Volume 20 Issue 7 | William Mason High School | 6100 Mason Montgomery Rd., Mason, OH | 3.17.23 “The Sound of SURVIVAL” Stephanie Jones’ inspirational battle against cancer See page 2
Jones celebrates normalcy with cancer in remission Laurel Wang | The Chronicle In October 2021, Mason High School (MHS) Orchestra Director Stephanie Jones was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), a form of breast cancer. Jones began a complex treatment plan to combat her cancer starting from the fall of 2021 through November 2022. Comprised of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, treatment often left her with the side effects of extreme fatigue, nausea, and disorientation. After each round of chemotherapy, she would be out of school for a few days to recover. “My oncologist actually told me that they didn’t think that I would be able to teach during that time period and recommended that I take a break or a leave,” Jones said. “I was pretty upset about that. I wanted to keep that sense of normalcy and be able to make connections with students instead of just sitting at home by myself going through that.” Despite the side effects, Jones continued to visit her classes when she could. She said being able to see her students and play with the orchestra was a break from the emotionally taxing experience of treatment. “For me, music is a release,” Jones said. “It is something I enjoy with a passion. And teaching music is work, but the music is also a release. So coming in and being able to allow myself to just concentrate on teaching rather than what I was going through was so good for me.” Due to the community aspect of an orchestra, Jones prioritized providing her orchestra classes with information about her diagnosis. She told her orchestra classes shortly after she received the news, and after she and her doctors had outlined a plan of treatment. “There’s a lot of teamwork and mutual respect that needs to happen between the ensemble musicians and the conductor,” Jones said. “And in order to be able to form those bonds and work together, I just felt it was really important to tell them. I would rather them hear from me than to guess what was happening.” Senior Anuj Mantha has been playing violin for the Mason Orchestras for six years. Jones has been one of his orchestra directors since his Freshman year and said she has always been an open, trusted teacher that cares deeply about her students. When Jones first told the orchestra about her diagnosis, his initial reaction was disbelief. “We were all just shocked,” Mantha said. “It didn’t really make sense. A lot of people you see in TV shows and movies get a diagnosis and it’s life-altering and it doesn’t feel like it would happen in real life. It’s not supposed to happen to people like this; people who are always good to us.” Jones worked to balance honesty with positivity while sharing about her cancer. While providing students with information about the changes she and the orchestra would experience over the course of her treatment, she mostly allowed them to reach out to her. Despite wanting to be open and truthful, she also said she did not want to burden her students with worry. “Sometimes I’d say things like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just kind of in a fog’, but I wouldn’t be real specific about exactly what I was feeling,” Jones said. “As teachers and adults and parents, there’s this balance of being honest but also not wanting to burden or make somebody worry. I had worry, but I didn’t want them to be worried about it.” Despite the difficulties she experienced physically and mentally during her treatment, Mantha said Jones stayed positive and available for her students throughout the year. “Her attitude never changed,” Mantha said. “Even with the cancer diagnosis, she was still that open person that was available to everyone.” While Jones was out, the orchestra regularly brought in different instrumentalists instead of a longterm substitute. Students were able to receive specialized instruction for their instruments in sectionals. Still, Mantha said that the orchestra felt the loss of Jones’ presence and leadership. “She’s very intelligent musically and to lose someone that intelligent was very hard on us and the way we approached music,” Mantha said. “We needed an elevated level of sectional coaches and people who were versed in music so they could ‘fill her spot’, but there was still a feeling that there was something missing.” Jones went back to a more fulltime role in the 2022-2023 school year as her treatment tapered and she felt well enough to teach. She said she looked forward to returning to a state of normalcy, using the new school year as a signifier for the next stage after cancer. “I kind of went in this school year gung-ho, just not even thinking about the fact that I was still in treatment,” Jones said. “And then within a few weeks I was like, ‘Oh, wait, this is still affecting my life’. I still had a lot of appointments, I still had treatments, and I’m still actually feeling some fatigue. But it has felt like I could kind of mentally be like, ‘Okay move on, move on.’” Mantha said that Jones’ return has been welcomed by her students, who appreciate her presence and leadership greatly. “We’re all just happy that she’s back. It feels normal. I went from feeling like there was a little emptiness and there was something missing to, ‘Okay, this is how it should be. This is how it has been.’ Jones’ treatment concluded in November 2022 as she entered remission. She currently shows no signs of disease. Now, several months out of treatment, Jones is looking toward the future. “I’m actually super excited about the Chicago trip,” said Jones. “I didn’t really realize when we got this opportunity, but our concert is literally when I ended chemotherapy last year. So it’s kind of a celebration of ‘Let’s leave that stuff in the dust behind us and move on’.” Photo by Laurel Wang Orchestra teacher Stephanie Jones conducts her orchestra class. 2 March 17, 2023
March 17, 2023 3 Write Place undergoes changes to expand outreach Aimee Liu | The Chronicle The Write Place is making strides toward becoming the right place for students to get help with writing. Mason High School (MHS) English teacher Allison Catalino created The Write Place in 2018, and said it is “a student-led writing center that has excellent student consultants who can help with any type of writing.” The Write Place is located in room A312 and is available during first, fourth and seventh bells, as well as Connect Time each week. Students can sign up for appointments through a Google Form on The Write Place website, or submit work digitally and receive virtual feedback. In addition to individual consultations, The Write Place also offers classroom visits per teacher request. English teacher TJ Wilson, one of the advisors for The Write Place, said that these sessions in English classrooms have been positive learning experiences for both students and teachers. “We come in whenever [teachers] want us to, and just brainstorm with [students] or try to be good conversationalists,” Wilson said. “We usually change a lot of minds when we come in, and it’s a really good experience.” The Write Place at MHS began when Catalino, who previously worked as a writing center supervisor at a high school in Chicago, decided to create a similar space to help students with any element of writing. “Every college in the local area and across the country has a center for writing,” Catalino said. “I think if we get into the practice of using that resource while you’re in high school, the options are limitless when you potentially move on to college.” When The Write Place was first created, Catalino said there was a multitude of invested tutors, and the center was open every bell. The week before the school closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Write Place had even gotten permission to assist middle school students during one bell. Throughout and following the pandemic, Catalino said the success of The Write Place was halted, and they could not offer full services. “We’re working our way back towards full availability, with all bells every day,” Catalino said. “We’ll get there. We’ve got a lot of great tutors this year who are really invested, so I’m excited about it.” Along with Wilson and English teacher Patricia George, Catalino has continued to work on rebuilding The Write Place back to where it was. After a recent trip to Milford to see the writing center there, Catalino said they are making several changes to hopefully continue growing their space. “I think a lot of our changes are going to be in how our space feels when you walk in,” Catalino said. “We’re also going to take a lot of [Milford’s] training materials for our tutors to help them feel like they really own the space and that they’re confident to do what we know that they can do.” This concept of student ownership is also important to Catalino, who has been shifting The Write Place to a more student-led operation. She said that after taking a year off for the pandemic, she is hoping to give new consultants more control of the space. “Last year we had to reintroduce our mission, vision and values to our new tutors, but we’re slowly transitioning,” Catalino said. “I can see in the future that it will shift and the ownership will largely be with students next year.” Junior Ellen Zhang, a Write Place consultant, said that although the advisors are involved with a lot of the logistics behind the program, the students also have significant say in making and implementing decisions. “Since we’re such a small group, there’s a lot of opportunity for leadership,” Zhang said. “It’s very free, and one of the original goals of the club was to provide students who enjoy writing a chance to experience that in a place where they can do what they really love to do.” In addition to opening all seven bells and giving students more control of the space, The Write Place is also hoping to implement other changes, including adding a coffee machine, posting whiteboard signs across the school, creating videos, getting the word out to English teachers, developing a more consistent training routine for new consultants and possibly hosting writing contests. “This year has been all about finding the best way to do things,” Catalino said. “We’re hoping to get our consultants face to face with students and teachers to really showcase who we are, what we do, and how we can help in the classroom.” George, who began her involvement with The Write Place in 2020, said that with these changes, she ultimately hopes the center can be a comfortable place for students to not only receive writing help but also hang out. “No matter where we land, we want to make [The Write Place] more inviting,” George said. “We want to create a relaxed vibe because I think when you’re relaxed, that’s when you can write your best.” Catalino said the skills associated with writing extend far beyond English class themselves. Whether it is other subjects, communication, or future jobs, she said that the impact of writing can often be taken for granted. “Writing is cross-curricular, and if you want to be taken seriously at any job, the skill of writing is pivotal,” Catalino said. “I think sometimes that’s a bit overlooked.” Along with writing skills, the advisors of The Write Place also emphasize the importance of conversation and forming peerto-peer connections. George said that the consultants at The Write Place are not only great writers but also great human beings. “[Our consultants] approach a student’s piece with kindness and empathy,” George said. “There’s a lot of power when you are working one-on-one with someone like you.” Wilson said that the uncertainty and subjectivity of writing can make it difficult for students to approach the subject, but that having someone there to be a guide can give writers “more tools in their tool belt.” He said that he hopes The Write Place can become a safe space for anyone who may need help with writing in any regard. “There are so many unknowns in writing,” Wilson said. “It’s just about trying and failing, and if you talk to somebody, you feel safer and more confident doing that. Writing is intimidating, but we want to build people and help the community first.” In the future, Zhang said that she hopes students will continue to feel more comfortable reaching out to The Write Place. She said that writing is such a crucial part of the school, and getting help with it can be a useful tool. “Our biggest goal is to make [The Write Place] more widely accessible,” Zhang said. “My hope for the program is that if any student throughout the school is doing a writing project, they have the awareness that they always have a resource that they can reach out to.” As an English teacher and lifelong writer, George said that she does not agree with the mentality that students need to be naturally gifted writers to succeed at writing. George said that as The Write Place grows, she hopes to see students’ apprehension toward writing diminish. “The more you work at the craft, the better you get,” George said. “I see The Write Place as a foot in the door to understanding that writing, like anything else, just takes practice. If you’re committed to getting better at it, you definitely will.” Photo by Alisha Soni Junior Write Place consultant Ellen Zhang assists junior Miles Denbow with his writing.
4 March 17, 2023 Young Women’s Club addresses teen dating violence Shrija Shandilya | The Chronicle The month of February was Teen Dating Violence Awareness month and members of the Mason High School (MHS) Young Women’s Club (YWC) helped bring attention to dating violence with their own week-long campaign from February 20 to 24. Members of the YWC set up outside the Large Commons during lunches where they answered questions that dealt with teen dating violence. YWC President Sydney Young said that they chose to raise awareness on this issue because of a grant they received from Safe on Main, a women’s shelter in Lebanon. “They granted us money to do what we wanted, and we wanted to do something for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month,” Young said. “When people think of February, they think of Valentine’s Day, but it’s also a month where we can raise awareness about unhealthy relationships.” Photography teacher and YWC club advisor Tina Roberts said that the grant provided by the Safe on Main organization allowed the YWC the opportunity to choose an issue that they found important and impactful. After choosing teen dating violence as the issue, one of their first steps toward spreading awareness was bracelet making. Each bracelet featured an important teen dating violence message. “We used the grant money to pay for bracelets with the color orange because that is the color for teen dating violence,” Roberts said. “Then, we just came up with our own little slogan and we landed on ‘End the Silence on Dating Violence’.” The club used several methods to help teenagers navigate their way around the issue of unhealthy relationships. They provided stickers with QR codes that gave students access to links and websites to help them identify the signs of an abusive relationship. In addition to the QR code stickers and bracelets, the YWC also created a trivia game where students could spin a wheel and answer a question about dating violence. Young said that she hoped students would be able to better identify what unhealthy behaviors are and how to escape an unsafe situation. “We just wanted people to learn a little bit, even if it’s just picking up one fact,” Young said. “Especially because this is an actual problem and it often gets overlooked.” Since MHS is such a large school, it is even more important to bring attention to issues like teen dating violence. Young said that MHS’s large size makes it difficult for staff members to discern specific concerns for every student. “At a school as big as Mason, there definitely has to be some problems,” Young said. “It just might not always be seen.” Roberts said that part of the reason teen dating violence lacks awareness is the ambiguity around abusive behaviors. She said that abuse does not have a concrete definition and is not always easy to pinpoint, which makes the issue even more dangerous. “It’s important for people to understand and be able to recognize they’re in an abusive relationship,” Roberts said. “A lot of the time, people think it’s only physical abuse, but it’s also emotional abuse.” MHS psychologist, Jeff Schlaeger, said teen dating violence is an important issue to address because of how it affects future relationships. He said normalizing abusive behaviors will lead students to believe unhealthy situations are regular. “Any form of teen dating violence can have a long-lasting effect on not only the victim but the perpetrator,” Schlaeger said. “They can go on thinking that behavior is the norm when it’s not.” Controlling behavior in a relationship are red flags that students must be aware of. Schlaeger said that the constant need to know their partner’s location or to restriction of activities can be signs of abuse. “When someone is really good at controlling your time and needs to know where you are at all times, it’s a really good sign,” Schlaeger said. “I see a lot of jealousy and control, and that is also a sign.” Schlaeger said that getting out of an abusive relationship is much harder than it sounds. He said mental and emotional abuse can contribute to victims feeling isolated and afraid to get help. “I think a lot of people find it hard to get out of relationships,” Schlaeger said. “There’s a lot of fear and the person can think that is all they deserve.” In relation to teen dating violence, Schlaeger said it is imperative for students witnessing violent and abusive behaviors to reach out to an adult. He said students can offer to go to counselors with their peers experiencing abuse, reach out to one of the Safe School Tiplines, or utilize the YWC resources. “If someone’s not in a safe situation, say ‘I’ll go with you to a counselor or to an adult’,” Schlaeger said. “It’s better to save someone’s life and break a promise than worry later.” Photo by Shrija Shandilya (Left to right) Leena Quraishi, Makayla Cornett, Sydney Young, and Aashna Bhargava answering questions about teen dating violence.
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Divy Bose | The Chronicle Art speaks louder than words. Mason High School (MHS) offers a multitude of art classes that range anywher e from graphic design to sculpture, allowing students to foster their creation and expression through art. Through taking Digital Image Design, where she learned the mechanics of graphic designing, senior Taylor Jackey has discovered a new interest in starting her business: Take Up Space. Take Up Space launched in January 2023, when Jackey sat down and dove deeper into her passion for art. She said that her goal in starting a business was to allow mental health to be a topic of discussion through art. “I came up with Take Up Space so people can talk about their values and morals through their own apparel,” Jackey said. “It’s a space for people to simply feel joy and value, which is what is really important to me.” Jackey’s decision to start her sticker and apparel business came from her continuous passion in art ever since she stepped foot into her seventh grade art class. She said that it was challenging to learn how to use her tools, such as her first purchased design tool called a Cricut which helps her cut paper and certain fabrics. “I first tried to design T-shirts for my family vacation when we went to Disney last summer, with printer paper and plastic,” Jackey said. “That didn’t work out well for me, so I decided to purchase my own Cricut and learn how to use actual vinyl to make well made t-shirts.” As she continued to learn how to create t-shirts, sweatshirts, and even just stickers through trial and error, Jackey designed a shirt that Hope Squad members would be able to wear, including herself. Jackey said that she started really seeing her work come to life when she saw her design as a recognizable t-shirt during Hope Week . “The T-shirt says “Your feelings are valid” which is my favorite quote and an important message that should be spread around,” Jackey said. “Everyone kept asking me where I got my T-shirt and I got to say that I made it.” Being able to wear a particular message through the art of apparel is what Jackey hoped to achieve. Jackey said that her goal through her small business is to give people the opportunity to express messages that resonate with one another, without even having to speak it. “You walk past more people than you talk to,” Jackey said. “Having a message on yourself that people can read is also less intimidating and a way to feel empowered without having that confrontation factor.” As apparel items can be expensive, Jackey hoped to make her items more affordable. She gets materials from local fabric stores, using the profits she earns from her friends’ orders as well as orders from her website: https://takeupspacestore. wixsite.com/shop. “My sweatshirts range from $15-20 so I can actually make them affordable and appealing to my friends,” Jackey said. “I work just as hard even if I also like to keep my business circle small to conserve my money.” Jackey focused on learning how to use and design certain logos or images for her company to make her designs more professional and elegant. She said that she learned how to use Adobe Illustrator on her iPad after taking Digital Illustration in school. “One of the first designs I made from my iPad was for my sister and it was a frog holding up a little sign that says ‘you are perfect as you are’,” Jackey said. “All of my designs are handmade and built from my own design skills.” Jackey’s way of self care is through art. She said that building her website during winter break as well as having an outlet during the school year through classes has really benefited herself. “Art is the thing that I always do when I get home from school,” Jackey said. “I am really cautious of not letting art get to be too stressful or overwhelming for me [to] create products that I am proud of.” With aspirations of being an art teacher, Jackey plans to continue her passion through education. Jackey said that having this business as a side hustle is also a part of her plan to make extra money to support herself, especially during the summer. “The skills that I am building now will not only propel my career, but will also help me get more money in the future,” Jackey said. “I hope that my business grows alongside my career so I can keep making things that have a special meaning to give to people.” 6 March 17, 2023 Business-minded artist targets mental health awareness Graphic by Becca Hunter
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March 17, 2023 9 Modernizing ACT format leads to difficulties for test-takers Drew Hoffmaster | The Chronicle Adjust and adapt becomes the Mason High School (MHS) motto once again. On Tuesday, February 28, Mason High School (MHS) students took the annual school-administered American College Test (ACT) given across the nation. The ACT is a standardized test taken by high schoolers across the country to test a student’s English, Mathematics, Reading and Science aptitudes. Over the course of 3.5-hours, students are tested in these four subjects and receive a score out of 36 for each section. This score then becomes averaged over the four sections to create a composite score. This year, however, MHS students took the first online ACT test. ACT has been promising an online test since the pandemic hit in 2020, but this is the first year it has actually been implemented. For junior Becca Sanders, the switch in format has created new testing anxieties such as the applicability of paper test strategies and reading passage annotations. “Leading up to it, everyone was like, ‘I won’t be able to annotate’ or ‘I won’t be able to do what I normally do,’” Sanders said. “So, it was funny to see how before, everyone was stressed about it, [but after] no one was really talking about how it was online.” The online test format did offer some additional benefits to make up for the drawbacks. If a question focused on a specific part of the passage in the English and Reading sections, the section was automatically highlighted, saving test-takers the time to find the portion addressed by the question. Additionally, Sanders said that some benefits helped save her time. “You could flag questions which made a question easier to come back to,” Sanders said. “This feature saved me time because I did not have to look through the whole test.” Sanders, however, still feels that she would rather take the paper version of the test. She said that the paper version is less strenuous and more similar to her practice. Additionally, she prefers to be able to see the entire test. “You had to hit next between each question instead of just moving on to the next one like you would on the paper,” Sanders said. “When you have paper, you can see the questions next that you’re going to answer and you can move on a little easier. This makes pacing yourself easier.” Guidance Counselor Marty Zack has been running the annual MHS ACT for the past 15 years. Zack said MHS switched to a virtual format this year so students would be better prepared if a permanent switch to online testing occurred. Zack believes that fully online testing is a very likely possibility, especially with the money and materials it saves. “We did [online testing] because it’s the way of the future,” Zack said. “It saves companies millions and millions of dollars. You could change tests whenever you want, [so] it is only a matter of time until [only online testing] hits soon.” Founder of TorchPrep, an ACT preparation company, Rhett Barbour said that TorchPrep gears their classes toward the online ACT when approaching the school ACTs and toward the paper version during the other times. Barbour believes it is essential for students to know the differences in test format so they can better gauge which version works best for them. “Students need to know and understand that they should never allow the formatting of the test to get in the way of demonstrating what they know,” Barbour said. “It’s not easy to go back and forth, so the functionality of how to engage the test shifts.” TorchPrep encourages students to adapt strategies used on the paper ACT to the online version by utilizing tools such as the highlighter, timer, and bookmarker offered on the test. For annotating, the company recommends that students take advantage of scrap paper to take notes. “To replace annotating, students can use the scrap paper to write notes about the paragraph, so [they] can map the passage out,” Barbour said. “There’s also the ability to highlight quotes to replace underlining.” Currently, there is no data indicating that either version results in higher scores. Barbour said students should practice both versions to find out which type of ACT fits them best, but they should take advantage of being able to take the paper version while students can. “[The ACT] is designed by people who are really specifically trying to make [each version] equal,” Barbour said. “So anytime a student says a certain version of the test is difficult, I would say it is not true [because] it’s really a student-by-student situation.” This February was also Junior Shin-yi Wang’s second time taking the ACT. She completed the paper version of the test in September and said she was surprised by the differences. “[The difficulty] came from having to get used to it being online which was a little hard,” Wang said. “I couldn’t write out important things. I had to rush and go back later to find what I was looking for.” Wang said that she did not expect both versions of the test to be so similar. Other than annotating the paper version of the Reading section, her testing strategies did not really differ from the paper version. “For the other sections of [the paper version], I either did not write anything on the test or just used scrap paper,” Wang said. “For [the other sections], it made no difference between how I approached those problems. In the end, Wang said she was glad she took the online ACT. She said not filling out a paper scantron gave her extra time and more confidence in her results. “I’m pretty happy with how it went,” Wang said. “I can’t wait to see what scores I get once they are posted.” Infographic by Alisha Verma
10 March 17, 2023 PigAbilities team trains for Flying Pig Marathon Elina Bishoyi | The Chronicle This year, MHS athletes will be walking, running and rolling across the Flying Pig finish line. The Flying Pig Marathon, presented by P&G and Prysmian Group, is the biggest annual marathon in Cincinnati. Runners can compete in various events like the marathon, half-marathon, 10k, 5k, and more. This year, during the weekend of May 6 and 7, runners will come from all over to compete in the 25th Flying Pig Marathon. PigAbilities is a competition in which kids with disabilities and their supporters can choose to participate in a one mile event. Students at Mason High School (MHS) are helping these kids train for the event by coaching them during Connect time sessions and every Monday until the competition. Matt Hornung, a coach for the PigAbilities team at Mason, reintroduced the opportunity for high schoolers to participate as peer coaches. Hornung reached out to clubs, such as Students Involving and Befriending Students (SIBS) and MHS Key Club, to provide this service opportunity for students at MHS. PigAbilities peer coaches help train the athletes at every session. Practices typically consist of a short warm up with various exercises and then a run/walk combination that adds up to one mile. The sessions end with the athletes recording the amount they ran on their “Hog Log” running tracker. “It’s a great coaching experience,” Hornung said. “But I would like to continue and expand to allow more of our student body to participate in [these activities].” Although Hornung has had numerous coaching experiences, he said the PigAbilities team is the most unique and inclusive for students with different physical needs. The PigAbilities race provides a pavement course for athletes who require physical accommodations. “Being able to run or roll on the pavement is more accessible,” Hornung said. “Being in an event like the flying pig can be overwhelming, but at the same time, with different ways to shut down sensory input, the athletes will hopefully really enjoy it.” Sophomore Mallory Mecum is a runner on the MHS cross country team and acts as a peer coach for the MHS PigAbilities team. Mecum said that coaching the team gave her a unique opportunity to meet new people from around the school. “This is a different energy to running than I’m used to in cross country,” Mecum said. “It’s fun to make connections with people that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to make connections with otherwise.” The team will go to downtown Cincinnati to race in the PigAbilities event in May with similar amenities as cross country and track meets. Horning said that he is looking forward to creating team events and traditions with the new PigAbilities team. “The experience and the atmosphere is really powerful,” Hornung said. “[The team] will be putting on a Mason jersey, and we’re planning on having everything from a pasta party beforehand to an award ceremony afterwards.” Sophomore Elena Tanghal is also a cross country runner who helps to peer coach the Pigabilities team. Tanghal said she enjoys the opportunity to continue her passion as a peer coach instead of a runner on a different team. “The team as a whole is really encouraging,” Tanghal said. “Going from the perspective of a teammate and a runner to a coach who is helping them find their passion is exciting.” As a peer coach for the PigAbilities team, Tanghal said she believes that the team provides a unique and inclusive option for students. “We have our cross country team and our track team, [so] this is just another team that includes more people in it,” Tanghal said. “It’s so fun getting to see [the students] run and being a part of [a team]. Mecum said she has been to every practice and is excited to see the results in May. In addition to the team’s physical training, the coaches provide encouragement and tips about improving the athletes personal lives. “The team helps me have a new perspective on the world,” Mecum said. “I’m excited to watch from where they started and when they finish the race.” Photo by Elina Bishoyi Mallory Mecum, Tammy Ross and Kathy McVery (left to right) cheer on the Pigabilities student athletes as they near the finish line during training.
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12 March 17, 2023 Page- Page Design by Izzy Gaspar’raj Continued on page 13 Ellie Saylor | The Chronicle
March 17, 2023 13 Turners Continued from page 12 Page Design by Izzy Gaspar’raj Ellie Saylor | The Chronicle
14 March 17, 2023 Results taken from Google Form poll with a sample of 35 responses. Graphics by Allison Droege. Page design by Izzy Gaspar’raj.
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16 March 17, 2023 sports Camden Paeltz | The Chronicle After 15 years with the program, Eric Schatzle knows his way around Mason volleyball. Schatzle was officially announced as the new varsity head coach on February 13, replacing Lindsay Dinkelacker who stepped down after two years leading the team. The Comets have won seven consecutive Greater Miami Conference championships. Schatzle has worked closely with all of the current players, as he has served as Mason’s Junior Varsity coach for 13 years.. He said that this experience with the program will help him continue the team’s culture and make for an easy transition. “It starts with having a good positive culture and well,” Schatzle said. “It really starts from the younger years where if people believe in the program, that is what it’s all about.” Schatzle has built relationships with the players and has deep roots with the program. He said that he plans to keep that at the forefront as head coach, and is ready to finally get the chance to lead the varsity team. “I’m just a positive energy person, and I have a human-centered approach,” Schatzle said. “I understand that life’s bigger than volleyball. I know the game very well, but also I think that there’s a lot you learn through the game about all sorts of other aspects of life and especially with team sports, and I feel like I bring that to light through the teams that I coach, so I’m excited to continue to do that.” Junior Payton Evans, a two-time second-team all-GMC member, has known Coach Schatzle since she was in elementary school going through the Mason youth program. Evans said that she and her teammates know that Schatzle is ready for his new position because of the work he has put in with the program over the years. “Since he’s been with our program for so long, he knows all of our strengths and he knows us super well,” Evans said. “He’s been on the sideline watching us play them but he hasn’t been there to make the change, and the lineup brought in the practices to help us prepare.” Evans said that the players have noticed his dedication to the program and are excited that he is getting a chance to lead the team. “He’s stayed with us for a long time and he’s always been there, and he hasn’t given up on us.” Evans said. “I think that just shows a lot that he cares about us and the team.” Schatzle is a teacher at Mason Middle School. He lives in the district and his family is all a part of Mason City Schools. Schatzle said that this close connection to the Mason community makes his new job an even greater opportunity. “Ultimately, it came down to I wanted to utilize my experience that I’ve had,” Schatzle said. “ I’ve been in a program for a very long time. My kids go to Mason, my wife teaches in Mason, I teach and Mason, so I care about the district, I care about the program and the families and the relationships I’ve made along the way.” Evans said that Schatzle does a lot in practice to keep the players’ spirits high while also helping them improve, and is looking forward to that continuing despite a coaching change. “He will run super hard drills that he knows will challenge us but then he will crack a joke or just make it fun.” Evan said. “Sometimes he’ll even start playing with us and start playing in the drill too. He always just finds a way to make the hard stuff fun and just like make us want to be at practices and want to be there.” The team has won seven straight GMC championships and has not lost a league match since 2015. However, the team has not won a playoff match since 2019. Schatzle said that he hopes to bring continuity in order to allow the team to take their success even further. “I’m gonna work endlessly to try again and set us up to be as successful as possible.” Schatzle said. “But it’s about buy-in, it’s paying attention to the little things, sometimes it’s more about routine.” Schatzle excited for head coach opportunity after years with team Photo by Audrey Hunt Payton Evans sets up a spike for Katie Helmes. Both started their Mason High School volleyball careers with Schatzle on Junior Varsity.
March 17, 2023 17 Plumley'S NUMBERS 4TH 2ND 16TH Andrew Little | Sports Editor Senior Max Plumley had a phenomenal performance at the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys swimming state championships. He finished in second place in the 100 yard freestyle and in fourth place in the 50 yard freestyle. Plumley was also the anchor for the 200 yard freestyle relay and 400 yard freestyle relay, which placed sixth and fifth respectively at state. The sprint specialist was critical to the Comets success all year, leading them to a Greater Miami Conference championship, district runnerups, and sixth overall finish at state. He had a phenomenal performance at the GMC Championship, where he was awarded co-swimmer of the meet. Plumley won the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard butterfly. Additionally, he anchored the GMC-winning 200 and 400 yard freestyle relays. The senior cemented himself in the record books with the 16th fastest 100 yard freestyle time in OHSAA history. Plumley closed off his accomplished high school career as an eight-time GMC champion and a nine-team state finalist. STUDENT ATHLETE MONTH Comet Zone’s Student Athlete of the Month selected by The Chronicle Sports Staff. Photo by Andrew Little. Graphic by Allison Droege. Page Design by Izzy Gaspar’raj
18 March 17, 2023 Comets ride youth and development to seventh place state finish Ali Sami | The Chronicle The Mason girls swimming team once again closed off a successful season thanks to a reloaded roster of talented underclassmen. The girl’s swim team and head coach Mark Sullivan have built one of the most consistent athletic programs in Mason. The Comets won back-to-back state championships in 2018 and 2019 and were state runner-ups in 2021. After a 16th-place finish at state last year, the team improved to a seventhplace finish this season. This success came largely in part to numerous underclassmen stepping up in the postseason. Senior Emma Hartman, the team’s only returning state placer from 2022, said that Coach Sullivan always preaches a vital message that carries a big meaning for team chemistry that helps them succeed. “I feel like something that Coach Sullivan always preaches is that a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer’ and that really motivates all of us,” Hartman said. Sophomore Chloe Wall finished in 15th place in the 200-meter Individual Medley and was on both state-placing freestyle relays. Wall said that this group of swimmers was very close-knit, and it helped them achieve their success. “The most important part isn’t necessarily swimming fast. Wall said. “It’s more about team chemistry and everybody getting along and having fun.” Freshmen Dana Fairbanks and Bella Teply were each key members of the state roster. Fairbanks placed 14th in the 200-meter freestyle event and was on the 200-meter medley relay 400-meter freestyle relay, which placed fifth and ninth at state. Teply was part of the 200 freestyle relay that placed sixth and the 400-meter relay. Hartman credited the Comets’ improved placement at state to the boost the newer swimmers brought. “I feel like the team atmosphere, like gaining the freshmen, brought us together more this year and really helped us to do better,” Hartman said. Junior Addy Soehnlen said that a main priority for the upperclassmen was to be supportive of the freshmen and sophomores, because they knew that they had the potential to make a major impact right away. “The saying ‘a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer’ means a lot because if there’s a good team atmosphere then everything clicks,” Soehnlen said. “If everyone feels unified, then we all do good.” Wall said that swimming for your teammates is what motivates them to swim, and it is a massive part of the success they have had in the past and the success they can have. “Swimming is an individual and team sport. Obviously, you swim for yourself and also for a team relay, but it’s more than that.” Wall said. “You swim for one another.” Coach Sullivan has been coaching the girls team for 18 years. He said he saw things click with this year’s young nucleus ahead of their postseason run. “I saw something really special once everyone started to gel together,” Sullivan said. “Once they gelled together, I started seeing their performances really stand out.” Sullivan said that he noticed this group embracing the fun of the sport and hopes that it will help them carry over success as they grow over the next few years. “If you are having fun and are enjoying what you’re doing, success is typically going to be there for the athlete, particularly in swimming,” Sullivan said. Photo contributed by Bella Teply Dana Fairbanks, Bella Teply, Avery Althouse, and Chloe Wall placed ninth at the OHSAA championship in the 400-meter freestyle relay.
March 17, 2023 19 Volleyball using OHSAA sanctioning to grow program Sean Speidel | The Chronicle Now recognized by the state, the Mason Boys Volleyball team is ready to take its game to the next level. In January 2021, The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) officially sanctioned the sports of boys volleyball and girls wrestling starting in the 2022-23 school year. After the decision, boys volleyball is now an official Mason High School sport rather than a schoolsponsored activity. This means a longer season and the ability to compete for an OHSAA state championship. Over the past few seasons, the team has had a consistent rise in the amount of players trying out and showing interest in the sport. Senior Layne Walter has played all four years, and said that he is excited to see the sport growing in popularity at the school and that he hopes to see the trend continue with the new sanctioned status. “The thing about volleyball is that it’s just not a very common thing for guys to do,” Walter said. “It’s really cool to see more people getting involved” The team has always taken the sport of volleyball very seriously, but now that their sport is officially sanctioned by the OHSAA, senior Caleb Hershberger said he expects the team to be even more driven and focused on winning in the 2023 season as the OHSAA’s decision ripples with other schools. “I think the intensity will ramp up a bit,” Hershberger said. “Everyones pushing up against each other trying to make everyone else better.” As more students begin to get involved with the team, their following is growing as well. Hershberger credits this partially to the sanctioning of boys’ volleyball by the OHSAA, and that the increased interest will help the sport as a whole to continue to grow. “It makes it feel more important. It feels like people are going to start to care about it more,” Hershberger said. “Which I think just helps everyone get more interested and invested in the sport.” After graduating many impactful seniors at the end of last season, including Anthony Fago, who holds the school record for most career kills, Mason is looking to continue to compete at a high level in the Greater Miami Conference. Walter said that with many new players entering the rotation, they hope to progress and cultivate into a force to be reckoned with in Ohio’s first state-sanctioned season. “It hurts to lose a lot of our prominent hitters like Anthony Fago and Will Burke,” Walter said. “But we have a lot of new talent and if we develop them well enough we could be a really good team.” Following a second place finish in the GMC last year, the team is hopeful to bounce back and win the conference for the first time in program history. Hershberger said that he would love to make program history this season and thinks that winning the conference is not out of reach for the team. “Personally, I would love to see this team compete to win the GMC,” Hershberger said. “I think that’s realistic, achievable, and a good goal for us to have.” In past years, private schools have dominated the Boys’ Volleyball Scene, but Walter said that he hopes the sanctioning of the sport and its recent growth in popularity will help to narrow the gap between growing teams like Mason and the established programs in the Cincinnati area. “There has been a gap between all of the catholic schools and all of the public schools,” Walter said. “Now that the sport is state-sanctioned, that gap is going to close very quickly.” As the sport is now officially recognized by MHS and the OHSAA, players believe that their program will continue to grow. Hershberger said he expects the team will be held in a higher regard than ever. “I feel like we will get more respect,” Hershberger said. “The fact that it’s actually becoming a school sport will just make people take us more seriously.” Photo by Izzy Herrlinger Jack Rhoten serves in a match last season. Rhoten is one of six returning varsity players. Photo by Izzy Herrlinger Ben Golan records a block in a match against Lakota East last season.
20 March 17, 2023 Homecourt advantage; winterguard brings home championship Taylor Murray | The Chronicle Dancers and flags filled the school when Mason hosted winter guard competition for the first time and won first place. On March 11, 2023, percussion groups, winds groups and winter guards came to Mason Middle School (MMS) from over 60 different schools in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana to participate in a Mid East Performance Association (MEPA) competition, hosted by Mason. The competition lasted all day and had groups competing in all grade levels. Mason High School’s (MHS) competitive winter guard team, who recently broke school records by winning first place at a Winter Guard International (WGI) regional competition in Chicago, won first place with a score of 85.42 in the Scholastic A category at Mason’s competition. A lot of work went into organizing and hosting the first MEPA competition at Mason. Jason Sleppy, an MHS band director, sat down with Howard Pinsky and Shannon Wielinga, two MHS band parents, to divide up the responsibilities of volunteers and prepare the Mason community for such a large competition. Mason was picked to host because of its spacious facilities and capability to house hundreds of people, and the parents had to figure out how to fit the numerous teams into one building. “We’ve never done a competition like this before,” Sleppy said. “We kind of have to build everything from scratch. We do have the blueprint of hosting our own marching band show in the fall, which is similar, but it’s not the same.” Sleppy said that there were around 60 volunteering spots that needed to be filled by MHS parents. Between concessions, ticket sales, school guides and many other roles, hosting this competition would not have been possible without the assistance of many Mason families and older members of the non-competitive guard team. Erica Compton, MHS color guard and winter guard director, is responsible for training the guard and sometimes choreographing all or part of their shows. In preparing for the competition, Compton said that although they were approaching the day like any other MEPA or WGI event, the team was more excited than usual to perform on their home turf. “I feel like [being on home turf is] an advantage,” Compton said. “That’s a really cool thing for them, but also probably a nervy thing for them because there’s going to be all their peers watching them.” Samantha Pinsky, a sophomore on the MHS competitive guard team, said hosting the competition was a great opportunity for Mason. All of the money that was made at the event, whether from ticketing, concessions or otherwise, went to the Band Boosters. The money will help fund the marching band in future endeavors, such as the upcoming Rose Bowl trip in January 2024. “Dipping our toes into being a part of MEPA is going to be a good thing for us and help us raise money,” Pinsky said. “It is going to make winter guard a more wellknown thing around Mason because it’s really not that known.” As a member of both the summer and fall guard for marching band and the winter competitive guard, Pinsky said she sees firsthand how guards from different schools interact with each other. She said that even the very competitive guard teams are always optimistic and encouraging when interacting with opposing schools, which gives the guard a familial aspect. “I feel like everybody just loves the atmosphere of competitions,” Pinsky said. “Everyone before or after their shows will say stuff like ‘have a great run,’ or ‘you look so pretty’ and everything like that. It just brightens everybody up.” The members of the competitive guard shared a common excitement leading up to the Mason performance, creating a sense of community that has fueled their recent practices. Compton said she is proud of the progress that the team has made, and that the show has continued to refine as they practice and compete throughout the season. “We’re in a really good spot this year with some really talented people,” Compton said. “We love the show and I think that’s starting to show up.” Photo by Taylor Murray Mason High School’s competitive winterguard team performs their show “Never Love Again” at the Mid East Performance Association competition hosted at Mason Middle School
March 17, 2023 21 Mason dance team showcases hard work at UDA National Championship Alisha Soni | The Chronicle With high aerials and high energy, the Mason High School (MHS) Varsity Dance Team has made its way to Nationals. The MHS Varsity Dance Team competed in the 2023 United Dance Association (UDA) National Dance Team Championship at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. Dance teams from all over the country gathered to perform and compete. This year, the Mason team competed in the Hip Hop and Game Day categories. Although they have competed in Hip Hop in the past, they are competing in Game Day for the first time in the history of the program. Hired choreographers came in to help prepare the Mason team’s Hip Hop routine, while the Game Day routine was choreographed by the middle school coach, assistant coaches, and head varsity dance team coach Christina Huetter. “For many months, [the dancers] practice these routines,” Huetter said. “We change parts, we work on tricks, we clean sections of the dance relentlessly. The goal is for everybody to look the same as they [perform].” The Mason dancers attend an overnight four-day UDA Camp prior to the competition and are in two individual dances. They have the summer to practice their group routine and the individual routine tailored to their specific skills. Based on their performance, the dancers can receive blue ribbons which qualify them for the UDA Nationals competition. “I’ve been coaching for seven years and I’ve never had a single dancer not get a blue ribbon for one of their routines,” Huetter said. “I’m pretty hard on them when it comes to learning the [choreography] and performing it.” The Mason dance team has three practices per week throughout the school year, but in January approaching the Nationals competition, the dancers have practice every day, Monday through Friday. Different choreographers, alumni or college dancers come in to look at their routines to help the dancers with corrections and prepare them for Nationals. Senior Kendall Johnson is one of the dance captains for the team and has been a dancer on the Mason team for all four years of high school. Johnson said that the Mason team was very excited when they found out that they advanced to the semifinal round in the Hip Hop category at the competition arena. “I think people were crying, [but] I don’t remember if I cried,” Johnson said. “This could be my last time dancing right now, you never really know, so it was super stressful, but it was relieving when we made it.” During the competition, junior Eileen Fan, who has been on the Mason team for two years, said that she has witnessed a supportive nature between their team and other competitors. Typically, after the Mason team competes at UDA Nationals, they support other teams that they met at UDA Camp or have built relationships with before. “They cheer for us and we cheer them on,” Fan said. “I think it helps us during the dance because it feels like people are supporting you, so it’s easier to give it your all.” As the Mason team looks toward next year to compete again at the UDA National Dance Team Championship, Huetter said that the team is looking to continue improving their skills. “[The] goal would be to always play better and do better and make a name for Mason’s dance team,” Huetter said. “[And] to make it to finals is always a goal.” Junior Abby Gentile is in her first year on the Mason Varsity Dance Team. She said that one important aspect of the team is the bonds that she has established with the other dancers and coaches. “I have gotten closer with the dancers on the team,” Gentile said. “I was a little scared at first because I was new, but we’re definitely [close] because we spent basically every day together in January. The coaches are so welcoming; I feel like that bond definitely grew a lot more and we all became a lot closer.” Dancers have to invest a lot of time into practicing, which can be difficult to manage with schoolwork. In previous years, Johnson was forced to juggle school work, dancing on the Mason team and at another studio. Johnson said it was stressful, especially when the dance team schedules overlapped with each other. Johnson said that she has had to make decisions on what to prioritize, so she quit her studio to have more time during her senior year and has found the hard work on the MHS dance team rewarding. “[The time commitment] was definitely worth it,” Johnson said. “So many of my favorite high school memories have been on the dance team. I really can’t imagine my high school experience without being on the team.” Photo contributed by Christina Huetter (left to right) Mia Baird, Abby Gentile, Kayla Calkins, Lexi Sweeney, and Joss Bumiller compete in the Game Day category at the 2023 UDA National Dance Team Championship.
22 March 17, 2023 The Chronicle’s Policy The Chronicle Staff Editor-in-Chief Bradyn Johnson Managing Editors Risha Chada Tanya Keskar Sports Editor Andrew Little Technical Editor Izzy Gaspar’raj Business Manager Alexa Crociata Staff Designers Becca Hunter Nishka Mishra Alisha Verma Staff Writers Elina Bishoyi Divy Bose Drew Hoffmaster Megan Lee Aimee Liu Josie Lorenz Taylor Murray Camden Paeltz Ali Sami Ellie Saylor Shrija Shandilya Alisha Soni Sean Speidel Laurel Wang Ava Yungbluth Advisor Dale Conner The Chronicle is the official student newspaper of William Mason High School. The Chronicle promises to report the truth and adhere to the journalistic code of ethics through online and print mediums. The Chronicle is produced by students enrolled in Journalism I, II and III. Editorials reflect the staff ’s opinion but do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the school administration or the Mason City School District. The Chronicle is published monthly. Call 398-5025 ext. 33103 for information regarding advertising in The Chronicle. The Chronicle reserves the right to refuse advertising it deems inappropriate for a high school publication. As an open forum for students, letters to the editor are welcome, but are subject to be edited for length, libel, obscenity, clarity and poor taste. Letters to the editor may be dropped off in room C103 and must be signed. The Chronicle is a member of The Columbia Scholastic Press Association, The National Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists and the Ohio Scholastic Media Association. Contact Information The Chronicle William Mason High School 6100 S. Mason Montgomery Rd. Mason, Ohio 45040 (513) 398-5025 Connect with the Chronicle: Long before the rise of social media, we have seen women put against one another for reasons ranging from publicity stunts to actual heartbreaks. Most recently, social media outlets have erupted with speculation about celebrities Selena Gomez and Hailey Beiber. Justin Bieber and Selena, who originally began dating in 2010, battled their on-andoff relationship for eight years until they called it quits for good in March of 2018. While there has been a wave of theories surrounding their split, the two have never given a reason for the breakup. In July of the same year, Beiber proposed to Hailey Baldwin, now Hailey Bieber. Selena and Hailey have gone back and forth denying false claims and assuring the public that there is no drama between them. However, in the past couple of months, Hailey has been accused of making numerous backhanded comments towards Selena through her platforms, criticizing everything from her eyebrows to her Lupus diagnosis. In return, fans of Selena have been digging through old social media posts, desperately trying to find evidence that the Biebers have become unhappy in the marriage. Now, every aspect of Hailey Beiber’s life has been declared a free-for-all for analysis and comparison to Selena. She has been dubbed the jealous nepotism baby, had the authenticity of her marriage speculated on, and had seemingly every behavior, mannerism, outfit, post, show and interview from the past decade picked apart. All the while, Selena, former Disney Channel starlet, remains the girl-next-door-whogot-away, the right girl for Justin Bieber, a 29-year-old man perfectly capable of making his own decisions about his love life. The cyberbullying and real-life harassment of Hailey is justified as public retaliation against a mean girl. Where Selena is authentic and kind, the rumor mill whispers, Hailey is cold and vapid. Despite the haze of parasocial relationships, we truly know nothing about these two celebrities beyond carefullycurated personas. Remember, this feud erupted over an Instagram story of eyebrows, which was contrived as a backhanded jab at Selena because it was posted several hours after Selena made a TikTok about her brow lamination. Selena took a four-day social media break as the drama began to heat up, and both women have repeatedly affirmed their respect for each other. But their clear statements that there is no drama have only served to supplement it, with fans diving back into an entire career archive to construct fitting narratives. The entire purpose of the drama is to pit two women against each other to fight over a man, and it is flunking the Bechdel test with great spectacle. In an age of girl power and solidarity, their fans seem to tell us, fights between two public-facing women do not happen out in the open. Instead, they are forced underground, into snide jabs and tactics straight out of Mean Girls. Even under the mantra of “girls support girls”, we still just want to see two women embroiled in messy, salacious drama. There is no feud, at least no public one. But audiences will keep looking for drama, just the same. We need to stop pitting women against each other for the purpose of attracting views. A person’s right to privacy and what they choose to share on their platforms should have nothing to do with an algorithm on TikTok. We must learn to stay away from news that is solely based on tearing down a person’s life for the fame that comes with it. Especially in the case of women and their relationships with the men they’ve dated, we need to make the conscious decision to stay out of furthering drama and tearing apart lives based on rumors. Raising an eyebrow at the Selena vs. Hailey drama Staff Editorial On the afternoon of February 11, 2023, a British sixteen-year-old transgender girl, Brianna Ghey was found on a walking path with multiple stab wounds. Authorities pronounced her dead at the scene. A 15-year-old boy and girl have been charged with Ghey’s murder. Ghey had been exposed to years of transphobic harassment before her death. Authorities called the attack brutal and punishing. This is not a rare occurrence. While fatal hate crimes towards transgender youth across the world are relatively uncommon, the National Library of Medicine reported that “82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth.” Transgender youth are fighting a war on all fronts. They are exposed to relentless physical, digital and verbal harassment. They are the object of political debates. So for many, they become a statistic, they view suicide as an escape. This is not acceptable. Rights for transgender individuals have become a hot-button topic in local, state and federal political campaigns. The kids who are wrestling for acceptance do not care about politics. Yes, they want equality but more importantly, they want to be safe. In fact, I am sick of how a basic fundamental human value of caring for others has become politicized. When did we lose sight of valuing others, caring for them and providing a safe place to take a walk without getting stabbed to death? I know that for some, this is a political and extremely uncomfortable topic. But, as a high schooler who spends every day with an array of different kids, many of whom identify under this umbrella, I do not see this as politics. I see this simply as the raw lives of those around me. I do not want to debate whether or not these children deserve specific autonomy or rights. I want them to be safe. I do not want them to wind up dead or consider ending their own lives because the people around them will not accept them. In the case of Ghey, it was her fellow children who allegedly killed her. Teenagers are impressionable. Hate is learned. When you are bombarded with hateful messages, eventually, kids will take a side. In this case, two 15-year-olds allegedly decided that a transgender girl was less than human, not worthy of living. Even if you are morally opposed to the plight of transgender people, how can you deny that they are less than human? They are children. They deserve to be able to live their life as authentically as you. No one should be the subject of such cruel words and actions. It does not hurt to be kind to someone different than you. If adults want to keep arguing over gender topics, let them. We, the kids, need to stick together. I hope that eventually, the adults will come around. But soon, we will be adults and we will be the ones who will have the opportunity to change policies and vote for candidates who support equal rights. But in the meantime, teenagers need to show adults the way and help us all come together. We, as a whole, need to take a conscious step to overcoming existing prejudices towards those who identify as transgender. We must create a culture where children feel safe expressing who they truly are and if we do, maybe we can help create a world where the Brianna Ghey’s of the world will grow up to fulfill their full potential, instead of winding up a cruel statistic. Josie Lorenz | The Chronicle Protect trans youth @mhschronicle facebook.com/ mhschronicle @mhschronicle mhschronicle.com
March 17, 2023 23 When I think of women, I think of beauty. I think of strength, determination and most importantly love. I think of a woman scorned, and those who have been broken by the world that strived so hard to change. I think of Jane Austen, and how she wrote her way to success in a time period where women had to fight to have anything. Women were given the month of March. Women’s History Month. The month when the earth begins to come alive again, the month when the trees gain their leaves and the flowers begin to bloom. It is the transition between winter and spring, between dark nights and sunshine. March is beautiful. That’s why we were given it, because when we think of women we think of beauty. Right? No. Women were given the month of March because of the years of toxic masculinity that prevented our ancestors from having their own identities. Up until the 1850s, married women were defined as the property of the men they are tied to. The men that they could not divorce. The men they didn’t choose to marry. The men who still have control over our bodies. I praise the women who came before me, the ones who fought through their entire life for the rights I now have. The women who have given me the right to marry for love and work for anything I want in life. I feel for the women who still face gender inequality in their work, social standing or home. The women who have been forced to bear a child they did not want. Society preaches that we are equal, yet women have to fight every day for their right to an abortion, to choose what to do with their own bodies. International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 of each year, beginning in New York City in 1857, when female textile workers marched in protest of the unfair labor laws and conditions within their workplace. Ever since, the day of March 8 has been a prominent day in the eyes of women around the world. But one day or one month will not replace the hundreds of years of discrimination against women. It will not bring peace to the women who have lost their lives because they were not granted an abortion. We continue to chip away at the disparities between men and women but no matter how hard we try, we will never be truly equal. We need to remember to respect the women in our lives and continue to strive for equality in all aspects of our society. While I appreciate having a month dedicated to the women who have sacrificed before me, the respect should not end when April begins. I want to continue to spread the wisdom of the women who came before me and the ones who lost their lives fighting for their own identity, and I encourage others around me to do the same. We need to start taking action before tragedy, not after Risha Chada | The Chronicle Editorial Cartoon Women’s history month reminds us to keep fighting Megan Lee | The Chronicle February 3 spelled disaster for the residents of East Palestine, Ohio. The industrial town became hazardous in a matter of seconds as a Norfolk Southern train spilled toxic chemicals and contaminated the water and air. Those who have lived in East Palestine for their entire lives were forced to relocate within days while officials tested the surrounding areas for toxins. However, this was not an isolated incident. On just March 4, another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Springfield, Ohio. 28 train cars flew off the rails in a hailstorm of metal, instilling fear and mistrust into Springfield residents this time. Luckily, no hazardous materials spilled in this derailment, but two incidents in just over a month of each other is a clear sign that railroad safety measures need to be updated. In the wake of this disaster, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Republican Senator J.D. Vance, both of Ohio, proposed the Railway Safety Act of 2023 to strengthen requirements for trains carrying hazardous materials, increase fines for violations by rail carriers and fund $27 million for research on safety improvements. Despite this bipartisan progress, the initial response to the derailment was severe partisanship. Republicans are attacking President Biden, and his appointed secretary of transportation Pete Butglieg, for their handling of the derailment and the resulting ecological damage. On the other hand, Democrats are criticizing the Trump administration for loosening rail safety precautions and regulations during office. It is a tale as old as time; Congress seems to have resorted to name-calling and blaming rather than actual progress once again. Clearly, there is a pattern. The two sides of our seemingly very divided spectrum only strive to make progress after a disaster. In this case, an entire town needed to be polluted, its residents fearful of every rash and bump and children growing up with a liver cancer diagnosis looming over their entire lives. Furthermore, railroad companies have among the most effective lobbyists of an industry, creating yet another barrier to seeing real change in rail safety. Corporations like Norfolk Southern use lobbyists to lower safety regulations, cut costs and leave places like East Palestine to pay the price. However, it seems as if the only thing that can deter these lobbyists and push the American people to push their government is a disaster. With disaster comes anger, grief and fear, urging policymakers and politicians to capitalize on common sentiment to enact legislation. This system – inaction until disaster – is written into our history. Congress only created levees along the Mississippi River after devastating floods in the 1900s. They only became determined to reform workplace and labor laws after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York that killed nearly 200 people. They only created Homeland Security after the atrocities of the 9/11 attacks. And, more recently, Congress managed to pass the first majority bipartisan bill on gun control after the tragic mass shooting in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Every time we have seen major reform for the betterment of the people, it is tied to a disaster. Why must we experience tragedy before seeing progress? Our system should not need a disaster to jolt policymakers into action. We must start to act before there is a disaster – prevention must be the priority.
24 March 17, 2023