 4303 S. Providence Rd. • Columbia Mo, 65203 • Vol. 42, Issue 2 • October 30, 2014

Volleyball spikes Smith-Cotton in district finals, eventually falls in sectionals

E

ntering this season, the RBHS volleyball team had big shoes to fill after last year’s team recorded the highest finish of any Bruin volleyball team in history.

“I would love to see this team be in the finals of districts,” head volleyball coach Robin Sherman said in August as volleyball prepared for the start of a new season.

“I think that would be a really good goal

for us and that could be a realistic goal for us. In losing 10 out of 14 players last year, it’s a rebuilding year, but these kids are all competitors and I think that’s probably what they have their sights on.”

Sherman’s prediction came true as the Bruins claimed thier second straight district title with a dramatic victory over Smith-Cotton in the third and final set.

Read more on page C3.

photo by Devesh Kumar

Closer

Look Tennis

Football

The tennis team won state with a 5-0 victory over St. Joseph’s Academy in the finals. In individual play, senior Phoebe Boeschen took third.

Football fell in district play to Fort Zumwalt West 62-41. The loss ends the record breaking careers of seniors Alex Ofodile and Logan Twehous. photo by Mikaela Acton

photo by Erin Kleekamp

Basketball Girls’ basketball begins their season the first week of November looking to claim their fourth straight state title.

photo by Madeline Stewart

C2 SPORTS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

photo by Devesh Kumar

Lining up: Members of the offensive line crouch in their stance for an offensive line drill. Other members look on to learn the right technique for playing as a center, offensive guard or tackle.

Big Push: J ohn F lanegin

I

n every sport there are players who grab the headlines, dominate the stat sheet and receive praise for their actions both on and off the field. Seniors Dayton Marcks and Jonah Dubinski are not these players.

The senior offensive linemen have been silently opening up gaping holes for the running game and providing essential pass protection during the Bruins 4-5 campaign this season.

The combined frames of the 6’2” 275 pound Dubinski and 5’11” 245 pound Marcks have been foreboding for just about every opponent RBHS has faced. Senior quarterback Logan Twehous said the two have helped him stay confident when making decisions when looking to pass from the pocket.

“They boost my confidence tremendously and their ability to com-

Senior offensive linemen Dubinski, Marcks serve as a vital catalyst for Bruin’s explosive, potent offense

municate things out with other lineman is second to none,” Twehous said, “and their ability to not just make themselves better but the people around them better is a huge asset to the team.”

The duo have been helping Twehous prosper in his final season as a Bruin with a staggering total of 2,370 passing yards through nine games, and have a special chemistry that provides for a hunger that keeps them working hard day in and day out.

“We’ve been friends since I started [RBHS] football,” Marcks said, “because we have had similar goals and been in similar positions.”

Junior running back Nick Collins has also flourished with the help of Marcks and Dubinski and has scampered his way to a season total of 655 yards.

“Coach [A.J.] Ofodile goes out of his way to mention us whenever he has the chance,” Dubinski said, “and

my teammates always strive to give us some credit.”

However, their high level of play isn’t always as easy as they make it look.

Because RBHS often employs the shotgun formation, Marcks holds a very small margin of error as center for the Bruins and is responsible for every snap of the offensive drive, and must make sure he delivers the ball to Twehous both accurately and quickly. After the snap, he and Dubinski, an offensive guard, must ward off the opposing defense as they swarm towards Twehous and Collins in the backfield.

Sometimes the intricacies of the pair’s game can go unnoticed by the average football fan and get lost in the flow of the game. Twehous believes their play is pivotal in key moments and can give the Bruins life when in a dry spell or in need of a big play from either the quarterback

or running back.

“They’re great at sorting things out.” Twehous said, “Defenses can give different looks and plays but their ability to adjust the blocking scheme and make it so it is a successful play is a huge thing people don’t realize about offense.”

With the offensive line playing such a key role in the team’s performance, it can be nerve-racking to maintain playing at a high level.

“I try not to think about it,” Marcks said, “and just know that if I trust what I’ve been coached then I will play fine.”

Dubinski credits a lot of their success to offensive line coach Dan Schufeld.

“Dayton and I are both pretty selfmotivated people so having to push us hasn’t really been something Dan [Schufeld] has had to do,” Dubinski said, “but the way he has taught us his knowledge of the game and tech-

nique is where he has impacted us the most.”

The pair have received helpful contributions from their fellow offensive linemen consisting of junior offensive tackle Drew Fougere and senior Andrew Cunningham, as well as All-State senior offensive guard Daniel Wolfe.

Dubinski and Marcks both plan to make an impact wherever they go after their careers at RBHS come to an end when they graduate this May. Dubinski has visited both Western Illinois University and Missouri State University and has heard from numerous other schools. Marcks is still pondering about what will be the right fit for him after he is no longer a Bruin but is certain he and Dubinski will maintain their friendship.

“We’ve been friends for a while,” Marcks said. “We will stay in touch no matter what we do after high school.”

SPORTS C3

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Boys swimming and diving prepares for state championship M arley Wurzer S kyler Froese

T

photo by Devesh Kumar

Setting to spike: Sophomore setter Ally Offerdahl sets the ball for senior middle hitter Deidre Mattson to spike in a game against Hickman on Oct. 16. The Bruins beat the Kewpies 25-17, 25-15 in straight sets to win their last regular season game before moving into the postseason.

Volleyball wins districts J ohn F lanegin

W

ith a record of 25-7-2 and a district championship to their names, it was clear that this year was anything but a rebuilding season for the Rock Bridge volleyball team after the loss of 10 seniors.

“We knew that there were going to be lots of changes in the roster and that some players would have to take up new positions,” junior defensive specialist Mariah Fitzpatrick said. “But I was not concerned about our success. Our team is made up of highly competitive and dedicated players, so I knew that we would be able to overcome the loss of so many seniors.”

The team did just as Fitzpatrick thought and surprised many, posting a 7-2-2 record after the Rockwood Summit tournament in mid-September. Under the close watch of second-year coach Robin Sherman at the helm, the lady Bruins developed into a team of sisters, using teamwork as their blueprint for the season.

“Our cohesion as a team, I think, was emphasized a lot, not

vocally, but in the drills we would become a better overall team and do.” senior outside hitter Bailey ultimately helped us play better Lawson said. “We all knew we together in the postseason.”

Entering districts the team would have to all work together boasted a 22-6-2 record and as a unit if we were to succeed.”

With the loss of much of the hoped to repeat as champions team’s leaders, Lawson and se- after last year’s defeat of Helias niors Carly Offerdahl, Deidre Catholic in the finals.

After walloping Battle in Mattson, and Lydia Murphy took to their positions determined to straight sets, 25-4, 25-16, the mentor as well as motivate no Lady Bruins quickly dismissed rival Jefferson City, 25-9 ,25-20, matter the obstacles.

“They were able to inspire us and advanced to the district finals as a team to work together,” Fitz- later that night against Smithpatrick said. “And fight through Cotton, who had swept the RBHS team Sept. 8, the tough 20-25, 31-33, parts of the I was definitely sad going on the same season.” into sectionals. I knew court.

With injuMattson, ries becomthat win or lose, it was an outside ing a recurmy last day playing on and middle ring theme, the Rock Bridge court. hitter, bethe team had lieved playto dig deeper Bailey Lawson ing the Tigers than ever besenior would only fore. add more kin“We had a large number of injuries that dling to the flames.

“We were all prepared for a required the team to change the lineup many times,” Offerdahl close match,” Mattson said. “But said. “This made us have to in- we had been practicing defense crease our communication dur- against their best hitter weeks in ing the games. It really helped us advance so that definitely helped

with our win.”

Conceding a loss in the first set, the team rallied behind Offerdahl’s eleven kills and Mattson’s .538 hitting efficiency to win the match 17-25, 25-23, 25-22 and were once again crowned champs of Class Four District Nine.

Only three days after celebrating their win, the Bruins saw their season come to a close when they lost to Ozark 17-25, 11-25 in the sectional tournament.

“I was definitely sad going into sectionals,” Lawson said.

“I knew that win or lose, it was my last day playing on the Rock Bridge court. But I am happy with the impression I made on the underclassmen and I’m excited to see them play these next few years.”

For Fitzpatrick, there has been a passing of the torch, and with it comes expectations as the team leader next season.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to lead the team, but also nerve racking, especially after the great leadership that Bailey and Carly had,” Fitzpatrick said. “Those are definitely big shoes to fill.”

he boy’s swim team will end their season at the boy’s swimming and diving state championship meet at St. Peters Rec Plex on Nov. 3. To qualify for this meet, the swimmer must have raced a time less than or equal to the cut for each event.

Seven RBHS students have made these cuts and plan to race at the level they hope to. Before they go, the team has one last shot at getting more swimmers to make state qualifying cuts at the last chance meet.

Coach Laura Wacker said the Bruins will excel in their last two meets. She reckons the team holds a good chance of placing well this year after placing 15th last year.

Wacker stated the team dominates in the individual medleys, breaststroke and distance freestyle. Her biggest worry at state lies in competition from the St. Louis University High School and Rockhurst teams. For the last chance meet she worries about various swimmers who are farther off of cuts.

“Hopefully there are some other [swimmers] who can come up with something outrageous,” Wacker said.

For swimmers who have already met the qualifying racing times needed for state, their minds are now primarily focused on the competition ahead of them on the Nov. 7. meet. All of these competitors share a feeling of excitement and assurance for the meet ahead.

“I feel ready. There are some really, really fast people in [state] this year. I’m strong, but my technique isn’t very good, so it makes things more difficult,” sophomore Paul Cover said.

Cover will compete in the 100-yard Butterfly at state. Cover, along with his other qualifying teammates, will begin tapering practices Monday in preparation for state.

Though the team had an unsatisfactory placement of 15th last year at state, the outlook for this year’s race is extremely positive.

“RBHS has placed very well at every meet this year, getting first or second overall,” Wacker said. “I feel RBHS has a good chance to get their best placing at state in a long while. Our relays are all ranked very high, and I expect us to get faster for state.”

As for the season overall, the team is proud of each member’s contributions toward their achievements. Wacker said the team has put a lot a hard work to prepare for the state championship.

“I think it is so outstanding how these guys care about each other, [they] want to see each other succeed, and are just such truly great guys,” Wacker said. “That has been the most stunning thing for the last two years. It would be hard for me to find a better group of guys to work with.”

Girl’s basketball ready for a run at another state title H arsh S ingh

I

n 2012, the Bruin girl’s basketball team won its second state title in school history against the Blue Spring Wildcats. A year later, RBHS defended its state title after a narrow 45-38 win against St. Joseph’s Academy.

The Bruins managed to win their third consecutive state title behind Bri Porter’s resurgent comeback from injury against Lee’s Summit North 62-45 in a game in which they never trailed.

After losing four senior members

from the varsity team, RBHS has already begun conditioning in the gym to be ready to compete in a season where people expect nothing below a state title. Senior Cierra Porter is one of the veterans who will lead the team.

“We honestly don’t even think about the expectations other people have for us,” Porter said. “We just have fun playing the sport we love.”

The absence of the seniors will present a new challenge for RBHS as all four members who left had a big presence on the team. Head coach Jill Nagel said the loss of those four

seniors will give the team extra motivation.

“Last year’s senior class was an exceptional class. Graduation occurs each year though, so it isn’t like we have never experienced graduating talented players with high character,” Nagel said. “It is the goal of our program to do just that — graduate talented players with high character who go on to positively impact the community in which they live.”

Along with the motivation, the girls also have a positive attitude about everything coming ahead of them. Senior Sophie Cunningham

said everyone is willing to step up their game to fill in for the seniors who left.

“We want to come in and work hard during season but also enjoy each step of the journey,” Cunningham said. “Our attitude doesn’t really change even if the season hasn’t started yet.”

The Bruins also know they can win their fourth consecutive state title this year. However, Nagel said they aren’t looking that far ahead at the moment.

“The players work together to develop the goals and values for our

team which are specific to that team.

I am confident not one of their goals will list anything along the lines of four-peat,” Nagel said. “The season is a journey and if we meet our goals and stay true to our values the season will be a success regardless of the final outcome.”

Cunningham agrees with Nagel about taking it step by step, instead of focusing on the final outcome of the state tournament.

“We aren’t looking that far forward. We take one game at a time,” Cunningham said. “If that leads us to a four-peat, that would be amazing.”

art by Maddy Mueller

C4 ADS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY C5

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Shellshock virus infects computers

A study of the heart and mind

A bdul -R ahman A bdul -K afi

T

o many, the ins and outs of computers can be a mystery. Few know why or how a computer works the way it does; they just see the result. However, there are people out there who know how and why everything works the way it does.

Hackers are computer programmers gone rogue. To them, a computer is like a puzzle. All they need to do is find the right pieces to solve the puzzle. In this case, the pieces of the puzzle hackers look for are places of vulnerability, or bugs, in the coding of programs.

Heartbleed is one such bug discovered in February and was officially fixed in April. Simply put, Heartbleed allowed people to find random bits of information from websites like Amazon.com, which could have contained usernames, passwords and other security information like credit card numbers.

It took one year for people to discover Heartbleed, so it was easy for people to fix. However, on Sept. 12, another such bug was discovered and was named Shellshock. This bug took 30 years to discover and is currently on millions of devices around the world.

“It is much more dangerous than Heartbleed, in comparison, because Heartbleed was kind of like everybody could pan for gold and hope to find something, whereas Shellshock you have to hunt for it a little bit, but then once you have access, you have full access,” John Gillis, a computer engineering major at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said. “This bug that allows Shellshock to happen, ... some sources trace it back to a version of Bash, which is the program that has the bug, back to Sept. 1989. So anything that had Bash installed on it since then has to be patched.”

Gillis said the 30-year span is the biggest threat with this bug because fixing every single device it exists on is almost near impossible. His advice is to keep everything up to date with the current version available.

“The way Shellshock works is it depends on these variables, these snippets of code that programs can pass from one to another, and the way they use this is it is the glue between one program and another,” Gillis said. “One was written this way and another was written by someone else in a different way and they need a way to talk, so they can use what are called environment variables.”

Shellshock causes these environment variables to become vulnerable. Since every Wi-Fi router uses them to communicate to each device it connects to, people should be very cautious when it comes to connecting to Wi-Fi networks that are unknown. Gillis said every router contains this bug.

“I have Malwarebytes and malware software. I also have Windows Defender, which comes with the computer,” senior Andy Kegley said. “Common sense [while using computers] is the easiest thing to use to not get viruses and things.

I changed my Google password ... and I think I also changed my [PlayStation Network] password, as well.”

Even though this bug is very dangerous, Gillis said it will probably not affect most people at this point.

“I think the key takeaway for consumers is don’t get terribly worried,” Gillis said. “Now that people know about it and it has been a few weeks, it is becoming less and less severe because more and more people are patching their systems.”

runs unexpected commands

works through Bash shell command line

FAST FACTS

what shellshock does

art by Ellie Stitzer infographic information source: pcworld.com

A lice Yu

F

olded in the black and white blur of cardiac ultrasounds are countless details.

From the size of heart valves to warning signs of a heart attack, those ultrasounds can reveal essential information about the life of a patient.

For senior Saja Necibi, viewing those images confirmed her passion for the world of science and health care and gave her a glimpse into the future of her career.

As an intern of Dr. Senthil Kumar, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Missouri Hospital from June to September, Necibi assisted with a clinical research project regarding cardiovascular health and specifically, atrial fibrillation, a type of abnormal heartbeat.

“The first time that Dr. Kumar even explained to me what [atrial fibrillation] was, I just kind of went home and I literally Googled it,” Necibi said. “[I] learned what is atrial fibrillation and what can cause it and stuff like that.”

Comparing two different forms of cardiac imaging, the goal of the research project was to determine if the less invasive of the two was still as effective in spotting clots in the heart before shocking a patient’s heart back to a normal rhythm.

Already drawn toward an internship that revolved around research, Necibi began seeking opportunities at the University of Missouri Hospital. Reaching out to researchers and physicians, Necibi finally found Dr. Kumar and began an internship with him. “[She] was very punctual and enthusiastic,” Dr. Kumar said in an email interview.

“She exhibited knowledge and understanding, which I was surprised to see in a high school student.”

Devoting 12 hours each week to Dr. Kumar’s work, Necibi spent 90 hours exploring the facets of clinical research and participating in tasks that ranged from collecting data to gaining first-hand experience interacting with patients.

photo by Sury Rawat

From mentor to colleague: Saja Necibi works with Dr. Senthil Kumar, Assistant Professor of Clininical Medicine at the University of Missouri Hospital, to gain experience.

“We were actually performing an echocardiogram on a patient in the ICU and Dr. Kumar had decided to spend some extra time with the patient to try to figure out what was wrong with her ... and so we spent some extra time carrying out the echocardiogram,” Necibi said. “I actually got to capture the images for it and we found that she had a [Ventricular Septal Defect], which is a hole in her heart. It was a life-threatening condition and so it was really interesting to directly help save someone’s life.”

A Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) is essentially an ultrasound of the heart chamber and valves, which can give physicians an overview on the general health of a patient’s heart.

Connected to the echocardiogram, the ultrasound machine, are probes. After applying gel onto the probes, the healthcare provider then guides the probe down esophagus — or the throat — of the patient. Since the esophagus is directly behind the heart, physicians can receive a more detailed image.

“Although an ultrasound of the heart seems really simple, it was just a blurry black and white image to me,” Necibi said.

Along with interacting with different patients, Necibi also assisted in organizing data and writing an abstract — a summary of the research plan — and submitting it to the University of Missouri Health Sciences Research Day. With a limit of 250 words, Necibi was faced with creating a snapshot that could still fully explain the goals and procedures

of Dr. Kumar’s research project.

“Basically, I just described what was going on in our research: what types of patients we’re working with, age groups and also how we obtained our data and how we were able to analyze it and come up with conclusions for it,” Necibi said. “The deadline was in September, but we’re waiting to hear back about the abstract.”

Necibi’s internship with Dr. Kumar isn’t the first encounter she’s had with the field of healthcare.

After learning about mitosis and cancer cells in biology, Necibi’s passion for science encouraged her to apply to a program called Tomorrow’s Healthcare Elite.

“After joining Healthcare Elite, we really got to job shadow lots of different professions in healthcare,” Necibi said. “Through that I knew it was solidified that I wanted to go into [healthcare].”

With so many departments to choose from in the field of healthcare, Necibi is leaning towards becoming an oncologist — a physician who treats cancer.

Finding her source of inspiration in one of her multitude of internships, Necibi hopes to help patients move past hardship and pain.

“One of the things that has made me interested in oncology is I was with the patient and oncologist in the room when the patient got a really bad diagnosis for her and her family and it was just so moving,” Necibi said. “I just felt like I wanted to do that for people; I wanted to help people like that.”

art by Maddy Mueller

Hotspots, Public Wi-Fi could cause breaches to privacy J ohn F lanegin

I

n 2003, the tiny island country of Niue, which is 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean, became the first nation to offer free wireless internet access throughout the 100 square mile country.

Since then, municipal wireless networks — or the concept of turning an entire city into a wireless access zone offering free Wi-Fi to all inhabitants and visitors— have been sprouting up in cities across America and the globe.

According to the Pew’s Internet Project, 98 percent of people aged 18-29 owned a cell phone.

With technology quickly becoming one of the fastest growing industries and affecting every facet of our lives, people of all ages are now clamoring to be on a connection at all times.

Demographics of all ages seem to be evolving into zombies plugged into airport plugins and becoming ever dependant on wireless connections in almost every location, with restaurants, stores and some forms of public transportation implementing free Wi-Fi. Checks are deposited at the tap of a finger, shoes bought in seconds and finances managed all within this public “cyberspace.”

Hackers, too, have taken a help others when they need adlong look at these technological vice on technology. For him, usadvancements and are begin- ing the school’s network helps ning to hunger for a whole dif- immensely.

“I see [Wi-Fi] as a great way ferent reason. There are more than 4.5 million public Wi-Fi to stay connected,” Marinov hot spots in the United States, said. “However, high privacy and these hot spots are ex- sites, such as online banking pected to reach 5.8 million just sites, should not be used over next year, according to a report [un]secure Wi-Fi networks.”

RBHS media specialist Dencommissioned by the Wireless nis Murphy has been quick to Broadband Alliance.

A hot spot can be described educate students on how easy it is to lose inas a site that formation and offers InterThe chances of personal net access information being taken control of your own identity over a wireover the school network on a wireless less local are not significant and is network. area network unlikely since most sites “In most (WLAN) use encryption. places, there’s through the always a use of a routPetar Marinov danger of er connected senior somebody to a link to intercepting an Internet service provider. Hot spots typi- something that you’re sending using that Wi-Fi,” Murphy said. cally use Wi-Fi technology.

These connections are a dis- “So someone can always hack guise for a hacker waiting in the it.”

Junior Megan Sherman adback of the restaurant or bus to take information from unsus- mits to being on her phone durpecting victims. Bank account ing school hours, but stays safe numbers, credit card and debit by limiting what she does on card information can be stolen the CPS network.

“I know information can be in a blink of an eye with hackers watching people’s every move taken from your phone,” Sheras they scroll through someone man said. “And it’s not very else’s smartphone on their fabri- private.”

Sherman, like many other cated hot spot.

Senior Petar Marinov is al- students, has taken an approach ways on his phone, striving to to constrain her shared informa-

tion over the internet in general not just on public connection.

“I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily scared,” Sherman said.

“Mainly because I do not put anything that puts me at risk or that I wouldn’t want my grandma to see on my phone.”

While Murphy has noted that no dilemmas have happened yet on the CPS networks, there can always be actions taken to maintain your safety while on the internet.

“Number one, I wouldn’t do anything of importance over free Wi-Fi. I would wait and do that on something that’s more secure like your home network that requires a password,” Murphy said. “Number two, I would stay away from Facebook and things like that and putting any kind of information out there because those are open to hackers at all times.”

Marinov sees no reason for alarm and believes it is highly unlikely that any RBHS students could compromise such information.

“The chances of personal information being taken over the school network are not significant,” Marinov said. “It is unlikely, since most sites use encryption. I personally disable Wi-Fi and use cellular data whenever I am using eBay, PayPal or viewing bank information.”

C6 HEALTH & WELLNESS

www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Media multitasking enriches learning N icole S chroeder

more mechanisms you use to help organize things and coordinate things, the better your enior Aidan O’Brien sits in the me- brain would be,” Koch said. “I don’t underdia center at RBHS as she does her stand why your brain would lose grey matter homework, her iPad propped up be- by multitasking, which people have been doside her. A pair of earbuds play mu- ing for decades anyway.”

O’Brien agrees with Koch and said she sic while she works, helping her to tune out the rest of the world and focus on the assignment. doesn’t subscribe to the idea of a decrease in O’Brien is one of nearly 15 percent of stu- grey matter density from media multitasking dents nationwide who are able to focus more that the study suggests. She said she feels that when they multitask, according to a recent the brain’s capacity to learn and understand study of 400 students by the American Acad- multiple things at one time would in fact increase through media multitasking. emy of Pediatrics published October 2014.

“I know my dad and my brother play games “If I can work on math homework while I watch TV, it helps me focus ... because if it’s [on their phones] while they watch football quiet, I can’t focus,” O’Brien said. “If I have games, and they’ll still know what’s going on to read, I can’t do it with other noise [but] just in the football game, but they’ll also be play... solving things, I can do while listening to ing [on their phone],” O’Brien said. “I think that’s making your brain work harder and take music or watching TV.” However, despite O’Brien’s belief that in more information so that would make your multitasking is beneficial to her productivity, capability for understanding … things better.”

Sophomore Christopher Smith, however, certain types of multitasking can actually be said he accepts the results of the harmful to the brain. study as well as the logic behind According to a recent them. study by the UniSmith said he often multitasks versity of Sussex in at home, both while completing England, media mulhomework and when using diftitasking, or the use of ferent forms of media, and finds multiple forms of methat he’s often not as productive Aidan O’Brien dia at once, can lead to when multitasking as he is when a decrease in the densenior doing each task individually. sity of gray matter in “Sometimes it gets me off the brain which forms the neural pathways that process information. track. Sometimes when I look away for a secThe study, published in September, deter- ond, I lose my train of thought [and forget] mined that participants who admitted to using what I was doing for the homework,” Smith higher levels of media multitasking in a ques- said. “[I’m] maybe not as productive as I tionnaire showed substantially less density sometimes think I am being.”

Still, this study shows only some of the rewithin the grey matter of the anterior cingulate cortex — a section of the brain that is associ- search that has been done on media multitasking. Koch said other studies, most notably one ated with attention and error detection.

James Koch, a Boone Hospital neurologist, from Stanford University, have also gathered said he disagrees with the study’s findings. He information on media multitasking and, in believes that instead of decreasing, the density fact, have found it to have more positive efof gray brain matter should in fact increase fects on the brain than negative effects. The because of the challenge being placed on the reason for these conflicting results, he said, is that the concept is simply too difficult to anabrain.

“Common sense would tell you that the lyze well.

“The problem is that there’s no good way more you study, the more you organize, the

S

If I can work on math homework while I watch TV, it helps me focus.

to test for this. We have things like functional MRIs that show how many neurons are actually being used for each task ... but it’s all very controversial information, and not everyone agrees on how it should be interpreted.”

Despite Smith’s belief that multitasking can decrease one’s productivity, he said he still believes that it is an important skill to learn and one that will be helpful later in life.

“I think that multitasking is a skill that you might need … in the future,” Smith said.

“If you master multitasking then you’re able to do multiple things in a short amount of time, whereas if you happen to just do two things, one at a time, then it will increase the amount of time you spend doing the [tasks].”

Likewise, O’Brien said she believes multitasking in any form is an important skill for people to learn, as many jobs require employees to balance multiple tasks at the same time.

“In general, I think … you need to be able to multitask because there’s a lot of stuff you’re going to have to do [at once]. You’re going to have to be able to work on different stuff at different times,” O’Brien said. “If you’re ever going to be a parent, you’re going to have to be able to do multiple things at once because kids are crazy. [In] mostly any profession, you’re going to need to be able to multitask.” art by Maddy Mueller

HEALTH & WELLNESS C7

Wrapped in puppy love www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014

Animals provide emotional, social support G race Vance

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umans and animals have shared a personal connection as far back as 32,000 years ago, which is when researchers believe dogs became domesticated pets, according to phys. org.

Since then, multiple people around the world have started organizations like the American Psychological Association-Human Animal Interaction and the American Humane Association, which seeks to expand on the minimal amount of information behind the relationship between humans and animals.

Stemming from the University of

Missouri’s Medicine College program are researchers interested in learning more about the bond that connects people with animals. The Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction founder, Rebecca Johnson, designed this program to research the health benefits behind human-animal interaction.

Members of ReCHAI also strive to educate the public that Animal Assisted Activity is a beneficial form of complementary therapy by documenting their evidence.

Postdoctoral fellow Gretchen Carlisle said her role involves a little bit of all the studies conducted in the program, like helping children who have been abused and children with

photo by Caylea Erikson

Littered with love: Volunteering at the Humane Society along with other members of the RBRO Human Society core Wednesday, Oct. 15, junior Stephanie Gregg cares for a four-month old kitten named Cookie. Gregg also walked Scooby, a dog, and played with kittens.

autism keep calm by placing a dog by their side.

“Most of our research involves community so we [don’t have any] hospital based programs,” Carlisle said. Children “with autism that live with pets seem to have better social skills in some particular social skill area. It [is] common for them and their parents to think that it helps them to have companionship and friendship and that’s something that is difficult for children with autism sometimes.”

Dana Harris, a BHS outreach counselor, is glad programs like ReCHAI support the positive effects of animal interaction. Harris has brought her dog, Bella, a shih tzu, to school every day for eight years.

Bella is blind in one eye because her previous owner neglected to take her to the vet after an eye injury, resulting in an infection. Her blindness allows kids to empathize with her situation and relate to her pain. “[Bella has] sat in my office and seen lots of tears,” Harris said.

“Sometimes it’s just easier to connect with a pet because they don’t judge or disappoint you.”

Sometimes Harris has a student come in who might be crying or anxious but does not open up to guidance due to his or her broken trust and pain. She said Bella seems to know when they are upset and will sit next to the student, who immediately respond by petting her or simply smiling.

“Sometimes people struggle with

making connections or trusting hu- of a dairy cow. mans,” Harris said, “but are able to “I wholeheartedly believe that angive and receive unconditional love imals have a special ability to warm from pets.” the hearts of human beings [by] makAmong other scientific proof that ing them feel better,” Bappe said. supports the idea of a connection be- “Daisy licks my face whenever I cry tween people and animals, Carlisle and lays next to me until I feel betsaid there is research showing that an ter.” animal encourAccording to a ages interaction study conducted by Sometimes it’s just with others, servAnimal Cognition, easier to connect with a when a dog owner ing as a social inpet because they don’t fake-cried along centive.

Evidence bejudge or disappoint you. with a stranger, the hind this can be owner’s dogs apDana Harris explained by the proached whoever BHS outreach counselor rise and fall of was crying regarda hormone norless of their idenmally associated with stress called tity. This means they were reacting cortisol. to people’s emotions, which suggests “The science behind it has to do a response similar to empathy in the with cortisol,” Carlisle said. “That’s dog’s attempt to offer comfort. how we know that animals provide Bappe finds that all her pets proa calming effect for people, [by] de- vide a sense of contentment. She creasing their anxiety.” owns a variety of pets including a cat Cortisol is the hormone that the and a tortoise. body produces when under stress.

She believes there is a mutual unAccording to petsbest.com, cortisol derstanding between a person and his levels in the bloodstream decrease or her pet, and experiences this with when someone is petting a dog. This all of her pets. results in feelings of comfort and Something that she tries to procalm. vide every day to her pets, she said, Junior Jodie Bappe said she is not is love and affection. surprised that scientific evidence sug“I think animals have a loving and gests animals can be calming to peo- compassionate instinct that brings ple. In fact, the relationship between out the good in everyone,” Bappe Bappe and her dog, Daisy, proves said. “But it’s a two-way street; in orthis. der for this connection to occur, you Daisy, Bappe’s three-year-old have to open up your heart for the beagle and dalmatian mix, has big animal and let them know that you brown eyes and the distinct markings love them.”

Eating breakfast delivers food fuel for focus H arsh S ingh

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lmost 20 percent of Americans skip breakfast each day, according to a survey by the Huffington Post. Of the 20 percent who omit the morning meal, eight percent do so because they don’t have enough time.

Missing breakfast, however, can have a large impact on a person’s day.

Not eating breakfast makes people more hungry as the day goes on, so students start eating more food than they should, RBHS nurse Tammy Adkins said.

“Whenever someone comes in and says they have a headache or stomach ache, the first question I ask them is whether they had breakfast or not,” Adkins said. “Eating a good breakfast just gives your mind the boost it needs in the morning.”

While one of the main reasons to skip breakfast is a lack of time, junior Jonathan Thomas said it can be managed. Thomas, who has swimming practice each day before school, has even less time than others to consume breakfast.

“I have to wake up around six so I can attend practice at seven. I am always running low on time, but for me, I have to eat breakfast not only [so] I can swim well, but also to concentrate in class,” Thomas said. “I only have 30 minutes to eat and get ready, but I manage to eat a healthy breakfast because it is so important.”

Adkins said although it may seem fine in the morning to skip breakfast, it really has a big toll on students as the day goes on.

Students who eat breakfast attend school 1.5 more days on average than their meal-skipping peers, according

feature photo by Devesh Kumar

to a study by CNN. Adkins agreed and said breakfast, performance, focus and school have a big correlation.

“I read somewhere that people perform worse in their workplace if they don’t eat breakfast,” Adkins said. “There definitely is a relation between how students do in school and whether they eat breakfast or not.”

Cindy Foley, a nutritionist at the University of Missouri, said other than its effect on school performance, skipping breakfast has many reper-

cussions that affect students’ futures.

For example, Foley said skipping breakfast can increase the risk for disorders such as diabetes or heart disease.

“I always tell myself never to skip breakfast because then I start having headaches and the day goes by really slowly,” Foley said. “Skipping breakfast consistently lowers your energy in the future [and] may cause depression and gives joint pain.”

Thomas experiences symptoms similar to Foley. When he omits

breakfast from his morning routine, he has severe migraines. In addition to migraines, skipping breakfast can cause dizziness due to a lack of nutrients the brain needs to work.

“If I don’t eat breakfast one day, then I just can’t do anything because I get such a bad headache,” Thomas said. “That causes me to not concentrate properly, and it’s basically like not being in class.”

To avoid this problem, Foley said making a quick breakfast with high protein is the most efficient way to

go. Last year, a study from the University of Missouri found that women who ate a high protein breakfast feel more full for the day than those who have not had protein for breakfast.

“Eat some type of protein. Protein not only gives you [energy], but also fills you up quicker so it takes less time,” Foley said. “Basically, my advice is find a way to get some type of food in your stomach before you leave for school. Whether it be toast or cereal, it wakes you up and allows you to start your daily routine.”

infographic information source: jhsph.com (Johns Hopkins University) art by Maddy Mueller

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www.bearingnews.org • The Rock • October 30, 2014