Edition 13.2

h r o n i c l eThe
October 15, 2015 thecspn.com Volume 13, Issue 2

Mason is Modern-day The most
growing pronoun usage isn’t strenuous
future black and white, see college
engineers, page 17 application
see page 3 process, see
page 12

Schmidt hopes to Who’s
unseat incumbents looking
in upcoming school out for
board election the little
guys?
Abbey Marshall | Managing Editor
[email protected]

On Tuesday, Novem-
ber 3, voters will select
the candidates that
will fill the two open Photo contributed by Erin Schmidt
seats on the Mason City
Schools Board of Educa-
tion. Campaigning for
these spots are incum-
bents Kevin Wise and
Courtney Allen, as well
as community member
Erin Schmidt. Of these
three candidates on the School board can-
poll this election, vot- didate Erin Schmidt Photo by Madison Krell
ers can choose two to hopes to gain a posi-
represent the district. tion on the Mason City ‘We Are’ MYF says safety top priority
The elected officials will School board.

serve on the Board for four years.
According to Allen, incumbent Board President,
being a current member running for re-election unmatched by any other sport. that they can’t find something
has both its advantages and disadvantages. Eric Michael | Staff Writer While there are few flaws in the that’s actually going to protect
“I feel the district has faced some tough chal- [email protected] system, there is danger lurking them, so I think that’s another
lenges during my first term,” Allen said. “The on the sidelines for the young big problem. And the third
Board made some difficult decisions and worked In the heart of Dwire Field, football players who hope to thing I think is coaching tech-
hard to overcome those challenges and move the pocketed behind the line of one day be varsity athletes. niques. Are the people out there
district in a positive direction. I feel we have been players who occupy the side- coaching them well-suited for
very successful which may provide an advantage. lines, lies a trainer’s table, Mason High School athletic properly providing ‘hey, this is
With any big decision, however, you’re going to equipped with thousands of dol- trainer, Kathy Ottopal, said that how you have to tackle’? I think
have people who agree and people who disagree, lars worth of tape, braces, and there are three large concerns those are the three main issues
which can convert into an advantage or a disad- all sorts of gadgets to help aid that can be seen in youth foot- for youth.”
vantage, respectfully, when it comes time for re- the safety of any player injured ball, but are not evident in the
election.” on the field. An ambulance sits varsity form of the game. According to Beacon Orthope-
Schmidt said she thinks that introducing herself by the field, waiting, fueled up dic physician, Angel Velazquez,
as a fresh face running for Board could work in her and ready to rescue anyone in “There is no medical staff on proper tackling technique is the
favor towards winning the election. need. the sidelines,” Ottopal said. “I best way to reduce football inju-
think that’s a big problem. The ries at the youth level.
[story continued on page 2] The safety concern for varsity second thing is finding equip- [story continued on page 21]
high school football is nearly ment. The kids are so small

C2 October 15, 2015
News

[story continued from page 1] Mason City Schools issues
annual ‘Quality Profile’
Schmidt hopes to unseat
incumbents in upcoming Isabel Marotta | Staff Writer
school board election [email protected]

“I feel at an advantage running against two incumbents,” Schmidt said. Mason City Schools
“Sometimes being the new name and face garners more attention because showed they have
people want to see what you are about...I also think many residents of the more to offer than just
school district feel it is time for a change.” test scores.
According to Schmidt, her desire to run for the Board of Education
stemmed from volunteering in her children’s classrooms and witnessing Mason released
firsthand the problems students and teachers face on a daily basis. their third Quality
“In the last couple of years, I have seen an increase in the stresses placed Profile on September
on classroom teachers in the form of testing mandates and unfair evalu- 22. The pamphlet in-
ation measures,” Schmidt said. “Those stresses affect you as students. My cludes information
interest in running for a Board seat began with a desire to be a voice for regarding academ-
Mason’s amazing teachers and, in turn, a voice ics, finances, innova-
for the students.” tion, learning envi-
The three candidates were in agreement that ronments, the whole
state legislations and mandates, such as funding child, and global
Photo contributed by Kevin Wiseand standardized testing, were at the forefront awareness.
Photo contributed by Courtney Allenof the issues currently facing the district. Kevin
Wise, incumbent Board member since 2002, said According to Pub-
he hopes to address these government regula- lic Information Of-
tions in Mason. ficer Tracey Carson,
“Many of the decisions being made at a state there is a lot more to a
and federal level affect our schools; I would like school than the infor- Illustration by Kate Madigan
to see continued and increased advocacy efforts mation a state report
Kevin Wise, incumbent on that front,” Wise said. “I would also like to see card gives. from the state report card, but to
School Board member, decision making power returned to Mason City add to it as an indicator of a high
hopes to continue to Schools. We know what is best for our students “The state report cards are based quality education.”
represent the Board. and community, and what tools are best used to on data that comes from state tests
and that’s really the major thing it The Quality Profile continues to
evaluate our needs. Again, advocacy at the state level and with our Sena- looks at,” Carson said. “We think evolve based on feedback received
tors and Representative at the federal level is invaluable to the fight for those are important, but we don’t from the community, according to
return of local control.” think those are everything that en- Carson.
The three candidates said they feel a pull towards the Board of Educa- compasses schools. While the state
tion because of their children’s involvement in Mason schools. According report card has some good data “This year it looks a little differ-
to incumbent Board President Courtney Allen, the board allows her to benchmarks and accountability is ent than it has in the last two years
actively make changes to benefit all students, and important we think that it’s so im- and part of that was because of the
in turn, her own children. portant that we’re looking at a lot of feedback we continued to solicit and
“My family is very important to me, as is the different things.” get from our business leaders, fami-
school district and community we live in,” Allen lies, and parents saying, ‘What real-
said. “I firmly believe that our school district is a The Quality Profile was designed ly are the things you want to know
great source of pride and plays a major role in the as a way to complement the state about and how do you want them
strength of our community. With my 3 most prized report card, said Superintendent Dr. to be presented?’” said Carson. “We
possessions--my children--all in the Mason School Gail Kist-Kline. think this is a really good comple-
District, and my family being vested members of ment to accountability and showing
the community, the School Board continues to be “Several years ago, there were our community on how we’re doing
a perfect opportunity for me to utilize my skills several superintendents who got and where we’re going.”
and passion to make a difference.” together and decided that the state
Ultimately, the goal of any candidate that is Courtney Allen, incum- report card was not proficient to This year the Quality Profile
elected is to represent and be an advocate for the bent School Board sharing information with our com- looks different from the past in or-
students, teachers, and district as a whole, accord- President, hopes to munities about what goes on in der to better appeal to readers, said
continue to have a say in each school district and what pro- Kist-Kline.
ing to Allen. big decisions. vides a high quality education for
communities, students and fami- “This year is a much smaller ver-
“As a Board, our goal is to support and protect what makes Mason special lies,” said Kist-Kline. “So we wanted sion,” said Kist-Kline. “It isn’t in a
and strong,” Allen said. “I want the Board to continue to show good finan- to capture many of the qualities that booklet form, it’s more of a pam-
cial stewardship, while prioritizing the educational needs of the students... our community values like fine arts phlet that provides a lot of colors
The most rewarding part about being on the School Board is definitely programs, leadership, innovation, and graphics and charts that we
seeing the successes of the students, the staff, and the district.” student services, opportunities like didn’t include previously. It was
athletics, and activities after school more text based previously and it
that our students value and our now includes photos and things that
community values. So we designed make it more readable.”
the quality profile to not take away

October 15, 2015 C3

Roth and Nally for Students at Western Row Elementary School participate in activities with the STEM program. Photos contributed by Kim Peters
hire, teachers cash
in on students’ Cooper hopes STEM program stirs competition in kids
college essays
Charlie MacKenzie | Staff Writer project where they were trying to petitive students on the earth.”
Serina Cline | Staff Writer
[email protected] [email protected] design a toy,” Karani said. “The There are concerns that STEM

Class is in session, just not in teacher talked to lots of different may downplay the importance of
school. Elementary education is no longer people from companies that design the humanities, such as English and
just reciting the alphabet and color- toys and then she set up a project social studies. According to Cooper,
Cousins Lori Roth and Stepha- ing inside the lines. for the kids. The goal was to design if STEM is taught properly, it also
nie Nally have taken their teaching STEM, a new education program a toy that was appealing to three to teaches art skills.
outside of the classroom to create a this year, has been added to the eleven year olds that was fairly inex- “STEM is meant to incorporate
business. According to these teach- conventional elementary curricu- pensive. They collaborate with their and bring all of (those subjects) to-
ers, their business offers help with lum. STEM’s purpose is to educate groups to combine ideas and create gether,” Cooper said. “Some districts
not only the college essay process students in four subjects--science, the best toy.” choose to do STEAM, which is sci-
but with companies as well. technology, engineering, and math- According to the U.S. Department ence, technology, engineering, art,
ematics--while incorporating them of Commerce, STEM occupations and math. Some districts do that as a
“The name of our business is into core classes. There are major are projected to grow by 17.0 percent solution to move art out. We love art
Write Now,” Roth said. “Our slogan concerns that the U.S is losing its from 2008 to 2018, compared to a 9.8 and think it is phenomenal.”
is the ‘The right resume. The right technological and engineering lead- percent growth for non-STEM occu- Cooper said he believes the effects
college essay. The right business ership. STEM education hopes to pations. Cooper said that the avail- of STEM will begin to show once
proposal. Write now. We do college spark an interest for these subjects ability of STEM related jobs caused students reach the high school level.
essay stuff but we also have a sec- in our youth. him to create STEM education. “When they reach (the high
tion of our business called the Art of STEM labs have been implement- “We saw a real need in our global school) age, we will see a huge im-
Words where we write insurance ap- ed as specials in first, second, and economy for STEM education and pact,” Cooper said. “I wholeheartedly
peal letters for different companies third grade. According to Innova- jobs looking down the road,” Coo- believe that we will see a big change.
and resumes for people.” tive Learning Officer Jonathan Coo- per said. “It is my job to make sure It might not be in traditional test
per, STEM at the elementary school that students have the best advan- scores, but in terms of preparation
Along with editing essays, Roth level emphasizes the importance of tage when they come out of our pro- for the real world and relevance for
and Nally also run boot camps problem solving. grams and they are the most com- a career.”
where students will be introduced to “The activities are always going to
the skills it takes to write multiple be focused around STEM education,”
essays during the application pro- Cooper said. “If you get onto Twitter,
cess. you can see their activities. They will
do STEM challenges and they will
“In the summer time we run a send challenges home with the fam-
(boot camp) which immerses you ilies and partner with the families. In
in learning what (the college ad- first, second, and third grade it is all
missions officers) are looking for in about problem solving.”
those essays,” Roth said. “What you Tutoring Science Kids (TUSK) is
learn in the boot camps will carry a high school club that sends mem-
over to the common app essay and bers each week to with STEM activi-
the supplements as well.” ties at Western Row. According to
junior TUSK member Shrey Kara-
According to senior George Val- ni, students were designing toys in
carcel, he used Write Now to get a groups when he helped with a STEM
head start on his college applica- lab.
tions. “When I was there, they had a

“They were really just able to give
me the framework and a tangible
plan that I could go out and exe-
cute,” Valcarcel said. “I feel a lot less
stress with the admissions process
because not only have they helped
me with the essays, but how to ap-
proach applications to the 10 schools
I’m applying to.”

According to Roth, Write Now of-
fers more than just feedback on es-
says.

“People are looking for help and
support and that’s what we offer be-
sides our knowledge. I think it’s the
fun atmosphere too,” Roth said. “We
are all in this together and while the
process is super stressful, it doesn’t
mean that every now and then you
can’t take a step back, laugh about it,
and still produce quality work.”

4 C October 15, 2015
Opinion
The Chronicle’s Policy Staff Editorial
to the editor
The Chronicle is the official student newspaper Junior Varsity athletes have
of William Mason High School. unique, applaudable victory

The Chronicle promises to report the truth and When Junior Varsity athletes compete, there
adhere to the journalistic code of ethics through aren’t rows of bleachers filled with a neon, flour-
online and print mediums. laden student section.

The Chronicle is produced by students enrolled These are not revenue or spectator sports, though
in Journalism I, II and III. the teams that play them are just as decorated with
trophies as any varsity. As Comet varsity sports
Editorials reflect the staff ’s opinion but do not teams are extremely selective, more athletes are
necessarily reflect the opinions of the school ad- demoted to JV, despite the fact that they may have
ministration or the Mason City School District. made varsity at another school. And yet this never
fazes JV athletes, as now they have found a green-
The Chronicle is published monthly. Call and-white opponent that demands an unyielding
398-5025 ext. 33103 for information regarding focus—themselves.
advertising in The Chronicle. The Chronicle re-
serves the right to refuse advertising it deems To make it to that varsity arena, JV athletes push
inappropriate for a high school publication. themselves to the max with extra mileage, extra la-
yups, extra batting practice. They strive to improve
As an open forum for students, letters to the in all aspects of their game, hoping that their next
editor are welcome, but are subject to be edited performance will be better than the last. These are
for length, libel, obscenity, clarity and poor taste. the years that test their resolve, that teach them how
Letters to the editor may be dropped off in room to win when no one’s watching.
C103 and must be signed.
The freshmen that step off the middle school
The Chronicle is a member of The Colum- court, turf or trail to play at the varsity level are
bia Scholastic Press Association, The National athletes of unquestionable skill, but as they bypass
Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll the JV tradition, they miss years of conditioning that
International Honorary Society for High School build character as much as champions.
Journalists and the Ohio Scholastic Media As-
sociation. The competition against one another and them-
Contact Information selves teaches JV athletes how to overcome physical
The Chronicle and mental obstacles. The soreness in their quads,
William Mason High School the all-nighter they pulled to study for a math test
6100 S. Mason Montgomery Rd. after a game, the three PB&J sandwiches they really
Mason, Ohio 45040 shouldn’t have eaten for lunch--all are irrelevant
(513) 398-5025 when it’s time to get better. JV athletes will sacri-
The Chronicle Staff fice all they can just to cut half a second off of their
Editor-in-Chief time, eyes blazing, set on that varsity standard.
Gina Deaton
Managing Editor Varsity athletes may have a similar drive, fight-
Abbey Marshall ing through impossible workouts on a daily basis,
Sports Editor but as most Comet superstars were JV once, they
Kylie McCalmont understand the necessity of this foundation. They
Online Editor felt the burning desire to improve and they learned
Jessica Sommerville how to work their way up to the top. Even the great-
Online Sports Editor est athlete cannot play football, soccer, or lacrosse
Eric Miller forever, but the push to be better—cultivated at the
Visual Editor JV level—is one that translates to all aspects of life.
Madison Krell These Comets will be successful because they have
Graphic Designers learned how to work for the best version of them-
Jake Broekema selves.
Kate Madigan
Business Manager In this regard, perhaps Comet sports teams de-
Ashton Nichols serve their greatest applause not for the trophies
Staff Writers they bring home but for the ones they don’t. For JV
Alyssa Brooks athletes that have competed since the season began
Serina Cline and not once heard the roar of a crowd, victory may
Arnav Damodhar not be gold or silver.
Juliana Discher
Ariel Jones Victory may come in the satisfaction that they are
India Kirssin the best soccer, basketball, football, baseball, or la-
Madison Krell crosse player that they can be, whether or not that
Lauren Lysko makes them “varsity material”. This is a victory that
Charlie MacKenzie no shining medal, nor sparking trophy, can mea-
Duncan MacKenzie sure—and they’re alright with that.
Isabel Marotta
Matt Marvar
Jonathan McCollough
Erin McElhenny
Eric Michael
Blake Nissen
Meghan Pottle
Asia Porter
Alekya Raghavan
Ellie Uecker
Adviser
Dale Conner

October 15, 2015 C 5
Opinion

Editorial Cartoon Keep the Internet
fair and free

Jonathan McCollough | Staff Writer
[email protected]

“New Peeple app used to judge others” On February 26, 2015, we won the internet, and now presiden-
tial hopeful Jeb Bush wants to take that victory away from us.
Racial supremacy poisons
melting pot That fateful day was the day that the Federal Communication
Commission ruled in favor of net neutrality, the idea that inter-
Arnav Damodhar | Staff Writer net service providers should treat all internet traffic and data
[email protected] equally. This may not seem like a big deal until you realize how
abusive Internet Service Providers like Time Warner Cable and
When 14-year-old and Muslim student a convenience store. He bought some bub- Comcast could be without such regulations.
Ahmed Mohamed went to school, he didn’t blegum and when he walked out he said,
come home by bus. “Bye, baby,” to the cashier. Net neutrality prevents ISPs from implementing “fast lanes”
that would allow them to speed up or slow down web sites, typi-
Instead he was arrested by authorities. As Ryan Bryant, the cashier’s husband, and cally in exchange for money. For instance, Comcast could tell
Mohamed eagerly presented a homemade his brother-in-law, went to Till’s house a Netflix that it’s going to significantly drop the speed of its web-
clock to his teacher, her reaction was far few days after. And they did the same thing site if it doesn’t pay a certain price, in turn hurting both Netflix
from anything Mohamed expected. Think- what most white men living in Mississippi and consumers of media on Netflix. This could also give large
ing that it was a bomb, she immediately in 1963 would do. They dragged Till out, companies an unfair advantage over others; for example, Netf-
notified school officials who proceeded to forced him to get in the car with him, and lix could pay Comcast a high price to get increased speeds over
call authorities. He was then escorted out drove him to the banks of the Tallahatchie rival companies like Hulu and Amazon. This is especially detri-
in handcuffs. River. They then mutilated his body by mental to small start-up companies that simply wouldn’t have
gouging out his eyes, beating him with a the capital to compete if large companies bought their way into
After authorities had established that the barbwire fan, and shooting him. these “fast lanes.”
hoax bomb was indeed a clock, Moham-
med was suspended. After they had mangled him to their Bush claims that by subjecting all ISPs net neutrality regula-
heart’s content, they threw him in the river tions, it prohibits one group of companies (ISPs) from charging
The racial profiling of Mohamed wasn’t to clean up their act.   another group of companies (content companies) which in turn
a rare occurrence. Time and time again, we hurts ISPs and hurts their ability to innovate and improve ser-
let race become a factor on how we treat Three days later authorities found his vice. Although the first half of what he said is true, the regula-
others. As a nation filled with diversity, it is body, and the corpse could only be identi- tions are necessary to protect an open internet and the interests
our duty to pave the way for cultural toler- fied by the initialed ring on his hand. Af- of the people and in this case, other big companies. When it
ance and awareness. In America, diversity ter convening for less than an hour, the comes to innovating and improving service, ISPs stopped doing
is not a weakness but a strength. jury miraculously issued the verdict, “Not that a long time ago once they set up monopolies all across the
guilty.” country. They don’t need to innovate when they don’t allow any
America is a land of immigration, a melt- other viable options to compete with them. Additionally they
ing pot, a painted mosaic.  Our cultural dif- In August 28, 1963, when Martin Luther are not trying eliminate net neutrality to create capital for in-
ferences ought to be valued and should be King Jr. led the March on Washington, he vestments, they are in it for profit not people.
used it as a strength to unite, not as a weak- said, “One day I hope that my four little
ness to divide. But when Mohamed was children will not be judged for the color of Normally regulations like this would be seen as a fight be-
arrested, it didn’t represent these ideals. It their skin but for the content of their char- tween the people and big business, but this battle is being
only upheld racial supremacy. acter.” fought solely against ISPs. Companies such as Google, Ama-
zon, Netflix, Facebook, Microsoft and many more have all come
Even after over 50 years, history still re- But even after 50 years later, what are we out in favor of net neutrality. This is one of the few examples
peats itself. judging a person on: by the color of their in modern America where activists and large corporations are
skin or by the content of their character? actually on the same side of an issue, so if nearly everyone is in
On August 24, 1963 Emmett Till entered favor of net neutrality, why is Jeb a supporter of its downfall?

One simple and major factor could be how much influence
money has on politics. In 2014 alone, Comcast spent a stagger-
ing $17,020,000 on lobbying, and that is just one of many ISPs.
That much purchasing power can create a lot of influence on
government and politicians, which takes their attention away
from the needs of the people and puts it toward the wants of
their donors. But the fact is that the people are the ones who
elect these politicians into office and our opinion matters more
than any donation from a company, so Mr. Bush, here is mine.

The internet is, and should be, a level playing field where a
small start-up can topple a large established brand. The internet
should remain equal for all companies, and ISPs should not
have the power to change that. ISPs should not be allowed to
set up “fast lanes” for some web sites and not all for others, and
net neutrality should absolutely not be repealed.

C6 October 15, 2015

Worrisome stress levels catch attention of district personnel

Alekya Raghavan | Staff Writer problem too. The APA

[email protected] also notes that teens

The negative effects regularly say that their
stress levels during the
of stress on students has school year are much
caught the attention of a
significant player in the higher than they think
is healthy. On average,
game: the school itself. the reported teen stress
Even with the symptoms
of stress are becoming more level was 5.8 (out of 10),
whereas it was 5.1 for
common every day, many adults.
may not know that adoles-
cents and millennials have Senior Olivia Wade
has definitely felt the
a higher level of stress than negative side effects of
any other generation. In
their February 2015 ‘stress anxiety on health.
“Last year I had an
report’, the American Psy- anxiety attack in AP
chological Association as-
certained that people within Chemistry,” Wade said.
“I also had another
this age group are more anxiety attack towards
likely than other genera-
tions to say that stress has a the end of the year. So
I had two, and this had
very strong impact on their never happened before.
physical and mental health.
For this reason, a survey I had to go to the doc-
tor and was prescribed
concerning pressure and medicine. I found out
stress on students was is-
sued at the most recent ju- that I had very bad
anxiety problems and
nior and sophomore class now, even though it’s a
meetings. According to
school psychologist Jeff lot better, I’m still very
stressed out.”
Schlaeger, the purpose of Administrator
the survey was to pin-point
common stressors and Shanna Bumiller said
the school is looking
come up with ways to help towards several solu-
alleviate them Illustration by Madison Krell tions to the problem to
avoid students becoming
“There seems to be a lot of Stress has many effects on high school students. Statistics from The Washington Post.

stress in tenth grade and elev- aches, headaches, and a loss of energy. Academic unhealthy due to stress.
enth grade with not knowing what they want to advisor Sally Clark said the survey has revealed “Anything is on the table,” Bumiller said. “We’re
do,” Schlaeger said. “I think we’re trying to look at the number one cause for stress on students. working with a group of teachers in exploring and
if we’re getting motivational speakers, or if we’re “From what we’re seeing, it’s homework,” Clark gathering information about a different way to do
going to do a program for them (students), and said. “What students are indicating is it’s just really homeroom. We think that that’s a potential ave-
what things they’d want that to focus on.” having no time in their day, homework, and those nue. I think there also needs to be some program-
The school has noticed the debilitating effects of kinds of things. So I think we need to probably ming. (Students) need some training on what to
stress on it’s students. It has caused students to take a look at what that is, what that’s looking like.” do, how to recognize the signs, how to know their
miss a lot of school, as well as be prone to stomach Students are becoming more aware of the tipping point.”

October 15, 2015 C 7
Feature

Illustration by Madison Krell

No urinal dividers in men’s restroom causes unspoken etiquette

Juliana Discher | Staff Writer method for which urinals are open would take approximately four sec- cost to outfit the school is estimated
[email protected] to use. onds to start the urination process,” at $10,000 to $15,000. According to
Johnston said. “If there was a urinal Assistant Superintendent of Opera-
Together men stand, divided men “I’m more of a stall guy,” Fogel between the two guys, then it took tions Michael Brannon, the addition
urinate. said. “Usually if there are three uri- around six seconds. If they were of urinal dividers could be a possi-
nals and two people are on the out- right by each other, it took about bility in the future if explicit need is
There are unspoken rules of the side, you just wait and don’t go.” eight seconds for him to actually shown.
restroom that most males under- start. The psychology behind the ex-
stand and follow; eyes forward, no Fogel said Mason’s lack of urinal periment is that the guy is distracted “As a district, we consider any
chit-chat, the middle urinal is no dividers is the cause of tension and by focusing on what the other indi- need that helps people feel comfort-
man’s land. At Mason High School, awkwardness in the restroom. vidual is thinking of them, and it de- able and helps people advance their
the lack of urinal dividers—metal lays the body’s natural process.” school day and education,” Brannon
or plastic sheets placed on the walls “I’m more of a stall guy,” Fogel said. “It’s a possibility for urinal di-
between urinals—have prompted said. “Most restaurants and movie According to a 2008 study con- viders to be purchased in the future.
males to act a certain way. In a 2014 theaters have dividers. Mason just ducted by the Journal of Health Psy- If there is a need for them and if peo-
article, The Atlantic analyzed the dy- likes to keep it open. They provide a chology, men list genital size among ple expressed it, we would consider
namics of men’s restrooms and said, lot more privacy.” their top body concerns, along with putting them in.”
“The public collides uncomfortably height and weight. This adds more
with the private in the bathroom as Advanced Placement Psychology complexity to an already uncomfort- Fogel said Mason’s male restrooms
it does nowhere else, and the unique teacher Angie Johnston said that a able public situation. would be further improved with the
behaviors we perform stem from 1976 study on men’s bathroom be- implementation of urinal dividers.
a complex psychological stew of havior reveals the trends behind uri- The projected cost for adding uri-
shame, self-awareness, and gender nation patterns. In the experiment, nal dividers in every restroom at Ma- “It would expedite the bathroom
roles.” scientists measured how long it took son High School would be around process because more people could
a man to urinate under different cir- $350 per divider for purchasing and go at once,” Fogel said. “Almost ev-
According to senior Jeremy Fogel, cumstances. installation. Assuming two dividers ery other public place has urinal di-
with no dividers, there is a specific per bathroom and 15 bathrooms, the viders for a reason, so why shouldn’t
“The researchers found that if Mason have them?”
someone else was in a public re-
stroom when the man came in, it

Want to know what girls think about privacy in the restroom?
See the story and take the poll at thecspn.com or scan the QR code.

C8 October 15, 2015

October 15, 2015 C 9

Teenagers believe they are never too old to trick-or-treat

Duncan MacKenzie | Staff Writer ever, it’s more expected that they specific type or kind of candy
[email protected] get something good as opposed is insignificant. The fun of Hal-
to just the act of trick-or-treating. loween stems from the competi-
Did someone say free candy? They don’t necessarily appreciate tion of who can earn the bulki-
The decision to trick-or-treat the trick-or-treating component as est bag at the end of the night.
can be a haunting one for stu- much as they just want something.”
dents entering high school, but “It’s not even about the can-
some seniors have continued to Senior Molly Biggers is one stu- dy, it’s just the rush of getting a
stuff their bags with sweets year dent that has not let her age deter- bunch of candy,” Glandorf said. “I
after year. There are many factors mine her ability to trick-or-treat. don’t like the candy, it’s just fun to
in determining trick-or-treating Biggers agrees with Stoll that her see how much candy I can get.”
capabilities in a given year, but motivations for trick-or-treating
perhaps the biggest threat to have changed since before be- Despite differing motives, it is
high school students is age. Ac- coming a high school student. undeniable that the dedication
cording to English teacher Kris- of these trick-or-treaters is im-
tin Stoll, she has no issues with “When we were younger it was mense, according to Biggers. She
handing out candy to costumed more about having fun with your said that much like a grueling
high school students, but she does friends, but now it’s definitely about sport, trick-or-treating may re-
have a problem with the teens’ getting candy,” Biggers said. “It’s a quire fighting through the pain.
motives for trick-or-treating. full on sprint from house to house
“I’m not opposed to giving teen- to get as much candy as possible.” “Sophomore year I had a broken
agers candy,” Stoll said. “How- foot and Katy (Glandorf) would not
Senior Katy Glandorf has a dif- wait for me to trick-or-treat,” Big-
ferent opinion on trick-or-treat- gers said. “I still had to sprint from
ing. According to Glandorf, the house to house with a broken foot.”

Photo by Madison Krell

Seniors Emily Carlin and Katy Glandorf go trick-
or-treating despite their age.

Trending Now: Henna Tattoos

“I just think that it’s so beautiful and I love “I did it with a group of friends. I thought it
seeing people when they go to weddings and just looked super cool and you could do cool de-
they have the henna all up their hands and signs. It would stay on for a while and it wouldn’t
arms. I think it’s so cool and it’s a fun way to be permanent. I got a lot of compliments out of it
draw on yourself and have it look pretty too and a lot of people asked what it was. It was cool
because it’s not just markers. I just thought to be able to answer like, ‘it’s henna, it’s a cool
that it was a fun way to express myself, like I tradition people wear for weddings and stuff.’”
could practice designs on things and then be
able to put them on my hands. It is kind of — Emily Slusser, junior
hard to do it on myself, so I’m trying to get
better at doing that, but I plan on continuing Group of Interest:
to do it more.” Drawing For Fun Club

— Allie Evans, senior Drawing for Fun Club meets twice a month and students do not need
to have any drawing experience to join. Each themed meeting con-
“I did it with a group of friends and we all sists of a demonstration of how to draw something or facts about
kind of became obsessed with it at the same different styles and time to draw. Members then give each other con-
time. I think we just started doing it because structive criticism to help explore their own personal drawing styles.
it was fun and it was something that we
could do that was artistic and it wasn’t go-
ing to be permanent. It was just something
that was temporary and we could do a bunch
of different designs. There were really cool
ways we could express ourselves with it. We
would look up different designs and decide
what we were going to do. We would hang
out and do each other’s henna.”

— Emma Hodge, senior

Compiled by Meghan Pottle Photo by Meghan Pottle See the full story on
thecspn.com here

Compiled by Megan Pottle

C10 October 15, 2015

October 15, 2015 C 11

‘Apple falls far from the tree’ for
modern students and their parents

Alyssa Brooks | Staff Writer they think.” Photo contributed by Riot Games
[email protected] Religion is taught from
11,000 people gathered in Madison Square Garden last August to watch 10 people play a video game.
The apple doesn’t fall birth and kids grow up
far from the tree—or so with their faith embed- Video gaming has become popular spectator sport
they say. ded into their heart and
mind. As religious prac- Jonathan McCollough | Staff Writer viewed by a staggering 32 mil- “It’s just new,” Wyatt said. “If
Culture and belief: they tices are important within [email protected] lion people. Compare that to you don’t have any experience
define people. Children families, it normally stays the 15.5 million people who playing video games then it’s
typically adopt their par- consistent. Last August, over 11,000 watched game 5 of the 2014 easy to scoff at and say, ‘There’s
ent’s views, but as cul- people filled Madison Square NBA finals and the scale of no talent involved, there’s no
tures and beliefs modern- Although growing up Garden to the brim; not to see how popular eSports has be- skill, there’s no value.’ It’s just
ize, so do child-to-parent surrounded in Christian- the Knicks play and not for a come is clear. According to easy to scoff at because you
similarities. ity, senior Troy Aronson Taylor Swift concert, but to math teacher Mark Wyatt, a don’t understand it.”
realized his beliefs op- watch 10 people play a video long time gamer and eSports According to Wyatt, whether
In today’s society, many pose his family’s, and con- game. fan, the relatability and the or not eSports is classified as a
teenagers are determin- verted himself to atheism desire to watch the best in the ‘real sport’ and the physicality
ing their own path. In this years ago. Video games being played world play the game you like of a sport really shouldn’t mat-
sense, falling far from the competitively by profession- have both contributed to the ter when determining its value
tree. He decided it was best als, otherwise known as eS- spike in popularity. as long as there is a quality en-
not to follow something ports, is a relatively new trend “It’s just the fact that you tertainment factor.
Cultural practices typi- he didn’t completely be- that has captivated millions of can relate to it,” Wyatt said. “There are plenty of things
cally remain consistent lieve. people all around the globe. “If you spend a lot of time do- that you watch on TV that you
within family trees, while The phenomenon of watch- ing something then you want probably would have never rec-
cultures differ around “I know (the Bible) is ing someone else play a vid- to watch somebody do it at a ognized as a sport like I watch
the world and even from not meant to be taken eogame has been confusing to level that is far beyond what billiards on TV, I watch poker
desk to desk at Mason literally, but I am some- many, but according to senior you’re able to do. You learn by on TV,” Wyatt said. “If you get
High School. With stu- what of a literal person, at Jacob Kummer who frequently doing it, you learn this is what hung up on the fact that it’s a
dents from varying coun- least more than my fam- watches eSports, it all comes the pros do.” sport vs. an eSport like, who
tries at MHS, many have ily is,” Aronson said. “So down to the relatability of vid- Traditional sports fans have cares, I just don’t make the dis-
blended with and adapted when I read it and found eo games. been especially critical of eS- tinction. It’s a game that some-
to modern American cul- all these weird things in ports, but Wyatt says that a lot body’s playing and it’s fun to
ture. it, I just thought ‘I don’t “A lot of people have a sport of this criticism can be attrib- watch. Don’t be so quick to dis-
believe this.’” that they feel like they can re- uted their lack of knowledge miss because it probably will
Senior Malika Rad- late to,” Kummer said. “Many of what professional gaming become more popular.”
jabova has meshed with Aronson’s parents’ ac- gamers don’t have that outlet really is.
American culture since ceptance and compro- normally whereas when you
moving from Uzbekistan. mise caused him to grow bring in the idea of eSports In 2013
Her adoption of Ameri- as a person and to better they can relate to it and they League of Legends Season 3, World Championship
can customs resulted in understand differing be- can see it as a sport equal to 32 Million Viewers
her views differing from liefs. football because that’s what
her parent’s traditional it is for them. It’s a spectator BCS NatiBoCnSalNaCthiaomnpailonCshhaimpionship
Uzbeki ideas- most with “If there is any horrible sport for them.” 26.4 Million Viewers
arranged marriages. strife in the family or rela-
tionship that is caused by A spectator sport is exactly Game 6 of World Series
“Guys come to the girl’s religion, time is easily the what eSports has become, 14.9 Million Viewers
house to ask for the girl best remedy,” Aronson drawing astounding viewer- Game 7 of NBA Finals
from the parents,” Rad- said. “Once that’s cleared ship across the board. The 26.3 Million Viewers
jabova said. “A few times up, it’s, ‘Oh yeah—who Electronic Sports League Ka-
they have for me and I cares? They are exactly towice Counter Strike tourna- According to: http://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/csu/2015/04/27/espn-heroes-storm/26474537/
didn’t like that because I the same person that they ment drew over 8 million on-
was young. It happened were before. They just be- line viewers and the League Graphic by Madison Krell
a few months ago; I was lieve—or don’t believe— of Legends season 3 finals was
seventeen. My mom different things.’’’
thinks faster is better. I
don’t want it arranged. I Children are now de-
want to choose.” ciding to choose their
own destiny as a reflec-
Radjabova trusts her tion of their desire to be
instincts despite her par- themselves.
ents’ wishes for her to
adopt the traditional Uz- “I used to be an Uzbeki-
beki ideas. stan girl, 100 percent,”
Radjabova said. “When
“My parents keep tell- I came here, I saw real
ing me that I have to be- people being themselves.
lieve that they’re right,” I wanted to be like that
Radjabova said. “We ar- too—I wanted to be my-
gue but they know that self. Deep inside, I knew
I am different than what that I wasn’t who (my par-
ents) wanted me to be.”

12 October 15, 2015 C

Military Academies have strenuous ap

India Kirssin | Staff Writer The Congressional Nomination cause candidates can have alm
[email protected] to pass—no previously broken
The next step is the congressional nomination. In order vision are a few of the requirem
for an applicant to be considered by a military academy they
West Point, Annapolis, Colorado, New London, Kings Point. must have a nomination from either their congressman, one The Competition
For those who feel pulled toward a life of military service of their senators or the Vice President of the United States.
at a young age, these names represent where they want to Each has a separate nomination application and interview On top of the intense proc
be. Attending one of the five military academies means they process. through, there is also an incre
are ready to defend their country as part of the United States strong other applicants are.
Military. It also means they have to go through an intense and Elizabeth Troy, a Mason graduate of 2015, is currently at-
stressful application process to make sure they are prepared tending Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania to prepare “About 80 percent of the stu
for the commitment ahead of them. to become a freshman, or plebe, at the Naval Academy next were class presidents at their h
year. According to Troy, the interview was stressful, but not 80 percent were also varsity at
The Application Process without good reason. were captains of their varsity s
leadership positions.”
The application process for military academies is composed “It was just very intense; a lot of questions and they just
of many different parts. One of the first steps is to get rec- want to make sure not only are you qualified academically Mason High School Corps of
ommendations from a counselor. While this may not be the and physically, but also that you have very good people skills Andy Braun said the high stan
hardest step, it is a vital one, according to academic advisor because that’s important, especially in the military,” Troy said. from applying to a military aca
Tony Affatato.
The Physical and Medical Examination “I had gone through a lot of
“As counselors, our role is pretty important to the military website, I had talked with recr
academy because there are letters that have to be sent to the If the congressional nomination goes well, candidates then about everyone and in the end
congressmen, letters sent to a senator, letters sent to the acad- move on to the physical and medical exams. The physical with it just because of the reall
emy and then processing the application piece and making exam consists of activities such as a five minute twenty second quire,” Braun said.
sure the kiddo that’s applying has all of it sent to all of the mile run, eighteen pull ups, seventy-five push ups, ninety-five
different people,” Affatato said. crunches, and an eight second shuttle run. The medical exam If candidates do make it thro
is one of the most time consuming parts of the application be- plication and beat out the comp
their respective academy, but t

Step One: Study and Work Step Two: Meet With Counselor to
Hard in Academic Classes Discuss Decision

C 13October 15, 2015

pplication process for aspiring cadets

most nothing wrong with them not go directly there. year. The purpose of the document is to “lock in” students
bones, no asthma, and perfect for the next seven years. At this point, if a midshipman has
The Prep School signed the document and wants to leave the Naval Academy,
ments. they have to pay the government $250,000 since they won’t be
2014 alumnus Matt Allgor attended prep school for West paying for their schooling with service.
cess an individual has to go Point before stepping foot on campus this year as a cadet and
eased pressure because of how Black Knight. Troy, a swimmer, and Allgor, a football player, “If you go to the Naval Academy and they pay for your
udents at the Naval Academy were both placed in prep school because of their sports and tuition, you have to pay them back by doing five years of ser-
high school,” Troy said. “About physicality, but according to Allgor, many candidates are vice. You are required to serve for at least five years,” said
thletes and 65 percent of them placed in prep school to give them more time to get ready for Troy. “That’s the minimum.”
sport. It’s a lot of high, intense the military lifestyle.
f Cadets Commanding Officer Swear the Oath
ndards are what led him away “I went to prep school because I broke my ankle and I was
ademy. not physically ready for cadet basic training,” Allgor said. According to Allgor, the Army also has a similar rule.
research, I had looked at their “Most kids go there because West Point deems that they’re “You swear an oath at the beginning of junior year,” Allgor
ruiters, I had spoken with just not academically ready yet. They are given an extra year to said. “The rule is you can leave up until then and owe West
d I decided not to go through really prepare.” Point and the Army nothing, but if you swear in then you try
ly high standards that they re- to leave you owe whatever West Point deems their education
ough all of the stages of the ap- Locked In worth, which is like $300,000.”
petition, they are accepted into Many wonder why young adults, with so much ahead of
there is still a chance they may Once applicants finally make it to an academy they have them, would be willing to go through such a stressful process
the next four years of school to look forward to, plus a com- and make a huge life commitment.
mitment to one of the military branches post-graduation. All Troy uses her commitment to reflect back on how fortunate
five academies are free of tuition, but they expect service for she has been in life.
the country in return. “I love giving back to my community and that’s pretty
much what motivated me more than anything,” Troy said. “I
The Naval Academy has a rule called the “Two for Seven.” really wanted to give back to my country for all that I’ve had.”
After spending two years at the academy, all midshipmen
have to sign this document at the end of their sophomore

Step Three: Interview for Step Four: Get in Physical
Mandatory Congressional Shape to Meet Fitness
Nomination Standard

C14 October 15, 2015

October 15, 2015 C 15

Honor code statement aims to discourage academic dishonesty

Matthew Marvar | Staff Writer
[email protected]

Here’s a system that’s a little harder to cheat.
Introducing the honor code statement: in an ef-
fort to combat cheating on collaborative assign-
ments, the chemistry department has initiated
the use of the statement for students to express
and to sign that the work on their paper is theirs
and theirs only.
The idea behind the statement is to encour-
age students to resort to their own thinking and
their own understanding, according to chemistry
teacher Barb Shuba.
“It’s that statement that makes you aware of
‘this is my own, original work,’ and when you
Photo by Matthew Marvar

sign it, hopefully your signature means some- Students must sign an honor code statement when turning in assignments to teachers in chemistry classes.
thing, and it makes you take that quick look,”
Shuba said. take anything else that they do on this lab as my search Center, is that plagiarism is on the rise. In
The addition of the honor code statement, ac- work as well,’” Young said. a poll that surveyed a mix of 3,200 adults and col-
Junior chemistry student Kennedy Wracher lege presidents, researchers found that 55 percent
cording to Shuba, solidifies the consequences said that while the idea behind holding people of college presidents believe that plagiarism has
that pull from cheating.
“It’s a phone call home, it’s a zero on the assign- accountable for their actions is beneficial, the increased. Only 2 percent of the sample believed
ment, and it can be a Saturday School for the first honor code statement can sometimes be too ag- that plagiarism has decreased, while 40 percent
occurrence,” Shuba said. “Second occurrence, ac- gressive. say that it has stayed the same.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to have a statement Nevertheless, Advanced Placement English
cording to the handbook, you fail the class.”
Teachers don’t want to have to go through that, that I have to type out under all of my labs and Literature teacher Nichole Wilson has been using
Shuba said. According to chemistry teacher Kar- say that I didn’t cheat,” Wracher said. “I think the honor code statement for years. In order to
en Young, the statement is there for that exact that’s a little excessive, but definitely for things deter plagiarism, she said that it’s crucial to rec-
reason—to communicate solid boundaries be- that come straight out of you and definitely for ognize when working together slips into cheat-
tween fair collaboration and cheating. things that are important--projects, tests, stuff ing.
“(The statement helps with) the understanding like that, you should definitely have a statement, “I’ve been doing it for a long time just as a
for the kids to know that in science, a lot of the something signed, so that a teacher can go back reflection of what has already been in the hand-
perspective in the past was ‘I’m doing the data and keep you accountable.” book,” Wilson said. “What I wanted students to ac-
The overall belief, according to the Pew Re- knowledge from me is that they’ve thoughtfully
collection with other people, so therefore, I can contemplated that it’s (their work), there’s not go-

ing to be any ambiguity with ‘Oh, I thought it was
okay to…’ No, it’s not okay and so they have to
sign it so that they understand the consequences
Out of 24,000 High School Students from 70 of it.”
With the recent extension of the honor code
different schools within the chemistry department, Shuba said that

they’re redesigning the way they grade labs in or-
der to discourage simply striving for the A and
Rutgers University found that 64% of all to boost a strong understanding of the material.

students surveyed admitted to cheating on a “With some of our labs...you answer your ques-
test tions, we go over the lab as a class, and then
there’s a lab quiz over the lab--so kids have no
penalty,” Shuba said. “So they have the oppor-
tunity to correct their understanding, then turn
around, and do a lab quiz.”
while 58% admitted to plagarism In the end, Shuba said, what matters most is

that when students are able to make mistakes
and learn from them, they’ll be better off in the
long run.
“I think our society, also, doesn’t allow kids to
make mistakes,” Shuba said. “It’s okay to make
and a staggering 95% admitted to cheating a mistake. It’s okay to have a wrong answer. The
in some type of way, even if as simple as world is not going to end. You will still get an A
copying homework in the class, you’ll still get into college, but it’s

OK to have a wrong answer. Because we learn
when we have a wrong answer.”

Illustration by Jake Broekema

C16 October 15, 2015

October 15, 2015 C 17

Modern-day pronoun use more complex than ‘he’ and ‘she’

Jessica Sommerville | Online Editor THEP O W E R OF
[email protected]
PRONOUNS
That’s what (pronoun) said.
In the case of the modern student, Linguistic guides such as the Associ- “ If a student’s given name is
preferred gender pronouns are no lon- ated Press stylebook have made this con-
ger exclusive to the “he” or “she” adopted templation integral to modern style; as ‘Jacob’ but the student and
from birth. of 2013, its guide dictates media to refer family prefers ‘Jake’, schools work
The University of Tennessee published to sources via their preferred pronouns— to respect that preference. The
an internet guide to help navigate what a policy spotlighted during Caitlyn Jen- same also seems true for students
may be preferred pronouns. According ner’s transformation this summer. and their families’ pronoun
to Inside Higher Ed, the list juxtaposed
“he” and “she,” with new gender-neutral According to Public Information Offi- ”preference.
pronouns, such as “xe,” “hirs,” and the cer Tracey Carson, the Mason school dis- — Tracey Carson
use of “they” as singular. The universi- trict also endeavors to align its language Public Information Officer
ty claimed it did not mandate usage of with a student’s wishes.
such pronouns, but due to backlash, it
repealed the guide on September 4. “Educators strive to ensure their lan-
The pronouns, intended to be gender- guage respects students and their fami-
neutral, are not exclusive to the Univ. lies’ preferences,” Carson said. “So, for
of Tennessee. Students at Harvard Uni- example, if one person of color prefers
versity may now indicate preferred pro- the term ‘African-American’ while an-
nouns when they register, and students other person of color prefers the term
at the University of California may ‘Black’, educators often try to respect
choose between six gender identifiers, their preference. Similarly, if a student’s
according to USA Today. given name is ‘Jacob’ but the student
Though universities have yet to stan- and family prefers ‘Jake’, schools work
dardize pronoun policy, it is not uncom- to respect that preference. The same also
mon for language to shift over time, seems true for students and their fami-
AP English Literature and Composition lies’ pronoun preference.”
teacher Nichole Wilson said.
“Language changes all the time, as
we know,” Wilson said. “It changes, it
evolves, it grows. I think about even
something like ending a sentence with a
preposition. There are some people who
are really against it, and it’s become so
commonplace that I think a lot of peo-
ple, in spoken language, do that.”
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defa-
mation, commonly known as GLAAD,
is a media organization that supports
LGBT equality. GLAAD recommends
that everyday speakers and allies—non-
transgender people that favor transgen-
der rights—listen to the pronouns others
use for a transgender individual. If they
still cannot infer preference, they should
introduce themselves and their own
preferences before inquiring.
Some pronoun usage, such the sin-
gular use of “they”, may violate conven-
tional grammar. Though this may be
forgiven in speech, Wilson said the un-
certainty surrounding pronouns should
not translate to formal writing.
“Formal writing requires precise lan-
guage,” Wilson said. “If a student is writ-
ing a formal essay or research paper,
then that student should take the time to
research how an individual would prefer
to be gender-identified.”

C18 October 15, 2015

October 15, 2015 C 19

Pills no match for body’s Evolution issue pressures teachers to
natural healing process differentiate between science and religion

Lauren Lysko | Staff Writer Blake Nissen | Staff Writer said. “I don’t compare one teaching versus the
[email protected] [email protected]

You can’t fit medi- other because it raises a lot of questions in my
mind.”
tation in a medicine Common core and the core of some teach- Nimer said she doesn’t feel pressure by the
cabinet, but, accord-
ing to sophomore ers’ religious beliefs don’t always mesh, but school, or her colleagues, to teach a certain
the need to keep the two separated in a class-
Mary Kate Robey, it room setting is always apparent. way, as long as she meets the state standards.
“Part of my job is to teach what the state
works just the same The biggest concern of teachers is pushing says,” Nimer said. “I don’t feel pressure from
as pills.
She practices the their religious beliefs onto their students, or the school to teach it that way...it just is what
indoctrination. Indoctrination can lead to a
spiritual and diet variety of issues, such as a failure to separate is.”
While Nimer and Stachowski might not be
method of Holistic church and state and the violation of the Es- feeling the pressure to include Creationism in
medicine throughout
their daily routine. tablishment Clause of the First Amendment. the classroom, according to the a survey by
Chemistry and Biology teacher Sheila
This includes the Nimer said that she is able to separate the two. the National Science Teachers Association,
Photo by Madison Krell other teachers are.
Some students will eat healthy physical body, spirit,
to heal their bodies rather than emotions, and the “The way I teach The survey states, “When asked if they feel
evolution, I don’t
taking pills. mind. According to Photo by Blake Nissen want my religious pressured to include creationism, intelligent
design, or other non-scientific alternatives to
The Washington Post, more than one third of adults beliefs to come evolution in their science classroom, 31 per-
in the United States are using unconventional meth-
ods medicine such as holistic medicine, in an addi- into my teaching,” cent of teachers responding said they did.”
Nimer said. “Wheth-
tion to their regular medical doctor. er it is pro or anti- Those surveyed said that most of this pressure
comes from outside of the school administra-
“I feel better when I focus on the spiritual part of religion, I think it tion, and even outside the local government;
my health,” Robey said. “I am more connected physi-
cally and emotionally. I do yoga and listen to soft Sheila Nimer, Mason has no place in the the pressure comes from students and parents.
High School Chemistry classroom.”
music to clear my mind.” and Biology teacher Nimer said she This community pressure is reinforced by
a CBS National Poll that said 65 percent of
Robey replaces the use of pills that would be pre- doesn’t feel pressure to teach a certain way adults would like both intelligent design and
scribed to her with the eating of health fruit and veg-
etables. because it is her job to teach to the state stan- evolution in the classroom while 37 percent
dards. Even in a private school setting, they
“If a doctor is trying to prescribe me some type of were required to learn both theories. seek only creationism.
Private Catholic systems have a little more
medicine if I’m sick, I just turn it down,” Robey said. “(In) Catholic school we were taught intel- shelter from external, parental pressure, ac-
“I don’t feel myself and I would prefer to eat fresh
produce and that clears my mind better that way. I ligent design on top of evolution,” Nimer said. cording to Stachowski.
“I’ve never thought about bringing it into my
don’t know what is in the pill and what it is doing so teaching more because I don’t want to push “We really don’t see that (pressure) in in a
Catholic school,” Stachowski said. “I’m teach-
I never use them.” my religion onto my students because I truly ing in an ideal envi-
Pharmacist Sarah McClain said communication
between a patient and their doctor is something that believe in the separation of church and state.” ronment; in a public
Even this standard in Catholic schools has
is very crucial for the well-being of the convalescent changed over the years, according to Kevin school I couldn’t be
open about my
prescribed the medicine. Stachowski, Biology teacher at a local Catho- faith and in a fun-
“It is something that should warrant a discussion,”
McCain said. “It doesn’t serve a value between a pa- lic school. damentalist school I
“I don’t teach intelligent design,” Stachows-
tient and a doctor if they are not going to openly ki said. “I don’t think it belongs in a science wouldn’t be able to
teach evolution the
discuss the resistance to the medication.” classroom.” way I want to teach
McClain said she has seen the different outcomes
of medications affecting patients in many ways The Science Department at Mason has a Photo contributed by Kevin it.”
backup for students who feel uneasy with Stachowski Courts are hold-
which makes it difficult to measure side effects of
the pills. learning evolution in a school environment, Kevin Stachowski, ing fast against this
according to Nimer. Catholic High School opposition, however,
“Side effects can vary quite a bit,” McCain said. “It “We always offer them the opportunity, if Biology teacher and teachers are
is not something that is predictable.”
Mimi Tagher of the Synergy Holistic Health Cen- evolution makes them feel uncomfortable, to starting to feel the weight.
be exempt from an activity…but at the end of
ter teaches her patient’s multiple ways to avoid the the day they are still held to the content stan- In “Teachers Torn Over Religion, Evolu-
tion” by Education Week’s Sean Cavanagh,
use of a pill. dards of the state,” Nimer said. Randy Moore, a University of Minnesota Bi-
“I think people are realizing that medication has a
lot of side effects,” Tagher said, “they are looking for The Ohio Department of Education states ology Professor, said, “The force of public
that students are required to learn “funda-
alternative ways to solve those problems.” mental concepts of heredity and evolution opinion ultimately leads some teachers, even
those who want to keep religion out of evo-
Tagher, a firm believer in holistic medicine, said (that) provide a framework through inquiry- lution discussions, to give creationism equal
this additional doctor can help with the negative side
effects that are caused by over the counter medicines based instruction to explore the living world, time.”
the physical environment and the interactions
and medicines that are prescribed by a doctor. within and between them.” Stachowski said that the bottom line is that
what he teachers can be traced back to his job
“Body, mind, emotion, and spirit--not on just one The easiest coping mechanism for teachers description.
physical aspect,” Tagher said. “We look at the whole
person to find the underlying cause for stress or dis- is complete separation, Nimer said about her “I’m not a Theology teacher,” Stachowski
and her co-workers.
ease and we look to find natural ways to help them “I try my hardest to separate the two,” Nimer said. “I’m not going to stand up and teach
about the Bible; my job is to teach Biology.”
heal.”

20 October 15, 2015

SPORTSThe Chronicle COMETS VS HIGHLANDERS FAST FACTS SHOUT OUT CHAMPIONS
The girls tennis team as
TheCSPN.com @MHSChronSpor ts GAME DAY EVE Match-up: Mason Comets 5-2, well as the girls golf team
Oak Hills Highlanders 2-7 recieved GMC champion-
7:00 P.M. DWIRE FIELD: The Mason Comets, coming off a Oak Hills Highlander Capsule: Wins ship titles as well as the title
17-0 win against Princeton takes on 10th in the GMCs, Oak over Talawanda, Harrison of Sectional Champions.
Hills. The Highlanders are coming off a 78-50 loss last week Prime Time Players: (QB) Jacob Boys golf lost the GMC title
to the Sycamore Aves. The Comets dominated the Highland- Woycke 2271 passing yards; (RB) against Sycamore but they
ers last year 48-20 but the Highlanders robbed Mason of a David Reddington 715 recieving yards; qualified for Districts.
win in 2013. (DL) Ben McGinnis 4.5 sacks

Tennis team overcomes tough loss, individuals advance to state

Doubles Kong-Huser,
Cepeda-Kandi will
compete for state title

Arnav Damodhar | Staff Writer
[email protected]

After earning a 18-0 record, the Mason girl’s ten- Photo by Blake Nissen
nis team was undefeated until it really counted:
the state qualifying match. But despite this loss, Isabel Cepeda (left) and Sneha Kandi (right) scrimmage mason doubles partners in the practice approaching
four girls are still competing for the State Cham-
pionship title, something their team wasn’t able to districts.
earn this year.
some of the best teams in the state and won the said.“Hopefully we will at least make the final
According to junior Lizzy Kong, the girls had a Greater Miami Championship title, Kandi said. four at state. Of course everyone there is looking
fantastic opportunity to compete at the State Tour- to win it; we hope to come out on top. After our
nament as a team, but the severe mental pressure “I think this has been one of the best seasons heart wrenching loss that caused us to fall short of
hindered her from performing well. that the girls’ tennis team has even had,” Kandi going to team state, we are ever so determined to
said. “We won the Coaches Classic, the GMC’s, and win individually. Because now, while that loss was
“We all know that excuses will always be there we even had an undefeated season.” painful, it will not drag us down. Better starts now.
for us,” Kong said. “Opportunity won’t. And this Better starts now.”
year we had a very strong opportunity to go to The top doubles team for Mason during regu-
state. I knew we could beat Sycamore, I knew we lar season consisted of Kandi and junior Isabel Photo by Blake Nissen
were expected to go to state, I knew I was expected Cepeda while the top players were Kong and
to win, but when the match was 2-2 and it all came Amanda Huser who came back this season from Isabel Cepeda performing her serve in practice
down to me, I ended it (lost the match).” being homeschooled the previous year to focus before districts.
on tennis. When the team lost in the state qualify-
Photo by Blake Nissen ing match, Huser and Kong created the second
doubles team to compete individually at the Sec-
Lizzie Kong serving the ball in a scrimmage tional and District Tournaments. According to
against her teammates. Kandi, even after their loss, the girls are still pow-
ering through.
Prior to the match, according to junior Sneha
Kandi, the girls had a fantastic season. They beat “We did really well in sectionals considering
that Lizzy Kong and Amanda Huser won the en-
tire tournament and Isabel Cepeda and I were
seeded fourth,” Kandi said. “We performed really
well at districts. Lizzy and Amanda were District
Champions. Isabel and I seeded third. We just
hope to do well at state. ”

After winning districts, both the doubles teams
qualified for state on October 15. According to
Cepeda the loss made them learn a lesson; it
made the girls realize that just because Mason is
the best, doesn’t mean they can’t be stopped.

“Our loss against Sycamore has definitely
made the team stronger because it humbled us,”
Cepeda said. “Before that match, I guess most
of us assumed we were going to win since we’ve
beat them twice before. After losing that match
we all learned that just because we’re the num-
ber one team in the state doesn’t mean we’re un-
stoppable.”

According to Kong, the girls have recovered
from their bitter loss against Sycamore and their
minds are set clearer than ever on state.

“I am confident that we will do very well
representing our district during state,” Kong

C21 October 15, 2015

Safety a top priority for MYF JV Girls Cross Country
a different atmosphere
[story continued from page 1] Miami Conference, Mason is the only orgranization outside of top seven
that provides Mayo Clinic endorsed concussion test-
“When (coaches) train the kids how to hit, I think it ing. Charlie MacKenzie | Staff Writer
is really important to not lead with your head, watch [email protected]
the play the entire time, and not to take your eyes “We do the King-Devick test,” Dalton said. “We are
away from whoever you are tackling,” Velazquez the only organization in the GMC anyway that uses There are 110 girls on
said. “Those types of things can help prevent the this testing protocol. You take a baseline at the be- Mason’s cross country
head-to-head injury.” ginning of the year, which is what we did with all team and only seven are
of our players, and anytime we suspect that there’s reserved for varsity. The
Kevin Dalton is the Commissioner of Mason Youth some sort of hit that may cause concussions; we pull competition is always
Football and coaches a fourth grade team in the or- that test out. It is an immediate indication if a kid has high, but for the girls
ganization. Dalton admits that as some kids tend to a concussion incident or not. who run on junior var-
overact to injuries, it’s hard for coaches to evaluate sity, racing isn’t always Illustration by Kate Madigan
the player without a professional. In addition, equipment has been recently updated about beating those running next to you. It is
to prevent injury before it even has the chance to oc- about setting a personal best. Senior JV runner
“I’m not a medical professional; my staff doesn’t cur said Dalton. Dalton said although the equipment Hailey Forston said that her team is competi-
have that knowledge,” Dalton said. “I think it’d be wasn’t needed, the program wanted ample protec- tive amongst themselves.
a huge improvement. That’s something that we’ll tion for their boys.
be looking into, the feasibility to do that. We were “Within JV we can be a little more com-
actually at Oak Hills and they had a trainer on the “Part of keeping these kids safe is to make sure petitive because we’re trying to beat our own
sidelines. It was great and I think it would be very they are properly equipped when they step on the times and varsity has to beat other people’s
beneficial to do something like that, we just need to field so we invested a significant amount of money times,” Forston said.
have the conversations and try to figure out how to this year and upgraded our helmet inventory,” Dal-
make that happen.” ton said. “Our helmets were only four years old but According to senior JV runner Olivia Wade,
based on all the research over the past few years and the level of seriousness is the main difference
Although a trainer isn’t a present at peewee foot- all the changes in technology, we as an organization between the varsity and JV team-.
ball games, the Mason Youth Football program has said we have got to do this.”
alternative ways to ensure the safety of every player. “I guess the difference is partly mentality,”
According to Dalton, his team uses rugby tackling, While big hits and head-to-head contact may em- Wade said. “I think both like to have fun but
one of the two new styles that helps prevent head body a major concern for some, not all parents view the seriousness of it is different.”
injury. peewee football as such a perilous sport. Scott Cook,
parent of Eli Cook, a first-grade Mason Youth Foot- Head Coach Chip Dobson must manage the
“Rugby tackling is very similar to the old way of ball player, says that while football certainly may be entire team while training his varsity runners
doing it but your head is behind them,” Dalton said. a dangerous game, the possibility of injury does not to perform at their highest level. Fortson said
“The head still has to be up, that’s very important worry him at his son’s level of play. that although there is less attention on JV, the
with anything in football; what you do is you come girls still hold themselves accountable for
in and your head is on the backside. You get behind “Not at this age. At this age it’s more of an instruc- everything Dobson can’t complete with the
the runner and you wrap and you roll. The roll is the tional league,” Cook said. “Hitting isn’t as hard or amount of girls.
important piece of it. What it does is it takes the head as physical as it is when you get older. It’s a good
out of that impact.” learning opportunity for him for sportsmanship and “Dobson is on varsity a lot more than he is
things like that. I’m not concerned about head inju- on us because there is less of them,” Fortson
According to Dalton, the Mason Youth Football ries or anything like that. Not at this age.” said. “He tries to do it for everyone, but you
program is very advanced with their safety precau- can’t do that for 100 girls. A lot of what we do
tions compared to the youth teams in the Greater is more on us.”

Editor’s Note: Kylie McCalmont and Charlie MacKenzie contributed to this story.
Special thanks to Mike McCalmont and Steven McCalmont for posing in the picture.

Golf ettiquette provides a supportive manner even in
high-level competitions

Kylie McCalmont | Sports Editor what it’s like to be on a golf ment can be determined by sev-
[email protected] course.” eral strokes. The girls golf team
won the Greater Miami Confer-
Golf is a sport that doesn’t Golf is a sport that requires ence Championship this sea-
need yellow or red cards to de- a proper etiquette. Part of this son by outplaying Sycamore by
mand respect. It’s simply part of includes no tank tops on the only four strokes. The boys lost
the ettiquette. course and repairing divots or against Lakota East for the GMC
ball marks on the greens. In ad- title by only three. With margins
According to senior golfer Car- dition to dress code and course Photo contributed by Carson James
son James, it’s easy to disrespect maintenance, other regulations
the sport because the majority of are set in place to respect each this close, according to Schaffer, James (far right) gets ready to putt at
people don’t understand all the player according to junior Ra- if a player doesn’t use their man- surrounded by op ponets from Little Miami
rules and regulations of golf. chel Schaffer. ners on the course, the outcome (middle) and Kings (far left).
can be easily affected.
“I don’t think many people un- “Golf etiquette: you’re really “If someone is picking up their
derstand golf in general and the expected to respect the other per- bag or drinking out of their wa- quette is good sportsmanship. Rather than throw-
rules and the etiquette on the son’s space when they’re swing- ter bottle, it doesn’t affect you; ing elbows, Schaffer said providing compliments
course,” James said. “The other ing or when they’re putting or be it’s just so normal,” Schaffer said. rather than insults to the opposing players is al-
day when I was playing these quiet when people are swinging “But if someone is talking or yell- ways an important factor when playing.
kids pulled up and were talking or putting and not be moving ing while you’re trying to swing “It’s nice to tell a person if they have a nice
so loud and playing music and around,” Schaffer said. then that can affect your shot.” shot or be supportive of them if they are starting
people don’t really understand Another part of the golf eti- to get down on themselves,” Schaffer said.
The outcome of a tourna-

C22 October 15, 2015

Commentary

Photo Contributed by Aliyah El-Naggar Peyton
Manning
Photos by Ellie Uecker refuses to
quit
Freshman Sammie Puisis (4) inciates the play jump serving the ball to the Middletown Middies. Freshman Maggie
King (left) and senior Katy Glandorf (right) dive for an attack from Middletown. India Kirssin | Staff Writer
[email protected]
Freshmen of influence play major roles at varsity level
Why on Earth is Peyton Manning still play-
Eric Mller | Online Sports Editor the team with the older players,” Schur said. “A ing football?
[email protected] lot of the impact is determined by the older kids
and how they accept or reject that young player This is the headline that came out in the
While most freshmen are tripping over their being a key part of the team. Fortunately for us Washington Post on September 27. It goes on
feet trying to get acclimated to Mason High this year our older kids have welcomed our fresh- to describe the slow and painful process Man-
School, some of their classmates are playing men with open arms.” ning goes through after every game: taking
for and making colossal contributions to varsity off his shoes with assistance, grimacing as
sports teams. Senior soccer player Emma Thacker said the his knee brace comes off, sliding his shoul-
age factor really doesn’t play a huge role. der pads over his head to reveal old and new
Freshmen soccer player Allison Winterhalter is bruises. At the end of the article author Cindy
her team’s leading scorer with three goals so far “I mean the experience factor kind of plays into Boren wonders why Manning continues to
this season. Freshman volleyball player Maggie it,” Thacker said. “(But) overall they’re so talent- put himself through the pain.
King is fourth in the GMC for kills with 145 and ed, they play their roles really well and they’re
freshman Sammie Puisis isn’t far behind being great listeners.” I’ll tell you why.
placed 6th in the league with 134 kills. Entering his 18th season in the NFL, Man-
One of the difficulties for younger players, ac- ning has only won one Super Bowl. Sure,
Head girls soccer coach, Andy Schur, has a cording to Schur, is playing against older compe- he has thrown more touchdowns than any
young team this season. He took three freshmen tition. other quarterback in NFL history (535 to be
on his varsity team, an abnormally high amount. exact). And yes, he will be headed to the Hall
Winterhalter made the team with fellow fresh- “It affects how we coach and how we interact of Fame in Canton after he decides to walk
men Aliyah El-Naggar and Olivia Polnow. Ac- with them,” Schur said. “We try to be sensitive to away from the game. But until he owns more
cording to Schur, if he keeps a freshmen on his their situation. It’s hard to ask 14 year olds to play than one world championship ring, he can’t
roster it means they will contribute significant 18 year olds and to be friends with 18 year olds.” walk away feeling completely satisfied.
minutes. Of course, he has to be realistic. Tom
Freshman taking varsity minutes, sometimes Brady, Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana have
“If we keep a freshman on varsity they’re going away from senior players, might bother upper- the most Super Bowl rings among the quar-
to play; that’s always been our rule,” Schur said. classmen, but King said playing time is non-exis- terback club, with four each. Manning won’t
“We don’t keep freshmen on varsity if they’re tent issue on the volleyball team. get that many before his time in the game is
not going to play a significant amount of min- up (and he knows that), but going out with a
utes. The three we kept this year have all played “We’re all so nice about it,” King said. “Nobody Super Bowl win will end his career on a high
a bunch.” cares how much playing time they have. We just note.
have fun playing volleyball.” At 39, Manning is running out of time. It’s
According to Schur, the effect that the fresh- now or never. Years of wear and tear have
man players have on the team is determined by With freshmen dominating in fall sports this affected his game and forced him to make
the older players’ willingness to accept or reject season, age becomes overlooked as Thacker said every throw count. Phrases like, “He’s too
them. the player’s age doesn’t matter as much as their old.” “He’s too tired.” “He isn’t comfortable
ability to get the job done. with his offense,” have been thrown around
“I think it has an impact to have a young kid on in every major newspaper since the start of
“It’s all about talent,” Thacker said. “We really the NFL season. Many are now questioning
don’t have a seniority rule so if they’re up to the whether Manning has enough left in him to
task...they get the playing time first.” lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl.
I say he does. He is still here because he
wants to win. And if he is anything like the
Peyton Manning of the past, he’ll find a way
to do it.

TONI BIZZARRO Comet Stat Line AMANDA HUSER
Senior, Soccer Senior, Golf
MICHAEL UEMATSU
43 saves Sophomore, Cross Country 10-4 overall
9 shutouts First single
.900 save 16:28:00
percentage 7th overall
in GMC

Statistics as of October 10.

October 15, 2015 C 23

Cincinnati provides competitive entertainment outside Mason athletics

Ellie Uecker | Staff Writer
[email protected]

The Bengals and the Reds aren’t

the only professional sports in the

Cincinnati area that may appeal to

high school students. Within 100 miles

beyond Comet Country lies several

compelling professional sports.

The Major League Lacrosse associa-

tion (MLL) established their seventh

team in 2012 called the Ohio Machine.

Their 9-5 record sent them to the final

round of play-offs in the MLL Cham-

pionships during their 2015 summer

season. According to junior boys

lacrosse player Jack O’Loughlin, the

Ohio Machine events include interac-

tive events for the fans.

“Overall it was just really energetic

and welcoming to the fans,” O’Loughlin

said. “All the players ran through the “Now we have a

fans when they were coming on to the Photo by Ellie Uecker

field. They had a bunch of miniature The Futbol Club Cincinnati (FC Cincy) will compete at the Nippert Stadium at University of Cincinnati when their first season
games you could win merchandise starts in spring of 2015.

for the Ohio Machine. It would be in 20 minutes from my house,” Lenz said.
“It’s in downtown (Cincinnati) and it’s
those big plastic ball(s) and (you) have
to run around like a hamster inside of
them and race for something. They were cheap, like $13.”
Since being established in 1990, the
interactive and if you play or don’t play
team has won two Kelly Cup Champion-
you can have a good time either way.”
The Machine’s home field is in Dublin, ships and last year earned the title of
Eastern Conference Champions. Lenz
Ohio, 98.6 miles from Mason High
said the franchise offers more special
School. The drive may be an hour and a events and themes alongside the game.
half, but worth it for the opportunity to
watch lacrosse at the next level and learn “Cyclones games have halftime
(youth) games,” Lenz said. “They have
from elite players said O’Loughlin.
special events like a Star Wars night and
“The game is in Dublin, Ohio which
a superhero night. Those are the big ones
was about an hour and 30 minutes out
and they have specialty jerseys.”
on a school bus,” O’Loughlin said. “It’s
Close by the U.S. Bank Arena is
a great opportunity because it allows us University of Cincinnati’s (UC) Nippert
to see people who have succeeded in our
sport…to strive to be that type of player.” Stadium and Sheakley Athletic Complex,
Not all the professional sports teams in 24.5 miles from MHS. Nippert Stadium
hosts college events, high stakes high
this 100 mile radius have been recently school events, and now a professional Photo by Ellie Uecker
established like the Ohio Machine, the soccer team. The United Soccer League
Cyclones are Cincinnati’s veteran profes- The U.S Bank Arena (left) is the home of Cincinnati’s professional hockey team, the
sional hockey team. The Cyclones’ home (USL), a U.S. Soccer Federation division Cyclones.
III league, will be kicking off a new
field is the U.S. Bank Arena, 25.5 miles team in the spring of 2016 titled Futbol growth of soccer from the youth team that players can really look forward
away from MHS in downtown Cincy. Club Cincinnati (FC Cincy). According to high school. to, which is probably a goal for a lot of
According to sophomore hockey player to senior soccer player Gary Zhao, this youth players in Cincinnati.”
Chris Lenz, the game is close and cheap. professional team will be great for the “I think it’s good for the area of Cincin-
nati to have good players.” Zhao said.
“It’s at US Bank Arena which is about

Comet Stat Line

TY SPONSELLER ANNA BRINKMANN BYRCE CURRAN
Senior, Football Sophomore, Volleyball Senior, Soccer

35 tackles 3.18 kills/game 13 goals
3 interceptions 194 kills 10 assists
36 points

Statistics as of October 10.