Volume CXI, Issue 10
The student news publication of Walnut Hills High School
Friday March 10, 2017
r i si ng u p ag a i n s t h at e Students, civilians continue to stand up for beliefs as hate crimes statistics rise
Recent spike in hate crimes Minority students’ perspectives Amanda Anderson, ‘19 Matthew Youkilis, ‘19 During the past few years, the United States has seen a major increase in the frequency of hate crimes across the country. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there was about a 6 percent increase in hate crimes in 2015, and many suspect this number will rise when estimated for 2016 and 2017. These crimes are commonly threats and vandalism, but they have also escalated into acts of violence. Recent hateful acts on minority cultural centers have occurred around the country. The Jewish community has seen a major uptick in anti-Semitism in past years and especially in recent months, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Even in Cincinnati, a sign in front of Hebrew Union College was painted with a swastika in January. Gravestones in Jewish cemeteries were knocked over and broken, such as the Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia, where almost 100 gravestones fell victim. Over 100 bomb threats were sent to around 80 Jewish Community Centers all over the country since the year began, including in Cincinnati. These threats led to the evacuations of Jewish Community Centers and large-scale investigations. An audio recording from JTA, a Jewish news service, was released this January. In the recording, the caller is heard saying, “It’s a C-4 bomb with a lot of shrapnel, surrounded by a bag”. Mosques around the country received similar treatment, especially after the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015. Vandals wrote “Muslims go home” and “This is for France” on the walls of the Muslim Community Center of Louisville, and other such crimes
have occurred throughout the western world. Although this incited anger and fear among many people, the damages themselves could physically be fixed with a bit of paint. The emotional and mental damages, however, could have a much greater long-term effect. These discriminatory crimes also escalated into violence and murder. On Feb. 22, two Indian men were shot in a bar in Kansas, with one dying from his wounds. The suspect was reported to have yelled “get out of my country” before shooting, leading the FBI to investigate this as a hate crime. On March 3, a Sikh man was shot in a suburb of Seattle, being told, “Go back to your own country” by the gunman. These crimes have spread fear among minorities across the U.S. as they are frightened that similar crimes could follow. Although this hate is scattered all over the country, it recently found itself closer to home. On Jan. 22, Withrow High School was vandalized with several offensive statements, including racial, homophobic and antiSemitic slurs. This vandalism horrified and angered the students, faculty and parents of Withrow, as well as many other Cincinnati residents, causing them to call for an immediate investigation to find the culprit. Although no one has been caught, members of Cincinnati Public Schools, including WHHS students, came together by wearing orange shirts (the school’s color) and attending Withrow’s sporting events to show support. While hate crimes are on the rise, the response to them has also become even stronger. Cincinnati is a prime example of a community coming together against hate and showing support for everyone.
Grace Berding, ‘19 Ibrahim Munir, ‘19 With the recent increase in hate crimes against certain minority groups in the United States, hate has spread among young people and high schools all over the country. This hate has reached local areas in Cincinnati, at places such as Withrow High School and Hebrew Union College. Some students at WHHS have faced discrimination themselves, and just like many other minorities in the country, they have had to deal with recent racist behavior from society. Malak Alwawi, ‘19, is one such student. Alwawi has faced discrimination for her religion and because she looks different; her ethnicity plays a big role in her life and decisions that she makes. “What you see in someone isn’t what you see on the outside, but the inside, and if you judge someone because of their race or religion, that is just intolerable,” Alwawi said about ethnicity and its role in society today. When faced with discrimination, she said that she handed off the issue to an adult and let them take care of it because “heating it up will just cause so many more problems, and handing it off to an adult is a better solution than fighting.”
She also has advice for other minority students dealing with a similar issue. “I’d keep being who I truly am, so if someone calls me a terrorist, I’m going to try to be even nicer to that person to prove them wrong.” Noah Levy, ‘19, believes this is a time for people to come together and support each other. “This is a difficult and scary time for Americans, especially minorities, and I feel that we should come together and help each other instead of being pitted against each other and fighting,” Levy said. SENIOR Michael Allen believes in something that Christopher Wallace, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., once said: “You can’t change the world unless you change yourself.” “A lot of people have a racist mindset, and unless those people change, the world will forever stay the same,” Allen said. He thinks children are the people who will grow up to change, but if the parents are discriminating against someone, the kids will grow up to do the same as their parents. Although many see the lives getting tougher and things looking bleaker, it is more important now than ever that everyone stands together as a community and continues to rise against these acts of discrimination and promote the unity many at WHHS believe in so strongly.
“What you see in someone isn’t what you see on the outside, but the inside, and if you judge someone because of their race or religion, that is just intolerable.” Malak Alwawi, ‘19 PICTURES: BRIANNA JONES/CHATTERBOX GRAPHIC: AUGUSTA BATTOCLETTE/CHATTERBOX
FEATURES
MARCH 10, 2017
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SECTION EDITOR: MATTHEW YOUKILIS
CINCINNATI, OHIO
STAR shines bright helping refugees
PHOTO COURTESY OF CARA DALEY
Members of the Students Together Assisting Refugees (STAR) club have meetings every Friday at lunch in teacher Johanka Hart-Tompkins’ room. STAR organizes many events throughout the school year, such as fundraisers to raise money to assist local refugees. Krishyra Mitchell, ‘17 Kayla Murrell, ‘17 Students Together Assisting Refugees (STAR) is a club at WHHS that started in the fall of 2015. It is composed of a group of students who are dedicated to aiding refugees as well as raising awareness about the refugee crisis. Though there is a well known refugee crisis affecting countries such as Syria and Germany, there are also refugees in other countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. People of all ages are being forced to flee their country due to
persecution, war or violence. The process of starting over, leaving one’s family and finding a new home is everyday life for some. SENIOR Adam Sella is the president of STAR. He originally started the club at WHHS after traveling to the Middle East and witnessing the effects of the current refugee crisis in that part of the world. Since then, the club has grown and now has about 20 active members at WHHS. The club is also beginning to spread, with chapters starting in other schools across the nation who are also trying to help refugees.
“I wrote an article on a website called NSLI Interactive and an Alumni of a program I did, saw it. “Then a magazine published by John Hopkins saw the article too and so they asked me to write an article for the magazine. And over time STAR just had more and more publicity and more people found out about it,” Sella said, explaining how it spread. STAR has organized several events at WHHS in their quest to help refugees. On Oct. 18, 2016, they held a fundraiser that raised over $25,000 for refugee scholarships. “We had a fundraiser concert here at Walnut, where Cincin-
nati students and orchestra musicians came and played for a crowd of about 130 people. We raised a lot of money from donations and ticket sales,” Sella said. Along with organizing different events, STAR members also volunteer at a local elementary school, Academy Of World Languages, where there are many refugee students. They are able to work with the students and tutor them on various subjects. They also get to partake in different activities with the kids after school. STAR also hosts speaking events to educate WHHS students and the broad community.
“The German Consul General from Chicago came down from Chicago to Walnut and spoke to students about Germany’s refugee crisis, and last year a few refugees came and gave a presentation about their lives,” Sella said. Club members meet every Friday during first and third lunch in teacher Johanka HartTompkins’ room, 2611, in the Modern Foreign Language wing. For more information, go to their website <www.starrefugees.org>.
STYLE & CULTURE
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
MARCH 10, 2017
PAGE 3
SECTION EDITOR: KEEGAN SULLIVAN
Spread of DNC, RNC influence
YI CHEN/THENOUNPROJECT.COM
The elephant and donkey have long been symbols for the Democratic and Republican parties. When President Andrew Jackson ran his campaign, opponents called him a jackass (a donkey), and Jackson decided to use the image of the strong-willed animal on his campaign posters. Reggie Callender ‘18 The Democratic and Republican National Committees (DNC and RNC, respectively) are both well known for holding conventions where candidates are selected to represent the party in elections. These nominees are not elected by the people, but rather, appointed by members of the committees. Members to the committees are usually appointed by the committee chair; some are even appointed by donating large amounts of money. Who monitors the actions of both parties and what influence do they have on the elected officials? Becoming a delegate for either committees is a very complicated process; the official rules are entwined in a 41 page essay that was released in 2008. To summarize the lengthy rule set: first you must be elected into a state committee from a primary ballot depending on the state and then become the chair, or
become one of the other two major representatives. You can also skip this process and become a delegate by being personally selected by the state governor or committee chair. The former DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned after a release of emails on Wikileaks which showed coordinated efforts to help former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at her opponents’ expense. Schultz served for five years as chair. The former RNC chair, Reince Priebus, has been appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as Chief of Staff. The DNC and RNC’s main functions are to spread the ideals of the party, hold events and fundraisers, and most importantly, select and confirm the presidential nominees at conventions they organize based on state primaries. If the presidential nominee of either party wins, he or she then reserves the right to select the chair for the national committee and influence state selections. At Democratic conventions, superdele-
gates, unlike regular delegates, are not obligated to support the candidate that the state primaries elect. Superdelegates are appointed members of the party. Republicans do not have superdelegates in their conventions. In the 2016 election, the superdelegates gave Clinton an overwhelming lead over Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, causing her nomination over his. The Political Action Committees (PACs) are directly involved with both committees, but the DNC in last year’s election cycle spent more on paying members than it did helping campaigns -- there was roughly $100,000 more paid to members than given to democratic candidates, according to the Washington Beacon. Both parties operate with a lot of money from fundraising; appointments to serve in these committees form within the committees and have little regulation by the government. Since either committee has no direct influence on candidates, the government views them as simply a support group who represent the people. However, especially in the case of superdelegates and appointments, some actions can potentially be based on inside interests. In the past election, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the DNC raised $1.4 billion, while the RNC raised $957 million. The major differences in funds come from the campaigns themselves and the Super PACs. Joint fundraising committees play a big part in fundraising. Bundling money is bringing multiple like-minded friends, family and coworkers together and deliver one lump sum to the campaign. This is a
very effective way to avoid the regulations of money an individual can contribute, which is capped at $5,400 per year. The FEC requires that candidates for federal office disclose the funds bundled by registered lobbyists. The FEC rules, however, are considered loose by government watchdogs, and easily circumvented by crafty bundlers and lobbyists wishing to remain out of the public eye. In some cases, bundlers are able to avoid disclosing their role in raising large sums of money for a campaign by never physically pooling and delivering the checks, just organizing the fundraising. Significant amounts are raised by bundlers in elections and in return, are awarded political favors by the campaign. According to Public Citizen, bundlers who deliver large amounts of campaign cash to candidates have been rewarded with access to prominent advisers and strategists, official titles and privileged treatment in campaigns, and ambassadorships and other plum political appointments. The Center for Public Integrity reported that former president Barack Obama rewarded about 200 bundlers with jobs and appointments. “Bundlers play an enormous role in determining the success of political campaigns and are apt to receive preferential treatment if their candidate wins,” Public Citizen wrote. “Bundlers who direct money to presidential candidates tend to be first in line for plum ambassador positions and other political appointments. Industry titans and lobbyists are more likely to receive preferential treatment from elected officials if they raised large amounts of money for them.”
Curtain closes on Ringling Brothers circus
IMAGE COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Ringling Brothers circus transported elephants in trains from show to show; they were often welcomed by crowds of people. In May 2016, all the elephants were transported to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Center for Elephant Conservation, a step in phasing elephant out of shows. Leah Cleveland, ‘17 After 146 years of entertainment for families across the nation, The Ringling Brothers is combining with Barnum & Bailey Circus for a final show in May 2017. Feld Entertainment, the producer of the shows, announced that ticket sales had steadily been decreasing over the years. Recently, sales reached the point of unsustainable business. In 2015, Feld Entertainment decided -- due to public opinion -- to slowly remove all of the elephants from shows by May 2016. The
company later listed the lack of elephants in performances as a reason that tickets sales may have declined. In 2016, The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced its first woman ringmaster, Kristen Michelle Wilson. Wilson made her debut performance
“The elephants were being attacked and forced to do tricks for people’s enjoyment. However, I will miss that part of the show,” SENIOR Ananya Cherukuri
to the decrease in sales but was another major change for the company. The end to “The Greatest Show On Earth” has some feeling nostalgic. “I am really sad that I will never see [them] again because I don’t have very many memories from the show but I hope to see their Farewell show in Cincinnati,” SENIOR Michaela Ballard said. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus plans to have one last visit to Cincinnati from March 10-19 at U.S. Bank Arena.
in Circus Xtreme four days before the company announced that the tour would be the company’s last. Wilson was not attributed
The Chatterbox Policy Statement
The Chatterbox has been guaranteed the right of freedom of the press through the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The administration of Walnut Hills High School is thus bound to support and protect the Chatterbox’s inalienable rights as a free press. As an integral part of the Walnut Hills High School community, the Chatterbox has the responsibility to report in the most comprehensive and objective manner possible. Students, parents, faculty, and administra-
tors are encouraged to use this publication as a forum to express any ideas or concerns, whether they be personal or of local, national, or international scope. Journalists are required to work under established guidelines. Invasion of privacy as a means of news gathering is prohibited. Articles found to be discriminatory, libelous, or unnecessarily obscene (as determined by the editors or the advisor) will not be published. Finally, journalists are granted the right to keep private the name of a
source from whom they received information with the understanding that the source was to remain anonymous. The role of the newspaper advisor will be to provide counsel and criticism pertaining to the newspaper’s content and production. Although both the advisor and the administration hold certain powers regarding the Chatterbox, both must respect the paper’s autonomy. No student shall be prevented from joining the staff on the basis of sex, race, creed or national origin.
Augusta Battoclette Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Munir Managing Editor of News and Features
Maham Usmani Managing Editor of Student Life
Ashwini Kamath Managing Editor of Opinions
Hannah Bundschuh Managing Editor of Visual Elements
Pavan Yaddanapudi Business Manager
Nick Robertson Online Content Manager
Samantha Gerwe-Perkins Adviser
Dawn Wolfe Adviser
VIEWPOINTS
MARCH 10, 2017
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SECTION EDITOR: ALLISON MEIER
CINCINNATI, OHIO
The pink tax: women charged more for similar, identical products Symia Grayson, ‘17 The “Tampon tax” is a phrase many Americans may know of, but not nearly as many know about the “pink tax”. This is another tax that refers to the extra amount women pay for similar or identical products to those used by men. It affects all female and female-identifying people who purchase non-gender neutral products; it can add as much as 50 percent to the cost of everyday products. Some may wonder why any woman would voluntarily pay extra for the same services and products as men, but the answer is simple: many women don’t even know that this tax exists. In most cases, gendered products are in separate rows, or completely different areas of the store, so it can be a hassle to price-compare similar products. As for priced services affected by the pink tax, such as dry cleaning, car services and haircuts, men and women rarely bother to compare the prices they are charged. Even if products are the same price, which, according to the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs, happens only 40 percent of the time, many times the women’s product will be less concentrated with active ingredients. This is because of an approach companies have called “pink it and shrink it”. Think of it in terms of clothing: despite women’s jeans being made out of the same materials as men’s, and requiring less fabric, clothing companies charge women, on average, 20 percent more -- and 29 percent more for Levis,
according to Forbes. Businesses have given several excuses for the price discrepancies between genders. When Gap was caught upping prices on extra large women’s clothing, but not on extra large men’s, the company claimed that the shaping of the shirt increased the price; the style remained the same, meaning shape did not change from size to size for the men’s or the women’s clothing. Another excuse -- this one used by Target when it was discovered that the pink version of a helmet was 13 dollars more than its blue counterpart -- is that the demand of products changes price. Anyone who has taken economics knows that is true to a point, but there is no excuse for the difference to be 87 percent of the original price. Services can also be affected by the pink tax. In a study from Northwestern University, men and women called auto repair shops and asked about a job that, on average, costs 365 dollars. Both the men and the women were told to act clueless about anything car related. The women were told the price of the service would be 405 dollars: a 40 dollar increase. The men who acted similarly confused were still overcharged by 20 dollars. From childhood to adult years, women are charged more for both leisure and basic necessities. This happens 42 percent of the time, according to US News, and is unavoidable unless society knows what is going on. For female-identifying people who want to combat this pink tax: sign petitions against it, buy gender neutral products or unscented men’s products in bulk to lower expenditure.
NICHOLAI LEKSON/CHATTERBOX
Wally Hill: Wally Hill The first few weeks of a new administration, in any scenario, is practically guaranteed to be tumultuous. The whirlwind of change that accompanies a shift in a country’s political power structure, especially in a nation so partisan as ours, is just par for the course. However, to write off the recent occurrences surrounding the Trump administration as anything approaching normalcy would be a denial of not only reality, but my own feelings. In fact, I’m beginning to look upon my previous open-mindedness with the same wistful condescension with which one might view a child who believes in fairies, the Easter Bunny and the fundamental goodness of humankind. Crisis of faith aside, there are so many concerning developments for me to write about. But where to start…? Oh, I know. To be Wally Hill is to be the embodiment of WHHS student culture, the
personification of the educational values WHHS holds dear (okay, perhaps that’s a little dramatic, but still). In light of this, for me to ignore the appointment of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, would be neglectful. DeVos has never once experienced the public school system in any capacity. Neither she, nor her children, have ever attended one of America’s fine public educational institutions. She has never been a teacher, or worked within a school at any level. Despite this, she’s been placed in a position (and I do mean that in the most literal sense) to decide the fate of United States public education. However, it is not for these reasons specifically that DeVos presents a threat to the public education system. Instead, it’s her advocacy of “school choice” -- that is, funding private education through tax-subsidized school vouchers -- that should be of concern. The entirety of the school choice movement is a product of the period following the Brown v. Board decision, and the subsequent de-
segregation of schools. This new social reality presented an opportunity for those who still resisted the integration of races to rally under a banner of freedom of religion, privatization and parental authority. Even the name of the policy appeals to good ol’ American autonomy -- why should the government control how our children learn? I’ll give DeVos the benefit of the doubt here -- she might not have been aware of the segregationist bent of the school choice movement, based on her characterization of historically black colleges and universities as “pioneers of choice.” Hanlon’s razor dictates that what can be explained by ignorance shouldn’t be attributed to malice -- and this current administration certainly has no shortage of ignorance. But even if we separate the current rhetoric of the school choice movement from its racist past, the inequities that would result due to the privatization of education should be obvious. Despite the attractive branding, the voucher programs that DeVos promotes
serve to limit the availability and quality of public education for all. The public money that would be directed towards public schools is instead funneled towards institutions that are under no legal obligation to hire accredited teachers or provide evidence that their students are actually learning. Private and religious schools are free to expel or deny admission to any student on any basis, so it isn’t a stretch to see how this kind of system, implemented on a national scale, could widen the gap in education that already exists. As students at WHHS, we represent the best that U.S. public schools system has to offer. We’re diverse, inclusive and decidedly pretty good at this whole education business -- even in this age of alternative facts, those rankings and test scores have to count for something, right?
Yours in the pursuit of knowledge, Wally Hill
Correction: On the Viewpoints’ page last issue, one of a set of three articles on going vegetarian was mistakenly duplicated. To read the full missing article, please visit <whhscbox.com>.
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PEANUTS
MARCH 10, 2017
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SECTION EDITOR: CAROLINE HORVATH
Why sustainability club matters
Simple ways to help •Add sustainability club on Schoology. The code is 4H69K-BB54FW. •Follow the club on Instagram (@whsus. club) to get updates about meetings and useful sustainability facts. •Perform daily tasks like taking out full bags of trash or emptying buckets full of drinks during study hall. •Volunteer at lunchtime to help students put waste in the right place. •Don’t recycle wet materials or things with food on it. Instead, pour out liquid in buckets located by the recycling bins. Remember that companies want to buy things in good condition, not materials soaked in chocolate milk. •At lunchtime, sort out trash BEFORE getting up! Ask volunteers where certain things go or look at the descriptions on the bins. •Involved in another club at WHHS? Request for the club to volunteer one week with sustainability club. •Encourage teachers to place a bag for terracycling in the classroom. Want to learn more about terracycling? Go to <TerraCycle.com>.
HANNAH REINHARDT/ CHATTERBOX
Kaia McKenney and Alexis Kontsis, ‘18, both volunteer with sustainability club. They meet in the Arcade during their lunch to sort the waste of students into the three different bins; after school, they empty the bins and prepare the materials in the yellow bin for terracycling. Camille Williams, ‘18 Sabine Verhaak, ‘22 Every day at WHHS, students throw waste into the trash can that could be recycled instead. It may not sound like a big deal, but very soon all the waste piles up. In the cafeteria and Arcade, there are three different types of bins to put waste: recycling in the blue bin, snack bags, drink pouches, squeeze pouches and plastic bags in the yellow bins and non-recyclable waste in the trash can. The blue and yellow bins have pictures that show exactly what goes in it. Yet, students still ignore the teachers and volunteers when they tell them where to put the trash. These mistakes injure the
environment and waste volunteers’ time. After school on Mondays and Wednesdays, the sustainability club sorts the wrong materials put in the yellow bin through a process known as “terracycling.” Terracycling is the process of reusing materials to produce a product of higher value, or “upcycling”. “They make backpacks out of Doritos bags and Capri Sun pouches,” club member Lauren Doepke, ‘18, said. “Any of the shiny foil you see on the inside of chip bags goes to brands like REI or Eddie Bauer. It should be around $500 that comes from terracycling, and then we use the money for any club funds,” said Doepke. These yellow bins are important because they recycle materials that would
otherwise fill up landfills. Although many plastics are recyclable, most regional recycling companies cannot process all the different types. Recall that most facilities can only recycle materials that have a one or two labeled inside the recycling sign. Recyclable materials labeled differently usually end up in landfills, incinerators or out in the environment. Sustainability club works to upcycle these materials, rathering than rendering them useless or harmful to the environment. So how does the sustainability club upcycle? First they gather all the waste from the yellow bins and bring it to the greenhouse to sort. After filtering regular recyclable and non-recyclable waste, they sepa-
rate snack bags, squeeze pouches, plastic bags, drink pouches, wrappers and different plastics. A company called TerraCycle collects these materials and redirects them to companies that will upcycle the products. TerraCycle sends back money into the sustainability club bank account, based on the amount of products they collect. Helping with sustainability club is also a way to earn community volunteering hours. “I have people in seventh/eighth grade who say, ‘oh, I don’t need community service hours yet.’ But really, there are colleges now looking for a repeated task throughout your entire high school career,” said Doepke.
WHHS clean-up crew rejuvenates park
HANNAH REINHARDT/ CHATTERBOX
HANNAH REINHARDT/ CHATTERBOX
Josie Backers, ‘18, points out the honeysuckle that had been cut down hours before. Backers formed the club last year and has made significant progress and gained a following.
Aiden Cheek, ‘22, takes a break from a hard days work. The clean-up crew goes out on Saturday mornings to clean-up the Sulsar woods and better the community.
Caroline Horvath, ‘20
as well,” Josie Backers, ‘18, said. Backers helped lay the foundation for the club with her mom, Susan Diballa and WHHS science teacher Alexandra Mondini. Other plans include creating trails throughout the new park for the cross country team to run and creating an outdoors teaching environment for teachers. “The long term goal is to get the whole school connected [to the park],” Backer said. A community board for people to pitch ideas on how to upgrade the area is also developing.
Students at WHHS have been working for months to make the around surounding campus beautiful. Partnering with Cincinnati Parks, students began to clean up the park on Sulsar by chopping down nonindigenous species, such as honeysuckle. On certain Saturdays throughout the year, students come together at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast before they begin a cleanup around the area from nine to noon.
Participants also earn volunteer hours while helping better the community. The goal of students working is to not only enhance the beauty of the WHHS community, but also the Evanston community, since there are not many parks in the Evanston area. The park will also be a place for birds to perch when migrating north in the warmer seasons…if that ever comes. “We have a vision that it will involve the science department, possibly an amphitheater and smart art works down there
During March, there will be a naming contest for the new park. To submit a name visit the Instagram account @whhs_cleanup. For more information contact the club through Instagram. To see more photos from the clean-up, check out The Chatterbox’s website <whhscbox.com>. Disclaimer: Hannah Reinhardt, ‘18, is a member of the clean-up crew.
SPORTS
MARCH 10, 2017
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WHHSCBOX.COM
SECTION EDITOR: EMMA FARRELL
CINCINNATI, OHIO
Concussion madness Emma Farrell, ‘18 Playing a sport always comes with a certain level of danger. Student athletes with concussions have come to school even though they are advised not to. Athletes can experience many symptoms of the aftermath of a concussion that can affect their ability to complete their school work. The symptoms can vary from not being able to focus in class to not remembering facts throughout the day. This can cause a change in grades. Amari Kingsley, ‘18, has had three concussions in her life. One of them being a diving accident that left her with headaches. Kingsley was not at school for four days and she still had symptoms from the concussion. “I couldn’t comprehend what I was reading and the bright lights in the classroom [were bugging me],” Kingsley said. School work became difficult to complete as well. Her teachers were understanding and allowed her to make up the work after they were notified with a doctor’s note. She suffered side effects for only a few weeks as it was only a mild concussion. Zanna Biales, ‘18, has only ever had
one concussion due to a car crash last summer. She was not able to drive, or use any technology. Biales was unable to train for soccer and be the time she had the permission of the doctor, she was left with only a week and a half to get ready for tryouts. Biales still has trouble with memorizing facts for tests and quizzes, and she has to take more time to study and to take tests. Depending on the season, the trainers at WHHS see about 20 athletes during the fall and so far this winter six athletes have come in with a concussion. “We do not have direct communication lines to teachers. Typically, we will tell the nurse and then the nurse can vouch for that student” said Nathalie Towchik, one of the trainers. Teachers who know that a student has a concussion will follow the orders of a doctor’s note. However, it is the responsibility of the students to tell a parent and let the school know of their injury. The teachers are willing to help the students, but they need a doctor’s note or a note from the school nurse to prove injury. Student who have concussions should take the time to recuperate so they can come back to school healed and ready to learn.
JULIA DUELL/ CHATTERBOX
Students polled on sports at WHHS Michael Sweeney, ‘17 Sports have become a centerpiece of daily activity in the United States. Whether it is the tradition of knocking into people in football, or whacking a small ball in tennis, sports have been integrated into the daily lives of most people. WHHS is no exception, as it currently offers 26 sports ranging from golf to softball. With such a large amount of students attending the school, a poll was distributed for students to see what sports they enjoyed to watch professionally, their favorite sports to watch
at WHHS and their favorite sport to play. Students had a choice of picking football, soccer, volleyball, swimming, tennis, basketball, rugby, cricket, baseball, bowling, softball, track and field, cross country, wrestling, rowing or other. A total of 314 students responded to the poll with 65% identifying as female, 27% as male and 7% identifying as other. For students who enjoyed watching sports professionally, the three most popular picks were for 20% football, 18% soccer and 16% other. Students who enjoyed watching sports at WHHS listed their top three starting with
25% at basketball, 22% at football and 14% at soccer. The top three choices that students selected for the question of thier favorite sport to play were other at 20%, soccer at 20% and volleyball at 10%. These polls are somewhat similar to nationwide polls in the U.S.. In 2014, ESPN posted a poll of the U.S.’s favorite professional sports to watch, with 35% voting for the NFL, 14% voting for the MLB and 7% voting for auto racing. In 2016 the website Sporteology posted a top ten list of the U.S.’s favorite sport to play, with
Favorite sport to play
American football coming at one, baseball at two and basketball coming at three. Sports have become a global staple of relaxation and enjoyment for countries to enjoy. Events like the Soccer World Cup and the Olympics have become ways for countries to set aside any differences and participate in a peaceful and enriching activities. Whether it is a running in cross country or smacking home runs in baseball, students at WHHS will gladly play it.
Favorite sport to watch 14
15 14
22
79
64
soccer
soccer
vollleyball volleyball
basketball basketball 46
Football football
soccer Soccer
swimming swimming
vollleyball Volleyball
basketball basketball
swimming Swimming
crosscountry coumtry cross
23
34
70
Out of the 314 students at WHHS that participated in the poll, 205 were female and 87 were male students. The most favorable sport chosen to play was soccer; the most favorable to watch was basketball.
WHHSCBOX.COM CINCINNATI, OHIO
Sudoku Sarah Hansen, ‘17
ARCADE
MARCH 10, 2017
PAGE 7
SECTION EDITOR: SARAH HANSEN
Urine trouble Julia Duell, ‘20
Missing a lot Leo Martini, ‘17
Special thanks to Newswriting II for a collaborative effort to create the front page image!
VOTE Sarvani Vemuri for Student Congress President
and
Eva Mazzola for Student Congress Vice President
MARCH 10 2017
PAGE 8
FINE ARTS
WHHSCBOX.COM
SECTION EDITOR: BRIANNA JONES
CINCINNATI, OHIO
Fashion club runs the runway Delaney Owens, ‘21 Following the themes of classical education, art at WHHS isn’t only found in songs or sketchbooks. Members of the fashion club will soon take their work from the page to the runway, using clothes as their canvas.
Club members have spent the last few months preparing for their upcoming showcase on April 13. United by a common theme of street style, students each designed and created their own outfits. Their pieces have elements of many different styles, from their own preferences to trends from the past and around the world.
Students draw their inspiration from a variety of experiences. “My original design was a flapper dress because I was inspired by a dress I saw on Downton Abbey, and I went to see the costumes at the Taft Museum,” Emma Maher, ‘21, said. Those who attend the show will see everything from gowns to crop tops. Selaya Young, ‘20, has experimented with blending retro items like flowy pants and platform shoes of the 70’s with modern trends. Sena Segbifea, ‘21, and Grayson Mentzel, ‘21, are collaborating on a dress inspired by the classic “little black dress” of the 20’s. The designers have learned to be resourceful in their projects, reusing old fabric and
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Chloe Wade and Olivia Hughes, ‘18, are co-leaders of the fashion club. “We didn’t expect to have this many people in the club, but we’re so thrilled that they all are [here],” Chloe Wade, ‘18 said.
“A lot of people that I never knew could sew -- or design -- come here and show their talents.” Olivia Hughes, ‘18
Disclaimer: Krilaunda Perkins, ‘17, is a member of fashion club.
garments to create new pieces. Some decided to redesign their work during the process based on the materials available. Maher said that changing her design as she went was one of her favorite parts. Fashion club is instructed by a group of upperclassmen who have helped many students explore their interest in clothing design. “I’ve always really enjoyed clothing and I like shopping and things like that,” Young said. “When I heard about this club I was like ‘oh, that sounds like something I would really be interested in’, and I really enjoy it. When I come to this club time flies by so fast.” Many club members already dream of working in the fashion industry. “Someday I would like to be on the business end of the fashion world because I went to New York over the summer and I saw a lot of the fashion houses and I really liked it,” Mentzel said. Earlier this year, Grayson and Maher completed their National History Day project on fashion icon Coco Chanel. The fashion showcase will be held on April 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Blackbox theater. Come support the designers!
Cultivating a classroom collection:
Exploring Kevin McCormick’s art- filled class Isabel Nissley, ‘20
McCormick brought the lamp pictured in from home. It is a replacement of his lamp from last year that was originally in this location, but broke.
Students created the clay heads sitting on the window sill last week. The clay heads are based off of African art made by the Nok tribe, located in modern day Nigeria.
This podium, which is covered in images of many famous people, sits upon McCormick’s desk. It is is covered in images of historical figures and artists whom McCormick respects.
John Weis painted the piece seen here. Weis was a local artist who worked in Mt. Adams.
Hanging at the top of the wall above McCormick’s desk is the oldest piece in the room. It is a 17th century French map.
Before school everyday, McCormick plays songs on his record player. On occasion he will assess students’ knowledge of the music when there is spare time.
A coffee maker gurgles to life while sleepy students converse by the light of a few antique lamps. As the warning bell rings its blaring sound, students begin to filter out, leaving just the first bell class. This is only the beginning of a regular school day for WHHS history teacher Kevin McCormick. McCormick is known around WHHS not only for his intellectual lectures, but also for his intricately woven stories. Although it may not be the first thing noticed by students entering his classroom, if people pause to take in their surroundings, they may realize that, mixed in with the yellow walls and tile floor, are many pieces of art. Over the fifteen years of his teaching, McCormick has brought many pieces of art into the classroom, hoping to “foster an interest in his students in things that are collected or found, like artifacts and such”. Much of the art came from Duck Creek Antique Shop, although a few pieces are family heirlooms. The oldest piece in McCormick’s classroom is a Chinese pot, dating back to the 1840s. Another piece that he feels is important to him is a map of Africa. “[It] has been in our department here at Walnut since the 1950s,” he said. When asked about his favorite piece in the room, McCormick pondered the question for a while, but eventually decided on the lithograph “Human Rights” by Miró. “Given what is going on currently in our country, a statement about human rights in a classroom is powerful,” McCormick said. As a parting thought, he encourages students to not only visit his classroom, but other teachers’ classrooms, too. “There are a lot of interesting people teaching at Walnut, honestly, and I’ve seen other really cool rooms [as well],” McCormick said.
Stain glass is a recurring theme throughout room 1602. Lamps can also be found in several spots.
ALL PHOTOS OF MCCORMICK: BRIANNA JONES/CHATTERBOX