Issue 1 2020

Wingspan WEST HENDERSON HIGH SCHOOL

3600 Haywood Rd Hendersonville, NC 28791

December 2019 n Volume 40 n Issue 1

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UP IN SMOKE

JUUL advertising threatens teens’ health

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PAGE 16

CALLING IN SICK

Deadly disease hits state fair

PAGE 20

JAMES (FLIP) FISHER PHARMACIST 814 GREENVILLE HWY HENDERSONVILLE NC 28792

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605 5TH AVE W HENDERSONVILLE NC 28739

ECONOMYDRUGSHVL@ GMAIL.COM PHONE: 828-692-4266 FAX: 828-692-7808

TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE COVER:

04 – OPINION SECTION 09 – NEWS SECTION 14 – FEATURE SECTION 22 – ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT SECTION 29 – SPORTS SECTION

Photo illustration by Rachel Ball

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n TRUMP CARD Should President Trump be impeached?

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n A NEW MAN Kanye’s new album attempts fresh style

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30

UP IN SMOKE

n SET IT UP

By Emily Chambliss Photo from Pixabay

West volleyball team competes in state championship

Vape-related health issues become more prevalent

Wingspan News Magazine DECEMBER 2019 The student forum of West Henderson High School is published three times each year by the newspaper journalism class. The purpose of Wingspan is to convey school and community news to the students, faculty, administration and surrounding communities. Wingspan content is determined by an editorial board of student editors.

Wingspan is a Southern Interscholastic Press Association All-Southern, National Scholastic Press Association All-American, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist and North

VOLUME 40, ISSUE 1 Carolina Scholastic Media Association All-North Carolina and Tar Heel Award publication.

Staff editorials express the opinion of the editorial board. Columns reflect the opinions of the individual writers. Circulation is 1,200.

Printed by Mullen Publications at 9629 Old Nations Ford Road, Charlotte, NC 28273.

The Wingspan staff also publishes online at www.wingspanonline.net and can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @westwingspan.

Readers may contact the staff at wingspan@ hcpsnc.org.

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Elise Trexler (Web) Nathan Turpin (Print) MANAGING EDITORS Madison Broome Margaret-Ann Littauer SPORTS EDITOR Stone Hogan A&E EDITOR Kinsley Morgan

NEWS EDITOR Graham Grush FEATURE EDITOR Marissa Detwiler OPINION EDITOR Sarah Monoson FEATURE WRITERS Kareem Al-Abed Sawyer Atwell Johnathan Austin

Cole Braswell Allison Caskey Rebecca Chamberlain Emily Chambliss Jackson Futch Carson Godwin Hollis Green Madison Hall Ashley Rich Aidan Shelton Amanda Jane Whiting Lawrence Whittington Zoya Zalevskiy

PHOTOGRAPHERS Rachel Ball Avery Brewer Tori Knight Zoya Zalevskiy ADVISER Jason Livingston

TABLE OF CONTENTS n December 2019

3

Should Congress continue impeachment inquiry?

PRO:

President Donald Trump has been caught up in the midst of turmoil and controversy time and time again, and yet has made it through unscathed every time. With a new and much more supported attempt being made toward impeachment, the question of whether or not he should be impeached seems ever more important. Trump was accused of committing obstruction of justice multiple times, which was made clear during Robert Mueller’s By n Kareem Al-Abed testimony on his investigation of Russian collusion. n Feature Writer While there is not enough evidence to state that Trump committed treason or conspiracy, it is clear that Trump has committed a crime, and that he can be indicted were it not for Justice Department Policy to not indict a sitting president. The question of impeachment, though, is on whether he has abused his power.

The Department of Justice has said in the article “Legal Aspects of Impeachment: Overview,” that “the impeachment process is not to punish individuals, but is to protect the public against gross abuse of power,” which means that certain crimes do not warrant impeachment, but it also means that some non-criminal acts can prompt an impeachment. If they decide that Trump is not qualified to be president, and he has overstepped what is deemed morally correct, then he can be impeached.

Trump’s lack of morals became clear when he directed racist remarks to three congresswomen of color, and, though he has not always addressed them by name, it was made clear as to whom he was referencing. These verbal attacks came just after a group of these same congresswomen spoke out against the conditions of border detention facilities.

The news of Trump’s tweets angered me as a person of color. I was, and still am deeply offended by his racist comments. The only thing that made me even more upset was that many Republicans supported his comments.

Ignoring the racism is one thing, but joining in on the ‘banter’ is another. I will never accept comments like these from any leader, let alone my president.

I cannot see why Trump should remain in office. His actions are an attack on every person of color. It is for these reasons why I believe Trump should be impeached and kept from abusing the power of his office of president any longer.

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OPINION

card

CON:

Let me be perfectly clear: I do not support Donald Trump. Does he deserve to be impeached? Probably. Should we spend the time and resources to make such a pointlessly destructive act happen? No. It’s a waste. Trump and those begging for his impeachment are not the causes of our problems, they’re merely the byproducts. Instead of slaving away just to get Trump saved by the Senate for the last few months of his presidency, let’s focus on getting someone elected who can make our system work By n Nathan Turpin for us. n Print Editor-in-Chief If we decide to pursue impeachment, who’s to say it will even lead to any positive outcome? GOP Senators have already claimed that any article of impeachment passed against Trump will be quashed in the Senate. The trial’s rules will be set by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), who has a wide authority over how long the trial lasts and which witnesses can be called to testify. Under these conditions, it doesn’t seem likely that Trump will be convicted. So what’s the point of impeaching him if he won’t be held accountable for his actions?

Democrats are effectively using valuable time and resources just to shut Trump up for the last few months of his presidency – this is not a goal worth focusing all of our attention.

When he’s constantly berated by the media, it’s easy to believe that everybody hates Trump. This just isn’t true; over 63 million people voted for him. Even now, he holds an approval rating of 39 percent. Comparatively, that’s pretty low, but it still means that four in ten Americans still support Trump. To think that all of those people will quietly accept the impeachment of their president on such nebulous terms is horribly naive at best. In a political climate as polarized as this, we need to learn to pick our battles wisely. Is impeaching Trump really worth it if it’ll make his supporters riot?

In the end, impeaching Trump just isn’t beneficial enough to warrant it. It’s likely impeachment only makes things worse, especially when its motives are blatantly partisan on most fronts. I mean, would Democrats still be begging for impeachment if a Democrat was on the presidential chopping block?

The 2020 election is fast approaching and Democrats have a decision to make. Unless they can find a single candidate to back in the fight against Trump, they’re going to lose. Here’s to hoping they pick someone sensible so we won’t be debating impeachment again four years from now.

Staff Editorial

a little bit

ROWDY The West Henderson student section at the home game against T.C. Roberson. West won 49-31. (Photo by Pat Shrader)

Student section unfairly punished for supporting team

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ometimes, students have a hard time differentiating between inappropriate behavior and school pride. From curse words to personal insults, there is a broad range of language and behavior that should not be tolerated in West Henderson’s student section. However, there have been times this year where our students felt their punishments were a little over the top.

One example of this took place at the volleyball state championship, in which West Henderson took on Chapel Hill. The student section started chanting, “WE ARE RED, AND WHITE, AND BETTER THAN YOU!” At that point, the referee stopped the match and started talking with people at the press table. The student section was notified that they were not allowed to say any chants implying that West is superior to other schools.

It is understandable being reprimanded for nasty language, but for this? All the students were doing was cheering for their team. What’s the harm in saying one team is better than the other team, whether that may be true or not? Saying you are better than the other team is one of the most basic forms of cheering, and it is not offensive. The student section should be allowed to cheer and support their team without being shut down.

As high school students, it’s not hard to see that student sections are something almost everyone looks forward to. Getting a group of students to come together and cheer on their team is not only fun for the students, but it impacts the team in ways that people don’t always see. Moreover, it

fosters an atmosphere of spirit and dedication that is almost tangible. The team feeds off the energy and it’s not uncommon that the students get into the opposing team’s head. But it’s also not hard to see that the line from cheering for your own team, and being disrespectful toward the other is fine, and is often crossed.

Another example of the student section being reprimanded happened earlier this year, in an away football game at East Henderson. A group of West students got in trouble for running the flags around the track. Running the flags after a touchdown has become a tradition at West, and what started as something fun ended in the East fans throwing bottles and jumping out of the stands to stop the students. All four students were immediately kicked out of the game, and each was given a one week suspension from all West sporting events. After the students left, almost all of the students at the game followed them out.

Coming off such a successful 2018-19 volleyball season both in the sport itself and the support drawn from students the expectations for the upcoming season were high. For approximately the first seven games, our student section was extraordinarily loud and committed.

Each game, both home and away, drew in around 25 excited students. The impact that this traveling support had on the volleyball team was huge.

Any time there is a West Henderson and T.C. matchup, it’s sure to be a good game. The game was close, and point by point with multiple lead changes through-

out. Our student section was the loudest they had been yet, decked out in their red, white and blue, cheering for the team. You could tell that the student section had gotten into the minds of the Roberson players, and it was more personal because our students knew these girls. However, without the student section, our team may not have been able to pull out a huge 3-1 win over Roberson that night. There was a noticeable increase in faculty at this game in particular, and it seemed peculiar.

A few days had passed, and our team was still reminiscing on a big win early in the season. Later that day, some of our student section was called to the office and shortly afterward they had told the team about what transpired. Supposedly, some of the Roberson team members, faculty and parents were not happy with our student section. Our school had no other choice than to demand that our student section’s ways and actions be changed to avoid issues with other schools. From this point on, our student section fell apart. Our fans just wanted to be able to support their friends without constantly being called down and punished for saying things any other student section would. Many of us saw it as unfair that no other student section in the county had been reprimanded and we felt targeted.

Up until senior night, our student section was bare and our team suffered two losses in that period to county rivals. Parents, students and players tried reaching out to administration to highlight how silly the reprimanding was, but no change was made.

On senior night, things began to turn around. Knowing that the administration would be tight made West fans hesitant.

However, the fact that it was senior night and the Falcons would be playing A.C Reynolds in a high pressure game drew fans in anyway. That night was the best student section we had seen all year.

This was because the faculty had finally drawn back and let our students chant.

The fans were crazy with support, which caused West’s energy and intimidation over Reynolds to grow with each point.

West was able to stun Reynolds 3-0. This game, our faculty had held our students back but our students were also smarter with their chants and there was nothing more administration could do. It showed everyone that a rambunctious student section was absolutely necessary to secure tough wins.

We do realize why there are stringent policies about what can and cannot be said. There is a fine line between cheering for and poorly representing your school through your words and actions.

However, one of the main reasons people come to these games is to have fun and be a part of something. When upperclassmen aren’t showing up to the games because they feel the administration breathing down their necks, the underclassmen see that, and then they stop coming. Punishing the leaders punishes the student section; athletes see the lack of a fanbase, and they have less energy to feed off of. In the future, we hope it will become apparent how important it is to have a student section that is full of energy, spirit and

STAFF EDITORIAL n December 2019

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PROJECTREJECT Should Henderson County Public Schools have kept the senior project?

PRO:

The county education system has recently ruled that the senior project be prohibited in local schools. While some are jumping for joy that the burden of the large project is off their shoulders, many are disappointed and angry that the opportunities the seBy n Ashley Rich nior project offers have been taken n Feature Writer without their input.

The senior project has been a graduation requirement up until now, comprised of 10 hours of internship with a mentor outside of students’ family and friends to learn a new skill. Using this time and skill, students make a product and PowerPoint presentation explaining the process of learning the skill and creating the product.

After the news about the senior project was released, teachers around the county found that their grading was thrown off kilter by the sudden change. For example, English IV teachers at West Henderson High School found that their grade weighting was severely changed by the senior project removal. Formerly, the senior project and the exam both counted for 20% of the overall course grade, but the way things stand, the English IV exam would have to count for 40% of students’ grades. Almost half of a student’s course grade would be determined by a single day’s exam performance. This would leave very little leeway for student’s grades during the regular school year. If a student scored badly on the exam, they would almost automatically fail their class unless their class grade was almost perfect, and even then, it would be hard to compensate for almost half their class grade.

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OPINION

Aside from the grading problems removal has caused, students are being deprived of the experiences they would gain by working with a mentor to learn a new skill. Over the course of the senior project, students form a unique bond with their mentor. Working to build an entirely new skill from a stranger serves as an extremely effective way of forming a bond over the struggles of learning. Taking such a significant chunk of time to learn a skill in a field that you choose can play a large role in a student’s career path. There have been instances in which students chose a skill that pertained to a career they were interested in and found that it wasn’t something they were even interested in doing for 10 hours, let alone 20 or 30 years of work.

Aside from the incredible learning experience that the senior project provides and the realistic look it gives at a chosen career path, it can provide students with an endeavor within their school career that could potentially have a bearing on the rest of their lives. The senior project can allow people to become exposed to skills that can apply to careers that never would have occurred to them before. Without the senior project, some students may not have been able to find a field they love and are willing to work in for the rest of their working lives.

This doesn’t exclusively apply to career choices however. Since students are supposed to learn a totally new skill, they can find a new passion or skill used as a hobby that they never would have learned without being forced to find it by the senior project. Encouraging students to branch out of their fieldhouse to find a new skill to learn allows them to expand their horizons, even if they don’t end up sticking with it in the long run.

Former students from West have returned to campus to talk to their teachers about the impacts that the senior project had on their path to college and beyond. If you pick a skill for the senior project that you can’t even stand

to do for a few months, discovering your incompatibility with it can stop you from pursuing it in a situation with much higher stakes. Just by going through the process of creating a senior project, students can be made aware that the career that they originally intended to pursue is nothing like they thought it would be. Finding this out early on can prevent them from going hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt just to end up back at square one again. Removing the senior project puts students at risk to begin pursuing a course of study for a career that they aren’t even remotely suited for.

Learning a new skill from a stranger not only provides students with a realistic look at the processes behind the field, but it also allows them to begin learning how to deal with other adults in the working world. From the very beginning of the process, students must find and establish a connection with their mentor. Having to maintain a professional conversation with a working adult forces students to develop their ability to maintain contact and accomplish very specific goals with an unfamiliar adult. Over the course of the rest of the project, by working with their mentor, students have the potential to connect with other professionals in the field they want to study. Making connections with their mentor and these other professionals can be advantageous for students that want to pursue said field in the future. Assuming that they continue to pursue the field their senior project was based on, the connections that they made during the project can allow them to get a head start when they enter the field as an employee.

Now that the senior project is prohibited, not only will students be deprived of an incredible learning opportunity, but their grades could be negatively affected and their very futures could be changed by removing the opportunity to make connections with professionals in fields that they may not have even been aware of.

CON:

Senior projects have been one of the most stressful and time consuming aspects of the high school experience since its inception in the 90s. Now, the North Carolina state legislature has taken a massive step to help cure this problem that has plagued so many students.

By n Jackson Futch n Feature Writer Senior projects are now optional on a county-to-county basis, and, if the county does require them, they have to pay some of the students up to $75 in compensation. Henderson County has been one of many counties in the area to make the smart decision to cut the projects. They decided to drop the requirements because of the mental toll of the project, the inconsistencies in requirements and the personal cost to students.

Some people have gotten upset over the removal of the senior project and have complained that it will deprive students of the helpful job experience and time with professionals. The problem with this argument is that it doesn’t take into consideration the hardships that come along with the project, including the process of finding a mentor. Students don’t have the time to really do any sort of research into who can help them, because, leading up to the project, students are having to worry about what colleges they are going to apply to and are busy with college tours. This is not even mentioning that the year before the project, the students are being told that their junior year is the most important and that they should only be focused on that one.

With all of this, how are the students supposed to find a good mentor and plan around both of their schedules to be able to get in their mentor hours? The idea that the project is supposed to help students find out what they want to do with their lives is completely flawed. People need more time to make one of the most important decisions in their life. This problem is worse for any student that has to do the project in the second semester, because it is done during a time when almost every student has already applied to college and decided where they will go.

Any change of career interest at that point, while certainly not useless, would be painfully stress-inducing.

More than that, the senior project has been a point of mental distress for students since its introduction.

The effect of adding something as massive as the senior project on top of a student’s most important and impactful year of high school can strip away any form of advantage the project might give the student and turn it into a monolithic beast of a project. This kind of mental stress is enough to make many students completely give up on what should be a last push to get to the end of high school. This kind of mental stress gets associated with the project they decided to do and can turn many students off to what they really wanted to do with their lives at a crucial point for them to make that decision.

During the debate over whether Henderson County schools should keep or get rid of the senior project, the board brought up the fact that every high school in the system handles the project differently. This means that if someone did see any inherent value in the senior project, then the board would have no way to control all of the schools and the way they regulate the project.

Without the ability to regulate how the senior projects are designed, the board of education cannot guarantee that each student is getting equal treatment. This means that

students who are only a few miles apart could be subjected to completely different stressors and some might not be able to achieve the point of the project because the administration of their school misconstrued the point of the project.

One of the biggest factors that went into the decision to get rid of the requirements was the personal cost that students have when they travel to get their 10 mentor hours. Some students may have to spend money on supplies. The school board is now required to give some students up to $75 to try to curb some of these costs, but even with that, there are still massive expenses for some of the state’s impoverished students. Without the ability to compensate these students, there’s no way to justify keeping this project in good conscious.

This problem is only made worse when you think of how these underprivileged students have to give up the chance to work and make money to work on these senior projects. The senior project has been just another hurdle in the way for these students to jump over just to keep themselves and their families from crossing over the poverty line. Giving the students the money would waste thousands of dollars from schools which already struggle for funding.

The senior project has become one of the most loathed parts of the high school experience for many students. It has become a horribly bloated and overbearing project which causes unnecessary mental stress on students. The project has no form of regulation within the county, and has also posed a serious problem for students with financial difficulties. Any solution that involves keping the project would be an outragous waste of the school system’s time and money. The only way to fix these problems is to completely cancel this outdated project.

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Version History

*In 1995, the North Carolina Standards and Accountability Commission endorsed the senior project as an authentic assessment of students’ abilities

*The handbook that was used up until the senior project became prohibited was developed in 2012

*In 2005, the North Carolina State Board of Education passed legislation that would require all public high school students, starting with the class of 2010, to complete graduation projects

*The senior project has also been recently discontinued

by Buncombe County Public Schools, who cited the ffinancial impact of the project as the main reason to discontinue it

*The NC General Assembly ruled in 2009 that the senior project was no longer a graduation requirement, but that the school could choose whether or not students must do it

*The motion to discontinue the senior project was passed in a 4-3 vote by the Henderson County School board, whose votes are usually unanimous

OPINION n December 2019

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4193 Haywood Rd. Mills River, NC 28759

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testing

OUT

Statewide exams discontinued by n Elise Trexler n Web Editor-in-Chief

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orth Carolina Final Exams (NCFEs) were officially eliminated through the first part of Senate Bill 621, which will become effective in the 2020-2021 school year.

“I feel like it’s a good advancement for us in education for us not to have to worry about (the NCFEs),” junior Tony Blazer said. “It gives us more time to focus on our schoolwork wihtout having to worry about all of (the tests).”

According to Jan King, Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services in Henderson County Public Schools (HCPS), the NCFE was originally implemented to meet guidelines for the Race to the Top grant. The grant allowed for the purchase of learning-enhancing technology, but has now expired.

Because it has expired, the NCFE is no longer a necessity for the state.

The State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction must submit a plan detailing how to assess student growth and other data formerly obtained by the NCFE to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by March 15, 2020,

“

I think that teacher-made tests will allow us to better actually assess the students and their growth in ways the NCFE can’t.

”

n Hannah

Edwards

English Teacher

according to the bill.

Principal Shannon Auten, as well as other teachers, suspect the state will allow teachers to create their own exams as they did previously.

“Before NCFEs even came out, there were teacher-made exams, and some of those were more rigorous than the NCFEs,” Auten said. “(The teachers) are working so strongly in their PLCs (professional learning communities) coming up with more rigorous exams that I have no doubt that it will cover

everything that needs to be covered.”

Many teachers said they are eager to return to making their own assessments, including English Teacher Hannah Edwards.

“I think that teacher-made tests will allow us to better actually assess the students and their growth in ways the NCFE can’t,” Edwards said. “The NCFE will throw a lot of super incredibly difficult things at the kids that I don’t feel are realistic. Whether the answer is correct or not, I don’t feel like it’s necessarily a realistic reflection of whether they understand.”

Along with teachers, many students are also excited to return to taking teacher-made tests. Sophomore Selah Chambers said she thinks teachers are more qualified to determine what students should be tested on.

“I think it’s a good thing (the NCFEs are being eliminated) because students aren’t being unfairly judged anymore based off of their performance on a two-hour test that the state is giving,” Chambers said. “It’s (currently) based off how (students) perform in schools and based off what the state thinks is good. Now it will be based off of what the teachers and school think is good.”

QUICK FACTS

• Henderson County Early

College, Hendersonville Elementary and Glenn C. Marlow Elementary are the 2018-19 A schools

• The B schools are Atkinson

Elementary, Clear Creek Elementary, Etowah Elementary, Fletcher Elementary, Mills River Elementary, Hendersonville Middle, Rugby Middle, East Henderson High, Hendersonville High, North Henderson High and West Henderson High

• The C schools are Bruce

Drysdale Elementary, Dana Elementary, Edneyville Elementary, Fernleaf Community Charter, Hillandale Elementary, Sugarloaf Elementary, Upward Elementary, Apple Valley Middle and Flat Rock Middle

(NCDPI State Report Card)

NEWS n December 2019

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if the

shoe

FITS New assistant principal comes to West By n Elise Trexler n Web Editor-in-Chief

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Assistant Principal Whitney Ashbrook talks to West faculty in the office. (Photo by Nicholas Andrews)

ickboxing and wearing high heels are two activities that wouldn’t typically go together. However, when walking into Assistant Principal Whitney Ashbrook’s office and seeing the 18 pairs of shoes scattered around the space and on her bookshelf, one can see how the two seemingly polar opposites make sense together.

“Maybe I started wearing high heels because I’m a short person, but I think I’m just a powerful woman,” Ashbrook said. “Kickboxing, kicking butt in high heels, it’s just what I do.”

Ashbrook joined the West Henderson faculty in July 2019, bringing a new attitude to the administrative staff.

One area where students have particularly noticed Ashbrook’s impact is the student section.

“She’s really fun,” junior Margaret-Ann Littauer said.

“She participates with us when the band is doing songs, she sings the songs with us. She’s not afraid to show her fun side while being an administrator, which is not an easy job.”

Before coming to West, Ashbrook taught math

and science for 10 years. She attended Appalachian State University and received her Masters in School Administration from Western Carolina University.

Although Ashbrook said she enjoyed her previous job at Joe P. Eblen Intermediate School, she also said the prospect of returning to a familiar area was appealing for her family.

“We have a lot of family in this area and my husband actually graduated from West,” Ashbrook said. “So we were super excited to move back to this area. I interviewed at Hendersonville High School and he said, ‘You cannot be a Bearcat.’”

Fellow administrative faculty members have noticed and admired her work ethic, according to Administrative Assistant Kelly Littauer.

“What people don’t know is that when she was hired (in the summer), I was here working,” Littauer said. “All throughout the week, she was walking up and down the halls to memorize the teachers’ rooms, who they were, where their rooms are located to know the lay of the land

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NEWS

before the kids even came.”

Other teachers saw Ashbrook’s dedication to her job early in the school year as well. According to Spanish Teacher Karen Dellinger, Ashbrook played an instrumental role in developing new programs throughout the school.

“She has been really great,” Dellinger said. “She helped us get the freshman mentor program started and she helped me with my class schedule. I needed to change it and she worked with me on it. She’s a go-getter, so when she says that she’s going to do something, she does it, which is awesome.”

West students and teachers alike have seen the school being shaped by Ashbrook’s presence, and Ashbrook said she attributes her motivation to the people around the school. “(The thing I love most about West is) the community,” Ashbrook said. “At the football games, the families, the students, and everything (coming together) is super exciting. Everybody’s been really great.”

where

CREDIT is due

UNC system changes AP score policy By n Graham Grush n News Editor

CREDIT REPORT “Students from rural counties and those from families earning less than $60,000 per year could receive credit for up to 45 percent more courses than they did under current policy.”

In 2016-17 alone, NC spent more than $12 million on AP exams.

In that same year, UNC System students missed out on 13,950 course credits under the existing policy. Under a uniform policy, the UNC System would have granted credit for 40% more courses that year.

Source: northcarolina.edu

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dvanced Placement (AP) courses can allow high school students to earn college credit based on their exam scores. Scores on AP exams range from whole numbers between 1 and 5 based on the recommendation about how qualified a student is to receive college placement and college credit. A score of 1 gets no recommendation, a 2 is possibly qualified, 3 is qualified, 4 is very well qualified, and 5 is extremely well qualified.

Even though these recommendations are the same for scores in all AP courses, colleges in the University of North Carolina (UNC) system had various policies about what scores would actually receive credit for certain courses in their specific institutions. However, this inconsistency was addressed with a UNC system policy change implemented on July 1. It requires all colleges in the system to grant credit to students earning at least a score of 3 on AP exams, except in cases when certain courses are granted an exception by an institution’s board of trustees.

“Our new AP Credit Acceptance policy is vital to the UNC System’s ongoing work to put higher education within reach of every qualified North Carolinian,” said UNC System Interim President William Roper in a news release on northcarolina. edu. “This new policy will encourage more high school students across the state to get a head start on their college careers.

It will make completing a UNC System education, at any one of our institutions, faster and more affordable.”

As the change went into effect over the summer, the first class that will be affected by the change is the class of 2020.

They can now receive college credit at

UNC system universities for AP scores that no other class had the opportunity to receive.

However, the first class at West Henderson that can effectively react to the policy change is the class of 2021.

Students in this class, who are currently juniors, can choose to enroll in more AP courses for their senior year.

Junior Caroline Maxon had already planned to take AP courses her senior year; while the policy change did not greatly affect her, she still believed the change was positive.

“I’m happy about (the policy change),” Maxon said. “I get some kids who aren’t working as hard are getting the same credit as someone who gets a five; (however,) for freshmen taking AP classes and getting a three, I feel like that’s fair that they shouldn’t be penalized when they go to college later on.”

Math teacher Molly Wright said she has mixed feelings about the policy change. According to Wright, it would be quite difficult to say whether the change was undoubtedly going to be better or worse.

“When I was in high school, I took AP Lang and AP Lit, and I made a 5 my junior year and a 4 my senior year so I still had to take English 101 at NC State,” Wright said. “That was frustrating because I had spent two years basically trying to get out of that situation. However, it can also be interesting to see what the results of this will be because different AP tests have different qualifications or requirements to get a 3. I feel like on some of them it’s a little bit easier to get a 3 and on others it’s very difficult to get a passing score. And so making a blanket statement about all AP scores and how to count them is probably

going to open up some issues for the college courses.”

Wright said her suspicion is that colleges will implement more entrance exams to test students’ knowledge of the course material because of the uniformity in AP score credit. She said this will allow both colleges and students alike to determine whether the student can handle where they are headed.

While some students have already enrolled in several AP courses, others, such as Maxon, may be inclined to enroll in more AP courses because of the increased opportunities for receiving college credit. However, Wright said she will not change her teaching style simply in order for students to pass with a 3 on the exam, and she believes other AP teachers agree with her.

Wright said she does not believe the AP policy change will affect students’ decisions to take more AP courses, that their motivation is instead more intrinsic curiosity.

“I would like to think AP kids take these classes because they truly want a challenge and they truly want to be learning at that level, not because they’re bare minimum kids,” Wright said. “I have very few kids that have been like, ‘What’s the least I can do to get by?’ That’s just not the mindset that they typically have, and similar with the teachers. We don’t know what could be happening at other schools when people get more concerned about scores and numbers and data and how good it looks on paper. Obviously this is opening up a bit of a portal for some new issues to pop up, which could be bad, but it’s hard to say until we see how the first year or two goes, but I don’t think, in my experience, that it would affect that.”

NEWS n November 2019

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watching

Junior Sarah Monoson stands with her Life360 app open on her phone. (Photo by Zoya Zalevskiy)

Students feel violated by location monitoring app by n Marissa Detwiler n Feature Writer

W

ith new drivers taking to the road each day, safe driving applications, such as Life360, have been on the rise. Marketed toward parents of teen drivers, these apps offer safety features, which include location tracking and alerts that are sent to parents when students drive over the speed limit.

Life360 is considered by many to be the most popular safe driving app in the United States, with millions of families using the app on a daily basis. The awardwinning app is free to download and offers a variety of features ranging from tracking a phone’s location to viewing a phone’s battery percentage and discovering how fast family members are driving. Anyone in “your Circle” has the ability to view these statistics at any moment, as long as each mobile phone is sufficiently charged. While the app gives most parents a sense of reassurance, many teenagers view the app as an extreme privacy violation.

“It’s extremely invasive,” sophomore Weslyn Mclaw said. “I can see how an app like that might be useful in a missing person situation, but tracking your child’s every move seems extreme. High school is supposed to be the time to go out, explore and try new things.”

Videos on social media platforms, like TikTok, that offer ways for teenagers to circumvent the app by turning off settings on their phones have gone viral. Teenagers have also turned to social media as a way to vent feelings of frustration toward their parents, many of whom feel the app represents a breach in trust.

“I would not use an app like Life360, because I trust my children and I trust their judgement,” bus driver Shelly Brown said. “I would hope that they are making the right decisions without me following their every move.”

Not all students view the app as a privacy violation.

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Some are happy to share their location with their parents if it gives them a sense of security.

“In my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons,” sophomore Mira Nech said. “Even though it can seem invasive at times, safety always comes first.”

Taking a similar stance on the topic, sophomore Noah Krauss maintains that Life360 and other tracking apps provide a form of instant communication between family members in day-to-day life.

“It’s nice to be able to know where my family is by glancing down at my phone,” Krauss said. “Most of the time, my parents aren’t the best at getting back to me right away when I text them. So it’s definitely easier to use an app and get the same information much faster.”

Sue Polovina, one of the drivers’ education instructors at West Henderson, maintains the belief that the benefits of safe driving apps outweigh the privacy concerns of teenagers.

“I can definitely sympathize with kids who think their parents are being a bit overprotective when they force them to download these apps. But safety overrides that,” Polovina said. “Teenagers especially are much more apt to speed or drive distracted without processing the consequences.”

According to TeenSafe, over 58% of teen car crashes are caused by distracted driving. Polovina feels that the utilization of safe driving apps could play a large role in the prevention of distracted driving-related accidents.

“In terms of student drivers, I absolutely believe these apps should be considered a necessity,” Polovina said. “Distracted driving is the largest cause of collisions for any age group, but particularly teens. So, anything that increases awareness would be helpful.”

According to David Rice, the Chief Operations Officer for Life360, tracking apps are becoming a commonality within the digital age. In an ever-growing world of technology, heads no longer seem to turn at the introduction of such an advanced app to the market.

“Location sharing has become the new norm for today’s digital families,” Rice said. “Teens who take issue with Life360 are often the loudest, but in reality a vast majority of teens are OK with location sharing.”

However, the increasing popularity of this easy-touse app means it is becoming less difficult for stalkers to utilize tracking services on unsuspecting victims. While this situation seems far-fetched, it brings the so-called ‘safety’ features of the app into question.

“Life360 takes these issues very seriously,” Rice said when prompted on the subject. “Our app has built-in features for our members to easily turn location tracking off.”

Although the app appears to focus on helping families find peace of mind, Life360 is also a company with intents to produce profits, just like any other. The company collects data on its users, including their living establishments, work and driving paths, and utilizes this information to sell car insurance, which can be alarming to some parents.

Despite these concerns, however, Polovina believes apps like Life360 are the key to safer driving environments around the globe.

“These apps could be helpful for anyone, but particularly new drivers,” Polovina said. “It is unfortunate that they come with such a stigma, because I believe the use of these apps has the potential to create safer driving conditions for everyone.”

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ADS n December 2019

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HEAT Climate change predicted to have major impact on WNC By n Nathan Turpin n Print Editor-in-Chief (photo by Jason Livingston)

I

n July, many people found themselves seeking shelter from the sweltering summer heat, and for good reason – it was the hottest July globally in the last 140 years.

That heat has made its impact on more than just the air.

Average Arctic sea ice was a record-breaking 19.8% below average that month, and 2019 as a whole is on track to be the second hottest year to date. This heat has many asking one question: what’s coming next?

“We come from the natural world, and yet we’ve destroyed our planet to the point where it will have an effect on us,” senior Emily Barnett said. “Through drastic weather changes like hurricanes, droughts and wildfires, things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.”

July 2019 was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the global average of 56.9 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphereic Administration (NOAA).

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It’s the 43rd July in a row – and the 415th consecuconsequence of carbon dioxide emissions, it’s the effects tive month – with temperatures above the 20th century that are yet to happen that are the most threatening. average. In correlation with this, regions worldwide According to the fourth National Climate Assessment have experienced record-breaking temperatures; several (NCA), changes in temperature and precipitation will countries in Europe endured the hottest days in their affect insect and pathogen survival. This is likely to lead respective histories. to an increase in disease, insect infestations and tree There is some variability in the weather; warm mortality rates, which will significantly reduce biodiverweather conditions from El Niño are partially to blame. sity and wildlife habitat.

However, according to NOAA, one of the most important The blame for these effects, according to Tate, can factors in recent global temperatures is the rising amount only be attributed to humans. of greenhouse gases in the air. As long as these gases con“When you clear out those forests and stir up the tinue to be emitted on such a large scale, climate change land with droughts, floods and general erosion, you’re will only become more severe. awakening those insects,” Tate said. “They’re just looking “It’s actually really scary,” senior Robbie Tate said. for a place to live, and when we destroy their homes, they “There’s barely any major media coverage. The Amazon don’t have any other choice but to move into ours.”

Rainforest hasn’t stopped burning since July. The only The solution, Tate and Barnett agree, is to keep young way I even heard about it was from Instagram through people informed through activism. Once they know the small activist accounts. The media isn’t covering it.” full scope of what’s going on around them, they can figure For heavily wooded areas like Western North Carolina out what they can do to help.

(WNC), climate change is more likely to be a critical facFor many, that solution is joining a grassroots movetor. These places will be a safe haven for biodiversity and ment. The Sunrise Movement, founded in 2017, focuses clean water long after others have deteriorated. In order on youth-led political activism. Based in Washington, to have any chance of global recovery, they need to be D.C., they frequently protest and meet with U.S. politipreserved as much as possible. cians to affect climate change legislation. However, not all The effects of climate change are already visible. climate change campaigns are like the Sunrise MoveThree years ago, Asheville experienced what NC foresters ment. Many, like #TeamTrees, find solutions to climate called the worst fires in a century. problems in different ways. Its goal Extreme drought caused two arson is to plant 20 million trees across fires to spread over 30,000 acres. the globe through public donaThe moderate droughts that curtions, which have already planted rently afflict WNC – and espemore than 8 million. Through their cially the severe drought in Macon actions, they to help restore forests County, where those fires started in almost every continent, rebuild– serve as a grim reminder. ing important carbon sinks.

These increased drought Movements and activist events are expected to have major groups such as these keep people impacts. hopeful, according to Barnett.

“There are plant species in for“People like Greta Thunberg ests that need water and coverage are inspiring and educating our from the other trees,” Tate said. own generation, and we’re catch“Increasing droughts and contining wind of this need to change,” ued deforestation is really wiping Barnett said. “We’re going to be out those plant species, which of n Emily Barnett able to vote and be able to have course affects the animals and our voices heard in a political Senior sense. Changing this fossil fuelcauses a huge chain reaction.”

Droughts are not the only dependent system we’ve built for natural phenomenon to get more ourselves isn’t going to be easy, but severe. As the world warms, evaporation of the ocean I think as long as we’re educated on the tiniest things we increases, which leads to more intense precipitation. can do, we can put forth that effort.”

The warmer atmosphere allows for more moisture to be As of Nov. 4th, the U.S. has officially notified the stored. When moisture collects during long periods of United Nations that it will be withdrawing from the Paris drought, extreme rain and snowfall persists afterward, Accord, a formal agreement to reduce greenhouse gas which can lead to severe flooding. emissions. The withdrawal will be official one full year These floods will most often be the result of hurriafter the withdrawal notice. This makes the U.S. the only cane weather. Similar to the effects of Hurricane Alberto country to pull out of the agreement. in Asheville, in May 2018, floods can shut down roads, While President Donald Trump claims that leaving cause hundreds of power outages and prompt evacuathe Paris Accord will help stimulate the economy and altions in heavily affected areas. If NOAA predictions are low the U.S. to implement more efficient climate change correct, excessive rain might become a frequent occurpolicies, many of these claims are just not true. Had the rence. Greenhouse gases will cause reduced vertical wind U.S. stayed in the Paris Accord, global temperatures could shear and warmer ocean waters, both of which will result have been reduced up to almost one degree. in more frequent and intense hurricanes.

Many are frustrated with this decision, attributing it “If we don’t cut down on our carbon emissions, there to unchecked ignorance. are going to be rapid chain reactions that we won’t have “The facts are all there, and scientists are constantly any control over,” Barnett said. “The increase in hurfinding more effects of climate change, but people deny it ricanes is proof of that. It’s going to happen within our regardless,” freshman Aislin Eberhardt said. “If they took lifetime. I don’t think it’s fair that it’s been put on our the time to actually look at the evidence themselves, they generation’s shoulders when generations before us have would understand that climate change is a real issue that known these issues and refused to fix them.” needs to be addressed, rather than blindly believing the While forest fires and floods are a frightening real things they are told by authority figures.”

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If we don’t cut down on our carbon emissions, there are going to be rapid chain reactions that we won’t have any control over.

”

climate

FACTS - More than 300,000 North Carolinians are especially vulnerable to extreme heat - By 2050, the state is projected to see almost 60 dangerous heat days a year. The state is projected to see a roughly 50% increase in drought severity by 2050 - Almost half of North Carolina’s population, more than 4.8 million people, are living in areas at elevated risk of wildfire - In North Carolina, more than 450,000 people are living in areas at elevated risk of inland flooding - Today, North Carolina has 122,000 people at risk of coastal flooding. By 2050, an additional 44,000 people are projected to be at risk due to sea level rise

Source: statesatrisk.org

FEATURE n December 2019

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smoke

Vaping trend proves harmful for teens’ health by n Emily Chambliss n Feature Writer

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A

n odorless fog of silver gray vapor traveled through the cold autumn air. He coughed, his lungs distressed over the intake of foreign substances. His blood pressure rose and his adrenaline spiked. The chemicals roamed through his bloodstream, killing his cells. Nicotine infiltrated his brain, a silent addiction slowly taking over his life.

Vaping is defined as using an electronic cigarette, a battery powered vaporizer that mimics smoking without burning tobacco. Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, have cartridges full of liquid that contain chemicals such as glycerin or nicotine, that heats into a vapor and is inhaled.

“Vaping is kind of the new thing with kids nowadays,” senior Sydney McKinney said. “Without it, a lot of people are considered ‘not cool,’ and because it’s advertised as better than cigarettes, they don’t see a problem with it.”

Every few years, a new smoking trend tends to be introduced into the lives of high school-aged adolescents. It has ranged from cigarettes, hookah pens, and most recently, JUULs. Based in San Francisco, JUUL sales make up half the e-cigarette market. The company has often claimed that

“

Most people only start if somebody else is doing it.

They want to look cool for their friends and have that whole rebellious teenager phase, but then they get addicted to it and it is no longer a choice. n

”

Sydney McKinney Senior

the purpose of their business was to help adults quit tobacco, but an analysis of their advertising campaign spins a different narrative. A team of researchers at Stanford University came to the conclusion that JUUL’s marketing was “patently youth oriented.”

JUUL advertises heavily on social media, where middle and high schoolers spend a lot of their free time.

The colorful backgrounds and happy, young-looking models attract the attention of minors more so than the adults JUUL claims they are marketing toward.

“JUUL has been targeting children,” sophomore counselor Cole Church said. “They’ve even made a bubble gum flavor. That is not for adults trying to find a better alternative to smoking, that’s directed toward young people. They’re trying to get them addicted.”

According to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 3.6 million middle school and high school-aged students admitted to vaping within the last year. These trends have raised concerns that decades of progress in minimizing the amount of tobacco related diseases will be in vain, and that tobacco will be reintroduced into the lives of teenagers.

“I think it’s largely the marketing and availability of the vape that makes it so popular,” Church said. “It’s

Photo from Pixabay

everywhere, and it’s so much easier to get them and they’re much easier to hide.”

Studies by the Health and Safety Magazine show that 37% of high school seniors vape. Students report that peer pressure and a desire to “fit in” is a central catalyst in this increase in statistics. Friends tend to be a strong influence on adolescents when it comes to risky behavior, such as vaping. Teenagers will go to a variety of lengths to be liked and vaping is a method that many resort to.

“Most people only start if somebody else is doing it,” Mckinney said. “They want to look cool for their friends and have that whole rebellious teenager phase, but then they get addicted to it and it is no longer a choice.”

While vaping, people expose themselves to high concentrations of nicotine, an addictive chemical. The feeling of a high and a sense of euphoria is the prime motivator for many students in their decision to vape.

Nicotine reaches the brain within eight seconds of inhalation. It causes the human body to release epinephrine, activating the sympathetic nervous system.

This activates the “fight or flight” response, rapidly escalating breathing, blood pressure and heart rate. These components increase the risk for a heart attack.

“We have nicotine receptors in our brain, and when we get this euphoria, we release dopamine in the brain,” said Dr. Steven Saldutti, a physician’s assistant at Brevard Family Practice. “Dopamine is our pleasure hormone. And from just being humans,we really want that dopamine fix. And if it’s associated with nicotine, then we’re going to be searching out that nicotine.”

Vape juices also contain chemicals such as glycerol, benzoic acid, and formaldehyde. These chemicals can irritate the lungs and cause a multitude of health problems after entering the bloodstream. The chemi-

cal components in vape juices are widely believed by professionals to be toxic and harmful to the body.

Manufacturers of these products are often unaware of the potential damage these chemicals can cause.

The FDA does not require e-liquid manufacturers to list all of the ingredients included in their products, and some products are often labeled incorrectly. They do, however, require that all tobacco products include a nicotine addictiveness warning statement on the packaging.

“Formaldehyde is a cancer causing agent,” Saldutti said. “People use that stuff when they preserve bodies, basically pickling people. They have to wear masks, because breathing that stuff in can be pretty harmful.

Many brands of e-cigarettes have formaldehyde in them so you’re somewhat pickling your lungs.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Thursday, Oct. 3, that the number of vaping-related illness cases has increased to 1,080 in 48 states and the U.S Virgin Islands. As of Wednesday, Oct. 2, 18 people have died.

Approximately 80% of the affected patients are less than 35 years old. 21% are ages 18 to 20, and 16% are under the age of 18.

“One of the things that has really kind of scared me lately is that one day a person will be healthy, and the next day, they will be in the hospital,” Church said. “I just can’t believe that they’re going to allow more people continue to die.”

After the recent influx in unexplained vapingrelated illnesses and deaths, the CDC and the American Medical Association recommend that adolescents stay away from e-cigarettes entirely. The FDA expressed their concern as well, stating that “we see clear signs that youth use of electronic cigarettes has reached an

FEATURE n December 2019

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quick facts

•In 2019, more than 5 million U.S. middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, including 10.5% of middle school students and 27.5% of high school students •Among the 2,016 cases of lung injury from vaping product use (as of Nov. 5), 15% of patients were under 18 years old •North Carolina has seen more than 50 cases of lung injury from vaping products Source: cdc.gov

epidemic proportion.”

“Epidemic is kind of like a buzzword,” Saldutti said.

“You know, there are buzzwords everywhere, and epidemic is one of them, especially in the medical community. So when you hear the word epidemic, everybody’s going to be paying more attention to the issue. So, are the numbers increasing? Yes, definitely. Is it an epidemic proportions? I don’t think so.”

By law, vape shops cannot give free samples or sell e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18. These laws are part of relatively new regulations introduced in 2016.

Before this, there were no federal laws prohibiting retailers from selling e-cigarettes or cigars to minors. In 2019, the FDA announced that it will be cracking down on the “kid-friendly marketing and appeal of these products,” as well as the illegal sales of e-cigarettes to minors.

“It is such a big deal to buy alcohol under the age of 21,” Saldutti said. “That being said, the public view on vaping isn’t there yet, like it is for cigarettes or underage drinking. So when someone is selling these things, they’re less likely to think, ‘If I get caught selling this I’m going to lose my business license.’ And if you think about it, the folks who are selling them do not think it’s bad, otherwise they wouldn’t be selling it. So number one, if they haven’t bought into how bad this is, they’re not going to be so

concerned about giving it to somebody who’s underage.

And number two, the law hasn’t really caught up with underage selling of electronic cigarettes yet.”

Despite these regulations, some retailers choose to sell e-cigarettes to minors anyway. Students are also receiving e-cigarettes from older family members and friends, and students that appear to be older than they are can often purchase them without question.

McKinney said she feels legislation will not be able to have the desired effect on the so-called “epidemic.”

“People tend to be really great at doing illegal things to get what they want or to make money,” McKinney said. “Especially with the need to get nicotine motivating them, laws aren’t going to stop anyone from buying them or getting them from someone else.”

On Sept. 25, JUUL announced that its CEO, Kevin Burns, would be stepping down, effective immediately.

He is to be replaced by K.C. Crosthwaite, an executive at the tobacco company Altria. Prior to his resignation, Burns apologized for the United States’ teen vaping crisis, and the company issued a statement stating that they were “suspending all broadcast, print and digital product advertising in the U.S.” “I think he didn’t want to get sued,” Church said. “I’m sure that someone’s child is going to die from vaping, and

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the parents are going to say, ‘Hey, this is wrong, and it needs to stop,’ and sue the company. Then, JUUL will go out of business, and lose all its money.”

In September, Michigan became the first U.S. state to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed similar bans. These actions followed President Donald Trump’s announcement of an effort to ban vaping products countrywide. These propositions have received a considerable amount of backlash, focusing on Trump’s unwillingness to ban firearms, but quick motivation to ban flavored e-cigarettes.

These bans only include flavored e-cigarettes, and don’t impact the harmful chemicals present in vape juices. It is not known how this will impact the percent-

“

They’ve even made a bubble gum flavor. That is not for adults trying to find a better alternative to smoking, that’s directed toward young people. They’re trying to get them addicted. n Cole

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Church

Sophomore Counselor

ages of teens that vape.

“I think it will help some,” McKinney said. “Some teenagers are only in it for the flavors, so they might stop.

But a lot of people are in too deep and I don’t know if they will be able to stop.”

Vaping has been popular for around five years, and as a result, not a lot is known about the long-term health risks of vaping. Common problems like popcorn lung and trouble breathing are discussed in health classes, but many students choose to ignore these warnings and vape regardless of the possible consequences.

“It’s only human to think that it’s not going to happen to you,” Saldutti said. “Young people tend to think they’re invincible, and it’s going to take something bad happening to them or someone they know to start to make a change. It’s going to have to get worse before it gets better.”

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19

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calling

sick in

Deadly disease infects fairgoers, worries family members by n Madison Hall n Feature Writer

(photo from pixabay.com)

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ince September of 1994, the North Carolina Mountain State Fair has drawn in visitors from all across Western North Carolina and neighboring states. For years it has been a place for family and friends to come together and enjoy a night full of rides, food, games and fun. The fair also features local art exhibits, booths and livestock contests.

However, instead of spreading excitement and joy this year, the fair, which took place from Sept. 6-15, has spread fear, panic and disease. After a mass group of people was admitted to local hospitals with symptoms that originally suggested pneumonia a few days after attending the fair, it was discovered that they had all contracted Legionnaires disease.

“My great uncle and great aunt got Legionnaires disease after going to the fair,” senior Gabe Brittain said. “I was furious with the fair if I’m being honest. They didn’t do well this year. They had a ride almost come down, and then everyone got this new plague. It was incredibly concerning,” Brittain said.

Legionnaires disease is an especially severe form of pneumonia – an infection that leads to lung inflammation – caused by the legionella bacteria. This is the same bacteria that causes Pontiac’s fever. Pontiac’s fever is much less severe than Legionnaires, and the body can fight it on its own the majority of the time. Legionnaires, if left untreated, can be fatal.

“I was very concerned for the safety of my students,” agricultural science teacher and Future Farmers of America (FFA) club sponsor Joe Taylor said.

The FFA club had a CTE booth set up for the duration of the fair. Many of Taylor’s students and club members volunteered their time to help operate the booth. This unknowingly put them at risk for exposure to legionella bacteria.

“What we were doing at the fair was in a totally different area, but I didn’t know if any of them had attended the exhibit or were in the building where the bacteria originated,” Taylor said. “It’s a serious disease.”

Those who have been infected with Legionnaires disease usually begin to exhibit symptoms 2-10 days after they have contracted it. Symptoms include headaches, muscle aches, fevers exceeding over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, coughing, shortness of breath, n Gabe Brittain chest pain, nausea, vomiting, and confusion and/or Senior mental changes.

While the lungs are the part of the body that is most severely affected by the disease, other parts of the body, including the heart, can be infected. These infections make the disease increasingly dangerous.

The elderly, infants, those with weakened immune systems, and those who smoke are at a higher risk of contracting Legionnaires disease.

“My aunt and uncle first realized something was wrong when they started having pneumonia-like symptoms,” Brittain said. “They also started hallucinating and saying that they were seeing people from the 50’s.

They couldn’t breathe, and they had fevers.”

Legionnaires disease is extremely rare but very dangerous. On average, one out of every ten people who contract Legionnaires will die. Fewer than 20,000 cases are reported in the United States each year, but the number of incidents reported annually quadrupled between 2010 and 2014.

The majority of people contract Legionnaires disease by inhaling the legionella bacteria, which View of legionella pneumophila bacteria through a microscpe. (photo from cdc.gov) lives in either water or soil. When this bacteria occurs naturally outdoors, it cooling process, which is why outbreaks rarely occur almost never causes Legionnaires. Rather, it thrives in people’s homes. Industrial air conditioning provides in man-made water systems. Most outbreaks occur in the perfect environment for bacteria to multiply and be large buildings because the massive air conditioning dispersed through large areas at very rapid rates. units used to regulate the temperature in that large of “My great aunt and uncle were really reluctant an area use water as a cooling mechanism. Air condito go to the hospital at first, but eventually went to a tioning units in houses and cars do not use water in the general practitioner,” Brittain said. “They were put on

“

They first realized something was wrong when they started having pneumonialike symptoms. They couldn’t breathe, and they had fevers.

”

medication, and after that they recovered fairly quickly, considering they didn’t want to go to the doctor at first.”

The building hosted a Hot Tub exhibit throughout the duration of the fair. Hot Tubs have been linked to national Legionnaires outbreaks in the past. This, combined with the air conditioning units that use water as a cooling mechanism, created the perfect breeding ground for the legionella bacteria. Microscopic water droplets containing the bacteria were inhaled when people entered the building, which was how the disease was contracted and spread.

This is what led officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Public Health to trace the Legionnaires outbreak that occurred at the North Carolina Mountain State Fair to the Davis Event Center.

“I’m not very familiar with the whole system, but it seems to me like they need to do a better job upkeeping the air conditioning systems, and the vendors need to be monitored to make sure they maintain their equipment,” Taylor said. “It seems like the whole deal was due to the hot tub vendors that evidently did not clean or sanitize anywhere near like they were supposed to.”

So far there have been 134 reported cases of Legionnaires disease linked to the fair, 88 hospitalizations, and 2 deaths. The fair sent out a survey and asked everyone who attended to fill it out in order to gather more data on where the disease could have been contracted. So far, no other potential sources of the disease have been identified.

Doctors are urging people to seek medical attention as soon as possible if they believe that they may have the disease, especially if they know that they have been exposed and have risk factors. Legionnaires disease can be fatal, and should not be taken lightly. The fair will be taking the necessary precautions to make sure that this does not happen again.

“The second I heard they were sick, I knew it was from the fair,” Brittain said. “I think it was really stupid of the people at the fair to keep the building open after Legionnares had been confirmed. They had another exhibit in the same building the next weekend. I was pretty disgusted with them. I think the solution is pretty simple. If you know something is causing a disease, shut it down.”

FEATURE n December 2019

21

flow

disney channel New streaming service released to rival Netflix by n Sarah Monoson n Opinion Editor

O

n Nov. 12, Disney launched a streaming service of its own called Disney Plus. The service has almost every iconic Disney movie and series, as well as content from the many studios the company owns such as Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Pixar. Disney Plus’s catalog also includes new content from the aforementioned studios, like movies and series that release episodes on a weekly basis.

Users can stream on most devices, and they can download anything they want to watch offline. Prices start at $7 a month or $70 a year, and users can stream from four screens simultaneously. Comparatively, Netflix’s basic plan is $9 a month and their family plan that allows for streaming on four screens costs $16. Netflix has more content than the Disney service, however.

Customers can bundle Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN for $13 a month, or have Disney Plus as a Hulu add-on for a currently unreleased price. Additionally, people with an unlimited data or 5G home internet plan with Verizon are eligible to get the service free for a year.

One of the major incentives to get a Disney Plus membership is the original content from Marvel Studios that is featured on the platform. Currently, most Marvel movies are available to stream, and there are several new shows projected to come out in the next few years. The projects already in production

(Photos from IMDb.com)

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include “Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” “Black Widow,” “Loki” and more.

Disney is so confident that the new Marvel content will be a large source of profit that the budgets for the shows are comparable to that of films. Each episode of the various series will have a budget of $12 million or more. This is notably higher than the budget of Marvel’s previous shows that were made in association with Netflix, which had budgets of less than $4 million.

Another lucrative franchise that Disney owns is Star Wars. While Disney has only announced a handful of Star Wars shows that are in the works, serious fans are likely to get the service just so they can watch original content such as “The Mandalorian,” which is one of the few shows that has already begun airing on Disney Plus. So far, it has received positive reviews. Other Star Wars shows include an unnamed series about Obi-Wan Kenobi starring Ewan McGregor, who played the character in the prequels, as well as a spin-off based on “Rogue One”.

National Geographic is another company that will have exclusive content on Disney Plus. Notably, it will have a new series called “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” in which actor Jeff Goldblum investigates topics such as ice cream, sneakers, and tattoos.

Totally new content will also be introduced on Disney Plus such as “Be our

Chef,” a cooking show hosted by “The Office” star Angela Kinsey, and “Shop Class,” a building competition. Some movies have also been announced, like “Diary of a Female President” starring Gina Rodrigeuz and a Christmas film starring Bill Hader and Anna Kendrick called “Noelle” that is already available to stream.

Of course, classic Disney movies and shows will also be on the platform, including content from Disney Channel.

Franchise reboots such as “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” as well as movie remakes like “Lady and The Tramp” are on the service, and more are in production. Also, new Pixar shorts based on “Monsters Inc.” and “Toy Story” are also in the works.

In addition to making all of these new shows and movies exclusive to Disney Plus, any content produced

by Disney and its corporations will be taken off of Netflix within the next few years. This ensures that Disney has a monopoly on old and new content from these studios.

While limiting access to these series and films is arguably annoying for consumers, it’s almost certain that it will be profitable for Disney. Only one day after the service’s launch, Disney Plus had 10 million users, and it is projected to have between 60 million and 90 million subscribers by 2024.

a new

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Kanye releases highly anticipated alblum by n Stone Hogan n Sports Editor

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n Friday, Oct. 25 at 12 p.m., Kanye West finally dropped his longawaited album “JESUS IS KING.” This is Kanye’s ninth solo studio album, and it was released exactly 511 days after his last solo album, “Ye.” Kanye originally announced a new album to come out on Sept. 28, 2018 called “Yandhi,” which was postponed until Nov. 23, 2018.

Not much was said about an album from Kanye for a long time, but he was active in other areas. He continued to drop more of his signature shoes, Yeezy’s, and he appeared as a feature on other musicians’ songs during this 511-day span.

Kanye then announced he would begin attending church services starting on Jan. 6, 2019. Many believed this was a turning point for Kanye West, and they were right. On Aug. 29, 2019, he announced another new album called “JESUS IS KING.” As the title of the album suggests, it is a gospel-based rap album.

“JESUS IS KING” was supposed to release on Sept. 27, 2019. That was delayed again until Sept. 29, and then again until Oct. 25, when, predictably, it didn’t drop.

I had lost all faith in Kanye at this point. However, my hope returned when I saw a tweet that read: “To my fans Thank you for being loyal and patient We are specifically fixing mixes on ‘Everything We Need’ ‘Follow God’ and ‘Water’ We not going to sleep until this album out!”

Kanye finally answered my prayers by sending me his own prayers at 12:00 p.m. on the day the album was supposed to release. There’s a lot to talk about with this 11-track album.

The first track is called ‘Every Hour,’ featuring Sunday Service Choir. This first song sets the entire mood for the album, so it was smart to place it at the beginning of the album. It is an actual worship song.

The choir is nice and the collective voice

is beautiful, but Kanye is not on the track.

This decision did not make sense to me because if it’s his album, it makes logical sense for him to be on the track. I have to give it a 5/10, because of how well it’s placed on the album and for the choir.

Song number two is called ‘Selah.’

Kanye is in this one, and I can’t describe how it felt to finally hear his voice on an album I waited so long for.

If you still had doubts about this being a gospel album, they disappeared after you listened to this song. Kanye recites verses John 8:33 and 8:36 in this song, not to mention the forty seconds of hallelujahs in the middle of the song. Kanye has two verses on this track and both are relatively good based on the main idea of this album. Like many of the other songs, this one is short. You don’t hear a lot of Kanye, especially in light of the hallelujahs. My high expectations were not disappointed by this song, and the added drums gave me chills when I first heard them. The outro from this song might just be my favorite part just because of the production. I give this track a 7/10. The verses were good but nothing special, and the song felt overshadowed by the hallelujahs. However, the production stands out, and once you hear those drums you forget all about the negatives in this song.

Song three is called ‘Follow God.’ All I can say is wow. This is easily my favorite song on the album. Kanye flows on the track like a god. The production on the track is phenomenal and Kanye is able to match the pace of the beats incred-

ibly well, making this a song any church could party to. This song still explores the Christian theme, but focuses more on Kanye’s struggles before he found God. I gladly give this song a 10/10. It is purely amazing.

Track number four is called ‘Closed on Sunday.’ Can you think of any popular fast food chain that’s not open on Sundays? Well, that’s what the first part of the song is about. “Closed on Sunday You my ChickFil-A.” I heard this and my first thought was,

“Kanye, what the heck?” I have no idea what he’s trying to say there.

Thankfully the song’s beat and message change about a minute and thirty seconds in. When I reached the second half, the lyrics made much more sense.

The production was outstanding in the second half and, although Kanye’s verse isn’t the best, he flows well with the music. Despite the strong second half, the first half still haunts my ears so I have to (Photo from foxbusiness.com)

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Track five is called ‘On God.’ I praise the music production on Kanye albums, but this song doesn’t even come close to Kanye production levels. Producer Pierre Bourne did not do a good job and there are a lot of weird noises in the background. It’s just not good music, and that’s disappointing, as it’s arguably Kanye’s best verse on the album. Kanye describes his journey in finding God in this song, but he still does not shy away from boasting about his talent. This song gets a 3/10; the music was just awful and not even Kanye could save it.

Song six is titled ‘Everything We Need.’

This song features Ty Dolla $ign and his voice is just so soothing on this song. I wished he was in this song more, but I do think there was a good balance between Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign. This is one of my favorite songs on the album as there is a very light mood to it. Kanye’s verses are short, but they fit perfectly into the song. The song is about how you shouldn’t worry about material things because God has already given you everything you need. The production on this song is so much better than the previous one that you forget all about that atrocity. I give this song an 8/10 for the production, Kanye verses and Ty Dolla $ign’s singing.

Song seven is named ‘Water.’

The chorus is very strange and I can’t really interpret it. “It’s Water We are water Pure as water Like a newborn daughter.” I think this might be about Kanye changing his ways and trying to remove sin from his life. It would make sense because Kanye asked people who were working on JESUS IS KING not to have premarital sex. The production is strange but not like the song ‘On God’ because it’s still somewhat enjoyable. I think I’m giving this song a 6/10 because it’s still enjoyable but I just can’t bring myself to listen to it a lot.

Track eight is titled ‘God Is.’ I would describe this song as a Christian worship song; if you are not religious then you will probably not enjoy it. However, if you are, I highly recommend this song. If you were skeptical about Kanye not actually being religious and doing this all for attention, this song will make you change your opinion real quick. Kanye praises God on the entire song, which happens to be one of the longest at three minutes and twentythree seconds. You can just hear the passion in Kanye’s voice when he sings (yes sings), “This ain’t ‘bout a damn religion Jesus brought a revolution.” This song gets a 9/10. My only complaint with it is that

“

there is no rapping on the song at all.

Song nine is called ‘Hands On.’ This song is paced slower than I usually like but I really enjoy it. The distorted singing is also a really nice touch and I think it separates this song from the others.

Kanye’s verse is about when he first started changing his ways and the backlash he’s received for announcing his religious revival. The production continues to shine like normal. However I do wish this song was placed earlier in the album. It feels out of place right after ‘God Is.’ In my opinion ‘God Is’ should be the last track on the album. This song is one of the best of the albums but due to the placement on the album I give it an 8/10.

Track ten is titled ‘Use This Gospel.’

I like this just ok, but it did take me a few listens to get to that point. The beat on this song is good, but something reminds me of my car telling me my seatbelts off.

There’s an annoying ding all throughout the song and I don’t know who thought that sounded good. However the saxophone solo by Kenny G is probably the highlight of the song. Kanye doesn’t even have a verse on the song which is really disappointing. Instead verses are provided by Pusha T and No Malice.

I’m not really a big fan of the two but I surprisingly enjoyed their verses on the song. This track gets 6/10, it had a lot of potential to be better but the seatbelt ding is something I can’t overlook.

The 11th and final song on the album is called ‘Jesus Is Lord.’ Like ‘God Is,’ this is another worship song. However, this one is unfortunately only forty-nine seconds long. This is a good song and I think I would enjoy it just like ‘God Is’ but the shortness just leaves me unsatisfied.

Especially with this being the last track.

Kanye let me down with this one. It gets a 4/10.

My overall review of this album based off lyrics, flow, music production, enjoyment, and placement in total is a 7/10. Kanye had a lot of averageness on this album and some below average moments as well. However songs like ‘Follow God’ and Everything We Need are able to outshine the rest and improve the entirety of the album.

If you’re wondering what’s next for Kanye, he is continuing his gospel theme by announcing a new album called ‘Jesus Is Born’ to come out on Christmas day. He announced this new album before JESUS IS KING even dropped and he labels this new one as a “Sunday Service” album.

Kanye describes his journey in finding God in this song, but he still does not shy away from boasting about his talent.

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”

(Photo by Alexis on Flickr)

3..2..1..

GO! Mario Kart game released for smartphones by n Kareem Al-Abed n Feature Writer

M

ario Kart has always been a childhood favorite of mine, so when I heard it was coming to the App Store, I immediately preordered it. With Nintendo’s latest releases ranging from the Switch Lite to a new Nintendo exclusive called “Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3,” a new phone game was exactly what they needed to up the hype. With some of my favorite courses, like ‘Rainbow Road’, ‘Cheep Cheep Beach’ and ‘Neo Bowser City’ coming back in Mario Kart Tour I’ve never been on my phone more.

Mario Kart was done almost perfectly, but unfortunately, the fact that it’s such a big game caused its one fault. Mario Kart Tour takes up 200.9 MB on its own, but the data saved from playing takes up 434.4 MB, which adds up to 635.2 MB– a significant amount of space. It also drains my battery faster than anything else. While those are a little hard to ignore, the gameplay makes it worth the battery and storage usage. Everything about the game was done right.

The controls were a little tricky at first, but once I got used to them, the game became much easier. As players race, they try to get points by hitting racers around them, drifting, jumping and getting boosts.

At the start of the race, players get base points from their karts, characters and gliders. They also get more points if they win first, second or third place. The more points users rack up, the more stars they get,

and stars unlock new cups.

Each cup has three races and one challenge. In each race, players can win up to five stars, and on each challenge, they can get up to three. The challenges are simple: users race around a track and complete an easy task, such doing five jumps or driving through rings.

For each course, different characters get bonus items when they hit an item box. Some characters get a total of three items from the item box, but most characters only get one or two items. Some karts get bonus point multipliers, with the highest multiplier being two and the lowest being one. This means that any bonus points obtained are multiplied. Gliders can also affect points with a combo bonus. The highest combo bonus multiplier is three.

In every update, more characters, karts and gliders are added, so there’s no end to the combinations that can be made. New courses, features and items are also added in every update, so the courses never get boring.

There are three tiers of items: silver, gold and rose-gold. The higher the tier, the better the base stats. The stats only affect players’ base points in a race, but that makes a huge difference. The last thing that changes within the tiers is the characters’ special abilities. A lot of the characters get a special item

for their special ability. Some are better versions of already existing items, such as Toad’s ability, which gives the player three mushrooms to use at once.

Shortcuts can make or break a race. If you’re the only one who goes through them, then you’re less likely to get hit, and you can pass people really easily. There’s always at least one obvious shortcut, multiple hidden ones and a lot of places where you can cut across the grass. There’s always some way to get ahead in a race, but you usually need mushrooms for to use the shortcuts. Sometimes you can use the boost from a jump to take a shortcut though.

The jump boosts are really important, but super easy to do. Once you go up the ramp, you immediately get a boost, but missing a ramp can really hurt.

Most people will try and get all the jump boosts, so if you miss one, a lot of people can pass you. Getting boosts is the biggest part of the game.

Everything in Mario Kart Tour is really well done, and every feature feels purposeful. It is definitely my favorite game released this year so far, and it has held up to the standard set by the past versions.

With rumors of a new Mario Kart 9, nintendo is really hyping up Mario Kart as it is, putting out updates for new characters and courses all the time. Mario Kart is doing really well right now, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store with Nintendo.

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PIZZA the

PIE

Staff review local pizza restaurants

By n Carson Godwin and Kareem Al-Abed n Staff Writers

Uncle Scott’s Located on Brevard Rd in the Laurel Park Village shopping center, Uncle Scott’s Pizza is a hidden gem in the Hendersonville area. The menu was full of diverse possibilities for pizza combinations with options for many different types of subs, salads and pastas. Another way Uncle Scott’s changes things up is by having a pizza of the month. During my visit, it was the BBQ chicken pizza, which has grilled chicken, BBQ sauce, bacon and red onions with mozzarella and provolone cheese. For my meal, I decided to get a simpler option, the classic pepperoni pizza with a side of the homemade garlic knots. Overall, I was really happy with not only the way both the garlic knots and pizza tasted, but the fact that they didn’t just taste ordinary. The garlic knots were not too greasy and the pizza went great with their homemade ranch.

The service was fast, taking only 15 minutes from the time I ordered to getting my pizza. The staff as well was happy and went above and beyond with their service. The owner welcomed me when I walked in and checked up on me multiple times throughout my meal, in addition to the servers themselves.

There were a lot of little things that made Uncle Scott’s great and set them apart from other pizza places I’ve tried. From the homemade ranch to the modern and simplistic style of decor that made the atmosphere even more welcoming. My favorite part of my meal was the garlic knots paired with the homemade marinara sauce.

There is a lot to love about Uncle Scott’s and their food specialties.

The food is very affordable, with my meal coming in at around $13 total with leftovers. The pizza is the best I’ve had in a long time and I highly recommend that you give it a try.

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Hendersonville’s Pizzeria Pizza has always been an American favorite, but opening up a pizza place is a hard thing to do with giant chains and corporations like Dominos, Pizza Hut, and Papa John’s, being at the forefront of the market. Starting a brand new place is exactly what the people at the Hendersonville’s Pizzeria are trying to do. The two people I saw working immediately greeted us with a lot of energy when we walked in.

The room looked kind of like a subway, but the real charm came from the men behind the counter, who were very nice and always enthusiastic about a new customer.

Sitting down, I was already in a pretty good mood from the kind treatment I’d received, but my experience there just kept getting better.

The food came out right away. I only had to wait about 15 minutes for the 10-inch veggie pizza I’d ordered. Granted, the short wait time was likely due to the fact that it wasn’t very busy at the time, but it probably would have just been another five minutes if it was busy. The fact that it came out of the kitchen so quickly definitely didn’t affect the quality of the pizza either.

The pizza itself was pretty good, though I can’t say there was anything special about the pizza. They did everything right, but the guys at Hendersonville’s Pizzeria just didn’t do anything to make their pizza better than anyone else. I would definitely go to somewhere like Mellow Mushroom or Papa John’s instead. The crust was soft, and thick, the amount of sauce, toppings and cheese was just right, and the pizza wasn’t too oily either, but there just wasn’t anything special about the pizza itself.

Pi- Squared Pi-Squared has been doing well since it opened up a few years ago, which was obvious as soon as I walked in. The place was really busy on the inside, even if there weren’t many people outside. The building from the outside had a nice city look to it, even though it wasn’t quite in the city.

I decided to order a square cheese pizza because they are known for their square pizzas. The pizza was ready in 15 minutes, was a nice surprise because they said it would take 25 minutes. When I picked it up, the guy at the cash register was very nice, but those were the only things I enjoyed about Pi-Squared.

Viewing the menu, I saw that Pi-Squared has options for every kind of topping and even types of cheese. The toppings ranged from an interesting choice of mango to classic black olives, with everything in between. I was very tempted to get mango, but I decided against it. After looking at all the toppings I decided to go with just a classic pizza.

I wish there was an option to get sauce on my pizza. The lack of sauce, except for small random dollops, was rather unfortunate. The dollops were so little that it made no difference. The only thing I actually enjoyed was the crust, but without sauce, the crust was very dry. The pizza itself was subpar at best, and the price was outrageously high.

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I

t’s in the headlines every week: professional athletes are hit too hard, and they wind up with a concussion.

This leaves many parents worried about the safety of their own child that plays a sport, and the concussion data in the United States can seem daunting to many.

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. Concussions are more commonly found in contact sports such as football, but are not exclusive to contact sports in general. In organized high school sports, concussions occur more often in competi-

tive sports, with football accounting for more than 60% of concussions.

With more information being collected on the longterm effects of exposure to contacts in sports, researchers have uncovered diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. CTE is a degenerative disease of the brain and is associated with repeated head traumas like concussions. Reports show an increasing number of retired NFL players who have suffered concussions have developed memory and cognitive issues such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

In order to curb the effects of concussions in high school sports, Henderson County has implemented new technology to track the occurrence of concussions and tell coaches and health staff what they can do to help.

Athletic Trainer Andrew Patterson has implemented new technology at West to help him and

Concussionsensing helmets implemented countywide by n Johnathan Austin n Feature Writer

the coaching staff prevent concussions among football players. The technology is the Riddell InSite impact tracking system, which is installed inside select football helmets to gather data.

“It goes as far as to tell me the velocity of impact, of every impact that helmet takes, along with the location of the impact on the player,” Patterson said.

Patterson said he has gained valuable knowledge since the implementation of the technology, which he hopes can help the health of the players.

“We learn where the kids are hitting with their helmet, and are able to correct the improper tackling techniques that way,” Patterson said. “We know if they are leading head down or not, and we are also able to tell in which part of practice the players are taking the most impact in, which helps to either cut down on those, or know that we can increase others.”

Currently, there are six players at West who are using the helmets with the technology, along with players from every other public high school in Henderson County.

Patterson said he is optimistic about the technologies potential impacts on the sport going forward.

“I see it helping us implement practice times where, the majority of our concussions do happen in practice, so we know when we need to cut down, or what kids we need to limit their impact on others,” Patterson said.

“Nationwide, it will help the sport stick around longer, because it will give us a better understanding of the amount of impacts, and the velocity of the impacts that players are taking.”

Head Coach Paul Whitaker said he is also looking forward to seeing the long-term benefits. He also says that the state of North Carolina has started to set requirements as to how many hours high schools can have “full contact,” but that West Henderson is not near the limit for contact time.

He attributes these changes to new requirements from the National Football League (NFL).

“This stuff is all coming down from the top, and the problem doesn’t exist in just high school, it comes from the NFL and all of their research,” Whitaker said.

Photo by Avery Brewer, cutout by Elise Trexler

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setit UP Volleyball team places second in state championship by n Stone Hogan n Sports Editor West’s volleyball team poses with their 2nd place state championship trophy. (Photo by Pat Shrader)

T

he West Henderson High School volleyball team ended their season as the top team in the Western Mountain 3A Conference, sixth in the North Carolina 3A Class and 12th in the North Carolina State rankings.

“I’m very proud of the team this season,” Head Coach Tiffany Lowrance said. “The girls never stopped reaching for their goals. They put all of their hearts in to work hard every time they were on the court.”

The Falcons finished as state runnersup against Chapel Hill High School in a four-set match. The Falcons won the first set of the State Championship, but the Tigers were able to win the next three sets after that. Before the championship game, the Falcons beat North Buncombe, Jesse Carson, South Iredell, Marvin Ridge and West Rowan in playoff games.

“The playoffs were a good ride for us this year,” Lowrance said. “We had a lot of games that felt like a rollercoaster of emotions as far as excitement and energy goes.

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The best part was seeing the girls grow as they pushed to the championship.”

West Henderson may not have won the state championship, but the Falcons did win the conference championship against T.C. Roberson in three sets. The two teams the Falcons had to beat before reaching conference tournament were Erwin and A.C. Reynolds.

During the conference tournament, senior Kinsley Morgan was named MVP. Morgan finished the tournament with 24 kills, nine serving aces, nine digs and three serving aces.

“I was honestly really surprised to have learned that I won MVP of the conference,” Morgan said. “The feeling was incredible. Of course, the rest of the team played their hearts out, and it felt really good to win that tournament, but to have the MVP recognition on top of that was just something truly special.”

Including the conference tournament and state playoffs, West Henderson finished with a record of 30-7. West Hender-

son led in kills with 1,277, and assists with 1,207 in the conference. Additionally, West Henderson’s kills per set, hitting percentage, total blocks, digs per set and serving aces were all above the national average.

“Stats are what can make or break some teams,” Lowrance said. “We felt like that they helped make us because they show proof for all the hard work the team has put together.”

Junior Dajia Jackson, Morgan, senior Katrina Kordonowy and junior America Anderson held spots five, six, seven and eight respectively in number of kills in the conference. Junior Malia Moore is number one in the conference for assists and senior Addison Hichman is number eight in assists as well.

“I feel honored to know that I was number one in the conference for assists,” Moore said. “I couldn’t have done it without the rest of my team. I plan on training hard throughout travel ball and putting in extra time outside of practice to continue to improve.”

At the beginning of the season, the team took a trip to Myrtle Beach, which Lowrance said she believes helped them bond in order to achieve their goals.

“The team really came closer during the season, but the trip we took at the beginning was the focal point for them to really start trusting each other,” Lowrance said. “The girls were able to set goals with each other such as winning the conference tournament and making it to state.”

For Lowrance, the most unforgettable moment of the season was the game against Marvin Ridge in the state playoffs.

West Henderson lost to Marvin Ridge in last year’s state playoffs in four sets.

“We were able to beat them in five sets, but those were not easy sets,” Lowrance said. “It was such an emotional game especially when we were down 1-2.

The returning girls from last year’s team did not want to lose to them again. They were able to put it together and finish strong with a victory and as a coach that’s something I won’t forget.”

loudand

Male cheerleader makes impact on team By n Elise Trexler

W

n

Web Editor-in-Chief

PROUD

ind whipped through the cheerleaders’ hair as they prepared to perform their new stunt, which would debut on senior night. The two freshman girls, who typically cheered solely on the JV team, shivered as they stood on the cold track surrounded by their varsity counterparts and looked up at the familiar faces in the student section.

Although they would usually not be allowed to join the varsity team, the freshmen had an unusual task to perform that night. They shook out their muscles and prepared to lift, looking at their rookie flyer with determination. As they stepped into their stances, they prepared to bear the weight of the cheerleader who had never been given the opportunity to fly before. “And five, six, seven, eight.”

“Flying the prep (stunt) on senior night definitely took a lot of practice,” senior Noah Lively said. “I fell down a few times, but once I was up there and started cheering, it felt natural, like it was really easy. To be a flyer, you have to be super light, and guys usually aren’t with the buildup of muscle. But I was really happy to get the opportunity to fly.”

According to Head Coach Tanya Shook, Lively is West’s first male cheerleader since 2015. Although tryouts for the team are judged by coaches from Brevard College, Shook said she noticed a lot of positive attributes during Lively’s tryout. “(The criteria for making the team) is based on cheer, chants, jumps, spirit and appearance,” Shook said. “And Noah does have a very good spirit. I like to watch him cheer.”

Not only have his coaches noticed Lively’s enthusiasm, but his teammates said they feel inspired by him to work harder.

“Noah is very peppy and lively,” senior Makayla Cooper said. “I think he is a great cheerleader and brings a lot to the team. He’s a very great team player; he keeps things organized. He’s a great leader, and he’s a lot of fun to be around.”

Although he said he feels supported by his fellow

cheerleaders and coaches, Lively said he has also faced criticism from his peers.

“There has been some (negativity) but I kind of learned to ignore it,” Lively said. “It makes me stronger. It’s not to the point where it’s hurt me in any way. I’ve been taunted a little bit about (cheerleading), but my coach has encouraged me into ignoring what they say.”

While Lively can ignore some of the critiques from other students, he said he does have to be hard on himself during practices so he can perfect his technique.

“My biggest challenge being a male cheerleader is definitely strength,” Lively said. “I don’t have a lot of it, so it’s kind of hard when they’re like, ‘Hey, do a one-man,’ and I’m like, ‘What?’”

Though Lively said he struggles occasionally with some of the physical aspects of cheer, his teammates and members of the JV team said he is especially good at providing moral support. “(Basing Lively on senior night) was great,” sophomore Amelia McKinney said. “He’s a really good flyer, and it was really fun. He’s so positive and such a good cheerleader, and he brings such a good vibe to the team.”

Lively said he is passionate about many facets of the cheer world, but the one he is most excited about and proud of is his impact on West’s culture of acceptance.

“I think that having a guy on the cheer team kind of brings out the school’s diversity,” Lively said. “It gives them that stance that’s like, it’s ok for a guy to do cheer; it’s not wrong.”

Senior Noah Lively cheers for the football team before the game at East Henderson on Friday, Sept. 6. West won 41-10. (Photo by Pat Shrader)

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